​I can’t tell you how excited I am to be at the end of the year. I don’t know about you, but I’m in need of a break.

A break from the routine, a break to enjoy a slower pace, a break to enjoy some leisure time and a break to hopefully muster up the impetus to start planning for next year.

But before we indulge in this break let’s dive into evaluations, portfolios, important documents and how to organize it all.

​In this Year 1 (First Grade) year, Nature Study is usually reserved for Fridays.  It’s our art, science and sometimes poetry and geography day depending on the week.  On this particular Friday, we’re getting more hands on and learning all about WORMS & composting – Vermicomposting to be exact! 

​Following with the deep dive into all our lessons, today we're diving into HISTORY. The history rotation we follow is based on Ambleside Online’s history book list for my year 1 student. 

Is it safe to say that everyone gets to a point in their life when they say, “enough is enough! I need to get a hold of this!” You could probably say this about any situation. Well this was me probably every single month this 2021 year so far since January. That’s 3 months of saying, “ok, you had your fun, now it’s go time.”

I’ve implemented new strategies every month to make lifestyle changes and not drastic diet changes.

1. Drink more water (I’m up to a gallon a day with the help of actually just leaving the water in a gallon out on the counter for me to see every.single.day.
2. Move my body every day. Fresh off 2020 and being all loosey goosey I decided to start small and joined a step bet and just start walking. Then I started using my couch to 5K app again and have now graduated to couch to 10K app. Now I’m starting to do Barre and yoga programs with a mind to continue to weightlifting programs. Using BOD (Beachbody on Demand) & ALO Moves.
3. More veggies and trying to eat at least one salad a day. That’s hard for me so I usually have to cook my veggies. I’m still trying to get to the raw salad thing every day. This point is the one I’m currently working really hard on.
4. Personal development - audio books (hoopla, iTunes, audible, etc) are my bestest friends! It’s pretty easy for me to get motivated to go for a morning run, because that’s really the one time during the day when I’m childless and can put my full attention on information that inspires me. 

One thing I’m missing is accountability. I’ve tried staying accountable in Facebook groups, Beachbody On Demand groups, to my husband (I do not recommend unless you want to strain your relationship) soooo my creative spirit has led me to this: Vlog posts on my process. In the past I have felt inspired and motivated by helping and being of service to others so if my journey can help you in any way, then that is all the motivation I need to stick to this plan.

Geography? For First Grade? 

I know, I thought the same thing when I first perused the curriculum I chose for my daughter. But I went with it.  I searched high and low into every single subject and was able to see glimmers of what other veteran moms did and asked questions in forums, etc.  But I thought, since we're nearly done with this first year and my daughter so looks forward to this subject when she sees it's on our schedule for the week, that it would be beneficial for other homeschool families to see a deep dive into this subject. 

When we first started researching schools for our kids, we stumbled upon Montessori.  I had heard about it in my single days, but didn't really pay much attention because I didn't have any children yet. I wish I had because implementing Montessori philosophy at home from birth would have greatly simplified and helped guide from the very start how to turn every thing into a beautiful learning moment. You know what the good thing is?  If you have small children, it's not too late.  Also, by reframing how you see your home from your child's eyes, it's actually pretty easy to implement at home.

Here's a little looksee into what a typical day looks like for us in our homeschool.

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Introducing Shakespeare plays to early elementary school aged kids can seem daunting and to some even a waste of time.  I hope that once you see how easy it is to do, that you'll also open your heart to how incredibly enriching it will be for you and your kiddos to add this to the rotation of literature to learn at home and start that deep seeded love for one of the most, if not THE, greatest writer in the English Language!