How Do We Homeschool When Life Gets Complicated?

Our Homeschool has been seriously crazy with all the sick crud we’ve had to deal with over the past few weeks. I can honestly say that our days haven’t been all that typical and some days not much has gotten done at all. I was just too sick. But, this is one of the reasons why we homeschool. I love the flexibility and teachable opportunities that homeschooling provides. I’ve had to defend my decision to homeschool to a lot of people. Even to strangers in Panera. A few weeks ago (before the dreaded bronchitis came upon me) Josiah and I were having lunch and someone asked why he wasn’t in school. Well. We had already done loads of school and we’re about to go on a field trip with friends. Not every day is so jam packed with activity. Some weeks, like the last few weeks, are a little more random. We do have curriculum that we use, but the beauty of the curriculum is that it can be adapted and changed to fit everyone’s situation. I do school through the summer months, too. I know. I was never going to be that parent. Summers are meant for fun and relaxation. But seriously, It’s not like we are too structured to begin with. Learning about place value in your jammies is pretty great. Plus, I feel better in the summer. The winter months are just too unpredictable for my health (hence our crazy couple of weeks). Here are a few picks of some our favorite flexible moments of the past few weeks.

I know. He looks absolutely thrilled. We are studying Zoology right now and did an experiment about how birds fly. Specifically about aerodynamics. He made two gliders with different wing lengths and widths and did a few experiments to see which glider was more ayerodynamic.

Here you can see the one of the gliders and where it landed. You can also see a few random things on my floor. Ignore that stuff. Just pretend that my house is pristine. I'm doing my best to do the same!

Here is the other glider. We had a bit of trouble explaining the measuring the distance part. Or at least focusing on measuring the distance. Josiah wanted to measure everything.

The Studly Muffin gets in on the action and helps Josiah measure one of the flights. Hey. While your down there can you pick up my keys and stick them in my purse?

We got to go hear Temple Grandin speak. If you haven't heard about her you really need to look her up. Google her. She is so inspirational! I really enjoyed it. She has the best outfits!

Josiah wasn't as inspired. He spent the hour playing with my friend Sheryl's itouch. He did get to be on the TV. A local news station reported on the event and showed a clip of Josiah and Sheryl. You can see the side of my face and hair on the tv clip. I think Josiah was watching Despicable Me during the talk.

This is  Homeschool PE at one of the local universities (Evangel). He has PE 3 times a week (he also goes to the Y once a week). Troy took him most days(that is, when Troy or Josiah weren't sick). But this was my first time out in a few weeks. The PYT (pretty young thing) is one of the students. Here they are stretching.  The little guy in the gray shorts (who is also a Josiah) reminds me of Josiah when he was that age. He kind of does his own thing a lot. He obviously has other things to do besides stretching! I wonder what he was looking at?

Here they are learning the 2 step. This cracked me up! I laughed so hard I went into a coughing fit. The little guy in orange was actually pretty good. Josiah really didn't understand the idea behind the 2 Step. He just stepped. BTW. This was "dance week" at PE. Josiah wasn't a fan. Next week is Archery Week. He's all about shooting stuff...so it will be a good time.

We found this at a local thrift store. A Cobra in a Basket! It really doesn't have anything to do with what we are studying right now...but who can resist A Cobra in a Basket.  We did quite a bit of investigating about Mr. Cobra. The Internet is a wonderful tool for research.

A closer view of A Cobra in a Basket. He's looking right at me. EWW.

Okay. Book Nerd. Right here. And a proud Book Nerd, at that! I got this little treasure at our local used Christian Bookstore (which happens to be one of my favorite places ever!)  I love reading poetry. I love the cadence. I love the use of language. It's just beautiful. I love words. Even when they don't make sense (which mine frequently don't)

I had a whole week planned of fun Dr. Seuss stuff in honor of his birthday, but it just didn't happen. We did read this little gem by Dr. Seuss. I love Dr. Seuss. I don't like Green Eggs (or any color of Eggs for that matter)..Sam...I Am.

This is our current read aloud. Which means I am reading this to Josiah every night before bed. It's our ritual to read a book every night. This is James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame). We are going to watch the movie on Netflix after we read the book to contrast and compare. We've done that with several books. This is a ritual that even Daddy can do. He read to Josiah when I was at my sickest. Daddy is the bomb!(or a peach :<))

We had to get a little History in! Right now we are studying New World Explorers. He learned about why Explorers did their exploring. This week we talked about what life was like for sailors. I had checked out books at the library in advance and we poured over them...reading..talking...looking at the illustrations. We are getting ready to talk about specific Explorers. I'm all about History. I hope my love for History rubs off on Josiah. If not, it's going to be a long Homeschool Experience. Cause Buddy we're going to be doing lots of History! I do use a specific History Curriculum. It is really hands on...which is what we need and love to do.

Some more reading. I love Apologia Science. I love that I can read it and we can talk about it and it's interesting. We didn't get to do many of the activities this week. Josiah  loves Science Experiments. We also read out of a Devotional Bible everyday. This one basically is going chronologically through the Bible. Josiah loves doing our Devotional. Many times we do it as a family.

Okay. This picture really can't be labeled under one subject or another. Maybe Drama? As you can see, two action heros are attempting to climb the vaccum cleaner chord. There is some sort of set-up beneath them. I see my space heater and a pile of toliet paper...along with other odds and ends. I can't tell you how creative this little guy is. He can make something out of nothing. And I do my best to encourage it. You can also see a crumbled up poptart in the picture. I'm trying not to think about it.  It was a long week. I wonder if it is still there!

I just had to take a picture. This is the top part of the last picture. He made a pulley! The circle is a craft ribbon holder. It's being held by a length of mardi gras beads from the Dollar Tree. And yes, that is the vaccum cleaner cord around the pulley.

I thought this was hilarious. I walked out of the bedroom and this was the first thing I saw in the hall. Power Rangers are defending the turf. ,I am writing this post The Blue Power Ranger has completely knocked off Mr. Whoever That Is and is standing triumphantly on top of the thermostat.