Box Day

I am sadly very behind in my blogging.  So behind, that now, as we swelter in the June heat. it is hard to imagine wearing a winter coat.  But that is indeed what Olivia is wearing in the pictures I am including in this post.  

  But it a very important day that must be documented:  Box Day!  The day our homeschool materials arrived on our doorstep.  Olivia was beyond psyched.  The other kids got excited once they saw their older sister carrying on like a lunatic:  "they're here!  they're here!  I want to see my BOOKS!"

As Olivia leaps. Nicholas turns to the more practical task of opening the boxes,

 ...and is very happy to see what is in side.  I am so glad my kids like books.  I might mess up in a lot of areas, but I have at least modeled a love of books and reading for my kids (okay, so this might look like me huddled on a couch, nose in a book, ignoring said children, but really, I am "modeling reading."  Yes.)


We are using Sonlight for our curriculum.  I knew that I wanted something structured and pieced together, since I am not confident yet in my ability to put together a curriculum, and I do not have time to do lots of prep.  Heck, I barely get dinner on the table.  

Also, Sonlight is a unit-study that is literature-based.  This former English-major (and Charlotte Mason follower) loves that.  The books that Sonlight has chosen are really wonderful.  The unit studies enable me to teach all of the kids, even at different grade levels, at once.  For example, this summer we are all studying world cultures (Core A) and in the fall we will start American History (Core D).   I still do individual work with each kid for reading, writing, and math, but that only takes 20 -40 minutes per kid. ("Only," I say with a wink -- when you do the math, I come up with:  4 kids x 20-40 minutes + 1 toddler = trouble)

So far so good.