Catching up

Life since the littlest bear cub arrived has been as hectic as ever and twice as full of joy! Someone asked me recently how life with five was, I replied - extreme. As in Extreme Sport. Normal sports people ski down steep slopes at fast speeds, extreme sports people set of an avalanche and surf it to the bottom of the mountain. NORMAL parents have 2.4 children aged 2.4 years apart and live in a house that is at least 80% NOT under renovation most of the time and send their kids to the best school they can find. WE have five children aged under 7 years in a house that is at least 80% under renovation - and has been for over 2 years - and choose to homeschool!! Some gasp in admiration, others gasp in horror. But the majority do actually gasp.

And so do I some days.

But here's the thing with extreme sports. With the extreme challenges there are also extreme highs and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Since Laughing Boy came on the scene things have had to become a little more streamlined. The others have all changed so much in the last few months too that the way we did things six months ago simply won't do now. So over the next few weeks I am going to walk through our day again so you can see just how much it has changed. The changes aren't because what we were doing didn't work - it is because what we were doing wouldn't work for us now. I am finding as we grow in our homeschooling journey there simply isn't any such thing as one-size fits all and our day will always be under construction. I am also going to do a few reviews because I like reviewing books and curriculum and find reading review helpful to me. If you have any funny or fun things for me to link to or post on Fridays, please feel free to send an e-mail to Tasjess at gmail dot com.

Housekeeping aside, here are the top ten things our homeschool has learned since the arrival of Laughing Boy:



10. While you think you are already flexible, add another child and you will find joints you never knew you had. Compared to six months ago, I am a contortionist now baby!!

9. There's always time for fabulous hair dos - the frills of life are actually necessities.



8. If a child can see purpose to the work required of them, they will put in ten times as much effort.

7. We do not have time for busy work. 2 hours of quality work is a school day, packing it out with "stuff" just because it's in the work book does not work for any of us and chews up precious tree climbing time.



6. Meal times are an excellent time for read alouds - captive audience!

5. Life goes better when you laugh.



4. It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful (a line stolen from this blog, but about so much more than decor)

3. Learning will always happen, even if it isn't when and how Mama Bear expects.



2. If you ignore laundry for a day or two, it breeds. It is hard to school when Mount Washmore is threatening to avalanche!

1. Babies completely and utterly rock and make the world a better place.