FULL DISCLOSURE

If I may, I need to be completely honest about a few things.

I talked in English class and passed notes and generally did not pay attention. 

You need to know that up front. 

You may also want to know that I love to over-Capitalize random words that I feel are Important.  There is something in my DNA that feels strongly about capitalizing many, many words that say your average Joe may not feel the need to Capitalize.

I thought about trying to write on my blog in all lower case or all caps so that you wouldn't catch on to my problem, but with auto-correct and what not it would have been too time consuming and/or confusing for my brain to process.

You may also be interested in my over use of the comma. 

Oh comma how I love thee.

Generally speaking I also over use the hyphen and ellipsis.

I have absolutely no earthly idea what to do with my semi-colon friend but I have found him useful in emoticon winking.

As long as you are good with all of This, and oh how I Hope you are, then we should be good.

My Commas Anonymous support group assured me that if I just got it all out on the table it would diffuse potential frustration on everyone's part.

Oh, and I am homeschooling my children.

Awesome.

NOTHIN' BUT CLASS

I am running a super classy state of the art operation over here.  I really am.  I am impeccable with the details because the details are what matters when are opening your home.

I really want you to feel welcomed from the moment you arrive.  In fact, I want you to feel so welcome that I will grab paper and crayon and craft a personal note just for you and tape it to the front door.

I will even include instructional ways to enter my home so that you do not get injured in the process, because I am telling you, it is the details that matter.

p.s. use the pot holder
p.s.s. nothin' but class

I care about you so much that I will put a pot holder on the door handle that heats up to a gazillion point eight degrees thanks to the western sun.

Today I just wanted to make sure you know what you are getting into if you choose to hang with me.  I like to give tips on what works and I always try to keep it a little bit on the ghetto side.

WHERE WE DO OUR LESSONS

We are all loving our new school year. We ordered our new material and began at the end of May.  That was not an overachiever move on my part, it was a "we had a really slow-rough-didn't get too much done" year last year so when I was up and running from the baby we were all ready to dive right back in.

And by "we were all ready to dive back in" I mean-me! 

This is our fifth year of homeschooling.  Five years.  The beauty of another year is that God continues to build layers of what He wants our days to look like.  I am feeling more and more confident in my ability to step out and teach things that are not listed on paper that someone else planned for me.

It is liberating for sure.

We have had such a tailor made learning experience so far this year.

I have not felt like a failure!  Neither have the boys!

My comfy chair is where much of my teaching takes place.  Kids piled on couches under blankets.  The little guy usually sits at the dining table building Legos so his hands can be busy and he can listen while he builds.

Since reading out loud together is a majority of our learning experience, it made all the sense in the world to move the book basket to the fireplace.  It is so much more comfortable for us all to settle in for some good stories when we are in the living room.

The disciplined studies which include the English-y and math things happen at the kitchen table.

Where does your family do the majority of your lessons? 

When you think through your schooling needs don't be afraid to think outside of the box.  When I moved most of our school books to the living room it made it so easy for me to grab a book and share a lesson with the kids.