These were my 2015 Homeschool Goals and now it is time to reflect on how well we met these goals this past school year.

1. Talk about the Scriptures as we go about our days.

This is the number one reason why we homeschool. Bible Literacy (knowing and applying Scripture to our lives) is so important. Talking about Scripture gives me a guide in knowing how to handle discipline issues when they arise! Pointing my children to God is my ultimate goal. I have to remind myself of that daily.

2. Enjoy these early years.

Little Bug turned 7 in May. I found myself adding up how many years I have left with her at home. Eleven. 11. Just 11. That’s crazy. And that was all the reminder I needed to enjoy these early years. They are truly flying by and some of the best years of my life.

3. Continue to teach beyond academics; make time to teach life skills.

Every morning Little Bug and Sweet Pea work together to empty the dishwasher! They place things on the counter and I put things up where they go. It has been life-changing for my morning routine and it is a step in the right direction in teaching my daughter’s important life-skills. One morning, we had gotten off the normal routine and the dish washer had run in the morning instead of overnight. I told Little Bug she could have 30 minutes of iPad time if she unloaded the entire dishwasher by herself. (Sweet Pea was napping.) That girl went right in there, without complaint, and not only unloaded the dishwasher, but she put every single thing up where it belongs!

4. Get our feet wet with Classical Conversations.

As I have said, we have dived in with CC and we couldn’t be happier with our decision to join Classical Conversations last year. Best decision I have made so far for our homeschool.

5. Academic goals.

Little Bug

She is READING! And not just cat, sat and hat words. She is reading chapter books! If Little Bug is awake you know she is present. She is not a wall flower. She makes her presence known at every waking moment. There have been times where I realized the house was quiet and Little Bug was MIA. Every single time I have found her curled up with a book reading. It is a BEAUTIFUL sight!

We are still working on foundational math skills, but she has made excellent progress this past year with Horizons Math K. She’s memorized her basic math facts although we still need to review them on a regular basis.

Little Bug’s handwriting depends on her mood! If she wants to, she can write beautifully!

Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea knows her letters and letter sounds! She likes for me to spell 3-letter words (like d-o-g) and let her figure out what they spell so we can say she is an emergent reader!

Sweet Pea seems to have a good grasp of numbers and math concepts! She can count to 100 with minor help.

Her handwriting is coming along. She is learning to write her letters!

Sarge

Sarge successfully does 40 minutes of Independent Playtime every weekday morning. By the time we start the new school year, I need him to be at 60 minutes. He plays in the pack n play but I will move him to Room Time soon.

Sarge loves to read books! He has his favorites!

Summary

My biggest challenge this year was learning how to homeschool with a baby/toddler! In fact, it took me the majority of the year to figure out the best way to manage teaching 1st grade and preschool with a toddler! We found our groove…in March!! It took persistence on my part. There were many days I just had to go with the flow and fit in a phonics and math lesson whenever we could. I will write a post about the homeschool groove we finally found in March!

- Elaine