I sometimes worry about the kind of education that AJ is getting at home. She's independent and stubborn.
And really smart.
She can be totally engaged and completely aloof, all in one morning.
But then I see this and I feel like everything is going to be okay.
Different...but okay.
We are down to the final trio. Megan is taking the semester off of school and building up her bank account while she considers her next move, Mathew is working for a hospital in Rexburg, ID doing IT, and Ethan is happily married to Kassie and working at CED in Sprinville, UT.
Everly is starting her 6 grade year at CST and pretty excited to be in band and theater. I'm pretty excited to say goodbye to elementary school life! We're movin on up!
When the lessons stretch out before you and the red leaves are poppin... What a privilege to run out the front door and be a part of it!
Being a teenager is SO FLIPPIN HARD
It really is.
And sometimes, you just have to set that schoolwork and drive over to the puppy library and check out the long-haired grandpa dachshund puppy with chunky buns and blonde whiskers.
It makes everything better for a while.
Homeschool has its upsides and it has its weird sides.
Mr. Rogers, the math teacher, is Anna's fave. Especially that weird smile he does at the end of every lesson.
We could do without Paget Monet.
"Sometimes you just need to go play basketball because it good to do. So just do it!"
In truth, we were supposed to do our braided bread last Sunday....but we never can tell what any particular day will be like when planning the advent. For instance, I had no idea a couple of weeks ago that I would have un excessive desire to do nothing on Dec 6th. Doing that much of nothing leaves not much time left to braid bread.
So we thought that we'd tackle it today and call it a part of our homeschool curriculum.
So we have about a week left of homeschool. We are on the Struggle Bus, friends.
Today I really just needed to get some clothes clean and the groceries planned and purchased.
So, we decided to go practical.
Language arts and handwriting was helping to plan the weekly meal menu, and then writing out the list of groceries.
Math is keeping track of the food prices and adding things up as we go. Staying under the budget gets you extra dessert at lunch!
Here's what I now know...it takes forever to shop with kids. Dust off your those booster packs of patience you've been keeping in storage, because GIRL, you are going to need it. And, yes, you do need to remind Everly to erase and fix her backwards 5s, 6s and 9s....every single time.
Here's the other thing:
The older generation will notice the very hard and good thing you are doing to educate and spend time with your little people and they will stop you and praise you for your efforts. Because they are nigh unto angels and they know how to make a momma feel like she's doing something worthwhile. By the time we were leaving the store a mere 6 hours later, I felt like a million bucks.
I even had enough pep in my step to take Megan to get her ACTUAL FOR REAL DRIVERS LICENSE!!!
We rounded out the night with pizza and puzzles! Not too bad for a pandemic stricken advent calendar!
Hey future advent planners....little tip: 300 piece puzzles are just right for a puzzle night. No more!
On the fifth day of Christmas the Hufford family: went on an adventure to a light tunnel! 'Twas the fifth day of Christmas when the Hufford family put on their shoes and hopped in the car, to head to a light tunnel where they would sip hot cocoa and look at the holiday lights. Though at first things were not going their way.
Ok ok people here's the real story: We the Huffords were drawing out of our advent calendar when Mom picked out of here pocket on the wall "light tunnel". Laney out of nowhere said "Ooh I've seen pictures of that place its so pretty!" That night we wrapped ourselves up and hopped in the car. My mom was planning on getting hot cocoa but we also needed to get there on time. My mom told everyone "sorry guys we can't get cocoa" . A few minutes later my dad drove us to his work office and said, "I need runners!" so me and Everly volunteered. We went in and got cocoa then went as fast as we could outside and gave everyone their cocoa then we rushed over to the light show and wow... there's a huge line of cars... We sat in the car for awhile as we slowly moved up the line we finally got to the spot where the light show was. It was amazing, then I saw a sign that said 5 mph. I groaned. Then randomly sat up in my seat and looked at the lights with cocoa in my hand then saw another sign that said "tune your radio to 96.1" so we did and then we figured out that the lights were on beat with the "rockin Christmas music! everyone in the car was laughing at the sync of the music and lights. we went through the whole thing and everyone was disappointed when the ride was over . But overall it was a fun trip!
Over And Out!
**Anna wrote this as an assignment for homeschool! I think she's pretty great and capturing what the experience was really like!
I was so excited because it was the first day of Christmas and this year I was the one that I got to pick out of the calendar first and it was so fun I hope my mom and dad gets a big hug because they got me lipstick and mascara.
I'm not sure how much the kids are enjoying the new hybrid school week....
Megan has decided to participate in Inktober. All month, she will draw something and post it for other Inktober artists to see. She has tried before but has succumbed to the crippling and time-consuming effects of perfectionism. But she's older and wiser and she's given herself permission to have fun and just draw what she likes.
Here's her first week!
October 1st:
Once again, I sit back a marvel at the talents that my children possess. I love that they have gifts that belong only to them....little sparks of brilliance and divinity that the brought with them.
Things have not gone as anticipated.
School was supposed to begin on August 13th. The governor pushed it to September 8th and the school board agreed. We were just a little glad, because we would have missed the first week due to our Florida trip and the 14 day quarantine required after returning.
We were given the choice to either enroll our children as "in-person" or "remote" learners for the fall semester. It wasn't an easy decision. The details of either plan were foggy, at best. Kids going in person would be returning to a new reality...masks, social distancing, intense cleaning procedures, no singing, no playing, no talking. It didn't sound great. But the remote sounded even worse. Kids on laptops all day, no friends and no free time for mom.
We chose in-person.
They told us our decision would be final until the second semester. And then they changed the game. New mandates came out. Kids would be required to mask all day, no breaks...even during recess. Answers to old questions on the district website were revised without notifying the parents. The health board released gating criteria that made it clear that it would be unlikely for any of the kids to see the inside of a classroom this year. The board made new decisions, parents got angry, parents got organized and then the decision got revised.
Again.
And again.
And again.
After we were told that the kids would be masked all day, even during recess, I switched the little girls to remote learning. The very next day, I pulled them out completely.
And now I'm a homeschooler.
