Homeschooling

Our first week of homeschool seemed to go off without a hitch. Still jetlagged from being in the States, we didn't get started our first few days until 9:00am or later, but the kids transitioned pretty smoothly. They were certainly not unhappy to get to sleep in, have a warm breakfast and NOT have to rush out to the bus in the cold and dark morning. Neither was I, frankly!

Though I have to mention that it took a few days for our school room to warm up and the radiator heat to kick in. Our first few days were with jackets... brrrr.





Here, Ethan built a Lego excavation site. Men and women working to uncover clues to a buried village. Part of our Ancient History lesson.

And lounging in our little reading corner. It's a welcome break from the desks or floor.

And recess outside. It snowed here for about 4 days straight. The first day we went sledding at 1pm in the afternoon - whoo-hoo! But this week, they are content to just head outside to have snowball fights. Not bad to have an hour or more of recess every day.


So far, so good. Trust me, I have had more than a few moments where I've said to myself, "WHAT HAVE I DONE??!!" but in general, I think it's going well so far, the kids are getting used to it and so am I. It's a very "school-y" homeschool, but that is what they are all used to and so far, how they seem to work best. Also better for me to keep on task and stay organized. It's a little weird being done with all of our work in about 4 1/2 hours or so, but we do get a lot accomplished, so I think I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I know the kids certainly aren't complaining.

Christmastime and More

There were love and hugs...


There were sweet, little boys...

and sour little boys...

Santa made his annual visit to Nana's and Grandpa Clark's for good little girls...

and good, little boys.

There was World War III, IV, and V...

but Uncle Ed won all three.

There were cousins sitting still, all in a row...

and cousins ready to have another go...

And the whole clan of Ongs, together in one place... even Trudy the Beagle.

Merry Christmas to all.

New Year, New Year

Returned from trip to North Carolina, great pictures of the trip and Santa's annual visit to Nana's (more to come later).

Started our Little Homeschool in the Basement (more to come later).

Busy lesson-planning, feet-wetting, schooling. As well as some weeding-out (of the clutter) and some digging-out (of the car from 8 inches of snow this weekend) and some sledding-down (our friends' great sledding hills).

More, more, more to come later.

Happy New Year to All!