Pen Pals and Plans

I promise that I will be better at blogging!  

What summer means to me!  Farmin', Hayin', Waterin'! Lovin' LIFE!

Between CRAZY SUMMER life, our "jobs" and my schooling it's been hectic around here.  We are planning to start school on August 12th at our abode, now I doubt we will be in the full swing of it but I want to give ourselves a few weeks to adjust before it hits full throttle.  I have hooked up with a bunch of home school groups lately, on Facebook and through The Family School  and I am loving the support they give, the ideas we get to bounce off of one another and the plans we get to make for the upcoming school year.  Thanks to these groups and some awesomely prepared ladies, we will be involved in an ART group this year, which will meet twice a month (we will probably attend at least once a month), A Genius school (which I am still a little unsure about what exactly it is) once a month or so, and some field tips and play dates (for mom's and kids, cause mom's need some chatting time too!) mixed in there as well. Last year I could only focus on my three little people, I really didn't have time to incorporate other kids, or group activities because we were trying to get this homeschooling thing down (little did I know it's really not about getting it down, it's more about enjoying the journey!), but this year I can see that we need to branch out, to open up and explore a little more. Making time for others and allowing ourselves to grow, experience and take a little time to "smell the roses" is just what we need!

CRAZY FUN SUMMER LIFE!

Work boxes ~One of the groups on Facebook I joined deals with work boxes which I am trying to incorporate into our school days.  If you want to know more about the work box idea by Sue Patrick  check it out. I haven't read the book but I have done a lot of research on this type of a system. More on this later!   

Sometime's penmanship seems like a lost art!

Pen Pals ~Last year I went on a search to find pen pals for my little kiddos.  I read a post about teaching kids to write, and teaching correct letter formatting, and cultural differences through pen pals.  (Not that I remember where the post was :( sorry!) I thought it was a great idea so the hunt began!  I searched high and low, trying to find a legit pen pal distributor or group or club or something!!!  I didn't want to bring some stranger into our lives to later find out they were ax murderer's or something! (joking! but you know it can get creepy out there in cyber world!!!) So I decided to put up a post in one of the groups I am in (I also contacted my cousin who home-schools and lives in a different state, her kids are about the same age and our kids don't really know each other because, well, she lives in a different state and that's just what happens right?!) I had two really cool gals reply to my request for pen pals.  One is from Kentucky and one from Mexico! Two places I have NEVER been (well this particular part of Mexico anyway).  So we will start the year with three pen pal families!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I may even have one of them be a guest blogger on here, WOULDN'T THAT BE COOL!?! Now we will get our much needed writing in (this typing technology is heck on the writers world that I use to come from) and be able to learn a lot of cool things about places we've never been and people we've never met (well except my cousin's).  We will get to know why they do what they do, how they home school, what they are learning about and perhaps we could even through in a Skype or something to meet face to face, or learn something together!  OH the beauty of homeschooling never ceases to amaze me!

What's new in your world's? What things would you like to see here on Chaos Creek? When do your kids start school, or when do you start homeschooling?  How's your Summer?

WE LOVE COMMENTS!! Thanks for reading! :)