We love summer for so many reasons but mostly we love the slow pace it brings.
Everyone here is officially finished with school for the year...yay!!! However, we haven't really told the littles they're done, lol! It helps them so much to keep life structured and predictable ~ so we are keeping our same routine....including "school".
We will keep our same routine for the littles ~
Breakfast
Bible Time
Play Outside/Bigs clean up breakfast
School & snack time
Play outside
Lunch
Nap/Quiet room-time
Free play (which in summer will be in the pool!)
Dinner
Showers
Bed
But school will be much more relaxed and easy, fun activities....mostly review ;)
The boys have some sports camps & activities and Kennady will be working a lot this summer so their days will be full but here at home we are going to keep things as simple as possible.
We have found ROUTINE & PREDICTABILITY to be so very important in all 3 of the littles emotional well-being. When we veer off of our normal schedule and a simple routine of time spent mostly at home, we are quickly met with 3 "off" kiddos! And they all react & cope in different ways. Kaylee goes back to having a very difficult time self-regulating & managing her emotions, Khloe gets wild & acts as if she's driven by a motor, and Kaleb holds it all together so well to where we think he's not affected at all and then suddenly its as if everything crashes in all at once & he falls apart over they tiniest little thing. SO....simple routine it is for us!! Thankfully all 3 littles do well with the big kids having friends here hanging out so that's often how our big kids spend their free time :)
Also, with Kai coming home in Fall, the big kids are going to get a jump start on some of their classes by doing summer school. One of the many blessings we have found with homeschooling is the flexibility of WHEN we do school.....and for us heading to China & bringing home a new brother this will work well!
We just finished our 2nd year of homeschool and we are settling in to this being our new normal for now. Last year was the first year the Lord pressed homeschool on our hearts and NOW we know why since we ended up moving to Haiti in April! As we prayed about it and saw all the fruit that came from just one year of having everyone home, we decided to do another year. The time that we get to spend reading, studying and learning about God's Word & His marvelous love is the greatest blessing of all. AND the time we get as a family to try and LIVE out what we learn is priceless! Whether it be here in our home loving littles that are still so broken OR serving in whatever way Christ asks us to. Being available to GO and DO what Jesus tells us in His Word to do has been huge for us. When the bigs were in school all day, then after-school activities and sports, we just didn't have the time to say YES to who or what or where Jesus was asking us to. We were too busy! So often people say, "you must be so busy with 6 kids and the needs of your littles" and I am being so honest when I tell you that we are LESS busy than when we had 3 kids!!! Homeschool has slowed our pace of life considerably and now we get to ENJOY life together and enjoy growing in our relationship with Jesus!
One fear I had before we brought everyone home was if they would have enough time socializing. First of all, I have learned that socializing means SO much more than connecting with just your peers and people your exact same age. Our kids have grown socially as they have had more time spent with people of all ages whether though serving or neighbors or having more time with grandparents. And they still have plenty of time with their friends and peers through sports and activities ~ win-win!
Homeschooling in our area is rare ~ so it really took a step of faith and us making sure that we were certain we heard from God. He is so faithful.....calling each of us to our own walk and journey. Each of our walks looking different from one another's. But at the center of it all is our loving Heavenly Father who longs to have an intimate relationship with each one of us. As Christians, the Bible is our guide.....but it won't tell us each and every specific answer. So we listen to His still, small voice in our hearts telling us,
"This is the way! Walk in it!" (Is. 31:21) I'm thankful He guides each and every step....He gives wisdom lavishly when we ask (James 1:5-8) so long as we do not doubt and waver once He reveals His Way for us. So we trust Him and His call......I know there is one way through this life on earth and it's HIS WAY ~ beautifully different for each one of us, yet so the same as He is the center of it all!
