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settling in and catching up

settling in and catching up

View of Golden, CO from Lookout Mountain.

We have been in Golden, Colorado for 3 weeks now.  It finally feels like we are getting used to the area and the climate.  I think everyone is adjusting well and seems to be liking living here, so far.  Even though we are in a vacation rental for another couple of weeks and will be moving to an apartment in 2 weeks, I feel like we are settling in with our new life here.

We have been taking a more hands on approach with our homeschooling by doing field trips and a study of the state of Colorado.  We are just taking it one day at a time until we can get into the more permanent rental and I can get the rest of our books here.

Our oldest son has started the local community college, Red Rocks and has already gotten a part time job at a local grocery store.  Our girls will be starting dance soon and our youngest son is considering taking dance as well.  We are also checking into the local recreation centers for sports they can play.

My husband is enjoying his job a lot at the Colorado School of Mines.  He will also begin to take classes at this college next semester to further his education in his field.  One of the perks of working for this college, is the classes are free for him.

As for me, I am hanging in there and doing alright.  I feel like I am behind in everything.  While I know we will be settling soon in our new apartment, it just can’t get here soon enough.  I know what we will be doing for school, I just have to get it written down and get everything scheduled.

As for the blog, you can see I am still writing on “My Home In The Smokies”.  I am working on my new blog and hopefully it will be ready soon.  I am excited about the new name and the new design.  Honey and Jonah of Honeycomb Design Studio are working hard, helping me get everything ready.  I have several reviews coming up for different curriculum’s that we are using this year.  I am also still writing for The Homeschool Village once a month.

I have a lot of wonderful plans for the new blog.  I want to focus more on our homeschooling, as well as our photography.  I feel like God is leading me to help and encourage homeschoolers more than ever.  I just have to figure out how He wants me to do this.  I still feel like I have a lot to learn when it comes to blogging.

There are couple of conferences that I want to go to this next year.  One is the BEECH Retreat.  It is being held in Captiva Island, Florida.  I feel like this time with the wonderful speakers would definitely benefit me tremendously.  They actually plan to have classes where the speakers actually help you focus on your goal.  The second conference I would like to attend is the 2:1 Conference.  I was blessed to be sponsored by See The Light Art, to attend the conference back in April.  I learned a lot from this conference and can’t wait to go back.

I am looking forward to see what God has planned for our family.  I am also looking forward to see what God has planned for me and this blog.  I feel like I am heading into unknown territory, but know that God will be there with me every step of the way.  I hope  you will come along on the ride with me.  It is going to be another adventurous ride letting go and letting God.

 

 

homeschooling plans changing just bit..

I am sure you are all just about tired of hearing about us moving to Colorado.  I know I am!  I am so ready to be there!  So I thought I would talk a little about how our homeschooling will look for us when we first get to Golden, CO.  You see, we will be living in a vacation rental for a month, or until we can find us a more permanent place to live.  That means that the majority of our school books are boxed up and in a storage unit until then.  So what will we be doing for school until then? Well, I am so glad you asked!  {grin}

Thanks to an awesome homeschooling blogging buddy of mine, we will be approaching the first 4-6 weeks slightly different.  To begin with, we will be covering the state history of Colorado and the town history of Golden, CO.  It will be good to learn all about the place that we will be calling home.  We will be taking field trips to local historical places in town, as well as finding the library, police and fire stations and any science or history museums in the area.  We will also be covering geography and science by learning all we can about the Rocky Mountains.

I have packed a couple of small boxes with our math, spelling and bible study books.  For math, my oldest daughter will finish up her Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra, while the younger two kids will finish up their Bob Jones math books.

We will be using a new spelling book this year for the younger two kids.  The Natural Speller is recommended with the Illuminations program that I will be using by Bright Ideas Press.

As for the bible study, we will finish up the Esther book we started last year.  We got side-tracked and I never finished it with the kids.  They loved doing this study, so I am excited to begin it once again.

I also packed up the See The Light art curriculum DVD’s.  My youngest son just asked me the other day when we could begin this again.  I am so happy that we have found an art curriculum they love!

So as you can tell, we do have some great ideas to get us started.  While it isn’t everything that we will eventually be using, I am happy that we will be able to do something not long after we arrive.  My kids thrive on a routine and we have been out of one for far too long.

I was so excited when Honey mentioned those ideas to me about studying the state and local history with the kids once we arrived.  It will help us get acquainted with the area, as well as get one some sort of routine with our schooling.  A win-win for all of us!

We will also be meeting up with a new homeschool group that I have been in contact with.  They will have their first park day on August 9th.  We will also be checking into the extra-curricular activities that the kids want to be involved with.  This includes finding a new dance studio, musical theater company and a recreation league for sports.  I don’t know why I was so worried about jumping right into school, we will have plenty to keep us busy the first couple of weeks!

Once we get settled next week in our temporary rental, I plan on sharing with you all the rest of the curriculum we will be using.  I am truly excited about it this year as I am stepping away from a lot of the traditional textbooks and workbooks.  This is truly going to be an interesting year with all the new adventures that we will have!

Do you have any special studies planned to begin your new school year with?