Oh my goodness! It's hard to believe we are less than a week away from Christmas, and less than 2 away from a brand new year. That is a lot of excitement for the Harrison Household. We have been very busy around here, so I wanted to take a few minutes and share what we've been up to. We've been doing some great Christmas activities as a family (although not every day like I had wanted) together. We have watched Christmas Classics, drove around looking at Christmas lights, hung stockings up, done Christmas themed art and crafts, listened to our favorite holiday songs, done yummy baking, lots of shopping, and drank many many cups of hot chocolate. I wrapped up the last of my shopping this weekend, getting some great deals on stocking stuffers at the drug stores (I posted on my coupon blog about this yesterday), although the bulk of the presents were bought months ago. I shopped throughout the year, buying Clearance items at Target and Kohls when I saw them, and I spent only 1/4 what I spent last year with just as much to show for it. Trying to live on a tight budget does present some challenges, but the reward is getting to stay at home with the kids every day, and having my husband home every night and weekend. It's hard to put a price tag on Family, and I won't even try to figure what that cost would be, because for us, it's just not worth it. So, instead, we have to adjust our expectations.
One of the trade offs is that while I know education is something you shouldn't skimp on, I am always looking for a good deal. I had been seeing commercials for ABCmouse.com for a while, but wasn't sure I wanted to splurge and take the plunge for $8 a month. However, I checked it out online and there are some pretty great reviews on various homeschool blogs out there. That's why I was really excited when I got an email to try out the site for a full month for just $1. I jumped at the chance to see what all the fuss was about. I will do some type of review next week some time, after the holiday. But the first impression is a great one.
Joshua is my computer geek. Actually, both the older kids love the computer, and they love playing games on Sprout or Nick Jr. In fact, it's all I can do to get Joshua to get off the computer to do anything else. It's so funny to me that he can sit there for hours if I let him, when he can't seem to focus on anything else for half that long. Hannah does really well with parent guided seat work. Sometimes we get to work together on a task, and sometimes I get her started and she can do the assignment herself. She does fine with paper and pencils, workbooks and textbook type curriculum. Joshua however, has a much different learning style. He has no problem focusing while playing computer games, but when we try to sit down and do book work or worksheets, I am hard pressed to find anything that keeps him interested longer than 10 minutes tops. So, I knew that I needed to start looking for some type of online or computer based curriculum for him to keep his interest. That is one of the reasons I love homeschooling. I have the freedom to try one thing and fail at it, and then try and try and try till we find what works for us. That may (and in this case, it is) be different for each kid. And it may change over time too. Like Hannah with Math U See. For now, it works for us. Maybe as she gets older she will need a different approach. I have the freedom to pick and choose different styles and mesh them together and create our own curriculum too. In fact, I think most families are that way. Sure, there are families that buy all in one curriculum box sets with all that they need and it works great for them. I almost did that too. However, after being advised by just about every other homeschool mom that I knew, I decided not to go that route.
So, I am blogging in the living room. Hannah is watching Christmas movies, Jonah is throwing dinosaur toys around the room, and Joshua is having a blast exploring the website. It seems to be a hit so far. In a few minutes I need to get started doing laundry, and then make some lunch. We are making salt dough ornament later today, and then hopefully, we can all get a nap! (Hey, I can dream, can't I?) Gotta run!!
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