Conveniently I seem to forget how busy each April can be.
As we are caught in the whirlwind of holidays, end of year school celebrations, baseball, and just wanting to be OUTSIDE because the weather is warm, I find myself bemoaning the fact that we are so busy.
Then I have to tell myself, however, that this will calm down by mid May and also that our family has made a conscious decision to only do things that are the most important to us - so everything we are doing is of value. Learning to handle the chaos is an ongoing process for me. This is the month of quicker meals, a messier house, and less sleep.
Can you relate?
So - this week I'm wondering how we did it all. Mostly, though, I am thankful for everything we COULD do, and the many blessings we had.
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Celebrating Easter
On Good Friday we had a chance to deliver Easter baskets and prayer shawls to a local nursing home. We were so blessed by our time.
One man in particular, Pablo, made such an impression on us. He wasn't verbal, but he did clap a lot, and clapped specifically in the direction of Anna and Grant. I spoke with him about children and I told him, "My children keep me busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Children are such a blessing." After I said this I noticed tears rolling down his cheeks, and when I looked over I saw tears on my children's faces as well. Empathy is something that's hard to teach, but we can provide experiences to nurture it, can't we? Grant has been talking about Pablo all week.
We noticed there was a very nice grand piano in the nursing home, too - I spoke with the activities director and she told me she would love for the kids and I to provide music for the residents. We will be putting this into our summer schedule!
Our Easter was a beautiful, sunny day spent at home, then church, then granddaddy's house.
Final Day of Foundations
It's hard to believe we've been through all 24 weeks of Cycle 2, but we have and our community meetings have ended for this school year. {sniff}
Our community does such a fun "Around the World" theme for the last day. The kids rotate to different countries and have review games in each place. Couple this with a lot of review at home (outside because it's been so pretty!) and I feel like maybe we should have tried for Memory Master!
Now I look toward Cycle 3 and feel like I will be much more well prepared since it won't be our first year!
Speaking of CC...
On Wednesday afternoon I got to meet Brandy, from Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood. (If you are in CC you simply know Brandy as the CC blogging goddess!)
We met for lunch (our boys hit it off right away and Anna got a kick out of how cute Brandy's kids were) and then a park afterwards.
I wish we would have had more time - I wanted to pick Brandy's brain some more about CC!!
Homeschool Days at The Holocaust Museum
We were so fortunate to take part in the homeschool day at the Holocaust Museum at Kennesaw State University. I had no clue this wonderful resource was just an hour from our home.
It's hard to put into words what the day meant to us.
The theme for this homeschool day was "Children in the Holocaust". The Butterfly exhibit was home to hundreds of decorated butterflies - each one for a child victim during the holocaust. My own children had the opportunity to participate in the Butterfly Project.
We also were honored to hear a Holocaust victim, Tosia Schneider, speak to us for 45 minutes. I have already ordered her book, Someone Must Survive to Tell the World, for us to read aloud. Tosia was the only survivor in her family - she survived the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw and then a labor camp in Germany.
Her story was chilling, but so necessary for us all to remember.
THIS is why I homeschool - to learn about world events, put them into context, and offer my children as many memorable experiences as possible. Learning cannot be confined to a classroom - how can it be when all of life happens OUTSIDE of a classroom?
Homeschool Deals
April is also the time for many curriculum deals. I've highlighted three here on the blog in the past couple weeks and wanted to refresh your memories!
Bright Ideas Press: 20% off Literature Guides (these are great - we are doing The Cay this summer!)
LEGO® Education Group Buy with Homeschool Buyers Co-Op: StoryStarter and BuildtoExpress sets are discounted right now -- click the image to read about the sale and read my reviews of each of those products. We LOVE LEGO® Education!
Ultimate Homemaking Bundle: This is probably the most amazing deal. You receive over 80 eBooks discounted at 95% for the entire bundle. These bundle sales are wonderful - I urge you to click the image below and see the great homeschool resources (as well as so many other resources) that are included!
How was your week? I hope it's finally warmed up everywhere and you can enjoy some time outside!
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