School has started

School has started here in Nevada. School has started here at the Shepcarpclan household. We are using thematic units this year. Kate, the 5 year old, is in first grade this year. She took her placement for math and will be doing second grade math. Emma is right on target. Caleb has taken off in reading and is now reading everything, what a huge change for him. Evan is as usual Evan. Doing great in history, reading and science and holding his own in math. Andrew has found his brain this year and will be joining us. Andrew is soon to be 15 and I think will make it into college courses by January. OMG I can't believe that. He is ready, I may not be but he is. This week is space for our thematic unit, I decided on this due to the lunar eclipse Tuesday and meteors Saturday morning.

I sat the kids down last week and we came up with unit topics for the year. Among my favorites where, great plagues and adventures. They were thinking when we study flying we could actually try flying. October will see things like Poe and Nevada history. We are adding religion this year, we will learn a little about each religion and belief. We come from a very mixed family so we want our children to be open minded. We attend a unit studies group weekly, been doing that this summer. This gives them a chance to get together with other kids and learn things. Caleb tried to give a lesson in homemade bombs, I put a quick stop to that. I am pretty sure anarchist is his secret life goal.

People ask me why I home school. We started out this way when Andrew was 5. He had fallen into a camp fire when he was 4, at 5 his skin was still too new to be on a playground. Now I home school because I love it. I love teaching my children and sometimes learning things with them. I love being there when they learn something new or finally get something we have worked had on. Homeschooling is easier on Evan and Caleb. Sudden change and crowded situations are hard on both of them. We have groups we get together with, and girls scouts. School has started and my life is now very very busy but I love it.