That's right ~ we have a kindergartener in the house!! In September we started Addison on a homeschooling curriculum. Given that she didn't turn 5 until this month, she's not actually eligible to attend kindergarten in Colorado this year, but she was clearly ready to start some formal learning. As for JD and I, our thoughts on homeschooling have evolved greatly over the years. A concept that we both considered foreign and undesirable a decade ago, has grown on us to the point that we are very excited about what lies ahead as we seek to teach our children.

We firmly believe that it is our responsibility, within our means, to see that A&A and eventually Sweet Pea are trained and educated according to Biblical principals. How this will play out in the long term, we don't fully know so we plan to trust the Lord each step of the way. As for now though, we are extremely encouraged with how the Lord is leading us.

The amount of homeschooling curriculum available these days can be overwhelming to sift through. After a good bit of research, JD and I chose to use My Father's World for the kids this year. It combines the best of Charlotte Mason, classical education, and unit studies, and it has a Biblical worldview and international focus.

So far so good! Addie is really loving it! She is eager to get started everyday and really enjoys filling JD in on what she has learned. As she brings up different things over the course of each day, I can really tell she is thinking through and applying what she's learned.

With Ayden being only 3 years old, I wasn't really sure how much he would stick with us, but he's really doing well. Each unit we cover focuses on a letter of the alphabet so he's learning his letters and the sounds that they make. We'll be at the grocery store, and he'll say, "Look Mom! There's a letter M on that box!" Or while we are baking he'll exclaim, "Salt starts with the letter S!" Did I mention he has the cutest little boy voice ever?

Since Addie already knows the basics of reading from some things we did last year, she's been eager to work with AJ on his letters; it's awesome! She'll quiz him in different ways and encourage him by saying things like, "Good job buddy!" Ayden is also involved in all our experiments and projects. I pretty much just let him decide what he wants to be apart of, and he usually chooses to participate in some form or fashion.

While I don't intend to blog about their schooling in detail, I do hope to include some of the fun activities we are doing. It's been such a blessing to be able to teach A&A, to watch them learn about God, the Creator of the world around them, and to hear their thoughts and ideas. I'm so thankful for this opportunity!