Back to School 2017

One of them was VERY excited. The other one just "meh".

Regardless of their feelings on the first day, these two are still very grateful for their "new" school. This is our third year at Summit Learning Charter, a local public/homeschool hybrid. The kids take all of their main courses online, from the dining room table, with me as a Learning Coach, three days a week. Two days a week, they are able to take live classes on campus with their friends, giving them what I feel is the best of both worlds.

This year, the start of Middle School for the eldest, has been deemed "boring and hard and not as much fun as fifth grade". His learning curve is a bit steeper now, but he's still knocking it out of the park with his grades (if not with his speediness; late assignments are becoming more normal than this Learning Coach cares to admit).

The Fourth grader is now, and has always been, all about the social time. She has to work at school, but it doesn't seem to phase her too much, because the reward of time with friends outweighs the work by a long shot.

I'm not going to be able to keep them little for very much longer.

Last Day of School 2017

Yippee! These kiddos worked HARD and finished ALL of their coursework for the year with passing grades. No longer 3rd & 5th, I now have a 4th and Middle Schooler on my hands.

Our charter school has a tradition that we love, of inviting everyone (parents included) to a local amusement park to celebrate the last day of school. We turn in our borrowed laptops in exchange for ride bracelets, picnic under the trees, and have a grand time.

Kids Were Here

Snow for Days

Hands down, this has been the whitest Winter we've experienced in nearly a decade. We're used to getting substantial snowfalls each winter, but they typically only last a matter of days. Not this year. It has been one snow storm on top of another, leaving our roads packed and rutted and difficult to navigate for anyone that doesn't have 4 wheel drive and some gumption.

The overlapping snowstorms have even satisfied the most enthusiastic snow fans in our number (close tie between me and the girl child). For the first time in years, I think I'll be ready for Spring when it comes. But only if I get at least one more good snowstorm first (insert wink-eyed emoji here).

The local school districts were closed for nearly two additional weeks after Winter Break because of the horrible road conditions (don't laugh at us, you people from the Midwest! We just don't have the infrastructure here to maintain the roads when it snows this much. Add in lots of curves and hills and it gets dangerous very fast.) The Farmboy and I both have 4 wheel drive and have no trouble getting in and out when needed, but I try to stay home when it's bad out there because I don't trust the other drivers!

The great thing about being enrolled in a public/homeschool hybrid is that we didn't miss one single day of school, which means we won't have to make any up come June. Plus, sledding makes for a great PE activity!