June 02, 2024

Summer Journal No 1. | Releasing Butterflies

June 02, 2024/ Jennifer Blair

Back in April we purchased five tiny caterpillars and took them home. As soon as we got home, Simon grabbed the container off of the counter and dropped it. I thought we had just killed our newly acquired beings. Thankfully, caterpillars are pretty resilient. For 12 days we watched as they grew and grew, waiting anxiously for when they’d make their chrysalis. The kids were mesmerized. It was funny how long we could sit and simply watch them move around in the container. One day we woke up to one in a newly formed chrysalis, and 6 days later we woke up to one emerged butterfly. We released them just in time - the day before a big trip back East. It was a beautiful way to wrap up our school year. They loved watching the caterpillars grow, and I loved watching them grow. (Though I thoroughly enjoyed the caterpillars too.) Watching my kids find joy in learning and in nature is such a blessing to me. Getting to teach them so many thing is such a joy. I both lose and find myself in being their mother and teacher.

October 28, 2023

Friday Nature Day

October 28, 2023/ Jennifer Blair

The outdoors have always called to me. Many times I feel I simply need to go outside and feel some sunshine on my face. During our normal homeschool days, we try to take a daily walk around our neighborhood. But after my husband almost lost his life in February, I’ve been rethinking, well, everything. I took an imaginary look forward into our future. In five years I will be 40 years old, our youngest (the twins) will be 7 or 8 and our oldest will be 14. I can’t imagine them being so big and independent since they insist on “Mommy!” for everything at present. That is a big change in such a short amount of time. It reminded me that I have a lot of groundwork to lay in these brief years. There are more vital things than schoolwork, though I do still want a high bar set for academics. Going through something traumatic will teach you that you can’t survive without a good framework and a good vision for your life. The unnecessary things seem to crumble away. I see now the need to change a lot of rhythms in my life, and being outside for my sake and my kids was something we all needed more than our current schedule allowed. Our curriculums have always encouraged a field trip day or something of the like on Fridays, and we did that plenty, but now we go outside for different reasons.

July 14, 2023

What Does Homeschooling Multiple Ages Look Like?

July 14, 2023/ Jennifer Blair

I am a mom of 5 kids ranging from almost 9 - 2 year old twins. To say our home can be chaotic sometimes is an understatement. I really didn’t know how in the world we would were going to make it when the twins were born. They were only a month old when we started homeschooling with a 2nd and preK student, along with our 2 year old. But we survived, and it was actually a great year. I am wondering again how we will make it happen this fall with twin 2 year olds, but I know we will find our way. If you have multiple ages you are schooling and littles, I hope this is a help. I’m still in the thick of it, so I can’t say I know everything. This is just works for us.

July 13, 2023

Where to Start with Homeschooling

July 13, 2023/ Jennifer Blair

I am excited to finally share this post for any of you interested in starting the homeschooling journey. It’s been going on six years of homeschooling our kids, and I can hardly believe that our oldest is going into 4th grade! I haven’t put anything out there before now, honestly because I was still getting my bearings on our homeschool rhythms. (Throw baby twins into the mix and you will quickly discover what really works and what really doesn’t!) Now our routines and goals feel more like second nature to me, though as our kids learn and grow I am too. I’m thankful that homeschooling doesn’t feel so big and scary anymore. I do still question everything on at least a yearly basis, but my confidence as a teacher has expanded as I see that they actually are learning something! And by now, I’m see they’ve learned a lot! All kids really need is someone to be curious with them, and to help them love learning by modeling it. After that encouragement they really flourish on their own. All in all, I have come to truly LOVE homeschooling, and I love to help others on their journey so they can love it also.

December 21, 2018

Starting Homeschooling: Our Early Journey

December 21, 2018/ Jennifer Blair

Well, hello old blog! I started this post in October…but then the hurricane hit our house and I lost my computer! So, here we are in December. Better late than never. I hope it is helpful for anyone considering homeschooling. Forewarning: this is very long! I’m sure that is partially why it has taken so long to pull together. My new normal (less work, more time home with my kids) has consumed most of my time, and things like blogging fall to the wayside. Still, I say all of that with gratefulness and excitement! I’m not sure when it happened but I realized the other day that the emptiness in me where my business had been no longer feels empty anymore. My new normal hasn’t changed much since I stepped back, but now truly feel content. The Lord has such perfect timing. He knew it would take me probably longer than it should to adjust, and has brought me into a new journey, with a heart fully ready. Part of that journey is homeschooling! Last year it would have felt like a burden, but now it is a joy.