Another Long-Overdue Update

It's been about FOUR years since my last update, so I'd say it's time for another! SO much has changed in our family since I started this blog in 2009. It started as a way to journal my son's homeschool learning adventures. Eventually I began to share all my ideas, my favorite being my Disneyland-inspired unit studies.

Since 2009, we have added four more kiddos to the mix, and my little learner who inspired me to start this blog is now nearly seventeen years old! 

Aidyn is now in 11th grade and working through a year-long ancestry curriculum that I made for him. 

Jack (7) is in 2nd grade and a full-fledged reader who is enthusiastic about learning. 

Natalie (6) is in kindergarten and our most active, bouncy learner who struggles with focusing. This year she is using a reading curriculum called Ti and Mo that was created by a local kindergarten teacher. It has absolutely captivated her! 

Ember (4) is doing TK activities and joining us for circle time, tabletime, arts and crafts, some classes, and field trips. 

Raven (almost 1) is our newest little learner. She is working on standing, crawling, eating at the table, and joining us on field trips.

As you can imagine, blogging our learning adventures has been practically impossible for me these last 7 years because we have had little ones and babies. 

But now that we are done in that department, I am debating returning to my dusty, old blog to share our journey and all my zany ideas. 

It's a blast looking back at all of Aidyn's activities throughout the years, and I would love to be able to have that for my other children. Plus, I want to share what we are doing, what's working for us, and curriculum that I have been creating to spread a little magic in our homeschool. 

We still adore Disneyland and use it as a source of inspiration in learning. 

When Jack was in kindergarten, I created an "it's a small world" global curriculum that gently introduced countries, cultures, and children from all around the world. I would love to flesh out that curriculum and make it available to others.

I am also in the midst of planning a year-long Walt Disney World curriculum with a capstone getaway to the Magic Kingdom for everyone. So stay tuned!

Long-Overdue UPDATE!

I started this little blog almost ten years ago.

It was meant to be a journal of sorts for our homeschooling journey, starting when Aidyn was only three years old.

And now, hard as it is to believe, he is twelve years old and now has a little brother and sister (and soon a second sister!) who has joined him on his learning adventures.

It can be a hectic life, but it's filled with love, learning, and constant growing.

For the past nine years, we have mostly homeschooled in a relaxed, classical and literature-based way. We have read through many of the great books, rousing adventures, solid classics, and books of fantasy and imagination.

Aidyn's brother, Jack, already expresses eagerness to "do school" like his brother. He enjoys painting, drawing, writing, and being read to. He claims his favorite book is The One and Only Ivan though I haven't read it to him yet; he just likes carrying the massive book around with him.

Aidyn's sister, Natalie, is a full-on explorer extraordinaire! She is constantly making messes, dumping water, touching things she shouldn't, and knocking over objects all in effort to understand and explore her world. She is insatiably curious and employs an impressive range of vocabulary.

We also have a baby girl, Ember, due in just a few weeks.

I am beyond excited to see how they all continue to learn and grow together. Now that Jack is expressing more of an interest to tag along with his brother, I'm going to start him on a fun learning adventure, harking back to when Aidyn was only four and we explored the same topics.

We have a Disneyland trip planned for next year, and I want to take them all on a Disneyland-inspired learning journey over the course of this year. Of course, it will be gentle, fun, and exploratory (no boxed curricula or forced table time or worksheets here!).

We will be using the many lands of the Disneyland Resort to inspire our learning adventure. When in Adventureland, we will read books about the jungle and savanna, exotic animals, and tropical fruit. When in New Orleans Square, we will read about pirates and their plunders, ghosts and spooky mansions, and explore the creole culture of Louisiana.

Now that Aidyn is an independent and strong reader, he can enjoy many of the classic works that inspired these stories and lands.

I am going to do my best to continue my little blog-journal, so we can record all of our children's educational journey. It is heartwarming to be able to reach back and read what Aidyn was doing so many years ago and how much he has grown.