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I Officially Have a Middle Schooler

First day of 6th Grade:  July 1st, 2016

"I want to be a YouTuber, and work at the movie theater and be a lifeguard when I grow up."

It has begun.... Middle School.  This Mama is not quite ready for this next stage in my son's life!  But, here it is, and he's showing no signs of slowing down. 
We had a busy and exciting summer, spending every Friday on a field trip with other local homeschoolers.  We visited the Police Station

Hazel Hill Chocolate Factory

... and The Zoo, Kansas Discover Center, the Mulvane Art and Lego Lab, and the last local Fire Station that still has an operational pole.

We jumped into the 6th grade on the first of July.  It was so hot and the joys of summer were already beginning to wane.  My son always does better with a solid routine. Long breaks become more destructive than enjoyable.  But, since it was still summer, and we still have several school age kids in our home summer camp, we decided to take it easy and do a light load of school work until those big kids go back to their public schools in August. 

This year, we are restarting our four-year cycle of History with Ancient Times. We'll be stepping up to the middle school level in regards to specific topics, projects, quiz questions, and details of the time periods. 

Here are some of the first "just for fun" projects my son did with a couple summer campers: Play Dough Stonehenge Megalith on the left and mummified stuffed animals on the right.  They all enjoyed working together on these and even seemed to enjoy the chapter I read aloud on each topic! 

Next week, when the public school summer campers return to their schools, we will dive in to a full day schedule and really kick off the first year of Middle School.

Beginning our Charlotte Mason Journey

I absolutely love this picture of my beautiful son.  It just shows his love of books and as a mom, that sparks my imagination for his future.  Loving books and reading is the foundation of a successful education, and that opens up so many opportunities for a successful life.

My son, now almost 11 yrs old, has always loved to read. I read to him while I was pregnant, and every day since he's been born until he could read on his own..... which wasn't too many years.  (He was reading sight words at 3 and full books by age 4. By age 6, he was into small chapter books and no longer wanted to wait around for me to read out loud to him.  He could read much faster on his own... )

While my son does have a list of difficulties when it comes to school work, or life in general (See my older post "Joshua Naphtali"), reading has never been a problem.  As I begin to look forward to this coming homeschool year, he'll be starting 5th grade work in most areas, while I will encourage him to choose his literature from the upper middle school level.

In the end of our homeschooling journey, I would like to see my son love and appreciate his education and life just as he loves books currently.  I want him to see the endless possibilities in his future when he has that good foundation of a quality education.  I want him fully prepared for college in all areas, educationally, socially, financially.
Socially, I want him to appreciate and respect others with Jesus as his example, regardless of his personal opinions of them or theirs of him.  I want him to value relationships above common interests, and see that no true friendship is "all or nothing"; that all people are different and will  have differences at times.  I want him to appreciate the differences in others and never lose his love of learning.  I want my son to see God in everything, and to seek God in every area as he begins to take his own life forward. I want him to love God with all his heart, soul, and mind.
Emotionally, I want him to be comfortable with how God made him and respectful of how God made others.
I want him to pursue his interests and make positive contributions to society.  I also want him to be able to manage his own household - cooking, cleaning, laundry, finances, etc.
In essence, I want him to be a well rounded, loving, respectful, individual who is a positive contributing member of society.  I desire for him to have his priorities in line with God's word in his entire life: God first, others second, self third.  This would mean seeking God in every area of life, and humbling himself before God.  I ultimately want my son to see that God gave him all his grand ideas and passions and interests, but they were given to him to serve and glorify God, not himself.  I want him to pursue his passions, but with God as his focus rather than worldly things like fame or money.   I want him to see that with God, all things are possible, and without God, he can do nothing.

Goals

Goals for 2016

Health/Fitness:

Finish 8 week Tone it Up challenge & use nutrition plan
I am healthy, happy & feel confident in my body
I am full of energy and motivation
I wake up & workout daily - 20-30mins weekdays & 45-60 mins weekends
I eat dinner at home every night - except special gatherings

Spiritual:

I attend church every weekend
I read & study the Word daily
I pray daily with dedicated time
I incorporate God into my work with more Bible stories, crafts and activities

Work/Financial:

I plan & prep PreK lessons weekly & implement them daily, working towards finishing all of Easy Peasy Getting Ready Level 1 by June 2016.
I tithe at least 10% of all income
I pay off all small debts
I begin paying down student loans
I save each month for a vacation to Legoland FL
I stick to the budget I have written - bills 1st, save, then play

Homeschool:

I lead Jay to finish workbooks & lessons
I dedicate time daily Mon-Sat to work with Jay on school
I plan & prep lessons weekly, implement them daily, working towards finishing 6th grade work by July 2016
I reward Jay with fam game time or weeknight friend visit with 3 smooth work days in a week - 4+ smooth days earns him a sleepover.
I do NOT lecture, threaten, warn or yell.

Home:

I work with Jay to pick up all common areas daily before bed
I help Jay pick up his room 10 mins daily
I set aside time mon, wed & sat evenings to do chores - cleaning & laundry

Week 3 goal

Last week, I challenged myself to wake up early every day... I got to Thursday, then fell sick with respiratory infection & wasn't able to sleep well. So, I'm still working on that goal!
But for this week, I challenge myself to go to the gym & get in 2 good 30 min cardio sessions at the gym that I pay for & never use!
I will go Sunday morning before church - get up at 7:30am, run at gym till 8:30, home to shower & eat, then off to church by 9:45.

Week 2 Goal

This week, the main goal I want to focus on is getting up when my alarm goes off at 6am.
I'll start with a few mins of Joyce Meyer TV with my coffee, Tuesday through Thursday. By Friday, I will do a short workout to start my day.

Finish

My word for 2016 is FINISH.

I have always had a bad habit of starting multiple projects, but not finishing most of them. I have books half read, journals partially filled, rooms half decorated, the house partially clean, laundry washed but not put away, and school lessons planned but not fully implemented. This year, I want to focus more on seeing things through to completion rather than starting new things.
I will finish reading a novel for myself.
I will finish my house chores by setting times in my daily routine to do so.
I will blog here more than verbally sharing everything with Jay.
I will finish decorating the school room, my room, the living room & Jays room.
I will enforce school lessons to be completed before free time (calling or inviting friends over).
I will see that school books we start get finished before we begin something new in the same subject.
I will finish the 8 week Tone it Up challenge I started.

2016 will be a great year because I will finish what I start and set an example for my son as well!