Hometelschool

This week, I strove to add some structure back into our lives, as much as is possible in our current situation. We were dealing with the typical behavioral issues that arise when kids' lives are undergoing great change and we knew that getting into a routine, one in which certain things are expected of them daily, would help. And boy, did it. We now clean up our rooms and do some school on my bed before going out each day. This is what that looks like usually:

 I had brought a few school things with us when we left Virginia, we hit a Goodwill store and got a few books in Colorado and when we got here, we found some books and games at Savers. Eventually our books/games suitcase became pretty outta control:

 So we organized it today! Much better.

 Having this suitcase organized really helps the kids find things to do other than watch the Disney channel ;) And of course, where Natalie is, the crafting usually is also. She was trying to look mad that I was taking her picture.

We've written some postcards, studied up on the turtles and penguins that we visit across the street at the Hilton, had spelling bees, made up Bible trivia questions while waiting for our food at restaurants every night, observed the vastly different wildlife here than where we've lived in the past, practiced magic tricks, worked on word puzzles, Natalie learned to play Sudoku on a restaurant kids menu, etc, etc ... and I call all of it "school" :)

I am eager to get into our house, though and get back into it for real! We aren't planning a summer break really--with our style, I find we all prefer the routine of our relaxed homeschool all year. I've ordered a book to start with some ancient history, Charlotte Mason/living books style. And I picked out a microscope too, we really cant wait to have some fun with that. We would like to get a book on birds of Hawaii and flowers of Hawaii too.

I met some of our soon-to-be neighbors at the park in our soon-to-be neighborhood the other day. They were so nice, one gal let me see her house, which is just like what ours will look like! Having a visual is huge when you've accepted a house site unseen, ya know? And they told me that our nextdoor neighbor and our across the street neighbor are both homeschool families! So that's encouraging.

We only have seventeen days left of hotel living, woot! It's been fun, though, actually. Of course, it's wearing on us in ways, but we might as well enjoy this while it lasts!