Growing up as sisters/friends

I hope that these two girls stay BFF's forever. My Hannah (born in September of 2013) and Genevieve (born in December of 2013) have been together as buddies since they moved here back in 2018. While our other kids haven't all "matched" in age, these two do and they are big buds!

 

In fact, here is the first "two family homeschool" video I captured of them in September of 2018!

 

An Easter Egg Hunt

Kids grow up. This may be the very first year my boys did not participate in an Easter Egg Hunt (that I can remember.) But they helped hide the eggs. As did Micah and Noah Jenkins (brothers that hang out with us sometimes.) I waited until after Easter so I could buy half-price candy. It was simple. But it was fun. The Quad Squad + Theo = fun times!

The three youngest girls

Our Two-family Homeschool has evolved quite a bit. It began with Abigail paired off with the older Kotynski girls, Ana and Kari. When they first arrived, Kari was in 4th grade and Ana in 6th. Abigail was in 1st believe it or not. 

As the Kotynski big girls got bigger, Abigail slowly migrated into hanging out more with the younger gals: Genevieve and Hannah (both in second grade). Abigail, now in 4th, unfortunately, always feels she's a bit of a person without a country, but she's more and more becoming close with these two best friends. 

Genevieve and Hannah are best buds. Eoin, who is in 3rd grade, hangs out with them too, but you can tell the boy in him will start to deviate from them more and more. 

I am so incredibly blessed to have this family in my life. I feel I don't Blog as often as my kids get older. There's so much they do not want shared. But there is so much I want to remember. These little gals are a big part of that.

Kildee House

I am reading this book to my 1st thru 4th graders. If you'd like to read with us, feel free to join in!

Chapter 14

Chapter 13

Chapter 12

Chapter 11

Chapter 10 (Part 2)

Chapter 10 (Part 1)

Chapter 9

Chapter 8

Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Chapter 3 (Part 2)

Chapter 3 (Part 1)

Chapter 2

Chapter 1 

Banner in the Sky

I am reading the following book to my middle schoolers (7th-9th grade). If you'd like to read along with us, join us on my reading journey!

Chapter 19

Chapter 18

Chapter 17 (Part 1)

Chapter 17 (Part 2)

Chapter 16 (Part 2)

Chapter 16 (Part 1)

Chapter 15 (Part 1)

Chapter 15 (Part 2)

Chapter 14

Chapter 13

Chapter 12

Chapter 11

Chapter 10

Chapter 9 (Part 2)

Chapter 9 (Part 1)

Chapter 8

 

Chapter 7

 

Chapter 6

Chapter 5 (Part 1)

Chapter 5 (Part 2)

Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Our teammates

I loved watching as the Kotynskis returned from their out of town vacation and Hannah and Genevieve jumped into each other’s arms. These family members are my homeschooling teammates. 

This year at co-op

JB is teaching science this year to Sidge, Isaac, and my niece (Kari). Poor guy has worked so many shifts that we had to squeeze it in during a few hours off he had on Friday morning. Here are some pictures of him talking about Newton:

For my own records, I wanted to remember what we did for this year's homeschool group. So here it is:

Isaac (Grade 7)

• History/Language Arts Bible/Science (HLB) Sunlight Level H
• CTC Math 8th grade pre-Algebra
• Typing (Keyboarding without tears)
• Language (French)
• Piano
• Karate
• General Science (with John teaching)
• Civics (with Mrs. Bales at co-op)
• "Adventure Time" (PE class at co-op)

Elijah "Sidge" (Grade 7)

• History/Language Arts Bible (HLB) Sunlight Level H
• CTC Math 7th grade math
• Typing (Keyboarding without tears)
• Language (Spanish)
• Piano
• Karate
• General Science (with John teaching)
• Civics (with Mrs. Bales at co-op)
• "Adventure Time" (PE class at co-op)

Abigail (Grade 4)

• History/Language Arts/Bible/Science (HLB) Sunlight Level B (doing complete unit with Aunt Hannah -- Genevieve, Eoin, and our Hannah are doing it too, but Abigail is doing different reading then they are.)
• CTC Math (online)
• Sewing (with Ms. Anni)
• Typing (Keyboarding without tears)
• Piano
• Ballet
• Write-Shop (5th thru 7th grade) with Ms. McCoy 
• Art (with Kim Clark)
• Explore Greeneville (with Kristin Girton at co-op)
• Girls Club (at co-op)

Abigail (Grade 4)

• History/Language Arts/Bible/Science (HLB) Sunlight Level B (doing complete unit with Aunt Hannah -- Genevieve, Eoin, and our Hannah are doing it too, but Abigail is doing different reading then they are.)
• CTC Math (online)
• Sewing (with Ms. Anni)
• Typing (Keyboarding without tears)
• Piano
• Ballet
• Write-Shop (5th thru 7th grade) with Ms. McCoy 
• Art (with Kim Clark)
• Explore Greeneville (with Kristin Girton at co-op)
• Girls Club (at co-op)

I am teaching a Brit Lit/Christian History class to Gabe, Katy, and Maryah.

I am teaching the 7th & 9th grade HLB.

Back together!

We finally get to be back with our Kotynski quarantine-tribe! John got sick right after Thanksgiving and between lingering COVID-possibilities, mixing interactions with different families, and traveling, we didn't re-engage until last night for a pizza party! Today, I have the "littles" and "Abigail" and Aunt Hannah has the "bigs". We'll come back together in the afternoon all at my house. 

Here's a photo of the littles +Abigail enjoying being back together:

Each of them did a "reflection" on 2020 paper. Here were their results:

Homesteading Mama: Field trip with the littles

On Mondays, the "littles" come over to my house while Aunt Hannah schools "the bigs." Last Monday, I decided to take a field trip to our local Amish store: Yoders with them. I gave them each a ziplock bag with change so that they could pay for their own "peppermint sticks." It was super cute, and they did a great job. I think they were the highlight of all the employee's morning. 

We took Arabelle to Yoder's with us. More and more, each time I leave the house, this dog gives me the most pitiful eyes, and I feel talked into taking her with us. She is an "okay" car traveler, but she is a SUPER good listener, so when one of the kids called her into their seat, she decided to come as you can see in the video below.

I was doing a Marco Polo video with my wonderful friend, Debbie, when all chaos took over. I had to pull over to deal with the situation. It was QUITE funny. You have to watch Eoin's face nearly smashed by the Arabelle:

Homesteading Mama: Our 2020 school year

We've made some pretty substantial changes in our homeschooling days this year. 

1. We are splitting up the kids between houses more: Kotysnkis, Grama's, and our house. Living 7 minutes away from each other makes this easy. And of course Grampa and Grama live on the farm. Grama being willing to help is SO helpful and gives Hannah and I both a little bit of time where we don't have major responsibilities. 
2. Instead of homeschooling for free with curriculum I could piece together like we did in the past (and working as a reviewer of free products), we are using SONLIGHT. This is a history/Bible/language arts curriculum all grouped together. I am doing one of them with Abigail and one with the "bigs" (six kids). This curriculum fits us SO WELL. It is literature-based which I absolutely find fantastic. All of our kids are good readers, and we love learning through reading. I am learning so much and the kids are too. It's great. The video above is of a typical "afternoon" in our house. I have my two sons, three of my cousin's children, and our friend Katy on zoom doing history together. We are listening to a "Read Aloud" and answering questions while we go.
3. For science, we are using Generation Genius which I LOVE. I stumbled upon this and am totally hooked on it! I am making worksheets to go with our assignments so if anyone else uses this program, let me know!
4. We have stayed with CTCMATH for all our kiddos 6th grade and older. Our high schoolers are doing different math curriculums that fit them a bit better. I am currently planning with staying with that program through high school.
5. Hannah Kotynski is teaching an amazing Bible curriculum! Here is the link to it: TO EVERY NATION. After doing the first book on missionary Hudson Taylor, Sidge told us: "I once wondered if Christianity could be real. But after reading this book, I definitely know it is. It has strengthened my faith." He said that! In those words!
6. The kids are doing ballet (via zoom), Karate (via zoom and outside personal lessons) and tennis (playing as a family and doing a lesson once a week.)
7. We have continued piano via zoom with our teacher. 

There's a lot more, but this is just some of the fun things we are doing right now.

Review: Generation Genius

I stumbled upon Generation Genius while searching online for a fun AND easy (for me! the parent!) science curriculum for seven children here in our Two Family Homeschool. I was specifically looking for curriculum for our K-6 kiddos.  Our high schoolers are doing a more complicated, textbook-related science lessons for their high school credits. But I wanted our elementary and middle school kids to ...

... well what I wanted was something: 

FUN

and

EASY.

Specifically, I was looking for something that could help me with two big problems I seemed to have when it came to science in our homeschool:

1. I am NOT a science-person. Never have been. Never will be. Not my thing.
2. I will NOT get the materials for science experiments. Once upon a time, I thought I would. I'd be that homeschool Mama. But I'm not. I don't want to. And I'm not going to. It's just too much for me. Too much planning and prepping and buying and gathering and doing.

So, firs,t I scoured my own cabinets ...

I had quite a few different science curriculums here at the house I had accumulated. But they all just seemed like "another thing to read." We started one, and the kids did it fine. But it meant just reading and answering questions. A bit boring.

So I sat down on my computer and typed in "fun science program for elementary kids" and I stumbled upon Generation Genius. 

Immediately, a few things became apparent:

1. The website is SO SO easy to navigate. LIKE SUPER EASY! I didn't get lost even ONE TIME!
2. You can try five of the lessons completely free. No credit card to put in and cancel later. No tricking you. You just flat-out can try five for free. 
3. Each video contains everything you need for the kiddos to learn about that topic with very little (if any!) help from the parents. Let's be real here. There are ten kids schooling here. I can't be everywhere at the same time. 
4. The program is INCREDIBLY affordable. $95 for the year for homeschool use. That's it. Super clear and easy and really, truly, not expensive for an entire year of science lessons!
5. The videos are done incredibly well. Like, super duper high-level awesomeness. Professional-level here folks. I can't say this enough.
6. The lessons are easily broken up into three very clear age ranges: 
• K-2
• 3-5
• 6-8
7. Each lesson is broken down VERY clearly and allows for GREAT EASE of use. Take "Atoms and Molecules" for example. When you click on the video, here is what you see. I actually let my kids, all by themselves, walk themselves through the curriculum. I even let my third-grader, Abigail, sit down and "lead" the program for my kindergarten and first graders, and she was able to navigate it with complete ease.

We are completely and utterly SOLD on this program. I actually contacted the company MYSELF to see if they'd let me try it free for one month in exchange for my review, and the head guy emailed me back and let me try it for a month. Just one week into our one month trial, I knew that this is something we will ABSOLUTELY do the entire year. It is OUTSTANDING!!!

If you have any questions, please let me know. I'm happy to answer them, but this is one program I can unequivocally advocate for. And so will my kiddos. Each of the kids has also given it two thumbs up. Even Isaac our twelve-year-old-non-science-guy.

Give this program a try! There are five free episodes just waiting for you. If you have a child anywhere between 4-13, you will LOVE what this has to offer!

First day of Homeschooling 2020-2021

Today was our first day of homeschooling for the 2020-2021 school year. In no particular oder, here are the kiddos who make up our homeschooling group: 

Eoin

Gabe

Ana

Isaac

Kari

Abigail

Hannah

The two first graders: Genevieve and Hannah

Genevieve

Happy picture of Sidge

Sad picture of Sidge

The three sixth graders: Isaac, Sidge, and Kari

Baby Theo

We are over-the-moon excited that little Theo is finally here! The Kotynski family are an integral part of our community. We truly DO life together. Since my girls will never have a "little sibling" I am super glad that they are going to get to experience a little baby from the ground up. I think it's wonderful practice for young people -- especially our girls!

Baby Theo will be the Kotynski's last baby as well so our Two-Family Homeschool group will round out with ten kiddos: five girls and five boys! 

Here are some pictures we snapped the day after he was born. Because of the Coronavirus, they were released from the hospital the morning after he was born.

My niece Grace

Wwoofer Jacob