The Moberg Family

Category: Homeschool Days

  • 2018 First Days of School

    2018 First Days of School

    Well, another school year is off to the races…and this year, our baby girl headed off to kindergarten. She got a big girl backpack and lunchbox, and I just had to include The Kissing Hand in there for a little surprise. It’s a sweet little book about a little raccoon being nervous about going to school so his mom kisses his hand and tells him that her kisses will go with him to school. Selah was FAR from being nervous about school but I think the book was really more for me than for her… (waahhh!!) I hadn’t been emotional about this whole thing until I sat to read her the book…and couldn’t make it through without crying! Gah! The kids think it’s hilarious when I cry during books, so I’m glad they got a kick out of it!!


    We went to back-to-school night and found her classroom, teacher, desk and friends!

    I’m actually not sure if there’s ever been a child in the history of all children more excited to go to school. This child was practically jumping out of her skin she was so excited. She picked out this shirt as her “first day” shirt…the panda sequins change when you slide them up or down.

    But honestly, have you ever seen such an excited kindergartener?? When she saw this picture, she said, “It looks like I’m about to jump up.” And I responded, “YOU ARE!! Don’t you remember how you couldn’t stop jumping up and down??” Hahaha!! And here she is showing off her panda sequins shirt…both when the sequins are up and down!

    Here she is walking into school for the very first time as a student, and waving goodbye as her class walks into the building…

     

    If it looks like she’s a giant in this picture, it’s because she is :). Actually, she’s not the tallest one in her class! She’s #2!

    She only had a half day of school so I couldn’t pack her a fun lunch, but I was happy to see her again after a few hours :). She even made us a kissing hand while at school!!

    And here is the self-portrait that she drew the next day for our first homeschool day. She is wearing a unicorn headband and holding a parachute, of course :).

    Selah is thriving in her kindergarten class. She absolutely LOVES going to school. One thing I don’t think I made clear before her first day was that she was actually a STUDENT, not the TEACHER. There are quite a few hilarious quotes from her first day, but this one is our favorite: She proudly reported to us after her first day, “Mom and Dad, I was really helpful today. I helped all of the little ones who didn’t know how to cut and didn’t know their letters. You know, all of the two- and three-year-olds in my class.”

    I looked at her and said, “Selah…they are ALL five…just like you…”

    Her eyes got HUGE and her jaw dropped and she said, “REALLY?? REALLY????!!!!!”

    Oh my word, we love her so much!!!!

    One thing that has been SO PRECIOUS to watch unfold is Elliott and Selah’s friendship while at school. At home, we have worked diligently to help them build their friendship with each other and prayed that God would form a strong bond between them. But of course there are definitely days filled with much tension between the two of them. We have spent many hours instructing and teaching Elliott about protecting and watching out for his sister while at school and he has just hit the ball out of the park so far this year. One day when she didn’t have anyone to sit with at lunch she went over and asked Elliott if she could sit with him. And he said…drum roll please…”Of course, Selah!” And he cleared a space between himself and his friends for her to sit. #heartgush #thankyouLord!!! He has been a valiant big brother, protecting and serving her while at school…and even telling his friends to go easy on her during Gaga ball because she was only in kindergarten :).

    And speaking of that Big Man, he’s an old pro at this whole “school” thing…

     

    This mighty man found this shirt at the store and INSISTED on wearing it on the first day of school. I will admit I was not the biggest fan of it…not because I don’t want to take some credit for this wonderful young man, but because we all know that he is who he is because of the MIGHTY GRACE OF GOD!! And of course, Brian and I have helped shape him and teach him…but if we’re gonna get a t-shirt, it might as well boast about our great God. I wish the shirt said, “I am who I am thanks to God and a little help from my dad and mom.” 😉 Regardless, we let him get it (I’m not sure I’ve EVER seen him so opinionated and persistent about an item of clothing) and wear on the first day of school…

    Aaaand, the caption on the picture of the two of us together reads, “Mom holds son at gunpoint and forces him to wear shirt that gives her credit for his awesomeness. Son is terrified.”

    Here the self-portrait Elliott drew on the first homeschool day:

    Elliott has a fabulous second grade teacher and he is, as always, loving school!

     

    My goodness, these two are just my absolute favorites!!! Happy first day of school, dear ones!!

  • 2018 Last Days of School

    2018 Last Days of School

    Apparently I’m making it a tradition to just barely squeeze the Last Days of School post in before the start of the next school year…

    Well, we did it! Another school year down in the Moberg history books. We continued another year of partial homeschooling–so two days a week, Elliott went to school and Selah went to gymnastics and then we homeschooled them the other days. We absolutely love this combination for so many reasons, but that’s a post for another day! 🙂

    Elliott has grown immensely in his leadership this year while at school and we just couldn’t be more proud of him. His teacher told me that often once he had completed the assignment given, she would tell him he could have free choice time. But then the next thing she knew, she would turn around and find him wandering from classmate to classmate, helping the kids who didn’t understand how to do the work. #heartgush

    Although Elliott has NEVER had a problem talking non-stop, sharing ideas and telling stories at home, this is the first year we’ve really seen him blossom at school. Probably one of my favorite things about this past school year was watching his friendship grow and deepen with his buddy Quinn. They are two peas in a pod for sure!!! An amazing team and great role models.

    To my somewhat dismay, Elliott fell head-over-heels in love with…MONOPOLY this year. (Thanks, Dad!!) 😉 Wow. I mean, the child eats, sleeps, and breathes Monopoly. He can’t get enough of it. They were tasked with the assignment to come up with an invention and so he–obviously–invented…wait for it…“a robot that can play Monopoly with me even when my family doesn’t want to.” (And just for the record, Brian in particular has played HOURS UPON HOURS of Monopoly with him, but clearly it’s not enough…) We have seen Brian’s entrepreneurial side bursting out of him this year as he really, really enjoys buying and selling. His math skills continue to shock and awe us. For instance, the kids had been slightly obsessed with the idea of the concept of starting a fire by rubbing two stick together. Brian mentioned that if either one of them ever started a fire by rubbing two sticks together (obviously under our supervision) that he would give them $50. A couple minutes later, Elliott said, “Well I’m going to start a fire 20 times so I make $1,000.” Brian was surprised that he did the math so quickly so started giving him other 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication problems, and Elliott solved them all…! Here are his stats…unedited. 🙂

     

    Selah, our sweet girl. She continues to be the most profound combination of strength and gentleness, service and leadership, hilariousness and, well, other strong emotions! She has excelled this year in so many ways. It is an absolute joy to watch her blossom into a little girl who loves the Lord and loves others so well. She LOVES to read and now that she is a strong reader you will often find her with her nose stuck in a book…and it’s not too unlikely that you will find her like that while doing a handstand. We have noted this love for reading, but I will say I was surprised that she said her favorite part of pre-k was reading books! She is whole reader, unlike her brother who is very much a phonics kid, and so we often hear some creative renditions to what she’s reading when she comes to a word she doesn’t know and simply makes up her own word for it. She also begged me to do flashcards with her most every homeschool day (I’m not a huge flashcards fan for teaching reading at this age, which is why she found herself begging…). However, she insisted that I hold the flashcards UPSIDE-DOWN so she could read them that way. HA! And she had a pretty nearly perfect record of reading them all correctly!

    This will also give you another glimpse into our girl…I took her last day of school picture and, I’ll admit, was quite proud of myself when she smiled beautifully and I got the picture in one try! But when I said, “Wow, Selah! We got a great one on the first try! Good job!” she busted out laughing hysterically and pointed out that she was holding the wrong side of the sign! Haha, very funny, Selah B :).

    And will the REAL Last Day of Pre-K girl please stand up…


    And, of course, it wouldn’t be a true picture of Selah if there weren’t some goofy ones thrown in there… The MOMENT we got (an accurate) picture of her, she ran over to climb a tree. In a dress. And that is how she rolls, ladies and gentlemen!

    And now for a little compare and contrast, especially because I never posted a “first days of school” post!

     Our Mighty Man!


    Our Tenacious Girl!


     

    Kindergarten and Second Grade, we’re ready for you!!!

  • Last Days of School

    Last Days of School

    (Note: I have had this post 99% done for a month and then…#LIFE. So without further ado*… now that school’s basically about to start again…I present to you…the kids’ last days of school!)

    (* Did you know that is how “ado” is spelled???? I typed it “adieu” (because, duh) but decided to google it to save my mom from possibly needing to correct my mistaken grammar once again–only to discover it’s ADO! What the what??? WHO KNEW??? Add it to my list, Mom. But at least I caught it ;). )

    #butistillthinkadieumakesmoresense

    ——————————–

    Well that school year flew by!! Wasn’t it JUST August??

    We had an awesome first year of Kindergarten and homeschool Kindergarten and Preschool!! And even though it was snowing the week before, we didn’t have our classic snowy last day of school this year :).

     

    Elliott has a “choclit” store with his good friend Abi. They crush up rocks during recess and they turn into chocolate! I think he did fine job of managing his store…with the exception of one little rumor I heard through the Mommy-grapevine…apparently Elliott was denying his buddy Quinn (and fellow chocolate maker) bathroom breaks. Apparently there was a lot of work to be done and no time to waste! (And apparently there’s a lot more we need to teach Elliott about not implementing abusive working conditions!) #workshardlikedaddy #peopleneedtheirchocolate

    I love the detail Elliott put into his self-portrait. Favorite shirt, favorite overalls, and he even included the adorable little heart that Abi gave him. It really looks exactly like that!

    Elliott’s sweet teacher shared a little word about the things that she saw in each child. Here’s a short video with what she shared about Elliott!

    We are so proud of our big man. He started the Magic Tree House series towards the end of the year and I would say that’s when he really got hooked on wanting to read ALL the time. Although writing’s not his favorite, he’s improved so much and can write simple little creative stories. The child is a math genius and Brian and I have both watched in awe as we try to challenge him in math and he just keeps accomplishing the challenge!

    And Selah! Gah!! I’m teary eyed looking at these pictures…she is SO grown up!! What on earth??? She still has a full school year more until she starts kindergarten…I feel like she’s going to look like a teenager in a year!! (WAAAaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!) (And, P.S. Those are her natural curls…I have NO idea how she had such an awesome hair day that day!!)

    I can’t believe how much she’s grown up this year. Seriously. Stop.

    In case you can’t decode her writing, she wrote, “I like that I can write my name even my middle name.” Both my kids are slightly obsessed with punctuation, hence the comma and exclamation mark following her sentence ;). She wrote that sentence ALL on her own! I read her the prompt, turned around for a minute, and when I looked again she was done!

    Selah is our fearless learner. She is not afraid to make mistakes so she just gives it her all. Her writing and stories are my FAVORITE…she just sounds out words and writes to her heart’s content…creating hilarious stories and beautiful, heart-felt letters to others.

    You can’t have last-day-of-school pictures without some goofy ones thrown in there!

    On our last home day we made ice cream. I used to do this with my fourth graders and it was a fun activity to do with the kids.

    You add cream, sugar and vanilla to a plastic bag. Put it in a container with ice and salt and SHAKE IT UP! Add chocolate and sprinkles and scarf it down!

    Our Big Man–compare and contrast!

    Our Sweet Selah–compare and contrast!

     

     

    We had A LOT of fun this year and can’t wait for the next school year! First grade and Pre-K, HERE WE COME!!!

  • First Days of School!

    First Days of School!

    I have a vivid memory of holding Elliott as a brand-spankin’-new newborn and thinking, “I AM NEVER SENDING MY BABY TO KINDERGARTEN!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT KIND OF CRAZY PEOPLE SEND THEIR BABIES TO SCHOOL???!!!!!!”

    But alas…the day has come, and I am now that crazy person :). Honestly, I had no tears or sadness surrounding Elliott’s first day…I truly only had pure joy. 5 1/2 years ago (as you can see) I couldn’t even entertain the thought of putting him in school, but when you have peace, you have peace. “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace…” (Isaiah 55). That was how I felt about Elliott’s first day :).

    Now, to be entirely fair…we are partially homeschooling him, so I only have to say good bye to him 2 days a week. If it were 5 days? All you would be hearing about is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

    We spent a long time praying and looking into various schools but there is this gem of a little school (practically on the other side of the state from us) that won over our hearts. He goes for two full days a week, getting to frolic and chat and play with the sweetest little bunch of kindergarteners (including two of his favorite friends), and then he gets to come home and be taught by his very first (and of course, favorite) (*wink*) teacher mama the other three days a week.

    So all that to say, friends kept asking me if I was okay after dropping Elliott off for his first day and I just responded, “YEAH!! We’re so excited!!” Look how far I’ve come in 5 1/2 years :).

    And the day before his big first day? I was like a little elf the night before Christmas!!!! Dreaming of every way to leave him touches of love and surprises throughout the day…loving getting to celebrate this big, handsome boy of mine!! We had let him pick out a new back pack and a lunch box a couple weeks earlier, and I set out packing his lunch with his very favorite things and a little surprise…

    Gah!!!! This is way too stinkin’ fun!! I get to pack him little notes in his lunch that he can actually read now!!!!!! I’m on cloud 9 :).

    The school is fairly far away, and Elliott is our child who loves to sleep in…so it has been a little bit of a rude-awakening for him (literally) to have to get up in time to be out of the house by 7:30. But here he is…bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on his very first day!!!

    Okay…maybe this picture does make me cry just a little bit!!!!
    These two!!!!!!
    Holding an apple for his teacher and showing off his new back pack and lunch box…and definitely tired of pictures at this point :).

     

    Many hugs and kisses later, we sent our big man off for his very first (half) day of school. And, of course…while big brother is away, little sister steals his car seat :).

    Mwahahaha….

    Selah and I headed off to gymnastics and came back to get Elliott at 1 since it was a half day. Then we got ice cream with Kari and Quinn (who opted to not be pictured with the cow) to celebrate! Awesome first day!!!

    “The cow.”

    AND NOW…for THIS big girl’s first day of school!!!

    Selah has gymnastics on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and so we decided to keep her there instead of enrolling her at a school. She’s definitely a bright little cookie (already reading trying to catch up with her big brother!!) but she LOVES gymnastics and we weren’t going to put her in school in addition to that. So, I’m “officially” homeschooling her for her first year of preschool. (Oh the joy!!) Doing “formal” school with her at home has really allowed her to shine academically…this girl has somehow absorbed most everything Elliott’s learning while practically standing on her head.  So Elliott’s first homeschool day was her first day of preschool!

    Look at this big girl!!!

    Since I decided not to decorate our “classroom” yet, knowing I just had no idea what I would need and want up on the walls, we just made a chalkboard banner together outside the door. Selah scribed, “BACK” and Elliott wrote, “2 SCHOOL”. Can anyone guess what their favorite colors are? I know they’re pretty subtle…haha!

     

    We had a super fun first homeschool day, drawing, writing and playing with playdough!

    Here are two (of the million) reasons that I LOVE homeschooling:

    1. That Elliott had the hour that he needed to finish this simple little task. He is a meticulous artist :).

    2. That I was featured in Selah’s first day of school picture!! (*Sniff, sniff*) She drew the two of us and wrote “Mom” next to me (she still flips her letters at times, so “MOW” does, in fact, mean “MOM”) 🙂 She said she drew the two of us walking on a glass bridge…soooo…there’s that :).

     

    And of course…I handed Selah a little surprise during lunch time!

    And then…we finished off our day with recess of course!!!

     

    …which turned into science because they found a cool bug on the trampoline :).

     

    I am so grateful for this sweet little school that we’ve found that allows us to homeschool part time, that our dear friends are there with us, and that I get to be the kids’ teacher mama three days a week!!!! Happy school year to the kids and happy back to school for this here teacher!!!! 🙂