School has officially begun! (cue "I Will Survive")

The Hooker Family Homeschool (aka "Mighty Oaks Prep School") is now in session, friends! WOOHOO!!! We're looking forward to another year of science explosions (I mean, science experiments), hysterical costumes (sorry, that's historical costumes), and good old-fashioned FUN in the classroom. We have a plethora of games, activities, projects, books, and field trips to carry us through the 2018-2019 school year. So bring on FOURTH GRADE & FIRST GRADE! Woot woot!

Yes, J-Man is wearing pajamas in these photos. (That's just one of the many benefits of homeschooling.) And, yes, the boys are in desperate need of haircuts. (Mama has been struggling with lyme stuff recently, so a few things have fallen by the wayside. BUT, have no fear, Randy was able to tackle the most important 1st-day-of-school task: snag some celebratory balloons and cake! YAY! Dad rocks!!!)

Our first day of school is always a silly day. We play games. We dance. We play more games. We eat cake. It's not exactly rigorous, but it is educational (a surprising amount of learning/review takes place during our games). By the end of the day, the boys are pumped about school (well, as pumped as you can be about saying goodbye to summer and saying hello to a pencil).

(Note the single candle for the 1st day of school; watch out for the 100th day of school!)

Now that we're entering our fifth year of homeschooling, we can finally say that we've found our groove. We know what works, and perhaps more importantly, we know what doesn't work. We've ditched the busywork for more meaningful (and more robust!) projects/activities. Costumes are permissible for nearly every history lesson. Messy experiments are performed weekly (and all hands must get dirty!). Art is required. Writing is FUN. (For real, that whole write-5-paragraphs-about-this-meaningless-topic assignment has been BANNED from our schoolroom.)

We're grateful for the lessons we've learned thus far, and we're thrilled about having the opportunity to enjoy another year together. These elementary adventures are SO. MUCH. FUN!

We hope EVERYONE enjoys a wonderful school year! May God bless all the kiddos with joy, patience, and perseverance! :-)