Top

Stephanie Howell

reading, organizing, shopping, momming too close to the sun. Home is wherever the Army sends us.

Thoughts One Week Away from Homeschool

 

  1. I am only homeschooling Cate and Lucy for those of you who have asked. Harper and Sadie will continue attending public school.
  2. The goal here is absolutely to get them back in school eventually. When? I don’t know.
  3. Yes, I have a background in education. I have a degree from Baylor University in early childhood education and taught 2nd grade for a few years before deciding to stay home with the girls.
  4. Alaska is an AMAZINGLY supportive state for homeschoolers.
  5. I’m really nervous but mainly just excited.
  6. I want to apologize to every homeschooling friend who I inadvertently hurt by saying oh, I could NEVER homeschool or yeah, I like having a life or that’s what teachers are for. It’s easy to throw stones on the other side of that big glass wall, isn’t it?
  7. I thought I didn’t miss teaching. I was completely wrong.
  8. Where the heck was TPT when I was a young teacher? BEST RESOURCE EVER.
  9. How in the world did I not know about HP Instant Ink? I’m an idiot!! Best $9.99 I’ve ever spent.
  10. Just ordered All About Reading. I’m so pumped to use this program with my girls.
  11. I’ve been listening to the Read Aloud Revival podcast, and emailing questions to my literacy guru Jen Jones. The plan is this. Read, read, read, read, read. And write. And read some more. 2-3 read alouds a day, 45 minutes – 1 hour of guided/individual reading, and 45 minutes of writing.
  12. I’ve been at the library almost every single day.
  13. I have the FULL support of Jimmy and my family. My parents have been incredibly supportive and generous, helping me prepare my curriculum and school room.
  14. Organizing and planning is sooo fun.
  15. I have some INCREDIBLE master teachers in my corner. I’ve talked to them on the phone, emailed them, and gotten so much valued input and advice.
  16. I’ve gotten lots of questions about curriculum. I’m doing a lot of different things. I’ll let y’all know what we settle on.
  17. I sent an email to their teacher about a week ago telling her I am going to pull the girls. I had a yucky feeling in my heart and I didn’t want things to be awkward when we see her in the future. The girls will still be taking 2 electives at the school and seeing the speech therapist there. I just told her honestly what was going on, what my fears were, and that it’s not about her or me. It’s about these girls getting all of the help they need this year so that they can be right back on track next year. I got a really lovely response from her and that calmed my heart.
  18. Cora will be attending hourly care (she loves it and calls it baby school) from 9-12 daily. This will be my core “teaching time”.
  19. Cate and Lucy are SO EXCITED. Every day they go in the school room and look around and you should see their grins!
  20. I have a really strong, abiding sense of peace about all of this. I know, with zero doubts or qualms, that it’s the right thing to do.

xoxo

S

Custom Reading Journals Made with happy NOTES™️

Happy Thursday, y’all! It feels so good to be back! Thank you for all of your kind words on yesterday’s post. I’m slowly but surely working my way through them and responding to each comment. I just adore y’all!

Today I wanted to talk about something special I’m doing for Cate and Lucy as we start this crazy homeschooling adventure.

My number one goal (the only goal, truly) is to make them love, love, love, LOVE reading. I am doing this in a variety of ways. Book baskets, creative activities, exciting read-alouds, I could go on and on. But one way to make them excited is to make learning FUN. For whatever reason, they have lost their love of learning IN SECOND GRADE. That horrifies this teacher’s heart.

But not to worry…I have a plan. It might be a work in progress, but it’s a plan.

One way I’m making learning fun is by giving them individualized and special tools for learning. And I’m starting with their reading journals.

Have you guys seen happy NOTES™️? They are adorable notebooks by The Happy Planner®️. Same discs, same dividers, same concept. But the pages are notebook paper/grid paper vs planner pages. Recently Joann had a big fat 70% off sale and I snagged a couple of the BIG happy NOTES. I got the Be Kind BIG notebook and the Geo BIG notebook.

Note: ALL products below are from The Happy Planner®️. They are starting to trickle into Joann and Hobby Lobby and will be available on The Happy Planner®️ shop TOMORROW.

Then I got to work customizing each notebook. I added some pen holders (these are from the Miss Maker collection. HERE is something similar that’s currently available.

Using #HappyPlanner products to make #ReadingJournals // via Stephanie Howell
Next I designed the title pages using the free Hello Literacy fonts from Teachers Pay Teachers. HOW CUTE? I’m going to let each girl color the little girl to look like them.

 

Using #HappyPlanner products to make #ReadingJournals // via Stephanie Howell

 

Next I printed a list of second grade sight words and added them to the notebooks using my Happy Planner®️ punch. Y’all- this punch is my FAVORITE. I use it to add ephemera, photos, lists, you name it- to my planners. It’s the best.

I also added Healthy Hero inspiration cards as well. I’m all about cheering my girls on during this journey.

Using #HappyPlanner products to make #ReadingJournals // via Stephanie Howell

Using #HappyPlanner products to make #ReadingJournals // via Stephanie Howell

The final touch was these super cute Miss Maker ribbon clips and these Healthy Hero bookmarks. Progress not perfection. Can I get an amen?

Using #HappyPlanner products to make #ReadingJournals // via Stephanie Howell

 

Okay, that’s it for today! I hope you all have a beautiful and blessed day. Love to you all!

xoxo

Stephanie

The Stuff In Between

In between last time we talked and now…

Let’s see. Hmm.

1.Summer came and left in a matter of weeks. It was brief and beautiful and entirely too short.

Alaska // via Stephanie Howell

 

2. I turned 41. The day was full of books and good food and the people I love. It was just about perfect.

3. The girls started school. 7th grade, 5th grade, and two 2nd graders. Oh my heart!

4. I read an inordinate amount of books. Some amazing, some good,  and a few meh. Post to come.

The Line that Held us // via Stephanie Howell

 

6. We visited Seward and totally fell in love. I want to write about this here.

7. I started a partnership with Harper Books (an imprint of Harper Collins) as an ambassador and it was and is a dream come true.

8. Autumn came and left. It lasted 2 weeks. I kept hearing it would go by quickly, but I thought people were exaggerating. They weren’t.

Alaska // via Stephanie Howell

 

9. I furnished a house in on-post housing. Which means there are tan/poop colored Formica countertops and vertical blinds and it looks like a barracks and a dorm had a love child in the 80’s. But I’m doing my best to make it a safe, cozy, love-filled space and I think I’m succeeding.

10. Sadie and Harper started playing competitive soccer. I wasn’t prepared for the $$$ and the time investment but J says we are investing in their future. So I guess I’m a soccer mom!

11. I went to southern CA and met with the Me and My Big Ideas/Happy Planner®️ team. They spoiled their team and treated us to a tour of headquarters, all of the new planner goodies, and a trip to DisneyLand. But my favorite part wasn’t the swag or the stuff or the freebies. It was meeting my friend Stephanie Fleming. I’ve “known” Stephanie through the Internet for years and she has been such a wonderful friend, mentor, encourager, and inspiration to me. Finally meeting her was incredibly memorable and special.

 

12. I made the long, heart-wrenching and incredibly difficult decision to homeschool Cate and Lucy. The reasoning is complicated and personal, but the bottom line is this. I won’t let them fall through the cracks. I am going to pour my heart and soul into teaching them to love reading. And giving them the self-confidence they need to be lifelong readers. If there is any interest, I’d love to chronicle our journey here.

 

The past few months have been magical and wonderful and hard and lonely (I haven’t seen J very often) and incredibly character building. I hope to keep returning to this space to reconnect with you guys. Are you out there? Are you still reading? Does anyone even blog anymore? HA! If you are there, tell me a little bit about yourself. I miss you!

 

Stephanie

Experiencing Alaska as a Family // Angel Rocks

Angel Rocks, Alaska // via Stephanie Howell

We made it!

We’ve been in The Land of the Midnight Sun for over 2 weeks now and I thought it was about time to fill y’all in!

We are doing great and I am slowly easing myself into pretending to be outdoorsy. Also see under: slapping a hysterical, frozen smile on my face whilst repeating (in a weird, high-pitched voice) THIS IS GREAT!!! I’VE TOTALLY GOT THIS!!!

Angel Rocks, Alaska // via Stephanie Howell

Angel Rocks, Alaska // via Stephanie Howell

Here’s the thing, y’all. I’ll let you in on a little secret. The worst kept secret of all time. I am not outdoorsy. Like, not even a little bit. The other day I was at the PX buying a styrofoam cooler for ice. The lady asked if I was going camping and I literally said “EWW NO!” It escaped my mouth before I even had time to think about it. She looked very confused. That is not the standard answer around here.

I have never enjoyed camping. Or hiking. Or bugs or peeing in the woods or NATURE. As Cora says, I NO YIKE IT.

But you know what else I don’t enjoy? Being miserable. And I will become miserable if I don’t adapt here so I am going to become outdoorsy, dammit.

Angel Rocks, Alaska // via Stephanie Howell

Angel Rocks, Alaska // via Stephanie Howell

Angel Rocks, Alaska // via Stephanie Howell

I want to fully embrace our two years here. And if that means strapping on the hiking boots or snowshoes or crampons, then by God I will. I want to bloom where I’m planted. I won’t spend my time here wishing I was somewhere else. It is GORGEOUS here. And to experience that beauty, I need to be outside.

We had our very first family hike the other day. We went to Angel Rocks. It started off sorta dicey, with the girls screaming about the giant bugs and the potties at the camp site (THOSE ARE SO DEEP AND SO FULL OF POOP) but it ended up going really well. I can’t lie. I totally brought up the rear and I was out of breath and out of shape, but Jimmy reminded me that when we got to Italy, I almost died the first time we had to walk across little downtown Vicenza. And by the end of our three years there, we walked across all of Rome, Florence, and Paris. We walked to the top of the duomo and the top of Mont St Michel. We walked alllll over Sardinia and Normandy and Halstatt and Munich. It became second nature.  I have to acclimate to this.

Angel Rocks, Alaska // via Stephanie Howell

Angel Rocks, Alaska // via Stephanie Howell

Angel Rocks, Alaska // via Stephanie Howell

 

On the way home we almost hit a moose. Like…missed him by a foot. Sadie screamed WHAT THE HECK IS THAT, A CAMEL?

The Howells have much to learn about Alaska, y’all.

Let the education begin.

xoxo

S

April BOTM picks // What I’m Reading

♡This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you.I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thank you so much for helping to support my little family!♡

Reading Recap // via Stephanie Howell

 

I’m alllll over the place right now. Preparing for our move to Alaska while being a solo mama for the next couple of months. Let’s just say I’m not on my A Game when it comes to reading. So I’m not going to do a traditional, in-depth book review right now.

Side Note/Small Rant: I recently saw someone “talking” about me on a scrapbooking forum and they said that I never share anything unless I’m making money off of it. Actually, she said this. “She is all about promoting herself, her reads to get free books, and clothing places online. Just not impressed at all.” She also said some tacky stuff about my creative skills, but I won’t share that part.

[Read more…]