From the moment I became a mom I knew I wanted to be an active mom. Now I don't judge other mom's. I believe there are many different sides of being a mom. For me however I LOVE being involved in my kids lives.
When I chose to get into photography it was because I couldn't fathom the idea of putting my son into childcare. I loved spending time with him. I wanted to raise him. I wanted to see him grow. Photography allowed this plus I was able to work with families and capture moments. Moments they might not even notice were so important.
Many families don't have the ability to do this. I take ever day as a blessing allowing me to be a mom.
Now. I'm excited to tell you all we HOMESCHOOL! First off before you think I'm trying to shelter my son from the real world this is absolutely not the case. He just turned 5 and I just want him to learn about things at a normal pace and be aware of things rather than them in his immediate day to day life. Also he's ridiculously social so when I hear people say things like "homeschooling makes kids anti-social" it makes me cringe.
Not everyone can homeschool. However I want you to know as many of you are new mom's that I photograph there are many "options" when it comes to educating these beautiful little souls. Don't just follow down the "regular path". Please take some time to make educated decisions on how you plan to educate them.
My way isn't for everyone and I do not judge at all as there are so many options. I began my hunt online to figure out some alternative options. I was living in Edmonton full time at the time and they didn't start homeschooling until grade 1. So I knew I had time. Since then I have relocated to living full time in Kelowna, BC and when my son just turned 5 this past summer I began looking into school here. Then I became aware quickly that here they had a Kindergarten curriculum. I know as a busy mom I wanted to find an alternative that allowed us to do school how it fit into our lives, however still have some structure and guidance from wonderful teachers. We joined Kleos and when we went to sign up for Kindergarten we met with my son's teacher who actually advised me that based on where he was at she suggested he skip kindergarten and go into Grade 1. This is something I don't feel would have ever happened if I followed down the traditional school method.
Whichever method you decide for your children just please take some time to make sure it works for your kids and your family. I see so many posts and comments from mom's in tears not ready to go back to work or not ready for their kids to be in childcare. Then I see posts from parents struggling with school systems that just aren't working for them. Please.....take a moment to look at all avenues.
Let's get back to a bit about how our days work. There is no set time we wake up each day. This makes for wonderful mornings. We usually are out of bed by 7 am however there is no packing lunches and hurrying through breakfast. We enjoy our time together. We have breakfast and then get ready for the day. I organise his schooling and we usually spend an hour to two hours on sitting down focused work. However we also go with the flow. He has many extra curricular activities. Swimming, gymnastics, dance, and of course field trips and other meetups with homeschooled kids. He has minimum 30 minute requirement for physical activity each day (this is absolutely no problem to achieve). His baby sister naps in the morning for an hour and that's his time to play in the back yard, have quiet time, or simply just craft or do choose something he wants. I use this time to respond to clients and schedule sessions. We also have other homeschool families in the community for us to lean on which is great. One week I do a craft or science project and the next another mom does. This is where I really notice the "choices" out there. Even if you don't think you can homeschool full time it doesn't mean that is the only option.
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| We love to cook as a family and bake which turns into a math lesson with fractions |
Things like my ability to book sessions around my schedule and husbands schedule is what makes this possible. This month we are headed to the Dominican Republic as a family. I have a wedding to photograph there and my son is able to do school wherever we are. We are pretty darn lucky I say.
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| Answering emails and scheduling sessions while having breakfast and staring at a cutie |
I do have some mom's asking me for information. Some of my clients ask a lot of questions. I get emails and phone calls and want to be here for mom's. I had a client message me the other day asking why I chose the path I did and that she's been thinking of it however had some questions.
Don't hesitate to contact me even if it's not regarding booking a session. Us mommies stick together!
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