I can often be found stressed out and pulling my hair out - and the reason? My house! The state it is often in, the washing piling up, the clutter lying around, the vacuming that needs doing - I could go on the list is pretty endless, now don't get me wrong it's not like I just neglect these things, I do struggle to fit it all in around homeschooling and all the other commitments but with 4 little ones constantly undoing all the work you do it can sometimes feel like there's just no point anyway  but it suddenly dawned on me the other day - although I have looked at all the various websites - flylady and how to be organised etc and have got some great ideas from them -  I think my thinking has been all wrong.

Management - oh yes I've read it and think it's all good - but it suddenly sunk in - I don't view my house and housework as something I should MANAGE - it's my home, I should be able to relax, put my feet up etc, and yes I have certain things that I do to keep it running smoothly, trying to do laundry regularly, and do regular pick ups but I've never really thought about it as MANAGEMENT after all you wouldn't let a business run itself - just doing a few bits here and there, you think about what needs to be doing and make time to plan and then tackle it like a job!

There are probably lots of you out there that already have this figured out  and it's old news and though I have often referred to household management it just never sank in til the other day! It's not changed my life much yet seeing as I've been ill and allowed myself to rest and recover but I have started doing a regular declutter - every couple of days I'm taking a black bag into the chidrens bedroom and putting toys in it and hoping that by Christmas there will be room for the presents! and their bedroom will be a lot easier to look after

Lets face it - life isn't easy - if yours is then please share with me the secret!!! But how do we keep going? How do we keep believing in the face of difficult circumstances?

We are facing difficulties at the moment - we have no transport as not only did my car go wrong - my hubby's decided to also, plus I haven't liked the house we live in for quite a long time now - I keep making the best of it - 2 bedrooms, 4 children and one on way doesn't make for easy living and although I know all the answers in my head - I know there are people out there in a much worse state and I know I should be grateful for what I have got - it isn't always easy to live it out. When you want to take your son out for his birthday but it's not possible and the children have to miss out on their usual activities it can get you down.

But what does the bible say? Does God promise an easy life? No, he actually promises difficulties and persecution but He also promises to be there and go through it all with us - yes there are times when He will work in a miraculous way and show His glory ( such as three men in the fire in Daniel) but there are other times when He is just there to comfort us and love us - we have to understand that He IS sovereign and He DOES have a plan - we can't see the big picture He just asks us to trust Him.

I don't believe in pretending everything is ok and putting a smile on your face permanently no matter what but neither do I believe in moping about in self pity - we should give ourselves time to tell Him how we are feeling - have a good cry if need be, be honest and then ask Him to fill us with HIS love and HIS joy and HIS peace - they don't depend on circumstances just on us resting in Him and letting Him have control of our lives.

Blessings and Peace to you all.

Things are still going quite well, we're managing to be consistent with our Math u see, although I'm not sure that I make sure they have got the concepts well enough before I move on to the next chapter, but it's slowly coming together. We're also doing explode the code and reading to me.

I have got galloping the globe and have been trying to do some of it for a while, we tend to do a bit then leave it, though we got up to China so have been concentrating on that for the last week, on Friday I decided that I wouldn't require them to do maths and explode the code, instead we read the story about ping, and looked at maps regarding China and the Chinese flag. I found a good resource with a free lapbook so have printed some of those activities out, I'm not sure that we'll get as far as making them into a lapbook but it's all educational, and today they have been doing the story sequencing cards. I think I worry too much about having written work when actually at their ages it's fine to do lots of reading and let them learn that way. 

We've also been on a few nature walks, finding conkers and acorns and leaves, I actually now know that conkers are a seed that come from a horse chestnut tree - I know I've never had much knowledge about nature but it's great to be learning alongside the children, I can actually pinpoint a horse chestnut tree now and recognise the leaves, and the children are having so much fun they don't even realise it's "school work" lol.

On a downside I have no transport at the moment, our 7 seater landrover is off the road and we're not sure what is wrong with it, which means we cannot go anywhere as a family as we don't all fit in my hubby's car and I can't take the children anywhere that needs driving too while dh is at work.  But we are busy at home, I am organising a ladies retreat for this coming weekend which is taking up quite a bit of time but also very exciting.

I was gonna try and fill in my blog more often then suddenly realised it has been about 2 months oops lol.

We've started back to school now, have managed a full week and are on second week  so thats good all I'm asking of them is that they complete some of their explode the code books and math u see book and read me a reading book.

My eldest dd had fun on starfall phonics today which was great she seems to be getting the desire to learn to read so that's good, I was almost ready to send her to school last week it was so hard going.

My son also went on a jump ahead cdrom doing maths, I always feel good when they are doing more educational work than I've asked :-)

There seems to be a lot of summer activities this year, even though the "normal" things we do have broken up for summer we seem busier than ever. Next week we're off to the Robin Hood Festival at Sherwood Forest, which I can't wait for, it's always so much fun. We're also trying to take the children swimming regularly as their lessons don't start again until the end of September and they were doing well.

My ds has also got an eye test next week, and I've got a training day because I'm going to be a sub leader at a community bible study I attend.

The week after there is a holiday club run by the local methodist church which I have signed the oldest 2 up for and a homeschooling outing to The Discovery Centre which I'm hoping to attend, and then my 12 week scan so life feels very busy at the moment and I'm stil trying to fit some school work around all this, at least reading as it is my goal to have my eldest dd reading independenlty by Christmas - or at least nearly there.

I am also trying to update this a little more regularly so you'll get to see our progress :-)

Hi, we're still here plodding away, I feel like we're getting somewhere with my eldest dd reading though it is still often a struggle. My sister has lent me some reading books and dd enjoys those so that's good.

We've also discovered we're having another baby!!! It's only early days and I'm having to try and take it easy as I keep spotting but it's not too worrying yet, I've got my first scan the end of August so that will help put my mind at rest.

Ive no idea how we're gonna manage but I'm sure it'll all work out in the end, we really do need a bigger house now but we're busy with the business at the moment, dh has now got a unit which we've been turning into a recording studio so it's busy busy busy here.

Yesterday we went on a day trip to Cleethorpes which was great though tiring, but we got to see a carnival so the children had a really good day. It does feel strange everytihng stopping for summer but think it's gonna be a nice break - my eldest dd is funny she saw a friend who asked her if she'd broken up from school yet, she looked a little confused so I said she was homeschooled to which she quickly piped up - "yea I never get a break" lol

Hi, time is going so quickly! we're getting on very well though havin a break this week as my eldest dd is in a dancing show so it's late nights and relaxing days! One of the advantages of homeschooling - the other poor children are having to get up early for school next day.

I finally started doing my gallopin the globe curriculum, perhaps not in depth as some do it but at least  I feel like my children are learning something - we've only done the introduction which involved looking at maps and  i got them to draw maps, though we made them treasure maps as we're into pirates at the moment lol.

We also looked at Christopher Columbus as an explorer and drew ourselves as explorers. We did some painting too, my eldest dd (7) painted a pic of a flying house you could explore in, she is so creative.

As for the reading, my sister is a specialist in reading so she gonna come round in summer and give me some pointers for my eldest as we don't seem to be getting very far.

I'm trying to decide whether to school over summer, I think I need do reading at least as I feel like we're so far behind and I want my eldest reading independently by Christmas, but not so sure about the rest.

Anyway my dd is due home any time soon so better wrap this us lol.

Thought I'd make a quick entry to update you all on how things are going - I am doing well sticking to my no nonsense routine generally, though having a cold and lack of sleep hasn't helped much, but I am slowly getting back on top of my housework, and reminding my children who is in charge  I have ended up putting a travel cot up for my 1 year old bless her and she has taken to it well, I try not to "over use" it but it's handy for when I need to be in another room, sorting washing, changing beds, even schooling etc. And the older children are very good at playing with her while she is in it, I think it makes her feel safe too.

As for reading, well I've given up on hooked on phonics for my eldest dd (7) and gone back to Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons, I think it's better for her, she's certainly working hard with me and I think because there is a kinda system that suits her better it's working so far, we're going away next week and I'm planning on taking the book with us to keep up the consistency, hopefully she'll be reading independantly by christmas - thats the goal anyway.  I'm keeping my ds on hooked on phonics but as he's only 5 I'm concentrating more on my dd at the moment.

Anyway I'm off to do more packing - hope the weather improves for us  

HI, I've decided that it's training time in this household, I've been getting very stressed with children who will not do as they are told and babies that climb out of everything you put them into so it's time for action!

I was at a homeschool outing yesterday and was encouraged and inspired that this needs doing to make our lives run more smoothly (thanks deedee). I had read about boot camp on Dandelion Seeds blog but was stuck to how boot camp would work. I'm still not 100% sure but the first step is to train my 1 year old to stay where I put her whether that be the pushchair, highchair or a blanket.

I'm also trying to make sure that when I ask children to do a job I follow it through and make sure it is done, they have got away with an awful lot recently with me distracted by a lot of other things.  I know that if I take a week or so out to work on this we will accomplish a lot more schoolwork than if things carry on as they are so I see it as a worthwhile sacrifice. I am struggling though as to what to occupy my older 3 with while I train my 1 year old it can't be anything that needs too much of my attention but it has to keep them busy so they don't end up fighting and messing up every room without tidying it again. 

I'm thinking that part of the training should involve getting my older 2 especially (ages 7 and 5) to do sum tidying and helping out in the house but I will think of that later lol. I'm also cracking down and making them sit at the table until we've all finished and wait patiently as they had got into a habit of getting down and going off to play while I was still busy feeding the youngest.

Any ideas or advice happily accepted - I have decided that the church is seriously lacking on helping parents to train children but then complain when children are in the services disrupting it when a lot of the time the parents just don't know how to train them! And I wll keep you posted . 

Why is it that even though we are quite happy to go against the norm just by homeschooling we still feel pressure to conform to the "school standards" or maybe it's just me lol. As I've often said I do firmly believe in better late than early so now I'm asking myself why I keep expecting my children to undertake work that isn't done until a child has been in school a few years?

I've decided it's time to go back to basics, and start right at the beginning and not worry about the fact that these are things that public schooled children learnt a few years earlier.  For example I didn't realise until the last couple of weeks that my eldest dd doesn't actually recognise numbers 6-9 even though her 5 year old brother does. She's always cheated and looked back on a "numbe line" so to speak to work out which number it is, she can't tell me randomly. Any ideas for helping her to recognise them will be gladly received - I'm sure some of it is pure laziness but I'm trying to figure out the best way for her to know them because to be honest I never really taught her bro any so it's just been picked up naturally as we'ver gone on.

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written, time is just flying by.  Sometimes I feel like I'm getting there and things are going well and other times I feel like I'm just not doing enough and am falling so short of what I should be.

I do believe in the better late than early philosophy but could probably do with doing a bit more research just to reassure me, and now my eldest dd is 7 I'm thinking I should try and do a little bit more formal work with her?  Its difficult at the moment as we have my friend and her 2 children living with us - 3 adults, and 6 children in a 2 bedroom house. To be fair it's not as bad as it sounds but as her 2 go to school it's a strange thing as I've been doing the school run with her then coming back and trying to fit in some schooling with mine on top of everything else. 

Hi hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and new year. Ours was lovely though hectic, we're rearranging our downstairs at the moment, turning one room into two to create an office and a school room and create a bedroom for our eldest dd - we have 4 children sleeping in one room at the moment.

It's hard work trying to find time to sort it all out and still find time to fit some schooling in, we're being pretty laid back at the moment, just working on the basics, though my eldest dd who's nearly 7 has finally started understanding begining sounds and is finally remembering her letters. I do firmly believe in the better late than early approach but it's very hard when your eldest is not ready til "late" and all her school going peers are already reading and people are thnking you are not teaching them enough, I am just praying that it will pay off as she gets older and will prove my chioce was right in not rushing her.

Christmas is coming and are we ready - nowhere near lol. I was ahead of myself in November then all of a sudden it's middle of December and I've not got any further.

Christmas can be such a stressful time, trying to make sure we buy appropriate presents and running round to all the parties and pantomines etc it's so easy to forget the reason we celebrate it. We've not actually done much running around this year only had one party and I took the older two carol singing with the church to a nursing home because I thought it would be a good experience for them. I'm looking forward to the candlelit carol service our church is doing, I love them, there is always such a special atmosphere, especially just being candle lit. I actually think it's a shame we only sing carols at Christmas, there are some beautiful ones and I think it can be good to remind ourselves that God sent His son as a baby, he had to grow up before He could fulfil God's purposes for His life. I wonder what purposes God has for the babies He has given us?

Be encouraged if you read this and I'm encouraging myself too, that by home schooling no matter how tough it is we are more readily available to help our children discover God's purpose for their lives and help them move in that direction, they are not limited or distracted by having to fit in a certain mold at school they can be fully themselves and discover what talents God has blessed them with.

I hope you all have a wonderful memory making Christmas and a peaceful new year.

Christmas is coming and are we ready - nowhere near lol. I was ahead of myself in November then all of a sudden it's middle of December and I've not got any further.

Christmas can be such a stressful time, trying to make sure we buy appropriate presents and running round to all the parties and pantomines etc it's so easy to forget the reason we celebrate it. We've not actually done much running around this year only had one party and I took the older two carol singing with the church to a nursing home because I thought it would be a good experience for them. I'm looking forward to the candlelit carol service our church is doing, I love them, there is always such a special atmosphere, especially just being candle lit. I actually think it's a shame we only sing carols at Christmas, there are some beautiful ones and I think it can be good to remind ourselves that God sent His son as a baby, he had to grow up before He could fulfil God's purposes for His life. I wonder what purposes God has for the babies He has given us?

Be encouraged if you read this and I'm encouraging myself too, that by home schooling no matter how tough it is we are more readily available to help our children discover God's purpose for their lives and help them move in that direction, they are not limited or distracted by having to fit in a certain mold at school they can be fully themselves and discover what talents God has blessed them with.

I hope you all have a wonderful memory making Christmas and a peaceful new year.

I thought I'd put a quick entry in while it nice and quiet here.

We're still plodding along slowly, we were looking at moving as we are in a 2 bedroom house at the moment which leaks and isn't that great, but we've decided to stay put a little while longer instead as to get a 4 bedroom house we would be looking at paying at least another £150 a month so we're going to try and save first, and rearrange the house around to try and make it more livable, which is not an easy task, I've started on the kitchen as we're rearranging it to get a table in there which should make life a little easier, we're also planning on swopping the living room and office so that is going to be a mammoth task, not made any easier when trying to fit it in between homeschooing and raising 4 young children. Oh well Philippians tells us we can do all things through Chirst.

My eldest dd has started swimming lessons, she's loving it though she gets very nervous on the way there bless her. My son turned 5 this year, we have a thing where for their fifth birthday we really celebrate (decided I didn't want to do big parties for every chid every year, far too much work lol) but this year I really couldn't face a party, a lot of our friends have been having personal problems and I just didn't fancy a gathering of them all together so instead we hired a scooby doo limo to take matt and his sisters and some cousins to water meadows - a posh swimming pool with a "wave" feature and some slides, followed by tea at McDonalds and to top it off every year Bolsover castle which we can see from our house has a fireworks event which happended to be that day!!!

In his words - "this is the best pary of my life" aren't children great?

Hi, I just wanted to tell you all about an above rubies ladies retreat I've just been on this weekend.

It was amazing, really encouraging and a reminder of how important a job we are doing raising children and spending time and effort training them and teaching them. I would encourage anyone to check out the website www.aboverubies.org for encouragement and ideas in helping you in your role as a mother and homeschooling.

I have been really struggling feeling like I spend all time cleaning and tidying etc and feeling really hard done to if I'm honest so it was a real wake up call and a reminder as to what my role really is and how important it is. The children are doing well except a couple of weeks of fighting off a sickness bug but we're slowly getting bak into the swing of things and doing maths etc so that's good.

Hi, we went camping last week, up to sunny Sunderland. It was good fun, I actually got a break because we went with my Mum and Dad and sister and family, our tent is too small for all four children so my Mum and Dad had our youngest two in with them which meant less disturbed nights, no bottles for me to do, hardly any smelly bums to change  my Dad is great, I think he was intent on letting me have a break cos I didn't really even get a look in with the youngest, he sorted them out bless him.

I've surprised myself because I actually really enjoy camping, it's what we did as children and as I got older I decided I didn't like it and wouldn't do it, but as the children are getting older it's the cheapest holiday and they love it and I find myself enjoying it, though I think I will enjoy it more when we get a bigger tent.

When we first got there we really didn't know what to expect because they'd had torrential rain for the last 3 weeks and there was mud everywhere, in fact we spent the first couple of hours towing caravans on and off for people as we've got a land rover and ordinary cars were just getting stuck. But the weather picked up for us and it was beautiful and sunny by the end of the week, the children loved the beach and the sea and so did my dh I think.

Now its back to normal though, but I do feel better for having had that little break, which is a good job as our youngest dd hasn't slept properly since we got back, I think she's teething.

Why does it seem that every time something seems to be getting going and you're on the right track, something else comes along and knocks you right back off?

We were really doing well being consistent with the schooling etc then I ended up with toothache, which resulted in a wisdom tooth being removed (and I really don't like dentists), followed almost immediately with a bout of thrush (which I didn't even know what it was until I confided in my sister how I was suffering and she diagnosed me ) and now my eldest dd has a water infection!  We've also got colds in the family and the baby is teething - her first tooth came through yesterday

I do apologise for the moaning but I do feel a little better now - amazing just what gettin it all out can do - I could go on really but I think I've moaned enough hee hee. On a positive note my ds really seems to be enjoying his learning - he asks to do schoolwork most days (including weekends) and he's really taking notice of letters and numbers when we're out and about.

We go on holiday at the end of the month so I think the break will do us good, though my dh will have to come back down one day as he has a PA job that he has to do - the joys of being self employed eh.

Why do you homeschool?
Well I always wanted to homeschool even before I had children - I didn't like school much and once our first child was born I started researching and got more and more convinced - there are far too many reasons to put them all down, including different learning styles, and varying readiness to learn and the fact that children at school are under far too much pressure in my opinion - plus we can teach them what they really need to know.

What technique or curriculum do you use?

My eldest is only 6 and my youngest just 5 months so I admit we've only just really started with some formal schooling, which consists of math u see for maths, hooked on phonics, and then just things I print off internet or books we read though I have galloping the globe which I'm kinda hoping to start soon, I'm actually planning on buying them both a book tomorrow called holiday activity book it's only £3.99 but it's full of puzzles and practise writing and learning about countries so thought it would be great for over summer.

Do your kids work above or below grade level (or both!)?
At the moment I would say well below, but that's because I believe this country pushes chidren too young at school and I'm wanting to instill a love for learning, I'm confident though (most of the time) that come a few years time they will be well above their peers and actually enjoying their work while some of their peers will be fed up with school etc. 

What is your educational level?
NVQ level 2 (College)

Do you feel that your education level has an effect on your teaching (both limits and abilities?)

Not one bit - I'm often telling people it don't matter how "smart" you are because you're there learning right alongside your children and plus with all the information available these days on the internet etc you can always find out what you need to know.


What does your daily schedule look like?
We get up, breakfast, get dressed, clear up etc (I don't stick to any particular time) and then get the maths books out, the baby usually sleeps and I try to put our toddler in her chair to do some colouring though she's not always happy about this  then once we've done some of that I get hooked on phonics out, we're also kinda doing some memorising bible verses from a free ebook I downloaded based on alphabet. We're quite flexible I don't really force them and I try to take opportunities during day to sneak in some learning etc lol. My older two can usually be found on computer after dinner while youngest two sleep giving me a tiny bit of peace and quiet.

Are your kids always polite and ready to learn?
Ok then - if anyone's answered yes to this please tell me the secret  - my eldest is especially difficult when learning something new which she doesn't get - she really is quite lazy when it comes to academic work though she is very creative.

Do the kids (or you!) get frustrated?
I get frustrated with the fact that it always seems to be a dilemma whether to school or housework - I've still not found a happy medium and I really struggle to force myself to do all those little jobs everyday to make things run smoothly especially if children are being difficult or I'm feeling low. To be honest the chldren don't get frustrated really though my eldest just doesn't want to do it if she doesn't get it

How has this affected your parenting?

I'm not sure to be honest, I guess sometimes because I have them all day and night and my dh is self employed and nearly always found working whether out or in office then I guess I've not always got as much patience as I should have with them, but then I think spending all time with them enables me to keep a good relationship with them and know them well.

How much free time do they have?
Every afternoon at least - though I'm planning to continue schooling through most of summer holidays as we've only just really started what with the new baby etc.

What do they do during their free time?
Play, draw, go outside, fight  I admit though what I love to see most is when all 4 of them play together especially my 6, 4 and 2 year old, she always wants to join in and they nearly always let her and make time for her. I admit it warms my hear

What hobbies do they have?
My eldest goes to dancing, I think they're a bit young really for hobbies as such, my ds will play football anytime he gets and they always want to go Nannys if that counts lol. Oh yes and gogirlgames on the internet they love it.

What difficulties and challenges do you have with homeschooling? 

Knowing which curriculum to use, when to push them, when to leave things, how to entertain toddler and baby during school, where to keep everthing, how to be organised, how to fit in house work - quite a few really lol but it's all worth it 

What makes homeschooling enjoyable?
Being able to let them learn as they are ready and in way relevant to them and of course the freedom to do what we want when we want, go on holiday at cheap times, visit national trust places at quiet times and get chance to help my children develop character as well as academic skills (though not sure how good I am at that) lol

How do you get involved in the community?
To be perfectly honest we don't really - with 4 under 6 it's a little difficult, though we do go to church, I'm hoping to make it part of our lives when they are older I think it's important to teach them about looking after others in the community but not by neglecting your own family etc. which is why we don't do too much at the moment.

When do you have opportunities to interact with public or privately schooled children?
Whenever we're anywhere with other children! They've got lots of cousins, a few friends who go to school, my eldest goes dancing, sunday school, whenever we're at a park I've noticed especially my eldest (who actually is quite shy) always seems to find a friend - my dh took the eldest two to a park a few weeks ago and they were playing with a little boy whose Mum commented on how nicely they played and how they weren't spiteful (are most other children? )

Would you like more of these opportunities?
Only when we're ready

How can they be created?
I'm sure we'll find a way when the time is right

What is your least favourite homeschool stereotype?
I think it is the idea that by homeschooling you are locking your children up in the house and they don't know how to socialise - while I find my children are actually better already at socialising than many of their peers.

I've done  I did quite enjoy that though I admit I only had time as my lovely mother has got eldest 3 children - took them to pick my sister up from the train station bless her.

Hi thought I'd better find a bit of time to put a quick entry so you know I'm still here :-) We've finally started with math u see and it's goin good mainly at least I finally feel like the children are doing some formal learning now and we've been doing some hooked on phonics though we're not quite as consistent with that one yet.

We also did a sports day yesterday which was brilliant - the children really enjoyed it and I just enjoyed being out of the house for a day and not feeling overwhelmed with housework etc

Anyway babies crying, children fighting, phone ringing so better go get some more work done