Posted in Journal Page
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I truly believe that one great key to success is waking up early. Jesus did it. The Proverbs 31 wife did it. But I struggle to consistently rise early. I can do it for a time, but them something shifts, and I backslide.
So here’s the schedule I’d like to shoot for: 5:30 am – Wake Up (Bathroom, make coffee, set up Bible Study) 6:00 am – Bible Study and Prayer 6:45 am – Journaling/Blogging 7:15 am – Wipe Down Bathroom 7:30 am – Morning Walk 8:00 am – Shower 8:30 am – Make/Serve Breakfast 9:00 am – Make Bed, Kids Morning Chores, Laundry 9:45 am – Set Up for Morning Lessons 10:00 am – Begin Morning Lessons Can I do it? I don’t know, but I’m committed to praying my way through. |
Posted in Journal Page
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So I've been out of touch for a little while. Nearly two weeks ago, as I was carrying a basket of laundry down the stairs, I slipped and fell, fracturing three vertebrae in the lumber area of my spine. Needless to say, I've been laid up. The first week I laid on the couch most of the day, taking pain medication around the clock. This second week seems to get better everyday, and although I'm still careful not to bend or lift anything and to rest when I feel tired, I'm finally walking around and able to do somethings. For all the moms out there, you can only imagine the amount of work that is awaiting a mom of five little ones. Paperwork is piling up almost as rapidly as the laundry. The fridge is crying to be emptied and wiped out. That bathroom is longing for some Comet and a bit of good, old-fashioned elbow grease. And our projects are sitting in a box by the computer, collecting dust. We still have many packets to mail out for our 50 States Project, Christmas cards to prepare (which will probably become New Years cards), pictures to take, gifts to make, a whole house to decorate... It seems God's plan for this season was different than ours. |
Posted in New Habits
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Well...as you can see from my New Habit Ticker, I'm njot doing so well. Last week, I woke up three days before 6:00 am, but most other days I woke up between 6:00 and 7:00 am. Still progress, but not quite hitting the mark. This weekend I came down with a nasty cough and cold, accompanied by a sweaty, achy fever. Needless to say, I wasn't so eager to be the Proverbs 31 wife! Today I slept the latest of all. The baby seems to have caught this illness, and she was up for a good portion of the night. She fell into a sound sleep when Matt left for work at 6:00 am, and I decided to get some rest right beside her. I'm feeling a little better today, so perhaps tomorrow I can climb back on the ladder to developing this new habit! |
Posted in 50 States Project
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We spent lots of time this weekend putting together the next 50 packages for our 50 states project. We're almost ready to ship them, but we've run out of printer ink again, and we're waiting for a friend to bring us more Salt Water Taffy from one of the Jersey shore towns.
She should be stopping by later tonight, and then we can get back to work. I had hoped to get all the packets out before Thursday, but that's looking implausible at this point. Hopefully we'll wrap it up by the beginning of December. In the meantime, we've started receiving some packets back from the first shipment we sent out. I'll tell you, it's like Christmas has arrived early at our house! Each family's unique perspective and creativity is shining through, and we are just feeling steeped in blessings. This is so much fun! I've also begun work on the 50 States Curriculum. I've sent out emails to about 30 restaurants in the northeast, and a few have replied with great enthusiasm and delicious recipes to include in our study! I can't imagine we'll have it ready before the summer, but the process is shaping up to be fun and exciting. For anyone still interested in helping us meet our goal to find at least one child in each of the 50 states to tell us more about his or her state, we still have not found anyone in the following states: Delaware, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Washington D.C. |
Posted in New Habits
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I've heard it said that it takes 21 consecutive days to program a new habit. I want desperately to become a Proverbs 31 woman. She's my role model. The Scriptures don’t tell us her name, but I like to call her Shefar (She who is Far Above Rubies), and I want to be just like her. One of her habits that I've yet to firmly establish is rising early every single day. So I've added a ticker in the sidebar to track the goal of waking everyday before 6:00 am for 21 consecutive days. If I miss a day, I'll have to go back and start the ticker over again. "She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens." --Proverbs 31:15
Riseth is the Hebrew word “quwm.” It means “to come on to the scene” and can also be used for “becoming powerful.” That’s how I want to wake up! I want to arrive on the scene of each day with renewed strength and power. |
Posted in 50 States Project
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We got our first batch of packets out this week, and we plan to do another 30 this weekend. I just need to pick up another box of manilla envelopes, more post cards, and a new color ink cartridge. Our goal is finish the mailings by Thanksgiving. Can you even imagine what fun it will be every day at about 10:30 am when the mailman arrives?! We are so excited to "meet" everyone and see what life is like in their state, through their eyes.
In the meantime, this project seems to have taken a whole new direction. The moderator of the Notebooking message board informed me that the resources I was using, which had been shared by a well-meaning mom, were infringing on copywrite laws. Many of the respondants to our project asked me to share materials with them, but now that I know about the infringement, I am unwilling to pass it along. My wonderful husband, Matthew, suggested that we put together our own resource. We have since teamed up with dear friends in the state of Florida, and together we are working on a 50 States Unit Study that we hope to make available by download in the next couple of months. In addition, Matt made a great, poster-size, black-line map of the U.S. so we could color in each state once we comepleted everything on the checklist.
We are in talks with a local printer to see if it would be possible to have a similar map professionally printed on a matte-finish poster, so it could be easily colored in. We're also talking to them about printing some flashcards. The husband of our Florida friend is an artist with some experience in graphic design. He's working on a blackline map and state flag for each state, and his wife and I are putting together a recipe and craft project for each state. Any thoughts? Ideas? Advice? We're pretty excited about this project and hope that it will be of great help to other families. Stay tuned for details... In the meantime, we're busy working on our project, and truly falling in with this nation, state by state! |
Posted in Journal Page
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Jesus said it’s easy to love those who love us, and it’s easy to do good to those who do good to us. He challenged us to love those who think the worst of us and to do good to those who mistreat us.
In the same way, it’s easy to stay focused when all of our ducks are in a row. It’s easy to walk in patience with our children when the house is clean, the dishwasher is empty, the laundry is under control, the lessons are prepared, and the dinner is in the crock-pot. But one challenge that almost every homeschool mom faces from time to time (some of us more than we’d like) is to stay focused and patient under less-than-desirable household conditions. On the days when I awake to a dishwasher full of dirty dishes and a pot in the sink, various items on the dining room table (where we eat all of our meals and do most of our school work), Mount Washmore awaiting me in the laundry room, a bathroom just begging to be wiped down and mopped, and a mess in the kids rooms…you’ve awoken to this kind of day in your house, right?…on those days, it’s hard to stay focused. I want to throw myself into the housecleaning. And I want to chat with a friend while I’m tackling it all. Every so often, I want to take a break and check the email, maybe read a blog. But then the kids have an argument, and they need me to intervene. All the fruit of the Spirit needs to bloom in me at that moment, but the truth is that my heart is turned in another direction, and it takes diligence to turn it back toward them. It takes self control to recognize that once the dishes are clean and ready for the next meal, a load of laundry is the machine, and dinner is mapped out, it doesn’t matter if the bathroom isn’t as clean as I’d like. It doesn’t matter if the kid’s bedrooms are messy or if my room isn’t dusted. What matters is putting my focus on the children, their character training and their education. Maybe that’s easy for some, but it is not easy for me. Moreover, at the end of the day, I need to remember how much I don’t like functioning in a home that isn’t as clean and organized as it can be. So I need to forgo the time on the computer, the couch or in bed with a good book, and get the house in order, so I don’t have to be so challenged again the next day. Most importantly, on those challenging days, I need more than ever to stay connected to the source of all wisdom, love, patience, long-suffering and self-control. And for some crazy reason, it’s during those days that I seem to struggle the most in my own flesh. So today, being one of the challenging ones (as Mondays often are), I vow to do what’s necessary and leave what’s not. I vow to set a deadline for the morning cleaning and stop when the deadline comes. I vow to pull out an index card containing a Scripture to memorize, and carry it with me as I work, and I vow to stay connected to my God through quiet prayer as I work toward restoration and recovery. It’s going to be a good day. |
Posted in 50 States Project
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Last winter my daughter, who is now 8 ½, received a subscription to Highlights Magazine Which Way USA. About once a month, a puzzle book and map for two different states arrives in the mail. As we were going through the books and maps, I thought it might be exciting to find at least one child in each of the 50 states, who could tell us a little about his or her state. Who knew this would give birth to an amazing and enormous unit study that’s sure to span a couple of years?
First we made a list of all the kids we knew in other states and put together a packet to send to each one. The packet contained a picture of our daughter, Skyler, a few pictures of interesting things in our area, a blank questionnaire for the recipient to fill out and return, Skyler’s answers to the questionnaire, something from nature here in New Jersey, a piece of Salt Water Taffy (first made and sold in Atlantic City, NJ), a NJ postcard, two word puzzles with interesting NJ facts and famous NJ natives, and a welcome letter and page for referrals of other kids in other states. Meanwhile, I found some wonderful resources on the notebooking message board to augment our study. I wish I knew who put this together so I could give her credit, but someone offered a robust package of state flags, craft projects and recipes for each state, blackline maps and images of state postcards – all for free! From this, I put together a checklist for each state: q Finish Which Way USA Book q Read about and color in state flag q Fill in blackline state map with major rivers, highways, state parks, and so on q Cook a food from the state q Fill in state information sheet (this includes all the major facts such as state bird, motto, song, when the state entered the Union, etc.) q Do craft or activity for the state q Listen to the state song q Request and receive literature from Chamber of Commerce q Receive a completed package from a child in the state My beloved husband, who is a far more talent drawer than I, hand drew a blackline map of the U.S. on a large posterboard. And what an amazing job he did! We hung it up in the living room, and each time we complete a checklist for a state, Skyler colors in the state. We’d been going along well, until we reached the end of our list of friends and family. Even with the referral pages, we just were not getting the response we’d hoped for. A few families got excited about the project and sent us some amazing things, but many never returned the packets at all. Last week I decided to put it out in cyberspace. I logged on to a few of my favorite message boards – HandsofaChildTalk, LiveandLearnPress, Notebooking -- and requested that anyone who might be interested in helping us reach our goal of finding at least one child in each of the 50 states, send me their address and contact information. Can I tell you, I was FLOORED by the overwhelming outpouring of enthusiasm from around the nation! We received well over 200 responses (so many that I lost count!)!!! Somehow, amidst the excitement, I forgot to send a request to another of my favorite boards (Lapbooking_Made_Simple). I still have a small handful of states without a contact, so perhaps I’ll check with that group. Originally, I had hoped that I’d be able to get all the packages out by this weekend to those who were interested, but given the response, it looks like this may take a few weeks to put together! The postage alone is going to be costly, but it’s so worth it! I can just imagine the excitement that will fill our home over then next couple of months as the return packages start pouring in. We decided that since we had the contacts, we’d send a few packages to each state. For one thing, we know that unexpected things arise and confuse even the best-laid plans. So if we send more than one package to each state, we’ll stand a better chance of getting each state covered. And if we do receive multiple packages from various states, we’ll get to see those states through the eyes of different families and different experiences. What a great blessing to be able to connect with others like this! The study has incorporated so many different facets as we’ve gone along. When we studied New York, we put together a series of survey questions, each with multiple-choice responses (What is Your Favorite Thing to do in New York City? What is the Most Famous Site in New York State? What is Your Favorite NYC Museum?). We also threw in one fill-in-the-blank question: Name a Famous New Yorker in History. We tracked responses for men and women, New Yorkers and Non New Yorkers, and made predictions about what we thought the outcomes would be. Then Skyler set out with clipboard in hand to survey friends, family and neighbors. Once the results are all in (we still have a few left to ask), she will learn a few ways to graph the results. The survey results, along with the pages she completes, a scrapbooking page with the items she received from the state native, photos of our cooking and craft projects, and highlights from the Chamber of Commerce package are all being stored in a giant 4” binder (we will surely have a few of these when this project finally wraps up). And just when I thought I had it all figured out, along came some GREAT resources from NotebookingPages.com. To augment our study, we’ll also include an introductory section to our project that looks at the U.S. as a whole (national anthem, symbols, flag, bird, and so on), plus we’ll take a brief look at national monuments, parks, and memorials. In the midst of all this excitement, someone on the message boards referred me a postcard exchange. My five-year-old is very excited to begin receiving his own mail! And I found a homeschool exchange board that offers a variety of opportunities, one of which is a Flat Stanley network. My older son is going to work on that. Moreover, one insightful mom recognized the enormous trend in 50 states studies, and she founded a message board based solely on the sharing of information and resources related to this subject! Wow!!! Who knew one little subscription would launch such a journey? I’ll be sure to keep you posted on our progress and evolution. By the way, following is a list of the states we are still missing. If you're interested in participating, please send me an email. Thanks again to everyone who has reached out with such amazing grace and enthusiasm! Alaska, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Washington DC, Minnesota, Nebraska, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Wyoming |
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I love the fall. It is by far my favorite time of year. I love the colors of the trees and smell of a wood-burning stove. I love the earth tone decorations and clothing that make their first appearances this time of year. I love how the smells of cinnamon, apple and nutmeg welcome us indoors from the colder, brisker air outside. I love the sound of leaves crunching on the sideway beneath our feet. I love to bake muffins for breakfast, and to cook soups, breads and squash for dinner. I love the fall.
But amidst the beauty and the gentle traditions that prepare our hearts and minds for the coming winter, the holiday season and the new year, stands the one obstinate, stubborn, mean spirited antagonist that threatens to tarnish my beloved autumn. Its name is Halloween. With its ghoulish yard ornaments of death, murder and witchcraft, defacing the beauty of the harvest time of year, images of grim reapers, chainsaw murderers, ghosts and ghouls displace the bounty of pumpkins, corn, hay bales, scarecrows and mums. How could people be so deceived? Like the spectators at the old Roman gladiator fights, people’s hearts have become hardened against the gore of Halloween. My children and I love to take long walks. Especially in the fall, when the oppressive heat of summer is tucked away until next year, and before the sting of winter looms, we love to spend time outdoors. We often do our reading around the corner at the little park. The kids play on the playground, while I sit with each child one-on-one under the pavilion practicing their reading. Dad’s business is Seamless Gutters, and the fall is a time for gutter cleanings. So like his little foot soldiers, we blanket the town this time of year with flyers offering discounts to town residents. Along the way, we collect leaves, sticks and other treasures of nature for our nature journals, fall crafts and even for Christmas presents (my daughter is making her cousin a twig dollhouse this year). But block after block, my tender little ones are disturbed by the images of Halloween. On the day of Halloween, we enjoy looking at the different costumes, as we go about our day. Yesterday I took them to a farm, where we picked pumpkins, drank apple cider, ate caramel apples and the kids played in a small corn maze. Afterward we came home for dinner and handed a piece of candy and a Bible track to each trick-or-treater that stopped by. Right after dinner, my husband returned from work, and we went to the movie theater (our usual Halloween tradition). It’s a lot of fun to have the theater all to ourselves. There are no lines to wait in, and the kids can be as talkative during the film as they like. We usually get home just after all the trick-or-treaters have left the streets. I’m glad it’s over, but I wish it weren’t such a spectacle to deal with each year. It’s really challenging to teach my children how to be discerning and righteous without being judgmental and critical. But now that it’s behind us, we can focus on Thanksgiving. Today we begin our Unit Study on the First Thanksgiving. The older two kids are doing a study on The Pilgrims and the younger ones are doing Turkey Time, both from In the Hands of a Child. We’ve scouted lots of great books from the library, gathered paper and folders for our lapbooks, and we’re off to a fresh start. God Bless America. |
Posted in Holidays
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Recently I downloaded The 12-Week Holiday Planner from Dandelion Seeds (Thanks Amy!) E-book: 12-Week Holiday Planner for the Christian Family - The Glorious Coming Devotional - Holiday Open House Combo Set
Since then I've been eagerly plugging along. We created our gift list and decided that for the stock gift (you know, the one thing you make a bunch of for neighbors, acquaintances, piano and art teachers, etc.), we'd make white chocolate macadamia nut cookie mix in a jar with a wooden spoon attached. We made our card list and had our graphic designer make cards for our Seamless Gutter business contacts. We also found out that he can print our annual newsletters for about the same cost as we usually spend on printer cartridges but without the wear and tear on the printer and the exhorbitant time committment!
Today, I came across this great checklist if you're having guests for the weekend from Malia Russell (Her site, Homemaking911 seems to be chock full of great resources). I printed it out and added it to my 12 Week Planner.
This is fun stuff...
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Posted in Journal Page
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I’ve come to notice that there are two kinds of Mondays in my house, and which one it turns out to be depends on the Sunday before it. The first kind of Monday, and the far better one for sure, welcomes me before dawn with a clean house, a plan for the day, homeschool lessons prepared. On this Monday I wake up to a quiet, sleeping house, greeted by the delicious smell of automatically brewing coffee. I spend the early hour before the sun peeks out alone with my God, followed by a refreshing shower. I toss in a load of laundry, and make breakfast for the kids. After they eat, I cheer them on to their morning chores, and prepare the table for lessons. All the meals are planned and ingredients on hand. After dinner, I read to the children, pray over them and kiss them goodnight. Matthew and I settle into the quiet of the evening, and spend a couple of hours snuggled together. Like a deep cleansing breath, this kind of Monday nourishes and refreshes our family.
But the refreshing Monday does not ever happen by accident. It’s born of focus and discipline throughout the weekend, staying on top of laundry and housework, and diligently planning lessons, copying pages and sharpening pencils. It’s the direct result of a deliberate Sunday night preparation, complete with clothing set out for Monday morning, automatic coffee pot prepared, alarm clock set and an early lights out.
Then there are the other Mondays. A day of recovery, I suppose, with lots of laundry, dishes, cleaning, organizing—putting together the pieces left strewn about over an unfocused, undisciplined weekend. I can usually be found still in my PJs come dinnertime, exasperated that the whole day is gone. There were no lessons to speak of, save those caught by observant children who hope to have fewer days like these in the future. On these Mondays, I usually wake up when the kids do, or even after one or two of them. I shuffle downstairs and sigh at the sink full of dishes, heat up a cup of coffee left in the pot from the afternoon before, and begin to work with little direction. I remember to make breakfast when the kids complain that they’re hungry…and the rest of the day just happens to me. These Mondays usually end with me at the computer planning or preparing for something (a birthday party, holiday, unit study). Something about that planning helps me recover and refocus.
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As I wade through an enormous to-do list, preparing for the upcoming school year, I realize that there is so much I want to do (but hardly enough time). How will we fit it all in? Especially now that I have two "new students." Seth, our five-year-old, and Sam, the three-and-a-half-year-old, will work together on a Kindergarten curriculum. Griffyn and Skyler will add Spelling Power, Latin, Writing Strands, Typing, and French. My rough draft thoughts on a schedule look like this. Monday, Wednesday, Friday ~ Core Curriculum Bible Study Math Reading Handwriting Spelling Latin Literature Tae Kwon Do Tuesday & Thursday ~ Enrichment Curriculum Character Training Typing French Science Unit Historical Literature Social Studies/Geography Unit 50 States Study Daily Special Monday Cooking Tuesday Sewing Wednesday Pioneer Girls/Royal Rangers Thursday Music Friday Family Night (movies, games, projects, etc.) Saturday Woodworking with Dad Daily Disciplines Devotion and Worship Journaling (blogging) Letter Writing Walking I’d also like to create a binder of art projects (and stock the back porch with the supplies) and games/activities. Once I get through this, my mind is turning toward: Preparing fall activities and decorations Griffyn’s Birthday Christmas gifts, cards and daily advent activities My brain is rather crowded! |
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Last year we spent enormous amounts of time in the car. So I have a lot of ideas to share. J Happy Driving!
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Oh the guilt of a neglected blog! I just took a peak at my poor, languishing blog, and I was floored to see that my last post was on March 31! Could it be? That's more than a quarter of a year. Where does time go? I want so much to make good use of this space, but I just haven't found my blogging groove. Lord, give me insight; give me inspiration; and give me voice in this writing venue. Let me glorify You, God with my words. Amen! |
“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4
This morning I am reminded of how thankful I am to be living in New Jersey as a homeschool family. We have great freedom here, and I want to encourage everyone reading this to pray continually with thanksgiving for our freedom, and ask God daily to increase the freedoms of fellow homeschoolers in other states and around the world. You can hardly pick up a homeschool publication these days without reading about what is happening to our brothers and sisters in Christ in Germany, who want to educate their own children. Although Germany claims it is a free country, homeschooling is illegal, having been first outlawed by Adolph Hitler in 1938. German officials say, “The obligation to attend school is a civil obligation, that cannot be tampered with,” and “religion does not justify opposition against the obligation to attend school.” At the beginning of February, a German teenage girl was forcibly removed from her home and imprisoned in a psychiatric ward. The diagnosis? School Phobia! She is homeschooled, and because she believes that her parents made the best choice for her, German officials deemed her mentally impaired and in need of rehabilitation. Other families around the nation are fined exhorbitant fees for choosing to keep their children home and the fathers imprisoned until the family agrees to release the children to the public school system. As I pour over the stories of these German families, who are suffering persecution and courageously fighting for the right to train up their own children, I cannot help but feel deep gratitude and love for my country. Not only do we live in a nation that grants freedom to homeschoolers in all 50 states, but we also live in one of the most free states of all! Praise God for this blessing. Still, I’m writing today to encourage you to guard your independence wisely. Often such lavish freedom can lead to complacency. I first began homeschooling less than 30 miles north of the New Jersey border in New York. So close and yet so far away from the automony offered in this state. Homeschoolers in New York are required to inform their districts of their choice to homeschool, submit an Individualized Home Education Plan (IHIP) for each student each year, along with attendance records that document the number of hours in each area of study, and quarterly reports. At the end of each year, students must undergo either standardized testing or peer review by a local homeschool organziation chapter. Imagine having to dissect your fun and casual baking project into it’s base learning components: hmmm…we did fractions when we doubled the recipe, so that’s a half-hour of math, and we talked about how yeast makes the bread rise, so that’s science – and oh yeah, Suzie read the recipe out loud, so that’s reading. When we first began our move to NJ, I went onto the state website to read the state’s homeschool requirements. None? There are no requirements? I was baffled, and a bit alarmed, I must admit. It just didn’t seem possible. You mean I don’t have to do ANYTHING to let the state or the district know what I’m teaching my children? As I settled into this strange and unfamiliar liberty, I began to realize that this is how it should be in every state. So I lift my prayers to our soverieng God, and petition Him to sway the hearts of leaders across our nation. In the meantime, I believe that we must not be ignorant of the signs of our times. There is an increasing atmosphere of global hostility toward Christians, and although I continue to believe that God can and does work miracles in the hearts of people, and I continue to ask God for increased freedom throughout our land, I am also aware that at any time my choice to homeschool could come under question. Now I’m not suggesting that we operate out of fear, but I do believe that we ought to be wise, and I believe that one of the most wise disciplines we can practice is sound record keeping. All wisdom comes from God, and the God of the Bible is surely a God of order and good records. Imagine that Luke was able to trace the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam! One of my favorite pictures in scripture is tucked away in Malachi 3:16. “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name.” I have this image in my mind of angels sitting in the spirit realm, with beautiful books and pens in hand, recording the conversations of believers as they praise the Lord and encourage one another and the thoughts of believers as they meditate on the word and strive to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world. Our God is a record keeper! I think of Esther, Chapter 6 – when the king could not sleep, he asked that the book of records of the chronicles be brought and read before him. It was in reviewing the records that the king realized it had been Mordecai who reported the plot of Bigthan and Teresh to kill he king. Now, I’m not suggesting that we all attempt to compartmentalize our activities into neat categories of language, math, science and history, or that we keep meticulous attendance records. One of the great beauties of our freedom in New Jersey is the ability to build a culture and a lifestyle of learning that extends far beyond the borders of the public school schedule and calendar and beyond the state’s educational requirements. But for those of us who struggle to find the balance, I want to encourage you to today to seek out ways to record the efforts of your homeschool and the work and progress of your children. Notebooking is a great way to record your children’s work, while encouraging artistic expression. Yahoo Groups has a notebooking group that can offer support and encouragement, ideas, websites and other resources to maximize your efforts. If you have questions or need a specific idea, you can email the group or post a question, and you are likely to get many responses. Just log onto www.yahoogroups.com. In the search field, type “notebooking,” and then click on the link and follow directions to join the group. In our family, each child keeps a notebook for each unit that we study throughout the year. In it they keep any written work they’ve accumulated relative to the unit, art work (if the projects are too large or three-dimensional, I take a picture and each child writes a description of the project to go along with the picture – I write the description for my littlest ones), brochures and photographs of field trips, copies of letters the children wrote, and so on. I also keep a book list of the all the books we consulted for the unit, and the living books we read aloud or the children read independently. In addition to the unit notebooks, we also keep an “All School Binder” for each child. It records what we refer to as “core curriculum” for the year: Bible study, language arts (penmanship, spelling, writing), math, foreign language, and a list of books they’ve read outside the unit studies, including the audio titles we’ve listened to in the car throughout the year. One of my favorite record-keeping tools is what I tenderly refer to as the “Momma Book.” It’s a hardcover “Standard Diary and Daily Reminder” that I buy once a year in September at an office supply store. I also pick up a package of self-adhesive notebook dividers. This is my record of the year. The inside front cover has our family homeschool mission statement and the four character goals that we seek to cultivate in ourselves and our children (empathy, wisdom, courage and self-control). There is an address book where I collect new addresses of people we meet throughout the year, along with addresses, phone numbers and websites relevant to our school year. For example, this year our nephew is in boot camp in Missouri. We try to send him regular packages with letters and drawings and fun little gifts to encourage him and remind him of home – the address is right in my Momma Book for easy reference. The bulk of the Momma Book is a daily diary. I attach the divider tabs so that I can easily turn to the current month. While the kids are busy doing written work, I take a few moments each day to document what we’re doing. Nothing elaborate, it’s often just a quick list or a short journal entry. I log the movies we saw, the trips we’ve taken and little vignettes of our learning experience. A typical school day might just be bullets under the subjects we covered, along with any thoughts I have about future lessons or things I need to prepare or research (I usually highlight these for quick reference, so I can be sure I follow up). Other days are more descriptive journal entries. Here’s an excerpt from last weekend: “It was unseasonably warm. Matt was raking the yard while the kids played outside. As he raked over a pile of brush, he found a small garter snake. Instant toy! Skyler and Seth were fascinated, and of course, Sky wanted to keep it, but I’m pretty uncomfortable around snakes. I figured we could keep it on the porch, but we researched its habitat, and I realized it’s still too cold. It must have come out of hibernation too soon. So we went to the pet store and bought a 5 ½ gallon glass aquarium and the fixings for a snake habitat, along with some wax worms for food. We placed Stormie, the garter snake, in his new home on the piano, next to Dragon’s tank (the leopard spotted gecko).” At the end of the year, I get a cardboard file box and put all the binders for the year, along with any posters the kids made, and my Momma Book in the box. Perhaps in years to come it will be blessing to all of us, and should our freedoms ever be comprised, we are ready to show that we are very capable of offering our children an excellent education. If you’d like more information about what is happening in Germany and how you can help put an end to the persecution, log onto the Home School Legal Defense Association website at www.hslda.org. |
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I’m doing a study on blessing, and this morning I came across Exodus 32:29: “For Moses had said, consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother, that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.” This verse prompted me to take a detour and study “consecrate.” The word consecrate is formed by two Hebrew words, male’ or mala’ and yad. Male’ means to fill or to be full, to accomplish or complete and to be satisfied. It also can imply abundance. Yad means hand of man, strength and power and includes the concepts of time and repetition. The Merriam-Webster dictionary includes in its definition of consecrate, “to make or declare sacred; to devote to a purpose with or as if with deep solemnity or dedication.” So I came up with my own working definition of consecrate:
As I began studying the word “consecrate,” I noticed that of the 14 times it’s used in the Bible, seven are in Exodus, and six of those are used in reference to the preparing of Aaron and his sons for service to God. Exodus 29:35 says that Aaron and his sons were consecrated for seven days. That gave me an idea! I decided at that moment that for the next seven weeks I would make a deep and solemn commitment to focus on consecrating myself to God through prayer, study, meditation and journaling. So glanced up at the computer to note today’s date that marks the beginning of my seven-week journey, I noticed (quite to my surprise) that today is March 7, 2007! Perhaps this year I’ll also do a brief study on the Bible’s use of the number 7 – the number of completion! |
Posted in Chores for Kids
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Today my fifth child turned six-months-old, and to celebrate, I’m relaxing at the computer with a cup of coffee this morning. The usual morning clatter has been replaced by a calm, organized humming of little children working. Thank you Lord, who gives all wisdom, for giving me a blessed tool that has taught my children independence in their morning routine. No more repeated reminders to get dressed and make their beds and put their dirty clothes in the hamper and brush their teeth and wash their hands and face and do their morning chores. Instead, they are all buzzing about, focused and independent, clipboard and dry erase marker in hand, getting ready for the day. This idea has worked so well, that I just HAVE TO share it! Morning Routine with five small children used to take a long time, but I thought it was par for the course. My oldest is nine, but with the developmental disabilities that accompany his brand of autism, our 7 ½-year-old is the most independent of the bunch. I just assumed the morning routine was supposed to take an hour-and-a-half…sometimes more, depending on how well everyone cooperated. Having the time to teach our children how to contribute to the household and be responsible for various things is one of the great benefits of homeschooling. In our home, the morning has always been a time of daily housework (folding and putting away laundry, caring for pets, emptying small garbage cans throughout the house, changing sheets, and so on). Before God gave me this great idea, I used a sticker chart/checklist for each child to help track their progress. The only problem was they were not tracking their progress – I was – which meant that I had to be intimately involved in the entire process for each child. The 7 1/2 –year-old, Skyler, is a good reader, so I gave her a clipboard with a checklist, figuring it would prompt some independence. But she still struggled to check everything off in a reasonable timeframe and to thoroughly complete her tasks. For example, her checklist said that her room was straightened, but when I inspected, I found clothes on the floor, her garbage can full and things randomly tossed on her shelves. We’ve always taught our children that obedience means doing what you’re told cheerfully, immediately and thoroughly. Skyler struggled with the “thoroughly” part, but she very much wanted to be obedient. I could see her frustration, and so I tried to come along side her and coach her through the process whenever possible, but that meant devoting even more time to the morning routine. One day, as I was observing her and trying to figure out how I can help her be more successful, I noticed that Skyler didn’t seem to have a logical order to her tasks; there was no “routine” in her routine. One minute she’d be brushing her teeth, the next walking the dog and then back in the bathroom to wash her face and hands. That was when the idea began to take shape. It was an “Ah-ha” moment – Skyler has difficulty sequencing! She’s not lazy, nor rebellious. On the contrary, I could see that she desperately wanted to be obedient, but her mind just wasn’t good at creating a logical sequence. Moreover, she didn’t have a clear picture of what I expect when she straightens her room each morning. So one night, she and I sat down at the computer and talked about how she likes to do things in the morning. She told me that she likes to get dressed and brush her teeth first. We went through each task, and grouped like tasks together. I broke down for her each step of straightening her room (i.e. make the bed, clear the floor, empty garbage, make sure shelves and closets are neat, put clean clothes away and dirty clothes in hamper). We typed up the list, putting like tasks together in their own colored font (for example, all the bathroom tasks are blue, everything to be done in her room is purple, and so on). I got a pack of self-laminating sheets, laminated the list, put it on a clipboard, and gave her a dry-erase marker with a small eraser on the tip. As she completes each item, she crosses it off. The last item on her list is to bring the clipboard to me. I glance at each thing to be sure it was completely done, and then she erases them. Now she has a track to run on, and she knows exactly what I expect each step of the way. For Skyler, this has translated into a greater sense of independence and accomplishment, which has increased her confidence, and for me, it’s freed up time in the morning to get through our routine and begin our schoolwork. Shortly after I saw how well this worked for Sky, I heard that still small voice whisper, “You can do this for all of them!” Our oldest child, Griffyn, is also a good reader, so I made him a list like Skyler’s, and I used pictures for the younger two boys. I logged onto Google images and found a picture that represents each task, wrote a simple word under it and gave them their own laminated lists. My husband installed a pocket file holder on the wall (the kind they use to hold patient files on the back of exam room doors in a doctor’s office) to hold all the clipboards. Now when the kids get up, they can grab their list and get right to work. |
Posted in Journal Page
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We packed up the lights and ornaments, hauled the now brittle tree to the curb and said goodbye to Christmas once again. Skyler, in all of her sentimental cuteness, clipped off a small branch from the tree and wrapped a tag around it that said “2006.” It was her sweet way of being able to let go and move on. I have no such attachments. I’d had my fill of sweeping up needles. Oh, I enjoyed the advent celebration – reading Christmas stories, baking sugary treats, watching old and new movies, studying the symbols of the season and all the other fun, sentimental and inspiring ways we prepared our hearts for Christmas. And of course, I loved sharing the story of Jesus’ birth once again with my children. This year, I felt an especially strong desire to really consecrate my heart for the celebration. As I was feverishly cleaning for the big Christmas breakfast we hosted, I told my husband that for the first time I was cleaning not to impress our guests but to prepare our home for a visit from the Savior. I felt blessed that were able to fulfill the small wishes of our children by giving each of them three special gifts on Christmas morning. And I deeply cherished the sights and sounds of rejoicing that let us know we had chosen the gifts well. It is a true blessing to know our children so intimately as to discern the desires of their heart. Come to think of it, I suppose the joy that we feel when we watch our children receive our blessings is a teensy glimpse at how God must feel when He blesses us with something our heart’s desire. |
Posted in Journal Page
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A New Year is always inspirational to me. Perhaps it’s childish or foolish, but it always gives me a fresh start. Like Paul said, “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.” I guess some may think it’s kind of corny, but I really like to make a New Year’s Resolution. Sometimes my resolutions are very specific; other times, they’re more of concept or state of mind. I remember the year I met Matthew. It was ten years ago, and my resolution at the start of the New Year was to be like the feather in the Forrest Gump movie, floating on the wind, relaxed and willing to go wherever it takes me. I wasn’t a Christian then, and so indeed some of my choices were impulsive (to say the least), but by the end of the year, I had moved 1,300 miles away, gained a best friend and husband in Matthew and given birth to our first child. A decade later, I suppose I’m glad I allowed myself to be completely irrational that year; I may not have chosen marriage and motherhood had I given it the serious contemplation one should. Now that I know God, I know how potentially destructive it is to let the world guide all your choices, and certainly there were many prices to be paid that year, but still, there was a lesson in that kind of letting go. In the height of the information age, it’s easy to fully explore and carefully analyze the pros and cons of all things. Most often it’s wise to do so. Jesus said, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” But there is also something to be said for following the lead of the Holy Spirit, even when it doesn’t make sense. For God’s ways are not our ways. As we turn the calendar to a new year, I always feel such great hope. You know, being a Christian in such a politically divided world makes it difficult to agree with anything the opposing party says or does. To agree with someone about any one thing who may not hold my overall political views almost feels like a betrayal, but I can’t help like the title of Democratic presidential hopeful Barak Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope. That’s precisely what I feel at this time of year. In spite of all our challenges and trials and struggles, I have the audacity to hope for great things this year. But it’s not because of some intrinsic human bravery or strength of the human spirit or an over-inflated belief in my husband and myself. It’s because I trust that God’s ways are higher than our ways. And I trust that He knows the thoughts He thinks towards us, thoughts of peace and not of evil. We are His children, and He desires to give us good things. We know the trials we face will never be wasted, and that God is using them to refine our character, and that, as we trust Him, it causes those around us to give God glory. So I have great hope for the coming year. My resolution this year is one word: FOCUS! I’ve heard it said that focus stands for Follow One Course Until Successful. I have some specific goals for my year. I want to regain my health and vitality and lose weight, especially around my belly. Did you know that the measure of your waist (the distance around your back from your belly button) should be no more than half your height in inches. So I am 63 inches tall, which means my waist should be no more than 31.5 inches. And anything over that is detrimental to my health. In fact, research shows that your waist measurement is a much superior way to track your health than your weight. That said, my weight is pretty awful. The consensus seems to be that for a woman of my height at my age with my build, I should weigh somewhere between 120 and 130 pounds. I weigh between 183 and 187, depending on the day. And my waist is a whopping 36 inches. I have other goals and hopes for 2007, but since my resolution is FOCUS, I decided to start here. For the month of January, I want to develop three daily habits that will reinforce my health goals. First and foremost, I want to read and study God’s word every day. I guess that seems obvious, but the truth is, I don’t make time for God every day. I wake up and allow the day to take over. Food, kids, homeschool, Matt’s business, cleaning, laundry…and by the end of it, I collapse in the bed and watch an hour of mindless TV before drifting off to sleep. I do pray throughout the day, as I’m busy with household things and daily tasks, but I’ve always known that just praying and not reading His word is like a one-sided marriage, where only one partner is allowed to do the talking. I need God’s guidance and support, and I need to be washed by His word. For whatever reason, I feel called to read at least Psalms and Daniel this month. I’m still working on transcribing Deuteronomy whenever I get a chance (or rather, make the time). It is a slow way to study God’s word, but it is amazing how clear His word becomes when you transcribe it word for word. It requires a unique focus. Journaling is another way that I intend to support my health goals. God has given me a desire to write and an ability to use words well, and journaling (when I’ve been faithful to it) throughout my life, has been a unique way to focus my thoughts and explore my options. I think I’m an external processor, meaning I need to talk about a thing or write about it or pray about it out loud or on paper to make sense of it. Some people need to retreat and meditate and think. Not me. I need to get it out of me where I can see it, and roll it around, bounce it off a good listener or write it out. Whether it’s blogging, or writing my thoughts in an email to a good support person, or employing the old fashioned pen and journal, it is my intention to write from my heart every single day in January, even if it’s just a few lines in a few minutes. And the third habit I’d like to develop in January is walking for a half hour every single day. Like the post office – rain or shine or snow or sleet, I don’t not want a single excuse to allow me to go one of the 31 days in January without walking! So I guess I’ll print out a January calendar and post it by my desk so I can track my three habits. As the month tarries on, I’d like to meditate on the word focus. Merriam Webster has an interesting definition for “focus” -- to bring (as light rays) to a focus. Perhaps in my quest to focus this year, I can help shine light on Jesus for others, and bring Him into their focus. |