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The past few weeks have been a struggle in our home. If you had asked me a few weeks ago what was causing the problems, I'd have told you that my son is going through puberty and displaying a bad attitude about the things he is required to do - like math and unloading the dishwasher. I'd have said that he was making us all miserable and driving me nutty. I realized something today - and it's not nice. I realized that my son has been displaying a bad attitude because....I have been setting that example for him! I'm sure everyone has heard the saying, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." Well, if Mama doesn't have a good attitude then nobody has a good attitude. So, I have set the goal for myself to train myself to have a good attitude - a "meek and quiet spirit", a Christ-like attitude in dealing with my children, my husband, and others. We know habit formation is very important for our children - teaching them to pay attention, etc. - it is just as important for mothers! |
Rather than maintaining a "meek and quiet spirit" when I'm dealing with him I've been allowing him to make me angry. I've snapped at him rather than speaking respectfully. I've raised my voice rather than speaking quietly and calmly to him. No, I haven't yelled and stomped my feet and slammed doors but the feelings behind my angry voice are the same. If I expect my son to learn to control his feelings and his temper, to remain calm, to display a Christ-like attitude then I have to control my feelings and temper, remain calm and show him that same attitude. Posted in General
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Getting Back on Track As some of you probably read in an earlier post, I was working part-time for a while due to a strike scare where dh works. I'm now back home full-time and trying to get everything back on track.
I found once I started looking at exactly where we were in our homeschooling that we hadn't gotten too far off track. It took us a little over a week to get back to where we needed to be in the lesson plans. But, we still aren't doing everything I had planned and would like to be doing.
Dealing with Sickness We've also been dealing with a lot of illness in our family this winter which is very unusual for our family. We are all currently down for the third time since January. So, the housework, laundry and schooling is a bit behind. My throat is raw so I'm unable to do any read-alouds at the moment so we're just covering bits and pieces as we feel up to it. I'll sort it out later. :-)
How do you guys deal with illness in your homes and schools?
CAT's One thing we have gotten done is our standardized testing for this school year. I always buy the tests with our tax return so they're done and out of the way. I just need to get them mailed back. We buy the CAT's from Seton Home for $25 a piece which includes scoring. Our children have always done well on them and we are pleased with how easy they are to do.
The very first year we started homeschooling when the children had been taken from public school they were a little anxious about "tests" so I told them that I had workbooks that I wanted them to do that would show me how well I was doing at teaching them - which really is how I view the test results. I know my children are capable of learning and it's my job to figure out how to make that possible for them.
Once we get their results back in the mail I get out the results from the year before and go over them with the children individually and privately (they don't need any encouragement to compete with one another). That way they know how their doing, where they've improved and what they may need to work a little harder on.
The results are broken down by sections and at the bottom there's a composite (or overall) score. That composite score is the only one that I'm required to give to the school district, according to Ohio law, so I simply cover up the other scores and make copies of the results to send in with my notification form each year. Be sure to check your state laws for which tests you can use and exactly what pieces of information you are required to share. |
Posted in General
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My husband works 2 afternoon each week - he leaves at 2:00 and comes home after the children are in bed. On those days we have our family time in the morning, our big meal at noon, and do our schoolwork in the afternoon after he leaves for work. These are not my favorite days! During the summer when we have a lighter load they aren't bad but during the school year these days seem to drag on forever. The work seems to take longer since we are all getting tired. I always feel rushed. We never get everything finished.
But... I wouldn't trade these days for anything! My children both started out in public school - Briana went through 3rd grade and James finished 1st grade in the public school system. Their dad worked the same type of schedule then as well. When he worked at 2:00 when they were in ps they didn't see him at all on those days. He was asleep when they left, gone to work when they got home, and they were asleep when he got home. And, since he never has weekend days off, we never had a day off all together unless the children were on school breaks. They didn't really know their dad!
So... Even those these afternoon days still aren't wonderful, I praise God for giving us the opportunity to spend time with our children, to really know them, and for them to really know us. He has given us a wonderful blessing and I want to enjoy every minute of it! |
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Flash Flooding: The children and I were treated to a lakeside view today. We had a huge thunderstorm come through the area that dropped a lot of rain very quickly. We live on a corner at the bottom of four hills so water comes down both sides of both streets (four different directions) and meets at the intersection by our house. We had water all the way across our yard and lapping at our bottom step. The police closed off this intersection and were sitting in front of our house to keep people from crossing. The big flood only lasted about an hour but we sure had a lot of fun watching it. This was very unusual so I took pictures. :-)
Nature study: This morning while we were outside for PE my daughter came running up to tell me that our cat had a raccoon cornered under the neighbor's hosta bush. Needless to say that little raccoon was our entry in our nature books today! He (or she) was smaller than our cat but we have a huge cat. I'm guessing over 20 lbs but he doesn't look fat, he's just BIG! We called the cat and took him inside and then we retreated indoors so the raccoon would feel safe enough to go home. We watched him from the kitchen window and it took him quite a while to feel safe enough to come out.
Briana drew just his face and James drew a side view. We're supposed to be concentrating on birds this term but couldn't resist adding this little guy to our journals.
All in all it has been an adventurous, and a very good, day!
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