I'd love to hear from other moms who have little ones as to HOW your school routine works through the day.

Our plan is to have school in the morning before Dad goes to work, during the younger children's naptime in the afternoon, tidbits throughout the day as possible, and then a bit more in the evenings when Dad gets home.  The state requirement is 4 1/2 hours per day for 180 days.  We will be doing first grade grammar, math, reading, writing, literature, Bible, as well as a bit of geography, art and music.

Any suggestions are welcome.  This is new for us!

This is probably just the first of a few posts about the Veritas Academy Teacher Training Conference I attended last week in PA.  Was anyone else from homeschoolblogger there?

First, Doug and Nancy Wilson were the primary guest speakers and though I have always liked their writings I have a much higher opinion of them after hearing them speak.  Their speech is full of grace, mercy, and love (some of you may be surprised?).  They stress that your children should know these in abundance, and that education and family life should be full of fun and JOY.

The conference was certainly directed toward those who are committed to Christian Classical Education and was rich and deep in its training.  It was full of solid philosophical and worldview training and also provided workshops for implementing various subjects, mainly based on Veritas Press materials.

It was pretty powerful to be hit with how important the education of our children is not only for their sakes but for our grandkids and their grandkids!  I am still processing it all.

More to come . . . 

Moms4Psalms 

My children (including the two year old) love to get mail.  We have found some magazines we like (and others that we don't) that they really enjoy.

Our very favorite is God's World  www.gwnews.com , a "news" magazine for children written from a biblical worldview.  It highlights fascinating facts and news tidbits that will be of interest to little ones.  There are different magazines for different ages (from Pre-K through ninth grade).  Each issue comes with a "Teacher's Helper" insert and  recently it was a poster outlining different worldviews--excellent!  You can check out the website or call for a sample issue.  We HIGHLY RECOMMEND this!  :o)

Our two and four year old love getting the book-like Wild Animal Baby and the five and six year old enjoy Your Big Backyard.  Both of those can be found at http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/ .  They also have Ranger Rick for older children but we have not tried that one yet.  These are a nice introduction to wildlife = our first "science curriculum"!  :o)

Another magazine we have enjoyed is Sesame Street.  The hitch is that it only comes as a supplement with Parenting (and you have to ask for Sesame Street when you order or it will not be included).  I appreciate many of the Parenting articles regarding health matters, but the parenting advice is usually (um, always?) contrary to our family's beliefs.  It gets skimmed and then chunked in the nearest trash bin.  But the copies of Sesame Street stick around and are often read several times.

We just got the first-ever issue of Answers magazine from "Answers in Genesis" http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/ .  It looks like it will be fantastic!  It is packed with information about creation science and defending a biblical worldview, and also has a "Kids Answers" section. 

What am I missing?  Please post your favorites!

Moms4Psalms

This is our first year homeschooling.  I am so happy that UndertheSky posted "Ten Things We Wish We Believed About Homeschooling When We First Started" on her blog.  Goto:  www.homeschoolblogger.com/underthesky and scroll down the sidebar on the right.  It may greatly encourage you, too!

Thank you, Kate!  I'm trying to wait patiently for the final two . . . .

;o),

Moms4Psalms

We have discovered computer games for preschoolers!  It's amazing how removing just one kid into another part of the house from our crowd (a different child each time) can change the whole atmosphere of our home for a while.  A loud and chaotic moment can be turned around just by removing one of the five to a separate activity!

My three oldest kids (ages three, five, and six) love the free games at www.pbskids.org  There are so many there and a new free site just began at www.sproutletsgrow.com with even more free games.

They also enjoy the "Jumpstart" games.  Can anyone recommend other computer games for preschoolers that are educational?

Thanks!

PS.  www.starfall.com has honestly made my daughter a better reader! 

Moms4Psalms

Two great homeschooling events are coming soon!  Check out the Veritas Academy Teacher Training in PA (in July) here:  http://www.veritasacademy.com/teachtrain.htm  Featured speakers are Doug and Nancy Wilson.

A friend also highly recommended a conference in Atlanta, GA if anyone lives near there.   Gary DeMar will be speaking at the Georgia Homeschool Conference May 4-6.  Goto www.ghea.org and click on "2006 GHEA Conference" for more information.  They also have a used book sale filling 37,000 square feet!

Is anyone planning to attend either of these?