I recently devoured in a weekend Ray & Donna Reish's book, The Well Trained Heart: A Guide to the Relational Approach to Homeschooling. I have loved Shepherding a Child's Heart and found this book to be a good, practical complement to a lot of what Ted Tripp talks about. Their honest stories of how their parenting philosophies and techniques have changed over the course of their seven children were a blessing, and often quite humorous.
It is always humbling to be reminded that the areas we most dislike in our children are often the traits that we struggle with and dislike in ourselves. They remind parents that the first step in training your children is to train yourself in righteousness. Their practical advice on prioritizing, establishing rules and a means for appeals to those rules, training children to have empathy and a servant's heart were so helpful. It's not enough to just "shelter" them from the outside world - we need to give them something to replace it with. Homeschoolers can tend to fill their children's heads with information so we can "show off" how well we've taught them, but head knowledge is not enough. We also need to train their hearts. We need to establish relationships that give them more than what a peer can give. I am looking forward to going back through the book again, taking notes & praying, and then using it to prioritize some of the areas we most want to work with our kids in the coming year.
As for the kids, Girl8 has really fallen in love with Nancy Drew mysteries. I've also requested some books from the Bobbsey Twins series for her. We are also reading the Secret Garden and Pollyanna together during her reading time. We are continuing to read the Great Brain series at night as a family.
The kids have also discovered and are really enjoying Paws & Tales. It is an audio series from Chuck Swindoll's Insight for Living. A new episode is featured weekly online so yesterday the kids sat around the living room while listening through the computer - great alternative to watching movies all summer. Since we have a new CD player in the van, they are having fun listening to them in there too.
We are wrapping up the school year this week though we will continue the 3R's through most of the summer. The kids begin swim lessons next week so we will be at the pool most of the time the next few weeks. Their lessons are at 11:45 so I'm planning to bring a lunch and hang out until the youngest needs a nap. I am really looking forward to some down time from the academics and a chance to focus a little more on some character issues that have cropped up lately. I am also trying to schedule a week to do what will probably be my last season of potty training(After almost 9 straight years with a child in diapers, I think I'm ready).
We spent 3 weeks studying the character trait of Honor to include the culture of Japan. Boy7 really liked learning about samurais while the girls enjoyed making maps and dressing in "kimonos". I had a minor mutiny with the Japanese dishes I made. We were blessed to be able to pray for a missionary family in Japan and talked a great deal about Buddhism and Shintoism and how it differs from Christianity. The only bummer about that is that Girl4 started to announce that when she dies, she wants to come back as an ant! Apparently, I hadn't been as thorough as I thought in my discussion of reincarnation. So, I explained it again and now she says she wants to be an ant when she goes to heaven! Maybe it's time for Daddy to talk to her...
We are now studying the character trait of Orderliness and Animal Classification. So far, the kids are pretty disappointed as we've been spending a lot of time on invertebrates while Boy7 wants to study mice and Girl8 wants to study horses. Jessica Hulcy, creator of the curriculum, encouraged us to pray that God would provide us the different specimens we would need if we couldn't afford to pay for science class quality specimens. I was hesitant to pray for this as I wasn't sure what would show up in my bathroom, but in the name of my child's education I began praying. Within a day, Boy2 dragged me over to see a beautful moth that had died near our sliding glass door. I bagged him up. The next day, dh found a spider and was quite surprised when I told him not to squish it, but to put it in a snack bag with a cotton ball of rubbing alcohol. Another spider has built a web and has been catching bugs outside out front window - and I'm going to let it stay there for a little while longer.
Last week, we were discussing the group Annelida including earthworms. After reading to them from a library book about earthworms, I sent them outside to try to find some that we could study. Since it was a pretty cold day, I really didn't know if they would find any and if they did, I expected them to find the small worms I had remembered from my youth in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Nothing prepared me for this:
They kept digging and found lots more including a nest with about 20 baby earthworms! Here is a picture of all of my budding scientists with Boy7 holding his prize on a stick - the only one willing to do the task - so good to have a man around! I decided that it wasn't quite necessary to dissect them even though we had lots of specimens - have to save something for high school biology (or for Dad to do), right?
The next day, we went on a "field trip" to the grocery store where the seafood guy showed us mussels, clams, oysters, crabs and lobsters. Hoping to find some tadpoles and frogs next week, but after that I think I need to pray that God would stop giving me specimens as it's freaking me out!
Wanna know a secret? Planning my curriculum choices is one of my favorite parts of homeschooling! For others it may be enough to tear their hair out, but I just love looking through catalogs and trying to find just the right fit for our family and individual children.
Now I haven't always been this way. When I first started hsing, I wanted a strict regimented system from one company where I could check the boxes so that I could prove to anyone who asked that my kids were learning and "all the bases were being covered". Eventually, though, I learned that the flexibility was one of the pluses of hsing. If something is not working, I can toss it out and try something else, something that's not as much of an option in a traditional school setting.:) Of course, I try NOT to toss out if possible and choose wisely because I do want to be a good steward. But I'm at the point as I am finishing up my 4th YEAR (Wow!) of hsing where I actually get excited to pick and choose.
So here is what we have planned for the coming year:
All Kids
Konos Volume II Co-Op - I've written before about how wonderful the online co-op has been for us this year. It has been such a blessing to really learn how to teach from a veteran homeschooling mom and have an online network of other moms who are all teaching their kids the same topic at the same time. The Volume II Co-Op will include Explorers, Weather, the Revolutionary War and Government/Constitution and, as important if not more important, the character traits of Inquisitveness, Responsibility, Courage and Wisdom.
Bible Study Guide for All Ages - We have really enjoyed using this curriculum for our morning devotionals this year (when there wasn't a specific Konos related Bible lesson). We will just continue with these and I'm excited that within 2 more years we will have gone through the whole Bible as a family.
3rd Grader - 1st off, I have to say that I can't believe she's already going to be a third grader! Where is the time going?
Character Quality Language Arts - This is a new curriculum we have already switched to because she had finished the 2nd grade Learning Language Arts Through Literature in January. I came across this initially after a review in a homeschooling magazine where this woman said she had created a language arts program using models of all of her favorite Language Arts Programs (which all happened to be curriculum I have been impressed with and was thinking about using) - Learning Language Arts through Literature, IEW and Easy Grammar. I had really thought I was going to have to piecemeal Language Arts until I found this one. (As a side she is having a sale through April 30th. There is also a month of free samples on the website so you can try it before buying it).
Spelling Power - We have already started using this as well. I love that I will be able to use it for all my kids and that instead of spelling lists each week with some words she already knows how to spell, she only has to study the words she misspells.
Making Math Meaningful - We've struggled with this curriculum this year, but dh who is a former High School Math teacher has promised to be more involved with Girl8's math and we are going to try sticking with it - mostly because we haven't found anything that we really like better.
Handwriting without Tears Cursive Success - Girl8 REALLY wanted to learn cursive this year, but fizzled out in her excitement for it. Right now, we are doing it 2-3 days/week. We will continue that(maybe up to one more day/week) in the coming year.
2nd Grade
Language Arts - Boy7 has required quite the eclectic Language Arts compilation this year, but has made huge improvements in his reading from a year ago. I've made the executive decision to hold off on formal grammar or spelling until his reading is just a little more fluent - probably mid-year.
Explode the Code - For a kid who I never thought would be a "workbook" kind of kid, he has really come around this year and is able to do much work independently now, though he prefers mom to be sitting there for moral support and to see what he's doing.
Abeka Readers - Someone in my homeschool group had blessed us with the 1st & 2nd grade readers and they have been a hit. He likes that they are short stories(1-2 pages) and there are often boys in them - something that annoyed him with some of the other beginning reader books.
Handwriting without Tears Printing Power - Just continuing with this. His writing has improved this year, but there are still several letters that he forms from bottom to top rather than from top to bottom - probably something only mom would notice:)
Making Math Meaningful - Boy7 has really done well with this curriculum this year and, and will be very close to the same level as his sister soon(Shh! don't tell her). Amazing how each one has their strengths and weaknesses!
Kindergarten - This is another one that I can't believe is old enough to be where she's at, but she is more than ready and really enjoys school (could it be because she has the choice each day to do workbooks OR just be read to for her school time and it will change when she hits the age where she HAS to do the work? We'll find out...)
Explode the Code - She completed the primer series this year and has already started Book 1.
Everything for Early Learning - This is a workbook that covers all the major kindergarten themes including phonics, math, and critical thinking.
Abeka Readers - She's one reader behind her brother right now, but the silent e/long vowel sounds have started slowing her down a bit.
Making Math Meaningful Level K - I really enjoyed these activities (almost no workbook pages, but learning math concepts through everyday things around your home) with my older two kids and I think she will have fun with them too.
Preschool 2/3 - My 2yo has one of those dreaded September birthdays - what will we do with him - should we start him early or hold him back someday when he is Kindergarten age? Well, for now, I think we will just stick to reading his favorite books during his "school time" which right now include Green Eggs and Ham and Goodnight moon. He will also be soaking up information from the other kids' schooltime. I really think my younger two are going to have the best education of all when it comes down to it!
There are still a few unknowns that we are praying about right now. I really want to find a homeschool support group and Independent Study Program in our new area to take care of the record keeping end of things. I also need to figure out when we might be taking some breaks this summer and when our "new school year" will officially start. But it is nice to already have everything ordered and have new things to get excited about. Now I just hope that no shiny catalogs come in the mail...
I have always battled with Girl8 in completing writing assignments. Part of the problem is her(and maybe my) perfectionistic attitude toward writing - thinking that it has to have good handwriting, everything must be spelled right and grammatically correct as well as communicate the idea. I have had the pleasure of participating in the Konos Online Co-Op this school year and benefitted from getting input from a veteran homeschool mom, Jessica Hulcy. Jessica has really been stressing (especially in the younger grades) PROCESS over PRODUCT in writing all year. And you know what? I finally got it!
Here's what we did. This week, the writing assignment was to write a paragraph on one of the biographies we read this week(Corrie Ten Boom, Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King, Jr). I received the normal resistance. Until I told her that she could dictate all that she could remember to me! I wrote down the sentences as quickly as I could - I could hardly keep up with her! Then I asked her if she could narrow down what she had written into three parts. Once she did, I gave her 3 highlighters of different colors. She grouped together by color what happened first, middle and last. Then we went through each color and she ordered the sentances further. The end result was several paragraphs and a very cohesive report on Corrie Ten Boom!! We copied the whole thing on "good paper" and then she drew a picture at the top. Wow! Writing without tears!
Boy7 didn't have much to report on Martin Luther King, Jr. but did draw a touching picture of some white boys playing while a little Martin(with some tears) and some friends looked on. He explained to me that the white boys weren't allowed to play with the black boys, but that Martin taught people when he grew up that blacks and whites are the same and can do things together!
Some of you may get a picture from my blog that my kids are always doing really well and I'm this really great teacher - Well, I don't really write about all of our struggles at schooltime(like the fact that right after the writing assignment went so well we had actual tears over Math!) and I often have the homeschool mom plague of self doubt . So when my kids show me that they are actually learning something and I'm not messing them up forever it is such a blessing!
We have also been studying kindess and manners this week. I am so thankful for the dedicated time to focus on this subject. There have been numerous training opportunities to re-do conversations so that they are said with Honor(kindness and respect). Today we will be focusing on how to properly set a table and practice good table manners - very timely now that we are the "new pastor's family". I guess the test will be at the next meal we are invited to:) Tomorrow afternoon we will be making some goodies to share with our new neighbors.
Konos is having a great sale on their Electing America's Leaders Study. You can get the whole study for only $15.00(regularly $35)! And this summer they will be offering an online teaching co-op at www.homeschoolmentor.com so that you can hear from creator Jessica Hulcy herself the best way is to teach the study. I am planning to do this timely unit during the height of this very important presidential campaign.
We started back to school yesterday. After a 3 week break that included a major move and a camping trip, I was ready to get life back to normal despite my kids' protests. We are studying the character trait of Honor and yesterday we looked through the Bible to see to whom we should show honor. At dinner, they reviewed the list with their dad and I cracked up when Girl4 said that we should honor the President of the bushes. Her older sister told her matter of factly that it was the President of the United States whose name was President Bush!
We also went through the fruits of the Spirit and made a "Fruit of the Spirit Tree". We read a book on Corrie Ten Boom and talked about how she honored the Jewish people even though she didn't believe what they believed. They really loved the part of her story where she had hidden her Bible and the German soldier skipped over her during the searches. And they laughed out loud when they heard that the fleas and stench kept the guards away from the womens' barracks so that they could study God's word undisturbed.
We are also reading through the Great Brain series at night. Although we often don't agree with how the adults (and many of the kids) in the books handle situations, it has been a great source of conversation starters with the kids. It also gives some great historical background on life in Utah at the turn of the century. I recommend them with a lot of adult interaction.
Phew! Between this statement below and the Governator's support of hsing I am starting to feel that this will all get settled in our favor for the time being. I don't know how Jack O'Connell came to his conclusion, but I wonder if the prospect of 200,000+ students coming into schools that are laying off teachers and facing major budget cuts had anything to do with it(not to mention the expense of trying to round us all up!).
SCHOOLS CHIEF JACK O'CONNELL ISSUES STATEMENT
REGARDING HOME SCHOOLING IN CALIFORNIA
3/11/08
SACRAMENTO - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack
O'Connell announced today that the California Department of Education
has completed a legal review of the February 28 California Court of
Appeal ruling regarding home schooling. O'Connell issued the following
statement:
"I have reviewed this case, and I want to assure parents
that chose to home school that California Department of Education policy
will not change in any way as a result of this ruling. Parents still
have the right to home school in our state.
"Every child in our state has a legal right to get an education, and I
want every child to get an education that will prepare them for success
in college and the world of work in the challenging global economy.
"As the head of California's public school system, I hope that every
parent would want to send their children to public school. However,
traditional public schools may not be the best fit for every student.
Within the public school system there are a range of options available.
Students can take independent study classes, attend a charter school, or
participate in non-classroom-based programs. But some parents choose to
send their children to private schools or to home school, and I respect
that right.
"I admire the dedication of parents who commit to oversee their
children's education through home schooling. But, no matter what
educational program a student participates in, it is critical that the
program prepares them for future success in the global economy. I urge
any parent who is considering or involved in home schooling their
children to take advantage of resources and support available through
their county or district offices of education."
This very scary news story was brought to my attention. A judge in my own county of Los Angeles has ordered some homeschooling parents to put their kids in public school. The entire court brief can be found here. This family was enrolled in an Independent Study Program(umbrella school) just like my own children are. We had been told that being part of an ISP was one of the safest ways in which to homeschool under the law.
What is really scary is that the court has ruled that "keeping the children at home deprived them of situations where (1) they could interact with people outside the family, (2) there are people who could provide help if something is amiss in the children's lives, and (3) they could develop emotionally in a broader world than the parents' 'cloistered' setting."
"Nor did the family's religious beliefs matter to the court. Their "sincerely held religious beliefs" are "not the quality of evidence that permits us to say that application of California's compulsory public school education law to them violates their First Amendment rights." "Such sparse representations are too easily asserted by any parent who wishes to homeschool his or her child," the court concluded."
The family is appealing the ruling, but it is definitely an instance where the courts are trumping the laws that are in place (In California, there are no actual homeschooling laws. Homeschoolers can either join an ISP or file their own Private School Affidavit with the state) determining that the state knows better how to raise our children than parents do. Please join me in praying for the homeschooling children in the state of California.
Here is a link to a free unit study on Charlotte's Web offered this week at the homeschoolestore. It looks really great if you are in the doldrums of the school year and want to change things up a bit...
As I've written, we are studying the character trait of Trust in Konos. We have been talking about our fears and today talked a bit about what we should do when we are worried, anxious or afraid. Today we re-memorized the verse "Casting all your cares upon Him for he cares for you." The kids drew pictures of their fears. It touched my heart to see and hear the things that they truly fear the most deep inside, some completely unrealistic and others very real, some I was aware of and others that I was very surprised by. Then after they had made them we "cast" our fears into the recycling bin outside and gave those fears to God. They had such fun doing the casting. Boy2 started going through the house finding papers to crumple up so he could do it too. Then, spontaneously, they started dancing and shouting around the house praising God that they don't have to worry about those fears anymore because they had given them to Him. It was definitely one of those moments that I will treasure.
We started school last week, easing back with just the 3R's in the morning. This week we started back with the Konos online co-op. You can only imagine how I felt when I picked up my lesson planning and realized that the character trait we are studying is Trust. Further, Jessica Hulcy(co-creator of Konos who runs the online co-op) made a point to tell us that "the amazing thing about focusing on Godly character in Konos is that the Lord seems to test everyone in the family for that character trait. This is a maddening, stretching truth that no one WANTS to go through. We all hate being refined." And of course, I have had a few lessons in trust this week as I have to continually learn to trust God, often through trusting that my husband will make wise choices about the future of our family.
The actual schooling is going well though. We have been using Family Pilgrim's Progress as a read aloud and the kids have loved listening to BW read it each night, probably because he's much better at making cool voices than I am. It has started some great discussions in our home too. Some of our floating experiments haven't turned out the results they were supposed to, but overall anytime kids get to play with water to do floating experiments they have a good time learning. This week we will be learning about many different types of boats/ships. And in a couple weeks we will be heading to Channel Islands where some tall ships will be docked for a week as well as visit the Maritime museum.
I tweaked our schedule a bit this semester. The biggest change is that I have included a 1/2 hour time slot with my 2yo. This is my attempt to have some one on one time with him and hopefully keep him from being off on his own destroying things for part of the morning. We have both really enjoyed his "school time" where he pretty much just selects board books for me to read to him and maybe sing some songs. I have also decided to alternate my one on one time schedule in the morning. This way, they all have their day when they go first (we have BSF on Tuesday so that eliminates one day) and they all take turns getting Mommy when she is at her best and at her most tired. So far, it's working well.
I have also re-instituted a mandatory quiet time in the afternoon. I'm using this time to dust off some of those workout videos I've been collecting for years. This week, Girl8 asked if she could workout with me so I have a partner and motivator. There was a day when I wasn't planning to do it and she asked "Mom, which workout are we doing today?" It's been a fun bonding time for us to do together. She also received Little Women as a gift for Christmas and so we've been reading a chapter before I start with dinner prep in the afternoon. God's so cool as all of our learning, even the things I didn't plan, just seem to work out together. I had completely forgotten that Little Women's first chapter is about how they used to play Pilgrim's Progress - the same thing we are reading!
I've started enough schedules to know that a new schedule is only as good as the person who actually makes sure that the schedule isn't just a piece of paper that is posted on the fridge so I'm praying that I can be disciplined enough to keep it up.
We had a great Thanksgiving up in Northern California and enjoyed a wonderful time with family(More memories and pictures to be written after I get out from under this load of laundry!). We will be finishing up our Konos Stewardship Unit this week and will be spending December doing Amanda Bennett's Christmas Unit Study.
Since I was trying to come up with a project for tonight's Family Craft Night at church, I thought that an Advent calendar would be a very practical project for families to make together and then use starting this Saturday. I found this very simple one online:
I bought little envelopes(found mine at Joann's) and we are going to spend tonight decorating them with Christmas stamps and stickers and putting numbers on them. Then I bought some green & red cord that we will string in our kitchen. Since our envelopes have holes on the end, we will just hang them with ornament hangers, but I was also thinking of using clothespins if they get too heavy.
Then the question became what should go in the envelopes? Surfing the net for a while last night turned up lots of suggestions for gifts and candy, but since we are trying to make Jesus the focus of our Christmas season, I really wanted to find something that points back to Him. I came across the idea below on www.teachingmom.com/ and am trying to decide whether I will use it OR Jesse Tree figures and stories from the book The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean - there is one figure (I would just place a clipart picture of each symbol from the book ) in the envelope for each day leading up to Christmas. Either way, I am excited about something that will ensure that we are doing our family devotions each day since it will be staring me in the face and the kids won't let me get away with skipping! And the best part is that I still have until the weekend to get it all together.
Here is a list of small gifts you can give as you countdown to Advent: 1. Quarter--A quarter! That equals 25 cents. But 25 also stands for the number of days till Christmas, when God gave us His best present. Jesus told about one woman's gift and the way she gave it. Read: Mark 12:41-44
2. Grape Gum or Candy--Grapes make jelly and juice, raisins and wine. But Jesus didn't need grapes to perform His first miracle. Read: John 2:1-10
3. Smiley Face--Here's a smile! A smile usually expresses happiness. Jesus gave us many instructions to keep us happy. Read: Matthew 5:1-12.
4. Swedish Fish candy--Well, if you were surprised to find these fish, wait till you read the story today! Others were surprised to find fish, too. Read: Luke 5:4-7.
5. Birthday Candle--As you know, we are getting ready to celebrate Jesus' birthday. However, Jesus talked about something else that is related to this candle. Light! Read: Matthew 5:14-16.
6. Small Bell--You could make some noise with this. But it would not have bothered a certain man--until he met Jesus. Read: Mark 7:31-37.
7. Goldfish Crackers--These would not go very far if you were really hungry! But Jesus could make much out of little. Surely He knew how to multiply! Read: Matthew 14:13-21.
8. Cotton Balls--These cotton balls would be helpful in a thunder storm, wouldn't they? We could use them for ear plugs to muffle the loud noises that thunder makes. But we know someone who doesn't need cotton. Jesus can control the weather. Read: Matthew 8:23-27.
9. Piece of Map--People needing to use the other parts of this map are in trouble! Don't you get lost today! Read: John 14:1-6.
10. Soap--Do you like to wash? Behind your ears? Washing turned out to be a happy time for a man who met Jesus. Read: John 9:1-7.
11. Heart Candy or Sticker--Hearts. Wordlessly, they speak of love, don't they? Jesus spoke some commands about love. Read: Matthew 25:17-41.
12. Small Cross--We use the cross as a symbol, representing Jesus. Do you know why? Read: Phillipians 2:1-11.
13. Packet of Salt--Ordinary salt. Yes, Jesus related salt to us and our behavior. He also gave us some advice. Read: Matthew 5:14 and Colossians 4:6. (Notice that He doesn't recommend pepper!).
14. Sand--Don't try to eat this! It's sand. It reminds us that Jesus knows something about architecture, about buildings--and building lives. See His instructions: Matthew 7:24-29.
15. Silk Flowers--Flowers are pretty, aren't they? Jesus used flowers to teach us a reassuring lesson. Read: Matthew 6:28-34.
16. Raisins--Raisins! Many children are given raisins instead of candy for a snack. That's because they are a health-promoting and delicious fruit. Jesus told us how we can produce good fruit. Read: John 15:1-5.
17. Seeds--Jesus told a story about seeds that man planted. Then He explained it, revealing its deep meaning. Read: Matthew 13:3-8 and Matthew 13:18-23.
18. Christmas Carol--Christmas is just about a week away. And here is an appropriate song. Sing it loudly! Read: Psalms 100.
19. Rock--A hard stone! Can you change this stone into a piece of bread? Do you think Jesus could? Jesus was asked to do just that. Do know how He handled it? Read: Matthew 4:1-4.
20. Crumpled Foil--Try to smooth out this piece of aluminum foil and use it as a mirror. It's hard to see your reflection plainly, isn't it? Many circumstances are hard to understand, but someday everything will be clear. Read: 1 Corinthians 13:12.
21. Mustard Seed (or packet of mustard)--The mustard seed is the smallest there is! When it sprouts, it grows into one of the largest plants! See what Jesus said. Read: Matthew 17:20.
22. Dove--We've learned that the cross represents Christ, but do you know what the dove stands for? Read: Matthew 3:13-17.
23. Scrap of Wool Material--The threads that compose this fabric came from the wool of a sheep. Jesus called Himself the good shepherd. Do you know who His sheep are? Read: John 10:7-18.
24. Marble--A marble! Do you know what is sometimes called the "Big Blue Marble"? The world. God made the world for us. What does God continue doing to the world? And who is the world? Read: John 3:16.
25. Picture of Baby--Isn't this baby cute? When he was born, he made a whole family happy. Jesus was born a baby, too. He came to make the whole world happy. Read: Luke 2:1-20. Enjoy your celebration today. Continue to learn about Jesus--and love Him forever!
*This comes from www.daniellesplace.com (among other places on the web)
What are your Advent traditions? I'd love to hear them!
Click here for a free 75 page curriculum for teaching math facts including lots of practice worksheets! I love the internet - how did anyone ever homeschool without it?
I happened upon this great site where you can generate your FREE own handwriting worksheets. I am plugging in my kids Awana verses as copywork. Lots of other great worksheets too including math problems - you decide the parameters!
We are on our 4th week of studying the character trait of Attentiveness. We talked about how Attentiveness means to listen closely and watch carefully(complete with hand motions), to listen long enough to know what is being said, to listen for the voice of the Lord and this week to concentrate without distraction.
Sunday evening in the car, my 4yo wanted to play a game with me where she describes an animal and then I have to guess what it is. Well, I was listening to the radio and thinking about things I needed to get done and was honestly only half listening. I was just guessing based on whatever the last thing was that she said. Finally, she was tired of me getting them wrong and scolded "Mommy, you are not being ATTENTIVE to what I am telling you. If you were being ATTENTIVE, you would have known exactly which animal I was talking about. You are not listening closely or long enough to know what is being said. "
Oh - to have to ask forgiveness from your 4 year old! I did and we went on playing the game, but I am so amazed at how much is "trickling down" to her even though my focus has been more on teaching the older two! It's exactly the way the speakers at the homeschooling conferences always said it would be!
But now I'm worried because we are beginning a study of Stewardship and specifically Nutrition next week - Not only will I be accountable to God for what I eat and how I spend my money, my 4 year old will now be ATTENTIVE to this too!
I have learned so much from the book Managers of Their Homes, a book for homeschooling moms about how to schedule their day. My problem continues to be that I love CREATING the schedules, but am not always so great at actually carrying them out. With the start of a new school year, I have created and will attempt to discipline myself to follow through with this - although I have realized that when you have young ones your schedule will change frequently because they change so quickly (nap schedules, amount of time needed for schooling, etc). So my goal is to keep up this schedule for our Fall semester.
Now I am not rigid about this, but it helps give me a flow to our day. I enjoy looking at other people's schedules too (I know, I'm pretty sick in the head) so I thought I would share mine and if anyone wants to post a link to theirs, I would love to see it as I always am looking for more ideas. I have also made a schedule that alters things a bit for the day we run errands/grocery shop that basically just shortens the amount of playtime and another for the day we will be attending Bible Study Fellowship in the Fall. Of course we will also have things scheduled in the evening and the kids may keep up with their classes at the YMCA, but this is a GUIDE for me on how I can get our priorities done each day.
I hope at some point to make a 1/2 hour for exercise each day and I do plan to squeeze in some reading or playing time with Boyalmost2 during the day as well. A new item I've added this year is at 3:00 we will have snack, go over our memory verses/Awana and then have a training time where I can train them in anything that I think they need to work on (anything from a new chore to table manners to practicing responding to a sibling in a loving way - whatever they might need). We are also going to try a new incentive program for serving the family with their chores HAPPILY and having a teachable spirit during school time this semester that BW came up with and I'm still trying to iron out. I will write more about that when I know what it will look like.
Well, we have successfully started school and are now doing Bible, Language Arts and Math daily. (Pictures in the slide show are from our first day of school). The first week was a little rough trying to get back into the routine, but I think we are pretty close to ironing that out and reminding the kids that God didn't create them to just sit around and play all day.
Boy6's reading has improved in just the little break we had. I got an idea from a friend on an online forum that I frequent She made up her own Easy Reader stories for her kids. She was gracious to post her stories online. I took them and tweaked them, using my son's name and other members of our family. Then I typed them up with plenty of space between sentences so that he can illustrate the stories himself. Because of his love of drawing, he was all over this project. The first story was "Boy6 has a red hat." So I think I will stick with this type of reader for a while so he can continue to gain confidence before I bring back some "real" books.
Girl7 has been begging to begin cursive so we have the Handwriting without Tears workbook and she is enjoying the feeling of being grown up and writing in cursive like some of her older friends - even though we are just making c's so far.
Girl4 is loving her Explode the Code workbooks and is actually blending as well as Boy6 right now - so amazing how different they each can be!
The girls, as you can also see from the slide show, have become so excited to have their hair curled. Girl7 BEGGED me to buy some rollers at Wal-Mart last week and has had me put them in every night for about two weeks. Girl4 doesn't like to sleep in them quite as much but in interest of matching her sister, she has resigned herself every few days. Their interest in this might have to do with a new love for Shirley Temple movies. We own 3 and they had never been much interested in them until now. Funny how their tastes and interests change over time. It has been funny to try to explain to them that the movies are not a series and why the same little girl has a different name, different mom or dad, etc in each movie. Other than that the only drawback is that Girl4 seems suddenly quite concerned that we might die since Shirley Temple seems to have lost one or both parents in every movie.
It's crunch time for BW as the last of his summer school class papers are due on Monday. Not helpful for me(only because it is so convicting) that he is doing a counseling paper on what the Bible says about counseling Laziness/Slothfulness. He also preached a great sermon last Sunday on the Good Shepherd from John 10. What a blessing to hear such biblical truth from my own husband - God is so good! We are looking forward to his head emerging from the books on Tuesday so that we can begin our family vacation time for a few weeks. In the meantime, I am heading to my parents tomorrow so the kids can go swimming and I can have an extra set of eyes and ears for a day while BW spends the day in the library.
After a break during the month of June, girl7 is ASKING for school to start again. So today we went out to buy their new binders and some other school supplies. Think I've talked about this before, but each year the kids get a large 3-ring binder where we keep all their work(art projects, writing assignments, worksheets, etc) for the year. If the binder is getting too full, it's time to start giving some art work away or throwing it away(gasp!). I have a few children who have a desire to save EVERYTHING - wonder where they could have gotten that from? I splurge and buy the kind where you can put title pages on the cover. The first day of school they decorate the front page of their binder and do a self portrait (I'm looking forward to showing them what they have done in years past to compare). I'll also take their pictures.
I'm planning to ease us back in gradually. We are going to do just Bible and Language Arts this week and then add Math next week. Then in August, we will take two weeks off because BW will finally be done with summer school and we can officially "vacation" including our first ever family camping trip and a trip to Northern California to visit family. My hope is to have our schedule down so that we can start Konos in September with their online co-op and add in art, social studies, science, etc..
We are still enjoying our summer reading. The kids are officially hooked on the Magic Treehouse series. I got tired of reading them out of order, so I was able to get a collection of books 1-8 on CD from the library and we listen to them each night.
We had the opportunity to attend a concert on Sunday featuring Seeds Family Worship. They have created some great music designed for families and children to memorize scripture. Their songs are straight from God's Word. I can attest that I have learned at least 4 verses in the past few days and, while the songs get stuck in your head, they are NOT annoying as so many children's CD's are. Their website also offers the guitar chords and memory verse printouts so you can use them during your family devotions.
When I checked out their website today, I noticed that they have a link to HIsKids.Net, which is a free internet radio site that offers Christian children's programs.
I am blessed to be married to BW for 11 years. We have 4 children: Girl8, Boy7, Girl4, Boy2. BW is a Pastor of Children's Ministries and a part time seminary student. This makes me a hsing mom of 4 and a pastor's wife, 2 roles that only God could have called me to:) because I would never have chosen them on my own!
