I am sooo glad we are only doing full school days 3 days a week! This is like pulling teeth!  I did come up with a 2 hr Roo rotation schedule. I set the alarm on my phone 10 min before switch time and tell them to finish up what they are doing. It is working, but my 9-13yo crew is having a large adjustment!

boy #1 spent two hours on school and got one chapter in the bible read.

yes, that's it.

He did do some other reading, but it was not assigned for Tuesday! He found his Math page but could not find the right teacher book to do his story.

He is now writing his TY note for today on his task time. He also did his math paper during his task time. 

I know we will get better.  It is just an adjustment.

boy #2 had a meltdown in math when i said the answer was wrong. "I did it like you said!" he exclaimed!  I never said he did it wrong, I just said the answer was wrong!  He then threw my pillow on the floor (NOT GOOD!) and then fell to the floor being a drama man when I yelled at him regarding the pillow.  We had quite an altercation and I almost called his Dad.  Once he was calm, we talked about what Proverbs has to say about taking correction and how he did just what Adam did - tried to blame ME for his wrong answer. Just like Adam blamed God by saying "This woman YOU sent me. . . "

And we talked about those who do take correction become wise.

Because I had so much trouble regarding the math lesson, the paper was crumpled and tossed and he had to do the whole thing over. 

And that's how we do things. LOL!

Next time I bet when I say "this answer looks wrong" he will say "Oh, let me go see if I can find what I did wrong."

School builds character.  That is our primary use of it anyway.  These issues are far more important than if he adds right or not.

Boy #3 did pretty good with his school.  He has a book he could not find so that school is still on his list for Wed.  We set up at church Wed and then have about an hour and a half until supper. The boys usually play outside or in the gym and if it rains they play an educational board game.  However, if they do not complete all 5 of their subjects on Mon and Tues, then I write down what still needs done and that will be done on Wed when they would usu have free time.  I try to let the consequences of their actions fall on their shoulders in a logical way.  Work before play.

The twins were instructed carefully and at length about what was expected of them in regards to the thank you note and how/where they were to sit.  They then took their notes to their room and did just what they were not supposed to do. LOL! So the notes were put up and they both got to copy this sentence: "When I write I will sit straight at a desk or table with my feet flat on the floor."

They both forgot the period at the end of the sentence, so they both got to write the sentence a second time.  Then they put that paper in their folder and got back on their thank you notes.

Never a dull moment!

Those people who look at me and say "what do you do with your kids all day?" good grief!  my kids can take all day to do the simplest things!!

We got the laundry room clean today. Really clean. I took out all the laundry hampers because the children were cleaning the floor by putting anything on it back in the laundry bins. Including folded clean clothes and any clean socks. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

so all their laundry is in their room supposed to be in a basket. The babies and mine I keep in the bathroom. Laundry is an ongoing pain in my side around here. Not even so much the keeping up with it, but the training. You know, if you wear clothes and never put them in the laundry and mom makes you change. . . you um, run out of clothes eventually!

And if you keep getting socks out of the sock basket but never put your dirty ones in the laundry, eventually the sock basket will be empty.

These things seem so self explanatory! 

Oy!

All in all tho I am pleased with what we got done today. A lot of training, a fair amount of attitude adjusting (roo even got a spanking!), and even a little bit of school.  ha ha - and 3 loads of laundry  so far. 27 more to go of course. . .

And the dance goes on!

Love to all!

Jo

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What is a meme??

1) ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED

- A Survivor's Guide to Homeschooling

even tho people make fun of this book, i found it very helpful, very realistic, and recommend it to any real homeschooler who lives in the day to day of being real and letting kids grow

2) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT

- GOD!  He has been just totally amazing at the way He has brought things together for my children. Bringing just what each needs when they need it. From a real live snake on our property (NONpoisonous - GOOD God!) that John caught and we observed - to the RNC opportunity for John.  Just amazing!

3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT

- Saxon math. my kids just hated it!

4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR

- the internet.  Some interactive maps, research opportunities, and printable pages. It helped to stoke my fire to have new things at a great price - free!

5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING THIS YEAR

- edhelper.com  My mom gifted us with a subscription here and this is what most of our school is coming from for this year.

6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY

- all the Weaver curriculum.  That was my alltime favorite curriculum. We all learned SO MUCH using it. I just liked it all around.

I would also like to round out my curriculum by adding arts and music appreciation courses.  someday. . .

7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED

- hmmmm, never considered this before. . .an online typing course.

8) ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOGUE YOU ENJOY READING

- Timberdoodle. neat stuff! I don't get any catalogs anymore tho.  Finally just stopped ordering.

9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY

- edhelper.com

10) TAG FIVE OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS

1. Angie

2. Norma

3. Robin

4. TNMOMTOMANYBLESSINGS

5. You!

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from Leann:

wanta play???

    What's in the...  

 Oven? dirty dishes.

 Crockpot? nothing and it is clean!

   CD player? i don't have one. we must have 11 in the house, but i do not have one. i usu use the puter and it has a bunch of everything.

 * DVD player? i have no idea. we do no TV anymore, only dvd's n videos - lots of Barney lately much to Hannah's chagrin! The babies both LOVE Barney!

*Sewing Room? excuse me?

*Craft Basket?   the what?

* Music Folder? whatever the kids n hubby put there!

Mailbox? lots of interesting stuffs half of which i never read.

 Review Hopper? not sure what that is. 

Stack for Reading?  my bible, the Gracious Woman, A Woman After God's Own Heart,

   Study Stack? Recruiting Like Jesus Did, You Can Homeschool HighSchool

 Washroom? laundry - dirty and clean and various Roo leavings

 Glass?   hot coffee

   Stomach?   jelly bagel

Back Yard? two black dogs and various cats

   Mommy's Lap? my keyboard and my bagel on a plate! I held the 22 mos old earlier today for his nap.

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wow! Dr. Dobson's letter for February sure goes along with my pondering!!!

What I have run into - well, let me go back a bit for my new readers. . .

6 children in 8 years, homeschooling, and lots of other activities at church, etc.  The twins are now 5 and I am delightedly pregnant again with a long awaited little girl.

Soon after Zipporah's birth, God very clearly told me to do NO THING outside of the home.  Fine with me!  I scheduled one field trip (I thought he meant things like positions or regular committments) and sprained my ankle so badly the week before the trip that I could not walk for 3 weeks! I NEVER sprain anything!

So - after 3 years and another surprise baby (a boy we named Reuben which means "Behold! A son!"), God released me into ministry.  I was very excited to see what He had in store for me and several things appeared at once but the ones not for me quickly fell through. (I think God is really good at closing doors!)

Long story short - after it all fell out, I am assistant to our Children's Ministry Director. And I like that.

However, what I am running into is other small things people are asking me to do which would be no big deal really, but I already committed to this.  Now I am wondering if I should be doing anything outside.  We try to do all things with excellence, and for me that means even a seemingly small thing (like a table for a ministry fair) can turn into a largeish thing in terms of time and energy.  When I am brainstorming the ministry table, I am not brainstorming schedules, school, needs of the children, etc.

Even that would be ok, I think, but with hubby's life in such a state of flux right now with being unemployed and waiting on God with no clear direction other than "not that" - it seems there is too much on me.  I am not used to having him home all day. It used to be I was very available to him for several hours each evening (in addition to a phone call or two during the day) and that was sooo doable since I had all day and all night to do other things.  Now it seems he wants that kind of attention 24/7, and there isn't enough of me to do that.  There is no sense making a big deal out of it right now because this is not the schedule we will ultimately have when God finally ok's whatever it is we are supposed to be doing. It is just challenging right now.  I just feel like I never have down time and someone is always wanting me and feeling left out or alone. Whew! That can wear really quick!

This too shall pass.  But it was really most telling that Dr. Dobson's letter was on that very subject.

"In closing, let me emphasize one more time that the trouble we are having with our children is linked directly to routine panic and the increasing isolation and detachment from you, their parents. Furthermore, boys typically suffer more from these conditions than do girls. Why? Because boys are more likely to get off-course when they are not guided and supervised carefully. They are inherently more volatile and less stable emotionally. They founder in chaotic, unsupervised and undisciplined circumstances. Boys are like automobiles that need a driver at the steering wheel every moment of the journey, gently turning a half inch here and a quarter-inch there. They will need this guidance for at least 16 or 18 years, or even longer. When left to their own devices, they tend to drift toward the center divider or into the ditch, toward misbehavior or danger. Yet 59 percent of today's kids come home to an empty house. It is an invitation to mischief or disaster for rambunctious males, and the older they get, the more opportunities they have to get into trouble. Today, when the culture is in a tug-of-war with families for control of our children, we can't afford to be casual about their care and training.

Your task as a mother, in conjunction with your husband, is to build a man out of the raw materials available in this delightful little boy, stone upon stone upon stone. Never assume for a moment that you can "do your own thing" without serious consequences for him and his sister. I believe this task must be your highest priority for a period of time. It will not always be required of you. Before you know it, that child at your feet will become a young man who will pack his bags and take his first halting steps into the adult world. Then it will be your turn. By all expectations, you should have decades of health and vigor left to invest in whatever God calls you to do. But for now, there is a higher calling. I feel obligated to tell you this, whether my words are popular or not. Raising children who have been loaned to us for a brief moment outranks every other responsibility."

We have 5 boys.

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