Buddy is five. Wow, growing up so fast!!! He is begging to learn to read. I was in no hurry. I was prepared to take it slow. He is a boy. He needs time in the dirt. However, he wants to read. Due to his cleft, he has speech issues. I know he can hear the sound correctly, but being able to say it could be a problem with some of the sounds. I did not want him getting frustrated and discouraged. So, slow, was my goal.

Well yesterday I went of the letter sounds: c, s, t and a. Random really. I was winging it. I then wrote down c-a-t and I said do you know what that spells? Expecting him to say no. He said cat, c-a-t spells cat. I was impressed. So we discussed the "at" sound and he read the words sat, mat and bat.

Then he wanted to read a book. Um, ok Buddy. Thankfully I had the first set of Bob books so we read Book 1: Mat. He was so proud. Thankfully daddy was home so he could run go tell daddy. His face was priceless!!!!!

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Trees

Trees are good.

Some are bad.

Some are old.

Some are new.

Most of all I like to climb them.

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Cheerios for breakfast. This means that I had very little sleep last night and woke up in a fog. Cheerios was quick and easy.

The kiddos are eating their Cheerios and we are all chatting. As Cuddlebug gets ready to take another spoonful, she says "Mom, you might want to come look. My Cheerios look like the  United States of America."

I walk over and well sure enough, there was the good old USA. OK Texas was not to scale and some of Florida was washed away but it really resemebled the outline of the USA. Too funny.

She then took another bite as her sister asked to see. We then decided that a hurricane had wiped out the eastern USA.

I love homeschooling. And I'm glad we had Cheerios for breakfast. Sorry I didn't think to take a picture.

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We did our history tonight at 7:45 pm. Hmmmm, a tad behind schedule but isn't that one of the joys of homeschooling?

We use TruthQuest History; American History for Young Students I. The children love it and are learning so much! Currently we are studying the colonies. We have covered the Lost Colony and Jamestown. Tonight we did some introduction to Pilgrims.

I was reading and the kiddos were adding their thoughts.  I explained what "pilgrim" meant; refers to those who leave comfortable life behind and head for an important spiritual place". To help them understand it a bit better, I thought to use our life as an example. Not a perfect example but I thought an OK one, lol.

So I explained that it was a lot like what was happening to us now. We had a nice comfortable life at WB Church but God was calling us on a different journey to start a church, a type of spiritual journey. They just kind of sat there for a minute and then my Doodlebug said, "We're Pilgrims! You mean we are pilgirms?!?!??!" Very excited, lol. I think she got the point.

I love it when they enjoy what they are learning. Can't wait to continue our journey tomorrow!  (Of course Cuddlebug has read all the books I had set aside for history; have to plan that better next time)

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We are using Exploring Creation through Astronomy for our science. All the kiddos are enjoying it and learning so much!

Currently we are studying the sun. One of the suggested activities is to melt a chocolate bar with a magnifying glass and the sun. I decided in the name of science I could sacrifice a chocolate bar.

For some reason, Buddy did not want to join us outside, Punkin was sleeping; so it was just Cuddles and Doodle. They had a great time. As it was melting I told them to touch it. The could see the chocolate melting but I wanted them to realize how quickly it was happening. After they touched it, they naturally licked their fingers.

Cuddles (7) replied, "Mmmmm, it taste just like chocolate pudding!" I wonder if she missed the point of the activity? But they had a great time. Doodle wanted to burn a hole in a piece of grass and we did that as well. Unfortunately we did not get a picture of that one.

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This morning got off to a slow start. My fault. I admit it. I overslept. So instead of doing the school work that was planned, the kiddos were playing while I fed Peanut.

All of a sudden, in the middle of their playing, Cuddles and Doodle yell out, "Can we copy poetry, please, can we? We will clean up right now! Please?"

"Um, Ok, if you want to go ahead", I said.

Was I going to tell them no? No children, I do not want you to have love of language, words, literature; no children do not love to learn; no books!! Hee, hee.

So for some time Cuddle & Doodles copied poetry. The found unique spot to hide their selections for their daddy when he came home. Even Punkin, 2.5, got in on the fun. She would cut out a lovely, unique shape of paper, color it and then present it to me with great flourish. Often with an explanation like, "Jesus loves you berry much." 

What a lovely morning!! 

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I have been at my computer off and on tonight wondering at how I am ruining my children with the curriculum choices I have made. Thinking how maybe I need to just toss it and get something different.  Constantly questioning should I change math, how do I add in music appreciation, do we really need to do this etc etc etc.  Why can't I just be confident in my choices? I talked it over with my husband. We prayed about our choices. 

My darling hubby had the answer. The homeschool conference is next week and I just want to spend money. Hee hee. Silly fella!  Of course I want to spend money. Do you know how many books are going to be there? 

So I think I need to sit down with my list and remember why I use what I use. Maybe reflect on how I can change it a bit or spice it up a bit. I really don't want to change.

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So today I get the girls started on their math. Rebekah had to do some problems up to the thousandths place.  Well it was like she suddenly had never heard of place value before.  I must admit that I one point I was getting frustrated. Thankfully, I realized it and told her that I wasn't frustrated with her but that I couldn't find a way to help her remember. I know she knows but for some reason she was just hitting a wall.  Finally I got out some colored pencils and made a table and she got it. 

Of course the Lord revealed me to some things about myself. (OK other than the fact that I need to be patient). I am the same way. Only it is things so much more important than place value. How many times has the Lord shown me that He will carry me through my burdens? But I panic and react to situations as if I were on my own. Then He has to sit me down and show me how He has been there before. How often do I get myself in some situation and wonder how I got there? There is my Father showing me where I went wrong and He helps me back on track.

So tomorrow I will be back to math, prayerfully having no place value problems, and anticipating the lesson the Lord has for me! 

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