Our Busy Little World
Sep. 23, 2009 - Autumn Is Here Again!
Happy Autumn everyone! It's my favorite weather season at last, and soon will be my favorite season of the church calender, too - Advent...happy times! We're a couple of weeks into our school year, and I'm rather pleased with how things are going at this point. The first week was a bit choppy, as we all managed to come down with swine flu. Now that we're well and have gotten past the preliminary "lessons", its lovely to find out what works well, and to tweak what doesn't work for us.
I do believe today might have been summer weather's last hurrah at 92 degrees, and hopefully it will get cooler from here. In the midst of starting school, we also enjoyed visiting the apple orchard - fresh pears and apples, fun with dear friends, and lots of freshly pressed cider! It will be nice to have the cooler weather come just as we're feeling more settled into our school routine - I must admit the first couple weeks were rocky in ways other than illness with plenty of attitude troubles!
I'm always amazed at how school seems to be largely for teaching character at this point - cheerfulness when corrected, working happily under authority, doing one's best, being diligent and honest, being patient for one's turn, doing our duty with a glad heart, and so much more is addressed more thoroughly than any math or reading lesson! But the math and reading lessons are there, and it's fun to see how much each of my girls has grown. Isabelle writes just beautifully, and is very excited to be starting cursive (among other things) this year! Hannah has decided to write her lowercase "a's" the way they are typed, so I often find her with her cute little tongue sticking out the side of her lips as she tries to get that little curlicue on top of the "a". She's such a hard little worker, and seems to have quite the brain for numbers. Naomi's speech has improved amazingly since last year, and since we use a lot of phonics for her speech practice, she's learned all of her letters, too! We've also discovered she can draw a very convincing little pig. Juliette delights in drawing princesses and cakes, and making many, many "letters" for us to read. Alyssa has become quite the sweetheart at playing quietly during the big girls' reading lessons (which is saying a lot for her!), and her favorite part of "school" is drinking a bottle and watching PraiseBaby in the middle. I think the little girls all like silly putty the best (they get to play with it while I read aloud), and the big girls all like the new Notgrass "Draw The Bible" lessons best (though I'd have to ask them, perhaps they'd pick a different favorite).
Today was one of those rare (and lovely) days in which we actually finished all of our planned schoolwork early, as well as our afternoon "fun" school. The girls got to veg and watch Tinkerbell while I was able to re-lock all of Naomi's little braids! And Isabelle and I still made it to choir in time. It was a good day! Here's hoping we all have more of the pleasant days and fewer of the challenging ones - though I suppose those are the ones God uses to sanctify us all the more. Happy new school year to you all!
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Oct. 28, 2008 - School Days
Oy, I'm terrible at posting lately! And why I'm choosing this moment to begin a blog entry I do not know. I am sitting here listening to my four older children tidy the living room (at least I hope that's what they're doing since I told them to) and my baby flushing the toilet (she's recently learned this skill, and while it is somewhat annoying to hear a thousand flushes a day, it's better than if she was sticking her hands in the toilet!) We're a few weeks into school for this year, and as we've worked out a few bugs and are pretty happy with how school is going, I thought I'd post what we actually ended up doing, at least thus far, for the year.
We have about two or two and a half hours of school each day, four days a week. The first half hour is always circle time, which is kind of our little "Bible School" time. It's always tempting for me to start with phonics or something that feels more "schoolish", but if we live by God's Word, I would prefer to send the message to my girls that it is the most important part of our school day, and therefore we start with that. I actually think circle time is my favorite part in many ways, and we're able to fit quite a lot in thirty minutes. This is when Alyssa is still awake, so she practices sitting nicely on my lap. We start with practicing our chruch liturgy - every other day we practice the songs we sing each week (I love to sing with the girls!), and every other day we practice all of the spoken liturgy. It's been a joy to see the girls learn our liturgy so they can enjoy being more involved during service - and they can memorize it so quickly! Next we read our memory verses - right now we're learning I Cor. 13 and Eph. 6:1-3. Then we read a passage of either Proverbs or Romans and talk a bit about it. We practice the children's catechism - which I think is always the girls' favorite! We look over our Doorposts charts to help them apply Bible truths and they love these colorful charts. Then we finish up with a story from Elsie Egermeier's story Bible. Then baby is off to bed, and we're on to table time.
Table time is usually about an hour. Naomi and Juli sit at the table and play with the toy of the day: play foam (much less messy than play dough!), lacing beads, little chalk boards, or paper and markers - I try to rotate this so they don't get bored. If they aren't quiet at the table, they can go play in the living room, but they prefer to stay at the table with us, so they're usually pretty good. This is when I work on phonics and a bit of math with Isabelle and Hannah. We are trying a new phonics program which we are really enjoying. I print out an alphabet for Hannah to trace each day since she's still learning to write letters, and Isabelle does some copywork from Queen Homeschool Supplies' Copywork For Little Ones series - I really like it! It's a great way for her to learn some grammer principles and practice making beautiful letters. Isabelle and Hannah are very opposite in what kind of students they are, so it's interesting working with their little personalities! We go over letter sounds, reading rules, etc - I usually have each girl review seperately while the other works on writing, so I can make sure they are both learning well. They each get a turn to read aloud to me a bit at their level (Hannah can do Bob Books, Isabelle pretty much anything I give her). I also try to work on some number counting charts with them, so they can learn to recognize large numbers - we count by 2s, 5s, 10s and 1s. After we finish the big girls' work, they take over the little girls toy and the little girls get their "preschool" time. I save this for last because they are so excited that it helps them remember to be good for phonics time. It's funny, we just say the letters of the alpabet, or look at pretty flashcards, or practice colors and such, but they just love "their" time. We also work on speech therapy together. Oh, I must mention table time is when I enjoy my coffee!
We finish up with couch time, which is when I read aloud to the girls. Some days I let them play with quiet school game toys on the floor, other days we just all snuggle on the couch while I read. I was reading Story Of The World, but after finishing the first volume, I became frustrated with the feeling that the author was trying to make history "neutral". History just isn't neutral - God's Hand works in all of it, and I grew weary of trying to reword the stories so they taught that. So now I have been reserving books at the library which tell different stories throughout history - biographies and stories about important countries or events. I glean ideas from the tanglewood school website for good books for 1st grade. It's been really enjoyable to just enjoy these "living" picture books with the girls - so far we've learned about Abe Lincoln, Pompeii, Gilgamesh, the Great Wall, the tulip craze, and lots of other things. Isabelle usally sneaks the book away to read before we get to it, so she always tries to hold it in and not tell us what's coming. I plan to make a nice long timeline and put on there things the girls would recognize - especially Bible stories - then mark on the timeline each time we read a book like this - so they can see what else was going on and to help tie it together a bit. We also read science stories - we have the StoryBook of Science, which I LOVE, but I will admit the old fashioned language makes it harder for the girls to understand, and also a Christian Liberty science reader. And we read stories and poems - A Child's Garden Of Verses, Now We Are Six, Milly-Molly-Mandy (LOVE these stories!), Elsa Beskow books are some of our favorites. I wish couch time were longer, but it's usually about 30 minutes. We try to read aloud later in the day, too.
After this it's lunch time. The older two girls have some workbook pages they do. Hannah does a Kumon workbook where she traces and reads words, and sometimes a number page. Isabelle does a couple pages of Rod and Staff 1st grade math. One of them works on her pages, while the other plays a computer game like Bella Sara or Quarter Mile Math, then they switch. The little girls usually play or watch a singing movie here.
In theory I have a half hour with just the two older girls before nap to work on music, art, french or math manipulatives, but I don't often get to this to be honest. I don't worry, though, as I am quite happy with what we get done in circle, table and couch time!
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Apr. 30, 2008 - Fresh New Reader
We officially have two little readers in our home! I have been teaching Hannah letter sounds, but didn’t really try to have her decode any words, as I didn’t figure she was quite ready to do it. Well, she sure proved me wrong! Today I told her to try just the first sound of the letter and see if she could figure out the word. She read all of these: sat, at, in, is, man, and a few other similar words. I guess I’ll get out the Bob books – such fun!
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Apr. 29, 2008 - Speech Therapy
Here's another of our "homeschool electives": we took Naomi in for an evaluation and discovered she has a moderate to severe speech delay, which was more than we had expected. We're still trying to figure out things that may be causing or contributing to it, like food intolerances, but for now she's started a little speech therapy class with a couple of other three year old girls. She's so thrilled with it! It's funny how basic it is, and one of the big reasons we have her in it is simply to guide us in what we can practice with her at home. But it seems to be good in all sorts of ways other than just speech improvement. Naomi is so thrilled to have a little class that only she goes to. She proudly hops back in the car afterward, holding her prized paper projects. The older girls beg to be the first to see what she made! In fact we still have the first little booklet she made there, and when she "reads" it to us now, she actually uses an ending sound for each word - a big deal for her!
When we have schooltime in the morning, we all start out at the dining room table. The girls each get to pick a "school game" (anything from teeny plastic horses and riders, to special blocks, stacking pegs and memory games) to use when it's not their "letter lesson" turn. I practice Isabelle's TATRAS phonics and read alouds with her, Hannah's Penny Primer and letters, and Naomi's speech sounds with her. Of course, Juliette has a turn, too, and we work on speech sounds as well, since she's not an early talker by any stretch. It really works quite well, despite the necessary reminders to play quietly so sister can think! I do hope it is helping Naomi to speak more clearly, but at least I'm pretty sure it is helping her feel special and be excited to learn!
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Sep. 25, 2007 - First Week Of School
Well, we've had two weeks of school thus far, and we're all really enjoying it. It's fun - I feel more like a *real* homeschool mom now, and I'm very pleased with how our little schedule is working out. I totally changed what I was doing when I realized I was dealing more and more with fidgeting girls the way I was doing it before. So I have taken the advice I gave someone else, and broken up our mornings in 30 minute increments with lots of physical play to get the wiggles out. I feel a bit like I run a preschool - well, actually I suppose I do! Here's our school time:
930- I sit down to nurse Alyssa (with my much needed cup of chocolate/coffee). Isabelle sits with me and we do her phonics with TATRAS, while the little girls play semi-quietly in the living room. I'm very happy with TATRAS, and Isabelle is just soaking it up SO quickly. She's grown a ton in her reading already.
10- we sit down for circle time, which is when we do our Bible stuff. The girls practice their memory verses (a new one each week), and we say the "kindergarten rules" mommy made up. They all hold up three fingers and recite together: 1. Be happy 2. Be kind 3. Obey mommy - then the two big girls recite it with a bit more detail: 1. Honor and obey mommy 2. Be kind to my sisters 3. Rejoice in all things. I created these rules after realizing the need for them the first day! We pray together - I pray first, then each girl has a turn to pray for two things of her choosing (I help the littler two girls). Juliette repeats this prayer I made up for her each day: "Dear God, thank you for this day. Help me to be happy. Help me to obey. Amen". We read our Bible passage for the day (we're going through one "piece" of Psalm 119 each week) and talk about it, then read our Bible story. If we have any extra minutes, the kids can pick a Bible story to read, or a part of one of the doorposts charts to read and talk about.
1030 - Game time! We either play together with some of our school-ish games/toys/puzzles (we're loving Cariboo, HiHo Cherry-O, and a few others) or we get some energy out with games like Red Light, Green Light (we call it "Stop, Go"), "Duck, Duck, Goose", "Mommy Says", races, etc. The girls, of course, LOVE this time and it makes sure I really play with them, since that doesn't come as naturally to me as reading to them.
1100- reading time - we sit together on the couch and read our books for the day - those on our Winter Promise schedule as well as chosen storybooks. Alyssa's usually back to bed by now.
1130 - Craft Time - Most days we have a little craft on the Winter Promise schedule - otherwise I get out some paper and scissors, coloring pages, or playdoh. I do these together with the girls which, again, keeps me accountable to doing something which I don't necessarily love, but they do. During this time, little Juliette rests on the couch and Alyssa's back to bed, so it's just the bigger three girls and me.
We try to read more stories as we have time after lunch. And at naptime, Isabelle and I have one half-hour of "Big Girl" school time. We rotate between one day each for: drawing, little K French Primer, Math Games (from RightStart) and Milly-Molly-Mandy stories for her to narrate back. And of course in the evening we have more Bible stories during family worship with daddy.
This schedule has lots of movement and it's working very well right now for us. Each time I remind the girls of the "Three School Rules" I also remind them that if we have to use up lots of time for corrections, we won't have so much time for crafts and games (I always keep the Bible and reading times), so they're working very hard not to fuss with eachother. All in all, we're having lots of fun together! Here are some pictures (I couldn't really take pictures of myself reading to them, but these I could do).
Circle/Bible Time
Nao playing chess (well, playing with the pieces, anyway)
Isabelle was SO excited and proud the first time she was able to copy the whole pattern to build this elephant tower!
Hannah making lacing bead necklaces
Pretending to "sew"
Juliette just loves any game from the school games cupboard!
This watch and my little school notebook keep my brain working!
Well, not so much school, but I couldn't help showing off Alyssa in her cute new outfit from a friend - thanks Susan - it's cozy and adorable!
My two littles ones
Craft time would probably never have happened had it not been on our Winter Promise schedule - I'm naturally NOT crafty. But the girls, as you can see, are loving it! These are hippos made by using a potato as a paint stamp.
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Aug. 4, 2007 - Homeschool Open House 2007
Tiany is hosting a homeschool open house for all of us to get to know one another better in the schooling realm. I thought it was such a great idea that I wanted to join in. Here's my contribution:
In a few days (or possibly weeks, depending on the little bun in the oven) we will have five little girls under the age of five (4, 3, 2, 1 & coming soon). We love having all these little ladies about, busy though it certainly makes us! Since all of life is full of learning, I suppose we've been homeschooling since Isabelle was born, almost five years ago. But this past year was the first in which I found us doing more "schoolish" things, such as phonics, learning to write, etc. This fall will be Isabelle's "kindergarten" year, with her little sisters joining in for fun during a good portion of our school time.
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Jul. 30, 2007 - Heart Of Wisdom Book Review
A few months ago I promised a review of The Heart Of Wisdom Teaching Approach by Robin Sampson, and I am finally keeping that promise - better late than never, I suppose! As I said before, this book is packed with information and resources, being over 500 pages in length. I was very interested in reading it to learn how she suggests going about an in-depth study of the Bible with our little ones (or bigger ones). This method is a combination of Charlotte Mason's teachings, unit studies, Delight Directed Learning, what she calls the Hebraic Model of education (though I do have some differences of opinion here) and the four step process of learning. If you love Charlotte Mason's methods and want to study the Bible more but desire direction in how to integrate these, you would probably love this book! In fact, Robin offers a free 70 page excerpt from the book to help you determine if it is what you're looking for. She's set the book up like a cookbook, to allow each family to choose the recipes and ingredients that best suit their needs and desires in education.
The book is divided up into five sections: 1. Lessons From Exodus (in which the author compares her journey into homeschooling to that of Israel leaving Egypt); 2. Rethinking Christian Education (which includes the author's conclusions regarding Hebraic, Greek and Christian education); 3. Heart of Wisdom Methods; 4. Heart of Wisdom Directions; 5. Resources.
Although our "journey" towards homeschooling was very different from the author's, I was very encouraged as I read through the first section of this book, and appreciated her open heart to share their struggles and story. I found this section to be an excellent reminder that we must seek to "number our days aright that we might gain a heart of wisdom" which is the best foundation for any educational method we choose to employ in our families.
Matt and I have come to some very different conclusions than the author regarding the information in the second section of the book and I will admit I found myself struggling through these chapters. There are a couple of other resources we found on the subject which we felt handled it more accurately. However there was still quite a bit of interesting and helpful information contained within this section, and certainly even without it the book contains so much great content that I still think it would be a worthy purchase for any who seek to educate their children in these methods.
The third section in the book, regarding the methods used by Heart of Wisdom is full of information! Here we read about the four styles of learners to help us understand our individual childrens' needs better. These styles are Innovative, Analytical, Common Sense and Dynamic. She has included many descriptions and examples to help figure out where your children fall. Robin also shares what she has termed the four steps of learning: Excite, Examine, Expand and Excel with much emphasis on NOT skipping the first step of exciting in our children a true interest in what we want to teach before we dive in. She takes us through (by explanation and example) each of the four steps and what they look like in a homeschool setting, with the ultimate goal of the student being able to teach/share what they have learned. In this section, we also receive a good overview of Delight-Directed Studies, Unit Studies, Charlotte Mason's Educational Philosophies, Writing To Learn, and Critical Thinking and Logic making it somewhat like several homeschool method books rolled into one.
The fourth section is the nitty-gritty of actually putting her plan into action, which starts with an overview of what it will look like. She basically divides the school time into two parts: studying God's Word and studying God's world. What I do love about her method is the total worldview focus upon God. I fully agree that everything we study, learn, do or seek to do should be done in the understanding of how it is part of God's kingdom, and I so appreciate that focus throughout her planning. I also was very impressed with her description of how to spend literally half of our schooling studying God's Word. Honestly, this was probably the biggest thing I was looking for information on when I decided to look into this book, and she certainly provides many details and resources for how to study the Bible in-depth together with our children. I found that as my children are much younger, it is more in the "future planning" category for me, but I have especially enjoyed reading *how she does it* (Bible study) with her kids. One other thing I appreciate about how she's set up the instructions here is that it's fairly easy to tailor to your needs - for example, she refers to studying through the entire Bible each year, while I think it would be fairly easy to use her methods and ideas while studying through the Bible every three years, which would probably be more realistic for me at this point (or the point at which I actually have time for in-depth study of anything again!). There is also a lot of instruction in how to create your own unit studies (here and in the last section) around any theme, how to create Notebooks for learning, and much encouragement and help in scheduling by faith.
The last section is probably the one that I would find myself coming back to the most, and that is because it is a huge collection of books and resources. Robin goes through her own Heart of Wisdom Unit Studies as well as her recommended resources on the subjects of Bible, History, Science, Life Skills, Biographies and Classics (and many sub-categories) for all the grade levels and it is a long list to peruse! While I wouldn't call it comprehensive, especially because as individual families we will have individual needs and desires for what we study with our children, I think it would be a very helpful list even for those who don't necessarily plan to use Robin's methods in their school. It's a great place to start if you're thinking: "Hmm, I wonder what books on botany would be good for my nine year old. . . ." or something of the sort.
All in all, while I'm sure our educational journey will still be somewhat eclectic and probably more classical and trivium-based as our children get older, I was very thankful to Robin for sending me her book to review and I hope I was able to do so in a way that might be helpful to some of you. The thing that stands out to me the most about her book is her heart to seek God in and through every aspect of their schooling, to know His Word and to love it above all other learning - these, I think, are some of the best and highest goals to which we could attain (regardless of the exact "methods" we use to work toward them) and I appreciate Robin sharing her years of experience to help others in seeking to implement these goals in home education.
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Jun. 20, 2007 - Our Summer School
It's so nice getting back into old routines again, and creating some new ones as well. I finally started making bread again (and cinnamon bread, which of course brought excited squeals from a bunch of little girls). Isabelle's enjoying having copywork again - actually we've gone back to tracing fonts for awhile, as I've noticed writing gets a bit sloppier when one doesn't practice for a time. She loves it! We're also getting into good habits with new chores to go along with a new house, and it's just a relief not to have a bunch of unpacking looming over my head. We've also started doing a bit more school, which we all love. I have no desire to stop school for the summer at these ages, since a primary purpose of our little school times is to provide my little ones with routine, and regular snuggle/reading times. But we are doing something different which we're all loving. I was inspired in part by coming home from church Sunday pondering how I could help the girls learn our liturgy so they could participate more in service. The other part was inspired by Kendra's great post last week. We've started beginning our school time with circle time. We're using the circle time to work on habits which need improvement, and for the most important things: Bible, prayer, etc. Here's what we do: The habit we're working on is not interrupting others (everyone seems to talk at once around here!) So I hold a little ball in circle time, and no one but mommy may speak unless the ball is passed to them. The girls love this little game, and it's great because they have started to be the ones to pass the ball to their sisters when they want to talk. So we sit together in a litte circle, and the first thing we do is pray - I've been starting by reading a prayer from Valley Of Vision, then praying myself. Then I pass the ball in turn to the girls, who like to pray for "whatever's in their heart" (for Hannah, it's usually praying for someone's birthday cake to come soon!) Then I read the Bible - until I come up with a more organized plan we're reading a section of Psalm 119 each day. Then we read our day's Bible Story in the big DK story bible, which we are loving thus far. Next we practice our children's catechism, again by rolling the little ball to the girl who gets to answer the current question. After this, we pray together one of the prayers from our church's liturgy, then finish up by singing one of our weekly church songs. We're currently in the church season of Trinity, which lasts until advent, so it's the perfect time to practice this liturgy, as they'll be learning it for awhile at church too. When we're done, I still get out the preschool toys, other books, etc, and have our normal little school time. But circle time has been such a hit that the girls always beg to have even more circle time when we're finished!
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Apr. 12, 2007 - Heartschool Part 1
We've really been enjoying our school times lately. I've enjoyed the chance to sit and read favorite books to my favorite girls. I love watching Isabelle blossom and learn so much more each day. I love that we're actually doing (in a little way, of course, since she's four) copywork, oral narration, phonics, and dictation now, and having so much fun with it! But today I found another reason to love our school times. They are a perfect opportunity to work on a specific matter of the heart in my girls' lives: cheerful contentment under authority. Today God helped me to see the heart issue underneath what could have just been a petty irritation, and I am so thankful for how He lets us school not just our childrens' minds, but their hearts as well. I have my daughters switch between "stations" during our reading - a blanket with favorite preschool toys, a little table at which to draw, the dollhouse and my lap being four common ones. What's funny is that often I'll pick toys that the girls have been dying to play with (today I let them use this really cool animal chess set I own - they've wanted to play with it for so long, and I figured it wouldn't break on carpet), yet they can seem bored and listless during school times. For awhile I wondered if I wasn't giving them something stimulating enough to work on. I wondered if they were lonesome not sitting in my lap the whole time (though if I tried to have one or two of them do that, they'd desire to get down). I'd see a less than happy look on someone's face and wonder if I was asking too much of toddlers. Then I'd remember that I truly believe it is more than worthwhile to teach self-control to my little ones at this young age, that they have plenty of "free" play time, and that this was truly for their benefit. Today was the epiphany, and it came through God's grace and those silly little chess animals. I asked one daughter to play with the animal chess (the daughter who had particularly coveted these chess animals for the longest time) while it was her sister's "special time" to snuggle and read with me. I noticed that I had to repeatedly rebuke her for either trying to get up without actually doing so, looking mournfully at the couch and asking to sit with me (after she'd already had her turn, and had asked to get down), using her feet to kick at any other toys within reach, and pretty much doing all she could to not play with the toys I'd given her. She was quiet, and didn't do anything (technically) that I told her not to, but she was obviously not content. Then we all switched and this daughter asked to go to the blanket which had a bunch of little dollhouse people and furniture. I said sure, and she plopped down. A minute into reading I noticed the same things. She was barely staying at the edge of her blanket, mischiviously trying to reach anything but the toys she had been given, looking sad, etc, etc, etc. I pondered this, as I knew that when I was holding her she had wanted down, and that any other time of the day she genuinely would have loved to play with these toys. And I realized that even though it wasn't particularly disruptive (like I said, she was staying quietly on her blanket), I had seen these little symptoms in all my girls in varying amounts and at different times over the past few weeks. And I realized that the only reason she wasn't happily playing with those toys was because I had told her it was time to do so. If she had had totally free reign, chances are she would have chosen to do one of the very activities I'd set out for her. But because I had now told her to do that, and not something else, her little spirit just didn't want to. And I realized my little spirit had not been faithfully correcting these small manifestations of discontent I'd been noticing recently. So after feeling a bit discouraged at first, I did begin to correct them with kind but firm discipline. It took about three times of needing to rebuke/discipline, and a heartfelt explanation to her of what the problem seemed to be. I explained that she needed to learn to be happy with what she was told to do by those in authority over her. God doesn't want us to fuss about doing something simply because we have been told to do it (I think I was preaching to myself, too!) He wants us to do all things with joy for Him, and to be content and happy with what He's given us to do at certain times. I suggested a few different ways she could play with the things on her blanket and said she needed to do so with a happy heart, not just "barely" obey with a grouchy one. And in God's grace He changed her heart. She began to play so happily with the toys she'd been given. It was amazing to see the change, and to realize how much these little ones truly do understand! I just pray God will open my eyes each day to the things I need to be correcting, not ignoring. I was glad He taught us both in school today, and very blessed to see the sweet fruit that came out of it.
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Mar. 9, 2007 - Day Two
After the whole dog/monster episode, I was very happy for a day at home! I was also happy that I didn't have to call any realtors, or home inspectors. I didn't have to paint a door, or find a carpet installer. This would be our day to read, and attempt to catch up on the lack of order in our home as of late. It was SO nice. After breakfast, chores and laundry were taken care of we all settled in the living room. We put duplos and a toy tool set on the floor for Naomi or the other girls to play with if they became weary of sitting together on the couch to read. The girls each got to pick out three favorite books (which somehow became far more), and I made a nice cup of coffee/cocoa. We read, and read, and read (and practiced letter sounds)! I think I read aloud for an hour and a half straight! Then I just played on the floor with the girls for another half hour. It's amazing how well my little ones play together when mommy is playing in their midst. Yet I rarely seem to *have time* for those floor play times. Oh, it was so wonderful to just enjoy being together, sharing favorite stories, building towers, etc. Even Juliette totally impressed me by figuring out how to use some of the "preschool" age toys! But there was yet another highlight. After cleaning up all of the books and blocks and such, I put Naomi in for playpen time, Isabelle and Hannah at the table for table time and Juliette in her high chair with a cracker. Hannah usually has a very short attention span for this tabletime, so I'm usually constantly reminding her that I would like her to do her project/toy at the table (for the whopping 15 minutes of table time before lunch). I had made an off-handed suggestion to Isabelle about trying to write the words from her Bob books, so someone else could read them (she usually writes a million unrelated letters). I didn't really think she could do this without some help, and I didn't want to mandate copywork to my four year old, but I gave her the idea to chew on. Wow, did my two oldest girls surprise me today! Hannah (who had picked dominoes to play with) was engrossed for the entire table time in building a wall of dominoes. This is a HUGE feat for her - just to focus on something for that length of time, and to play contentedly at the table with no reminders. And Isabelle, well she just amazed me! She took her little Bob book, all by herself, and by the time I realized what she was doing she had copied half the story onto her paper! I was so excited - we were all high-fiving her and she was, of course, glowing from all the praise! It's so fun when my girls do something so well that I didn't even realize they could do! I had to a take some pictures of course:
Happy playpen time for Naomi
Hannah's wall of dominoes
The first part of Isabelle's copied story
The proud little copy-worker
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Jan. 27, 2007 - Tracing Letters
Here's the link to the tracing font I mentioned in my last post: http://www.billybear4kids.com/fonts/fonts.htm . The one we use is "Zyia Learns Letters".There are others available - a few more free ones if you do a google search (actually I found all sorts of free pre-k and k stuff online with just changing the search terms), and then of course plenty you can buy. But this one suits our needs perfectly. After you download it (which was very tricky for me to figure out - thankfully my mom knew how to get a file unzipper online for free also, so you might need that like I did), you have to add it into your fonts in the control panel (the Help menu should tell you how). Then you can just use it like any other font in Word or your writing program. I always use it in a pretty large size since Isabelle's just learning. But of course it's really nice to be able to make it smaller as her writing improves. One thing I realized after I started using this is that I could have accomplished basically the same thing by using any normal font, but making it light grey instead of black (kind of like the light crayon strokes to trace in the early Handwriting Without Tears books). But in any case, Isabelle loves it, and she particularly likes "dots" as I made them for her by hand for awhile. The font saves me a lot of time! Some things we use it for are:
I print out a "letter practice" page for whatever letter(s) we're working on, or for any she needs particular practice on. It's amazing - she could not seem to make an "s" before tracing, now she's a pro at them even without the tracing letters.
Isabelle likes to write letters to her grandmas, aunties, etc. She dictates to me what she'd like to say to them, I type it for her and then she actually gets to write the whole letter herself (this works great for her, as she doesn't tire of writing things, so she'll write decently lengthy ones)
Thank you letters - this worked great for these letters after Christmas; once she finished writing all the letters, she got to decorate them how she pleased with stickers, "art" markers, etc.
Helping her learn her name and her sisters' names, or recognize simple phrases like "I love you"
I make up little stories (very simple, like the first BOB books set, but shorter) that I know Isabelle can read the words in. Then she can write them and read them. I started this when I realized Isabelle could read the words in a sentence, but didn't realize they went together to form a (miniature) story. The first one I did was: Cat and dog ran fast. She wrote it, then read it, then I asked her all these questions to help her see that it was a story: what did cat and dog do? who ran fast? how did they run? The light bulb went on for her after that, which was very fun to see! Of course she didn't have to write on tracing letters to figure out the concept of reading a story, but it worked!
You can make any kind of worksheet you'd like with these letters. Maybe paste on pictures (or have the little ones draw the pictures, if they're the artistic sort), then print the letters for the word. Or print a big "A" and a bunch of words which start with "a". Capitals and lowercase, numbers, etc. I don't really have any pre-k worksheets that fit what Isabelle's doing letter-wise (they're either too easy, or not quite what we're working on, etc) and I didn't worry about it as I had no plans to use worksheets in pre-k. But as I have a daughter who LOVES to write and would practically do it all day if I let her, this font is great fun for us!
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Dec. 8, 2006 - Left-Handed Troubles - Advice Anyone?
*Update: well, this afternoon's try was much better. I just treated it as our "special time", sat her on my lap and encouraged the heck out of her each time I saw her working to hold it correctly. It was much more pleasant - she remembered to hold it right about half of the time, so I'm hoping this whole thing won't take too long. In any case, it was good snuggly drawing time, and forced me to make sure I took the time out of my day to help her.
HELP!
Isabelle's just fallen in love with writing and drawing lately. She does it all the time, so I am not usually able to sit down and do it with her, except for a couple of times a day. The problem is I recently read the left handed info at the Handedness Institute (she's a little lefty), and have discovered she's apparently holding the pencil all wrong. They recommend retraining in how to hold it, which they say takes about six weeks or so. In order to do this, she can only draw/write when I'm with her, or she'll just default to how she's accustomed to holding the pencil. We tried starting today, but she seemed so sad - she could no longer form the letters nearly as well as she's been doing, and it was, of course, awkward and difficult. She won't get to write/draw nearly as much as she loves to for awhile, and I so hate to discourage her in this. Here's the info from their site (below). I'd just love advice from anyone with left-handed children. Have you found this position to truly be the best one? In your opinion, is it best if we allow her to continue writing as she has been (holding the pencil right at the edge the way I do, smearing all of her letters as her hand is right by them, etc) for the sake of enjoying writing, or is it best to just get through the next few weeks/months to retrain her hand? Like I said, I wanted to start retraining her grip today, but I hated seeing her so discouraged about drawing/writing, as it's usually her favorite thing to do! Thanks for any advice.
For a left-handed child, the paper should be positioned left of the child's midline, and tilted so that the top right corner of the paper is closer to the child than the top left corner (see Figure 2). The paper is placed so that the child's hand is to the left of, and away from, the body at the start of the writing line, and ends the line with the hand closer and in front of the body or slightly to the left of midline. The angle that the paper is tilted will vary according to individual children -- the important thing for the child to remember is to keep the arm perpendicular to the bottom of the page or slate writing tablet (see Figure 2). The wrist should be straight (not bent). And the writing hand should be below the writing line.
Teach left-handed children to remember three things as they learn to write :
Grip the pencil ~ 2.5 cm (1 inch) to 3.8 cm (1.5 inches) from the point,
(and the top right corner of page is toward writer),
Figure 2. Proper posture, paper position, and grip for left-handed writing
How to Correct Bad Writing Habits
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If a child has already started writing the wrong way, a parent or teacher may wish to re-educate the beginning writer. Cole (1955) reported good results re-training young children after a period of six weeks. To be successful, parents and teachers must agree on the process and work closely with the child. During the re-training period, the child should be excused from all regular classroom written work -- otherwise, s/he will revert back to the old style because, for the moment, it is faster than writing the right way. Explain to the child that you're going to show him or her how to write easier, and that it will take a few weeks to master. Demonstrate the proper grip, paper position, arm and wrist position, etc. Work closely with the child for short (10 minutes to start) but frequent (at least once a day) practice sessions. Remember that it is hard to break old habits and replace them with new ones, and that this will be a temporary strain for the child. Therefore, the child should do no writing other than the practice sessions for two or three weeks, or until s/he has become so comfortable with the new writing style that s/he uses this spontaneously. Be sure to give the child lots of encouragment and support during this difficult period.
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Oct. 13, 2006 - Homeschool Advice Anyone?
I was talking to my husband this past week, and found out something I didn't realize. He really likes Teaching the Trivium as much as I do, and wants a classical education for our children, but he told me he wants me to use a more or less complete package my first couple years of homeschool (like Sonlight or something of the sort). My question is, does anyone know of a fairly complete "package" (one that has a daily guide and pretty much maps out each day for you) that flows well with the principles in TTT, or classical education in general? I've been planning to use TTT as our framework, but didn't realize Matt wanted me to have a "checklist" for awhile so I won't get overwhelmed. Anyway, I'd love any leads on truly classical "packages" (I don't mind having a bit of Charlotte Mason thrown in too or maybe Principal - I'd have to look at it), if there are any. Also, I'd love anyone's thoughts on how the complete curriculum sets which they use fit within the trivium framework. Please feel free to comment or email me!
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Sep. 14, 2006 - Really Quick
It's been a looooong day, and I've just gotten home and put all the munchkins (one of whom has a rather mysterious fever) into bed quite late. I have to wait a few minutes for some ice cream to finish mixing, but then I'll need to get to sleep, so I only have two things to say tonight:
1. I LOVE Johannah Bluedorn's picture books! I thought I'd like them (hence why we got them this year), but I didn't realize how much I'd love them! Such sweet illustrations, you could just fall into the little world of each story (I will admit some of the illustrations make me want to wear lovely flowy dresses every day). The illustrated Psalms are wonderful with beautiful pictures to accompany them (which also helped Isabelle understand the concept of a watch tower), and of course you can't beat reading Scripture. And the "My Mommy: My Teacher" book was not only great fun to read with the girls, but it was also quite helpful to me to see what a day in the life of their homeschool family might have looked like. Love these books . . . highly recommend them! See 'em here if you like: https://www.triviumpursuit.com/xcart/home.php?cat=263
2. I LOVE the "Marriage As Manifest Glory" audio sermon series by Doug Wilson. We downloaded them one at a time online when they were available, so we have all of them to listen to at our leisure. Matt's had far more opportunity to listen to them at work while he drives, so I've only listened to a few when he and I have time together. But as we were in the car for over three hours today, I had a chance to listen to a few more. Each of them (and there are many - I think it's his longest series!) is so Biblical, convicting, encouraging, practical, understandable, insightful, etc. He studies everything from eating to discontentment, to family planning, to the Trinity, to the letter and spirit of the law, to a ton of other topics and how they relate to our marriages. Anyway, that's my plug for them - my favorite audio marriage sermon thus far. If you'd like, see it here: http://www.canonpress.org/shop/item.asp?itemid=1014
Now I've got to get to bed! And tomorrow whilst the girls nap, our Credenda/Agenda magazine came today - ooh, what fun for me - it shall be added to my ever-growing reading pile!
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Aug. 26, 2006 - Seven Habits Of Highly Effective New School Years
Thanks so much for all the happy birthday wishes, everyone. I had a lovely day of rest and celebration with my family! Matt let me sleep in as long as I wanted (I think that was the biggest highlight in some ways!), then pampered me with flowers, made me breakfast, and did all the dishes. We took a little jaunt around town to my favorite antique store (where I found two lovely, well-priced antique books - I'm such a sucker for pretty old books!), the ice-cream parlor, a car show (it happened to fall on the same day), then grabbed some Chinese food for a relaxing dinner. After all of this, Matt brought me a glass of wine to enjoy with him. This was a perfect ending to the day, and I must tell you why: I've been trying to acquire a taste for wine, so I can enjoy a glass with Matt on our fifth anniversary in a few weeks. Let's just say this is a sloooooow process for me, being totally unaccostomed to the taste until fairly recently. I've worked up to being able to *enjoy* about a half glass at the most. So when he brought me a full glass, I had to smile of course, but I just didn't think I could do it. He said just to trust him. So we sat down to read (simple, I know, but I've just been wanting to have a relaxing evening of reading and haven't had the time recently) and I took a sip - Oh, it was so yummy! Matt sneakily went and got some Martinelli's Apple-Grape sparkling cider to make sure I actually enjoyed every minute of my birthday - ain't he a sweetie?
Although I'm a bit late, I thought I'd join in Maureen's Seven Habits Of Highly Effective New School Years. I'm still pretty new at all this, but I thought I'd take a stab at it, just for fun.
1. I'm sure this is a common one amongst the other lists, but I think it's so important to have a plan. Choose whatever type works best for you: a specific schedule with all the gaps filled in, page numbers written down, etc; a basic flowchart of the week; or something in between. I like to have a basic schedule/routine for my whole day (based off of the Managers Of Their Homes ideas), and then I tailor it each day to suit the uniqueness thereof. For my school plans, I have each book written down that I want to read from, but not page numbers, as our weeks are always changing a bit. I just keep a little list of "approximately" how many pages we try to read through from each book (unless it's just a little storybook - then we read it all). As a caviat to this, though, remember it's just as important to know when to (and be content to) skip the plan for the day!
2. Enjoy your unique family culture. Being the impressionable person I am, I've struggled plenty of times over the years with trying to do things just like someone else I admire. This has often caused frustration and discouragement, and I'm glad God has been showing us how beautiful diversity amongst families really is (as long as the principles each family is following are firmly established in God's Word, of course). We are blessed to live in a community of many, many like-minded people - many of whom are fellow homeschoolers. I think when we moved here, I subconsciously assumed everyone kind of did things the same, but I was amazed to realize it just isn't true! I've become so thankful for the way our family is, while being able to appreciate all the more how other families run. Realize that what works best for one family's schooling (schooling styles, curriculum, schedules, which books they choose, etc) may be totally different than what is best for yours, and enjoy that!
3. Seek and appreciate the advice of your husband (in addition to other wise people.) I love to ask people questions! I love to glean from the wisdom others have accumulated, and sometimes I wonder where I would be without the wise counsel of faithful followers of Christ. But I try to remember that in all of these things, I need to seek my husband's counsel first (as well as seeking the Word, of course). Sometimes I forget to just ask him what he thinks I ought to do. I know he is the head of our home, but since much of our daily schooling falls into my role as part of helping him, I sometimes just try to figure it all out on my own. Even in simple things, I love to go over all of it together with Matt (and I do mean *all* of it, being the overcommunicative sort!). Sometimes his fresh eyes will provide just the perfect answer. Here's a little example: I told him I was feeling flustered in the mornings while I got Naomi and Hannah dressed, because since Isabelle dresses and finishes her beds so quickly she has a bunch of time to get a bit goofy. He just suggested I have her start filling up water sippy cups for everyone and get all of the bibs snapped and ready. It solved it perfectly - she's kept happily busy and the morning runs so much more smoothly! Even when he's not sure what's best to do, the responsibilty for making a diffulty decision is taken off of my shoulders and I can rest in his leadership.
4. Remember what is most important in schooling our children. I know we all have different reasons for homeschooling, but for many of us a very important reason is that we are best able to bring them up teaching them of our Lord through all we do(Deut. 6 & Eph. 6:4). For years I've looked into curriculums, choosing things I did and didn't like, but last year I read the book "When You Rise Up" by RC Sproul Jr. and was SO blessed and encouraged. It was a wonderful reminder of what is truly important as we seek to teach our kids. I especially liked it because I know RC Sproul Jr is anything but light on the academics, yet he was reminding us of the most important part. I have to remind myself about what Christ said "But the Lord answered her,
5. If Nothing Else, Read Aloud - As I said, I'm still new at this, but I've already become so convinced of the great benefits of reading aloud. My girls are still so little, but they have excellent vocabularies, and they tend to use words pretty well. I can't take credit for this, as I'm still learning to use words well myself, but I know they must pick much up from the myriad of books we've read to them. What a fun way it is to teach so many sorts of things: grammar, vocabulary, morals, etc, etc, etc. Even if I was still unsure of what I wanted to do for school times, I know I could start just by choosing some wonderful books and beginning to read through them aloud with my girls.
6. Try to finish up random projects before you start - I am the sort of person who gets very distracted by unfinished projects. I think I'd rather start my school year a week or two later, if it meant I could start it having finished any projects that would weigh on my mind. For examply, I've FINALLY finished sorting out every piece of little girls' clothing in this house. That project was almost overwhelming, and it's such a relief to have it done. I know I could not have started any schooling if I had something like that hanging over my head.
7. Trust Christ to be your sufficiency - It can be so easy to feel overwhelmed in my tasks, and all the more so if/when I forget the many promises throughout God's word. His Word says "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. . .I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Phil. 4); "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." (Prov. 3:5-6); "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
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Aug. 10, 2006 - Autumn School Plans
Wow, I've tried to post this entry three times and it keeps freezing up on me, and erasing! So if my thoughts seem scattered, it must be that my brain is weary of typing the same thing! Let's see if this works . . .
I've just finished making plans for our first semi-official year of homeschooling. I do say semi-official because Isabelle will just be four this year, and as such I don't need to worry about any huge academic expectations. I'm also relaxing more as I learn how much little ones pick up on their own or almost on their own at these ages - Isabelle can read three letter words (with short vowel sounds) pretty consistently, knows lots of "math" from discussing daily life, and has just taught herself to draw all kinds of letters and pictures! This year is kind of a trial run to get used to having more school times throughout our days. Anyway, back to my plans. I'm hoping to use eight months out of the year, four days a week for the majority of our schooling, to go along with Matt's schedule rotations and work weeks. This will leave us the last month of Spring and all of summer to relax, read of course, and work on other projects. I think this will work great for our family! I don't have much actual "curriculum" this year, as I don't think I need too much yet, but we do have lots of wonderful books to explore! We use repitition a lot - reading the same books many times - the girls come to love them and learn their content well. On the four days Matt's working, we'll have school in the times listed below. On his days off, we'll use those same times for our housecleaning, and playing outside as the weather permits. Here's what my plan is looking like so far (and of course I'll just tweak it if needed, as we go along):
0630-0800 - my time to wake, dress, nurse and feed Juliette, read and pray, eat breakfast (I'd get too dizzy if I waited for the girls), and get the girls' vitamins and breakfasts ready.
0800 - munchkins up and dressed, teeth and hair brushed, etc. Morning chores: BELLE: fold pjs and make beds HANNAH: put laundry from hampers down the chute. Belle can serve herself and her sisters some cheerios if they finish early.
0830 - Girls eat while I read the story from Veritas Press Old Testament Bible/History cards. I'll read the same story each day for a week, so they remember it. We'll also talk about the habit we're practicing that week (ie: looking people in the eyes when you're conversing, responding politely to questions, chewing like a lady, etc).
0900 - ME: tidy up kitchen and start laundry BELLE: tidy up under table with broom or vaccuum HANNAH AND NAOMI: play with dollies and strollers JULIETTE: down for morning nap.
0930 - play together with all the girls; practice playing kindly
1000-1100 - School time in the living room. The girls will rotate between snuggling on my lap and playing on one of the two carpets with preschool toys on them (puzzles, counting bears, cutting food set, etc). I will read:
*A few pages of our little history books (The Beautiful Girlhood library from vision forum), while the girls also can dress their dollies in the matching "historical" outfit.
*whichever special book we're looking at that particular day of the week (rotating between Johannah Bluedorn's "The Story of Mr. Pippin", "My Mommy, My Teacher", "Little Bitty Baby Learns Hebrew" and our little science books together: "Animal Babies In Ponds And Rivers" and "Are You A Ladybug?")
*Some books of the girls' choice from the bookshelf: story books, baby books for the little ones, old favorites like "Little Bear", etc.
1100 - ME: nurse Juliette and make lunch BELLE AND HANNAH: tidy up preschool toys, then alternate playing with blocks and lincoln logs, and playing with the dollhouse NAOMI: play in playpen.
1130 - eat lunch with all the girls, then read our memorizing passage till they know it (we did the ten commandments and Deut. 6 for awhile, so this fall we'll work on shorter NT passages that help with what they're working on character-wise; ie: I Corinthians 13 passage on love). Also talk about whatever "healthy and safe" habit we're practicing (like washing hands, etc).
1200 - ME: tidy up from lunch BELLE: tidy under table HANNAH AND NAOMI: alternate playing with blocks or dollhouse, Hannah can hang out on counter if she'd like. JULIETTE can hang out in her chair or the playpen.
1230 - play time all together!
100- Naomi to bed (or can join us if she's not seeming tired yet) then school in the school room. Girls rotate between the magna-doodle and it's accessories and an art project (stickers, scissors, crayons, paper, etc) or my lap whilst I read:
*One portion of Psalm 119 or one of our Johannah Bluedorn illustrated Psalm books (I have it planned out so we'll read through the entirety of Ps. 119 through the year - each portion for a week, and have the illustrated books in between)
*A chapter or so of our longer books (Mario, A Belizean Boy, Rosa Of Linden Castle, and Teddy's Button)
*A couple little books of the girls' choice, if we have time
*Practice letter sounds with Belle (aka phonograms), and "play" practicing letter sounds with Hannah, as she likes to do what her big sister does!
200- Hannah and Juliette to bed. Isabelle and I fold laundry together then do the Penny Primer (the first little reading lesson in the TATRAS set) and perhaps try to "read" a little book together (I have the Veritas Press reading primers, the McGuffey's and the Rod & Staff ones - Isabelle has lots of special books!)
230- "Drawing With Children" for me and Isabelle to learn to draw together!
300 - Isabelle goes to bed. I can read my Bible if I didn't in the morning. Thursdays this is my "phone date" time with one of my best home-teaching friends, Christine, in California.
330-430- my free or project time: can research, work on projects, read, bake bread if needed, blog of course, rest, etc . . . Nurse Juliette when she wakes up.
430ish - get the girls up, snuggle in Belle's bed and read a bit of "Little Pilgrim's Progress", then defrost meat, play outside if time.
5ish - I start dinner, making phone calls as needed. Girls all have chair time in the kitchen.
530ish - Finish dinner and set table. Girls practice standing time. Sing songs, and Isabelle can help with setting the table and getting bibs snapped on.
6ish - eat dinner with all
645ish- I tidy up dishes BELLE: pjs on then play with daddy HANNAH: garbage can job then play with daddy NAOMI AND JULIETTE: with daddy, he get's pjs on (isn't he great?).
715ish - Family Worship
8ish - Naomi and Juliette to bed. One chapter of "Little Pilgrim's Progress" with the older girls if we didn't get to it before. Bless and tuck girls.
830-1030 (at which point I will hopefully get to bed on time!) - free time with Matt, since he'll be on day shift 
- we can read, blog, listen to sermons, watch a movie, snuggle, etc, etc, etc . . .
"School plans" for me include re-reading through Teaching The Trivium with the Basically Bluedorn discussion group :-)
School plans for Matt are that he has officially applied to Whitefield College - a reformed Christian school where he can use distance learning to work toward his goal of a bachelor's in education, then his goal of entering Greyfriar's Hall!
Well, I think that's it for now- it feels so nice to have a plan. We're all so excited for autumn to come, for many, many reasons! In case you didn't know, it's my FAVORITE season, hence why it is Isabelle's middle name!
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Jul. 13, 2006 - On Socialization
I don't have much opportunity to read other blogs, having quite limited time. But when I do have a few minutes, I'm always blessed by something I read. This is an article that Corin posted on her blog http://homeschoolblogger.com/corin . It's a long read (so it fits in great on this blog!), but I just thought it was a wonderful answer to the common question of "what about socialization" which is posed so often to homeschoolers. I emailed Corin and she graciously agreed to let me post it here as well. Hope you enjoy!
From a secular viewpoint, as long as parents can rely on daycare workers, babysitters, nannies, schools and the government to raise their children for them, they will, and by doing so become lazier in doing it themselves. Take a look at how society and especially youth have changed in the past 100 years (or even further back, 100 years is just a start) and you can easily see that.
Take a look the next time youre out and about and you can see just how well kids are learning social skills. Teenagers that are self absorbed. People of all ages that only seem to be able to associate with people in their own age group. Every day we are surrounded by people of all ages, yet few can manage to maintain a conversation for more than a few minutes with an elderly person or a young child.
Ever notice how uncommon it is to hear a sincere apology anymore? If someone crashed into you in the store, youre lucky to get a quick sorry as they rush away. Please and thank you? Not too common. Being asked Would you hand that to me? instead of the more demanding give me that is almost unheard of anymore!
Look at how entertainment oriented adults are now as opposed to the generations of the past. Are you getting the picture?
Seems to me that the professionals are failing in their duties of training in the social graces and teaching them to become responsible adults.
As one thing went from being considered abnormal to considered normal (as far as professionals taking over for parents), another was introduced. Weve gone from parents training their own children to be just fine socially; to a society that now overlooks temper tantrums, over aggressiveness, laziness, selfishness, sexual immorality and all manner of bad behavior. Instead of wondering what the parents have done wrong, more and more people are asking what society and the school systems can do to change the situation. Or worse, what drugs than can put children on to help us restrain them.
Most recently we have programs like First 5 (which by the way scares the living daylights out of me! Have you heard or read Rob Reiners publicly stated goals for the program?!?!?) Which state that sending your children off to preschool at the age of 3 will keep them out of prison.
Ummm
. No. Parents taking responsibility for their children, raising them to be productive individuals, capable of knowing right from wrong and acting accordingly, putting self aside and thinking of others, will keep them out of prison!
Instead we blame the school, blame the village that its supposed to take to raise a child (just gag me now!), blame the television, the video games, the music (as if there is no off button), blame the neighborhood, blame socio/economic status, blame their friends (yes you can control who your children are friends with). Blame anyone but the parents who were given this child and the responsibility to raise him/her
Hmmmmmm
This may go longer than I thought, you might want to grab something to eat 
I dont want to look at this from a secular standpoint though. Quite honestly Im surprised that secular society has done as well as it has, for so long, with no biblical standard for right and wrong. So far the children just take their parents word for this is right and this is wrong but heaven help us as the days go on and they begin to ask why? because, without the word of God as their foundation, the parents will have nothing to stand on except because I said so
We are Christians and are held to a higher standard than the world. God has a lot to say about children. I would really encourage you to look into what scripture has to say on this subject, as well as anything that you have to make a decision on. Many times youll find that by following His instructions, the world will think that you are a complete lunatic. Yet the fruit that is produced in your life is unmistakable and highly coveted even by the most worldly of people.
So off we go to look at what He has to say... You know what? You may want to just print this up and sit somewhere more comfortable 
Im using the New King James version throughout (copied and pasted to save time and avoid typos).
First well look at what has happened since society has turned from God. I found several verses that are just as true today as they were then.
Romans 1:20-32
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
2 Timothy 3:1-4
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
Sure sounds like our society today doesnt it? I love the reason that was given in Romans1:21 and 22. They became wise in their own eyes. People began ignoring what God had to say about issues and instead decided that maybe God was being a bit harsh, or maybe they knew better.
Just look what happened when they decided that they were right and put worldly wisdom above Godly wisdom! Things fell apart around them, and God gave them exactly what they wanted. They wanted to prove that they were right instead of God? That somehow what they have learned supersedes Gods infinite knowledge? How stupid we can be at times huh?
Okay, moving on
Now knowing that we are to look to the Supreme Source of Wisdom in order for our lives to glorify Him instead of being conformed to the world
Just how seriously does He take the training up of our children?
Mark 9:42
"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
18 "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. 20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.' 21 Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all
Yikes! Im seeing death in both cases! One is for adults who cause a child to sin. One is for a child who is stubborn and rebellious towards his parents. Yet notice, than in Deuteronomy 21:18 it states that the parents have chastened him, but he did not heed them. It doesnt say that society has chastened him. God didnt give that responsibility to them, he gave it to the parents.
Lets look at some more
Proverbs 3:11-12
11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; 12 For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
Once again we see a father correcting a son in whom he delights (God making a comparison that our feeble minds can see and understand).
Proverbs 13:24
24 He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
Same scenario all over again. A father corrects and disciplines a child that he loves and he does so promptly. He does not do that for one he hates.
Now to children
Ephesians 6:1-4
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise: 3 "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth." 4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
Proverbs 1:7-9
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. 8 My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; 9 For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.
Proverbs 6:20-23
20 My son, keep your father's command, And do not forsake the law of your mother. 21 Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck. 22 When you roam, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you. 23 For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
Proverbs 13:1
1 A wise son heeds his father's instruction, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
Proverbs 15:5
5 A fool despises his father's instruction, But he who receives correction is prudent.
Children are to obey their parents. While I do agree that they need to learn to obey others in authority as well, they cannot properly do this without first learning to obey the authority that God has placed over them from birth. Do we teach them to partially (but not completely) do anything, then deem them ready to go out into the world? Of course not! This takes several years to accomplish; preschool aged children are the perfect age to learn respect for their parents, but until that is accomplished they will not know how to properly respect other adults (or who must first be obeyed, the parent or the teacher). While they may be obedient, respect and boundaries must also be established.
And (a bit of a rabbit trail here) a verse for the children of widows
1 Timothy 5:4
But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God.
Do we see this happening much anymore? Are widows or the elderly being taken care of by their children? Yes in a few instances, but more and more frequently they are put into care homes because their children dont want to bear the responsibility. They were not trained in caring for others. They think of themselves first.
Now Im not talking about elderly people who need 24 hour medical care (although this can still be accomplished from home it is much more difficult and costly). Im talking about the senior communities and care homes. So they sit alone, hoping relatives will stop by for a visit, but they rarely if ever do. Do we really think that this was Gods design? Is this showing a society that has properly trained up children in respect for their elders?
Okay
back on the main trail again.
So, we know that parents are to train their children in obedience, in behavior, in Godly principles and respect. But cant we do this in our spare time? When we get a moment here or there? After they are out of school? Home from daycare? When were not busy? On to 2 of my favorite verses
Deuteronomy 6:6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
And the more extensive verse with a promise from God
Deuteronomy 11:18-25
18 "Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth. 22 "For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do--to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him-- 23 then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. 24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and
These commands were given to parents, not anyone else. Not daycare workers, not preschool teachers, not private school teachers, not Sunday school teachers, not youth group leaders.
Some people do send their children to these places and, while I may not agree with that, as long as they know that, no matter what the children are taught in those places, the parents (and more ultimately the fathers as the God ordained head of their households) are responsible and God will hold them alone accountable for their childrens actions and behavior then however God leads them (not how they feel about it, but how God leads after much prayerful consideration) is fine with me.
Proverbs 22:6
6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
God promises us, if we train them up in the way they should go, they will not depart from it when they are old. Have you noticed how many Christian families are losing their children to the world? Can it be that parents are relying too much on others to carry out their own God given responsibilities? Satan is out to snatch them at the first opportunity. Unless parents are prepared and preparing their children the trend will continue at a more rapid rate.
What way should they go? His way. I have yet to see anyone other than parents teach them His ways better and I have yet to see a child trained in His ways become socially inept.
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Jul. 7, 2006 - The Prodigal Son and Where The Wild Things Are
I received a comment/question regarding my opinion of "Where The Wild Things Are" that I thought would make for some good discussion. And since my answering comment was getting a little lengthy, I just decided to make a new post of it! Hopefully that's ok - I just thought it might be easier to answer this way.
As a note for you all, please do feel free to sign your name to comments even if they disagree with something I wrote. I enjoy lively discussions, especially as we are all learning as we go along and can learn much from one another.
The comment/question was:
Thanks so much for your comment and continuing this discussion! I do have to say that while the prodigal's circumstances (lack of friends and money) were probably part of what brought him to repentence, I personally believe that he was indeed repentent. I say this because in Luke 15:18, the prodigal son says to his father: "I have sinned against heaven and before you . . ." This seems to be a repentant heart, not just a hungry person desperate for food.
In either case, though, I really think this story is comparing apples and oranges in relation to "Where The Wild Things Are". The story of the prodigal son, if I'm not mistaken, was a story about an adult son. The little boy in the Wild Things was just that: a little boy. Proverbs 19:18 says "Chasten your son while there is hope and do not set your heart on his destruction". A small child is still in the "while there is hope" phase. They are under the authority and training of their parents. An adult son is no longer in that same phase. And if adult children are in rebellion, as the prodigal son was, the "hope" of the parent is found in praying fevently for the repentence of their son. And of course any parent would rejoice greatly to see such repentence!
The problem I have with the Wild Things story is that it is very typical of what I think is a big problem in our culture: a lack of disciplining our children. If I were to read the story to my girls the way it's written (which I think I have before), we would discuss what happened, and even Isabelle would most likely see the problem. Even if the author intended to imply that the little boy was repentent, I don't see it, and I definitely don't think my little ones would see it. I am very careful, like I said, in what I read to their little minds. Of course God graciously forgives our transgressions when we confess them, but that does not negate the fact that sin has consequences. In the end of this story, there was no consequence for sinful behavior, no true discipline, and no stated (or implied that I can see) repentence - just indulgence of a disrespectful little boy. I just don't want to read something over and over to my girls that will put a little seed of thought in their minds that they can sin and just get away with it. I want them to know that when they sin, they must repent and seek forgiveness, which they know will be lovingly granted by us as parents, by their sisters, and most importantly by their Heavenly Father.
Of course my girls know that some children are not disciplined, and they know it's that child's parent's responsibility, and not their concern. Little ones are so perceptive - they can see another child throwing a screaming fit in a store, and recognize that child needs to be disciplined. But if I read a story about a little stinker, I want the girls to see that he was a stinker and have the story answer that situation. Example: Narnia - ok, you all already know I love these books, but it really is a good example. Edmund was truly a first-class stinker. No getting around that. But the repentence in this story is beautiful, as are the restored relationships afterward. That is the kind of story I desire to see my kids read and live out in their own lives. I would have them rejoice in forgiveness - not in getting away with sin. We all have so much to rejoice in when we consider our transgressions, so thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
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Jul. 3, 2006 - Choosing Books For Our Children
Recently I was asked how we go about choosing books to read aloud to our girls, specifically since they're such little ones. This is something we put quite a bit of thought and discussion into (there's a reason we called our blog TwaddleMeNot :-)), so I'd love to share some of the principals we use to decide (and of course it will probably look a little bit different in each family - that's the beauty of a unique family culture!)
A year ago I got the Sonlight preschool set for Isabelle (I was antsy, what can I say?) Overall I like and trust Sonlight, but as we read through the books in that collection, there were quite a few times that I found myself uneasy reading the story, and other times that I just quit that story. We also read Teaching the Trivium (and LOVE it) which brought up many thoughts, too. Then in trying to figure out what made me uneasy about certain stories, Matt and I worked through a lot of different thoughts in relation to reading aloud. Here are some of the questions we ask ourselves about a book that we'll read to our little girls (and I will list some examples at the bottom):
1. Is evil portrayed as evil, and does it have a consequence?- we have no problem reading books that contain evil - in "childlike" forms such as disobedient children and in other forms such as dragons, thieves, etc. If we had a problem "exposing" our children to evil, we wouldn't be able to read the Bible to them - it chronicles many evil acts of men starting just a few chapters into it - and this is for our learning! We do not believe we should try to make our children oblivious to the fact that evil exists. As God's children, we are called to overcome evil, not pretend it doesn't exist. In story books I look to see that evil is not tolerated as "cuteness" in little child characters, nor perceived as good in any character. And I look to see that the book shows the Biblical principle that you reap what you sow. As a small example, take the little naughty kitten in Beatrix Potter - his mom doesn't outright discipline his naughtiness, but he is sent to bed with no supper while his obedient siblings enjoy dessert - a consequence for his disobedience was shown. When we do read a rare book that doesn't show disobedience with a consequence, we always talk about it.
2. Does this book *tell the truth* about the Bible?- this point I bring up because many "Christian" books today (in our opinion) tell "lies" about the Bible. Oh, they're not exactly blatant lies. But they often make God out to be a soft cuddly gooey friend who pets lambs and just wants everyone to be "personally fulfilled", instead of the Holy, Righteous God that He is. Of course God is our Perfect Friend - but to only show one side of His character with no mention of anything else about Who He is seems to not be telling the truth. Many of these books also put forth the message that Christianity translates to "nice-ness". Most "Christian" books nowadays (again, in our opinion) are cheesy twaddle full of "niceness". Everything in life boils down to being "nice". In addition to this, they're usually full of poor theology, but that's another blog (probably for Matt!)
3. What worldview is portrayed in this book? - Often I see books that *seem* Christian-ish to people, or at least fine for Christians to read (usually because they're full of nothing but nice-ness - Strawberry Shortcake comes to mind though I admit we do have one or two of those!) , yet I feel uneasy reading them to my girls. Some of these underlying worldview issues I look for are: feminism (girl-power), psychology "gospel" (way too much modern "Christian" psychology is SO far from Biblical truth), egalitarianism, humanism, socialism - lots of ism's, I know, but we must really think about the worldview a book is "preaching". The reason for this is that Christ said we are all either for or against Him. There really is no neutrality or middle ground, and this is just as true in little children's books as in anything else. Now I'm not saying that I only read Christian books to my kids - far from it! But I do try to read books that portray a right worldview.
4. Similar to above, how is evil dealt with in this book by the "good" people? Do they run and hide in terror, do they pretend no evil exists and just convert everything to "nice-ness", or do they valiantly seek to overcome evil? Life is full of difficulties (yes, even for children and babies). Of course we protect and "shelter" our children, but my goal is not to make my girls happy all the time. My goal is that they would glorify God. They do this not by always being surrounded by a puffy cloud of niceness, but by persevering cheerfully even when it is difficult. Thus I like to read them stories where the characters show nobility, bravery, a cheerful heart, repentence, kindness toward others, etc (Narnia books are some of our absolute favorite for this!)
5. Is this a "good" book? - Will it help teach the girls proper ways to use language or is it just cheesy? Don't get me wrong, we read lots of board books here, but even with those I usually find myself choosing the ones that are intelligently written.
*A note on fantasy and fiction - It's often somewhat obvious that a story is fictional (the girls know that cats and bunnies don't talk in real life), but sometimes I'll simply mention that a story is pretend, to make sure they don't get confused. And they really do understand. A good reflection of this is just listening to Isabelle describe stories. Again, she's three, but here are some of the comments I've heard her make to others: "The Bible is all God's word and it's true" "Narnia is a pretend story, but it helps us learn about God. Alsan helps us learn more about Jesus. He died for Edmund like Jesus died for us". I don't mind at all reading fiction and fantasy to the girls if it meets our standards overall - I just like to make sure they know if it's real or pretend.
Ok, I'm feeling a little scattered tonight so I hope this is making sense. I'm sure there are a lot more things we think through in relation to our books, but these are the ones that come to mind. Now, here are some examples that will hopefully clarify a little.
Stories I change or won't read:
The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - this was one in the book of American Classics or something like that and I couldn't read past the first few lines! It is a poem almost in celebration of a "bad" day that a little boy is having - problem is that he has a horrible attitude throughout the book. If it were my child having a "terrible" day, I would want to encourage them all the more to rejoice in the Lord, persevere, sing, pray, etc. I thought this story just indulged a bad attitude.
Where the Wild Things Are - again, a classic. Isabelle likes the pictures in this, but I change the story in order to read it. Basically a little boy is nasty and disrespectful to his mom and sent to bed with no supper because he's a "wild thing" - fine so far. But then he goes on his "wild thing" journey and decides to come back home where he's loved - and he happens to find his supper waiting for him. I hate it, because it shows no true repentence on his part yet the parent just caved in and he basically got away scott free with everything. We change it to something like "he came home and apologized to his mother. Then he greatly enjoyed feasting at breakfast with her the next day"
A side note here is the only example I can think of right now for the girl-power/feminism worldview (I can't think of a book for it because I avoid them like the plague). I've watched the movie "Princess Diaries 2" and I wouldn't even consider letting Isabelle watch it. It's nice and puffy with nothing "objectionable" in it, but it is just a whole movie of "girl-power" and I want my girls to grow up to be graceful, lovely ladies who understand the glorious roles God made them for, not little twerps who just want to do everything better than boys! But we have let Isabelle watch the Narnia movie even with the "violence" it has - because it is a noble worldview, and the violence was necessary and right. By the way, for some reason Isabelle's never once been "scared" by this kind of thing - some kids might be, I suppose. She's just very matter of fact about it.
Some We Like
Sleeping Beauty - this is one (book and movie) that was recommended to us because it was the "gospel" in story form. I will say there are many "gospel"-like elements in the Disney movie, and we have no problem with Isabelle watching it (pretty much the only Disney movie she watches). I like how the prince loves her for her "goodness" (as much as the story can portray), not wealth or power, and how he risks his life facing "all the powers of hell" (a direct quote) to save his future bride. One version of the story ruins his nobility by having him "rescue" her simply by arriving at the right time, and this annoys me. A side note on this: Isabelle mentioned this movie to a lady at the grocery store, and told her the "bad lady's" name was Maleficant. The woman said "Oh, that was a scary part, wasn't it?" Isabelle just looked at her with mild confusion and responded "Oh no honey, she was just evil and needed to be killed" We were proud of her, as this is true - unrepentant evil does need to be killed. Of course, she's probably exposed to evil a bit more than other three year olds, being the daughter of a police officer (one time she prayed for dessert by saying "please nourish this strawberry shortcake to our bodies. And if any bad people try to come in and kill us, please help us to shoot them nicely.)
St. George And The Dragon - We love the worldview of this book. St. George is selfless (gives up his life of ease to seek those in trouble), brave and noble. He is a gentleman toward the maiden, faces danges even knowing that he might be killed, etc, etc. Even the maiden in this book is feminine and noble - she is giving up her life to help her father and protect the innocents of the city, etc, etc. Just really love this story - it's one of Isabelle's favorites. Just ask her what a sword is for, and she will say "to thrust down a dragon's throat!"
The King And His Hawk (I think that's the title) - this is a sad story where the king kills his pet hawk in a tantrum of anger, when the hawk was actually trying to save the king's life. It teaches a very true lesson. Even (and sometimes especially) at tender ages, our kids struggle with anger. This story shows some real consequences for it.
Wise Words By Peter Leithart - Fairy tales illustrating Biblical Proverbs. A bit, um, gory (for lack of a better word - not bad, or anything) as fairy tales often are, but we all really enjoy reading these (and they're hilarious to us as adults - Peter has a goofy sense of humor! )
The Narnia Chronicles - we've read this whole series aloud to our girls, and probably will again many times. If you need convincing that this is a good thing, buy "What I Learned In Narnia" from canonpress.org
Last little thoughts:
1. For awhile I wondered if it was worth it to read "long" books to the girls, because honestly they often remember very little about the story line. But in the end I realized there are many benefits besides the actual story: the girls have a HUGE vocabulary in their own speaking, they are exposed to proper use of language, they hear how ladies and gentlemen ought to speak, etc. So we press on . . .
2. We want to be sensitive to our girls, and since they are so verbal, we usually know every detail of what they're thinking. If a story made them nervous or scared, we would know. Once Isabelle had a bad dream about a snake, so we held off on Frog and Toad for a bit. Once she had a bad dream about a dragon, so we said we'd hold off on dragon stories. She said maybe we could read stories with a "good" dragon - like Eustace in Narnia, and later she said she still really wanted us to read St. George and the dragon, because she loves to read about dragons for some reason. (For the record, she's also had nightmares about a "cow tickling her lips", so it's not just from books!) On these few occasions, we've also prayed with her for God's protection and that He would help her not be scared - He's always faithfully done this. Our girls just aren't made nervous by stories thus far (perhaps because they often have no context for the "scary" things. Hannah is more apt to be scared by a loud noise outside than by a story. This is just to say that aside from a few minor things, our kids haven't ever been made nervous by what we read -they choose most of these stories themselves to read over and over! They do like to talk about it sometimes, but I think they take their cue in responding to evil by watching how we respond to evil. And this may look different in families who's head isn't a police officer/knight!
Ok I've been on here way too long - good thing Matt's working tonight! But I need to head for bed. I hope this all made some sense. This is such an interesting topic of discussion to me, so if anyone would like to post questions or comments, or continue these thoughts I'm all for it!
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Jul. 2, 2006 - Our Books For The Fall
Here are most of the books in our "school" drawer to be opened this autumn. After reading Rebeca's comment, I'm hoping to look into Little Pilgrim's Progress too!
Bible Stuff
The Bible, of course
A lovely book of the Psalms illustrated by James Freemantle. We'll be reading Psalms from there (it's in KJV, so it will give them a bit of the old english to get used to).
Instead of a Bible story book (which the girls love) I have a set of Veritas Press history/bible cards that's very similar to the short kids' bible story books, so we'll probably read those a few times over this year. I saw them for almost free at a homeschool swap and couldn't resist!
Lastly we have two of Joanna Bluedorns books of Illustrated Psalms
The Lord Builds The House - Psalm 127
Bless The Lord - Ps. 103
And we do the Children's Catechism in Family Worship
Reading Primers (to give Isabelle "special" books to look forward to reading on her own):
Veritas Press readers - these are neat because on the back of each, they give a background of the historical figure that the "story" is about. The words are obviously really simple, but you do get a bit of real history in them.
Rod and Staff readers- I always like their stuff because it's got pretty much nothing objectionable in it - just cute families that love the Lord.
Also from Rod and Staff (or Christian Light, I'm not sure): "Helping Mama" by Faith Sommers and "Mario, A Belizean Boy" by Elizabeth Wagler
McGuffy's readers- can't go wrong here, I suppose!
History Type Stuff
The Beautiful Girlhood books (and doll dresses) from Vision Forum - see them here: http://www.visionforum.com/beautifulgirlhood/productdetail.aspx?categoryid=43&productid=10500
Our Flag Was Still There - also from Vision Forum
We got the World of the Trapp Family - but that one we're definitely saving till they're older!
Little Read Alouds
Joanna Bluedorn's Books:
Little Bitty Baby Learns Hebrew
The Story Of Mr. Pippin
My Mommy, My Teacher
Are You A Ladybug? by Judy Allen
Animal Babies In Ponds And Rivers
I have the Before Five In A Row, so if I end up deciding to use it I will get the story books it recommends from the library.
Long Read-Alouds we got from Vision Forum
Rosa of Linden Castle by VonSchmid (our first Lamplighter book - I already read it, and loved it!)
The Adventure of Missionary Heroism by Lambert
Alone, Yet Not Alone by Tracy Leininger
How To Be A Lady (this might be a bit old, but we'll see)
Other
For phonics, we have TATRAS, as I think vertical phonics is great. However, I may teach Isabelle first with "horizontal" phonics (only short sounds at first) just so she can read a few little readers on her own, then pick up TATRAS when she's a bit older.
Drawing With Children by Mona Brooks - for me and Belle to try together.
We have a few more odds and ends, and if we run out we have plenty of other books here at home. If we manage to read all of those long books, we'll probably read through Narnia again - still my favorites! And if this is way too much to get through this year, that's fine too. This is the beauty of the preschool years - I really don't need to stress - I'm just enjoying building a library! We are looking forward to reading these books at a good pace for us, and we'll see how it works. I always feel free to quit a book if I don't think it's good for us, or put it off till later if it's too early!
Stay tuned: in a day or two I'm planning to post about how we choose books to read aloud: things we won't read to our kids and why, and also why we choose to read what we do (even when it has certain elements some people prefer not to read to little ones).
Have a lovely evening all!
Melissa
PS #1 - anyone know of a good place to get an apron, or apron pattern that covers ALL your clothes? I mean like at least knee length, and covers the whole top - I'm really clutzy and tired of staining my clothes!!!!
PS #2 What post would be complete without a picture? Here's Hannah, my little two year old laundry helper who can practically fit in the washer!
She looks like pooh stuck in rabbits doorway! Clothes go from the washer . . .
to the dryer - though they are on the wrong side of eachother, but it works :-)
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