Ongoing prayer & hours of Read Alouds-- time;  hard sought out ideas, theories, counsel & curriculums-- $$, a child choosing to read a 12 font 10-15 page per chapter book for pleasure-- priceless!  

     Reading has been a ongoing struggle for my dd8.  We have read so many books together for pleasure. We have spent so many hours working on phonics, list words and brain integration exercises and today, she chose to pick up a book I bought for her several weeks ago, and begin to read it.  A story about a girl, a horse and her family during trying Colonial times. 

     After we did some reading from Little House on the Prairie this morning, I found her curled up on our couch with a blanket over her (it's a rainy chilly day here in NE) with this book open and reading quietly to herself.  I asked if she'd like to tell me about the story; she said she would once she'd finished the whole first chapter (15 pages).  She did that by lunch and gave me a great summary with wonderful details.  This afternoon, she finished Chapter 2 and announced to me that she could finish this book in 5 days.  Amazing!!  Absolutely amazing!! 

     That time of year has come... the time to decide what we will and won't do this summer.  Amidst so many options for camps, swimming lessons, sports camps, day trips, camping, it's hard to decide on how much is too much.  Of course there's the vegetable garden to tend to, home projects, the flower gardens to weed, the picnics in the park, friends, family, etc etc. And of course- I don't want to forget simply time to hang out and do nothing except play with the kids at whatever they want to do-- kick the soccer ball, swing on the swings, play in the sandbox (we're hoping to make).  I love the flexibility of summer, but too much "free" time seems to breed sibling fighting, which I'd prefer not to see :-).  So I have begun the annual task of looking at the options available, speaking with my husband and trying to make decisions about how much we want to do, how much we want the kids to do, and when we want to do all those things.  Lest I seem like a "negligent" mom, of course we'll toss in some fun school concepts on those rainy days so the kids can pick up where they leave off at the end of this year.  But I love Todd Wilson's (www.familymanweb.com) philosophy about summer which is that the kids will learn a ton of stuff just being outside and exploring.  We can provide opportunities without making everything a lesson.  They need a break from the regular school schedule and so do I.  We've got some caterpillars coming and will be enthralled to watch the miracle of a caterpillar transforming into a stunning butterfly and then releasing them into our yard (hopefully they'll stay around).  And I've got a few fun lapbooks set to go for those rainy days.  But most of all, I just want to play with my kids, just enjoy them without goal or expectation as I so often have during the school year.  Sigh... I love summer time.

     Well-- after a cold and snowy winter, in the month of April we experienced snow, 90 degree weather and finally we are now at a rainy 60ish-- about right.  It's been a crazy spring, but isn't that what spring is- fun and lots of it.  Ballet, soccer, choir, field trips, co-op, oh and of course school :-).  A time for new beginnings and wrapping things up-- all at the same time.

     I love spring!! Flowers are blooming, trees get that bright airy green color of newly formed leaves, everything smells fresh and new!!  My dh has been photographing a pair of mating mourning doves in their nest with their babies.  Did you know that mourning doves have about 3 sets of 2 eggs each spring and that they will abandon their nest if it is disturbed.  He was able to photograph the whole process for the first set of eggs, including the babies after they were born.  The kids were able to see the new babies just before they left their nest-- talk about learning-- how cool!  He was able to photo the new eggs the second time around and one day, the nest had been disturbed and their were no more eggs or birds :-(.  It was cool though while it lasted.

     And of course Spring means Home School Conventions-- aaaah-- the smell of new books all ready to be bought and stored away for Fall (after perusing them myself).  And the inspirational talks-- so encouraging to get through the rest of the school year and beyond.  I had the opportunity to hear Jay Wile (Apologia) speak; he was so encouraging about home schooling for the long haul and the critical importance of home schooling in the High School years.  His story of his involvement in home schooling is facinating if you have a chance to read about it or hear him in person.  I am looking forward to using Apologia's elementary science next fall with dd8, dd6 and of course ds3 (I'm sure he'll help with our experiments).  We decided to continue with My Father's World again this year-- Countries and Cultures.  I like the laid back format, wonderful literature suggestions and schedule that ties many aspects together.  I did debate switching to Tapestry of Grace, but it was just too much for me to tackle next year; check back in 1 year and see if I decide to switch to it then.   I did decide to supplement with Apologia Science and with a Lapbook from In the Hands of a Child (International Geography Quest) to give the kids something to look back on at the end of the year.  I thought we'd try Latin this year and settled on Prima Latina-- I just love Memoria Press' magazine/ catalog Classical Teacher-- so informative on an educational level-- so I figured I would give their Latin program a try. Besides, I have NO Latin background and they suggest that this program is good for those teachers with no experience.   We'll continue with All About Spelling (allaboutspelling.com) , which I absolutely LOVE; it ties in so well with phonics and for those struggling spellers, it really moves slowly, systematically and logically.   We'll continue with Scaredy Cat (Joyce Herzog) along with some Right Brain Phonics (Dianne Craft)  for phonics/ reading.   We'll stick with Math-u-See for Gamma and Alpha.  We'll round out our arts by continuing with I Can Do All Things and using the music suggestions from MFW along with Children's choir at our church.  We're going to try Rod & Staff's Beginning Wisely for dd8 and use either First Language Lessons (Susan Wise Bauer) or Primary Language Lessons (Emma Serl) for dd6.  I think that about rounds it out for the year.  Toss in ballet, soccer, choir, local Science Museum, field trips, etc and I think we'll be good to go. 

     Well- this year has been a great one and I hope to finish strong over the remaining time.  Then we'll wrap up, file away and enjoy the summer.  Swimming, playing, State parks, camping, gardening and of course just simply hanging around with family and friends.  Enjoy the rest of your Spring.

How Time Flies!!!   It has been almost 1 year to the date since I last blogged-- so much has happened.   DD7yo is in 2nd grade (and enjoying it even more), dd5yo is in Kindergarten (and loving "being in real school" instead of preschool), and my ds2yo is in..... well... into everything!!  But alas, he is darling!!  I give ages only for you to note that within one month's time, all of them will be older (8, 6, and 3)-- I know-- technically nothing but one more day goes by on our birthday's but there are bragging rights to being to claim another year under our belts, right?

For school this year, we switched to My Father's World and are really enjoying it!  I have loved getting back into more literature and living book reading as we sit each day in our snuggly chair or couch to read (particularly good with all the snow we've had this year!)  Speaking of snow days (and then I'll get back to school) I hear some of my friends whose children are in public school bemoaning the fact that their children will be going to school until July 4th (HA :-) ) and for once, it's nice to sit back and not be a part of the conversation.  So, back to school... still using Math-U-See (into Alpha and Beta now) and love it; Susan Wise Bauer's First Language Lessons with my 2nd grader, though I think it will take us until 3rd grade to finish; Spelling- we're using All About Spelling (allaboutspelling.com) and think it is the best thing out there.

We have now been eating Gluten Free for a little over a year and feel comfortable with the basics.  I've found some great blogs with some great new recipes that have saved me time, money and having to feed my awful loaves of bread to the birds :-).

Well-  off for now. 

My girls and I got out our ice skates a couple of days ago and took to the ice.  My husband and I have been grooming our home made ice rink for a month now (through 50 degree weather in January- crazy!); but it has survived and is now ice instead of water :-).  The kids picked up quickly and I was amazed at how I was able to remember some of my days as a teen skating (I think my skates are that old).  My fear was not of putting on the skates and trying, but of falling down and getting hurt (I'm too old to take too many falls on ice and not pay a price). 

The ice skating story makes me think of other things I don't do because I'm afraid of "falling" down and getting hurt or worse yet, hurting my kids (or so I think).   How many things do you not do, because you might fall down-- like trying a different way of doing school, joining a co-op, changing curriculums, or simply just doing things differently.  I know I hesistate with all the "what ifs".  I'm a great "what iffer". 

But God is not the God of "what ifs"  - He's the God of mercy and grace.  He is the God of yesterday, today and tomorrow-- and He is always the same.  He is the light to our paths and the lamp to our feet.  He is our Protector, our Great Physician and our Father.  Do not worry about tomorrow, for today has enough worries of its own.  So, go ahead- try something different the Lord has put on your heart.  And if you fall, get back up, pray and try again.  I decided to join a group at my church that is reading through the Bible in One Year- I've never done that before.  I was a bit nervous I might fall behind and be embarrased, but God is faithful- I'm on Day 24 and on track.  Sure, I might fall behind, but I'll get up (earlier this time :-)) , pray for discipline to catch up and get back on track.  Go ahead- try something new-- and let me know how it goes- I love to be encouraged by other's stories. 

About 3 weeks ago when we headed back to school after the Christmas break, I was really struggling with revisiting where we had come from (and hadn't gotten done) and where we were going-- where is that again??? :-)  Just that week- The TOS Homeschool Minute came out and it was all about "The Winter Blues"-  the authors were so insightful and encouraging and made me feel right at home.  I wasn't losing my mind, I didn't need to go out and sign my kids up for public school because I was failing them.  The New Year is a good time to reflect, re-evaluate, maybe even reorganize (my current project- does it ever end :-)?).  But persevere we will, for it is by perseverance, that we can be made mature and complete (James 1:4-5).  And it is only by the testing of our faith that we will develop perseverance.  So, I will have faith that until God shows my otherwise, I will have faith that He will provide for our homeschool and we will persevere so that we can mature.  So- for those of you reading, if you have doubts- choose faith and persevere- our God is an awesome and faithful God. 

By His Grace-  SadieJ

I'm always looking for fun craft projects with the kids to get them engaged in what we're learning.  We've read the biblical account of the parting of the Red Sea lots of times from many sources.  So, I thought we would create our own image of the Red Sea.  The kids had a blast making fish, seaweed, sharks (not sure if they're in the Red Sea), and then choosing some plastic figures to represent the Israelites.  We've left it on our dining room table and the kids have had a blast showing anyone who visits our Red Sea- it's great fun to watch their excitement as they retell the story with "pictures" to help. 

Today we had a wonderul time hiking in one of our favorite spots with our family and my Aunt and Uncle.  We went up to the Northwest corner of Connecticut to White Memorial Conservation area.  The area has multiple hiking trails in the woods and a wonderful boardwalk around and through a marsh area.  Our family has hiked their since, well since before the kids were around.  It's a great time to get outdoors, talk with the kids about different plant types and different bird types (we love birds and watching them-- more about that next week).  Enjoy the photos!

     The first frost of the season has arrived, with temps dipping into the upper 20's last night.  Well- finally time to give in and turn the heat on.  It's been a wonderfully warm fall; we were due for this frost for a bit now.   Time to switch over the clothes- a two week process for me: can it be worn next year and if so, by whom? If not, is there someone else who could wear it or is it simply too worn?  3 kids, 2 adults-- that makes 10 sets of clothes (1 set of summer and winter for each person).  My sweet husband always chuckles that it takes me 2 weeks to switch them over :-). 
     Well- in school, we're continuing in Ancient times and returning to Africa with the Egyptians, Hyskos and the areas around Nubia and the current day Middle East.  History is fascinating!!  Well- off to begin school. 

Last night we supped on a wonderful African Feast of Chicken and Figs, Papaya Stir-Fried Rice, Fried Plantains and Date & Banana Bars.  My girls made the meal (with some help) and my husband, son and Grandma joined us.  Everyone like it!! And the girls had a blast cooking-- does home schooling get any better.  Check out the pics of the prep and the meal. 

     Raindrops keep falling on my head... Today is a more typical fall day in New England- predicted highs in the 50's.  The pictures are from my family's yard after our rain last night and this morning.  As I think about the rain and how it nourishes the earth, our plants, and us, I am reminded that California needs this rain. 
     Today we will paint our Ming Dynasty bowls (clay made) so that we can use them as decorations at our table for our African Feast tomorrow evening.  The girls (and I too) are excited to feast on such delicacies. 

Quote of the Day: Paraphrased from my husband "Hey- I saw this [computer] window open to a blog for an educational topic- did you see it?   I wanted to use some of the ideas/ layout from it."  I said, Sorry, the computer shut down, but I have the address- it's MY blog !!  He made my day :-

A Spectacular Fall Day in CT--One Month into Fall

We in CT are having the Fall of a lifetime.  The weather has been gorgeous and we have been enjoying the outdoors.  Today we swapped our normal school in the morning, play in the afternoon to ... rake up the leaves into a pile, jump in the pile of leaves, slide down the slide into a pile of leaves, etc.  What fun to have my kids at home and to be able to play with them and teach them about God's creation as we enjoy it.  We're about to settle down now into school.  Today we're studying Ancient Africa and we're preparing for our African Feast on Friday evening.  We've invited Grandma to join us as we feast on Chicken with Figs, Papaya Stir Fried Rice, Fried Plantains and Date Chewies.  We'll let you know how it is.  The kids love history (me, too!)  I learn as much if not more than they do-- I am seeing history all over again for the first time. 

Quote of the Day: My 20 month old son after dropping his pacifier, "Oh bumma".

Question of the Day:  Does anyone have a child with Celiac disease; my oldest was just diagnosed and I'm looking for a friend to chat with.