We recently moved to a Chicago suburb and bought a house after living in a parsonage for a time.  In the parsonage, you are sort of at the mercy of others when it comes to decorating and installing cool stuff like closet organizers.  So, today, I installed two Rubbermaid closet organizers in our bedroom closet.  Easy to put in and almost enough parts left over for another closet.

When I asked my wife if she was happy about the job, she replied,"Been waiting 18 years."  Hmmm, I hadn't thought about it before but I know she's on a constant quest to gain organizational habits and tools.  She is especially frustrated with how to orgainze all the books and papers for homeschool.

I guess what has worked the best has been milk crates.  We put hanging file folders in each crate and drop the books right into the file.  You can see the title, get them in and out easily and stack them up after school. 

One year she cut up all the kids workbooks (actually for $1 at a printer they buzzed te bindings off) and took apart their Math-U-See books and lined them all up across the dining room table and then, assembly line style, reassembled them into weekly packets. For example, for Monday a spelling page, math page, handwriting page, Easy Grammar page then she continued that order until 5 day of schoolwork was in the packet and used a heavy-duty stapler to staple them.  It's hard to explain, maybe she'll get on and comment with easier directions!

We finished William Tell and none of knew his connection with the freedom and independence of Switzerland?

Send me your organizing tips and I'll pass them on to Penny.  What are you reading aloud??

Pastor Dale

What is a homeschool dad doing on a blog?  Beats me!  No, really....I am here to try and put some thoughts into words but mostly to encourage others as we all seek to train our children at home.  Homeschooling is a tough business and I want to encourage and comfort others.  Know this above all else~you are not going crazy alone! 

We have five children at home and in our 12th year of homeschooling.  Our children are 17, 15, 12, 8 and 5 and we figure we have 12 more years to go!  We use a variety of books and curriculum but the mainstays of our homechool~what seems to bring us all together~are two tools we have used for any years. 

Number one is family discipleship.  Every day we find the time somehow to read the Bible together, memorize at least one verse of scripture, and pray together.  We have done it at all times of the day but for now find that after dinner works the best.  My wife, Penny, usually likes to do it first thing (that way she knows everyone is out of bed and at least attempting to get started on the day) but this season of life lends itself to the after dinner hour. 

We have most recently memorized 1 Corinthians 13, and Psalm 25...one verse a day.  Our oldest son reads the entire passage out loud.  Then beginning with verse one, he reads the verse we are working on three times.  We go around the family repeating the verse.  By the end we've all heard it about 10 or 12 times!  The next day we review and do it all again!

The next great tool our family centers on is reading aloud. We have read many great books over the years including Heidi~our favorite, Swiss Family Robinson, The Shiloh Trilogy, Little Women, lots of Henty books.  Currently we are reading The Apple and the Arrow by Mary and Conrad Buff about William Tell.  Our children will usually sit and listen for longer than my voice will hold out.

What do you do in your home that keeps the glue of your homeschool together?

We'd love to hear from you and be an encouragement as you train your children at home.

Pastor Dale  www.meetinghouseministries.com