Nov. 15, 2007 - Jeannie Fulbright on Self Learning

Since I can't seem to find the time to compose my own thoughts and post them, I thought I'd direct you to someone who has managed to do so quite clearly and eloquently.  Jeannie Fulbright (author of the Exploring God Through Creation, Elementary Apologia curriculum) has been writing a series of posts on Self Learning in the Homeschool.  Self learning is one of the characteristics of homeschooled students which sets them apart from their traditional classroom counterparts.  Jeannie offers practical instruction on how to facilitate such in your own children. 

Self Learners in the Homeschool (intro)

Laying the Foundation: Moving Students from Dependence to Independence (focus on character development)

Steps to Self Learning (very practical)

Oct. 22, 2007 - With Freedom Comes Responsibility

     I am fortunate to live in a state where homeschoolers are free from government intrustion.  The only requirement of homeschoolers in my state is that we keep attendance records in the event that the superintendent might some day request them.  When I was in Virginia, unless I filed under the religious exemption statute, I was required to submit an annual notice of intent to the Commonwealth as well as proof of progress (in Math & Language Arts) in the form of test scores, portfolio, or professional evaluation.  While I never had any real issues with providing such documentation to the Commonwealth, I am enjoying the greater freedom the Indiana courts have upheld time after time.  God gives children to parents not governments.  Parents are directly accountable to God for what they do with them.   I am a firm believer in individual rights and am jealous for the preservation of personal liberty and freedom.  One of my favorite quotes is from Thomas Jefferson, "A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither." 

     That being said, I must add, with freedom comes responsibility.  This weekend, while I was hiking, I had opportunity to talk to a friend from church.  She is a fourth grade teacher and respects my decision to homeschool.  We usually enjoy talking about academics, but the topic of this last conversation was not as enjoyable.  She shared with me about a student she had in her class this year.  This 4th grader had been homeschooled until this fall.  She entered the classroom a very shy girl, and was described by my friend as "backward."  After evaluation, it was determined that her reading level was that of a 2nd grader, and she was at the bottom of the class academically: beneath the special-ed and ESL (English as a second language) kids in this average/below average, city, public school classroom.  When my friend worked with her one-on-one, she found her to be very sweet, and receptive to instruction; eager to learn.  It was obvious; however, that she had never been taught.  The situation with this girl worsened when her mother repeatedly brought her to school late (30 minutes or so) causing distress for the girl as they would arrive during times of great commotion and change resulting in her sobbing from confusion.  In addition, the girl would repeatedly miss 2-3 days of class at a time, be back for a couple of days and then not again for another day or so.  The girl had a younger girl in the 2nd grade who was not as sweet.  She repeatedly tested and challenged her teacher with comments of, "My mom doesn't do it that way," or "My mom doesn't make me read."  When she was disciplined, she would cry and go home to tell her mother how mean they were to her at school.  In the end, the mother decided to pull out both girls and homeschool them again.  At which point, my friend sat down to challenge her with the facts of her daughters academic level and some of the concerns that she had.  Although my friend attempted to show respect for the mother's right to homeschool, the mother became defensive and accusatory, claiming that they (anyone in the public school system, my friend included) hated homeschoolers.  My friend asserted that her only desire was that all children learn and be taught which led to further resistance and defensiveness on the part of the homeschool mother.  And so it ended with the mother pulling her girls out of the school. 

     My friend was quite disturbed by the entire situation.  This isn't the first time that she has had students that were homeschooled formerly, and every time a homeschooled student has been put in her class, they have been behind academically.  Having friends in church who homeschool their children, she knows not to judge the entire homeschooling movement by these students, but her fellow teachers and administrators do not have the same balancing positive experience with homeschoolers who are actually teaching their children.  They only see those who have failed and whose children are behind the curve academically.  Frankly, I've seen it myself.  Just last week, I was reading a blog from someone who had quit homeschooling and placed her children in public school.  After a year, the mother was raving about the positive experience and beaming over the academic progress that has occured, citing that when her child entered the school initially, she was behind, having been homeschooled.  My immediate response was, "Why?  Why was she behind?"  Perhaps I am naive, but my expectation is that homeschoolers should be more advanced that their traditional classroom counterparts.  Yes, homeschooling is not just about academics; my first priority is to raise my children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, but I can not neglect the basics of Reading, Writing, and Aritimetic in doing so.  It is a disservice to our children if we do!  It is my responsibility before the Lord to equip my child for life in this world, if for no other reason than that they can serve Him!   

     We as homeschoolers fight for the freedom to raise our children without government intrustion, but as we preserve those essential freedoms, we must exercise responsibility.  Just because the state does not require us to show proof that our children have mastered their math facts, doesn't mean that we can neglect teaching them such.  We ought to be self-regulated and hold ourselves to an even higher standard!  Non-homeschoolers are not comfortable with the notion that there are "all these kids out there" who are not held accoutable by the state.  The more cases like this one, the more uncomfortable people become, and sooner or later, some legislator is going to attempt to pass a bill which brings further regulation, and when these schoolteachers testify of their personal experience with "backwards" homeschoolers entering their classrooms, HSLDA will not be able to save us.  Once again, our freedoms will be traded for order, and there will be no one to blame but ourselves because we abused the freedom that we cherished.  May it never be! 

"Whether then you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 

I Corinthians 10:31

"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.  It is the Lord Christ you serve." 

Colossians 3:23-24

Aug. 28, 2007 - New Math Blog

I'd like to introduce you to Katherine Loop, a lovely young woman who is a homeschool graduate and now ministers to the homeschool community in Virginia.  While I never had the privilege to meet her face to face while I was living there, several of my friends do know her personally and attest to her godly character and sweet spirit.  I have been blessed to receive her monthly newsletter, and was excited to learn that she has now begun a blog. 

One of Miss Loop's passions is teaching Math from a Christian perspective.  About the same time that she became known to me, I was similarly beginning to seek out ways to teach Math to my own kids from a Biblical standpoint.  As I prayed for God's guidance in doing so, He was so gracious to give me ideas.  For example, when introducing the ruler as a standard for measurement, you are teaching the absolute truth of 12 inches equaling a foot and rejecting the relativism of everyone measuring according to the size of their own foot.  Likewise, the Bible is our absolute standard by which all are measured and we as Christians reject the world's relativism that everyone can live as they choose and pray to whichever God they desire, or none at all.  Just as chaos results when people measure something by their own foot, chaos results when individuals reject the absolutes of God's Word and live by their own standards.  This is just one example that God gave me, personally,  to use Mathematics to enforce and teach Biblical ideas.  Katherine has many more resources for teaching Math biblically on her website www.christianperspective.net and has now launched a Math blog. 

I encourage you to go check it out (http://www.christianperspective.net/blog/) and please, give her a warm welcome to the blogosphere with an encouraging comment!  I pray that God will use this forum to enable her to encourage so many more families; beyond Virginia! :) 

Aug. 15, 2007 - Homeschool Open House

 Tiany at Less of Me, More of Him (isn't that a great title?!?) is hosting a wonderful showcase of homeschoolers and I wanted to join in the fun.  Come check it out, there are already over 200 posts entered and there are 20+ doorprizes for all those who enter by 12pm August 15th, oops that's today, I better get posting. :) 

This is my 6th official year of homeschooling.  Our kids are 10, 8, 6, and 4 1/2 and are all involved in our homeschool.   

Our homeschool has evolved quite a bit since we started.  I've always been quite eclectic, but while I tried to follow the Well-Trained Mind method of Classical education in the early years, over time I've moved toward a more Hebraic approach having been inspired by the books When You Rise Up by R.C.Sproul, Jr. and Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach by Robin Sampson. 

We do not follow a strict schedule, but after moving from Virginia to Indiana last summer and implementing an extremely relaxed bordering on unschooling approach last schoolyear, I am attempting to be more disciplined and structured this year without losing the blessings of a relaxed approach. (See Rhythm) 

I have been waking around 6:30am, showering, reading my Bible, and praying, and then praying with my husband.   Then I feed the kids breakfast and read to them from Psalms and Proverbs.  After they do their morning routine (dress, brush teeth/hair, make beds), they join me for Bible study (Lord Teach Me to Pray for kids).  After Bible study we have Bible time which is more historical.  We are going through the Bible cover to cover using the (now out-of-print) Zondervan Book of Life set of books; we are beginning Leviticus.   The Bible is our priority and we spend a lot of time in it and incorporate studying the Bible into other subjects as well. 

Then, in whatever order seems to make sense, we do the other subjects.   Usually, I try to do some instruction with my oldest son and get him started working independently and then shift my attention to my two younger daughters.  This morning I started with my daughter instead, so my son (of his own volition) played games with his younger sisters until I was ready to work with him.  It's so pleasant when things like that happen! 

We use Saxon Math, Rod & Staff English, Natural Speller, and glean vocabulary and assign copywork and memory work from the Scripture passages we are reading, literature, poetry, or historical documents.  I use the StartWrite software to create copywork and handwriting assignments.  As many subjects as are possible are done together (Bible, Science, History, some Language Arts and Math).  We are using Jeannie Fulbright's Elementary Apologia's Young Explorers series for Science and Truthquest for History.  I am excitedly awaiting the brand new Time Traveler's History for the Revolutionary War from Homeschool in the Woods to supplement our Truthquest guide.  I've done well in the past with reading and oral narration, but have failed with notebooking and am frustrated that we have so little to show for all of the reading we have done.  Plus, there's nothing to look at to help the kids remember and review what we've learned.  I've often been overwhelmed and paralyzed with history (despite having a college degree in it) and am hopeful that this will help me to overcome where we have failed in the past. 

Using Edu-Track software, I have inputed all of the kids' assignments into the computer and print out a weekly schedule for each of the older three kids.  I schedule a 4-day schoolweek with Bible Study being the only subject scheduled on all 5 days.  Having this extra day in the schedule provides me with the necessary breathing room that I need to keep my sanity.  The extra day is used for make-up work, field trips, playdates, housework, or as an unschooling day.   Because we inevitable take off about a month around the holidays and then another week in the Spring, I started on August 6th this year instead of our usual day after Labor Day. 

We homeschool all over the house.  Our formal living room is really a schoolroom/office, we start our day with Bible study there, and the kids do their independent assignments there as well.

Our dining room lacks a dining room table and has instead a comfy love seat and oversized chair.  We do our Bible time here, and this is also where I give one-on-one or one-on-two instruction.  All of the kids have clipboards and individual white boards.  I make use of these frequently to teach them, or have them do practice problems for me. 

I read to the kids at lunchtime from a fun book (like Farmer Boy), or from a Missionary Story (Trailblazer Books or The Millers Books).  Today we sat outside.  

Other reading is done on the big, couch in the family room.  This afternoon, I read to the kids from Johnny Tremain while they folded laundry.  (Works for me!:))

And when all the assignments are done, they play until it's time for afternoon chores. (Unless I think they need a break before then.)  And that's what our homeschool looks like, mostly.  There's still a lot of free time outside and additional reading, and we're working on getting better with Nature Journals, and I need to start using the How Great Thou Art materials I purchased last Spring....There's always something more we could be doing.  Education is all around us, and there's still quite a bit of bug catching, gardening, and birdwatching, that is absolutely invaluable to a well-rounded education.  The longer we homeschool, the more of a lifestyle it becomes, and the more passionate I become that homeschooling really is the best. 

If you're visiting for the first time and are interested in knowing more, feel free to search my archives and check out my various categories of posts.  Thanks for visiting, please leave a note so that I can return the favor!   

P.S.  I want you all to know that I did not straighten the house nor did I apply make-up before these pictures were taken.  This is the real deal, well, at least parts of it. :)

Aug. 8, 2007 - Nuggets

"You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,  The things which you have heard from me...entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."  II Timothy 2:2

It's day three and we're still on track with school and I've continued to get up before 7am.  Eventually, I'd like to bump it back even earlier and start exercising, but let's not overwhelm ourselves the first week, shall we? 

My morning Bible and prayer time has been going very well, and as little people wander down to join me, I begin reading aloud or simply wrap my arm around them while I pray.  I don't mind; it's a precious time!  It's also been wonderful to get back into Bible study with the kids.  We do a lot of Bible but it has been neglected the past couple of months.  It's good to be making it our priority again!  I'll post sometime about everything we do for Bible, but for now I'll just share some nuggets that we've gleaned over the past few days.

SUBMISSION (excerpts from Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary)- our synthesis of each part of the definition is in pink, imperfect as synthesis usually is, but helpful to the kids for remembering

• yielding to power or authority (Wait, Follow- we talked about traffic laws)
• surrender of the person or power to the control or government of another ("You win")
• acknowledgement of inferiority or dependence ("I need you!")
• humble or suppliant behavior (Servant's Heart)
• obedience (Just Do it!)
• compliance with the laws or commands of a superior (Obey)
• yielding of one's will to the will of a superior without murmering ("Not my way but yours")

Proverbs 2 (our synthesis and practical application in pink)

If you:

• receive My words (Read, Bible Study, Sunday School, Church)
• treasure My commandments (Memorize scripture, Obey)
• ear attentive to wisdom (Listen!)
• incline heart to understanding (Meditate, Believe, Have faith)
• cry for discernment (Pray)
• lift your voice for understanding (Pray more)
• seek her as silver (Study)
• search as for hidden treasure (Study some more)

Then you will

• discern the fear of the LORD
• discover the knowledge of God

It takes time, and work, but it's worth it!

The time in God's Word has definately been the highlight for me, but we've also enjoyed reading Farmer Boy and Johnny Tremain and everyone's glad to be doing Math (and even Phonics) again too.  The copy work is still not a hit!  :( I'm feeling much better, and with the summer heat wave, it's nice to enjoy the air conditioning while working on schoolwork.  :)  So, crazy as it is for us to be starting school in August, it's actually working out quite nicely!  And just to keep it all in perspective, "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant , not of the letter but of the Spirit for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life."  (II Corinthians 3:5-6)

Aug. 6, 2007 - The First Day is not all it's cracked up to be

We started "school" today.  The longer we homeschool, the more of a lifestyle it becomes, but there is still a place for "academics" and "bookwork."  So when I say "school," that's what I mean.  Anyway, I'd originally planned to do school through the summer, but with all the traveling and company, it hasn't worked out to do that, so today we started up again after about 2 months off.  In the past, I've started the day after Labor Day, so we're a full month ahead of schedule, but with all the time we lost last year with moving and getting settled, and my typical habit of taking off a whole month around Thanksgiving and Christmas in addition to having a 4-day schoolweek, I figured we needed to start school earlier.  So we're starting.  And our first day went okay, I guess.  My much anticipated planning weekend didn't really yield the time that I needed for planning, so I still have to figure out a schedule for Science and History and get a few more things organized, and after having maintained a decent order of cleanliness for much of the past couple of months, the house is a wreck again, and there's still a huge pile of unfolded laundry that needs to be folded and put away and a sink full of dishes, oh, and I-- who so rarely get sick-- am fighting Bronchitis and my four extremely healthy kids all have colds, so why not?  Doesn't it sound like the best day to start school to you?  Ha!  I thought about waiting until after I'd cleaned the house again and folded the laundry and we were all healthy, but I decided it was better to just start.  You have to face the first day at some point, who's to say that any other day will be better than today?  The one good thing was that even though I set my new alarm clock to go off at 6:45pm instead of 6:45am, I still awoke on my own and actually Got. Out. Of. Bed.   If you had seen my lazy self the past two months, sleeping until 9am or 10am or 11am, and known the insomnia that has kept me up until midnight the last few nights, you would understand what a miracle it was that I got up on my own when the first number on the clock read SIX!  I'm so glad that I did, as I would never have been able to make it to this point in the day without spending that quiet time in the Word and Praying!   God is good!  I praise Him for getting my lazy butt out of bed! 

It's almost 3pm now and the kids are still working on a couple of things.  My older two struggled to get out of bed at 8am and everyone was slow moving in the morning and I did have a couple of interruptions, so we didn't work as efficiently as possible.  I've also had some griping about copywork, "This is too long!  I can't write this much."  It's not really, they've just gotten out of the habit and need to get used to doing "schoolwork" again.  But it was good to be in God's Word with the kids again and recommence our Bible Study.  I regret that I have neglected it!  God is gracious and the Spirit was bringing conviction not only to me but to the kids as well.  I had a wonderful opportunity to encourage my daughter (who tends to internalize things) when she very openly and honestly mourned her sin.  It was amazing to see her respond to the Spirit in the way she did and to be able to lead her through repentance and restoration!   And that's why I do what I do.  Because you never know when those moments will come and you can't force them to come on your own timetable.  It's in the quantity time that you really experience the quality time and are able to take advantage of the teachable moments. 

That being said, I really need to make myself another cup of tea and go fold some laundry or something.  I'd really like a nap, but the insomnia is bad enough without one, I'd be up until 2am if I yielded to the urge to sleep now.  So, I press on, glad that the first day is behind me (almost) because it's just not all it's cracked up to be.   

Aug. 4, 2007 - Multi-level Teaching with Saxon Math?

I need help.

Has anyone ever tried to do multi-level teaching with Saxon Math 1-3?  I enjoy Saxon Math and have invested in all the manipulatives and everything, but Math 1, 2, & 3 are very time consuming to teach and it has always been a challenge to teach two separate levels of Saxon.  Last year I ended up doing more "kitchen-math" and "real life mathematics" with my younger girls which works well, except that they are BEGGING me to do Math.  My oldest daughter does not claim to like school, but when I ask her what she does like, she says, "Math."  They don't see baking as Math; they want to do Saxon. 

With all the repetition inherent to Saxon, I've thought that I should be able to teach them at the same time, providing more depth when necessary for the younger child, but the books aren't laid out in a way that it's easy to do that.  I've been googling to see if anyone has tried this before, but have been unsuccessful in finding any help.  So, dear homeschool friends, have any of you tried this before or do you know of others who have.  My thought is that I will use Saxon 3 with my 3rd and 1st graders, but I'm afraid it might be too fast for my 1st grader...thoughts? opinions?  comments?

Thanks!

May. 23, 2007 - Finished with Math 54!

As so many around us are wrapping up the schoolyear, we keep plugging away.  We plan to work consistently through June and then regularly through July & August, but our schedule will be interrupted a few times for travel and company.  Still, the end is not in sight.  Sigh! 

That being said, it is quite encouraging to have finished Math 54 with 1ds9!  It feels wonderful to actually finish something!  There is such satisfaction from this accomplishment, especially since he didn't even start the book until October!  Today he started on Math 65, and was able to skim through the first 30 some lessons (they build in so much review at the beginning, knowing that kids have forgotten everything over the summer).  I would really like to finish this book this summer and be able to start with Math 76 in the fall.  I know that he is definitely capable of it.  Math has yet to be a challenge to him! 

Mar. 25, 2007 - Renewed, Refreshed & Inspired

I have just enjoyed a fabulous weekend with my beloved! 

He and I had the pleasure of attending the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention together while my mom and dad cared for our children. 

We left Thursday night and got home early Sunday afternoon.  I was putting a lot of stock into this weekend.  It had been a couple of years since we had attended a homeschool convention, and this past year has been an interesting and somewhat tumultuous year for our family.  God has been faithful, and we have experienced countless blessings, but the academic side of our homeschool has suffered. 

In many ways, we needed a break.  For ten years we kept a frenetic pace of life; and frankly, I WAS EXHAUSTED!!!!  So, we cut way back and severely limited our extra-curricular activities, and unintentionally, our academic pursuits as well.  I’ve struggled quite a bit as a result.  In some ways, I welcomed the respite; enjoying watching the kids play and spend time together, building relationships,  but in others, I felt guilty; knowing how much there was to accomplish, and yet lacking the energy and the motivation to carry it out.  I never wavered in my commitment to keeping my kids home with me, it was just the “schooling” part that was a challenge.  All that to say, after several months of doing the minimum, I knew that it was time to get back to business, but I still lacked the motivation to do so.  I prayed that this convention would provided the inspiration, encouragement, and motivation that I needed.  AND IT DID!

My husband and I were both blessed beyond measure; in spending time alone together, in attending workshops, and in browsing through the vendor hall, spending way too much money!  The speakers were phenomenal (Ken Ham, Richard “Little Bear” Wheeler, Norm Wakefield, Maggie Hogan, Jim Weiss, Sarah Malley), and I am, of course, ecstatic over our purchases (God’s Mighty Hand: Providential Occurrences in World History, The Ultimate Geography & Time Line Guide, The Adventure of Missionary Heroism, Pocketful of Pinecones,….to name a few)!  I enjoyed edifying conversation with my husband and greatly appreciated his support and encouragement!  The weekend was everything I had hoped for and more! 

So, now I’m excited and motivated, and looking forward to getting back on track academically, and in other ways as well!  God is good!

Oct. 31, 2006 - September/October Academics

It's hard to believe the first two months of our academic year are already behind us.

We deliberately started off slowly in September with a lot of review and informal academics: Math Facts practice, Letter Writing, Reading.  We slowly added more academic subjects so that we were going strong by mid-October. 

We completed Wrong Way, Jonah! and plan to begin Lord, Teach Me to Pray as soon as I can procure a third copy.  We finished reading the Lamplighter book Christie's Old Organ and have started reading Teddy's Button.  While we enjoyed parts of Christie's Old Organ, the story could have been told much better in half as many pages.  The book is very evangelistic in nature, and I realized that my kids don't really need that.  They know the Gospel and believe, and now need to grow in Christ, so I'll be looking for books that are more focused on sanctification and character development in the future.  We finished our book about Mary Slessor and need to start another missionary book.  We also completed Little House in the Big Woods and are almost done with Little House on the Prarie. 

We started again with our reading through the Bible.  My parents have the Zondervan Book of Life set and it goes through the Bible providing historical context, pictures, and archaeological findings to complement the Bible stories.  We started in Genesis a couple of years ago and just crossed the Red Sea. 

The kids also got their new Saxon Math books.  1ds9 is enjoying Math 54 and is moving through it at an accelerated pace.  2dd7 is in Math 3 and 3dd5 is in Math 1. 

I'm still working through the Veritas Press Phonics Museum with the middle girls and ds is finishing the last section of Rod and Staff English 3 before he starts English 4.  I did feel validated when I pulled it out to work on it again and we were able to breeze through many lessons and skip assignments because the material had been covered informally through the summer and by letter writing.  A relaxed approach to learning can produce results!

We started Botany and are thoroughly enjoying it, although I'm watching the plants die as I skim through the book; wishing I had been able to start in the summer.  We'll make it work though! 

We also started our study of American History and added Truthquest to the litany of resources that we're using.  We actually started American History last fall, but I was not having the kids do any notebooking.  We have always read and discussed and done a lot of Oral Narrations, but I haven't been good about having them keep a written record that we can refer to and use to review and remind us of what we've studied.  I now regret that I didn't do that in Bible and History.  I wasn't about to start over at the beginning of Genesis again, but we are beginning to notebook for our Bible lessons, and I did decide to start over again with American History.  We had read up to the American Revolution last year, so I'm now reviewing all of that material, and having the kids make notebook pages.  I intend to go at a faster pace as they should (I hope) remember the material.  So, we've again completed Columbus and are now briefly studying the other explorers. 

Add to all that, Piano lessons for the older two, singing Hymns together, miscellaneous art projects the kids concoct on their own, impromptu nature studies on bugs, birds, and trees, a few field trips, Boy Scouts, and plenty of time outside running, riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline, playing on the swingset, and working in the yard.  We're off to a decent start, but I still need to add Spelling and Handwriting/Cursive, and become more consistent in the other subjects.  There's always room for improvement!

Sep. 11, 2006 - Week One: Slow and Easy

As I look ahead to starting week two in the morning, I wanted to type a few words about the first week.  It was a short week with Memorial Day on Monday and then Friday we went to the Children's Museum and the Library.  The other few days we took it slow and easy.  In years past, I have attempted to tackle every subject the first day and that has almost always resulted in overwhelming frustration for kids and mom, so this year, with all of the emotional turmoil that we've faced, I thought we needed to avoid overwhelming ourselves. 

We got back into the Jonah study we started this summer, but hadn't been faithful in doing consistently, we also sang hymns, and started reading a book about missionary Mary Slessor (Trial by Poison).  There was a good deal of Math Facts review and Letter Writing.  The kids spent a considerable amount of time outside and we did a little bit of Nature Study as a result.  That's about it!  It doesn't sound very academic, I know, but considering I still haven't ordered any new curriculum this Fall, and having stopped a month and a half before schedule last Spring, it was a good first week.  My strategy of not overwhelming anyone worked so well that I actually have kids begging me to do "schoolwork" with them and when Daddy arrives home in the evening and asks about school, the kids report that we didn't do any.  They have NO idea about the academic nature of Letter Writing, nor how critical really knowing their Math Facts is in order to succeed in mathematics!  This week will need to be a bit more intense though.  I'll definately be starting Phonics again (if only to appease 3dd5)!

I would love to post some pictures, but Tech Support has been a bit busy lately.  Soon, I hope! I pray you all have a wonderful week with your precious babies.  Try not to overwhelm yourselves! ;)