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Posted in Blogger Friend School

Assignment 123 - ABC’s of Praise Introduction: This is a steal, literally, because I found it on Facebook and decided to use it this week.  This is an expression of Praises to God- using the ABC’s.  I thought this would be a good way to be able to Praise God and use every letter of the alphabet! Assignment: Try to think of one thing you can say to the glory of God- one thing to thank Him for, a positive thing you can say about Him, or one of His Names-using each letter of the alphabet.  You are allowed to make up words- if you can justify them by making it clear what you mean- and you may also use any foreign language (but please explain what it means) - and you can also use a thesaurus or dictionary if you get stumped. I’m putting my list below so you’ll have to copy and paste this then remove my answers.  It’s a bit of a challenge but I think you’ll enjoy it.  Have fun with it!

 

A - all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving
B - benevolent, beautiful
C - Christ
D - deathless, Divine
E - eternal
F - Father
G - God
H - health, harmony
I - infinite
J - just
K - kind
L - Love, Life
M - Mother, Mind
N - new every day
O -  omnipotent, omniscient, omni-present
P - Principle
Q - quality
R - revelation
S - salvation, Spirit, Soul
T - Truth
U - unlimited
V - victory
W - wise
X - "How eXcellent is thy name!"
Y - "Yes, Lord"
Z - zealous

Posted in Blogger Friend School

Assignment: This would be a good week to tell about your worst struggles with a lifestyle of homeschooling.  Tell about something you’ve struggled with and how God’s mercies gave us the strength to get past it.  Also, share any curriculum/homeschool methods that have been a relief to you, i.e., a particular Teacher’s Manual or Homeschooling method that’s been easier for your family.  Talk about how you felt when the burden was lifted and Oh, What a Relief it is! Memory Verse:  Psalms 55:22 - Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Well, we certainly have our struggles with homeschooling.  There are the days that the boys simply don't want to listen.  There are the days when the laundry doesn't get done.  There are way too many days when the house is buried in clutter.  There are the family members who think we aren't doing this right.

I often feel overwhelmed by all of my duties - by trying to balance wife with mother with teacher with citizen, etc.  So much of a homeschool mom's day is spent in the mother/teacher role that it can be hard to fit the rest in.  But if we don't fit the rest in everyone suffers.  So I suppose time management and home organization are my biggest struggles.  There is just so much going on that it often seems impossible for it all to get finished.

As for the burden being lifted, I'm not really there yet.  I am daily working and praying to find the balance and the motivation I need to be a more organized homeschooling mom/wife/housekeeper etc. 

As for curriculum, I haven't been hugely impressed or inspired by  much of what we're using.  Add that to my list of challenges.  I am grateful for the Rod and Staff Building Christian English series because it clearly shows my kids that God is part of our school day beyond our morning Bible study.  It also has an easy to use Teacher's Guide.

My youngest son is reading beautifully now, and that is a relief.  It is wonderful that I don't have to sit with him for every lesson and read him the instructions anymore.  I still sit with him a lot, but I can better divide my time between the boys now that he can understand on his own.  He loves to read and often reads aloud to me or my mother.  My older son is a challenge - he reads just fine but doesn't enjoy it and doesn't want to do it.

Posted in Blogger Friend School

Assignment 100: Take time this week to write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with homeschooling.  Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling and whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back.  Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children. Memory Verse: Ephesians 4:19 KJV Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

I mostly attended public schools as a child.  I don't remember many details about the early years.  My sister and I started K the same year although I am a year older than her.  They moved me up to first grade about mid year.  I remember a few of the projects we did in elementary school - growing beans in a baggie, playing kick ball for pe, things like that.  I think I started going to the fourth grade class for math at some point in my third grade year.

Then we went to a private school for a year.  I went from 20 or 30 kids in my class to 10 or 15.  My mom was my teacher for part of the year.  It was fun and interesting to do something different, but it didn't last because we moved over the summer.

So from fifth grade on I was back in public school.  I really enjoyed school from there on out.  I was a member of the concert band, the marching band, the German club, Key Club, Honor Society, Girl Scouts, etc.  I was by no means popular, but neither was I too much of a nerd.  I had a few good friends and many, many acquaintances.

The main problem with my public school education is that I don't remember anything that they taught me (with the possible exception of German, but I studied that in college as well).  I never felt like I was in danger while at school.  There were days when I really struggled to get through the load of homework but I didn't know there was any other way and I mostly enjoyed myself.

I don't know when I first heard of homeschooling.  I know my husband and I began discussing it shortly after our first son was born and we both liked the idea.  We attended a CHEA conference when I was pregnant with our second and got hooked on the idea.  Neither of our boys has ever been to public school.  We joined our local homeschool support group before our oldest was even old enough for "preschool".

Since then there have been good days and bad days.  I'm not the homeschool mom I want to be yet.  We're now doing 2nd and 4th grade and I'm still finding my way.  Right now my youngest is more interested in studying with my mother than with me and that has been frustrating (mostly because she works and isn't home until 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon).

Our first few years on this journey have been a struggle to stick to any kind of schedule, to keep the house in order and to find the right balance of at home time and away time.  We don't do that many outside activities but we always seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere.

I want my boys to enjoy school like I did, but I want them to actually learn something of value that will benefit them in their adult lives.  I realize most of their curriculum at this age involves learning the basics but I want them to love learning the basics so they will want to learn more.  I need to work out a schedule that works for all of us so we have balance and peace.  I want them to be surrounded by a loving environment that is safe and fun.  I want them to learn how to pray and to rely on God, whether I'm there or not.

So I feel both excited and scared as we try to find the rhythm of our new school year.  We have a lot to do and discover about our academic subjects as well as each other.  I'm not as ready as I hoped to be, in fact I feel completely behind already, but we're in this for the long haul, so here we go!

Posted in Wordless Wednesdays

Posted in Blogger Friend School

In my attempts to read more blogs and think of more things to write about, I have stumbled across the Blogger Friend School, so I think I will give it a try. 

The weekly assignments will give me a focus for my blog and reading others responses should be both inspirational and fun.

There is even a Back to School Giveaway featuring some very nice looking nature books.

I hope you will join us for the 2008-2009 class.

Need homeschooling stuff?  Lapbooks, great literature, Old Schoolhouse Magazine?  The Old Schoolhouse Store has it all and more... there's free shipping on every order, great e-newsletters, freebies, all the great things you need to guide your children in their education.

Click here to see what The Old Schoolhouse has in store for you! 

Posted in Wordless Wednesdays

We have been so busy lately, and as a result, so tired, that we overslept this morning and missed church.  We did some Bible study on our own, took care of a few things around the house and then DH and I had a nap while the boys played with the neighbors.  The rest of the day we did almost nothing.

It felt so good to just sit in front of the tv for a couple of hours and not have to go anywhere!

We've had three weeks of constantly having to be somewhere or do something.  I'm even late getting our school days really working because I've had no time to plan lessons each week.

We've thoroughly enjoyed almost all the things we've been doing but it has been a bit excessive.

I need to really work (and pray) about our schedule and figure out a better way to do it all.  There's so much I'm not getting done.

So I applaud all of you homeschooling moms (and dads!) who are giving your children a real education and contributing to your community and getting the housework done! 

As stay at home parents and homeschoolers we are all so busy and sometimes we just need a day to do nothing!

Posted in Travel

We recently drove 5000 miles in two weeks and we learned a few things along the way.  Over the next few weeks I'll share some of our lessons.

Lesson 1 - Share the driving!

No matter how much your husband loves to drive, make him give you a turn once in a while, at least once a day.  Even someone who loves to drive will be tired and cranky after 400 or 500 miles.  If you want your trip to go smoothly and harmoniously, share the driving.

Lesson 2 - A 90-minute lunch break will throw off your schedule.

Unless you planned for an hour and half stop of course.  The first day out we got a late start and then found the coolest rest area/picnic spot for lunch that our goal of 30 minutes for lunch stretched in to an hour and a half.  It was a lot of fun but we ended up changing our route to compensate.  Oddly enough, 90 minutes became our standard stopping time, no matter how hard we tried to make our breaks shorter!

Lesson 3 - Cities on the state line may not be in the time zone you think they are.

We got in to West Wendover, Nevada at 8:45 pm, only to discover that West Wendover is on Utah time and it was really 9:45.   These things are easy to find out if you check in advance, but we didn't think to check in advance.  We had a quiet dinner of take out pizza in the dark in front of our cabin and went straight to bed.

That's it for now, but stay tuned for more.

Well, so much for daily blogging!

It's been a busy summer.

I guess I don't know how to slow down, because it seems like our summers are always as busy as the school year.

This year we had a week of Cub Scout camp - a new activity for Jonathan and I.  Bo attended camp for the third year but this was Jonathan's first.  And since both the boys went to camp, I volunteered to be on staff for the week.  We all had a blast.

A week after camp was over we set out for a two week road trip to Illinois for my 15 year college reunion.
I'll blog more about that soon.

Now I'm working on lesson planning for the new school year and trying to get organized.  And this week and next we've got swimming lessons.  Then there's Scout training and Pack events and more!

So we're keeping busy and haven't slowed down at all.

It sure has been a fun summer though!

Posted in Wordless Wednesdays

I am learning lots of new things this week. 

Blogging is one of them.  I am trying to post daily and I've been sitting here for awhile trying to think of what to write.

I'm working on learning some new teaching methods.  We're trying lapbooking and doing more hands on activities.  I'm so tired of the whining about wanting to play instead of study that I've got to find some new ways of doing this.

I'm learning new things about our taxes as I work to get the return finished and get our refund sooner rather than later.

I'm gaining new insight into my role as teacher as I strive to pray more and shout less.

Today I even learned how to better throw a football.

I think that's enough learning for today.  I need to learn to go to bed earlier.

Good night!

Posted in Boys Will Be Boys

We had a great time out and about today.  We played two rounds of miniature golf and went out to dinner.   As we sat in the lobby at Olive Garden we started trying to get the kids to say tongue twisters.

After a few attempts at "she sells seashells by the seashore," Jonathan decided this tongue twister wasn't for him.  As I coached him through it one more time, "she sells seashells..." he chimed in "at the beach!"

Playground Overrun by Homeschoolers

Last Valentine's Day visitors to Creekside Park were met with strange sights.  Wild, unsocialized homeschoolers had apparently taken over the play equipment, picnic tables and the new climbing structure (a fallen tree by the creek that has been reinforced with concrete.)

One picnic table was piled with tasty holiday treats.  A second table was covered with paper, stickers, scissors, crayons and so on as a group of children whipped up a frenzy of Valentine cards.

While there were many adults present (allegedly the children's parents), they seemed to pay little attention to their kids who were swinging from the monkey bars or looking for rocks in the creek.

One dad was juggling, while a mom gave a very animated retelling of some absurd love story between a frog and a goose.  Other parents sat around talking, and eating heart shaped candies and cupcakes.

Just when local residents thought the park was lost for good, the loud and active group descended on the climbing tree for a group picture.  One young lady then pulled out a large bag and began to distribute home made Valentines to the others.

Finally, as au pairs and nannies stood by shaking their heads, the group began to disperse.  They carried their goodbyes noisily all the way to the parking lot with cries of "see you at Lego class" and "can I borrow your favorite book next week?"  As the parking lot emptied of mini vans, peace descended on Creekside Park, at least until the next "park day."

I'm pretty new to this whole blogging thing.  I've tried several times to start one over the last few years and I just never seem to keep it up.  But I've been inspired by so many homeschool bloggers in the last few days that I decided to give it another go.

We're currently enjoying "Spring Break"... that is, I needed some time to regroup (and work on taxes) so the boys have been playing with Legos, building pillow forts and watching way too much tv for the last couple of days.

We're 9 years into our homeschool journey... that is to say that our oldest is 9 and we've never even considered doing anything else.  We went to our first homeschool conference when he was about 14 months old and were completely impressed with what we heard. 

We're still finding our way through the myriad resources and methods.  If I had to label our homeschool as this or that, I would probably say we are Christian Eclectic School at Homers.

That's about all I have time for right now, but stay tuned for more!

Terri