Posted in Creative Homeschooling

Things are a little different at the Woon house lately.  Ever since hubby got back from Destination X, we have not been able to get into a routine.  But it's a good thing.  We have been praying about what God wants us to do about Destination X.  And we have an answer.  We announced it in church Sunday morning.  Within 2 to 3 years, we will be moving to Destination X.

 

So now what?  Now we prepare to be on the road a lot as we share our burden with churches around the country.  Homeschooling on the road is not the easiest thing to do... unless you see it as a great opportunity to learn HANDS-ON!  We are hoping to get memberships to the WNC Nature Center.  When you get a membership there, it gives you free access not only to the Nature Center, but hundreds of museums and zoos all across the country!

 

So... if our travels take us within "spitting" distance of one of these free sites, we can stop in to visit.  (I hope our travels will take us close to the Asheburo Zoo soon.)

 

We are also BIG geography lovers.  So travelling around should be fun if it takes us to interesting places.  Have you seen the movie "Up?"  We loved it!  I think I will make the kids their own adventure books so they can keep track of our travels.

 

I am not sure when our travels will start, but I am getting excited!  I spent this morning reorganizing our homeschool materials to make them more portable.  My next goal will be to start planning what curricula we want to use overseas.  We will be in a placed that does not have a lot of resources, and the books we use will have to fly with us on the plane... so they cannot be too heavy.  Considering going back to textbook method and adapting it to meet our needs, but I really had hoped to go to Mystery of History and Apologia Sciences.

 

If you have used either of these, I would love your opinion.  How "portable" are these?  Would they work well from a van or a hotel room?  What about when we get overseas?  Would they work in a country that has few resources (as in a limited library, not a lot of school supplies, etc.)?

 

Hope you all have the greatest homeschooling week!!!

Posted in Family Life

I just looked at the date and realized it has been a whole month since my last post.  I even had one reader concerned and checking on my family to make sure everyone was OK.  (Sorry to worry you all.  We are fine.)

 

So what has happened this last month?  We got my hubby ready for his missions trip to a country in Asia.  I cannot post too much about it for safety reasons... can't even post the name of the country because it is a closed country to missionaries.  He left for his trip in early October and just got back Wednesday of last week.  So today is the first day we are trying to get back into a routine.  It is not going very well, but the house is almost all cleaned back up!

 

For those of you who live close to where I do, my husband will be doing a presentation about his trip this coming Sunday at our church, Woodfin Baptist, 6 PM.  It will be an eye-opening presentation for sure.

 

About homeschooling... we are starting a project pack from Hands of a Child for Asia.  Thought this would be a great study considering where Daddy just came back from last week.  I will let you know how it goes.

 

I am learning how to play a traditional flute from the "secret" country.  It is pretty easy actually.  I will have to demonstrate it sometime for you.

 

For those of you who want to keep up with me a little closer (in case of another long postless period) join me on Facebook.  Uh oh... lunch break is over... time to get back to work!  Have a great day!

Posted in Encouragement

“Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday.” ~ author unknown

Take heart, ladies.  You have a very big task.  If some things are still left undone, it is OK.  Just prioritize so that the most important things are done first.

"I only have one life, and that will soon be past.
I want my life to count for Christ. What's done for Him will last."

I promise, in Heaven (assuming you are saved through faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior) you will not be asked about your laundry or dishes... but you will be asked about how you trained your children... how you spent time with your family... how you loved and ministered to people... how you shared Jesus Christ with others... and how you loved God.

Make it count...

Posted in Money Savers

$10 off Juniors Fashions from Sears

Check out this deal!  I got 7 shirts for less than $5!!!  Wow!  Be sure to read the comments on this link before shopping.  Let me know how your shopping trip goes.

Posted in A God Who Cares

Most times my pen is red.  Sometimes it is blue, but it has the same purpose.  Today I just realized how biblical its purpose really is!

I was sitting down with my 10 year old.  I checked some of his English composition and math.  It was time for him to correct his work.  He wasn't extremely happy about correcting the work.  Then as I gave him a new English assignment.  As he started to write the first line, I stopped him before he got too far.

"Wait.  You have to indent the first line because it is a new paragraph."

Realizing he had to erase that first line and rewrite it, he began to cry.  When I asked him why he was crying, he explained that he was frustrated because he worked so hard and then had to turn around and redo his work.

"You do not like to be told your work is wrong, do you?" I asked him gently and compassionately.

"No."

"And you do not like to have to correct the things you do wrong?"

"No."

"Let me show you something." I grabbed the Bible and turned to 2 Timothy 3:16. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

I began to show him how the Bible is our guide in all things.  It teaches us doctrine (shows us what is right.)  It reproves us (shows us what is wrong.)  It shows us correction (how to make the wrongs right.)  It gives us instruction in righteousness (how to keep it right.)

Isn't it good that God wants to teach us what is right?  Not only that, but He wants to show us when we have done wrong.  But He doesn't leave it there.  He shows us how to make it right... correction.  Then He instructs us in how to keep it right for the future.

Since I want to be as godly as possible, I have to do things the way God has taught me to teach my children.  I teach them what is right (in daily living and in school.)  I show them what is wrong so they will know what they are doing is not OK.  I have to then show them to correct it.  Many parents skip this, in daily living and school.  It is not good enough just to put an "x" on work.  Help them to correct it.  It is not good enough to discipline your child for stealing.  Show them how to correct it by teaching biblical restoration to your child.  The next part is to teach the child how and why to repeat the right action in the future.

I asked my son to tell me the story of Zacchaeus.  He recited every detail proudly, including the part where Zacchaeus accknowledged his wrong-doing, and went and repaid fourfold the people he cheated.  My son was able to see how Zacchaeus corrected his wrong.  He didn't just admit what he did was wrong.  He went back to fix it, and did it with a thankful attitude.  Zacchaeus got a second chance to make things right!

I showed my son how his school work was kind of like Zacchaeus' situation.  My red pen is the reproof.  Him reworking the problem is like Zacchaeus repaying those people.  He is making it right.  I talked to him about learning to love mom's red pen.  My red pen gives him a second chance to make things right.

I could just mark his work right or wrong and slap a grade on it, but then what would he learn?

Pro 15:5

Pro 15:10

"Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die." "A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent."

Posted in Creative Homeschooling

There are times when I am vividly reminded exactly how wonderful homeschooling is.  I have had a few instances of that this week.

Beautiful Moment #1:

I love watching my kids (10 yo boy, 5 yo girl, and almost 3 yo boy) playing and laughing outside together for a few hours.  That's right... a few hours... TOGETHER!  They have started taking pillows and blankets out on the trampoline and playing goofy games together.  What does this have to do with homeschooling?  My kids are so close... closer than I ever imagined.  They laugh and play together.  Yes, they have their moments of disagreement, but for the most part they really enjoy each other's company.  They are "built-in" playmates.  Isn't this what families should be like?

 

Beautiful Moment #2:

God really blessed a devotion I did one morning.  I decided to share it with the kids during Bible time.  God worked in their hearts that day.  I have never seen such good attitudes... such a willingness to work.  Matter of fact, after school we went to pick green beans at a friend's garden.  My kids usually hate working in a garden, but they went right to it, joyfully!  After a few minutes of not seeing my 5 yo daughter, I called out to her.  It went like this:

"Toopy?" (Her nickname)

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

"I am worshiping God."  That's right.  She was worshiping God as she worked diligently for His glory.  She was doing all things "as unto the Lord."  She was two rows over picking green beans and singing quietly.

My son was working on picking corn, and was enjoying the adventure of hunting for just the right ones.

My youngest helped, too.  He was looking for the color green.  Green green beans are yummy.  Yellow green beans are yucky.  So he looked for green.  Later I dicovered he was picking ANYTHING that was green... including leaves. But he knows his colors!

 

Beautiful Moment #3:

This morning as I prepared the kids for their assignments today, I began piling notebooks, books, and workbooks on the desk.  When I pulled out the book on the Aztecs, a rush of excitement flooded over my son's face.  Here is the conversation that followed:

"I want you two to read the prologue together."

"Just the prologue?  Man!  Can't we read a little more?"

I stopped and thought for a moment... OF COURSE I WANT HIM TO READ MORE!  But instead I said, "Let me think.  Hmmm.  I tell you what.  You can read through part one, but not a page more, OK?"

"Thanks, Mom!"

I love that when you find a topic your kids are interested in, you can change the schedule to go as deep as they are willing to go.  Education isn't packing their little heads full of knowledge.  It is giving them a love of learning for life.

Homeschooling really is a thing of beauty.

Posted in Family Life

Reading things incorrectly can make for a very funny picture! Daughter reading this morning from the Gospel of Mark: "And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great clam." Suddenly I am thinking SpongeBob.

Posted in Creative Homeschooling

Alright.  I have come to the end of our week off of school.  I have been thinking about how to tweak our schedule to meet the needs of our almost three year old son.  Here is my thinking:

7:00 Devotion Time

7:30 Kids Breakfast and chores while I straighten the bedroom, kitchen, and Living room

8:00 Exercise time: M, W, F Eliptical and T, Th Weight training

8:30 Breakfast and Check email

9:00 School time!  Combined subjects first (Bible and Geography)  Little man joins us at the table for coloring, painting, playdough, etc OR plays on the school mats quietly with blocks, cars, etc.  I am looking for other QUIET activities for him to do on the mat.  These will be special school time  only toys/activities.

10:15 Kids do independent work while mom and little man do dishes, laundry, floors, dust, etc.  He LOVES to help me in the house.  This will give us some private time together.  It may take a little longer to get it done, but I think it will be worth it. He seems to be craving more mommy time... and that's fine with me!

11:00 Snack Time Break (15 minutes)

12:30 Lunch

1:00 G nap and kids finish last bits of school while I work on computer and clean anything left from morning cleaning time.

I'll keep you posted on how this new plan works.  Also, if I find some great activities, I will share them with you.

Posted in Creative Homeschooling

I was asked by a friend what we do for PE.  Thought I would share with you all, too.

PE has three aspects 1) physical fitness 2) Health education 3) sports instruction.

My kids stay pretty active to stay physically fit.  We have a large back yard with a trampoline and swing set... bikes and outdoor play toys.  I schedule play dates sometimes, and take them to McD's indoor playground sometimes when the weather is bad.

I incorporate health education in their science instruction.

I allow them to play one sport a year and encourage them to try new sports.  Over the summer, they learned about bowling.  We went almost twice a week over the summer!  They will get to choose one sport this school year.  My son will probably play basketball again.  My daughter may try basketball this year.  She did swimming last year, and soccer the year before.

(We do our best not to make sports a god in our lives, like is very common among homes in America today.  We do not chase sports around in a fashion that wears us out or takes us away from priorities such as church.  However, we do want the kids to experience many of these activities in a modest fashion.  Sports should be a fun, leisurely, physical activity... not a pressured, highly competitive, "must win" event.  A lust for winning is still... LUST.)

So basically, PE is part of our everyday life.  I do not teach it as a "class" but it is part of what we do already.

So, what do you do for PE?

Posted in Encouragement

No, I am not reconsidering homeschooling, but I do have to rethink a few things I have planned this year.  We just finished up week 5.  We have a break scheduled for next week.  During that break, I am going to reflect on what is working so far and what isn't.  For the things that are not working, I am going to re-examine our needs and tweak our schooling process to fit those needs.

Sometimes we envision things working a certain way.  When we implement those things, we learn that they are not going to work the way we thought they would.  That is OK!!  Don't panic.  Just revamp a little.  Homeschooling requires flexibility and understanding.  We like to schedule breaks strategically for such "Times of Reconsideration."  Just as people change, needs change.  Don't let it throw you for a loop.  Hang in there!  Whatever God calls you to do, He will equip you to do.  Let Him guide you.

Happy Homeschool day to you all!!

Posted in Family Life

Posted in Family Life

I had a question from Joanne about chores my daughter does:

"Everything looks wonderful! Had a question, a while ago you had a video on the chores your daughter was doing, I was wondering how that was going and if she does the same things now or more/less. My Kyra turned 4 in May and I really want to have a daily routine for her once we start school. "

Hi, Kyra and Joanne!

My daughter's chores right now are:

1)  She has to clean her room and make her bed every morning.  (We do not make her do these chores Sunday mornings but she has to straighten her room Saturday night.)

2)  Gather all dirty laundry from the baskets in each room and take them to the laundry room every morning.

3)  Wipe out the bathroom sink after everyone has brushed their teeth.

4)  Help put away folded laundry as needed.  Occasionally I ask her to help fold the laundry.  She can do many of the items quite well, because she is a naturally organized child.  Don't expect the greatest folding jobs from kids who are not natural organizers.

5)  Devotions every morning.  I do not want my kids to think of devotions as a chore, but I do want them to develope the habit of devotions every morning.

I change the chores around occasionally, but like her doing these for right now.  My goal is to give each of my children practice at every aspect of maintaining a home.  They do some chores that are just their normal responsibilities (like cleaning their rooms,) but some chores are specifically to help out the family as a whole (like laundry and wiping out the sink.)  I want to teach them personal responsibility as well as team work... we work as a team to keep this family going.

Hope this helps you as you look for ways to train Kyra to help in the house.  She will do great!

Happy homeschooling day!!!

Charity

Posted in Money Savers

Had to do my couponing tonight.  Finished my shopping for the week.  Ready for these totals?  Big savings at Bi-Lo this week with all the Buy 1 Get 1 sales!

Rite Aid: Reg Price Total- $12.58... After Sales, coupons, and Rebates- $1

CVS: Reg Price total- $12.57... After sales, coupons, and ECBs- $1.78

Ingles: Reg Price total- $96.59... after sales, coupons, and Rebates- $56.13

Bi-Lo: Reg Price total- $291.91... after sales and coupons- $89.16

 

So what would have cost me $413.65 regular price, I got for $148.07... Not bad for an evening's worth of work.

Posted in Creative Homeschooling

Wow... lots to post about!

We have been busily homeschooling since July 20th and I haven't posted much over the summer... so here is a few hodgepodge items I wanted to share.

The kids LOVE doing their geography together.  They have learned about maps and globes and continents and oceans and VOLCANOES!  Whenever you study about volcanoes and the Pacific Ring of Fire... you have to make your own homemade volcanoes.  (I think it is a written law in homeschooling ethics! LOL!)  So we made ours out of yogurt cups, play dough, baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring.

This isn't a homeschool topic, but it was such a wonderful project... I just had to share!  Our church made a beautiful quilt for my pastor and his family.  Each square represented a different person.  We gave it to them at homecoming last week.  Here are our squares.

 

I am the church pianist.

My oldest child loves football.

Little man!!

Hubby and Pastor are good friends.

Daughter did her own.  Good job!

I invited a friend from church to our house this morning.  She is new to homeschooling, and has all the usual overwhelmed (but excited) feelings.  I hope I was an encouragement to her.  They stayed for lunch.  It was a great time of fellowship.  I was able to bless her with some of the things God has blessed me with.  Wow... He really has blessed us!  If you know any new homeschoolers, consider reaching out and encouraging them.  That first year is the toughest... and where would I be if my friends had not helped me that first year?

The shower curtain map is now on a bar above the door... so I can slide it out when we need it or hide it when we don't!  It is working wonderfully!

I got this curtain from HERE.  I like that dry erase works well on it.  Anything that does not come off easily will come off with Goo Gone.  We like to trace exploration routes, play "Where in the World" races on it, and use it for daily geography activities.

Happy Homeschooling!  I would love to hear from you all.  How is school going?  When are you going to start?  Anything new?  Please share.

Posted in Money Savers

I have loved getting back into couponing.  I had given it up for a while because I didn't have a lot of great resources for coupons.  Times have changed!

Now when I say "couponing" I don't mean a coupon here or there.  I mean BIG TIME savings.  Here are my totals for this week.  These totals are before tax, and are what I bought this past week:

 

Rite-Aid:

Regular price: $50.74

Total after coupons, rebates, and sales: $18.00 PROFIT!  That's right.  I made money.

 

CVS:

Regular price: $99.04

Total after coupons and sales: $17.70

 

Bi-Lo:

Regular Price: $41.16

Total after coupons, rebates, and sales: $16.64

 

Ingles:

Regular Price: $69.74

Total after coupons, rebates, and sales: $40.14

 

Total before savings: $260.68

Total after savings: $56.48

I plan on sharing with you tips and trick to my coupon madness in the near future.  As homeschoolers usually living on one income, we could all use the help.  If you are a couponer, please feel free to share your tips.  My favorite couponing site? Southern Savers!

Posted in Creative Homeschooling

Well, we just finished our first week of school for this year.  It went pretty well.

The kids started each day with educational placemats.  The ones they are looking at are the ones I made about the states.  My son was upset when he found out I would only let them use one placemat per day!

My oldest son and my daughter work on Bible together.  This was a HIT!  They LOVE working as a team and they love the curriculum from Positive Action for Christ.

 

They had to prepare their Geography notebooks.  They designed their own covers to make them unique.

 

They had individual book work time.

 

They had individual music time.

 

They read fun books.

 

They played math games.

 

We did projects together. (Sorry my hair wasn't fixed and I didn't put on make-up... hope I don't scare you! LOL!)

 

They even made maps of our road, complete with map keys and everything.  They worked on that outside. (It was a beautiful day!)

 

And what did my almost three year old son do during all this?

He colored...

 

Played with blocks...

 

Played with toys...

 

Played with stickers and stamps...

 

Played with water in his cup holder...

 

Fingerpainted... (and then had a bath...)

 

And played with my daughter's shoes...

 

He is so excited to be doing "school," too!

My oldest child took his first spelling test this week and did well!  I was able to see a big improvement in his handwriting.  He skipped 5th grade and went on in to 6th grade work this year.  I was nervous about doing this at first, but after what I saw this week... I made the right decision.  Way to go, buddy!

 

Would love to see what your first week looks like.  Please share.

Posted in Creative Homeschooling

We are just about ready to start school this year.  We will be starting July 20th.  This coming up week I am going to get the kids ready mentally and physically.  They will have to be up and get their chores done by 9 AM, our normal school start time.  Each day that they do that successfully, they will be rewarded with a bowling trip.  (Nothing like a good motivational tool!  )

 

I am almost finished with the school room.  Take a look:

 

 

My daughter's room is the school room.  Her room is big enough for it!  We bought a lightweight folding table fromt eh camping section at Walmart.   It is easy to move to the center of the room for school time, and it is easy to clean!  We can push it against the wall if we need the floor space.

 

 

 

See the shopping baskets on top of the shelves?  They now hold the school books for each child.  All they have to do is grab their basket and get started.  The handles make it easy to carry!  Yes, the dresser is all school supplies.  My daughter;s clothes are in drawers under her bed.

 

This room use to be dark brown panelling.  We brightened it up a lot!  The hot pink was my daughter's idea.  I made her paint at least one wall blue to tone it down.

 

 

She is a very organized child, so this arrangement should work just fine.  I still have to put up one bulletin board and one dry erase board.  Also, I am going to put my shower curtain map on a wire so I can hide it behind the door until we need it.  When we need it, it will easily slide out on the wire.

 

I would love to see some of your school spaces and organization methods.  Please share.  Happy homeschooling!!!!

Anyone doing school over the summer?  What are your thoughts or plans?  Please leave a comment and share.

 

I haven't heard from you in a while.  How is everything going with getting your houses in order?  How are you doing with your private time with the Lord?  Are you enjoying the books I recommended?

 

I have been working on Vacation Bible School for my church.  It finished up last week.  We are going to take the kids camping this weekend.  They need some mommy/daddy time.  Then I will take the kids to see Papaw.  Hope you are all having a great summer!

Posted in Encouragement

I hope you are beginning to work through your home, getting it in order... but most importantly I hope that your inward world is getting ordered.

Maturity

Milk Book, Wisdom for Parents, Calendar work: gave calendar/schedule to the Lord, began scheduling priorities first

5 Star Christian: Saved (Self Inspection), Separated (Self Inspection, Watch for Humanism), Consecrated (God's Word has the answers, submission), Hungry, Burdened

Marriage

Created a honeymoon suite, a quiet retreat for healthy marriage communication

Motherhood

Teach Them Diligently by Lou Priolo, Began assigning chores from cleaning cards and began training children how to complete the chores properly

Making a Home

Made cleaning cards, began working your way through your home cleaning and decluttering

Mentoring

More to come soon...

 

I am reading a book called Changed into His Image by Jim Berg.  If you get a chance pick up this book and read it slowly.

This post moves us into the area of sanctification (Maturity.)  Sanctification is the process by which God changes His children to be more like Christ in action, attitude, and ambition.  It is what we refer to as spiritual growth.  Let's learn an important fact about ourselves.

"Our greatest problems are never around us; they are in us."  Bob M. Wood

We live in a society that has been trained to blame our problems on everything but ourselves.  But as Jim Berg puts it, we are tea bags.  You place us in hot water, and what is inside us comes out.  So when you are in tough situations, what is in you will alway come out.  "We cannot blame the hot water for the taste in the cup.  The contents of the bag determine the flavor of the tea."  Well said, Mr. Berg.  "The pressures merely expose how unlike Christ we really are."

Did Mr. Berg get this from a scriptural truth?  Oh, yes!

Mar 7:21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

A person cannot change until they identify the problem... and our problem is within.