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So were off to a new start. The schedule is running smoother, the girls are getting up earlier and we are accomplishing!!!!!! Great, but now my daughters are bickering and I feel like a referee. Only I didn't get a whistle. So I have to stop teaching, get them under control and pick up where we left off. Sounds like fun.......can't wait for tomorrow. We pray daily and I pray nightly for cooperation at school but Satan seems to be getting the better of us. We were supposed to discuss & write about spiritual warfare today but we ran out of time. As I am writing this I am realizing the importance of this activity. We are being attacked. I have felt annoyed all day, even when the girls weren't being annoying :) and then I went to work and continued to be annoyed. The enemy is coming against us and we need to fight. So I think we will study: 10Finally, my brothren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16above all, taking the sheid of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perserverance and supplication for all the saints. Well tomorrow has to be better it is Madisons 9th birthday.. Yeah!!!!!!!!!  So we will have school in the morning then my parents are taking us out to lunch to celebrate. Madison chose to eat at the Golden Corral. We love their rolls. We will have Madisons birthday party on Saturday. I'm figuring out how to change some of my blog design but I still have much to learn. HTML is very complex. If any visitors have any advice please leave a comment. Thank You. Seeking Him Missy |
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I was ready to go full speed ahead and we lost all our steam. The weather has been so rainy, a real motivation killer in my house. Madds was absent Monday, we didn't school Tues. (voting day), I don't know what happened Weds., Thursday I do a Bible study with the ladies from church (trying to work that in) and and then we had our new co-op. Friday was kinda scary realizing all we didn't get done. Well, like I said " theres always next week". So I have spent most of the weekend revamping our schedule. Seeing where some changes need to be made, what we are lacking and trying to fix it. I am using a new curriculum this year and some parts of it aren't working for us (Is week 3 too soon to tell?). But that is what is so great about this curriculum. You can taylor it to your families needs. I am finding though I have more resources and stuff then I can ever fit in to our schedule. A common problem of moms who love to buy books and curriculum! O.K. enough said about that. I am moving on. So tomorrow is my birthday! My husband took us out to dinner Friday night. We ate at a new Chinese restaurant, Madds and I liked it, but Vanna and Dad will never be going back. Oh, I did want to mention the co-op. It went really well. Vanna, who assured me the kids would be too weird for her and she was only going once because I signed her up without even asking her (not true!) ended up liking it . She has decided to go back next week. What do you know? Madison of course was very excited to go and loved it! I even survived my Wiggles and Giggles class with all the preschoolers. So I will be praying for God to give us the motivation needed to have a productive week 4. Seeking Him, Missy |
Nothing terrible happened, they are just used to our local take -out. My parents are taking us out to dinner tomorrow night (for my birthday). I chose the Olive Tree, it's an Italian restaurant. I love Italian food. My husband dosen't really like it, but I'm sure he'll find something to eat. My girls love the breadsticks!Posted in Homeschooling
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Well today threw me off. Election day, our public schools were closed so we decided not to do school today. It would be to hard to focus with all the kids in the neighborhood outside playing. Plus my girls are always ready for an extra day off from school! Madison had alot of fun on her "Free Day Off" on Monday. My mom took her bowling and Madison bowled 3 strikes I was hoping to get a full week in with both girls, I guess theres always next week. I was planning on listing our daily schedules but now my days are getting mixed up. So maybe I will list them all in another blog. We start our co-op Thursday, I can't wait!!!!!! Seeking Him, Missy P.S. I did vote! |
. I didn't know she was that good! She also had Ritas water ice and went to the park. Posted in Homeschooling
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We are ready to kick into high gear! We have gone slow these past two weeks to get used to our new curriculum. I think they might be getting bored. So starting Monday, with the absence of Madison, we will be working full speed! Madison on the other hand will be bowling with my mother, enjoying her Free Day Off. Mom-mom you Rock!
Our Monday schedule will look something like this:
Sounds like a plan! Seeking Him, Missy
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I have to share this - Madds was doing a character study and this week it was on God. She uses a generic worksheet that helps define a persons character traits, good and bad.One of the topics states: A mistake I made was........... When I read it, I immediately thought, God dosen't make mistakes. But I remained silent to see how Madds would handle this. She replied:
........creating Satan.
Priceless! Seeking Him, Missy |
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I am so excited, tomorrow we have a meeting for our co-op! This is new for us, and I think it will be a great addition to our homeschool. I hope the girls are as excited as I am. We won't start until September 14, 2006 and it will run until November 14, 2006. I've listed their classes in my previous post I wrote for a contest. The ladies from church are also meeting tomorrow for our weekly bible study. We didn't meet during the summer, too many children! I usually lead the study , but still can't decide if we are going. I really enjoy it and I know the girls will look forward to it, but I don't want to miss to much school time especially with our co-op on Thursdays. This week has been a light week so far. Madison earned a treasure and picked her free day off coupon! She read another 50 pages ( that girl can read! )
Yeah Madds!
Meanwhile Vanna had a fabulous time at the mall with mom-mom on Tuesday. She bought a new outfit, purse & wallet and a necklace. She did extra chores on Monday to earn some $$$$$$. Well I am trying to customize my blog a little more and will be random blogging for inspiration! Seeking Him, Missy |
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Madds is such a fun kid! She made a mask for her kitten and actually got it on him. She always amazes me! |
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Dosen't she look like a teenager already!
Madds went for the P.J.'s (because she could)! |
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We are covering balloons with newspaper dipped in liquid starch (paper mache') to create earth. We will be doing several layers and then painting them! |
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God is Good! I feel blessed, our first week went so well. The girls did great! We have our rules, rewards and consequences down pat. ( Everyone earned a reward! ) They are continuing their daily chores, which we started in the summer. This week we thoroughly covered their prayer letters and Vanna already wants to work independantly! ( Which is one of my goals). They spend any idle time reading their library books (I didn't even suggest it). I feel such a relief, I have given up my rigid schedule and we are just rolling with it. Don't get me wrong we have a daily schedule, but we learn as we go. No longer having a deadline to complete each task. So now they can earn a "Free Day Off"( see previous post ), that Vanna will be taking on Tuesday. She is gonna spend the night at my parents and I think my mom is gonna take her to the mall! Madds will enjoy being the only student I'm sure. We will learn important tasks this week - illustrating an outline, a character study, a topic study, drawing a map and writing a commentary! I am still figuring out our curriculum SOW , you can only plan so much then you have to walk through it to fully understand. Seeking Him, Missy |
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Well Vannna finally got the long awaited free day off from school! Congratulations Vanna!!!!!!
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Since we started homeschooling her last year she has wanted to earn free days off. Being a new homeschool mom, following a very tight schedule, I had a no idea how to incorporate this into our schedule. Needless to say it never happened ( much to her disappointment ). But now that I have 1 year under my belt and a new outlook on homeschooling, we finally got the free day off from school pass. She earned it by reading 50 pages of a book of her choice. |
What a day, we finally started! I think it went well, and the girls had fun. We are starting out slow ( a recommendation from the writers of the curriculum ) so we didn't do every subject. I think their favorite part was making the earth out of paper mache' , which will take 7 days to finish. Get it, we are studying Creation! We wrote prayer letters, sang, practiced music instruments, played a quick game of volleyball with a beachball ( too hot!), read the first chapter of Genesis, illustrated the 7 days of creation and did a daily math practice. Also Madison got to pick the first treasure because she read 50 pages of a book! We have a treasure chest I made for my VBS class this summer and we filled it with small prizes and coupons. We have a reward system ( they helped pick the prizes) as an incentive for good behavior and good habits. They are so excited to pick treasures. I know it sounds like bribing, but they look so forward to it and it is fun! Well I have to go, I have to work tonight and need to fix dinner! Seeking Him, Missy |
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Well it's finally here, the first day of school! I am anxiously waiting for my sweet girls to wake up and start their day. I am enjoying a cup of coffee in the peacefulness of my classroom. I have prayed for wisdom, guidance, willing students, peace, understanding, patience and the will of God for us today and everyday. I also pray for God to bless our school. Seeking Him, Missy |
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Well I have been preparing so much these past weeks and I can't stand the wait. I am ready to start school! My girls will get back Saturday from their trip Yeah!!!! Tomorrow I am having breakfast with some moms from church who are celebrating back to school ( public school that is! ) and tomorrow night my husband and I will be going out to dinner to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary. I can't wait. We have beeen soooo busy and we forget to take the time to focus on each other ( shame on us ). So I am looking forward to tomorrow. My oldest daughter has always been the princess type, which I hate to label her because well - once a princess always a princess. But anyway its too late to worry about that now. I was at our Family Christian Store on Weds. and found the perfect sticker for her, it reads: I know that I'm a Princess, MY Father is the King of Kings
I like that idea of a princess much better! I found a bible magazine at the same store,which is really the old testament written for children with lots of fun stuff in it. I am so excited because with our new curriculum the bible is our main text and we will be reading it chapter and verse. Now as an adult I think thats great but from my girls point of veiw it may not be that great. But I think this is just what we need to get a good start on this school year. I also bought a download from the homeschool e-store for timelines, ( Wonders of Old blank timeline book ) we will be doing them in a 3 ring binder. I like this idea because if the girls make a mistake we can reprint a page and start over! Oh and I also came up with a plan for classroom rules, consequences and rewards. I am trying to keep it simple so it will be easy to enforce. I am such a planner, I hope all goes well. I want to do such a good job educating my daughters. Last year was a little tough. I felt pressured to complete each week, all subjects and have lots of written work to show for it. We weren't focused on God, just completing work. This year I have a much better perspective and a different goal in mind! I want to disciple my daughters, teach them how to study the bible & how to live for God. Well enough for now! Seeking Him, Missy |
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It has been so busy around here, I'm getting worn out. Our church had a roast beef dinner Sat. night as a thank you to all of our Angel Investors for our Mississippi mission trip we went on in June. I must say the food was delicious! I wasn't cooking, the men of our church do the cooking :-). Being a waitress and having catering experience I was in charge of our youth, serving and bussing the dinner! It was alot of fun working with the kids, they are really great! Then this morning we went to church it was * Rally Day* (the kids get promoted to their new Sunday School Class).
After church I had to go to a memorial for a co-worker who passed away recently. It was o.k., they aren't a churched family (unfortunately) and they already had the funeral out of state. So this was a very, very informal gathering. No preacher, no speeches, just a little family and their friends. I personally felt the need to stand up & make a speech of some sort, say a pray or tell about a memory of my co-worker, but I decided against it. I really didn't want to freak anyone out, so I just blended in.
But on a better note Vanna got to join Youth Group tonight. You have to be in 6th grade. We had a pizza/roast beef welcome dinner ( was originaly just a pizza party, but you guessed it - lots of leftovers from Sat. night)! We then played a wiffle ball game parents/siblings against the youth. Well we smoked them 11 - 0! Of course I contributed very little (actually nothing) to our score, but I did try my best. Oh and Madds went to a neighborhood birthday party while we were at youth group. DH got the t.v. all to himself and took a long nap! Seeking Him, Missy |
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I must say, I have been random blogging and I think I'm way to serious and probably boring. I am enjoying everyones blogs and hoping some of their fun will rub off on me. But anyways I can only be who I am. And I can thank the good Lord for that understanding. Oh by the way I have changed our starting date for school from Sept. 5th to Aug. 28. My girls weren't too upset, I explained how they would be done earlier. Seeking Him, Missy |
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This year I am homeschooling both daughters ( 9 & 11). I am using a multigrade curriculum called Student of The Word, we call it SOW. It is a bible based curriculum. We have a traditional classroom set up in our house (I have pictures in earlier blogs.) Each daughter has their own and desk and I use my computer station as my desk. Sometimes we school at the dining room table or some days we go to the library (for a change). I do tons of planning, but mostly because I enjoy it! The curriculum we use includes everything except Math. For Madison (my 4th grader) we are using Calvert math and for Vanna (my 6th grader) we are using Math in My World. We also are using Considering Gods Creation as a supplement for science. There are other resources recommended with SOW and we will be using them. This year we joined a co-op that meets every Thursday from 1:00 to 4:00. Vanna will be taking Public Speaking, Soccer and Christian Heroes: Then and Now. Madds wil be taking Meet Kirsten, Soccer and Fall Art. We were gonna start Sept. 5, 2006, but I am getting so anxious I talked the girls into starting August 28, 2006. Seeking Him, Missy
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I have to share this with you! My oldest daughter (Vanna age 11) only spends the night at my parents house. Which is her choice , she just isn't comfortable to stay elsewhere. But we have some homeschool nieghbors that she has become good friends with and their youngest daughter was having a birthday. The mom really wanted Vanna to spend the night as a surprise for her daughter and Vanna, being the good sport that she is, reluctantly agreed. So that night the girls were sitting around the table and Vanna asked the older sister if she was going to Heaven when she died! The girl answered "Yes", and Vanna asked her "How do you know?" ( What a bold christian!) The girl replied that she was a good person and therefore she would go to Heaven. Now both my girls have accepted Christ as their Savior, have studied salvation and know you don't get to Heaven by being good! So Vanna tried to explain to her,(in simple terms) you have to believe in Christ to go to Heaven. But the girl insisted that wasn't true and explained that her mother said "believing in Christ" was just a Methodist belief ( we are Methodists). So realizing she wasn't gonna convince this girl any different, Vanna let it go. As she was telling me the story she was kinda upset because the girl wouldn't believe her and Vanna knew she was right. So I explained to Vanna the value in what she shared with this girl and that it wasn't Vanna's job to convince her or save her, but to plant the seed! Which she did! I was so proud of her and hope I can show the same boldness my daughter did.
Seeking Him, Missy |
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I often get asked this question and never know how to reply. I guess I am too much of a thinker and can't seem to sum it up in a simple answer. I would really like to ask "Why wouldn't I homeschool?". But I guess people that don't homeschool can't understand how rewarding it is. I haven't always homeschooled, but I hope I can finish my girls education homeschooling. I can't even say the public school system did a bad job with my girls. I do know the thought of middle school terrified me and I believe in God's timing. Looking back I see how it all fits together, but I didn't grow up knowing I wanted to homeschool. Still to this day I am pleasantly surprised my husband agreed to it and thinks it's right. He is very supportive of it, as I couldn't do it any other way. So let me list some reasons:
I have sent my kids off to school and had the day to myself, but I wouldn't have it any other way now. I really like teaching them and spending the time with them. I learn with them everyday! So I still don't have a simple answer to give but I know it's the right thing for us!
Seeking Him, Missy
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