A Blessed Homeschooling Journey - Homeschool Blogger

BFS #101 - Plop, plop, Fizz, fizz; Oh, What a Relief It Is!

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:15:00 -0500

Intro: Plop, plop, Fizz, fizz; Oh, What a Relief It Is! (Marketing Credit: Alka Seltzer)

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!

Homeschooling with 8 children, 2 of which are special needs isn't easy. I have struggled with balancing everything together. Sometimes it's making sure everything is in order. I have a 5 month old son to take care, a 22 month old son with a metabolic disease who needs g tube fed every few hours.

Some friends and family may say that I have bitten off more than I can chew and why don't I make things easy and send the kids to "real school"

When we first started I knew very little about homeschooling, except that I had seen others do it growing up and I wanted to do it as well because of all I went through when I attended public school. I knew that I didn't want my children to go through that.

I struggle with organization. I know most people are born organized. I am not one of those people. I know how I want something organized but lack the attention span to get it carried out. Homeschooling has helped me to be more organized. I have a file folder system that helps me know where things go although at times I still struggle with paper. What to keep and what to throw out.

I have also struggled with time. Sometimes the day just gets away from you. So I started a good schedule which has really worked out well for me. I try to stick to it as much as I can but I am flexible. I let the children work on the subjects that they are stronger at in the afternoon when I don't have as much time to monitor things. Then I have the mornings for the more intense subjects such as Science, Art, and History. Where they can have my full and undivided attention. I struggled in the beginning with finding activities for the younger children to do while I taught. But this has become easier as we have gone along.

I print off simple activities from First School for my 5 year old son so he can work on his ABC's. I find activities for everyone so that my attention can be on the subject at hand but also most of the time I just have them sit in on the lesson. You'd be amazed at what they learn! It's so much fun!!

Our homeschooling life is a journey, but one that will have ups and downs. It is a rewarding journey and one that I am very happy to be on with my children.

This picture is old but it's of my children building a water purifier. I thought we would never get this assignment done. But we did and I was amazed at what they learned from it.

The scripture verse I cling to when I homeschool is

Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

I Will Survive Homeschooling!

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:08:00 -0500

This cute video was sent to me by a friend. It's a video put together by a mom who homeschools her children put to the tune of "I Will Survive"

Fully Relying on God

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:48:00 -0500

I just finished watching the Steven Curtis Chapman family interview on Larry King and also Good Morning America. The interview brought tears to my eyes as I listened to the family talk about their tremendous faith to get through this horrible tragedy.
I invite you to watch all 6 parts of the interview. They are a wonderful family. Please also continue to keep this family in your prayers.

Zucchini Bake

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:10:00 -0500

Zucchini Bake

2 lbs of ground turkey or ground beef

4 to 5 zucchini thinly sliced almost paper thin

1 large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

1. Brown your ground turkey or ground beef in a large skillet. This takes about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the heat you use. I use medium high.
2. Drain off the grease from your meat.
3. In a 9x13 pan, place 1/3 of your ground beef or turkey. Then top with your sliced zucchini (just to cover) you are going to layer this like lasagna. Then pour a 1/4 cup of spaghetti sauce and spread out over the zucchini. Add another layer of ground turkey and zucchini and spaghetti sauce. Continue to do this until the pan is full. Top off with Mozarella cheese. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.
My husband hates zucchini but he'll eat this. He says you'd never know it's zucchini. It tastes so good. My mom has been making this for me since I was a little girl.