Jun. 5, 2008 - NEW BLOG SITE
This is probably not "kosher" but I am listing my new blog here to redirect you.
Come check us out!
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Mar. 16, 2008 - Do I Need a Title for This?
What a terrible homeschool blogger I have been! Thankfully, I'm not as bad at actually homeschooling my children...
We have been having so much fun with the Interlock and I am so thrilled with the retention in all three of my students. I found a list I had made prior to beginning our pre school year- a list of goals of course. There were only seven or eight goals on the list and we have reached or surpassed nearly all of them. These weren't just academic goals... one was to hold his pencil correctly, another to use scissors safely. Make his bed... that would be nice, but I haven't even attempted to teach him. I don't make my bed so why should he? The greatest "goal" of all is that I see my son growing in the Lord. Little by little, I see his eyes opening and his heart becoming softer. He is nearly five and on Friday, at lunch, he offered to pray for the first time in his little life. His two year old sister prays, but he has always been opposed to it. I teared up, of course. What mom doesn't at such a thing?
So often I wonder if I'm really getting anywhere with these little ones. The fruit grows slowly, but every now and then the Lord gives me a little glimpse at what He is developing in my children... and me. I went to my first homeschool convention a week ago. Rick and Marilyn Boyer were the keynote speakers. I had read their book "Homeschooling With Confidence" long before I was pregnant with my first son. I always knew I was called to homeschool. They were a tremendous encouragement, reminding me that it is not "what you use (curriculum) but how you use it" and that my real goal is to be a godly mom and win my kids hearts. Their education is important, but how much more our relationship! Check out the Boyers website at thelearningparent.com. They have some neat stuff and I love reading about their 14 children- wow!
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Feb. 11, 2008 -
So blessed to have a husband like him!
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Feb. 11, 2008 - Dedicated to the One I Love...
My husband of (nearly) eight years, of course! I think we would both admit that the past few years have been tougher than the first few (isn't it usually the reverse?) but the Lord has been so faithful! Our "problems" aren't marriage problem- life just gets busy and crazy with work, church, homeschool... those are the things that consume our lives right now. I feel so blessed that he allows me to stay home with our children and supports me in schooling them although he cannot be here as often as he wants to be. What he does lets me do what I do and vice versa. I hope I am the wife that he can safely trust in... as I teach our children at home, take care of the house and finances, and develop my own relationship with the Lord.
Happy Valentine's Day Josh!
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Feb. 5, 2008 - Where Have I Been?
I didn't even check to see when I last posted, but I know it has been a while! Winter has been busy in Maine, though it seems to be dragging by so slowly. The calendar may say that it lasts only three months, but true New Englanders know that it's actually half the year. This winter has been a particularly cold and snowy one too. One delight of the season has been my four-year-old son's love of the snow. Previously, he hated it and screamed if it touched his bare skin. Well, he still does that. But I have finally figured out how to dress him for the outdoors in such a way as to avoid screaming. He made snow angels the other day and is sledding down the backyard. It's snowing again today so we'll have to create a new path tomorrow.
As for homeschool, we finished up Unit 5 of the Interlock which was so fun. The kids just loved learning about space! Yesterday we began learning about fish. I have to admit, I was not too excited, but the kids were thrilled. They love to go fishing with my husband on his boat. I enjoy it too, though I do not go fishing. I just try to keep the kids from falling overboard and from getting themselves stuck with hooks. We are blessed to live in "the town of 14 lakes"- we don't have far to go to find water. I was reminded that my children have not yet been to the ocean and we only live about two hours from it. Definate field trip for the future... the snow should be gone by August.
I am already excited about starting Volume 1 in the fall and we are only about half way through this school year! It's definately going to be a leap ahead for us, but I know we are up for it. The more I use this curriculum, the more I love it and find my groove. The retention in my son and my other little student has been amazing. There are times I feel like the "outcast" of homeschooling because everyone else in my church uses the same, different curriculum from Weaver. But I know I have been called to use this curriculum and, as a wiser, more seasoned Weaver once told me, black sheep have more fun!
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Dec. 11, 2007 - Feeling Guilty, Anyone?
Does anyone else out there feel guilty when you don't follow the day's lesson plan exactly as written? I am a first year homeschooling mom so I'm sure I'll get over it, but when I don't do exactly as prescribed, sometimes I wonder "Are my kids getting everything they need?". Yesterday we began Week 13, discussing how the sun causes seasons and we focused on summer. We did not do the Language Arts, the murals, the observation project, nothin'. We talked a lot about summer and the things we enjoy about it and as we did, I remembered that I had purchased some Moon Sand the day after Thanksgiving. What a perfect activity to enjoy since summer is long gone here and it was a sandcastle kit. The kids loved it and played for over an hour (this is a major deal for my son!). But as I looked over the outline for the day, it felt like we hadn't accomplished much. I espcially get concerned that we will miss the developmental things. My son isn't ready to write, his drawings are round scribbles and it is a fight to get him to participate in games many times. So it is certainly easier for me to pass up these kind of activities when the Interlock prescribes them.
The Lord continues to show me that this is my homeschool and I get to conduct it anyway I want and,so long as I am seeking Him, things are going to turn out just fine whether we do exactly what "they" say we "should" or not. This is my lifeline- if I'm not seeking Him daily, our school is a mess. I give in to the guilt. I worry. I'm not having fun. And I've noticed that when I'm having fun, the kids are too.
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Dec. 4, 2007 - A Snow Day is Still a School Day Here!
I had a little taste of what it must be like to "Weave" with many children that are all at different levels. Yesterday it snowed like crazy here in Maine (and it is still snowing) so public school was cancelled. I have a five-year-old girl who joins us for school three days a week and her two sisters came too because of the snow. I decided to plow through with school anyway and let them help me out. I had five children, 10, 8, 5, 4, and 2 years of age. We were beginning Unit 5 about day four of creation and focusing on the sun. We gathered around the table and discussed why the sun is important, it's uses, and then looked at Usborn's First Guide to the Universe, particularly the recommended pages about astronauts. We all got a kick out of learning that spacesuits have a built in "nappie". When I told the kids it was a diaper, they couldn't stop laughing.
I found that my usual students were more attentive, perhaps because the older girls had a lot to offer the discussion and it wasn't just me trying to lead and direct it. The oldest said "I wish our school was like this", which, of course, made me feel good. We made a little sun craft by tracing our handprints, painting a paper plate yellow, and gluing our prints to the back of it to look like its rays. Even at 8 and 10 they enjoyed this craft and were able to help me with the younger ones.
This day gave me encouragement as I think about multi-level teaching in the future using the Weaver and also realizing that school, in general, will get "easier" as my children mature. I use the word "easier" very lightly however!
Many blessing to all of you moms who are already in this stage of teaching many! Isn't the Weaver wonderful? I found it really brought all of us together in a special way and made our "snow day" productive.
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Dec. 2, 2007 - Christmas is Upon Us....
I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas. Now that it is officially December, I cannot escape the advent calendar that counts how many days are left until THE BIG DAY. I put so much hard work, sweat, and anxiety into this one day. Each year I vow to simplify, to do less, but to do more in the way of things that really matter and each year at the end of December 25th I feel like it was not quite right... there is something missing. And I am a born-again Christian. Jesus's birth is front and center here in our home on Christmas and every other day of the year.
Or is it?
Oh how easy it is to get bogged down with the shoulds, coulds, want-tos, need-tos, have-tos that this season has to offer. But I am reminded that only one thing is needed, as Jesus told the busy hustling bustling Martha. In the words of my favorite of all Christmas carols "Let every heart prepare Him room". I have so little room left when I'm more concerned about buying the right gifts for people I know but not well enough to know what they want. I have very little room left when I've been baking goodies all day and start getting tired and frustrated by mounting dishes in the sink (dishwasher is broken here!). The room gets occupied by decking the halls and trying to keep the kids and the cat from un-decking all my hard work. And yes, it even gets taken up by the oodles of things I'd love to do with my kids to make this season more special but that end up being too stressful for all of us.
These are great things. I do love this season when we do turn our hearts toward Jesus and how he came as a baby to this sin-stricken world. I love to hear him being sung about in places you never would- shopping malls, radio stations of all kinds, and public school concerts. I love choosing just the right gift to make my children and husband grin from ear-to-ear. I love preparing for our annual, grown-ups only Christmas party.
But my prayer is that this year, my heart would just prepare Him room. Lord, take all the room You need. Show me if I need to give up some of my "Christmas crazies" to do the one thing that I so desperately need... spend time with You!
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Nov. 30, 2007 - End of Unit 4!
How exciting that we are this far into the Interlock! I have to admit I crammed Week 11 into one day because we had covered so many of the topics already. Our beans have been growing for several weeks now and we know quite a lot about seeds and the benefits of plants to our lives. Today we focused on recycling paper and the importance of planting new trees. We took a field trip to our town's transfer station (you know, the dump!) and returned our recyclables. The kids really enjoyed helping out with this and were fascinated by the compactor and giant bales of compacted paper and plastic. To top it all off, we saw a garbage truck pull in and empty all its contents into the hopper. This was quite a big deal to my three young students! I just love how it's the little things that make such a BIG impression.
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Nov. 18, 2007 - Growing, Growing...
We are thoroughly enjoying Unit 4 of the Interlock because it is all about plant life. And because it is all about plants, we are growing things like crazy! Kidney beans in jars and pots, grass seed on sponges, flower bulbs in pots... and most importantly, we are growing little minds! These visual science projects offer reminders of what we have learned in a very natural way. Even I was fascinated when we finally discovered that our grass seeds were sprouting and the outer red shells of the kidney beans were falling off. There truly is something wonderous about creation.
Not all of our projects have come out of the Interlock. I recommend Usborne's Science Experiments 2 book to give additional ideas for easy projects. And there are loads of ideas on the internet with a simple Google search.
My youngest amazes me all the time. She wanted to play with the dinosaur manipulatives on the kitchen floor and I noticed she was sorting them into groups by color, then by dino-type. I asked her to place all of one color in one tile and she promptly did it. Perhaps I just don't know what is "normal" for a two-year-old, but I thought this was pretty neat.
The Holidays are nearly upon us. Sure to be busy, but hey, I'm just glad I got up a new post this soon! And pictures too!
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Nov. 18, 2007 - Growing Grass on Sponges
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Nov. 18, 2007 - Planting an Amaryllis
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Nov. 18, 2007 - Math for 2 Year Olds
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Oct. 18, 2007 - BORING!
Okay, so our blog is totally boring right now... it needs pictures and cool stuff! I am jealous of all of you with beautiful blogs you update regularly. I can't even get the Weaver Blog Ring copied onto my template. Some day I will learn... but I would venture to guess it will be a while!
We are having a great time with the Weaver. I have many homeschooling friends and several times I have heard from others "Wow, I wish we had something fun planned for today" and "Our homeschool was boring today" when I tell them about the projects our family has done. I am not gloating by any means, but I am thankful that the Weaver takes such a hands on approach and truly, they delight the kids. There are things that I think will be so cheezy, but those are the things they love the best!
So pardon our appearance for like the next 12 years or so... it may LOOK boring here on our site, but we are having too much fun here at home!
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Oct. 2, 2007 - Home Again and Back in the Swing of Things
We are back from vacation and "traditional" school has begun again. Isn't it great that traditional for homeschoolers is so... well... not traditional???? I was reminded of this while we were away, visiting aquariums, zoos, submarines. It seemed like such a whirlwind but my children continue to spout off little things here and there that they picked up along the way. My daughter was fascinated by sea lions, my son by sea rays. There were so many learning opportunities as a family. We saw the drawbridge open and close and clippers pass through in the Mystic Harbor as we sat and ate ice cream in the glorious sunshine. My son built a rock wall out of little stones because there was one behind us at the campground. He shot "torpedos" at the submarine museum. We learned about organic farming at the zoo. In the car we listened to Shel Silverstein poems and The Book of Virtues on tape (both of these found for 25 cents at a yard sale the Saturday before we left). It was fun hearing my kids repeat some of the words they caught as we listened together.
I must confess, when we returned home and I went to write up my notes and count 3 days of homeschool, I felt a little guilty. I grew up in public school. I loved school. I loved to do research and study and I was such a bookworm. I learned quite well from textbooks. That was the way it was and still is in public school- the "traditional" approach. So as I counted our vacation days as school days, it felt like I was cheating. Was it really school? We didn't sit at the table and read, do our phonics or flashcards, we didn't even do BIBLE! I was reassured over and over by veteran homeschool moms that this was certainly school and the very beauty of homeschool. So I counted my days... we're on 27 today... I continue to grow as a homeschooling mom. I am positive the growth absolutely never ends and if it does, I'll just get old and moldy!
We had a great time as a family and I really look forward to more of these kind of homeschool days.
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Sep. 20, 2007 - COUNTDOWN TO CONNECTICUT!
Only two more days till Daddy is on vacation and four till we head off to Connecticut, pop-up camper in tow! For quite some time I have wanted to go back to the place of my childhood and show my husband where I grew up. I have such fond, wonderful memories of those days! I am so excited that the kids are ready for this trip too... well, I certainly hope they are! We haven't been camping with them yet... We plan to visit the Mystic Marinelife Aquarium (which I think far excells the Boston aquarium) and the Roger Williams zoo in Providence. There is also a state park we plan to visit that boasts Gillette's Castle. It was built by an actor in the early 20th century but I think it will give us all the feel of what it was like to live in a castle. I also look forward to eating at one of Mystic's famous eateries, Mystic Pizza. If you are a child of (or lover of) the 80s, you are familiar with this place! I just love all the pictures from the movie that cover the walls. I hope they have not redecorated in the past 10 years. It's hard to believe that's how long it has been since I've been there...
I can't wait to see the wonder and excitement on my children's faces as they see beluga whales, polar bears, sea rays, dolphins... they just love anything to do with the ocean. This will be an experience I pray they never forget, even at their young ages.
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Aug. 28, 2007 - Not a Bee!
This is a cute little story about my son, who is four, my main pupil. My mother was up visiting and she called him "Honey" and he said "I'm not a bee. I'm Caleb. Bees make honey." We have been studying insects, especially bees , for the last week. I have read Becky Avery's "Teaching Tips and Techniques" which is a wonderful resource whether you use Weaver or not.... and she wrote about how young children begin to act out what they are learning in school in their play. I see it in their play and their language and it is so cute and encouraging!
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Aug. 27, 2007 - A Note About Our Name
Shooting arrows... I love the imagery of Psalm 127:4 "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of the youth"...
My kids are weapons! If I point and shoot them in the right direction, they are going to hit the target. Just a few short weeks ago, this verse stuck out to me as I read a book on homeschooling and it made me question the direction I have been aiming my children in. What has my target been? Honestly, a lot of the time, the target is nothing more than the TV or some other activity to get them out of my hair. But I have within my power (and it is my responsability) to aim them in a far better direction... the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ! This has become so thrilling to me! I GET to fashion these little arrows into weapons that will fight against this world and for Jesus Christ. And it also encouraged me that, like a hunter who's just picking up the bow, I've got to learn how to shoot them. It's going to take practice and work and time... but we will figure it out with the Lord as our Master Instructor. How cool is that? I'm shooting my arrows in a new direction... and homeschooling is just a part of that.
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Aug. 23, 2007 - Intro to Us
I knew long before I even had my first child that the Lord had called me to homeschool... and now the time has finally arrived to heed the call! My son is four years old and we have "officially" begun counting our days of preschool. After examing many different curricula, my husband and I felt led to use the Weaver's Interlock because we love that it begins with the Bible in Genesis and all of their learning springs from that. When I think about my primary goals for my children in life, education, and everything else, learning that the Lord is part of it all and that it all begins with Him is what I come up with. Recently, while on vacation at the lake, I was so convicted that I have already wasted so much time in both my children's lives... doing what I want to do, not taking my calling as mom seriously, letting them watch too much TV while I surf the internet or talk on the phone... so many things I swore I would never do as a mom! With homeschooling I pray I have the opportunity to redeem the time and sow priceless seeds of love and truth into their little hearts!
