Feb. 2, 2010 Workboxes set up
We're of course modifying the system which is a big 'no-no' according to the author but there are a few reasons I think I would prefer the drawer units v.s. the shoe boxes. Mainly that the boxes won't be piled up at the end of the day. Things stay in one spot. With several children in the house I think that is best. The author herself had 2 children. She has said that she has perfected the system with her clients over the years, which I'm sure she has but each home is different with different space needs and layout.
 One friend commented that she had a hard time keeping children out of the boxes. That was the first issue we dealt with this morning. Training the baby to stay out of the boxes. Time will tell how successful I am with keeping her out. I mean there are a lot of goodies in there! I may have to make her a set of boxes too. I plan on taking about 5 minutes an evening to organize boxes for each child. I will have items printed off way ahead and placed into plastic file bins.
I want to add some resources for workboxing at some point later. But for now I will show what I've done with ours. I have printed off some pre-K games for the children to play from 'Mailbox' magazine. This one was on colors. The children had to hide the mouse in a house and guess which color house it was in.
  There he is! |
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So here we are entering a new chapter into our homeschooling. I have decided to go forward with workboxing. I saw an example of using clear shoe boxes or in this case a three-drawer unit to place each child's work to give them a visual. Each child is supposed to have 12 boxes with numbers that you place on them with little velcro dots.. They can take the dots off of the boxes and place them onto a schedule strip or do the opposite, working from the strip depending on how you want it to work They can see how much work is expected of them and learn to work more independently. She mentions that a bad habit homeschoolers have is talking too much. Ha! That is true. I have one child that will do this, just talk out loud during a lesson about things that aren't even relevant to the lesson. We have worked on this and have tried several different things to get it to stop. But it's a habit as well as a difficulty for this child to not stay on topic. SO she suggest giving them 'help' cards and having out a card with a 'please no talking' which is good. Of course we will be talking a lot but not during a spelling test or lesson where we're focusing on something that needs their full attention.
She also suggests using small cards to check in and out for school. The children will be able to self-regulate instead of waiting upon me to hold their hand through each lesson. I will still be teaching them but if I have to leave the room, change a diaper, feed the new baby or change out a load of laundry, they can then go to a workbox and do it while I'm busy.
I bought the e-book by Sue Patrick called,
Specialized and Structured Teachingsm
Sue Patrick's Workbox SystemSM
You can buy her book or ebook at her website. I am really excited to finally be able to look at the book and try to implement it at least for our preschooler and Kindergartner at first. Then if it's working well I will use it for our older children. I have seen some great ideas for pre-K and K mainly games and educational helps that they can do on their own or with a little help. You add all of their work for each subject including a pencil, crayons, paperclip, whatever they need to work independently. If they need your help you add a 'work with mom card' I may actually add a work with a sibling card in one of the boxes.
Another problem we were having was that I have to remind everyone of our schedule. We have three children who have a very hard time remembering what to do despite the repeated routine and my showing them on a daily basis for years. I've heard that this program works well for special needs, which we surely have. For what ever reason more than one instruction at a time is hard for a few of my children so this system appeals to me to help our day go smoother. My children don't remember words but will probably remember pictures and will be able to follow-through with a visual numbered schedule that I won't have to say each time, day in and day out. That means I will be using it for chores too.
Sue Patrick was saying that a lot of homeschoolers get twice the amount of work done in half the time. I'm big on efficiency so this motivates me to try the system. Everywhere that I have read where moms implement the system they say it's worked really well for them and they almost feel bad because it makes their day so much easier.
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Jan. 11, 2010 pregnancy update
Well I've not blogged much about this pregnancy. I can say that things have been (thankfully) pretty uneventful. I felt green the first trimester but I've been feeling my usual normal this second trimester. I am starting to show more now and have gained a total of 10 lbs (according to the scale in the midwife's office) today at 22 1/2 wks.
I heard the baby's heartbeat today. For those of you who don't know, we're having a boy. He's pretty active at night now, sometimes keeping me up but that's ok with me. I'm glad he's active, which hopefully means healthy!
Today I'm tired. I'm not usually this tired. Monday is usually a productive day for me in the cooking department. I usually clean the house and cook a bit more. I will admit to not having done much cooking today other than the normal breakfast and lunch routine.
I'm going to try and post a picture soon. |
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We're taking a half day off of school today as we would have went to our homeschool co-op if there weren't so much snow out, it got canceled which was fine with me. 
We are planning on making soft pretzels from a mix and enjoying some time outside in the very fluffy snow!
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Jan. 4, 2010 Overcoming sickness and judgment
What does the new year have in store for us? I don't know. Only the Lord knows. I will say that I hope that we will not have any more sickness in our home other than the common cold or a flu that is common a few times a year for most families with many little ones. The illness we had took quite some time to get over. In the past we are used to getting sick for 2-3 days and being over the illness, that's pretty common for most people and is no reflection on what we're doing right or wrong in those cases as getting sick is just a part of being human. But this one lasted considerably longer and now we're all immune to it.
I will say that I am surprised as to how many people responded to our illness thinking we did something wrong and that we needed to treat it in a certain way. I did try many of the natural methods and even some not so natural to help. The Lord had a lesson in store for me, and I can say I learned to be more careful with my words around others who are suffering and going through something difficult for them. Judgment hurts. I hope to be more supportive of those who are going through a difficult illness without passing judgment. Probably many people shared what they did because they have never gone through a similar illness that lasted that long? I hadn't either until our 5th child and really we rarely got sick aside from the normal illnesses others get as well.
Could it have been because of a ventilation problem in our air ducts/mold? Not sanitizing our toothbrushes every time? Lack of a particular vitamin? Not adding enough Vicks to the feet at night? I really doubt it. We prayed for wisdom and the Lord was good to get us through our trial and suffering, though small compared to many others suffering around the world. I nonetheless struggled with having the right attitude when it lasted so long. It hurt my pride. Oh that I should boast about my good habits with xyz. The Lord let me be humbled. I had just given a health talk at church the weekend prior to our family getting sick in October. I cannot boast. It is nothing that I have done, but our health is from the Lord alone. I can do all things right but He gets any credit for where we are today. He also allows suffering for our own good. I cannot think that just because I am a Christian I will not suffer. A wonderful sister in Christ shared this 2 weeks ago in church about her getting cancer. She overcame it but shared that people asked her that. She responded that we cannot be despaired when something bad happens. Being a christian doesn't make us immune to bad things happening, but the Lord and our attitude is what helps get us through it. Such a strong testimony in the Lord. It meant a lot to me at the time.
Indeed, a poor diet and lifestyle can make us sick and lead to infection and we can get sick more often and for much longer and weakens our immune system-no doubt. But if we're eating healthy and doing the right things, sometimes being ill is something that the Lord allows and with children it's a good thing in some cases as they're developing a strong immune system that will last them a lifetime. That doesn't make it easy if you're dealing with illness at the time, but after the fact it has helped me to keep things in perspective.
Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." |
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It's so hard to believe that 2010 is finally here! Our oldest will be 10 at the end of the month. School is about half over before we start a new curriculum and take a break for the summer, though not a long one as we'll have a little one come in May and I need a longer break at that point. So for the summer we will get outside lots but we will be doing some school work too. We're almost done with our Rod and Staff English and Social Studies so we're ready to move on to the new books we have which are a bit more advanced but hopefully they will be a good fit.
Our kindergartner is still doing My Father's World and doing a great job. I am hoping to move a little faster than the curriculum to help her with reading. If she picks up, fine. If not, that's fine too.
We enjoyed our week off of school and are back into the swing of things. It's bitterly cold here in Ohio with some snow on the ground, some ice too so we're not spending too much time outdoors. They kids get in a little time here and there when it's not very cold. It makes me appreciate the warmer weather and the sunshine! I fell last week down our driveway on some ice that was hidden under some snow and mainly hurt my shoulder. Thankfully baby and everything else was ok. My forearm and shoulder are still hurting a bit but I'm trying to not do too much. I've gone to the chiropractor twice, which has really helped.
I got a few projects cranked out over our break. I made a lovely ruffle flannel skirt for our oldest including a matching tie for her long hair and finished up a pinafore for our 6 year old to go with her dress. I also made a maternity skirt for myself that I've been able to wear a few times. I need to make a few more.
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Dec. 3, 2009 Taking a break Nov. 26, 2009 Giving thanks
Today was Thanksgiving. My husband had the day off and the kids loved having their dad here to play with and talk to. We have a lot to be thankful for. We have the Lord, each other and most of our needs met. Its always good to give thanks and consider the many blessings in this life. I am sure many would agree.
I wanted to ask for continued prayer if you think of us. We certainly need it. We have been through a lot in the last month illness wise and felt we were over it 2+ weeks ago but I was mistaken. Times like this I think of Job, he suffered and kept going. He cried out to the Lord and was blessed in the end. It's a hard section of Bible for me to read. I am learning a new appreciation for Job and I've gone through so much less than he did. Yet God still loves me even when I am going through the fire. That is something I need to remember. God's allowance for my sufferings does not reflect his love (or lack of) for me. He is allowing these trials for a reason. Do I trust him to get me through it?
This particular trial that we are going through has been and may continue to be long and drawn out and in many ways secludes us from others and wears me down. But again, Job understood this better than any other man in the Bible. He stood the test. I hope to grow through this trial and be thankful. I already am thankful for the small improvement I've seen in our 1 1/2 year old. None of us know what is to come, what the future holds. But I need to purpose to be thankful in the midst of my trials. I admit I failed miserably today and didn't act thankful on this day that we are supposed to be reflecting on the blessings that God has poured upon us. I feel chastened and need to seek the Lord in how to change my attitude at times when I am not handling stress how the Lord would want me to.
On that note I'll finish with saying that I'm thankful for a forgiving and loving family.
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Nov. 19, 2009 Airplanes and trains
Yesterday we went on a mini-field trip near the airport to look at airplanes. Often there are large airplanes landing overhead but there weren't this day. We still were able to see the ones parked outside from a distance. Our 8 year old who seems to have a mind for Science asked all of the questions about how and why airplanes can make it off the ground. I was able to ask a dear friend with a background in this area and she was able to help explain it. Also their dad wrote up an illustration this morning about lift, drag and air molecules...which was interesting but where he lost me. I was making french toast and busy in the kitchen and listened on. We have read a lot about the Wright brothers and their discoveries as well as visited some of the museums that help explain this but I guess something just clicked for our 8 year old and he's starting to see things a little more clearly and is increasing in his understanding as all children will do. Good thing his dad has a background in physics because I would have to lean heavily on educational videos and books otherwise!  Our one and a half year old decided to play train this morning while the rest of us were sweeping the floor. I thought it was a cute picture and wanted to share. My poor little sweetie has been sick for several weeks now and it's nice to see her playing joyfully despite the coughing fits she still suffers from. I'm giving her bovine colostrum to help her heal and strengthen her immune system. We're also running the vaporizers a lot.  Choo-choo |
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I completed my jumper which came out very well I think. I have decided to sell it and start new because of my shape and size which is somewhat hard to fit.
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Nov. 5, 2009 Sewing projects
Sewing:
Three free hours with our toddler down for a nap and a burst of sunshine coming in the window really motivated me to get sewing. I really don't enjoy sewing but I like the projects I get when I'm done. Don't get me wrong I love to work. I'm strange to some people in that I do like to clean and keep up with laundry though these thing certainly get away from me at times! I'm sure there are other moms out there like that and I am no where near perfect nor wish to appear that I think so! But I think we all have our things we like and don't like. Sewing is something I don't really like as I mentioned but mainly because I don't feel successful at it. It takes a lot of trial and error and there are a lot of trade secrets that just don't come naturally.
 When I got married and started having children I was convicted about clothing and what the Lord wanted me to wear I realized then I would need to learn to sew. It was and still is very hard to find good clothing especially in our modern culture and especially for girls past size 6! I know some moms find great things at the thrift store and I have found some, it's a lot cheaper this way if you can! I still mainly do buy store bought clothing, as you can see but I like to make some things. Plus my oldest now has an affinity for very old fashioned clothing and to admit so do I. It will be some time before I can make some of the outfits we both would like. But it's fun dreaming. I can make skirts, aprons, pajamas, girl's dresses (with some time) and have tried my hand at a few other things like this handbag and have some experience but am no expert by any far stretch of the word.
 My daughter helped cut this bag out and I put it together yesterday. It turned out nicely. It's going to be a bag for a friend's daughter at church next month on her birthday. My daughter asked me 6 months ago to make this and I'm finally getting around to it.
I've also been working on a jumper the last couple of days. I'm hoping to have it completed within the next 2. The bottom is together. The darts are put in on the back. Dresses are hard only because they RARELY fit like you want! I also evidently have a unique shape to the sewing world and if I ever develop an expertise to sewing I would modify the pattern to fit my figure more nicely. I am hoping that despite all of this my new jumper will fit, even if like a tent, lol. Really it's a maternity jumper. We'll see! It's a light weight cotton but will layer nicely I hope. Like the color?
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Nov. 3, 2009 Pregnancy and our schedule
First child had a fever on Monday. He was better Tuesday morning, no symptoms. Second child got sick on Thursday and the first child followed suit and were both sick from Thursday until Saturday. The a couple of days later our Third and Fourth child got sick. They were better within two days. Now this morning our 17 month old wakes up with a fever and vomiting. Not fun. I'm ready to have this over with. In general our kids don't ALL get sick.
I'm the only one who really didn't get it. I wonder...could it be the 5000 I.U.'s of D3 I've been taking? I hope so. What ever the reason, I praise the Lord that I am not sick. I think he miraculously protected me because of my pregnancy. I haven't mentioned it before on my blog so there I said it. My due date is May 14, 2010....Lord willing! I'm 12 weeks and a four days.
So I'm ready to get back on schedule next week likely on Tuesday. I wonder if I should start having a plan for when the kids get sick? I do allow the sick children a DVD video in bed that we have from our collection or if we have one from the library. We also read and sometimes do a little school depending on how they're feeling. But if I have a plan when the children get sick things might go more smoothly when we do start back? I mean almost treat it like a vacation. We've done more than half of our school this week but will admit to wanting to take a day off today to rest! I'm tired and my poor little girl is not well.
I did take time to try finishing up a gift that I'm sewing for my daughter's friend and then hopefully finish up a jumper that I'm making for myself.
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Oct. 19, 2009 How things work
I just ran across a neat resource by "The Discovery Channel" online. They offer how things work videos like how a pencils are made, why fireworks work, how binoculars work, etc. Enjoy!
***I do want to add that a friend said that there is now a video clip on there prior to watching about a scary movie. I am sorry. Please just mute your computer or walk away for a few minutes until the video loads. I didn't see this when I originally posted the link. ***
How Stuff Works Videos |
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Oct. 17, 2009 The little people in my life
I've been working hard at involving the younger ones into my daily schedule but admit I could do more. Our (almost) 17 month old loves to help with unloading the dishwasher, sweeping and carrying things around (rearranging) often as most little ones do. Here she is helping me clean up after I made a birthday cake. Not exactly the spot I want her *IN* my dishwasher, but hey she is helping! Never mind the butter cream frosting on her upper lip and the fact that her leggings were already removed probably because the cake was just too good and went everywhere despite a bib.  A few years ago I heard the wise saying that "play is practice for the future" which motivates me to involve the children when I can. My goal over the next year is to have the children help me with kitchen prep more.
For Kindergarden and preschool we don't spend a lot of time doing seat work, maybe 20 minutes each day. My Kindergardener does a worksheet that we get in "My Father's World" and does some letter recognition, hand's on learning like play-dough letters or other activity, usually suggested by the manual. We also go over a Bible theme that they have suggested and do Bible reading and Bible memory with the older children.
 For Preschool I really like Rod & Staff preschool books and Kumon workbooks when we have them. We seem to go through those very quickly. A big part of our schooling at this age is reading books which sometimes the older two can do for reading credit. |
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Oct. 10, 2009 Rubber stamping
All children enjoy making crafts. It's messy and gets your creative juices flowing. My children especially love to make cards for other people. We haven't always been consistent at having cards available but I really would like to change that. Some of you may know that I used to be a Stampin' Up Demonstrator many years ago so I have ample amount of stamps and supplies in my craft closet. Since the paper is expensive I use the card stock for my cards and my oldest daughter. I give the younger children pieces I have left, computer paper, or have them use construction paper because they don't mind and they like to use up more paper making their own special creation.
You press firmly but don't rock it or you'll get a blurry image.
 Our oldest made these
 A few of my daughter's and a few of mine on the right
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We went to a local farm last weekend that processes sorghum. It was a pleasant day outside with a lot of things to see. We were only there for a little over an hour but that seemed to be plenty of time to look around. There were actors dressed in period clothing showing us the various skills each one had. The first one we stopped at was a woodworker's shop. He wrote each of the children's names on a piece of wood and then sliced a shaving off for them to keep. It wrapped nicely around their wrists. I thought that was very creative.  Then we moved on to where some workers were cooking beans which they did in an enormous cauldron over an open fire pit. They let the children stir the beans that they slowly cooked this way. We didn't try them but they smelled great. It made me want to try cooking beans over a fire.
 They had someone shave ice to make icee's that they added a sugar flavoring with color to. The ice (in the 1800's) originally came from the lake (not very hygienic)! There were young ladies churning butter while another woman was showing how to work a telegraph. They even had our two oldest try their hand at sending one.
 Here they let the children put a stalk of sorghum into their machine that presses the juices. They later boil the juices down to make the finished product which you could buy for $4 a quart which were obviously modern prices.
 There was an area where they displayed their goods that they made throughout the season. Here there was a cider press that our son is very curiously examining. They gave us a sample of cider as well.  |
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Sep. 13, 2009 Reading Milestones
I'm noticing a pattern with my children and milestones. They all of course have them but now that I have several children who are over certain ages I can see similarities with specific ages. Our oldest son is going to be 8 in a few days. He has also been reading for a couple of years but wasn't really very captivated by books with much content. The last few days he's been picking up books with more meat to them and I am very happy about that! We had him in Kumon to help him with comprehension. He was in that for almost 6 months until we pulled him out a little over a month ago. I don't know how much that helped it did seem to give him a leg-up. But recently something clicked and I can't help but think it has more to do with his age and development than it did anything else.
Our oldest did the same thing with reading. It didn't really click until she was 8. Now she is an avid reader and will read books that many older children would find boring. She will easily devour a book in a day. Joyfully I can say that she also enjoys reading God's Word and has told me that her favorite book is Revelations.
So mothers don't be discouraged if you have a late-reader and they are otherwise on-track. Wait until the age of 8 and see how they progress. Chances are they may just surprise you by picking up a book and never putting it down. |
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Sep. 13, 2009 Field trip and co-op
We went to the zoo with our new home school group and have also joined their co-op which was extremely busy and chaotic but fun. I hope it slows down a lot and is more relaxing for me. The children took classes like Elementary Art, Lapbooking, The Recorder, Ohio History, Story time, Manners, cooking, and Science.
The Lorikeets were impressive but did have sharp claws.    I really wanted to hold a bird but my four children were very interested in feeding them and I had a lot of fun watching. Maybe next time I can bring extra money to try my hand at feeding these very hungry birds.When they seen food they flocked. They landed on one of my children's heads when they walked in.
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Aug. 31, 2009 What we've been up to
So far we've gone on two field trips. The first was COSI and last week was the Butterfly house at a local arboretum. There the children were able to look at the life cycle of local butterflies, touch some that have died and talk with butterfly experts. This is the only picture I got prior to my camera battery completely exhausting.
We are planning on another field trip this week to the Columbus zoo. I hope it's a great time. A friend who is going will be printing off a form for the older two to do a scavenger hunt to find various facts. Thanks Sarah. Hopefully they'll learn a bit more this way.
We do a lot of seat work as well as hands-on. 
My girls are both big artists. Here is what our five year old drew today after her Kindergarten lesson in "My Father's World"
 Her subject
 She just loves dogs. We've never owned one but that doesn't stop her!
Now for something funny to me. My kids are currently making as much of a ruckus as they possibly can. Today is trash day and the trash cans are empty. So my kids brought over the empty can and recycle bin to make musical instruments from what they have in the yard including rocks, sticks and a board. They sound pretty good. I hope the neighbors don't mind for a short bit.
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Aug. 18, 2009 First field trip of the school year
We went to a local Science museum in which we're members of. Many of you know about COSI. It's a great place with many learning opportunities for all age groups, adults included. We took my mom this time which was a special treat.
 I try to do one field trip every few weeks, though not this big! It is a huge relief to me to go somewhere and to get out of the house, most of the time. I enjoy the opportunity for a break! I tend to see things that need done in the house and that's a huge distraction to me.
Right now COSI has a really well done display about Egypt. We skipped the part about afterlife, which is just weird to me and my kids are too young to understand it. The rest of the exhibit was fun. They had great pictures displayed as well as hands on things for the kids to do.  Getty-up Mr. Camel
I have a book that has reproducible homeschool worksheets in it called, "A Garden Patch" by Debbie McGregor. On the way home I have the two older children fill out a "Field Trip Questionnaire." One question is: What did God show you about Himself on this trip? Another is what is something new that you learned? We also have notebooks that the children have recently received on a sale at Staples. Last week they had 1-subject spiral bound notebooks for 1 cent. I encourage the children to journal in these notebooks. We did this last year and it was a fun experience. 
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