My oldest dd and I attended a meet and greet for 6-7 year old girls through our homeschool group this past weekend.  It was really alot of fun.  I got to know some of the women I had never met before (there are over 200 families in my homeschool group.)  My dd also got to know some of the girls she'd seen at park days and field trips.  And it was fun to be around other mom's and just talk school (without judgement.) 

There was one precious mother there that is heavy on my heart.  She admitted to us that she had been on a job interview during the week.  She has an only dd who is in 1st grade.  She was really frustrated with getting school organized and didn't seem to think she could get it all together anymore.  She had been pulling curriculum for her dd from all different directions which is very tough to do as a first time homeschool mom. 

We all tried to encouraged her not to give up.  One woman told her that she remembered how hard first grade was with her dd who was now in 3rd grade work.  She also suggested a complete curriculum that did everything for her.  Another mom confessed her struggles with schooling an only child as well.  I mentioned to her that it took me a couple of years before I "felt" like I had it all together (which I don't.)  But I could tell her mind was made up.  She was very excited about the job.  It would be as an assistant to a professional organizer.  She even mentioned that she felt she could learn the business from this woman and then strike out on her own.  Her dh told her to do what was best for her.

Why am I writing about this?  Because I want to encourage ALL mom's who are discouraged in this marathon NOT to give it up.  Whether you have an only child, many children, can't get organized, are just starting out, or have been at it for a while . . . .Don't give up. 

If you are feeling overwhelmed take a step back and figured out why.  Here are a few ideas things I have evaluated in the past when I did feel liking throwing in the towel: 

1.  Are you having alone time with the Lord everyday?  Oh, that is so important.  You can't function in your day with having that time.  Find the best way to do your queit time that will lead you to the foot of the cross.  Don't try to copy cat what others are doing.  And make sure you are in the Word daily.  Devotional books are great but they don't put you deep in the Word.  They put you deep into what others are learning on their own.  Laines Letters has alot to say about studying God's Word and she's been an inspiration to me. 

Make me know Your ways, O LORD;
         Teach me Your paths. 
Lead me in our truth and teach me,
         For You are the God of my salvation;
         For You I wait all the day. 

Psalm 25:4-5
   

2.  Are you training you children to be obediant to you?  This is the hardest thing to learn and has been a real struggle for me.  I know that most of the time when I feel like giving up I will realize that I want to give up because my children are out of control.  They know how to obey but I have let things slide.  I usually have to take a week to get things back under control.  I consiser our weeks off as school as well.  They are learning. . .it's just not what the state would define as education.  And seek the Lord for wisdom in this area.  I have looked to far too many books and authors for advice in how to discipline my children.   Be very discerning in what you read. 

3.  How is your household?  Are you keeping up with basic maintenance on your home?  No, I am not talking about having a Better Homes And Garden home.  Gag!!!!!  You should see my house.  We have awfully pretty art on our walls. . .but it was drawn by my 3 yod and my toddler (who has recently discovered that he can all mark on the walls.)  My carpet is stained and I discovered a cobweb the other day.  BUT. . .I do clean the essentials every week.  Young mother, I know, it's hard.  Is there anyway that dh can help you on the weekend?  We finally split our house in half.  We clean one half one week and the other the next.  It takes us about an hour and their are two of us to train the children in these chores.  Eventually I will take this back as my job during the week.  But my dh felt it was better for me to concentrate on school, basic chores, and our diet.  

I would also ask you how involved are your children in helping you around the house?  Is your house set up where they can help you?  Here are few tips that I have discovered for our house: 

a.  I bought very cheap small laundry baskets for all my children.  When the laundry is folded they carry their basket up stairs to be put away.  Even my 3 yod can carry her basket.

b.  I trained my two oldest in how to fold and put away laundry.  Oh, and my oldest are 7 and 5 yod.  :) 

c.  My cleaning and wash cloths are colored coded by their use and rooms.  White washcloths are used for cleaning.  My kitchen cloths are red.  My face cloths to clean baby off after dinner are black, and any other colored wash cloth goes in my bathroom for bathing.  This has enabled me to train my 3 yod in how to fold the washclothes and help me put them away.  

d.  The best thing I did in my kitchen was move all our everyday dishes to a lower cabinet so my children could put most of the dishes away out of the dishwasher.  My oldest start emptying the dishwasher at age 4.  She's now learning how to load the dishwasher.  (Oh, another very helpful thing with younger children is to invest in plastic dishes.  I found a bunch on sale at Target at the end of summer.)  

e.  I order Managers of Their Chores and it's been the best invest in time and money I have ever had.  You must check out the book. 

f.  I found a safe all-purpose cleaner (here and scroll down) and trained my two oldest in how to use it safely.  They help me clean the table and the high chair off each morning.  We also use it in the bathrooms.  It smells so good and kills germs much more effectively and safer than toxic cleaners from the store.

g.  I color code my children.  I wrote another blog on this a while back if you want to check it out.  Color Coding Younger Children  

4.  Are you requiring your children (and YOU) to spend some alone time everyday?  This is so important for rejuvination.  It doesn't happen everyday in our household but as a general rule it does.  Momma needs it.  My children need time away from each other or they fight more.  It allows them to pursue their own interests as well.  This is becoming a very important point as I begin to train my children in how to do handicrafts without me.  For our younger children, they get a good nap in a house that is quiet.  I attempt to give everyone about 30 minutes to an hour alone.  We do our major read alouds in the afternoon during the first part of my toddlers nap.  

These are just some ideas to help you step back and get a grip on what seems like chaos in the home.  I think I have written this mostly to younger moms.  But I am kind of right there with you.  I have to remind myself of these things periodically.  You are running a marathon but a sprint.  You have until they are at least 18 yod to educate them.  But you don't have much time to win their hearts. 

If you need some refreshing ideas about home educating your children, I would suggest either Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson OR Teaching the Trivium by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn.  These both run very close together as my favorite homeschool books.  Teaching the Trivium will challenge your view of educating younger children.  It's taken me two years to finally see that perhaps they are right.  And when I finally relaxed my school to follow some of their suggestions. . .everyone started having a better time.  Even my reluctant learner is starting to come around. 

Don't give up on this journey, sweet mom.  There is reward in the end.  But it is often an uphill battle to get there.  Turn to your sweet Savior and place your burdens at His feet.  Take on His burden, for He says it in light. 

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

Find what will allow you to know your children first and then educate them.  That is most important.  You will never successfully educate your children if you don't know them and win their hearts first. 

"And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

Malachi 4:6

If you need some refreshing ideas on winning the hearts of your children, I encourage you to check out Keeping our Children's Hearts: Our Vital Priority by Steve and Teri Maxwell.  And if you are really in need of encouragement as a homeschool mom, Teri Maxwell's book Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit is awesome. 

This is one of my favorite passages and I have turned to it alot during the time when I wanted to give up. 

But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel,
"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine! 
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you 
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you. 
"For I am the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your place. 
"Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in your place and other peoples in

exchange for your life.     

"Do not fear, for I am with you;

Isaiah 42: 1-5

God Bless.

She did it!!!!  My oldest dd did something for school and it wasn't even assigned to her.  She is really beginning to LOVE reading.  While reading can be enjoyed for "school" or for leisure, she was reading for school and didn't even know it.  She was reading a chapter book that I checked out to read for our history unit next week.  And it wasn't so much that she was reading.  The greatest part of all this. . .she volunteered to narrate to me!!!!!  She's never done that. 

Maybe I do need to look into a more independent approach to school with her and give her some freedom to choose.  Is that what the delight-directed learning is about?  I don't know much about it. 

Yea!!!!  That made my day.  Now I can go take my nap in peace.

I am really wrestling with our school this week.  I had a rather big disagreement with my oldest over her work this week.  It's a long story how it happened but it left a sore taste in my mouth and haven't gone to back to our normal school schedule since.  But today was fun.  I fully intended to do some school this afternoon.  I have been allowing the kids to take advantage of my reluctance by playing in the backyard.  It's beginning to cool off in the morning now and they deserve as much time in the backyard as possible after our miserable summer.  So today I was reading in the living room when I had an inspiration. . .we should do something spontaneous in our day.  I remembered at 11:30am that our homeschool group had park day today.  So I called the kids in, told them to change their chalky clothes, and get park shoes on.  We were going on a picnic to the park.  And we had a blast doing it to.  After we left the park we made a surprise trip to the library and got a special treat with a trip to Whole Foods for a good snack. 

But we came home this evening to same problems I am facing with my oldest.  She's a newly discovered strong-willed child (newly discovered by me because I refused to believe that sweet little girl could be strong-willed.)  My dh and I discussed it last night and she really is.  She doesn't want to be made to do anything. . . . .unless she's in control of the when.  We have used the typical discipline for disobedience and I believe with this child it's just simply made her more angry.  So I am reluctant to do it anymore with her.  I tried a couple of new "tactics" this evening and she seemed to respond well to them. 

Because of this child's reluctance to learn, I am considering a new direction for our school.  Of course, my dh has to be behind me in this.  And I would never make a change unless he was behind or asked me to.  I have been rereading Teaching the Trivium.  I have been especially focused on their article "Ten Things to Do with Your Child Before Age Ten".  And in my attempt to further understand one of the concepts in their chapter, I bought an ebook that Cindy Rushton wrote.  She is a Charlotte Mason expert.  I love her writing and books. 

But one of the things that is going through my mind as I read these things is how my school doesn't really reflect what I wish it did. . .a lifestyle of learning.  We are a SCHOOL at home.  Learing isn't a lifestyle. . .SCHOOL is.  I wish I had the guts to put aside some of the subjects that I think are unnecessary at this point in their young lives and just live out school.  You see, I think I push my dd too hard for her personality.  She's independent and wants the ability to decide what we do.  Who's right in this case?  I am beginning to wander if perhaps she's on to something.  I guess it's kind of the delight-directed learning.  I would still direct her education but she would have a littlre more freedom in how she expressed herself. 

The other factor I am having to consider in all this is that my oldest ds (5 1/2) LOVES school.  He would thrive in a public school and probably be placed in a gifted program.  He's got an incredible ability to know things that kids his age don't.  Like he told me to today that we wouldn't be able to turn onto the busy street outside our housing complec until the light at the other end of the street changed and stopped all the cars coming our way.  HELLO!!!!!  He's 5.  I didn't figure that out how to time the lights until I was a driver.  He can give answers during our Huddle Time (Bible study with dad) that blow me away.  Sometimes I don't even know the answers.  He taught himself to read and can't get enough of it.  He loves to write and will pass his sister in his ability to write if she doesn't get a move on it.  Some relaxing my approach to school may be harder on him than anyone. 

I would give anything to have a relaxed homeschool with a few structured parts of our day for the essentials.  It's not like that though.  There is no room for my oldest to cook with me. . .which I learned today is what she really wants to learn how to do.  There is no room for me to set my oldest ds up in his room with art material and let him go nuts (he's the artist.)  There is no room to wrestle with my youngest for longer than 10 minutes (and maybe that's a good thing since I can't keep up with him right now.  ha!!)   There is no time to give my 3 1/2 yod the attention she needs from me right now.   There is no time to go on nature walks or walks at all.  We have to get the academics in. . .as if somehow they will be stupid if I don't do it NOW when they are 7 and 5.  Isn't that the lie that the public education leaders tell homeschoolers?  But look at the homeschoolers who are given a more relaxed approach to learning.  They are blowing their PS peers out of the water and out of jobs. 

No guts, no glory.  does that apply here?  Can I do this?  I think I need more time to pray.  But I do know that I desire to live a lifestyle of learning.  And that needs to include more time to cook and do art and just be children (even mom needs to be a child every once in a while.) 

I cancelled school today.  I may be nesting a little early just simply because the upcoming October, November, and December are going to be very busy.  Speaking of nesting, we discovered the most interesting thing at our door this morning.  I thought I had cancelled school but this is just too good to keep cleaning and ignore.  Isn’t homeschooling great?!!!!

I made a wreath last spring that has been hanging on my door ever since.  Here is the wreath.

I went outside the sweep the porch and sweep, walls, and door.  When I took the wreath down I noticed a nest with an egg in it.  Now, I am a creative person, but I am not creative enough to put a fake nest with a fake egg in the back.  But I did have to think about whether I had actually put a wreath in my door.  But after looking the next over I discovered a few “unnatural” items that you wouldn’t normally find in a store bought fake nest.  This one was real!!!!!  How cool is that?  What I can’t figure out is how any baby birds might have survived the onslaught of my children running in and out of the door.  My door shows signs if wear and tear from the wreath swinging as the door swings open. 

Upon doing some further reading I think I have sparrows nest in my wreath.  It’s tucked back just enough to be out of the way but accessible.  It’s lined with a lot of random pieces of “cotton” and then there is one single egg left in the nest.  I am going to assume that they either abandoned ship (or nest in this case) when they discovered the mistake they had made OR the little egg didn’t hatch and we had baby birds living in our wreath the whole time.  I am thinking that maybe it’s the latter. 

I didn’t have to ask my kids to do anything with this new discovery.  They came upstairs, grabbed some computer paper, and started drawing.  Even my 3 yod, who is allergic to crayons (LOL!!!) colored a very beautiful nest.  I took pictures of their drawings since I don’t have a scanner.   I will put these in their notebooks so they have them forever. 

Ally’s nest

Josh’s nest

“Bird in a nes. Bird.”  Written on back (no, that is not a typo)

Jenny’s nest

“Today I saw a nest is Mom’s wreath with a egg spotted.” Written on the back.

Drew doesn’t have a nest.  He’s just adding mess to my already messing house that we are cleaning today.  This is the only day I won’t freak out about his messes because I will be making a bigger mess. J BTW, this is a curtain that I keep on an old microwave cart turned art cart.  It’s used to cover the ugly boxes on the shelf.  His favorite thing to do is take it down and chew on the rub end.  Grrrr!!!!!!!

I love homeschooling.  We have never had the privilege of finding things like this.  The last natural discovery we made was a giant tarantula that was hiding under the eave of our house last summer.  I called the exterminator.  I don’t do spiders.  Yuck!!!!

My oldest dd is discovereing joke books.  Oh boy!!!  You know those books that have all the bad jokes.  Not dirty jokes.  Just the jokes that made you giggle forever but didn't get much rise out of mom and dad.  So it begins.  Since she discovered this through her silent reading, I thought I would share it on our school blog (hey, it's still school to read joke books. . .isn't it?) 

Q:  What do kids (baby goats) eat for breakfast?

A:  Goat meal

Now honestly, that actually made me giggle when she said it this morning as I whipped up her tasty "goat" meal with yummy real butter and agave nectar. 

On another note, my oldest ds has discovered Lions.  It's my fault really.  I found a book on CD about lions that I thought he would love.  Um, love is not strong enough.  Obsessed is more like it.  Not that I am complaining.  It's so cool to watch him get excited about what he's learning.  He's come to me twice to share that lions can eat up to 35 lbs in one day.  I have reminded him each time that that is like eating his little sister in a day (she's about 35 lbs.)  He just stares at me as if I am ruining his shared information.  He's so serious.  (I just move on to said sister and tease her about being big enough for lions to eat.  hehehehe!!  She then proceded to tell me that they would eat me.  Woo!!  I was afraid to would scare her.) 

My ds decided that he was going to make a book about lions on Saturday afternoon.  He 5 1/2 yod so it's pretty normal for kids to want to do that.  I figured by the end of Saturday night he'd lose interest.  Nope.  Since we allow our children to listen to the sermon in church while drawing he brought his lion and took advantage of the free opportunity to color.  I think my ds probably drew about 15 different scenes of lions.  Most he had in his memory banks from the book he's been reading.   

I love it.  He's learning.  It's the very kind of learning I had hoped and prayed for my children. . .self directed.  I direct their formal learning but in their free time, it's all up to them.  So far, I have one who is willing to go above and beyond most kids his age.  There is something special about this little boy and his education.  God has a great plan for him.  Not that my oldest doesn't have a plan for her life as well.  But perhaps I need to steer her away from comedy.  :) 

We got a VERY BIG suprise this morning during school.  It rained today.  This wasn't just a passing Charlie Brown cloud.  It really rained.  The whole sky was grey this morning.  And isn't it beautiful?  We give all glory to our Father for this wonderful Monday morning gift. 

I didn't get to take pictures but the children had an unscheduled recess this morning.  They came in fairly wet from the rain.  It's rare that we get rain in TX without lightning in it.  When it happens, we drop everything and go play in the rain.  They had a blast. 

I tried to capture the rain falling but it's hard with this camera.  You will just have to use your imagination. 

This was the sky from our backyard.  Isn't it awesome?  I love grey clouds.  My eyes are very sensitive to sun light so I welcome a cloud day whether we have rain or not. 

Preschool has always baffled me.  I am a stay at home mom (and now homeschool) because I want to keep my children OUT of a preschool/day care setting.  But I would see all over the homeschool community either people are completely against tradition preschool at home OR there are complete curriculum on the other end of the spectrum.  As a younger mom I didn't know what to do. 

I can now finally admit that I wasted alot of money in this area.  I really didn't want to do preschool with my children.  And the nature of our family left me no room or time for it.  I bought different curriculum and activities so we would have something to do.  But I found they were bored, I was bored, or chaos reigned. . .it just wasn't going to happen in our home during that season.  We would sing and read and learned our ABC and counting, but formal preschool never happened.  (Oh and let's not forget my unfortunate survive tool - VIDEOs.)  And when my oldest started school I discovered that she wasn't any worse off.  Boy, did I worry about her being behind.  Especially since I had friends that were very disciplined about doing "school" with their children who were my dd's age.  There were no gaps at all though.  It was this experienced that helped me form my views of preschool in our home. 

My view in a nutsheel. . .enjoy your children.  Don't fret about them doing "school", even preschool.  Read, Read, Read.  Learn to love the library.  Don't feel pressure to do preschool crafts but do feel freedom to do them occassionally or everyday if you like.  I often wander if preschool children 100 years ago were subjected to the hubbub of preschool arts and crafts that we feels is necessary to do with them.  My 3 yod is helping me paint a decorative shelf for her room right now.  All of my children are and we are all having a blast.  No preschool craft here.  They doing adult crafts.  (Don't be afraid to think outside the classroom.)   

Now, imagine my frustration when my now 5 1/2 wanted to do school when he was 3 1/2.  He wanted to write mostly but he was determined to do school like his sister. 

DS:  "Mommy, I want to do preschool while Jenny does her school."  

Mom:  "Um, but son, we don't DO preschool in our home." 

DS:  "But mommy, I want to do what she's doing !!!!!!!!!  (said with much wailing and gnashing of teeth.) 

What in the world should I do?  At the time I was too inexperienced as a new homeschooler to realize that I could do things with him here and he'd consider it school.  I spent some money and bought a preschool curriculum I never used.  <>  Praise God I have a very forgiving dh and who realizes I am learning as I go. 

I hit the same situation with my now 3 1/2 yod.  So found an online curriculum called Letter of the Week.  I wish I had found this for my two oldest.  Talk about saving money and losing the pressure.   This would have worked wonderfully with my ds a few years ago.  It's just up his alley because it has coloring and some very easy crafts that don't require alot of my time.  And there is tons of reading.  But God has gifted me with a child that is very hard to understand and very hard to please.  She doesn't color.  Nope, she just demands to be included in everything you are doing with the older ones.  There is NO preschool in her mind.  Just school.  Now, in her defensive, I think that this is her survival method.  She's about to be the extreme middle child of 5 so she must fight for mom's attention.  But when this little girl wants to do something, she's very subtle in breaking you down.  And often it works.  Have you ever heard of Chinese torture methods called the drippy water faucet.  Enter Allison, the drippy water faucet.  She constantly asking.  She just won't let it go.  And she was bored with Letter of the Week.  She wanted to READ!!!!!!  (Why does it have to get harder as we go?) 

How do you teach a 3 yod to read when they aren't ready? 

You include them in everything you do with the others!!!!!  (This is our preschool.)

In a matter of a week, I completely changed my school schedule and what we were doing for school.  Phonics is done in a group setting to start out.  We all reviews our Phonics songs and ABCS (and coincidently, my 18 month will probably read at 3 as well because he's right in the middle of us soaking it all up.  My plan to phase me out is nearly complete.)  Then we go through a couple of flash cards to really focus on letter sounds.  This is review for my oldest two and new for my 3 yod.  They are teaching her to read as they go.  They are involved in the process.  And Ally is learning to read.  :)  Then she sits in my lap while her brother works through his Alphaphonics book.  She doesn't really do anything.  But she's also soaking up the letter sounds and learning her letters. 

Now we also do some preschool stuff.  I am using Picture Book Preschool with a weekly theme of books that I read with my two youngest.  I use this time to connect with the littles and also to train my youngest to sit in my lap to read.  He's getting so good at it.  :)  We also sing the ABCs.  I don't think I have ever had more fun since I have taken the pressure off myself to make my home like a daycare where we do bible, crafts, preschool snacks that match the theme, etc, etc, etc.  For a busy mom with children so close in age, it's just simply madness. 

Before I end I want to say that I have no issue with the way others do preschool.  Many times I have seen older, wiser mother's suggestion nothing for preschool. . .just read and play.  For a new mom eager to homeschool their children, this isn't a satisfying answer.  I can now join the bandwagon and say it's not necessary to do preschool.  Reading to them really does the trick.  But I do believe that mom's need the freedom without condemnation (and I have seen alot of condemnation on the internet and message boards toward mothers that do some sort of formal preschool with their children.)  Every mother has to learn what is going to work best for them and best for their family.  So if you are a mom contemplating doing a preschool curriculum or activities with your oldest or even with your younger ones, go for it.  If it works then praise God you had a blast with your children.  If it doesn't work, chuck it and learn from the mistake.  Go back to praying for wisdom and seeking His direction for you.  Be free though.  Don't fret if you believe you are being lead to take a relaxed approach and just read with your children.  I speak from experience, they do learn it eventually.  All children are different.  All moms are different. 

God Bless!!!!

This is a very exciting year for us.  We now have two official children in "school" and one that is unofficial.  I'll explain the unofficial child in a moment.  This is our 3rd year of homeschooling.  We actually started our new school year at the beginning of July.  I have a new baby due in January and we wanted to get a good portion of the year done.  This is also signifcantly different than how we started the year out.  But we're having a whole lot more fun and less stress with school now. 

We do school 4 days a week.  That leaves me one day to run errands, visit the library every other week, appointments, and make up days for sickness.  We also take one week off every 6 six weeks to organize around the house, plan our next six weeks, go on family field trips or vacations, field trips, and other activities that we can't normally do during the school weeks.  We have about 4-6 weeks off in the summer.  I start mid summer with our school year because TX summers are very hot.  Our family doesn't swim so just assume stay inside the air conditioning.  Our summers start mid-May and run through June.  This also provides me an opportunity to plan for the coming year.   And we do lots of playing. 

We also attempt to follow the Christian Classical style of home education as written Teaching the Trivium by Harvey and Laurie Bludorn. 

****************************

Jenny - 7 1/2 yod 

Josh - 5 1/2 yod

Ally - 3 1/2 yod

Andrew  - 1 1/2 yod

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Bible

Read Bible and pray with Daddy before work

Leading Little Ones to God

Bible Memory

Memorize Shorter Catechisms

Ruby study with Jenny from Doorposts

Phonics/Reading

Learn/Review Phonics Song (MFW) - (All)

Go through phonics flashcards (All)

Alphaphonics (Josh)

Read books of choice to mom (Jenny, Josh on Thursday)

Handwriting

Ally - practice writing her name (Handwriting Worksheets)

Joshua - A Reason for Handwriting:  Book K

Jenny - A Reason for Handwriting: Transition Book

copywork

Grammar

First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind (orally - Jen is struggling with this so I am taking it very slow.) 

Spelling 

Spelling for Sound and Structure - 2nd Grade (Rod and Staff) 

Science (this is where we changed directions)

Exploring Creation with Astronomy (Apologia) - link leads to authors blog

Math

Math U See - Primer and Alpha (I am also taking this very slow.)

Mommy's Bean Counter - Ally

History

Adventures in My Father's World (My Father's World) - history only

*** I was originally doing the full curriculum but alot of it didn't fit either my teaching style or their learning interests so I have changed to other things except history.

Read alouds

Most of these come from our History curriculum right now.  Daddy reads to them for 45 minutes in the evening. 

Presently - The Secret Garden

Language

La Classe Divertida

Greek - Little Bitty Baby learns Greek (by Johannah Bluedorn)

Art

I Can Do All Things  (We are having trouble working this in.  But I hit on something this afternoon that may change all that. :)

Preschool

Picture Book Preschool

Miscellaneous

Daily Calendar - Made by Mom

Hundreds Chart (Ally)

Later this week I will post our daily schedule. 

God Bless!!!