Category Archives: homeschooling

Rainy Day, Pajama Day

homeschooling, priorities January 12, 2012 Leave a comment
Parker and Mommy
Parker
Theodore with his blanket
Katie holding Jonah (saying “I need a pillow for his head!”)
Foster playing Mario Kart
Katie so happy to be holding baby brother!
Today there were gray skies and thunderstorms all day.  The perfect back drop for pajama day.  These days are some of my favorite.  We did school, played and ate in our pajamas. 
Then, before Daddy got home, we took long baths and put on clean pajamas. 
Just in time for dinner and playtime with Daddy. 
 A nice, peaceful evening at home together.
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Curriculum Spring 2012

homeschooling January 10, 2012 1 Comment
We do Bible, History, Geography, Literature and Grammar together. We are using Sonlight Core B. This has been our first year of Sonlight and we are really enjoying it. Our other subjects are separated by grade level. 
Foster – Math-U-See Beta; Handwriting Without Tears; Scholastic Success with Grammar; Read and Understand Science; All About Spelling and Readers from Sonlight
Katie- Math-U-See Alpha; Handwriting Without Tears; Scholastic Success with Grammar; Alpha-Phonics, Bob books and Level 1 Readers; All About Spelling; Phonics workbook
Foster and Katie have a calendar notebook that they fill out daily during our group calendar time. Since Theodore isn’t writing yet he helps me with calendar boards and participates in singing the songs.  Foster and Katie also pick one relative or friend to write to each week. They get so excited when they receive responses in the mail.
In addition to our curriculum, we have a lot of extra-curricular activities.  They don’t all overlap (thank goodness!) but here’s a list of what else we do… Cub Scouts, American Heritage Girls, swimming, sign language, soccer, softball and baseball, basketball. 
This semester for our BHEA Co-op classes Foster is taking Hands-On Shakespeare and Boys Game Club; Katie is taking Book Cooks and Spanish; Theodore is taking Lively Literature and Karate Kids.
And most importantly, we spend each day learning how God wants us to treat others, how to take initiative with chores, how to relate and compromise with our siblings, how to behave at the grocery store, post office, dentist office, how to manage time so that there is time for play.  There is time in every day to break down and cry and to roll in the floor laughing.  The thing that homeschooling gives us the most of is TIME.  It’s a precious thing to have this time with my children and I am so grateful to God and my husband for providing me this opportunity.

Back-to-school

homeschooling January 8, 2012 Comments: 2

The kids and I have enjoyed a great 3 week break for Christmas.  Now it’s time to get back to work!  I am actually looking forward to starting back.  Even though it’s challenging to juggle school with a pre-schooler, toddler and new baby in the house, we seem to have better days when we do school.  I am forever changing our schedule and adding or taking away from our curriculum.  I am an organization junkie.  I LOVE to organize, so making daily schedules or planning out school plans is actually pretty fun to me.  If I can find the time for it!  So here’s a look at what we are doing these days.

7am            Wake-up and make beds
7:30am       Watch PBS
8am             Breakfast and Bible
8:30am        Get dressed for the day and morning chores
9:15am        Calendar time
9:30am        Math
10am           Grammar
10:30am      Morning snack and outside play time (weather permitting)
11:15am      Spelling and Reading
12pm           Lunch and History or Literature (Read aloud by me)
12:30pm      Afternoon chores
1:00pm        Handwriting and Science
1:30pm        Rest time
3:00pm        Afternoon snack and outside play time

That’s our basic school day.  Things obviously don’t always go according to plan.  During rest time, Foster, Katie and Theodore must choose something independent and quiet to do.  Parker lays in his bed and most of the time will still take a nap.  Jonah still just does his own thing. We have had an afternoon “quiet” time since Foster was a baby and we will continue it for as long as there are children in my house. As they get older, they will be able to read quietly or finish up school work from earlier in the day.  I have struggled in the past with feeling like maybe this was selfish on my part.  But I find that it isn’t only to my benefit but theirs as well.  On the days when they just go 100 miles an hour from 7am until 8pm they tend to get much more cranky and get in trouble more often.  Everyone needs down time, as a mom of little ones it is sometimes the first time all day that you can complete a thought, make important phone calls, or just have your quiet time with God.  I know there are some mothers who can get up at 4am and exercise and read their Bible, etc.  At this season in my life, that is NOT me. I am probably up at 4am but it’s usually because I am nursing a baby.  So for now, rest time is a necessity for me!

More tomorrow on what curriculum we are using and what we are actually learning!

Imagine

choices, homeschooling December 20, 2011 Comments: 2

The Road Not Taken

By: Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could


To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;


Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.


Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh


Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

As 2011 comes to a close, my husband and I are spending a lot of time talking and reminiscing on people and events that have passed in our lives.  The other night as our 4 kids screamed and played in the other room and I sat in the living room and nursed our new baby, Chris said to me “Imagine if we had stopped having children after Foster and Katie. We wouldn’t have Theodore. We wouldn’t have Parker. We wouldn’t have Jonah.”

And that got me thinking…

Imagine if I hadn’t given my life to Christ when I did.
Imagine if I hadn’t married this wonderful, faithful, hilarious, passionate man.
Imagine if I had decided to work outside the home.
Imagine if I had sent my sweet 5 year old away to be taught by others.

I feel as though I have taken the road less travelled and I do believe that when I come to the end of my days, that I will be able to say “…And that has made all the difference.”

Last Day of School

homeschooling, Summer May 29, 2011 1 Comment

Well, we did it! Another successful year of homeschooling has officially come to an end.  We checked off our last day on Friday and went out for breakfast and some soggy playground time.  Then we spent most of the day doing what we will do all summer. Playing outside! Popsicles, water play, creating their own worlds, dreaming and imagining…I feel so blessed that I can allow my children endless hours of this life.

Foster will now move on to 2nd grade, Katie to 1st grade and Theodore to Pre-K.  We’ll probably start our new school year around the end of July.  That way we can have a few good breaks, especially because baby #5 is due the end of September. 

One last picture of something beautiful, Nana’s rosebush.  I was afraid it wasn’t going to make it this year, it had holes eaten in all it’s leaves and no blooms at all, then I pruned it and waited and look…

the first rose of the season! I know it’s a small triumph for some, I have friends who grow gardens, with real fruits and vegetables and everything. Oh and they keep chickens and ducks alive.  I, would love to get to that point, but it has taken me until now to keep 6 indoor plants and 1 outdoor rosebush alive. Hey, slow and steady wins the race, right? 

March!

homeschooling, imagination, memories March 2, 2011 1 Comment

I love Spring!!! I don’t care what the calendar says, it feels like Spring so to me – it’s Spring!

Lots of good things happen in March.  Like today is Theodor Geisel’s birthday! You may know him as Dr. Suess, he was an amazing man.  I read his biography about a year ago and it was very interesting.  I couldn’t believe he never had children of his own.  It just goes to show that even if someone has no children of their own, they can make a huge difference in the lives of other people’s children.
In honor of his birthday, we are reading all the books of his that we have on our shelf.  Oh and we were inspired by this passage from One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish…

From near to far
from here to there,
funny things are everywhere.
These yellow pets
are called the Zeds.
They have one hair
up on their heads.
Their hair grows fast…
so fast, they say,
they need a hair cut
every day.

Ummm…what time is it?

homeschooling January 8, 2011 Comments: 2

I used part of my precious peace and quiet time to try and come up with a schedule for our family.  I had actually bought the Managers of Their Homes kit about 2 years ago, when I was expecting baby #4.  I was already feeling overwhelmed by having 3 children 5 years old and younger and I was homeschooling.  Well, like with most of my good intentions, I had failed to actually implement a schedule. I mean, we have always had a routine, kids do thrive with consistency, but a true schedule like the Maxwell’s plan out is something altogether different.  When I first read about scheduling everyone in the family (mom included) in 30 minute increments for the whole day – I just about laughed my butt off.  There was NO way that I could figure out what everyone should be doing and then also have to actually enforce it.

Then, I watched a million hours of the Duggars and decided to drag my book back out and spend several hours with my laptop figuring it all out.  Here’s the schedule I created. As we have begun to implement it, I have already been able to see some changes that need to be made but it feels like easy solutions because all I have to do is plug in different activities at different times.  Instead of having that ‘I couldn’t get it all done’ feeling each day, when we have followed our schedule I can tell myself that “yes, we did have a productive day!”

As far as getting the kids on board, it has taken a lot of pressure off of me because when they are wanting me to play a game or just spend time with them then I can say “what does the schedule say we should be doing right now?” and “that’s a great idea! Let’s do that when we have our time together at…” They like knowing that if it’s on the schedule we will try our best to get it done.  Since we now have a video game in our house for the first time (a Wii) it was really important to me that the use of it didn’t get abused.  I think it’s tempting at times to just plug your kids into a video game or tv show just to get a break. I don’t want my kids’ brains turning to mush.  I think I was actually a mush brain myself when I was a kid.  I used to come home in the afternoon and watch hours of tv until my parents got home from work.  I think the only thing that saved me from becoming a total mush brain was that I LOVED to read. I still do.

So for now, we are beginning our second semester a little behind on our “days” but we are excited about knocking out the rest of the year because we have a trip to California planned! More on that later…(=

P is for Pluto

homeschooling September 14, 2010 Comments: 3
We DID it! Our solar system is complete!
And we came up with our own mnemonic phrase to remember the order.
 My Very Eager Monster Jumps Straight Under Nice Pillows
Yes, I know about the controversy surrounding Pluto. For now, in our Astronomy book Pluto is still hanging in there with the “real” planets. The author has assured me we will eventually address this issue. So don’t worry we’ll let you know when Pluto changes his status at our house.

Give me an A

homeschooling August 15, 2010 Comments: 2
Our first 2 weeks of school have gone really well!  The only struggle has been having enough “school” work for Theodore.  He wants to stay at the table and do his work while Katie and Foster do their seat work. Friday I was able to spend 4 or 5 hours getting all of my hands-on learning materials together and organized.  I had planned on doing that while my mom was here to help with the kids during summer break but I got strep-throat instead and ended up spending my organizing time trying to recover. We did get out to a back-to-school swim party at Springbrook pool with American Heritage Girls!
Katie is happy that she gets to join American Heritage Girls this year. One of her closest friends got to join last year and she can’t wait to be a part of the action!
Foster has started a spelling curriculum this year. We are using Building Spelling Skills by
Christian Liberty Press.  He is doing really well. He does lessons 4 days and then on the 5th day takes a test over 20 words.  The first unit had a practice test and here’s how he did after only being on lesson 3.
I only gave him 10 words for the practice test and he wanted to check it himself.  He said “I’ll circle the ones I got right and put an x over the ones I missed.”  He only missed the word “taffy” which he spelled “tafee” which pleased me because it was at least phonetically accurate.  By Friday when he took his real test, he got them all correct. I wrote 100% and put a sticker on his paper.  He was pleased but then he said, “You should have put an A.”  I think it’s pretty funny that he wants an “A” even though he’s never been in any setting where you get grades. He received an “A” on his unit 2 test.
We have started a formal science curriculum this year and we are using Apologia’s Young Explorers series Exploring Creation with Astronomy and the kids are loving it so far.  We attempted our first project to make a solar system out of balloons and hang but there are no pictures because it failed pretty miserably! We didn’t have the correct size balloons and then they started to shrink after being up by the hot ceiling. Thankfully, Daddy came to the rescue and recommended making one out of Styrofoam balls and we found a solar system kit at Hobby Lobby for only $10! Chris has shorter days the next two weeks so he will be helping them put it together and paint it one evening this week.  My children are so blessed to have a hands-on, involved daddy. We also found a puzzle and flash cards in the dollar bins at Target! The whole idea behind Apologia’s science series is immersion in one topic so that your children get the most out of one topic. This is different from what most textbooks do in that they usually skip around and cover small sections of several topics.  We also went to the library this week and found several books on Astronomy.
Our Bible and Character Traits from the past two weeks have been Appreciative and Attentive.  They have the option of memorizing the scripture and definition each week or they can get together and put on a “show” that demonstrates the meaning of their Character Trait for the week.
Week One: Katie was driving a car and said “POP! Oh no my tire is flat!” and Foster drove up beside her and said “Ma’am can I fix your tire for you?” After he fixed her tire she said “Thank you, sir, I appreciate you fixing my tire.”
Week Two: Katie was in a hospital bed and Foster was giving her directions on how to take care of herself when she went home. “OK ma’am please take 2 Benadryl –  3 times a day. And remember not to get down on your leg or you’ll have to come back to the hospital.” Katie replied “Ok, doctor, thank you.”
They get an “A” on their performances, too!

First Day of School

homeschooling August 2, 2010 1 Comment

I can’t believe Foster is starting 1st grade and Katie is in Kindergarten! The time has flown by and we are so excited about our new school year.  We had a successful first day. I always plan and organize and stress.  What is there to stress about you ask?  Well, if you homeschool you know there are many different things to stress about, like what curriculum you will use. How will you have your day planned out so that you can actually accomplish using said curriculum? How will you be sure that your kids are still getting to be kids and not little school robots? What about keeping up with the toddler and pre-schooler? What about keeping up with housework? Your quiet time? Your friends? Your blog? LOL  Well, you know what? I have recently picked up a new mantra of sorts that is really working for me. Perhaps you may want to give it a try, since most of the population seems pretty stressed out.  Here it is…”Let it go.” I know. That was life-changing wasn’t it? Well, for me it has been. Because when I say “let it go” I am really saying “let go and let God.”  He’s in control anyway. Why all the stress to try and keep control of it all?  Just let God handle it. He’s way more qualified than you anyway.

Here are a few pics of how we spent our first day of school. Our character trait/Bible lesson this week is “Appreciative” the scripture is 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  I have given them the option of memorizing the scripture by the end of the week or they can create and put on a skit that shows the character trait in action.  They said they would “put on a show.”

We begin the day with all of our daily responsibilities and then move to Bible and then some seat work like Math, Handwriting and Spelling.  We started reading our science today and they are so excited because we will be studying Astronomy this year.

We started school at 9am and were finished by 1pm. That was including snack, outside playtime and lunch.  Homeschooling is wonderful!