Homeschool Diva

We plan to spend a ton of time outside this summer.  I will reverse our days, so that we can be out and play in the cooler, morning weather.  I will move them through literature and history first thing in the am….head out to explore around 10 for a few hours, come back for lunch and choirs and then we can finish up with math and copy work when the day is the hottest and the rain is rolling through.  Last year I took a large break in the summer and it was a train wreck, so this year we just steadily will work our way through.

I didn’t set this shot up, they all just hung out there for a split second before they were off again.  I am not 100% happy with this shot, as it isn’t a sharp as I would of liked but it will do. I love our nature study.I get to follow them around as they explore, silently watching them work and discover together.  That is how this whole photography thing started ya know.  There is so much in the way I school them, that is silent.  I just set up an environment for them to explore in, and then shut my mouth and let them get to “playing”.  Because of the literature we are reading, they naturally make connections all over the place.

I made a decision early on in our homeschool journey to enjoy all our time together, not looking to rush through it and move on to what I want to do, but to be present at all times, and learn with them.

Life is learning, and we are all enjoying our days together.  I will upload the rest of our days discoveries later today.  For now we need to sketch in our nature journals and then on to Math and Mr. Steve.  Oh how we love Mr. Steve around here….he makes my life so easy.

Blessings to all those keeping their mouths shut so their little ones can make connections on their own~

Yesterday we had the rare opportunity to tour some historical replicas of the ships Columbus found the new world in.  Our first thought upon seeing these ships; handcrafted using 15th century techniques in Brazil was, “Wow they are small!”.  I meen really, really small.

Go to thenina.com and check out all of the cool educational info there.  We are studying Columbus this term so it will be fun to have such a memorable reference to draw on while we read through his life. I thought it was a little peculiar that you could actually charter one of these for a wedding reception or company party.  Hey, I guess everyone even needs to make a buck.

It was even more fun to think of the books we have read this year like Swiss Family Robinson, Treasure Island and Seabird.  These are ships similar to ones that we followed many adventures on.  I would stop to point things out and say, “This is where they kept all their livestock in Swiss Family Robinson.”, and “Can you believe Ezra climbed all the way up there to scout out for icebergs?”.  Each time I was met with an, “I know!” Like Mom, I have already put all of this together in my mind, you do not need to call it out for me.  I stopped after the third exasperated “I KNOW”.

If you are near one of their next stops you should take a tour and if you are anything like our family you might just say, “I can’t believe how small they are!”.

We have had a little virus running through our house.  Our daughter is feeling better but weak and our youngest is starting into it so I have been a little preoccupied.

Because this space has always been a place that I can record ideas and insights along my journey of life, I wanted to leave a few thoughts about why I am in love with the space that God has us in in regards to homeschooling our kiddos.

Firstly, you have space.  Space to work on habits consistently over a long period of time. Space to be still as a family and really watch your children move along in their own formation.  Space to stay clear of the “parenting rat race” that is oh so common.  Space, to pick up hobbies and customs that would not be possible if we did not live our lives this way.

Secondly, you have time to really see what each child needs, and meet them there.  Learn really who they are, and pray that God would show you exactly what they need at any given time in their overall development. Like any parent, there are days you feel like you are not doing enough, your kids are not getting something of what they may need etc. etc.  When those days hit I re-read my homeschooling philosophy, and re-read the scope and sequence provided by AO and relax all over again.  Whenever I get stuck in the details, I pull back and remind myself of the big picture. Speaking of big picture look at these two jokers.  You will have to go to my flickr  and read the whole story.  I was laughing so hard I could hardly focus my camera.

I say this over and over but honestly it is sooo true.  If you can read a recipe and bake a cake, you can homeschool.  You have to learn to be disciplined, but hey if you are not, I would say that is a good life skill to work on anyway, so why not give it a go.  If you are on the fence, this is what I would say. Try it, you may like  it.  Hey you may love it, and then tell all your friends and they do it with you and before you know it, you have a regular homeschool party kickin’.  If you do want to give it a go.  Check out what we use.   It is awesome on so many levels.   Every time I read the FAQ’s I get so tickled that God lead us to this and I can give this level of education at home without me having to spend GOBS of money and without me having to do hours and hours of work to put something of this caliber together. MAJOR props to those homeschool Moms out there who can pull it together on their own.  I know a few and my hats off to them.  I just need some traintracks to run on, and I am good to go. Ambleside gives me that.  I know the “why” before the “how”, and even then when I don’t understand the “why” I trust the method and in time see the amazing fruit in it.

So, today I really had it on my heart to say GO FOR IT!  You have nothing to loose and only buckets of insight to gain.   It isn’t a cake walk for sure, but what is? Great Googly Moogly I could go on and on, but I will stop now.

Grace and Peace to all those who love learning~

I am beginning to work my children into “work plans”.  They wear a watch and I list for them the things we need to accomplish in a day.  Chores, school work etc.  Then I tell them, you need to have x and y done by such and such time. They love it and so do I.  The younger two are still a bit lost, but my oldest is tracking right along.

It is a marvelous method of making them responsible for their life and their work.  In time, I hope to be organized enough to have a book that I hand them, kind of like a day planner that has their “plans” for the day, and then they work through it and bring it to me to sign off on.  In my artistic imaginations, it would almost be  a small art book that I make for them, that they can explore throughout the year with notes of love and inspiration from me, pictures, etc.  I guess I can start to work on that in my free time;-)

A goal for next year. Peace to all managing their time well today.

This particular connection  has been inspired by worship. We received a Seeds Family Worship CD for a gift this Christmas.  If you don’t have one, I would say you should grab one or all of them.  You know me and worship. I am always working on ways to expose our kids to great worship.  There is nothing more tender, then hearing and seeing your children sing the words to deeply powerful songs to our King.  These are all scripture verses set to music so we are all memorizing away as we listen.

They may just like the beat, or are absently saying the words.  But, most days, there is a word or two, that they ask me about, like Mom what does sacrifice mean? or Mom why is it saying “fear God”?  We are not scared of Him?

Kids put it together if you feed them enough good stuff in order for them to do so. I was telling you yesterday how I am seeing all types of fruit in regards to connections with the kids. Remind me to tell you Chloe’s response to her Dad about government a few days ago.  A few months ago, Jackson heard the word sacrifice in a worship song and asked about it.  I explained what it was and related it back to some things we had been learning about pagan peoples in world history.  Then about a month later we read a story in Trial and Triumph about a “craazeee monk” who went “postal” during the crusades inciting zealous crusaders to start killing Jews in Germany on their way to the Holy land, because they killed Jesus.   Jackson stopped the story with a frank statement,”Mom these crusades were not a good idea.  You can’t make people follow Jesus?” I agreed and continued on with the story until he stopped me again with an incredulous, exasperated statement, “Mom, this makes no sense. They killed Jews because they killed Jesus? Didn’t they know that  Jesus had to die, to be the final sacrifice?  If he didn’t die, then none of this would of worked.” I said you are right buddy, people do funny things sometimes, our history is a strange thing. Then a few weeks later, during our advent celebrations and reading he set a small lamb on my desk.

It is a little, wooden lamb I made 4 years ago when he was  3 in order to help him meditate on the Good Shepherd Parable.  He had taken a red marker and colored a huge red mark on the lamb. I was just about to “pop off” because he had colored on this work when he said….”Look Mom, the blood of the lamb.” and walked away. I bit my tongue, guess he was thinking about sacrifice and many other things that the Holy Spirit was whispering deeply in him.  This was all over several months time, but I could clearly see the thread working away.  The connections happening one by one. I am passionate about exposing our kids to great things, not just things they like.  How will they know if they like it or I know if they like it, if I don’t expose them to lots and lots of varied things both historically and culturally.  Jackson loves Shakespeare and poetry particularly Shel Silverstein, I wouldn’t of known that if I just gave him things to look at and read about having to do with legos and karate.  Chloe loves painting and Monet (she loves his flowers), and Hudson is mad for U2 and Handel…who knew.

All of these things, are tools that point right back to God and relate to our life in Jesus.  It is amazing for me to go through this with them as an adult.  I have a deeper understanding, and connectedness to our whole story through me working through it with them. So after school, I crank the tunes and let them play and clean and work with an environment soaked in worship.  Not to mention it keeps me right in tune with the one who called me and the one who is calling them. So go look for a few connections in your home today.  They are so fun to find.

Grace and Peace to All~

The children are all moving along with the basics: reading, writing, math.  We are moving into deeper science exploration, not just the Burgess Books and they are loving that. What I am most pleased with is how they are moving along with ideas.  One of the MAIN things I wanted to do was make sure our kids got the “connections” between things.  When you feed them rich and noble things to think about, they do that…you know…make connections.  I will tell you a connections story tomorrow, I just need to figure out a picture to go with it, which is a fun stretch for me. I am seeing tons of little fruit in that area, and they are getting it in relationship to our faith in Jesus and how it all works with the world.  It is amazing and fascinating to see all at once.  Really, if you are at all thinking about homeschooling, look into it, check out what we use. (We love it and it is awesome) Pray and ask God to show you what is best for you kids.  I promise you, you can do it.  You can take being home with them all day.  It isn’t as hard as you believe it will be. Okay let’s be honest, there are hard days, but let’s be real, there are hard days with whatever you choose to do. I just wanted to send a little cyber encouragment out there because I know so many Moms think about it and then think they NEVER could pull it off.  In fact if I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I would be rich.

So I have to tell you a story.  This morning at 6:30 I walked in the door from my run and our youngest (4) walked downstairs and sat on the couch and said, “Mom, I don’t know how to read yet, you need to teach me.” I said, “Sure bud, I am happy to teach you.”  (All I can think is give me a minute bud, I am hot and sweaty, and it is still dark out, do we have to do school right away, the whole house is asleep. This goes along with him wanting to know everything right now, phonics, writing, math.  He really wants to start to sit and learn with the big kids, and do it NOW.)  “Will you read me  Jax’s Christmas book?”  Sure…and I am still thinking it is the Christmas I Spy book we got at the library. As I sit down he takes out the beautiful leather bound copy of “Treasure Island” that Jackson got as a Christmas present.  I started reading it out loud to Jackson last night as the “littles” sat on the floor and played checkers with their Daddy.  I thought they were not listening.  NEVER assume they are not listening. I didn’t really believe he wanted another chapter in that book until he narrated perfectly, and in precise detail the chapter I had read the evening before. I was a little stunned, and then chuckled out loud and started reading. Well cuz that is just how wez roll around he-ah!

So, you see, it is working.  It is fun, they are well adjusted and socially in touch with other kids their age and hungry for deeper things of God and life. This is sooooo fun. Truly fun on so many levels.    I am not nuts.  I heard right when God said stay home. I swallowed my fear and said “Yes Lord!”. I  think I can….I think I can….. Just like the little engine that could.

Blessings to all those being obedient today~

Well, you know what they say “it pays to save”.  Yesterday we opened the kids savings accounts.  They all received a gift of money for Christmas and have been saving change.  So, I offered them a deal.  You know me and deals.  Well maybe you don’t know me and deals, but I love a little incentive to do something I wouldn’t push myself to do otherwise. Remember, I ran a half marathon just for the goal to keep working out even when I did not want to. (Little tip, it works…for me at least.)

Did anyone else read the report on children who were trained to save early?  It was fascinating.  Money management and saving is actually a skill that can be learned and learned early. So I am attempting to impart that to our  dear young ones.  They were sitting at the dinning room table thinking of all the stuff they would buy with their loot.  Well, there is not a thing in the world they really need in the way of toys right now, so I threw down a gauntlet.  I said, “You can buy whatever you want, or I will pay you $10 right now to save it and put it in the bank”.  They all slowly sat for a moment thinking about it.  They did the math and added up how much that really meant, and then like dominoes, they all went for it.

With great ceremony we went to the bank.  I took pictures. All the tellers oooed and ahhhhhd and told them how smart they were.  Then I handed them their ten smackers as they deposited their loot, and counted their coins out loud to the lady.  They even signed their names on official paper work….4 times.  They were so proud.

My next real world math plan is to give them 5 bucks in various types of bills and coinage.  Give them a list of 3 things they need to find, for something we need to create or build, then take them to our local good will and let them shop and buy for real with real money.  I just need to think of something we can make together, that we can buy items to work with. Any ideas?

Well the day is too pretty to be wasted, we are off the beach to collect some shells.  See you tomorrow.

Peace to all savers today!

Today we had a little tea, these three and I.  Our oldest read a part of the Christmas Story, I read some poetry about “tea time”.  Our youngest poured hot tea for the first time successfully, our middle sipped through the new hole in her mouth were her first baby tooth used to be. We listened to Handel’s Messiah playing in the background.

This has been a family tradition since they were tiny little guys.  We do not have it scheduled, it just happens spontaneously. We sit and read a little poetry, or invite Great Grandparents over to share a little time with us.  We say please and thank you, we let the ladies go first, we try not to slurp our tea. We feel so special.  You know how you feel when you put on a pretty shirt and fix your hair just right.  It is the same thing.  They feel so special when we put away all that darn plastic ware and give them pretty plates and tea cups and let them have a go at working with the adult things.

We got a full size tea set last year for Christmas, because the tiny play one we used to use, was just too tiny.  They feel like grown ups, I feel like I am having a special time to just give them a lesson on manners without the rush of dinner, and tiredness falling down upon us.

Just 15 minutes, breaking up the day, allowing for a special space to open up right before us. Then they clean it all up and the normal roar starts up again, trucks zooming away, board games resumed,  the “Mom can we….” converstaion about whatever thing they just can’t let go of. Oh how I love the tea that calms the storm. Now I have to go and sweep the dirt up on the back patio from the plant that has just been knocked over and used to fill up a dump truck.

Peace to all and a good cup of tea.

Song to listen to while reading this post: Enya Silent Night

I am in the midst of learning to be still…rest…..listen. Dagnabit, if I am not ALWAYS in this season to one degree or another. Isn’t it beautiful how Advent takes you right out of the commercial mess of this season, into the quiet place of waiting? All of this turmoil I have been feeling with homeschooling and somehow messing up our children, has FORCED me to lay down and rest before the Good Shepherd. For that I am so thankful.

Daddy rescued our little flagging ship last night with a wonderful family meeting. He laid down the law in a splendid way with these young charges around here. Funny thing is, he said the exact same thing to them, that I say over and over daily, and somehow, they got it in a deeper way. Isn’t it beautiful how a Daddy can just get it done in only the way that He and no one else can. When the Mommy is with the children 95% of their daily time, you start to sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher, but when Daddy says it, it breaks through those little skulls of theirs and registers somewhere in their grey matter.

I have revised what is expected in the way of house chores. They are no longer young toddlers who are not capable of certain things. They can and should do more, and now thanks to our family meeting…they are. Good grief in pioneer times, 7 year olds were hunting and junk, so ya think they could clean the toilets without mishap. Part of the problem is, you get into a routine and then you forget that as they grow you need to revise it.

Thank you sweet heart, for coming to our rescue, for seeing that we needed a little tune up, for jumping in and tightening down the rigging of our little ship, setting us back on course, for saying you believe in us, and for showing our 7 year old that it is okay to do older things. Somehow it took the pressure off of me in all the right ways, letting me rest and enjoy this process of training up this little punks children.

Maybe we should make a very unobtrusive signal to each other so that you know when I need it. Like, waving a white flag as you walk in the door. I will make it all cute and stuff. I may even put some music on and dance right up to you as you walk in the door.

Peace to all who need to wait and know what it means to be rescued today!

A Charlotte Mason education has a few distinctives. Here is a great little summary for you if you are new to the philosophy of CM education. We don’t really use workbooks, and narration is a STRONG component of what we do. If you have done any research about it, it can be a bit daunting trying to pull all that off by yourself. That is why I am indebted to the folks over at Ambleside Online. A few Homeschool Moms got together about 10 years ago, and started putting things together for their own families, and just kept on going, keeping track of what they were doing all along, and offering it free for others to find them on their own homeschool journey.

Part of the homeschool process for me, really steamed from my own childhood. I was dreadfully BORED in school and then had a few teachers who just didn’t seem to like me in the 4th and 5th grade (hard to imagine, I know!) and from those 2 things I developed a loathing for school until I reached the collegiate level. When I did get to the collegiate level, I realized some dreadful holes in my understanding of the world, its history and the relationships between how things worked. And I went to one of the top 5 highschools in the nation. I know some of that was because I was being taught to pass tests and not to have a holistic understanding of the world.

So fast forward 15 years, and you can see why some things are very important for me. I really wanted a classical approach with a strong emphasis on history as a whole, not just random little parts that rarely flowed together, and an appreciate for great literature, art, poetry and music. Not just modern things but through the ages. Charlotte Mason filled the bill for me, and now here we are. I literally can’t wait to see what we cover next. It is all so much fun and fascinating, and our kids beg us to keep reading. “DON’T STOP!” is a common phrase in our house, but alas, I do, because it keeps them hungry for more. A love of learning for life is what we are going for, and I see it blooming in the smallest and sweetest way in these early years. I can’t wait to see how it matures through the years.

So here are a some of the questions that Christine asked and I thought I would answer here in case any one else is in her boat.

• Our DC are 12 & 10 (7th & 5th). This is 2nd year HSing 10yr old and 1st year with 12 yr old. Do you think Ambleside is something that they could just get into with no prior use of CM?
  • Absolutely! A CM approach is very different from traditional schooling and workbook driven curriculums. It may take a bit of detox from the way they are used to schooling but give them space to transition. Children are brilliant and if we give them good stuff for their little minds to engage with, they take off and soar. I think they can transition over beautifully. AO is set up in years, yr 1, yr 2 and so on. Those do not mean school years. So a 5th grader coming out of 5th grade traditional school, may need to do yr 3 or yr 4 based on what they can handle. This is where the flexible part comes in. The language component is challenging and it will take a bit for them to get used to the literature readings, and the concept of narrating. One way to check where they should start is by going to a given year and look at the free reading books. Check one out from the library and read it aloud as a family. Track where they are with it. This will tell you if you need to pull back a year or two. There are many 3rd graders coming out of traditional school starting with yr 1. You have to start thinking holistically and not by years. My children are not yet at the age of being able to read their own literature on their own. My 7 year old is in love with Shakespeare. He couldn’t read King Lear on his own, but boy does he LOVE it when I read it to him. It does not mean they can not engage with it beautifully, they just need a facilitator, me. I read aloud, and bit by bit I am transitioning the reading over to them. By yr 4 they should be doing most of their reading on their own. In the beginning you may read a ton with them, even at their age. Just like riding a bike with training wheels, you will see when they can go it alone.

• Also, one of our DC is VERY right brained, visual, Will Ambleside work for him?
  • Yes, you may have to think a little differently. They will have to begin to visualize the story in their brain. You may need to have a notebook handy during the readings, so they can draw out the characters and their interactions. You will also create a Book of Centuries which is a very visual way to keep track of what you are studying. My oldest is very visual too. That is why we LOVE Math U See, it works splendidly for him. You can also incorporate some pbs movies about certain things you are learning about, Shakespeare etc.

• Is there workbooks or is it pretty much reading?
  • I use 3 workbooks, one for Handwriting, one for phonics and one for Math. Other than that, they are creating their own narrations and work, based on how they narrate to me. I don’t ask them leading questions, because it makes them sloppy in their thinking. I read, they listen and then tell me back to the best of their ability. With one of our selections I started asking leading questions and I am paying for it now. With mine, I read one paragraph and ask them to tell me back to the best of their ability exactly what they heard. This is how they are picking up great grammar, vocabulary and how to make the connections in their brains and then give it back to me. It is a hard discipline, and you should not expect them to master it right off the bat. Your age would be giving a written narration. Mine are still orally narrating. I also “test” in this way. They don’t know it is a test, I call the “Oral Reviews” and they go something like this….”Tell me everything you can about…”.

• What are the pros/cons of Ambleside?
  • Pros - it fits all of the things we wanted in an education for our children. I love that it is gentle and challenging at the same time. The information you cover over the 12 years is amazing. The advisory suggests that once a child has moved through year 7 work, they have gotten the equivalent of what a traditional highschool senior would have.
    
  • Cons - Not many, however you may not be “down” with every book selection for different personal reasons. I have no issues with them, but some parents do. Again, be flexible and substitute a great equivalent. They offer suggestions in those areas. Some Moms on the email loop are HARD CORE and can at times put pressure on you to do what they are doing. If you know what you want and where you are going, you will be able to stir clear of that. Comparison is bad stuff, so stay away from it:-)

• Do you teach your children all the same level or do you teach each one at their own levels?
  • I do Bible, Art, Music and Nature Study the same for all 3, handwriting at the same time, just different aspects for each age, Poetry together(I usually pull this back so the littles can hang with it), and math at the same time, just different aspects for each. The reading/phonics, history and literature I do differently as they are at different levels and ability to understand. Your 2 however, are close enough in age, and probably ability at this point that you may experiment doing the same year for both of them. Just ask your older to do a few things a bit more challenging then what your younger can do.

  So, I hope that helps a little. The FAQ’s are very helpful and the email thread is a great source of info as you get going. One of my favorite CM blogs to read is here. She “rocks the shizoks” with all of this stuff. I go there often. If I can be of any help just drop me an email.

In case you have not noticed, I LOVE homeschooling. I was also terrified before I jumped in. I know for as many of us that choose to home school, there will be just as many who feel led to go public or private school, or do not have the choice to be home because they are single moms or can’t afford for the Mama not to work. My way isn’t necessarily the right way for you, it is just one method out there and I hope you are encouraged by it. DON’T compare yourself in anyway, just take what you need and leave the rest.

I have friends in every camp: public, private and at home varying between unschooling to Abeca workbook style learning. There is something for everyone, if you look long enough. My hope is that in all these little glimpses of my real life, you would stop and think and pray and ask God how you can more deeply engage in your little tribes life where ever you may be, whether you stay home or are the chief PTA’er at your child’s school every time the doors are open.

I had a commenter specifically ask about our method, so I thought I would take a minute and address it here. In case any of you want a Charlotte Mason style education or love the idea of “classical education” and you don’t have a clue of where to start, you might find it helpful. I first read the book For The Childrens Sake by Susan Schaeffer McCaulay. I couldn’t stop, I just kept reading and dreaming. At the time I was heavily influenced my the Montessori method (I am big on methods:-) and was bringing the kids home and didn’t know where to start. I started to poke around, ran into a few homeschool bloggers who where giving me the Charlotte Mason vibe and the rest is history.

I do not have the time or energy to reinvent the wheel and create my own curriculum. Everyone says that is so simple, but that overwhelmed me. Kudos to you who do, you are my “sheros” . I really believe their is freedom within structure, so when my blog friend directed me to Ambleside Online, I felt like I had fallen in to a pool of women who knew what the heck they where doing, who spoke my language about developmental learning, giving me a road map to move forward yet the freedom to do what was best for our brood. I like big picture stuff, and I got to see the whole educational thread for 12 years laid out. I could see where it was all going, and I liked what I saw. Ah, niiiiccccce, not to mention it is a free curriculum and you can find most of the classic literature at the library or free online as ebooks. Now you are talking my language.

We supplemented a little Math-U-See with Mr. Steve (Love ya Mr. Steve!) got a few packs of lined paper from Walmart, downloaded our free ebooks and just got going. So, I will have to tell you a little more tomorrow. This post is already long enough and besides I have some killer shots of a super flexible kid that just have to go with these posts;-)

Sorry Christine, come back tomorrow and I will try and flesh it out more for ya. I want to go play with my kids.

Peace to all who want to play today~

So is your music study a little dusty? Maybe you are wondering how in the heck do I teach my children music at home if a) I am not a musician and b) we have no instruments and c) I don’t know where the heck to start.

Well, my friends have no fear. Most Parents can get their kids through the first 2 years of general music instruction on their own with a few good resources and then, if they see that their child is leaning in a given direction, save their pennies for private lessons…cuz Lord knows they are CRAZY expensive. I called the other day for a violin lesson quote and I almost choked over the phone with the dear woman.

Now, I studied violin and piano growing up. I was one of those kids who kept asking and asking to learn, not every kid is like that. Later in life, I taught myself guitar. Once you have the basics of one instrument you can kind of figure things out on any instrument if you want to. I have always sung and eventually started leading worship in college, owned a music and movement business for 8 or so years and taught hundreds of kids and their parents basic music and then stopped because I got burned out and wanted to be with my own kids not everyone else’s and well, the rest is history. Music is a huge part of our families life. I would not say we are musicians per say, we are worshipers who can get around on a guitar and use it to facilitate worship. Even if your child is not drawn to it, it would still be valuable to require them to learn basic knowledge of a given instrument. It is kind of like new foods. How do you know if you are going to like them if you don’t try them.

Why am I writing all of this? Because I have been letting music study slide in our little homeschool. I taught music for so many years with other peoples kids, I just kind of wanted to not go there right now. Shame, shame on me. This is how it works at our house, tons of varied music on all the time, kids seeing Mommy and Daddy lead worship with a guitar, piano at home that kids are getting comfortable with. Oldest - could care less (or so I thought), our middle (interested but not as interested as she is in sports) and our youngest ( sang before he could talk, asks routinely for lessons, works with a drum or the glockenspiel daily and lays his body flat on anything vibrating so, as he says “he can hear the rhythm”.) So I have the whole spectrum.

Here is my game plane, and you can join me if you wish. Maybe we can keep each other accountable:-)
A Piano resource I am going to use is - Pianimals. Hey if you don’t have a piano, check Craig’s List we got a used one super cheap, but a keyboard could do in a pinch. If you can’t even do that, you could ask around and see if a friend or neighbor has one that you could use once a week. We use the classical composer study available for free through Ambleside Online to make sure we are listening to new and different things.

This last week a friend gave our oldest a recorder. Well, Hallelujah, he is finally interested in all things music. So I am going to use Young Beginner Recoder book for our introduction to recorder. Another homeschool blog I read recommended it, so I thought, why reinvent the wheel, I will use that. I mean it is a recorder people, not the harp. I just want to start something.

Pre step - before step 1 - Pray that God would bless your simple heart to infuse the sound of music and worship into your little crews life. He will surely bless it. You never know, you may have a Handel on your hands.

Step 1 - Turn off the TV and turn on the music. Come on you can do it , we won’t die:-)

Step 2 - Leave some “musicky junk” around the house. Recorder,small hand drum, glockenspiel, rhythm sticks. Hey take a field trip to a music store and wet their appetites. Give a kid a pair of rhythm eggs and they will be set for hours.

Step 3 - SCHEDULE IT! Really people, I am talking to myself, I need to plan that sucker in, or as history proves, it wont happen.

Step 4 - Download some good classical stuff to mix into all your current contemporary stuff. Get a good spectrum except for heavens sake country, don’t expose the kids to that junk. (I am kidding, if you all like that sound go ahead, I wont penalize you. I wont understand you, but I wont penalize you:-))

Step 4 - Relax, have fun, don’t stress about it.

Okay, Ready, set…GO!

There are my pithy tips for today. I know mind bending right.

Keepin’ it real peeps - Blessings to you and your crew today!

If you have not done this, you should check it out.

We toured a candy store today. They showed us how to make different types of chocolate candy, many of their cool tools and machines and learned that water is the number one enemy of chocolate. It turns it into taffy like a tootsie roll.

They even let us paint some chocolate portraits with food coloring.

The kids were very polite and well behaved. We left the store standing in one piece and took home a few bags of handmade candy. The owner of the store used to be a teacher for 22 years and then opened this store so she was very hands on. She mentioned how she didn’t know how we did it. How we could teach our own kids. I remember thinking the same thing, until I tried it. Now I couldn’t imagine letting someone else do it, at least not right now. This is my season, and I am taking them to candy store on my terms people!!!

Phew, I am glad I got that off my chest, I couldn’t really give her my home school 411 then, so I just smiled and nodded.If you homeschool, what do you say when people say that to you?

Peace to all who love them some chocolate in large handmade quantities.

Well, I never told you what we got Hudson for his birthday. Since we are big on giving meaningful, experiential gifts, we got him a 10 gallon salt water fish tank. We took a little field trip to the local pet store. I think it is so cute that Chloe and Hudson have their notebooks to take notes.

Last year, he received 2 Beta fish for his birthday, and sinse we are no where close to getting a dog, we thought a step up in fish life would suit our family well. So today is the day. You know, Carpe Diem and all that. We are taking the tank down to the beach and getting it all set up. Now before I get a slew of emails on why I shouldn’t do this because of PH etc. etc. Relax. I called our local salt water fish store and that is what they do for their very own tanks. If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for us, plus I don’t want to spend a bazillion bucks on this little ecosystem.

Once we fill it and add the sand, rocks and shells, we have to let it sit for about a month. Then the little fish and crabs can enter into their new home. A friend of ours has one in her kitchen and it is so pretty. I am calling her for pointers. I just had the idea but really didn’t know much about the whole process. Kind of like me to decide to do something before I really know all there is to know about something. I do a lot of things on heart, which is a good thing because if I knew what it may cost, I would of never taken it up in the first place. Good Gravy that is another post in and of itself. Now I am a little overwhelmed because the fish can be pretty expensive. Thankfully, it is a small tank and we are getting small fish at about a dollar a piece and a few hermit crabs for the same price.

Look at this little guy. They say they are super special because whoever catches them, tattoos them with little symbols or numbers. Imagine having a fish with a heart on it in your tank. Too bad these are fresh water guys.

I will keep you posted on our progress. I am just praying we don’t have a wet sandy mess in the car today…I mean other than the kids of course.

Peace to all fish enthusiasts today~

Today we started work on our core subjects early so we could spend the better part of the day at the beach with homeschooling friends.

We really got some nature study under our belts today. It always amazes me how children will play for hours with nothing more then their hands and a ton of sand.

We found seed pods, and drift wood, and various kinds of leaves, and shells. It was a glorious day, and we all are better for it.

They dug so deep , the sand changed colors and water filled their holes. It was a fun day of discovery.

and so bit by bit, we move along in our great big homeschooling adventure. The amazing days far outweigh the hard ones. It is more fun then a barrel of…well you know the rest.

Peace to all and a little fun and the sun to all my northern friends.

We had a lovely week outside now that the weather is so pleasant. We read In the Small, Small Pond and observed the pond near our home. This year I purchased the book, The Natural World Through Children’s Literature: An Integrated Approach.

It has really enhanced our nature study and gives me some great ideas for break out activities in the afternoons. One of the things it recommended was taking samples. So we did in some recycled baby food jars from a friend.

What has 2 eyes, a body like a dragon fly, feet like a duck, is the size of a tiny dragon fly, swims and yet appears to have wings? WE DON’T KNOW? We found it in our specimen and at first we thought it was just moving in the sample due to our shaking it. Now after a day we have found many living things in our sample. It is like a mini pond in a baby food jar.

Just a few fun things we are adding in this year. Enjoy~

We are using Child Sized Masterpieces for our art study this year. This whole pack, made my life much simpler in that I didn’t have to recreate the wheel. I must say ALL of the children love to paint, and you know what…so does their Mom.

(Our youngest is REALLY getting into it and focusing his attention on the detail. This is a new thing and of course must be properly documented for all grandparent types who will be duly amazed.)

I am self taught, so I don’t produce amazingly technical work, but I enjoy what I do and create. That is half of it right? Come to think of it…..I am self taught in almost everything I’ve ever loved to do. Music, art, photography, house reno, sewing. I mean isn’t that real life, you find something you love, and you figure our how to do it? Read a book or a blog and get to work. I am not saying I would give myself heart surgery or anything, I am just fairly confident I could do anything I put my mind to, given enough time and resources. Remind me to tell you the time my Mom and I re-tiled our shower. It was so much fun, anyway I digress. I am not being snooty, I am just now figuring out at 34, that this is my personality and I am not ashamed of it, no matter how much people tease me about it. (Wow - where did all that come from - back to Roden)

(Our daughter in her third outfit of the day consisting of ALL of her favorite colors, is documenting her work. Kind of like her Mom.)

I usually do art study, music study, nature study and science experiments in the long afternoons. We all look forward to  the change of pace. This term we are studying Roden.

(Hudson knows the drill and is setting up the tripod. I actually didn’t need it for this but, the thought was nice. He LOVES that thing.)

The man loved flowers. My 7 year old didn’t really want to paint flowers, because they are “girly”. I said the same thing I always say, when he gives me that line. “Just do the best you can”, and I walk away. Well when I came back, he had created the most lovely, almost impressionist piece of art. He was beaming with pride at what he had produced. Currently, our walls are covered with some of my paintings, but after today I think our kids will be covering our walls with their art. I see another trip to Goodwill. No more art paper, we are moving to re purposed canvases.

So don’t ditch the fine arts at the end of the day. It doesn’t take hours and hours of time. Use some well made resources and find a new artist to love today. I think after this term, we all are hooked on Roden. Man could PAINT!

Piece to all artists today!

One of the greatest treasures of homeschooling…..

is the ability to observe your children, and REALLY get to know them. Not to manage them, or cart them around, or teach them, or discipline, or train them. As parents, we can get so busy in the “business” of raising kids, that we schedule our way right on out of it.

Every day, I get to know these little guys as real live people, who think and talk and have opinions, and who are being called by God. It is amazing. Most people say to me, “I don’t know how you do it?”. They must think I am super woman. I am here to say I am not. This isn’t easy, but nether would sending them off to school now would it? Are you kidding me? With all the fund raisers and early morning rat race rush, and homework that you would probably teach them how to do anyway, to me it seems simpler to stay home.

This is what I love the most, getting insight into them as people, so that I may partner with the One who made them. I KNOW I wouldn’t understand them as people the way I do now, if they were away in school for 7 hours a day. I would ask their teacher, and she would tell me. All these little inside conversations that they have are my little gifts to keep for ever and not someone else who wouldn’t really treasure them the way I do…and trust me I do treasure every one.

Grace and Peace to all~

So we are rounding the bend on our first month of homeschooling this year. I did have to go clean up a few summer messes that are typical. Handwriting went out the door, so I had to do a quick refresher. We are back on track with beautiful print and numbers all facing the same direction.

Year 2 is a jump from year 1 in terms of material, as it should be. I am totally in love with Math U See and Mr. Steve. Jackson loves his math lessons, and I have no stress in terms of conveying the material properly. Jackson is convinced that I need to send his work in to Mr. Steve so that he can see how well he is doing. I said I would check on it! wink

The kids started their special activities and their homeschool PE class. All of it is gelling nicely. Our youngest is getting all of his particular needs met with our helper who comes in 4 days a week for 2 hours.

I am finishing our core work just right after lunch and life is good.

Peace to all those working at home today~

You have to understand our 3 year old.  He is as loud as he is big.  He is VERY exuberant, so when he finds something new and exciting, the whole world will know.

How his discovery didn’t leave with all of his racket, I will never know.  I actually believe he had it cornered and it didn’t move a muscle out of pure fear. It was fun for me to see too, as I have never seen one ether.

MOM, I FOUND SOMETHING AMAZING.

A BLACK LIZARD WITH A BLUE TAIL AND YELLOW STRIPES. COME QUICK! 

I have been tickled pink this year, to see our little guy start to settle down, and find things to occupy himself. Things that interest him and amaze him.  He particularly likes to take things apart with screws, so I have to watch him on that one. Today he was outside in the courtyard, working away on his stump ( I will explain that one later) , when he ran in with great news of something new to him.

He found this.

I did a little research and we discovered that it is a native Florida skink.  I had to use their photo, as my camera lens fogged up because it is so darn humid here today and the picture was fuzzy

Peace to all skink finders today!

Fun with Flowers: Today we dissected a flower.

They had great fun, looking at all of the little parts and I found a fun game online to help them identify them.

In our little homeschool, we strive to get all of our core work done by lunch, so that our afternoons are free, for fun and interesting pursuits, like this flower dissection. I see a microscope in our future. In fact, it sounds like a great Christmas gift.

So, now I am off to pursue my own interests, as Mommy has them too. I think I will create a sign that says “Shhh, do not disturb, Mommy is playing.”

Peace to all discoverers today~

In our home, over the years, I have tried to keep a special table set up just for the kids to interact with. The last 18 months or so, I’ve let it slide, so I am bringing it back. I am doing this specifically for our youngest, who is 3 turning 4. This is a very special time of wonder. I did this for our older two, and so now, I am doing it for him.

My COGS training inspired me to create a prayer table in our home, that would allow the kids to interact with God on their level. A child under 6 or 7 can not read the bible on their own, they have to have it read to them. But they can interact with the word of God through things that remind them of stories that they are learning, and center their mind on God in a way that is helpful for them. (Hint - this is why I am big on worship playing in our home. The kids can be with God, without my needing to facilitate it.) I have been scoffed at by some, for this seemingly silly table, but again, I don’t care….I just keep pluggin’ along. So here is our table, currently.

Many pieces of art - conveying beauty from around the world. Some purchased, some made by myself or the kids. It is good to create beautiful things.

I leave a timer on the table so the kids, can just sit and think and be silent for a minute. You would be amazed at how much a child loves to sit and watch the sand fall through a timer. This helps my very active, youngest boy, sit still for three minutes without moving a muscle, all on his own. In this I hope to teach them that silence is a good thing. To listen, and not speak is a valuable skill.

I let the kids make small flower arrangements as a symbol of their work. Doing your best, as a gift unto the Lord is a wonderful life long lesson to have. Even the smallest things are precious to the Lord.

I leave lots of natural, nature items on the table. About once a week, this jar of shells is opened and spilled out on the carpet, just to look at. I love to see them find their favorite one, over and over again.

This is a “vintage” needlepoint of an old church I picked up at Good Will for $2.29. I love it, and so do they. If you look closely behind this piece, you will see a few canvases that are “primed out” and ready for some new art. I am just waiting for the inspiration. I pick them up super cheap at Good Will. There is also a picture of a Peruvian boy and the cross. All of them, just adding to the sensory story I am telling.

Lots of books….. (I have to find creative ways to organize my husbands theological library)

and hand made art by the children are proudly displayed…

and baskets to hold, all the little things I find on the floor throughout the day. It helps me stay sane. It is a special treat, to look through it at the end of the week and say “Oh, there that is, I’ve been looking for that!” and off they go for another time of play with some little bobble.

From time to time, I will leave beautiful picture books that I find at the library, sometimes, the picture Bible, some sand tracing cards with new and interesting words. My parents in law have a wooden carved sign that says Jesus. Hudson loves to run his fingers over the letters and trace that precious name. So I need to find one. If you have an extra one lying around - could ya send it to me?

Our youngest spends the most time here. It is his space, and he doesn’t even know it. I made it just for him, and I pray that he finds a special piece of Jesus here as he wonders about all the beautiful things that have been made for him to enjoy and all the wonderful things that we have created to give.

My hope is to keep it interactive and changing all throughout the year, with new things to look at, smell, see, and interact with, all pointing to the reality of the Risen King.

So go make your own table and send me a picture. Don’t worry about those that think you bizarre. You have a special purpose in mind.

Peace to those who are thoughtfully parenting today~

We had a great 2nd week at school. Time moves along steadily throughout the day.

The kids finished up today, with a little loud joyful worship dancing. (Their idea, not mine.) They have seemed to gravitate towards Matt Redman’s song “You Never Let Go”. I just realized as I was adding this link, that this song echoes the 23rd Psalm that we are memorizing this month. I don’t think that is a coincidence.

So I thought, I would leave you with a few questions I received this week:

• Mom, how come if I have 2 eyes, I only see one thing?
• Mom, can I paint?
• Mom, why is the sky blue?
• Mom, can I paint?
• Mom, why are there always dark colored people riding in the back of trucks and never white people?
• Mom, can I paint?
• Mom, can we have a dog?
• Mom, why are there starving people in the world? Can we send them some of our food?
• Mom, can we worship, and I sit in your lap while you hold the guitar and I do the strings?
• Mom, can we read some more of Pilgrim’s Progress?
• Mom, what does “redeemed” mean? Mom, what does “deemed” mean?
• Mom, the wind is really strong right now, can we fly the kite?

Can you guess who asked what? So I am off to fly a kite.

Peace to all kite flying enthusiasts today~

So I am wondering out loud here. When I first even thought of homeschooling when Jackson was a baby, Mike and I didn’t want to do it alone. We had hoped in some small way, that we could do it together with other like minded families in the area. Maybe even families that would be a part of our faith community.

Now, in our particular church context our kids are the youngest right now and there are many homeschooling families in our church but they are all high schoolers. They all do tons of things together, but that isn’t something we can take part in. I have tried the local Christian home school group and it is very clicky to say the least. There is something at a local church, but you have to be in upper elementary to participate.

I was just saying to a friend, that next year I would love to have one or two days a week, where I invite some other families over to do some co-op stuff, just for our kids to be able to interact with others and learn something in a larger environment. Then my sis in law sent me this link and I sighed and wished that something like that was here.

One of the down falls of a home school environment, is that you are Mom/teacher/ and everything else. So you children react to you in a way that they probably wouldn’t in a traditional school environment. For instance, our daughter would excel and go way above and beyond if someone else was teaching her something, and when I do it, I get “Mom, do I have to?” Um, yes my dear, you do!

So I am a bit ticked, sitting here at 6am, frustrated that I didn’t run, wondering why I always end up having to start something? Seriously, can’t there just be something already established and going? Ugh - I am off to change my attitude and have a brilliant day!

Any like minded, homeschooling, kingdom minded, missional church living, families with young children are welcome to move here and join in the fun. Umm, it is warm here year round and we have the beach.

I have realized 2 things.

1. The summer allows tons of time for children to forget what they had down so naturally a few months earlier. I am hoping it will come back quickly. How do I negate this in future years? Is that even possible? I did a small amount of school this summer but obviously not enough.

2. It takes much longer to school all of them, then I originally thought. Hopefully, they will get into the flow of it and so will I. Hudson is my interrupter. I HAVE to work on that for sure.

On another note, I had the “littles” arrange some flowers for our school table. I got our new lens, which will take some time getting used to. More excuse to work away on it:-)

Peace to all those who are putting one foot in front of the other~

perfect penmanship (trust me for a boy this IS perfect)

and puddle play.

Ah yes, a perfectly splendid, orderly, efficient, yet gentle, done by noon, day of education. I was TERRIFIED that we wouldn’t fall back into the routine, because no matter how hard we tried this summer, things just kept getting postponed. Well, today, it was like riding a bike. All cylinders firing, and happy children. Oh Happy Days! Now, tired children will be going to bed early and we will hit it out of the park again tomorrow. I am doing a serious happy dance.

Peace to all Homeschoolers Today! It’s going to be another great year.

“I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks

as if they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes,

but also by the aggregate of the tiny shoves of each honest worker.”

~Hellen Keller

I am off to accomplish my humble task. Pray with me!

are on the way! I can’t wait. Here is our book list for year two.

I splurged and bought both the audio cd version and the written version of Pilgrims Progress.

This summer we did school a bit. Math, reading and a few family read out-louds. Heidi was a favorite. We got through half way reading out loud, and then found the audio version from the library and finished up listening to it.

Now, to assemble our handmade Book of Centuries and off we go again. I CAN’T WAIT TO GET STARTED! I feel like I need to lay my clothes out and get all my pencils in order.

Peace to all book lovers today!

(Sorry, this is a bit long and I don’t blame you if you skip it but it is my blog and my process so I write it my way. Live with it peeps!)

Little did I know that when I started this thread on Homeschool Scheduling, I would end up with a 5 part post on the topic. It has been very good for me to review all that God has done as I prepare to dive into our second year. There was no accidentally doing this, or just throwing things together. There has been an underlying process all along the way that has been shaping my thinking and my practice. So now you understand a bit more about our family and how we have come to this part in our journey and how I am able to do some of the things I am going to do this year.

Firstly, I have 3 children all roughly 18 months apart at 3 entirely different stages developmentally. They each need something different and because their abilities are so stretched out, one reading and writing, one staring to read and write, one just starting to hold a fat crayon, I realized a few weeks ago, that next year would need some sereious scheduling on my part in order to make sure that they all are getting what they need developmentally. I started to see, that I needed to be 3 places at once, and didn’t know how in the world to do it. I was falling asleep one night and had the thought, I wish I could hire someone a few hours a week to help me manage the three stages. So Mike and I had a talk about it and reviewed our budget and decided that that would be a perfect plan for this year.

I think as a child begins homeschooling, habit training is one of the most essential skills needed in order to move into successful life long learning. That takes time and focused attention, and to be honest, my youngest has not had enough of my undivided attention because our middle is starting to read, and write. Our oldest is reading and writing well, however, I am still doing most of his school reading because with AO you typically read several years above their skill level and don’t transition independent reading over to the student until about year 4. So I have 2 more years of having to meet three very different needs, and now because of the miracle of our budget, I am able to hire someone to come in a few hours a week, to implement very specific goals for my youngest, along side all the work that I am doing and overseeing with the others. We are also able to have our 2 oldest attend a PE program for homeschoolers in our area one day a week, while I have our youngest do a gymnastics class where he is working and interacting with his peers. So I will be running a 4 day week of schooling, with the 5th day being PE and doing art/music study and nature study in the afternoons after their quiet times.

Some of the practical things I will stick to, is morning schooling for our core work, done by lunch time leaving afternoons for “specials”. This ensures that we are all at our brightest and ready to move through our material. There are days we will have to do some things in the afternoon, as we did this year, but I am honest in saying it is not ideal for attitudes etc. so for our family, the morning is the best(getting copy work, math and reading out of the way first thing).

To make sure we all are having healthy boundaries (mommy included) as we all move along, we stick to a firm quiet time for all of us mid day. This allows us all to have some time to ourselves, to think and play without anyone else grabbing from us or directing us. We can sleep, or read, or pray and talk to God, or build or create, just as long as we are by ourselves for 1 hour each day. I am also making strong efforts to be up 1 hour before the kids so that I can exercise and be prepared for the day ahead. Getting each weeks materials ready before the week begins, so I don’t have to rely on the computer and the ringer turned off on the phone, helps us all stay on track. I am realistic that this is the ideal and that many days I will fall short of this, but I will just get back on my horse the following day, and get back at it again. There is no perfection in homeschooling, only trying to do better then the day before and you will stay the course.

We will start our school day at 8:30 with everyone doing a little poetry, memorization work and bible immersion (I hate the idea of bible stories. It seems so trite and contrived so instead we are immersing them in a thread of theological and biblical content. I’ll post on that later) . Before that, we will have breakfast, and do general chores before the day begins.

From there the older two will have a little copy work at the table. I am teaching them both cursive at once, and then back track and refine Chloe’s print skills the second half of the year. My youngest will do some patterning work/sandpaper letter or tracing work on the floor with our “helper” .

Jackson will “watch”/do his math lesson with “Mr. Steve” with Math U See (Golly I love this program - it takes all the stress out of it!) The littles will go to the kitchen and have a math lesson while preparing snack. Counting grapes, plates etc.

Jackson will do 20 minutes of out loud reading to our “helper” and I will do 20 minutes of reading with the littles using 5 in a row curriculum. Then a snack break and a quick bit of outside time. After that, I will move on to reading with Jackson some of his lessons that require narration and the Hudson will do some fine motor skill work with some of our Montessori materials and Chloe will watch her math lesson. I will then do a phonics rotation cycling them all through a 10-15 minute time of one on one time with me as the other two work on putting lunch together with our helper.

Before lunch we will all clean up our school work, say good bye to our helper and then have lunch and quiet time. In the afternoons I will teach them as follows: Monday piano lessons, Tuesday art study, Wednesday Nature Study Thursday Latin lessons and Friday library outing to get books for the next week.

There you have it. I’ve decided it is too blooming hot here in the summers, so we will probably do a yearly rotation of 3 months on one month off, because honestly, more then one month off gets boring for all of us. That way we have break months during the most beautiful weather all year. So, I will give this a good dry run starting in August and tweak and adjust as needed. I’ll keep all you good people posted!

(Hey don’t let any of this stress you out! If you are thinking of homeschooling or your kids are younger then mine relax. You grow into this for sure. Your first year is just trying things on and getting in to a good habit and routine. I always say, if you can read a recipe and bake a cake, you can homeschool. It just takes a little discipline and you grow right along with your kids. Deep breathes, excellent resources, patience with yourself and your kids and a strong support network will get you on the right track.)

Okay class, any questions? Anyone, anyone, Behuler?

(OK - who are we kidding here? I will get to the schedule when I get to it. If you haven’t yet, read the other 3.)

At the beginning of this year, we began preparing to go to Peru for 5 weeks. Through a combination of people giving spontaneously, and inventive money raising ideas(we rented our home out as a vacation rental for 5 weeks), me homeschooling and Mike telecommuting, we were able to go to South America for several weeks to be a part of a conference that friends of ours were preparing for national pastors there. We had no idea how this time would go. God sharpened our vision, renewed our hope in what He is doing here in South Florida, and spoke some new things.

Once home, we finally did our taxes dreading the outcome. We thought we were going to owe thousands of dollars and were not sure of how in the world this would all work out. I was actually dreading it. However, much to our shock and amazement, we received a refund that paid off almost all of the remaining debt we held. A few weeks ago, we were also contacted by a lawyer advising us of some mortgage relief that we are eligible for that we had no idea was possible. Our van is one payment away from being paid off, and it looks like by the end of the year, the last bit of the debt will be gone, our current home will no longer be upside down, and our family is right were we always wanted to be. Me at home, with a peaceful, non- stressed environment( well as non-stressed as 3 littles underfoot all day can be) and living well within our means, so that we can afford to be generous. It looks like it will take 2 full years of faithfully taking one little step in front of the other, following Jesus, to get us back to square one on paper but light years ahead in the kingdom. Really and truly being obedient one day at a time, leads you into greener pastures and beside still waters.

In all of this, God has been calling me to be even more available and present to the kids. Things like setting up boundaries and schedules that will protect our schooling time are a must for us. Little things like no computer and no phone calls during day time school hours are simple little tricks I throw into the mix. The reality is, if I am not able to be present here, listening to what God is saying each moment here in my little homeschool, I will not be able to minister anywhere else with any authenticity. The kids and myself for that matter, do really well with morning scheduled time, so if it works why mess with it? I am also learning, how to have guidelines, to help myself get alone time, insist on each of our children having their own alone time, and rediscovering what I was made to be, outside of kids and homeschool. I wont be a homeschooling mom of 3 littles 15 years from now, so I keep working on me outside of them. (Shocking I know but Moms must have something other than their kids and home to occupy their time.)

So, now you see why the schedule I will give you tomorrow has been a long while in coming. This schedule was bought with a very high price tag and it is very dear to me. As always a work in progress, changing and morphing to fit our needs. It is very specifically a tool to keep us moving forward, allowing me to observe our children and listen to the Father while staying connected and present the entire year as we move along in our sweet little God given homeschool.

My first year homeschooling was all about observing. Trying on a few things, seeing what fit and what didn’t. Watching the children interact, and learning what they need emotionally, spiritually, physically and cognitively. No one else will do that with as much love and passion as Mike and I will. Now, as we move into our second year I feel like I know right where I am going and how I am going to take us there. I have found some lovely resources that line up perfectly with our families overall schooling plan, and I can’t wait to see where we go over the next few years. Follow along~ it is going to be a wicked good ride!

Really cross my heart a schedule will be on tomorrows post:-)

Peace to all this day~

(Read the other two people!)

So, it was almost the minute we picked up the clue phone, said we missed it, asked for help, took responsibility for how we had gone wrong and were willing to make drastic changes in order to be obedient, the cloud began to lift. Mike and I could almost feel it. It was if we were back in the flow of God’s good graces, and the wreckage around us wasn’t a big deal. We knew, somehow God had good plans for us, and that doesn’t necessarily mean a positive checking account. Nothing changed with our finances. But we stopped trying to make it all work. We just said, this doesn’t work and what ever it takes Amber is staying home and pouring into our children. Heck - homeschooling wasn’t nearly as scary as possible bankruptcy. I called our Montessori school and said, we wont be back. They were gracious enough to work a payment plan out with us. This was in Feb. I had three months to start working out what the heck I was going to do with homeschool that was authentic to us and our story. (a VERY important part for any homeschooling family). We put the Mercedes up on a lease trader site and waited to see if anyone else would take it off or our hands.

I was praying one day and I just got this impression that within the week the Mercedes would be gone. I told Mike at lunch and he said, “You know it is funny, but I got the same thing today.” Later that day we got a call and within a week it was gone. I had to pay them 4k to take it off of our hands, but trust me I was happy to do it! Mike and I tease and call it blood money. The clouds were lifting and all I could think was “IT IS SO GOOD TO OBEY!” No matter what obey people it always ends up right.

Our other town home was still rented, and leaking, the kids were out of school so we now longer had that payment we did not have the Mercedes any longer. Our budget was starting to come into alignment but we were still leaking and upside down everywhere. But I started to school our kids in May. It was then that we met our Realtor who gave us the tough news about the reality of this market and what stood ahead of us. She was the one who taught us about short saleing, why we needed to think about it and why holding it as a rental was a bad idea. We drastically reduced the price and within a few weeks had an offer that the bank accepted and we were able to get rid of that part of our budget.

We still had the debt but at this point Mike got a raise and we were happy to only have the 36k in debt and nothing else. We were starting to be able to breath and for the first time in almost a year we were living within our budget and not leaking onto a credit card. In the midst of all of this, whenever I got stressed about where we were at, I would think, “This isn’t my job.God said he was rescuing me. He will do it.”

For the previous 18 months, I was rarely present with our children. And previous to that, I was too infant/pregnant tired to be available to anyone. I was always somewhere else, talking to someone else, doing something else other then being with them. I was there in body, but never in mind, or heart. I was ether striving or trying to escape. They felt it too. I was too stressed to enjoy them. No matter what, I was going to be with them and no where else. When Mike and I went into “ministry” we made a conscious decision to never put our kids on the alter of “ministry” and after this whole episode I was now convinced that I would never put them on the alter of building a business ether. They are our kids and our most precious resource and I wont hand them over to any else to shape or mold them and I wont do anything that doens’t allow me to be present enough to observe what they need. No matter what.

So it was then that we decided, in order to balance our debt load that we accumulated over the previous 18 months, we liquidated our kids college funds in order pay off half of the balance. It was one of the hardest and most freeing things we have ever done. We skrimped and saved pennies to put into those funds, and it was now, that we realized, God will cover them every day of their lives. They will be okay and when we need money for college it will be there. Right now, we needed to get rid of this debt so that we may pay it off in 5 years instead of 10. That brought our debt down drastically, our budget was solid and in the black and I was learning every month how to weed out bad parenting habits that crept in over our time in the barrel, and how to build a little home school that nurtured what God was doing in our family.

So at the beginning of this year we were down to 16k in debt, only a few months left of paying off our van and living within our budget for several months. A strong pattern of financial discipline was forming. One of the things that happens when you are that far gone in debt with no way out, you tend to not care at all. The thinking being oh well what is another 100 bucks on top of mount everest. Now, we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We still live in a townhome that we bought at the hight and it has now dropped 150K from what we purchased it for, but we are a step closer to getting out of debt, and then God surprised us again.

Honestly, tomorrow I will put up a schedule. I am on a roll now!

(If you have not done so, please read my previous post. Or not, you can do what ever you want but this one will make a heck of a lot more sense if you do!)

So when I finally came to grips with the idea of homeschooling, I realized that I had been gently led to this point. I honestly don’t think I would of ever gone for it, if I hadn’t been forced to. You see, 2 of our 3 children went to a very prestigious Montessori school in the area, that I was able to work a “deal” on barter to get them in there. Basically, they owned me and I was their slave but that is another story, and I henceforth have determined to never enter into another situation like that again. I now know, I can give my children every bit as developed and appropriate education as any private or public school for that mater, but I could not see that then.

We live in a very affluent and expensive region in the country. Bottom line, we didn’t make enough to live on, since moving here 7 years ago. So I have always worked up until 18 months ago. There was no option, and some of that time, my business income was our only income, as ministry work in our field does not pay. So, I worked during all of our pregnancies, up until the day before delivery, had c-sections all three and went back to work 2 weeks later. Every time. When you own your own business, you don’t work and you don’t eat, so I just put on a happy face and was happy to have the work. At that time I taught music classes to moms and young children and had tons of families that I was servicing. Somehow along the way, I realized that everyone else’s children were getting the best of me, and our own dear children where getting the bottom of the barrel so to speak. So I was open to doing something else but what?

We also, were moving, and moving and moving. Playing the leap frog game, working our way towards moving our family into more than a 2 bedroom which doesn’t work well well with three kids and one that was hurricane safe. So in the past 7 years we have moved 5 times, heaven help us. We hope to be here for a good long time. The almost laughably ironic thing is, our children all still sleep in the same room because that is what they have done since birth. Even though we now have a 3 bedroom no one actually sleeps in it unless we have overnight guests.

In the midst of this, another business came along. Out of left field really, but after Mike and I prayed about it, we decided to give it a go. Now for all of you skeptics out there, we felt like God lead us into it. It was very important training in how the actual culture we live in here works. I have whole new perspective and compassion for the masses around here and a deeper way to pray but I am getting off topic again. Sorry. Anyway, It was actually a network marketing business with a company called Arbonne. As far as business goes, I am pretty good at building things. So, before I knew it, I had a huge business and made close to 50K a year and drove the company car which happened to be a white Mercedes. (OK - really I drove our mini-van and Mike drove the Mercedes) Honest to Pete people, I just looked around 12 months later after starting the business and said, “How the hell did I get here.” Yes is did say hell, actually I may of said something else but I digress! Just because you are good at leading and good a building doesn’t necessarily mean you should do something. We only wanted to make a few hundred a month with this thing, and then it was bringing in as much as my husband, and you know what - “IT OWNED MY LIFE”. My phone rang off the hook, the end of the month was a stressful day every month and I had the pressure to bring in X amount to meet all of our bills. I wanted to stop one business so my kids got my best, and now I was giving them even worse then before - not to mention I felt like a consumerists sell out and the high maintenance aspect of our lives made Mike and I SICK - SICK - SICK! You know what, I wouldn’t trade any of it. I learned so much about myself, about good business, about what I really want that I wouldn’t trade any of the past several years.

Remember I said 18 months ago I was in the midst of watching a business dying a miserable death. My entire Arbonne team were Christians. All of us almost simultaneously felt like God was calling us to lay down our Arbonne businesses. It was actually quit hysterical when we all started comparing notes. I am not sure many people knew how bad it really was. They saw we drove a white Mercedes, lived in a new town home, our kids went to private school and thought we had all the money in the world. 18 months ago was the peak. We hit the glorious wall so to speak and we were asking for forgiveness for being duped, and thankfulness that we unlike many others had Jesus to fall back on. So Where did we go from there?

I said “Wow -God we have made a real mess here. We moved before you said go on some things, and now we are stuck. I was trying to provide for us, instead of trusting that you ALWAYS give us exactly what we need.” From then on, I let go and said, “I will trust you.” I knew somehow that as Mike and I began to work through this horrifying mess, we would learn so much, and gain so much out of it. I knew we would be paying for our mistakes for many years to come, so we just prepared to take our medicine like good little children. I some how deeply knew that pain, although hard, isn’t bad. I knew this is also part of our training and formation into Christ likeness.

So just in case you are lost, 18 months ago, I was left with a business that instead of bringing in 4k a month was bringing in 10% of that, my children were in a high priced private school that was killing us with tuition, we had a townhouse that hadn’t sold and were floating 2 mortgages and, 36K in credit card debt and oh yeah, I was stuck with a Mercedes lease that I couldn’t get out of. Remember God said “He was rescuing me.”? He wasn’t kidding.

So, I know, I know, you are saying - enough already - when do we get to the blessed schedule already?

Tomorrow friends, tomorrow.

Wow I kind of feel like Mr Miyagi. Peace to all Daniel-son’s this day.

I have had a few requests recently on how my typical home school day goes. The first thing I would like to say is that, nothing is typical in homeschooling. That is what is so great about it and what makes it equally as hard. I thought I would spend some time writing a few posts on the very thing, so that I may more completely “own” the reasons why I feel we should do and not do the things we are doing in our sweet little homeschool here in sunny south Florida. If you have read my blog much at all you know that we use the Charlotte Mason method for homeschooling via Ambleside Online and I am heavily influenced by Maria Montessori. For those of you who know who those people are, you may understand me a bit better, and if you don’t know who those people are, no big deal. Google them and you can learn a bit but it isn’t important for this story necessarily. After having a full year under my belt, there are some things I have learned and many things I have unlearned. This little exercise will give you a bit of a glimpse of that from my view point.

As I began thinking about this, I was thinking about the road that brought me here and how it has shaped and continues to shape what we are doing as a family that schools non traditionally. The story starts many, many years ago, but I don’t need to start there for you all. I only mention that to say, there is always more to every story then these few inscribed lines. I distinctly remember 18 months ago, sitting here at this very computer, feeling the most depressed, stressed and overwhelmed I had ever felt. (I will tell you about that in a second.) I was crying out to God again for Him to lead me and guide me. I remember shifting slightly in my seat to grab something on the floor, and felt like God said, “I AM RESCUING YOU!”. It was not audible but it was as clear to me as my own breathing. Have you ever read the story of CS Lewis and how he came to faith in God through Jesus? He said he went out for a bike ride to the zoo. When he left his home, he did not even believe in Jesus Christ and when he got to the zoo He did. Just like that. I love how the Holy Spirit can give you almost instant understanding of something that up until the point of his supernatural working, it is fuzzy and unclear, and then in that moment it becomes as clear as crystal. In that moment, I realized some how I had gotten lost and off track. I was out in the thicket somewhere and the Good Shepherd was coming to find me. (Oh how I love the parable of the Good Shepherd. I am always that little lost sheep who is being found. Maybe you are too.)

So why was I overwhelmed you ask? Well to make a long story short, we were in a state of utter financial disaster. Firstly, the town home we are now in, we unfortunately bought at the highest point in the market, without having our other home sold. We took some time praying about it before we moved to this current home, and felt like God said to move, so we did, and then we continued to wait for him to deliver us. We continued to try to sell as the prices fell and fell and fell, and then finally, because we had no way of covering 2 mortgage payments any longer, we rented it out and hoped the market would somehow rise again. Well, we all know were the market is now. A few tenants later, and a marvelous real estate agent who really educated us about the market and were it was going, and how we may move forward in our current situation, we “short-saled” that home and were free from the financial burden of it. I know you are thinking, “What does this have to do with homeschool schedules?” You will see!

At the time of sitting at the computer we where unable to sell the now seemingly “cursed” previous home, and I was sitting with a business that was in the throws of dieing a miserable death. (Maybe I will tell you about that business some time, and how that story shapes what I am now doing, but not today dear friends. Read on!) We were in so deep, I saw no way out. We now had 36K in credit card bills (thanks to trying to hold the house) and I had a business that was no longer “viable” and our budget was all based on my income coming in. When I no longer had an income coming in, we found ourselves leaking 2k a month in our monthly budget. Now you know why we had the 36K in credit card bills. No we were not buying boats or Prada shoes or anything. It was in the midst of this reality, that I heard God say he was rescuing me and that I needed to just let go and stay home with the kids. I knew down deep that we all would be better for it and that the next season we were entering into was one of discipline.

Wow this is getting good. I love how God makes “beauty out of ashes”.

See you all tomorrow~

Well, We did get the garage cleaned out. Well, about 97%. The remaining 3% are the three boxes I need to sort through before I bring the stuff back in the house. They are sitting in the center of the garage so I can not park the car in the garage until I get it done. So maybe this week it will happen!

We did get our family pics rehung after Peru and added a few new ones. I found some frames for a great price at goodwill so I am adding all the fun family pics that you are supposed to have around the house. I also am painting out my re purposed recycled canvas frames.

For my birthday, my father in law painted me a Peru door picture that we have a photo of. I am happy to have a piece of his art in our home. This is it!

Today, we go for our home school evaluation. My portfolio is together and looking oh so organized. It actually looks like I know what I am doing. Pray for me.  I will keep you posted.

Peace to all today~

Do you teach print or cursive first? Internationally, typically cursive is taught first. Some progressive public schools in the states are teaching cursive right out of the gate in kindergarten. I’ve read different studies about it and didn’t really have a strong conviction about it, one way or the other, until this morning.

Jackson learned print in his Montessori preschool before he came home for home school. They actually preferred the idea of teaching cursive first, but went with print because so many kids left them and went to public school. They needed to make sure kids where doing what was normal here. They mentioned how it was easier for most children to learn cursive first. I never really thought of it, but think of it. All the starting and stopping. Picking up their pencil every stroke. Especially for a boy who doesn’t like to sit still in the first place. It must be very frustrating.

I must say, He has hated writing this whole time. His concentration and fine motor skills have really developed this year, and he was able to write “pretty” print writing but he was constantly frustrated, with b’s and d’s and reversing letters here and there. For about 6 months he has been asking to write cursive. I have held him off, because in my mind, I wanted him to have mastered printing before we tackled a new skill.

A few weeks ago, I lamented a sheet that had all of the letters on it both print and cursive. I would put it on the table as he was writing for him to reference hoping that it would help him with the letter reversal and alleviate some of his frustration. So the other day, I gave him his copy work and asked him to put his name and date at the top before he began like always. When I came back, he had done it in cursive, all by himself.

Today, I actually said “OK Bud, today you get to write in cursive.” He did all of his copy work (several lines) in cursive with very little help from me. When he was done he said, “Mom cursive is so much easier! I can do it faster and it looks better. They all have a little hook that tells me which way the letter is supposed to be facing so I don’t write any letters backwards.” Not to mention he felt like learning cursive was a signal that he was no longer doing “baby” work but beginning to do big kid work.

In hind site, I think I should of started him with cursive earlier. The reality is, he will be moving to typing in a few years, and do much of his writing work, via the keyboard. Is it that important to have gorgeous penmanship? I mean (no offensive honey) my husband’s handwriting is horrible and he is 35. Moving him to something that is less frustrating and gives him success and confidence, in my mind is MORE important than doing print work because that is what everyone else does.

What do you think. Should we start with cursive first?

Jackson~ 6.5 years old

“Mom, why do they have a k in front of knife? It doesn’t make any sense! It looks like it should say ka-niffy. I am just going to erase that k so it makes more sense.”

Me “Jackson we can’t erase the k. The word is knife and it is spelled with silent k in the front.”

Jackson “Why did they do that Mom?”

Me “That is a good question son. I really don’t know.”

Do any of you know? Is it a Latin root or something left over from old English? While I am waiting for your pithy responses I will go Google it and see if I can figure it out on my own.

Peace to all confused spellers today~

Today we read King Lear. You may be surprised to know that we LOVE Shakespeare.

However, we decided to do it at the beach!

We had to mix up all that tragedy with a little levity. I scheduled my homeschool evaluation with an old family friend who helped pioneer the homeschool movement here for the end of April. She was also our wedding coordinator, so I am excited to get her take on what we are doing. The fact that she loves Susan Schaeffer Macaulley is a huge relief to me.

On our way to the beach, we passed an officer who had pulled a young kid over on his bike. They boy was on his cell phone and the cops were obviously checking to see why he was out of school. I felt like rolling down the window and yelling, “I’d skip school too with a day like today.”, but I didn’t, I acted like a grown up. Shocking I know but there are days I rise to the occasion:-)

Peace to all~

Today I tried an experiment.

I spontaneously took the kids to an Art Gallery to see what piece of art they liked the most.

We all survived and so did the gallery.

I gave the children instructions on how to behave and that they should not run, or shout. The woman briefly scanned us as we entered.

Hudson liked a textured piece painted with a knife. He was desperate to touch this very expensive piece of art sitting right at his level. I practically had his hand in a vice grip to which he was non to pleased. Chloe liked the bright bold pieces, very modern, of flowers. Probably because it had hot pink and flowers in them. Honestly, it was my favorite piece too. And Jackson didn’t really have a favorite he liked them all, which to me, was code for, I am not very “in” to this Mom but I will humor you because I can see this is terribly important to you.

So, for the first time….we did OK. It was only about 8 minutes, but we did it and plan to do it again.

I know, I know I am behind the times with face book.  Hey it wouldn’t be the first time.  I know several homeschool high schoolers who read my blog and I thought of them when I found this on face book.

It cracked me up and thought they might find it funny too!

Here is how I  built a composter for less than half the price of those pricey mail order ones.

Step 1: Purchase a plant tray that will accept a  5 gallon bucket with room to spare.

Step 2: Drill several holes around the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket.

Step 3: Fill half way with some compost from your local garden center.

Step4: Add your red wigglers. They are the best worm for effective, speedy composting. 

I bought these online and they arrived in about 2 days. 1,000 should get you moving along nicely.

Step 4: Thoroughly wet your mixture and store in a cool place out of direct sun.  The sun will fry those little composting worms, so keep them wet and out of the sun. Begin adding your organic contents from your kitchen and within a few weeks you will have your own home grown “black gold”. I bought a lid for my bucket, so that “little” hands will stay clear of  it, and to make sure it  does not dry out.  There is no smell. This is a small mini version of what agricultural missionaries are doing around the world.  Helping move people towards sustainable living at the same time creating cleaner, healthier living conditions.

From time to time, water your compost and the “tea” that seeps through will drain into the surronding pan.  This is what you will use to fertilize your plants both inside and out.

We live in a small town house planned community and have no yard.  I plan to put the compost in my potted plants and a small window box garden.  Once my worms have multiplied, I will drop a few of them in and around the soil surrounding our town-home.  The boys, I am sure, will use a few for fishing, and of course, I can share the wealth with any of my local friends who want to start their own composters.

The kids are having fun with this one!  It is a great learning tool! So what are you waiting for people?Get Composting!

I am a little late to the game with this but am hopping on board in hopes to deepen our family nature study.  In yr1 I have really worked on habit training, basic skills and learning an overall family rhythm to homeschooling. So things like artist study, nature study, foreign language and music study have been a “catch as catch can” as my father in law would say. There but not scheduled, more just when we thought of it.

Now, I am planning for these things within our homeschooling week and am excited to have someone giving a little structure and many others participating so I can learn.  Let’s face it, when you home-school, Mama’s are usually learning new things right along with their kids.  Most of us didn’t get this type of education ether. I also plan to read  Pocket-full of Pinecones in conjunction with this to inspire me along.

Shh, Look who came to our feeder last night. 

Enjoy the beautiful day!

• 5 in a row and the books that go with it.
• Laminated World Map for the wall. 

 Well, I thought I would try this again.  My new friend has an abacus for me and is sending it my way:-)  Isn’t blogging/social networking fun!  I have made many new friends and relationships through this blog and it never ceases to amaze me how people find me, and how I find them. 

So - I have decided to use 5 in a row for my youngest 2 starting this summer.  Any Diva out there have it and the books that go with it they want to pass along?  Also a laminated wall map or know where I can get a non-laminated one for free?

 I will pay for shipping and swap you something as well. 

a table abacus and  a world globe they don’t need anymore.  I need them and thought I would throw it out there before I bought them new.  I’ll trade you something for them and pay for shipping.

Trying Craig’s List too.

 Be sure to check out the lunar eclipse tonight.  We gave the kids naps so I hope we get  to see some of it tonight!  They will probably fall asleep before most of it, but we are going to give it the old college try.

I finished up How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  After we finished that book, I discovered that we needed a much deeper phonics understanding, so we are using Phonics Pathways.  We have really enjoyed it, including Jackson.  It has helped me see that he is a very mathmatical thinker.  This book has helped him understand that reading is like math,  using sound and blend combinations.

I love how the book gently eases you into dictation and the game component is a fun element.  If you need a bit of help with phonics this book will help you get off on the right start.

I have the pleasure of serving the children this week with Jeff and Carol Morgan.  Let me just say that these jokers do not mess around.  You want to find out about how to create sustainable living for your own family, spend 1 hour with Jeff and Carol and you will be dreaming.  I have been wanting to have an in-home kitchen composter for years now.  I have done online research and havn’t really found what I thought would work for our family.

In about 5 minutes Jeff shared with me a cheap, simple and effective way of composting all kitchen waste.  I can’t wait to start when we get home.  I have been thinking through now for some time, how to begin developing sustainable living.  How does a typical suburban family pull this off, practically?  I don’t even own any land, except about 2 feet around 2 sides of our town home in a planned development.  Can I do this with no land?  Well, yes, and people all over the world with very little space are doing it and doing it well. 

As Christians, it is something that we need to seriously look at.  Recycling, using less consumable paper products like paper plates etc. are important issues that I don’t think most people think about.  I guess it depends on your theology and your exposure to the rest of the world. Are we not as Christians to be renewing this world, as we wait for The Father to bring about total renewal? I tell you what, no one in Peru uses paper plates or paper towels.  You even have to bring your own TP when you are out and about, and it isn’t necessarily a conservation thing it is a cost thing.

Anyway, my mind is churning with thoughts about this, but here is another helpful resource that may help you just start thinking. Jeff told me about ECHOa ministry in SW Florida that is fascinating.  I plan to take the kids over for a homeschool field trip.  I see earth boxes (homemade) or maybe square foot gardening in our homeschooling future.  I may not live on a farm, but darn it I am going to have  a garden. 

We decided to hire Lucy to give us language lessons while we are in Peru.  We thought it would be great to jump start our language study because I am weak with that at home with our little homeschool.  I figure if we get a good dose here, I may keep up with it at home.

So this is Lucy.  She will come to our house three times a week to teach us Spanish.  She was the first person the Styrons met here 4 years ago and lead her to the Lord.  She is a treasure.  She is now studying other languages and hopes to become a translator I think.

This is Chenoa.  She is one of those people who you meet and are instant friends with.  She was the person who gave me the courage and the encouragement to home-school. When Mike and I finally said ”yes” to homeschooling she was one of the first people I called. Her three kids are amazing and I love their family. (My kids love her kids too - in fact when we say “The Styrons” are coming over, the say yeah and name off their kids.)

I will be gathering other pictures during the conference of all of our friends so you can put a name and a face together.  More later!

I found this great site that gives you step by step instructions on how to make ice cream at home. It is also a great science lesson.

I intend to do this once we are home from Peru.

A Tesla Coil!

Jackson loves this science website.  I had no idea he was actually local to us.  We found the site at the beginning of our homeschool journey and he watches the experiment of the week all the time.  

 So it was great fun to go see Robert Krampf at our local FPL plant.  He had  a blast seeing him in person; plus we learned more about lightening and lightening rods.  It all tied in nicely to our studies of Benjamin Franklin.

I am embracing my time with our children.  It is a precious gift.  People ask, “How long will you do this?” and “Doesn’t this overwhelm you?”. When they were all 3 and under, I was loosing my mind.  People would ask if I was going to home school and I would almost go into hysterical laughter.  Then they grew a bit more independent and I came to realize I LOVE being with them and I just quit fighting God and asking every one I knew what they thought and just said “Yes, Lord!”  Those are 2 very important words for me. I think I will get them tattooed on my person somewhere!

Being present to them, with an overarching plan and vision for where we are going, is probably the most fun (yes hard but anything worth doing is hard) I have ever had.   So I leave you with some goodies from Ms. Mason.

“Now, that work which is of most importance to society is the bringing-up and instruction of the children - in the school, certainly, but far more in the home, because it is more than anything else the home influences brought to bear upon the child that determine the character and career of the future man or woman. It is a great thing to be a parent : there is no promotion, no dignity, to compare with it. The parents of but one child may be cherishing what shall prove a blessing to the world. But then, entrusted with such a charge, they are not free to say ‘I may do as I will with mine own.’ The children are, in truth, to be regarded less as personal property than as public trusts, put into the hands of parents that they may make the very most of them for the good of society. And, this responsibility is not equally divided between the parents : it is upon the mothers of the present that the future of the world depends, in even a greater degree than upon the fathers, because it is the mothers who have the sole direction of the child’s early, most impressionable years. This is why we hear so frequently of great men who had good mothers - that is, mothers who brought up their children themselves, and did not make over their gravest duty to indifferent persons.” Charlotte Mason, 1893, “Home Education”, pages 1 & 2.

We have been reading  Our Island Story  and Jackson loves it.  So far in year one of AO this and Trial and Triumph are his favorite books.  He runs to the couch when I say we are going to read some out of one of these two books.

Today King Arthur created the round table.  While reading the story the knights got into a huge fight at a great feast because they couldn’t decide who was to sit at the head of the table. ( The highest place of honor.)  While narrating Jackson said “The knights  had a  huge food fight because the couldn’t talk kindly to each other and figure it out.” He was kind of laughing as he said it, almost as if it seemed so absurd that grown men could fall to such silliness. 

I giggled to myself.  I am having a blast today with my kiddies. We are off to do some nature study!  Enjoy the great outdoors today!

Our family has done a really good job this year of not getting tripped up in all the Christmas madness.  We have intentionally not been busy.  We are still making time for friends and neighbors and we have been very modest in our spending for Christmas.  Because we rarely watch network television (our children watch none) we haven’t seen all the crazy Christmas ads and I am blissfully unaware at home during the day of outside happenings.

That coupled with my desire to help our children grab hold of the joy of giving I have been thinking through some things we can do together.   I am considering having us make some special pictures to deliver to a local assisted living facility with maybe carnations.  The children have so much fun delivering special treats to neighbors near by, I thought I would make it a big deal and prepare a whole day of giving for us.  I don’t want it to take a ton of money to pull off or be stressful in anyway to prepare.

Have any of you done something like this or have any ideas?

Today we just finished As You Like It by Shakespeare.  We both agreed that we enjoyed this play more than Midsummer Night’s Dream or The Tempest.

I feel like mid way through term 2 we have all settled into a consistent rhythm and Jackson is becoming very confident.  As a Mother, it is incredibly exciting to see your child gain a confidence in something.  Short, consistent, daily lessons have given way to a joy for learning that is amazing. 

He is reciting his narrations fluidly and accurately.  Just in this last few weeks, his writing and copy work have gone from a frustrated scrawl to a beautiful script.  I gasped today when I saw his work.  I asked him twice if he had really done it because I was so shocked.  He has obviously found joy in doing his best without me nagging.  It just came out of him.  It was so much fun to witness his accomplishment and the joy in his eyes when he made the choice to do it on his own.

Today, when he had finished his narration I complemented him on how well he had done.  He said “You are doing a good job too Mama at schooling.”  I asked him what he meant and he said “I mean you are doing a good job at training me.”    Now that has to melt a Mom’s heart.

I was happy to hear that he is enjoying this process.  The reality is, I am not doing anything earth shattering.  I just stick to the readings, ask for the narrations and give consistent, short, daily lessons. No more, no less.  He is building his own connections and the joy he is finding in doing it is priceless.

Check it out!

This morning we went to another children’s theatrical production.  This time we  enjoyed seeing the Velveteen Rabbit.  At the end of the show, the performer showed us all how she made her puppets and some little tricks she used.   She said she used cereal boxes to create shadow puppets.  That was all it took to inspire  the kids to make their own puppets and tell a story.  The ceral boxes are being cut as we speak.

I will keep you posted on their progress.  A good friend suggested starting with Aesop Fables, so we will get a few stories together to present to family at Christmas.  Oh - what fun!  I can’t wait:-)

Now I must go because my 6 year old is begging me continuously to read another chapter in The Indian in the Cupboard . This is a good one!:-)

Peace to all~

Today the kids and I will be digging and planting.  My grandparents live about 10 minutes west in a rural area on tons of land.  We are bringing out a few plants for the kids to plant with their PaPa (Great Grandfather).  Then we will record their progress in our journals regularly.

We get to  grow lots of things, plants, memories with Great Grandparents and deeper relationships with those who have walked many steps before us.  I will post some pics on our nature blog later today.

Enjoy your day~

Well, Friday was a tedious day with school and I figured it out right as we were finishing our last activity.  It was clean up day.  Finish up math, do a little phonics, finish copy work etc. etc.  Typically our day goes a bit like this.

Wake up and make our beds get our selves ready and head down stairs.  We eat a little breakfast and have our devotions as we eat.  We review our memory work, pray review our family rules when needed and sometimes do poetry all over breakfast.  (They eat slowly in the morning) Then we clean up and read our first selection, do copy-work, read some more, work on math, read some more do some phonics have a little snack, play outside, read some more on the bench out front, have our quiet time and then our lunch. 

Well, last Friday I had finished all of week #15’s reading and we had finished our extra reading and hadn’t made it to the library to get any more literature so we were stuck with finishing up the tedious stuff.  So, when this happens again, I will keep moving ahead into the next weeks selections to keep feeding little minds with wonderful information.

I got a little too systematic and we all missed out. 

Homeschooling that is!  Many kids that are part of our church family have just started their homeschooling journey.  So we had  a little “old skool” kickball in the green space near our home. Everyone can play from 3 - 33.  Yes dear friends…I played and had FUN!

Jackson is learning the fine art of tagging someone out.  The “littles” were missing this concept.

Mini-Divas play kick ball too!

Do I stay or do I go mom?

Kicking is fun but running is better. 

All his running benched this little guy.  Trust me folks that is hard to do. 

We finished the game with high-fives all around and headed for the pool.

A cool refreshing dip after a good game.  Yes I know it is almost December but it is still CRAZY hot here. All my little chickadees were sleeping soundly by 6:50.

I remember ages ago thinking how fun it would be to homeschool with friends.  Little did I know that between blogs and other online sources I would not be alone but many families homeschooling around the world would be encouraging me along the way, giving me tips, pointers, and encouragement.  Now I have a ton of local friends homeschooling too.  I feel like God has given me such a special gift.

Peace to all kick ball enthusiasts today!

Our dear missionary friends from Peru gave us a hand made creche last year.  We will be staying with them for the month of February as we teach, train and serve God’s people in Peru. Please pray for us.

They found it up high in the Andes by Lake Titicaca in a city called Puno.  Yesterday the children asked why “baby Jesus” was in a little canoe.  I got to tell them how the people who live there lash reeds together to create floating islands.  The weather is hard and cold and the altitude is very hard on their bodies.  Imagine living in a cold wet environment your whole life.  Be thankful for what you have today and where you live.  There are people all over the world who live a very hard life.

I have a 3 and a 4 year old rambling around throughout our schooling day.  I have found several activities to keep their busy hands…well busy if you know what I mean.

Our children love to be in the kitchen and our youngest is no exception.  A “cutting work” is always one of his favorite activities.  Bananas, cheese, watermelon and cucumbers  are all worthy candidates for beginning cutting activities.   For my older children I may try this though.

 Today, I let our three year old spread natural peanut butter on his banana slices.  Focus, control, attention to detail and fine motor skills all come into play.  Plus a bonus, he is getting his own snack.  He was very proud of himself accomplishing this skill…and I was very happy to have him busy.

Our children are all born about 18 months apart.  They have basically done everything together their whole lives including sleeping in the same room.  Big news around here….we have just made the switch.  Our daughter now has her own girly room and the boys have “the boys” room.

In my own quest for making quiet space for myself daily, I have been thinking through how they can get their own quiet space as well.  Everyday we all have a few moments to be by ourselves.  This has become especially important now that they are not napping anymore.  They can think about their day, ask God questions (especially ones that I don’t have the answers for) read, act out stories with figures quietly etc. etc.. Basically anything quietly (no noise) in a room, by themselves. 

This month I began in earnest giving them all 20 minutes a day.  We are now up to 40 minutes a day and are working towards the hour mark by the end of the year.  The boys still grumble a bit on the way up the stairs but Chloe almost runs for her alone time.   Jackson is fine once he gets going and Hudson still calls out every ten minutes or so…”Mom is the timer off yet?”

So we work our way along together, honoring our time we share together and valuing our quiet time alone.  Small simple habits add up to big changes over time.   Every month we weed one “not so helpful” habit out and add one “challenging but beneficial” habit in.  It takes, time, patience, and consistency. 

So I have done it!  I have stopped making excuses about the layout or setup of our home, or the age of our kids, or how close they are in age.  I just decided I am willing to do this hard work because in the end it is worth it.  We will all be better for it.

My 6 year old and I are just beginning to dip our big toes into dictation.  Dictation is a process whereby you write out a sentence for your child.  You give them a few minutes to review it for several days, possibly even a week.  Then you read the sentence back to them and ask them to write it out exactly the way they remember it without looking at the original text.

This accomplishes a few crucial things in one activity.  Spelling, grammar, attention to detail and focus all come into play.  I think the biggest thing I like about the process is the mind training that happens.  Your child has to train their mind to focus and think on something even if they don’t want to or like to.  That is a good life skill and discipleship skill to have.

Jackson and I have started on 3 and 4 word sentences.  He loves the game aspect of it.  As I find out what motivates him and how he enjoys learning, I get to play to that.  He loves to challenge himself with new things so this is fun for him.

 These are seriously good times people!  Can you tell I am enjoying every minute?

Last week we did our oral reviews on Monday and Tuesday and had an off week the rest of the week. Daddy was able to participate and see how much we are learning. It was fascinating and exciting  to see how much he is retaining. 

At the end I asked an additional question. “What is your favorite part of homeschooling?”  He said, reading, copy work and dictation.  I asked him why and he responded with, “I keep doing it a little bit everyday and now I am really good at it.”  Reading and writing were not some of his highlights as we began.  Now he has the confidence to go for it.  Yet another benefit of homeschooling with short lessons. A little bit everyday accomplishes so much.

Dictation is one of his favorite activities.  We are starting slowly with small three word sentences but he enjoys the process.  Tomorrow we are off to see a production of “The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe”.  We are excited and will post pics then.

Have a great day~

Anyone read anything from Wendell Berry?  Good stuff.  Makes you slow down and meander awhile.  I started reading Berry when I heard Peterson recommend his work. If Eugene  recommended  it I thought it would be enriching.  Peterson says whenever Berry mentions “farmer” think pastor and when he mentions “farm” think church.  Yowzah! That will give you some food to think about.

His work makes me think about time, and how to use it.  How to be rooted in one place, connected to the land, honoring the Creator for what he has given me.  Time to unwind, relax  and learn to be in one place for a long time, with the people around you for a long time, with your daily life laying down tracks in a given place.  I think we tend to keep thinking of the next thing, or the next place or when………well you know the grass always seems to be greener.  Guess what. It’s not.

So I am working on not looking around at everyone and everything else.  I am looking down, enjoying the space and the day that has been given to me, working “the land” I have been given and thoroughly enjoying every square inch.  So today, enjoy the space of time and land you have been given.  Even if it is hard, if you slow down a bit and ask “God what do you have for me here?” you will find a treasure trove that is just for you!

Peace to all~

Step 1:  Be prepared.  It is a lot more fun if you do.

Step2:  We light a white candle.  It is a symbol.  It reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world and no man can come to the Father except through him.

Step 3:  We play classical music in the background.  The more senses we bring into play the more deeply the brain holds what ever information they are learning.

Step 4: We read the Bible out loud.  The King of kings moves among them, meeting them where they are at, teaching them his mysterious ways and sparking their imagination.

Step 5:  After I read out loud, Mommy stays quiet.  Shhhhh Holy work is being done.

More to come. Enjoy your day~

Next week we begin week #12 of AO year 1 cirr.  We will then have our oral exams.  I am adding some grace and courtesy things in to the exam but for the most part will use what AO prescribes.

I have done a good job of staying on target.  It is amazing how flexible we have been with our schedule but still been able to stay in task with what we need to finish in the way of course work.

Overall we have had a great beginning.  I am still weak on foreign language and hand craft. We will work on that in term #2. I have mostly been doing painting and cooking in the kitchen for all three as our handcraft.  Our youngest (just three this Sunday) is happy as a clam with his Montessori style practical life works.  Our daughter jumps in and out of lessons as she is drawn to them.  She always sits through her older brothers literature readings an phonics Lessons and requests some of her own too.  She also loves her MUS primer.  Our oldest just read “The Story of Ferdinand” by himself yesterday and giggled the whole way through.  He was so tickled that he was reading a real book and not a “learning reader or phonics lesson”  afterwards he said, “Mom can’t I just read a few pages of Ferdinand everyday instead of having a phonics lesson?”  We only have 20 left so I want to finish them through so I have the experience of teaching it for our next children. 

I love how well rounded the entire course cirr is.  How everything spirals into each other.  It is one masterpiece that is being painted in front of your child, from history to art study to what is going on with Gods People. I am not tweaking anything but doing what AO has prescribed completely and that is why I love it.  I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. ANYONE can do this, really!  Honestly, I am not a trained teacher.  I never liked to play teacher as a child.  I hate busy paper work type things.  In my mind I thought that was what homeschooling was.  I laugh at myself now. 

If this blog does anything, my prayer is that people on the outside looking in would see that you really can do this. So that is my term one update! Thanks for all the encouragement along the way and for everyone who pointed me in this direction. There are too many to name, but I am deeply grateful to all.

Peace to you on this rainy October morning~

October 19th at 9am.  Trying to beat the heat that just wont quit! They thought they could help the turtles by digging a nest for them. Not quit sure it works like that but the thought was nice!

My mother in law sent me this article about the University of Florida’s quarterback. 

It is about his life growing up with homeschooling.  It was encouraging for me to read and thought it may be for other homeschooling moms too.  It is a big picture reminder.

Enjoy~

Our first home school field trip with our local PEC group was so much fun.  My dear Mom watched the youngest children so I could go with our six year old alone.  It was such a joy.  All I could think of as I heard his cries of wonder and enjoyment was, “This is why I am homeschooling! This could of been experienced by some teacher fresh out of college.  She would of barely noticed because her class room is too crowded and she isn’t making enough money to live here and my little treasure would of been lost in the cracks.”    It was a very fufilling day.

I also connected with another home school Mom who is using AO for her daughters YRS1 and 4 so I am thankful to find a local resource to bounce things off of.  

Here is Jackson with the figures of the Astronauts.  I think it is so sweet how he is holding the big ones hand. 

This is the device that projected the images on the planetarium’s dome.  They were beautiful and Jackson was mesmerized.

He could of stayed all day at the science games. 

He asked if this was the name of some Pharaoh out of a book we read a few weeks ago.  It took me a minute to remember who he was talking about.   I said “No, just a small child sized mummy.”  We wondered who it was and how their life could of been.

All in all it was wonderful. Go explore something new in your community this week.  It is a BLAST!

Well, everyday is read out loud day here, but it REALLY is today.  5am and it is raining, and raining and raining.  It has been raining consistently for 10 days now so the kids and I will snuggle up with some good books today.

I am very excited about The Lion Tree that Ruth Willms just sent me.  I started reading it out loud yesterday to the kids and they are hooked in Chapter 1.  It is a fiction book based on the facts of Jonah, Job and Queen Esther.  It has the feel of Chronicles of Narnia so I will keep you posted on how it goes and do  an in depth book review when we are done.

Peace to all~ 

Vacation was nice, but it is good to be home.  Hudson is 100% potty trained and dropping naps so my life is a bit different these days.  Because they share a rooms right now, they don’t have individual places to have quite time.  I have been experimenting with different ways to have them quietly working and playing together during the mid day so #1 they have down time and more importantly #2 I have down time.  We live in a townhouse with no yard so we have limited space. 

I came to a realization this week.  Because our kids are super close in age, they all feed off of each other and it may be this way for ever I don’t know.  The youngest wants to be like the oldest, the oldest wants to be like the youngest, the girl wants to be like the boys and the boys want to wrestle so the little peanut of a girl is always getting bumped too hard. They all fight to sit on Mommy’s lap for family reading and the reality is they all can’t fit at once anymore.  When a “take turns” policy in enforced, crying commences for what seems like hours. I can’t be three places at once and three children speaking at once for some given food product, even in quiet voices can be deafening.  

I find myself extra tired these days without Hudson napping.  He is all boy and a mile wide and can wear out a Saint.  Let’s just say at Sea World he WALKED most of the day, all day, and didn’t nap and had the energy that my older two together don’t have.  So I am getting geared up for the week with a trip to the Planetarium with our local PEC group.  Hopefully a good nights sleep and a good dose of vitamins will give me the “umph” I need. I will post picks if I have the energy.

Any thoughts, tips and encouragement would be appreciated:-)

Peace to all~

My thought was to do a little school each day while we have been away at Sea World.  Firstly, I forgot my computer so Kim and I have been sharing one and secondly, WE ARE AT SEA WORLD!  What was I thinking?

We have  loosely read through our literature and listened to some extra reading in the car thanks to librivox. Life is learning and petting dolphins qualifies as a bit of school if you ask me.  Not only that, we have been experimenting with tons of nature photos around here.  I will post those soon.

We pray all is well with you all, where ever you may be.

Grace and Peace to you.

I am happy to announce that I am hosting the second Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival. It will be centered around music/composer study. We would love to have your submissions no later than October 1,st by 11:59pm. The carnival will be hosted on this site on the 2nd and you can submit your entries here. I look forward to learning new tips from everyone.

We don’t get to see the leaves change, but we are going to North Carolina for a dear friends wedding and hope to catch the change. To celebrate I made sweet potato pancakes.  We are also off to Sea World for a week of fun and education.  I will be posting pictures of our time there throughout the week.

 So part of my whole process is letting my artistic side get back into the game.  Like I have said before I have been a little out of whack these past few years, so I am getting back into painting, experimenting with photography and learning how to build this dang word press website if it kills me. (Trust me it is a creative process too!)  So I am participating in a weekly photo hunt.  I have wanted to learn how to work with digital photography and I  am the type of person who does well with a tangible thing to shoot for.   All you Northerners, go run through the leaves for us!

Peace to all!

Yesterday the children and I went to a local wildlife center to enjoy God’s creation together.  I took an entire photo journal of our time so check out our nature blog.

RELATIONSHIP! 

I don’t say that lightly.  I mean that deeply.  Maybe it is because pursuing relationship is extremely important to our family as a whole. Not just with our children but with real live people who walk and talk and have issues and need healing and need friendship.  Mike and I have always wanted our home to be a haven for anyone that God has in our life. The fabric of relationship that is woven here is more important than my routine or the things we have in our home.  The house is just a tool for the real living that is happening.

It is important for us to immerse our kids in a lifestyle of building into people in a natural, non-programmatic way. They don’t understand why we always have people over in our home, or why Mommy stops and talks to neighbors a lot or why we throw parties.  Lot’s of parties. It is just part of their life. 

Tonight we had our neighbors over for dinner.  This is the first time we have actually had neighbors that said “yes” to us.  We’ve asked before in other neighborhoods but no one would take us up on it.  It was lovely, relaxed, natural.   All of our children stayed up late playing.  Very late by our normal bedtime standards.  But I could do 2 things.  Stick to the schedule because it is more important than diving into people, or two, ditch the schedule in preference of relationship.  We ditched it!

Because of what it happening with the economy, none of use are moving anytime soon in our neighborhood.  For that I am thankful.  I am digging in and looking to build bridges all over in the neighborhood.  So our children will sleep in tomorrow.   I will start schooling a little later.  I will choose to have a lighter load tomorrow.  I don’t have to jump through hoops tomorrow to get them up, dressed, fed and off to school by 8.  Life is short!  Minutes pass too quickly.  People (even the little people who live with you) are too valuable.

The afternoon was young, the sky was clear, the water was calm and we had set our course for adventure.  We watched the horizon anxiously in hopes of viewing our destination.

The waterway was our own.  Not a soul out and about.  The only noise we heard was the loud hum of the motor and our own laughter ringing out. We had set our course on the “high seas”.

“Land Hoe” was the cry! There it was…our island destination.  Our little oasis sitting proudly, surrounded by the clear, cool, blue waters that gently and graciously rippled up on its shores. 

Quietly our craft glided into port.  For a few brief moments, the only sound was that of the water lapping up against the dock.  The familiar in and out motion that fixes these times deeply in our minds and in our hearts.  The sound that is synonymous with life on the sea.

We greeted the locals who had been anxiously waiting our return.  They stood as sentinels, observing island visitors with both curiosity and fear.

The lush tropical foliage gives little relief from the heat.  Its fronds lightly waving in the breeze applaud our arrival, cheering us in our exploration.

The long awaited moment of using new birthday gifts was finely being realized.  What would be found under the beautiful, blue ocean?

Schools of fish dotted the surface of the water like soft rain and with a bit of fear and trepidation, underwater fish and wildlife were observed.

The sun hung low in the sky, signalling the end of a glorious water adventure.

As we boarded our craft and headed for home, the sky displayed a spectacular show of corals, pinks and oranges.

Before the stars made their triumphal appearance, the sun fell like a fiery ball, off to greet lands unknown. A final farewell to a day well spent.

I want to instill in our children the love of story.  It is one of my main homeschooling goals. It is probably one of the main reasons I love the Ambleside Online website so much and the homeschooling curriculum found there.  It is packed full of wonderful literature and a well thought out and laid out plan for introducing our children to the love of not only learning but of really good stories.  I think that skill is pivotal in their holistic formation as disciples of Jesus too.  His story is so powerful and we are part of it living it out in this world.   If we can immerse them into His powerful narrative, not just facts, and memorized verses, but the whole redemptive plan laid out by God, they will  be guided well through this life. Their faith wont be something that their parents adhere to, but they will be captured by it and hold it as their own.

 I have just  read Charlotte’s Web out loud to the children.  As an adult I find it a profound narrative that blesses me deeply as I read it out loud to our children.  As I think about this book and others that we will read with our children, I am inspired by the power of good story telling.  It is something I aspire to improve at. 

Imagine, an ugly runt that wallows in manure all day, destined to death, is saved by the smallest most insignificant creature who writes amazing messages that inspire the masses.  These messages are actually counter cultural to all that people thought a pig could be. This small creature shames the wisest in the barnyard and preaches messages of hope that actually teach Wilbur his worth.  In her death, Wilbur’s life is saved and he is able to continue to spread the original message of hope.  Sounds like a radical concept that might just change the world. 

It makes me start to dream.  Dream of how I will be able to relate things of the kingdom of God to our children, using this beautiful story as a reference point for them.  In this story, hidden meaning of the kingdom of God is revealed and that is the power of good narrative! Thanks E.B. White.  You told  a darn good story!

We love the library.  We are on a first name basis with the librarian.  We check out our home school books for the week, a few Spanish children’s books and an appropriate DVD. 

Some time ago, we checked out Rescue Heroes for our youngest.  He adored it and I KNOW we returned it to the library. At least I think we did. He asks for it all the time.  The library can’t find it and we have renewed it 3x hoping it would pop up. It hasn’t.  We have torn the house and van apart looking for our lost item:-(  So now the library said, I could pay for it with them at the cost of 24.95 with a 4.95 processing fee. WHAT…do they think it was made of gold?

So I just reordered it today on Amazon for 4.91 with 2.95 shipping.  Once I receive it, with the shipping and late fees, that I can’t stop until I produce something to them, I will have about $9 in…$13 if they charge me the processing fee.  Much better than $30 don’t ya think.

I guess it is bound to happen, but it irks me!  I guess we do borrow hundreds of dollars of books a week from them, so one missed item isn’t a bad track record.

Have a little fun in the kitchen with some food coloring.  Simple science, math and even art can be accomplished all around the family kitchen with everyday materials.  Our youngest two are learning how to create colors by mixing  primary colors together. 

step 1. Begin with a bowl of oatmeal.

Step 2. Go over the color wheel with your children and have them choose a color for the oatmeal.

Step 3. Add the color to your oatmeal.

Step 4.  Allow your child to stir the oatmeal (with as little help as possible).

This makes morning breakfast an educational experience.  Enjoy!

Children learn new skills differently.  It is very interesting to me how our children have taken to reading.  Our oldest is reading wonderfully, however, isn’t drawn to do it on his own.  He will in time.  Everyday, we do a phonics lesson and, of course, read out loud tons throughout the day.  He is my snuggler and loves the cuddle time.  Our daughter is a “worker”. She loves to give love and receive love by helping or doing something.  Everyday, she begs for me to teach her to read.  (She is just a new 4.) “No more sounds Mom that is for babies!  I want a long line of words like Jackson with a picture!”  I thought, I will patronize her and give her a one of Jackson’s reading lessons.  (Note to self - never patronize children when they are earnestly wanting to learn something new!)To my wonder and amazement, she got it all.  My mouth was hanging open…honestly.  I was shocked and then the other day, I figured out how she has learned to read so quickly. 

Everyday we do a phonics lesson on the couch with her older brother.  The other children are nestled around somewhere.  She seems to wriggle around and get perched above us on the back of the couch so she can have a clear view.  I couldn’t’ understand why this was so important to her.  It was a distraction to me…her fidgeting with the curtains and  bopping around.  Last week I made her get down and sit on the floor and she wailed and wailed.  Again, I am thinking, this isn’t a normal response.  So the other day I actually picked up the “clue phone”.  I told her she could sit quietly behind us but she couldn’t be a distraction, and Jackson and I continued with our lesson.  Half way through, Jackson paused for some time at a word, “sheep” I think. From behind we hear this little voice say “sheep”.

Um - “Hello”!!!! - She had been piggy backing on Jackson’s lessons everyday, without me realizing it. 

So I salvaged my hard week last week on Friday by making sure we had “Something to do, something to think about and something to love”! 

I actually took “the show” on the road and went to our favorite park located adjacent to a marine rescue center.  We did some of our lessons in a favorite forest that shaded us from the heat!

Doing narration from high up in a tree always makes it more exciting.  We read Travel and imagined we were hunting for our own “deserted city”.  Mommy had fun too!

By the end of the day the children were back on track, happy and cooperative.  I think we all had cabin fever.  Outdoor time is so important and not just in your front yard but new places as well. 

It has been a long week!  Tons of crying, whining, fighting and complaining….and that was just me!

Lest you think I have this all under control….I don’t! I am ready for a “do over” and a start of a fresh week…get this train back on track.   Or at least those were my famous last words! Funny thing is, the “school work” is completed, it is the inter-family dynamic that was all out of whack.  I had to be on the phone more than usual this week with some stressful financial things.  Maybe the kids picked up on that?  Maybe they were just off, who knows?  I am waving the white flag and heading for the hills,  I am “tagging” my partner, I’m calling the reinforcements… well you get the drift! 

I am lovin’ the Daddy unit right about now and will be relying heavily on his loving diversion this evening and weekend and will need some  extra special attention from said Daddy unit. (”a hem” - that is a hint to the wonderful Daddy unit who reads this blog, who has yet to comment on this blog but never the less reads it) 

WOW two subversive hints in one blog - how did I get so good?

 Peace to all~

Here is a beautiful post on how to Learn to play piano on a shoestring over at Lindafay’s blog.  It is very inspiring.  I am a “do it yourselfer” so this really got me thinking about the viability of really teaching your kids to play piano.  I studied violin and piano for 8 years growing up at huge expense to my parents.  I loved it and it is so much a part of who I am now.  I have wanted that for our children and her post gave me the confidence to give it a go.  Isn’t blogging a beautiful thing!

Denise was so kind to interview me at her WAHM-Articles blog.  If you have time, and are inclinded go check it out.

If you are interested in driving traffic back to your website or blog, a great way to do it for free is through article submission or written press releases.  Consider an event that is newsworthy or a topic you would like to explore and write an article on it.  (around 500 words)  You then have the opportunity to list an author bio at the bottom of the piece with link backs to your blog or website.  These articles are then viewed constantly for addition to newsletters, blogs and other forms of online media.  Here is an example of a piece I wrote on building Christmas traditions.

I have been invited to be the “Resident Homeschooling Expert” at WHAM-Articles .com. I will be writing a monthly column about homeschooling, tips, resources and reviews.  I was very honored to be asked and am excited to add it to my writing mix.  I will be on the look our for great ideas and tips so if you have something that you think is newsworthy, drop me a line and let me know.

 Di Vinci was depicting two very important people and he named this painting Virgin of the Rocks.

Mommy, what is a virgin?  (ummmmm deafening silence)…….

And why do those  babies have such big muscles?  (again crickets chirping in the background)

I am all out of bullets on that one! 

Let’s get our math books out kids!

really, I  am not kidding. 

Let me tell you why?  I was wondering if this was really children’s programming or not.  Let me back up.  We are teaching the kids Spanish.  We are learning too of course and are using various methods of fumbling about with it.

We check out children’s books in Spanish at the library and read through them with ease and so I thought that a Spanish DVD looked good for teaching them some more.  I was wrong.  Not only was it cheesy it had a 20 something model in a skimpy dress and heels “dancing” around in circles while singing the colors in Spanish.  Honestly, I gave them about 5 minutes to see if they would move on.  Nope they didn’t.  Sexy, female in skimpy clothing teaching Spanish words to young children. That’s a winner?!

Well, let’s just say “no me’gusta”.

Bye - Bye

I am in my third week of homeschooling using the Ambleside prescribed curriculum.  This week both of my boys were sick.  I thought for sure we would bag school.  That was what I had planned to do because I was cleaning up vomit all day.  (That was fun!)  Anyway, I digress.  I realized between the cleaning and the rocking and the laying on the couch (they did watch a video that day) and the not getting out of their pj’s until noon, and the no real prescribed “school time”, they finished ALL of their lessons in 15 min segments throughout the day. 

It was incredible to me that 1) they asked for certain lessons by name 2) they did them in short increments and then went back to throwing up 3) they had fun and it kept their minds off of the sickness thing.  Can you believe it?  I still can’t.  They ask for lessons every day. What do I say…. no?  I don’t think so but what do I know, I am knew to this.   They don’t know  a weekday Monday from a weekend Saturday, so they just keep going.  At this rate we will be done with the math book by Christmas. Jackson is half way through his phonics and it is only the end of August.  I only read the chapters/selections that are slated for the week so they have to learn to think on that one piece for a week before we move on, despite their begging. (Can you tell they love the books?)

Really People….is this normal?  I am thrilled they are enjoying it but I am kind of shocked.   The other day, Chloe said I go to “Turtle River Montessori”  (her old school) and I said, “No honey you go to home school. ” She said “I do?  Where is that?”  I said at home with me and your brothers.  She said “I never have to leave you again?”  I said “Nope” she squealed, I smiled.  It hadn’t even occurred to them that all of these months we had been schooling. 

So what do you think of that?  I guess I just go with it….right?!  OK this is where all the older wiser homeschooling moms jump in and tell me whats up.

I have currently been reading “Hints on Child Training” by H. Clay Trumbull. It is a book written about 100 years ago by Elizabeth Elliott’s Great-Grandfather. It is a wonderfully pragmatic look at how to train you children with the “big picture” in mind. In fact, after reading it once through, I have determined to read it again. It has so many gems in it, that reading it once is not enough to assimilate all of Trumbull’s wisdom. Especially once you are passing through the toddler years and on into early childhood.

In today’s fast past world, child training is rarely embraced as a proactive way to help your children become fully functioning adults. This book hints at the wonder of parenting and the blessing of training early in life. It has been a valuable resource for our family’s thinking on parenting our children.

I think if parents were armed with this information early they would determine to live simply and make sure the stress everywhere else in their life is minimized.  Once you realize how the environment you create for your children forms them deeply, you will be careful to not let “mindless” things slip in. As parents, our  specific mindset of where we are leading our children is key to navigating the parenting roadblocks that inevitably arise along our children’s path to adult hood. It is a sobering thought to realize the weaknesses that will occur in our children as adults are due to our weaknesses as a parents when they are young. This is a must have for a families library. It is one of those books that you will highlight and underline and refer to often.

This year I am keeping a record of all of our activities digitally.  I am keeping a monthly project going with picaboo to keep all of our adventures organized and kept in one place.  I plan to scan certain written work that is appropriate and drawn narrations to add to the piece.  It will be a fun family keepsake. 

The children have one from the former preschool and they cherish it.  I wish to keep the tradition going without all the actual cutting and pasting.  It is a whole new digital world and I intend to use it like a tool.

 Grace and Peace to all,

I spoke awhile back about me learning how to have Sabbath in the midst of child training , homeschooling, house tending etc. etc. etc.  Finding daily quiet in my life for my own “souls formation.” This has been a process of learning something new.  I will say it has been very revealing.  I don’t presume to have this all together or even, that what God is leading me into is right for you in your current situation.  People who “know all the right answers and have it all together”, wear me out.  So you wont get that here, just an honest look at what I am now doing and how it is freeing me up and slowing me down. Firstly, let me start by saying that I see what I am doing in our home and with our children as my job or business.  Have no fear, I do not think of it that clinically. It is just one way for me to block things out in my mind.  I have the type of personality that really gives my all to the task at hand.  In business, you track and chart everything so as to improve your overall objective. So I am also, tracking and charting myself in this arena as well.  It is simply a way for me to have more information about what is exactly going on in any given day and where we can make slight changes to improve or be more free.  Read on because that statement will make since in a moment.

The first thing I addressed was the need for some “me” time without anyone else around.  Just me, my thoughts and God.  I realized in our family dynamic, I needed to wake early in the morning in order to carve that space out. Now I wake before the family at 5 to be exact. That means that my bedtime is pretty firm at 10 as well.  You may think that sounds intense or harsh, but the space it creates for my soul is crucial to doing well in every area of my life.  I now see this.  It is a good thing.

The second thing I addressed was my house work.  In order for me to think straight, I need to have an environment that is peaceful and non chaotic.  Three kids is chaos enough:-)  So I have gone to work on coming up with a system to better handle the chores of our home.  I affectionately call it the zone system.  I basically have found a rhythm of doing a small amount of laundry and deep cleaning 4-5 days a week.  It has taken all of the stress out of the upkeep.  It allows me to give around 30 minutes a day of my best to cleaning and then leaving everything else go until another day.  Teaching and training the children in daily household upkeep is part of our formation as a family who “stays home” together.

 The third thing I have addressed was my own personal “up keep”.  Working out has been the one “negotiable” spot in my life.  It always got pushed to the side in lieu of everyone else needs. It is no longer negotiable.  I have to work out 5-6 days a week, just for me.  Charlotte Mason refers to it as “mother culture”.  I call it just plain smart.  A cranky, out of shape, overwhelmed Mommy is no good for anyone especially herself.  This is where I see the daily consistency bear fruit over a long period of time.  It is an outward symbol of inner workings. 

These three things in combination open up the space in my life to just be.  Because I have already determined in my mind, when and how I will be faithful to daily tasks, I am open to hearing, being, moving etc. etc in line with what God is doing at any given moment.  This opens up the space for me to home school without stress or pressure on myself.  There isn’t anything else I should be doing.  I am not guilty or resentful because I haven’t taken care of me.  I am free.  This is where you will hear me say over and over.  FREEDOM WITHIN STRUCTURE!

So what does it look like you may ask?  Tune in tomorrow to see how it pragmatically works out in my life.

We had new friends over the other night.  Wonderful, wise followers of Jesus.  They have successfully raise three boys in their thirties.  I called the wife the other day with a question.  I said “Knowing what you know now, after raising 3 children, what did you do right and what would you do different?”

 You know how hind-site is always 20/20. I really wanted to know what their experience has taught them.  They had some wonderful words of wisdom.  They were VERY encouraging.  I want to be like that in everything I do.

Firstly, they said to make sure that in the teen years, get them out of this country on a short term missions trip.  That is very important to their overall formation.  Especially when it comes to them having to work out their own faith apart from you as their parent.

They did home school for many years in the early years and then sent them to a traditional high school.  In retrospect, they wished they would of stepped in a bit more in some relational issues.  It is  a thin line of giving them the independence to deal with things on their own, and also take over when they weren’t quit old enough to  handle it on their own.

And the most important things was, their house was “the house” to be at for all the kids in the neighborhood.  They were raising kids during the ‘latch key” generation.  So most of their kids peers had 2 working parents.  So they were their neighborhoods stabilizing force.  Simple home made cookies and strong house rules for the “neighborhood” to abide by endeared them to their kids peers. 

Through this they were able to develop strong relationship with their boys and constantly show them the light of Jesus in the midst of everyday life.  It was a very encouraging story.  It makes me think about relationship and how it is the fabric of life.  For me homeschooling is more about the “being, knowing and training” our kids then it is about teaching them.  It makes me wonder about today’s culture that hops around and moves so much.  Isn’t it good for our kids to develop deep meaningful relationships too?  Isn’t good for us as parents to lead them by example of that?  Call me crazy but I think it is the most important thing to model to them.  Especially in a culture that values individualism so much.

 Their children live life outside of the box because they were raised that way.  I pray that for our kids too. I pray our children will know the value of being connected to a group of God’s people in deep and meaningful ways.  That what we have together is so special.  It doesn’t happen overnight and it isn’t always found but it is a treasure that is worth digging for. 

Here is the nature blog as promised.  I think it is going to be a fun addition to our homeschooling rythm.  Jackson would love a comment or two, so Grandparents, please chime in:-)

I have been in a process of asking God to reveal our children to me.  Not what I want to see or what I think I see, but what He created.  I want to understand what He sees so I can partner with Him on it.  A little insight or glimpse of their calling.  Little by little He shows me things that stun me.  I am aware of the privilege of parenting them.  I’m humbled by the responsibility.  I am deeply thankful that God is using our children to shape and mold us as people as much as he is using us to shape them.   So it with this understanding that I will be working on crafting our “why home school” statement this week.  I will also be working on a series of posts on finding Sabbath rest in the midst of the daily grind.  Good things for me to ponder on this week.

 More thoughts from…..Death By Suburb.  I know, I know, I can’t help it. 

Mending is the key image for  embracing the Sabbath in the suburbs, letting us “experience the depths of Jesus Christ,” as the classic work by Jeanne Guyon puts it.  The trick for the lover of God is to learn how to become better at mending ones life, making small adjustments on a regular basis to avoid the speed and clutter of modern living.

Mending is a verb.  An ongoing action that is consistent and small.  Mending is a thing that reverses the affects of the fast paced business of suburban life.  It is a bridge that leads you to the thicker life.  The deeper life of Jesus Christ.  It is obedience in the small mundane things.  

Now this may seem bizarre to some, but for me right now, home schooling is mending my life.  Our family rhythm is decidedly slow.  There is no rush.  There is no fire to put out, no hill to conquer.  Just deepening of roots and building of relationships.  This is my Sabbath YEAR!  It is a lovely, yummy, comforting thing.  God is moving deeply in the quiet.  Maybe hovering is a better word.  Yes….I think hovering describes it well.

Find the Quiet today!

I am ALWAYS finding myself stuck on Lindafay’s home school blog Higher up and Further In.  It is very comforting to read through her many years of home schooling experience for tips, ideas etc.  I have been slowly reworking my blogs organization.  It is becoming my home school dashboard.  Thoughts, wonderings, resources and other inspiring people to read found in my blog roll.  Jackson is on it as much as I am tooling through the resources.  He LOVES THIS! My hope is that one day this site would be an encouragement to a brand new home schooling mama who is excited and nervous and wondering if she can ever pull this off.  And then voila, she will find this blog and she will say to herself, “Oh my goodness if SHE could do it I will have no problem!”  So keep watching the links come in.  (I hope you find them as helpful and inspiring as I do) I will soon begin adding book reviews and the kids and I will be starting a nature blog here soon.  Their sketches are still scribble and I want them to have a place to see what they are recording.  I taught Jackson how to use the digital camera and he routinely goes out and snaps shots of local wildlife.  Mostly flowers and trees.  Yesterday we went to a little park called “Peanut Island”.  During the summer we go every Monday night with my parents in their boat.  We saw a spotted manta ray with a 5 foot wing span and 2 mini hermit crabs walking along.  I wished we had our camera.  So now we wont leave home without it.     Speaking of blogging…I wish other really experienced homeschoolers I know (not to mention any names, Chenoa Styron and Carolyn Hanson) would start a blog like Lindafay’s so more newbie’s can bask in their wisdom.  It is such a gift.  I am thankful for their encouraging words along the way.  Anyway….no pressure, I was just thinking how cool it would be if I could scroll through their brain and not bug them all the time with calls and emails.

Do rest, every Sabbath. 

Don’t run around like a chicken with your head cutt off.  Even if it seems like fun activites. 

I am really resonating with Death By Suburb - David Goetz’s comments on the Sabbath rest.

“This is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord.”  He quotes Heschel as saying “spiritual life begins to decay when we fail to sense the grandeur of what is eternal in time.”  Sabbath is “eternity in disguise”.  It’s a day not for furthering our opportunities and those of our kids but to liberate ourselves from the pursuit of such things.  He points out that this is a space, where all of Gods people, regardless of economic position enter as equals.  Able to feast on eternity one consistent day a week without a care in the world.

This is my space right now.  Slowly, steadily working with God on the small space of soil in my heart that has to do with time.  It is as if there is enough time in the world for things to “get done”, and yet such a small sliver of time to really purchase those things worth working hard for.  Namely relationship.

Mike and I are really thinking about all of this in regards to our home schooling decision.  We really want our children to grow up in a slow, easy, expectant of amazing things, joy of life type of way.  A deep since of wonder. Not shuffling around from play date to over done birthday party.  We are not even pursuing organized sports for them. Maybe one day, but not now.  Mike and Jackson did T-ball last year.  Mike had the opportunity to coach, and it was a way for them to be together, but we knew no one on the team.  Jackson was mildly interested, and the other kids and I stayed home because it was too much for them.  Not a way we want to use our time again, any time soon.   Even home schooling is a relaxed, gentle rhythm.  You only have to read a few lines of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy to begin to unwind and dig in. 

Deep roots come from deep rest.  Deep rest is a choice.  It is a discipline regardless of the debt, or the schedule, or the lists.  It is a decision to stop one day a week and really reorient yourself around the kingdom of God.  In His kingdom there isn’t a care in the world.  The joy is knowing God and being known  by Him.

So get off the computer.  unplug the phone, go into your room shut the door and be quiet, with the one who made you.  With no need, or question to be answered.  Just listen, and make room for his inner workings.  I promise you will feel much better when you do.

It is a great word picture for my life this year.  I am in a process of calming down, simplifying, and learning all about how to REALLY be and not do.  I completely believe that there is freedom within structure.  So I am shaping up my housework, finishing up that “decorating” that I never get to, lacing up those running shoes and hitting the gym with consistancy, nurturing my artistic side, and feeding the need to read “deep and wide”.  A general overall weeding it taking place.  Bad habits (like too much TV and rewarding myself with sweets) haven’t formed over night and they will not be gone in a day ether.  Day by day, I move onward and upward and I hope I inspire you to do the same.

Here are some things I have recently reintroduced into our lives.

1. ABSOLUTELY NO TV UNTIL 5PM DURING THE WEEK. In the past I have used TV to medicate my kids when they have no clear direction on what to do next.  Bad habit…I admit it.  I started pulling way back in April.  I didn’t think we watched TV very much.  The sad thing is, in reality we didn’t, but it was how I was using the TV that was not the best.  Mike and I had no TV for years before kids.  Once I was pregnant with the second, and “sick as a dog” we reintroduced it to help me out with escaping the reality of my life. Now I don’t want to escape anymore.  Embrace the race is my motto. So now the kids only watch about 30 minutes of monitored TV a day.  We even drove all the way home yesterday (4 hours with only a 30 minute DVD) We played site seeing games and counting games the rest of the way. ( and they slept some too.)

2. Early morning exercise. ( Me time before the rest of the family is awake.)  Thanks to a great work out buddy and good old endorphins, I can’t wait to wake up early. - This is a big switch for me.

3. Reading at least 2 new books a month. - I used to read like a nut.  I think I piggybacked through seminary on Mikes old Theology books.  I got through second grade by reading all of the Nancy Drew series once I finished my work. (I was soooo bored, another reason I was drawn to home schooling our kids - bored kids are kids who get into trouble.)

Those are the first few.  I will keep adding to the list as I am inspired. 

Grace and Peace to you and all you love!