go with the flow

Last night as I read stories to my children before tucking them into bed, they had a brilliant beyond brilliant idea. We were reading Cranberry Thanksgiving. It's a lovely book with a fun and surprising ending. My son loves the character Mr. Whiskers and the fact that he is gruff and wants to sing pirate songs instead of hymns.  I think that resonates with his very boyish heart. 

 "Hey, mom,"  my son said.

**Total side note:  Most of my kids' conversations start with either 'Hey, Mom' or the longer version: 'Hey, Mom, guess what?'  Do your kids do that too?  Funny isn't it?**

Back to last night...."Hey, Mom, can we just quit school and do Five in a Row again?"   I was taken aback a bit. I love the phrase "QUIT school'.  I had to smile at them.  'Yeah, mom, can we?' his sisters begged.  Within seconds they had it all planned. Lapbooks, coloring, projects and baking cranberry bread.  'All we really have to do is math and reading for school-school.' 

For you newbies or non-homeschoolers, apparently 'school-school' is the nitty-gritty hard stuff that you do even when you are doing other things.  It's a very official term apparently.

How can I resist?

  But it has been rolling around in my heart that we were not on the right track. You see school this year has not been what I expected, or planned or hoped for.  Financially, we couldn't buy 'the usual' curriculum, so I've made some cheap and almost free deals on most of our books this year. Praise the Lord!! Plus the fact that I don't have to invest in teacher manuals for every grade now goes a long way in saving money. And not allowing our kids to write in their MathUSee workbooks, but in a notebook instead is a HUGE saver!  But it wasn't what I wanted, or even what the kids wanted. We've just had to buckle down and make do. And I get that some years are like that. I really do.  And I'm ok with it...somewhere in my heart I am, really.  Sometimes you can't  have all the bells and whistles, some years you have to focus on academics or character training.  And that is ok too.  They will always be learning something. 

But I have been missing something.  Missing our slow mornings reading stories on the couch, missing their younger years when we made projects and crafts.  Every.Single.Day.  We've been in a just-get-it-done-so-we can-be-done mode all year and it's exhausting.  No fun, no spontenaity, no frills, just nose to the plow, finish your math before dad gets home, boring, boring, boring.  I think because it's so dry, even the fun school work has been drowned out by the rest of it. 

So the fact that they asked to do this isn't all that surprising.  It just made my heart smile.  REALLY BIG. 

So after putting them to bed, I printed off three copies of homeschoolshare.com's lapbook for Cranberry Thanksgiving, dug out my Five in a Row teacher manual, and you can guess what their first question after they woke up this morning was.

"Hey, Mom, are we going to read that book and make a lapbook?" 

"You betcha, sweetie!"

Ah, bliss. This is how we are suppossed to school in our home. 

Those little old ladies in church and your mother and your aunt are so totally right. They grow up right before your eyes and sooner than you expect.  And sometimes, they learn much faster than you think. 

End of the year already?

So another school year is closing in on me again. As usual, it comes way too quickly and this year, an added bonus of the dreaded word= TESTING.

This is the first year any of our children have to test, so it has been a year of constant review, minor freak outs and endless questions. Questions to all my other homeschooling friends who have tested, from my child to us about the BIG test, questioning myself if I've done enough...you get the idea.

Just to be on the safe side, I picked the VERY last day our tester was available, and we ordered a practice test to...well practice with, of course! In my heart, I'm not too worried, because I know she knows her stuff. but the process of taking a test, being judged by someone else,worrying she won't fill in those tiny bubbles correctly has me up at night sometimes. 

Looking towards next year has me wondering what  might need tweaking. I know there is no 'perfect' curriculum out there, but I'm seeing some gaps that need filling in with what we're using. So I'm on the lookout for whatever it is I think I'm searching for that will make it all better.  And if I can find it for a decent price so much the better.  One thing I have learned this year is that even though I can use a little of this and that, or leave some things out that aren't as important, I shouldn't skimp on the things that will make everything flow together.  I ended up getting a few things halfway through our year that I really should have bought at the beginning. NOT happening again! So this summer, in order to start fresh and (hopefully) on the right foot, I'm carefully considering what we will be using as our spine and gathering what we need to make it all complete. 

Here is door number one: 

My Father's World-Creation to the Greeks

It's a complete, Bible based history and science curriculum. We've done MFW for the past two years and loved it.  Even though we don't do every activity or read every single book recommended, it's been a great foundation for our kids to learn history from a Godly and Biblical perspective. It's expensive, yes. But worth it?  Oh yeah!

Door number two:

The Mystery of History.  Simlar to MFW, and I've read great reviews. It looks a little less expensive, but I've heard the projects are alot more intense.  Still, I'm hoping to get a hands on look at it at our state homeschool convention to be able to compare the two.

And finally door number three:

Make up my own Bible based history/science lessons.  I have a Diana Waring cd set from her Ancinet Civilization curriculum, and I'm looking into adding in some hands on books from places like CBD, currclick.com or Rainbow Resources. How crazy am I for even thinking that? 

So what are you planning for next year?

Playing Catch Up

Whew! Where has the time gone? No I didn't fall of the face of the earth.  Oh, yes, I had a baby the day after New Years!  Things have both slowed down and sped up at the same time.  Having a baby sure does crazy things to your schedule!  New baby Girl--aka Sunshine--is doing well; growing, sleeping (sometimes), eating. All the things babies should be doing.  We are truely blessed! Our older kids love her to pieces and are amazing helpers.  So mostly our days are filled with getting as much school done as we can while she snoozes in the morning.  Some days that works and others....well, not so much! But we try!

One thing I have switched up for school are these:

Workboxes!

(This image is from: The Duckings which is so funny, because that's what I call my kiddos too! )

 Have you heard of them? Have you tried them? WoW! I am so excited about these.  While I don't have the space or the money to have the shelf with 12 shoebox size boxes for tree children, I did see and read about using file folder boxes as a great substitute. 

For each kid I bought one file folder box and I split up a box of 25 hanging file folers.  (I bought the colored ones--they're so much more fun, and we know I'm all about making school FUN, right?!)

Then I printed off some labels for the front of the box from here. I had to create one for my son using a guitar theme, so his is custom made, and it turned out pretty cool. I contact papered one to the front of each box. I put velcro dots on each numbered square and a velcro dot on each file folder. Then I made small numbered squares, one for each folder. The idea is that each kid do their activities in order and when they are done, take the numbered square from the file folder and stick it onto their chart on the front of their box. That way I know what they've done and how much they have left to do.  Clear as mud, right? Pictures coming soon!

Right now, my older two --a forth grader and second grader--have 8 folders each and my kindergartener has 6 in her box.  Every morning, I switch up what is in each of the kids' boxes. I'm creating a list of ideas for them based on what we already have on hand and using some ideas gleaned from other bloggy moms on the net.  Thank God for moms who blog about their homeschooling adventures, ideas and curriculum!!

So far I've got:

File Folder games

Brain Quest books

Geography worksheets from MFW

Science workbook from MFW

Silent reading

Spelling words

Eye Spy books

Reading comprehension books

Their Awana books and CD's

Math U See skip counting cd

Books on Tape

For Kindergarten:

dot-to dot pages

write on wipe off books

A Snip and Glue book

Math counters

Eye Spy bottles

Puzzles

Lapbook components

Books on Tape

 Right now it's a learning process for me and the kids. They already know they HAVE to do their math, reading and grammar every day, so I don't put those books in their workboxes. But these boxes have been a HUGE help when I'm busy with Sunshine. I can just tell them to get out their next workbox activity and they can pull it out and get something done on their own without too much help from mom.  YAY!!!

Keep the good ideas coming!

MFW K Tt is for Turtle

We're doing MFW Kindergarten this year. We just finished up Tt is for Turtle. Here's a little lapbook we found at homeschoolshare.com We didn't end up doing every booklet, but I tailored it to what we learned and her favorite turtle facts.

Mm is for Mittens

Preschool is such a wonderful time of exploration and discovery. It is my favorite age! The tender love of learning is so easy to squelch by demanding our tiny ones to learn facts, drill, write, read at above age levels all before they are ready. I always urge moms beginning to homeschool their children this age not to be intimidated by other parents who push their own children to be super-geniuses by age four. Take your time and enjoy the sweet moments of cuddling on the couch with a stack of good books or make some playdough together and spend the day creating critters, shapes and 'cookies'.

My preschooler and I are sailing through a letter of the week curriculum that is free at Letter Of the Week. We began at letter Aa and have done several in order. We are taking a little break this week to do a more Five In A Row style study of Jan Brett's The Mitten. I thought it would be a good week to do letter Mm as well.

Here are some free resources for putting together your own Mitten study:

Jan Brett's home page has tons of free printables for the book


Homeschoolshare has a free lapbook and lesson plan page! This will be what I'll use for the bulk of our study

First-school has great letter printables for Mm and on their mitten page, there are a few printables of pairs of mittens that I will use for a couple of different activities--listed below.

Childcare Land has a freebie section with some cute mitten file folder games. You have to scroll down the list to find them, but they are cute and definitely worth it!

I'm going to take one of the printables of a pair of mittens and make lacing cards with them. First print them on card stock, then punch holes around the edges, then have my preschooler lace them up. I also plan on taking another plain mitten pair print out and make a matching game with shapes or colors--maybe both!

Let the Mitten fun begin!

Into the swing of things

Can you believe how fast this year went? It seems like it went faster than usual to me. I guess that's what happens as we get older. That's what I *don't like* about the new year, birthday season is right around the corner. But shhhhhh....don't tell, my kids still think I'm 29!!!!

Tis the season for organizing, cleaning and resolutions. Organizing is always on my to-do list.

The kids' room got cleaned out before Christmas. The toys are thinned out slightly, but what do I do with all the clothes? We have hand-me-downs stacked in the closet for my littles to grow into. I am so thankful for those!! I'm sure you've been there: you're ready to go to playgroup or Bible study, and your realize your son's pants are about 2 inches too short or your little girls' shirt is way to small. Thank God for my good friends who pass kids clothes back and forth with me. And of course, I have yet to take in the too small items to our local re-sale shop or shelter. So the list is growing longer and longer.

So how do you organize for the new year, school, home, everything else?

For our school, I am trying just to figure out a schedule to teach 3 different children who all need my attention and help in most subjects still. We do alot of together school with MFW, but the nitty-gritty of math, LA, reading etc. is still a jumble of swapping seats and videos most of the time. This is the homeschooler's dielma, am I right--teaching multiple ages at the same time. If anyone out there has figured it out, please don't hide your secrets!!

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Thrifty finds

While hunting my local thrift store, I came upon two books that I had really wanted to add to our bookshelf. The first one I'd seen over on Jimmie's blog: onechildpolicy at HSB. She used it as a supplement for her child's math, and made it sound like a great way to cement math concepts in a fun way. Then I found it at our library and decided to try some of the activities. Guess what??!! My kids LOVED them! If math can be fun, I am all over that. So when I saw this staring at me on the shelf for only $1.25, I scrounged up my change, and snatched it up.

I almost missed this one. It was lying on top of a stack of books trying to blend in. This little number has five, count 'em F-I-V-E books in one! Including one of the science books we'll be using in our Adventures in MFW. I was going to just borrow the book --Birds, Nests, and Eggs-- from our library as needed, but now for $2.29, I can read it any day of the week--and no late fees!

Love those deals, don't you?






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Gettng organized...or at least trying

So, is it me, or is all a homeschooling mom thinks about during the summer is how to organize, plan and strategize next year's school year???

We did do some school during the summer--we have our own schedule and don't follow the school district's schedule anyways. That's what I love about the freedom of educating at home! But gearing up for the new year--new books, a whole new curriculum, teaching a 1st grader and a 3rd grader while keeping our preschooler and the toddler we watch during the week busy is a bit of a challenge.



First we are switching Princess's math. Abeka 2 was just way too fast for her to keep up. The last 6 weeks, we just did review to maintain what she had learned. I didn't want what we had worked on so hard all year to leak out her brain during the summer, so we kept at it most of the summer. I'm switching her to MUS and have her in their Gamma level. She's already excited about it and can't wait to start her new book! YEAH!!!! Gotta enjoy it when your child is excited about math!

Superman will be in first grade and seems to be going with the flow. No new changes except that we're all doing Aventures in MFW together so he'll join in with us too. He's been reading through the summer and finished up his MUS Primer, so now it's on to Alpha.

Also, we're diving into My Father's World this year. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about this program from many mom's who've used it. I scored an Adventures TM and some of the books on their swap group and the rest on ebay. For us it just makes sense to use a mulit-level curriculum like MFW and include all the kids in at their own level. I am excited about starting this new adventure and adding alot of hands on fun into our everyday learning. The Adventures program focuses on American history and fun science all from a Biblical perspective. It even includes Bible time so I won't have to come up with something new this year for that.

And then for keeping the little's busy...always a task since their attention span lasts about 5 seconds before they are into the next thing. I'm incorporating an idea that is similar to activity bags. I purchases a canvas shoe holder to hang in our school supply room (ahem--corner). Inside the pockets I am going to add activities for Roo to do when I can't be doing one-on-one with her. I started this towards the end of last year and didn't keep up on it as I fizzled out by the end. Some of the things I've already got together are:

Lacing buttons

watercolor paint and paper

various puzzles

magnet games

Fisher Price school desk

(obviously won't fit in the shoe holder, but I made index cards for those types of things)

Bingo markers and cardstock

stickers and paper

scissors and paper

bucket of beans and rice with cups

playdoh

eye spy bottles

bubbles

lanyard laces and plastic canvas for sewing

dot-to-dot book

dominoes

stencils and pencils

dance dvd (a cute kids dvd that teaches a few simple steps)

I'll rotate a few things for her to do each day, plus we have a few bigger items like lego's and her doll house that we bring out during school time too. I've got index cards for those too. As for preschool, I'm planning on doing letter of the week with Roo, and am going to attempt to throw in FIAR once in a while too. I love FIAR and hope to add that gentle love of learning and reading to my baby. I snatched up a cute m&m counting book at the CHEF faire for her--in the freebie box, no less! Candy and counting...what could be better?

WHEW!!

So, what are you doing new for school this year? What works? What doesn't? Tips, hints and stories to share are always exciting!

glitter-graphics.com

If you give a girl a notebook...

I've been rolling the idea of a nature journal around for a while. My 2nd grader loves to draw and write, and I was inspired by a fellow-blogger to direct that natural borne spark into a learning experience for her. The only reason I was hesitant was because of the weather--rain and cold make it dreary and difficult to want to go outside and sketch; and the fact that if you give this child an entire notebook of blank paper, she will have it filled up with doodles and half sentences in less than a day.


With the weather warming up, and a few gentle reminders that this is a NATURE notebook and she can only use one or two pages a day--seriously, she needs a boundary--she was off to a great start. Every day so far she's been outside-something else she needs to do more (she's a bookworm like her mamma)-looking for birds, bugs, squirrels or whatever else she can find to sketch and then write a sentence or two about it later.

I am really hoping to help her along in her sentence writing. We've been working on the Capitalization rules and writing complete sentences for a few weeks in her grammar book. It's been amazing to watch her come up with little stories or descriptions. Every so often she'll rattle of something and ask me, "Is this a complete sentence, mom?" And guess what?? Most of the time it is! I guess what they say is true, if you give a girl a notebook, she'll fill it up with complete sentences and lovely art!

glitter-graphics.com

New books for me!

I just got my new books delivered this week:


and


I feel a little behind everybody else. I've always heard of Charlotte Mason, but never delved too deep into what she wrote. I think I've kind of done this in some ways already but didn't know it was an official style of learning. I really like the companion by Karen Andreola. It is easy to read and full of real life examples.

For the Children's Sake is good too. My husband and I were blessed beyond blessed to go through some very intensive training before we even started our family that helped us form a more solid Biblical view on children and family than we had before as Christians. Some of Mrs. Macaulay's thoughts presented echo what we had been taught but in a fresh light. I think it is always good to remind ourselves of our reasons for educating and raising our children with a Biblical worldview and stretch beyond that from time to time. Never stop learning!

Now with this all swimming in my head, the goal is to put it into practice. The CM methods of narration intrigue me. That's about as far as I've got in the Companion. But I love the gentle approach to learning instead of drill, drill, worksheet, drill that can make our school day like pulling teeth. I also love the focus on nature and God's creation. My kids love rocks, critters, bugs, plants --basically nature. So that will be fairly easy (I'm hoping) since we do alot of that already. Sounds like a fun way to learn!



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November WIP

For school this month I'm trying to get back into lapbooking. We've done only one lapbook since school started, and now that it's finished, I think we're ready to jump right back in. Sugarplum just finished her Jonny Appleseed l.b. today. I hope to get some pics up later in the next week--my camera's card is full right now, so I need to put *developing those pics* on my to-do list as well.
We've had a plodding pace since we've started school, so I thought I'd jump-start our yearning for learning with some new ideas to grow on. Now that the weather has definately turned to fall--in our neck of the woods fall =rain, wind, cold--anyways, since we're cooped up inside more I've got to fill that time with something new and exciting for the kiddos, so it might as well be educational too.
For starters, Childcareland.com has an entire page of monthly themed printables *FREE* for early learners. I printed out a few turkey and pilgrim activities for Lil' Roo to keep busy with while the big kids are doing their workbooks. There's FFG's, matching, ABC's, numbers, shapes, etc. *Bonus* you can print in either color or b&w. I usually opt for b&w and have the kids color them.
Next Littlegiraffes.com has a theme page as well. Scroll down to November and pick up some cute ideas, songs, activities for Thanksgiving, Pilgrims and Native Americans.
The kids decided they wanted to try to make an American Indian lapbook this year. Last year, we focused on the Pilgrims, so it's time to switch things up, I guess :o) So we're checking out Mellissa's page on Squido along with using our own History Pockets of Native Americans by Evan Moore I snagged at a thrift store last fall. The History Pockets was a bit over their heads last year, but I think they're ready for it now.
We're also eeking our way into a nature notebook. I've spotted it on some of the other homeschooling mom's blogs and really wanted to give it a try. It says to start with the first 5 challenges and then jump in with the current challenge. We havent' started yet because our computer has been having *issues* and this is the first time I've been able to stay online for more than a few minutes without it freezing up and crashing. (crossing my fingers) I know, I know, starting a nature notebook in the rainy fall weather...what is up with that?!! But it will give us (er, me!) some motivation to get outside hopefully.

Whew, that's quite alot. I hope it keeps us busy for the next few weeks ;o)

wrapping up this week

Well, we're nearing the end of another week of school. Although we didn't get a whole lot done yesterday, my poor Sugarplum was sick with the flu. This morning she woke up feeling much better and so took our time with school today.

We had our U.S. states co-op this week. One mom is reading Flat Stanely to the kids-a little bit each class. So this week, she brought some butcher paper and each kid got to make their own 'Flat Self'. That was a blast. The kids took turns drawing the outlines of each other and then they each colored themselves in. Our Superman even drew his little belly-button. Cute! The moms who were teaching this week gave us some info on the states we're studying too. We did some notebooking and lapbooking at home on Delaware and Pennsylvania this week, so I hope to wrap that up. The next class will be my turn to teach. Yikes! I have a bingo game with all the states that the older kids might like, but I'm not sure what I'm going to plan for the younger crowd. I hope my creative mind comes back to me, I seem to have lost it somewhere...

I do have to brag--ahem--mention the deal of the week I made. While perusing the mall for some local postcards for our U.S. states co-op class, we stopped at an outlet Christian book store. They had a few shelves of homeschool material (!!) so I kindly asked my husband to entertain the kiddos in the children's section so I could peruse through the shelves. There it was, the corner a little bent, but still intact; the cover only slightly crased in said corner. IT was the teacher's manual to our science curriculum this year! For $2.49!!!!. It sells from the publisher for nearly $30.00, and one on ebay was going for $15.00 but I was hesitant weighing it out. Now I know why! My husband was definately not as thrilled as I was as I did a itsy-bitsy happy dance in the store and nearly giggled with glee. He gave me the 'can-we-go now-before-the-kids-drive-me-crazy' look after the 'what-the-heck-is-so-exciting-about-a-book?' look during my silent happy dance. As I hurried to the cash register, my heart thankful to God for the bargains he sends me from time to time I noticed it even has the CD inside with all the cute little songs to go along with the lessons. Praise the Lord for all he does. Even tiny miracles.

Tomorrow is our pumpkin patch field trip-weather permitting-- I'm not that excited about tromping with my littles through the mud in the rain with a stroller besides. Please, Lord, let it be nice.
Happy Fall!

LIttle House in the Big Woods

We've bee reading our way through the first book in the Little House series. Even our Kindergartener likes it. He's really all about the adventure and why Pa has a gun and if there are going to be any more bears. Our second grader is getting into the stories themselves and we've been watching the tv series of Little House on the Prarie with Daddy in the evenings too.

I picked up a Little House craft book at our local library and the first project is to make a corncob doll, which of course our second grader was more than excited to try out. Just so happened that we made corn on the cob that very night. After drying the corncob out a day or two in the sun, we were ready to make it. It turned out pretty cute, even though we used yarn for hair instead of corn silk as the book suggested. Honestly I didn't want corn silk all over my house, it seems to wander into the corners of the farthest room every time we make corn anyways--magic or is it the 3 year old??!! hmmm.....

Secret confession of a homeschool mom: I could spend the entire year focusing on the Little House series and forget about everything else. They are so lovely, so full of wonderful life lessons, character and faith. I'm just not sure I could pull it off and be sure to include all the other stuff like math or science. My hubby is afraid I'll start wearing bonnets and making my own cheese if I go too deep, LOL!!

First week or two

We're on a roll for school. The excitement is still fresh in the air. Now that the neighborhood children are in school, there is alot less distraction and we are settling in to a schedule. Still a few tweaks needed here and there, but it's going well so far.



Our 2nd grader is still in the review phase in phonics, which is good because it gives our kindergartener more time to learn along with us. We've been using Abeka phonics. I grew up on Abeka, so it's a familiar feel for me. I really do think they're phonics program is superb. I try to incorporate as many of the charts and games as I can. The kids love to play 'On the Farm', "In the Meadow' and 'Dress the Bear'. Just cute little games to reinforce what they're learning. And they have fun, and shouldn't learning be fun?!!



Math-U-See is working out great for our kindergartener. He asks to 'Do math with Steve' every day. Even if we watch the same lesson a couple of days in a row, he's still learning. I let him use the blocks to build with while I had some one-on-one with our 2nd grader this week. He went right to work building a rocket--I think it had something to do with our solar system study that we're still slowly working on ;o) It kept him busy while I worked on our 2nd grader's math facts.



We started our Considering God's Creation last week. We're doing the first lesson on Creation which is where I start every school year in Bible, so it's coordinating right along for now. I found a CGC yahoo group online yesterday and I'm hoping that will help me as we venture in farther. The group has some awesome templates that go along with the book for lapbooking or notebooking-right up our alley!



I was panning on studying history using statehistory.net, but our h.s group is forming a co-op on the 50 states! Talk about timing, right? We're going to get together and learn about 2 states a class starting with Delaware and go through the states in order of statehood. I think our family will make a lapbook with some notebooking pages for each state and put it all together in a binder. Fun!



I'm still looking for inspiration to keep me--The mom and The teacher--organized and on top of everything. Sometimes it seems like there are so many things we want to cover or learn about that I don't know where to fit them all in? Anyone else have that issue? At our home we've got a continuing study of knights, trucks, gardens, faries, animals, art, drawing, worship, the list goes on. It's hard to fit it all in with phonics charts and math flashcards :). Where does it fit? Any ideas are welcome!

Blessings

Frist Day of our new school year

Yep, this time of year everyone is posting about their FIRST DAY!! Including me. The beginning of the school year is like opening a present-- or if you're like me a new, freshly ground bag of coffee ;o). That's right, I said coffee! You open the bag after you get home, or maybe hubby brings it home after work-even better!, and you just can't wait to make a nice, hot, tasty cup o' joe, no matter if it's 4 o'clock in the afternoon--it smells that good.

But before you think I'm exhausted from all that school work (hardly) and jittery from all the delicious coffee (I only had 2 cups this morning), our first day was a good one. Actually it was so good and so precious that I'll keep it close to my heart. For us, our day is usually met with those little things I like to call pit-stops all along the way. You know what I'm talking about, right?Someone losing their prize pencil, or spilling their water on the table-- which turns Mom into The Flash lifting the books off the table and coving it with towels in one fell swoop( lots of practice), the baby stealing someone's favorite smelly markers and turning her nose red and blue and brown, or a toilet overflowing because someone flushed an entire roll of tp because they forgot how much they're supposed to use. You know the stuff of life that seems to eek into every day causing a 20 minute lesson take two hours. Pit stops. They make life interesting. It probably never happens at your house, but here, it seems to pop up alot.

Today was a total break from the pit stops. First, the youngest went back to bed to snuggle right as the olders woke up. If you homeschool with a toddler or 2 in the house, you know how exciting they make life when everyone is focused on learning the books of the Bible or the names of the planets when you realize things are just way too quiet in that particular corner. We had nearly 2 hours of school under our belt before little sunshine peeked out from the bedroom.

After breakfast I let the older kids check out their new books for the year. I purchased a 3 drawer rolling cart at Walmart. Each kid gets a drawer for their books while I have my teacher books, charts and flashcards in my file box that sits nicely on top of the cart. The olders were so excited about their new books, pencil boxes and super-cool flexible rulers. Who knew measuring was so cool?! We did our phonics together and the kids read out loud taking turns and even helping each other out. They did their worksheets in peace-no stolen pencils, no fighting over which chair was mine first, or my page isn't a pretty as their page. Our Kindergartener did spill the entire box of colored pencils on the floor, but a harsh word was nowhere to be heard. After their worksheets were done, they each took a turn reading to Daddy on the couch. After that they ventured outside and picked blackberries which we added to our morning snack. They rode bikes in the backyard and climbed the apple tree looking for spiders. We compared leaves and noticed the beginnings of color-changes and temperature changes outside. Math was a little slower going today. I think our 2nd grader was a bit nervous about her new book. But we made it through and even learned a couple of new things.

Besides the usual chores, read alouds and day-to-day filling of their growing minds, we are easing into our first week. No big assignments, no science projects or book reports. Their Uncle came by for a visit, so he and Daddy took the kids to the park so Mommy could catch up and get a bit of mommy reading in.

All in all it was a sweet, peaceful beginning. Tomorrow is another adventure!

Rhema Academy

With the beginning of the official new school year just around the corner, there seems to be a buzz going on about naming your homeschool. I love reading and hearing what other families name their homeschool and the reasons behind it. It really is fascinating to me to peer inside these families as they open up about what their homeschool is all about. It is incredible the amount of research and thought that they put into their homeschool name.

Growing up in California some 25 (gasp!!) years ago, my parents legally had to have a name for our homeschool. Christs' Way is My Way. That was our name. It stood for our dedication to follow the Way of the Master in everything we did-life, school, family. As I got older, it never fit on any financial aid application or life history form, sheesh! It stood out with our Lord's name first, there was no mistaking we were Christians. I didn't always live up to that name either. Nobody is perfect, but it was a declaration to myself and the world that we were set apart.

Now life has come to one of it's full circles and my husband and I are teaching our children at home with the same dedication to our Savior and our family that my parents passed on to us.

Our homeschool is Rhema Academy. Rhema: God-Breathed, Living and Active Word that speaks to one's spirit for direction or guidance. We depend on the life-giving Word of God to direct our every day. He is the source we draw life and light from. Without His life-giving Word, there is no life. God is always Life and Light and Love. Not to sound new-age at all. I'm talking about the true source of Life, the rhema word God spoke when He created the world, the rhema word that is living and active penetrating both bone and marrow, soul and spirit. (Heb. 4:12)We go to the Word every day and ask for the Lord to give us the rhema we need for each day: the life, the strength, the light, His Love.

Homeschooling is a day-to-day adventure. Sure, we plan our days, weeks and even an entire year with curriculum and activities, but daily listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit and tuning in to His plan is even more important. We submit our plans to Him and are blessed by following it. God is so good, He is full of honor and he blesses those who honor Him. We want to live in His blessings and bring honor to Him.

So, Rhema Academy is our homeschool name. Reminding us to daily go to our source of life and daily follow His leading.

Your turn, what's your homeschool name and why? I can't wait to hear about it.

Another Summer

Another summer is quickly approaching. Here in the great Northwest, I always tell myself that summer doesn't officially start til the 4th of July--and even then it can be a cool day. At least then I don't get too surprised when it's cold outside and the end of June...or something like that. The kids are itching to go outside at 8am, and I'm just not prepared to face the outdoors at that hour lately.



I think I've hit the end of the year exhaustion that homeschool moms talk about. I've got headaches, allergies and I can barely drag myself out of bed in the morning. Not complaining, really, just reality. I cant remember when I've just wanted to sleep...and sleep...and sleep-except maybe after my youngest was born, but that's kind of natural, I think. I keep thinking I'll snap out of it at some point. I love summer! I love being outside early in the morning, weeding my plants, hearing the birds, feeling the cool air before it gets hot outside. Maybe if I could just sleep for a few days/nights in a row, I'd get my energy back and be ready for the days ahead.



I have been mulling over next year though. I know we're going to keep doing school for a few days a week, taking breaks when we need to, but next year looms large ahead of me in just a few short months. It seems every where I turn, I read about or hear about how to plan for your new school year! I've got a rough idea of where we're headed, and since I'm a 'paper girl' at heart, I know I've got to get it all typed out and printed before I forget everything that's swimming in my head.



So far I've got almost everything curriculum-wise for the basics.

Our basic plan for 2008-09:

For Bible, we go through the Bible every year starting in Genesis. We round it out by adding lapbooks, timelines, and just going a little deeper each year. We do our Bible time together with all the kids. That's where most of our character lessons come in as well. We memorize Scripture too; right now we're finishing up our ABC verses-1 verse beginning with each letter of the alphabet. No special curriculum is needed for that. woohoo! The kids all got their first Bibles from Nana and Papa for Christmas and are enjoying having their own to read along with (or some just pretend, but it's still good practice ;o) )

For my Preschooler:

*Acitvity Bags. I am so excited about this. We already do this at home,-- I'm a former pre-k and daycare teacher,-- but I'm hoping this will give me some fresh ideas to help the little one keep busy and entertained.

*Carissa at 1+1+1 has made some fantastic tot-lapbooks that I know will be a hit at our home as well.

*Little Hands to Heaven. I found this on sale somewhere and hope to implement it in with our Bible study for the little one's level as well as begin some fun learning.

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For my Kindergartener:

*Math U See Primer

*Still need to order Letters and Sounds K next month

*A Reason for Writing - K

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For my 2nd grader:

*Abeka 2 Math

*Abeka 2 Language, Spelling and Letters and Sounds

*A Reason for Writing -T

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For everyone:

*Various reading books at everyone's levels. We have quite a collection growing in our home--doesn't every homeschooler? I've been lucky to find either the entire series or piece them together bit by bit thanks to thrift store shopping.
This year we started reading the Little House books for our read-aloud time. I think we'll trade off between those and Narnia as my duckies are getting old enough to be interested in those stories.

*Considering God's Creation will be our core science curriculum this year. I am really excited about it. I found it at our local curriculum faire this year for a HUGE discount--woohoo! It will be easy to create lapbooks or notebooks as we go along to add to the kids' learning experience.

*For History we're going to try statehistory.net to learn about our state. It's a really neat looking program that all the kids can do together. It's a notebooking style study that has all kinds of fun activities for the kids to put together. I think we'll start with that and study the people of our state history along with it such as Lewis and Clark, the Whitmans, Pocahontas, etc. As usual, we'll add in lapbooks especially with history and science.

I'm still deciding on a character curriculum. I like Pearables, but I also found out that IHOP has a children's curriculum focusing on praise and prayer that fits with our style of worship and prayer. A friend in my local h.s. group is trying out IHOP, so I might ask her what age level their program is geared for. I can always do one this year and the other next year.

*I also have in the works a modesty/princess/manners & chivlary/manners notebook for each of my older children. I hope to have most of the kinks worked out by September.



Sounds like fun to me!