What's It Like To Be Us Today

Did we further our character and grow our faith?

Noticed a "few" attitudes early in the a.m. and got out the Proverbs for Parenting.  Added verses on a love for correction to our daily Bible read aloud, cleaned my house, taught my children, loved my husband, reviewed a Bible study to lead for my church, researched young leaders in the Bible for my husband's church report. 

Prayed for....

my husband, my Compassion Childen, my pastor, my friends, my children, myself, and Baraq Obama, and my littlest - please make him WANT to use that potty.

What happened in the kitchen?

Cereal for breakfast with blueberries and grapes, fried chicken and green beans for lunch, AND two pots of soup in the cold garage to reheat. I’d made an extra cornmeal mix yesterday, so that was ready too! A little planning goes a long way.

How did we learn?

Central America mapwork, read about the Mayan civilization, math, vocabulary with crosswords and sentence writing, cursive and handwriting for all, why do birds molt, Bible first of course - Psalm 23 and those Proverbs - later Timothy. One practiced piano and both read for at least an hour. Is journalling a subject? one asked.

What do we see?

Snow, snow everywhere. We never left the house, but did choose to get dressed today. (Okay, that was MY idea.)  I added a summer memories picture because as I shoveled 14 inches of snow off my back sidewalk I thought of my plants WAY under there.

What do we hear?

Thump, thump, on the basement stairs and a little boy voice, “Mom, I need a wittle help down here.” (How many times today?... 10) Late at night - "Thump" again... the same kid fell out of bed.

Any revelations?

My children really want to be a blessing to others. I must be careful not to sour them with my own attitude. Pour some sugar on it, honey!

Attitude check...

Fixed it early.  Challenged to keep everybody moving and remind them that morning choices have afternoon consequences.  

Laughed at...

A real "Jack" in the box. 

I’m happy that...

I see God in so many things and he blesses our days.  My husband loves God. My children smile a lot more than they did a month ago and snow is so pretty!

I am thankful for...

those who led the homeschooling movement, because without them, I’d miss the hugs, the smiles, the opportunity to hear so many encouraging words today... and the note passing... that was the best today. In school, we got in trouble for notes. Today I saw a note my oldest passed a note to his brother. It said in big letters, “I LOVE YOU JON!”

What are we learning now? The Curriculum for the Year

As the semester changes, I always review what’s working in our “homeschool” world and what’s not. I’ve come to dislike the word “school” altogether. The word seems to make my kids skeptical about learning, so I’m trying not to use it. Instead, we’re going to be “lovers of wisdom”. Since the Bible says that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, that must continue to be the priority for the New Year.

Beginning with me, I need to spend more solitary time with my mentor, my Father and my source of purpose and sanity. We’ve done a pretty good job staying in the Word daily and praying together, but as the winter months continue, THE source of constant light is definitely helpful! A goal of this semester will be to further teach the boys to listen for God in silence and memorization will get back on the bus after the holidays took us in a different (more relaxed) direction.

So, academically speaking....

Math: We’re going to do math. I love math, my kids don’t mind it either. We’re using Singapore Math and it’s working well. Now, my dh, the reader, was reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, and informs me that one reason they think that the Chinese do better in math is because their language is shorter and quicker. Instead of saying “three hundred”, they have short little words. Apparently, these short number names make it easier to remember what number you are subtracting or multiplying, thereby making it easier to do math in your head. This should be encouraging to those of you who are questioning your math program. Every culture has it’s advantages, and unless you’re going to teach them Chinese first, you may not be able to do much more than you are doing.

English: Well, although I love the theory of learning everything by reading books, and secretly I believe in it, I’m going to get my 5th grader back into Rod and Staff English. I don’t like to do English yearly, there just isn’t cause for it, but with all the writing he’s doing, it will fit well to analyze good sentence and paragraph structure.

Writing: Happily, he is also working on a “book” about a kingdom run by a lop-eared rabbit. Every once in a while I check the state standards board and it seems that as we’ve worked on this book, we’ve covered most of the Language Arts requirements outside of letter writing. It would be good for them to write some relatives and maybe the President, so we’re going to add a few letters a month to our goals.

Latin. We’re using Latina Christiana. We’ll continue to review past words and then do a chapter every 2 weeks.

Spelling and Vocabulary: We found Wordly Wise last semester and both boys love it. Carry on!

Art: We’ll be learning graphic design and calligraphy so my little entrepreneurs can improve their fine motor skills, learn a little about what art can be used for and, of course, decorate my walls with more custom work.

Faith: The Bible and more memorization. I love the memorize a block of text a month method I’ve been using. We’ll also add a Rod and Staff reader for them because it’s full of character building wisdom and more Bible at their reading level.

Science: Exploring Creation with Zoology is our current pick. They enjoy reading it together and the projects are fun and easy. My fifth grader is also assigned biographies of scientific minds to read on a regular basis. He’s a book sponge.

History: We follow the Classical approach to history, chronologically moving through time. Thankfully, we’ve crossed the line to A.D. this year! I combine The Story of the World and Mystery of History, so it’s a long but fascinating journey. Fortunately, conquering never gets boring for a house full of boys. They’ve even take to coloring famous people and mythical creatures in their spare time.

Music: Piano for both, tin whistle for fun, guitar for three of us, cello for me, the violin is collecting dust and trombone looks like its the next on the list to learn for one of them.

Literature: I’m working on a book list for the winter, but meanwhile my second grader is reading Prince Caspian. It’s so hard to pick just one! (at a time). Five in a Row is one of my favorites, but the boys aren’t interested in those stories anymore. I’m using “Teaching the Classics: A Socratic Method for Literary Education” so we can now pick our own books and “learn by asking questions”, as Socrates would have done. This great guide has also covered the elements of fiction and helped in our story writing.

Fun!: We’ve organized a Homeschool Hangout day at our church. So, we’ve got a gym and fellowship hall to use for weekly group activities, clubs and recreation. I love my church!

That’s what I have so far. I’m a little relaxed, but firmly believe in the potential of each child, so that keeps me diligently on the path to promote learning and discovery. My goal is to inspire them to love the knowledge seeking process, keep them moving in a positive direction, and give them life skills so they can be leaders of men in whatever they do. If they are nuts for God, I will have done my job, because they will then know what HE expects, and my job will be easier.

The Fly on the Wall Saw...

Sep. 19, 2008 - A fly on the wall saw... (9/19/08)
Someone recently asked me if they could be a fly on my wall and view what goes on in our house every day. So, here's one relatively typical, non-typical day. I say that because many things can change how one day goes. This was a relatively average day. So, in a house with 3 boys, ages 10, 7 and 3, this was a typical day, in OUR house on ONE Friday, that will not be like any other Friday, because we're seldom that typical. Additionally, it's NOT typical for me to even be on this site in the a.m., but I'm feeling ambitious and my hormones are in good shape today.
Report from the fly on the wall 9/19/08 Friday (o.k. most of it's written in the first person because I'm just not that creative when squeezing things in):

6:45 a.m. Mom gets up. Dad heads to work and I head downstairs to make coffee and survey the Quicken and bill situation before the kids are up. I get 1.5 cups off coffee in and two pieces of toast with my favorite strawberry-rhubarb jam to top them off (made it myself). I update my blog site on homeschoolblogger.com so all can see that a week long road trip with your kids and no dad can be a fun adventure where everyone comes back alive. I send off an email about a writing center that I read about on our church e-news to the homeschool group communication site.

8:15 a.m. I go upstairs to tell the older boys to be quiet because the 3 year old is still sleeping. No one wants THAT to be disturbed.

8:30 a.m. Two messy haired children in bathrobes come down to raid the pantry. They are now blowing bubbles in their bowls, because bowls with straws built in seemed to be a good investment for $1. I will now be reminding them that by 9:00 we'll have to get work started. Their work list was printed out at the end of the day yesterday so they can start on their own while I get Jack fed and take a shower. Ben and Jon do rabbit chores first and clean up their clothes in their room.

9:30 a.m. I've showered and Jack is dressed, armed with his first bin of toys for the day and the Super Readers on PBS, I can check on the other ones. The two older ones have decided to do their 45 minutes of reading first today and want a reading log so they can get their "Book It" points so they can get a free buffet lunch one Friday at Pizza Hut. I'm dressed in my painting clothes in case I get to paint the guest room today, wallpaper would be so much easier. I am tempted. I also hope to squeeze in sewing two curtains to go under the kids loft beds for their secret areas today. We got the material at Hobby Lobby while they took turns having art classes on "The Elements of Design" there yesterday. I just read a message from a mom from NM who is in the middle of a road trip to Baltimore with her kids; she's read my morning blog post and is thankful for some encouragement. Isn't technology great! I yell at the boys to stop talking during their reading time and move to the kitchen for post-breakfast disaster repair.

9:50-10:08 a.m. Jonathan comes down for help filling out his reading log. I suggest we read together and we grab "The Jesus Encyclopedia". We read from Luke about the cost of following Jesus, what he said to his disciples about leaving family to follow him and talked about how he may feel the call to do something for God someday. I encouraged him about our support of him if he felt led to do something he felt was supposed to do, or somewhere he needed to go and serve. (Ben is still reading in his room.) I check on him. He is reading a book called "We came from Japan". He's very interested in all things WWII and, of course, Pearl Harbor involved the Japanese, so he must read about them too. (Honestly, I almost donated that book last month, thinking they'd never pick it up.) I have moved all the books I've wanted them to read to their rooms. They will read anything as long as they can sit in their loft beds. I decide to continue to let him read, knowing that the well planned list I've printed for the day including his Latin, Math, Zoology and writing may have to be altered AGAIN. It is hard to make plans and often change them in order to encourage your kids to follow their interests and learning bent, but when a kid is excited about reading about Japanese immigrants, and looks sad when he has to stop reading about it, I don't think I'm helping him by choosing all that he should learn that day. It is best to learn when you are motivated and interested in something, not when it meets the schedule.
Jon is eating peanuts and copying his Bible verse for handwriting practice.

10:15 a.m. I take a few minutes to play cars with Jack and get out "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons", he seems ready to start with this. He's rather do cars and watch Sesame Street right now so I get Jon to help him with his math. He's adding 3 digit and 2 digit numbers. We do one on the white board. He says he doesn't need my help anymore. I went through my old files and found an Artpac I bought a long time ago which is a pre-school art program. I give Jack the first page and show him how to color a solid shape.

11:00 - 11:10 a.m. The big boys are doing math, slowly, while I start 100 Easy Lessons with Jack. We work on forming the sounds of the letters m and s and saying words slowly then fast, to prepare him for this reading method. I go up to get the sewing machine out and start the loft curtains.

11:10 - 11:45 a.m. I go back downstairs to do some motivating. Ben is redoing yesterdays work and it is much neater and more accurate. He seems to get it. I take 5 problems off so he can get to his Latin video. I sit down and do Jon's math with him, working on correcting the slant of his paper and his hand position. While they finish, I put last nights soup on the stove to reheat.

11:45-12:00 p.m. Mom's friend calls from her car phone who's recently had a mastectomy. She updates me on her treatment and tells me she's been reading Galatians 3 from "The Message" She tells me it talks about not going anywhere without your garment of love on. I could sure use some reenforcement in that area, so I add Galatians 3 from The Message to my to-do list for today. Meanwhile, Jack whines in the background and refuses to eat the stew from last night. I stop to force some food in him.

12:00-12:40 p.m. Ben finally gets to his Latin video. I have to stop him and have him fill out his vocabulary cards first so he's prepared for the lesson. Jonathan picks piano practice to do next. He has trouble and seems to have a little fever, so, because he can't seem to get it, I tell him to quit for now before he gets discouraged and turns against piano. He's off to do his phonics course.
I tell kids to get their current subject finished so we can go on a bike ride.
My dad calls to say he got the pictures from our trip we mailed him.
I yell downstairs to the big ones to stop banging on their desk and finish their subject before they can get ready while Jack talks to Nana and Papa on the speaker phone.

12:40 The big ones go on a bike ride an then decide they are going to try to learn to use the double jump rope we just got. Yikes! It must be challenging to be a boy. I told them I'd come back when they'd practiced more twirling. It's nice outside. Jack pretends to mow the lawn. I come back in to clean up the lunch dishes.

1:15 The kids come back in to finish their work because they want to play Wii. I clean the gunk out of the bird feeder and refill it, the go see what Jack's doing. Pre-weekend cleaning is up next, as well as getting the ribs in the oven for dinner.

1:50 Checked on Ben. He wanted to do less of his Latin. I said he could do 3 sections today if he did his vocab cards. He's done them but not neatly. He will have to redo them on Monday so they are in the same format as the other cards. He finishes the workbook and moves on to piano. Meanwhile Jon's not sure if he's sick and wants me to take his temp. I told him no. He'd know if he was sick, because he wouldn't feel good. Jack is on the patio screaming about something. Jon eventually goes out to stop him from turning the hose on. He's mad because his water table isn't full to the top. I'm getting a little tired and decide that we'd all be better off if Jack had an hour of rest time. We pray he'll fall asleep and I'll get myself together. It would be a good time to get out that Galations verse before going on to cleaning. I'll make the boys sit on on the reading. That will keep them quiet and redirect them as they get tired too. We're almost done for the day!

2:00 The boys clean up all their school stuff, file their things and wait for me to find the verses Janet was talking about in Galatians. They don't seem to match up to me, but I decide that if she said Galations, there must be something for me there, so that's were I read about the freedom we have in Christ. We read Galations 5 about how we live free in Christ. We can be like the butterflies and follow God's direction by the Spirit.

2:40 Dad comes home sick from work. I put two slabs of spare ribs in the oven and one in the freezer. A load of laundry goes up. I pick up the house and vacuum the downstairs. Dad decides to take the boys to Dick's Sporting Goods. They've been awaiting the reward of a bb gun and a bow and arrow for their bravery in trying out for the children's choir in Joseph and the Amazing Tech. Dreamcoat. I can barely believe it, but the teacher leading the children thinks they could benefit the show. I say that not because I'm negative, but because they have no history of talent in singing or dancing. Jon is springing a new "hammy" personality and I think I heard him sing a clear pleasant note. We were proud.

- 4:16 The boys are back and Dad is helping them learn how to use the bow. Jack was upset because he didn't have one, but now has a "real" water pistol and is pleased with himself. I'm making bbq sauce for the spare ribs and looking for side dishes.
Dinner time and then family time this evening. We have a sitter tomorrow night and are going to dinner and the theater, so tonight we'll stay home. Evening will be pretty normal for us; food, relax outside on the patio a while, rabbit chores again, and whatever else comes our way.
Was this a good day? Yes. We learned and behaved (Mom included). The weather was great and we got outside to enjoy it. We didn't have to to anywhere, yeah! Did I get my painting done? No. Are the curtains sewn? No. Is the half bath clean? No, and no laundry was put away. (I might have gotten that done if I wasn't recording this!) Well, that's what Saturdays are for. When people ask me, "How many hours do you do of school a day?" It's hard to reply, since it's just mixed in with the happenings of our house.