Spring boredom has arrived for me - mom. Boredom with routine, a disdain for workbooks and all things curriculum looking. With the emerging crocuses and daffodils comes a desire for the truly great and inspiring. This week we declared “Writing Inspiration Week”. It was a great title because anything that had to do with writing was allowed. We read the first few pages of several great books in the morning to gain momentum, then attempted some work of our own. Throughout the week, we read a short story here and there and one morning studied one of my favorite poets, Robert Frost. By the miracles of technology, we even were honored to hear Frost himself read a few of his poems to us via the internet. We finished the book “Spy for the Night Riders” about the trial at Worms and Martin Luther. A pretty good read aloud (3.5 out of 5.0 was the official grade by the kids) made better by daily popcorn with parmesan cheese. During reading this week we worked on puzzle maps of Europe and the world.
My oldest son, 10, was inspired to personify baseball. He wrote three poems: The Bat, The Ball, and The Game. They were short, but full of vivid imagery. I was pleased. Next we talked about illustrating those poems and what it might look like. I drew a picture of the ball from his description. “It’s just like I pictured when I wrote it!” he commented, feeling surprisingly successful. Thankful that my unschooling methods of the week were working for me, we finished the week having done more describing of everything we saw than writing anything down. We described the butterfly that emerged from it’s cocoon in the mason jar on the shelf Thursday, making words described how it felt to be a new creature, in a completely new form. I was not in the mood for books to describe how to teach this week. I tried, but when I attempted to follow their plan, it just killed the wonder and joy of teaching writing. So we continued to describe things orally.
By today, we’d discussed a lot and boys were now much more motivated to research and read than they had been in previous weeks. They spent the morning gathering encyclopedias and nature books. I caught up on the cleaning that didn’t happen according to the chore list this week. When I checked on them they were studying a map of Africa and all the places they would have to go to stop poachers from destroying wildlife. They were also wondering what could be done about all the water quality in the Mediterranean and other bodies of water that I can’t now remember. Happy that science, community and geography were occurring without me, I decided I had no excuse not to scrub the tub.
When their brains were full, we all teamed up to get the chores done and headed off to the neighborhood indoor pool for a swim. What will we call next week? Another adventure.
Showing posts with label day in the life of a homeschooler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label day in the life of a homeschooler. Show all posts
Friday, March 27
Monday, February 16
Scrapping the Daily List Today
"Seek first the kingdom of God and ALL these things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:33
I’ve come to learn, but not always trust, that if we seek God first in our lives and, specifically, in our day our experience will be better than when we plan our day on our own. Why? Our attitudes change. Our minds are open to His purpose for us. Everything we do reflects the bigger goal and we learn to be who HE has planned for us to be. Ephessians 2:10 says that we were created as God’s workmanship and that He already has things planned for us to do. What do we need to learn to do those things? One gift we have as homeschoolers is the flexibility to allow our kids to follow life according to their passions. Ultimately, our passions motivate us more than any person can.
There are days I trust this and there are days that, although I know this, I panic a bit. I may compare my children’s handwriting to those of their peers and judge them, as if this were the measure God would use to judge their success. The truth is, that to force handwriting when a child is running in another direction is counter-productive to the learning that COULD be achieved if you watched God work and did what he commanded you to do.
I'll show you an example of how a day went that didn't include my forcing my children in a direction against their interests. I did have a list, a neat list of well rounded activities for an entire week for each kid. On it was our study of creation, history, science, Latin, handwriting, math, piano, reading, you get the picture. Here’s how the day really went....
Breakfast... Pancakes. We talked about conserving and rationing as we shared the last 1/4 cup of syrup between us. With our pancakes we listened to one of my favorite hymns of all time on YouTube, “When I Survey the Wonderful Cross”. Next, we grabbed the postcard of the books of the Bible we’re working on memorizing. I’m a bit of an evangelist, so I gave them a pep talk on the importance of knowing what God’s word says, focusing on how science and the world CAN work together with God's word to bring people TO faith and not away from it. After explaining their responsibilities as Christians to lead the world and not follow it’s ways, they ran off and saying they wanted to read their Bible all day.
So, rather than lose them upstairs I got out a selection of new Bible study books for them to pick. They wanted to talk more about evolution vs. creation, so they picked a Kay Arthur for Kids study of Genesis 1-2. In this, I got a discussion in about reading comprehesion (who, what, where, why and when), writing a good title, drawing a picture describing what they understood about the lesson and then we read Genesis 1-2, taking turns reading aloud. It’s now 9:30, we started breakfast at 8:00.
My 10-year-old son is a very passion driven child. I had a choice.. I could stifle his now flaming interest in studying this more by getting math out or ask him where he wanted to go with it. He said he was going to write a paper disproving evolution. (Ambitious I thought, and in faith continued to encourage him.) I know I can learn more when I'm passionate about something, so, therefore, would he. We scrapped the list.
He went to the bookshelf and grabbed books to support his work. I looked at his selections and sat him down to talk about what a hypothesis is, since he was jumping into a large field of study. His eager brain needed a bit of focus and he actually saw it my way! This also led to a discussion of a source list and the importance of multiple sources in a debate. We talked about how debates work and how, if he wants to use this information to lead others to his side he needs to make sure all things point back to the hypothesis.
Now, imagine the difference between a conversation with an interested (even driven) child and one who is being “assigned” something and knows he must do it. Today I was blessed to work with a driven child. His "ADHD" like mind was fully engaged. He continued researching for three hours, listening to guidance as if he knew it would make a difference. For you homeschool moms who have tried to force learning, as I have on occasion, this can truly be a Kleenex moment! (Please note: I am not a believer in labeling kids with ADHD, but use this adjective because it seems to be connected with this driven, passionate personality type and many would medicate my child.)
Meanwhile, I forgot about the 8 year old. I track him down and he’s been reading the Bible aloud to his rabbits and is not ready to stop yet. When he drifts upstairs we get out “Night of the Moonjellies” and enjoy a good story together. We do have a 3-year-old, but at story time he is too busy listening to the Star Wars soundtrack and having adventures with a little one inch Lego man. He takes off.
I made some bread for dinner and put chicken soup ingredients in the crock pot. We had a little lunch and after that watched a video on the forces of water. This is also not on the list, but part of creation. A friend called and invited the kids over. There they spent the afternoon drawing a map of Europe and other imaginary countries. At home, the drawing continued into the evening as I read the last few chapters of “Trial by Poison”, a biographical adventure about Mary Slessor, missionary to the area which is now Nigeria.
I am writing this, because these are my favorite days. Sadly, it wasn't always like this. There have been days I have fallen prey to the incredible societal pressure to do things according to some systematic educational model. I write this to encourage you and myself. God knows what your children need to learn. Seek him first and he will direct your path. There are days I will need to reread this when I feel defeated, when I don’t know how I’m going to accomplish “educating” my children for many more years. Those are the days I've talked to some parents who are worrying about choosing the right curriculum or read an article on getting kids to sit and follow your plan. We must all remember that God knows what they need to know and while intelligent plans can make for good order, sometimes you just need to scrap the plan and open your mind to a way that accomplishes more!
I’ve come to learn, but not always trust, that if we seek God first in our lives and, specifically, in our day our experience will be better than when we plan our day on our own. Why? Our attitudes change. Our minds are open to His purpose for us. Everything we do reflects the bigger goal and we learn to be who HE has planned for us to be. Ephessians 2:10 says that we were created as God’s workmanship and that He already has things planned for us to do. What do we need to learn to do those things? One gift we have as homeschoolers is the flexibility to allow our kids to follow life according to their passions. Ultimately, our passions motivate us more than any person can.
There are days I trust this and there are days that, although I know this, I panic a bit. I may compare my children’s handwriting to those of their peers and judge them, as if this were the measure God would use to judge their success. The truth is, that to force handwriting when a child is running in another direction is counter-productive to the learning that COULD be achieved if you watched God work and did what he commanded you to do.
I'll show you an example of how a day went that didn't include my forcing my children in a direction against their interests. I did have a list, a neat list of well rounded activities for an entire week for each kid. On it was our study of creation, history, science, Latin, handwriting, math, piano, reading, you get the picture. Here’s how the day really went....
Breakfast... Pancakes. We talked about conserving and rationing as we shared the last 1/4 cup of syrup between us. With our pancakes we listened to one of my favorite hymns of all time on YouTube, “When I Survey the Wonderful Cross”. Next, we grabbed the postcard of the books of the Bible we’re working on memorizing. I’m a bit of an evangelist, so I gave them a pep talk on the importance of knowing what God’s word says, focusing on how science and the world CAN work together with God's word to bring people TO faith and not away from it. After explaining their responsibilities as Christians to lead the world and not follow it’s ways, they ran off and saying they wanted to read their Bible all day.
So, rather than lose them upstairs I got out a selection of new Bible study books for them to pick. They wanted to talk more about evolution vs. creation, so they picked a Kay Arthur for Kids study of Genesis 1-2. In this, I got a discussion in about reading comprehesion (who, what, where, why and when), writing a good title, drawing a picture describing what they understood about the lesson and then we read Genesis 1-2, taking turns reading aloud. It’s now 9:30, we started breakfast at 8:00.
My 10-year-old son is a very passion driven child. I had a choice.. I could stifle his now flaming interest in studying this more by getting math out or ask him where he wanted to go with it. He said he was going to write a paper disproving evolution. (Ambitious I thought, and in faith continued to encourage him.) I know I can learn more when I'm passionate about something, so, therefore, would he. We scrapped the list.
He went to the bookshelf and grabbed books to support his work. I looked at his selections and sat him down to talk about what a hypothesis is, since he was jumping into a large field of study. His eager brain needed a bit of focus and he actually saw it my way! This also led to a discussion of a source list and the importance of multiple sources in a debate. We talked about how debates work and how, if he wants to use this information to lead others to his side he needs to make sure all things point back to the hypothesis.
Now, imagine the difference between a conversation with an interested (even driven) child and one who is being “assigned” something and knows he must do it. Today I was blessed to work with a driven child. His "ADHD" like mind was fully engaged. He continued researching for three hours, listening to guidance as if he knew it would make a difference. For you homeschool moms who have tried to force learning, as I have on occasion, this can truly be a Kleenex moment! (Please note: I am not a believer in labeling kids with ADHD, but use this adjective because it seems to be connected with this driven, passionate personality type and many would medicate my child.)
Meanwhile, I forgot about the 8 year old. I track him down and he’s been reading the Bible aloud to his rabbits and is not ready to stop yet. When he drifts upstairs we get out “Night of the Moonjellies” and enjoy a good story together. We do have a 3-year-old, but at story time he is too busy listening to the Star Wars soundtrack and having adventures with a little one inch Lego man. He takes off.
I made some bread for dinner and put chicken soup ingredients in the crock pot. We had a little lunch and after that watched a video on the forces of water. This is also not on the list, but part of creation. A friend called and invited the kids over. There they spent the afternoon drawing a map of Europe and other imaginary countries. At home, the drawing continued into the evening as I read the last few chapters of “Trial by Poison”, a biographical adventure about Mary Slessor, missionary to the area which is now Nigeria.
I am writing this, because these are my favorite days. Sadly, it wasn't always like this. There have been days I have fallen prey to the incredible societal pressure to do things according to some systematic educational model. I write this to encourage you and myself. God knows what your children need to learn. Seek him first and he will direct your path. There are days I will need to reread this when I feel defeated, when I don’t know how I’m going to accomplish “educating” my children for many more years. Those are the days I've talked to some parents who are worrying about choosing the right curriculum or read an article on getting kids to sit and follow your plan. We must all remember that God knows what they need to know and while intelligent plans can make for good order, sometimes you just need to scrap the plan and open your mind to a way that accomplishes more!
Thursday, January 15
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!”
Wednesday, January 7
Attitude Check! Celebrating Kids Who are "Getting It"
There’s Nothing Like Kids with a Good Attitude
This is a post of thankfulness. After a month of entertaining and Christmas celebrating, we are back after the New Year. Reflecting on the past, there have been times in our homeschooling journey when my kids just acted like everything I asked them to do was an injustice to them. “It’s time to do math,” could result in a facial expression on my children that sends me to a place of complete discouragement. I persevered, even when it didn’t seem to work - planting seeds and praying. We read Proverbs on laziness “He who will not work shall not eat.” and “diligent hands will rule but laziness ends in slave labor”. We talked and prayed about honoring God in all we think and do, focusing on what is excellent and praiseworthy... and nothing else! Sometimes it feels like that’s what I’M doing was the slave labor. No, it’s all meaningful, life-changing mission work, this homeschooling daily drama. We’ve been asking God to speak to us in a few moments of silence when we pray. Yesterday I head the words, “lead them gently.” How appropriate, I thought. I normally am a bit of a drill sergeant, so I took that as a revelation of advice.
Well, today I am overflowing with thankfulness, that my children are thankful for their existence in a home that doesn’t involve a bus, where they don’t know that you could get an F, only that if it’s not right, you do it again. They are doing their work cheerfully and without complaining! Yeah! All that time of planning their own days with minimal requirements has led them to appreciate my productive schedule. They are enjoying watching their brains work! Yahoo!!
In all this entertaining and serving, we’ve been talking about usefulness. If they want to be useful and serve God in a useful way, then they have to learn to persevere. Last night my 10-year-old was eager to help with salad prep for a mission dinner at church. After his job was done, I was still working on cookies and bars. The salad looked great, washed, spun and included little carrot shavings, but the floor was covered in lettuce and the counter was still full of mess. Have you ever thought you just couldn’t have another discussion about how to do a job right? I seem to think it daily, but the converse is that you will have to do it yourself FOREVER! One of my visions for homeschooling is that I will be able to send my kids to serve in local or foreign missions and that they will be able to KNOW how to do a job right, so they can be counted on. Of course, this would help them stay employed as well.
Over in Mom-world, I have a new Mac. My HP laptop continued to freeze and I couldn’t connect with the world. Oh NO! In the new year, I’ve abandoned my time consuming computerized homeschool tracking programs. The Mac has a great calendar feature iCal that allows me to overlay each kid’s schedule, and mine at will. I can block time for each activity and link any documents or websites to that day’s appointment. So, if I want to add details of the day I can, but sometimes, less is more. Our books lay out the agenda, why should I track it all too.
Happy New Year to you as I am enjoying the “peace that surpasses all understanding.”
This is a post of thankfulness. After a month of entertaining and Christmas celebrating, we are back after the New Year. Reflecting on the past, there have been times in our homeschooling journey when my kids just acted like everything I asked them to do was an injustice to them. “It’s time to do math,” could result in a facial expression on my children that sends me to a place of complete discouragement. I persevered, even when it didn’t seem to work - planting seeds and praying. We read Proverbs on laziness “He who will not work shall not eat.” and “diligent hands will rule but laziness ends in slave labor”. We talked and prayed about honoring God in all we think and do, focusing on what is excellent and praiseworthy... and nothing else! Sometimes it feels like that’s what I’M doing was the slave labor. No, it’s all meaningful, life-changing mission work, this homeschooling daily drama. We’ve been asking God to speak to us in a few moments of silence when we pray. Yesterday I head the words, “lead them gently.” How appropriate, I thought. I normally am a bit of a drill sergeant, so I took that as a revelation of advice.
Well, today I am overflowing with thankfulness, that my children are thankful for their existence in a home that doesn’t involve a bus, where they don’t know that you could get an F, only that if it’s not right, you do it again. They are doing their work cheerfully and without complaining! Yeah! All that time of planning their own days with minimal requirements has led them to appreciate my productive schedule. They are enjoying watching their brains work! Yahoo!!
In all this entertaining and serving, we’ve been talking about usefulness. If they want to be useful and serve God in a useful way, then they have to learn to persevere. Last night my 10-year-old was eager to help with salad prep for a mission dinner at church. After his job was done, I was still working on cookies and bars. The salad looked great, washed, spun and included little carrot shavings, but the floor was covered in lettuce and the counter was still full of mess. Have you ever thought you just couldn’t have another discussion about how to do a job right? I seem to think it daily, but the converse is that you will have to do it yourself FOREVER! One of my visions for homeschooling is that I will be able to send my kids to serve in local or foreign missions and that they will be able to KNOW how to do a job right, so they can be counted on. Of course, this would help them stay employed as well.
Over in Mom-world, I have a new Mac. My HP laptop continued to freeze and I couldn’t connect with the world. Oh NO! In the new year, I’ve abandoned my time consuming computerized homeschool tracking programs. The Mac has a great calendar feature iCal that allows me to overlay each kid’s schedule, and mine at will. I can block time for each activity and link any documents or websites to that day’s appointment. So, if I want to add details of the day I can, but sometimes, less is more. Our books lay out the agenda, why should I track it all too.
Happy New Year to you as I am enjoying the “peace that surpasses all understanding.”
Saturday, December 20
Skype discovery!
We’ve discovered Skype and are calling each other from upstairs to downstairs. I’m downstairs eating chocolate and talking to my family on their laptop upstairs. My three-year-old will be down soon, because he now can SEE that I’m eating chocolate.
I’d move to protect it, but it’s hard to pry my wrists off the laptop pad to actually see each other...
..... Oh... I think I can do it! No. It’s just too hard. More vultures are coming to steal my chocolate. It’s better than being alone. And, what if I ate it all myself. I’d just have to spend more time away from them doing Zumba to wear off all that sugar.
Skype is cool. Think of the possibilities. Online book club! That’s where I’m headed. How about craft day with friends who have moved....read a story to your grandchildren from another state.... show exactly how that fudge is made on my last post.
(Mary... are you reading this???)
Tuesday, October 14
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 8
The Chunky Bible Study Method
How many of you thrive on memory work every day? Well, let me encourage you to try a method that not only gives you and your kids insight into a verse of scripture every day, but teaches them to dwell on scripture, sucking the life out of it until it reveals itself in its utter fullness until it becomes a part of your whole being. (No, I'm not kidding.)
Many of us have tried weekly Bible verses or a passage a day. This is a great way to familiarize yourself with a large random sampling of what God has spoken through his word. Let's broaden our goals a bit and look at it not as memory work but as as life-changing experience that you can include in the beginning of every day, very simply with only a few minutes of effort. Now, I'm going to warn you that it will be hard not to TALK about these verses and to refer back to them, and you may even choose to use them as your copy work, perhaps reinforcing spelling or English grammar. What I'm suggesting is that you choose a larger chunk of scripture, say John 1:1-18, and read it daily, aloud, together - for a month. Now, don't panic that your kids are only going to learn a limited section of scripture and that they're not covering enough. Focus ladies! Focus! The GOAL is to teach your children to read, absorb and allow God's word to become part of them. If you feel the need to stop and discuss what you've discovered about God from one particular line that day, you have my permission to stop and do that after you've read it all. Together, as you meditate daily on what you read, God will continue to reveal what He's talking about here. Now, you may be one of those "quick" moms who think you can get it in a week, but let it be said, that the Holy Spirit has a special love for perseverance and for a heart that longs to suck the full meaning, the global context, the BIG PICTURE out of that section, and the reward will be an insight you may never have had nor ever would have had if you didn't read that SAME section for one month.
In light of my background and education in marketing, I know that gaining loyalty to a new method or practice requires fighting all the other things you are now doing for your precious and valuable time, especially since I'm suggesting that you do this right after your morning coffee and for 30 days. My plan is simple, my subject matter is life changing and the Source of my text is infallible. Begin your day with my "Chunky Memory" and plant seeds that will grow faith and understanding that tower over the largest oaks.
Many of us have tried weekly Bible verses or a passage a day. This is a great way to familiarize yourself with a large random sampling of what God has spoken through his word. Let's broaden our goals a bit and look at it not as memory work but as as life-changing experience that you can include in the beginning of every day, very simply with only a few minutes of effort. Now, I'm going to warn you that it will be hard not to TALK about these verses and to refer back to them, and you may even choose to use them as your copy work, perhaps reinforcing spelling or English grammar. What I'm suggesting is that you choose a larger chunk of scripture, say John 1:1-18, and read it daily, aloud, together - for a month. Now, don't panic that your kids are only going to learn a limited section of scripture and that they're not covering enough. Focus ladies! Focus! The GOAL is to teach your children to read, absorb and allow God's word to become part of them. If you feel the need to stop and discuss what you've discovered about God from one particular line that day, you have my permission to stop and do that after you've read it all. Together, as you meditate daily on what you read, God will continue to reveal what He's talking about here. Now, you may be one of those "quick" moms who think you can get it in a week, but let it be said, that the Holy Spirit has a special love for perseverance and for a heart that longs to suck the full meaning, the global context, the BIG PICTURE out of that section, and the reward will be an insight you may never have had nor ever would have had if you didn't read that SAME section for one month.
In light of my background and education in marketing, I know that gaining loyalty to a new method or practice requires fighting all the other things you are now doing for your precious and valuable time, especially since I'm suggesting that you do this right after your morning coffee and for 30 days. My plan is simple, my subject matter is life changing and the Source of my text is infallible. Begin your day with my "Chunky Memory" and plant seeds that will grow faith and understanding that tower over the largest oaks.
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