School is In!

This summer was, by far, the busiest summer ever!  I think it went by way too fast but I sure enjoy getting back into the school routine.  I am less likely to be found pulled in various different directions, my days take on a more monotonous routine and the laughter seems to increase as I am with the kids a whole lot more.  My kids are outdoor kids so from the moment they wake to the time they hit the pillow at day's end, they are running around outside.  Which means, in summer, I see them only when they come begging for food only to have them run off again as soon as the last bite is down.  Fall really puts a damper on their play time!  Anyhow, we have been back at this school thing for a week already and so far, so good! 

Here is a quick run-down of the curriculum we are using this year.  The three oldest are using Abeka for their Phonics, Language and Math, doing Grades 1, 2 and 3.  It is what they are used to, I had all the supplies and it works.  Is it exciting?  Not really but the kids know what they need to know.  I really enjoy the Phonics program Abeka puts out and I find it to be an effective way to teach kids to read well.  Pepe continues to do composition with Excellence in Writing.  We jumped in where we left off so these past couple of days have been a bit tougher for him.  He will get back into the swing of things and, I think, will actually enjoy it as time goes by.  Science continues in the Apologia books - this time it is Swimming Creatures.  I love this course of study and I am excited about the lapbooks they will be making for it.  I did not make them but bought them instead.  They aren't as visually stimulating as I like them to be (use more fonts, people!) but I think the end result will be great.  As much as she wanted, RJ is not doing science with us this year since we are building on last year's knowledge.  She is, however, joining us for Geography as we gallop the globe with Galloping the Globe.  We will use this curriculum for the next 2 years.  Today we colored a general map of the world and labelled the oceans then we will dive into studying various countries from the different continents.  We will not be lapbooking but creating a binder full of notebooking/lapbooking information, making it much more fun and interesting than writing notes but something that can be added to through the years.  It will be divided into the various continents effectively organizing it.  The first country we will study is Ethiopia (we have dear friends there) and I look forward to learning with them.  I just ordered a bunch of books from our library (comes to me in the mail then I return them in the mail - completely free since we don't have a local public library in our municipality!) and I look forward to checking them out.  Then, of course, I intend to make authentic (as much as I can) meals to go with each country! Injera and wat - sooo good!

So far, the boys have been fairly independant in their math/phonics work and I have worked one-on-one with RJ.  She is only 5, kindergarten age, but we are attempting Grade 1.  She is loving it and doing really well.  I won't push her too hard but I will push her a little.  She is a very determined and a total go-getter so I can see her excelling!  Time will tell.  Today in geography, though, it was fun to watch her learn with the boys.  As I was quizzing them on their maps, AJ was a total goof making RJ laugh.  I can see him being the class clown (now that 3 of them are in the class) and I love the laughter.  So long as they are learning and helping each other out, I think it will be great!

Well, my time is more limited then before so I better run and clean up the kitchen!  Thanks for stopping by!

School. Is. Out!!

Yes, the Falk Academy of Learning is official out for the year! Yippee (insert happy dance here)!! Well, to be truthful, AJ has a couple of pages left in his math workbook but none of it is new information and therefore very independent work. Both boys have been finished with their Language and Phonics for about 3 weeks and geography was finished about 2 weeks ago. Science was completed today as we finished the last couple of pages in Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day (which we all loved - next year it is Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day!). These are the two lap books they made that accompany that study.

I bought them through knowledgeboxcentral (I think) and though it was great for me as it was the first lap book we did, I won't buy the pre-made ones again. I have a specific way I like to do the lap books utilizing the space the best way possible and as many different fonts as necessary to make it artistically fun to look at. I also cannot stand when the text box has been left around the text or when all cutting lines and folding lines appear the same as a solid black line (for me, solid lines are cutting lines, dotted lines are folding lines).

Back to the point! Though I am glad that school is done for now, I really enjoyed teaching the kids this year. It is certainly a stretching experience, mostly in my character development, but I am so thankful yet again that I have the freedom to teach my family throughout the day about more than just school subjects! We are able to have great talks, lots of laughs (admittedly, some tears), fun activities and a whole lot of together time. I always say that we will take this homeschooling journey one year at a time but I am positive we will be embarking on this journey yet again come September. After all, I received their geography curriculum for the next couple of years this week and I am excited to start prepping it!

So, what now? Well! Let's see, there is major organizing/decluttering/cleaning that needs to happen, some painting, a few beds need to be built, a bunch of sewing to complete to name just a few summer projects. I MUST learn to manage my time better. I am a terrible time manager and yet I still manage to accomplish a good deal. Not as much as I would like but enough. Imagine all I could accomplish if I would manage my time better. A few things I would like to see happen that are seriously lacking right now - quiet time for me each morning, a time to workout each day and time to craft/create each week plus a better cleaning routine. Those are things that are of utmost importance to me so this summer I must learn to manage my time! I some tools to help with that so we shall see how that goes. But, for the remainder of this week, I will just marvel at what we accomplished this year and do a bit of cleaning. Maybe we will take a day to spend in the country doing some more tree-clearing there. That is, if it stops raining!

Any plans for your summer?

Lapbook of Jordan

This is the final lapbook we made for our geography course this year. The boys enjoyed this one especially because Jay was able to tour some of the locations we talked about when he went to Jordan a number of years ago. Jay brought back a keffiyeh and a Jordanian newspaper so both were quite amusing for the kids.

I discovered the boys really enjoy learning about the countries of our world, the peoples that live there, the land that fashions it, the languages spoken - all those fun things. Because of that, next year we will study more of the world using the curriculum called Galloping the Globe. I ordered it this week along with some of the additional resources needed. We will be doing a lapbook/notebook approach this time, using a binder and dividing it into the continents. We will study a few countries on each of the continents and will try to include those countries where we personally know missionaries live. What a great way to study this wonderful world God created! And this time, RJ gets to join us on our geography journey. Yes, I know she is only 5 but she already begged to join the boys this year as they studied geography. Why hold her back when she is so eager?

To find all the lapbooks on this geography course, click the country names below:

Turkey

Israel

Egypt

Iraq

Saudi Arabia

As always, just email me if you want the file for any of the lapbooks I have made - I will gladly share with you!

Lapbook of Saudi Arabia

Here is the lapbook of Saudi Arabia the boys made:

Find additional lapbooks of the Holy Land here:

Turkey

Israel

Egypt

Iraq

Lapbook of Iraq

We are finished our geography course for this year and it has been a blast! The boys have really enjoyed studying the Holy Land as presented in A Child's Geography - Explore the Holy Land by Ann Voskamp. We finished the study of Iraq last month already but I never got around to posting pictures of the lapbooks. Here is Iraq:

As I mentioned earlier, if you are wanting the file for this lapbook, just send me an email. I will gladly share it with you! Tomorrow, I will show you our lapbook of Saudi Arabia.

The Truest Education

A sweet friend sent me this quote from a blog written by Ann Voskamp, the author of the book we are using for geography this year. I have stopped by her blog every now and again and she is filled with a knowledge and understanding of things way beyond her years! You can check out her blog at A Holy Experience.

Today, as every Monday, she is talking about encouraging gifts of thankfulness, teaching gratitude to our children and learning it ourselves. It really is a skill that is in short supply but so easily taught, so easily benefitted from, in various ways. The part that stuck out to me the most was this:

"Because what will the math really matter if they are bitter? If the house is immaculate — but my attitude a mess? If they can count — but they don’t know how to count all things as joy? If we get the lists done, but have lost happiness in Him? How can any grammar skill outweigh the fact they don’t know the language of grace and thanks? What good will it be if they can recite all the major British battles — but they don’t know to see beauty? What am I teaching our children if I’m not living simply, quietly this: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8). Focusing on what is beautiful, good, true –isn’t this the truest education?"

Wow! The utter power of a grateful heart. I am blessed with the opportunity to share with my children a grateful heart throughout the day (and, I confess, I fail more often than not). We can, and do, stop the academics to work on the attitude of the heart. I would much rather my child grow up to be kind and compassionate, grateful and gentle, willing to be a servant and a leader than to have them excel at all things academic and fail at all matters of the heart. I know, one is not exclusive to the other. I realize that gratitude (and all those other Godly characteristics) can be taught whether your children are in public school or not. I am just more acutely aware of the responsibility placed on me as their whole education rests in my hands. I must be sure to emphasize that which is best, not only that which is good. What a great reminder for me in my homeschooling journey.

To read the full post Ann wrote, you can find it here.

Lapbook on Egypt

At the end of last week, we completed our third of six lapbooks in our Geography course, A Child's Geography - Explore the Holy Land. The boys really enjoyed studying Egpyt: learning about ancient Egypt, about modern-day Egypt and how so many important Old Testament stories actually happened in this fascinating country! I am continuing to learn so many new things myself and I love to create new little mini-books each week. I absolutely love how the author of our text (see below) weaves in stories of the country we are studying, truths from Scripture, and explanations of how the geography of the region shapes our lives and when we mess with that geography as God created it, consequences happen. Now we will take a one week break before heading into our next country of study - Iraq! Once again, if you need a lapbook to accompany the Egypt chapters of Ann Voskamp's A Child's Geography - Explore the Holy Land, send me an email and I will gladly send you the file. (A couple of readers asked for the Israel lapbook and I was delighted to send it their way!) So, this is what the boys' lapbook of Egypt looks like!

Learning to Read

RJ has shown incredible amounts of determination when it comes to schooling. She loves to be right in the thick of it. She loves to work on her books, complains the least (note that she does complain at times), and is absorbing rapidly all she is learning. This week we passed a milestone I suspected we would pass before she turned 5 - she read her first book! Granted it is a book filled with short single-vowel words and is only 58 words long but hey, she read a book! I caught it on video tape and I could not be more proud of her! Today she brought me another book and she read it as well. She does need a bit of help every now and then but she is doing so fantastic for only being 4! It just confirms my decision that homeschooling her at this early age was a good decision. According to school standards, she should only be starting kindergarten in September. I think she would be utterly bored by that point if she keeps excelling at the rate she is going. So, I say, way to go RJ! I am so proud of you! Learning to read is a huge milestone and it will take you many places in life!

Lapbook on Israel

Shalom! This week we finally finished our lap book on Israel. Earlier I showed you our completed lap book on Turkey. Israel was the next country we were studying in our tour of the Holy Land. We are using Ann Voskamp's text A Child's Geography - Explore the Holy Land and we love it! I think the study of Israel was especially fun for the boys as Jay spent a bit of time in Israel before we met. He has a whole photo album of pictures he took of the exact same places we talked about in our study. So, he could talk about those fascinating locales with more detail than the books and was able to answer the boys' questions. They really love studying these countries as they can now picture where people like Jesus or Abraham or John the Baptist lived and died. What a great way to make the Bible really come to life! I also found a Hebrew printing practice sheet for them to try writing the Hebrew Aleph Bet in block letter style. They really enjoyed that. They also loved seeing their names written in Hebrew and will now sometimes write their names in Hebrew on their assignments! Next week we start our study on Egypt and I am really looking forward to learning more about that country!

If you are using Ann's book while studying Israel and looking for a lap book, send me an email and I will gladly send you the file! Why not save you the hours of work it took me to make it?! :)

Phonics - Boy Version

Heard during Phonics with AJ this morning:

"Sn in Snot"

"Cr in Crap"

Hmmm. I am pretty sure that's not what the books say. However, I did burst out laughing - after all, he is correct!

We Survived Week One!

Well, we have completed our first full week of homeschooling for this 2010-2011 school year and what a week it was! It was a full week but a really great one! If the rest of the year could go this smoothly (which it probably won't), then it should be a breeze!

Some of the highlights of the week:

• RJ is only 4. She turns 5 in February. She would only be going into Kindergarten next year according to all the government regulations. Well, I like to ignore those and do what I want when it comes to schooling. She started kindergarten this week with a bang! I bought a number of workbooks for her thinking if she was kept busy all morning she would want to play all afternoon, right? WRONG! She spent all Monday afternoon crying because I didn't have more school for her to do! So, we upped the amount of pages for her and that seemed to make her happier - at least until Friday when she insisted she was doing school in the afternoon just like the boys. So, I just may add some grade 1 books into the mix and see how she does with those!


• The boys are enjoying both geography and science. For geography, they are studying Turkey and they look forward to those days. Yup, they actually enjoy it! And they love making the lapbooks. I did learn that their cutting-with-scissors skills are a bit wanting - the perfectionist in me has to work hard not to cut out the little books for them so they look perfect!
  


• Pepe wants to be a zoologist thanks to science. He has taken to writing notes in little notebooks about the frogs he has been catching. Actually, we have now set up an aquarium in their room with 2 American Toads and 1 Leopard Frog. Turns out, you really do need to cover any small holes in the aquarium lid no matter how unlikely you think it is that the frog can escape. Cause it can. Just ask the boys! (When we left the house at 5:30 all 3 amphibians were present and accounted for. When we returned at 8:30 the frog was gone. Jay thought it was burrowed in the dirt. So I dug up the dirt. No frog. Yup, I spent the next 2 hours cleaning the house and searching for it while promising the boys the frog was not in their room and would not jump on them at night. It was found. I returned it to its home. I covered all holes and weighted down the lid! Trying escaping now, oh little jumping wonder!)
  


• I was super excited to teach composition to Pepe this year, following the program designed by the Institute for Excellence in Writing. I wasn't sure how he would do but after this week, I am convinced he will thrive! He is loving it so far and has given 3 oral reports about his work. He was scared at first to present the report to us but by the third time he was looking at us while speaking, smiling, raising his eyebrows and using excellent expression. I cannot help but be overwhelmed with pride when I see how well he is doing under my tutelage!
  


• Lunch times are so much easier if you actually make school lunches for them either the night before or the morning of. I never thought I would make school lunches for my home-schooled kids but when I was reading this post by Mama Jenn I decided to give it a go. Now, she uses these really cute colored lunch dishes called Easy Lunchboxes that cost way too much to ship to Canada. (Sorry, Easy Lunchboxes!) I had to think of a more affordable alternative so I found perfect sized 2-compartment plastic containers at Dollarama. I also bought a few other smaller-sized containers for vegetable dip, fruit salad or jello or pudding, etc. These have come in so handy and make my day run that much smoother. Now I make their lunches ahead of time and label the dishes with their initials. They can get their lunch on their own and whatever they don't finish goes back in the dish and is handy for snack time! It really does save a tonne of time and they can use that extra time for more playing. I get to use that extra time for chores around the house or getting supper in the crock-pot, etc. I absolutely love making them lunches thanks to the extra time it saves and guess what? When you make the lunches ahead of time you don't serve KD! Imagine that! :)


• Finally, I have been using the workbox system as Mama Jenn describes (Hey, what can I say? She has some great ideas!). I have no idea how you are "supposed to" use the system but I like what I am doing. Everyone knows what to do next and the day seems to go very smoothly. It takes a bit more organizing than usual but the results are worth it. I have all 3 kids working on their assignments and it is so easy for me to go around and help them as necessary. They know what to do when they finish one assignment and don't have to sit and wait for me to tell them what to do! So, I love this part of schooling as well! And, I use the planning sheets Mama Jenn has created also! They keep me organized and on-track at all times! My day would be complete chaos without them!


• I love how we can be flexible with our schedule! We accomplished everything school-related we needed to do plus we attended a doctor's appointment in the city followed by some shopping, we helped my in-laws dig potatoes one afternoon and I took the kids to a bookstore one morning. A great, great week!

Well, that is the recap for the week. I don't have any pictures to show you since all 3 of my camera cards are full and need to get developed! That should happen this week! I hope your week was as good as mine and I hope this coming week is even better!

Lapbook on Turkey

Merhaba! Hello (for all you non-Turkish speakers!). For geography this year, we will be studying a book called "A Child's Geography - Explore the Holy Land". I am really excited about doing this study but wanted to be sure the boys would be able to retain the knowledge they will gain. Enter lapbooks! If you have never heard of lapbooks, you are not alone. I had only heard of them for the first time just about a year ago when we were discussing what we would be doing at the homeschool co-op we are joining this year. A lapbook is a folder of information pertaining to a particular subject. This folder contains lots of mini-books of bite-sized chunks of information. At the end of your study of that topic you have a creative book filled with information that is presented in a lot more interesting of a manner than just a notebook filled with writing. That is a very simplistic definition but it gets the point across. You can find lapbooks all over the web for many different topics. I could not find a lapbook for this particular study so what is a girl to do? Make one! Now, A Child's Geography covers 6 different countries in the Holy Land area so we are going to take a full month to study each country. I have finally completed the lapbook for the first country, Turkey. I had to make a sample so I knew how all of it would be arranged. I loved doing it and the boys are excited about making their own. I made all the templates on my computer then printed them out on really colorful paper. The boys will fill in all the information and cut them out during the appropriate lesson. I read somewhere that colorful paper is a better way to retain the info plus it looks better so that is what I used. I also found a tonne of colorful file folders at the thrift store for a couple pennies each. They were already written on the tab so I just cut the tabs off. I actually like the slightly smaller size better since this way I can put each lapbook in a plastic page protector and put them all into a binder. Anyway, without any further ado, here is my lapbook on Turkey to accompany the first chapter in "A Child's Geography - Explore the Holy Land".

{This is how it closes. The front cover will be decorated by the boys - I didn't decorate mine}

{Inside - all the mini books are closed}

{Inside - some of the mini-books are open. There are a lot of fill-in-the-blanks but not huge amounts of writing.}

{The back of the lapbook - a map of Turkey the boys will have to label.}

Links to Homeschool School Rooms

I am not happy with the place our homeschool "room" occupies but it is what it is for now. Our next house will have a separate room just for homeschooling and I am thrilled with the thought. I love to gather room layout ideas so imagine my pleasure at finding this blog hop.

Pop on over to check out the links to many, many homeschool rooms. I am sure the great ideas will abound!

Just a Part of Life

I thought I would fill you in on what is going on around here not related to decorating. Or home improvement. Or projects. Well, I may mention them but no tutorials or anything.

First of all, you should know that when you are 5 years old and thin as a stick - and I mean really skinny - life is so stressful trying to find a pair of pants that fit. Most mornings I hear whines and complaints about the pants falling off. So, we tighten the adjustable waist A LOT and then all the bunches from being tightened hurt. And if you add a belt then the big bump in the front is bothersome. Sweats. That is the answer. And apparently he needs more!

Last night I received that magic phone call that told me the bunk beds were coming today! YIPPEE!! So it's been a long, loooooong wait but at least they are here. And we weren't scammed. I am waiting for that second call to give me a better idea of what time they will arrive but tonight I will sleep without a baby in the room!! 9+ months later and she has her room back! Oh, the celebrations that will occur (and that will not necessarily mean what you think it means ☺). UPDATE: He just called - between 1 and 3pm! I cannot wait to put it together. I love putting things together. I would be very disappointed if it was all assembled. Did I mention I love to assemble things??!!

I am not above bribing my children. Pepe has a somewhat significant speaking role in the Sunday School Christmas program this year and he is stressed just thinking about it. AJ has a smaller role, 4 short lines, but still broke down in tears with wailing and gnashing of teeth when we tried to practice in the safety of our own home. So, what does any good mother do? Bribe them. And bribe them well! Both boys will get to choose their very own mini-Lego set if they speak their lines well for everyone to hear without breaking down in tears. Talk about incentive for 2 little Lego-loving boys!

I stayed up until 2am last night trying to sew a hat for RJ. Her sister has one and her mom has a few but she has none. I am trying to make her one for Christmas but I am not so sure I am winning. However, if anyone knows me well, I will succeed. It may frustrate me and cause me to say some unnesessary things but I will do it. And then I will wonder why I didn't just go buy one!!

I was driving to the city to do some shopping the other day and an advent calendar idea smacked me right in the center of my head! Don't you just love it when that happens? I have refrained from buying those cheapy ones you can find but it never occurred to me to just make one. Then I read online in a place or 2 about making your own. I have been mulling it over and then - BAM!! I now have all the supplies, I just have to find time. Which always seems to disappear around here . . .

Speaking of supplies, I also intend to make a fabric-covered headboard for our room. I have all the supplies, except the wood, for that, too. It, also, just requires some time. Once the girls are all settled in maybe I can work on it. Of course, I should finish all the sewing first. But, we will see. I know it could be done quickly (that's what I say now!). And the difference it would make!

School marches along just wonderfully. When I say that, I mean that I haven't gotten too impatient or upset with them. Which makes school a lovely experience, wouldn't you say? ☺

Finally, in the very back of my mind, is the desire to decorate for Christmas. I started with my table but there is so much more that can, and will, be done. First, I need my hero-husband to grab the decor boxes from the shelves in the garage and then I need a real tree. I cannot stand the fake ones. There is something so magical about that smell of fresh evergreen. Mmmmm. I can almost smell it now! However, I did tell Jay, that if we got a fake tree, it would be noticeably fake, like black or white or red or hot pink or something! And that would not only be a tree, it would be a statement. So, anyway, maybe this week we will get our tree and the real decorating can begin!

That is our life in a nutshell right now. Things are going well. Really, they are. In my heart and in my life. I hope your life is going well, too! Have a great Wednesday - I know I sure will!

Stop, Drop and Pray

Today started out alright. I had full intentions of having a great day. Especially since yesterday was a day I would rather forget. I met with some friends this morning and shared some of my woes. I cried. I prayed. I went to MCC. I intended to have a great day. I came home from my meeting and my husband had tidied up in the kitchen. All was looking good. Then somewhere along the journey through the rest of the day, things went downhill. Jay and I got into a discussion about our responsibilities, the things that we do and don't do. You know, when you decide to do something, like homeschool, something else may suffer, like housework. Or laundry. When that happens, spouses may have to pick up the slack. Which means their list of a million things is not getting accomplished. Which means they have to work longer. Which means you see them less. Which makes you irritable. Which makes you grumpy towards those you love the most. A never-ending whirlwind of emotions that generally cause you to feel like crap. Like why are you doing what you are doing? And, in the midst of all that, I was baking bread. Which is a good thing seeing as AJ loves his toast. So, I am baking bread and making pizza. 1 oven full of bread after which the pizza was to go in before the next oven full of bread. Well, this was in the middle of the discussion. Never have discussions while baking. It causes you not to think. I forgot I was going to put the pizza in before the second batch of bread. So, supper would now be delayed another 1/2 hour (the whole idea of having double ovens now makes sense! In fact, they may even be good for our marriage. Just like a double shower. But that is a completely different matter! ☺). 6:30 isn't tooooo bad. So, timer beeps and I go to check on the bread. It looks so much lighter than the first batch. I look at the thermometer that hangs in the stove and the temperature is waaaaaay down. What? Oh, smarty-pants over here turned OFF the oven. How dumb is that. Supper will be at least another 1/2 hour. Then to bake the pizzas after that. Agh. At this point, Jay realizes it would be best to bathe the kids before supper seeing as we would practically be eating at midnight (and yes, I do realize I have a slight tendancy to over-exaggerate just a little!). And at this point, I loose it. I needed something. I needed Jesus (which is exactly what AJ told me on Friday - "Mommy, you need more Jesus in you!!" How right he is!). So, while Jay was downstairs bathing the kids, I went to my room, dropped to my knees and cried out my heart to my Lord. Right then and there. I stopped what I was doing, dropped to my knees and prayed for peace to come. For Jesus to hold me. For this day to at least end okay. Now, you may think that sounds so spiritual and all. But, as a matter of fact, those sorts of things happen way to little in this house - or at least with me. I try to get along on my own. In my own strength. With my own wisdom. Maybe if I just work hard enough or sleep a little less or plan a little more, things will work out the way I want them to. Uh, no. Doesn't happen that way. I am realizing over and over again how little I can do on my strength. How little control I have over the way my day goes. The only thing I can control is the time I spend on my knees with my Lord and Saviour, the one who loves me more than anyone else does, the one who created me and formed me and would do anything for me, the one who IS strength, the one who IS love, the one who IS peace. If only I would remember to stop, drop and pray.

Homeschooling: Success with a Schedule

It is already the beginning of November but I finally feel like I have found a really nice rhythm when it comes to homeschooling. It all started when a friend of mine forwarded her daily schedule to me. See, before that and last year, I just went about schooling without a schedule. I knew in my head what I needed to accomplish and the day would take however long it needed to get that work done. When this friend mentioned she used a schedule, I kind of balked at the idea but I was open enough to the suggestion to at least ask what her schedule looked like. Then I thought I could try creating my own schedule and try it out for a week or two to see how I liked it! And the result? I love it! My suggestion to you if you don't currently have a set schedule for schooling is this - set a schedule, post it for the kids to see, then try it out for 2 weeks. If it works (which I am sure it will), that is fantastic. If it doesn't, go back to whatever you were doing before.

This is what our schedule currently looks like:

9:00 - 9:20 P: Memory Work A: Printing Work

9:20 - 9:30 P: Handwriting (Cursive) A: Alphabet Work

9:30 - 9:40 P: Spelling Practice A: Phonics Work

9:40 - 10:30 I read out loud to them
(This time rarely ends up being this long. It all depends on what time we actually got the day started or how many interruptions I have by the other little people. What I do like is that this is a buffer time to keep the rest of the morning on track. We always read something and the kids, all of them, really enjoy it!)

10:30 - 10:45 RECESS (For their sake and for mine!☺)

10:45 - 11:30 P & A - Science (M, W, F) or Geography (T, Th)

11:30 - 12:00 P: Math A: Math (10 minutes only)

12:00 - 1:00 LUNCH

1:00 - 1:30 P: Phonics

1:30 - ? P & I read to each other, 1 chapter each in whichever book we are working on, different from the morning story.

As I said, I really like having a schedule and here are a few of the reasons.

1. It forces the boys to work with some motivation and focus because if they do not complete the work during the allotted time, the rest gets done for homework.
2. By having a schedule, the boys know what to expect. They know the order for the day. Pepe can read so once he finishes his current assignment he checks out the schedule to see what comes next and gets started on it. His first three sessions of the day are pretty independant so if he finishes his work early, he gets to play for a few minutes before reading starts.
3. I don't have to think about what comes next. This is a big one since my brain is filled with so many other things - might as well make school as easy for me as possible!

On a totally different note: yes, I do use a kitchen timer. It keeps us on track and lets us know when to begin the next subject. I use it all the time and I love it!

Some final thoughts: people often ask what I do with the girls when the boys are in school. Ari just crawls around and plays. Pretty straight forward. She goes for a nap at recess time and then again once school is done. As for RJ and Ali, they have a little table beside me that they use as their school table. They spend time coloring in coloring books (which they don't do at any other time of the day), RJ practices writing her name with me, and they both love to use dry erase markers on dry erase books. These books can be found at dollar stores or at office supply stores. Some teach simple things like following lines, some teach shapes or numbers or letters. The girls feel really important when they have their own work to do! Their attention span is not nearly as long so when they are done, they are off to play. Simple as that!

Well, those are my thoughts on using a schedule for homeschooling. In the future, I will share about the curriculum we are currently using and what I think of those. For now, you have a better idea of how school proceeds in this house on a daily basis (and why I don't answer the phone during that time!).

My spirit is alive!

Do you ever get the feeling that your spirit becomes more alive, more excited after spending time with certain people? Tonight that is how my spirit feels thanks to the evening we were able to spend with some sweet friends (who actually have 5 children of their own and understand our life just a bit better than most others!!).

First of all, I think I finally have words to express the great desire to homeschool. I homeschooled Pepe last year and I will continue with both boys this year. I don't have to register them for homeschooling until they are 7 so, in the mean time, I have been trying to come up with a philosophy of education. Why do I want to homeschool? Until now, I knew that I didn't like the idea of the kids being away for 8 hours a day under someone else's instruction, influence, control! I thought they were gifts given to me, not the school teacher, no matter how good those teachers are (and in our school division we have some great educators, some of whom are my friends). Some people scoff at the idea of educating my own children - after all, think of all the free time I will have with them gone! Think of how much cleaning, shopping, crafting I can do with no little people to "drag around"! I could read a book, take a bath or a nap, paint my toes, go to the bathroom, all without interruption! But, guess what? I like those little people! And they were given to ME as gifts from the Lord. He says, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." (Psalm 127:3-5) My children are not a barrier to my happiness, my children are not an inconvenience that I must put up with until I can finally send them away to school so I can do my own thing. My children are a heritage, a blessing, a gift. I need to cherish that gift. To embrace that gift. And for me, that means to teach that gift! Deuteronomy 11:19 is talking about the Lord and his commands when he writes, "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." It says right there I am supposed to teach my children! I need to teach them far more than reading, writing and arithmatic - I need to teach them all about the Lord and all that He has done and all that He is continuing to do. And, guess what? You can teach them to read and learn about the Lord at the same time!! So, I put away my own agenda for a little while. Aren't they worth it? Eventually they will grow up and leave home and I will have all the time in the world to craft, nap or shop. But won't it be that much more rewarding to have that 18 or 20 year-old that is bright, educated and loves the Lord with a passionate faith because their mom took a few years out of her life to teach and embrace those precious gifts He entrusted to her?

Secondly, I was informed, though the concept shouldn't be a new one, that children don't get a baby-sized Holy Spirit - they can have the full power of the Holy Spirit at the age of 3! Do you understand what I am saying? My 3 year-old RJ can have the same power Christ had when he walked the earth because that same power can indwell her through the Holy Spirit!! Isn't that just amazing!!! You don't have to wait until the age of maturity for the Holy Spirit to indwell you. I guess I should have known that but I have never thought about it like that before. Makes perfect sense to me. And, it certainly makes me look at and pray with my children in a completely different light. Can you imagine the things they could do? The children they could be? The children they already are?

Thirdly, God really cares about us, about all the little details of our lives! Tonight Jay picked up Ali and somehow hurt her arm so that she wouldn't use her wrist - she just kept holding it and crying and crying. We tried to get her to move it - she wouldn't. I was already envisioning a trip to the ER - a long night in the waiting room, a 2 year-old crying in pain the whole 45 minute trip - it was not going to be a good ending to a great evening. Her wrist even looked funny. Then all of a sudden she started using it. Just like that. No pain. No more tears. I said, "Okay, who was praying?" The man of the house said he was! And God choose to heal her! Maybe to teach us all that God really does hear our prayers, that God cares about the little things and that God certainly cares about the little ones! After all, Jesus did say, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." (Mark 10:19)

My spirit is alive! Thank you, Lord!