Lifesong

First Day in the Fourth Grade and Kindergarten

We started back to school today, a little earlier than usual. Here's why: My Mom is having knee replacement surgery next Monday, August 6. So, there will be no school going on that week, so I thought we'd get ahead this week, then we will have a week off, and then get back to it. So, there's my logic.

I LOVE TRADITIONS. Did you know? LOVELOVELOVE. So for weeks now (months?) I've been gathering my thoughts for First Day of School Fun. It's always so exciting to me to start a new school year. The night before, I set the table for the next morning.

I really wanted to host a (Not) Back to School Party this year, but it didn't work out. Maybe next year! But this is how I would have set the table for it, just FYI.

Of course, I have to have the school room all set up with supplies, books and notebooks laid out, waiting to greet them in the morning.

It stays looking this way for about .6 seconds.

The kids were very excited to get started and start all the learning.

I always forget how quickly Kindergarten goes. It went by so fast, I forgot to document it. Christian did very well with his lessons. There was quite a bit of fussing from Avery, so I was holding her while walking back and forth between Ansley and Christian. Ideally, one would be working quietly on something while I'm teaching the other, and then it would switch. But it never seems to work out that way.

Ansley's school lasts much longer.

She did very well though, and actually didn't complain at all. She loves the grammar, writing and reading parts of the day.

We had some read aloud time today, and Ansley is all about that. She loves reading stories to us.

What does The Baby do during all this, you ask? Good question.

There's a little bit of this. And then there was coloring all over the walls and doors and windows. Climbing on the counters and tossing off mail and laughing. She's a regular tornado. Good thing she's so cute. I bought her some Mega-Blocks, because she really loves this small set she has, so I thought it would really keep her occupied for a little bit while we tried to get some school done.

And really, money has never been more wisely spent. I don't know what I would have done without those blocks.

(She didn't play with them.)

(Not once.)

(But the other two did, so there's that.)

We got a lot done in the morning, taking a few small breaks. Then it was lunchtime. I made a lunchtime surprise.

Isn't it pretty? I thought it was really cool looking. And the picture doesn't really do it justice but it is purple, red and orange. The kids loved them.

Avery was feeling generous with her lunch today.

And then there was this.

So she went down for her nap, and we finished up the rest of school (a little more peacefully).

Overall, it was a very good first day. We accomplished the learning. We had some fun. We celebrated the little things. We played outside. We read on the couch.

We are looking forward to Day Two!

(Almost) Back To School

I swear it seems like just yesterday we had the whole summer before us.

And now the whole summer is almost behind us.

As we inch closer and closer to back to school time, it's always so exciting to me - getting geared up, getting everything ready, preparing for another year of learning together. There will be burn-out, no doubt, and tears, for sure, and frustration and lost tempers, I know....but through it all, I am so very grateful that we get to spend our days together and I get to know my kids: the good, the bad, and the super sweet and downright hilarious.

I have been getting our school room ready for another year - and this year, I will be teaching TWO! I can hardly believe that two of my children are school-age.

I really like this fun system that probably took me way too long to create, but I think the end result will be a fun system for them.  The purpose is so the kids will know exactly what the day holds for them, and what they have left to do. Throughout our homeschool days, there are always requests for "Can we play outside?" or "Can we play in the playroom?" or various similar requests. Now (at least I think) the kids will be able to see what is left for them to do and know if playing is a good choice at that time or not. And I also envision that it will teach some time management for Ansley because she will see what she has left to do, and can use her time wisely to get things done, since she can work much more independently than Christian can.

I have two bulletin boards in the schoolroom - one for Ansley and one for Christian. (I know, I don't know what I will do when Avery needs one.) Here is Ansley's board.

You can see all her cards at the bottom. And here is Christian's board.

You can see his on the sides.

And, yes, you can say it with Ansley "Christian doesn't have nearly as much to do!"

So true. The disadvantage of the oldest sibling.

You can also see that Christian's board looks so much better than Ansley's, at least according to Ansley. I'm not quite finished with Ansley's, but also Kindergarten is my absolute favorite thing to teach! Well at least so far. It's just so sweet, and they learn so much!

Here's a close up of Ansley's cards.

Each card is labeled with a subject (plus homework) with a "To Do" tag sticking out of it. At the beginning of every day, of course she will have eight "To Do's", and her goal for each day is to get those cards turned over!

Same for Christian - his goal is to get those four cards turned over by the end of the day.

Here's the fun part!

(I may be a little too excited about my system.)

One side of the card says "To Do" and the other side says "Done" so once the subject is done and the card is flipped over, you can easily see what has been finished for the day, and what still needs to be done.

See? Like that. So cute, isn't it?

It's almost time!

Keep Learning Alive : Summer Writing Bin

I think if my kids were older maybe I might would school year round possibly. Can you see how confident I am of that? I really love the summer break, the carefree days of doing nothing, having no agenda, playing, swimming, lounging, laughing. But by the time we take a few months off and start back up, it's like starting all over again. My kids have forgotten so much! Does anyone else have this problem?

So as my two oldest get a little older, I've been trying to utilize some fun and creative ways to keep learning alive, but so that they don't know that it's learning.

My kids LOVE to write (Ansley) and draw (Christian). They are constantly pulling out all sorts of supplies to support their creative needs. Why not combine their passions with a little learning (and organization - bonus!) thrown in?

Enter the Writing Bin.

I had these containers that my Mom had given the kids a few years ago. I cleaned them out to use as our Writing Bins. They are full of fun supplies that they will need for writing or drawing, and they can pull their caddy out, write and draw away, and then put it back. Perfect, right?

Here's a close up of Ansley's bin. (All of this was stuff I already had.) In the back, I put a stack of note cards and envelopes that had previously been in the back of a cabinet, so she rarely used. Now they are all ready for her to write away! I also included some stamps, stickers, and some homemade books to use for writing stories or drawing on.

Here's a close up of the books, but these are super easy to make. You probably already know how, but just in case, just fold white paper to any size you want, and staple it on the crease. Then cut some paper (I used scrapbook paper, since I never use it for scrapbooking!) to the size of your book to make the binding. Fold it in half, making a good crease, and glue it around the book. They look so cute, and my kids LOVE using these. I have done this in the past, and then kinda forgot about them, and then remembered them again. It's amazing how quickly my kids go through these!

Here's Christian's bin. I put alphabet stamps, stickers, a few note cards, post-it notes, and homemade books in his. He loves to draw, but he is also very into practicing his letters and starting to write words.

Then I cleared a spot for them in our school room. Don't they look cute and scholarly? I'm hoping this will encourage my kids to continue writing and drawing all summer, as well as send letters and drawings to friends and family.

Such a fun way to encourage a little summer learning!

What about you? How are you helping your kids continue to learn over the summer? I'd love to hear!

Last Day in the Third Grade.....And Preschool

I love doing end of the year wrap ups. It just makes it so official and all we're done-like.

And, we are.

Ansley is no longer a third grader. Christian is no longer in preschool (for the second or third? year in a row).

I'm going to get all detaily (I think it has a nice ring to it, don't you?) because I enjoy going back and looking at the end of each year and reading about it. Heaven knows I can't leave anything up to my memory. That's why I have to document so much. So mostly, this is for me, and if you find it interesting, then we are probably good friends.

(If you would like to see the end of second grade, you can go here.)

This year I stepped out in faith and changed curriculum. In previous years, I liked the all encompassing curriculum in a box so to speak, where it comes with everything and there is no guessing. So for first and second grade, I used A Beka. I finally just got so bored with it, I had to do something different. I've spoken on this before, but it is worth mentioning again: A Beka is a great and SUPER thorough curriculum. It's just geared more for the classroom setting, so it becomes a little repetitive and repetitive and starts to repeat the same things over and over repetitively. Anyway, so this year we used Winter Promise. I went with the Animals and Their Worlds curriculum because my kids love animals, and it seemed like a very engaging and fun program. I had originally purchased Saxon math, but halfway through the year I switched to Teaching Textbooks because ...... well I was in over my head. I'm not a great math teacher. I'm really not even a good one. I'm probably not even a mediocre.....you get the point. I have been VERY happy with Teaching Textbooks and we will use it again next year. This year I used Winter Promise as well for Language Arts, Spelling and Vocabulary (more on that later).

We started off most days reading the devotional Long Story Short, which I highly recommend. It was great in capturing their attention! I'm contemplating an Apologia study for them next year.

This is my new tradition - to take first day and last day of school pictures. I think it will be so cool when Ansley is fifteen and I have this huge collage of photos.....while I'm crying on the couch, of course, because she's fifteen. I can't even imagine.

Christian asked me if he could start Kindergarten tomorrow. Oh, sweet boy.

We really enjoyed the Winter Promise curriculum. It is very fun and engaging, which is what I was hoping for. The kids both loved learning about animals and all sorts of fun and interesting facts. By far their favorite part was the animal chart that we did every week.

We measured both of them and had a square for them on the chart, and then each week as we studied a new animal, they would guess how tall that animal was. They had a blast with this!

We read a LOT. Which I love, of course!

These are all the books we read this year. We read most of them aloud, but sometimes when the noise level was a bit too much, I asked Ansley to read a chapter quietly, then I'd read it and we would discuss. Ansley and I both really enjoy the reading part. Christian would usually quietly play while we read - these books are a bit much for a five year old.

Christian had his own curriculum though, also from Winter Promise. We used Animals and Their Worlds for both of them, just adjusted to the preschool level and the third grade level.

Christian went through the Explode the Code workbooks, and did very well. He is very quick and efficient at his work, so of course he would finish well before Ansley. But he is an eager learner, and I have found that he has picked up so much from listening to me teach Ansley. (For instance, he knows how to multiply because he has heard me explain it to Ansley so many times.)

Christian can write his own name without any help, and he LOVES to draw and write letters and numbers. He is VERY anxious to read, and if I was a better Mama, I would probably work with him on that over the summer. But, I'm not. I need a break! He is eagerly anticipating Kindergarten, because he wants to learn how to read. (This photo is actually from when we were visiting my Grandma, and he was showing her how he could write her name.)

We enjoyed many art projects, notebooking, experiments, and games together.

I did not love the Language Arts curriculum through Winter Promise. I thought it was rather skimpy, and didn't include things like personal reading or improving her writing skills.

For the first time this year, we started Ansley in a co-op through our church. It is an enrichment co-op (as opposed to one where you go two or three days a week and learn all the subjects, then homeschool the remaining days) so we could choose what classes we wanted her to take. Her co-op is on Tuesdays, which really worked out great for our family and for Ansley. The first semester she took art and writing, and the second semester was science and writing. The co-op was from 11 am to 2 pm, and she always looked forward to Tuesdays. It was a great introduction to a classroom environment, learning responsibility, having homework and remembering to bring certain things back the next week.

Ansley has beautiful cursive handwriting. (A Beka teaches cursive early; you can read why here. I am a big believer in this!) I should add, Ansley has beautiful cursive handwriting when she wants to. She can be sloppy, but when I make her re-do something, it is very neat. This is an assignment from her writing class where she had to write a letter to the upcoming class.

Today was Ansley's last co-op class, which coincided perfectly since our last day of school at home was yesterday. I made these teacher's gifts for Ansley's two teachers.

I love the way they turned out. If I ever sent my kids to public school, it would only be so I could have an excuse to make lots of teacher's gifts. So fun! Ansley wrote a sweet note to each of them, and we tucked it in the back of the berry basket. But, keeping them this way made it a little difficult to transport.....

...so I wrapped them up in plastic so they would be a little easier to hand off.

Ansley's co-op has gone so, so well and I'm so pleased with how her year there went. This morning her writing teacher did a little presentation of all their hard work this year, which was very cute!

This is the writing class with Mrs. Crooks in the middle.

And Ansley beside her writing display. She had some really cute stories and illustrations!

I have learned over the years, sometimes the hard way, that when things aren't working, they must change. I have also learned that when things are going well and really working out, then keep at it. I feel after my four years experience in homeschooling that there isn't one curriculum out there that I am going to love everything about. Next year, we will be doing a different curriculum for each subject, and I am excited about it! I know, it's strange to be so thrilled to be done with a year and get a break, yet so looking forward to the new school year. I suppose that it always the homeschoolers dilemma, huh?

The bummer about switching curriculums halfway through the year is that Ansley still has three weeks left of Math. She is not happy about it, but I'm working on some incentive programs for her to get it finished. I can't just stop and call it done - I take the no curriculum left behind approach. When we finish what we were supposed to finish for the year, then we are done. We are not done just because the calendar says we should be. Ansley will also be working on her multiplication tables this summer, with some incentives as well.

I did an end of the year review with some questions for the kids (thanks to my sweet friend Alison for the great idea!), which is where I learned that the animal chart was their favorite part of the year. If Ansley could, she would get rid of math in a heartbeat. (Oh how I can relate. Can we just rid math from the world?) Her favorite subjects are reading and writing. She would like to learn more about the stars and planets. Christian's favorite subject is math. He doesn't have a least favorite (Ansley says I need to add 'yet'.) He would also love to learn about the stars.

For this Mama, some summer lovin' is in order. Oh how I love relaxing days, swimming, playing, running, reading.....ahhh it does my heart good.

But my mind is never far from what I will be teaching my kids, and looking to the next year. For the next school year, we have the co-op again to look forward to, where Ansley will be taking three classes and.....Christian will be taking one! I can't wait to see how he does - it will be his first experience with a classroom outside the home, but it will be his second love (I'm his first, of course)....an art class. We will be doing Winter Promise again, using their Children Around the World program (which I am super excited about!). Ansley will be learning about Astronomy from Apologia, Language Arts with A Beka and math is Teaching Textbooks. Christian's Kindergarten curriculum will be all A Beka. I know what I said earlier about A Beka, but I do believe that it gives a good, solid foundation for learning, and I will be adding to it to appeal to what he loves to do as well. I can also branch out when he gets older. We will also include him in the Astronomy study as well.

I love teaching my kids. I love having them home with me, because these days go by SO fast, and I know they would go by so much faster if they were gone most of the day. Of course there are days when I'm ready to throw in the towel, but I have to focus on what God has called me to do. And I know that this is what I am meant to do. My main struggle these days is having a one year old. And a fiesty one year old at that. She can be very disruptive to our days, and it's possible that next year, I will have to sell her. Oh, I kid! It's possible that next year, we may have to do some of our more focused learning in the afternoon when she is napping. But I know this is just a season, and it too will pass quickly.

But for now, here's to a fun summer!

The Second Week in the Third Grade

.......is apparently really tough.

I'm not sure if it's because we had the summer off (which makes me wonder if year round school would be a better choice?) or just that the third grade is getting more challenging, but there have been lots of tears and "I can't's" and "It's just too hard" and the like. Not from me, I might add. Why, yes, I have thought all those things at some point this school year, I just try to keep such things to myself.

Ansley and Christian are really enjoying our new curriculum. They LOVE learning about animals, especially Ansley, and I really enjoy all the reading we do together on the couch. The books are so fun and engaging! We have two read-alouds that I read a chapter a day from, and then many animal books, exploring nature books and fun activities that we read and do together.

But sometimes, I'm learning, school is work. There is a lot of writing that is required of Ansley, and she enjoys the creative writing part, but then gets weary when it's capitalization or nouns.

It also can get tough when Christian gets to practice writing letters in flour while Ansley is writing out spelling words.

But for the record, one child was pleased today. When I showed him this, Christian said "This is awesome!" And it kept him occupied for a LONG time. But of course Ansley thought it was much more fun to play with flour than do her math homework.

Sigh.

Avery takes her reading time very seriously.

Some days go really smoothly and some days are really challenging. Some days I'm pumped up and some days I'm weary. Right now my days are so consumed with school and activities, nursing and rocking, fixing meals and cleaning them up, wiping, soothing, loving, giving, encouraging, baking, grading, reading, laughing, writing, picture-taking, cleaning, making, folding and sorting OH MY! Perhaps more weary than pumped.

But most days, I'm confident, I am learning far more than they do. I'm learning to be a patient Mama, who chooses to give grace and love instead of frustration and anger. I'm learning to be joyful in my mothering, because these days are SO crazy busy and one piles on after the other and pretty soon they are gone. And I want to be the Mama who laughs instead of cries, who praises instead of criticizes, who offers hugs and kisses instead of demands and orders.

And day by day, we will get there, with much grace for the journey.

 

First Day in the Third Grade. And Preschool, Again.

In keeping with tradition , I have to write about our first day of school. Ansley asked me today, "What did we do last year on the first day of school?" Then she remembered a few things, but we had fun going back and looking to discover more memories.

Today, our household has a Third Grader.

With pierced ears and two permanent front teeth. So different than last year's Second Grader.

And, we have a Preschooler. I know, he was in preschool last year too, but if you look closely you'll see that this year he's in Preschool with a capital P, last year was preschool with a lower case p.

I don't really know what that means, except that next year we will definitely have a Kindergartener.

We have used A Beka for the past two years, and this year we decided to make a switch. I always struggle with the "fun factor" of A Beka, since it's very classroom like, lots of worksheets and tests and, well, work. And since it's all I've known, I've wondered if there is something else out there that would be fun, that my kids would really enjoy and have fun with while learning. So, this year we are trying out Winter Promise. For quite a few reasons, but a few that I'll mention: the curriculum incorporates both preschool and 3rd grade, so I can use the same concepts, books, and structure, just age appropriate for each child. Also, it is a four day week, which appeals to me because Ansley will be taking a few classes this year at our church co-op. This way, I'm not scrambling around trying to cram school in on the co-op day; we can just do a few things, if needed, or not, and not stress out about it.

I set up our school room the night before, laying out all the new school supplies and the new books and notebooks we will be using this year.

Just for a fun comparison, the photo above was taken around 10:30 pm on Sunday night. The photo below was taken around 11:30 Monday morning.

School is rarely neat around here.

So we started off the morning with a fun breakfast. Our curriculum is called Animals and their Worlds, so all year long we will be learning about different animals, while incorporating all the needed subjects. Oh, yeah, this was another reason this curriculum appealed to me, because just in case you don't know Ansley or haven't read it here before, ANSLEY LOVES ANIMALS. So to be able to create little bread lions for breakfast was fabulous for them, along with parfaits, which is a favorite for both of them.

Ansley was all smiles when we started.

So was Christian. He was ready to go.

Ansley started with Language Arts, which is something she can do on her own while I worked with Christian.

It wasn't too long before Ansley was complaining about how much she had to do, and how easy Christian had it. That progressed to tears over all the work that she had to do, while Christian just gets to draw lines. So we got to have a heart lesson first thing this morning!

It took a little balance to make sure one was working on something while I was working with the other one. But I definitely underestimated the work load. Christian was done - COMPLETELY DONE - before Ansley had finished Language Arts. I hadn't planned on this.

We got to do lots of reading on the couch together about animals, learning about vertabrates and invertabrates, and we have two read-alouds that I read a chapter a day from. This was fun - I really enjoyed it, and the kids did too.

They both have Animal Notebooks that they will be keeping through the year, so for our fun craft they got to decorate covers for their notebooks. This was a big hit.

Ansley continued on with spelling, handwriting, and creative writing.

Christian played Legos.

Ansley worked on math, did some homework, and reading.

Christian looked at his scrapbooks. Okay, scrapbook. I started running out of spare time by the time he was born. But he really enjoys looking through this. And look at that sweet seven month old! Wow, time sure flies.

Speaking of babies, Avery was pretty fussy today. It could have possibly been her fussiest day yet. She played in her exersaucer, bouncy, on the floor, with toys, chewing on things....but was seriously fussy. Finally, I took her upstairs for her hour long scream-fest. At your home, this may be called naptime.

I got a little ahead of myself, but that's okay. Actually before the hour long scream-fest, we had Puzzle Sandwiches for lunch.

They had to put it back together before they could eat it. It's expanding your mind, while you eat. Actually, puzzle sandwiches just make me feel better for the times I have to turn on the tv to keep Christian occupied. That didn't happen today, but I know it's coming.

And, cake in a jar for dessert.

It was supposed to be rainbow cake in a jar, but you could only see the rainbow from the inside. I'm still a little bitter about this.

And I have to point out because I think it's funny - I just used a white cake mix to make this. My kids were all excited, oohhhing and ahhhhing about it, and then, they took their first bite. I could tell they didn't want to hurt my feelings, but they didn't like it. Either of them, which for Christian not to like something sweet is highly unusual. And I attribute this to the fact that I enjoy making things for my kids, and I don't believe I have ever used a box cake mix. But now I know: don't bother. They won't eat it. So, future wife of Christian: I'm sorry, but you won't be able to get away with cake-in-a-box. And it's all my fault.

Ansley took a little break from school to rock Avery to sleep.

That was very helpful.

We finished school, as in everything was done, around 3 this afternoon. This is definitely a much longer day than I had anticipated, but maybe we will get in a rhythm soon.

And I may have gone a little overboard, because now my kids may expect every day to have lions for breakfast and puzzles for lunch and rainbows in a jar served with a smile.

Tomorrow will just be plain ol' school.

But I am very thankful that I get to be home with my children, teaching and learning together. A very sweet start to our school year!

We will see what tomorrow brings!

So Long, Second Grade!

We wrapped up Second Grade like a week ago, or a month? Or maybe last year, but I'm just now getting around to writing about it. I always like to do an end-of-the-year recap. So I'll remember when my other two go through the same grade what in the heck I was doing. I do feel an accomplishment for having homeschooled for three years now. And no one seems to be any worse for the wear.

We started off the year with a homeschool co-op, where many lessons were learned. After a month of that, we pulled Ansley out. It was not at all what we hoped it would be, or were expecting. I should have looked into it thoroughly from the beginning, instead of waiting a month in to sit in on the classes and be totally shocked by what went on. Lesson learned.

Here is Ansley on her first day of school, and her last day of school, in case you didn't understand what "first day" and "last day" meant in these photos. I love the side by side comparisons, because I don't see it day in and day out with Ansley, but I can really see how much she has grown since last fall.

We used A Beka again this year. A Beka continues to be a very thorough education, with lots of subjects covered and a lot of material covered. Ansley's reading is excellent, and she loves to read. (I don't do this often, but I just have to say that recent testing shows Ansley is reading at a fifth grade level. Yay, Ansley, and yay, Ansley's teacher!) Sometimes I can toot my own horn right? Just sometimes. I am very proud of her love of reading, though! She will always choose reading first to start her day, but then just wanted to keep right on reading her day away. And, I will admit, after the baby, she did lots of silent reading instead of reading out loud. Thankfully, she loves that just as much.

Her cursive handwriting continues to look better all the time, and we also covered lots of grammar this year, such as capitalization and sentence structure. She learned lots of new spelling words, and had spelling tests each week. In Math, she continued to get better at addition and subtraction, while also adding in multiplication and division. We covered fractions, Roman numerals, and word problems, among many other things. MANY.OTHER.THINGS. Can you tell that Math is my least favorite subject to teach? Hmmmm.

We read lots of books together out loud, and lots silently. We read lots of poetry. We read lots of Bible stories before starting our day, and memorized verses throughout the year.

It did get challenging after Avery was born, and it was a struggle some days to get it done. I didn't really know what I was doing yet in this newborn world, and some days our school suffered. But, we made it through, and even early at that, and I think the summer break gives everyone a refreshing pause and gets us all looking forward to the fall! Well not just yet but we will, we will be excited come August.

Christian had a very basic three year old A Beka curriculum. But Christian is not as eager of a learner as Ansley was and is. She was SO excited to learn, and Christian could kind of take it or leave it. Since he was only three at the start of school, and now four, I didn't push things. Some days we colored letters or learned about different animals that started with a certain letter. Some days, he built Lego planes on the floor. And this was okay with me.

{Writing in her journal.}

Ansley also really loves to write. She loves to write stories, notes to people, and leave me notes around the house. It is really sweet, and such a fun thing to find as I go about my day!

I have seen a lot of change and growth in Ansley this year. I can see her start to mature and become this thinking, interpreting, questioning girl. She loves to learn, and is constantly asking questions and trying to figure things out. She can get easily frustrated if she doesn't pick up on something right away (this usually happens in Math only) but overall really enjoys school.

{Making homemade pizza}

I love homeschooling. Wait, let me rephrase: I love the connection and love and learning moments that spring forth in our days together. Sure, there are days that I don't wanna teach any more than Ansley wants to practice multiplication tables. There are days I want to sleep in and load up in the van and head to the mall instead of school. That may be every day. But my motivation for homeschooling is not because I enjoy it, it's because we believe it's what is best for our family. I want to deepen a love relationship with each of my children in the context of a God honoring family.

And by God's grace, that's what we do, day after day. I can't see it any other way.

Hello, summer! With a new baby in tow, I am prizing summer! But there is always an element of me that is excited for a new school year, ready to pick out curriculum and set up the school room and get ready for a new year!

I'm just thankful we have a few months before that happens.

Hello, Third Grade! I can't believe you are here. I can remember ME in the third grade, which is such a weird place to be in parenting. But we're ready!

A Heart Recharge

Do you have days when you find it difficult to fulfill all your responsibilities at home, including homeschooling and training your children?

Do you ever feel poured out? Empty? Take time to “get a refill” at the Schoolhouse Expo, May 16–20, 2011. The theme for the Spring Expo is “Homeschooling with Heart.” Although it would be so easy to focus exclusively on our intellectual goals for our children, simply opening up the curriculum and reading the script, that isn’t how we want to do it, is it? As homeschooling parents, we have a desire to homeschool with our hearts. At our Spring Expo, you will find your heart fortified so that you can continue homeschooling—with joy!

The Homeschooling with Heart Expo will give you tips, tricks, and tools to enhance all phases of your homeschool journey, from the preschool and elementary years to high school, college, and beyond. Whether you are downloading one of the many freebies you receive with your ticket purchase, listening to a seminar given by one of our qualified and interesting speakers, or chatting with a seminar attendee, your heart will be uplifted during the Spring Schoolhouse Expo, May 16–20, 2011. Come give your heart a “refill”!

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This is taken from the Schoolhouse Expo brochure, and we'd love to have you join in for some great encouragement, inspiration as well as free downloads, great advice and information to continue your homeschool journey with JOY! I know for me, there are definitely days where I'm ready to give up, but God continues to give me the grace to teach my children with love and patience (most days). I am so thankful for all the many resources these days to support us homeschooling moms! The Schoolhouse Expo does a great job of that.

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Just Another Bon Bon Eating Day

Sometimes I like to go back and read posts on my blog from when the kids were younger, because otherwise I'd forget what was going on when Christian was one and Ansley was four. Or, what we did last week. As I was reading, I noticed I used to do "typical day" kind of posts, and while they may or may not be interesting to anyone else, I was quite fascinated to read about how we spent our days three years ago, or even a year ago, and see how much has changed. And I thought it was time for another one, but this one will be school related. It's interesting to me to see how our routine has changed over time. For instance, when Ansley was in Kindergarten, we did school in the afternoon while Christian napped. My, how things have changed!

We start our mornings at the crack of nine o'clock-ish these days. This used to be earlier, but that was in my pre-pregnancy state. Pregnancy Stage calls for a later hour, and I have a feeling Newborn Baby Stage might also call loudly for that later hour. Some days that may be 9:30....but never earlier than that.

Most days we are all dressed, but some days that's optional. Optional to pajamas, I mean, we never have naked school days. There were many days when the teacher had morning sickness and she would show up in pj's to teach, so every so often I let the kids get away with it, too.

Our days always start with reading a Bible story (although lately that has turned into two or three!), discussing it, sharing prayer requests and then prayer to start our day.

Both kids are very involved at this point. They love this part of the day. We record our prayer requests in that journal underneath the Bible, because I think it is neat to see how God answers them, and to see how the requests change over time. This may be a time where a child opens up about something that is bothering them, or a question they have or something they have been thinking about. We are unhurried. There is nothing more pressing in that moment than to hear what is on my child's heart. And to give you an idea, this morning Christian said he thought we should pray for the girl he would one day marry. But he did inform me that "he hasn't picked her out yet." Good to know. And this isn't something we really discuss much, so it seemed to come from nowhere, but obviously it's something he has been thinking about. Ansley shared that sometimes she gets scared in the middle of the night, and she wanted to pray for a healthy baby.

I always let Ansley choose what she wants to start with, because I think this sets a happy mood to start our day with. Usually. But I can say, she ALWAYS chooses reading. And she would read for hours if I didn't say okay, that's enough for now, we need to move on to something else.

Christian caught on to my documenting plan very early. He sometimes listens to Ansley read and sometimes he doesn't, but he is usually quiet and plays on the floor if he doesn't want to sit next to her and listen.

Next up is Writing. Ansley almost always chooses that next, because it's her second favorite thing. She has been keeping a journal lately, and loves to write down and record things. I think that will be SO fun to go back and see what was important in her seven-year old world.

She loves writing.

Christian has various activities, and some days one activity will keep him so occupied that we can get several things done. Other days, like today, I go through many activities. We started with a math game.

He seems to have a thing for numbers. So much like his Mama.

Then, when the apples and numbers start appearing on the floor, we are forced to move on to letters. He is not as into letters, but he tolerates it.

And, I must point out, today my kids were apparently DYING OF THIRST. I didn't realize that they were wasting away because they were not getting enough to drink. Every five minutes, someone's cry of "I'm thirsty!" would break into all the learning, and we'd stop and get the drink and then resume. Finally I got the bright idea of just filling their thermoses with water and bringing them into the school room. It sounded like a genius plan, but the sucking and slurping and CONSTANTNESS of the drinking almost drove me to insanity. So we nipped that in the bud.

It did get me thinking, though, about how when I was in school and I would go all day, from what 7:30 am to 3:30 pm with one little pouch Capri Sun to get me through the day. It's a miracle that I survived, really. So I had to share that story. I felt so grandparent-like. I just needed to throw in how I had to walk to school in the snow with no shoes. But they know I grew up in the South and there was never any snow.

Then we had to take a break because of the unquenchableness of this thirst. It was really starting to get to me. So I decided they needed some activity, to show them what thirst really is. You don't really get thirsty just sitting at a table writing.

They each picked three of these, and then they were running around the house, acting like animals or standing on one leg or counting to 20 while doing jumping jacks.

It was a good break. And I think I burned like 100 calories just watching them. Which I'm pretty sure also made up for the Krispy Kremes I had for breakfast.

Oh Krispy Kreme! How I adore you.

But back to school. Ansley loves the check list, and will check things off after each subject. She likes to know what she's accomplished and what is left in the day.

Next up is Phonics. Ansley is very good at phonics, so this usually goes smoothly. Today was a test, so that usually means it goes faster than if there was something to teach. You've probably noticed that I've thrown in a lot of "usually's" because really, each day is different. Some days things go just as planned and some days they go horribly wrong.

She got a 94. Yay!

But because I wouldn't let Christian play in the art cabinet while Ansley was taking her test, he announced that he was running away with Jar Jar Binks and never coming back. If you are not familiar with Jar Jar, you really need to have a Star Wars marathon.

I told Christian we would miss him.

Then it was time for a lunch break. I'm pretty sure this is the only reason Christian did not run off with Jar Jar.

What? Where did all that Chick Fil A stuff come from?

Oh, right, from my addiction.

Some days fixing lunch just doesn't appeal to me. Today was one of those days. But also going in a restaurant and sitting down and eating doesn't appeal to me either. So we zoom through the drive thru and then bring it home. It makes for a nice lunch.

After lunch we read some books and have a little play / break time. Ansley and I review some math facts and play a spelling game with her spelling words for the week. Christian runs around like a crazy boy.

Then we crank it back up with Math. Today was a math test. Usually there aren't two tests in one day, but our schedule must've gotten a little off somehow. She doesn't mind.

Sometimes, apparently, it's hard to concentrate on math when your brother is saying things like "May the force be with you!" and "Roger! Roger!" But other days, it's wildly funny. Today was a wildly funny day, and Ansley was having trouble concentrating on her test because she was giggling so much at her brother. So I have to ask Christian to be very quiet while Ansley takes her test.

So then he starts loudly whispering "Help me Obi Wan Kenobe, you're my only hope!"and then some deep breathing followed by "I AM YOUR FATHER!"

And Ansley just falls on the floor with laughter.

On another day, she may angrily shout "I can't CONCENTRATE when he's being so LOUD!" You never really know.

Have I mentioned Christian is a bit obsessed with Star Wars?

But in the end, Ansley gets a 98 on her test, so she was obviously able to tune out all the Star Wars madness.

She missed the VERY LAST question on the back side. ARGH, she said. SO close to a 100!

Then it's time for history, which is all about the founding of America in our curriculum. And, just like starting our day, both of the kids are very interested in this part, and ask lots of questions about pilgrims and Indians and Washington DC.

And then my little list maker checks all of the subjects off, and then erases and re-writes them for the next day.

And that is pretty much a "typical" day in our life. Usually. Sometimes.

HOLY COW this is long, so if you are still with me, you really deserve something chocolatey and yummy.

I think that's on my to-do list right now. Check!

1:07 pm: Craft Day