Just a Note

I just finished reading Bartholomew's Passage to the kids for today. I just want to say that where it is a super story (although rather violent at times...there are Roman soldiers) I don't completely agree with all of the devotional aspects. They aren't way off, but they cause me to scratch my head a little. I just wanted to say that. Carry on.

Christmas Fun!

I love, love, love Advent. I love preparing our hearts for the coming of our King. I just want to share two books that we are using this season and maybe some of you will find them helpful.

Last year we made a Jesse Tree (I could link it, but if you google it, you'll get a lot more info) very simply. I printed some stuff off-line and we made a poster board tree and simply taped the ornaments on. This year I bought a book called, The Jesse Tree, by Geraldine McCaughrean. It's sort of a story within a story. There is a little boy that finds a grumpy old man working on a Jesse Tree in a church and day after day the boy comes back to hear more of the story and the man's heart is...you'll have to read it to find out. I think we may make our ornaments out of clay. Only a few of them, though. I'm a big dreamer and a small doer, we'll probably color the majority of them. I thought it would be fun if every year we make a few really good ones or find some throughout the year. Anyway...I'm sure you can think of a super fun way to make yours, but I thought I'd share the book.

The other book we'll start tomorrow is called Bartholomew's Passage. The author wrote a book that we really enjoyed last year called Jotham's Journey. Mike and I agreed that it would make a great PG-13 movie...it's sort of a drama with a lot of live action. Each parent must decide what is suitable, but everyone who was in our home when we were reading this demanded another chapter. We would close it and tell them they would have to come back the next night. The author warns the parent that some sections may be better explained rather than read. It's not a typical Christmas story, but it's good. The author is Arnold Ytreeide. If you have older children, they'd dig it. My kids are younger, but we dig it.

I think that's it. I've got lesson plans to write, a 3 year old in my lap that needs to go to bed...and I think I want some OREOS and milk. Busy night. I pray that this Advent Season finds you making Christ-centered traditions that will bless you and your family for generations to come!

Merry Christmas!

The Amazon link has Bartholomew's Passage and the Jesse Tree

Just Enough...

I love what I'm doing. Things are messy. People are starting to raise their eyebrows when we're out. We're learning together. I'm getting FRACTIONS!!! I'm also beginning to understand WORLD HISTORY and see God's hand in it all. I'm listening to Julia read. I'm learning about the Classifications of living things and how to tell a Monocot from a Dicot. I get tired. I get frazzled. HOWEVER...I wouldn't choose anything else given the opportunity. That being said...

Last week we went to the library and then walked out to the park. A woman was there with her granddaughter and struck up a conversation with me. She asked if I was a homeschooling mother and I replied, "I am. I sure love it." She looked as if I had just admitted that I was from planet Mars and here to take over. "Really?" She responded. I told her that I felt as though I was far more efficient with a few kids than with many. She asked if I was a former teacher (she asked since I said that I had "many" and now I have a "few"). I reluctantly told her that I was. I say "reluctantly" because every time I tell someone that I taught they think that I have every right to teach my own children where someone else isn't as capable. I don't think that is true, so I try not to let people find out what I did in my past life. ANYWAY...the next thing she said was, "I think it would take a really disciplined person to do that. Are you pretty disciplined?" I'm not sure if she was just curious, or pointing out some of the "requirements." Here is what I said, "You know, I'm as disciplined as I need to be. God has continued to give me exactly what I need for the stage I am in." I shared that with a woman at the store today who is pulling her children after Christmas and she cried. It was such a relief to her that she was only required to have enough. She doesn't need the discipline required to teach a High Schooler when she has a second grader. We get scared don't we? What will we do about transcripts? What about Calculus? Latin? Parenting a teenager all day??? I'm convinced that God is not a liar. He promises to give me EVERYTHING that I need for life and godliness. He promises to never leave us or forsake us. In His own prayer He teaches us to ask for our DAILY bread. We do not yet need our rations for the years to come. Just today. Just enough.

So, wherever you are...is your laundry plotting against you as mine is? Are your children taking longer to go down for their naps because they are munching their Halloween Candy as mine are? Is your bathroom so raunchy that you feel like "hovering?" I'll not tell you about mine. I'm going to start slow and hopefully by Friday everything will be clean. Until then I'm going to trust that God will guide me to do what is most important and that we will continue to praise Him for being enough.

A peek into my heart.

I was reading through my journal a few days ago and realized that most of my entries start like this, "LORD, ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME? HOLY CRAP-THAT IS ME...I AM PRETTY TIRED OF BEING BULLIED BY MY KIDS! OR WOULD YOU PLEASE KEEP MY HORMONAL TIRADES TO A MINIMUM OR GET RID OF THEM ALTOGETHER?" There was one that reminded me of why I do what I do. I hope that it encourages you today.

August 26, 2009
Sweet. Just plain sweet. The days that I spend in our home are like honey to me. The playing, the reading-the joy of being with them. Keep me here, Father. I know that all too soon the Little People will be but a memory. Polly Pocket's plastic clothing will no longer be littering my living room. There will be bigger people with different toys-going places. They will not always live here. They will not always fill my days with endless chatter and mind-numbing clamor. I-SPY Bingo will not always be the first choice game and baby dolls will be put to bed for the last time. Let me not mourn for this time once it has passed. Allow me to look back with great joy and content that I did, indeed, wring out every ouce of life from these days. Then I pray I will turn my face to the future and look with much anticipation to the years to come. Remind me that I do not stop giving my life away when these 3 step from here to where you have called them. Until I see your face in Glory I am not finished. Please remind Mike and I that the harvest field is ripe. Thank you for the absolute blessing that these days are to us. Thank you for a little house that doesn't require much time to maintain. Thank you for using us where we are. You are good and your love endures forever. Thank you for every good and perfect gift that you have given me.

Until next time...

The Best Day

So, confession. I borrowed my sister's Taylor Swift CD and it is currently playing in my van. Confession #2, I like it. Confession #3 one of her songs made me cry...twice. I have shared before on my other blog how I like teeny bopper type stuff. I like the Disney Channel movies and sometimes I like the music. Today I was listening to said CD and the song "The Best Day" challenged my heart.

It is very easy to move into and stay in, Command Mom Mode. Like, "pick it up, put it back, bring it here, sit down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton!" You know just barking all day long. "Finish your Language, focus on Math, don't pick your nose (or anyone else's). We need to get this done. Get in the car, buckle up, get out, stay on the white line, follow close, hold the door"...oh my goodness I could go on and on! I know that I need to be training/discipling my children, but this song reminded me of the importance of loving my children well. I am the only person that is with them everyday. Do they enjoy my company? Would they say that any day they have spent with me is the "best day?" Would they choose me or someone else? I know I don't need to be their best friend, but I do need to allow them to enjoy their days.

I asked myself, "Am I laughing with them? Am I singing? Using my words to encourage? Am I seeking opportunities to step into their world? How am I spending our time together?"

As a homeschool Mom, I know that I have a great deal of control. I pray that I would use it wisely and that they would be blessed by spending their days with me, and that I would count it a blessing to spend my days, the best days...with them.

May today be one of "The Best Days" of your life.


The Best Day lyrics
Songwriters: Swift, Taylor Alison;
I'm five years old, it's getting cold, I've got my big coat on
I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you, I run and run
Past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides, look now, the sky is gold
I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home

I don't know why all the trees change in the fall
But I know you're not scared of anything at all
Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away
But I know I had the best day with you today

I'm thirteen now and don't know how my friends could be so mean
I come home crying and you hold me tight and grab the keys
And we drive and drive until we found a town far enough away
And we talk and window shop 'til I've forgotten all their names

I don't know who I'm gonna talk to now at school
But I know I'm laughing on the car ride home with you
Don't know how long it's gonna take to feel okay
But I know I had the best day with you today

I have an excellent father, his strength is making me stronger
God smiles on my little brother, inside and out, he's better than I am
I grew up in a pretty house and I had space to run
And I had the best days with you

There is a video I found from back when I was three
You set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me
It's the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs
And Daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world

And now I know why the all the trees change in the fall
I know you were on my side even when I was wrong
And I love you for giving me your eyes
For staying back and watching me shine
And I didn't know if you knew, so I'm takin' this chance to say
That I had the best day with you today

Not a Creature is Stirring...

Today was the first day of our co-op. What fun we had!!! We are members of a Classical Conversations Community here in Augusta and what a gift it is! I am a tutor and it feels good to sort of be back in the classroom again. The only difference is that I only have 8 children, once a week, I'm introducing material, one parent must be in the room at all times and I love what I'm teaching!

God has made me as a teacher. I love coming up with little games or jingles to teach the memory work and it is so sweet to have my very own Julia in my room with me. I wonder what she thinks about me as a teacher. I'm sure she sees a different side of me. She seemed to have a good time. I was whipped to say the least! I slept for about an hour and the kids are still down.

I could cry. Really. When God began us on this journey 4-5 years ago, I wasn't sure how it would look. I knew that obeying God beat disobeying and I certainly wanted to disciple my children. The other night I told my husband, "I see where we are headed and I like it." That is only because of His grace. Surely He can be trusted. Surely His plans for our lives are good. Surely I can look at the future with great anticipation because He is leading us there by His rod and His staff. He is my sweet, sweet, Lord and for whatever reason He has given me these children to spend my days with. I tell my kids as much as I can, that there isn't another way I'd rather spend my days. Really. The laundry, the lunches (I really don't like fixing lunch everyday) the mess that my house seems to stay in because people live here...it's all because of the privilege I have in discipling my children.

So, it's official. We are in a co-op and we are doing this thing! We are really doing it! We've taken matters into our own hands...and placed them in the Father's care.

He is so good. I am so unworthy, my only response is praise.
Thank you Father.

What are we doing???

I am very excited about this year. Anson is officially in a "home study program" and I'm thankful that God has made things clear to us and we'll start this year with some ease. I'd like to share a little bit of what we're using and why in the hopes that it will help someone else as much as other people have helped me.

Anson is beginning the first grade. Many of these selections are higher or lower than that, but that is one thing I love about this homeschooling gig! You can do what you want! So, here it is:

Language:
First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind, the Second Grade section
I love this because I feel as though it covers all the basics in a no-nonsense matter. I can add to it if I want to make it fluffy (which I usually don't). It's cost effective. I paid $19.95 for a hard bound copy which includes First and Second Grade. It is non consumable which means for all 3 kids it's able to be used. We did the First Grade section last year. It is scripted, which I like because I want to make sure I teach the kids all they need to know in this area.

Spelling:
We have been using Sequential Spelling and where I'm not crazy about it, it's getting the job done. I don't give Anson all 25 words a day, we'll probably work up to that, but I like how it builds on words that the child has learned. If he misspells a word, he rewrites it correctly and we move on to the next word. Again, pretty no-nonsense. We did use Spelling Workout at the beginning of last year, but I didn't love it...at all.

Math:
Several years ago I read a review on Miquon Math and thought, "That's what I think is best for us." I never changed my mind. We started with Cuisenairre Rods and a super Idea Book last year, and it flowed right into Miquon Math. I lack confidence in the math department, so my husband was invited to help out here and he added Singapore Math. I think we'll be ahead right now, but we're still going to do the easy stuff to be sure that a smooth transition is made and when Miquon is finished (it only goes to the third grade, to my knowledge) we'll have a math program we are used to.

For art, history, science and music we'll be using the materials from our Co-op. This is our first year for a Co-op, but I heard of this one several years ago, and never wanted to look any further. It's academic and LOTS OF FUN!!! The resources are easy to use and everyone has been enjoying the memory CD. Ella's favorite part is chanting the Latin declensions! Seriously! Pretty simple, I think. It leaves plenty of time for making beds, cleaning bathrooms, dress-up, playgroups, parks and of course...LEGOS!!!

So, many people ask me, "What do you do with the girls while you are schooling Anson?" Simple...school them, too! We don't call it "school" we call it "table time." Everyone bellies up to the table and everyone has something to do. Julia is currently learning how to read using the same book I used with Anson. While Julia is reading, Anson is working on his copywork. (I guess I forgot that. For handwriting he is copying hymns. Just a few lines a day.) Ella is playing with magnets or felt, or whatever I have put in the "table time" basket for her to choose from. When Julia is finished usually the girls may be excused and they play while we're at the table. Some days they'll sit at the table the entire time. If they get crazy, they come back to the table. Ella and I play games and read books. Table time, on average, takes about 1.5 hours.

We're always reading a book. We've been spending time on the prairie with Laura and Mary Ingalls and we LOVE them! I have also been introduced to Little Britches written by Ralph Moody. We'll start that series when we are finished with the Little House Series. I also try to include a biography for the kids to get fired up about missions. We've read David Livingstone and Mike is reading John C. Paton who was a missionary in the South Seas. I have to remember to read books on Ella's level too, that would be easier if I didn't carry a fine at the library!

I think that's it. We are pretty intense about a few things so that our days are not consumed. I know that in time our days will be much longer, and when those days come I know I'll be thankful that I didn't rush them!

This year we may work on a few lapbooks. I've been very interested in them for a while and may get one or two from In the Hands of a Child for the girls to work on throughout the year.

Last year I had the privilege of listening to Leigh Bortins speak and asked her what advice she would give to a new mom. Her response, "The words of C.S. Lewis, ' Teach less, more thoroughly.' " I think it's fantastic advice! I'll try to keep everyone posted!!!