Celebrating the first day of "school"

with a kiddie hot chocolate from Starbucks!

Summer Fun

Since I have yet to post this week and I don't want to fall back in my rut of not posting. I figured I would do just fine do a repost from last summer where I shared how we keep up with things to do during the summer with the kids.

The price of gas in 2008 has kept us closer to home than last year but I still pull out my handy list of activities (link below) to keep me up on things to do so I have ideas in my back pocket when I need them.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Things to Do This Summer

Well this is our last official week of school. Normally we school year round but my oldest daughter is coming into her own and she has a SCHEDULE to keep. I've learned from summer's gone by that trying to fit school in between camp or family vacation or the mission trip...just isn't smart.

Although I will do "school" for my littles (they don't know about any difference between the summer and the traditional school year) it will be very relaxed. I like to get out of the house and take advantage of all the fun things going on in the city.

This week is Vacation Bible School at our church which means late nights and letting the kiddos sleep in. The next couple of days we'll be enrolling in the library's summer reading program and spending quality time in the backyard. The kiddos will play while I pull more weeds and finish the beds for my tomato plants (yes...I'm trying my hand at gardening).

Anyhow, every year I add things to my Summer List of Activities and save it so I won't have to start from scratch the next year. Thought I'd share the list with you guys today!

Getting 'Em Interested In Books

I love books. I can't remember a time when I haven't thought that buying a book surpassed buying a bar of chocolate (which is saying a lot). So, as you can imagine, it's really important that my kids love books and eventually reading as well.

I remember when Gracie was my only little. She was about four and when I decided that it was time for me to include her in my Barnes & Noble routine. I'm not talking taking her with me in a stroller but actually having her sit and enjoy books along with me. She wasn't interested. I was devastated.

So, I devised a plan. I had always read to her so it wasn't that she didn't like books. She just didn't want to sit and look at them herself. So, I used food. I coaxed her to be a big girl and do what the big girls do....read a book while they sip "coffee". I bought a hot chocolate, had the cafe' person "milk" it down for me and served it up. It worked! She's been doing the Barnes & Noble thing with me ever since.

Now I have boys...

They are a whole 'nuther story. Thank goodness for the Thomas the Train set they have for the little kiddos in the children section. The road to getting those boys to sit with their books is going to be a bit further off then it was for Gracie.

Neither one of my tag-team wrestlers have started out with any interested in reading on their own. I literally had to MAKE them sit while I read Dr. Suess's ABC's to them. I put them in my arms and held the book, reading in as much of a sing-songy voice as I could muster to try and make it interesting to them. The more I read, the more they became familiar with the book and the more they were willing to sit on their own. Sumo, the 4yo is beginning to read small three letter words, and loves being read to. The struggle was worth it. Kano, the 2yo is, uh...another story. We are still reading Dr Suess's ABC's. It's the only one that he'll sit through. There is something about having to be still and follow along in the linear order of the pages. He loves to flip through books on his own. At this point I'll take whatever I can get.

Any book from Disney Pixar is a winner.

Last year, this was his favorite book. On one of our trips to the doc in Philly, it made about 45 minutes on the plane ride heaven. But he wouldn't let me read it to him. He just wanted to look all by himself...and all out of order :)










Reading is not Daddy's favorite thing to do. He'd much rather be wrestling with the boys or throwing a ball with them outside. However, when the boys give him a book and ask him to read to them, he just can't help himself. I run for the camera. Can't you just see how much Sumo is enjoying the story. He never looks like this when I read to him :)




There is a book basket that is a fixture in the boys room. They get a few minutes before naptime to lay in their beds with books. Sumo was around 3yo here. Oh...and I'm not stupid. The only books allowed in their room are the BOARD BOOKS. I'm afraid Kano has still figured out how to dismember those :(




Given how I've told you I love books and want my kids to love them, how do you think seeing this made me feel?

If you want your gets to be interested in books. Read to them. By them good books. Borrow great books from the library. Let them feel special by letting them pick their own books out and having special bag for their books. Start working on developing your own library of the books they just cannot get enough of. Run by Half Price Books every now and then or look on EBay for some good deals.

I have found memories of the books my mother read to me as a child. In fact, my sister and I have been fighting over who gets to take which books to their home now that we are adults. It's a wonderful thing to be reading to my children the same books (with scribble and all) that my Mommy read to me. Don't worry that your kids will grow out of them. Books make great gifts. They also are a great treasure for you to give your grandchildren one day. Now, the question is. Where do I put all of these little treasures. Hmmmm...organization and storage - that's a WHOLE 'NUTHER POST!

Q & A - Why Are Homeschooling for High School?

After this post on what we are doing this year for high school, Pamsgroove said...It really DOES help! I've been contemplating homeschooling my daughter next year (she'll be a freshman in high school). I'm just REALLY, REALLY afraid. I don't think that I'm consistent/organized enough. Has your daughter always been homeschooled?



Every now and then I get questions that I think are worth responding to on my blog. I thought my answers might be good to share in a post.

Let me start with WHY we started homeschooling and then work backwards...

Gracie was in the 5th grade when I seriously began considering homeschooling as an option. Prior to this, I was a single working parent and this would not have been an option. I had been married about six months and was discussing my daughter's struggles in school to a friend of mine from church who homeschools her own children. She kept insisting that we try it. I just shook my head. My thought was that it wouldn't work for us. My friend pointed her finger at me and said, "Watch, you are gonna end up homeschooling." I did not even entertain the idea.

Now Gracie has always needed a lot of help from me to do well in school. She has never been that type of self-motivated, wanting A's really badly, kind of kid. She is a day dreamer. She is a creative little thing. To this day, she tells me that a teacher talking or lecturing for more than 10 minutes makes it really hard for her to focus.

Gracie switched schools in the second grade with me looking for a different school that would make things better. We switched schools again in the 5th grade searching a little more. Halfway through her sixth grade year, I just couldn't take it anymore. We were spending anywhere from three to four hours a night working on her homework. It was torture. I spent my evenings, reviewing or reteaching what she had been taught during the day. It wasn't that she couldn't get it, she just couldn't get it in the traditional way. I found myself reading books, trying to educate myself about different learning styles, learning differences, and learning difficulties. I took her to the doctor and had her diagnosed with ADD so that the school would have an official diagnosis with which to allow modifications to her school work. The school was great and made every attempt to accommodate Gracie's learning style.

Gracie had trouble spelling. We would spent so much time going over her weekly spelling list and then she would take her test and fail it. I read a book that helped me to understand Gracie was a right brain learner and that I needed to appeal to her ability to see pictures. I showed her the spelling words on a card, had her tell me when she had the picture in her brain, then spell the word to me. She could do it, no problem. Then I asked her to spell the word backward. She would look up in the sky and spell words backward correctly too. I spoke with her teacher and requested that she be allowed to orally spell the missed words to her teacher. She began making A's.

Even with all of the extra stuff I was busy figuring out and putting into place to help her be more successful in the classroom, this didn't fix the problem of our time. All of the "extra" stuff took so much energy on my part and her childhood was speeding by while we sat at the kitchen table in the evenings working through it all.

We pulled her out mid-year in her sixth grade year.

Now, my plan was to homeschool her through junior high and then put her back. I was going to "fix" her and then enroll her again in high school. She ended up fixing me!

By spending TIME with my daughter, I found out so much more about how she really learned. I was able to stop trying to do things the way that made sense to the school and focus on what made sense to her. She flourished. She also had time to pursue all of the things that interested her outside of school hours.

I learned with her. We spent lots of time reading together or talking about the random things throughout the day. Random things that we'd never had the time before to explore. Being with Gracie not only gave me an opportunity to give her one on one academic attention, it also gave me an opportunity to pour into her life.

When her eighth grade year came to a close, it just didn't seem right to put her back in the classroom when there was so much more to life than what she could learn sitting in a desk. So we decided to homeschool through her ninth grade. One more year I thought, and we'd both be ready to part ways. That didn't happen either.

Toward the later part of her ninth grade year, we discussed the option of private school. We even took her to a private school that she had attended before and let her spend the day there, getting the feel of the place, hanging out with old friends, and checking out the classes. I told her that if she was going to go back to school I needed to know soon because there was planning I had to do and time I had to invest in preparing a high school course plan and graduation. I didn't want to do all of that for her to jump up at a random later time, proclaiming her desire to go to school after I had done all that work.

The evening after her visit she wanted to go to that school ASAP. The next day she did too, but sometime around the 3rd or 4th day, she didn't mention it at all. We asked her about her sudden lack of excitement, and she told us that she didn't want to go. When asked why, she cited all of the reasons that I had grown to appreciate about the beauty of homeschooling. She also said that she enjoyed the freedom that homeschooling gave her to develop her unique talents and gifts. Gracie is a gifted artist. She has independently taken up the guitar and piano. She sews and has made quilts as well as some clothes for herself.

Gracie & her guitar

One of her art pieces

Lest someone think I'm a gifted homeschool mom and teacher, don't be fooled. I don't sew, I don't draw, and I don't play guitar :)

So, for us, homeschooling has become just as much about life as it is about school. We are just as interested in preparing our daughter for college with an academically rigorous program as we are in preparing for her to effect her world for Christ. Homeschooling goes beyond Algebra & English Composition. It grants us the opportunity to explore what SHE is created to do and to explore her talents and gifts early in her life. It gives us the opportunity to focus on areas of her character that need to be refined (as well as areas of our own character). It allows us the time to actively and effectively transfer our beliefs and make sure that, before she leaves our house, she understands what she believes and why she believes it.

Homeschooling provides the time for us to practice what it means to be a family. Gracie is just as good at most of the stuff around the house as I am. She will be well prepared to be a Mom and a keeper of her home.

A healthy pie Gracie made for her co-op health class with wheat flour pastry and organic dried fruit. (Look closely for how she personalized her pie with her first initial).

Me & Gracie in the kitchen together. I was teaching her how to make strawberry cake.



Gracie's work in the kitchen

I believe in the power of an education. I also believe in the power of learning throughout life, not just in K-12. In the last week, we've discussed everything from the gradual erosion of constitutional rights for individuals in this country to literary character development in The Scarlet Letter. Gracie will be well prepared to think critically and to make a living in whatever line of work she chooses.

I say all of this not to toot my own the horn for our household or to make it seem as if homeschooling is the only option that will work in raising great kids. I've just felt for sometime like I ought to blog about this topic because I'm asked so often in real life why we have chosen to do this for our children. Most people are much more accepting of the idea of homeschooling little people but are shocked that we plan to homeschool Gracie all the way through.

Just wanted folks to know that it's possible and that it can be very rewarding and worth the effort. We are very grateful that God led us to this path. We pray that we are the kinds of stewards He would want us to be of these precious gifts He has given to us.

Homeschooling High School...Con't

As I read over the subjects that Gracie is studying this year, I heaved a sigh because she IS doing a LOT. She is a champion and works really hard at keeping up with her workload.

So...how do we keep up with it all? First of all, we use a weekly schedule that helps Gracie and I plan out our week. For the first time this school year, Gracie gets a blank one and plans out her week and then lets ME know how she would like to get her work done. In past years, I made the plan and then she executed. Seeing her mature in this area of self-discipline and responsibility is wonderful.

At the end of each day (around 2pm), we go over her list so that I can check for completion. We also go over anything that needs my attention: literature discussions, help on math/chemistry problems, reviewing answers to government comprehension questions, etc.

I grade her work sometime before dinner and then she takes care of any corrections/leftover schoolwork after dinner is done and the kitchen is clean. She RARELY has homework because she works so hard during the day.

In terms of keeping up with Gracie's credit hours and work completed, I rely heavily on forms from Barb Shelton's book Highschool Form+U+La.

I've also gotten many ideas for high school from Homeschooling for Excellence by David and Micki Colfax. They homeschooled their boys and they all went to Harvard! What's more interesting is that they didn't do formal school at ...

I've also loved reading Morning by Morning by Paul Penn-Nabritt. If the number of homeschooler's are few, the number of African-American homeschoolers are definitely fewer. This book accounts one AA family's homeschooling journey and they too homeschooled their sons to the Ivy League.

So hopefully that explains more of how we schedule ourselves around here to plow through high school journey. Hope it helps someone :)

Homeschooling High School...What We Are Doing This Year

Gracie - 11th Grade

"Core Studies" (Reading, 'Riting, & "Rithmetic"):

Bible - Gracie does her personal quiet time in the morning which includes a Scripture Reading of her choice. I offered to buy her a devotional but she just wants to read - I have no problem with that! I ask her to journal what she learns by documenting in a journal 1) What does the passage say, 2) What does it mean, and 3) What does it mean to her. We are memorizing passages of her choice through the year. We've started with Isaiah 43 at a pace of 2 to 3 verses a week. For Bible Study we attend Bible Study Fellowship (she and I attend together). She works on her lesson at night and we discuss all at the kitchen table before breakfast and before the littles wake up.

Math - Videotext Modules D, E, & F (in affect Algebra 2).

Science - Apologia Chemistry facilitated by her tutor at the homeschool coop.

History - Government. She is taking this class at her homeschool coop. I am also supplementing her assignments with reading requirements from "me" based on the Sonlight Core 400 curriculum (Civics/American Government)!

English - WriteShop II for composition. We will transition into using Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) as we go through the year. We will also utilize some of the creative writing assignments from the Sonlight (Core 400 - Government), Wordly Wise for vocabulary. Sonlight Core 400 for American Literature.

"Flex Studies" (Subjects or Activities that I feel are necessary for a complete high school experience OR that Gracie loves to do (Delight Directed Studies). We are all about developing who SHE is suppoed to be based on God's will for her life. These are subjects that Gracie gets great flexibility in scheduling herself):

Electives - This category includes a little bit of everything. This is where Gracie gets to shine in doing the things she loves most. She's an artsy little thing :)

Home Ed includes cooking, sewing, quilting. Fine Arts includes drawing and painting for Art and guitar and piano fall under Musical Performance. Gracie is also getting into photography. We'll see if she gets enough time to earn at least a 1/2 credit. We are also teaching her concepts in business ownership through her own personal business ventures and buying and selling on Ebay. We might look at creating a "Business Skills" class for her later if she gets involved in other related activities such as working with her Dad. These subjects are typically not done on a specific rhythm. This week may be a "piano" week and next week she will focus on "guitar" 'cuz she's "feeling" it. We just keep track of her hours and activities so that we know when we complete a credit. Clear as mud? :)

P.E. - Gracie has to formally exercise @ least 3 times per week. This involves going for walk, run, or a bike ride with me outside or taking a trip to our local 24 Hour Fitness. She plays club volleyball also.

Current Events - Read and discuss at least 3 current events with at least one being of international significance.

Typing - We are finishing up a typing program and then we will start a formal study of either MS Office or Web Page Design.

Spanish - We are using a couple of different books as well as the Rosetta Stone Spanish Program online (free through a local library!).

Health - This class is also at her coop (a different one). She will be reading "The Great Physician's RX for Health & Wellness" along with various assignments from her tutor. There is another book I want her to read but we'll see how her time goes :)

I'm sure someone is wondering how we keep up with all of this. My computer time is up for today. I'll post more on the subject later this week.

*Edited to add: You also might want to check out my post on why we started homeschooling.*

A Good Description...

This is just so good...I can completely relate. From XBOX WIFE. This is Mrs Brownstone's description:

Between being a housekeeper, a cook, a chauffeur, a washer woman, a tailor, a nanny, a teacher, a tutor, a secretary, a gopher, a banker, a nurse, a wife, a lover, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a daughter-in-law, a sister-in-law, an aunt, a friend, a provider, a volunteer, a church helper, a prayer warrior, a cheerleader, a psychologist, an organizer, and a social activities director...I don't have time for a paying job!

Day 2 Fall '07 PART B

Forgot to mention that although I was completely ready to go the gym this morning...I mean I laid out my workout clothes, put my workout bag together so I could shower, planned my outfit for the day, and charged my IPod....

I forgot to set the alarm clock so I didn't get up...AGAIN.

But...I have to say that I think I'm slowly coming out of the woods. At least I did some form of exercise. I woke Gracie up (so she could get some P.E. in for the day), threw Sumo (Kano and Daddy stayed asleep at home)into the old jogging stroller (it was covered with cobwebs), and went for a 50 minutes walk through the neighborhood.

So that's me trying to not to cry over spilled milk and make lemonade out of lemons :)

Day 2 Fall '07

So...today, I spent the morning at the teacher orientation for our homeschool co-op. My husband took the boys to Chuck-E-Cheese.

How's that for confessing more of my lack of perfection.

I think I'm on a role.

Oh...and I know tomorrow is going to look about the same. I have to go to parent orientation tomorrow and meet the parents of my students. My boys will spend the morning with their cousins playing.

See...life isn't always going smoothly! We've yet to actually go through a full day at home using our new schedule.

I think this is just a week of confessions. I'll try to keep them coming :)

Day 1 of Fall '07

In light of my spirit of confession and keeping it real, I thought I'd share a peek into the window of what actually happened on the first day of our new routine.

Seeing as how I stayed up until 5 am finishing our new fall schedule, today did not get off to a pristine start. I laid down for a nap at about 5.15 am and was awakened by Sumo, right on schedule, around 7 am.

I made him lay there with me until 8.30 am at which point he convinced me that he was dying laying there and that he just had to play with his "Mac"truck. This has been his routine for awhile - mostly because I've not been disciplined enough to have structure first thing in the morning. He normally wakes up and has me go to the forbidden closet that holds all of the toys the boys fight over special toys, pulls out his precious "Mac", and proceeds to enjoy time alone with his favorite toys and figurines from the movies "Cars" and "Toy Story".

You can imagine his face this morning as it curled up in pain when I told him that we were going to do something different - I was going to read to him. His eyes said it all - READ!?!?!? INSTEAD OF PLAYING WITH MY TOYS...OH LAWD NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

He quickly submitted to the idea and settled in to enjoy the story. We read Runaway Bunny, which is on the BFIAR booklist. He loved it. Even though he had to give up his "Mac" for a time, it seemed in the end he felt like the trade was worth it. He got completely unadulterated private time with his Mommy. That was the idea. I felt like I had nailed it. Come to think of it, he never even asked for his "Mac" for the balance of the day.

The rest of the morning was a different story. Because I had gotten out of bed later than planned, I just chunked the rest of the morning. The boys and I ran out of the door and headed to the Barnes & Noble Storytime. Followed by a trip to the local produce market, the boys were hungry and tired. I fed 'em lunch and put 'em down. Completely off schedule and completely wonderful!

Almost forgot, we didn't do serious curriculum, preschool, activity, circle time stuff today but I did do a tidbit of Little Hands to Heaven at the kitchen table. It was a blast watching the boys repeat after me, learning the finger play.

I also got a chance to play a couple of games of "Memory" with Sumo while Kano got a headstart on his nap. He's got to fall asleep first b/c if not, he spends the entire naptime trying to wake Sumo up!

Sumo was completely thrilled at his ability to remember the pictures and find the match. His mother was too. It was a joy and privilege to roll around on the floor with him enjoying his 4-year-old-ness...even if it was off schedule.

Gracie and I did meet to go over her work for the day. She seemed to be ready to roll after a few days of me nagging her gently hinting to her about the official start of our school year. Around our house, we are always doing something. I keep a basket of library books for my bigs and another basket of books for the littles in the living room so that there are always interesting things to read. Somehow, though, the official notice of ramping up our schoolwork slowly with a few subjects at a time seemed destable. I can't imagine why :)

Even though she seemed reluctant, last night, she hit it this morning and got much accomplished in a short bit of time (mental note to blog about our curriculum choices in another post). I was very proud of her for being so self-motivated and putting her petal to the metal. This is NOT the same child we took out of school in the middle of her sixth grade year four and half years ago.

I did get a few moments to myself this afternoon although I didn't get that much needed nap.

The rest of the evening went smoothly, although again not perfectly. Gracie did do computer work with Sumo (free JumpStart CD from Chick-Fil-A Kids meal) even though it happened like two hours after it should have. He loved his time with his big sis.

We did eat about six but it was very boring b/c I warmed up leftovers. Why? I didn't take time for my dinner prep in the AM!

All is well though, Daddy decided to show up and surprise us with BBQ. On second thought, maybe all wasn't well. I'm haven't been off to a good start in the food department :( Bless hubby for being so thoughtful though. I didn't have the heart to let his gift go to waste :) ....whoo!...that sounds like another blog in the making.

The boys got in the bed at 8.45 pm. Still enough time for me to relax and blog. It's now 9:30 pm. I'm technically supposed to get ready for bed before getting stuck sitting at the computer and blogging. Even bedtime has ended up being out of order. But it's still fairly early and I'm off to get some sleep so tomorrow can be a little closer to the plan.

Fall'07 Schedule

Here is the first guess attempt at my schedule/guide/flow for the fall. Homeschooling and being with my children all day requires some kind of planning so that we know where we are going BUT...remember this is not rigid. This is a guide and a way for me to "see" what I really have time to do based on the things required of me and the time available during the day to do them.

I'm one of those people who wishes I had 36 hours a day. Since I don't, my job is to find out how the Lord would have me spend my time and make sure I use the time He has given...wisely. In the past, I've posted my schedule in a Word document so that anyone could download it and change it to suit their personal needs. I will do that eventually but I'm going to wait until I've tried this plan for a bit to make sure it actually works well for us before passing it along :)

Remember...this is just a guide...just a tool to help me stay on track through out the day. If it's a gorgous day outside we don't come in after 30 minutes! If we have friends or company over, we will linger over lunch and the kids will go down for their naps a little later than normal. I'm a Type A but even I know how to relax a bit every now and then :)

Read it over...I'd love your feedback!

One more thing before you look this over. Don't be intimated. I didn't come up with all of this by myself. I used Managers of Their Homes to teach me how to structure my home, children, and my day. If you are structure challenged - this book is awesome! I developed my first schedule about four years ago and I break this book out everytime seasons and routines change to help me come up with creative ideas for keeping up with it all.

Ok...and now for the test schedule....Remember...leave feedback and/or questions if you have any...

5:00

• Mommy- up for Exercise

6:30

• Mommy -Shower & Dress
  

7:00

• Mommy -Quiet Time + Water/Tea
• Gracie- Quiet Time + Water/Tea
• Sumo - Sleep or Quiet Play

7:30

• Mommy - AM Routine/BFIAR with Sumo
• Gracie - Breakfast Prep
• Sumo - w/Mom or Free Play

8:00

• Everyone eats Breakfast and Mommy does Bible with the Littles

8:30

• Mommy cleans up from breakfast
• Gracie take the littles off to brush teeth and get dressed.
• The boys enjoy free play until Mommy is ready for...

9:00

• Circle Time with Little Hands to Heaven
  

9:30

• Now we head outside for the boys to play and for Mommy to tackle the yard.
• Gracie begins her Independent Learning (mostly core subjects)

10:00

• Head back inside for a snack and some table activities while listening to classical. Sumo hits some puzzles, arts & crafts, coloring, playdoh, etc.
• Kano will hit the floor for some tactile activities (blanket training)

10:30

• Mommy does some specific OT exercises w/ Kano then stretches w/video
• Sumo heads off to his room for some independent playtime

11:00

• Now Mommy has one on one w/Sumo to work on preschool stuff
• Kano gets to play with the toys in his room now all by himself.

11:30

• Mommy prepares lunch while the boys play together

12:00

• Lunch is eaten while Mommy or Gracie reads aloud to the boys

12:30

• Time to get ready for naptime!
• Kano gets to read with Mom by himself while Sumo hangs out on the Blanket
• Sumo can browse through the library book basket or play quietly on the blanket

1:00

• Sumo's turn for private time with Mom
• Kano is in the crib with board books and will fall to asleep pretty quickly

1:30

• At last...Mom gets an Email/Phone Break as both boys are down for a nap!

2:00

• Time to check in with Gracie
• A quick conference will make sure that all is on track for the rest of the day.
• Every so often this conference time goes a lot longer.
• Mental note to see if this time is adequate.

2:30

• Personal Project Time for Mom. Quiet time for Gracie to explore passionate pursuits

4:00

• Mom starts dinner prep
• Boys wake up and get a snack
• Mom does a quick stretch for Kano
• Gracie takes Sumo for some computer time

4:30

• Mom gets another Email/Phone Break. Gracie helps out with dinner if necessary
• Boys get free play (fun especially if Dad has made it home).
• Mental note to rotate legos and wooden trains if he hasn't.

5:00

• Final Review/Grade of Gracie’s Work for the day. Hopefully she doesn't have homework!

5:30

• Mom finishes the last bit of dinner prep.
• Gracie and Sumo set the table and pick up the living room
• Kano is back on the blanket or riding wrapped up on Mommy's back.

6:00

• DINNER

6:30

• Littles’ Bedtime Routine (Daddy does if he is home and then Mommy relaxes for a sec)
• Gracie does kitchen cleanup

7:00

• Family Time/Prayer

8:00

• Mom & Gracie can hang free of littles
• Boys are in their room playing/reading in their beds

8:30

• Maybe they get one last story...maybe they don't. Daddy/Mommy prays over them then Goodnight!

9:00

• Bedtime Routines for the rest of us

10:00

• Mommy's time to Journal/Blog/Read/Grade for coop (so much to do...so little time)
  
• Gracie can stay up for a second in her room

10:30

• Lights Out for Gracie

11:00

• Lights Out for Mommy (I'm working on it)

The Heart Check Sheet

Here's a post about a practical tool that I use to help me and my kiddos stay on the same page as it relates to my expectations and their actions and attitudes. In raising our children it is easy to get enraptured in getting them to "do" the right thing or "behave" the right way and all the while miss making sure that their hearts are in the right place at the same time.

I had been finding it difficult to communicate with my teenager about my standards without nagging and I really want to avoid nagging as much as possible. Why it is so difficult for parents not to preach...I don't know but...it is. I knew I had communicated clearly about my standards but found that there was just real measuring stick on a daily basis other than my boiling point.

I had heard many times about people with smaller children having some kind of reward system but my Gracie is a little too old for tokens and stuff :) I was really searching for something that would allow her to know when she had a good day and also to help her to see exactly what had caused an upset on any given day.

I didn't want to make my communication with her only punitive in nature. My daughter is overall...REALLY a good kid but she is a young woman and consequently learning how to continue in her childhood obedience as well as handle her emotions and attitude. My desire was to encourage and reward her good efforts at controlling outward expressions of inward feelings. However, I didn't want to slip into the pattern of holding a carrot on a stick just to get her through the day with a good attitude. So...the tool that has helped us was born.

The system is simple. For each character area that I have determined to be one worth refining, she can earn a point each day if she does well, if she does poorly, she can lose a point, and if it's a draw, she earns nothing. According to the number of areas we had most recently, Gracie could earn a total of 7 daily points. That is a possible 49 points a week. The reward is the key. Gracie likes one on one time with me. So, I agreed that I would take her out to eat for every 50 points she earns. At increments of 50, 100, 150, etc., I have agreed to treat her. I explained that it probably won't be an expensive restaurant or anything, just a simple cheap dinner out for just the two of us.

Using this chart has made life easier. Not only is there a communication tool besides my nagging and fussing, there is also way for her to feel like her efforts are noticed. This little point system makes life easier in spots that would normally been major points of contention. I have a spot for comments at the bottom so this way I can tell her in detail (in a defined space) what I noticed (good or bad) about her day.

So here is the Heart Check Sheet for your perusal. It is in Word format so you can edit and personalize it. Hope it helps someone!

Great Reads!

I'm still in South Africa and have tried again to access the hotel's wireless internet but to no avail. I have some great pictures to share, but I guess I'll just wait until I get back in the states. The hotel does have a business center with internet access but when I tell you the computers are S-L-O-W....It's murder to try and use Blogger with a slow connection so I'm posting by sending "email posts" to my blog which is slow but not as bad as using the blogsite.

Since I am at the computer anyway trying to blog about my trip, I thought I'd blog about something else instead and remembered that I mentioned a few days ago I would share about some recent books I've read that are worthy of others checking out. I have a few bloggy friends that keep up a current list of their books read during the year with their reviews and opinions included. Maybe I'll add that to my list to do for next year but I'm just not that organized yet. The two books I'd like to mention today though couldn't wait until next year :)

A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to complete two books in one week! Although I love to read, and would definitely consider myself to be a voracious reader, my time these days just doesn't allow me the luxury to get as much reading as I would like done. Getting these two books down was a real treat!

The first is A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille. This book is written to teachers, students, parents, educators, legislators, leaders - any person interested in making sure that kids get an education worthy of propelling them to greatness and to a life of purpose. I purchased this book at a homeschool conference as I had heard many people over time mention this book to me as a must-read. It definitely will help homeschool parents to help solidify their goals and direction in homeschooling their children, but it isn't just for the homeschooling family. The goal of the book is to pull from what made past leaders, world changers, and great thinkers in the past and show how we can implement those same educational experiences for our children today.

I'm never amazed, especially as I homeschool Gracie, how much I DIDN'T learn in school. There are many times that I feel inept as a homeschool Mom, wondering how in the world I'm going to make sure she comes away with the knowledge she needs to have in this life. This book encouraged me that life and learning is a journey and that goal of educating my children (whether I am in charge of that or a school) cannot be met unless I, myself, ensure that it happens. The cry here is for education that leads learners to greatness and beyond basic literacy and job skills. The main thrust of the book deals with the tenets of an quality education and some practical tips for how to get started with implementing those tenets.

Now I said I was only going to mention two books, but just writing that review made me think of another that I think every person should read regarding the education of our children, how we think about it, and how we can make a real difference in the quality of education that our children receive - The Art of Education by Linda Dobson. I initially read this book by getting it from my library and then after finishing it bought it to read again. This is one of those books that makes you think and call into question assumptions that you have about the educational system in America and what makes it work or not work. I assure you, if you pick up this book you WILL be challenged and you will wonder..."how come no one every told this to me before?"

Ok...now on to the second book I planned on discussing. I read this book and then passed it along to my husband to review. It is called Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham. I originally heard of this guy from a commenter on an older post - see my left sidebar under "What I Believe - About Children". The comment pointed me to listen to a sermon of Dr. Baucham's online. I was mesmerized by what I heard. Come to find out a family member of his goes to my church and when his book came out, she gave me one. Since my initial introduction to Dr. Baucham, he has been invited to the men's conference at my church and my husband attended his workshop. He called me after hearing his presentation to tell me how much he found Dr. Baucham's message inspiring and life-changing.

In his book, Dr. Bauchum starts out by saying that Christianity is a dying religion unless we, as believers, do something different then we have done in the past regarding the passing on of our legacy of faith. He begins his book with stating the problem of a state of a vanishing Christianity and how this problem has come about. Dr. Baucham discusses 1) the lack of value in the concept of having children with the idea of propagating the Kingdom of God in mind, 2) the lack of value in the necessity of passing along values to our children as evidenced by the number of "Christian" kids who, after being raised in Christian homes, do not choose to live out the "faith of their fathers", and 3) the trend of declining numbers of Christians with every generation that passes. At this juncture, Dr. Baucham then seeks to explain what we are doing wrong. That's where he book gets good.

The primary focus of this work is to explain what we are doing wrong and how to fix it. Dr. Baucham tenatiously outlines what Christians have not been doing that has helped fuel generations of people who do not live effective, on-fire lives for Christ - even after being raised in Christian homes. He discusses his own personal life both as an example of what he had failed to do, the realizations that he has come to in his journey as a husband, father, and pastor, and then on to what he seeks to do now. His platform as he speaks around the country is multi-generational Christianity and what we can do to ensure that we teach our children how to stand in this world.

It is obvious that this man is an intellectual and he is easy to respect because of the way he presents his material - very well-thought out and communicated. At the same time, I felt like I was listening to a big brother tell me his heart and give me guidance as to how to implement the concepts and principles he shares. His simple yet profound purpose of turning on the light bulb in Christians who desire to effectively pass their faith to their children will fan the flame in the heart of a Mom or Dad who are wanting a start at the "how-to-do-it".

Also, Dr. Baucham challenges the idea of age segregation as we know it in the modern day church. With the focus of family as the center of God's means for reaching the next generation, Dr. Baucham presents alternatives to the way we "do church" and suggests a different paradigm for the future if we want to see different results from the past in how we raise our children and how they turn out.

This is one of those books that, whether or not you agree with everything, you will be glad that someone stopped and finally MADE YOU THINK. It's definitely an easy read and worth reading all the way through. I encourage you to pick up a copy. I'll have a link to Amazon here...again...as soon as I get good internet access.

OK...that's enough for the day. I hope to post more about my time in South Africa soon :)

Great Preschool Resources

After spending the evening finishing up the last of a three part series, I realized that it was time for Shannon's Works-For-Me Wednesday post. I couldn't be that creative that fast so I'm decided to use a post I wrote earlier this summer that I thought would be a nice addition to my WFMW files. I hope this helps someone!

I have yet to seriously blog about what we do for school at home in terms of schedule, curriculum, and philosophy. There is so much to blog about and so little time! But if you've been reading my blog for even a little while, you've probably picked up that I have a preschoolers and that I homeschool. I've mentioned Letter of the Week in a previous post about setting up a preschool environment. I have used this online curriculum as a guide for two years and love it - especially b/c it's free!

I have a few posts on preschool in our household. You can look at them by clicking HERE.

I've just stumbled upon another awesome resource for Mom's who would like to enjoy the learning journey with their little ones. This post was inspired by my find of Hubbard's Cupboard. Discovering it today has inspired me to start making plans for my littles for the year. Check it out and be sure to come back here to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

I was so excited today about getting ready for learning with my little ones, I decided to post some of my favorite online resources for enjoying these fleeting preschool years.

Paula's Archives

Preschoolers and Peace

Toddler Activities Page

Everything Preschool

Bible Story Coloring Pages

Preschool Coloring Pages

Starfall

First School Preschool Activities and Crafts

Suite 101

If you have favorite sites for ideas for young children feel free to leave a comment that includes the web address. I'm always up for hearing about new things.

As far as official curriculum that we use, below I have listed the ones that made it down to the final cut. I think I love all of them but, I can't do them all (maybe over time and with more babies I will). So for now, here is the list that I had "to-pick-from".

Little Hands to Heaven

My Father's World

Before Five in a Row

Sonlight

Winter Promise

For the upcoming year I plan to use Little Hands to Heaven for my boys along with Letter of the Week. That's the plan for NOW. The plan is always changing. As long as I don't stay stuck in the planning phase and get down on the floor and have fun with my little ones, the curriculum doesn't matter. They won't remember which curriculum was the best. They'll just remember that Mommy was with them, playing with them, reading to them, working alongside them, and snuggling them every chance that I get...

I hope this helps someone to come up with ideas and a plan for making good use of the years with your little ones. Remember, this season only lasts a little while! Make the most of it!

Be sure to check out Rocks in My Dryer for more Works-for-Me Wednesday tips.

Things to Do This Summer

Well this is our last official week of school. Normally we school year round but my oldest daughter is coming into her own and she has a SCHEDULE to keep. I've learned from summer's gone by that trying to fit school in between camp or family vacation or the mission trip...just isn't smart.

Although I will do "school" for my littles (they don't know about any difference between the summer and the traditional school year) it will be very relaxed. I like to get out of the house and take advantage of all the fun things going on in the city.

This week is Vacation Bible School at our church which means late nights and letting the kiddos sleep in. The next couple of days we'll be enrolling in the library's summer reading program and spending quality time in the backyard. The kiddos will play while I pull more weeds and finish the beds for my tomato plants (yes...I'm trying my hand at gardening).

Anyhow, every year I add things to my Summer List of Activities and save it so I won't have to start from scratch the next year. Thought I'd share the list with you guys today!

WFMW: Frugal Preschooling

Although preschool workbooks can be inexpensive, I still found myself cringing when my preschooler would be learning how to do something and "mess up" a page. Sometimes he just needed to "practice" a skill a couple of times, however once we wrote on the workbook page, that would be it.

Well, I took some of my thinner preschool workbooks, take out the staples holding the book together, and then cut that book into two with scissors (a scrapbook cutter could work too). This created a bunch of looseleaf pages. I then took each page and placed it in a sheet protector. These plastic covers are easily written on by wet or dry erase markers. VOILA! Now we can write on a page as many times as we want. My preschooler gets lots of practice and these pages will be around for his little brother if I would like them to be!

The side benefit is that my 4yo LOVES to help me clean his pages. We take baby wipes and wipe them clean (wet erase markers). If we want to write on them immediately following a cleanup up, we just wipe again with a dry paper towel. When we use dry erase markers, a paper towel works just fine.

BTW, this could work with thicker books too. You can always take a book down to the local office supply store and have them wack off the binding. You might not want to spend the "mula" to buy a million plastic sheets but you can buy a few and then just change out the pages as your kiddo progresses!

Be sure to check out Rocks in My Dryer for more Works-for-Me Wednesday tips.

You Must Be a Natural

I hear this all the time. People seem to think that because I choose to be at home with my children and especially because we homeschool that I must have an extra dose of something. It's gotten to the point that it almost irritates me to hear that. Why? Because I know I'm not a natural. In fact, everything about how I live my life now compared to where I've come from is a choice.

You have to understand. I was a single parent before I was out of my teens. My life was built completely around "making it" and that included working as I had myself and a baby girl to support. I didn't want to live my life like this. All of my friends were kicking back, starting their life worry free. Not me. I was a twenty-something young black woman doing my best to get ahead because I had to. It was a choice.

Everything that I had went into making a way for myself and getting ahead. I moved around a bit looking for a job that was a right fit. When I found myself at an money management firm, I realized I had a good job and stayed put. I learned to love this job. It was a life-sucking job. Most Wall Street jobs are. I arrived before 7 a.m. and there was pressure to stay after 6 p.m. I did what I could. A job that I despised originally because of the tough work life quickly became a way to make an excellent living. I got promoted and wound up 3 years later as a VP, researching publicly traded companies to evaluate them for entry into the portfolio. I learned to love this job. Why? A great salary, wonderful bonuses, and I had worked my way up to being important. I had arrived.

Then...I met my husband.

He is in the entertainment industry and travels quite a bit. We decided that we would never see each other if we both worked the way we did, something had to go. I went part time on my job. This lasted for two months. It never failed. When I was home, he'd be gone. When he was home, I had to work. I decided to come home.

I was excited about coming home. I regretted not being able to be all there and I had quickly grown tired of balancing my job and the new family we were trying to blend.

That excitement was the initial shot of adrenalin. Being at home was the hardest job I'd ever done. I put my all into being at home because that's how I've always operated. When I have something to accomplish, I give it my all. Why did my family deserve any less?

I learned to decorate. I learned to cook. I learned to keep house. I learned work in the yard.

Then enter babies. We've added two little boys since or union. This catapulted me into another dimension of motherhood. I had never actually been at home with my oldest daughter. I knew nothing about potty training, setting up a home routine, teaching my children to mind, etc.

I learned. I'm still learning.

But this is from the girl who had learned to be committed to corporate life - the same girl who had gotten used to a lot of perks, recognition, and MONEY. Life on one income is doable but very few who choose this life are rich.

I enjoy my children because I chose to commit my life to raising people of character. I've learned to enjoy them.

I enjoy cleaning house...NOT BECAUSE I LIKE TO CLEAN...but because I have learned to do what I have to do for the sake of the people who live in my home.

I have learned to enjoy cooking...because I have chosen to put the health and nutrition of those under my care ahead of my desire to eat out.

I have learned to enjoy teaching my children. My husband and I choose to be completely responsible to God alone for the spiritual and intellectual education they receive and this is the best option for our family at this time. I chose homeschooling before I thought I would be able to stand being around them all the time.

There is a spiritual concept anytime something appears natural. You do what you know you should do. The feelings come later.

If I look like I'm a natural. It's because I've learned to be.

What do you want to be naturally gifted to do? Do you think it is out of your reach? Learn to do it. Work at doing it. You'd be surprirsed what then can come naturally.

Philippians 4.13 - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

The question is not and has never been, what do I want to do, but instead...what does Christ want me to do. Whatever it is...he will provide the know-how and the will power to get it done.

Works-for-Me-Wednesdays: Teaching ABCs

I never cease to be amazed at what my young ones learn from EXPOSURE. I was insanely worried when my now 4yo was 2. I wondered how exactly I was going to teach the alphabet to him.

Fast forward a few years, he not only knows his ABCs but is reading.

Here is one thing that I did to expose him early on.



I figured since we were up and down the stairs all day, we could say the alphabet and point us various letters as we traveled. Now I take some of the work we do and tack it above the letter that the picture represents. Our elephant (made at the library) goes above "E" and the blueberry painting goes above "B".

We have gotten a little off track lately because "life" happens sometimes but we are following the well planned guidelines from Letter of the Week to help us make it through the alphabet. This Mom has great ideas on books to read and activities to do for each letter if you are creatively challenged like me!

Be sure to check out Rocks in My Dryer for more Works-for-Me Wednesday tips.

The Art of Napping

One of the beauties of doing school at home...When you need a nap, you don't have to put your head down on a desk.

Going the Extra Mile

We are studying E & F. I decided from the Letter of the Week that I wanted to do the egg carton project with my 3yo. Emerald, the angel in my backyard, was scheduled to come and be with him while I took the baby (yea...he's almost 2) to therapy. So I handed that project off to her.

Now...if I would have done the project, we would have cut out the cartons and DRAWN the eyes and antennae with a Sharpie.

Not Emerald...

Since it was a beautiful day, she first took Sumo outside and read the "E" and "F" books with him on the trampoline. How fun!

Then she marched Sumo out the front door and took him on a nature walk. They collected leaves and rocks so that the egg carton caterpillar would be in it's natural habitat. I had no idea of what was happening b/c I was with my little one at his appointment. When I got back home I was met with a surprise.

Here's the finished project.
Praise the Lord for photos that keep better than the actual projects!

All of this happened on the same day as our visit from the fire truck.

What an amazing day. It would have been good anyway. Emerald made it great. My 15yo made it even better by snapping great photos (in between her schoolwork) so I didn't miss out on sharing the joy!