Back to a Schedule - 09:32, Wednesday, June 10, 2009

  I am putting our family back on a schedule. We are more efficient when we have a schedule instead of shooting from the hip.  I don't like how our days get away from us when we are not working from a schedule. I know some people don't like schedules because they feel it is too rigid..... but our large family really thrives on one .. so back we go!   The kids and I sat down and cranked out a good working schedule. We will "test" it out this week and see how it goes.   We homeschool all year round, with periodic breaks, so we really need something to guide our time.

 We are stewards of our time, and once time is wasted we can not get it back. 

Here's our tentative schedule -- we may change it depending on how it goes......

                             Family Schedule

6:00 am - 7 :00 am : mom's wakes and has her time with the Lord

7:00 am - 8:00 am: kid's wake up and have private bible reading time and get ready for the day

8:00 am -- Morning devotions

8:30 am - Breakfast ( usually hot cereal or eggs)

9:00 am - morning chores

9:30 am - 10:00 am: penmanship/spelling drill

10:00 am - 11:00 am: math

11:00 am - 12:00 pm: science

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: geography/social studies/history

1:00 pm - 1:30 pm: grammar, writing assignment for teens and reading practice for little ones

1:30 pm - 2:00 pm : lunch prep for child assigned lunch duty, the rest of the kids finish up writing assignments, grammar, reading or any other subjects

2:00 pm - lunch

2:30 pm - afternoon chores

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm - FREE time for all

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm - dinner prep for mom & girls

                                Boys outside chore cleanup

6:00 pm - dinner

6:30 pm - evening chores

7:00 pm - get ready for bed

7:30 pm - read to little ones, beginning readers practice reading, older kids have free time to read or play

8:00 pm -  Read aloud time

8:30 pm - teeth brush, say prayers

9:00 pm - bed time/lights out

9:30 pm - bedtime for my teens

10:00 pm - bedtime for me!

I am excited to see how this works!!!

A day in our life.... - 02:06, Monday, March 23, 2009

    I thought I would share what an "average" school day looks like for our family.    I try to keep to a schedule of some sort ,but  lately I have been really falling short of doing that. Room for improvement is sorely needed!  I try to wake up by 7:30 am and have some time with my Lord in prayer and bible study. I also try to squeeze in at least 20 min of exercise. The kids are usually up by 8 am and getting dressed and have their own time for prayer and study.  We try to meet downstairs for morning Bible study at 9 am.  "Ideally " I hope to have breakfast served and chores done by 10 am so we can begin our school work.   The kids and I head into the school house ( that is a seperate building ) and work on things till 3 pm or so.    Lunch is usually served at their desks at 2 pm or so.  The kids take turns on making lunch, since I really don't enjoy making lunch at all and it helps them learn basic cooking skills.   Some days we don't finish up till later, but it's our goal to be done by 3 pm.

   We use a combination of textboooks and "living books".  The children have texts for the core subjects, and they use living books for their individual unit studies they are working on. 

    Here are some snapshots of the children busy at work......

Smiling rebekah.........

    John working on some tracing...... the little ones love tracing!  I don't school the youngest 2 yet...... I don't usually begin schooling children until they are age 6 or so.

Hannah......

Sarah coloring......

Samuel.........

Miss. Naomi, too young to do school work... but oh she loves to write and loves to look at picture books. :)

John & Sarah playing some kind of matching game....

Jacob, my oldest working on his dictation....

I feel blessed to have a seperate space dedicated to schooling. I didn't have this space for years, and used my kitchen table to school the children.  I love having a place set apart away from the house.... this is where we spend a good deal of our time and all our books , games and crafts are here too.  The little ones are in the same room, they know they have to be quiet and choose some quiet games or books / coloring to do.... they are not allowed to run around and be loud during the school hours. When the weather is warm enough they may choose to go outside to play. If they do choose to be a distraction during school hours, they are asked to choose a corner to go to and take their books, or something to work on there to play by themselves. That usually solves the problem.

 We have been homeschooling since my eldest  son was school age, ( he's 16 now)  and I really can't say that I am a gifted teacher at all. There are many challenging days, but I choose to homeschool because I like the fact I can choose my children's curricula and that we can freely talk about God in our studies, and most importantly I know intimately what the heart issues are with my children. Being with them all the time is not always easy. Sometimes I need a break.  I am not a super woman or amazing as some may think who homeschool large families. I am a mom just like any. The difference is I have chosen to school at them at home verses somewhere else.  I mess up just like my kids do. I am not always patient with them, but I have found the benefits of homeschooling outweigh the negatives. 

It's not for everyone but it fits for our family and the values we hold.

I often find myself telling my kids that I am "sorry" about not having patience when I am teaching, and I realize homeschooling is just as much about "mom learning" as well as kids.  We are all learning and growing.

I wanted to share this, because some think that homeschooling is only for moms who are super organized or really gifted teachers.  I wanted to let you all know that I am neither, and I homeschool!

To sum it up, I would say I homeschool because I love my kids and I want to make sure they are being raised in a godly environment where God's word above all is taught, and where they can learn at their own pace.  It's what I feel called to do. Yeah, many days are hard, but that's ok. I'm learning too.

I hope that gives some of you some encourgement who are considering bringing your kids home.  There are also lots of resources out there to homeschool children. From computer curriculum to texts to unit studies, etc. There are choices.  I choose a traditional text approach to the core subjects and a more relaxed approach to the electives.

Also if something is not working, I am free to change it. If a child is not ready to learn something, I can either wait till they are, or help them with what they are struggling with. I know what their weaknesses are and what their strengths are.  I know when they are giving me their best or just "getting by".   I don't know if I would know this if I sent them to school somewhere else.

Most importantly we can begin each and every day worshipping the Lord, and reading His word. We spend a good half hour to 45 min a day in this endeavor and I don't think we could do that if the kids were schooled elsewhere. 

I know that there are probably better teachers out there that my kids could learn from, but I am their mom and I feel God has called me to teach them. It's not always easy for me. I am not a natural born teacher. The Lord is growing me in the process of schooling my children.

Homeschooling in so many ways is a lifestyle choice. It's a choice to live very close, very intimately with your children....... not always easy, but something I believe the Lord really has asked of me.

~ gloria ~

Teaching Classical Music Appreciation - 01:53, Friday, February 27, 2009

  Our family loves music!  We love to listen to classical music while the children are schooling .  We recently rediscovered these wonderful CD's to help teach about the lives of the great composers. They are excellent and I highly recommend them!

  An Introduction to the Classics: VOX Music Masters Series

There are 18 CD's in the series.  Each CD narrates the life of an individual composer and presents music they have composed as well.  I can't tell you how much we enjoy these!!! We have learned so much about each composer! Some of these men were virtually unheraled while they were alive.  A few of them had to work with physical limitations that did not stop them from composing the most beautiful of music!  Amazing!

We listen to these while the kids are working on their schoolwork.

They are excellent!!!!!

You can purchase these in groups of 3 or 6 or the entire collection can be purchased, for a total of 18 CD's.

The following composers are hightlighted:

Vivaldi, Shumman, Grieg, Brahams, Chopin, Shubert, Mozart, Bach,Mendelsson, Berlioz, Tschaikovsky, Strauss,Foster, Sousa,  Verdi, Dvorak , Haydn, Beethoven & Corelli.

You can purchase these at Beautiful Feet Books: www.bfbooks.com

This is a wonderful resource, and children and adults of all ages will enjoy the music and the narration!

~ gloria ~

Homeschooling thru the years... - 02:13, Wednesday, January 7, 2009

I realized today I have not blogged much about homeschooling.  Our family began homeschooling years and years ago, when my oldest child  ( 15 yrs old now) at the time was getting ready for kindergarten. I remember reading everything I could about home education and then taking the "plunge"!  Of course back then I had just a few little ones to school, and now there are 8 children being homeschooled at home! 

Homeschooling does pose it's challenges --  but overall I have been really pleased with the results.  I can't even imagine putting my kids in the public school system.  I know there are many wonderful & gifted teachers teaching in the schoools, and I am sure many kids are receiving a good education.   The decision to homeschool is much more than "academics" to me.  It's more about "relationship" with my kids then academics. Oh sure, we do have our texts and our projects we are working on, but the focus has never been on the "books" but on character development and relationships. My greatest desire is to keep my kid's hearts and to really lead them to a personal walk with the Lord.  I want our schooling time and our books we use to glorify God and to teach truth not relativism or humanism.

So we continue to homeschool. Some days I am tired. Like many of you I deal with the yearly "burn out" syndrome, and the days do come where I ask myself "why am I doing this to myself"!   But when I stop to really think about things and look into my kid's faces and eyes..... there is NO way I could put them in the local school.  I just can't. 

Does that mean homeschooling is a "perfect" fit? No! I am sure that there are many things I could be doing better as their teacher and there are hard days when I am struggling along with a child and something they are trying to understand or learn.  But overall, homeschooling is so much more than academics. ... it's a way of life...... our life does not revolve around "school" ........ we do have a time set aside each day for doing the math, the grammar, the spelling, etc. But we have learned to be flexible and to keep the "big picture" in mind.

Recently I found out a good friend of mine has quit homeschooling her kids after years of doing so. It just broke my heart.  She has beautiful children and for the life of me I don't understand why she would make that choice. But regardless of how I feel about homeschooling, I know it's not for everyone.

One of the things I really love about homeschooling is the ability it gives me to really *know* my kids.... there is no "guessing" what is going on in their minds...... everything is revealed and there is nothing hidden....if there is a problem, it's evident..... if there is an attitude that needs to be adjusted that is known too...... it's all up front and open....... no hiding anything... that can be tough, especially when mom's flaws are "open" too!  So I openly admit, homeschooling is a "stretch" for mom, and it certainly does keep me on my toes!  ( no hiding my sins behind closed doors around here!!)

I wanted to share one aspect of homeschooling that I really, really love and that is the opporotunity that homeschooling can give to really develop a love of learning in our children . By that I do not mean learning their math facts or spelling words -- what I mean is loving to learn about something for the sake of loving to learn!  Each month my kids choose a topic that they wish to study and dwelve into.... it can be anything........ and believe me we have had some interesting topics thru the years. :)  After their assigned subjects are completed they can spend as long as they wish studying their "topic of choice".   At the end of the month we have a "report night" where each child writes up a report on their topic, presents an oral report ( they hand in a typed report for me to file) and can also share a display board with drawings or print outs.  The kids really look forward to this night!  They enjoy sharing their knowledge with the rest of the family.  It gives them a sense of accomplishment.   My husband & I also enjoy hearing about what they are learning and what they have gleaned from their in depth study. 

Here are some snapshots of  our report night we held a few nights back.  As always the reports were interesting and varied.  :) 

This past month we had:

Sarah studied  about the Pilgrims.  Big sister Hannah, helped her put a display board together. :)  She loves to give these reports, even though she is just 6 yrs old and needs help reading her report a loud. :)

Paul learned about Abraham Lincoln .  The twins are getting much better with their reading and didn't need much help giving their reports!

Peter gave a wonderful report on Martin Luther King Jr.

Rebekah studied about Anne Frank.....

Samuel gave a wonderful report on William Penn -- the founder of Pennsylvania ....I learned a ton just by listening to his report!

Rachel enjoyed learning about the "maide of Louraine"....Joan of Arc.......

Hannah studied up on Mary Queen of Scotts......... what a sad and interesting life she led.....Hannah loves to study about famous women in history....... she's a lot like her mom. :) I too love studying the lives of famous women -- right now I am reading about the life of Susanna Wesley the mother of Charles & John Wesley.

Last but not least, Jacob gave us a very detailed report on the Vietnam War.......he loves to study wars, and he really learned a lot. This month he has chosen to study  the Korean War, so he really is into this "war" studies lately!  He loves history and mostly chooses historical topics of interest.

This coming month the kids have chosen the following topics to study:

Jacob: Korean War, Hannah : Christopher Columbus, Rachel: Eleanor Roosevelt, Samuel: Lightening, Rebekah: Horses, Peter: George Washington ( again!), Paul: Trains, Sarah : Dogs

I hope my kids can look back upon their years homeschooling with fondness. :)  I know I will have many many memories to look back upon.  No regrets here, even though there are the the "days" I wonder what on earth I have done to myself!

~ gloria ~

Homeschooling thru the summer months - 03:45, Thursday, July 31, 2008

The past 2 years we have chosen to homeschool thru the summer months. I know that not every homeschool family chooses to do so, and there are certainly pros and cons to doing a summer break or schooling thru the year.  We have been blessed the past few years as we have chosen to school thru the year. I have found that it really does help me to keep on tract, and I a less likely to get stressed out when we do take needed breaks for holidays, illness or other "life happenings".

For example, our family took the entire month of May off to take a much needed visit back "home" to WA state for a visit with my parents and siblings. It was a wonderful trip! Along the way we stopped to see some wonderful sites ~~ the ocean beaches, the badlands of S. Dakota, the black hills and Mt. Rushmore and Custer State Park in Montana. We had a wonderful time and we learned so much about our nation & it's history!  I didn't feel we "missed out" or fell behind because we didn't pack the books with us.

How does one school thru the summer months you may ask when there are so many other things clamoring for our attention?  Well I can only speak for our family, but it does work best for us to start as early in the day as possible. This allows us to take advantage of the cool weather in the morning for inside book work, and that frees up our afternoons for outside chores and for kids to play in the warm sun.

I have also found that when we school all year round, the children are less likely to forget math or spelling skills.  I also don't feel guilty when I do take a day off to "play" or have fun.  I know we can jump right into our routine again, without much of a scramble.

Overall I have been really pleased with schooling all year round ~ it's not for everyone, but I did want to "put the plug in" for those who have considered doing it but wondered how it would all work out practically speaking.

May you be blessed!

~ gloria ~