Time....

With Thanksgiving a week away, I decided to put some thoughts down.

School is trucking right along. We took some time away from the books and took a few field trips, worked on our community involvement, joined a co-op, and the kids have started taking art and music lessons. I also started a part time job. So once again, scheduling is a must. Between lessons and work, there is very little idle time. Which makes the time fly by. It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner with Christmas hot on its heels.
Our goal is to get through week 14 of our curriculum and then take two weeks off. We will be a very busy house as 2015 closes. Then we will put a successful twelve months of schooling in the books and start again midway through January.

Oh look it's September

I am shocked every time I look at the calendar. Hard to believe that Labor Day has come and gone. Especially when it is still 95* outside. As I sit, listen and watch the kids play outside I can't help but think how awesome our summer has been. While we spent most of our days at the local swimming pool, we still managed to knock out 6 weeks of school. Our 7th week of school proved to be the most challenging, taking us the entire month of August to get through. Now that we are into the second week of September, we are trucking right along. My overall goal is to get through Core D+E (Sonlight) in 18 months. Which will get the girls through 4th, 5th and 6th grades; respectively. The boy will continue working on Math, Language Arts, and Science. As he gets older and matures, we will add in other subjects. He would rather play with his dinosaurs or his Lego's, than sit through a history lesson. Little does he know that the books he reads and quite a few of the shows he watches are riddled with history. I know he will know much more than even he realizes.

Question of the month... Is home schooling hard??
Several acquaintances have asked this. The first time I was asked I was caught off guard. Of course I sat back and thought about it. As I pondered how to answer whether home schooling was hard or not, I realized that it is all about what you consider difficult. The answer to this question is not simple and the answer is not the same for everyone. I will do my best to answer.

The short answer is, yes. Not for the reasons most would think.
It is not difficult to have the kids home all of the time. Overwhelming at times but not difficult as long as boundaries are set. Everyone has a period of time during the day that is quiet time. Each child can do their own thing, as long as it is done quietly.
Scheduling appointments, volunteering, having lunch with friends can be difficult to plan. Especially if you are the only one in your group that home schools.
Meal time, I have mixed feelings about this. Having to plan three meals a day, can get tedious. After a year of trying to do it on my own, I decided that the kids can take some responsibility in meal planning. Each kiddo has to plan five days worth of meals, including snacks.
The hardest part of the entire process, for me, is staying on task. Life happens and it is so easy to let your little boat get carried off by the current.

Overall I would say that home schooling is not any harder than sending your kiddos to school. The challenges are just different. We don't have to worry about home work, fundraisers, parent/teacher conferences, sick days, snow days, bullying and unsafe schools.
Instead we worry about whether or not our choice will be the best one for our children. We worry about the neighbors calling the cops because our kids are outside at 10 o'clock in the morning. We also worry about our kids making good choices, we worry about the friends they choose, and whether they will be able to get into a good college.
As with any choice we make in regard to our children, it's all about perspective. What works for us, might not work for you and vise-versa.

Right now we are all enjoying the fruits of the kids being home. Our schedule is, mostly, our own. The best part of this.....I get to wear my pajamas all day!!!

I had a plan...

No. Really I did have a plan. I swear there were rainbows and unicorns involved too! However, I have learned that if you want to see God smile, tell him your plans. The plan I had did not turn out and that's okay. We have learned so much in the last year and I know it is a good thing.

So cheers to new lessons and new adventures!

Here are a few things that I have learned about myself, about my marriage, and about my children.

Things I have learned about myself.

1) I am stronger than I think I am. While the cross that I bear is heavy, I know I am not alone in my trials. I know that I have friends, family, and other resources to lean on when things get hard.
2) My faith is unshakable. I am not a church person, but I do have faith that God has a plan for me.
3) Learning is my true passion. When I am learning, I am happy. When my hands and my mind are engaged in something meaningful my heart is full of joy. Learning to sew and crochet has given me a sense of well being and accomplishment!

Things I have learned about my marriage.

1) Being married is a commitment. I know that sounds so obvious. However, I think we often forget that "I do" doesn't imply that you know how to be everything your spouse needs or that your spouse knows how to be everything you need. It is a trial by fire commitment. The ups and downs of being married are what makes us a stronger unit!
2) I have truly found my partner. I find strength in his presence and humility in his acceptance of my faults. In all that I do, I know he will be there to support and encourage me along the way.


1) Children will grow by leaps and bounds when you give them sunshine, dirt and freedom. Riding bikes is a new found realm of physical activity and freedom for all three kiddos. It gives me such joy to see them learn what their bodies are capable of.
2) I have learned that saying "no" takes up more time than saying, "show me how it's done." All three kids have learned to read recipes and follow directions in the kitchen. Lunch is no longer a chore for me since one of three is usually willing to put on a quick meal of grilled cheese, soup, sandwiches or a myriad of other easy meals.
3) Having my children home 24/7 has shown me what a real joy it is to be a part of these blooming personalities.  Each and every day they amaze me with their insight and brilliance.

I am truly looking forward to the days in front of us!

It's a new year!

I can't help but laugh! Just when we had a plan, it changed! Our plan was to go with Oak Meadow for curriculum (and we might), now our plan is to go with Sonlight. With three kids at about the same level, this seems to be the best option. Anyway, our plan was to start in January, with actual curriculum, well it looks like that too shall be put on hold. With all of the changes that we have had to face, I was feeling a bit apprehensive about keeping the kids home. Until today, when my oldest wowed me as she compared the book she is reading to North Korea. I don't know what I am doing, but whatever it is; it's working!

The younger two are enjoying a new building set, marble run. Their current project is an attempt to get the marble airborne. I think they will figure it out before too much longer. All three continue to devour any book that is put in front of them. They are learning the fine art of house keeping and cooking. Cleaning is not a favorite subject among them but they realize that it is much easier to work when their space is neat and tidy! Another win for me, as I am a tad OCD and enjoy the smell of bleach!

Well until next time.....

Hey looks it's almost November....

So how is school? That seems to be every one's favorite question these days. Then the kids laugh and say "it's great!" In reality, we really haven't done a whole lot of "school." We have worked through a lesson or two in some work books and we have gone on several field trips, but we really haven't done school. Yet, we are all happy and adjusting well to being home together all of the time again. 

However, as November approaches I decided it was time to start adding a little more structure to our days. I purchased Sonlight's ELA 2 program and their 2nd grade math curriculum. These two will be combined with daily cursive writing and lots of reading. A friend of mine asked me why I was teaching the kids how to write in cursive. I really didn't have an answer. Then I got to thinking about the reasons for learning how to write in cursive. 

When you know how to write in cursive, you know how to read cursive writing. Historic documents are written in cursive. Why would you not teach cursive? If you want your children to be able to understand what our forefather's wanted for our country, cursive is a very necessary skill.

Writing in cursive builds and improves fine motor skills. Fine motor skills are necessary for success in math and science. 

I was very surprised to find out that handwriting is not a graded skill in elementary school anymore. While some teachers will send a paper back to be rewritten, there is no grade for neatness. How are our children going to be able to communicate? Written communication is still necessary. I understand that technology has provided other ways to communicate, but neat legible handwriting is still a needed skill. Maybe we don't really want our children to know how to communicate. Maybe we want them to rely on the government and the media for information. I will save that entry for another day.

Weed your Garden

The last few weeks have been a series of ups and downs. I am not quite ready to disclose every detail of what is going on, so the following is just what I have learned in the last month or so.

As winter turned to spring, the children and I decided to plant a garden. We ordered garden pots for the back yard and a myriad of fruits, vegetables and flowers. Thus far, we've harvested potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers. We have poppies, morning glories, mums, and a few other flowers that we can't remember the names for. As the days have passed I have found myself asking God for the answer to one question; how are we going to do this? Every day I was left without an answer or so I thought. Each time I asked I found myself outside, looking at the blooms in our small garden. The little patch of beauty was being choked by weeds. I would look at them and say, "I need to weed my garden." I would then return indoors and go about my day or evening. Last night as I questioned my path, I once again found myself looking at my little garden. This time, I grabbed the shears and my gloves and got to work weeding and watering my garden. As I removed patch after patch of overgrown weeds, I realized how many blooms were hidden under the madness. That is when it hit me. The answer to my question of how we are going to get through the next few months. We need to take care of our garden. We need to take out the weeds before they cover the blooms. We need to add good soil and lots of water so that the blooms can be healthy and thrive.
I have pulled the weeds from my garden, I've added good soil and I will water my little patch of beauty every day. I will take joy in the blooms that appear and I will nourish my family with the fruits of my labor.

Now I will apply the same theory to my life. I will remove the weeds from my life. The weeds that cast doubt on my decisions, because what I am doing doesn't fit in with their lives. The weeds that can't see past their own insecurities. The weeds that are always negative.

I will add good soil to my blooms to nourish the positive relationships in my life. I will water the blooms that offer encouragement and advice. I will spend time in my garden with the blossoms that offer support and a safe place to cry. Above all, I will appreciate the beauty of my garden and learn to trust which plant is a weed and which is a flower.

My advice to others is, look around you. If you are surrounded by weeds, pull them. If you are surrounded by flowers, nourish them and appreciate them.

It's amazing how a plan comes together. We have chosen a curriculum. My husband and I decided to go with Oak Meadow curriculum and we will start that around the New Year. Until then we will be focusing on life skills and rebuilding a foundation of math and writing.

We have transformed our dining room into a school room. Hopefully by August it will be complete. The library is our old friend and we look forward to spending lots of time there. The kids are enjoying their "bingo reading cards" and love that there are no limits on the amount of books they can check out.

Through the summer, fall and winter we will be taking a step back from traditional school expectations. We are not going to buy desks and there will not be a set time to learn. Our focus will be on life skills such as personal hygiene, house hold maintenance and learning to be kind to others. Along with taking care of their pets and experiencing the great outdoors. We have trips planned for working farms, museums and a myriad of other adventures.

The reason for taking a step back is simple. We feel like our children are stressed. As a society it seems like we really don't like children. We want them to be grown before their minds can fully process life's ups and downs. So our goal is to teach them how to enjoy life, to find joy in the simple things and to find out who they really are.

I know that we will have hills to climb and some will be bigger than others. However, I am looking forward to finding the valley between the peaks.