Homeschooling:What I've Learned So Far

We've made it through four months of homeschooling, and I have been reflecting on what we have done so far and thought I'd share.  

• I enjoy teaching my children.
• I am more laid back about our daily schedule than I thought I'd be.
• I like having a basic "lesson plan" already done for me rather than creating one from scratch.
• I have more ideas for activities than we have time, and its okay that we don't do them all. 
• Marissa loves worksheets.
  
• It is okay to let Marissa sit and do worksheets even if I think it is a strange thing for a three year old (or any child) to really enjoy doing.
• After four months, I still like Sonlight Core B.
• I think Sonlight will continue to be a good fit for us.
• The connectivity provided by studying topics by theme works great for us.
• Makayla pays attention to more of our read alouds than I expected.
• I don't regret starting Handwriting Without Tears and Singapore Earlybird Math this year.
• I am strongly considering starting Language Arts K this year.
• I love having opportunities throughout our day to point our children to God.

Making the Most Out of Time in the Car

I am fortunate to not spend that much time in the car on a normal basis. The next couple weeks we'll be visiting family in other states and will be spending quite a bit of time in the car. To take advantage of this time spiritually we'll be making a CD with some sermons and other messages by Christian speakers. This article will get you started with many free audio resources to make a CD of your own. As everyone is traveling this season, I pray that it will be a time of growth and encouragement and blessed fellowship with friends and family.

My Scarf

I finally knit something for myself, even if it is just a scarf. Marissa modeled it for me. It is knit with Araucania Nature Wool in colorway 50 for those of you who knit. I love this yarn. It is such a beautiful color with nice variations. I'm hoping to pick up some more this weekend to make a matching hat. We're driving to Florida Monday and Tuesday, so I'm hoping to maximize the time in the car. I'd like to get my hat done and a few Christmas projects too.

Flowers

Marissa is at a really fun age right now. It has been fun to watch her art grow and change as she is getting older. From scribbles to drawings that resemble her subject things have changed a lot. Marissa has reached a point where she is creating her own craft projects out of things she finds. She came up with these flowers by herself and then I helped her make the vase out of foil. Since she made the flowers in the photo we've started a box with odds and ends for her to use to make stuff. It is exciting to see her new creations.

Some of My Favorite Online Toy Stores

I haven't had the time to share particulars about why we avoid certain toys, but thought I'd share a few good resources for toys. Maybe they will help you with your Christmas shopping. Enjoy!

Magic Cabin
A Toy Garden
Oompa Toys
For Small Hands

Branding and Children

Companies start hooking our goods to brands as infants. It is crazy to think about how branding and consumerism creeps in to all aspects of our lives.For a good short article on marketing to children check out this blog post on the Get Rich Slowly site.

Bringing Fall Indoors

On our last trip to the park Marissa and Makayla collected leaves, acorns, and other "treasures." I let Marissa put them on a serving platter for a centerpiece. Since I took the photo she has added to it with a feather and hay. It gives the girls a place to put the bits of nature they want to bring indoors and spruces up the table for Fall. I hoping to keep the idea going and let them change out the items as the find new "treasures" and as the seasons change.

Kid Funny

We are teaching the girl's catechisms, and will ask them randomly a question to review. Yesterday, I asked Marissa, "Why did God make you?" Marissa replied, "For listening to stories." :) The correct answer is for His own glory, by the way.

Choosing Toys for Our Children

As we get closer to the holiday season many of you are already planning and purchasing gifts for Christmas. I have a couple of gifts knit and we have picked out presents for the girls. Choosing toys for our kids can be tough. There are a lot of options out there. Some toys are great, some just okay, and some flat out inappropriate. I wanted share this general article I wrote about choosing toys for children that encourage creative and imaginative play. Keep in mind this is intended to be a general guide for choosing toys, and that it is next to impossible to only have certain types of toys in your home. Over the next week I plan on sharing a little more about why we avoid or even ban certain toys from our home.

On the Go

Madison, not quite seven months old, started crawling a bit last night. It is always exciting to see your children master new skills. I can't believe Madison is already crawling. She is not even sitting up by herself yet. Later in the evening I caught her trying to pull open the drawer of puzzles we had just cleaned up. I guess she just can't wait to keep up with her big sisters.

On Being a Helper

I enjoy listening to the messages online from Sovereign Grace Ministries. Carolyn Mahaney recently shared this message at a Ladies Night event on woman's role as a helper. I had to share the below video of some parody songs created to go along with the message which is serious and funny. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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Marissa the Mother Hen

Today James found Marissa and Makayla under the table trying clean up a carton of broken eggs.  I had been in the shower when the excitement happened and so sat them down to talk again after I was done.  We have never had problems with the kids taking things out of the fridge before and was racking my brian trying to come up with why they had thought to do such a thing now.  It turns out Marissa had taken  the eggs out of the fridge to take care of them.  She had sat on them "to keep them warmer."  She did not realize that they would break when sat on and was quite upset that they had made a big mess  and were now broken.  I guess it turned out to be an unexpected hand-on lesson, as we are finishing up our module on birds.

Free Online Reading Games for Early Readers

I wanted to share a couple of websites that have great games for pre-readers and early readers.  Both sites have the games and activities well organized, so that your child can progress through the games in a way that makes sense.  The first site is Starfall and is quite popular with both traditional schools and home schoolers.  The second site is Literactive and is one we recently discovered.  You must register to use Literactive, but it is free.  

Potty Training Progress

Makayla used the potty for the first time today on her own.  I am very excited, especially since we have not really done any potty training.  I realize this bit of news is not interesting for many others, but I had to share.

Associated Content

I have been writing articles for Associated Content the last month.  I have had a very good experience with it so far.  Associated Content pays up front for articles and additionally per 1,000 page views.  It is not a lot of money, but I can do it at home during nap time.  So far I have kept to short articles not needing a lot of research as that is what I have time for now.  It is free to sign up and is a legit business.  We've been using the money from this for things not part of our monthly budget such as extra home schooling supplies and Christmas presents.  Check it out.

Changes

We are preparing for more changes.  For those of you who know us, when are we not?  James has his official acceptance letter from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  October 19th will be his last day full time at this current employer.  He will then be doing free lance computer programming.  There will be adjustments that have to be made to accommodate him working from home, but I'm very excited that we are going to have him home with us.  We have already rearranged our apartment, and will probably have to adjust our schedules once we see how things go.  There are very likely more changes to come, but I'll share those when we know more.

Homeschooling: What We Do

As we have begun getting many questions about what we're doing about schooling, I thought I'd take a post and give a quick overview of what we are doing.  We are using Sonlight Core B with a theme schedule available from a Yahoo Group.  Using a theme based schedules allows us to easily add in crafts, cooking projects, and field trips that reinforce what we are learning.  We add in books from the library about our current topic.  We are using Singapore Early Bird for math and Handwriting Without Tears for handwriting.  For us this is Marissa's first year officially home schooling.  Makayla often joins in our reading and other activities, but she is not doing any types of math or handwriting sheets.  As I begin to blog more regularly, I hope to give updates as we move through our different theme modules, and keep everyone up to date on what we are learning.

Blogging Again

I have decided to start blogging again and under a different name.  My original blog covered mothering, but this blog will be quite a bit broader.  I am hoping to keep family up to date on our three little girls, as well as cover other subjects that interest me.  Expect posts on mothering, home management, home schooling, living simply, knitting, Christianity, and more.