5 Ways to Encourage Your Child to Read

I believe that a love of reading is one of the very best gifts a parent can give to a child. Reading is the key that opens the door to lifelong learning. Sadly many children are not developing a love of reading, and that lack can affect them throughout their entire lifetime.

Here are five ways to encourage a love of reading in your child:

1. Read aloud to your child regularly.

One of the greatest things that you can do to encourage your child to love reading is to read aloud to him. From the time your infant can sit up on your lap, he will enjoy the sound of your voice while you "read" to him and point out the colorful pictures.

As your little one grows, make it a high priority to read aloud daily. Set aside time once or twice a day to read as many books as you have time for. Make reading the activity that your child looks forward to the most!

Even when your children are tweens and teens, many of them will still enjoy read-aloud time. Our family has enjoyed many great chapter books together even as our children entered their teen years.

2. Be sure your child sees you enjoying books.

Children learn best by example. When they see you spending time with a good book, they are more likely to be interested in reading themselves. 

Share your enjoyment of reading by briefly discussing the story line of your book--whether historical fiction, biography, or classic literature--and allowing them to ask questions or make comments.You may find that your older children will be interested in reading the same book that you are reading, even if it is more advanced reading material than what they typically read. 

3. Surround your child with captivating literature.

Be sure there are always plenty of high-quality books in the house. Visit the library and allow your child to choose some books to read. Place a few good books on the coffee table or the couch and see if your child will be interested enough to pick them up.

If you have a Kindle, your child can find dozens of "old-fashioned" books to read for free. Help him choose a few new books to try!

4. Set aside time for reading.

When you child complains of being bored, don't always hand him an electronic gadget or a new toy. Suggest a book instead! 

Some families require a certain amount of reading time each day. This may be a way to incorporate more reading time for a reluctant reader. Why not set aside half an hour or so each evening as "family reading time"?

5. Give books as gifts.

Most children in our country already have plenty of toys, games, and electronics. Encourage more reading by giving books as Christmas, birthday, or "just-because" gifts. 

It might be fun to introduce your child to a particular series that you enjoyed at that same age. Then for each special occasion, you could gift your child with another book or two from the series. Imagine how much fun it could be to share your love of a favorite book with your child!

How do you encourage your children to read? What books have they especially enjoyed?

4 Reasons I Love Homeschooling

Many people are surprised when they find that I love to homeschool my children. They think I must be very organized. Or extraordinarily patient. Or frazzled beyond belief.

But they're wrong.

I've simply learned to embrace the benefits that come with homeschooling a larger family.

1. A more flexible schedule

For a few years when my older children attended a local Christian school, I had to have everybody up and out the door by 8am. Yes, even my little ones had to be scooped out of their warm beds, wrapped in blankets, and hustled into car seats. And I hated it.

Now that we are homeschooling, the littles can sleep until they awake. Teens can get the extra rest that their growing bodies need. Even Mom can get a little extra shut-eye after a restless night with a teething baby.

And if Dad has a day off in the middle of the week, we can take a day off, too. Talk about flexibility!

2. Less travel time

During our pre-homeschooling days, we left the house around 8:00 to take the kiddos to school; left again some days at 11:15 or so to pick up a kindergartner; and finally left around 2:00 to pick up the other two children at the end of the day. 

All told, we spent close to one-and-one-half hours shuttling between home and school each day. Now that we are no longer spending so much time on the road, it's easy to apply that time to learning activities at home.

3. Family trips instead of field trips

Homeschooling allows us to have fun and learn together as a family. It's just so much more enjoyable when our whole family can share the experience together. Of course, we still take advantage of every opportunity to enjoy a field trip with other homeschooling families, but even then, we're all together (except Dad, who works weekdays).

4. More time to learn life skills

Since my children are home with me all day, I have more opportunities to help them learn the skills they will use throughout their adult lives. Cooking, cleaning, child care, financial responsibility, grocery shopping, handling phone calls--homeschooled children are learning all day long.

There are dozens of reasons why families choose to homeschool--why do YOU love homeschooling?

Stretching Your Homeschooling Dollars

Most families today are trying to make every dollar stretch as far as possible. Groceries, gas, utilities, taxes, insurance . . . every month seems to bring rising expenses. After paying all the bills, it may seem next to impossible to afford quality homeschool materials.

I have found that, with a little time and creativity, even a larger family CAN afford to homeschool. Here are a few ways to stretch your homeschooling dollars:

Buy used curriculum.

Never purchase brand-new materials until you have invested some time in searching for used items first. A few places to check:

• HomeschoolClassifieds.com
• HomeschoolReviews.com (Swap Board)
• eBay

Choose materials that can be passed down.

By selecting homeschooling materials that are easily adaptable, you can reuse curriculum with younger children, even those with varying learning styles. Keep an eye open for books that may be reproduced within your family, as well. 

Resell items your family is no longer using.

Hold onto the teacher's manuals and other books that you are certain you will be using with other children. Then list the other items for resale. Tuck away the money you earn by selling used curriculum; it will come in handy for purchasing new-to-you materials!

Trade with other homeschool families.

See if a fellow homeschooler might be able to lend you a particular book or manual for a year. In return, check for materials that you could lend during the coming year.

Utilize free resources.

You can find many books and other resources available for free at your local library. Dozens of classics and other public domain books are available for Kindle; if you don't own a Kindle, you can download a free Kindle app for your computer.

How do you stretch your homeschooling dollars?

How We Homeschool

It's interesting that all of us that contribute here at Cherish the Call that have school age children homeschool them. I really didn't plan it that way, but in reality any mother serious about her calling is responsible for training her children, isn't she? Whether we delegate it out to teachers or do it all ourselves this is imperative with little (and no-so-little) ones!

I love it that we do it in such a variety of ways. Those of us who are released from the mandates of a school system enjoy employing our creativity to get the job done without destroying our children's love of learning.

Source

Joanna doesn't have to put much effort into her homeschooling efforts yet. In fact, she has another 5 years to decide on educational options. Right now, schooling for her little one consists of Daddy reading books to her belly! :-)

If any of us are experts (which no intelligent homeschooling mother claims to be!), Judy is. She homeschools in one of the states with the most stringent laws while she has blended parenting 7 and homeschooling 5 children into her day for quite a few years (my memory refuses to cooperate on the exact number!). She blogs often about it on her excellent blog.

Tonya uses an online program for her 2 (out of 4) school age children while juggling the responsibilities of a parsonage as well. We started on our journey at the same time, so we try to encourage each other now and then.

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Jessica tells how they homeschool in interesting detail here.

There is so much to say about homeschooling since we all embrace it as a lifestyle. However, I'll mention just structure and curriculum. Jessica aptly covered that in her blog post, so I'll just mention the other three of us.

Structure
While Tonya has to be fairly structured in order to fit the recorded lessons in on their proper days, Judy and I are "on our own" for lesson plans and schedules. Judy has the added responsibility of a baby that still wakes up at night. I was so encouraged by her approach, because I have done it this way myself many days, then felt guilty because it wasn't the proper way to do school:

The one area in which we are NOT structured is a starting time for our school day. Due to the fact that Kendra is usually up 6 or more times each night, I try to catch a little extra sleep in the mornings, and therefore allow the kids to sleep till they are ready to get up. My oldest is 16 and tends to sleep till 9:30 or so, but he is growing rapidly, and I'm okay with that. (Side note: He now wears a men's size medium shirt, and size 11.5 shoes, and is nearly 6 ft tall!) Our nurse practitioner says that our schedule is actually ideal for teens, whose body clocks naturally tend to be set to go to bed later and get up later. The younger ones often set their alarms for 6:30 or 7:00, and get up and get most of their work done before I'm even remotely coherent, LOL.The staggered schedule is great for our family, since I can help the younger ones get finished up before lunch, and they can go wear off their excess energy outside. Then, my late morning/early afternoon is free to help the older ones with their more challenging coursework (one of my older kids needs me to read much of his texts to him).

 I try to do something with the little ones while Jessica practices piano and Jeffery does independent work. Then, Jessica (4th grade) does independent work while I work with Jeffery (1st grade) and I focus on Jessica when he is all done. This may happen early or it may happen late. Just depends on the balls I have to juggle that day. :-)

Curriculum
Tonya and I both use the Bob Jones curriculum. As I mentioned, she uses the curriculum company's online teachers. I teach the material myself. I supplement it with my own Bible curriculum, P.E. at a local gym and piano lessons once my kids get in 2nd grade and vocal music with my little ones. If I remember correctly, she does violin lessons and possibly piano and choir with her school age children. (She was too busy schooling to take time to comment on this one!)

Judy has more of an eclectic approach like Jessica:

My 2nd and 5th graders love ACE, since they can work on their own and get on with their interests without too much waiting on Mom. However, I score ALL work in order to keep tabs on what they are learning, and to make sure they are understanding their PACEs. The other 3 are in grades 7, 8, and 10. They have some PACEs, some textbooks of various styles, and some reading-based subjects (PA history, primarily). I pick and choose each subject on an individual basis, based on their preferences, strengths, and weaknesses; each year may be different from the year before it, and 8th grade for Brandon was totally different than 8th grade is for Devin this year. Just another reason why I love homeschooling!

Is everything always perfect? Nah! This is how many more days than we'd like turn out:

Source

Or maybe that's just me? :-)


 

Homeschooling with Little Ones

Homeschooling while caring for a baby or a toddler--or perhaps several little ones--is a challenge for even the most seasoned homeschooling mother. In fact, teaching school-age children while comforting a teething baby and filling a toddler's sippy cup again can seem downright impossible.

Having survived nearly seven years of homeschooling, along with two new babies in the past four years, I'd  like to encourage you that you can homeschool successfully, even during this busy season of life. The key is finding something that works for you and your children.

1. Be flexible with your schedule.
While your local schools may start their day at 7:30 AM, remember that you can choose the starting time that is best for you. If you are up frequently in the night with a newborn, setting your alarm so you can start school "on time" just isn't practical. Likewise, if your toddler needs lunch at 11:00 AM, there is no need to endure a whiny, hungry child until noon--pause that math lesson and fix lunch.

2. Use naptime to your advantage.
If you are struggling to fit those more-involved projects into your day, take advantage of the baby's afternoon nap for uninterrupted work time. Science experiments, nature study, messy art projects--all can be accomplished with less stress during this less hectic time period.

3. Consider using independent work for some subjects.
It is very helpful if your child has at least one or two subjects that he can do on his own while you are changing the baby or starting a load of laundry. At our house, for example, I like math and language lessons to be taught directly to each child, but I am comfortable allowing them to do history (mostly) independently. I know that I am still available to follow up as I grade papers, making sure that they are understanding the material they have read.

4. Follow a lighter schedule on hectic days.
During especially busy days, such as a week of special church services, allow yourself to simplify your homeschooling schedule. Perhaps you could just do math and language arts, and skip history and science for a few days. Or maybe you could allow your school-age children to read educational books for a week, giving you a break from direct teaching and grading. Find a way to make those hectic days less stressful for everyone!

5. Find quiet entertainment for younger children.
Special coloring books, play-dough, quiet books, busy bags--anything that only comes out during school time will captivate your child and allow you to work with your older children. If you have math manipulatives that aren't a choking hazard (pattern blocks, dominoes, teaching clocks, etc.), you may find that your preschooler will be happy to work with them for quite a while.

6. Be gentle with yourself.
Remember that it is perfectly fine that you aren't accomplishing the same things that your friends are. Each family is different, and each season of life is unique. Remind yourself that tomorrow is another day, a fresh start. Do your best, and enjoy watching your children learn in the way that works best for your family.

What creative ideas do you have for homeschooling with little ones?

A Little Bit of Heaven for Homeschoolers

I walk, dazedly, into the large hall and gaze in wondrous rapture at a room filled nearly floor to ceiling with treasure. Such vast, unimaginable richness! I'm in awe. And when I see the large, vinyl sign that screams "Books as low as 90% off!", I swoon.

Ah, yes, the wonderful, fascinating exhibit hall at the homeschool convention! I might have exaggerated a little, well...okay...a lot, but that place really is amazing! And it's almost that time again. A great big, wonderful convention is coming to our area. I'm so hoping that we can attend this year. I haven't been to one since we moved from Indiana. Actually, I've only been able to attend two conventions, but they were so informative, helpful, and exciting!

Check this post at Heart of the Matter for more tips and info on homeschool conventions. 

I remember the first convention my husband and I attended. We had no idea what to expect. My husband was skeptical. "Probably won't be very many there," he said. "Oh, I think you'll be surprised!" I answered. We both were! There were thousands of people there, all sharing a common interest, and, in most cases, a common faith. There was something so uplifting about mingling with those families that day. We were all very different, and yet, we were bound together by a strong bond, our love for our children. I wish I could express that feeling. There was a oneness that I never expected and deeply appreciated. The entire experience changed my outlook on homeschooling forever.

 The workshops were very informative, the general sessions moving, motivating, and encouraging, and, oh, that exhibit hall! Or have I mentioned that already?

The speakers brought out Biblical truths that inspired my husband and I to stand strong in our convictions, even when misunderstood and looked down upon. And, as encouraging as those messages were, the realization that we were not alone was enough to bring new hope and strength to face the hard times. We were challenged spiritually as much as we were in any other way.

Back to the exhibit hall: You have never seen so many books, teaching aids, inspirational materials, etc., in one place! To be honest, it's quite overwhelming. But it's fabulous! What I liked most was being able to thumb through the curriculum instead of just reading about it or going on a friend's recommendation. A huge plus is the "90% off" stuff that I mentioned. :) There truly are some wonderful bargains and, as you know, that's always helpful! Most curriculum vendors offer free shipping if you order at a convention. Also, there are usually a few used book vendors where you can find some bargains. Really...you can save a lot of money here, if you have a plan! If you don't, you'll no doubt walk away with a lot of things you really don't need and will never use. There's just too much available, and it's so hard to resist! Trust me...I know this from personal experience.

One of the best things about the convention for me, was that it somehow helped to pull my husband in and get him more excited about homeschooling.  It brought us closer together in our efforts and in our goals for our children. Sometimes we get the idea that it's only the Mama's job to teach the children. On the contrary! Dad needs to be involved, too! After all, he's the administrator! :)

If you're a homeschooling parent, I encourage you to attend a nearby convention. At the bottom of this post I've included a couple of links to sites where you can see a calendar of some of the conventions. A word of caution, however: be on guard at these places. They're every bit as great as I've described, but all of the speakers and workshops may not be Biblically sound, so keep this in mind.

Here are a few tips to help plan your trip:

1. I recommend registering early, if possible. It's cheaper, and you'll probably get a booklet in the mail with a map of the exhibit hall and a list of the workshops so that you can plan your visit. 
2. Choose which workshops you'd like to attend, keeping in mind what you or your children may be struggling with at this stage. 
3. Make a list of curriculum that you're interested in checking out. 
4. Have plenty of paper and a pen for taking notes. 
5. Do your homework. If possible, check the online prices (at amazon, ebay, or used homeschool curriculum sites) of the curriculum you're considering, to make sure you're really getting the best deal. 
6. Take a pull-along suitcase or something similar in which to haul your purchases. Believe me, they all do it. That place looks like the loading gate at an airport. And some of those wonderful veterans had these nifty little collapsible carts. Show-offs.... ;)
7. Don't forget money for lunch, and you'd better have a pretty good idea where you're doing to eat. If the convention you attend is as large as the one we attended, you'll be in a pretty big throng of people, all hungry and all in a hurry to get back for the next session. 
8. Wear comfortable shoes! 
9. Have a budget, or you'll wonder what broke ya. 
10. Consider saving enough money to join the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. They generally offer a discount at conventions, and I recommend their services to any and every homeschooling family. 
11. Keep an eye out for Christmas gifts, especially stocking-stuffers. You'll find a lot of fun items!
12. Most of all, enjoy this time of encouragement and education! 

Check these sites to find a convention in your area:

• Great Homeschool Conventions  http://www.greathomeschoolconventions.com/
• Homeschool Conventions  http://www.homeschoolconventions.com/

If you do attend a homeschool convention in your area, let me know what you think of it! :)

Some Homeschooling Humor

I pulled in the driveway from gym class, and my children started piling out. They had been playing hard for nearly two hours with a group of 60 kids. I was tired. They were not. A few neighbor kids rushed into the yard, and the playing continued.

As I turned to get the baby out of his car seat, I saw my elderly neighbor walking down the sidewalk. After a few minutes of chit chat, he said something about where my children went to school. When I mentioned they were homeschooled, he was very disturbed. He began a lecture about how children need other children and how they just are not socialized well at home. I hid a smile as I thought about how my children had interacted with other kids more in 2 hours that I ever did in a whole day of conventional school.

This is just one of the many things homeschoolers hear from people who don't homeschool. You've probably already seen this, but if you'd like a good laugh; here are a few others in this video: Seven Lies About Homeschoolers.

If you liked Tim Hawkins' Homeschool Family, you might like his Homeschool Blues as well. 

As I've said before, if my children behave less than perfectly, don't blame it on home schooling and I won't blame your child's behavior on government schooling. We can all just chalk it up to them having less than perfect parents! :D

January Panic Mode

image from Pinterest

Second half of the school year. Yep, I said "second half". And we're behind. Ack! Choking sensation...(gasp)...heart racing...cold sweat...nightmares of incomplete workbooks and unopened test packets...(strangled cry)...visions of my children, white-haired and hunched in a wheelchair, still trying to learn to read.... HELP!

But wait. It's not really that bad. With God's help, we can do this! Just pick up where we left off, buckle down, and get 'er done. Right? Right! (Right?)

I know, I know. Most of you homeschool mothers are organized to a fault. You're not behind even a teensy-weensy bit. Your 5-year-old is teaching your 1-year-old calculus while your 8-year-old is zipping through online college courses. Your home is spotless and you serve gourmet meals. Three times a day.

That's great and we who are struggling salute you...honest! We'd love to be like you! So, could you do us a favor? Pray for us! That's the most important thing. Then, give us some helpful hints and share your secrets with us. Encourage us. Support us. And keep being an example to us!

At times like these it's important to stop and remind myself why I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm not homeschooling my children so they can be little Einsteins and show off at competitions around the country. (Although that might be nice.) I don't do this so that I can bask in the accolades of those who admire what I do. (Even though it's nice to be admired.) I'm doing this because it's what God has called me to do. Because I feel that it's best for my children. Because I'm blessed to be able to have them here, at home, where I can love on 'em and  use the daily  happenings and even the setbacks of our lives as teaching opportunities.

Life happens. (Oh, does it ever!) Things go wrong. Time flies by so fast that we feel like we're in a wind tunnel. We get behind sometimes. That's not an excuse to throw up our hands and quit, it's an opportunity to start over and do better; to rest in God's grace and in His promise to give us strength.

So, if you're in "January Panic Mode", don't despair! You're not alone! Encourage yourself in the Lord, seek encouragement and advice from fellow homeschool moms, go kiss those kiddos, stop panicking, and  relax.  It's almost never as bad as you think it is. Trust me on this.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to pass out the Ensure and help my children with their dentures before we work on that alphabet.

20 Great Reasons to Homeschool

If you've read my bio, you already know that we homeschool our children. We feel very strongly about homeschooling, but we do our best never to appear judgmental or self-righteous to those who feel differently than we do!

We began our homeshooling journey several years ago when our firstborn was old enough for Kindergarten. Since my husband was working, I was the one who would be mostly responsible for teaching our children. I felt overwhelmed, inadequate, incapable, ill-equipped, and terrified. But here we are, about seven years later, and now...I feel overwhelmed, inadequate, incapable, ill-equipped, and terrified!

There have been some really tough times in our homeschooling years, but the blessings have made up for it over and over again. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Here, (some are tongue-in-cheek of course) are some great reasons to homeschool.

To my fellow homeschool moms, hang in there and keep up the great work! You're already being rewarded, even if you can't see it yet! Oh, and don't forget to have fun! 

Jessica is a follower of Jesus Christ, the wife of an amazing husband, and the mother of four children who are the loves of her life. She is passionate about homeschooling, enjoys spending time with her family more than anything else,  would rather buy a new book than new clothes, is always starting on a diet, and thinks that chocolate is the next-best medicine to laughter. Other than reading, her favorite hobbies are music, decorating, blogging, and making attempts at photography. She blogs about this, that, and the other at www.itsthelittlethings4.blogspot.com.

Making "Times" In Our Homeschool Day

Although a crisp, fresh schedule hanging on the fridge or bedroom wall makes my little heart go pitter pat; my kids don't always have the same reaction. Too much structure quickly makes their dedication fly out the window (or to their toys or some other distraction). So, instead of a long list, I divided our day up into "times". Here's a peek at the proposed order of our days this school year:

Morning Chore Time

 Breakfast Time

 Bible Time

Morning School Time

Lunch Time

Play Time

Afternoon School Time

Quiet Time

Afternoon Chore Time

Supper Time

Evening Time

As you can see, for every potentially not-so-fun "time", there is a fun "time" coming. My hope is that this keeps them motivated. For example, "If I finish my morning chores, I can eat breakfast." Or "If I finish all my afternoon school work, I will have quiet free time to do what I want."

With two "schoolers" and two little ones, I'm not going to try to put actual clock times with any of these except perhaps the rising and meal times. We'll just try to "go with the flow" until we reach my favorite time of all: Bed Time!

Implementing the Back to School Morning Routine

No matter what type of education our children pursue or how we conduct our summers, back to school season forces all of us parents to reevaluate our schedules. The morning routine applies to homeschoolers and "brick and mortar" schoolers alike:

Photo Credit

Whatever you decide should be part of your morning routine, I suggest you start implementing it a week or two before the official "first day of school".  The essentials are that your child get up at a time that won't require rushing, get dressed easily, gather necessary supplies, eat a nourishing breakfast and get to school (whether on the bus or at the kitchen table) in a timely manner.


1. Getting Up. 
You will need to decide how your child generally wakes up. If your child wakes easily, simply going to them and waking them up should do it. If it is especially hard to get them out of bed, you might want to set a traditional alarm but set it for 10 minutes before they actually need to get up. Set a second alarm for that time, and let them know that they must be out of bed at the second alarm since you gave them adequate warning. You'll also have to evaluate how quickly your child moves in the morning. Is he energetic or does she drag for awhile after waking? The "slow movers" will probably need an earlier alarm.

2. Getting Dressed Easily.
Consider hanging your child's clothes as complete outfits or folding them neatly in an easily accessible drawer. The less you have to do to help them dress, the better. Inlist the help of older children to assist the younger ones with simple dressing or just putting on socks and shoes. You will need to be sure this doesn't impede their own progress, though!


3. Gather Necessary Supplies.
The best way to do this is the night before. Make sure you check any homework or papers that need to be taken to school before the child goes to bed. If you homeschool, make sure the lessons are prepared so they can start right away. You may even want to end the previous day's schoolwork with preparing for the next day by sharpening pencils, filing schoolwork, etc. If your children go to school, you might keep their bookbags near the front door so they can just grab them as they leave.

4. Eat a Nourishing Breakfast.
Regardless of your stance on healthy eating, you will have to agree that toaster pastries or cereal alone will probably not hold your child until lunch time. A few quick and easy breakfasts are oatmeal which can be prepared in the crockpot the night before, homemade pancakes, waffles or breakfast burritos prepared ahead and frozen so they can just be popped into the microwave to reheat, or make granola parfaits the night before and keep them in the fridge. If there is time, you could whip up smoothies or an egg dish. Make sure the meal has a protein and fruit with it so your child can concentrate on schoolwork rather than a hungry tummy.

Photo Credit

 5. Get to School in a Timely Manner.
Whenever I have to go somewhere with just the kids (I don't try to schedule my husband...I'm not his mother!), I build a margin in to make sure I get there on time. The times I neglect the margin are inevitably the times I am running late. For example, if you know the bus will arrive at 7:30, make sure your child is completely ready by 7:15. If you know your child's school starts at 8:00 and it's a 10 minute drive, have everyone in the car by 7:30. There will always be those mornings when you don't make it, but you should still be on time because of your margin. Homeschoolers can adapt this principle in a more general manner since specific times are likely not necessary.

Homeschooling for the Summer

Since we are home educators, life and "school" often collide. Maybe a better word would be they coexist. Even more to the point, sometimes they are seamless so that we can't see where one begins and the other ends. Therefore, even though academics are greatly reduced through the summer months, we still have a lot of learning that can only be done when days are long, the weather is hot and school books are packed away.

I won't bore you with the details of our summer schedule, but here are my plans to keep up the learning even while enjoying "summer break":

• Have my soon-to-be first-grader read to me every day
• Practice multiplication facts and piano with my soon-to-be fourth-grader every day
• Train all three older children for more excellence in their chores
• Teach my five-year-old to tie his shoes and ride his bike (Busy Mom Confession: I just never got around to buying him shoes that tie or taking the training wheels off his bike yet!)
• Work more with my two-year-old on shapes, colors and alphabet letters
• Make sure they have plenty of time to play and be outdoors
• Field Trips, Nature Walks, Projects---these don't have to stop in the summer!

What are your "schooling" plans for the summer?

Our Home School Day in the Life

Jamie over at Simple Homeschool has invited us to answer the following questions and share our homeschool day. This is what it looked like at the beginning of the year. So you can see how we change things up as we start a new semester.

How old are your kids? 8, 5, 2, 3 months


How long have you been homeschooling?  since birth, but officially this is our fourth year


What does your homeschool day look like? It varies greatly, but here is today:

My early bird child usually awakes while I'm still in my chair having my quiet time. We sit together until I'm done, cuddle and talk a bit, then get dressed as the rest of the kids start waking up. Sometimes the baby joins us, sometimes he's still sleeping, sometimes he's back to sleep.

The kids do morning chores and get dressed while I help out where I can and start breakfast. We eat breakfast, do table chores, then sit at the table for Bible together. I try to go directly from the Bible lesson to my kindergartner's phonics lesson because he is easily distracted. My third grader does her independent work either at the table with us or up in her room if she needs quiet.

When the kindergartner's school is done for the day (it doesn't take long), he takes the 2-year-old upstairs to play while I work with the third grader. We try to have school done by lunch on a home day (this is currently Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays typically).

After lunch and table chores, I try to read or spend a little time with the 2-year-old before putting him down for a nap. After he's in bed, we read a chapter out of our current read-aloud book together, then everyone goes to quiet time.

After quiet time, I try to spend time individually with at least one child. This varies. This week I have used it to help my daughter start a blog as a school assignment, play a video game with my son, work on multiplication tables and sometimes we work on reading or play checkers. Just depends on what is needed and what the child wants to do. I also use this time to finish up any school work with my third grader, particularly if it was not a home day.

When the little one wakes up from his nap, we have afternoon chore time which includes straightening the house, practicing music lessons and any chores that weren't completed earlier in the day. I start to prepare supper and then we start our evening.

On days away from home, we try to contain those activities to before nap time, more for my sake than theirs! This includes doctor appointments, grocery shopping, piano lessons, library visits, art and gym class.

There you have it although I've left out a lot of the nitty-gritty like fights, diaper changes, discipline sessions, feeding the baby, the little one asking, "Hold you?", and bloody noses. Those events just kind of fit in the cracks of a day so it's not too normal.

Not Back to School Blog Hop: Day-in-the-Life Week

Homeschooling is our lifestyle, so it is hard to write a regular blog in which I seek to be real and leave it out entirely. If you are against homeschooling, do not homeschool or are not interested in our version of homeschooling, you may want to skip the following  post:

Show us, tell us – video, photograph or narrate – a day in your homeschool. This is our chance to see your little class’s personality.


I've been having issues with my camera, which is why I totally skipped last week's blog hop post. You all will have to put up with narration today. Just thought I'd warn you in case you want to skip this one! :-)



My alarm goes off, and I get up to make coffee for my husband, make his breakfast, and pack his lunch. By the time he leaves, I have only a half an hour before the next alarm will go off...the one in my children's room. I sit down to spend some time with the Lord.

Before I know it, I hear the patter of feet in the room above me. They consult their "Day Charts"--the kindergartner's in pictures, the third-grader's in words. It tells them what chores to do. I greet them as they go from room to room, getting dressed, brushing teeth, emptying trash and bringing the laundry to the basement laundry room for me to boot. I help with the two-year-old's dressing and prepare breakfast.

We eat, clean up the kitchen, then meet on the couch for family worship. It is short and sweet--just singing a hymn, sometimes with piano accompaniment by the third-grader, then praying together for the kids' requests and their individual character goals for the day (to be obedient, kind, etc.).

Then, we meet at the dining room table for Bible with the two "schoolers". The two-year-old colors for about 2 minutes, then decides to roam around the room. When Bible is over, the third-grader takes her "seatwork" up to her desk in her room while I do Beginnings with the kindergartner and try to include the two-year-old as much as possible. By the time she comes back down, we are about done. If not, she helps with the lesson.

The boys (my kindergartner and two-year-old) go up to play in their room while I check seatwork, do English, Reading, Spelling and Handwriting with the third-grader (my daughter).

When she is done, we take a chore break. I fold the laundry we started earlier in the day. During the school year, we break up the household chores so depending on what day it is, we work together to clean the bathroom, kitchen or do the vacuuming, etc.

When we are done, it is usually lunch time, so we eat and clean up. One day a week, we go to the library and piano lesson after lunch. The other days, we play outside and/or have read aloud time. In the next two months, we will be adding art and gym away from home, so this will factor in somewhere between 10:30 and 2:30 on two other days a week.

When we come back in, it's the third-grader's time to play with the two-year-old while I do Math with the kindergartner. When we're done with that, the two-year-old goes down for his nap and the kindergartner gets "screen time"--either kid's xbox games or computer games. I then have a quiet house (for the most part) to do math and heritage studies with the third-grader.

When she's done with all her work, she and I get our "quiet time". She usually chooses reading or computer games, and I have my own computer time.

When the little one wakes up, the boys clean up their room and set the table for supper while the third-grader practices piano and I get supper ready.

We eat supper when Daddy gets home. We clean up and the kids play with Daddy while I get the next days' lessons ready, finish blogging, and the other hundred tasks that need done to prepare for the next day.

The kids get their baths, then we read a chapter (or two or three) from a book and have prayer. After tuck-ins and cuddles, I get my bath and read in bed until my own lights out time.


Of course, this is the way our day is supposed to go and does about 1/3 of the time--and we only just started the school year! :-) Last week, these events were punctuated by a lunch time birthday party, a couple long discipline sessions, and uncooperative or fussy kids during school time, just to name a few things! But such is the luxury homeschoolers have: flexibility. We just hope we don't bend so much that we break! :-)

To see some other homeschoolers' days, visit here.

Not Back to School Blog Hop: School Room Week

Homeschooling is our lifestyle, so it is hard to write a regular blog in which I seek to be real and leave it out entirely. If you are against homeschooling, do not homeschool or are not interested in our version of homeschooling, you may want to skip the following  post:

School room, school house, converted space or at the dining room table… the world of academics takes place in all sorts of interesting places. Please show us where you do school, and check out how others make it work.

The bulk of our schoolwork is done at our dining room table. It is big enough for all the kids to sit around at once and spread out books and papers. It is in a central location and close to the bookshelf in the kitchen where we store our books and supplies.

If our oldest needs a quiet space to work or we need chalkboard space for some reason (Typically, I'm not a Pledge of Allegiance and teacher/lecturer type homeschooling mom.), we move to the kids' bedroom/playroom upstairs. One of their walls is painted with chalkboard paint and Jessica's desk is up there. (Sorry I can't get the picture to upload!)

We have been known to do school in the car on trips or at Memaw's house when we needed to help out over there with something. Of course, that's just the "bookwork". Our learning adventures have taken us to zoos, science museums, fire stations, nature walks in the woods and the library--just to name a few.

Basically, our school room is wherever we happen to be!

Not Back to School Blog Hop: Curriculum Week

Homeschooling is our lifestyle, so it is hard to write a regular blog in which I seek to be real and leave it out entirely. If you are against homeschooling, do not homeschool or are not interested in our version of homeschooling, you may want to skip the following  post:

After hours and hours of research, consultation, lists and that big ol’ investment… what did you finally decide for your curriculum? Please share your choices – by age (or grade) if possible. There is no wrong or right way to share your curriculum!


I'm afraid our curriculum list is rather boring compared to a lot of homeschool moms. At this stage of our lives, we are textbook homeschoolers, so the bulk of our curriculum is pre-packaged from a company.

• We use BJU Press for our core curriculum.  This includes Beginnings (a phonics/heritage studies/science and handwriting course), Reading and Math for our kindergartener. It includes Reading, English, Handwriting, Spelling, Heritage Studies, Science, and Math for our third grader. 
• This will be our second year to use Anne Elliott's excellent Foundations series for Bible. We will be doing Foundations 2: Christ, Our Messiah. I use this for both children as it is adaptable to different age groups and abilities.

That's all the official teaching I do. I get help with our extracurricular activities and subjects.

• Music - My third grader takes piano lessons from an excellent teacher. September will mark one year, and I am thrilled with her progress. I use Classics for Kids and My First Piano Adventures sporadically with my kindergartener. We start our children with piano lessons as a foundation and will give them a choice later if they want to pursue another instrument. Official lessons don't begin until second grade, so my job with the kindergartener right now is just to make music fun and whet his appetite for it.

• P.E. - I enrolled my oldest in our local recreation center's weekly Open Homeschool Gym program last year. She loved it so much that I am enrolling both of my kids this year. Enrolling is a loose term--we can go every week or one week or anywhere in between and pay a very low fee as we go. For almost 2 hours, they get instruction from a veteran homeschool mom that works at the rec center as a fitness instructor. They do basic exercises, a half-mile to 1 mile timed run, and they play a sport and learn about the rules, etc. The best part is, me and the babies can go to the play area and chat with the other homeschool moms while our kids play in a McDonald's-style play structure. Did I mention that we LOVE this program?
• Art -This is something I have been unable to keep up with myself although I've started out trying every year. Last year we used the library programs. We will probably do the same this year, although I am still checking into enrolling my kids in art classes for homeschoolers once I get more details.
• Field Trips - As homeschoolers, we fit in more field trips than the average school class. We did several over the summer as well. This year I hope to fit in a visit to the fire department and police department and post office as part of my kindergartener's curriculum. We also have zoo and science museum memberships which we use often. I really wanted to participate in Co-Op this year, but the timing of our youngest's arrival will make that difficult for the fall/winter quarter at least.
• LOTS of Books! - We go to the library every week and come home with 2 bags of books. We do lots of read-alouds and my third grader reads everything in her bag within 2 days.

Politically Correct Homeschoolers

From the very beginning, I want to give my personal disclaimer: I do not practice homeschooling as a religion. I believe there is One Way to Heaven--Jesus Christ, but I believe there are many ways to a child's education. However, as a critic of homeschooling myself for many years and more so now as the critiqued, I couldn't help by make some observations at a homeschool field trip yesterday.

A key politically-correct word in our culture today is diversity. It was also the most descriptive term of the 130+ parents and kids that met at a historical settlement in our area for Home School Day. Although the public school system has all kinds of programs in effect to encourage diversity, we homeschoolers may just be a step ahead. In my small group alone, we had white, black, Hispanic and Asian children. We had some "gifted" children, some "average" children and a few that were struggling academically. Some of the parents were older than my parents and some were younger than me. Although it wasn't an issue about which we cared or discussed, some of us looked to be poor and some looked to be rich. Some families were large and others were small.

Another politically-correct term heard a lot these days is tolerance. As a product of traditional schooling, flashbacks came to me as we all met for lunch. Yeah, some kids (and parents) had on trendy clothes, but our group leader wore a plaid flannel shirt that looked like it was straight from Little House in the Big Woods. In my school days, you had to bring Kool-Aid Jammers or Capri Suns in your lunch to be "cool". The new cool today--BPA-free stainless steel water bottles--was represented by a few people. One kid brought his drink in a hospital water bottle, complete with the bendy plastic straw (definitely NOT BPA-free). Among the many other varied drink containers, I saw a few Capri Suns. No Kool-Aid Jammers, though. Red dye is definitely not cool anymore! Perhaps the best part of tolerance was that some families bowed their heads and prayed for their food and no one complained. Conversely, the pray-ers didn't complain when most of the families in the room did not bow their heads.

A few of the classic terms to generalize homeschoolers also came to my mind. Weird? Maybe: if weird means one is not a cookie cutter image of everyone else. Unsocialized? If so, all 130 of us did a good job of faking it. Academically inferior? It didn't seem like it when children were asking intelligent questions and answering math problems beyond their level in the settlement's school house. Focus only on academics? I don't think so. One mom told me her two kids were involved, respectively, in hip hop and art. Another one told me her kids took theatre near my husband's work place. As we left, one mom was headed to gymnastics and I was headed to piano lessons. One dad bragged a bit about his first and second grader that run a 7-minute mile in track and cross-country. (Homeschoolers have to go by word of mouth, since we don't have bumper stickers listing our child's achievements.)

No, none of these generalizations seemed to stick as I observed, but I did notice one thing that all of them had in common: the one thing the whole group did badly. When the staff asked them to form a single file line, they all looked around in confusion. Maybe they realize more than we adults do--children were not meant to be herded like cattle. (Does the popular term free range come to mind?)


RELATED LINKS:

• For more of my homeschool philosophy, see Not Your Typical School.

• For comic relief on the misconceptions and realities of homeschool life, see A Homeschool Family.

• Unstructured homeschoolers? See this organized homeschool mom's plan.

• Kids struggling with homeschooling? Check out these ideas.
  

Our School Schedule

I love to read others' schedules and get ideas. I've pulled ours together from lots of these ideas, so I thought I'd share it with you. The only times we really try to stick to are rising, bedtime and mealtimes. The rest is pretty loosely structured. This has become a full week of home school posts! I promise, I'll get to other things when I get back, so if you don't home school, just hang in there.

5:30 - My morning routine which includes getting Jeff off to work, devotions, workout and getting dressed

8:00 - Wake up Jessica and start her on her morning routine (more about this another time). Part of her routine is waking Jeffery and starting him on his routine and doing preschool with him. I help out where needed and do my work on the computer.

9:00 - Breakfast

9:30 - School Time: We try to fit in Bible, Math, Reading, English, Spelling and Handwriting before lunch with a few quick chore breaks.

12:00 - Lunch

12:30 - School Time: We do P.E., Heritage Studies or Science (one per semester), and our extra subject (Art, Music, Home Ec) after lunch. One day a week we do library and errands and another day we do piano lessons.

3:00 - Baths and quiet time/Snack

Kids get free time on the computer while I prepare supper and finish up chores.

6:00 - Supper

My evening routine which includes all those things you already know about to get ready for the next day and computer time if possible.

8:00 - Bedtime routine: kids get a story together and prayer, but they go to bed 15 minutes apart--youngest to oldest. I try to have time alone with each of them before bed.

9:00 - Kids in Bed/My free time/Time with Jeff

10:30 - Lights Out (I try really hard! :-)

Guest Post: Unit Studies-- Are They All Created Equal?

First of all, let's define what a unit study is and what its
benefits are to your homeschooling family. Unit studies are
in depth studies on a particular subject that are a fun
approach to learning. They can be based on literature,
social studies or science, and the other core subjects are
generally found interwoven into the studies with research
based hands-on projects. Some are short literature based
units intended for one semester or over the summer study
while others are complete 180 day curriculum. They may
include recipes that were suggested in a book or different
projects to enhance the study. Some are skeleton outlines
that you have to fill in as you go along while others are
completely organized and very user friendly. Some are
geared for boys and some for just girls while others are
intended for all of your children to enjoy learning together
and encompasses all learning styles and ages and both
genders. Some are independent, internet-based, research
curriculum. So, to answer the question, “Are they all
created equal?” The answer is NO! Let me show you what I
mean by sharing a few thoughts about the ones that we used.
Please understand that these are just my opinions and we
only did a few unit studies.

Before we get into the different styles of unit studies,
here are some reasons for you to consider using them:
1. Unit Studies are cost effective and planned out
for you saving a lot of headaches. Generally, they have a
teachers manual and workbooks, but sometimes they are just
student workbooks.
2. They make the homeschooling day easier for the
mom with several different age levels to teach. After the
initial “together time” at the beginning of your school
day, you can assign different project to the children based
on their abilities and styles of learning.
3. Everyone is on the same page simplifying things
for mom. You aren't teaching several subjects at once. This
leaves more time to concentrate on one child with spelling
or Math while others are busy elsewhere working on assigned
projects in another part of the house.
4. Unit studies are time effective for the busy
homeschooling mom. After your initial studies together in
God's Word and other subjects assigned, the children are
generally done by noon compared to other school days when
they would have to sit hour after hour struggling with
boring busy work. Learning is engaged more with the unit
studies and that makes for a happier home school because it
is easier to speak the learning languages using the unit
studies. The mom knows what kind of project to assign
because she knows her child and knows what he or she is
capable of doing.

That said, let's take a look at the unit studies. There are
a lot of excellent character and role training based ones
that have been highly recommended by some of my friends.
For example, several of my friends who had girls liked the
Far above Rubies series and the American Girl series. We
used The Prairie Primer (geared for 3rd -6th grades) when
our oldest son was in 5th grade. It was very interesting,
hands-on, and went along with the Little House on the
Prairie book series. You can purchase the Primer for around
$40 plus the books that are about the same price for the
set. (Check CBD or Rainbow Resource Center
www.rainbowresource.com for the things you will need.
Rainbow Resource is a wonderful catalog that has well over
1300 pages. I highly recommend that you subscribe to their
catalog.)

Another 180 day curriculum unit study that we absolutely
loved was the A World of Adventures series. This series was
an absolute blast...and they have an e-mail loop that you
can join to answer your questions and interact as you go
along. Volume I, A World of Adventure, begins with creation
and works its way through the Renaissance and Reformation.
Volume II is called, A New World of Adventure, and covers
the founding of America through the American Revolution.
Volume III is called, Westward and Onward, and covers the
Westward expansion and beyond. You can check sample days out
by going to www.Learning-Adventures.org

Sometimes unit studies will cover only one subject. For
example, We used the Homeschool Huskies series which were
short, 8-12 week, hands-on unit studies for boys. (The one
for the girls was called Homeschool Ponies.) The cool thing
about these studies is that they included iron-on patches
that were earned as incentives as they went along. My
boys liked because the lessons are short and manageable.

Another unit study we bought but did not use was a Eye on
History, World War I, from Instructional Fair, an eyewitness
account of different events surrounding certain parts of
history. Short and interesting! Great for an upper middle
school – high school boy.

And finally, one last style of unit studies was the Amanda
Bennett series. We did not care for her style of material
presentation because it was just the skeleton outline and
you had to fill everything in yourself as you went along.
We found them to be difficult to follow without particular
guidelines how to utilize the studies. Perhaps it was the
difference in the way that we learned, but this style was
not the right one for us. Others really like her unit
studies. Every family is different in their approach to
learning.

I realize that I did not touch the TRISM unit studies,
KONOS, Weaver, or others that were literature based, like
the Further Up and Further In series, but there are
literally hundreds of unit studies and other curriculum out
there to choose from. It would take a week to review them
all!

A bit of advice regarding choosing unit studies is to think
about what you are really wanting to accomplish before you
buy! If it seems overwhelming at first glance, it probably
will frustrate you all year. Let someone else buy it! If
you want to just see how your children respond to unit
studies, then choose a short literature based one to do over
the summer, like the C.S. Lewis series or something similar.
Do not overwhelm yourself by trying to do everything that
is suggested. Pick and choose the activities that your
family will enjoy and be flexible! Whatever you do, remember
that you are in charge of your homeschool and if you do not
want to do a particular activity then you as the principal
and teacher have the executive privilege to scrap any idea
that you want in favor of something else! Your children will
not be harmed in the process. Mine certainly weren't!

Until next time, have a wonderful homeschool day!

Things I Learned In Our First Week Of Homeschooling

1. My baby can actually move farther than I thought when he is completely ignored during a Bible lesson.

2. It is difficult to teach Math with a baby hanging on the back of your skirt.

3. Sometimes children learn traditional things in non-traditional ways. My son prefers taking his basketball hoop apart with his toy tools rather than throwing a basketball through the hoop.

4. My 7-year-old who plays "Ode to Joy" 20 times in a row is bored with "In the Hall of the Mountain King" while my 4-year-old who never sits still is still mesmerized by it after the 10th time.

5. My baby is scared of "In the Hall of the Moutain King" even though he doesn't understand the story line of Peer Gynt. (Music is a powerful communicator!)

6. Legos work better than Unifix cubes because they come in different sizes and are much more versatile. My 1-year-old uses his to teeth on (the big ones) while my 4-year-old builds a boat with his medium sized ones and my 7-year-old practices addition with the small ones.

7. I can not do traditional exercises in Physical Education and expect my kids to be on board. They hate arm twirls as much as I did in gym class. (Why did that surprise me?) Now we call them "games".

8. I can complete school before lunch time if we really focus.

9. Some days I can only complete 3 subjects before lunch time no matter how much I focus.

10. Packing for vacation during the first week of school is kind of like swimming the Atlantic and climbing Mount Everest at the same time.