Rachel's Ramblings



A new Grade

11:20 PM, Thursday, October 2, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
I spent all day and evening yesterday preparing - tearing pages out of books, figuring out our scheadule, planning, preparing and prepping... 

SO......

Today we officially began Grade three!   We started spelling earlier this week, and Story of the World, but today we added arithmetic, language, penmanship, science and poetry.   According to my son it was "easy peasy" today!  We are really stressing on NEATNESS for the first few months, since much of what he's going to be doing is review from last year. 




Field Trips to start off the new School Year.

11:43 PM, Monday, September 29, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
We spoke at a church in Ottawa yesterday, and decided to stay an extra night.  Today we took the children to the Parliament buildings.  After studying them, my son was quite interested in visiting!  Quite a good field trip! 



Afterwards we visited the agricultural museum and the children learned about bees, milking cows, tractors, cow care and washing, sheep, chickens and much more!  Another great field trip experience as we talk about farms this year in science!



A Step Back in Time

8:14 PM, Saturday, September 20, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 1 comments .. Link
We visited a pioneer village today.  With their ever-growing interest in all things "Little House" we thought that the children would really enjoy it!

It was very educational!  We saw a one room school house, complete with a teacher, an old church, old homes, a quilt auction, candle making, tried some pioneer foods, and much more!

We saw the wool process --
From the sheep in the field, to the fleecing, cleaning, carding, roving, spinning, dying and even weaving and knitting! 

The baby, who has taken a keen interest in cows, got to meet his first cow up close - he was not impressed! 

It was a fantastic day!  So glad we went!



 


Grade Two is HISTORY! (and other news)

4:27 PM, Friday, September 19, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
Today is officially the last day of Grade two!  My son finished his last lessons today, and couldn't be more thrilled!  He is looking forward to Grade three, but even more then that, he's looking forward to a week off and lots of biking time this coming week. 

In other news....

The baby has been on SOY milk (and other products) because of an unconfirmed (no allergy tests) diagnosis of a milk/dairy allergy.  We were told that it is likely that he will outgrow this allergy by the time he is two, and that we should "test" him every 3-4 months to see if he is still reacting.  The last time we tested, within just a couple of hours following the milk intake he came down with a full body rash, vomiting, and high fever.  The time has come and this weekend we are going to try it again...   hopefully it will go better this time!


Fiberworks ' 08

4:42 PM, Thursday, September 18, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
The children enjoy wandering through our local gallery, so we stop by often to see what's new.  Today we discovered that it is FIBERWORKS '08 - a multitude of different works of art all done in fibers - from fleece, to animal hairs, crocheting, knitting, tating, weaving and so much more! 

Just a FEW pictures...   could have taken many more!




Learning the System (Franklin is Messy)

3:33 PM, Thursday, September 18, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
Today, following "Come Sit by Me", my daughters schoolwork, we visited the library to learn about the organizational system of the books and learn how to find the books desired, both fiction and non-fiction.

We had a great time meeting the librarians and having a tour through the library.  To our delight, the focus of the children's section this month is FIBER and SHEEP! 






"Franklin is Messy" (Come Sit By Me)

3:40 PM, Tuesday, September 16, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
Today, prompted by our book "Come Sit by Me", we discussed Knights, Ladies and Titles (Names).   To complete the activity my daughter made her own shield and sword!  True to herself, she wanted PINK for both (and glitter makes the sword sparkle!)  She also insisted on making TWO sets - so that when she has a friend over they can play with her! 



Feeling "Blue" today

3:36 PM, Friday, September 12, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
Today was BLUEBERRY Day!

As we finished up the book "Hurry Up, Franklin" in the "Come Sit by Me" book, we spent today discussing blueberries - how they grow, season they are ripe, what they need to grow, what animals like to eat them, how to pick them, and what can we make with them?

To complete the section we made a few blueberry treats - apple dumplings filled with blueberries and blueberry cookies.  They are both delicious!


 


School Begins - PreK

4:06 PM, Tuesday, September 2, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
School has begun today for my daughter.  She is just thrilled!  Already her little brother wants to be involved, too - should be fun!  I really think this "hands on" approach will be a better way for her, as we delve into various subjects and explore different things.  

My son has just two weeks left of Grade 2 to complete, then he'll begin grade 3.  He is doing so very well, I couldn't be more proud of him!  He is still reading everything he can get his hands on, devouring words like candy!


 


Getting Ready

4:12 PM, Wednesday, August 27, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
School is almost upon us for another year! 

My daughter (4) will be starting pre-K this year, and my son (7) will be finishing up his grade two work and heading into grade three.

We were going to do Abeka for my daughter as we did with my son at this age, but she is such a different child!  We've decided, instead, to do "Come Sit by Me" (The Canadian version of "5 in a Row").  Each week it features a different Canadian book, then lessons are done each day based on the book.  We did it with my son and all the day care kids - and it was such a hit!  I'm sure she'll enjoy this.  We will also do writing, numbers and beginner reading (phonics).  Phonics will be Abeka, but numbers and writing are simply practice books that I've picked up elsewhere.  She will sit in on "Story of the World" this year, even though she won't understand everything - it's the beginning of learning about the world, anway!  She will also be doing poetry and sign language.  She will also do Bible time with my son.

For my son, we will be doing Abeka math, phonics/language, reading, spelling, poetry,  science and Health.  We will be doing "Story of the World" for History, sign language, and journaling.  He is also joining Olympians this year, so we will use the Word of Life grade three book for Devotions, and we have a book from Child Evangelism Fellowship called "The WonderBook" that we are using for Bible time.  When that is finished we have a book from Answers in Genesis that we will be going through.

We have been reading the "Little House on the Prairie" series, and "The Box Car Children".  The children just love to listen to stories!    I am looking for some other ideas for age appropriate books, so feel free to share with me!

I'm really excited about this school year - especially excited about starting Story of the World, as I think it's going to be a lot of fun!  We have some field trips already planned, and hopefully we'll be able to do fall soccer with the homeschooling group again.




Wonderful Weather (first day of Summer)

10:32 PM, Friday, June 20, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link

(Can you see the funnel cloud forming in the picture above?)



(Amazed by the storm outside)



Marble sized hail!  And YES, the children talked Daddy into going out and collecting some for them.... 


Rock Painting for Father's Day

5:22 PM, Wednesday, June 11, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link





We have been collecting large flat rocks for a few months - from Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, so we took the opportunity to paint some up for Father's Day.



Sibling Love

5:41 PM, Tuesday, June 10, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 1 comments .. Link


Narnia is such a DELIGHT

7:46 PM, Sunday, June 8, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
My eldest is quite interested in the Narnia series, especially "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" since the movie has come out.  As he was watching it, he asked what "turkish delight" was, since that is the treat that Edmond had requested.

An explanation seemed to fall flat, so after work Daddy came home with a very small bag of Turkish Delight for the children to sample.   They were quite delighted!












Support comes in many forms

9:47 PM, Friday, May 23, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 2 comments .. Link
Since we have started support raising we have been surprised at the ways support comes.  Missionary "Support" is so much more then just MONEY. 

-  A friend brought over two turkeys for our freezer

-  Other, similar, gifts of food --  blueberries, rhubarb, jam, ground beef, etc.

-  babysitting of the children for missions related events

-  prayer -- so much prayer!

-  Notes of encouragement, hugs, uplifting words

-  hosting us for a night or for a meal (when we are traveling)

This week we were given another gift that truly blew me away - a homeschooling family gave us all the curriculum we would need (minus the workbooks) for the upcoming school year.  What an amazing show of love and support!  We offered to pay for them, but the humble response was simply "We can't support you financially right now, but this is what we can do".  

Unknown to them, my husband and I had been praying about how we were going to be able to afford the books this year.  This family has been an unexpected answer to those prayers - a need we had not expressed to them.  I just love the way God works - so mysterious, and yet, so completely.  Just trust.  God is SO good!



Science Experiment

1:56 PM, Monday, May 12, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
With the receipt of some flowers for Mothers Day (white carnations) we decided to attempt a science experiment which we had been talking about for a little while now.  The carnations were cut and the children added red, blue and yellow food colouring to the water.  Now they get to document and keep track of the colouring process!  I love science!



A B C D E F G, H I J K elemenopy! Q R S T U V W X Y and Zed!

7:29 PM, Thursday, May 1, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
I'm so proud of my daughter!  She is really learning her alphabet well and is starting to learn the sounds, too.  She just loves school -- especially the poems and crafts!



Learning and Growing

10:24 PM, Saturday, April 26, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 3 comments .. Link
Today Jeff and I attended a local homeschooling conference.  I always enjoy discovering what's new, and gaining new insights and ideas from more experienced homeschoolers.  We were spacifically looking for something to enhance our science program, as I feel that it's not as "exciting" as it should be right now.

We enjoyed the conference, but did not find it as....  inspiring as we have other years.  Maybe we were feeling blah with the weather, or something of the like.  We sat in a few sessions but didn't really get as much out of them as we usually do.   All in all, I was a little disapointed - however it was wonderful to catch up with a few friends who were there!

We didn't buy much - most of what we will get needs to be ordered, but we did get a good idea of what we need for the next year, so that was encouraging. 

The children, on the other hand, had a wonderful day with Grandma and Grandpa.  They were certainly tired when they got home! 


A Hole in the Middle....

1:27 PM, Tuesday, March 18, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
What do YOU do when the baby pulls the cheerio box off the table and scatters little toasted oats all over the floor?


You pull out some thread and some needles and tell the older children it's a CRAFT!


Those little circles got picked up mighty quickly as the children competed to see who could make the longest cheerio chain with the fallen cereal. 


Not only was it fun, it got the cereal cleaned up in record time, and it gave the kids something to snack on while they finished up their school work!  Everyone wins!


PJ Party!

11:22 PM, Monday, March 10, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 1 comments .. Link
March Break has arrived for the public schools here, and with it comes some extra activities for the kids!

Today we took part in a fantastic Pajama party, complete with pillow fights, teddy bear games, songs and crafts.  The children really enjoyed themselves. 



My good scrapbooking friend came over for dinner and kept me company until the wee hours when my hubby came home.  I didn't get much done (3 pages) but we had fun and I certainly enjoyed her company!


Imitation is the greatest form of flattery

8:44 PM, Tuesday, February 19, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
It's difficult to concentrate on your piano practicing with two little one-year-old hands helping you bang out the notes! 



It's a Party!

8:50 PM, Friday, February 15, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link

Yesterday we had the fun of attending a HOMESCHOOL VALENTINES DAY party!  One very organized mom and her boys hosted the party, and the rest of the moms each brought something to contribute.  There was cookie decorating, games, valentine exchange, crafts, a valentines-themed movie and even hotdogs!  What a wonderful and fun day!   A BIG THANKS from our little family to the mom and boys who worked hard to plan such a great event!


Back to School

10:18 PM, Tuesday, January 15, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 3 comments .. Link
We started back to school last Monday after a two week break for Christmas festivities.... and it has been SUCH a fight!  Nothing seemed to motivate my son to do his work effectively.  Today, however, after 6 days of struggling...  he suddenly seemed to come around!  School work was done well and without complaining today - what a relief to me, and I was able to catch up a bit on some housework.  (Folded 13 loads of wash today - Mrs. Hardwick would be so proud!)

I was able to go to Ladies Bible study this morning.  We are doing a video series on the topic "Lies Women Believe".  I think it's going to be a great study!  I am always encouraged by the fellowship. 


What a fight!

10:37 PM, Wednesday, January 9, 2008 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
We are back to school this week, and what a fight it has been so far!  My son has it in his mind that he will NOT do school, and he's making our days very difficult.   I'm really quite overwhelmed and frustrated by his behaviour, it's very unlike him!  My daughter, on the other hand, the one who is normally not interested in letters at all, is very keen to get them "learned" this week!  What a nice change in her!

We have moved my sons school desk to the kitchen - this way I can keep an eye on how he is working while I am in the kitchen, and he is less distracted by the other children who are playing in the living room...   hopfully it will get better!

 

The Personalities of ART

9:47 PM, Wednesday, November 14, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 5 comments .. Link
As I mentioned yesterday, we are using a curriculum called "Art Adventures at Home" for our Art.  Today we discussed outline shapes.  At the conclusion of the lesson we looked at cloud shapes and tried to pick out objects in the shapes.  Since it is SO cloudy outside that we couldn't see individual clouds, we looked at pictures of clouds to get the idea.


As we sat around the dining room table, my 6 1/2 year old son, my almost-four year old daughter and I, I found myself enjoying the personalities of my children.  My daughter was pointing to each cloud calling things out - "that's a cat, or it could be a clown, or it could be a chair!" - she was so imaginative that she had an several ideas for each shape.  My son, however, was much more particular...  he had such difficulty "seeing" what wasn't there!   He likes things to be exact and percise, which is what makes him so good at reading and Arithmetic, but he really struggles with story writing and "imagining".  It is such fun that my children are so completely different and that they excel in totally different areas.  It makes me wonder, again, where the baby will fit in, since the older two are such opposites!


GRADE TWO

9:30 PM, Monday, November 12, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 1 comments .. Link
This morning, after a weekend of sorting, preping, and calculating marks, my son started GRADE TWO!

He was SO excited.  He came down the stairs fir thing in the morning and couldn't wait to get started!  He is so excited to have new books!  (even if they're just Math and phonics!  lol)

We are using ABEKA for most of our subjects again this year.  I would really like to find a different SCIENCE program since Abeka is mostly just a reader at this age - I'd prefer something that's more "hands on" but haven't done enough research and looking to know what I like yet (suggestions welcome!!)  We are also using Donna Ward's "Canada, my Country", "Story of the World", and "Art Adventures at Home".    We are repeating first level cursive ("Writing with Phonics") on recommendation of a Grade One teacher from our local Christian school.  She gave me some hints to help him write more neatly and acuratly, so we are going to begin again, with Mommy being more diligint in correcting neatness this year!

I'm organizing a little differently this year, too - I guess one must try a number of methods to find what suits best for their family.  Last year I left the work pages IN the books, too keep everything together better.  It worked well to have it all together, but by the end of the year, the Arithmetic looked pretty ragged and the pages were beginning to fall out.  Also, it is difficult for him to do his neatest writing when he has to deal with the whole book instead of just a single page, so this year I have removed all the pages from the books ahead of time.
Also, usually I prep every evening for the next day's lessons.  I find this time consuming, so I'm trying a different way of preparing for the days.  I have five plastic folders, a different colour for each day, and on the weekend I am going to prep ALL the days, and sort out the papers for each day by putting them into the correct folder for a week.  "Preping" then, in the evening, simply means writing the work on the board (I write each thing he has to do, including page numbers on the board each evening because he loves to check off what he has done - and see how much is left) and pulling out the folder of the next day's work - much shorter time then what I was doing before.  So, I'll try this for a couple of months and see how it goes!  If it doesn't go well...  then I'll be looking for another system!  LOL

And so it goes....  Grade TWO has come upon us. 
Our order from Abeka hasn't come in yet, so I don't have any of the tests or teachers manuals yet, but I was able to get most of the actual textbooks from another source, so we have the Arithmetic, Language, Letters and Sounds, Readers, and such.  Since the beginning of the work is review, we've gone ahead and gotten started...  hopefully the rest of the items will come in before too long!



GRADUATION in NOVEMBER

10:06 PM, Thursday, November 8, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
Well, tomorrow (God willing) is THE DAY. 
My son, 6 1/2, will graduate from Grade One tomorrow.
I am so proud of him!  He has worked well, and I can hardly believe he's done! 

What do you do to celebrate when your children move on to a new grade?  How do you recognize their achievements?


A week in Review

11:45 PM, Saturday, October 27, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 2 comments .. Link
Well, I must say, after Monday and Tuesday things DID get better...  I think my son might have just been testing the ropes a bit.  Tuesday morning we stayed home and he "worked" (not very well).  Tuesday afternoon we went to the library, school books in tow.  He sat at the library and "worked" while the other children and I went to story hour and looked at books.

 From there we went to the community center where my daughter is taking her little ballet class.  He sat on the side and worked. 

When we got home he finished up his work just seven minutes before bed time.  Needless to say, he didn't get much free time.

Tuesday night my hubby and I moved a small desk to the main floor (usually he works at the kitchen table).  We put it on the landing of the stairs so that he's out of the direct action of the house.

Wednesday he worked well enough, a little slower then I'd prefer, but he completed in the time his Daddy set out for him.

Wednesday night Grandma (who is a teacher) challenged him to complete all his schoolwork on Thursday before she completed HER school work.  It worked!  He started on his stuff first thing in the morning, and was so excited to call Grandma just after lunch to let her know that he finished FIRST!   Friday went in a similar fashion - as Daddy had laid down that he would not go to soccer if he didn't work quickly and with a good attitude.

So, maybe he needed a change of view?  Maybe he was just testing this week?  Maybe he needed the time set as a challenge to "beat"?  I don't know what did the trick, but he is improving.  We are nearly through the Grade One work.  We have about two weeks left to go on it, but our Grade two books have not all yet arrived (we do have some) so we might do some special projects until it comes in - that gives him something to look forward to!

I really am proud of him (look out, I'm going to brag a little).  He was a big help today as we cleaned up the toy room, cleaned the bed rooms and folded the laundry.  My daughter asked him to read her a story and brought him the Narnia series book "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe".  To my surprise he sat down and read it to her!  There were a few words he was unsure of, and twice he stopped and asked me to explain what he had read, but I was really proud of him for being able to read and understand most of what it said.  I realize it isn't a "new" book for him, but it is still good to hear him reading and explaining it to his sister.


My husbands new job continues to go well.  It's hard work, but he feels good about it, and he's already been a testimony to those he works with. 

Our anti-milk / sleep experiment continues - this is Day #11.  Wednesday and Thursday nights (well, early mornings, actually) were both rough nights with screaming and lots of waking, but the rest of the week (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Friday) all went well, so I'm still uncertain if this is completely a milk issue or if there is still something else - or if he's still getting the milk out of his system?  I didn't take milk in those days (that I know of), so we aren't sure what's going on.  I'm finding myself always hungry.  My mother thinks it's due to the reduced fat content in my diet, and she is likely right, but I'm just constantly hungry.  I don't think my body has adjusted yet. 

Tomorrow is Sunday - a special day.  The children are looking forward to spending some family time together since they haven't seen much of Daddy this week.

I would just like to mention my parents.  They have been such a wonderful support and encouragment to us throughout the past few months.  From listening, to sharing meals to babysitting to offering practial advice and more...  we are truely blessed to have parents who cover us in prayer and who care about having a close relationship with our children.   God is SO good!


Are Monday's always ROUGH?

10:36 PM, Monday, October 22, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
This weekend the Milk-free experiement continued.  Friday night he slept well, and Saturday he slept well - all DAY...  Maybe he's trying to catch up on sleep, but he spent most of the day with his eyes closed.  Saturday night, however, was a different story entirely...  after four hours of sleep he was up - and screaming!   Could it have been the delicious lasaguna and garlic bread I ate at supper??  Unfortunatly, this diet is not going to work well when we are out visiting.  I may need to re-think how we deal with that, somehow.  Sunday evening, he did well, back to the 9 hours, nurse, and four more hours that he was doing last week. 

Today, however, has been a rough school-day.  I feel like I was constantly on my eldest to get back to work.  He is SO distracted today!   Daddy wasn't very happy with how long it took, nor with the attitude that went along with it, so we are not going to Bible Study tomorrow morning.  I must admit I'm very disapointed about that, and so is my daughter.  Hopefully realizing that he will miss out on activities will encourage him to focus a bit better....  I'm exhausted tonight.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better. 



How do you teach "Story Writing"?

9:49 AM, Wednesday, October 3, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 3 comments .. Link

 It was a rough school day!   My son seems to be having trouble with “story telling”.   He can write facts about things – The caterpillar eats leaves.  The caterpillar turns into a beautiful blue butterfly who enjoys landing on flowers… etc.  But he’s really struggling with using his IMAGINATION to tell a fictional story.  Any suggestions on this??



A new Title!

10:02 AM, Thursday, September 6, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
As of today I am officially a.....



My son and daughter joined the local homeschoolers group and began soccer today.  My son has been looking forward to it all summer and was thrilled to go!  He did very well!  His sister wasn't so keen on it - she liked having the ball, but definatly had trouble sharing it with the other kids - I think we'll need to work on that!



School (or something like it)

10:44 PM, Wednesday, September 5, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
We are poking along at school for my son.  He is less then enthused about the work, but seems to be focusing very well this week.  My daughter, on the other hand, is officially in "preschool" and is so anxious to do as much as we can give her!

My son is finishing up Grade one right now.  We didn't complete the grade in June, due to being away quite a bit, and having a new baby join a busy day-care household...  so we are finishing it up now before heading on into Grade two.  We aren't particularly concerned about him not finishing since he is only 6, and is doing very well at whatever I give him to do.  Another positive about continuing to work on last years "stuff" is that the Grade two books haven't arrived yet! 

So, on we go...  we are doing a writing focus this week.  My son seems to be enjoying it, but is having difficulty understanding that EACH sentence needs to contain a complete thoughts - he seems to like fragmented sentences! 





It's all about GOD'S timing!

9:32 PM, Thursday, August 16, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 0 comments .. Link
We have not ordered our ABEKA curriculum yet for the fall (we have everything else already).  We've been putting it off because of the cost - there always seems to be somewhere else that money needs to go.  We decided, however, that at the end of August, at the ABEKA hotel meeting we would have to "take the plunge" and make the order.

Today something increadible happened.  While I was at the church for VBS another homeschooling mom told me that the academy connected to our church was selling off some of the ABEKA books because they are changing curriculums - and suggested that I ask about it.  As an answer to prayer, we were able to acquire most of the books we needed at less then half the cost!!  God is SO good!  What an amazing and unexpected answer to prayer!  Not only do we HAVE the books, but we dont' have to pay for shipping, nor do we have to wait for delivery!  WOW!


Just like Mommy

10:53 PM, Tuesday, June 26, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 1 comments .. Link

My eldest has been watching me knit, and has asked for quite a while now if I would teach him.  This week I decided that it was time to do just that.  I pulled out some fun colours of yarn and a small knobby knitter and set him to work...  his first project?  Just like a boy, he's making a SNAKE bookmark!  He's just loving it so far and doing quite well!

 

In other news....
I seem to have hurt my knees - I'm not sure what I have done, but they are causing me some pain.  Please pray that they heal quickly - I spend too much time on the floor with the children to be feeling so sore when I get down on the ground with them.



The power of observation!

9:47 PM, Tuesday, May 29, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 3 comments .. Link
Tonight my 3-year old daughter was measuring our feet with my measuring tape. 

"Mommy," she announced, "your feet are 7!"  She is right.  My feet are SIZE 7
"Daddy's feet are 9" She continued.....  right again!
"My feet are 8 right Mommy?"...  again, she was right.  She was also right about her big brother's feet.  The only one that confused her was the baby - but then the baby doesn't wear shoes yet!

She didn't measure them correctly - but she got the numbers right!  She remembered our discussions of feet in the past and took in all the numbers!  What a smart cookie  :)

She surprised me today a couple of other times, too.  She was playing with my knitting needles and I asked her to pass me a size 4.  She sorted a bit but came out with the right number.  Again, on request, she passed over a 5.  Wow, she's picking up more then I realized!  She then made me letters with the needles -- X, A, V and T!  I have completely underestimated her knowledge!  How did she get so smart?



I forgot to talk about the sessions!

11:10 PM, Sunday, April 29, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 1 comments .. Link
I wanted to mention one of the sessions I went to yesterday.  It was a ladies tea taught by Stacy McDonald.  She centered around being a Godly wife, reminding us that the Bible teaches that women (wives) are to be humble, gentle, meek, paticient and submissive - all weaknesses in the World's view.  Our culture exhaults women of style and culture who rise to the top of the work-world, but it really pleases God when we are soft-spoken and loving. 

Stacy also spoke about building up our husbands both in word and in deed.  One of our jobs, as a wife, is to encourage and support our husbands, meeting their needs emotionally and physically.  We are to build them up in front of others and in front of our children.  We are to show LOVE as an action, and choose to demonstrate it daily to our spouse.  For those who have husbands who struggle with taking leadership in the home she even gave some very practical suggestions as to how to encourage him to be the decision maker of home.

Finally, Stacy spoke about  teaching our girls to be women of virtue.  It was a wonderful reminder to keep our young girls pure by teaching them the importance of dressing modestly and honouring their bodies as Temples of God.  This does not mean a complete absence of style, but instead a modest and respectful form of that attire. 

I was really encouraged listening to Stacy speak.  My daughter is a precious jewel and I wish to bring her up in purity and graciousness.  Also the reminder that God is praised in my soft-spokeness and submissiveness.  So often I am tempted to take charge and direct instead of waiting for my husband's final word.  I am humbled and reminded to be paticient for his word and direction for our family.


Ontario Christian Home Educators Convention!

10:17 PM, Saturday, April 28, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 2 comments .. Link
It was an early morning this morning as we headed out to drop the two oldest children off at different homes for care, then off to OCHEC!  What a fantastic day!  I was able to ask all my questions, find most of the materials I was looking for (Still didn't find music note flash cards), and just be encouraged to continue on.   I met up with Donna who was displaying her books, and got to see pictures of her new grandbaby!  (Yes, she is beautiful!!) 

While we were gone, our homeschooling friends hosted an "Our parents are going to OCHEC party"!  The children had so much fun, bike riding, playing outside, playing trains, lightbrite, and much more!  When the parents arrived home after a full day of conference, they even provided a delicious bbq for us so we didn't have to fuss about getting dinner ready.  Good friends are such a gift - a treasure. 

So, would you like to know what we got??

Here's our "stack"!



Let me break it down a bit for you :)

A series (7 books) of short Canadian biographies - perfect for reading aloud!


Yes, after debating between Story of the World and Mystery of History, we decided to go with Story of the World.  I am really looking forward to getting started on this!!


I haven't been pleased with the art curriculum we've used for the past two years, so I went searching for some different ideas.  The ABEKA one we were using was very "crafty" - mostly cut and paste.  I do enjoy crafts -- in fact, I LOVE crafts, but I expect Art to be more then just crafts.  Many of the other art books are copy-drawing...  showing  the lines to draw a picture and expecting the child to mirror the pictures in the books...  While this is one way to teach drawing it really isn't teaching him to draw things the way he uniquely sees them, but instead to "draw in a box".  I am excited about this program because it verbally explains the assignments, but then allows the child the creativity to do it in his own way.   This one book has grades 1-3 art in it.


Yes, those are RECORDERS that you see!   I learned to play the recorder in Grade 3, and quite enjoyed playing.  My son has been interested in it for about 6 months, so, since he's doing so well in piano and enjoying that I'm thinking that I'll introduce him to the recorder in January, depending on how everything else is going.  I was surprised that when I picked up the instrument I could still play some of the simple songs!  When I mentioned that to my friend she said she can play it rather well -- if I had known that I'd have asked her for lessons while we were still here!  Ah well, I'm still looking forward to teaching it!


I just love poetry, and so do my children.  In researching for some Christian poems to supliment the poetry in our curriculum I came across this book.  I was thrilled to find that the vendor had it in stock today when I went looking for it.  It will be a great blessing to our school days!  This book has age appropriate poems listed by grade from 1 -12


And a few more purchases -- a Map book which teaches map following by using animals in a zoo, clubhouse junior (a focus on the family magazine for 4-8 year olds), a new journal for next year - this journal has a box to draw a picture a day to illustrate the journal entry, a book of journalling prompts, and a CANADIAN money review book - since in our math books we see only Amerincan currency.


I'm so pleased with our purchases.  There are a few things I haven't shown -- a globe, a laminated (flat) world map, and some personal books to read.  The only thing I didn't find that was on my list was music note and symbol flashcards, so I'm still on the search for them.  What you haven't seen listed -- Math, phonics, reading, writing, spelling and science.  For these subjects we will be using ABEKA again.  I'm not sure how long we'll use ABEKA science, over the coming year I'll be reasearching into different types of science programs.

That's it! 


A day in the Life....

11:24 PM, Monday, April 2, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 4 comments .. Link

Last night we had an amazing thunderstorm!  I love to watch thunderstorms, it reminds me again of the POWER of God!  (I actually tried to wake up my eldest to share it with him, but he was just not interested)  So, I opened up the blinds and sat in the dark, listening to the rain pound and the thunder roll, just worshiping God for His majesty. 

I resolved to be a better Mom, daycare worker and wife.  With God's power I can do anything, right? 

I woke up this morning with my list:
Shower
Homeschool
Practice piano with my son
Plan supper in advance
Plan the rest of this week's meals, including Easter dinner
Write shopping list
Bath the Baby
Review letters with the preschoolers
Fold Laundry
Clean Bathroom

This is not an overwhelming list -- do-able and reasonable, right?

My first daycare child arrived.  Mom informed me that he (who isn't quite 3) is in "big boy" underwear today (he's not trained, but moms' putting him on the potty every 10 mins.  Good for an only child, bad for a daycare worker with lots of kids to mind!).  You guessed it, within an hour he had an accident (on his bed!).  While I was cleaning him up (and his bed) son #2 has a blow-out in his diaper...  so I'm cleaning that up, too.  During that time daycare child #2 arrived....  truth is I left them at the door for a couple of minutes because I couldn't leave the baby on the changetable in such a mess! 
So, in comes daycare child #2 - and he's in a frightful mood.  Mom calls half an hour later and says "Oh, I forgot to tell you, he's tired because he was up really late last night, but please don't put him down to nap early!"
Up with the other children, dressed and downstairs for breakfast...  on the way down the stairs, the doorbell rings again -- it's the daycare inspector!  She comes in, makes herself comfortable and chats for about 2 1/2 hours...  The children were surprisingly well behaved during her visit (often they're not because they know my attention is divided).  It's now 11am.  Hubby calls to say that there is a showing on the house this evening, right after supper time, so make sure the house stays clean... 
Up the stairs we go again, finally back to the "morning" routine.  Make the beds, tidy the rooms, and just in time to start lunch. 

I have such good intentions.  I have a well-laid out scheadule.  I have a resonable list of things to accomplish...  but more days then not this is how it goes!  So, what was actually accomplished on my list?  Let's review it....

Shower  (done!)
Homeschool (started but not even close to being done)
Practice piano with my son
Plan supper in advance
Plan the rest of this week's meals, including Easter dinner
Write shopping list
Bath the Baby
Review letters with the preschoolers
Fold Laundry
Clean Bathroom

Ok, so one out of... um...  10 things...  that's not bad, is it?
My poor hubby came home to find me fast asleep on the couch.  To his praise, he did NOT wake me up - he changed the poppy baby, woke up the sleeping kids and put on the rice and sausages for dinner.  What a wonderful man! 

I guess I'll add today's list to tomorrows list...  and try it again!
   I am SO GLAD that God only gives us one day at a time!



Home where they belong

12:52 AM, Monday, March 12, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 1 comments .. Link

I've posted before about WHY I believe MY children belong at home.  This video, however, sums up so much of how I think!  Not everyone will agree with my choice, but for my family it is what God has directed for us at this time.   The video is beautifully created, I hope you'll take a moment to view it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s18yj57iwU



Blogger Friend School -- Assignment #20

1:09 PM, Wednesday, February 28, 2007 .. Posted in Homeschooling .. 1 comments .. Link

Blogger Friend School Assignment #20 - "Heart" Schooling

Our assignment this week is to blog from your "heart" the details behind your choice to homeschool.  If you feel led to elaborate I encourage everyone to write out their Educational Philosophy of your homeschool.  State what general category your teaching method falls into, and share your homeschool name.

The first close encounter I recall with homeschooling was with
AuthorDonna's children.   I was immediatly impressed by their manners, their Biblical knowledge, their "school smarts", but even more then that, their LOVE of school and learning.  I recall very strongly the desire I felt to feel that excited about school - but I just didn't enjoy it.  In fact, despite my upbringing in a wonderful Christian school, I truely disliked school, trying to "play sick" every chance I got and I avoided school activities as much as possiable.  I was certain that if I was happier with school (my 8-hours a day plus homework) I would be a much happier more content young lady. I promised myself that I could consider homeschooling my own children as they got older so that they could enjoy school as much as these girls did...

As I grew older I was exposed to more homeschoolers - and I noticed the same things over and over...  happiness, contentment, a love to learn!  The more I saw it, the more I wanted to see these things in my own home.   This is a topic that I discussed with my husband before marriage, as I was beginning to feel very strongly about it.  He wasn't as on-board as I was.  His personality is much different then mine, and he was concerned about a few different areas. 

Again, this is an area that we prayed about even before we had children -- that we would make the right decision for them (and their personalities) in regards to schooling - public, private or homeschooling.  We felt God leading us to begin formally homeschooling last year when my son craved to learn more and I needed some direction as to what to teach him next.  God truely blessed us by placing us in a church that is home to many homeschooling families - so I had many examples to observe and plenty of parents to ask questions of! 

So, why do we homeschool?
First and foremost - because we believe that is what God's will is for our family right now.
Second, because we wish to give our children a strong Biblical foundation and show them that we do everything to glorify and honour God - even math!
Third, I wish to protect them from the evils of the world for a time.
Fourth, we can tailor the schooling to the learning style of our children.  Each child is unique and should be treated as such.
Fifth, I desire to see my children enjoy school and thrive in whatever they do; not to fear trying something new, and never fear being laughed at for their failures.
Sixth, I want to learn alongside my children, play with them, share their lives and just be with them
Seventh, homeschooling is very flexible in it's scheadule.  If we have a late night we can sleep in.  If they are tired they can nap.  If we want to go away we can take a day (or week!) off without needing to "catch up" or feel like we're behind.
Eighth...  ok, I can keep on going, but I'm going to stop here for now.

We are working on our goals and philosophy of our school right now - hopefully with a bit of help from a homeschooling friend, so I can't post these items right now.  However, the name of our homeschool is "The Lighthouse Academy".  As we teach our children, we strive to never forget that we must be a beacon of light, showing the way to our Lord and Saviour to those around us.  We do all things for Him.




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