2017-The Year of the Do-Over

The girls received several cool games for Christmas, the type of game where you have to have skill, patience and a little bit of luck to win. The youngest had been working on one of her games for quite a while, when she made a mistake that cost her all the work she'd been doing. I heard her call out "REDO!" as she started the whole process over.

It was right about here that my adult mind grasped a child like truth, we can get a "redo". Now granted there are some things you just can't redo (death and taxes come to mind). However, every morning when we wake up, we get a redo...an opportunity to make today better than yesterday. As you have probably guessed by now, my word for 2017 is REDO!!

I want to redo a few areas of my life.  I'm already working towards a thinner, healthier me.   I want to redo one more room here in the house that I haven't made over, and touch up a few that I have already worked on.   I want to get a redo on relationships and spend more time with actual people and less time reading about people online.

I want to take advantage of every day, as an opportunity to improve on the day before, and take advantage of every REDO I'm afforded.

Linking up with Word for the Year 2017!

Making the Most of Our School Room

For a few years, we had a separate school room in the basement.   I liked this idea at first because it helped keep the house less cluttered, and allowed us the flexibility of leaving unfinished projects undisturbed after lessons were done.   Additionally, our Internet service is through our phone, and the only phone jack is in the basement, so the desktop needed to be there.   One huge draw back was that the basement gets REALLY cold during the winter and we'd all be freezing by the end of the school day.  Then the desktop died and we got a used laptop and a wifi router and moved our school room into the sun porch.

As you can see the sun porch has lots of windows and light.   During the winter we can sit and watch the snow pile up while we're working, in the spring and summer we watch the squirrels and hummingbirds feeding on the flowers just outside the windows.

At the far end of the sun porch is this armoire.   It used to house a small tv and a pile of VHS movies.   I relocated those items to the basement, and now the armoire neatly houses (ok, HIDES) all of our school work clutter.

 On the same end of the room as the armoire, we have a comfy sofa and love seat.  This is where most of our reading, and family conversations and entertaining of guests take place.

 The computer desk, printer and my record books are at the opposite end of the sun porch, directly behind our dining room table (which is where we do all of our actual school work).

On occasion, when we have unexpected schedule changes, we'll push the books to one end of the table while we have dinner, then just slide them back into place to finish up.

I've found that the bright sunlight during the day has been a big help to attitudes, especially mine.  During the winter, we have a cozy fire in our little woodstove,  as we sit by the windows and watch the days shorten and the darkness creeps in earlier.   

I  hope you've enjoyed this peek into our school and home.  Linking up with the 8th Annual Back to Homeschool Blog Hop.

5 Days of Tips - Uniquely You and Yours

 

It's the end of our 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents, and I'm sure you've read lots of ideas and opinions.  Some may have been earth shattering life changing ideas.  Most were probably things you read and said "oh, ok that's nice" and moved on.  So here I am, with one last thing for you to log in the back of your mind.   It's simple, yet profound.   Ready?

 

Your family is not like everybody else's.

 

That doesn't mean I think your family is a bunch of weirdos.   But your family has it's own unique dynamic and rhythm.  You will drive yourself and everyone around you batty trying to fit the mold.  With that comes my second profound statement.

Your homeschool is not like everybody else's either.

Take everything you've read or heard and  snub your nose at it.    Yes, it's good to get ideas and opinions, and to see how people make things work in their world.  Remember though that your world may be vastly different than the one's you've read about.   And you know what?  That's ok, and it's amazing and its the way it's supposed to because variety is the spice of life.

Accept that you may not be the Cleaver's or the Ingalls', but I doubt you're the Adams family either...but even if you do have a Cousin It at home, it's ok, grins.   Let the uniqueness that is you and your children impact the world in a way that only you can!   Go out and be fabulous today in your own way!

Linking up with the  5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents blog hop .

5 Days of Tips - Don't Lose Yourself

   

I'm an "all or nothing" kind of gal.   When I take on a task, I give it my all and don't quit until the task is complete, or until complete exhaustion hits, whichever comes first.   This is an admirable trait, but it's just a smidge away from being an addictive personality.   The fine line that the divides the two is often blurred.

Homeschooling truly is an all or nothing endeavor.  You are either going to do it with gusto, or you'll be looking for ways to get the school bus to stop at your house.  Let's face it, homeschooling with gusto takes time and energy.  Without even meaning to, it's quite easy to allow what you do to become who you are, or at least who you identify with.

How do you hold onto your own identity and successfully homeschool?   You have to be intentional.

1.   Find a hobby - I say this to my husband often, and he gives me the stink eye.  You need some kind of outlet that allows you to enjoy being you.  This may be reading (curriculum catalogs do not count as reading material), crafting (not to be confused with school projects) or gardening.    Even if you have a limited budget and limited time, you can find something that you enjoy that is all yours...and no that's not being selfish.
2.  Exercise - Gasp!  You may think you don't have time for this one, but really you just don't want to have time.   If it means getting up a little earlier and going for a quick walk around the block or putting on a DVD workout while the kids work independently, you really do need to move your body.   You'll have more energy and feel better about yourself, and you'll be setting a good example for the kidlets.
3.  Keep Your Friendships -  Believe it or not, there was a life before kids, and homeschooling.  I'll bet you have at least one or two friends who are from "back in the day".  Get together with those folks for coffee or bowling, or whatever you connected over.   Not everyone in your circle of friends needs to be in your co-op.
4. Stir Your Passion - Find (or remember) what it is that gets your motor running and find a way to get involved.   Become active in the causes that are dear to your heart.  Whatever it is that makes you furious, that is a problem you were created to solve.  Get involved!
5.  Be You - This one may seem redundant based on the overall topic of this article .  But make a concerted effort to be yourself.  You may be quirky, or funny or musical.  Do it.  Be the person you were created to be, pink hair and all!

Celebrate who you are!

 Linking up with 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents. 

5 Days of Tips - Enjoy the Journey

 

 

If there is one thing I could stress to homeschoolers, or parents in general, it would be to enjoy the journey.   Yes, parenting and homeschooling are highly demanding, but don't let the weightiness of importance turn this time into a burden.  Here are a few easy tips to add joy back into your homeschool.

1. Lighten Up - No I don't mean go on a diet, I mean lessen the school load.   Before you start throwing tomatoes at me, hear me out.   More doesn't always mean better.  If you put too much on your child's academic plate, they aren't going to be able to digest it all.  Sometimes it's better to leave them hungry for more, this gives them the opportunity to pursue interests and knowledge (just like they chase down snack foods after dinner).
   
2. Stop Comparing -   You are not Susie homemaker, or the Genius Baby Maker down the street, and your kids probably aren't Doogie Howser (google it).   It's ok.   I'll give you a startling revelation here....Susie homemaker shoves everything in the closet and under the bed right before you arrive at her house.   And Genius Baby Maker?  Well....just because her kids can spout off random facts and are fluent in Latin does not mean her kids are geniuses, it may just mean they are well programmed little robots, "Stepford Children" perhaps, (again, google it).
   
3. Take Up Drinking - TEA y'all, I meant tea.  Geez.   Seriously, you would be surprised how much a pot of tea and some clearance rack cookies add to the well being of your homeschool.   This little 15-30 minute little sanity break gives you and the kids an opportunity to unwind, chat and just enjoy each other's company.   You'd be amazed at what you can learn about your child over a cup of tea, or cocoa, or coffee if you must.
   
4. Get Dirty - Paint, craft, garden...do stuff that is not neat and tidy.  It may seem trivial, but just allowing kids (and yourself)  the liberty to do life outside the lines is so liberating.   If you're a neat freak, take baby steps if you must, keep a stash of old shirts to use as smocks.
   
5. Just Say No - This is HUGE!  People will assume that "just because you're home all day" you're available at the drop of a hat.   "No" is a complete sentence.  You will, on occasion, run into someone who insists on an explanation to accompany "no".   You do not have to indulge these people, however something like "I'm sorry, but homeschoolers are close kin to vampires and we can't be out in the sunlight" should suffice.

Yes, my suggestions are a bit tongue in cheek, but only a bit.  This time frame will soon be just a memory.  Hopefully those memories will be filled with color and laughter, but sometimes you have to determine to enjoy the journey, and find ways to make it enjoyable.

 

Linking up with 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents.

Our Classroom (Ok, our dining room)

The theme this week at the Not Back to School Hop is classrooms.   Admittedly, ours hasn’t changed a great deal since last year, but in case you weren’t around last year, well here it is.

Our dining room/sun room also serves as our class room.   The majority of our school work is done here around the dining room table. 

To the left of the table is this cute armoire.  My husband put shelves on the inside and it gives us enough room to store the majority of our school needs.

As you can see we cram a lot of things into the armoire.  The top shelf contains art supplies, extra notebook paper/graph paper and workbooks & text books to be used later in the year.

The second shelf houses the girls history notebooks (always in progress) my planner and teacher manuals and each girl has their own plastic tote with their individual supplies and planner.

The third shelf has math manipulatives, science lab items and whatever didn’t fix on the other shelves.   The inside of the doors hold art work, and I obviously need to clear last year’s artwork out, ahem.

To the right of the dining room table is this little bookshelf.  This bookshelf contains the dictionary, thesaurus, atlas and other grammar helps.    It also contains the books for the girls reading lists and required reading.  The top shelf has the glove, balance scale, pencil sharpener and timer for drills.

If you notice on the bottom shelf there is a blue box, and then off to the right of the shelf are two tins.   These containers hold glue sticks, pencils, erasers and highlighters.

At the opposite end of the sun room is where we spend a great deal of time reading aloud and working on hand crafts.   It’s a cozy little area that has lots of natural light and allows us to enjoy the outdoors even when we are inside.

This is our current view from the classroom.   Sunflowers and hollyhocks, and the bees and hummingbirds that each one attracts.

Last, but certainly not least is one of our favorite aspects of the classroom.   This little woodstove make the long days of winter very warm and cozy as we work and learn by the fire.

That’s a little sneak peek inside our homeschool.  Be sure to hop over to the Not Back to School Hop and see what other folks do for classrooms, or dining rooms as the case may be, grins.

One Homeschool Day–Back to School Edition

School is back in full swing and I decided to share our first day back to school (August 18) with you.  Act excited, wink.

4:00am, the husband gets up to get ready for work.  His lunch and breakfast were prepared the night before, so all he has to do is remember to eat the breakfast and take the lunch.   At 4:00am, this can be harder than it sounds.  I roll back over and sleep another couple of hours (score!).

8:00am, I’m up showered, dressed and waiting for the beloved coffee pot to do it’s thing.

Coffee in hand, I meander out to the sun porch to spend time in the scriptures.

8:30am The kids are awake and have had their morning milk, it has the same affect on them as my morning coffee does on me.  Then they  both get dressed and ready for the day.  Olivia feeds the dog, while Lindsey tends to her morning trash detail.   I work on sorting the laundry, again…it’s job security I tell you.

Time for school work to start!  I just love my cute new classroom clock, so you’ll see it throughout the rest of the post, grins.

We took our “first day of school” photos, complete with gratuitous fake smiles.

We then worked on getting the girls familiar with their new student planners and got them filled in for the upcoming week.  Friday afternoon they will update their calendar for the next week.

Olivia started working on her writing, while I went over Lindsey’s language arts with her.   You can tell she was deeply in thought on this one (and that wasn’t a posed photo, she really had that look on her face while looking up words in the dictionary).

Somewhere around here, I swapped out a load of laundry.  By the time I was back Olivia was ready to start on her language arts.  Both girls are REALLY liking Learning Language Arts Through Literature so far.  By the time I had Olivia started on LA, Lindsey was ready to start math.  Finishing up math led her into her handwriting, and Olivia of course did her math after LA.

Lunch break!

The girls fixed their lunches while I swapped out another load of laundry.  Then I fried myself of couple of eggs and added some fresh tomatoes out of the garden.   This was a super yummy lunch for me!

11:30am (I forgot to photograph the clock, tsk tsk) we were ready to dive into our chemistry & physics.   We read our textbook, and a couple of extra library books on matter.   Then we worked on our first experiment of the year. 

If you look closely at the bud vase below, you’ll see a blue marker line.  This showed where the water level was before we inserted the rock (the white lump in the bottom).   We were learning about the displacement of matter when another object is introduced to the matter.

I did find it a bit disconcerting at this point when I heard the 8 year old say “So when do we get to blow up stuff?”

Schools out!

With our academics out of the way for the day, Olivia went to work on her piano DVD curriculum.  She’s learning to play “Let It Be” of Beatles fame.

Lindsey curled up in her room to read, waiting for her turn at the piano.  (I’m still folding laundry folks.)

3:30pm Time to head out to ballet.  The girls have lessons for an hour every day this week and next..

5:15pm We’re back home from ballet and I’m ready to make dinner out of these lovely acorn squashes from our garden.  

At this point I totally forgot to take photos for the rest of the evening.  I washed and cleaned the seeds from the squash and then sliced them into fry size pieces, drizzled olive oil over the fries and then put a heavy sprinkling of parmesan cheese and garlic powder on as well.  Baked this at 425 for about 30 minutes will I fried up some chicken breast tenders (rolled those in nutritional yeast and used coconut oil to fry).   This was a really yummy, filling meal!

By the time dinner was over and the kitchen was cleaned up it was close to 7pm.   The husband who had worked until 5:30pm, took a shower and collapsed on the sofa with the newspaper.   The girls played Little House on the Prairie and I sat down with my new book “The Storm Inside” by Sheila Walsh. 

Around 8:30pm the girls and the husband all headed to bed.  I sat up for another couple of hours reading and listening to a Joyce Meyer CD.  I’m so glad I found all my teaching CD’s when I rearranged the house.  I’ve missed Joyce’s in your face teaching.

Somewhere around 11pm I went to bed.  Only 5 hours until the alarm clock goes off…gah!

Linking up with One Homeschool Day and the Not Back To School Hop.

Meet My Girls

Olivia is my oldest child.  She’s officially “middle school” this year as she heads into 6th grade.  She loves animals, and enjoys music and art as well.  She also enjoys cheerleading.

Olivia’s true  passion is ballet. She is in her 7th year of classical ballet.  She carries herself  totally different when she’s on stage, and it’s a truly beautiful thing to watch.

Lindsey is my 4th grader.   She has the most vivid imagination of any child I’ve ever been around.  She loves building with Lego’s and is  in her 6th year of classical ballet.

Although Lindsey is naturally gifted where ballet is concerned, her passion is basketball.   She attends every basketball clinic I can find for her, and her goal is to make the middle school girls basketball team at our local private school.

Interestingly enough, the basketball and cheer photos were taken the day before the ballet photos.  It’s amazing how different a person can appear, just by the outfit and a little make up.  Regardless of any of that, they are mine and I’m so proud of each one of my girls!

Check out everyone else’s back to school photos, at Student Photo Week.

The New Classroom

I have spent the summer remaking our home.  It’s been tedious and tiring, but very well worth the effort.   Our classroom has always been in the basement.   In the winter it gets really cold down there, and it just doesn’t have the atmosphere I want in our homeschooling.  So, I moved it to the sun porch.

This is the most used room in our home, so I wasn’t sure if I could make this work and still be attractive, but I think I managed to do ok.

The armoire in the photo below used to be on the other side of the room, to the right of the glass doorway.   It housed our TV and VCR (yes, we still watch video tapes).  I moved it closer to the table so it would be easily accessible.

My husband added a shelf inside the armoire and that gave me enough space to store our school books, math manipulatives and art supplies.

I moved the smallest of our bookshelves up from the basement.  This holds the books for the girls literature class, and a selection of classic literature as well as reference books.  The tins and wood box contain extra pencils & erasers, glue and other small supplies.  I also like that the little globe and scales adds a little pop of color to the room.

Just to the side of the bookshelf is our seating area.  This is where we’ll do all of our read aloud time together.

Here is a full length shot of the room.

This it what it looks like if you’re standing by the glass doors.  See the little woodstove in the back of the room?  This is a God-send in the winter and we’ll be nice and toasty as we study this year!

Moving to the sun porch has several benefits.  First, it’ll be WARM, 2nd we get to look out the windows and enjoy the sights, and third we’ll be right next to the kitchen, easily accessible to hot tea!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed the tour of our class room.

Not Back-to-School Blog Hop

It’s almost that time again!     Mark your calendars to link up with the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop starting August 4.   Yep, it’s official…summer is GONE!

A Look At Our Day

Here we are at the end of the 2013 Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop, and it’s time to look at A Day In the Life.  Now let me preface this with the fact than you’re probably not going to read any posts in this link up that have melt downs, science experiment blunders and ooze coming from body orifices….because we all want our lives to look better than that on  line.  So if you’re reading my post (obviously you are), or anyone else’s….remember we’re reporting on the good days, because we all have days that got to heck in a hand basket, so no feeling like you don’t measure up, ok?

Somewhere between 7:45 and 8:00am, I hear the sound of Lindsey’s feet hitting the floor and my day begins.  No I don’t get up before daylight and fix the husbands breakfast before he goes to work, not because I’m lazy but because I’m typically up past midnight every night trying to finish up life for the day.  I never really liked coffee, but after working 3rd shift for a year (and homeschooling and everything else) I learned to rely on it to get me up and keep me going.

I coerce Olivia from her blanket cocoon and we all hit the road for our early morning walk to and around our city park.   This counts as physical education and sometimes nature study.

An hour later and we’re back home.  The girls eat breakfast while I hit the shower.  Then it’s on to morning chores, this particular day was laundry day.

After laundry is sorted and the first load is in the washer, we sit down to do our morning Bible study together.  We then move on to spelling, language arts and history together.   Once those are completed the girls work independently on their math and reading.

By this time in our day, I’ve already fielded several phone calls about various church and homeschool group projects I’m working on and finished several loads of laundry.  We break for lunch somewhere around 12:30ish.  After our fluffenutter sandwiches the girls finish up their independent studies and take turns practicing piano.   (Lindsey goes to her actual piano lesson later in the day at 3:00 pm.)

The girls have a few hours of free time where they ride their bikes and play with the dog in the back yard.   Then buns are up, and it’s off to ballet for Nutcracker Boot Camp for an hour and a half.  Yes Nutcracker begins in August.

By 7:00 pm everyone’s home for the day and we finally sit down to have dinner    All of our meals are sit down, at the kitchen table meals, as a family.  And yes, by 7pm the kids are already in their pj’s.

Once dinner is over and the kitchen is cleaned up we all move to the sun porch to read our current read aloud book together.   The girls and I take turns reading (and the husband tries not to snore too loudly).

By 8:30 the girls are in bed.  By 9:00 the husband is in bed.  Me?  Well I’m just getting ready to tackle this….

That’s right, the never ending “to do list”.  Product reviews, outreach ministry, homeschool group, children's church and the list goes on.  I’ll be in bed by midnight, really, I promise.