These past few months have definitely been a transition time for me personally. Switching churches, preparing for our very first home birth, old friendships fading, new friendships forming, getting back into my Avon business and finding a renewed sense of organization in my life have been a lot to take in. And it’s been interesting for me to see how the events over the past few years of my life have given me a new perspective on people and relationships. What I’m trying to say is that it’s taken me some time during this transition phase to sort out my own thoughts so I didn’t really have much to offer you. Anything I would have written would have been forced and not the least genuine in form. I feel (or hope) I’m on the verge of some breakthrough right now. Like, I’ve just started on a new journey where God is going to show me something wonderful. Which is a welcome feeling being that spiritually and emotionally I’ve been walking through a valley. I’m excited to enter out of that and see what’s on the other side.

In the meantime, I hope it brings me back around to the joys of my blogging world.

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Well, yesterday marked our first official day of the new homeschool year.  And, if I do say so myself, it was a complete success.  We were able to stay mostly within the guidelines of our family schedule, only making minor changes to accommodate for a sleeping baby and later an unintentional sleeping toddler.  The day went a little longer than anticipated, edging very near to dinner time.  However, we did squeeze in 4 easy lessons.  All of those review lessons in the beginning almost seem like a waste of time so I decided to cram 4 in the day instead of dragging them out throughout the week.

I almost had a brief moment of panic when my just-turned 5 year old was having a hard time grasping one of his 1st grade math exercises.  Fear crept in for a moment that he wasn’t really ready for the 1st grade and him breezing through kindergarten at the tender age of 4 was simply a fluke and he’s now hit a “wall”.  However, I altered my explanation of the exercise to him, and sure enough, that fixed our dilemma.  All the more it confirmed in my mind that homeschooling is by far the best choice as children in a school setting do not get tailored teaching according to their own individual learning styles and/or abilities.  This is especially important when it comes to math, as math is essentially built upon blocks.  If your foundation is weak then it’s very hard to reach higher levels.  So, it’s important to me that my children are drilled, drilled and drilled some more in the arithmetic department.

We started our “school” at 8:00 sharp.  We don’t allow our kids (generally) to have any t.v./video games during the week and they have time restrictions for it on the weekends.  The deal I made with them is that for every chore they do not have completed by the time school starts, they’re getting docked 2 minutes from “screen time”.  Ok, so it wasn’t really so much of a deal…more of a mandate.

So, class began promptly at 8:00, we did some family devotions and then read a little bit about Johann Sebastian Bach.  I bought the book “Stories of the Great Composers” and we’ll be studying one composer every three weeks.

This required me to order a few books and cd’s from the local library as supplemental tools and I also had to make up a few quizzes and print off a coloring sheet for them to do.  And since the kids are required to have 30 minutes a day of solitary reading time, I thought that would be a great time to have each composer’s music playing in the background.  Win-win, right?

I had planned on having my children recite “The Pledge of Allegiance” each morning, but yesterday it slipped my mind.  This morning I made it a point, though, and I’m excited for them to get to the point that they have it memorized.

Another thing I’m really excited to be implementing this year is having them write brief summaries of what they’ve read during their reading time.  I had to help my 5 year old quite a bit with this, but I’m sure as he gets used to the exercise, I’ll be needed less and less.

I’ve also become a lot more organized compared to last year.  I actually have progress reports, attendance sheets, and binders galore.  Sure, I don’t necessarily have to have them, but I’d rather be safe than sorry down the road and it’d be neat to keep track of their accomplishments.

The more research I do about homeschooling, the more blogs I read, and the more I’m discovering a vast array of resources on the internet, I’m starting to warm up to the idea of doing year-round homeschooling.  I’m sure I won’t feel the same enthusiasm come spring (or even winter!), but I’m 100% convinced that kids are capable of going way beyond what our society has deemed “normal” education.  And while I certainly won’t push my kids in any certain career field when they’re older, I do think it’s my responsibility to thoroughly prepare them for whatever their hearts desire.  Wouldn’t it be a travesty if one of them yearned to be something only to lack the knowledge or confidence to fulfill those dreams?

This all plays into my firm belief that parenting is a job…and one that I take seriously.

And while I certainly don’t expect that the success of our first day of the new homeschool year will repeat itself, I will undoubtedly hope..and strive…for one similar.

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Thankfully, my mom kept a lot of books from when we were growing up and when they had moved a few years ago and were looking to downsize their belongings, I snatched up most, if not all, of the books that she had.  These were a few treasures I found in the pile.  These books first made their debut in 1836 and were used in the old one-room schoolhouse setting.  For some reason, I love the thought of having my children read something that is so old and so classic.  To me, it feels like I’m giving them a little taste of what life was like back then.  I’d love in increase our collection of old, classical literature.  It would be a great gift to my children, I believe, if I can offer them a wide scope of literature to learn from.  And this is just the beginning of what I hope to be a tremendous library some day!

* As a disclaimer – although my last 2 posts have been about my desire to become minimalist, my books are something I will likely never part with no matter how “cluttered” they may appear.  My love of literature runs too deep.

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Sure, my “donate” pile wasn’t as large as I had hoped, but I feel pretty good about my first little step.  Besides, I’m hoping I’ll be able to trim down my “keep” pile even further when I’m no longer pregnant.  It’s just too hard for me to decipher what will/won’t fit me after my baby bump is gone so I had a harder time getting rid of items.

If I keep winning these little clutter-battles, then over time I’ll be winning the clutter-war!

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I don’t think there’s a single item that we don’t own excess of.  Whether it be shoes, underwear, pens, dishes, toys, mittens or movies, we have excess of everything.  I thought it might be interesting to count how many plates we own, but I’d be embarrassed to share that number.  Same goes with how many socks I have.  Or pajamas.  And does a girl really need 5 bathrobes?!

In order to find inspiration, I search out different blog posts about people who have taken the plunge to become more minimalist in nature.  Every time I read one of these motivating posts, I call my husband and rattle off the items that must go.  Usually our conversation starts with him arguing why our daughter needs 15 dolls and our boys need a dozen play swords.  Then we debate and at the end we both agree that stuff has taken over our home.  And that’s normally the end of my quest towards becoming minimalist.  And thus the cycle continues.

Wouldn’t life be more thoroughly enjoyed if we weren’t wasting our money on unnecessary items?  If I wasn’t spending so much time picking up toys that were just thrown on the floor to get to something else?  If I didn’t have to constantly plan out how to re-organize our home to accommodate for all the excess that inexplicably keeps sneaking its way into our home?  Ah yes…I dream of a clutter-free home with open space.  Less to buy, less to sort, less to clean.

While I’m not officially committing to this just now (I currently have a lot on my plate), I would like to come up with a game-plan to de-clutter.  A good start for me may just to do one room at a time, putting stuff in boxes/bins and storing it until I know that I know that I can truly live without it.  It should be easy enough to adjust to having less…after all, it is just stuff, right?

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Sometimes I feel like there’s so much importance placed on having a big ministry or having that “special calling” that we often fail to recognize that God can do extraordinary things when we’re doing the ordinary.  Sure, God has called some people to step out and do outrageous things….move across the globe, start up some huge ministry, or other things that stretch people out of their comfort zones.  But for the vast majority of us, He’s called us to live an ordinary life.  The catch is that He wants us to live it in an extraordinary way.  He wants us to serve our husbands and our children in a way that the world doesn’t recognize.  He wants us to love in a way that’s unheard of in the secular world.  He wants us to give like we’re giving unto Him.  In everything.  Whether it be working hard to make your husband’s favorite meal, sacrificing your “me time” to play a board game with the kids, or just washing the floors.  We don’t need a big “calling” to have an impact in this world.  All we need to do is live our ordinary lives in an extraordinary way.

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So, if you’d like to take a peek, just click here:  Schedule #2

Sorry I couldn’t get it to just show up on this page, but it was challenging enough for me to get it as a link so I hope you don’t mind too much.

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I’m glad I sat down to write it all out, though, because with all of my desired time off for holidays and a new addition to the family, we’re going to have to start school in 2 weeks!!!  Wow, I still have some work to do before then!

Top of my priority list is to start transitioning my kids (and me!!) into our new schedule along with the kids’ new chores.  This will be happening tomorrow.  Eeek!  Not sure if I’m ready for an earlier wake-up time, but it has to be done!  I’m striving for tons of order this year so we can accomplish everything I have planned.

I should also start them up on their piano lessons/practice just to add a little more structure to their day before they go full-force into an all-day school time.

Also, I need to buckle down and get the rest of the lesson plans entered into my computer.  I have half of my 5 year old’s 1st grade lesson plans done.  I haven’t even started on the 2nd grade curriculum, however, since I got the shipment right before I headed out of town for a week.  However, I figure if I can get the first month or two of that grade done, then I can finish up the rest this fall.  I’ll still be ahead of the game if I get that done so I feel ok about that plan.  Ideally I’d like to have it all completed, though, so that’s what I’ll be aiming for.

We’re still waiting on a table to go downstairs in our “school room.”  I have my desk all set up along with my bookshelf, supplies and 2 cork-boards that have the giant kids calendar complete with cute seasonal decorations on one and the necessary learning charts on the other.

I sorted through the kids’ books and pulled out the ones that I thought would be appropriate for reading time.  I tried to pick books that the kids are capable of reading on their own.  We probably have close to 200 children’s books in the house (I’m a book nerd) so my two older children have a pretty decent selection of books to choose from for quiet time.

Overall, I feel like I’m somewhat prepared to start school in 2 weeks, but there’s still a lot I’d like to get done before then.  Thank goodness I’m nearing the end of the first trimester because my energy level (and appetite) are starting to get back to normal.  And all that energy is going to be needed if I’m going to get anywhere near completing my to-do list!

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So, a few years ago I had a brief lesson with my grandma so she could show me the basics of sewing.  I’m still an amateur, to say the least, only able to manage basic things like pajamas and maybe the occasional dress for my girls as long as it’s simple enough.  I’ve had to have a few problem-solving sessions with my grandma so she could correct some of my mistakes and teach me her little tricks, but overall it’s been a very fun learning experience.

This morning my grandma is coming over so she can introduce me to the world of sergers.  I’ve never used one, but I’m so excited to add it to my very limited stock of sewing supplies.  She found a used one that’s in good condition and went ahead and bought it for me.  She’s such a generous person.

I would love to continue the traditions she started decades ago by making things for those I love.  Life is crazy, busy, and chaotic at times but I don’t want to lose the little touches that make it all worth it so I’m trying to find time to learn while I still have her here to teach me.  Love, thoughtfulness, creativity, and hard work…those are the things that make up a grandma’s legacy.

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So, I’ve been spending a tremendous amount of time planning out how I want the school year to look.  I’ve ordered my curriculum (can’t wait for the last few items to get here!), typed up everyone’s schedules – both individual and family, and have started entering all my lesson plans into the computer.  My goal is to get them all typed up according to grade so each week I can just print out the daily lesson plans that I need and then I have the added bonus of already having them for future children that will be needing them.  So, if I can remain diligent to finish this, the rewards will be plentiful.  No more Sunday evenings spent writing out lesson plans for the week!

For all the basics I like to use the A Beka curriculum (www.abeka.com) since it’s a good Christian-based curriculum that’s been around for ages, changes very little (if at all), and has a reputation for being challenging academically.  It is rather time-consuming for teacher, at least for the younger grades, as far as lesson planning and daily work goes.  However, since I’ve had tremendous success with my little ones thus far, I’m sticking to it and considering my time and effort as investments into my children’s education.

For Bible I would’ve liked to stick with A Beka, but it was a bit too pricey for me.  So, I’m going with the School of Tomorrow PACE Bible curriculum.  It’s inexpensive, easy to use, and very kid-friendly.

I will be starting up piano lessons again.  We had tested the waters briefly last fall, but with it being my first year wearing the hat as “teacher” it was too much, too soon.  My boys enjoyed it, though, so I’m determined to work it in this year.  I’m sticking with the tried and true Alfred’s Basic Piano.  It’s how I learned piano and it’s an easy enough approach for me to teach it to my kids.

Along with piano lessons, I’m wanting to incorporate some basic music history into their lives so I’m trying “Stories of the Great Composers” which also comes with a cd to listen to.  I already try to incorporate classical music in our daily lives, anyway, by having it playing in the background while we eat or play so I’m not worried about my kids being bored to death having to listen to a cd as a follow-up to a lesson about a composer

My second-grader has been showing a tremendous amount of interest in drawing these past few months so for his art I ordered him the book “Draw and Write through History: Creation through Johah.”

We’ll also be doing a family devotion time together each morning.  Last year I came up with our own devotionals to do, but this year I need something already done for me as I’m already pressed for time and can only imagine it won’t get any easier!  So, I chose “Jesus Calling: 365 Devotions for Kids.”

I’m also wanting to encourage my second-grader to spend time one-on-one with God so I bought him his own personal devotional book that he can use on his own.  I thought “The One Year Book of Devotions for Boys” would be a good choice.

I’ve tweaked the kids’ daily chore charts to accomodate our changing schedule this fall and I’ve tried to incorporate lots of play time to break up their numerous academic responsibilites.  I’m sure there will be days when we don’t fit it all in and I’m sure there will be days when I want to pull my hair out.  But that’s where I’m counting on God’s grace to come in provide to peace.

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