Kids Learning To Cook

One area of our homeschool that I am focusing on this year is teaching the blessings to cook. When I moved out of my parent’s house I had no idea how to cook. I was never taught except when I was in home ec in high school. Even then I had no idea what I was doing. If it did not come in a box with directions then we were not eating. I did not truly learn how to cook and I mean learn to cook from scratch until my mid-20’s.

Our Homeschool Co-op

The first and third Thursday of every month is something the blessings and I look forward to. The blessings and I are a part of an awesome group with awesome families. My blessings look forward to these Thursdays and are disappointed if we miss. Our homeschool co-op is a day where we can gather with friends and have a day of learning.

Overwhelmed With Gratitude

 

Before my husband and I married we discussed our expectations of marriage and how we would raise our children. We heard each other’s beliefs, wants, and needs in all different areas that go with marriage. One area that we felt very strongly in was I would stay home with our children. We both wanted our children to have a parent home with them. Neither my husband nor I had this growing up. Well, I did but not until my teenage years. Thankfully we were able to do this because the pay my husband received in the Army allowed us to do this.

Sometimes We May Stand Alone

Many of us feel God calling us to do His works such as working the church nursery, or making cookies for the neighbor, or praying with a friend who is struggling. Then there are times where God calls us to do things that take a step leap of faith. Things that people may think of you as crazy or they may not agree with you. I am sure we all have experienced this.

Parenting Is So Hard

“MOOOOM, he won’t stay on his side of the car!”

“I’m not on your side.”

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

“MOOOM, she’s in my seat.”

“MOOOOOOOM, she’s looking at me!”

*sigh*

Parenting.

Our New School Schedule

This year begins our fifth year of homeschooling (WOW!) and each year I try to fix any “bugs” that were faced the year prior. One area that I always struggle with is our schedule. Not the daily schedule but figuring out the days off and when to take breaks. I always worry about meeting the law requirements and ensuring the blessings are actually learning. I am sure I am not alone in this area. This year I am trying something entirely new to us.

School Comes First

 

The last two years our family has faced many obstacles and many of those obstacles have played an affect in our homeschooling. Back in August 2012 we began school and two weeks later the hubby arrived home from Afghanistan with non-combative injures that required many doctor appointments. Along with doctor appointments he required a lot of attention. Then, fast forward to January 2012 where we move from Alaska to Wisconsin.  The 2012-2013 year has definitely been difficult. Sadly, our homeschooling has taken a back seat. We have completed our school years but it was not always the first on the list.

School Goals for 2013

 

 Today I want to share the school goals for my two blessings and my own schooling. The last week I have been sharing in more detail about the goals I have set for 2013. If you have missed them you can click here, here, here, and here. The school goals I have may seem logical, but trust me these are areas that I lack in at times.

Money Saving Jars for Kids

One of the goals for the hubby and I is getting out of debt, especially with hubby retiring from the military this year.  As we have been working on a game plan, I always keep in the back of my mind that I do not want my two children to have to deal with debt when they are older. Now I know that it could happen, but I want to teach them now on saving money, tithing, and spending money.  Then one day strolling through Pinterest I found what I needed to implement. Don't you just love Pinterest?!?!

Sammy the Turtle

I remember before I had children that my house would never turn into a zoo, literally.  I did not want pets.  I would make sure that we would never have pets.  I thought that pets would make your house smell, some animals shed, and some animals are just yucky. (I am not going to remind you that we have a dog, a cat, and a fish).

On that note, I would like to introduce you to our new classroom pet *sigh*

Sammy

I do not know what I was thinking when I suggested agreed to getting a turtle, probably because he was free and came with all of his items needed to survive.  However, we have had Sammy for a week now, and the kids are learning so much about him and his habitat.  See I knew there would be a homeschool lesson in this!

 

Homeschool Bins

Last year I posted some pictures of our homeschool room and you can click here to check those out.  Well, I had to change a couple of things around because I felt overwhelmed with the lack of shelving.  So the hubs and I went to the local Fred Meyer's and picked up a bookshelf that had some cubbyholes.  I also purchased some collapsible bins to use for storage.  Well, when we got home and put the shelves together I decided that I NEEDED one more shelf.  So off to the store we went!

Instead of this shelf:




We have these:

I am just loving how everything is set-up and organized.  I was able to put their everyday school books into one bin, which they are able to grab, bring it to the table, and still have all of their books organized.  Of course little man loves carrying it one handed because he is so strong like his daddy that he only needs to use one hand.  You have to love little boys!

PE Homeschool Style

This giant bowl was made of ice...very funny watching all 3 kids trying to stand

"The Principal" enjoying PE

This post is linked up with 5 Minutes For Mom

Back to Reality

So our wonderful trip is over and now back to reality.  My to do list is a mile long and I feel like I have little time to get it done.  Most of it will be crossed off by this weekend with my hubby's help but there is still much to do.  My main concern is the blessing's curriculum for next year.  I have decided to change our curriculum and try something new. 

Here in Alaska you may use a state-funded program that pretty much pays you an allotment to homeschool.  I have used it for about a year and half and decided it is not for us.  So next school year there will be many changes happening around here.

I will be re-doing our schoolroom and adding some more storage and organization.  Oh how I wish we had an IKEA!

I love planning for the new school year.  I get so excited when we receive our school items in the mail; almost like a kid in a candy store!

Do you homeschool? Have you started planning for next year?  

Our Two Lifesavers for School

I am a huge list maker and I strive on schedules.  I may not follow the schedule to a "T" but I love having them around because I feel more organized throughout the day.  Here is a new schedule that I set up for our school day.  I have made minor adjustments to it such as waking the blessings up at 0730 instead of 0700.  Having the schedule hang on the fridge is a great visual for the blessings to see what their day will hold.  As stated previously, I may not follow it to a "T" but it really helps me to prepare for the week and the next day.  

Another visual that I have set up in the schoolroom was a dry erase board, that I use I write the assignments that need to be done for the day.  I have noticed the blessings really enjoy the dry erase board because they are able to see what needs to be done.  Prior to the board I would tell them what needs to be done but with the board they can see what is expected of them and when each assignment is complete they can erase that assignment off the board.  I love watching their faces as they erase another accomplishment off the board.

I am very happy to have these visuals for our day.  It is a great way for the blessings to see what they need to do each day and also what their day will entail.  These two items have cut down on the questions "Mom, what do I need to do next" "Mom, what are we doing today?"

What are some items that you use for your school day or household that help you stay organized? 

For more homeschooling ideas jump on over to the Homeschool Village.

Adjustments Have Been Made

The whole month of December there was little school going on in our home, if any.  Of course this was unintentional.  We usually take the week prior to CHRISTmas off and return to school when most public schools return.  However, not this year and over our break I was very upset with myself.  My children, my blessings, rely on me for their schooling.  Their education is in my hands.  So over the course of our break I got down to business. 
  
I like to plan weekly because that works really well for me.  I wrote down everything that needed to be done and spread it out through the course of the week.  I then printed and copied any sheets that needed to be done for the week.  I gathered the art supplies that were needed for our projects and set those aside.  Any items that I needed prior to the school week I went out to get (of course living in Fairbanks this is not easy, I had to go to three different stores).

I was overall happy with my planning for the week.  However, I still was not overjoyed with excitement.  While looking at our plans and the upcoming activities I knew that we needed more hours in the day.  I decided to go online and print off a weekly calendar that listed the hours in the day (more to follow on this tomorrow).  I then proceeded with filling in a timetable for our week.  I decided that we HAD to wake early in the morning; no more sleeping late for us.  I then decided that the two blessings needed to get back into their chores.  I then printed off a chore chart and filled that in.  After completing these tasks I was then overjoyed with excitement.  The blessings on the other hand, well, they will get use to it.

Monday morning arrived very early for me, 5am, but I was ready for the day.  I woke up the two blessings at 0730 and they proceeded with chores and breakfast.  At 0830 they had finished all that was to be done so I allowed 30 minutes of television.  By 0900 we were sitting at the table ready to begin our school. 

I am happy to report that Monday went great and everything that needed to be complete was complete.  Tuesday, well, I can say we started school at 0915 and our chores were completed after school.  We did sleep in until 0830 but like my daughter said "I really needed that extra sleep mom." No argument for me.  Today was a little longer with our school due to an unexpected trip to the doctor for my son, that took over three hours (he is fine), but all of our school that needed to be complete was complete. 

Two days into our new schedule and I am loving it.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring? Or should I say I hope I awake at 0530 as scheduled.

Fall Spirit

Today I am linking up with The Homeschool Village and talking about fall.  Fall is one of my favorite seasons.  Of course living in Alaska fall only lasts about a week before the snow arrives but that one week is just beautiful.  The blessings and I bake cookies and breads and I just love the aroma that fills our home.  I do not decorate with store bought items but with items that the blessings have made.  Every year we make the turkey made out of their hands.  This year I have found some cute items from a magazine that we can easily make from home.  The other day I went to the Commissary and walked away with FREE four medium size white pumpkins.  I have not decided if we will carve them or decorate the outside with paint.  The blessings and I discuss about the Pilgrims and to be thankful. 

General Washington and His Army

I am so blessed that God had put homeschooling on my heart.  Years ago I would never of thought that I would be homeschooling my children.  I had a plan of staying home and being the soccer mom, PTA, car pooling, volunteering mom.  God had other plans, and I am so grateful that He intervened. 

Yesterday I had the proud homeschooling momma moment.  We are starting to learn about the Pilgrims and my son learned about President George Washington.  We have been reading many books and I had found a video on General George Washington.  After our reading of Sarah Morton we started the movie and my son was fascinated by Washington and how he ran his Army.  My son watched the movie three more times throughout the afternoon.  At one moment he came running downstairs, straight for the basement.  I asked him what he was doing and his reply was "I am getting my Williamsburg hat and my musket."  I had to chuckle.

My son has been in Washington's Army since yesterday and now this morning but my favorite part was last night.  The hubby and I went in to do our final check-in before bed and our son made us chuckle.  He was hugging his "musket" and each time we went to take it away he would pull it closer to him.

I loved hearing my son tell my husband all about General Washington and all that he learned.  Another great day at school!

For more GratiTuesday jump on over to Heavenly Homemakers.

PJs or No Pjs

Today over at The HomeSchool Village they are asking what we wear to school, make sure to stop by and visit with other homeschooling families.

My children ask almost every morning if they can wear their pajamas to school and every morning the answer is always no.  Trust me there are days where I would love too!  I feel motivated when I get up in the morning dressed and ready to go.  We have our morning routines which include chores, personal hygiene and getting dressed.  I feel that we can focus more and  be better prepared for the day.  Although a PJ day would be so lovely!

Time To Simplify

When my children were babies I would always say that I could not wait until they were older so they could join some activity.  As my daughter reached the age of three I put her in a ballet/tap class and she loved it.  When she got even older we would be rushing to about three to four activities a week.  That does not sound too bad but then throw my son into the mix and all of a sudden you have no free time. 

I became more and more burnt out.  I finally had to sit down and figure out a way to simplify our schedule.  Here is an example of our schedule when both my children played indoor soccer this past spring:

Sunday~church
Monday~school during the day and Girl Scouts at night from 5:30-7:00pm
Tuesday~work from 8:30am to 2:00pm and then both had Tae Kwon Do and then soccer practice.
Wednesday~school in morning ballet at 12:30-1:30
Thursday~work from 8:30am-2:00pm and the soccer in the evening.
Friday~school and then Tae Kwon Do at 3:15pm-4:15pm
Saturday~soccer games in morning

Our schedule was out of control and I had to fix it.

The hubby and I decided that each child would be able to participate in two activities each and Tae Kwon Do had to be one of them.  So that left one activity to choose.  My daughter was already in ballet at the time so she chose ballet as her second choice.  My son on the other hand had a little tougher choice; Cub Scouts or basketball.  Finally, after a few days he decided to go with Cub Scouts. 

Now that the blessings have chose their two activities I still had some more simplifying to do.  After much talk with the hubby we both decided that it would be good to stop working my part time job and go back to school.  Even though we need the money we know that hubby's promotion pay will be here in the next couple of months we decided that we can live on one income until then. 

So here is what our new schedule looks like:

Sunday~ church
Monday~school (for both kids and I) and nothing in evenings
Tuesday~school and Tae Kwon Do and son has Cub Scouts from 6:30-7:30pm.
Wednesday~school and then ballet and nothing in evenings.
Thursday~school and nothing in evenings.
Friday~school and Tae Kwon Do and daughter has Girl Scouts from 6:30-7:30pm.
Saturday~nothing

I am excited to see that we went from being busy six days a week to three days a week.  Also, we only have two nights of activities instead of three.  This will give us more family time which is very precious with the hubby having to defend our country.  Our new schedule begins next week and I am so excited. 

Simplifying can be so simple sometimes!

**I know I said each child has two activities but I feel that Girl Scouts is a great opportunity for girls.  Also, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts are great activities to add to a college resume ;) **

Our Curriculum for 2010-2011

Two weeks of school completed and I am so happy with how well everything has being going. I still have not yet received my entire curriculum but praying it will be this week. As we are waiting for some of our items I am supplementing with the curriculum we used last year that we did not quite finish.

Here is what I will be using for my first grade son:

Bible~ Name That Bible Character
Language Arts~ Learning Language Arts through Literature Blue Program
Reading~ Bob Books sets one thru five and Reading Pathways 
Spelling~ Bob Jones Spelling 1
Math~ Horizons Math
Science~ Developing Critical Thinking Through Science Book 1
Social Studies~ My America, My World
Art~ Teaching Art to Children
Foreign Language~ Sign Language  We use DVDs that are from the public library and we also use flashcards.

Here is what I will be using for my fourth grade daughter:

Bible~ Beyond Belief
Language Arts~ Learning Language Arts through Literature Orange Book
Spelling~ Bob Jones Spelling 4
Math~ Horizons Math
Science~ Developing Critical Thinking through Science Book 2
Vocab~ Wordly Wise 3000 Book 4
Social Studies~ The History of Our United States
Art~ Teaching Art to Children
Foreign Language~ Sign Language

I am trying some new curriculum this year and I pray that it works well with us.  I will be adding reading aloud, and the blessings will still continue in their sport activities for PE.