Home Sweet Simple Home

Argh! It be a fine day!

Sea Legs- you would have a hard time walking onboard ship until you got use to the rocking motion, thereby gaining your “sea legs”.
Learning the Ropes- new sailors would be put with seasoned sailors, learning which ropes would adjust which sails and how to trim. We now refer to learning the ropes as learning anything new from those who can teach on the job.
Mutiny- rebellion of the crew to its captain (or highest ranking officer), punishable by death.
Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion- During the 17^th century, a town on the west coast of England named Bristol had the utmost reputation for maintenance and cleaning of ships. The term came to mean clean, tidy and efficient.
A couple more:
Shiver Me Timbers- said in surprise, this saying comes from when a wooden vessel shockingly struck rocks or ground. The timbers of the ship would “shiver” or shake as if hit.
Keelhauled- We say you’ve been “keelhauled” when you’ve been told off or verbally punished. One punishment seamen endured was to be tied to and dragged by a rope from side to side, under the keel, or center beam, of the ship.

Making your own money- Pirate money that is

Let the glue dry. You will know this because it will be translucent and will not stick to your finger when you touch it. Should you touch it before this time . . . . and smear it- think of it as added detail to your coins.
After the glue is dry on one side- do the other side.
After both sides are done- its time to paint. Even a Cabin Boy can do this job. Simply paint your doubloons with gold paint. Both sides (but not at once mind you!).

After the gold paint is dry you will paint the doubloon with black paint and then immediately wipe it off. This adds dimension/texture and authenticity to your doubloon. Paint black and wipe both sides- you don’t really have to wait for drying time for this one.

And you are done.
Our doubloons are “spendable” at the Inn on Tourtouga aka snacks in the kitchen.

The Best Pirates I've Ever Seen

Avast ye scabberous dogs!
Ahoy, Mateys! We are so enjoying our Pirate Day!
An elaboration on breakfast and lunch:
Captains Eggs was the fancy name given to what is otherwise known as Momma Eggs (scrambled eggs with cheese & crumbled bacon).
Shipwreck Stew- Mr. Conductor- today known as The Peewee Pirate, made lunch- Spaghetti O’s with cut hotdog chunks. He even helped with the can opener- what a great Cabin Boy!
The breakdown for supper- Bubble & Squeak is ham & scalloped potatoes and represents British explorers & Pirates, Spanish Rice if of course, for the Spanish, peas- they packed barrels full of dried peas (ours will be steamed from frozen- per the First Mate’s Request). Hardtack won’t actually be hard or full of weevils as I have no desire to be so totally authentic instead it’ll be just a regular biscuit recipe. Our dessert of apple tarts also represents the British. Since we had a full day of school and were making so many other dishes- we’re fudging a bit on this one too- graham cracker crusts filled with apple filling and a dollop of whip cream. These Pirates like their sweets! First Mate says we are pretending we just raided a ship that had recently restocked and had fancy diners on board. I’m good with that!
Here’s the ship assignments:
Commodore- Mr. Steady
Captain- Momma
First Mate- Maiden
Second Mate- Sassafras
Peewee Pirate/Cabin Boy- Mr. Conductor
It seems we’ve put together a good crew. Galley duties were taken on by the Captain and Second Mate for breakfast, Peewee Pirate Cabin Boy at lunch and the Captain is helping the First Mate put together a first rate dinner this evening. The Commodore is planning on being in charge of the games.
The First Mate has put together invitations and menu list and is currently working on the place cards. We dyed the papers with coffee instead of tea as that was what was sitting in the pot after breakfast (always frugal us Pirates!).
We also finished our doubloons and will be showing those off in the next post.
So far no one has had to walk the plank.

It begins- I teach

Homeschool Memoirs #4- Something New

Go here for the details and more.

This week we are to share something new we are using for Homeschooling.
I want to share three items that we are just completely in love with here:

1. Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Botany

This science book ROCKS! I love the flow and wording and the Christian perspective. We are Charlotte Mason with a liberal dash of eclectic here and this science is really getting us into Nature Study the way I’ve always wanted to do it. Plus we’re all using it together- I’m not teaching two different science programs. Oh, the bliss of simplicity. Also includes a password to course extras on their website. [Consider joining the Apologia yahoo group too for more help and encouragement. There are also various lapbooks and notebooking available on the web to add on.]
The book costs $35.00 at Apologia’s website. I purchased mine at Christianbook.com for $27.99.

2. Language Lessons from Queen Homeschool

We’ve really struggled with Language Arts for Sassafras and I knew I just couldn’t put her and I through one more year of something that was not working. A homeschooling friend suggested These LA books from Queen Homeschool and I enjoyed the look of them so much that I bit the bullet and ordered the Language Lessons for Little Ones for Mr. Conductor too. Why do I like these books? Here’s what’s printed on the cover: “An informal introduction to language arts with a Charlotte Mason flavor . . . .” Exactly. Picture study of full color beautiful paintings, copywork of wonderful poetry, narration, creative writing, grammar and so on. Everything we need in one book. I was initially concerned that the book for Mr. C was going to be a bit much, but he is loving it- doing 3 to 4 lessons at a sitting and learning letter recognition so easily- it has such a great flow and fun little things for him to do. I have encouraged two other homeschooling friends to go this route with their children who are struggling with language arts and so far all our kiddos are loving it!
Each Language Lessons book is $19.95 (consumable).

3. Time Travelers History Study from Homeschool in the Woods

These CDs are incredible. We have all 4 CDs (New World Explorers, Colonial Life, The American Revolution, The Early 19^th Century) as they came as part of Maiden’s history curriculum American Crossing 1 (from WinterPromise.com). Talk about getting a lot of bang for your buck- these CDs are jam-packed full of history and projects from lapbooks and notebooking to building a cardboard box ship, creating your own captain’s log, timelines, copy work, science experiments, file folder games (extremely fun) and each unit is wrapped up with a themed celebration nite based on the work you’ve done (including recipes and ideas for hosting the celebration). I couldn’t stop gushing about and showing off this awesome curriculum to homeschooling friends who were going to be studing American history (interesting side note- both friends promptly ordered the CDs). We love hands-on projects for our studies and these CDs more than fit the bill. The full color pictures and helpful how-to’s are incredible. Not to mention two or more pages of additional resource suggestions (books, movies, websites etc.). It is all set up to flow nicely and be super easy (and fun) for the teacher!
Each CD is $28.95. [I purchased all four plus lessons pre-printed here at WinterPromise- scroll down to additional resources.]

The three resources I’ve shared with you today have all helped to make our new school year run more smoothly. Each is jam-packed with the needed relevant information and packaged to be eye-catching and interesting. I am so very glad I stepped out of my little comfort zone of buying a totally prepackaged curriculum from start to finish and instead looked towards the items I knew would meet my children at their level as well as hold their interest and encourage them to stretch, grow and learn. (And have fun doing it!)

Benefits of the new day and perspective

 And so dawned a new day.
Thankfully yesterday is but a pale distant memory.
Add snicker here.
Well, it’s enough of a memory.
Today was a much more FANTASTIC 2^nd day of school.
I thought to try my schedule for Mr. Conductor one more day before trying a revamp and I’m glad we did.
Today was great. We did everything on the schedule and had so much fun together. Plus we were done in 45 minutes and he was off painting his latest masterpiece with his new watercolors while I worked with the girls. In order to work without much interruption with Mr. C, I assigned Sassafras to read one of her assignments to herself rather than doing it with her. It went well.
The only blip is that it seems I have misplaced one of Maiden’s grammar books. I didn’t do the frantic search like yesterday- just a quick one- but fruitless all the same. We decided to make it a matter of prayer and pray that it shows up within the next day or so----- or my memory becomes equally clear as to where I may have put it . . . . . .
That could be a bit of awhile.
No matter- today was a good day. We enjoyed our learning, had great discussion and just plain fun doing it.
It is my hope and prayer that we have many more days like today than days like yesterday.
To do that one needs to have perspective.
Perspective.
It starts with me- if I wake up in a lousy mood it’s a pretty safe hypothesis that we’ll have a lousy day.
If I sleep in and don’t get up ahead of the children and have my coffee and quiet time . . . . . well, it’s just not good, people.
Today could possibly have gone down yesterday’s road if I’d let it- what with the missing grammar book and all that.
But it didn’t.
It was icing on the cake to have Mr. C do so well- but I was also prepared to let him run off if it was necessary.
There is only so much one’s sanity can take.
I continue to learn that even in the small every day stuff it is necessary- no VITAL, for me to go to God’s strength first and not go “own my own”. I work with the children to make it a habit to commit our day to the Lord first and ask Him to help us to accomplish all that He desires for us today.
We are never suppose to go it on own strength and then go to God when we’re burned-out and strung-out, gasping for air and begging for mercy. That’s backwards. He is our strength even in the mundane day-to-day-ness of each 24 hour period.
He’s my strength when we’re just starting the day and we’re eager to crack our books and get started.
And He’s my strength when I’m juggling teaching 3 school levels and the doorbell chimes along with the ring of the phone.
He’s my strength when we stretch one meal to two- including leftover for Mr. Steady’s lunch.
Just as He’s my strength when Mr. Steady takes the wrong container of leftovers to work and it throws off the dinner plans.
He’s my strength when Mr. Steady and his brother take turns driving to work to both economize on gas.
And He is my strength when Mr. Steady reveals to me that he put the spare tire on his car because one tire was so bald he thought it would blow-out.
Amazingly enough- I have no idea what kind of strength I will need for each day but I do know this---
What I have on my own will never be enough.
Not ever.
And so being the ever practical sort- I find it best to lean on and invite God’s strength at the beginning of each new day.
Sure I’ll still have those bad days- those Oh-I-just-want-to-go-back-to-bed-and-start-over-or-just-skip-it-and-sleep-through-it days. I’ll have those days when I “forget” to commit the day to the Lord and ask for His strength to lead me through.
And I will fall completely flat on my face.
Good thing God makes each day new.
Thank you Lord for the chances and opportunities each new day brings.
Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not His benefits. Blessed be the Lord. Who daily loads us with benefits. Psalm 103:2, 68:19

Of bad beginnings

All quiet- not quite

Quiet here online
BUT
quite noisy in reality.
Very full days here.
Continuing with the squeezing, squishing and gathering all that we can of these last days before school begins again.
Tonight, right now, it is quiet in the house.
The children are outside.
Mr. Steady is tinkering.
These are the days- the unhurried days filled with promise and family.
We’ll have a campfire and eat our supper around it on tin plates.
Mr. Steady will throw in some cedar chips to remind us of Up North and we’ll do a bit of star gazing.
We’ll line the tub with a grit-ring before the night is over.
And tuck in cleaned and scrubbed kiddos for one more night of 30 minute reading before lights out.
Tomorrow we start up our homeschool group for the new school year. Just like in other schools it will be a half day- just wading in and getting use to the new schedule.
The evening will be our very special annual Back-to-School night here in our yellow townie farmhouse.
Alphabet Dinner
School Cones
Daddy Blessings.

Turning a corner

This is Prep and Polish Week at our little Townie Farmhouse.
Time to get the home ship-shape for school.
And the lesson plans finalized (at least for those first 9 weeks).
Time to get every line on those supplies lists checked off.
And dig out cool weather clothes to see if they still fit.
And find where we put the tennis shoes and if they still fit!
Spiff up the bookcases- organize!
Last minute this and that to prep for the Creative Writing class I’m teaching in our homeschool group.
And also a time to squeeze out a bit more summer.
Such as the end of summer pool party (and luncheon) at a friend’s home.
And let’s not forget impromptu nature walks.
Sleeping in.
Playing outside right away in the morning.
Staying up late.
Snicky-snacks at 9 pm.
Peach cobbler.
Tomato sandwiches.
Chalk paintings on sidewalks.

We’re turning another corner- peeking ahead and getting excited about starting school. Mr. Conductor can’t hardly wait and while Maiden isn’t nearly that excited she is truly excited about the books she will be diving into. And as for Sassafras- she is just plain happy, as always. In fact, she’s already started Language Arts, with joy- no tears. Praise God.
And so, while we close the chapter of summer, we eagerly anticipate the schooling and harvesting and what-not that fall brings to us.

Homeschool Memoirs

Through other blog reading I have found an interested meme for homeschoolers- Homeschool Memoirs.
Wednesday was the official start and the first meme is to share about you- the mom behind the homeschooling.
And so it begins:
Every journey to homeschooling is interesting and mine is no exception. I am a quite simply, a convert. I didn’t start out planning to homeschool. My oldest went thru two year preschool program and right into public school. My dear sister-in-law had her oldest 6 weeks after mine and she went right to homeschooling. I was shocked. At the time I didn’t know anyone who homeschooled and couldn’t fathom why she would do it. Neither could Mr. Steady. When we mentioned it within my family someone quickly retorted that if we were to do that Maiden would be spending all day in detention due to her strong will as well as mine. It just wasn’t seen as an option. And we worried about my sister-in-law choosing it- you know, we were “those people” who remarked on “socialization”. Yeah, I admit it, we were warped.
So what changed?
My view point.
We decided to homeschool first and foremost because we prayed about it, opened ourselves up to the idea and followed God’s nudging. It is a bit of a long story how this came to be but quite simply three things came into play.
1. I made some wonderful friends who ended up being homeschoolers and ended up greatly influencing the building desire in me to homeschool. Right in front of me was a ready made support group.
2. My relationship with my oldest, Maiden was suffering. I was seeing a dear homeschooling friend live out with her daughter the relationship I wanted with mine. And I knew that her time away from school was taking time away from our relationship and was also influencing her in negative ways.
3. I didn’t send Sassafras off to preschool like Maiden. The first year she wasn’t emotionally ready and so I kept her home and taught her simple things myself. The 2^nd year I didn’t send her because I had found such joy in the simple teaching the first year plus I had found her to be a very big daydreamer with the attention span of a gnat. I knew how to handle it at home and I knew that a teacher with 20 other kids wouldn’t have the same time or desire to do the same. During this time my friend talked me into joining her homeschool group. I didn’t feel like a homeschooler and stated that I was still planning to send her to school the next year but she encouraged me to join for the year.
I felt like a fraud but did so.
That year changed my perspective in grand ways and as it winded down I couldn’t imagine it ending. I couldn’t imagine not teaching Sassafras and not being a part of such a wonderful, incredible support group where I had made true friends. At the same time I couldn’t imagine homeschooling one and not the other but I couldn’t see that I would have the same joy if I brought Maiden home.
Mr. Steady and I talked and he wasn’t keen on the idea of homeschooling one and not the other and wondered if I would actually have the time to commit to it. We decided to pray. When it came time for the next school year he announced that he wanted Sassafras to go to public school and Maiden to continue. He really wanted to see how she would fare within the system and for me to take the time to really evaluate that this was the right choice for us.
It was an incredibly difficult year. I desperately wanted to have the girls home and found that every little thing that could possibly be wrong in public school became another strike against it. Sassafras suffered due to her daydreaming and short attention span and I hated the notes that came home every week. I begged Mr. Steady to let me bring her home and he continued saying that we must wait it out. It was difficult those first few months- more difficult than it had to be because of my bad attitude and desire to homeschool. And then I realized that I could continue to homeschool even while they were in school. The evenings I spent time going over homework with Maiden, I was homeschooling. And I continued with reading and math lessons at home with Sassafras, that was homeschooling too. I spent my day time with Mr. C and also worked to rearrange my office and other areas to make room for homeschooling. I spent time researching curriculums and teaching styles and read any book I could get my hands on about homeschooling. I stayed involved in the homeschool group and listened to what others liked/didn’t like, what worked/didn’t work and how to combat the doldrums that come mid-February. The group was like a lab on homeschooling and I took notice and notes. By the time the school year ended I had not only chosen my teaching style but had also chosen and ordered and received and put together my curriculum for the next year. And I didn’t stop there- I put together a 4 week unit study for us to do over the summer.
The first year was wonderful, not completely wonderful but it was what it was. Maiden and I spent those first few months really working on our relationship and we all worked together as a family to make homeschooling a lifestyle. By the end of the first year people were remarking about the positive attitude changes in Maiden and how Sassafras had blossomed. Mr. Steady was thrilled with the more relaxed person I was becoming.
And so I knew we had done the right thing.
It seems like so long ago and yet we’ve really only homeschooled in the sense of the girls being home to school for two years.  Maiden is going into 6^th grade, Sassafras into 3^rd and Mr. Conductor in preschool. Mr. C will be my only child to have not experienced the public school system. At 4 years old, our homeschooling lifestyle is the only thing he’s ever known and he thrives in this environment. Not only do we see the teaching opportunities in everything but now my parents and sister see them too and collaborate- giving of themselves to our homeschool.
While I haven’t made converts out of everyone I have more support than I could have imagined and with others we at least have their grudging respect.

Want to read more about our homeschooling journey? Click on Homeschooling under my categories on right side bar.

Photo above: Name & Logo for our homeschool

Homeschool Mission Statement

Now that I have a name for my homeschool I would like to write a homeschool mission statement.
I am very interested in knowing if other homeschoolers have written their own statements . . . .
What does your mission statement say?
What did you think was important to include in your mission statement?
I’d love it if others would share their mission statements with me in my comments or leave a link to your statement in my comments.
I’ve got some notes but it’s mostly a work in progress.

Oh Glorious Box Day

 Guess What Yesterday Was?
Box Day!

Isn’t it grand!!!
Two full-to-the-brim and heavy-with-the-weight-of-knowledge-and-then-some boxes of homeschooling goodness.
We just couldn’t contain our joy and excitement!

We didn’t notice the boxes on our porch steps until almost 8 pm at night! Yikes! So we whiled away the remainder of the evening perusing the new materials. Everyone is excited.
I put the instructor guides in big binders right away and Maiden snuck off with a book already. Sassafras grabbed her new Grammar Rocks computer game and was off like a shot. Mr. C flipped thru some books on his Daddy’s lap but was quickly led astray by the interesting lilting notes of “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly get your adverbs here” and went off to pester his sister to let him play.
I reveled in all the delectable goodness that we’ll soak in this coming year and Mr. Steady read interesting facts from one of Maiden’s new Lewis & Clark books.
I took some of Mr. C’s books to bed to look at for a bit but drifted off to sleep too soon.
The books were still stacked in neat piles on the coffee table and couch this morning but not for long. I had a shelf cleaned off (& dusted) on the homeschool bookcase in a jiff and had the books all put away just so in no time.
Well except for the two books that Maiden snuck off with.
And the few books I’m still perusing.
And the story book that Mr. C stuffed under the couch for his quiet time . . . .

School Curriculum has been decided

Sassafras
History, Bible, Geography: American Story 1 from WinterPromise
Language Arts: Language Arts for The Elementary Child from Queen Homeschool
Readers: (and read-alouds for history) WinterPromise
Science: Apologia’s Botany
Math: Horizons Math 3
Spelling: Sequential Spelling 2
Electives: (w/our homeschool group) Creative Writing, Music, Art, Gym and more

Maiden
History, Bible, Geography: American Crossings 1 from WinterPromise
Language Arts: 6th Grade Language Arts from WinterPromise
Readers: (and read-alouds for history) WinterPromise
Science: Apologia’s Botany
Math: Horizons Math 5
Spelling: Sequential Spelling 3
Electives: (w/our homeschool group) Creative Writing, Music, Art, Gym
Plus a Geography States Study and Art History (Early American Painters) through WinterPromise

Mr. Conductor
Preschool program- I’m Ready to Learn from WinterPromise
plus a whole lot of extra “stuff” with Momma
And Preschool activities within our Homeschool Group

We’re all excited about what this next year will bring. I’m excited that our costs went down considerably for Science and Language Arts. We’re all excited that we’ll be teaching everyone from the same Science program (with a bit more intensive work for the 6^th grader) and that both girls will be learning about the same period in history (we hope to do some of our studies together- especially the hands-on activities).

www.winterpromise.com
www.queenhomeschool.com
www.christianbookdistributors.com (Horizons Math, Apologia Science, Sequential Spelling- great homeschooling source)

We're done

Muggy here. Lots of rain so the weeds are growing quite well.
We just finished school for the year. Hooray!
We've been cleaning up and putting books away.
Busy, busy, busy.
If the weather holds off (meaning rain) we'll be celebrating with an end-of-year camp-out with our homeschool group tomorrow nite.
The kids can't wait. I, however, don't get as excited about camping in a tent as I once did. Thank the Good Lord we've got a two foot high queen air mattress or I'd be really not be excited. I'll hopefully be above the water line if it rains . . . . .

In other school news: I'll be ordering the rest of my curriculum later today and share later what we'll be doing. I've never ordered so late before but I had to wait until all my "ducks" were in a row.

In between with school and so much more

Homeschool: Leaving a trail

I will not go where the path may lead,
But I will go where there is no path---
And I will leave a trail.

When I looked at my children on Friday night, watched their homeschool group presentation and then watched as they knowledgably spoke with different people (many they didn’t know) about their schooling- what they learned, their projects and how they made them—I thought of the above quote. I thought of how they are building a love of learning. I listened as Mr. Conductor “showed off” his work and went step by step with people on how he did different things. I listened as Sassafras shyly shared her catapult project- how she made it and how and why catapults were used in the Middle Ages (like when they would throw dead diseased bodies over the castle walls . . . . ). I listened as Maiden talked with anyone- engaging many people in conversations, proudly telling them about the different projects, background of different things and how incredibly time consuming and tedious the large paper castle was to make (and how her Daddy really did all the hard work). I listened, I soaked it in and my heart was full.
Homeschooling not only works for us—it blesses us.
Richly.
I look at my children and I know they will blaze new trails. And I pray that they are the trails God has mapped out for them.
Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. Psalm 143:10

Photo: Mr. Conductor, Sassafras and Maiden wearing the papier-mâché crowns they made and standing between their homeschool display tables.

Thursday's school was strange

Click on the day to see what we've been doing this week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Today is not a normal school day. I need to take the car to the shop to have the a/c looked at and get the oil changed. This shop is no place for children. The kids are going to stay with my mom while I take care of this. As noted yesterday- we crammed two days of schooling into one so that we wouldn’t throw our schedule off.
7:30 am: I am up, dressed and drinking coffee. I have my morning devotions sitting in the rocking chair in the living room. The kitchen window is open and not only can you feel the cool breeze come through the house but the scent of fresh air relaxes and revives me for the day.
8:00 am: I wake up the kids and set the timer for them to be downstairs and dressed. They know we are on a time schedule but sometimes need a little prodding. We play beat the timer. They do.
8:20 am: The kiddos are eating breakfast and I call the debt counseling agency (ugh) about the payment mix up. I leave a message asking for a call back and verification. I will be very surprised if they call me back today- it’s not something I’ve known them to do. I say a quick prayer and remind myself that God is in control of this situation.
8:40 am: Mr. Conductor can’t find his shoes, Sassafras hasn’t combed her hair. Maiden is off hunting up something- probably a book. I am ready for us to go- they are not.
8:55 am: We are now on the road to Nana’s- about 15 minutes later than I planned. It’s a good thing I padded the time/schedule. Maiden has two assignments to do today- spelling and Grammar Ace. We do her spelling (Sequential Spelling book 2)in the car on the way to Nana’s.
9:10 am: We pull into my parents’ drive- Maiden still have 5 spelling words left and she says she’ll have Nana help her finish. Nana has plans for them to be working outside- she meets them at the door and I give a quick wave and take off. I forget to remind Maiden about her Grammar Ace.
1:43 pm: I have arrived back at my parents. While my brother-in-law was working on my car this morning, my sister took me out for coffee (and a scone) and a chat. After finding out that he couldn’t find the source of the leak in the a/c- I am bummed. He has put a dye in the coolant and I need to bring it back in 2 weeks. I am seriously praying that it won’t be extremely expensive to fix. I make a quick stop at a nearby party store to pick up supplies for the upcoming dinner at church in honor of our graduating seniors (I’m in charge as director of youth ministries). When I get back to mom and dad’s, Mr. C is sound asleep on the couch, Maiden is reading a book in the recliner and Sassafras is upstairs sleeping. What? Guess the kids are worn out by all the work we’ve been doing outside each evening. My mother offers to lend us their car for our upcoming trip to the Creation Museum.
2:35 pm: We are home. Mr. Steady is already home from work and meets us at the door. Maiden did her Grammar Ace in the car on the way home from my parents (I knew I should have reminded her- thank the Lord it was an easy one today- combining sentences for better flow). Mr. Steady wants to go out to the farm (the one we help my parents care-take) and work on yard clean up. I need to go to the library first.
3 pm: We are at the library. Sassafras is busy picking out some chapter books to keep her challenged in her reading. She’s found a couple of series that interest her and grabs two of each. Maiden has finished all her required readers for the school year and has decided she wants to check out Around The World in 80 Days as a supplement (her idea). Mr. Conductor picks a few books out that look good to him.
4:15 pm: We are headed to the farm.
Our school day today was quite strange but yet I count it as learning. The kids spent the morning helping their Nana—they cooperated, did nature study and some gardening. They also helped take care of the dog. All learning experiences. Our trip to the library helped us remember our manners and using reference information to find needed books. In the evening at the farm, Maiden drove the gator. Sassafras tackled some problem-solving in finding the most efficient way to rake piles, pick up sticks and haul materials. Mr. C learned more about hard work, working together as a family and perseverance to see a job through. We also had some time for nature study- a woolly caterpillar, various animal tracks, flowers and observing the geese nearby.

Photo: Chicken coop at the farm.
When homeschooling- your whole life is part of the adventure and the learning process. I love how we are having such fun that we don’t always realize that we are learning. And yet I also love how the kids look to incorporate different learning adventures in the different parts of their days. Just some of the reasons we love homeschooling!
*side note: Just as I expected we never received a call back from the debt agency. Sigh.*

Wednesday of our glimpse into homeschooling

7:20 am: I am awake. I’ve been awake for awhile, laying in bed and mulling over my day. I prop myself up on all the pillows and open my devotion book. The thought crosses my mind that it would be really helpful to have a coffee pot right here in my bedroom. Hmm. I spend some extra time in prayer, my mind whirring with many different prayer needs/requests.
7:50 am: I’ve had my first cup of coffee and gone over the day’s schedule. Two days of work in one is quite do-able.
8 am: The kids are waking up after I give them a couple of nudges and Mr. Conductor wants me to carry him downstairs. I do.
8:20 am: Everyone is dressed and eating breakfast. I read Sassafras her history text while they finish clean up.
8:45 am: We are starting school. I’ve just informed the girls we’ll be doing two days of school today and they groan. I assure them it won’t be so bad. They are not reassured. Maiden starts with her math- she has a test today [she uses Horizons Math 4]. Sass works on her math [Horizons Math 2] while I finish reading the history text that would have been for tomorrow. She doesn’t usually multi-task so well but her math work is easy and she does well listening to me and working slowly on the math.

9:40 am: We make short work of Sass’s science and she moves right into her handwriting. It won’t take long for her to get through both days of handwriting- something she loves. During this time I am also doing some cut and paste papers with Mr. Conductor. He takes cutting very seriously and is meticulous about cutting along the lines very carefully.
10 am: Maiden has just finished her math test and I begin going over it while continuing to give Mr. C direction with his cutting and pasting. Maiden is now reading her history text for the day. Sass is finishing up her handwriting.
10:30 am: Mr. C is now writing on a piece of cardstock and proceeds to cut it to bits. Sassafras and I do spelling. Maiden continues with her science reading and then goes on to her language arts assignment- foreshadowing.
11 am: Sassafras and I work on her language arts assignment- she is rewriting a copywork passage using adverbs and adjectives she has put in place of the ones that were provided. She is doing very well. Maiden finishes reading and works on a notebooking assignment. Mr. Conductor is now “reading” Sassafras’s science book. I deposit his pile of scraps into the trash on my through the room.
11:20 am: Sassafras is done with her school work. She brings down the dirty laundry, cleans up her work area and goes off on an adventure with Mr. C. I am now in the office doing youth work and Maiden comes in to do her spelling.work.
11:33 am: Maiden has finished her spelling and everyone is done for the day. We have finished two days of school in the time it usually takes to do one day. We are all surprised and very happy.
At this time school is done (except for afternoon reading time) and is when I realize I am having technically difficulties with the internet and also find out that the debt counseling company withdrew TWO payments from our checking account last month.
I now understand why school went so smoothly and why I woke up early this morning and spent extra time in prayer.
God knew it would be necessary.

Glimpse: Tuesday- airplanes and slides

 See Monday here.

Tuesday of our glimpse into a week of homeschooling:

Today is our Homeschool group day. We planned a field trip for today to the home of a local man who has built [and flies] his own airplane as well as many model airplanes. The older kids are finishing up a course in aeronautics and this is the wrap up.
We had a switcheroo yesterday evening. Dear friends of ours, who also homeschool and are in our homeschool group, helped cut wood at my parents’ yesterday evening. Their oldest child happens to be Maiden’s very bestest friend and their 3^rd child is very good friends with Sassafras. So Sass went home with our friends and their oldest came home with Maiden. The two girls camped out on the living room floor and watched a movie before finally falling asleep around midnight.

7:40 am: Momma wakes up, has prayer and devotions before setting foot out of bed. I quickly shower (and pray some more) and then coax Mr. Conductor from his warm blanket cocoon. He didn’t care for having the bedroom all to himself last night and missed “the sissies” as he calls them. I put him in the living room with the girls and he snuggles in, content to just lay there with them. They, the girls, are still out.
8:15 am: Coffee! I’ve got cinnamon rolls in the oven (menu change due to guest) and a bowl of grapes, strawberries and banana slices ready and waiting. I get on the computer to send out a weekly email to the youth in my youth group plus a couple of other needed to do’s for my job as director of youth ministries.
8:35 am: I’ve got a couple of emails that need immediate attention and I’m a bit flustered by one. I wake the girls up and hustle them to the shower. Mr. C comes and sits on my lap while I type.
8:50 am: Mr. C goes off to get dressed and the girls are making a lot of noise in the bathroom. I’ve answered one email but am totally unsure about the 2^nd one. I pray.
9 am: The girls are dressed and taking the rolls out of the oven for me. They ask to pop in a short cartoon and I let them. Neither our friends nor our family are big on TV watching (neither of us has reg. TV access- no antennas, no cable, no satellites yet we survive!) so this is a special treat.
9:30 am: I’ve finally finished on the computer and realize that I didn’t make our sack lunches for today. I enlist the girls help in assembly line sandwich prep only to find that we have no bread thawed but the nasty stuff with the seeds in it that we got for free that none of us like to eat . . . . we make sandwiches out of hotdog buns and dub them silly-wiches.
9:45 am: We are suppose to be leaving for the field trip but are still finishing lunch prep.
9:55 am: We’ve packed the car and are finally on the road- we are suppose to be at the airplane hanger at 10 am- it is about a 10 minute drive. We will be late- again. Maiden’s dear friend points out that we’re always late and so not to worry- everyone will expect it. Gee, thanks.
10:06 am: I have passed the driveway to the hanger and back up. I count cars- hooray! We are not the last ones here. Sigh. I’ve got to do better than this. Nobody is worried that we’re 6 minutes late and I am sure that Maiden’s friend is right- its expected. The kids are divided into two groups. While group one tours the hanger, group 2 meets with the owner’s wife and she tells them the most amazing story of God’s intervention when they had a horrific plan crash in the mid-80s. Not only do we get to see up close a  really cool homemade airplane but we are blessed with a story of God’s love and care of us. Too cool for words.

11:20 am: The homeschool gang is on the road and heading for my home. I live 5 blocks from the park the group has planned on going to for lunch and play. The park does not have a bathroom; I have two. I pray that we left things respectable enough and that the toilets are all flushed.
11:45 am: We’re heading for the park after 20-some people have used our two bathrooms. One of the few times I’ve been thankful for city sewer hook-up.
11:50 am to 1:40 pm: We play at the park, eat lunch, walk the boardwalk along the St. Joseph River and generally laugh, visit and have fun. Mr. C stops to dump about 4 pounds of pebbles out of his shoes before he hops in the car, tired, dirty and happy- ready to go (for once). I am thankful he kicked off the shoes before getting in the car.
1:45 pm: We are home. A quick clean up with washcloths and everyone is grabbing a book and laying down to rest. Ahh. The girls are both reading school books- working ahead.

Working ahead is good because I just found out that we’ve got to cram two days of school into one tomorrow. I had to make an appointment for the car for Thursday morning. We have no air conditioning. We are going south on vacation in 2.5 weeks. I drive a black car and it was 78 degrees today. My mechanic, a.k.a. my brother-in-law, is pretty sure he just needs to recharge the a/c. My sister offers to meet me at the shop and take me out for coffee while he does this. I call my mom and she agrees to take the kiddos for the morning but wants to be outside exploring and such, not inside doing school. Hence the need to cram two days into one.
This wasn’t in my plan when I decided this was the week to give everyone a glimpse into our homeschooling but these things do happen and one needs to be flexible. It is the end of the school year and their schedule is a bit more relaxed right now than say a month or so ago so it really won’t be that big a deal to combine two days.
And so another homeschooling day comes to a close.

Monday of Glimpse into our Homeschool

Monday

Welcome to the first of a series of posts giving you a glimpse into our little homeschool. I’m not a big fan of Mondays but I prefer a Homeschooler’s Monday to the alternative . . . .
8:20 am: Waking up late today. It seems I’m still recuperating from fasting and no sleep. I decided that I would sleep until I woke up and 8:20 am is when I woke up. I start my day with prayer. I go in and wake the kidlets and head on downstairs. The tables were set for school and breakfast last night so all I need to do is pour myself that first cup of coffee and go over the schedule. I take a couple of minutes to toss in a load of laundry and contemplate my devotion from this morning. I felt I had rushed through it and am trying to give it a bit more thought. My thoughts seem rather jumbled this morning.
8:35 am: The kids are finding it hard to get moving this morning too. While they are getting dressed I read Sassafras her history text for today. Maiden and Mr. Conductor wander into the kitchen for breakfast but keep an ear tuned to our reading.
9:10 am: Breakfast is done and cleaned up and we are starting school. Considering the kids got up a half hour later than usual and that it’s Monday- this is good. Maiden starts with a couple of easier subjects, handwriting and Grammar Ace. Sassafras is messing around with getting her school tub out and fiddle-diddling. Mr. Conductor has climbed up in my lap as I sit in the rocker and snuggles in good and tight. This doesn’t happen very often anymore so I take full advantage of it and just hold on. I suggest Sass start out with handwriting so that I can continue snuggling.
9:25 am: Mr. Conductor has announced that he would like to do some school today. I tell him, “No school until you get dressed.” He hops off my lap, grabs his clothes and heads into my office (he has taken to “surprising” me with dressing himself lately). Maiden is plugging away at her math (some beginning geometry). Sass and I start her spelling while I pull out Mr. C’s workbook and crayons.
For the next hour or so, I continue to work on subjects with Sassafras that require my attention (Science, read alouds) while giving direction to Mr. C and checking over Maiden’s work.
11 am: Sassafras is finishing up her math and Mr. C is building Lego contraptions. Maiden has just finished reading her Detective Science and is doing the DNA project from the book. I jot down a list of errands that need doing and a short grocery list.
11:20 am: Sass has been off sitting on the couch reading her reader- I know she is reading through the whole book even though only 10 pages were assigned today. She’s suddenly surged ahead these past few weeks in her reading and the readers in her curriculum are not challenging her. I have her read them anyway and answer questions to help her with her narration. We are supplementing with more challenging chapter books in the afternoons (during quiet time) and it is working for us. Maiden is frustrated that she isn’t further along in her work and knows that we will be leaving soon for errand running. She asks to take her spelling and dictation in the car. I okay it.
11:40 am: Sassafras has finished her book. Maiden is reworking some math problems that she got wrong (we don’t always do this but these were sloppy mistakes and it needs a redo). Mr. C and I are cleaning up some of his clutter.
Noon: I’ve packed a bag with our nature sketch pads and we’re hunting up sharpened colored pencils. It seems we’re in low supply (even though I’m constantly finding a pencil here and there all over the house). I fill the trunk with 4 bags and 2 boxes of clothes and 2 more bags of shoes destined for Goodwill while Sassafras frantically sharpens the pencils she can unearth. Mr. Conductor digs out his trusty baseball cap and helps Maiden water their sprouting seeds and move them to “better sun” as he puts it.
12:15 pm: We are now on the road. We’re getting a later start to our errand running than I wanted but I’ve decided to add a nature hike to our list of things to do- I don’t tell the kids where though. We stop at the bank, drop the trunkload off at Goodwill and a quick stop at the grocery store. Lunch is drive though at McD’s as Sassafras got a gift certificate for her birthday and has been wanting to treat the family for weeks now.

1:30 pm: We’re eating lunch out in the gorgeous sunshine at a wonderful little local park. We quickly polish it off and head off into the woods armed with sketch pads and colored pencils (I purchased a new set of pencils for Mr. C for 88 cents at the store and Sass bought herself a new set too). This is one of the kids favorite nature hike spots (besides their grandparents’ farm). Mr. C has declared that he’s on the hunt for a sneaky snake and Sass goes crashing off into the underbrush after a chipmunk. Maiden quietly moves on ahead to find a good spot to stop and sketch. I take a moment to marvel at the wonder of it all- not nature so much as my children and the wonderful blessing of being able to do this with them. While we hike, we sketch and pick up a few specimens- fat acorn tops, interesting dried leaves, pieces of bark and tiny rocks. We watch 4 buzzards circle lazily overhead and Mr. C contemplates aloud what must have died to interest them. Ah, what goes on in a boy’s mind. After our hike, the kids play at the playground for awhile- pretending the big play thing-a-ma-jig is a pirate ship—Maiden veers off to the pre-school “playscape” and declares it’s the S.S. Minnow, hums the tune and pretends to pursue the big pirate ship. I marvel at how she is young woman and still a child. I laugh and wink at her and she runs off yelling, “Avast Ye Hardies- Prepare to be boarded.” Her brother and sister scream and giggle and take off . . . . . I take a picture with my minds eye and tuck it in my heart.

2:45 pm: We are heading home- laughing and talking of all the fun we had. I remind them that we’ll have quiet time when we get home as they have reading to finish and Mr. C needs a nap. They’ll be going off with the Dad to Gramma and Grampa’s to cut wood tonight.
3 pm: Groceries are put away. And nature treasures are spread out on the table to catch Daddy’s eye when he comes home. The girls head upstairs to wash their dirty tootsies and read good books. Mr. C has his sketch pad and new pencils at the coffee table and is making up a story about shy tractors as he draws them. He has me label them. It doesn’t take much for me to nudge him to the couch for his nap. He asks for a couple of cookies as he thumbs through his Berenstain Bears’ Big Book of Science and Nature.
3:20 pm: I put down the book I’ve just begun to read as I realize I never took the laundry out of the washer. I think guiltily of the paperwork sitting in my office and of the fact that I haven’t been on the computer all day. I decide to put the laundry in the dryer instead of out on the line since it looks like the neighbors are getting ready to burn leaves and I’m also concerned that I’ll forget it on the line too. I push aside my guilt over paperwork as I remember I only just finished a lock-in with the youth group 2 nights ago and deserve a bit of a break. Rationalizing, yes, but it makes such good sense.
It’s later now- the kids went off with their dad to work and I stayed home to work. I remembered to get the clothes out of the dryer and fold them. I updated the school binders and organized some of the school books. I took an hour to myself to sit and read some more. I picked up the bits of daily debris around the house and put away some laundry. I prepped for breakfast and laid out tomorrow’s clothes. I dozed off while I was reading again . . . . I did a bit of paperwork (more like paper shuffling) and got out some needed items for tomorrow.
I wrote this post.
It was a good day.