Wow, I just realized I have not been keeping up on my blog! So for those of you who have been thinking that I have been swallowed alive by homeschooling, you are right! It is more labor-intensive than I ever thought! My mom is amazing...she homeschooled my sister and I as well as working full-time. I think I would have blown a mental circuit if I had to do that. Anyway, I am working to find the rhythm in it all. Especially in the dance between me and the housework...
As for burnout, we have successfully avoided that since we decreased school hours. (Perhaps from 9-2 was a bit long for preschoolers.) Now we are 9-12, at the very most. And remember my carefully thought out unit studies, well I decided to go with something easier.
Enter, the Letter of the Week. It's not original, but boy is it a LOT easier to plan! We started off with 'A' because I am one to not think outside of the box. Begin at the beginning, you know!
However, I did throw a little something of my own into it. The ABC's of God's Character. So beginning with 'A' we have: God is Almighty. Mark 10:27 is our verse. But the hard part is explaining to preschoolers what almighty means. I came up with "God can do anything!" and that He is stronger and more powerful than anyone.
We practiced reading the word 'all' and any other words that contained it, for example: ball, tall, call, hall, mall, small, etc. And I made up a short story about a little boy who loses his ball and is looking everywhere for it. The story had all the 'all' words in it too. The boys loved it! And they remembered the words and the story.
Other ideas I have is to make lunchtime something that begins with the LOTW. Like apples for 'a'...
So God is good and faithful to bring creativity when I ask for it.
That is what we are up to right now. I'll keep you posted!
FIVE IN THE POTTER'S HAND
Friday, September 19, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Burn Out...
Yesterday was the most awful homeschooling day and we were only into week two! I thought that my boys had gotten pretty well acquainted with their numbers 1-20 so I decided to see if they could fill in the blanks. I am so sad to report that they couldn't even follow the simple fill in the blanks with the ANSWER KEY! Needless to say it was very frustrating for all involved.
Throughout the torture, I mean math, session a lot of sighing, flopping the head back to look at the ceiling, laying head down on the desk and other subtle indicators of b-o-r-e-d-o-m were present. I finally gave up and told them to go play outside.
(To their credit, this morning they woke up and asked me when school was starting!)
I decided that today was going to be a no school day. Am I a wimp or what? I got some new books related to different styles of homeschooling and I am going to devour them this weekend. I want to do school that works for my kids and me. Right now, I think I have to adjust my expectations and remember that they may be bright, but they are still only 5 and 4!
Oh, and while we are on the topic of frustration, HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR HOUSE CLEAN AND HOMESCHOOL YOUR CHILDREN???? If I even dared to show you the state of my home... well you get the idea.
There are a lot of bugs that I still have to work out...
I just want them to love learning and not be bored out of their minds...
So today is Burn Out Friday for me. Oh, and it is also Catch-Up-On-The-Laundry/Dishes/Floors/Bathroom/Etc-Day too!
Slightly discouraged, but not willing to give up, I persevere for a better way!
Throughout the torture, I mean math, session a lot of sighing, flopping the head back to look at the ceiling, laying head down on the desk and other subtle indicators of b-o-r-e-d-o-m were present. I finally gave up and told them to go play outside.
(To their credit, this morning they woke up and asked me when school was starting!)
I decided that today was going to be a no school day. Am I a wimp or what? I got some new books related to different styles of homeschooling and I am going to devour them this weekend. I want to do school that works for my kids and me. Right now, I think I have to adjust my expectations and remember that they may be bright, but they are still only 5 and 4!
Oh, and while we are on the topic of frustration, HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR HOUSE CLEAN AND HOMESCHOOL YOUR CHILDREN???? If I even dared to show you the state of my home... well you get the idea.
There are a lot of bugs that I still have to work out...
I just want them to love learning and not be bored out of their minds...
So today is Burn Out Friday for me. Oh, and it is also Catch-Up-On-The-Laundry/Dishes/Floors/Bathroom/Etc-Day too!
Slightly discouraged, but not willing to give up, I persevere for a better way!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Number Bingo...Works for Me!
Early this week, I happened upon a website that is chock-full of fun, creative ideas to help your children learn their numbers, learn to read, explore their world, etc. Check out www.education.com and you won't be sorry! Did I mention that it is all free, too? Oh, and they have things categorized according to age appropriateness!
We tried out Number Bingo yesterday....the boys were hooked! We "played" for about 30 minutes and then there was a lot of whining and complaining that we had to stop for recess!
You could adapt the Bingo to suit any educational need. We are going to do Letter Sounds Bingo next week.
For more helpful ideas check out Rocks In My Dryer!
Friday, September 5, 2008
It has only been three days????
Ok, I knew that teaching my boys at home was going to be a lot of work. I expected it to be a lot of work. I also expected it to be a lot of fun for me and them. Which it has been on both accounts!
Can I just say that I am exhausted and it has only been three days... (we took yesterday off to celebrate Daddy's citizenship!)
Lord help me! How am I going to survive a whole week??
We had fun in science today (my absolutely most favorite subject!) by creating water vapor...the kids were enthralled! I love it! They will remember what clouds are made of for a very long time :)
We also watched an educational video about weather today. Did you know that weathervanes started having a rooster on them when the Pope decreed that all churches weathervanes had to have a cockerel atop to remind the followers of Paul's denial of Christ? Also, I learned that the sun's energy heats up the troposphere thus creating our weather! Like I said, I LOVE SCIENCE!!!
There were some super video of lightning storms on the video too. Beautiful!
So today has gone well and now I put the pupils down for a nap... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (and maybe the teacher too...lol!)
Can I just say that I am exhausted and it has only been three days... (we took yesterday off to celebrate Daddy's citizenship!)
Lord help me! How am I going to survive a whole week??
We had fun in science today (my absolutely most favorite subject!) by creating water vapor...the kids were enthralled! I love it! They will remember what clouds are made of for a very long time :)
We also watched an educational video about weather today. Did you know that weathervanes started having a rooster on them when the Pope decreed that all churches weathervanes had to have a cockerel atop to remind the followers of Paul's denial of Christ? Also, I learned that the sun's energy heats up the troposphere thus creating our weather! Like I said, I LOVE SCIENCE!!!
There were some super video of lightning storms on the video too. Beautiful!
So today has gone well and now I put the pupils down for a nap... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (and maybe the teacher too...lol!)
Seeds Planted... Fruit Seen!
My husband's brother just called and asked for a Bible! When we were in Mexico, he was drinking his life away. My husband approached him with the Gospel, but he didn't want to have anything to do with God. Now, he has been sober for one month and is attending AA meetings! Praise the Lord! We are going to ship off his Bible this week!
God is faithful to His Word.
We are believing for the salvation of Mr. Querido's entire family. Eleven siblings and two parents, as well as all of the nieces and nephews too! We believe and confess that Mr. Querido is the first of his household to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. But we also believe that he is not the last! We are seeing dramatic transformation in his family's life. God is good!
God is faithful to His Word.
We are believing for the salvation of Mr. Querido's entire family. Eleven siblings and two parents, as well as all of the nieces and nephews too! We believe and confess that Mr. Querido is the first of his household to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. But we also believe that he is not the last! We are seeing dramatic transformation in his family's life. God is good!
The End..
Finally, after beginning the process six years ago, my husband is a bona fide citizen of the United States of America!!
He took the Oath of Allegiance today, and now he belongs to the USA!
It has been a long, arduous process, also quite expensive (we estimate that we have spent close to $8,000 total for fees and such) but God is good and it is finished!
Praise the Lord! And he gets to vote in the presidential election too :)
He took the Oath of Allegiance today, and now he belongs to the USA!
It has been a long, arduous process, also quite expensive (we estimate that we have spent close to $8,000 total for fees and such) but God is good and it is finished!
Praise the Lord! And he gets to vote in the presidential election too :)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
First Day of School
How I wish my camera was working today...alas, the batteries I bought at Dollar Tree lasted about one minute before the display told me I needed to change them...boo hoo. So no pictures of the first day.
The boys adjusted to the change in schedule really well...as did their teacher....lol!
The only disruptive student was the youngest, but she really couldn't help herself. Any ideas on a way to entertain a one year old while trying to teach her older brothers???
Wishing my printer was up and running because I definitely need some coloring pages for them!
All in all, the first day has been great! They were so excited to start this morning. We opened with prayer for God to bless our day at school, and He answered. I can't wait to show Daddy what they did today!
We made weather logs and notated what today's weather was. Sunny. Illustrations of current weather too.
We read "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" during snack. And then as a God-afterthought, I recounted to them the story of the Israelites and manna. I told them that the food falling from the clouds in the book that we read was just a silly story that someone made up, but that food really did fall from the sky in the Bible. They seemed to really hang on every word of the story of manna. It gave me opportunity to discuss complaining and trusting God to meet our needs.
I love it when God steps in and throws in something good like that! :)
We learned how to write our names properly, as well as the month, day and year. We also worked on the words: one, two, three and four..because our focus on counting for the day was 1-4. We counted 1-20 and I discovered that they have 1-10 down already and just need a little help with 11-20. (Our goal for the month is to learn to count all the way up to 50). Oh, and we also worked on sounds for the letter 'a'.
Right now it is recess time, but we have to finish one more project before school's out for the day...
Today I learned that I am a great teacher and that my kids enjoy learning from me. I also learned that having a curriculum is probably a lot easier, but doesn't leave much room for God to step in and throw in a teachable moment here and there. I also learned that teaching with three kids under the age of five can be a challenge! And I found out that I really enjoy being their teacher!
The boys adjusted to the change in schedule really well...as did their teacher....lol!
The only disruptive student was the youngest, but she really couldn't help herself. Any ideas on a way to entertain a one year old while trying to teach her older brothers???
Wishing my printer was up and running because I definitely need some coloring pages for them!
All in all, the first day has been great! They were so excited to start this morning. We opened with prayer for God to bless our day at school, and He answered. I can't wait to show Daddy what they did today!
We made weather logs and notated what today's weather was. Sunny. Illustrations of current weather too.
We read "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" during snack. And then as a God-afterthought, I recounted to them the story of the Israelites and manna. I told them that the food falling from the clouds in the book that we read was just a silly story that someone made up, but that food really did fall from the sky in the Bible. They seemed to really hang on every word of the story of manna. It gave me opportunity to discuss complaining and trusting God to meet our needs.
I love it when God steps in and throws in something good like that! :)
We learned how to write our names properly, as well as the month, day and year. We also worked on the words: one, two, three and four..because our focus on counting for the day was 1-4. We counted 1-20 and I discovered that they have 1-10 down already and just need a little help with 11-20. (Our goal for the month is to learn to count all the way up to 50). Oh, and we also worked on sounds for the letter 'a'.
Right now it is recess time, but we have to finish one more project before school's out for the day...
Today I learned that I am a great teacher and that my kids enjoy learning from me. I also learned that having a curriculum is probably a lot easier, but doesn't leave much room for God to step in and throw in a teachable moment here and there. I also learned that teaching with three kids under the age of five can be a challenge! And I found out that I really enjoy being their teacher!
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