Our Year Round Homeschool

Today is our first day back to school after a break of about two and a half weeks. Our family does year round homeschooling simply because I find that the children retain what we learn when we're working year round. I don't have to spend a great deal of time on review and we generally plan two weeks off after we've worked ten weeks, with the exception of holiday time when we work things out a little differently.

With a variety of ages ranging from seven months to seventeen, we have been pretty creative in the way we approach school but the method that appears to work best for us is doing group study for most subjects and independent for some others. Naturally, the children have their individual math curriculum but most of our other subjects are done as a group with some independent work broken out by skill level.

Our day starts off with Bible and Character. We believe that the most important thing we can pass on to our children is God's wisdom and we do that through their Bible teaching. God tells us that we are to teach His words diligently to our children, making them sharp, and talk to them about His words when we sit with them, when we walk with them, when we lie down and when we rise up (Deut. 6:5-7). So my husband and I believe it is a priority to make sure that our children are in an environment that teaches them about the Lord throughout the majority of their day because of the principle in the Deuteronomy 6:5-7 scripture and Bible and Character study is viewed as the most important element of our study for that reason.

The rest of our school day is combined with a variety of reading and hands on projects. My ninth and twelfth graders are currently reading Don Quixote and it's been a pleasure to see how they've enjoyed 17th century literature. My younger ones are doing the abridged version of Don Quixote and have also really enjoyed some of the living books we've read on the history subjects. We believe that God's hand has always been in the history of the world, we choose curriculum that highlights how God has shaped this world so that we can show our children that just as things unfolded from Adam and Eve to Christ, He is still shaping this world for the things that are to come. I'll be talking about some of the curriculum we've chosen for this year as we progress.

Our girls are studying home economics to learn how to be efficient keepers of the home. We learn through Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House and a few other resources. This book is the absolute most thorough book I've seen and the reviews on it are outstanding. I use this book as a reference and decided to teach from it this year. We'll also be creating our own sewing patterns and sewing up some pajamas for the boys this fall. I think they'll be better housekeepers than their mom!

 I'm excited about our school week. I think it'll be a great year of fun and learning for us all.

A True Heart for Home - Defending Submissive Wives, Homeschooling, and Large Families

Over the last few weeks I've prayed, and consulted my husband on where this blog should go. On one hand, I love the idea of blogging about my family and some of the ways that we make things work as a minority large family. However, I don't really want to be a redundant large family, homeschooling blog. I've tried to add a little variety by throwing in some coupon savings and deals I've come across. However, there are an overwhelming number of even these blogs bursting through the worldwide web with, and I'm not really seeking to be a copycat of that either. So I've decided that there's one area that I'm always talking about, defending even, and it's the road that I'd like to travel with this blog.

You see, I come from an area where traveling with six children in the mall or the grocery store provoked countless stares and a number of remarks. Now that I've added three additional children, my husband and I are asked if we're going to be the town's "Duggars." By the time I've gotten into a conversation with someone and told them that we also homeschool, people think I've either been chosen by God to receive an extra blessing of patience that only very few people on this earth are given, or that I'm completely nuts!

Over the years, I've found myself becoming more and more defensive of our family choices after hearing remarks such as "God gives you wisdom," and, "Have you ever thought of one of you getting fixed?" The comments are not just from strangers we meet, they're from family and, far worse, Christian brothers and sisters! To have a follower of Christ present me with the statement, "Better you than me," because I have a house full of children is quite heartbreaking, not so much because I'm offended, but because of how I know God sees children. In short, God's wisdom is not our wisdom.

That brings me to the road of this blog. I spend so much time defending why our family does what we do that I thought it'd be a good idea to just blog about it. It's all about what we believe the Bible tells us to do. Is it for everyone? No. But just as every snowflake is uniquely designed by Him, so is each family. My whole heart desires to serve the Lord and my large homeschooling family where my husband is the authority, leader, or "head" is one of the ways that I serve and honor Him. It may not be easy for everyone to understand but maybe I'll shed a little light on things as I begin anew with this blog. This blog is all about having a true heart for home.

Three Rs of Homeschooling for the Discouraged and Overwhelmed

Why is it that everyone else seems to have all their ducks in a row but me? I'm squandering about trying to find where I fit into things, trying to get comfortable. Why is it that I'm so frustrated with homeschooling when I should be at peace?

If you've ever said any these words when you've thought about homeschooling your children, then it's official, you fit in to the Homeschooling Mom Society - the world of average Homeschooling Moms who have all, at one point or another, questioned their ability to adequately teach their children from home. Whether it's been about choosing a curriculum, getting Johnny to catch on to a concept, feeling overwhelmed, inadequate, or underachieved or even how to get started homeschooling, we've all been mommy worry warts.

When I've felt this way, I've have to take a moment and focus on my three r's:

Refocus on the reason you're homeschooling in the first place. Our reason for homeschooling is based on Deuteronomy 6:1-7 and Acts 17:11. We use our homeschool to teach our children diligently in the Lord and to teach them the importance of searching the scripture daily with a readiness of mind. This is our first priority. So when I refocus, I have to remember that I'm doing this task to glorify Him and not myself. When I feel faint in this area, I also seek my husband for his thoughts and encouragement. He's usually able to help me refocus on things. Maybe I'm implementing things that are unnecessary. Maybe I need to focus on discipline a bit more. My husband is our homeschool principal, and he holds me accountable in our studies.

Remember to seek first the Kingdom. Many times I'm struggling, I have allowed other, less important, things to take priority and have not spent enough time with the Lord. Once I've refocused, I have to remember that the time I spend with the Lord is what gives me my strength. I go to Him and He restores me to do the job that I'm doing for Him. Remembering to start my day seeking the Lord and His righteousness helps me to homeschool with meekness, removing the self righteousness that is often the cause of the tizzy that I've worked myself into.

Recognize that every homeschool is unique. Just like there are no two children alike, there are truly no two homeschools that are identical. You know your children better than anyone and you are able to provide them with the very individual, and unique education that they need. Just like there's no one who can replace you as a parent, there's no one who could fill your shoes as a teacher to your children.

The three R's are what keeps me on track and I'm able to continue my homeschooling journey with a refreshed spirit.

Big Blessings From Little Things

Each of my children are so very different. Where there's one who is interested in reading, there is another who doesn't care much for it. Where there is one who is interested in making sure not one ounce of bad bacteria lives in the kitchen and bathrooms, there is another interested in baking every sweet thing in the Joy of Cooking cookbook. This morning, I experienced opposites in a way that completely blessed my heart.

As we watched snow fall, my boys (ages 4, 7, and 12) got a notion to go outside on their first lesson break. I watched the excitement grow as they talked about tossing the football in the falling snow. My oldest son was probably the most excited about playing football in the snow but it didn't take long before he was able to draw the other two boys into his excitement.

Before our lessons were underway, I made my usual speech about sitting and listening attentively to earn their break after the lesson. Everyone sat up eagerly awaiting the lesson with great anticipation of going outside. Sure enough, about halfway into our lesson, I had to give my seven year old his first warning. Two minutes after, there came a first warning to my four year old and, within a twenty minute period, I had to take the break away from both boys.

Oh how my seven year old cried. I explained to him why I had to take away his break and he continued to whine in protest to my decision. He became more adamant that he didn't deserve the punishment and that he would never get to go outside. Quickly, I assured him that he was on his way, early, to losing any opportunity for the second break. The crying continued. On the other hand, my four year old looked at his older brother with a smile and said, "Well, Jordan, at least we have a chance to go outside the next break." He sat up with a bright smile and looked over at me.

What a refreshing opposite that was. Sometimes we need to have someone give us a brighter side to look at. We can get so wrapped up into the way things may look that we forget to see what good there is around the corner. I'm so thankful for these little boys. It's such a blessing that their differences can be such a blessing to one another, and even to the hearts of their mother.

Homeschooling Blog - Exploring the Exploration Period

As I ease back into my normal homeschooling routine, we've been reading aloud quite a bit. We're covering the exploration period in history so our subjects covered this week include Christopher Columbus, Magellan, and Vespucci. Today, in addition to our read aloud, I had each of the children pick a book from our book basket that was related to the subjects for this week. They had 30 minutes to read either one or several of the books in the basket.

I actually liked the way this worked because it gave the children an opportunity to dig for information themselves. They weren't forced to read any one book all the way through during this half hour. This way, if the book was not very interesting, they could move on to another book without feeling tied to one particular one. My second grader, finding Christopher Columbus' work ethic quite enthralling, gasped in disbelief when he read that Columbus wanted to work since he was a boy. I'm certain that his interest is because his mommy always emphasizes if a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat. I was just happy that he connected with the book and he actually wanted to finish it!

I love to see them enthused about what we're learning and I've found that the more I allow them to investigate on their own, the better they learn. Friday, it's more from our history book basket and some nice geography study where we'll study Spain during the exploration period. I think we'll even include a Spanish dish as a part of our lesson.

Books in our book basket today:

Ferdinand Magellan: Opening the Door to World Exploration (Isaac Asimov's Pioneers of Science and Exploration)

Christopher Columbus and His Voyage to America (Lets Celebrate Series)  

Voyage of Magellan (Exploration Through the Ages)