It's a drizzly Tuesday morning but today feels more like a Monday. Yesterday we went to a play at the Performing Arts Center and ran errands finishing up our spring break. Today we are back to school work and a normal routine so it's basically our "Monday". And what a "Monday" it's been so far. My husband forgot his phone at home. There are several piles of laundry in different areas of the house. Dishes begging to be attended to. Tang has spilled on the kitchen floor at least three times. The toilet overflowed making a huge mess in the bathroom. I haven't yet found time to change out of my pajamas but somehow I've managed to finish school with the littles already so there's at least one plus. Honestly this is one of those days that would make me want to go back to bed and have a do over but the silver lining in this day was found in my devotion time with the teens. In our story of Lot I found (as I usually do) God speaking to me through what I thought was meant towards my kids and I know that this day is a good day and the good in it can't be diminished by a few bad mishaps.
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It's that time of year again. Springtime brings a calendar full of birthdays starting with our Emma's April birthday. In our house birthdays kind of a big deal. Although we don't usually have parties we have a tradition of decorating....big. Each year the kids wake to find the kitchen decked out in a theme they are currently interested in. For Emma this year that theme is Alice in Wonderland. She is somewhere between an interest and an obsession when it comes to Alice in Wonderland and has given me a ton of ideas over the past few months for her decorations. It was a sweet theme and so much fun to plan. What could be better than quirky quotes, wacky décor and mismatched colors? Is it the spring semester already?? Where is the school year going!!? Today was the first day of our spring semester co-op classes. We were up and out the door by 8:30 this morning. Shew what a busy morning. While that might not seem like a big deal to families who are out the door early every morning heading to school and work, for those of us who don't do it on a daily basis it takes a little to get back into the routine. We've had years when we opted out of participating in co-op classes, especially when we had two babies, one of which was having bi-weekly visits to the eye doctor and bi-yearly eye surgery. That was a busy enough year without adding extras. These days our schedule is less hectic and we enjoy the weekly classes provided in our homeschool co-op. From 3D art to Science Fair, creative writing to pirate math, the kids were excited to get back to their classes. It's been a long winter of being snowed in quite often so we are happy for warmer weather, field trips and class time with friends.
I'm always trying to think of ways to make learning to read a fun, hands on process. I'm not an unschooler by any means but I believe that the process should be relaxed and not focused on performance based outcomes. The act of reading shouldn't be to impress or check off a required subject from the "to learn" list. Children are naturally excited at learning to do something that labels them "big" and learning to read is most definitely one of those exciting milestones. However based on each child's learning style it could be more difficult for one to read while the other picks it up with ease. Brody was beginning to struggle with learning to read so I came up with the idea of using felt food to assist in learning word families and the result has been amazing!
It's another snow day and this chick is ready to be off the weather rollercoaster. This has been a crazy winter and I'm going to be so glad to say goodbye to the cold and embrace the warmer breezes of spring and even the dog days of summer. So today I'm looking ahead to one of our favorite traditions of late spring/early summer. The bushes along the side of our driveway get absolutely covered in honeysuckles. I love getting out of the car to be greeted by their sweet aroma. A few years ago we discovered a recipe for honeysuckle jelly and it immediately became our favorite jelly by far. Such a unique jelly that can't be purchased at the local grocery, I simply love the beautiful golden color. It is a little time consuming but the result is definitely worth the effort. That title probably just made people gasp. Let me preface this post by saying we LOVE books in this house and highly encourage reading. Our favorite part of the day is when all the kids gather in the living room while I read to them. We've read so many exciting books and series of books. From Narnia to The Mysterious Benedict Society, Series of Unfortunate Events to the Swiss Family Robinson, we have enjoyed so many wonderful stories together. Our reading time is one of the most precious times to me and has given us some wonderful memories over the stories we share. So while I have been introducing my children to the world of books since birth (literally), I have realized how critical it is to instill a love for reading that is not negatively attached to the pressure of performance based reading skills. It's been a busy and quite chilly Monday morning around here. Coming off a busy weekend, the house is a mess, the littles are super hyper and in addition to the usual, I have wanted to "spring clean" the boys' room for a week. Not sure I'll get to it again today. Sigh. On the upside, schooling has been productive today so I'm running with it. Emma has been struggling with putting words on paper in alphabetical order. No big surprise there, below the age of ten it can be difficult for children to work in abstracts. From birth to ten, the child's brain learns best by concrete, hands on application. So this morning I decided to come up with a better way to help Emma understand the method of ABC order.
There are so many things I could say on the topic of intentional parenting, I could go on for months I'm sure but this will probably be the last post in this particular "series". God placed on my heart such an importance on being intentional in my parenting. I don't always get it right but when I get complacent about it He lovingly nudges me in the right direction. I have prayed diligently for wisdom in all areas of raising my children since they were born. I desperately need it. From homeschooling to nurturing their life goals and molding their hearts I don't know where to begin without God's guidance. God has opened our eyes to the importance of being an active presence in our children's lives. Nothing is more important, aside from leading them to Christ, than having a strong family unit. Having fun is probably a no brainer but it's sometimes overlooked in the busyness of our fast paced lives. Above toys and extravagant vacations children want TIME with their parents.
Shortly after the birth of our first child God began working on our hearts about being intentional in our parenting. We didn't see raising her as a day in and out practice but rather a process towards a bigger goal. We weighed everything we did and the choices we made against the outcome we desired as well as what kind of child we were raising for future generations. We considered what type of adult we hoped for her to become and geared our parenting towards reaching that goal. We hoped she would grow up to be kind and courteous so we taught her to play nicely with other children and didn't allow her to be selfish with her toys. We taught her to say please and thank you, yes ma'am and yes sir. In hindsight I see that God placed this on our hearts in preparation for being intentional homeschool parents. It's something that is very dear to my heart so I decided to write a series of posts on the topic. Sticking with the theme of Ecclesiastes 3 from last week, today I'm looking ahead to spring cleaning. I think I'm probably just looking forward to spring all the way around being that I almost got the van stuck in the snow a few days back...ah but that's another story. Ecclesiastes 3:6 says there is "a time to keep and a time to throw away" (NIV). |
About MeI'm Becca, a former chocolate junkie, herbal enthusiast, curriculum writer, homeschool mom to four active kids, wife to my jack of all trades hubby, blessed child of God. Archives
November 2018
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The Essential Blog
Essential homeschooling is not about trying to mimic a classroom setting at home, expensive curriculum and stressful learning. It's setting our eyes on Christ and offering up our lives for His service. It's finding simplicity in daily living and loving each other, embracing the challenges and cherishing the moment because we know these years won't last and what we instill in our children today will determine who they will be tomorrow.