October is the month we usually have our family picture taken. This one was taken just across the street on one of our favorite trails we like to hike with large rocks that the children love to climb on or under.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
two more phone calls
Not only do I get these two phone calls from people in the community, but I also receive two phone calls from family. The first is from my mom telling me that she will be having gall bladder and hernia surgery this Friday. The second is from my dad telling me that he just had another pace maker put in and is going in for surgery this week because they found a mass on his kidneys and think it is cancerous. Please also pray for Jerry and Loretta.
death or breaking up?
Just this week we received two important phone calls. The first was one to tell us that a very dear man in the community died of cancer. The second was from a friend about their breakup. Both callers were devastated. One was expected and the other was completely unexpected. They were both very sad. It sure makes one think of eternity.
After getting off the phone with both of them my husband and I prayed for them and we had a conversation about them. We concluded that although it is extremely difficult to lose a loved one it seems as if it would be harder breaking up with a loved one. One is permanent and the other is still around and you keep hoping that maybe things will work out again only to get your heart broke again and each time getting worse. Please pray for both of these individuals as they are both going through significant grief (Barbara and Shelly). My heart aches for these ladies. My prayer is that they would both become Christians.
After getting off the phone with both of them my husband and I prayed for them and we had a conversation about them. We concluded that although it is extremely difficult to lose a loved one it seems as if it would be harder breaking up with a loved one. One is permanent and the other is still around and you keep hoping that maybe things will work out again only to get your heart broke again and each time getting worse. Please pray for both of these individuals as they are both going through significant grief (Barbara and Shelly). My heart aches for these ladies. My prayer is that they would both become Christians.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
I Need Advice
Does anyone have any advice to give on putting an end to bedwetting and cats urinating. I am up to my eyeballs in laundry already and can't afford to buy more pull-ups. As for cat urination-- I am fed up with it and have done EVERYTHING I know to stop it. HELP ME, PLEASE!
Friday, October 17, 2008
routines and daily planners
Kendra from www.preschoolersandpeace.com recommended a daily planner at www.motivatedmoms.com that has been very helpful to our family. This is a planner that is designed to help you to stay on top of your chores and to keep a clean and organized home while still homeschooling. It is not overwhelming! The daily schedule is broken down in bite size amounts which makes it possible to stay on top of all the chores. I have also found that if I do not have time to accomplish everything on my list for that day, then I work on it on Saturdays.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
curriculum changes
Life has been busy with homeschooling, nursing, cleaning, cooking, and hospitality. When I finally got a chance to sit down today and review our new spelling curriculum I fell asleep (for a mere 20 minutes).
With the newest change in our lives (sweet baby Emily) we decided it was time to re-evaluate the time consuming curriculum that we were using. I love to read to our children and was struggling to find the time to even read one book. My wonderful husband helped me to come up with a plan so that I would have more time, get to read to the little ones, and have fun doing it all. Isn't is school suppose to be enjoyable anyway?
Our plan of action: read books to the children while nursing, change the math curriculum, change the grammar curriculum, and change the spelling curriculum. Results: Beautiful! Everyone is enjoying school and I get to read to the children once again (every time I nurse).
If you care to know we switched from Saxon Math to Math-u-see, from Shurley Grammar to First Language Lessons, and from Spelling Workout to Spelling Power. All of these tend to be written for and by homeschoolers therefore making them more user friendly for the whole family. We are homeschooling using the classical approach and thought that we had to stick to one particular curriculum and that school had to be intense and rigorous. That is not true! It is okay to vary your curriculum and to make school enjoyable. The other thing that we learned was to teach for mastery. If your child is not understanding something, the beauty of homeschooling is that you have plenty of time to slow down and re-teach until mastery has occurred.
With the newest change in our lives (sweet baby Emily) we decided it was time to re-evaluate the time consuming curriculum that we were using. I love to read to our children and was struggling to find the time to even read one book. My wonderful husband helped me to come up with a plan so that I would have more time, get to read to the little ones, and have fun doing it all. Isn't is school suppose to be enjoyable anyway?
Our plan of action: read books to the children while nursing, change the math curriculum, change the grammar curriculum, and change the spelling curriculum. Results: Beautiful! Everyone is enjoying school and I get to read to the children once again (every time I nurse).
If you care to know we switched from Saxon Math to Math-u-see, from Shurley Grammar to First Language Lessons, and from Spelling Workout to Spelling Power. All of these tend to be written for and by homeschoolers therefore making them more user friendly for the whole family. We are homeschooling using the classical approach and thought that we had to stick to one particular curriculum and that school had to be intense and rigorous. That is not true! It is okay to vary your curriculum and to make school enjoyable. The other thing that we learned was to teach for mastery. If your child is not understanding something, the beauty of homeschooling is that you have plenty of time to slow down and re-teach until mastery has occurred.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
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