Moments in Homeschooling

I have to wonder if anyone is getting tired of my "why I love homeschooling" type posts.  I've done a couple of them, and keep wanting to do more.  After my two-year hiatus from being home, I'm still rediscovering some of those little moments that I love, but were unavailable while working outside of the home.

For example:


A state park not too far from us has field trips on a regular basis for homeschoolers.  This one was before Christmas.  We learned about some of the plants and trees in the area, and the children used natural objects to make tree ornaments.  So much fun!  Unfortunately, our new kitten also liked the natural ornaments and ended up "killing" them by the end of the Christmas season.

Something else we did this year was a play at church.  I wrote an adaptation for "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and Josiah used his gift for art in making one of the props.  Dale uploaded the video of the play on his YouTube account. You can watch this short video (about 16 minutes) here. It was taken by a friend in the audience, so the recording is not professional grade.  :)

Can I say how much I love the Lego sculptures that are created?  Caleb and Isaac are especially fond of creating with them.  

I've had the opportunity to make some fun cakes since being "home" again.  This one was for Isaac's 7th birthday in December.  He designed it himself.

We love to read!  One thing we do faithfully is a library run every couple of weeks.  It usually coincides with our Art lessons day.  Most of the books Jerusha is leaning on are the ones she took out.   The smaller pile was mostly comprised of Isaac's choices.  That stack doesn't include what the other children took out.  I can say that none of them took out as many as Jerusha! 

My house is far from perfect, but one of the things I love about homeschooling is that while I am giving a spelling test, or have just a few minutes between "jumps", I can do the little things, like organizing our baking rack.  

Or organizing around my desk.  By the way, that picture is a watercolor that Caleb finished recently in art class. 

Close up of the watercolor.

Isaac helped me do an example craft for the class I'm teaching in Co-Op this term.  

Love the one-on-one time!

I am still basking in the privilege of teaching at home.  Not every moment is fun, to be sure, but the flexibility is wonderful, and the opportunity to broaden their horizons is boundless.  

Blessings,

Lisa

Happy Birthday Jerusha!

Last Saturday Jerusha turned 11.  She was born during a blizzard, and though many were hit with a lot of snow a couple of days ago, we had some sunshine!  It was a good start for a special day for my youngest daughter.

The day started out with Caleb's wonderful homemade waffles.  He makes them perfectly: crispy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside.  Yummy!

Jerusha made up a schedule for the party. 

This pinata was homemade by Jerusha and Caleb.  They started it before Christmas, so it was good and hard when it was time to decorate and fill it. 

Jerusha put together these little trophies for the winners of the outdoor games she planned. 

Here is the birthday girl judging one of the contests.  She had arranged some sledding fun: the fastest down the hill, the most graceful, etc.   We were going to do a snowball making contest, but the snow was too dry and wouldn't stick together, so we changed it up to a "drawing in the snow" contest.  

Eleven years old!

A dear friend of mine took this picture on her way to our house for Jerusha's birthday supper.  It was a beautiful sunset that night!  This was almost right out front of our house.

Blessings,

Lisa

Ahem... yes... well.....

Need I say more?

Blessings,

Lisa

Goal Reached!

Oh yes... I just finished up 50k!  I cannot describe how exhilarating it is.  And I found out what the secret it... FIRE!  I have been in NaNoWriMo for five years, and won every year except one.  That year my trusty electric fireplace bit the dust.  No fire, no muse.  At least it seems so for me.  This fall Dale replaced that little fireplace, and voila!  My muse apparently returned.  I hit 50K, once again find myself with an unfinished novel.  And since this is a continuation from previous 2 years worth of NaNo, you can imagine that it is a bit of a opus.

So, please note the new button on my side bar.


*BIG SMILE*


Viva la pluma.

~Lisa

Happy Birthday Dale!

Oh yes... it's the big 5-0 for my honey.  Hehehehehehe... of course I planned a birthday even that was classy, and encouraging, and not snarky at all.


Yeah... right.


Birthday cake explanation... there is a saying about having one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.  That is what is on top of the cake.  It was, of course, black, and the little rocks were indicative of the ground, but made of chocolate.  The tall, skinny candles were sparklers.  So much fun!

We invited some friends and we all wore black in honor of Dale's milestone birthday.  We had two HUGE pans of lasagna with sausage (Dale's favorite) with garlic bread, and a salad.

Looks pretty handsome for an old guy, doesn't he?

Happy Birthday to the love of my life!

Blessings,

Lisa

Why I Enjoy Home Schooling... warning: Picture Heavy!

There are several philosophical reasons, but some of the simpler ones are:

Playing Uno and/or Scrabble and counting it as Math and English

















PJ day!  ( I need to plan one soon I think)



A leisurely first cup of coffee during Bible reading

FLEXIBILITY  (this one is HUGE for me)... I can arrange our schedule as I see fit.  For example, Co-op and Art lessons have been part of our schooling this time around.  



Family Field Trips... like this one to the Corning Glass Museum and the Rockwell Museum

Being home to do things that I was missing while working such as making bread and laundry detergent (I know, I like that stuff... I can't help it, I'm weird!

Another thing I love about home schooling is picking out curriculum.  I'm like a kid in a candy store!

We are using "Romans: A Courtroom Drama" by Thomas Westwood for our morning devotions.  I picked this because it goes hand in hand with what the teenagers are studying for Quiz Team in the Spring.  Quiz Team is a competition in the Talents For Christ activity that we do each year.  This year the Scripture is Romans 1-8.  This book will give us a good background on the verses they are studying.   

Also for devotions we are doing "A Heart of Humility"  which is a study on Philippians chapter 2.  I bought the materials from  Intoxicated on Life.

In the picture to the right is a mere smattering of some of what we are doing this year in home school.  There is a lot with 6 students.  This little pile was one I had with me to check over while the kids were in art class.

Another fun thing we are doing for the month of November is "30 Days of Thankfulness".  I have one of the children each day pick a card I made up out of a container, and it has something to be thankful for.  We hang it on the kitchen wall, and we make sure we thank God for that during the day. There are also some blank cards so if anyone wants to write their own, they can. I got it for free from Currclick.

Besides Co-op, which we added into the schedule this year, is art class.  Now I haven't been clever enough to get any pics of the kids at Co-op yet.  I'll do that soon.  We meet every other week, and all the kids seem to be enjoying it.  I'm not teaching anything this semester, but will be after Christmas.  Don't ask me what... I haven't figured that one out yet!

Esther chose not to do art class, so she, Isaac, myself, and a good friend and her youngest who is seven, goes to the McDonald's nearby to hang out.  I got Esther here working whatever it was she had.  I think she was saying something like, "Mom, what ARE you doing????"

Maybe the management doesn't mind, but I always feel as if I need to buy a little something to warrant taking up some space for customers.  I usually get coffee or hot cocoa.  Isaac is enjoying something overly sweet and delicious here.  :)

Of course, I have to include some pics of the budding artists!

On Labor Day we went to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.  It was a gorgeous day, and we went with some good friends of ours.  What a fun day that was!  After the hike down to the bottom we played in  the water for a bit, then hiked back up for lunch.  Everyone was starving!

Usually after our art lessons we stop at the Library.  Our library uses the receipt system.  You see here it also serves as a list for me to check when we are packing up the Library bag.  I can make sure we have everything.  I check off the books as I put them in the bag, and whatever isn't there I circle with my super-powered red pen, and tell the kids to go find the books.  

One of the aspects of home schooling is that we can get outside (I have a whole different set of pictures for that!  That will have to be another post.  Honestly, I keep thinking I need to Vlog, and just do some DITL type videos!)  I think Isaac found this dandelion, the very last one in our yard, as far as I could tell.  I know it sounds simple and silly, but I'm so thankful we can literally stop and smell the roses, er, or blow on the last dandelion fluff as it were, instead of being trapped inside and then to much in a hurry and scurry after coming home from school each day to be able to enjoy the simple pleasures of God's creation.

(Okay, that was a MAJOR run-on sentence. )

I love all the fun times, but the kids know that you don't mess with Mama when there is work to be done!

Blessings,

Lisa

A Special Thank You

To All Our Veterans! 

Dear Lord,

Today we honor our veterans,

worthy men and women

who gave their best

when they were called upon

to serve and protect their country.

We pray that you will bless them, Lord,

for their unselfish service

in the continual struggle

to preserve our freedoms, our safety,

and our country’s heritage, for all of us.

Bless them abundantly

for the hardships they faced,

for the sacrifices they made

for their many different contributions

to America’s victories

over tyranny and oppression.

We respect them, we thank them,

we honor them, we are proud of them,

and we pray that you will watch over

these special people

and bless them with peace and happiness.

In Jesus’ name we pray; Amen.

(By Joanna Fuchs)