Thursday, July 19, 2018

All Things Family!


Having quiet days at home with just me and the two youngest. I so enjoyed spending Monday through today with my sweet little girls!  Today my 4 children who were involved with Bible Memory camp will be coming home and my son Jacob and his wife Katie arrive!!!  I love having everyone home at the same time...makes me soooooo happy!!


Friday, July 6, 2018

Motherhood part 4

When we first started homeschooling I was pretty scheduled,  and used a textbook curriculum.  We used Rod and Staff Math,  and their reading program the first couple of years.  That was a lot of workbook pages for my little 4 year old boy,  but he did well with it and seemed to enjoy the lessons.  I know I loved spending that intentional time with him!

Through the years we added more children to our family and changed our curriculum a few times.  The textbook approach was not for us and we took more of a Charlotte Mason approach.  Our favorite part of the day was reading good books together,  learning about the bible and history, spending time together as a family playing games,  going hiking,  playing hide and seek in the dark... inside and out,  and definitely attending church activities together.   I would say that as I look back... It really wasn't about the teaching  method we chose,  but the time spent together.

Spend your time wisely... You don't get a second chance to make lasting memories with the ones God has entrusted you with!

I know in the midst of all that needs to be done and many little ones needing your attention,  there are some moments you wonder how you're going to get through it all,  but I wouldn't trade spending all those hours with my children.  Such precious memories!

I really did take time to enjoy those moments... God impressed on my heart, even in the early years,  how fleeting this time would be, and to capture these special days in my memory.  They do grow up,  they do move on with their own lives,  they are no longer at your side,  asking you to read and play games with them or just to spend time with them. 

It is hard to let them go... Even though the objective is to raise them to be followers of Christ and to chase after Him... It would be a lot easier on my heart,  if that were only as far as a few miles down the road.  I really don't think they know how much we love them and not sure they can even comprehend this... At least until years down the road when they are in these same shoes with their own child.


Below is what I posted on Facebook the summer of 2017.


"This summer our family will be scattered...because of God's leading, and the fact that my children have chosen to chase after Him... we will be in Oklahoma, Romania, Indiana, South Carolina, New York, Ohio, Canada, Illinois, Maryland, Washington DC, Louisiana, Tennessee, Montana & Michigan.    Okay, so physically "I" am only going to be in 2 of these locations, but where my children are...  a piece of my heart will be also.  Many prayers for fruitfulness, safety, and guidance this summer!! W/ Souled Out International & Bible Memory Ministries."

Because of the love we have for God and each other, the roots of their lives go deep into my heart...and though miles may separate us... they will always be a big part of who I am. 

Shauna is the winner of the Fashion Dreams Time Travel History journal by The Thinking Tree!  Congratulations Shauna!

Comment with your address and iI will get the journal sent out to you!

Thanks everyone for entering!



Thursday, June 28, 2018

The Thinking Tree Funschooling Journal Reviews


I will be adding more Thinking Tree journal
 reviews soon.

Survival guide and science handbook 9+



Click below for a look inside.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lg-AFnCbuko





Click below for a peek inside.
https://youtu.be/o35l4LdDv8w




Core Journals - these journals allow you to choose your subjects of study (many are themed,  such as the pet one below). 



Click below for a look inside.

https://youtu.be/Jn5TJZNnmjE




Spelling






100 words to be mastered by age 10.


The link above will take you to amazon,
 where you can look inside.



Ages 8-10


The link above will take you to amazon,
 where you can look inside.



10+



Click below for a look inside.

https://youtu.be/vgZNhEGowm0



175 words to master by age 12



The link above will take you to amazon,
 where you can look inside.



Advanced level language arts for highschoolers.






Bible/Devotional



Click before for a peek inside.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4fsiamu8f08




Click below for a video of the journal.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sac9vn0NfBw



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lBP6KjKuf0I

Creative writing



The link above will take you to amazon,
where you can look inside.





The link above will take you to amazon,
 where you can look inside.





The link above will take you to amazon,
 where you can look inside.




The link above will take you to amazon,
 where you can look inside.




Nature study


Click the link below to see a video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fZNij-G2cSQ





Math





Click below for a peek inside.
https://youtu.be/OfY9GThpcaE



Purchasing journals through my link, my provide me with a small commission.








Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Homeschool Giveway



Hello I have made a recent educational discovery that we are so excited about!  

The Thinking Tree Funschooling Journals. 

I will be giving away 1 copy of the
 Time Travel - Fashion Dreams

The winner will be randomly chosen
from the comments to this post. 

Time Travel History - Fashion Dreams 1800-2030: Creative Fun-Schooling Curriculum - Homeschooling Ages 9 to 17


180 Lessons.   Learn history as your draw the fashions of the era.

 Use one page per day as a complete history and art curriculum that will last for the entire school year! 


Below is a peek inside the journal.












These are the basic pages included.

The pages will repeat, starting in 1800
and progress through  2030.

What a fun way to learn history, era fashions,
and work on your drawing skills.

Check back to see who the winner is!!


You will see a review of the Spelling Time journal I posted on Monday



Motherhood Part 3

When our son turned 4, we decided to give homeschooling a try.  My reasoning in starting so young, was that if it didn't go well, he could start Kindergarten when he was 5 and no one would know the difference and he wouldn't be behind.

Once I got started, I never looked back!  I loved teaching my son!  I love sitting by him while he was learning.  He enjoyed math, and learning to read, and we both loved our read aloud time together.  He didn't seem to mind sitting at his little desk through all of those lessons...looking back I would have done it very differently.  Little boys don't always do well at sitting still for long periods of time, and the all those lessons in math and phonics stretch out for long periods of time, but I didn't know any better, and he didn't seem to mind.

We started out with a fairly structured schedule in those early years... Up early, chores, school.

Whenever we were doing school, my sweet little 2 year old daughter was right by our side.  In fact whenever J left his desk, even for just a moment, M would hop in his seat and start writing on his papers, he would get so mad at her. :)

Well once we decided homeschooling was for us, we decided to become a part of our local homeschool group.  They always had a meal at the park to start the school year, and at that time would choose leaders, for the following year, from those present.  Well that first evening, I and 3 others were chosen to plan the activities, and put together to new directory of homeschoolers in the area.  They chose me and 2 other new homeschoolers, along with a sweet lady who had been homeschooling for a couple of years.  I was a little hesitant, because I felt like I really didn't know what I was doing, but we had a great time working together that year.  It was so much fun to be closely involved with others who were just starting out on this journey!

The group consisted of around 50 families (although there were probably closer to 20 that participated regularly), who got together a few times each month for field trips, craft time, and social activities.  This was such a fun group to be a part of.  Most of the families were from our community, people that I already knew of, but didn't really know.  We made some good connections, and enjoyed the fellowship as fellow homeschoolers.

By that time we had three little ones 4 and under.  I felt that I had my hands full, and I did, but looking back, those were the easy years. :)  Caring for small children is physically challenging, but I later realized that those years were not near as stretching as when your children get older and you need to not only teach, but be a good example in your actions.  You need to live your faith, if you want them to claim it as their own.  Hindsight is 20/20 ya know.

I felt God was calling me to give up things that may cause my children to walk down the wrong path....many would call my actions extreme, but to me, it wasn't worth putting my children at risk, to have any movies, books, tv shows, or activities available to them, that may cause them to become numb and unseeing to the sin around them.  I wanted them to have a clear picture of right and wrong, good and evil. 


Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Banana ice cream for breakfast

This is what happens when you don't get the food processor lid put on properly. :-)


My sweet little girl decided to make banana ice cream for breakfast. She got all of the ingredients she wanted in the food processor,  I was standing right there walking her through the whole process, and made sure to tell her to put the lid on before she plugged it in, but I didn't notice that she didn't get the lid put on quite right... Well with a turn of the knob, the lid wiggled off and there were bananas,  milk and ice covering the counter, splashed all over the front of the cupboards and all over the cloth covered stools, the floor.  and dripping from my sweet girl's hair.

At one point in my life I might have let this ruin my whole morning,   but not anymore. Here was my girl standing there with milk dripping from her hair giving me this odd little smile and all I could do is laugh, she looked so cute.  I really hadn't planned on scrubbing the kitchen floor, or washing the cupboard fronts this morning... although truthfully it needed cleaning before this happened.

When I first became a mom and only had 1 little toddler running around,  I actually used to follow him around while he was playing with his toys,  and as soon as he moved on to something new,  I would clean up the mess that he had just left behind.  Well obviously as we had more children I didn't have the time or energy to do that!  

I still like us to keep things picked up and tidy,  and everyone has their chore charts to work off of,  but I am much more relaxed in that area... Maybe it's because I have witnessed how quickly time passes and want to concentrate on the most important things.