Recording Today

The day flows by life a rushing river sometimes, filled with giggles and tears, failures and success. That cute phrase that she utters over and over, the one you promise you will burn into your memory, fades and with it, it's existence. How many things have gone by unnoticed or forgotten? How many precious moments have been all but erased?

 The days and years are just flying by without a second to hold on, savor. I've been reminded lately that I am the keeper of memories! As the kids get older, they will want to know and see what we did all those early years. Sometimes I struggle to think on what Jonah was like as a baby, I know what he looked like, but so many memories have ceased to exist.

 When was your earliest memory?? Preschool maybe? A few might have earlier memories, but not nearly as many as are created! So I decided I needed to make a change. And it starts with a Journal.

The entries are not eloquent or written in perfectly spaced lettering and script. They are the real life scribbles of what happens here on a daily basis. A living daily legacy of all that we did, laughed over and cried about. They aren't the inner workings of my mind and heart, but a slow recording of what my life is surrounded by. Because all too often I find myself completely lost in tomorrow, the calendar and plans laid out, instead of living here, right now, today. And when tomorrow comes, today is long forgotten.

Prayers

 praises

 struggles

 giggles

 failures

success

wonders

problems

They all deserve a place in memory, the teach us where we came from and help us in where we are going.....

Do you have a homeschooling or daily life journal? Maybe we could share some snippets of real life from that journal!

End of the Year Motivation

So this school year is coming to an end. Though the nice thing about homeschooling is not having to set an official start and end date, I like to have that for my own mental marking point! But getting close to that end date for me means my motivation starts to wane a little bit. Everyday seems like the perfect day for an unschooling day! I know though, not finishing what I've started also brings a fair amount of stress. So here are a few ways to keep trucking along for these last few weeks!

1. Set an end date, and count down to it! Be bold and set an official date! Not to guilt you into finishing or put a rush order on completing this workbook or that. But to give you an end in sight! Something to look forward to! Of course that doesn't mean learning stops! Or that you can't compete any more lessons. But it means you can breathe......just a little easier.

2. Make a summer wish list, and share it with the world! I've started mine! One lazy afternoon (or if you would like the kids to get some extra spelling and writing practice) day dream about all the realistic (and unrealistic) things you'd like to do together this summer. Maybe there are field trips that got skipped over this year, something special coming up this summer, or something you've just always wanted to do. Make a nice long list and highlight a few! Decide what is realistic for your family and really make an effort to make it happen!

3. Shorten your school days, lengthen the play time. Lessons can be done in less time and still be as effective. Around here we've been concentrating on the basics and still adding our History and Science once a week and life seems more simple. The blow up pool as become a permanent fixture in the yard, the pile of towels has replaced the pile of worksheets. And still books are being read, Math facts accumulating.

4. Add more fun into your school time. We've found a few new websites to keep us motivated. I found some Computer games on History at Goodwill. I've made up Math games using flashcards and M&M's to help recognize numbers. You don't have to spend hours researching to add some more fun into what you are already doing. But changing things up a little makes a big difference sometimes!

5. Out with the old, in with the new. Grab some iced tea or iced coffee, and start making your list for next year! (maybe even hang around here for a cyber curriculum fair, TBA) and learn something new! Pack up all the old books and curriculum, spring clean your shelves, get ready for the next year.! If you can order early and start your planning now, do it! Spreading it out over weeks instead of days will be invaluable in the future months to come!

What are you doing to help motivate you to finish strong in these last weeks of the school year?

A {LIFE} of Learning

Something I am discovering {and pondering } is the difference between school and learning. Education comes in many packages, homeschooling, unschooling, public schooling, private schooling, online schooling, charter schooling.....and then there are styles from Montessori, Waldorf, classical, traditional, progressive, eclectic....oh my I could go on.

The point is, there is learning involved. And creating a life of learning outside of what we call school, takes effort and intention. It requires an awareness to life and the world around us, how it interacts with all of the subject areas. It takes someone willing to incorporate learning into every possible moment, not just when the timer goes of and we "do school".

That isn't easy! It takes a creative and open mind to find ways to help our children explore and engage with the world. It takes extra energy and flexibility at times. But as you open yourself to learning during life and not just "school", finding opportunities to grow and expand are everywhere. Here are some examples I've found just in the last few days.....

Good:
J: "Mom what Time is it?"
Me: "It's 3:35"
It's great that you've asnwered your child's question, but can we make this a learning opportunity?? YOU BET!

Better:
Me: "What do you think kiddo, is it AM or PM?"
J: "I don't know."
Me: "AM in time is used when it's still morning, PM is used after lunch and into night time. Is it still morning or afternoon?"
J: "Well we ate lunch already so.....it's PM!"

Even Better:
You can go on to do a variety of things, if your child is still interested. Pushing learning past the point of interest doesn't actually get the results you want. But if your child is still engaged you can do a variety of different things. Ask them to find a digital and an analog clock around the house. Inquire about each of these. As about the numbers before the dots and after. What the hands of the clock mean. Count the numbers, count by fives. Your goal here is not to give a full lesson on telling time, but to connect something you have taught with real life. 

I find my kids are very open in these times to gathering new information in a very relaxed way. And these opportunities are everywhere. 

Recently Ellie and I took a trip to the Outdoor Garden center at our Walmart. We could have looked through the pretty flowers and went on our way. But instead we took time to look at different plants, we studied the flowering Eggplant plants and talked about how each flower would grow into an Eggplant. We looked at carnivorous Pitcher plants (yes they had some by the way!) and talked about how they ate bugs! And why! We looked at different seeds, talked about what they needed to grow. Read the backs of plant tags and talked about which plants needed a lot of sunlight and which needed less and why.

Yes, this took some time. And yes, my little girl is a talker so we could go on and on about plants. But we had a full lesson on horticulture right here in Walmart with no worksheets,fancy websites or crafts (all of which I love by the way) I simply took an opportunity to be with her, and talk and explore. And if we find questions I can't answer, we can extend learning to websites and book when we get home! We bought some seeds she picked out and took 5 minutes to plant them so we could watch them grow! There are so many ways you can continue to expand that one opportunity into a whole host of learning! Create a plant journal with drawings, observations, writing, measuring and science all rolled into one.

My point is, learning doesn't have to be during the hours of 9am to 12pm, it doesn't have to revolve around textbooks and workbooks and worksheets. It can grow out of the simplest times in life and really make an impact on your child! If you are willing to look for those opportunities and grab hold of them!

Fending off Burnout

[Burnout] ~ the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest This could be physical, emotional or mentally.


It seems I've been here more often than I'd like to admit. Both as a public school teacher as well as a Homeschooling parent. Teaching in any location is difficult, it is tiring. However being a homeschool parent means you are taking on a full-time job (at home), the responsibility of educating your children! Where it normally takes a team of people to accomplish this from researching curriculum to planning field trips to teaching, you are doing it all yourself. No wonder burn out seems almost inevitable at one point or another. Maybe a few of these suggestions will help fend off that season in the year.....

1. Lay it all out ~ to your heavenly Father. Cry it out to Him, what you are struggling with. I Peter says to "Cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you!" He does! He led you to this place of Homeschooling and when you are weak and weary and don't quite know how to keep going, we will comfort you and care for you. And ask others for prayer as well, whether it's your spouse, a woman's group, your Mom, reach out!

2. Take it all in ~ Sometimes identifying an actual problem might be the solution to burn out....is there a curriculum or schedule that just.isn't.working.? It may be something just needs to be changed to make things run smoother or click. Sometimes it may seem hard to switch in the middle or even end of the year, but it's not the schedule that is important, it's your children!

3. Call for Back up ~ everyone needs reprieve. Maybe you know another Homeschooling mom (or many!) who will take your kids for a day. Send some things for them to work on! Or a Mom who will let your kids come play for an afternoon. A good chunk of truly quiet time to either catch up, pray, sleep, read, sew.....whatever! is maybe what you need! There will be a time that someone calls on you and you can repay the favor!

4. Call it Quits ~ that's right, just quit already! For a few days or maybe a week! (if you feel really guilty take notes on everything your child does for that week and label it your unschooling experiment!) That is one of the perks of choosing your own schedule and time line, it can fit your life. When you have hit a rough spot trying to barrel through and keep teaching for the sake of teaching isn't going to accomplish what you really want with your children.If your have fallen behind in your housekeeping or other duties, take a few days or week just to catch up. Give yourself permission to get things in order!

5. Go on an edu-vacation ~ Plan a whole week (or a few days) to get you out of the house and do fun (and perhaps educational) activities with your kids. We live on a small Island but I can fill up a whole week of fields trips.....and most for FREE if I wanted or needed to. A trip to the Library, Fire Station, Post Office....exciting and FREE! Visit some Botanical Gardens, Go play at the Park, read books under a tree, go swimming......the list is endless and life is educational.

6. Get in check ~ Make sure there isn't something medically wrong. Exhaustion, sadness, lethargy, lack of motivation can all be symptoms of medical issues! Everyone deals with these from time to time, but if you notice any one symptom is hanging around and really starting to interfere with life, it may be time to get a check up and seek help.

Don't give up though, whatever you do. Make a choice for your children and sanity sake to do something about the slump. Trying to push through a difficult season in life only makes the stress and burnout worse. Give yourself permission NOT to feel guilty about asking for prayer, help or taking time to just catch up with life. You'll thank yourself later!

Our School Room

We are so blessed this year to have an actual school room!  Last year the 3 little students had to share the corner of a dining room and one table. It worked well for us, but it was a little cramped....

(I promise Ellie loves making strange faces while I photograph, she really isn't frightened)

This year......we have a whole room to call our school room!

We were immensely blessed this year to have a dear friend give us these desks for free!!! I know it looks a little stiff, but they love their desks. They spend hours at them~mostly when we aren't doing school! And they get their own little spaces under the desks to house their mess and clutter special items.

 The tall white drawers house the kids activities and work. We loosely follow Sue Patrick's workbox system.

Gracia's activities (blocks, magnatiles, puzzles, play dough....) are in the colored baskets to the left.

We were also blessed with a computer for the kids (my parents made a school donation). I can bookmark all their websites, games, links and they can play or learn at will! They love having a little cove and their very own computer!

Just so you didn't think I was a total neat freak....this is what this area looks like today. Yup, it's a mess.

And so is the rest of the room. It's hard to keep such a dynamic area neat. The kids help out a little but....well this is reality.

We start out the day here:

Of course it's not that neat right now. But we read books, do Character training, do Calendar Time activities. It's a nice place to use during the day!

So this is where you'll find us much of the day. Of course we also use the counters and tables throughout the house when we want to spread out.

My next addition I would love would be a huge Bulletin Board! I would absolutely love a place to decorate with themes as well a put up the kids art work for all to see!