The Happy Homeschool Mom

Friday, August 26, 2011

Getting A Wiggle Worm to Sit Still and Listen

Two of my boys (6,7) do NOT like to sit and listen for any length of time. They do ok for a little while (think 10 min) but pretty soon they are very antsy. While begin very antsy, they of course are not listening because all they are thinking about is how much longer it will be until they can get up and what they are going to do when they can. We do a lot of reading in our house. I needed to figure out a way the boys would be able to sit, keep themselves busy and still be able to listen to me. So, they draw while I am reading. They get their colored pencils and notebook out when we sit down to start reading and start drawing. This keeps their hands busy and keeps everyone quiet, but they are still listening to me as I am reading. How do I know? At the end if what I am reading (history, science, Bible, read aloud) I will ask them to narrate back to me or ask questions about what I just read. i think allowing them to draw while I read actually clears their minds of thinking about how long it will be until I am done and what they will be able to do then and allows them to focus on what I am saying. They also do not interrupt and ask how much longer and I don't get frustrated because they keep interrupting! It's a win, win situation for all of us!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A Neat Little Story....God is So Amazing!

I am the Children's Church Coordinator at my church. This means I prepare the lessons that are taught during Children's Church and also fill in to teach when someone is not there. There are a couple of ladies that like to prepare their own lessons. Last Sunday I had told the children that we would have a party in Children's Church the next week to celebrate promotion Sunday and I would make a special snack for them. Unfortunately I forgot until I woke up Sunday morning. I had the ingredients to throw together a yellow cake and had some canned frosting in the cupboard so I quick made a cake.

I got to church and the lady that was teaching Children's Church stopped me to say that she had prepared her own lesson. She had found an object lesson online that talked about following God's Recipe. She had brought an apron, mixing bowl, and ingredients to make a "cake." But, instead of using all of the correct ingredients, she would substitute some. Instead of butter she brought mustard, soy sauce for vanilla, ketchup for eggs, etc..The message was that when we don't follow God's recipe for our life (the Bible) and start inventing our own rules, we don't end up with a tasty cake, we end up with a mess instead. Little did she know that I had the perfect compliment to her lesson....a finished yummy cake that showed what will happen when you follow the recipe.

Isn't it amazing to see God working in all things even something as simple as one Children's Church Lesson?

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Not Back to School Blog Hop: A Day in the Life

The topic for this week's Not Back to School Blog Hop is a Day in the Life. What is a typical homeschool day like in your house. We "do school " 4 days a week. Fridays we take off from homeschooling and run errands, go grocery shopping, have play dates with other homeschool friends. This year we will also be doing an Art Class on Friday afternoons. This is what a school day looks like in our house Mon-Thurs.

7:30-9:00- wake up, breakfast, morning chores- Children's morning chores include cleaning up their breakfast dishes, dressing, brushing teeth, feeding and watering chickens, dogs, and rabbit. My morning chores include breakfast, cleaning up kitchen , dressing and feeding myself and little ones, doing a load of dishes, starting a load of laundry.
9:00-9:30-outside play time- It is still very hot here in Arkansas, so we get outside in the morning to play and burn off some energy before our school day begins.
9:30-11:00- We do all of our "together " school work first. We use our Morning Board and do Bible, History (Mon, Wed), Science (Tues, Thurs), Art (Mon.) Then Alex uses the computer for Reading Kingdom, and I spend some time reading to the little ones.
11:00-12:30- lunch, recess. Make, eat, clean-up lunch. Outdoor recess in fall, winter, and spring.
12:30-2:00- individual school work-Handwriting, Spelling, Math, and Reading. Two little girls are napping during this time so I can work one on one with Spelling and Math.
2:00-3:00-media time if schoolwork is completed
3:00-4:00-afternoon chores,productive free time
4:00-5:30-preparing, eating supper
5:30-7:00-free time
7:00-8:00 -evening chores, snack, getting ready for bed
8:00-bedtime- all of the children go to bed except for the two youngest since they get a nap. The children do not have to go right to sleep. They can play quietly in their beds and the older ones can read in the beds with their reading lights until they are ready to go to sleep.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

First Ever TOS Crew Blog Hop

The TOS Crew is having it's first ever Blog Hop! You do not have to be a member of the Crew to participate. Visit one of the following hosts to see the rules and start hopping: Our Village Is A Little Different, A Glimpse of Our Life, and Our Homeschool Studio.

Favorite Recipes: Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I needed something quick and easy for breakfast that I could make the night before and the children could grab as they got up in the morning. They love cinnamon rolls but I did not have time to make those so instead we tried out this recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

1/3 cup white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Mix 1/3 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon in a bowl and set aside. Combine all other dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Combine all wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients stirring until smooth. Add half the batter to a greased 9 in loaf pan. Pour half your reserved cinnamon/sugar over top. Add remaining batter and top with cinnamon sugar topping. Draw a knife through batter to marble. Bake in a 350 degree oven 50-60 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Easing Back Into School

A couple of years ago, we went from being off for two months to starting back on the first day with a full schedule. To say it didn't go well would be an understatement. It was a disaster! The day ended with a house full of cranky children and a cranky mama. Ever since then, I have used a more gradual approach in starting back to school.

Monday was our first day of school. For this first week, we are only doing History and Science. Alex is also still working on The Reading Kingdom and all of the boys have started using Time For Learning (review coming in Sept.) We are using Mystery of History Vol I for History on Mondays and Wednesdays. I am doing the readings on Mondays and an activity, memory cards, and time line figures on Wednesdays. I'm hoping this will work out well, but if it doesn't I will change our schedule a little bit. For Science, we are using Apologia's Zoology 1 and are following the two day a week schedule that is in the Student Notebooking Journal. We are doing Science on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We take Fridays off for errands, grocery shopping, and play dates with other homeschool friends.

The last week of August we will be adding in Art, Spelling and a read aloud. The next week we will add in Math,Handwriting, and some books for silent reading. By the end of September I will also be adding in Writing Tales Level 1 for Nick (4th grade.)

Chelsea, who is in 10 th grade this year decided to go ahead and start in full speed. She realizes that High School is more work and wanted to get a jump start on all of her subjects. She does History with us on Mondays and Wednesdays and does project work for upper level students Tuesday and Thursday. You can find my post on her curriculum here. In addition to the subjects listed she is also doing an American Government course and looking for a French course for fun.

I am very flexible in our scheduling. Sometimes we may have to post pone some (or all) of our core curriculum and focus on reviews. Also, we may decide to take some time off here and there to go out of town or on a field trip. We also may have some sick days through out the year, though I hope not! Starting out the school year gradually and by being relaxed and staying that way throughout the year makes for happier children and a happier mama!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A Not Back to School Blog Hop: Student Photo Week

It's Student Photo Week at Heart of the Matter's Not Back to School Blog Hop. Yesterday was our first day back at school so it was a good time to take some pictures before we got started. I always intend to take pictures on the first and last days of school, but usually end up forgetting. Now that I have pictures of the first day, I just have to remember to take them again on the last day. I did not tell the children I was taking pictures so they weren't dressed in anything special, just what they put on whwn they got up in the morning.