Homeschool Journal - 9/28

In my life this week....

We brought in the autumn season!  I love decorating for fall in my home almost as much as Christmas!  This year, my sweet little girls helped me...and actually HELPED!  :)  Miss E (9) has quite the creative knack - a little more daring than I am but still very creative. I would still like to decorate the front porch, but I think that will wait until next week.  

In our homeschool this week...

We have seen great progress in everyone's reading!   With the long summer break, it seems to take a while to get the brain flowing smoothly again. :)  I think things finally began to click again this week!  I have also been encouraged that even though the newness of school is wearing off, and we have just completed  week 5, the kiddos are still enjoying school and are keeping cheerful attitudes (for the most part) as they work!

My favorite thing this week was...

Miss E's English assignment was to choose one of the two poems on her English page to copy in her best handwriting.  She was not too thrilled about the prospect of copying a fairly long poem.  I then remembered how she is thoroughly enjoying our reading of Anne of Green Gables.  I suggested to her that she go to her room and read the two poems with all the expression and drama that Anne would have.  She smiled and said, "I can do that, Mom.  I bet I can do ever better than Anne!"  The entire time I was teaching Mr. A phonics, we could hear the very dramatic readings.  Miss E came out of her room smiling and ready to copy one of the poems, and she even chose the longer one because she "liked the way it sounded!"

What's working/not working for us...

We have begun struggling with getting all of our work done before noon.  I usually finish all but one subject.  I am going to try to switch a couple of things around in our schedule because I do not like being rushed, but I also do not like skipping our quiet hour to do school.  I am hoping these changes will help out.

I'm grateful for...

My kiddos. I love looking for the good in them and finding so many, many things.  It seems like during the routines and schedules, I tend to correct and hand out consequences much of the time.  That's OK.  It comes with the mom territory, but it is a wonderful thing to change the perspective and realize how very blessed I am with the gifts God has given me.  I'm thankful for Miss E who loves to help and is always thinking of things she can do for others.  I'm thankful for Mr. A who is a diligent worker and loves to be treated like a man.  I'm thankful for Mr. G who has such a sweet heart and a tremendous desire to do right but tends to get in the most trouble!  He crawled into my lap this afternoon and told me in a most sad voice, "Mom, I'm just going to make you a letter for your birthday and a letter for Christmas and a letter for Easter because I don't have any money to buy you a present."  Doesn't that make your heart melt? :)  I'd take a letter from that little boy over any present in the world!  I'm thankful for Miss M who is always full of smiles and giggles and a little mischief.  She is testing the waters of independence at the cost of my sanity right now, but that big smile and hug are pretty irresistible.   I'm also thankful for the newbie.  He is such a good little baby - always smiling and making sweet baby noises.  He is beginning to develop a shrill squeal that none of us care too much for, but other than, he's "pretty perfect."

That has been our week - or some of it at least!  We are off to a birthday party for the evening!  Looking forward to spending some time with family!  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

A Just Right Day

I love those days when everything goes just right.  I would love to have a few more of those days when everything goes just right!  :)  Today is one of those days.  School is mostly done, the house is mostly clean, supper is mostly planned, and so I'm mostly on top of things! :)  I have my homemade pumpkin potpourri simmering, beautiful music playing and a cup of coffee in hand enjoying a few quiet moments.  I'm thankful that God gives these days - days to remind me that this work is worth while.  The sacrifice and serving and daily doing of the same things over and over again do pay off.  These days also remind me how much more smoothly life goes when I prepare and plan ahead and do my very best to be organized (a gift that I most certainly do not come by naturally).

The fall is always a perfect time for me to regroup and set new goals.  The Mr. and I have made a list of character qualities that we want to instill into our children this "school year."  It is hard work - such very hard work - but after just a few short weeks, we are seeing some magnificent progress.  It is difficult to be consistent.  It is even more difficult to parent each child in an individual way - praying for wisdom and parenting by faith trusting the Holy Spirit to pull our children's hearts to Him.  These are the things the Mr. and I are working on this fall.  Do we have it down?  No!  Are we the perfect parents with the perfect children?  Just the thought makes me laugh ridiculously loud because that would be an even bigger NO!!!  However, I am thankful for the progress we see, the improvements that have been made, and the character that has been strengthened in our entire family. I am also thankful for the days that God allows us to enjoy the "fruits of our labor."

Today is one of those feel good days.  Today is a day to reserve strength, faith and quiet peace for those days when everything is not just right - for those days when the number one goal is only to make it to the end of the day with everyone alive and hopefully still in one piece (believe me, I have more than I care to admit of those kind of days).  I pray you are blessed with a beautiful fall day full of new resolve, progress and satisfaction.  If not, hang on...God loves to bless us more abundantly than we can ever imagine and in the most unexpected ways and times.  I am certain God has something very special planned for you.

Homeschool Journal - 9/22

    

In my life this week...

I have been trying to get a few extra things done - putting away summer clothes, getting out winter clothes, preparing our wood stove for winter use, and I am hoping to put out my sweet fall decorations today!!!

In my homeschool this week...

We had a fairly routine week of school this week - nothing unusual, just continuing to press on and still enjoying the relaxing school routine that has come through implementing Charlotte Mason's methods in our schooling.  I did introduce the kids to the famous composer Mozart and his work The Magic Flute.  The kids loved listening to the Classical Kids CD, and we are delving into a short biography of Mozart as well as listening to some of his other works throughout the day. So far, the kids have been fascinated by it, and we have heard many new "opera" voices throughout the house! :)  This music mommy is happy!

What's working/not working for us...

I finally enjoyed an entire week of a decently clean house.  A clean house is important to me.  I feel like we cannot learn in a cluttered, dirty area. It's just the way I work, I guess.  I was struggling to keep it all together, and I finally decided last week that I would begin spending Saturdays doing all of the major housecleaning.  This gives me a clean house at the beginning of the week, and then, by assigning every one little clean-ups throughout the week, we were able to maintain it.  It's not the way I wanted to spend each Saturday, but it worked!  I also found the evenings during the week were not as tiring because I was not cramming house chores into every extra minute I had.

Things I'm working on...

I am still working on that thing called self-discipline.  I find it difficult to find the balance between sticking to something for the sake of self-discipline or calling it quits because it just isn't working for us.  For example, our entire household seems to function better when I let the kids sleep until 8 or 8:30, but something inside me keeps saying I'm raising lazy children if I don't help them learn how to get up earlier.   I also fell very short in several of my goals this week due to lack of self-discipline.  I am thankful that God is not finished working in me yet, and that, with His grace, I will keep improving.

I'm reading...

I am still reading in the 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge, and I am still...behind.  I have decided to stick with it and even if I am not able to finish it in 90 days, I will finish as much as I can in 90 days.  I also just began reading  A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola.  I have been surprised by how much I have enjoyed it!  It is a much easier read than I was expecting it to be.  I have only read the first few chapters, but I feel it is going to be extraordinarily helpful in further establishing our Charlotte Mason schooling.

I'm cooking...

My father-in-law planted a summer garden this year, and even though he did all the work himself, he has been so generous in sharing their abundance of tomatoes (and other yummies).  I made a delicious lasagna with those home-grown tomatoes and have also cooked and frozen a couple of batches of my mother-in-law's famous spaghetti sauce!  We're soaking up the Italian food here! :)

I'm grateful for...

This week I am most thankful for my sweet Mr.  Even though he believes I bring most of my problems, dilemmas and stresses upon myself (and he is right), he always helps me out of them.  By Friday, I was just plain exhausted.  The newbie has been cutting teeth and not sleeping well at night.  At 10:30 AM, the house was still not in order, the newbie had been screaming all morning, the other children were fussing at each other, and my little world was falling apart!!!  I gave the Mr. a very rare call over to work (he works just next door and has a flexible job, but I try hard not to take advantage of that).  He came home, put all the children back in order and even took the newbie to work with him for the rest of the morning/early afternoon!!!  Once we got the house in order, the kids and I finished school in 1 1/2 hours!!!  Maybe I should look into someone keeping the newbie while I teach! (I still laugh every time I remember the lady asking me who would care for my little ones while I was teaching the older ones!) I definitely am thankful for the Mr. who helps me - all the way from separating the frozen hamburger patties (which I worked on for 10 minutes with no success!) to taking the kids out so I can have a little space!  I love that man!

I'm praying for...

This week the kids and I each shared the one big thing we need to work on - self-discipline for me; attitude for another; getting along with a brother for another; not whining for one; and self-control for the last (not in any order, just in case you try to identify :) ).  We are all praying the newbie quickly cuts his teeth! :)  We found Bible verses for each problem we need to work on, and we are all praying for each other in these specific ways.  

A quote to share...

Be sure that your children each day have something or someone to love, something to do, something to think about. ~A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola

I am off to clean the house from top to bottom and possibly put out my fall decorations, but best of all I have a date with a wonderful man tonight!!! :)  Happy Weekend!