Our School Day in a Nut Shell

Okay...here is our school day in a nut shell. Please know that I don't share these things with you because I think I am doing it the best way, the only way, or the wisest way. There are more ways to home school than there are recipes for chocolate chip cookies (okay, maybe not quite!) and this is just the way that is working for us. Having said that, we have come across some "resources" that I think are just great and worth passing on to you (even if you don't homeschool)!

We start out our school day around 8:30 am with about a 1/2 hour of penmanship (we are using Horizons Penmanship) and creative writing. I make the kids write 4-6 sentences about whatever question I ask them. For example, if it's raining outside I might say, "Tell me about your favorite things to do in the rain" or "If you could pick, would you rather have it raining outside or sunny and why?".

Around 9 am we take time for Bible (they also have Bible in their SOS curriculum). This is where I get so excited! We listen for about 10 minutes (about 2 chapters) to the Bible (New Testament) being "dramatically" read. The version is the ICB (International Children's Bible) which Bryan and I think is a great children's version. I found the CD set of the whole NT for $20 on CBD and I am SO PLEASED! It's amazing how the Bible comes alive through dramatic reading. Women playing the parts of women, sounds of the sea waves hitting the boat when Jesus was fast asleep, etc... It's been a special way to start each day!

Then we head over to my computer to sing along with YouTube.:) I found a "Books of the Bible" song...you might think it's a bit corny...but I relied too heavily on AWANA to teach my kids the books of the Bible and since the kids haven't been in AWANA for a couple of years...I knew I needed to do something about it! I want them following along with the messages on Sunday mornings!

Then it's on to school till 10:30. The kids do their SOS (Switched on Schoolhouse)which, by the way, I have become a huge fan of! It's working great for our family!!! Titus and Caleb work on their math. Once again, I am so tickled with the new program we are using for them...Math U See. They are "taught" by a teacher on a DVD and they are always using manipulatives which I think is extra great for boys!

At 10:30 we break for stretching, exercises, snacks, and reading. I have this cool old book from when I was growing up called "My Magnificent Machine". All 52 chapters (only one or two pages long each) talk about different parts of our body and how they work and why we need them...from a Biblical perspective. It's biology in a nutshell!:)

It's back to school after that...the kids continue wherever they left off on their computers (and that includes a typing lesson!) and the little men move on to Language Arts...I am using "Explode the Code" and love the simplicity but also the depth of it! I am also reading through "History for Little Pilgrims" with them. It's by Christian Liberty Press and by far my favorite way to learn history..because the basis is that history is HIS STORY...how God has worked in the lives of men, nations and the world to accomplish His purposes.

There are days when everyone is done by noon but, more days than not for some, it seems to go longer into the afternoon than I would like. The Lord uses those days (and they come often) to remind me that my days are not filled with MY time...it's the Lord's time!

Having said that, I often find my nerves frazzled and my brain mushy by the afternoon. I have tried to just "push through it" and keep going but often that leads to irritability and sin on my part. So, I am being extra diligent to take at least 30 minutes to sit down with a cup of tea and read or go walking on the treadmill.

The kids have music lessons/practice in the afternoon, chores that have to be done, and chapter reading to complete...but they still find plenty of time to play...whether it's turning our backyard into a mud bowl, begging to play the Wii or Playstation, trading hockey cards, or turning our house into a variety of play acting scenes...the most recent has been the border crossing. Titus and Caleb have decked themselves out in "cop gear" complete with Nerf dart guns and then they have fun detaining unsuspecting citizens (i.e. Grace) and making life a bit difficult for them!:) Grace has also missed Linnea so much that she has turned one of her babies into a miniature Linnea...complete with a diaper bag packed with all that was in Linnea's diaper bag. Grace's Linnea has a schedule and everything...eat, wake, sleep time...it's a riot!

So, that is life...or what we aim for each day! Most of all, I am learning to aim for the glory of God in everything we do and above all things! It's so easy to fix my hopes on a plan or schedule...only to have things not go how I planned in some way or another just about every day...leaving me joyless and frustrated! But, in Christ, there is FULLNESS of joy and pleasures forevermore!