Spilled Milk (or Water, Actually)

"And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord."  Ephesians 6:4

No, I'm not a father, but I'm pretty sure that does not let me off the hook with this one.  The verse popped up in my News Feed on Facebook this morning.  

Right after I yelled at my poor oldest boy for spilling a glass of water all over the homeschool table and the pile of paperwork that I am working through today, even as he was already trying to mop up the mess.


*Sigh*  


I was thankful for His reminder.  It helped me to quickly repent and ask for forgiveness.  While He was quick to forgive, my boy took a little longer.  I understood why, I was out of line.  So I gave him the time and space he needed and before long we reconciled. 


The papers dried quickly, but the wound to his heart might take longer.  

Lord, give me grace to raise my children with patience and gentleness.  Help me to see what is truly important in each moment and to respond to that.  Give me self-control to push down frustration and anger and to respond with the love and grace You show me.  In Jesus' name, amen.


***It's been a long time since I last posted here!  Life as a homeschooling mama is busy and full.  I miss this space, but seldom have time to post here.  I do update our homeschooling blog fairly regularly, though, and I'd love to see you there: Our Great Homeschool Experiment***

A Gift from His Heart

*Forgive me if you subscribe to both of my blogs, you will see this post twice today.  I wrote it for my new homeschooling blog but I realized it was appropriate to post here, too, as the content is mostly about how God is speaking to me in this season.*

As our book club was drawing to a close last Saturday morning, my sweet friend handed me a book entitled Homeschool Supermom...NOT!  When Grace Meets Homeschooling by Susan Kemmerer.  She said it was a gift (along with an iPhone arm band thingy I wanted for the Couch to 5 K madness she has gotten me wrapped up in, but that's another post entirely.)  I thought it was such a kind gesture- don't you love it when you get a tangible blessing reminding you that someone is thinking of you?

Thursday afternoon, as the kids swam away the afternoon, I sat on our back patio and read Chapter 1 of Homeschool Supermom.  And I quickly realized that the book was not just a gift from my friend's heart to mine but one that was also straight from His heart!  Right from those first few pages, I could see that God was going to use this book to speak to me about several different thoughts/concerns I've been mulling over as of late.

Let me back up to Wednesday and explain.  Wednesday was a bad day here.  A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.  I'll spare you the details but by lunchtime I had yelled so much my voice was hoarse and the kids were wide eyed with alarm.  By bedtime, I was ready to join in with the chorus of tears from my overtired kids.  Late Wednesday night, lying awake in bed while the rest of the family slumbered, all I could think was "what was I thinking?  How can I homeschool these children?  Is it too late to call the school and get them signed up for next year?  But what about all the money we've spent on homeschool materials?"  Sleep was slow in coming, needless to say.

Today I read this in Homeschool Supermom:

"If you're feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, ashamed, and burnt out, keep this in mind: putting your kids back in school or hiring a maid might make life easier- for a time- but it will not ultimately make you happier or more righteous before God, nor will it accomplish the changes in your life and family that you really desire... Only a heart focused on Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross on our behalf will ever experience true, lasting joy- even when the house is a wreck and school remains undone."

That encouragement was like water to a dry soul.  And there was plenty more encouragement and wisdom sprinkled throughout the short chapter. 

And speaking of my dry soul, that leads me to the next reason I love this book already.  Each chapter ends with questions to ponder and scriptures on which to meditate.  Since summer began, bringing with it a new routine, my morning prayer/scripture time has become less regular and somewhat stale.  Now I'm planning on using this feature of Homeschool Supermom in my morning Quiet Time and I am already feel excited about it again!

The last wonderful nugget I took away from Chapter 1 was actually a confirmation of concepts  God has been teaching me lately.  Remember that book club I mentioned at the start of this post?  We had been reading and discussing Authentic Relationships: Discover the Lost Art of One Anothering by Wayne Jacobsen and Clay Jacobsen.  One of the themes we discussed was how to be genuine, authentic, transparent in friendships- to allow people to see beyond the image into our real selves.  A favorite quote from this book:

"Our fear of letting people see beyond the image we want to project denies us the friendships for which we hunger."  Authentic Relationships

 And from Homeschool Supermom:

"...behind closed doors, there lurks a secret.  There's another side we seldom let anyone see. It's our messy homes and messy lives being worked out in the messy process of sanctification.  It's called 'our humanity.'"

I was reminded this afternoon, that I want to be genuine and real.  So many sweet friends have encouraged me already in this homeschool journey- sharing how they wish they could do it and how wonderful they think I am for doing this thing called homeschooling.  But the truth is, I am not all that wonderful.  I am not a Supermom by any stretch of the imagination.  Exhibit A- Wednesday at my house.  I'm simply a mom who feels led to give this homeschooling thing a try- willing to offer up my weaknesses as well as my gifts to God and see what He makes of it all.  If we continue on this homeschool journey after a year, it will be only by His grace.  If our journey ends after one year at home, that too then will be only by His grace. 

Busy, busy, busy!

Please forgive me, dear friends!  I have been so busy over here that I have not had the chance to post here :)  I have a few posts mulling around in my head as well as the urge to catch up on Praying the Psalms and Multitude Mondays so I hope to be back to posting here early next week.  In the meantime, please pop over to Our Great Homeschool Experiment and say hello!

Doh!

Well, I just realized that I misspelled experiment in the blog address for our homeschooling blog.  Oh the irony!  I tried to just accept the typo and live with it but alas my perfectionism could not be satisfied.  I changed the blog's URL and you can find it here.  I apologize if you already bookmarked or subscribed to the other URL.  Truth is you may be redirected automatically but since I'm not sure, I figured I'd better let you know where to find it.  Thanks for your patience :)

Our Great Homeschool Experiment

Several friends and family have asked us to keep them up to date on our year of homeschooling, which I've affectionately come to refer to as Our Great Homeschool Experiment :)  I decided to start a separate blog to document our experiences with homeschooling. I'll probably still post some on homeschooling here as it will be such a big part of my life in the next year but I will leave the nitty gritty details of the journey over on the new blog.  I'd love for your to follow our journey there so pop on over to Our Great Homeschool Adventure and drop a comment to let me know if you do!

Summer Plans

Summer vacation officially started this past Friday for us!  Thursday was a half day and, to celebrate, we went to lunch with 25 of our closest friends from school at a local restaurant.  On Friday, we met up with more school friends for a pick up baseball game and then went to the movies with the first graders and their teachers.  On Saturday, we went to an End of the Year BBQ where many school friends and teachers were in attendance.  On Monday, the boys each had a play date with a school friend so we have not had much time to miss anyone yet :)    


In the midst of all our fun, I have had some more time to plan and prep for our summer learning adventure.  In addition to our overview of Ancient Times using Story of the World, Volume 1, the boys will be working through this Baseball Unit Study by Amanda Bennett.  To supplement both of these studies, I've filled two large bins with library books- one dedicated to history and literature based on Ancient Times and the other dedicated to America's favorite pastime.  Our school has an Accelerated Reader program in which the students earned points each time they read, quizzed on and passed a quiz on a book.  The boys really loved this program so I modified it for use at home and they are busy earning AR points here now.  I even found a reading log for my four year old where she can color in a portion of a circle for every book read to her.   


We are also starting a new Family Devotional for the summer.  I must admit that I struggle to continue a consistent Family Devotion during the school year.  We've tried doing it in the morning but that soon fades out as we are rushing to get out the door for school.  We've tried it after dinner with daddy when he is home early enough but we forget more often than we remember.  We have been pretty consistent in the summer though.  And now that we will be homeschooling next year, I have made it a part of our school schedule so I hope it will become a habit for us.  This summer we are using Child's Book of Character Building: Growing Up in God's World.  The book focuses on 12 godly character qualities.  We are doing one character quality a week- memorizing the corresponding scripture verse and pointing out to one another when we see that quality being displayed.  


Our weekday schedule will look something like this- with lots of room for reading, swimming and other spontaneous summer activities:
8 a.m.     Breakfast    
9 a.m.     Devotion and Story of the World
10 a.m.   Outing/Play date
4 p.m.     Baseball Unit Study

*The Amazon links above are affiliated with my Amazon Associates account and I earn credits at Amazon when purchases are made through those links!*

Summer Learning is Fun!

Remember last year when I was all organized about our summer plans and even wrote a series of sorts on the process of planning and our final result?  This year- not so much!   That's not to say I have not been planning.  Oh yes, I have!  But between planning for summer, planning and purchasing materials for our great home school experiment next year, wrapping up two large volunteer projects at school and training a new person to take over my job as church secretary, time (and energy) to blog has been scarce.

However, since I have a few moments right now before our final regular season Spring baseball game for our oldest, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share what I've planned out so far for the summer.  Since we will be joining a group of friends in Year Two of Tapestry of Grace next year, a friend suggested we read through The Story of the World, Volume One: Ancient Times over the summer to get an overview of history prior to the Middle Ages.  I devised the following plan from The Story of the World, Volume One: Ancient Times textbook and activity guide.  Maybe this will help someone?

Week One Readings and Activities:

Day One

Read & Discuss Introduction                                                                                               

Complete Make a History of My Family Book                                                                    

Day Two

Read & Discuss Chapter 1                                                                                                   

Complete Map Work                                                                                                           

Complete Make a Cave Painting                                                                                         

Day Three

Read Chapter 2                                                                                                                   

Complete Map Work                                                                                                           

Day Four

Read & Discuss Chapter 3                                                                                                  

Complete Map Work                                                                                                          

Complete Make Cuneiform Tablets                                                                                   

Day Five

Read & Discuss Chapter 4                                                                                                 

Complete Map Work                                                                                                         

Complete Make a Chicken Mummy                                                                                   

Week One Field Trip- Egyptian Exhibits at Local Museum                                           

Week Two Reading and Activities:

Day One

Read & Discuss Chapter 5                                                                                                        

Complete Map Work                                                                                                       

Complete Word Search                                                                                                  

Day Two

Read & Discuss Chapter 6                                                                                               

Complete Map Work                                                                                                       

Complete Activity Puzzle OR Comic Book                                                                       

Day Three

Read & Discuss Chapter 7                                                                                                

Complete Map Work                                                                                                       

Complete Make Your Own Law Code Stele                                                                    

Day Four

Read & Discuss Chapter 8                                                                                             

Complete Map Work                                                                                                       

Complete Art Project OR Writing Project                                                                        

Day Five

Read & Discuss Chapter 9                                                                                              

Complete Map Work                                                                                                       

Complete Craft Project OR Writing Project                                                                     

  

Week Three Reading and Activities:

Day One

Read & Discuss Chapter 10                                                                                           

Complete Map Work                                                                                                      

Complete Writing Project                                                                                               

Day Two

Read & Discuss Chapter 11                                                                                            

Complete Map Work                                                                                                     

Complete Paper Bead Necklace                                                                                     

Day Three

Read & Discuss Chapter 12                                                                                            

Complete Map Work                                                                                                    

Complete Make a Monkey Doll                                                                                     

Day Four

Read & Discuss Chapter 13                                                                                            

Complete Map Work                                                                                                      

Complete Be an Archeologist                                                                                         

Day Five

Read & Discuss Chapter 14                                                                                           

Complete Map Work                                                                                                      

Complete Moses Stickerbook                                                                                                   

Week Three Field Trip

Tabernacle Reproduction Exhibit and Play- Joseph                                                  

Week Four Readings & Activities:

Day One

Read & Discuss Chapter 15                                                                                           

Complete Map Work                                                                                                    

Day Two

Read & Discuss Chapter 16                                                                                          

Complete Map Work                                                                                                     

Complete Make an Assyrian Siege Tower                                                                     

Day Three

Read & Discuss Chapter 17                                                                                            

Complete Map Work                                                                                                      

Complete Draw the Hanging Gardens of Babylon                                                         

Day Four

Read & Discuss Chapter 18                                                                                            

Complete Map Work                                                                                                      

Complete Minotaur’s Maze OR Build Your Own Labyrinth                                                      

Day Five           

Read & Discuss Chapter 19                                                                                            

Complete Map Work                                                                                                      

Complete Make a Mycenaean Shield                                                                            

Week Five Readings & Activities

Day One

Read & Discuss Chapter 20                                                                                            

Complete Map Work                                                                                                     

Complete Write Your Name with Greek Letters                                                           

Day Two

Read and Discuss Chapter 21                                                                                        

Complete Map Work                                                                                                     

Complete Play the Conquer Mesopotamia Game                                                          

Day Three

Read & Discuss Chapter 22                                                                                           

Complete Map Work                                                                                                     

Complete Write on an Athenian Wax Tablet                                                                

Day Four

Read & Discuss Chapter 23                                                                                           

Complete Map Work                                                                                                     

Complete Greek Gods and Goddesses Wordsearch                                                      

Day Five

Read & Discuss Chapter 24                                                                                          

Complete Map Work                                                                                                    

Complete  Play the Peloponnesian War Game                                                            

Week Five Field Trip

Have an Olympic Games OR the Greek Exhibit at Local Museum                          

Week Six

Day One

Read & Discuss Chapter 25                                                                                           

Complete Map Work                                                                                                     

Complete Play the Alexander the Great Game                                                             

As you can see this plan only spans five weeks and a day.  That works for us!  We have a week at the beach planned in June and hope to escape for a long weekend here and there in July and August.  The kids also have two weeks of half day camps in July.  This plans leaves us with lots of breathing room for lazy days at the pool, a last minute get away with the family or whatever suits our fancy on any given day.  It gives us a framework for learning that is flexible enough for summer fun!

I have more to plan and more to share about summer but I'd better get the kids fed before opening pitch :)

*The Amazon links above are affiliated with my Amazon Associates account and I earn credits at Amazon when purchases are made through those links!*