Back at It

Class photo from August 2013.
This year I have a 4th, 3rd, 1st grader & a preschooler. Phew. 

So, we're back at it after two beautiful weeks off.

Yep, I took two weeks off of schooling my kids in the middle of October. Why not? I'm a homeschooler, we started early, it's well within my right.

And I know you're jealous (of the two weeks off!)

But this morning we are back at it. I just printed off the kid's checklists and am about to wake them up.

Sometimes I think this homeschool choice will be the death of me--it's too much responsibility, too much work, too little personal freedom. There are days when I fight tooth and nail to get some child to finish their work.

BUT

There are other days.
Days where we laugh and sing and dance together.
Days where we all learn or accomplish something new.
Days where someone makes a breakthrough--whether in reading, spelling, math, focus, or obedience.
Days where everything comes together in a beautiful, harmonious way, maybe I even accomplish a household task.

I live for those days.

One of my favorite things is when one of the kids "gets it.' Like when Olivia can sound out and understand a new word or gets excited about doing math through playing store (on tap for today). Like when Katie spends extra time reading 'cause she loves the book or when she draws another picture because she loves art so much. Like when Josh struggles through a tough math concept all week--and then Gets It. These are the beautiful moments.

And I love who my kids are becoming. Of course, they are still kids and mess up often. But I love to hear about how they interact with peers and adults. I love how they ask questions (most of the time). I love the programs and classes that they are involved in this year and how they are growing because of them.

Because of the circumstances of our lives this year, school hasn't always been easy. But it is good. And that's what really matters.

We're studying the world and missions. Which of course includes a large map puzzle.
Which I quickly put away because it drives me nuts. 

The Rest of Life

I don't want anyone to be under the false impression that all I do is sit around my house and brood about the adoption. To be completely honest, I try not to spend too much time thinking about it at all (keeping the mind busy). But also, I have a great and full and wonderful life.


Hey guys, can I take a not-goofy picture of you?

And since everyone everywhere is talking about back-to-school, I thought I would gush about Back-to-Homeschool!

Yep, I said 'gush.'

Why? Because even though it's hard and busy and time-consuming and mentally challenging, I still love it. I love spending time with my kids, helping them learn. I love watching them grown and develop. Although, I would honestly love to let another person focus on all the character training, it is part of my responsibility.

And I love what we learn. We have a full docket this year and I want you to hear about it. I've spent a great deal of time thinking, praying and planning for this year--and you should know. (Part of it is because for some, homeschooling is still not a legitimate form of education. I want you to see that for me, and many others, we take this stuff seriously.)

So this year we're learning:


Olivia at her desk.

• All about the history and geography of the 19th century (read: 1800s--westward expansion, colonialism, slavery and the civil war, industrial revolution). I could go on and on about how much I love history, but, I refrain. . .
• Writing, grammar, spelling, journalling,
• Bible study on Missionaries and the Gospel of John
• Chemistry (at the kid's request--and I'm a bit excited.)
• Art--following the Impressionist and Modern artists of the last two centuries
• Math--all kinds of math. Seriously. Three levels of math. Math that I now have to actually read the teacher's manual in order to know how to conceptually teach it.
• And Kindergarten--who could forget all the fun stories and hands on projects of Kindergarten. I'm thrilled to be in Kindergarten for the 4th time in my life. I'm enjoying it much more now!



Josh at his desk

• P.E.--yep, gotta have that component. You have to learn the rules to games like basketball, soccer. And you have to learn to run laps!
• Oh, and field trips! I'm super excited about all the field trips we have scheduled for this year!

Lest you think it's all about academic work, it's not. It's also about:

• Working and living and being together, A LOT!
• Helping each other out in times of need.
• Learning to work independently.

  

  Katie at her desk

• Life skills--working in the kitchen, personal responsibility for your own stuff, cleaning, laundry, errands, running a household.
• Oh, and fun! We try to have lots of fun together!

Homeschooling has just become part of our lives, how we live and shape our family. And for all the struggle, it has been good. Our family has grown, I've grown (probably me the most of anyone).

And now for the obligatory pictures!

I took this pics on our second day of school. (why not the first you ask--mostly because we hadn't gotten our new back-to-school outfits and we all look sorta sloppy.) As it was, not everyone was particularly thrilled about pictures. (Can you tell?)

3rd Grade

2nd Grade

Kindergarten

School Photo

Finally, a great picture of my goofy kids!

Looking into the Future. . .

Hey there! Welcome to the Simple Homeschool readers. I'm super excited you're here!


I've been thinking/planning/researching school for this next year. Seriously, it's one of my favorite things: making book lists, researching curriculum choices, thinking ahead into next year and all the great things we'll learn this year. 


Right now, I'm planning on teaching a 3rd grade boy, a 2nd grade girl, and a Kindergarten girl. Also, as part of my planning, I am thinking about our in-process adoption and making plans for if our kids come home sometime during this next school year (which at this point seems highly unlikely). Our homeschool is a blend of Classical and Charlotte Mason with a whole lot of life thrown in.


For our core, I use Tapestry of Grace Year 3, which I love because I love history and whole-learning. We will be studying the 19th century which covers imperialism, South America, the Westward Expansion, the Civil War and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (Oh, the learning, Oh, the books!) I use this as a base for all my kids and it covers history, geography, writing, reading,and lots of projects. 


Also together we will do science and Bible. I am leaning toward NOEO science for this year in Chemistry. My son is begging to do some chemical reactions! For Bible, we're going learn about missionaries as we "discover" different places in the world. However, I'm still looking for good books on them! 


And of course, everyone takes math. I've taught Singapore Math for all their years and really like what we've got going, so we're sticking with that. I've really liked Getty-Dubay handwriting. So all three will have that at their appropriate level. 


For my 3rd grader I'm adding Easy Grammar. Just 'cause. 


For my Kindergartner, she's so anxious to have her own workbooks. So she'll have handwriting, math, and Explode the Code. I'm also going to do a modified Five-in-a-Row with her. I want to have that cuddle time for as long as I can!


Finally, I'm spending a good deal of time mentally preparing for the time when life changes when we (prayerfully) bring home new siblings. To prepare for the trip to Africa and the adjustment times, I'm preparing lists of learning games and projects for the older three. I'm going to purchase/create a unit study on Africa and a bulk of our learning (outside of workbooks) will be processing the realities of our trip and learning all we can.


Through all this, we'll read. Lots and lots of books! 

Quarter 1 Recap

So, we've finished 10 weeks of school and I thought that this would be a good time to recap the things that we've done, mostly so I can pat myself on the back and say "good job, me!" Because even though I love it, this homeschooling stuff is hard work: it gobbles up a fair bit of my time and energy, demands patience and love and a huge helping of the Holy Spirit, and my house is pretty much a disaster all of the time.

But I love it! Why? well because I get to study history and science and math and writing with my kids. I get to hear Katie getting a better grasp on reading and watch Josh understand the math concepts of carrying and borrowing. Josh & Katie have also started asking questions that have forced us to explore more deeply, try a bit harder. Why isn't there more about women in the Middle Ages? What is the code of chivalry?  Olivia is excited to learn her letters and is dying for the opportunity to read.

We have explored the crust of the earth with a pizza and started testing minerals. We have travelled with Richard the Lion-hearted, Joan of Arc, the Black Prince, Marco Polo, and St. Francis of Assissi. We have visited Scandinavia in the winter with the Tomten, sailed with the Vikings to Greenland and beyond, and marched across Europe through Asia minor for the glory of God. We've learned that sometimes priests are focused on things other than God, women had a strong presence in the Middle Ages (who do you think cared for farms when all the men went off to war), and becoming a knight was not easy. We've learned our Spanish vowels and pointed out many el camion and el autobus.

We' ve met the God of the Bible: Jehovah, El Elyon, El Kana, El Shaddai, and Elohim--and learned that he is a loving, Creator God who deserves and demands our full attention and lives. Before Him there can be no other.

In life, we've encountered some bumps, been bruised, but have used creative thinking to overcome. There are now chore charts and kid calendars and places where the kids learn from others than me. They've brought me to tears, I've made them cry. School at our house is life magnified by 1,000.

But we're looking forward: to the Renaissance, the Age of Discovery, The Reformation, Shakespeare. Minerals and Rocks. Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. Spanish. And most importantly, Christ Incarnate: the Son of our Living God, come to earth as baby to live life and die for all our sins.

There is so much to be thankful for, so much more to learn.

And now, for your viewing pleasure: A smilebox album on our trip to the Renaissance fair in mid-September. We had a fantastic time and I hope to use much of what we saw to bring home the lessons we are learning in the weeks to come.

Enjoy!

This slideshow made with Smilebox

Remembering Today

I've decided that I need to remember how I feel this week.

The pencils are new and freshly sharpened. The textbooks are crisp and clean. Papers and notebooks are all nestled snugly in their shelves.

Curriculum has been ordered and planned and thought over and prayed over.

I am ready for this upcoming school year.

The kids are excited too--they can't wait for the stories, the projects, a Medieval festival, math (yep, they love math!)

I am excited to help them learn more about spelling and God's creation and who He is and the history and geography of this world that we live in.

I can't wait to serve alongside my kids as we practice some of God's commands.

And I need to remember this feeling in January after days of air so cold your breath freezes at the thought of going outside but you're losing your mind from being caged in all day.

And when I hear about the super sweet projects their friends are doing in their own school classrooms.

And when I see the yellow bus drive by my house. . .and my kids are sitting at the table not doing their work.

I need to remember this enthusiasm and energy and desire to teach, and learn, and be together on the days when I just want to be left alone.

Because the new feeling inevitably wears off, the books get scuffed, the pencils break and the pencil sharpener is no where to be found. Because there are days that I forget that I feel called to this path, not forced on it.

So tonight, I will focus on remembering the wonderful parts of homeschooling. Because that is what makes this life so sweet.

A Quarter out the Window!

What have we been up to? Well, we just finished our first unit (or quarter) of our homeschool year! Yipee! It has been 9 weeks of school that has covered Ancient Egypt, Creation, The Patriarchs and Israelites in the Wilderness. It has included science experiments, field trips to Art Prize, lots of great books. Oh, and don't forget that we are brought to you by the letters A to Z , the numbers 1-10, and addition and subtraction. It has been a busy few weeks--because we also threw in simultaneous trips to Salt Lake and Chicago, the bulk of canning & preserving season, and TaeKwonDo, ballet, PE, and preschool. Don't forget church and friends and reading and writing too!


Whew.


And now we get a week off! (yep, that's the advantage of starting school in mid-August. I planned in a full week break, for all of us!) Okay--so we're going to read some good books and hopefully do a fun art project or two and maybe watch some educational tv or computer games. Education is not all out the window--we are going pumpkin picking tomorrow!


I know that you are more curious, however, about the things that I learned during these first nine weeks. So I will share a couple things.
1) Planning ahead for the whole quarter made school enjoyable and profitable for all of us. (Another reason for the week off--I have to plan next quarter, and clean the house).
2) K is in need of a more rigorous plan and J needs me to add in some spelling. Check.
3) God is an amazing God--he set up everything the Israelites needed to know to live as a set-apart culture in his Law, yet they ignored and whined at him every chance they got. Reading the first five books of the Bible has been enlightening (I love Leviticus!).
4) My kids make pretty good Challah. And Eric can play the shofar. Who knew?
5) I really like this home school stuff.


And now, for your viewing pleasure: Our first quarter in pictures!
Blessings.

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Reflections

Wow! It sure has been a long time since a last post, but life has definitely not been quiet. It has been a busy few months--full of school and family and drama and parenting.

But today is a milestone. Today will be J's last day of school for Kindergarten. I can't believe we did it! We have successfully completed our first year of homeschooling. And no one killed anyone! And we still really like each other! Amazing! (not really, but some might think so!)

So as one should whenever ending a major task and looking forward to a new one, I have been doing some reflecting--on what worked, what didn't, what was good, and what was not so good. And because I am a writer, I am writing it down to share with you.

First let me share with you some of our highlights:

This year we followed the drinking gourd (and learned there are certain ways not to treat people), we made our own homemade napkins (including dying, hemming, and decorating). We spent a week in Florida learning about the beach! J learned to read (and is a voracious reader) and K is not too far behind. We have marvelled at how the ant does his work (without anyone telling him how or when to do it) and watched the seasons change from winter into spring. We celebrated four out of five birthdays (the last one is in a week) and lost a first tooth.

Also, as a mom, I have learned when I have had enough, how to ensure I get time for myself, and learned to define what is restful for me (as clarification, going to the grocery store without kids is not restful!).

1) Homeschooling was and is really hard work. But it wasn't ever the teaching that was tough. It was using so much energy to focus on school yet still having to done mundane things like wash the dishes and fold the laundry. It was wanting to shut down from the kids after we were done with school so I could have a little break.

2) I am not an organizational goddess. Not even close. Part of the big challenge of this year was learning where and how to keep stuff. Lots of stuff--from books to teaching tools & manipulatives to many, many "art" projects. In January, I had an organizational meltdown and invested in some shelves that have helped tremendously. But in this coming year, we are adding a new Kindergartner (K) so that means more books, more paper, more things to do. I think some more organization will be needed in the next few months.

3)In many ways, school this year was more about character refinement than academic skills. There was learning to communicate and obey, learning how to appropriately express anger and disgust, how to walk away from a troublesome situation. And so as I look towards the summer and next fall the question I am asking myself is "What do we need to work on? How can we each be better reflections of Christ to our world? How can my young children impact this place?"

4) I loved Five in a row for its access to great books, but I have a sponge for a student who came to abhor reading a story for five days in a row. That has played a big part in choosing next year's curriculum. I am really looking forward to learning about the ancient world with my kids next year: Egypt, Rome, Greece, Mesopotamia, biblical history! Yipee! It makes me all goose-bumpily just thinking about it.

5) I have come to accept that I am a creative person. I love to write, brainstorm, diverge, and create. However, when it comes to schooling, I do so much better if I have a plan in front of me--a comprehensive guide of what books to read and how to cover a topic--then I can diverge. But I need a goal. This realization alone has been incredibly instructive in this past year.

6) Most importantly, I have loved this year. I have loved learning and exploring with my kids. I have loved spending time with them and watching them become excited about this world that God has created for us. Our adventures to the Calvin Nature Preserve, Meijer Gardens, and other places are great times for their curiosity and questions to come out. We have learned so much. About everything. About what it means to be a family, about what things are important to us, about learning to communicate clearly with one another, about how to work together. It has been a wonderful year.

I can't wait for next fall!

Ahh, it's quiet in this house. Actually it has been quiet here for a few hours--OG is asleep and Eric took the other two to deliver Thanksgiving baskets for church. That means I have had enough time to sit and chill and think without being exhausted. . .so now I am here, to share with you (aren't you lucky!)


Wonder why there hasn't been any evidence of me in the blogging world for the past month? Well, it's because my life has been chaotic and until this past week, I didn't realize that there was anything that could be done for it. Most of it is normal chaos--a house with three young, energetic kids, a husband with an unpredictable job, toys everywhere. But some of the chaos had to do with homeschool.

I can hear it now. You think, "I knew it, it was going to be too much for her and now she's in over her head" Ha, Ha on you! No, schooling itself is good--I even really enjoy having my kids home (most days). But it is a crazy time. I have a son who loves the idea of school but when it is school time fights with everything that I have to do--like even the M&M matching game (it's too boring). I have a middle child who wants to do whatever her big brother is doing, even though it really doesn't interest her or is at her level of understanding. And a youngest who is bored--and when she is bored, it's like having Godzilla in your house. We'd be on the floor with a project and she'd jump on my back and be a monkey, or if we were at the table, she would be dumping random things all over the floor. This was not the way that I pictured homeschooling.


Because of a crazy few weeks, I had hit my explosion point. Then a few God-sends--some loving friends, a system of organization that I am working on, and a plan to pull me out of the muck and into a somewhat calmer day. And after a few days, it is working. I have more patience. OG is getting her own thing, and overall the house is a more peaceful place!



What have I done?

1) Instituted Tot School. Yep, OG has 20 minutes of dedicated time where we do things just for her. Today we read a story about roaring lions and played with some Africa animals.
2) Everyone has work during table time now. I purchased these handy little buckets at target and fill them with 3 activities for the girls and 4-5 assignments for J. So far so good. OG & K feel like they have their own school and J knows what he has to do and what is expected of him. The only complaint--not enough in J's bucket--which I'll give him, but building up activities for such takes time and energy.


3)Mandatory quiet time every day! One hour is enough to give me time to breath/sit/sleep/whatever! I am much more willing to tackle the rest of my day.



And the result? I'm not sure yet. But if I get more moments like this one, I will know it's worth it. In fact I already do! (It's J reading a book to OG--he's actually reading it! We're very proud!)

Canning, Camping & More--The end of summer edition

Wow, I can't believe that summer is over already. I think I am echoing many other sentiments when I say, it was a good one. I have so much to post, that you should get to see/know, that this is going to be largely a visual edition. So, enjoy.

Canning: been doing a bunch of that lately, some even with kids help. Here, they are helping me peel tomatoes that we can to use during winter months. In this job, they were truly helpful!

And just some of the bounty. This is tomatoes and bread n butter pickles (a first for me!). Also included in this year's bounty is peaches, pears, 4 kinds of salsa, and lots of preserves. After I finish up the pears and peaches tonight, I am on canning hiatus until apple season.

I will say that all the canning I do gives me great respect for food and food processing, specifically in how much and how hard it is to prepare like this. It makes me much less willing to take the convenience of our food systems for granted, but also to realize how "expensive" good food is. (Also, for those of you who care, all the food that has been preserved is locally grown and purchased from local farmers, except for the pears, because they were picked off someone's tree!)

School: Yep, we're three weeks in and are getting the hang of school. My house, on the other hand, isn't really in the rotation yet! Anyway, last week, we focused on a book about Japan and had a great week learning all about Japan and Japanese culture. We topped the week off with a Japanese lunch, complete with sushi, green tea, edamame beans, tofu, ichiban noodles, sticky rice and these great little chewy candies. Great fun and food was enjoyed by all!

We finished our summer off by camping with some great friends. And it was an adventure. Our pop-up was first stuck in the mud and then it wouldn't pop-up. Our first official night of camping we set up in the dark because it ws past 9 p.m. when we finally got it up and the battery on the camper had died and consequently, we also didn't have any ability to add extra heat--and it was cold that night! We suffered through 5 bee stings and a few owies here and there. But it was a great time! There were dunes to climb, a lake to play near, roads to bike on, trees to mingle with, friends to talk with and a great fire to sit around. It was a great first camping experiece--I hope we have many more in the years to come.

So how was that first day of school?

Well, I am so glad you asked. Because the school day on Monday morning was fine. It went well, even if I was a bit under prepared for the enthusiasm of my students. OG was playing with Yoli downstairs for most of the morning, so I just had J & K with me. We read a Bible story and a verse, we read our book for the week Madeline and talked about Paris, France and what in the world it might have in common with our town. (um, a river runs through it). That was where I was most unprepared because it would have been great thinking on my part to have a picture book on France available for us to look at, to give some concrete thought to the ideas--but no, so we struggled on. Afterwards, we did some writing practice and then some reading (as in they were doing the reading). We finished with a simple craft to make our own pencil holders (you know, for our pencils and stuff). And that was about the substance of our school day. Not too bad. If anything I thought that they were ready to receive more that I didn't have prepared for them. I forget what sponges they are.

But the rest of the day was a disaster. A total and utter disaster. And I have very little good to say about the day we had, how it happened, or how I responded to it. Just know that I am already tired and a bit discouraged by it.

The schooling today was great--we made books! And I changed things around a bit to make our mornings more manageable and it included a planned snack. And they were eager to do the work I had for them. Tomorrow will be even better I know--we are going on our first nature walk tomorrow and I can't wait for all three to participate in that.

And I am hoping for good night's sleep.

Some Beginning Thoughts

So, it's the start of Week #5 of marathon training. This week I up my mileage by two miles (for a total of 17 miles). What are my thoughts at this point? Well, I want this, but I think it is hard, harder even than I had anticipated. Not the planning, I got that, but the actual commitment of doing it. Part of the reason that I want to do this is because I know that I am a pretty good planner--I think about most details in advance. I can gather the things that I need to be adequately prepared. I can do the research to tell me what I need to do.

And I can start.

But rarely do I find myself finishing. I feel like this is a test that I need to pass because it closely parallels another great task in my life. Can you guess? Yep, homeschooling. I can do all the planning and reading and preparing and research, but am pretty scared about actually doing the serious work that will allow me to be successful and complete well.

So I have started training for a marathon. I have completed 4 out of 20 weeks. What are my next steps? Well, I think that I need to actually sign up for the thing, you know, put down the money and commit once and for all. And then, tomorrow morning, I have to gather the will to get me and all the kids to the gym. After I get there, I need to run three miles on the track and lift weights. I figure any more out later.

And I have to contend that this is a serious physical battle. First, I have noticed that while I can have the energy for the runs, I am more tired, much more willing to go to bed at night. I think that running four days a week is taxing and affecting my energy/motivation level for some of the other tasks of my everyday life. I think that I need to adjust the way that I eat more to give me more energy--i.e. more pasta! (I think spaghetti and meatballs tomorrow night!) Also, today is the first day that my body hurts from running--my knees, my feet, my shins. All of them are the teeniest bit upset at me for the strain that I put them under yesterday (they definitely argue when I walk up and down the stairs!). More long runs might produce more similar results. This is part of the fight--not to let these things derail me, not to let little inconveniences be stronger than my desire to complete this marathon.

Finally, I am in the mental part of the game. This is a conscious choice. I have made a decision and I have to stick with it. A fellow marathoner (a friend who has actually completed one) was so encouraging to me today. There is something to be said about talking to someone who has actually experienced this. He told me that this is hard, but it's worth it. That this is a mental game and that I CAN DO IT! And you know what, I think that I might try believing him!

Thanks for your encouragement friends. I appreciate your questions and conversations, for listening to me ramble. Keep it up--that's part of what keeps me going!

P.S. In case you were wondering or if you even care--the bright orange site is in honor of my running tank that I love!

Homeschool Fun!

Okay, so for many school just ended. But I am already starting to gear up for our upcoming Kindergarten year. This week, we purchased our main cirriculum and have started collected the stuff that we need to go with it.

Our main cirriculum is called Five in a Row. Essentially, it takes wonderful children's picture books and creates lessons covering science, applied math, language, arts, and social studies from it. Some of the books that I have already collected for our year include Madeline, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, and Clown of God. I have already found things and great books I would have otherwise never known about. I am thinking that I might give it a go already in July, after I have collected enough stuff.

Also, I am collecting books for our read-aloud list. Right now, titles include The Hundred Dresses, The Wizard of Oz, The Boxcar Children, and Five True Dog Stories. This list of books is being complied from many different sources. J is also loving the Magic Tree House books, so we just picked up a bunch of them off ebay for a great price. This reading list is so much fun and I can't wait to read all these great books with my kids--It seems like a lot of these books are ones that I never read, so in a way I am reading them for the first time too! (But we love to read lots of books, so willingly take suggestions!)

After that comes math and for that we have found a fantastic and rigourous math program out of singapore called Singapore Math. It gives the kind of learning in math that I want for the kids, but will hold up academically. (Math is sorta important in my family. I want my kids to be well-versed in this area.)

After these basic things there still comes some other stuff--the Handbook for Nature Study and outdoor study, handwriting and dictation, and basics like time, dates, manners, basic characteristics of God and the actions of a good kid.

So we're cruising right along. Can't wait for the fun to start. . .

Of Dinosaurs and Creation

As I knew that would happen with the prospect of homeschooling, I knew that there would be topics that I would need to discuss and teach my kids that would require a firm stance, a way of believing and also a way of teaching that could rile some people but also prepare my kids for real questions that they might encounter. I just didn't think that it would happen this soon.

Here are my two examples:

First, dinosaurs. Frankly, J loves 'em. Can't get enough of looking at books and pictures of the things. Is even starting to be brave enough to visit some museums that have skeletons (although they are still pretty big and scary.) In my opinion this is one time that I am glad that he can't read, because I am not ready to explain all this stuff.

But here's how I stand on all of that. First, I believe that there really were dinosaurs. I have seen their bone in rock and fully believe that God created them. I fully believe that God created this world with his Hand. It is a beautiful creation and I am thankful for that. But what I don't know is the history of that creation. We have been given a story that explains it to us in Genesis, but I am not convinced that it is a literal telling of God's creative acts for a few reasons. First, the earth is old. Rocks and mountains and valleys and oceans--they are old. How old? I can't answer that. Second, It is mentioned in the New Testament that God's understanding of time is vastly different than our very limited human one.

(You know the old joke, a man asks God what a million dollars is worth. God replies, "a penny." Man then asks, how long is a million years? God answers, "a minute." Man asks, thoughtfully, "can I have a penny?" God answers with a smile, "in a minute.")

But I have a very hard time swallowing the years that are given for approximate lifetimes of said dinosaurs. 350 million years is just a conceptually tough thing for me. And there are lots of things that we don't know--so it just seems like wallowing in the unknown. But I am not sure how quite to explain all of that that is God honoring, not stupid-ifying, and comprehendable to the kids. Thankfully, I haven't had the questions yet.

The second example of something I have encountered that I wasn't prepared for is:

Popular "Greenism" I don't know if this is what it should be called, but you all know exactly what I am talking about. My kids have heard some pretty harmless stuff (that I have supervised and know about) that comes from an environmentalist perspective. I thought it was all okay until one of them said to me. "Mommy, we can't chop down any trees or else we will all die." This raised serious alarms for me.

In all things I want our attitudes, actions and reactions to be God honoring. But I don't think this is it. I have long been thinking about what a Godly approach to our environment should be and the other night my dad helped me hit it on the head. The environmentalist thought thinks, "We are harming the world. We need to save it." While yes, humanity has done great damage to God's gifts to us, I can't find anything scripturally that calls us to save the world. Instead we are called to be carers, responsible stewards, this theme is repeated in a few places that I can thing of. While some actions may be the same, the thought process behind the actions has shifted signifigantly.

An aside: if we begin to think of the world and our corporate Christian responsibility to be stewardly of all God's resources to us, it is a shame that it is scientists leading us towards these thoughts and not the churches.

So, I have been started to think seriously about how to begin to shift the kid's thoughts on God's creation, so they aren't caught up in the consumerism (and built in panic and fear) of it, but instead in the stewardship and responsibility of living fully as God's redeemed people who honor Him and reflect His love on the whole world. I haven't yet come up with any great ideas, but I will be sure to let you know when I do.

What I'm Giving up

As I walk more fully into this life that is homeschooling, I am becomming more aware of who I am, how I operate and even what I expect from the world around me. I am thankful for this opportunity for introspection that has me pondering parts of me that previously I had not thought needed to be changed.

For instance, I am now fully aware that I am not supermom and now, more than ever, I do not want to be supermom. I want to be a good mom, maybe even a great mom for the kids that I have--and that definitely doesn't conform to the supermom image. And that's okay with me--for pete's sake, this afternoon, my kids decided to fly on their "airplane" to Indonesia and take all their belongings with them. So they packed up all their clothes into my fabric grocery bags, boarded the couch and flew away. The house was absolute choas and disasterous. I am not supermom.

I also get the opportunity to take my lack of discipline and organization and change it--not just hide it away or spiffy it up a bit, but honestly change. For us to be a successful homeschool family, this is something I feel I have to do. And I don't mind. It's fun to be challenged, even if it is really hard to do.

But I am becomming more and more aware of the things that I am giving up to homeschool my kids. (Don't worry, I don't need to be convinced about the good we will gain, I'm just being real.) These past couple weeks have been exhausting. OG, our littlest who just turned two, hasn't slept through the night for a few weeks. I was, am, and is tired. The other week, when J & K were at preschool and OG was napping, I could take a nap too. It was sorely needed and quite refreshing. I realize that as part of the decision to homeschool comes the loss of those kind of times. Sure, I will hopefully be able to institute quiet times and "breaks" for myself in the day, but it isn't the same as time in a home without the immediate needs of kids to fulfill. Also, I am learning that I have to reevaluate what "me-time" is and learn how to savor what I get. Friends of mine whose kids are all school age are able to go back to school, work out, engage in their favorite activites, as well as keep a clean house. Those realities make me a bit envious--I was secretly looking forward to the time when I had hours each day for my self. But if I am also completely honest, I was dreading that time too!

Ultimately, I know that sometimes to be a better person, to be more of who God calls us to be, we need to sacrifice our own desires, yet not become a martyr. And while this might be a painful, exhausting, and draining time, I fully believe that the outcome is worth the price. Truly.

Things that Warm my Heart

So ever since we decided to do this home school thing, I am noticing that our family does a lot of learning all time. Its like second nature--I don't even realize that we are doing it. Take yesterday, for example. I went to the library to pick up some books--and ended up getting some books on knights and princesses from the Middle Ages. One of them is a book of Medieval art and what it shows about the life and times of being a knight. And why did I get them? Well, Friday is J's birthday party and it is themed on knights, so I thought that we should know some stuff about them. Now we know what the weapons looked like (yeah, like I needed to give any incentive to like violence) and what the different decorations on knight's shields said about them. During church, I went a bit further in my thinking and found a couple passages that talked about God as a shield and putting on the whole armor of God--perfectly related for a boy who loves this stuff. I can't wait to share that with him tonight. We plan to somehow translate that to our party this weekend.

But over the past week, something happened that just warmed my heart and almost made me cry. It also gave me every bit of ammunition that I needed to justify my decision to home school. Friday I was diligently making my grocery list when J said he wanted to help write the list. I thought I would write one word and then he would copy it--not so. I told him that I needed milk--before I could spell it for him, he sounded out the first letter and then wrote it down. He was able to accurately do this with just about all the consonants. I gave him the vowels. I was so proud: to know that the way that we live encourages him try new things, things that are hard; to know that i can guide him to learning new things; just to know that we can do it. K also played along, drawing pictures of the things that I needed for her own grocery list. It is amazing and humbling and wonderful and fantastic to see this growth in them. I am excited for a thousand more moments like this as they each learn something that excites them--whether it be in art or music or math or science or nature or reading or history.

Yep, We're Going to Homeschool

I have been intending to write this post for a couple weeks, but until last night, didn't have the words to express what I needed to. So without further ado, we are going to become a homeschool family, starting with J and Kindergarten in the fall.

And now I want to explain our decision.

We chose this path because it is the right one for our family for right now. Knowing who our son is and what he requires, knowing the kind of parents we are and the family that we have, knowing the craziness of Eric's job. It is a good decision for us to make now.

However, as I read more and more, I get the sense that many people assume things about me just because of this decision. So let me also add that:
--I love school and teachers. I have fantastic memories of school and teachers and learning in general. I love the school my kids are at for preschool and would love to send them there for all of elementary. But that is not to be due to school consolidation.
--I believe in the power of Christian education. I was raised in Christian schools and credit them for much of the growth and knowledge that I have. God used those places to reach me during very formative times in my life. He used them to protect me.
--I am not retreating from the culture that we live in. Sure, I may be keeping them out of a school setting for now, but I live near the core city. I want to allow them the opportunity and chance to engage the culture, to transform it--not run away and be afraid of it.

But I also need to add that this is, in some sense a rebellion. We believe strongly in a Christian education especially in the early educational years. As we considered the options around us (simply, the ones in our neighborhood--because for now, we want to be centered near where we live), we found that what we wanted was not reasonably priced. Considering that in the next three to four years we will have three kids in full time school, the price tag (at today's rates) is about $15,000 to $18,000. This is not a responsible amount of money for our family, even if we are eligible for assistance. Faced with the thought of me having to return to the work force or choosing to teach our kids, we are choosing to teach them. For now. As we look into the future, we like what we see with our City schools and are thinking ahead for those in Middle and High School.

I am interested in dialoging on this. I would never suggest that this decision is for everyone. Even I question my sanity, based on the day. But I am excited. I truly feel a sense of purpose and God's call in this.

And, I must admit, that this has probably been one of the most unexpected parts of my life so far. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!