Stopped by to say...

I will have one last post coming.

In it I will wrap up this year (so you can access it on the sidebar) and I will also, *ahem*, post a picture of our school room. LOL!

Don't know exactly when I will get these done, but I just thought I would let you know. ;o)

Thanks again for all of the friendships!!!!

Praying for you all,

Mercy & family

So, I have news...

I'm just going to come right out and say it....

We are leaving SOW.

Ok, I know what you are thinking.

"You said you NEVER would."

Well...you know the saying - never say never. ;o)

Over the holidays I just kept hearing Jesus whispering in my ear that it was time for a change.

The whole time I didn't quite know what that meant. I just knew it meant...change.

After a lot of prayer, and a little bit of whining -

I have purchased the HEART OF DAKOTA curriculum.

For all of my children.

And, because God said to do it...I am just walking forward and I'm not going to look back until He says it's ok. Because, He said to. I could get into a long, thoughtful discussion about some of the reasons why, but the REAL reason is - He told me to go.

So, I'm not going to sit and pout about it.

I know He knows what is best. ;o)

I fully expect that as we settle, I will (hopefully) see how I can bring some of the things I LOVE so much about SOW into our school day, in some way.

But, right now I am just walking through the door put before me.

I just don't know if I want to keep up on the blog right now. Maybe at some point I might even start a new one (like I've done in the past), but for now I'm just going to settle in.

This lady has a great blog for the kindergarten my daughter will be doing:

http://www.ourfamilyforhisglory.blogspot.com/

And, this lady is doing similar programs as my 11yo & almost 3yo boys are going to do.

http://quietlyrunningtheracehomeschooling.blogspot.com/

So, that will give you an idea of what we are doing, while I'm away.

Thanks for reading our blog!

...Cough...Happy New Year!!..cough, cough...

Well, not quiet the way I expected this new year to begin. I've been laying in bed for the past few days. Turns out I have influenza A and I have bronchitis. Ugh. I am feeling much better. Praise God! It's been a rough few days. The kids are so great though. Superkid has been a big helper with my very active two year old. My little bear loves to make cards, so I got a few of those and a crown to wear from her. Lol! :o) My sweet husband had to miss some work taking care of me too. He's the VERY best, I'm tellin' you.

School has been math mostly and Christmas presents the kids got, like the drawing book, the robots that have been put together, the piano they are all learning. It was so cute, I overheard little bear talking to Big D the other day and she was showing him how to make an F chord and trying to teach him how to play. Considering she doesn't really quite know how to play...it was really cute!

I'm just thanking God for christmas gifts that I can consider "school" time stuff, you know?

Anyway, I have so much to say.

I just need to find a few minutes.

So, we'll, uh, catch up later, mmm kay?

In the meantime, I'm drinking me some tea and going back to bed!

Christmas in full swing 'round here!

Christmas tree up...check!

House decorated...check!

Christmas cards done...check!

And on it goes, doesn't it?

Is there a check mark to make sure we have the Love of our Lord working in our home? Lol!

Today the kids and I are going to visit a local nursing home. We are going to pass out some candy canes & share the Gospel by handing out tracks too. Jesus put this on my heart last week, so I invited any ladies in the Church that wanted to join us to go too. Hopefully we will have a good turn out. Mostly, I see the need to stretch my children a lil' bit. (Of course, I can always use some stretching too, eh?) So many times it is so easy to live life without really recognizing the needs around us. I just wanted them to have their eyes opened just a bit and hopefully their hearts as well, you know?

Christmas time is a good time to share the Good News and Hope of our Saviour. I wanted to make sure that I took this opportunity and made good use of it. ;o)

Praying that God's blessing and joy is in your home this Christmas season!!

Day one - Christmas Study

Note:

I am using the Amanda Bennett Christmas Unit Study for the month of December.

So far so good!

I just quickly took a few pics to show ya.

Here is Little Bear's designed notebook:

And...I am beaming here...look at her handwriting!!!!

She did it ALL by herself. I think that's pretty good for a 5 years young little girl, if I do say so. ;o)

This is the list of "WOW Words" for the lower grades for today. Not exactly understanding how those work, but at least it gives them some research skills...

Superkid's handwriting is pretty swell too, don't ya think?

That's all for today.

Oh no! Wait, we started our Jesse Tree again this year. This year though we are using A Holy Experience's Advent Devotional instead. ;o) Can't comment yet since we are only on day two...

Speaking of camera issues

Well, technically it's not the camera that has issues...

The kids made these really cool origami turkeys for thanksgiving.

They don't have them anymore.

And, guess who didn't take a picture?

Mmmm Hmmm.

If you are interested in them, you can check out the youtube video they used to make them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R0TUM1FIcE

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!!!

Bee Hive Field Trip

So, my friends husband is a bee keeper. Since we were studying pollination & there was a whole section all about bees (which is facinating by the way!), I asked her if we could come check the hives out. I got my camera all charged up, actually remembered to TAKE the camera with me...and totally forgot to take a single picture! Yep.

Anyway, it was really neat & the kids had a great time seeing where bees "do their thing." ;o)

Just thought I would share with you.

Rejoicing this monday!

Yes!!

School room is together. I will really really try to post up a picture within this next week or two. I need to move out a bookshelf, but the room is done!

Our schedule - is really really finally together!

It is just a finalized version of what we had been loosely doing this year.

Here it is:

6:15 - Wake, sing & pray with Daddy. Personal prayer time.

7:00- Get dressed, clean room, Breakfast. (Thankful journal, Manners, KSV)

8:00- Check-in with kids. Chore Time.

9:00- Bible Time (SOW language arts)

10:00- Break & Outside Play

10:30 - Independent work: Math, Handwriting, English, Spelling or Phonics. Plus any other assignments, like Reports or s/g/h reading, etc.

12:30 - Lunch time

1:00 - Together Time (Daily Lesson) & Check-Out (One on One time with Mom)

2:00 - Done!

This is kind of what we have been doing, but now it has been tweaked to finalization. It feels weird because it is really a hands off kind of approach this year. The kids are working much more independent than last year. I am still directing Bible, but expecting a lot of it to be done on their own. I am working with my 5 year old & I'm available during their independent time, checking on them,etc. It's just very different. But, the exciting part is - it is working!! Which is a miracle for my 10 year old! I think since his sister (at age 5) enjoys working independently, it is motivating him a bit more. This year I really needed to be able to be less tied down though because my 2yo little boy needs a lot of attention. He just has a personality that stays busy, so I need to be available for him. Thank God He knows everything we need before we even ask!!

I have a few other things I am going to discuss here later about curriculum/resource choices & such in some upcoming posts. But, really - my mind is on these upcoming holidays! This is our last week of SOW for the year. Although we are not finished with our Exploring Creation with Botony book, so we will finish reading that through until we are done. But, next week we are off since Daddy will be home all week. Then the following week we will begin our Christmas unit study by Amanda Bennett. I've never done one of her unit studies before, so I'll let you know what we think. Can you believe the holidays are here?!?!?

I'll probably post some fun stuff here coming up. ;o)

Re-arranging...again

Yes, today I am working on BOTH the schedule & the "school room."

I know, I know...

The school room, just seemed too "officey" to me. I wanted it to be more of a play room / kids room. So, I've been thinking about how to re-arrange it to make it more kid friendly.

Yeah, just when I thought it was all together. I should have been taking pictures through this whole process. It has changed so many times since we moved in!!!

I've liked the way that it looked each time, but it just wasn't complete. I think this next one will be perfect! (or as close to perfect as you can get it in an imperfect world, ya know.)

As for the schedule...I've had bits and pieces coming together, but I think we are finally getting close to a Final Draft happening here. LOL! My husband has been doing our "sing/praise/prayer time" with us before he leaves for work, which wakes up the kids - who are incredibly difficult to wake up! And, it starts our day earlier. It's so nice to have him start his day with us too. But, my quiet time is out the window now! So, I need to either wake up extra early...ugh...or figure something out here. So, I'm working on that now. I do have hope in the midst of frustration though. I can see bits and pieces of how to work things out.

After using a schedule now for the past year or so, I can't go back without one! I need that structure to know what & when everything is supposed to happen. It helps us out so much & all of our attitudes are much better. They aren't arguing with me, they argue with the schedule - which is silly of course. Right now, I am cranky mom trying to get everyone do do what *I* want. I CAN'T WAIT until they know it is the schedule talking, not bossy mom. LOL! ;o)

Just wanted to give an update...we will settle in at some point here...really.

Sometimes it just takes trial and error until things are in place, you know?

As far as REAL school stuff goes, we are doing good. I absolutely LOVE the botany book!!!! I cannot believe how much we are learning. Just amazes me how a good book can change your life!

That's it.

I have nothing more to say.

LOL!

Parts of a Seed

We took apart a bean seed today.

Yep, we learned all about the 5 main parts of a seed.

Lots of fun!

Parts of a leaf

By Superkid

Egypt Study

This was an AWESOME resource for studying Egypt!

I am computer illiterate. Or lazy maybe. So just CLICK HERE to go to the book instead.

It came with a DVD that was very interesting. Great arguments about why we should change the traditional dating of Egypt & how he believes the Bible corresponds to Egypt history. Very very neat!!

P.S.

I'm too chicken to take a picture of the school room now. It's a mess!! LOL!

I'll get it cleaned up a little better & post it up sometime this weekend. ;o)

Shoe Taxonomists

This is what my 5yo daughter learned today:

And, here was a fun little thing we did today.

We became Shoe Taxonomists!

We separated shoes according to their Kingdom, Phyla, Class & then we were able to get down to their order. We didn't have enough to get all the way down to species & genus. But, the kids really did have a good time. ;o)

So, first you start with a pile of shoes.

Divide.

Kingdoms: Sandals, Dress Shoes, Tennis Shoes

Take the dress shoes & divide.

Phyla: Laces / non-laces

Divide.

Class: boys / girls

Divide again.

Order: Velcro / Slip-On

So, this is what we come up with...

Kingdom: Dress

Phyla: Non-Lace

Class: Girls

Order: Slip-on

Which shoe is that out of that big pile?

Why this one, of course!

So, then we found ourselves classifying everything!

Botany Study

Exploring Creation With Botany

This is the book we are using this month. We are using it as a backbone for our study and using the text books & encyclopedia for reference. It is supposed to be a whole years worth of science study, but it will work out perfectly for us. We read the Astronomy book the first year of SOW. I really like this series. Right now I have a lot going on & it seems that everything in school I need to be involved in, so I'm having my 10yo read to my 5yo. It's actually a lot of fun to listen to him teach her. :o)

Settling In...

Well, I am finally beginning to feel a LITTLE bit of a settling in our life.

(This is a personal story of how our school room is coming together)

Last week it seemed like things were coming together, we had bought my daughters white desk and I had some beat up ol white bookshelves. My toddler had his little desk. I had put my desk in our bedroom - UGH.

Then, I just decided to get radical and try to see if there was a way to take that desk out of my bedroom and get it down in the "school room." It seems to make a lot more sense. I really am adamant about having rooms cleaned. Maybe I'm weird, but I truly have noticed a difference when MY room is cleaned when I wake up - my whole house seems to follow. I get so discouraged to wake up in a cluttered & dirty room. I feel defeated before I even get out of bed. SO, I prayed for a miracle - that somehow I could get my desk to fit into the school room. And, God is so very faithful! It didn't happen at all how I expected though.

I found a great deal on good ol' craigslist - 5 bookshelves & 2 desks for $95. The problem was the two desks were big...too big for a five year old little girl. So, on the way to visit my parents we saw a garage sale & wouldn't you know - a cute little wooden desk, that matches the set we just bought! $17. Since we are planning to sell all of the other things (and take back the white target desk we had bought for $70!!) - it all worked out great!

Anyway, I don't have a picture right now. But, I just wanted to give you and update. The school room is coming together just fine. ;o)

Our schedule is still a bit rough for us. I'm so glad to say that this - waking up early in the morning to pray- thing, is really really nice! I haven't been getting nap time, because my 2yo nap time is around 11:00 and it seems I'm busy then. Usually around 2:00 or 3:00 - I'm exhausted. Of course, the kids are in full swing then. SO...dr. pepper has become my best friend. LOL!

I promise to keep updating & I'll get a picture up soon of how the school room looks. ;o) Personally, I LOVE pictures - much better than a Long ol' boring story about a school room. LOL!! Thanks for reading!!

More Scheduling & SOW 2A2

Hi, it's me. ;o)

So yesterday I spent the day from the beginning to the end running around like crazy, trying to do all the things on my "to do list" and snapping at my sweet children. At the end of the day all I could think is...there has got to be a better way!!

Yes, there is.

I sat down & went over the list of all the things I was trying to get done with my hunny bunny. It seemed impossible! Between just keeping my children together and the house together, etc. - school was somehow supposed to fit in here. :o)

I've been here a thousand times and every time it seems God does a miracle somehow as I arrange my priorities. Thank God it happened again last night!!

So, I mentioned before that I wanted to switch the independent time from being in the afternoon to being in the morning, well...I'm still doing that, but I decided what I really needed to do is split our together time up into two parts. AM & PM. A fresh sigh of relief came when I began to see that.

Now after breakfast we go into our morning together time, which flows so naturally.

(Especially since that's how we did it last year) We just do those table time things, like the thankful journal, manners book & the prayer for the countries. This is also when we will do our language arts (aka Bible study). Then I will assign their independent assignments. That was kind of confusing to me how to do a "check-in" with the children each day with the last schedule I wrote up. Problem solved! This gives me the mid-morning - early afternoon to spend getting my 2yo to his nap and having my precious quiet time that I need each day. I usually take about a 15 minute nap, but mostly I pray & or work on a project that needs to be done. That is time I need to spend for my sanity during this crazy season of my life. lol!

After quiet time / independent time then we have lunch and begin into our afternoon together time. This is a check-out time for us and a time to do whatever else needs to be done (sci/his/geo/etc.) We will do our projects and such then as well.

That's pretty much it. Oh, except - I haven't had a formal morning prayer time in awhile. Jesus has been pressing on me since I moved into this house to rise a bit earlier (when my husband has been going to our Church to pray) and pray then. THIS HAS BEEN SUCH A BLESSING!! I know, I know, I should have been doing this a long time ago... The truth is, it's not that I don't pray in the mornings. I do. It's just more of a "ok, here we go" prayer. I spent my afternoon quiet time as my "formal" prayer time. But, beginning your day in Prayer is really awesome!! So, I am putting prayer first. I am also encouraging my children to pray as well. I am reminding them to talk to God before they come down for breakfast.

In case you skipped all the details & just wanted to see the schedule - here you go:

Wake

Shower (mom)

Get Dressed

Pickup Room

Laundry

Pray

(The kids pickup room, get dressed & pray before breakfast)

Make Breakfast

Eat

Morning Together Time

(Prayer, Bible, Check-in)

Independent Assignments

AM Chores

Free Play

Lunch

Afternoon Together Time

(Check-out, S/G/H, Literature, etc.)

PM Chores

DONE!

Just to give you something to look at...

Here's my 5yo's Outline for Joshua 6-12:

We are floundering...

Ok, so the last two weeks have been a little difficult for us.

Moving uproots your LIFE in so many ways. Our old schedule just wasn't flying anymore. Most of our books are still packed in the garage. (which is a long sob story...) But, basically, I have been very discouraged about how things have been going. I was crying to God. I've already learned in my walk with God that He is pleased with FAITH, not whining or fear, etc. Yet, here I went complaining and whining to Him. Of course, He is a great God and reminded me that He WANTS to help me, but that I am trying to do this all on my own.

After His reminder, of course, today I have had vision & hope that was completely dead before. Now I actually see a little glimmer of light shining through!!

Jesus told me He is doing a new thing this year and that I need to be prepared to change MY schedule for His. The old way of doing things is not working, so it's time to listen to His plan. ;o)

This morning I just happen to click on "schedules" in the yahoo group. Then again, I just "happened" to click on Joy's. What a blessing! I feel so encouraged to follow her lead. I've read it before, but it really spoke to me in this season I am going through.

Even if I follow this simple rule:

PUT PRAYER FIRST

Then I will have succeeded in our schooling.

This is what God pressed on me today. He gave me a new schedule, which allows each of us to spend quiet time alone with the Lord for as long as we need!! Isn't that amazing & awesome?? Here's what it looks like:

Wake up, Get Dressed, Clean Rooms

Breakfast

Chore Time

Prayer...

Independent Time

Lunch

Check-in /school with mom

(alternating children)

Together Time

(Bible & s/g/h)

Clean-up Time

Daddy Home

That's a simplified version.

Basically, it is backwards from what we used to do. We used to do "together time" in the morning & "independent time" in the afternoon. It just seems to make sense right now to switch it.

I just thought I would check in to give you an idea of how things are going around here. Moving is difficult. Beginning a new school year can be difficult too. Moving & beginning a new year - impossible! LOL! Thank God that I serve a God of miracles!!!!!!!!!!!

1st week of SOW!

Well, we finished the first official SOW week. It was rough. We are still not put together yet over here. I'm hoping that in the next week or so we will be a little more organized. Hopefully by next month I can give you a good picture of how the school room is coming together. It's sooo neat! I feel very blessed to have a place to let the children spread out a little bit.In the meantime, here's a glimpse of some things we did in 2A1:

Superkid's Spelling -

This is a great book to read along with your bible reading -

These next few we did a lil' project. ;o)

This is our representative of a cylinder for making a sign.

Here are a few pictographs or cuneiform writings from each of the sumerians living here. lol!

(The first one superkid said was a "REAL" sign.)

I had trouble posting all of the various seals & pictographs they made. This gives you an idea though. ;o)

See you next week!!

First Day of School

So, I wasn't as organized as I wanted to be since we still had bathrooms & bedrooms to put together yesterday. We also spent awhile shopping for a craft desk, which I promised my 5yo daughter we would buy when we got to the new house. It's all my little girl does - constantly doing some sort of a craft. So, instead of having ripped pieces of paper ALL over the house, we decided it would be a good idea to give her a space. Of course, it is for all the children to do crafts at, but we all know who will be there the most!

Anyway, so... I decided to make today a fun day since it is the first OFFICIAL day of school.

8:00 - wake up, make beds, pray & get dressed.

9:00 - Some together time, read bible & discuss the day.

10:00- Head out the door. First stop - Jack in the box for 99 cent breakfast!

10:30- Eat & play at the PARK!! :o)

11:30 - Shopping - getting some school supplies on clearance. ;o)

1:00 - Littles in the pool while Superkid & I pick up the house a bit.

1:30 - Math, handwriting & a few other school things...

3:00 - DONE!!

There is something really nice about rejoicing in our freedom to homeschool! I love taking the kids to the park when no one is there. It's so nice to run around the whole place and not have to fight with the other kids.

Overall, a lot really got done but it was a nice relaxing day. I love to start the year out like that!!!!

Thank You God for homeschooling!