New Term

I am getting  excited about our new term of school coming up.  I have divided things out in three twelve week terms to go along with AmblesideOnline and I have started working on planning term two.  During this first term, we have gotten used to the material, our schedule, and each other.  Now we can add a few things and maybe make it more fun and enriching.

The materials I use do not tell you exactly what to do.  I am working my way through the six volume series of books by Charlotte Mason and she really gets into  the “whys” but leaves most of the “hows” up to the parent.

AmblesideOnline provides book lists for each year so that you can get started without having to have read all of Mason’s books.  This first term, all we have done is the basics- reading, writing, rithmatic.

For term two, I want to add in some activities and just more fun.

Maybe to kick it off, we will have Roman Week.  We will have the entire week off before Thanksgiving and Bucho has been interested in the Romans because they keep showing up in our stories.

Reaping the harvest

I have been working the last six weeks on a smooth running house.  Last night, it really payed off.  We take a break from school on Wednesdays for library story time and I do the minimum of chores.  Last night after dinner, BuddyCake (boy, 3 years) put in a load of laundry while Bucho cleared the table and I loaded the dishwasher.  Hubby snuggled with Button and then took out the trash.  We were all done and ready to go to church at 6pm with little fuss or confusion.  WHOOO HOOO!

Favorite organizing site: FlyLady.net

So, how have I done it?  I am sorry to say, it has been a long and trying adventure to get here and it starts with a fundamental shift in thinking.

What is the most important thing you want to pass on to your kids?  Love, joy, peace, happiness, God . . .

What do you want your kids to look like when they are 18 and walk out your door? (or do you want them to walk out your door?)

I inherited a view of childraising that helps me to see my kids as future adults who will have to live on their own and care for themselves.  I do not have the means nor the desire to care for them for the rest of their lives.

Hubby (and many others) have seen kids as kids.  They need to be loved and coddled, they are irrisponsible and you try to minimize the damage they create no matter the cost.

Now part of both views are true-and you can tell my bias- but there needs to be a happy medium.

They need love, compassionand play AND guidance, discipline and work.

That’s what I love about homeschooling.  We really have time for it all.  Bucho (boy of 5) plays-a-plenty and still does 1-2 hours of school and chores: pick up toys, empty silverwear, clear table, plays with siblings when asked, makes beds, dusts and vacuums his room, picks up the toys outside.

We don’t argue about whether he does them.  He just does.  I started him doing these things when he thought they were just fun things to do and it has stuck for the most part.  We have had our moments of revolt, but I have won all the battles!

We use an incentive chart that has progressed with age.  When he was 2-3 years, he got stickers for each job.  4-5 years, he got points that he had to use to do any fun activity- video games, play outside, TV.

Now he has just started a charts that awards point the same way, but the points translate into money.  He has earned about three dollars and is working toward a seven dollar transformer.

Whoa look at the time . . .

Home Education

Wasn’t that what this blog was supposed to be about?

Homeschooling.  Well, we are about to start our sixth week of our first term of first grade.  Our oldest Bucho (blog name) will be six at the end of the month.  We felt that he was ready to begin reading last year, but he was not old enough for public school.  So we decided to take the opportunity for a test year and I ordered a kindergarten curriculum from My Father’s World.  We had been thinking about homeschooling for a while and wanted to give it a try.  Even though I was pregnant and there were a few other rough patches through the year, the schooling went great.

So, sixth week. . .  Things are really good.  I really like our curriculum.  We use the Charlotte Mason method supported by Ambleside Online.  It is very literature based and supports old fashioned hard work and practical skills.  This attracted me because love quality literature and I have an English degree and use to teach, so it was right up my ally.

Our local homeschool group has started a co-op this year and I am teaching a class and both boys are taking classes.  We get together one afternoon a week at a local church and have three hours of classes together.  It has been a fun way to regularly meet with people who are trying to accomplish many of the same things we are.

I have a great friend who is homeschooling her second grader for the first time and we have really been able to compare notes and spend time together.  She sure has made this experience less lonely and scary.

To be continued . . .

Things I like

A few life changing or defining topics, products, books, etc. in no particular order.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: favorite book

A personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Bible

On Becoming Baby Wise by Ezzo, breastfeeding: Yes, I agree with the premise of the book and have successfully nursed 3 children all of whom slept through the night by 3 months.

Godly parenting supported by print resources such as those by Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family.

Being the best Homemaker I can through management of time and resources.  Finding Your Purpose as a Mom by Donna Otto and time management strategies by Emilie Barnes have helped.

Beth Moore Bible studies.

Homeschooling.  I like the Charlotte Mason method and use resources from Ambleside Online.

Being committed to a local group of Christians.  My particular favorite is Trinity Fellowship Church of Plainview, TX