Twinkle Toes

Our oldest daughter turned 11 last month.  She is artistic, creative, and loves a good project!  She is such a help and joy to me.  She has been planting flowers in our front flower beds and also put together an attractive pot for our front porch.  Yesterday we found out that Twinkle Toes won second place in the entire state of Texas piano composition contest for her age category.  (I'm actually surprised someone beat her, her song is that good.)  She won a cash prize, but we haven't heard how much, yet.  I think she's spent it already : ).  And I think her song will be published.  We are very proud of Twinkle Toes and thankful to God for giving her this musical gift.  We are also thankful to my mom and dad who have paid for all her piano lessons, and my mom even takes her and practices with her!  And her piano teacher really worked with her, teaching her how to compose a piece of music- putting the parts together, etc.  We are very blessed!

In other news, Twinkle Toes has been wanting to go to school.  We told her if she got into the private college preparatory school near our home that we'd let her go.  (Her older brother is also going there next year.)  She took the Iowa Basic Skills Test as part of the admissions process and I'm happy to report she was above grade level on everything!  She is finishing up 5th grade right now, so they were looking to make sure she scored above 5.8 on all subjects.  Her language arts score was 6.5, indicating mid-sixth grade level (I absolutely hate teaching LAs and have worried that my kids were lagging behind.  This was a huge relief to me.)  Her math score was 7.7, so a little beyond mid-seventh grade level, and her reading comprehension score was 9.6!  Yeah!!!  I didn't mess my kids up by homeschooling them!  Seriously, this was such a huge relief to know that my two oldest children, who have been homeschooled 6 and 4 years, respectively, are above grade level on everything!  I have enjoyed my time homeschooling them and it wasn't an academically motivated decision, but I am SO GRATEFUL that they are beyond where they need to be.

Monk's standardized testing results

I don't know about you, but one of my biggest fears as a homeschooling mom is whether my kids are on grade level for each subject.  I guess the fear isn't THAT great since I never give them standardized tests, but it has been a concern.  Monk is going to a private school for 8th grade next year and they gave him a standardized test Tuesday to make sure he's on grade level.  I was surprised by the results.  Here are some interesting facts I learned.

1.  Monk is slow.  I guess I knew that since he's often still finishing school at 5 pm or later.  He's very bright, but takes his time.  He needs to work on his speed before taking the SAT in a few years.

2.  I thought Monk was a math genius since he's 2-3 grades ahead in math.  He did score one year ahead on the math exam, but the test didn't cover anything beyond arithmetic so the grade level was based on percent accuracy, I suppose.  Still, I was happy that his score put him on 9th grade level (he's finishing 7th now).  He'll take the Algebra I and II finals before starting next year since he'll be skipping those classes.  His grade on each final will go on his transcript as his grade for the respective class.  This way he'll be able to skip to Geometry.  I'm a little nervous about these exams so we'll be preparing for those in future weeks.

3.  Monk and I were both worried about the language arts portion of the exam, mainly because I HATE teaching grammar and have largely neglected it.  He did fine, scoring right at 8th grade level.

4.  Sonlight has lived up to its promise of making Monk an avid reader.  His reading comprehension score was at 12th grade level.  They were blown away by this.

This school is happy to have our Monk for next year and I'm so relieved that I didn't mess him up for life by homeschooling him for the last 6 years!  I know that homeschooling isn't about academics.  I know that our first priorities for homeschooling have to do with wanting to be with our kids, instilling character, fostering close family ties, etc.  But I have always been afraid that I was doing them a disservice academically and it feels really good to know they're on track.

Do you test your kids to see if they're on grade level?

On homeschool sabbaticals, being home, and keeping busy

When I asked my husband 4 years ago if I could quit my job and stay home to homeschool our kids, he basically said, "Sure, do what you want."  I thought he would respond in a similar manner when I asked him recently if I could take a homeschool sabbatical next year and send the kids to school.  I have several reasons I'm wanting to do this, but mainly it has to do with my little ones.  When my big kids were little we went to the park and worked puzzles and went to the library and read books.  Now that I'm homeschooling the big kids, my little kids have to entertain themselves a lot, and get shushed all day, and don't have nearly as many books read to them (seeing as how I read to the big kids an hour and a half each day!).  Calvin is developmentally delayed and I wanted more time to spend with him.  I'm painfully aware that these are probably my last children and I want to savor their little years.  Anyway, my husband did not respond the way I thought he would.  He asked if I was going back to work full-time.  I was really surprised by that since we have a 3 and 1 year old.  We had a big fight, which we never do, and I wrote him a lengthy email on my value as a mother in addition to the homeschooling bit.  You know, paying bills, grocery shopping, and all that other glamorous stuff.

The Littles- Lucie 3 and Calvin 1

So this week I'm home alone with my three youngest children, ages 5, 3, and 1.  My parents have taken my big kids skiing and my husband is gone all week, too.  We've been to the doctor's office and had two run-ins with the police (Prince Charming dialed 911 and hung-up while I was napping with the sick kids and the next day a neighbor called them to report my parents' garage door had been up for two days!)  Yes, we've taken walks and read books, which has been fun.  The house is immaculate (I now have proof that it's the big kids who trash the place, not the little ones who usually end up getting blamed for it.)  I've also cleaned out my closet, all my bathroom drawers, the kitchen drawers, and now on day three I think I'm ready to go back to work.  Just kidding.  Sort of.  In fact, I now remember that I went back to school/work when my two oldest were 3 and 1.  Hmmm.   Funny how I'd managed to forget that little bit of information.

Maybe my husband knows me better than I thought.  Maybe he wasn't saying I'm lazy, but that I'm just the opposite.  Maybe he knew that I'd go stir crazy without more to keep me occupied at home.  We have some decisions to make for next year.  It's looking like we may send our two oldest to a local private school and homeschool our soon-to-be 1st and 4th graders.  While I do have the itch to go back to school again, that will probably pass.  And I definitely don't want to go back to work full-time, yet.  I've been there and done that and know the stress.  So for now the sabbatical's off and homeschooling is on.  What do you do when you get the itch for a change?  

Night School

We've had some doctor's appointments lately and my husband and the kids have been talking about going skiing.  In order to free up my time to take kids to the doctor and make sure they don't get behind in the event of a last minute day trip with dad, we've been doing some night school.  I've loved reading ahead in our Sonlight read-alouds with the kids.   There's something so liberating about starting a day of school knowing that you've already accomplished something!  This also gives the kids an extra 30-40 minutes in their school day, which they are loving.  I'm sure there will be evenings when we don't get all our reading done at night, but I like trying to get a jump on our day and the kids do, too.

Do you do school at night?

Welcome to a Day in the Life of our Homeschool- TOS Crew Blogcruise

The homeschool room. 

The cubbies are where the current use texts and workbooks are stored.

It took us a few months to hit our stride this year and find a schedule that was strict enough for me to get everything done that I need to accomplish each day.  Each of my kids has a laminated schedule/checklist to keep them on track throughout the day.  Even their five minute breaks are accounted for.  Of course, there's nothing to stop them from finishing a subject early, in which case they can choose to go on to the next subject or take a break until the official start time for their next subject.  It seems rigid, I know, but it works for us.

Each of my kids has a slightly different schedule since I'm reading aloud two cores this year, Monk and Twinkle Toes share Sonlight readers, and the kids take turns on the computer for Rosetta Stone.  I'll share my 12 yr old son's schedule with mine in parentheses.  This is our typical Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri schedule.  We use Sonlight's 4 day schedule and go to Community Bible Study as a family on Wednesdays from 8-noon.  On those my school kids do math at CBS while I'm in leader's meeting and Monk does science on his own when he gets home.  Monk and Twinkle Toes have piano lessons on Wednesday afternoons, as well.

(6:15 am I have breakfast made and wake up kids.)
6:30-7:00 am     Make bed, get dressed, eat breakfast
7:00-7:30 am     Catechism, character sketches, and prayer with family
7:30-7:55 am     Individual Bible reading and Scripture memory
8:00-8:55 am     Math- TT Algebra II
9:00-9:45 am     Individual Sonlight reading (I'm reading aloud Sonlight Core B to Measle)
9:45-10:20 am   Read-aloud with mom Sonlight Core F Eastern Hemisphere
10:25-11:15 am Science- Apologia Physical Science (I'm making lunch right now.)
11:20-11:55 am Lunch
12:00-12:25 pm Rosetta Stone Mandarin Chinese
12:30-12:55 pm Language Arts
1:00-1:25 pm     Greek 2 pages
1:30-1:55 pm     Computer Science
2:00-3:00 pm     Practice piano
3:00-                  Homework- Complete all unfinished work for the day.

Of course I forgot to include Eastern Hemisphere Explorer in the new schedule so Monk and Twinkle Toes try to squeeze that into their Language Arts and Reading time or as homework at the end of the day.  Monk gets the opportunity to earn an hour of electronics time per day as long as he keeps an A average in math.  He also has swim team every evening.

See, he really does get free time!

On Schedules and Math

This is the work of my number two son.  His big sister has been playing school again!

I've noticed something through the years.  When it comes to math, the earlier in the morning it's scheduled, the better.  Have you also found this to be true? 

Our number one son, now 12 and finishing up Algebra II, is very good at math.  In the early grades his school consisted of math and reading, about an hour and a half of each per day.  Last week I wanted us to start easing back into our school schedule after 3 weeks off.  In other words, I wanted the kids to be busy, but I didn't want to have to get up at 6!  For three days last week, my bright son spent most of the day doing math.  He also helped his sister on the computer, practiced piano, ate meals, went to swim team, etc.  But it seemed like it took him all day to finish his math.

Monday I got him up a few minutes after 6 and he got dressed, ate breakfast, read his Bible, worked on his memory passage, had morning devotions with his family, and finished math during his scheduled time- all before 9 am!  How can the same amount of work take 4 hours one day, and less than one hour the next?  My husband says it's all about the distractions.  That may be a big part of it.  (I remember the day when sharpening a pencil seemed to wipe out half the morning for Mr. Monk.)  I think there's also something almost magical about being on a schedule.  What do you think?  Do you schedule math early in the morning, later, or leave your school unscheduled?  I will say that this has not seemed quite as important for my girls, although I have resorted to using the kitchen timer to help Measle stay focused during math.

Student and teacher.

I think Measle might have picked something a little beyond Kindergarten level, but her student rose to the occasion!

It looks like we have another math pro on our hands!  I'm thinking Prince will skip first grade and go right into second next year.  My goodness he's one sharp 5 year old!

My husband had the great idea a while back to make Monk stop doing his math at a particular time (according to our schedule) and any unfinished work would become homework for him to come back to after finishing the rest of his school.  Knowing that his free time, aka computer time, would be cut short later in the day has probably served as a powerful motivator for Monk to stay focused during his morning math time.

How have you encouraged your kids to finish their math in a timely manner without lightening the workload?  (I'm always looking for new tricks!)

Greek mythology- not so original, afterall

I was reading Greek mythology to Measle yesterday and it occurred to me that every one of the myths we read had its root in the Bible.  Of course, they're all twisted in a humanocentric way with a low view of God, or gods in their case, and a high view of man.  The myths contain a seed of truth, but are warped to make man feel justified in his sins.  And with gods so man-like and man so god-like, there isn't a recognition of sin or a need for a Savior.

Here are a few examples taken from Usborne Greek Myths (Retold by Heather Amery, 2000):

The Gift of Fire-  "Prometheus picked up some mud.  He shaped lumps of it into men and women, making them look just like the gods, and breathed on them to make them come alive." (Amery, p. 7)  Sound familiar?  "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.... And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."  (Genesis 1:27 and 2:7)  Notice in both accounts, people are made by God (or a god) from the earth and life is breathed into them. 

"The people were happy on the Earth, but the one thing that Zeus wouldn't let them have was fire.  Prometheus loved the people and felt sorry that they had to shiver with cold through the dark nights, and eat raw food.  He went to Mount Olympus and, when no one was watching, stole a lump of burning charcoal from Zeus's palace.  He took it to the people and showed them how to make fire with it.  Now they could eat cooked food, and have warmth and light in the night.  They were always grateful to Prometheus and never forgot his special gift.  When Zeus noticed the smell of cooking and saw the fires glowing at night, he knew what Prometheus had done.  He flew into a terrible rage.  'Prometheus, how dare you go against my orders?' he shouted in a voice like thunder.  'I'll punish you for this.'  Zeus chained Prometheus to the side of a huge mountain.  Every day an eagle flew down and tore out his liver, and every night it grew again.  Prometheus was in terrible pain, but he couldn't die because he was a god."  (Amery, pp 7-8) 

Of course, the truth is that it was the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil that God prohibited Adam and Eve from eating, and this was for their own good, not because God was cruel.  Prometheus, a Satan-like figure is the hero in this story, having the good of people in mind, whereas Satan really had their downfall in mind.  Notice that the stolen fire was a "gift", whereas the temptation to sin by eating the fruit led to the Fall of man.  Prometheus is punished fully immediately, whereas Satan is cursed by God with his ultimate punishment yet to come.

Pandora's Box-  "Zeus gave Pandora and Epimetheus a box which was bound and locked.  'Take this box and keep it safe.  I must warn you,' said Zeus, 'that you must never open it.'...[Epimetheus] took Pandora away and soon they were married.  He put the box in a dark corner of his house.  Pandora was very happy with her new husband.  The world was a wonderful place to live in.  No one was ever ill or grew old.  No one was ever unkind or unpleasant.  But Pandora was curious about the locked box and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to know what was in it."  (Amery, pp 9-10)  The similarities are striking, are they not?  It was Eve whose curiosity spurred on by her doubting of God's goodness caused her to give in to the temptation of the Serpent and eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  And in the myth, as well as the true event, the world was good prior to the sin of the woman.

"[Pandora] broke the lock with a tool.  Then, hardly daring to breathe, she slowly lifted the lid.  Before she could look inside, there was a terrible screaming, wailing noise.  She jumped back, terrified.  Out of the box streamed all sorts of horrible things.  There was hate and jealousy, cruelty and anger, hunger and poverty, pain and sickness, old age and death."  (Amery, p 11)  It certainly sounds like the curse!  And I love this part!  "Pandora tried to slam down the lid, but it was too late.  Then one last thing, very small and pretty, fluttered out of the box.  It was hope.  People would now suffer all kinds of terrible things, but because they had hope, they would never despair."  (Amery, p 11)  The hope in the midst of the Fall comes in Genesis 3:15.  "And I will put enmity between you (God is saying this to Satan) and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."  The true hope is Christ.  At Golgotha (Aramaic for skull) Christ suffered and died for the sins of His people, but in do so doing, He crushed Satan's head, fulfilling Genesis 3:15 often called the protoevangelium or first gospel. 

I'm sure there are many other biblical allusions in the Greek myths.  I know they have a global flood story as do most cultures.  The fate of Persephone was sealed by her eating a few seeds of a pomegranate in Hades.  Suffice it to say, the Greeks were not being original, but were bastardizing the truth of the Bible to fit their own fallen view of God and man.  Measle Bug is getting a mini theology lesson with each Greek myth and we're both enjoying it!

We're all thriving on our new schedule!!

I always hesitate to write about our new schedules, because as soon as I do, something changes and it's back to the drawing board.  This new schedule is very rigorous in the morning and more lax in the afternoon, allowing the kids to practice music daily and me to nap.  Yes, I said nap.  I've been staying up late and getting up early and can't make it on 5 or 6 hrs a night without a nap!  I'm also spending a LOT more time in the kitchen these days.  I can't believe I've actually given my children hot breakfasts, lunches, and dinners all week.  No sandwhiches or cereal AT ALL.  That's a change for us and it's keeping me busy!

Here are the benefits of our minute by minute schedule (as opposed to a check-list or flexible schedule):

-My easily distracted son is staying on task and doing great!  He has so much to accomplish in a given day that it can be a bit overwhelming, but rather than start dropping subjects, I wanted to try organizing his time for him.  I only allow him 55 minutes for math (seems like it used to take him an hour and a half) and 45 minutes for reading.  He gets 50 minutes for science.  If he isn't finished with the subjects when his time is up, he moves on.  In the afternoon, he has an hour or so to finish up any remaining work.  This has really revolutionized his homeschooling.  He's such a great, independent kid, but needed a little help with time management.  I'm so encouraged by this positive change.

I finally know what I'm doing and when!  Reading aloud to two kids at the same time has always been a bit of a challenge to coordinate.  Now I have their schedules in-sync and we all know what time read-aloud is each day.  I've also been struggling to fit in read aloud time for two cores this year, up from just one the last two years.  I now have two back to back read-aloud sessions scheduled while Calvin takes his morning nap. 

I have 45 minutes schedule for making lunch so I actually have time to make a hot lunch daily.  Always before we would read or work right up til lunch then have to race around and figure out what could be ready quick.

Monk and Twinkle Toes are not wasting as much time waiting around for each other now.  They share the same readers, the same computer for Rosetta Stone, they share Eastern Hemisphere Explorer notes, etc.  It was only a few minutes here and a few minutes there, but it adds up.  Now it's clear to everyone who's turn is when for each of these things.

Even my 8 yr old has become so much more independent.  She knows what she's supposed to be doing each moment of the day until she's finished.  The schedule has really helped her to feel more in charge of her day.

Here's a look at our schedule:

6:05-        Mommy gets up and makes breakfast. (I'm keeping those 5 minutes, thank you very much!)
6:30-7:00 Kids make beds, get dressed, eat breakfast
7:00-7:30 Catechism and character sketches with family
7:30-7:55 The kids do their daily Bible reading and Scripture memory work
8:00-8:55 Math for Monk, Reading for Twinkle Toes (they read the same books)
9:00-9:45 Reading for Monk (Math for Twinkle Toes, but her times are a little different.) And this is when I read-aloud to Measle Bug each morning while Calvin naps, peacefully.  Ha ha, no it's not usually that serene, but it is working.
9:50-10:20 Read aloud with Monk and Twinkle Toes
10:25-11:15 Science for both Monk and Twinkle Toes while Mom makes lunch
11:20-11:55 Lunch
12:00-12:25 Rosetta Stone Mandarin for Monk while Twinkle Toes does art
12:30-12:55 LA for Monk while TT does Greek (this is Measle's turn for Rosetta Stone Mandarin)
1:00-1:25 Greek for Monk while TT does RS Chinese and Measle is done with school now.
1:30-1:55 Computer Science for M while TT does LA

That's it.  They're pretty much finished by 2.  Monk usually has about an hour of school to finish up as homework in the afternoon after music and before swimming.  Measle is usually done by 1 and Twinkle Toes by 2.  And notice I'm finished with school and lunch duties by noon!!

I cannot emphasize enough how much this schedule has helped our family.  I'm not a natural leader.  We all needed this structure and we're all happier for it!  I was seriously considering Switched on Schoolhouse and plugging my girls in next year for the sake of my sanity.  I think it's safe to say, that's off.  We're all enjoying doing school together and I'm wondering why we didn't start the year with this schedule.  (Probably because I would rather get up at 6:30 or 7!)  I didn't write it in, but this schedule also helps me know when I can run to the store, and I scheduled around our daily drop-offs and pick-ups.

Thanks for those of you who gave me advice and emailed me.  You guys are a great encouragement to me!  Thanks also for your prayers.  This schedule truly is an answer to prayer.  God is good!

Why did you decide to homeschool?

click button to go to the Blog Cruise

I really like this week's Blog Cruise topic, especially in light of my current re-evaluation of our homeschool.  It's always helpful to remember why we started down this road in the first place!
Here's why we originally decided to homeschool.

1.  My husband had two brothers who had homeschooled their kids, so he was always interested in the idea.

2.  Our oldest son didn't seem to "fit" too well in first grade, so we pulled him out, even though I was working full-time.  He went to school with me and sat across from me at my desk two days a week.  I was able to be home most Fridays and his dad was off on Mondays.  It wasn't ideal, but he learned a LOT that year, mostly on his own.

3.  The year I graduated with my PhD and started my "career", several people I knew died unexpectedly and I began asking myself if I would change anything about my life if I knew I had one year to live.  The answer was "yes".

4.  I read America Alone by Mark Steyn and started thinking globally, not just locally.  I realized that if every believer welcomed children and then made discipling their children their top priority, the world would be a different place.

5.  Teaching in a local university, I was apalled at the "academic quality" in the students I was teaching.  I taught one class to education majors and just for kicks I would begin the class by asking what books they read over the break.  Maybe one out of every 30 would-be teachers were readers.  That scared me.

6.  Most of the students I was teaching were unable to think for themselves.  To do well on exams they had to know the questions and answers ahead of time (they called this review) and the tests had to be in multiple choice format.  This also scared me.

Our Students

Look, Calvin's already interested in books!

If I'm honest, I think I decided to homeschool as much for myself as for my children.  I only have them with me for a little while and I enjoy their company.  Some days I question our approach.  Some days I question our curriculum.  Many days I question my management skills, or lack thereof!  But, I never question our decision to homeschool.  It was one of the best decisions we ever made!

Why did you decide to homeschool?

Thankful for a week to catch-up and various homeschool musings.

We started school a couple of weeks early so we could take a whole week off at Thanksgiving and I'm so glad it's here!  We will be doing some school, but mostly playing catch-up.  I've gotten a little behind in reading aloud to my big kids.  Also, I finally broke down and bought Rosetta Stone Mandarin Chinese, so we're all having fun with that.  And of course, there are a few organizational projects I'd like to get accomplished this week.  I'm not going to tell you what they are, in case I don't get to them.  If I do, you'll be hearing about it.

I've been reading, reading, reading and studying, studying, studying homeschool curricula.  I'm thinking about some major changes around here.  I have a love-hate relationship with change.  The idea of something new is exciting, but I can't stand letting go of the old.  I'm so afraid of over-planning my oldest son's schedule next year, but so want him to have a top-notch education.  That's the rub we all face, isn't it?  It has me re-evaluating what counts in an education.  Priorities.  Maybe that differs with each child.  What do you think?  I mean, we want all our children to learn to think for themselves and be able to recognize and articulate truth, but beyond that, there are differences.  It's important to us for our sons to have marketable skills.  They need to be able to provide for their families, so I'm always thinking of skills that will pay, whereas I'm happy for my girls to pursue art and other hobbies for their leisure. 

All that by way of saying, my 12 yr old's "electives" (in quotes because they're mandatory, just not traditional subjects) are a pretty heavy load on their own.  I want him to have computer skills, so computer science including programming languages seems important.  I also want him to know a foreign language that will help him study the Bible (Greek) and also a language that could help him land a good job (Chinese).  Then there's typing, which seems necessary for most anything these days, piano, which he loves and is getting so good at, and he could spend all day just on electives!!   Swim team involves another 5-10 hrs per week.  And we don't consider Bible an elective, but if you include our family devotional time plus his Community Bible Study homework along with his individual reading and memory work, there's another 6+ hours per week.  Am I crazy?  Is this reasonable?  Am I expecting too much?  Should I vary electives, some MWF and others TRS?

Stay tuned to see what changes we have in store.  I've ordered several "trials" and if we're really encouraged by the change we may even do some switching over at the semester break. 

One more musing I have to share with you.  I have been absolutely blown away, in a good way, with IBLP's Character Sketches.  This is not something that's just for kids.  They've challenged me to look in a new way at several people/passages in Scripture.  My kids love the illustrations from nature and are much better at remembering them than I am.  But, I just love the biblical selections.  I usually end up googling some question and often my husband and I have in depth talks that are sparked by some aspect of the character sketches.  If their wisdom booklets are anything like the character sketches, I might have to take a look. 

What are your plans for Thanksgiving week?  Oh- we're having Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year, but our double ovens are broken!  I'm going to be borrowing my mom's electric roaster and using crockpots.  It's going to cost over $700 to repair our double-ovens (electronics) or over $1700 to replace them!  We've gone back and forth about a million times and still haven't decided which to do.  The repair only comes with a 30 day warranty on replacement parts.  We'll probably go with the repair, what would you do? 

Freedom through Structure

Playing hair salon during school.

Impressive, no?  My 8 yr old is already better at doing hair than I am.

This has been a rewarding, but challenging year of homeschooling, thus far.   I've shared with you a little about my visual learner.  Another challenge I'm facing this year more than ever before is keeping my kids on task.  I think there are several reasons why this has been a challenge.  First, I have a low tolerance for disorder.  It may be that given another mom, my kids would not be considered disorganized or disorderly.  Granted, they do get their work finished every single day.  But, their proclivity for breaks, talking, playing the piano every five minutes, playing with little siblings whenever they get the chance is driving me crazy.  Then add my husband to the mix and complete chaos results.  It makes me want to swing too far in the other direction and become Nazi mom who straps her kids into their chairs and doesn't even give bathroom breaks.  I know there's a happy medium where my kids diligently and quietly get their work done while allowed to take short breaks between subjects and of course go to the bathroom when needed.  My husband reminded me of the one room schoolhouse model.  He said it worked in this country for hundreds of years, there's no reason it shouldn't work for us.  (Um.  Did they have infants and toddlers in the one room schoolhouses?  Just checking.)  I'm thinking two rooms might work better, one for the school and a padded cell for the little ones.  Just kidding.  The padded cell would be for me.  Seriously, I've come a long way from the imaginary string that trailed along behind me and couldn't get tangled, but this year has been a challenge.  Let's just say there have been lots of tangles.

Doing crafts during school.

The second reason I think I struggle to keep my kids on task, especially Monk, is that he is just easily distracted.  I remember the days when it would take him 30 minutes to sharpen a pencil.  He's doing MUCH better now and really accomplishes so much every day, but he does still get distracted.  The piano is a major distraction.  Monk loves to play the piano, even if only for 30 seconds.  Some parents make their kids practice every day, we tell our kids to get off the piano all day!  (Their real practice session is in the afternoon at their Nana's house.)   And there are the little siblings that are too cute to resist.  I love that my three big kids get to interact with their little siblings during the day, but sometimes it's too much.  Monk seriously cannot walk past Calvin without picking him up.  In the old days when Monk was 6 or 7, I used the kitchen timer to help motivate him to stay on task and focus for short periods of time.  That worked well.  Kids in school have 50 minute periods to help them divide the day.  Charolotte Mason recommends shorter, more intense lessons rather than expecting kids to sit still and pay attention for longer sessions.

Our solution:  To create a one-room schoolhouse feel in our own home with 30-50 minute periods for each major subject before lunch and electives after lunch.  The kids will not be tied to their chairs, although I still think masking tape over their mouths might be a good idea.  Just kidding. 

I've revamped their checklists to include times so that the kids now have a detailed schedule of their school day.  I realize many homeschoolers don't need this.  I do want my kids to learn to organize their own time, but for now I'm going to clamp down on them in the hopes that our homeschool will run more smoothly and be more peaceful.  Perhaps by 14 or 15 they'll be able to get everything done on their own timetable.  And perhaps by the time they're 14 or 15, I'll be able to handle that.  Hey, we're all a work in progress here.  It was either get on a strict schedule or plug the kids into Switched on Schoolhouse all day.  I've been seriously drooling over that curriculum, lately.  Can't you just see them all in a line plugged into their respective computers with headsets on?  I'm not knocking it.  We might go to that before it's all said and done.  I've got to keep my sanity, but I so value the time spent reading with the kids each day!  Hopefully, the new schedules will help us stay on track.

What do you do to keep your kids on schedule?  Do you dictate when they do each subject or do you let them organize their own time?  How many subjects do your kids complete each day? 

Do you teach to learning differences?

I realize that when you have six children, they will probably all learn best slightly differently.  Honestly, I've never taught to any of my kids' learning differences.  Or given them much thought.  I expect all of my kids to learn to listen, even if it doesn't come naturally.  I expect them to all learn from reading, even though some struggle with this more than others.  I am NOT a visual person.  At all.  (As in I miss most of what goes on around me including what people look like and what they're wearing.)  I can't even relate to visual people.  And I have a terrible time teaching visual learners.  I'm pretty sure I have at least one visual learner.  Thus, my problem.

Do you take into account your children's learning differences when you teach them?  If you have a child who learns differently from you, do you attempt to teach him his way or convert him to your way?  It may be a simple thing for someone like my husband, who is a visual person, to suggest I draw things for my visual learners, allowing them to "see" what I'm trying to teach them.  One problem, I don't draw.  In one sense I do "see" things, I just "see" them in my mind, not on paper or screen.  I look at a math problem and I "see" the answer, or how to find the answer.  I read between the lines in the textbook or story.  I do books.  I don't do pictures.

I love my children.  I love the idea of homeschooling.  Most of the time I love homeschooling my children.  But, there is one child in particular, who shall remain nameless, I'm having a hard time helping, teaching, tutoring, whatever you want to call it.  And yes, I have been VERY tempted to put her in school.  Mainly because I want a different kind of relationship with her, one that's not so filled with frustration.  I don't particularly enjoy banging my head against the wall and that's what homeschooling this child is beginning to feel like.  I fantasize about being the mom who picks her child up from school and takes her home to a house filled with the smell of freshly baked cookies.  We have a snack and she tells me all about school.  But then I'd have to help her with her homework.  Perhaps I would just be trading the morning's frustrations for afternoon frustrations.

I would love to hear from anyone who is NOT a visual learner, who has learned to teach a visual learner.  I don't want to fail this child, who shall continue to remain nameless : ).  I want her to succeed.

Divide and Conquer?

Homeschooling brings a lot of togetherness to the family.  And that's a good thing, most of the time.  Our school efficiency, however, has been steadily sliding since the beginning of the school year.  I felt pretty confident our kids could finish with their studies by 1 or 2 in the afternoon if they applied themselves diligently and lately we've had kids still working on school at 9 pm!  Granted, they've been doing lots of other things each day, too like practicing music, swim team, helping out with younger siblings, doing chores, etc.  But, still.  I knew we weren't giving them that great of a load and that the main problem was all the time spent daily in messing around.  On one level, I suppose that messing around could be construed as our kids enjoying their homeschool experience.  I'm not opposed to fun, after all.  But, it's been getting out of hand. 

My husband and I want to prepare our kids for real life and real life is tough for people who do things inefficiently. More importantly, we want our kids to do all to the glory of God and we hope that someday they'll be the kinds of adults who make time in their busy schedules for things like Bible study, prayer, serving in the church, and helping out a brother in need.  So, my husband suggested assigned seats.  Crazy, huh?  No more doing homework on the swing set, stretched out on beds, or giggling across from one another at the homeschool table?  Well, at least not for now.  You know what?  It worked. 

Measle at my her desk.  Lately, I've struggled to keep this girl on track.  Today she finished school before 11!  Divide and conquer seems to be working.

Mr. Monk has been banished to the upstairs for the majority of his work and Twinkle Toes has the homeschool table to herself.  Lest you picture our children languishing in separate cells of a cold, harsh school- prison , let me assure you they still have plenty of togetherness!  We still spend an hour all together each morning on Bible/character training/catechism and science, and Measle also listens in when I read aloud to her older siblings.  Then there's breakfast, lunch, and dinner, practicing music at Nana's, going to swim team together, and all that free time now that they're finishing school earlier.  You get the idea.  Together is great, but when it comes to school time, for now we're going with divide and conquer.

How do you keep your kids on track to finish at a reasonable time each day?

A Christian curriculum or Christ-centered teaching... or both.

Maybe I should have titled this post, "Knowing when to say when."  It seems I'm there, when it comes to our science curriculum, anyway.  I've argued previously in a post on biblical homeschooling that I believe a Christian education is not an education gained by reading books only written by Christians, but rather is an education from a Christian worldview.  I still hold to that. 

There are many books written by secular humanists that the Lord has used in my life to draw me to Him.  In fact, I'm almost positive that I didn't read a single book or paper by a Christian during the entire course of my doctoral studies.  And yet, as I learned more and more about our bodies on a molecular level, I became more convinced that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  These massive scientific textbooks all written with the assumption of evolution inspired me to give thanks and praise to God.  Another example is when I read America Alone several years ago and the Lord used it to completely change my life.  I went from a career woman finished having children to a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of six!  I know the credit goes to God and not to Mark Steyn, but still God did use that book in my life. 

Moreover, there are Christian authors who do not or did not believe in a literal six day creation.  Does that mean we discount everything they say?  Does that mean we shouldn't read C.S. Lewis?!  I don't think so.  But as a Christian and a scientist, I do not believe biblical creation and evolution are reconcilable.  In other words, I think by swallowing theistic evolution you must liberally interpret some parts of Scripture and ignore others. 

So... I have decided after some prayer and reflection that we are ditching our Sonlight science curriculum because at least one of the books is written with the assumption of evolution.  In fact, probably most of the books we're using this year as part of Sonlight's Core F science on the human body are written from an evolutionary point of view (I've noticed this with most of our Usborne books, history and science), but one author in particular makes her assumption of evolution clear quite often, while the others are more discreet.  My 12 yr old son has even nicknamed Blood and Guts, their evolution book.  It does not teach or endorse evolution per se, but it assumes that we are the product of evolution.  And that assumption just keeps popping up over and over again. 

It's not that I'm afraid it will brainwash my children, because they're the ones telling me that their science book is wrong.  If there were no better books available, we would stick with our current science curriculum and just continue teaching from a Christ-centered point of view.  In this case I believe a Christ-centered point of view means not only giving the credit to Christ, by whom God made all things and holds all things together, but also assuming a literal six day creation as outlined in Genesis 1. 

So, having said all that, we've made a switch.  I've never done anything like this before, changing curricula one-third of the way through the school year.  It means not finishing something.  It means I've wasted money on something we're not going to use.   That bothers me, but I know it doesn't mean failure.  Failure would have been making do with something that does not honor God and His Word when we could have been using something that teaches the same subject matter in a way that does honor God and His Word.   

I absolutely love God's Design for Life:  The Human Body by Debbie and Richard Lawrence, available through Answers in Genesis.  It was written by a husband-wife team who are both believers and engineers. 

Compare exerpts on the nervous system from Blood and Guts to God's Design and you be the judge over whether we made the right choice.

Blood and Guts:  "Bilaterally symmetric creatures no longer drifted every which way.  Their lives had direction.  Their nervous systems got bigger and much more sophisticated.  An onslaught of new information had to be dealt with by these creatures, like how to move along in a particular direction.  Gradually, a knot of nervous tissue developed at the end of the body facing the unknown.  This became the first brain.  Later, mammals developed ever bigger brains to deal with ever more complex worlds of sight, smell, and sound; not to mention internal controls like temperature and equilibrium." (Blood and Guts by Linda Allison page 112, emphasis of evolution code words mine)

God's Design:  "Have you ever seen an animal that could read a book and understand it?  Can a monkey build a building?  A parrot can repeat words, but can it carry on a conversation?  No.  Why not?  Animal's brains were not created to learn and think the same way that human brains can.  Of all of God's creatures, only man was given a mind able to think and reason at a high level. ... Be glad that God gave you a special brain and exercise it every day." (God's Design: The Human Body by Debbie and Richard Lawrence page 48 Beginner's section for younger kids.)

God's Design:  "The human brain is so complex we can never hope to fully understand it.  God has designed our brains to not only control our bodies and to react to the world around us, but to learn and think so we can understand and enjoy the world God has created."  (God's Design for Science: The Human Body by Debbie and Richard Lawrence page 49)

Do you see the difference in assumptions?  And of course, our conclusions depend largely upon our assumptions.  Why haven't we been using this curriculum all the time?  I have no idea.  I guess because the idea of Sonlight's Charlotte Mason approach to science of using living books rather than textbooks appealed to me.  I did look at God's Design for Science briefly when we were at the Creation Museum last year, but I didn't have much time and my husband was anxious to get the kids out of the bookstore, as you can imagine.  We'll be using it from now on with our younger kids.  It's geared for multi-level homeschooling grades 1-8.  I love that it's broken up into short lessons and sprinkled throughout with special features, biographies of great scientists, and fun facts that ispire awe and praise.  (Very Charlotte Mason-like and un-textbook-like on the whole.)

Disclaimer:  I figured this out on my own and had to actually buy the curriculum.  It was money well spent, though!

I've written before that our goal is to glorify God in our homeschool.  That's our top priority.  Using a science curriculum that gives God the credit for creation and leads us to praise Him for it, makes it that much easier for us to glorify God as we study science each day.

Shhhh- Don't tell them they're learning!

I just love this map I found at Toys R Us.  I don't love what I paid for it and I admit it was an impulse buy.  But when I saw this big felt map with all the country names and felt animals, too, I thought of my little geography wizard.  Prince (5) can identify countries on a world map that most adults can't.  He's always been interested in geography and Five in a Row has really cultivated this in him.  Measle and Prince went right to work and labeled their map within minutes of opening it.  I'm hoping we'll get our floor map out again and again.  (Several of the kids had already worked a floor map of the US earlier today.)  And the best part... they thought it was a fun game!

How do you squeeze in undercover learning?

What kind of homeschool ship am I running?

Hopefully, a ship that no one wants to jump from!

Three sisters doing school outside on an uncharacteristically cool morning.

I know, I'm a pushover!  It's just that I remember staring out the window of my classroom with longing.   I HATED school!  I don't want them to hate homeschool.  I want them to enjoy learning.

Queen (2) doing her "homework".



Well, I must not be a complete pushover.  My 2 year old has her own curriculum!

What kind of homeschool ship do you run?

Another of the many reasons we homeschool.

There are many reasons to homeschool.  You can read some of the things we love about homeschooling on the homeschool tab at the top of my blog.  This is one of the biggies:  to foster close relationships between siblings.  I know that Twinkle Toes would love her baby brother even if she went to school all day long, but it's such a blessing for both of them that they get to spend the majority of each day together.  Twinkle Toes has been crocheting for... oh about 2 weeks now!  I took her to a local fabric and crafts store yesterday and the first thing she picked out was yarn for making a hat for Calvin.  You can tell she was pretty excited about it since she finished it already!

I think he's excited about it, too!  It may not be a flawlessly crocheted hat, she is a beginner after all, but it was made with love for her baby brother.  And that means the world to me!

It doesn't get much more rewarding than that!  Oh, and I have to ask you to turn up your volume for a minute and listen to Twinkle Toes' two newest recordings that I uploaded to my playlist.  What a talented girl!  But, what I love most about my sweet 10 year old daughter is not how competent in the kitchen she is, or how industrious she is when given a task to complete, but her precious heart.  This girl really does aim to please.  She loves the Lord and she loves her family.  What more can you ask of your child?!

Glorifying God in our Homeschools

I've read several posts lately that have primed the pump for my taking on this topic, as well as recently touching on it myself on our homeschool page above.  What really got me to thinking about this, though, was this week's Bible study from the Desiring God DVD Study Guide.  One of the questions asked us to list 5 specific, even mundane, activities that are a part of our day-to-day lives.  It then asked us to write a sentence or two describing how it might be done to the glory of God.  It wasn't difficult to come up with 5 daily activities, but of course homeschooling jumped to the top of my list.  Not that it's mundane exactly, but it seems to occupy the majority of my day every day and it doesn't exactly seem glamorous (in terms of ministry) or obvious how it can be done to the glory of God.

In order to discuss how homeschooling might be done to the glory of God, we have to first agree on what it means to glorify God.  We cannot add any glory to God, since He is all glorious, but glorifying God has to do with reflecting Him both to the world and back to Him.  We were made in God's image, but after the Fall that image was tarnished, we no longer as accurately reflected God.  Salvation, and even more specifically the process of sanctification by which God makes us holy, is all about restoring us to His image.  When we show God's attributes like His love or His mighty works like creation or answered prayer, we are reflecting His glory, thus glorifying Him.  This can be accomplished in worship, in fact it is the goal of worship.  It can also be accomplished in any task we perform, if we do it in a way that magnifies God.  One way of thinking about glorifying God is that it is living life in a very God-centered and God-exalting way, rather than promoting self at every turn, as is our natural inclination.  These are my words and according to my understanding, of course, and I hope I rightly conveyed this all important, but sometimes abstract concept.  Please read this John Piper article on the joyful duty of man to glorify God for a better explanation if you're interested.

This brings me to the question of how we can glorify God in our homeschool. 

Put God first.  In other words, we must make our homeschools God-centered.  I used to think this meant we needed to pray and read our Bibles first thing each morning.  That's a great start, but now I think putting God first in our homeschool is much more.  We need to magnify God in EVERY subject we study throughout the day.  There are no secular subjects! 

History-   Continually point our children to the Providence of God and how He works in and through events and people to bring about His will. 

Geography-  Emphasize praying for the church around the world, that God would build His church and glorify Himself among the nations (something He says He will do, so this is praying for God to accomplish His will).

Science and Mathematics, the language of science-   Praise God's power and order displayed in creation and the laws that He uses to govern His creation. 

Language Arts-  Emphasize the importance of being able to clearly communicate the gospel to others.  Shining the light of God's redemptive plan magnifies Him in a way difficult to match.  It shows His sovereignty, love, grace, mercy, fogiveness, justice.  Almost every attribute of God is displayed in His marvelous work of redemption.  Part of being ready to give a defense for the hope of Christ that is in us (1 Peter 3:15), is simply being able to communicate clearly. 

Foreign languages-   Determine which languages will best equip your family to share Christ or better worship God.  In our homeschool we think biblical Greek will aid us in understanding God's Word, and therefore God.  We're also studying Mandarin Chinese, but whatever foreign language you fill into this blank, we should attempt to discern how our children can use this ability in the future to point others to Christ.

Music or Art-  Encourage your kids to think how they can best reflect God to others through the arts.  Both music and the visual arts can be of assistance in worship.  They can also be used to bless the body of Christ, displaying Christ's love for His church.

 All of the above is only dealing with the content of our homeschool.  The  manner in which we homeschool is another way we can reflect God's glory.  It doesn't matter how great our homeschool content is, if we spend all day screaming at our kids and criticizing them, we are NOT reflecting God's glory.  I struggle with the drill sargeant mentality.  I've been praying for some time that the Lord would help me be patient and loving, gentle and encouraging with my kids throughout the day.  Often, I have to stop and repent of my attitude or tone right in the middle of the day.  I love homeschooling my kids, but sometimes my words and demeanor don't accuately convey that.  Likewise, if our kids spend all day fighting with one another, we've missed the point.  We don't want to raise little pharisees who know the law in their minds, but missed it in their hearts.  It's not enough to study godly character traits, though we certainly do this, we must pray that the Lord will work in us and through us to glorify Himself.  We start each day with that very prayer.  That we will love the Lord and show that love by being obedient to Him and loving one another.  This is easier said than done and obviously a lot harder to control than our homeschool content, but God is the one at work in us to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).  He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6)!

Hey, stop having so much fun!

Measle loves having her own Sonlight core!  Day before yesterday, after reading about different foods from around the world, Measle insisted we make a traditional Indian drink called a lassi.  It was really easy and tasted a lot like kefir.  You make it with equal parts plain yogurt, water, and add some sugar and vanilla for flavoring.

Then yesterday Measle learned about how people dress around the world.  After school she and her sister had fun donning saris and turbans.

Can learning really be this much fun?  Measle thinks so.  Don't you just love homeschooling?

Little things add up.

Remember when you first realized the power of compound interest?  I couldn't believe it.  How could such a small difference add up to such a huge amount over 10 years!  I've been thinking about this lately.  Sometimes I feel like we're not spending enough time on spelling each day, or reading to my little ones.  I fret because I'm not spending as much time as I would like on Bible study each day or exercise.  But then I remember that little things do add up.

 
It doesn't seem possible that we'll read ALL these books in our homeschool this year.  Yet, we finished all our books last year and the year before that.  What's the secret?  Huge blocks of time for reading, reading, and more reading?  Surprisingly, no, though I would like that given the time.  One chapter at a time.  That's how we get through all those books.  One chapter at a time.

How about memorizing a book of the Bible?  A daunting task, to be sure, but it can be accomplished in much the same way.  One verse at a time.  And getting into shape?  One mile at a time.  The key is consistency.  Rather than becoming discouraged, we just need to take heart and do the next thing, even if we don't know how it will ever add up to enough. 

This must be God's design.  He certainly doesn't sanctify us all at once, but a little bit at a time.  Often we can't see the increase in our faith or the growth in our obedience.  We can't see how God is transforming our hearts and renewing our minds.  It happens little by little as His Word works in us.

So if you tend to have an all or nothing attitude like I do (which is why I gave up dieting long ago), be encouraged to work at things in your life and homeschool like God works in us- one day at a time.  Just choose this day to commit your time, your homeschool, your children, your body, your life to the Lord for His purposes.  He can take our little and make it into a lot over time.  Little things add up.