Daily Homeschool Schedule

Well, we've entered our 5th week of homeschooling this year and now we are getting somewhat of a good rhythm.  It takes a few weeks for that to happen and for us to figure out for the next couple months what will be feasible and what things will have to wait until we are stuck inside the house all day long.  Right now, we are doing the basics so that the kids can still be outside for the biggest part of the day.  I always want my kids to choose being outside over being inside.  Anyways, we are loving school so far this year and I hope my kids always want to homeschool!


7:30- up and at 'em! We are usually up before this, but 7:30 is about the latest we sleep.  Jude and elsie will have devotions and I'll get breakfast ready.  Jude and Elsie have a notebook where they write what the Scripture they've read for the day is telling them and what they feel like God wants them to know.  We usually eat breakfast as soon as we come downstairs and I can have it ready- I always joke that my kids will eat the table legs off if I don't feed them as soon as their eyes open! ;)  After breakfast, the kids brush their teeth, make their beds, and get dressed.  I would love them to have their beds made and clothes on before they even come downstairs for breakfast, but thats just not realistic for us, so they do that afterwards.  Then Jude and Elsie will do their chores ( dishes and laundry) and I'll have devotions with the two little guys.

9:30- By this time, we need to be sitting at the table doing handwriting.  After they do handwriting, they will do reading comprehension.  We've been using the Barnell Loft specific skills series- level A of the identifying inferences.  Basically they read a short paragraph and have to pick the multiple choice answer that tells what the story is inferring.  After that they do English and Grammar.  Thatcher has been working on sight words- just 'the' and 'and' so far- mastering those and then we will move on :)

10:30- they take a break- which usually means going outside and riding bikes or playing legos or doing some kind of craft.

12- we eat lunch usually around noon so that Atticus can get to bed.  After he is laid down, the kids play some more and I get things done that I can do much easier while Atticus is sleeping.

1- I round the kids back up and they watch their math lesson and then do some modeling with the blocks.  We just started basic algebra problems last week, so we haven't moved on yet- making sure they master that first!  Thatcher loves watching the math lesson and calls the teacher on the video the 'talking teacher' ;)  He loves playing with the manipulative blocks while we do our lesson.  Thatcher has learned to count to 20.  We then will do whatever our extra subject is for that day- we've been sticking to History on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Science on Wednesdays and then Art for Friday. Somewhere in this time-frame, the kids will do their reading- Jude is reading 'Old Yeller' and Elsie is reading a Magic Treehouse book.

2:30- we are usually done with school by around this time.  Some other things we do whenever during the day we have time to fit them in: Spelling- I know that sounds horrible, that we just fit it in when we can, but we use Rod and Staff 3rd grade spelling book and the kids haven't missed any of the words so far, so we just go over them once and then go to the new list the next week.  We also do our memory work which is- address and phone number, memory verse, continents, oceans, states and capitals, and then for Thatcher, we don't do continents, oceans or states and capitals, we have just started to add days of the week and months of the year.  The phone number, days of the week, and months of the year we do to a song- phone number to the tune of 'Jesus loves me' days of the week to the tune of 'Addams Family' and then months of the year is one I found on YouTube.  Lastly, they will practice piano :)

I hope this is helpful for some of you, and if you consider homeschooling- I hope this gives you an idea of how you can easily set up your day.  Like I said earlier, I like to leave a lot of time open for my kids to be outside while they can- winter will be here before we know it and even though they will still go outside, it won't be for the length of time they do now.  I say that because, it may look like we don't really do much compared to a brick and mortar school, but you have to remember, I don't have 30 students and I don't have to do tons of state/government mandated busy work.  The statistic says that 2 1/2 hours of one on one homeschool work is equivalent to 5 days worth of work for a public school student!!  Crazy!  Anyway, this is basically how our day is set up for schooling- it changes and adjusts to our needs, so this is not set in stone for us.  I hope this helps and I hope you all have a wonderful week!  I leave tomorrow morning for Tennessee- yay!!

Homeschool Curriculum choices for the 2015-2016 school year

Hello :)  Just want to say a quick thanks for all the texts from my last post!! You guys are so good to me :)  I wanted to go ahead and get up a list of the curriculum we are doing for school this year.  I am not a boxed set curriculum kind of homeschooler- I like options and picking what best fits my kids needs.  We pick and choose from different curriculums and it has worked out great for us!  Lets get started:

Math- Math-U-See.  We used Singapore math last year and we HATED it!! It was not a good fit for us.  I felt like my kids definitely need more hands-on, visual math learning, and Math-U-See is both of those.  I had found the manipulatives set at a homeschool curriculum sale and then purchased the rest of the kit on the Math-U-See website  http://mathusee.com/.  I need another manipulatives set (Shelley!!! I am going to make it over to get that- I promise!!)  and I only bought one workbook bc I'm planning on having the kids just write out the problems in their own notebooks so we can pass the workbook on down to Thatcher when he needs it.  Speaking of Thatcher, he will be doing preschool at home this year and I will be getting him familiar with the Math-U-See manipulatives and very very basic math ( counting, skip counting, number recognition)

English/Grammar-  Rod and Staff.  We absolutely LOVE this English and Grammar curriculum.  Rod and Staff is extremely thorough and really hammers these grammar rules into your brain.  The illustrations are very sweet and simple and its all black and white, so if your kids like the colorful artwork to go along with their work, this workbook does not have that.  This is also a Christian based curriculum, so they bring everything back to God's word- love that!  I don't see us doing anything different for our English and Grammar for a long time.  

Reading-  We don't have a set curriculum for reading.  I go on the Sonlight site http://www.sonlight.com/ and print off their reading list for the grades I need and thats what we do for reading for the year.  This year they are still studying American history for their history so I've also picked alot of books from that time period.  They both really enjoy reading, so I just have them read the book and tell me about it.  For Thatcher this year, we will be starting the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons"  by Siegfried Engelmann.  I'm guessing we probably won't make it too far through the book this year, but I will be reading lots and lots of books to him and Atticus, like we always do.  For the books I'm going to be reading to them, we may start the Narnia series.  We finished the Little House series last year and LOVED them!!

History-  Abeka.  We also love, love, love this curriculum.  Its well laid out, interesting enough for the kids to read on their own, and Christian based.  Jude and Elsie are both studying American History again this year.  We also do a timeline with our history, so they will both be adding things to that.  Most of the projects we do will go along with what we are doing in history (sometimes Science, will talk more about that further down).

Science-  Apologia.  This Science curriculum is not for the faint of heart.  This is the best science curriculum on the market, I hear.  The kids are doing the "Young Explorer's: The Human Body" this year.  It is covers ALOT of material, and its ALOT of reading.  Like I said earlier, my kids enjoy reading, so it isn't too bad for us.  The other awesome thing is that this is what they do for their science at co-op, so I'm not actually teaching this subject.  I just have to make sure they are getting their reading done at home.  They do their experiments in class also!!  We do try to link art and science together a lot just to give us some ideas of what to draw/paint/build/create.   

Handwriting-  Pentime Publishers.  Im not horribly picky about handwriting curriculums at this point in the game.  I found these at the Great Homeschool Convention and thought they looked like what I needed.  Elsie will be transitioning from print to cursive, and Jude is exclusively cursive this year.  Thatcher will be doing the Handwriting Without Tears this year- Jude and Elsie did this when they were first starting to write and its a great handwriting program.  

Foreign Language-  Latin's Not So Tough!  This will be our first year of Latin, and Thad is teaching this to the kids.  We bought ours from the Greek n' stuff site and I got the Level 1 workbook/quizzes/answer key and the level 1,2,3 pronunciation CD for about $40.  Im not sure what else to say about it, bc I haven't looked at much of it since Thad is teaching it.  I will say, that everything I looked up about teaching Latin, someone mentioned this program, so it must be pretty good and seems user friendly.  We also found German Rosetta Stone at a curriculum sale and Thad wants to try and do that this year with the kids also, but we are going to see how Latin goes first.

Music-  The kids are going to continue piano lessons this year and hopefully do community choir again this year.  They also participate in plays at church and do drama through co-op.  

Health-  Abeka, but I doubt we will do it this year.  They are doing the Human Body by Apologia this year for their Science and so I honestly don't feel like we need an extra health curriculum this year.  Health can also include: cooking, which my kids like to do, talking about healthy food choices, and exercise.  My kids play fall and spring soccer and they will also be doing a gym class in the spring quarter for co-op.

Art- Co-op.  Elsie will be doing an art class at co-op this year.  Jude will be doing his art at home.  

Bible-  Most of our Bible work is memory work.  The kids have memory verses each week and they also memorize the books of the Bible and longer portions of Scripture.  I am farming out Bible this year also for one day a week, my father in law is going to be doing Bible lessons with the kids.  And we, of course, have our daily devotions and this year, they will be journaling each day about what they read and what they feel the Lord is speaking to them through their devotional time.

Memory work-  This is a long list of things usually, but this year I found a lady who has put up free printables for what she does for memory work and I am totally doing those this year!! It is such a great list and covers so much good stuff!!  Memory-Flashcards-Main.pdf  and then her Bible memory flashcards memory-flashcards-BIBLE.pdf.

I hope this is helpful to any of you that are homeschooling your little ones, or are on the fence about it.  We have done a lot of live and learn during this process and we love it more each year!! Let me know if you have any specific questions or need links to anything :)  Also, I know a lot of people think that homeschooling is super expensive, but really, I probably spent about $300-$400 this year to teach three students and most everything that I've purchased can be passed down, so my little guys will be even cheaper to school- major plus if you have a gap between your kids' ages.  I'll try to post soon about the schedule I'm  hoping to have this year and other specifics about what we do here at home :)  Have a wonderful day!

http://www.sonlight.com/

the mundane- the sweet spot

A few months ago, actually Mother's Day to be exact, I decided to not get on Facebook anymore (although I am linking this to FB, bc the few people who read this little 'ol blog, click through from there I think.  I also still check my FB messages, I just avoid the actual newsfeed and anyones, including my own, profile).  I had went back and forth for awhile about just getting rid of my profile, but b/c of two ministry profiles that I had to post on, I kept deciding not to.  Well, I talked to a friend and asked if she would take over the Ladies Ministry page for me and post on there and then we asked one of our older teens to take care of the youth profile.  Facebook is a wonderful and useful way of communicating with a big number of people very quickly.  I had quit putting anything personal, pictures of my kids(unless I was tagged) for almost a year or two.  I had been feeling for awhile that FB was doing something inside my heart.  I would spend too much time reading about other peoples lives and not enjoying my own.  Silly, but true.  I think as adults, we don't feel like those sorts of things will affect us, but they really do.  I have always been strict about media- social or otherwise since I've had kids.  We stopped watching T.V. when Jude was 6 months old.  We have Netflix that we watch occasionally, but thats something thats easily monitored.  I have a rule that in our house, we can only watch Netflix on the weekends, and only play the wii on weekends (unless its summer break)  and I really always tried to apply this to me as well with social media.  I put my phone on silent up on a shelf while we are doing school, and only would take it down when it was free time.  I found myself spending most of that free time on social media, and it didn't make me feel happy or accomplished- it made me feel like I had to do MORE, MORE, MORE!! I felt like I didn't accomplish as much as this person, or I didn't do as many things with my kids as this other person, I didn't cook (at all! ha! I do not enjoy cooking!) really nice meals like this person.  I was a failure! :(  Now, Im being dramatic, but I did really feel like I didn't measure up to what it SEEMED like everyone else could do so easily.  I think these feelings creep in little by little, day after day and obviously not just on social media, but it sure wasn't doing me any good.  I feel like for some crazy reason, there is ridiculous pressure to be able to do all things and to do them all really well and to never have things go wrong or be overwhelmed by life.  Im telling you, thats just not reality!  I think its also become popular to "unplug" and do you know why??  Because, whether we think its juvenile or immature, media affects us greatly!! Whether its comparing yourself to others and not feeling like you measure up, or just simply the added stress of emails and notifications popping up every ten seconds.  It affects us- I don't know all the psychology on what it actually does to our mind and emotions, I just know how it affected me.  I felt like my life wasn't BIG enough, GRAND enough and frankly, that it was just boring.  So, I decided to just not look- I decided finally to stop looking at everyone else's life and to open my eyes to how wonderful my life already was.  Its routine, its mundane some of the time, its normal, everyday life, but its so so sweet.  I stopped comparing myself and my life to anyone else's and I asked the Lord to search my heart.  I stopped being so self aware and thinking when taking pictures "this is going on Instagram!"  Instead, I enjoyed the moment and wanted to capture it, just for the simple reason of looking back and remembering how good that moment was.  I felt relief ya'll- I was measuring my life by what God wanted me to be doing and seeing it through His eyes ( The Lord has REALLY been speaking this to my heart for about a year now- seeing things from His eyes-I'll blog about it sometime soon)  I just want to measure up to God's will for my life and I want to be content.  I don't have to be able to do a million things at once ( although with 4 kids that I homeschool and am with all the time, I still feel like I do a million things at once!! How do you working moms do all that?? You are all amazing!)  I just do the small, simple things that don't get seen most of the time, and I do it with the joy of the Lord.  Right now, I am a servant, thats the stage of life Im in right now and I have been praying for God to give me the heart of a servant, to be joyful in caring for the blessings He has given me.  To not wish this stage away- it goes so quickly and then its over.  So, this right now is my sweet spot- the place where my passion and my calling intersect.  And its a worthy calling- parenthood is indescribable in blessing.  It is truly one of the best, most rewarding things I have ever had the privilege of doing.  So, if you read the last time I posted, the Lord has been slowly working on me about being more vulnerable with people.  Its hard you guys!! I hate talking about things like this because I don't want to be judged.  So, Im praying this speaks to someone, and if not, it just felt good to get it written out ;)  Thanks for reading :)  I also wanted to ask if anyone is interested in any posts about homeschooling and kind of what we do, our routines, anything like that??  Leave a comment and let me know!  Have a wonderful day!

word dump.....been a loooong time...

         well, ya'll its sure been awhile!  How, how, how does time fly by so fast??  I wanted to post on here, bc I do come back here every once in a great while to read through old posts and some of the drafts that were never posted but bring back good memories :)  We have just ended our school year just over a month ago and Im soooooo happy!!! Im telling ya, when you homeschool, summer is just as exciting for you as it is for your kids!  We have some plans for the summer, but not many- I just want to pitter around the house/yard and enjoy NOT doing stuff all the time.  We will be doing summer reading program of course, Thatcher starts swim lessons Monday,  and Thad and I are planning our 10 year anniversary trip for later this summer.  We have been relaxing, playing in the sprinkler, and walking along the bike path.  My kids make started making summer goals last year and we did again this year too- Jude wants to get better at soccer, research lots of different animals, and cook more.  Elsie wants to get better at rollerskating, ride her bike without training wheels (finally!!), and cook more.  Thatcher said he wants to get better at drawing people, learn how to swim, and cook more.  :)  I love these kiddos of mine and they are so precious and innocent and sincere.  I hope that lasts awhile longer for them.  What are you all doing for summer?
 
          now for all you mommas- i wanted to share some things that i have been feeling/thinking and see if you can relate.  lately, ive been kind of in a slump emotionally.  i was talking to my momma and she said "I totally get it-ive been there!"  and i think that alot of moms can relate to this-  i feel like im alone.  I feel like there arent really many of my friends that are in this stage of life that im in now.  im not a newlywed, im not a young,new mom, i have 4 kids-which nowadays is an oddity, i stay at home, i homeschool, im in leadership at church ( which sadly, i feel like makes you have to put up a guard) and i was feeling lonesome.  i told my mom that i was feeling sorry for myself for a couple days and then i just told myself "thats enough-take this to Jesus!!" so i was laying in my bed that night and just crying out to Him and all i could think to say was " i want to be KNOWN" and then kind of fell asleep talking to the Lord.  i woke up the next morning feeling so much lighter- thats the only way i can describe it.  i heard the Lord whispering to my heart- "I KNOW you!! I know every hair on your head, I know the desire of your heart, you are KNOWN daughter."  Shew.......God loves us so much!  Can you moms relate to this? Being a mom can be kind of a lonely thing sometimes, especially a stay at home mom.  you are around people all day, but its little people- not adults, and man, thats a big difference!!  You know what I mean??  i feel like we put boundaries on ourselves- we impose them on ourselves and it holds us back.  I dont know if thats fear, or lack of experiencing letting things/rules/boundaries go and stepping out??  i feel like i limit myself on things that i do bc of my kids.  not blaming them- its totally my fault, and honestly i think my kids would so be game for stuff that i think would be stressful.  I need to let that go- stress will come, but worrying about it and not experiencing things just makes you feel lonely.  I dont know if ANY of this makes any sense at all, but i just want to experience this journey on a whole new level. i want to be more hospitable, i want to CONNECT on a real level with other women.....and i want my kids to see that.  i hope i dont sound super melodramatic, i LOVE my life, and i LOVE being with my kids, and i have wonderful,awesome friends that i love so much!! Life is just a roller coaster sometimes!  Im so glad I have this little space to share things and hopefully get some feedback.

           Im hoping to post here more often and want to say thanks for reading! will you pray for me?  this is so totally out of my comfort zone to share personal things like this, but im feeling that nudge from the Lord to be more vulnerable with people.  thats hard!! Please pray that ill trust the Lord and listen to His voice.  Thanks friends, and also, please email, comment, text, call anytime :)
         

He's working

A couple weeks ago now our women's ministry had a decluttering/organizing class.  We had about 15 ladies that came to get some new tips on organization and to hang out and snack and chat with each other.  I had been looking forward to it, like I do with all our meetings, but this one I was particularly excited about because I love to clean and organize.  Yes, it's true, I find it relaxing and it is a major stress reliever for me.  I was anticipating all these great new ideas and ways to implement them into my home and life.  Well, I got those things, but I also got a whole lot more! Our guest speaker shared a message with us before she got into her tips and tricks of the trade.  She shared a message that she felt the Lord wanted her to share with us, and I'm telling you, she was spot on!! I sat there thinking, "this is for me, if for nobody else, its definitely for me!"  She shared the story of the talents.  She also shared part of her personal testimony.  It was a beautifully heartbreaking story that I could 100% relate to.  She shared about always feeling as if she had nothing to give, nothing that was of value that she was gifted with.  I have felt this so many times in my life.  I have felt the sting of jealousy at others' accomplishments, the wishing that I had the gift or talent that someone else possessed, but of course had not been bestowed with.  My best friend can pretty much do anything- She is organized, a wonderful mom, so gifted in talents with music ( guitar, piano, beautiful singing voice) an amazing artist, she loves to bake and is good at it ( people pay her to make cake pops and other goodies.) Basically, she is one of those people who can "do it all" and still be such a genuinely happy, joyful person who is always pleasant to be around.

 I have many, many friends who I could say many of the same things about.  As I shared in my last blog ( before this ladies meeting!)  I don't feel that I am particularly talented in much of anything.  As I sat and listened to her speaking straight to my heart, I felt the Lord's gentle nudging.  He has not given me gifts or talents to be buried hidden away, He has given them to me for a purpose and He has equipped me with everything I need to excel in those areas.  I have to just trust. Just trust, whew! Why is that so hard?  What are we afraid of?  We put way way way too much stock in what other people think of us.  I know we've heard that our whole lives, but we really do.. It's time to stop comparing and wishing, and just be what God created you to be and to be joyful in that!  I loved what she said toward the end of her message- "When our passions and gifts intersect with kingdom purpose, we have found our true calling."  Beautiful!!! I have been praying since that night for the Lord to show me what that looks like in my life and my family's life.  I want to foster that in my children! What an amazing gift to give your child!  I love Jesus and how He always works things out and shows us His purpose!  What are your gifts and talents?  Are you letting Jesus use those to have an abundant life in Him? Or are you burying yours for safe keeping?  Let the Lord use you and I promise- you will never look back!

Where do you find inspiration?

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Great Homeschool Convention.  I had been looking forward to it for months ( I was looking forward to the conference, but also, really, really, looking forward to spending time without all my kiddos- I did have Atticus with me- and spending time with my best friend and her sweet baby girl, let's be real!)  I knew I was going to go and sit in a few sessions and get to look at all kinds of curriculum ( there were almost 1800 booths!!)  But what I didn't totally expect was how challenging and how inspired these speakers and families would leave me feeling.  I am the type of person who needs to be inspired by outside sources.  I'm not naturally creative or talented at much of anything.  I have to work to be good at things.  I read A LOT! I've always been motivated/inspired by literature and storytelling.  This is my favorite!  To Kill a Mockingbird
 I find myself doing lots of research about varying topics that I have an interest in learning to do better.  I read quite a few blogs.  Here are some of my faves lately:   http://jonesdesigncompany.com/,  http://paigeknudsen.com/,  http://www.flythroughourwindow.com/ Many of them are from seasoned mothers and saints of the Lord.  I listen to music quite a bit and am usually trying to figure out the harmonies.  I think this fall after Thad graduates, I may take some voice lessons.  I am very emotional about music- I think many people are like this, which is why music is so powerful- but I tend to listen to music that reflects how I'm feeling.  Lately it has been these musicians:

I say all this to basically just say: Be inspired! Its an amazing thing to talk with other people about life and to just be real and to learn so much from being vulnerable and open about your experiences and what you've learned.  I was so incredibly inspired by these families at GHC and how they were bravely making the choice to school their children at home and hearing their struggles and victories.  I am so thankful that the Lord is still working on us and that He has made us relational people that can encourage each other in our daily lives.  What inspires you?

oh boy!! back again!

Shewy folks!! Life is always full speed ahead isnt' it?  I have neglected this 'ol blog for quite awhile now, but lately have been getting the itch to write again.  I have no real "theme" for this post except maybe a "lets chat and catch up on life!"  I looked through some of my old posts and realized that the most recent one was right before or around the time I found out I was pregnant with our #4!  Well, #4 is now almost 9 months old and his name is Atticus Lee Williams. :)

 He is a precious little man who loves his momma ;) He is very attached and its kinda really okay with me! ;) I have a feeling this may be the last of our little family (maybe?) and I have honestly felt that with each child my okayness with their attachment has progressively grown, knowing how truly, incredibly fast they grow up! I look at Jude sometimes and I just can't believe I have an almost 8 year old!! Didn't I just graduate high school?!  Man oh man!
 We have grown in size, but our home hasn't- we are all still packed in 1600 square feet and its.......interesting! But I am so thankful for what the Lord has blessed us with and I have no complaints- in fact when we do sell this house, I know that I 'll be very sentimental! I brought all my kids home here and they spent most of their early childhood here.
Thad is about 4 months from graduation- Praise Jesus!!!!! I am soooooo ready for him to be finished!!! He is such a good man who works so hard for his family and I appreciate him so much!
Thad and I are both still involved in ministry at our church (Youth pastors and I'm the Ladies president)
I haven't been helping with youth lately bc of the little man, but we have had an influx of teen girls attending lately so I think its about time for me to head back in.  We have an awesome teen youth worker, Mike, but Thad says he needs a lady helping also.  Atticus probably wont be thrilled, but hopefully mommy Martha (a wonderful dear friend of mine that loves my babies) will be willing to help me out with the little guy.
Jude and Elsie are on Spring Break this week and Im loving it!!! Woohoo!!! Jude is actually in Missouri with Thad's parents and Elsie and the two little boys are at home with me.  We have about a month left of school (if I work it out right) and then SUMMER BREAK!!! I cannot tell you how excited I am for summer break!! Elsie is finishing up 1st grade and Jude is finishing up 2nd grade.  I have been doing a basic preschool with Thatcher this year and he has done so well! He knows his shapes, some colors, and all his letters and letter sounds.  We have also started speech therapy with Thatcher this year to help him along with catching up his speech.  He is progressing so well in only a few months- Im so proud of him!  Little Atticus is growing so quickly! He is crawling all over and getting into everything.  I held off on solids with him, so that is still a work in progress for us and he isn't the best sleeper out of all the kids.  He is still up every two and a half to three hours throughout the night!  I think another benefit of having more than one child is the fact that its gets so much easier to tell yourself that "this too shall pass," because you know from experience that even if, in the moment, it seems so hard and you're so sleep deprived, that it won't last forever (which is exactly what it feels like at 3 a.m.!!).
Well, I am going to end here for now. This post took me all day- I started it at around 10:30 when I laid Atticus down for his nap and I'm just now finishing up at almost 9!! We had a good day though, lots of outside play and the kids had a friend over for the day so I had just a few opportunities to sit down and write! I hope you all had a great day and were able to get out and enjoy the weather!