Amidst Chaos...

"Amidst chaos lies opportunity."
-Albert Einstein

I admire mothers who have it all together. Or who have it together enough to appear, you know, to have it together.

And while there are limited areas of my life where I do have things pretty well together, I will admit that homeschooling isn't one of them. It gets crazy around here.

I was more organized with 2 children and only 1 of school age, but adding children seems to make it harder. I certainly don't feel that God has called me to homeschool and limit my family size to make it happen in an, um, orderly fashion...

ON THE CONTRARY! It began to occur to me that the 'chaos' of a large household is actually a true benefit to a homeschooling family, depending on how it is received.

Whaaat?

Well, look with me. With a smaller family, I as a mother, have more time and energy to make plans and execute them smoothly. As more children, and more pregnancies, come along, I am stretched thinner and- let's be real here- formal lessons don't happen with the regularity they would without those pesky morning of puking, or those insane growth spurt days where I nurse a baby so much I hardly have time to go pee.

And did I mention those mornings when the 2 year old wakes up screaming because he's not in his shark pajamas... and he won't calm down... till 10 am???

So what's a responsible homeschooling mama to do?

I'm not sure- hehe- as sometimes I'm definitely not that picture-perfect matron, but I can tell you what I, an average, sometimes wiped out, sometimes cranky pregnant lady with three wild and wooly kids, do on any given day that is so nuts-o I can't even remember what's for lunch, or if there is even anything to fix for lunch.

I sit back, smile really big, and open my eyes to the grace.

While I was calming the 2 year old down, or laying in bad trying not to throw up from ravaging morning sickness, my 8 year-old snuck off to write in his secret journal... or to copy Chinese characters from some packaging material (he's currently obsessed with all things Chinese)... or to build a block tower using every block in the house. And my 5 year old choreographed a dance to the Blue Danube which she can play over and over and over and over on the keyboard... or joined in the block building... or made her own slingshot.

Are these things somehow less educational, less important to their development both academic and human than math pages and grammar excercises? Not to me.

Is a day spent playing with siblings (and yes, fighting and making up with siblings) less worthy than a day spent memorizing verb charts or slaving over math facts? And if I think it is less worthy, why?

I remember very clearly the day I took the school books off the high shelf and put them down on the shelf with all the, well, normal books. And something happened. Learning became somehow more normal... more real to us. Interestingly, my kids choose their 'school' books as often as they choose their other books, but it ceases to be a point of contention if today that poetry anthology doesn't get opened. Am I worried that my children won't learn 'what they need to know' because I don't direct their choices like I did in the days of yore: those everyone-has-quiet-time, snacks-at-3 (and ONLY at 3!), march-to-my-drummer days?

No. I see to much evidence that, for me at least, for my children at least, learning happens ALL the time. I can't stop it, hold it back, even if I want to. And as sick as I get of homemade catapults crowding my yard, endless keyboard jam sessions (WHERE ARE THE HEADPHONES YOU GUYS?!!!), art projects that overflow from the 'art table', and requests for math worksheets to be printed at 10 pm (yes, this happens... it seems to be the time of night when the math angel whispers into my children's ears "don't go to sleep... go wake up your mother and ask for math to do for fun...") I wouldn't trade the exuberance, the shouts, the wild adventure, for anything.


My other realization was that I can't schedule every minute of my children's learning and expect to grow self-motivated learners. I need to trust more that their interests will blossom if they have the time to pursue them... and not just on the 2 hour lesson-break planned every Wednesday afternoon!

Some mamas need to be in control. They want to lead. Some mamas let go of all control and give it over to the children. They let the children lead.

But for me, there's Someone else who leads.

And when life hapens- and OH! does it happen- I remind myself Who is in control. Who is the real Educator. Who gives the Light. Who more than me communicates the important stuff directly to these precious souls in my care.

And He will never let me down.

Beating the Homeschool Blues.....

Around here the weather has been lovely. Warm and sunny and completely un-March like.

It's been tough to concentrate on school when the girls want to be outside on the playground, and I want to be planting my garden, or getting rid of the cobwebs on the patio furniture, or finally cleaning my windows. Okay, that last one - not so much.

But you get the picture! It's so hard to concentrate on school when we {kids included!} are ready to be DONE.

Here are some fun ideas: 

* Call a local homeschool friend. See if you can get together and do a day of school together.

* Take a day off. In the grand scheme of things, is it really so bad to take one day off? Nope. It really isn't!!

* If you absolutely can not take an entire day off, take a half day. Please. It's worth it, I promise. 

* Do school outside! It's so lovely to be out in the fresh air and warm breezes! Tale a nature walk, study the clouds, race down the street...the possibilities are endless!

* Take an ice cream break. Talk about how ice cream is made and then visit your local ice cream parlor.

* Visit a gardening center and talk about the difference kinds of plants, trees, bushes...even fountains and fish. Generally you can find a helpful employee would will be happy to impart their knowledge.

* Hit the zoo, the art museum, the children's museum, the aquarium....you get the picture. Try to visit them now before the summer crowds arrive. Also, many schools schedule field trips towards the end of the school year. Beat the rush!

There are so many ways that you can have fun with school - and remember, one of the best things about homeschooling is that it can be flexible!

What can you have fun learning about today? 

Aurie Good is a pastor's wife, a "retired" youth minister, and probably the most relaxed mom that you'll ever meet!  She blogs at Our Good Life with quips about life as a stay at home mom to two girly toddlers, two wild & crazy dogs, and one cranky cat.  She is married to her best friend and consider the simple life that they've created absolute bliss!  They are currently fostering a lively two year old little girl who keeps them on their toes!

One of those days.

I admit it. 

We were totally not having a good homeschool day. 

Sophie was whiny and not interested in anything.

Bella wanted to be held and screamed if I either put her down or left the room.

I was about ready to come undone.

We grabbed coats, boots and hats and out the door we went.

I let them run down the driveway to the towpath.

It was instant fun. Smiles and giggles and laughter.
 
We talked about God and how did He know how to make dirt? And why did He make ticks and biting flies? {personally, I'd like to know the answer to that one}

We looked at the sky and counted tree branches and marveled that some green plants were poking through the muddy leaves.

We chased a squirrel {the girls *let* him win} and watched a baby deer pick her way through the woods.

It was awesome.

Letting go of my plans and exploring God's creation?  I am so glad that we did.

Oh - and you know you want one of those hats! {grin}

Using the One Room School House Approach

One of the beauties of homeschooling is diversity.  Every homeschool operates differently, because every family situation is unique.   

We are a family of six with children ranging from preschool to seventh grade.  For our school days, we use the one room school house approach.  Are you curious just how that works?

This is a day from our homeschooling journey...

It is 8:00, breakfast and chores are completed, and we start our schooling.  Gathering as a group, in the back room, we review the catechism question of the week, read a short devotional, sing a song, and pray.

On this day, my third grader has a cough, and I take the time after our group work, to make her some hot tea to sip.

The older children work on copywork, geography, and reading while I teach our preschooler. 

Today, our youngest completes a few worksheets covering the letter n and reviews previously learned letters and sounds.  We update his calendar, write out the date on the chalk board, practice counting, and work on patterns. 

After this, he rises from his seat, and we play store.  He learns concepts like more/less, how much more, and not enough as they relate to money.  Then, we play 'What time is it?' a game we have made up using a plastic clock.  After a few rounds, I ask him to find something to do.  He chooses a floor puzzle.

Next, I work individually with our third grader while the older two children finish their reading and begin math. 

Together, my third grader and I, cover new concepts in math (multiplication with carry over), grammar (helping verbs), and reading (defining vocab words with synonyms and antonyms).  She then completes all the review work independently as I work with her older siblings.

My fifth grader narrates a chapter from Heidi, her current assigned reading, to me.  Then, we discuss indefinite pronouns and how to properly address envelopes.  Her math on this day is all review, and she is able to complete it on her own.

After working with the younger children, I now ask our oldest son if he had any issues with his work.  He asks for help with some algebra questions.  We move to the chalk board and complete the problems step by step together. 

He will try a few more on his own later that morning.  For now, I check his literature assignment: character sketches from Last of the Mohicans and an outline of the main events.  We then discuss his grammar assignment on personal pronouns.

By now, it is past 10:00 and time for a break.  My oldest daughter walks her letter to the mail box while the rest of us move to the kitchen for a snack.

Fifteen minutes later, we settle into the back room ready for more lessons.  Once again, we begin as a group.  This morning we read aloud and discuss the imagery and tone of Lord Byron's "The Destruction of Sennacherib." 

Then we pick up our history studies and read about Prussia.  Today, the younger children color a picture relating to the lesson and the older sit quietly.  Once the selected reading is done, we discuss it.  Then, the three older children write summaries, as I help our preschooler get a few things down from the shelves.  He plays quietly (well, except for the truck vroom and crash).

Like the earlier session, I begin with our third grader.  This time, we read her Bible lesson together.  Then, she works on spelling and Latin. 

Turning to our fifth grader, I ask if she has any questions.  She does not and continues to work through her own Bible, spelling, and Latin lessons.

I administer a spelling pretest for our oldest.  Then we work through logic and apologetics.  Both are done in discussion with little written work on this day.

We then break for lunch.  Over lunch, I read the first part of a two day read aloud: The Chalk Box Kid.

After the kitchen is cleaned and teeth are brushed, we return to the back room for science work and corrections.  Once this is done, the three younger children are finished for the day.  Our oldest son will work on his Latin. 

As the younger play and the oldest finishes his school work, I record what we accomplished today and set out all the materials we will need for the next day of school.  We leave the back room by two o'clock, organized and ready for tomorrow. 

Quiet time follows our lessons.  Afterwards, the rest of the afternoon is spent playing outside until dinner.  The girls attend choir practice in the evening.



A few important notes:
* Not everyday is the same.  This is simply one of the 180 days of school for this year. 
* For us, we like to have a 'heavier' course load on Mondays and taper to a 'lighter' load by Fridays.  The day I shared was a Monday. 
* We don't do every subject every day.
* On this day, we were home.  Some days we have co-ops or out of the house lessons that we work around.

Just a Regular Day....

This week we are talking about a day in the life of our homeschool.

I have to admit that since we were just on vacation we aren't quite back into our routine.  And by not quite...I mean that we are totally off.

Here's a basic outline of a typical day:

6:30am - I am up, quiet time, online time, shower & dressed.

7:30am - Sophie is up and dressed. She comes downstairs, plays and has her video time {which at the moment is either Itty Bitty Heartbeats; Thomas the Train or Curious George.}

8:30am - Bella wakes up and get dressed. She comes down and has breakfast. Sophie eats with her.

9:00am - Ken leaves for work.  Sophie and I start school.  We read a Bible story and talk about Jesus.  Then we work on writing her name. We do a craft, generally one that has her cutting, pasting and coloring.

9:30am - Bella is tired of entertaining herself and comes in to color or finger paint.

9:45am - Daddy comes home and I head out to the office.  Daddy finishes up with Sophie working on shapes {this week we made houses out of squares, triangles and rectangles.}

10:30am  - Playtime for the girls and Daddy does some work.

11:30am - Lunch time.

12:00pm - Naptime for Bella, quiet time for Sophie.

2:00pm - I'm home and Daddy heads back to the office.

3:00pm - Girls are up and have a snack.

3:15pm - Bella plays. Sophie and I do coloring/writing/painting and reading together.

4:00pm - Dinner prep. Sophie helps in the kitchen.

4:30pm  - Dinner.

5:00pm - clean up, playtime, bath time, story time.

6:30pm - Bedtime.

The rest of the evening is spent chatting with my hubby, blogging a bit and preparing for the next day!  How do you end your day?

Aurie Good is a pastor's wife, a "retired" youth minister, and probably the most relaxed mom that you'll ever meet!  She blogs at Our Good Life with quips about life as a stay at home mom to two girly toddlers, two wild & crazy dogs, and one cranky cat.  She is married to her best friend and consider the simple life that they've created absolute bliss!  They are currently embarking on a new path of fostering to adopt medically fragile infants and are thrilled to see where God leads them!

A Day in Our Homeschool Preschool

Today, I am excited to share a day in our homeschool preschool with you.  I chronicled our day last Wednesday to share with you; it was a fairly typical day for us.  Most days, we have one scheduled activity (soccer, playgroup, field trip, doctor's appointment or errands) each morning and one in the late afternoon (swimming lessons, playgroup, playdate).

My girls are very young (Abigail is 3 1/2 and Charlotte is 16 months), so our schooling is more relaxed now than it will be in a few years.  

7:15 - The girls and I get up.  The girls start the morning with independent playtime while I make coffee and prepare their breakfast.

7:30 - Abigail and Charlotte sit down to breakfast.  A few months ago, Abigail asked if she could have breakfast with just Charlotte.  They both had so much fun during their sister breakfast that they have done it every morning since.  While they eat, I empty the dishwasher, fold laundry, and check emails.  After eating, the girls go back to playing.

8:00 - As I am checking my email, I see that our plans for the day need to change slightly.  One of Abigail's friends was supposed to come over for preschool today.  However, her mom e-mailed me to say that she is sick.  So, I hurriedly come up with a new plan for our preschool lesson.  Knowing that Abigail will be disappointed that her friend is no longer coming (and wanting to save the prepared lesson for next week when her friend will come instead), I try to come up with a fun lesson.  Luckily, I keep a handful of prepared, fun lessons ready for emergencies.  I decide upon our princess lesson (Abigail LOVES princesses right now!).

8:15 - The new lesson is ready.  My husband comes in to say goodbye to all of us.  I pour myself another cup of coffee and head to the preschool table.

8:20 - Preschool begins.  We start our day with our daily devotions and then read a few of our favorite stories from the bible.  Because it was supposed to be a special day (with a friend visiting), I did not have a bible lesson planned.

8:30 - We begin our Princess lesson.  We read a fiction book, complete two princess preschool packets (downloaded from other mommy bloggers who share their creations), and do a few activities that I created.  During our lesson, we work on spelling Abigail's name, handwriting, letter recognition, counting, number order, patterns, same/different, and putting objects in order by size.  At the end of the lesson, Abigail uses the leftover materials (and a LOT of stickers) to make a princess collage.  

We conduct our preschool lessons in the playroom.  During the lesson, Charlotte played independently and spent some time at the preschool table coloring and working on a peg puzzle (she worked for about 30 minutes total, which is a long time for a 1-year-old!).

10:40 - Preschool is over and we head upstairs to shower and get ready.

11:00 - We go to the grocery store.  Often the grocery store is the location of unplanned preschool lessons about money and healthy eating.  However, today both girls are busy driving the car cart and neither is concerned about talking to me.

12:00 - We return home from the grocery store.  I put lunch in the skillet to heat up while I put away the groceries.  Charlotte is getting tired, so she is very clingy and insists upon being held while I cook/put away the food.

12:30 - The girls and I sit down to lunch together.  We have spinach and chicken pasta and fresh fruit (clemetine oranges, blueberries, and apple slices).  During lunch, we talk about what we learned in preschool and preview our afternoon.  

1:15 - The girls get ready for naps.  Abigail goes to her room to play quietly while I put Charlotte to sleep.

1:45 - Charlotte is asleep and Abigail is playing quietly in her room.  I head to the kitchen to assemble dinner for my family and for a friend who just had a baby.  I bake gingerbread cookies and make two chicken tortilla casseroles.  While the food bakes, I clean.

2:30 - Abigail gets up from her rest time and heads to the playroom to have a snack (a banana snowman) and play while I continue cleaning/cooking.

3:15 - Charlotte awakens from her nap.  We load up in the car and head to our friend's house to deliver the dinner on our way to our playgroup outing.

3:45 - We arrive at the playgroup outing (at a fabulous play area near our house).  The girls happily play, run, and climb with their friends.  I spend the time chasing Charlotte and doing my best to be sure that she does not get hurt (she tries to do all of the same things that the big kids do and often hurts herself).

5:30 - We head home, tell Daddy about the playgroup outing, and put our casserole in the oven.  Abigail helps me set the table for dinner.

6:00 - While the casserole bakes, the girls and I talk with my parents via Skype.

6:30 - We sit down for a family dinner.  We talk about our days and Abigail asks what we will be doing tomorrow.  I tell her that we will be doing snowman preschool lessons, making pink lemonade (just like Pinkalicious), the babysitter is coming for a few hours so I can work on my dissertation, we are hosting playgroup, and she has swimming lessons.  She says that sounds fun and then asks what we will be doing  the day after that (to which I reply "a trip to the zoo, animal-themed preschool, and an evening playdate with friends).

7:15 - Dinner is over and we begin the bedtime routine.

8:00 - Both girls are asleep.  I begin my evening list of work:

          Preparing tomorrow's lunch so that it can be thrown in the crockpot in the morning

          Laundry

          Cleaning

          Preparing the fruits/vegetables we bought at the grocery store this morning

          Baking muffins and preparing fruit to serve at tomorrow's playgroup

10:00 - I sit down with a cup of hot tea and my computer to respond to e-mails, check my Facebook, and blog.

11:30 - I begrudgingly go to bed.  I did not get everything I needed to done today (I never do!) and would love to stay up and finish more things, but know that I will regret it tomorrow.

 

I hope that you enjoyed a peek into our home.  Thank you for letting me share my day with you.

A Day In The Life...The Kelleys

I am taking a free pass today guys. I am sick right now, and just posted a day in our life in pictures on my own blog last week.

I also moved to WordPress and lost all of my Disqus comments.

What a week it has been! In light of my hectic, sick week, I am simply going to point you to my blog, where you can take a peek into how the Kelley house homeschools.

  A Day in Our Homeschool

A Day in the Life--Ralene

January is the month where we all give in and say we'll make some changes, tweak a few things, and make our lives just a little easier/better/smoother. Sometimes, though, we feel that the solutions to our problems are just beyond our reach. What better to renew our creative ducts than to see how other people do it. If you are one of those people who know that you need to get on top of your schedule this year, GYHS is ready to share! For the next two weeks, GYHS contributers will give you a glimpse into our day, show you how we do it (though we're far from perfect ourselves).

This is my crew. My husband, a military soldier who has been gone quiet a bit, but thankfully has been home for a year! Alana is 5 and Kyra is 4 (both in Kindergarten this year), and Connor is 18 months.


Ralene's Ideal Day vs Ralene's Real Day:

6:30--My alarm went off too early this morning. Let me tell ya, my new year's resolution to wake up at 6:30 every morning may not work. For now, this is the time I wake up, have my quiet time and start to check emails/blogs. Most mornings it works pretty well--if I get up. Otherwise...

7:00--Kid are up and we're having breakfast. They may watch a couple of cartoons while I finish with my emails/blogs.

8:00--Morning Routine/Chores--The kids march upstairs to make their beds, brush their teeth, get dressed, and then move to their morning chores. The girls alternate chores like dusting, picking up toys, vacuuming (some), taking out the bathroom trash, putting away clothes. As they finish, they run off to play before school starts.

9:30--School time. We tend to run our school like this: Subject, 10-15 min break, Subject, 10-15 min break. We start with Group/Bible time where we sing, read from the Bible, go over our verse of the week, talk about the calendar (20 mins). Next we move on to Math (w/ Math-U-See) for about 15-20 mins. Then we split up for Phonics. My son doesn't do well when I try to have both of the girls working at the same time, so usually one will play with him while I work with the other, and then we switch. Last of all, we spend about 15-20 mins working on a unit study. During the breaks, I usually try to do a little cleaning.

12:00--Lunch

12:40(ish)--Reading time (this is when we read from a chapter book, right now we're enjoying the Little House series--talk about flashbacks!)

1:00--Rest Time (the girls are allowed to either watch a movie or read books), My office hours (1-3)

2:00--The girls are allowed to get up and engage in a quiet activity like drawing, or else go outside on nice days.

3:00--Snack time

3:30--I shoo the kids away so that I can workout while I watch one of my shows.

4:30--Cleaning

5:00--Dinner Prep, Cleaning

5:45--Dinner

6:30--Cleaning. Baths

7:00--Hubby takes over with kids and my evening office hours begin

7:30--Kids Bedtime Routine: pick up toys, brush teeth, bedtime stories

8:00--Kids in bed

10:00--My office hours end, I unwind with a tv show or a good book

11:00--Lights out!