Here are some new things I am considering.....

Here is a list of some new things I am considering....

1. Shorter lessons 30 minutes max. (Not too sure if this is really going to work-But I am trusting the Lord on this one!)

2. We already added an artist study and composer study earlier in the year. The kids are enjoying this.

3. Planning on participating in the Outdoor Hour challenge which uses the Handbook of Nature Study. I have had this book on my shelf waiting to be used. This will be a challenge for us since we live in the suburbs.

4. Having the kids participate in more life study skills. Considering a building project with the boys and more sewing with Dancer.

5. Our Poem memorization is working well. We will continue with this.

6. Using the new Language Arts ideas to fit with our History studies too. I'm thinking of having the kids write a short paper as if they lived in Egypt maybe as a Pharaoh. Just an idea we shall see what they come up with.

7. Need to create a Peace Place in my home for the kids to work out anger issues. You can find more information at http://www.ourjourneywestward.com/ for this.

I am sure I may come up with a few additions to this list but in this case less is best for my sake and for my little ones.

I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for us this week. It helps that we have had a holiday weekend and are taking it easy to watch the Presidential Inauguration this morning it gives me time to mull things over in my head.

I will try to post again soon and share with you how we have implemented these new things.

Blessings,

Amy

School Schedules and Charlotte Mason

Well, it is that time of year again where I begin to reassess what appears to be working and not working in our homeschooling year thus far. I am tweaking my language arts program and my school schedule with the kids. Up to this point we have been using Character Quality Language Arts (CQLA) but my oldest Sport is getting frustrated with it. I don't want him to dread grammar or writing so I decided to take the plunge and come up with my own Language Arts program. Something I did when he was much younger but got caught up in fear and the what ifs that seem to plague the best of homeschooling mothers. More of that to come in a minute....

Since I began homeschooling about six to seven years( if you count preschool) I fell in love with Charlotte Mason philosophy of homeschooling. It is what drew me in along the with the Lords' doing as well. I feel the Lord is calling me to return to this style of teaching...something that has gotten lost in the background along the way. Shorter lessons that hit to the main point of any given subject and more of a God driven homeschool home than just recreating school at home. Coming from a mother who used to be a second grade teacher many moons ago this is a hard thing. Something that I have wrestled with for years. It is so hard getting out of a box that society has taught us to be in. But through God's grace and his leading I am realizing that I have been trusting in the box and not just Him. So instead of planning out my days and weeks to come I going to place my trust in Him to plan our days. What does He desire of my family not what I desire of my children. Rest assured I am not going to jump in and have no plan for my day....He will have my plan. Trust me I will know that Math and all the other academics need to be accomplished but if something else is begging for attention at the moment I would be better served there than in Science textbook.

With shorter lessons we will have a shortened school day. The kids are excited about this. I am looking forward to them having more free time. A chance for them just to be kids. This is so important to me. Free to roam in the backyard and to come up with their own interests. They seem to have so many as of late. Sport is excited about outer space and wants to fly to the moon someday. Dancer wants to adopt every animal that is out there..our future vet and Racer I'm still unsure about but if it involves guns he is all over it. Scary thought! He's my warrior ready to defend.

Our language Arts will not be any different from others just condensed. I will still have grammar, editing, vocabulary and writing. It will take a little more planning on my part. I am blessed to be a homeschooling Mom in the age of the internet there are tons of stuff to pull from and I can tweak it if need be.

To all those Homeschool Moms out there who read this blog .....Trust in Him. Not your schedule book or daily planner but Christ. He knows what is best for them. Step back and let Him lead.....

Blessings, Amy

Art Museums

Last Tuesday I took the kids to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). We were there to see their Ancient Egypt Art and some of the artists we have been studying about. This museum is endless. It takes more than one day to go through it all. Given that it was a free day we set out with a plan in mind of what we wanted to see while we were there. I wasn't interested in the modern art. Modern art has an acquired taste. I don't think I have acquired it yet and I confess I may never will. I just have a hard time seeing a rack of backpacks on several hooks and calling that art. It is just not my thing.

Sadly, the website led me to believe that they would have a larger collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts than what they had on display but we did enjoy what we saw. The kids enjoyed sketching what they saw and it gave us a chance to take a peak into other Ancient history rooms.

Our trip also was quite manageable with a kindergartner in tow too. He never had a chance to get bored or restless because we planned out what we wanted to see and if we saw a bit more that was great too.

Mary Cassatt is one of my favorite artists. My bedroom is decorated with her prints. I just love her pictures of Mothers with their children. Each one is so relaxing and inviting. We studied her art earlier this year.

Mondrian here on the right. I think he is considered modern art but his fun to teach kids line, spacing and shapes. His style is quite interesting.

Currently studying Picasso and the kids were quick to point out that he painted this during his Blue period.

Art is fun to explore with kids. Step out and enjoy it!

Blessings,

Amy

Sunday Thoughts....

Well, the weekend is just about over and it has been a busy one indeed and next week shall be as well. I hope this Sunday finds you in good spirits. I wish we had a relaxing weekend as seen in this picture with Racer but it was not. Most of Saturday was spent at church helping to paint and prepare the children's Sunday school classrooms. They are starting some exciting new things at church for our first through fifth graders. They are taking this time to clean,paint and redecorate the much needed classrooms.

It is simply amazing what the kids will be able to participate on a given Sunday. They will have five center rotations of Science, Arts/Crafts, cooking, drama and computer that will be all tied into the weekly sermon. Each grade will rotate on a weekly basis to each of the learning centers. The kids are just as excited as I am. The main focus is to capture their attention and help crystallize their retention using the different learning avenues. It is a real homeschoolers dream come true. What makes it is that it will be all Bible based.

My hubby and I have volunteered to take on the Science center for five weeks. I will try to post more about that soon in an up and coming post.

The wheat free diet appears to be helping Dancer. She is no longer complaining of stomach aches. It is taking a lot of learning on my part. I feel like I am always in the kitchen now either baking more bread or preparing something else. Yesterday was hard as all the others were taking a break from painting and eating pizza and Dancer couldn't have any. Her and I ate Taco Bell fast food instead. She was a little disappointed but she was glad not to be suffering from a stomach ache later that night! I have to say that I am becoming quite educated in the different flours that are out there; I never knew that there was so many. I am also enjoying the food but do miss not being able to drive through IN and Out and pick up cheeseburger in a bun. We haven't done too much fast food lately....one step at a time.

Well, with a full school week ahead I must be going and do some school planning.

Our Week so Far...

Our week is going well. It was hard for both the kids and I to wake up and be ready for back to school on Monday morning. The leisure mornings of Christmas vacation are now behind us. I am doing well with my New Year Resolution too so far. We shall see how I am doing say March or April.

Since Saturday I have spending a lot of my free time in the kitchen. Our dancing daughter has been having a lot of recurring upset stomachs. Our pediatrician ran some tests over the summer and they came back negative for celiac, thyroid and a wheat allergy. After doing some online research of my own I decided to try out a wheat/gluten free diet with her anyway. The whole family is doing it for 30 days. Dancer will most likely stay on it longer. She hasn't been complaining of stomach aches as of late. From the research I have done she may just have an intolerance and not an allergy. It is a total life style change for myself in the types of foods I prepare and where we dine. I thought the 30 days would give me time to come up with some healthy recipes that I could carry over for Dancer. It is hard because wheat is in everything that we eat.

We are still studying Ancient Egypt in history. Science we are learning about Force and other mechanics of Physics. Art we are studying Picasso and Mozart for Music appreciation. We are hoping to plan a Egypt wrap up night sometime toward the end of this month. I will share some pictures with many of you soon.

Blessings and Happy Wednesday,
Amy

Happy 2009!!!

Happy New Year!


I love the start of a new year! Setting goals, beginning new things, new challenges, new ideas a fresh start, great time to rethink goals and to clean and organize our homes and lives. I'm not very good at setting and keeping New Year's resolutions. I admire and marvel at those who can. I had fun following the one year crock potting meal blog. She had a made a resolution to use her crockpot everyday for a full year. She was even featured on many TV shows that followed her endeavor. I don't think I am quite capable or patient enough to come up with 365 different meal ideas. I have enough trouble cooking for my own family each night.
I'm still thinking about what goals I would like to set for this New Year. I would love to be able to read the Bible completely in one year. I always have the best intentions but seem to peter out as the year rolls along. I have read through the entire Bible but not in one year. It took me a lot longer than that.
Maybe the goal I should set for myself would be to complete things that I have started. I have so many unfinished projects that plague my home. I am very capable of doing this but I am prone to be swamped ideas and not enough time to finish them. Then I come up with a new idea and move on. I think this would be a great goal to set for myself...not to begin another project until I finish the one that I am working on.
This will be a challenge in of itself. I have so many interests.

Here are some other things I would like to do this New Year...

Scrapbook our vacation pages. I am so behind years I believe....
Quilt with my daughter a small doll blanket.
A club house for the boys.
Finish a few unfinished projects around here.( I will get back to you on these later.)

Happy New Year and set some goals for yourself.

Merry Christmas 2009......

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christ centered Christmas this year. We enjoyed ours very much. The season always comes and goes so quickly. Too quickly I believe. Why rush it. Savor every minute of it. Make Christ a part of your life every day this new year. What a great gift that would be.

Blessings and Happy New Year!

Amy