Today's homeschooling experience

The boys left an hour ago for a field trip with their "grandparents", so we didn't get our full day in, but that is okay. It was good.

We started the day out with worship. I read the devotional while they ate breakfast. We got up a bit late (my fault) so I let them multitask. ;-) By the time worship was over, they were almost done with their breakfasts, so we went to the desks in the dining room and sat down. I let them finish their breakfast while I read Matthew 26 for Bible class. By the time I was done reading, they were both done with their breakfast. At which point we discussed the reading and answered a few questions.

And the day continued from there. Some classes take one child longer to do, while other classes take the other child longer to do. Which is part of the reason I am glad we chose to homeschool. Yes, we have a daily schedule, but it's just a base to begin with. They can take as long as they need (as long as they are concentrating). So if one child gets one class done in 15 minutes, they can take a break for a bit and then get started on the enxt class while the other child takes his time on the class. They don't have to be doing the same class at the same time. I AM a woman, I CAN multi-task. ;-)

We basically got done with the main classes by 11am, so we sat and read a chapter out of The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis, until my parents got there to pick them up.

All in all, it was a good first day of school. We had a few issues, but they were things I figured would come up (attention deficit), and we'll work through them as we go along.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

ALL of the links to websites provided in my page are links that are accessible to the public from search engines such as Google and Ask. Some of those are links to free ebooks that are accessible through the internet at no cost to the reader, you just need to know how to do the search...or they can be found through some literature-based curriculum websites. If I have used material in a lesson plan that is not free public domain, I have linked to the book for purchase. Any materials I have created for use with the book may or may not be linked to in my blog, depending on the content of those materials.

Some of the files found on my page are files created by myself for use in homeschooling. If the link does not specify a creator, the creator is me. Otherwise I will list beside the item who the author/creator is.

I am providing the resources I have personally found and that I use as a courtesy, so you don't have to go through the months of searching that I went through. How have I compiled this information? I've joined many email groups and I have many homeschooling friends, all whom are generous with the information they have found and readily pass it along to be used by others. I have also done my own searches and found far more than I ever expected to find on the internet (I am absolutely AMAZED at how many books you can find online for free).

If one of the files I personally created is useful to you and you want to pass along the information or the link, credit would be appreciated, but not required. This applies not only to the record keeping files, but also the lesson plans. An alternative to crediting me would be leaving me a comment in an entry letting me know that you are going to use the file....and to be honest, I would prefer this method over credit anyway.

Homeschool Devotional for April 6, 2009

Grace in the Wilderness
By Maribeth Spangenberg

"But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he led them on safely, so that they feared not..."
Psalm 78:52-53a


God has not called you into homeschooling to leave you. What He started, He will complete! Even through the "dark days", when we feel like we’re sinking, He’s still there!

baby may be irritable. Sarah isn’t cooperating. And Joey doesn’t "get it". Frustration sets in. Doubts bombard us. And we question our capabilities.

Did we REALLY hear from God? Is this TRULY His Will? Shouldn’t the way get easier?

While we relish the good days, and certainly need the assurance of them, the challenging times are what stretch us. Homeschooling is not just for the good of the children and the family. It is also an opportunity for spiritual growth for us. As sheep with the shepherd, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus, and trust in His leading and guidance.

Sometimes the days may seem long, or the academics appear out of our reach. But as we take one step at a time, our Shepherd will get us over the rocky paths. Grace will be more real as we look to Our Lord for strength and encouragement. His love will surround us when we seek His Face.

As we rest in Him, He will prod us on. When we feel our strength waning, our faith will push us forward.

Dear mother, homeschooling has tremendous rewards in the end – the closeness of family, respect for authority, lessons in submission, and opportunities for spiritual growth.

Trust God and His promises. If the Lord has called you, He will lead you. As a sheep in His Pasture, rest in his care. As our Shepherd, He will guide us.

Prayer: "Heavenly Father, I pray for your grace to continue strong in the path of homeschooling. Help me to rest in your guidance, so that I can keep going forward. I trust You to take away my fears and frustrations, and to replace them with Your peace."

Tomorrow's the Day

Tomorrow is the day we start officially homeschooling. I'm nervous about it. I mean, I know I can do this. I don't feel I'm not smart enough to, and I've got LOADS of resources should there be a question I can't help them figure out. But I'm nervous. I don't want to mess this up. Their future depends on ME now, not the teachers at school. If they don't learn, it's now MY fault.

I just keep praying that God will send the Holy Spirit to guide me through this, because that is the ONLY way this is going to work.

Right now we're getting the house clean in preparation for tomorrow. That way there is nothing to distract us from school work.

The Week before Easter

It is now the week before Easter, and I'm excited for what we'll be doing this week for Bible class.

First, on Monday and Tuesday (Monday with my parents, Tuesday with me and the homeschooling group) we'll be heading just a bit up north to view a life size replica of the Old Testament Sanctuary, complete with the "gold" artifacts.

Then for Bible class at home, we'll be reading Matthew 26-28 (one chapter a day Monday through Wednesday) and having a discussion about what happened during that time. I would have liked to have some palm leaves so we could start TODAY, with it being Palm Sunday. But alas, I couldn't find any.

Monday through Wednesday we will simply read the Bible texts and do a couple small Christian Easter activities. Then on Thursday we'll start creating our Resurrection Eggs (you can find this activity in the links to the right, under Easter Story) and get those finished. On Sunday morning, I'll get up early and hide the Easter "eggs" (in replacement of the non-Christian tradition of candy/colored egg hunting) in the yard (if it's nice out) or in the house and around Noon I'll let them hunt for them. When they're done hunting, we'll put the "eggs" in order and re-read the story of the Resurrection.

On Friday, we'll create Resurrection Cookies (this activity can also be found in the Easter Story link to the right, but I will also include it in this blog). It is only supposed to be an over-night activity, but I'm thinking about making it an Easter WEEKEND activity....Make the cookies on Friday, leave them alone all day Saturday, then Sunday morning before we do anything else, finishing the project.

This will also be our new Easter tradition (when they are with me for Easter). We used to not do ANYTHING for Easter, because the holiday itself is a pagan holiday, with nothing Christian about it. I should say, the ORIGINS are pagan. But the thing is, when they are with their Dad for Easter, they go egg hunting and all that other fun stuff. I need to make the REAL Easter something they will remember and admire. Christ's Crucifixion was not a fun thing, but something needs to be done to place in our children's heads the meaning of it all. Colored eggs and candy and bunny rabbits are NOT the true meaning of the Christian Easter.

So here we begin our new Easter tradition. And I may even change the name. Given that the term "Easter" does come from the pagan origins of the holiday (Ishtar, whom the holiday was made for), I may request that in our household we call it Resurrection Day. It even changes the images in my head that pop up when I say it. "Easter" brings up images of bunnies and colored eggs and candy. "Resurrection" brings up images of Christ.


RESURRECTION COOKIES
Cookie Ingredients:
1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1 cup sugar

Other items needed:
Plastic baggie (I do one for each child)
Wooden spoon (or other object that can pound on nuts in a baggie without breaking the baggie; again, one for each child)
Tape (Scotch tape doesn't work terribly well for this project. I would suggest duct tape or clear packing tape)
Bible

Preheat oven to 300*. It is VERY important to do this before doing anything else!

1. Place nuts in baggie(s), seal tightly, and allow the child(ren) to beat them with a wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3

2. Open the vinegar and let everyone smell it. Pour 1 teaspoon into the mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, all He was given to drink was vinegar. Read John 19:28-30

3. Add egg whites to vinegar. Tell everyone that eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11

4. Sprinkle a little salt into each person's hand. Let each taste it, then brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27

5. So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Sprinkle a little sugar into each person's hand. Let each taste it, then pour 1 cup of sugar into the bowl. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

6. Beat with a mixer on high speed for 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color of white represents our purity in God's eyes becuase our sins are cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18.

7. Fold in nuts gently. Drop by teaspoons onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60

8. Put the cookie sheet in the oven; close the door and TURN THE OVEN OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door shut. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66

9. You're done! Explain that you cannot eat the cookies tonight, but that you have to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. This might make your children sad, but you can use this to explain that Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22

10. The next morning*, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the third day, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9

*Or if you choose to make it a weekend thing, leave them in the sealed oven (plan to have meals that day that do not require you to heat up the oven, lol). Then on Sunday (Resurrection) morning, compete step 10.

Can I share with you?

As I set up my curriculum, as I write lesson plans, as I get all things needed for the homeschool success of my own children, I'm prompted to share the rich resources I have that are all FREE!

Yes, that's right....FREE!

Free is a good word in today's economy, is it not? I certainly enjoy that word. And you might be surprised just how much you can find online that is FREE, you just have to know how to search for it. And it's all public domain, so as long as you have internet access, you have access to these free materials. It would just be wrong of me to NOT share it with you.

So as I continue compiling information for my homeschooling studies, I am going to pass it along to you. Not ALL of it will be free, because no matter how free the curriculum is, sometimes you will just have to purchase something. But where I can, I will also provide you with links to the stuff that does need to be purchased where it can be purchased for LARGE discounts.

So if you're a homeschooling parent who just seems stuck or doesn't know how to find what you're looking for (or even don't know that you CAN find loads of free stuff), take a gander at the right side of my blog. You'll find links being added on almost a daily basis (at least until I've exhausted all of MY resources, and until I find MORE resources). I've divided them by subject to make it a little easier to find. Some links you may find in more than one category. All of them will be as free or low-cost as I could find. Some of them may not be low-cost, but are still resources that I believe to be high-quality.

I also create my own files to be used for organization which I will be attempting to place online as well, and when I do I will be more than happy to share those files with you for your own homeschool organization success. You'll even be able to find the daily schedule we use for homeschooling.

You will soon also be able to find links to email groups that are or may be helpful. Mostly it will be only the homeschool email groups I belong to, but occasionally, if I've heard of a good email group I don't belong to (because let's face it, I'm a working mother who homeschools...I don't have a lot of time for reading emails lol), I'll link that one for you as well. If you haven't already, I'd suggest joining at least one of them (some of them are curriculum-based support groups). You will need the support and ideas of other homeschoolers.

So take a look. At this very moment, there isn't a lot over there. It was an idea that presented itself within the last hour. But keep checking in, you'll find more and more as the days go by.

Getting ready

I've spent the greater majority of the last almost two months getting curriculum compiled to use for the homeschooling. It's actually quite amazing how much free stuff you can find on the internet if you just know what words to type into a search, and what groups and websites to join. I've found free curriculum for EVERYTHING I could possibly want to teach them.

Except Spanish. No curriculum. BUT I have found many places that offer free resources for the basics in Spanish. The basics will at least give me enough time to save enough money to BUY some sort of Spanish language education materials from somewhere.

The last week I've spent putting together lesson plans. Just basic ones, really, so I can keep my children's dad informed of what they are doing for school. He seems to have developed an aversion to homeschooling them, whereas in the beginning he was all for it. But now he's not, and I figure as long as I can show him that they actually WILL be learning, and keep records for myself in case I need them, maybe he'll be appeased long enough to at least give this a good, decent shot.

But getting together the lesson plans was more difficult than getting together the curriculum. First of all, I had to create a daily schedule. Not every class will be taught every day, or even every week, so first I had to decide what classes I feel my children need to have every day (such as Math), and what classes I feel wouldn't harm my children in having every other day, every other week.

That part wasn't SO hard.

Then came setting up lesson plans for each of the classes. Which is where I messed up.

I forgot that some of the classes we'll be doing weren't going to be every day things. So I ended up creating lesson plans for every day of the week for those classes. Then I printed them up and put them in the binders I have for the curriculum. And then I realized the mistake I made. So I had to go fix those classes. That was fun. NOT.

But I think I've got it all sorted out now. I still have a few classes I haven't created lesson plans for, but those classes aren't as important. Bible (which I really don't HAVE to create a lesson plan for, because the book I will be using for the first 9 weeks actually has it's own curriculum), Music, and Art. At the ages my kids are, Music and Art aren't so critical that I have to come up with curriculum for. Music could be as simple as learning a new song, Art could be as simple as creating a drawing based on another subject's lessons for that week. So I'm not too worried about those.

We're going to start Bible this week, though, instead of waiting until the 6th. On April 7 they have a field trip to view a life-size replica of the sanctuary that has come to the area for Easter. So this week we are going to be studying the Sanctuary, both the earthly and the heavenly. And on their field trip I'm going to have them take the piece of paper that lists the items in the sanctuary and write down what each of those items represents (they will be guided by a tour guide). I think it will be fun.

Then next week we'll start the lessons on the life of Jesus immediately preceeding His crucifixion, which will be completed Easter weekend. I even have the boys Easter weekend, so I'm going to be looking for a program or something that weekend to use as a field trip. If nobody has anything planned for that weekend, I'll see if I can find a children's version of the crucifixion on DVD or something. If they were in their teens I'd probably rent The Passion of the Christ, but they are too young and I don't think they could handle that much information just yet.

I think that I am going to also start including entries on free curriculum in this blog. Just in case other homeschooling moms need help finding quality educational materials and are living on a strict budget. Some things you just can't find online, but the majority of it you can. Yeah, I think I'll start doing that.

==========================================
Daily Homeschool Schedule

7am-7:30am

• Morning Worship

7:30am-8am

• Breakfast

8am-8:45am

• Bible

8:45am-9am

• Break

9am-9:45am

• Mondays/Wednesdays: English
• Tuesdays/Thursdays: Spanish
  

9:45am-10am Break
10am-10:45am

• Math

10:45am-11am Break
11am-11:45am
Week One:

• Mondays/Wednesdays: World History/Geography
• Tuesdays/Thursdays: Earth Science

Week Two:

• Mondays/Wednesdays: American History/Geography
• Tuesdays/Thursdays: Natural Science (ie, Universe)

11:45am-1pm Lunch/Recess
1pm-1:20pm

• Reading

1:25pm-1:45pm

• Spelling/Writing

1:45pm-2pm Break
2pm-2:45pm

• Week One: Music
• Week Two: Art

(entry with free links to come later)