A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

We have a devotional during breakfast each day.  I eat earlier than the kids because I get up earlier than they do, and I wake up hungry.  Because my mouth is not full, and the kids' mouths are full, breakfast is an ideal time for me to do a little preaching. :) Right now I'm sharing highlights from General Conference .  Every day I read a story from a talk or briefly share doctrinal points that seem relevant at the moment.  Without fail I get choked up as I read and bear testimony of the truths of the gospel.  The kids are getting used to tears with their breakfast.  Some days I have to remind the kids to be polite. Some days they join in and share relevant primary/church/YW/personal scripture study experiences that turn our devotional into a wonder of shared testimonies. What will we do when we have finished all of the talks?  I'm not sure.  But I have shelves full of inspiring reading, and I'm sure I'll find something to keep the...

We are nearly done with The Fellowship of the Ring --just 7 pages to go. The kids are dying because the ring is no closer to destruction than it was 498 pages ago.  Some of them want me to read The Two Towers , and some of them want a break. I'm on the fence. But I have a couple of days to decide.  We'll finish the book tonight.  Tomorrow is the big Homeschool Family Dance, so we won't be reading at bedtime.  Saturday will be the day of reckoning. ******* Yesterday was our science club meeting.  The big kids learned about women innovators.  The little kids learned about our home state--making a poster-sized map with various pictures to represent our state bird, seal, tree, flower, animal, capital, and various other special facts. After that we went to the library. Then we watched Despicable Me 2 while I hemmed the curtains I still owe J10's horseback riding instructor.  I'm having to hand hem them because of the thickness of the fabric....

E13 has struggled with math.  We've tried at least 6 different curricula over the years.  It took a year of Life of Fred to get her over her fears, but then the open-endedness and focus on higher-level thinking finally irritated her (these are natural strengths for her).  She just wants (and needs) to master the basic skills.  At her request this year we returned to Math-U-See.  And she is making progress. Because we home school we have the luxury of working at her own pace, so when she makes mistakes, I mark them and she reworks them until she gets them right.  We work for 100% accuracy. But we recently encountered multiplication of triple and quadruple digit numbers.  (Like I said, we're going back to the basics.)  These problems are dreadfully hard for her--they involve skills that are her weakest weaknesses and leave her exhausted mentally and physically. This week we combined our 100% accuracy policy with hard, hard math problems and ...

I opened J10's Book of Mormon journal just to mark her most recent entry.  Though I offered the girls the choice between summarizing what they've read and copying a meaningful scripture, they've chosen the copywork every time.  J10 chooses scriptures of such majesty that my heart is lifted each time I read the ones she chooses . . . even though I've just read the same ones myself a few hours earlier.  There's something about knowing what touched her heart that touches mine as well. This is H4 "reading," marking her scriptures and taking notes.  The example of the older kids is amazing! E13 has been giving the littles their baths at night.  She's a hilarious bath buddy--telling stories and leading the little guys into their jammies with a Pied Piper-esqe-ness that never fails to amaze me. We received the most marvelous gift of a 1/4 size violin this week.  M11 had been teaching A6 and H4 how to play it.  A6 already had grand plans to perform i...

This post is part of a link invitation/challenge from Our Busy Homeschool . Most of my posts are kind of a day in our lives.  But here goes my best effort to include some of the nitty-gritty details. 6:04  I roll over and look at the clock.  I've slept in.  I feel both the luxury of a good night's sleep and the pressure of a later start to my day. I finished studying Preach My Gospel (such a pleasure--why did I wait so long to do it?), so on this day I gather up my new journal, my scriptures, a copy of Church History in the Fulness of Times , and the Doctrine and Covenants student manual for BYU's religion 324-25.  I'm about to start the Doctrine and Covenants for my own personal study!  Something I've wanted to do for 3 years but have had bumped aside for general, stake, and/or ward challenges to study other materials for a season. I study for a time.  Then set these exciting new materials aside to fulfill my other exciting commitment t...

I feel utterly unmotivated to write about our days of late.  They've been good days. I have no complaints. And there have been sweet and tender moments. But the journaling of what we do and when is terribly dull.  I need to journal what we do and when because this is where I complete my legal requirements for my state. But . . . it is so boring! Monday. It was a good day.  Formal school for the older kids in the morning.  The littles painted paper plates.  They painted some brown in preparation for an O is for owl project we're doing today, and then they painted whatever they wanted after that.  A6 painted a monkey in the desert.  I2 experimented with squashing colors together with his hands, his brush, his face, whatever he could.  H4 tried very hard to copy what A6 did, but mostly ended up squashing colors together like I2 did before I could get hold of her pictures and set them aside for safe-keeping. We had leftover chicken...

On Thursday we got started right away with our formal school--except for the little ones.  It seemed to be one of those days when the littles simply wouldn't focus and I couldn't get anything done in a timely manner.  Ultimately they got to play while I did my best to get some chores done--including cleaning the kitchen twice!  One after breakfast and again after I2 got into the leftover apple cake. We headed out to our first dance practice of the new year.  We were so excited to see friends again! We were early. Oops. Time change. So we ran over to a nearby thrift store and found a load of darling, sturdy shoes for A6 to choose from!  Hurrah! We also found a lamp for our too-dark living room, and a shirt to turn into a shrug for M11's dress for the homeschool dance. E13 found a beautiful strapless dress that she wanted more than anything in the world.  No strapless dresses. Period. She's quite disappointed, but is doing a very good jo...

We had a science club meeting yesterday, but it wasn't science themed.  We do a few service projects each year, and yesterday we made valentines for Meals on Wheels recipients. When 180 was revealed as the goal for the number of valentines to make, the littles were unaffected.  They set to work making wonderful works of art one precious project at a time.  The older kids, however, got together and set up an assembly line.  One person folded the paper. Another placed stickers. Two more did hand-drawn decorations. Another wrote "Happy Valentine's Day!" And yet another added a little bling to make them sparkle. Last year a few kids formed an assembly line, but they produced inferior quality products which had to be altered by some of this year's assembly line members.  The kids were very concerned that the cards were lovely as well as quickly produced. I'm proud of them for caring. Later we headed to Salvation Army to look for shoes for A6.  Howe...

So, that weather forecast that predicted wind and clouds and falling temperatures for today? Not true. It is clear and brisk and beautiful. Last night my sweetheart asked, "I'd really like to watch It's a Wonderful Life with the kids before it has to go back to the library.  When do you think we could do that?" My brain buzzed with possibility. "How about tomorrow morning when they usually are doing school?  I can do the grocery shopping that I blew off today, and you guys can have a date!" So that's what we did. After lunch, when I was supposed to send them off to their rooms to do some schoolwork, I offered the kids a deal, "You can do regular school or you can go up to the soccer field with me and play for an hour." They chose to play. But we only made it 45 minutes.  We're winter weak right now. The girls actually said, "I think I'll go in and do some school now." *sigh* But I'm tired, too.  ...

The plan for Monday was: Chores School Errands What happened on Monday was: Chores School/Party Hiking  The little ones got up and planned a party in the dining room.  Cranium Hullaballo, a book nook (for those tired of noisy play, tug of war (spelled tug-a-war), I-Spy, pin the arrow on the target, prizes (pick a piece of a tea set from the box) and treats (homemade pretzels by Mom). They worked for 3 hours setting it up.  There was no earthly way I was interrupting that activity for any pre-planned school I had on the schedule.  But the older girls did their independent school work as I did chores and the littles prepared. They even had admission tickets cut with fancy scissors. We timed the party so that it would end at lunch time (I was caterer). We ate off our tea-party prize dishes. After lunch I called the older girls to work together on our New Testament studies.  From my seat at the table I could see the blue sky and flittering birds...

Last night was family night for us.  Though I am not a Stephen Covey fan, one time I picked up a copy of his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families at a thrift store.  It was a better read than I'd anticipated.  I let the concepts he shared percolate for a few years. Yes, a few years. Then this January seemed to be just the right time to implement one of his recommendations and write a family mission statement.  My brother-in-law sells beautiful pre-made family mission statements .  I considered supporting his endeavor, but decided not to because I wanted something into which we'd all invested ourselves.  I knew that a lovely piece of art would look good on the wall and would probably inspire me and maybe my husband, but it would still be nothing more to my kids than a lovely piece of art.  I wanted something messy, less than poetic, and really ours. Last week we got to work--with the promise of brownies, made and decorated by H4, sitting i...

On Wednesday afternoon we bundled up and took a walk in the snow.  The kids resisted mightily, but I held firm, and we succeeded in walking perhaps half of a mile. I assigned each person to find one item of interest to share with the family when we got home.   (I am trying very hard to follow some of the advice and inspiration I find here .)  Rather than take everyone inside and run the risk of having them stay inside we held our sharing session at our picnic table on the back porch. H4 shared a skeleton of an autumn flower that still had tufts and puff of seed heads on it. A6 shared a very interesting seed head to a flower.  We have no idea how to find out what it is short of waiting for the seasons to pass and watching carefully. J10 shared her fascination with how snow packs together. S11 shared a piece of an evergreen tree. M11 shared the deer tracks we saw in the snow. E13 shared a hive she saw hanging from a tree branch. Then the kids turned t...

I woke up this morning with swirling, churning thoughts. My personal devotional is continuing my study of faith. As I read the first scripture on my list I remembered another scripture: And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.   --Matthew 17:20 Then a story I heard in church recently came to mind.  I do not know who told it, but it goes as follows: There was a woman of little faith, a skeptic, who encountered a believer.  She was told about this scripture and challenged to try her faith.  There was a hill in front of her house that blocked her view of the countryside.  She prayed for it to be moved so that she could see.  When she woke in the morning she looked out her window.  The hill was still there.  She turned away, ...

I don't know. I don't know how we're going to keep doing "school." Three pipes in our old house burst sometime today or yesterday.  We were just there on Tuesday, and everything was fine, so we know it was yesterday or today.  Our good neighbor noticed the sound of water trickling as she walked out to her car.  She went over to investigate and found water dripping out of the exterior walls of the house.  She called us immediately. My husband has been up at the house for 10 hours tearing up sodden carpet, cutting out soaked drywall, and using a couple of borrowed shop-vacs to get up the water. We're supposed to have the house ready for our tenants in 2 weeks.  We're under contract. We were on track to have the work done in the nick of time, but now . . . I don't know when my husband will actually go to his job (he had to call in tonight).  I don't know when he will sleep (he's been up for over 28 hours straight).  I don't kno...

On Saturday my husband and I worked on cleaning out the "blue room" in the basement.  It is currently our temporary holding place for boxes we've yet to take care of.  Eventually it will be a guest room.  It is a very small, strangely configured room, so we spent several minutes discussing options for its best use.  We finally decided that a hide-a-bed sofa would be wise. On Monday morning we found an ad on our homeschool forum for a free hide-a-bed sofa. Not wanting to ignore miracles staring us in the face, we went to work rearranging our day so that we could get the sofa and finish emptying our old house and yard of the odds and ends remaining there. This means that though we just started school on Monday, on Tuesday we had a sort of break while the older 3 kids helped Daddy. Sort of.  Because we accomplished: *preschool with H4, I2, and A6--they colored pictures of words that start with "n" like nurse, newt, nightingale, and nest *independent sc...

At 11:30 am I2 crawled onto the table, took the box of ziti noodles and dumped them--the entire pound . . . minus the 30 or so A6 and H4 had used to make their first necklaces. I smiled. I smiled because no one at the table even batted an eyelash.  We all just kept on working, drawing our noodles from the table instead of the box. That's life in a big, busy family. My goal is to gather the family together by 8:30 for breakfast.  We gathered at 9:45 yesterday, our first day back.  That's okay. We just did each activity in order. Actually, not even in order.  H4 refused to get dressed. I2 was waiting for his pre-preschool.  I started to watch the clock.  \ I took a breath and regrouped. I took I2 into his room and offered to play blocks with him while H4 ran naked up and down the hallway. A6 asked if she could play, too. Of course. Eventually H4 got bored and got her clothes. I helped her dress while we built towers. And later we mov...

Local schools are cancelled because of extreme cold.  We, however, are building a rip-roaring fire and getting down to business. But how? I've tried hard-core scheduling--a place for everything and everything in its place. We accomplished a lot.  I consider it a failure because I lost my ability to be flexible, and I was hurrying kids through activities just to stay on schedule.  I've tried having a very open these-things-happen-in-this-general-time-frame schedule. I didn't feel the terrible pressure I did when we had a formal schedule, which made for happier, more relaxed days, but it was loose enough that I failed to keep some of my promises.  The kids' feelings were hurt, and they felt the loss of accomplishment. I need enough accountability to do what needs to be done and enough flexibility to not lose it when my toddler empties the water jug--again. We're in year 11 of homeschooling.  You'd think I'd be better at this by now!!! Anyway. ...

I specifically got up early this morning to catch up on homeschooling blog posts written by other mothers that I admire and by whom I am inspired. I felt the need for inspiration. Though a few days ago my brain was busily working out problems and goals for the rest of our academic year, I'm now having panic attacks. I feel so incompetent. And reading about other people's goals and accomplishments didn't lift or inspire me the way I'd hoped. I had to STOP reading and just breathe. We've only lived in this house for a month--not quite a month actually.  Though I've been intentionally watching and making notes about what housekeeping needs to be done and when and how to establish routines that work for us, we're still climbing the learning curve.  The idea of adding school is overwhelming. But the kids need it! They're asking for it! I want to climb into bed and pull the covers over my head. Even though I love my family, love my new house,...