Homeschooling - the Why.

Because we haven't started our offical home school schedule, and won't until the week of August 29th, I thought I'd tell you why I'm choosing to do this instead of taking advantage of preschool/school elsewhere.  I'm not setting out to start a debate or anything else, just explaining why we made the decision.

I taught elementary school for 8 years.  While teaching, I couldn't understand why anyone would homeschool.  All you have to do is put your child in school, let them enjoy a wonderful experience, and than come home to you all happy.  Of course, all kids should go to Private school so they get Bible teaching and the love of their teachers that they wouldn't get anywhere else.  After we moved to our current location, there weren't any jobs in private schools (plus I was very burned out on teaching after a not so great year, the year before) so I decided to sub in the public schools.  Talk about an eye opener.  After have a 2nd grader go ballistic on me and call me all kinds of names, I realized that public school is not how I remembered it! 

Choosing where to send your child to school is a very personal decision.  For us, we looked at a few key things 1) Location 2) Price 3) Desire.  

Location:  We don't live in a great school district.  I've heard the stories, seen it first hand, and know where our district "rates" and I don't want my children in it.  There are some fantastic school districts out there where, if I could afford to live in those areas, I would send my children to school (maybe HA!). Both my husband and I agreed that in our current location, public school is not an option.

Price:  We than looked at private/Christian school.  When I taught in one, I couldn't fully understand the sacrifice parents make to send their children to school.  When we started looking, I realized how much it truly costs.  Right now, we don't have the ability to send our kids to a Christian school and, added to that, the nearest one we would send them to is 25 minutes away. 

Desire:  Ultimately it comes down to desire.  Since my oldest was born over 2 1/2 years ago, I had a desire to teach him at home.  When the second one came along a year later, that desire grew.  For me, I stay home with my kids to be with them - I love seeing them grow and learn new things.  Homeschooling them gives me the opportunity to teach them daily new things, new ideas and new truths.  It also allows me to play with my kids and build stronger relationships.  So, we start on this journey with preschool.  Right now, our thinking is that I will homeschool them until they hit 4th or 5th grade, at which time we will put them into a Christian school but that is not set in stone.  I've learned already that there are great resources out there such as Homeschool co-ops that have "school" one day a week and give the kids opportunities that they wouldn't have just being at home 5 days a week.  (Field trips, music class, gym class and more)

Why preschool?  Because it is my testing grounds.  I want to make sure this fits for all of us before we hit K-5.  Honestly, Josh would not go to preschool this fall if I was sending him - he isn't 3 yet so I would wait a year.  He is very interested in things though so I decided to go ahead and start him, keep it simple, and peak with things he is interested in now.

This isn't for the faint of heart (ha!)  - it is actually work.  Since I'm using ideas I found on-line through various blogs, it is a lot of work writing lesson plans, gathering supplies, and printing of worksheets.  But, it will all be worth it to watch my boys learn and grow! Plus, for me, staying home is a huge sacrifice - it means my husband works the equivalent of two jobs and is away from us alot - so the thought of sending one of my kids away breaks my heart.  I'm staying home to be with them, not away from them :-)

So, that's my story :-)  Nothing big, just they why's behind our decision :-)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm loving . . .the cooler weather.  I just have to say that after weeks and weeks of hot, humid weather and all of the time we sat in the living room sweating in the evening, Sunday was perfect.  There was a cool breeze blowing through the house and it was so comfortable.  I don't want to rush summer away but I am so ready for these cool, fall days!

I'm loving  . . . Orange Crystal Light.  I'm a huge Crystal Light fan (partly because I am NOT a huge water fan!) but I tend to stick with the plain Lemonade because I know it tastes good.  My mom had a pitcher of the Orange flavor and it was soooo good!  I can only find it at Walmart so I have to make a "special" trip to get some.  My husband says it reminds him of Tang!

I'm loving . . .that my basement will be completely cleaned out and about 1/2 the stuff gone within another week or so (there is actually a back story to this but I'm really trying to be positive!)

I'm loving . . .that I'm getting a lot of digital scrapbooking done!  I've set a goal for myself to scrapbook 5 days each night.  By doing this, I can usually get at least one month done in one week, sometimes two.  (I don't take pictures every single day so I usually have about 15 days worth of photos to get done)   Over the two weeks or so, I've gotten 3 months done and am hoping to have through July 2010 by the end of the week.  Who knows, maybe next week I will love that I am less than a year behind!  Now . . .to just get those pages printed!

Too Cute Not to Toot!

I almost forgot about this post this week, imagine that!!  Things have been busy around here so I just haven't had a chance to do a lot of searching. First up is this cute idea from Lil Luna on how to make a "Count your blessings" wall hanging.  This is a great idea for a family picture wall!

This next idea from Artsy Fartsy Mama is incredible.  I will be honest and say that I don't ever plan on making this item but some of you might have more crafting ability than I do PLUS it deserves to be shared it is so good.  It is a new idea for a quiet book - but wow, so much great work!

Ok, back to ideas I do want to make - Pinwheels are a huge hit in our house and you'll probably be seeing them in upcoming birthday party posts so when I saw this idea from Minimoz, I knew I needed to "keep" it by posting it here!

I know there are lots of neat and different ideas out there for wedding guestbooks but this is the first time that I've seen someone use a monogram for everyone to sign.  Check out So into Weddings  to read more about it!

Another monogram idea comes from A little Moore and I just love it.  I have a picture wall in my house but am looking for some new ideas for it.  Adding this monogram would be a perfect idea.

I love garlands - I haven't made many but with upcoming events, I thought that this one would be cute and so very different.  It is a rag garland from Nothing But Country - just pick the fabric that fits your theme and it would be perfect!

That's it for today - again, only because I almost forgot about it and didn't search for ideas earlier than Monday night!  Plus I think we are in between all of the summer and fall ideas so things have slowed down just a little bit but I know that everything it pick back up come September!

Routines - Updated for 2011-2012

I don't know why, but as September nears every year, I start to feel like it is the start of a new year.  The only thing I can figure is that I taught school for 8 years so, really, the year did start in September!!  I find that I refocus, make new lists, new plans, and new goals.  This year, the summer r.e.a.l.l.y. slowed me down due to the heat.  I began to even wonder if it was just me and I had gotten lazy or something.  Thankfully, it finally cooled off and I discovered that it was totally the heat because my to do list started to show up again, I started to get things done and the kids actually will play again instead of clinging to me all day whining begging for relief from the heat too!  I've revamped my routines again and wanted to share them.  This original idea came from Flylady and I plan on getting back into her routine again too.  That way I can keep up with the zone tasks and deep cleaning. 

Now, I created my basic routines about 4 or 5 years ago and than, as my life has changed, I've updated and changed them to fit my current place.  After really evaluating some things, I moved items around in order to save me some time and also try to fit some things in that really need to get done. 

Morning Routine

This takes place from the time I get up until . . .it is done!

Get up

Make Bed

Walk on Treadmill

Take a shower and get ready -dressed to my shoes bare feet (Flylady say to dress to your shoes but I highly dislike wearing shoes.  I keep a pair of flip flops by the door to slip on if I have to run outside but otherwise, no shoes!)

Do swish and swipe (swish the toilet and swipe the counters = a clean bathroom everyday)

Have breakfast and quiet time

Get kids up and Fed (I plan on starting little routines with them this year too - using pictures to help them out!)

Run the vacuum over the open flooring areas (This was one of my simplify plans - plus it is a way to get a little more exercise in so I'm really going to push to get this done!)

Get laundry going (each day I do a specific group of laundry so I only have 1-2 loads a day)

Afternoon Routine

This routine begins with lunch and ends once everything is cleaned up

Empty Dishwasher - I used to do this in the morning but I was finding that I was spending way too much time in the kitchen so now I wait until lunch time to really take care of emptying/filling the dishwasher and all of the other tasks involved.

Clean up kitchen

Make Lunch

Get any dinner items ready that are needed

Clean of table and high chair

Get Mail

Feed Strat (our outdoor cat)

Do a clutter check - walk through the house and make sure everything is put away.

Evening Routine

This routine begins with dinner and ends when clean up is done

Make Dinner

Clean up after dinner

Run dishwasher

Make water

Feed Misty and China (animals)

Sweep Kitchen Floor

Daily Routines

Monday: Wash towels and Blankets; Run Errands (either in the afternoon if Darryl gets home early or after the boys go to bed) ; Write menu

Tuesday: Wash our clothes; Zone and Deep Cleaning focus day

Wednesday: Empty Trash and Change Sheets

Thursday: Wash Kids clothes; Pay bills and balance checkbook; Write grocery list

Friday: Wash our clothes; Do Weekly Home Blessing Hour.

Pretty simple :-)  I also am trying to work in something new called "Do just 1 thing" - I am assigning a day of the week to each room/area and am trying to do one specific thing in that room each week.  For example, I focus on the kitchen on Tuesdays so tomorrow I want to go through all of the kitchen drawers, run everything through the dishwasher, bleach the inside and outside of the drawer and declutter the stuff I have, only putting back what I love.  In reality, other than waiting for the dishwasher to run, this should only take me about 15-20 minutes.  I decided that if I could tackle one cleaning project that I don't normally get to in a room each week, nothing will build up, it will just be clean! 

What are you doing to get ready for fall? 

Weekly Menu - Week of 8/13

Last weeks meals went really well.  I posted about the Smothered Pork chops and Curried Cauliflower "Popcorn" because they were so good!!!  There was one recipe we tried, the Chicken Roll-ups, we didn't care for too much.  They were just way too tasteless for us so, I just tossed the recipe so I wouldn't make the mistake of making it again :-) 

Saturday: Eating out with friends (actually . . .our friends were sick so we ended up ordering dinner in from a local Italian place after the kids went to bed - it was a lot of fun! )

Sunday: Hamburgers and "daddy" fries (a long time ago, my dad made fries for our family and cut them into chunks instead of normal fries and we called them "daddy fries". . . I still make them that way!)

Monday: Sweet and Sour Meatballs, Baked Brown Rice, and peas - This is a recipe I had planned to try several weeks ago but it got pushed out that week.  We really love meatballs so I'm hoping this turns out well.

Tuesday: Cabbage Rolls (Crockpot meal), and Summer squash and chive pancakes

Wednesday: Baby Mama Breakfast Casserole, Snickerdoodle Muffins, and Honey Lime Fruit Salad

Thursday: Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti and Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread

Friday: The plan is to have Brats on the grill with Baked Beans and any veggies that are left in the house by Friday but, there are also a few things going on in neighboring towns such as the Danish Festival where we could get some good Festival food or a Movie night where we could take the kids to watch a movie on the green so dinner may change :-)  We'll see!! 

Looking forward to trying a few new things this week (Monday and Tuesday)  as well as some old favorites  (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) 

Weight Watchers Saturday

I had really high aspirations as this week started and somewhere, those disappeared about Wednesday.

I think I only tracked one day - I kept saying I needed to write things down, than the day would be done and I hadn't.  Amazingly, I did get some exercise in - I mowed the entire lawn (we have just a regular mower - not self propelled so it is a lot of work!), we took the kids for a walk, and I pulled them around and around the yard in the wagon.  I completely forgot about reading Reshaping it All!!

This Weeks Goal:

Tracking: Once again, I want to track Sunday-Friday.  My goal is to stay within my points for each day.  We were also challenged in meeting today to try and eat the "healthy plate" guidelines for all three meals one day.  I'm not sure what day I'll try that - maybe Monday while the fridge is still full!

Exercise: This week I'm going to look for ways to move - Wagon rides, taking things up and down the stairs (we are in the middle of cleaning out the basement so there are TONS of trips up the stairs), Vacuuming every single day for 15 minutes - my floors will be CLEAN.  I guess I'm trying to be creative with exercise so I actually get something in right now.

Mental: Read one chapter in Reshaping it All

Weekly Weigh-In

Weekly Weight Loss: +.8  I'm actually ok with that because we ate out ALOT last weekend.  I am hoping to see numbers go the other direction soon.  One thing I've learned is that it is a whole lot harder to stick to this when I have three kids to take care of all day than it was when it was just me I had to worry about! 

I mentioned earlier that we talked about eating the "Healthy Plate" guidelines put forth recently by the government - this concept replaced the Food Pyramid.  As my leader was talking about it, I started thinking - for my basic family of 4, to do one serving of fruit and one servicing of veggies at every meal, I would  have to buy enough fruits and veggies for 24 servings a day.  I don't think I can afford that!  Even buying frozen/canned to use along side fresh stuff - my budget isn't that big; that is just crazy!  So, I'm working on trying to get more creative with these things and put in as much as possible.  The protein and grains seem to be a little easier to get in :-)

Finally, I tried another great recipe form Gina's Skinny Recipes for Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil.

Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil
Gina's Weight Watcher RecipesServings: 26 • Size: 1 slice bread with tomatoes • Old Points: 1 pt • Points+: 1 pt
Calories: 49.6 • Fat: 0.6 g • Carb: 9.1 g • Fiber: 0.5 g • Protein: 1.1 g • Sugar: 0.2
Sodium: 2 mg (without salt)


Ingredients:

• 6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 small red onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• olive oil spray
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 16 oz baguette or French bread
• 1-2 garlic cloves, peeled

Directions:


Combine tomatoes, chopped garlic, red onion, vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, and basil. Set aside.

Slice bread into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place on a tray and spray lightly with olive oil. Toast bread under broiler, until golden, watching closely not to let it burn. When bread is toasted, rub each piece with whole garlic clove.

Place bread on a platter and top with tomato mixture. Serve immediately or the bread will become soggy. Makes approximately 26 small slices

Notes:  As you can see from the photo, I also added some fresh sliced mozzarella - just adjust the points accordingly.  I ate this for lunch several days, just toasting up some sliced french bread each morning just before lunch.  This is so fresh and yummy!!! 

"Remember, no matter how slow you go, you are still moving faster than the person sitting on the couch" 

Tot School - Get Ready for our first weeks of preschool

I haven't posted about Tot School the last few weeks only because . . .I haven't done much!  But, with only a few weeks until I want to begin lessons, I figured I had better get moving.  (and, oops . . I meant to post this on Thursday but realized today that it never posted!)

I'm using the following curriculum for our studies:

ABCJesus Loves Me is a website that has several pre-school age curriculum's which are free to download OR you can purchase the binder.  I am downloading my own as I'm not using everything from each lesson.  We are using the 3-Year Curriculum this year as my main focus is Josh (who will be 3 in October).  This curriculum is what I'm using for Bible, some Literature ideas, and than just some misc ideas for numbers, letters, songs, and memory verses.

Confessions of a Homschooler has a great ABC program.  Lots of ideas, worksheets to print and more.  We are trying to work on one letter a week and I plan on using her plans to stay consistent.  1+1+1=1 also has some great ABC units that I may use one some weeks for variety.  I'll be using these ideas for ABC/123 teaching as well as Math.

Totally Tots has great weekly posts on so many great areas.  I will be using this site to help with Literature and Math ideas as well as some misc other ideas to throw in to the mix as well.

I've thought a lot about our schedule as well as paid close attention to how our days have progressed over the last month and think that this idea will work:

10:00-11:00 - Bible and ABC/123 time.  Both Josh and Nate will be involved in these lessons.  We'll have snack time as well which fits in nicely since many snack ideas I'm using relate to our lessons.

During lunch - Circle Time.  I originally was going to do this in the morning but my kids don't get up at the same time and, right now, I don't want them up.  Instead, during their lunch, we do our circle time.  Once I get it set up - I'll share what we are doing.

1:30-2:30 - Math or Literature - This will be time with just Josh while the other two boys are down for naps.  Most of the time I'm sure we won't use a full hour but this gives us time to play math games or read extra books. 

After dinner:  Once or twice a week I have a family activity planned - sometimes it is something outside like practicing soccer skills or baseball skills or it could be a game inside or even making a special treat together. 

Finally, I wanted to share a few things I've worked on this week!  Our first Bible lesson we'll be studying will be Creation so I made these Creation stacking boxes.  I got this idea from Blessings for Bible School Teachers and my numbers from lessons 4 Sunday School.

Secondly, to coincide with our ABC learning, I'm creating letter photo books.  I saw the idea over at Lines Across My Face and knew I had to do one of my own.  I'm creating one for each of the boys (duplicates) and they will be in there fun boxes (I'll share more about those when I finish them up this week) to look at when ever they want.

I have week one all ready to go and will be finishing up weeks 2-4 this week.  I also plan on writing up weeks 5-8 this week as well.  My goal is still to have everything planned and organized through December by the end of October.