As a child I lived in many beautiful and exotic places within our country. I realized quickly that when people came to visit I was able to see more of those places than I did on a daily basis. For example, could you imagine someone from Oahu, Hawaii never having been to the Pearl Harbor exibit? Or what about someone from L.A. never having walked down Hollywood Blvd? So often we don't take the time to act like tourists and explore the town, city, State that we live in. Today, I took some time to do just that!
Just barely two miles from my house (I pass right by it everyday)is a wonderful community nature center. I remember my friend Dee Dee and I taking our children when they were younger and I loved it then. But sadly, I've never been back. Why? Oh, I guess I just let life get in the way. Plus, that was before I knew I'd be homeschooling and before I'd had my Charlotte Mason Education! ;) Today, my husband had a rare day off and we decided to try it out again. Sadly, this was the one day of the week that my dd7 was in Enrichment School, but ds5 and dd2 loved the experience. There are over 33 acres of trails behind this wonderful center! And over 300 trees are labeled with signs telling you what they are! I mean, all of the work was done for me! We saw deer, squirrels, butterflies, spider webs, and even a King Snake. My son picked up a bird feather at the beginning of the walk and thus, our nature journal has begun! I plan to research and identify this bird feather with the kids and tape it into our nature journal this weekend. How do you make a nature journal? I don't know! But it will start with a feather taped to a piece of paper and hopefully a name of the bird and a little about that bird written underneath. Nothing fancy here! But it's a start!
Hidden amongst the many Oak, Pine, and Poplar trees (and among the vast amounts of poison ivy!) was even an old wagon and "lean too". I'm not sure what the "lean too" is actually called but it's a type of shelter that travelers along the Natches Trace used to stay under when it got late at night. Yes, this nature center has tons of history surrounding it as well. If I'm not mistaken (I need to really research this more before I post this but oh, well...)Teddy Roosevelt used to travel the Trace on his hunting expeditions in this part of Mississippi--hunting for bear! This is where we get the word, "Teddy Bear"! What a wealth of history and nature studies we have right here in our own backyard. And do you know the best part, the nature center is free. They run on donations! I promise you this, the next time we're there we're buying a family membership! We'll definitely be using this little jewel again.
Jill
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
How to fit it in!
The school year is just beginning. We're in week 4. Well, actually we're almost done with week 4. Is anyone else finding it hard to fit it all in? I've been hearing this so much recently and it makes me feel a little better knowing that I'm not the only one. So what do we do about it? How do we find more time?
For me, I have to realize that my goals are still being met even when I don't have time for everything. There is SO MUCH GOOD and wonderful material that I'd love to teach my children. I find more everyday.
Through prayer I pick out what I feel God is leading me too on the major subjects. He led me to a wonderful Bible story book, Egermeier's Bible Story Book. We begin each day reading a story from the book and my dd7 draws a picture to go along with the story. We started this last year and she has a beautiful portfolio of her drawings over the past year that I know I will treasure always! This is how I test what she's learned from each story. It's amazing to see what she decides to draw. She'll find the little things in the story sometimes and draw about those. Or other times she'll draw one big picture about the main theme.
We also make sure each morning to go over our Bible verses and Key Passages from the Bible that we're learning for Bible buddies. Bible buddies is the class that comes before Bible Drill in our church and the children have a list of verses and Key passages to learn each year. Once we're done learning those I'll add more to our morning routine.
For me, those are the major, most important things to get done each day. Teaching my children about the Lord and bringing them up in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" is my #1 goal. All else will come as a blessing from God for doing those things.
Now I'm not saying that that's all we do! Not by any means. What I'm saying is that that is my PRIORITY! Language Arts, Math, Science, and History, Handwriting, and Copywork always follow...but if there is a day that I can't get one of those done then I know I can make it up.
We really love doing art, picture study, and our AO readings in our home. To me, these are some of the things that set us apart from a regular school. What are you doing in your homeschool that sets you apart? What is something that you do with your children that they wouldn't get if they were in a public school? Focus on these positive aspects of your school. No, we don't get to our picture study or art everyday or even every week (which is what I have it planned for). But it's there and we love it when we can do it. It's o.k. It's o.k. to not fit it all in.
Keep going, don't give up, and most importantly pray! Pray that God will give you a peace about what to teach and what's o.k. to save for later. There will always be more that we'd like to teach our children than time in the day to get it accomplished. Focus on doing what you can do with all of the energy and love that it requires. Remember, quality-not quantity!
I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for all of us this year!
Jill
For me, I have to realize that my goals are still being met even when I don't have time for everything. There is SO MUCH GOOD and wonderful material that I'd love to teach my children. I find more everyday.
Through prayer I pick out what I feel God is leading me too on the major subjects. He led me to a wonderful Bible story book, Egermeier's Bible Story Book. We begin each day reading a story from the book and my dd7 draws a picture to go along with the story. We started this last year and she has a beautiful portfolio of her drawings over the past year that I know I will treasure always! This is how I test what she's learned from each story. It's amazing to see what she decides to draw. She'll find the little things in the story sometimes and draw about those. Or other times she'll draw one big picture about the main theme.
We also make sure each morning to go over our Bible verses and Key Passages from the Bible that we're learning for Bible buddies. Bible buddies is the class that comes before Bible Drill in our church and the children have a list of verses and Key passages to learn each year. Once we're done learning those I'll add more to our morning routine.
For me, those are the major, most important things to get done each day. Teaching my children about the Lord and bringing them up in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" is my #1 goal. All else will come as a blessing from God for doing those things.
Now I'm not saying that that's all we do! Not by any means. What I'm saying is that that is my PRIORITY! Language Arts, Math, Science, and History, Handwriting, and Copywork always follow...but if there is a day that I can't get one of those done then I know I can make it up.
We really love doing art, picture study, and our AO readings in our home. To me, these are some of the things that set us apart from a regular school. What are you doing in your homeschool that sets you apart? What is something that you do with your children that they wouldn't get if they were in a public school? Focus on these positive aspects of your school. No, we don't get to our picture study or art everyday or even every week (which is what I have it planned for). But it's there and we love it when we can do it. It's o.k. It's o.k. to not fit it all in.
Keep going, don't give up, and most importantly pray! Pray that God will give you a peace about what to teach and what's o.k. to save for later. There will always be more that we'd like to teach our children than time in the day to get it accomplished. Focus on doing what you can do with all of the energy and love that it requires. Remember, quality-not quantity!
I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for all of us this year!
Jill
Friday, August 21, 2009
This week
This was a fun week. This was week three and we're finally getting everything down pat. We got off schedule first thing Monday morning with Dr's appts. for the girls. Don't worry, they were just check-ups. But still, there was little else done that day! Oh, well. But we quickly made up for everything on Tues., Wed., and Thurs. Our little schedule is coming along nicely.
We wake up at a nice leisurely time, no rushing trying to get ready first thing. That's my favorite part about homeschooling! We eat breakfast together (unless one of the kids is still asleep but we're all usually done with breakfast by 8:30). We have group time first. This is where we say the pledge, sing the National Anthem (I decided they needed to go ahead and learn it this year), and sing our Fruits of the Spirit song. My dd2 joins in on this. While we're singing she dances and runs around the schoolroom table. I love it and we usually start cracking up so hard we can barely finish the song. We do our books of the Bible and our Bible story, followed by our Bible verses. Then, I have dd7 draw a picture of the Bible story while I do Explode the Code phonics with ds5. DD7 then moves onto her language book and handwriting and copywork while I do math with ds5.
By this time ds5 is done with school. He sometimes listens in on the afternoon reads, but other times I just let him play. Whichever he prefers that day. Before we take our break dd7 does her math. We then break for lunch and playtime/chores. The kids have a chore chart that they're working very hard on. We have a surprise vacation coming up in Dec. and they have no idea. But I told them that they needed to start earning money for Christmas and they're having lots of fun helping Mommy out. I'm loving it too. We'll see how long it lasts! lol!
Our afternoon reads consist of our AO reading, our History of the World (Mon and Wed) and our Apologia astronomy (on Tues. and Thurs). We also do Meet the Masters Art on Thurs morning.
So far this is all I can get in. I must admit that sometimes the afternoon reads get done on different days but even if I have to read on the weekend I'm trying to stick to the schedule this year. I fell behind last year.
Our nature study and artist study hasn't found a place yet but that's my goal for this next month. It may be on Friday afternoons after my dd7 gets home from her enrichment school. That would work nicely.
Well, I'm off to cook supper. I hope everyone has a very blessed weekend.
We wake up at a nice leisurely time, no rushing trying to get ready first thing. That's my favorite part about homeschooling! We eat breakfast together (unless one of the kids is still asleep but we're all usually done with breakfast by 8:30). We have group time first. This is where we say the pledge, sing the National Anthem (I decided they needed to go ahead and learn it this year), and sing our Fruits of the Spirit song. My dd2 joins in on this. While we're singing she dances and runs around the schoolroom table. I love it and we usually start cracking up so hard we can barely finish the song. We do our books of the Bible and our Bible story, followed by our Bible verses. Then, I have dd7 draw a picture of the Bible story while I do Explode the Code phonics with ds5. DD7 then moves onto her language book and handwriting and copywork while I do math with ds5.
By this time ds5 is done with school. He sometimes listens in on the afternoon reads, but other times I just let him play. Whichever he prefers that day. Before we take our break dd7 does her math. We then break for lunch and playtime/chores. The kids have a chore chart that they're working very hard on. We have a surprise vacation coming up in Dec. and they have no idea. But I told them that they needed to start earning money for Christmas and they're having lots of fun helping Mommy out. I'm loving it too. We'll see how long it lasts! lol!
Our afternoon reads consist of our AO reading, our History of the World (Mon and Wed) and our Apologia astronomy (on Tues. and Thurs). We also do Meet the Masters Art on Thurs morning.
So far this is all I can get in. I must admit that sometimes the afternoon reads get done on different days but even if I have to read on the weekend I'm trying to stick to the schedule this year. I fell behind last year.
Our nature study and artist study hasn't found a place yet but that's my goal for this next month. It may be on Friday afternoons after my dd7 gets home from her enrichment school. That would work nicely.
Well, I'm off to cook supper. I hope everyone has a very blessed weekend.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Charlotte Mason Pearls of Wisdom
Code of Education in the Gospels- "It may surprise parents who have not given much attention to the subject to discover also a code of education in the gospels, expressly laid down by Christ. It is summed up in three commandments, and all three have a negative character, as if the chief thing required of grown-up people is that they should do no sort of injury to the children: Take heed that ye offend not-despise not- hinder not- one of these little ones." (Charlotte Mason vol 1 page 12)
Miss Mason begins, here, to explain the code of education as presented by the Bible. The Lord teaches us how to teach. How wonderful is that! Of course, we shouldn't be surprised. He has every bit of advice and wisdom we'll ever need wrapped up in that precious Holy book. She mentions that these three educational laws of the New Testament "cover all the help we can give the children and all the harm we can save them from" (pg 12). She goes on to help us to understand that by the Bible telling us what we may NOT do it helps us to understand better what we MAY do or MUST do.
1) Offences- "The first and second of the Divine edicts appear to include our sins of commission and of ommission against the children: we offend them, when we do by them that which we ought not to have done; we despise them, when we leave undone those things which, for their sakes, we ought to have done." (CM vol 1 page 13)
Miss Mason writes here about the opinion that children are born to be law-abiding. They want to do the right thing. However they also get their cues from the adults that they are around. Children are watching our every move. If we bend the rules, they learn to bend the rules. If we laugh at the cuteness of a child taking a toy from his/her older sister the child then learns that it's o.k. or even good to take from others. Bit by bit, slowly the child's character is being formed. We must take special care that we are molding our children by God's standards. Most importantly we must make sure that we are acting ourselves in accordance with the Lord's commands. We can't tell them the stand-by "do as I say and not as I do". They learn by watching. They learn from us.
2) Despising the children- how could we ever despise our children? It seems like such a harsh word. Miss Mason defines it as "to have a low opinion of, to undervalue". Oh, that makes a difference. Do we ever find that we despise our children, our husband, ourselves even? We must take care to always cherish our children. To value them as the Lord values them. They "should have the best of their mother, her freshest, brightest hours..." (CM pg 18).
I love our mornings at home. I love that each morning we wake up when we need too (not too early, not too late) eat breakfast together as a family (unrushed) and then proceed to spend quality time together in school and play. We are all at our best in the morning, refreshed and awaiting a wonderful day. I love this! These are my best hours. These are also my children's best hours. I'm so blessed that I don't have to wake them up before the sun, rush them through getting dressed and breakfast, and get them to school so that they can spend their best hours with complete strangers day after day. Oh, thank you Lord that I get to have them during these blessed times. This, my friend, is what life is all about. Don't neglect to give your children your best each day.
3) Hindering the Children- "The most fatal way of despising the child falls under the third educational law of the Gospels; it is to overlook and make light of his natural relationship with Almighty God. 'Suffer the little children to come unto Me,' says the Savior, as if that were the natural thing for the children to do, the thing they do when they are not hindered by their elders.
And perhaps it is not too beautiful a thing to believe in this redeemed world, that, as the babe turns to his mother though he has no power to say her name, as the flowers turn to the sun, so the hearts of the children turn to their Savior and God with unconscious delight and trust. (CM page 20)
I love love the last paragraph (which is not a seperate paragraph from the one above in the actual book. I seperated it to set it apart.). The Lord says that until we "humble ourselves like a child we will never inherit the Kingdom of God". They are born with a desire and longing for our Lord. WE ALL are born with that same desire. Do we all still have that desire, that longing? If not, where did it go? How did we loose it? Who hindered us? Let us make sure that we are leading our children TO Christ and not away from Him. The Lord will hold us all accountable and His judgement will be sure, true, and thourough!
Dear friend I hope you are reading Miss Mason right along with me. I could never put into this blog all that I'm learning from her writings. I feel unable to even explain my thoughts clearly in the little that I do write. But I do hope that you get something from this. And I hope that it entices you to dig for yourselves, learn, and grow through these writings.
Jill
Miss Mason begins, here, to explain the code of education as presented by the Bible. The Lord teaches us how to teach. How wonderful is that! Of course, we shouldn't be surprised. He has every bit of advice and wisdom we'll ever need wrapped up in that precious Holy book. She mentions that these three educational laws of the New Testament "cover all the help we can give the children and all the harm we can save them from" (pg 12). She goes on to help us to understand that by the Bible telling us what we may NOT do it helps us to understand better what we MAY do or MUST do.
1) Offences- "The first and second of the Divine edicts appear to include our sins of commission and of ommission against the children: we offend them, when we do by them that which we ought not to have done; we despise them, when we leave undone those things which, for their sakes, we ought to have done." (CM vol 1 page 13)
Miss Mason writes here about the opinion that children are born to be law-abiding. They want to do the right thing. However they also get their cues from the adults that they are around. Children are watching our every move. If we bend the rules, they learn to bend the rules. If we laugh at the cuteness of a child taking a toy from his/her older sister the child then learns that it's o.k. or even good to take from others. Bit by bit, slowly the child's character is being formed. We must take special care that we are molding our children by God's standards. Most importantly we must make sure that we are acting ourselves in accordance with the Lord's commands. We can't tell them the stand-by "do as I say and not as I do". They learn by watching. They learn from us.
2) Despising the children- how could we ever despise our children? It seems like such a harsh word. Miss Mason defines it as "to have a low opinion of, to undervalue". Oh, that makes a difference. Do we ever find that we despise our children, our husband, ourselves even? We must take care to always cherish our children. To value them as the Lord values them. They "should have the best of their mother, her freshest, brightest hours..." (CM pg 18).
I love our mornings at home. I love that each morning we wake up when we need too (not too early, not too late) eat breakfast together as a family (unrushed) and then proceed to spend quality time together in school and play. We are all at our best in the morning, refreshed and awaiting a wonderful day. I love this! These are my best hours. These are also my children's best hours. I'm so blessed that I don't have to wake them up before the sun, rush them through getting dressed and breakfast, and get them to school so that they can spend their best hours with complete strangers day after day. Oh, thank you Lord that I get to have them during these blessed times. This, my friend, is what life is all about. Don't neglect to give your children your best each day.
3) Hindering the Children- "The most fatal way of despising the child falls under the third educational law of the Gospels; it is to overlook and make light of his natural relationship with Almighty God. 'Suffer the little children to come unto Me,' says the Savior, as if that were the natural thing for the children to do, the thing they do when they are not hindered by their elders.
And perhaps it is not too beautiful a thing to believe in this redeemed world, that, as the babe turns to his mother though he has no power to say her name, as the flowers turn to the sun, so the hearts of the children turn to their Savior and God with unconscious delight and trust. (CM page 20)
I love love the last paragraph (which is not a seperate paragraph from the one above in the actual book. I seperated it to set it apart.). The Lord says that until we "humble ourselves like a child we will never inherit the Kingdom of God". They are born with a desire and longing for our Lord. WE ALL are born with that same desire. Do we all still have that desire, that longing? If not, where did it go? How did we loose it? Who hindered us? Let us make sure that we are leading our children TO Christ and not away from Him. The Lord will hold us all accountable and His judgement will be sure, true, and thourough!
Dear friend I hope you are reading Miss Mason right along with me. I could never put into this blog all that I'm learning from her writings. I feel unable to even explain my thoughts clearly in the little that I do write. But I do hope that you get something from this. And I hope that it entices you to dig for yourselves, learn, and grow through these writings.
Jill
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Cuneiform Writings
We studied the Story of the World chapter 3 this week. I've always loved this history curriculum and have just now started using it with my oldest daughter. She is loving it. I love the fact that it comes with maps, coloring sheets, and activities already planned out. There is really not much prep work in this study...which makes it even better. This week we learned all about the first writings. Egypt, of course, is known for their hieroglyphics. They wrote on stone and rock and used pictures to say what they wanted to say. Sumer, which lied between the Euphrates and Tigris river, used clay instead of stone. This was a lot lighter to carry and they were able to "erase" if needed before the clay dried. Because they were in Mesopotamia (between two rivers) they had access to lots of clay.
Today we wrote on our own cuneiform tablets. The kids had a ball! Even my baby joined in. She claimed that she was playing with "play-doh" yet the other two quickly reminded her that this was clay! What fun!
Today we wrote on our own cuneiform tablets. The kids had a ball! Even my baby joined in. She claimed that she was playing with "play-doh" yet the other two quickly reminded her that this was clay! What fun!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Week 2 begins
With an unexpected trip out of town at the end of last week we were able to take homeschooling on the road. Isn't that one of the very best things about homeschooling? You learn wherever you are! My husband's grandmother passed away (which is wonderful since she's now with our Heavenly Father and free from the Alzheimers that has imprisoned her for so long) and we traveled to North Alabama last Friday. The visitation wasn't until late Sat. afternoon so we visited a hands on science museum in Huntsville on Saturday morning. Oh, the kids had so much fun exploring and learning. Even my baby joined in the fun.
Since the funeral ended late Sun. afternoon we didn't want to make a 5+ hour trip right then. Plus, I've always wanted to do one very important thing in Huntsville, AL and I've never been able to do it...visit the SPACE and ROCKET CENTER! Oh, I felt like a kid again. You should have seen my ds5! HE WAS IN HEAVEN! We got out and he was running around saying, "Mom take a picture of this! Mom take a picture of that! Mom do you see that?" We stayed all day and had so much fun. Don't worry, there are many pictures. They'll be on here soon!
I had planned to begin our Apologia Exploring Creation series with the Botany book. But after this trip the kids and I unanimously voted to switch our science study for this year to Astronomy. As soon as I got home last night I ordered the new book and we can't wait to begin it. I even found out from one of my yahoo groups that there will be a meteor shower tomorrow night. How much fun! I love how the Lord gently guides us in our homeschooling endeavor and in our everyday life. I thank Him that He called me to homeschool and is with me each day. I thank God that He is the focal point of our school and the kids are free to learn about Him and His works. Isn't that what life is all about...praising Him, seeking Him, and following Him! Now I'm off to teach those precious angels of His!
Since the funeral ended late Sun. afternoon we didn't want to make a 5+ hour trip right then. Plus, I've always wanted to do one very important thing in Huntsville, AL and I've never been able to do it...visit the SPACE and ROCKET CENTER! Oh, I felt like a kid again. You should have seen my ds5! HE WAS IN HEAVEN! We got out and he was running around saying, "Mom take a picture of this! Mom take a picture of that! Mom do you see that?" We stayed all day and had so much fun. Don't worry, there are many pictures. They'll be on here soon!
I had planned to begin our Apologia Exploring Creation series with the Botany book. But after this trip the kids and I unanimously voted to switch our science study for this year to Astronomy. As soon as I got home last night I ordered the new book and we can't wait to begin it. I even found out from one of my yahoo groups that there will be a meteor shower tomorrow night. How much fun! I love how the Lord gently guides us in our homeschooling endeavor and in our everyday life. I thank Him that He called me to homeschool and is with me each day. I thank God that He is the focal point of our school and the kids are free to learn about Him and His works. Isn't that what life is all about...praising Him, seeking Him, and following Him! Now I'm off to teach those precious angels of His!
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