The most challenging thing for me to adjust to (or from) is the idea of "school" at home. My personality would be very tempted to transport "school" into our house and call that home school. I have read and listed to many wise home educators explaining the much bigger potential and opportunities by seeing home school as a lifestyle, something that happens 24-7.
Everything we do is education and the biggest benefit, by far, is the freedom to pour God's Word into these children that He has entrusted Phil and I with. This happens in math, science, history, English, during chores, activities, disagreements, leisure time and a dozen other ways.
It's no secret that I love being outdoors. So.........I learned quickly that we could accomplish much on a picnic table at the park AND Tim and Savannah could have a fun play date. And there's just something about lots of Vitamin D!
Never wanting to be left out, I came prepared with coloring sheets and paper for these two sweet things.
Timothy loves to learn. So many times I have to limit how many pages we can work on in a day because I do have 4 other children that need me :). He knows all his letters (both upper and lower case) as well as the sounds they make. He can write the letters, numbers and several words.
Yes, he is left-handed (like Sarah and Phil). In the last couple weeks he has begun sounding out words very well and reading simple sentences!! I anticipate him reading short books by the time he turns five in February.
Planning, planning, planning. There are parts of me that love this job and other parts that make me want to pull my hair out. I keep a master schedule in this daily planner that I LOVE! Then each week (usually on Sunday as I am watching football) I transfer assignments to each of the girls' planners. They are responsible for getting all tasks done each day before they can work ahead in any given subject.
I have a huge white board hung in the basement. It's 8 x 4 ft. We use it for everything and there is even room for Tim and Savannah to write on.
We begin each morning with a Biblical worldview lesson using Apologia's curriculum. I cannot recommend this series of books highly enough, regardless if you home school. It's a perfect tool for family devotions.
Allie and Sarah working on their memory verses.
Phil will even jump in occasionally before he leaves for work.
Sarah enjoys reading to the kids....helps lighten my load as well.
Allie helps Timothy and Savannah learn their days of the week, months and seasons.
This was from one of Sarah's assignments in her Botany book. She was learning about Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. She was doing a hands on project using shoes.
Ultimately our goal as parents is not that our kids go to a great college to make a lot of money, but they love and serve Christ in everything they do -- from their jobs, to their homes, to their future marriages. At times, this objective is overwhelming but at all times we have Christ's mighty power working in us as we labor to this end. (Col.1:29)
