Where do you school? designated room? or all over?

We are in full house upheaval as I rearrange pretty much every room in order to move our homeschooling downstairs.  It will be my 14th year to homeschool this fall and I have finally given up on the idea of having my homeschool room upstairs in our loft.  Over the years, we start off well upstairs, but eventually, life happens.  You need to be able to fold laundry, watch a pot of stew, or scrub windows while children do independent work. Or you need little ones to stay with you at all times so that they don't draw pictures in sharpie decorate your walls or pour a gallon of vinegar into the volcano your middle school student made from plaster of Paris have science experimentation without supervision.  It's not that I'm oblivious to the children, it's just that there is a lot to do when you have five children eating, sleeping, schooling, and making messes all day long in the house.  In an effort to save my sanity teach the children good habits and responsible behaviors, we are reorganizing the entire house.  My oldest, who commutes to college, moved into the downstairs bedroom leaving her larger upstairs room for the two younger girls.  My boys share a room as well and I hope to make the loft a play room/craft room.  I have really, missed having a good place to sew and having all of my sewing things in one place, rather than in every nook and cranny I can find throughout the house.  So with that said, here are a few rooms that I like and are serving as inspiration.

Has anyone else ever drooled over the thought of a library/dining room combo??? How perfect are those globes on the table?

Here is another from the Pennington Point.  I just love her decorating style! I think that I would prefer a chalkboard but will likely just move the dry erase board from upstairs to downstairs since it would be FREE.  I also have cubbies almost exactly like this setup.

My Child I Love You also has a classy way of combining her homeschool into the home living spaces.  I want to find some pretty maps to hang on the wall and absolutely adore her alphabet idea.

What a fantastic way to organize the CC Memory Work as well. 

When I get the books and school things all moved downstairs, then I will embark on the sewing loft. I have many ideas for organization, storage, and decoration pinned here.  Since all children are either at work or in the barn, I will head back to my organizing fun and hope to post some photos of how my spaces turn out in the next several days.  How do you like to organize your homeschool or crafting spaces?

seeking wisdom

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

James 1:5

Good morning!  I hope you are all finding your Saturday to be full of sunshine and time with your family.   This semester has really flown by.  Our homeschool on the farm has just finished week 12 of our main curriculum and this week begins the "birthday season."  In addition to that we are nearing the busiest season of all with our kids and their livestock and 4-H projects.  Our  next month or two of weekends will mainly consist of showing goats and lambs.  In the moments between (and they are few) we will work together on fair projects and sewing projects.  On top of the normal things, it is already time for me to begin my school planning for 2015-2016.  My daughter will be a senior.  I can't even believe that is possible!  So this week has me pondering life.  I chose the Bible verse above for inspiration because this week has been a week of questions in my small circle of friends.  Where ever I go people are seeking wisdom.  For one mom it is wisdom on filling out college applications and sending her son into the world.  For my church it is on how to find a new pastor and rebuild a church one day at a time. For one family member it is how to deal with current health issues and waiting patiently for a healing surgery.  When I have a few moments of spare time, I like to read books.  This week the book Love the Journey has me  also seeking wisdom in how to "keep a quiet home."  This is intriguing to a mom of 5 kids ranging from almost 17 to 18 months.  ;-)  I know others have things in which they seek wisdom.  No matter the depth of the wisdom we seek, God gives generously if only we ask.  So I want to encourage you to ask God for the wisdom that you seek as you make decisions about your future.  No matter how big or small the wisdom you seek, God has promised to give generously to all.  

Blessings,

Mrs. P

garlands of grace

Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.  They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.Proverbs 1:8-9

I found the verse above this morning.  I really love it.  I think when I am teaching my children, I might just start saying to the children that I'm giving them garlands to grace their head!  I'm sure they won't think that is weird at ALL.  :-)  Seriously, I had not really thought of all that a mother teaches in that way.  It gives me such a pretty visual of all of the daily work we as moms do.  Reminding your son that he needs to wear deodorant...a garland of grace.  Training a toddler to not stick her finger in an electric socket...a garland of grace.  Helping a teenager navigate interpersonal relationships with other teens...a garland of grace.  Serving uneaten green vegetables to grumpy children...a garland of grace.  Teaching kids to wash and fold their own laundry...a garland of grace.  Copying Essentials Charts A-F and drilling vocabulary and spelling rules....yep, that too is a garland of grace.  I think today while I'm working with my children and teaching them all of the millions of things I teach each day, I will look at them and think about the garlands that will one day grace their head and adorn their necks.  I will remember that a soft answer turns away wrath and I will pray for extra measures of wisdom from God in this job that we call motherhood.  I don't know about you, but I just really needed to see my work as something beautiful today.  This is the time frame in the school year where we can get bogged down.  We are on our 3rd schedule and it still doesn't work without flaws.  We are lagging behind in a subject or two or we have a student or two really pushing back at our selection of curriculum, book, or even pencils (anyone else have kids who only like ONE pencil, that is perpetually lost???).  So I hope that this morning, this verse brings joy to you and encouragement like it did to me.  Many blessings to you and your students this week. 

Blessings,

Mrs. P

A mom of not one, but TWO teens!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give  you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

This evening my girls, Colton and I are anxiously waiting for the big boys to come home from a hunting trip.  Tomorrow morning, Connor will be 13 years old and we are decorating the house to welcome he and his dad home and celebrate his 13 years of life.  We are hanging ribbons, laying the table with camouflage partyware, wrapping presents and trying our best to make the house festive for Curtis and Connor when they get home.   I even wrote a birthday wish on the school chalkboard, and then for fun I diagrammed it!  It was a S-Vt-DO, imperative, simple sentence, in case you were wondering. ;-) As excited as we are about our plans for the return of our big boys from a weekend trip, it is nothing compared to the plans the Lord has for us!  The Lord is planning even greater things!!!  He loves us even more than I love my great big ol' 13 year old son and my husband that I have missed all weekend.  I hope that you will take that message with you this week as you teach and love your own children.  Remind yourself of what the Lord declares in Jeremiah 29:11.  I think it will bless you as we near the end of our first semester of schooling and the beginning of the holiday season.  

Many blessings,

Mrs. P

And the little ones were climbing the walls...

So this year, I have made some changes in our homeschool at the farm.  What I have found is that a toddling cutie pie AND a busy 4 year  old are adding new challenges to the school year.  I daily remind myself that many years ago I had a toddler and preschooler while homeschooling.  The difference?  Well that would be that I was only schooling one child and she was in 1st grade.  And as much as I never would have believed it at the time, 1st grade with one student is a BREEZE compared to herding the littles while attempting to teach a classical curriculum to a 5th, 7th, and 11th grader...oh and also leading bi-monthly online literature discussions and weekly tutoring of CC Essentials.  

I started the year all hopeful and giddy.  I do love to start a new school year after all!  I filled my diffuser with Young Living Essential Oils and we started out.  By mid morning, the diffuser had been spilled, I had pulled a toddler off at least half a dozen places of considerable height (she gets her climbing from her older sister!), and had spent more time dealing with temper tantrums than I care to confess.  Had I realized just how humbling my first week of school was going to be, I would have baptized myself and the children all in JOY!

We are now into Week 11 of Tapestry of Grace and I'm still struggling with a daily routine that gives all of the children time with me in addition to time for me to do the regulars, like keeping house, doing laundry, preparing meals, and preparing for my weekly classes.  So in the midst of all my busy busy, I was encouraged to stop and read Love the Journey.  I will admit that I skipped ahead straight to the scheduling sections, but I still was blessed beyond belief.  I was grounded in things I already know, but needed reminding.  I was encouraged that everyone who homeschools has similar challenges with large families.  I was reminded to make my priorities God honoring.  I was filled as I read and am continuing to read this book.  I can't recommend it enough for the new homeschool mom or the seasoned homeschool mom who just needs a refresher.  She bases her advice and words straight from scripture and it really is a fantastic book for the homeschool mom.

In addition, I'm also going to link some other toddler/preschool specific training articles that I have found helpful over the years.  Part of my issue is that I was so busy when my 4 year old was a toddler, that I neglected a lot of training that is essential to peaceful preschool years.  He is an absolute delight, don't get me wrong.  However, because of that it is at least twice as hard to train him in those childhood skills of attentiveness, obedience, and gentleness than it would have been  had I trained him as a toddler.  OK...so below are the links.  And, I know this post is very random.  However, I was just so excited as I read Love the Journey that I had to share it on my blog for those 2 or 3 who may still read it.  ;-)

Raising Godly Tomatoes  
A very clear and concise plan for how to gain first time obedience.  You can read a lot of good information on the website or purchase her book to have it all in one place.  The basic idea is that you keep your children close by to train them, rather than punish them.  They must be close to you at all times in order to train them and prevent them from developing bad habits.

Tips to Build Attentiveness in Preschoolers
This is a new blog I have found.  It uses the premises of Charlotte Mason, to train the character traits you desire.  I adore the Charlotte Mason way of education and that is part of why I have switched to Tapestry of Grace.  It has a Charlotte Mason "feel" to it and incorporates handicrafts and living books.  I also love that this author encourages game playing to train these skill of attentiveness.  I have yet to find a child of any age that doesn't love to learn through playing games.

So now I guess I will get back to my morning and focusing on loving my journey in the homeschool life.  I hope that if you find this post, it brings encouragement and joy to your homeschool day.

Blessings,
Mrs. P
 

2014-2015 School Year

This year marks my 11th year as a home school teacher.  This is also the first year that I have had FOUR kids to teach academics.  Even though the youngest is 4, we are still planning on giving him a K4 year because he is so ready to start school.  Below, is the main plan for my family.  The 4 year old will focus on his CC Memory Work and Phonics with a lot of hands on crafts.  He will tag along with the olders in the other subjects.

Subject Area:  Bible & Character
Curriculum:  Veritas Press Genesis through Joshua,  AWANA (for littles)

Subject Areas:  History,Geography, Worldview, Church History, Fine Arts, and Literature
Curriculum: Tapestry of Grace Year 3  The 19th Century

Subject Area:  English Grammar, Writing, Spelling and Phonics
Curriculum:  Essentials of the English Language, Our Mother Tongue, Phonics Pathways, Recipe for Reading

Subject Area: Foundational Memory Work in Latin, Science, English Grammar, History, Geography, Timeline, Weekly Fine Arts and Science Experiment

Curriculum: Classical Conversations Foundations Program

Subject Area:  Math

Curriculum:  Math U See, Abeka, Xtra Math online, Khan Academy

Subject Area:  Science

Curriculum:  Apologia Chemistry, Nature Studies, Challenge A, Foundations

Electives:  Home Economics, 4-H, Latin

Curriculum:  Training Daughters to Be Keepers at Home, Home Ec for Home Schoolers level 2, Henle Latin 1, Prima Latina

Habit Formation for Teens (repost)

Do you have any dawdlers in your house?  I know I do.  I’ve recently been reading about habit formation in some of my books about the Charlotte Mason method of education.  I didn’t have any particular reason to read those chapters, it was just the chapters I had gotten too.  It is one of the aspects of a Charlotte Mason Education that I’ve read the least on, in fact.  So I was reading it and seeing lots of benefits to good training in habit formation.  I had no idea that today, I would see the fruit of not spending time in training habit formation.
About an hour ago I went to put the baby down for a nap and gave Mr. C the instructions to take out the trash.  Which must sound just like, “play lego games on the computer,” because when I came out of the baby’s room, there he was happily playing lego games on the computer and there was the trash. It was sitting the trashcan right where it was when I left the room.  Just a few minutes ago, I told a certain teen to unload and reload the dishwasher.  Apparently that sounds a lot like “Wash your hair and paint your toenails,” because when I found her she was about to shampoo her hair and showed me her freshly painted toenails.  Just to be fair, I did make a phone call and ask another adult if in fact take out the trash and unload the dishwasher sound anything at ALL like, shampoo hair and play games.  It was agreed, that there must not have been a communication problem, but rather a “habit formation” problem.
So the children will be working on “habit formation.”  A quick google finds that other moms are utilizing Charlotte’s approach to habit formation.  Check out this article for a quick overview of the method.  This quote from the article hooked me in right away!  This woman must LIVE at MY house!  Or maybe, it’s just a universal issue with all kids????  Either way, I’m agreeing with Charlotte.  I have NOT trained them in the habits I wish they would perform.  And for their sake and mine, I will be training them.

Do you find yourself always telling or asking your children the same things over and over again?  I know I do. If I had a nickel for every time I told them to put the milk away, I’d be rich.  Charlotte Mason taught us that when you find yourself always telling them to do the same thing, you have not trained them in the habits you wish they would perform. She wrote, “the habits of the child produce the character of the man . . . every day, every hour, the parents are either passively or actively forming those habits in their children upon which, more than upon anything else, future character and conduct depend.”

I also have a secret weapon in this training.  I have the “Grandma Jane” method of child training.  It involves weeding.  And fortunately for me, I am weed rich!  So in addition to what I’ve been reading, I think I will add on extra weeding just for some good character building.  And if that doesn’t work, I can fall back on my own parent’s secret weapon…rock picking up.  One summer, I spent a large amount of time picking up rocks.  (My parents were rock rich instead of weed rich. )  Oh how my mom and dad will laugh when they read this.  Because I think more than once I said something along the lines of, “I’ll never, never, never make my kids pick up rocks!”  and thus the cycle of life continues, one parent following in the footsteps that the said parent SWORE they would never follow.  How fun life is.  Do you think sometime when I’m old and gray, I’ll be giggling as Mr. C, Miss A, Miss J and Baby C are all having their own children weed and pick up rocks?  Somehow I think that is exactly what my future holds.
Blessings,
Mrs. P

WFMW: Dry Erase and Page Protectors

See more tips at We Are That Family

WFMW:  Dry Erase Pens and Page Protectors

These are two tools that I really could not live without at my little homeschool at the farm.  I used them a little all along in my teaching journey, but after a year of Classical Conversations, I really began to see that the possibilities are endless.  Here is a listing of  ways that I use them.

1. Trace a map several times for geography study.
2. Reuse math fact drill sheets.
3. Reuse any worksheet.
4. Make chore check lists. The kids mark through when their chores are done.  In the evenings they erase to have a fresh new list for the next day.
5. Scratch paper for math...somehow they will not complain about working long problems when I do this
6. As a reward with Crayola Dry Erase Crayons...a very fun art tool
7. Lay over a page in the child's reader...let them mark vowels and underline phonograms they are learning.  It turns their reader into a fun phonics workbook page.
8. Handwriting pages for tricky letters that need more than one page to learn...like cursive r
9. Veritas Press Timeline Cards...2 will go in one protector sideways...let kids write dates on the fronts of the page protectors (two dates, one per card).  Set out a few at a time; maybe 6-8 and remove cards.  Then the kids put the cards back into the right protectors that have dates written on them.
10. Learning states and capitals.   Put in a US map that has the states labelled.  Have the kids write in the capitals.  You can also have kids label rivers, mountains and other features.

Toddlers terrorizing your home school?

It's been a long time since I've had a toddler in my little school on the farm. In fact, it's been about 7 years as my next youngest will be 8 in a couple of weeks. And the thing about her toddlerhood is that I also had a 3 year old....so I was only actually teaching the oldest, Miss A. Not that it wasn't a challenge, because it certainly was. I have not so fond memories of training the two youngers to stay in their rooms for "quiet time" while I taught MissA to read, and to stay on a blanket for other activities. However, most of the time the two of them played well together. In addition, you can homeschool a first grader and be completely through with all your teaching well before noon. Today, I have an 8th grader, 4th grader, and a 2nd grader....and Baby C, the toddler. He needs a buddy, but not really as he has three older kids who serve his every need and desire. He loves school time. His only issue is why on earth can't he "help" Mr. C with his math, color on Miss J's coloring sheet of Moses and the burning bush, and why oh why is it bad to throw Miss A's 300 Latin flashcards over the stair railing? He especially loves to see it rain Latin. So I'm rolling up my sleeves and trying out some new things..or rather bringing back some old ideas from the deep recesses of my sad middle aged brain. We can't just school while he naps, because of course, he isn't a huge napper and besides, with that many grades, it takes me from early morning until 2 or 3 of no distractions and serious school focus to get everyone taught in a day. If we have toddler terror (quite common), then we will be looking at still having a few things left to read or work on when Mr. P walks in the door from work. So yeah, I have a full time job even though I don't leave my house.

So first things first, I am taking my vitamins and even some spirulina every day so I have more energy. Prayer is another way to help meet all the demands in your day. And I can't speak enough good things about a cup of coffee around 2 in the afternoon! Somehow reading aloud at that time just makes me soooo sleepy. So I've learned to make my coffee and have it before read aloud time.

I need to "blanket train" Baby C. I did this with the other kids and it is invaluable. When I took allergy shots weekly, I always had all 3 kids. All I had to do was tell them to sit in a line and they did. No running about and digging in forbidden drawers, no screaming/yelling, no whining. They sat, "criss cross applesauce" and watched while I got my shot. Maybe they thought if they moved I would have them get shots? Anyway, due to being trained at a young age to stay in a defined area (the blanket), we could later use that training for things like waiting at the doctor, etc.

It is also time to institute the "box time" with Baby C. Basically you have about a dozen plastic shoe boxes with lids. Each box holds an activity. My only dilemma is do I hunt down all the boxes or just make it easy on myself and go by new? I have purchased no less than 50 over the course of teaching, but somehow I never have an empty one about. They always get put to use. They are one of my favorite things ever.

Here is a list of things I will put in Baby C's boxes. 1 activity per box.
stacking cups
snap beads
board books
baby lego (the big kind)
blocks with letters
small balls (we have a variety because he LOVES balls of any kind)
musical instruments (you can find them in a set at wal-mart, teacher's store, etc)
fabric squares made silk, wool, minky, batiste, cotton, linen, metallic, etc...cut with pinking shears
rice and a measuring cup...not for the faint of heart!
puzzles
pom poms, spoon and plastic cup or small bowl
foam letters
lincoln logs (with older toddlers/preschoolers...presents a choking hazard)
farm animal set
small trucks and cars
his little plastic "laptop"
play dough (we limit this to only being used at the high chair with close supervision)
board books
cotton balls and clothespins or plastic salad tongs (they love to try and grab the cotton balls with them...or if they are really young, they just dump the cotton balls and throw them)
wooden blocks (his cousins made these super cool blocks that are little chunks of tree limbs...they are round and some even still have the bark for tactile discovery...they don't fit in a shoe box, but have their own bigger box)
You can even have one box with a snack (ie, fruit squeezie and cheerios or rice chex)

The blanket training helps immensely in both teaching discipline as well as clean up. Basically you only allow ONE box at a time. You also remove the box and it's contents BEFORE the toddler is bored with it. Since you have one box at a time and they are sitting on a blanket or beach towel, then clean up of little pieces is a breeze. Just pick up all four corners of the blanket/towel and dump back into the box. If some pieces are not on the blanket or towel, then have the toddler pick them up. It only took twice for Mr. C to realize that if he kept his lincoln logs on the blanket then he didn't have to pick up anything. Replace the blanket/towel on the floor and give baby a new box.

Now I would like to add a note about the blanket/towel training. If you do not put a towel/blanket down and your kids are trained to it, then the kids will definitely scatter toys to each and every corner of your room and you'll be picking them up for centuries...don't ask me how I know. Somehow, I missed the transitional training of I'm a big kid and don't need to leave legos/barbie shoes all over the house.

And now that I've reminded myself of how to manage the toddler at school, I will head up to find some boxes and start working on the blanket training with Baby C. Wish me luck!

Blessings in the adventure,
Mrs. P

Garden #2- Hugelkultur

For our second garden, we will attempt to build a hugelkulture garden. The idea is that the piles of logs provide nutrients, drainage, and moisture to the plants. I say we will attempt it because it is ideally, 6 feet tall. I'm not sure we can come up with that many logs and sticks on our flat, mostly treeless farm. The concept makes a lot of sense though, and with our serious issues with drought, it would be worth the effort to have a garden with little to no need for rain. I guess I'm skeptical that it really will provide all the moisture needed for plants. However, that is the main point of the project..to learn about ecology and botany. The kids have formed a hypothesis about this type of garden. And I will just say that they are much more optimistic than I am. Already, they have beautiful drawings of green lush foliage with deep roots in their sketch books. My favorite quote was when Mr. C first saw this drawing. He immediately said, "Cool! The logs are the food for the plants." We also had a good discussion of our garden as it now stands (in long straight rows) in comparison to these other types of gardening that we are studying. Obviously, we won't be planting much since we are now getting freezing temperatures every night, but I suspect it will take a while to prepare the beds. After all, it is myself and 3 young helpers, plus a very "helpful" toddler. And we only will have about 30 minutes a couple of times a week to work on it during our regular science class during school. And with that, the bell has rung (so to speak) and science class is now over. Time to put away our science sketchbooks and plans until science class tomorrow.

Click the link to read more about HUGELKULTUR. It really is an interesting read. I only wish I had read it before we cleared the fence line and burned piles of trees and shrubs.