Things I want to Include in school

1. Start with family scripture study
2. have our Saturday's on Monday. Call it P day (preparation day)
3. Do a family service project at least once a month
4. have daddy pick a subject and teach once a day
5. Do a once a month field trip
6. Kids take turns being chef 1-2 times a week

*will add more as they come to me

Small Victory's

I just LOVE it when my kids do the right thing! Tonight my oldest was the only one to finish all his dinner, so when everyone else went to bed, me and 7 year old M got to play a game. I figured he was old enough to learn yhatzee. Boy did I hit the nail on the head! He LOVED that game. The first round he was still learning, but he caught on quick, and by the second game, he could decide if he wanted to try for a small straight, full house, or one of his numbers at the top. It really was a lot of fun, but by the time we finished our second game....it was 10:30pm. Yeah...a little late for a 7 year old to be up.

I told him it was time for bed, and I didn't want him to wake up X (they sleep in the same bed, and X was already down for the night), I told him he could sleep on the couch in the living room if he wanted. Sleeping on the couch for my boys is a HUGE treat, so he picked the couch. He asked if he could watch a movie to go to sleep and I told him that it was already to late. We already had fun time, and not it was time to sleep. I told him goodnight and he gathered up his stuff while I went down stairs to check my email.

As I was sitting on the computer, after about 3 minutes of being downstairs, I decided I better go make sure he didn't turn on the tv just because Mom wasn't watching. I head upstairs, and to my surprise, find every last light in the house off, and my son on the couch with his blanket! I thought, for sure, that he would have turned on a movie. He had enough time to get one started because I was downstairs. But he decided to listen to Mom, and go to bed. My whole heart was just jumping for joy. M is notorious for being sneaky, but tonight he made the right choice.

I smiled so big, gave him a great big hug, kissed his forehead, and thanked him for being such an honest boy. He has no idea how proud of him I am that he made that choice. It would have been so easy to sneak a movie and turn it WAY down so no one could hear. But he didn't! Great job M. I love you!

On my reading list for today

So, keeping with what's on my mind right now, homeschooling, I just have to remember to read a few things. My family growing up has a history of ADD and Dyslexia. This is not a bad thing, it's just different, so we have to find ways to work with M's attention span. As far as I can tell, I think most children do have a little of both ADD and Dyslexia, some overcome it easier than others. Me, growing up, I had some SERIOUS attention span problems. Sitting down in a school setting was rather hard for me. I'm figuring out, that M has had the same difficulties.

My mother recommended the book, "The Gift of Dyslexia" to me. Not only does it tell you signs to look for, but how to learn around/with these differences. So There is book no. 1 for me to read.

I have another issue that I've been worried about. I know they used to teach classes to several different aged children at a time...but I have found very little on how to deal with more than 3 kids at a time. I will have 3 in school, and 3 younger than school age. Technically O can be considered preschool age. But still. I have a 1 year old and I'm due in June with our 6th. That means dealing with a toddler and a newborn during school time. I have run across a website that I am in the middle of reading. Though they only address having 2 in school and a baby, it has thus far been helpful.

I will have a Kindergartner, First Grader, and Second Grader to work with. Teaching that close of grades, I'm not sure if it will be easier, or much more challenging. So far, my plan is to do a summer school pilot program. That way, if I fail, I can easily just keep my kids enrolled in the public school. They wont have missed any time off. But, I really am getting excited about this and I know, with support, I will NOT fail.

So far I have googled "What do kindergartens learn" and "what skills do kindergartens have" I have come up with a list of things that a Kindergartner will learn during their first year of school. Then I went per subject. "What math skills are learned in Kindergarten" then proceeded with writing, and reading. I'm sure I'll be adding to my list later. Next I'll be looking up 1st grade, then 2nd. Hopefully we can gather some ideas on what my homeschooling curriculum will be. We really don't have the money to buy classes at $20 a kid per month. So I'm going to start with what I know. If we need to add some curriculum that I will have to buy, we will save up for it.

The internet and Library are wonderful tools and I have found SCADS of information. It's just time to start getting it all down on paper. Time to take some more notes!

The Rising Generation

I was staring at my oldest today while I was pondering random thoughts. On that entered into my head was that, we have been told that our children will have to withstand some of the worst evil this world has seen. I looked at my son, and I wasn't discouraged, I found hope. With all this thinking of home school, I found that even though I know it will be challenging, It means I can give my kids that extra spiritual leg up to help them be a light to others.

The missionary age has been lowered, which means I have less time to prepare them. But when I take out all of the fluff and waiting around for others to be finished with their work at school. Or waiting for the time to tick away for the next task to start, I have more hours to spend molding my children into people who want to contribute to society. Not only contribute, but to make the world a brighter place all around. I see that potential in my kids, and it is so heartening. There is always hope for the rising generation.

Things my boys need to know before leaving the nest.

1. The Lord can help you with any problem
2. How to study their scriptures
3. Daily prayer is essential for a happy life
4. A love of the Gospel & their savior
5. Respect
6. Manners
7. How to do laundry
8. How to handle money
9. Thinking outside of the box
10. Treating all people kindly
11. Knowing that they are an example
12. Happiness is a choice
13. Music heals the soul
14. Understand the responsibility of the Priesthood
15. Their brothers are, and will always be, their best friends
16. American history
17. Math up to algebra
18. Geography, what the world is around them
19. You can find kind people, or bad people, if you're looking for them
20. Good friends will help you do good things.
21. A promise should be taken seriously. Trust is hard to gain and easy to loose.
22. Proper Driving skills
23. How to take care of their bicycle
24. Not to covet what others have, but to enjoy life with what you have
25. Getting things is not important
26. Living within your means
27. When you are idle is when you get into trouble
28. Dating is fun, but until after your mission group dates are best
29. Rules are for protection, if you want to be protected, follow the rules
30. Service to others brings great satisfaction
31. Love of the outdoors
32. Respect for nature
33. Singing a hymn will invite the spirit
34. The best things in life don't cost money
35. People are always worth your time
36. texting is NOT a conversation
37. How to show small gestures (opening a door for someone)
38. It is respectful to take your hat off
39. tv is not essential, nor is any electronic device
40. Tithing and fast offerings is your way of thanking the lord
41. always be grateful
42. How to fill out a resume, and find a job
43. Determination
44. ingenuity
45. don't loose your temper
46. how to trade for goods
47. Taxes are on EVERYTHING
48. The holy ghost is your constant companion but you can offend the holy ghost
49. women are important
50. clean is best
51. compassion

Adventures are Coming

So, for the past several months I have tossed around the idea of homeschooling. I know this would be challenging to say the least. We have 5 boys most of which are slightly over a year apart. But recently, my drive to know the answer to the question, "should we home school" has become overwhelming.

My eldest son, M, is in the first grade in a public school. Last week, when I went to pick him up, his teacher told me he was in the classroom finishing some work. I figured, "okay maybe 5 minutes." We were at the school waiting for an entire hour. He had 1 worksheet to finish, and it took an hour. I thought, "okay, I know he hated staying after school that long. For sure, he won't do that again." WRONG.

The NEXT day when I went to pick him up his teacher said, "He has some extra school work and he's not leaving until it's finished." My first reaction was to look the teacher straight in the face and say, "EXCUSE ME! He's my child, you've had him for 6 hours. We're leaving now." But I held my tongue out of respect for the teacher. We still have 2 months of school and I didn't want to burn any bridges with her. Instead I looked at my child and encouraged him to finish his work quickly so we could go home and ride bikes. This time it took him half an hour to finish his work.

As I relayed this information to a friend of mine she said, "Your first grader got detention?!" I told her it wasn't really detention he just had to finish his work. She looked at me and said, "He had to stay after school doing schoolwork. I don't care who you are, that's detention." So there you have it. My first grader, in detention.

This among other things has made me decide to do home school at least with my oldest child for next year. The more I talk about it with him, the more excited he is about it. Each day I'm finding new curriculum and new ideas on teaching. A friend told me once, "to start home school, all you need is a library card and the internet." I thought for sure she was crazy. But the more I look into home school, the more I realize this is a very viable way of teaching. I am apprehensive about becoming the teacher, but excited to spend more time getting to know my child.