Can I just say, I LOVE this book? I admit, when I was reading it by myself I wasn't too sure about it. It seemed maybe to move a little slow. I started by reading the first chapter to my boys ages seven, six, and five. I had never read it before. It wasn't fantastic. The boys weren't in the mode to listen and were antsy to get outside.
Today, however, I was prepared. Last night I read all the way to chapter eight so that I would know the story line in my head. I had decided to let the boys draw Fred and whatever else they heard about in the story as they were listening. I had my white board, they had their notebooks, and we all sat in a circle. I drew key points of the story on the whiteboard in the middle and they took notes in picture form as they were listening. Then when it came time for questions they just wrote their answers in their books. Reading the chapters before hand helped me move the story along and I was also able to get some props from the story for the boys to look at while I was reading.
All in all, with squirly boys I still got through four chapters in one sitting. I know they actually absorbed the information because every time they pass me I ask them another question from our reading today. They always get it right. The chapters are really short and you can do one chapter in a short amount of time, which is fantastic for boys who are ready to be outside doing things. They go outside or go play for half an hour and can come back for ten minutes to listen to a story and then go play again.
Also, I love that the drawing of Fred is so simple. Even my three and a half year old was able to draw a pretty good representation of Fred. And they each drew Fred doing things that he had done in his story. All in all I'm hoping that as we use these books they will grow to enjoy them even more. I will keep you posted.
Today we are doing Science and it is going to get DIRTY. Yep today we are talking about dirt. Among other things we will be doing here is a Word Search I drew up. Feel free to use it. We are spending the majority of the day on dirt and rotting things. The Boys should love it. Here is the crossword and the Answer Key I drew up. It took for freaking ever, so I hope someone else can use it. Update tomorrow on our Science Dirt Day.
Though I know everyone's letter to santa posts are in jest, all I see EVERY time is people talking about gifts that they want. What about the gifts they have already been given? The first gift of Christmas was a child. A Child given to the world from our creator and Heavenly Father. That child was our eldest brother, and His only begotten son. How many of us parents could do that? Give our oldest child for the good of the rest of our children? Christ volunteered to be our redeemer. Christmas is in celebration of his gift to us, his life. What more could we put on a list, then that which was already given?
Oh my word, that was serious fun. Days like today make me freaking love homeschool. It didn't start off that way. We have decided to dedicate each day of the week to two subjects so we can focus and internalize our subjects for the day. Our hardest subjects are Language Arts and Math, as they traditionally require a lot of writing. I have four elementary boys who detest sitting still. Naturally, Language Arts and Math are our hardest subjects. Im fairly new at this homeschooling thing so when I have a win like today it is TOTALLY worth celebrating.
Today was not a good start. We had scripture study before breakfast...and the kids were WAY too wiggly. Lots of Mom and Dad yelling at kids to be quiet, real spiritual lesson. : / Then we had breakfast, more fighting over who got what bowl, and so and so got more cereal than I did. I make them all rinse their bowls and put them in the dishwasher. While I continue to load the dishwasher and start it, the boys are playing with the fans they made yesterday. [We just accordion folded card stock and put stickers around one end to keep it together to make a fan.] I could not get them to put the stupid things away. We had to study letter sounds and practice our reading. That isn't exactly a high energy thing to do. The boys were driving me nuts so I sent them each to a corner in the room with their fans. Then the wheels started turning.
”Ok, here are the rules. You each have to answer my question. When you get the question right you may either bring an arm up [arm your self], bring an arm down for a hit, or move one step in any direction. If you answer wrong you do not move. The object of the game is to get one hit in on someone else and to not get hit yourself. If you go in for a hit and miss, then you will have to use one move to re arm yourself.”
For the fun of it, anyone who got hit was no longer eligible to be the winner, but they could keep answering questions and get other people out. [I think being out was actually more fun because no one was after you, they were all just trying to avoid you.]
Then I would give them a letter and they had to tell me what sound it made. For the older boys I would give them a sound and they had to tell me each possible letter it could be, or combination of letters it might be. They played it for an HOUR. And, we were whacking each other with paper fans so there really was no harm done. They loved it. YAY! We actually got our entire lesson in with me asking the questions to each kid. Yeah...I'm going to be using this same game again for other questions or weekend review. The boys even got me to play a round. When it was my turn to move, they would each take turns asking me questions about whatever they wanted. I got all the questions right, but they moved better than I did, and I was the first one hit in that game. I know this game wouldn't work for some households, but it worked WONDERS for us today so I thought I would share. Happy Homeschooling!
Before I was born she was waiting for me.
A special part of my family tree.
My oldest sister for me to know,
and to be my example as I learn and grow.
Then who could have guessed, as I started to age.
Another sister of mine took center stage.
How lucky was I, to be close to these girls.
One with straight hair and one with curls.
We all shared a room for the longest of years,
Sometimes it was good, sometimes there were tears.
We had days that were happy and days that were sad,
But we stuck it out, through the good and the bad.
Then another sister came, who was tiny and frail,
we all wanted so bad, for her to prevail.
But now shes an angel who lives in the skies,
and watches her sisters with her angel eyes.
We became older, and as friends we did thrive,
and who would have guessed, came sis number five.
The silliest one to join us to date,
She plays and she giggles and really is great.
Just when I thought this was the best there could be,
A new sister joined into our family.
A friend we had known for a very long while,
Married our Biggest Bro and that sure made us smile.
Then I married out to a family, whats more.
There were more sisters there. I had sisters GALORE.
What fun life was now with these sisters of mine.
The way family works is the greatest design.
The days progressed on, and what do you know?
My Hubby's family added a sis to the show.
She married the youngest, now that side was complete.
Full with Funny, and Smart, and the Crafty, and Sweet.
I knew sisters were great, but I hadn't a clue,
that they would enrich my life with the things that they do.
The kindness they show, the talks that we had.
Filled me with joy, and they made my heart glad.
I love all my sisters, and then guess what I got?
In a few short months TWO more joined the lot.
One with bright purple shoes, and a smile so pretty,
Another with skates, and a brain that was witty.
Sisters, oh sisters, you enrich my life so.
The world is brighter, as together we grow.
But we cant forget, my brothers the misters.
Because when they get married, I'll have even MORE sisters!
My Dearest Sisters,
Some of you I have known my whole life, others I have only known a short while. But I want you to know how much you ALL mean to me. Each of you, no matter how long I have known you, have touched my heart in ways you cant even imagine. Each of you is precious to me. Praying for you all by name this past week has, even though we aren't physically together, brought me closer to each of you. All of you are always on my mind. Though I may not be able to see you as often as I would like, just know that I love you. And no matter what happens, or how far apart we may be, you will ALWAYS be my sisters. And that means SO MUCH to me.
I have officially decided that a mother coined the term Good Grief. Because seriously, all I have gotten from my kids today is grief. Its not the older ones, its my three year old and eighteen month old. Shall I make a list of a few of the things they did? Unrolled the parents toilet paper all over my bedroom and bathroom while I was teaching math to my oldest. I say parents toilet paper because I expect them to do it in their bathroom so we buy low quality TP. But they got into the soft Charmin in my bathroom. While in the bathroom, they dumped my garbage can, and colored on the walls with one of my husbands good pens.
Then, because it is math day and I have to teach each kid a different thing, I ignore it because, that in itself isnt so bad. So I lock my bedroom door so they cant do it again or make it worse. Put my eighteen month old in his bed, and I head downstairs to do the lesson with my second oldest. I figured it was mostly R who made the mess, so putting him down for a nap would solve it. NOPE. While doing my lesson in the basement with A, my five year old and my three year old are in the kitchen. Yeah....I JUST went grocery shopping. They found one package of each different kind of cracker and opened them all. Then they woke up R and let him out of his room. So now all the spilled packages of crackers were now crunched packages. I heard Rs voice and knew they had gotten him out of bed, only to discover that him being woken up from a nap wasnt the worst thing to happen to my kitchen. There is not one inch of floor without some crumb pile on it. They also took my highchair, hid the cushions for it somewhere and flipped the thing upside down and were using it for a race car. Just as I begin to get them in trouble, the four month old girl wakes up. So I leave yet another mess unattended to. I had to change a poopy bum.
Mom is busy changing a bum, lets do more bad stuff. So someone moves around my furniture in my front room to make stepping stones. Pillows from couch, ottoman, piano bench, and rocking chair, all in a circle to include the couch and chair in the corner so they can run around the room without touching the floor. I get the boys in trouble and start making them clean it up and I hear a container pop open and lots of little somethings go flying across the floor. That container was a brand new thing of raisins. And while I was directing my older ones to clean up their mess, my baby boy got into the raisins and tried to open them resulting in the violent pop off of the lid and raisins ALL OVER my hallway. I go to put him in his room and then sit in my room for a good ten minutes. That was another mistake.
While sitting in my room collecting my thoughts, my three year old finds my modpodge and decides to dump it all over my livingroom floor. YAY. I just got that clean and told my three year old he has to be in bed. Is he? no. Should I be worried....yes. If you will excuse me, I'm probably going to make brownies for the third day in a row this week.
I have officially been homeschooling for a week now. And no...I am not very good at it yet. Preparing lessons, feeding children, cleaning the house, keeping the little ones from making messes, and teaching three homeschoolers makes for a hard day. And this is my every day. It isn't called easy, it is called life. Taking the easy way out is not fulfilling. Sure...it is easy, but that isn't always a good thing. This is my challenge, this is my calling. I was meant to be my children's mother. No...I am not very good at it, but I am trying.
I have gotten to the point where I can do two meals, a load of dishes, and teaching in one day. So...my house is a disaster. I didn't have the money to buy curriculum, but as a wonderful friend of mine put it, "All you need to do homeschool is the internet and a library card." I thought she was crazy...but it turns out, she was right. On the internet I found some old curriculum that is out of print...but it is free. The McGuffy Readers are free on google, and Rays Arithmetic, is also free. I downloaded them to my computer and printed out the first books. My father knows Spanish, and has agreed to do a Spanish class every other week with my children. Free of charge. I do have one paid subscription to a worksheet website that I love but the price is very low...and my awesome friend gave me a subscription because she loves me. But I when it is time to renew, I am SO going to do it. Love the website. It is called enchanted learning for those who want to know. But typically, I let the boys pick a subject, and then i research it, and then we have a lesson on it. At this age we are mostly concerned with learning to read. As they get older I will probably buy curriculum.
I'm not telling you to homeschool your children, we do this for our family because this is where we feel they will thrive the best. But today...well today was a "I need chocolate" kind of day. Unfortunately I would have had to take all six of my kids to the grocery store to buy a candy bar...yeah, I didn't need to spend that dollar anyway. So, I made cookies. It takes more time, but with a little bit of milk, it is just as good.
Being a new homeschooler I went online to find some tips on how to teach more than one kid at a time, and where to store all your homeschooling supplies. Almost every homeschool room I found was totally straightened up and full of expensive storage equipment. I couldn't do that, I couldn't afford that. I needed better tips...so I kept searching. Every mom who posts a video, posts it when things are clean. I don't know about you, but my house only gets clean after the kids go to bed, then first thing in the morning it is a disaster again. I know lots of people who feel like they are failing at one area or another in their life. Don't dwell on what you cant do, change your circumstances. You have more power on the world around you than you know. Don't sell yourself short. But take baby steps. Today I went running for myself, today was a success. This is what success looks like. So now, if you have made it this far, I give you my dirty little secrets.
(Edit: I didn't change myself at all before I started my video, I JUST came back from running my five k course, so my hair is in a gross ponytail, I'm sweaty and in grunge clothes.)
Yes it is a mess, but do you know what, it is getting better. I have gotten rid of STUFF, free stuff is great, but too much free stuff ISN'T WORTH IT. Don't live like that. If your house is always a mess no matter how much you clean, you have too much stuff. If you haven't used it in a year TRASH IT. If you feel like it needs to be donated, then donate it. But if you put it in a bag to donate it...and it stays in your house for more than a week, TAKE IT TO THE TRASH. Don't leave it in your house. I have taken out garbage bag after garbage bag from my home. Nine bags or more have gone out of my house, to NEVER come back. Now just look at the room you are in for a moment. Think of nine kitchen sized garbage bags full of things, toys clothes, random books and such...now DUMP THEM IN YOUR FLOOR. It is too much stuff. People get things because they are cute, and shopping is fun. I have serious hoarder tendencies. I love getting things. Shopping has always been something I love doing. When I feel bad, my first impulse is to go buy stuff. When I'm having a good day, do you know what I feel like doing? I want to shop. I love finding usable second hand things. The only problem is, when you have too many usable second hand things, they get buried and NOTHING gets used, and you get abused. No one likes living around clutter. You get used to it, but your soul still needs something, so you feel it with more material somethings....and compound the problem.
Look at yourself in the mirror and repeat after me, "I will improve my quality of life. I control my surroundings. If there is something I cant get rid of, I don't control my life, my STUFF does." Believe it or not, when I first moved into this house, it stayed clean. But I hadn't acquired things yet. We had a friend in need, we let her and her family move into our basement. Living with others is stressful...so what did I do? I shopped. I loved bringing home a new toy and giving it to my children. Seeing their face when they got a neat motorcycle made me feel better...but only for a moment. Then the moment would be over, and I would be back in a stressful situation. After the family moved out, I had a newborn. So naturally, I wanted new things for the new baby. Bought more stuff. Then we had another surprise and thirteen months after our son was born, we had our first little girl. But now, two years have passed, and I had collected, and stashed, and bought. And I was buried.
Do you know one reason why I run? Because it makes me feel good, and the feeling lasts. Do you know what I do now when I get the urge to go shopping and fill my house with more things, I spend time with my kids, and we run. I still get the happy faces, but not from giving of things, but from giving of time.
My wonderful mother helped me more than anyone. She would come to my house, and it would be a total disaster, but she knew that just helping me clean for a day wouldn't help me the next week. I needed to change, and I needed it fast. When you are the one living with piles of things every where and someone offers to help get rid of things, don't get offended. All they want to do is improve your quality of life. Next time someone offers help, take it. I admit, had my mother not pushed me, I probably would have spiraled downward. You get to a point where the mess is too overwhelming and you cant see a way out. And when you don't have a lot of money, you store things like clothes and toys. I had clothes for my boys stashed for five years down the road. Overkill...I didnt think so, what If we didnt have the money to buy clothes when they got that age? Do you know what...most of the clothes that I have, were given to me. People are generally good, and when they know you have a need, they are ready to help.
I have been fortunate to have a mother who wanted to help. She started slowly, by introducing me to a tv show, of all things. (no it wasnt hoarders) It was a show called clean house. And as I watched it, something clicked. Having your home overflowing with things is FOOLISHNESS. A house is a place for you to come home and feel at peace. I used to think that the only people who kept their houses clean were people without kids, or people with a lot of money to pay for cleaning ladies. Now, the kid thing is valid, but it isn't an excuse. If your kids get into things too much, get rid of some of the things they get into. Invest in locks for your closets. As evident by the video, I still don't have a total handle on this. But for me today was a success, my children were fed, I did something to improve my quality of life (running), I scrubbed my dishwasher so there were no more sticky finger prints on it, and I made cookies. No I didn't finish everything on my list, I needed to do a load of laundry, and a load of dishes, and I needed to sort my file cabinets, I needed to organize my school cabinet, I have to fix the bookshelf my children broke or find other places for things to go.....the list goes on and on...STOP IT. Don't dwell on what you haven't done, look at what you accomplished. Are your kids fed, happy, and loved, are your home circumstances slightly better today then yesterday? If so, then today was a success.
Mothers of the world, you control the future. Our children will inherit the earth after us, revel in the fact that you can change everything. If you want to make an impact, first make an impact with yourself. I'm on the up and up with my life, and I am not going back. I encourage each of you to join me. Join me in finding the joy in the journey, join me in re learning how to have a fulfilling life instead of a life full of stuff.
