Christmas IN July!!!!

The time has come. The UPS man has made his first round. Yipppeeee! Everyone is excited to see all of their books and supplies for the upcoming school year. However, I had to capture Matt opening his boxes because all the other children have had their first experience.

Sooooo……what’s next? Well, the next step is to make sure that everything that is listed on the supply list is actually in the box. (Mistakes happen). I will continue to schedule reading time this week and begin working on writing skills and math problems next week.

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

I still remember trying to prepare for the school year after ordering my very first curriculum. I was nervous but excited about taking a stand for my children’s educational needs. But at my breaking point….just when I was at my wits end……. I came across a Virtual Charter School website. I couldn’t believe all the support that they provided but I was thankful that I had found a “way out” and an answer to my prayers.

Now, all I had to do was remind myself that I can do ALL things through Christ Who gives me the strength! If this is your first year of homeschooling and you are battling fear and anxiety, then you are okay. (Take a deep breath and let it out) That is normal. It just means that you want the best for your children/child; as a result, you may begin to question if you made the right decision. The only way to know for sure is to try it. If it doesn’t work best for your family then you must find another alternative; whatever you do, DON’T GIVE UP!

Until Next Time……Remember that anything that is worth having or obtaining is worth your hard work and dedication!

LET THE FUN BEGIN !!!!!!!

30 Days and Counting!

Can you believe that it is almost that time already? Where did the summer go? And what am I going to do to start preparing for school? For the most part, I am still trying to relax as much as I can because I have an even bigger task ahead of me this year. You see, last year I only home-schooled four out of five children but this year, our youngest Matt, will be starting kindergarten. WOW! I’m not stressing but I realize how important it is to use this week to really relax.

Although school for the older children starts on Aug. 15^th and Aug. 20^th for Matt- I will begin easing them back into the mindset of school, next week. I will start by setting aside two hours a day  to read, do a few math problems and work on writing skills with them. For Matt, I’ll begin to go over things that he already knows like ABC’s, numbers and Phonics. (This will be interesting). I will also be working on narrowing down what schedule I will follow to make sure our school days go as smooth as possible.

CHRISTMAS TIME!!!

Soon, the big boxes will be arriving and it will be like “Christmas in July”! All of their school books, teacher guides and other materials from K12 will be dropped off soon and I have to prepare for that as well. The kids and I literally get soooo excited when we are opening and looking through all the boxes to see their new books and school supplies. Afterwards, we organize everything and put it in place as we look over the list to make sure everything listed is actually in the box. Whew! I’m starting to feel a little tired just typing this. LoL……However, I am excited to see what this year will bring. And I am going to keep you up- to- date as much as possible. In addition to updates, I will share ideas that are working to help make this upcoming school year a BLAST!

What are you doing to prepare for school? Have any tips? Please share.

 Enjoy the Rest of Your Summer!

A Grateful Mom

~Thinking Outside the Box~

Thinking Outside the Box!

How often do we encourage our children to think outside the box? Encouraging them to think outside the box not only broadens their ability to think and solve problems but to do it at levels beyond their age and normal comprehension. Teaching children to think outside the box helps to devoid them of a “limited” mindset. As a reference, it is written - we can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!

In addition to encouraging our kids to think outside the box, we as parents/ learning coaches must remember that we have the same ability especially when it comes to teaching. For example, our son who is in first grade would rather do any subject except Phonics. It is the one subject that challenges him the most. As a result, I continue to try many different things to help increase his enjoyment. Thankfully, one day he asked me to play one of his favorite songs “Well Done” by Deitrick Haddon, while he worked on his Phonics lesson. It worked!

Does Music help 100% of the time? No. But I’m not giving up. I will continue to use my ability to think outside the box and come up with other brain stimulants and ways to encourage our children and me to work at our best!

Until Next Time…….Happy Learning!

Have any ideas? Please feel free to comment

Image: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

DON'T FORGET TO MOVE!

Homeschooling -although it is an awesome opportunity- can be time consuming. Therefore, it is very easy to overlook one of the most vital components, exercising. In addition to kids having an adequate social life parents are also concerned about how to include P.E. or physical exercise into their daily routine. If your child is not involved in sports then it is our duty as a parent/teacher to make sure that he or she is getting the amount of exercise needed to maintain a healthy mind and a healthy body.

~How I Found My New Assistant Teacher~

For parents who have multiple children in different grades, home schooling can become very challenging. For instance, we have 2 children in high school, 1 child in sixth grade, 1 child in first grade and 1 in pre-school. In order to keep momentum I have to find ways to solicit help. I realize that I cannot do everything on my own; for anyone who does anything great in life has a team behind them for support.

For our youngest prince, I am constantly challenged with figuring out what activities will keep his attention long enough so that I can complete lessons with the older children. After DVD’s, computer games and pre-school workbooks did not  keep him occupied, I arrived at my wits end.

Until one day a friend suggested Leap-Frog. After trying it out I found this tool to be similar to having an assistant teacher. Our “pre-school prince” is not only learning but he also no longer feels left out when I’m working with the older children and cannot give him the attention that he wants.

If you have not tried Leap-Frog, it will probably make a fantastic Christmas gift for your child and YOU!

Another suggestion would be to team up with other parents who home school in your area to see if they would be willing to create a “community school”. One parent can assist the older children and another parent can assist the younger children and then each parent can take turns teaching each group. Depending on how many other families you can discover in your area, you may be able to cover each level of school (high school, middle school, elementary school and pre-school).

Do you have any other suggestions? Please feel free to comment!

Until Next Time…..Happy Learning!

Lessons Learned and Savings Gained!

Since I've become a mom/teacher as most mothers are, I'm always looking for ways to "kill two birds with one stone". For instance if we are riding in the car I may ask the kids "what type of clouds do you see in the sky, stratus clouds or cirrus clouds?" Or when shopping, we talk about comparing prices and how to get the best bang for our buck. Lately, I've notice that there has been a lot of strong attitudes "floating" around the house. And over the years I have learned that strife = stress, period. I immediately began to think about ways to attack this issue in a way that is beneficial for everyone. How did I do it?

Influencing Your Child's ABC's

The biggest part of home schooling is not teaching or creating a workable and effective schedule. The most valuable part of home school is creating an atmosphere that is less distracting (which is one of the top reasons I decided to home school) and more favorable for you and your child. And a child who creates challenges by way of bad behavior is definitely a big distraction, especially if you teach more than one child.

I am not a perfect parent or disciplinarian; therefore, keeping order can be very challenging at times. Even after many years of parenting I am sometimes caught off guard by my children’s Attitude, Behavior and Character. I figured if the Duggar parents can manage 19 kids, surely I can manage 5. Now I know that the Duggars have challenges too, I’m just really amazed at how they home school all those children.