APPLES IN A SEED: Back to school

SCHOOL DAZE!
Joshua working hard at his lesson as I took the picture. At the moment, writing is not the children's favorite subject...but this year is going to be different. We will persevere.

We are currently underway with our school year. The boys do their lessons in the kitchen at the table. We have tried various ways of doing things last year. And like this way the best.
In my kitchen, I am in the central "hub" of our home. I am closest to the smaller children and I can hear everything. I can see into our backyard from the kitchen window, so I can even let Leah and Paul play outside while I am teaching.

Steve found us a large bulletin board which I am so thankful for. It is nailed to our big wall in the kitchen and it is used for so many purposes. This year, I divided it into sections so that each area is a working space. There is a Bible section, where we will post our timeline, verse of the week, and our unit themes. Another section is designated for our Spelling list and Math concepts. And the largest area is devoted to Grammar and Writing. I even stapled down border strips to serve as a ledges as a sentence chart for sentence and word building exercises (an idea I got from a friend).

I got a large piece of cardboard and decorated it as a divider wall between the boys at the table. They always complain that the other is looking at their answers. I felt if I removed the temptation we might get more done. I only put up the wall when they are working independently. When they do their writing lesson, they have school desks placed in different parts of the living room. They can use that space for independent seat work and for posture purposes.

Samuel does his English lesson in his own space where Joshua can't bother him.

Leah!

Leah Gabrielle is starting school this year too! I currently don't have a school plan for her yet...but we are always working on preschool things throughout the year.

We just started doing the calendar. She recognizes all of her alphabet, and numbers up to ten. She can tell you all the shapes and colors. And whenever the boys are at the table she says, "I want to do school too!"
I just don't have the room at the kitchen table to fit her and Paul while I am teaching the boys lessons. So I tried pulling in another desk/easel into our small kitchen. It lasts for a little while and then they go off and find something else to get into.

My favorite time of the day is nap time! Usually when Paul and Leah go down for their naps is when we do Math and English.
The English requires much more concentration than the other subjects. And the math usually has small manipulative pieces that could easily get into small hands.

Our break times are used for chores and doing various things around the house. Joshua and Samuel both like to make Cool Aid.
Here, Joshua poses as he demonstrates the art of stirring the sugar into the mixture. While Samuel dries and puts dishes away. This week we started doing our chore chart again.

The boys have been super energized at doing things around the house. I found that the sticker charts work the best for us. The children pick out the stickers they want to use and post them all on their own. Paul and Leah have their own charts too. They look just like the older boys' chart, except Paul and Leah are just copying their older siblings right now. They still have no concept of what they are doing...and that is alright!

A Lesson In The Making:

With the enthusiasm I had from the boys, I decided to tackle a big job in the back yard!

The boys have acquired a collection of "Rescue Hero" action figures. Over the past two to three years at garage sales and what not. Well there were so many of them. So I had them put them all in a box out in the back yard behind the garage. I kind of forgot about them.

They were back there all summer getting played with out in the yard and a number of times the containers got left open(Cause and Effect). And you know what that means? Mud, spiders, water...and so on (Bible Lesson-God's Creation). We had a big clean day this week as well.

We dragged all the containers (character building activity) to the side of the house on the drive way, filled them all up with soapy water, and cleaned toys all afternoon. It was warm outside so the kids asked if they could put on their swim clothes. We had a ball. Even Paul was splashing in the suds.

Leah was dipping her face into the water table and blowing bubbles, probably drinking the water (Health and Safety Studies). Then Leah and Samuel were sitting in the driveway watching the water run down the driveway and trying to figure which way it would go (Advanced Physics).

The boys were so proud of themselves at what they had accomplished. They took it upon themselves to display their toys and take pictures. Later, they told me about it and showed me the pictures. Good thing they didn't ask permission this time. I might have gotten in the way of them rewarding themselves for a job well done! And that is what motivated me to share this week of school with everyone.

Prayer:

Pray the Lord will keep me motivated all year like I have been motivated this week. I am looking forward to all that we will do this year. It will be a challenge to keep going. Thank you, Lord, for placing in me a desire to teach my children at home. I can't wait to see what else you will teach me!

I love my Job!

Samuel being goofy!

Mommy and Leah

(This week Leah and Paul both had pink eye. Leah is still getting over it. She doesn't quite look herself in these photos this week. But she is still beautiful!)