Lately, I have been receiving the same message from different sources of inspiration – which makes it bold and strong in my heart, because I realize Providence really wants me to get this. Ready? Here it is: Be thankful. Feel grateful. Count blessings. The glass IS half full.
On her gracious blog, Ann Voskamp recommends that we fight feeling with feeling. That makes a lot of sense. Continue reading
Chapter 2 of Story of the World Volume 1 is called “Egyptians Lived on the Nile River.” It would be really easy to spend three months on this chapter. We spent almost three weeks.
I read the first section to them, “Two Kingdoms Become One,” and we looked at our wall world map to locate Egypt and the Nile river. We did the map work recommended, Student Page 6. With that fresh in mind, we built a model of the Nile according to the directions given in the Activity Book. My Egyptians got very sow-happy with the grass seed, as you can see from the picture.
Our Nile River Model, Day 1. I should probably take pictures in three weeks, too.
We read “The Longest River” as a substitute book for “The Nile River,” but it seemed extremely dry and boring. I’m all for nonfiction books. Yet, my children just could not get excited about this one. Not all nonfiction books are created equal, obviously. Continue reading
For the past couple of months we have had the privilege of learning piano from HomeSchoolPiano, an online subscription program created by Willie Myette. Besides the lessons, which are 10-minute videos, we also received access to HomeSchoolPiano – Complete Set of Books. These three books (PDFs you must print yourself) will take you from an absolute beginner level all the way to the advanced level of creating different arrangements in various musical styles.
My plan was to spend at least two hours outside today. We are playing catch-up with time outside.
It has been raining lately and I have been busy with different projects, so I did not make outdoorsy time a priority. My children play so well indoors, away from screens, and I did not want to deal with bugs and/or DEET and sunscreen (there, I said it!) – it was easy to forget how important it is for them to be outside.
Well, we ended up spending five hours. We left after two hours because I had a planning meeting with other Sevier County Homeschooling Group moms, then they had swims lessons. On the way back from swim lessons, we stopped at the park again, for almost three hours. Continue reading
Homeschooling is uncharted territory with each one of your children, because each one is unique and may require a different curriculum. But when you homeschool your first born, we are really talking uncharted territory, 100%.
It’s no wonder that I am overjoyed to see how things tie in so beautifully for us, even though we are only beginning our second year homeschooling. Lately, it seems that the theme in most of our studies has been water, water, everywhere. Continue reading
Can you believe we hit the half-way point in 2014 – and now we passed it? This seems like a great moment to pause and meditate on how the Lord has led us thus far.
Ellen G. White, a Christian author of the 19th century wrote, “We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us and His teaching in our past history…” Continue reading
Last week we started Chapter 1 in our history curriculum, Story of the World. I read to the kids the first section about the first nomads. Then, we read “It’s Disgusting and We Ate It” – one of the recommended books. The kids (and I) can only take so many pages of that book. They groan and moan at almost every sentence. It truly is disgusting. 🙂
“Ancient Agriculture” is rather dry for a living book. It feels like a textbook. I tried reading it to the kids and they interrupted me, asking for another book. I must say, this is where I don’t follow SOTW to the letter. I know Susan Wise Bauer, the author, recommends doing different activities if they work for our families. This is where I have to learn to watch for their reaction and not feel bad if we cannot complete a certain reading assignment. Continue reading
I have written here before about our choice to teach cursive first and only. Here’s more information on the subject.
Many families truly appreciate the flexibility that homeschooling offers them. It allows them to include skills and subjects they deem appropriate as part of their learning day and they can include religious education if they choose. And they can focus more on subjects that public schools do not include, or deemphasize. Some of these subjects often include music, the arts, and cursive handwriting.
More and more public schools today are eliminating cursive handwriting instruction, citing a lack of time in the daily school schedule and instead focusing on preparation for standardized testing. Many experts in early childhood education, however, believe this can prove detrimental to young students during early brain development. Continue reading
Just a quick post to wish everybody a Happy and Safe Independence Day!
We live in the town which hosts the first 4th of July parade nationwide – when the clock strikes midnight on July 3, the parade starts in Gatlinburg. We are on Eastern Standard Time.
Would you like to watch it? Here’s a link to a live webcam overlooking the downtown area. Continue reading
For the past few months I have been reading the mommy devotionals from Mommy Pick-Me-Ups by Edna Ellison and Linda Gilden. The subtitle of the book is “Refreshing Stories to Lighten Your Load” and it aptly describes the format of the book.
Also known as the guru of Christian mentoring, trainer, international speaker and author Edna Ellison has written many other books that you may find interesting – look for them wherever Christian books are sold. Linda Gilden is a prolific writer, speaker, editor, writing coach, and Certified Personality Trainer. She has penned the popular Love Notes series.
Unlike a traditional devotional, Mommy Pick-Me-Ups offers 77 stories organized as follows: Continue reading