Schoolwork Doesn't Compete With Your Favorite Uncle

August 6, 2015

So I know it's probably crazy to even think of trying this but we tried it. School in Arizona started for us this last Monday the 3rd. My son is going to public school for kindergarten and we are homeschooling the older kids.

Well with a recent death in the family I packed up all our stuff to start and figured oh we will do it in the car, or there is time before and after the funeral we can get it done. As a brand new homeschooler I have learned something everyone else probably already knew. Math can not compete with wrestling your favorite uncle so don't even try. And don't bother with handwriting of any kind in the car or you will have carsick kids. Or at least we did.

So much for my first official week of homeschool this year. We are giving up and going to the aquarium tomorrow and then starting over next week. Hopefully it will be less exciting. I just wanted to share our little experience to bring a smile to all those who can relate and know the feeling.

Let the Lessons Gaps Begin

May 2, 2015

We discovered our first learning gap on Friday. Seriah came to a math lesson that covered negative numbers. Something she hasn't had in school before. So we paused and did flash cards for math that day.

Then I looked through her sister's book and found the lesson that covers it. We plan to go over that lesson on Monday. Sure makes me glad I have more than one year's worth of math books at home.

The Lord definitely knew what my girls were going to need and helped me be prepared in ways I probably haven't discovered yet. This is just one more example of His love and watchfulness in our lives.

If You're Gonna Teach, You Have to Study

April 29, 2015

So I started reading a book called "The Three R's" on teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. 

It has been a super interesting read. I am not quite finished yet, but I attempted one of the writing lesson ideas from it today with the girls. They have been completely burned out and dread it because of past experiences at school. I wasn't expecting much but I was floored with the reception. Both Seriah and Clarissa loved it and worked hard on it this morning. This is encouraging and gives me hope that my girls will grow to love writing and learning again someday, once we get past the burnout and defensive walls they have due to struggles and issues in the past.