My Top Ten No No's in Our Homeschool

Let me begin by saying I love this linky party title being hosted by Sonia over at Becoming a Strong Woman of God, it reminds me of a book that my two year old daughter always wants to read called No No Yes Yes written by Leslie Partricelli. The toddler in this book is showing the no no things to do and the yes yes things to do. I love when my daughter repeats the words to me as she looks at the little boy eating out of the dog bowl she echoes "No no" and when she sees the little boy eating a banana by the dog bowl she says, "Yes yes". Sometimes Many times I repeat these words to myself during any given homeschool day. No no I say to myself, as I find myself getting frustrated because my son does not want to write for that day. Yes yes I say as I see the light bulb go on as my son masters his double addition facts.

Here is a list of the top 10 No No's in our Homeschool:

1. Staying up all night before school is a No No!                             It really makes for a bad morning and a very grumpy mommy. I am naturally a night person and so I have to discipline myself and try to go to bed at a decent hour.  

     2. Not praying/no devotional time is a NO NO!

    I know this seems like a no brainer but I have been guilty of this especially if my kids get up before me or  I sleep in late. I try to beat my kids up, meaning my goal is to be awake before they are and walking in the  Spirit not the flesh.

     3. Staying in our PJ's all day is a No No!

      I am tempted to do this a lot but when I do I feel so lazy and sluggish and so do my kids. being in clothes just seems to make me have more energy.

    4. Running errands before school is a NO No! 

      I don't care how important the errand is it is not more important than  school. I have tried to do school after running errands and it does not work my son needs a routine. 

    5. Comparing my kids to others is a No No!

      It does not help to compare my child to my neighbors. Every child is different and learns at different pace, different ways, and is gifted in different areas. Comparing only hinders the vision that God has given you for your children and their learning.

Leave a comment below and share some of your No No's! I now have a computer so I am completely less frustrated with blogging. Blogging on bloggerwith an iPad is a very challenging task to say the very least. Thankful for the new laptop I received this past week. Things are not coming together as I planned but the Lord is taking care of everything I just have to trust in Him.   

My Students- 1st Grade and Tot School

Seriously, contemplated calling this blog post, The Wows and Woes of the First Day, but I decided not too. I can sit here and blog complain about the number of tantrums my 1st grader has had in the first week of school. Or about how my curriculum got lost by the charter school we homeschool through. Or that I thought it was okay because Pinterest is a wealth of resources, only to discover that my printer is completely out of ink! The chances of getting any soon are highly unlikely. My husband is the only one who works and so money is tighter as it can be in this economy we live in. That being said our week, our first week back to school has been somewhat frustrating.

I sat here wondering if I'm the only homeschool mom that has such a hard time teaching their children. All the homeschool blogs I follow seem to have a perfect homeschool routine and as of this week with all the craziness going on in our house I have to stop and reevaluate my attitude and really seek the Lord. Homeschooling should be a blessing and really should not be this hard I must be doing something wrong? I allow breaks, I give snacks, we play games, have bible study and even pray together but still I feel this battle occurring. It's at these moments I stop and say a prayer and ask the Lord for His Devine intervention. Only He is able to change my heart and my children's, to bring a peace and a calm that is beyond what I can humanly do.

Today was our third day of 1st grade I woke up at 4:30 and sought the Lord before my day started. Did I still have complaints and murmuring today about writing, yes, but I also had the Holy Spirit to lead me and teach me to love my kids even when they were difficult. I praise the Lord because it truly is a blessing to homeschool my kids even if at this season in our little schoolroom it seems like an unorganized mess. Remembering that God does not call the equipped He equips the called. So if you are  having one of those weeks take heart knowing the Lord is with you in everything! Here are my  students

My handsome 1st grader

My beautiful Little Bits

"Not” Back-to-School Blog Hop: School Room Hop

This weeks theme for the "Not" Back-to-School blog hop is your school room!

We are in our second year homeschooling and moved to a bigger house than we had last year. We do not have a spare room for a class so basically my living room houses most of our school curriculum and tools. For this reason we do not have a couch in my living room so we can best utilize the space that we have been blessed with. The way I figure is that learning takes place in many places inside and out side the house. I am really trying to work on organizing our homeschool library. Sometime in the near future I can share pics about that (: 

Lap desk from Michael's

At the kitchen table

School desk for writing time

The Dig for Kids

Just bought the new Bible study,The Dig For Kids, for 99 cents. It's on sale right now for 48 hours!

Book description via Amazon:

The Dig for KIds is a simple and easy way for parents to study through books of the Bible with their children. The Dig takes the guesswork out of teaching for parents. Each lesson is just one page that contains four main parts:

The Map - The Map is the overview of each lesson. It will tell you as a parent and your child what you will be studying.

The Dig - The Dig is the main passage of the Bible you will be reading. There are typically three or four review questions that will help with discussion and review.

The Treasure - The Treasure is the big idea of the passage you have just studied. Simply put, it is what you want your child to remember in one sentence.

The Display - Archaeologists go on a dig, find a treasure, and then put it on display for all to see. This is the basic idea behind the Display. It helps your child live out what he or she has just learned.

Early on in The Dig you will meet a character named Doc. He will be your expert

 and experienced tour guide. Through each Dig, Doc will help guide a child systematically through books of the Bible. The Dig for Kids is a great resource for parents because it makes teaching children the Bible simple, fun, and interactive!

If you are interested click here The Dig for Kids

Homeschool Curriculum Choices for 2012-2013

We are know entering our second official year of homeschooling. We started homeschooling when my son was 3 years old and now he is going to be six soon and is entering First Grade! And all I ca say is thank you Lord we have made it this far. Things are going to be a little different this year because my little girl is two and we are going to be entering the start of Tot School. I am excited to start this new adventure with my Little Bits, the goal for Tot School is going to be making learning fun! If she learns to read or write that's great but if she doesn't that's also great! A love for learning is my goal for her. We will be using a lot of fun things found at Homeschool Creations and  1+1+1=1 and reading lots of books!

Bible {Daily}

• All ages will be doing Grapevine Bible study ( finishing up the Old Testament)
• For Bible Memory we will be using Seeds Family Worship, my kids love the music and the versus are easy and fun to learn

Language Arts

• First Grade ~ We will be using Spelling and Vocabulary from Houghton and Miffling, I found it at a used curriculum sale last week and it has most of the things I was looking for
• We will also be using a lot of books, some of our reads this year will include Tom Sawyer and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. These books will be used to build vocabulary and a love for reading

Math

• This year we will be switching from Saxon Math to Math-U-See

Science

• For science I would have loved to do Nancy Larson Science 1  but I dream on a budget lol We will be doing a lot of unit studies this year including anatomy and a lot of Magic School Bus books 
• If any one know of any good, thrifty, science curriculum please leave a comment below

• Seeds Family WorshipSeeds Family Worship

Winner of the 2012 Curriculum Clean Out

Just wanted to say thank you to all of you who entered the giveaway, followed the blog, or followed me on Pinterest! I hope you come back  and join us as we travel through 1st grade and Tot school and the giveaways in the future!  God bless you all and have a great homeschool year

The winner is Cynthia H. comment #33.  You will be hearing from me by email so I can get your address and send the books to you!