Field trip to the farm and the State Capital

I felt pretty awful all week last week, but we did manage to get school done every day and had a field trip to a farm and the older two went with Hubby to the state capital with TeenPact.

First the farm.  The directions we had to the place were perfect, but I drove past it the first time because it looked like someone's home, not necessarily a farm.  After confirming with a friend that it was indeed the place we went back.  We were the first ones there so when I approached the man in the yard I told him we were there for the field trip with Bayou Cajun Homeschoolers.  He looked at me like he didn't have a clue what I was talking about.  I think if I hadn't confirmed it with my friend that I was in the right place I would have assumed that I just drove up to a random house and told them I was there for a field trip.  I finally found someone who knew we were coming and decided we were in the right place.   After that bit of awkwardness we were good to go.

First we learned about different types of farms and why they are so important.

Then we got to see piglets that were about 4 weeks old.  They really do scream like little babies when they are upset.  Not pleasant, even when you know they aren't really in distress.

These guys were about 4 months old.  And they reminded us that piglets may be cute, but grown pigs really do stink.  A lot.

The girls got to bottle feed some baby animals

After looking at the animals we were taken to the horses.  All the girls got to ride at least once, and some of them rode twice.  I got to lead one of the horses.  In my tennis shoes.  Trust me when I say that people who work on farms wear boots for more than a fashion statement!

#1

#2

#4 with #1 walking along beside her

Me leading #3

After riding the horses we got to go on a hayride.  At one point the girls were given a sticker that said, "I met a farmer today."  After the hayride I told the man that we should have all gotten stickers that read, "I survived the hayride of 2014!"  The driver, who was probably at least in his 70s, drove like the tractor was a four wheeler.  And the rest of us hung on for dear life.  One of the other moms who had been at the farm for something else said that when they went on a night-time ride that he actually drove even faster.  I think it would have been fine if we had been prepared, but we hadn't placed the children quite securely enough to be completely comfortable.  But we all survived.  And the girls thought it was awesome.

The girls also got to pet and hold rabbits. 

We also had to settle an argument about whether this rooster was real or not.  I thought it was real.  I was wrong.

We ended the morning by eating lunch there with a few of the other families.  We really enjoyed our time and the time we got to spend with friends.  But I'm really looking forward to our trip to the strawberry farm in a week!

#1 and #2 also finally had their day at the state capital with Hubby.  They both really enjoyed it and Hubby thought it was an excellent learning experience for them as well.  I love the idea of getting our girls involved in their government, even as young as they are.  I also love that they have 4 day classes for older kids that count towards a civics credit in highschool! 

They just happen to be wearing the skirts that I made with the help of my friend.  Well, she completely made #2's and most of #1's, but I did finish #1's by myself.  And I think I could do it again.  Everyone was right, skirts are pretty easy to make. 

Whose bright idea was this?

Seriously though?  Three straight meals of PB&J is two too many!  Want to know something funny though?  The girls were so excited that they had crunchy peanut butter in the house that they all had toast with peanut butter on it for breakfast.  When they told me that at lunch I had to walk away I was laughing so hard.  I don't think they'll be having it for breakfast tomorrow!

We are having to cut our little object lesson short.  Turns out my brother and his family are going to come and see us this weekend.  And since I can barely tolerate this much PB&J, I am definitely not going to subject anyone else to it.  So we're going to end after lunch tomorrow.  But the lesson will still be learned.

 How do I know this? #2, the one who most needed this little lesson, has detested eating the sandwiches almost as much as I have.  She hasn't said a word, other than asking if she could have meat and cheese instead, but she looks like she's about to throw up the entire time she's eating it.  Success!  And before you start to think I'm horrible, the kid is a food snob.  Not picky because she'll eat anything, but if she decides she doesn't like something she'll act like it's torture to eat it.

All the girls asked me at some point today if I was going shopping.  #2 asked if I needed to thaw out chicken.  I made it a point to tell them I needed to go shopping.  And then I told them that I didn't really feel like going.  And then when I was making dinner I reiterated that I was busy this afternoon and didn't feel like going shopping.  The older two especially seemed a little disgusted with me when I made comments about not really wanting to go to the store or being busy.  I think they could see that I was just being lazy doing my own thing instead of going shopping.  This is a good thing--exactly what I wanted them to pick up on.

I have to admit that I am pleasantly surprised at the lack of complaining that we've had.  Actually, there hasn't been any complaining.  Not even a moan when I said that we were doing PB&J again.  It's nice to see that in the midst of a lesson we're teaching the girls that we can see that some of our other lessons have paid off!  It's entirely possible if we carried this out as long as originally planned there would be complaining, but if we can get through 4 straight meals of these sandwiches without a complaint I will count that as a success!

So the plan is to go ahead with lunch tomorrow as our last meal with PB&J and then sit them down shortly after and talk about everything we learned.  Don't forget that we also had dinner at 8 on Tuesday night as part of the lesson.  Hubby and I just might be taking bets about who cries first.  Again--not terrible parents, just parents of four girls!  I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

Operation Object Lesson is in the Works

I'm not going to lie.  Plotting with the Hubby about how to cause the most heartache in our children was just a little bit fun.

See, our girls are good kids.  Through the grace of God we've gotten some things right in training them up.  But since they're not functioning adults yet we still have work to do.  Right now the biggest issue that needs to be addressed is teaching them to take responsibility of their chores and other jobs so that I'm not constantly having to remind them to get them done.

I had a great system figured out.  Actually, it is still a great system, they're just not using it right.  I have a separate sheet of paper printed for each of the older three with a list of their chores and what day they need to get them done on.  For example, vacuuming the rugs on Tuesday and Fridays or cleaning the bathroom on Wednesdays.  These sheets are in plastic covers so that they can get a dry erase marker and check off when they get a chore done so they can easily see what still needs to be done.  Smart, right?  Don't think too highly of me--I got the idea off of Pinterest.

This system worked great for the first several weeks.  Sheets were being consulted, boxes were being checked, and chores were getting done with enthusiasm!  My list maker self was happy!  After about 2 months though the boxes weren't really being checked any more.  I was OK with this.  I would hope that after that amount of time they would be able to remember what they were supposed to do on any given day.  Soon after I noticed that the sheets weren't being consulted much either.  Again, I was OK with it.  As long as they remembered what they were supposed to do I didn't care if my system was being used.

We were gone a lot this last summer so after the first couple of weeks back in school when Hubby and I noticed that chores weren't being done at all we had a family meeting where we reminded the girls that they have a responsibility to the family to help everything run smoothly.  We also changed up some of the responsibilities. That helped for a while because they had to go back to checking their sheets to remember what the new jobs were. 

But then they started slacking again.  So we started implementing punishment for not getting their chores done.  For example if the dust mopping wasn't done by the time Daddy got home at 5:30 then that child would be doing the extra sweeping as well as dust mopping for a week.  We did have to doll out punishments to all three of the girls for different things.  It didn't take more than about two times of extra work being piled on for them to get the hint and start getting it done when they were supposed to.

The problem during all of this is that I would "help" the girls along by reminding them that they might want to get their chores completed.  Or just asking if they got something done.  Or flat out telling them to go do it right now.  I can't even remember all the times I've reminded them about something and they'll say, "Yeah, I know," and then get so busy doing their own thing that they don't get it done.  And it's gotten worse.  I'm now constantly reminding them or asking them about their chores.  Chores that by now they should have memorized what they are supposed to do when. 

There are several problems with this.  First of all, the reason I came up with my chore system was so that I wouldn't  have to think about the girls' chores at all.  Once I had them down on paper they should be able to read it and get it done without me having to constantly remember what they're supposed to be doing on any given day.  Once I had it written out for them I emptied that space in my brain to fill with other necessary information.  Like what I'm making for dinner tonight or what day I'm supposed to do laundry.  Honestly, some days I feel like if I have to remember one more thing Hubby is going to come home and find my head has exploded.  And then the girls will have the chore of cleaning my brain matter off the ceiling.  Secondly, when they get a job their employer will not be reminding them what they have to get done and when it needs to be done by.  At least not more than once or twice.  I also think that not getting their chores done shows a lack of respect for the authority of their father and I.  There needs to be a level of respect that if we tell them to do something it gets done without a reminder.

So Hubby and I have been thinking about how we can get this lesson across.  Reminders and punishment haven't worked on a long term basis.  Allowances are given as a way to teach good money management so we don't take them away as punishment.  Plus, we don't pay the girls to get their chores done.  They do chores because they're a part of the family, not because we pay them for it.

What we finally decided was that we needed to show the girls how them not doing their chores affects the entire family.  They have been given chores to do because they are a part of this family, and everyone needs to do their part in order for the family to run smoothly.  So we are going to show them what happens when Mommy "forgets" to do her job.  Or when I get caught up doing something I enjoy and get my job done late.
Tomorrow night Hubby is going to come home and we're going to watch a movie in our room.  They won't be invited to join us, they'll have to figure out something to do on their own.  Then, because I'm doing something for myself, I'm going to forget to make dinner.  When they remind me about it, as I'm sure they will be often, I'll just tell them I'll do it in a little bit.  Something I hear quite often from them.  The end result is that dinner is going to be cheese and crackers at around 8 p.m.  Hubby wanted dinner to be skipped completely, but I thought that might be a bit much. 

And then Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we will be eating peanut butter and jelly for lunch and dinner because I'm going to forget to go grocery shopping.  (For the record, Hubby and I both really dislike PB&J.  This isn't going to be fun for us either).  When they ask about food we already have I'll tell them it's for another meal, but since I don't have all the ingredients I can't make it.  When they remind me that I need to go shopping I'm going to say something about being busy, or I'll go in a little while, or I don't feel like it right now.  When they complain about the peanut butter and jelly we'll remind them to be thankful we have food to eat.  We're determined that this will be something they won't soon forget. 

Hubby and I were laughing a lot while plotting this plan.  We've already figured out the logistics of where we'll hide our snacks to sneak throughout the day.  Or how long we'll have to wait after they go to bed to get Taco Bell without them smelling it.  We might have actually cackled and rubbed our hands together when we decided we would write their favorite meals down on our menu for them to see knowing full well we wouldn't be fixing them.  We're not evil, but any parent will tell you that sometimes it feels like you're in a battle with your children.  This is a war we don't intend to lose!  If we can do it with a flare that will make them remember it longer, even better!

Our girls are pretty smart so I expect them to figure out what is going on before Saturday night.  But we're going to carry it all the way through.  And Saturday night we'll have another family meeting and we'll talk about what we all learned.   Hopefully this is the last time we'll have to demonstrate the importance of getting chores done.  If it doesn't work I just might resort to showing them pictures of brain matter and explaining how hard it will be to clean off our ceiling!

Half Week Wrap-Up

I don't know what week we're supposed to be on anymore.  I'm pretty sure somewhere between 7 and 9.  It would take too much effort to figure it out, and since I don't really care because none of our curriculum is counted by weeks I'm just going to let it go.  We're on track, that's all I care about right now!

We only did school 2 days this week because we were traveling back from OK Monday and Tuesday.  I suppose that technically we could have done school on Friday as well.  But I don't see the need for that.  We're getting done what we need to get done.  Having Fridays off to spend with Hubby and Daddy are more important than making sure every science lesson is completed.  I did manage to learn a couple of things this week though.

Number one, I still have control issues.  I know, I know.  If you know me you're probably rolling your eyes.  I'm working on my control issues.  I don't feel bad about them anymore.  I get a lot accomplished on time and correctly done because of my personality.  But I also understand that I can be more relaxed about some things.  Our homeschool for example.  I was labeling the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers on our wall map yesterday.  As I was standing there labeling them and talking about the lesson, #1 pipes up and says that she thinks that is the fertile crescent.  Then #2 chimes in and agrees and they began to talk about what they remembered about it.  Instead of letting them talk it out and taking two stinking minutes to stop what I was doing and just go with the flow of learning, I jumped all over them for talking while I was trying to teach them.  No, the irony is not lost on me.  *Sigh*  In my defense, I did catch myself fairly quickly so there was no yelling involved, but the moment was lost.  One of these days I'll learn to let go of having to have everything perfect. 

I was also reminded of the tender heart of my oldest.  Her latest book study was The Bronze Bow.  I don't remember having read it myself, but the teacher's book sums it up pretty well for me.  One of the questions was if stealing was OK in God's eyes for any reason.  As we were talking about it we talked about how in many countries and even here in the US people steal because they are hungry and have no money to buy food.  And we discussed that even though those situations are extremely sad that God has said that stealing is a sin in any situation.  She was tearing up throughout this conversation.  When I asked her what was upsetting her she just said that is was so sad that people didn't have money for food.  My sweet, sweet girl.  If all of us had the compassion of an 11 year old, we could change the world. 

On a slightly funnier note, I got several comments from family members this last week that my comments about wanting to stab my eye out with a pencil while listening to #3 read seemed overly harsh.  I lovingly reminded them that none of them have to listen to her on a daily basis.  I will also mention that no one who has a 1st grader has taken offense to my comments.  I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that!  I will also state that listening to her is no longer quite the torture it was a few months ago.  It's almost fun.  Almost.

The time finally arrived that #2 had to be talked to about her independent work.  She was leaving it until later and later in the day to where she would be doing school work at 4 and then she would "forget" about her chores.  If things follow like they normally do, she'll probably have to be talked to a couple more times, but she'll get it eventually.  She's just got to find her balance between work and play. 

So that was our short week. Next week will be short too since we're going camping.  But learning about nature is so much more fun when you're out in it!  Can't wait!

Great Expectations

I am guilty of having expectations of a reward when I do a good deed.  I'm not expecting thanks or praise, in fact, I would rather do good deeds anonymously whenever possible.  But I do expect to at least get the warm fuzzies and feel good about myself when I do something for somebody else.

Such was not the case last week when I was trying to make a few meals to take to someone who had had surgery and was unable to cook anything.  My original plan was to go shopping on Monday and make everything on Tuesday to take to them.  They would be able to freeze everything so I could just take it all at once.  Then we were informed that other people had blessed them and they didn't need any food until Friday or Saturday.  I'm thinking this is even better.  Now I'm planning on making everything on Friday and so instead of purchasing everything at the store I order several components of the meals I'm making online.  I do this at least one a month with several grocery and household items.  I earn reward points I can trade in for gift cards without paying any more than I would in the store.  Plus it saves me quite a bit of time at the store.  Always a plus when you're hauling four kids with you.

Then we get to church Wednesday night and we were asked if we could bring the meals for Thursday and Friday, they didn't get as much food as they thought they were going to.  Now, I don't blame anyone for changing dates around.  We had offered to bring them food whenever they needed it.  I just don't do well when my well-laid out plans are changed on me.  So on Thursday, the one day that week we were busy and gone with school stuff until about 4:30, I'm needing to make a meal.  Thankfully I had everything I needed to make one meal.  So I set about making the meal.  And then sent Hubby off to deliver the meal and a promise to bring more food the next day while I'm trying to feed our children and clean up the kitchen and deal with #1 having a major headache and thus a complete melt down.  Thankfully, Hubby took over the clean up and the care of children when he got back.

Friday was the day all the groceries were supposed to be delivered.  They still hadn't come by 4 so I jumped online to see where they were at via the tracking number.  Much to my dismay it showed that the packages had been delivered at 11:06 that morning.  There were no packages at my front or back door.  Of all the times I have ordered groceries have they ever been delivered to the wrong address?  Nope.  Just the one time I actually needed them.  After dealing with FedEx for a while and finally figuring out that we weren't going to get the packages that day it was too late to go to the grocery store and still make anything to get to the family we were providing dinner for.  So Hubby went through a drive-through and got them some chicken.  Normally I would have been embarrassed to bring take-out when a home cooked meal had been promised, but I was so frustrated at this point I didn't even think about it.  I was just glad we had the money for that quick fix.

Saturday the packages are still no where to be seen so we head to the store to get everything I needed.  On a Saturday.  At Wal-Mart.  Enough said.  So we finally have everything I needed and when we got home I spent several hours in the kitchen making meals.  I was also making meals for us at the same time--well-laid plans, remember?  And the whole time I'm working on all this food I keep wondering where my warm fuzzies are?  I'm doing a good deed, right?  Helping someone out, doing my Christian duty, yada yada yada.  So why do I feel like I want nothing more than to throw my wooden spoon down on the counter and go read a book?  At that point I would have gladly done laundry for the rest of the day if it meant I didn't have to be in the kitchen.  Even after it was all done and Hubby had delivered everything I still didn't feel anything.  I didn't begrudge them the meals, and I wasn't upset, I just had a general lack of feeling.

And I finally realized that God never promised warm fuzzies.  I haven't been promised anything for doing good.  I'm simply commanded to do it.  Do I usually receive blessings in one form or another when I do a "good deed"?  Sure.  But is that why I should do it?  Nope.  I certainly shouldn't be doing it to receive praise from others, but I also shouldn't do anything hoping for a blessing for myself.  I should just do it to be a blessing for others.  Hopefully next time I'll have the correct attitude!  And my boxes of groceries. 

Out of Nowhere--Again

I feel the need to state again that I don't post about my grief process to garner sympathy or to bring attention to myself.  I am also fully aware that losing my Grandma doesn't compare to losing a spouse, parent, or child.   I can not fathom that pain.  But I do want to put down these emotions and feelings and thoughts so that I can look back and remember the different stages I went through.  I also know that grief in someone else is something that a lot of people find hard to deal with.  If I can help someone know how to help someone who is grieving that's even better. 

For the past month or so I noticed that I was getting a lot more emotional whenever I would think about Grandma.  I had gotten to the point that I didn't feel like crying every time I thought about her, but I felt like I was beginning to go backwards.  Every time I thought about her I would get choked up.  Random songs we sang in church would make me cry.  There was no rhyme or reason.  Nothing I was doing would remind me specifically of Grandma.  The songs we sang didn't hold any special meaning necessarily.  I grew up going to church with Grandma so really any song could hold a memory of her singing if I let it.  But the instances were becoming more frequent when I would think about her and not be able to help crying. 

I asked Hubby last Sunday if he knew why I might be getting more emotional again.  I didn't know if there was part of the grief process that you start to feel this way for no particular reason.  Me being me would have felt better if I knew there was a specific reason I felt this way.  He was not helpful when he said that it is just normal to go through "waves" of grief.  (I say that very lovingly--Hubby has been an amazing support through this whole process.)  But it wasn't helpful in that I didn't have any reason other than "it's normal". 

Tuesday morning was a normal morning.  We finished everything we needed to for school, ate lunch, got things accomplished around the house.  Then about 3 in the afternoon I was reading and I had a fleeting thought about how much Grandma liked to read and I found myself unable to stop crying.  It wasn't an all-out sobbing or anything, more like the tears never really stopped.  I kept to myself in my room, mainly because my girls are very sensitive and seeing me cry makes them cry and I knew I wasn't able to handle that emotionally.  When Hubby got home and I told him how I was feeling he took over all parenting duties and left me alone.  Which was just what I needed.  I didn't want to talk about anything, I just needed time to myself.  So I tried to keep my mind busy, but occasionally thoughts of Grandma would slip in and I would cry for a while and then stop and then start again.  Nothing dramatic, I just felt like crying the whole night.  I didn't sleep well that night either.  I just couldn't turn my brain off. 

I was hoping that by Wednesday morning I would feel like myself again, but I knew as soon as I woke up that I actually felt worse.  The term "weighed down with grief" suddenly made perfect sense.  I literally felt like my entire body was weighed down.  My head felt too heavy for my neck, it required effort to lift my arms, I shuffled instead of walked because my legs didn't feel like they were working right.  My eyelids were heavy and my tongue even felt thicker.  I went ahead and did school with the girls, although we cut a couple of subjects.  My brain didn't feel like it was working and I just didn't feel like I could handle Mommy duties.  I crawled back in bed about 11 and I didn't really get out of it for the rest of the day.  Hubby came home for lunch and then I just let the girls watch movies for the rest of the afternoon.  Strangely enough, I wasn't weepy on Wednesday.  I'm not sure I cried at all that day.  But I never did feel any better.  I didn't even attempt church.  One because I didn't feel like getting ready and being around people, and two because I felt like I would just spend the entire time crying. 

I did sleep fairly well that night and when I woke up on Thursday I felt like myself again.  And I have ever since.  I'm not weepy.  I can think about Grandma again without crying.  I don't understand why it happened and apparently I'm not going to.  Although, if it does happens again I feel better prepared to handle it. 

Hubby was amazing through those two days.  He gave me space, which was exactly what I needed.  I didn't want to talk about anything and I didn't need his shoulder to cry on this time.  I just needed to be left alone until I had gotten it all out of my system.  I do wonder how I'll know if someone just needs space like I did.  I was able to tell Hubby without worrying about hurting his feelings, but I know when someone is well-meaning and wants to "do" something for someone it's not easy to tell them that you just want to be left alone.  I guess I can just hope that I can be the type of friend that if someone who is grieving wants to be left alone they feel like they can tell me without worrying about hurting my feelings.  They have enough to deal with without worrying about offending me. 

Curriculum for 2013-2014 school year

Yeah, this post is mainly for my own benefit so I can look back on this years from now.  However, I've chosen a lot of our curriculum based on recommendations from others so I know other homeschoolers might be interested in knowing what we're using.  Otherwise this post will probably be pretty boring for you!  But if you do happen to read this and have any questions about anything I'd love to talk to you about anything that we use.  I have no problem telling you if I don't like something so I'll be completely honest with you!

#1--6th grade

Bible Study Guide for All Ages  is our Bible curriculum for this year.  This is actually the first time I've had a set curriculum for Bible.  We have a friend who has used this for a while and really liked it so we looked in to it too.  It is written by a Church of Christ family and we agree with everything we've looked at that they teach.  We were also impressed by the fact that their illustrations show people with brown skin--not white.  Always good to be a little more accurate!  We go through two lessons a week.  It takes about 15 minutes to go through half a lesson. 

Saxon Math 76    Don't think she's a year ahead, Saxon just has their years divided weird.  76 is the 6th grade curriculum.  We started Saxon with #1 last year and it was exactly what I thought it would be.  #1 struggles a little with math so all the review in Saxon is excellent for her.  We never do all 30 problems in each lesson.  She does even one day and odd the next.  This gives her plenty of review without overwhelming her.

Excellence in Writing  is our writing for the year.  I can not say enough good things about this curriculum.  If you are interested in your child being able to write a well-written paper this is the curriculum for you!  I intend to use this all the way through high school.  #1 is doing Ancient History Based Writing this year to coincide with our History. 

Learning Language Arts Through Literature  for the rest of the language arts.  Excellence in Writing focuses solely on writing so we need something to cover everything else.  I love the curriculum we use for the younger grades, but it only goes through 4th grade.  This is actually the first time I've used LLATL so I can't endorse it just yet.  Ask back at the end of the year.

Mystery of History  for history.  We have the audio CDs so the girls can listen to the CDs and follow along in the book.  We have all the reproducible pages on a CD as well so I have those all printed out.  We start Monday morning off doing the Pre-Test and then #1 and #2 work through three lessons and the quiz on their own.  I love how this curriculum teaches what was happening in the world and relates it to what was going on at the same time in the Bible.  We're able to use the timeline set up for this along with our timeline for Bible.  I love that the girls can see that Helen of Troy lived around the same time as Ruth!  We've used this curriculum for a few years and I definitely recommend it!

God's Design for Life is our Science.  We've used this for a couple of years as well and I really like it.  Mainly because the girls can read the lesson, answer the questions and then move on.  Can you tell I'm not a science person?  We occasionally do a science experiment, but not often.  We're finishing up Weather from last year and then we'll to through Plants, Animals, and the Human Body this year.  This is the last year #1 does this curriculum.  Starting next year she's going to have to step up the science into something more substantial, but this is adequate for this year.

We're using two separate books for Geography this year.  One I do with them that is mainly teaching how to read maps and discern information from maps and graphs about geography.  The other is a workbook that they do on their own that has information about different countries that they read and then do worksheets on.  I actually don't remember the name of the books we're using and I'd have to get up to go and see what they are, so you'll just have to trust me that we are doing geography this year.  I haven't been super impressed with any geography curriculum so these are just books I've found used that looked like they would work for us.

Spelling Power I love love love this for spelling!  I paid around $60 this book, but this is all I'm ever going to need to buy for spelling.  I love how it is set up and how students work on correcting mistakes by themselves.  I've seen a vast improvement from #2's spelling since we've started using this. 

Mavis Beacon for typing.  Again recommended by a friend.  Love this program so much!  #1 started using it last year and can already type around 30 wpm.  She works through it on her own, at her own pace.  I love that is teaches the correct method of typing from the very beginning.  Hubby has even talked about going through it himself since he never really learned how to type correctly. 

#2--4th grade

Bible Study Guide  Another thing I love about BSG is that they have different levels of the same lessons.  So even though #1, #2 and #3 are all on different levels, they are all going through the same lessons at the same time.

Math U See  We switched to Saxon for 3rd grade last year, but I did not like the way they taught multiplication at all so we've switched back to MUS for 4th grade to learn division.  MUS has some major holes in it which is why we'll be going back to Saxon for 5th and beyond, but I think they do the best job of teaching the basic concepts through 4th grade.

Excellence In Writing  #2 is also using IEW for writing, she's just using a different book that is a little bit easier to go through.  She struggles with this a little bit more than #1, I think because she wants to just write down whatever is in her head and doesn't want to think through the process of what it takes to write a paragraph well.  However, I believe by the end of this year she'll be able to do both.

First Language Lessons  This is another curriculum I found based on a recommendation and I love it!  It is very teacher intensive, but I'm not sure a language arts program shouldn't be teacher intensive.  Technically this program only goes through 4th grade, but they learn so much at such at an advanced level that I stretch the 3rd and 4th grade books through 3 years. 

A Reason for Handwriting   I love this curriculum because you are learning scripture as you are doing your handwriting.  You're not just writing random words down, you're writing verses out of the Bible.  #2 is just learning cursive this year.  Mainly because her handwriting was pretty bad last year and I wanted her to have another year of practicing before learning cursive.  This book does a pretty good job of teaching cursive correctly.

History, Science, Geography and Spelling are all the same as #1

#3--1st Grade

Bible Study Guide  What do you know--the same as her sisters!  #3 is actually the only one that requires the use of a teacher's guide, but it still only takes about 15 minutes to get through half a lesson.  Plus the teacher's guide tells me exactly what to put on the maps and timeline which makes my life easier!

Math U See  Used it for both of the other girls and loved it.  #3 really loves Math and I attribute that a lot to this curriculum.

First Language Lessons  I actually have the old book that has levels one and two together, but you can't buy that anymore.  I love that this curriculum doesn't have anything for the student to do as far as workbooks, it is all just learning by listening to your teacher which I think is a learned skill for children.  I also love that #3 already learned a poem last week.  And I loved that #1 and #2 can still say the exact poem from when they learned it!

A Reason For Handwriting  I've never bought anything but the student pages for this curriculum, I'm not sure why you would need a teacher book, but that is just my preference.  This level is perfect for #3 to get lots of practice on her handwriting without getting too bored with it.

That's all the formal curriculum I do with #3.  She reads to me every day to help improve her reading skills and I read something like Magic School Bus for her to get some exposure to science, but that is about it.  I'm not a fan of overloading younger kids with a bunch of stuff just to be able to say we're doing something.  I'm a big fan of learning through exposure! 

And that is it for this year.  I don't promise we'll get through everything or even that we'll be doing all of this in 6 weeks, but for now this is what our school year looks like!

School Year Recap

This post will be boring to most of you.  But since the main purpose of this blog is to document our lives, I wanted to have a recap of our school year.  I won't mind if you want to quickly click off at this point.  Actually, I'll never know, so click away! 

We started the year late due to our move.  We didn't actually start any school work until the middle of September.  We started off having a 5 day week so that we could catch up a little, but that didn't last very long.  When Daddy has Fridays off it is very hard to expect Mom or the children to want to do school work!  But we did do 5 day weeks through the end of November. 

Our Christmas break was a little weird this year because two of the girls at a time went up to stay with my parents for two weeks.  So we kind of did a tandem break where I did school with the ones that were here and the ones at the grandparents got extra time off.  It worked out well for the girls, but I didn't get as long of a break as I usually like around the holidays.  It was OK though.  

We started back up a little later in January because of sick kids, but once we started we went strong until we took a week of at the end of February/beginning of March for my sister's wedding.  Because we took a week off at that time I decided not to take a spring break.  That was fine until about the middle of April and I really started to notice a lack of desire on my part to do anything school related.  I think in the future a break around the end of March or beginning of April is going to be necessary to make sure we can finish the end of the year strong. 

We took some days off to go visit friends the first part of May, but we were actually slightly ahead of schedule on Math and Language Arts so I knew we could afford the days off.  Once we got home from our friend's house we had one week left of school.  We finished up all the odds and ends we needed to and ended on May 16th.

We spent the first part of the year trying to find homeschool groups and connecting with people here, but we didn't have a lot of luck at first.  So there weren't too many field trips or outings before our Christmas break.  After we started back up we finally started going to a few field trips, met some friends and started to find our groove in the new groups. 

I switched #1's math curriculum this year from Math-U-See to Saxon.  I really thought we were going to have to spend the first part of the year going back to Saxon's 4th grade book to review because MUS does no fractions and very little decimals before 5th grade.  We actually did spend the first 6 weeks or so in the 4th grade book.  However, we I looked at the actual lessons in the 5th grade book I realized that there was enough review in it that we didn't actually need to spend anymore time in the 4th grade book.  And because MUS goes so much farther with multiplication and division than Saxon in the lower grades we were able skip enough lessons that #1 was able to finish the 5th grade book by the end of the year.  Math is still not her strongest subject and I found that asking her to do all 30 problems in each lesson completely overwhelmed her.  However, when she did half of the problems she seemed to be able to do it just fine.  She still has to learn how to take her time so she doesn't make silly mistakes that end up getting the problem wrong for her, but towards the end of the year she was getting that down better. 

We also continued with IEW this year, although I started out with one of the simpler books so that #2 could use the same one as #1.  I've been very impressed with #1's writing.  She remembers what she has learned in the previous years and continues to write papers that are actually interesting for me to read.  After the first couple of papers, I had her write her rough draft completely on her own and I just helped with the revisions before the final draft.  I was very happy with the fact that she was able to write rough drafts that needed very little revision when I helped her.  This just solidifies my love of IEW.  Besides "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" IEW is the curriculum I am the most passionate about!

I purchased a typing program for #1 on the recommendation of a friend.  #1's handwriting is beautiful and she didn't need any practice for handwriting this year.  So we installed the program and I just told her to do it whenever she wanted to.  She has done it so much that she is already typing at 30 words a minute.  And typing correctly, which is the main reason I wanted her to have an actual typing program instead of just learning on her own.  In fact, for the last paper she wrote I let her type the final draft, which she was very excited about!  Now I just need to find a program that will teach her how to use all the Office applications so I don't have to teach her!

For all the other subjects #1 did just fine.  I didn't purchase a geography curriculum this year because of lack of funds, so they ended up just checking books out of the library and finding information on their own.  They learned a lot, but it was SO boring!  We won't be doing that again, but it was sufficient for this year.

I also switched #2 to Saxon math this year for the main fact that I thought we were going to be playing catch up for a good two years by waiting to switch until we hit 5th grade.  #2 is stronger in math so I thought she would do well with a switch this year.  And she did fine, but I did not like the way that Saxon taught multiplication at all!  It was the most non-nonsensical way of teaching that I've ever seen.  Their 3rd grade book also has a lot of busy work in it that was a complete waste of time that we didn't do.  #2 did just fine with it, but we are going back to MUS for 4th grade.  We'll switch back to Saxon for 5th again because I really do feel like Saxon is the best program for the higher grades, but for the two girls still to come I know that I will stay with MUS through 4th before switching.  Honestly, every year I think I have all my curriculum choices squared away, but I change my mind about something by the end of the year!  

This was the first year for #2 to do IEW.  I had to remind myself that #1 was in 4th when she first started, and that a lot of the initial teaching was done at the co-op we were part of at the time.  I ended up having #2 narrate to me what to write, I would type it and then we would go over it together to revise it.  I think that is a difficult way to do it because you can't see what you've written when you're narrating it, but it was also too difficult for her to think of a sentence and then write it down and then keep her thought process in order.  She progressed enough through the year though that next year I'll expect her to write down her rough draft by herself.  I'll be there to help her, but she'll do the writing herself.  Overall, her papers were pretty rough, but by the end she was also able to put adjectives and adverbs into her sentences without any prompting, which is one of the things I love about the curriculum.  I'm happy with where she ended in her writing. 

#2 also did well in all the other subjects as well.  While #1 is focused on getting her school work done, #2 needs to be prompted to get everything done.  Once she remembers she is supposed to do something, she gets it done as soon as possible, she just  needs more reminding than #1.

And #3.  This was my first year teaching all three formally and with a set curriculum.  I was very apprehensive about how it would all work, but now that we've made it through the year I'm confident about the coming years.  #3 was very eager to learn and so excited to be doing "real" school.  So much so that even when I was working with her sisters and didn't have anything for her to do she would still sit at the school table with us, sometimes for an hour before I got to her.  That had tapered off by the end of the year, but she still loved doing school.  She is going to be like #2 when it comes to math.  Which is a good thing since #2 is like me with math.  It seems to come more naturally to them.  She loved zooming through her math sheets and surprising me when she got done quickly.  But it kills her to get a wrong answer too, so she made sure she got all the answers right.  She does not like having to do handwriting at all, but I'm hoping that having actual phrases and sentences to do next year will make it more interesting for her. 

#3's biggest accomplishment this year was learning to read.  Because we started the year so late she didn't finish her reading book until we finished school.  She can read, but she lacks the confidence to read a "real" book, something that #1 and #2 both struggled with as well.  We're going to library tomorrow and I'll be checking out some of the beginner readers for her.  I have a feeling once she realizes that she really does know how to read those real books all by herself she'll take off and be reading everything in sight.  I love when that happens.  #1 and #2 both love to read as much as I do, and I think that the same will be true for #3 as well. 

And #4 spent a lot of time at the school table with us this year.  Mainly coloring randomly in her very own "school book".  But by the end of the year she was telling me she was writing letters.  It is so true that schooling younger children is easier than your first ones because all they've ever known is their older siblings doing school.  #4 has been at the school table with us since she was a couple of weeks old.  She wants to do school with us.  I love that enthusiasm for learning that comes from the example of watching her big sisters.  I don't have anything planned for her for a couple of years still, but I'm sure that she'll be sitting right there with us until then!

Now my own review.  I am happy with the fact that I found our groove for schooling three instead of two.  It took a while, but now that I have it figured out I can look forward to next year instead of looking at it with trepidation like I did last year.  I was a little lax on science and geography this year because of the move, but again, I feel like next year will be better just because we are more settled here.  I still have a tendency to get frustrated when #1 doesn't understand what I'm teaching her in math.  We look at math so differently, and I constantly have to remind myself that I need to explain it several different ways before she understands it.  I need to learn to keep my cool with her on that subject.  I also need to watch myself with expecting too much of #2.  Even though #1 and #2 are only 18 months apart, they are two years apart in school.  I need to remind myself that #2 is going to do less than #1 and plan accordingly.  I think I did a pretty good job this year, but I will need to make sure that I spend enough time with #3 and not give her the short stick just because her sisters require more time and attention.

Overall, I think this school year counts as a success for all of us.  Now that #4 is 3 it finally feels like our school life is back to normal after having the disruptions of pregnancy and an infant and then a toddler in the house.  I continue to be completely convinced that this is the path God wants us on and am so thankful for the knowledge that He is right there beside me every day!  And that His grace covers all the mistakes that I make.  I am extremely proud of all of our girls and can only look forward to the coming year with joy and anticipation!

House guests who are now friends

We had a couple from India spend the last several days with us.  There is too much to write about to do it in one post so I'll be doing several over the next couple of weeks.  I want to make sure I get all the memories down!

Remember how this blog is not just about making sure our memories are stored somewhere other than my mind, but how it is to also show that we're not perfect?  Keep that in mind folks!

Hubby is on the board of a group that sponsors many different works of the spreading the Gospel in India.  Most years, 2-4 men from America go over to India to conduct a training work for men who want to become preachers and to check on the different works they are sponsoring over there.  One man over there, who we will call Brother, is the main contact with most of the work that is done, especially when our guys travel over there.  His wife, who we will call Sister, cooks most meals for our guys and takes care of their laundry and probably a bunch of other stuff.  Our guys also stay in their home the majority of the time they are in India.  Hubby has had the chance to go to India three times and so has gotten to know Brother and Sister fairly well. 

Brother and Sister were able to come to America this year in an effort to travel through many states and visit different congregations who have helped with the work in India.  We weren't sure what their exact schedule was going to be for a while, but Hubby finally told me that they were scheduled to arrive at our home late Thursday night and stay until Monday morning.  He was very excited that we would get to spend that much time with them. 

I would love to say that I handled that news with grace.  But I did not.  Refer to the top.  I wouldn't say that I was necessarily upset about it, but I was certainly cranky.  It's not that I was cranky about them coming.  More along the lines of getting bent out of shape thinking about the work involved in getting the house cleaned and ready for guests, including moving #1 and #4 out of their room and into their sisters'.  (Please note:  we are going to stay with some friends this week.  Their preparations for us coming have involved major cleaning and moving children out of their rooms.  The irony is not lost on me!) There was also some trepidation on my part about there being a language barrier and having it just be awkward for all of us.  And quite frankly, I was at a complete loss as to what to fix food wise for them.  One of Hubby's biggest complaints when he goes to India is all the different food he has to eat.  I didn't want them to feel that way in my home, but I had no idea what to make for them.  Hubby was helpful in his suggestions that they have KFCs and Pizza Huts and Chinese food in India.  Beyond that, he wasn't a lot of help.  Oh yeah, he did tell me that they don't like Mexican, which seriously removes like 90% of my recipes.  In the end we ended up buying a lot of different things and hoping that something sounded good to them. 

"Nani" braiding #1's hair

But you know what?  By the time lunch on Friday rolled around, I felt like I had known them for years.  The cleaning and the moving were not as difficult as I imagined thanks to #1 and #2 who are amazing at helping with housework now.  Brother and Sister speak excellent English and I didn't have a problem understanding them after I got used to their accents.  As for food, our wonderful Elders wanted to take them out to dinner Friday and Saturday night, which took the burden off my shoulders of cooking.  I made pizza one day for lunch which they enjoyed and the next day we had rice with a bunch of fresh veggies. And Sunday night sister taught me to make an Indian dish that was AMAZING!  I can't tell you what it was because I can't pronounce it, much less spell it, but it wasn't curry.  I have it written down and I'm sure I'll be making it again in the future.

Brother trying on a hat at Wal-mart

 So I hope what I learned with this whole episode sticks with me.  I learned that I no longer have to bear the brunt of housework when we have guests over.  Not only does Hubby help as much as he can, I have two other helpers who work as hard as I need them to without complaining.  I also learned that worrying about what something might be like or if someone will be comfortable in my home is not only exhausting, but it also steals the joy of anticipation of something new happening.  I learned to trust my husband's judgements of people, even if I've never met them.  And best of all, I learned that there is a bond we share as brothers and sisters in Christ that transcends so many barriers that we would have without it.  I'm also thankful that God forgives me each time I fall and fail him when it comes to my inflexible nature. 

I not only consider Brother and Sister my friends now, I might even consider joining my husband in India eventually, something I never wanted to do before!   I'm so glad they came!

Like a Physical Blow

I was laying in bed last night before going to sleep and I started thinking about dinner for tonight.  I knew I was going to end up putting the pork chops on the George Forman grill.

Thinking about the George Forman brought a memory of my Grandma cooking steaks on the one she had.  She loved busting that thing out while we were there and she was so proud of the fact that she could make a good steak in just a few minutes.

For a heartbeat that memory made me smile.  And then I actually had to remind myself that I would never see my Grandma cooking anything over a George Forman again.  Remembering all over that I would never see her in a kitchen again felt like an actual physical blow.  Like someone had done a roundhouse kick to my chest. 

I have found myself lately skirting away from thinking about Grandma at all.  Like if I start to think about her I'll make myself think of something else.  Is that why out of the blue a random memory of her hurt so much?  Is it better to think of her as often as I can and grieve more often or to skirt the memories until one comes that I can't ignore and get all the grief out at once?  I don't know the right answer.  I wish I didn't have to know.

And once again, as much as I miss Grandma and hurt from the loss, I know that my pain is so much less compared to those who have lost a sibling, a parent, a spouse or a child.  I am reminded again that although people who have lost loved ones may seem OK on the outside, they still need my prayers.  Because if it hurts as much for me to think about my Grandma, how much more does it hurt for them?