Day in the Life - Homeschool edition

Once again I am participating in the Not Back to School Blog Hop over at Heart of the Matter Online. It has been so fun this past month seeing everyone's curriculum/school rooms/ student photos! This week is "Day in the Life" and I can't wait to see what everyone has planned.

Confession: Last year I had a really hard time fitting it all in. Homeschooling. Housework. Cooking mostly from scratch. Laundry. Mothering 4 little children. Oh yah...and being a wife. I realized that I had to get organized somehow. I had heard about the book Managers of Their Homes from several different sources

and so with a hopeful heart I ordered it. I was SO blessed by what and how it shared. It had some amazing suggestions, both practical and spiritual. I would have to say this is a valuable resource for any homeschool family out there. So this past week I sat down and finally made my schedule. It was amazing how everything just came together! Thank you, God!

On a funny side note, after reading the book I had a few questions and so I went to look up the authors contact information. Lo and behold not only were the authors from my hometown but live only 4 blocks from where I grew up! Crazy, small world!

Now, I know some of you (ahem...marie) might cringe to think about putting yourself and your children on a daily schedule. But I think there is something important to note here: It would be an absolute miracle if everybody was on schedule every day! I am not expecting it at all. My schedule is just a general guideline so I know that around (insert time here) I need to be starting (insert task here). I will not (deep breath) freak out if we get behind schedule.

So, without further ado, here is my schedule (for now):

6:00- wake up, dress, straighten room

6:30- a.m. devotion time

7:00- breakfast prep (John will be waking the children up and getting them dressed at this time)

7:30- breakfast

8:00- meal clean up

8:15- kitchen time (this is where I bake for the day or work on whatever needs to be done in the kitchen)

9:15- Phonics with Lilly

10:15- Bible time with boys

10:45- Reading with Luke

11:00- Science with Lilly

11:30- lunch prep

12:00- quick clean

12:15- lunch

12:45- meal clean up

1:00- Language Arts with Lilly

2:00- Preschool with the Boys

3:00- Math with Lilly

4:00- Bible with Lilly

4:30- Social Studies with Lilly

5:00- Reading time with children

5:30- dinner prep

6:00- Dinner

7:00- meal clean up

7:15- Family Devotions

7:45- fold/put away laundry

8:15- children's bed prep/story time

8:30- quick clean

8:45- bed for children

9:00- p.m. devotion time

9:30- computer time/ free time

10:30- bed. sweet bed.

I wasn't completely happy with the way I scheduled things...but I'm not sure why. So this schedule might be subject to change within the first couple weeks of school. I have heard from several people that Kindergarten and First grade are two of the hardest grades to teach because they haven't learned to work independently yet. Since I have 2 this year, I will be one busy mama. Eventually I would like to get to the point where everyone starts at 9:00 in the morning and ends at 3 or 4 in the afternoon. But since everyone has got to work with me right now, that is just not going to happen.

Each child has their own schedule for the day as well. When I am not working with them they are either playing with one of their siblings or having some alone play time. Here is my chart. Aren't all the colors pretty? :) And, yes, I notice there are some gaps. By the time I got all of all of that done I was so tired of working on the schedule that I decided to fill them in later....with something. Ha!

That's my plan for the year! Thanks for checking in!

Blessings,

~A

Book review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

A whole book about food? Really? Yes. It's true. And it was fascinating! It's written by author Barbara Kingsolver (author of "The Poisenwood Bible"), her husband Steven Hopp, and daughter Camille. It follows their family as they move to a rural farm and begin the process of eating only local food for a year. When I first heard about this concept I thought, "I can do that. I buy lots of stuff locally." Then, I took an inventory of my kitchen. Honey-local, Eggs-local, Olive oil-uh oh, cheese-eek!, mushroom-hmm.... and on it went. Turns out I didn't buy as local as I thought. It was challenging. And I'm always up for a challenge! She not only challenged me in that way but she argues for the economic, social, and health benefits for putting local food at the center of the family diet. The book is laid out month by month as Shelia shares stories, her husband adds problems with industrializing food, and their daughter adds first person stories and recipes. It made me appreicate the small farmer so much more! And maybe....made me wish I was one too! It's a really good read!

Helping Those Who Hurt- A book review

As Christians we are called to minister to those who hurt.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. ~James 1:27

I wanted to read this book because it seems whenever someone is going through a crisis I always feel a little awkward. Not knowing what to say or do for that person. Of course, in my heart, I want to help them as much as possible but I just wasn't sure how to do that. Helping those who Hurt by Barbara M. Roberts is a book that helps us serve those who have been hurt and need a loving presence. It has such a wide range of topics. From hospitalization to aging, or addiction to abuse, there is advice for almost every situation. She gives you some general information about each situation. Ideas for what to say to a person going through a crisis, lists of do's and don'ts , resources, and even information written directly to a person who is hurting. I would say this book is a must have for anyone who is wanting to go into pastoral caregiving and a great read for anyone who knows someone who hurts. Everyone!