Debbie's preschool homeschool day in the life (with a 2 and 4 year old)

Monday 1/30/12

6:10 am - I open my eyes, very groggy - During tax season I get up sometime between 5:30 and 6ish. We're a little later than usual this morning. I help my taxman get out the door and then go through my mental morning checklist - make bed, feed cats, read bible, plan day.  I am not a morning person, so this keeps me on track.  I sit down with some breakfast to read my Bible and write down a rough outline of what I need/want/plan to do today.

7:15 - Holly (4) comes down, cuddles up in my lap. I think how nice it will be to be able to keep up our morning cuddling if we homeschool for K. She soon decides she wants to eat - we have a cutting lesson as she help slice an apple. I go to move the laundry I started last night.  Holly practices matching socks and helps fold napkins. After getting herself a yogurt she tells me she wants to do school. I get a workbook.  I check the email as she does some pages matching letter sounds. She starts some tracing pages and I correct her pencil grip.  She isn't pleased. We change to different pages.  I don't want to push her writing at 4.  But I'd rather she have good habits.  She is happy again.  I am impressed when she reads the words fox, dog, log, and even frog (once I tell her the blend sound). 

8ish - Heather (2) comes down. She cuddles in my lap as she eats the apple slices Holly left for her.  The girls decide they want to paint.  We break out a Dora paint book. They finish painting sometime while I dust, vacuum, and put laundry away, then they go play.  Holly just kind of sits at the table for a while, strange. 

10 - The girls get to watch TV: Sid the Science Kid, Word World, and Caillou. Sid is talking about how we get water into our homes.  (Caillou is not my favorite, but not a hill to die on either)

11:30 - Heather comes to the kitchen ready for lunch. Funny Holly didn't come up. She is lying on the couch and says she is tired.  Turns out she has a slight fever. 

12:00 - After lunch Holly curls up on the couch.  I decide to do rest time early. But first we talk about what she learned on Sid.  We discuss how we get our water from the water tower, one grandma and grandpa have a well, and the other grandma and grandpa get their water pumped from a water plant.  I pop in a DVD and go clean the kitchen.  Holly falls asleep and I tell Heather to go play when the movie is done.

1:30 - Heather decides she wants to get dressed and picks out her clothes.  (Yes we were still in our jammies.)

2 - Holly wakes up.  We do a reading lesson.  The girls play with their doll house.  Holly says she wants to do more school. She does a math page, Heather plays with stickers and "draws"

3- Holly perks up and the girls go play. I do laundry, computer stuff, and get dinner going.  The girls show me the "forest" they built with pillows and blankets. I explain the difference between the words "forest" and "fort".  I remember we never did the girls calendar.  We go over the days of the week and the # 30. We check the weather and decide it is sunny today.  I think "school" is done for the day.

4 - The girls are playing with duplo blocks. Holly wants to do more "school" with them. They start sorting by color and shape.  We all work on counting. Holly wants to try some skip counting, we do 2's and 10's. School seems to be done. Except Holly breaks out the Winnie the Pooh duplos and follows the directions step by step to build Pooh's house.

We eat dinner around 6:30.  The girls stay up until about 9 during tax season so they get to spend some time with daddy when he comes home late.  We read some books before bed.  After they get to bed I do my evening mental checklist so the house is basically tidy in the morning.

I thought Monday would be the best example of a typical day this week.  Turns out no day is typical I guess.  But still even though Holly was a bit under the weather, we were learning all day.  Writing it all down was a enlightening for me.  At minimum we covered reading, writing, math, home ec, social studies, science, and art.  Wow.  I love watching my kids want to learn.  It is amazing how much learning can occur by using teachable moments, and providing resources and a few intentional activities.

Linked up at Simple Homeschool

The Education Dilemma

To homeschool or not to homeschool...that is the question I have been asking myself for the last couple of years.  The preschool decision became easy.  Attending preschool was both costly and inconvenient and seemed unnecessary.  Holly had mostly completed the kindergarten readiness checklist by her 4th birthday.  Preschool at home was the obvious choice.  The kindergarten decision has been more complicated.

Positives for Public School:

• There is a small public elementary school within a mile of our home.  It is the pride and joy of our small town.  It is part of a larger school district that is well respected in our community.  My husband, his father, and sisters all graduated from the same district.  Just this past May we attended the graduation party of a lovely christian young lady.  Her father assured us we were blessed to be in this school district. 
• We are relative newcomers to our small town.  (We have only been here 15 years.)  Over the years we have been assured we would get to know our neighbors "once your kids are in school."  Since we were not born here, the school is the golden ticket to be included in community life.
• I loved elementary school!  I would cry when I missed it because I was sick.  I graduated from public school.  I am successful, and learned so much.  I have fond memories of many of my teachers and classes. 
• I believe my daughter would get a good education in our local schools.  I believe she would likely enjoy school and develop friendships and fond memories.  I also desire for her to be exposed to people who need Jesus, especially kids her age who still have some innocent ways and sweetness.  I want her to realize her blessings and develop true compassion.

Positives for Homeschool:

• My girls would receive an individualized education at home. We can spend time on the topics they struggle with. We can fly through the topics that come easily.  If they are interested in birds or baseball we can take the time to research and delight in learning. 
• My girls can learn from a Biblical perspective.  We can show them how God is in everything.  I don't have to explain that things their teacher says might not be true.
• Home education is so efficient.  Our public Kindergarten is 7 hours at school, plus homework.  We can cover the academic work of kindergarten in less than 2 hours at home.  I am a firm believer in free play and family time.  Homeschooling leaves time for that.
• Homeschooling fits our schedule.  My girls stay up until 9 o'clock and get up around 8 am.  When Daddy is working in the field we go out and ride with him, sometimes we get home late.  During tax season Daddy comes home around 8pm.  He wants to spend time with his girls.  Daddy is free for vacation in the middle of April, and the end of August. 

Right now homeschooling is winning.  At this point I am planning on homeschooling for kindergarten.  I have concerns; how am I going to introduce my girls to people who are different from us and the "church folks" we mostly spend time with, how am I going to protect them from legalistic homeschoolers who we will meet.  I remind myself we would have similar types of problems in public school, just dressed differently.  So I am still praying, waiting for God's complete clarity through my husband's full support.  But though I mourn some of the things we may lose by not choosing our local school, I am excited about the possibilities at home.

Not free to be just you and me

We were driving on an outing with my youth group in Jr. High.  The subject of soccer came up.  I laughingly said how horrible I was at soccer.  Our youth leader admonished me from the driver's seat. I shouldn't say things like that, she was concerned about my "self-esteem".  I replied (again laughingly) that my self-esteem was just fine, I was terrible at soccer but I had a genius IQ.  She was taken aback.  Later she expressed her discomfort with me "bragging" about my IQ in front of the other girls.

It was in early elementary school that we watched movies called "Free To Be You and Me".  I found them disturbing.  The catchy tunes were memorable.  But the messages didn't ring true to what I experienced as reality.  The idea that "you can be anything you want to be", that just didn't seem right.

As a young child I wanted to be a singer, a writer, and a ballerina.  I took dance lessons. When I was seven I realized that no matter what "they" said, I could not be a ballerina.  So I happily quit dance lessons, with my parents full support.  In 4th grade I sang in the children's choir and the school choir.  I noticed that though I "made" choir I was rarely chosen for solos.  I was impressed with the voices of others.  I realized though I could sing for fun, I wouldn't be signing any autographs. 

I so appreciate my parents.  I know they gently guided me in these areas.  They taught me to laugh when I tripped over my feet.  They taught me to celebrate my academic skills.  They taught me to appreciate those with talents beyond mine.  They help me discover my strengths and weaknesses, and I learned that some things could be both.

Somewhere along the way I learned that I was gifted, that we all are gifted.  God has created us with distinct abilities and callings. He has given us those gifts for His glory.  I  not free to be anything I want to be.  I need to be what He has called me to be. 

Making our Bedroom a Haven

When we got married I had these instructions about our bedroom: green and burgundy, and no flowers. We put up dark green mini-blinds. Our bedding was green and burgundy, pretty much solids, except for the green and burgundy plaid king size blanket our close friends gave us. This actually serves as our comforter most of the year. I love plaid, and we even had green and burgundy plaid vests for our groomsmen. (In fact the blanket is from one of them, hmm...)

Our walls were neutral, and had several existing nails. I hung "stuff" we got for wedding gifts or happen to have. There wasn't a lot of intentionality in this. We had an entire house to ourselves for more than eight years, we didn't need a single room as a haven.

Now that we share our home with little people, our bedroom's purpose has really changed. It is no longer just necessary for sleeping and storing our clothes. It is our personal space, but not very personal. I have wanted to paint. But since we have this huge heavy bed that would be a major production. Making new nail holes also tends to cause controversy. We tend to argue about whether hanging things at eye-level applies to the person who is 5' 8" or the person who is 6' 6". So I just never figured there was anything I could do but try to keep it tidy.

I was needing to make a slight change, though. My girls had a tall heavy dresser in their room. They don't need it in there, and I have been living in fear that my almost 2 year old climber would be pulling it down on herself. When she was messing with the lower drawer on Monday I knew I had to take action. So I decided to move the cedar chest squeezed between my side of the bed and the wall to the living room, and put the dresser in it's place.

So, when I saw this post about sprucing up the master bedroom on the blog Raising Arrows, I was suddenly inspired. These were the 2 lines that really clicked w/ me:

• "What is the first thing your eye is attracted to in this room?"
• "Does this room reflect you and/or your husband in any way?"

The first thing you would see in our room is this:




Only picture a lot more blank space as the cedar chest was where the dresser is. That picture has been hanging there since we married. It looks like this:
It was a gift from a lovely couple. And the sentiments are lovely as well. But really my favorite part of it was the burgundy mat. After 13 years it finally occurred to me that I didn't have to keep it.



So I began to think on that other question: What reflected us? I came up with 3 specific things. The pictures of our family that sat on the cedar chest, the picture of the lighthouse I grew up a few miles from out east, and the Terry Redlin print of deer watching a combine that I bought as a gift for my husband for our 10th anniversary. The farm, our family, and "my" lighthouse; those things really reflect roots of who we are. So now when you walk into our room you see this:


I know it isn't perfectly proportioned. And the black doesn't really go w/ the green, burgundy, and natural wood color scheme. But it makes me smile, and be thankful. The picture on the wall has a great snapshot of my hubby and I from our best friends' wedding last year. It was such a happy day filled with love. The bottom photo is an adorable shot of our girls for Valentine's day. We are all in black and red so the pics look perfect together. The pictures on the dresser are baby pictures of the girls. The picture in the corner is hand calligraphy with our names, wedding date and Bible verses. A dear family friend made it for our wedding gift. It used to hang on blank part of wall on the other side of the windows, looking totally out of place all by itself in our burgundy/green room surrounded by blank wall. But the black mat coordinates well with my black frames, and it now "fits"

And lastly there was the now blanker space on the other side of the window and there was that frame with burgundy mat I like so much. I thought of something that reflects us. Here it is:

That is us, in the combine. Technically we are all there, though little lamb is "still in my tummy." Harvest is our favorite time of year. It is a lot of work, but riding in the combine is a special kind of peaceful. It is not a perfect photo. But it makes me smile. And hooray for digital photos and home photo printers, it took me all of 15 minutes to put together. The dark colors fill the blank space much better than the lighter calligraphy. But most of all it evokes joy and thankfulness.

I spent $0 on this spruce up. I had everything on hand. I did use up some ink and photo paper. The changes were small but so significant. When I see them they evoke the peace, joy, and thankfulness that now makes our room a haven.

I am linking up to the Spring Spruce Up. Check out all the other ideas!

Blessed in the bustle...

It was a typical evening. I was bustling about the kitchen trying to get dinner ready. Brown the meat, boil the water, add the sauce, "oops" almost forgot the pasta... Kick the dolly, toy bucket, plastic bowl out from under foot, "ouch" stepped on the toy shovel...Noise of the lawn mower, the radio, the slap, slap, scrape of the fly swatter... Need to the wash the dishes, running out of room on the counter...

Then I stopped, I looked up, I drank in the meaning. First I saw my almost 2 year old, adorable curly haired sitting on Daddy's storage box of church papers, intently pretending the fly swatter was a broom. Then the baby, contentedly curled up sleeping in her bouncy seat on the kitchen table. Then the wonderful man in my back yard, strong and steady, maneuvering the lawn mower with precision.

Yes the counter was messy. The toys were in the way. The sounds and movement of business, abounded. But I was struck by the blessing. I am living the dream.

Never thought this would be a picture of bliss:

But Ahhh...just had to spend a few minutes soaking it all in....

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
Matthew 7:11

Humility and patience....

Its a quiet moment here. Babydoll is off to grandma and grandpa's for the day. Little Lamb is sleeping again...since I just popped her paci back in...(blushing.)

Ahhh... the best laid plans and grandiose ideas. Hmmm...were my ideals wrong, am I just not persistent enough, was I undermined by an other half whose tender heart can't bear to see his little girls cry unnecessarily? Probably a little bit of all of the above. Well the paci intervention was a failure. Or maybe it was just a learning experience, for me.

There was some success. Little Lamb has actually been a happier baby the last few days. And will actually be awake and smiling for longer periods of time sans paci. I am much more mindful of when I "pop" the paci in. And she isn't always getting it popped back in right away, and occasionally actually gets over it. But, my friends laughed at my attempt to "break" my 6 week old of anything.

Guess I'm learning humility and patience this week. Humility from Little lamb, patience from babydoll...

I am not a messy mom. Well I am a person who tends toward randomness, but I don't like yucky messes. Yes books, papers, and toys might be scattered about my home. But babydolls hands and face are wiped regularly throughout mealtime. And I keep the play dough well hidden, cause most of the time I'm just not into the mess. So yesterday my patience was challenged.

Babydoll met me at her bedroom door in the morning w/ a beautiful smile, and with her diaper in her hand saying "Uh-oh." She earnestly pointed out the "wet" spots on the floor, and I quickly found the wet spot on her bed. I looked at her and looked at the floor, and inwardly I laughed. I was amazed I was able to calmly explain that she had "peed" and pee should go in the potty. At this pre-potty training stage I had been wondering how I would introduce the concept of peeing to my little girl, well there ya go.

Then later in the afternoon, babydoll met the salt shaker. They had a lovely playdate while mommy wasn't paying attention. I amazed myself again, instead of fuming, I took a picture. Babydoll was a little unsure of mom's reaction. After the initial shock, I was trying not to laugh. (By the way you would be amazed how salt spreads. My entire kitchen is gritty.)

It is good seeing God use the little things to make me grow. Seeing fruit in the rather ordinary reminds me how involved God desires to be in each moment. And although next time I may wait for success before publishing my grand child-rearing plan on the internet, there is something freeing in admitting failure. And while I still don't see myself breaking out the play dough or glue on a regular basis any time soon, it is good to know that when these things happen I can take it...well...with a grain of salt =)

And then life happens...

Well I meant to get back to blogging, but you know there is this thing called life.

In the beginning of August was the fair, then we went camping, then we had the boys stay w/ us for a week, then babygirl's (littlegirl now) first bday party, then my Aunt and Uncle came for about a week. We thought things were slowing down... but August 31st we found out we are having another little one!!! due date May 4th. So, while very happy, I barely had energy to function until the middle of October.

On September 2nd we found out about some farmland for sale. This will fulfill a lifelong dream. But in order to safely make this investment I ahve returned to work 2days a week. Littlegirl enjoys spending one day a week at each grandparents' home. And since I grew up w/o grandparents around I am happy for her opportunity. I actually really enjoy my work overall. While the paperwork and government regulations get annoying, serving my patients is such a blessing. Even though I get paid for it, it feels like a ministry to me.

So here I am, hopefully back again. I am sort of glad I didn't blog through the election. I think I have gotten past my tirades and frustration about that now anyway.

Right now I am reading Ephesians. I have been reading it for several weeks. But started to jot notes down today. Do you know God has already blessed us w/ every spiritual blessing? We are already blessed. We just need to make use of those blessings...Also he chose us before he created the world. This one was amazing to wrap my mind around. Although I know that God is eternally omniscient, it just never ocurred to me that he knew what was going to happen to my life before the world existed!