Royal Wedding

In celebration of today's royal wedding, we got out the fancy china, and had tea and scones for breakfast. I read aloud to the kids about queens and kings in London, Big Ben and Parliament. And we may have practiced our British accents just a bit.
One of the many things I love about homeschooling is scrapping your regular curriculum once in awhile and learning about something related to what's going on in the world.

And we get to do it all in our pajamas and fancy hats.

Permission to Throw in the Towel

Math has always been a difficult thing for me to teach, and it was never my favorite subject in school. In the first grade, I remember having trouble counting by two's. I just didn't understand the point of it all, and the teacher was less than patient. She was standing over me with a mad face, trying to get me to understand. I think about that often when I'm trying to help my little girl with math. She's like I was, good at reading, writing, and spelling. Math is a little tougher for her; and you'd think I'd understand and just be sweet and patient and make her some cookies and milk. But sometimes I get frustrated when she doesn't get it, and I just don't know how to help her.

We were having a rough time one day last week while I was going over some new material in preparation for our homeschool testing this week. She just didn't get it, and I was resembling that teacher from the first grade. I was trying to make her understand something she just wasn't ready for. How unfair. If six year old me was standing there, she would've kicked me in the rear.

Well, we took a break, then I decided to throw in the towel. I left the kitchen in a mess and books all over the table, and we took off- out to lunch and to a pond at a local high school to feed the ducks. It was just the ticket. I like to be real with people, so I'll say that our little trip wasn't without frustrations. I had to tell Maggie to sit down three times during lunch, and Jack stepped in the pond after I warned him many times to be careful. That being said, it was a refreshing time.

From now on, I plan to give myself permission to push the books aside. Math will always be around; it will be here when my little girl is ready to conquer it. She, however, is growing up, and I want to remember to spend precious time with my children now.

Super Easy Craft for Your Little Reader

I came across this awhile back in an issue of Highlights. I thought it was a great way to show Isabelle's progress in reading. She has a big stack of second grade chapter books to go through and this lets her see how far she's come.



It's a bookworm! I wrote the titles of her finished books on the circles before gluing. She helped cut out the circles and added the legs and smiley. Isn't he cute? We left lots of space for more circles to add as she finishes more books.
Now if we can just find a project to help encourage her progress in math...

Putting a positive spin on well, a crapper

My hope for this blog is that it is a breath of fresh air, a place where there is no one pretending that they have it all together. Well now is just such that time for honesty.
We are in our second week of homeschooling. It hasn't all been bad; much of it has been good. But ladies, nothing is perfect. Most of my frustration has come from my 3 year old, who seems to have slipped into a second season of the terrible-two's. My son, who is mostly energetic and delightful, has become stubborn, destructive, and has one volume...LOUD. Today was bad. I had just begun the school day. I had read one thing. I opened up one of our history books and he said "Can we be done?" He has asked me this many times over the course of our school time. My answer is always the same "You're not in school, yes, be done, go play." But that is never good enough. He assumes that he must sit there, and today, none of my suggestions of things he could do were accepted. Well, we were battling it out and all the while I'm trying to control my anger (you know, set a good example). Finally, I dissolved into tears and came downstairs, wondering how many days can go into the crapper without us getting behind. I have seen some progress. There are days when I've seen him hold it together when he hasn't gotten his way. But today has been one of those days for me. Even as I've been typing this, Jack, who was supposed to be taking his nap decided he was done with that, and my daughter asked me if I am mad at her and her brother.
Ever since my oldest was a toddler, in the midst of a struggle, many times I have thought about my sin before a Holy God. Any offense against me is nothing compared to my sin before God, and He has forgiven me. It kind of helps put things in perspective. I don't know why I expect so much from them sometimes. I am thankful for the love of God and the example in Jesus, because as frustrated as I can get I love my children so much and I know that doesn't come in and of myself.
So, today was pretty much a loss. If I hurry, I can get some housework done. Looks like we're going to do school on Saturday.

Busy, busy, busy

I am still here, just in case you were wondering. With planning my sister's wedding, Isabelle's birthday coming up, home projects, and diving into homeschooling, there just doesn't seem to be much time left!

It's exciting and a little scary taking on this homeschooling thing, and while we've done some school already, it's time to really kick it into high gear. I'm looking forward to the bonding time it will bring with our daughter, and the teamwork experience my husband and I will share. I am a little unsure about how I'm going to do this with a five month old and a three year old to care for, oh well. I guess they say "necessity is the mother of invention", so I guess I'll just have to dig deep to access that resourceful side I have...somewhere.

Fall time, my favorite time, is upon us and some of the trees in our front yard already have some leaves that are turning yellow. Little things like shopping for fall clothes for my kids and getting out my grandmother's glass pumpkin-shaped cookie jar just make me so happy! Ahh... jacket weather, anyone that knows me knows my love of my jean jacket. Another love of mine, cooking, is also put to use in autumn. I'm making a mental list of all of my favorite fall recipes to share. Provided I can find the time to sit down at the computer.

With all of this stuff on my mind, I've had some frustrating days. Days when I wonder if I should be a parent at all! But then when it seems all hope is lost, I learn something, a hug goes a long way. I mean that. On that uplifting note, I'll go. My kids are asking for a snack.