Weekly Wrap-up: Aug. 31-Sept. 4

Tomorrow we will start our 3rd week (2nd official- with books & all that fun stuff) of (home)schooling. I am very excited about our journey, and if I continue to learn things in the amount I have this week, I shall be a whole new person by this time next year. I've said this before, and I will say it again: I know I have far more to learn from this year than my children do.

I am so thankful the Lord is sovereign; He can use one experience (in this case, homeschooling) to address many issues with which we have all been struggling. By nature I am lazy, disorganized, impulsive, last-minute, flighty and impatient. When I homeschool, I cannot be any of these things (well, I can and I will at times, but the consequences for these behaviors are very clear- in a hectic day, poorly conducted lesson, etc). Without self-control my children are also disorganized, easily bored, emotional, and whiny. There are direct consequences for these behaviors as well in the form of less play because of the length of time needed to complete schoolwork appropriately.

This week I have learned:

ABOUT OUR DAY:

-I must plan for Math ahead of time. When I am not organized, I quickly lose the childrens attention and do not have the energy for creative teaching because it is used up in keeping them focused.

-I must not try and do every activity Tapestry of Grace suggests. I must remember it is a buffet, and gorging myself (or my childre) never ends successfully.

ABOUT MYSELF:

-My best work does not come from times where I am put on the spot. I cannot say enough about the importance of preparation.
-My day goes much more successfully if I am up before the children and get my God time and planning time. I feel more established.

ABOUT MY CHILDREN:

-My children quickly tire of worksheets.
-There are going to be bad days. Moody children make for difficult encounters. Creativity and patience are a must. Redirect the child's thinking, ignite passion and creativity, and try, try again.
-If I am not on my toes, they will quickly talk me into less work and inferior quality.
-As children (and boys especially), they need breaks consistently and active time (preferably outside) every day. No excuses. And I make more than they do.

Some of my favorite places on the web, these days:

Old Fashioned Education- most of my curriculum comes from this comprehensive, and FREE, site.

Project Gutenberg- tons and tons of public domain e-texts. Many wonderful old primers can be found here.

Super Teacher Worksheets- I came across this site while searching Google for spelling words and am extremely surprised at the quality of the worksheets found here. My boys get bored if I give them too much written work to do, but these provide more hands-on worksheets as well. I did use their lists for spelling words as well. They even have printouts for each week.