Friday Families

Memory Boxes

April 30, 2012 By Jane

I watch as my little girl’s eyes well up with tears for no apparent reason. “What’s wrong?” I ask sympathetically.

“I’m so sad about my paper princess doll,” she sobs. “I miss her! Why did you throw her away? In those stinky fish? I should have written my name on her!”

I heave an exasperated sigh. Again? I thought we were over this months ago.

Yes, I committed the ultimate crime of motherhood. I threw away a half-finished mangled paper princess craft. It had been neglected in our group camping picnic spot for hours. I was cleaning up and had no idea which of the half-dozen girls it belonged to, or if they were even still at the camp.

It got covered by fish guts as others cleaned their catch of the day. And THEN 4yo Esmé realized it was missing. And sobbed most of the 1.5-hour drive home.

Every so often, the memory comes back to haunt her.

Even though she’s currently in love with her Caddie Woodlawn paper doll.

If your house is at all like mine, toys multiply while I sleep. Toys that were nicely contained yesterday suddenly overflow their container today.

So, how do you purge, declutter, achieve sanity in a teeny house, when you have a kiddo who is sentimentally attached to every single toy in her arsenal?

I can’t tell you how to do that. I’ve tried to sneak stuff out of the house, only to deal with drama months later when daughter suddenly notices the missing items. We’ve talked about blessing others with our excess, and that sometimes works. We’ve made new toys conditional on giving up old ones, but that doesn’t help with gifts from others.

Here’s one spring cleaning event we are making a tradition, though:

We’re creating a memory box together.

It’s something to celebrate each year of change and growth.

We pull out the box, discarding items that no longer have poignant memories.

Together, we decide which current toys she’s outgrown but want to keep for memory’s sake.

We spend quality time discussing memories that I have, that she has, where the toys came from, the relationships they represent.

Not just toys, the box includes baby blankets, favorite dresses, awards, chewed-up toddler books, lullaby CDs.

The box itself doesn’t have to be perfect. My personal memory box is a cardboard citrus fruit box – which has memories in itself. As a kid, I remember gorging myself on the whole big box of Florida oranges we bought every winter.

It’s HER box. Sometimes I want her to keep something that holds no significance to her, even after I share my memories. I may choose to keep that for my own, or more often, take a digital photo and pass it on.

I’m still tempted to toss out toys behind her back when the clutter threatens to overtake us. But thanks to my sentimental daughter, I’m learning toys are not just about excess, about materiality. Toys are about childhood.

And childhood is too short to discard at a whim.

Don’t just purge stuff this spring. Celebrate growth. Enjoy your child. And treasure each moment, each memory, together.

Filed Under: Preschool Tagged With: Jane, preschool

Pruning Preschool

April 19, 2012 By Kelly

Pruning – (verb) ….Webster definition is to reduce especially by eliminating superfluous matter ..Wikipedia definition…. reasons to prune include, shaping (by controlling or directing growth), improving or maintaining health, reducing risk from falling branches, and increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruit.

As Spring as comes around it’s time to dust the cobwebs and refresh the house. Have you ever thought how your children might need a little refreshing too? How about you? Let’s take this pruning definition and consider how we might reshape, maintain and or prune away the superfluous matter in our schooling.

Maintain Spiritual & Educational Health :

Increase the yield with playtime with your children. Playtime is essential to your child learning.

“Learning accumulates through experience. It occurs first at a social level then the indivudual.” Debra Bell discussing the Piagets Child Model.

How is the Quality of the fruit coming from your preschooler? Sweet or sour?

“The Heart of your child should always trump ABC’s every time! “ Rachael Carmen

Shaping and Re-shaping: Make sure you are spending time in the Bible with your preschooler. It can be a short story. Rebecca Jones from Leading little heart home suggests “Think of the Library Lady” , “A short story, snack and a craft.”

Don’t fill your day so full of paper school that you have no time for anything else? Prune away all the extras. Take time outside to enjoy pretty flowers and notice how each flower is unique. Let your little Tot know how unique God has created them to be.

Prune those toys that just sit around. Prune the curriculum you bought and never use and bless another family. Reshape what you do with your preschooler. Fill part of your day with learning about God’s creations with a Nature Journal. Explore all the wonderful creatures outside.

Refresh your day. Focus on only a couple of things for each season. Don’t feel like you have to print out every wonderful craft and lapbook idea. Focus on a couple of themes a season.

Spring Themes Summer Themes

Farm Animals Oceans & Sea life

Plants & Flowers Beach & Sand

Ponds & Frogs Boats

Butterflies & Kites Summer Treats like Ice Cream

Autumn Themes Winter Themes

Pumpkins Snowflakes

Apples Arctic Animals

Owls Ice

Trees & Leaves Stars & Moon

Keep it Simple. I know there are some wonderful ideas on how to organize school. It can be overwhelming when those wonderful ideas just don’t seem to work for your season of life right now. That is OK! I have learned from seasoned Homeschool Moms that it is OK to put it away until your children are older.
At a recent conference I attended Rachael Carmen (Homeschooling mother of 6) came up with an idea that may work for you if you are teaching multi-levels as I am . Rachael called them Preschool Boxes. The idea is to have each box contain certain themes or toys, stickers, and books they can only have during preschool time. You can create one for each day. Circle Time is also beneficial time where you can do group activities as a family, such as Bible time, Song time, Reading.

Pruning is beneficial and is definitely necessary to create a proper growing tree or bush. Pruning can definitely benefit our homeschool as well. Whatever you decide to prune may it benefit your preschooler to shape your family to produce good fruit for Christ.

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5

Filed Under: Preschool Tagged With: Kelly, preschool

Diary of a Homeschool Newbie & What’s In The Bible Giveaway

December 8, 2011 By Erin

Day 55: We’ve hit an “I’m tired” phase. Has this ever happened to you? Daily, I’m fighting the battle just to get through one subject without Big J halting all work to say he’s too tired to do school. SO. FRUSTRATING. Is it just because he know there is a couch within a few feet he could lounge on? He doesn’t actually want to go back to bed, so I know it’s a stalling technique. And it is draining me…

Day 61: Progress on attitude… Big J opened his reading & phonics book today, started working and then say, “OOH! I LOVE doing this!” That one moment made my day!

Day 67: A unique field trip opportunity came our way and we couldn’t pass it up! My friend was playing the lead in a performance of the opera Hansel & Gretel just for school-age students and we were actually able to make it! This was a great opportunity to study a different style of music, as well as concert etiquette! Some friends joined us and the performance was wonderful – just the right length for the kiddos too! Check in your community to see if there are any special programs like this through local musical organizations!

Day 69: Big J finished Math-U-See Primer level! He is so excited!!! Very proud of him today

Day 74: This is one of the reasons we homeschool: residency interviews have begun for the hubby and because we homeschool, the whole fam is able to travel together to some of these interviews! Today we were actually in my hometown and staying at my parents’ house, so Big J and I were able to have school right there! In the next few weeks, we’ll be attempting school at a hotel – should be interesting!

Day 78: Reading through Give Them Grace with The Homeschool Village and feeling the need to lay more and more of my parenting and homeschooling at the feet of Jesus. All of it, really. I just can’t do it any other way. Covering each and every day with lots of prayer and thanking Him for LOTS of grace for us all!

** Erin shares her love for raising boys at Home with the Boys. **

*this giveaway is closed, congrats comment #6, Jessica !

Today we are giving away What’s In The Bible Christmas dvd – Why Do We Call It Christmas!

Cutting down trees? Hanging stockings? Santa Claus? What do any of these have to do with Jesus’ birthday? More than you’d think!

Join VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer along with intrepid newsman Buck Denver and all his friends on an amazing journey into the world’s most popular holiday! Sure, you know the Christmas story. But do you know the story of Christmas?

Don’t miss the whimsical, educational, Christmical party to end all Christmas parties as Buck Denver Asks … Why Do We Call It Christmas?
Run Time: approx. 60 minutes

Simply leave a comment and share an encouraging verse with our community! All Winners for this week’s giveaways will be announced Saturday evening!!

Monday – Krafty Kash $25 store credit
Wednesday – Speechless ebook & Grace Tags necklace
Friday - What’s In The Bible, Why Do We Call It Christmas

*contest rules

Filed Under: Friday Families, Newbie Diary

Fall Leaf Book – all ages

November 18, 2011 By Kelly

Fall is in full swing here and there are tons of projects you can get in to. Here is one that is easy peasy. Very little prep work needed. Just take a stroll and enjoy this time of year.

What you need:

Colorful Fall Leaves

Crayons

4 pieces of Construction paper or white paper

Twine, String,or Ribbon

Glue

A hole puncher

This was a project my kids did with Grandma. They went for a little Nature Walk and collected leaves. All sizes, shapes and colors.

Instructions for book:

In the center of each piece of paper, punch 2 holes about 4 inches apart.

Stack paper and thread piece of twine threw the holes and tie.

Have each child take the leaves and glue them into the pages and Viola! Your vary own Leaf book.

For Older Children:

To add a homeschool touch. (grins)

You can also classify each leaf with a nature field guide.

I also had the girls try to match the crayon colors with the leaf colors as well. Copper, Forest green, etc.. If you want the leaf pages to last you can dare I say it.. Contact paper them in. (cough, cough) or just have fun making new ones the next year.

Happy Fall!

Kelly is a mom of 4 girls blogging day by day in His Grace at Believing.

Filed Under: Friday Families, Preschool

Giving to Others

November 4, 2011 By Joy

For me, the month of November really symbolizes giving thanks and doing for others. We have had many examples of this throughout history. We celebrate 2 special days in the month that shows us several different groups of people. Veterans Day is an annual United States holiday honoring military veterans. Throughout the history of the United States, they have given so much to protect the freedoms we now have. We are able to worship and school our children, to name a couple.

The Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present day Massachusetts. The thanksgivings and feast was due to a good harvest. While the Plymouth colony did not have a enough food to feed half of the colonists, the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims by providing seeds and teaching them to fish.

You might ask what this has to do with homeschooling?

Matthew 5:42

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

As parents, it is important that we teach them to help and give to others. We must lead by example. Our children won’t know how to help others in need, unless we take the time to show them. We have encouraged and helped our oldest two children, 14 and 18, to help others in need. They have collected and donated canned goods to give to local United Christian Ministries. They have volunteered their time to go through clothing and others items for the Teen Challenge thrift store. Our family has even helped organize dinners for the veterans of our area. To let them know we appreciate all they have done for us. These are just a few of the ways our family has been able to help.

Look around in your area to see what is available for you and your children to help volunteer for. With the days starting to turn colder, I am sure you could head up a blanket drive or even a coat/hat/glove drive for the local homeless shelter. Check with your church to see if there is a family in need of food or clothing. Not only will you be blessing other families in need, you will definitely get a blessing for yourself!

Matthew 19:21

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

High school homeschool is written by Joy, My Home in the Smokies.

Filed Under: Friday Families, High Schooling

Homeschooling is SCARY!

October 28, 2011 By Beth

Sew Anyhow

I was recently going through pictures from my niece’s birthday party and found these pictures. As a mother, I was terrified. It is shot after shot of my babies flying through the air with no protection at all. As a child at heart, I was wishing I’d been on the swing. Laughing, screaming, fearful, and exhilarated.

That is much what my homeschooling experience has been. You see, I come from a traditional schooling background. My parents are both educators, and I am the product of public schools. To do or be anything different was flying into the unknown. Our children actually started their formal education in public schools. It was what worked for us. And then circumstances came about, and we found ourselves needing to provide for our children’s education. And I’m sure the first day of school in our home, I looked much like my daughter in the middle of the swing. I really didn’t have any idea what I was supposed to do. And I kept hearing this faint whisper telling me these poor children’s fates were in my hands. We were all doomed. And so, the swing ride began.

You see, the fun of swinging is the feeling of weightlessness. Of flying free. Closing your eyes and soaring through the clouds. It’s also the debilitating reason some never sit in a swing. The terrifying unknown. The horror stories of broken limbs, and bruised bodies. That was where I sat when we started to home school. And when I couldn’t seem to push myself forward, someone was there to push me from behind. It is so very important to have a support group. Mine came from my husband, of course, and my parents. They all encouraged us to go forward, to do our work “for the Lord, and not for man” (Colossians 3:23), and bring glory to God in what we were doing. As we started, we found other places of encouragement as well. Other homeschooling families, friends that were curious about our choice, the blogging world, and magazines. What is important, is to have real people you can call, write, or email your triumphs and disasters.

My daughter is holding on to her big brother as they swing. He is her protector. Always has been. So we must cling to our Heavenly Father. When doubts arise, kids are unruly, school hasn’t gone as planned, go to the One who holds it all in His hands, and find comfort. Feel protected. Abide. I asked my daughter about the picture, and she told me she knew she wouldn’t get hurt because her Uncle pushed her, and her brother protected her. It’s what we all need. Someone to encourage us, and He who protects us. Sure, homeschooling, just like swinging, is a huge pendulum that we are riding. But we are not alone on this ride. So when that whisper comes back, as it always does, tearing at my resolve, I whisper back, “No, their futures are not in my hands, their futures are in the very hands that hold the future.”

Beth is the wife to a pastor, and mother to eight children. When she isn’t doing laundry or changing diapers, she enjoys reading, sewing, crocheting, and taking pictures. To of course blog about later. You can find her telling her story at Sew Anyhow.

Filed Under: Big Families, Friday Families

How to Occupy Babies & Toddlers During School Time

October 21, 2011 By Kelly

How to Occupy Babies & Toddler During School time

I have tried close to everything to occupy my babies. School times definitely have to be flexible when you have little ones. Can I get an Amen? I hope you benefit from our stressful days and implement some of the ideas listed below. These ideas are for babies older than 6 months. Before that hopefully they are still sleeping a good deal. (grins)

High Chair Time

Cheerios, Kix and a sippy cup of water.

Teether Toys , Big Spoons and a cup

Ok Take a breath for this one. Ready? Water in a low lip bowl. Tupperware works well. Yes, it’s messy BUT it’s just water. It will dry. Repeat again “It Will Dry!”

Different Textures to touch. Such as silky fabric, sand paper, crunchy toys. Obviously for older babies. I would suggest not leaving the baby with textured toys alone due to choking.

If they are newbornish you can lean them back in the high chair and the sleep right there, or even in a swing if the bed is to far away for you.

Booster Seats work well too. Sitting baby and or Toddler right at the table during school time works well for us.

Blanket Time

Teach your baby or Toddler to sit on a blanket with a couple of toys that she only gets to play with on the blanket.

You might ask.. How do I teach my baby to sit still on a blanket?

PRACTICE, Practice, Practice.

Spend time on the blanket with your baby. Praise your baby for sitting on the blanket.

When baby wanders off blanket bring the baby back to the blanket and say “stay on the blanket.” Yes ,this method is time consuming, but just think 15 minutes. She will learn to stay on the blanket and you will have successful school times.

Baby Slings

Slings are great! I currently have a Moby Wrap. I just strap her in there and she is happy to be with Momma!

Crib Time

It’s OK to put the baby or Toddler in the crib for 15-20 minute with some toys that are not chocking hazards. Last but not least NAP TIMES! Never underestimate nap times. Even if it’s only 30 minutes. Don’t give up nap times. They are beautiful thing. These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg. Be creative and flexible. Remember you can do it. Feel free to leave comments leaving your ideas.

Kelly is a mom of 4 girls. Homeschooling day by day in God’s grace. You can visit them over at Believing

Filed Under: Friday Families, Preschool

Extra Curricular Activities

October 14, 2011 By Joy

When we began homeschooling 9 years ago, we had a lot of family and friends ask if we would homeschool through high school. They were concerned that our son would miss all of the excitement and activities that come along with being in high school. Our response? We would keep on homeschooling as long as God continues to lead us to. We did a lot of research and have found that are a lot of activities that public high school does that homeschoolers can do.

One of the first thing parents can do when researching for activities for high school homeschoolers, is look for a Support Group for homeschoolers. Depending on the size of the support group, they can offer many different activities that public schools offer. For example, the support group that our family is a part of, has yearbooks. In a nearby town, there are a couple of other homeschool groups that even has Proms. The same groups also offer different sports, like football, soccer and basketball.

Parents can also check with the public school systems. Some states have homeschool laws that allow children being taught at home to participate in the extra curricular activities at their local school. This does open up a few more opportunities for your child.

You can also check with private schools, Christian Academies or even churches with an active youth ministry. Some private schools I am familiar with will allow homeschoolers to come take 1-2 classes to be able to participate in their after school activities.

There are so many different activities and opportunities available for homeschoolers outside of the public school system. If your children enjoy singing and music, check with your local chamber of commerce to see if there is a community choir or orchestra. Check your local classifieds to see if there are music teachers in the area that gives lessons. If your child enjoys dancing, look for a dance academy in the area. If your child loves to perform, you can always call the community theater to see when their next production tryouts are at. Don’t forget to look into the Karate and Kung Fu academies as well.

My two oldest children have been able to have active lives due to the many opportunities that are offered through the community and local businesses in our area. It just took a little time to research. Just be careful to not get too overwhelmed. Ask your children what their interests are. You may just be surprised at what they say!

Joy blogs at My Home In The Smokies.

Filed Under: Friday Families, High Schooling Tagged With: activities, homeschooling, socialization

Diary of a Homeschool Newbie: Finding Our Way

October 7, 2011 By Erin

Oh, so much has happened since we last talked…

Day 22: I have a kidney stone. At least, that’s what we think. I did not sleep at all last night. There was a lot of couch-teaching going on today and Big J did just fine with that. There may have been a few videos as well. Thank you, Lord, for Netflix and Veggie Tales.

Day 24: Yep. It was a kidney stone. I survived and we continued on with school but I am SO glad this week is over. But I did have a discovery this week – at first I thought math was going fast enough, then I thought maybe he was going TOO fast. Now, I’m realizing that there is much more I can do to supplement each lesson – that way he CAN work fast if he gets it and wants to, but I have other ways to review the concept ready to go when that does happen. We’re still REALLY far in the curriculum, but I think we’ll take it at one lesson a week until the end now! Glad to have figured that out!

Day 25: Quote from our walk this morning from Little J (three years old): “Mommy! Bottom starts with B!” I’m so proud

Day 27: I was really thankful we had our core subjects done in the morning today because ALL afternoon we had the Blue Angels practicing directly over our house.

Hello firsthand learning experience! We watched their amazing stunts and spent a lot of time on the computer reading about them, researching their planes and, of course, making paper “jets!”

Day 30: Such fun this week adding in a few extra-curricular activities for Big J! Yesterday, he started swimming lessons and today I started teaching piano lessons to him and another kindergarten-age boy! He really seems to love both!

Day 32: School is on hold for today…two puking kiddos. This is not fun. But the snuggles and movie-watching aren’t all bad!

Day 33: It’s not fun trying to get Big J back on track after a sick day. Grateful today is Friday. Amen.

Day 36: Today was our first day of a little homeschool co-op we’re doing with a few other families! It wasn’t my turn to teach, so I got to chat with other moms while we supervised the little ones playing – really fun to compare our school year so far! And Big J really enjoyed the lesson so it was a win-win day for us! Excited for our first co-op field trip in a few weeks!

Day 38: Spanish with Grandpa and PE {tennis!} with both grandparents – so fun to share a homeschool day with my parents!

We’re really starting to find our way!

I think…

*****

Does it feel like YOU are finding your way at all yet? Maybe in one area, but not another? I’d love to hear how those newbie years are coming along!

Read more fun posts by Erin at Home With The Boys where she celebrates being a boy mom!

Filed Under: Friday Families, Newbie Diary

The Perfect Family

September 23, 2011 By Beth

Sew Anyhow

Being such a large family, we get quite a bit of attention. Some of it is good, curious attention; some judgemental, and bad. Often I am praised in my social outlets for all that our family is. And often I believe my own press. So today, we are going to try and dispel some myths.

Myth 1~ You are Super Woman!
Sadly, I am not. And while I ran around in Super Woman Underoos as a child, I couldn’t get that spandex over my stomach. I don’t have super powers. I can’t rely on them to get me out of a jam. When I forget to run by the store and get bread, that means there won’t be sandwiches for lunch. I can’t wiggle my nose or snap my fingers and it appears. I can’t do it all.

Myth 2~ You have raised your children so well!
HA! My children are wonderful. But they are flawed people being raised by flawed parents. We have sibling rivalry, lying, fighting, deceit, and general chaos just like every house. The only difference is we have eight children.

Myth 3~ You have to be the perfect wife!
Yes I am, thank you very much. Oh, wait. I must tell the truth. Are you ready for this? I am not. There are many times I am selfish, demand my will be done, yell, and even am vengeful. I’m sure there are days my husband probably doesn’t really even like me.

So now that I’ve aired some of my dirty laundry, let me share how I deal with these areas.

#1~ I have to remember that I write my own press. Rarely do I post my failures to my statuses or the Internet. I make a list the night before of things I have to get done for the next day, listing the most important three first. I am okay with the fact that if I may only get those three things done. That is a successful day. And if I don’t get them done, I remember that tomorrow is a new day, with new mercies, and a chance to start again.

#2 My children are often just mirrors of my husband and I. More times than I care to admit, I cringe when I see an action or hear the attitudes explode from my children. So we work very hard to labor beside our children. We have been lazy most of the summer in this, so we are going back to the basics this school year. I stand side-by-side with my children as we clean the kitchen, put folded clothes in their drawers, make beds, or pick up toys. No longer do we send them off to do chores, we lead by example. Some days, it’s about all we get done. But that is time well spent with my children and well spent training my children.

#3~ Yes, I try very hard to be agreeable with my husband. I am also VERY independent, and that causes me grief. But everyday, I chose to love my husband. When I wake up, I pray a prayer of thanksgiving for the man next to me. And I pray that my words and actions will speak of the love God has given us. Our marriage should be an example of Christ’s love and sacrifice for us. And if I’m unbending, selfish, I’m far from what I am called to be. So I often stop. Sometimes even call for a time out. And I apologize. Quickly. Like sometimes in mid-sentence. And I NEVER spew details of a disagreement on the Internet. I will only praise Heath, and tell of his greatness. I love the man. Why would I tell of anything else?

Join Beth as she shares in our newest category “Big School” and offers tips to homeschooling the large homeschool family.

Filed Under: Big Families, Friday Families Tagged With: Large Family