Homeschool Habits! 15 Minutes to a Successful Homeschool Day!

I have recently tried to impliment a new habit in our homeschooling journey.

 

This habit has totally transformed our homeschool!

Because of this habit,  we now accomplish all of our tasks for that day (well, at least most of the time).

This habit has brought peace into our day!

This habit has answered questions for us!

This habit has kept us on track!

This habit has blessed our homeschool tremendously!

The best part is that this habit takes no more than 15 minutes to complete!

Ok are you ready?

Chore Charts Shmore Charts: What to do When All Those Cute Charts Don't Work!

I love pretty things!

 

I love scrapbook paper but I don't scrapbook! Strange, I know!

 

I love looking at all the beautiful pinterest pins of home decor!  But, I'm not much of a decorator!

Truth is...pretty things tend to be a waste of time for me. And sometimes a waste of money!

*I know this post will be anything but popular in blogger world.

But, I just want to be real for a minute!*

I can't tell you how many of those cute and easy chore charts I have
Searched for
Found
Printed
Laminated
Used
&
Filed away!
(I would throw them away but I spent some time and money on those things!)

 

The thing is....a chore chart is one more thing to impliment into my already packed day! 

 

So, what now?

 

Stop doing chores? No way!

 

How can we make sure chores are getting done and everyone is doing their part?

 

Here's 5 easy steps to getting it all done! 

Great Friends!

Great Friends!

 

We are at a Bible Conference this week and have heard some great preaching! Over and over I am amazed at the friends we have. I wasted so much of my life living for the things of the world and now that the Lord has restored me unto Him, He has placed us around people who have spent their whole lives serving the Lord! I feel like I am playing catchup but I am so thankful that the Lord has placed us with some wonderful people.

 

My grandma says "a good friend is better than money" and she is right!

 

The Bible says in Proverbs 27:17

"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."

 

There are certain people in my life who, whenever I see them, dispite my current situation,  I always smile!  A certain preacher's wife is such an encouragement to me that my heart is encouraged just at a glimpse of her!  Another preacher's wife is an encouragement to me in the way she prays. You know by the way she speaks with such humbleness of heart that she has been talking with the Savior! Another in the way she handles her children with such grace and patience!  Another is an encouragement in her words. She has been diligent in learning the Scriptures and hiding God's Word in her heart, because she answers questions with scripture.

 

Oh how I desire to be a godly woman!

 

Homeschool Planning and Scheduling: Day 5

Handfuls of Purpose in Our Daily Schedule! 

Digging into the hour! 

Today I would like to spend a little time explaining what we do in those 4-1 hour blocks as mentioned in Day 2 of this series. This post is rather long so just hang with me and I'll try to type fast ;)

1) Morning Time 8:30-9:30

• Shortly after we finish breakfast, we pile on the couch or in my bed and read!
• Devotion. (You can read more about that here)
• Bible Memory Work which is in a question answer form. We love these because they often bring more thought, expression, and questions into our conversation than I expect! 
• Memory Verse-we simply memorize a verse that coorelates with our studies. No rhyme or reason to this but very intentional! 
• Poem- I found the Classic Poetry for Children at a curriculum sale and we love it!  We are learning Biology in Science and have enjoyed the poems on animals recently.  
• History Read Aloud is loosely related to what we are learning in Classical Conversations. Right now we are learning Ancient History so we're reading a book called A Cry From Egypt by Hope Auer. This is a fascinating book about when Israelite Exodus told from the eyes of a slave girl! We are talking or time through this book because we like to talk about what's going on then get our Bible and read along with it! This is turning out to be my favorite book we've read so far! 
• Art/Music-During this time we simply look at or listen to something beautiful! I often find art books at used book stores or sales. A few weeks ago,  Mesopotamia was in our timeline and our geography and I happened to find a book about early Mesopotamia art at our library! SCORE! We enjoyed looking at the statues, sculptures, lines, shapes and symmetry! If we go the music route,  we usually simply turn on the FM classical station and maybe draw or color while we listen for a few minutes.  

• We end our Morning Time with prayer. Thanking God for another day and for His presence in our lives!  Without Him, we can do nothing.  But with Him, all things are possible! 

Homeschool Planning & Scheduling: Day 4

"Coming Together"

So, my eclectic plan consists of taking the 4-1hour blocks idea from the Foundations Guide at Classical Conversations, combining it with Half a Hundred Acre Wood's Cycle 1 Planner, Teaching the Trivium schedules, and other great idea from other Homeschooling Mommies! (See Day 3 of this series) I began by grouping each subject into the correct block and then splitting each day. This is my end result:

Purple is for E

Blue is for S

Greene is for W

Yellow is for All

My 4-1 hour block are:

1) Morning Read Aloud Time

2) Grammar Review and Notebooking

3) Language Arts

4) Math

We also have an hour of free reading time in the afternoon

Mommy Moment Monday: A "That's Why I Homeschool" Moment!

I love winter!

Just the thought of cold weather, snow, and hot chocolate make me smile :) If you will notice, in the winter time, on a clear night, the sky is slammed full of beautiful stars! It is fall now and there's a chill in the air that reminds me of a night that the Lord used my sweet children to remind me of how little I am and how big He is!

One night last winter we were late getting home from revival services (hallelujah) and the sky was clear and full of stars. We got out of the car and this was our conversation:

Homeschool Planning and Scheduling - Day 3

!!!Send Out the Search Party!!!

Sometimes looking for the right schedule to fit your home school is like looking for a needle in a haystack! 

Sometimes you just have to gather your resources and come up with your own thing. You know how women are, we like to brainstorm and get ideas from other women.

First: I asked some other Homeschooling Mommies I know how they did things and this is what I found out..