Shopping

.... church shopping that is! Wow, what an exciting and very important task! I have been raised in our current church for 15 plus years now. M got saved at our church. Our babies have been raised in the church. M and I have been involved in our church's children's ministry for 6 years in some capacity, and leaving some of our familiar kids is sad.

 

So why are we shopping you may ask? Well, we're really not sure. We feel that God is pulling us in a different direction, and are just searching for what that direction is. We feel that our family unit has changed in different ways and are looking for a church body that may fit a little bit better with that.  For some reason also, M and I never really connected with any adults, and I know that's something that we are really, at this point in our lives, wanting to have. People of the same age with the same age children.

 

I have been struggling a bit with feeling like I'm cheating on our church though on Sundays when we visit other churches. This morning I had to tell myself that God's timing is God's timing, and His calling is the most important thing for me to follow. I can't concern myself with what others may think about me or my family for moving on. I have to trust God and where he is taking us. Sometimes God takes us on journeys that don't really make sense. We are to just follow and know that He has our best interest. We are to be continually searching and seeking out his desires for our lives.

 

Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”

It's been...

18 days since we started our first homeschool year! It's going well. We've had some crazy moments, but it truly has been more enjoyable then anything. I'm beyond amazed at how much the boys are picking up the things they need to be learning! BP has truly shocked my socks off, and I almost feel we would have been perfectly fine to skip to the 1st grade! I made the mistake of telling him that, and he DOES NOT let me forget that he "should be in 1st grade!"

 

Our first 18 days of school has been busy, it has included our first BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) day, our first co-op class day, and our first arts and culture day with our homeschool group. I'm amazed at how well the boys are adjusting to their new schedules. Granted we have had some times here where they just get very overwhelmed and act out, but for the most part they are taking it in strides!

 

My challenges have just been learning how to teach them, and the new challenge this week is adjusting to two different lesson plans. Our first 10 days was a unit on Creation, and I taught it to the boys together. Now they are learning the same letters, but each of their units cover different things. For example, we are studying "s", but BP is learning about the sun and LP is learning about snowmen. BP curriculum is My Fathers World, and LP is using Confessions of A Homeschoolers preK curriculum. My Bible stories and whole basis though is going to be placed on BP's curriculum, so technically LP will be learning both units (just not have all the paperwork BP will have). LP's curriculum is great...mostly games! :)

 

I'm also adding in a math curriculum for each day. I wasn't going to, because the MFW contains math elements, but I really want a true math program. Our school room is just wonderful. M added a big dry erase board on one of the red walls. The boys (and I!) LOVE it! I'm pretty sure that my love for chalkboards/white boards/dry erase boards/projectors, all things "classroom", means that I should have been a teacher! Who knew! :)

 

Here's a quick general rundown of our schedule (as of today!):

 

9-915 Circle Time

915-930 Calander Time

930-945 Daily Learning Books

945-1000 Snack/Active play

1000-1030 Language Arts

1030-1100 Math

1100-    Reading Time

Twas the night before the first day of homeschool...

...and all through the house not a child was stirring but a mommy blogs! I thought I'd share some of my thoughts as I'm anxiously awaiting tomorrow morning's first day of homeschool! M and I have slaved away the past week, and have been rewarded with a cozy little school room just the way I thought and hoped for! Paint was brushed on, a wall was knocked down, holes were filled, walls were mudded (over and over!), corners were cleaned, papers were organized, posters were hung, cabinets were organized, and desks were filled with first day goodies!! I love it, love it, LOVE IT! Here's some during (I totally missed the before!) and after pics:

During: Art area (notice the wing wall gone!)

When we first moved in I thought the bar was more in my way then anything. I originally wanted to tear it completely out, but was persuaded otherwise by outsiders. :) M just ended up taking out the wing wall, which opened up the area so much more! I'm glad we kept the wall that we did keep. It has great counter space for art projects! We ended up making the "center" the Art Corner. It just made sense with the tall counter and tile floors for easy clean up!

After: Art Corner

Eventually we'll be getting tall bar stools for the boys to work on their art at the counters. I also will be ordering a Picasso quote for the coral wall. We are also going to hang their artwork from the various areas in the art corner, and adding a fabric covered foam board above the counter top.

After: Calender/Weather/100's Chart

 

 

 

 

The boys are VERY excited to do the weather/calender. BP enjoyed that so much last year in preschool so I knew I'd have to bring it back this year! With this being preschool for LP, I knew it would be important for him as well! We'll also be counting straws for each day of school, and will have a big party for the 100th day of school!

 

 

After: Geography Area

 

 

 

Across from the calender area is our geography wall. We were blessed by a school closing to go through a ton of posters and pick up some free curriculum. It's funny how many of them remind me of my elementary school days! We are planning on starting a geography unit once we get into a good routine. No sense in adding too much at once!

 

 

 

During: M working on painting the back wall! Reading nook off
to his right, and the boys "play" area (as requested) to his left.

 

 

The "back" wall has some phonics charts, our ABC cards and is the location of our beloved reading nook! I'm sure this comfy couch will be my favorite spot! There's books, a rocker, a couch, and a table. It's surrounded by posters of planets, stars and moons. We did this decor for now since our first unit will be on Creation.

After: Reading Nook

 

After: Back wall

 

Before: Office/Book Work Area

The back office (on the other side of the basement) has become the "bookwork" area. Their cute little desks were bought at a garage sale for $5 before we even knew that we were going to homeschool. I thought we needed a more "formal" area for doing our more intense learning! I bought them each workboxes (which LP put together all himself!), and have them loaded up for them. Tomorrow they have a drawer of first day gifts!

 

After: Bookwork Area

After: Bookwork Area

 

There is a wall that I don't have a picture of that is the coral color. It's opposite of the back wall along the stairs. We are going to put a 5X5 dry erase board there!

 

That's that! Our humble home school room! Hopefully the creativity and learning will be abundant! I'm so excited to start that I'm not sure I'll sleep well tonight! I know there will be days I'll want to quit, but I have a barrage of encouraging sites/blogs to read to help me lift my chin!

 

I was thinking earlier that it would sound so much more dramatic to have to say "Well, it was a long hard road, but we're finally here....", but I'm so so so grateful that this has gone the way it has. We've just put this part of our lives in God's hands, and He has directed our paths fully! I feel like we haven't really had any hard times with this, which makes me all the more confident that God is in control and this is his plan for us at this time!

 

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."