Tuesday, September 9, 2008

BFS #101 - Plop, plop, Fizz, fizz; Oh, What a Relief It Is!




Assignment: This would be a good week to tell about your worst struggles with a lifestyle of homeschooling. Tell about something you’ve struggled with and how God’s mercies gave us the strength to get past it. Also, share any curriculum/homeschool methods that have been a relief to you, i.e., a particular Teacher’s Manual or Homeschooling method that’s been easier for your family. Talk about how you felt when the burden was lifted and Oh, What a Relief it is!

Where do I begin. You know I love homeschooling and every single time I think about just letting that bus stop I get a sinking feeling in my gut. So, I know that is not God's will for us. At the same time I still have a lot of struggles when it comes to homeschool. I have struggled with teaching my daughter to read. She is a math kid, it comes very easy to her. Reading on the other hand doesn't. I struggle with not comparing my children to other kids, whether they are in Public school or are homeschooled.

One of my main struggles is maintaining a easy pace schedule. Who said being a stay at home mom would be boring, they are nuts. I have a tendency to get to busy and then my home and my poor husband get neglected so I have really worked at that. I listened to a lot of Cindy Rushton's stuff and that has really helped my to purge some of the stuff that does not need to happen. I can see that this year is going to be easier for us. I eliminated a lot in my schedule, although this particular week is pretty bad. I have had some good weeks so far and it has been wonderful. Side NOte: Last night at my daughters dance class there was a bunch of mom's talking about what their kids were doing this year. NOw remember this is a group of 4 and 5 year olds. They all had them in Soccer (twice a week), dance (once a week), looking into Tae Kwon Do, and still considering Gymnastics. When do those poor babies get to be kids. Sorry about the bunny trail. We have eliminated our kids to one outside activity other than church a week. We were one of those crazy people last year I can't do that again.

Now on the other hand I have struggled with trying not to focus too much on the house and the wife duties I have and not spending time with the kids. Now for this area I could really use some advice. I still don't know how to fit it all in.

The one curriculum that has been a total relief to us is Math-U-See. It makes my life so easy. I just pop in the DVD he teaches the lesson to her and then we go over it together. There is plenty of worksheets for each lesson, so if she needs to do all of them she can or she can just do what she needs to get the concept. Also he continues to review the stuff from the beginning of the year till the end of the year. This way she doesn't forget it.

We are using Queen homeschool this year and so far I like it but it almost seems too simple. We will see how it goes. The unit studies were a little too hard. We are in 3rd grade this year and they wanted her to write a report almost everyday and we were both getting bogged down with it. Other than that the copy work is awesome. They have beautful pictures to look at. I also am enjoying there language arts program.

My theme verse has been

Proverbs 15:18

A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.
Prov 15:18 (KJV)]

I need to live by this verse since many times during the day are training oppurtunities and I tend to lean toward the yelling side and I need to just discipline and not yell.


After I have said all this I know that I would not trade one moment with my kids. Yes there are days when I would like to just go to the store by myself to get a break but all in all I enjoy my life my dh and God have given me. When would my kids get to spend the time together that they get now. When would I be able to say we struggled through reading but WE got it, not some teacher or tutor at the school. We are all truely blessed to be able to have this time and get to enjoy this journey with our little ones.



The picture I posted is very old. I need to update the pictures in my computer.


God Bless

9 comments:

Nancy said...

It is hard to not fall into the cliques whether it be in homeschooling or in church or out the world. God will see you through this too...just don't give up and we'll pray for you too.

Thank you for sharing.
Mrs. Nancy
BFS Teacher

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/nancysnook

Mellyanne said...

Great verse! I love that. I tend to yell a lot too! It's so hard to discipline calmly because that's when it hurts so bad to do it. I was just talking to my husband about that last night. You know you're doing it right when it hurts you too. Hope you find what's right for your kiddos!
http://homeschoolblogger.com/thelordismyshepherd

momofmhasr said...

Praying for you as you continue on your homeschool journey.

Sheri said...

Loss of patience is a biggie here too. It is very sad how the world sees children and the "need" to have them in everything. I call it the Marsha Brady Syndrome (the episode where she signed up for every after school class and it became too overwhelming...)
Cutting back and being selective is a very wise thing to do!

Em said...

I too am a yeller. I dislike it much and work hard throughout the day to correct myself. So far things have been much better. So I understand what you are dealing with in that aspect! I also have the sinking feeling @ the thought of sending my son back to public school.

Thanks for sharing.
Emily
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Emily23

Kim said...

Patience? What's that? LOL! Seriously though, that is something that I struggle with as well!

Thank you for sharing!

~ Kim

Ginny said...

I quit asking for patience years ago. It seemed the more I asked for it, the more situations I had that called for it. LOL I enjoyed reading your post. I agree that less is more when it comes to tons of outside activities.
Keep working on it and it will all come together.
Great Scripture!

Michelle said...

Isn't it wonderful to be able to look back & say `we` did it.
One of the things I am proud of is I taught my boys how to read.
What a great feeling.
Blessings,
Michelle

CarynB said...

Your verse was a great reminder to me as well. 8-)

Blessings to you as you continue schooling this year.
Caryn