ON SCHEDULE!

Ah, the first day of homeschool 2010! The kids awakened at 7:20am to the delicious scent of strawberries & cream oatmeal and freshly peeled bananas.
Their daddy surprised them with some silly bands (the childhood craze of 2010, not unlike our mood rings of the 70's.) He also got them each a roll of bubble gum (uh hem,...no comment from teacher-mom on that one, lol.)

My rough draft schedule has been implemented and I'm sure some fine tuning will soon be needed, but I'm happy to say we're off to a decent start, having just completed our first week today.

Our school day is full. We start promptly at 8am, and finish anywhere between 1:30pm and 3:00pm (the latter being a padded time for completion of science experiments, working on Polished Cornerstones or Plants Grown Up with the children, or catching up on incomplete work from earlier in our day (a.k.a. as homework for traditional schoolers).

Among other subjects and foci, this year's studies will include;

• Exploration to the 1850's (I'm really amazed at the incredible drive and courage of men like Christopher Columbus and Hernando de Soto)
  
• Plants and animals from a creation perspective, along with nature journaling
  
• read alouds that emphasize Godly character, such as Almost Home, Amos Fortune, Free Man, Bound for Oregon, Madeleine Takes Command, Mary Jones and Her Bible, and William Carey
  
• Art appreciation (we're studying Michaelangelo for the first quarter, along with the Picture America picture study series)
  
• Classical music (Mozart is our first quarter focus)
  
• Poetry study (we're enjoying Robert Louis Stevenson as our first quarter poet)

In addition, our family is working through a family study called Searching For Treasure: A Guide to Wisdom and Character Development. What I like about this study is that it's not a "fluffy" study for children. Rather, the word of God, the reading and memorizing of scripture, is the main focus. There are several conversation prompts (in question form) that follow each day's reading. Just enough to inspire our children to share or inquire after reading the scriptures together before practicing our verses. It can be done in 15 minutes, perfect for the shorter attention spans of young children. Main sections include: Understanding Wisdom, Developing Right Relationships (specifically addresses choosing friends), Controlling Yourself (anger, pride, temptation), Controlling What You Say (arguing and complaining, gossiping, lying) Avoiding the Way of the Wicked and Following the Way of the Righteous.

We've been studying Proverbs 9:10 this past week. I have to say, it warms my heart to hear my 3 year old recite (without help!), "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." No, he doesn't yet understand the meaning of scripture. But he is capable of memory work, as he proved to us today. We will welcome his enthusiasm in family devotions to come.

I'll leave you with a glimpse of our daily schedule. It's actually just page 1 of a two page schedule, but you'll see how I work all subjects and all four children into the ebb and flow of a homeschool day, while performing my home duties as well. (Note: If you click on "fullscreen" at the top of the document, my schedule will pop up in a window. At the bottom, you can enlarge it for viewing.)

So,...how about you? Are you more of a scheduler in your daily life? Or do you prefer to freestyle? Do tell.

Document 1

Toni

Live wise in Him!~Toni~