A Lesson in Loving Others

At the end of the sermon this morning our pastor showed a video of an 18 year old young man named Ben Comen. This boy is an inspiration.

My husband and I were so moved by this boy’s story that we shared it with our children. Ben Comen runs because he loves it. He runs with a team because the members of the team love him. Watching this group of kids love Ben made me think about something I have been wrestling with.

We have neighbors who have two boys the same ages as my girls. Her eldest boy mostly likely has Sensory Processing Disorder, SPD, like my daughter. His mom suspects that he is on the autism spectrum as well. This mom is fighting for her boy to be diagnosed and treated. Because our kids share some of the same struggles, I have been sharing resources, information, and support for this mom.

We spend most afternoons at my neighbor’s house because she and I both need another adult who understands. Sometimes things can get a little out of sorts when our kids play together, though. It can be difficult to get all four kids engaged in activities. Sometimes a sound or situation will set off one of the older kids. C5 often has hurt feelings or she and P4 get into a tussle. Although I have seen major progress over the last few months, C5 is often in tears or upset during our time with our neighbors. Yet my kids and my neighbor’s kids ask to see each other. They ask all day long. I don’t understand it since we often struggle to keep the peace.

I have been considering giving everyone a break from these play dates. I am mostly concerned that my sweet child, who is very compassionate and caring, is being forced into a situation that is not good for her. I don’t want her to resent me or to be hurt. I brought this up to my hubby, and he didn’t see anything wrong with me taking her there, but I was still struggling with it.

When I watched this video about Ben Comen, I felt the Holy Spirit assuring me that I am in the right place. My children and I are ministering to this family. In the same way that Ben’s team mates came back to finish the race with him, we are running along side this family and helping them to finish the race and not finish the race alone. I am teaching my little girl how to love other people, even people who are difficult to love.

This is one of the greatest lessons I think I can teach my children.

Summer Planning

The summer is fast approaching, and we are planning all of our summer activities now. Here are a few things that we are looking forward to.

~Camping: We love nature around here, so this is a great opportunity for our family to really enjoy hiking, fishing, swimming, and just being outside. Camping also forces us to slow down and talk to each other since we don’t have TV and computers to distract us.

~Swimming Lessons and Beach Trips: This year we are planning on taking swimming lessons all through the spring and summer to keep us fit and to learn a valuable life skill. The YMCA has lots of Open Swim time that we will also take advantage of. With great beaches near my dad, sister, and nephew, we will have many beach days, too. It is so much fun to dig and build in the sand.

~Vacation Bible School: The first time I volunteered for this I really enjoyed the kids. I am excited that my kids will have the chance to learn about God and connect with other kids. Our church has a great group of Children’s Ministries volunteers who organize a fun VBS program.

~Day Trips: We are going to visit a local farm regularly and several Audubon Society locations this summer. Hiking is a great family activity, and we spend lots of time looking at the wildlife along the way. We love adventures in our family! There are other historical locations that I am interested in visiting, too. There is truly a lot to see around here.

~Day Camp: We are considering sending our kids to camp for a week for the first time this summer. There are a couple of options for them, and one camp even has a program for A2 to attend.

~Museums: We love going to the Children’s Museum, and this summer will include a trip or two there. We will also take advantage of a local art museum that has an exhibit area for kids. I would also love to bring the kids to the Museum of Science. We might even make it to the Seuss Sculpture Garden this summer!

It will be a great summer, no doubt!

Supplimenting Your Homeschool Curriculum

It is the time of year that my husband and I discuss school. We have purchased a curriculum that we will use this coming year, but now we are deciding how we will round out our kids’ school year. We will use our curriculum to keep us focused all year, but we also plan on supplementing with interesting activities. The goal is to map out some ideas we want to try.

We have been looking at the options for classes at our local YMCA as a way to vary our kids’ experiences. The classes there are a great way to address PE and learn new skills. Our problem is deciding which classes to take. We want our children to experience many different things before they settle into focusing on one particular activity they want to pursue in depth. For example, we want them to try various sports, dance,  and swimming. The trick is getting them to try something new. When I suggested a dance class, my daughter told me that she already knew how to dance. I explained that there is much more to learn about dance, but she insisted that she simply did not need to learn anything more about dance. I also recommended other classes we could try with similar responses.

What are your strategies for getting your children to try out a new sport or activity?

First photo courtesy of tiffanywashko

Second photo courtesy of lunawhimsy

Everyday Life Lessons

Some of the best lessons come from everyday life. Everyday experiences can teach our children, and us, so much. 

~ I discovered that I can insist that the children play while I have a quiet time. They complain and try to act up, but if I patiently redirect them and calmly explain what the expectations are, they will find something constructive to do. I also learned that I can be patient with them!

~ I was filling out a registration form today while A2 sat in my lap. She was able to recognize her name on the form and spell it. She also recognized my name. She was excited to see our last name and called it, “Mine.” We had a discussion about how family members share a last name.

~ A2 learned about the power of repentance and forgiveness. While we were at Mom and Me, our play group, A2 pushed some buttons that turned on the projector and lowered the screen. After a time-out, I made her apologize to the director of the program. Of course, she was promptly forgiven. It was difficult for her to apologize to another adult, but she discovered that she could do it and that resolved the problem. I think this is a powerful life lesson for her.

~ While playing in the pool, C4 learned many things. She discovered that she had to hold the watering can close to the container she was pouring the water into in order to actually fill it. She learned that the water splashes all over when you shake a container up and down. If you splash your friend without asking if it’s OK, your friend might get mad. Even though it is difficult to take turns with toys, my friends appreciate it when I share, and they even give me a turn with the tays. If you get water in your eyes, you will be fine. She discovered that certain toys float while others sink and if you add water to floating toys, they sink.

~ Before our nap today, I had the children independently looking at books, and I saw some interesting learning. C4 realized that she can read number books. She also tried out a few reading strategies we’ve been practicing including using picture clues and pushing the sounds in a word together to figure it out. A2 discovered that C4 can read certain books to her, and that it is fun.

Reflecting on the day, I see how much my children learn by simply living life!

Photo courtesy of christine [cbszeto]

I Need to Temper My Temper

Patience is required for parenting and definitely necessary when you homeschool your kids. How is that I don’t have ANY patience these days? I have to find a way to change that. My fuse blows often enough that I think that the kids are getting suspicious about whether I truly am sorry for yelling yet again. I don’t know why I do it because it really is the least effective method of motivating the children to do anything.

I have a plan, though.

1. I will take the advice that I read in a devotion from Proverbs 31 Ministries today. It helped me to think about what is behind my anger, and maybe it will help you, too.
2. I will go to bed earlier so I get enough rest.
3. I will have my quiet time in the morning. I have been spending time with God at night, but I think I need to start the day with God.
4. As I learned at Mom to Mom, I will distinguish between childhood irresponsibility and willful disobedience. They are not the same and should not be treated the same way.
5. I will find a more effective way of transitioning my children from one thing to another. That is when they fall apart most often.
6. I will pray in the moment and take time to listen to what God has to say.

How do you get through the day without losing your temper?

Photo courtesy of hampdenarchy

Homeschool Conference Encouragement

Today we went to the homeschool conference! It was so good to be able to attend a couple of workshops and shop for curriculum with my hubby. Sometimes it feels like the kids are all my responsibility so it helps to have hubby with me to make big decisions like what homeschool curriculum we should use.

God is so faithful and He provides exactly what we need. I have been feeling a bit discouraged latley because of the naysayers out there who give me a difficult time about homeschooling. Everyone has an opinion about how I should educate my kids. I really should be used to that, though. Doesn’t that start when your first baby is born and everyone tells you how you should raise your kids? I got used to that so I know that I can get used to the judgment about my kids’ socialization education.

One of the speakers today gave a great tip that I have to share with you. Perhaps you already do this, but I think it is important enough to repeat. Write down a homeschool mission statement and plan. Why are you homeschooling? Who teaches the children which subjects? What will the children learn? You get the idea. The point of doing that is that you may need that information at some point in time. Your school district may ask for that kind of information. Your family and friends might continually ask you those questions. Or you and your spouse might need to be reminded of the answers to those questions when you feel discouraged or frustrated. It is the single most important tip I came away from the conference with today!

I look forward to sharing a few more gems with you from the confernce in the next few posts!

Photo courtesy of mp_eds

Heeding Advice

We are in the process of planning school for the fall. C4 is starting Kindergarten and A2 is starting preschool this year. This is an exciting time, but it is also a bit stressful. Of course we want to do what is best for our children. We also want to do what is best for each of us and for our family as a whole.

Right now we are wavering about whether or not homeschooling is the best choice for us this coming fall. The outside world is making me question what is right for our kids. Have you had this problem before? I keep reminding myself that I have to keep focused on what we think is best and to take only the advice that is reasonable. It is so hard to not be swayed by other people’s opinions and it is hard to discern when we should heed someone’s advice.

How do you discern what advice is worth listening to? How do you know that your decisions are the right ones for your family?

A Traditional Literature Theme: Tall Tales

Continue your Traditional Literature study in your homeschool with Tall Tales. These stories are short, fun, and engaging. If your children are resistant to reading, Tall Tales can be a great way to capture their interest.

~You can find copies of American Tall Tales here. There are also comprehension quizzes on this site.

~You can find a unit study on Tall Tales at German Town Academy.

~Tall Tales fit into a unit of study on the westward expansion. You can find general information about America in the 1800’s at this website. You will also find a host of educational resources at this website.

~Some Tall Tales are based on actual people. You can have your children research the lives of the Johnny Appleseed and Davey Crockett and compare the facts they find to the exaggerations in Tall Tales.

~You can make a lapbook on Johnny Appleseed. Homeschool Share has a free one.

~Have your children write their own Tall Tales. Remember to include exaggeration in the tales. Illustrations would complete the stories.

Photo courtesy of cliff1066

Homeschool Discipline

After about a month of terrible behavior from the children, I decided that I had to do something. I was frustrated and angry all of the time. In fact, I was in tears not that long ago because I felt helpless. I simply had no idea what to do about the behavior problems.I prayed about it and thought about it for a while.

I remembered that C4 is a kinesthetic learner. She also needs visual reminders. After talking with a friend about her discipline plan, which was similar to the one I used to use in my classroom, I knew what I had to do. I got to work on my own plan. That was about two weeks ago.

I am happy to report that this week I have been enjoying the fruit of my labor. The kids have been wonderful with each other and so happy since I implemented my new discipline plan. After some initial testing, the kids’ behavior has turned around. I am enjoying my children now rather than feeling stressed and scattered. Since I am not cleaning up messes or disciplining someone as much anymore, we have reclaimed those precious times of snuggling on the couch to read books. I am not reprimanding them as much. Instead I am praising the good choices that kids make, and they are praising each other!

Now we are back to learning and making happy memories. This is why I homeschool!

Russian: A Homeschool Foreign Language

Russian is another great option for your homeschool foreign language. Since it is widely spoken in the larger metropolitan areas of the US such as Boston, Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco according to Wikipedia, you might find it helpful to have a background in Russian. It would also be useful to learn this language if you plan on traveling to or working in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus since it is primarily spoken there.

I like this particular lesson because it gives plenty of practice with a practical phrases. You are also able to see the translation of the words as you learn them, which can be helpful for visual learners when learning a language. The style of this particular video lends itself to kids who need minimal visual information and structured lessons. It is a no frills approach to language learning.

I hope this video gives you a glimpse at the Russian language and helps you decide if it is right for you.