When the Guilt Monster Growls... Just Growl Back!

My week fizzled... just-like-that!  I had ambitions and, sick daughter aside, the other two children and I were pursing them quite well until Wednesday!


We decided to tackle this school year with 4 day weeks.  Something I have read about over the years with some homeschools and I felt it would be worth a try in our own.  The kids are older, the curriculum is meatier, we could use a day without "work".

Originally this day off was going to coincide with the weekend to allow a 3 day break before working hard again.  That worked wonderfully for week 1... but each week since has just gotten crazier and crazier!

Through our missions work we recently answered a calling that pulls us out of the house on Wednesday.  It used to be just for the evenings, but as of this week, we will now be gone from first thing Wednesday morning until bedtime Wednesday night!

We do consider it a blessing to serve and we are excited about our treks into town to do God's work.  It just mixes up the homeschool schedule in an unexpected way!  And, as my darling 7 year old lamented at the beginning of this school year... we love our schedule!

This weekend I will be sitting down with that bless-ed chart and praying over it.  Then, I will formulate a game plan of sorts to give us peace AND progress in our busy weeks of homeschool and volunteer work.

I must confess, though, I temporarily lost hope after spelling today.  I realized that I did not go over their words with them... not once... since Monday when I issued them!  Oh, the guilt monster just wanted to sit down and have a good growl at me.  But then I glanced over at an article from a spring issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, (Yes, I take FOREVER to get to reading magazines in their entirety!).  The article was, "That Guilty Feeling", and I was reminded that I am not alone and I am not a bad teacher/mom for dropping the ball.  With all we had going on (our new Wednesday schedule, a missions retreat, and my one public schooled child's open house) in the last two days... even if we were trying to keep up in public school they would have been unprepared!

So now, with the guilt monster pushed back, my only regret today... I didn't have the camera when my 7-year old darling daughter decided to do an art project while cuddling her pet rabbit!  Normally it is her stuffed rabbit she is hugging while she works, but I looked over and it was our live one that she was sharing her project with!  Oh, how I love homeschool!

Brooke's usual companion, Blueberry

Brooke's cotton tail rabbit, Peter (named after Beatrix Potter's fuzzy friend!)

WWJD?

My 12 year old is sick today :-(  Actually this makes two days in a row.  However, she is old enough now to catch herself up on schoolwork and my other two diligent students have plenty they can do to keep  busy and stay current on their studies! 

This is the first year I have been able to do this and, well, I kinda like it!  It use to be; everyone was so tightly knitted together and their dependence on me was so ingrained that having one kid down was no better than having all down... and heaven forbid they took turns getting sick over the span of a week or more!

The only area I had to adjust in our schedule today was Bible study.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, we are working on a study of the heart, kindness, and doing what is right and good.  Our reading and the activities I have planned with Ephesians (and more of Solomon's early rule) needs to be done as a group.  So I used a fall-back I have owned for years:  "WWJD For Kids".

I used this book to form the base of an entire summer curriculum for elementary level Sunday school one year.  It is a wonderfully illustrated book with short stories, pertinent questions, prayer, memory verse, and an activity.  All which can be completed in its simplest form in under 10 minutes.  However, you can add extensions and draw out the studies.

Brenden and Brooke picked the story of the Boy King (Josiah) and the moral question of, "What do we do when others are doing bad things?"  After the story and questions, they were challenged to think of TWO things that are good and right they can do for a family member today.  We wrote these answers in our Bible study journals and Brenden added some pictures :-)  Needless to say... one of the tasks on their lists was to help their sick sister ;-)

What WOULD Jesus Do?  Well, if you need a great Bible study book, snag one of these and find out!

Falling in Love with Autumn

My favorite season starts this week... FALL!  Creative writing assignments and crafts just dance around my mind when I think of this time of year.  Maybe it is because fall is the prelude to many fun occasions and holidays.  Maybe it is the yummy food that is harvested this time of year.  Perhaps it is my dream of being a farmer and pulling in the harvest, canning (a favorite activity of mine) and settling down for the winter.  It could be the colors of all those trees or the crisp cool air that settles around us after a hot summer.  The most likely reason is all of the above because Fall is a season of senses.

An early childhood educator's dream is the season of fall.  What can we hear, see, smell, taste and feel that we can not quite experience all at once with any other season?  An elementary educator's heaven exists within all the decomposition experiments happening before our very eyes.  Upper elementary and high school can even be inspired by this season's life cycles and microscopic happenings!

Fall is back to school, it is autumn, it is harvest, it is cool outside and warm inside, it is family at Thanksgiving and it is memories.  Warm, cozy, childhood memories of a season where nature is going to sleep and our senses are coming alive.  I LOVE FALL!

I know I sound like a crazy woman!  But there you have it!  As I prepare for spelling lists and writing assignments this week, I was researching a good fall poem.  I stumbled upon this website,

An absolutely adorable website!  Click here.

 Teaching Heart is put together by an elementary school teacher.  Not only does it have a lot of great do-dads, but it has a wonderful and welcoming 'atmosphere' (those who know me, know I LOVE atmosphere!).  I could sit and go through her site alllllll day and feel just marvelous for it!

What especially drew me to Teaching Heart today was her section on Autumn.  There are a lot of cute crafts, language arts ideas, bulletin board inspiration, and math.  She also has a wonderful book list to get those creative juices flowing in you and your kids!  If I could, I would vote this site, "Site of the Year"!  Visit it when you get a chance :-)