The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

First, Let’s be positive first. There is great joy in homeschooling, teaching your child how to read, write, and simple math. Those can be some of the easiest things to teach and some of the hardest. That moment when your child has been struggling to figure out how to do something and they suddenly get it is wonderful. That is when we jump and cheer, looking like a fool but who cares. You feel like the greatest mom in the world. You can do anything in that moment.

The Bad

Some days it is stressful. Actually, most days it is stressful. And there are times I forget to do math or reading more than one day in a row. My kids will be ruined for life. I feel the pressure to get everything done and done well. Most days I fall short. I wish I could relax and was better at managing my time.

The Ugly

Oh the UGLY! These are the times that I spend my energy yelling and wanting to hiding from the reality that I have to teach my monsters. And I mean monsters. I had one of these days very recently…Monday. It was when we have CC class. So, of course, it didn’t go smoothly. That would never happen on a Monday. I got up at my usual Monday 5:17am time. I hate mornings, but if I don’t get up that early I can’t make sure I have everything for class. Everything was going well…until I got them up. Then everything went badly. Nobody wants to get ready or listen. So I spent the morning yelling. We left 15 minutes late. Grrrrr. Then I hit traffic, reminding me why we leave by 8 and no later. So what do I do? I start acting like a 2 year old. I am screaming for no real reason and crying uncontrollably all the way to class. I was completely ready to quit homeschooling,   put all 3 monsters in school, and go to work or just clean the house. I didn’t care at that moment what anybody would say or what the consequences of that might be. I knew I didn’t want to homeschool them and be stressed out anymore. Wow was Satan doing a work on me. Once at CC, it usually takes me anywhere from 30-45 minutes to get my room and board set up for the morning. Amazingly, I was able to get it done in 15 minutes, got a hug and an encouraging pep talk from a remarkable encouraging friend (thank you), and made it for the last few seconds of tutor prayer time. This is about where my morning changed. My oldest, Emily, played the piano for our opening time. I thought about how far she has come since starting lessons 2 years ago. This is not something we would have even considered if she were in school. I thought about the blessing God has given to me in her. She is an incredible child. I would not want her gone all day and not be blessed by her. But then there is Ethan, who gets frustrated and starts crying over stuff that I think is ridiculous to even get upset over. But, for him it is a big deal. Do I really want to send him to school where he will have to be just another student and possibly be made fun of because he is crying? No way. But, his CC class is loving towards him, especially one student in particular, who, when she sees Ethan crying, shows compassion and cares to make him feel better. Thank you sweet girl. Plus, when I get to where I am upset and the tears start to flow, he makes me feel better with a hug and kiss. He is sweet, kind, silly, and just plain funny. No way could I do without that! Now I can just sending the crazy girl to school. This seems very appealing since Emma she is demanding, stubborn, and drives me insane. She gets mad and doesn't want to do any more school work because her “S” doesn’t look right. Also, when I am working with the big kids, Emma is distracting, disturbing, and destructive (she make messes and has no care to clean it up.)  Well, I can’t send her anyway, since she won’t be 5 until November. Plus, when you need a good laugh, Emma is ready and waiting to give you one. Emma’s craziness keeps life interesting. The biggest bonus to having her home is that she gives great back rubs (for about 2 minutes) and is one of the best cuddlers ever!

The Reality

So even though the bad seems to happen most often, and there are the ugly days, the good days make it all worthwhile and the bonus is getting to know and spend time with my kids. At times I want to quit, but when I look at the big picture, I know this is right where I should be. God blesses me through my kids daily. I just need to stop letting Satan interfere with our mornings, especially on Mondays and Thursdays.

As far as Monday is concerned, the day kept getting better and better. I had fun with my class. Emily’s Essentials went well. And when I got home, the kids reviewed CC memory work and did really well. I was amazed at how much Emma even remembered. I love what we do!

Mission Minded Kids

So the three Es were very busy the other day sorting and counting their money for the missionaries. They have been look for money on the ground where ever we go and put it in a jar. The money is give money to the missionaries we have been praying for. If they find a penny or over $1 in change it all goes in the jar. Well how much money can 3 kids find in a year? It is an astonishing $70.58. I was shock when we added it up. We rounded it up to $72, so that each of the missionaries will receive $24. The Es want to find over $100 for next year and I think they might just do it.


The first missionary we have been praying for are The Meyers who are in the United States working with Global Recording Network. You can read about the work they are doing for the Lord on their blog Ministry with the Meyers.





Next we are praying the the Riders work with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Yaounde, Cameroon, Africa. You can read about them and their work on their web site What's Kicking with the Rider Family on the Field.




Lastly we have the John and Susan Wilner who also work with Wycliffe Bible Translators. They work primarily in South Asia. You can read some more about the Wilners at Rancho Baptist Church's website The Wilners.



The only missionary local is the Meyers, so I took the kids to Global Recording Network so they could give the money to the Meyers personally. The Es were very excited about this. We then purchased money orders for them to send to the other missionaries. It is great to see them excited about giving money so people can hear about Jesus and what He did for them.

Emil Meyer with the Es.

What am I doing?

Field trip before school starts

So this is my 4^th year homeschooling the 3 crazy Es (grades 4^th, 2^nd, and Kinder). Last year I found a curriculum that I absolutely LOVE and it works great for our family. It is My Father’s Word (MFW); I can’t say enough wonderful things about it. I had it all planned out that I was going to use it this year as well. Sometimes thing change.

A dear friend let me know what she was going to do this year for school. She was starting a Classical Conversations (CC) community. Well what was this? I looked at and thought this looks good but I already know what I am doing. I kept being drawn back to it. There were two problems with this curriculum. First, because they go to class one day a week and it is very structured there was a sizable cost involved. Second, was that they were meeting on Mondays. How is that a problem? My husband has every other Monday off and that is our family outing day. We do things like the zoo, beach, fishing, etc. on those days. So I prayed about it and left it in God’s hands. If he wanted me to do this he would provide the funds and change my husband’s days off.

In the mean time I was able to buy MFW used at a GREAT price, so I felt that this is what God has planned for us this year. It was all coming together. I loved that this year we were going to be learning about countries, cultures, ecosystems, and missionary from various countries. This totally goes with what God has been laying on my heart the last few years - MISSIONS. We even have a jar of money that we collect throughout the school year with money we find. It is great when one of the Es finds money in Wal-Mart and starts yelling, “I found money for the missionaries”. We have picked 3 missionaries to pray for and to divide the money amongst. We collect it from September to August so I will know how much we are giving on Friday to each. The kids also love giving to the actual missionaries whenever possible.

So My Father’s World mission statement is “Seeing the World Through God’s Eyes” and Classical Conversations is to “Know God and Make Him Known”. Love both of these. For me I want God to be the center of our curriculum but also the center of our lives.

MFW K

MFW book basket
reading

So which curriculum am I using? Both.  I know what am I crazy?  But I completely felt God leading me to do both. My hold back for CC was funds and my husband’s work schedule. Out of the blue one day Paul asked, “What is this Classical Conversations all about?” I told him it is like a co-op but not a co-op (he is anti-co-op) and handed him an overview of what they will learn this year. He decided that if I can tutor then go for it. I was able to be a tutor and he in the process of working only M-F. He was able to be there for our first week of class, which the kids loved. Since CC is one day a week and I review it throughout the week I am using MFW on a daily basis. I am not trying to squeeze 5 days into 4, even though I could, but I am doing as much as we get through in a day. Last week we did 3 days in 4. And I am OK with that. It is not about getting through the curriculum to check it off my list but to enjoy learning and to actually learn. We have had fun for the most part.

The hardest part of this school year has been to get my 4^th grader to do her CC writing class (called Essentials) homework. She enjoys writing what she wants to write but not the whole process of writing or any part of Language Arts she hates. So this has been a challenge but we are working it out.

She is not happy about this class

In years past I have been involved in my church, handing out tracts at the high school, working with AWANA, going kids club and anything else I could help with or do when I could but not this year. If something doesn’t fit into our school schedule nicely then we are not doing it. That includes extra activities. Last year, we did a PE classes once a week, took swimming lessons, did gymnastics, my oldest took a writing class; piano lessons; and a card making class and we did a Bible study with CBS (Community Bible Study). This year we are only taking the PE class, music lessons, kids are doing AWANA (not me) and doing the Bible study. Since the PE class is in the afternoon after CBS it works out OK. It still sounds like a lot but it is less for us.

Why do I feel we need a Bible study if we have Bible in our curriculum? Community Bible Study is an in-depth Bible study that does verse by verse. The awesome part is that the kids in 2^nd-8^th grade are doing the same study but their questions are designed for their age. I have grown a lot spiritually and it has been great to be studying the Bible with them. A bonus is 2 hours with adultsJ.

A question I heard a lot last year and I am sure I will hear it a lot this year is, “Isn’t that too much Bible?” What is too much Bible? That is how God speaks to us, the more we are in the Word the more we will be in communion with God. My kids love AWANA, CBS, and anything church related. I don’t ask them to do anything I am not willing to do myself. We lead by example. I was looking in MFW catalog this morning and saw this written, “Raising up generations of families who see the world through God’s eyes and live according to that knowledge”. That to me says so much. I am raising the next generation and I want them to seek God and live accordingly to His will. In order to accomplish this is to be in the Word. So is there a thing of too much Bible? I will leave that for you to seek the Lord for the answer.

First day of School 2012