Posted by Cindy on June 29, 2007
A friend of mine sent me an email the other day with a few questions. I thought they were very important questions that deserved very real answers. Here’s a portion of the email…..
……I just want to know where you find all of your time! Seriously, how do you have time to read other people’s blogs, plan so wonderfully, organize, teach, be a wife, enjoy your kids, go on field trips, keep up your blog, etc., etc., etc. Not to meddle in your personal life but all these things I notice when I visit your blog. You’re akin to Super Woman!
I must admit, I feel inadequate for my position right now. I fear I am going to ruin my child and that she will be uneducated because of me. Looking at your blog is very helpful and gives me ideas, but I wonder how do I have time to do any more when I barely get through as it is? How do you do it? Surely if you can do what you do with three kids, I can do it with one?
What are your days like when you are doing school? How much time do you spend each day?…..
The following is the majority of what I wrote in response.
Ha, a super woman – I wish! I’m just as overwhelmed as the next person – really!! In fact, I just got finished sending one of my best friends an email last week asking her to pray for me. I’m completely overwhelmed right now and feel like I’m just treading water some days.
She reminded me that this season of my life won’t last forever and that I need to treasure each moment rather than worrying about all the things that aren’t getting done. I go to bed most nights with the dishes still piled in the sink. There are usually at least three loads of laundry piled up on the couch ready to be folded. I have yet to have time to organize all last year’s schoolwork and get it put away…….
I am able to be on the computer a lot right now because I’m still nursing like crazy. Eli is a ferocious little eater! After I spend one nursing reading to the older kids, I usually spend the others on the computer since the older ones have gone out to play or are working with their dad. As Eli slows down on his nursing and gets more active, I bet my computer and blog time will become almost null and void!
As for field trips and other activities. We run too much! 
Once school starts back up, I tend to slow down to almost a snail’s pace. I can’t do school and run here and there.
And for schoolwork – I’m sure I’ve told you before that I don’t do everything. I would drive myself and my children crazy if I expected every page of every piece of curriculum to be completed. They would hate school and so would I! I just do what I feel like the Lord is leading us to do. I trust Him that I won’t ruin my kids. I trust Him that they will have the tools necessary to figure something out if I’ve left a gap. I trust Him that He’s preparing each one for the work that He has planned for them. I still have a lot of work to do in trusting God, but trusting Him with their education is an easy one for me.
I tend to see life as education. When we cook, work with the cattle, go on a field trip, read a chapter book together, do chores, take walks, go visiting, plan a party together, shop for groceries……..I feel like I’m teaching them about real life. They must be prepared academically, but all that will work itself out if I’ve offered constant opportunity to learn in each of the subjects. I don’t stress over making sure every page of every workbook is done. All that stuff is usually repeated at some point anyway. If I’ve prepared them to know where to go to find an answer when they’ve got a question, they will be fine.
Our school days usually run from late July through April. We do Bible study together and then chores. Afterward, each child usually does their math and language arts – Mahayla on her own, Caleb with me. Then we get together for unit study type lessons – history, geography, science, projects. It’s usually lunchtime by this point, so we take a nice long break. Many afternoons we’ll take some time to read from a chapter book together and maybe do something like art, foreign language, or computer games on their own. The rest of the afternoon is completely free for them. They aren’t allowed to watch tv until right before bed, so they’ll usually do things like piano practice, playing outside, Mahayla might knit or crochet, they might cook something together, board games, a science experiment on their own. I’ll often gather a few items of interest and put them out downstairs as “motivation sparks” to do instead of whining that “there’s nothing to do.”
Now, this is how it used to work! Throwing Eli into the mix this year is going to make it interesting!! You may watch me spiral out of control as the year progresses!!
Don’t worry about feeling inadequate. We all do, at least sometimes. I’m praying for you!
I asked my friend’s permission before putting any of this on my blog. Like me, she hoped that someone else might benefit from seeing that we all have struggles. No matter who seems to have it all together, there’s usually more to the story. 
Posted by Cindy on June 28, 2007
This year we’ll be doing a unit study about Kentucky. I found a WONDERFUL easyfunschool unit study online that I thought I’d pass along to all you KY gals.
I also plan to use:
Posted by Cindy on June 27, 2007
Caleb loves baseball. He’s been on a t-ball team for three years now and finally made the All Star team this year. We were very proud and he was very excited. Ball has always been fun, fun, fun for him. He plays pretty well, laughs a lot, jokes with his coaches and is good to his teammates. His coaches have always been very encouraging and spent a great deal of time teaching him in a loving manner.
All that has changed since All Stars began. It now seems to be more about winning than teaching. More about yelling at the kids rather than encouraging. Caleb didn’t smile when he came home from his first tournament this weekend. It could’ve been that they played four games over a seven hour stretch, but I think it was more about him not having fun than being tired. In fact, none of the kids on the team were smiling.
Don’t get me wrong. I like our team to win as much as the next person. I get excited and scream like a maniac, too. But, my screaming is a proud mommy scream. A scream of excitement and encouragement when one of the kids makes a really great play or has tried hard to make a play. I just don’t know what to make of coaches and other parents screaming at six and seven year olds when they mess up. Yes, I do know what to think of it. It’s wrong. Hubby and I have a lot of thinking and praying to do about this All Star thing.
Posted by Cindy on June 26, 2007
We made it! All campers are back safe and sound. Praise the Lord!
Mahayla had a fun-filled week, and believe it or not, I had very few worries. Thanks to your prayers, I’m sure! She went with three of her closest friends and I knew they were watching out for each other. Here’s a picture of three of the four at check-in time.
She had all sorts to talk about on the way home. In fact, I don’t think she took a breath for a full hour! In the end, though, I asked if she was going back next year. She said, “If they would let me come home when I was ready, I would. But a whole week is just too long to be away from you.” Aaaww! I agreed and told her I was ready to get her by Wednesday. She said, “That’s the day I wanted to come home, too!”
At any rate, I bet she changes her mind and signs up when next year’s registration rolls around. Then, I’ll be here asking for your prayers yet again! Thanks for praying us through it this summer!!
Posted by Cindy on June 21, 2007
A new baby has slowed me down in the planning department! I’ve been putting this post together for what seems like weeks, but I believe it’s finally ready. I’ll copy this to put into my planning binder as a record of our curriculum and goals for the 2007-2008 school year.
Subjects we do together:
Bible/Devotions
Read through the New Testament in The Child’s Story Bible
by Catherine Vos and complete our Bible timeline using the The Big Picture Bible Timeline Book
.
The Seven C’s of History
(this is our summer study)
Discovering Jesus in Genesis
by Susan Hunt
Missionaries Unit using Missionary Stories with the Millers as a “spine”
Bible Bowl
History
Ancient History Unit – Spine book: History Pockets: Ancient Civilizations, Grades 1-3
Middle Ages Unit – Spine book: Knights & Castles: 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience the Middle Ages
Kentucky History Unit – Spine book: Spectacular State Report Projects-For Any State
Science
Astronomy Unit – Spine books: Exploring Creation With Astronomy by Jeannie Fulbright and the Astronomy Lapbook from Knowledge Box Central
Earth Science Unit – Spine books: Primarily Earth, NaturExplorers Hard as a Rock, and Considering God’s Creation
Art, Music, Foreign Language
Various art studies, art lessons and art projects throughout the year, no specific resources
Various music composer studies, music classes and hymn memorization throughout the year, no specific resources
Prima Latina
5th Grade Math
Math 6 / 5: Homeschool Set
Bi-weekly problem solving and logic opportunities using a variety of resources. Below are a few sample books:
Mind Benders Grades 3-6+ Book A3: Deductive Thinking Skills
Thinking Skills, Grades 5-6
NC Math
5th Grade Language Arts
Daily silent reading
Daily read alouds with Mom
The following subjects will often be integrated into the current learning unit. Other times, activities will be chosen from various places including…
Spelling: Spelling Works!
Grammar: Great Grammar Lessons That Work
Writing: All sorts of sources including:
Typing: Nimble Fingers
2nd Grade Math
Horizons Math 2
Miquon Math
Mind Benders
NC Math
2nd Grade Language Arts
Reading: Still plugging along in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
, and adding easy readers, Explode the Code, and fun games
Grammar: First Language Lessons
Spelling: Spelling Workout
Typing: Nimble Fingers
Extras
Co-op classes 1x/week
Piano Lessons
Horse Lessons
Just a reminder for some of you who will say, “She’s using ALL that THIS year?!!” I don’t use everything all the time. Nor do I use all of anything. I use only what I feel like my kiddos need at the time. I pull the best from several resources because no one resource ever seems to fit us perfectly! It doesn’t bother me to have undone pages in a workbook or undone lessons in lesson guide. I’m the teacher at my house and I get to choose what we do and don’t do. The list above is actually far from complete. I’m always on the lookout for new and exciting things to add to the mix. I guess I’m the ultimate eclectic, unit study, lapbooking, notebooking, workbooking, literature loving homeschooler! It all has it’s place you know!
