Advice for the new homeschooler – Living the Adventure

My Favorite Part of My Day

September 14, 2020September 15, 2020 esther7dancing1 Comment

The kitchen was in disarray, books were everywhere, witnessing to the fact that my kids do indeed read and the younger children had done an amazing job of turning my living room into a rather complex fort. In the middle of this chaos I found my somewhat frazzled self sitting down at the end of my day with a cup of tea and reflecting. Did I get any homeschooling done? Did I have a productive day? What is my definition of a productive day?

It was one of those typical homeschool days where I had felt like the day had flown by in a whirlwind of activities without being productive. I was determined on a daily basis to get my checklist of homeschool tasks done and yet it never seemed to get accomplished. Can anyone relate? Your days are busy as can be and yet you don’t seem to get to the homeschooling subjects that you wanted to. I began to realize in my early years of homeschooling that I needed to have a paradigm shift on what constitutes a productive homeschool day. This is when I discovered the beauty of “Morning Time”.

“Morning Time” is a phrase that I learned from Cindy Rollins who is a veteran homeschooler of 9 kids whom have all graduated from her homeschool. She is an amazing influencer and mentor in the homeschool community. She wrote a book called “Morning Time” that changed my perspective on what was important in my homeschool. I highly recommend reading her book to get an in depth look at what “Morning Time” is all about.

“Morning Time” is a set amount of time that I set aside with my kids to study the different subjects that I want them to learn. If we accomplish nothing more in our day than “Morning Time”, my day has been a success. These subjects are usually subjects that I have always wanted to study with my children, but we just don’t seem to get around to them. For example, we might study famous artists, Shakespeare, Plutarch, science, apologetics or a famous music composer. This is also the time that I do a continuous read aloud with the kids. My current read aloud with my teenage daughter is “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexander Dumas and my current read aloud with my younger two children is “Prince Caspian” by CS Lewis.

This is my favorite part of our homeschool day because we come together as a family and learn about the truth, goodness and beauty in the world we live in. A Shakespeare play that we are listening to or a novel that we are reading can lead to thoughtful discussions. Another benefit of “Morning Time” is seeing a family book culture emerge in our home where my kids will remember reading certain books or topics and those topics will pop up in random conversations. My children’s humor or comments start reflecting the books we are reading. They see an artist’s painting or hear a piece of music and recognize who or what they are because of what we have studied. In my opinion, this creates more of an education for my children then simply filling out a worksheet. If my goal is to create a love of learning, then I want to introduce them to many different aspects of the world around us.

I don’t want them to learn math with the mindset of just having to fulfill a requirement. I want them to see the unique mathematic equations that exist in our world. For example, the sunflower is a mathematical creation representing the Fibonacci numbers. I want my kids to begin to see learning as an opportunity to see the world in a new way. When we study Vincent Van Gogh, what is the story behind his famous painting of Starry Night? When we enter the world of Narnia by C.S. Lewis what do we see? What is the story saying about the world around us? What are the Biblical Worldview questions that my kids are struggling with?

I cannot have these conversations when the kids are working on their everyday worksheets at their desks, but I can create a space for these discussions to happen. I began to see how this was the learning that I desired my homeschooling to have. I made a decision in my early years of homeschooling, that if we didn’t get to anything else, but we made space for “Morning Time”, we had had a productive day.

“Morning time” can look quite different depending on the ages of your kids and your family dynamics. I had years when we had little toddlers and the “Morning Time” had to be short and during the baby’s nap time. Our current “Morning Time” is actually split between my younger two kids and my teens. I wanted to read deeper books with the teens that were not as relatable to the younger kids. Our schedule has changed as the kids have gotten older and now I am able to do a “Morning Time” in the morning with my younger kids and a different time in the afternoon for my teens. Although for most of our homeschool years, I did keep all five kids together. It was logistically easier, at that time, to keep them all together and not split them up.

“Morning Time” does not have to be in the morning. There were a couple of years that we still called it “Morning Time” but my sleep deprived teens functioned better in the afternoons. Find a time in your day that works best to meet your families needs. It does not have to be complex or long. You can simply start by having a 15 minute read aloud time where you sit down and read with all your kids. You can study whatever you would like with your kids that you think would interest them. Perhaps you would rather listen to a Shakespeare play together, explore a science book or read an apologetics book as a family.

One more important thing to remember is that “Morning Time” is a journey with your kids that doesn’t always go the way you expect. There have been many “Morning Time” days that have gone far from what was ideal in my mind. I sometimes wondered why I was even incorporating it in my day. Despite the days we had of chaos, I kept cultivating the habit because I knew I was planting seeds. When you plant and water seeds, you don’t immediately see growth, but the seeds are still growing. I chose to believe that I was cultivating learning even if it seemed, at times, that they weren’t listening. As some of my kids have reached their teens, I can see the seeds that I had planted and how they have grown. The “Morning Time” was worth it! It is a lovely tool to help cultivate an atmosphere of learning. It is a part of my homeschool that I have never regretted doing.

If this concept of “Morning Time” is something that you would like to incorporate in your homeschool day, I will list some resources below that were helpful in my study of what “Morning Time” is all about. I will also list what we currently are doing for our own “Morning Time” to give you an idea of different things you can do with your kids.

Resources for “Morning Time”

“Morning Time” by Cindy Rollins (cindyrollins.net)

“My Morning Basket” by Pam Barnhill (Excellent podcast on the different parts of Morning Time)

“Back to School Conference 2019” (found at cindyrollin.net)

(Cindy did two sessions in the above conference on how “Morning Time” works and she also walked through a typical “Morning Time” that she had done with her kids. You can still purchase the recordings even though the conference was last year)

Book List-

“Morning Time” with my teens

The God who is There by Francis Schaffer

The Great Divorce by CS Lewis

Plutarch Lives- Alexander

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

Count of Monte Christo by Alexander Dumas

The Classic 100 Poems Edited by William Harmon

“Morning Time” with my 8 and 12 year old

Bible

Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

Poetry- Emily Dickinson

Picture Study- Van Gogh

Animals by Thorton Burgess

Grimms Brothers Fairytales

Prince Caspian by CS Lewis

First Day of School Traditions

September 7, 2020September 7, 2020 esther7dancingLeave a comment

What does a first day of school look like for homeschooling? Can’t our kids just stay in pajamas all day? Do I really need a first day of school when we are just staying home? What is so important about celebrating the first day of school?

When we started homeschooling 12 years ago, I wanted to make the first day of our school memorable. I didn’t want our kids looking longingly at the school bus leaving our neighborhood, thinking that they were missing out. They weren’t missing out, they were just on a different adventure than some of their neighborhood friends. I wanted our kids to enjoy the uniqueness of homeschooling and what that might look like. Yes, they were staying home, but I wanted to create an atmosphere of excitement for the new adventure that they would be stepping into this year. The first day of school became a tradition that our kids look forward to each year.

I do something a little different every year, but they know that the first day of school will have a variety of delights for them to enjoy and remember as they begin a new school year. I thought I would share with you some of the different traditions our family have enjoyed over the years.

One of the first traditions that I do is to make homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Right now, we are about to have our first day of school and the yummy cinnamon rolls are waiting downstairs in anticipation of the kids waking up to start their day. I think the only hard thing for me about making the kids cinnamon rolls is the temptation of eating them. I have to keep reminding myself that they are for the kids and not me.

Another tradition is school supplies outside their door when they wake up. I usually make a little card that says “Let the Adventure Begin…” and then put some kind of school supplies outside their door. This year I bought art supplies and a favorite book that I had picked for them to enjoy in their reading time. This looks a little different each year, depending on what school supplies they need and what my budget is for that year. This also depends on the age of my kids. For example, my teenage daughter is going to have new coffee mug and a book while my younger children get the art supplies. I try to pick a school supply that is part of a subject that they really enjoy learning. I have also had small budget years when the school supplies are minimal, but the kids still enjoy the anticipation of what is outside their door each year regardless of how much of a budget I had to work with.

The last tradition we do is to go on some kind of outing or field trip. This is the kids favorite tradition and unique to homeschooling. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that we can do field trips while everyone else is in school. We have done a variety of field trips such as hiking, visiting a park, going out for pizza or even going to the zoo in the previous years. The zoo is quite fun without all those crowds of people.

It really didn’t matter what we chose to do, we just had fun celebrating our first day with a field trip. This year, we are going on a fishing trip with all their cousins. I am blessed to have my siblings, who also homeschool their children, live in the same area. We have all decided to celebrate the first school day together and take the kids to a lake for fishing. Choosing to go on an outing for the first day of school is wonderful way to celebrate your homeschooling. My kids look forward to this event each year. Again, this can be quite simple, and does not have to be a big event. I have simply gone to a park one year and the kids loved it.

Homeschooling is an adventure worth taking and one of the ways that we can communicate that to our kids is to celebrate the first day of their new school year. There are so many ways that you can celebrate that are simple and easy. I have done all kinds of simple “First day of school” activities throughout the years. We have made special lunches at home, read to them a story, or simply went outside and had popsicles in our backyard. Our kids have loved it when we have had a S’more night outside or played a family board game. Think of what your family might enjoy or what you occasionally do for fun and maybe it would be a good fit for celebrating the first day of school. The important thing is to celebrate the start of their new adventure. Kids will remember the moments, not how spectacular the field trip or activity ended up being.

What are some of your favorite first day of school traditions? What does your family enjoy doing together?

Hope you all have an amazing first day of school! Enjoy the adventure!

The Perfect Curriculum

August 29, 2020August 30, 2020 esther7dancing2 Comments

You are about to start a new school year and the planning of a new school adventure has already begun. One of biggest questions on your mind might be, “What would be the perfect curriculum?”. The truth is, there is no such thing as a perfect curriculum. In fact, I have found in my 12 years of homeschooling that I can use almost any type of curriculum and give my kids an amazing education. Perhaps this thought brings you relief or perhaps this thought brings on more fear because now what in the world do you choose to use?

The most important thing to remember is that you want your curriculum to serve you. You do not want be a slave to your curriculum. It is a tool that it to benefit your teaching not dictate it. I learned this lesson the hard way in my earlier years of homeschooling. I am a lover of the check list. I want to make sure that I check off all the boxes on my list, so that I can feel accomplished at the end of the day. In fact, if I have done a task that is not on my check list, I will put it on my check list just so that I can check it off.

Although I can appreciate my gift of being administrative, this love of check lists can have some negative effects. This became evident in my homeschooling when I was more interested in checking off the boxes instead of taking the time to cultivate a love of learning in my kids. I ended up being a slave to my curriculum because I had a desire to see all those boxes checked. Surprisingly, this did not end up being beneficial to the homeschooling of my children. I realized I needed to think about what my actual goals were and which curriculum would best serve the purpose of reaching those goals.

One of my biggest goals is to develop a love of learning so that when they have graduated from my homeschool they will still desire to pursue learning in whatever God had for them. I came to the realization that I didn’t need a certain curriculum to accomplish this feat. I needed to quit worrying about whether the boxes were checked or whether the curriculum was perfect and just work on cultivating a delight for learning. How does our family do this?

We read great books, we study the arts and music, we talk about how math isn’t just about formulas but is evident in the very universe we live in, we explore the kids interest and see where it takes them. Throughout my years of homeschooling, the search for the perfect curriculum became obsolete and my pursuit of creating life long learners was a more prominent goal in my mind.

Now you might be thinking these are all great ideas, but I have no idea what curriculum to choose! I am going to list a few of my favorites to give you place to start. Another thing to keep in mind is the lifestyle that your family is living and the environment that your homeschool will be in. If both parents are working and homeschooling, then you want to look for a curriculum that lays each day out for you because you don’t have necessarily the time to create your own. Even with the laid out curriculums, feel free to cut out things that your kids don’t need or you don’t want. Remember that it is a tool for you to use. If you want more of a literature based curriculum, then you want to look for curriculums that are heavy with good books. Our family uses “The Charlotte Mason” Method and the curriculum is free online at amblesideonline.com. If you are interested in “The Charlotte Mason” Method, I would encourage you to research it before you start. It’s a wonderful way to homeschool children, but if you don’t understand the method then the curriculum won’t make sense. I will list some of my favorite curriculum by subject.

Ready Made Curriculums:

(These are also very literature based. In other words, lots of books)

Sonlight

Amblesideonline.com

My Father’s World

Science:

Apologia.com

Spangler Science (Science kits with ready made experiments)

English/Reading:

Houseofhumaneletters.com (Excellent Reading and Lit classes for Junior High and High School)

Veritas Press (This website has excellent options for littles that need hands on learning for learning to read)

All About Reading

All About Spelling

Math:

BJU Math

Saxon Math

Teaching Textbooks ( This was more visual for my child with dyslexia)

Music/Art/Shakespeare:

SimpleCharlotteMason.com (They have excellent resources for the arts/music and Shakespeare)

If you are looking for more wisdom and insight into the world of homeschooling, I highly recommend the online 2020 Back to School Conference found at cindyrollins.net

Books that Every Homeschooler Should Read:

Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie

The Read Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie

Morning Time by Cindy Rollins

Picking curriculum and planning a school year can feel quite daunting, so feel free to message me any questions that you might have. Every homeschool family is different and each of our journey’s are unique, so I am in no way saying that all the favorites that I have listed are the only options. It is not an exhaustive list and it might not be what you need but its a place to start. There are many options out there, ready to serve your unique homeschool needs. Homeschooling is an adventure and one of the best decisions I made for my kids education. Enjoy the journey!

Creating space for growth

October 4, 2019 esther7dancingLeave a comment

Planting a beautiful garden to enjoy throughout the various seasons is a view I hope to gaze upon in my daily life. I decided this last summer to take a small step toward that dream and plant some flowers in my backyard. I had aspirations of sitting with my tea and favorite book out on my patio in the midst of my lovely flowers. Sadly, dreams are not always a reflection of reality or my abilities as a gardener. I was determined from the beginning to be faithful on taking care of my small garden. I watered my beautiful roses daily with anticipation of seeing them grow in beauty. What I didn’t realize at the time is that I was over watering my roses and I was slowly drowning them. As the rose bush slowly began to wither and die, it became apparent that I was definitely doing something wrong. We ended up going on vacation shortly after I realized my roses were dying. I hadn’t quite figured out what I had done wrong. We were gone for almost 2 weeks and when we came back my rose bush was beautiful again and had new buds growing everywhere. Without my daily over watering, my roses began to flourish. The rose bush needed space from my watering to grow.

Creating space in my homeschool leads to growth in my kids learning. Sometimes I will over plan my kids education. Okay, if we are being honest, I almost always over plan my kids education. This can yield the same results as my rose bush. What I intend to be helpful is actually hindering their growth. I am probably what you would a call a ‘Type A” personality. I love to be organized and researching homeschool curriculum is my happy place. I could literally plan each of my kids education to the last minute of the day. I feel compelled to give my kids the best education, so in my mind, that means the best program that I can put together for them. The truth is that this probably is not the best idea for my kids. In fact, I know its not the best plan of action because I tried it and it totally failed. Each of our kids are individuals with their own set of talents and skills that make them unique. I have learned through trial and error that I need to give them space to explore their own interests on this journey to creating life long learners.

What does this look like to create space for growth? Do you give up all thoughts of a schedule or take away the basics such as math and reading? No, creating space in our daily homeschool is not about giving up the basics, but it is about giving time for our kids to discover their own love of learning. My kids still get a list daily of what they need to get done, but I have also built in time for their own explorations.

Judah, who is my second born son, is brilliant young man who lives life to the beat of his own drum. When I started to homeschool him, I didn’t know quite what to do. I was this eager homeschool mom with my beautiful planners and I was looking into the eyes of a child that didn’t even like the word “school”. Judah would rather play then open up a book. What I didn’t realize at the time, was that Judah was meant for greatness and it was okay that he wanted to take his time to learn in his own way. I just needed to create space for what he wanted to learn.

Judah has a knack for solving problems and fixing things. He loves to fix anything that is broken. It was a normal occurrence to give Judah the broken vacuum or any other household items to fix. Judah’s room over the years as resembled a graveyard of broken computers and other broken technology that various people have given Judah to fix. Did I mention that I like my house to be orderly? Against my own personality, I would turn a blind eye to the chaos. This was my attempt at creating space for Judah.

When Judah was 14 years old, he came to his dad and I and announced that he wanted to start his own business. My first reaction was to turn him down. Start a business at 14? This is not part of my plan. He doesn’t know what he is doing and more importantly, he needs to get done with the school stuff that I give him each day. My personality of being a control freak was freaking out at this moment. But of course I answered calmly, “Well, as long as you get your school done first.” I didn’t understand during that time, that God was shaping Judah into who he was meant to be.

Today, as I write these words, Judah is 17 years old and ready to take on life. There have been definite ups and downs in his business that he has created, but he is determined to master what he wants to learn and succeed at it. He creates his own schedule each day, so that he can attain his goals. He has a desire to create a successful business, master the cello and become a fireman. Even though he has a couple years left of homeschool, he has developed a love of learning that I know will always be part of his life. My agenda of what education looked like for Judah had to change. I had to create space for Judah to pursue what he loved.

I have learned that homeschooling is not so much about getting a list of school subjects accomplished or making sure my checklists are all checked, its about becoming a student of my children. Watching and listening to see what they need to learn to become what they were born to be. I desire to create life long learners because then I know even beyond their brief education in our home, they will continue to learn and pursue what God has meant them to be. So, even though checking off all my boxes each day is my happy place, I will choose daily to create space and maybe it will help them to grow.

Process of Letting Go

August 10, 2019 esther7dancingLeave a comment

When it comes to my kids, I hate this phrase. What do you mean the process of letting go?! These are children that I have carried in my womb for 9 months and I wanted to surround them with a mountain of bubble wrap to protect them from the outside world since they emerged to grace this earth with their presence. To protect them from a fall or a broken heart is my job as their mom. I am the hero that will save them!

But the truth is, although I physically gave birth to each one of my children, they were never mine to begin with. My husband and I are entrusted by God to help raise them. The truth is, that they are His. The truth is, that I am not in control and cannot protect them from everything. Ironically, if I try to protect them from too much and not allow them to make mistakes in the safety of my home, then I might be setting them up for bigger falls when they leave the nest.

So, I begin my journey to let go when they are young. This is not an easy feat because I am a bit of a control freak by nature, the type of person who actually thinks that they have some control. I have to fight this part of my personality and align with God’s intention in my parenting. Yes, I am supposed to watch out for my children, give them wisdom as they grow and discipline when the need arises, but I am also supposed to let them make mistakes, let them fall and then pick them up.

By nature, I am not what you would call “a nostalgic personality”. I
don’t cry easily; even at funerals my eyes are dry and birthdays don’t
typically affect me in an emotional way.
But on the morning of my oldest son’s 18th birthday, I felt an immediate
panic and sadness that caught me off guard. I was surprised at the
intensity of emotion that came flooding over me. Had I prepared him
enough for life outside our home? Would he make good decisions? Would he be safe? Could he be successful in life due to the education I had given him?

I sat in my bed and my thoughts left me face to face with all of my
past mistakes; all the memories of each time I had failed as a mom. I
had to confront the reflection of my own inadequacy, and the decisions
I had made as a homeschool parent.
As I sat there, all I wanted was to go back and start over at the
beginning. If I had a time machine, I could go back and do it better.

I would raise my voice less.

I would hug that baby more often.

I would have lived “in the moment” with him- instead of worrying about
his future.

If I could go back, I would let go more.

Parents on the other side with grown children and more experience than me have related phrases such as “time flies” and “cherish the time that you have with your kids.” I always had a bit of a dismissive attitude when I would hear them say this. My unbelief was rooted in the amount of young babies I had at the time and the amount of diapers I was changing. In my mind, in those moments of my life, this was not a quick process, but a Mt. Everest situation where I could not see the end in sight. This definitely is not going to feel quick! But you know what? They were right. Just a couple of months ago my oldest turned 18 and time did fly. I want to go back. I can’t. I’m learning to let go.

Rule of Six

July 21, 2019 esther7dancingLeave a comment

You have this amazing plan in your mind on how each day is going to go for your homeschool. Kids are eager to learn, the housework is getting done and dinner will, indeed, be served on time. I probably do not have to tell you that things don’t always look like what we imagine in our minds. My ideals of a perfect homeschool day rarely become a reality. I sometimes struggle with the question on whether I am doing enough or are we really covering the things that we need to do? Every summer, I am in this reflective mode of evaluating how our homeschool year went. Would I change anything? What do I want to do different this year? Is it time to look at hiring someone that could do a better job than me? Okay, maybe I don’t want to someone else teaching my kids but in the moments of failure, it is a fleeting thought.

A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of taking a class online that was about bringing focus and alignment to your year. I actually try to take this class every summer before my homeschool year starts. I have always known that I wanted to homeschool my kids and that we would homeschool them all the way through highschool. I felt like God has called me to homeschool and that it was the best education I could give to my children. This helped greatly when I wanted to quit. When I had those random thought of how my kiddos might have a better education without me.

I knew that I was supposed to continue on my journey of homeschooling despite trials that we might have walked through in our lives. But what I loved about this class was that it brought words to the calling that I felt about homeschooling. It also brought clarity to what I knew was the most important things to focus on. I was able to put into words what I wanted my kiddos to leave with when they graduated from our homeschool.

This class was given by Sarah Mackenzie from ReadAloudRevival.com. The class is called “Focus and Align”. It is part of her membership classes. Sarah Mackenzie is a homeschool mom of six who is a great encouragement to homeschool community. She has “Master Classes” that help equip homeschoolers with more tools for their journey. If you get a chance to take one of her classes, I would encourage you to do it. I have homeschooled for over 11 years and her class blessed my homeschool world. She also wrote a book called “Teaching from a State of Rest”. I think every parent should read this book. She gave words to what I had been feeling for the last couple of years. God desires to have us teach from rest and to not leave the unshakeable peace that he has for us. Definitely worth your time to read this book.

In the “Focus and Align” Class, Sarah talks about having a “Rule of Six”. This is simply a list of six top things that you want your kids to come away with once they leave the nest. When I listed my six things, I was surprised to find that none of them had much to do with being at the top, academically. Although, I do believe, the by-product of following my “Rule of Six” will result in higher academics. Each family is different, so what is important to my family and our homeschool might not be what another family values. The point of focusing on what my goals in homeschooling are wasn’t to align with everybody else, but it was to bring focus to what I really wanted to teach my children and what I wanted them to walk away with.

Here is My “Rule of Six”:

Now, does this mean that I don’t value higher academics? Of course not! I have a daughter on the journey of pursuing medical school and in that process, she has to learn high levels of math and science. I have another child that at 16 years of age has started his own marketing company and is working on being successful in his own business. My kiddos are in love with speech and debate and compete at national levels.

My “Rule of Six” is the focus I want to have and out of those pursuits, I will see my children explore higher academics. For example, my daughter is in love with science. She is chasing wonder as she explores the microscopic world. My son is seeking deeper understanding as he learns to run his own business. I will admit I am a little bit of a control freak so the realization of what I truly wanted my focus to be in my homeschool spoke freedom. I didn’t need to stress about whether I was teaching my children enough or whether I was checking off all my boxes. I just needed to guide my children in their pursuit of their own love of learning.

So, when my house is in disarray or my kids only know the language of being obstinate, I think of my “Rule of Six”. Honestly, some days in our homeschool are more character building days then getting academics done. Other days, the only thing I did was read a story to my kids among the chaos, but I learning to recognize that this is okay! Those are the days that stretch me and I learn to let go. This journey of homeschooling is not a sprint but a marathon. This is a brief season in my life where I have been given the opportunity to live life, love and teach my 5 children. I am learning to enjoy and embrace the process. It’s a gift and its so worth it!

Resources:

Master Class: ReadAloudRevival.com- Sarah Mackenzie-Focus and Align and Focus and Align 2.0

Poetry Tea Time

July 12, 2019 esther7dancing1 Comment

A recent tradition that I have started in our family over the last couple of years is Poetry Tea Time. I did not grow up loving poetry but I do love beautiful language and after I researched the benefits of educating my children in the language of Poetry, I was sold and Poetry Tea Time began. I first heard about having a Poetry Tea Time from Julie Bogart who had a youtube video on her method of what it looked like. Julie Bogart actually sells a “How-to” book about Poetry Tea Time on her website bravewriter.com if you are interested in learning more about her method.

Poetry Tea Time for our family, is an opportunity to give my kids a dose of beautiful language and have them enter a world that they might not embark in, on their own. Once a week or in reality sometimes once a month, I gather all my poetry books from around my house and spread them on the dining room table. Each of my 5 kids from teens to my little ones have to pick one poetry book. Then they have 5 minutes to pick 1 poem to share aloud for us all to hear. I entice my children with snacks, tea or perhaps hot cocoa to help bring even more enjoyment to Poetry Tea Time. After they have all picked which poem to share, we each go around the room and simply share a poem. We might just enjoy listening to the poetry or if it is a poem with some interesting words or cadence, a discussion may ensue.

But you may ask, why Poetry? How do my kids benefit from reading aloud Poetry? Here are a few reasons that I have found that persuade me to make a regualr diet of Poetry as part of my kids education.

Beautiful Language

Poetry is a form of art. The composer of each poetic piece has to carefully choose their words. Sometimes a poem has very little words available to convey the author’s message. This forces the author to choose their words carefully so that the reader can still gain understanding of what their message of the poem is saying. Sometimes with limited words comes a more rich vocabulary which can result in more beautiful language.

Increased Vocabulary

You will not have to worry about SAT prep in vocabulary if you are giving your kids a regular diet of poetry. The difficulty of vocabualry in poetry can be quite advanced. I usually pick one poem that we can pick a few words to define and then analyze why the author might have chosen to use that particular word. My older teens history curriculum includes regular reading of poetry.

Oratory Presentation Skills

Having your kids read these poems aloud is a wonderful way to practice presentation skills. My children had to learn how to present a funny poem versus a more serious poem. How to pronounce made up words like in the the poem “The Jabberwocky” and still help the audience to understand the cadence of the poem. Simple presentation skills like articulation or slowing down so that your audience can follow along. All of these skills are immensely beneficial to any kids in their education.

Improves your Brain

Taking Poetry Tea Time a step further, you can have your kids start memorizing poetry. When you memorize poetry, it increases the capacity of your brain to memorize more. It can also help increase your children’s focus. There were studies done starting around 2013 that did brain research and the affects of poetry on the brain. Using MRI to study their subject’s brain activity as they listened or spoke poetry, they found that certain parts of the brain would light up just for poetry. The article about this research project is interesting. Here is the link to the article if you want to read it- Poetry on the Brain.

Improves Critical Thinking Skills

Poetry encourages abstract thinking which helps kids to critically think. When you read a poem, you can enjoy your tea and snack and emerse yourself in the beauty of the language. This is probably the way poetry tea time happens in my family most of the time, but sometimes we take it a bit further. What did the author mean when they said that phrase? Do we know what the setting of this poem is? Why do you think the author wrote this poem? How does this poem make you feel? What words did the author use to make you feel that way?

These discussions can sometimes make me feel like Alice in Wonderland falling down into a rabbit hole and not knowing where we are going but that’s okay. My kids and I are on a journey of exploring the world of poetry. We might find deeper meaning but most of the time we don’t.

Just to let you know, Poetry Tea Time does not always happen on a consistent basis. Sometimes, we might be able to do it once a month. Another thing worth mentioning is that Poetry Tea Time can be disastrous. I have had kids not in the mood for poetry and be more mocking then enjoyable. I have had other times when one of my kids read a serious poem in a funny voice and that was the end of Poetry Tea Time. I couldn’t get the kids to focus after that. Still other times, the littles start throwing fits and poetry must wait for another day.

Even though it can be quite imperfect, I still value poetry enough to keep presenting it. Maybe someday, when my kids have left this nest, they will pick up a poetry book and read or maybe recongnize a poem that they memorized. At the very least, I am helping them grow more brain cells even if they are unaware. The study of poetry is still worth it to me.

Reflection-homeschool life

February 8, 2017 esther7dancingLeave a comment

I am sitting here at the end of my day and looking at my house. All is quiet and peaceful. I look around me and see birthday balloons still floating above the dining room table, a kitchen that is not quite as clean as I would like it and toys scattered throughout my downstairs living area. This is usually a point of frustration in my day where I reflect on how I didn’t get enough done in my day. A clean house is a peaceful house in my book. There is some truth to that, but I also was sitting here and reflecting on how this mess that I am staring at is also a representation of blessings. The imperfect kitchen, the toys that don’t seem to ever be put away, even the balloons that are still floating above the kitchen represent life. I am blessed with a 5 year old that just celebrated his birthday. I am blessed by a house full of children that are learning and experiencing their own journey of growing up. I get a front row seat to see what God plans to do with their lives. The Speech and Debate world captured our attention tonight and led me to having an imperfect kitchen. It’s a delight to see our kiddos work on their communication and critical thinking skills and enjoy doing it!

Now don’t get me wrong, the kitchen and the toys will get picked up and my downstairs will eventually be clean but I am realizing that I need to quit dwelling on the things I didn’t get done and embrace the blessings and things that did get done. I am in a unique season in my life where my kids are young and my main investment of time is with them. I need to stop stressing about the little things that don’t always get done and embrace the moments that God is giving me everyday. I am blessed!

Word of Encouragement to Parents-

Embrace the journey you are on with your kiddos. Enjoy your front row seat in watching them grow into the young men and women that God has called them to be. You are amazing and need to realize that everyday. God has given you the children you have for a specific purpose and reason. He has mighty plans for them and is choosing to use you to help them grow.

10 Fun Activities to Occupy Your Toddler/Preschooler During Homeschooling!

October 3, 2015 esther7dancing1 Comment

10 Fun Activities to Occupy Your Toddler/Preschooler During Homeschooling-

One of the biggest challenges in homeschooling that I have is my 3yr old’s wonderful curiosity of the world around him. I start to teach a math lesson and I hear a yell from one of my older children that my 3yr old has just dumped out all the sugar and is creating art patterns with his finger as he gobbles up as much sugar as he can. He is a bright and intelligent toddler which can lead to many creative messes around the house. So I decided that he needed to do “school” too when the other kids were being taught. I researched and created some fun activities that he enjoys doing when its his “school” time. Some activities are things that you would buy but some are just things you might have around the house. The simplest activities created are sometimes the most entertaining. Here are some of the his favorites…

1. Cutting Paper

Supplies: Paper, Scissors (Kid friendly), Kumon Books on Cutting (optional)

My 3yr old is obsessed with cutting paper at this moment. He gets so excited to sit at his little art table and cut scraps of paper. I purchased the Preschool Kumon Cutting books to teach him cutting skills. These books are amazing at teaching simple things like cutting and pasting in a fun way. I have used them with other kids in the preschool years and all the kids that did them, love them. Each page is a different activity that teaches kids how to cut, going from easy to harder skills in cutting. I love the size of the toddler versions because the books are smaller pages for smaller hands to easily manipulate the paper for cutting. Kumon books are great, but your preschooler may have just as much fun with scraps of paper and some scissors. After I had done a Kumon page with my toddler, he proceeded to cut up the Kumon page into tiny little pieces because he wanted to keep cutting. That’s when I started just giving him scraps of paper. Kumon books are good for teaching kids skills, but if your child just needs a fun activity to occupy his/her time, give them scraps of paper instead.

2. Office Supply Stickers and Paper

This is a simple and fun activity that can keep your little one busy. At the office supply store they have those bright colored labels in the form of circles. You can buy them pretty cheaply. I give my toddler a couple of sheets of those stickers and he loves putting them in different designs on a piece of construction paper. Another idea for a fun craft would be to paint or color over the paper after they put the stickers on. When you take the stickers off, you have an interesting and fun polka dot design. I was surprised how entertained my toddler was with this simple activity and the best part was that it didn’t cost hardly anything. If you plan on turning it into an art project then you will want to use a lighter color for the background paper.

3. Bubber

I am not a big fan of play-do. I kind of cringe inside when one of my kids asks if they can take the play-do out. I loved the concept of play-do and having the kids create things that they can mold but I hated the mess that it made or when it would get stuck in carpet. A friend of mine introduced me to Bubber. Bubber is an amazing alternative to play-do. It works just like play-do and your kids will have fun molding and creating all kinds of wonderful things but its not sticky like play-do on the carpet. It is easy to either sweep or vacuum all the crumbs right away. Even on the table surface it doesn’t stick or have to be scraped off. You can either sweep the little crumbs into the garbage or I have had my kids go on a “Bubber” search and they pick up the crumbs and put them back in the container. I no longer have to worry about it sticking to the rugs or scraping it off the tables. You can find Bubber on Amazon.

4. Kid O a to z Magnatab (Lower Case) by Kid O

This is a great addition to your different preschool activities. A to Z Magnatab is a great way to teach your toddler or preschooler how to write their letters. The Magnatab has magnetic beads for each letter of the alphabet. The child takes the magnetic pen and traces each of the letters. As your child traces the letter, the magnetic beads appear. Then when they are done, they can push the magnetic beads down with their hands and start over. I have this magnatab board on a shelf in my classroom and my toddler frequently grabs it for his “school” time. They have options of Lower Case Letter, Upper Case Letters or Numbers. It is a favorite in our household.

5. Bambino Luk System (Beyond123)

The Bambino Luk system is series of logic books for ages 3-5. They have a a universal controller for all the books. This controller consists of 6 picture tiles in a transparent case that are easy for a young child to use. They have a demo on how to use the system on their website at beyond123.com. My toddler loves these books. Each book is a different set of puzzles to solve using the controller to solve them. For example, on one of the books you have to match pictures or another your toddler decide which pictures go together based on sequencing. What I love about these are that they are easy to use and the kids can use the same books as much as they like. They have logic systems for older kids too. The easiest way to understand how they work is to watch the demo. This is another favorite activity that my toddler pulls out frequently to work on.

6. Bunny Peek A Boo by Smart Games

This is a game that ages 3-5 will enjoy immensely. The game has a set of blocks and a bunny made out of wood. It also has a set of cards with various pictures on it of how you can put the blocks and bunny together in different combinations. I was surprised how entertained my toddler was on trying the different combinations. This is a great way to teach kids at an early age some logical and critical thinking skills. My 3yr old will ask for “Bunny Boo” frequently. You can find “Bunny Peek A Boo” on Amazon or I also found it on Timberdoodle.

7. Drawing on a Bigger Scale

Supplies: Butcher Paper, Washable Markers, Masking Tape

Sometimes when you change things up a bit, it can make a great impact on your child’s interest level. I love using big butcher paper to invite creativity. Here are some ideas that you can implement with butcher paper. Roll out a big piece of butcher paper and tape it to a hard surface on the floor in your home. Grab some comfy pillows and put a large pile of washable markers in the middle of the butcher paper and let your toddler go for it. Another creative idea I heard of was putting the butcher paper taped to the bottom of a table top and let your kids pretend there are like Michelangelo while creating their drawings. You could also tape it to a wall in your home and have them create an artistic masterpiece. Get creative with how you create a drawing area for your child.

8. Building Forts

You have to be willing to have a mess in your house for this activity, but I will tell you that my younger kids have had a blast for hours creating forts. The only materials you need are blankets, pillows and a child’s imagination. My children have created all kinds of elaborate forts that have delighted them for the entire day. The most challenging thing for me in this activity is letting them create elaborate messes in my home. I have to just not think about the mess when I see the kids grab all the couch cushions and blankets from the linen closet. Its worth the delight that they are having in using their imaginations. So, fort building is encouraged in our house as long as they pick it up at the end of the day.

9. Wedgits (Blocks)

Wedgits is a unique set of blocks that my kids call “Pyramid” blocks because when you put them together the kids think it looks like the top of a pyramid. There are all sorts of designs that you can make with wedgits. The more wedgit blocks you have the complicated the design can be. We ended up buying another set to add more blocks because our older kids were wanting to make more complicated designs.

10. Create Box

My kids and I have gone on a field trip to a place called “Creation Station”. The Creation Station was a place where they had all sorts of different supplies that kids could use to create whatever they wanted. They had paper towel rolls, gears, duct tape, cardboard, scraps of paper and many more different types of materials for the kids to create. You can have a box like this for your preschooler at home. Some of the things you can fill it with are paper towel rolls, various colored tapes, pipe cleaners, scraps of paper, cardboard, and other various creative materials. Anything would work. You can put it all in one “Create Box” that you can pull out and have the kids create something during “school” time. Its fun to see what they create!

Resources:

TinkerLab-A Hands-on Guide for Little Inventors by Rachelle Doorley

Some of the ideas that I mentioned above are in this book. This book has many more ideas to implement creative activities for your preschooler. The author does an amazing job of explaining and also illustrating how to implement the various ideas. I originally checked out this book from the library to see if it would receive a permanent spot on my library shelf and I found out that it does deserve to be part of my library. I would use this as a resource for my little ones quite a bit. Its my favorite book on preschool activities so far.

Tips-

One thing I have found to help make the activities more enjoyable is if you only let them do these activities during “school” time. When I only pulled out some of these activities during “school” time, they looked forward to playing or doing them and didn’t grow tired of them too quickly. Now some of the activities that I mentioned above like building forts are done anytime and throughout the day but other activities I have designated for only “school” time.

5 Favorite Homeschool Resources!

September 22, 2015 esther7dancingLeave a comment

5 Favorite Homeschool Resources-

Throughout our homeschool journey there are different resources that you can use to add to your homeschooling experience. I enjoy finding resources that make homeschooling more interesting or hands-on for my kids. I will take a subject like Math and then find ways to do hands-on activities or projects with the concepts that we are learning. These are 5 resources that I visit quite often to help me throughout my year.

NotebookingPages.com

I love this resource! Notebookpages.com has hundreds of options for different notebook pages. For example, if you are having your child read a story or biography for school, you can print off a notebook page that they made for book reports and have your kids fill it out at the end of reading the book. They have notebook pages for about every subject that you would teach. They even have alphabet and preschool type notebook pages you can print for your little ones. I do not like worksheets and this is a creative way to avoid the worksheet boredom. Instead of filling out a worksheet on the book they read, they are illustrating and writing a summary of what the book was about. They also have a Notebooking Publisher App, so that you can create your Notebook Pages if you don’t see the notebook page you want. You can use their notebook pages as a free member with limited access or you can join their lifetime membership and have access to all their note booking pages. Try it for free and see if you like it!

2. HomeschoolShare.com

This is a great resource for homeschoolers. Homeschoolshare.com is a site where homeschoolers create lap books and unit studies for free. You can download any of their lap books or unit studies and use them for your schooling. I recently needed to find a small unit study on Volcanoes for my 7 year old and I found it on homeschoolshare.com. This is a wonderful way to add to your curriculum if your child wanted to learn more about a subject. Sometimes during our school year, I just have my kids tell me a subject or topic that they are interested in and we go to the library for books on that topic and then look online for resources that would teach about that topic. This site can have those resources already created for you from other homeschoolers. Brilliant idea!

3. TeachersPayTeachers.com

This is a site a created curriculum created by teachers. You can join Teacherspayteachers.com for free and have access to all these amazing resources for teaching various subjects. Some of the products created are free and many of them are for a small fee. For example, I was wanting to teach a science unit on weather to my son and I found this amazing weather unit study that had all the different notebook pages and experiments I would need to teach about weather for $6. Especially in the elementary years, you can ask your kids what they want to learn more about and then search for it on this website. There are tons of teachers that have contributed to this site. This site is created for any teacher whether you are homeschooling, private or public. This means that not all the resources created will work for homeschoolers but I found that many of them did work, so its worth checking out!

4. Discovery Education Streaming Plus

I found this resource a few years ago and I use it frequently in my homeschooling. It’s a membership that you sign up for that has short videos on every subject imaginable. This is a great way to add a visual illustration of whatever your teaching. For example we were studying the Lewis and Clark Expedition in history and used Discovery Education Streaming Plus to watch a video on the subject. When I put the grade of my kids and the subject, a bunch of videos that fit in that category popped up for me to choose from. They had every type of video on Lewis and Clark including cartoons and documentaries. This resource can be expensive. The normal price for a year membership is $365 dollars for the year. The best and most economical way to buy it is from Homeschoolerbuyersco-op.org. They have many people buy it at the same time so you can get it for 60% off right now on their site. We use it often enough in our homeschool that its worth the price but you would want to think about how often you would use it and whether it worth the investment for your homeschool. If you click on Homeschoolerbuyersco-op.org above, I have linked it to the Discovery Education Streaming Plus deal that they are having right now. They will also allow you to try it for a 30 day trial for free! So you can try it for free to see even if you would use it.

5. Peggy Kaye “Games” Series

Peggy Kaye has written a series on different games to incorporate in various subjects. Her 3 main books that we have are “Games for Reading”, “Games for Math” and “Games for Writing”. These books are excellent resources for adding some hands-on activities to your normal everyday subjects. We have used the “Games for Writing” the most because of my reluctant writers. I was able to get my reluctant writers to have fun with writing because it was in the form of a game. Peggy Kaye’s books have always had a spot somewhere in our library of books that we continually use. If your kids are having trouble seeing the value or fun in reading, writing or math, check these books out. You can find her books on Amazon for around $15.

These are just a few of favorite resources that I am using or have been using in my homeschool. Hopefully you can find one or more of them helpful to you in your homeschooling. Enjoy!

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