Homeschool and Getting Ready-6 weeks mark

...this is a closet organizer with clothes rack in the middle from Sam's (one year ago) to the left is a shoe organizer....I put a roll of butcher paper on the clothes rack as well as a teacher's pocket organizer...to the right are art supplies
our butterfly classroom.....

This is the cute rack I found to hang the backpacks-Container Store

Miley will be six weeks old tomorrow. Hurrah! I love the six weeks point since mine truly start sleeping through the night, my hormones get more level, and I start feeling more normal at this point.

Today, it came to my mind that having another child is very much like juggling. When one learns to juggle, one ball seems easy pretty quickly, but every ball one adds, takes a little practice and adjusting to get it going smoothly.

My plan is to start homeschooling next week on Monday. I went to one day of a teacher's seminar for "Spell to Write and Read", by Wanda Sanseri. This is my favorite language arts program, and I would highly recommend it to anyone breathing who is first teaching their child to write, read, and spell, or has a child with spelling "issues". Rhonda Bedee was my teacher this year and she spoke on "collections" and we practiced "collecting" words that fit different spelling rules. Every time she talked about "collections", we waved a butterfly net around and it was actually quite fun.

After the class, I was so inspired by the "collections" idea, that I decided to make it the theme of the year for our classroom. I found butterflies at the Learning Store for $5 a pack of 36 and stuck them on the walls and ceiling and hung up some butterfly nets to further the effect. I am very blessed to have a playhouse in the backyard. It's about ten foot by ten foot and has now become the official schoolhouse for us. I love the concept because we physically walk out of the house and to the schoolhouse to "do school". It has taken me about two years to get comfortable with homeschooling and with how I was going to do it...after seeing the results from this past year, and having grown in confidence on the subjects at hand, I can say I now really enjoy it.

I will say, homeschooling for me was foreign for the first year and a half or so. It just took awhile to get used to the idea, plus my child did not like that I was her teacher, plus, I did not want to BE her teacher, plus, my husband was not totally on board, plus plus plus. I knew I wanted the reading program that I was raised on (private Christian school in the seventies), and could not find a private school locally that employed the program....well, there is ONE school that teaches the Spalding method and it's $13,000 for kindergarten, plus it is an all boys' school.

Last year, I found another school that used Spell to Write and Read, but it's a good forty minute drive from our house, plus, Mackenzie turns five after September 1st, (a strict rule this particular school keeps), plus, I was sort of ready to homeschool by this point.

And this year, I'm ready to BURST out of my cocoon and teach! I am secretly counting down the days til school and in my spare time, brushing up on the subjects at hand. Spell to Write and Read is our language arts' program (www.bhibooks.net), Tapestry of Grace (www.tapestryofgrace.com) is our history/geography program, Right Start Math (www.alabacus.com) is our math program. Art is taught by Art Starz (www.artstarz.com) at an after school program locally. Piano...Rozalia Ravitsky-she teaches out of her home, Cornerstone Church, and the local Jewish Community Center. She teaches piano by color, a unique program in which very young children can learn the piano....first by color, then by number, and finally the notes and theory. Mackenzie started this program at three years old and is quite good now. Megan, I started at four, but just now is flourishing at five....should have started her later.

I started school with piano only. This seemed to REALLY prepare both girls for reading and math. Plus, I didn't have to teach it. (can you tell how much I resisted this process?????) God has his ways.

Year two, we JUST did English and Math. Then, Natalie, my student helper offered to teach the History and Geography portion in the afternoon while the other three kids were sleeping. So, Mackenzie and Natalie are together from 1PM to 2PM working on Tapestry of Grace. This is when I get a nap or exercise and it works nicely for everyone involved. While I am on the subject of "helpers" and making this blog as long as possible, I will throw in the "helper" speech I give everyone. Helpers do not have to be at your house from 8AM to 5PM. I have found all of my current helpers by going to www.utsa.edu/careerservices If you have a college that is close to your home, and you need help for one hour a day, there is a student who wants to work one hour a day. Hire them for $6 or $8 an hour to help with baby or to help with other kids while you homeschool or to help clean dishes after dinner. This is better than a massage or even clothes. Shop at goodwill, but get a little tiny bit of help and you will feel like a new woman. People always wonder how I can do all that I do and much of what I do is fueled by God's strength and by students that help me.

I know for sure I could not homeschool effectively with all of my tiny children, if I did not have someone in the morning caring for the two toddlers and the baby while I schooled the other two older children. This has been a huge blessing and it blessed the student who WANTS experience while they are getting their teacher certification or whatever the case may be.

O.K. I think I have stuffed all of my homeschool information into this one blog. Now, it's time for some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's