Thursday, September 30, 2010

Day Two thru...???

Ok, so I missed a few days between day 1 and now but I have to tell you it has been amazing!!! We are doing lapbooks, some copywork, scripture memorization and alot more! I can honestly say that I am watching a transformation in my child that sadly I didn't see taking place when it was going the other direction. My child is getting his imagination back!!!! He is expressing a creative side that I haven't seen for quite a while now! For a brief moment I felt guilty that I wasn't as observant when that imagination was fading away but then I stepped back and decided to give myself a break on this one, he was growing up and it seemed like a natural step. I mean after all, as a mother we are given MORE THAN ENOUGH CHANCES to feel guilty about something we think we did wrong right?? Well I am learning that God doesn't want me to feel guilty, he wants me to learn from these mistakes. So that's what I'm doing! I am teaching myself to be less dismissive and more aware of the changes in my child. And let me tell you it is SOOO rewarding. I know things like picking out shapes in the clouds don't really seem that big at all, but when your kiddo starts doing that again after several years you realize he didn't stop because he was getting to big to do it, he stopped because his creativity wasn't being nurtured!
Please don't get me wrong, I have MANY friends that are public school teachers and love each of them and their efforts to teach children very much, but as a mom who has been given the opportunity to stay at home and teach her child I am learning just how much my kiddo was missing out on! It's difficult to grow your creativity when the state mandates your education. you see putting MY CHILD in school 8 hours a day was exhausting to him. After all day of being taught state required activities that are not specific to each child's needs he was too tired and numb to really be the child God created him to be. I know that God has amazing things planned for Braydon and I feel very strongly that those things will rely heavily on his ability to think outside of the box! I am so grateful each and everyday that I have this opportunity. For those of you following me who also homeschool your kiddos and are starting to get frustrated now that summer is over and school is in full swing, remember how lucky you are! Don't spend time being angry at your children for their lack of interest, HIT YOUR KNEES and thank God for what He is allowing you to do! And then ask for help! This is only our first month of homeschooling and I have been like a needy kid with God this month. But I will tell you he is providing in great detail! I am receiving encouragement, instruction and resources like crazy!! It's amazing how God blesses you when you are doing something he has called you to do!!!
Another change I have seen in my child is his attitude... THANK GOD!! LOL Seriously though, not only is he less argumentative but he is much more attentive to those around him especially his momma! I am watching him begin to grow a servants heart and it pleases me so!!! Yes, he's still the typical "I want" & "can I have" child but now he is beginning to see the needs of others as well! And his is showing is love and appretiation for me more too. We all know how easy it is for our children to make us feel obsolete, so its very nice to have them make an effort to show you they enjoy time with you and they appreciate what you do for them; and that's what I am seeing in Braydon. He is showing me each and everyday how lucky he thinks he is to have ME as his mom! I am SOOO blessed!!!
But back to the "school" of homeschool, we are doing a Genesis lapbook right now and I have put together some really neat resources. I will be uploading some of them this week. Please know that they are things I created based off of other ideas and tweaked for my kiddo and what we like to do. I would love for you to enjoy them as we have or use them as your starting point for something completely original for your child.
Until then, have a blessed day and always thank God for what he has given you. And if you can't find anything to be grateful for then start by thanking Him for your life and His love for you... I promise your eyes will be opening to the blessing you have received!!!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Day Number One...

Hey there! Today was our first day of homeschooling and as I promised, I am here to report on how it went. Well, I can't say that I was blown away and that everything went smoothly. It was definitely different and I'm afraid my expectations for how terrific it would flow were a little outrageous. I saw clouds and rainbows and heard joyous melodies as I planned for today and while there WAS rain outside I'm afraid rainbows were just not in the cards today.

Before I go much further (especially for those of you possibly seeking encouragement from this blog) I want you to know that while I thought today was all about teaching my child, God had other plans. You see I woke up this morning feeling blessed and confident. I had a nice quiet time with my Lord in the cool breeze of an overcast morning. I started some laundry and waited for my kiddo to wake up. After all that is a PERK to homeschooling right?? :)
Well, the first couple of subjects went well and he was eager to get started, but as the morning moved on he grew a little less agreeable. Don't get me wrong, he never got frustrated, but I could tell that all of the reading (because we were trying to catch up on what we missed yesterday) was starting to wear him down. In all of my planning out every minute and finding supplemental material to go with our curriculum I forgot the real reason were we doing this. I forgot that this was about letting him explore the things he loves. After realizing there was no way we could cover two days of grammar, spelling, vocabulary, reading, journaling, copywork, history, science math, art, blah, blah, blah I thought to myself why are we trying to cover all of that anyway?!?!?! The purpose here was to help my son gain a closer relationship with The Father and along the way teach him what he would NEED to know but really work on the things he WANTED to know! Not to mention, by the time we got to the Bible lesson we were both over this day! I don't want to teach my child that God gets our leftovers! I don't want to box God into a time slot on a lesson plan. Man did I really miss it!!!

WOW! God really got my attention today and in a big way! So tomorrow, the lesson plan goes out the window. Oh I'll keep doing one to have a basic handle on what we are going to work on and to appease my yearning for structure, but I am NOT going to stress over what doesn't get done! So what if we don't complete each and every spelling list between now and summer? And who in their right mind wants to force a child to sit through THREE, count them, THREE spirals designated strictly for writing? WOW WOW WOW! Today was a huge eye opener, I might as well have sent him to public school this year!!! No, this is not what it's about and NOT how we are going to approach this.

So for those of you reading and learning right along with me... I learned on my first day of homeschooling that ANY DAY can be a flop! Even if you have an extraordinary vision and wake up KNOWING it's going to be the best day ever!!
I also learned that God will provide what I need and give me the words to say to allow my child to understand and learn, but I have to rely on Him! Today I thought I had it all under control and then MY Teacher had to remind me of my focus and set me back on the right track.

Thank you Father for never leaving my side and for setting me straight countless times without fail and always with a gentle hand!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

"Follow" me to great resources!! hahaha

WOW WOW WOW!! I logged on this morning to 8, count them 8 followers!!! YEAH!! Thank you guys soooo much! I will be visiting each of your sites sometime today!!!
So I'm entering this contest to win free homeschool curriculum and part of the contest rules are to visit the site giving away today's prize, well let me tell you I was in for a treat!
I am still awaiting approval for my login but the surface material you can access before you are approved is VERY helpful to a new homeschooling mom.
They have a section that breaks up several popular homeschooling methods and explains how they work and the purpose of each. I loved that!!! It was GREAT to be able to compare them all right there in short easy to understand descriptions!
Thank you Curriculum share for offering this tool!
I will tell you guys a little more about this site once I get complete access. As a homeschool mom on a budget I'm excited to see what I can find!!!

If you wanna check it out just click on the link below. Enjoy!!



Candie