Core Phase Working in my Home

Today was one of those days that I am already looking back at and know that Core Phase is definitely in motion with all three of my children.  We started a nightly family meeting just last night, thank you to a friend and mentor of mine and am so glad we did.  Our meeting is just to inform and go over with the children what we will be doing the next day.  There was nothing to think about when we all woke up because the children already knew that their dad would leave for work while we were eating breakfast and that we would be deep cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, along with reading our family classic Pinocchio  and various other tasks.  My son did not ask me what is next or when could he have his free play.  There was no need to, because we already had our family meeting. 


My kids are learning the value of hard work and why work comes before play.  My oldest Caleb takes pride in  his cleaning jobs and does not want to have to clean the same thing twice.  I don't blame him, so hopefully he always thinks like this.  By the time they have play it feels great because they have already done some work.  I love that learning has become part of their play.

 Kylie and Caylee like to see what I am reading  or writing about and will go to their bookshelves and grab flash cards, books, paper or whatever they feel they need to come sit by me and work as well.  I absolutely love it because I am inspiring, not requiring them.  Now, Caleb is a few years older and he just amazes me with all he picks up and chooses to do for his own personal study, which really is part of his play.  In our house we structure time out for each day, but do not fill it with their content.  This has helped my children  right now in these early years to start realizing that they are in charge of their own education.  The same goes for me.  I work on my personal study as well.  Right now I am finishing up Anne of Green Gables and have started writing a paper.  I am not doing this for a class, just for my own personal study. 


What can I say other than it feels so right and great in my home right now.  My children will be building on from this Core Phase for the rest of their lives and I am glad to guide and mentor them in having a great foundation, along with adding onto mine as well.

Making slime at the Library

 

 

Work And Play, More Than It Seems

So many things to get done on a daily basis and just like in my last post, I totally slow down for a short time of the day to read and study the scriptures along with prayer times.  I enjoy this time very much and it helps me get through the day.

There are chores that have to get done, organization within the home, cooking, coupons to sort through, reading, my personal learning, exercise and of course we have to fit in play and a lot more.  Children need to know how to work hard and how to play.  Yes, everyone in my house has chores to contribute with helping not only our family, but themselves.  We always here about those young adults who have recently left home and are on their own and cannot even wash a load of laundry.  These simple, but very necessary tasks must be taught and valued ourselves. 

Yes,  I am such the busy body.  I always have things that I want to accomplish and get done.  Some of this includes my personal learning.  Right now I am reading a classic to help inspire myself and my children with Mathematics.  It is actually a fascinating subject all around and there are many parts of math  that we use on a daily basis. 

One thing with Leadership Education and homeschooling is that my children can learn about any topics that they choose and I am alright with it.  Why wait?  If I want to learn about something I get some classics to help teach and guide me and just dive in.

Our kitchen is where most of this learning happens. I get so excited knowing that just from me sitting and reasding or having personal study time, my children go to our homeschooling shelves and reach for books, flash cards, activity worksheets, projects and even come up with ideas and many questions just from seeing their mommy at the kitchen table.  So pleasing and comforting to me.

Learning has become a major part of play in our house many days out of the week and I would not change this for anything!!!

 

At night, Caleb likes to lay down while I read a classic aloud and Woody must be next to him!

 

Kylie and Caylee enjoying some outside play with their animals!

 

 

 

 

Slow Down At Least For The Scriptures

My daily life is always busy.  Life in the fast lane of a very outgoing son and twin girls.  They sure never miss a beat.  I am happy to be their mother and would not change it for the world, but it does not mean that at times I do not get overwhelmed.  During this past General Conference for church, I felt that so many of the talks were meant just for my ears.  I love how under the guidance from our Father in Heaven, the leaders in my church can convey messages of so many meanings to each of us as individuals.  One of the many messages that I took dear to my heart was on finding a way to hear our children in the way that they need.  How I speak to one of my children may not be how I need to speak to the other.  This goes with our childrens emotional, physical, educational and spiritual needs.  It totally resonated in my heart and mind.  Sometimes that tiny whisper is all one needs to hear.  One thing that is helping me on a daily basis is my daily prayers and scripture study.  During both of these times I am able to slow down.  I am able to slow down and really search out what is needed in my life at those very moments. 

A Lesson Adventure Can Be Anywhere

"The Park"

"The Park"

These words I hear from my sweet, precious twin girls almost every morning.  All three of my children love to be outdoors.  They were born to be out and about and off to an adventure of some sort.  Homeschooling this year using the Leadership Education (TJED) philosophy has been the best blessing.  I love what it teaches and instills in not only my children, but for myself as well.  At one of our local parks today, the children played for awhile and then started to get bored and my son Caleb I could tell needed a shift.  He needed a shift in activity.  I had brought a few sight word books and animal flash cards which all three of them had gone over when we first had gotten to the park.  I thought to myself, what can I do?  The wind began to blow and the tree branches with their leaves were swaying.  I immediately thought a science lesson on trees.  We talked about what things trees provide us with.  Caleb immediately knew that trees provided shade, sources of food, paper and I went on to talk about more.  Lastly, I wanted him to know how trees provided us with oxygen.  Immediately he responded that oxygen is needed for us to breathe.  I was so happy that we were able to have this short, sweet lesson and yes, it was at the park. 

But wait, the lesson did not end here!

My son started to sneeze.  Last year his doctor had diagnosed him with seasonal allergies.  He does not have it often, but when he does I feel bad for him, my poor little thing.  He sneezes, eyes get puffy and watery, along with the scratching of his face around his eyes.  So, right after he had sneezed, he pointed at a tree and said, "mom, look right here."  I did and he began to explain to me that that tree was in its season and that it was causing his allergies to act up because it had pollen.  I totally thought wow, my son just gave me a lesson on how a tree had pollen and connected it to his allergies.  Yes, I was amazed as any mom is when their child shares with them the knowledge that they have inside of them.  I gave him a big hug and then off to walk back home we went.  I felt good about our park outing today and enjoyed seeing yet another example of TJED at work in my home, or in this case the park!

Socialization within Homeschooling

I always have those people who feel the need to voice their opinion about how homeschooling my children is not good for their socialization.  They tell me that how could my children possibly get all they need socially.  Well, I always respond back to those same people nicely that my children have no problems socializing with those their ages as well as those younger and older. Of course, I give them a smile to show that I am happy in my decision with homeschooling in every possible way!

I believe that as a mother it is my right to choose what is best for my children and that includes their education.  I have friends who have their children in both public and homeschool situations and respect their decisions equally.  I believe the main thing is that we all want what's best for our children and every family is different.  We know that this is quite alright and respect each others decisions! 

My children on a weekly basis play at local parks, visit our local library, visit Fairytale Town, and do various activities that include being around children up to adults of all ages.  They do pretty well at handling each situation and I feel very comfortable within my element.

So, just in case anyone still wonders what I think about this term Socialization involving my children the answer is, I am very pleased and also thank you for your concern!

A picture with the Magician

 

The Holman girls with my kids

Drayon, Andrew and Caleb at Mikal's Birthday  

The Mott boys with my kids


 

I have many other friends with whom my children play with, but you get the picture.  They are totally socializing!

Small Blessings Can Become Even Bigger Blessings In Disguise

With many changes for my family in the past few weeks, it seemed as if it would take forever to get back on track.  What track, you might ask?  Our daily schedule that is for the children, my husband, and I.  The children went from having their dad work an early morning schedule and coming home later in the evening, to leaving in the evening for work.  There went the sleepless nights, fine tuning our homeschooling schedule and eating at what would be cinsidered not the norm hours for dinner.  So many negatives it had seemed.

 I just new that something had to give or I was not sure that I could keep on being "super mom" anymore.  At least I have been trying since I became a mother.  I prayed all the to have the strength to make this work for our family.  I knew there was a reason Heavenly Father had changed things in our life and the main reason was a better job for my husband that was also closer than where he had been working for before.

Finally, I saw the light!  It was wonderful and it did not all come at once, but rather a little blessing here and another little blessing there.  My son has now been reporting to my husband on his daily homeschooling adventures (a great idea from my friend, Laine).  He gets excited to let his dad know what he has been learning.  Caleb also started a daily schedule sheet that he marks off as he does each subject and completes lessons online from Brain Pop Jr. and Reading Eggs.  We were able to go to the park as a family yesterday before my husband had to head off to work and the kids were so excited to have their dad come along for the fun. 

We are still adjusting to this new schedule and before we know it, we will be going back to the old one.  But, at least for now we are trying to embrace these little blesssings in our lives and trying to enjoy these moments before they are gone.

Homeschooling And Making Use Of My Local Resources

 

 

I absolutely love homeschooling my children.  It was something that I had prayed and prayed about over and over again.  The spirit was always strong in that yes, I was to take the step and do it.  My family makes it work and I enjoy the Thomas Jefferson Education way, along with the South Sutter Charter School.  Right now in our lives I could not see it any other way.

My son is so eager to learn so many different things and I enjoy that we can both learn new things together and as a family.  There are those that might think that my children do not get much socialization, but let me assure you they do and so much more.  My son has learned how to deal with not only those his age, but those younger and older as well.  Since we have taken the homeschooling route I have made sure to learn about and use all of my local resources that I can for my children on a weekly basis.

My family and I are so lucky to live near a wonderful library.  We are there at least twice every week.  They have so many free programs for children, school age and adults as well.  We love their Story Time program that the youth services librarian has put together. The children that go there get to listen to her read a couple books, sing songs and have fun play time every week.  It is a great program for children up to age five.  They always have something going on for everyone and it is a great free resource for not only checking out books, movies, science kits and free passes to the Children's Museum, but also for so much more.

There is a program where we live called First 5 and they are another wonderful resource that my family uses.  They have weekly play groups for children up to age five and they get to do fun art projects, have toys for the children to play with, read a story during snack time (they provide the snack).  Every six visits the child gets a free book to pick from a box and take home to add to their library.

The internet has so many free websites that can help with many subjects and I am grateful to be able to utilize these as we absolutely enjoy getting free history audios to download for use with schooling worksheets and lesson ideas all from the world wide web. 

Our home is a great resource as well!


                                                                                                                                

Just take a step back and look at what's all around you, there are so many more resources that I could go on, but you get the picture.

Homeschooling continues to be a blessing for my family and with learning about and utilizing our local resources it can be an even greater experience!!!