The Homeschool Mother's Journal from The Homeschool Chick

Hello!! :) I'm joining in the Homeschooling Mom's Journal again this week!! :) Come check out the other Homeschool Mama's @ The Homeschool Chick. They have it way more together than I do!! HA!! :) They're so inspirational!! :)

In my life this week... I’ve had a weird week, really… I haven’t been feeling the greatest, but am feeling a bit better, now. And, things just have to get done, regardless, sometimes, ya know? So, beyond that, it’s been pretty good! I bought the kiddos St. Patrick’s Day T-shirts at Target, they were marked down already!! LOL That’s always a good thing!!

In our homeschool this week... We’ve really just been focusing on the basics. I’ve come to realize that I might have been a bit high-strung about how Abbey gets her schoolwork finished (as in, “DO YOUR WORK OR YOU CAN’T [fill in the blank]!!!!). Not fun for me, definitely not fun for her. I realized that since she was being wiggly, there wasn’t anything to do but let her have a mini break after she got something done… I believe it’s called incentive! LOL For instance, on Tuesdays & Thursdays we do school at the Library while Eli’s in Toddler Group (Speech class). The Library has a pet hamster. No matter how far away we sit from Bob (the hamster), it’s like he’s saying, “Pssst. Abbey! Come watch me run on the wheel!” So, instead of me saying, “No, Abbey, no Bob time til after all your work is done,” I’ve revised it a bit. “Abbey, get your reading workbook done, and you can visit with Bob for a mini break!” I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me until now to do it this way… That was just a simple answer to my problem. It feels good! And, she’s been WAY more productive with the mini breaks than the “do it all then you break” way. I know, seems like a small thing, but what I learned is that the change started with MY attitude…

Places we're going and people we're seeing... We’ve been here & there & everywhere. Eli’s loving his Toddler Group!! And, Abbey & I enjoy our breakfast & Library girl-time together.

My favorite thing this week was... I’ve been reading Tedd Tripp’s “Shepherding a Child’s Heart” and I LOVE it. This is not a review, it is just my thoughts about it, but honestly, if you’re finding that you feel yourself beating your head against a wall because you see your child’s behavior change, but not their attitude? This book is great… Again, it all starts with MY attitude…

What's working/not working for us... The best resource I’ve bought lately is the Explode the Code workbooks! I love them! Abbey loves them! She will sit down & usually do more than one lesson at a time. Now, she is done with Book 1 & is almost done with Book 1 1/2 but she is flying through it! I’m thinking she’ll be more challenged by Books 3 & 4, but this has been great review of the vowel sounds!! It’s amazing to me how well she’s reading!! I love it!!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have... Has anyone been to a Homeschool Convention? We’re going to our first, the Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati, OH the first weekend of April. Any advice?

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I'm Late for this Week; But Stay Tuned

I don't share a lot about our homeschooling journey, at least not the day-to-day stuff, so I thought this would be a neat blog-hop to join. I have only joined a blog-hop once before, and I had fun, so I thought I'd do it again. My goal for this blog has evolved a bit, and I'd love to share more than just crafts, more than just homeschooling, more than just Mommyhood... My life is an eccentric blend of all of this, so I'm hoping my blog will follow suit :) Anyways, here goes :)

The Homeschool Mother’s Journal

In my life this week... I have been dealing with a few challenges in my life this week. Pretty personal because I am dealing with the consequences of others' actions, but I can definitely say, with complete confidence, that walking through this "stuff" I have heard the Lord speak more clearly to me through His Word, His people, and through music than I have in way too long. I have constantly been reminded that He Is who He says He Is, regardless of circumstance. Regardless of the messes we find ourselves wrapped in. He is awesome, as always, regardless of life.

In our homeschool this week... Abbey has been LOVING her new Explode the Code workbooks. They have really helped me & have spoken to her weaker vowel recognition (not that it was horrible, but I am hopeful that these workbooks will just reinforce & help her gain confidence with the vowel sounds). I am so frustrated with Math, though. The original plan this year was to do Math-U-See, but it is pretty expensive. SO, we did little math workbooks & whatever for a fill-in, and I was just so disappointed & felt lacking & not prepared. So, I went ahead and bought McRuffy stuff. It's OK, but the "complete" kit didn't come complete with manipulatives, and they are pretty important for the curriculum... ARGH!! So, we are slowly waiting on the pieces of manipulatives that I've ordered through the mail. On the up side, though, she is really excited about getting to "play with her new blocks" & such :)

Places we're going and people we're seeing... We've been to church (sometimes it feels like we live there), Waffle House (during Eli's class on Tuesday), and Perkins (during Eli's class today), and their first trip to Cheesecake Factory...and their last for a VERY VERY LONG TIME. It was unbelievably expensive for all of us to eat there... WOWZA!! Definitely a bit of a sticker shock!! LOL

My favorite thing this week was... probably the loosey-goosey Tuesday & Thursday mornings while Eli was in class. We usually go to the Library & get a lot done there, but it was nice to break from our normal schedule this week & take it easy. I think we both needed that. Also, I have LOVED watching Eli color this week!! He went from scribbling to trying to stay in the lines in a week!! AMAZING!! :) And, he can count to 10 by himself!! Again, Amazing because he went from saying Mommy & Daddy to saying just about everything, including numbers!! In order!! :) It's been awesome to see that!!

What's working/not working for us... The TV is NOT working for us. Most of our struggles is OVER the TV. I know that I have been mostly to blame over this, and especially when I'm sick, or the kids are sick, we turn to the TV for help, but it has gotten pretty out of control. Dual issues: Too much TV & not following the rules. They have been taught from infancy (LOL) to NOT TURN ON THE TV without asking. Yet, Abbey, especially, has just been ignoring this rule, I think to see how far she can get without us noticing. And, really, if she's sneaky & I'm in here getting stuff off the computer, she can get away with it for a time without us noticing. But I'm afraid a complete un-plug is about to happen. Lord, give me strength... :)

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have... I am REALLY missing the support & resources from our PEACH meetings. I know I need this, and I have really gotten a lot out of the meetings. The field trips have been exceptional, too, for me & Abbey (& Eli). It is so easy to get discouraged & weary without support from others walking this path, too.

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Mama's ready for summer...