A few weeks in

I had thought I'd write each week, but that hasn't happened. But that's ok.

We're now starting week 4. Week 1: Ping, Week 2: Lentil, Week 3: Madeline, Week 4: A Pair of Red Clogs. We do a variety of reading or activities each week related to the book we're working on. For instance, geography/culture: Where are China (Ping), Ohio (Lentil), Paris, France (Madeline), and Japan (PORC)? What do children in those places look like? Eat? How do they go to school? What language do they speak? We started putting cut out copies of the books' covers on a world map so we could see all the places we'd looked at. I don't know that children this young will retain where China is or where Japan is, but as we come back to it in future years they will have this foundation stone in place.

We've also found some fun stuff to do - checking out buoyancy in the bathtub was definitely a high point that first week. The boys were very impressed with the Eiffel Tower, well, actually it's cool-looking elevators, in the video last week. I'm hoping this week to get a friend who was stationed in Japan to come and talk with them about his experiences. It's fun.

That's what I have been so pleasantly surprised about: this is fun! I love putting together the things we are studying. I thought I would have to use a prepackaged curriculum to get things accomplished - and I do for math, handwriting and learning to read, but I love using unit studies to explore lots of different things with the boys. I'm glad I'm integrating ideas from both Five in a Row and My Father's World. The MFW Kindergarten curriculum was too elementary for where my oldest was this year, but he wasn't reading well enough to put him in the first grade. I think I'll use the MFW-Kg as intended for the middle child next year (when he's 5). We'll see.

Next week we're taking a different week. The plan is to do lots of drawing, go to an art museum and (maybe) another museum, and to have an "easy" school week. This is also my catch up week - catch up on housework and next month's planning. But that's good. I've heard several moms say they had a 3 weeks on, 1 week off approach to homeschooling and it worked really well for their family. I guess we'll see how it works for ours.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to this week. It's fun to see them learn and grow. And I'm learning a lot, too.

Our first week

Last week we "officially" began to educate our children at home. Truthfully, we started teaching them about God's love, caring for other people, using "nice words," letters, numbers, and a whole host of other things long before last week. But, as the public and private students prepared to return to school this coming week, we began our journey with homeschooling.

Our eldest will be 6 around Thanksgiving and this year of his education we are calling kindergarten. His next brother - who will be 4 in about a month - is doing much of the same material, especially the science, social studies, literature, and Bible. Our "babies" - twins who will be two just before the middle son turns 4 - get to listen in and I do separate things with them for letters, numbers, colors, etc. We have separate curriculums for math, handwriting, and learning to read. But our biggest part of our schooling is "unit studies." Each week we start with a good book and build Bible teachings, memory verses, art, "arts & crafts," geography, science, human relationships, language arts, and some math and/or cooking out of it. I throw in a little Spanish when I can. It sounds like a lot, but it's been a lot of fun. Our boys love to be read to, so it's easy to start with a book and branch out in lots of directions.

Last week we started with the book "The Story of Ping" and talked about China, children in China, what objects float or sink in the bathtub, how many relatives Ping lived with, etc. Ping was a duck, so we drew ducks. This week we start "Lentil" and talk about gifts and our senses.

Tonight I read three post from friends on Facebook who were bemoaning their sons' first days of kindergarten tomorrow - watching them get on the bus - feeling sorry they are going. My mother's heart knows that we have made the right decision - I'd go so far to say we've answered God's call - to teach our children at home. The reasons are many, the road will not be easy, but we trust God for wisdom, strength, and provision.

My (personal) biggest challenge is not to stay organized or keep four small and busy boys occupied. My biggest challenge is to live out I Cor. 11:1 - "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." (NIV)

That second part is hard for me - "as I follow Christ." I have good intentions - very good ones - but completely living them out is harder than my goals, plans, and wishes. And I take comfort that, ultimately, these children are God's children and my husband and I are just to steward them. If we do our best, if we are faithful stewards, He will cover the rest with His grace.