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Schooling

Today kicks off the beginning of our homeschool year!  Rusty is in tenth/eleventh grade (we homeschoolers don’t like to be pinned down), Ladybug is in seventh grade, Sunshine in third, Eby in K, and Little Man in Preschool.  My greatest hope is that our year will be filled with delightful learning.

Since we are heading to REACH Camp on Thursday, we are going to keep it simple this week:  Bible, Math, History/Literature, Phonics, and Science classes.  We’ll add spelling, grammar, handwriting, etc. later.   I am particularly excited about a music class I am doing with Rusty and Ladybug, Sonlight History and Literature with Sunshine, and teaching Eby and Little Man to read.

Have a wonderful Monday!

~Lisa

My friend, Jennifer, has been writing a great series of post on school, and in particular, school and her adopted children.  Stop by and spend a few moments, it will be well worth your time.

the least complicated

I also happen to know that she has a great post set to go for Monday.

Happy Sunday!

~Lisa

Ferry boat to Whidbey - it's still summer!

Last week we bought school supplies, and yesterday we headed to our local uniform store to buy school uniforms for Honeybee.  Yes, Honeybee is joining Dimples at school this year.  She is entering the fourth grade, one year ahead of Dimples.  We spent last year doing intensive tutoring, not knowing then that we would choose school (rather than homeschooling) for Honeybee, but we are as sure as we can be that this will be the best learning environment for her.

I say it to myself, and to others, regularly, “My children all have different needs.  We can’t do everything the same, because that would not be best for them.”

Jen wrote this sweet post about her first year of homeschooling; it made me feel so nostalgic.  This fall will bring my twentieth year of homeschooling — even I can’t believe it.

Take a moment to read, Things I Have Learned During This, My First Year, of Homeschooling.

Happy Sunday.

~Lisa

Honeybee with her friend Jubilee

Our science class field trip to Seattle was great. We got home late Wednesday night after three full days of educational fun. On Monday we drove to Seattle and went directly to the Seattle Aquarium where we got a behind the scenes tour and enjoyed the exhibits. Tuesday was spent at the Woodland Park Zoo, which was probably my favorite, although it was very cold, so it was a little bit harder to enjoy than usual. Wednesday we hit the Seattle Science Center; which was Ladybug’s favorite.

The kids were all happy, well-behaved, and fun to be with. I grew up near Seattle, so I was able to experience these places as a child, but many of the girls were seeing it all for the first time. They took it all in and enjoyed every minute of it…except perhaps the long drive to Seattle and back.

Thursday our future son-in-law’s family arrived from Texas for a visit. We had spoken on the phone but not met in person. They are just as wonderful as we hoped and we look forward to many years of sweet friendship with them. I was struck by the knowledge that we will share grandchildren with them and it will be wonderful for our children and grandchildren to have us be a happy extended family.

Now I am catching my breath and making a big list of all that needs to be accomplished for this special Easter weekend. We have a Good Friday service at 6:00 followed by dinner that I need to have cooking before we leave. Saturday we are celebrating Andrew and Mimi’s 21st birthdays – Andrew’s is the 8th. Sunday we are hosting a potluck after our Easter service.

I’m feeling behind and not quite organized. Remember those special Easter dresses…definitely not happening. My goals are small:  color Easter eggs with the kids, put together baskets, plan a simple birthday for Andrew and Mimi, get lots of groceries, and cook lots of good meals.  I’m praying for health in the midst of it all.

I hope you have a wonderful, glorious Easter and I’ll see you next week!

Ladybug

~Lisa

This sunrise greeted us today – so much beauty by God’s hand.

On Jan. 1st our family rebooted our daily Bible reading. Russ and I encouraged everyone who had gotten behind to begin again with the new year. While I think reading the entire Bible is a great goal, reading daily is even more important to me. So although some of us had fallen behind on our reading, we took the opportunity to begin again. God is big into “do-overs” and fresh beginnings, so I think He is fine with this. [...]

Congratulations to Mandy who writes her family blog,   The Halverson Times.  Mandy won a free copy of SpellQuizzer, the fantastic spelling software my family loves.  Mandy, I hope your children enjoy it as much as mine do.

Please email me at Lisa@onethankfulmom.com.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this Giveaway. Watch for more!

~Lisa

Boo has been asking me, for at least a year, to change her blog nickname. Apparently “Boo” is a baby name, which is probably why I like it so much. With the advent of my new blog, I have decided it is time to let her grow up. From here on out I will do my best to refer to Boo as Sunshine.

Sunshine and I spend a lot of time together, especially as we homeschool. She likes to pull her little table up next to my desk so we can work side-by-side; I like having her next to me. She is a wonderful big sister to Eby and Little Man, and encourages them in all manner of creative play, such as the “Puppy Game.”

At seven she is still missing her top front teeth, which is mighty cute.  She loves to read, sing, and play the piano.  Best of all, she loves me and it is a joy to be her Mommy.

I’m blogging today and tomorrow at Grown in My Heart about “What Therapy Looks Like”.  Please stop by!

~Lisa

Christmas was six weeks ago, and as the dust has settled, the top gifts have emerged. Here are some of our favorites: [...]

Do you see the smile on Dimples’ face?  That is the expression she wore the day she got 105% on her spelling test.  Not only did she get 23 spelling words correct, she also got the five bonus words!  This was an extraordinary contrast to her previous spelling tests.

How did she improve so dramatically?  I can tell you.  She finally got the practice and repetition she needed each day.  Did I finally become an awesome mom who quizzed all of her kids on their spelling words each night?  Sadly, no, but I did become a mom who spent a little bit of time on Saturday recording all four of my girls’ spelling lists with my new SpellQuizzer software. (hint: read to the end of this post for Give-Away information.)

The creator of SpellQuizzer, Dan Hite, contacted me to ask if I would like to try his program and then review it.  I thought it sounded interesting, but it was just as we headed into the holidays and it took me ages to get to it.  I wish I had done it earlier.  I am a huge fan of anything that makes my crazy life easier.

There are lots of neat techy aspects to SpellQuizzer, but I’ll tell you about it from my non-techy mom perspective…