My Learning Curve: No Farmers Market for my Sensory Boy
They May be Dandelions…
Looming Deadlines
Helloooooo
Mimi Breaks the Block
“There’s Nothing to Eat”
Stop. Take Three Deep Breaths.
At the Mile High Airport
Topsy Turvy Monday
With school in full swing, my days look much different. All summer we suffered from not having quite enough structure. I tried, I really did, but with a graduation, the wedding, family trips, etc., routines were tough to keep. Kids need structure, and kids from “hard places” need lots of structure. School imposes structure like nothing else, which is why Honeybee and Dimples do so well in that environment.
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.
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
Over Memorial Day weekend, Samuel, Rusty, my niece and two of their friends recorded an acoustic cover of B.o.B’s “Airplanes.” Greenstorm Film (an indie production company comprised of Mimi, her fiance Andrew, and their friend Jay) filmed and produced the music video. The recording of the song was produced by Samuel, who also played guitar. Rusty and my niece sang lead vocals, while our friends played strings.
Music, recording, and film became a significant part of Samuel and Rusty’s homeschooling this year. It is very fitting that they completed this project just in time for Samuel’s graduation.
Take a look!
~Lisa
Today we celebrate Samuel’s graduation from high school. It has been a joy to homeschool him and we are very proud of all that he has accomplished. Over the last several years we have become more advisers than teachers, planning and overseeing his work rather than instructing. He has had many wonderful tutors through high school who have contributed to his education; we could not have done it all ourselves.
Most of all, he has been a blessing to our family and his daily presence will be missed when he begins college in the fall. He will still be living at home, but he won’t be here to tuck Little Man in for his nap or drive Ladybug to her piano lesson. Samuel has always been exceedingly dependable, even throughout the tumult of the past three years.
It has been a joy to watch him develop his skills as an athlete and musician. He enjoyed running X-country and track this year and made it to State in both sports. Along with some siblings and friends, he recently created a music video. If you or your kids are into music and film, you can appreciate how much work goes into something like this! They uploaded it to YouTube yesterday and it already has over 1, 000 hits.
As we see him graduate, Russ and I wish we could go back and do some things again. We lost a lot of time with our older children these past few years, but they are remarkably resilient. We are very thankful for the young man Samuel is becoming and we know with deep assurance that God has a wonderful plan for his life. What a blessing and privilege it is to be part of it.
~Lisa
I finally got a bin, put rice in it, and added a few toys. The boys love it! An old red bedspread tossed on the floor works well to define the space for play and catch the rice that inevitably spills out. The bin is large enough for two boys to play at a time. They dig in it, pour the rice into cups, and shove it around with their hands. I had to make rules such as, “Only hands in the bin,” when they squeezed into it and sat down; the rice got in their clothes and made a big mess.
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
