Why Spelling is so important

This video is great!

Ding Ding....let the school bell ring

Ding.....Ding....Ding....time for school.

For some school has already begun.....for others it has never fully stopped....for some it is about to begin.

For our family we kick off school officially the day after Labor Day. So for us, September 8, 2009 will be our first day of the 2009-2010 school year. This year we are going to kick it off with a celebration. I am planning a "Back to School" party for the kids. We tend to have mini school going on during the summer. Things like finishing up a project that did not get completed, starting on a subject that has more lessons then our tradition Labor Day to Memorial Day will allow. Because of this mini school type mode we have been in I am going to make the start of school something to remember.

I am planning like this:
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls - I always make them when it is something special.
School Cake for dessert that night.
Lunch will be planned by the kids.

See in the summer we relax the schedule in our house and this year I feel it will be rough to get back in the swing of things. For that reason we are going to start next week in a pseudo-schedule. Making sure we are done with breakfast by 9 am. Lunch is from Noon-1 pm. This way we get the idea of when school time will take place. We shall see how this goes. I think this will be a training for me more then for our kids. Our kids are usually pretty easy going, although this summer they have began to find great joy in playing on the computer which will have to slowdown in order to do true school. So this practice schedule will be good as it will get me back in the swing of things.

So for school I need to do the following:
Books ordered and in - Check
Lesson plans ready for at least the first month and plotted for the year - Check
2008-2009 paperwork put away - only half done as of this blog entry, need to work on that one some.
Supplies are ready - Check

Ok here is to another school year. Good luck to you and your family as you begin the wonderful journey we call learning.

So to Summer School or not

In the famouse style of William Shakespeare......to Summer School or Not....that is the question.

Ok now that summer is officially upon us one begins to think....do we do school during the summer or take the summer off.

Here at our home we do a different type of school...we do more art/music and outdoor learning as appose to the traditional text book learning. This summer we have set up a specific activity each day of the week. This helps us keep a form of schedule in place as well as insure the kids don't just blow their summer away.

This year our summer school looks like this:
Monday - painting
Tuesday - Library (we are in the summer reading program at the library)
Wednesday - Clay/Play dough
Thursday - Pastels/chalk/pencils
Friday - Baking

So now you have to look at your own family and figure out if a version of Summer School would work well.

Co-op

Oh my gosh what a blessing a Home Schooling Co-op can be! What a lot of stress a co-op can be also. This semester is my first semester of being a leader in co-op and what a learning experience. Over all it has gone well, as I tell we people we are a work in progress and we are growing a little every session.

Scheduls

I believe one of the biggest lessons a home schooling family can have is a schedule. A schedule serves as guide to the day. Not only does it help us stay on task but it also helps answer that dreaded question from kids "what next". So in our house we have a family schedule. For us it looks like this:

7:30 am – Wake up and get ready for a new day!
Morning Exercise

8:30 am – Breakfast

9:00 am – Morning school
Handwriting
Spelling
English
Reading
Bible

Noon – Lunch

1:00 pm – Afternoon school
Math
Science
History
Japanese
Other

4:00 pm – House pick up

5:00 pm – Dinner

7:00 pm – House pick up

8:00 pm – Showers

Welcome to 2009

Well 2009 is now here and at least in our home school is back in full gear. We want to wish everyone a blessed new year and a blessed home schooling session.

Life is Like Hot Chocolate

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.