Homeschooling, Week 14

     I know I'm rather late in getting this posted.  My goal is to always have the post up Sunday at the latest, but sadly we had a death in the family.  After years of sickness and struggle, my father-in-law "went to be with Jesus" (as my kids have said.)  Two weeks ago when we heard that his condition was getting worse I sat down with the kids to explain what was going on.  They cried, but took solace in the fact that he was going to be with our Lord and Savior.  As his time here was coming to an end my kids prayed that "he would have a safe trip to Jesus".   They still prayed for healing, but they also knew that he would also be better in Heaven.  Much better.

     Our week went quickly.  We did a lot of reading on missionaries doing God's work and spreading the Good News, which was a good thing considering the circumstances we were in the middle of.  My Little Toughie loves hearing these stories and understands the importance of sharing the Gospel.

     We are also reading House on Pooh Corner, which I find a bit boring.  I was never a big Winnie the Pooh fan, which probably doesn't help, but my daughter seems to like it.  She thinks Pooh is "a little annoying" but she still likes the stories.

     That's all there is.  Have a blessed week.

Homeschooling, Week 13

     This was a hectic week for me.  I was preparing to leave for a Women's Retreat hosted by our church and had to make sure everything was in place for my substitute teacher husband, so that he could homeschool our daughter on Friday.  Also, since I can sometimes be a type A, control-freak I wrote up a "manual" for my hubby.  It was organized by day and went from morning to night.  (Yes, I can be that organized.)  It was really for my benefit; so that I could relax while away. My job is to take care of our kids and run the household; my husband has a job outside of the home, so it's hard to get on-the-job training of the everyday things, which is A LOT!

     Anyway, I didn't have to leave until 11, but had the substitute teacher my husband teach my daughter since I wanted to get a workout in before I left and I had a few last minute things to do.  My husband did a great job and I even got to see them build a teepee together. 

     Our Classical Conversations group is chugging along and doing well.  My daughter is making all sorts of connections to everything that she's learning, even our Bible Studies.  The Classical Conversations Timeline includes significant events from the Bible and we're studying the Old Testament right now, which is right in line with what she is memorizing in the Timeline!  It seems like a lot, but she is such a sponge right now, soaking it all up.

     By the way, my husband did a superb job with the kids and I'd like to thank him for supporting me and taking the day off to run things in my absence.  He has a lot on his plate right now with work and ailing parents, plus a sometimes type-A wife!  I was thankful to be able to attend the retreat.  I learned a lot of things during the retreat, one of which was life-transforming for me; a mom who questioned her purpose here on earth and for God.  I can't say much, but I can say that I got my answer when I received prophetic ministry.

     Week 14 is already under way.  I'll post that in a few days.  Until then, God bless you!

Homeschooling, Week 12

     I can't recall much of our week.  I know there was homeschooling, and we worked on our Classical Conversations facts and ran a bunch of errands.  I workout 3-4 times a week and try to schedule errands on my non-work out days.  I had planned on doing certain errands on certain days, but it ended up getting all switched around anyway.

    Every other week my daughter and I pick a place to have breakfast and do a little homeschooling there.  It's our School Breakfast Date.  I made sure to put everything in her backpack that she would need for that day, even though we were just there for breakfast.  Afterwards, we were supposed to head to Costco, but the coupons we were planning on using didn't go into effect until the next day, which was my CrossFit day.  Instead,  I brought my car for it's scheduled service (I was supposed to bring it in later in the week).  Since I had her homeschool work with us and the waiting area had comfy chairs along with tables to work at, we went ahead and did school at the dealer (it looked like a Starbucks in there!)

     The next day I was able to get my workout done in the morning, homeschool after that and then headed to Costco after lunch.  Since we have a strict budget, I had my daughter add up everything I put into the cart.  I showed her how to use the calculator (and explained that right now it is only used for the purpose of sticking to our budget, not for learning math).  As we were shopping I would point to the price and she would input the numbers.  She did a fantastic job and was happy to help me.  I told her what our budget was and what number to look for.  I asked her to let me know when we where close to or over that number.  As we were getting close (roughly $100.00 away) she would show it to me and say, "Mommy, it's almost there!"

     We ended up over budget because our annual fee was due and I did not calculate for that.  It was supposed to be due in August, but never came up (even during our monthly shopping trip in September) so I forgot about it.  Technically, we weren't supposed to be able to shop in September without first renewing but something went wrong.  Still, we would have been right at our target number had it not been for the fee.  Kudos to my daughter for helping me and I'll give myself a pat on the back for sticking to the list and not purchasing anything that wasn't on it.

     That was our week.  I got to teach my daughter about schedules, even if they do change; about car maintenance and about shopping within a budget.  There's always something to learn and always something to teach.  Thanks for stopping by!