Homeschooling, Week Two

     This week was even better than last!  Aside from a little excitement early in the week, we had fun learning about Ancient Egypt as well as the different components of the weather.  The kids are getting into the routine and are even grabbing books off the homeschool shelf before I'm ready to start.  Talk about eager!  I pray that they are always that enthusiastic about learning.

     We've implemented a couple of new things into our schedule.  We now start with the Pledge of Allegiance (we even have a flag) and then begin our prayer time.  Our prayers are more organized now so that the kids give more thought to who and/or what they are praying for.  At first, we were a bit all over the place.  I remembered our pastor encouraging us to designate a different day of the week to pray for something/someone specific.  I found this schedule online and I like that it coincided with the first letter of the day, so I went with it.  (It helps my daughter memorize the days of the week as well.  Bonus!)  It may change a bit as we find our footing, but I thought this was a great start:

• Mondays:  Missionaries
• Tuesdays:  Teachers (including therapists, coaches, church teachers)
• Wednesday:  Wisdom to witness (I tell my kids that most people don't read the bible, they read the Christian.)
• Thursday:  Those in authority (from local government and on, as well as our military and civil service members and those in the medical field who we seek for treatment.)
• Friday:  Family and friends (though we pray for them everyday, these prayers are more specific)
• Saturday:  Salvation (for those who are lost)
• Sunday:  The sick and suffering

     We started this schedule on a Thursday and I led the kids in prayer, giving them a moment to add to it before we closed.  When I told my daughter that it was "Family and Friends" prayer day, my daughter immediately wanted to pray for her good friend Connor, whom she misses dearly.  My kids always pray, thanks be to God.  Even at church I'm told by their teachers that they're always the first ones to raise their hands to volunteer to pray.  It's a lovely thing!

     My favorite part of this week was when during our Bible study discussion (somehow our discussion went from Isaac and Rebekah to heaven) my daughter asked, "When we go see Jesus will we need space suits?"  We had learned the different parts of the atmosphere and she remembered that in the exosphere, oxygen tanks and space suits are needed.  She needed clarification.

     My other favorite part (Can I have two favorite parts?) was when my son showed me his math work.  He's memorized his multiplication tables through 11x20.  Awesome!  My goal is to have him memorize all the way to 20x20, sooner than later.  He's doing great.  I may not be officially homeschooling him come September but that doesn't mean that I can't work with him now or even implement of few of the lessons I learned while reading The Core, even when he starts school. (Great book, by the way, and not as daunting as The Well-Trained Mind, which I will tackle one of these days.)

     We do copy work everyday but we ended this week with a fun one.  The kids had to write and send out an invitation.  Below is a picture of my Kindergartner at work:

Focused on copy work

     I'm in the process of getting a whiteboard to use, though I'm not sure if I want to get a tabletop one (for easy transport) or if I want to get one to hang on the wall.  (We've made very good use of our space at home, so finding a place to hang a whiteboard will be a little difficult.)  Or I might get both!  Maybe.

     That's it for this week!