Preparations for Upcoming Year

After I wrote my plans for the first week of school, I realized that there are many things I want to do with the kids over the upcoming year that do not begin this week. There are activities to do and books to read that would be planned later in the year. There are ideas I want to communicate to my kids that just aren't included in a curriculum guide.

So....
I made a list of all the ideas, books, activities and so forth that I planned to accomplish this year. It wasn't really a list of goals, more a list of thoughts and activiites. Anything that came to mind was included. The beginning of my list looked like this.

• Structure Time, Not Content (discuss)
• Self-Guided Study (G-sports, H-gears, start)
• Writing with studies weekly
• Art - Jr. Hi book, alternate drawing, color
• Unlocking Mysteries of Creation
• Bible Grammar with Steve
• Poetry Memorization
• Feminine Modesty (w/girls)
• A, G - cook 1x/week
• Games
• Website updating
  

After I made the list I put a small mark next to everything we would start this coming week and made sure it was included in my weekly planner.

Then I tacked the list on a corkboard in front of my desk. It is right there in clear sight for me to see EVERY day. When I plan each week (since a week is the best chunk of time to plan in advance), I will see that list and decide when to add or delete an activity.

I hope this helps some of you as you look at the daunting job of homeschooling your children. Remember I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. It is ONLY through the power of Jesus Christ that we can successfully homeschool our kids. He is faithful to do all that we ask or think!

Kerry

Art History Anyone?

Here's a great site when you are studying Art History.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm

You can go to whatever civilization you are studying and pull up art from that period.

Kerry

Teaching History

Scheduling

Do any of you have trouble scheduling this upcoming year? I have one daughter taking a college class, a son taking a latin class and two daughters taking a great books class. Now, I need to find time each day for us to meet together, just to read a classic book. I know it is more difficult as your kids get older, but reading together is a high priority for me. So, I will persevere to get our schedules to work. Looks like 8am in the morning will work for all of us.

Kerry

Celebrating Sunday - the Lord's Day

Does Sunday look the same as all the other days of the week? Or, does the day you worship the Lord, the Lord's Day, look different - special - something non-Christians would desire?

A few years ago I was struck by the fact that the only thing different about Sunday is that we go to church. Sure, we worship God at church, but what about the rest of the day? We came home and did the regular chores or stuff around the house, just like Saturday. I wondered if God really wanted His Day to be the same as all the others. Steve & I decided we would attempt to make Sunday a special day, the day our kids "look forward to" each week. What would we do to accomplish this? We began to invite other families over for lunch after church. Yes, that meant some extra work and prep on Saturday, but our kids sure loved to have guests in our home. The rest of the day we tried to relax and enjoy our family. (what a concept - spend time with our family in our own home). This whole scenario was a bit difficult when we lived in Texas and those around us did not have the same idea about Sunday.

When we moved to Idaho, we saw a change. Those around us, specifically our friends at church, believe that Sunday should be special. This made our efforts a bit easier because we were encouraged by others to make the Lord's Day special.

Today is Sunday, September 4. Yes, I had to get up a little earlier and get the potatoes in the oven and the rolls on the pan to rise. But, it was well worth it. We spent our morning worshipping God in psalms, word and the Lord's Table. We came home and "feasted" with another family all around our dining table. Laughter abounded and we had a refreshing time as we moved into the living room to visit. After our friends left, our kids went to the park for awhile. After they returned, our son's friend came down to play and our girls enjoyed a baseball game. Steve & I went to our monthly evensong at church.

Last Sunday we ate at our friend's home. One cool thing they do is sing psalms and hymns before dessert. It was so natural for us and we had a blast doing it! I hope we integrate some singing into our future Sundays.

What you might notice about our day is it was FUN. We have gone out of our way to find ways for our kids to look forward to church on Sunday, look forward to communing at the Lord's Table each Sunday and look forward to spending time with their family and possibly another family after church on Sunday. I want my kids to "look forward" to Sunday, our Lord's Day.

Do YOUR kids look forward to Sunday, our Lord's Day?

Kerry

ps. I would love to hear what other families do to make Sunday special in your home. Please post a comment or send me an e-mail.