My Summer Reading List

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Every summer I try to read a few books on homeschooling type topics.  Last summer I read Honey for a Child's Heart, which is so amazing!!  I loved it!  I had also bought a book to read that I never got to so I will add that one to this summers list.

I choose to read these type of books in the summer for a few reasons.  First, I am usually in planning mode and it helps give me ideas to use for the upcoming school year.  I also like to be encouraged and motivated in order to feel refreshed come August.  My final reason is simply that I usually don't have the time during our busy school year to get in any extra reading.

This summer my list is simple and short!  I have a total of two books to read!  I know not a big list but for me that will be a list that I can get done!  I really enjoy reading, but find it hard to just sit down and read during the day.  I can usually get in about 30 minutes a day of reading.

Here is my list of books:

1)  Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson.



2)  Cleaning House: A Mom's 12-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement  by Kay Wills Wyma



I am super excited about both of these books, Cleaning House I have owned for over a year and have yet to get past the first chapter!  But its a book that I feel my home could benefit greatly from!  Educating the WholdHearted Child is another one I have had for a while and have yet to find the time to read it.

Here's to a great summer of reading!  Do you have any great books on your list to read this summer?

A Memorial Day Reminder

Let us never forget what these brave men and women have done for us on this Memorial Day.

Our Summer Bucket List

This summer I would love to do lots of fun things with my kids.  I have a ton of great ideas pinned on Pinterest it's just a matter of whether I will do them or not!  So here is my summer bucket list of things to do with my kids, plus a free printable list for you to follow along with!

•   DIY Sidewalk Chalk Paint
•   Ice Cube Painting
•   Water Balloons
•   Dinosaur Fossils
•   Some type of outdoor obstacle course
•   Nature Scavenger Hunt
•   Hiking
•   Homemade Sno Cones
•   Squirt Gun Painting
•   Bean Bag Toss Game
•   Solar Smore's Box
•   2D Obstacle Course
•   Make Bird Feeders
•   Ice Cream In a Bag
•   Summer Reading Chart
•   Water Balloon Piñata 
•   Ring Toss
•   Outdoor Fort/Tent
•   Visit the Zoo
•   Bike Rides

This is a short list but I know better than to set too high of goals for myself.  I think this is a very doable list and I am sure it will add some great memorable moments for our family.  I plan on printing off the list and hanging it in my kitchen so I can make sure to do these activities.  

Would you like to have a printable list?  Well here you go!  Enjoy!  

I am linking this post up to the Hearts for Home Blog Hop

Why We Chose to Homeschool

If you have read about us you have probably already read why we homeschool.  But as I sit here and think on beginning another school year, this being our fourth homeschool year, I think about what got us here to begin with.  Today I would like to share a bit about why we chose the homeschool route and why we plan on sticking to it.

I did not start out with the idea that I would homeschool, in fact that idea gave me hives!  I really thought I would get my kids in school and then, just think, all the free time I could have!!  That thought alone was very intriguing!  I was so excited when my first child began Kindergarten, I didn't cry at his meet the teacher, I didn't cry when I put him on the bus for the first time.  I was a mom that was ready to have her child in school all day!  We lived in a wonderful school district, his teacher was amazing and he was making friends.  He loved school, he was thriving and doing great!

In January of that school year, we found out we were expecting child number three!  We were all super excited and it was a great time.   Baby number three was due to be born about a week before school was to start.  Child number two was beginning preschool and child number one was beginning first grade.  All was going well, life was good, I had two kids in school and a baby at home.  I was enjoying my time and my life.

Skip ahead to my oldest beginning first grade, once again he had a good teacher, still the same school, everything was good.  He loved school was thriving and doing well.  Then came teacher conferences in October, his teacher had great things to say, he was reading at a third grade level, he was excelling in math and basically doing great.  Then came to things that really got me thinking, they wouldn't let him move past a third grade reading level because they didn't want him to get too far ahead and there were constant complaints about his handwriting. Sorry he's a boy and he's left handed!  What was I supposed to do about it, he was with them for 8 hours a day!

In March of that year I began to think even harder on the topic of homeschooling. Then one day I just felt the Lord pushing me towards homeschooling.  I had seen some great examples of how people made it work, either through friends or family and even the chance to hear the Duggars speak.  My husband was super supportive and was thrilled with the idea.  So we allowed our son to finish up his school year and over the summer we withdrew him from public school and haven't looked back!

Now lets take a look at where we are three years later.  Our reasons have grown so much more than just allowing our kids to excel and a prompting from the Lord.  Here is a list of reasons we are still homeschooling our children and reasons we don't plan to go back to public education anytime soon.

Homeschooling has opened so many opportunities for our family.  I can not wait to see where the Lord leads us in the future on this awesome adventure!

A Refreshing Start

Ahhhh!!!  The first day of summer vacation!  I can feel a weight lifted off my shoulders!  Typically I take the month of June off from all school related things.  I find that it is a great time to relax and get refreshed before really diving in and organizing in July.  I enjoy the time of just being devoted to fun with my kids, doing things that I normally don't have time for during our busy school year.

I have super high hopes for this summer to be a great time of fun and relaxation.  I am excited about our summer reading plan, our vacation, and just time to be outside enjoying our new neighborhood!

As some encouragement to get our summer off on a good foot I am thinking today about Acts 3:19-20.  This passage is talking about the refreshment that comes from repenting and in doing so you are filled with the presence of the Lord! This passage spoke to me because I feel that taking this time off from school in the summer will give me time to focus on the reasons we homeschool, what our main goals are, and most importantly it allows me a time to focus on the Lord and refresh my soul to be ready to face another school year.

I pray that you, too, may find refreshment during this summer season!  Press on my fellow homeschoolers!

The Last Day!!

Hallelujah!!  We made it!  Our last day of school for the 2014-2015 school year.  To say that we are a bit excited is an understatement!

This was a bit of a low key week for us, I only did preschool formally with Zach one day and the other two did a couple days of math and then we finished up our Australia lap book along with our read aloud.

For preschool this week we just focused on some basic skills, like cutting, tracing, and counting.  He enjoyed it and was disappointed when I only had one day set up.

As I promised last week, here is our finished Australia lap book.  I also mentioned that we were working on one for the Coral Reef, and sadly that one did not get finished.  I had wondered if doing two lap books at one time would be too much, and I was correct.  For this lap book I used the Country study found at Homeschool Share, you can find it here.

Here is a close up view of the inside of our lap book.

To celebrate our last day of school we took a trip to the library and had a special treat for lunch!  Yes this was our lunch, but it was frozen yogurt so that's healthy right!!??

Now it's time to get into baseball mode and summer mode!  I am excited to start working on some summer incentive programs with my kids to keep them fresh and not get too forgetful over the summer!  I plan to share what I come up with in the near future, so stay tuned!!

 Here are just a few cute pictures of Noah in his baseball gear, Elijah as usually hasn't let us get a good picture of him (but it will happen)!  They are super excited to be playing this year.

You are Forgiven!

As I head into our last week of school, I can think back at how very far my little guys have come!  In spite of a crazy beginning to our school year, they have all come out having learned and grown so much.  So today as I think about the stress of the past 6 months I am extremely thankful for the power of forgiveness!  After losing my temper a lot, feeling really tired and not having a house that is functioning as I would like, forgiveness is key!  Forgiveness from my family and most importantly from God!   As I challenge myself daily to walk according to the word, inevitably I will fall short!  My prayers lately have been for grace and peace as I go throughout my day.   I am encouraged greatly by Psalm 32:1, which is a wonderful reminder that my sin is forgiven because of the blood of Jesus Christ!

 I am also encouraged by this song Happy Day by Fee.  I hope you enjoy it and are encouraged on this Monday to remember you are forgiven because of Jesus!

Week In Review

Well, here we are!  Into our final weeks of school! We have one more week left, I know I had said earlier that we were going to be going until the end of May, but in all honesty we are just done!  The kids have had enough and with my parents coming into town next week, I am sure nothing will get done anyway.  So we will continue through next week but, then its summer vacation for us!

Zach's preschool this week focused on some Daniel Tiger activities.  I found this cute packet from none other than, yes you guessed it, 1+1+1=1!  They are too cute!  He was able to do quite a few of the activities in the packet but some of them were geared more towards kindergarten age.  I kinda slacked off and didn't get any books to go along with our unit this week, so I did the best I could with the books we had.  He really enjoyed them!

Noah had a great week!  He finished All About Reading Level 1!  He was super excited to get to put up his last two stickers.  As soon as he did, he asked if he could begin the next one, meaning level 2!  Silly kid!  If you have been following us much this year you know that this kid and reading have had a love hate relationship.  He claims that reading is his favorite subject but, oh how he struggles!  Since we began Level 1 towards the end of last school year and are just now finishing it, I too am ready to move on!  I'm still working on a good strategy to keep this all fresh in his mind over the summer.

Finished reading his last story in Level 1!

He looks a little crazy but he was so excited!

For our geography studies we traveled to our last country, which is Australia!  I decided to switch things up a bit for this last one, and we are making a country lap book.  I really wish I would have done that with all of the countries instead of using the worksheets, which I think we both found really boring.

We are also doing a lap book for our science studies, we are studying the Great Barrier Reef.  I'm not sure if making two lap books at the same time is a good idea, but I think they are enjoying them.  I will share the finished products next week, so stay tuned.

We also went on a field trip this week.  It was one that my little guy was in heaven over!!  We went for a real train ride!  It was so cool!  We learned about railroad safety and about the old steam trains and when trains were the main mode of transportation.  Very fun stuff!!

Do you think he was excited!!??

Well, here's to a great last week of school for us!!  There will be great celebrating next week as we finish everything up!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Bless The Lord, O My Soul!

I am always encouraged with some worship music, and today I feel the need for it so much!  Some days in our homeschool the only way I can get through, is by singing these uplifting worship songs in my head.  It helps me to stay calm and puts my focus back into place!

So today I am encouraging you with Matt Redman's 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord).  Its such an amazing adaptation of the old hymn Bless The Lord, O My Soul.  How amazing is it to think that 10,000 years is just the beginning our eternity with our amazing Father in Heaven!    I hope you can be encouraged by this and feel refreshed to move ahead into this week.

Week In Review

This week's preschool theme was Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!  I think his favorite part for this one was the story pieces that he could use to act out the story!  We actually had three days at home for preschool this week because my hubby had some car issues.  So I had to get a little creative with day three.  I think he had a great time though!

Here is a cute little video of him acting out the story of the Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.

For Noah's Bible time he is supposed to draw a picture of the story and then write a sentence about it.  Since writing is always a struggle for him, and he isn't very fond of drawing either, I saw an idea to have him make the story with Legos.  He absolutely loved this!  He was so excited to try something different.

A Parable of the Seeds

The Storm!  

Poor Elijah is just so done with school!  I'm trying to encourage him and make things as fun as possible but I think we will be cutting our school year short!  We are all ready to be done and with technically 4 weeks left, I think we will go about another 2 weeks and call it quits.

Finally, here are a few cute pictures from our week!

He loves playing in our colored rice bin!

We did a little gardening this week.  There isn't anything
planted in this one yet but he felt the need to water it anyway!

We planted some tomatoes and basil.   

We used those seed pod things so we will see if they actually
sprout anything!

I hope your week went well and you have a wonderful weekend enjoying some time with your families.