Routines, Routines, Routines

One of the latest books I've read is titled, "How to Raise an Organized child." Damon Korb, a pediatrician who's worked with various families on organizational issues with kids, offers a systematic approach on how to make this happen.

One of the most helpful tactics he suggests, is to come up with mini routines for different parts of the day. This has been so helpful in how I raise my girls. There are certain times of the day where I want things to flow well so we can get to the meat of our day.  

School aged children, especially, are in a prime position to learn how to be the masters of routines. Here are some of the routines we are working on and will continue to master. 

The Morning Routine

This consists of doing the typical morning tasks. We try to get everything done within 30 minutes including things such as their personal devotional, dressing, bathroom, brushing teeth among other things. We worked on this for a 2 weeks, with a reward at the end of their "training."

The After meal Routine

This includes quickly clearing off the table, washing dishes, sweeping, tidying up living room, all done within 10 minutes or less. I'm trying to teach them there's more to life than cleaning, so let's just get this over with so we can focus on some the fun stuff. 

The School Routine

We haven't delved too deep into this one yet. When we do, it would include making sure they have all they need before their zoom classes. It would also include clearing off their area when they're finished with their class. Now they already do some of this with some prompting. In the future, I want this to complete these tasks without reminders.

Looking Forward 

I think these routines will make our day run more smoothly. I've already seen how quickly the girls can get things done in the morning when they are focused. The idea here, is that they are to master one routine at at time, and we move on to the next routine to work on. Each routine builds on the previous one. 

What's so encouraging about this book is that Dr. Korbs emphasizes that organized kids are not born. They are raised. This gives me hope for myself and for my kids. Disorganization can cost so much wasted time and energy. On the other hand, being organized can catapult your efficiency in so many areas of life. I want to be able to equip my kids with the tools for what they need to be successful now and in the years to come.  

Here are some other wonderful blessings from our day:

• Getting to the dentist on time
• Kids frolicking in the church park
• Eating yummy sandwiches in the church park
• Robbie helping us when the truck broke down
• Resting in bed with Benjo after a long day in town
• Having time to read a book
• Benjo going to sleep rather smoothly with minimal fretting
• Excitement of writing more
• Computer working with the new charger
• Norah's silliness at the park
• Shiloh's funny songs at the dinner table
  

 

I'm very thankful for all of the blessings of the day. My life is a joy despite the challenges.  I am so blessed. I just feel God's presence in my life. I'm hopeful of what He has in store. I will pay attention to His promptings. In the waiting, I will be thankful, appreciative. I am so thankful for what is already in my life.

Paying Attention to What's Working and What's Not

 It's important to not let a day go by without paying attention to the things that worked well and the things that didn't work so well. Today was full of beautiful moments and also full of areas of growth. Here are the things that worked. 

What Worked

• Placing computer on the kitchen to write notes, when inspired
• Reading to Benjamin in rocking chair while the girls did school 
• Norah sitting on the end of the couch for school providing an excellent backdrop
• Eating lunch outside, in the sun, with the girls while reading
• Benjo sleeping on the bed during naps with heater and me resting a bit
• Eating simple delicious plant-based foods during our meals
• Writing down afternoon activities and prioritizing them 
• Short cleaning breaks accompanied by uplifting songs
• Doing our Bible lesson outside
• Great insights during Bible lessons along with learning new vocabulary
  

What Didn't work 

• Not implementing discipline plan throughout the day
• Not having a working schedule at the beginning of day
• Benjo screaming alot for my attention, he was probably tired
• Squandering small moments of time that could be used for planning or resting
• Benjo not sitting down to eat his chair
• Indecisiveness
• Still going to bed a later than I want
  

I'm grateful for being able to pay attention to these things. I'm hoping tomorrow will be even better than today. I am grateful for it all. I am very grateful. I am very blessed...

5 Ingredients to Our Homeschool Educational Philosophy

When I first began homeschooling, I didn't know much of how I wanted to proceed. But as I researched, meditated, and prayed, I realized there were a few ideas that I knew for sure would be integral to what we did on a daily basis. These would be guiding principles I would refer to when I wanted to remind myself of what it was I was doing. I wrote them out, journaled about it, and learned what the research has said about it. So here they are; the 5 guiding components that make up my educational philosophy. These are the key ingredients that I feel is needed to nurture the mind, body, and soul of my children.

Spiritual Education

Spiritual education includes having a knowledge of God and His immense love and interest in my children's daily lives.  I desire above all things that they are wise and they gain their wisdom from their relationship with their Creator.  I encourage my children to have a meaningful devotional time with Jesus every morning.  Along with that, our Bible lessons from Sonlight education ministry and our family devotionals form the foundation of how they make their choices throughout the day.

Practical Life

This includes being diligent with chores, personal hygiene, financial literacy, and social prowess. It also includes wisdom on how to conduct themselves among family, friends and strangers. An understanding of the wider culture is important in how they make decisions and treat others. 

Service Learning/Missionary Training

This includes doing something kind for others such as writing letters, baking cookies, making meals, singing for someone, or just being creative in how to be a blessing to someone. It also includes doing something meaningful for missionary workers overseas and learning what it means to be a missionary here in the states.

Character Development/Emotional Intelligence

Many of the above components all develop character qualities such as responsibility, diligence, and hard work. In addition to that, I want them to master the 5 aspects of emotional intelligence:  

1. Being aware of their emotions 
2. Managing their emotions, 
3. Being a aware of others' emotions, 
4. Understanding how to manage other's
   
5. Motivating themselves to accomplish their goals
   

Outdoor/Nature Learning/Art/Awe/Beauty

The great outdoors is an amazing source of beauty and enjoyment. Nature is considered to be God's second book beyond the Bible because, like the Bible, it testifies to God's amazing power. Our little family lives among nature for this very reason. My children can look out and see the beauty of God among his creation. Along with nature, beauty found in being creative with music and art are vital ingredients in our home school education.  When it comes to nature, such activities can include:

1. Taking nature walk
2. Observing nature outdoors
   
3. Reading about something different
   
4. Looking at picture books
5. Going on outings to natural places
6. Watching a documentary about it 

 And when it comes to awe and beauty, it can include things like: 

1. Playing an instrument
2. Singing a song
3. Writing a story
4. Creating something useful
5. Drawing a picture
6. Writing a new song
   

 

Overall, these core ideas have served us well and I see how it is bearing fruit. Our conversations are rich, our interactions are meaningful, their understanding of big questions of life are present, and they have a spiritual compass that guides them daily. As we spend more time in their academic subjects, I can see how these core components have helped them along the way. I am thankful for God imparting this wisdom in my soul about this. I am so thankful. I am so blessed. I am grateful...

 

A Birthday, An Awareness, and A Conversation

 A Birthday

I've always loved my birthday on the Sabbath and I'm so glad my daughter got to see just what that was like today. The whole day was spent at church and letting people know that is was my oldest daughter's birthday. She beamed with joy when I shared with people that it was her birthday. She then got to share the special ways we celebrated: trip to the coast, special birthday dinner, and special gifts from Gma. Watching my little one enjoy her birthday was the highlight of my day. But there were many other blessings. 

An Awareness

Unfortunately, I left my phone at home, so I was without online access all day. But it was actually a blessing in disguise. It afforded me the opportunity to be present and aware of what was happening around me. Case in point: I watched my girls and my friends kids play together at the park. Two of the kids sat and talked with me while I was watching them. If I had my phone, maybe I'd be too busy on it. Maybe I would've missed the chance to get to know them better. Maybe I would've missed the joy I felt watching the kids have fun together at the park. I had an awareness that I would not have had, had I had my phone. 

A Conversation

After returning home after a long day at church, I had a very passionate conversation with the hubby. He is a logical, facts based person, so if I don't provide facts to support what I say, it can feel extremely frustrating. However, it is such a blessing, because it pushes me to clearly share what I know and admit what I don't know. It is refreshing to talk to someone who challenges my thinking. And unlike in times past, we now can have intense conversations without hard feelings. I also feel like if I can convince him of something, then I can convince the world. But, I'll take into consideration that relying too heavily on facts without intuitiveness can be a bad thing. You can miss the common sense nature of looking at something. I like my intuitive nature. But a mix of both tendencies is probably the best.   

Overall, today was wonderful. The baby dedication was beautiful, the weather was perfect for playing outdoors, Littlest One napped sufficiently, great conversation with a couple moms about homeschooling, the purity of the Early Service, and so many other blessings. I am so blessed. I am so grateful.

The Power of Read-alouds

Ever since reading, "The Read Aloud Handbook" I've been a strong advocate of read-alouds. The author, Jim Trealese, suggests that it is one of the most powerful ways to teach reading among other amazing benefits he describes.  And while he emphasizes the importance of learning how to read, I see so many other benefits as well.

Vocabulary

One major benefit is being able to learn new vocabulary and learn it in context. As we read a book, my girls are able to see what different words mean using context clues or examples I give. For example, the word economy.  I’ll describe it simply and use the story to further explain the meaning. I can also use other relevant examples such as, "produce in the central valley drives our economy." I can take it even further by personalizing it by talking about our farmer friends who produce all manner of crops and how it benefits our local economy.

Great Conversations

Another major benefit is that it allows for us to have great conversations. We are reading a book  called "In Their Own Words" which chronicles the stories of history through the eyes of people who have lived it themselves. The stories are phenomenal and we are able to have such rich conversations about history and the meaning it has for our lives now. 

Creativity

Lastly, what we read aloud together fuels the stories they create for themselves later on. This makes for an interesting story, because they use words and ideas from book with advanced vocabulary.  I love to hear what they make up after we've read something together. The themes they choose, tend to mimic what we read. It's a very creative way to apply what they're learning. No worksheets but oral creative expression. This is awesome to see.

I love read-alouds. I love learning. I love that we can homeschool together.  Here were other notable moments of today.

Blessings…

• Engaging VA class with Norah
• Shiloh's swift recitation of the numbers over 100 and place value
• Shiloh's confidence in her command of math
• Quick completion of LA
• Use of LA worksheets as handwriting practice
• Communication with Shiloh's teacher
• Realization of a creation science oriented curriculum
• Completing our Bible lesson early in the day
• Talking with Gma and living out our Social Learning Lab

 

Again, me getting to homeschool my children just feels so good. I am truly grateful to personally teach my them the way I want. Yes it requires work, intentional effort, organization, planning, and sacrifice. But overall, I am so glad this is how we're choosing to educate our children.  I am so blessed. I am so grateful...

 

 

Best Practices

A time in my life where I felt really organized…before 3 kids

 

Organization. This is what makes my world feel right. This is what allows me to function in peace. This is also something that is so extremely difficult to master. And while organization is key for me to function well, there are other things that are equally important that make our homeschooling days feel right. I call these things my best practices. In order to have a day that runs smoothly, I have to put these actions into practice. What I desire is order, not chaos. Security, not instability.  Groundedness not dangling participles. So what are my personal best practices for a peaceful day? Here are some things that I practice: 

• Written down prayers/goals of what things I want to see in my day.(Girls dress quickly, make it to school on time, no arguing, uplifting music playing, pleasant and happy mood)
  
• Written schedule in view that we refer to on the board
• Review of my "good day list"

Overall, these are the basic things that set me off on a good day. Lists, preparation the night before, and keeping a cool head the day of is key. Today I was extremely off base and caught off guard by the unexpected situations. Each day I learn though, and tomorrow will be better than the next. Today, I walked away with feeling in great need of learning how to be organized. It was further emphasized by Melissa's amazing ability to organize our co-op lessons this afternoon. The order and structure of how she orchestrated our activities and learning was admirable.  

I learned. I will keep learning. I will tell myself, I am organized. I will walk in it and live it. I appreciate the lesson today. I hope that tomorrow will account for what I learned today.

For the Love of Learning

My little one researching foxes after a spark of inspiration from Language Arts Class

It is every parent's desire that their child approach school with a genuine love for learning. Some educators view real learning taking place, when a child takes an idea and makes it their own. This is exactly what I witnessed last week, when after Light's language arts class, she took it upon herself to write and research about foxes. It was awesome to see.

The truly awesome thing is that this wasn't a fluke. She did it again today when she decided to learn more about pumpkins after her teacher read a story about pumpkins. I just love this. She is taking initiative in what and how she learns. In the process, she's enjoying every bit of it. She's gaining confidence in her ability to find information. She also is making the learning process her own. Honestly, this process is quite natural perhaps. I'm thankful that I'm giving her the space to learn in a way that makes sense for her. 

There were many other blessings throughout the day.

Blessings…

• Visits with friends who will be moving soon
• Little one's Late night shenanigans because of excitement of hubby coming how
  
• Shiloh reading "In their own Words" slave narrative throughout the day
• Energy to clean, cook, and clean after a long trip

That and many other blessings occurred. We learn daily. We enjoy daily. We try to live well daily. For all of this, I am grateful. 

 

The Calming Effect of Coastal Beauty

The girls in awe of ocean waves crashing

The multi-sensory experience you get when visiting the beach is without comparison.  The experience is like a lavish balm to the soul.  The sounds of the bellowing waves crashing, the smell of misty ocean sea foam, the taste of the salty ocean water, the sights of the vast expanse beyond the sea, the feeling of sand between the toes. All of our senses are engaged in such a profound way. It makes going to the beach so enjoyable. The joy of this multi-sensory experience was the perfect ending to our short coastal vacation. 

However, the vacay was not without a little drama beforehand or even after we left. It was a very challenging day in some respects. I experienced at least 3 moments where I was emotionally upset about one thing or another. These were hard moments to to overcome.  But all in all, the day was sweet and I kept pushing. Once we arrived at the beach, the beauty I beheld reduced the irritating feelings that had risen within me. Here were some other things I did to try to stay at peace. 

Tactics to Keep Your Cool

• Breath slowly
• Pray for wisdom silently
• Say encouraging words to yourself
• Sing melodic songs
• Harmonize with songs
• Try doing something enjoyable or productive
• Write out and name your feelings
  
• Trust that the feelings will pass and all will be well
• Focusing on nature or something of beauty and awe
  
• Find a lesson in it
  

Hard to stay upset long with this handsome little guy around

I'm so blessed that after all these years of being such a sensitive and feeling oriented person, I've been able to somewhat master the ability to shift moods and find meaning in the mess. Every challenge that comes can be seen as a gift. I have oneness with Jesus in my suffering, because he has suffered too. My little one has the gift of feelings as well. Together we learn from each other.

 

Besides the emotional upheavals, which I was thankfully able to recover from, there were countless small blessings. Here are just a few of them from the day and from our trip.

Blessings…

• Talking with the David's friends from the wedding he officiated
• David recounting the adventures of the wedding weekend
• Delicious mushroom, spinach, onion, cheese buckwheat crepe from Brittany's crepes 
• Bubble guns for the kids
• Pleasant pool time with such a varied crowd (families, singles, newlyweds...)
  
• Long-haired, brown-skinned hostess at Jacks restaurant
• Charlie and the Chocolate factory candy store at the wharf
• The vendor"George's birds" and his gruff way with kids 
• The happy street performer that stopped in the middle of his song to say we are a "beautiful family"
• Girls getting out of pool when it was time to go with no fussing
• Old school Amy Grant songs got us going each morning
  

These and many more blessings were ours during the trip. I look forward to more times like this.  I have the memories etched in my mind. I am beyond blessed. I am grateful.

 

 

 

Of Oceans, Lands, and Seas

Our first evening out by the wharf

There's nothing like the refreshing feeling of going on a simple getaway. Our little family likes to get away to the coast. The girls just love telling people "We're going to the coast", like its some magical faraway land were all things are well. 

Visiting the coast with my family is such a wonderful treat...when things go well. The problem is that sometimes vacations can be such a hassle and they end up not being very refreshing at all. However, this simple getaway we've been on has been more than wonderful. I can think of a few reasons why: 

• We've built up the excitement for a whole month by counting down the days
• We did some pre-planning in regard to the specific activities we were going to do 
• We had a basic mental and digital itinerary both in my head and on my phone
• I have not sweated the small stuff, we are not worrying about money, mishaps, miscalculations or mistakes of any kind. We are just rolling with the punches as they come.  
• The girls packed by themselves weeks before the trip
• I prayed very specific things that I wanted to see and I've been watching my prayers being answered right before me
• We are intentional about making every aspect an adventure and enjoyable. Every meal, walk on the wharf, new show watched, miscalculation of where the car garage is, every little thing that happens is viewed in the eyes of adventure, enjoyment, and humor

A large part of why things seem to be going so well is that the hubby and I are simply not stressing about minor things. We are here to enjoy each other and desire for things to be light and pleasant. I hope that we can learn some lessons from this trip and be intentional with making sure our other ones have the same relaxing vibe. Family time ought to be fun and free. I'm very thankful that "fun and free" is a reality for us right now. We are blessed. 

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  A little exploration on top of a lookout point