A recap of the week

I always start out with the best of intentions....and sometimes I'm sabotaged by something outside of my control, but most of the time I sabotage myself. This week started off with sick children....fevers, colds, coughs....It ran through the first of Tuesday, and then we just had to deal with a few residual symptoms. I couldn't control that, but did the best that I could do with the hand I was dealt. However, after Tuesday....I continued to mess things up myself......If you don't know me already...I'm not particularly a morning person....I'm always sooo tired in the mornings, even when I get to bed at a decent time.

I actually get up quite early every morning to get my husband up for work and out the door with everything he needs....about 6am. Sometime I manage to get my personal devotions done for the day, but it doesn't take me long to sink back into my covers and go back to sleep. I've always been this way, even as a kid. I don't want to be this way though. I always wished to be a morning person, but it's not happened yet.

But still, even with sleeping in, to what sometimes felt like an unbelievably late hour, I did my best to start the day, however late it was, hitting the ground running. I just got up and got my day going like it was still early, and ignored the fact that I was already halfway through morning time.

Each day this week felt very productive, even if I didn't always have time to get everything done that I hoped to. I still managed to make the most of the time that I had. You can read about my Monday here. Here's how the rest of my week went.......

Tuesday was my kitchen day....I had a list in my mind of things I wanted to get made along with my weekly chores for the kitchen. I got all but one thing made, which was some bread for the week. I ended up buying some on shopping day, but will be making some today. I did get some buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, kombucha, and water kefir made. I got my refrigerator cleaned out, and did a little straightening up, but not much. I felt like I was able to get a good start on some kitchen preps for the week though.

Wednesday was desk day....I spent the day sitting for the most part, but got a lot done, including bills paid, a budget made for the upcoming months, my shopping list made, and several things filed and put away. I sorted through some boxes of paper, and decided it was time to invest in a good paper shredder, because we have a lot of paper clutter that I have neglected taking care of. I also didn't get to do much homeschool prep or organization.

Thursday was town day....I had a big shopping list, and wanted to stock up on some things, and look for a new shredder, so we spent the afternoon shopping, and then went to drop a few bills off, and to the library. I spent the evening with my husband going through papers and putting our new shredder to work. We ended up filling a huge lawn and leaf bag full of just paper trash, and another kitchen trash bag full of shredded paper. Yes, I never threw anything away...which was evidenced when we found the papers for our first car we bought over 13 years ago, and have not had for about 10 years.

Friday was our cleaning day....this day started off really slow.....I was very tired. But again, I got up and got moving as soon as I was awake. After breakfast was out of the way, I made each of the kids a to do list for the day, and they got busy, cleaning their rooms and their assigned rooms, and taking care of a few other tasks I needed them to do. I decided that I was going to pick one room/area to really work on for the day, and get it really good and cleaned up and organized how I wanted it, and the front living area was the room I picked. It's the first room that we walk in to, and really sets the mood for the rest of the house. Cleaning and organizing turned into rearranging furniture. It was hard for me to not allow myself to get overwhelmed with all I really wanted to do in that room. There is so much besides just cleaning, decluttering, and organizing that really needs to be done. There's painting, decorating projects, sewing projects, and so much more, but instead of getting caught up in all that, I kept a piece of paper in there with me and every time I thought of something I really wanted to do in there, I wrote it down. That really helped a lot. Because now even though I can't do all that stuff right away, I have it written down in my home management binder, and as I have the time and money, I can work on it. It was a great jumpstart for me to get one whole room all done, and motivated me to keep pushing forward.

Today is my family/gardening/project day, and so far our plan is to spend a little time out in the garden preparing our raised beds for some upcoming plants, and starting some seeds. The rest of the day will be a partial kitchen day. I stocked up on some whole chickens, roast, and ground beef, and decided to cook them all up at once and freeze in meal size portions for the upcoming weeks. Then, we'll ofcourse prepare for the Lord's Day.

One thing that I realized this week, was how each day of the week contributes to the whole of keeping our home. Because I spent Monday working on laundry, there was not a lot of dirty clothes laying around the house during the week. Because I spent the day in the kitchen on Tuesday, I was able to get in there and cook healthy meals for my family for most of the week....(we did eat out once)...Because I worked on dealing with desk stuff on Wednesday, I was not stressed or worried about money issues and was able to start getting rid of all of our paper clutter....Because I got out and ran errands on Thursday, we are stocked up on groceries, and can spend more time making our home a haven for us to enjoy. And cleaning on Friday, allowed me to get one room thoroughly cleaned up and organized.

Our daily routines helped with the general clutter of every day life, and because we got them done, none of our chores were very difficult. On Friday, I was able to jump right in getting in to the hidden clutter in our living room, instead of having to spend half of my time picking up toys and other stuff that didn't belong in there. So I'm looking forward to the coming weeks, and seeing how much we can get done each day, just by doing our daily routines. Hopefully I will have some pictures to share next week, if not, I may wait until I get more done and do a whole home tour all at once.

My main goal for the coming week is to make it a point to go to bed a little earlier so that I can wake up earlier. We also need to do a bit more school. We did some throughout the week, but I need to commit to do more as we go about our day. Time to get my day started! Thank you for letting me share my week.

Blessings,
sara

Saturday-Family Day

The title should actually read Family/Gardening/Project Day, because depending on the time of year, and what we have going on, we could be doing a number of things. But I just call it family day, because whatever we're doing, we're doing it as a family. During the spring, summer, and early fall, we spend quite a bit of time outside on Saturday, but sometimes we go on a special field trip, or we go visit family, or I gather everybody together to give haircuts (yes, I'm the family hairdresser), and it's also when if I have a special project planned, I do most of it on Saturday, like painting and other household repairs. I started keeping a honey-do list of projects that I want done that I may or may not need hubby's help to get done. I think it helps my husband to see what I want done, and get to pick and choose what he wants to work on. A few things on my honey-do list right now are things like removing the broken air conditioner from the boy's room, taking out the broken dishwasher, and cleaning out the shed. Of course I don't make him do anything if he doesn't feel up to it, or needs the extra rest, but it's there when he does.


Morning

-Read Bible and pray
-Pack hubby's lunch, and fix his breakfast, if needed
-Make bed and straighten bedroom
-Yoga/stretching, get dressed, fix hair/face, and straighten bathroom
-Start kettle
-Start laundry, if needed
-Take dog out and feed her
-Make breakfast and tea/coffee
-Wake kids
-Eat breakfast, drink tea/coffee, and take supplements
-Table time-Proverbs reading, character study, and memory work
-Table chores
-Prep food for lunch and dinner, if needed
-Kids do bedroom and bathroom chores

Daily Chores-to be done by 4pm

-Wash laundry, if needed
-Clean up yard, sweep porch, straighten storage areas
-Mow yard, weed gardens, and do planting
-Clean animal pens (We don't currently have any extra animals, but we had and are planning on getting chickens again soon, as well as rabbits)
-Pet care-give dog a bath, brush, clean pet bowls,crate, fish tank, etc
-Special projects

Homeschool-as needed

-Field trips and special projects
-Music practice

Noon Hour

-Lunch prep and eat
-Table chores
-Dinner prep, if needed
-Family read aloud

Afternoon Chores

-Kids do quick pick up in assigned rooms
-Tea time
-Finish up daily chores
-Finish up school work and put away for the day
-Go for a walk
-Start dinner

Dinner Hour

-Fix dinner-clean as you cook
-Dinner and family devotions
-Table chores
-Plan menu and prep food for the next day

Evening

-Family time-Game night (We play a lot of games throughout the week, but we always try to sit down and make sure and play a game on Saturday too)
-Prepare for the Lord's day
-Quick pick up in assigned rooms and bedrooms, if needed
-Kids bathe/shower, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Poetry and Psalm reading
-Kids in bed at 9pm, reading, lights out by 10pm
-Bathe/Shower, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Free time-reading, watching tv/movie, spending time with hubby or working on a project
-Take dog out
-In bed by 10pm, reading, lights out by 11pm

Saturday is, like I said, an important part of making Sunday a restful day of worship. I make sure all of our clothes are layed out, we get baths out of the way, we make sure the house is picked up, I do any extra meal prep that I can to make it easier to get lunch on the table when we get home from morning services, and I make sure everybody knows where their Bibles, shoes, and anything else they need to be able to go to church are.

Saturday is also pizza night and game night at our house. So after all chores are done for the day, we enjoy settling down and enjoying some family time.

Goals for Saturday...well, we're wanting to fix up our kid's rooms before baby comes, something we've never done since moving here almost 5 years ago. So between gardening work, I'm sure that will keep us busy.

I've really enjoyed getting to share our daily routines. It's helped me to have a little more motivation to make sure we're following through with them, and I'm hoping to share some progress in the coming weeks. We are far from perfect at getting all of these things done each day. I regularly struggle with it. But I have a goal in mind, and although I'm anticipating the ever increasing nesting instincts to really push me forward in getting stuff done, it's even more important for me get these routines in place so that we can keep things looking good even during postpartum when things tend to go to shambles.

Thanks for letting me share!

Blessings,
sara

Friday-Cleaning Day

I think it's funny that I have a day specifically called my cleaning day, because obviously I clean all week long. But this is a day where I do try to make sure we do a bit more in depth cleaning, and get to those areas that don't really get very much attention during the week. I usually have a focus area that I try to work on during this day as well. The kids and I all work together to get our home nice and clean for the weekend, so we can enjoy our time together without worrying about the mess. Here's what we try to do on Friday:

Morning

-Read Bible and pray
-Pack hubby's lunch, and fix his breakfast, if needed
-Make bed and straighten bedroom
-Yoga/stretching, get dressed, fix hair/face, and straighten bathroom (I try to dress according to what I'm going to be doing, so Friday, I usually wear something comfy and not too pretty to clean in, or else I make sure and wear an apron)
-Start kettle
-Start laundry, if needed
-Take dog out and feed her
-Make breakfast and tea/coffee
-Wake kids
-Eat breakfast, drink tea/coffee, and take supplements
-Table time-Proverbs reading, character study, and memory work
-Table chores
-Prep food for lunch and dinner, if needed
-Kids do bedroom and bathroom chores

Daily Chores-to be done by 4pm

-Wash laundry, if needed (I usually end up doing a load or two on Fridays of bedding and such. I'll also probably be doing baby/diaper laundry on this day as well)
-Dust, sweep, vacuum, and mop throughout the house (My kids are each responsible for their assigned rooms and their bedrooms. I help them as needed and take care of extra mopping in the kitchen. Their assigned rooms right now are N12-playroom, M10-living room, and E7-family room. J4 usually helps his big brother.)
-Declutter, organize, and/or deep clean focus area

Homeschool-to be done by 4pm

-Reading, writing, and arithmetic with E7
-Reading-at least 1-2 hours a day (In addition to read alouds)
-Writing-copywork, dictation, and writing
-Arithmetic-Math on the level, 5-a-day, and new concept
-History/Bible
-Geography
-Science
-Music practice

Noon Hour

-Lunch prep and eat
-Table chores
-Dinner prep, if needed
-Family read aloud

Afternoon Chores

-Kids do quick pick up in assigned rooms
-Tea time
-Finish up daily chores
-Finish up school work and put away for the day
-Go for a walk
-Start dinner

Dinner Hour

-Fix dinner-clean as you cook
-Dinner and family devotions
-Table chores
-Plan menu and prep food for the next day

Evening

-Family time-Movie night (We have a weekly movie night where we all sit down with some popcorn and watch a movie together)
-Quick pick up in assigned rooms and bedrooms, if needed
-Kids wash up, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Poetry and Psalm reading
-Kids in bed at 9pm, reading, lights out by 10pm
-Wash up, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Free time-reading, watching tv/movie, spending time with hubby or working on a project
-Take dog out
-In bed by 10pm, reading, lights out by 11pm

This is a main area I really need to work on. If I am going to be able to get my home clean and organized by the time this baby comes, I need to make sure I'm spending a good amount of time each Friday really working on the focus areas. You can see from my previous posts, that the laundry room and kitchen each sort of already have their focus day. The kids help me to keep daily clutter picked up out of their assigned rooms and their bedrooms, and Saturday you will see we spend time working outside, and with daily routines much will get done throughout the house, but there is still a lot to be done. Those little areas that just don't get any attention, the toy clutter that needs to be dealt with, the cabinets and hall closets that are a mess, and so much more. Also the deep cleaning, such as cleaning baseboards, sweeping cobwebs down, etc. I hope to spend at least 1-2 hours working on a focus area each week.

A note about the bathrooms....the kids have bathroom chores every day, which helps keep the dirty laundry out of the bathroom, the sink wiped down, and the potty wiped off, and I take care of the master bathroom each day, but I work on doing extra cleaning in there on nights when we take baths/showers, wiping down mirrors, decluttering cabinets, organizing, and doing extra cleaning that needs done.

Just like the rest of the week, the kids help, and we work back and forth between school stuff and chores. And if we stick with it, we usually get a lot done.....and I am usually very exhausted by day's end, but always feel it's worth it.

Blessings,
sara

Thursday-Town Day

I'm a homebody. I don't like having to go and do a lot. I'd much rather be home enjoying my family and getting stuff done. But getting out at least once a week to take care of necessary things is well...necessary. So what I try to do, is aside from church, and occasional family outings, I try to plan all my errands out for one day, and that's Thursday. I do a few things to make this day a little easier on us. I don't plan on doing any laundry today. I also plan out what all I need to do. I make sure I have my shopping lists ready, my car loaded, and something simple planned for dinner. Homeschooling is usually a little more layed back. We try to get as much done in the morning as we can. And we include other things while we're out and about, like composer study, nature study, and sometimes our read aloud.

Morning

-Read Bible and pray
-Pack hubby's lunch, and fix his breakfast, if needed
-Make bed and straighten bedroom
-Yoga/stretching, get dressed, fix hair/face, and straighten bathroom
-Start kettle
-Take dog out and feed her
-Make breakfast and tea/coffee
-Wake kids
-Eat breakfast, drink tea/coffee, and take supplements
-Table time-Proverbs reading, character study, and memory work
-Table chores
-Prep food for lunch and dinner, if needed
-Kids do bedroom and bathroom chores

Daily Chores-to be done by 4pm

-Errands-library, post office, grocery store/shopping, bills, etc
-Clean out the van and fill it up with gas for the week
-Make appointments for this day, if possible


Homeschool-to be done by 4pm

-Reading, writing, and arithmetic with E7
-Reading-at least 1-2 hours a day (In addition to read alouds)
-Writing-copywork, dictation, and writing
-Arithmetic-Math on the level, 5-a-day, and new concept
-History/Bible
-Composer study
-Music practice

Noon Hour

-Lunch prep and eat
-Table chores
-Dinner prep, if needed
-Family read aloud

Afternoon Chores

-Kids do quick pick up in assigned rooms
-Tea time
-Finish up daily chores
-Finish up school work and put away for the day
-Go for a walk
-Start dinner

Dinner Hour

-Fix dinner-clean as you cook
-Dinner and family devotions
-Table chores
-Plan menu and prep food for the next day

Evening

-Family time
-Quick pick up in assigned rooms and bedrooms, if needed
-Kids bathe/shower, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Poetry and Psalm reading
-Kids in bed at 9pm, reading, lights out by 10pm
-Bathe/Shower, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Free time-reading, watching tv/movie, spending time with hubby or working on a project
-Take dog out
-In bed by 10pm, reading, lights out by 11pm

If the weather is nice, I try to pack a lunch, and we go to the park to eat, and I let the kids play, and we do a little nature study. I try to make all my midwife appointments for Thursday, and honestly am very hesitant to add anything that we have to leave the house for to our week unless it falls on Thursday. I've been praying about joining a local homeschool group that meets for P.E. every Tuesday, because like I said, I don't like having to get out and about too much. Another option I could do though, is move our errand day to Tuesday....but I'm not going to make any quick decisions about it right now. I've also been thinking of doing more errands in the morning, instead of the afternoon, so that my little guy can still get a nap.

Blessings,
sara

Wednesday-Desk Day

A confession, until recently (like January), even after I had started working towards making these changes to our routines, I was very haphazard in sticking to a budget and paying bills on time. It wasn't that it was not important to me....just something I had never done. As a result, we often had late fees, and a few times, have even been disconnected...(hangs head in shame). But since January, I have made a commitment every Wednesday to sit down and get on track with our budget and bills. I'm so thankful to say, that the Lord has greatly blessed my efforts, and is really helping me to stick with it. I also enjoy Wednesday, because I can figure out our whole homeschool week and what we'll be doing on one day, so I don't wake up and have to wonder, "ok, what were we going to do today?" So, here's a look at what Wednesday looks like for us:

Morning

-Read Bible and pray
-Pack hubby's lunch, and fix his breakfast, if needed
-Make bed and straighten bedroom
-Yoga/stretching, get dressed, fix hair/face, and straighten bathroom
-Start kettle
-Start laundry, if needed
-Take dog out and feed her
-Make breakfast and tea/coffee
-Wake kids
-Eat breakfast, drink tea/coffee, and take supplements
-Table time-Proverbs reading, character study, and memory work
-Table chores
-Prep food for lunch and dinner, if needed
-Kids do bedroom and bathroom chores

Daily Chores-to be done by 4pm

-Wash laundry, as needed (I don't usually do any laundry on Wednesday, but will probably be doing baby laundry/diapers once our little one is born)
-Review budget, balance checkbook, and pay bills
-File/shred papers
-Finish weekly shopping list
-Prep letters and packages to be mailed, if needed
-Homeschool prep and weekly review (I look ahead at the next week to see what books we might need, materials we need, and prep math lessons. I also recently started sitting down with each one of my kids individually to talk to them about progress and goals for the coming week. It's been very helpful in keeping them and me more focused.)
-Answer emails, internet research, etc, as needed (This is something I recently added. I'm trying to limit my time online on a daily basis to about 30 minutes a day either in the morning or evening, so I thought since I'd be at the desk for several things on Wednesday, I'd give myself a little extra time online)
-Straighten desk, homeschool area, and bookshelves
-Clean out purse


Homeschool-to be done by 4pm

-Reading, writing, and arithmetic with E7
-Reading-at least 1-2 hours a day (In addition to read alouds)
-Writing-copywork, dictation, and writing
-Arithmetic-Math on the level, 5-a-day, and new concept
-History/Bible
-Science
-Hymn study
-Music lessons

Noon Hour

-Lunch prep and eat
-Table chores
-Dinner prep, if needed
-Family read aloud

Afternoon Chores

-Kids do quick pick up in assigned rooms
-Tea time
-Finish up daily chores
-Finish up school work and put away for the day
-Go for a walk
-Start dinner

Dinner Hour

-Fix dinner-clean as you cook
-Dinner and family devotions
-Table chores
-Plan menu and prep food for the next day

Evening

-Family time-Wednesday Challenge Service-7pm
-Quick pick up in assigned rooms and bedrooms, if needed
-Kids wash up, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Poetry and Psalm reading
-Kids in bed at 9pm, reading, lights out by 10pm
-Wash up, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Free time-reading, watching tv/movie, spending time with hubby or working on a project
-Take dog out
-In bed by 10pm, reading, lights out by 11pm

I've been trying to do a crockpot meal on Wednesdays, because it seems like meals are a bit rushed already on this day due to us trying to get done in time to go to church. We also have music lessons on Wednesday. Other than that, Wednesdays are pretty relaxed, and a day where I thankfully get to sit and rest more.

As far as my extra goals for this day....I'm really just trying to make sure I stay on top of homeschool prep, budget review, and taking a few minutes each week to deal with paper clutter. If I do that, the rest of my week goes much smoother.

Blessings,
sara

Tuesday-Kitchen Day

I never really knew you could devote a whole day to kitchen work...nor did I think I would ever need to do that. But as I've added more to my workload in the kitchen, I've found a kitchen day very handy, and very necessary. I don't get everything done in there for the week....I wish....but it helps me get a jump start on the rest of week, and take care of things that I may only need to do once a week, as well as do some focused cleaning in there. Here's what our routines look like for Tuesday:

Morning

-Read Bible and pray
-Pack hubby's lunch, and fix his breakfast, if needed
-Make bed and straighten bedroom
-Yoga/stretching, get dressed, fix hair/face, and straighten bathroom
-Start kettle
-Start laundry, if needed (I usually wash kitchen towels on Tuesday)
-Take dog out and feed her
-Make breakfast and tea/coffee
-Wake kids
-Eat breakfast, drink tea/coffee, and take supplements
-Table time-Proverbs reading, character study, and memory work
-Table chores
-Prep food for lunch and dinner, if needed
-Kids do bedroom and bathroom chores

Daily Chores-to be done by 4pm

-Wash laundry, as needed
-Make bread, yogurt, ferments, meal prep, etc, as needed (I usually have to make bread more than once a week, but I try to make a big batch on Tuesday. The rest will depend on what I plan on us eating that week. I almost always make 3 quarts of yogurt and some granola each week. I also try to do any prep work that I can for the week, though I think I will move doing fruit/vegetable prep to my Town day as I'm putting the food away)
-Clean out refrigerator
-Clean and organize pantry and cabinets
-Wipe down counters, appliances, sink, and window
-Do necessary deep cleaning
-Check freezer, fridge, and pantry inventory
-Start weekly shopping list
-Sweep and mop kitchen floor
-Take out all trash/recycling/compost throughout the house (This is my oldest son's job. Trash day is Wednesday)


Homeschool-to be done by 4pm

-Reading, writing, and arithmetic with E7
-Reading-at least 1-2 hours a day (In addition to read alouds)
-Writing-copywork, dictation, and writing
-Arithmetic-Math on the level, 5-a-day, and new concept
-History/Bible
-Picture Study/Art
-Handicrafts

Noon Hour

-Lunch prep and eat
-Table chores
-Dinner prep, if needed
-Family read aloud

Afternoon Chores

-Kids do quick pick up in assigned rooms
-Tea time
-Finish up daily chores
-Finish up school work and put away for the day
-Go for a walk
-Start dinner

Dinner Hour

-Fix dinner-clean as you cook
-Dinner and family devotions
-Table chores
-Plan menu and prep food for the next day

Evening

-Family time
-Quick pick up in assigned rooms and bedrooms, if needed
-Kids bathe/shower, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Poetry and Psalm reading
-Kids in bed at 9pm, reading, lights out by 10pm
-Bathe/shower, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Free time-reading, watching tv/movie, spending time with hubby or working on a project
-Take dog out
-In bed by 10pm, reading, lights out by 11pm

One thing that's nice about my kitchen day, is I have a little window from my kitchen that overlooks our table where the kids work, so it's easy for me to be able to continue to work on school with them while I do various kitchen tasks. I've been trying to plan something to make with one or more of the kids each Tuesday to help work on math concepts while in the kitchen. They really enjoy that.

I usually end up mopping the kitchen floor again during the week, but I really get in there and scrub it good on Tuesdays. Again, just like the other days of the week, I pull one or more of the kids in to help me as needed, depending on what they're doing. On table chores, I've tried to divide things up amongst the kids and I, so that we can quickly get things cleaned up after meals each day. Right now, I have my oldest son N12 is responsible for helping clear the table, scraping plates, sweeping once a day under the table, and taking care of all trash/recycling/compost. My daughter, M10 is my main helper in kitchen work, and helps me with getting the dishes done. My next daughter E7, also helps me regularly in the kitchen, helps set the table, and helps with the dishes. Our little guy, J4, tags along, and helps his big brother, and sometimes his sisters. We try to include him in something after each meal.  

I'm going to be trying to work on filling our freezer up a little each week to make meals after baby a lot easier. I'm also working on training my kids, especially my girls on how to do more independant cooking to help out when I need them. I saw an idea recently where a mom let her older kids have one day a week that they get to plan and prepare the entire meal. I would love to start that!  

Just like our laundry day, the kitchen day is when I really want to get in there and get some focused cleaning and organizing done. My kitchen is not nearly as chaotic as some of the other areas of my home is, but anything in there that I can do to make my work more efficient, the better.

Blessings,
sara

Not exactly....

My Monday didn't go exactly as I had planned....but then again, when does it ever? Actually, my Sunday didn't go as planned either....I was at home on Sunday with two sick little ones...so no church for us. We ended up just resting and not doing a lot of anything most of the day....but Monday dawned, and I had already been up with some sickies, and it continued for the rest of the day.

Isn't he a cutie?! He puts on a killer smile for one who wasn't feeling too hot at the time!

So after an up and down night....I settled that Monday wasn't going to happen as I had thought it would....We set the school books aside, and set up make shift "sick beds" on the couch for those who weren't feeling well. Between going back and forth taking care of everyone, I managed to do a little bit of work in my laundry room. I got all the laundry gathered and sorted, and kept it rolling through all day. In between loads, I worked on doing a little decluttering and organizing.

 

I took this shelf that is right above my washing machine, and completely cleared it off. I suppose I should've taken a before picture, but it was pretty embarassing, so I decided not to. Trust me, it was a mess. I ended up filling part of a large brown paper bag full of stuff to donate to our upcoming church yard sale fundraiser, and another plastic bag full of trash. I also managed to get several larger items out of the laundry room that we no longer wanted. As I went to put stuff that needed to stay on the shelf, I started to just stick it all back up there, and decided that no, if I have to look at this area at least a few times a week, I should make it look nice. So I went shopping around my house for some baskets and containers to organize my stuff in.

 

What you see up there is a picture that I had buried under all the clutter, the red lidded jar holds some baking soda to be added to laundry as needed, the other jar is for loose change I find when I'm doing laundry, the basket on the right holds all my clothespins, and the one in the corner on the left is full of odd and end laundry stuff that I use occasionally for treating stains and such. It looks so much better than it did, and I was thankful that even though my day didn't go exactly as I had thought it would, I still managed to make at least one little corner of my home, look a little bit nicer.

 

Here's another picture of my laundry room from last week. This is the top of my dryer...It was a mess too. I cleaned it off, and found a container for all my laundry essentials....detergent, oxyclean, stain remover, vinegar, and some dryer balls. I have since moved the clothes pin basket to the shelf that you saw.

 

So, just a couple of things to make a room that can seem pretty mundane look a little more cheerful....

 

As an aside...I still didn't get all my laundry done....we ended up having out of town guests come by last minute, so the rest of the laundry will have to be worked on throughout the week. Thankfully, it seems that the yuckies are on their way out...so hopefully tomorrow can be a little bit more routine :o)

 

 

Monday-Laundry Day

Mondays...you either love them or you hate them.....For me, it depends on the night before...If we've had a late night at church, or just gotten to bed later than usual, then Mondays are hard. But if it's been the relaxed day of worship that I've been working towards, then it's not so bad. I enjoy the fresh start to the new week. I love fresh starts......new years is always a big deal for me, though I'll admit I rarely follow through with any New Year's resolutions. Still, I always feel like Monday is the start of a new work/school week, after a day spent worshiping the Lord, and it gives me a little boost to try harder on that day to make the most of that week.

For us, Monday is laundry day. A day when I try to cram in as much laundry as I possibly can in to one day. I used to spread my laundry throughout the week, doing a 1-3 loads a day, 5 days a week, but I hated dealing with laundry every single day, so I decided to have a laundry day, and just deal with it one day a week, with maybe a few loads that will need to be done throughout the week, and more once we have another little one in diapers around here. But the bulk of our laundry is done on Monday, and I actually enjoy getting it done now, because I know that once I get the last load washed, dried, and put away....there really isn't much else for me to do in the laundry room for the week.

In addition to getting our clothes clean, I have a few tasks that I try to get done on this specific day related to doing laundry. We also do school which is on my daily to do list for Monday. And for ease of use, I have put my regular daily routines on each day so I can just open up to that page, and see what all I have to get done, so some things will be repeats of what you've seen for things like our morning routine, although there are a few changes. So here's what our daily routines look like for Monday (with my extra notes in parentheses):

 Morning

-Read Bible and pray
-Pack hubby's lunch, and fix his breakfast, if needed(sometimes he doesn't want breakfast, and sometimes he comes home for lunch, so I always ask first.)
-Make bed and straighten bedroom (Straightening usually involves spending just a few minutes doing something to make my room look a little better. Right now, my room is sort of a mess, and a few minutes here and there is all I really have, so I do my best to not let myself get overwhelmed and spend a lot of time in there, just one little thing to make a difference, like straightening my bedside table, or straightening my dresser, etc)
-Yoga/stretching, get dressed, fix hair/face, and straighten bathroom (I generally sleep in stretchy workout type clothing, so I just get up and go to the playroom, where there is carpet, and spend about 10-15 minutes doing some yoga stretches to help my pregnant body not feel so yuck :o)
-Start kettle
-Start laundry
-Take dog out and feed her
-Make breakfast and tea/coffee
-Wake kids
-Eat breakfast, drink tea/coffee, and take supplements
-Table time-Proverbs reading, character study, and memory work
-Table chores (I'll share more later about what exactly we do for table chores)
-Prep food for lunch and dinner, if needed
-Kids do bedroom and bathroom chores (On Monday, this also includes gathering all their dirty laundry and sorting it)

Daily Chores-to be done by 4pm

-Set timer, wash laundry throughout the day (The timer is necessary, or I completely forget about it. I usually set it for an hour, and switch it out every hour, which allows me to get about 9 loads done a day if I stay with it, more if I use the clothesline)
-Straighten and clean the laundry room (This is an area that I really need to work on. My laundry room is a catch all for everything from clothes that need mending, have been outgrown, tools that need to be returned to the shed, and kids toys, skates, etc. I'm going to be trying to spend 30 minutes to an hour extra in there each week decluttering, organizing and cleaning, that's in addition to making sure all the laundry is getting put away that's done each week.)
-Iron and mend any clothes that need it (I keep my ironing board right next to the kitchen table on Monday so I can do this while the kids do school)
-Organize closets and dressers (I have the kids work on there closets and dressers while they are putting their laundry away, and then I check it. I take care of the littlest guy, and mine and hubby's closet and dressers.)
-Change out seasonal clothes, as needed

Homeschool-to be done by 4pm

-Reading, writing, and arithmetic with E7
-Reading-at least 1-2 hours a day (In addition to read alouds)
-Writing-copywork, dictation, and writing
-Arithmetic-Math on the level, 5-a-day, and new concept
-Science
-History/Bible
-Handicrafts

Noon Hour

-Lunch prep and eat
-Table chores
-Dinner prep, if needed
-Family read aloud (This is our literature selection to read aloud)

Afternoon Chores

-Kids do quick pick up in assigned rooms
-Tea time
-Finish up daily chores
-Finish up school work and put away for the day
-Go for a walk
-Start dinner

Dinner Hour

-Fix dinner-clean as you cook
-Dinner and family devotions
-Table chores
-Plan menu and prep food for the next day

Evening

-Family time (This varies, sometimes we watch tv/movies, sometimes we play games, sometimes we just do our own thing, working on projects, etc)
-Quick pick up in assigned rooms and bedrooms, if needed
-Kids wash up, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Poetry and Psalm reading
-Kids in bed at 9pm, reading, lights out by 10pm
-Wash up, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Free time-reading, watching tv/movie, spending time with hubby or working on a project
-Take dog out
-In bed by 10pm, reading, lights out by 11pm

I used to always get all my chores done during the morning, and then we set aside a specific time in the afternoon to work on school stuff. But I didn't always have chores for the kids to do during that time, so they were kind of left to their own devices unless I needed their help. So now we try to balance school with chores. I get laundry started, and then come and do a reading lesson, and whatever else I can fit in before I have to go switch it out. We kind of schedule around meal times....Our goal is to have most of our family studies done right after breakfast, while I go back and forth and work on laundry. Then after lunch, and our family read aloud, the kids do their independant work, and I bounce around helping each one as needed, and doing my other chores for the day. And if I'm lucky, and there's not a lot to do, I get a little nap, and the kids have a quiet/nap time. Then in the afternoon, around 3pm, we make mad dash to get all the laundry finished up and put away, and quick pick ups done before hubby gets home a little after 4pm. I really like it this way, because it kind of feels like at 4pm, I clock out for the day, and only have to worry about dinner, which is usually made easier by my prep work during the day. We have a long way to make this day as productive as I'd like it to be. Although we've managed to get most all of our laundry done each week on this day....little else has been getting done, and this is where my desire to get my home clean and organized, while still instilling these daily routines comes into play. If I commit to spending that 30 minutes to an hour each week on my laundry room cleaning and organizing, then it will be no time until it is exactly the way I would like it to be, without having to spend a whole focused day or week on this room with little else getting done. Another thing is, though I don't mention it...my kids help me throughout the day. They are responsible for gathering and sorting their laundry, getting/keeping their rooms clean, putting their laundry away, helping me switch out loads, straightening the laundry room, etc. I ask help from different ones depending on what they are doing at the time, and who I feel needs the extra attention and training. So that's our Monday, along with some of my goals to work on during this day. I hope you enjoyed peeking into our day!

Blessings,
sara

Sunday-The Lord's Day

I didn't become a Christian until I was in my mid-20's, and even then I was far from a dedicated one. It hasn't been until the last few years that I have really started working hard at dedicating my life to the Lord, not only in my day to day life, but also setting aside a special day of worship just for Him. It took me a long time to get to that point, but now that I have, I can't see my Sunday being any different. Although, we do have some stressful Sundays, which are usually a result of lack of preperation on my part, I do try my best to be ready to spend my day focusing on Him, and putting away all the daily household things to be done that can sometimes get in the way of that focus.

For me, that starts in the days before Sunday, which I'm not going to talk about today. But I had to mention it, because without taking the time to prepare especially for the Lord's Day, it would not be the day of rest and worship that it usually is. I'll share how I try to do that in the days ahead. But here's what our routines look like specifically for Sunday (my extra notes are in parentheses):

Morning

-Read Bible and pray
-Make bed and straighten bedroom
-Get dressed, fix hair/face, and straighten master bathroom
-Start the kettle
-Take the dog out and feed her
-Make breakfast and tea/coffee
-Wake kids
-Eat breakfast, drink tea/coffee, take supplements
-Table time-Proverbs reading, character study, and memory work
-Table chores (These are the chores we all do to get things cleaned up after meals)
-Prep food for lunch and dinner
-Kids do bedroom and bathroom chores (which includes personal devotions and getting ready for church)

(No daily chores for Sunday)

Sunday School and Morning Worship Service @ 9:45am

Noon Hour

-Lunch prep and eat
-Table chores
-Dinner prep, if needed

Sunday Afternoon Rest (the one day I usually can count on getting a nap)

Afternoon Chores

-Quick pick up in assigned rooms (Each of my older three children have a specific assigned room that they help keep clean every day)
-Tea time (This is a new habit we are working at including. It's a nice break, & we really enjoy it)
-Start dinner, if needed (We usually eat after the evening service, and it's usually something simple like leftovers or sandwiches, but if I need to prep anything, I do it now)

Dinner Hour (after evening service)

-Fix dinner-clean as you cook
-Dinner
-Table chores
-Plan and prep meals for the next day (I don't like to menu plan, so I usually just plan no more than one day ahead. I try to make sure I know what we're having after dinner each night, and do any prep work that is needed)

Evening

-Family time-Calvary kids and evening service-4:45pm
-Quick pick up in assigned rooms and bedrooms, if needed
-Kids wash up, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Poetry and Psalm reading
-Kids in bed at 9pm, reading if they want to, lights out by 10pm
-Wash up, brush teeth, and get ready for bed
-Free time-reading, tv/computer, time with my honey, or working on a project
-Take dog out
-In bed by 10pm, reading, lights out by 11pm

A few extra notes:

As structured as all that looks...our Sundays are usually very layed back. I keep meals really simple, and try to do one dish meals, or something I can just throw a salad with. We don't really make a mess, as we spend most of our time at home resting, reading, and watching movies, so there is usually very little actual picking up to do. This is one day, that when I've made the preperations for it, usually always goes very smoothly. One goal that I have for Sundays is to be more open to hospitality on this day...to be able to invite people over for meals after church, but still keep it simle enough that I won't have to get caught up in busyness, and can keep my focus where it should be. It's a great day for family, friends, and especially time spent with the Lord!

Blessings,
sara

A System that Works

My mother, she did her best, but she never really had the chance to teach me the skills I needed to take care of a home and family, with me being away at school most of the time, and in actuality, I was much more of a tomboy anyways, and could be mostly found helping my dad with yard work and building things. So I have always struggled with the hows of keeping my home. But I am thankful that as I have been trying to learn, that I've had the oppurtunity to have my girls right by me learning as well.

Over the years I've tried many "systems" to keep my home clean. The first one that really worked for me was Flylady. She helped me to establish routines and zones and order in my home. She explained to me what keeping a home was really all about, and gave me the details I needed to be able to do it. For the first time, I had a system in place, and not just a haphazard way of dealing with the chaos that came with running my own household.

That worked for me for many years....though, I often fell off the wagon, and slowly struggled my way back on many times. It was what helped me establish order. But over the last year or so, as our family dynamics and size has started to change, I felt a need to change our system for keeping up with it all as well. We are after all a homeschooling family of 6, now soon to be 7 people.

I was thankful to find the book by Kim Brenneman called Large Family Logistics. She was similar to Flylady, but a bit different in her approach, and she included much wisdom on dealing with a large, homeschooling family. So I started to adapt her system to our family. And just like Flylady, I have repeatedly fallen away from doing what I should be doing each day. But when I have managed to follow through, I have seen the fruit that comes with that.

So my goal in the coming weeks is to really work hard at putting this system into place, and learning the daily routines that come with it, so that when I come home from having this little one, not only will I have a clean and organized home, but children and a husband who will know how to help me keep it this way while I am recovering, so we don't slip right back into the chaos that we are currently dealing with. Over the next week,  I will be posting each day, sharing what our daily routines look like for that day, along with some extra goals I'd like to work on during this time as well. Then if I am able, I will post weekly to share our progress in how we're doing, and like I said before, perhaps post some pictures of that progress. I hope you'll join me!

Blessings,
sara

A Bit Overwhelmed

I'm about to hit the third trimester of this pregnancy, and with it comes many other things, two of which I'd like to share here.....

1. Being large and uncomfortable

and

2. The innate desire to clean my house from top to bottom, and front to back

Unfortunately those two don't seem to work together too well. I'm already dealing with quite a bit of discomfort, which has made getting around more difficult, but that hasn't stopped me from really wanting to get in here and get my house cleaned and organized....but first some honesty.....I'm not a naturally born organized neat and tidy kind of gal. Cleaning and organizing does not come to me easily...it never has. Complete candidness......as a child/teen I literally had a path in my room to my bed, and one to my closet. The rest of my room was trashed. Thankfully my house isn't that bad, but it definitely needs a lot of work. And with the exhaustion of the first trimester that has lingered over most of the second trimester, even more so...

When those nesting instints hit me, though, I'm always very overwhelmed. I want to be able to sweep through my home like a giant hoover vacuum, and take care of all the clutter, organize what we have, and make everything clean and shiny, (and paint every single room).....It doesn't take me long to realize, however, that isn't going to happen. I can only do what I can do.

One thing that I've learned from previous pregnancies is that I can make my home all shiny and clean and organized in the last weeks and months before baby comes thanks to these wonderful nesting instincts that the Lord has given us....I always have managed to do so. When I leave for the hospital, my house is near picture perfect. But in doing so I have done nothing to gain the habits needed to keep it that way. Within days, my house is soon in shambles, because my family has no idea how to help keep it that way. Nothing was learned in my effort to get my home clean.

So, as much as I'd like to say, "Kids, no school for the next month, we're going to clean house....", I'm not going to. What I am going to do is focus on following our routines that I have put in place, and focusing my efforts on cleaning and organizing a little each week in addition to our regular weekly chores. I hope to share what that will look like for us in the next week, and maybe (maybe?) share some pictures of our efforts. I'm in need of a little motivation and accountability, because as much as I want to see my home clean, I still get tired and sore, and fall away from the routines I've set up. So maybe with sharing here, that will help me to stay the course.

Blessings,
sara

 

26 weeks-a look at my health

There's not a lot to report this week, really.....

I'm feeling lots of kicks and jabs, and much higher than before. A few times she's managed to make me have to move a certain way to make room for her to move around!  I count it all joy though! I love all of her little movements!

Discomfort this week has been at a minimum, except for some round ligament pains. I've been trying to add some yoga/stretching to my daily routines, and it seems to help a lot!

I was so blessed this week to get many of the things we needed for our new little one. It's been 4 years since I had my last baby, and we have gotten rid of most everything, and while I'm of the mind that I really do not need a lot of the stuff most new mothers insist that they need, it has been nice to add some things for our little one. A dear friend gave us several cute outfits, and all the cloth diapers we will need to get started cloth diapering right after she's born. Then for $100, I found someone selling a lot of baby stuff that I was hoping to be able to get, including a bassinet, a boppy pillow, a diaper bag, and several bags full of clothes, sizes newborn to 6 months. All of it in brand new condition. Our home is quickly filling up with cute baby stuff! I love it!

I'm afraid my energy was pretty low all week, and not much got done around here, as is apparent in my last homeschool post. I did the minimum around the house, and am praying for a more productive week this next week. The Lord did bless me today, and I was able to spend a good deal of time really getting my kitchen cleaned up and in order. For me, the general rule of thumb is that, as goes the kitchen, so goes the rest of the house. So I am thankful that I got such a good jumpstart on getting things done in there for the coming week.

One thing that was really layed on my heart this week is that I really need to pay better attention to my health. After my last baby, my health went down the drain, and I do not want that this time, so I'm getting a jumpstart while I can. I've given myself a list of guidelines to follow for the rest of my pregnancy, and even beyond. Here's what I am going to be working on implementing every day:

-Eat 2 eggs a day cooked in coconut oil. This can be for any meal during the day, and may occasionally be boiled eggs.

-1 pint-1 quart of bone broth a day. Either drank straight as is, or used in soups.

-Quality prenatal and cod liver oil supplement taken daily.

-Liver once a week. This one will be hard for me as I've never had liver, but I read about grinding it up to cook with the ground beef, so I'm going to give that a try.

-Lots of salad and leafy greens-I love salad!

-1 bottle of water kefir a day or a large serving of yogurt

-1 bottle of kombucha a day. Not sure on this one, as I've read conflicting reports on drinking this during pregnancy. I may start with a small amount every day, and see how it affects me and baby, and I will continue my research.

-1-3 cups of red rasberry leaf tea a day. I also add about a teaspoon of coconut oil per cup for health benefits.

-Eat sauerkraut regularly. I've been craving this, so it won't be hard!

-Drink 2 quarts of water a day with lemon for detoxifying.

-Stretches/Yoga at least 5 days a week

-Walk 30 minutes at least 5 days a week

-Spend an additional 30 minutes outside either gardening, playing with the kids, or just watching them play

-Oil pulling a few  times a week

-No more than 1 cup of coffee a day, and no more than 1 cup of any other caffienated drink a day. No soda, just tea.

So those are my goals. Some will be easy for me to fit in, others will take more effort. But I'm certain they will be worth it, and help me to feel better!

26 weeks down....14 more to go!

Blessings,
sara

Learning Journal-February-Week 1

This week, has unfortunately, not been as productive as I would have liked. I had an off week for whatever reason, and just didn't feel well most of the time. We got done what we could, and will do better next week, though!

-Reading-
     -Read alouds-
-Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew-a few chapters left...
     -Personal reading-
My older two both have chapter books they are currently in the middle of , and my younger too both go through several books each day being read to, and practicing reading for themselves.

-wRiting-
-M10-Spent time working on her story about a family getting a new puppy
-N12 & M10- worked on cursive copywork and did several mad libs

-aRithmetic-
-N12 & M10-did 5-a-days and speed drills
-J4-counted mama's stitches as she knit, counting up to 60
-Played a game of skip-bo with my girls
-M10 & E7-helped regularly in the kitchen
-N12-had a length discussion with him about how taxes work

-Music-
-music practiced daily-guitar, piano, and recorder

-Life-school-
-E7-played a few games of checkers
-We had the pleasure of getting to watch a magic show put on by my oldest 3, with a bit of guitar playing as well. Quite entertaining!
-Lots of discussion about many topics....

I'm working this weekend on being more prepared and a bit more organized for the upcoming week. I'd like to see my kids be able to move on with school even when I'm not feeling 100%.

Blessings,
sara

Differences in Methods-Beechick vs. Mason

*This is a re-post I wrote a while back about the difference in Ruth Beechick and Charlotte Mason*

I was recently explaining to someone the differences between the Ruth Beechick and Charlotte Mason methods of education, and thought I'd share here, in case someone else might be wondering the same thing. These are merely my opinions and findings from what I've read. I don't claim to know all about either method.

Both methods are very similar, but there are some distinct differences. First I'll discuss some of the ways that they are similar:

• They both endorse the use of "real" or "living" books as a means to educate children.
• They both encourage memorization of poetry.
• They both say that  the education of the "whole child" is what's important, as in teach to the child, not to the grade level.
• Both of them use copywork and dictation as a means to teach language arts, but in very different ways.
• The both believe in delaying formal grammer.
• Both teach that math should be learned by real life application for the most part.

So now that we know some similarities, let's see what some of their differences are:

• Charlotte Mason, in my opinion, had a much more liberal worldview. I do believe she was a Christian, but at that time, the evolutionary theory was accepted as the norm. Ruth Beechick, has a very strong Biblical view of everything from creation on.
• Charlotte Mason pushed heavy structure from an early age, though she did say that children should get their school done in the morning, so that they could be free to play and enjoy nature in their afternoon free time. School time was very structured though. Children started learning history, science, and other subjects, at the same time they were learning to read, and learn basic writing and math. Ruth Beechick teaches a much more relaxed approach, learning most things, especially early on through real life learning, or the "immersion method", otherwise know as living what you learn. This continues, adding structure and curriculum as needed, pushing the child only to their frustration point, not past it. She said children should be able to focus on the "3 R's" (reading, writing, and arithmetic) until 4th grade on up, when they start learning other subjects.
• Charlotte Mason used copywork as a means mostly to learn handwriting. She taught formal grammer as a seperate subject when the student was around 10 or 11. Dictation was used to teach spelling. Narration was used to teach composition, first orally, and later as written narrations. Ruth Beechick uses copywork and dictation to teach all aspects of language arts, from handwriting to grammer(using only gentle introductions until middle school), to spelling, and even composition. She also helps you condense things further by saying you can get your copywork/dictation passages from whatever the child is reading, general reading, Bible, history, or science. You can read a little more about how this is done here.
• Charlotte Mason teaches history in chronological order, I believe in 6 year rotations. History is taught by reading lots of "living" books for that time period, and having the children narrate them. Ruth Beechick promotes the use of unit studies, incorporating your language arts and other writing around what you are studying, and says that there really is no need to teach history chronologically, except for maybe in high school, simply to pull together all that they've learned.
• Science, from what I've seen, in the Charlotte Mason method is taught mostly through nature study, and again "living" books. For Ruth Beechick there's not much a difference except that she says that you can also learn science through unit studies as well.

So you can see that both differ a little bit. I think, though, that both methods would work wonderfully together, or on their own. I, personally, lend myself towards a more Beechick approach, simply because I love the relaxed and more integrated style of it. But I don't mind incorporating a little bit of Charlotte Mason as I see the need or desire to.

Blessings,
sara

Homeschool is Lifeschool

I've been wanting to do a post on what homeschooling looks like for us right now. We've evolved a bit over the years, and I've had a lot of failures throughout that time....but I am currently in a place where I feel completely comfortable with what we are doing, and see no need to change it for the forseeable future.

Just for those who might not know, a bit of background info.....

We've been homeschooling for almost 6 years now. I'm currently homeschooling 4 children, with one little one due in May. My students are my son who is 12 in 7th grade, my two daughters, one who is almost 11 and in 5th grade, and another who is almost 8 and in 2nd grade, and my 4 year old son who technically doesn't do any formal school, but the way we homeschool he is included in a lot of what we do.

I've tried a few different methods, including traditional workbooks to almost unschooling. If you know me, or have read my blog before, you probably already know I'm a huge fan of Ruth Beechick. If I had to describe homeschooling the "Ruth Beechick way", I'd say it's a relaxed version of Charlotte Mason style homeschooling. Real books, real life, down to earth teaching. It's also a lot easier, because it's more conducive to teaching multiple ages than the way Charlotte Mason suggests.

What we do....

Like I said, real books, real life, and down to earth teaching.... Because of that we really don't use a lot, if any curriculum. That's not to say that Beechick is anti-curriculum, but she advocates that it's not always necessary and if and when you do use it, you bend it to fit your needs at the time, and not let it run you. But for the moment, we don't really use a curriculum, except for math, and even it is not the traditional type of math curriculum.

So, what do we do? Well, here's the rundown.....

The Bible-It is the foundation that everything else we do is layed upon. We do several different things at different times. Sometimes we just pick a book of the Bible and read through it, stopping every few verses to discuss. Sometimes we use devotionals or study guides. Currently though, we are using a book called "Character Building for Families: Volume 1" by Lee Ann Rubsam. We haven't finished the book or even gotten half way through, but so far, we have really enjoyed it. I'll review it more thoroughly when we've finished it. In addition, we also read a chapter from Proverbs with breakfast, and a chapter or two of Psalms at bedtime.  I'm hoping to add an additional time of study during our dinner time, but haven't managed to successfully do that. We also memorize lots of scripture using the Simply Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory Box System, and regularly learn new hymns.

Unit Studies-I love unit studies! I don't see how moms of many can handle teaching multiple history or science topics to different ages at a time. I'm sure it's doable, but it was just never something I could do. We have used curriculums in the past that use a unit study approach, but I struggled with them, mostly because I felt too tied to them to make them enjoyable for any of us. They usually included too many projects, or too many writing assignments for us, so we just sort of wing it on our own now. I don't try to make big plans, all we do is I let my kids give input on what they would like to learn about, or I suggest something. We go to the library and try to find books on what we want to study next, or if I have to, I order what we need. And we read aloud every day, and when one of us think of a project or something we do it. Sometimes we may just look stuff up on a map or research further online, or if there is one available, we watch a documentary. If there's a craft or related science project that we want to do, and it sounds interesting we do it, but that doesn't happen too often. Sometimes, I will have another book for one of the older kids to read on their own on the same topic to give them a different perspective. I'm also working on giving my oldest two chances to do unit studies on their own. We read, we research, and when we have learned all we care to learn about the topic...we move on.

Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic-

The rest of what we do boils down to the 3 R's, as well as what you might call a few extra-curriculuars.

Reading-This encompasses all manner of reading.....we are a reading family....we love to read...we almost always have the max number of books checked out on our library cards every two weeks (and we shall not discuss the amount of fines I often have to pay :P). The unit studies we do fall under this category. On a day to day basis, we have as many as 8-10 books being read between all of us, in addition to small read alouds with the little guy. Each of the older 3 kids have a book or two they are reading on their own free time. The older two will regularly also have a book that they are reading on our unit study topic. Then as a family, we have our unit study read aloud, a family read aloud, a poetry book we read at bedtime, as well as other books we reference throughout the week for things such as composer study, artist study, or nature study. We regularly use discussion or narration for comprehension of the books we are reading.

My almost 8 year old is still getting reading lessons every day, and for that we use Ruth Beechick's, The Three R's. It is such a great book for teaching reading (as well as writing, and math)! Very straightforward and easy to use! Where she struggled with some of the other things we used to teach reading, she has greatly excelled with this book!

wRiting-Just like reading, writing is covered in all writing that we do. In teaching "formal writing", we use copywork and dictation. I pull copywork and dictation exercises from whatever books we are currently reading. I also regularly look for writing oppurtunities as they come up. My older two are encouraged to write something every single day. I don't care what...just write. I'm happy to give them ideas if they want them, and sometimes they do. They are currently both writing their first books...my son a fiction story on survivalism, and my daughter, a fun story about a family and a new dog. Other writing they may do is writing on our unit study topic, thank you notes, letters to family and friends, shopping lists, poems, and anything else we think of. My almost 8 year old is at the stage of learning where she is working more on form, so she mostly does copywork and dictation, but every once in a while I'll have her dictate something to me that she wants to write. Once a week or as needed, I have a grammar lesson pulled from their writing for the week, and occasionally, in addition to the dictation, we will work on some spelling issues from their writing. When they get to about 4th grade they learn typing on the computer, and if they prefer, I let them do their writing on the computer, (not copywork or dictation though).

aRithmetic-This is the only area where we use curriculum, in fact we use two, but as I said, the curriculum we use is not the traditional type....We use Math on the Level and Life of Fred. Math on the Level is a very unique way of teaching math, that encourages hands-on, real life application, but they also throw in a review system where in your child has to do 5 math problems a day to review things they have learned. You as the parent get to decide what to teach and when. There are no grade levels, just concepts to teach, and you can move as quick or as slow as your child needs. They have tons of ideas of how to use real life application in your teaching. Right now, just my older two do the 5 a days every day, they also cover math facts using speed drills a couple times a week. My younger daughter does more hands on type stuff, but will probably begin 5 a days soon. Life of Fred is just a fun read aloud that we enjoy that has a fun way of explaining math to the kids. Some other things we do to help with math concepts in every day life is we play LOTS of games, I include the kids in budgeting, paying bills, and shopping using a budget, and doing price comparisons, and I let them help me in the kitchen every single day.

Everything Else-

These are the few things that I consider extra-curriculars...but really, I can't imagine doing school without them.

Nature study-My kids love doing nature study! We keep a handful of guides and books to help us, and we spend at least an hour once or twice a week either at home in our own back yard or out and about at parks or other places where we have found. One of our favorite resources is the Handbook of Nature Study, and the website by the same name that helps you get a handle on actually getting out there and doing nature study every week.

Artist/Composer Study-This is just a little thing we do to expose ourselves to other things that we may not regularly come across. For about 10 minutes every day, usually during lunch, we either listen to a certain composer or study a specific piece of art, and then take a few minutes to read a little about whoever it is that did it.

Handicrafts/Projects-I'm a crafty person...or I try to be....I sew, I knit, I paint (though not well), I embroider. I also enjoy lots of other things-gardening, urban homesteading, self sufficiency, baking, etc....I love learning new skills. And as part of that, I try to teach my children these new skills. They may not always enjoy everything I do, and may have some of their own they want to try, but the point is to teach them that learning new skills or handicrafts is important. I also try to just let them do crafts, the messy kind even, that every mom dreads. I let them paint, cut up paper, whatever. They love it...but they also have to help clean it up :o)

Music-All of my children are pretty active musically. My oldest plays guitar and a bit of piano, my second oldest plays the recorder and piano, and my third also plays piano. They also all are in church choirs and singing groups. At this time they are all either self led, or I instruct them as best as I can. I know enough usually to help them, or we learn together.

Sports/P.E.-We don't do any specific P.E. type curriculum. I just make sure to encourage my kids to be outside. They help in the garden, doing yard work, hanging laundry out to dry, we go for walks, we go to the park, etc. The only organized sport we are involved in, aside from church softball games during the summer, is my oldest son, who plays for little league baseball. We make it a family activity though! We practice together, we watch all his games, and we encourage him! We are also currently learning more about nutrition, and making changes to eat healthier, and I'm making sure the kids are understanding and taking part in that change. I want them to know why we eat the way we eat!

And really, (long as this post has gotten), that is all we do, and my kids seem to be truly flourishing under this way of schooling....and actually, so am I! I love doing school with them.! I'm not overwhelmed, I'm not stressed! I honestly look forward to it! It's simple, and effective. I regularly refer to all of Ruth Beechick's books to give me ideas, helps, and sometimes just to help me remember why I'm doing what I'm doing. I won't deny, we have bad days (can you say first trimester blahs? Or even 2nd trimester blahs?) But at the very least, when we do have a bad day or even two, I don't feel like we are so behind, and we have to go in to overkill to catch up.

I realize that homeschooling this way is not for everybody, but it has certainly blessed our family! I look forward to it, and I'm even looking forward to making this way of homeschooling work through the highschool years, and I gotta say, they are creeping up on me fast! Thanks for letting me share what's working for us! I'm hoping to be doing something once a week, in a way of record-keeping, is to have what we will call our learning journal to share with you what exactly we do each week!

See some of the resources in my sidebar for great articles by Ruth Beechick, and also if you get a chance to read any of her books, here are the links to ones I have and love!

The Three R's
You Can Teach Your Child Successfully
A Biblical Home Education
Dr. Beechick's Homeschool Answer Book
The Language Wars
Language and Thinking for Young Children
How to Write Clearly
Heart and Mind
World History Made Simple
Genesis: Finding our Roots


Blessings,
sara