If you didn't know, we have been homeschooling for a while now. It was something that God completely directed us in because there is NO WAY! and when I say NO WAY! I mean NO WAY!, I would of even thought of doing this. Looking back though, I can't see life any other way for us, there has been so many benefits to it and some I probably will not see until years down the road.
We spend our mornings getting into gear by the normal getting ready, making of beds, eating of breakfast; hopefully, brushing of teeth and doing chores around the house.
On a good day, we say the Pledge of Allegiance, our school motto and pray as we begin our day. I say "good day" as a way of saying it just doesn't happen every day. I would love to say that we are so disciplined and that life NEVER interrupts us so that we can do these things in a regular manner each and every morning, but that just isn't how life rolls around here.
The kids have added saying their scripture memory verses after our school motto and it is so sweet how they give a high five or a "Good Job" when each of them does it word for word perfect.
This year was another year of new beginnings. We attend Community Bible Study weekly in our area and along with doing that study we added a few more things that we rotate in the week.
Along with the kids doing their study in Acts, they also read 2 chapters of the Old Testament. We want to read through the Bible twice before Sis graduates High School. We started in Genesis and will read straight through to Revelation and start again. While we read, we look for any promises that God gives in those chapters. They can be promises that He answers immediately or it gives the kids something to look forward to as they read on. The kids need to tell me the promises that they found and I am amazed at how most of the time they see promises that the other one didn't pick out.
Once or twice a week, we read a hymn and about the author of that hymn. I have confessed that I am not musically inclined so I just "read" all of the words to the hymn. One day we plan on getting some music. There isn't any rhyme or reason as to what hymn we read about; I usually just pick one that I have heard about or like the words to and we read that one.
We rotate reading Know What You Believe with the hymn study. This book we read a little bit at a time and the kids listen to what I read to them and then write down three things that they remember from my reading. They keep these entries in a journal. This has been a challenge because I do not allow them to look back in the book to get information. They need to remember correctly the information that was read to them. The kids can ask clarifying questions to me before they write down the information but the information must be accurate. One of those listening skills that is often hard to learn in the beginning and needs to be continually worked on.
Each day they read a chapter or two in a book about a missionary that lived in the time period that we are studying. Right now, they are finishing up David Livingstone - a missionary to Africa. Next up, will be William Booth. The Trial and Triumph book is read from, maybe, every 2 to 3 weeks. It is usually a small story about a person from church history and correlates with the biography that the kids are reading.
It sounds like a lot, even look likes a lot when you are writing it down; but time wise, it only takes about a 1/2 an hour to accomplish all of it. If the kids had to do ALL of it every day, I don't think that it would be as interesting for them but because we rotate books in and out during the week, it keeps them looking forward to what we are doing that day.
Everybody does schools differently, that is the great thing about homeschooling it is fit to the individual family ~ so happy schooling!
Until next time.....