Friday 18 November 2011

The Home School Mother's Journal {1}


The Home school Mother’s Journal began as a single post on a Friday morning over at The Homeschool Chick, and turned into a link-up for home school mothers across the blog-O-sphere to share a piece of their journey with one another each week. The link party is open from Friday to Monday so join me in The Home school Journal and lets encourage one another on our home school journey.

In my life this week…
 
In our home school this week…
We made home made laundry soap together and had a look at a liquid powered clock. We are working at recognising larger numbers.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Take an inventory of those who are in your support network and make sure that they are pulling you forward and not keeping you back.
Are these people like minded or just a hindrance ?
Are they an encouragement or a discouragement to you ?
Do you have some one in your sphere who inspires and encourages you ?
It's this support network that will make or break your journey.

I am inspired by…
The commitment of Mothers inspiring and encouraging others through their blogs and books.


Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
This week was my 20th wedding anniversary, Paul took me to Daylesford and Sir N stayed over at his Granny for the night.
My mom took him with her to an appointment and then together they caught a tram, train and bus to get home. It was a great exercise for Sir N to see how the public transport system works and how he can use it to get home.

My favorite thing this week was…
My 20th wedding anniversary and making home made laundry soap.

What’s working/not working for us…
 Loving the weekly co-op for art.  Sir N is experiencing variety in his art because of this.  I am really pleased to see his progress and willingness to try new things.

The structure of my day is not right.  I need to find a better routine so that I can accomplish my goals in home schooling.  I am finding that having teens and one just starting school is a difficult juggling act. .....

Questions/thoughts I have…
I am really concerned with attitude at the moment and just wondering how to tackle this particular issue in a constructive way to make active measurable achievements.

Things I’m working on…
Still trying to work my way through my new beginnings commitments.  This is by no fault of the books, it's mine and my lack of organized time.  Due to illness I had to put a hold on my progress but this week my aim is to clear all the clutter that has taken over every available spot in my home.
I also want to actively work on scripture memory with Sir N I have let this lapse.

I’m reading…
A book by Sally Clarkson titled: The Ministry of Motherhood

I’m cooking…
I am researching more gluten free recipes for us as I would like to try this approach to cooking as I think that I might be sensitive to gluten ...

I’m grateful for…
Paul who has shown me how much he loves me this week.  I am grateful that my children are healthy and strong.  I am grateful for the friends and family who have supported and encouraged me this week.


A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
I was very pleased when I went looking for Paul and Sir N this week and found them thus:


This photo is precious to me because now that I have teenagers I realise just how quickly this phase of life dissappears and this photo captured a moment in time with Sir N. I used to think this is the way it always will be and it's not so I am learning to rest in the now and enjoy the moments as they will be a thing of the past far too quickly.

I encourage you to enjoy the here and now of where your children are at because tomorrow those moments will be a distant faded memory.

Blessings






This post is linked to:

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

21 comments:

  1. Chareen, I find myself juggling teenagers and little ones, too. The younger children often have to fit in while I run around after the older ones - it gets very busy. To cope with the housework, I decluttered all the rooms, and now I have a schedule where I clean two rooms or areas each day (except for Sunday). It's the same pattern, every week - gradually, it's taken less time as I've got on top of the chores that had piled up. The children clean their own bedrooms and that works quite well.

    It sounds as though you have found some good house management books. I look forward to hearing some new ideas from you.

    I hope you are also able to get some rest while you're recovering. God bless, Chareen:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great photo! We've been making laundry soap for years. But then again, I make all cleaning products. :P

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Michelle

    What recipe do you use for laundry soap ?

    Do you have a recipe that can be used in a grey water system ?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Vicky

    The books are good I just need to get past exhaustion and to application :)

    I find that running around after teens takes up a big part of my day everyday :(

    My mom has a similar system for keeping ontop of clean that has worked really well. I just need to get the system going again and find one that can cope with the disruptions of being here and there :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for stopping by, and for the encouragement in teaching my son to read. I look forward to reading your blog posts about reading, it's looks like it's exactly what I need.

    I've always wanted to make homemade laundry soap. What a nice picture, and yes I know these young children days will go by so fast!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy Anniversary! That's a wonderful picture!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Stopping by from The Homeschool Mother's Journal - Hi Chareen!

    I've been loving the 10 Days of posts too, especially Kris's High school (since we'll be starting that adventure next year).

    And lots of attitude here too. Do you suppose it's the season?

    Sweet photo! They DO grow up so quickly!

    ReplyDelete
  8. How is the soap working? I have wanted to try making our own. Maybe after things settle back down... stopping by to say hi from HSMJ.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm with you on having teens plus a little one and struggling with structure. Happy Anniversary!

    ReplyDelete
  10. We make laundry soap, too!
    I totally understand the teens/younger children thing. (Mine are 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 3, and 8 mos.)
    On a typical day, I will be teaching everything from biology to phonics, all while answering my 3yo's questions and amusing my baby girl. I am teaching my oldest to drive while waiting for my baby to start crawling! LOL
    It is so true that they grow up more quickly than one could imagine.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello Desiree

    Welcome to my blog.I will be posting a post on the laundry soap so pop back to see how we made it :)

    Let me know what you think about the Learning to read posts. Read the comments as some of my readers had some wonderful encouraging comments to make.

    blessings

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello Kristi

    Welcome to my blog. Thank you. I was quite surprised when I walked into the lounge and found the two of them like that. I just had to stop what I was doing and capture the moment :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello from Our Side of the Mountain. Great blog. Welcome to my blog

    I do think it's the season for attitude but I also think it's the ages and stages thing :)

    Too true they grow a lot faster than you think but you only realise this in hindsight :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Julie

    Welcome to my blog. The soap is working really well. The clothes are really clean and fresh. I will be posting on the process later this coming week so pop back and see how we made it. It's a really simple process and takes about 10 min to do.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hello Stephanie

    Welcome to my blog :) I thought structure would be e a s y since I had been there done that but boy am I wrong ..... When you find the solution let me know ;-)

    Thanks we had a great anniversary

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hello Judy

    Welcome to my blog. Oh wow I am in awe of any of you mothers who can juggle so many ages and stages at the same time. I don't know how you do it :)

    I need to constantly remember that this time will end far too quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Judy

    What recipe do you use for Laundry Soap ?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Happy anniversary and I love the picture. I love love love making my own soap! Here is my all time favorite that I managed to come up with!

    http://mommyminded.blogspot.com/2011/05/diy-laundry-detergent-my-favorite.html

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Megan

    Welcome to my blog :) Love the look of your soap recipe. I will need to look up a couple of those ingredients as I don't recognise them.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hey Chareen! I went to email you back but it was set up on no reply. I use my food processer and after I get all the laundry soap put, I let it set in hot water over night and hand wash it the next day. We have never had a problem with using it for food after.

    The purex crystals are a "salt like" fabric softener that go directly in the washer. They work great without using nearly as much as the package reccomends. If you have anything like this around you, I would give it a try. You can for sure go with out though.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi Megan (Mommy Minded)

    Not sure which setting I need to change to sort the email thing. Sorry.

    Thank you for letting me know about the soap being ok to do in the food processor.

    I think I will give it a try with my next batch of soap.

    I am not sure we have crystals like that here. I will need to ask around.

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you so please leave your comments below ♥