Saturday, 25 January 2014

HSMJ it been a week of Homeschool Essentials

In my life this week…
It's been an extremely busy week here at Every Bed of Roses.  I've been sharing about my 5 top Homeschool Essentials and started homeschooling. Why is it so hard to get the routine going after a long holiday ??


In our home school this week…
  • We watched The Lorax and discovered that there was a drawing tutorial for three of the characters under the extra's section. It was super easy and we had fun drawing.
  • We have explored the values of friendship in the lives of David and Johnathan and the results of disobedience in the life of King Saul in bible study.
  • Started reading Jim Elliot again.  We didn't complete this last year. These are my favourite lives of missionaries stories.
  • We started Elements of Music Volume One.

TL - This week we have enjoyed playing Naughts and Crosses together
TR - Did a colouring in project together from Art with a Purpose
BL - Learned about choosing friends with a good character
BR - Built something for the Lego Quest Challenge

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
  • This week was the quiet before the storm. Next week all the activities start back up 
  • We had afternoon tea with a friend
  • Been to the dentist.  
  • Today I'm hosting a second hand book sale at my home.  I've been finding some treasures ... 
  • Paul and I are going to see BABBA  really looking forward to this
My favourite thing this week was…
Questions/thoughts I have…
  • Have you ever drank through a stainless steel straw ?  What do you think of the concept ?  Should we look at buying some with all the smoothie drinking happening here ?
Things I’m working on…
In Bloggy world I’m reading…
I’m cooking…
On Pinterest I found...
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Today's quote is in honour of Ruth Beechick who has inspired and encouaged me on my homeschool journey.  I found out the other day that she passed away recently.
"Sometimes a teaching parent feels guilty when home school
seems informal and related to regular family activities. If this
happens to you, remember that such informal teaching is a
powerful kind of teaching. You and your child need not sit down and play Classroom in order to accomplish good teaching and learning."

-Ruth Beechick
Quote from: Language and thinking for Young Children

Blessings

Chareen

Homegrown Learners

Photo collages made with: Photoscape a FREE photo editor
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Technology! {LEGO Quest II}

Sir N did his first Lego Challenge last year and enjoyed it so much I've decided to add it into our homeschool year this year. The Canadian Homeschooler is continuing the LEGO QUEST challenge series and this months theme is Technology.

Here is Sir N's creation



How to share in the fun
  1. You can share your child's creations on your blog,Lego Quest II | thecanadianhomeschooler.com 
  2. On Instagram or Twitter using the hastag #LEGOQuestII 
  3. Post it to the Canadian Homeschooler Facebook page.
  4. Email your child's creation to thecanadianhomeschooler@gmail.com with LEGO QUEST in the subject line by the 20th of the month, 
  5. Be sure to add in the following information along with the photograph:
    Your child’s first name
    Your child’s age
    What Province/State or Country you are from
    What you have made  
  6. This challenge ends on January 28th. 

So dig out the Lego and have some fun together
Blessings
Chareen
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Friday, 24 January 2014

Mother Culture - Time Out {Homeschooling Essentials}

Welcome to day five of this weeks 5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials posts brought to you by the Homeschool Review Crew.  We have 89 homeschool Mom's like you sharing their top homeschool essential lists with you.  Today I would like to share about the most important ingredient in successfully home educating long term: time out for Mom.  In some homeschooling circles it is called Mother Culture which is a term brought back into our modern vocabulary thanks to Karen Andreola and her book A Charlotte Mason Companion.

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart.  Why ? Because over the years I have experienced burn out, exhaustion, feelings of being overwhelmed and discouraged and each and every time the source was the same.  A lack of Mother Culture.  Karen Andreola paints this picture and I agree with her wholeheartedly.   "Is it a wonder she feels overspent? She wears herself out. In her efforts to be dietitian, laundress, nurse, hostess, teacher, taxi driver, wife, mother, and mistress, she forgets that she needs a little time for herself. And it is then that she stops growing spiritually and mentally, Physically she feels ragged and drags through the day until without being able to mark the hour it befan, she lives with depression. Her mind is in a drifting fog when she wants it to think clearly and efficiently. With the distractions of her multi-faceted duties she is unable to follow a train of thought. She considers herself hopelessly behind in everything. Her feet are in the quagmire. It takes an incredible amount of effort to keep up appearances, to wear a winsome countenance. The last straw is the guilt she feels that she is "lukewarm" in the Lord. If I hadn't experienced these symptoms myself I wouldn't be writing this chapter. Therefore I can validate the need for Mother Culture." - Karen Andreola.

Homeschool Burnout is a very real companion of many mothers and the sad thing is that many keep it a secret because they feel as though they are failing. Home schooling is no small undertaking and in order to keep at it for the long haul you need to take care of yourself. Without you there is no home or home school. You are the most important ingredient on this journey and you are the one that is responsible to keep yourself properly cared for or it won't be long and you will be burned out. I have come to realize that many mothers feel guilty taking a few minutes a day to recharge. For these mothers I point to scriptures and how Jesus often withdrew to lonely places (Luke 5:16) If HE needed time on His own then how much more do we ? 

Self care or Me Time out of balance can be a bad thing too. It can become a self serving, self worship time which is not edifying to you or your family. Today I read a great article that helps to put Me Time in perspective over at Raising Arrows called: Caring for Yourself {The Me Time Myth Revisited.} Please know that I am not advocating a self centered form of self where we actively seek time to be away from our family at all costs.  What I am talking about is finding time to grow and become all that you can be in order to care for your family well.


Think seasonally. One interest per season, coupled with thirty minutes of reading a day, may be all that is needed to keep up the Mother Culture and regain any lost enthusiasm for living - Karen Andreola



Read more
Each of these posts is full of links to other posts on Mother Culture.
What do you do to indulge in Mother Culture ?

Blessings
Chareen

Charlotte Mason advised the teacher to replenish her soul with a continual supply of ideas. ...stimulates your educational thought in many directions and keeps you from drifting into mere routine... Do not think this is a selfish thing to do, because the advantage does not end with yourself."
 
5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials
Don't forget to check out and see what my fellow Homeschool Review Crew mates are sharing this week. Here are some to get you started. Some of these links will not be live until tomorrow due to time zone differences as these bloggers are from across the globe.  Here are some from the crew to get you started

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