Something people may not understand about homeschooling....

I have noticed that many people think that the decision to homeschool is the first and only step. You then casually select a box that delivers all your supplies and it immediately starts teaching your kids. You sit down at the table for select periods of time 5 days a week and drudge through a public school style textbook. Guess what I tried that. It didn't work for us. 

The truth is EVERY part of my week is intentional and planned. I don't just by chance take the kids to the park everyday it is purposely thought out. Outside play is just as important for our school day as reading or math. Therefore I purposefully make sure it happens everyday. 

My grocery list scribbled in cursive is actually planned. Summer reads me the list as we walk through the store and she needs the practice reading cursive. 

Every activity is weighed by cost and purpose. We can not do everything although I would love to. I would love for the kids to have piano lessons, right now is not the time so we work with the recorder. ( I lovingly played the alto for five years so I can actually teach it easily.) not just a random decision but a thought out one that I believe is best for our family.

I have read each book in our home library. (Besides a collection of animal ark that is a family heirloom of sorts) before placing books in the library I give them great thought I do not have to like them but I do have to approve of them. That way when I say go grab a book to read I know that their choices are ones I would approve of. 

I have found if I do these things and many others when we actually sit down to do school the kids are prepared for the work. Nothing surprises them or overwhelms them because I have casually introduced the topics in our daily lives. Adjectives are easily identified in the schoolwork after spending the previous week playing mad lips and 20 questions. Division no problem after giving them the responsibility of dividing the goldfish evenly at snack ( mommy always eats the remainder even in written out problems the kids remember this) 

The " school" days have become so much easier now that I spend just as much time planning our actual daily life as I did our school lessons.

Blessings!!

Many weeks ago after a long lonely day we meet Ryan for dinner at a near by restaurant.(if you count it up I am going on 6 months without any friends. So when I say lonely I mean lonely!) It was a sushi restaurant and I had thrown caution to the wind and order a sushi boat just for myself. I had wine the kids had drinks it was going to be our eating out budget for 2 weeks but I needed it that day. Ryan showed up running late from work and a tear ran down my cheek as he sat down, relief of having him home. This was by far the lowest day I had in many months.

Anyways, when we asked for the check the waitress informed us a husband and wife across the restaurant had bought our dinner. I lost it, I walked to the ladies table grabbed her hand a burst into tears I left promptly but Ryan stayed to actually thank them and said that the wife burst into tears as she watched me hurry head hung down in shame because I was sobbing by then.

Fast forward a few weeks I am doing much better and today for the first time since moving here Ryan had an hour to meet for lunch. Ryan however is stressed like I have never seen him before, he is taking over 2 "programs" soon much earlier than expected and before he actually gets his training. But Lunch today was comical and Ryan laughed for the first time in weeks when Millie salsa danced for the entire restaurant and then again when summer dropped all the insides of her taco into his hat! This lunch was much different than the serious dinner from the weeks before but once again when we asked for our check we were informed that the gentleman who came in at the same time as us had taken care of our meal.

Twice in a month......

Is it not amazing how God can use other people to speak to us! God was using random acts of kindness to reach out to us, our very own rainbow after the flood, we may be lonely but we are NOT alone!