Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything! Tell God what you need and thank him for all that he has done.
Philippians 4:6
This scripture has been on my heart for quite some time! It seems like I need to refer to it daily lately. I am not usually prone to worry but lately it seems that every time I turn a corner there is something in front of me that causes stress..... Perhaps this is another of God's gentle reminders that I am not surrendering everything and if I don't I will continue to live with this nagging feeling!! I know that this is the result of selfish pride..... we are never stronger than God and we can never get better results than God, so why I wonder do I sometimes go down this path, knowing exactly where it leads.
I do however treasure the fact that each time I weather one of these insane seasons in my life God rewards me with the reminder that Anything is possible with God on my side!!! I know that each time we have been in need He has provided for our family above and beyond what we needed, so why then do I still have these times of doubt. Wouldn't it just be easier to have faith that God will step in at just the right time and everything will be as it should be!!!! Yes!! of course it would, but sometimes I am like the Israelites, walking around in the desert with the manna falling from the sky and still not seeing the miracle in front of me!
Anyway..... enough of that! We will be starting our learning year again next week! I am excited but do not have everything that I wanted to begin the year with. Perhaps God is leading me in a different direction? Perhaps my curriculum choices do not follow His plan for our year. It sounds like my husband and I need to pray for guidance.
Night Night and much Love
Until next time....
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
First year down!
Well the first year flew by! I didn't blog 1 single time......
Well I think maybe I was a bit ambitious in thinking that I could jump into homeschooling 4 children and blogging all at the same time! Hehe but that is my nature, to always bite off more than I can chew! So.... it went well, this homeschooling venture was a huge success!! I got to know my children. I mean REALLY know them. God truly blessed us in a way that I had not even imagined. It took us a couple of months for me to figure out that I did not have to follow the standards set forth by the state of Tennessee. Once I realized that and started to lead them toward learning everyday instead of having school in our home, they just SOARED! I think at first even though I didn't want to admit it, I was trying to prove to my parents and my husbands parents that "I WAS WORTHY enough to educate their grandchildren!". Then I read an article written by David Parkerson titled "A Heart For Learning" (You can read it here )
That article changed how I looked at the whole process. I began to study them also, so that they could show me what peaked their curiosity, which of my cues they responded to the most and what they were most interested in learning. Wouldn't you just know that when I let go of the "school room" structure they worked harder and they were more eager to start the day!
I learned that Zak loves math (my most dreaded subject), but he hates doing it out of workbooks!! So we found computer games (some online, some we had on cd, and we made some fun colorful flashcards ) he learned all of his multiplication and division tables in 1 month and has retained them. ZAK'S FAVORITE (he asked me to add the link to his fav, so there it is back there) I was so suprised at all of the great tools I found for him online so that we could minimize the time we had to spend in the workbook. I learned that Zayne and Cooper are voracious readers!!! we made many extra trips to the library for those two because they had read all of their books and wanted some more. I LOVE that, especially since the public school system sent Zayne to a reading specialist because they believed he was so far behind in his "Sight Words" not books, just words.... And I learned that Zoie is a perfectionist (well I really already knew that), she did not excel at school because she got so nervous about doing the wrong thing that she didn't get anything done!! Once she learned that she got to "do it until it was right" she relaxed and discovered a little self confidence! What a bonus!
The most valuable thing I learned was that my children are amazing little creatures, all different, all eager to learn in their own way, and that YES I can stand being around them 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I LOVE who they are! Did I pull my hair out some days? YOU BETCHA! Was everyday easy? NO SIR! Did I do it all right the first time? NO STINKIN WAY! Was it worth it anyway? EVERY SINGLE MINUTE, MISTAKES AND ALL!!!
Until next time.....
Well I think maybe I was a bit ambitious in thinking that I could jump into homeschooling 4 children and blogging all at the same time! Hehe but that is my nature, to always bite off more than I can chew! So.... it went well, this homeschooling venture was a huge success!! I got to know my children. I mean REALLY know them. God truly blessed us in a way that I had not even imagined. It took us a couple of months for me to figure out that I did not have to follow the standards set forth by the state of Tennessee. Once I realized that and started to lead them toward learning everyday instead of having school in our home, they just SOARED! I think at first even though I didn't want to admit it, I was trying to prove to my parents and my husbands parents that "I WAS WORTHY enough to educate their grandchildren!". Then I read an article written by David Parkerson titled "A Heart For Learning" (You can read it here )
That article changed how I looked at the whole process. I began to study them also, so that they could show me what peaked their curiosity, which of my cues they responded to the most and what they were most interested in learning. Wouldn't you just know that when I let go of the "school room" structure they worked harder and they were more eager to start the day!
I learned that Zak loves math (my most dreaded subject), but he hates doing it out of workbooks!! So we found computer games (some online, some we had on cd, and we made some fun colorful flashcards ) he learned all of his multiplication and division tables in 1 month and has retained them. ZAK'S FAVORITE (he asked me to add the link to his fav, so there it is back there) I was so suprised at all of the great tools I found for him online so that we could minimize the time we had to spend in the workbook. I learned that Zayne and Cooper are voracious readers!!! we made many extra trips to the library for those two because they had read all of their books and wanted some more. I LOVE that, especially since the public school system sent Zayne to a reading specialist because they believed he was so far behind in his "Sight Words" not books, just words.... And I learned that Zoie is a perfectionist (well I really already knew that), she did not excel at school because she got so nervous about doing the wrong thing that she didn't get anything done!! Once she learned that she got to "do it until it was right" she relaxed and discovered a little self confidence! What a bonus!
The most valuable thing I learned was that my children are amazing little creatures, all different, all eager to learn in their own way, and that YES I can stand being around them 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I LOVE who they are! Did I pull my hair out some days? YOU BETCHA! Was everyday easy? NO SIR! Did I do it all right the first time? NO STINKIN WAY! Was it worth it anyway? EVERY SINGLE MINUTE, MISTAKES AND ALL!!!
Until next time.....
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