Week 23

   This week we learned about the MUSCLES. We made muscles left and right. Did you know that the body is composed of 3 types of muscles: the cardiac, the smooth, and skeletal muscles. We learned about all 3 parts and how they work together in the body.
   We also finished Our America social studies book. So now we are going to do some badge work in Social Studies for American Heritage Girls. I can't believe we finished our book. We have learned a lot in learning about symbols of America, the great Americans who created and established America, and why America is the greatest nation in the world. So now we are going to go global and learn about other countries and other things that can consciously affect us as a nation.
   We also finished up our work with writing letters. Tater's favorite character is Doc McStuffins, so this week, we wrote a letter to Doc. Its a very cute letter that she came up and that has all 5 parts of a letter. We then sent it off to Doc McStuffins. I don't know if we will get a letter back, but just in case we do, it will be a great experience for the girl.
Jr Bug learned about the letter D. He can now verbally see, and say the sounds of 5 letters. He's still working on his number, colors, and letters, but he's leaping by the bounds for learning. I think we are finally settling on a rhythm, and I think its only going to get stronger as we go a long.

So that's it. We have completed another week. It goes by so fast. I am so amazed that we are able to get so much done in only 5 days. See you next week.

Easter week or week 24

So this coming week was supposed to be our week 24. Our week of regular studying and our week of learning about school. But instead our week for changed.
I had already printed out lesson plans and gotten the week together, but God had greater plans. He spoke to me in church and had me plan an Easter/Resurrection series for my littles.
So I'm back at my drawing board and replanning my lessons. See here's the thing, how can I claim to teach about God if I am not willing to listen to Him. How can I expect my children to listen to me, if I can't listen to my Father. So since I teach them to be in subjection to me, I must be in subjection to God.
So you'll have to excuse us as typical school is on hold for a week for us as we learn about the most important thing...and for us, that's God.

What Scares You

   So today in a homeschool blog on Facebook a question was posed..."What scares you about homeschooling?" I looked at a lot of the answers, some said everything, some said breaking their child. Some even said teaching the right things. I must say those were true and great answers.
   But, my answer was nothing. I am not scared of anything related to homeschooling. I am not being proud, I am being honest. And here's why I am not scared. Christ called me to this ministry. Christ gave me this ministry to teach my children. How could I possibly be scared, When God gave me this gift.
   See God knew that when He put the desire to teach my children that yes there would be bad days, good days, days when I couldn't come and teach, days when giving up would be the best answer, and days that trying, succeeding, and failing were all worth the effort.
   In His omniscient knowledge, God knew that yes I would be scared to try, that I would be afraid. And for those days, He has provided me with great comfort. He has given me one verse that reminds me that on my days of feeling like I am a failure and that I can't do this because I will not teach her everything that she needs to know. This verse reminds me that not only can I do this thing called homeschooling, but that God commands me to homeschool boldly, and in His name.
   This verse that I am referring to is Joshua 1:9. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. This verse speaks life to me. This verse sums up my bad days, my hard days, my I'm not schooling one more minute day. This verse speaks to me on those days where we are behind, late, or in bad attitudes.
  One of the main things that I love about this verse is that right off top God commands me to pay attention by asking me a question, Has He not commanded me? He tells me that He has commanded me not to be scared, but to be of good spirits. DO NOT BE AFRAID. In other words, those days are going to come, anytime you face doing your God given ministry there will be days that you face that are going to be challenging, hard, and difficult. Those days are required to show you your strength, you have to have the hard days in order to grow. In order to reach the higher level that God is drawing you to.
The other part of this verse that I love is the last sentence. The Lord, your God will be with you wherever you go. This verse speaks to me that I am not alone in homeschooling. So many times, we as moms, dad, parents feel alone when we homeschool. No one else is going through these rough days and the bad attitudes, and the stress that we endure. But, God is there, He goes with us. He is there listening, reaching out if we just accept Him. He goes before us. He goes with us. He is there beside us. I love knowing that my God, my Savior, and my Friend is there so I don;t have to face these difficult times, lessons alone.
So, am I afraid of homeschooling? What about homeschooling scares me? NOTHING.   Because God is with me, He walks beside me, He comforts me, and most importantly He commands me to not be scared, to not be afraid.

Week 22

    So this week has come and gone by fast. We were on Spring Break at Co-op so we studied at home Monday through Friday. We worked on paragraph structure, and creating our own paragraphs. Tater made her very first paragraph using her favorite cartoon show, Doc McStuffins. We also worked on finishing up an AHG badge about George Washington, the Liberty Bell, and the bald eagle.
    Jr Bug learned the letter B, the color blue, and the number 2. Jr Bug is my computer boy. While Tater is a worksheet girl, Tater learns by worksheets. This is a huge transition for me, but we are making it work the best we can.
   This week we learned about colors, Jesus, sin, and our life. We used bleach to represent Jesus, water to represent our lives and we used red food coloring to stand for sin. The red was because Jesus shed His blood for our sins. We poured the food coloring into the water (our lives) and watched how sin would completely cover our lives. But when we added Jesus (bleach) to our lives, our lives changed completely. We turned back to white as snow. Then, we decided to see how adding sin to Jesus doesn't change who Jesus is. He remains the SAME even in the midst of sin. That is truly a life changing testimony. Check out the pictures to below to show the color experiment. One of the many reasons why I love homeschooling, because we can teach Jesus and science all at one time.
Below are some pictures of our week.

Jr Bug's letter B that he copied. 

Jr Bug working on the computer for his lesson. 

Tater working on her math addition problems. 

Our colors experiment. The jar on the left was the water or our life jar. The jar on the right held the bleach. That was our Jesus jar. The red bottle in the middle was our sin jar. 

Tater pouring sin into Jesus to see if Jesus and sin are opposites. 

The sin does not stay. Jesus and sin do NOT go together. 

Tater pouring Jesus into our life. Jesus cleans our sins away. 

   Well, as you can tell, we had a busy and fin week. Stay tuned for next week where we are learning about the eye, and slavery in America. We will "see" you next week. 

Week 5

Its hard to believe that we are in week 6. But wow time is flying by. This is the recap of the whirlwind of week 5. Tater and Jr Bug are still working on their Bible verses. We've moved far from just one child saying her verse to both. Children competing and saying their verses.
In science Tater is growing a plant...we are having a bit of time growing grass because its cold out and the seasons have changed but again she is still trying to grow. For her efforts she with be receiving a badge with her American Heritage Girl group. She is also marking growth of her plant by drawing pictures of what she sees. This week in social studies we focused on learning about princesses and how she is a princesses because she is the daughter of a King. We spent time learning about what princesses fk and wear and how that relates to her life. We so focused in completing her All About Me book that tells a story about her life. In Math we are changing curriculum we are moving from Saxon to Horizons. I feel that Saxon is a bit to slow and with my quick learner she needs a more challenging curriculum. So I'll let you know how that change goes.
So Jr Bug gets a turn now...so Jr Bug is learning his alphabet. We have progressed to the letter We. He can distinguish between big E and little e. He can also count to number 5 and discern between groups of 5. He has also learned the diamond shape. He put some diamonds on his crown this week.
So that's it for this week...a ton of learning and even more adventure. Stay tuned for next week.

Week 20

I can't believe we are done with week 20. This year is flying by fast. This week we started adding Jr Bug back into school. This was his first week back after taking a long extended break. I am teaching him just a few things, like colors, letters, and numbers. I will definitely finish whatever we haven't learned over the summer and next year, but we are taking an easy jump into pre-school. 

Well Tater has had a better week this week. We learned about tornadoes, the colonial time period, and paragraphs this week. Its been a fun week. The weather was so much better this week that we went outside and had a lunchtime picnic and an extended recess. 

Tater riding her bike. 

We found a caterpillar outside and decide to keep him as a pet. 

Our lunch picnic. 

Jr Bug showing off his letter A.

Jr Bug on his bike. 

Tater writing her paragraph. 

This week has been a great one. We are moving to week 21. We are going to be doing color experiments this week. Gonna be really exciting. I can't wait to show you some of our experiments and our George Washington book that we are going to make. A

Stay tuned for all of the fun and exciting things we have scheduled for next week. 

Sunday is church day

So Jr Bug was sick today. so we spent the day at home. Causing us to miss church. But, "Where 2 or more are gather, ther I will also be" we decided to do church at home. We discussed  Putting on the Armour of God. Ephesians 6:10-18 was our study text. We managed to learn why putting on the Armour of God was important for our Christian walk. We also talked about how we put on our armour, and the importance of each piece. A very worthwhile lesson. Thankful that God directs my path in teaching these youngsters He's entrusted me with,

Tater coloring in her girl full of Armour. 

Jr Bug and his guy. 

His man is fully covered. 

Her girl is covered. 

It was truly a great lesson, and while I missed church, At least we learned a Spirit filled lesson. 

The Smell of Pepper

Our local library had a poetry contest for the school-aged children. The contest was entitled A smell that brings back memories. Well Tater entered the contest. She entered in the Kindergarten grade because it was her first time writing poetry.
Well out of all of the entries she won first place for her division. In honor of her winning her division, she was asked to read her poem at a reception held at the library for all of the poetry winners. Her poem was called The Smell of Pepper. It was a poem of her remembering my service dog Tye. Below is her poem.

The smell of pepper

Blowing through the sky

Reminds me of the day

When I got Tye

Tye was my friend

Until the very end

I miss him being by my side

And I miss walking Tye.

Below are some pictures of her at the reception. 

Her poem won 1st place

Reading her poem.

Brother and Sister at the Reception. 

Needless to say, I am very proud of my girl. Who nows maybe she will be the next author, poet, or creator of some literary genius peice of writing. Congrats Tater on a job well done. 

Jr Bug

Dear son,
You are my baby who is turning 4. I love you 4 you love me 6. I am blessed to have you in my life. You are my morning song, my goodnight kiss, and my daily breath. I love you beyond your wildest dreams. I pray that you grow to become a man after Gods own heart. I hope to teach you His wondrous love. I hope to teach you that if you follow God, He will direct thy path and show you His plan. But for today, I love you, and I hope that you know you are my dream come true. My life song, and my happiness. May God continue to give you all of your dreams, just like He did when He gave me you.
Love you 4,
Momma.

Snowmaggedon 15

We had snow, snow, snow and more snow. We were in freezing temps, and below freezing temps. But we played in the snow and we built snowmen. Which was a lot of fun. However I am glad that spring is right around the corner. I am done with the snow. Here are some pics of our fun adventure in the snow.

Week 19

Well we are back in the seeing of things again. School got back with a bit of attitude problems resulting in my oldest being grounded. I think she was still suffering on being on our 2 week break.
We also suffered from snowmaggedon '15 this week. We got 6" of snow. Which is quite a bit for us. The tempos were in the negative degrees and we were housebound for a few days. Not fun.
For our break we went to Wilderness at the Smokies. We played, swam, and had an awesome time.
Next week is week 20. I'm praying that this week goes much smoother then last week. Well I didn't take any pictures of week 19 so I'm gonna leave you with pictures from our break and the snow.
Last Tuesday was Jr Bugs birthday. We had so much fun celebrating his birthday. Next week I will be starting him in school. We are going to only do 2 days a week of school. I'm hoping that we will have a good time. Stay tuned for updates of this adventure.