Just a Typical Snow Day...

The rest of our county is closed for a snow day (the 8th consecutive day, to be exact), but as a homeschooling family, we just PLOW on through since we are stuck inside due to freezing temps and ice-covered driveways.

This week, we moved to the kitchen table because our classroom has been so cold as the exterior room in our house. Plus, the flexibility and change are so nice.

Daniel (Age 5, Kindergarten) is busy learning to read. He is amazing me with how quickly he is catching on. Some days he gets frustrated easily, but other days, like today, he was determined to read. He sounded out his 9 sentences with such joy, and I was incredibly happy for him! He's working on sight words and focusing on phonics.

Samuel (Age 4, Pre-K) is reviewing/learning phonetic sounds of the alphabet, pre-primer sight words, and sounding out the beginning and ending sounds of cvc words. He loves to work and work!

Elias (Age 2) is busy cutting, gluing, making messes, and being made to clean them up. Such was today.

Lunch Lines

Lunch with three boys is... well,  entertaining. Here are just a few things I overheard today while trying to enjoy my leftovers:

Underpants!

Do not put it in the macaroni water.
(Referring to the chicken and dressing touching the macaroni and cheese)

What if a dinosaur burped really loud?

After a certain toddler was told not to stand in his chair:
What if he fell through the window?
Birds would fly in.
Oh, bears would get in too!
We could stack blankets over the window to stay warm.
What about rain?
That would be bad!

He just spit in his plate.
I don't even want to eat with him anymore!

We've Only Just Begun (Curriculum and Choices)

The first week of homeschooling was probably the most rewarding thing I have ever done. No, really. It was extremely challenging and I wanted to raise my voice numerous times, but God supplied grace for my every need. I watched my children as they settled into our new environment, and they smiled each morning when it was time to go to the classroom.

Each boy has his own curriculum or set schedule to do each day, and although they range in age, we are at a point where some subjects can be learned together. I love sitting in the floor with them and helping sound out words or count out manipulatives and coins.

Daniel (Age 5, Kindergarten):

Daniel is a little over halfway through his Kindergarten year. At age 5, choosing curriculum for him was not difficult because after attending public school for 6 months I realized what might help him learn more efficiently. He is a kinesthetic, creative, hands-on learner who needs the opportunity to move, build, and touch almost everything. We are using lots of manipulatives  (magnets, tiles, dry erase boards, etc.) in addition to his curriculum.

Bible: The Interactive Story Bible
Math: Saxon K
Reading: The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading
Phonics: Explode the Code 1
Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting

Samuel (Age 4, Pre-K):

I wasn't as prepared for Samuel as I should have been because at age 4, he has an abundant love for learning. He would sit in our classroom all day! He is a visual learner and needs lots of pictures, graphics, art, and videos to help him grow. He thrives on drawing and writing in journals and loves to do pages in workbooks... page after page after page. However, I didn't realize that and didn't have enough! We're starting where we left off at Mother's Day Out and continuing the alphabet, phonics, handwriting, and math.

Bible: The Interactive Story Bible
Math: Evan Moor Pre-K Math Skills and SOME Saxon K
Phonics: Get Ready for the Code A
Alphabet/Handwriting: "My Self Made Curriculum" that focuses on the letter of the week

Elias (Age 2, Tot School):

Now, this little buddy threw me for a loop the first day because he didn't really care a thing about the busy bags I had made (spent hours, lost sleep) for him. I knew I needed a new plan, but it had to keep him occupied and be beneficial and safe. That's when Elias kept mentioning glue sticks to me. I handed him one on the 2nd day with a piece of construction paper and a bowl of construction paper cut into 1 inch squares. He spent 1 hour gluing. He was happy, quiet, AND using his fine motor skills.

Bible: The Interactive Story Bible
Skills: Fine Motor (cutting, gluing, etc.), Behavior (sitting, obeying, kindness), and Identifying (colors, counting, saying ABCs)

I realize the newness will wear off in time, and they might not be as overjoyed as they get older. However, in this moment, I feel as though I am where God called me.

Calling Me... Home.

I have been called many things in my life, and in that time, I have also been called to do many things I wasn't quite ready or necessarily equipped to accomplish.  However, it was in the process of accepting the calling that I realized that God didn't expect me to have it all figured out.  He only wanted me to answer His calling.

Per His calling, I have knelt at an altar and begged for forgiveness of my sins.  I have ended relationships that He didn't approve.  I have walked away from friendships that weren't good for me.  I have resigned from what I thought were perfect positions because God had even better things planned.  I have started what-seemed-strange-to-others projects, felt burdened to make random phone calls, and was led to go from single to engaged in eight days to my pastor.  These things wouldn't have been possible without God.

I stand in a place of calling again...  except this time, God is calling me to a place that I already am.  I understand fully how weird that sounds, but the Lord is leading me HOME.

In 2008, He made it clear that I was to leave my wonderful teaching position to come home, but it didn't make sense to me at the time.  I wasn't coming home to babies.  In fact, I had just miscarried our first child.  I was heartbroken, but I realized His calling was more important than my understanding.  In my own will, I enrolled in a Master's program, but just in time, God answered that misstep of mine with a positive pregnancy test.  I stayed home with all three of our sons and have been blessed by that opportunity!  In 2013, as our first born was about to enter pre-kindergarten in his Mother's Day Out program, his director actually asked me to take on the position as the pre-K teacher.  While I didn't think anything of it at first, my husband and I knew God wanted me to, so I accepted the position.  I loved teaching my son and my friends' children!  I saw firsthand how important the younger years were and how valuable instilling godly traits into our children was in that first year there.

The start to this school year (2014) was no different.  I was teaching pre-K, and our second son was in my class.  Our energetic first born started Kindergarten, and I was so excited for him that I could bust, having been a former Kindergarten teacher.  It came as a surprise when he didn't enjoy school...  he focused intently on the behavior chart, the language and attitudes of others, and questioned his own self.  My heart became burdened.  I couldn't understand why he didn't love the thing I adored...  until I began to pray.

Our son would make statements about wanting me to be his teacher, wishing he was still in my class, using our dinner table as our "school" table, etc.  I didn't know where he was getting these ideas, but I began to listen to what he was saying rather than ignore them.  I also started listening to what God was saying.  He was making His ways clear and His paths for our family straight, but I didn't want to see them.

I continued teaching pre-K and sending our son to Kindergarten, but he'd wake in tears and come home with attitude and changed behavior.  I know without a doubt God was using these things to change my heart, because He knew how much this teacher likes school.  He was helping me to see that I needed to love my children and God's needs for them MUCH more.

Through the month of December 2014, I heard God calling.  He was calling me away from my treasured position at Mother's Day Out.  He was calling our family away from public school which I support as a former educator.  God was calling me home.  He was calling me to step out in faith to homeschool our children, trust Him with our education, and believe that He can help me to teach and train them diligently as instructed in Deuteronomy 6:4-7:

The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

So, I listened to the Lord.  I resigned from my position at MDO in January 2015 with the best response I could have ever imagined from our beloved director and friend.  I enrolled our son in a homeschool academy and purchased curriculum.  I informed his public school and teacher who were extremely understanding.  I have seen God orchestrate all of the details to perfection.

It hasn't been easy on my heart though, and I am sure the journey I have ahead of me will be a challenging one.  However, I have chosen obedience when I begin to question His plan.  I have decided to rest in His peace and let His Word comfort me when the idea of homeschooling becomes overwhelming.  The best place I have found in all of this is in the center of God's will, and for me right now, I realize that He is calling me...  to come HOME.

Now, That's a Rash.

In the middle of March, out of nowhere in Sam's one afternoon, Samuel broke out in a rash on his face.  I have always known that his skin is extremely sensitive, so I've made our own detergent for years now.  However, while sitting at Sam's, his face continued to get welps all over his cheek.  By the time we gave him Benadryl and got home, we had a full on rash, all over his body.  It was on his chest and stomach, all over his face, and in the folds of his arms.  

The next day, symptoms continued, but didn't seem to bother him at all.  What really irritated him was all the attention this "rash" was getting him!

A few days and a doctor visit later, the welp rash subsided and these red spots came up all over his face.

... and they just kept spreading.

The next day, the red spots were more noticeable and a bit scary to him.

We saw the doctor again who wasn't really sure of the cause since it was essentially two separate rashes all together, maybe more.  He referred us to an allergy specialist.  While waiting for that appointment, we had another round of welps/welts.

Finally, we saw the allergist, and he refused to test Samuel because of his extremely sensitive skin.  He even did a "test" to see how Samuel's skin would react to being touched.  He took the tip of his pen (the pen was closed) and ran it down Samuel's arm.  Within seconds, his arm was red and had a long, large welp where the pen had been.  We were told to give Samuel two different medications daily to help this disorder, called dermatographism, and come back in two weeks to see if his skin improved.  I took him to Dairy Queen after being poked on at the allergist's office, expecting he'd want ice cream.  Instead, he chose a hot dog and was thrilled with his pick!

I also took him shopping with me, and let him choose one thing to take home with him.  Of all the things he could have chosen, this sweet kiddo chose marshmallows.  He fell asleep on the ride home.

We returned to the doctor after two weeks, and the skin was still easily irritated.  We're on a nasal spray and two medications daily now, but hoping that the doctor's diagnosis and dermatographism and low-grade sinusitis will continue to get better with time!