Be Still, Have Faith, & Teach On!

The school year is half over guys!! I really can't believe how fast it has gone by.  It seems like every year moves a bit faster.  I don't have many pictures from this week.  I have been so sick!! I mostly just dropped kids off at events and struggled to finish up our subjects.  We made it through though!  We did not do any math or language arts this week.  We also focused on one subject per day to finish up in the subjects we needed to finish.  Monday and Tuesday we finished up our geology study in science.  We learned about igneous and metamorphic rocks.  We also touched on minerals, metals, and gems.  We did a floating rock experiment.  The kids were surprised to find out there really is a rock that will float.  They thought I was being a little dingy when I told them we were going to do a sink or float experiment with rocks.  Wednesday we finished our Bible study in Phillipians, "The Heart of Humilit...

We need a break!  Tempers were easy to flare this week.  None of us feel very well.  I think a few days of rest would do us all a ton of good.  We've got one more week before we go on Christmas break and have some days of rest.  In school this week: Bible: We are almost finished with our study of Phillipians.  We are still covering the importance of a humble spirit. Science: We did not do any science at home this week.  Math: I'm trying to make sure everyone gets to a good stopping point for the break.  So, they are working on steadily. Read Aloud: We read "The Crippled Lamb" and "The Mitten" this week. We started reading "Socks for Christmas" before bed. History: Logan joined the girls this week in History.  We read through the first couple of chapters of "Meet Molly."  We got out all our posters on WWII and discussed the war.  Language Arts: Everyone just got one lesson done this week in their language lessons....

Savannah has been playing again. I so love to hear her play! This week in school: Bible: Continuing on in our study of Phillipians this week we discussed our attitudes at home.  Our Bible study stated that we should try to make our homes like a little piece of heaven by showing kindness for each other, being humble, and trying to be helpful to one another in our family.  I hope my children grow up knowing our home is a safe place of love that they can always return to. Science: We worked in our Rock Folders this week and discussed the rock cycle. Math: Each child is continuing with one lesson a day. Read Aloud: We finished "The Ears of Louis." It was a cute book, but not a favorite.  We will be reading winter/Christmas books now until break. We also finished our nightly read aloud, "The Great Turkey Walk.". Dad and the kids all loved this book, I honestly can't formulate an opinion on it.  We started "In a Blue Velvet Dress" at bedtime....

So we have made the decision to slow down.  Now to make it happen!! Gingerbread Nativity  Here are some changes we are making happen.  First- We are focusing on family events and fun.  We use to do this all the time, but over the years we replaced family movie night and family board game night with individual outside events. We are making it a priority to add these events back into our calendar. Second- We are doing away completely with our activities with the local public schools.  Several years ago the "Tim Tebow" law was passed in Arkansas.  Lots of my friends starting using the school for extracurricular activities.  At first we did not, over the years though I began to second guess myself and decided we needed to do the same thing.  As it turns out, we should not have.  The experience was not all bad, parts were good, but overall I truly believe we were happier being a complete stay at home homeschool family. Guys don't fall...

I'm going to start off by saying this week was crazy busy.  Just like so many weeks these past few months. Shane and I have been praying about our schedule, our kids, all of our activities, our health, and even our school plans for next year.  We received our answer this week, it came in a voice of reason and concern from a dear friend of ours. More about that in a bit.. School: Bible: We are continuing on in our Phillipians study and learning great life lessons from Paul. Science: We studied sedementary rocks this week.  We did some experiments with different types of sand; desert, mountain, stream, clay, etc.  We also examined different types of sedementary rocks. Math: Just trucking along History: The girls are continuing with Kit.  Their project this week was to write news articles from the home front.  Logan is still continuing in his history. Language Arts: Just trucking along here too. Other happenings this week: Sunday...