Simply Renovated

Here we are...week 5! What a crazy journey we've begun and only in 5 weeks! If anyone of you has asked over the past five weeks how homeschooling has been going you can probably write a better blog than I. The typical response...not good. We are learning together and trying together to get this thing down. I am exhausted because we can't seem to get a schedule down that works for all of us yet so that means staying up super late to edit or tend to the house because during the day...I cannot seem to find the time.

The first few weeks I was incredibly downcast because we weren't finishing all of the lesson plans. I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed at the thought that for this short time that we've decided to homeschool I was going to fail them miserably. William doesn't want to read Charlotte's Web and he definitely doesn't want to write about it or Noah's Ark or the weather. He doesn't even want to journal with me when all I write to him are praises (he loves that). They don't want to get to work first thing in the morning and they don't want to do it late at night. They want food and breaks and to go places.

There have been lots of tears shed. I emailed a friend...a true gift from God she is...and told her that I wanted to curl up in a ball, cry and enroll them in school the next day. She gave me words of wisdom. I need to figure out how to bring God in all of it. One friend told me...if your child doesn't learn this specific thing this year it's BECAUSE GOD WANTED THAT FOR HIM. If you are having a bad day or your kids are having a bad day it's BECAUSE IT'S PART OF GOD'S PLAN FOR YOU. Wow! How immature I am in my thinking. If I center my day around God will it not be blessed? I need to get to the point where I surrender all. Where during my day my hands are lifted to the One True God whether that day is all smiles or all tears. I need to get to the point where I can say "thanks" for everything. Where I can open my hands in surrender to give praise to our King...all day...with my kids.

So far this week has been the best. We are starting each morning with a devotional. Devotionals gospel centered and easy are the best for my family. It gives me the opportunity to explain the simplest things about the God we put our faith in. This morning I got to explain why Jesus was considered perfect. I was able to explain that he was without sin and how impossible that is for us. We all talked about the sins we have already committed today and now I am able to explain to them how we seek forgiveness for those sins. I have decided to relax! Now don't go thinking I'm getting lazy...whoever thinks homeschooling is for the lazy "why I oughta"....anyways...I have decided to chill out on "school". That friend who gave me the words of wisdom? She said something that stuck with me, "we have to get school as we know it out of our heads...don't even use the words school". She is right! We are teaching our kids and it's my job to make learning fun. I read this article on what specifically 4 year old's should know. A preschool teacher wrote it because she was saddened at a parent/teacher conference that there were all of these standards for a 4 year old. She went on to say that a four year old should know he is loved, should know that it is always ok for a cat to be pink and have 6 legs. There were statistics presented that kids that did best of their ACT's were kids that were frequently read to. Yup! So this is my philosophy. Letting my kids develop their own learning desires...for my kids to know they are loved by us and by an incredible God. To allow my kids to be.who.they.are! And to read...lots of reading and lots of family reading!

Here is the start to our new week :)