Just a little peek

I thought I'd give you all a little peek into our homeschool on the road.

All of our homeschool stuff is contained in these 2 crates & 2 bags. The black crate houses our curriculum.

I have a general weekly plan of how much school work I'd like to accomplish. We haven't started science or history yet.

We start each day reading Jesus Calling then reading & discussing a lesson in Sword Fighting. I love Sword fighting because each week you focus on 1 verse. Then each day's lesson ties into that verse.

Here are most of our books. Jamie does Analytical Grammar & Algebra. David is in Gamma (multiplication) & Jessica is in Beta (multi-digit addition & subtraction). We do History & Science together with Jamie doing harder assignments. David has been working on cursive too.

David also does Sequential Spelling. Each of the kids have notebooks that they journal in daily.

I have color coded folders for each child to place their finished work in.

This is my binder that I keep all of our worksheets. We have several Critical Thinking Company workbooks as well as math, history & science worksheets.

We also bring our printer so I can print additional worksheets or other stuff.

This is my crate to carry additional stuff.

In the gray crate, I carry games, craft kits & flash cards.

My ThirtyOne bag contains glue, scissors, crayons, markers, stickers, Pipe cleaners, pencils, rulers, tape, etc. Everything you need to be crafty.

My other bag contains construction paper, stencils, colored pencils & our MathUSee blocks.

Schoolwork can take place anywhere. On the floor...

at the table...

or on the couch...

We also try to hit museums, landmarks or other interesting places when we are on the road. We take full advantage of hands-on learning activities.

So there's a little peak into our on the road homeschool. I hope you enjoyed it!

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First Day of School

Most first day of school pictures are taken on the front porch or as kids get on the bus. Our first day of school picture is taken in a hotel room in Tawas City, MI.

I just love that we started our school year on the road. I'm learning to embrace our totally un-normal lifestyle. And we are all loving being together as a family.

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The Insecurity Trap!

I've been thinking a lot lately about insecurity. Why? Because so many of us moms are insecure. Add homeschooling to the mix and our insecurity rises. This insecurity can manifest itself in a few different ways.

Insecurity can make us self-condemning. We feel like we can do nothing right & everything we do is a failure leading us to think our kids will be failures. Insecurity can make us compare ourselves to everyone else. If we aren't doing it exactly like the speakers at convention or the other families in our church then we must be doing wrong. Insecurity causes us to create some ideal, perfect homeschoolers which immediately sets us up for failure. Perhaps one of the worst things insecurity does to us is make us judgemental & defensive. We start judging others who do things differently than us and get defensive about the things we do. We then start attacking other moms instead of building each other up.

It always amazing to me the varied reactions I get from other moms when I say I homeschool. Many of these are rooted in insecurity. The reactions from those who don't homeschool are that they start tearing me down for homeschooling, they try to convince me homeschooling is the wrong choice for me or they start launching into a litany of excuses for why they don't or can't homeschool. Homeschool moms are not much better. Our responses include defending the method of homeschooling we use, attacking each others' methods or comparing methods to deflate themselves or the other mom.

How refreshing it is when I meet those rare women who are secure in who they are. I walk away encouraged & uplifted! I want to be one of those moms! I've made great strides in this area, but still slide back into the insecurity track when around others who are insecure.

So, how do we move past being insecure? Here are the steps I took. I do have to warn you that it's not easy. Many of us have been stuck in the insecurity trap for years. And for some of us, it's been passed down to us from our moms & grandmas!

1. Confess you are insecure! - Tell God you are tired of being insecure & ask Him to change you & your thinking. (Romans 12:2) It also helps to tell a close friend or accountability partner that you are struggling with insecurity.

2. Find out who you are in Christ! - When you study God's Word to find out what He thinks about you & how He feels about you, it changes how you feel about yourself. Go through the Bible and write down every verse you can find on this topic. Here are a few to get you started: Psalm 139, Deuteronomy 7:6, Revelation 4:11 and Ephesians 1:3-7. Put these verses somewhere that you will see. Better yet, start memorizing some of them.

3. Pray! - ask God to show you who you are in Him, what His plans are for you & your children and how you are to fulfill these plans. If we seek God, He will lay on our hearts what His will is for us. Then He will confirm it through His Word and through the advice of others.

4. Proceed with Confidence! - When we know who we are in Christ & the path He has laid before us, we can proceed with confidence, not in ourselves, but in Christ. We can put in place the education plan right for our family, for this time.

5. Realize that your plan is just that, your plan! - It is not your neighbors plan, it is not your friend's plan! God gives us each a plan (Jeremiah 29:11). Each of our plans are as unique as we are. It's ok to do things differently than others. And it's ok that other people do things differently than you! And remember, this plan is for this time in your life. Your plan will change with each season of your life.

6. Encourage others! - This last step is one of the most important. We need to encourage others to seek God's plan for their family. Help them to be secure in the plan God has for them, whether it be homeschool, private school, public school or unschool. Don't belittle their choices! Don't tear them down! Don't try to compete with them. Love them!! Encourage them. Remember that this is not a competition against each other. We are on the same team! We are in the same family!!

Insecurity is a trap! It's Satan's way of defeating us, tearing God's family apart & destroying friendships. We need to seek God & ask Him to lift us out of this trap. It's an ongoing process. It takes constant prayer & hard work on our parts not to slide back into old habits. I'm finding that the more I trust God & remind myself of how God sees me, the more secure I am in who God made me to be. Insecurity then loses its grip on me! It is so freeing! I am free to be me & to encourage those around me to be themselves.

Homeschooling in real life

We all have this picture in our heads of exactly what our ideal homeschool will look like. Everyone cheerfully learning. Doing all these neat projects. Finishing our curriculum in a timely manner. And so on and so on.....

It rarely happens as we picture, but sometimes it's close. But what if something happens that completely derails your homeschool? How do you cope? What do you do? That something has happened to us. It's why I haven't blogged recently.

My health took a big nosedive recently. I have fibromyalgia so I'm used to having bad health days & plan for it. But recently I've had new symptoms that have completely derailed our lives. I've had tons of doctor appointments & tests done.

So what have our school days looked like recently? Almost non-existent!! But, that's ok. The kids are learning even though we aren't doing school. They are learning more household tasks. They are learning compassion as they see me in pain. They are learning to problem solve. They are learning to get along better. Sometimes just being a family is enough. School can wait.

Am I worried about them missing school this month? Not really. All 3 of the kids are very smart & will easily get back on track when my health gets figured out.

I'm so glad we homeschool. I can't imagine my kids having to take exams while worrying about me. I can't imagine having to work out all the logistics of getting them to school while juggling doctor appointments.

So this is our homeschool. It's not pretty. It's not ideal. But it's real! And just maybe my kids will learn more about living life by just living it!

A Little History, A Little Fun!

On April Fools' Day, we visited Fort Granger in Franklin, TN. Fort Granger is connected to Pinkerton Park. So we combined some learning with some fun!

Information about Fort Granger.

Fort Granger is located atop a hill that overlooked most of Franklin. It was quite a hike to the fort.

From the outside, it is not very impressive.

As you climbed the stairs to enter the fort, you began to understand why the fort was built here.

The fort contained a Cavalier, basically a smaller fort within the larger fort.

Here is the Cavalier.

This sign talked about the defenses of the fort.

The Fort was quite beautiful & peaceful inside. It was quite large with lots of room for soldiers.

This is one of the beautiful bushes on the trail to the fort.

Tucked in the woods was this peaceful meadow complete with a stage & seating.

One playground area.

A second playground area.

A third playground area.

The last playground area.

David!

Jessica!

Jamie!

Jamie swinging!

David hiding!

Jessica on the spinner!

Jamie & Jessica playing together.

David the monkey!

Jessica just content to sit!

Jamie content to sit.

A neat bridge across the river.

The beautiful view of the river.

We had a great day of family fun!

Tennessee River Museum

On March 31st, we went to the Tennessee River Museum in Savannah, TN. This neat little museum was free for kids & only $3 per adult.

One room was devoted to the fossils found in the Tennessee River area.

The next room was devoted to the arrowheads found in this area.

The next room told the story of the Shiloh Mound Builders. You can visit the mounds at Shiloh National Park.

This was the most famous artifact found at Shiloh.

The next room was a sad room. It told the story of the Cherokee Indians & the Natchez trail or the "Trail of Tears."

David loved this room. It was dedicated to the Ironclads of the Civil War.

The Union Army commanded by General Grant won many victories because the Union Navy with their Ironclads, commanded by Admiral Foote, were always there to back them up on the river!

This exhibit talked about the canon balls used on the Ironclads.

After the Civil War, the river was used for commerce, transportation, recreation & tourism.

Being able to captain a steamboat was the highlight of the museum for the kids.

The river provided jobs for the area. Musseling was a big industry. They even had synthetic pearl farms along the river.

The last room of the museum was dedicated to challenging us to remember the past & preserve history so we don't repeat the mistakes of the past.