Getting Ready

What do you do around your home school to get everyone excited about starting up again?
It is funny here. Sarah is ready. She never wanted to stop. All I have to say is, "Next Monday we are starting school." and that is enough to make her do flips. Isaac, needs a little more coaxing. He has had fun flipping through all of the new books and is ready to start some of them. I would not use the word excited, though. Today I took them shopping for school supplies and the box of 100 colored pencils was calling his name. He really gets in to new art supplies so he is a little more excited. This is the first year for Zach. He was so funny to watch. I basically have a list of what they need, but let them pick, within reason, what kind of brands and such they get. HE was so excited over the pencils that I was nervous about letting him know he could get crayons, markers, scissors, etc. as well. He was quite overwhelmed and wants to start NOW. They are also excited to set up their desks. We will do that tomorrow. I realize as they get older shiny new supplies will not do the trick, but it is fun to see the excitement now.

Training Hearts

The focus this year at VP Teacher Training was on the fact that more than anything we should be training the students hearts an how important it is for parents to take this seriously. Whether you are a home school parent or a parent of a child going to school. If you are deciding on a school for your children it is so important to know who will be training and teaching them. Voddie Baucham pointed out that students have approximately 14,000 seat hours of school during their school career. This is true in the home school and the traditional classroom. For home schoolers it is a great wake up call that our schooling is about so much more than book knowledge. As we teach them they are learning more than actual facts. Hopefully, we are teaching them how it all applies to the world around them and how to think of this with a biblical world-view. This is how we spend the majority of the time we have with our children. So, try hard to think of this has you are teaching. It is so easy to get caught up in getting through the lessons. But this is the biggest chunk of time you will have with your children. Be purposeful about how you go about teaching them and remember how you interact with your children during this time may have the biggest influence in molding and shaping who they become. God requires us to not be lazy so this is not an excuse to brush off academics. Training our children to be diligent workers is very important. Just remember that heart training and home schooling can not be separated.

For school teachers, what an awesome responsibility. You are with your students so much more than their parents. Teachers will have the biggest influence in a students life. Positive or negative. This makes it so important to work with the parents. I pointed out my Bible talk that when teaching children the Bible a lot is revealed. I have found it necessary to contact parents about things that come out in teaching Bible lessons simply because the student was not home long enough for the parents to even know there was a struggle going on. Simply put, classroom teachers have a huge responsibility. Remember whether you want to or not you play the largest earthly role in molding and shaping the hearts of your students.

I'm Back

At least I think I am back. I'm not sure how consistent I will be over the next few weeks, but I'm going to give it a try. Last week was great. VP Teacher Training was a wonderful experience. After getting over my initial terror of talking, I was good for the rest of the time. It is surprising to most people that I was anxious. For those of you who know me, you know I love to talk. I discovered I was not actually afraid of talking, but of being recorded. So, now it is out there and never to be forgotten. That does not bother me for 2 of the seminars, but I not as well pleased with the other. So, if you are listening to one of my talks and are thinking, "What in the world!?!", just ignore it. It'll make more sense next time. If there is a next time....

Anyway, it was a great week. We were able to have dinner with friends and another set of friends stayed with us, so there was lots of catching up. Voddie Baucham was as phenomenal as I thought he would be. The kids had a fun with their cousin and the baby started eating solid foods. All in all it was a fun week. Now I am busy getting our school stuff together. I want to start school the middle of August.

So, that is what we have been up to.

Taking a Break

Just letting you know I am taking a little blog break. It is just too busy here to put any energy into blogging. After Teacher Training next week I hope to be back.

I am working on a home-school scheduling post. It should be up today or tomorrow.

Menu For the Week

This week we will actually be home most nights. WooHoo!

Monday- Chicken Stir Fry and Brown Rice
Tuesday- Pasta with a Marinara Sauce and Salad
Wednesday- BBQ Pork chops Sweet Corn on the Cob and Fresh Cantaloupe
Thursday- Black Beans and Rice and Salad
Friday- Hamburgers and Tomato Salad
Saturday- Marinated London Broil with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms, Roasted Potatoes, Sweet Corn on the Cob, Spinach Salad, and rolls with Honey Butter (We may do a pajama ride for ice cream.)

For Lunch on Sundays we either have left-overs or Subway. For dinner we always have BLT sandwiches or Burgers.

I Am On Fire

The first day of my 4th grade year I had to go to school with a swollen and itchy face. It was covered in poison ivy. I had forgotten about that until this week.I am having flashbacks and wondering what mean mother would send their child to school that way. Especially on the first day! She says she does not remember it being that bad. I say she was not the one suffering! Well, I am reliving it now. My husband brought poison ivy into the house. He was doing yard work and the poison oils got on his clothes. He proceeded to put them in the laundry. He has one little spot on his arm that went away within a few days. I, am evidently highly allergic. My entire torso is covered. I guess for an allergic person the laundry soap is not enough. So, after an urgent care visit (we are out of town), a steroid shot, 4 doses of Benedryl, and 2 prescription doses of steroids, I am STILL itching and it is spreading. I was told it has to work it's way out of my body. The doctor says I either have to wash everything in bleach or throw out any clothes that I have come in contact with since this happened. I am being quarantined in my own parent's house. They have given me towels and things to use and I am to make sure it does not cross their paths. Anyway, I am out of ideas. Any suggestions?

By the way, my very sympathetic husband wanted to know if this really warranted an urgent care bill. Couldn't I just wait until Monday and see if it goes away? Once again I say, "You are so not the one suffering!!!"