Longing For Paris Book Review

I'll be super honest here, being a stay at home homeschooling mom can be downright boring and lonely. The mundane tasks never end and the children are always needy. I'm often wondering if this is all there is to life - teaching math, wiping noses, changing diapers, potty training (help me now!), washing clothes, cooking meals, cleaning, the list goes on and on. I've always been a dreamer and that hasn't changed after having kids. But what do I do with my dreams now? Do I need to give them up to raise kids? Is there a way to reconcile my reality with my longings? About a month or 2 ago, I got tired of being tired of the mundane so I started thinking about how to remedy the day to day monotony of motherhood. Since we are in the month of summer, these are the ideas I started mulling over: taking the kids swimming (all 3 alone - gasp - this was a completely new concept for me - ha), frequent library trips for their special events and just getting new books to read, and activities at home such as crafts and cooking. Low and behold in the midst of my thoughts, I came across an application to be on Sarah Mae's new book launch team. Having read her book, Desperate, I was excited to read her new one. So, I applied, and to my surprise, I was chosen to help get the word out about her new book. I had the privilege of reading this book ahead of time, and I felt she was in my head!

The things I was pondering about motherhood and monotony she addressed in this book. Chapter 2 is called "Everyday Adventure" and talks about having simple, inexpensive adventures with your kids. Oh my goodness, exactly what I was thinking. Isn't God amazing like that? This book is a must read for sure. It feels like you are sitting down with a cup of tea while your friend tells you of her experiences and longings and how she learned to be content with her season of life. My absolute favorite part of this book is located at the end of every chapter and is called "An Invitation to Paris." This is where Sarah Mae gives you a super simple, fun way to bring a sense of Paris (adventure) into your life right now. Seriously, such fun! I cannot recommend this book enough. You can pre-order your copy, HERE!

 Here are some of my favorite quotes in the book.
 “A fully alive people living for the living God can accomplish much in the world, but a half-dead people will just survive.”

 “I love who I am because I was made with love. And I want to be fully me so that my God can be fully glorified.”

 “Our bents, our personalities, our skill sets are not accidents. God put them into us for His glory and purposes. To not accept how God made us would be to deny His glory.”

 “Your destiny is not be be in pain, but to walk in confidence and know who you are as His son or daughter.”

 “God cares about our dreams, because He cares about us.”

 “I was made for Tuscany. I was made for Paris. I was made for all the beauty in the world because…I was made for heaven.”

 Check out Sarah Mae's Facebook page HERE. And her Instagram HERE.

Chores

I often get asked how we handle chores around here so that is what this post covers. After trying multiple ways to get my kids to do chores without arguing about it, I think I finally found a way that works for us. We call them "chore packs." I think we got this term from the Duggar's. Anyway, each child has a "chore necklace" that they put on each morning. On the necklace there are laminated chore cards with a different chore pictured. Each evening, using a dry erase marker, I put a check mark on the cards that the children need to accomplish the next day. I don't give them more than 5 in a day.

As they complete a chore, they erase the check mark. If they finish all of their chores, they will get paid .50/day. They then check off their chore chart located on the refrigerator for that day. If they do not finish all of their chores, they will not get paid.

After all their chores are completed, they can ask for "extra chores" which they will earn .25 for each extra one finished. Also, if they finish all their chores before we start school for the day, they earn 30 minutes of IPAD/computer play during nap time. Here is a list of the chore cards we use: empty dishwasher, put away laundry, fold laundry, wipe bathroom counter, start laundry, dust baseboards, vacuum/sweep, set table, tidy bedroom, load dishwasher, and tidy living room. Since we have been doing chores this way, I have had only occasional complaining and usually they are reminding me to "check our chore packs."

2015-2016 Curriculum Choices

My youngest will be starting "Tot School" this year. I got the schedule idea from THIS site. I'm doing mine a little bit differently.

On Mondays when I introduce a new letter, I will read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and let her add a letter to our tree. Then I'll let her color a picture of that letter. For the color and animal days, I will show her the new item and have her color a picture. I'll introduce shapes and numbers on that day. Since she is so young, I'm going super simple.

 My middle will be entering Kindergarten and I'm going to have him join in with my oldest when we do Bible, history, science, art, music, etc.
So here is our list for Kindergarten and 2nd grade:
Bible: Grapevine Studies Old Testament Overview Level 1
 Habit Training: Laying Down the Rails with emphasis on: Attention, Health, Manners, Gentleness, and Thoroughness.
Reading & Narration: Heidi
  History: We will be studying the period of American History about westward expansion. We will be doing this through biographies and hand on projects. The first book we will be using is Who Was Daniel Boone?
Geography:  Tree in the Trail by Holling C. Holling
Artist Study:  We will be studying American Folk Art using this coloring book from Dover.
Music:  We will use YouTube to listen to American folk songs
Poetry:  Eric Carle's Animals, Animals
Science:  Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science  (My oldest will do a more in-depth report or project in addition to reading the book)
Nature Study:  Once a week we will take a nature walk and draw or write in nature journals.
Art:  We will use artforkidshub.com and deepspacesparkle.com

My Kindergarten solo subjects:
Language Arts:  Abeka's A Handbook for Reading
Handwriting:  I'm not using a curriculum for this
Math:  Horizons Math K

My 2nd grader solo subjects:
Language Lessons;  Queen's Curriculum Language Lessons for the Very Young
Handwriting:  I'm not using a curriculum for this
Writing & Composition:  Writing Journal
Math:  Horizons Math 2

Choosing Curriculum

During my first few years of homeschooling, I lacked the confidence to choose the topics and curriculum to fit our lifestyle.  I wasn't exactly sure the direction I wanted to go or even which homeschooling style was a good fit for our family.  There are so many different styles of teaching and learning. From Charlotte Mason to Classical to Eclectic to Unit Studies, and everything in between there are so many styles to choose from. I began to get overwhelmed and was having trouble deciding what was best.  I think my big detriment in those very early years was information overload.  I had all of this access to so much information by people who would write "eclectic is the way to go."  And someone else who would say "classical is the best way to teach so your kids would learn."  I was so conflicted and tried so many different methods.  So I'm not going to use this blog to say that one way of homeschooling is better than another way.  I'm simply going to share what works for our family and it may or may not work for yours.

When trying to decide on curriculum for our new year, I took note of what worked really well last year and what didn't.  I thought about what my kids were enjoying and what they weren't.  At this time, I came across the book, "Educating the Wholehearted Child" by Clay Clarkson.  This has become my favorite book on homeschooling and I highly recommend it.


This book gave me "permission" to put aside all the worry of choosing the right curriculum and focusing on learning and growing along with my kids.

On the next post, I will share our curriculum choices for this upcoming year.

Coming back

I'm reviving my little ole blog here and I'm looking forward to sharing more homeschooling adventures with you.  Right now we are on our summer break but we start back up July 6.  We like to take off a long break for Christmas so we start early.  I'm hoping to let my 7 yo pop on here occasionally and give us her percpective of school.

Be on the lookout for some exciting news about Sarah Mae's new book "Longing for Paris."  Check out the link on the left.