Vala

Thought family might like to see a cute video of Vala crawling and pulling up at almost 8 months. She just turned 9 months and can now stand on her own, but is not taking steps. She also just learned how to wave and clap her hands. She's starting to respond to "No" and is also making ba-ba and da-da sounds. She loves to watch your mouth talk and try to imitate the sounds. What a cutie!

School is underway!

Well, the first week and a half of school is behind us. We've had a good start in general, though we are still trying to really get into the swing of things. And, of course, with four children 6 and under, there will always be tweaking to do. Plus, I'm still learning new things as a teacher and constantly adjusting my philosophy on teaching in light of what I'm learning.

Our ideal schedule looks a little fuller than this, but this is what it has ended up as looking like these past few days:

8:30~ breakfast (Vala goes back to bed for morning nap)

9:30 ~All the kids recite memory work (We've been working on Deut 6: 4-9 here at home and yesterday we added Matthew 7: 13-14 since that's their memory verse for church this week)

~Then I read out loud (Little House on the Prairie)

~Lorien practices oral narration as she tells the story back to me

10:30~ Phonics and writing with Lorien or copywork and she reads a bit to me

11:00~Feed Vala and Lorien reads to me or does copywork if she is not done.

~Play time till lunch

Then in the afternoon while the kids are napping, we do piano or math or art. So, things have been mixed and matched quite a bit this first week and a half, but hopefully, we'll soon figure out what is the best general routine and stick with it.

Gearing up for school

Well, it's that time of year again. We're starting school on Monday. We've had a good break this summer, but we're all looking forward to getting back into a routine again. Lorien told me yesterday, "Mom, you never read to us anymore." so, I know they're ready for school to start back up! I'm looking forward to it too.

This summer I read a book called: Teaching the Trivium- Christian Homeschooling In a Classical Style. It was another one of those life-altering books. God really used it to remind me why I am homeschooling and what my job is as a parent, training His children. It is a great book to read even if you are not considering using a classical style of education. In fact, I highly recommend that anyone who is homeschooling or thinking about homeschooling read at least the first 3 chapters of this book. I think it's the best scriptural argument for homeschooling that I've ever read.

So, we'll update you as the school year gets underway!