Dutiful Diva

Sunday, August 28, 2011

This Is How We Do It - Our Learning Room

Here's a little sneak peak at our learning area. Throughout the year things will change as we progress through our curriculum and explorations. So, here it is...

I must say that I SO LOVE our new reading nook decked out with the all so clever gutter shelves. My Soul Sister at Homeschooling By Faith was the sole inspiration of this get up.

Our calendar/weather wall

Our math corner and seating area

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Blessed Homemaking: 5 Things I've Learned from the Amish (Guest Post b...

I do love to read about and observe the Amish and their practices. This post from Mrs. Q at Blessed Homemaking is one we all can be inspired, encouraged and take something away from. Enjoy!

Blessed Homemaking: 5 Things I've Learned from the Amish (Guest Post b...: Guest blog from Suzanne Woods Fisher for “Amish Values for Your Family” (Revell) Five Things I’ve Learned from the Amish that Have Nothing...

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

This Is How We Do It - 2011-12 Curriculum Choices

WHEW! Well, this has been one journey for us as a homeschooling family. We graduated our oldest in 2010 (he's off to Bible College next month) and here we are, at it again for Round 2 (and 3 for that matter).
YES, just when I'd started to count down the years for our oldest, God had "other" plans. To my surprise, God would add to our family, not one...but TWO new little ones 14 months apart.
So, here we are now with two wonderful boy blessings, ready to start this journey of discipleship once again.
Having homeschooled for the past 13 years, we've tried MANY different methods of "schooling". It would take just about that long for us to FINALLY tune in to our family's philosophy for schooling as a whole. We absolutely love Charlotte Mason's methods of learning and discipling, as well as literature based studies with Living Books. We may throw in a Unit Study every now and then for supplementation, but we all know that nothing and no one (other than God Himself) is a better teacher than this thing we call LIFE. So, with ALL of that said, our plans for this year are as follows:

1. My Father's World Kindergarten (for both boys)
2. Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K and Kindergarten
3. Horizons Math K (for both boys at their own pace)
4. Alphaphonics (for both boys to enhance their reading levels)
5. Plants Grown Up (for Bible and Character training)

That's the CORE of what we'll be digging into this year. There are other resources that I have in which we will pull from to supplement here and there, but for the most part, we are SUPER excited!
Here's a peek of what I had in reach and I pray that you all have an absolutely fantastic take off and landing this year. Don't mind the turbulence along the way, it's ONLY temporary! The reward is so great once you reach your destination.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Homeschooling by the Yard: 10 things I've learned about homeschooling so far....

It's so funny! After 13 years of homeschooling, these points that were raised by Kyla @ Homeschooling by the Yard, STILL hold true today. Gotta love it!

Homeschooling by the Yard: 10 things I've learned about homeschooling so far....: "I was actually sitting down to post about what we did in school last week but for some reason decided instead to post about the things that ..."

Thursday, January 15, 2009

CLOGGED???

Well, as you can tell I've been MIA for a bit now. I can't explain WHY it happens but all that I DO know is that my FLOW gets clogged up when I'm going through certain seasons in life. It's like writer's block, I just draw a blank when it comes to doing just about ANYTHING. I see soooo much light at the end of this little tunnel but when will I make it out totally is the question.

Have any of you gone through or maybe are going through any thing at least a little related this? Please comment and share your experiences and how you deal with the "cloggyness" when it arrives.