The Battle We Choose To Fight

  

 As a Christian, I have always struggled with reading Gods word. That, in turn, brought on a outpour of other issues. Lately, God has continuously put in my heart that it should be my focus. So I forced myself. Yup. Literally opened my bible and sat in front of it. Sometimes I had a spiritual tantrum; kicking and screaming because I'd much rather be watching TV. Other times, it was peaceful and fulfilling. I couldn't have felt closer to the Lord at those times.

  “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6: 16-17

  Recently, during our family devotions, we have come across a lot of battle or war-related entries.I won't call myself a girly girl, but war movies and war books just aren't my thing. Keeping myself informed about current events is one thing, but sitting down and watching a bunch of men slice and dice on a field isn't for me. 

Even so, God uses that time after time throughout scripture to show the power His word has. It is a SHIELD! Not a flimsy cardboard one that you make for a child, but one that is intricately carved out of the finest metals and embroidered with His seal. 

  Picture the enemy coming towards you, racing at full force with his weapon and striking your SHIELD. Sparks fly, you flinch. Sometimes we stay in battle and take a jab with our swords but other times we run. Then, when you sit and look at the damage the enemy has caused to your shield, you see it is unscathed. Bright and shiny and ready to protect you. That is Gods word! Such a wonderful depiction of the power it has! Not only does it save you, it continuously reminds you that He will never leave you or forsake you. So unlike the cardboard cousin; that when the thunderstorm comes, it crumbles under the raindrops, God’s word stands firm and will always protect His people.

  “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Hebrews 4:12

Pushing on.

Long time no see!

 It has been almost a month since my last post and honestly speaking, it took everything I had to pick up my laptop. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE my blog and writing. I have spent the last few weeks thinking, planning, and searching for fun new things to share about. That was the easy part! I've shared several times that I am a starter but never a finisher and that has been creeping up again. It is very easy to make excuses and let life get in between you and the things you love. Life is busy and complicated and full of unexpected occurrences. If we allow ourselves to go with the flow, nothing will ever get finished. That is why I forced myself to grab my computer, sit down, and just write (forgive me if this sounds a little rant-ish).

  School has been wonderful around here lately! Our butterfly unit is on its last leg and we have learned so many new things! Amaris and I visited Butterfly World on Monday with a homeschool group and enjoyed getting a hands-on lesson on these miraculous creatures. The unit will be turned into a lapbook which is exciting because I've been doing tons of research in how to maximize space in the books.

  I have always struggled with immersing myself in The Word. I get so filled with the Spirit on Sunday, especially after great worship. Then the fire slowly fades as the week goes on. The desire is always there but laziness gets the best of me. Recently, I've been listening to  Matt Chandler's sermons from The Village church. I absolutely love his style of preaching and The Lord is definitely present during that time. Even though I am listening to The Word and am constantly in prayer, I have been convicted of not reading as much. I came across a wonderful mommy blogger and have been motivated to follow her footsteps. Her name is GypsyMamaNC  and she not only reads scripture daily, but she journals in the best way; highlighting verses in her bible, artfully writing her favorite parts and how they speak to her. She also follows #goodmorninggirls, which is a group of women on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and email that encourage and keep each other accountable in their quiet times (Exactly what I need!). That group connected me to Women Living Well Ministries. This site has wonderful Bible reading plans and resources to help struggling women like me. 

     

 I hope to bring wonderful things to the blogging community within future blogs. I have some research projects, recipes, and so much more fun things lined up! So, stay tuned!

 If there is something you would like to see, learn more about, or have me elaborate on, please feel free to comment below!

                                                                      Many Blessings, 

                                                             Newly Encouraged Momma 

Our first lapbook!

I think I'm more excited about this than my daughter is. I've found myself showing EVERYONE that stepped into my house the lapbook (Yup, I've been that annoying). Truthfully, it feels like a huge accomplishment and our first complete project.

 A few weeks back we began our ladybug lapbook by researching and reading a ton of books (the library is our friend!). Amaris learned so many facts and loved every activity. I believe this is such a great way to teach. Having a tactile learner on my hands made me extremely nervous because I am not crafty at all! Thankfully, there are great lapbooking websites and resources that help families lacking the craft bone. 

    

I loved the layout we used with "The Grouchy Ladybug".

It was clean, easy to understand, and the activities were perfect for Amaris. I did add the ladybug life cycle wheel from a download. Our absolute favorite was the thumbprint art. I had a multi-color inkpad and with that, she created the grass, sun, and ladybugs. Then added spots and smiley faces to top it all off. So cute! I definitely reccommend this unit.

 The only thing I would change is the size of the manila folders I used for the book. I folded it into the standard three-sided display and quickly ran out of space. I searched for different options and found a wonderful way to glue two of them together (again, this is not my strength). 

The next unit we are starting is caterpillars. That will last for about a week or two because we only school 2 or 3 days a week. Then, we will transition to butterflies which will last another two weeks. 

I am so encouraged by this unit. Not only did I witness my daughter learning and retaining great information, but we finished something we started. That, for me, is such a huge deal. I have mentioned before that I am a starter, not a finisher. By God's grace were we able to carry this from start to finish. A lot of prayer and scripture reading happened. That is exactly the way He wants it and how my husband and I want to school our little girl. This is God-centered teaching.

Many Blessings,

Not so crafty momma

Ultimate goal

  I love to write. I've been scribbling in small journals from the moment I could somewhat spell. I have an immense passion for what I do. No, not my secretary job (which I love) but for being a wife and a mommy. My family is extremely important which is why my husband and I decided to homeschool. The combined passion of writing and homeschool is the reason why I started blogging. In no way do I want to make this blog a shrine to my daughter's good works and what may look like great planning (I can assure you...IT IS FAR FROM THAT).
 This site is meant to be an inspiration to others. An insight into my life to show that if I can do it, you can probably do it better! I'm not a homeschool over-enthusiast or an expert. I don't think everyone should homeschool (Oh no she didn't! Yes, I did). People just don't have the patience for it! Sometimes I don't have it! Public school isn't evil either. Millions of children leave their classrooms everyday with a great new piece of information. 
 To me, teaching your child at home or even supplementing their public school education, is a gift that no one can ever give. It's a bond that you will have with these small minds that will never be replaced. You taught them how to walk, speak their first word, and ride a bike. They view you as the person they can learn from. They trust and love you beyond comprehension, so the knowledge they gain from you will be so special.
I am blessed to have a huge community of homeschooling families close to me, but some of you don't. Ask me tons of questions! I can guarantee I will not have every answer, but my contact list is very long. No question is a dumb question! Let me share my passion with you all!

The Unthinkable

  I have a very bad habit. Well, I have a few, but the one I'm writing about might ring a bell in other mommies minds. I place limits on myself. I know what I want to do and then I calculate how long it'll take until I mess up or something goes wrong. Always a starter, NEVER a finisher. This is how I felt about teaching my daughter how to read. An overwhelming fear would creep over me when the thought entered my mind. 
  This week was THE week. We reached lesson 3 of Alpha-Phonics and it was time to put sentences together. It had been challenging because she would give up so quickly, but with constant encouragement, she became more confident. We reviewed the short a words (am, an, as, at, ax), then we went over those with an added letter (Sam, man, has, cat, tax). The sentences I used were "Sam sat" and "Sam has an ax". Within 5 mins she had breezed through both. Because she did them so quickly, I didn't have anything else planned!
   Improvising, I cut a bunch of index cards in half and wrote the words on them. We went over what makes up a sentence (Capital letter in the beginning, period at the end). She then proceeded to create her own! Have you ever been so proud that you feel like you heart was 10 times too big? That is just an understatement! I couldn't believe that even though I had not yet "finished" this stage, I reached a pivotal moment in my child's development. By God's grace, this small human learned something completely foreign to her. AND I HAD A HAND IN IT! The same encouragement and scripture I used on my toddler was real to me as well. 

It's been a week full of fun! We started the Ladybug lapbook and have been doing some great crafts. It's coming along but I'm so excited to see it put together. I downloaded "The Grouchy Ladybug" unit from homeschoolshare.com and a few add-ons from teachingmomma.org. I made a ladybug facts wall with flowers and all! Friday was our edible crafts day so that was a great mess (and fun, of course). Amaris pasted mini chocolate chips on rice krispie treat ladybugs. We will finish the unit next week and put the entire book together. Lapbooks are my new best friends! If you want to know some more about them, visit this great blog. So many different subjects and ways to do things that it's specifically tailored to your child. At this young stage, it's great to have something that you can simply have fun with. The learning just kind of....happens!

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

2 Corinthians 12:9

Many blessings, 

Lapbook Loving Momma

Let the fun begin!

                                                              OUR FIRST WEEK IS OVER! 

  I seriously wanted to throw a huge party for this occasion. It was tough but definitely not as bad as I thought it would be. My wonderful husband spent many evenings listening to me rant about our day and comforting me when times were tough. I think I have learned more during our first day in Classical Conversations than in my elementary years (just kidding....maybe). God was busy with our hearts and minds during that week. We struggled with patience, anger, disobedience, and many more. Oh man, I'm so glad it's over. Want to know why? Because we get to start week two! Despite the battles and uncertainties, I was excited to start a new week with a clean slate. 

 My close friend and fellow mommy is probably one of the most creative people I know! (Check out her awesome blog) She put a wonderful group together to guide moms in teaching young ones with crafts, books, and other fun stuff. Being so enthusiastic, I jumped in! What I didn't seem to realize is that Amaris is very opinionated. She loves  learning but flourishes more by learning about things that interests her (who doesn't). I didn't think to ask her what she wanted to learn! Lessons were planned, crafts were prepared, and tons of things were put into place without taking into consideration what the free-spirited youngin' would like to explore. We did go through an Apple lesson my friend shared and Amaris enjoyed it, so it was very successful! But after praying and consulting my husband, I threw all of the ideas out the window and included my mini student. 

 We are going to start a Ladybug  lapbook! This mommy is very excited about this! Tonight, I will print everything out, cut things and just prepare the materials for the next two weeks. The time frame is for a week but with our busy schedules, two weeks will be the ideal thing to do. Slowly I'm learning that we cannot put so much pressure on education. Amaris learns new things from TV shows, books, and everyday life. Whatever we choose to do, she will learn from it. BUT that's not the reason why we started homeschooling. It's the love of learning we want to instill. She has all of high school to do mandatory, not so fun classes. Now is the time for fun!

     

This is  from our second CC class this morning. They had some art time and they all looked like little surgeons!

Here is the scripture that now is posted over our school area. I hope you find strength in this wonderful verse.

              "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
                                                                          2 Tim 1:7

                                                                      Many Blessings, 
                                                                    A praying momma 

Our Firsts

This was our first day of class! 

Yesterday, we started our homeschool adventure. It went great, considering I can be scattered sometimes. Hi, my name is Geraldine and I am a procrastinator. The plan for the afternoon was to go through two lessons of Alpha-Phonics and go to sleep feeling accomplished and ready to conquer the world. Well, that would've happened if I had read through the entire lesson plan! I didn't, so at the last minute, I hurriedly flipped through the pages of the book and decided to wing it. God is merciful and gave us a great time of encouragement and learning. This is definitely an area I will continue to work on...probably until I die. I have faith!

Today, Amaris had her first Classical Conversation class! We were so excited for this because to her, she was going to school like Caillou (I'm not knocking the show, but does anyone else notice how whiny he is?).

I was surprised as to how high paced it was. We went over the curriculum in the practicum as well as orientation but it was intense! The kids loved it because of that. There was never down time to lose them and the material was fun. The class went through 7 history facts, states and capitals, an English sentence, Latin, Science, skip counting, and art. Whew! I got tired just writing that! I do have to say, you have to be a special person to be a tutor to the young ones. Mrs. Lindsey was great with the kids and had them laughing the entire time. 

For the rest of the week, we will go over everything we did at CC with the addition of a few things. I have a few crafts up my sleeves (thank you Pinterest!) as well as more Alpha-Phonics. The thing I love the most about this age is that I get to explore everything with her. We get to make mistakes together and learn from them. I made this a HUGE point as we were reading. Amaris hates making mistakes. I can see the anguish in her face as she is trying to think of the answer to a question. I encouraged her on Monday to LET IT GO! (Frozen is our friend)

I told her that mommy makes mistakes and that we can only do this because God gives us the grace and courage to do it. Without that, we will never do anything because fear will stop us. She was hyped up at this point and proceeded to knock everything off the table with a big "YEAH!". Then I joined her and jumped around filled with the joy of the Lord. 

Mommies, I can't do this. I can't teach my child from Kindergarten through Highschool graduation. I completed 2 semesters of college and then had a beautiful baby at a young age. I am not worthy of being the sole educator for this child. The only reason why I am doing this is because my God is bigger than any of my insecurities. He is bigger than my lack of know how. He guides me and guides you as well. He has a plan for my daughter and knows exactly the reason why He made me her mommy. That astounds me. It humbles me and makes me want to lay everything at His feet and trust His works. 

It is going to be an amazing year!

Many Blessings, 

Blessed momma 

Training

I cannot begin to express how proud I am of this space! Most of my books are in order and the school supplies are ready to be used! Long-time home school mommies, can you tell I'm new at this?

 Football players run drills from morning to night to get ready for a big game. Ballet dancers do their pirouettes by the hundreds before a great recital. Triathlon participants swim countless laps, bike numerous miles, and run for hours. I, as a home school mom, have to train as well. Thankfully, my training does not include any running! Instead, I get to read some awesome books.

 The approach I'm taking in my home is Classical Education. There's a ton of different definitions for this style but simply put, it is a model that causes your child to think. It is not run by technology (not that it is off-limits), it is not watered down, and it is definitely not for the faint of heart. The wonderful thing about this is that you will go deep into history. You will be side by side with the most historic figures you can read about. You will get lost so deeply into science that you can taste the salt water as you learn about sea creatures. And you will be able to hold your ground as you debate among the best.

 Ok, I probably didn't explain ANYTHING about Classical Education. Have you ever tasted a food so amazing that you can't describe how it tastes like? This is currently my issue. Truthfully, I'm still getting to know it. I've been able to encounter some great resources these last few months and I'm so excited to share. If this blog causes you to search at least one book I mention, my heart will be happy!

 Amaris will be starting Classical Conversations this coming Tuesday. Talk about nervous excitement! This is a perfect example of what a Christian Classical Education looks like. This is a Christ centered program that combines bible truths with rich history. I will be sharing specifically about CC in the future but I just couldn't wait to share my love for it! At their practicum, I was able to purchase two books to start me off. The first one is "The Core" by Leigh A. Bortins. The author is actually the founder of Classical Conversations, so she dissects every part of the Christian Classical Education model and gives you a clearer understanding. This book in particular is for the Foundation stage, or the early grade levels. For me, it gave me a greater understanding in each subject I will be teaching Amaris and how to tie that back into God's truths and our history. The other book is "Classical Christian Education Made Approachable" by Classical Conversations media group. I like this book because it is an outline. It gives you the different stages of CC and how that looks in real life.

 I can go on and on about the books I have ( and I will in many other posts). For now, I shall leave you with a quote : "Books are almost as individual as friends.There is no earthly use in laying down general laws about them. Some meet the needs of one person, and some of another; and each person should beware of the booklover's bessetting sin, of what Mr. Edgar Allen Poe calls 'the mad pride of intellectuality,' taking the shape of arrogant pity for the man who does not like the same kind of books." -Theodore Roosevelt

 Many Blessings,

A homeschooling momma in-training

Waiting...

This curly haired beauty is my Amaris. She is pretty amazing but thats all I'm going to say because if not I will sound like a bragging momma (which I totally am!).  

Being home-schooled, this was something I wanted to do from before I gave birth to my daughter. I have always longed for the day that I can officially teach her. I've been her "teacher" since as long as I can remember but I wanted a piece of paper or a curriculum to give me that title. This was such an idol for a time that I dragged my poor mom to a Homeschool convention when Amaris was just 2 years old! Full of enthusiasm, the questions just flowed and flowed and then flooded my mind to where I could not see that my daughter was definitely not ready to start reading or doing math puzzles. 

By the grace of God, my family intervened and shared some information that for some reason it never occurred to me. JUST WAIT! Here's a fun fact about me: I am not a patient person. I have memorized every scripture on patience and anxiety and probably have recited them hundreds of times. Well, I waited....and waited....and waited. Now Amaris is 4 and ready to be a Pre-K kid! 

Still being very excited, I have read more books than you can imagine and have tried to equip myself as best as possible. The waiting game applies to this season of our life as well. I cannot plan everything we will do during the year (which is killing me!), she might not learn as quickly as I expected, and she might be interested in things that I didn't plan on teaching. So many aspects of our lives call us to wait and homeschooling isn't any different. My prayer during this time is to be patient with my little one and just wait! Just watch her flourish into a student that enjoys learning. 

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."

Colossians 3:12

Many blessing, 

Excited Momma 

Welcome!

HELLO ALL!

 First of all, I want to thank everyone that will mistakenly find my blog, has been invited, or seeks it out. I love my family and writing, so this will be my portal.

The point of this blog: HOMESCHOOLING!
 Uh Oh, I've probably lost a few readers already but bear with me. I'm new to this (both blogging and homeschooling), and my hope is to share the good times and the bad. I hope to inspire, encourage, create smiles, happy tears, and prayer.
 I posted in my bio the scripture, "Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants." Deuteronomy 32:2. I actually came upon this verse as I was looking for a blog name. I am a Pinterest girl. Following other peoples mastered crafts is my specialty. But coming up with my own name that will be memorable, touching, snazzy, and cute? Not so much. My words cannot express how much I want this scripture mirrored in my household. Amaris, my daughter, is a ball of energy and she is as smart as they come. The goal that my husband (Julian. You'll hear a lot about him soon) and I have set out for is not to keep our beautiful ray of sunshine home. Our goal is to instill a love of learning so strong that she will never cease to question and take in everything the Lord has to offer. 

Enjoy!

A hopeful momma