My 1st Convention Experience

My first Home School Convention was a three day event filled with speakers, vendors, fun, sharing, and lots of choices!!! Overall I enjoyed it. My first conflict was over which presentations to see. Each session I had to choose from about 6 different speakers. I was mostly pleased with my selections and I learned a lot. My second conflict was over the vendor hall, full of every type of workbook, math program, reading program, you get the picture if you wanted it was there! In addition to the vendor hall each speaker promoted their own learning materials and or books. I am a "self improvement" junkie so to speak and so I struggled to not buy every book that applied to family, marriage, raising Godly children, etc.... Luckily for me a speaker I heard on the first day of Convention warned us "newbies" that every book/product we see would be tempting...and Oh So It Was! She gave the advice to not buy anything the first few days, of course pray about my purchases, and remember that all of these items could be purchased at a later time. No need to buy the whole store today! I attended convention on my own and did not know anyone else in attendance. I would say that my only downside to convention was I had hoped to meet others in my home area to share this experience with. It wasn't that folks were not friendly if I said hello, but it seemed people new each other or came with a group. This was intimidating for me...so needless to say I didn't make any new homeschool friends this year. I'm looking forward already to next years convention and am feeling a little better prepared for the exhausting but fun filled experience.

Workboxes have failed me??!!!

Okay so the actual workbox system did not fail me, but I failed it. I guess what I am really trying to say is the workbox system is NOT foolproof! You must have dedication to fill the boxes and plan. I still love the system and loved how my days flowed while using it but I am feeling obligated to admit that I fell of the wagon within the first week!! I am doing this so hopefully anyone else who may stumble while using this system knows it's OKAY and you can just simply start over. I am not much for making resolutions, however for this new year of 2009 I want to commit to being honest with myself and you all about my successes and my hiccups. We are all moms, trying are very best and need encouragement. I see many blogs that talk about their success in organization, planning, teaching...you get the idea. I LOVE reading these blogs but I do find myself often thinking,"wow I wish I could do things how they do!" I want to be comfortable and confidant while I'm on MY own journey. Since each women & her families journey will be different. So today I commit to you to blog often and truthfully.

God Bless,
Melissa

Workboxes Day 2!!!

Just to wrap up Day 1 of workboxing it went fantastic. Better than I could have hoped for! I was able to focus on working with my 5 year old and my 3 year old was actually occupied and content doing his own "schoolwork." Below is a list of what I included in day 1 workboxes for my 5 year old. We are using My Fathers World curriculum which is so easy to teach using the workbox system! Our letter of the week is S so our activities are centered around that. We only got through 6 boxes today, but we spent a lot of time on science!! We are building up to the 12 boxes slowly but surely.

Day 1- Workboxes for 5 year old
Box 1: Lesson on Sun -tracing tactile S
Box 2: Calender -I use the calender by having him circle the date and as a weather chart. He draws a picture of the current weather. I then have him do copywork in a notebook. He writes the day, month, and year.
Box 3: Science- Oil & water don't mix. We used eye droppers and I gave him a small cup of water as well as a small cup of oil. We added food coloring as well for fun
Box 4: Gym- Went to a local field and played baseball and catch
Box 5: Color/Cut out words that begin with S to make an S Book
Box 6: Cuisenaire Rods and Workbook
Box 7: Practice tying shoe laces
Box 8: Computer time @ Starfall.com


Day 2 Workboxes for 5 year old
Box 1: Lesson from MFW workbook
Box 2: Worksheet-practice letter S and Sound discrimination worksheet also #1
Box 3: Calender (explained up above)
Box 4: Jello-Jigglers- We went through our box of Cookie Cutters the kids had to find cutters that began with S. Then we made Jello-Jigglers!
Box 5: Science- I had frozen small rocks in cups of ice. I put their blocks of ice onto a cookie sheet and gave him a hammer. He had predicted if the rocks would break and how
Box 6: Art-I had traced a large S on a piece of paper. He ripped up yellow squares of paper and glues them to the S.
Box 7: Computer time; starfall.com
Box 8: Practice tying shoelaces
Box 9: I cut out shapes in different colors and put numbers 1-5 on the back. I called out a shape/color/or number and he had to race to the appropriate space before I caught him. (it was raining today so this got out some energy!!)

Workboxes have arrived!!!

So I've been following the busy blog about the workboxing system and I wondered if the system would be a fit for me. I LOVE the idea but struggle so much with organization and planning. I have found since starting to homeschool in November that I am not successful as a fly by my seat kind of gal. We tend to drift through the day and not get much done. (I think my husband would politily agree on this, sorry dear!!) So last night we made a late night trip to Target and bought two shelving/bin units. I spent about 20 minutes "stuffing" boxes. I ended up getting 9 done for my 5 1/2 year old and 6 done for my 3 1/2 year old. I was so excited to start today I literally could not sleep!! So today we begin what I hope to be a very successful journey of planning, organizing, and learning! I will post pictures a little later as well as what I put in the boxes for our first day. Oh one more thing, when my oldest dear boy woke up and saw the new system set up he said, "mommy I see science, thank you so much, I love science." I think we are off to a good start!!

Time Flies!

I can't believe I haven't posted since November!!! Time flies. I have since had my third boy!! Colton Nathaniel was born March 16th, weighing in at 8lbs 6oz and 21 inches long. He is amazing and I was quickly reminded at how precious life is. His delivery was not without complication, nor was my recovery. My water broke to soon and the baby had not yet "dropped" causing a tear in the placenta. I ended up bleeding a lot and the babies heart rate continued to drop. Everything was pointing towards a C-Section and yet by God's Grace our son was born healthy and a regular delivery! My recovery presented many challenges beyond a normal post-partum recovery should be. Two weeks after delivery I was still in a significant amount of pain and found myself needing a DNC procedure. The doctor said part of the placenta had not been dispelled at delivery had had caused in infection as well as made me toxic!! A week after the DNC I was in so much pain I could not walk. After a visit with the doctors I went in for an emergency DNC with a scope this time. The doctor found that the placenta had caused a problem on part of the uterus that required him to scrape that area. So that has been my life for the last few months recovering from delivery and surgeries and trying my best to sleep and care for my family at the same time. Oh did I mention I finally committed once and for all to homeschooling my three kids?? God has really placed this on my heart and as scared as I am of the journey ahead I know he will see me through this.

Why am I here???

I just quit my full time job that I thought I loved very much about 2 months ago to be a Stay at home mom. This stay at home job is not new to me, however I tried it once before in the past. This time is different and I wonder how many moms struggle the way I have with this decision to work in an office or at home for their families.
Looking back my biggest problem was that I did not view being a homemaker as a job. Before any of you ladies get upset please know I did realize it was hard work, but I felt not the kind that was rewarding and offered promotions and power which is what I thought I was looking for. I had become quite unhappy with my job and was seeking any promotion that I could see as remotely possible. I felt I had to find something that gave me that feeling of success again. After much debate and some family reasons which I will discuss in another blog I decided to take the plunge. It was emotional to say the least. (It didn't help that I was pregnant either!) I had a great mentor that encouraged me to think it over and be sure about my decision to leave work. While I felt confident I still cried my eyes out several times in his office. It was hard! I was leaving a place that I had convinced myself I belonged. But in my heart I knew God was prompting me to leave work. It was one of the best decisions I have made so far.
You may be wondering if I regret having working for several years of my children's lives. The answer is honestly no. I was not ready before, not mentally or physically ready to be home. I have now learned the value in being home for and with my family. I feel success in accomplishing my daily routine, in watching my children learn, and in having extra time to connect with friends and build lifetime relationships. A new peace has come over my life and while I am still trying to figure many things out, I have to say I have found the best job on earth. I may not be earning an earthly paycheck, but the rewards and benefits that motherhood provides are not measurable!