whats in your library

I don't know of many home schooler's who don't love books. I am not one to feel like making multiple trips to the library so that means I have to have a collection of books at home. With a growing family but limited space I have learned that I have to be choosy about what I keep in the house. No room for twaddle as Charlotte Mason would say. Hubby is a pastor and loves to collect books. He has a book case at the church office full of books and then there are the ones that he has at home that have not made it to the office! I store all of my books on a few book shelves in the craft room that hubby and I share. Here is some of what I collect:

Sewing, crafting, parenting, decorating, homeschooling, historical fiction, gardening, cookbooks and spiritual. I also have a collection of audios and DVD's that pertain to the above categories.

For the children I mostly collect classical literature. I also have a collection of children's audio books, DVD's, drawing books, and art books. Poetry and nature books are also a must. I even have a set of encyclopedias, but not sure for how much longer I will keep them since they are getting old. Picture books are kept to a minimum and only the ones that are classics and have great illustrations. A bi-monthly trip to the library keeps us happy with a nice selection of picture books for my youngest.

I have collected over the years alphabet books but not just any alphabet books but ones that are unique. Today I picked up one at Borders that centered around the Von Trapp family! Not only is the content wonderful but the illustrations are beautiful.

I also have a small collection of Tasha Tudor books and Landmark books. Of course we have lots of educational books that we use when we need to look up certain information but for the most part google is our best friend to save on space.

Last but not least is our collection of bibles. We have a lot! I can't resist purchasing a bible when I see it at a good price. We also have our share of bible commentaries and studies.

I am in the process of finding a bible on CD that I think I will enjoy for those days when I am busy in the kitchen.

I am sure I haven't listed everything but this is the bulk of what we collect in order to have books at home and save trips to the libray. I also collect a few magazines but recently have decided to only renew two of the 4 that I subscribe to.

So... what do you collect?

HOmeSCooL PosTings!

I thought I would do a series of homeschool postings. Every year the dynamics of our homeschool change because I have children in different grades and children that have graduated. This year I have made a lot of changes and thought I would do some postings on them. I had 4 major goals for this year: 1. Be more organized 2. Create a method that would track progress. 3. Spend more time reading- out loud and silently. 4. Be consistent with family bible time. Every year I make a schedule that we follow. Most years we stray a little from the schedule. This year I have decided to really try and stick to it as much as possible.

The Picture above is of our schedule which is posted in the kitchen. I am also planning to make smaller copies of it to post around the house so the kids can keep track of where they should be.

Here it is:

6:30 -7:00- Mom goes for walk

7:00 -8:00- Mom's quiet time/breakfast/start laundry /check e-mail

8:00-9:00- Kids wake up/Morning chores/ Breakfast

9:00-9:30 - Family Bible Time

9:30 - 10:30- Math/ Isabella's seat work with mommy

10:30-11:00- English/ Jeremy -Spanish

11:00-12:00- Science with the boys

12:00- 1:00- Lunch and Read Aloud time

1:00-2:00 - History with the boys

2:00-3:oo Reading and spelling / read aloud with Isabella

3:00 -4:00 - Kids exercise

4:00-5:00- Mom starts dinner/ kids afternoon chores

5:00-6:00 - Free time/ Jeremy practices music

6:00-7:00- Dinner and evening devotions

7:00 - 8:00 Baths

8:00-9:00 - Silent reading

9:00- bed time unless tv/dvd has been earned.


So far this has worked for us. It will probably change a little as we add some outside activities. I try not to leave the house during our "school" time. If I have to go out I wait until 3:00. I try and do my food shopping for the week on the weekends so that I am not tempted to leave the house during school hours. It helps having two adult children living at home who drive! I can delegate when necessary.

This is our schedule Monday -Thursday. Our Friday is completely different. We get up and do all subjects except for history and science. I grade everyone's work for the week and they make any corrections that are necessary. After lunch we work on some other kind of work. Right now we are doing nature studies with another family which means we drive to a near by park. When the weather gets to cold we will change gears and work on learning art, music, creation, and whatever else I find of interest.

I dont want you to think that all I do during the day is homeschool. While the kids are on task, I put in laundry, pay bills, clean etc.... BUT the kids schooling comes first. I try not to answer the phone or check e-mail during school hours. (sometimes that is not possible but I do try and make it a general rule)

If you have never tried a schedule I encourage you to give it a chance. It takes time to really make it stick and work but I find when we stick to the schedule we get things done and I am a happier homeschooling momma!

CHAP

CHAP was its usual large and overwhelming event. I was prepared to walk in there and begin to re-think every aspect of my curriculum. Yet, an awesome miracle occured - I did not feel the need to switch gears! It was such a blessing to feel at peace with our families decision to go the text book route. I will have to make some changes for 8-12th grade (not able to use BJU for those grades ) but I will continue to use textbooks for next year.

I was able to hear Doug Phillips speak (Carrie and I were able to sit right next to his family!-LOL-) talk about living in a fish bowl! I got to walk around and spend a little bit of money on the "fun" things that are not a really needed but soooooooooo wanted. It was worth the trip out there and I plan to go next year too with maybe a layover in Lancaster.