Hi y’all!

Just wanted to let you know that I’m guest posting today at Homeschool Learners about being called to homeschool.

Homeschooling is a Biblical choice for our family based on our understanding of scripture’s guidance and principles for families. As a result, homeschooling as a calling has allowed us to have more confidence, freedom, conviction, and flexibility.

I encourage you to head over to Homeschool Learners to read more about how our family has been called to homeschool and how that has had an effect on what we do. Also, I share some ways you can know if you are called to homeschool your children as well.

Also, a fellow homeschooler at my church made this video about homeschooling her kindergartener this year and I thought I would share it with you.

Have a great day!!

This week of school has been a hard one.

I have a bad case of short-timers with our move coming up very soon.

The problem is that even though we’re moving, homeschool must go on.

Because we were testing, last week was mostly a week off of school. Whenever we take a week off, it is a bit of a struggle to get back into the routine of things.

Add to all of that a little girl who is quickly embracing the “terrible two’s” even before she actually turns two.

Yesterday morning was especially hard…so hard that I put myself into time out!

When I came out of hiding, I sat down and talked to my oldest girls about some changes that we can make to work through this time.

As we talked, EA handed me her journal with a note sweetly written to me…

Her note reads, “Mother’s Day is soon. This week should be joyful, happy, and wonderful. I have a few plans.”

She is so right.

This week should be joyful, happy, and wonderful.

But not only this week.

Every week, every day, every moment is such a blessing.

And not because Mother’s Day is coming up, but because we have so much to be thankful for.

Yes, homeschool is sometimes hard, sometimes a struggle, and often a sacrifice. But I am thankful that I have this opportunity to teach my children at home, to build relationships with them, and to watch them grow and learn in the comfort and safety of our home.

I am thankful for this reminder from my daughter to enjoy life, to be thankful, and to live out each day joyful, happy, and wonderful.

God knew I needed encouragement and I am so thankful that he chose to send it by way of this precious little girl!

Are you in need of encouragement today?

Are you struggling with the end of this school year, or an upcoming change in your life?

Remember, we have to much to be thankful for.

We have been blessed beyond measure.

This week, this day, and each moment contained within should be joyful, happy, and wonderful.

Virginia homeschool law requires that beginning in the first grade, students take standardized tests to demonstrate academic achievement.

I got approval to be a test administrator so that I could test my girls myself.

I didn’t trust that they would test well in an unfamiliar large group setting.

Last week my husband took leave from work to help with our younger two while I was testing EA and MC.

As a reward for making it through the testing week, they got to camp out in the tent on Thursday night.

This was a great treat that really helped to motivate them throughout the week! I am so proud of my girls and the effort they put into doing their best all week long.

Before settling in to their sleeping bags on Thursday evening, they asked me to read a chapter from our current read aloud, Follow My Leader.

This book is about a young boy who is blinded in a firecracker accident and how he copes with begin blind. Through the help of a therapist, he learns to read Braille, walk with a cane, and is given the opportunity to have a guide dog.

When we started reading this book, I was a bit apprehensive about it. I thought my girls were bored with the first chapter, but they proved me wrong at dinner one night as they told their Daddy all about it. They are learning so much about empathizing with another person as they see Jimmy struggle with his new hardships.

Yesterday as we were driving to church I overheard MC say that she hopes Jimmy is un-blinded. As we continue reading she is going to discover the hard reality that sometimes instead of hardships being taken away, we grow more in learning to cope with them.

I love the opportunity that homeschooling gives me to discuss so many issues with my children.

Reading books together has opened up a big, wide world to us!

A few weeks ago, we moved out of our homeschool room and made the transition to doing school at the dining room table.

This may seem like an odd thing to do for many of you, but I had several reasons for making this change.

We are moving this summer and hopefully we’ll be living on post in our next location. Living on post brings many advantages that we’ve missed out on here and are longing to experience again. But living on post also means that we’ll be in a smaller home…one that probably will not have a separate room for homeschool.

I wanted to go ahead and get used to operating without a separate room for school, so that transition won’t be as difficult.

Another reason I had for the transition away from the homeschool room is that doing school at the table together seems to be more fitting with my homeschool philosophy. It’s a family experience and I want the whole family to be involved. Yes, it is a pain and a difficult struggle at times to incorporate Will and little Jenny into our homeschool day, but it is a struggle that I want to work my way through.

I don’t see school as something we do for just a few hours a day. School is a lifestyle for us. We’re constantly learning and incorporating the more formal parts of school into the central part of our home just seemed to be more fitting with that belief.

Also, going into a dark corner of our home was getting to be a bit depressing and very discouraging. Making the move to school in the living room, dining room, sun room and throughout the house rather than being limited to one small room really helped to motivate me out of a homeschool funk I was in a few weeks ago.

I cleaned out our homeschool room, moving a bookshelf to our long hallway. I also have a basket sitting by that shelf that houses most of our current curriculum teacher’s books, manuals, and student sheets.

The one thing that I didn’t have space for is the kids’ individual supplies (workbooks, notebooks, pencils, etc.)

My first idea was to give my girls backpacks to keep their workbooks and other supplies in. That worked for a while, but it was disruptive for them to have to look through a backpack to find what they needed all the time.

Then last week I read several organization posts that mentioned the desk apprentice and how useful it was in homeschool. After doing a little research I was convinced that this was the answer to my problem and fount a way to get my crew out of the house and to Staples to find one. We picked up the only one they had on the shelf and after a quick stop by Sonic’s happy hour we ‘re back at home and getting organized!

The desk apprentice has been exactly what I was looking for!

I am able to house each child’s workbooks, pencils, and other materials. I also have hanging folders in the middle to organize our weekly papers. There is a place at the top for small supplies such as staples, push pins, and paperclips. On the sides, I am able to keep all of my pens and dry erase markers.

I am able to lift this up and place it on the table when we’re doing school and then when school is over and we need to clear the table for meals, I simply lift it off and place it to the side.

Right now, this is my favorite homeschool organization tool!!!

Do you have a favorite organizational tool for your homeschool?

I love to see my children develop a love for books.

A love for books eventually turns into a love for reading.

And a love for reading opens up a world of imagination, creativity, and knowledge.

These moments…seeing Jenny love looking through the pages of a book…watching her with her daddy and her sister reading books and sharing time together…these moments are the ones that I treasure.

We’re attending our first homeschool convention this weekend!!!

We’re going to the Southeast Great Homeschool Convention so my little ones can have some time with grandma while my husband and I soak up information. I’m praying I come away more focused and motivated for the end of our school year.

I’m a little scared that I’m going to be completely overwhelmed. The schedule is packed full and it looks as if the vendor hall is loaded with good stuff.

Have you attended a homeschool convention before?

Does anyone out there have any tips for a first time homeschool convention attendee?