And Now the Conclusion

I started to write this the other day, but I seem to have gotten on a bit of a tangent resulting in this post.

What I was GOING to say was that I felt the need to be a bit more formal about my daughters' Bible learning. Towards that end I went to the Bible bookstore the other night in search of something we could do together during the week.

Now I have been to more training on learning styles than you could shake a stick at. There is almost NO way to determine each student's learning style in a class of 22 kiddos. That much I know. You have a few kids who stand out, but really most of that learning style training I received went in one ear and out the other because it just isn't that useful for a classroom teacher.

However, since I've been teaching my daughters at home, their learning styles are becoming SO evident to me! And the differences in styles really do make a difference. It isn't that you have to spend hours trying to figure out how to best style your lesson to meet their learning needs, it's more like---sit back and watch their styles show through. It's so interesting.

So at the Bible book store I couldn't find anything that was appropriate for both a near 9 year old and a 4 1/2 year old. It seems they are just a bit too far apart. The best you can do is aim for the middle and then I think they both get robbed, you know?

So I found this book for Sweetheart and she loves it. It isn't just text to read, it isn't just a story to listen to, but it has graphics that she gets to fill out and places to draw and write her own thoughts and responses. It's a good fit for her as far as personal devotional books go. It feels a bit like a diary and she likes that.

So I thought I was such a pro since I picked out this great book for my daughter. Ah, but what to get Little Bit? (They make those same devotional books for her age but the store didn't have any so I didn't know that at the time!) I finally settled on this book. It's fairly short. It goes through the stories in order. There's a DVD to watch. It's all good for a four year old.

Well, I was surprised at the way Sweetheart reacted to Little Bit's DVD Bible storybook. She walked in the room just as I was popping the DVD in and when the song came on Sweetheart just immediately got up and started dancing and singing along. She loved it! She is such an interesting mix of learning styles. And Little Bit sat on the couch without moving and took it all in. Last week my sister and I took the little girls to see a play. It was their first time going to the children's theater and I was seriously wondering if Little Bit was enjoying herself. She sat and watched. That's it. For the whole play. She never laughed when it was funny. She didn't sit on the edge of her seat when it was suspenseful. She just sat and watched.

And when it was over she gushed, "That was SO FUNNY! I LIKED IT!"

Really? You could have fooled me.

I don't think I'm quite through figuring her out. But I'll keep working on it because I don't know anything more important for them to learn and there are so many ways to bring the Bible to life.

And...(just to drive some of you crazy)...I have more to say on that subject.

Another day. (Hee Hee)

Hospital Update

Moose came through surgery just fine. It took around 3 hours! I just got home after Mom and I made sure my sister had some supper before we left. My niece was in pain when she first woke up and it made me so sad--she is little to go through such a long surgery. I know the hospital considers it routine, but I don't. Morphine was quickly administered and she was out really quickly sucking on her fingers. She'll be there 2 nights while she recovers.

Now I'm home with three other little girls who spent the entire day with a very tired Grandpa. I sent them outside to RUN and PLAY as soon as we got home. We'll go visit our cousin/sister/niece tomorrow. Thank you everyone for the prayers!

Headed to the Hospital

I won't have time to continue my last post today--I know, I know--HOW disappointing. I'm not sure it's worth waiting for. I didn't intend to make it a 2-parter. I just talk a lot.

Today my 4 year old niece will be having surgery so I'm headed to the hospital with my sister and mom this morning. This is the niece we affectionately call "Moose" because of her ever-so-dainty size. She was born with a large cyst on one of her ovaries which was removed right after she was born. It was like a pound or something like that! On the same side of the body where the cyst formed, her kidney is smaller (but healthy) and also she has one too many ureters. This keeps causing infections so today they will fix that. It's not a long surgery, but she will be in the hospital for a few days.

We will be keeping her older sister (almost 8) during this time so my girls are very excited to have their cousin for a few days. I may require a lot of caffeine this week!

Learning With Style

We are still really new to this whole "we are responsible for our children's education and spiritual well-being" thing. It may seem strange, but two people who grew up in church and were already Christians when we got married...didn't really get it. It was around 2 years ago that I started researching homeschooling. You know, "just in case" we ever became missionaries and I "had" to homeschool. Because that was the only acceptable reason in my mind to do such a freaky thing. :)

And I started noticing people like the Duggar family, who I didn't really understand, but I admired because every single thing they did in their life was shaped by scripture. Hmmm. Read the Bible and change your life according to what you read? Interesting. Wasn't the Bible just supposed to be kind of encouragement? Weren't you just supposed to crack it open and find a verse that applied to whatever life situation you were going through?

It wasn't just the Duggars. I started reading too. I read about families who did things differently and I began to understand that homeschooling, at least for some people, wasn't so much about education as it was a parental responsibility as Christians. I had no arguments for that one.

And truly if public school were not what it is--it might be acceptable to me to send my children. Private Christian school would be better than that, if it were affordable. But I really did begin to see that there isn't a neutral way to teach kids. They either ARE being taught about God and his ways for 8 hours a day, or they are NOT being taught His ways. I didn't feel like we could make up the difference in 4 hours each evening.

And as my husband always says, we have no idea what kind of world we are preparing these children for. It won't be like it was when we were young adults, and it won't even be like it is now. It will likely be much, much worse. So their spiritual training is not just important. It's not just a priority. It's not even just a responsibility.

It is imperative. It will make the difference between life and death to them.

So it happened that God made a way for us to begin homeschooling. (Thank you, Lord!) And as I got used to spending every waking minute with my children (which was an adjustment) I began to see just how long they had really been away from me when I was working. I feel like I have gained their childhood back. I'm not saying that to make any working moms feel bad--I'm just saying that there really are a lot of hours in the day to talk about God's word as we walk through our days. And I'm starting to feel a renewed responsibility for that.

So, I have felt the need for something a bit more formal than just walking and talking about God's word. And reading it.

And look at that--I've rambled on and haven't even made it to my point. So now the title seems silly. Well, next time I'll finish.

Keepin' It Real: Homeschool Storage, Coming Soon!

I need your help.

My storage cart I was using last year to store our homeschool stuff kind of fell apart.

I might have overloaded it just a bit.

On Thursday, July 10 I am hosting a Keepin' It Real event in which you all share a picture (or pictures) of where you keep your homeschool stuff.

It's a Keepin' It Real event because I forbid you to wait until everything is organized before you take the picture. We want to see the raw, ugly, unorganized truth!

And if you are one of those types who always keeps everything in perfect order....you are welcome here too. Because we do not shame you here at The Family Revised. We don't understand you, so we have kind of a weird fascination with people like you. Show us your storage too. Maybe I will be inspired.

In addition to the pictures, I want to know:

1. Where you got the shelf/cabinet/cart what-have-you that you use for storage.

2. What room (s) of the house you store your stuff in.

3. What works/doesn't work or what your ideal storage solution would be.

That's all I need. But I know everyone who reads my blog is not a homeschooler, so please help me by spreading the word! You can post it, or just send out an e-mail to some homeschooling friends. I don't have a huge reader-base, but I have huge storage problems! So I need your help to get the word out and we can all share the Mr. Linky love together. OK?

Besides, I KNOW that most of you have learned a thing or two about storage along the way so why should I have to repeat that same learning when I can just glean from your knowledge? Right?

Keepin' It Real: Homeschool Storage

Thursday, July 10

Spread the word!

Thanks! You guys are the best!