I Am Very Serious About This Goal

The decluttering is still going on. I decided to continue in the bedroom so that I could have one room that had been thoroughly gone through. From the doorway, the room looked clean.

And then I opened things. Like drawers in the nightstands and places that were out of sight, out of mind.

Yeah. We have a few things to sort out before we can sleep here tonight.

See the hallway? Each of those bags is filled with clothes or old sheets or something. They have many different destinations. Some are going to the re-sell shop, some to the thrift store, some will be passed down as hand-me-downs. (Those black bags are 30 gallon trash bags, folks!)

Ah...it feels so good having room to breathe. Wonder what room I'll do next?

Spelng Iz Ovr Ratted

I'm kidding, of course. Spelling is important. Even though spell check is here to stay.

Last year, our first year of homeschooling, I didn't teach spelling at all to my daughter. I know, I know. I'm horrible. The reason I didn't teach spelling is I didn't know how.

What? You taught school for 11 years! How could you not know how to teach spelling? Well, that's just it. I knew how NOT to teach spelling. The old 14-words-and-a-test-on-Friday method that we used in public school was simply not effective. The reason I know this is because I tested my third graders one year. I found a test that gave you a grade level for each child's spelling ability. At the end of 4th grade, I gave the same test to the same group of kids. Guess what? Not one single student had improved a grade level at all. Those who already knew all the words on Monday got A's, those who didn't got less and some students studied all week so they could pass only to forget the words as soon as Friday was done.

So, effective? Not so much.

And I want to believe that copywork and dictation alone will teach my child to spell...but I'm doubtful when I see her writing. Some children? Yes. But my child? Hmm--not sure.

Now, let me tell you my other experience. After I was no longer a classroom teacher, I was the "Dyslexia Specialist" on our campus for 2 years. Which is funny because my training was very limited. That "specialist" part on my nametag might have been stretching it a bit. During the two years I taught, however, I did pick up a lot of information.

So THIS year I was determined to add spelling to our homeschool curriculum. I researched, looked around, asked other moms what they use, and went to our local homeschool bookstore. So many things I found looked just like public school spelling. They were cute, colorful and looked pretty fun to a nerd like me. But spelling comes very easily for me.

I know my daughter. I knew she could expertly complete every one of those weekly activities for her spelling list and still not pass the test on Friday. I wasn't even sure I wanted a list and test format kind of spelling.

Then I found something different. I was so scared to buy it because it wasn't at the store and I couldn't put my hands on it. But it really, really looked good. It's called All About Spelling* and I finally got up the nerve to buy it after asking around at The Homeschool Lounge. Only a few folks responded to my inquiry so I think many people have not heard of this curriculum.

Well, I am SO glad I bought it. And I'm glad I listened to those moms at The Homeschool Lounge who told me to start with Level 1. It is a bit easy for my daughter so far, but I suspect the end of the book will be stuff she really needs to know before we move on to Level 2. And get this: it's completely NON-CONSUMABLE so I can just save my Level 1 materials to use with Little Bit in a few years. Love that! Also, my sister is a dyslexia teacher and has learned way more than me about it. She looked at it and said it it so much of what she uses for her struggling middle school students. It's the basics they didn't get but needed while they were doing their 14-words-and-a-test on Friday!

I am so far really enjoying the curriculum we chose for this year. If you want to know what else we are using, I posted about it here.

So, how is your curriculum working out for you so far?

*I'm an affiliate--click my All About Spelling link in this post!

How Did I Ever Find Time To Work?

I have a confession. I used to be one of those people who thought of stay at home moms, "What could she possibly do all day?"

I'm sorry. I didn't know, OK?

I really and truly thought that there was no way a person who did not have to get up and go to work every day could ever feel stress.

Surprise! I was wrong.

But it's better, this being home. Oh yes it is. I don't worry about the safety of my children. I don't worry how I'm going to get to them if an emergency arises. I know what they've been doing all day. I can help my husband.

But that isn't the point of this post.

The point is, I'm BUSY! I have big plans for this house and even those sicko readers who don't struggle with clutter have been very supportive of my decluttering efforts. I know I haven't snapped any pictures but that's because I haven't accomplished a whole lot. Except in my mind. I love our house and I mostly love living 3 doors down from my parents. But I must admit I daydream about moving to a smaller house with a much smaller payment. What a relief that would be in so many ways. But, that is never going to happen until we have less stuff!

So, job #1: decluttering.

I'm trying to get some sewing done lately, both for Christmas presents and to (hopefully) set up an Etsy shop. A little income is needed so I'll see what I can do to help.

So, job #2: sewing.

My beautiful 9 year old daughter is in 3rd grade this year and 3rd grade is taking a bit more out of us than 2nd grade did. We breezed through 2nd grade. I'm kind of glad we started there! She isn't finding everything in school to be "fun" anymore and that's OK. We have to do hard things sometimes. But I'm trying hard to make school wonderful. And Little Bit is off-again, on-again in her interest with school. Some days she doesn't even wander into the school room. I have to be ready for her when she does though because she'll work for 3 hours if she's interested! I really love teaching my girls at home.

So, job #3: homeschooling.

And there's cooking, meal planning, laundry, paying bills, reading to/spending time with the girls, Bible study, helping my husband, errands, ironing, etc. etc. etc.

None of these are listed in any special order. You know that, right? And no way is that a complete list. I have no idea how I managed to get up and leave for work at 6:30 every morning and still have a life.

And I am thankful every. single. day.

How To Hold an Open House--Homeschool Style

First, clean up the classroom!

Add some nice touches.

Get the work all laid out ready to show off.

Then, invite some folks over to show off the work to.

Get the refreshments ready.

Then let the sharing begin!

Grandparents are good.

Daddies like to see what you've been working on too.

(See Rachel? I really DO have a husband!)

Even a friend may stop by to patiently listen to you read every single book you've made since school started. (That would be Little Bit!)

It's fun! You should try it!

Determined to Be Simple

Not simple minded....just simple! I have really been thinking about all the stuff we have and what a mess our house stays in because of that. Well, there are other reasons why our house stays a mess, but honestly a large part of it is because there is no way to keep up with the amount of stuff that we own.

I visited my aunt's house this weekend. Every time I visit one of her houses (her real house or her "country home") I want my house to look better. One time, when Sweetheart was around 5 or 6, we visited my aunt's real home and I went home and started cleaning. A few weeks later Sweetheart observed me cleaning and asked, "How many weeks have you been trying to make your house look like Aunt N's?"

The little smartie pants.

The real answer? Years!

I don't mean to be all philosophical, but I've really been thinking about how stuff ties us down, consumes our time, orders our day, and makes life a bit un-enjoyable. Oh sure, some stuff makes life better, don't get me wrong! But in general, we just have TOO MUCH of everything.

I started working on that yesterday. (If you've been reading my blog for a while, please don't bring up the fact that I have preached this sermon before! I got my kitchen and laundry room done and that was the end.) This time, I started in the room that always gets left for last: our bedroom. I rearranged, dusted, cleaned and it looks great!

BUT, I'm not done! Oh no ma'am! It's clean and new and I found the cedar chest under all the laundry, but it's still not simplified. There is stuff all over the place in that room and it must be dealt with. I began with that cedar chest. It holds our sheets and it was full to the top. It's a HUGE cedar chest so we obviously had enough sheets for our entire block. I now have a big pile of mismatched sheets in the hall to give away, plus sheets that don't fit any beds we currently own. It's much better now.

So what else could I possibly need to do in there? Oh boy, where do I start? It's all those hidden places: the closet, the nightstand drawers (who knows what's in those?) the top of the dresser, the bathroom cabinets, under the bathroom sink, etc. I am very serious. We are getting rid of stuff. We do not need this much junk in our lives.

And this cleaning spree comes from lots of time thinking about consumerism and how the media tells us we need, need, need and thoughts about contentment, etc. All those are good things to think about, but I decided I needed to do something about it. And it starts at home.

In the master bedroom to be more specific.

So, how much stuff do you have in your bedroom? :)