It has been another week, really? It seems to be passing so quickly....
Last week we donated our littlest member of our farm to a low income 4H program for inner city children. He (Lil' Butt) was on their farm one week and passed away. There were no signs of anything wrong while he was here, I am shocked and saddened at this event! It is farm life, but it never gets easier!
We have been clearing more land and making for pasture area and it is looking wonderful and the exercise is amazing! I love this work! It is however an interesting task as there is so much mud and so many puddles to wade through as we have had a record year of rainfall. I am not complaining, as we have had a few years of drought and look forward to see what our garden, and new pasture areas look like this coming year. I look forward to spring - my favorite time - I love to see the new growth, the fresh bright green color on everything, and the smells....
Had an enjoyable weekend this past weekend, Aunt Cora, from S. Carolina came to visit and then we all went to Pinehurst to see more relatives (my second cousin Bill, his wife Joyce and his Mom, Aunt Ruth, who is 97 years old). I loved hearing about my Paternal Grandfather, as he died young. I find I am more and more like him and his side of the family every time I hear new stories and tales. Aunt Cora brought some amazing pictures with her. I got to see more of who my Grandfather was and to see my dad as a boy - SO CUTE! I know I could have been home working and clearing, but I think I needed the time away and learning from whence I came.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
My Cup Runneth Over
It's been a few days and there has been so much going on here. Every day brings new adventures and mild entertainment for anyone who happens to take note.
For home school - this has been our best week so far and I am very proud of my kids and what they are learning, even though I am their teacher.
For the farm - there have been little adventures...we got a 100 gal water container for the field to be sure everyone has enough water. Well, with the cold, all the water sources at the back of the house are frozen. And since I have already been transporting, 10 gal at a time, in two 5 gal buckets, from the front of our house to the back field, at least two trips a day. (roughly 200 - 250 feet one way) When this 100 gal tank arrived, I looked at it like anything else and grab buckets and proceed to just do it....not a good choice. After the second trip and I was already beginning to feel it....I was thinking 'there is no way'. After trip three, I could barely lift the buckets over the fence to dump them into the tank. After rounding the corner of the house on the return of trip four, I notice my husband's pickup in the front yard - here is the moment where I am like 'DUH!' I then round up every 5 gal bucket on the property, mind you, it takes everything I have to lift these 5 gal buckets into the truck now after my four trips....It still takes me two trips with the truck to complete the fill up. Took me two days to recover from those sore muscles!!!
This has also been a very wet season for us, but after two years of drought, we are thankful for the rain, but are also happy for any break from it. Today, after an overnight rain, I noticed some good sized puddles in front of the barn and along the inside of the back field that would fill up along the tractor barn side and decided that I needed to dig some drainage ditches....another, not so good idea....we have been scraping and leveling here and there and filling this low and that, so the back yard and pasture area are a mess. Anyhow, I am me, and continue even though it begins to rain - which I am thankful for because my family, who had just been on the back porch, went inside. There are a few areas that are holding some pretty good water and I decide need to be ditched immediately, so I head into the pasture and begin. I am doing pretty well, until I notice a scrap of wood holding up drainage in the middle of a freshly disturbed area of clay...I walk over and remove the piece of wood and decide that the ditch could use some widening and stand still and shovel for a minute or two. I then notice another area and start to back up to it, however, my feet are "glued" in this clay and the only part of me that moves, well, it was the top part...yup, down I go, right into this thick nasty red clay - laying my legs out straight, so that this goo runs right inside. Of course my first instinct was to look toward the porch and thank God, my family had not come back out!!! I get myself to my feet and then proceeds to try to get my feet out with boots still attached, took some figuring, but I got them! Headed to the house, knowing that there was no way to get in and not be found out! I walk into the house and EVERYONE is in the front room, and of course I have to do the full model view to show how completely covered I was! Well, at least I got everyone to laugh! Thankfully there were no charged and ready cameras available!
Needless to say I am ready for this week and settling back into housework and hoping that things can begin to dry out...
On Saturday we donated Lil' Butt to an under privileged 4-H program and the guy in charge, Andrew, came to get him. He (Andrew) was afraid when I got him here that I was gonna take him out back and shoot him - guess he didn't believe me when I told him 'middle of nowhere'. Anyhow, really enjoyed meeting him and Matt, and look forward to being virtually involved with the program that Lil' Butt will be involved in. And hope to someday soon be able to go visit their farm.
I love my life and all that goes on around here, life is truly amazing and I honestly feel that my cup runneth over and I hope that more people would strive for that feeling and find it. It is not in the new cars and fancy clothes, but in the simpleness of life and loving God and what He created for us to use (not abuse) and enjoy.
For home school - this has been our best week so far and I am very proud of my kids and what they are learning, even though I am their teacher.
For the farm - there have been little adventures...we got a 100 gal water container for the field to be sure everyone has enough water. Well, with the cold, all the water sources at the back of the house are frozen. And since I have already been transporting, 10 gal at a time, in two 5 gal buckets, from the front of our house to the back field, at least two trips a day. (roughly 200 - 250 feet one way) When this 100 gal tank arrived, I looked at it like anything else and grab buckets and proceed to just do it....not a good choice. After the second trip and I was already beginning to feel it....I was thinking 'there is no way'. After trip three, I could barely lift the buckets over the fence to dump them into the tank. After rounding the corner of the house on the return of trip four, I notice my husband's pickup in the front yard - here is the moment where I am like 'DUH!' I then round up every 5 gal bucket on the property, mind you, it takes everything I have to lift these 5 gal buckets into the truck now after my four trips....It still takes me two trips with the truck to complete the fill up. Took me two days to recover from those sore muscles!!!
This has also been a very wet season for us, but after two years of drought, we are thankful for the rain, but are also happy for any break from it. Today, after an overnight rain, I noticed some good sized puddles in front of the barn and along the inside of the back field that would fill up along the tractor barn side and decided that I needed to dig some drainage ditches....another, not so good idea....we have been scraping and leveling here and there and filling this low and that, so the back yard and pasture area are a mess. Anyhow, I am me, and continue even though it begins to rain - which I am thankful for because my family, who had just been on the back porch, went inside. There are a few areas that are holding some pretty good water and I decide need to be ditched immediately, so I head into the pasture and begin. I am doing pretty well, until I notice a scrap of wood holding up drainage in the middle of a freshly disturbed area of clay...I walk over and remove the piece of wood and decide that the ditch could use some widening and stand still and shovel for a minute or two. I then notice another area and start to back up to it, however, my feet are "glued" in this clay and the only part of me that moves, well, it was the top part...yup, down I go, right into this thick nasty red clay - laying my legs out straight, so that this goo runs right inside. Of course my first instinct was to look toward the porch and thank God, my family had not come back out!!! I get myself to my feet and then proceeds to try to get my feet out with boots still attached, took some figuring, but I got them! Headed to the house, knowing that there was no way to get in and not be found out! I walk into the house and EVERYONE is in the front room, and of course I have to do the full model view to show how completely covered I was! Well, at least I got everyone to laugh! Thankfully there were no charged and ready cameras available!
Needless to say I am ready for this week and settling back into housework and hoping that things can begin to dry out...
On Saturday we donated Lil' Butt to an under privileged 4-H program and the guy in charge, Andrew, came to get him. He (Andrew) was afraid when I got him here that I was gonna take him out back and shoot him - guess he didn't believe me when I told him 'middle of nowhere'. Anyhow, really enjoyed meeting him and Matt, and look forward to being virtually involved with the program that Lil' Butt will be involved in. And hope to someday soon be able to go visit their farm.
I love my life and all that goes on around here, life is truly amazing and I honestly feel that my cup runneth over and I hope that more people would strive for that feeling and find it. It is not in the new cars and fancy clothes, but in the simpleness of life and loving God and what He created for us to use (not abuse) and enjoy.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Progress is Being Seen
WHEW-HOOOO - we got the back fence finished today. I say we, but actually lot of Steve and then our neighbor, Ed showed up and helped out - Thank you Ed! It looks so amazing out there and I am loving that I had the 4 big animals (About, Time, Blackgirl & Snowball) out there and was not worried about anyone getting out - a great feeling! This is going to make my life less worrisome - not having to go to the windows to be sure no one has wondered out front and near the road and then chasing them back in if they had - which I am sure has been pure entertainment for the neighbors. Thankfully I only have one close enough to see all this. Also, a big 'ol THANK YOU to my Daddy for letting us use his Deere to get everything done today - lifesaver for Steve especially!
Began our morning with devotions and prayer - I am trying so hard to have that be first, well, after breakfast, but first before we crack the books. Even so, it was a rough time getting everyone back into the swing of school. Logan was exhausted and had a hard time keeping his eyes open, too much running with Mommy this weekend. I am hoping that to bed early again tonight will help and he can be on track again tomorrow! Matt just suffers from following all directions on each lesson, and being sure he does what is written in his agenda. Everyone deserves a Monday, though, and I am hopeful for a productive learning day tomorrow.
Enjoyed the company of our very dear friends Ed, Sheila & Eddie for dinner and no-bakes! Steve and Sheila could not even let them cool before swiping them off the paper to eat! Caught them on camera and will post it soon! Love you guys!
All in all it was a good day, even with the little set backs in school.
Ultimately, thankful to God for safety and health in all that we have been doing and continue to do.
Began our morning with devotions and prayer - I am trying so hard to have that be first, well, after breakfast, but first before we crack the books. Even so, it was a rough time getting everyone back into the swing of school. Logan was exhausted and had a hard time keeping his eyes open, too much running with Mommy this weekend. I am hoping that to bed early again tonight will help and he can be on track again tomorrow! Matt just suffers from following all directions on each lesson, and being sure he does what is written in his agenda. Everyone deserves a Monday, though, and I am hopeful for a productive learning day tomorrow.
Enjoyed the company of our very dear friends Ed, Sheila & Eddie for dinner and no-bakes! Steve and Sheila could not even let them cool before swiping them off the paper to eat! Caught them on camera and will post it soon! Love you guys!
All in all it was a good day, even with the little set backs in school.
Ultimately, thankful to God for safety and health in all that we have been doing and continue to do.
Productive Weekend
We made it to church yesterday, not for a lack of running around and entering late, but we made it. I am glad, as it was an awesome sermon. Love it when a Pastor can get our 12 year old to sit up and really pay attention.
After church, we ate a quick bite, and headed to the back field and began to work on the back fence. We were able to get the entire back fence stretched and fit for use - Yeah! We let the cows out, even though we are still lacking one side of the field being fenced. They loved it, they ran and jumped, twisted and kicked and then settled in to finding graze worthy food. It was an enjoyable day, as Steve and I worked the fence, we could hear Matt and Sam running and playing in the woods behind us, and watch the cows in the field in front of us. It just doesn't get much better than that.
After we had used up all our energy and had the back side complete, Steve decided to load us up and take us down town for some supper - downtown consists of I think maybe three choices of eating, but on Sunday's one is only open until Lunch, one is closed, and the other is a sandwich and pizza shop - but it meant I didn't have to cook. It was good and we enjoyed playing and talking around the table and Logan had gotten home in time to join us - so our family was back together. I did miss him quite a bit this weekend, he does not do much as far as physically helping us, but he is usually right there near what ever is happening.
So, here it is Monday morning and I am getting the kids settled into and beginning their school day, as Steve heads out to work more around the farm and then I will join him and we will work on the fence. Our goal today is to educate our children and complete the fence...not too bad, right? : )
After church, we ate a quick bite, and headed to the back field and began to work on the back fence. We were able to get the entire back fence stretched and fit for use - Yeah! We let the cows out, even though we are still lacking one side of the field being fenced. They loved it, they ran and jumped, twisted and kicked and then settled in to finding graze worthy food. It was an enjoyable day, as Steve and I worked the fence, we could hear Matt and Sam running and playing in the woods behind us, and watch the cows in the field in front of us. It just doesn't get much better than that.
After we had used up all our energy and had the back side complete, Steve decided to load us up and take us down town for some supper - downtown consists of I think maybe three choices of eating, but on Sunday's one is only open until Lunch, one is closed, and the other is a sandwich and pizza shop - but it meant I didn't have to cook. It was good and we enjoyed playing and talking around the table and Logan had gotten home in time to join us - so our family was back together. I did miss him quite a bit this weekend, he does not do much as far as physically helping us, but he is usually right there near what ever is happening.
So, here it is Monday morning and I am getting the kids settled into and beginning their school day, as Steve heads out to work more around the farm and then I will join him and we will work on the fence. Our goal today is to educate our children and complete the fence...not too bad, right? : )
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Awesome Fruitful Day
With the boys being from a split marriage, we share them on weekends with their mom and try at all occasions to let them go every weekend - as long as Dad has had some time with them too. However, with the tough time at school this week, we (all three parents) decided that Matt would remain home and complete this weeks tasks. To me this seemed a punishment for me as well, I have already spent too much time struggling with him already...now, no break and more time??? I was not looking forward to today.
I woke early today...to find Matt sitting at the school table preparing to work on his past due work. He was bright eyed and eager for his day...I had to double take, but, it sure was him. Huh? maybe this will not be a bad day after all. I sat at the computer and checked in with the FaceBook world, not much going on there, so I looked around the house and began to see all that needed done. It is amazing to me the stuff that gets randomly placed everywhere and just taking the time to put it in it's designated area - what a huge difference it can make! I delved into laundry, cleaning bedrooms, dusting, sweeping and then damp mopping the wood floor in the school room. All this time Matt stayed focused, did not fuss or fight, none of the usual antics - thanking God!!! After he completed the needed work, he started the task of cleaning his and Logan's room, and very thoroughly I might add too. Looks and smells great. From there he ventured to the bathroom and again did an amazing job. Dad got home early and we four loaded up and went to a local furniture makers yard and gathered his wood shavings and chips - great free bedding for the barn. Matt and Sam played great together in the shavings as Steve and I loaded the truck. Upon returning home we began the process of mucking the stalls and loading the new bedding into them. Matt was right there with any task requested with a "yes Sir" or "yes M'am" and did the entire task without a complaint. Let us not forget Sammy, she was right there helping and letting me know that "we sure have a lot of crap on our farm!" From there I headed to the house to look at what was for dinner. Steve and the two kids headed to the wood pile to bring up a few loads to the porch. We came in and waited for supper to be done and Matt went directly to the table and began to read a book - with his restriction for the weekend - he is limited to house work, farm work or doing something educational. Supper done and he is in the kitchen cleaning and talking with his little sister and being so wonderful! This is the boy I know is in there - I am not asking for this perfection all day, everyday, but if you ever experienced the other....you would know how much I want this kid that is here with us today!
Oh, let me not forget....I got a chance to make some more home made peach jelly today too - YUMMY! I did it a little different. I had canned the juices from earlier in the year to have them on hand to make fresh jelly when needed. Anyhow, my friend Sheila, canned some peaches that she seasoned with honey and spice, I opened a pint and mashed them with a potato masher and added that to my juice...did the usual process for making jelly and let me tell you - that stuff smelled awesome and when I tasted the little left at the bottom of the pan after I was finished - oh my....Thank is going to be pure heaven on some toast!
Last and definitely not least Steve and I took the time to flirt and love each other today - An amazing lesson I learned several years ago....loving someone is not involuntary it is something you have to wake up every day and decide to do. I am so happy that my husband decides to love me everyday!
I woke early today...to find Matt sitting at the school table preparing to work on his past due work. He was bright eyed and eager for his day...I had to double take, but, it sure was him. Huh? maybe this will not be a bad day after all. I sat at the computer and checked in with the FaceBook world, not much going on there, so I looked around the house and began to see all that needed done. It is amazing to me the stuff that gets randomly placed everywhere and just taking the time to put it in it's designated area - what a huge difference it can make! I delved into laundry, cleaning bedrooms, dusting, sweeping and then damp mopping the wood floor in the school room. All this time Matt stayed focused, did not fuss or fight, none of the usual antics - thanking God!!! After he completed the needed work, he started the task of cleaning his and Logan's room, and very thoroughly I might add too. Looks and smells great. From there he ventured to the bathroom and again did an amazing job. Dad got home early and we four loaded up and went to a local furniture makers yard and gathered his wood shavings and chips - great free bedding for the barn. Matt and Sam played great together in the shavings as Steve and I loaded the truck. Upon returning home we began the process of mucking the stalls and loading the new bedding into them. Matt was right there with any task requested with a "yes Sir" or "yes M'am" and did the entire task without a complaint. Let us not forget Sammy, she was right there helping and letting me know that "we sure have a lot of crap on our farm!" From there I headed to the house to look at what was for dinner. Steve and the two kids headed to the wood pile to bring up a few loads to the porch. We came in and waited for supper to be done and Matt went directly to the table and began to read a book - with his restriction for the weekend - he is limited to house work, farm work or doing something educational. Supper done and he is in the kitchen cleaning and talking with his little sister and being so wonderful! This is the boy I know is in there - I am not asking for this perfection all day, everyday, but if you ever experienced the other....you would know how much I want this kid that is here with us today!
Oh, let me not forget....I got a chance to make some more home made peach jelly today too - YUMMY! I did it a little different. I had canned the juices from earlier in the year to have them on hand to make fresh jelly when needed. Anyhow, my friend Sheila, canned some peaches that she seasoned with honey and spice, I opened a pint and mashed them with a potato masher and added that to my juice...did the usual process for making jelly and let me tell you - that stuff smelled awesome and when I tasted the little left at the bottom of the pan after I was finished - oh my....Thank is going to be pure heaven on some toast!
Last and definitely not least Steve and I took the time to flirt and love each other today - An amazing lesson I learned several years ago....loving someone is not involuntary it is something you have to wake up every day and decide to do. I am so happy that my husband decides to love me everyday!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Dark Clouds
I woke with a heavy feeling still over me from the previous day. I felt tired, worn and beaten up and had just opened my eyes...I said little prayers I I wandered through the house asking God to lighten my heart and give me the compassion I needed to enter this day of home school and life. I do not know why but the lightening of heart never came to me.
Logan took his tests, on subject we have been working on for weeks and failed both, I am not angry or let down by him, I am weary from trying to figure out how do I reach him, how do I make this on his level of understanding and open his mind to these ideas. I called the NC Non-Public Education office to find if there are different guidelines or regulations for special needs children. Thanking God that there are. I am required to teach him language and math - which are still going to be rough, as he does not have reading comprehension, which comes into play with both subjects. I am hopeful with this new curriculum and that I can focus 2 days a week on math, 2 days a week on language and then leave one day for test or quiz. We will do spelling and reading everyday.
Sammy took her tests and did well, I got frustrated with her but I apologized and she and I have hugged and moved on. So often I forget that she is only 6 and I expect too much from her.
Matt and I struggled even breathing in the same room again today. He has so many issues with his parents divorce, too much freedom, growing up too quickly and then Step-mom comes along and there is structure and a family....too much was ignored and let go for too long and now we pay the consequences for our actions as his parents. Also as I have stated before public school taught him to be lazy, there too is a huge hurdle we are having to cross. Every little aspect of his schooling is fought and drug out, but he is forced, regardless of how long it takes him, to complete it. I am overwhelmed and exhausted with this one regularly. We have found that his word can not be taken and trusted so everything must be checked daily to extreme extent. His birth mom asked me today, "What is next, what is going to happen if he can not do home school, will you send him to public?" I told her, if this was solely about me, yes, he would be in public because I am exhausted, but this is not about me at all, and our children, all three of them, deserve better than the public system of education. We have talked about a boys camp, there is one local that is Christian based, for troublesome boys, he would live there and do school there and we would visit. I do not want him to think that we are putting him somewhere just to be rid of him. I want him to know that if this is ever our choice, that we had to, to save him from himself. I am afraid for Matt....afraid for who is becoming....afraid of loosing the wonderful little man I fell in love with 6+ years ago when I married his dad. Inside this young man there is a wonderfully spirited, loving boy who is just so scared of coming out and getting hurt.
Logan took his tests, on subject we have been working on for weeks and failed both, I am not angry or let down by him, I am weary from trying to figure out how do I reach him, how do I make this on his level of understanding and open his mind to these ideas. I called the NC Non-Public Education office to find if there are different guidelines or regulations for special needs children. Thanking God that there are. I am required to teach him language and math - which are still going to be rough, as he does not have reading comprehension, which comes into play with both subjects. I am hopeful with this new curriculum and that I can focus 2 days a week on math, 2 days a week on language and then leave one day for test or quiz. We will do spelling and reading everyday.
Sammy took her tests and did well, I got frustrated with her but I apologized and she and I have hugged and moved on. So often I forget that she is only 6 and I expect too much from her.
Matt and I struggled even breathing in the same room again today. He has so many issues with his parents divorce, too much freedom, growing up too quickly and then Step-mom comes along and there is structure and a family....too much was ignored and let go for too long and now we pay the consequences for our actions as his parents. Also as I have stated before public school taught him to be lazy, there too is a huge hurdle we are having to cross. Every little aspect of his schooling is fought and drug out, but he is forced, regardless of how long it takes him, to complete it. I am overwhelmed and exhausted with this one regularly. We have found that his word can not be taken and trusted so everything must be checked daily to extreme extent. His birth mom asked me today, "What is next, what is going to happen if he can not do home school, will you send him to public?" I told her, if this was solely about me, yes, he would be in public because I am exhausted, but this is not about me at all, and our children, all three of them, deserve better than the public system of education. We have talked about a boys camp, there is one local that is Christian based, for troublesome boys, he would live there and do school there and we would visit. I do not want him to think that we are putting him somewhere just to be rid of him. I want him to know that if this is ever our choice, that we had to, to save him from himself. I am afraid for Matt....afraid for who is becoming....afraid of loosing the wonderful little man I fell in love with 6+ years ago when I married his dad. Inside this young man there is a wonderfully spirited, loving boy who is just so scared of coming out and getting hurt.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The Struggles of Home School
Today seemed to start as all the others, got up to a warm fire blazing and a pot of coffee waiting for me - Thank you Steve! I had a few moments to be alone and listen to the house wake up. How is it we never notice the signs of a hard day starting and why can't we just stop it right then?
Chores were usual, everyone was very happy to see me and receive their freedom from their pens and wander into the pasture area. Ice was thick and took a little extra muscle, but I won! Everyone fed and happy, I venture back to the house to see all three children in the beginnings of their day - making breakfast, cleaning up their perspective dishes or getting to their chores. I am enjoying these little older ages where mom is not needed for every task, and at the same time am sad that mom is not needed for every single task!
Our home school schedule is very simple - we focus on one main subject each day and always have spelling and reading everyday. Example of our schedule would be Mon. - Math - 4 pages, then 1 spelling assignment and 1 reading assignment; Tues. - Language - 4 pages, 1 spelling assignment 1 reading assignment; Wed. - Science or History (which ever we are in this 9 weeks) 4 sections, 1 spelling lesson, 1 reading lesson. Thurs. - go over all the areas in Mon - Wed. lessons (Math, Lang, Science or History) and work on those you missed & really struggled on. Fri. - tests on which ever lessons call for it, always spelling and the others are typically every two weeks, but we alternate weeks so as not to have so many tests in one day. We set up this schedule for our middle son who has autism - too much information on one day overloads and confuses him - this way he has one day to receive, workout and think on each subject - works great - went from getting 30's & 40's to 80's & 90's. Our older son was struggling as well with the typical work load of all subjects everyday, so we revamped his schedule the same as Logan's. Now my Wed. night is checking all work from Mon - Wed to set up their days for Thurs - for Logan this is great, he really gets to focus on those and has been nailing his tests on Fridays. For Matt....not so good....Wed. night has been the night we find out he has blown off Mon - Wed in the hopes that mom is not going to check anything. IF you really work hard, Mon. - Wed. will be kind of long days, but Thurs has the potential of being 1/2 day or less and Fri. you should be done before 11 am. Today was horrible...from the moment he saw that there was so much to do (can not even say re-do). I tried with ever fiber of my being to be calm and collected, but I lost it! I actually vented my frustration from one child on another - you talk about feeling lower then a slug....that was me! I had to send everyone to their rooms and I also put myself in time out! I know in my heart that home school is the best for our children - I just wish we would have been able to do it much earlier - the public school system has taught so many bad habits! The kids can sit and do nothing all day and never get below a 50 - they do not get points removed for not turning in assignments late or not doing them. They have taught the kids that if you do well one day a year that you're good and you can go on to the next grade. WHAT????? What life lesson is this teaching our children....can you show up for work on the day you are getting fired and save your job? Can you be the best husband ever on the day of your divorce and save your marriage? This is the lesson that they are being taught subliminally in public schools today! So my days are fighting the bad lessons that society taught my son from his first 6 years in public school. My prayer is that I have time to save him from himself.
Shame on society for accepting this for our children...Shame on our Gov't. for the education in our Country.
I love my son and I always will, I am just so scared for him...he is on the verge of being a young man and is so lost.
I also blame myself...I did not start today with devotions and prayer - shame on me!
Chores were usual, everyone was very happy to see me and receive their freedom from their pens and wander into the pasture area. Ice was thick and took a little extra muscle, but I won! Everyone fed and happy, I venture back to the house to see all three children in the beginnings of their day - making breakfast, cleaning up their perspective dishes or getting to their chores. I am enjoying these little older ages where mom is not needed for every task, and at the same time am sad that mom is not needed for every single task!
Our home school schedule is very simple - we focus on one main subject each day and always have spelling and reading everyday. Example of our schedule would be Mon. - Math - 4 pages, then 1 spelling assignment and 1 reading assignment; Tues. - Language - 4 pages, 1 spelling assignment 1 reading assignment; Wed. - Science or History (which ever we are in this 9 weeks) 4 sections, 1 spelling lesson, 1 reading lesson. Thurs. - go over all the areas in Mon - Wed. lessons (Math, Lang, Science or History) and work on those you missed & really struggled on. Fri. - tests on which ever lessons call for it, always spelling and the others are typically every two weeks, but we alternate weeks so as not to have so many tests in one day. We set up this schedule for our middle son who has autism - too much information on one day overloads and confuses him - this way he has one day to receive, workout and think on each subject - works great - went from getting 30's & 40's to 80's & 90's. Our older son was struggling as well with the typical work load of all subjects everyday, so we revamped his schedule the same as Logan's. Now my Wed. night is checking all work from Mon - Wed to set up their days for Thurs - for Logan this is great, he really gets to focus on those and has been nailing his tests on Fridays. For Matt....not so good....Wed. night has been the night we find out he has blown off Mon - Wed in the hopes that mom is not going to check anything. IF you really work hard, Mon. - Wed. will be kind of long days, but Thurs has the potential of being 1/2 day or less and Fri. you should be done before 11 am. Today was horrible...from the moment he saw that there was so much to do (can not even say re-do). I tried with ever fiber of my being to be calm and collected, but I lost it! I actually vented my frustration from one child on another - you talk about feeling lower then a slug....that was me! I had to send everyone to their rooms and I also put myself in time out! I know in my heart that home school is the best for our children - I just wish we would have been able to do it much earlier - the public school system has taught so many bad habits! The kids can sit and do nothing all day and never get below a 50 - they do not get points removed for not turning in assignments late or not doing them. They have taught the kids that if you do well one day a year that you're good and you can go on to the next grade. WHAT????? What life lesson is this teaching our children....can you show up for work on the day you are getting fired and save your job? Can you be the best husband ever on the day of your divorce and save your marriage? This is the lesson that they are being taught subliminally in public schools today! So my days are fighting the bad lessons that society taught my son from his first 6 years in public school. My prayer is that I have time to save him from himself.
Shame on society for accepting this for our children...Shame on our Gov't. for the education in our Country.
I love my son and I always will, I am just so scared for him...he is on the verge of being a young man and is so lost.
I also blame myself...I did not start today with devotions and prayer - shame on me!
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