More School Scheduling

So, as usual, I started the academic year with a schedule for our homeschool, and as usual, I've had to make some changes. This is not surprising (to me, anyway) - I've learned over the years that it just doesn't work for me to set up a system and expect it to be a "once and done" thing, mainly because I've forgotten something, or because there is tweaking to be done.
This time, it was piano practice. It just wasn't really happening very much when it was listed as a part of the girls' daily chores, and I didn't really like the idea of their practice being considered a chore, anyway. I figured it was really the best thing to incorporate it into their school day, since it is a music credit. I also figured it would be best to have their daily practice occur at the same time that their fortnightly (every two weeks) lessons would be. Of course, when you tug on one thread, the whole net moves, but this is what I came up with:

	Mom	Abi	Anna	Noah	Ellie	Dan	Caleb
8 – 8:30	Chores/Nurse	Chores	Chores	Chores	Chores	Chores	Nurse
8:30 – 9	Bible & Read with Littles	Literature	Literature	Bible & Read with Mom	Bible & Read with Mom	Bible & Read with Mom
9 – 9:45	Bible with Girls	Bible	Bible	Play	Play	Play
9:45 – 10	Check work/ diapers	Make Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack/Diaper
10 – 10:30	History with Girls	History	History	Play	Play	Play	Nurse
10:30 – 11	Grammar with Anna & Noah	Piano	Grammar & Spelling	Grammar	Color	Color
11 – 11:30	Grammar with Abi & Play with Littles	Grammar & Spelling	Piano	Play with Mom	Play with Mom	Play with Mom
11:30 – 12	Math	Math	Math	Math	Math play	Play
12 – 12:30	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
12:30 – 1	Nurse & Read to Littles	Read	Clean up & Read	Read	Read	Nap	Nurse
1 – 2	Rest	Quiet Craft	Quiet Craft	Quiet Craft	Nap	Nap
2 – 2:45	Help with work/Chores	Finish work	Finish work	Lego	Nap	Nap
2:45 - 3	Nurse	Clean up	Clean up	Clean up	Wake up	Wake up	Nurse
3 - 3:15	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
3:15 – 4	Exercise/Craft	Play with Littles	Play with Littles	Play	Play	Play
4 – 4:45	Special	Special	Special	Special	Special	Special
4:45 – 5	Clean up	Clean up	Clean up	Clean up	Clean up	Clean up	Nurse
5 – 5:30	Dinner prep	Shower/Free	Shower/Free	Shower/Free	Shower/Free	Shower/Free	Bath
5:30 – 6	Dinner prep	Help out	Help out	Help out	Help out	Help out

Bible * Literature * History * Math * Grammar * Piano * Lunch * Rest * Naps * Exercise

 Specials:

Monday – game

Tuesday – Outing

Wednesday – Movie

Thursday – Computer

Friday - Craft

 

 

Overall, I'm pretty happy. We don't always start on time, so when that happens, things get a bit squiffy, but it all still works pretty well. During the rest/quiet craft time is the perfect time for the bigger kids to be doing things that they enjoy but can't do with Dan around. Often they're just reading, but I'm in the process of putting together a collection of stuff that they can do with out my supervision. The question is where to keep such things that the big kids can get to and the little ones can't...
I'm liking the time for the bigger kids to be playing with the little ones as well. I kind of see it as babysitter-training time, as it's really an opportunity for the girls (mainly) to be playing in a way that serves the littler ones, not just including the littles into their own game. It's also nice for me to be able to pursue some of my own interests and they can see those things as a priority for me - perhaps they'll pick some of those interests up for themselves one day?
A word on the "Specials" category - it was an inspired idea, even if I do say so myself. It's been such a blessing to have a time where we do something all together that my kids love but would tend to get pushed aside for lack of time. It doesn't always happen, but the times where we've played a game or gone for a walk or done a craft project has really blessed them and allowed me to love on them in a way that is meaningful to them. It's also a great way to get to know them - walking along and chatting with Noah or seeing what a clever artist Anna can be has been so worth the effort. I'll be honest, though - movie day and computer day tend to be my extended craft/chore/nap time. For real.
So there it is. I'd love to know how some of you divide your time and spend your days, mom or not, homeschool or not. It's always fun to glean some good ideas from others, so please share!

My littlest boys

They are both terribly cute, though they wear "cute" differently...

 

Sometimes the cute is as plain as day...

 ...and sometimes you have to work to see it (like when the two year old climbs out of the tub and covers himself with toothpaste).

But it's there, all the same.

Whatcha reading?

Earlier this year, I was sailing through my reading list - I even added in a few extra items. Since Caleb's been born, though, my reading has slowed down, which is really unusual for me. Normally I have a lot of time to sit and read while I'm nursing, but it turns out I've been doing a lot of my reading aloud to the kids when I'm nursing. That being the case, I probably won't make it all the way through my planned reading list before the end of the year, but so what? For me, the plan is the thing, even if I have to deviate from it for a while...
I'm currently reading The Mission of Motherhood, by Sally Clarkson. It's been good - refreshing and good for refocusing on seeing my position of mother as that of being a missionary to my kids. It's been convicting for me, too - as a serious multi-tasker, I don't always take the time to focus on the details. I'm also a pretty self-absorbed individual - I have a plan and "pity the fool" who keeps me from it. Yet if my kids don't feature heavily in that plan, I'm the fool to be pitied.
I loved reading Patricia St. John Tells Her Own Story. What an amazing story! Her life was definitely a testimony of God's grace and generous love that really came through in each story she shares. I hadn't read Treasures of the Snow or the Tangelwoods' Secret growing up, so it was marvellous to "meet" the real her - I'm looking forward to introducing the kids to some of her books!
My husband has been on at me to read Practicing Affirmation for quite a while (perhaps he's trying to tell me something?), so I'd like to try to read that and Give Them Grace before the year's end. I'm not sure if I'll make it, but it's worth trying!

 

What are some "must reads" that you've come across this year?

Car Seat Couture

Caleb's car seat is pretty old and was starting to show its age, mainly in the sag around the sun canopy - more often than not, the thing ended up in his face. I also started to notice how regardless of the canopy, he still would get the sun in his face.

When I saw this pin, I knew what must be done...

 

 On this occasion, I used the pin for inspiration rather than followed it exactly, and it was just the ticket. I was able to line it with some flannel from the stash, which allows it to hang better and gives an extra layer of warmth.

I'm thinking this is the perfect time of year for this sort of project - protection from the weather and other people's germs, a cozy little blackout screen, and a little bit of pretty as the weather turns bleak.

The only thing cuter is the baby inside.

Looking through a new lens

After our trusty Fuji point-and-shoot died a couple months ago, Toby and I had resorted to taking photos with our iPhone cameras. The up-side to that is that we have our phones with us most of the time, so more photos were being taken than normal. The down-side is that our phone cameras were pretty lousy. Not terrible, but not great. In a fairly dark house with lots of shadow, it was hard to get a decent shot...until now.

This is my new friend, the Panasonic Lumix FZ47. She came home to stay last week, and we've been slowly getting to know her. She has hidden depths, I think (hidden to me, anyway - I'm a slow learner on these things). We've been playing around a bit, and here are some things we've seen:

I'm not sure which is my favorite - Noah's sweet smile,

Abi's "deer-in-the-headlights" look,

or Dan's "mischief-making" expression.

 

I'm looking forward to making the most of this new gadget (shutter speed and aperture?) and capturing all kinds of exciting happenings and rascally looks.

 

Any suggestions or tips from my photographer friends?

We got a new couch!

There's nothing like a piece of new furniture to show you how beat up your old furniture looks. How did I not notice how scratched the seats are...

 

...or how saggy the cushions are?

Thankfully, we are able to enjoy scratch-free and sag-less cushions once again due to the almost-new couch Toby snagged from a moving co-worker. It's exactly the same as the old one (did ya notice?), so at least we know it matches.

Now, if we can only keep the kids off it to prolong its life. It won't be long before it starts looking as worn as the old one, though. Until then, I think we'll switch couch positions in the room so that the first thing one sees isn't the beat-up version, but the newer model. Do "first impressions" apply to couches too? Well, just in case...

Living the Melody

I sat in my favorite chair with a baby while I listened to piano practice. I wasn't sure what she was playing, but it was lovely - a soft, gentle melody played at just the right rhythm.  I closed my eyes and listened until she hit a discordant note. I opened my eyes while she backed up and tried again. A few minutes later, another false start. Normally, about this time I jump in with practice suggestions or question where in the piece she's at so that I can offer some "helpful" advice. This time, though, I kept my mouth shut and listened. At the end, I said, "Sweetheart, that was beautiful. Could you play it again?" She beamed at the praise (which can be too hard to win) and began again. As she played, I was impressed that while some of the areas she had stumbled on were now problem-free, there were other areas that needed work - a wrong note, uneven timing.
As she continued to play, I felt the Lord impress on my heart how my own desire for accomplishment and excellence can lead me to miss the joy in the simple tasks I've been given. Though her piece wasn't quite "performance ready", it was still beautiful and she was clearly enjoying playing it. Do I enjoy my work, whether I'm doing it perfectly or not? Or am I so bound up in "getting it right" that I fail to enjoy being at home with my family?
Do I freak out because the baby isn't sleeping when I'd like, or do I relish a few extra minutes to snuggle with him? Do I get wound up over the mess the kids left, or enjoy the fact that they worked together happily on a project they had fun with? And like my musicians tend to do, do I rush past the trickier, more difficult areas to the parts that I'm familiar with and do well, or do I seek to learn from my (many) mistakes, being prepared to try, try again?
Our God does not promise ease and instant success, but toil and trial. But there is beauty, too, if we have eyes to see it. A friend who had done some battle with cancer (and has since won) said, "I don't want to waste this. I don't want to miss whatever He might want to teach me in this trial." I don't want to miss it, either - I want to receive all the goodness He has for me, both high notes and low, knowing they all come together to make a beautiful melody, enjoyed by the Audience of One.

Because I love looking at his face...

...so I'm going to make you look at it too.

Praying for my kids

I'm gonna say this up front - I am a pretty terrible pray-er. I get distracted, forget what I said I'd pray for, or get stuck in a kind of rut, praying the same old thing 'cause I couldn't think of what else to pray for.
However, I've learned a few things about praying for my kids. Mind if I share?

Photo from Crossroads Church

• It's not too early or too late to start praying for them - for their salvation, for their future spouse, for their relationships with others. Whatever it is, start today, regardless of age or situation.
• Pray the Bible for them - I've been aware of certain areas in my children's lives that need a special measure of God's grace and correction, and there have been several times where I've not even been sure how to pray for these needs. I'd heard somewhere the idea that you ask the Lord for a special verse or passage to pray for certain needs. In doing that, I've got a better understanding of the issue my child is struggling with, a better understanding of how God feels about it, and a better way to pray for my child. For me, this means I pray Philippians 2:4 - Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others - for the child who struggles with selfishness, that God would help that child to see the interests of others and prefer them above their own.
• Probably my favorite way to pray, which is actually the hardest to see answered, is to pray that they would get caught when they sin. I will tell you that this is dangerous! I heard this idea on a podcast a few years ago and thought, "That's excellent! I'm gonna do that!" Thing is, God answers that prayer and you have all these sin issues to deal with! The number of times I have seen or heard something or simply walked into the room at just the right moment to see or hear something I had no business knowing about...it's staggering. It's hard work to deal with the nonsense I'd rather not know about, but it's good for them and me to remember that though we think no one else knows, He knows our sin. For the unbeliever, this is fearsome, but for the believer, we can be comforted that He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust, but He does not hold our iniquity against us (Psalm 103). It's also kind of funny to hear them say, "But how did you know?!" and be able to honestly tell them, "I prayed that God would let me catch you in sin, and He answered. God told me!"

What are you praying for your children?