2011-12 Schoolhouse Planner offer !

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New forms this year will help you:

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Don't wait! Take advantage of great prices with the special presale going on now until April 14.

A new baby and a new school year

It's been a long time since I posted anything, this is the first since the birth of our fifth child who is now five and a half month old.

Our homeschooling life defiantly changed with having another baby in the house but It was not as hard as I thought it would be. What I mean when I say "not as hard" is I was so tired while I was pregnant that I found it difficult to accomplish just about anything ,once the baby was born I took a couple of weeks off and then was very eager to start a new school year( and do a little catch up :). Our sweet little baby boy is very fussy and needs to be in mommy's arms most of the day which makes doing anything with my hands almost impossible ( house work has suffered the most) but hasn't really impacted our school day. I am very well rested because he sleeps like a dream at night and I can still be teacher for the other children while holding a fussy baby during the day. Sure it would be nice if he had naps during the day and was happy to play a little while why we did school work but he doesn't so we have had to adapt, no big deal. It is so important to my husband and I to be educating our children at home that we will do anything to overcome and enjoy this precious time with our children. This is a gift and we are thankful.

Mommy Day's

This is my first pregnancy while homeschooling and its been a little more difficult then I thought. Even though I am expecting my fifth child ( later in August) its the first time since my other children started school that I've been pregnant. I started homeschooling just after having my fourth child so I never experienced the exhaustion that comes with pregnancy mixed with schooling two children and entertaining two other children at the same time. The only reason I even have the energy to write this now is because I am exiting the first trimester and have some of my energy back, thank goodness! Don't get me wrong everything is going very well and I feel great but being tiered is very tough when you have so much in a day to accomplish.
I am so blessed to have a very supportive husband, children and parents who have all helped me during this time. My husband always picks up my slack when I'm pregnant and never complains , he has said though that this part of pregnancy is very lonely for him ( poor guy). My children help out extra with little complaint, setting the table cleaning up , folding laundry and even helping with potty training our youngest. My parents offered to come two mornings a week to teach the kids for me to give me a chance to rest!! That has been amazing for the kids and my self.
Now that I've just told you about the great help and positive side of pregnancy and homeschooling I'll let you in on the part I would rather not let anyone know, "Pregnancy Days". We all know that children educated away from the home have "Snow Days" and In service days off from school, well we don't but we have sure made up for it in the last two months!! Yes I am admitting to skipping far to many days due to me being pregnant I am not proud of this but it seemed to be the only way to survive! We don't miss every day but things have been very sporadic during this time , sometimes teaching only half of our subjects a day, teaching in the evening when my husband is around, or not schooling at all. I worried allot about this everyday but then noticed over time that the kids were still learning, how could this be? My 5 year old was reading things he wasn't before and my two year old was describing the morning sunrise as a beautiful pink and orange sky and I hadn't taught her those colors! After those moments I realized that I am just a guide to them and God had already given them the ability to learn.Even with out my routined instruction they have continued to learn and are doing just fine. I know now that this is just another season of my life and things won't fall apart during a time when I need to rest and keep my self and baby healthy.I need to thank the Lord every day for blessing us with the opportunity to homeschool and for not judging me for taking "Mommy Days" when I need it and opening my eyes to new things at the same time.

Please Keep HATS in your prayers and if you can donations are needed to continue their work there.Checks can be made out to Hands Across The Sea Association and sent to: Hands Across The Sea Box 101 Yarmouth , NS B5A 4B1
HATS Haiti Mission Team 2010
haititeam2010.blogspot.com

No matter how organized I get in September it never last long, why is that? Will we ever get on a schedule that last a whole school year? I know the kids are doing fine and are getting their core subjects but there's so much more I want to cover and when I'm organized we get it all done. So I know what I have to do and I've done it before so why does it take me so much time to get motivated !!
Really when I think about it reevaluating things several times a year is probably not entirely a bad thing. We change, our activities change, the kids and life change through out the year so really school does too ,sometimes whether we like it or not. Being able to LEARN to adapt and be flexible is the beauty of homeschooling. I say that but during this time of reevaluating our schedule I had to do the same thing with all the activities out side of school time too. I was going to town seven days a week taking kids to Ballet, tumble bugs, karate, Bible study, homeschooling group, play dates, church and appointments! I felt school was starting to suffer and I was exhausted!
What I did about it. Well first of all I prayed about it , I need to know what we were doing was important to God and if I was honouring him through all of our busyness. The answer I got was no, surprise, surprise! Second my husband and I talked about what God was reminding me to do for our family and what we as parents were trying to achieve and agreed activities and busyness were not apart of that plan and not honoring to God but pressure from the world to have "well rounded" kids. I remembered that my role as Wife and Mother was to be the heart of the home and if I was never home how could I fully protect and meditate on what God has called me to do.Thirdly I edited our activities, the Lord gave me the peace and wisdom to do this , I could not have so easily done this alone!! We are now home every weekday except Friday afternoons when we go to our homeschooling group and have the weekends to sleep in, have family and friend time and church. I hope this is something we can always remember and hold on to while our family grows .
I know I will and am still having a problem some days fitting everything in but its more about fitting in all of the character building, bible and life skills then being away from home. Keep your focus on the Lord and you will accomplish what he has called you to do.

Homeschool Co-Op

I'm happy to announce that starting Friday October 16th we will be starting a homeschooling Co-Op. We will meet every Friday afternoon (except holidays) at 2pm, the length of time is yet to be determind but it will not go past 4pm. We have a location to meet at and when its not available we will do a feild trip our meet at a different location. We are hoping to have parents and other vollenteers to help teach classes each week. If you would like information or would like to be added to the contact email list you can email me at kitchen.ellie@gmail.com or leave a message on the guest book.
Some ideas for classes are fire prevention, science, wood working, music, art, operation Christmas child/who and where are the people we are helping( 3 lessons),
and much more. I would LOVE to get some more ideas for classes and feild trips.
This is a great oppurtunity for home educated families spend some time learning in a group setting and to give parents a break from teaching one day a week! This is not only a chance for the adults to share knowledge and skills with the kids but mabye you have a teenager who has something to share with a group of students. We are open for volenteers and ideas!

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