Riding the fence... the homeschooling fence, at least.

 Found out today that I could put J in school (kindergarten) for a couple hours a day, for only the subjects I want him to study, like pe, music, math, etc... and homeschool him the rest of the time.. Now Im wondering if I shouldnt just get over it and put him in, period.  No point in sending him for 3-4 hours a day only to come home and do more when he gets home.... But, also, if I finish homeschooling him through this year, he can go straight to second grade next year, since Sonlight is an accredited program.  I would just have to provide a portfolio, and he would have to take the second grade placement exam.  Soooo.. yeah.  I don't want to be selfish and put him in just so I would have one less kid at home, but I don't want to keep him out on the off chance that they can do a better job that me, even with 30 kids and one aide.  We can still do devotionals at home, over dinner, and talk about the memory verses in the mornings before I take him downstairs to the bus stop.. which was a major reason I homeschooled.  Theres a verse that says to teach the Bible to your children, when you walk along the road, and when you wake up and when you go to sleep... basically, teach them as much as you can as often as you can.. And if he's in school more than he's home and awake, how am I supposed to have the time to teach him about stuff like that?  I know I probably sound like a crazed loon.. lol.. but I'm really struggling with putting him in.  Am I some kind of control freak?  Jon was teasing me, and said, what, having a hard time letting go??  Srsly!!  Is that what I'm doing???

There are pros and cons to each side, and I DON'T want to be selfish and put him in just to go with the flow of everyone else.  I don't want him to have a negative experience with school, and I don't want him to constantly be in trouble like he was last year in the beginning of pre-k.  Yes, he will probably throw fits because school is more regimented than we are, and there will be another adult in charge... and I know there will be days that I have to literally drag him out of bed because he 'doesn't wanna go to school!'

Blah.  Need prayer.  Advice would be great. :)

Happy birthday to my babies!

I'm such a bad blogger.  I always forget to post updates on how things are going.  I guess I should attempt to schedule some posts, that way I don't look at the dashboard every morning and think, hmmm its been awhile since I posted!  :) 

Anyhow.  Cait's birthday was Friday- she's 4 now!  So big!  Jacob's birthday is this coming Saturday, and he will be 6.   We decided this year to have one party, at home, since its probably the last year that we can really get away with having the same party for both of them.  We had a slight crisis (our renters are moving out and the company held our rent check with no notice this month), so we made a pinata, instead of buying on.  It turned out cute!  They are pretty easy to make, just mix up some flour and water into a thick paste, get some newspaper strips wet with it, and stick it on a balloon.  :)  (ok, so there's a little more to it, but that's the short version)!

Don't you just love the look on Caitlynn's face, in the first pic with me and Jacob?  :D  I didn't realize she'd done that until I uploaded the pictures.  All in all, it was a great day today.  I got alot of sewing done before the party, most of my Strawberry Shortcake rag quilt is put together.  Now, I have to finish the last strip, and then sew all the strips together, and fringe it all.   I will try to post pictures of that. 

Its the time of year that makes me want to craft... FALL!!  It has started cooling down sooo much in the last week.  We have had our A/C off since yesterday afternoon, and it didn't get too hot, finally.  With our electric bill being over 500,000 won (for the month of August), we are grateful that it is going to be our last ridiculously high bill.  Ayaka and I spent an hour and a half downstairs at the market, talking with a Korean couple that spoke English, learning some of their customs and also that we shouldn't use our Korean dryer!  :P  It seems that it is partly why our electric bill is so high. 

Anyhow, back to crafting.. Blogland has had so many creative posts and tutorials that I'm going insane trying to figure out which ones I can do!  :)  First on my agenda is to make 3 burp cloths, 3 stuffed balls, and a tooth fairy pillow. The cloths and balls are for baby showers I am going to this next week, and the tooth fairy pillow is for Jacob, who is currently working on his 2nd loose tooth!  Who knows, maybe I could sell them, too (the pillow, that is, not Jacob's teeth)!  There seem to be an awful lot of wives around here who are making and selling things.  :) 

We are so blessed to be living over here, it has definitely been a great experience so far!  While a friend and I were out last week, I actually asked a Korean lady if she spoke English (I asked in Korean), and she understood me and answered me!!  I was so excited.. lol..

In other news, our first week of school went great!  We are moving right along, and doing well with our new schedule.  It had a couple of kinks in it, just because of when payday fell (I had to go to Yongsan to get some last minute birthday stuff, and its a 2.5 hour trip there, and another 2.5 hours back, so we were gone all day), and then the next day Jon was home sleeping for an hour or two after CQ and then at the TMC (troop medical center) for xrays of his wrist.  Friday, they sent Jon to Yongsan, to the 121 hospital on base to see an orthopedic doc, because his staphoid bone is broken in half.  He will be having surgery on the 28th to place a pin in it, because not only is it broken, but one half of it is twisted and up away from where it should be. 

Whew.  I think that's about all I can type for now.  Oh, James has all 4 molars coming in at once.. Makes for a cheery household, don't ya think??  :O     Other than that, life is great!  :D

To test, or not to test, that is the question.

Or maybe I should make that 'to homeschool, or not to homeschool'..  We will be discussing whether or not to continue homeschooling Big J this next year.  With the move happening, we still have about 2, maybe 3 weeks worth of work to do in order to finish up our year.  That's one huge plus to homeschooling.  It can go with us.  After our guests leave at the end of the month, I will be setting up our school room, and then we will be plunging back in.  It'll be nice to be back to our schedule completely. 

So, the topic was about testing.  I am unsure whether or not to get a standardized test for J, just to make sure that he is on the right track as we come to the end of our first year of homeschooling.  Its not too expensive, from what I have seen, but I don't really know if its necessary.  I know it probably isn't, but I don't want to find that we have missed something in his education (especially next year if we decide to put him in school)!  Any opinions?  Any sage words of advice?  :)

I'm off now, heading back to my world of dirty dishes and boxes to unpack.  Wish me well!  :P

whew! Its hot in here!

Its about 80 degrees in here!  It was absolutely gorgeous this weekend, temperatures in the low 80's, a little bit of afternoon rain yesterday that cooled the evening off nicely... Tons of flowers blooming everywhere (lol, mostly dandelions in our yard, though), the trees and bushes are blooming and flowering.  Its beautiful in the North Country.

On the other hand, I'm really praying about a situation Jon and I have run across.  Can't really say much here, but its something we are struggling with (not in our marriage, though).  Any additional prayers are appreciated. 

I have some of our curriculum for next year set.  I have really been waffling on what to use for each subject.  I really need to buckle down and pray harder about this.  In some good news, though, we will be finished with our school year by mid-June.  That's pretty good, considering we didn't start until the first week of October, and had lots of interruptions this year.  We are going to relax this summer and enjoy our new apartment, new country, everything.  We will be catching up on all of the reading assignments from Sonlight's P 4/5 curriculum.  I hope it lasts the whole summer, but I don't think it will, seeing how my kiddos are wanting me to read everything in sight lately!  :) 

Anyhow, off to talk with my hubby on Skype, and get ready for a brand new week!

Friday, the snow day...

It really only gave a few half-hearted flurries this afternoon... but still, I thought it was gone, since it was 75 yesterday!  Did I bring Texas weather to the North Country??

I have a sick kiddo on my hands.  He started feeling ucky yesterday with a headache, then a sore throat, and a stiff neck.  Gave me a bit of panic over that, but it was just because he'd been having his Wii time, and hadn't really been moving around alot.  Progressed to a fever before I left for my class last night, so I gave him Tylenol.  He was wide awake at 324 this morning asking for a drink.  He proceeded to slam it back so fast that it made him vomit as I was getting his medicine.  Luckily, we were still in the bathroom.  I felt so bad for him!  He's throwing up and got bad chills all at the same time.  He managed to keep a small glass of water down, as well as the motrin.  He came in a little while later saying that he was closing his eyes and having bad dreams.  I prayed with him and reminded him that he could talk to Jesus when he felt scared or sick. 
This morning, he came in my room and the first thing out of his mouth was. "Mommy, I prayed and told Jesus to make my sore throat go away, and he did it!"   
:)   I guess we still have to work on the whole asking, not telling thing...

Anyhow.  I was able to talk with Jon last night and again this morning, and it sounds like he won't be able to do anything about an apartment until he gets out of the field at the end of the month.  I guess I will post more about our flight dates as I know details, because we are still stuck with the 30 day limit, since there are no beds available for us to use until our stuff comes in.  Here's my question- how come the military doesn't care about what the soldiers and families sleep on when they PCS (permanent change of station, meaning a move) stateside and have to wait for their stuff to come in?  Why the big fuss just because we are in a different country??  Plus, the beds that are available stateside aren't even real mattresses, they are thin little foam things.  Air mattresses are much better, to my way of thinking.  But oh well, I will not argue with them, I can't change anything by being bad tempered about this.  And I refuse to waste my time like that.

The class I attended last night was the free Financial Peace University class offered by Dave Ramsey.  It was absolutely awesome!  It is actually a 13 week class, and you are supposed to purchase the kit (the class is free, but you have to have this stuff in order to attend).  Well, the church purchased them at a discounted rate, just about half price, and when the lead couple found out I would only be here for a few weeks, and probably wouldn't come back because of that and the fact that I can't really afford the kit, they gave it to me.   All they ask is that later on when I can, that I pass it on to someone in need.  I can totally do that!  This class is awesome, and its only been the first one.  I'm excited to get to read the Financial Peace Revisited book that's included. 

One last thing- I borrowed a book from the local library, and its one that is astounding me, and I'm only into the second chapter. 
The Way of Boys, by Anthony Rao, Ph. D 
It talks about how boys need more time to physically and emotionally mature, and how medication should not always be the first answer.  And about the crazy things that boys can do!  It sounds very promising as a good read, and much learning should ensue from it.  I will post more as I get more into it.

And for tomorrow... hopefully a homeschool review on Sonlight Curriculums! 

Homeschooling sites we love

I will start this list off with the sites that I am currently using, and then add to it from the wisdom of several other homeschooling moms who are farther along in their journeys.  In the next couple of days I hope to go over each website in more detail.  Hopefully this will be a help to any other homeschooling mom that's just starting out.  I know I needed all the help I could get when I first started last October!

http://www.sonlight.com/  We use the P 4/5 curriculum for kindergarten.  LA K, too, along with Handwriting without Tears.  Explode the code can be bought through this website also. 
http://www.aop.com/  We are using Horizons Math K, and will be using it again next year.  Definitely like it!
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/  This is more for my preschooler, but each letter is fun, and most activities are easy to make, use and reuse.  She loves doing them, and there is enough variety that she doesn't get bored repeating a couple of them throughout the week.
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/  I use this to print extra worksheets for both kids.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/  Used mainly for art activities.  You can buy a year's membership for $20, but I just use the free stuff.
http://www.funshineexpress.com/  Occasionally, we use the Christian supplement from this website.  For $7 per month, I can get a Bible story with a month's worth of daily activities, questions, etc, plus 2 worksheets each week per child.  This website also has wonderful ABC and number tracing pages, plus numerous kinds of coloring pages. 
http://www.bobbooks.com/  These are the easy readers we use instead of Sonlight's Readers K.  He reads 1-2 books per week. 
We also supplement every couple of days with the workbooks that can be bought at Walmart- Super deluxe mazes, hidden pictures, ABC dot to dots, etc.  My preschooler uses the Preschool workbooks, too. 
http://www.donnayoung.org/  This is a great website to get some help getting started, planning your curriculum, etc.  She also posts the world standards for each grade, so that you can tell what your child should be learning.
http://www.hslda.org/ Use this website  if you have legal questions about homeschooling in your state.  They have each state's current laws about homeschooling.
http://www.homeschoolbar.com/  Cool little online toolbar that has a phenomenal amount of links for different subjects, different interests, etc. 
http://www.christianbook.com/  Good place to get discounted workbooks, etc.  Watch for the sales. 

The following sites I have not used yet, since my kids aren't quite old enough for some of it, but they come highly recommended from other moms I know.
http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/  Christian curriculum
http://www.abeka.com/ Christian homeschooling
http://www.scottforesman.com/ spelling
Educators Publishing Service (used to be http://www.eps.com/) wordly wise 3000, Vocabulary from the roots up, and Ridgewood Analogies. 
http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/  Math
http://www.letteroftheweek.com/  Preschool through 2nd free curriculum
http://www.mfwbooks.com/  My Father's World
http://www.fiarhq.com/  Five In A Row
http://www.apologia.com/ Science
http://www.dltk-kids.com/  more printables
http://www.starfall.com/  Reading and games for kids to play online
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/  Speaks for itself. 


Whew!  That was certainly alot of information.  I hope that it helps someone out there in their journey to homeschooling.  If you have any questions, please ask!  If I don't know the answer, I can contact someone that does!  :)

Homeschool helps

I am writing this so that I will remember to finish compiling the list of places that I have found my curriculum.  A friend back in Cove was an awesome help with most of these resources, some of which I have not been able to use yet, since J and C aren't old enough yet.  Hopefully I can get it all finished tonight, but no promises- I tend to get distracted way too easily lately.  :)

In other news, we have hit a roadblock with our apartment in Korea.  Apparently, we can't get it until Jon gets out of the field.  Which is another 3 weeks.  However, S1 said that they would still finish the amendment so that we can get tickets.  I'm hoping that this gets finished this week, so that we will know exactly when we need to leave.  I am already making lists and packing up the things that need to be shipped.  And in a couple of minutes when C lays down for quiet time, I will be heading out for the Dollar Tree.  I am buying a couple of cheapy toys to wrap up for our plane ride. 

Anyone have any ideas on how to keep 3 kids entertained on a 15+ hour plane ride?  I would definitely love to have some help! 

Dollar Tree...Oh, how I love thee!

So, I broke my own record for amount of money spent at Dollar Tree today.  I spent 3 times the amount I normally do.  I went in with the intent to find a couple of non-candy items to put into the Easter baskets, and some educational wall charts.  And boy, did I find wall charts.  We ended up bringing home charts for:
space, the planets, addition tables, subtraction tables, a calendar, numbers and holidays for said calendar, plus headers for it, parts of speech, today is/tomorrow will be, and today's weather is/tomorrow's weather will be...
And, my favorite part, a bunch of good books, especially board books for the baby.  We got several that are Bible stories, and several that have to do with manners, sharing, etc.  Oh, and some sight word cards, one set each for pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade.  I figured that even if we are not using them right this second, for a dollar, it can't hurt to have them on hand!  My parents have this fabulously long, and BARE hallway.  We recently put up Cait's Letter Tree, and it looks so lonely by itself... so it won't be lonely long!  :)  I think my biggest challenge will be figuring out how to get all this stuff to Korea.  Does FedEx have tubes to ship things in?  I can roll the posters, and the rest of it is small enough to fit in my luggage. 

Now, I'm off to go and find some tape to hang these posters with.  I will attempt to get a picture of the hallway once I'm done, if the baby doesn't insist on nursing yet again.  I think his medicine is upsetting his tummy, he keeps grunting alot! 

Oh, and by the way, Turbo Jam is going great!  I have noticed that my jeans today are a bit looser than normal, cause I have to keep hitching them up! :P