Imitating Me

Frustrated with the continual mess. Frustrated with the lack of space. The constant purging. The constant squeeze.

I ask the little ones to clean their room and the whining starts.

Where does that come from?

Their words express what is in my heart.

I tell them if they can’t clean up they have too much stuff.

They see the plastic bag and the whining turns to screaming. I reassure my girls that I’m not throwing things away. It’s just…there is so little room. We need to store some things for the sake of sanity.

And I grow weary. Headache and heat mixed with the inner turmoil of a soul who craves order and beauty. I pause to pray.

The constant dilapidation into chaos happens in my heart, too.

Setting things right begins internally. It happens when I choose to lay it all down.

It happens when I choose contentment in the midst of chaos.

I remind my soul that this too shall pass. The things around me are temporal. I squint to see with the eyes of faith. Eternal beings are in my care. These precious souls need a good model to follow, but I fail. I wail. I flail.

Discipline is far from me, but can’t it be squeezed in to replace some of the messes within?

And when that happens, the external might just might match the internal.

And then my children will learn habits worthy of modeling.

Carnival of Homeschooling: Wish List Edition

Office supplies make me giddy. Going to the library is my fondest errands. Bookshelves are my favorite pieces of furniture. Can you relate? If so, you may be a homeschooler.

In this edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling, I consider my wish list while highlighting posts submitted by the homeschooling community. This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a smattering of what blogging has to offer.

The homeschool community is diverse and I’m sure my wish list is vastly different from yours, but whatever you desire I hope we can all agree on the importance of liberty.

May the freedom to teach our children continue.

I wish for…

Liberty

• Barbara Frank Online states Let Girls Be Girls.
• Successful Homeschool addresses Homeschool Mom’s Dirty Little Secret #3 – Anger.
• Guilt-Free Homeschooling encourages with How to Adapt Lessons to Fit Your Student’s Interests and Make Learning Come Alive.
• The Homeschool Apologist examines what culture means in Swim At Your Own Risk.
• Alasandra’s Homeschool Blog Awards shares why Moronic Bob Cook Doesn’t Know Squat.
• Home School Dad discusses homeschool registration in Of Carrots and Sticks.

Endurance

• Parent at the Helm shares Two Studies Help Us Understand How Children Learn.
• Chrysalis examines the question, Why Should We Reach Children While They’re Young?
• A Work in Progress writes about embracing Enforced Time Off.
• Laura Grace Weldon challenges Guerrilla Encouragement Efforts.
• The Legacy of Home shares the importance of Family and Home.
• Wonderfully Chaotic remembers Why We Homeschool.

Library/work room

• NerdFamily Things shares resources for the Frugal Homeschooler: St. Patrick’s Day.
• Roscommon Acres gives instructions for The treasures of your heart, a quick St. Patrick’s Day project.
• Ina’s 5 & Our Native Homeschool teaches how to make a Working Aqueduct Model.
• QuirkyMomma has instructions for a DIY World Map Mural.
• SandwichINK shares their favorite Sequence Board Games For Kids.
• Adventures in Mama-Land asks about your workbox pages in Are you a cut-up???

Wisdom

• Opting Out asks Can phonics reduce the crime rate in America?
• Introducing the World reviews The Talent Code.
• Nirvana Homeschooling reviews the Book: Imaginary Garden.
• Tea Time with Annie Kate shares a favorite resource Free: The Handbook of Nature Study.
• Delightful Children’s Books shares 9 Books About Children From Around the World.
• A French Education teaches Silhouette on the Shade.
• A Pilgrim’s Heart found some Online Art Resources to enhance your Art Studies.

Housekeeper

• Why Homeschool shares information about ADHD and diet.
• Homeschool Mo will need some help with cleanup after Tot Time – It’s Flubbertastic!
• Our Curious Home asks the pressing question, “How Do I Homeschool and…Take a Shower?“
• Diary of 1 opens up the playground in the post, “Homeschool Recess.”

What is on your wish list?

If you would like to submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of Homeschooling, please use this submission form.

How the Basket Lady Organizes Homeschool

When the librarian called, he recognized my voice.

Oh, you’re the basket lady.

Should I be offended?

I used to take a backpack to the library and then transfer the books to their place next to the couch, but grabbing my old, wire basket saves a step. It does a great job keeping library books corralled, and it’s the perfect size for our check-out limit.

That library basket works so well, I don’t care that basket lady and bag lady sound so similar.

I have bigger things to battle, things like books and paper.

Organizing Books

Since we don’t have a separate room for our personal library, our living room has three large bookshelves in it. I make space for a few pieces of pottery, because I crave beauty as much as I like books.

Our books are loosely organized by category and size. Curriculum is on the shelf above our binders. Reference books are to the left of my desk. Favorite children’s books are on a separate shelf next to the couch.

Organizing Paper

Besides books, our homeschool fills up with paper. My girls each have an old-fashioned school desk with a bit of storage for their plethora of drawings.

When their desks are full, we sort through and keep their best and favorite works of art.

What we decide to keep goes into a three drawer organizer. I also slip in small treasures, cards, and keepsakes to add to their binders or scrapbooks later.

School papers used to pile in my plan book and languish there.

Then I found a $2 letter sorter to control that disaster. It’s perfect for holding file folders on my desk. Papers that need to be graded and papers that need to be filed are in separate sections. And my plan book fits right in the front.

Organizing Other Stuff

My desk drawers organize all of our office supplies:

• erasers
• pencils
• staplers
• hole punches
• flash cards
• stickers
• paper cutters
• notebook paper
• extra gadgets
• even the bills

I would like a new desk some day, but that might be as strenuous as packing the whole house.

Some of our puzzles, cards, and games are stored in a small dresser that I use as a sideboard in my kitchen.

I even cram things under the couch, but we won’t discuss that right now.

I’m a bit concerned about other nicknames that could arise if I divulge all the places I hide stuff.

What is your biggest organizational challenge?

Middle School Mountain

Two weeks ago, we started lessons ready or not. The important things were ready. Curriculum had been chosen and ordered. My children were begging to get started. My heart was prayerful.

There are still piles of work from last year that have yet to be put away and some of the bookshelves are a mess, but this year I just couldn’t wait until everything was organized.

Other moms were counting on me.

7th grade history was the most difficult subject for me to choose this year. The mountains of high school cast a creeping shadow over my plans. It felt like I was taking those first faltering steps into homeschooling all over again.

I poked around looking for curriculum to help guide me. I leaned towards TruthQuest, but ended up coming back to TRISMS HistoryMakers due to it’s focus on research.

Here I found a couple friends ready to climb the foothills of middle school with me. We’re helping each other up by splitting up lesson planning.

I’m planning art. Dana is working on science. And Barb is putting together history.

I haven’t met these amazing ladies in person. We are scattered across three time zones, but we are joined by a love for our children, a common educational philosophy, and a devotion to our Savior.

The internet is simply our tool. My email is filling up with wonderful lessons and interesting websites to explore. We chat about our day and our children’s response to the lessons, and I find myself enjoying the accountability.

Projects are so easy for me to drop when we get busy, but now I know other families are taking the time to create hieroglyphics. The pressure to give my children the same opportunity compels me to purchase clay and slip it in my children’s workboxes (more on that later).

We’re already running a bit behind, but the point is, we are actually running. The climb is only made better with friends.

Carnival of Homeschooling: Remember Summer Edition

Welcome to the Carnival of Homeschooling!

I am honored to share these wonderful submissions from various homeschool bloggers.

There are a number of great articles, so please bookmark this page and scroll through at your convenience. I trust that you will find encouragement and ideas for the upcoming year.

As a way to organize the posts by subject, I chose a theme. And since I’ve collected so many pictures the past few months, I decided to share glimpses of a summer we want to remember.

I hope your summer has been as joyful and educational as ours!

Mark Twain Museum, Virginia City, NV

Thinking about books and history:

• Books in the Home posted at Why Homeschool.
• a book list…decisions, decisions! posted at Bugs, Knights, and Turkeys in the Yard.
• Egyptian Day posted at A Pilgrim’s Heart.
• Enigmas on the Prairie posted at Sage Parnassus.

The Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA

Imagining places and spaces:

• The SchoolRoom Conundrum posted at Nerd Family.
• Guess The Common Room Family School-Room posted at The Common Room.
• Dreaming about School posted at The Legacy of Home.
• Astronomical Field Trip! posted at Question the Culture.
• To College or Not to College? posted at The Expanding Life.

Chihuly Installation at The Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA

Encouraging imagination and ability:

• Opportunity Indulges Passion posted at Home Spun Juggling.
• Extra-curricular or simply curricular? posted at Two Kid Schoolhouse.
• Where Do I Start?–Homeschooling a Kindergartener posted at God Made, Home Grow.
• Five Must-Have School Supplies for Homeschooling Parents posted at Barbara Frank Online.
• Back To (Home) School: My Students; Teaching Multiple Grades & Learning Styles posted at A Classic Housewife in a Modern World.

The Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA

Confronting concerns and critics:

• The Cretins are posting again posted at Alasandra’s Homeschool Blog Awards.
• Planning and Pondering – What is Success? posted at Chronic Learning.
• Why I Homeschool posted at The Rebellious Pastor’s Wife.
• Atlanta Suspects 109 Teachers of Test Cheating posted at PARENT AT THE HELM.

Waiting to board Air Force One at The Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA

Embracing family and friends:

• Susannah Wesley’s 16 Rules posted at C h r y s a l i s ღ.
• How to Pray for a Home Educator posted at Mind Being Renewed.
• Sprucing Up at The HomeSpun Life.
• To My New Blogging Students and Their Parents posted at Blogging 2 Learn.

Camp Tawakani, South Hills, ID

Planning for lessons and learning:

• What’s in a Name? posted at Princess Momma.
• whoohoo, we are finished! posted at No Fighting, No Biting!.
• Homeschool Scheduling and Planning posted at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
• Homeschool Plan and Curriculum List for My Kids 2010 to 2011 posted at The Thinking Mother.

That concludes The Carnival of Homeschooling: Remember Summer Edition. Thanks for stopping by. Now go celebrate the last bits of summer!

Please submit your blog article to the next edition of using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.