Okay I'm freaking out...

{YES}
So its really starting to happen. Jarom who's been mostly interested in playing for the last year which has been fine (okay I've been a little worried the last few months, and was wondering when Love of Learning was going to kick in) is on fire and is starting to WANT to learn. I am starting to experience first hand what it looks like when a child learns because he WANTS to NOT because he is forced to.

{Today}
So what did today look like in the Martineau home?

A little like this...

or this...playing with Ginger

or this...CRAZY!

::Morning::
Jarom made us all pancakes, and then the kids wondered upstairs and spent a couple hours playing upstairs in our playroom. They stayed busy imagining and building things for a a super long time. AMAZING!

::10:30ish::
They all got hungry and wondered down for a mid-morning snack. I tried to read a little of the book we are just getting started on A Swiftly Tilting Planet, which is book three in the Twinkle in Time series. But we got distracted with snacks and before I knew it I was cleaning up and all the kids were in the [school room] listening to Standin Tall (an awesome book/CD series about wonderful virtues like honesty, love, dependability, etc...). The two oldest listened to those until lunch time while the two little guys played around with the chalk board in the same room.



::12:30::
After lunch got cleaned up I pulled out some resources I ordered a while back, but hadn't looked over yet. I spread them all out on the island and guess what...before long Jarom and Megan wondered in and started begging to do the cursive workbooks I got for them a year ago that I'd never opened.


::the next 4 hours::
The two of them spent the next four hours practicing cursive. I got busy reading a book and would stop and help them when they asked, but they kept at it...it was incredible. I had to stop myself from trying to get them to stop. AMAZING!!! When they are doing something they are interested in you can hardly get them to stop. In fact we had to run somewhere in the car around 5 and Jarom insisted on bringing his cursive workbook with us, and Megan brought the Standin' Tall CDs and books to listen to in the car.



[simple works]
So simple does work. I am far from perfect, but I am trying my best to create an environment that allows my children to be inspired to learn. I am so thankful that I am starting to see them really take control of their education because they are excited about learning!! AWESOME!!

Family MoJo

{Jarom}


Teaching Adult Skills...slowly.
Over the past year Jarom has become a GREAT breakfast cook. Making us pancakes often. Its so great to have such a great helper in the morning...thanks J-dog!



{FHE}


Okay I haven't been the best with FHE. Usually I am throwing something together as I give the lesson, but as my kids are now getting a little older its time for mommy to step it up! Last night we made cookies by first naming off the ingredients we needed to make a Happy Family. I had written all the ingredients we needed for cookies on one side of a square piece of card stock and then I flipped it over and wrote down the 'family' ingredients we needed to make a Happy Family during our discussion. Some of the things the kids named off were say things nicely, go to church, don't fight, have family prayers, etc... After they named something I wrote it on the back of one of the squares and gave them the squares to them. It was a lot of fun and then at the end I had them flip over their squares and they got to put that ingredient into the bowl to make cookies.

{Homeschooling}
So I've been trying to over complicate the whole schedule thing I decided today. I always want to make something big, permanent, and super hip. But after praying for inspiration and help to get my homeschooling running more smoothly...especially my routine it came to me. The three things I've been struggling with lately have been...recording what we do each day, journaling, and mentor meetings.

[simple]
I always try to over complicate things...simplify should be my motto for the year. All I needed was a calendar for each person, a journal, and a stack of sticky notes and Viola.


Here is what we are doing now to get my homeschool MoJo on. Starting yesterday (our first official day of school) I had a 5 minute mentor meeting with Megan and then with Jarom. We talked about what they thought they'd like to study today. Of course I helped make suggestions if they couldn't think of anything. We made a list of 5 or 6 things on their sticky note and we stuck the note on their calendar. At the end of the day they write on the day it is what they studied/learned. That will help me keep a record of what each child's been learning. Also at the end of the day after dinner when they have their PJs on and all the other nightly things done I am going to spend about 10-15 minutes with them in their room. We'll all journal together, and that way I'll be there in case Megan or Jarom need help. Then after 'journaling' time we'll have our normal reading time.

Okay so I know its only day two of my new [simple] system, but its been working so far. Its a huge blessing to have the ability to pray for help and receive an answer from the Lord to help me and my family! WOO-HOO!!!


Megan is working on her penmanship because she wanted to, and she put it on her list during our mentor meeting. LOVE IT!!!


Jarom out of the blue said he wanted to read Sign of the Beaver. I found it for him on the bookshelf and he read two chapters in no time. Did I say I am loving being [simple].