"A Lesson on Frustration"

Today was our first official day of school. One of my students has been chomping at the bit for weeks and I've occasionally "let" that student do a little work ahead but everyone else started today.

This year we are using My Father's World Creation to the Greeks as our base. We are excited about it because we really liked MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures last year. There was lots of intro stuff to do today.

One thing that I am looking forward to this year is using God and the History of Art. Today we covered the introduction and got to do "Lesson #1 - A Lesson on Frustration." The lesson explained how becoming an artist takes a lot of practice and how artists are often frustrated with the work that they do, never thinking that it is good enough. The lesson explained that acknowledging that frustration is just a part of being an artist will help you "be able to relax and enjoy the learning process involved in drawing, coloring and painting." The assignment for today was to draw and color a butterfly using only our mouths like Joni Eareckson Tada. It was pretty challenging and sure did make us appreciate the fact that, for most of the rest of our lessons, we'll be able to use our hands that work much better than our mouths.

Several of my students chose to draw butterflies with their hands after finishing their mouth drawings.

Reading this lesson and doing this activity made me think about my own frustration with my various jobs. The lesson told of the frustrations of various artists and their displeasure in their own work, even though others would have looked on them as masterpieces. I need to be careful not to be too critical of my own work knowing that frustration is also a part of being a wife, mom, teacher, cook, friend, writer, etc. I need to not get overwhelmed with my own frustration at my imperfect work but relax and enjoy the learning process involved in growing in all the areas that I have been called to. Funny how God can speak to me even through my kids' art lesson :)

Five Minute Friday: Stretch

It's silly but I think that the first thing that prompted me to start stretching was not the cross country runners I always saw stretching in the hallway in high school but a Winnie the Pooh board book I used to read to my kids all the time when they were little. In his "stoutness exercises" think that it said something like, "I stretch up, I stretch down, I eat a whole bowl of honey." Of course, I haven't really continued that routine, especially the honey part. I'm not actually a big fan of honey. 

 I know that stretching is an important thing to do but it is another one of those discipline things that I am not very good at. I have started stretching a little bit more since I started running this summer. I know that it is important, physically, to stay agile and not get injured but it is not a regular part of my routine. I talked about stretching with Glenn's uncle when he was here visiting. He is really good about doing his stretching excerises that various PT people have had him do because he wants to live an active lifestyle and he knows how important the stretches he does are. It was inspiring and challenging listening to him.

I know that stretching physically is important, though not pleasant. It is also important to stretch in other ways. I know that phases of my life when my faith, my emotions, my social skills, my frugal-ness, my creativity have had to stretch have not always been pleasant but the rewards from stretching and allowing myself to be stretched have been long lasting and I am thankful for them.

Back to Pooh - as he was doing his stretches in this little video I found I found this morning he was talking about how his stretches helped to increase his appetite. In the same way, when I have been stretched in other areas, especially my faith, my appetite for what I am ultimately striving for increases as well. Thanks, Pooh, for that little reminder of why I really stretch.

I'm linking up with the Gypsy Mama today. Come on over and join me. Write for 5 minutes yourself or just read some other great blog posts about "stretch."

Leave New York??

"The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you." Genesis 12:1 NLT

National Conference was an overwhelming experience for me. Before going to it I think I was in denial of the whole residency application process and how many programs there are really out there. One of the presenters at an educational session we went to likened it to walking through an expo center full of used car salesmen fully convinced that their used car is the best. Our job was to find out which "used car," of all these great residency programs, was the right one for us to provide us for the best training to practice medicine where and how we'd like to. One of the most exciting things for me was that there are actually residencies out there with the broad spectrum training that Glenn wants. Before the conference he'd been battling between family practice and surgery (ie. procedures) and it was great to be assured that there are FP residencies that will train him to do more of the procedures that he wants to be trained in so that he can be prepared to practice either overseas or in a rural location in the US.

There are many great programs in New York but most of the full spectrum programs that he is interested in are not in New York. On the way home from the airport I came to the realization that I am going to leave New York, most likely. I have been a New York resident for all my life (with the exception of 2 years when we lived in Tennessee when we first got married). I have always known/ assumed that I would not live in New York forever. I have always planned to live overseas at some point. I never actually planned on raising kids in the US, actually. It was just a bit of a shock to my overwhelmed spirit that I am actually going to leave.

A couple days later, while doing my quiet time, I came across this verse:

"The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you." Genesis 12:1 NLT

It was an encouraging word to me and reading it reminded me of God's faithfulness to Abraham. Abraham has always been an example to me (just ask my kids!) and I am so thankful for his obedience when God asked him to go. I know that I can trust God as I leave my "Ur," to go to that unknown place that He has for us. I know that He walks before us and He has good plans for us. I am excited to see what they are. Even if they aren't in New York :)

What's Working Wednesdays: Mathematics Enhancement Programme (FREE math curriculum!)

 What's Working Wednesday is my weekly post to showcase something that is working for me or my family at the moment. It may not work for us forever and it may or may not work for you.

Several years ago I was looking for free or cheap homeschool curriculum because we had no place in our budget to buy school materials. I came across oldfashionededucation.com and they recommended the Mathematics Enhancement Programme from Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching. I looked into it and discovered that they offered all the teachers manuals, practice books and other resources for free on their website in PDF form. I decided it was worth a shot and printed the first year out for my oldest.

I always tell people that we started using it because it is free and have continued using it because we love it. We really do enjoy MEP and I love how it approaches math (ex. basic algebra concepts are introduced in the first week of Y1 and they have really creative ways to introduce multiplication, negative numbers, etc).

Before starting using the program you may want to know a few of things:
1. It is based out of the UK so all measurement lessons are in metric (standard units of measurement will have to be taught with other materials or just in normal life with your kids since that is probably what you are used to anyway.). I love that it teaches in metric since metric is base 10 which makes math problems so much more simple!
2. Also, since it is based out of the UK, all money math problems are in pounds and pence. I usually just have my kids write dollar signs instead of a pound signs. One thing that gets a little confusing is that we don't have 2 cent coins here in the US so you get to be creative with a few lessons in early years. It's also brought up interesting conversations about money in other countries.
3. It is designed for a classroom so not all activities are easily converted to homeschool use where there is often a much smaller class size. You can skip those activities or just get creative. One way that I have gotten around it in early grades was to have the kids use their stuffed animals as classmates. This past year Caleb had to graph his classmates' birth months and I put out of request on facebook and instead of having just 4 students in his class he had about 150 ;)
4. There is a great yahoo group with other homeschoolers using the program. I would recommend joining it as these other homeschooling parents are a great resource when you have questions since this is probably not how you were taught math.  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mep-homeschoolers/
5. You will not need much space to store it. (I did Saxon K for kindergarten for my kids and I think that it took more space to store that material, which I had to pull out all the time, than it takes to store the 6 years of math curriculum for MEP, of which I only need 4 of those 11 folders for my 4 students out at a time!)

6 years of Math curriculum in less than 12cm space!

We really love MEP and think that others will to so I want to do a little tutorial thing about how I set up MEP for my classroom.

1. Get folders with brads in the middle. These are so cheap this time of the year (a couple of the folders that we use we already had as you can see for Y4b). I bought them all in blue so blue = math in my house which makes Math folders easy to keep track of. You will need 2 of these per student, one for each semester. Here is all we need for math for this fall. As you can see it is very easily transportable.

Our Math Curriculum for the first half of the year!

 2. Print Lesson Plans.  The first couple of years we used MEP I printed these in duplex, two to a page (as you can see in Y2a's folder) but now I print them in duplex 4 to a page (as you can see in Y4b's folder). I duplex and do multiple sheets to a page to save paper, toner, and space. I hole punch them and put them in the brad section of the folder. (NOTE: a laser printer is a GREAT investment for a homeschooler). You can just look at these lesson plans on your computer if you'd prefer not to print them out. I like having paper in my hand though and a place to scribble down notes for this year and future years in the lesson plans though. I store these after one child is done with it until it is the next child's turn.

Lesson Plans 2 to a page

Lesson plans 4 to a page

3. Print Practice Book.   I print these in duplex as well but just one sheet to a page. I put these in the left hand pocket of the folder. Below are a couple of pages from Y2a's Practice Book.

3. Print an Answer Key. This is not absolutely necessary but has been helpful to me so someone else can grade the work. To make my key I printed the practice pages in duplex, 4 sheets to a page and then did the work myself. I could have gotten most of the answers by looking through the lesson plans but #1 I am a math geek and #2 I also wanted to see what the kids would be doing. Since I have been using MEP from the beginning and store the old sets I only have to do one set of answer keys a semester and I am about half way through Y6a already and school hasn't even started yet. I've been bringing it with me to work on in the car or while watching the kids during swim lessons. The kids think that it's fun catching my mistakes in the key as well. I store the key in the right hand pocket of the folder.

Key for Y2a

 4. Have fun exploring Math with your kids.

MEP Y4b ready to go for the year.

Most of my links here are to the primary curriculum materials. They also have materials for secondary math on the CIMT MEP website as well but I haven't used them yet so I am not sure if they are set up differently. There is a helpful scheme of work to help you see at a glance what will be covered throughout the year. I don't have the website memorized. To find it I always google "CIMT MEP" and it is the first link.

We really enjoy MEP and I hope you do too. If you have questions feel free to ask me or get on the MEP Homeschoolers Yahoo Group and ask there.

The Best Part of Waking Up

I was never a morning person. I like staying up late. I like sleeping in. I do NOT like to get out of bed. Especially in the winter.

I am a mom of 4 kids. I homeschool. I discovered a number of years ago that if I do not get up before my kids I get zero time to myself. I like time to myself. I also discovered that if I didn't get up before the kids I got zero time in God's Word. Time in God's Word and in prayer is so vital to me being able to live in the Spirit and not in the flesh. I need that time to feed on God's Word to help me throughout the day.

Through the baby years I discovered that as soon as the kids fell asleep I would be good for nothing. I may stay up longer but I would get nothing productive done. I knew that I needed to make a change and, though I was not naturally a morning person, I knew I had to make the sacrifice of sleep and get up before the kids for my own sanity.

It has not always been an easy choice and I have not always been successful. Winter is the hardest time. It is so dark and it is so cold outside of under the covers BUT the sacrifice has been so worth it. I am a better wife, a better mom, and I have the chance to live more purposefully.

Last spring I joined the Hello Mornings Challenge and it was so great to interact on a daily basis with other women who were on the same journey as me, with similar goals - get up, spend time with God, plan your day purposefully, and exercise. The accountability it gave me was a great boost, especially in those dark days of the early part of the year when I wanted nothing more than to stay under the covers.

There is still time to sign up for the Hello Mornings Challenge for this fall than runs from August 20 - November 16. My group is full but there is still space in other groups and I challenge you to sign up and get some accountability to help you get up, spend time in God's Word, exercise and plan your day. I am linking up today at Inspired to Action. If you need more convincing that you should get up early or ideas on how to do it or what to do hop on over here and read about some other ladies' journeys  in maximizing their mornings.

I've come to realize that the best part of waking up isn't Folgers in my cup (though, I must say, I do like coffee. I just don't drink Folgers) it is how much better my whole day goes as a result. I am not waking up scurrying around and miserable, snapping at everyone, because I have overslept. Instead, because I get up, I have time to prepare my mind, my heart, and my body for the day.

Try it. It won't be easy but it will be worth it.

Why Do I Worry About God's Bank Account?

God has entrusted some money to us and we keep it in a bank account. We try to steward it well, knowing that it isn't ours, and use it to pay our bills and buy things that we want and need.

This week we had to use some of God's money to pay for the tests that Glenn is going to have to take for school over the next couple of months. The tests are pretty expensive and when we checked our bank account before paying for them we discovered that, after paying for the tests, the amount of money in our bank account would be way lower than we can remember it being for a long time. We actually had to borrow money from one of the kids' bank accounts to cover a couple of bills that are automatically deducted from our account over the next couple of weeks.

My reaction to seeing our bank account almost zero out made me realize that I have been putting too much faith in having money in our bank account and not enough faith in God, the One who actually stores it there. We have needs and we know that God always provides for them. It is easy to trust Him when you know exactly how He is going to do it. Not so easy when you don't. There is no need to worry about us financially. We have a bit of money coming in the near future- an overdue apartment deposit refund for our apartment in Syracuse, reimbursements for things that we've paid for, and our normal disbursement but for the next 2 weeks we are on a mandatory spending freeze.

On our walk to the park for the town band concert after spending all of "our" money I had a talk with myself and reminded myself of whose bank account it really is - God's. Who put the money there? God. Who can both fill it and empty it at times and in ways that make no sense to me? God. I then started hearing Bob Weston, a missionary from Jamaica that used to visit my church when I was a child, singing in my ear, "If you know the Lord is helpin' you, what you got to worry about? If you know the Lord is helping you - why don't you sing and shout? Ohhh, glory hallelujah, praise His name. Everyday He's just the same. If you know the Lord is helpin' you, what you got to worry about?"

The next morning I read My Utmost and it was on "The Discipline of Difficulty." I guess I needed to read it. The last two sentences really stuck out: "The temptation is to face difficulties from a common-sense standpoint. The saint is hilarious when he is crushed with difficulties because the thing is so ludicrously impossible to anyone but God."

So... why do I worry about God's bank account? I don't know. It may have our name on it but it's His. I think know that I can trust Him with it. Praise His name.

"I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world." John 16:33 MSG

What's Working Wednesday: C25K

What's Working Wednesday is my weekly post to showcase something that is working for me or my family at the moment. It may not work for us forever and it may or may not work for you.

I have been wanting to be healthier and more physically fit for some time but it takes more than desire. It also takes discipline.

I have been inspired by many friends who have started running (maybe some of them have always run, I don't know) that have things post to their facebooks to let everyone know that they are out on a run. One of my biggest inspirations is a lady I am super proud of, my friend Kari. She has made lots of healthy life changes and recently completed a 1/2 marathon. Completing a 1/2 marathon is something I never would have imagined her doing when I shared life with her on a regular basis 13 years ago while we were in college together. I still don't know that I will ever be able to do it but I am currently working towards a 5K.

I really like the Couch to 5k plan. It is a plan designed to get you from being a couch potato to running a 5K in 9 weeks. I have started it before but have never made it all the way though. (I think I quit in the past around week 4.)

This time I am walk/ running while listening to the C25K Christian Indie podcast. Some of the music is a little slow for running but I enjoy the chance to listen to some praise music while I run. I am currently on week 7 of the couch to 5K plan and did my first 25 minute run on Tuesday. It went pretty well and I even had a lady in the passenger seat of a car that drove by applaud me on the way up my last hill. I am excited that I was able to "run" for 25 minutes straight. I could barely run two telephone poles 2 months ago!

If you'd like to try to become more physically fit I challenge you to give C25K a try. There are lots of great resources at this website: www.c25k.com