I love school!

So, we’ve completed our second week of our new homeschooling year. It’s been so fun!! I guess it’s a good thing I majored in teaching language arts. Savannah’s favorite part of school is English and the boys love Phonics! (They love math, too, though.) Even on the weekends or family day, the kids often ask if we can do school. The other day we had a trip to the Children’s Museum planned, and Peter and Alex begged to do a phonics lesson before we left. Brad keeps asking when my kids will figure out they’re not supposed to like school. :) (I guess he didn’t like school too much as a kid.)

We plan on heading back to the States in about a year. We’ll take some vacation, see family, and Brad will finish up his degree. Then, we’ll come right back to this side of the world. But, since we know we’ll be heading to the States in a year, we decided it would be best to try to stretch this home school year out and make it last until next March/April. There’s no use in having next year’s curriculum mailed here, just to use it for a couple of months and carry it back to the States.

So, in my opinion, that’s one of the greatest things about this year! I feel free to do projects, watch educational films and do other things that make school extra fun! So, even though we do school five days each week, I we only do four lessons in each subject each week.

So, just in case you’re wondering…. Here’s a glance at our typical week….

Mornings:
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings: Brad and I meet with a tutor while our kids are in local school.

Tuesday is family day.

Thursday: Brad is at work all day and I spend time preparing for an English class I teach in our home on Saturday afternoons.

Homeschooling:
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday look pretty similar. I teach English/phonics, math, and reading to Savannah and the boys separately (Peter and Alex are together.). Each class is about 30 minutes, so that takes from 1pm – 4pm. Then, from 4-5 I teach science (Wed) or history (Mon & Thurs) to all three kids.

(Thankfully Leigh is here to do a lot of my dinner prep!)

On Fridays our homeschooling day is cut short because we get together with other foreigners for worship every Friday late afternoon/evening. So, I teach reading for an hour, then we have Math Fun Day for second hour. For Math Fun Day we may play a game, play with cuisenart rods, base 10 blocks, make a graph, put together a store, etc. Depending on the topic, I may do something with all three kids together, have Savannah teach the boys, or split the time between them. We all look forward to Fridays!

Then, we do school one day on the weekend. Brad works at the English school all day Saturday, then, he tries to do some work at home on Sunday. (That way we don’t have to fight the weekend crowds on family day.) So far I’ve done school once on Saturday and once on Sunday. I think Sunday is better because that keeps us busy and out of Brad’s hair! But at this point, I’m still thinking I’ll take it one weekend at a time…. On the weekend, we do English/phonics, math, and science.

I have to say….. I love homeschooling!! I know it’s not for every family. But, I’m so thankful that it’s the Lord’s plan for our family! Over the next few posts, I’ll share about the curriculum I’m using.

Feelin' the Love!

by Amy

In the last month, we have received quite a few boxes (a real treat in our world)! My dear friend Krista handles all my home school materials. I make all my purchases online and have them mailed to her house. She opens all the boxes up, checks the condition of all the books, gets rid of packing materials and unnecessary stuff, repacks it and mails it to me. Krista is AMAZING! The US post office has some flat-rate global priority boxes. They allow you to pack whatever you want in that box, up to 20lbs, and pay $56 to mail it overseas. But, the box is not big! It's difficult to fill one of those boxes and get it over 8 lbs. Well, it's difficult for a normal person.... Not Krista! All of the boxes were 18-20lbs! If we had paid $6/lb (the normal rate) it would have cost us twice as much to get the books we need. And, if we would have had them mailed directly from the curriculum companies, it would have been almost three times as much! Thank you, Krista, thank you! Your time and energies saved us tons!

One reason Krista's able to get the boxes so heavy is because she maximizes every square inch of space! She fills corners and extra spaces with treasures (stickers, tissue paper, ring pops, etc.). What a blessing!

This picture was taken on the morning the boxes were delivered. Clearly there are smiles all around!

Other boxes that came were from some sweet friends that live in Houston, the Browns. We actually just met them when we were back in the States this past fall. Ashley and I found that we have many things in common and quickly hit it off! So, they wanted to bless our family by sending lots of clothes for my kids and fun snacks for us all to enjoy! What generosity:

I mentioned to her that my boys love baseball, so she sent these precious jerseys! They wear them every chance they get! Aren't they cute!

While we were in America in October, one thing I couldn't find for Savannah was a bathing suit. (Even in Houston, people don't swim in October!) So, Ashely mailed a couple of suits to us. Savannah looks so cute in them!

What a blessing these two families are to ours!

Saturday Morning Fun

by Amy

This month Brad started teaching English at our training center every Saturday. So, that means Saturdays the kids and I are on our own. I'll probably home school on Saturdays in the future, but that hasn't started yet. So, this morning, feeling inspired by being low on milk, I decided to make pancakes for breakfast. (Plus, Brad doesn't really like pancakes, so I like to make them when he's gone.)

And, being inspired by my friend Rachel and her love for chocolate, I decided to make chocolate chip pancakes. Then, I busted out some whipping cream and strawberries to create a happy happy face for each kiddo. Needless to say, there were smiles all around.

I forgot to take pictures, of my creation, but when they started creating, I pulled out the camera. Savannah decorated her second pancake on her own....

(Yes, she opted for Hershey's syrup instead of maple syrup. ....Thanks Uncle Kevin....)

Alex was too fast. I just caught him taking his last bite.

Clearly, fun was had by all!

Puzzle Fun

by Amy

This week we're not homeschooling. I'm trying to get everything ready and organized to begin teaching second grade and kindergarten next week. So, that means my kids have been left alone to play together more than usual. Thankfully, my kids get along really well, so this has been a treat, not a burden to them!

Two days in a row, Peter and Alex have have spent several hours putting together puzzles. (Savannah helped them when she wasn't busy reading.)

They were so proud of their work, they wanted me to snap a few shots before they had to put them away. So, here you go....

Truth be told, I think it's a little funny that they put all of these puzzles together, took them all apart to put away, then put them all together again the next day! But, it kept them entertained and busy, so I was happy too!

Our Graduate!

by Amy

Last Friday, my precious girl finished her first grade home school curriculum! (I can't believe she's growing up so fast!) So, we had a family celebration! That afternoon, Savannah requested that we go play at an indoor play area. Think: Big McDonald's Play Place times six. It's not huge, but big enough to spend an hour or two running around it. (And small enough for them to hear me when I call them!) So, that afternoon, that's where we went. Then, we came home to eat hot dogs and Cheetos (thanks to the Browns!) for dinner. Then, we topped it off with a mint cheesecake pie. Finally, we each gave Savannah a homemade card expressing our congratulations.

Little did we know.... while I was helping the boys make Savannah's cards, she was in her room making thank you cards for her brothers.



I am really proud of Savannah. As I look back over the last 9 months of first grade, I see so much growth! Obviously, she knows more than she did when we began, but she has also really grown in diligence and perseverance. She's not as easily distracted as she once was. She has also learned how to manage her own time. Each Monday I would give her a list of things that needed to be completed by the end of the week. She was faithful to work hard, especially at the beginning of the week, to make sure she'd get it all done. She also has fallen in love with books! For some reason, it just blesses my heart to see my daughter wrapped up in reading! At the beginning of first grade, she liked to read, but she didn't love it. Now, a good book is right up there with Adventures in Odyssey on her list of favorite things to do.

First grade was fun.... Second grade, here we come!

The Best Purchase I've Ever Made

(at least that's what my kids think!)

by Amy

When we hit the big city up north last month, I went to IKEA. (I never went to IKEA when I lived in the States, but I love going there now!) While I was there, I found some trays. They were about $5 each. Not, bad.... I thought my kids might think it was fun to set them up occasionally for dinner and a movie; or, when they all need/want to be separated for school, they could take their trays to their beds to work. I had no idea that these trays would be used every single day! My kids LOVE them -- especially the boys. They read books on their trays; they color on their trays; they do water colors and playdough on their trays. And, they love to eat dinner on their trays (which has happened a few times, since they think it's soooo fun!) When I was in IKEA I went back and forth... Did I really want to drag these trays back home on a train? Would my kids ever use them? Would I ever want them to all be separated for school anyway? Thankfully, since they were relatively inexpensive, I made the plunge, and I'm so glad I did! I have some happy kiddos! And happy kiddos make this mama's heart happy!

Fireworks in My Room

by Amy

When we first moved here almost 3 years ago, my boys were 2 1/2 years old. There were many nights where they would cry out an hour or two after they had gone to bed, "Daddy! There's fireworks in my room!!" At two years old, it was loud and scary! (Now they sleep right through them!) Fireworks and and blackcats can easily be purchased on any day of the year and lit at any location, any time, day or night. Locals believe (or, did believe years ago) that the fireworks scare off the "bad spirits." So, often, when a new store opens or someone gets married, fireworks explode! When people have a party, fireworks explode! When people are happy, fireworks explode! When someone dies, fireworks explode! And when there's a holiday FIREWORKS EXPLODE!!

As I mentioned in my last post, we celebrated the lunar new year at home this year. When it comes to holidays, this is definitely the BIGGEST one of the year. Everything (except for Wal-mart) is closed for at least 3 days, and many stores are closed for 7-8 days. Most workers have 7 days vacation and students have anywhere from 3-5 weeks off. So, I now realize that I thought I had experienced holiday fireworks around here since I had been in town for many other holidays.... I was wrong! It was absolutely insane! On the eve of the new year, in the garden area out our back window, there were a steady stream of fireworks from about 5 pm to 1am. They were so loud that we had our TV volume set at 56 as we watched ET with the kids. We usually have the volume set at 23-30. And, they still asked often asked us to repeat what was said! When I say fireworks, I don't mean little bottle rockets... Think downtown firework display on the Forth of July. That's what was happening in my backyard! Debris was hitting our windows!! Since we live on the 13th floor, we're at the perfect height! They explode right in front of us! It was cool...for the first couple of hours, then, it was just loud.... The kids and I slept right through it... Brad woke up all night long....

And, the next morning, we looked out our window and this is what we saw....

This picture was taken from the 13th floor. Notice the bench on the top right corner to help with size. All the red stuff is the trash/debris from the fireworks! Crazy.... I tried to take pics of the fireworks exploding, but between the window glass and the flash, I couldn't make it work!

Skip February

by Amy

Whoops! Where did February go? It's already March, and I'm not used to writing 2010 yet! Time is flyin' by! This February was good. For the first time ever, we were in town during the Lunar New Year celebrations. (In the past we had always traveled out of the country.) Savannah was out of school for 5 weeks! It was great! I love having her home all day! We were able to do lots of home schooling, as well as some extra crafty stuff and schoolish games. Unfortunately, we had about 2 weeks where one or more of us was sick -- Brad was the only one who didn't get it -- but we're all well now. We also took a trip to the big city up north. We had a great time playing, eating and swimming! I'm convinced my kids are half fish. They LOVE swimming, so it was great to stay in a hotel with a nice pool.

Also, over the last couple of months I've been ordering lots of homeschooling books & supplies. (Now you know the real reason I haven't been blogging! I've been organizing, sorting and planning!) Savannah's last day of first grade will be this Friday. Then, we'll take a week or two off before we'll begin second grade. (I school year-round and take breaks when we travel or have guests visit.) I also will begin officially teaching Peter and Alex kindergarten. They are SOOO excited to use their new workbooks! Everyday they beg me to teach them math! (Right now I'm just doing reading and handwriting with them.) I have given in a few times, and it's been fun! When our new school year begins, I'll teach math, reading and Phonics/English twice (once to Savannah and once to the boys.) Then, I'll also teach history, science, and Bible to all three together. I've never taught science before, but I'm really looking forward to it! We're going to study the planets.

Well, that's about it for the February recap.... It was busy, but fun! Today, we're back to a normal schedule again. The kids are all back to school, and Brad and I are meeting with our tutor three times a week. I'll try to post again before April rolls around!