Blogging is fun. Lots of fun. So is Twitter and Facebook and reading others blogs and looking for crafts to do, finding new recipes…you get the picture.

It’s fun, but it is also time consuming.

There’s a real world from behind the computer screen. Children who need us, houses that need our attention, laundry that needs to be done, real books to read, real life people to connect with.

The internet is a world of possibilities but a wise woman knows that in order to be the woman, wife, mother and homemaker she is called to be, the computer needs to be put in its place.

So how do we minimize our time online? Here are a few things I have found that helps me keep my online time to a minimun:

1. Use a timer

A lot of women have shared that setting a timer is helpful for keeping track of  your online time. I tried it, and it works! So I set myself a minimum time to be on the computer and when the time is up, its up.

2. When not in use, shut it off

The easiest way not to be tempted to hop back on for “just a minute” is to shut it right off. My computer takes a good 15 minutes to load back up again. That usually deters me!

3. Have a plan

When I do have my computer time, I never, ever sit down without a to do list. Sticking with a to do list means I get the most amount done without getting distracted. This has been the single greatest thing I have ever done not only to minimize my online time but to be productive while I am online!

4. Stay off Twitter and Facebook and other social media

Only go on these sites when you have your to do list done, then reward yourself with it in the end. These sites are lots of fun but are huge time suckers, and before you know it you could be tweeting for 20 minutes with nothing else done yet! Don’t tweet your time online away, use it as a final reward.

5. Limit Your Exposure

Keep the number of blogs you follow small. I keep 10-20 in my Google reader at a time, and this seems to be a good number for me. I also went through my email a few weeks ago and unsubscribed to a bunch of newsletters and lists. It was so nice to have only a few emails to open the next day! And things you want to read but don’t have time right now? I have a word file going that I cut and paste links to sites to. When I get some extra time, I will browse through them. And sometimes I will print it out and put it in a folder to read later.

Those are some ways I have found helpful to limiting my online time. What works for you?

“A right delayed is a right denied”

For many years I ran a preschool from my home, and then I formally taught kindergarten for 3 years at our church school. I love planning lessons around themes, unit studies, decorating up my classroom around a particular theme etc.

Fast forward several years, and as a homeschooling mom of 3, I have often dropped the ball in this area. Just keeping track of who is doing what, reading what, or who is supposed to be doing those things leaves little time for elaborate thematic lesson plans. But every now and then I get inspired. And this year, for some reason, I feel especially inspired to make my children aware of what a great man Martin Luther King Jr. was. But of course, I didn’t actually sit down to pull anything together until late Sunday night so my options are limited. Yep, that is me. Mrs. Mommy Big Plans But  (un)Organized.

But thankfully I still have this book from my teaching years on our bookshelf, add in a few online printables and I am  pretty sure I have my act together enough to share this great man with my children.

Oh and I have the story.

The one that took place when I was in 5th grade. I will never forget it.

Our teachers decided they needed to give us a real life example of what prejudices existed for African Americans. So they seperated us into groups: blond hair, blue eyes, and not blond hair, blue eyes.

The blond hair/blue eyes group got special privileges. The children who didn’t have blond hair/blue eyes were not allowed to sit near them, use the same bathroom as them, eat lunch with them, play in the same play ground area as them etc.

We didn’t know there was  a lesson involved. We just thought our teachers were doing some crazy new thing at school.

Did I mention that I do not have blond hair and blue eyes?

The blondies really took advantage of having the upper hand. By mid afternoon, things were getting slightly out of control, and I was in the bathroom crying and feeling sick to my stomach. I wanted to go home.

Being a minority, looked down upon, and treated unequally because of my hair color was awful.

Our teachers sat us down and shared with us the story of Martin Luther King Jr. and about the injustices done to the African American people. I remember being so shook up that this really happened in my country. I couldn’t believe that people treated each other this way.

It’s a story I have never forgotten. And I don’t want my children to ever forget either.

With Obama as our President, it is hard for my children to ever imagine a day when a man of his color was not allowed to have the same privileges we have. But they need to know that it wasn’t always this way.

Debi Pearl shares a moving story in her article Listen To My Dream. It reminded me again of the lesson learned in 5th grade. I have not yet purchased her Listen To My Dream book, but it is on my wish list.

Thankfully we live in a nation where prejudices (for the most part) are a thing of the past. But there is good reason to let our children see what can happen when there is, and what can happen when one person decides to bravely stand up and boldly proclaim their beliefs even if it costs them dearly. After all, our Savior wasn’t afraid to do it. And doesn’t He calls us to the same boldness, even if the cost is high?

After reading Happy Birthday Dr. King together, we have this coloring page, will complete this Martin Luther King Jr notebooking page, and making this hand banner.

And then we will pray that our nation will never again treat others unfairly because of their skin color, hair color, whether they are rich or poor, tall or short, small or large. And we will also pray that we will be able to be as courageous and walk as boldly as those who have gone before us if and when God calls them.

Do you do anything special to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. in your home?

We began enjoying the Back To The Bible radio broadcast of the Twelve Voices of Christmas this week. Each of the 12 key character from the Bible stories relating to Christ’s birth give their perspective in a dramatic presentation that will bring to life the amazing events surrounding the birth of our Savior! It has been so enjoyable and meaningful that we are  definitely going to add it to our Christmas traditions for years to come. There are also loads of wonderful Christmas sermons on this site, so type in Christmas and I am sure you will find yourself  blessed and encouraged by them!

I also found this wonderful Christmas program from Teri Maxwell that you can do using your nativity. I am so excited to do this with my family on Christmas Eve!

One thing I have learned about making Christmas meaningful and keeping traditions this year is that I have to keep things simple and manageable. Needless to say, I started out strong with our Jesse tree, thinking I could “find the time” to finish up the rest of the ornaments.  Our Jesse Tree sits, ahem, half done and the ornaments have gone in my sewing box for next year, when perhaps I will truly learn not to be an overachiever at one of the busiest times of the year.

How are your family traditions going this year? Have you added or taken away any? And please tell me I am not the only mom who starts out with grand plans only to shelve them a few weeks later in favor of sanity?

Oh and if you are seeking to make your holidays memorable, you will enjoy this free ebook titled Family Memories and if you’re feeling a little stressed, you may enjoy these resources too!

We have done many different things over the years to try to keep the true meaning of Christmas the focus in our home. We even went two years of only celebrating Hanukkah to try to get the commercialization and ungodly rituals out of our celebrations. Last year we went back to celebrating a traditional Christmas and it was so nice! But I still felt like there was more I could do to keep our hearts set on Christ during this season. I learned about the Jesse Tree when Stephanie mentioned it on her blog last year, and I decided that we would implement it the following Christmas. We have never done a Jesse Tree before so we are very excited about this new tradition!

There are alot of options to choose from, and I really wanted to do something extra special without spending a lot of money.  I found this site that has free devotions for the Advent season so I decided to use the symbols that go with the devotions and embroider them into  ornaments.  I love red work,  so I did the embroidery in red, cut them into circles and  stitched the circles together adding a twine hanger and we are all set to go!

I found a little 2ft. tree at Target for $7.99, some lights we weren’t using, an angel ornament that fit just right, and an unused tree skirt with our other decorations.

I used fabric and floss that I had in my stash, and then I found this box stored away that reminds me of a treausre chest- perfect for storing our ornaments!

This little project that has so much meaning cost under $10! I am looking forward to making this a new tradition in our family for years to come.  I also plan on having my girls make their own sets of ornaments to set aside for the day when they have their own families.

Have you ever done a Jesse tree before? How do you keep the meaning of the season in focus for your family? I’d love to hear it!

This post is linked to: Exemplify Online and Frugal Fridays

Once upon a time there was a mom who couldn’t find

a Bible curriculum that she liked.

She tried many.

One was too easy.

One was too hard.

And then she find one that was just right.

I just haven’t been able to find a Bible curriculum that I really loved. So I came up with my own idea and it is working so well for us that I thought I’d share it.

I found the Read n Grow Bible at a yard sale for $1 this summer (I know, score!) and I love it. I like the layout and most importantly the true-to-life drawings (am I the only one who doesn’t like cartoon character Bibles?). Not only that but it is chronological, which is my favorite way to teach the Bible to my children.

Each story is laid out in 12 sections. Since my son can read independently, I have him read the story and then I have a worksheet that I created that we use to make an outline. It has four sections, so it is easy to break the story down into section 1-3, 4-6, 7-9. 10-12 for outlining. Here is a sample of a finished sheet (click on photo to enlarge):

And because I love keepsakes, I plan on combining all of his worksheets at the end of the year and having them bound and laminated. How precious will that be when my grandchildren can see what their daddy learned about God when he was little?

Do you ever create your own curriculum/lessons/worksheets? I am finding that no matter which curriculum I use, I end up tweaking it and customizing it to fit our learning style better! Do you?

You can take your school anywhere!

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

“I don’t know how you do it”

“I could never home school my kids”

“My kids wouldn’t learn anything from me”

Almost every time I share that I home school, I usually hear one of the above statements. I usually smile and say something like “Home schooling isn’t always easy but it is what God has called us to do, and I wouldn’t have it any other way”

The other day I had to run to Staples to make some copies of a book we are using. At the checkout the question arose “What school do your kids go to?”

“We  home school” I told her, and the negative words came. Except she proceeded to tell me how she tried it once and her children were not learning, missed school, wanted to be with their friends etc. Usually I brush off negative home school comments, but for some reason this lady really bothered me.

Maybe its because, like any mom, the new year always fills us with anticipation. Did I choose the right curriculum? Are doing enough? Too much? Too little?

By the second day of school, two out of my three children were in tears. As I stood at the table while my perfectly planned day was quickly coming unraveled, I began to think maybe I can’t do this after all. It didn’t help any that I was coming down with a cold and was feeling exhausted with a pounding headache and terrible sore throat. The enemy just loves to kick us when we are down.

It took me a while to gather my wits together, and later in the day I retreated to my bedroom to pray. (I should have stopped to do that right then and there!)

I poured out my fears, my inadequacies, and my heart to the Lord. I asked Him if I was indeed doing the right thing, educating my children at home.

He graciously showed me that yes I can do this, because I can do all thing through Him who strengthens me. He confirmed to me that home schooling them was His will, and even gave me wisdom on how to teach a subject that was causing me and my daughter frustrations.

Then He also showed me that my well planned day was missing something. That something was Him.  Getting so caught up in the excitement and thrill of a new school year, the new books, the new supplies, I never stopped to dedicate our year to Him. I wasn’t seeking Him to guide our days, but my lesson plans. Once I began to look at it through His view, I could easily see why our day was frustrated, why doubt had crept in, why fear had taken hold.

Because the reason I home school isn’t to give my kids a great education (although that is definitely part of it). The reason I home school isn’t to shelter them from the world, build their character etc, etc.

My real reason for home schooling is so that I can immerse them in God’s Word, teach them how to serve Him, teach them how to seek Him and love Him. All the education in the world doesn’t matter to me if my children don’t walk with the Lord. I am so thankful for the gentle heart check the Lord gave me.

The next time someone shares with me that they are doing something I think is impossible, I plan to offer words of encouragement to them, because I am sure they have already heard enough of the discouraging ones!

In the midst of discouraging words, negative comments, and lack of support it is easy to feel discouraged, ill-equipped, and even fearful. But remember, who He calls, He equips. And in His strength, we can do ALL things. May God bless your school year abundantly!

For more home school tips, tricks and encouragement visit Thirsty Thursday @ Five J’s

Photo above by allposters.com

This is so easy, I almost feel like I am cheating. I had to keep rechecking this method because it is working so darn good!

I know that it may be a little late in the home school season to share a method on planning, since all you real teaching moms had your lessons planned months ago, right? Really though, I have actually been so busy putting together our school year that I haven’t had time to share my exciting simplified planning method.

For years I would try different types of lesson planners, online, offline, custom made etc. they all worked in different ways, but I kept noticing something: they all put a lot of the pressure on me.

One of my home school goals is to teach my children to be independent learners as soon as possible. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE teaching my children, but I still have a house to clean, laundry to do, meals to cook and…well you get the picture!

I have also found that if I am honest with myself and make a big goal of “planning every Sunday” there were far too many Mondays with nothing to do. SO I had to come up with a more efficient method, and this year, I have finally found it!

I purchased a whole bunch of binders during the great back to school sales this summer. A home school can never have enough binders, can they? One day in Staples I saw these pretty little dividers with numbers on them and I got my idea. While these aren’t exactly cheap, I feel they make up for it in the long run. And they are durable so they can be reused year after year.

In each binder, I added in the dividers and then placed each lesson for each week behind the appropriate number. For language arts, for example, I tore out each lesson from the book and placed it behind the appropriate weekly label.  In a matter of minutes, I had “planned” out the entire school year for one subject, a process that can normally take me hours!

Now I am having my children keep a daily log of assignments based on what lessons are in their weekly dividers. In other words, they do the planning. I placed blank planning sheets for the week, ( I used this one for Donna Youngs site), enough for the entire school year,  in another binder for them to use as their daily log. It is easy for me to check because I just open up to the week and compare it to their log and make sure they are on track. No more spending Sunday evenings gathering together the lessons. And the completed logs make a great portfolio and record of our work for the year.

I did this for every subject for each child, and have been amazed at how well it is working for us! And I have great peace of mind knowing that even if I fall behind in life, the lessons are all right there, ready to go!

For more great home school ideas, tips and tricks be sure to visit Thirsty Thursdays over at Five J’s!

I know that each home school family is unique in their approach, lesson  plans etc. So I’d like to know, how do you plan your lessons for school? Do you do them weekly, yearly, monthly? What method works best for you?

I love Notebooking Pages and use many of them in my home schooling. I recently purchased the  Character Study notebooking pages and have really enjoyed them!.  We will be using them while studying the  49 Character Qualities this year and then I plan on making these into laminated, bound booklets for my children to keep, re read, and hopefully share with my future grandchildren.

Today Notebooking Pages has partnered up with with the Homeschol Freebie of The Day and is giving away a copy of their Character Study Notebook Pages.  You can get your copy here, and you will also receive 25%  off any item  you order in their store through July 31 when  you use the coupon code: hsfree25off.

Besides the Character pages,  my  other favorites are the Bird Notebooking Pages ,the Famous Composers Notebooking Pages and the American Presidents Notebooking Pages. Told you I liked them

Also, the Classic Prayers for Children sale ends today. I am planning on using this his little book with the the copywork notebooking pages for my two elementary aged children this year!

If character training is something you are looking to do more of this year, I  recommend the Character Journal website for loads of free ideas. I also like this site for lots of lap book  and minit book ideas. Notebooking pages also has many free resources for building character habits here.

What do you use for character training? I am always looking for more quality resources so please share your ideas!

Every now and then it is good to evaluate that question: why do we home school our children?

Is it to give our children an excellent education, far superior to public schools? Is it so that we can shelter them from outside influences? Is it so that we can teach them at their own pace, and individualize their curriculum to suit their learning styles?

While all these do have there place in our reasons for homeschooling, they are really minuscule in the grand scheme of things.

Having a clear answer to this question helps us to evaluate curriculum in light of my goals for my children. It helps me to stay on path to achieve the purpose we had when we began this journey. It helps me to regain my focus when I have lost it. And it helps me to remain calm when I become overwhelmed.

For the most part, my husband and I are first generation Christians. As children, we attended church sporadically and were taught some basics, but being a Christian didn’t influence how we thought, what we did, or who we were. It was just something that we did on Sunday. The little strings of faith that we had then certainly helped us to get where we are today. and we are grateful for the faith that was given to us. But we have a much larger vision for our own family.

Since we have become parents, suddenly imparting our faith and values took on a whole new meaning. Having children gave us an urgency to train them up in righteousness, holiness, faith and love and to pass that onto the generations after us. It opened our eyes and hearts to see that training our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord can not only affect their souls for eternity, it can impact this sin darkened world far beyond the four walls of our home.

Our reasons for homeschooling extend far beyond academics. Homeschooling goes far beyond their “educational” years. It isn’t about getting through high school, passing a test, or having a good career. It is about building their foundation on the Rock, brick by brick, stone by stone (Matthew 7:24-27). In our little corner of homeschooling, we are training warriors for His army, disciples, future voters and leaders, men and woman who will impact this world for years to come. We believe we can steer the course of a nation through the diligent, Godly training of our children, and their children, and the children after them. God’s vision for family has always been multi-generational (Deut 6:2) and ours should be as well. We may not reap the harvest right away, but we are sowing into that harvest as we work to teach, guide, and love our children as God has called us.(Deut. 6:7)

The actions of my children will be based on what they believe as they grow into adults. How they view marriage, careers, money, God, creation, law and theology, to name a few, will be a reflection of what they believe. If they are not trained in truth according to God’s word, then they will be “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (Eph. 4:14) Instead may our children love God with all their heart and mind, from infancy know the holy Scriptures, grow in wisdom, stature and favor with God, take every thought captive to Christ, dwell on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable so that they can be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So why do we home school? Because if we are not teaching our children doctrine, someone else will. If we are not shaping their beliefs, someone else is. If we don’t have their hearts, someone else does. Homeschooling is a lot of work, it is hard, it has caused us to sacrifice many things in this life. No matter the difficulties, whatever the sacrifice, there is no other choice for us.

Every family has a reason as to why they do (or do not) home school. Whatever the choice is for your family,  having clarity as to why you are choosing the path you are on is so important. You will always have naysayers, those who agree or disagree with your choices. Having vision for our family has given us peace and assurance that we are doing what we believe we are called to do.  And I am so thankful that with all the uncertainties this world has to offer, we have a solid place to stand!

Joy at fivej’s.com has begun a new Thirsty Thursday meme which will focus on homeschooling topics and encouragement. She has an excellent article up today about choosing curriculum. I have been excited to join in and read others posts and encourage you to read them and link up if you have the chance!