Well-done work has its own reward

The title of this post is from Proberbs 12:14 which I read in my quiet time this morning.

John is really good at delegation. He'll look around and see what needs to be done and what the kids are capable of doing and assign them tasks. I don't delegate. I try to do it all on my own. My mom always did everything for me and I should do everything for my family. But finally, I had to admit, I wasn't doing it all and I needed help. So I told the kids they had to help with cleaning the kitchen in the evenings. Nobody really has an assigned task, we just all work together on whatever needs to be done.

And it has been really fun. More than one of the kids has told me how much fun it is and how much they like to clean the kitchen together. Who knew? I have read articles and seen the examples in other families of the value of chores for kids for developing responsibility and for teaching stewardship and preparing for independence and blah, blah, blah. But really, that's not why I've made them help. It is simply because I am not able to do it all, even though I wish I could. And God has blessed us through that.

This is also from the Proverbs I read this morning:

The diligent find freedom in their work;
the lazy are oppressed by work. Proverbs 12:24 (The Message)

Whee!!

In case you can't tell, this is a roller coaster. Going around a bumpy curve:

Down the big hill:

Is imagination a sign of intelligence? Or is it just evidence of too much play time and not enough work? Or worse, is it an indication of poor housekeeping skills (since the white changing pad and the car seat have been sitting in our living room since last Friday)? Um, I don't think I'll answer that one.

PSA

This is a public service announcement. S'mores are an outside food.

This evidence was times 8 (we had 2 kids joining us for dinner).

But s'mores make kids happy!

Just a Spoonful of Sugar

Friday night we watched Mary Poppins. One of the favorite songs among the kids is, of course, Spoonful of Sugar. So that was fresh in my mind yesterday.

"In ev'ry job that must be done there is an element of fun. You find the fun and snap! The job's a game."
♪♫♪ Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down... the medicine go down in the most delightful way. ♪♫♪

Here was the medicine:

Here was the sugar:

Preschool ADD

So, David was supposed to be getting ready for bed. This is what I found when I went to check on him.

The Unrestrained Honesty of Kids

Kids are good for humility.



John is the worship leader at our church. There is another girl who sings backup with him most weeks. Unfortunately, last week she was not feeling well. She called John to say that she wouldn't be able to sing Sunday morning. After John hung up, Joseph asked who was on the phone and John relayed the message. Joseph looked downcast and said "Ah man. It always sounds better when she sings." Sorry honey. I like your singing.



Yesterday I came by the computer to check the email. I didn't plan on spending any time at the computer, just wanted to make a quick check, so I didn't actually sit down. Apparently I looked funny the way I leaned on the chair. The kids who saw me started laughing and said I looked like a chicken. Because I wasn't really laughing (would you?), they decided to demonstrate. Tina perched on the chair like I had been and then said, "But it doesn't really look the same, because I don't have a big bottom." Nice.

Playing and Learning

I read an article before Christmas in Better Homes and Gardens and pulled out this quote:

"But we also need to make room for unstructured time, and for toys- like building blocks and modeling clay-that can be played with in a lot of different ways." The need for this kind of creative play is crucial. In developmental studies of schoolchildren over the past 20 years, researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, found that kids who got more time for this kind of play were able to use their creativity in other areas of their lives as they grew up. In particular, research showed a strong link between creative play and the development of effective problem-solving and coping skills, which will serve children well for the rest of their lives.

Study or not, I have thought for a while that many kids today don't have enough time to just play and be kids. I never really have bought into the idea that kids need to spend more time in school or more time in activities.

Our homeschool bears this out. In the early years we do the regular stuff, like reading out loud, letters, numbers, shapes, colors. But those years are also more relaxed with lots of time to play.

This is my favorite, recent example of what kinds of things they do during this play time. This is Samuel's movie theater built from Duplo blocks. You are looking from the back up toward the front at the screen.


This is looking from the front of the theater to the seats. You'll see 2 alligators there in the front row. A red gemstone and a frog in the middle row and a little monkey in the back.

This is the projection booth run by a lizard whose tail you can see. As far as I know Sam has been to 2 movies at the theater in his life, so I can't believe he thought to make a projection booth, but John says it's the engineer in Sam that brought it to mind.

After I took these pictures Sam kept building with his blocks. "What are you making now?" I asked him. "I have to make the potty," he replied clearly astonished that I could forget something so important. That is perfect Sam. He really gets a kick out of all things potty. I'm afraid to imagine how that sort of play "will serve him well the rest of his life".

Overheard

David counting: One, two, three, three.
John: No. It's one, two, three, four.
David (with more emphasis): No, one, two three, and other three

This is, as most everybody knows, Sponge-Bob Square Pants

Want to know what David calls him?
Cheese Man

You know how in the south every soda is called a coke? Well, in our house every meat is called chicken. It doesn't matter that every child asked what we were having for dinner and every time I told them beef. Once we sat down at the table they all wanted "more chicken please".

David to John who beat us home from church (still driving 2 cars since we can't all fit in one): You winned us Daddy.

This one I'm a little embarrassed about since I know he can read better. We got an advertisement in the mailbox for

Joseph shows it to me and says, "Can we get some Indiana Jones Pizza for dinner?"

I didn't actually hear this, but it was a strange sight at the end of my hallway. That is Princess Tina there on the throne. And Rebekah is bowing before her.

Reminder

Praise the LORD.
Praise, O servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.

Let the name of the LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.

The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens. Psalm 113:1-4

The sunset was so beautiful last night, John called me from work to go outside and look at it. It is just the way our house is set and with so many trees, that we can't even really see the sunset from the house. When he called I looked out the window and the sky looked slightly pink. Nothing extraordinary. But he insisted I needed to walk out to the road, so I did, with my camera. And WOW! It was amazing. God is amazing. Glory to Him!

A Couple News Items

These are old, but I had saved them to put up on my blog, so thought I would anyway. I don't usually go looking for articles about homeschooling. We are happy with our decision to homeschool and don't feel that we need the "world's" approval. But occasionally I'll read news articles that are not specifically about homeschooling, but that reaffirm our decision that homeschool is best for our family. That's what these are.

The first is "Why Family Meals Matter"
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/11/07/cl.family.meals/
Hidden down in the next-to-last paragraph is the following:

Eating together also helps socialization. "The dining table is where children get their parents' undivided attention, learn manners and how to behave positively in a group," Satter says.

As everyone knows, socialization is THE most-used reason for why homeschooling is bad. I confess as a new homeschooler it was also my biggest concern. But this is a specific quote, from a purely objective source, showing socialization does not have to be learned in school. It actually can be learned at home.

The second article is about teenagers and sleep.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/12/sleep.teenagers.school/
I don't have teenagers yet of course, but it won't be long. Here's a snippet from this article:

Teenagers need eight to 10 hours of sleep, compared with the six to eight hours recommended for adults.

Sleep deprivation can compromise immune systems, ruin moods and decrease focus, said the lead author, Dr. Fred Danner.

Based on years of teenage sleep research, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is encouraging districts to start high schools later.

Going to bed earlier is not effective, because a teenager's melatonin levels, hypothalamus and internal clock are changing during puberty. "Teenagers are going through physiological changes that make it physically difficult to fall asleep before 11," Croft said.

The very next sentence says, "Constant text messaging, Web surfing and digital distractions could also be keeping teenagers up into the wee hours of the night." So, I won't disagree that teenagers probably just need a little stricter discipline. But, that aside, homeschool allows us to make our own schedule, so everybody can get the sleep they need. Even now, without teenagers, we have a later start time in the morning than public schools. The kids stay up later at night, but they also get to see John more in the evening than if I was putting them to bed at 8:00 so they could get up early for school. Turns out, this isn't just convenient, but important for their health and concentration.

The kids informed me there was a large spider on the wall in the stairway of the basement. (Boy, were they right on the "large" part.) But it was David that said, "Ooh Gross. Me not like spiders that sit in the corners of the stairs." Apparently all other spiders are okay then?

And just to be totally clear... I don't like those kinds of spiders either.

My blog Title

I just don't have much to write about. We're trying to get back into our routines, get the house cleaned up and laundry done, get everything unpacked and put away, and find places for all the new stuff we got. Anyway, when I first started this blog, I thought I would devote an entry to how I chose the title for my blog. So, since I never have done that, I thought this might be a good opportunity. The title of my blog comes from a verse in the Bible:

We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 (NIV)

When we first began homeschooling, this was a verse that we wanted to live out in our homeschool. John and I both felt that knowledge for the sake of knowledge does little more than create pride... it puffs up. It is easy to ace a test and think you are smart, but have little lasting wisdom. I'm proof enough of that when it comes to history and literature. I don't mean to imply that we don't do any teaching in our homeschool. Of course we do. And there are certainly things that we learn and then later forget. And that's okay. But the end goal of learning should not be to impress others or to fill in the right bubbles on a test or to get away with doing as little as possible and still "make the grade". We want to learn for the joy of learning. We want to understand the world with an understanding that God created it and everything in it. We want to read history with the understanding that it is God's story, that men are fallen, that God redeems. We learn to write as a means of communicating with others. We learn to read so we can continue learning long after school books are closed. I want our homeschool to encourage and spur us on to learn new things and not compare who's smarter or are we better than so-and-so in public school (or are they better than us).

A parallel passage is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:11:

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (NIV)

I want our home to be full of words which build each other up. I fail at this often, like everday. I'm not a good encourager (of others or myself). I'm a much better critic and in most cases, criticism is not what my kids need. It's something God still has to refine in me. I'm glad he's not done with me yet. (...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phil. 1:6 ...my favorite Bible verse) And that is encouraging, is it not?

A Great Adventure

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Jennifer gave the kids gift cards to ToysRUs for Christmas. They had also been given $5 each for Halloween and that money was also burning a hole in their collective pockets. So last week while we were at the beach, we drove down to Myrtle Beach to hit the ToysRUs. Great care was taken to choose just the right toy. Time and attention were given on every aisle.
And more time... and more time... and more time....

2 HOURS later:


Then we had promised them some pizza. Unable to locate a pizza joint nearby (John actually left the ToysRUs to drive around and try to find a place to eat while the girls were still deciding on what to get) I went back in to ToysRUs to ask where we could find a pizza place. The lady I asked highly recommended one about 5 miles away in the opposite direction we wanted to go in, but she knew the phone number by heart and with a personal recommendation, we decided to try it. It was fantastic. They were already setting tables up together for us before we even all got in the door. We get all situated and they bring out 6 plates of pizza dough for the kids to play with! That was new for us and an unexpected treat.

They also brought some delicious bread and butter as an appetizer.
Finally, the enormous pizzas arrived.

It was really good and we were glad we drove a little out of our way. We had been about to settle for Chick-fil-A.

After that we went back to the beach house and the frenzy of opening and assembling began. Joseph got 2 Playmobil sets, Taryn got a Playmobil set and a small kite, David got a Circus Playmobil set, Rebekah got a Littlest Pet Shop set and a Skittles filled tin, Sam got a knock-off Lego firefighter set, a Playmobil firefighter set and a small kite, Tina got a little plastic purse with baby doll, a large and baby panda Schleich figures and a Christmas candy-filled stocking.

Thanks Uncle Andrew and Aunt Jennifer for a fun afternoon and new toys!

Crafty Kids

I mentioned that I got the kids some craft items for Christmas. I got the kind that are kits with instructions, because that is the extent of my artistic and creative abilities. Here is Tina working on her Make-Your-Own Ballerina Doll:


The Perler beads actually came from Grandma to Tina, but once she got hers out, everybody had to join in. Here she is with the princess she made with her set:

Joseph working on a lion:

I could not get over how well David did. Not only did he have the focus to be able to make a turtle, but he had the dexterity too. Amazing.

John's Mom got the kids craft items too. But, she's a real artist, so she got them paper and brushes and water colors (the real kind in tubes) and chalks. She sat down with the kids and showed them how to use the different materials and they all worked on a painting and a chalk drawing.

See, I told you she's a real artist:

Then John's Dad had little wood kits from Home Depot which he and John helped the kids work on.

I didn't get downstairs until after the boys had finished theirs. Here are the little boys with their toolboxes:

And Joseph with his football pegboard: (Don't mind Tina there in the background. Have you ever heard that phrase "living life out loud". I think that is an apt description of Tina)

Here's Taryn's... it's a flag stand. It came with a little pole and flag.

Tina is working on hers, tongue out to improve concentration:

And Rebekah is sanding. I love the red fingernails and delicate fingers. She's not a convincing carpenter:

You can probably surmise by these pictures from the beach, that it was too rainy and cold to actually spend time on the beach. We had to find other stuff to keep the kids occupied and to keep them from driving us all nuts.

Happy New Year Y'all!

And Happy Birthday to Preston Giles. My nephew was born this morning at 10:43. He was less than 7 pounds, so, pretty small compared to my last four which were all over 8. My sister was nice enough to have him on a quiet weekend when we had nothing else planned, so John told me to get in the car and see that baby. He didn't need to ask twice. So, I hopped in our 17 year old van with 243,000 miles and drove to Dalton. And it was wonderful to hold that sweet, squishy, newborn. Congratulations Lori, Shawn, and Ben.