How do you do that?

I get asked alot how do we do our homeschooling? Well, it all begins with prayer of course. Doing this without God's blessing makes life as a whole unimaginable. Aaron gives us the support we need as well. I do my research on curriculum. I chose curriculum to fit the needs of both kids. This is our 3rd year, although I do not claim to be an expert, I am confident in their strengths and weaknesses. They are both very smart. JD is great at math but it is not his favorite. He loves reading and science. Georgia loves math and is sharp with it. She is very artistic. Both enjoy history. Some of the subjects they can do together. Some are different according to their grades. JD is in 4th grade and Georgia is in 3rd grade.

Our day starts at 8:30 (7:30 if you count breakfast and chores).

Bible- together

Math drills-together

Math lessons and assignments seprate- alternated with Spelling

we take a break

Then we do English with reading

We alternate History and Science every other day.

And then lunch.

Hopefully we get done by 1:00 but if not we take our lunch break and keep going till we get done.

They also participate in a Science Co-op with other homeschoolers, Book club, girls club, boys club, and various field trips. They look forward to art contests, science fair, and did a 4H project last year.

This year will be busy as well. We are excited and ready to move forward.

Derek has quite a full plate too. Thankfully with our activities during the day, we are free at night to devote some time to Derek. He is an honor student and that requires lots of support and study time. Football is an activity that he loves and is passionate about. He is an active student leader in our youth program at school. I'm excited to be an adult leader with him as another way to stay connected with him (untill it becomes uncool to have mom around). We are very blessed that he is so close to us. Late night talks comes along with the territory of teenagers.

These pictures are of new hair cuts for the school year (since the pool did a number on their hair) and of them doing stuff to get organized for this year.

August Scrimshire Birthdays

We celebrated the birthdays of the month at our house. Ian, Aaron, Zak, Chuck, and Wayne shared their birthday party. We are blessed to be a family that is close enough to see and celebrate together with 4 generations!!!

Travis also shares a birthday in August. And, Aaron was working but was able to run by with the firetruck to participate.

Happy Birthday!!

Back to School!

Tonight was full of school excitement just as so for many other students in our area. Tonight for many kids is the night before school starts. The kids were well fed and tucked in early for bed. They were tired too. Asleep before 9:00! They have many thoughts running through their brains. Excitement to move up to the next grade, the smell and fun of buying new school supplies, the start of our clubs and co-ops, and reuniting with school friends. However, dred is also present. Dred of school work, schedules, and responsible expectations. Overall, we are ready for the transition.

Derek goes back to school on Monday. Football alone is exciting. Ram pride, school friends, and the thrill of a good football game. He is in all honors classes that require summer reading assignments that are due on the first day of school. He will be sooo glad when he is done with that. He is determind to be more organized and successful this year. ( He did awesome last year!) Go Derek!

I feel excited too! I am ready. So ready to be in a routine again. I am excited to begin a new cirirculum and see the kids move forward acedemically. I look forward to this year with Derek. He is a sophmore and ready to start figuring out how to look for colleges and make this year count. JV football isn't easy and he will have to balance that and his classes, and the distractions of girls. He is super involved at church and is on the youth leadership committee. He desires to be an active part in the shaping of our youth program. I pray that he will honor God in his daily life and God will guide him with his priorities. We also pray that God will help us as parents to gear him in the right direction and help him decide when and what to focus on. His relationship with God comes first and then school. Everything else is extra. I feel blessed to be at home and so involved in my children's up bringing.

The way I see it is, we as parents have 18-21 years of bringing them up the way the Lord intended. After that they are on their own with their own choices. That could be up to 60 to 70 years or so. We have them for a short period of time compared to the rest of their lives. I want us to make it count. Sacrifices now make a have a huge impact on their lives and the lives of the families they will eventually raise.

God is good.

Tilted World: Flylady!!

Tilted World: Flylady!!: "I have found a website that has been amazing in helping me and my home. Brad and Mindy mentioned this when I was at there house just last mo..."

Flylady!!

I have found a website that has been amazing in helping me and my home. Brad and Mindy mentioned this when I was at there house just last month. As soon as I got home I checked it out. She encourages us to just start where we are and jump in. I began with simply getting up and dressed. That sounds like a no brainer. But it is easy for me to roll out of bed put on lazy clothes and throw my hair in a bun. But for 2 weeks now I have made sure I get out of bed early, get dressed nicely with shoes on (the kind of getting dressed that causes my children to ask where are we going..lol) put make up on and do my hair. The first thing she outlines is to shine my sink. So I put some elbow work into it and it is wonderful. It makes me want to keep it that way. I stocked the bathrooms with cleaner to wipe it down every morning, which takes 30 seconds if you do it everyday.Aaron is liking this new way of doing things. Just that stuff alone is giving me the energy and desire to do more. Our laundry is being kept up and put away. The house looks good and she is helping one day at a time, by cleaning one area really good a day. The goal is to be able to keep up a little each day. My house is clean and ready for company, most of the time. I even have more guiltless time to myself or to spend time with the family.

The real reward was this last Sunday. My mom called the week before and asked if I could host our family birthday party. I actually forgot untill Saturday. All day Saturday we were at the lake. No worries really. I made the cake before church:/ (that was actually cutting it close). I went quickly after church to get the decorations. BUT!! The one thing I was confident about was that my house was fairly clean. The kids did a quick straighting and it was ready. No hassle. That alone made my day. The cake was a different story, but thank goodness I didn't have to worry about the house.

My house by no means is perfect. I have a VERY busy house and I have to sweep and mop several days a week to keep it up. Laundry has to be done everyday(thanks to Flylady it is easier that way-but Aaron will tell you he has been telling me that for years-oh well:)) On any given day it is possible to have 10 pairs of shoes at the front door and a floor that needs to be vacuumed. During the school year there are school books everywhere. But, these are all things that can be put away and done in 15 minutes. Hurray!!

I encourage anyone who is in charge of running the household to begin to embrace it and look up Flylady. She makes it super easy!