Guys, Gals, and Grades

I can't believe it's Sunday again and we are on the cusp of another week of school here in Taterville. The past week seems a bit blurry in retrospect, but was nonetheless a great week.

Still flying high on the wings of a great weekend celebrating Drew's wedding, we embarked on a new adventure with what I'm calling our new "block" schedule. I picked that up from a couple of teacher friends and it sounds cool, so I'm using it. I like to sound cool, too. You may be rolling your eyes by now, but that's OK. I'm a little off, and I know it.

Back on track now, the new schedule seems to be working very well. Kole has responded particularly well to it. We have achieved as much or more in each subject as we did in the previous 2 weeks, and the grades have remained excellent. We've had more time for discussion, which translates into more Mom-kid communication, which always translates into better relationships for us all. We are understanding each other better every day.

The thing that I still find intimidating, and yet thrilling about this whole homeschooling journey is how much it is requiring me to learn... and UN-learn. I attended public school my entire life and had no concept of what homeschooling was really about. I had some really great teachers and some not so great teachers. There were some teachers that I thought were horrible and mean, and yet now, I realize I learned the most from them. They weren't really mean, they just had high expectations and tolerated nothing less than our best efforts. There are all kinds of teachers in this world, and all kinds of students. We all teach differently and we all learn differently. I only have 3 students, but I have 3 very different learners. And they're all on different grade levels. So, I probably have more to learn than they do.

One of my favorite things about school so far has nothing to do with our curriculum. It's a little book that my Dad gave me called "Truth and Grace Memory Book". It's put out by Founders Press and you can purchase it from their website for around 5 bucks, if you're so inclined.

This little book has Scripture memory lists for children from age 2 through about 5th grade, I believe. When I first looked at it, I doubted whether my boys would be very into this sort of thing. I seriously thought they'd reject the idea completely. But kids are amazing and I think one of their favorite things to do is prove us parents wrong. Praise God for that!

We started about 2 weeks ago and so far, each of my children has memorized a Scripture passage. For those curious, the passages were: for Nathan, Psalm 122:1, for Kole, Mark 16:2-8, and for Riley, 1 John 5:4-5. The book also has the kids memorizing hymns, which we have incorporated into our morning school routine as well. We review our verses every morning, then sing our hymns together. Right now, we're learning all the verses to Jesus Loves Me, Holy, Holy, Holy, and Rock of Ages.

I love this because #1, they are very enthusiastic about learning the verses and songs, and #2, it's making ME learn them, too! What a fantastic exercise for us to do as a family! Thanks, Dad ~ You're my hero :) This one little book has us doing memory work, singing together every day, and growing spiritually together as well. Astounding!

Well, that's it for this installment. I have some papers to grade, so I better get it done before nap time's over. Hope you all have a blessed week ~

Over and Out.

~mrs. tater