Bumps in the Road
By Kendra | May 11, 2008
Our sweet little guy will be one week old tomorrow. Bliss! He is quiet, sleepy, and precious. Lots of dark hair, a round little kissable face.
There are bumps along the way, of course. His brother just above him doesn’t walk or talk yet- two babies! The first time he saw Joseph, he crawled over to him and whacked him on the head. No mean-spiritedness, just a curious, clueless 14-month-old. I can remember when our second-born, notoriously zealous and overly-affectionate toward his younger brother, would approach the littler fellow and the third-born would cringe at his coming. History may just repeat itself.
I have a fantastic helper who is here three days a week. She runs laundry, cuts hair, preps meals, and is a kind, energetic presence in our home. Poor gal fell yesterday and severely broke her arm. Suddenly I find myself without all of her helpfulness. My mom had planned to come and take the girls for a fun few days together, but she was hit with a terrible cold this weekend. Do you see a trend here? God has something to teach me.
My brother (both brothers are pastors) in Texas called the other day and said, “You know, this is good for you. You needed to experience having babies close together so you can encourage those young moms from your own experience.” And it’s true. Hopefully after the next year or two ahead, I’ll have some experience to pass along that can be a boost to other moms along the way.
I am not perfect. I have had moments of overwhelmed emotionalism this week, wondering how in the world I am going to handle life without my husband here come Monday. If you remember the last baby and my nursing woes, I am there again, pumping every three hours to keep this little one fed. I just couldn’t see how I was going to manage that, a 14-month-old, and six others. Ah, BUT. I emailed my faithful friend Cheryl and asked her to pray and as usual I got far more than just an assurance of prayer. She spoke God’s Word strongly, as she is prone to doing. She wrote things like, “I will pray, specifically, that the Lord would show you “the way of escape” that He has already provided for you. Isn’t that incredible? Knowing that all of this would happen… knowing that your post partum hormones give you grief… knowing ALL that, God has gone before you, Kenj, to prepare a way of escape from the temptation so that you will be able to ENDURE it. I wish I could tell you that He promises that it will be easy to get through this short season, but He does promise that you can ENDURE it. ”
I have thanks to give to my other faithful friends who are praying, bringing me chocolate and chai, and standing with me in encouragement and sisterhood. Thanks Heather, Smidge, and Jen. Thanks also to my stellar sister-in-law Laura who is always hands-down the most excited family member I have whenever we announce a pregnancy. When she called me yesterday she said, breathlessly, as if Joseph were our first and not our eighth, “I just think it’s such a miracle!” Every baby should garner awe like that.
My friend Dana has titled her blog “The Sunny Side of the Room” because she says she shows us the sunny side of her life. Are you all acutely aware that blogs shine the sunny side most of the time, and when we feel we’re not measuring up it’s likely because we’re not also seeing the gloomier days? I never want the readers of Preschoolers and Peace to think that there are no struggles here. Like you, I am working out my salvation, leaning in, pressing in HARD to my Savior, because His power is perfected in my weakness. And I have plenty of weaknesses.
Tomorrow begins my journey as a homeschooling mom of eight. I’ll let you know how it goes 
Topics: Life with Preschoolers, Nurturing Moms | 21 Comments »
He’s here!
By Kendra | May 6, 2008
And some of you discovered that this morning via my husband’s blog. I can’t improve on his post, so click over and read all about it!
We’re home now and we’ll be quiet for a week or so, so I’ll “see” you all in a bit.
Congratulations to Jenny, who beat my husband’s guess by getting her guess within 16 minutes of the actual birth time. Jenny- contact me with your address and we’ll get your prize to you soon!
Topics: Contests, Musings and Miscellany | 32 Comments »
New Category
By Kendra | May 5, 2008
Dana suggested I add a new category that contains all school and education-related posts. I appreciate her insight; years ago she saw me at a class our kids were taking and asked, “Aren’t you Kendra?” She had attended a workshop I gave for the first time at our local homeschool convention and recognized me. We sat on the curb for at least an hour and chatted that late afternoon. Years later, we now worship together in the same church body and count each other as friends. My little guy even put her husband to sleep once.
You can peruse the new category by linking on the left.
Topics: Educating at Home, Resources | 1 Comment »
Homeschool Encouragement Day, Part 2
By Kendra | May 3, 2008
Our winter Homeschool Encouragement Day had a distinctly different feel. We met in my home, keeping things low key and relaxed. There was a fire in the fireplace, coffee ready to go, and light snacks and desserts on the table.
When you already have the makings for an event, it’s easier to put it together. The day was set for February 23rd, so we made our theme “Hearts at Home” and used Valentine napkins, heart-shaped votives, and other Valentiney decorations I already had on hand. The verse we chose was Psalm 27:14:
Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!
We asked several women to share on something that was working in their home- anything! Dana spoke about her Circle Time, and how it pulls everyone together for most of the schoolwork. Kathy spoke about how she has overcome being overwhelmed with homeschooling over the years. Amy shared about keeping things fresh in your relationship with your husband. Liz shared about resources that have been working well for her.
We ended with a short talk on beating homeschool burnout, and then a time of prayer. We had more door prizes provided by Daisy Fields (filled with chocolate and Starbucks cards!), and hand-sewn bags made for each mom by Amy, who also filled them with homemade bath salts and other pampering treats.
We plan to continue our Homeschool Encouragement Days and as some of you have expressed, you are more than welcome to join us!
Topics: Nurturing Moms | 2 Comments »
Slowly, Slowly
By Kendra | April 30, 2008
I have six more months of archives to bring over from the old blog. Bear with me!
Topics: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Homeschool Encouragement Day, Part 1
By Kendra | April 30, 2008
Quinne recently asked me about out church’s Homeschool Encouragement Day, and we thought sharing the format with you all could be both an encouragement to you as well as perhaps help to start something similar where you are.
Some of the elders’ wives were being asked if the church could please provide some sort of gathering that would help equip other moms to homeschool. We don’t have a women’s ministry program per se in our fellowship for various reasons, but we certainly saw the same need these women were presenting. So last summer after discussing the issue on and off for some time, my best friend Lisa and I decided we’d try to roll with it and put something together.
We began with a theme: “Embracing Faith, Virtue, and Knowledge”. Lisa designed name tags and programs with a pretty logo of a hand-drawn lavender bouquet and we both set to work mapping out what we wanted the day to look like and who we would ask to help. With 14 children between us (plus Lisa was pregnant and I had a newborn), we knew we could not pull this off by ourselves. We asked for the Elder Board’s approval, and they in turn saw this as a fantastic way to bless the women of our church. They gave us a generous budget and continue to do so. As I said before, we have no regular women’s ministry programs, so the elders wanted to help us to really bless the moms.
As it turned out, I was speaking for a homeschooling group several hours from our home, and the flier I was sent put forth a program that was exactly what Lisa and I were thinking. I copied (and the coordinator knows I did ) many of their plans– why reinvent the wheel? I thanked God for providing so many helpful things right at the get-go.
The flier we sent out read:
What: A one-day event for moms. Come and be refreshed, inspired, and encouraged. The day will include informal workshops, a question-and-answer panel of some of our own homeschooling moms, a mini-curriculum faire, lunch, and plenty of time to visit with homeschooling moms from CVP.
When: Saturday June 30th, 2007, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Where: CVCA
Cost: Absolutely free! Lunch is provided.
Bring:
• Your Bible and a notebook
• A box of your favorite curriculum resources to display in our Mini-Curriculum Faire. Ideas: books for kids, curriculum, books for moms, learning games, manipulatives, software, or whatever you think other moms might be interested in seeing. Bring as many or as few as you are willing to haul.
• Items to give away on our “freebies” table. Any homeschool-related items you are ready to pass along. Bring them and perhaps they will bless someone else. Give something, take something!
We began the day with three short presentations by three moms: Cheryl spoke on Learning for Life with Living Books, Cindy spoke on Homeschooling Through Chaos, and Wendy spoke on Educating the Heart and Mind. These were pep-talk type presentations, a way to set the tone for the day.
Next we had a door prize provided by Daisy Fields Basket Company, which is owned and created by Heather Davis. We wanted to utilize the talent and resources abundant in our own church body. We also had someone make a run to Starbucks for lattes- too fun!
Morning break-out sessions began shortly after the break. The workshops we were able to offer from the women in our church were:
- Lapbooking
- Homeschooling High School and Beyond
- Building a Heritage Library
- Planning
- Practical Ways to Build Buffed Brains and Spiritual Beauty
- Strategies for Preschoolers (guess who did that one???)
After the workshops, we had a lunch outside on tables beautifully decorated by another woman at church. Because we have a small church body with about 40 women in attendance at the Homeschool Encouragement Day and a generous budget for the event, we were able to have lunch catered. But you could certainly have women bring salads and rolls or do something similarly simple.
Another door prize followed lunch, then we had all the workshop presenters form a panel that could then answer questions asked by the women in attendance. We ended the day with a stroll through the used curriculum faire, a lot of chatter, and a last door prize. Every mom left with a favor of yummy smelling cream or shower gel.
Our goal was to bless the homeschooling moms at church, and I think we pulled it off. Lisa had made a questionnaire for after the event so we could get an idea of where we might improve. The consensus was that most everyone wanted to do it again, possibly mid-winter. Next post I’ll write about how we scaled down for a mid-winter shot-in-the-arm Homeschool Encouragement Day.
Topics: Nurturing Moms | 10 Comments »
When Will He Arrive?, 2008 Edition
By Kendra | April 28, 2008
It’s time for a “When Will Our Next Baby Be Born?” contest!
The stats:
History of Fletcher Babies:
Baby #1- Two days early, 10:30 a.m.
Baby #2- Two days early, 10:21 a.m.
Baby #3- On his due date, 7:11 p.m.
Baby #4- 11 days early, 7:26 p.m.
Baby #5- Seven days early, 10:30 a.m.
Baby #6- Seven days early, 4:16 p.m.
Baby #7- Three days early, 2:10 a.m.
How to enter:
Submit your guess for the day and the exact time Baby Boy Fletcher will be born. All entries can be posted in the comments. Be sure to include your name so we can give proper credit to the winner!
A wonderful gift bag from my talented friend Amy, who will fill it with lovely things any mom would like to have. She should know; she’s the mom of six girls and two boys!
Topics: Contests | 89 Comments »
More on Delayed Math
By Kendra | April 25, 2008
My friend Wendy sent me a link to the Bluedorn’s article citing research on teaching math. It’s worth a read if you are not convinced that “later is better” when it comes to formal math instruction. And even if you are convinced, it’s a good reminder.
You can also make your own math flash cards with interesting graphics like the one above for free at the ClipArt Etc. page.
Topics: Educating at Home, Life with Preschoolers, Resources | No Comments »
Beginning a Classical Education
By Kendra | April 23, 2008
Bear with me; this is an extra long post…
Misty recently wrote in the comments:
I am so encouraged by your blog. We are actually due with our 3rd little girl on May 14th. I am preparing to plan for homeschool preschool. My hubby bought Teaching the Trivium for me today because we want to do classical education. I know the overall thought is to not push education too early, but my 4 yr old is so excited about doing “school” this next year. Do you have any suggestions? What would a typical day look like for your 4 yr old? What and how did you teach your children to read? What phonics program do you use?
These are such good questions.
Misty, I was once in your shoes. Really! I know it probably seems hard to imagine, but eleven years ago I, too, had a four-year-old, a two-year-old, and a newborn (but mine were three boys!) I had never intended to homeschool. Ironic, isn’t it? My best friend was going to homeschool, so I bought her homeschooling magazines I found at the Christian bookstore, handed them to her and said with a snicker, “Have fun!”
But the Lord, in His wisdom, whispered in my ear, “Don’t close that door”. My husband and I looked at our four-year-old who lacked self control and realized that we had too much work to do in that little life to release him to a classroom yet. So I said, “What do you think about the idea of homeschooling for preschool?” To my surprise, he immediately said, “I think it’s a good idea”. We set forth with a reading book and some simple preschool things (none of which we use now, so I won’t even mention them), and lo and behold by the time May rolled around, the boy was reading. This posed a huge dilemma: Whatever would a boy with no self control who already knew how to read DO in a kindergarten classroom? There was no question—we were going to homeschool kindergarten, too.
Round about this time, a friend of ours was a principal of a local Lutheran school. We were sharing dinner together one night with him and his family when he said, “I’ve been looking into classical education. Ever heard of it?” And thus began our journey.
Shortly after our dive into classical education, Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn (authors of Teaching the Trivium) came to town and gave an evening workshop on Christian classical education. One of the aspects of education they proposed was, “Better late than early”. That’s not a direct quote, but it is definitely their approach to the grammar years. You can read their article “Ten Things to do Before Age Ten” to get a grasp of what they purport. We were shocked. Delay math? Why? My husband has his doctorate (he’s a dentist) and I have a bachelor’s—we’re both educated and the idea of delaying math seemed anti-education to us. But who were we to argue? Harvey and Laurie are no academic slouches, and they had graduated five students in their home.
Experience is often the best teacher. After seeing our own students grasp the basics of math without any problem, we realized that the best approach would be to ground them solidly in the non-abstract facts of math: money recognition and denomination, basic measurement using common household items they would encounter daily (rulers, measuring cups, etc.), addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. And until they had a solid understanding of these things, we wouldn’t move on to higher, abstract math. Interestingly, we now believe in this approach. We believe in it so strongly that we are ditching math altogether for our first grader who has been crying everyday over her inability to grasp mathematical concepts. I know it probably seems obvious—she’s six. Let it go. But were she in a classroom setting where one size fits all, she would already, at the ripe old age of six, be labeled “bad” at math. I know because that was me. It was a stigma I carried all the way into college where I sat in the math lab day after day convinced I just couldn’t do higher math. Pish posh!
But you didn’t ask about math, did you? And I am taking a really long route to answering your questions because I am hoping to give you the hindsight that is impossible to obtain until you have, well, hindsight. Here’s the thing: at four years old, what you want to begin to give your child is a love of learning. William Butler Yeats said, “Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” So the question should be, How do I light a fire for my firstborn and first student?
My four-year-old’s day mimics everyone else’s, because she is the sixth child. Every one of our children beyond the firstborn already had a “fire” lit because they wanted to do what the bigger kids were doing. They wanted to “do school”. So she does Circle Time right along with us, although I’m certain she retains not a lot. She does chores, she pulls out puzzles, she counts carrot sticks to put on each lunch plate. She “reads” books during her quiet hour, she listens to our read-alouds, she participates in P.E. She studies nature, she watches the educational videos we watch, and she falls into bed exhausted every night. Her fire is just beginning to burn, and I’m not about to put it out by sitting her down with a workbook and a phonics program unless I know she’ll enjoy it immensely.
That may sound like we don’t expect any guided learning to occur, but that’s not the case. In kindergarten we begin to learn phonics sounds, but we go about it in a leisurely, un-pressured way. We learn to write our letters, spell our name, and count and sort. It is just the beginning.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have a 15-year-old who has read more great literature than my husband and I combined (and we’re both serious readers), is poised to finish his high school work a year early, has three years of Latin under his belt, writes novels in his spare time, plays on a competitive water polo team, and just last week earned six college coursework units. Beginning slowly doesn’t mean finishing slowly.
I am happy to tell you which phonics program we use (TATRAS), which kindergarten workbooks (Rod and Staff), and other favorites (Art With a Purpose, Veritas Press). But the bottom line is, if I could give you any tiny bit of wisdom I might possess in this arena, it would be: concentrate on what matters most. Ground your little one in the Word of God. Help her to become a godly young girl. Light a fire in all aspects of learning. And go slowly. Before you know it, she will be 15. I promise.
Topics: Educating at Home, Life with Preschoolers, Resources, School Organization, Training Little Ones | 18 Comments »
Prayer for Rebecca
By Kendra | April 22, 2008
My friend Rebecca is going in for her fourth c-section tomorrow morning. Would you please pray for her? You can see her beautiful blog and family here.
Topics: Musings and Miscellany | No Comments »
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