Mom Heart Resources #5: Oodles of Great Things

This post has lots of fun suggestions for you and your family.  These came from two Mom Heart meetings- my ladies have seriously wonderful ideas!

First- two war books to gently introduce the World Wars

Next - a grand and wonderful book (for you, not your children.)  Hilarious, intriguing, I can't recommend The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery highly enough.  One of my favorites of the year.  (And I've been reading A LOT of fiction this year as I lay on the couch with first trimester nausea.)  

This Shakespeare book I have mentioned at least once before, but again, something I can't recommend highly enough.  A simple way to teach your children and yourself some Shakespeare.

The above are both simple, fun books for your children.  

and a fun video to inspire your lego fanatics!

Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids, and the Bond of Readingis a great introduction into analyzing literature with your children.  I do not recommend all the books at the ages they do (Animal Farm in 4th grade?  No thanks.)  But their methods and discussion questions make it easy to apply in your own home.

This comes recommended by a group member with extensive experience in fermenting foods.  Health benefits galore!

If you haven't discovered the Read Aloud Revival Podcast yet, don't delay.  I often listen to these on my phone or kitchen computer while prepping meals,  Awesome and practical inspiration to read aloud with your family as well as a plethora of other tidbits of goodness.  

And lastly, some links to places for inspiration, planners or worksheets for planning;

http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/

http://www.donnayoung.org/index.htm

Well Planned Day Planners

This post contains affiliate links which means that I earn a few pennies at no extra cost to you when you purchase things through those links.  Thank you for supporting our book habit! :)

Leonardo da Vinci: A Simple Unit Study

Leonardo da Vinci was a fascinating man.  Inventor, artist, writer, scientist.  God blessed him with a special curiosity that led to intricate knowledge of the world and a foresight of invention that was (and is) unparalleled.  I couldn't wait to study his life in detail.

Did you know that when you are excited about a topic your excitement naturally translates to your children?  Because of this, sometimes (okay, often) we study topics or people that are interesting to me.  I get passionate and they think I'm crazy.  But actually, they get passionate as well.  Even if this is not a topic that they "need" or that they will pursue further on their own, my interest leads to a general air of joy and curiosity.  Therefore, we spent a whole week with Leonardo!

Setting aside the structured curriculum for this time, we learned, explored and were fascinated by this incredible man.

We generally begin each day with read-aloud time and this week was no different.  I had pre-chosen a selection of books on Leonardo and gathered them ahead of time.  Most were requested from the library a few weeks prior and some I purchased.  I will share details and links below.

After some reading, we would do an activity of some sort. These included some paper models of Leonardo's journal sketches, a board game, card game and video.

At the end of the week, our study culminated in a visit to a fortuitously timed exhibit at our local Science Museum.  Leonardo da Vinci: Man-Inventor-Genius and Man-Artist-Genius was a collection of scale models of Leonardo's inventions and painting.  A lovely experience after learning so much about him!

Resource List

Books we read aloud:
Monday with a Mad Genius
Leonardo's Horse
Leonardo and the Flying Boy
Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer
Neo Leo
Who was Leonardo da Vinci
da Vinci by Mike Venezia
Leonardo da Vinci by Diane Stanley

Books we used as reference or for the kids to browse:
Lives of the Artists
Leonardo da Vinci for Kids
Amazing Leonardo Da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself

Activities:
Leonardo da Vinci: Animated Hero Classics DVD (find at your library or purchase used)
Da Vinci's Challenge Game
Go Fish for Renaissance Artists
Inventions (the paper models)

I'm sure you can find other wonderful resources.  Plan a simple unit study and have some fun learning about Leonardo da Vinci!

This post contains affiliate links that support our homeschool.

Hello, Mommies!!!

I've have been so excited to share with you many tidbits that I gleaned from the "Wholehearted" retreat that I went to in February. Sally Clarkson and her daughter, Sarah Clarkson, have ministered to me in so many ways.

FYI- Much of this was taken verbatim from Sally's speaking, so I cannot take credit at all! (except for the poor grammar and abbreviated sentences of my notes- teehee)

The World’s Ways vs. God’s Ways

Saul vs. David: “We want a king like everyone else!”

The world has a way that it wants us to live, bombarded by things that we think will make us happy.

I want to live differently than world, Judges 2 “and the next generation arose (after Joshua) and they did not obey Lord.”

When you go the way of the world there is always a price to pay.

Where are your values? You can make worldly decisions that people will affirm or you can go God’s way.

1 Samuel 8 – Israel demands a king

Wanted to be like everyone else: “they do not want me to be their king any longer” 1 Sam 8:7

James 4:4 – "Friendship with the world is enmity with God." When we go the way of the world we become adulteresses to God.

Who or what is influencing the decisions you make as a mother? As a wife? Choose to walk in God's ways today.

Great Homeschool Moment

So, today we were talking about the way artists render water in their art. We've been reading "The Story of Ping" with Five in a Row and talking about the way the illustrator used wavy lines to indicate water. I got a book called "Water Through the Eyes of Artists" from the library. (out of print, wish I could get my hands on it!). It is several paintings from different artists that show a wide variety of ways to paint water. When we got to the painting shown in the middle photo, Josh said, "I like that one. Wait! Wait, Mommy. I have to get something!" And went running around the house. He finally located what he wanted, a book we own called "The Lion and The Little Red Bird." He opened to the page shown in the bottom photo and said that the painting had reminded him of this page in his book. Amazing. A connection. Completely unforced, came spontaneously and naturally. Confirmation that this is indeed the right choice for our family.

First Day of School

We had a great first day of school today. Josh enjoyed our reading, vocabulary time, playing with new magnetic letters and magnet board- and so did Jack! We also did some cutting practice while Jack played outside. They both had a lovely morning. As did I. After Jack was in bed, Josh and I did his reading lesson and some more reading.

Tomorrow's the Day!

Well, tomorrow is the big day we launch into this homeschooling adventure! I am super excited, nervous, anxious, a bit fearful, but mostly just happy about it. Once I get a functioning scanner, I will post some more info on what exactly we are doing. The gist is that we are doing: Five in a Row (starting with Mike Mulligan and then Katy), Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, a nature journal sporadically, a century book sporadically and as many art projects as I can stand! We are reading the Vos Child's Story Bible for Bible time and will do memory verses weekly or so. I am hoping to slide in some low-key great artists and musicians occasionally as well. Seems like a lot, but really it'll just be the Five in a Row and Reading Lessons 4 times per week with the other stuff throw in during the afternoons. This week and next we have swimming lessons, so we probably won't even add any afternoon things until August. Off on a great journey!

Great Email

This is from a dear friend in reply to my email of being overwhelmed last week. I think she's right on.

I wrote:
Having an overwhelmed day. Feeling nervous about starting school next week even though we’re “just” doing pre-k type stuff. Feeling inadequate esp. when compared to my teacher trained elem school friends. Feel insecure. Feel like I have to keep busy busy and feeling frantic though there isn’t really that much new stuff to do. Wanting to go through my house head to toe and get rid of more stuff – I don’t want to keep getting “stuff” and always have to be managing the “stuff.” Too tired and emotionally drained to have anything left for my poor husband and feeling bad about that on the one hand and “oh well. Too bad for him” on the other. Going to try to sit still and journal at nap time today… have such a need for constant productivity. Need for worth I think, but don’t really understand why. Trying to figure it out with my counselor. Unable to sit still. Feel like “if I can just…” in so many areas that the house would be under better control, but I know it’s not really true- at least not all the time. Lack of patience with my two year old. Tantrums are so draining.

My friend's reply:
I'm right there with you. I've had so many days like that. I have to believe that it's Satan. He doesn't want us at home. He doesn't want us to homeschool and he doesn't want us to have good marriages. I wish I had some great advice but lately I've found that all I can do is just lay it all before God and ask Him to help me and take over where I can't complete things.

You've always been such a successful and way-above-average person. It's hard to see a dirty toilet and mounds of dishes. Then see the reading lesson that you were supposed to finish 3 days ago still sitting on the "to-do" pile.

If it's any comfort... I did a HORRIBLE job with my son's school this year. He hardly got anything from me the entire 4 months that we had our foster child. It seemed like we always had to go to the dentist or doctor or grocery store and we were never "home" to homeschool. I just gave him an informal standardized test for first grade and he scored at the very top in all categories. I know that was God. It couldn't be the sorry performance I put in. I know that God is honoring our effort to follow His plan for us. Then it has become painfully obvious that our second son has learning problems. Two days ago this same son read a BOB book with 3 letter words. It was AWESOME and I had to hold back the tears so that he didn't think I'd totally lost it.

This is a war we are in but we don't have to worry about the outcome. God has already claimed the victory. There will be lots of pain. There will be tons of knocks to our self-worth and confidence. Just when we think we've relaxed and found a peaceful groove and routine, something else will come up.

Do you have a cleaning lady? Most homeschool moms I know say that they have very messy houses and they all have cleaning ladies too. We really can't afford it but we're going to anyway for my sanity, you know?

Yesterday, I went to a friend's house from church to return baby stuff she left me borrow. She is very rich and she lives in a huge mansion. The house has all handcrafted wood and marble. She has her own "school room" to homeschool her 4 kids. It's awesome. She has a cleaning lady 2 times per week. Must be nice, right? Well, I arrived much earlier than I thought and she wasn't home yet but her teenage daughter was. The house was a wreck! There were papers all over the floor. There were dirty dishes all over the fancy kitchen. It might sound mean but it made me feel so good. It made me feel like all the money in the world won't change my situation. I am going to make a big effort to quit beating myself up and just try to roll with life.

I heard a speaker say this one time and it has always stuck with me... If Jesus walked into your house right this very minute, what would he be impressed by? Would he care about the dust on the shelves? Would he care that your children are safe and feel loved? Would he care that there is a block of moldy cheese in the refrigerator drawer? I'm pretty sure that I know what He would care about and I'm just shooting for those things, you know?

I love you so much. I also admire you. You are doing God's work. He has given you a precious ministry to your family and you have "done well good and faithful servant." Know that you are deeply loved and revered and that there are a ton of us moms battling this out right along side you. (If you meet someone who seems like they've got it all together, they usually don't.) Things are usually so icky that they've learned how to cover it all up so that they don't have to face it or let anyone else see it. Don't listen to people who think that there is a way to "have it all" clean house, happy kids, brilliant kids, happy husband, skinny body, - it's a lie! We all fall short of perfect and all we can do is try to bring honor and glory to God every day. You have done that and you have shown others how to do that.

I love you, girl.

Take care.