Bumps in the Road

I remember the very first day that I started homeschooling twelve and a half years ago. I was so excited! I had my curriculum picked out and all of the supplies I needed gathered and set out on the table the night before. Things went perfectly! After all, I had read and reread the lessons like twenty times already. I was going to be the perfect homeschool mom and things were always going to be sunshine and rainbows. What I didn't allow to enter my mind was the fact that in order to have a rainbow, there has to be rain! My perfect homeschool experience lasted three whole days and when day four hit I became, what I thought, was a total failure! I have grown a lot since then and realize that having unattainable goals will always leave me feeling like a failure. Why set myself up for that? Here is one thing that I have learned along the way and tried to apply to my life.

BE FLEXIBLE! Planning is a good thing, be prepared, but be flexible! Babies will cry, children will get sick, mom will get sick with 102 degree temperature, the dog will get sick, the bird will break free from its cage and the cats will go nuts! All of this will happen when hubby is out of town. Oh, did I mention mom is due in 3 weeks and always delivers early(can we say stress & fear)?

YES, this was an actual week in my life. Guess what, no one can have a perfect school day when this is your week! Be flexible and remember things do not always go as planned. Remember your reason for being: to bring glory to God. Sometimes our plan is not His plan. During this week (several years ago), we did not get through our ABC's but we learned a much more valuable lesson, to lean upon the Lord. If we learn to lean upon the Lord we will find things flow more smoothly even as we ride along all the bumps in the road.

Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

This month I wanted to encourage you on those rainy days. The rainbow soon will appear. Remember who sends the rain and the rainbow. Praise the Lord for both!

Next month I plan on sharing a bit about scheduling and the importance of having of a plan. It is important however, to remember that we are not perfect and that even the best made plans are subject to the working of the Lord.



Kristine is the wife of a pastor who is currently serving as a chaplain in the military. She is also the mother of eight wonderful children and schools them using the Classical Christian method. In her column, "Ducks in a Row," she writes about the challenges, joys, and logistics of homeschooling a large family. Visit her at her blog, Mama Archer.

Happy Birthday and Congratulations to Kristine

We would like to wish our wonderful
Kristine a very blessed birthday. Please stop by her blog at Mama Archer and leave her a birthday comment. We would also like to wish her a happy and healthy nine-months! Congratulations to Kristine and Papa Archer on the latest addition to their family!

Five Things That Make School Run Smoothly

People often ask me HOW we manage things around our house. So this month I have five things to share with you that have worked well in our large family homeschooling situation. Hopefully, they will be beneficial to you. Even if it is not something that you can incorporate, it is always fun to see how others organize their homeschool.

1. Get an early start. This is a very difficult one for me but it makes such a big difference. I am not a morning person and am often up several times a night with little ones but I have found that if we get an earlier start we accomplish so much more. Things tend to run more smoothly for us as well. We try to be up, dressed, fed, and ready for school by 8 am. I will readily admit that it is a rare morning that this actually happens. We shoot for this never the less and it is becoming a more frequent occurrence. It seems if we start school work any time after 9 am then we most likely will not finish our work and we are going all day long. If we start at 8 am we are almost done by lunch and are finished by 2pm. I do not know why it works this way other than we are more energetic and motivated to make the most of the day when the day is still fresh.

2. Organize your teacher materials and resources. If you have a specific place for things and they are easily accessible, not only to you but to the children who will need them, things flow more smoothly. I have two bookshelves located in the hallway about ten steps from where we have school. It is easy for me to pull things out and to replace them. I typically pull out everything I will need that day and replace it as I finish with it. This gives me a visible and tangible way to tell what I have accomplished and what is still left to be done. The children can go and get their resource books and replace them as needed.

3. Organize the materials and books per each child. I had a friend introduce me to this particular idea and it has made a big difference in organizing our materials. Each child receives their very own plastic bucket. They are similar to milk crates in size. Each child places their folders, math books, readers, journals, paper, container of pencils, and anything else that is specific to their course of study in these containers. They have a designated place for their buckets and are required to pull them out before school and to return them after school.

4. Keep a stash of pencils, pens, staples, glue sticks, and any other necessary items. Find an easy place to store them. I have a basket thing that I keep ours in. It sits atop the book shelves listed in #2 above. It is on the end that is next to the stairs so even the shorter children can climb a few stairs and be able to reach what they need without any difficulty.

5. Take advantage of nap time! Nap time is when you can accomplish a lot! You can finish lessons with the older children or correct papers without the little ones making noise or trying to take pencils. You can have chore time and do a quick pick up to straighten the house, or you can take a short refreshing nap to help fuel you for the rest of the day. You can have your Bible readings or other reading. You can use this time as I am now, blogging. Take advantage of this time.

Kristine is the wife of a pastor who is currently serving as a chaplain in the military. She is also the mother of eight wonderful children and schools them using the Classical Christian method. In her column, "Ducks in a Row," she writes about the challenges, joys, and logistics of homeschooling a large family. Visit her at her blog, Mama Archer.

Finding Enough Time

Do you ever feel like you do not have enough time in your day? Does your clock seem to move in fast motion and the hours slip away? I am often asked how I manage with such a large family. How do I find the time to do all that needs to be done? After all there are only 24 hours in a day! "By the grace of God and day by day," I reply. I must remember that I have been called to do this and that God will not ask of me any more than I am capable. My capability however does not rest on my shoulders alone. In fact, my capability is not worth much at all but I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

We can accomplish so much more if we rely on God; his guidance, His strength, and His might. He provides the tools we need to accomplish the tasks He places before us. One of those tools is the ability to prioritize. We must not get caught in the trap of taking care of the urgent before the most important. This is a habit into which we can easily fall.

For those with larger families this task of prioritizing can seem a more daunting task.This is not necessarily because we have more things to accomplish (though sometimes that is the case) it is usually because of the volume of those things is greatly multiplied. I can say this because I have been there. When our family was smaller we had fewer things to pick up and A LOT less laundry to wash. There were not as many dishes to clean and diapers to change. I could vacuum less often because there were not as many feet tracking in dirt. I could go on and on. It is very easy to get caught up in all of this to the point of neglecting the most important things, our time with the Lord and the training and enjoyment of our children. This is not glorifying to God and glorifying God is the reason we are here.

The Westminster Catechism question #1 asks, What is the chief end of man?

The answer is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
(1 Corinthians 6:20, 10:31, Revelation 4:11)

Prioritizing is the one of the best ways to address this problem. To prioritize simply means to assign priority to. Priority is, according to Webster, precedence in place or rank. We must, through prayer and discussion with our spouses, determine those things that are most important and those things that can be removed from our plate. We need to determine what all of those things are that we have to accomplish, or think we have to accomplish, and rank them. We often read about the picture perfect homeschooling families where the children excel in everything and have a dozen of extra curricular activities at which they also excel, but this is not what every homeschooling family looks like or even should look like. We are all different. Can we accept that we do not have to look like that perfect homeschool family? Can we face the fact that there is such a thing as being too busy and doing too much? You will find that 24 hours in a day is more than enough if priorities are set, unnecessary things are let go, and a good plan is implemented.

If you find you do not have enough time in your day or you are meeting the urgent before the important, I would suggest reevaluating priorities. List them. See what can be let go. Do first things first, in order of importance. Accomplish the primary before the secondary and see if things fall into place better than before. Trust in the Lord and His might.

Last month I posed the question, "So, why do you do what you do?" This month I ask you, "What are your priorities?"



Kristine is the wife of a pastor who is currently serving as a chaplain in the military. She is also the mother of eight wonderful children and schools them using the Classical Christian method. In her column, "Ducks in a Row," she writes about the challenges, joys, and logistics of homeschooling a large family. Visit her at her blog, Mama Archer.

So, Why Do You Do What You Do?

Homeschooling with a large family provides some logistical challenges. Things that smaller families deal with are multiplied. Many of the things that have helped me to get my "Ducks in a Row" are applicable to any family. My goal in writing this column is to share those things with you.

For me, keeping in mind why I am doing what I am doing is a necessity. Why do I keep my children at home to school them? This may seem simplistic but I believe it is a necessary question to ask ourselves. There are many different reasons people decide to homeschool their children. What is yours? When we are fully aware of our reasons it propels us forward and it gives us purpose.

Let me share my reasons with you today and then I would encourage you to know your own reasons for homeschooling. Place those reasons ever before you and push on toward your goal.

I believe that as a Christian parent it is part of my duty as a mother. Parents are responsible for their children and their training. Christian parents are to raise them in the training and admonition of the Lord. We will be held accountable for what we have done with the blessings God bestows upon us. Most know these verses below as they are considered foundational verses for home education.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

This encompasses every aspect of life, at all times and in all things. I do not believe this can be fully accomplished if the responsibility is abdicated to others and children are put under the authority of those who disagree with the biblical approach to every aspect of life or are obligated to teach using a secular curriculum with a humanistic and atheistic approach. There truly is no real neutrality. Here is a quote from a book I have read recently, it gives a good summary. This is enough to propel me to move forward and count the rewards when I am feeling overwhelmed. It is what God has called me to do as a Christian mother.

The biblical mind is not compartmentalized into two distinct areas of though: secular and sacred. All of life is under the authority of God's revealed Word, and children were to be taught in terms of this comprehensive authority all the time.

from: Standing on the Promises by Doug Wilson

I acknowledge that all will not agree with my reasons for homeschooling. Many will have other reasons and that is ok. I encourage you to evaluate what those reasons are and make them forefront in your mind. Use those reasons as propulsion to continue on in your homeschooling journey. When you have a frustrating day, they will urge you forward and help to keep you focused.

So, why do you do what you do?



Kristine is the wife of a pastor who is currently serving as a chaplain in the military. She is also the mother of eight wonderful children and schools them using the Classical Christian method. In her column, "Ducks in a Row," she writes about the challenges, joys, and logistics of homeschooling a large family. Visit her at her blog, Mama Archer.

Kristine

I am first and foremost a Christian, a child of the Most High God. This is a continual journey; one of sanctification, growth, and maturity. I am helpmeet to a wonderful man; one I am proud to say is the love of my life. He is a minister who is currently serving in the United States Air Force. We are reformed and covenantal in theology. We have been blessed with eight children(2 boys and 6 girls) thus far. Our household includes preschoolers, young adults (I strongly dislike the term teenagers), and several ages in between. I am a homeschooling mom and am in my 12th year of homeschooling. We have used more types of curriculum than I would like to admit, but about 6 years ago I found the one that fits us!! We now use the Classical Christian method and it is an almost perfect match!

I am new to blogging, having only started earlier this year. I love it though! My personal blog, which is updated daily, is MamaArcher's Blog. I have recently started and run a Quiverfull Blogroll. I also write periodically for a homeschooling newsletter, and this is going to be the second co-author blog that I will be contributing to. God has been and continues to be gracious and abundant in His blessing of online ministry for me and I pray that I can be an encouragement to others here; as well as receive encouragement from you.