Kindergarten- It's Official

Well, it's official. Our family homeschool is up and running. The first days were no different or more exciting than the past year, when we would periodically pull out the learning tools and homeschool, although we weren't officially a homeschool family yet. Now, a few days underway, it's starting to sink in. It is exciting. There are new school supplies, new learning toys, and special priveledges only known to the student in our family. Then came the bumps, the resistance, the whining and complaining. The doubts, too. "He won't listen to me. Why?? He's so obedient for his teachers at church and last year at preschool." But I knew I had to stand firm and persevere. But I have to try something new, because what used to work isn't working. We play games.

 I let him teach me. He loves it when I get the answer wrong and he has to correct me. He teaches his stuffed animals. 

He learns while he plays, moves, and experiences his world. He needs lots of breaks, and gummies, they make all the difference. 

Oh, and did I mention he's got the strength of an ox for a will? He's intense and spirited, just like me. His heart spills over when he's loving. When things don't go so well, it's World War III. So we play Opposites. I make up a situation and I let him show me the "undesired" behavior (complaining, whining, having a fit) and THEN show me the right way to act. He's learning from this. 

I'm praising him over-the-top when I "catch" him demonstrating something, ANYthing I am looking for, whether it be a miniscule of self-control, sharing, a good attitude, diligence. I'm telling everyone, bragging on him! 

We're studying Scripture about how God wants us to listen to our parents and grow in knowledge.

 Our purpose is to Know Him and to Make Him Known. And we're memorizing the verses. We're praying together as a family every night after our devotion. It's God's moving!

We learned about creation, each day and then observed God's creation for ourselves. The majesty, the beauty. Stand still and know that I am God. On that note, we instituted daily "Jesus Time." We both go to the den and he lies on the floor for 5 minutes. We ask Jesus what He wants us to learn today. He is faithful to answer!

We learn we must stay connected to God. Remain in me, and I in you. John 15:5
We study my verse, the one I need as much as he does. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry." James 1:19. 

We learn how to connect with Jesus: to obey Him (Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love. John 15:9-10.

We learn, "Don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says." James 1:22-25

We study the sun and how Jesus is the Light of the World in John 8:12. . We draw shadows on the hour in the morning and afternoon, we learn planets, we have sun snacks. We play Math Seeds and squish our hands through moon dough. He shares his creation book with Mrs. Martha at Brain Trek. And during our Jesus time that day, God reminds me that He does not change or cast a shifting shadow (James 1:17), and that in Him there is no darkness at all. (I John 1:5)

He decides to make a book about God's creation, cutting pictures from an old Ranger Rick magazine. We play "Armor of God" where I get to be the enemy and make up lies. He has to refute the lies with Scripture or Praise! I feel the training must start now! Because we really are in a real live battle with the enemy! 

We read Dr. Seuss's Bartholomew and the OObleck, and we try out the green goo ourselves. We make exploding moon rocks, which were less than impressive. Daddy constructs a rocket ship to the moon and we take a trip there to walk on the moon (aka neighbor's trampoline). We measure how far Daddy and Jacob can jump, then we multiply times 5 to determine the distance we could jump on the moon! We learn beginning-sound phonics, memory verses for CC, and construct a paper meche moon lamp.

At CC we learned the bones of the Axial Skeleton, so we came home and constructed our own skeleton! He loves Science, expecially experiments. We made herbal play doh from chai latte (mmmmm) and used it to help us skip count our 3's.  We started our new unit, APPLE, and I'm really excited because we get to study the Fruit of the Spirit. I made apple sandwiches (cheese, peanut butter/raisin) for a snack. We played "Guess the Fruit" by reaching into a bag without looking. We used a banana for "JOY" since it's naturally smile-y. The Joy of the Lord is my Strength. Nehemiah 8:10. I love our little caterpillar. Now that he's laminated we can add a new badge for every unit and he can even wiggle now that my friend Ashley told me about using brads to connect the badges!

Time to study Peace. We love Psalm 34:14, Look for peace and go after it, as sung by "Seeds Family Worship." We went on a hide-and-seek trip for peaches all over the den. Look for peace! Seek Peace! We read about how Jesus calmed the storm and we got to make our own little boat to sail and act out the story in the bathtub (with bubbles of course!) 

Then we read "How to make an apple pie and see the world." We decided to act it out, so I had to persuade Jacob to lay an egg, to milk him when he was the charming English cow, and since the cow had good manners, we decided to learn all about proper table manners. Since the cinammon came from the special tree in Sri Lanka, we decided to make our own cinammon drink (apple cider). It smelled wonderful! And we drank it from a cup and saucer (a first for my man). We made a peach pit craft necklace for Jacob and his bear. "When life's the pits, have peace." 

Patience. We read about Abraham and how he had patience to wait for God's promise. When he looked up at all the stars in the sky, He was reminded that God would keep His promise. We made a constellation project and read "How Big is a Million" with Pipkin. When we pulled out the poster with a million stars, we taped it between 2 chairs and laid down to look up at the stars.

Kindness was especially meaningful. He put on his "Kindness Crown" and had to be kind to everyone while wearing it. He quickly traded that out for his army vest and hat (he wants to be a soldier one day). We went upstairs to find some animals that needed help. Sure enough, there was a hurt turtle, raccoon, and tiger. Then animals started being mean to each other, one by one, and hurting each other's feelings. One after the other, the ugly words and acts were passed along the line. Until one apologized. Then, like a wonder, hearts were softened and each animal apologized and was kind to another, one by one, until they were all playing together again. He really enjoyed this part. Then we looked through magazines and cut out clothing to paste to our "KIND" sign. Lastly, we dressed up a pear. Put on kindness, asifitwereyourclothes. Colossians 3:12 (the cadence of the last 6 words are all together). He called him "Super Pear" and played with him in the castle for a long time! We threw some math flash cards and bears in the mix, but mostly we just learned Kindness today.

Today was Saturday, the perfect day for a lemonade treat. I let him squeeze a lemon and paint a secret message with it. I held it over a flame to make secret message appear, but my paper caught on fire and I had to plunge it into the sink! He licked the lemon and liked it at first, but then, the awful sour taste was realized! I let him pour in the sugar and water, and voila, it was wonderful lemonade!

We took our first field trip as a homeschool family yesterday, to Helen Keller's birthplace. We didn't check the DVD out in time, so we read the book on the way over. Jacob kept saying, "This is the best book ever!" We all loved learning about her. We went on a picnic to Spring Park and then to visit Aunt Mary. A full day. Oh, Jacob is hiding behind all the children in the group photo. He was very shy when we first got there.

 

And through all of this learning and sensory play, something happens. I feel a change, a softening. My husband has noticed too. I see God's hand most definitely working in my child's life and blessing our family through this precious opportunity we've been given to homeschool. And I still have folks who don't agree and think I'm crazy and he's going to be "weird" or "limited." But what I see is absolutely amazing. The depth of his love for me and for his Father is growing, as is his ability to express it. And it's melting my heart. His prayers are becoming more mature, more sincere. We answered God's call and it's hard. And it's a lot of work, and there aren't many pats on the back. And when my Mom took her life 5 months ago, I didn't think I could go on with this path. But God said "Go, Walk in the Land I have given you." I am fulfilled. By Him.

Healing: My Journey Through the Fear of Anxiety and Living with anAutoimmune Disease

When I first began seeing my holistic doctor, I unknowingly developed several strongholds on what I could eat (which led to depression) and what my child could eat (which led to crippling fear and anxiety). I was trying to follow the letter of the law, according to him, being his intense dietary restrictions. I found myself unable to do so, which resulted in guilt and hopelessness ( if I can't follow them all, what's the point in trying). I was making him my authority.

Only through intervention from the Holy Spirit through prayer work, have I been able to break some of these strongholds that held such a grip on my life. (At one time I emailed a friend, genuinely stressed about suckers from bank tellers.) I have come to realize that no doctor can be my authority. The ALMIGHTY is. Thanks to Dr. X and my own research (and my good friend Libby!), I  now have extended knowledge about what is healthy for my body and what is inflammatory and potentially problem-causing. I can make decisions based on that and feel good about them (most of the time). I allow myself a healthy treat on occasion and I enjoy it. I am saying YES to my child as often as I can because for me, the NO was out of panic & fear (If I let him have a sucker he is going to be sick like me.--That thought is crushing, hopeless, unbearable.)
 Our God is a God of YES.

For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding "Yes!" And through Christ, our "Amen" (which means "Yes") ascends to God for his glory. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

I am still very health-minded and trying to get my child to enjoy veggies and green smoothies (it will happen one day!) and I let him eat candy very sparingly, but I do let him have it. And it gives me pleasure to say yes to him. Most importantly, it has brought peace to my soul and I can truly rest in Him during the middle of my chaos and panic (which comes often!)

The most important tool I have learned through prayer work is when I am feeling depressed, panicked, or other strong emotion....to STOP before I take action....to immediately close my eyes and hold out my hands, palms to the heavens and say, LORD I am feeling out of control. Help me to realize what is really going on....for example, is it stemming from fear? Is it guilt? Is it my extreme need for CONTROL, controlling every detail, or Putting my self-worth in my performance? (If I don't eat right all the time, if I don't serve in every capacity, if I don't take part in this ministry, I am worthless). I say "LORD, I am out of control with ____(fear, guilt, etc) and it makes me completely dependent on you. Let your Spirit wash over me." (There are not magic prayer words, just a connection with HIM). The peace comes almost immediately. This is something I'm just learning to do, and it takes time to incorporate into a crazy busy household. But I am feeling more peaceful and letting go of some of the crippling anxiety that was controlling my life.
When I am living in fear and trying to control everything, my hands are clenched tightly. I  say, "no God, I will not accept this lot. I am going to do everything I can, everything in my power to change this." But "in my power" leads to failure. When I open my hands to Him, I say, "Yes, God. I will accept this, knowing you are good (Psalm136:1), your ways are higher than my ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), and you will only allow this suffering for my good. (Romans 8:28)" When we open our hands to HIM, we can expect something beautiful to come.

God says, See I am doing a new thing! I am making a way through the wilderness. Isaiah 43:19