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Hopefully, when the girls look back on their homeschooling years, they’ll remember sweet hours of reading a good book with a spoon of cookie dough on the side…

We live in a 3 bedroom house.  We are expecting baby #4.  And we have a whole room for homeschooling.  You do the math and it doesn’t seem to add up to just the right amount of space for our growing family.

But I’m just not convinced that bigger(and more for me to clean and maintain) is better.  Our culture certainly says that every child needs their own room, not to mention that great media room, a guest room, etc.

But after a mad rush to re-arrange and accommodate the coming arrival of our sweet baby girl, I’m amazed at how satisfied I am with our space.  

Over the next few days(if I’m not too tired or busy having a baby) I’m going to post pictures of what we’ve been doing to make every space functional!  

Since it’s 6am and I am tired, here’s just a small idea of something that helped in our school room.

I struggled with the question that all moms with kids in school(home or public) battles with-what to do with all of their artwork!

First we hang in their gallery here:(this isn’t my favorite idea, but convenient for now-I’d like them each to have their own attractive gallery on the walls with frames)

Then as they put up more artwork, they would transfer their older works to these shelves.  Well, the shelves we always overflowing and messy(since their math and copywork went here too).

So we took an idea from this great book 

http://www.amazon.com/Familyfun-Home-Creative-Practical-Family-Friendly/dp/0786853999/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1234438841&sr=11-1

and made art portfolios for this year.

Simply take two large posterboards and attach 3 sides with duct tape or packaging tape.  Let your child decorate his portfolio.  And voila, now you have a compact storage space, marked with the year.  At the end of the year I plan on going through each portfolio with the child and selecting their favorite works to hold onto for the long run.

Now their artwork moves from a display on the wall to their portfolio.

Note: With our 3 year old, who doesn’t produce quite as much art work, we made a smaller version with smaller sized sheets of posterboard.

Check back for ideas on closet and toy organization.

Next on the list, sleep!

Even though I’ve studied the words “meek” and “quiet” in many bible studies over the years, it’s been hard for me to give up the instinctual picture of a woman described with those words. I picture a woman who fearfully does her husband’s bidding, who never shares her opinion, a woman who is more like a shadow then a vibrantly colored soul.

With that weak image, I haven’t spent a lot of time wishing myself into that picture or those words.

When I picked up “Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit”, I started it more on the recommend from other friends than on a real interest in my heart.

Within, the first chapter, the Lord has wiped away my very un-biblical idea of the words and instead placed in my heart a real desire to embody them.

My favorite definition of meek is “mild of temper, not easily provoked or irritated“. And for quiet it is “peacable, not turbulent, contented.”  

Even as I write the definitions a little sigh escapes me.  Acquiring these qualities makes life seem so much more-easy.  Not easy of course, that’s not really what I mean.  But if I’m not so quick to find frustration in every aspect of the day that doesn’t go my way-if I’m not easily provoked by the fighting over toys before we even start breakfast, by the child who doesn’t want to do her schoolwork, but the little boy who just wants attention, by the chores that lay ahead and might not get done. If I can ride those waves instead of fall under them, doesn’t life sound so much-more.  More joy(for everyone), more contentment, more invested in the moments of the day instead of how to pass them by quickly to the end.

This is the best book that I’ve read on homeschooling in a long time. (and really on life as well).  After introducing the idea of a meek and quiet heart, she goes on through the chapters to talk about what robs us of attaining this heart.

Speaking about Moses she says,

“What made him meek? I would suggest that, as with Jesus, it was his intimate, personal time with the God who called him to lead the people of Israel.”

More than turning to a new curriculum book, a friend who has all of the answers, or just quitting all together, Maxwell urges her reader on to seek the Lord at every turn.  And she does so with examples from her own life.

“I know there are plenty of other activities I could have done…during that half-hour..I spent with the Lord. We could have done more schooling, had a cleaner house, more fun playtimes, more ministry, more individual time with each child, more writing, more sewing, more exercise or more sleep! I know there is nothing that could have had the impact on my life, or the lives of my family members, than time with the Lord.  Any other decision for that time would have been one more robber of a meek and quiet spirit.”

When I see a problem in my life and go looking for the solution, it is often to gird up, to invest more time, to TAKE CARE of that problem.  If I’ve struggled with the care of our house, work harder and get more organized.  If I’ve struggled with a parenting issue, buckle down on discipline or spend more individual time.  If I’m not sleeping, well, then it’s certainly my right to sleep whenever I can grab the chance.  So it’s easy to justify the putting off of time with God-because I convince myself the effort I’m putting forth in that said time is what God would have me do.

But the author says give to God first.  Our only real need is Jesus.

In some ways there is rest in that idea.  Instead of doing it all on the strength I can muster, I can first give it over to God, sit with Him, and then see what the rest of the day brings.

Right now, there’s a pretty clear “robber” of my meek and quiet spirit.  I’m 35 weeks pregnant and not sleeping more than a handful of hours.  After a few weeks of this, it’s hard to keep out the crankiness in my voice and actions.  And the whole family has picked up on it pretty quickly.

Which means that other robbers, like issues to work out with the kids, daily chores and school, and a busy husband at work, seem tripled in size at the moment.  

But for the last week, the Lord has been telling me in a pretty loud voice “Come to me.  Pray to me.  Have absolute faith in my when you ask.”

Finally this morning I gave in.

Here’s a word for my next week, day, hour:

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.”
Psalm 119 

Here are a few ideas we’ll be trying at our house for the month of February:

This Cute Heart Garland, I think the girls will be able to put it together on their own…
(found thanks to mommysecrets)

and this Fun Heart Wreath, I think we’ll take one to decorate my Dad’s door at his assisted living facility. (found thanks to theclarkchronicles)

and this Candy Necklace, I don’t know if I’ll have the girls make these, or if I’ll make them for their treat on Valentine’s Day.

Share your ideas!

Hope you have a lovin’ time at your house this month!

Here’s a little peek into today’s art lesson at the Guest Academy of Great Children.

Today we learned about form vs shape.  Shape is a flat object, whereas form has depth and width like a sculpture.  To illustrate form, the girls created these great animal figures.

The art lesson came straight from our art curriculum, Artistic Pursuits.  We started the program this year and we do a lesson a week.  The kids ask if we can do one every day.

Now, we are a crafty family, as previously suggested, so why, when they are always creating things anyway, did I spend money on curriculum?  I’ve always enjoyed artistic pursuits, but couldn’t tell you a thing about color theory or how to paint a nice watercolor.  I wanted to encourage their confidence and freedom, but also give them some good, knowledgeable information to strap on and then take imaginative leaps and bounds.  

This book has short lessons that are designed to introduce concepts such as

• Artists Compose
• Artists Communicate
• Artists Make Portraits
• Artists see Line

Almost all lessons include:

• 1 page describing the concept
• 1 page that shows a great piece of art to illustrate the concept
• 1 page that gives the instructions for the hands on art lesson

We invested in some quality art supplies and it’s all taken off from there…

Let me be clear that all art lessons don’t go smoothly.  I have two children with completely different approaches to any artistic effort.  One very similar to her mom, one lines up with her Dad.  Which means one likes the detailed process of “how to”. And the other would by pass all instruction and only learn by doing.  One doesn’t like any specific parameters, the other thrives under them.

So there can be frustration amongst the watercolor crayons and tissue paper. But I have empathy, because I still get frustrated with my own attempts to translate a vision from head to paper, or computer, or canvas.

So we try to breathe.  Respect each other’s different styles.  Look at the next small step, instead of the big goal of the lesson.  And then magic happens.

Micah started out unexcited about this lesson.  About five minutes later this is what you would have heard in my house:

“Hey, I like to cut and fold things, I do all this stuff anyway, I think this is going to be a better project than I thought.”

She’s responsible for the lion above-came up with all the details on her own(the book only showed a standard dog with the invitation to turn it into other animals).

Jael wanted to make a frog and was sure that none of the basic parts to the form would work for her idea.  She didn’t want me to assist in any way, even when she got frustrated.  She plugged away, cutting and shaping, and soon showed us the frog above.  After that, she was ready to work on my animal, too. And soon you heard 

“I’m the best at doing this kind of work!”

“Jael, can’t we just say that we are all great artists in our family?”