What Do You Want Mommy to Do?

whatmommytodo

Working on a quilt with my daughter Julianna

Years ago, I made a list of all my duties I was attempting to keep up with—which can be voluminous when you are a young mother! It looked something like this:

Nurse the baby
Wash the clothes
Fix meals
Keep the house clean
Do errands for Daddy
Take kids on field trips or outings
Play with the little ones
Do my church job
Take a child on a one-on-one date
Wash the dishes
Look pretty and fresh
Clean the bathrooms
Take kids to the park or playground
Buy groceries
Read aloud to the kids
Bake homemade bread
Sew costumes or special clothes for the kids
Play games with the kids
Help kids have parties with their friends
Take walks with the kids
Make Daddy’s favorite meal
Mend the clothes
Go shopping for clothes
Teach kids homeschool
Go on a date with Daddy
Make a meal to take in to the sick
Read the scriptures with kids
Make treats
Not overwork myself
Sit and talk with Daddy
Talk with kids one-on-one
Garden
Have other families over
Cook healthy food from scratch
Go to bed on time
Help Daddy make financial decisions
Drive kids to their activities
Teach a class for the kids and their friends
Make holidays special
Help neighbors
Have dinner ready when Dad gets home

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Oh, Susanna!

susanna-wesley

Structure! That is a loaded word for homeschoolers. Some see it as a negative way to deal with teaching children. Others see it as a necessary discipline in order to get things accomplished. Children tend to buck it. Parents have to be organized to make it happen. Let me tell you about an incredible woman who lived more than 300 years ago, who seems to have been the queen of structure.

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"I" Before "E", But Not After "C"

The word "separate" has "a rat" in it. Remember this spelling tip and you'll always spell it correctly!

The word “separate” has “a rat” in it. Remember this spelling tip and you’ll always spell it correctly!

I am a product of the public schools of the 1960’s. I was taught the spelling ditty: “i” before “e” but not after “c”, and a host of other rules. Spelling rules seem to be made for the logical, perhaps, mathematical minds (not mine), but I am a good speller. How does that work?

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Child Writing Backwards? Letter & Number Reversals

positive-725842_1280Question:

Is it normal for a 7 year old to still be turning the numbers around? When she points to or writes a number, for example “27”,  she writes “72”. It is most of the numbers 12-98.

Answer:

I know this can feel upsetting to us moms, to see our children reverse their letters and numbers. We wonder if they can see correctly, or if their brain is wired backwards!

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Junior High Years . . . and on into High School

prom2009-10

Homeschool Prom

Junior high years, the grades 7th and 8th, are usually a “make it or break it” for your homeschool. This seems to be the time when most children exit homeschool for that big public school. And it may be the worst time they could possibly attend school!

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Husband Won’t Let Me Homeschool

Daniel

Daniel

Question:

I am desperate to homeschool my child. I really think it is something God is telling me to do but my husband will not give me his permission. I just know that I could do a good job homeschooling if he would just give me a chance.

Answer:

[Read more…]

Memorizing Magic

Louisa and kitten

Louisa and her kitten “Nimbus”

If there is one thing in my homeschool that I am very thankful we’ve done over the years, it is “memory work”. It seems as a natural part of conversation, one of my children mentions a poem they have learned that pertains to the topic we are discussing. For example, today we were talking about prayers that don’t seem to get answered, when Ammon said, “That reminds me of a poem,” and he went on to spontaneously recite, “God Answers Prayers”. It can bring tears to my eyes to hear my teenage boy bring forth from his memory such beautiful words and profound truths that he has learned and stored from years of memorizing.

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Making Sunday Special

sunset-691204_1280Ahh, the Sabbath day! How nice it is to take a break from teaching school, from big meal prep, from doing housework or shopping. I think God gave us a great gift by establishing a day of rest. I sure need it!

The culture we live in has pretty much eliminated that idea of a sabbath day of rest. You have to create your own culture if you want to make Sunday a day of renewal in your family. Here are things we do at my house to make Sunday special. We all keep Sunday differently, but maybe it will give you some ideas to think about: [Read more…]

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