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Monday, October 17, 2016

Pride by any other name....


"Pride stinks, and those who can't smell it usually have it." Chuck Swindoll


Pride by any other name would smell as wretched.

Often we dress up pride. We give it acceptable names, fancy names even; hard-headed, stubborn, strong-willed.   We parade our dressed-up pride down the red carpet, praising it for it's pretty clothes, seeing a virtue instead of a vice.

Sometimes we dress down pride, giving it the humble clothing of a more vulnerable name, insecurity. We miss seeing pride as it slips by us in its understated quieter outfit. We adorn it as mask, a hoodie to hide our face, as we excuse the fatal mistake of seeking our value in other's opinions of us.

Pride is assigning opinions to others, based solely upon my own ideas or feelings...
they love me,
they hate me,
they love me.....

Pride by any other name would smell as wretched, be it strong-willed or insecure. It is the smell that robs your peace, distracts you from your mission in life.  To everyone it smell the same, the smell of self-absorption.

"For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." 2 Corinthians 2:15 CSB


Thursday, October 13, 2016

Homeschool Workboxes 4th grade- MFW Creation To the Greeks


Workboxes are what keep us sane while homeschooling! They give all of us independence and allows my to work one on one with each boy as needed.  I don't have to spend hours reminding and nagging about what to do next.

Workboxes can be used with any curriculum! 

We are in our 5th year of homeschooling, using My Father's World Curriculum.
 My twins are in 4th grade, and we are on Creation to The Greeks in the MFW family cycle. You can see below how we use workboxes this year. 



OUR HOMESCHOOL ROOM

We moved our homeschool room out of the basement, we needed the sun!!!  



The left 3 cubes are for school books & Bibles. My teacher binder is stored on top of shelf.
I store our student sheets by week in a hanging binder.


OUR DAILY ROUTINE


Together Time
We sit on our couch, or do experiments in the kitchen for most of the together time subjects. If one of these subjects has a notebook page, I send the boys to their desk to finish it, then it is stored in their History workbox.

  • History Reading, Activities, & Note booking
  • Science & experiments
  • Root Words
Cuneiform Writing in Sugar Cookie dough,
during History Together Time
Workboxes
We use a 10-Drawer Organizer Cart for our workboxes.  They have lasted for 3 years, and we love them. In years past, I have put a tag into each workbox to tell the boys what to do but this I wanted a more streamlined approach.  We now have been using one daily agenda board (pictured below).  They now function as storage for each child's notebooks & past work, and direction on the order in which they should do each subject.

Each child has their subjects in different order to allow one-on-one time with Mom during Math and Language Arts.   



*Specific assignment is written on agenda white board


1. History-this box is where they store their completed student sheets and History notebook, done during together time

2. Root Words- We use a worksheet for derivative sentences, found in CttG facebook page file section.  

3. English- Language Lessons for Today, Grade 4- Do with Mom

4. Art- Draw and Write Through History * We use this instead of recommended art of God and History, it allows more independent art time. Click link for printable schedule.

5. Spelling- Spelling By Sound and Structure Grade 4 * We choose this curriculum instead of because it is more independent work than suggested Spelling Power.  There is also a TEN MINUTE BREAK card, usually in Box 5.

6. Writing- Writing Stands, Level 3*

7. Math-Math U See* -Do with Mom

8. Typing- We use Typing.com.  Each boys does 3 to 5 screens a day.

9. Spanish- DuoLingo for now, but adding Rosetta Stone soon.

10. Piano- We use Hoffman Academy,  if there is a video to watch, it is on the Agenda Board. I they have a music worksheet to do, it is in their box.

Individual Time
  • Reading- Read for at least 20 minutes from Book Basket. My kids are book worms, so I don't have to remind them much to read, but I do check to make sure they are reading from  Book Basket.
  • Daily Chores-All chores must be done before screen time
  • Read-Alouds are done as Bedtime story with Dad


You might be interested in my other Posts:

First Day of School Scavenger Hunt




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