Julie Brooks

Field Trip

The boys went on a Field Trip for science class and I was able to tag along. I just love their teacher.  They are studying the different days of creation in science and how God created each thing perfect. Ms. W took them to the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth and did the neatest scavenger hunt with them. She explained all kinds of reasons why each plant and flower was made the way it is and what it's purpose is. She had them take time to thank God for making all things beautiful. It was a fun day!

 

Change

Change: noun - the action of changing something

Change: noun - a difference that is usually pleasant

Change: verb - cause to change

Change: verb - give to, and receive from, one another

Change: verb - become different in some particular way, without permanently losing ones or it's former characteristics or essence

Change is an interesting thing/ feeling.

Sometimes change is needed, but unwanted. Change can also be wanted, but not needed or possible at the time. Sometimes I embrace change other times I find myself trying to avoid it. I like things to stay comfortable and familiar. However, when planning for the 2011-2012 school year I knew we needed a change. When we started out on this journey to homeschool I was open to however long God would allow. I didn't know if it would be a year or several years or until graduation. I was open to God's plan for our family whatever that would be. This past spring I began to pray and look into private schools for the boys. I felt like God was giving me the ok to move forward and find the best fit school situation for our boys. After much thought and prayer we found the school that fit our needs and my wish list. I felt strong that it had to be a Christian school although I don't believe it's the schools job to train my child up in the faith. I do however want my boys to be in a learning environment that is faith based and with teachers that are like minded. I also didn't want the boys in school everyday. I wanted to still play a role in their schooling process. Lastly, we had to be able to afford it! I found all of these things and more in Science Etc. I was thrilled when a lady from church told me about it and even more excited to learn several families from our church attend Science Etc. In September the boys started school! They take classes on Wednesday and Thursday and so far they love it! The teacher sends home the work they are to do before they come back to class the next week. This allows me to still be able to "teach" them at home on our off days. It gives me the freedom to not have to order curriculum and lesson plan! It also gives me more free time to just be with the boys without the stress of being THE teacher. I wasn't sure how I would handle taking them into school the first day, but it went great! I'm very pleased with the small class settings and the challenge the teachers present the boys. I must say there is a little less stress in our house. I'm excited to see what this year will bring academically for my boys.

Maybe now my blog won't be so neglected. Ha! I think I always say that and then life happens and things get busy. Speaking of busy I have plenty to blog about so maybe I will in the next few days.

If I still have any readers left hang in there.....I will be back!

Waiting For Superman

I am looking forward to seeing this movie. It brought tears to my eyes hearing these students talk. I am sure the movie brings awareness to the many, many problems in our school systems, but I wonder if they present a solution.

I am not against public school. At this time we are confident that homeschool is where our kids need to be. Will we always homechool? I don't know. It's a year by year process that we pray through and seek the Lord for guidance. Back to public school..... I know there are many good and a lot of GREAT teachers. I do think the system is failing in many areas and as a result many kids are being overlooked and have no voice. I hope this movie brings about a change especially for those kids who have no where to turn and otherwise would have no voice.

 

 

1st Day Of Homeschool

Today was our 1st day of homeschool. We had a busy and fun summer, but I'm so glad we are back to a routine. Mason is in the 6th grade (how is this possible) Carson and Garrett are both in 1st grade. I'm using some new curriculum this year and the boys seemed to enjoy it. We will also be joining other homeschool moms from church for different activities. I'm excited to see how the boys grow this year. There is no greater joy than watching my boys transform before my eyes and I thank God for the privilege to homeschool them.

Here are our traditional 1st day of school pictures.

You may be thinking "what does a homeschool kid need a backpack for and what do they put in it?" I'll tell you what.....a toy gun, movies, swim suit and star wars action figures! Ha! Carson and Garrett must have planned on an extended recess today. :)

Sometimes I lose control of my class. Lol!

The 1st day would NOT be complete without a cookie cake!

Momma said there would be days like this........

Yesterday was a HARD day at The Brooks Academy! A day I'm sure all homeschooling mom's have at one time or another. The principal AKA Dad was called home! Pretty convenient since we live across the street from the church and if that's not enough we can also look out the window in our school room and see straight into the church office! Beautiful!!  After a few tears and a few luxuries taken away for a week today went AMAZING! I told Brian that today was our BEST and most productive school day ever! :) I think we all needed an attitude adjustment (myself included) and some serious prayer time!

Last night I pulled out my Mission Of Motherhood book because I needed the encouragement!! Sally Clarkson has put into words feelings and thoughts we as Mom's  have felt as well as things that we I need to hear.  If you haven't read this book......GET IT NOW! ;)  Each time I read Sally's book this statement hits me hard.

She writes:

"And the fundamental mission of motherhood now is the same as it always was: to nurture, protect, and instruct children, to create a home environment that enables them to learn and grow, to help them develop a heart for God and his purposes, and to send them out into the world prepared to live both fully and meaningfully.  It's up to us to embrace that mission as our own, trusting God to walk us through the details and to use our willing mothers hands as instruments of his blessing." Sally Clarkson from The Mission of Motherhood

After much prayer we started our school day today. I  changed our schedule up a bit for some variety. Today was WONDERFUL! For the most part our days usually go great, but lets face it everybody has "off days" even the teacher! (mom) I just hope those days are far and few.

Brian and I decided to take away ALL video games for the week.  It was such a wonderful decision. The boys played board games together, built with Lego's and colored after school time. :) Gee there is life outside of video games. I'm going to cherish the rest of the week with out games systems being played. The sight of all 3 boys playing together and exploring their creativity warms my heart! Tomorrow it all starts again and I come before the Lord saying I can't do it without you! Thank you Lord for the awesome responsibility you have given me to be a mother of 3!

 

Writing in Hieroglyphics for a History project.


 

 

Trying to keep little hands busy and quiet during Mason's spelling test.

This picture is from last Saturday. Upward Basketball has started!!

Museum of Discovery

 

 

 

 

 

We took the boys to the Arkansas Museum of Discovery in Little Rock for a day of fun. The boys thought it was a little disappointing because they had experienced the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, AL.  However, the boys truly enjoyed the science experiments on the effects of liquid nitrogen and dry ice.  Mason was even a part of the action.  He looked like he was smoking, but what happened was he had a graham cracker in his mouth that was dipped in liquid nitrogen and when that cracker hit his mouth he said it was cold and smoke poured out.

The day also included lunch at the Flying Fish ... I eat fish as long as it doesn't taste like fish (I know sounds weird), but I can't stand the fishy taste.  After lunch ... WE SHOPPED (no Walmart shopping in Little Rock).  We went straight to the Mall (Heaven).  Its was great because Brian and I got a lot of ideas for Christmas. 

Of course, if your going to drive 2 1/2 hours to Little Rock your not going to drive home without supper, so off to Chili's.  Of course, what's great about Chili's ... the molten chocolate cake (YUMMY).  I love going to Little Rock, but it puts us in the car for 5 hours......Yes, when you live in Crossett you have to spend  hours in a car to enjoy the above luxuries. :)

Our Curriculum for 2009-2010

We follow a classical program called The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer.  It is history and literature based and  there is a lot of freedom to fill in the 'specifics' for each individual subject;  Susan makes recommendations and then you must figure out what works best for your family.

Also noteworthy is the fact that Mason (10yo) is at a separate level in Math, Spelling, Reading and Language Arts than  Carson (6yo) and Garrett (5yo)  All the other subjects, however, are taken together.

BIBLE

We start each day with prayer. One of the boys says our prayer and then we do the pledge. It is so sweet hearing the boys pray...... today Carson prayed for us to have a good day at school and he asked God to help him be faithful :) he also asked God to help mommy feel better. ( I've been dealing with sinus/allergy junk) I can't think of a better way to start the day.

We then do our bible time. Last year we used our Awana and The Children's Bible.(The Children's Bible was given to me as a young child by my grandparents) I would read them a story and then we would discuss it.

This year thanks to my friend Sarah we are trying out new stuff. :) 

We are still using our Awana. We use Awana for our scripture memorization.

 Through the Bible with My Child.

Big Truths for Young Hearts

With Big Truths for Young Hearts, Bruce Ware, (you guessed it!) a theology professor, encourages and enables parents of children 6-14 years of age to teach through the whole of systematic theology at a level their children can understand. Parents can teach their children the great truths of the faith and shape their worldviews early, based on these truths.

The book covers ten topics of systematic theology, devoting several brief chapters to each subject, making it possible for parents to read one chapter per day with their children.

MATH

Math-U-See

M:Delta

C:Alpha

G:Alpha

READING

After lunch they take an hour to read or rest in their rooms.   Mason (10) reads to himself.  Carson(6) and Garrett(5) will read their Bob Books or look through their harder books that they can't read just yet.  I will also read aloud to them. We're reading The Little House On The Prairie series together in the mornings and they love it! We are going to get back into the habit of going to the library. We were doing really good at this before summer break it's now time to add the library trip back in.    I follow Susan's advice and make them check out a biography, science book, and history book and then whatever else they want.  This is a lot easier with Mason. :) Carson and Garrett just want fun books like Star Wars and Thomas The Tank Engine. We also have a very LARGE library of our own. We are getting to know our UPS man pretty well thanks to Amazon.com.

HANDWRITING

Handwriting without tears (carson & garrett)

HISTORY

Mason, Carson & Garrett

We use Susan Wise Bauer's curriculum called Story of the World 1 and this is by far the boys favorite subject.   We do history 2-3 days a week. It's an awesome program with lots of extra options to make it come alive!  

SPELLING

M:Sequential Spelling

GRAMMAR

M: First Language Lessons

I'm looking into adding  Daily Grams or Easy Grammar

After Christmas I will be adding Institute for Excellence in Writing

C & G: First Language Lessons

VOCABULARY

Wordly Wise 3000

SCIENCE 

Apologia Zoology 3 Exploring Creation with Land Animal of the Sixth Day

THE EXTRA STUFF

We have tons of books! We read a lot! I try and get books to go along with our history (story of the world gives great suggestions)  science and any holiday's approaching.

We will also do several unit studies this year.

Thanksgiving/ Pilgrims/ Indians

Christmas-The Birth of Jesus

Texas History

Map Skills

We are working on memorizing the capital, region, postal abbreviation and statehood # for all 50 states. (Mason loves this)

After Christmas we will be working through Financial Peace Jr.

I could go on and on about curriculum and books. :) I'm always adding books to our Amazon wish list and I could spend every penny we have on books.

Simplicity

Simplicity : state or fact of being simple

Wednesday I went to Brian with my 2 page To Do list and said, "I'm overwhelmed". He is so good with time management and priorities that I was confident he would help me tackle everything I needed to do. Well, I'm happy to say he cleared 1/2 of my to do list in about 2 seconds. Lol!  Want to know how? Take a look....

He took the pen wrote SIMPLICITY on  top of the page and then numbered 0-4 down the side of the page. Those numbers stand for the many different hats I wear.

0. A Christian. Above ALL else my walk with the Lord come first. 

1. A wife (add being a minister's wife to that!) :)

2. A homeschooling mom to 3 wonderful boys!

3. A daughter, sister, friend

4. A photographer.

He then numbered 1-5 below the first list and those numbers stand for the different things I like to do for myself.

1. Paint

2. Scrapbook

3. Run

4. Blog

5. More crafty things....

After we talked about all those things he took the pen and began marking things off my list. He said if it doesn't benefit 0-4 on my list it doesn't get done right now. :)

You see I have this problem with saying NO! (my family and friends will agree with this) If someone ask me to do something (especially at church) I will find away to do it. It's not that I want to seem like  superwoman ( although who doesn't) :) it's the simple fact of not wanting to disappoint someone. Sad I know. I'm working through this. It's going to be hard. So please if you ask me to do something and I say NO don't run away and not be my friend. Lol! I may say yes next time. 

So what does this mean? Well, several things.....I had to decide what was most important my Photography business or all the other side jobs I do. I can't do them all plus homeschool plus do the things I enjoy for myself.  I love photography and I have chose to move forward with that only. My photography takes time not only to take the pictures, but to edit them. Christmas is coming and I am working on family photo sessions and photo Christmas cards. I still have openings available if you want to book your session. 

The bad news..... if you have emailed me about making you a blog header and I haven't gotten back to you this is why. I am no longer taking blog header orders. At this time I am no longer doing any stamp orders  either. I will continue taking orders for invitations and birth announcements because that (in away) ties in with my photography. I'm sorry if you have emailed me and I have not returned your emails. That was another BIG stress for me as well. I want to  please everyone, but for the sake of my family and just needing some "me" time I have to cut back somewhere. If you have gotten an email from me discussing your blog header I will finish yours, but at this time no more orders. After the holidays I may reevaluate things. ;) 

Phew! I feel much better. I don't know what I would do without Brian. :)

Now onto family happenings.....

We started school September 15 and it's going great!! I feel much more confident about this year now that we have a year under us. The boys are doing great and I love homeschooling.  Several of you have emailed asking about our daily schedule and our curriculum for this year and I am working on that blog post. My friend Sarah (her blog is private) emailed me her daily schedule and I had Brian make me an excel spreadsheet like Sarah's to organize each of the boys daily school schedule. I will post that and our curriculum choices soon. I get so excited reading other homeschool blogs and studying up on curriculum. I could spend a ton of money on curriculum and books. One thing I did different this year is I join Amazon Prime! Best decision yet! :)Free shipping!!! Here is a picture of our first day of school.

Yes, Carson is wearing a Abercrombie shirt. It was before this post! LOL! Darn that Abercrombie!!!

Below are some pictures of this past week. It was a busy one!!

Wednesday was See You At The Pole! 

There is something so refreshing about seeing students praying around their school flag pole! :)

Thursday Mason had 3 teeth pulled. That makes 5 in the last month. :( poor boy! He is getting ready for braces.....fun times ahead!

Friday was a home game and this weeks game was a WHITE out! We bought our $5 Eagle shirts and cheered on the Eagles!

Today has been relaxing! Brian and I went for a run, then we painted and watched college football. Speaking of college football I will end with this.............

TCU 14         Clemson 10

Not Back-To-School Blog Hop

Homeschoolers, make sure to visit Life With My 3 Boybarians every Monday in August for the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop.

I'm still out of town so I'm not posting my curriculum choices for this year yet because my list is at home.:( I did want to post this for my homeschool readers. I love reading other homeschool mom's blog to gain ideas and Life with my 3 boybarians never disappoints!

Fun with Green

The boys and I had fun with all things green today. It started off with green waffles and milk for breakfast. Then we used green for everything in school today....green markers, green colored pencils, green crayons, green paper and then we water-colored. Brian was gone for lunch  so we ordered take out from our Mexican restaurant. Before I called the boys to the table I put green food coloring in the cheese dip! The boys went nuts when they saw green dip in their bowl. Lol!  Carson has had 4 glasses of green milk today and has eaten everything! ;) I may dye their food and milk everyday if that will get them to eat and drink.
My back is killing me and I'm now laid up in bed. I'm not sure how creative I will get with dinner that will be Brian's task. I'm seriously dying of back pain. :( hummmm maybe I will just digi scrap since I can't get up! :) I really need my back to feel better because Brian and I are running another 1/2 marathon June 13th and I NEED to run to get my miles in this week. Why is it that when we are so busy we would give anything to just lay and rest, But when something happens and we are put to rest for an injury we are dying to get up and move around????? Is this just a woman thing? I am soooo NOT one to sit still. Plus it's beautiful outside today.Oh well! I hope your St. Paddy's Day has been fun! 

 

 

LuCkY ChArMs!

 

Green Cheese Dip!

 

 

 

 

Mason's masterpiece