Favorite Books For Family Reading!

      We love books but we also want to spend our time on things of a noble nature. (Phil 4:8) This can be a challenge when time is limited and it feels as though we are stretching ourselves beyond our limits to try and pre-read every book we want to offer our children....and yet we want to guard their hearts at this tender time.
      Over the years I have been blessed by the book lists of others and tonight I offer a list of our own. Though we are Christian and our understanding of theology falls under the label of Quaker, you will find some secular books and some from non-Christian parts of the world. We are not afraid of other cultures or peoples because God is the light that lights EVERY man. We feel called to answer or speak to that of God in everyone and we ourselves have much to learn in response.
        We read as family in the morning during breakfast and sometimes in the evening after supper. It is a time many of the children look forward to. For me, it is an opportunity to squeeze in one more noble thing in the day.

Small Business and Big Families: Keeping It All Together Part 1

         Our family business,  Maid-N-Meadows, is our family's dream come true. We are providing other families with a healthy product and caring for our cows in a way that honors them. But beyond our obvious love of dairying and all things farm, is a dream to work, play, learn, and pray together as a family. I feel there are other families out there with the same goal and I wanted to share what we have learned so far. If there are veterans out there, we would love to hear from you and perhaps pick up a tip or two!

     

Homeschooling with Teaching Textbooks

Disclaimer: We love Teaching Textbooks but this endorsement was not paid and we are not connected to the company in any way.

      We love Waldorf style learning, especially for the younger children. But it is very time consuming, both in planning and execution. As my boys are growing older we need to devote more time to science experiments and life skills. We are really flexible with most subjects on assignments. We mix and match many curriculums.  
       But for math I have found that my children do best with steady, incremental lessons that build on each other. I don't have a strong enough grasp on math to design those myself beyond a certain point. I have been really hesitant to use the computer as a teacher. I would rather my children experience learning in a more holistic manner, but I have given in on this particular point for this particular subject.
        Teaching Textbooks is both a workbook and computer based learning system. It is very well paced and the children can manage all aspects of their lesson without me. (This is very helpful as Karson needs more of my time as he is learning to read.) It takes them about 30-45 minutes depending on the lesson. Then they are done with math! They love that they can do it themselves and love it when they get a perfect score.