Sheltering Children and My Experience In Public Schools ~ Part 5 of 5

I am about to hop on a plane and head to Dallas, Texas to attend Sally Clarkson's parenting conference. I will be rooming with Angela from GoodMorningGirls.org and I'll be sure to share my notes with you soon!!!

Thank you everyone for your gracious spirits this week! Your comments have been such a joy to read!


I taped all 5 parts of this series in one day last week. But as I posted these videos my heart began to change and I felt the need to speak briefly to moms of children in public schools...so this video is for ALL mamas - homeschool mamas, private school mamas and public school mamas. I hope that something in here encourages all of us to remain vigilant, intentional and connected to our children no matter what school choice we make!!!





Deuteronomy 6: 5-7 says "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Walk with the King!

I am linked to Raising Homemakersand We Are That Family

The Challenges of Homeschooling ~ Part 4 of 5

I want to be honest - homeschooling has some hard moments, hard days and hard weeks! This video touches on dealing with bad behavior, cabin fever, socialization, surviving the stores and feeling like you can't get it all done.


At the end, I share what will be in part 5 of the video - but yesterday I changed my mind about part 5 and re-shot the video...I decided to talk a little about public schools since I am a product of public schools. So, check back tomorrow for the topic of "Sheltering Your Children and My Experience In Public Schools".



If you have any great tips on how to handle some of the challenges I mentioned or other ones I didn't mention - please share them in the comment section!


Walk with the King!

I am linked up at Raising Homemakers, and Works for Me Wednesday.

Our Daily Homeschool Routine and Curriculum ~ Part 3 of 5

This is my children on the day all their boxes of homeschool stuff arrived this past July!!! It was a VERY exciting day!!!


This video gives you a peak inside a typical homeschool day in our home. Every home will look different based on the ages of your children. Some of you will have little ones that need managed during homeschool time, others will have teens who are self sufficient. This is what our home looks like right now in this season of life. (and please, if you are a homeschooler - share in the comments about what your day looks like! I'd LOVE to hear about it!!! And if you have a blog post about it - pretty please link it up below!!!!)


I will share with you our curriculum choice in the video below. Some of you will be disappointed with our family choice - you will be surprised to find that we do not use Christian curriculum. This is one reason I hesitated to do this series...this post is sure to upset a few of my faithful followers who I love and care about. In July, I shared about our curriculum here and the comments were ugly.

There are tons of awesome choices for curriculum out there - we each must do our homework and choose the one that works best for our family. One reason we chose this one is because my oldest sister - who I adore - used this curriculum for 7 years with her 3 boys and she loved it. She currently works as a virtual High School Math teacher for our on-line school. Be assured, there is no shortage of spiritual teaching in our home. I will talk more about this on Friday. But for now - here's part 3!

I mentioned above my chore pack system. If you'd like to see the video covering that - click here.


Today is Women Living Well Wednesday! It's a Link-Up Day!!!

Join the fun, do a little blog hopping and don't forget if you join below -please add the Women Living Well Wednesdays button to your post so your readers can find us here! (posts can include the topics of marriage, parenting and homemaking)

<a href="http://womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/search/label/Women%20Living%20Well%20Wednesdays"><img border="0" src="http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq297/courtneylivingwell/LivingWell.png" /></a>

Walk with the King!

I am linked up at Titus2days (Time Warp Wife), Raising Homemakers, and Works for Me Wednesday.

The Benefits of Homeschooling ~ Part 2 of 5

Yesterday, I shared why we homeschool. If you missed part 1, please stop and take 5 minutes to go back and watch it here. These videos taken out of context could be misunderstood so please take the time to listen to part 1 before jumping to any conclusions.


Today I want to share with you the benefits of homeschooling! Of course there are many more than I listed here...one being if you have a gifted child or a child who is struggling in a certain subject, you can choose your pace. This is not an extensive list but rather a list of the benefits to us personally!




Deuteronomy 6: 5-7 says "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."


Join me tomorrow for part 3. I will share what our daily routine looks like and our curriculum.

Walk with the King!

I am linked to Raising Homemakersand We Are That Family

Why We Homeschool ~ Part 1 of 5

This week I will be posting a 5 part series on the topic of homeschooling.

Monday: Why We Homeschool

Tuesday: The Benefits of Homeschooling

Wednesday: Our routine and Curriculum

Thursday: The Challenges of Homeschooling

Friday: Sheltering Our Children

I am praying praying praying this is NOT a controversial week. Please understand that I do not expect your convictions to match mine and vice versa - please do not expect my convictions to match yours. They are going to vary. We each must pray and seek God's will for our family in each season of life.

So let's get started!




Deuteronomy 6: 5-7 says "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."


Join me tomorrow for part 2 titled "The Benefits of Homeschooling."


Walk with the King!

I am linked to Raising Homemakers, We Are That Family, and

Our First Day of School Pictures and Traditions

Monday we began our first day of school. So, the traditions began. At bedtime, the family gathered in the upstairs hall and we went around the circle praying out loud for the new school year. It was so precious I wish I had video taped it! Then once the kids were asleep, I set up stuffed animals in both of their bedrooms with books in their hands. So they woke to their playmates already deep into their studies!

Then they came to the kitchen to find that it was "Daddy Donut Day". Periodically, daddy surprises the kids and announces that it is "Daddy Donut Day!" and he takes them to a donut shop. The start of a new school year definitely demands a Daddy Donut Day.

Another mom at church recommended I have my daughter put on one of my dresses and my son one of my husband's shirts. Then take a picture of them every year in the same dress and shirt and watch them grow. Someday they will fit into our clothes. So we did this! Although I laughed when Alexis announced - "it fits"! It sorta does - I guess I should have chosen one with sleeves that was longer! Lol!

Then we put on our "school clothes" and took pictures outside like my mom always did when I was a kid.

Then we went into the school room and began school (if you wonder where we got two computers read my post here).

It was a picture perfect day. The schedule was working perfectly until after 11am when Alexis clogged our bathroom toilet and it flooded her bathroom and leaked into the light fixture in the kitchen. Needless to say, that was NOT on the schedule - but it was definitely a learning experience for all of us!

May God bless your school year as you go through the ups and downs of the year ahead.

3 John 4 "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

Walk with the King!

I am linked up here today:

Wordful Wednesday.

Our Back-To-School Daily Schedule

Let me just be honest, I love a schedule. I'm not sure if there's ever been a day that I have perfectly stuck to it. But I have found that creating routines and a rhythm in the home creates peace. It also helps me to keep my priorities a priority and accomplish everything that needs to be accomplished in the day.


I have been practicing this schedule recently and tweaking it and I am sure it may get a few more tweaks by the end of September but here is an idea of what our days will look like this fall.


5:30am - wake and go for a run or do Pilate's

6ish - Quiet Time

6:30 - Write/Post blog post

7-7:45 -Facebook, twitter, emails, surf Blogs

7:45 - Breakfast / Devotions with children

8 - Begin school with Alex (Math,Phonics)/ Alexis does chores and free time

8:45 - Begin school with Alexis (Math, Phonics) / Alex does chores and free time

9:30 - School with Alex (Language Arts) / Alexis participates in Alex's school time

10 - Recess for kids (play outside if weather permits) /Facebook, twitter, email

10:30 - Snack / School with Alexis (Language Arts,Handwriting)

11:15 - School with Alex (Phonics,Handwriting)

12 - Make Lunch and eat

12:30-1:30 - Free time for Kids / Clean, facebook, email

1:30-2:30 - Finish School with kids (Art,Music)

**Note: History and Science done all day on Fridays

2:30-3:30 - Quiet Roomtime for kids / Clean, read

3:30 - Snack & TV time (usually Curious George) / Facebook

4-5:30 - Kids have freetime/ Clean, make dinner

5:30 - Family Dinner

6 - Chill

7:30 - Begin bedtime stories and talk time on each child's bed

8pm - Write the next day's blog post

9pm - Chill with my man

10ish - Fall into bed for some beauty sleep lol!


Through out the week I will insert different activities for the children such as baking together, swimming and gymnastics lessons, flag football practice, women's Bible study group for me and other fun things like play dates and trips to museums.

You may notice that showering is missing in there. I'm not sure where I'll put it lol! During one of the school breaks I'll squeeze it in. This schedule is simply a goal. In an ideal world, everyday I would have my quiet time, exercise, post my blog, homeschool the kids all of their subjects, clean, give my husband some lovin', and interact with my blog readers. But we live in a fallen world - so this will be our goal each day.

And for those who haven't seen my cleaning schedule let me just throw this in there too:

Monday - Menu and Market (Grocery Shop)

Tuesday - Toilets, Tubs, Towels

Wednesday - Wash (Set timer and rotate laundry every hour)

Thursday - Dust

Friday - Floors

If you are a "scheduler" have you written yours up yet? Please share it in the comments section. If you are not a scheduler, do not let my methods frustrate you - this is NOT for everyone. Different personalities really hate this type of thing and flourish under flexibility. God wired me this way and wired you that way - each for his own good purpose. This is what makes the body of Christ beautiful. God uses us all for his glory!

Walk with the King!

Christmas In July! Our Homeschooling Curriculum Has Arrived!

I have received emails asking me - "What homeschooling curriculum do you use?"

Here's the answer: K12

This may come as a surprise to you, but my children are enrolled in Ohio's Public Homeschooling program called The Ohio Virtual Academy. It's an online public school and the curriculum that comes with the program is called K12.

And are you ready for this? These 5 boxes are packed to the gills with History, Science, Phonics, Art, Music, Language Arts, and Math books and tools - and they all come to my house for FREE! In Ohio - it's FREE! and soon we'll receive our FREE computer, printer, and monitor in the mail for Alexis (Alex's free computer is already in the school room ready to start another school year).

Alex has his finger up marking the start of his 1st grade year. Alexis will be starting Kindergarten. When we pulled into the driveway and saw the boxes, the car was filled with cheering - it felt like Christmas in July!


The kids are begging me to start school today! Come February (when the excitement has worn off) perhaps I will pull up this blog post and remind them of their excitement today!


We are expecting a crew of 20 for a BBQ lunch tomorrow after church! I can't wait to have the whole family over! BUT that means we will not be starting homeschooling but rather cooking and cleaning. Have a great holiday weekend with your families.


Walk with the King!

Ps. If you homeschool - I'd be interested in hearing what curriculum you use - so feel free to share in the comments section. Are there any K12'ers out there?

A Window Into My Life - Come Get to Know Me!

My name is Courtney and I have been married to my high school sweet heart for 12 1/2 years, I homeschool my two sweet peas and I'm a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute. I love Youtubing as you can see on the side bar - and I even ended up on the Rachael Ray Show due to one of those youtubes! Go figure!


I blog from my kitchen and here's what my little desk lookes like:

And I have my quiet times at the kitchen table here:I LOVE this spot in the kitchen because check out the morning sunrise out this window!

We have no pets - oh well actually at this moment we have an ant farm - but I'll write about that in a post next week! Do these count as a pet? I'm thinking yes!

And here is a very messy picture of our homeschool room (that is not decorated yet because we just moved - but boy do I need drapes in this picture!) that I only took moments ago - I should have picked up the paper - oh well - as you can see I am not a perfectionist!

So that's a window into my life. I hope you will choose to join me here as I walk with the King! Every week I write on marriage, parenting, homemaking and my walk with God! Come join me in this journey by following me on Facebook, Twitter, Feedburner or Google(along left sidebar).

Walk with the King!

First Day of School Pictures

Monday was our "First Day of School" and we celebrated by putting on back-to-school clothes, back packs with surprises in them and donuts with sprinkles for breakfast! Even though my kids are not stepping onto the big yellow bus this year - I wanted them to experience the excitement of the first day of school! So after some pictures - we headed to our new "school room" to begin homeschooling!

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you to day are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Whether your children attend a public school, a private school or are home schooled, Deuteronomy 6 applies to us all - our job as moms ultimately is to teach our children to love the Lord - love the Lord with all their hearts, souls and strength! It is our job to impress this on their little hearts as they sit at home, as they are traveling to different activities, as you tuck them into bed at night and as they wake up in the morning! I want to encourage you to evaluate your time this fall and be sure that this is a top priority over all the other busy busy busy things on your to-do list!

Here's a picture of our new home school room!

Walk with the King!