There will not be a new post for the Made to Crave study this week. My partner at Future.Flying.Saucers. needs the time to catch up. She and her family need our prayers right now. She is a great encourager to me and I enjoy her posts quite a bit. Click on over and check her out. I provided the link for you just above…so no excuses.

The kids and I did start PE this past week. I had to move it to 8:00am because if I left it for last then we wouldn’t get to it. So far we have been doing exercise videos. They all thought Denise Austin was way too cheerful that early in the morning!!! I have to agree. Maybe we will add some of the Wii sport games or something to make it more fun.

One of the many perks of homeschooling is being together…all the time. Well, sometimes it gets to be a bit much. The kids were really getting to me with all of their bickering. We had too much togetherness. Anytime I have a homeschool dilemma I turn to Hodgepodge Mom. She has been schooling her peeps for many years and her site is an amazing treasure for a first time homeschooling family. Her answer was quiet time. At first my crew was very unhappy about it. They considered it torture! Every school day after lunch we have 45 minutes to an hour of quiet time. Everyone goes to a separate room or even the porch and reads, works on a project, naps, or plays quietly. Quiet time is now the oasis of my day and the rest of them enjoy it now too. The house is a little more peaceful and even my husband noticed a positive change in everyone’s behavior. Definitely in mine!

I also moved read aloud time to just before bed. Right now we are using Sonlight’s book lists and I am always on the look out for good books to read them. They enjoy being read to and moving this to just before bed time works for us. My husband and I take turns reading books to them and I think he likes being involved.

Our last schedule change was adding nature study on Friday’s. Getting outside is important. Before kids and marriage I was always outside. Hiking was one of my favorite past-times. The outdoors is still my favorite place to pray. In creation I feel immersed in God and is not Jesus the very spoken Word of creation? I want my children to have a real appreciation and gratitude for all that God had given us. Last week we did leaf rubbings and drew Dogwood trees and berries. We sat on the ground and talked about trees and observed the bugs around us which led to a discussion about faith. I do not have a formal Bible curriculum but lately when we prepare for our nature study time I have added a Bible along with our guide books.

Sometime this past week I started to crave water…so it does work.

Isaiah Chapter 41: 17
When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear
them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.