My Clean-Enough House

We've had a housekeeper off and on since we began homeschooling. It is always a treat to have someone else clean for me! But this fall I decided that the older kids and I could take over for a while. 

I have two primary house-cleaning mantras: 

It is easy to clean a clean house. 

A weekly wipe-up keeps a clean-enough house. 

By that I mean that everything gets a quick clean once a week. Our rental house isn't very big and it doesn't take long. One day a week we dry dust with a Swiffer duster, one day a week we clean bathrooms and the kitchen, and one day a week we vacuum the whole house and mop the kitchen and bathrooms. I don't currently have a deep-cleaning schedule. If something starts looking really dirty or I have some extra time, I can scrub at whatever has caught my attention. If we miss something, we'll get to it the next week. 

I'm sure I'll have a housekeeper again in the future, but for now it feels good to be responsible for my own house again. :)

Thomas: 20 Months

At 20 months, Thomas won't hold still for a picture. He still adores books, also trucks ("Zoom!") and Jacob's old Batcave and action figures ("BatBat"). He loves his Mama, and this month Daddy has started getting hugs, too. Thomas's favorite foods are graham crackers, pizza, and any kind of meat. He likes most fruits and very few vegetables. Thomas tries out new words every day, and has started combining words into phrases. He likes to put on shoes because he knows then we are going outside. He throws himself on the floor and screams when he doesn't get his way. Sorry, buster, you're the youngest of five--we've seen plenty of tantrums and one has yet to be effective. Ever. Ask your brother and sisters. ;) Thomas is still the cutest baby ever and I guess someday soon we will graduate him to toddler status...but he'll always be the baby!

The Chosen

 

The Gent and I are particular about what we watch. We want what we watch to be excellent--in the content and in the artistry. So many shows just aren't worth our time. And we often find the "Christian" shows are not well-made. But we recently streamed The Chosen and we both loved it. Beautifully done, made you think, entertaining, and made me want to pick up my Bible and dive deeper. I highly recommend it and you can stream it for free from their website. We are excited for season two to begin filming!

What You Do Best

It is so easy to be overwhelmed by ALL THE THINGS YOU MUST DO when you're a mom, and it really piles on when you are the teacher, too! This year I'm really focusing on what our family does well and what we enjoy and letting the rest go. This is the beauty of homeschooling.

We love read-alouds. We all like our math program. We love studying history. We are pretty good at science experiments. 

I always think we should be outside more, but in reality Mama doesn't like bugs, snakes, and mud. I never do the projects that go along with our history curriculum. Making dioramas and mummifying a chicken is just not for me.

So I don't get to all the things. I bake my own bread, but I buy the pre-washed salad. It is all a balance.

We do the essentials every day (math and language arts), then use the time that remains to do the things we enjoy. All the minutes and days and weeks add up to lots of learning--I'm always amazed when I look back at the end of the year and see all the ways we grew in knowledge together.

Play to your strengths, friends!

What's In the Book Box: September

I refill our read-aloud book basket at the beginning of each month, and I thought this school year I'd try to pull together some collections of stories with a common thread. For September, which for us is a month of settling in to our school and activity routine, I chose books about home and family and sibling relationships--books that evoke some warm fuzzies and have lots of beautiful illustrations. These all make great bedtime stories. Daddy usually does the bedtime reading around here. He will read one of these picture books, and then a chapter from a longer read-aloud (currently The Jungle Book). I read a picture book during our school Wonder Hour, and then read from a chapter book before quiet time. Thomas brings us books to read all day long, and our kids know that if at all possible, if they bring their Daddy or me a book and ask us to read it, we will. :) 

All the Beatrix Potter stories

Maple, Lori Nichols

Maple and Willow, Lori Nichols

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst

The Golden Plate, Bernadette Watts

The Family Under the Moon, Nancy Jewell

Ox-Cart Man, Donald Hall

Miss Rumphius, Barbara Cooney

My Great-Aunt Arizona, Gloria Houston

The Little House, Virginia Lee Burton

I Like to Be Little, Charlotte Zolotow

On Mother's Lap, Ann Herbert Scott

Treasury for Children, James Herriot

Roxaboxen, Alice McLerran

Bedtime for Frances, Russell Hoban (and all the Frances books)

Julius, the Baby of the World, Kevin Henkes

A House is a House for Me, Mary Ann Hoberman

Coat of Many Colors, Dolly Parton

Do You Know What I'll Do, Charlotte Zolotow

The Complete Brambly Hedge, Jill Barklem