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Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7
Home Study Environment How to make it all work.
With four students at CDA spanning high school, logic school, and grammar school I could have laughed when asked how one makes it all work. I only make it work through lots of grace. I am thankful for carpools to CDA sport practices, clipboards in cars, and crockpots. At home: We begin our day about 7am which allows them to sleep in an extra hour more than go-to-school days. We start our day with prayer and often my reading during breakfast of the day’s assignment from the Vos Children’s Story Bible. The days we forget to invite God to join us during our homeschool day often don’t end well. (This is only after I have had my own quiet time with the Lord. When I skip this, my older son is able to tell about 10am – that I didn’t start the day right!) At home each child has a desk area downstairs, although some days homework completed in the kitchen seems to
work better. While some families thrive with students doing homework in their rooms, we tend to stay more focused when all working within sight of one another. I try to set out their assignment sheet the night before with all needed supplies and books in a stack (per student) to minimize hunting during our work time. If they need a practice test, I will type or write it up, or print copies off quizlet.com the night before. Based upon their strengths, I tend to have them complete the hardest work first (math and creative writing) and allow time for easier work later in the day (illustrations on writing). If I am helping one with a hard math concept, I will have our Story of the World CD ready for listening to (with earphones on the computer) for the other student who needs help at the same time. It seems the longer I let a study day go – on and on – the less joyful we can be. I ask my older two to print out an “assignment sheet” for CDAconnect and to mark things off as they go along, so that there are no surprises after they get home from extracurricular activities. My focus is to float between the two younger students and keep an eye on the two older students’ assignment sheets. For logic and high school, we do our best to complete math and assignments that need to be checked (by me) prior to departure of the extracurricular carpool. Our plan is to complete all tangible work before carpool leaves. At times, we have had to wake up earlier to allow us additional time to complete all our work.
In the car:
I really recommend a carpool if you have younger children. It minimizes younger sibling time in the car. We have met and gotten to know several wonderful families that live within “carpool” distance that we might not have known as they have students in different grades. We try to make the most of our time in the car. For my two grammar students, they each
have a pre-made clipboard that lives in the car, which has the history timeline, spelling and vocabulary words, and a printed copy of the grammar jingles on it as well as extra paper. We can complete math fact sheets in the car as well as other worksheet type homework (and the noise of your sibling or the carpool is great practice for your tests at school when friends tap their pencil!). Our Shurley English and history CDs live in the car for riding time too. My older students have transitioned to bringing their own assignments/study tools. My son laughed this summer when we got in the car to run an errand and he started looking around for his homework to realize with a laugh that, “It’s summer!” and there was no homework to work on!
Our home:
At the end of our homeschool “crunch” day, wow! The house is a wreck. While I prefer to keep an orderly home, lunch dishes and snack plates are all over the kitchen and the area where homework is done can be a pretty big mess. If we all pitch in, we can get things back in order in a half an hour. But I have found that my taking time to keep on top of things throughout the day misplaces my energy. If I get distracted with “house” work, I will soon look up to see I have lost a child or two to their rooms upstairs playing Legos or reading a book. While the kids are working, my energy seems better spent making certain the next item on the assignment sheet/ checklist is ready for the two youngest. The more streamlined their homework day is, the more we keep a happy heart to complete the work. Our best “crunch” days are the days that I took the extra 20 minutes to put something in the crock pot before the kiddos got up. It is always a blessing to have something yummy ready for dinner when the homework is complete and when Dad is home. There are many times I am putting something frozen in for dinner and that works too!
What a blessing God has provided to allow me to see the light bulb goes on when my child understands a difficult concept within the framework of Coram Deo. While crunch days, at times, seem to be insurmountable, I have the perspective that it is all too soon that your child will not need your help to schedule their day. Remember to keep your eyes on Him and He will provide the grace for us as moms and in turn for our children. 2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Coram Deo Café September Meeting Make plans to attend our September meeting in the Fireside Room! Our discussion topic will be “Getting Off to a Good Start”. We will kick it off with a panel of moms talking about how they set up their ‘school room’ and how they plan/organize to tackle the school day at home. Come for some fellowship and new ideas. Monday September 8, 8.30-9.30am. Host: Jacque Younger Tuesday September 9, 8.30am-9.30am. Host: Donna Rector Parent to Parent is Here to Help If you would like some help navigating your first year at CDA or your first experience with a grade, don’t forget that Parent to Parent can help. We can pair you with a seasoned mom who can show you the ropes and answer any questions you have along the way. We call it our Pride of Lions program. If you are interested please contact your P2P coordinator. Contacts: Grammar School M/W contact - Jacque Younger Grammar School T/Th contact - Kimberley Lyons Logic and High School M/W contact: Kristin Downey Logic and High School T/Th contact: Donna Rector Moms in Prayer Moms in Prayer meets twice each week! Mondays at 1:30pm ,The Little Brown Chapel at St. Nicholas Church, 4700 Wichita Trail. Contact: Leah Clark OR Thursdays after drop-off, 8:00am Grammar School Building. Contact Tessa Nownes CDA Parents’ Book Club Are you looking for an opportunity for intentionality and community? The Coram Deo Academy Parents’ Book Club might just be for you. Our selections range from topics of spiritual growth and parenting to literature that is a part of our CDA upper school curriculum. The books have been chosen to challenge, encourage, inspire and stimulate. If you have any questions or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you! Janelle@oppenheimer.net