Journal ~ Textbooks and Lots of Praise!!!

Hello Sisters!

I have to confess, I've been getting the lazies about blogging. In the last few weeks I've had 2 big changes, so I have a valid excuse.

With 6 children things can sometimes be a little crazy around here, to say the least, so sticking to my Managers of Their Home schedule is vital to accomplishing anything. My older 2 children have been asking me for their "own" books and schedule because they do not want to do "school" with the youngers anymore. I don't blame them. Between dirty diapers, child training, spilled juice, and dog poop on shoes, they were really wasting a lot of time just "waiting" for Mom.

Since I so much enjoyed Teri's book MOTH and Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit, I thought I'd give her book MOTHomeschool a try. Well, her experience with unit studies and other methods of hsing sounds just like mine. Her family finally gave it up at went to text books, and like I said I am a die-hard eclectic hsing fan, but I have in the last 2 weeks switched the older 3 to texts and guess what??? THEY LOVE IT!!!!! They love doing things on their own without having to wait for Mom and they actually press themselves to dig deeper into their studies because they "want to."

The younger 2 (8 yog and 5 yob) have their little "learning bags" with their MUS (math-u-see) book, and a blank notebook where we practice handwriting, and they also keep their other reading books in there that we read during afternoon snuggle/book time. The 1 yog just comes along for the ride! :)

Another big change came about when I read something (now I can't remember where I read it), but anyway it was talking about children's behavior. It said if you are having dificulty with a child, DON'T FOCUS ON HIS ATTITUDE OR BEHAVIOR, FOCUS IN STEAD ON YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. Bad behavior has been meet by me with snuggles, kisses, smiles, words of encouragement and praise. I HAVE SEEN SUCH A BEAUTIFUL BLOOMING IN MY CHILDREN, ALL OF THEM, just in the last few weeks, that I don't want to go back to my old self. My 5 yob can blurt out to his 14 yob, "you never play with me, I hate you." Instead of me getting upset with him, I'm looking at why he said that. Hmmm, he is right, they need a structured time to play daily, not just "when we have time." And, it would help if I'd cut them some apples and maybe make a nice sandwhich and tell them to have a picinic....I've been doing this by the way, and my 5 yob will AUTOMATICALLY CORRECT HIMSELF (not every time yet) but most of the time he will.

I try to offer praise and encouragement MUCH, MUCH more than I did. I compliment them when I can and when correction is needed, we talk about it and by talking about it 9.9 times out of 10, they self-correct themselves. To me, it is like my relationship with Jesus. He shows me where I am missing it, and because He is so gentle and encouraging, I usually (9.9 times out of 10 ) self-correct myself. Just by SPENDING TIME with my Father I can self-correct. He is showing me how my children look to me (and how I respond to them) as a picture of how I look to Him and how He responds to me. Pretty awesome huh? We have an awesome Father!!! It's all about Him!!!!

Blessings,
Shannon