Monday, April 23, 2007

McBenning School Updates

Although it is a busy time for me in preparation of Field Day, school must go on! The schedule for our school is probably different than public school, so I will give an overview of our day.

My husband and I are both going to school on line, so we wake up around 5:00 am. He studies while I do a heart smart routine.(This is a friendly way of saying I need to exercise to maintain my mom of four physique!) Bill then makes his breakfast while I iron and catch up on any chores, and write the days school requirements on the dry erase board. Bill leaves for work at 7:45 am and I begin blogging. Sometimes earlier. But by 9:00 am I am getting the kids going on the day.

First they must make their beds, then read a scripture. We have a rule in the house, No Bible No Breakfast, No read No feed! So if the natives are hungry they read. Usually a Psalm. After breakfast they begin their kitchen chores. After kitchen chores they begin school. Each of the kids has a column of what is required of them. We have group Bible studies, group History studies, and group grammar studies. They also have individual grammar and History. I just use the group time to reinforce the basics.

We also have devoted the entire year to biographies so they must read 2 biographies a month. I have a large selection of books, and the biographies are either of historical figures(Julius Caesar, George Washington Carver, Thomas Paine, Lewis and Clark to name a few) or Christian biographies(Corrie ten Boom, Nate Saint, or Amy Carmichael, just to name a few). This has been a wonderful time for us all. It really is uplifting to find out about our early leaders, and about those who left the comforts of home to serve the Lord.

So the kids work on school self paced, as long as they stay on track. Around 1:00 pm we have lunch. Lunch is usually Ramen Noodles spiced up with corn and hotdogs! They can take a break for about 25 minutes. Then back to school. They use the computer for typing and research. This is why for school I am so grateful to have 2 mac's. My brother gave them to us, and I love all the updates, and parental controls. The kids also have a windows computer for editing, writing, and movie making. I share a laptop with my husband in the Living Room.

The kids then work on math and science. Reading is a daily event in our house and I am so pleased that all the kids love to read.

We continue school until around 4 pm then I release the monkeys.

I hope you enjoyed our window into McBenning School.

(My oldest, First is finished with school and works full-time at a local custard shop, saving money for college. I guess that's really an sneak peak into our day.)

5 comments:

Jennifer in MS said...

Yes, I enjoyed the window into your school day!

I love your rule about reading before the feeding! That's great!

I just love your whole routine! Thanks for sharing!

Portrait of Peter said...

Thank you for this wonderful insight into the children's homeschooling and the importance also of their duties in the home too.

I so luv to read a biography too - have any of your children read any English/Scottish biograhy?

Thanks for sharing

Unknown said...

I loved peeking into your day! I feel I know you and family better.

Pen of Jen said...

Thank you all for reading about our day.
Peter we have read missionary stories about Hudson Taylor, Eric Liddell,C.T. Studdd, and Amy Carmichael. Do you have any suggestions for others?

Portrait of Peter said...

One in particular comes to mind that of the following:

Mary Slessor - a Scottish Missionary in Africa. She was born in 1848 and died in 1915 and today her picture is on the rear of Scottish Bank Notes (Clydesdale Bank).

She may well be worthy of further research and interest for your children.

I am so enjoying learning more about homeschooling and in particular a Christian Theme - all the more important.

Blessings to you and the family.

Peter