Hi Guys,
I thought it might be nice to have a place where we could come and share homechooling tips with each other - things that worked - things to avoid...

I also thought it could be a place of encouragement. Maybe if we share with each other the things we're doing and the results we're having, we'll motivate each other.

I'll start... on Thursday, I DID NOT want to get out the hose and get all wet doing the rainbow thing, but I had decided ahead of time that would be our one biggy for the day. I thought, okay, this is one of things that because we're homeschooling we can do - but when the time came, I have to say, it was all I could do to drag myself out there. (It was 2:00 or so - my "I need a nap time.") We ended up having a great water fight, watering the neighbors mushrooms, and eventually seeing the rainbow. Since we were all wet, we rode our bikes to the pool and played for around 30 minutes.

It ended up being one of our best homeschool days ever.

Another big factor to that was, I finally followed the directions after a year and one week of homeschooling - of really setting up a special, specific place for us to do school each day. Following a visual I got from Mamie, Riane and I moved her little red desk upstairs in front of a window in the FROG. We brought up all the supplies we needed, construction paper, markers, crayons, scissors, all her homeschool books, etc. and stocked her desk and a special drawer just for her (setting it up together was fun - it was like playing house - or school I guess).

Usually we're just at the kitchen table - haphazardly - or she's at her desk while I'm at mine doing my own work, but this year I wanted it to be different. I wanted to really be focused on her while I'm teaching her. This new set up really gave it a whole different feel - our own little special "classroom".