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my blog, a new name and new look…

Written by Joy
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my blog, a new name and new look…

As you know, I no longer live in the Great Smokies of North Carolina.  We moved about 6 weeks ago to the beautiful state of Colorado.  So, I knew that I would need to change the title of my blog to something else.  I was asked if I would change it to My Home In The Rockies.  I had thought about that, but decided against it.  I joked with my husband that we probably would be moving again in another 7 years or so and I would have to change it again.  Then the work began of trying to think of a new name that would fit me and what I write about here on this blog.  I knew I wanted something that would fit our family, our faith and our homeschooling life.  After much thinking and praying, after talking with my husband and friends, I settled on “A Journey of Joy”.

a little sneak peek of my new blog

Why did I choose A Journey of Joy?  For the past several years, I have looked at my life as being a journey.  Everything I do, I do it one day at a time and I do it because I am on this trip of a lifetime.  A journey that hopefully will bring me closer to God.  With my faith, I am on a journey.  A journey to grow more in God. To praise and glorify Him every day.

Then, I am on this journey of homeschooling our children.  Again, it is something we do one day at a time.  We learn together as a family.  We take trips back in time, with history.  We do this to praise and glorify God.  He is the reason why we are homeschooling.

Then, my name is Joy.  Yes, I was blessed to be named Joy.  Other than being my name, what is Joy?  What does it mean?  The Merriam-Webster says

Definition of JOY

1 a : the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires
b : the expression or exhibition of such emotion
2: a state of happiness or felicity
3: a source or cause of delight

So while it is my name, I also want this blog to be a place of finding happiness.  Finding a source of delight.  We all know that being on journeys can be difficult at times.  I want to be able to go on the journeys with you and us find that happiness and delights together.  To get through those tough times of when things don’t go the way we think they should.  When we have those days that it seems like nothing is going right.  I want to be there to pick you up and encourage you in your faith and homeschooling journey.  Will you come along with me on this new journey?  I sure hope you will!

The new blog should be up and running on Monday.  Honey and Jonah from Honeycomb Design Studio have been working so hard to get this blog designed.  We will begin the process on Saturday.  Yes, I will  be bringing everything from this blog, to the new one.

I do have a new Facebook page for the new blog and you can find it here.  I hope you will stop by and like the new page.

I am looking forward to this next step in my journey.  I have a lot of new and exciting things planned an I can’t wait to share them with you.

Blessings.

 

 

2012, , , , ,

first week of school

Written by Joy
8 Comments
first week of school

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

While we had done a couple of weeks of school back in August, right after we moved to Colorado, this was our first week of school with our curriculum that I shared here.  Over all, I think it went rather well.  We do have some tweaking to do with our routine, but I think once we get a couple of weeks under our belt, we will be doing just what we need to be doing.

Samuel working on handwriting and Claire working on Math.

One of the things I have enjoyed the most about our week?  My children have gotten up, ready and have eaten breakfast and then got their books out to do school work.  They were so ready to get back to our regular routine.  They love to learn and that does warm my heart.

Now this isn’t to say that we haven’t had a few tears this week.  Even momma has had to talk with daddy during the day to get calmed down.  We have all been a little stressed with the move and that has played a big part with some of our attitudes (ahem), me included.  That is when we closed our books for a few moments and just talked.

Sarah working on math.

So what has really worked this week.  Well, mostly all of the school work, has worked!  haha   Seriously though, the Illuminations program that I am using, I like it a lot.  The kids are enjoying their school work.  They love the Mystery of History that we are doing.  The books we are reading, we are enjoying.  They are loving the Apologia Astronomy that we are reading.

What didn’t work this week?  Well, we are trying to get a hang of all the Language Art components.  Mostly that was my fault though.  I wasn’t nearly as prepared with the lesson plans as I had intended on being.  Also, changing from one subject to the next is going to take some work.  It has come to my attention that all three of my kids can not be working on math at the same time.  Especially, when it is 3 different grade levels of math.  I will need to find some independent work for the younger children, while I am helping their sister.

First week of school is a success!

Like I said, over all the week went pretty well.  I am happy with it.  I am looking forward to this year!

How did your week go?  Did you do any special projects?

Romans 12:2

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

2012, homeschooling, , , ,

vacation rental

Written by Joy
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vacation rental

As many of you know, we were blessed to be able to stay in a very nice vacation rental when we first moved to Golden, CO.  It is located in a gated community on a mountain.  It really is a beautiful place and I do miss being out in the country.  Many of you asked to see pictures of the place, so I thought I would share some with you.  This place is also for sale.  If you are interested in it, let me know and I will put you in contact with the owner.  😉

This is the back of the house from the top of the driveway.

This is the front of the house from the main road.

Just click on a picture to look at it.  I figured this might be easier to do since there were so many pictures.  Also, the house was lived in.  I didn’t pick up any thing or clean the kitchen.  We had been doing school that day and we hadn’t cleaned up yet.  😉

2012, family, , , ,

curriculum changes for the new school year …

Written by Joy
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curriculum changes for the new school year …

A lot has happened since I last posted about what we will be using for our curriculum for this school year.  The biggest, we moved.   So, as I am getting ready to start school again, there have been a few changes in our curriculum.  We will be using Illuminations.  They give many suggestions on what to use and even offer an awesome scheduling tool to help you prepare your lessons.  We will be using a lot of the suggestions that Illuminations gives.  One of the main reasons why I am going with Illuminations this year?  All three of my children will be using a lot of the same materials.  Especially my younger two.  I am hoping this will help scheduling and teaching them  slightly easier this year.

So what is Illuminations? Bright Ideas Press says it best in their description.

“Illuminations is an all-inclusive *curriculum, covering Bible, Language Arts (grammar, writing, copywork, spelling and vocabulary), Literature, Science, Humanities (poetry, theatre, music, and art), Geography, History, Life Skills, and Projects. Illuminations is built to compliment our Mystery of History or All American History Series.”

 So, what will we be using with Illuminations Year 1?  We are still using Mystery of History: Volume I.  We finished about a 1/4 of the book last year, so I thought I would save some money and just continue to use it this year.  All three of my children will be using this as their History.

For Language Arts, we will be using what they recommend.  For the younger kids, Natural Speller (Spelling), WriteShop (Writing), English from the Roots Up (Vocabulary) and Winston Grammar Basic Level AND The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation (Grammar).  They also give a great list for the Literature section.

I am excited about incorporating the geography that they are recommending; The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide and Hands-On Geography.  We will also be using WonderMaps.  We have used it in the past and it is one of the best programs that I have seen.

I love Apologia Science curriculum, so we will be continuing on with it this year.  The younger two kids have asked to study Astronomy.  My oldest daughter, who is now in 9th grade, will be doing Biology from Apologia.

For Math, we are sticking with Bob Jones for Samuel and Claire.  Sarah, she will continue with Teaching Textbooks.  If it works, I see no need of changing it.

We will also continue to use See The Light for our art curriculum.  My younger two have absolutely enjoyed using this and have learned a lot.  I love how Pat Knepley teaches the art and then shares a scripture at the end of the lesson.   As for Sarah, she will be using Artistic Pursuits.  I think she will be challenged by this art curriculum.  I am also wanting to add Harmony Fine Arts at Home.  We will also be using the Young Guide to Composers curriculum.

The most important book of all we will be using, is the Bible.  It is important to me for my children to learn about God and to love Him with all their heart.  We will also be using the Who is God? curriculum from Apologia, for a family bible study.  I am excited to be able to use this with all three of my children.

While it does seem like a lot, it really does not take long to complete the work that is involved.  Illuminations has this amazing scheduling tool that I can use to schedule the curriculum out the way I need to.  I am excited about this curriculum and look forward to sharing with you all we learn this year.

I would love for you to share with me some of the curriculum you are using this year.  Is it working so far?  Have you had to change anything yet?  Let me know in the comments!

2012, homeschooling, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,