Start Slow, Finish Strong!

Since the Stumpf School will be officially back in session next Monday (gulp!), I've been trying to get my brain around what this year will look like for us.

I will have 6 school-age students from kindergarten to 9th grade. Plus one preschooler and a toddler that is a weapon of mass destruction. Since I will be moderating somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 subjects, this year, more than ever, I will be employing the "start slow" philosophy.

For the first two weeks of school we will focus on the basics: phonics or language arts, math, science, and subjects that are pre-scheduled for 36 weeks. We will hold off on Circle Time, History, Writing, and other subjects that I schedule for 30 weeks per year.

These "light days" will enable us to settle back in without feeling overwhelmed. We'll be able to see the areas in our schedule that need to be "tweaked." For a couple children, we're trying some new curriculum, so we'll be able to tell if it's a good fit without rushing.

The Stumpfs are ready to start back to school and the more structured days that come with it!

Back To Blogging Again...

I'm enjoying a day at a library to get my plans together for school this year and spend some time re-entering the blog-o-sphere. My break ended up being longer than expected but also more needed than expected! Thanks for your patience and emails of support.

We've just wrapped up our 4-H fair work for the year (except for Meggie whose floral arrangement is going to the State Fair), Ted celebrated a birthday, and our family has enjoyed making some plans for the future (both immediate and long-range).

I look forward to sharing what's been going on, as well as what we're looking forward to, over the next few weeks!

Under Construction

I'm working to re-design this blog during my blogging break. Things could very well be looking a little crazy and jumping around. Hopefully it will come out great in the end! I'll be back at the blogging in a couple weeks.

Taking a Summer Break

As much as I hate to say it, I'm at the point of "something has got to give." This has become a season where my time has become more precious as we work on 4-H projects every evening, try to keep the nightly exercise resolution that Bryan and I made, go to classes all day on Saturdays, not to mention, well, life!

As much as I love to putter around this blog, I'm taking it off my "to-do" list for the time being. I still hope to post occasionally as time allows, but definitely not as a daily goal.

I hope you'll stop by now and again to see if we've been up to anything. In a month or so, things should be calmer (that is a relative term).

God Bless,
Lainie

Our Indiana Adventure - Day 2

On day 2 of our Indiana History Adventure we toured the George Rogers Clark National Historic Site. Here we are blocking the cool display!








Emelie, Ted, Meghan, and Caleb became Junior Rangers at the site by completing a quiz.



We walked across the Wabash River into Illinois and decided to join Abraham Lincoln on the Lincoln Heritage Trail.




After lunch we toured the historic buildings of Vincennes. Caleb is Speaker of the House in the Territory Capitol building.


It was a fun but exhausting day!

WFMW - Our New Chore System Reviewed

We've been working with our new chore system based on Managers of Their Chores for a couple weeks. Overall, I've been very pleased in how things are going.

There is quite a bit of study that goes into setting up this system. I was originally skeptical that a chore system based on the concept of clipping the chores to one's person would be superior to the job lists that we've used for years. Also, the book wasn't cheap. Around $37 including shipping and the extra ChorePack kit we needed.

In the end, my expectations have been surpassed. The children need much less reminding to stay on task. Caleb calls his chores "missions" and is excited to complete his missions. They often decide start their jobs early so they can zip through their ChorePacks quicker at job time.

Emelie is the only one that seems to think this system is beneath her. However, the fact that I have my own ChorePack that I faithfully wear has helped that attitude. The little girls are prone to forget their packs especially when it comes to changing their clothes. I need to be more diligent about keeping them on task.

The best things that have come out of this are things I didn't expect. Their master chore list brought up jobs we hadn't been doing (assigning someone to clean out the van  or cleaning up the front porch weekly). My bedroom and bathroom have never looked better since I'm reminded to tidy them up every day. And we all love that little vacuum!

Using an acronym from the book I made this wall chart that we recite through at breakfast.


I also loved the idea of listing out what is necessary for a job to be complete. These are on the backs of the doors to almost every room.


Bryan uses the Chore Assignment List when he does inspections in the evenings. It's in a page protector so he can mark areas that need to be reworked.




I give this system a big "thumbs-up." While it may seem tedious to read through 19 chapters on chores, it helped me create a system that is well thought-out and, best of all, it's working!

Our Indiana Adventure - Day 1

We spent a wonderful long weekend being able to experience much of the Indiana State History that we had studied this past semester. So much easier to plan field trips for state history than when studying ancient Rome!


The trip started with a tour of the Levi Coffin Home. He was "President of the Underground Railroad" and helped as many 2,000 slaves and kidnapped freemen find freedom.


This is the bell that Levi's wife, Aunt Katie, would ring to call Levi home if their were slave hunters about. I want one (the bell, not slave hunters)!!



Heidi and Brigitta are sitting in the tiny, hidden space under the eaves where the Coffins would hide their "guests" from slave hunters.



And here are the cuties again in an adorably unscripted moment at lunch.


We drove on to the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site. We toured the operating gristmill in this quaint town. We planned to ride the horse-drawn canal boats, but an approaching thunderstorm nixed that idea.


We drove three more hours to get to Grandma Nan's where we would bunk for the rest of the weekend. The history adventure had just begun...