WHAT ARE YOU WONDERING WEDNESDAY PART TWO

The other day on Instagram I posted question box asking y’all to throw some of your homeschool/homemaking questions my way. While I never profess to be an expert in either of those subjects I do enjoy talking about them and I always enjoy these Wondering Wednesday posts. Today I have a variety of your wonderings to cover so let’s get to it, shall we?

What Curriculum Are You Using Currently

I’ve talked about what we are using and what we love HERE in this post. I don’t think we have added anything new or different since then.

What Is Your Trim Color

I have a whole blog post with all of our paint colors HERE

How Do You Count Your School Days

We count the days and not the hours. We do school 5 days a week and I just have a log that I check each day we do school. We make sure to do at least 180 days a year and we always complete our entire workbook for each subject.

Where Is Your Bed Frame From

Our bed frame is from a company based in California. We purchased it several years ago. I really wanted an iron bed, but my husband wasn’t on board because he was worried about it be flimsy and rickety. We visited a small local furniture store (basically where we have purchased all of our new furniture) and they offer iron beds through Wesley Allen. We were able to see the bed in person and were really impressed with the sturdiness. We are so happy with the purchase. It’s still as sturdy today as it was when we got it. The finish has held up wonderfully. It’s a solid piece of furniture and we love it! You can view their catalog HERE

Do You Make Your Own Cleaning Products

I have made my own before and I use a lot of basic products, such as vinegar and castile soap. I do make our own foaming hand soap, though it’s not much of a process just mix distilled water and castile soap, haha. I’ve made my own wood cleaner before and all purpose spray. If I am going the “store bought” route I really like Force of Nature spray or Thieves spray for cleaning. For scrubby jobs I like using things like baking soda and soap or bon ami. Norwex has a cleaning paste that I love as well.

How To Keep The Home Tidy With Babies and Toddlers

I realize it may be easier to say than to do…but it is possible. Even when my boys were little I had a routine and schedule in place. I stayed home with them so it was easy for us to stick to our daily schedules. I realize this may be harder for moms who work outside the home. I taught them from a young age how to clean up their toys when they were done with them. I helped them with this when they were really little. They aren’t naturally going to do this so it’s our job to teach them. I would always try to clean up one thing before we pulled something else out. I did a lot of my cleaning when they napped. I worked hard to get them on the same nap schedule at least for the afternoon. When I needed to get something done while they were awake I took them along with me from room to room. I would set up a little play corner with toys I kept separate for times like that. Toys they didn’t always play with so they were very interesting and fun! Children thrive on rhythms and they need to learn independence. It’s healthy for them to play quietly nearby without Mama entertaining them all day.

When Did You Start Homemaking

Honestly, since my husband and I were married and I moved in. I have loved making our home. Cooking for him, keeping house, packing his lunch. I find joy in caring for the people I love. It’s a gift to get to spend my days at home serving the people I love most. I believe we are all makers of homes. Whether you are single, newlywed, have children, don’t have children. We all are called to create a place of rest and comfort for our family and guests who enter. There is so much joy when we see the gift it is to serve others through Homemaking.

Struggling To Teach A Child Who Is My Polar Opposite

The beauty of homeschooling is you have the ability to teach your child according to their own personal needs. My oldest is so different from me, I had to learn quickly that his brain just doesn’t work like mine, and he doesn’t excel at the things I did at his age and many of the things that he excels at are things that I never did well at. It can be hard, I get it…naturally we want to teach them according to how we learn. Be gracious with them and with yourself, try different ways of teaching. Talk to them about it. Ask them questions, study them and when and how they grasp things. You love you kiddo more than anyone else and want them to excel and grow. You’ll figure it out with a little time. Pray about it alone and with them. Seek the Lord and He will direct your path.

Home Remedies For Cold Season

Well, I will start with this; I’m no doctor, haha. Personally this time of year we like to keep up with our vitamins, C and D. My husband and I take zinc during the winter months. Elderberry is a staple as well. We have homeopathic medicine for cold and flu symptoms, humidifiers. We try to eat well, low sugar, fruits, veggies, etc. Nose irrigation for my husband and I is something we started doing this year as well. If we do get sick we continue doing all those things along with rest and good hydration. We can’t avoid getting sick, but we can nourish and care for our bodies/immune systems so that when we do get sick we can fight it off.

What Does Your Daily Schedule Look Like

A normal average day at home in the winter looks like this:

• Husband and I get up at about 6:00 | We have breakfast and I pack his lunch and get my coffee started.
• I throw a load of laundry in and empty the dishwasher — if I don’t do this I have the boys do it when they wake up as their morning chores.
• I spend time reading my Bible and The Valley of Vision — prayer
• The boys usually get up around 7:30 and they eat breakfast. This is usually something I’ve made in advance (pancakes, waffles, banana bread, applesauce bread, baked oatmeal.) If I don’t have those things they usually choose yogurt and peanut butter toast.
• I make the bed
• Get the laundry out
• They brush teeth and we get ready for the day – make their beds
• Do our morning catechism and Bible reading together. Right now we are reading through the Psalms.
• Then we start school at about 8:30
• School until lunch at about 11:00
• We finish up any school around 11:45-12:00
• We read in the afternoon together and cuddle up or meet at the kitchen table. We also use this time for science or history an art project etc. the boys play, we go outside if the weather is nice etc.
• Around 2:30ish we tidy up and the boys get an hour of screen time (Mondays and Fridays they don’t get screen time. Those are their screen free days) I usually workout and get some house work done during that time
• Around 3:30-4:00 I do a final sweep to make sure the house is picked up and then start supper around 4:00-4:30 depending on what I am making

That is just a simple day. In the spring, summer and fall we have co-op one day a week and we also have piano lessons. This year we are hoping to enroll our oldest into swim.

Tell Us About Your Catechism

We use THESE books from Founders Ministries. The have a 3 book set. We only have book 1 and 2. These are pretty straight forward. They have the questions and answers laid out for you along with the corresponding scripture verse(s) They also include, memory verses in the back as well as hymns. We use this daily with our boys. I believe one of the great faults in the Christian home in our modern age is that parents have stopped catechizing their kids. It is a simple way to hide truth in the hearts of our children!

There were some other questions I may make into their own full posts or just address in my stories on IG. For now I think we are going to stop there. If you asked something or are wondering something you’re always welcome to leave me a comment on the blog! Thanks a bunch for stopping by today friends!

Blessings,

Bree