Our Little Chef!

Our oldest daughter (13) absolutely loves to cook! 

So much so that she's collecting cooking books, creating her own recipes, and forever asking to be in the kitchen!

As her parents, we obviously are wanting to support her in her interest (that doesn't show any signs of changing!) and give her opportunity for growth and the chance to learn from her sometimes not so edible creations! 

We're so thankful that homeschooling allows these extra opportunities.

But ...

We seemed to be always clashing with when we were both wanting to be in the kitchen!

So my husband and I came up with this plan ...

... We would give our eager little Chef one night per week that is hers for her cooking night. (She can cook as many or as few dishes as she likes; entree, main, dessert, drink, etc.)

Thursday night works best for us all, so Thursday night it is! 

When we shared this with our daughter, she was thrilled to pieces!

There are, of course, some 'non-negotiable' rules that she has to follow ...

#1.  Plan your menu BEFORE mum goes shopping (usually Monday or Tuesday)

#2.  Write out your own list of ingredients needed when shopping 

(I use grocery money that I would normally use for that meal)

#3.  Please keep it budget friendly and healthy

(I can still 'rule-out' any meals too expensive, unhealthy, or difficult etc.)

#4.  Start with a clean kitchen, end with a clean kitchen 

#5.  Read and re-read all methods carefully BEFORE cooking

#6.  Try (as best as possible) to have the meal on the table before 6pm

#7.  Keep going, and never give up

#8.  Have fun!

We've found that this is such an easy way to support her love of cooking! 

It really works well (and I really enjoy the night off too!) 

As an extra addition to her cooking 'education', she keeps her own recipe journal as well (her own idea!) It contains recipes that she's tried and are now favourites, and recipes that she's developed herself over time. I can just see her cooking for her own family from this lovely book full of delicious meals, cakes, biscuits, desserts and everything in between! 

When time permits, I allow her to bake at other times as well, so she's not restricted to only Thursday nights.

And, as you can see ... my younger children have no problem with dressing up for the occasion and being our happy little waiters! They are sooooo cute! 

(Look at that tie and those braces, and those gloves and pearls! They melt my heart!)

The last meal that our daughter cooked, she asked if she could create her own menu too (we said yes), so that was designed and printed from Word, and placed on the table at each setting. We've also said that she can have fun with the decorating of the table, and again, the younger kids enjoy helping with this as well! 

Tonight her meal (as in pictures above) was an Asian Mince, with mashed potato (we 'judge' her meals, like she's asked us to, and all said that veggies would have been nice in it too, but it was sooo yummy!) and then mini apple pies (that she made from scratch!) with custard for dessert, delicious!

This is fast becoming a fun family night together and we're so very proud of our little Chef!

I think this quote says things quite perfectly ...

Have a truly blessed week!

A DVD Review - God of Wonders

Our family enjoys integrating educational DVD's into our homeschooling days from time to time, and one of our absolute favourites is God of Wonders. It is absolutely incredible! 

What I love about this DVD the most is that it truly does foster a sense of 'wonder' of our amazing God! Bible verses are used along side beautiful images, interesting facts and lovely narration so that we can see how the Bible lines up with the stunning creation that God has made. There is absolutely no way that this DVD supports or provides evidence for evolution; it's all about glorifying our amazing God, His power, authority, wisdom and creativity.

It's a DVD that's really enjoyable for all ages, whether child or adult. I can see it also leading into further 'topic studies' for science curriculum or nature studies.

There are 18 topics covered and it has a running length of 85 minutes. 

Topics Covered ... 

1. Introduction
2. God of Power
3. Thunderstorms
4. Sun/Stars
5. Universe
6. E=mc2
7. God of Wisdom
8. Snow Crystals
9. DNA
10. Seeds
11. Flowering Plants
12. Sea Creatures
13. Birds 
14. Hummingbirds
15. Butterflies
16. Mankind
17. God of Justice
18. God of Love

I would highly recommend this DVD to anyone. It's approach is very informative, but also very compassionate and therefor would make a great gift for anyone who might be confused or believing of evolution. I would rate this DVD 

If you're wanting to purchase this for your family or friends you can here, here and here!

Also, if you know any other DVD's that we could watch, please be sure to let me know, I'm always on the look out for anything that can teach my children about our marvelous God!! 

Have a beautiful week!

Helping Your Children Set Goals

Well we've started the last term of the school year and I thought it would be great to start it off by setting some new goals for this term. We sat down at the school table and each thought of some goals that we would like to see ourselves accomplish by the Christmas school holidays. 

I don't believe that goals need to be something that add pressure to our lives, but rather something that gives us focus, are achievable and something that allows us to see progress with the things that we would like to develop in.

So how do you go about helping your children set some goals?

Here are my pointers ...

•  Ask them to think about what they really really want to learn about or get better at. There's no point in setting goals if it's something you're not really interested in doing. Your just setting yourself up for failure.

• Ask them to be specific in what they want to achieve. Instead of writing just 'piano', for example, ask them to write what they want to learn about the piano. Do they want to learn three new songs, practise their scales each day, etc?

• Make sure their goals are realistic and going to be achieveable. Remember if you start smaller, then they can see that they can reach their goals, and will progress to setting bigger ones in time! Reading 50 novels by the end of term, if your child is a slower reader, is probably not going to be an achievable (or fun) goal. Finishing 1-2 might suit that child better. Small goals are better than none at all.

• Write them out and have them in a place where they're easily seen. You know the saying 'out of sight, out of mind'. I find it much easier to stay focused on something if I see a visual reminder of it daily. My kids have a copy of their goals in their room, and in the school room. They're nothing fancy, just written on a piece of paper. If you want to make yours fancier, go ahead!

• Be encouraging. None of this will work or be enjoyable for your children (or you for that matter), if you don't encourage them along the way! Whether it be verbal, physical or a reward that you offer, encouragement gets results! 

• We are helping each other. My children's goals are different from each others, but we are going to help each other with them when we can. Any opportunity to teach our children to be helpful (even if it's not their interest), is good!

How do you help your kids set goals? Do you have any other suggestions to add to this list? Add them in the comments below!

People with goals succeed because they know where they're going.

 -Earl Nightingale.

I'll share with you my goals in the coming posts!

Six Things I've Learnt As A Home School Novice ... So Far!

If you're a newcomer to the home school world, and like me still finding your way, then I have some pointers for you to hopefully help steer you in the right direction! These are the things that I've found to be very helpful so far for my family and I!

#1  Begin each day with a quiet time and prayer ...

Each morning I try to rise before the kids do, which is very hard sometimes when you have two children who mostly get up at the crack of dawn. That and the fact that I'm not naturally a morning person, means that sometimes I don't get out of bed early at all! On the mornings that I can, I make myself a hot cup of coffee and sit back in bed, or at the kitchen table and pour over my Bible in the peace and quiet of the early morning home. It sets the tone for the rest of the day. I pray for His wisdom and strength, His peace and joy. I thank Him for His goodness, His love and everything else! Sometimes it helps to journal as well, especially if there's a special scripture that has really stood out to me that day. The days where I don't have this time ... I really notice it. Everything seems to be that bit more stressful and unproductive.

#2  Get yourself dressed and ready for the day ...

It sounds simple, I know. It's not like any of us would just spend the day trudging around in our nighties or anything?! As simple as this sounds, it really makes a huge difference. Showering and dressing in clothes you love, be it a dress, or a skirt and top, pants, bathers, old clothes, whatever you prefer, is a great way to make sure you are beginning the day prepared, awake and ready to be productive! Do your skincare routine if you have one, put on a bit of makeup if you like, do your hair neatly, etc. It helps me to feel good about myself.

#3  Invest in new stationary ...

It's so good to create, write and learn using brand new stationary that actually works! Our last lot of felt tip pens looked like mini chimney sweep brushes! So, I tossed out the three year old hard crayons, chimney brushes and split pencils and stocked up on new ones! They were on special too, which is a bonus! It's a great incentive for the kids to work well and they've been busy creating beautiful artworks too!

#4  Have your school space as organised as possible ...

Your school space doesn't have to be expensive or fancy if you don't want it to be. Ours is quite basic (the above pic is only a little space of our books etc.) and simple as it's also the main dining room of our home. At the end of every school day we make an effort to put things back where they belong. It makes the whole space available for other activities and family meals, and also ensures that everything that is needed for the children's school work can be easily located when needed, saving time and frustration! Having my children be responsible for their own tidy up is important for many reasons; teaching them tidiness, organisation, respect of their parents home, being productive etc.

#5  Make time for yourself each day ...

I have learnt that if I want to be the best mother I possibly can (with God's help) than I need to take some time each day to just relax. I've learnt that the amount of time in which I have to do this is irrelevant to the benefits that we all receive from it. Even just 15 minutes of lying on the lounge resting, or having a hot cup of tea outside in the cool of the garden while the kids play is a very easy way to 're-charge' for the rest of the day ahead. Looking after ourselves is not selfish when we spend each day looking after the many needs of the ones we love, it is vital if we are to look after them well.

#6  Make time for your marriage ...

I have already posted on this point and you can read about it all here. You and your husband were a family before your children became a part of your story; make sure you take the time to cherish him, hug and kiss him, and build up his self-esteem. Of course, we don't always get this right, but it's important that our men still see that we are making an effort for them and not just our children.

#7  Clean as you go ...

I start some mornings when needed, by putting on a load of washing and asking a couple of my children to put away the clean dishes if they weren't done the night before. Our floors are swept in the morning, our cats fed, and our beds made with rooms relatively tidy. I find that with these basic chores done first thing, I can then go about the day doing other odd jobs in between helping children with school work and other daily activities. We all know what it's like to get to the end of the day and have the house look like a storm's hit. Cleaning as you go really helps to minimise end of day cleanup. Do the dishes at breakfast and lunch, sweep the floor as needed, stock the bathroom with clean towels, take out the rubbish, tidy the bookshelves. You can even fill the sink up with very hot water and detergent and just pop in your dishes as you go, if that works for you! Find ways to clean as you go and you'll find you gain more time at the end of the day!

I know that as our home schooling journey continues, there will be many more lessons to learn! I know that God is leading our journey, and for this I am so thankful! 

Have a beautiful week! 

Encouraging My Daughter

We woke to the most dense fog this morning. While driving my husband to his work, I was going at a snails pace as in front of me there was draped a thick white sheet which I could barely see through. It was stunning. While driving back home, I was seeing all these incredibly beautiful scenes passing me by and I was just wishing that I had thought to grab my camera! 

My eldest daughter hasn't been enjoying school very much this term and this morning my little sweetheart came undone. I don't normally allow the kids to stay home 'just because' - but today I just knew that my little girl needed some mummy time. She has very low self confidence and needed to be re-affirmed of her value and her worth by her mummy. I have been praying for some time with her and to have a way to build her confidence up.

After getting past the normal 'rush out the door to school' routine, Little Miss P and I arrived home to receive a phone call from one of my best friends. "I'm in the car, I've packed my camera, would you like me to pick you up so we can go take photos together?" (yes please!) I declined thankfully, as I knew Little Miss P needed some 'me' time, but then I thought to myself it might be a great way to build up her confidence, as she shares a love of photography too. I asked her what she thought and she very eagerly said yes! 

"Did you see that incredible fog this morning?!" my friend asked when she picked us up. I knew where she was headed, "I just wish I had my camera on me to capture the little lake with the ducks and the reeds ...". Yep, me too.

The three of us set off on our photographic adventure, stopping and starting the car to capture that elusive 'perfect shot'; reversing when we saw a gorgeous old fence or a dead tree (yes, they are beautiful!); zooming in for close-ups of tiny flowers and cobwebs; and the clouds, they were unbelievably stunning! We had a great time laughing, singing and chatting. 

I have to confess, and I am being very honest here, I'm not beating myself up or being unhappy with my own photography, but Little Miss P's photo's for this photo shoot turned out much better than mine. She has a photographic eye for sure! 

See for yourself! ...

When we got back home we headed straight to the computer to download all the photos we both took. God is just so faithful to answer our prayers! MR S and I were able to look through her photos and give her honest feedback! I could see that our encouragement on something that she achieved meant so much to her! It was her first official driving photo shoot and I am just so proud of her, and she's only nine! (next time, I'll be taking my Little Miss J out for a photo shoot!)

I love this part of being a mother ... the passing on of our loves, passions and skills to our children; seeing them persevere even if things are difficult; being able to encourage them and seeing them grow and develop individually!

I'll share my photo's with you at a later date ... but right now, I must go to bed, it's been a long and satisfying day! 

(We did watch a good long portion of BBC's Pride and Prejudice together too ... bonus!)



(Please remember that all Photographs are property of Sufficient Grace and Little Miss P, please do not copy my sweet daughters hard work without permission, thank you!)