It's Official

Goldbach Academy has relocated to South Carolina! 

Our new front door - Welcome friends!

Merry Christmas!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Dancer!

Stoic Elf

First Greenville field trip - to BJU to tour the museum to see ancient artifacts.

Learning how BJU curriculum is made at the printing shop.

Paper folders, sorting through the good and bad papers printed.

Jocelyn was fascinated by the paper folding machines!

It's been a whirlwind, the last few weeks! We've managed to move everything and begin to get back into our studies at home. Lots of projects happening around the house, and still unpacking boxes... but are able to get rid of at least 50 of them!

We could not have done this, at least as well as we did, without the help of some amazing friends... Kim, who facilitated our move and actually cleaned our house, Brooke, who kept the kids multiple times while we packed and organized and cleaned, and the folks in our new digs who have been bringing us meals and befriending us!
It will take time to adjust, more time than we'd like, but so far we are meeting our neighbors, plugging in, we have our library card and we found the Trader Joe's so those are the major things, right?!
We even managed to attend the Christmas parade - it was so cute, on Main Street parallel to the railroad tracks, and they had grocery stores with dancing grocery carts! The cutest!
Praying God will continue to grow our community here and use us to serve Him!

His, 

Mama G

Homeschool Life - Week 5

So, we are getting ready to ride out Hurricane Florence over here as all of our weekend plans have been canceled! Here are some highlights from the last couple days...

Learning about whales in science... here is Dylan's cartoon of a band singing a whale song.

Teaching whale anatomy

Jocelyn's chart for her story writing, to keep characters in order... I don't understand it but she does so that's all that counts!

Great short book summarizing Native Americans and their territories... we are also mapping out the different tribes over this US map and it's very interesting to learn about the people who lived here before we did!

We are all enjoying this book... 

Jocelyn's floor plan of her bedroom - from memory! 

Even when doing math, it's all rainbows and unicorns to this little one!

Dylan loved this book... about children traveling from England to the New World to find their father after their mother passed away - set in the 1600's

Our favorite children's book about heroes during 9-11-01

Found this magazine on 9/11/18 while cleaning out some old bins!

We will never forget... I'll let the kids look through this when we study modern history, and when they are a bit older. The images are disturbing. Such a sad day in our history, but as Fred Rogers said, "Always look for the helpers..."

Week 4: Goldbach Academy

This is our first year doing Sonlight! So far, we are doing really well - getting used to more reading each day, and Dylan is getting up early every day and knocking out his Bible reading and history readers.
We started out learning by weeks, but then we had a field trip last Monday and realized we were off by one day. So, instead of cramming 2 days worth of information into the next day, I decided it would be better to go by days and take our time. There is so much to learn!

Sealife Aquarium 

The kids favorite subject is science. They are voracious note takers as I read Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. It's amazing to me, as science was not my favorite subject... but I am loving it too and learning so much along with them! 

Experiments are the most fun, of course... Today we were seeing if hot water or cold water is heavier. They are learning about what causes currents in oceans and fresh water.

We are also growing accustomed to Dylan having karate 3 days a week. Mondays are quite a hustle! After karate, Dylan has a drum lesson and I teach piano and voice students at the Music School. I love it and I love my students! It's so much fun.

Little math whiz...

Another thing we are getting really good at is daily chores! This is tough for mommy... I'm not particularly good at doing chores, but we've been using a list for a few months that has been working so well. The kids are so much happier when they have responsibilities - it helps them understand that they are a vital part of our family, I guess. Of course there are some complaints, but generally speaking they know what is expected of them. They do get allowance on Fridays for certain chores, but other chores like dishes, sweeping, setting and clearing the table - those are just expected of them as members of the family. It's a system that really seems to be working! It also allows me more time to do things like mop, clean my own room and bathroom, etc...

Schedule, daily jobs, etc...

September will bring a few more activities, like an 8 week Basic Anatomy class led by my friend Kim, and some outreach activities with our church family. It's hard to be believe we are already in Week 4 of this school year! Since last winter was so hard, I'm not particularly looking forward to fall yet. Plus it's still 90 degrees around here! The guinea pigs are also really enjoying the summer still, grazing in the front yard. They are so cute - they don't even go very far. They really prefer to be close to us or hiding under something.

Evening grazing (can you spot Rocket? He's the solid black dark spot near the bushes!)

Sweet girls... 

Week 1

What we're reading this week:

Mommy:
Parenting by Paul David Tripp
The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield
The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers by Amy Hollingsworth

Dylan:
The Corn Grows Ripe by Dorothy Rhoads
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down by Jeff Kinney
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney
Big Nate: In the Zone by Lincoln Peirce

Jocelyn:
A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Dry
Annie and Snowball and the Pink Surprise by Cynthia Rylant
Fancy Nancy: Peanut Butter and Jellyfish by Jane O'Connor

Together:
Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser
Pedro's Journal by Pam Conrad


What we're listening to this week:
I Am by David Crowder
Psalm 8:1 by The Rizers
God is Creator (Genesis 1:1-3) by Seeds Family Worship
I Just Need You by TobyMac

New Beginnings

It's a new school year at Goldbach Academy! This year I feel more prepared than I ever have and it feels so good. It's like we've really hit our stride.

We're trying a new curriculum this year - Sonlight for Bible, History and Literature, as well as Language Arts for Dylan. Jocelyn joins us on all but the LA - she has her own new curriculum that we love so far called Learning Language Arts through Literature.

Since Sonlight can be on the more pricey side, I took the time to piece it together buying many books used and also taking advantage of our local library. So far, two days in, it's a lot more reading that we are used to but we've been able to keep up! I especially love that Dylan has his own readers that are linked to the history lessons.

I also went ahead and got the extras, such as a History timeline book and a Lapbook kit for American History. We're starting that tomorrow. They love to be hands on when learning so I think it will go over pretty well!

Their favorite subject by far is science. We are doing Apologia again this year; last year we focused on Flying Creatures of the 5th Day (of Creation) and this year we are doing the next Zoology book: Swimming Creatures. They devour the subject material, ask a million questions while I'm reading, and Jocelyn even wants to take notes, draw pictures, and spell out the scientific terms she is learning like zooplankton and phytoplankton! It always surprises me how much they love learning about this stuff... but that's probably because science was so boring to me in school!

We're sticking with our same MCP Mathematics books that have served us well over the last few years. Jocelyn is reusing Dylan's 2nd grade book that he barely marked up. I'm also teaching her off the page counting by 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's to prepare for multiplication. She really has a knack for math so it comes pretty easily for her. Now if she'd just write her numbers the correct way! I'm sure that will come with time and practice.

The best things about this school year so far are...
#1. It's super organized and done for me, with the instructor's guide... no more piecing things together myself so much less stress! And Dylan is THRIVING because he LOVES knowing what's next and exactly what is expected of him. Jocelyn doesn't care too much about checking off a list, but having one certainly helps me keep her on track so we are practicing what we need to daily.
#2. My attitude is much more relaxed and I feel so prepared to handle the emotions of the day. This is due to preparation and prayer. I've been reading this awesome book called Parenting by Paul David Tripp - the concepts in the book are helping me practically handle attitudes that come from children who are learning at home! Being their teacher/mom isn't an easy task but I feel pretty good about my own responsibility which is to remain calm and recognize they are just sinners like me trying to do their best! Giving lots of structure, follow through, and grace has helped this year start off tremendously well.

I don't know what the Lord has in store for us this year. I do know this: My children may be the students of Goldbach Academy to the state of North Carolina, but I am forever their students -  learning what makes them tick, what inspires them, discovering more deeply who God created them to be and it's the biggest privilege of my life to be the one who guides them as they learn more about His amazing world and their place in it!

Labor Day Parade Fun

We love going to parades! The kids love quickly collecting candy tossed from floats, waving to the local princesses and politicians perched on classic cars, and admiring the shiny firetrucks rolling slowly by. The local high school marching bands are my favorite, especially the drum core. I also love making a special effort to cheer on the flautists "GO FLUTE SECTION!" reminiscing about nerdy high school marching band squad leader days gone by! This usually gets at least one to blush and smile big with appreciation. 

We all love the Shriners and their fancy cars with funny horns, funny hats and especially adore the Shriners Hospital truck and trailer because of all the good they do for children! 

Celebrating 25 years!

Beautiful float advertising a Chinese Lantern event at a local botanical gardens this fall.

Oh-ho the Well's Fargo Wagon is a-comin' down the street, oh please let it be for me!

Dylan trying out the rocking chairs in the shade with another kid, looking like a couple of old men!

Cheering for Shriners Hospital - Biggest Cuddliest Teddy Bear ever!

This year, the parade was interrupted (for around 10 minutes) by the local train that still runs through the town square! That was a first for us! We made a new friend named Nan who was surprised when I confided she shared my college roommate's first name! She lived in a very small NC town and had never known another Nan.
When the "Fallen Heroes" firetruck pulled through, led by a young man solemnly holding out in front of him a firemen's helmet in his open hands... tears were rolling as we cheered! I always get a little emotional during a parade...
Also, during the parade festivities a photographer came close to where we were standing and started snapping lots of photos. She asked me if she could use photos of our daughter for the Charlotte Observer! I gave her Jocelyn's name and age, and here she is! Kev is there too, rooting on the Penguins with his hockey T-shirt. Great shot of the dancers leaping into the air, too!
The weekend has just begun as we have a full day tomorrow and Monday we take a break from laboring to spend time together and with friends. Proud and grateful to be a working American!

His, Mama G

Back to School - Neighborhood Edition

I love hearing all our neighborhood friend's reports about their first week of school! I love that they come over and tell me all about it <3

One hates it so far and wants to be homeschooled (mainly because of the uniforms! "They are NOT cute!" lol), one said his teacher is mean, one said she loves school and her teacher is her most favorite teacher EVER, one said she is tired from waking up so early and actually fell asleep during one of her classes today! 

One middle schooler has a pretty busy schedule and hasn't formed an opinion about it yet, and all of the children unanimously hate their school lunches and ate lots of pancakes, fruit squeezers, popsicles and French toast sticks when they came home.

The first week is always such an adjustment - for everyone! 

When Dylan was in public school, I remember we all had to adjust to the early hours and uniforms and school lunches and baby girl had to adjust to big brother not being there all the time! 

Now, our kiddos still have to adjust... to waking up and doing math problems at the table instead of watching Phineas and Ferb! Total bummer!

We also do fun things at the table like have afternoon tea! 

There is a LOT of pressure on kids and sometimes they don't have time to just be KIDS. So grateful to be here to experience that part... the wonder of a lady bug. The beauty of friendship. Debating keeping my distance when it might be tempting to break up a fight instead of let it run its course, and yet being nearby to remind them to play nicely and be friends.

This summer, God showed me there is much more He expects of me than to just raise my children. He wants me to be a light in my neighborhood. Really, intentionally reach out. Making an effort to be kind and encouraging and loving. As if they were all my kids. After all, this is my neighborhood, my city... they are mine, in a way. 

I've done this intentionally in the past, but since we were called to serve at a church across town 4 years ago, it has been difficult to really dig in... I felt as if I was being led away although we find ourselves still here. Yet God gave me a nudge this summer and it continues during the school year. 

I can love in the waiting. 

I can decide each day to reach out to the people that are around me, even if tomorrow those surroundings change. Also, we can choose to homeschool and still be an integral part of our community. And that is my intention... to disciple and love these children and their parents, grandparents, step-parents, etc... until the Lord moves us to a new community to do the same!

With that, I wish you ALL a wonderful school year, precious kiddos! May you learn and grow and discover the MAKER who put all this here for you to experience - may ALL of it draw you close to HIM! May you look to Jesus, who knows your pain (however small it might seem to others) for He truly loves and cares about you. When things aren't perfect, might that cause you to realize there is something much greater than this life. And may we continue to go to the Lord for strength as we love our neighbors and reach out to our communities!

His, Mama G