Happy At Home

Hello again, friends!

I am always happy to begin a new post because it makes me feel like I'm getting to visit with an old, dear friend!

Have you been enjoying fall?

Have you been enjoying your home?

Our homes should be our most favorite place to be!

Whenever we're pulling into our driveway after being away for a while, I always say to the kids, "Hey, look! It's the most wonderful place in the whole world... Home!!!"

The bible teaches that we should be, "... loving to our husbands and children, self-controlled, pure, and busy at home..." Titus 2:4-5

Sometimes we must leave our homes, of course, but I think we should try to limit it to only when necessary.

This thought was in the forefront of my mind when I drew up our back-to-school schedule. 

My vision was to have a schedule that allowed us plenty of time to enjoy being home, with a few trips into town during the week for classes that would enrich our lives in meaningful ways; NOT keep us unnecessarily busy!

So today's post is our out-of-the-home school day schedule.

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With the exception of the baby, I wanted each child to partake in one class a week at our local community center.

It's been going really well!

Roman chose an art class:

Nola chose Ballet:

And Soren learned to swim:

Not wanting to be unnecessarily busy, but being purposeful in our class choices means thinking about what cannot be provided at home. For example, we don't have a pool or a ballet barre at home.

It also means thinking about long-term life skills, like swimming for example. This is a non-negotiable in my mind. All children should learn how to be strong swimmers!

(I should also note, since we're talking about life skills, that my children take piano lessons during the week from a skilled friend. But I don't have pictures of that. We consider it their "music class".)

I also think about how I can combine trips into town, to cut down on gas and time waste. One of the reasons why Nola and Roman's classes were chosen was because the class times overlap. So, sort of like killing two birds with one stone, we get two classes out of one afternoon trip to our community center per week. 

These things should all be considered to make the best use of our time.

WE are the managers of our homes and families. God expects us to prioritize and schedule wisely!

"She watches over the affairs of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31:27

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Young children don't need to be yanked all over the place, from one event to another. A loving home is the best environment for babies and young children to thrive.

Getting all of their extra activities and classes in during the school day is one of the many reasons why we homeschool. That way our nights and weekends are free to simply enjoy our home and family together.

I'm sure when my children are older our out-of-the-house schedule will be much busier. But for now we are happy at home.

Take care sweet friends,

xo,

~ Courtney ~