Langfordism ~ BYOB

It is not an uncommon occurrence at our house, when we are gathering around the table, particularly if this mealtime is more chaotic than usual, for one of the children to say, "Mom/Dad, is it "BYOB" tonight?"

This is where it generally becomes very easy to separate the regulars in our home from the newer guests. The regulars casually listen for a response from Mom or Dad and then comply along with the children with our response.

The newbies, however, have a wide range of responses that usually begin with a short surprised gasp and a jaw hitting the floor.

With new folks, there is almost always an immediate halt to conversation and activity. You can almost read what is passing through their mind from the look on their face. The mental dialog goes something like this: "What? Surely they aren't going to break out liquor bottles at the dinner table, with guests! They are good church going folk!"

I always enjoy that moment! I admit that with the new folks I hesitate just a moment longer before I respond to the child who asked the question. I know, I know....it's sick enjoyment at my guests' expense. I am new at this whole hospitality thing.

Imagine the confusion when, if Dad or I answer in the affirmative, the children that already have their food politely bow their heads and pray. I sometimes wonder if the new folks think the kids are praying for conviction on their parents.



Fortunately for all, the confusion doesn't last long. Typically, one of the children politely explains to the new folks, with their mouths still hanging open, that BYOB means "Bring Your Own Blessing."

Weekly Catechism

Q. What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment?

A. The reason annexed to the fifth commandment is a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God's glory and their own good) to all such as keep this commandment.

Discussion Points for Children:
1. What is the fifth commandment (review)?
2. What does it mean to honor someone?
3. God's promises.
4. Why would honoring your parents be so important to God?

Our weekly catechism comes from the Well Planned Day Homeschool Planner. Check out the Well Planned Day and other student planners on the website by clicking the link on the right side bar of this page or below.

Scripture Memory System

It has taken us a few years to develop a good system for scripture memory that works for our family. This is basically how we do it:

Passages of scripture are chosen from the weekly memory work in our curriculum, from something going on at church like VBS or a particular scripture challenge or Dad will choose some passage of scripture related to a character trait or other area that our family needs to work on.

The scripture is written on an index card and on the white board in the school room. While we are at the breakfast table, we talk our way through the verse or verses so the children understand the meaning and how it is applied to our life. We recite the scripture together a few times as a family. Then the index card is placed behind the "Daily" tab in our scripture memory box.

Our scripture memory box has 40 tabs in it labeled as follows:
Daily
Even
Odd
One for each day of the week (Monday - Saturday)
One for each day of the month (1-31)

Each day we review 4 scriptures; the daily verse, even or odd depending on the date, day of the week verse and the day of the month verse. As verses become more familiar they are moved to a less frequent location. This idea came from the folks at Simply Charlotte Mason.

After we recite the new scripture together, we make up hand motions for some of the words. We also use voice inflection and develop a rhythmical pattern for the words. Putting this all together creates a multi-sensory approach for the little ones. They may not completely understand the meaning but the words are sticking in their little minds.

The older children will use the verse on the board for copywork during school time.

We will review verses again during our lunch time and at dinner before our family worship time. Sometimes we will review while we are driving if our day requires us to be out of the house more than usual.

This is what works for us now. What ideas do you have for scripture memory with a larger family?

Managers of Their Homes

Another favorite tool that works especially well for large, homeschooling families is the Maxwell's Managers of Their Homes. At first glance it looks like just another home management book but it is so much more. It is packed full of all the tools you need to make your home run much more efficiently.

Managers of Their Homes (MOTH) not only gives you the tools you need to set up an effective family schedule but it is full of examples of how other families do it.

Basically, you learn to break down your day into 30 minute segments. Then you arrange those segments on the same schedule with all the other people in your house. Looking at everyone's schedule this way prevents conflicts like; your 7 year old trying to practice piano at the same time your 1 year old is napping. That is never a good combination around here!



After I had read the book and worked through the tools. Here is what the finished product looked like for us.

As you can see, there is a different color coded line for each person in the home. Even our baby has a schedule. The children love it because they can always see what they are supposed to be doing. Sometimes, they don't even need direction to move on to the next item on their schedule.

I believe the process took a little more time for me than for most because we really never have the same daily routine. We do the same thing almost every morning until about 10:00 and then everything is different every day until about 7:30 in the evening. So, instead of having just one chart to follow every day, we have a different chart poster for each day of the week. The best part is, when the schedule changes, you just move the pieces of your schedule around and you can still see how each change will effect everyone else.

The Maxwell's are coming to Knoxville for a conference the first weekend in October!

Super Noots

With four children, there will always be one or even two that simply will not eat anything that is not shaped like a chicken nugget or mac'n cheese. Our oldest daughter in particular would eat almost nothing except chicken nuggets. We tried everything to get her to eat some healthy food with absolutely no success, until now...

Super Noots has been a lifesaver for us! I think I saw SuperNoots for the first time at the local women's expo. I liked it then but wondered if we would really use it. A year later, when we were still not making any headway with Abby's eating habits, I decided to order and try the SuperNoots boards. They worked like a charm!

Basically, SuperNoots are dry erase boards with food group circles on them. As your children go through the day, they move their Noots into the circles. At the end of the day, if all circles are filled in, they get a prize. The SuperNoots board allows parents to reward their children for making healthy choices.

There is also one circle on the board with room for only one treat noot. So, when your child has moved his one treat Noot. The board says, he has no more treats for the day. Woohoo, the board is the bad guy, not mom!

As you can see, SuperNoots boards can be attached to other boards to accommodate all members of the family.

The starter pack also comes with a really cool dry erase shopping list that is made to hang on the buggy and a Snack Pack with snack options for your kids. The really cool part is that everything is color coded. Even if your child cannot read, they can look at thier board, see that they need two more brown (bread) Noots for the day and a green (veggie) Noot and flip through the snack pack and find a card with brown and green. When we bought the system, Lily Grace was only 3 and she was able to use it.

SuperNoots has also been very educational in that it has taught our children the difference in breads, protiens, fruits, milks and veggies.

We love SuperNoots!