Jennifer Lambert

A Sacred Balance

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Military Kids are Third Culture Kids

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We’re a third culture family.

Our lifestyle is vastly different than the way my husband and I grew up, and certainly different from that of our parents, except my dad’s life as a Navy brat.

My dad doesn’t have too many fond memories of growing up and I’m realizing my gregarious eldest daughter doesn’t enjoy moving around so much either.

We didn’t realize how different our lifestyles had become until I read this book, Third Culture Kids, and started evaluating our transitions since getting married and having a family.

Having grown up in Georgia, and living there for 29 years, my life was pretty stable, as was Liz’s for her first four years (not taking into account all that bustling back and forth to her birth father’s house every two weeks and alternate holidays).

Since then, our life has been a whirlwind of moving all over every few years. My kids’ lives are vastly different than many of their peers’ and even within the homeschool, Christian, military communities, we seem to be the oddballs.

Third Culture Kids

Our family’s most major life events (and stressors):

  1. Aaron and I got married in January 2005.
  2. We moved to San Antonio, in summer 2005.
  3. We were blessed by Victoria’s and Katherine’s arrival. We were a minority there, and our blonde babies were fascinating for many of the Latinos who were in our homeschool groups.
  4. Both Aaron’s parents passed away within a year. It’s been so hard.
  5. We moved to Hawaii, in 2007.
  6. We were blessed by our baby boy, Alexander, joining our family. Again, we were a minority, and my blonde, blue-eyed babies were petted and doted on by many of the Asians and Hawaiians we knew.
  7. We moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2010. There, we were in a religious minority, not being LDS. It was difficult and we didn’t make many friends among homeschoolers or neighbors. We did find an amazing church family. We kinda miss it.
  8. And we recently moved to Germany in summer 2014. Of course, there’s a language and cultural barrier. We’re learning all sorts of new things to cope with living here. So far, we love it! In some ways, we stand out (like when I drive my very American Dodge Caravan), but in other ways, we fit in ok.

As a military family, we must learn to weather the transitions and fit in quickly.

We have different defense mechanisms than other people. We know we don’t have years to make deep friendships. We don’t have houses or backyards with fun building and creative projects that will last for generations.

We have to make memories and can’t be attached to things.

I love how Timothy Keller put it in The Prodigal God: “There seems to be a sense, then, in which we all are like the younger brother. We are all exiles, always longing for home. We are always traveling, never arriving. The houses and families we actually inhabit are only inns along the way, but they aren’t home. Home continues to evade us.”

If this concept is difficult for me sometimes, I know it’s hard on the kids!

To make transitions easier, I try to do something special for the kids to look forward to and help them adjust as quickly as possible.

We try to keep up with the local homeschool scene. We never seem to quite fit in. But I know the kids need playtime with other kids. So I take them to the group field trips and park or gym days. I usually sit in a corner, alone, playing on my phone or reading while the other moms ignore me and chat amongst themselves. They all go to the same Baptist church, so there’s that.

This PCS, I bought the three younger kids new bedding before we left the States {yay for planning ahead!} – (and we bought Alex a whole new big-boy loft bed as soon as we arrived in Germany!).

Alex’s bedding is Monster Trucks, and the comforter is on the floor. Of course. I found it at Target before we moved.

loftbed.jpg

Tori and Kate were so excited when we unpacked and they were anxious to get their beds made, all pretty and new.

I found their bedding at Bed, Bath, and Beyond before we moved.

It’s perfect and my girls’ favorite colors – teal and green.

MixMatchGirlsRoom.png

For my teen, Elizabeth, we got her connected right away with the Civil Air Patrol squadron here. (If you have a child interested, message me for her CAP # so she gets recruiter credit!)

They were super impressed that she packed all her uniforms and books. She had an FTX after we packed out, so she didn’t have much choice. She’s showing her true colors as a natural leader, promoting in rank and being a flight NCO. She’s looking forward to her second encampment.

We also had Liz check out the chapel youth activities while we stayed in TLF, but since we moved into our house, it hasn’t been convenient to drive her on base right at dinnertime on Tuesday evenings.

She’s loving the local community drama team and will perform in the play KinderTransport!

I realize the importance of keeping my social butterfly connected with positive social outlets.

As a family, we started attended the traditional church service at the base chapel. Our first Sunday, we started walking there (it was on the other side of base!) and we got offered a ride by a chaplain who saw us. That’s real Christian living, folks.

So far, the service is just ok and we understand that summer is the transition time for most military, so we await a new chaplain to see if we like the services more. Not sure what to do if we don’t…there’s always the liturgical service at 0900, if we can get up and get there.

There aren’t too many choices for English-speaking church services around here. Lots of Baptist, Pentecostal, and non-denominational churches that don’t appeal to us one bit (no offense to those of you who attend those kinds of churches, but to each his own). One Lutheran and one PCA. We haven’t been super successful maintaining a consistent church experience. Living all over makes it especially difficult for fringe denominations and non-Christians.

Church “shopping” is no fun at all.

I am so thankful that my kids get to grow up living, learning, and knowing different cities, states, countries, and cultures.

We are so blessed with getting to live in many different places and being able to travel and have so many unique experiences.

I look forward to seeing the adults my children grow up to be.

The world is a much smaller place for them than it was for me as a kid and young adult.

Nowhere is our home when everywhere is.

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Progeny Press Review

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The kids and I loved reading the novels and completing the literature guides for Progeny Press.

We reviewed the literature guides for The Hunger Games and Little House in the Big Woods.

Liz had begged to read the Hunger Games books and this was perfect timing. She hasn’t watched any of the movies yet. So we have a deal.

Progeny Press Review
Little House in the Big Woods is a perfect accompaniment for our history studies.  The girls loved this book!

We visited Stately Oaks Plantation in Jonesboro, GA, that was about the same time period and the girls were fascinated.

Many of the items in the historic home were items mentioned in the book and the girls loved seeing them in person.

Another tourist mentioned he had just visited and toured the Laura Ingalls Wilder home and he told the girls about some of the highlights he enjoyed.

The girls were very interested in the simpler time where Laura had never been to a store and Ma and Pa lived off what the land provided.

The files are interactive pdfs. I had Liz complete The Hunger Games lessons on my laptop, but I printed out two copies of Little House in the Big Woods guides for Tori and Kate and placed them in colorful pocket folders with prongs for them.

Teal and green of course.

Little House in the Big Woods study guides

Tori and Kate loved the vocabulary pages! They begged me to read and discuss and help them with their notebooking each evening.  We completed lessons before bedtime and they wanted to stay up later for more!

Notebooking in TLF

They begged to continue working at Grandma’s house. They love the story of Laura and want to read the whole series now.

We did the discussion questions orally, otherwise it’s a lot of writing.

The activities at the end of each lessons were fun and engaging. We have done many in our history studies recently. We made butter and have studied pioneer ways. The girls really loved making a calendar and drawing pictures for that (see their folders above).

notebooking at Grandma's house

Liz works independently on my laptop and uses the actual book a friend gave her for review. I then bought her the whole trilogy on Kindle.

I like the different levels of questioning in this guide that encourages Liz to think. Some were just basic comprehension and others were more intellectual and required her to research the symbolism. We had some great discussions about the vocabulary, questions, and thinking skills. I explained literary terms to help her. I’ve read all the books too.

I plan to have Liz complete the optional activities once we get more settled. It’s a great incentive before she sees the movies.

She’s been writing fan fiction too!

completing online notebooking

These are good quality literature guides with lots of options – from vocabulary and multi-leveled questions to fun extension activities. I am impressed. I don’t usually use lit guides when we read books, but these are really great and the girls enjoyed them and begged to do their work each day and didn’t want to stop to do anything else.

The Hunger Games eGuide is recommended for grades 8-12 and the Little House in the Big Woods eGuide is recommended for grades 3-5.

The groups are divided like this:

High School: Recommended for Grades 8-12
Middle School: Recommended for Grades 5-8
Upper Elementary: Recommended for Grades 3-5
Lower Elementary: Recommended for Grades K-3

The eGuide for The Hunger Games is $21.99.

The eGuide for Little House in the Big Woods is $16.99.

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Chance of a Lifetime: Living in Germany

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Wondering what we’ve been up to?

You seriously need to follow me on social media if you don’t know we’ve been in the process of moving to Germany.

We arrived at last week.

Here are our adventures moving to Germany…

I had some creative packing and planning to do these last couple months, beginning in mid-April.

Traveling with pets is not cheap or fun, but they’re part of our family. We flew the cats out to my parents so we could pack up and not have to worry about them with the movers there. There was no way they were traveling in the van with us and meowing the whole way!

We stayed in TLF at Hill AFB for a couple weeks until my husband was released from base.

We road-tripped from Utah to Georgia in a very cramped minivan.

We stayed a couple weeks with my parents. I think they were tired of us after a week.

We flew from Atlanta to Baltimore to Germany with two cats and four kids, nine suitcases and twelve carryons.

We’re now in TLF in Germany until we can move into our house. Our cats are staying with one of my husband’s co-workers until we can get settled. They didn’t have anymore room at the pet TLF.

The cats were the most expensive part of our move.

We had vet fees – twice for each cat – to receive travel certificates. One set of travel certificates for the plane ride from Utah to Georgia and another set of travel certificates, certified by the USDA ($76!), for travel from Atlanta to Baltimore to Germany. We had to pay for their plane tickets to Atlanta and then to Baltimore and then to Germany. We had to pay fees (about  for their entrance into Germany. Altogether, the fees totaled out at about $1500!

Last week?

We flew out of Atlanta mid-morning and spent the afternoon in Baltimore. The USO at BWI was rather disappointing. We flew out about 5:30 PM. We arrived in Germany about 7:30 AM.

Aaron’s sponsor and co-worker met us and helped us store our luggage and get checked in to TLF. We ate a quick breakfast (at JR Rockers – yuck!) and even looked at a German house that was adorable but way too small. He then took us by the commissary for some supplies. He picked up Aaron the next couple days to drop him off at his in-processing appointments.

That’s kinda the last we saw of sponsors.

The kids and I walked around the base to get familiar with the library and BX. We could only bring back what we could carry. Apparently, we can carry quite a lot.

I attended an OSC welcome breakfast and had brunch at a darling coffeeshop and met a new friend. She took me to a German grocery store, Globus, that will sure become a favorite shopping place.

For Memorial Day weekend, we were gonna be stuck indoors with rainy weather, no transportation, and nothing to do.

So we rented a neato Audi wagon and found a house in a picturesque village. It’s perfect and we’re excited.

Chance of a Lifetime

On Monday, we opened a local checking account, ran some errands, had an amazing German lunch (in the BX no less!), and I was pretty exhausted by afternoon.

German Meal

Memorial Day has special meaning here in Europe.

If we had a car and I had planned better, we would have gone to see some of the events for Memorial Day.

We are tired of cooking our meals in our little TLF apartment with two pans. We are tired of being in a cramped space not our own. The kids are acting out from not having chores or a regular schedule.

You know your kids are getting spoiled when the boy asks: “When is the maid coming?”

And, yes, I do make my kids make their beds and keep their space clean, even in TLF.

We are so thankful to live here and experience a different culture and it’s coming together as only God could orchestrate.

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5 Things I’ve Learned During PCS

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We spent 10 days in TLF before heading out for a weeklong roadtrip on our way to PCS to Germany.

Of course, the HVAC was broken in the TLF unit (temporary housing facility – like a furnished apartment). Our bedroom averaged somewhere in the 50s and the girls’ room was mostly in the low 80s. We had windows open in their room and Aaron and I slept in sweatshirts each night. That was an adventure.

We had to pack for an almost three-month-long journey from Utah to Georgia to Germany.

While being in tight quarters, living out of suitcases, and having no real schedule, we all have to make concessions for each other.

We learn some great life lessons during a military PCS.

5 Things I’ve Learned During PCS

1. How to Self-Entertain

Tori, Kate, and Alex discovered all on their own talking into a fan and making their voices sound funny. Picture below.

I love that they find fun in something harmless and simple and free.

When I warned them to be careful and make sure not to get hair, fingers, or anything else too close to the fan, they offered pained expressions that I would think them that foolish. But I’m a mom and have to mention such warnings. It’s my duty.

I love that the kids found fun new ways to entertain themselves. Boredom is often good, and sparks creativity.

Talking into the Fan2. Cooking Simply is Good Enough

We managed to cook most of our meals until the last pack-out day in our house.

We certainly didn’t want to eat out for ten days while in TLF. Our budget and health would not thank us for that.

Not having access to our cookware, pantry items, and vast spice collection put a damper on some of the meals I like to make. We made do with limited supplies and tools.

We brought some of our pantry items with us that were opened already and too good to throw out – like quinoa, flour, some spices, and sauces.

We celebrated our final days in Utah and at Hill AFB with a cookie cake:

We bought disposable aluminum pans and grilled meat at the nearby playground for dinners.

We had lots of quinoa or rice and steamed veggies and/or salads to go with the grilled meat.

My final dinner, I used up lots of supplies by roasting some chicken thighs and making some harvest wild rice and veggies:

We picnicked for lunches on our road trip except for the last couple days. That saved money and was healthier.

We enjoyed cooking for my parents and they appreciated it too!

3. Quiet Time is Necessary in Tight Spaces

My kids quit naps at the age of two (alas!), and I’ve never been successful with maintaining quiet times with four rambunctious kids. Usually, they play in another part of the house or outdoors in the afternoon while I work.

A couple of cold, rainy days had us irritable and annoying each other, so I had to institute a quiet time those afternoons when everyone had to lie on his or her bed and read, color, or do something silent.

Also, since Alex slept on the living room sofa bed, early risers had to tiptoe around and be super quiet in the morning until he woke up. One morning when he must’ve been super tired, I had to wait to grind and brew my coffee until 08:30!

We often hushed our kids from being too rambunctious since the walls in TLF are so thin. We didn’t want to bother any other residents with jumping around or excessive noise in the mornings or evenings.

4. Less is More

We are only able to have what fits in suitcases, and this posed several problems for me while packing.

We had to account for almost three months and several different climates. We can only carry so much and it had to fit into our Dodge Caravan. We’re allowed 2 suitcases each and 2 carryons each, but we can’t fit all that in the van or manage it in airports.

There were the ten days in TLF where it was chilly and dreary and not quite yet spring where we had to wear layers and be prepared for rain or even snow.

We had to have comfy car clothes for the weeklong road trip from Utah to Georgia. I had a tiny carryon suitcase with pajamas and a change of clothes for everyone that I brought into our hotels each night along with our toiletry bags to minimize unpacking and stress.

We had to have summer clothes for the humid, hot days in Alabama and Georgia. I only brought a few outfits for the couple weeks in the South.

When we arrived in Germany, we went back to wearing layers since it’s cooler there.

I allowed only 2-3 dresses each for the girls and myself and only a few pairs of shoes.

The kids each have a backpack with art supplies and small toys. And I brought two tote bags of school items since we’re not quite finished with our curriculum this year and this helps maintain a routine.

5. Courtesy is a Necessity

Being together constantly and in such tight quarters helped us work on relationship issues. We had to focus on being courteous with each other.

I worked on teaching the kids to not have a “Me First” attitude.

While in TLF, six of us had to share one bathroom with only a shower.

We had to stay quiet while others were working or sleeping.

The kids had to be more helpful than usual and clean the six plates and forks provided for our use – to be ready for each meal.

We had a system for climbing into and out of the van at rest stops during our roadtrip. The van was jampacked and the kids couldn’t stretch out at all.

We taught them not be greedy at the free hotel breakfasts, but to only take what they could and would consume. And we couldn’t really linger since we had to get on the road.

Tori and Kate have always shared a room, but they had to share a double bed at hotels and at their grandparents’ house. Alex and Liz normally have their own rooms and beds, but had to share a double bed too.

They had to share activity supplies – and sometimes snacks and drinks if we got low or ran out.

All of these lessons are great to help them grow up to be servant leaders and compassionate towards others.

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10 Gifts for a Military Family

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What can you give military families?

10 Gifts for a Military Family

We were lucky that when my husband deployed the first time, it was after Christmas.

Not so lucky that he left on our anniversary, but oh, well.

And he returned before the next Christmas.

The second deployment, he left in early fall and return in spring.

We miss celebrating holidays and other fun events.

Major.jpg

You can give the gift of time or service for a military family, deployed situation or not.

We often don’t need more things and we often won’t ask for help, even when we need it most. We’re used to fending for ourselves and caring for our own. And pretending everything’s ok.

This list is great year-round, for military families with a deployed member or not.

10 Gifts for the Military Family:

  1. Yard care. If you live in a climate with winter, you can shovel or snow-blow their driveway and sidewalks. It will be much appreciated. Trust me. Mow the lawn. Help with yardwork. Lots of youth groups or scout troops need community service. This is a great way to show support.
  2. Caffeine. Drop by with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Or gift cards to a local coffeeshop that has a drivethru. Especially on cold, dark, rainy, or snowy days.
  3. Visit. Stop by unannounced – maybe with donuts or fresh bread and clean the kitchen. Bring wine! Some friends from church did that for me on my birthday when my husband was deployed. I was elated. It was such a beautiful thing.
  4. Take the kids. Treat my kids to ice cream. Or to a park. Or to a museum. Or a movie. Out. Somewhere. Anywhere. Give this mom a break for an hour or two. As a homeschool mom with four kids and a deployed husband, I need a break, people.
  5. Encourage self-care. Take the kids for an evening (or weekend) so the couple can have a date night. If the military member is deployed, offer to watch the kids for an hour, an afternoon, or an evening to help out. Often, military couples have a hard time finding child care so they just don’t ever go out. Not cool. We need that adult couple time. A couple from church once took our four kids all weekend long so we could go away (only about an hour away, but still!). It’s only the second time we’ve done that throughout our whole marriage!
  6. Vehicle care. Get our vehicle serviced or detailed. Seriously. This is something a friend of mine received when her husband was deployed and I thought it was the greatest thing ever! I never think of it until the dashboard lights come on. I don’t know how to check my tire pressure, y’all. And then there’s trouble and usually lots of expense involved!
  7. Hospitality. Invite the family over for a meal, dessert, drinks, a music event, a holiday lights display. Something. Include them. We’re often far from home and family and feel isolated and excluded. And we’d love to learn new traditions and celebrate with you. We may decline for some reason, but we will feel loved.
  8. Carpooling. If you know the kids have music lessons, dance, gymnastics, art, sports, church activities, whatever…offer to help out, especially if there are babies or toddlers or preschoolers in the household. I am so stressed juggling my four kids and their activities when my husband is deployed. Sometimes, I would skip something to let the baby finish a nap. It was just easier.
  9. Anticipate needs. Bring grocery necessities by or call if you’re at the store to see if they need anything. It’s so frustrating to run out of milk or eggs or realize you’re missing an ingredient for a recipe and have to drop everything to run to the store. But to drag four kids out in a blizzard with no help and not being able to call, “Honey, can you pick up ____ on the way home?” Depressing. And I went to three stores yesterday to stock up on everything and still forgot the effing milk.
  10. Appointments. If they have medical or vet appointments, ask if you can help. Most vets and doctors prefer children not to be in attendance so there’s no distraction, so offer to watch the kids during appointments. Many moms don’t get check-ups since it’s so stressful. Help her maintain her health!

Ask. Offer. Be sincere.

We often say we’re just fine when we’re really hanging onto sanity by a fine thread.

You can offer to walk the dogs. Or just come over for a chat. Bring a bottle of wine or beer over after the kids’ bedtime. Email or call for some encouragement. Send a note or flowers that you’re thinking about her.

If something breaks in the house or car and she’s used to relying on her husband to fix it, help her find someone to do the job – for free or really cheap! We don’t have a network since we move around so frequently.

Be someone they can call if they need help. Be a listener. Be a doer.

Our neighbors helped to clear everything out of our basement when it flooded on a holiday morning and my husband was deployed the first time. (Thank God for my amazing neighbors. Bless those people!)

Be available. Be a friend.

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Homeschooling During Deployment

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When I hear or see the word “crisis,” I think of something really bad.

What is a crisis?

  • a time of intense difficulty or danger.
  • a time when a difficult or important decision must be made.
cutting the wedding cake

We are a military family and my husband has deployed and we PCS (move to a new location) every 2-4 years and that often calls for daily living in crisis-mode.

If I really think about it?

We’ve been in crisis-mode for the duration of our marriage.

All of life’s stressful events – marriage, the sudden deaths of both Aaron’s parents, births of babies, moving across the country a few times, deployment…those are crises and somewhat unusual for most people to experience in their lives – and seldom during the same year.

I don’t know any other way other than to keep on keepin’ on.

I dive into work and homeschool and cleaning and doing daily life.

We don’t have to follow a traditional August-June school year in our homeschool and sometimes, we PCS well in the fall, after most schools have returned to their regular routines. We generally homeschool year-round to give us more freedom in our schedules, especially during PCS years.

During the purging, organizing, packing, loading, moving, unloading, unpacking, organizing, and set-up that accompanies all the moving, we only do the barest schooling necessities. I only keep school items that can fit in each child’s backpack since we don’t have much room in planes or the van when we travel from our old home to a new one.

Check out how we did overseas PCS while homeschooling.

I think there are many opportunities for life school along the way on these adventures.

at the border

When we left Georgia for Texas, Elizabeth was only 4 (isn’t she cute!?). We had such great fun exploring the rest stop museums and learning along the way, seeing Gulf Coast beaches and then desert…and we had no intention of homeschooling then!

When we left Texas for Hawaii, Liz was almost 7; Tori was 2, and Katie was a newborn. We brought some light learning toys with us on the long plane ride and left the heavy school books for the packers. I regret that, since it took a long time for our possessions to arrive in Hawaii by boat. We didn’t receive them until well after all the homeschool co-ops began their “school year.” We were still so new to the whole homeschooling world. It was such fun being in such an exotic new place. We did lots of new things and learned a lot about ourselves as a family during that tour.

When we left Hawaii for Utah, Liz was almost 10; Tori was 4; Kate was 3, and Alex was a newborn. The girls all had backpacks filled to the brim with workbooks, school things, snacks, and fun manipulatives to spend quiet activity time on the super long plane ride. It took a few days to recover from the jet lag and receive our van from the boat. Aaron flew to the west coast to drive it home. And this is the first location where we had any real seasons. That was a learning experience!

Then he deployed only a few months later.

It was hard saying goodbye.

Homeschooling During Deployment

My first winter in my entire life, alone with four kids in a strange state, thousands of miles from any family!

We used this time as a learning experience.

Curriculum

We did essentials, but I tried to make everything fun. 

Geography and history about the region where my husband lived in the desert for 7 months.

Politics that led up to the conflicts.

Learning about our new state too.

Winter unit study and winter books.

Schedule

The kids and I all learned to rely on each other.

My girls helped so much with their baby brother. Big sister Liz really stepped up and started being so responsible with everything.

Thankfully, we didn’t have too many problems.

We experienced some illness and I handled it, taking Alex to the ER for a breathing treatment when he looked rather bluish around his lips one evening. We all pulled together and got drive-thru Chick-Fil-A for dinner – super late at night! We ate in the car on the drive home.

Thankfully, there were no injuries. There was no car trouble!

We took it one day at a time. The home dynamics were so different without Aaron here. I ran this place like clockwork.

We were scheduled to a fault, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to “hand them off” if I got too tired or frustrated, so I made sure I was super proactive about meal planning, cleaning, school, everything.

I’m very self-reliant, confident, and capable. I was a single mom before I met Aaron. I’m capable and intelligent. I can be a little too controlling at times.

And I realize that I can be a little lazy when my husband is home.

Help

I had no help from Aaron’s co-workers or any of the military spouses or our church.

I guess no one really understood that I was alone with 4 kids 24/7 for 7+ months – homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, functioning – with no breaks and no help.

The only offers of help were people who wanted to babysit my kids so I could go out.

I had nowhere to go and no one to go with, so that was pointless for me. I’m an introvert. And the commander’s wife came and shoveled snow in my driveway. That was weird and uncomfortable for me and I didn’t need her to do that.

I really just wanted someone to take the kids for an hour maybe once a month to get them ice cream or go to a playground to give me a little break at home.

A couple ladies from church surprised me super early on my birthday morning with donuts and did my dishes. I didn’t even know them that well.

It’s hard for me to ask for help when and if I need it.

Problems

My parents visited in mid-May and that was a disaster. I had to entertain them – and we have quite a strained relationship. The kids don’t know them and were constantly sent to the basement to quietly play. The kids’ schedule got way off and they became hungry, tired, and irritable. My parents got mad and left early, telling me I’m a horrible mother.

When our basement FLOODED on Memorial Day morning, I learned what true friends we had in our neighbors. I Skyped with my husband, feeling so helpless and frustrated that I could only keep the kids out of the way…while the men of my neighborhood put their fishing trips on hold and rushed over to clear out our basement (it’s our school space!) and place everything in the garage and they removed the carpet and padding to dry. They sterilized the basement immediately.

It was over a month before everything was back to normal. We sifted through the garage for items we needed to complete our lessons. Everything was a mess and we did the best we could, completing our schooling in the kitchen and living room and even on the deck since it was getting warmer into late spring. And it encouraged me to simplify our schooling and store everything well in plastic tubs for the future!

We had to be flexible.

I know many people have horror stories of their spouse’s deployments – illness, injury, and other major crises that I cannot imagine.

We were really blessed to only get a flooded basement and no major problems.

Homecoming was great. Everything was on time.

Homeschooling During a Military Deployment

How do you homeschool during deployment?

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See how others homeschool in a crisis.

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Deployment Day for Kids

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Well, the girls are getting bored with all this “preschool” work we’ve done the last year and a half or so.

They think they’re “big girls” now and ready to move on to bigger and better things. Real Work. I am streeeeetching out everything I can for a couple more months before I officially start Kindergarten work.

So…I downloaded Funnix back when it was free, in January, I think. I ordered the workbooks because my youngest daughter, Katherine, really enjoyed it when I showed it to her. We’ve been doing other things until last week when I really got Victoria and Katherine into a schedule of sorts with watching the show and completing the pages. They love it and I feel lots better about their progress with reading now. I have them take turns on my computer in the mornings after our family time (usually when Bubba is taking his morning nap). And, duh, I just realized that it is essentially the same program as Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. So, it’s really great then.

The base had a deployment day for the kids to learn about what our troops are doing Over There. They had a checklist just like out-processing and saw military dogs and an EOD team with a robot. Katie was rather upset that Daddy was not there. I guess there was some confusion when I told her what we were going to do. He doesn’t get to come home for two and a half more months.

Tori and Katie were thrilled to get to sit up in a 5 ton truck.

Military Truck Exhibit

Tori even got to start her up!

Girl in a Truck

For Tapestry of Grace, we reviewed Creation through Noah’s Ark in Bible and HIStory. We made creation collage books. I’ve started the girls on notebooking and it’s just awesome. It’s all pictorial right now, but we will progress to writing captions next year, I’m sure. And they love maps, thanks to Dora. ;) We color a map each week based on what we are studying. Labeling will come in time.

So, now we need to step it up with math and science…they listen to me or Elizabeth read from Exploring Creation Human Anatomy, but they’re not real interested sometimes. I’ve given them science crafts and work to do from Scholastic eBooks I’ve bought when they have those super $1 sales.

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