Is there anybody out there?

Just a few happy snaps from our Valentine’s Day . . .

Of course I don’t have any of the heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes my husband served our kids this morning, because somehow he forgot about picture taking while trying to feed 3 kids a gourmet breakfast and make it out the door to work.  We’ll work on that for next year!

After breakfast came math (Boo!) but then . . . a gigantic co-op party at Pump-it-Up with 70 of our new closest friends from the homeschool group we joined last August.

There were homemade sandwiches (yummy)! OK, so I see I neglected to take a picture of the heart-shaped PBJs I made and the cucumber sandwiches too. But hey, you get to see my lovely lesson planner with the adorable sandwich picks I made (brainchild of my oldest who is equally disturbed by never quite knowing WHAT is in the sandwiches at group parties).

And lots and LOTS of sliding, jumping, running and falling!

Then there was a whole lotta loot . . .

It was a good day.

xoxoxo

Filed under: Day to Day by kelly on February 14th, 2012 | No Comments »

When we first began homeschooling, and almost every day since, I have wished that I could canvass a broad cross-section of homeschooling families to see how they accomplish the epic goals I read about in their various blogs or discuss with them in person these lofty ideals I know we all share for our children. Everyone has different criteria for what constitutes a “successful” school year and varying methods on how to achieve this success. I don’t believe it’s a nod to my reality TV enjoyment as much as it is my desire to compile a REAL list of resources, tricks, tips, tools for our schooling experience. What better way than to incorporate the “tried and true” from all those BTDT (been there, done that) moms??

At some point over the past 6 months I have let go of my “butterfly paci” obsession and while I continue to wrest myself away from the mythical unicorn that IS the perfect curriculum, we have managed to settle into what I would now call “a routine;” a routine which is hopefully leading us to the conclusion of our first successful year of homeschooling 3 children. Now, because I’ve been so curious, and because it makes me think that maybe others are curious too, I’m blogging about how we spend our days – the regular ones, rather than the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-unscheduled-chaos ones!

Hopefully it will shed some light on the scheduling questions I’ve had several people ask me since we began this journey. Many are besic things like,”When do you ever find time to exercise or get your haircut?” Some are more comments of their own concerns like, “I don’t know how I could ever teach all of my kids that many subjects!”  The truth is – there is no perfect system except for the one that continues to grow and change along with you and your kids! I’m fortunate to have a supportive “principal” who is able to work from home on occasion so yes, I do get to go out for a cup of coffee with my Mom every now and again, or get my hair cut without taking the kids along too. However, we generally speaking run all our errands together, as a posse! Going into this year,  I thought it might be chaotic and lead to increased stress, but it has instead provided opportunities for my kids to grow in their approach to things that are less favorable than playing video games (the grocery store perhaps??), and also for them to see a little more of the ‘inner workings’ of running our household!

Keep in mind as you read this – a year ago we had nothing. None of this. It wasn’t even an idea in my head. As parents, we had never, ever considered that homeschooling was a good fit for our children unless there were some extenuating circumstances (and there weren’t)! Yes, I missed them when they spent their days in their previous school, but I always felt peaceful, like they were in the right place, at the right time.

Until suddenly I didn’t.

I felt like they needed to be home . . . and here we are.  Not even a year from that initial coffee conversation with my husband that turned our family lifestyle upside-down in all the best ways.

(*NOTE: I’m guessing this will be a marathon-style post. Feel free to walk away and come back with a large cup of coffee!)

9 am – Let’s get this party started!

I present this time to you not as the time I wake-up (I wish!!) or the time at which school begins, but as the time when, failing to see all my smiling students at our kitchen table with pencils in hand, I send out the search parties to the bathrooms and not-so-far reaches of our home universe.

Typically, the morning begins a little earlier – breakfast with Daddy around 7:30 while I get a quick shower, caffeinate myself for the day ahead, and read my Bible.

After breakfast, the kids complete their chores for the day – they each have  daily chore chart with their assignments for the week (we started this BH – Before Homeschooling – and it continues to serve us well in this season). Teeth brushed, hair brushed, beds made, PJs away (unless it’s Friday – which is our ‘PJ Day’), then gather up school books/binders/supplies and sit down to get started.

By 8:30 most of them are close to being at the table. My small boy is almost always ready first – unless he’s been goofing off in the bathroom or taking an inordinately long time to empty the trash.

[Those "credit cards" on the little white board above represent our current classroom reward system. Reworked from our previous school, this idea reinforces GOOD behavior with rewards rather than just punishing BAD behavior - because we have our OWN system for THAT! In their binder, each student has a list of things that will earn them "dots" for the day - the most important ones being to actually show up on time and WORK! Once they all complete a card, there is a collective "credit card" party reward outing. We've done things like a trip to Baskin-Robbins for ice-cream and a Redbox movie rental, or a matinee at the movie theater on $5 day, followed by Krispy Kreme doughnuts. All during "regular school hours" which, of course, makes it all the more appealing!

Individual "dot rewards" show up in their personal school pockets on the day that they complete a dot card. These are similar to "treasure box" toys (only  nicer LOL) - small Lego sets,  packets of sidewalk chalk, Polly Pocket sets, yo-yos etc. I've found that everyone works really hard for their "dot" each day and looks forward to celebrating when they all complete a full card!]

9 am – 10:30 am – Work like you want your free time!

This time is generally our prime work time. Starting with what we call “seat work” – a throw-back to our previous school, it’s basically a “catch-all” name for work the kids do independently. It includes writing out spelling words, reviewing/writing their weekly Bible verse, handwriting practice, Daily Grams (for the girls), Math facts and Phonics charts written out (for the boy). During the Christmas season we enjoyed putting on a quiet CD of carols during this initial work time. Sometimes I’ll put on a favorite praise/worship CD just depending on how intense the work seems to be that morning.

At some point during “seat work” I finish up my morning routine and we’ll officially start the day with prayer/pledges (when I remember – oops!)/Scripture memory. By having them get started at their own pace, we eliminated the “hurry up and wait” syndrome where one is ready to roll and another is dragging his/her heels. I find it all evens out in the wash by “recess.”

I spend this morning time floating between a quick email check, fixing my own breakfast (not possible B.C. – before coffee), grading the daily work, and giving feedback on things like cursive, spelling activities etc. The girls frequently move through their seat work in as little as 30 minutes and move on with their grammar lessons and then their math (which is the ‘meat’ of their morning). I don’t answer the phone during these work hours – unless it’s my husband. Although I might check messages if I have time and I can often reply to texts because they are quieter and don’t require immediate attention like a phone call.

I try to grade everything in the order I receive it on the kitchen bar – and give feedback/corrections immediately so that they may be completed before the student moves on to the next lesson. Our workbooks are relatively quick and easy to grade – at some point I know this routine will evolve, but for now, this is working well. Everyone currently likes to work at the kitchen table. I like it too (as long as they aren’t being too ridiculous for long stretches of time!) because it’s easier for me to keep an eye on the work and grade things quickly. Notable exceptions are tests (in their rooms, at a desk) or journaling (which also seems to be better completed alone).

Sometimes my little guy will finish everything before recess – by “everything” I mean all of his assigned ’seat work’, math lesson, phonics worksheet, and language arts worksheets.

If it’s a banner day, he will also complete some or all of his extra assignments for the week. In addition to the ‘basics’, all of them complete 1 x French lesson, 1 x typing/keyboarding lesson, 1 x tutorial/testing session on World Geography, a journal entry, and a Scholastic News report. He then selects a book from our shelf or from his current, extensive library stash, logs the title and other information in his ‘Reading Log’, and spends the rest of the morning doing “free reading” or other quiet “centers” which include independent games like Lincoln logs, Lego,  puzzles etc although currently he’s most often found engrossed in a variety of  books about extreme weather. Seriously. Nothing can compete for his attention these days like a good book filled with facts about tornadoes or hurricanes!

(*NOTE: I’ve included links to some of our curriculum choices here for my own posterity, but also because I am always curious about what people are using for learning tools, so I figure others are too! If I get around to it, I might do a separate blog about our curriculum selection for the 2011 – 12 school year at some point.)

10:30 am – 10:45 am – “Recess” (or some variation thereof?)

We try to take a mid-morning snack break sometime in here. It isn’t a perfect scenario every day – sometimes everyone magically reaches a good stopping point at 10:25, and other days my 2nd grader has burned through all his worksheets before his 6th grade sister has even cracked open her math book and it’s pushing 11 am!  Either way, whether it’s a snack + 15 minutes of running around the yard, or just few minutes spent nibbling on a granola bar while sorting through which textbook is next in the line-up, this mental-health break is good for everyone (including the teacher)! Some days they figure out how to stage, costume, direct, film, and edit an entire Pirate movie during recess (although admittedly, that’s typically reserved for after lunch).

11 am – 12:30 pm – the ‘Tween Hours

Our day continues with everyone working at their own pace until at least 2 out of the 3 are finished with the bulk of their daily assignments – typically, 6th grade math just flat-out takes longer, so our oldest might have to finish up her mixed practice math set once we’ve completed our “group work.” I call these the ‘Tween Hours because they fall between recess and lunch. Often we have finite deadlines that make this time fly by (like co-op classes or piano lessons). On those days, we really need to get moving with our group lessons in order to make it to lunch and our activities on time!

I realized very quickly (like, before we actually started this gig) that there was no way for me to effectively teach all 3 of our kids individual science and history lessons without experiencing some SERIOUS mental whip-lash (she blogs it so well, I don’t need to reinvent it!). What I discovered in my research, is that typically multi-age homeschool families combine lessons for kids within 3 -4 grade levels for these subjects. Ahh yes, more wisdom in God’s timing with our kids all less than 4 years apart! LOL

Depending on the day, we will typically read a few pages of our Science text (the kids “take notes” in their Science Notebooks). Sometimes there are experiments (minimal or involved) that go along with our chapter. Whenever possible we do these experiments but if they require ingredients or things we don’t have on hand, I skip them but discuss the concept. The text has an average of  1-2 small experiments to choose from each day. We might pick 2 or 3 for the entire chapter, and I plan ahead to be sure we have everything we need handy. Some of our favorites have been the most simple! Below is the braille alphabet we made using glue! GLUE! Whoever would’ve thought of that? It was messy, fun, and educational. Everyone enjoyed going over the letters the next day and seeing if they could guess which letter was which.

For History, we either read a new chapter (the kids color a corresponding color sheet while I read – it keeps hands busy and often generates great talking points after the chapter),  complete the map activities that accompany it, or do some group review in preparation for a chapter test. There are also art activities that sometimes go along with our history lessons and we try to work those in as often as possible but it’s more like once a week rather than daily.

My thought on the group work time is that we find ourselves on the very edge of THIS situation.  In a few short years, we won’t likely be able to combine our sciences – or at least, not with our oldest. So, my current plan is to milk this experience for all that it’s worth! Because I am acutely aware of the very real possibility that she might not *always* want to do color pages and listen to me reading aloud from our history text when she’s in high school.  Maybe.

Lunch

Lunch seems to encompass any time from the end of our science/history time until the dishes are stacked in the dishwasher and the table is cleared. In the event that we have to be somewhere, this is the time to gather up our things and scramble out the door. In the event that all the work for the day is not yet completed, well, the ones who need to do the completing must finish it before moving on to free play. Everyone breaks for lunch though. Daddy comes home most days – we try to steal a few moments to enjoy a quiet homemade latte and some mid-day conversation while the kids make lunches/clean-up/run around the yard. No, I’m not that mom making gourmet hot lunches for my kids even though we homeschool. Yes, they do get left-overs if we have them. Grilled cheese or Annie’s Ravioli are also popular treats on the menu from time to time, but our staples are fresh fruit, whatever sandwiches they choose to make and some kind of crunchy snack like pretzels or cheezits.

1:30 pm – until (and a word about Extra-curriculars!)

Other than Piano and our Co-op classes (the girls take drama and the boy takes Lego. Yes. Lego.) most of our activities are of the “after-school” variety, meaning they begin when kids in traditional schools finish their school day. We change up our sports routine each season, but the constant elements include the dance classes we commit to each Fall. We work around those selections, and this year have managed to pack in swim team, basketball, baseball/softball, and soccer – although not all at once, thank goodness! I learned very quickly that it is just as easy (if not easier) to over-schedule yourself when homeschooling. I bought into the misconception that just because we had “all this free time,” we should fill it! When my husband and our bank account disagreed, we pared it back and all of us are the happier for it!

I also go to the gym in the afternoons – as often as the activities allow but not less than 3 x a week (a good week, when all the planets align, it might be 4 x). It was an adjustment because I was used to going right after dropping the kids at school, but surprisingly not as difficult as I’d thought it would be. The kids have made friends at the gym and look forward to hanging out with them if it isn’t their day to be at dance, baseball or whatever. I get an hour to re-energize myself and focus on something other than education, children, or cleaning! It’s a good thing for all of us.

So what do we do until then? Play. We spend almost every afternoon either completing the “fun stuff” like art/history videos/science experiments etc OR playing. We go for walks, we make cups of tea and sit down to play a game. The girls have been teaching themselves to hand-sew barbie clothes from scraps of material salvaged from my sewing drawers. The boy taught himself how to set up the “advanced” level of his electronic Star Wars Battleship boardgame last week. He played against the ‘computer’ for over an hour. He was so excited to discover how to deploy multiple rounds of munition at once! The kids dress-up and run around the yard. They ride bikes. They rake up the leaves and then jump in them. Over and over. They hold Wii bowling marathons. We visit the library. We run errands to the grocery store. We bake. We prep dinner. We finish up any household chores and then relax. We read (alone or aloud). A LOT.

Quite simply, we live life.

This is the part of my day that makes up for any of the headaches I might have lamented during the ‘tween hours or our mid-morning work. It’s the part of the day I was envisioning when I was wishing for my children to have their ‘childhood back’ last spring.

Homeschooling has taken what was previously my most difficult part of the day and made it into the sweetest.

And if anyone could have predicted that a year ago, well, I probably wouldn’t have believed them anyway!

Filed under: Day to Day, Homeschooling, Random Thoughts, Stuff we love!, The Chicken Fried South by kelly on February 12th, 2012 | No Comments »

My small boy sat at the kitchen bar today, with his sisters, after lunch. They were discussing what to do with this rainy, gray afternoon. We  settled on a new movie they had borrowed a while ago, but hadn’t yet watched at home.

Then suddenly, he piped up with,” Mom, I hope we homeschool forever.”

The girls chimed in with a quiet, “Me too!” And then they all gave me *that look* – the one that says, “you hope so too, right Mom??”

I smiled, realizing how different this day was from the disruptive, chaotic atmosphere we “enjoyed” yesterday, when everyone seemed to leave all of their ‘mojo’ AND most of their ‘A-game’ in bed! *sigh* Yes, some days are just like that. We make it through, everyone goes to bed, and we get up the next day, hopefully with a clean slate and a better attitude. For the latter, I’m referring to myself since my students are typically over it before their heads hit the pillow!

I reminded them that we homeschool because we feel like it’s what the Lord led us to do this year, but on a personal level, I hoped we could continue with it. They’ve been seeking a commitment from me about the following school-year, but not for the reasons I suspected they would at this point in our journey. They miss their close friends, and mention them pretty much daily or weekly. Yet each one has approached me with questions and ideas for next year’s curriculum; each one has asked me to continue studying at home.

The conversation then turned to what might happen if we ever felt like He was leading us back to regular schooling.  I reminded them of the joy we find in obedience, but often not until AFTER we’ve taken that epic step – a trip down memory lane, anyone?? (Number 5 was a biggie.) I cited some well-known Bible characters, like Abraham and Isaac – the same ones that my wise, talk-me-down-from-the-ledge husband used back in June.

I can scarcely believe what we would have missed in our lives if I’d said a big, fat, fearful, resounding, “NO!!” when we felt the gentle nudging to homeschool. It makes my throat close up just imagining.

When I reminded them of their tearful first reaction to our thoughts last summer; they all shook their heads remembering. Now with big smiles, they are wiser and infinitely less fearful of the “unknown,” simply because, well, now it isn’t.

And so the afternoon was spent with the 3 of them piled under blankets and pillows watching “A Dolphin Tale,” munching on popcorn and homemade lemon-sugar cookies. I curled up on my bed with my iPod and returned emails while keeping one eye on some Food Network tv shows I recorded earlier in the week, day-dreaming of the ‘free-time’ I would hopefully have at some point.

When I heard the rain starting to fall, I realized it was time for car-pool. I was instantly relieved. I realized that I very much enjoy not having to dash out in the rain, or cold, or heat-wave to collect my babies from the school parking lot. I love that instead, our afternoons are spent wallowing in meaningful conversations about obedience, blessing, and favorite movies.

PS.  I also don’t miss getting SOAKED to the bone on a regular basis – just in case anyone else has ever attempted to collect 3 school-kids during a rainstorm here in the South and can relate to me keeping it real!!

Filed under: Day to Day, Homeschooling, Stuff we love!, The Boy, The Women Folk by kelly on February 10th, 2012 | No Comments »

It’s funny the things you don’t consider  B.H. (Before Homeschooling). For us, one of the bigger revelations this past fall was the difference a lousy pencil sharpener could make to our school day. I never really thoughts about it before! Honestly, I sent in my kids’ 12 pencils and whatever colorful sharpener they happened to select on the back-2-school sales and never gave it another thought. Sure, we kept a few on-hand for homework and other projects, but I never bothered much if it wasn’t the world’s greatest pencil sharpening specimen or if we had to hunt down 3 different ones to find *the one* that would fit the new transformers pencil or latest Vera Bradley addition to the pencil fleet.

Ahh, but that was before.

BEFORE sharpening seemed to take up half our day. BEFORE hunting down the sharpener to fit each pencil meant derailing a math lesson or a group science reading. BEFORE I was suddenly noticing that there was no way our 12 x 3 packs of pencils were going to make it to Thanksgiving, let alone the end of the school year! In fact, just think of them in the context of a reverse ‘loaves and fishes’ scenario and you’ll have some understanding as to what happens to good quality pencils in a homeschool classroom.  I’ll give you a hint, it doesn’t matter how many you think you have to begin with.

Somewhere before the holidays we reached our breaking point with this issue – literally! I remember thinking about the “bouquet of newly sharpened pencils” that one of my seasoned homeschooling friends giggled about and reminded me not to get to attached to – yep, it was looking pretty neglected. Not because we didn’t want sharpened pencils or because we didn’t try – it was quite honestly because out of the half dozen sharpeners we had on hand, only ONE of them was actually any good at sharpening! Unfortunately, this little ‘$2.99 world-globe-shaped-sharpener-that-could’ had so many other issues, including a propensity for over-sharpening (which = snapping the lead off inside the blade area), as well as being impossible to empty without dousing yourself and the kitchen floor in lead-pencil shavings. *UGH* After snapping off approximately 8 red and lead pencils in quick succession I reached the conclusion that the days of this little sharpener were numbered.

So I did what I normally do in unfamiliarly frustrating situations – I threw my hands up in despair – and then I researched my way out of distress. I don’t always Google. Sometimes I do, but lately I’ve had success casting my net in more targeted areas of information and expanding outward until I find the information I need. I hit the jackpot very quickly when I stumbled upon a website touting THIS little gadget as the answer to all our pencil-sharpening woes. I hemmed and I hawed and I consulted the principal – who laughed and said we should buy several. I debated some more – really, could one sharpener really fix all the issues we had with pencil-sharpening in our classroom? Finally, I contacted the company who graciously agreed to share their sharpener with us in exchange for my honest feedback and blog opinions. For anyone who knows me, the thought of being ASKED to give ‘honest feedback’ typically elicits  a neurological response equivalent to consuming an entire bar of chocolate.  I jumped at the chance!

And here it is – this pencil sharpener has changed our lives. OK, maybe not in the same sense as the more meaningful decisions we’ve made, you know, like choosing salvation, getting married, or deciding to have children . . . but definitely a major change for the better in our homeschooling endeavors. In fact, if I have to site a downside to this sharpener, it would be that I occasionally need to confiscate it from my 2nd grader who seems to invent reasons to sharpen his pencil every 3 seconds now for the sheer fun of it (because it’s certainly sharp enough that it doesn’t REQUIRE additional sharpening)!

As to durability, we have put our sharpener through it’s paces thus far. For 3 weeks, since starting our second semester, we have sharpened a wide variety of pencils ranging from the fancy “embellished” kind, to the higher-quality Ticonderogas we typically reach for, to Crayola erasable colored pencils and my basic grading pencils too. At no point have we had it jam, lock up, not sharpen, break apart, spill shavings or eat our pencils. Oh, and bonus – it’s quiet! This wasn’t a big issue for us, as it’s been a few years since our multiple attempts at using electric sharpeners (both epic failures within a few months – at varying price points much higher than this mechanical one), so we’d forgotten how loud a sharpener *could* be. But for anyone using an electric one now, you’ll definitely appreciate the change of decibel.

Quite simply, this is the most amazing pencil sharpener I’ve ever used. I wish I’d had this on hand for the days B.H. I can only assume it would have made those long homework sessions and weekend assignments somewhat less irritating. Indeed, this discovery is one of the many ‘blessings in disguise’ we’ve experienced along our journey. I know that whether or not we homeschool far into the future, we certainly won’t be giving up our Quietest Pencil Sharpener.

If you find yourself curious about our new sharpener, feel free to ask away. I’ll answer whatever questions are out there (you all know where to find me) – although the website also has a video that I found very useful when getting set up with it out of the box. The steps to sharpening may seem cumbersome (I admit to being intimidated initially – yes, I know it’s just a sharpener), but  I promise it takes about 2 seconds per pencil now that we’re all pros. Click on the button on my sidebar to check it out – and be sure to tell them you read about it here. We’re definite fans!

Filed under: Day to Day, Homeschooling, Stuff we love! by kelly on January 18th, 2012 | No Comments »

I don’t often circle back around to my own blog posts. I figure I’ve said my piece and I, along with my life, have moved on. But after reading THIS little gem today, I decided I had to revisit my previous post lamenting my lack of order amid the chaos of our homeschool days when “interruptions” come to call.  So while I can’t take credit for the unraveling of these truths, it was too valuable to my journey here not to re-post. I often find exactly what I need to read on this particular blog, so I try to visit it at least once a week to see what’s new. I’ve included a link for anyone else who’d like to check it out and add it to their reading rotation.

For anyone else struggling to find order in the chaos, I suggest copying and posting this C.S. Lewis quote someplace highly visible – or at least someplace you’ll see it when the roof seems to be caving in on your plans . . .

“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s “own” or “real” life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life — the life God is sending one day by day; what one calls one’s “real life” is a phantom of one’s own imagination.”

— C.S. Lewis

P.S. Happy New Year!

Filed under: Homeschooling, Random Thoughts by kelly on January 2nd, 2012 | 2 Comments »

If I compare this one-year journey to a marathon,  I suppose I am officially “half-way” through.  I’ve just finalized our 2nd quarter grades. I’ve printed them (A’s =  free doughnuts, YO!), filed them (for my OCD), logged them at our online reporting site (because I’m required to) and NOW I’m ready to move on with Christmas crafts, holiday baking, and enjoying this season with my kids!

But honestly? If I had to look at our days and number them according to the yearly planner I have on my desktop, I think I would lose it! Why? Because I’m just now realizing this journey isn’t half-way through. It isn’t even half-way begun! For real! At what point does a parent look at their child and say to themselves, “I’m officially half-way finished with raising you”? Is it 9? I mean, technically, 18 is adult enough to vote, go to college, consume alcohol in a variety of states . . . I’ve heard. Or how about 10 1/2 – my newly 10 year old would probably love that! Wow, she’s half-way to 20! Yet the idea of thinking or saying that to my 8 or 10 year old is preposterous and inconceivable!

So instead,  I sit and ponder what the meaning of “half-way” for us really is. Does it make me any closer to defining the length of this journey? I don’t  think it does – at least not in the concrete terms I assumed it would by this date. “People” (you know, the ubiquitous ones who comment on everything and nothing inside your head?) all told me I’d feel a certain way by Christmastime. Instead, I find myself wondering how I could ever begin to put a date on this experience? How do I possibly determine the end of something that I feel like I was called to be to my babies all along (and just didn’t realize the seasonal and practical out-working of it until this year)?

These thoughts don’t necessarily translate to never putting our children back into a traditional, Christian school environment. It just means that homeschooling has evolved into far more than the “schooling” experience  I was prepared for . . . and for which I subsequently prepared the children! I feel like I’ve just recently gotten a hold of the super-secret homeschooler’s dictionary,  and I’m finally able to define terms I never understood before! I’m grasping the concept of “lifestyle” and not “school at home”. I’m living vicariously through my more “relaxed” and seasoned homeschooling mama friends, and taking mental notes for “next year” without even realizing I’ve just run smack past the finish-line of this imaginary race!!

So, no. I’m really not half-way to anything. Well, we might be half-way to summer break . . . then again, we might not! We might even take a walk on the wild-side and jump off the “year-round schooling” ledge while we’re at it! Why not? I grew up schooling like that, half a world away in the pacific where it’s actually the norm and not nearly as renegade an idea as it seems to be here above the equator. I’m not saying we will school year-round, but the freedom that comes from removing my finish line I think is what we all needed to do at the end of this calendar year.

It’s kind of a big step for me. At the beginning of this process I was panic-stricken about even committing to a WHOLE YEAR!!  What if I irreparably damaged my kids before then and they didn’t want to live here let alone attend school here any more?!?!  But as you can see, I’m firmly off that ledge. For now. At least until I start looking at curriculum options for next year. (Then I begin to open and close my mouth in imitation of a goldfish gasping in air.)

But, if it’s any consolation – and it was for me – my 10 year old recently asked a high-schooler at the dance studio what curriculum she was using for science, I suppose because the book the student was holding looked interesting. Unfortunately, the high-schooler couldn’t tell her. Instead she looked confused and asked my sweet E, “What’s a curriculum??”

I tried not to laugh when she told me, and casually suggested she might want to try the word “text-book” next time.

PS Merry Christmas, Everyone!!

Just kidding . . . here you go for realz this time!

Filed under: Day to Day, Homeschooling, Random Thoughts, Stuff we love!, The Boy, The Chicken Fried South, The Women Folk by kelly on December 10th, 2011 | 1 Comment »

I need to take a moment to thank the BTDT (been there, done that) homeschooling moms who recommended we look into Apologia Science for our kids this year. It has been the most wonderful journey for all of us!

Still,  I remember wondering after the first few days if we’d made a horrible mistake! This book was NOTHING like our previous science books and we’d had plenty of them! The only science our kids took prior to this year was Abeka, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, we knew we needed to change things up a little this year for homeschooling, based on a request from our rising 6th grader.

After we settled on Anatomy and the book arrived,  I was very concerned that it would be WAY more than our 2nd grade student could handle and WAY more in-depth than our 6th grader would care for (given anatomy isn’t her fave to begin with!) – BUT it has turned out to be nothing short of a perfect fit for all of us!

Each chapter covers some aspect of the human body. So far we’ve studied cells, the skeletal system, the muscular system, the digestive system, nutrition & vitamins, the respiratory system and last week, BLOOD! This format changes things up enough to keep everyone interested, but it’s thorough enough that I don’t feel like we’re just skimming the surface of these very important subjects. To say I can’t wait to order and teach the rest of this series would be an understatement. We don’t know what the Lord has for us in the years ahead, but suffice to say, if He continues to lead us to homeschool our children, Apologia Science will be a staple! Did I mention that science has never really been my favorite subject? I don’t mind it, but I tend to glaze over when things get *too* scientific and I cap out at about 2 hours of wandering around the various Science Centers we’ve visited as a family. (Which just makes it all the more miraculous that I enjoy teaching this subject to our kids!)

Anyway, when we came to the chapter on BLOOD, we were especially excited for 2 reasons –

1. The kids have always wanted to know their blood types

and

2. Since my Dad is the manager of our community Blood Bank, we knew a field trip would be in order!

Here are some pictures from our recent adventures . . .

First we had to make a model of blood, because who doesn’t love a good edible model? We included the 4 components: Plasma (corn syrup), Red Blood Cells (red jelly bellies or cinnamon red hots), White Blood Cells (we used a white tootsie roll since you’re supposed to show that it’s larger than the red cells), and Platelets (candy sprinkles!).

Later in our study we took the kids on a tour of their local blood bank. Here they learned how the blood bank separates blood into the 4 necessary components, and how they store them for transportation to local hospitals. Everyone also had blood typing done – turns out all 3 have the same blood type! A special shout out goes to the retired science teacher turned lab technician who graciously included our kids in his work. They learned so much!

It was the perfect end to a very interesting science chapter and yet again reinforces why I’m so happy we chose this curriculum (and this lifestyle) for our family this school year! Thanks to all the participants who made this lesson possible. Not only do we know all our blood types now, but the kids have an increased awareness for the need to donate blood (when they’re old enough) and what happens to it when they do!

For anyone in Florida, Georgia or Alabama interested in donating blood or learning how to host a blood drive, click on the Life South logo below to locate your nearest Life South Community Blood Center!

Filed under: Homeschooling, Random Thoughts, Stuff we love!, The Boy, The Chicken Fried South, The Women Folk by kelly on October 30th, 2011 | 2 Comments »

I don’t make New year’s Resolutions. As one friend of mine so eloquently put it – “Why should I set myself up for one more opportunity to fail?” I think we’ve all felt like this at one time or another. I felt like that last year. In lieu of resolutions, however, another friend of mine revealed that each year she selects a word, just a single word, to represent what she is hoping to focus on in the coming 365 days.

ONE word? As a writer, I wondered how on earth I would ever do that? (Which was the key, really, because it meant the gauntlet had officially been thrown down – by me – and I had to do it.)

I sat down and discussed it at length with my better half. We both came up with words for the year. His word apparently scared me so much that I didn’t write it down. Anywhere.  (No doubt it was “CHANGE” and not in the presidential way. Because we all know how I feel about that word.) After much pondering, I went with “Deliberate” for my word in 2011.

Here is what I had to say about my selection on the day that I came up with it:

My word for 2011 is going to be “Deliberate” – as in, on purpose, intentional – particularly as it pertains to parenting and my routine here in the home. My goal is to avoid the “accidental parenting” that happens when I fall into patterns I don’t even especially like but are easy and familiar. I want to seize the opportunities presented to me by my children in these current ages and stages in an effort to minimize any regrets later that I “missed” so much of this or that. I’m sure I’ll still be able to think of plenty of things I could’ve done differently when I’m 50 and reviewing these early parenting years, but my goal is to be present and engaged and, well, deliberate.

Here is the irony of this whole process – I have not thought about my word from that day to this. In fact, if another friend hadn’t brought up HER word for the year earlier this week, I probably wouldn’t have even remembered it again before next January! (Yes, another PRIME example of why I don’t make resolutions. But anyway  . . . ) I looked up my word and was stunned to see how closely it aligned with the parenting decisions we’ve made this year – most notably our decision to homeschool – although in making these decisions, I can honestly say that I never even considered the word. So, apparently it played no part at all in my “deliberate” parenting other than being the initial articulation of something I’ve had stirring in me as a mommy for several years now.

The thing is, as parents, we find so many opportunities to beat ourselves up. We continually feel we are making the wrong decision, even when 5 seconds before we were confident it was the absolute right one. I’m not sure why this is, but after 11 years of parenting, I learned to refer to it, without affection, as an undeniable case of “mommy guilt” that cropped up anytime I least needed it to.  All difficult parenting decisions came with a nice , warm cup of it, and any awkward conversations with my tween, her teacher or a fellow parent had the potential to further convince me that I was NOT making the grade in this Parenting 101 class.

However, in the days I have spent homeschooling this year (all 60-whatever of them, so don’t be thinking I know what I’m doing or anything) I think I’ve finally determined why I was so quick to feel like I had the words “epic fail” stamped on many of my parenting missteps.  Don’t get me wrong, homeschooling comes with it’s own, built-in fail-o-meter, and it’s a HUGE one. Fail at this, and you can potentially ruin your kid’s chance at getting into a good college, being successful or worse yet, being a productive member of society! Umm yeah, no pressure.  So why is it that I’m feeling far less guilty these days than I did last year. The year that prompted me to select DELIBERATE as my word for the parenting days ahead? I think it’s because it isn’t the act of failing that makes us feel like we’re not making the grade. It’s the times we wonder if we’ve done enough. Otherwise identifiable as the fear, regret, guilt cycle. Did we really put all our effort into that conversation, decision, project, study session, etc etc etc? Did we? (FEAR)  We decide we did not (typically when we make all our sound mommy decisions, circa. 1am), enter REGRET. Finally we are engulfed yet again by the ubiquitous and inevitable MOMMY GUILT. *Ugh!*

No. This lifestyle isn’t a perfect cure-all for the modern mommy guilt. I don’t want to portray that myth and add to the guilt! Yes. There are definitely days I’m almost comatose by 4pm just as it’s time to take everyone to swim, dance, soccer etc. HOWEVER, there are far MORE days when I am finally satisfied with the effort I’ve put in to my day with our kids.  I don’t lie awake at night anymore wondering if I’ll regret saying “no” to that last bed time story. Instead, I remember that I said YES to several other opportunities to make memories today – including reading aloud from a variety of books. I now plan our time together – I am deliberate in creating the moments we will spend in each others company. We will take trips just for fun. We will spend time reading. We will bake together (and clean the kitchen)! We will take walks to enjoy the sunshine and bundle up when we realize it’s really freezing cold instead! We will  have a range of discussions on every subject – scheduled and unscheduled - because we simply have more TIME together.

I wish I had known, for the last 11 years, that what I really needed to do to relieve myself of heaping amounts of mommy-guilt, was just to say NO to the pressures around me, and take more TIME tending to the things I constantly felt like I could be doing better . . . instead of habitually feeling like I didn’t have enough quality time or questioning if we were spending it the way we *should*  (who decides that anyway?!).

Yes, we took family trips before. Yes, we ate dinner together as a family most nights. Yes, we sat on the ends of our kids’ beds at night while they discussed their day or their friends or their homework. Yes, we cheered them on at their soccer games and swim meets. Somehow it still didn’t feel like enough to me.

And that’s how I can quantify this decision to be more deliberate. Because now I feel it’s enough. I feel like they finally SEE the effort and care that I want them to know we put into this endeavor. Into THEM, not just their education. I’m not saying at 11, 9, and 8 I expect them to really “get” it, or even articulate their appreciation for it, but I know that they see it. And that’s finally ENOUGH for me as a parent.

I didn’t realize that my desire to be more deliberate was really synonymous with homeschooling – but that’s exactly how it has played out for me.

I guess it means I need to be more aware of whatever word I select for 2012?!

Filed under: Day to Day, Homeschooling, Random Thoughts, Stuff we love!, The Boy, The Chicken Fried South, The Women Folk by kelly on October 19th, 2011 | No Comments »

I have decided that small boys are like little sponges. They will soak up whatever information you give to them – good, bad, or indifferent! In addition, I’ve realized that they will also give you ONLY what you ask for. They will not attempt to exceed the bounds of whatever task you assign. They do not typically seek ways to over-achieve, but they will work hard to deliver exactly what you have asked for . . . hmmmm.

Applying this theory in our homeschool has been interesting. For example, if I expect my small boy to write neatly (knowing he is mechanically capable of doing so), then he will. If I let it slide when he writes with less care, he will continue to do so until I remind him that sloppy letters are not an option, at which point he sheepishly corrects the sloppy letters and reverts to his beautiful (and apparently time-consuming) printing method instead.

2 weeks ago, before Fall Break, I asked each student to select someone they wanted to learn more about. I got the idea from another homeschooling blog I read – the report is called “Person I Admire” and it gives me the chance to fine tune their writing skills (including addressing things like writing an outline, bibliographies, note cards, and rough drafts etc where needed) and provides the opportunity to do an oral presentation (costumes + our kids = a win!).  Spencer decided he wanted to do his report about the first man to walk on the moon. I selected some readers in his level from our local library, and he has spent 2 weeks absorbing all sorts of knowledge about Neil Armstrong.

I modeled the requirements for our written work on a similar assignment students are typically given at our previous school, with one notable exception – 2nd graders are not assigned this report. They are not expected to write anything of this length until closer to 3rd grade. But why not? I wasn’t sure how to go about this with a 2nd grader, but I decided we’d never know if I didn’t try . . .  so I just typed up my expectations, printed them out and handed them to him. He looked at the guidelines, asked a few questions, and simply accepted that this was normal. Aren’t all 2nd graders writing a one page paper on a person they admire and then completing an oral report in costume? No? Well, never mind, he is! Why? Because I asked him to. 

Today we sat down and discussed his outline. I explained that it was like a plan and I wanted him to have one so that he knew where his report was going and how he would get there. This apparently made sense to him. We talked about rough and final drafts.  I told him I didn’t expect it to be perfect because we would be making corrections together before his final draft. He knows to look up any words he is unsure of how to spell in our Scholastic Children’s Dictionary. I had to help him find the word “exciting” – and then tell him the word he actually needed for his sentence was “excited” (LOL) – but other than that, this small boy just turned out a complete paragraph about the early life of Neil Armstrong.

Oh. My. Word. Can I just take a moment here?? Who knew 8 year olds could do this??

Tomorrow I’ll have him write about his early career and the next day we’ll tackle achievements and accomplishments. The final day will be a paragraph on how this person has inspired him. ( I admit, I can’t wait to see what that paragraph looks like!)

So, now that the cat is out of the bag, it leaves me wondering . . . what else should I throw out there for my small boy to tackle?! I feel like this is a bit of a guessing game – “guess the student’s potential” – and it leaves me scratching my head a little. What else is he fully capable of and yet no one knows simply because no one has ever asked him to try? I was planning on beginning our times tables after Christmas . . . now I’m not so sure, maybe we’ll pull out the Schoolhouse Rock DVDs around Thanksgiving and get a head start.

Filed under: Day to Day, Homeschooling, Random Thoughts, Stuff we love!, The Boy by kelly on October 17th, 2011 | No Comments »

So apparently FALL has arrived, or Autumn, as I’m more accustomed to calling it. Either way, we’ve noticed a distinct drop in the humidity and, for at least 3 whole days, a dip in the temperatures too.  To celebrate this auspicious occasion, and because we’re currently studying poetry as part of our Creative Writing curriculum, I am including a Haiku written by my small boy. Yes, it is his very first. No, I didn’t help him at all (except to confirm that he did indeed have the required number of syllables per line).

Who would’ve thought my little engineer would have such a way with words? And yet he is consistently making me smile with his couplets, Haikus and other expressions. Just one more thing to love about being the one to teach him these things – an even deeper appreciation for the effort and glee that went into the making of these 17 syllables . . .

October

October is fun

It is fire pit season

It is raining leaves

Today we finished school a little early. Not by any real design other than the fact that everyone got their work finished by lunchtime. To celebrate, I broke our usual routine of quickly made deli sandwiches and instead served cheese quesadillas with left-over chili, fritos and a homemade brownie for dessert. While they surveyed their Mexican feast (+ brownie), knowing they were done for the day and all that awaited was the promise of a lazy afternoon, the oldest sighed and said . . . “No offense (previous school), but I LOVE this.” The others nodded and agreed through mouthfuls of lunch before running off to play.

Our afternoon has been spent with me perusing blogs, recipes, and information overload via the internet with one-eye open, and the kids playing with Barbies and Lego in the other room, while a slight breeze blows through the house from our open windows. It somehow makes the last 10 weeks even more worthwhile knowing that they are enjoying an extra 3 hours of childhood today.

And so we have made it to the end of our first quarter where despite some rocky days (Did I mention it IS possible to have a deficiency in homeschool? Why yes, it is!) and some hectic days (broken vacuum cleaner and customer service reps extraordinaire, anyone?), I think we are all holding onto the promise that homeschooling is the right forum for us to facilitate the education of our children this year.

Onward and upward and into the second quarter we boldly go . . .

Filed under: Day to Day, Homeschooling, Stuff we love!, The Boy, The Women Folk by kelly on October 5th, 2011 | No Comments »