Screen Time

Screen time is a big deal when you are homeschooling.  I don't remember it being that big a deal when the kids were in public school, but since I started homeschooling it seems to be something that helps to slap a label on you like no other.  You either are a full on screen junkie that leans to the unschooling end of the spectrum or you are a no TV in the house strict school at home type.  In reality most of us fall somewhere in the middle, but that isn't what people like to talk about.  That is not controversial.  It isn't interesting, so it doesn't get talked about in the media or in the gossip circles. 

Here is where I fall.  I grew up without a TV in the house until after I graduated from a public highschool.  I don't care for TV much.  I don't like what is on.  I could care less about reality TV.  DWTS is just stupid and I don't even know what the hell Glee is.  I do not watch TV.  I just don't.  My kids do not watch TV, but they do get plenty of screen time.  We have hundreds of movies in our house.  We have Disney and Scooby Doo.  We have VHS tapes that teach the alphabet and counting.  We have documentaries, and we have lots of other fluffy movies that are just fun.  They come without commercials and I know their content before my kids ever see them.

What about video games?  We've got those, too.  I, personally hate them.  I don't play them.  I think they are a waste of time, much like my blog and FB account.  The difference is that my blog and FB connect me to people whereas video games take me away from people.  I do let my kids play, though.  They are limited to the time they earn.  They have a punch card that is punched every night before they go to bed.  When the card is full, they earn 2 hours of video games.  They can choose to use it all at once or spread it out over the week.  They can earn punches for doing things like helping keep the house clean, doing dishes and laundry, and completing schoolwork on time.  Screen time means much more to them now that they have to earn it.

My husband LOVES to sit in front of a screen when he is home.  It is tricky to limit screen time for my kids when my husband just doesn't understand why I would ever want to do such a thing.  He works all day and his screen time is his down time.  My kids are home most of the day and screen time will consume the entire day if allowed to do so.  I set the limits to help them moderate screen time so that they can also enjoy other experiences. 

You would thing that none of this is a big deal.  I didn't think it was, either until I got to listen to some pretty heated debates on the subject.  On one side were the parents that do not limit screens at all.  They trust that their children will find their own groove.  On the other are the parents that will not allow their kids to look at a screen ever.  If they want entertainment, they can read.  It can get to be pretty loud at times with parents judging the other either irresponsible or a control freak.  I stay out of these debates, because they don't help anyone.  Every family must do what they think is right for their kids.  As parents all we can ever do is our best.

Socialization 101

I spent the evening today visiting with a lady from our Unitarian church.  She is awesome.  I love talking with her and could spend hours doing so, but I had my kids with me.  I was nervous about taking them into a new house.  While we do get out of our house and go places, people's homes are not usually on the list.  When we do go to houses, it is usually the home of a friend that has children for my kids to play with.  There are toys everywhere and the house resembles ours.  The friend I was visiting with is a mom to 4 kids, but they are grown kids.  I really didn't know what to expect. 

The kids got into the house and, to my horror, began to wander.  Our hostess said it was fine with her if they explored as long as I was okay with it.  Relief washed over me.  There were a few toys here and there that belonged to her grandchildren.  She had a drum in her house.  There were amazing trinkets and treasures.  I was just so happy to get to talk with this amazing woman.  Maybe we talked too long, because after a while my kids began to get restless and started to explore a bit too much.  I saw my son open a cupboard, and had to ask him to leave the drawers and cupboards closed.  I was embarrassed, but it was a learning experience for us all.  I am so glad that my friend was understanding, but can see that this is one area that my kids need to work on.  The only way they can do this is by us visiting more people.  Socialization 101?  Just another lesson to teach for this mom.

Free Stuff

In the never ending search for free stuff that my family needs, I have come to find Swagbucks.com. You can use it, too. Find it here: http://www.swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=2460380

Today

Today I want to let it all go; to fall backwards and know that there will be somebody to catch me.
Today my spirit cries out for help.
My strength is in great need of replenishment.
Today I need a smile and laughter in my life.
Today I need a friend.
Today I need hope.
Today I know that tomorrow will be better.
It must be.

Nothing to say

I have not been keeping up on this blog. I have had nothing interesting to say as of late. I also realize that this blog does not have the following that my previous blogs have had. I'm okay with that. It makes me feel less guilty when I live life rather than record it. I do however feel that I should update now and then, even when nothing is stirring in me.

I will be teaching VBS starting on Sunday. I do not believe everything I am going to be teaching these kids. I am not, in my opinion, a good person to be teaching VBS to anyone, but the pastor of the church needs somebody to entertain the 4 year olds and she thought of me. I am a teacher of children, after all. I am creative. I am able to teach with excitement of the material, and when I am not able to do that, I can fall back on a little acting. I do not understand why the church continues to purchase curriculum for VBS. If they are Christians, then shouldn't the Bible be their curriculum? They spend big money every year, though to entertain kids while teaching them a parable or two. I don't need a curriculum. I could have used a budget for craft materials, which I had to pay for myself.

We had a new roof put on our house. It was loud, but the kids managed to sleep through the removal of the old shingles. How do they do that? It looks nice. Vents were added to the back of the roof which should help extend the life of the shingles.

We are taking part in the public library's summer reading program. I have watched over the years as this program gets smaller and smaller. It makes me sad.

My garden is thriving with all of the rain that we have had this year. The weeds are also thriving. I work in my garden 2 to 3 times a week to pull weeds and tie up tomato plants. I really wish that I was able to have my garden at home. Driving across town to garden kind of kills my reasons for gardening.

So that's about it. I really didn't have anything to say, no real opinions to put out there. The world is full of opinions and people to share them. I'm sure if you've found yourself here, at my humble blog, and are disappointed that I haven't presented you with a wonderfully intense session of debate of politics, religion, and such, you will be able to survive. You will be able to go on and with the click of a mouse find exactly what you are looking for. Aren't computers great? Or are they? Debate that omoungst yourselves while I turn off my computer, get out my sewing machine, bake a cake, play a game with my kids, and live a little.

Taxpayer Funded Preschool?

When we looked at preschool, we decided not to do it at all. I could easily teach everything that my children would learn in preschool. I made sure my children had many opportunities to be around other children at church, play groups, story times at the library, and classes through Polk County Conservation. We talked, read books, travelled, played games, explored different places and ideas, and we loved our time together. When it came time for my kids to start school, we put them in, because that's what everybody did. After a couple of years, we took them back out. We decided to follow a different path, as many have before us. I am raising thinkers and learners of things. My children will stick out in a crowd. They won't fit in with kids their ages, and I am so proud of that fact.

People around here are talking about the need of taxpayers to pay for preschool for all 4 year olds. They think by putting kids in school earlier, the end product will be better. These are our children, not cattle being taken to a feed lot. You can not force education. It is a journey that one takes, because they find value in it. It is not a race. Starting earlier does not mean finishing earlier. It is learning. Why the hell would you ever want to finish learning? The early years should be devoted to play and exploration. A young child should not be prepared for factory style education at ages of 3 and 4, and taxpayers should not be paying for it. If you feel the need to teach your child to ask permission to pee, to sit on the floor, and to never speak without first raising their hand, by all means teach them these lessons at home, but that is not an education that I want for my children.

At the same time people are discussing making taxpayers pick up the bill for what parents should be doing at home on their own, they are also complaining that taxpayers currently pay for some highschool students to take college entrance exams. Some students are even taking classes at their local community colleges that are not offered in their highschools. This has some people really upset. They don't want to be paying for somebody else's college education. I am confused. It is okay to pay for preschool, to push children whose brains are not yet developed to learn in a style in which they are being taught, but we shouldn't encourage and help pay for young adults who wish to continue their education by taking classes that are not offered at their high schools? This type of thinking is one of the many reasons that this country has serious problems.

Gone Fishing

As moms in the area are debating if it is ever okay to allow children to skip school, I took mine fishing with their grandma and aunt. Is that so wrong? Really? We got to look at worms and fish. I showed them how to cast and they learned a little about patience. It was rainy and cold. I caught a baby fish, less than four inches long. We came home and had hot chocolate and storytime.

One local mom, who also happens to be a teacher, says that she spends a good portion of her class time getting kids who miss school up to speed. She claims that it is due to this that classes can't cover as much material as they need to and aren't getting the test scores that they should be getting. I'm going to have to disagree on this one. My kids don't spend any time in a classroom, at all. We spend a lot of time working in a garden, helping my mom, hanging out with my grandpa. We watch movies and play on the computer a lot. The kids play imaginative games. They spend very little time looking at a math book when I think about it. They do read a lot, and I read to them. We do not ever play catch up. Education is a journey, not a race. What you get out of it sometimes depends on your ability to stop and smell the roses, or learn how to grow them.

The same woman says that by allowing my children to not go to school on a schedule, I am teaching them that an education is not something of value. Again, I disagree. I believe that by teaching children from a very young age that education is something that you have to leave home for, that it starts at 8:00am and ends at 4:00pm, that you take a vacation from it, and you get weekends off from it, I believe that is teaching children not to value an education. My children enjoy learning. It comes natural for a child to ask questions. They want answers and they don't want to be told, "You don't need to know that now. You'll learn that in 7th grade." They will learn every minute of every day if you allow them to, if you don't train them to shut off their brains when the school bell tells them to do so.

In a time when public schools have no money to take kids to the zoo, or local fire station, it is up to parents to fill those gaps. We have to look for opportunities for our kids. I don't mean to sign them up for every club and sport, dance and art class. You don't have to go into debt to make learning fun and interesting for all involved, but sometimes you just might have to take some time out of a child's regularly scheduled day of answering questions from a book to get them interested enough to ask some questions of their own.

Moral of the story: Play hooky more often. You'll be glad you did.

Spring Cleaning

Today was Mother's Day. My husband was gone all day, feeding the masses. My children were enjoying having some time to watch movies, play games, and read books. I did a bit of light housework and then I walked into my library. There was dust. There were cobwebs. There were stacks and stacks of unshelved books teetering on the floor. Something had to be done. I have put off walking into this room in my house for months. I didn't want to face this beast that had run a muck. It was just too big. Today was the day.

I lack enough shelf space in my house for all of the wonderful books in my collection. I know this, but what can be done about it? I also lack the space in my house for more shelves. It was time to deal with the facts. I have too many books. It hurts to say so, but it is the truth. It was time to make some tough choices. I had to cut some loose to take better care of the ones that I was keeping.

On the chopping block were:

Holiday books- Each child got to pick one book for each holiday to keep. The others are going. 4 books on each holiday is plenty. Holidays are about traditions, and the kids picked the books that they remember me reading to them most. Some are fun picture books. Some are storybooks. Others discuss the meaning of the holidays. There ended up being a pretty good mix.
Bibles- Honestly, how many children's Bibles does any one household need? We have 4 children so 4 seems to be the number that comes to mind. I have counted over 20 in my house. Keep in mind these are huge, thick books that take up a lot of space. It is time they go to a home that they will get some attention in, one that is not mine.
Books based on TV shows- How did I even end up with these? I have a collection of Kim Possible chapter books? Seriously? How did that happen? I think the books are multiplying down there, because I did not, at any point in time, purchase these.
Little Golden Books- These are my families treasures. I have 2 boxes full of these beautiful little wonders. Oh, they aren't going anywhere, other than off of my shelves. I have stored them neatly away and will hide them in a closet somewhere. My kids just don't read them anymore. I don't read them to the kids. As young children, they are a bit wordy. James doesn't have the attention span for them. Meg has the attention span, but now wants to read on her own and the Little Golden Books aren't written at her reading level. Several of them are also Disney movie books. Looking at these books is like walking down a timeline of my childhood. I am not ready to part with that, and my mother would never allow me to, but since I don't have the space for them on the shelves, off into storage they go.

So after several hours of sorting, boxing, and bagging, my library is still a mess. It is getting better, though, and with some time and attention I can see myself enjoying the space again. One of the benefits of cleaning the library, or even being in there at all is that the kids, all in turn, came in to see what I was doing and picked up a book without even thinking about it. That is why my house is full of books. That is what it is all about.

Happiness

What is happiness?
Is it being excited about living?
Is it loving the people in your life?
Is it sharing, even with those you don't know?
Is it creating life and sustaining that life to maturity, in a child or a tree?
Is it small acts of kindness that make a big difference in the lives of others?
It is all these things and more.
I am happy.
Are you?
What makes you happy?

Smart or Social

A MomsLikeMe poll asked moms if they would rather have a smart child or a social child that was good with people. Many moms weighed in and said the would like to have a smart child. Many others said that it didn't matter if they were smart or not, that if they couldn't manage to navigate the social world the would never get to use their intellect and would be lonely and sad adults.

I asked my son, who was in the room, what he thought. His response was that he would like to be smart, of course, and that if he was, he would be smart in all areas in life including how to deal with people.

Sounds pretty smart to me, and I think he communicated his thoughts quite well.

Gardening

I have been gardening with the kids for several years now. When I started my first garden, I was astonished at how easy it was. You plant seeds and they grow. Food eventually grows on the plants and you have your very own produce isle in your backyard. The kids love to water the garden and pick the vegetables. It is truly a family project and one that we all enjoy on some level.

Last year we were devastated to come home and find that our backyard garden had been sprayed with something to kill it. I called on the experts at ISU who put me in contact with the proper organization who then sent a team to take samples of my garden. They analyzed the samples and determined that my garden, which is inside a 6 foot high privacy fence had been sprayed with Roundup. My family had been eating the food from that garden up until I noticed the leaves of my tomato plants turning yellow. Eventually the ripe, red tomatoes turned white and fell to the ground. I cried for a very long time last summer. My garden was ruined.

Knowing how upset I was, my mother came to my rescue. She offered up her yard to be turned into garden. She helped to buy a second round of plants to be planted. The garden at her house last year did not do well at all. We got quite a few acorn squash, but not much else. The rabbits ate everything else. It did, however keep me busy. It gave me a task and a direction to move in other than anger. While I don't like driving clear across town to garden and I don't like that I pass half a dozen grocery stores on my way to pick food that I could get closer to home, I do like that I am growing organic food that isn't sprayed, or waxed, or weeks old by the time I get it.

This year we are gardening at my mom's house. We turned our backyard garden into a wildflower garden. All food is being grown at my mom's house. This week I buried chicken wire around the perimeter of the garden to keep the rabbits out. I have mapped out what I want to grow and where. I am more organized. The kids are excited about getting fresh tomatoes and strawberries. They are enjoying their time playing outside in the fresh air. I am slowly getting into shape again after a long, snowy winter that kept me inside far too long. What we do not use this summer or freeze for the winter, I will donate to a local food pantry that has helped me out when I need it. Last year they were a great help since we did not get the food from our garden that we had counted on to feed our family.

There are always going to be rabbits in life and crazy people who will kill what you worked hard for. There will be disasters and accidents. It is how you handle these hardships that matter. I want my kids to learn that. There are a great many people in the world that can't roll with the punches. When life throws them a curve ball they crumple up and don't know what to do. I know. I do that, too. Then I get up and go about my life. I deal with the shock of things and then keep right on going. I have a lot of people that count on me for a lot of things. I don't have the luxury of giving up.

A lot of people have told me that they can't grow anything. I ask if they can grow weeds. If you can grow weeds, you can grow anything. Are you growing weeds in your life, or are you growing the good stuff, and do you share what you grow out of your life? Share the love, people.

Sickness Has Fallen Upon Us

In the past few weeks two of my four little ones have fallen ill. We have dealt with vomiting and fevers, hives, and sore throats. When a child gets sick in our house, they are kept in bed as much as possible. They get to rest, watch movies, read books, draw pictures, and play. I don't push school work of any kind on a sick child. As they feel up to it, they can join back into the family activities.

I remember when the kids were in public school and we were told that they couldn't come to school until they had gone 24 hours without a fever over 100 degrees. This meant that when they got sick they missed the day they were sick, sometimes two, and then another day to get to that 24 hour mark. Meredith got sick a lot when she was in public school, at least once a month. It wasn't long before the truancy people from the school were calling me. They wanted a doctor's note every time my daughter stayed home. I do not take my kids to the doctor very much. I can tell the difference between a bacterial and viral infection and I know when to take them to the doctor and when to treat symptoms at home. I was following the school's guidelines and getting in trouble for it. Other parents ignored the guidelines, dropped their kids off at school, and went to work. Then they got upset when they had to leave work to pick up a child who was throwing up in the classroom. These are the same parents that couldn't figure out why my daughter was sick so much.

Since taking the kids out of public school we have been relatively healthy. My kids still get sick, as do I, but not nearly as often. My kids usually get a cold in the spring and one in the fall. They might get a virus once a year. That has been about it. They have never had pink eye or strep throat. Head lice is not even a concern here.

When we get sick we listen to our bodies. They tell us when something isn't right and we respect ourselves enough to take time to rest and get better. There is nobody telling us how many days we have to get better or that we have to keep doing busy work so that we won't forget how to write or read. Learning continues. It just changes forms. Learning is something that we do every day of our lives, not 180 day a year between August and June. We don't struggle to get our school days in. We don't worry about sick days. We learn a lot about health and our bodies when we are sick. Other things can wait until we feel better.

A Roof For the Schoolhouse

Our little schoolhouse needs a new roof. We have been in our house for about 11 years and have added a roof to the long list of updates and repairs that are needed to keep our home from falling down around us. Our house is not pretty. We need to paint the window trim this year. We need new window frames, as ours are rotten, but to replace them would also mean replacing siding and we just can't afford that right now. We have a gravel driveway that is in need of gravel, because right now it is more mud and muck than rock. I need to have a tree in the backyard cut down before it falls on my house. So much outside needs done. It is overwhelming.

I'll be calling the roofing company in the morning to see how much a roof costs these days. Then I will most likely cry.

Shovels and Understanding

Park days and play dates are upon us once again now that the weather is getting tolerable. One of the many ideas to be navigated during this time is sharing. After a long winter, my kids haven't had to share with anyone, with the exception of each other. This isn't a problem for my older children. They seem to have no problem sharing what they have, but it isn't as easy for the younger one.

On our first trip to the park James took his favorite shovel with him. This is the shovel that he has used all winter to scoop up snow while I dug out the sidewalks. He loves this shovel and takes it with him everywhere. He got out of the van, went to the playground with his shovel and was very excited to find that he could also scoop up sand with his shovel. An older boy came over and asked me if he could use the shovel. I told him it wasn't mine, so I could not tell him that he could use it. He looked puzzled and asked if I was "the baby's mom". I told him yes and he asked me for the shovel again. I explained to him that it was not my shovel and that it would be wrong of me to give permission to use something that didn't belong to me. He could ask James if he wanted to use the shovel, but I would not tell him yes or no, because it wasn't my shovel. This child walked away in frustration. He then came back with his mother who asked me if her son could use the shovel. I went through the same conversation with his mother as I had gone through with him. She asked me if I didn't believe in teaching children to share.

During this time James had sat down in the sand and was digging. He had no idea what the conversation was about and he really could care less. He was a boy in the sand with a shovel and he couldn't have been happier. I, however, found myself becoming frustrated and feeling defensive. I do believe in teaching children to share, but this mother wasn't asking me to give a lesson in sharing. She was asking me to pry my son's favorite thing in the world from his hands and give it to her son. This is not sharing and it doesn't teach my son anything about sharing. It does break a bond of trust that I have with my son and I was not willing to do that. I tried very gingerly to explain, to this other mom, that I do teach my kids to share, but that I don't force them to share, because that is not true sharing. True sharing is something that one does for another person without outside pressures. They don't do it because of an external reward or because of impending punishment. It is an act of kindness and love. It can not be forced. Forced sharing is different. It is one person dominating another. I am not out to dominate my children, thus I don't force sharing with others. Trust is one of the basic elements of attachment parenting. As they get older they learn kindness and generosity. It is something that comes with wisdom and experience. It is not something that I expect my toddler to grasp, yet.

We ended up leaving the park early that day. I had mixed feelings about the whole park experience. The kids didn't even know about the confrontation at the sand pit. They all had a great time. I thought it strange that this mother would ask me to make my son share with her son in the first place. I also thought her interest in my parenting habits were a bit intrusive. I am happy with myself, though. I could have easily told her to get lost and she would have left feeling that she was right. I was wrong and that would be that. Instead, she left questioning. She may still feel like I'm wrong, but at least she is questioning why. Questioning is a start to understanding and that is what I strive for in the end. I don't care if people agree with me, but I would love to have others attempt to understand me. I think that understanding is the best thing to share.

We went to our scheduled park day the next day. We took three buckets and 6 shovels with us. James kept his shovel in the car. There were no problems and it was a glorious day.

Home Grown Curriculum

I am once again creating my own curriculum. As in years past, I am not happy with my options. It is getting better out there, but we are an odd bunch here and nothing seems to fit us just right. We are not unschoolers, but we are extremely relaxed most of the time. We are not curriculum junkies, but I have more books than the local public school. We are not religious homeschoolers, but I teach all religions as best I can. We homeschool for academic reasons, for family reasons, and because we simply love our children and love to watch them learn and grow. Finding resources that fit our style is tough. I am still discovering what my style is and it seems to be ever evolving. I don't have a label for it. I can't google it. There isn't a yahoo group for it.

This year is tougher for me than the others have been. I have added my 6 year old into the mix. She is bright, but likes to ask for help, even when she doesn't need it. She wants all of my attention.

I am finding that what I used with Meredith is not going to work with Matthew. I could try to force him to accept her learning style, but it would do more harm than good and in the end we would all suffer for it. Meredith read everything she could get her hands on. She took notes. She wrote reports and stories. Matthew is more hands on. He wants to touch things and do experiments. He wants to take things apart and see how they work. He does math in his head instead of writing it out like his sister did. He wants to be told what to write about instead of having freedom to write anything he wishes.

Meredith is continuing to read far above her grade level. Her understanding of what she reads is amazing and scary. She still doesn't want to read anything about boy/girl relationships, though. While she can read college level books at the age of 11, she is hesitant to grow up. She still wants to be a little girl. Finding reading material that will both stimulate while not offending her is tricky. She is doing great in math now, thanks to the Life of Fred books showing her that math can be fun and can be used in more than just cooking and shopping. Now if only the Life of Fred books incorporated more practice and math computation in their books, I would be happy.

I just can't imagine ever finding a set curriculum that would cover all of my children's needs and my desires. Our interests are a patchwork of who we are and what makes us tick. As we grow, our interests change and the way we learn also grows with us. If I were to buy a learning system for any one of my children for a year, we would end up deviating from that system before it was over with. It is in our nature to change and to need something more or different. My solution to this is to always have many books on hand., to always have something that can help us dive deeper into a subject.

I have ordered several books to supplement and work into my curriculum. Most of my curriculum ends up being a mix of unit studies and supplements. I am just having a hard time bringing it all together this year. I am reading blogs and am getting back to DJ and some other homeschool forums that I used to frequent. That is helping. I just need to come out of the fog I seem to be stuck in. Having a day away from the kids to work on this would help, but that would just be asking too much.

Feel free to leave any helpful hints or comments. I can use all the help I can get.

Simple Art Minutes

I have purchased rolls of adding machine paper for our soon to be added art minutes. During the day the kids seem to always reach a point where they just start to drift off. The school work starts to take hours instead of minutes if I don't somehow reel them back in. If I give them a break from their work and let them go off to play, more often than not, the work is done for the day and all is lost. That isn't an option. I am now going to ask them if they need a minute away from their work. If they do, they can get up, stretch, jump, and wiggle about for a minute. Then they can go get their paper roll. They will have a minute or two to draw something, anything. At the end of their minute or two, I will collect the paper and they go back to their work. The paper will be rolled back up and placed back into its spot until next time. At that time they just continue what they were drawing. It can be a continued cartoon, or a landscape that just keeps evolving. It is up to them. Simple art minutes to get their imagination going and their minds working, to jump start a tired brain. If this doesn't work I can always try coffee.

Today's math

Today we talked about median, range, and average. I told the kids that we were going to run a special at their dad's restaurant. They got to come up with the special. It was smoked toad bellies with a side of snake ears topped with jellied fly testicles. (They had been encouraged to make it something utterly ridiculous. I think they did well.) I explained that this special would run for 2 weeks. We took the numbers of the special that had run the week prior and tried to see what we could discover about how well it sold. We made a table and then figured the median number, the range, and the average of how many specials sold that week. We talked about ordering and sales trends. We talked about how many specials we would want to make ahead of time so that we didn't have to make them during the dinner rush. We wanted to make enough, but not too many. Any that were made ahead of time that didn't sell would have to be thrown out and would end up being lost inventory. I then gave them sales figure for the special for the first week. Again they did some figuring and decided if they wanted to make any changes in the amount of product that was prepped ahead of time. It was a lot of fun. I think their dad would approve of the lesson, just not the special.

What we are reading now

I just finished reading Story Time by Edward Bloor. I found the author's take on standardized testing to be interesting and slightly disturbing. Then again I find standardized tests to be disturbing on their own. Now I am reading The Evolution Of Calpurnia Tate by Jaqueline Kelly. It is refreshingly original as few books for this age group are. I am enjoying it, myself, even though I picked it up for Meredith. For myself I am reading several biographies of Albert Einstein.

Meredith has finished The Cartoon Guide to Genetics by Larry Gonick. She has not moved onto The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry, but she would like to read more on the topic of genetics. She is also reading Anne of Green Gables. She was reading Mossflower by Brian Jaques, but put it on hold when I asked her to read Anne of Green Gables. I didn't realize she was working on something, or I would have waited to give her something new.

Matthew is reading Atilla The Hun Leader of the Barbaian Hordes by Sean Stewart Price. He isn't reading anything else right now. I told him that I wanted him to do a review of this book and I think he is trying to give it his full attention.

Meg is reading several short readers. Some are Bob Books. Some are phonics readers. Today she worked on a book that had the long e sound entitled Neat Feet.

James has discovered books by Todd Parr. His favorite right now is Dos and Don'ts.

We have just finished Fablehaven Secret of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull. The next book in the series is due out later this month. It is on our long list to read. Until then we will be reading George's Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy and Stephen Hawking. We are also reading several poems this month. Usually I read a certain style of poetry or stick to one topic, but during April we read it all. It is a fun month for reading aloud.

Homeschool update

I will soon be making our book purchase for the year. I say I do this in the spring so that I have the summer to get organized, but since we "school" year round it doesn't really matter. Recently I purchased The Cartoon Guide to Genetics by Larry Gonick thinking that it might be something to add to our middle school or high school curriculum. Meredith has read the book in the last two days and wants to know more about genetics. If anyone has any ideas for books that a 5th grader can understand about genetics, please let me know. She is learning so much on her own that I really only focus on math and writing with her. I have the Life of Fred books for Meredith to work her way through in math. I pair these with a traditional math book that focuses more on computation than application. I am still looking for math books that are for the middle school years that will work for us. We are also beginning to work on art history and appreciation rather than just playing with materials. Meredith has always been so easy to teach, because she loves to learn all she can and really seems to understand that life isn't divided into subjects. She wants to learn math, because she can see its use in art and science. She wants to learn about grammar and poetry because it helps her to understand what she reads, which in turn helps her to understand everything around her.

Matthew is writing much better this year. I am so happy to see the progress made from writing just a few sentences at the beginning of the year to writing a page of well thought out information. I was beginning to worry that he would never be able to sit down and write. I found that when I give him a subject, a story starter, even a word to start with, he is able to take off and write, but if I give him an empty sheet of paper, the expression on his face will mirror the blank page. Matthew is ready to jump into 5th grade math, but I am going to work with him on applying math a bit before we jump into the next book. I have found that he needs to see how the math is relevant in everyday life to embrace it. He knows how to do the math. Now he needs to learn why he should even bother with it. (I am going to break her to complain about our current math book, that we got from the public school. It tells us all the time to use a calculator. My children can use a calculator when they are in calculus. They have brains.) We will continue to work on the writing process. Matthew will be writing a book review shortly and then we are jumping into poetry. He likes to write acrostic poems. This year we will cover couplets and limericks. I just know he is going to be a great limerick writer.

Meg is still working on learning to read. She still claims to not be a reader as she isn't an independent chapter book reader, yet. She'll get there. Her attention span is increasing, but I have to remind myself that she is only 6. I will start her first grade instruction this summer as she allows. She is adding and subtracting in math. She is reading words with both short and long vowel sounds. We have started different letter blends such as bl, br, th, sh, ch, and ck. I think she is doing rather well. She just has to stop comparing herself to her older siblings and look at how much she has learned in such a short time.

James is happy watching Barney, playing with blocks, helping me with dishes, coloring in color books or on paper, and drawing on the dry erase board. His vocabulary is increasing daily as he listens to all of the learning going on around him. He will be 2 in just a few weeks. Our lives have changed so much since he came into them. He is a challenge, but one that I am happy to take on.

As the public schools scramble to try to figure out how to make due with lack of funds and more budget cuts, we continue to struggle to make ends meet. In the end, though, I have to do what is best for my family. Money is no substitute for my time and energy focused on my children. I will not be putting the kids back in public school anytime soon. We continue to evaluate all of our options several times a year and thus far, homeschooling still makes the most sense. Where else can the get the teacher to student ratio that they have now, the love and encouragement that a family provides, and the time to be children and follow their interests? Public schools do their best to offer these things as best they can, but just as stated in The Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home."

Sunday Art Study: Mood

Today we talked about the mood of a painting. We looked at a selection of Van Gogh's paintings and discussed color, texture, and the mood that the pieces project. We also took a brief look at some of the work of Jackson Pollock. We then experimented with paint, using our fingers as tools. After the kids got the hang of the textured looks they could create with their fingers we talked about color and mood. We decided to make landscapes that would capture a certain mood. The kids each chose a different landscape and then I picked something that they weren't doing, just to show them how it could be done, (and because mom like to paint, too.) It has been a fun evening of paint and conversation. I will post pictures soon.

Books We Read

We read a lot here. We used to keep track of the books that we read on a poster, but we ran out of room and we just fell out of the habit. In looking back at that old poster, though I began to realize just how much we read in this house. We have a library with close to 4,000 books in our house (that is in great need of organization). I loved going to the library as a child and was always heartbroken when I had overdue fees that prevented me from checking out books. I started our home library 10 years ago and it has grown and grown. We read together and independently. We read all kinds of books. We have a very long list of books that we want to read and not enough time in the day to get to them all. I remember working 45 hours a week and wishing I had more time to read. I have more time now, but it never seems like enough. I want to read more.

I personally read a lot of young adult fiction and non fiction. I read a lot of books on teaching and learning. I read a lot of cook books and books of poetry. I read a lot of everything, with the exception being parenting books. I don't like them. There are so many parenting books out there. Many of them contradict each other and none of them know my children. The make many generalizations that have nothing to do with my family. With so many books and so little time, I just skip them.

Meredith likes to read nonfiction. She also likes the Redwall books. She tends to read many books all at the same time. I don't know how she keeps them all straight.

Matthew likes books that are funny and adventurous. He really enjoyed the Percy Jackson book series.

Margaret is just learning to read. She still claims that she can't read, but she has read several readers to me. She is still learning and growing. Then again, aren't we all?

James loves our story times. He has his favorite board books, but will listen to anything.

I will be posting book reviews by the kids and myself later on, but for now, I'm off to read with Margaret.

The S word

1)I want a natural approach to socialization for my kids. I don't want to seek out friends for my children. I want them to find them on their own.

2)I don't want to limit my children to playing with kids the same age and gender as my kids. That doesn't seem natural to me. My friends aren't all the same age as me, or gender. As adults we don't limit ourselves to only having friends that are exactly like us.

3)Diversity is a beautiful thing. It makes life interesting and it keeps a relationship exciting.

4)Kids need to learn how to not get along for a while and then how to work things out. It is a life skill. I'm not talking about a bully/victim situation here. Sometimes you do need to just walk away from a relationship, but you will never know how to identify a toxic relationship if all relationships are viewed as toxic.

5)I have a friend. We don't agree on everything. We are not the same age. We do not have the same number of children and our children are not the same ages. We get along and our kids do, too. They don't get along perfectly. I enjoy watching them navigate the bumps that they encounter, though. It helps them all to grow as people. It helps them to learn how to be tolerant of others, a lesson that many adults could use.

What is Stone Milk?

I was reading Stone Soup to my youngest child. He was amazed by the people coming together to create something that they could all share. He has since, started asking for "stone milk" when he wants to breastfeed. When you think about it, stone milk is much like stone soup. Farmers, owners of markets, neighbors, friends, and family come together with us to provide, prepare, and enjoy a meal. My body turns that meal into the milk that I provide my son to help him grow.

In the same way that others help me to provide my youngest with this stone milk, they also help me to teach my children what they need to learn in life. My children do not learn only from books. They do not attend a public school. They learn from life, experience, and those around them. They learn from their grandparents, from animals, from the nice old man next door, and the not so nice one on the other side. Every person my children have contact with has an opportunity to contribute to the growth and nurturing of another human being. We all have that opportunity when we walk out our doors. Humans never stop learning. We all have a chance to contribute to the lives of others, to help them grow, to be a part of their stone milk.