What I wish I could say!

I love the show House, because it is a fantasy world where Dr. House gets to say all the things to patients every doctor wishes he could say. Well, here is a list of all the things homeschoolers wish they could say to all those "well meaning" busy bodies who like to question us about homeschooling! My personal favorite:

#12 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.

Toddlers and School Time

How do you keep a toddler busy and out of trouble? This certainly is a perennial problem of home school moms, so I am going to post a list of things we do to keep "the queen" busy at times when I need to focus on the older two.

sink time - this only works if you have a sink near where you school, which I am fortunate to have! I have a small tub with water toys that is kept under this sink, and a stool so she can play in the water

bean play - this has been a great entertainer - though if you have little crawlers you need to be careful about the choking hazard. I got a shallow storage box (like the kind for storing clothing under the bed) and filled it with dried pinto beans (courtesy of the Y2K stash!). I also put some plastic measuring cups and spoons, a shovel and some bowls for mixing, stirring, measuring and pouring beans. She can pull the box out herself now, and plays in the floor, then one of the older ones gets the job of sweeping or vacuuming beans. Much easier to clean up than sand :)

bubbles! - again, you have to have the right set up - we have a door off our school room that opens onto a patio - and windows all the way across, so I can let my 3 year old sit on the patio and see her the whole time. We have a box of bubble paraphernalia - and it keeps her entertained for quite some time.

activity boxes - I have 6 small boxes I filled with things that only come out during school. One is full of sticker sheets, paper, scissors, stamps, etc. One has a Mr. P*tato Head set, another contains a lot of little "happy meal" style toys. I filled a box with play doh and sculpting tools. One has "crafts" - pom pom balls, felt, pipe cleaners, glue, sequins etc. The last one contains the Fisher Price Let's Go Fishing Game - her favorite.

other items to have on hand to entertain a 2-4 year old

bean bags - with a box to throw them into

coloring books

puzzles

matching games

lacing shapes

large beads to thread onto laces

large set of plastic jacks

felt story books - I had some of these from my teaching days, and my kids love them - many teacher supply places carry them - they are story books of familiar tales (Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood, Hungry Caterpillar) with felt pieces to put on the pages to tell the story (there are no words in the books) They are wonderful for second language instruction (that is why I had them) but they also are just plain entertaining. They are a bit pricey, but would make a great birthday or Christmas gift.

I also have a file box of Zipl*c bags with a variety of homemade activities (sorting, matching etc. ). Many of these ideas can be found at Paula's Archives.

Another great find was a water play station from K-Mart - it was on clearance and cost under $30 - a great birthday present for grandparents to give!

Finally, something I learned from MOTH: I have certain times during the day when an older child is assigned to play with a younger child. Both the older ones take a turn with the baby during the day (20-30 minutes), and they also each have one on one play time with the four year old. This is probably the biggest help. So when I know I need 30 minutes of time with the crocodile hunter, the little princess plays with her little sister during that time. Then they can trade off. Not only does this help me, but it encourages them to spend one on one time with each other.
Well, you have read my ideas, now share some of yours - if you have a great way to keep your toddler busy, leave me a comment with your idea or a link to your blog with ideas. I am always looking for more!

Just Say No

Remember that phrase? Well, this is something I have always struggled with, just saying no, to commitments, that is. I cannot tell you how many times I look at my life and realize it is time to cut back. I enjoy so many different things, and I have a tendency to jump in and do anything and everything I can squeeze in. Just in the next few weeks I will host a baby shower with 50 guests, a cocktail party to celebrate my brother-in-law's engagement, finish painting the mural on the nursery walls (which I started before the baby was born - she is almost 9 months now), receive my Kelly's Kids trunk for shows (yes, I'm a rep), make a poodle birthday cake for my niece, finish sewing beach outfits for my 3 girls (for beach vacation portraits in August), and teach a pillowcase dress class at the local children's fabric shop.


All the while, I am trying to get my home decluttered, my scrapbook room organized (ha, ha), and get ready for school to start. I look back and ask, what happened to summer? August is almost here! I list the above not to show "how much I do" or to make anyone feel like I am some sort of "supermom" (just ask my kids, I most definitely am NOT!). I recognize that my life is no busier than yours, that we are all constantly juggling the everyday events that pop up. I think most people go through life thinking they are so overwhelmed, and that no one else could possibly imagine how hard it is to live their life. But, I know that you have just as many pressing things on your mind, though they may be of a different sort. At the same time, I am immersed in books such as Seven Habits, and that is where the "just say no" comes in. I have been very struck by the time management paradigm that Covey uses. He boils our lives down to four different types of activities. Things are either important or not important, and they are either urgent or non-urgent. Most of us live in the urgent-not important. The ringing phone demands to be answered, it is urgent, but rarely important. The next event is always on the horizon, and life becomes crisis management. I enjoy planning parties. I enjoy teaching, sewing, and scrapbooking (or I used to, before I got 4 years behind!), I enjoy cooking, gardening, and decorating my home. I enjoy being able to have my children participate in activities such as soccer, gymnastics and "bug camp" (that would be for the Crocodile Hunter :). Each of these things is precious to me, they are things I look forward to, things that challenge me. They are not obligations for the most part, they are things I want to do. But most of these things are not that important. I am reminded of the tag passage at the bottom of my blog page, a passage that I have to keep posted in my kitchen to remind me to not become angry with others who in my mind don't seem to do their share when it comes to volunteering for jobs in church and elsewhere. One thing is needful. What a powerful phrase. So, once again, it is time to prune. I will try to focus on that one thing needful.

P.S. Dad, if you are reading this - note I used the word "enjoy" not "love" - see, some of those little pet peeves of yours got through :)

Brain Overload

I am really excited to share what I listened to on my NEW i-pod. My husband ordered me one and it arrived the day before we left town. He set it up and showed me how to download (yes, I know, I am WAY behind the technology train). I am so glad he did! Remember the 9 1/2 hour trip (one way) I mentioned below? Well, I got to spend most of it listening to homeschool workshops. A friend sent me an email a few months ago, asking me if I had heard of the Ultimate Homeschool Expo. I checked it out, and decided to buy a ticket. I did not get to listen to any of the talks live, and have tried to listen to a few on the computer, but just have not had the time. So, I downloaded 16 different workshops on my i-pod, and listened and took notes. It was really great! I took about 15 pages of notes, and my head is spinning from different ideas that I can't wait to try out. If you can get past the moderators excessive use of the word "neat" and the tendency of every speaker to use the phrase "eksetera", it really is worth the time to listen. It was just the kick in the pants I needed to get me motivated to finish working on our plans for the fall, and to take another look at our routines and daily rule. I also got through most of Educating the Whole-Hearted Child, and found it to be a very helpful tool. It was a very productive trip, and I will be sharing more about what I learned if future posts.

A quick addition: I just received an email from Ultimate Homeschool Expo, and they are featuring a weekend of talks about getting organized for the new school year. Check it out, looks good! You can listen live for free, or purchase a ticket if you want to access the talks later as downloads.

Road Trip: Then and Now

Remember those long car rides you took when you were a kid? I vividly remember our family vacation trips to Florida (about a 10-11 hour drive from where we lived). My brother, sister and I used to pile all of our pillows and blankets in the floor of the station wagon (70's and early 80's) or Suburban (80's). We would bring books, snacks, toys and games, and make tents and have a ball. I still remember my favorite treat to take was those little baskets of gum that were shaped like strawberries - they even came in a little green plastic basket like real strawberries. What fun those trips were! I am sure that is not quite how my parents remember it. I am sure there were hours of "are we there yet?" and "I need to potty" and "hey, get off my side of the car!" And my father will never let me forget the time when I was 3 and threw up on the way home from D*sney W*rld, all over his brand new company station wagon.
Well, boy have times changed. We just arrived home from a long trip to visit my husband's extended family. The car ride there was 9 1/2 hours long. It was rather odd to look around our car and see my 2 older ones with headphones listening to Chronicles of Narnia on CD, the 3 year old (christened "the queen" by her godfather) with her headphones watching March of the Penguins on a small TV we had strapped to the console with bungee cords, and my husband and I both with our headphones on listening to our respective i-pods. Now, if only they made little headphones for a 9 month old :). She slept a total of 30 minutes the whole drive (did I mention it was a 9 1/2 hour trip ?) and cried for the last three hours straight. While I miss the days of making tents in the floor of the car on the way to Florida, I will confess, if you have to strap them down for 9 1/2 hours (and only make two 20 minute stops), then at least let them be entertained! That is hard for me to say, since I am all for them coming up with their own entertainment, but for sanity, we gave in to the technology, and only had to listen to "are we there yet?" a few hundred times.

Our Plans for 2008-2009

I know,I promised I would not post another book list. This is not really a book list, rather an outline of our studies for next year, so I really didn't break my promise :) Today I sat down and really spent some time looking through all of the books I have been considering. I am still struggling with a few decisions, but here is what I think I have settled on.

2nd grader

Christian Studies: Old Testament
Children's Bible Reader (she will read these aloud to me or her little sisters)
Days of Creation Art
various children's lives of the saints books
Let the Little Children Come to Me

Arithmetic
Math on the Level - we will be using this as our guide this year, and I plan to continue with Ray's as needed.

English Studies
Yesterday's Classics - First and Second Readers
Explode the Code - book 4
SWR - still debating
The Sentence Family - for fun
Copywork - poems for poetry book

History
Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Egypt

4th grader

Christian Studies
Golden Children's Bible
Memoria Press Christian Studies I
Forty Saints

Arithmetic
Math on the Level - and Singapore if needed

Latin
Lively Latin

English Studies
Writing Tales or Classical Writing - still struggling with this one
The Sentence Family

History
Colonization to the American Revolution - Time Travelers series

Both will be doing:

Geography - North and South America - probably just using maps, living books and encyclopedia

Science
Among the .. series
nature journal

Art
Atelier Art, and CM artist study

Music
piano lessons, and our CM composer study

If I stick with these decisions, then I will not have to do any more purchasing for next year, other than the occasional living book I might add in, and few books to cover our geography lessons. I am still working on a schedule for the year, so when I get my lesson plans worked out, I will post those also. At that point I will be creating my teacher's planner for this year, and will post the sections as I create them for this year.

What would I do?

Someone asked a great question on a homeschool forum the other day. What would you do if you had three years to prepare to homeschool? Would you start buying curriculum, would you start buying supplies? Would you begin making schedules and lesson plans? After thinking about it, I know exactly what I would do. I would read. I would read about different teaching methods and educational philosphies. And I would pray. I would pray for God to show me what was right for my kids. I will admit that I did not really know if I wanted to homeschool when my kids were toddlers. When the time for that decision came, I was a young mom, with a 4 year old and a 2 year old. I am a homeschool graduate myself, having been homeschooled from 3rd grade through high school. I LOVED being homeschooled, and can honestly say I have never regretted it, or felt as if I missed out on anything. I also know first hand the sacrifice required. I look back and see how many things my mother missed out on, how many other activities she could have been doing, how many talents she could have explored. So as my oldest approached school age, I began to really wonder, was I up to it? I find myself still asking that question, especially as I begin to think about a new school year, and new challenges. Looking back, there are so many things I wish I had known, so many books I wish I had read. So here is my list of books I think are most helpful as one begins to consider homeschooling. If I had a year to prepare, I would spend it reading these books and praying.

The Well Trained Mind - This book was the one that gave me the confidence to begin, a path to follow, from preschool to highschool. While we have strayed from that path, I still consider it an invaluable resource for any homeschooler.

Education Is - a free E-book - a short collection of Charlotte Mason's writings and commentary
on what education truly is - an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life. This little book is invaluable for any parent, even if you are not planning to homeschool.

A Charlotte Mason Education - This easy to read book gives an overview of CM, broken down by subject. It is a very practical guide for how to implement the principles of beauty in education professed by Charlotte Mason.

Dumbing Us Down - an insightful look at the current educational system, why it is failing, and what it is doing to the future generations of America. Fair Warning: you may not be able to ever consider sending your kids to public school after reading this book!

Educating the WholeHearted Child - This one I have added to my summer reading. A wonderful book about educating your child, from instilling habits and choosing curriculum to planning lessons and determining learning styles in your children.

The Lost Tools of Learning - an essay by Dorothy Sayers on the need for a return to classical education

Multum non Multa - an essay by Andrew Campbell, author of The Latin Centered Curriculum. It is a brief look at the principle of "much, not many", and for me was a balance to the Well Trained Mind, which can become a daunting curriculum to follow if you feel you "have to do it all." For that matter, any article in the Memoria Press magazine is worth reading :)

So there is my list - and I promise not to post another book list the next time I post :)