I Allow My Kids to Play Violent Video Games
Hi there. I’m a parent, and I play violent video games. I have never killed anyone, mugged anyone, maimed or raped anyone, robbed a bank or knocked over any convenience stores, or lived through the Zombie Apocalypse or fought in any Alien Wars. I also allow my kids to play violent video games.
I consider myself an AP parent, with all of the lovey-dovey concepts that go along with it in full practice. I also consider myself a ’crunchy’ mom (scoring 157 on the crunch scale), and I do not find these lifestyles incompatible with allowing my children to experience and participate in video game violence. I thought that I would start off with that clarification so as to give you, dear reader, an idea of where I stand on this issue.
This topic comes up quite a bit in my group of homeschool friends. Most of us have gaming kids, and they often play together online. The confession of which games our kids play is almost always admitted with a shy smile, ducked head and almost shameful countenance, like we’re divulging some horrible secret. I grew up watching Bugs Bunny (of sarcastic, cross-dressing fame) and Daffy Duck/Elmer Fudd/Yosemite Sam trick and try to kill each other with horrifying regularity. Then there was Wile E. Coyote, with his unlimited spending account at Acme. Co., try, and fail (often with self-destructive consequence) to off the Roadrunner. Other cartoons, Captain Caveman, Tom & Jerry, Ren & Stimpy, the terminal stupidity of Beavis and Butthead… all had their share of cartoon mayhem and violence. I grew up with video games, like Super Mario Brothers (where the Mario Brothers begin their reign of murder and 8-bit violence on the animal population of Mario World within the very first frame), Contra (where there is nuthin’ but killin’, especially with the ‘up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start’ cheat code, which allowed a wholesale killing spree virtually without consequence). Though the graphics have improved, the violence in video games nowadays is more often in story format now (movie format, even) and in many, you can choose your path to be less or more violent.
Articulating why I allow my children to play such games is often elusive. Being able to pinpoint exactly why I don’t find them as threatening as Media portrays them is very difficult. But I came across this article on The Escapist by Shamus Young called ‘Violent Video Games are Awesome‘ that does a wonderful job explaining what I haven’t been able to. Katie Couric apparently brought this topic into the limelight yet again(with a beautiful critique by Chris Person on Kotaku), and tweeted for the public to respond with the positive side of video game violence, and Mr. Young’s reply was, in part, thus:
“This is a really pernicious way to continue the conversation. Imagine if I argued that nose piercings caused brain cancer. To support my argument, I talk about two people (there’s a robust data set for you) who had pierced noses and who also had cancer. And then I ask everyone if there’s anything positive about nose piercings. Instead of defending my ridiculous and shoddy argument, I’ve put the opposition in a spot where they somehow have to justify the existence of the thing I’m attacking.
It’s hard to give the positive side of lots of things: Celebrity gossip shows, greasy food, rock music about sex and drugs, trashy romance novels, and shallow Bejeweled knockoffs for Facebook. You can’t show the societal benefit of this stuff. That doesn’t matter. In any kind of civilized world, you shouldn’t need to prove that your entertainment benefits society. That’s not why we make or consume entertainment.
The argument is taking the angle of, “since these games [maybe] cause violence, and since they have no redeeming social value…” and then letting the audience take over from there. Couric doesn’t need to dirty her hands arguing that violent games should be banned. She can just construct a narrative where that’s the obvious conclusion and let nature take its course.”
I’ve only quoted a small section of his rebuttal, and I encourage you to read the article in its entirety. His assessment of Ms. Couric’s methods are spot-on, and his reasoning is quite sound. Many of the points that he makes, including that of the regulation and compliance of video game manufacturers to appropriately label their products being far superior to other warning labels, are points that never seem to get brought up in the ‘great debate’.
Another issue lacking in the ‘great debate’ is parental supervision. Aside from the fact that these are MY KIDS and I am the one who gets to decide what they are able to handle and allowed to do, the push to ban video games wrests this decision from my hands and puts it into the hands of a one-size-fits-all government. It implies that I, as a parent, am incapable of making the decision as to what my child should and shouldn’t be allowed to do.
As their parents, Loverly Husband and I have what we consider reasonable rules about video game violence. For one, our kids are not allowed to play games in which you are killing people. So, no ‘Call of Duty’, no ‘Rainbow Six’ – most realistic ‘war games’ are out. However, killing fictional monsters? A-OK. ‘Halo’,’ Gears of War’, and cartoon video game violence (Mario, Sonic, Ratchet & Clank, and the like are all fine). When they are allowed to play games with a more mature ESRB rating, they do so with language and gore off, so no huge blood spatters and gratuitous swearing. This is far less ‘violent’ than movies like even Harry Potter, where people start getting killed by kids in the first movie, and get tortured by wicked adults more or less throughout the franchise, or Chronicles of Narnia, where a sibling group of children lead a war of men and fantasy creatures alike, or Avatar, where an entire civilization is razed in grand American fashion for land and money, then rises up to kill their oppressors (which is what the Native Americans are still being punished for… and the American government is totally fine with that, even to the point of celebrating and revering the perpetrator of this horrific injustice with a national holiday). I dare say that’s done more to desensitize people to real violence and atrocity than killing off fictional invading aliens in a video game.
Another rule for us is that Loverly Husband usually plays it first. There are definitely games that they are not allowed to play – my personal favorite ‘grown up game’ is the Dead Rising franchise; zombie killin’ sprees all around. Games like Alan Wake and L.A. Noir are off the table for the kids. Resident Evil, BioShock, DeadSpace, Grand Theft Auto, Saint’s Row… all are off limits to our kids.
I realize that other parents have different rules for their kids, violent video games or not, and that’s fine. That’s as it should be. When my kids go to friends’ homes that have more restrictive rules, they abide by them. When they visit friends who have less restrictive rules, they are required to follow house rules where they’re at (which means that occasionally, they may play video games that we don’t allow, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s okay with us).
One aspect of this argument is woefully ill-addressed. The constant assumption in this debate is that given the opportunity, kids will always choose violent video games just because they’re available, over others. That’s certainly not true in our house. PeaGreen plays Minecraft on creative with no mobs (no killing at all) more than any other game, ever. LBB’s favorite franchise is Halo, but it’s not just limited to the games. He reads the novels, instruction guides, watches videos of game strategy – it’s more than ‘just a game’ for him. Do they get carried away with it sometimes? Absolutely. They’re both focused, intense kids. When the game gets too consuming, we will either cut back of go for a full media ban for a while (which we’re currently doing in prep for summertime). The same could be said of any recreational activity. Balance in all things, right?
The bottom line is that I don’t think that there is a correlation between kids playing video games and being violent. That logic is post hoc ergo propter hoc. Violence is far more likely in children with underlying issues: depression, behavioural problems, un-diagnosed food sensitivities, developmental disorders, family issues and the like. But these issues are almost never brought up as the reason a child exhibits violent behaviour; instead video games are used as a scapegoats because we want something/someone to blame, and a ‘quick fix’ solution, even if it’s entirely mis-directed. We conveniently tend to forget that:
“Violence is (and always has been) a part of the human condition. From war to child abuse, murder to school-yard bullying, violence takes its toll, often with children being the innocent victims (or occasionally the not-so-innocent perpetrators).”
Loverly Husband and I use common sense and knowledge of our kids, and communication with them to determine when something is within their ability to handle, and to help them understand the difference between entertainment/fantasy and reality. They’re not stupid. They understand that what may be acceptable in a video game is not how one would act in real life. They’re old enough to get that what they do and experience in an entertainment format is vastly different than real life, and we have done our best to ensure that with communication and supervision.
Allowing them to play violent video games does not make me an uninvolved or unconcerned parent, nor do I believe that it increases my children’s tendency to act in a violent manner. On the contrary, we are extremely involved in our children’s lives, and have been told to have an enviable relationship with them. Judge me if you will, but make no mistake about our interest in their welfare.
But if you need more ammo in order to cast me in the role of ‘bad mother’, I also let them listen to heavy metal and rock music, never used a trampoline net, allow them to play near a snake-infested pond, shoot guns and own archery equipment, and occasionally buy them a McDonald’s Happy Meal. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to go teach my kids about evolution and sex.
Warmly,
~h
An Atmosphere of Learning
I’ve been thinking lately about the atmosphere of learning in our house and I feel like we could use some improvements.
When we first started homeschooling, I was much more relaxed about what we ‘needed’ to do. Since we were just starting out, I felt like there was all the time in the world, and we could take things easy. Homeschooling was really fun. We did a lot of hands-on stuff, and there was much less resistance from the kids (which may very well be chalked up to the novelty of homeschooling after leaving a desk).
Over the course of the last few years though, I feel like there’s been more and more pressure on me to ‘get it right’; to be more rigorous and push the kids harder. I try to combat that feeling, but I am not sure where it comes from, so it’s hard to fight. I’m sure there is outside pressure, but I’d wager that the majority of it is internal, and that can be really difficult to overcome. My post last week was partially about working through that feeling, so I don’t want to dwell on that aspect too much this week; instead, I want to talk about the overall environment that we create in our home as homeschooling parents.
When we first started, it was very important to me to have a ‘school space’. We’re fortunate to have the room to dedicate to school, even though at present, it’s become more of a storage space and we’ve moved school to the kitchen table. I think that this is something I need to work our way back into. I felt more ‘together’ when we were working in a dedicated space, and more like we were altogether more focused. The school room also has less distraction, and the kids both have their own spaces to work in (which means that they annoy each other less). The other aspect to this is our style of teaching/learning. One of the things I have always liked about Montessori style education was that it was uncluttered and accessible. Things were laid out in such a way as to encourage the child to experiment and choose their own path. I do still agree with that, but I also feel like there needs to be a good, solid foundation of the basics before a child can really move on into learning what he or she likes or needs. But, if I left it up to my kids right now, everything would be about video games. It’s hard to find balance between those two philosophies, but in my plan for next week (when we’re off) is to de-clutter as much as possible and get us back into our school room.
Another area I’d like to work on is my tendency to lapse into ‘teacher’ mode. I struggle with finding the balance between lecture and encouragement. I’m a talker, so what I tend to think of as inspiration or helping foster ideas tends to come across as nagging or droning on. I also tend to jump the gun when it comes to offering help or going
on a new direction or way of thinking about something, instead of giving them the time to really consider what’s already been said. That’s one of the reasons that I used the picture above with Holt’s quote, because I need to learn when to shut up!
Something else I want to continue working on is ‘learning by teaching’. Teaching others is the most effective way to ‘know’ something. I want the boys to work more on helping each other, either when one grasps a concept first, or by working independently on different parts of something and teaching what they know. I think this will also help me keep my mouth shut and let them find opportunities to shine.
We have an anchor chart similar to this one that we use when we start something new. I have found that learning where they are in this journey helps relieve frustration when they don’t grasp something right away.
Another area where ‘learning by teaching’ comes into play is in our extra curricular activities.
We have become involved in scouting recently, and one of the things I like about it is that it encourages leadership and mentoring. We have a split scouting troupe – one group of kids who are in the 8-13 age group, and another in the 3-5 year old age group. This is an excellent opportunity for the older kids to be actively mentoring the younger kids. This concept is also reinforced through their karate classes. Our sensei regularly pairs up more advanced students with newer ones to give them the opportunity to teach, which bolsters the students’ confidence in themselves. You can’t teach it unless you know it. I want to get to my kids on every level so that they really understand and know what it is to be adept at their skills.
Other than those areas that need work, overall I am pretty happy with the learning environment we’ve fostered in our home. The kids have access to board/card/video games, art supplies, research materials (both in print and online), books, magazines and other printed media, mechanical things to take apart and reassemble or create something new, science craft books and materials, quick & healthy snacks to fuel up when the need arises, and a variety of different modes of learning pretty much all the time. They have plenty of outdoor space (including 10 acres to roam, bikes and a mile radius to ride, skateboards, a pool, a garden and a pond to explore). We also regularly meet with our homeschool group in person, and the kids have an online chat list and can play video games online with each other. We also engage in regular community service activity and have scouting 1x per month (soon to be more often) and karate classes 3x per week with a ton of other homeschooled kids.
It really does help sometimes to write down the positive aspects instead of the negative ones.
Additional Sources:
This is an excellent ebook by Brenda Sain called Creating an Atmosphere of Learning.
Warmly,
~h
Attachment Parenting and Independence
So I found this chart on Pinterest, about ‘Training Children to be Independent’ from the book ‘Teaching Your Children to Fly’ by Merrilee Boyack, and reading through it, I had some thoughts. My first thought, of course, was, ‘Well, clearly, I am doing things wrong’. Then, I thought about all my children know how to do and cut myself some slack. Now, looking at it again, I am wondering if I have short-changed them, or if this chart is a little ambitious (at least for us).
I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but we follow an ‘attachment parenting‘ style philosophy with our kids. The basic idea behind this style of parenting is that by meeting a child’s need for a close attachment to their parents (through parenting practices such as extended breastfeeding, baby-wearing, co-sleeping, no ‘cry-it-out’, limited mother/child separation, etc.), you’re allowing them a firm foundation of parental trust that allows them to venture further into the world as they’re ready rather than pushing them to be too independent, too fast. The ideal throughout childhood is interdependence, not co-dependence or independence. This, in my opinion, is a healthy balance between ‘free-range parenting‘ and ‘helicopter parenting‘.
Though I believe wholeheartedly in the AP approach, I do sometimes flirt with the idea of a more free-range style in the scheme of helping your child develop independence in a ‘real world’ way, especially as the kids get older. While I do firmly believe that children are capable of doing more than parents often give them credit for, pushing them to be independent for the sake of being independent isn’t good either, which is the crux of my issues with ‘free range’ parenting. It seems like too much, too soon, and unnecessary – independence for independence sake – in virtually all of the examples I have read about.
In looking at this list, I am also torn between my perceptions of being a ‘good mother’ as my grandmother would define it (think June Cleaver) and more feminist ideals. Not that there isn’t anything good to be taken from that video; good manners are, after all, good manners; though there are some things seriously wrong with the perceptions and ideas perpetuated in it (Mom and Daughter OWE it to the men to look nice?? Don’t make Mom and Dad uncomfortable by talking about your feelings – wouldn’t want honest communication or anything…). I want my kids to know how to function in the real world – cook, clean properly, do laundry, be able to repair things in their home or on their car, and other basic skills. But I also don’t want to be the kind of parent who sees their kids as mini-servants, there to fetch and carry, thinly veneered as ‘fostering independence’.
So how does one find balance?
I would imagine that has to do with knowledge vs. expectation. Yes, I expect my kids to clean up after themselves and contribute to the running of the household (especially when the majority of the ‘mess; is theirs to begin with). But I don’t expect them to do things just because there is an arbitrary age at which to begin them. I think that child-rearing and (I don’t know what the specific term might be… I’m going to say ‘adult training’ despite the potential negative connotations… just go with it until I think of something better) are not incompatible. Adult training is part of child rearing – an integral part. I’d say that the goal of child rearing is adult training, even – preparing your children to be productive members of their family and society as adults.
But some of these things on this list make me wonder who would really expect their X-year-old to do XYZ. Taken as a general guideline or goal, and recognizing that yes, a 5-year-old can be expected to empty the trash, and fostering such skills, but that knowing how to do something does not make it his responsibility to do so, then this list is fine. I certainly helped my children to use the toaster and microwave at young ages (though admittedly, this was more so I could sleep in on weekends than it was to make them prepared to be adults), and they do have regular chores to attend to on a daily basis. But they aren’t solely responsible for fulfilling these responsibilities in the same way that you might expect an adult to fill them (i.e.: completely independently). There are still age-appropriate reminders and a parent to go behind them to make sure that whatever task was carried out completely. This is part of adult training, in my opinion. I do send my kids into the grocery store with either cash or a debit card to pick up a small list, alone. As their mother, with an eye towards their future, I present them with opportunities to explore on their own (today, we went hiking in a familiar area – they have the skill and are responsible enough to run ahead, and I allowed them to do so) and make their own decisions. But they are also given guidance and structure, especially with money (savings/contributions to charity and the like) and what our expectations of them are as members of our family. I think these are age-appropriate independences, and having my supervision (not molly-coddling) is the ‘inter-dependent’ part. They know that I will be here for them if they need me.
I’m curious to see what others think about this list, and how you prepare your children for the ‘real world’.
Warmly,
~h
Note to Self: You’re Doing Just Fine
This is a reminder that I need every few weeks, it seems. We’ve now successfully completed almost half of our fourth year of homeschooling, and STILL, I go through phases where I have these doubts.
Most recently, it’s come to my attention that my father is under the impression that LBB (now 11.5 years old and in 5th grade) does not know his multiplication facts. Nevermind that he’s been working on division for the past few months, and doing beautifully at it (including fractions and decimals). My dad asked LBB what 5×5 was, and LBB said ‘I don’t know’. When my dad told him to figure it out, LBB made like he didn’t understand what he meant or how to go about doing that. So this, of course, prompted a call to me with concern about his math skills.
Le sigh.
This prompts several responses on my part. On the one hand, towards LBB: “WTF, man? Really? 5×5? You’re having trouble with FIVE TIMES FIVE? That’s arguably the easiest of times tables and you’re going to choke on that one?? Dude. C’mon – you know this. Just take a minute, think about it and answer the question. No big deal.”
Then again, I totally get the ‘on the spot’ freak out. If someone asked me, my initial response would be to freeze; like if I was still enough, they won’t remember what it was that they asked and I can get out of the situation without answering the math question.
Towards my dad, I get this mama-bear, ‘Hey man! Not cool! Don’t test my kids!’ sort of feeling. I understand that it was a reasonable question. I know that some of my homeschooling compatriots have unsupportive families, and a question like that would come from a negative place, but my family is very supportive and I don’t think there was anything untoward or sneaky meant by it, but still, I get a little twitchy when I feel judged. I feel like my kid’s lack of willingness to answer a question is a reflection on my teaching ability (because that is what got called into question – not his attitude or interest, but *my* part in it).
Honestly, could he be stronger in math? Yes. Am I drilling him on basic multiplication tables? Daily; and this in addition to our regular math lesson. Do we do ‘math bingo’, Timez Attack, flash cards, and other ‘fun’ math things to help cement those concepts? Yes. Are those things going to make him pop out with the answer to a random math question? Meh … maybe. Maybe not. The thing is, I can’t separate his interest or cooperation with others from their perception of my ability to teach. I understand that it’s not my job to correct this perception, but it still affects me when I see/hear/feel it in action and directed towards me.
My kids are not babies anymore. They’re young men, and though they do still have to do the work assigned to them, I can’t learn it for them. I have said this before and I still think it’s true: One of the hardest parts about homeschooling is that no matter what you do, the blame rests firmly on your shoulders. When your kids are in school, to a certain extent, if they don’t get good grades or learn what they need to, then you can cast off some of the blame onto the school system. The school, in turn, can shove off some of their responsibility onto the parents – they weren’t involved enough, or didn’t give the child support/encouragement/motivation – whatever. But as a homeschooling parent, ALL of the ‘blame’ rests squarely on your shoulders… which is wrong, I think, to a point. Some of the blame rests with the child, himself, and I think that it is this point that many people forget or don’t realize, especially in homeschooling.
We see this in reverse and don’t question it. When a homeschooled child excels, we say how smart s/he must be, and congratulate them for persevering and working so hard. We don’t pat the parent on the back and say, ‘Way to go, Mom! What a great teacher you must be!’ So why do we blame the parent when the child’s ability doesn’t match up to what our perception of where s/he ‘should be’?
Children are not ‘babies’ forever. At some point, they do grow up. In fact, we have years between baby and adult that we should use to teach them to be responsible for themselves. This is a gradual teaching and learning – not something that they master all in one day or by whatever grade. If we want them to grow up into productive members of society, then we as parents must allow them a certain amount of responsibility, gradually, and offer them the opportunity to succeed or fail on their own merit.
Over the past few years, my kids have taken on more responsibility for contributing to the overall running of our household. Their chores are divided into either ‘dishes’ or ‘laundry’, and they switch every month.
Dishes includes (but is not limited to):
- loading and unloading the dishwasher
- hand-washing anything that can’t go into the dishwasher
- sweeping the kitchen floor
- clearing and wiping the table and counter tops
- helping Mom & Dad; doing whatever else is asked when needed
Laundry includes (but is not limited to):
- loading washer and dryer
- putting towels into the towel basket
- putting kids’ laundry into their baskets and taking them to the correct room
- taking out the trash (kitchen, bathroom and schoolroom)
- taking the big trash can to the road if Dad forgets
- Cleaning the hallway bathroom
- picking up the living room & sweeping
- helping Mom & Dad; doing whatever else is asked when needed
It’s a little un-balanced, but they both agree that dishes is the most onerous of the two, and so gladly will take on more work in order to not do dishes. Loverly Husband and I also have chores; in addition to helping the kids, we both do our own laundry, clean the fridge, clean all the stainless, blah, blah, blah… everyone has chores.
My point in laying all that out is to say that where we used to step in and pick up the slack if the kids forgot their chores, now, we don’t as much. If they slack, then dinner has to wait until they’re done, or they don’t have the right clothes, or, or, or. It’s not just mom or dad ‘nagging’ – it’s the whole family who is irritated at you for not pulling your weight. It’s been a slow process, but one that’s starting to pay off. They’re more likely to step up and say, “Oh, I forgot to do that. Give me just a minute and I will get it done.” It doesn’t always happen, but it is happening now whereas before it wasn’t. They see more now how each person plays a role, and if they don’t do their part then the whole family suffers.
I think learning and education are the same way. Though I play a role in their education (especially right now), as they get older, I will play more of a guide role and less of a participant role. It will be up to them to choose a career path and go after the skills and education necessary to meet those goals. It will be my job to encourage and support and help guide them to appropriate courses, but ultimately, especially though high school, their education becomes more and more a product of their own efforts.
LBB is starting middle school in the fall. Middle school! I don’t want him to reply on me so thoroughly to ensure that he’s applying himself that he can’t work independently. Of course, I will be watching and making sure he is doing the work, but my goal isn’t for him to ‘just do the work’. That’s not real education. Based on what I know of my kids, and of children in general, this type of responsibility is years in the making for some kids, and that’s okay.
Contrary to what we tend to believe, there is no rule that says kids have to do or know XYZ by Xth grade or by age N. Children aren’t programmable robots. They learn at different rates. They have different interests and what motivates one child may do the opposite for another. Knowing this, and repeating this is what keeps me from throwing the towel in some days.
And then there are days like yesterday, where we got into a discussion about the origin of life, and the boys both had fun schooling Mom on which came first, the chicken or the egg. Apparently, they are much more well-versed in this conundrum than I am, and though we both used the same bit of research (located independently, I might add), it was applied in different ways. They were so excited to showcase their knowledge, and that’s something that can’t be taught.
So yeah. We’re doing just fine.
Warmly,
~h
April Update
I suck at blogging this year. I know it’s not an excuse, but (like most of you) I’ve had too much on my plate lately. I used to make time for blogging, but I haven’t been motivated to do so lately. I tend to work in cycles, so this isn’t entirely unexpected from my end. Things have been kinda topsy-turvey for the last couple of months, but we are settling into a routine again, so hopefully updates will come a little more frequently now.
Let’s see…
February was pretty busy. For field trips, we saw a play (The Real Story of the 3 Little Pigs, which is based on this book - one of my kids’ favorites when they were small), visited the symphony, went to Moody Gardens, celebrated Imbolc and Valentine’s Day, met with our newly-forming Spiral Scouts group to finalize our charter paperwork, had a ‘s’mores and movie day’ with our local homeschool group and had our monthly community service day volunteering with our local Humane Society.
picture by Amanda Horn
picture by Jean Bennett
I also tested for my orange belt in karate, re-visited my doc for an update and medication switch to handle my depression and anxiety (because I am a good mother who does not want to end up on the evening news for freaking out and taking off my clothes and running down the street starkers), and got new contacts (because vision is of the good).
March was full of school-y goodness, with a visit to the ballet to see Snow White, the NOAA Sea Turtle Research Facility in Galveston, celebrated Ostara & observed Easter, went hiking in the Big Thicket (I’m Mayor of the Kirby Trail on FourSquare!!), the Exotic Cat Refuge in Kirbyville, TX, a hike in Village Creek, and another successful volunteer date with the Humane Society.
April has been equally exciting in some ways, but less ‘school-ish’. Due to inclement weather, we’ve ended up seeing movies (OZ and The Croods) instead of educational stuff, but those links are to lesson plan fun, so even strictly social/leisure outings can be built into school). I was also sick for a couple of weeks, so we missed out on some pretty awesome field trips (like NANO Days at the Houston Children’s Museum). I was bummed. I also missed our Humane Society date. Boo to that.
I’m on the mend though, and on a personal level, April rang in both the celebration of my 36th birthday and marked the occasion of my first ever 5K event. Loverly Husband and I went with my sister and some friends to the Mud Farm in Sour Lake, TX to do a ‘mud run’ obstacle course. It was so dirty and so much fun! #213 Heather Thomas 1:19:56 – 111 of 121 runners <— that’s me! He came in 38th with a time of 0:43:50.
picture OF me, BY someone who is NOT me…
Carrie, maybe?
In homeschool news, we’ve been working our literature unit pretty consistently. It’s been a long time since I’ve worked with the kids on a unit study; I’ve forgotten how ‘big’ this type of schooling can be. Even though this is ‘just’ Beyond Five In A Row, and ‘just’ The Boxcar Children #1, which is way below the boys’ reading/grade level, it’s still lent itself to some surprisingly in-depth lessons. We don’t necessarily have anything to show for it (other than the lapbook components), but it’s steady progress, which is a good thing. One of the more memorable lessons was on the construction of the Hoover Dam. The boys watched a half hour documentary about it and were pretty riveted. Another lesson was on planting blueberry bushes, which led to growing zones and was a nice tie-in to starting our garden this year. We’ll be planting more, but this was a nice start.
We’ve also been hitting math and Latin pretty hard, which has been surprisingly fun. I found a Cambridge Yahoo group that and has been helpful in finding add-on lessons to go with book I. They also have a files section with worksheets and practice lessons and games.
I’ve been working with the boys on timed multiplication drills using Math-Drills.com worksheets. 5 minutes to do as much as they can. We’re working on adding one number each week and it’s going really well. We started with 1′s and that was a real confidence builder for them both. I am also using a workbook that I found called Multiplication Puzzle Practice by Bob Hugel/Scholastic. It’s divided into riddles and puzzles and the lessons are cumulative, each one adding another number. With this and the drill sheets, they’re doing quite well. I’ve also found that they are motivating each other (in between snarky comments and death-threats whispered under their breath to each other). Sorry… it’s been one of those days, LOL.
I’m also going to start using Lesson Pathways again, I think – at least for Language Arts and Science. I need something more… guided, I think. I tend to flit about from subject to subject in science and I really want something a little more cohesive. Their 5th grade Language Arts is using Dear Mr. Henshaw – a book I remember doing in 5th grade and I loved it. I think the boys will like it when we’re done with Boxcar.
In personal news, we had another Journalistas ‘dinner & coffee’ event, I picked up two of the other Keri Smith journals (Mess and This Is Not A Book). I’m more or less done with WTJ, but am having a really hard time getting into the other two books. I think I am going to start Mess first; TINAB makes me cringe for some reason. I’m not ready to explore that feeling just yet. Somewhat recently, I also went to see Beautiful Creatures and to a Happy Birthday dinner with PBJMom, and spent a Saturday morning cooking quiche and toffee crackers for a friend’s Blessingway. Loverly Husband and I had 2 date nights with our ‘best couple friends’ (to see Evil Dead and IHOP, and out for dinner and coffee), had my picture taken by a real professional for the BBC’s new website (coming soon), and am almost done with Leader Training for our Spiral Scouts group.
photo by Sarah Lynne Photography
(click picture for link)
Sprinkled between all this has been regular school days, pool preparation for the summer, board meetings an peer counseling with the Beaumont Breastfeeding Coalition, complete and utter enjoyment of the new seasons of Game of Thrones & The Borgias, taking care of taxes, visiting family, and cooking dinner, amid other things. I’ve been in a funky place lately, but I am coming out of it now. My life is full, and I am grateful.
We’re getting ready for the summer, which means summer reading club, summer movie clubs, hiking every week, my niece, Appleberry, will be back with us, and lots of time spent lazing about on the beach (if things go well). Hopefully, you’ll hear from me again very soon!
Warmly,
~h
January Review
I thought I’d re-cap what all we did this month, both to catch you guys up, to archive for myself, and to get back in the habit of regularly updating… I don’t know what my problem is lately, but I have not been in a blogging mood.
It’s always a bit of a struggle to get back in the groove after a break, and we had an especially long/unstructured break due to my mom’s illness and the holidays. Buckling back down into good school-habits was especially challenging for me – I got spoiled to sleeping in, but we disciplined ourselves, and got settled back into the swing of regular school day-type things pretty easily. Our main issue, I think, was shifting from the idea of being able to stay up super-late to going back to a normal(ish) bedtime and getting up earlier. If Loverly Husband ever switched to working nights, we’d all adjust to sleeping all day and being up all night just fine!
With my mom being sick for so long, we ended up skipping over the last little bit of several things – lapbooks, writing assignments and such. So we got those back out and finished them up (including the Ancient Greece Lapbook and Manatee Lapbook), then started on the Viking Adventure Lapbook from HomeschoolShare.com. Viking Adventure is a Sonlight book, and the lapbook goes chapter-by-chapter. We’re doing a little more than a chapter per week, and the boys are having a lot of fun learning to write in runes. We’re also lapbooking The Boxcar Children via Beyond Five In A Row, which is going really well.
I remember back when we first started homeschooling, we did a lot more hands-on projects; we’ve gotten away from that a bit lately, and these lapbook and story combos are offering a lot in the way of hands-on learning. One of the things we have been learning about is different types of armor, and at a field trip a few weeks ago, we came across a full suit of medieval armor. Being able to see it in person is always more of a learning experience than just looking at a picture – after getting a good look, both boys decided that they’re glad they don’t have to be knights!
Suits of armor
Over the last few weeks, our local homeschool group has really grown! We’ve added 5 new families to the group over the past month. Since our group is private, we usually meet with interested parties before adding them to the group, which has meant that at least once a week, we’ve been able to take a mid-day break and hit the coffee shop to meet a new homeschooling family.
Let’s see… field trip-wise, we’ve gone to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, (they have free admission to the main halls on Thursday, so we try to take advantage of that when we can). We got a nice surprise when we got there this last time; admission to the Butterfly Hall was discounted that day, so we got tickets for that as well. We had such a great time! And we even made it back into town in time for karate class that evening!
learning about energy
Looking for fossils
checking out human evolution
MASTODON!
Megalodon devouring an elephant-like creature…
The kids checking out the whole of human evolution – amazing reference!
Rise of the Guardians – Don’t mess with Santa Claus 
We took the kids for a movie day – some of us saw Rise of the Guardians, others in our group saw The Hobbit. That was fun – we took the boys to see The Hobbit a few weeks before that, so we saw Rise. I liked it; their portrayal of Santa as a tattooed, dual sword-wielding Guardian was pretty awesome.
The week after that, we took a holiday; Loverly Husband was off work, and the boys’ friends were out of school so we met up with them at the park. My friend PBJMom and I are working through ‘Wreck This Journal’ with some other friends of ours, and so we played journal while the kids ran around the park. We started a group called ‘Art Journalistas’ and have been egging each other on encouraging each other in our creative endeavors. We started sharing pictures of our work, and have scheduled a few meet-ups to work on them. As I write this, I actually just got back from our ‘Document Your Dinner’ dinner & coffee extravaganza. We usually all bring a bunch of art supplies and have a lot of fun with it.
photo by Mamie Leger
This past winter, I really started moving towards a more herbal-based first aid/medicine ideal, and have been experimenting with making tinctures and other herbal remedies. Some of the moms in our homeschool group have similar interests, so we organized an herbal workshop of sorts. We talked essential oils and herbs, and made an all-purpose herbal salve (beeswax, coconut oil, tea tree oil, ginger root and chamomile).
In other news, as a group, we decided that we should do some sort of volunteer/community service project each month. We chose our local Humane Society. We’ve all done our orientation training, and this month was our first official volunteer date with the Humane Society of Southeast Texas. We organized our dates for the next six months with them – the kids love going!
Photo by Jean Bennett
This week, we were supposed to go to see two theater performances, but we ended up going walking/hiking instead. I am SO READY to get back to regular hiking!! This was the first hike (more of a walk, really – though we did walk the dirt-bike trail, which is much more challenging…. so a mild hike, maybe) of the year – I am itching to really get out there. We did see one performance – the ‘True Story of the Three Little Pigs’ by Dallas Children’s Theater. It was pretty funny – I wasn’t sure of I was going to like it, but there were some parts that really made me laugh. It’s always a gamble when you see a show that’s really geared towards younger kids, but we have been attending theater shows since the boys were very young, and have rarely been disappointed. This is the first time that we were in the balcony, on the very top row – as high and far away as you can get from the stage. I never realized how steep the balcony is – they really mean ‘nosebleed’ section!
Afterwards, we spent the afternoon soaking up some Texas sun at the park. It’s been a good month!
How’s your year starting off?
Warmly,
~h
Back in the Groove
And so we embark on our fourth year of homeschooling. Looking back, I just can’t believe that we’ve been at this for three solid years. Time has just FLOWN by. It’s amazing to me how much we’ve accomplished over the last three years.
We took off the month of December, as is our normal schedule. We use a four weeks on/one week off schedule throughout the whole year; that gives us roughly the same number of school days that your average public or private school has (following a traditional schedule) – we just get our breaks spread out through the year instead of clumped together during the summer.
I spent our first day ‘back to school’ doing some assessment testing with the boys, mainly in reading, and was impressed with their progress. I don’t do much testing as we go; we’re mastery focused, so we don’t move on until the concept is learned, so there’s not a need for testing in the same way that educational institutions use testing. If you’re interested, I use a couple of reading assessments; there are several listed here that are free and easy to use. It may not be totally comprehensive, but it’s good enough to get an idea; plus, they read all the time, so I hear them reading aloud and already have an idea of their ability; this just gives me a quantifiable number for my records.
I thought that I posted a ‘lesson planning’ post for this year, but I must have overlooked it. I know that I updated our ‘curriculum’ page, but I’ll reference some of that here for good measure, rather than posting a lesson planning post. We’re pretty much set at this point; we’re not making a lot of changes the way that we were in the beginning. I’ve kind of found the things that work for us, so we don’t need as much trial and error!
One of the things that i kinda wanna brag about for a minute is ‘grade level’. I have said over and over again that we don’t really do ‘grade level’ – it’s somewhat of an arbitrary concept, in my opinion. However… even though I’d love to get rid of the concept entirely, we can’t really escape it. The boys have friends in school, my niece is in school – so the topic comes up whether I like it or not. Since we pulled the boys out of school mid-year, and started our school year in January, we’ve been in the middle of a grade for homeschool. My goal has been to get the boys and the school year’s start on the same page – without letting the boys lag behind their schooled peers – and it’s taken three years, but we’re finally there! That’s a silly thing to be proud of, but I am!
That said, we’re actually not starting the next grade. Technically, they’re both done with this grade level’s work (4th for PeaGreen, and 5th for LBB), but one of the benefits of not having to jump into the next grade is that we have time to play around with unit studies and some of the other things that I’ve been wanting to do that we just haven’t had time for because we were busy getting the basics out of the way. I’ve really been wanting to get back to Mason style, literature-based lessons, and with the boys having their grade-level work completed, I finally feel like we can delve into those things.
When the boys were small, we pre-homeschooled with Before Five in A Row and Five In A Row. Then, when the boys started school-school, I sold our copies of those guides and books – but when we had them, we loved them. So, I bought Beyond five In A Row, Volume I to work on over the next few months. I had forgotten how multi-disciplinary the lessons were. I don’t feel that they’re necessarily complete, but using them as a base and supplementing with other materials will work quite well, I think.
The first book in BYFIAR I is The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. We do lapbooks, so I decided to lapbook the lessons. I posted them a few weeks ago here: The Boxcar Children Lapbook for Beyond Five In A Row Vol I, and we got started on them yesterday. So far, so good! This is a different ‘style’ lapbook than we’ve done previously; usually the mini-books are all on the same theme. In this case, because the lesson plan pulls so many different aspects into it, I’ve had to re-think lapbook organization. Truthfully, the lapbook probably won’t make much sense without the lesson guide, but feel free to use them if you like.
On the schedule for this year are:
- continuing with karate – Loverly Husband and PeaGreen are both orange belts; LBB and I are both yellow belts. We’re completed a year of training, and participated in our dojo’s New Year’s Day tradition of Hatsu Geiko, or 1,000 Kicks, to re-commit ourselves to our training for the coming year.
- Spanish Lessons – our local library has organized a children’s conversational Spanish course to be held once a month with a group of volunteer teachers. We went to the first class this evening, and it sounds like they’re going to have a lot of hands-on type things. It sounded interesting and can’t wait to get started! The theme for the next class is ‘food’, so we can interpret that how we like, I suppose.
- Spiral Scouts – we’re starting a new Spiral Scouts group in our area. I have issues with Boy Scouts, so that was out, but scouting always sounded like so much fun! There’s just nothing like that in this area; we’ve been in need of a more inclusive scouting program here for years. I’ve known about SS for a while, and am glad to be getting started with it.
- I don’t have a main curriculum for math right now; we’re going to work on solidifying some of the core concepts before picking up again and moving forward. LBB is working on division with decimals, and PeaGreen is working on division with remainders at the moment; I’m content to work on that and multiplication tables for a few weeks. We used Timez Attack for a while last year so I think we’re going to use that a bit more for a while.
- The boys both got tablets for Christmas and already, two days int the new year, they’re getting quite a bit of actual school-use from them. We’ve been working on research projects each week, so that laid a good foundation for them to be able to do independent research. Already, they’ve been asked to and successfully located information about Gertrude Chandler Warner for a research paper on her, and several bits of information for their Viking Adventure lapbook, and definitions for vocabulary. I am loving that I don’t have to give up my computer for them to do their work!
- Something new I want to try this year is visual writing prompts. I found an article by Rosina Lippi a while back on Pinterest where she was talking about using them, and it made me start a pin board for interesting pictures that we might use for writing prompts. We haven’t started that yet (only 2 days in), but I am looking forward to using them.
- Science is another area that I am not set on yet. I am thinking that we may go ahead and do REAL Science Odyssey. I am thinking Level I Chemistry and then Level 2 Biology in a few months… we’ll see. I have science textbooks for days, so we may stick with those.
- We’re doing Story of the World III this year, but aren’t starting it just yet. We’re in the middle of II, and are taking a break to pursue Vikings at the moment; I found a lapbook that corresponds with Viking Adventure by Clyde Robert Bulla, so we just got started in that. We were/are doing the SoTW lapbook from Chronicle of the Earth at RunOfTheMillFamily’s blog, but she’s on hold for now; we may or may not be ready to start SoTWIII by the time she has started posting new minibooks… that’s a ’wait and see’ game. In the mean time, I have started working on lapbooking components for III just in case.
- We are still doing Latin; still Cambridge I. Hopefully we will get into II sometime this year.
- Science Fair is coming up in the spring, with the Texas Regional Homeschool Science Fair in March/April. We’re going to go this year, I think – maybe not compete in the TRHSF, but at least go to get the kids excited about next year.
- And, of course, our local homeschool group is active, as ever. We just updated our calendar for the group’s activities through June and we have a ton of fun stuff planned.
So… that’s a look at what we’re doing/thinking about for the coming year. We’re off to a really good start, and I look forward to sharing our continued journey with you!
Warmly,
~h
New Years’ Resolutions: 2013
If you’ve been fluttering around in my world over the last few years, then you’ll be thrilled to know that my annual tradition of writing NYR’s, and re-capping previous year’s resolutions is still in effect.
If you’re new here, then consider that your crash course in how I do NYRs.
Before I get started, I’d like to say that writing NYRs is a tradition that I am quite fond of. I don’t necessarily write them to break bad habits; I view the practice as more of a goal-setting session for the coming year.
The religion that I was raised in forbade the making of NYRs, based on some such nonsense that I can’t even remember anymore… suffice it to say that whatever the history of the practice, the reason that *I* make them is because the beginning of a new year feels like a natural time to set goals. The marking of a years’ time is a good way to mark progress… and it’s fun. I didn’t get to do the ritual growing up, which is probably one of the reasons I enjoy it so much now.
Moving on then…
2013 Resulutions:
- Complete ‘Wreck this Journal’, and keep up with the Art Journalistas group on Facebook. (It’s a secret group; one for my IRL friends and I to post pictures and progress and meet up to browse each others’ books. We’re starting in January.)
- repaint living room & kids’ rooms (also includes new beds in their rooms, decor and the like)
- spend more time with Grandmama & Mom & Dad (My mom had a stroke this past year, and it really pointed out how little time we spend together. Plus, my grandmother’s sister died a few weeks ago – her younger sister – which really brought home how much time she may have left. Making more time to visit with my family needs to be a priority this year.)
- Harry Potter Marathon. I’ve talked about it many times… now is the time. ALL of the movies – one weekend.
- Karate: keep on keepin’ on. I’d like to be a green belt (or maybe even blue!) by the end of the year… though I am not the one who has the final say in whether or not I get to test; still, I plan on working hard, and I think that green is doable over the next 12 months. I also want to learn the Dojo Kun in Japanese. Also included in this res is going to be general health/fitness goals. More HAES, less sighing over a flat stomach.
- Submit at least one writing project for publication (AnnA – gonna need your help on this). I also want to work on establishing and maintaining a regular writing schedule this year, and collaborate more with AnnA (my amazing writing partner – click her name above and read her blog!). Also, check out the local writer’s guild group again. I tried it a while back and it wasn’t my cuppa; it’s been a while though, so maybe fresh meat?
- Date Night with Loverly Husband at least 1x each month. we did really well on this a while back, but have gotten away from it and it shows, so back onto the list it goes. Up this week: Django Unchained. At some point this coming year, I also want to take a mini-break, just the two of us. San Antonio or Dallas, maybe.
- Family Vacation – we so very much need to do this. We’re in better financial shape that ever before, so maybe this is doable this year.
- Run a 5K… or walk a 5K. I really want to do a Color Run and/or a Tough Mudder…. or a Zombie Walk… or a Flash Mob. Something along those lines. We have friends who are into 5Ks as a family and it looks like fun. I’d love to get the kids involved in something like that.
Here endeth the Resolutions. As always, nine only (not ten, or eight or five or three – NINE. Because that’s the way how I roll {which is not a typo; that’s how my kids used to say it and I am posting it here so that I don’t forget it}).
And now for the updates!!
2012′s NYRs (posted December 28, 2011)
1. Home Blessing – this has been my first resolution for a couple of years now. It’s an on-going thing and I am wondering now how long it needs to be an actual resolution since it doesn’t seem like it’s completely accomplishable. There is always something else to do that falls under this category… in any case, this encompasses all de-cluttering and home improvement type activities from resolutions past. This year’s actual targets are the master bath and kids’ rooms: painting and decor.
UPDATE: I left off the ‘major’ home blessing resolution for 2013 because we’ve made a lot of progress in 2012, and now need to be more specific. Over the past year, we moved our bedroom to the spare room, opened up the second bathroom, moved the boys into their own rooms, repainted and re-applianced the kitchen (new table, new fridge, new dishwasher, new microwave, and the all-important new coffeepot). I’m looking forward to working on the living room and kids’ rooms this year!
2. Medication: get them filled, on time; stay on them. I seem to go through phases where I feel good and stop taking them, then need them again, but fight the need and so things deteriorate until it’s apparent that I am truly effed up and require them. So… keeping them filled and myself stable will circumvent this whole scenario. FYI, I have been diagnosed with clinical depression and last month was prescribed an anti-anxiety medication as well. It’s helping. I also take thyroid medication, asthma, and allergy medications daily.
UPDATE: This is an ever-lasting battle. Right now, I am only taking asthma and allergy meds, because breathing is important. I am taking a break from the anxiety meds, and I actually seem to have less anxiety overall… but depression is still an issue. So, it’s back to the doctor, I go.
3. Plan and take a family vacation. As the kids get older and wrapped up in their own interests, Loverly Husband and I actually get quite a bit of time to ourselves these days. That trend will only continue as the kids age, and I think that the focus needs to shift to keeping them focused on the family. A family vacation before they get too old and too ‘cool’ to enjoy it would be nice.
UPDATE: Negative, Ghost Rider. We didn’t do a big vacation this year; we never have, really. It’s back on the list for this year.
4. Get back to kid-friendly exercise. We slacked a lot on this in 2011. I want to get back to being outdoorsy even if it means just me and the kids by ourselves. Hiking, biking, swimming, beach – all that and more are on the books for 2012.
UPDATE: Yes! We hit the beach a ton this summer, and though we didn’t hike as much as I would have liked, we did FINALLY make it out to the swim area at Village Creek – more than once. Also, karate 3x a week for basically this entire year *totally* counts*! I am calling this one successfully met, and look forward to continuing in this vein in 2013.
5. Forage/Raw Foods Week: Loverly Husband’s idea is to take a couple of weeks and instead of doing our normal grocery-shopping routine, buy only foods that can be prepared or consumed without cooking. I’m open to it, and doing something like this with him on board will be much easier than trying to do it with him kicking and screaming. Since it’s his idea, it’s going on the list for this year.
UPDATE: Done! We did raw foods and 90% vegetarian for about 3 weeks in 2012. A friend of mine (the lovely Miss Mamie) has been doing raw foods for a couple of months now and is absolutely inspirational. I’m considering trying for a month in 2013.
6. Fashionista: this is going to encompass my hair/nails and wardrobe. I need to keep up with my hair, I want to get my nails done (and keep them done) and update my wardrobe in the coming year. Hopefully the ‘kid-friendly exercise’ resolution up there will help necessitate the actual need for new clothing… one can hope, right?
UPDATE: Meh… I am considering this one half-way met. My nails are done, and have been done since October, and my hair has been in various stages of color since then as well. Currently, nails are black-tipped French manicured and hair is purple in the front (well, faded to blue and is in desperate need of a root job). New clothes? Not so much… I hate clothes shopping, and I love black… so anything new I buy just adds to the already exhaustive selection of black clothing I already possess. I need new jeans though.
7. Figure out Container Gardening: This year will be our third attempt at a garden. I want to do an herb garden indoors and a veggie garden outside. I’d also like to do a couple of fruit trees (a cherry tree??). I need to read up on them and decide where and when to start them. It’s part of our homeschool science class, so the kids can help, too.
UPDATE: Another half-met goal. We did container gardening (and my rosemary is STILL ALIVE! Muah-ha-ha-ha)… I learned that next year’s garden needs to go off my front porch or in bigger containers. We have no roof over our porch, so the shallow containers we were using basically took the heat of the sun and the heat form the concrete of the porch and fried my plants… so lesson learned. Next year’s garden will be the best yet! Maybe straw-bales?
8. Post my art journals to DeviantART. I have an account and pictures of my journals, I need to either put them in a video or post the pictures.
UPDATE: Ha! I posted ONE picture of ONE page… that is all. I need to do this.
9. Complete at least one writing project. Any of them. At least one.
UPDATE: Aaaaaannnd again with the no.
Normally, this is the space where I would post resolutions from previous years and update them as well… and after a little thought, I decided that I like that tradition, because it puts all of my goals (past and present) in one place. It makes for a hella long post, but since it’s my party, I can post if I want to {wink}. Feel free to move on!
2011′s Resolutions (originally posted December 29, 2010) & updates:
1: Home Blessing - this has been on the books for a while, and will finally see real progress this year. This resolution encompasses all the de-cluttering/cleaning goals from years past and includes anything related to making our home a nicer place to live in. We’re planning a major re-decorating/face-lift to our house in the spring, including painting inside and out, switching our bedroom into the master bedroom (which is currently doing time as a storage/library/craft room) and putting the boys in their own bedrooms. We’ll also do some appliance upgrades and redecorate. I’m excited!! – update: We completed repainting the outside of the house, and our bedroom is moved and decorated. That took a lot more money than we’d planned on, so the rest of the renovations will be carried over to this year. I’m not displeased with our progress – it’s part of home ownership, which I am grateful for. 2013: see #2 above.
2: Teach the boys to cook. SFK was bragging about her 9-year-old dd making a four-course meal; I’m jealous and so shall attempt to teach the boys more about the culinary arts this year. The goal is to have them make at least one full meal each by… December 1st. That should give me plenty of time.update: meh. Cooking, yes. Full meal, no. They have gotten pretty good at making simple things – following recipes and using the stove. That’s more from efforts of their own than me actively teaching them, but I am not displeased with that, either. I find that as much as I dislike cooking, I dislike for the children to be underfoot while I am cooking even more. Based on this year’s progress, I can surmise that their continued experimentation and learning in the kitchen will continue with or without my help. 2013: Last year’s presumption is correct; the children have continued to experiment on their own. They can use the stove and oven, and though I still haven’t turned them loose in the kitchen with the task of making dinner, I anticipate that they’re ready for that sort of assignment and plan to make that happen sometime this year. We may even plan out a dinner for them to make on their own (but that’s a little ambitious, so don’t count on it).
3: Attend a Writer’s Conference/Workshop (or a homeschooling one). Both would be ideal, but attendance at one or the other will fulfill this one. This is a re-hash of a previous resolution; before it was ‘attend monthly group meetings’. I think that the monthly group would be good to do, too, but I really want to try for a conference or workshop that is more in my field (so romance or sci-fi/fantasy or para-normal romance. And no, you can’t read them…yet). update: nope; I didn’t do either. I DID, however, work on a couple of my stories and stared a new writing project with one of my BFF’s, AnnA of TheEverydayAlchemist. We have weekly Skype dates to collaborate and toss some encouragement for our individual projects around… and just because we’re more awesome when we’re together and need to be reminded of that often. 2013: I’d seriously LOVE to make a conference happen at some point this year, but in lieu of that, AnnA and I have tentatively planned a weekend retreat in NOLA at some point mid-year to write, write, write. I sincerely hope that the stars align appropriately to make that happen, because I want it SO BAD.
4: Try veganism on for a week. I’ve tried vegetarianism on (it doesn’t fit), but never veganism. It’ll be a challenge. update: HA! I say. I didn’t do this at all. In fact, I did the polar opposite of this – going all meat for a few weeks. I tried the Atkins diet for about three weeks – it sucks; I don’t recommend it. Maybe in 2012? Loverly Husband has mentioned trying a meal plan that consists of keeping only raw foods in the house and ‘foraging’ so maybe something like that would be more attainable since I’d have his support. 2013: This year, I met the lovely vegan/Greyhound-loving Sabrina, and have had more of an inside look at veganism. Since her son is my son’s BFF, that means that my boys are exposed to vegan meals, and even have taken it upon themselves to learn about what is and is not vegan so that when thier friend comes to our house, we can feed him appropriately (though S makes it super easy by sending food)… but still… knowing them and seeing vegan in-action, so to speak, makes giving it a more serious try this year an attainable goal.
5: Personal Growth. This is the one that I am lumping the rest of my writing goals and all of my health/weight loss goals into, as well as parenting goals (such as putting into practice/deeper study of NVC). I always have a couple of these listed, and I think it’s kinda cheating to have 4 of the same, on-going goals… so. I’m also putting things like: continue meeting meditation and spiritual goals, making time for ‘me’, blogging/writing something daily, etc. Some friends and I are re-committing to SparkPeople.com for this year (so if you wanna join me, come on!). I have many goals in that particular department, but I blog there too, so that’s where most of that goes. update: Meh… I’m giving this a 75%. Some of this has been met and surpassed, other parts of it have been seen to but not quite as well as I’d like. See this year’s NYR’s for an updated and possibly more specific list of goals. I have posted parts 1-6 of 13 from the NVC book here on my blog with plans to continue this year. 2013: We had to give up on NVC. I am a sarcastic bitch and NVC can be used as a weapon just as much as other words… more so, even, because it can be uber-manipulative. Maybe I just don’t care enough and/or am a horrible person, but I hate people prying into my feelings almost as much as I hate delving into other people’s feelings… so that got shelved. We have, however, worked on other aspects of communication that are effective for my (and my kids’) personalities. Even Loverly Husband has gotten on-board, and with all of us working together, it’s much easier. I also have to say that proper medication plays a role here, for me, at least. As much as my mother hates for me to say it, I have a mental disorder that I will forever need to take medication to effectively manage. Managing my illness makes me better able to manage other areas of my life. As far as health/weight is concerned, I ahve long been under the impression that the two go hand in hand, and they may, to some extent. However, I am/ have been getting regular exercise for the better part of the last year, and have been building stamina and muscle. I’m damn proud of that, even if my pants size has stayed the same.
6: Date Night with Loverly Husband at least 1x per month. We used to do this at least that often, but this year, it seems like that’s taken a backseat. Between homeschooling and him working more, it’s been harder to find time to go out. It’s not a ‘problem’, but I’d rather focus on this now, before it becomes a problem. One the plus side, we did get a mini-break in 2010, with plans for another in a couple of months. Yay!! update: We didn’t stick to this plan… nor did we get to have a mini-break without the kiddos. We spent our money on house stuff, which was good, and as the kids are getting older and more wrapped up in their own interests, we do get more time together. I think this year’s more family-focused goal is more necessary as the kids get older. 2013: We actually did get a mini-break this year; Loverly Husband and I went with my brother and SIL to the Texas Renaissance Festival for the weekend. I was sick the whole time though, so it might not count {wink}. I put monthly date nights back on the agenda for this year, but I agree with more family-fun as well. LH and I have a plan to sit down and plan some togetherness activities for this year – soon, before the calendar gets too full.
7: Dye my hair. Note to self: For the love of all that is salon, please visit the beauty supply shop and DO SOMETHING about your hair!!!! It’s been months – MONTHS – since you’ve put color in it. You have 6 inches of natural hair color. WTF?? That’s simply unacceptable. One cannot remain worthy of the moniker ‘Rainbow Brite’ with one’s natural hair color slapping people in the face. Before the month of January is out, you must fix this! And keep it fixed. All year. update: for the most part, yes. I haven’t had roots beyond an inch or so and have kept dye on-hand most of the year. Go me! 2013: Again, yes… (even though I need color at the ‘mo). Next week, scout’s honor!
8: Plan for lunch out better. When the kids were little, I had food for them on me all. the. time. I breastfed them for 3 years each, and I believe that had an effect on how they eat now. They’ve always eaten frequent small meals throughout the day; with no big meals and no set times, that meant that as an in-tune mama I needed to keep food in the bag so that I could meet their needs. When they started school, they had to adjust to a more common eating schedule and I got out of the habit of keeping food with us. Since we started homeschooling, they’ve fallen back into their normal eating patterns but I have not. So my goal for this year is to plan for food better – packing a cooler with appropriate small meals and snacks when we go out. This will help me with #5 as well. update: pretty much met for the first part of the year, then sort of slacked off as the year wound down. We did Bento lunches for months, then were home a lot and I slacked off on making them. I do prefer Bentos and so do the kids, so we’re going to work on getting back to that on a regular basis again. 2013: We had a really good stretch where we didn’t do fast food at all, then it gradually started creeping back in. I need to work on eliminating fast food again. Bentos are still the lunch of choice, I just need to get back to planning for them better.
9: Do something about my wardrobe. I am putting this one separate from the ‘home blessing’ because it’s not really about making space or de-cluttering (though that does play a part). I have a bunch of clothes that don’t fit (both too small and too large) and that are out-dated that I’ve held on to. It’s time to let go! I don’t necessarily need new clothes (though if certain portions of #5 are carried out, I may), but I would like for the clothes that are taking up my space to be ones that I like and wear.update: I did declutter my clothing! I am in need of some new pieces though (but don’t expect a rainbow of colors or anything; I am still *me*). I also did the kids’ clothing and Loverly Husband’s, so yay! 2013: I think this is under ‘Fashionista’ above… I do desperately need to go through the boys’ clothing again… drat them for growing up so fast!
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2010′s Resolutions and Progress Report: NYE’s Written on Jan. 2, 2010:
I’m going to include all the things that are in reference to “home blessing” from previous years, such as redecorating, de-cluttering and the like. It’s still in the plan, but it’s something that can be chipped away at slowly. There are a couple of specifics that I want to focus on like:-my office (switching our bedroom to the office and the office to our bedroom) and the redecorating that goes along with that.-the hallway bathroom (I’d really like to work on that this year)-decluttering and organizing (all over)**Semi-Accomplished** We actually lost the office when we started homeschooling. I do have to say that I’ve rocked the decluttering thing this year though. About twice a month, I take at least one bag of stuff to Goodwill and still have more to go. The switching didn’t happen, but will this year, and the bathroom also did not get attention (though I did paint in there). Everything will get a face-lift this year though… so yay!2012: ongoing – I think we’ll forever be decluttering and simplifying.2013: ongoing… but progress is definitely visible!
I want to go somewhere, just the two of us, with no kids, for a whole weekend. It’s been over 8 years since we’ve gone away for some time alone, so I think we’re due.**ACCOMPLISHED** We went with my brother and SIL to Galveston for a long weekend, and have plans to go to San Antonio this year. Yay!2012: we didn’t get to do this in 2011. I did get to go to Ren Faire for the weekend with The Girls though. Not the same thing.
2013: TX Ren Faire with Loverly Husband (as mentioned above)… but I was sick the whole time, so dosen’t count.
I really want to work on my stories/books/series this year. It’s once a month, on a Tuesday, and I think I need to make that a priority.**Semi-Accomplished** I went to a couple, then got lazy. The main problem is that half of the writers didn’t say much, and the other half were SO not in my field. I am going to try again for this year though. Writing is fun for me, and I owe it to myself to hone my craft, even if it is only a hobby. For now. This has been updated for 2011′s list.2012: That’s good advice, self. You should pay attention.2013: Ditto above, self. Look into the writer’s workshops again this year. It’s been a while; maybe there’s fresh meat?
Now that the boys are older and more active, it’s a little easier to plan excursions with fitness as a focus. We all have kids and I have a bike rack for the car, so I think that’s going to be something we do more of this year. The boys are also into skating, so we’re going to get back into that habit again, too.**ACCOMPLISHED** We’ve been hiking, biking, skating, swimming and Wii Fitted… and we’re continuing in this vein this year! Go me!!2012: suckage for 2011. It was insanely cold, then ridiculously hot and I’m being whiney and lazy. Better goals for this year!2013: Karate, baby! And the beach! And more of the same for this year!!
I have no idea how this will work since Loverly Husband is completely opposed to the idea, but I would like to try it. We already don’t have much TV time when school is in session (no TV in the mornings, and no TV until homework is done) so it’s not like we watch a ton of TV as it is, but I do know that my kids are much more imaginative when the TV is not there to influence them and I want to see more of that.**FAIL** Well, kinda. We actually don’t watch all that much TV. The boys are not allowed to watch TV or play video games on school days, so that’s the bulk of the week. The time they do have is squished between when ‘chores are done’ and ‘dinner’ so free-tv time is rare. Video games, however… they’re all about them and will spend as much time as allowed on them. We’ll be curtailing this come January 3rd.2012: We’ve actually enforced this a couple of times. The kids have been playing more video games, but they’ve had less ‘free’ days… so I think it evens out. We’re going to cut them back this year again though. More outside time!2013: I think we’re going to add this back to the list. With my mom’s hospitalization and recovery, the kids spent a lot of time being ‘out of the way’, which usually meant ‘in front of the tv/game’. I’m thinking that a strict ban on screen time might be a good thing, at least until a little more balance can be found.
Mom has TONS of pictures that I want and since she won’t part with them I need to make an effort this year to get them in digital format, both for preservation purposes and just to have.**FAIL** Yeah… not so much. I did get a fantastic external hard drive this year, so now I actually have space to put all those pictures. Maybe in 2011…2012: Because I don’t have enough of my own pictures to put on discs, I had to take on someone else’s photo-library?? What was I thinking?? I am retroactively striking this from the list.2013: YES!! That’s insane! It’s still a monumental task and I am annoyed with myself for having suggested that I should do this. Maybe I will get HER a scanner and external hard drive and show her how to do it.
We’re doing pretty well in this regard, so it’s not a major thing to have to ‘resolve’ to do, but I like having it on my list because it IS something we need to focus on. SO the plan is to continue adding money to our savings accounts, to the kids’ savings accounts (and college funds), and into our retirement. We’ve been talking about getting a new car this year, and aboutpainting the outside of the house and landscaping a bit, and it would be nice to follow through with those plans.** ACCOMPLISHED** We bought a new (to us) Honda Odyssey in April 2010, also bought our house in June. Loverly Husband took care of all the retirement plan financial stuff, so we’re doing well! The landscaping and painting are in the plans for the next couple of months.2012: Yep – Loverly Husband is still on top of this. Landscaping and home improvements are all still on the list as money becomes available.2013: More of the same… handing money makes me physically ill – more even now than in the past, so he handles all of that business. Landscaping will be on the menu once the inside is finished.
I really have missed arts and crafts. I’ve cut back on my “work and volunteering” schedule, so I am going to use the ‘extra’ time to do the things I enjoy. I want to do aglass project for the living room window, batik the curtains in the living room, make blackout curtains for our bedroom andthe boys’ room, re-cover the couch… among other things. Plus, I need to work on scrapbooking and having pictures from recent years printed. I also would like to work on drawing and painting.**ACCOMPLISHED** With multiple craft-days under my belt this year, and many crafty-projects with the kids, this is well done! Not these exact things, maybe; I made new curtains for the living room, decided not to cover the couch at all and blacked out my bedroom windows with foil and tape. Not as classy, maybe, but it’s hella-freaking-dark even at mid-day in there, so that’s done. The kids don’t want it to be that dark in their room…2012: Two words: ART JOURNALS. Love them and have been having SO much fun with them! Eventually, I’ll have them all loaded to my DeviantART account, but that hasn’t happened yet. I’ve also made several crafts projects for friends, so I’m definitely still feeling the craftstravaganza vibe and hope it continues.2013: I’ve actually added to my ‘work and volunteering’ schedule again this year, but I am determined not to let those commitments detract from my crafty time. My goal for this year is to work through Wreck this Journal, and I am doing it in a group… among other projects. DeviantART – yes… gotta do that.
I have a fairly decent foundation (not that I’m an expert or anything), but I’d like to learn more and utilize this more in day-to-day life.**ACCOMPLISHED** I’m not an expert by any means, but we’ve relied much less this past year on western medicine than we have in years past, and I know more about treating the underlying cause of something than simply masking symptoms, so I’d call this well done as well. I plan to continue educating myself, and am thankful to have several friends who are willing to share the knowledge!2012: Actually, it’s not ‘homeopathy’, it’s naturo-pathy that I like/use/meant. And yes; still into it.2013: Ditto… more-so even than last year. I’m all about it, baby!
2010: Ummm… yeah. So I have an obsessive-compulsive personality. “Stop obsessing” is like saying I’m planning on not breathing this year. FAIL.2011: no change.2012: added an anti-anxiety med to my anti-depressant meds… it’s nice so far; need to up the dose, I think, but I am definitely less stressed over minor nothings.2013: All hail anxiety medications! Best thing I ever did for myself. Even though I am currently in need to a visit to the Man in the Lab Coat, I recognize that many, many of my issues with ‘things’ have to do with my illness. Accepting that, admitting that, and working within that context has helped me so much.
2010: I’d say that this one is accomplished. Not in the sense that this is something that is ever “done” with, but I think it was something we worked on, not just for the kids, but for myself as well.2011: This is an ongoing exercise for us. Food affects me and the kids so much, and it’s a struggle to respect its power without obsessing or over-focusing on it.2012: ditto.2013: more of the same
2010: Well… this one got pushed aside this year. Between being pregnant for the first part of the year, and then grieving throughout the last half of the year, I am just glad I haven’t gained 20lbs. 5 is acceptable and easier to get rid of.2011: I’m back on the wagon, with some friends to help motivate and keep me accountable. We’ve already started, and are doing well!2012: meh. I’m working on it.2013: Suck it, skinny bitches. I am working on ‘health at any size’, and trying not to focus on weight.
2010: Eh… I didn’t do this, but it’s still the same ole thing I have been debating about since the beginning. Certification is nice to have, but not necessary and may be too limiting. BFF and I are planning goals for WMC on Monday, so we’ll re-hash this again and decide what we want to do about it.2011: I can pretty much cross this off my list. I’m not interested in being a doula anymore. I’ve also retired from LLL Leadership this year, so my attention is focused in other areas.2012: Same; I am happy volunteering with the Beaumont Breastfeeding Coalition when I can and/or the mood strikes with no further obligation.2013: Same; I’ve taken on a larger role for 2013 with the BBC; and plan to pursue formal lactation counselor certification this year.
2010: This is a mixture of yes and no… yes b/c I have definitely been downsizing, esp over the last couple of months, but the baby clothes and stuff I have kept and will keep as there may be a need for them at some point. We’re still kinda unclear on that point, too.2011: Ongoing… forever?2012: ditto…2013: ditto…
2010:… not so much. On any of that, actually.2011:Eh.. some of that got done, some didn’t in 2010. The mural is ever incomplete, but we’re painting everything in a couple of months, so it’s fine.2012: ongoing… home decor is much more expensive than I previously realized, but we have a plan. My bedroom is done; kids are up next.2013: Kids’ rooms and living room still on the menu, but now a reachable goal since the kitchen is done (except for the cabinets).
2010: …ditto.2011: Yeah… not so much. That last part is a big one since we’re losing our storage room in a couple of months!2012: Still working on some of this; not so much the scrapbooking thing – I’ve been art journaling, not srcapbooking. One day the mood will strike again and I will love it. Until then, it remains in storage. Plans to get the school room storage situation under control this year are underway.2013: Jesus, the frakkin holiday boxes are still a problem. I have a plan for them, but need Loverly Husband to install shelving over the washer and dryer… then the boxes can live there. Found the glue gun! It was in a box of craft stuff that I had packed to make personalized clothespin ornaments for a fundraiser for the kids’ school a few years ago. I actually found it last year, I think… it was packed up for a LONG time, lol. Scrapbooking… meh. I’m kinda over it. Art journals have taken up my time, and blogging documents the kids, so I don;t ‘need’ to scrapbook, really. Maybe one day when they’re older….
2010: DONE! We bought more gumballs. There are still some in the machine, too!
2011: Why aren’t all of my resolutions so simple and easy to accomplish?? I think I’ll start adding at least one challenge to my resolutions list. This year: be vegan for a week!
2012: this is a throw-away resolution. I am including at least one every year, I think.
2013: We got rid of the gumball machine, LOL Yay for de-cluttering!
2010: Yes and no – I did outlines for some of them and have started an outline for most of them.2011: I’ve really slacked on my fiction this year. I’ve blogged pretty faithfully though.. does that count?2012: While not exactly kicking ass, I have been slowly plodding away at my stories. Progress=progress, yes?2013: Added a few thousand words spread out across several stories just yesterday, after a coffee date with AnnA… with plans to continue this year.
2009: Yeah… we actually have been doing much better in the cash-flow department this year. I’m fairly proud of that, so I think I can call this one “accomplished” and we’ll say maintain this instead of making it a new resolution.2010: We did VERY well this year in this regard. I can say that we’re progressing nicely on this front. We eliminated credit cards a couple of years ago, so that’s a big hassle that we don’t have to mess with anymore. This year, we’re funneling more money into savings and retirement. I’m proud of that!2011: Loverly Husband took over all the budgeting of funds early in 2010, so… yay! He’s better at it than I am. We’re definitely in a better place financially now that we were back in 2007/8. It’s nice to be able to look back and see progress happening.2012: Loverly Husband is still Mr. Finance. I have less and less to do with money and I like it that way.2013: I am hands-free on the money department, and couldn’t be happier about it. Thanks to Loverly Husband’s awesome fiduciary skillz, we’re insured, we’re saving, we’re planning for retirement and the kids have savings accounts… it’s been a long road, and he’s been working hard to make our family’s finances are in order, and I am eternally grateful that I don’t have to worry with it.
2009: This is kind of a done deal (DONA) – but I’m making it an actual resolution so that when it’s done I can cross it off the list. Actually, I’m not doing TrustBirth at all – after thinking more about it, I decided it wasn’t for me. It’s not that I disagree with them, exactly, just that I am a little more open-minded about things. As for the birth doula cert, I am still working on it, and am actually doing DONA now instead of CBI, which was what I was looking at then. DONA is different, and either way, I need certain criteria to certify and I haven’t been as on top of it as I had planned. Can I blame part of this on Hurricanes Gustav and Ike?2010: see above.2011: Let me explain… I had all of my certification stuff done – all I needed to do was send it in and pay for it. I was waiting on BFF to get her breastfeeding education requirement done so we could submit our applications together, and got pregnant, then miscarried… Since then, I’ve decided that I don’t want to be a doula, and therefore see no reason to pay for the certification. So. That’s the what’s what on this.2012: ditto…2013: no change…
3) Keep my prescriptions filled and faithfully take my medicines daily … so that I don’t end up needing my rescue inhaler multiple times daily and end up on the nebulizer like I did 2 weeks ago.
2009: I suck at doing this. I HATE taking meds EVERY SINGLE DAY. It’s a huge hassle (and could it be any clearer that I am barely taking anything at all right now, which is why I am defensive about it?) I have kept up with asthma and allergy meds though, which is a good thing… so this is a “halfway” for me.2010: I STILL suck at this. Something about this time of year. I have not been keeping my Rx filled and have been using the neb for the last couple of weeks. Ugh.2011: Better this year… I’m off of some of them and need to refill others. This is going to be one of those on-going things for me, I think.2012: ongoing… new meds this year; anti-depressant & anti-anxiety. It’s helping. Now to stick with them.2013…. see above notes on medications and illness….
2009: Since I’m basically starting over again, and it’s on this year’s list, I guess didn’t keep this one either.2010: See above.2011: Ditto this year… I lost 80lbs the first go-round with SP, then my weight-loss plateaued and I got discouraged. I managed to keep it off for a while, then have, over the course of 3 or 4 years, have put back on about 30lbs. That sucks. So, along with a couple of friends, I’m re-committing myself. It’s in 2011′s #5.2012: *expletive deleted*2013: Skinny bitches can still suck it.
5) Wear hats more often because I like them.
2009: Ha! I SO didI bought, like 4 new hats and have worn them all. And they look awesome, if I do say so myself. Go me!
2010: I’m still keeping this one faithfully2011: ditto2012: chapeaux + NicCuinn = even more awesome as time goes by. This remains one of my favorite NYR’s.2013: Hats… yes and double yes. My favorite is a black fedora, but I also have a black newsboy style cap that I just love (but currently cannot find). I think I need a few more hats this year.
2009: Fleshing out already-written storylines? No. Adding all the newly thought-of concepts into word.docs? Yes! So another half-assed accomplishment on my part. I’m going to add “making an outline for all story concepts” above.2010: I have been feeling more creative lately and have started a couple of new concepts that need to be fleshed out. As long as I keep doing that, I am happy with this level of progress.2011:Yeah… homeschooling leaves very little time for writing fiction. That’s a total cop-out, but that’s my excuse for doing absolutely NO writing this year, fiction-wise. I did come up with a new non-fiction concept for a children’s book series, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten with it. I’m making notes on it now (like right this minute …. okay – I have an overview of the series written now) – so that’s something, at least, lol.2012: And Skying/collaborating with AnnA. Lots of it.2013: As previously explained, writing = yes, with AnnA.
2009: I guess I’m kind-of on the same page as last year with this. I got rid of a TON of crap over the past year, so this is another “maintaining” for me. I’ll leave it as above though, because I have more specific goals in mind for this year.2010: see above2011: ditto2012: ditto2013: ditto
2009: This has been a lot easier since both boys have been in school. So I guess I’ll mark that as an “accomplished” too.2010: I have been keeping this one.2011: Oh, I just thought I was busy before…homeschooling is possibly the biggest challenge I’ve undertaken yet. It requires almost constant thought and attention on my part. On the plus side, my Loverly Husband is incredibly supportive and has both encouraged and made it easy for me to go exercise with my sister or grab coffee with a friend in the evenings. My resolution for this year is to stop feeling guilty about it!2012: Yes – homeschooling time commitment is eternal. Coffee out and a weekend trip to Ren Faire with the girls this past year was amazing. Definitely on the list of traditions to continue. Also, meeting more personal spiritual nourishment goals has helped. Planning to continue in this vein.2013: 2012 was an AMAZING year for me, overall (barring a few unexpected happenings). Our school year went exceptionally well, I found a sport that I love (that also qualifies as ‘family time’), a spiritual study group that has become more like family, and a group of friends that is so full that I am starting to feel guilty about not having time to spend with any of them. I am truly blessed.
2009: The “three” isn’t the same three as it was when this was written, and I think that we’ve done pretty well. We’re well into our 2nd year, and with the Ike evacs and BFF’s birth, the last few months have been slow, but we’re gearing up for an eventful year with WMC. So this is another thing I think I can say “accomplished” on.2010: 2009 was rough on many fronts. I am hoping that 2010 will be a better year for WMC.2011: I’ve pretty much phased myself out of WMC. BFF is continuing with her own plans, including starting midwifery school in Jan 2011, and I will be involved as much as I can, but it’s pretty much her show now. My attention and focus is elsewhere these days, and though I miss being in the place in my life where WMC was my dream, I’m excited about what the future now holds, both for my BFF and WMC and for myself.2012: I miss being involved, but am so glad to see BFF continue meeting her goals. Also very glad to see WMC and the BBC flourish, if not quite in the ways we’d first envisioned. I am still proud to be part of the community of support for natural mothering in our area. My attention is still focused elsewhere, but my future goals are leaning in a similar direction – I’d like to go to school and work in counseling with new mothers and families once my kids are grown.2013: I have found it easier over the past year to start working myself back into the goings-on in the new mother community again. It was really hard for a long time, but it’s much better now. I actually enjoy talking to new moms again, and even holding the occasional babe (though I am quick to give them back when they start crying). I still plan to get into counseling, but that’s several years off yet; gotta get the boys into college first!
2012: nine has become the tradition. I see no reason to alter that now!2013: Nine is an awesome number
Warmly,
Religion and Education
This is a topic that I have been meaning to write about for a long time – that of having to learn Science and History in order to teach Science and History to my children.
One of the problems that I have with my religious upbringing is the complexity of the mis-information that I was exposed to in the church about science and history, even to the point of being told to ignore or devalue what was taught in school. It’s not so much what was taught; anything that is learned can be revised or corrected with further education; it was more the method – the implication that what is being taught is absolute truth because it comes from Divine Inspiration.
I can specifically remember hearing in sermons and discourses, and reading in publications by the church that address such topics as Darwin, evolution, age of the earth, Biblical ‘historical’ events – things that I believed that I had a complete education about. I grew up confident that thing things I learned about those subjects were both factual and superior to those published by professionals in those fields because we had Divine Guidance and they were ‘just’ scientists, historians, anthropologists, and other professionals in those fields, who, even with all their fancy education, lacked Divine Guidance to see the to the Truth of things.
This is a fallacy. I have suffered because of it, and were I less contentious parent, my children would have, also.
This reasoning, ‘we know because we have God’; is indicative of the arrogance that Christianity breeds, and it is this arrogance that I feel is utterly detrimental to the processes of education. The ideas that: God has chosen you and your religious counterparts to receive ’special’ knowledge; that your understanding of a subject is superior regardless of the current accepted factual understanding of research, physics or nature may say; that your education about such matters is complete because you have God on your side, essentially absolves the individual of the need to study, learn, seek, and to find out for themselves. It imbues them with a false sense of expertise on subjects that they are piteously ignorant of. Worse, it leads vastly under-educated individuals to perpetuate misinformation based on a woefully lacking basic understanding of historical events and the way the universe works. Detriment sets in when these same dreadfully under-educated children grow up with that false expertise and become the next generation of teachers and law-makers.
I use words like ‘woefully’, ‘piteously’ and ‘dreadfully’, because it is! I had literally had no idea how much I didn’t know until I started having to contemplate teaching my children. I was left without so much as a rudimentary understanding of what the theory of evolution is because of how badly Darwin’s work is misrepresented by my parents’ religion. It wasn’t until I started homeschooling that I realized exactly how misguided and even maliciously under-educated the churches want their subjects. If for nothing else, then the possibility that their ’have a building, obviously need a builder’ analogy is utterly irrelevant ; the possibility that evolution ‘might’ be true would, in effect, erase the need for a Creator. It’s not like God (in whatever form or concept you wish it) couldn’t exist for other reasons – but once you start exploring the possibility that life didn’t have, doesn’t need an intentional beginning… that opens the door to so may other questions that religion cannot answer.
One of the things I heard over and over as a child was that secondary education was, at the least, unnecessary and at the worst, actually harmful to God’s People. First of all, because we’re ‘living in the last days’, and so occupations like Doctor or Lawyer, which require many years of schooling that take away from the task assigned all True Christians, to ‘preach the Word’, would be irrelevant after Armageddon (or God’s Righteous Cleansing of the Earth of all Wickedness) because people will be perfectly healthy and sin-less (so no disease, death or injustice). Why waste all that time in school when you could be out there preaching?!
Secondly, beware! Exposure to too much thinking can ‘educate’ God right out of you! The more you’re exposed to other faiths (because mixing with ‘The World’ is bad), and philosophical ideas (which just confuse a good, God-Fearing mind), the farther away from being ‘sheep-like’, meek and mild one becomes. My answer to that was always, ‘Yeah… and? Sheep are stupid creatures. They’re not intelligent enough to save themselves even if the herd is leading them to their ultimate demise. Who in their right mind wants to emulate sheep?!’. But we’re supposed to be sheep, with Jesus as our Shepherd, following along, doing what we’re told.
I also grew up to eschew the concept of ’independent thinking’. After all, that’s what got us into this mess – Eve decided to think for herself and eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad instead of blindly following what God told her. If she had remained innocent and ignorant, then she wouldn’t have doomed mankind to sin and death. That idea/teaching has always bothered me, because without full disclosure, educated decision making is absent. Eve didn’t have full disclosure. She was asked to choose to remain ignorant or educate herself. And human nature, the desire we were CREATED with according to creationism, was her downfall. That smacks of being set up to fail. Oh, sure – arguments can be made that Eve was told what would happen, but how many of us have a baby who just has to touch the pretty flame before learning that it is, indeed hot, just as mommy has always warned? Do we doom the child to die for fulfilling the need to find that out for himself? Of course not.
As an adult, when I realized just how badly misinformed I was, it put me in the unique position of finding out for myself what the facts say. I am not an unintelligent person. I enjoy reading, research, writing, history – all fun things for me. Unfortunately, physics and biology and history are very, very complex subjects, with literally millions of years of information to wade through. So even though I have done my level best (and continue to) read and watch and listened to books, videos, and lectures, there does come a point where I have to defer to the experts. I choose to defer those who have devoted their lives to learning, understanding and teaching such things, and I gladly defer to their superior knowledge of their subject. After all, if they’ve devoted their lives to these fields of study, then they know infinitely more about them that I could learn as either an individual seeking to further my own education, or as a homeschool teacher. Deferring to their superior knowledge in no way absolves my responsibility to continue learning.
But at no point would/should/could I defer to religious amateurs who have absolutely no professional training in that field and claim ‘Divine Guidance’ for their take on things, and yet that’s what millions of people do on a daily basis – probably without even realizing it. Religious leaders generally have training from a seminary school, and if they have historical and/or scientific training, it comes from a theological viewpoint, which is to say, not unbiased. This is especially true in my parents’ religion, where the pinnacle of achievement is to devote your life to God’s Service, putting whatever skills you possess at the disposal of the church leaders. However, coupled with aforementioned aversion to secondary schooling, what you end up with is a bunch of ignorant, but sincere, people with zero educational or scientific expertise to lend to the validity of the religion’s claims on such matters. Claims which, with any depth of examination are easily discredited.
While I was writing this, I was searching for images, and came across this one called ‘A Matrix of Science and Religion by Colleen Scheck. It’s interesting to me; I don’t classify myself as an atheist; if anything I suppose I might be considered agnostic by some, though I purposefully do not claim any religious labels here.
I enjoy the ideas set forth by Humanist organizations, and enjoy learning about native and historical religions with their various deities and ceremonies… these enjoyments make me a hodge-podge of spiritual influences that I choose not to define. Suffice it to say that I am happy with my current state of spirituality and religious practice and it really shouldn’t mater to anyone else what I believe or how I express those beliefs, but I do find this image very interesting. I tend to fall somewhere in the ‘potentially co-existing’ area. I was raised in the opposite spectrum – that religion is set, and science is an ever-changing process (the oft-spoken ideal was that eventually science would ‘catch up’ to our religion), and therefore the two were in constant conflict. Concepts and events like: the age of the earth, the existence and time-frame of dinosaurs, whether or not the Exodus account is true, or the Great Flood happened as the Bible describes it; for individuals who accept the bible as a collection of stories that loosely ‘document’ one part of the world and culture of that time, there is plenty of room for modern science. But having the narrow-minded view that the bible is literal and factual on all counts – means that you must – MUST – at some point choose to blindly disregard things that can be proven.
Knowledge is always preferable to ignorance. Knowledge has the unique task of shaping reality. Things that you know to be true have a profound impact on how you live; on the decisions that you make; on how you spend your money or raise your children. I don’t want my children growing up believing something just because they ‘heard’ it, or ‘read’ it or ‘saw’ it. I want them to believe things because they heard it, AND read it, AND saw it. I want their information to come from various sources, with various agendas pushing that viewpoint. I want them to gather information and make informed decisions based on facts, not blindly follow. When facts from those various sources agree, then – and only then – can something be known. And even then, it may be subject to change as we learn more.
One of my favorite quotes is this, and I thought it would be a fitting close to this article:
“Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard; be Evil.”
~anonymous
Warmly,
~h
Winding Down…
It’s the end of our school year and we’re winding down. This is our last week before our break – three years of homeschooling have gone by in such a flash!
Some of the things we’re wrapping up:
Ancient Greece Lapbook
Manatee Lapbook (and accompanying community service project – many apologies to those of you who have been looking for updates on our manatee project; we truly have not forgotten about it – as soon as I have our adoptions complete, I will be posting the updated info on them. It’s in my plan for this week!)
The boys have finished their grade workbooks for this school year; even knowing how fast they can work through those books, it’s always surprising to me when they zip through them in only a few months. The Aug-Nov schedule has been a pretty normal one, including a more or less month-long break so we could help take care of my mom after her surgery and through the issues associate with that – and yet still they’ve breezed through their lessons. I am not quite ready to advance them to the next grade, so we’re going to work on literature units from January through May of 2013.
Its been crazy-busy around here between my mom’s recovery and the holidays. We’ve had to replace basically all of the appliances in our house over the last few months, so Tool Time has been in full-force; Loverly Husband spent this weekend replacing the floor in our kitchen! We’ve also run errands and in general been too busy to sit still for much schoolin’; hopefully this week will afford us the time to finish up the last few things for the end of the year, then we can relax!
I have been talking to several moms lately about Five in A Row - I used Before Five in a Row and FIAR when my kids were small, and I LOVED it. As a literature-minded person, I loved that those lesson plans were based in beloved children’s books; they just fit our style so very well. So, in light of that, I ordered the Beyond Five in A Row to work through with the kids when we start again in January.
Volume I utilizes The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner and Homer Price by Robert McCloskey as its two fiction selections, and Thomas Edison by Sue Guthridge and Betsy Ross by Ann Weil from the Childhood of Famous Americans Series for its two non-fiction selections.
We’ve already read the Boxcar Children, but not as a unit study. The other books are new to us, but I am sure that they’ll be interesting. I am not sure of the timing for those units, so if we have time, I will be ordering the other books as well. I think that TBC is a bit young (3rd grade level), but since they’ve read it already, I thought that it might be a good way to boost their enthusiasm for the assignments by working with material they’re already familiar with.
To start us off in our literature adventure, and even though we’re not technically doing ‘school’ for the next month, we’re reading Lois Lowry’s The Giver. I found a lesson plan that spans 2 weeks that we may use to really get into the meat of the book; but even if we just read the series, I think there is plenty of educational value in that. Scholastic’s website also has resources for The Giver.
In any case, I am excited to wrap this school year up and get ready for the new term in January!
Warmly,
~h
Unscheduled Interruptions
We’ve been pretty fortunate… though we’ve taken some unscheduled breaks in the past, we haven’t been forced to break for something that you could consider an ‘emergency’… until the last couple of weeks.
My mom had minor surgery a little over a month ago, then about a week afterwards, had a pretty severe complication and spent a week in the hospital. Then, when she was getting ready to go home, had a stroke, and spent another week in the hospital. Due to some issues that we’ve had with family members in the hospital in the past, our family policy is that when someone is in the hospital, someone stays with them 24/7 just to make sure that everything is good. So my dad (who is disabled), my sister, brother and sister-in-law, and I traded off shifts with each other for a little over 2 weeks, and then spent the last couple of weeks with mom at home making sure she had someone with her 24/7.
Talk about your unexpected interruptions! It’s times like this that I deeply appreciate the flexibility that homeschooling allows us. Though we’ve taken off most of the past couple of weeks; we’re not really ‘behind’ because we don’t have a set schedule in the same way that traditional school does. By that, I don’t mean that we have no schedule – of course we have a plan for what needs to be accomplished this year; I mean that our plan is flexible. We can have school on the weekend, or in the evening, or just move everything down a week on the calendar… there are many ways that we can flex our plan to accommodate real life.
That’s not to say that it’s impossible to do that with other schooling methods; my niece is in traditional brick-and-mortar school, and my sister also works full-time, and still manages to stay on-track… believe me, I can see how much time and effort she puts into maintaining, and imagine that similar effort is put forth by moms who do the same – it’s just that I appreciate the flexibility even more when faced with a situation like this.
Even with the upset, we have managed to squeeze some school time in. The kids brought their work up to the hospital and read to my mom, impressed the nurses with their vocabulary and Latin, and took many walks (with the combined intent of mapping the hospital and getting them out of the tiny little hospital room for a bit to stretch their legs).
We also we able to go with our homeschool group to see a play; The Tortoise and the Hare/The Ugly Duckling, by Lightwire Theater and Corbian Visual Arts and Dance. I wasn’t sure what to expect; I’m sometimes hesitant to go to performances that offer a new take on an old story. Some have gotten it right, with a fresh perspective and an interesting gimick. Others… not so much. But this one did not disappoint! If you get a chance to see them, do – highlights include ‘I’m Too Sexy’ (music not lyrics) as performed by the Hare, and ‘Can’t Touch This’ by the inchworm. I was literally laughing out loud at the Hare.
Last week, we carved pumpkins and got into the holiday spirit with a trip to Shangri-La Botanical Gardens in Orange, TX for their Scarecrow Festival, then went costume-shopping. The scarecrows were fun! Our homeschool group originally planned on entering, but with some illnesses in the group and the situation with my mom in the hospital, we opted out of participating this year with an entry, but still planned on going to view and vote on our favorites.
I chose the Nightmare Before Christmas display. The kids both chose their favorites as well – an owl for PeaGreen made of bottle caps and solo cups; and a hippie sitting on top of a giant globe, titled ’Peace of Earth’.
LBB was a ninja and PeaGreen was the Slender Man – and we had some friends over to go Trick-or-Treating with us. They made out like bandits!
This week, we’re un-decorating from Halloween and getting the house back in order. It’s amazing how dirty and disorganized things can get when you;re barely home. I guess it’s all the ‘fall in the door, drop everything, wake up the next day, tear through the stuff you dropped to find what you need for today, and out the door again’-ness of it.
Looking forward to getting back on-track this week – wrapping up lapbooks, getting our manatees adopted, seeing the symphony and hitting the Ren Faire – busy week ahead!
Warmly,
~h
(P.S. My mom is home and doing much better! She is still having some motor difficulties, but we’re expecting a nearly full/full recovery; it will just take some time. Luckily, she has two homeschooling teachers at her disposal to facilitate her recovery!)
Lemurs, Adopt-A-Beach & Report Cards
The last couple of weeks have been pretty exciting – and thus explains my absence from blog-land (I hope). I keep meaning to come post, and I have drafts started, but when it comes down to actually posting them, I have fallen short of my goals. So, to make up for that, here’s an extra-long post!
Last week, our homeschool group toured the local emergency center (911 dispatch & emergency management offices), and talked with a local K-9 police officer about his job training, working with and handling his partner, beautiful Danish born German Shepherd, Hutch.
I’ve never really thought about the intricacies of emergency planning in a city – this was really an eye-opening experience. I know that our city took a lot of flack for how they handled the hurricanes (Rita & Ike) in the past, but I can imagine that any disaster is going to cause issues – it is good to know, and good to see and put a personal face on the emergency response team for the city.
The kids all got to field mock 911 calls, and listen to some real 911 emergency calls. They were nervous and embarrassed as kids are wont to be during things like this, but I think they were impressed with the level of stress that 911 dispatchers deal with. Some of those calls were scary!
After that, we headed back home with some of our friends, and while the moms were chit-chatting inside, the boys all went out to play with their 911 frisbees and to practice their archery skills. One of the kids came in and said, “Mom, there are lemurs in our yard.” quite matter-of-factly. I was skeptical, because honestly how often does one find exotic animals in their yard, right? But I went out and was shocked to find that yes, there were in fact lemurs in our yard!
h with a couple of ring-tailed lemurs
We have an exotic petting zoo down the street from our house – well, it’s not the zoo, itself, it’s where the owners of the zoo live, and house the animals that are not currently on display. That means that on any given day, we hear the brays of donekys and zebras, the caw of peacocks and turkeys and the low grunts of camels cracking the silence of a peaceful evening.
Right off the bat, I figured that the lemurs were from the zoo; they were collared and healthy-looking; and they were not shy of people. They weren’t overly enthusiastic about being picked up, but they knew enough to know that people=food, so we were able to lure them into a cat carrier with bananas.
I tried calling the zoo, but got no answer, so I hit the next best thing – Facebook. Several of my friends are all about animal rescue, so I tagged them – social media at its finest, I tell ya! Within moments, I had a thread with helpful suggestions and offers of assistance in finding the owners. After a little while I decided to walk down and see if the zoo was missing some little friends. Apparently, the lemurs have just returned from a 6 hour road trip and the lady that runs things came in, dropped everyone off into their enclosures and hit the hay – understandable after such a long drive. The lemurs we found were babies, who normally get out, but usually stay close to the adults. Who knows why they chose that day to explore – I’m glad we found them and were able to keep them safe! Hopefully, they will take this example under advisement and make sure that the babies are kept secure and safe on their premises from now on.
I have to say that I had a bit of a moral dilemma in this situation. I kinda dislike zoos altogether. Though I understand that people are more concerned with donating time and money to wildlife causes when they can see. hear and smell the animals and so zoos raise a lot of money for conservation and wildlife protection, I see it as a double-edged sword. The animals that are subjected to small enclosures, unnatural climates and habitats and subjected to the constant scrutiny of humans – it’s not a fair life for them. I have less issue with larger facilities, but for every large-scale zoo, there are a dozen ‘mom & pop’ zoos that have enclosures that are too small, or too unnatural. Then, you have the petting zoo industry, which is less concerned with conservation and more about capitalism via the exploitation of exotic animals.
I admit that there was a part of me that desperately wanted to keep those babies. Nevermind that I was not prepared to house or feed them – I was willing to do the research to find out what would be needed to properly care for them (while at the same time recognizing that in captivity, there really isn’t a ‘proper’ way to do that). But, that would mean knowingly keeping something that didn’t belong to me – so theft… and I am, naturally, at moral odds with that as well. Basically, it was a no-win situation. I was forced to do the legal thing, even though I felt that it was the wrong thing, ethically, especially when I saw that we were returning them to a too-small, less that secure, and overcrowded enclosure. Considering that Texas does not regulate exotic animals that are not classed as ‘dangerous’, and that this location is outside the city-limits (therefore effectively removing any city ordinance issues and authority), there’s really nothing that is going on there that ‘technically’ breaks the law, leaving my hands tied. That was a hard lesson to teach my kids – that sometimes, doing the ‘right’ thing can be the ‘wrong’ thing, too.
Le sigh.
In other news, the kids and I signed up a few weeks ago to participate in the Adopt-A-Beach cleanup program at one of our local beaches. I say local, but we’re about an hour from the coast in several directions. It’s one of the few perks about living where we do! This time, we went to Sea Rim State Park. I have to say that it was kind of sad to be out there. This is one of the state parks that they’d put a lot of effort into over the years – there was a massive multi-story observation deck with a museum, bathrooms and showers and the headquarters for the park. On one side was the beach, and on the other was camping and a wildlife trail through the marsh that was on raised piers through a mile or so of wetlands that was home to all kinds of fish, fowl and reptiles.
As a kid, I’d been down there many times with my mom. She ran our homeschool group when I was in school, and we had several trips to Sea Rim. This is the first time I’ve been out there since Hurricane Rita in 2005 – talk about shocking… all of that is GONE. The landscape is barely recognizable. Even the pavement that went down to the beach is disrupted and mostly grown over. There were several areas where we could see the piers from the walkway through the marsh – even the marsh that was protected by dunes and marsh grasses has been exposed by the shifting landscape.
On the upside, they’re working on it. There were a couple of blocked off areas with lots of heavy construction equipment out there and contractors. They’ve built back a walkway from the visitor’s section over the marsh down to the beach (but I don’t think it was open yet), and I hope that they’re planning on building an observation deck and facilities again. Hurricanes suck.
In any case, we did spend some quality time together, working as a team to pick up some trash off the beach. We collected bottle caps, plastic water bottles, plastic bags, motor oil containers, forgotten shoes and broken beach toys, fishing supplies…. all kinds of nasty stuff that’s been left behind. After that, the organizers sponsored lunch and a drawing – we all three left with fabulous prizes, donated by one of the companies that sponsored the clean up site. Afterwards, we played on the beach for a few hours. It was a fun day!
With the beach clean-up, that marks the end of the first grading period of our school year. For a while, I stopped using the computer and keeping ‘grades’. I liked that, but I feel like my own accountability was starting to slide, so we’re going back to grade-keeping this year. I am using the free version of Homeschool Tracker (Basic). With just the two kids, that’s all I need right now; when they get up into middle school (which is next year for LBB – yikes!!), I am probably going to upgrade to the paid version.
The boys both made the A/B honor roll – I think the lowest grade was 80. I waffle back and forth with grades sometimes. On the one hand, this is homeschool – we stick with something until we get it and then move on. Since we move at their pace, then there is no reason for bad grades, ever. But on the same token, I don’t want to ‘baby’ them through school. So far, I just do what is asked of me from the program – points possible, points accredited and time spent. I am going to have to figure out how to weight grades (so that tests carry more weight than daily work) for middle school – but thankfully, I still have a year to worry about that!
In any case, we’re done for the week! Hopefully, the next month will afford a few more blogging opportunities.
Warmly,
~h
Three Weeks In…
and things are going well.
We have been hitting the books pretty hard; there are serious dents in the boys’ workbooks, which makes me insanely happy. I know that it ‘shouldn’t', and that seeing piles of completed work doesn’t equal learning… but still, something about seeing those stacks of completed assignments (or at least grades in the computer) makes me feel like we’ve accomplished more than when I don’t see those things. Some habits are hard to break, I guess.
Anyway – if the boys keep moving at the pace they’ve set, then they’ll be done with this ‘year’ by December. I am in no rush, and we won’t start the new grade until I am sure they’re ready. For a bit, I thought that was a reasonable goal, but we really need to work on multiplication tables with PeaGreen, and LBB is into fractions with mixed numbers, so we’re camping out in those areas for the time being. We finally got the hang of GCF and LCM… so maybe things will be moving along soon.
Next up: decimals! (can you feel the excitement??)
We’ve pretty much combined Grammar, Spelling and Reading this year (as subjects). We’re still notebooking (Beethoven is our current notebooking project), and lapbooking (Minerals (on hiatus), The Continents, a Weather unit, and SOTW II (about to go on hiatus so we can work the Ancient Rome, Viking Adventure & Ancient Greece lapbooks from HomeschoolShare). I’ll have new pages up on those lapbooks when we’re done; almost all of those use templates from HomeschoolShare.com, but I’ve either changed or added things to them (of my own or from other places) to bring them up to the boys’ level.
I am really liking the ‘unit study’ theme and am considering bringing that concept more into play in January. There are several books I’d like to go through, but I would like the pressure off to complete ‘grade level’ work before we delve too much into them. When the boys were younger, we did FiveInARow, and I *loved* that… in the past year or so, we’ve strayed from CM-style learning and I am ready to get more into literature-based work again. I am considering getting Beyond Five in a Row as a guide for January.
Field trips are back in full swing as well. We’ve gone on a 2.2 mile hike and swim with our homeschool group, and had planned to hit the water park this past week, only to find out that they all closed over the weekend. I am bummed about that – summer is NOT over yet, even if school has begun for the majority of districts. We made up for it with a trip to a local sprinkler park (with thankfully remains open through September).
Photo by Amanda Pond
In other news, the boys both tested for their yellow belts in karate, and passed! Shamrocks and I will be testing in October (him for orange and me for yellow). I’ve noticed a definite improvement in my stamina over the last few months – I am much stronger now than I was when I started training.
Hmmm… oh – Minecraft. My kids (an I) are all addicted. So, rather than fight it, we’re using it. One way we’re incorporating gaming into education is by graphing out a building plan on graph paper and then building it in Minecraft. We play on XBox 360, and since it’s just me and the boys, it is less distracting (we don’t play online). We’re just creating simple designs at this point, but we will be creating more grand constructions in the future, and building cooperatively. There are also ideas at EduRealms.com that I’d like to try. It’s a little redundant for my boys (the journaling part will be new though). I am considering having them keep track of their resources on a daily basis (collected, used, lost, traded) when we start journaling as well. they both have created multiple servers and explored multiple seeds with different biomes… so they definitely get the creative and cooperative side to the game. As addictions go, this isn’t one I am complaining about.
We’ve also started another kitchen project – water kefir. So far, we’ve made strawberry lemonade and fruit punch and they’re super yummy! We usually drink water or tea (and we all know that this Mommy is a coffee fiend!), so this is a welcome alternative. It’s also a fun science lesson – watching the kefir grow and seeing the differences in taste after 24/48/36 hour fermentations.
Some other things we’ve been up to:
- school pictures (which I will have to update and post later since I am not at the right computer) – also part of the NBTS Blog Hop (that I am late in participating on).
(edited to add:
- I also added this year’s school pictures t the ‘school days’ frame that we have for each other boys (instead of keeping the pictures on my desk for 6 months, watching them get raggedy and worn before adding them to the frame).
- As always with picture-time, I made this year’s homeschool ID cards and educator ID card for myself, as well as homeschool group ID cards for the parents in our homeschool group, and updated my educator accounts with Barnes & Noble, JoAnn’s, School Aids, Office Depot… all those discounts add up!!
- I re-vamped the kids’ workboxes (which I think I already posted about, but will make a proper post of in the future).
- I’m about to embark on a massive household purge – I picked up a few super cheap clothes for the boys, then got home and realized that we’ve never cleaned out the too-smalls from the last few months. So between that and the piles of books that I’ve been hoarding, I seriously need to de-clutter (but then again, I always say that, don’t I?)
- …. I think that’s about it for now.
Hope your school year is off to a wonderful (and productive) start!
Warmly,
~h
Back to (Home) School
One of the things I miss about brick-and-mortar school is the ‘first day of school’. With homeschool, it’s just a matter of falling back into a good routine. We don’t go anywhere, there aren’t new clothes and new backpacks and lunchkits, there’s no excitement about seeing who’s in your class this year or moaning about getting this teacher or that one.
On the one hand, you might say those are bonuses to homeschooling, not drawbacks… but I really loved the first day of school. I am thinking that when we break and go back in January (which is technically the beginning of our school year), I am going to have to make the first day back a little something more than we did today… maybe a Schultüte (a giant hand-made cone full of school supplies and other goodies) or party decorations… something fun, I think.
On the plus side, we spent our first morning ‘back to (home) school’ in our pajamas, had lovely mochas and spent the first part of the morning in quiet serenity (with a little bubbling excitement just under the surface). Our first day back went well overall. Usually, after a break of any kind, going back to a regular school schedule is like pulling teeth, but they were excited to get back. We went school supplies shopping last week, and since I banned all school supplies from anywhere but their desks, I wonder if part of their excitement was being able to use their new colored (and totally erasable) pens to do their work.
They breezed through Reading and Spelling; LBB got hung up on math, but PeaGreen got through his morning work pretty quickly (and so he got to do his chores! Yay!!). After a bit of moaning and groaning, we took a break for lunch, then PeaGreen got over his hurdle. LBB was still in a funk and tried some of his old stalling tricks. We did some re-focusing, and then it was time to pack up and head over to a friend’s house to make soap.
The boys brought their work with them – Latin to finish, handwriting & Grammar (plus a bit of math for LBB). It wasn’t a total success (bringing work with us). PeaGreen – who is by far the less distractable of the pair, got finished with his work fairly quickly. LBB though…. he likes to dawdle. And stall. And find things to be distracted by. Being in a new place, watching mom do a cool craft – that’s not exactly a recipe for success. I cut him some slack though. To be fair, it wasn’t really a good time or place for ‘school on the go’. Our friend is extremely crafty and has lots of pretty cool things to look at. Plus, we were mixing oils and making soap! She even got out some homemade melt-and-pour soap and let the boys make up their own bars. LBB chose a lemon scent and PeaGreen chose grape.
Speaking of soaps… if you get a chance, check out her products at Goddess Divine Creations. I have a bathroom FULL of her soaps and they are *amazing* – my favorites at the moment at Nag Champa Hemp milk soap and Dragonsblood. I also use her Teen Clean Neem Facial Soap and quite a few others (Sin City Amber, Orange Patchouli, Lemongrass, Prosperity Blend, Strawberries & Champagne Salt Bar, Blueberry Salt Bar… oh, my list goes on and on!!).
The rest of the week has been surprisingly easy. Whatever mental block LBB had on Monday & Tuesday, he got over it by Wednesday and completed all his work in record time Wed & Thurs. PeaGreen is as steady as ever – he’s my little trooper!
We’re as busy as ever – Monday’s soap-making excursion, Tuesday’s field trip and planning sesh for the fall calendar with our homeschool group, Wednesday was mine and Loverly Husband’s 13th wedding anniversary, but we had a full day home at school, and Thursday (today), LH was home (we went to see The Dark Knight Rises… excuse me while I squee like a silly fangirl, but it was *fabulous*!!) but managed a pretty full day of schoolwork anyway – total gold star for Mom for managing to get school done with Dad home… that’s usually a no-go!
Speaking of Batman… Catwoman has always been one of my favorite characters, and I love the Batman/Catwoman ‘ship – I have since the good ‘ol days of Michael Keaton/Michelle Pfieffer movie way back when. I have to say, Anne Hathaway did a good job bringing her to life, and though I haven’t been as much of a fan of Christian Bale as the Dark Knight, it was good to see them on-screen together again (Batman and Catwoman, I mean). All things considered, this was a truly amazing movie.
Bruce Wayne & Selina Kyle = <3
Batman & Catwoman = <3
So… things I learned this week:
- keep calm, and explore Mars – we need to incorporate the Mars landing into our lesson plans next week.
- keep calm, and pretend it’s on the lesson plan – be flexible with ‘on-the go’ lessons
- keep calm, and drink more coffee – coffee calms my kids down; that’s not a bad thing for desk work
- keep calm, and carry on – ignore distractions, like Dad being home
- keep calm, and play games – 8 minutes of math game is worth and other 15 minutes of hard-core desk work
- keep calm, and karate-do – our karate class was cancelled Tuesday due to the power being out from a storm. I just missed class and am looking forward to it this evening, that’s all {wink}
I am posting this on Thursday, and taking it on faith that Friday will go in a similar vein. Light a candle and hope that I don’t eat those words! Hope your first week back either went well, or will go well!
Warmly,
~h
Summertime: Week 7
<—- Yes, THIS, exactly.
If you know anything about me at all, then you know that I don’t like to stay home. I will do just about anything to get out of the house, but most days, like ‘good moms’ the world over, I take into consideration the needs of my kids when I go out. In fact, I would say that I go above and beyond with finding fun things for the kids to do that isn’t stuck at home 90% of the time.
So when I start fielding ‘I’m bored’ – no, ‘I’m booooooooooored!!!!’, it makes me a little…. twitchy.
Add to that constant drone of whine the behaviour of my children during a class that I was taking on Sunday evening; I go once every 2 weeks; in this particular (rare) case, silence was of utmost importance and to help with that, they had 2 laptops playing different movies, PLUS a gameboy each, PLUS all the art supplies any kid could possibly want, PLUS books – manga – not even books with chapters or anything!! I totally set them up to succeed in that environment and they were horrendous – making messes, being loud, running in the building, being a nuisance in general – and this mommy has HAD. IT.
I don’t ask a lot from my children; I really don’t. They have schoolwork and chores and even that is kept to the minimum and tailored to their individual needs and abilities. We just had a week full of birthday fun, during which one child’s preferences were met for the most part (when feasible – we’re not that saintly… er … stupid?) and the other was given special treatment to compensate (because we wouldn’t want things to be unfair now, would we? {/sarcasm})… and so the only thing I asked was that they chill out and give me my class time to enjoy.
Aaaaaand, No.
So this week, instead of our schedule looking like this:
- Monday: session II of Tennis Camp
- Tuesday – hike w/ homeschool peeps, SRC Art to Go at AMSET, karate
- Wednesday – BEACH
- Thursday – movie & karate
- Friday – Big Thicket Summer Camp Class
it looks more like this:
- Monday – playing outside
- Tuesday - playing outside
- Wednesday - playing outside
- Thursday - playing outside
- Friday - playing outside – and then writing a paper on ‘why we *all* prefer to have Mom in the Best Mood Possible so she doesn’t go all 1987 on our asses’. (We are a homeschooling family, after all.)
No TV, no computer, no movies, no gameboy, no field trips… just a whole lot of good, old-fashioned YARD to help them appreciate exactly how good they have it (and probably some sneaking off to Grammie’s next door to look pitiful and beg for snacks – she’s been warned though – no TV!!).
In addition to that, one of the things we will be undertaking in a serious way this year will be charity work. Our community has a soup kitchen that I only recently learned about, and I am thinking that we will be organizing and participating some food and toy drives around the holidays. I love them, I really, really do… but so help me, by all that is Holy, I will be extremely disappointed in them END THEM if they don’t straighten out of this ‘entitlement’ crap and learn to show some appreciation!
Brats.
Warmly,
~h
Summertime: Week 6
I am totally running out of cool things to say in these intros, lol. If you come here for homeschooly goodness, I apologize for the lack of such over the past few weeks – we’ll be getting back to the norm in about 3 weeks.
Just so you know that I haven’t forgotten about it, I am working on a lesson planning post and getting ready to get back into the school groove. This foolishness won’t last forever, I promise!
This week has been much less busy than last week; we’re back to our recent ‘norm’ after being insanely busy with a holiday, a birthday, and Loverly Husband being off. Monday was the next to last day of Tennis Camp, which they were excited about… then we were invited to come back for session II, which starts next week and lasts through August 5th. Appleberry was all over it, PeaGreen declined and surprisingly, LBB was totally for it. He hasn’t been the most ‘yay, tennis!’ kid, so I was shocked (but happy) that he wanted more.
After the movies, it was off to Rayma’s for a bit of crafting/art journaling, then to the library for a presentation on the animals we have in our area and a track identification exercise. (hey look – actual schoolwork, with a worksheet and everything!!). Apparently, the Big Thicket also has a summer program, so we’re going to try to check that out this week as well.
Tuesday evening is karate – our first class back again after a full week of being out! I have decided – no more karate after a week of absences… we missed last Saturday because we were being lazy, fully intending on making the rest of the week. Then Loverly Husband had to work late, then it was PeaGreen’s actual birthday and he went for a sleepover; Shamrocks went but I stayed home to enjoy the silence, then Saturday was his party and he opted to skip. (As I write this part out on Thursday, my legs are still sore and we have class tonight!)
Wednesday was supposed to be the last day of tennis camp, but we got rained out- boo to that! We went to the grocery store instead – yay for food! On the way home, we passed by a huge fairy ring on the side of the road and decided to stop and take a picture. I’ve never seen one that big before! It was raining, too, but (despite their expressions), the kids thought it was pretty cool, too.
After we got home, Mom had all kinds of good intentions… that went right out the door in favor of a nap. The kids were being so sweet to each other, and playing so calmly and nicely… I was utterly unnecessary as guardian or peacekeeper, and so my body apparently decided that meant it was naptime. I woke up just in time to get dinner going and get ready for derby – there’s a game on Saturday, and as much as I’d like to say that I’ve been kicking butt and taking names getting ready for that, the truth is that I’ve been slacking – I haven’t even unpacked my bag from the last game a month ago – yikes!
Thursday was going to be a ‘home’ day. If you’ve been following along, then you may have noticed a slight absence of days spent lazing about at home, so the plan was to start making up for that. Unfortunately, there have been storms for the past 2 days and our power went out at 9AM. 4 kids, rain, no electricity (so lights, no tv, no video games) – this was its own special kind of hell, so we abandoned the ‘home’ plans in favor of hitting the other theater’s movie club. To be clear, there are two movie theaters in our area offering movie clubs for the summer – one (Tuesday) is a Cinemark theater, the other (Thursday) is a Dickinson theater. The one we had this experience with is a Dickinson theater.
It started off fine – but there were buckets in several aisles to catch the water from the leaky ceiling. I didn’t think a whole lot of that (though in retrospect, I maybe should have). About halfway through the movie, a huge chunk of ceiling tile soaked through and fell down into the audience – inches away from Red Butler’s seat. I shooed the kids to the side of the theater and went to speak with the theater employees (kids; no manager present), who said that the leaky roof was an on-going problem, and that they’d been trying to get the mall to fix it for the past year. While that may be true, I am calling shenanigans – I went back into the theater to take pictures, and that was not the only set of missing tiles – there were three – which means that someone knew that the tiles were falling due to being wet, and they STILL opted to open that theater and host a kids’ movie in it.
The theater refunded my money, and I went to talk with mall management, who was more interested in passing the buck than taking any responsibility for failing to ensure the safety of their patrons. He wanted to blame the theater, saying that it was the air conditioning (even claiming that he, personally, had been on the roof of the mall the previous day – in the rain, mind you – to check for leaks in the roof) in one sentence, then claiming that he didn’t know that the roof was leaking in the theater in the next breath.
In this instance, no one was harmed, but to knowingly endanger children is beyond comprehension. Thankfully, Loverly Husband was on the ball and he called city zoning, who will be sending someone out to assess the situation. I am incredibly thankful that the kids were okay – but the theater didn’t even close the movie or move it to a safer theater after the incident. I was in shock that they didn’t take it more seriously. I emailed both the theater company and the management company that runs the mall… we’ll see if and how the respond.
**UPDATE** Our local paper picked up the story, and I have spoken to Dickinson Theater’s corporate offices, who assure me that the offending auditoriums have been closed and that repairs are under way. I commend the corporate offices and Mr. Dake, in particular, for being on top of this and getting involved quickly. They are working to resolve the problem, which is what I was after by making our experience public. Bravo – I couldn’t ask for more!
As for Central Mall and thier management company… not so much (as of Sunday, July 15).
**UPDATE** I got an email on Monday (7-16-12) and a phone call on Tuesday from the management company for the Mall assuring me that safety is a prime concern and that the situation has been addressed and is on its way to being corrected. I was also invited to contact them for progress reports on the theater’s repair progress. Many thanks to David Renninger in particular for his prompt attention!
After karate, I met the officers from our local Breastfeeding Coalition for a board meeting to plan out the next few months of events, including a community swap meet and breatfeeding class that I will be teaching. It was directly after karate, so I went all sweaty and gross in my gi, and had the kids with me. I thought they would be bored, but there are a bunch of chess players that meet at that coffee shop all the time, and the boys got involved in their games and I ended up waiting half an hour on them to get done with their game so we could go home.
Anyone who says that homeschoolers don’t get properly socialized – I challenge you to take your schooled (and presumably ‘properly’ socialized) children to a coffee shop late in the evening (when most kids are snug in bed) and see if they have the guts to approach tables full of strangers and not only ask to play, but interact with them for 2+ hours. All this without Mom’s help or input. That’s not something that most kids would be able/willing to/interested in doing and I am super proud of my boys for their guts and gumption!
On Friday, we were supposed to do things, but it was raining and I was feeling lazy, so we ended up doing a big bunch of nothing – and it was everything I’d always hoped it would be! Some might say that with our normal schedule, we deserve a restful day at home, and though part of me agrees, there’s another part that pokes me with a stick and whispers, ‘slacker’. I think I am okay with that though.
Saturday was to include karate, but I skipped out while the hubs took the kids. I had a derby game in the afternoon and am usually late, so I decided to take my time and get ready and show up on time for once. The game was good – our team won, which is always nice on home turf – but the real joy in derby is to get to know so many amazing, talented and dedicated people. We had players coming in from San Antonio, refs from Houston and volunteers from all over Southeast Texas who were willing to drive hours in nasty weather and spend their day playing derby. It’s not just a sport for women – there are plenty of men involved, too. Between the players, the refs and non-skating officials and volunteers that make this sport happen – all without any compensation (in fact, we all pay to play) – is so cool! And talk about bad ass role models for little girls – derby is all over it!
Sunday, the Sabbath, a Day of Rest… so we can do it all again next week!
Warmly,
~h
Summertime: Week 5
I knew going in that this week would be busier than the norm. With a holiday happening mid-week, plus PeaGreen’s birthday, and Loverly Husband taking half the week off, I was expecting things to be hectic, and they did not disappoint!
Monday, we had Tennis Camp as usual, then were invited to swim with PB&JMom and her kiddos. New pools are always fun to swim in, and swim they did – until their little fingertips and toes were raw! They had a fabulous time though. With nine kids and three moms, games like Marco Polo, Colors, Red Light Green Light and Mother May I were ever so much fun.
Tuesday was movie & library day – went to see Despicable Me and then to the library for Mystery Activities. Despicable Me is one of my favorite kids’ movies and one of the only ones that I actually wanted to watch. I must have been completely pooped though, because I fell asleep about 5 minutes into it and only woke up when they were celebrating at the end. The ‘fluffy’ comment is my absolute favorite though, and I vaguely remember hearing Agnes say it, so that was a plus.
The library had Mystery Activities, and the kids spent an hour or so solving puzzles, guessing what was inside ‘feel’ boxes, and figuring out riddles. They also stocked up on new manga (always a hit). I found a newer book called Hidden by Helen Frost that is written in poetic structure that we’ll be reading aloud this coming week. We haven’t been doing much by way of ‘real’ schoolwork lately, but this really sounds interesting and I can’t wait to delve into it with the kids.
Wednesday was a holiday – inconveniently placed in the middle of the week, but we had a Happy 4th of July anyway!! I totally lucked out – since Loverly Husband had the rest of the week off, he took the kids to the store to stock up on provisions for the afternoon BBQ and some household fixer-upper projects while I lazed away in bed.
He then spent most of the early afternoon cooking inside while I got the pool cleaned up and started the grill. This was my first foray into cooking on the pit. I shall generously define it as a moderate success – the sausage links were a bit crispy, but edible. The hot dogs and chicken turned out fine though.
After dinner, the kids played some games while the grown-ups chatted, then it was time for fireworks!
Thursday was PeaGreen’s actual birthday. He turned 9 this year, and though we planned a party for him, it really turned into more of a birthday week. Red Butler and Huckleberry Pie spent the night with us on 4th of July, then all the boys went to PB&JMom’s house for a sleepover Thursday night (which meant that while Loverly Husband was at karate, I played hooky and spent the evening in glorious silence!).
On Saturday, we picked up PeaGreen’s friends and took everyone for birthday party fun, to dinner and had a birthday sleepover. We saw Brave, which was good, but really not what I expected at all.
Today is Sunday – week’s end and everyone is back at their respective homes, the boys hit the hay pretty early today and I am getting ready to pack it in for the evening. This coming week should be a bit easier – I am feeling some crafting and maybe some organizing coming on. We have about 3 weeks until school starts up again, so I will be planning coming up in posts soon.
Warmly,
~h
Summertime: Week 4
Before I begin, I would like to apologize for not coming up with more creative blog titles. In my defense, I have barely had tome to get a re-cap of our week posted – being clever to boot is just more stress than my poor little brain can handle right now.
If you’ve been visiting over the last few weeks, you may notice that there isn’t a lot of ‘homeschooling’ going on here on this homeschooling blog. I admit, ‘school’ as we normally define it here has been noticeably absent over the last few weeks. We’d originally planned to take August off for a long break, but things worked out so that we needed to take most of June and July instead. We’re still doing some un-schooly stuff – reading and artsy-fartsy projects, but desk work and ‘core’ will be back a month or so from now. In the meantime, we’ve been busy with more out-of-the-house pursuits. We also have three extra kids and tennis camp for the next few weeks – between those two disruptions, trying to keep up with a ‘normal’ school day wasn’t going to happen.
Tennis camp is back in full-force; we got rained out all last week. Monday, the kids actually got to volley back and forth and started learning about scorekeeping. Even though they missed last week, you wouldn’t know it from watching them. They’re getting pretty good! It will be fun once their classes are over and we can go play tennis and actually ‘play’ the game with rules and style rather than just bouncing around on the court trying to hit the ball back and forth.
After tennis, we ate lunch and then basically fell into the pool – which offered only minimal relief. With the trees gone due to Hurricanes Rita & Ike a few years ago, there’s not much shade mid-day over the pool, so it’s kinda like swimming in bath water. But it’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick {wink}. We had some friends over to play – that always makes things more fun!
A word about the heat… it’s topping 100 degrees out here every day this week – and it is miserable. At this point, I am so glad that we’ve been outside as much as we have over the past few weeks or we would be dying. Water and snacks have been or prime importance for outdoorsy activities; I am usually pretty organized when we go out. I posted a long time ago about the ‘field trip box’ and that’s been such a great thing! We use stuff out of it all the time, but lately, it’s been a hassle having to dig around in it when we need stuff, and to remember to re-stock after a day out. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a pin that made my little OCD heart sing with joy – an organized van – with easy to see (and therefore inventory contents) and accessible pockets!
Hers:
The Castro HAPPYnings: Junk in the Trunk
Mine:
I couldn’t find the bags she used, but the mesh ones worked just fine. They were $2.50 each at Dollar General and I got 3 of them. They came with hooks, but I just looped the bar around the head rest rods and they’re pretty secure.
I moved almost everything from the field trip box into the pockets. The first aid kit hangs below – it’s red and pretty visible – much more handier than stuffed in the bottom of the box! The picnic blankets and towels are always a pain – I need to get one of those air-tight bags to seal them in until we need them or bungee cords to something to tame them – but then again, we use them a lot, so they need to be accessible, too. I don’t like them where they are (and loose), but that will do for now.
I added sling backpacks, our letterboxing supplies, maps, rope (and other survival gear), plenty of sunscreen and bug spray, a bag of baby wipes, and all sorts of other things we frequently use in the car or need when we’re out and about to the pockets.
One thing I have to contend with that she didn’t was the sling chairs. We have about 5 of them and use them *all* the time. I simply must have them in the van at all times, so that takes up a significant portion of the trunk space in the back – but necessary – and there’s still more room since the bog box is gone! We also have tennis rackets at the moment – tennis camp won’t be over until July.
In any case, I am extremely happy with how it turned out. Everything is right there at hand, and clearly visible since the pockets are mesh.
Tuesday, we went to Tennis Camp but then headed back home for the day. We’ve been gone so much over the last few weeks that the house is getting out of control. I needed to go through books and the kids clothes and just weed out the high-traffic areas of the house and put things where they go (but didn’t do any of that – the kids went o visit Grandma and I celebrated an empty house with an iced coffee drink).
Wednesday, we went for a drive and ended up at a nearby water park. We’ve been before, and the kids had such a great time!
Thursday is supposed to be our action-packed day: 5 kids, then tennis camp, then the movies. Well, two out of three ain’t bad {wink}. After tennis camp, we were pooped – the heat is absolutely INSANE. We read for a bit, had lunch then I let the kids play Minecraft for a while. That started off really well, but deteriorated the longer they played. Chalk it up to being cooped up inside with a cranky Mommy, I guess – no one was in a very good mood that afternoon. Here’s a picture from after karate – you can see how pleased everyone is, LOL
Even though we had a less than stellar blip during the week, the weekend got off to an early start! Here’s hoping your week has been lovely, and your weekend deliciously relaxing.
Warmly,
~h
This Week at ThisAdventureLife
This week seems to be a bit more typical of how our summer plans will be. We still have a few more things on the table (like tennis club starting next week), but for the most part, we got a glimpse of what the norm will be for the next few months.
I have to take a moment to shower praise on our local library system. We are fortunate to have 4 big libraries in our city, and even though one is being re-modeled this summer, they still manage to have a very full and amazing summer reading club program. It’s not just about the books – they bring in all kinds of presentations, from local businesses and museums to performing troupes from all over Texas. For free kids entertainment, you just can’t beat it. And with multiple days and times, the schedule works for almost anyone looking to do something fun with the kids during the summer. We’ve barely event gotten started and already have been to a puppet show with marionettes and a magic show.
Speaking of magic shows, the performer we got to enjoy was John O’Bryant, of ‘Magic Dork‘ fame. He’s performed at Sea World parks and all over Texas and was super fun to watch. He’s very personable and connected with the kids right off, with plenty of jokes thrown out there for the adult audience as well. If you get a chance to go see him, please do! We really appreciate his willingness to volunteer his time to promote reading to the kiddos.
And speaking of reading, I mentioned before that I have extra kiddos this summer. Since they’re all similarly aged, and we don’t stop school for the summer, the extras just get folded into our school day. Since they’re all signed up for the SRC anyway, I figured some couch time with a book wouldn’t kill anyone (though you’d have thought differently when I bumped up the normal 30 minutes per day to a whole hour).
In a rare moment of complete silence and cooperation (hard to do with five dissenters in your midst), I managed this one shot of them all deeply engrossed in their books of choice.
And LBB, being the unique snowflake that he is, found the couch entirely too pedestrian and chose the classic ‘Spiderman’ reading pose on the rug. {wink}
After reading time was up, we lunched, then took to the water for some well-deserved physical activity. The kids have spent quite a few hours this summer chillaxing in the pool and this day was no exception.
Of course, not everything we do is full of kids and school – this past weekend, our karate dojo was asked to participate in a kids health fair at a local supermarket, so after class on Saturday, we met our sensei and classmates to put on a bit of a show. It was an experience – I’ve never had an ‘audience’ when training, so this was interesting. Some people passed right by, not sure of what was going on and not interested in finding out; others stopped to watch for a bit. One elderly lady came by and tried to walk through the middle of one of the kumite (sparring) demonstrations and had to gently escorted in a different direction. My husband commented that she’d go home and tell her neighbors that she was just grocery shopping and was suddenly in the middle of a kung-fu fight, LOL.
photo by Brandon C. Butler
After karate, we had to hurry home, eat lunch and get dressed so I could get to the area where our local roller derby league plays. I started training as a non-skating official (NSO) in January and have had so much fun helping our league! My sister is a skater, so this is one of the ways that we spend time together since we’re both so insanely busy. My derby name is Tricksy Stixx, and eventually the SRG website will be updated with all of our skater and staff profiles.
If you’ve never been to a roller derby game, check to see if your city has one! Derby has become increasingly popular in the last few years and it’s so much fun (and family friendly). It’s also a great way to get in shape and meet some awesome women – most of the skaters and staff in derby are women with a hundred different backgrounds. Getting to know this diverse group of people has been nice after spending so long in the ‘mommy ranks’. It’s nice finding myself again now that my kids are older.
In any case, our summer is off to a fantastic start, and I hope you’re enjoying yours as well!
Warmly,
~h
Is it Summer Break yet?
You know that I love homeschooling, right? But there are times, now being one of them, that I sometimes wish we did a more traditional school schedule. Why?
Two words: SUMMER VACATION.
Not that we don’t break regularly; our ‘normal’ schedule is 4 weeks of school, 1 week off. In the past, we did 6 weeks on/ 1 week off, and last year we did 4/1 all the way through the summer. This year, I adjusted our schedule so that we take a month off in the summer. unfortunately, it’s not for a few weeks yet. I’m ready for it now! {stomps foot} Still, the idea of a three-month long vacation sounds heavenly.
I think that my current want is due to the fact that yesterday, the kids got done with their work super fast and we spent the afternoon lazing about in the pool. The weather was Perfect™, the sun was bright; I brought my Nook and my iPod out there, so we had awesome music and I alternated between sun, water and shade for a good three hours. It was divine.
Today, it’s wet, rainy and a little bit cooler than it has been for the past few weeks – which is nice, don’t get me wrong. But I was just settling into the summer vibe. Now, I have to find a sweater.
In any case, we’ll be trucking along today – Fridays are spelling tests, geography, literature; and we’re working on our timeline & 2 lapbooks (science and history). I’ll have our gator lapbook posted in a bit as well.
Hope your Friday takes you into an awesome weekend!
Warmly,
~h
Oh, The Many Things We Do!
Oh, dear readers, I humbly throw myself on the ground and beg your forgiveness for being absent. My only excuse is that rather than writing about things, we’ve been out doing them!
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been busier than usual it seems. The last time I posted about what we were actually doing, we were making our Dr. Seuss Lapbook. Since then, we’ve gone on a zillion couple of field trips and wrapped up our group’s science fair, made some progress in karate (including getting yours truly involved), kicked off this year’s roller derby season and started (and completed!) a few more lapbooks, all topped off with copious amounts of coffee and conversation with good friends (homeschooling and non).
We have had an influx of new members into our homeschooling group and as much as I lovelovelove our core families, I absolutely adore meeting new people who think like we do. Our group is pretty eclectic, and I always try to make sure that anyone coming into our group knows that we have an amazing and diverse mix of people, ideals, philosophies and lifestyles in our group. I think that’s an awesome boon to my kids; you’d be surprised (or maybe not) how many people see that as a threat. Oh well, their loss – but the newbies in our group seem to see such diversity as a bene and are fitting in seamlessly.
Field trips over the last few weeks have been wicked fun. We celebrated Women’s History Month with a trip to our local art museum. The director of education met us with a wonderful program about female artists, including the amazing Mary McCleary, and the kids got to make a collage of their own.
Our science fair was a mix of highs and lows. Most of the participants backed out at the last minute, which sucked, but on the plus side the boys took first and second place! We had a really great time putting the boys’ projects together. PeaGreen made a solar powered desalinator, which interestingly enough, was featured on Mythbusters episode ‘Sticky SOS’ a couple of weeks after the Science Fair, and LBB’s experiment was on fingerprint patterns. We ended up running all over town to take fingerprints from willing friends and family!
We also hit the Spindletop/Gladys City Museum, which one might call the ‘birthplace’ of the Southeast Texas economy. The kids learned about oil drilling and salt domes and the history of our fair city – things they’ve learned about many times before, but seeing it all in ‘village format’ is always a new and interesting experience.
We also hit Gator Country. If you’ve ever seen the CMT show ‘Gator 911′, it’s the same place. Gator Country has been around for a long time, so we’ve been quite a few times, but seeing a bunch of gators up close and personal and being able to hold one is always fun. We made a new lapbook on ‘crocodilians’ to go with our visit. I was super proud of the boys – this was the first lapbook that is 99% their own writing. In the past, I’ve written things while they narrated, or given them small things to write; this time I gave them research papers to read and get answers from and they did it themselves.
The next week, we met up to take the kids to play glow-in-the-dark mini golf. We originally planned on ‘moms against kids’ teams, but by the fifth hole, the kids pretty much decided to goof off and the only girl in attendance decided to come play with the moms. The pictures were dark, but this is kinda what it looked like:
In addition to fantastic mini-golf fun, last week we too an impromptu trip out to Johnson’s Bayou in Cameron, LA to stroll the beach. We ended up finding tons of collectibles in the beach detritus - dolphin vertebrae, fish vertebrae and skull bones, lots of water-logged but smoothed out bits of wood (good for carving and pyrography) and everyone’s favorite: seashells.
Photo by Gretchen
We’ve also been getting plenty of exercise with karate. The boys started in January (including Loverly Husband) and I started about a month ago. It’s hard, sweaty work, but I am really enjoying it so far. The kids did their first belt test a few weeks ago and will have their belt ceremony this week.
One thing about karate; gi’s (karate uniforms) are definitely made for tall, straight, thin people – definitely not short, round people with hips and a booty. I had to get one that was about 2 sizes too big for most of me to fit my hips and then start cutting and sewing. I ended up with a still-large-but-decently-fitting gi, but wow, what a bunch of work! I had to cut about 6 inches off the sleeves and legs, and took up a seam in the waist that brought the bottom of the jacket up about 6 inches so that the waist ties were in the correct place. The shoulders still swallow me, but it’s very roomy!
Aaannnnd last but not least, we kicked off this year’s roller derby season with Spindletop Rollergirls! I’m an NSO this year, which means ‘non-skating official‘. I get to stand in the middle of the track with a clipboard and look important. I love it! I also get a nifty derby name, ‘Tricksy Stixx’, without all the worry over being graceful on skates. If you’ve never been to a derby game before, go! And take the kids! It’s a lot of fun and the women who play derby are amazing. Better yet, if you have the opportunity to play or volunteer, do that! People like to sensationalize the hard-core aspect of derby, but it truly is a sport – these women are athletes and they train – HARD – for it. They’re committed, and it’s a family affair; most of them (us) form a close bond with their ‘derby families’.
Photo by Rodney Cole
That pretty much brings up up-to-date! I have some additional updating to do; hopefully this week. I’ll add links to the new lapbooks we’ve completed and a couple we’ve started (one on rocks and minerals, one on the Titanic, and the Story of the World II that are on-going). I am also planning on updating our curriculum page for the summer months – we’re almost through this ‘grade’! The pool is also clean and as soon as the water temp rises above 60 degrees, you can expect some pool shots, too. {wink}
Oh, and our garden – wait till you see that – we have peppers!
Hope your spring is off to a running start, too!
Warmly,
~h
Rushing Kids vs. Dawdling
I read this article at Aha! Parenting the other day and it got me thinking about ‘rushing’ and how the points brought out apply to us. I rush my kids. A lot. And it’s not because we’re over-scheduled. It’s because they’re persistent dawdlers. I don’t think that the article directly applies to what I am talking about – there is a difference in pushing your littles to grow up too fast (not taking the time for them to be kids) and trying to get out the door on time. But, reading that article got me thinking about how often I say, “Would you please hurry up?!” and was a decent reminder that things don’t always have to operate ‘on time’ to be worth doing.
In any case, the catalyst to my rushing dialogue isn’t usually kids being kids. At this age, it’s more a matter of that pre-teen angsty ‘my life sucks’ crap. Have I mentioned how much I am not a fan of the pre-teen angsty stuff? I had no idea that it started at 9 – I was thinking I’d have at least 11 or 12 before we had this kind of Calgon-moment-inducing behaviors.
I found this article at Parenting-Advice.net about dawdling, and it’s short and sweet – only I can’t see rewards as a motivating factor; that seems like it would only teach them to prolong the task until they have a reward offered. I also disagree fundamentally with offering rewards for chores on a regular basis. I’m not saying that I bribe my kids (okay, yeah – I totally bribe them on occasion), but in general, having a clean and well-maintained home is the reward for doing your chores. Also, you LIVE here. And, YOU made part of this mess! For little kids, I get the motivational prods, but with older kids, I think that enforcing restrictions on privileges is more effective. This is part of learning responsibility. As an adult, if I don’t take care of my responsibilities, then my leisure time is cut into. Same goes for them. I don’t have anything against offering a previously unexpected perk – perks are different from rewards – perks are ‘extra’, unexpected; a surprise token of appreciation for a job well done. Even I like a perk now and then.
I also found this article on dawdling at My Small Wonders.com, which is really very good, but it’s the practical application of the ‘natural consequence’ line that always trips me up. Let your kid miss a meal? Not practical in my situation when you consider that lack of energy equals poor academic performance, and as a homeschooling mom, that means I’m going to hear about it every five seconds for the next few hours until lunchtime. And my kids mostly make their own meals nowadays, so ‘making’ them fix a sandwich isn’t a deterrent.
Another issue I have with dawdling – and my constant push to hurry up and get done is that some things are required on their part so that I can fulfill my responsibilities. My kids alternate each month between dishes/kitchen upkeep and laundry/trash upkeep. So far, this has been the most effective ‘chore chart’ we’ve implemented. Ideally, their rooms are cleaned and their chores are done before anything else. That doesn’t always happen, and I try to let them know – esp whoever is on dishes – what time I need them done by to start dinner.
And then there’s schoolwork… my, oh, my does schoolwork end up being the biggest area of feet-dragging agony. I know I’m not the only one who sometimes has a child come sit >thisclose< to her so that she can ensure that the child is actually writing and not staring at the wall or doodling, right?
The bit about a child not being committed or interested in whatever we’re about to do is irrelevant, IMO. I mean, yeah, I care if you’re interested or not – I plan things that I think they’ll be interested in, but sometimes, it’s not about ‘them’. And that’s OK. It is entirely appropriate for me to plan things that do not revolve around my children, and it’s also entirely appropriate for me to expect them to show enough respect for whomever the activity does revolve around to be timely in their preparations. …aaaaaaaaand that’s all good in theory. In practice, meh… not so much.
So how does one separate out what works in theory, and what works in practice? I have no idea, but if you figure it out, please let me know!
Reporting live from a very soggy Southeast Texas today,
~h
NSYP Day (Part 2) & Lesson Updates
I am generally not a spontaneous person by nature, but when one of the moms in my homeschool group sent through the link to GranolaMom4God’s National Sharpen Your Pencil Day, the idea struck me as completely charming. That was one on the very first things I saw when I sat down at my desk to get started on school today, so I thought, ‘why not?’ and printed out the robot pencil toppers and the activity pack.
<—This is supposed to be me, as a robot, colored by PeaGreen. Notice the ‘ponytails’. And I don’t wear purple. Just sayin’. LOL
The pack was a bit young for my kids; I think they were targeting more pre-school/ younger elementary age so we did what all snazzy homeschooling moms do – we adapted the lesson plan. I started off by bundling up some pencils and placing them on top of their worksheets on their desks. I had them gather up and count their pencils – not only the ones on their desks, but also the ones they have in their rooms. Our total pencil count for today was 215 (112 for mom; 58 for PeaGreen, and 45 for LBB). We also kept a tally of how many pencils we each sharpened throughout the day: total 52 (7 for Mom, 25 for PeaGreen & 20 for LBB).
There were four handwriting sheets, and since we still do handwriting, I just had the boys do those pages as-is. If I’d thought about it before hand, I’d have given them a few fun facts about pencils to write on the lines, following the wave patters or slant pattern. However, they did enjoy the idea of doing such a ‘simple’ assignment, so it was fun which is one of the goals, so I am content.
The spelling assignment was a word that the boys have had before, so we did a scavenger hunt instead, finding one item that began with each letter in ‘pencils’. Below is LBB’s treasure:
P= pencil
E= electronics
N= nothing (Clever or lazy? You decide.)
C= cents (or change – he said both)
I= Insanity (The Joker)
L= list of items
S= shoe
The boys did the pattern cards and created patters, then made designs and pasted them into their packet, and also cut out the pencils ordering puzzle. They also measured the pencils on the ‘longest to shortest’ page, and colored and cut out their robot pencil toppers – a throw back to easier grades, but fun, nonetheless.
In other news, we’ve been busy little bees around here lately, which accounts for the lack of blogging. We’re finishing the last few mini-books in our Black History Month Lapbook up today and tomorrow, and I have a Titanic Lapbook (with 23 minibook templates & links) ready to start in a couple of weeks to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. And hey – an honest to goodness excuse to watch Titanic again? Even yesser.
I also ordered The Number Devil from Amazon and found More of a Mom’s Number Devil Lesson Plans. I printed out her worksheets and lesson plans and we’re planning on starting that next week. We’re still in the midst of multiplication and division, but it’s getting kind of stale, so I thought we’d work on something new and different for a bit. I’m not planning on going through TND all at once; we’ll focus on that next week and just doing a few basic math drills, then go back to our regularly scheduled math curriculum when we come back from our break. I just wanted something to break up the monotony – repetition and patterns and foundations are good, but after a while, I find them so boring. The Number Devil was recommended on something I was reading a while back that was talking about kids with ADHD – the concepts, especially with More of a Mom’s lesson plans – are a little more ‘whole learning’ based instead of dry textbook stuff. There are even notebooking pages incorporated into her lesson plans.
We’ve also been hard at work planning and getting ready for our group’s second annual Science Fair. One of the local state parks that we frequent has agreed to host for us, and we’re doing a ‘Moms vs. Kids’ contest to help everyone get involved. We’re all very excited about it! I am doing a blood spatter experiment, PeaGreen is building a hovercraft model and LBB has been quite secretive about his project – I think he’s planning on getting his dad involved.
On a sad note, LBB’s lizard, Lizzy, died yesterday. She wasn’t a pet in the traditional sense; we frequently get green anole lizards stuck in the house. They’re escaping the heat or cold or damp – I’m not really sure, but they love it here. In any case, LBB found one in his room a few weeks ago and created a ‘habitat’ for it on a shelf (but open, so that the lizard could come and go and be free) and he developed an attachment to it. In any case, he has been quite sad about her loss, so we made some commemorative art today to remember her by. This was my contribution to Lizzy’s memory.
This week is also Texas Independence Day – we reviewed our Texas Lapbooks (TX Independence and Texas Symbols) and went over our plans to visit the San Jacinto Monument in a few weeks. We’re also gearing up for some more home improvement stuff (I finally have a new dishwasher – installed!!) and yard work, including planning our (biggest yet) garden for this spring. I’ve been Pinteresting ideas for a while now; it is going to be so much fun laying them out and seeing everything come to fruition.
Hope your week is going well!
Warmly,
~h
Secular Homeschool Conference
Color me speechless to find out that more people came than I was expecting! We had 3 soon-to-be homeschoolers, one who wasn’t able to make it, and four who are already in our group and are actively homeschooling. For our first event of this kind, I think it went pretty well, especially considering that we didn’t really advertise or anything. I’m fine with that, and having this one finished opens up a lot of possibility and ideas for future events.
So, I wanted to talk about organizing one, and make some notes and share some thoughts if you might like to put on a homeschooling mini-con of sorts for your community. Here are somethings I learned and wish I’d had on-hand:
1. an identifying banner of some sort – I didn’t realize that some of the ladies who were there waiting were there for us and if we’d had a sign of some sort, we would have been easy to identify. I priced a 1′ x 3′ banner at the UPS store and it was less than $30 for a vinyl sign with grommets at each corner. There are lots of times that may be a good thing to have, so I am considering getting one. www.VistaPrint.com carries banners similar in size for $16.00.
2. name tags – helpful! Since it was a small group, I think I remember everyone’s name, but I am SO BAD at names! So having name tags would be good. Also, being able to address everyone by name creates a sense of intimacy that most people respond well to.
3. a sign-in sheet - also helpful! – since there was only one woman that had not already contacted me, and she was friends with another mom in our group already, I can pretty easily get in touch with them. Had we had a bigger turnout, then I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to talk to each of them individually (which is a perk of having only a small group).
5. Handouts – I really should have written up a hand-out or something for everyone to take home – a welcome kit… something. I’ve done them before by calling different companies and asking for samples (things pencils from office-supply stores, other swag from school supply stores, coupons for local kid’s places (jump zone, OrangeLeaf, bowling or skating, etc.), a list of resources, a pamphlet about our group, etc. If I’d thought about it a month ago, I’d have had time to pull that together. Maybe even a gift certificate for dinner or something and do a ‘just for fun’ raffle. A lot of places are wiling to donate stuff like that if only you ask.
4. I think next time, if we do this again, I’d like to do a bit more promotion. Our group is already on our local Library resource list, and is on several ‘group databases’ online, but local advertisement for local homeschoolers would make more sense and probably be more helpful at attracting locals.
5. Explain to my homeschool group members better what kinds of audience we’re targeting with this project, and break it down into small, specific jobs so that my group moms have a better idea of what’s happening and how they can help. I asked for help a couple of times, but, only to find out today that I wasn’t explaining myself very well. I’d love to make this a yearly thing, and many hands make light work, so I’ll need to work on that for next year (if we do this again).
The feedback was good – that what was presented was helpful, and the experiences shared by the more seasoned homeschooling moms (especially about their ‘getting started’ experience) was reassuring and worth hearing. Our group has been growing by leaps and bounds since January, and from what I’ve heard lately, we can expect more.
For our topics today, we covered:
*Homeschooling and Texas Law*
Homeschooling Law in TX (synopsis)
HSLDA website
The method an philosophy has to do with how you think that children (your children) learn best, and what you think school should be. We all start out with preconceived notions about these things, and sometimes, we find that we were right all along. Other times, we may need to choose a new direction. Reading about the various styles of homeschooling that are out there gives you a ‘niche’ for what you are already thinking. For the most part, why re-invent the wheel? Homeschooling has been around for generations. Though each new generation adds a new twist on an old idea, when you’re just starting out, knowing where you fall in the ‘structured…. unstructured’ scale can help find resources that will be closer to what you’re looking for and makes a good place to begin your research. Here are overviews of some of the more well-known methods and philosophies out there:
*Learning Styles and What they Mean to You*
Everyone gathers information about the world through three sensory receivers: visual (sight), auditory (sound), and kinesthetic (movement). Some people rely most on visual cues, others prefer auditory input, and still others learn best through movement. Educators refer to these differences as learning styles. How does knowing your child’s learning style help? By identifying your child’s dominant learning style you can tailor their education to lean heavily in that direction so that they learn best. Public schools tend to be ‘one-size-fits-all’ in their approach. Homeschooling with an eye toward your child’s learning style will help make schooling more enjoyable for you and the, and maximize their learning potential.
Learning Styles
Not leaving the teacher out, there are different teaching styles, too. One of the great benefits of homeschooling is the ability to tailor-make your education program. Everything is yours to try, tinker with or discard in favor of a new or changing idea or need. As a teacher, you’re interacting with your child in a different way than as a parent. The two are closely related, of course, but what you want for your child may be different at an age, o what they need from you may call for more or less structure. So learning your teaching style is also helpful. I am sure there are more, but the way I like it explained best is Directive, Guide and Facilitator. All of these can work with basically any schooling philosophy or method, though it might take some finagling.
Obviously, this list is not complete, but may help you determine what your style is, and what your child may need from you. Often, if you have more than one child, each of your children may need something different from you.
*Curricula – Finding What Works*
Finding the exact right curricula can be absolutely overwhelming. There are literally hundreds of options, and often many options associated with different methods. Finding what fits your family can be challenging at best. First, knowing what fits in line with your personal philosophy and what method you want to use is important. That will eliminate may curriculum options right off the bat. Identifying your student’s learning style and your teaching style will further narrow the options. Once you have those things out of the way, there are several places you can begin.
Grade level (or age/peer group) can be a good place to start. If your child is being pulled from school, unless you know they were behind, you should be able to pick up with that grade level work. If your child was consistently getting lower scores, it might be worth it to drop down a grade and work on cementing the previous foundations before moving on. Don’t feel bad if you need to do that; your student will soon catch up and even surpass his peers.
Many parents feel that it’s a good idea to have a ‘spine’ – a framework that tells you what your child ‘should be’ learning. This is often found in the scope & sequence. What is ‘scope & sequence’? A couple of options are:
Core Knowledge K-8th Grade Sequence
Texas Education Agency Scope & Sequence
You also want to figure out your schedule. Many homeschoolers take more frequent, shorter breaks than public schools. We school for 4 weeks, then have a week break, then pick up again. Others have different schedules; you’ll find out your own. That may be closely aligned to the ISD, or may be totally different. Do what works for your family.
Tip #1: Don’t buy anything ‘big’ the first year – no curricula, don’t re-model your house. There are PLENTY of free homeschooling resources that you can use the first year. The last thing you want to be is locked into an expensive curriculum that both/either you and/or your child hate(s).
Tip #2: Look at your first year as an ‘exploratory’ year. Try different styles, experiment with times and days, try out different methods. See what works and what doesn’t. After a fully year, you’ll have a much better idea of your teaching style, and of your child(ren)’s learning style. You’ll be able to spend that whole year trying new things and ideas and will have a much better idea of how YOUR homeschool will work when you start planning for Year 2.
For me, setting up our space helped get me in the frame of mind. Having our school space separate from the ‘home’ seems to help us all focus a little better. That’s not to say that we’re trapped in here during school. We’re just as likely to work on the living room floor, retreat to their own bedrooms, have school on mom’s bed, have school outside, pack up and head to the park… all totally valid options. But just having that space helps me out a lot. Of course, that’s not practical for every family, and many families just don’t want that. Again, do what works for you! There are so many options – if you don’t know what you want right off the bat, start with one thing, then change it if it doesn’t work. Flexibility is one of your greatest ‘teaching tools’.
Another tip is to join a homeschooling group. If there’s not one in your area, start one and you can learn together with the other newbies. If there is absolutely nothing in your area, find a good forum or group to join online. Having someone you can talk to to vent, praise your children bounce ideas off of, share resources, talk about your latest field trip, gripe about your non-supportive family or in-laws… whatever – having that support is absolutely essential in my opinion.
The blogosphere is awesome, too. I have learned so much from reading other blogs! Moms that inspire, Moms that I am in awe of, Moms that make me laugh, Moms that really make me think… there are SO MANY homeschooling moms of every variety, of every style and method – it’s truly amazing how much these bloggin’ mamas share. Feel free to check out my sidebar – there are tons of links!
***
If you were able to be with us today, THANK YOU for coming out! If you’re planning a mini-con for your community, I’d love to hear about it! I’d also love to hear what kinds of things that you, as homeschooling parents, would want to get out of a small-scale conference.
Warmly,
~h
May 21, 2013 | Categories: Advocacy, Community Events, Homeschooling Resources, Homeschooling Tips and Tricks, Rambling Thoughts, Socialization | Tags: commentary, curriculum, Homeschool Conference Texas, homeschool tutorial, homeschooling, homeschooling challenges, hosting a homeschool conference, record keeping, schedule, secular homeschooling, Secular Homeschooling Conference, time spent in school, year round homeschool | 2 Comments »