Typical Me.

Today, I woke up and my first thought was "Yay! It's the first day of fall!!" I had planned a welcome fall party today for my kids and few friends. Just something small.

I thought about the 12 yards of black tulle that I used to make a cool wreath I found online. Something kind of spooky and new for our house. I thought about those 6 perfectly dipped caramel apples in our fridge, ready to be dipped in melted chocolate. Yum. Crafts, decorations, a fun fall movie. It is going to be a great day!

And then I got out of bed.

Which is when the reality of being me set in rather quickly.

The wreath... wilted... overnight.

Thing 3 puked at the breakfast table.

Out of desperation, I tried to eat one of the caramel apples for breakfast.

And almost broke a tooth.

These things are not edible.

AND, we have a flash flood warning because of rain "at rates of 1 to 5 inches per hour." At this point, I know exactly where that flash flood is going to happen.

To quote my favorite tv show, "Where's a cliff when you need one?"

In Case of Emergency...

*breathe in. breathe out. breathe in. breathe out*

Everyone (and I mean everyone) assured me that I would have moments where I freaked out. About homeschooling. Yep. They told me they would happen. I guess I thought that they would be justified. You know--that I would freak out on the days where we didn't get anything done and stuff.

But I didn't see them coming on clear blue sky, learning a bunch, feeling little nudges of inspiration that should be encouraging kind of days.

So, in my best Bridget Jones fashion, I refuse to be intimidated by something as lame as a panic attack, and I choose instead a good round of cleaning to a 90's dance mix while focusing on pictures like these...

And I tell myself, over and over, "You are not ruining your children, you are not ruining your children, you are not ruining your children..." (to the same beat as "This is the rhythm of the night...")

The Pink Panther and Castanets: a seminar

School starts at 9:00 at our house.

But, really, when your home is your school--your kids wake up at school.

And to your great disappointment, they may NOT be as interested in your carefully planned out, well rounded curriculum, as they are in, say, playing the castanets and watching Pink Panther.

(Yes. I actually photoshopped that.

If only you knew how close this was to the reality of my life.)

I'm just saying, SOME kids might be like that.

And some moms *might* need a Frosty to get through the day. Maybe.

And while I was out getting a Frosty, it came to my attention today that we *may* need another little session in manners and, specifically, where it is appropriate to pee and where it is NOT appropriate to pee. I had this realization as Thing 2 was wailing about how badly he needed to pee, precisely three minutes after we got in the car and four minutes after I asked him if he needed to go before we left, and Thing 1 was listing off places he could go. None of which was an actual bathroom.

I swear I thought we covered this.

Maybe they couldn't hear over the castanets.

Valiant.

Today was one of those days that you wonder about, before you start homeschooling:

"What about the days when I wake up sick? What about the days when the kids don't want to do their work? How will I motivate them? What about the days when I'm moody and ornery and I bite their heads off??"

I had considered all these questions. I hadn't ever expected them to, you know, happen all at the same time. Which they did.

I kind of knew I was in trouble when I clawed my way towards consciousness and felt those sharp knife edges already making their presence known. Deep breaths.

I sat down at the breakfast table, still messy, while the kids watched cartoons, and flipped open a church magazine. This jumped off the page at me:

The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith may be viewed as faithfulness in the face of uncertainty. It is following the Lord, going forward without knowing the outcome. Following the Lord and being faithful to the end are the qualities most linked to eternal life. Of all that Paul might have otherwise said in summing up his amazing life and ministry, he merely would say that he was faithful. He wrote:
“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:6–7; emphasis added).

Like Paul, we can be faithful. We can fight the good fight and stay the course, one day at a time. We can keep going come what may. Even when we think we can’t, we can." (Lawrence E. Corbridge.)

So that was my mantra today. I think I can, I think I can.

And we made progress. Albeit tiny. We did hard things, even if we didn't do all of them. We got the house beautiful for a showing, even though they didn't end up liking the house much. So, for today at least, I have fought a good fight.

I have finished my course.

And now it is time for some Nyquil.

Puck.

Yes, Puck. That crazy hoodlum.

Shakespeare was a master and creating characters and dialogue. As an English major, I adore his sharp wit and incredible satire. But, I will admit, I never considered what it would be like to introduce my children to Shakespeare.

I think I always assumed it would happen in some high school class. Orange plastic chairs attached to desks. Motivational poster on the bulletin board. English teacher with barely concealed hippie past having the class read Romeo and Juliet, out loud, just for the joy of watching them blush before flipping on the edited version of the film, made in the 1960s.

That's how I met Shakespeare.
It's a miracle I ever learned to appreciate him.

But my kids met Shakespeare today. Ages 7, 4, and 2. And even more fun--they met Shakespeare via A Midsummer Night's Dream and the character of Puck.

As we lounged on a blanket on the floor, playing with blocks, and interrupting our reading to discuss some questions about volcanoes, they met these characters and rolled their names about in their mouths. Like candy.
Lisander.
Hermia.
Titania.
Oberon.

In life, I believe there is a before Shakespeare, and an after.
Welcome to the after. Day 1.

In other news...

...and, just to make you feel better about yourself and the future of our country, I'm about to start homeschooling my children.

Maybe.

Probably.

I mean, we've been homeschooling all summer. And in those two and a half months we have learned about dolphins, dragonflies, and butterflies, among other things. We have completed workbooks, proving that we can, actually, accomplish something that can be measured in pages. We have read real, honest to goodness books, and my 4 year old is sounding out words. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I might be teaching him to read. Maybe. Probably.

But homeschooling in the summer (when everyone else is just wasting time anyway) and homeschooling in the fall (when everyone is dressed in super cute new outfits and toting sharp new pencils in their clean backpacks) are two very different matters. Because if I don't put my daughter in 2nd grade next week then, oh boy, have I gone and done it. Because suddenly, we've stepped off the forward-moving school train. Her classmates from the past two years will move on without us. And I'm left with my doubts and insecurities and worries and, not the least, budget.

Plus, I have a sneaking suspicion that on that first day of school, when everyone else has gotten on the bus, I'm going to look down at my kids and they're going to look up at me, and we're both going to have the same thought:

Now what????

See?? Don't you feel better about your life?! *grin*

Whispers.

Every year, on the first Sunday of the year, we get to change what time we go to church.

So last year was a flurry of up and out and ready by 8:15 to make the 9:00 service. Hilarity and tears often ensued.

This year, church starts at 11:00. So instead of rushing, this morning found me

sitting on the living room floor,

reading books to my children,

cutting out pictures of Jesus to look at during church,

and playing with bouncy balls and laughing our heads off.

And a tiny voice whispered "This is how it could be. This is how homeschooling could be."

And my heart felt a little braver.

But not yet brave enough. Not yet.

But closer.

Public school homeschool: snow and winter...

I am a homeschool mom at heart, but my kids are in public school.

And that is every bit as complicated as it sounds.

We are figuring out how to educate our kids, which we challenge on an almost daily basis.

I want to homeschool.

I do.

But I'm afraid, I guess.

Is it possible to homeschool when you suffer from depression? Will the drive and dedication required lift you out of the pit, or plunge you further into it?

I don't have the answers to those questions yet, and I won't risk my children's minds on my own uncertainty, and so my kids attend public school and preschool. But I have such a tremendous love and appreciation for homeschooling philosophies and truths, that we supplement here at home all the time.

All of this just to explain why I put together units--this week, a unit worth sharing with your kids on snow and snowflakes.

(Note: these are patterned on the idea of Five in a Row. There is a central book you read, every day, for the whole week. Then you do science one day, art one day, geography one day, etc. Reading and math can happen daily.)

Our daily-read books...

For beautiful children's literature in our Charlotte Mason moments, I really love Snow by Uri Shulevitz and The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. (Both classics, of course.)

For science...

Do me a favor, ok? Pick up one of Ken Libbrecht's Snowflake books. These books are photographs of actual flakes--I love the "art" version, but there's also a cool Field Guide. Spend an afternoon gazing at snowflakes with your children. If you live in a place where you HAVE snow, then follow that up by catching some snowflakes on black paper. Spend some time in the stillness of winter and just LOOK at some snowflakes. See if you can recognize all the different kids, and decide which is your favorite. It's nearly impossible to do. Ask questions. Be curious. Then go and find out--how do snowflakes form? Why are they each different? How many snowflakes are in a snowball???

Once you're done playing outside, then how about making a real snowflake out of crystals? (This project uses a jar, boiling water, Borax, and some pipe cleaners.) Find instructions here.

For art...

While you wait for that to set overnight, create a winter wonderland with paper snowflakes--a perfect challenge for fine motor skills in little ones. I always wanted to learn to make BEAUTIFUL snowflakes, like my mom, so if you're a little challenged, then you can catch any number of tutorials online or on youtube, or invest in a book like Snowflakes for All Seasons or Snowflakes: Creative Paper Cutouts. (Both on Amazon or Half.com.)

For geography...

How about a unit on Russia, to go along with Snow, or a unit on New York City if you're going for The Snowy Day. Make some ethnic food, learn some words in Russian, and talk about where it snows and where it doesn't, and why.

So, jump in and join us for a unit on snow!!

Five in a Row: The Story About Ping

A'right, this isn't going to interest some of you, but I'm hoping that some of you might come play along and join us for our attempt at summer learning. School isn't even OUT yet, but we just couldn't wait to start our summer unit studies. I decided that we were going to do a program called Five in a Row, which is a simple and easy to follow curriculum--with tons of room for fitting it into your family, schedule, and life. The basic idea is that they give you one book to study each week. You read it for 5 days in a row, and include activities that build on the story and all the subjects found within the story. We are having a BLAST--so I decided to share what we're doing. Come play along.

Our first unit features The Story of Ping by Marjorie Flack.

We supplemented the text with these books, among others, for our subjects:



Basically, I just went to my library and grabbed a bunch of books on China.

Social Studies and Georgraphy Unit: A-Z China was fantastic because it threw in a lot of cultural information, along with some Chinese vocabulary. I wondered if my kids were old enough to get into The Emperor's Silent Army, but Thing 1 really took to it, and my husband and I were fascinated by it. We also made our own maps of China, with the basic map coming from Apples4theteacher--click here.

Math Unit: Count Your Way Through China wasn't as valuable for the text as it was for teaching us to count from 1-10 in Chinese:

1 - Yee
2 - Uhr
3 - Sahn
4 - Suh
5 - Woo
6 - Lyo
7 - Chee
8 -Bah
9 - Jo
10 - Shur

Yes, I typed that from memory. I am so proud of myself. So, we learned to count in Chinese for math, but we also spent some time adding and subtracting ducks. In the book it says that Ping has a huge family of aunts, uncles, and cousins--it was fun to take away the aunts and see how many were left. To do this, we used little counting ducks we have, but you could use anything to represent the ducks--even beans. It was great fun.

Science: Floating, diving, swimming, currents. Domestic ducks and wild ducks. YouTube videos of cormorants fishing for their masters. Why is the Yangtze River yellow? There are a LOT of science possiblities in Ping!

Language Arts and Art: For our art unit, we studied the pictures--the reflections in the water, and the way that the artist used ink and then filled it in with colored pencils. I pointed out that he only used the primary colors, and then layered them to create secondary colors. Then we grabbed some paper and played around with ink/colored pencil drawings, using only red-yellow-and blue. They turned out surprisingly well for 5 and 3 year olds. We also printed out basic maps of China and filled in broad areas--mountains, deserts, green tropical areas, cold areas, the major cities and rivers, and--of course--the Great Wall.

Kid's Movies to Go With: Ni-Hao Ki Lan series and Disney's Mulan.

Finally, for our field trip, we went to a local Chinese restaurant and had dinner. The kids greeted the owner with a friendly Ni-hao! And asked her how to say "thank you" -- "xie xie" (it sounds like "shia shia").

Next up--Lentil by Robert McCloskey (of Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings fame.) It promises to be wonderful--grab it at your library and read along! :)

List of authors: The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack, A-Z China by Junstine and Ron Fontes, The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy, Count Your Way Through China by Jim Haskins, The Emperor's Silent Army by Jane O'Connor, We Come From China by Julia Waterlow.

V-Chip?

A'right. Here's what I really need to know. It's an important and pressing question:

Do homeschoolers watch television?

If so, how much? And when?

If I do put my kids in front of the Free Babysitter, does the programming need to be educational in nature, or can I just plunk them in front of Bugs Bunny? Because, you see, as I've been desperately pouring over homeschool curriculums, I have yet to find the one that adequately incorporates "TV TIME."

Is this more of the "Classical" approach??? Hm. Maybe "Unschooling"? No?

Years ago I took a class on the Humanities of Islam. On the first day, our professor asked us to say what are prejudices were about people from the Middle East. We were hesitant. We made sideways glances at each other. Could we really say these things, out loud? Slowly, we raised our hands, and he jotted our answers down on the board. They came more and more rapidly. After several cathartic minutes, he pointed to the stereotypes on the board and he said "Here's the thing--stop feeling guilty for thinking these things. You believe them to be true, because they were true at least once. There are some people who fit these stereotypes. My hope for you, however, is that you'll come to realize that they aren't true of most Muslims." It was a revelation, and a good learning experience.

But I feel like I need another chalkboard and I need someone to stand up and say "What prejudices and stereotypes do you have about homeschoolers?" because MAN, I could write you a list. As I try to figure out what in the world I'm supposed to be doing to educate my children and which route I should take, I find myself thinking "But homeschoolers are...." I need someone to tell me that it's okay to think those things, and that it doesn't mean my own kids will end up that way.

"But maybe they will" I think to myself today, catching a glimpse in the window of a homeschooling store, of my makeup-less self dragging three raggedy kids with me. Maybe they will. Because I LOOK like a homeschooler.

Again I ask--can homeschool kids watch TV????

Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?... Experiment!

Today, my kids and I turned our kitchen into a lab.

We got out the air popcorn popper and poured in 1/2 c. of popcorn, as usual. Only--this time--I didn't put the top on. I asked my kids, as they watched the popcorn spinning in circles, what they thought would happen. We talked about what normally happens: the popcorn comes down the chute and into the bowl. But with the open top, which way would it go? How would we catch it in our bowl? When the popcorn started popping, my kids went wild as they watched it spilling over the sides, and, as it got emptier, flying up into the air. Then we talked about if our guesses were right. We scooped the popcorn off the clean cupboard and into a bowl, and just swept up and threw away any that got on the floor.

Next up? Vinegar and baking soda....

Let us pray.

Four years ago (almost five) I walked into a small library in a small town. I was wearing a baby bjorn, and in that baby bjorn was my two week old daughter. My first. We already had our little patterns, and one of them was to walk the two blocks to that library and try to find books with which to fill my days. (I was new to the stay-at-home-mom thing, and going out of my mind with all the time on my hands. It's not for the faint of heart.)

As I stood, running my fingers over the spines of the books, I came across a small (very small) section about... wait for it... homeschooling. Before I had time to even *think* I had a thought. (How does that happen?) My thought was "I should homeschool."

Quick upon the heels of that thought was this one "You have lost your mind."

Let's talk about homeschoolers.

Homeschoolers are nutso. They come from homes where their parents are too religiously fanatic to trust other people, so they grow up so sheltered and controlled that when they finally leave home they run totally amok and are a menace to society. The first homeschooler I met, in third grade, couldn't handle confrontation with his peers--at.all--so his answer to any disagreement was to punch you in the face. NUTSO. (And I'm really not just making this up--most of the homeschoolers I knew, growing up, really didn't know how to deal with their peers or social pressure of any kind. It was sad.)

But then, why did I have that thought? What was that thought???? An errant whimsy? An idle, fleeting thing that I could ignore? Or was it fate? Destiny? Kismet? WHAT?!?!

Fast forward a year or so, and find me now living across the country, on the east coast. Imagine my suprise when I moved here and it seemed like half the population was homeschooled. Not only were the kids homeschooled, but the kids were generally...cool. Friendly. Capable. Social. Not nutso.

Enter various friends and mentors, who I've chatted with about that moment in the library. They have encouraged. They have been great sounding boards. They haven't judged.

And this baby girl has grown, and has evidenced different delays along the way. She is academically bright, but has other struggles, and so attends the "special ed" preschool at our local elementary. It is a *brilliant* program. We love it. She loves it.

But next year is kindergarten. We're starting to play for real. And I have no idea what to do. I can't get this homeschool thing out of my head (despite the parts of me that still think it's sheer insanity), but I am positively terrified.

So, we're debating.

Kindergarten?
Public school?
No child left behind?
Recess?
School lunch?
Peers?
Teasing?
Mean girls?

Homeschool?
Kitchen table?
Flexibility?
Structure?
Curriculum?
Cost?
Socialization?

I just don't know.

But, in an attempt...


Heaven help us.