Posted in Educational Pursuits

It's that time of year when we once again find ourselves with the excitement of a new school year before us, and all that brings.  New books, old favorites, routine; perhaps some fresh supplies.  We are bombarded with back-to-school ads and sales, the rumble of school buses as they  lumber down the roads, and a hum that pervades the nation that schedule is once again the word of the day.

As home educators, back-to-school has the same feel, but different look.  We delight in burrowing into our homes, focusing on our families, snuggling on the couch for a good read-aloud, getting "our" libraries back, and dealing with the twinge that always hovers just out of swatting distance when we take our children out in public during "school hours."

Back-to-school also hints at encroaching holidays, an imminent change of season, and the stress of unavoidable social gatherings - family or otherwise.  It is a time that can make us, or break us.

For those who home educate, we see our fellow educating mothers sharing their excitement at another year successfully started.  If we have had no major occurrences of late, then we may be among them.  If, however, life has had you by the coattails and you are just now beginning to take that deep breath and ready your pupils' lessons, this can be a very discouraging time.  I beg you to take heart.  You are not "behind," or "less than" any other mother because you have not begun your more formal lessons as of yet.  If there's something specific you wanted to research and incorporate this year, you still have time.  I know, because that's me.  Allow me to explain my situation, and then maybe you too will take the time you need.

Over the course of the past few years, because we live in the desert and the summers are unfit to be out in for any length of time, our school schedule has slowly morphed into the opposite of most others'.  We have begun our year in January for the past couple of years, and taken our 'summer break' from November thru December.  That's when the weather is lovely, and it only makes sense to be out in it, enjoying nature.  It also has the added benefit of allowing us time to leisurely enjoy the holidays.  It's worked well. Until this year.

This year, we decided to gear up for a cross-country move, back to the land of 4-seasons.  Already I started feeling 'behind,' as our current schedule would have to be shortened up to change.  Then, beginning in June, we had an extended family member's health crisis which lasted until mid-August, and meant three separate stays in hospital, two surgeries, several procedures, and a young family member came to live with us unexpectedly for one week in June and then three weeks at the end of July/ beginning of August.  Needless to say, our routine was certainly disrupted.  The boys kept on with Maths, Religion, Spelling, Handwriting, Literature, and Grammar, but the remainder of our lovely lessons went by the way-side.  The only refrain I could hear in my mind was "behind, behind, Behind!"  I was beginning to despair.

One day, I stumbled across a blog I had once enjoyed for direction and inspiration, and was once again inspired to pick up my "A Charlotte Mason Companion" by Karen Andreola.  Over the course of the past year or so, I had slowly turned more towards the classical style, and away from the Charlotte Mason style.  It was a gradual morphing that I was not pleased with.  I am still reading ACMC, and am beginning to feel the excitement grab hold of me once again.  I could feel badly about not fully finishing this past school year, or I can just pick up where we left off and incorporate new things in as well.  I can moan that I won't begin our lessons for another few weeks yet due to planning and purchasing, or I can thank the good Lord above that I was led to re-read this book and my soul is being refreshed.  In any given situation, perspective is our choice.  I choose gratitude and inspiration.

So now, amidst cleaning supplies, packing boxes, and garage sale items, I am eagerly anticipating the resuming of our lessons - in spite of the "untimely" and "inconvenient" start.  I'm trying to keep Miss Mason's advice forefront in my thoughts each day to follow:  "Each day, make sure a child has three things:  1) something or someone to love, 2) something to do, and 3) something to think about."  To that end, maybe we have already begun our school year when I review, nightly and weekly, all that has been accomplished in spite of having no formal lesson plans.  The boys are doing their religious studies every day, journaling, and practicing their instruments.  Last week we did a Nature Study on an item we had brought back with us from our camping excursion north.  When we were camping, we took a Nature Walk that lasted hours as we were identifying items, collecting specimens, and telling stories.  At the campsite afterwords, we sketched a wild mushroom, labelled it, dissected it, and read all about it from Comstock's "Handbook of Nature Study."  We made a list of all the flora and fauna we encountered on our weekend away.  We have a nightly read-aloud, which is currently "Little Britches," by Mr. Ralph Moody.  The whole family is enjoying this one, and I'm charged with getting the next in the series this weekend.  The boys are reading a literature book a week, with the youngest orally narrating his daily reading every evening, and the oldest orally narrating his book at the end of every week.  Last week he chose "A Time to Stand," by Walter Lord, from the public library - he was interested in the Alamo and chose an author he described as being an engaging writer that tells history well.  I've now added Mr. Lord's name to my list of authors I would like to research and incorporate into our studies.  Classical music is always playing in the background, exposing them to great works of art.  For maths, the boys are actively involved in our weekly shopping trips.  It is commonplace for me to hand either boy a bag of produce, tell them the price per pound, and ask them to go weigh it and tell me how much it costs.  This deals with rounding, fractions, multiplication, weights and measures, and mental arithmetic.  They have daily chores that must be done without reminder, and because oldest son's chores include walking the dog, he has decided to set his alarm for early every morning so as to do it before the heat of the day strikes.  Responsibility and formation of character are more important than 'book learning,' so even when formal lessons are not being given, character formation lessons are always in session.

As I look at all that the boys are doing, I do indeed feel that we are doing our lessons, and I highly encourage you to make a list for your children as well.  You will surprise yourself at all the book lessons and character formation lessons that have happened during daily life.  Did big sister read a book to little brother?  Did big brother keep little brother entertained quietly and well for a rainy afternoon?  Were read-alouds heard in your home?  Were instruments practiced, engaging music played, art prints looked at?  Did your children not scream and run around like lunatics in public?  Do the little dears do as they are bid the first time?  Do you follow Miss Mason's 3 dictates? 

Educating our children at home doesn't need to be a big production, nor should it be a mystery - even to us.  It should be the natural progression of living, making connections, and expanding our base of knowledge.  The means to doing that are totally at your discretion, and will look like no other home.  Delight in the every day, form those precious little characters, and relax, secure in the knowledge that you are not 'behind,' you are exactly where God means you to be.

Posted in Educational Pursuits

Posted in Educational Pursuits

Posted in Educational Pursuits

Art print courtesy of www.allposters.com; Country Panel IV, Schoolhouse, by Warren Kimble

We 'officially' began our school year last week.  It has been the most organized and smoothest flowing school year yet.  It is the start of our fifth year of home educating our children, and I can breathe a sigh of relief, because I FINALLY GOT IT RIGHT.  Thank goodness!!  No more self-doubt, no more self-recriminations, because I have cracked the code of home educating and from here on out we *will* have smooth sailing.

*sigh*

Well, that was a pleasant dream while it lasted.

I'm still not quite sure where I went wrong.  Books for the entire year *before* the school year begins:  check.  Schedule for each child, complete with projects and activities:  check.  Weekly schedule free of all outside distractions:  check.

So how do I go from there to here, which is giving the boys the morning off of school so that I can totally re-write Piper's schedule for the year?  Well, maybe it began with the fact that as I watched him work diligently and with minimum dinkage time* last week, his work day went about two hours longer than I had planned.  And we hadn't even incorporated all of his daily subjects yet.  *wince*

I thought maybe it was just the first day, you know?  That maybe, just maybe, he used more dinkage time that I had seen (they can be pretty sneaky at 14 about dinkage time; I know I was).  Maybe it wasn't the schedule, maybe it was him.

Well, the next two days didn't get any better.  So I did what any good mother would do:  I panicked.  If you were visiting my blog last week on Thursday evening, you maybe saw a real-time conversation happening on my cbox in the corner, whereby a fellow blogger took time out of her busy evening to talk me down off the rooftop.  Thank you, my friend.  She was not alone in her encouragement, sympathy, and practical advice.  Another dear friend popped in and gently pointed out the truth to me as well.  Thank you, as well.  You are dear friends that I have never met in real life, but are the reason I blog.

What they gently pointed out was that maybe, just maybe, I had Planned Too Much.  *gasp*  The bottom fell out of my world for a few moments, not because I would have to pick through curriculum Already Purchased, but because It Had Happened to Me:  I ignored my inner voice about how our home school works best and instead I was seduced by the curriculum this year.

I was floored.

*That* was what happened to other people!  *That* would never happen to me!  I *know* what is best for my children.  I don't waste money on curriculum only to not use it, I don't overschedule my children, and I will never lose our vision for our home school.

Well, you know what they** say:  Never say Never.

I'm not quite sure how it happened.

I got the catalogs last spring, and piled them up until I had a free weekend.  I made my list, and checked it twice.  I felt the impending pressure of high school on my shoulders.  I repeatedly answered the question "Are you sending him to a real high school?" by well-intentioned (cough) inquisitors.  I re-checked the curriculum catalogs.  I purchased a high school curriculum book.  I purchased another one.  I made Jigger's schedule first and took a looooong time on it as an avoidance technique (by the way, in the interest of, well, interest, it's [you guessed it] interesting to note that Jigger's year has never started off better, or with more projects and fun things; he's completely pleased with his year, as am I).  I let Piper's books sit untouched, unexplored, and pretended the whole mess didn't exist until about three days before the start of our school year.  Yep, three days.

Can't see where I went wrong, can you?

*sigh*

I guess I got caught up in the false delineation that is high school.  No, there really is no difference in how you educate your child from one level to another.  Or at least, there shouldn't be.  I simply wanted to make sure I was hitting all of their (see 'they' below) high school requirements In Addition To mine.  Not in place of, in addition to.

So, now that I see the lunacy that was my life last week, I'm going to put the brakes on this school before we make ourselves miserable.  The boys will clean out the truck this morning and dig up their archeaological dig while I attempt to revise Piper's school year.  And while I feel properly humbled by my set-down, I'm grateful it happened too.  I'm grateful I have the knowledge and freedom to change this before it gets ugly, before he hates school, and before I go mad.  Home educating our own children is such a blessing, and today I am feeling blessed indeed.

*dinkage time= time spent dinking around avoiding current duty set before him (as an aside, my Faithful Readers, I can't imagine where he got that trait from, can you?)
**they= a collection of snooty people who do everything right, all of the time; also commonly referred to as 'smarty-pants.'

Posted in Educational Pursuits

Yesterday Grandma dropped by and came in for some fresh-brewed iced tea, during which the boys were still working on their geography study of Arizona.  She started quizzing them on their knowledge thus far, and the following conversation then took place:

Grandma:  What's the state bird?

Piper:  The Cactus Wren.

Grandma:  What's the state flower?

Piper:  The Saguaro Cactus Blossom.

Grandma:  What's the state gem?

Piper:  Ummmmmm....

Jigger:  I know, Grandma!!!  It's the YMCA!!!

It's important to note that tea coming out your nose stains just as well as tea spilling out of your cup.

Posted in Educational Pursuits

Here we are at the end of August; can you believe it?  For those of you in the lovely four-season section of our country, you're getting ready to wash off your lawn furniture for that final re-packing into the shed, pulling out the cooler weather clothing, and anticipating the beautiful color show Mother Nature puts on for your viewing delight.  For those of us in the high-heat of the one-season desert, we are aching for the temperatures to settle down so that we may pull our lawn furniture out of storage, readying our homes for the delight of spending the days with the doors and windows open, and yes, pulling out our cooler weather clothing.

No matter where you are, though, fall is the universal sign of school resuming.  Public or home school, fall is usually when most start up a new year.  It's a habit that we can't seem to avoid, and if we do, we feel a bit odd about it each year.  Each world, public or home, stocks up on new school supplies while the sales are available, sorts through old school items to see which can make it another year, and prepares to settle back into the school routine.

Ah, the school routine.  There's nothing quite like it, is there?  Mothers all around the world, whether home or public, breathe a sigh of relief:  the schedule is back in place.  What a wonderful word, this word schedule!  We must have been out of our heads to curse this word at the end of last school year (whether it was three months or three weeks ago).  A schedule means gently reminding family and friends that pop-in visitors and school-hour phone calls are no longer permitted.  A schedule means that the children are constructive instead of at-odds with their day.  A schedule gives us the courage and support to say 'no' to activities we may otherwise have let intrude on our day.  A schedule is a lovely thing.  Routines are to be in place, everyone is to know what is expected of them, and home is once more alive with purpose, learning, and gaiety.  School holidays are like vacations in that you're always so excited to see them come, and so relieved to see them go.  What a blessing they are!

Holidays revive our spirit, speak to our soul, and re-energize us.  They allow us freedom from our schedule, freedom from routine, and freedom to BE.  They are a lovely break in the ordinary, and they are necessary to avoid burn-out, depression, and apathy.  They are also best in moderation, as all wonderful things are.  I find that for our children, anything longer than a three-week break serves no purpose but to flame their bickering skills, encourage laziness, and shorten tempers.  It is a thin line to walk, for mothers are the ones desperate for school holidays. 

Our children will have had a six-week break when we begin school anew next Tuesday.  Six weeks that has flown past us, undermining my projects-to-be-done-on-school-holiday list and passing almost too rapidly to be enjoyed.  These six weeks have been a study in free time, games, swimming, camping, and family.  They have also spawned boredom, aimlessness, and foolish behavior. 

So it is with both regret and gratitude that I hammer out our first term's lesson plans this week and announce to the children that school starts next Tuesday.  They groan in mock despair, for I have seen their eyes light up when they peruse the shelves holding our next year's school books.  I have fended off questions of what their first history projects will be (*I* don't even know yet!), and we have eagerly discussed where our field trips should take us this year.

We are so blessed to home educate our children, to have school holidays, and to resume lessons.  Wherever your new year takes you, I wish you much joy, success, and many blessings along the way.

Posted in Educational Pursuits

It's that time of year again when home educating mothers both dread their job and delight in it.  For while there's nothing better than planning your next school year, there's nothing worse at times than planning your next school year.  Looking through each carefully selected tome, counting chapters, making notes to yourself that you hope you'll remember to look at, and trying to fit everything in while all the while having a relaxed schooling atmosphere so that you can be "That Mom."  You know, "That Mom" - the one that actually follows her schedule, doing every experiment and hands-on activity, having her children smile their way through their lessons, beginning each day on time and with a meal cooked from scratch, ending her lessons with enough time to spend on her sewing before starting dinner and completing her day with baths for the children amidst laughter, love, and bedtime stories.

Well, "That Mom" doesn't live in my house, but I do try each year to do a little more, be a little more.  Because without a fresh slate each year, you can get caught up in stinkin' thinkin' that just never ends.  It's like the New Year, when suddenly everything is fresh again, and the possibilities are endless on what you can achieve.

So, to get back to lesson planning, yesterday I began (drop your voice and draw out the word began, and think dunh-dunh-duuuuuuunh).  Due in part because you *have* to begin sometime, but due mostly to the fact that Mary accepted my challenge to spend just one hour doing something that we both have apparently become quite good at avoiding.

Rabbit trail:  So yesterday about 9-9.30ish a.m., I challenged Mary to one hour of planning.  After I did that, I got sidetracked what with four boys in the house needing breakfast, no less than 10 phone calls, four unexpected visitors at the door (can you tell we're on school break?  I can!), laundry, cleaning the kitchen, etc.  By the time we were down to three boys and I had a chance to check back on my cbox, it was around 2.45 p.m.  Imagine my surprise to see that Mary had indeed picked up the gauntlet of challenge, and had in fact already begun her hour!  I was on the phone with Robyn at the time, who was laughing her bum off at me, and practically hung up on her in my bid to get my bum in gear. :End of Rabbit Trail

Mary amended the challenge to add that we had to post about what we had accomplished, thus explaining this long and winded post (like I need a reason - have you been reading me for any length of time?).  So, without further ado (you're welcome), here are the results and conclusions of my hour yesterday:

I sketched out Jigger's week and began Piper's schedule as well.  I like having an overview, however sketchy, of what their weeks will look like before I begin breaking down their books into lessons.  I use the 3M Flags for their subjects, so that I can move things around without too much hassle.  Here is Jigger's week:

Here is the beginning of Piper's:

At this point I got a little overwhelmed with Piper's schedule, so I shelved it and moved on to breaking down Jigger's books by weeks.  I only have most of his catechism done, and will post the picture of that when it's finalized.  I'm realizing that I have a *LOT* of planning to do before school begins in about a month, and so expect that most of my time, free or otherwise, will be spent in this pursuit.  Expect regular updates, because this keeps me accountable.  Who knows, maybe I'll talk Mary into a Thursday posting challenge where we update our planning progress for the previous week.  What do you think, Mary?  Ü

Well, that's it.  I will be planning ad nauseum for awhile, now that I have assessed the mountain in front of me, and expect to feel all kinds of good when I'm finished.  This is the year that I-am-prepared!!  Who's with me?

Posted in Educational Pursuits

I finally found the perfect grammar program for next year!!

Posted in Educational Pursuits

In my bid to keep up with my blog, I have joined several daily postings, and am enjoying them immensely.  However, it occurs to me that I am neglecting the chatty side of my blog, so on we go with the readjustments!

'Tis the time of year for all good home educating companies to send out their catalogs, and send them out they have!  It has been a veritable treasure trove each and every time someone is sent down to the post box.  Between home educating catalogs, online school book purchases (for me, to help me plan), and receiving our PaperbackSwap requests, each day brings its own little gift of happiness.

To that end, I have been consumed with next year's planning.  Each year I eagerly dive into planning, but this year is different.  Why?  Because:  Piper begins high school.  Dunh-dunh-duuuuunnnnhhh, as Jigger would toll out.

I am almost finished with the order list for Jigger, because I keep telling myself that once Jigger is done, I can fully focus on Piper.  True, but also an extremely valid stalling tactic.  Because the truth is, high school initimidates me.  A little less each day, as I talk myself down from the ledge, but still, when you start with a large chunk and whittle away a little piece each day after several weeks you still have a large chunk.  (Chocolate popped into my head during this recitation; what do you think Freud would say about that?)

So, for all of you mothers out there who are educating high schoolers, please don't laugh at this High School newbie.  I really, really don't want to mess this up, and I keep vowing to myself that *this* is the year we would be more focused, whether we actually were or not.  It didn't really matter, because in the back of my head it didn't seem to somehow 'count' until we hit high school.  And now we have.  Hit high school.  With the full force of an eighteen-wheeler slamming into the concrete below as it careens off the edge of a cliff.  Air bags are deployed, seat belts are engaged, and the dust has yet to settle.  Stay tuned.

Posted in Educational Pursuits

Welcome! 

Isn't it wonderful to begin each school year anew?  The excitement of finishing the old year has segued into an equal excitement to go 'round again.  With each book that arrives in the mail, the flush of Christmas as a child comes over me, and it is with barely restrained glee that I rip into the package to see which goody has blessed us that day.  The pure feelings of pleasure, pride, and gratefulness as I reverently slide another book onto its shelf for the year bring untold joy. 

My excitement is contagious, in spite of the fact that it's not 'cool' to want to start school, and the boys were up, showered and dressed, chores completed, and ready for our opening day breakfast of homemade French toast by 8 a.m. yesterday.  Morning lessons fairly slid by, and before I knew it we were making lunch and I was putting dinner in the crockpot.  We headed off the libraries and outside music and dance lessons for our one day out of the house, and enjoyed our tea between lessons. 

What a wonderful way to begin our school year!  And we have today, tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday morning at home, with Friday afternoon being spent studying astronomy with friends of ours.  The perfect week!  No where to go, nothing to do, no one expecting us!  What else could one want??

Well, not to wake up the next morning feeling less than stellar because this month's visitor has decided to wage womb war.  In spite of the all-day (so far) discomfort, we have still gone through school like clockwork; the boys are finishing their days as I type (music and dance practice).  We have tea on the schedule next, but I think that's going to be visited by the chopping axe, as the thought of standing in the kitchen right now is enough to make me cry.  Yes, Midol helps.  Yes, I've taken some.  But when your discomfort begins strong enough to fell a Redwood, the downgrading of the discomfort becomes relative, then, doesn't it? 

I didn't begin this to whine, actually, more to chronicle our day and to share the joy I am finding in this new year.  For the joy is limitless.  We have a new schedule, which I may remember to type up soon if anyone would like to see it, and my days are being spent this year with a new priority:  HOME.

I know some of you are confused, because a home educating mother's priority should automatically be home and hearth, right?  Well, sadly, many, many HE mothers' priorities are shifted, and mine was as well.  I was running children to lessons, local group outings, field trips, park days with friends, family requests, etc., and our school work was suffering.  This is not unusual, unfortunately, and the only way to change it is to make a commitment to changing it, and then forcing yourself to Stay Home.  Pretty soon, you don't even realize it's happening, but you don't have to force yourself any longer.  Your home is clean, your children have settled in, your husband hurries home, and you are actually starting and Finishing projects!  All because you're home, the phone is off, and the computer is neglected.  Whoa!  Yep, you heard me.  More on that later, as well. 

All this is to say that life, even in one of the largest cities in the U.S., can be simple if you let it.  If you encourage it.  If you, at first, force it.  And it's so much more worth living, IMHO.  So, list your priorities, be realisitic, give it great thought, pray, talk to your husband, and find the life in your home.  It's a lovely place to be.  Especially with the drone of the bagpipes in the background piping out America the Beautiful while the beagle accompanies him with his lovely howls and growls.

Have a lovely week, and if it hasn't begun on the best note, make it a wonderful rest-of-week.