Notes from the Laundry Pile

Jan. 26, 2007 - Homeschool Resources ...

Okay - I have to say I'm honored to be tagged on this one. Mainly because Thoughtful knows me far too well. I'm really surprised she thought I'd come up with answers to some of these questions. Frankly, I'm not sure I can.

You see, I am, for the most part, sanguine. I start out all full of hope and joy and then ~flop~ something will take me on another course. I have no idea how many books I have that currently have bookmarks because I'm currently reading them. At least Thoughtful can read a book in about two days.

1. ONE HOMESCHOOL BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED

Oddly enough - it's called "If I'm Diapering a Watermelon, then where'd I leave the Baby: Help for the Highly distractible Mom" by Carol Barnier. One of the books that made me happiest was the "Organized Homeschooler" because it made me realize that I am, really, despite my thoughts and appearance, quite organized. So there ya go - a new category: "What boosted your morale the most this year?"

2. ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT
My computer and internet access. It is my one major distraction - but with it I am able to research curriculum, I order stuff, I request books from the Library, I can talk to HS'ers around the Globe (shout out to AppleLeaf!!), I can vent my frustrations. I love my 'puter. If I had to choose two - I'd say our copier. My hubby had a copier when we got married. I never thought I'd ever need a copier - but now I can't live without it.

Oh - and my magnetic whiteboard.

3. ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT
Hmm.. This year?? I bought some manipulatives for my preschooler who is 2. They are neat and nifty in and of themselves - but they haven't been as exciting as I would have liked. He's had more fun with the counting bears I bought at Wal-Mart. I wish though, now that I'm thinking on it, that I'd bought some Hot Wheels, foam letters, and wooden blocks - just for schooling time. Hmmm... I just might anyway. And maybe his own Magna doodle. Hmmm...his birthday's in April.

4. ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST (This) YEAR
I highly recommend Doorposts "Training in Righteousness" and "If-Then Chart".

And just knowing there's more out there than workbooks has been a blessing. I try not to get overwhelmed by it all - but it's nice to broaden my horizons and know that I can branch out. (Workbooks are my comfort zone - and so far, they're working)

I've also enjoyed this (Homeschoolblogger) venue more than I thought I would, too.

5. ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR
I'd like to get back into using KONOS or other unit studies next year. This year we've really focused only on the 3 R's. We've had to - but I'd like to branch out. Thoughtful has me really curious about "Galloping the Globe" and "Cantoring the country"

6. ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY
A larger house. (It is,too, a resource.)

With an extra room for school - and an office for The Professor and me.

7. ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED

Osmosis. I really wish that worked. I could read more - I could teach more --

And then teleportation would be the next thing. So we could go anywhere anytime without travelling. Wouldn't it be great to study the Great Wall and then actually just go there?

8. ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOG YOU ENJOY READING

The Christian Book Distributing Homeschool catalogs are fun for me.

9. ONE WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY
Only one?? Do I need to narrow it down to Homeschool type stuff?

Crosswalk.com They have a homeschool "Channel"

10. TAG OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS

I'm always curious what others are learning and doing - but I'd hate to tag someone..What if they don't want to play??

So if you want to share with me...let me know. I'm curious to see what you'd write down.

I'd really like to hear from AppleLeaf, Shari and Angie Mama and Juggler Chris - I think you have varied ages of kids...

There was something else that came to me as I was typing - but it's gone now. Maybe it was a lonely thought. So - even though I didn't specifically Tag you - what's your favorite? What answers would you give to these questions?

[Comments - 1] [Post A Comment!] [Permanent Link]

Nov. 7, 2006 - Good Morning!

Posted in Laundry School

My announcement to the kids this morning - G can pick a short movie to watch while I fix breakfast. Mini-Me can play "CyberChase". all while I do breakfast - we WILL do school work today. We're behind and we need to do school.

Mini-Me says "Yeah I want to finish second grade so I can do 3rd grade before I grow up."

We're not that far behind.

[Comments - 4] [Post A Comment!] [Permanent Link]

Sep. 29, 2006 - Did you know?

Posted in Laundry School

Did you know I was homeschooled? I think it's in my profile somewhere.

(I forget. I rarely change so my profile needn't be updated. So, invariably, because of that Non-change I've forgotten what my profile says about me. I hope I was Kind to myself)

Being homeschooled - I thought I had the wherewith all to "Git R Done".

And I do.

Really.

Just not the way I thought I did.

I've quickly come to the realization this week that I need to be careful with my focus. If I allow it to be non-existant, nothing much gets done. Though, it's terribly easy to over come and adapt, it's not very productive.

I thought I would have children who LIKED schoolwork.

I thought I would have children who did what they needed to do without being asked.

I thought I would have children who liked their teacher.

I thought I would have children who obeyed.

The first time.

Without arguiing.

Or complaining.

I thought wrong.

My friend says "Children are God's way of perfecting our characters."

Gosh - I didn't realize my character was so whacked out of shape.

See - I thought because I knew the benefits of being homeschooled that my children would somehow have been born with that information in their little brains.

Also in those little brains would be the fact that Mommy really does (mostly) know what she's doing.

Such was not the case.

My children don't always like schoolwork (it often takes teeth pulling and bribing to get a page of penmanship done)(I wouldn't care really - except that Mini-Me needs the practice.)

Sometimes, my plans just go awry. Sometimes hugely, sometimes just in little ways.

I can make the best of plans - and have fantastic ideas...and then teething starts. Mini-E finally has 2 teeth but the way she's gumming things - they are not to be the only ones.

Which I guess is good - you should see they looks she gives toward our food. Probably the same look Oliver had when he asked for more.

Monday was a Doctor day. I didn't intend for it to only be a doctor day. J-man went to have his ear tubes rechecked (they're fine). We took Daddy a coke from Sonic, We got home and had lunch, I put J-man to sleep for a nap and fell asleep myself. It was a nice nap - but unexpected.

We've mostly gotten only the 3 R's done this week - which is good. At least we're progressing in something. Proof that we really are having school - and not just standing out in the yard howling at the neighbor's dogs. (A hobby my boys have picked up).

J-man has also exhibited an interest in letters. Of course, it stems from wanting to be just like his big brother, G. He crawled up on the couch and pointed adamantly at the flash cards I was using and yammered something at me - and insisted to G that it was his turn. (It's amazing how much he communicates without using real words.)

He parrotted my vowel names and their short sounds - but my goodness it was fun. My mom, my former teacher, always said that her youngest child picked up knowledge from her other two kids' lessons. (That was a grammatical nightmare of a sentence - but I can't phrase it better without giving too much detail and this is long enough as it is. ) Oh - sheesh. There were three of us. Me, Z, & Alan. Alan never went to public school. I was HS'd from 5th grade - High school, Z: 2nd through end.

That wasn't so bad after all.

Our solar system study hasn't been as indepth as I would have thought necessary...but things can always be redone later. I think the kids have a greater understanding of how big our universe is - and how cool of a creator we have.

It really all boils down to:

I'm experiencing Homeschooling in a different way now.

And I figured just now (I blessed myself) -- that when this adventure is over and done with - that I will, again, be a product of homeschooling.

That's pretty cool.

[Comments - 2] [Post A Comment!] [Permanent Link]

Sep. 16, 2006 - Solar System Saturday

Posted in Laundry School

Today is Solar System Saturday.

I wish that I had prepped my planets before hand - but it's been a crazy week (I've not been home consistently all week to prep anything - let alone planets.)

So this morning we made a sun ... and colored it. It took all of us to color it because J-man wanted to be involved and it was a mad scramble to get everything orange before he decided to make it purple.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n148/comfydenim/ColoringtheSun.jpg

So then I got out the books and looked at relative sizes of the planets and made proper circles -- and we colored the planets. I think I was too obsessed with making them look close to the original planets. But you know, I don't want the kids to think Mercury is purple.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n148/comfydenim/Coloringtheearth.jpg

Luckily, Daddy around here can be a very creative person - and quite handy at 6'0 (I'm pushing 5'2"). So we had him hang the Sun.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n148/comfydenim/Hangingthesun9-16-06.jpg

I wish I had thought about it, though. That would have been a great tie-in to God hanging the sun and the moon. Teaching moment missed. Maybe I'll get another one.

Everyone really got involved and since I'm the resident picture-taker - I don't have as many photos as I wanted.

Here's part of the gang hanging up G's asteroid belt. He insisted that we have one. Which is fantastic - because I was going to - but he really insisted.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n148/comfydenim/SolarSystemSaturdayconstructingthea.jpg

We're not done. I really don't want this to be lost. I want to get this stuff in the kids..So maybe we'll get some of those glow in the dark stars and hang up. Hmmm...That's a great thought I just had.

Here's Mini-Me with the part of the finished product. She leaned her head in and said "Look, I'm a planet."

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n148/comfydenim/SolarSystemSaturday-planethead9-16-.jpg

And of course the Littles around here just hung out - but they should be included. (J-man tried to hang asteroids, after all)

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n148/comfydenim/J-manonSolarsystemday9-16-06.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n148/comfydenim/MiniEonSolarSystemSaturday7monthsol.jpg

I had seen this listed in my KONOS unit - but had to see it in the book:

"The Planets in our Solar System" by Franklyn M. Branley - it has a visual in the back of the book. :-)

So we're eating a space meal of Pizza and sodas - and then maybe J-man can take a nap and we'll work on Solar system necklaces.

To infinity and beyond!

[Comments - 3] [Post A Comment!] [Permanent Link]

Sep. 5, 2006 - Happy Hearts Rule!!

Posted in Laundry School

I love it when we all have happy hearts around here. Sometimes, it is just me with a happy heart. Sometimes, it's the kids. Sometimes - it's just one kid (usually J-man because he can cause all sorts of squealing on those days).

Second day of school was great. We reviewed with our work books getting us back in the habit of writing letters and numbers consistently - then we went to the Library to get our stack of solar system books for our KONOS sub-unit. I need to sit down and figure out my next plan of action. There aren't many activities for the solar system. I may end up making my own.

On top of that I'm considering going from the Solar System to the Human Body - as a followup from one creation topic to another.

We even went out to ride bikes and practice the new skills of having no training wheels. Now it's onto dinner.

It's kind of nice typing and thinking I'm typing to another adult. even if it's just me.

[Comments - 2] [Post A Comment!] [Permanent Link]

Sep. 4, 2006 - Answers to the questions

Posted in Laundry School

Okay here are the answers to the questions from DandelionSeeds All About me page I think I had more fun than they did.

Today is G's first day of Kindergarten and Mini-Me's first day in 2nd Grade.

G is 6 yrs old and Mini-me is 7.5 (can't forget the half).

G could not think of scripture that he likes best.

Mini-Me could think of her favorite stories - the stories of Jesus' birth and death.

G's favorite food is "Chicken".

Mini-Me's favorite food is "Chili & Cheese Tamales"

G's Favorite Color is Blue

Mini-Me's is Pink.

G's favorite animal is (he couldn't pick just one) : ostrich, cows & Lions.

Ostriches??

Mini-Me's favorites are: Cats & horses

G's favorite song is: "Jesus Loves Me"
M's - "Jingle Bells" - honest.

Something I really like to do is:

G: Play my Gameboy or my LeapPad

MMe: Play computer and video games or play with my brother. (G - not J-man)

When I grow up I want to be:

G: A dragon slayer - he usually says "Fireman"

MMe: A veternarian or doctor - this is becoming a recurring theme ..

(So thanks to Dandelionseeds for the great inspiration!!)

[Comments - 1] [Post A Comment!] [Permanent Link]

Aug. 27, 2006 - Konos Revelation

Posted in Laundry School

I sat down with my "Orderliness" unit from KONOS vol I and took a good look at it. I have come to the conclusion that there is much meat in this unit...and I don't want to race through it.

I finally had the freedom and realization that I can do this however I want!! This then is the joy of homeschooling! (I really can make things too difficult on myself)

I want to start with the Solar System.

Seasons.. months..

I would love to take the kids to a construction site to have them observe a building being built from foundation to finish (or maybe several different sites in various forms of construction).

We can do plants...

and animals...

and rocks - especially since DS6 wants to know about dinosaurs.

So this could take a very long time or a very short time, depending.

I am easily distracted. *LOL*

It is so great to know that we can do this at our own pace!

I breathe a sigh of relief and head to Answers in Genesis to look up dinosaur/fossil books. (They apparently can't be found in my library)

(Pluto will always be a planet to me)

[Comments - 2] [Post A Comment!] [Permanent Link]

About Me

There are four kids here in the laundry pile, often times, playing king of the hill. Which amuses me - because I am the supreme high ruler of this laundry! *Looking around* ... There's also 1 hubby and a cat in here somewhere....