Posted in On Our Journey

One of the very things that makes homeschooling attractive to many people is the ability to instill in their children their family's religious and moral views.

And yet, it seems that the next "trap" in this project is to treat our faith as though it's another school subject.  In fact, in my tracking program, I have "Bible" listed, and it's the first "course" of the day. 

Now, I realize that making a place in our daily/school schedule for some sort of Bible study is a positive thing.  It instills good habits, it's a good way to start the school day, and with, young children, it's how any sort of regular devotions are going to get accomplished.

But, it's so easy to let it become another checkbox for the day, as opposed to a way of life that should be lived each and every minute. 

This all sort of fell together for us recently, as we went through the difficult decision to leave a church we'd been with for several years. 

In our area of the country, church attendance isn't ubiquitous, but it certainly is expected of folks at a certain social level.  In fact, we joked that when we moved back to Indiana from Texas, the top two questions we were asked were, "Are you originally from __________?" and "What church are you attending?" 

Church is a social event.  It's, as Rayford Steele (for you Left Behind fans) puts it, "Where we found our doctor, our dentist, and the pediatrician."  It can become a surrogate country club. 

But, as we matured in our faith, it became clear that we needed more from our church.  Not just for the adults, but also for our DD. 

Counter-intuitively, what we were NOT looking for were more "children's programs" or a "children's church."  In fact, we were hoping to find a church where we would be encouraged to worship as a family and where we would *all* be challenged to live out our faith.

I had considered that DD would miss seeing some of her friends from our old church.  And I'd assured her that we would still go there, on occasion, to touch base.  Plus, we'll see them anyway - it's a small community.

What I had not counted was how much our conversations about this change, which transpired over the course of about 18 months, would interest her.  Or how much she would understand and consider what we were discussing.

Nor had I counted on how important it was for her to witness the importance of this decision to us.  It made the whole "going to church" business real, not just something we do on Sunday.  Suddenly, what went on in church meant something to her beyond being part of our weekend ritual.

And, unsurprisingly, it also seems to have caused her to take our daily devotionals more personally.  Suddenly, this, too, wasn't just something to study, but something that adults discussed, questioned, prayed about, and took into consideration in their daily lives. There's a new focus in her study, new questions that she has, and a new awareness of the importance of faith in our daily lives.

We won't be giving up our morning devotionals or our Kay Arthur studies.  But, it is gratifying to know that, through God's grace, we've managed to disciple our daughter by living out our convictions. 

What an awesome gift to all of us.

Posted in On Our Journey

Too bad I'm not into customizing my blog with music.  I'd find something really bluesy to go with this post because, like all good blues tunes, we saw it comin' and we couldn't stop the train wreck. 

We survived a week of DD attending summer day camp.  Sigh.

Without a doubt it was a great experience for her.  It was a drama camp, held daily for one week, from 9am to 5pm.  Monday morning they auditioned parts and Friday evening they put on the performance.  It was intense, but the participants - all 45 of them - did an amazing job!

However, and it's probably just me, but I don't quite see how families survive this, especially if one extrapolates it from one week to nine MONTHS of the year.

And, in fact, I'm quite sure it was *much* better than a typical school year.  Except for the exhaustion (more on that later), DD was quite happy to get up and go again the next morning.  It was all fun and she was enjoying it with two friends while she was there.  I didn't have to beg her to get up at least.

But, oy vey!  The evenings were terrible! 

I finally figured out that we were all suffering from "re-entry" issues.  At first, I only applied my thinking to DD, but later I realized it was all of us.

Of course, on a daily basis, DH has to adjust from being at work, where he's the "boss" and pretty much able to control all the details and issues, to being at home, where *I* have been the "boss" for the majority of the day.  Handing over control to him, yet retaining some consistency, has always been a bit of a challenge for all three of us.  However, it comes down to having DH come home to DD and myself.  So, it's one person re-entering the family unit.

However, for this week, we had DD off doing her thing as well.  And for the day, she was, essentially, one of "many."  Yes, she was assigned specific tasks, a group to work with, etc.  But, for the most part, she was autonomous and one of a group.  Even the ride home, with two friends and another parent, she was still in a different, though transitional, dynamic. 

But, then, as soon as she hits the door, she's our daughter, with all the usual, normal, routine expectations.  And, being an only child, the focus of many questions, hugs, and general, pointed, interest.  As she later pointed out, "It's a shock to the system." 

And, let's not forget.  For the week, she was keeping the hours of a full-time job - 9-5.  While I tried to get her into bed early enough, there was the conflict with finding time to do things with us in the few hours we had.  Many of our usual family bonding activites, like a trip to the pool, were out.  There simply wasn't time and, as the week wore on, DD was simply too tired to add that extra exercise into the day. 

And, there's Mom. Here I am, suddenly, with time.  Time that DH insists that I view as, predominantly, "free time."  And, I tried.  I really did.  I read books - in the daylight, with no booklight!  I watched two (2) movies.  I caught up on some paperwork, did some research on various household matters, and held conversations with myself, and God - without interruption.  I drank a whole Starbucks Mocha without having to share.

It was an eerie preview of the "empty nest" as well as a welcome break from the routine.  I commented to DH later that it was a bit scary how easy it was to get used to having DD gone for the entire day.   

However, the circumstances also created for me a time of transition as well.  I found that having my "peace and quiet" suddenly shattered by folks coming home, bringing mail to deal with, questions to answer, and with demands to fulfill, was jarring.  It's not that I didn't welcome my family home; I just needed time to adjust to their presences after nine hours of being alone.  I never quite figured out how to make that adjustment easily.

So, it was rough.  We squabbled a bit, I'm sorry to say.  DD was *extremely* defensive about anything that suggested she wasn't "autonomous" and able to do things for herself.  Surprise.  She'd spent all day "doing for herself" and suddenly it seemed she was no longer capable.  DH expected "normal" and got anything but, which is always upsetting.  And I seemed unable to shift gears, finding the continual distractions and disruptions of my lines of thought just so "rude."  :)

However, it's over.  [Insert happy dance here.] 

The performance was wonderful.  DD had a great time and learned quite a lot.  Hopefully, her parents did, too.

And, if time helps us to forget some things (though I distinctly remember loads of details regarding labor and giving birth to DD, so I'm dubious), perhaps we'll let DD do another week-long camp next year.

Perhaps....

Posted in On Our Journey

Before anyone runs screaming from the room, do realize that cooking is a form of chemistry.    

Not too long ago, we made chocolate from roasted cacao beans and we've "done" the yeast-makes-carbon dioxide experiments (making rolls) - so this isn't really new.

But, it is going to be a first when the idea for the food item came AFTER the science experiment!

It started when we needed red-cabbage juice to use as an indicator for our acid/base chemistry experiments. 

Easy enough.  Buy a red cabbage (easily available during Thanksgiving season), chop it fairly fine, boil it in water, strain. 

The only difference is that you must boil it in distilled water, to ensure the indicator is pure and not tainted with minerals or acids from tap water.

After straining the cabbage from the water, I had this lovely pile of not-so-red cabbage that was cooked.  Now what?

We don't particularly care for boiled cabbage.  But, I hated to see it go to waste, so I bagged it and froze it thinking it might see a stir-fry some day, when the pantry was low.

However, it's appearing tonight, in Brunswick Stew - a crock-pot meal that can be a great way to use up leftovers.

My only surprise?  The cabbage is now PURPLE!  Yes, this shade of purple.

I wonder what my husband is going to say....

Posted in On Our Journey

Except for the ribbons, which haven't been awarded yet, we've successfully finished our first year of 4-H.  

When I was growing up, I don't think there was anything to do with 4-H until you'd completed 3rd grade.  Sometime, in the intervening 30 years since I started, they added two "pre-4-H" levels - Cloverbuds (ages 3-6), and Mini (completed 1st and 2nd grades).   For these levels, everyone gets a participation ribbon and that's about it.

Regular 4-H starts the year you are in 3rd grade - with the fair as a culminating event happening the summer *after* your 3rd grade year.  This is when there are blue/red/white ribbons, with Champions, etc. and State Fair entries.

The activities and requirements for any given subject are set by each individual county's extension office.  They often borrow information, or even whole manuals, from other counties, but it's very locally run.

I was a "10 year" 4Her - meaning I participated in 4H for all of the years one could participate.  So my perspective, though changed, is based upon ample experience.

Now, I realize it's quite easy to talk about the "good old days" when one was younger.  So there may need to be a grain of salt taken with this.

What I enjoyed about it was that I was given enough information to begin learning about a topic *on my own* at whatever level I could achileve.  I loved this.  Being a product of the public school system, it was liberating and I really did learn a lot. 

My most memorable, and overall most useful, project was a Veterinary Science poster on genetics. 

Don't ask me where, in the mid-80s, I found anything written about genetics that was even remotely written at a lay-person's level.  But, I must have, because when I got to college-level biology, I ended up tutoring a portion of my class on the same topics I'd researched two years previously. 

However, I'm guessing that my impressions will change with dd's experience.   My first clue is when we found it difficult to tear ourselves away from our regular studies and activities to complete the 4H projects. 

Obviously, in Mini-4H, the level can't be too difficult.  The topics are geared toward 1st and 2nd graders. 

But, as any observant homeschool parent can tell you, there's a big difference between a student who is in 1st grade and one who is going into 3rd grade.

Making a model rocket from recycled materials seems a bit "slow" as a space project to a student who has created a "working" rocket - even if the "fuel" was only seltzer tablets! 

I guess being a homeschooling parent, I'm less likely to be impressed by "fluff" masquerading as "learning."  But when the child complains...you know it's a problem!

Honestly, I expected more because I kept hearing (from non-homeschoolers) how "great" 4H is for "supplementing homeschooling." 

I think "supplementing homeschooling" is an oxymoron, isn't it?

All I can hope is that the next level of 4H has more to offer than these pre-levels. 

But I fear that the requirements might be lower for the projects than they were when I was involved and doing them 25-ish years ago, in an overall sense.  I will definitely take that into consideration as we move forward into the more complete 4H program.

When I think about what I most enjoyed about 4H - the self-directed learning - I realize that dd is going to get that anyway through homeschooling.

Which isn't to say that 4H, even our local program, has nothing to offer.  But it's a reminder that even something positive that still exists from our own childhood may not require the attention, or level of participation, from our homeschooled children that we once would have given it ourselves.

Activities, like books, need to be chosen wisely, no matter how nostalgic we might feel otherwise.

Posted in On Our Journey

In fact, homeschooling has been a large part of why I haven't blogged in months! 

As most people know, homeschooling parents tend to be an involved lot.  They don't just drop their children off at an activity and come back in an hour or at the end of class. 

They tend to stick around.  They ask questions.  They participate.  They observe.

Which also means, in my case, they volunteer.

My daughter has been in dance classes for several years now.  This past holiday season (I'm referring to Christmas, though we're now past Easter I know!), her studio produced The Nutcracker - a biannual event.

I produced a LOT of costumes.    Not just hems and some alterations, but complete pieces in some cases.

Oh, and for the record, one does use algebra after high school.  Especially if one is constructing a hoop skirt with a 25 foot circumference, intended to hide nine adolescents beneath its frame.   Fortunately, I only made the skirt foundation; the costume was a rental.

However, being a homeschooling family, that meant my daughter was pressed into service - I mean, asked to help with the costumes as well.

She learned to thread elastic through waistbands.  She pinned pattern pieces in place.  She painted bands on straw hats to match costume trim.  She served as as an unflinching model for costume parts and pieces. 

And, of course, she learned a few dance steps and a lot of choreography as well.

After surviving the aptly-named Nutcracker, we entered the Christmas holidays.  Then flu season.  After that, we seemed to hunker down and really focus on learning and having some fun together. 

We probably didn't advance too far in our history studies.  I seem to remember being perpetually stuck at the fall of Rome for a while there.  Science consisted mostly of experiments with just how far one can bend various forms of pipe to construct a 25 foot circle.  Math was mostly about estimating - fabric usage, trim length, time.  Art was the obvious.  Somewhere in all the rehearsal schedule chaos, dd did manage to read a six book series called Warriors, a fantasy series about cats and started writing a book herself.

I think our first foray into unschooling was successful! 

After the this experience, we headed into convention season.  But, that's a story for a seperate post.