Our local school district goes BTS (BTS is what my sisters and sister-in-law, all public school teachers, call Back To School -- they won't say it, LOL!)  in two weeks, "Create Notice of Intent" was at the top of my to-do list last night.  I scanned the kids' Iowa test results and printed copies, quickly changed the dates in last year's letter to the local school district, and zipped through the intended curriculum/resource lists for both DD9 and DS7.  We are not making any curriculum changes this year, really, and I didn't go over it with a fine-toothed comb like I am normally inclined to do, so I was finished in record time.

Seeing the bulging envelope sitting on my planner stand, addressed and ready to go, was exciting.  Am I the only one that feels this way?

Although this will be brief because it is already past my bedtime and my brain is fried, I have been feeling that maternal guilt associated with not giving my children equal blog-time.     DS4 is the one that keeps saying such funny things lately, I could write an entry just about him every day.  And I wrote recently about DD8, so now I need to write about DS6 and DD2.  For tonight, a brief entry about DS6's reading progress will have to suffice.  I'm not sure this will even count as the Cliff's Notes version, but here goes:   

DS6 has improved tremendously in his reading over the past few months.  He has learned 68 out of 71 of the Orton-Gillingham phonograms, so he has most of the "code" that he needs in order to "crack" English words.  For a while, the poor guy was about driven crazy by the fact that the same letter can make multiple sounds, and the same sound can be produced by more than one letter (or sets of letters), but finally he came to terms with the facts and began progressing nicely.

Formally, we are working through a set of A Beka readers, but he also enjoys deciphering other things.  He read a few verses of the Bible to his dad, and he likes to try to read other things for school that I typically read.  For example, he started wanting to read his daily poem.  To a certain extent, I let him because I certainly don't want to quench his enthusiasm, but I usually have to limit him to a few sentences in order to avoid taking time we need for  other subjects.  He is picking up speed, though, and his comprehension actually seems to be better when he reads than when I read to him.

It is so exciting to see a child, especially your own child that you are teaching, learn how to read.   

I am very excited to see DD8 becoming an avid and more rapid reader.  It took her a long time to read Heidi, but once she finished it, she read one of the Little House series and Water Babies in very rapid succession.  When she made a comment about how reading "opens up new worlds for you" or something similar, I knew she had become a reader and was very thrilled. 

Before I left for the library tonight, I asked the kids what books to return and what ones to keep.  As we went through the stack, it turned out that DD8 had read a lot more books during her free time than I realized.  HOORAY!

I know, it has been about three weeks since I last posted.  I am tempted to say "so sorry" for that, but really, I make no apologies.  I determined when I started that, although I love to journal, blogging would not take precedence over life.  It has been a busy three weeks, to be sure.  In addition to the preparation for Christmas, we have three December birthdays in our family:  DS4 (our son formerly known as "DS3"), DH, and DD2 (our feisty girl previously called "DD1", of course).  Then, for fear of spending too much time on the computer when I should be going to bed, I have avoided trying to post a "quick" entry...which may or may not end up being so quickly posted...which may then be followed by an attempt to catch up on friends' blogs...you may know the routine.

Okay, back to the title of this entry:  the "Un-Convention."  This is an idea I came up with back in March, while attending the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention (which has since been renamed the MidWest Homeschool Convention).  Don't get me wrong:  they had a great "cast" of "big" names in the home education arena, and I gleaned a lot of useful information from them.  BUT by Saturday afternoon, I felt the physical fatigue and mental overload so often associated with the end of conventions, so I brainstormed something I called the "Un-Convention".

It starts with my firm beliefs that (1) although the well-known names among homeschooling circles have great insight, the collective wisdom of a local support group encompasses virtually everything one needs to know; and (2) what many of us need most is unbroken time to ourselves, to spend time in God's word and to get to the "round-to-its" that never make it to the "front burner". 

What the "Un-Convention" looked like in my initial brainstorm, was an overnight retreat where moms would spend some time in group sessions, helping each other to solve problems and encouraging one another, and other hours alone to spend time as they see fit:  reading the Bible, praying, lesson planning, creating a schedule and/or chore charts, delving into that ______ curriculum or book purchased at the last homeschool convention but as yet unused, etc.  While sharing this idea with some other moms, my friend Leah B. indicated that Leigh Bortins, the creator of Classical Conversations, has a similar vision.  [At her stage of life and with resources already in place through CC, I dare say she will carry out the full vision sooner than I will -- if I ever do.]

At any rate, I felt that I was not in a position to organize an overnight retreat at this point, but I could manage to set something up on a smaller scale.  Hence, the first "Un-Convention" occurred in my home in August, attended by ten moms.  It was a wonderful night of fellowship, seemingly enjoyed by all, and my friend Lisa later asked me if I would consider doing it on a quarterly basis.  So...we had the second one this evening, although not in my home.  I would have loved to host it, but with all we've already had going on this month and then with our plans for this coming weekend, it wasn't feasible.  I wish I were the consummate home-keeper, but alas, I am not.  No one seemed to mind the location change, though, and I would say we had a very good, productive time once again.

Well, I must retire for the evening.  Hopefully I will find time in the near future to post some of the "funnies" from the last few days (the things the kids said after my infamous "Season's Greetings" letter had already been mailed) -- there have been some doozies. 

Good night and God bless,
Lori.

Wanted to capture this before I forgot some details...will probably add links at a later date.

Today was a big field trip day.  First, DD8, DS6 and I went to hear the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra perform a Young People's Concert entitled "Brass Bonanza".  Well, I didn't get to enjoy the first few songs because DS6 was not behaving properly.  Perhaps I should not elaborate about what he was doing, other than to speak in his defense, that he is a bit of a "sensory" guy, so all the noise of the thousands of kids and adults talking before the performance started did not help.  But he finally got calmed down in time for me to enjoy "Lassus Trombone", which I played in college (not brass, but percussion, so I was watching the percussionist quite a bit); it turns out that the composer is/was from Cincinnati, which wouldn't have meant anything to me back then even if I had heard that bit of trivia.  Not only was it nostalgic for me, it is also a very light-hearted tune, so it was fun to listen.

The concert ended with an excerpt from "The William Tell Overture".  Since it is a very energetic piece and perhaps most of the kids were familiar with it, all the kids were bouncing up and down in their seats while the orchestra played.  With all those little bodies who can't sit still, I always get a kick out of watching the audience "undulate" the entire concert, but it was particularly fun to see them enthusiastically moving in time to the music.  One little boy started loudly singing the tune; his teacher promptly turned around and told him to stop, but I thought it was great that he was really getting into it.

Of course, as soon as it started, I immediately thought of "The Mom Song" and was about to laugh 'til I cried, especially during the climax when she says, "And if your friend jumped off a cliff, would you jump, too?" 

DH took off the day from work (an extremely rare treat), so immediately after the concert, all six of us went to the Museum Center.  The kids had a blast looking at the holiday trains exhibit and riding the miniature train, briefly viewing at the scale model of Cincinnati in the 1940s, then spending the majority of the time in the Children's Museum.  The other blogger Lori had loaned me a harness so we could keep easier track of DD1 than I did when we last went there (the first time the kids had ever been there, on a "Free [admission] Friday").  At first I felt like I was treating her like a dog and wondered if people were staring at me, but SAFETY FIRST.  [THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU Lori!!]

Well, perhaps I will come up with a better closing line at a later time, too, but for now, I will simply say "Good night".

We survived our first week back to school!  Hooray!  I sprained my ankle last Saturday and was tempted to bail out on starting until this coming week, so it was no small feat (bah-dum-bump! ).  I know, some of you are thinking, "Oh no!  You sprained your ankle again??"  It's not the same ankle that I sprained last July, and it is relatively mild -- not even in the same league as that severe one (I think I about tore the calcaneo-whatever ligament in half that time).  BUT I didn't take good enough care of this sprain the first few days, so it did keep hurting and start to swell, and it has slowed me down.  I have done slightly better the past few days by keeping it wrapped, icing it 2-3 times a day, usually elevating it when it's iced, and staying off it a little more.

I have been meaning to blog for several days now, as there are quite a few topics brewing in my head (the article I read in the HSLDA Court Report, the woodpecker DD8 and I saw in our backyard last week, "Is this the year that...?", and probably more kid funnies), but will have to save the rest for later.

-Lori.

I admit it:  yesterday, I was dreading the start of school.  We had not finished painting the school "room" (it's really a wide hallway that forms an ell with another wide hallway, the "office" where the computer is), we had not painted the two "new" (very used) desks, I had not typed up DD8's copywork for the first two weeks...but then we all assembled in the schoolroom, and DD8 and DS6 were so excited about the new room setup and eager to start math, which started chipping away at my dread...

Then, the second verse of this month's hymn, "My Faith Looks up to Thee", completely dissolved it:

May Thy rich grace impart strength to my fainting heart, my zeal inspire;

As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee pure, warm and changeless be, a living fire!

DD1 wasn't very cooperative yesterday (DD8 just read this and thought I was talking about her...she wasn't too happy until I explained that "1" stood for age, not birth order!  ), so we didn't get off to the best start, but we kept plugging along and I would say we made up for it today.

Yes, Lord, give strength to my fainting heart (I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me -- Phil. 4:13), and inspire my zeal.  I want to my love for Thee to be pure and a living fire!

-Lori.

Okay, I finally filed DD8 and DS6's 2006-2007 papers and planned 80-90% of the first three weeks of lessons for 2007-2008.  I also purged about 25-30% of my college files (don't ask what year I graduated, LOL!  ) to make room in the filing cabinet for some of the new "goodies" that in former years would have gone in my locking cabinet (with shelves).  I now have too much stuff I want to keep inaccessible to the kids, to fit in one locking cabinet.  Sooo...I decided I would put some things in hanging files instead, in the top drawer.

Now I have stayed up way past my bedtime (plus, I failed to exercise today) doing all this, but it needed to be done.

[Wow, here it has been almost two weeks since the last time I "wrote".  I still think (almost daily) about all the things I can write here; I just don't take the time to do it.  Lately, it's that I value my sleep too much!  LOL  Plus, I have been revamping our housekeeping system and teaching DD8 and DD6 how to do more tasks in that department.]

We plan to start the 2007-2008 school year on Monday (although I still need to paint the other half of the schoolroom, file last year's papers, put away this year's new goodies...).  A few days ago, "Wheatie" (DS6, who, right after we agreed he should be "Wheatie" on here, decided he doesn't enjoy grinding wheat anymore) asked me when we were starting school.  I told him, and he was very excited.  He said, "I can't wait to start math."  I said, "Well, the beauty of homeschooling is, you don't have to wait.  If you want to do some math before then, you can."  So today, he did three pages!

A few weeks ago, we drove past the school where our kids went to "Garden School", a two-hour class that met one morning every other week for four weeks in the fall and six weeks in the spring.  My eight-year-old daughter yelled, "LOOK!  The sunflowers we planted are up!"  Sure enough, there were tall sunflowers growing in one of the front flower beds.  Technically, they weren't the ones we planted, because we planted seeds along the fence line to the right of the school, but to her, they were "our" sunflowers.

Maybe "one of these days" I will post the link to Granny's Garden School, which is primarily for the students at the two schools adjacent to the gardens, but one brave homeschooling mom asked Granny if she would offer a class for homeschoolers, and she did. 

Well, my two dear sons have joined me by the computer and they are yakking about tomato juice (don't ask me why), so I can't concentrate anymore.  Goodbye!

A few weeks ago, my friend Beth let me know that she was about to place an order with Rainbow Resources, and asked if I wanted anything.  Of course I did!  As most of you homeschooling moms know, the hard part is narrowing down your long list of "wants".   Somehow I managed to whittle the list down to a manageable amount, and in the process of shopping, I began getting that strange combination of excitement and fear that comes with the anticipation of the next school year starting.

Inspired by the RR order, I went ahead and compiled our Notice of Intent.  This is our first year to notify for our oldest son, who is six.  We unofficially did kindergarten last year, so I struggled with whether to label him as kindergarten or first grade, because I'm not sure what his reading skills will be when testing time rolls around next May.  He is a math whiz, so I'm not concerned about that for now.  After contacting HSLDA, thinking about it, and praying, I decided to list him as first grade.  I finally feel like I have all our "ducks in a row" regarding the attachments to the letter, so all it needs now is my husband's signature and to be sent out tomorrow by certified mail.

This morning, I spotted the book, A Bushel of Blessings for Teachers, and opened it.  I found this quotation:

Education consists of example and love -- nothing else.

~Heinrich Pestalozzi

It caught my attention, because Charlotte Mason refers to Pestalozzi in her writings.  It also eased my mind about the "gaps" we always worry about when it comes to our children's education (for the moment, at least ).

As an aside, I also noticed what a trainwreck of a name "Heinrich Pestalozzi" is -- German first name, Italian last name!

Well, I must get back to the homefront.  Hope you have a blessed day!