Scribblings from a twenty-year homeschool veteran about homeschooling, life after homeschooling, occasional peeks into the world of writing for children, and the ups and downs of life in general.
Homeschool Memoirs! Click to join up! Show and Tell with Mary! Click to join us!
Sorry, folks! The week zoomed by. I forgot about HM until Thursday night, and then it's S&T time. So I have combined them into one lovely entry. Enjoy!
This week we were supposed to find an old school photo, whether from the 90’s, 80’s, 70’s, or is there anyone from the 60’s? lol OK, what's with the LOL? And YES, I have one from 1968. I could go earlier (kindergarten 1959, but it's so tiny!). so....I give you...TA DA! 9th grade, 1968! Yes, the 60s. Hippies, Vietnam, riots. It's a wonder I made it through. And you know what? I never knew about most of that stuff, and I lived a rather normal, stressfree life.The good thing? Anybody who wanted could carry a Bible to school. A picture was even featured in the Yearbook one year. "Senior Man Spreads the Word" was the caption. Oh, those really were the days...kind of like the "Last glory days of the West," (think LOTR), riding along on the crest of the wave, while the coming shadow of the "evil one" crept up behind us like a tidal wave of "No more God in school."
This week's meme is about how chores are done in our home. Click HERE for more swell ideas!
In our home we had (I'm digging into the Archives to remember what worked best for us during full-time homeschooling!) a rule that basic chores (bed made, dirty clothes in hamper, room clean) had to be completed before eating breakfast (" . . . he who does not work will not eat"). That worked pretty well! As the kids got older, each had a chart that was signed off for the other chores for the day. If everything was signed off at the end of the week (dishes, etc.), allowances were handed out. Saturday chores included cleaning their own bathroom.
A real bonus idea that has worked well for our family is this: For the child's 14th birthday, one of their gifts is a laundry basket. From that time forth, they are responsible for doing their own laundry (training having taken place prior to this by helping with the family laundry). The boys need to know how to do their laundry for that day when they move out. It's great. Oldest son does the laundry for his family as much as his wife. It is a great training tool.
Oh, dear! A spur-of-the-moment creative assignment. I'm not sure I'm up to this, but we'll give it a try. Here's the assignment: Post the category that best describes each of your family members and write something about why you nominated them in that category. You’re welcome to post photos.
I'll bypass my kids and go right to the grandkids for now.
The "James Herriott " award goes to Kevan. He loves "all creatures great and small," from spiders to praying mantises. His collection of bugs---dead and alive---drives my daughter (his mama) nuts.
The "Clone" award goes to Julianna, who is truly the spitting image of her mother, my daughter. It's downright scary. Her personality is identical, also.
The "Highest Vocabulary" award goes to Kaetlyn, who at 5 has a comeback for everything, when you least expect it. Example (and I quote): "My teacher says that independent reading builds stamina." And she knows what the words mean. My son is getting "pay back" now. She keeps him on his toes.
The "Cuddle Bug" award goes to Levi, who can melt your heart with his big brown eyes.
The "Wild Girl" award goes to Ellianna, who is not the little "princess" her mother (my DD) was expecting. She loves slugs, running in the mud, roughhousing with her older brothers, and in general acting in a very un-princess-like way. She is her grandma's clone!
The "Life is Serious" award goes to my oldest grandson, Nathan. Like many first-born sons, he takes his role as the boss of his 5 younger siblings seriously. Is it no wonder that he and Ellie clash constantly?
The "Star Wars" award goes to Justan. Not because he loves Star Wars so much but because he often has "Star Wars" moments---off in some galaxy of his own. "Earth to Justan, come in." Focus, boy. Focus. Happy all the time.
The "Littlest Angel" award goes to Baby Christian, with the auspicious birth date of: 08-08-08.
Does it get any better than that? To my shame, I can't find any recent pictures of this angel.
Oh, rats! I got this graphic too small. Oh, well. It still clicks so you can visit all kinds of memoirs from frazzled home school moms (and grandmas like me). Speaking of which, as soon as I post this I have to get out the letter "D" for Justan and Kevan's reading lesson tomorrow morning.
But I digress . . . This week we are asked to share what our “Mom” help is. (aka "escape" time). Well, after glancing over the "Me Time is a Myth" in the most recent TOS magazine, I hesitate to confess to any "escape" rituals. But a little breather? Totally different, right?
I have a few. The main one that comes to mind is . . .
1) When I was homeschooling full-time, after the kids went to bed and the evening was "mine," I escaped to my computer and wrote stories. You can't imagine that I thought up all those books just recently! No, indeed. They are the culmination of many years of writing in the late evenings. That is MY escape. I truly believe that if there had been blogging back in the 90s and early 2000s, I would never, never have ended up a published author. I would have been blogging!
2) A DVD and a bowl of ice cream (Moose Tracks or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough). An episode of Stargate or Stargate Atlantis works for me or even an old Big Valley episode. There's something about watching a movie that makes me relax.
3) A good book (I'm reading The Hiding Place right now) and about 6 chocolate chip cookies.
4) And I love to tweak and play with my templates on HSB and on my website. Very relaxing but the time gets away from me!
A favorite verse that helps me focus on resting in the Lord: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31
This is great! I'm excited to share what I think is a fantastic way to help the little kids learn their "fact families" in a fun and easy way. And it works! Here's what you need:
1) One deck of standard playing cards.
2) One child, age 7 and up
*******************
Here's what you do:
1) Remove all the face cards (Jacks, Queens, and Kings)
2) Explain to your child that the Ace is the same as the number 1
3) Decide which "fact families" you want to work with that day. I call this game "MAKE 5" or "MAKE 6" or whichever fact family I want to drill for the day.
For example, let's say I want to work on all the "fact families" for 8. I find all the cards in the deck---Aces through # 8. Then I shuffle those cards only and deal them out between my child and me. We stack the cards in a pile in front of each of us (this game played best on the floor).
Next, my child picks the card on top of his pile and lays it face up between us. Then I do the same with a card of my own. If the 2 cards "make 8" (like a 5 and a 3), whoever slams their hand down first gets both cards. If the cards are say a 4 and a 2, they don't "make 8" and we leave them alone. Then the child adds a new card to the face-up line and quickly sees if THAT card can match any of the others already exposed to "make 8." (I fake it and let my child get a head start on figuring it out. In the beginning, it takes them a while to make the connection). If they hesitate too long, I grab the matching cards.
The kids LOVE this game! We start with "make 5" which is pretty easy. And it goes all the way to "make 10" eventually. The beauty of this game is that they end up "seeing" the fact families and stop adding in their heads. They associate certain numbers (like 4 and 3) to a "7." Better than flashcards, I tell you!
Hope this has given you a practical and fun game. They beg to play it, and want to play it over and over again!
What a great Homeschool Memoir theme this week! We're to share about a favorite field trip.
Oh, dear! Where do begin . . .
This is one of my personal favorites. We've been here twice, and each time it is memorable!
WARNING: If you’re afraid of the dark, do NOT read this entry! If you don’t like cold breezy places, do NOT read this entry! If you want to find out about apes living in caves, you won’t learn it from this blog. However, if you are full of adventure, like to explore deep, dark interesting places, or love to read about volcanoes, today's blog entry is for you. It’s all about lava tubes.
Lava tubes? Volcanoes? Ape Cave? Is there a connection here? The answer is: YES! The Ape Cave is the name of the longest lava tube in North America and the second longest lava tube in the world. You can visit this underground wonder at Mt. St. Helens. Yes, that's the volcano that erupted on May 18, 1980. Lots of people visit the remains of what was once a perfect, snow-capped "ice cream cone" mountain in SW Washington.
Mt. St. Helens before the 1980 eruption
Mt. St. Helens after the 1980 eruption
Fewer travel to the south side of St. Helens and stroll into the mouth of a huge cave, down a path, and descend 40 feet of metal stairs to "monkey around" in the dark, hollowed-out remains of a tunnel once filled with lava! The lava shot through the tube so fast that it left behind the hardened, round shell of cooled lava--just like a straw.
Gulp! The entrance to the Ape Cave. It's always 42 degrees down there--summer or winter.
In addition, the lava caught the surrounding forest on fire, but the lava hardened before the trees burned up, so there are "mini" lava tubes throughout the forest.
Andrew loves going inside the Ape Cave, but Ryan is less certain.
However, Ryan loves the "mini" lava tubes (where the tree trunks used to be).
This is part of the 2 and 1/2 mile long Ape Cave. Looks light? Look again. This is a stock photo. The Ape Cave gives new meaning to the biblical verses about being "...cast into outer darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Believe me, Ryan was doing his share of teeth-gnashing and actually refused to go down the second time we visited the Ape Cave. There is no place blacker in all the earth than being here with our Coleman lantern turned off. When Jesus talked about being the Light of the world, I wonder if He was comparing the darkness of the world with a place as black as the Ape Cave lava tube . You don't realize that we never truly experience a total absence of light in our daily lives!
So if you ever get the opportunity to visit Mt. St. Helens, take the time to drive to the south side and visit the Ape Cave.
Oh...and the name? A local boy scout troop who were the first to explore the cave named it after themselves (The Mt. St. Helens Apes). Where they got their troop name is another story....
I love that Home school Family YouTube! I saw it months ago, and this is a clever HSM. Clever for some, I think. But maybe not so clever for me. I used to write new lyrics to old songs. Once I rewrote the lyrics for "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast to reflect a home school theme for modeling the latest in home school fashions for a convention. Hwever, that was a long time ago. We'll see if I can do it now.
"A (Pre) Home School Family"
(To the tune of "The Addams Family")
Three daughters went to school,
We followed all the rules,
Don't we look so cool?
A "pre" home school family.
My daddy was a teacher,
My great-grandad a preacher,
We three girls are featured
As a "pre" homeschool family.
Now we're grown and married,
Our lives are full but harried,
Four babies each we carried,
We're three home school families.
OK, I've got things to do, so this is as good as it gets. Three verses. We three older girls all home school (or home schooled, since some of us have grown kids) our children.
Where do we like best to study with our kids (or in my case, my grandkids?) Pictures are better than long descriptions, so I'm happy to dig up some favorite study spots from past and present:
First, some past favorites:
The floor is one of our more popular study spots. Especially good for making time lines that stretch from 3,000 B.C. to 1980 A.D.
We tried the individual study desks in each child's room for a while. This really helped the older kids escape what you see here: Baby Andrew wanting to get a head start on his education. He occasionally slipped by and took over their seats.
Fast forward. Baby Andrew grew up and took over the room when big brother moved out. I do like the non-distraction idea for the teens in their own rooms. Note: The "Halo" was photoshopped in for an earlier purpose of this photo. He wasn't really allowed to play video games during school time!
And the ever-versatile kitchen table. My all-time favorite spot for the younger children. It has so many uses: eating meals, keeping the schoolwork all in one place, and dissecting worms and other appealing creatures as opportunities arise.
Fast forward to the present. Two of Kristel's (girl from above) little ones now come over 4 days a week to learn to read. The kitchen table is still #1 in my book for best study spots. Note the M&Ms for good formation of letters.
Ah! Food! What a great HM theme this week. Click the graphic to find examples of snacks that will supply you with ideas well into the next decade.
For me snacks can be summed up into two categories:
1) Snacks to eat while reading a good book, and
2) Snacks to eat while watching a good movie.
Other than that, I try and stay away from eating snacks between meals. You younger ones can eat all day long. We older ones can't afford to do that--calorie-wise.
My all-time favorite snacks are as follows:
1) Chocolate chip cookies. . . .soft *to be eaten by by threes and fours, if there are any left after the dough is sampled* (and I don't care a whit about raw eggs in dough. I have 4 healthy kids to attest to the fact that the raw egg scare is...in my opinion....highly overrated!). I don't make these cookies any longer, but the kids always loved helping me. They are definitely not healthy. I never believed in making them with whole-wheat flour, because that sort of defeats the purpose of a cooky, if you ask me.
2) Popcorn . . . the real stuff . . . with butter. *mouth waters thinking about it* Sometimes a large bowl can last me half a book or a quarter of a movie. I try to be good now days and go without the butter, but it's difficult.
3) Granola . . . my own recipe. This is actually healthy, and I have written out the recipe below because it is tasty and healthy and easy.
4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup sweetened coconut
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped pecans, almonds, or other nuts
1/2 cup oat bran (if available)
Mix well.
Combine 1/2 cup honey and 1/2 cup canola or olive oil. Slowly drizzle into the mixture while beating with a hand mixer until distributed evenly. Spread onto a cooky sheet (with edges). Bake at 300 for 10 minutes. Stir. Bake another 10 minutes. Stir. Bake another 8-9 minutes. Remove and immediately dump it into a large bowl for cooling. Stir occasionally while it cools so it doesn't stick together. Store in an air-tight container. Can't wait to go around and see what y'all have for your snacks.
Oh...News flash! I'm having a book giveaway on my Circle C blog. In honor of the official release of book 4, San Francisco Smugglers, I'm giving away an autographed book and an authentic little Chinese doll from China. Click here for details and to enter the giveaway: CIRCLE C BLOG.
"Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Silver-white winters that melt into spring,
These are a few of my favorite things!"
************* Sung with a slightly British accent to reflect the British spelling of "favorite" in this week's meme. LOL
My favorite things? Oh, boy! Hang on. The longer you live the longer the list, so mine's long, but I will limit it to a readable length.
1. The Sound of Music!Not so much because it's a favorite movie, but it reflects my favorite time of life. Being 12 years old was my favorite thing (and I still am 12 on the inside). I saw this movie in the theaters when it first came out, memorized all the songs, and still remember them. In our before-school chorus we learned them, and it stamped the love of musicals on my life.
2. Little Children. I love little (and big) children! Maybe that's why I'm a children's author. I love the things they say and do. For example: my 5-year-old granddaughter began her school journey a couple weeks ago. (My DD homeschools but my DS has chosen to send Kaetlyn to school. In her case, this is a wise decision, and she's charmed them all already). She needed to use the bathroom during P.E., so the teacher gave permission. She ran into the girl's bathroom, but returned 15 seconds later yelling, "There's a spider in the bathroom!" (she hates spiders). The teacher, quick as a flash, replied, "It's all right, Kaetlyn. The spider probably just needs to go to the bathroom." Apparently satisfied, Kaetlyn ducked into the bathroom. A few minutes later she ran back out exclaiming, "But it's a BOY spider in the GIRLS' bathroom!"
3. Mountains. "The mountains and hills shall break forth into singing." And that's how I feel when I see the mountains. I grew up with "my" mountain always near--majestic Mt. Rainier. Right now we have 14 acres at 3,000' with higher mountains all around. My friend loves the ocean. The ocean's OK, but I love the mountains! I dread the day when Mt. Rainier finally does a "Mt. St. Helens" on us, not so much because of the destruction (which will be bad, of course) but because it will no longer be Mt. Rainier (seen Mt. St. Helens lately? The beautiful lady is ugly now). 4. Eating popcorn and watching an exciting movie in the evening. This is a rare treat, as I think I've seen most of the movies worth watching, and only a handful have a date later than 2000. I would have loved LOTR more if I hadn't read the series. But I knew what was going to happen so it lost a bit of the adventure. Same with Narnia.
5. Eating popcorn and reading a good book....anytime! This is a rarer treat, as it takes time to find a book that really grabs me. I remember one series, The Zion Covenant, that did just that. I couldn't put it down. After six books I still wanted more! I was so impressed that I created a years-worth of a unit study for my 2 high school kids based on this series (yes, we had to make up our own back in those days). To this day, My DD says, "That was the best homeschooling year ever!"
I could go on, but I've got to sign off for now. Thanks for this fun meme today!
To my shame, I can't find any recent pictures of this angel. 
You can visit this underground wonder at Mt. St. Helens. Yes, that's the volcano that erupted on May 18, 1980. Lots of people visit the remains of what was once a perfect, snow-capped "ice cream cone" mountain in SW Washington. 
Mt. St. Helens before the 1980 eruption
Mt. St. Helens after the 1980 eruption
Gulp! The entrance to the Ape Cave. It's always 42 degrees down there--summer or winter. 
Andrew loves going inside the Ape Cave, but Ryan is less certain.
However, Ryan loves the "mini" lava tubes (where the tree trunks used to be).
This is part of the 2 and 1/2 mile long Ape Cave. Looks light? Look again. This is a stock photo. The Ape Cave gives new meaning to the biblical verses about being "...cast into outer darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Believe me, Ryan was doing his share of teeth-gnashing and actually refused to go down the second time we visited the Ape Cave. There is no place blacker in all the earth than being here with our Coleman lantern turned off. When Jesus talked about being the Light of the world, I wonder if He was comparing the darkness of the world with a place as black as the Ape Cave lava tube . You don't realize that we never truly experience a total absence of light in our daily lives!
Can't wait to go around and see what y'all have for your snacks.
