I've been considering taking a break from my homeschool blog for some time now. I just have a difficult time coming up with much to write about that is interesting to anyone. I am keeping my blog for the time being so I can comment on others' blogs (I'm a better blog reader than blogger ).
It's that time of year again. The time of year that I get anxious for school to be over for another year. I feel like I haven't changed a lot in that respect through the years. LOL Although, I don't have the utter dread that I had back when I was in school, I just look forward to summer vacation, even though it still looks a lot like winter from where I stand.
So, I've begun looking things over and seeing how much we have left. Fortunately, ds 10 is almost done with his whole science curriculum for the year, so we are working on some fun experiments and things. I love the freedom to do that . He loves science so he comes up with his own experiments and projects a lot of the time. There are also some books and things I've seen on sites like Ambleside Online that I'd like to use, but I'm still trying to work them in.
My plan is to be able to sit down tomorrow and look things over, tweak plans, etc. I have my brother's 6 kids coming over tomorrow so no school!! Not sure how much I'll get done, either I guess, but I plan to try! They all play pretty well together so it is a nice break.
We had a nurse come to do some medical testing this morning at 5:30 am (for Life Insurance purposes). So, it went like this...
We were supposed to fast for 12 hours which is really no big deal except that I am nursing and I never make it from supper to breakfast without a snack normally, but tell me I can't eat and I started feeling hungry right after supper... So, then, we go to bed and as Isaac's new custom is, he began waking up as soon as I just got to sleep. He takes his nuk and I start to drift off again, only to have him wake again. So, I am finally able to really go to sleep sometime close to midnight. At 1 am, all that water we were told to drink got to DH so we both took a bathroom break. Back to bed, aaaahhhh.... Next thing I know, DH is out of bed exclaiming that we were late and I was trying to move. I began telling him that Isaac hadn't even woken up yet and I was concerned that he would wake and I would be trying to nurse and give blood at the same time or some other such scenario. So, I ask DH what time it is and he says 3:25. OK, so I first hear the 25 part of that and begin to try to jump out of bed, but a quick look at the clock confirms that it is indeed 3:25. I pointed this out to DH and he said, "Oh, never mind, go back to sleep, sorry". Seriously. (He, saw the 25 part and was so concerned we'd oversleep, he assumed we did.) So, then, once I finally believe that I truly can fall back asleep, I did... for an hour. At 4:30, I woke up to check on the time. Back to sleep. At 5 am, Isaac was up and I nursed him back to sleep and got up. Hungry. Tired. As we sit down to wait for the nurse to come, Issac wakes and DH and I had the opportunity to switch off holding him between blood tests, etc. At 6:30, DH had left for work and I laid back down hoping that Isaac would go back to sleep for awhile. We got another 30-45 minute nap before Isaac was up for the day. Why is it that on one of Isaac's better nights, I still can't sleep well?
At least breakfast and some caffeine have made me feel a bit better. Ready for a day of potty training, homeschool, laundry, baby care and cooking? I'll get back to you on that.
One of the things we are changing around here is breakfast. I just stopped buying cereal because as long as we have it, they eat it. So, I make bread, muffins, eggs, etc. So, this morning, the kids had organic eggs with homemade organic whole wheat toast and they were loving it. So, I told them that I hoped that the fat and protein would help them focus and DD12 replies, "you tricked us!" LOL
We've been working on health around here. Or, should I say *I've* been working on health. I actually enjoy learning about health, nutrition, alternative treatments and how the human body works. My sister in law tells me all the time that I should go to school to be a doctor since I get so frustrated with the medicine or surgery approach to everything. No thanks. Anyway, the problem tends to come in when I learn things and know how we should do things but the actual "doing" of it is prohibited by finances, time, etc. Resistance from family members contributes to this as well. So, I have been reading, researching, and working on meals that are healthy AND enjoyable for everyone. I've been cooking, baking and all around messing up my kitchen a lot. LOL It is my hope that this will become more routine and it won't take so much time because, frankly, I was busy and tired before. LOL
As I try to type, I am also trying to read to dd2. "Read that mom, read that" is something I hear CONSTANTLY. I guess I just don't have the peaceful moment to blog that I thought. So, I'm off to read The Mitten.
I love "teaching" the whole preschool/kindergarten age group. It's been exciting seeing my 2 year old learn so much. This is the age that so much is learned in play. She knows many colors through play with blocks and similar toys. We ask her all the time, "what color is this?" asking about things in books, her clothes, her toys, etc. She's learned to categorize things by color as we did with these links, too.
Of course, we had to let the baby in on the activity. He got the black and white ones.
She also enjoys building things with blocks or these stacking cups which allows us not only to cover colors, but terms like little and big, or bigger, biggest, etc.
She also LOVES books, so I have been pointing out words to her and she now realizes that it is the words I am reading, not the pictures. She's also learned that the words are made out of letters. Sometimes, it amazes me how quickly they pick things up! Her favorite books right now are Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see? (Which I have memorized and can "read" from the other room. LOL She will now "read" it herself, too. Which I find ADORABLE. ) and The Real Mother Goose which I happened to remember seeing on Ambleside Online's Year 0 when I saw it at a garage sale this past summer and snatched it up. I found some coloring pages for her from the Brown Bear book, too. Although, she seems to enjoy tracing her hand more than coloring! LOL
Counting is another thing we work on, and while she understands the concept, she still wants to start at 6 though... 6, 7, 8, 9, 6, 7, 8... LOL
What's really cool is that I see the older kids following my lead in talking to her about these things (and I have talked to them about basic pre-writing and pre-math skills). Yesterday, DD12 told DD2 to make a circle on her paper and I started to say, "she doesn't know what a circle is..." but she had the circle out before I could say that! LOL My bad.
I don't push anything, we are just having fun. I am very excited to continue this attitude of learning with her and her little brother since I began a more text book way of doing things with my oldest when they began 1st grade (thinking that I would miss something if I didn't). I remember so many using things like Five in a Row and I just didn't "get it" at that stage and didn't understand how they would learn everything that way, and now, I am strongly considering it (although I have a little while to think about it ;-).
Organization. That is not something that is a natural proclivity to either dd12 or myself. It's taken me years to come to a place where I have some understanding of my personality and how I can best use organizational techniques and personalize them. I've learned that printing off a bunch a pages for a three ring binder to make a planner that will magically get me organized not only doesn't work for me, but it frustrated and stifled me. So, I've learned through the years some basic things that work for me and I actually make my own pages for the most part, but I also don't see the need for a ton of pages. I am also careful not to push what I made on to my daughter since I know that she shares my "frustration factor". We've tried several things through the years for her and I still hear, "oh, I forgot" or "We were supposed to do THAT?!". Sigh.
I have a nice, zippered planner that I got years ago for about 75% off at an office supply store that was going out of business and I print out my half-sized calendar pages from donnayoung.org and I make whatever other pages that I need in Word. I've moved several times with this planner and I made my own checklists, etc with a template I made myself in Word. (Can you tell I like Word? LOL) This year, DD decided that she wanted pages like mine so I was so excited to put something together for her. My planner has nice dividers, but hers didn't have any so I made some for her and tabbed them. We printed out a couple of months worth of calendars from donnayoung.org and I asked her about several different forms for her to write her assignments in and came up with something she thinks will work. I think that if this works for her, we may need to switch her to a different binder since the rings are small and it makes turning the pages a little harder, but this was a cheap binder she got from a garage sale and she likes it because it holds pencils, etc so it's a good start.
Mine is on the left.
Our Calendar pages
(Her pages actually fit in there fine, but it doesn't look that way when it is open)
I made her the same page for her "To-do" divider as I have in mine.
Can you tell, I was a bit excited to do this for her? LOL I just hope that this can be the start of something good.
I've never done one of these and I have been thinking it might be fun, so here are 13 things I love about having kids in such a wide range of ages. (3 months to 14 years old)
- I have come to LOVE walking into the grocery store with all 5 kids and boggle people's brains. I still don't see what the big deal is since I know several people with more kids, but it still gets noticed. Let the nosy people crane their necks.
- I think it is fun to see the "older" children teaching the "younger" children things. Sometimes, they have a different perspective on things, and that can be good.
- When my first 3 were little. I can count the number of times on one hand that we had a babysitter. I felt left out of church activities, weddings, etc because kids weren't allowed so I couldn't go. I also felt like every place I did go, I brought a 3 ring circus with me. So, I LOVE having live-in babysitters. I try not to over do it, but it sure is nice when I have to run a kid somewhere, I can leave the little ones with a sibling instead of bundling them up. Dh and I can occasionally meet for lunch, and if there is an event that we need to attend without kids, we have that option. Of course, now, there doesn't seem to be as many. Isn't that the way it goes sometimes?
- When my 14-year-old ds calls from his Honduran mission trip and the only person he asks to talk to is his 2-year-old sister, I think that is priceless. (He was already talking to me, so that made it ok. ;-)
- I love seeing the different stages happening around me. Newborn through teenage years. It's sad on one hand to see how quickly they grow, but exciting at the same time.
- As the "older" children get older, it helps ease some of the sadness that comes with seeing your babies grow having little ones around. You may ask how I will handle it when the "younger" ones get older... grandchildren! LOL
- We call our first our "experiment". LOL The point is, we've learned a few things through the years and I feel like a better, more confident parent, and I am happy to have the opportunity to do it "a little better" this time. Maybe if I had 10 more, I'd have this down! LOL
- I have always LOVED introducing my children to their new sibling. It brings tears to my eyes every time. It was so special to share my pregnancies with my kids and to see them see the wonder of a quickly growing newborn first hand. My dd was even there when I delivered both my 2 year old and my 3 month old.
- I've told dd that what she sows, she will reap and with all the opinions she gave me when I was PG and had little ones, I am sure I'll have some comments for her in her future! LOL
- I love the fact that 3 of the children are potty trained and can bathe themselves so I can focus on the younger ones.
- I remember the days of trying to fit 3 kids in a shopping cart AND buy a weeks worth of groceries. I vowed each week to NEVER do it again, but the threat of a hungry toddler mutiny would drive me to repeat the whole traumatic ordeal once again. Now, not only do they have better carts for this adventure, I have help. :-)
- I've had such an opportunity to speak about parenting issues like breastfeeding, antibiotics, vaccines, birth interventions, etc into my children's lives in a way that is natural since I was at a stage where those issues arose and I could articulate my stand and why. Years down the road, it could be seen as "meddling".
Have you ever sat after getting all the kids in bed after a day of not having a moment to yourself, constant running, clingy-ness of toddlers and babies, temper tantrums, school, etc. and thought... I should accomplish something now since this place is a mess and there is nobody to undo what I do for a few hours anyway..., but just had nothing left?
Isaac slept that long! Yes, I promised him a pony! LOL He doesn't always do that, but he was up late last night because we were out shopping. I ran into his room this morning at 6:20AM to see if he was ok (yes, even though he is my 5th, I act like he's my first). He was slightly waking at the time so I grabbed him to nurse him, and he fell back asleep for awhile. I went to bed at 12 and that means I got 6 hours of UNINTERRUPTED sleep. Praise God!
Jan. 15, 2008 - My excuse for being absent from the blogosphere and what I've learned about curriculum... so far
O.K. so it's been a month since I have posted. I've spent a good deal of my computer time trying to plan the remainder of this school year, re-think what we are doing for history and a couple of other things and researching what to do for next year. I never seemed to get as far as I would like, since as soon as I had a moment to sit down at the computer, one or both of the younger ones would pull me away. We are dealing with jealousy from dd, I guess. She wants my attention, my help, my EVERYTHING, ALL THE TIME. If she can't get it one way, she will get it another. Sigh. And you know how busy 2 year olds are... So, I thought that I could spend some time in planning and researching during Christmas vacation and I would have help with the little ones since the kids weren't doing school and DH was home, but it didn't really work out that way. So, I really felt bad spending time blogging when I was begging for help and was stressing the extreme importance of my mission to my family (OK, it did get slightly dramatic when I got to the point of begging after staying up to 2 am just to get some uninterrupted time.)
So, that is my lengthy excuse for being absent. What did I learn about curriculum for next year? I can honestly say that I really enjoyed the security of doing one curriculum all the time since I didn't have a huge amount of wondering what I would do from year to year. Now, the minute I think I am doing one thing, I see something I don't really like, doesn't really work, etc and look for something else. History is the biggest problem for me. DS will be in 9th grade and needs something suitable for the high school years, but I really want to continue to teach the older 3 kids together if possible, and I'd really like to find something I can stick with the following years. So, one day I am ready to spring for Sonlight, the next, it doesn't look like that will work because we probably couldn't do it together with all 3 kids and Mystery of History would be different for DS than the other 2 as well. Tapestry of Grace looked great, but once I recovered from sticker shock, I decided to keep looking. TruthQuest looks interesting, but then I decide to see what Amblesideonline and Old Fashioned Education have on their sites and I spend WAY too much time looking through book lists (I LOVE these sites). Then, I decide that I like the idea of a guide to help, so I should opt for some sort of curriculum rather than a booklist. AHHH!! So, possibly, TruthQuest??? It seems that just when I think I may have something figured out, another option or idea presents itself and I learn more, or come up with something that I think could fit us that I never considered and I have to check that out... You get the idea. Fortunately, I began this whole contemplative process early enough that maybe I will come to a conclusion in time to get things together. Yeah, together, yeah, that's it...
For the second time in the last 8 weeks, I lost my voice. This is truly an annoyance to a mom. The first time, we took a break from reading out loud and concentrated on other things, but this time, I refused. We can't camp out on this book for so long. So, there I was trying to read Uncle Tom's Cabin with little voice and trying to do the dialect of the slaves. Not pretty! Yesterday I remembered librivox.org. I had used it for poems in the past, but I thought I would search to see if they had Uncle Tom's Cabin sound files and they did!! So, today, we listened to it read online instead of listening to me struggle through it. I think we all enjoyed it more. What a wonderful resource. If you haven't checked it out, you may want to do so. I think I will continue to use it for this book even when my voice is fully returned. It also helps to quell my desire to stop too frequently to discuss matters even though you can pause the sound file. I just choose to pause less, I guess when it is online.
My days, many times consist of nursing Isaac, changing his diaper and trying to get him to sleep. We have 2 kinds of days. Once in awhile, Isaac is really tired and I can just lay him in his crib and he will sleep (maybe a little mommy made white noise in the form of "shushing", but that is it). These days spoil me and I think how wonderful it is that he will do that since my 2.5 year old never has fallen asleep on her own, and it has been tiring. Many days, I spend most of my day trying to get Isaac to stay asleep without sitting and holding him the whole time so I can accomplish something. This backfires and usually I get him to sleep only to have him wake the minute I leave him and we start all over again. Much of my online time is done while nursing so I'm typing one handed.
Couple this routine with my desire to decorate for Christmas (and not knowing for sure what I will do since this is our first Christmas in this house), a very active 2 year old and my 7 year old niece who is staying with us this week and gets bored while the kids are doing school and keeps asking what she can do, I gave up for today. I told my niece that we wouldn't have school today and I would have her brother over today so they could see each other. (My brother and his wife as well as 2 of their 6 children are out of the country visiting her missionary parents.) They were so happy to play with each other. My hope is that my older kids will be freed up to help me out with the little ones and we can get some cleaning and decorating done and that everyone will have someone to play with, too. DH's schedule is basically 9 days on where we see him little and 5 days off. His time off is a couple of hours in the afternoon before he goes to work, so I need to occupy the kids in the evening as well. I think tonight's entertainment may just be driving around town looking at Christmas lights since we haven't done a lot of "fun" stuff this week. I really hope my dear niece doesn't go home and tell mom and dad how bored she was! LOL Of course, as a fellow homeschooling family with many children, they understand.
I think it is so funny how I get as excited as the kids get when we get a day off of school. LOL Now, I should probably stop blogging about it and get it done before Isaac wakes! How he is sleeping through all this noise, I'm just not sure (and how DH does this daily, I'll never know!!) .
I do not have a green thumb, at all. I married into a family that gardens. My in laws literally built a greenhouse on to their house. My brother and his wife can do beautiful things with landscaping, too, so I'm the oddball (who knew?? LOL). I am not an outside person and I don't get the relaxing effect many say a garden gives them (quite the opposite effect). The one thing that I have attempted in the plant world is to keep certain house plants happy. When I got African Violets, years ago, to bloom, I was on cloud 9. LOL Now, that I realize it really isn't too difficult, I still get excited when I see flowers start to come. One of the plants that I really wanted to get to bloom was a pointsettia. I bought a couple each year in full bloom at Christmas time and hoped that I could keep them and get them to bloom the next year. I proceeded to kill them. Sigh. Last summer, I got a pointsettia that wasn't blooming and I was determined to keep it alive (especially after my husband's supportive comment about how I always killed them ). Here's a pic of my results. To my amazement, and sheer joy, it bloomed and was beautiful.
And, a bonus was that my Christmas Cactus bloomed for the first time as well.
So, I am thrilled to report that my pointsettia is not only still alive, but starting to bloom once again.
It isn't there yet, but it is exciting watching it happen. My Christmas Cactus has buds all over, too. I hope they are blooming in time for Christmas.
Christine from Abundant Life Preparatory School tagged me. I've never been tagged before, so I hope I follow proper blogging etiquette.
I have to write seven weird things about myself. The rules are as follows:
Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. (O.K. it might not be 7 people for me....)
Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
1. I know a lot about Elvis Presley. Strange but true. I never set out to learn about him or memorize most of his songs, but mom was a fan and had most of his records (yes, records and even some 8 tracks ). If there was an Elvis special on tv, we watched it, etc. So, through the years, I have learned many random and useless facts about Elvis. I've even been to Graceland. I better stop now before you get scared and run far from my blog. LOL
2. I love chocolate. I'm hardcore. I've learned that many call themselves "chocoholics" and can be satisfied with something with a little chocolate in it or some sugary milk chocolate (or worse yet, white "chocolate" which isn't really chocolate). Me, no thanks. Don't give me something drizzled with a little chocolate, I'll pass. I want chocolate and the darker the better (ok, I don't really want it too far past 70% cocoa). If I have a DQ Blizzard, it MUST be in chocolate ice cream. I don't want a vanilla cone dipped in chocolate, but I'll take a chocolate one dipped in chocolate. Get the picture?
3. I don't eat fruit desserts, nor do I like cooked fruit. I love strawberries, plain. Fresh pineapple, plain. Pineapple upside down cake, no thanks. Granny Smith apple, yum, apple pie, no thanks. I don't want grapes in my chicken salad. No cherry sauce on my chocolate cake. No fruit with my meat of any kind. I don't mix chocolate with fruit. I don't put jelly with my peanut butter, either. When it comes to dessert, I usually pass unless it is something along the lines of something chocolate, pumpkin pie, carrot cake or pecan pie. I know it's weird.
4. Growing up, I only wanted 1-2 children. Children weren't looked at as blessings in our home. Now, I have 5 and I had to pray and believe God for most of them. When I told my dad that I was PG with my third, his reaction was, "you're kidding!" since he never expected me to have more than 1-2 kids.
5. I have big feet. Seriously. Size 12!! DH jokingly calls me "Sasquatch" since my shoe size in a men's shoe would be 1/2 size larger than his. I just say that at least my feet are long and slender since the rest of me isn't. LOL
6. I usually come up with nicknames and songs for my kids not that I try to do this, it just usually evolves from some variation of their name or some cute thing they did. This has caused me some ridicule from my older children. When we were considering naming Isaac, there was a Japanese character on a show DH and I watched who called the "Isaac" character "Mister E-zak". It stuck, and I call my little Isaac that all the time. Apparently, to my kids, it sounds like "Mystery sock". So, they tease me that I'm calling him a sock. Very funny.
7. I love forensic science. I've always had an interest in criminal justice especially where abnormal psychology was in play, (as a young teen, I wanted to be a psychiatrist and read tons on abnormal psychology in my spare time) but when I saw DH watching a documentary type show on forensics, I told him that I thought that was weird, who would want to watch a show that had autopsies on it!?! However, I began watching and loved how they could solve crimes using the smallest pieces of evidence and I was hooked. I guess it all comes down to loving to see a crime solved, and hoping for some kind of justice.
O.K. So, there it is. That was hard, not that I don't have weird or random qualities, I just can't think of them! So, now, I hereby tag..
Isaac had his worst night last night. Granted, this isn't a horrible night compared to other children, but he was up a lot more than normal. So, today, he can't keep his eyes open! Look at this...
Friend of Israel
I will bless those who bless you (Israel), and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:3)
).
have made me feel a bit better. Ready for a day of potty training, homeschool, laundry, baby care and cooking? I'll get back to you on that. 
). Here's a pic of my results. To my amazement, and sheer joy, it bloomed and was beautiful. 
