Apr. 17, 2009 - Bring Your Dad to School Day

I couldn't get the margins to scan right but this is a flyer I made for my daughter to give to daddy when he got home from work one day.  She and I had come up with the idea that it would be fun to have daddy sit and do some school work with her.  Well, when he announced he was taking a day off work, we decided it was time!

Unfortunately, I can't find the picture I took of Chloe and her dad sitting and racing through some math problems.   I will continue to look and hopefully be able to post it later.  They had so much fun!  Chloe especially enjoyed grading her dad's math problems! 

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Mar. 27, 2008 - Feeling Overwhelmed

I hit an emotional crisis a couple weeks ago.   The mounting pressures started causing me to cave.  Maybe you know the feeling.  I was feeling so overwhelmed!  I just didn't think I could take another day.  So what's the solution?  Enroll the kids in school?  No way!  I feel so strongly that homeschooling is what God wants me to do.   But adjustments definitely needed to be made.  I'm feeling much better today!

What did I do about it? 

Well, first of all, my wise husband has insisted that I withdraw from all the things I am serving in at church.  I am serving in several areas, all of which are run along with the "school year".  So, they will all be coming to an end in a couple of months.   What relief and joy I  feel to know that I will simply be transporting the kids to and from the "church" activities next year (AWANA, choir, VBS, etc) instead of working in them.   With 1 homeschooler and 3 pre-schoolers in the house, they suffer some neglect when I'm needing so much time preparing for church commitments.  Plus, the stress of having to find a substitute when I have a sick child keeping me home or to take them along anyway - uuggghh! Maybe after next year I will be able to get back into serving in church ministries. 

 I know a lot of my stress is self-induced. It's hard for me to let go of a super clean, super organized home.  I've learned to let so many things go.  But I haven't been able to learn to be content with it.  So it's not so much a time stealer anymore as it is a joy stealer.  I've got to figure out how to fix that!  Any suggestions?

I'm a very routine, schedule oriented person.  So a schedule is not necessarily what I need - I already have one!  But what I am doing is starting my schedule all over from hour one, task one.  I'm not done, yet.  What I have accomplished so far is to write down everything I feel the kids and I need to get done each day, including sleep.  Guess what?  It totals up to more than 24 hours!  God intends that the needful things be done in only 24 hours.  He's not going to change the number of hours in a day.  So, therefore, I have more to shed from my list of "to-do's".  This is not so easily done and is going to require some prayer because I feel it is all so crucial to be done!

Could some of the overwhelming feeling be attributed to the winter dragging on and on?  Where's the warmer weather!  We are sick of being inside! 

I also leaned on a friend for encouragement.   

I also just read Christine Field's book, Help for the Harried Homeschooler.  Harried I am!  The book was encouraging and put a breath of spring, fresh air into my homeschooling.

So, what have you done to de-stress yourself? 

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Dec. 12, 2007 - Perfect Square Poem

Chloe has been working on multiplication.  If anyone has any tips for getting this mastered, please let me know! 

In the meantime, we're putting some counting to song.  For instance, counting by 4's up to 40 we sing to the tune of "Yankee Doodle".   We sing counting by 7's up to 70 to the tune "Twinkle Little Star".

For counting by perfect squares up to 100, we've put it to a poem:

1,4,9

I would like to dine

16, 25

In a big beehive.

36, 49

I would not even whine

64, 81

When I get stung on my bun

100 times!!!!!

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Nov. 16, 2007 - Principal's Award

Last year, I struggled with coming up with ways to help principal daddy feel more involved in the homeschooling.  I tried a couple things but they didn't work at all.  I finally have something that works.  We have done this for several months now.......it's called "Report Night".

Report Night is every Friday night.  I give a synopsis on what each child has studied for the week.  They each show off to principal daddy some of their schoolwork.  I also give a behavior report.  The report includes a "show and tell" that includes things such as reciting a poem, singing a song, math demonstration, skit, etc.  The show and tell relates to their studies in some way. 

We finish off with the principal awarding the principal's award to a deserving child.

I purchased this award from Crown Awards online.  It's personalized with our school name on the back.  It cost a total of $13 for the ribbon, personalization, and shipping.

The principal's award gets hung on the child's bedroom door until the next week's report night.

In addition, I made a certificate for each of them to hang in their bedroom that keeps track of their awards.

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Oct. 24, 2007 - 50's Party

We're always looking for a reason to deviate from the norm - to create some new fun around here, especially since I'm not known as being overly fun.  

In the teacher store and teacher catalogs, I see stuff for celebrating the 100th day of school.  My daughter agreed that we should do that, too!  But 100 days seems so far away!  So, we decided that we would do a 50's Party!   Every 50th day that we get school done, we have a party!

Our first 50's Party was quite simple.  We just decorated a large piece of paper and placed it under the glass top of our kitchen table.

That's all I did, and yet the next day the kids were already asking me when the next 50's party is!  It has taken me so long to get this post up that now our next 50's Party is just 20 days away.  No, we're not counting or anything!

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Oct. 16, 2007 - Capable of Homeschooling

I love homeschooling.  I love teaching. 

But I've been wondering if all homeschooling moms love homeschooling?  Do all homeschooling moms love teaching?   I wonder this because I have heard more than once, "I could never homeschool.  I wish I could but I just don't have the patience". 

Do any of you homeschool even though you don't think you are "good at it"?  Do any of you homeschool even though you don't really enjoy it?  Or would it be true to say that if you don't think you can do it then don't?

I would really love to hear from you about this!  What do you think?

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Oct. 10, 2007 - Math Problems

This was not written by me.  It was an e-mail that was getting passed around.  It's funny, but sad because it's true.

Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl
took my $2 and I was digging for my change when I pulled 8 cents from my
pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3
pennies, while looking at the screen on her register.

I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters,
but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the
transaction to her, she stood there and cried.

Why do I tell you this? Because of the evolution in teaching math since the
1950s:

1. Teaching Math In 1950:
A logger sells a truck load of lumber for $100. His cost of production is
4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

2. Teaching Math In 1960:
A logger sells a truck load of lumber for $100. His cost of production is
4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

3. Teaching Math In 1970:
A logger sells a truck load of lumber for $100. His cost of production is
$80. Did he make a profit?

4. Teaching Math In 1980:
A logger sells a truck load of lumber for $100. His cost of production is
$80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Math In 1990:
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and
inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the
preservation of our wood lands. He does this so he can make a profit
of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class
participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels
feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers.)

6. Teaching Math In 2007:
Un hachero vende una carretad a de madera por $100. El costo de la
producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?

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