I'm In It For The Long Haul - Homeschool Blogger

Thanksgiving

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:15:00 -0600

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. In our home, Thanksgiving is about getting to spend time with our family -- either immediate or extended. All of the trappings of other holidays are set aside for Thanksgiving. There is no emphasis put on gift giving/receiving so we aren't going broke and aren't feeding the greed machine that Christmas and birthdays can easily feed. It's in the Fall (my favorite time of year). Here in Texas the weather is usually gorgeous. You might want to wear long sleeves but a jacket is usually not absolutely necessary. The young ones (and old ones if they want) can play outside without freezing or sweating. It's just a good holiday at a good time of year. I love it!

We have entered into a phase of our lives that makes celebrating Thanksgiving as a family challenging. We have a son and daughter in-law that live on the west coast, a son going to school on the east coast and we are in the middle. We have not been completely together (our immediate family) in a few years. Last year, we were missing both of those on either coast. It really saddens me that we no longer have the flexibility to get together like we used to.

This year, the son on the east coast is driving in to spend Thanksgiving with us. There will be one other event added just before Thanksgiving. I will be spending 3 or 4 days with my sister while she recovers from surgery. So, with my east coast son and myself coming home the day before Thanksgiving, I decided I needed to get organized.

Some year, in the recent past, I wrote down a menu and a list of what I needed to do to prepare the Thanksgiving meal. I have hung on to this list and referred to it ever since. For a meal that is basically the same every year, it seems smart to not "reinvent the wheel" every time it rolls around. So, I'm going to put my plan on my blog so I can refer to it even if I'm not at home. I plan to include recipes where they are needed.

Our family has a feud every year over which Sweet Potato Casserole to make. Danny and I like the one we picked up when we were living in Mississippi (brown suger/pecan topping), the boys like the one Danny and I both grew up with (marshmallow topping). They are both good but since there are more boys around here than the 2 of us, we'll probably do the marshmallow topping again this year.

The Menu:

Tony Chachere's Creole Butter Turkey
Mema's Cornbread Dressing
Mom's Homemade Yeast Rolls
Janet's Sweet Potato Casserole
Emeril's Scalloped Potato
James' Favorite Green Bean Casserole
Susie's Shoe Peg Corn Salad
Cranberry Salad
Iced Tea
Chocolate Pie
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie

The Shopping List:

turkey
corn meal
eggs
milk
refrigerator (canned) biscuits
flour
margarine
sweet potatoes
brown sugar
chopped pecans
green beans
cream of chicken soup
french fried onion topping
shoe peg corn
fritos
red/green/yellow pepper
jalapeno peppers
purple onion
sharp cheddar cheese
miracle whip
sugar
cranberries
vegetable shortening
unsweetened chocolate squares
apples
cinnamon
pumpkin (fresh or canned)
evaporated milk
tea bags
ice (preferably from Sonic)

The Plan:

Monday:

Go to the grocery store
Thaw turkey if it is frozen
Clean out refrigerator -- we'll need the space on Wednesday.

Tuesday:

Cook pumpkin (this year mine is already frozen and ready to go)
Cook sweet potato

Wednesday:

Bake cornbread (2 pans)

Prepare Mema's Homemade Crust

Triple the recipe -- Cook 2 pie crust shells for chocolate pie
                             Prepare 3 for pumpkin pie
                             Prepare 1 for pecan pie
                             Prepare bottom and top crust for Apple pie
                             Save scraps for the kids to make crust cookies

Prepare Betty Crocker's chocolate pies (at least 2) refrigerate after cooling
Prepare pumpkin pies (at least 3)
Prepare apple pie (just 1)
Put together casseroles (sweet potato and scalloped potato) refrigerate
Make cranberry salad -- refrigerate
Cut veges for shoe peg corn salad
Make Tea

Thursday:

Start Turkey
Start rolls - this should be done at least 3.5 hours before eating time.
Set table
Prepare coffee so it can be turned on when needed
Put dressing ingredients together -- begin cooking about 1.5 hours before eating time
Prepare green bean casserole -- begin cooking about 1 hour before eating time
Prepare shoe peg corn salad -- refrigerate -- don't add fritos until just before serving
Turkey should be done
Bake rolls
Carve Turkey
Turn on Coffee

Second Step -- Menu

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:13:00 -0500

School has been going on for 4 weeks now. Everything is running smoothly and we are very busy. One thing that really helps is the menu. I've done this off and on over the years and every time I get back to it I wonder why I ever let it slide.

I make a 4 week menu that we repeat every month. This allows me to have one less thing to think about. I make my grocery list from the menu each week and cook from it as well. This also eliminates the need of pricey convenience foods for the quick lunches we so desperately need. There are usually leftovers that we eat at lunch. By the end of the week, there is usually a selection of leftovers that keeps everyone in the house happy.

There are some recipes that I cook in bulk and freeze so I just have to make the mess and take the time to prepare occasionally. These are mainly the recipes that call for hamburger meat. I will also freeze beans. I buy the 10 lb tube of ground chuck for these meals. One week, the "tube of meat" made 5 meatloaves. Another week it made 4 recipes of chili. I made 3 recipes of taco meat out of one of the "tubes of meat". One "tube of meat" was browned and frozen in 1 lb portions to be used with spaghetti, casseroles or whatever else I might want browned ground meat for. I used a chuck roast to make a large batch of beef stew (I froze half).

Here is the menu as it stands now. There are only a few meals that we eat more than once in the month. There are occasional nights out that we either eat at a restaurant or at someone's home.

First Step -- Schedules

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:33:00 -0500

We are about to start school for the year. One of the most important things I have to do (for my sanity) is to get schedules ready for the kids and myself. I think I have come up with something workable. There doesn't seem too be too much free time but who said life would be leisurely? I will post them here for 2 reasons: someone might be interested to see what we do at or house and if they ever get lost around here, I'll know where I can find them.

It's Time To Be Thinking About School

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:10:00 -0500

It is that time again. I'm finding it a little difficult to settle down and get myself ready. With one son living in CA and another going to school in FL, I find myself more distracted than I did when they were all little and under one roof. This year I will have 4 students. My youngest is 6 so he will be considered a full-fledged home schooler. I will also be teaching son #3 for his last year at home. The other two are 13 and 8.

This year we will participate in a Charlotte Mason co-op. This is our 4th year to participate. It has been a blessing in many ways. We study Latin, Shakespeare, Art, Nature and Great Literature. The younger 2 boys have not been old enough to participate until this year. We are adding classes for the little brothers/sisters of the older kids as well as grandkids of some of the moms already involved. The little kids will be studying Latin, Shakespeare, Drawing, Art/Crafts, Nature, Violin and Art Appreciation. All of this will be done in short segments (Charlotte Mason style) so the little kids will be done in about 2.5 hours. The older kids will be in class for 4.5 hours.

I will be teaching a String Orchestra again this year. This is our 4th year for this as well. Last year, there were about 30 students involved. I'm not sure of the final count yet this year. There will be 3 groups meeting at 12:00 (1st year), 1:30 (2nd year) and 3:00 (3rd year and above). I do know that there will be 3 bass players in the 1st year group. That's a lot of big deep instruments. So far, there is 1 cello and 3 violins. The other two groups should remain pretty much the same.

Other things we're going to be doing this year? Andrew and Timothy will continue their instrument making (Luthier) lessons. Andrew finished his mandolin and Timothy finished his violin. Andrew has already started work on a 5 string viola. Timothy has been learning how to rehair bows (we've had several around here for him to practice on). He hopes to make a cello but will probably work on another violin.

Benjamin and Jonathan are working on learning the piano and will be learning violin in the co-op. Benjamin still needs work on his reading skills. Jonathan wants to learn about inventors. We'll probably start off the year with a study of Benjamin Franklin. Then, if the interest is still high, we'll study Thomas Edison.

Timothy needs to officially start his high school career this year. He's done a few high school level classes but this year, it's for real. He'll be doing Alg 1, Biology, English (Gray book from LLATL), History/Geography of the Bible and the stuff from co-op. He will be learning the bass (one of the 3) in the 1st year orchestra, playing viola in the 2nd year orchestra and cello in the 3rd year orchestra.

Andrew is the one finishing his high school career this year. He is going to finish the Writing Strands series, Apologia's Physics, Notgrass Government, work on clepping out of some college classes, take his SAT and do the stuff from co-op. He will also be in the orchestra. He's going to learn violin with the 1st year group, bass with the 2nd year group and viola with the 3rd year.

So, what am I going to do this year? Other than facilitate all of this activity, I will be teaching Bible class twice a week (early elementary), I have a "how to teach Bible class" session planned in a nearby town in September, teach private violin lessons, and attempt to keep my house in some sort of order.

Now that I've written it all down, maybe I'll have the strength and courage to get it going. Our official start date for co-op is Sept 1, for orchestra is Sept 14 and for school is probably going to be Aug 31. Where did the summer go?

The First Home School Mom I Ever Knew

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:39:00 -0500

Here is a note I wrote for Facebook. I thought I would share it here as well:

My mom made a comment on my most recent status that got me thinking. She made the comment that she wish she had home schooled us kids. Thinking back on our school years, Mom was the first home school mom I knew. No, we didn't stay home from public school, but that didn't stop her from teaching us at home.

My first memory of mom teaching me was when I was 3 years old. Mom took a poster board and drew a music staff with all the notes on it. She sat us down in front of the poster and proceeded to teach us to read music. I don't know how often this happened or how long we did it but I learned to read music when I was 3 years old. That is a skill that has brought me much joy and even extra spending money throughout my adult life.

I also learned to read early because of Mom. She must have Read Dr Seuss a hundred times. I remember sitting on the couch in our house in Pampa. My 2 sisters were at school. I guess my little brother was taking a nap. I was trying to read one of Dr Seuss' books (Are You My Mother was my favorite). I would read a word or 2 and hop down off the couch, run to the kitchen where mom was and ask her what a word was. I would go back to the couch, read a couple more words and go back to ask mom what a word was. She was always patient with me, told me what I wanted to know and let me go on trying to do it by myself. I remember people listening to me read and commenting that I was lucky I had learned to read with phonics. I didn't learn to read with anything except a mom that loved to read and read and read to me -- no fancy curriculum.

I recall Mom always being willing to help me with my homework. I was the kind of kid that loved math, loved school, loved home work. What I wanted from Mom was for her to write out math problems so I could do practice my math facts at home. She didn't need a fancy computer or a workbook to help me with this. I would get a piece of paper and a pencil and while she was fixing supper ask her to write down math facts for me. She stopped what she was doing and wrote out a page of math facts. She wasn't one that loved math but I did and she encouraged me to do well in it.

Mom didn't limit her "home school mom" tendencies to book work. She believed in teaching us or finding someone else to teach us life skills. I remember going to JC Penneys one evening a week and learning how to knit. She taught me to crochet. She was always willing to buy me some fabric and a pattern so I could sew. It didn't bother her that I was going to be using her sewing machine. She didn't mind if I made a mess. She didn't even care if I finished the project or not. She encouraged me to try something new. In my adult years I have sewed for fun and profit.

Even though Mom didn't technically home school us, she definitely has a home school mom's heart and probably her willingness to teach us what she knew or to find someone else to teach us what we wanted to know planted that first seed of a desire to home school in my own heart.

Thanks Mom.

We Hit The Flooring Running...or Was It Creeping?

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 08:13:00 -0600

Yesterday was our first official day of school. We actually started Monday with our co-op but that was not as hard to start as yesterday was. Monday night, after co-op, I took a long bubble bath so I could do some hard thinking about the rest of our school year. I came out very relaxed and slightly motivated to get going.

As I mentioned in my last entry, I have a scheduling conflict on Tuesday mornings so we didn't get started until after lunch. I was okay with that. In fact, I am not a morning person, so it worked great for me. My kids, who are not morning people either but also don't like change, were not as thrilled. We started at 1:00 and finished a little after 5:00. We got almost everything done and a few new things added as well.

One thing I accomplished yesterday that I never seem to have time to do was teaching my 2 youngest their piano lessons. That always seems to get pushed to the side. I really want to make sure they get regular lessons from now on. They are both ready and willing.

Today, we're going to start at 8:30 (10 minutes from now) and probably finish by lunch. That is, I will finish by lunch. They may have other work to do.

So, we hit the floor creeping yesterday and are revving it up to a solid run this morning.

In between The Holidays

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:27:00 -0600

Here I am smack dab between two of the biggest holidays of the year. Christmas is behind us, New Years is ahead. I don't have a thing scheduled to do and I am taking full advantage of it.

For the first time in our 17 years of home schooling, we took the month of December off. I hadn't planned it that way, it just kind of happened. I just couldn't see us really getting anything done. At least, not done well. We were expecting #2 son home from college. I knew once he walked through the door life would not be the same around here. We were busy with holiday festivities and besides all that, I was tired.

Do you ever just get tired of home schooling? I do. I did. In times past, I would just keep on going. Trying to get things done even though my heart wasn't in to it. I would end up getting frrustrated and so would the kids. I was too tired to deal with a bunch of frustrated kids. So, we took the month off. I'll let you know come May and probably even June if we'll ever do that again. The reason I never took December off before is because I knew that once June got here, I wouldn't want to be doing school anymore. Ever since the kids have gotten in the upper grades and are fully aware of the PS schedule, they don't want to do school in the summer. I've tried doing school through the summer but I didn't like it either. There was always just too much going on to try and do school. So this time we'll see if we can get it all done by the end of May or not.

One thing this December break has done for me is to give me a chance to start again come January. We were having a great year. There wasn't really any problems but now we'll get to start again and even have a different schedule or change of strategy if necessary.

One thing I plan on changing is another thing I've never done before. I've been on Weight Watchers since June. It has been very hard for me to keep motivated since school started in September. I was attending meetings on Tuesday mornings during the summer. I really liked going then. The only other time to go in this area is Monday night. Since school started, I had decided to start going on Monday night. That meant I had to stay in town after being there all day with co-op and orchestra activities. Every other week I couldn't stay for the meeting because I had a ladies' Bible class. It was hard.

So, my new plan is to go to Weight Watchers on Tuesday morning and start school after lunch. We did it a couple of weeks in November. The boys weren't too excited about it but I really need to do this for me. I might even try to get the grocery shopping done before I get home. But then, I might not. That would end up taking the whole day and we wouldn't get school started until 3:00. I don't think that would work.

My schedule starting January is:

Monday: Co-op Day
10:00 teach Latin
10:30 enjoy the other mom's company at co-op while kids take classes (or go run some errands)
1:30 teach beginning string orchestra
3:00 teach advanced string orchestra
4:30 go home

Tuesday:
9:00 AM Weight Watchers
10:00 AM Go home?
11:30 AM lunch
12:00 start school
3:00 or 4:00 finish school

Wednesday:
8:30 Start School
12:00 Lunch
3:30 Possibly start 2 new piano students
7:00 Bible class

Thursday
8:30 Start School
12:00 Lunch
1:30 -5:30 Teach Violin lessons

Friday 8:30 Start School
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Friday Fun Activites (if any are schedule)

Meme's Dressing

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:11:00 -0600

Here is a family favorite of ours. It comes from the kitchen of my husband's grandmother (Meme).

Pan of cornbread (I use the one in Better Homes and Garden Cookbook)
Can of Buttermilk Biscuits (cooked)
1 1/2 bunch Green Onions -- Cut up
2-3 stalks Celery -- Cut up
Salt/Pepper (to taste)
1+ Tablespoons Sage (I use at least 2)
2 cans chicken broth (I use broth from roasted turkey)
4 eggs (beatin)
1 cup milk

Crumble breads in bowl.
Mix in Vegetables and seasonings
Bring broth to a boil -- Add to bread
Stir broth, eggs and milk into bread mixture.

Cook in 350 oven stirring every 15 minutes for 1 hour
If dry, add more milk, If too moist add more bread

Overscheduling

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:42:00 -0500

I am probably the world's worst about over scheduling when it comes to home schooling. I know I'm not alone. I hear moms talking about what all they're doing in a year and I know they are over doing it. I have even tried to talk customers out of buying curriculum because they are trying to do 2 or 3 math curricula at the same time, or they want to do 2 or 3 different language arts curricula at the same time. It is so tempting. There is so much good stuff out there to do. We don't want our kids to miss out on anything so we over schedule.

This year, my 7 year old is going to do some US geography. Now, in years gone by, I would've been determined that this little guy was going to learn all 50 states and he was going to do it in one school year. I would've planned all kinds of outings, meals, books, movies and crafty things to go with each state. I would've started the year off with lots of enthusiasm and zeal. By the second week, after many tears and arguments, I would've given up on US geography. Then I would've gotten really upset at myself for not getting it all done.

One of the nice things about home schooling for so many years and with so many children is that I get a chance to do it over. This year will be different. I plan on studying US geography with my 7 year old. Instead of barely touching on all 50 states, we will be looking at 7. We will have the opportunity to do this at a more relaxed pace and get more in depth. Hopefully, we'll maintain enthusiasm and minimize the tears.

So, how do you choose 7 states out of 50? Well, the first one is obvious -- Texas. It's not just because we live here. Texas is a really cool state to study. It has some great stories to read about, some great food to eat (like we don't eat it all the time) and a recognizable shape that should be easy to spot anywhere. Okay, enough about Texas. What are the other states? He has one brother that lives in Florida and one that lives in California. We'll do those states as well. Then, we'll do the states that border Texas -- New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Now those 7 states look much easier to handle than all 50 states.

So, I've learned my lesson about over scheduling and will never do it again, right? You should see what I have scheduled for the other kids. I'll write all about it in a future post. Until then, don't over schedule!!!

Godless China vs Christian USA

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:03:00 -0500

The Olympics are here. I have always been fascinated with the Olympics. It is amazing what all those people from all over the world can train their bodies to do. On thing I've always wondered is how each sport chooses the type of clothing they will wear.

Why, for instance, does the men's volleyball team wear shorts that almost touch the knee and a shirt while the women's volleyball team wears short short shorts and skin tight tops that only cover what is absolutely necessary.

Why does the men's gymnastic team wear long pants with their tank top while the women wear a bathing suit?

Why, all of a sudden, are the swimmers wearing more clothing than most of the other sports?

I've heard discussions about sports in clothing. I hear people say that they need to make sure that they don't wear anything that will cause them to lose speed, strength, momentum etc. If this were true, then aren't the men's volleyball teams and the men's gymnastic teams giving themselves a disadvantage by wearing too much clothing? It must be something else. There must be some other reason they all dress as they do.

I'm straying from the topic in my title. I was watching the women's volleyball the other day. There was the US team in their "barely there" shorts and skin tight, skimpy tops, bouncing all around the court. The reporter began discussing the fact that China was pretty new to the sport of volleyball. He went on to say that China was having the most trouble adjusting to the dress of the sport. The screen then switched to the Chinese team. Now, keep in mind, these people do not claim to be God-fearing. They do not even try to pretend to be Christians. What were they wearing? They had shorts that went just past their knees and a tops that not only looked more comfortable but covered up everything. There was a short clip of a Chinese girl saying that she would not even think about wearing the clothing the other teams were wearing. It was too immodest.

Hmmm.....

Godless China wearing modest clothing vs Christian USA dressed in nothing more than colorful underwear. I am ashamed of our Olympic teams for their lack of dress.

Back to the men vs women clothing issue. Why would they choose to dress the way they do? Is it because the men can compete better when they have more clothing that might hinder their strength, speed or momentum? Are the women really at an advantage with the clothing they wear? Or is it all about sexual appeal. Our society expects women to flaunt their bodies. There is no reason why the women gymnasts can't wear proper modest clothing like the men. There is no reason why the women's volleyball team can't wear proper modest clothing like the men.

What about the swimmers? Why are they all of a sudden more modest this year than in years gone by? In the past I've been afraid that the suits the men were wearing were going to come right off? Remember Mark Spitz? Scientist have now discovered that more covering is better than less in the water. In fact, the swimmers are breaking world records right and left because of the new swim suit. Of course, they aren't dressing more modestly for modesty's sake but it is nice to watch the swim team compete without seeing so much bare skin.

Just a side note: I've read a discussion recently online about modesty that states we should dress according to the dress of all those around us. If we are at a ball park and everyone is wearing shorts, it is perfectly acceptable to wear shorts. If we are at a swimming pool and everyone has on swim suits, it is perfectly acceptable to wear swim suits. The Chinese girls' volleyball team didn't go along with this way of thinking. They stood out a little at the Olympics. In fact, they got world wide TV coverage because of their modest dress. Some would say that was immodest of them to stand out that way. I don't think so. If our modest dress makes us stand out in the crowd, so be it. We are to be different from the world. We are to be a peculiar people.