Our Montessori Journey - Homeschool Blogger

Blog Hopping Again

Thu, 16 Feb 2006 14:52:00 -0600

This blog is moving to: http://angelaboord.typepad.com/three_plus_two/

I have recently had an embarrassing moment. Before the babies were born, I opened an account with typepad and posted a few entries on a new blog. But then the babies were born and I let the blog slide. I figured that nobody was checking it anyway... but I had forgotten that I sent the URL to the welltrainedmind.com blog list.

Oops.

Anyway, because we're trying to clear up the bank account that I used to pay for the typepad account (one of the wonderful tasks of moving), I went to typepad thinking that I would cancel the account. And discovered that the site had gotten roughly 300 hits since I'd stopped posting on it.

So... I've decided that maybe I should just continue posting over there. I'm addicted to blogging, so maybe I'll post here and there, who knows. (It could happen.) For now, though, I think the typepad site will be my main blog.

You can also find me over on homesteadblogger.com at http://www.homesteadblogger.com/frozennorth.

(I did say I was addicted to blogging.)

Keeping track again?

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 07:25:00 -0600

well, I didn't keep track yesterday like I wanted to. I had a running narrative going in my head, but the babies kept me too busy to stop and write it down. The good thing about that was I got a lot of exercise -- bouncing, walking, bouncing, walking...

I put in an order for some fraction bars and circles yesterday. My 6 yo seems to be interested in fractions, and I don't really have anything for her to use on her own. Hopefully they'll come pretty soon. I also picked up some cross-stitch supplies last night at Walmart, which I hope to put out for the kids over the next few days. It's the only kind of sewing I know how to do, and I think they'd benefit from some handwork to teach concentration.

Keeping track of the Day

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 07:05:00 -0600

We got our copy of Practical Homeschooling last week, and one of the kids in their Day in the Life section was named Garrett, just like my oldest. I read it to the kids, and my daughter decided we should do the same thing with today.

So I'm keeping track of today. I hope we get something done!

Multiplication on the Checkerboard, Or Why My Brain Hurts

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 06:50:00 -0600

One or the other of the babies has been up since 4:30 AM, so I've been playing with the Montessori math games at

http://www.our-montessori.com/home.html.

I'm trying to figure out how to multiply with the checkerboard. It's tough! Especially since I was taught multiplication by rote. I have to stop and think about what I'm really doing with the bead bars, and so far, I haven't totally figured it out yet. One part of me wonders if this isn't needlessly complicated. Another part of me sees it as a game or a puzzle. Maybe it would lead to a deeper understanding of the why's behind the math... and it would definitely help a child who doesn't know his/her times tables yet to perform really complicated multiplication. So many times kids are ready for bigger concepts before they've memorized the facts. Keeping them on the facts can result in boredom and even a decline in confidence, since they never get to move on. (As was the case in my 6 yo daughter when I was on bedrest and all she did was flashcards with her grandmother.) Then they think they can't do anything harder because we're not showing them anything harder.

Not in all cases, of course. But I think it's a big hang up with multiplication in particular. Just because the quantities are so large.

The Prepared Environment

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 18:04:00 -0600

My husband had today off, so I went to Wal-Mart this afternoon and did some shopping. I got a low shelf for $20, which I put in the corner of our family room. I finally finished clearing out and organizing the shelves of the entertainment center so we can use the lower shelves for materials. I also got a folding "personal" table that the kids can put up when they need to. It and the shelf are both so light that the kids will be able to move them around as they want. Now I just need some pegs so I can put the shelves into (what used to be) the media cabinet. Originally I was going to make the dining room our "home environment", but everybody seems to like the family room better. So I'll set up our art, science, and practical life areas in the dining room, where we can make a mess, and keep language, math, culture, and religion in the family room.

I took the plunge and ordered a lot of basic materials from Montessori Outlet. I know I could have made them, or made do with other things, but I have so little time, and financially, we're doing well this year because of an unexpected bonus. So we talked it over and decided to spend the money. If I didn't have 5 kids under the age of 9 (3 age 2 and under) and I wasn't committed to homeschooling for the long haul, I don't think I would have bought so much - maybe just the hardest to make, like the cylinders.. (Actually until this year we couldn't have afforded it anyway!) I've been interested in Montessori since my oldest was a preschooler, but it didn't really click in my head until late last spring.

Anyway, I still have a lot of materials to make! (One of the first big things will be the geometry cabinet.) Right now I'm making good progress on setting things up, though.

Doctors, doctors everywhere

Sat, 14 Jan 2006 09:15:00 -0600

So much for my conviction to update this blog at reasonable intervals. In my defense, we've had a rough few weeks.

G., my oldest, was recently diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome. Right now this is just a name for what we were already experiencing at home, because we're in the process of finding more doctors for him. (The neurologist we saw for the initial visit was a joke. But at least he gave us the diagnosis so we can get referred to a psychiatrist who can help. TS is a genetic disorder which involves dopamine production and distribution in the brain. The tics aren't caused by nervousness or stress, although they can be exacerbated by both. What's more troubling for us is the other conditions that often accompany TS, such as ADHD, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and the phenomena known as RAGEs, which is when a kid with TS throws a temper tantrum for very little reason at all. G's tics are pretty mild, but helping him deal with every day frustrations is exhausting. That's why we went for help. (And in the future, I think I will blog about some of our experiences, such as that rotten trip to the neurologist. Maybe our experiences can help somebody else.)

K., my six year old daughter, slipped on the ice New Year's Eve and broke her wrist. For two days we thought it was only sprained. As it was over a holiday all the orthopaedic clinics were closed, and our pediatrician, after numerous phone consultations, told us to keep ice and an eye on it. By Tuesday morning, her wrist looked more swollen than it had to begin with, so I called the doctor. The only problem was that we were in the middle of a snowstorm. The doctor's office was understaffed and not answering their phones. I called the "emergent situation line" (a potentially broken wrist is "emergent", isn't it?) and finally got somebody, but was scolded for using that number. We live an hour away, our cell phones weren't working, we're down to only one car right now, and my husband had to do some certification testing in a place across town, plus there were the babies to coordinate, so I was a bit frantic. When we finally got to the doctor, we had to wait for an hour, only to have a medical student misdiagnose the problem first. By the time she actually got her cast (hot pink, of course), it was dinner time. I was proud of her, though. She handled everything like a real trooper, and asked the doctor an enormous amount of questions in a very mature manner. At that moment, I could see the differences that homeschooling makes. I certainly would not have felt comfortable asking an adult all those questions at the age of 6.

The babies only sleep in fifteen minute catnaps all day long. Even with the addition of swings to our household. But I am getting some support in that direction through the wonders of the internet, and am holding up a little better these days :-).

I Quit

Thu, 22 Dec 2005 14:11:00 -0600

I tried to turn in my letter of resignation as a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom today, but my husband says that resignations and other work stoppages are illegal under New York law. So there goes that idea.

These are the things I wonder about, though.

1.I guess God thinks I can handle twins who never sleep; a 9 yo with behavioral problems (we have an appointment with a neurologist next week to see if it's Tourette's or something else); and a two year old, but I think He is seriously overestimating my abilities right now. ***(My 6 year old daughter is being a huge help with the babies and getting a very hard time from her older brother, so maybe I'll take her with me when I quit.)

2. Why do my children think that they should have been born knowing everything they will need to know forever and ever? ("Here, K, look. Now that we've finally found the power cord for the keyboard, here are our music books." <wail> "But, Mommy, I don't know how to read notes!!!!!!!!")

3.Don't any homeschoolers in NY form playgroups? We're having a hard time finding one, and we're lonely. All of our neighbors are old. And the homeschool coop we participated in this fall is over until March.

4. Granted that I agree with the Montessori idea that beauty and order are necessary to the development of children, how is that achieved in a house with 7 people, 3 of them under the age of 2, especially when even the little ones won't go to sleep until 10 PM? G and K (my 9 and 6 yos) can only do so many practical life activities!

OK, so I'm not really quitting, and I'm keeping all five of them. But, God, if you're listening, I really can't drink much more caffeine, and someone is going to injure themselves on these Legos, I'm telling you.

A Quick Introduction

Sun, 18 Dec 2005 22:07:00 -0600

I'm never sure how to start off a blog. Do I just jump in with what we did today? Or do I write an introduction?

I think I'll write an introduction. If I'm done fiddling with my settings for a while.

Hello, my name is Angel and I'm trying to homeschool a 9 yo and a 6 yo while wrangling a 2.5 yo and 2 month old twins who never, ever sleep. Really. It's 8 PM and they have had approximately three 15-20 minute catnaps since 9 AM this morning. Aren't 11 week old babies supposed to sleep more than that? I think I'm supposed to sleep more than that.

Anyway.

This year we've been through a lot of changes. Until April we were living in St. Louis, Missouri. My husband had an hour to an hour and a half commute every day, we were sick a lot, and our neighborhood association wouldn't let us put in a garden. (On the other hand, our neighborhood was a very tightknit community and our kids had some very good friends there, and we miss them. A lot. ) We had three kids and had just taken the plunge into letting God plan our family. Then my husband got a job in upstate New York and almost simultaneously we found out I was pregnant. When I started bleeding, my doctor had me come in for an ultrasound, and surprise! It was twins.

We made the 1000 mile move when I was 10 weeks pregnant. For the first 3 months we rented half of a 100 year old farmouse on a dairy farm, and my husband had a 5 minute commute to work. Unfortunately, I couldn't take true advantage of this learning opportunity because I was sick most of the time. ( The constant smell of cows did not really help.) But our stay there did prompt a persistent obsession with tractors in our 2 year old!

When I was nearly 30 weeks pregnant, we moved into our own home on 15 acres. It was too late to put in a garden, but we have high hopes for next year. (My 6 yo daughter is pushing for goats.) Miraculously, I avoided bedrest until the very end of the pregnancy and two healthy baby boys were born to us the first week in October -- a month early, but without any time at all in the NICU.

And now we have almost a foot of snow on the ground, and my husband and I, both of us from Tennessee, are trying to figure out how to use a snowblower, and how the wind can blow 8 inches of snow completely away somewhere, and why our neighbors are all putting up snowfences, and also how to be in 18 different places at once when both of the babies are crying at the same time and the 2 yo is putting all kinds of non-food items in his mouth so we'll look at him and the 6 yo is running around naked because she can't find her socks and her 9 yo brother wants to know where that book on dinosaurs is that he read about 6 months ago.

I'm not really sure we're going to survive this, even though people say we will. People who've had twins.

Of course, they don't really remember the first year either. So I'm not sure how much to really believe out of them, you know?

Testing

Sat, 17 Dec 2005 09:03:00 -0600

Just trying this out to see how it works. I read about the Homeschoolbloger community in TOS magazine, and thought I would give it a shot.