My Father The King - Homeschool Blogger

Update on Stellan's Saga

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:02:00 -0600

I haven't posted anything lately on the baby named Stellan that you can find some posts and links about in the Prayer Requests and Praise Reports category in my sidebar.

Stellan's SVT (Supra Ventricular Tachycardia), which he had in utero and had appeared to be absent at birth only to reappear a few months into his life with a vengance, finally became unmanageable in a long-term manner with medications about two weeks ago - on the eve of his First Birthday. Over this past weekend he travelled to Boston for a heart surgery called an ablation. After nearly dying on the table (he flatlined and had to be defibrillated) as the medical team simply tried to get him stable enough for the procedure, the ablation was successful beyond everyone's expectations and he appears to now be free of SVT! Praise God!

Please continue to pray, as he is in recovery still and has more evaluations to be done before the end of the week to be sure he is out of the woods. You can continue to follow his progress at MckMama's blog.

~

Spoke too soon...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:41:00 -0600

Well, my last quick post stated we were all recovering from some minor illness, and that my husband was lucky to avoid it. WRONG! That evening D and my husband both started running fevers, and they both missed H's birthday celebration on Saturday. None of us should probably have gone, but what are you going to do, tell a 5 year old you can't celebrate their birthday with the grandparents that are moving away because you are sick? All the kids, myself, and my husband have spent the last several days sick to various degrees with something that we can only assume is the flu. Who knows which one, but the doctor D and my husband saw on Saturday said it was likely H1N1. Great.

So, even though I kept the kids home last Wednesday from the coop, we stayed home again yesterday and just schooled at home. I love that I can just grab the lesson plan and the books and keep on going even if we are not well enough to be in the company of others. As long as we are well enough to do the work we can do it at our table! So, we are on track and not behind. Yea!

I wanted to be able to send them back to coop tomorrow just because we are so tired of being sick, but although the fevers are gone we are still coughing a lot. I'm sure no one wants someone who's had the flu recently sitting next to their kid coughing away - regardless of how long the fever has been gone. I will have to evaluate it in the morning and see if everyone is relatively cough-free. We may spend yet another day cooped up here at home. Sigh.

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In other news, my parents left for Florida yesterday morning. They are driving, and taking time to visit my Aunt in Texas, and some friends outside of Nashville on the way. They should arrive in their new hometown just before Thanksgiving. There are some folks they know there who have invited them over for feast-day, so that is nice! They will fly back here for Christmas, so we are anxiously awaiting their visit already. In the meantime, we miss them very much already.

~

Are They Getting Married?

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 10:13:00 -0600

This is going to be quick, because we are up for a busy day!

Since my last update, we've:

* Had a birthday party for D, who turned 8 last month.
* All come down with some illness, with the exception of my husband.
* All recovered from said illness, if having a residual cough counts as recovered.
* Gotten my parents all ready to move to Florida (moving sales, etc).

Since the kids and I were sick we are behind on our schoolwork for the week, but now that we're feeling better it just may be possible to finish today anyway (yea!).

H's 5th birthday party is tomorrow, and since my parents are hitting the road Monday it will just be a family affair with BBQ and cake at my in-law's home.

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And, a funny from the category "Kids Say the Darndedst Things":

Last night we were watching some show about tropical islands and things that live there, etc. The kids were fascinated by the birds of paradise. We talked about how the male bird has the fancy feathers to attract the females, and how the females were plain-looking to be more camoflaged when they are taking care of the eggs and babies. The show progresses and shows the males competing with their courtship displays, etc. Then we get the x-rated birdie show (not really, but you know what I mean...LOL), and D pipes up and says, "Are they getting married?"

Ummm, yeah. Something like that.

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"No Pencil for You!"

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:16:00 -0500

This week was in some respects a trying one, but we have made it through!

M, the two year old, has decided to become a little tornado while we are doing school which has resulted in me coming out of the kitchen/dining area at the end of the day to a gigantic mess in the living room. This leaves me a little deflated after a sometimes long day of teaching but fortunately, even after a long day of learning, D is willing to help clean up the mess he had nothing to do with making. I make sure to praise him up and tell him how much easier he is making my job when he helps even if he didn't create the mess.

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On another M note, he is asking to “use bathroom”. This is much earlier than the other boys did, and must have to do with seeing all of us use the bathroom. I am not pursuing a strident potty training regimen as yet, but am putting him on the potty with his cushion-y Elmo potty seat whenever he asks at home. Usually the request comes after the deed has been done in his diaper, but we have gotten results of all types in the potty too. So that's something.

At the end of last week we had a huge meltdown in Babies-R-Us while I was there to get a gift card for my best friend's one year old (Happy Birthday Week, Alexander!). M wanted to use bathroom when the older boys and I went. Of course he only started wanting to use bathroom the day before, so I was not about to sit him on a public restroom seat just yet. You would have thought the world was ending with all the wailing and writhing he did! Luckily all we needed was a gift card and a pack of diapers. My goodness!

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H, my Jr. Kindergartener, has been very patient with all of us. He obediently waits for us to be done with sometimes long days of lessons for his older brother. He never whines about not being able to watch TV and willingly tries to keep M busy and out of trouble. H's lessons are not difficult at all, as to almost be a non-challenge, but he enjoys sitting at the table with us to do them. He spends some time drawing and making paper airplanes while we are occupied with all things 2^nd Grade in the kitchen. Thanks, H!

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D, my firstborn, has been having a rough week in math. He is making gains, though. I'm wondering if it's just that he is starting to wrestle with and figure out concepts he is being taught. We are using Singapore Math this year and they teach a little differently than our prior curriculum, so there has been a little learning curve with that. We seem to be emerging from the curve and he is able to solve problems he would have previously just looked at, said “too hard”, and never even attempted. If he feels stuck, I can remind him of which step to start with and he can finish the problem. I love that.

What I didn't love this week was taking several hours to get through the math practice. D often has trouble staying “on track” when left to work independently, resulting in me sitting next to him all day to be his lesson minder. This week I had other things to do that had piled up like make sure we have clean clothes to wear and clean plates to eat from, so I left him from time to time to fend for himself. That did not work so well. He might have done only one problem (or more often none) in a 10-15 minute span without me there reminding him to move on. Tuesday we worked solely on math for over 5 hours (we did take breaks, but it was almost all we did)! The consequence was that he did not learn his spelling words that day. They do a spelling review game at the coop on Wednesdays, so he was at a disadvantage in that he had not had the words introduced to him. I only hope that with one day's practice yesterday, he can do well on his spelling quiz today. If not, that's the natural consequence of taking all day on one subject: your other subjects suffer. While I am not letting this get to me as much as it did last year, I am still at a loss to get him moving on his own. He is maturing in other areas that were problematic in past years, so maybe it is just a matter of time.

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While we were working on math yesterday, M confiscated H's Smencil. I bought one each in Rootbeer for the boys who do things with pencils (D and H), but didn't really think M needed one. They smell yummy. M was smelling and loving this Smencil and playing with the plastic tube it came in, and H of course wanted it back. M takes the Smencil and holds it close, then in his best Soup Nazi* expression says, “No pencil for you!”. LOL. I think I should get one for M, don't you?

*I don't personally use the word Nazi to describe anyone, but am referring of course to the Seinfeld episode from which the phrase "Soup Nazi" originated.

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Yesterday, we were scheduled to go with the coop to the San Diego Zoo. But, the special bus tour for grades K-and-up that they arranged had filled up before I could get in line to sign D up for it. We are zoo members, and didn't have to worry about pre-paying for admission to the zoo, so we have opted to go as a family in November for Enrichment Weekend, where they have the zoo keepers come out and give talks on various animals around the Zoo.

Masto Mama went with the coop and is planning on posting some pictures from their day, so be sure to hop over there some time today to check it out.

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So, that has pretty much been our week. Since an all-day field trip had been scheduled for yesterday, we were supposed to have a school-free day. We just used it to finish our work a day early and take today off, with the exception of the spelling quiz. So now I'm off to give that quiz, make sure I have all the supplies and food in order for D's birthday party (which is tomorrow), and give the boys some visiting time with my parents.

Catching Up and Wild Butter Butts

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:09:00 -0500

Well, I tried the weekly update again last week, but something went awry and I lost a post that I worked very hard on. With no time to re-do the whole thing, it just had to wait.

So, I will try to remember now what I had written and recap up to present.

Last week (Oct 4-11) was a busy one!

Monday we had our October chapel at the coop before classes began. H received the award for "Attentiveness" in his class (along with a co-winner), which was the September character trait the kids were learning about.

Attentiveness (as defined by the Character First! curriculum the coop is using):
Showing the worth of a person by giving full concentration to his or her words.

Ways to show Attentiveness ("I will" statements):
*I will look at people when they speak to me.
*I will ask questions if I don’t understand.
*I will sit or stand up straight.
*I will not draw attention to myself.
*I will keep my eyes, ears, hands, feet and mouth from distractions.

The bible verse provided by the Character First! folks for use in religious training is Hebrews 2:1 ~ “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.”

The story of Samuel being called by God as a boy while he slept (1 Samuel 3:1-21) and Mary at Jesus' feet (Luke 10:38-42) show how we can be attentive.

The White-tailed Deer is the animal that exemplifies Attentiveness, since if it is inattentive to its surroundings or draws attention to itself - it will become a meal for a predator!

We are proud of our attentive boy!

This month we are working on Obedience as the character trait.

D's class began learning about birds, and on Wednesday examined feathers and disseced owl pellets. Being all boy, he informed me that I was incorrect to say it was owl poop... I have been informed on no uncertain terms that it is owl puke.

Well, okay then!

Still sufficiently gross to interest a boy, although I remember doing it in high school - not second grade - and it wasn't that bad. I'm glad he's getting to do things like this earlier than I did. There's no reason why a second grader can't pick rodent bones and fur out of a dried up pellet of bird barf, right?

The next day we took a couple hours of our morning to visit a local nature preserve and D went with his coop classmates on a ranger-led hike to observe the birds as they went about their morning activities. All he can remember is that they saw a bird called a "butter-butt" (again, all boy here) because it has yellow feathers near it's tail. Oh, well. At least he can now identify a wild butter-butt.

There really isn't much to say about this week, since we are just underway, so I will sign off now. Plus, we have to leave in about 20 minutes for the kid's small group at church, and I am not dressed to leave the house yet! So, until next time...

~

Glimpses

Sun, 4 Oct 2009 14:10:00 -0500

A glimpse of the future?

H "reading" Daddy's Businessweek

A glimpse at our school day...

privacy screens help the boys concentrate on their own work
we only use them if they are distracted by each other
which isn't often, but it happens

A glimpse at what the heck we are doing all day
(click to see a sample of our weekly lesson plan).

~

Sailing Smooth

Thu, 1 Oct 2009 16:18:00 -0500

Well, so far it's been pretty smooth...

I don't really have too much to write this week, but I have to discipline myself to get in here and blog something at least once a week or I fear I will forget about it all together. So... I hope what follows today doesn't ramble too much.

We are falling into somewhat of a routine with the schooling this year, even though we don't always follow the schedule I made up. If that makes any sense at all.

I think it's just that I have approached the school year with a plan and just taking that step, instead of letting our days be "organic", has really helped my mindset. I don't think any home day has gone completely to schedule, but it's a plan... and if it has to flex, it does. Before, I was kind of taking each day as it came and was not organized enough to weather the bumps in the road very well.

I have also been taking an hour or so at the end of each week to prepare a "combined lesson plan" which basically just puts both kid's assignments and the books/pages needed in one place by subject. Then I go downstairs to the school bookshelf and make sure all the books needed for the week are flagged with colored sticky flags (one color for each day of the week) in the pages.

This sounds like a lot of work, but oh the time it saves during the week! I can tell at a glance what books are needed each day (by the colored flags), and then just flip it open to that page. It really helps to know what books go in the backpacks for coop days too. I don't have to keep flipping through the lesson plan documents from the coop (two sets, and some subjects are broken into subsets!). I just follow my combined lesson plan and follow the ~~bouncing dot~~ colored flags!

We are still having a little trouble with D finishing work in a timely manner, especially at the coop. I am trying not to make this a huge issue at home, except that I sit right with D at the table and keep him on task rather than getting up to do other things while he works. This means some of my chores sometimes go undone, but I think it's more important that he finish in a somewhat timely manner so he is not frustrated with how long he has to sit there to complete his lessons.

D's coop teacher is so sweet and concerned about him, and shared that her oldest son (homeschooled and now in college) was much the same and just took gaining some maturity to overcome the worst of it. This is encouraging, especially that I am seeing less of a spirit of discouragement in D compared to what we went through last year. He sometimes sighs at being told to get back to work, but so far he is willing to finish it up - whatever it may be. At the coop, D's teacher is working with me and allowing him to complete unfinished work at home so that we can grade the product of his work, and not how long it takes him to complete it.

H is really enjoying his Jr. Kindergarten class. He brought home a booklet they made in class and has to "read" it to me every night at bedtime before we have storytime. It is a little repetitive poem that begins "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? I see a Yellow Duck looking at me." Then it goes yellow duck, yellow duck, and so forth through about 8 different iterations. He's so proud to have something to read, even if it's a poem he memorized and the visual cues on the pages (animal pictures) tell him what comes next.

I am also glad that H does not seem to have the motor skill issues that have plagued D and caused our struggles in writing. H has always loved to color (D did not color much at all until he had to in Jr K), uses scissors (D had trouble with scissors at first too), and can even write (copy) his name already (D could not really do this until Kindergarten and even then it was a struggle). What I'm getting at, is that I am relieved that I most likely won't have to struggle with H like I have with D. I was steeled for it, but what a relief to have one who can do his work pretty much without any extra coaching! H sees school as a joy, and that makes me happy. Someday I hope that D can see it as a joy too.

~

Weary ~ but Positive!

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:38:00 -0500

Well, I tried once again to make this a weekly update... but this busy homeschoolin' mama hasn't even had much time for the new vice she picked up over the summer (Facebook). I'm still here, though!

The past couple weeks have been very busy, with no time in between anything. I am weary, but positive! So that is a good thing.

D and H attend the coop on Monday and Wednesday, with H getting out before noon and D getting out around 3pm. It's in the next town, so that creates a bit of driving. Thank goodness I have a carpool buddy this year and I only have to pick D up one afternoon. The other afternoon, his best friend's mom picks them up and he goes over to his friend's house to play for an hour or so. What a blessing!

On Wednesdays, we go straight from the coop to an Abacus/Mental Math class about 20 miles away. This will continue for another two weeks. It is in addition to the coop classes, but enrichment that I hope will help sharpen D's math skills.

After the extracurricular math class ends, the coop's electives start (in October) and we will fill that slot with an arts and crafts class which D will attend with his bestest friends. One is his friend that we are sharing carpool with, and the other one is Masto Mama's lovely daughter. We are looking forward to seeing them again (miss you, Carla!), since they are using the coop's PSP option to school at home 100% while still having the support, field trip and elective opportunities.

So, that's just a taste of my busy life as of late. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, I am teaching both D and H at home. D's schedule takes us from 8 or 9am (depending on if we sleep in) to about 3pm. H's subjects are very light, as to be almost nothing, but I am so impressed already with his aptitude!

Things are starting off well, with good attitudes all around, and no struggles over anything (yet... I hope I have not spoken too soon!), so I am definitely weary from the hectic schedule - but positive about the way things are progressing so far this school year.

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You may have noticed my blog's new fall look. I want to mention this fabulous digital scrapbooking site I happened on. I wanted to dress up my blog for fall and, since it's a custom job by yours truly, I went searching for freebies. Through a freebie blog, I linked to NBK Shoppe and fell in love with their Kissed by Indian Summer kit of papers, elements and such.

I liked it so much I paid for the download. So I hope you like my new look. If you do, and need graphic elements for your digital scrapbook, blog, or whatnot, please go there and check it out. They are having a fall sale of 25% off all kits (some up to 60% off) from Friday, Sept 25th through Sunday, Sept 27th. Don't let the currency being in Euros throw you off, you can choose US Dollars with a drop down menu in the upper right corner.

There are also freebies there to peruse (wink).

The graphics they sell are for personal use only and not to be redistributed or used for commercial applications.

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If you would like a blog facelift, but really don't want to redesign it yourself (it's a lot of work!), check out MastoMama's blog makeover site: MastoMama Makeovers. All funds from her makeovers go to help with her son's medical expenses. See her "about me" page over there for the in-a-nutshell version of their story.

Bye, Bye, Birdie(s)

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:11:00 -0500

Well, Mourning Doves sure grow fast!

They are already out of the nest. They were gone one morning over the weekend.

Please enjoy this last picture of the babies.

Maybe we will have some more feathered friends on our porch next year!

~

Back to School ~ 2009

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:20:00 -0500

Well, yesterday was a very busy day!

D and H started school at the coop. You'd think when they go to the coop it would actually be a less busy day for me than the days we do our lessons at home. Somehow, that's never the way it works out! Don't get me wrong... I like it that way. It gets me out of the house.

So, I began the day at about 3am - not by my choice. I had heartburn and couldn't sleep. So, I got up and prepared the lunches and got some things together I didn't want to forget (documents to be turned in, checks for tuition and our first field trip, etc). I got the kid's clothes together and waited for their alarm to go off at 6am. I am so glad in hind sight that it worked out that way. Often we are in a mad rush to get out the door and be at the coop on time, and don't get to eat breakfast. Yesterday, everyone got a hot oatmeal breakfast because we had an hour to spare (thank You, God... I don't know how that happened, because usually we have troubles getting little ones out of bed, and end up in the mad rush).

We left the house at about 7:30 am in order to be at the coop location by 8:00am, even though the Opening Day Chapel didn't start until 8:30. Why? We had to arrive early for a special event. Some background: D is a Cub Scout, and the Cub Scouts can earn a special patch for Patriot's Day (9/11) if they participate, in uniform, in a flag ceremony that occurs in a public venue. Last year, D was the only scout in his Pack to not receive the patch. So this year I had to set out to find a way for him to earn it. It is very easy for the public school students to earn it, as the schools in our local community observe a flagpole assembly and ceremony on 9/11. Since our coop doesn't meet on Fridays (9/11 falls on a Friday this year), and only has an assembly of the entire student body once a month at chapel, I explained our situation to the Pack's events coordinator and asked, "would he qualify if he presented the flag at the Opening Day Chapel?" She said that would be fine, so I contacted the coop administrator and asked if he could hold the flag, in his scout uniform, during the Pledge of Allegiance at our Opening Day Chapel. She approved of the idea and suggested contacting the other families to see if there were other scouts in the school that would like to participate. I was able to find two other Cub Scouts, so we had a full flag ceremony with a color guard and all! I found at least one other mom afterward who has a son starting Boy Scouts next year, so we may be making this a new annual event at the coop's Opening Day Chapel.

Taken after the Chapel was dismissed.

After Chapel, I poked my head into each classroom to make sure that D and H were settled in, and they looked so at home there. I was happy to see this, as it was H's very first day of school ever! So, M (my toddler and I) ran some errands before going back a little before noon to pick up H. H said, "I had a GREAT day!", with a huge smile across his face. It just melts me to see him so happy.

About the same time, D has lunch and a recess period, so I sat in the shade with M, who was asleep, and let H and D play in the playground until it was time for D to return to class.

Gotta let them get out some energy, you know!

After recess, I took the littler kids home and fixed sandwiches for lunch, as well as prepping some materials we will be using throughout the year at home for lessons, before returning once again to pick up D.

Can you see how this is a very busy day for me?

Fortunately, being the first day of school, yesterday was a little anomalous. Most days we don't have chapel, I wouldn't have a flag ceremony to coordinate/be early for, and my materials will be all prepped by the end of this week (mostly consisting of sitting over a laminator to make some notecards and small posters more durable). Yes, I will have to make three trips to school (drop off, pick up, pick up) at least one day a week, but thankfully I am exchanging carpool duties one other day a week with the family of D's best friend since preschool. I will drop off her son (D's friend) on Wednesdays, in exchange for a pick up one day a week on her part. Plus, once electives start in October, I believe D and his friend have the same art class, so he will be at school until about 4pm and she will pick them up afterwards. I am so thankful for this arrangement. After this year (until M starts Jr Kindergarten, anyway), the drop off/pick up schedule is the same for D and H. So I only have to make it through this crazy year, LOL.

I am so thankful as well for the way the teachers have eased us into the home lesson plan this year. Junior Kindergarten has home lessons now... math and handwriting (they didn't have home lessons when D went)... but nothing scheduled at home this week. Second Grade is beginning easy with only a Math and a Handwriting lesson each day this week. Next week begins the full compliment of lessons. This is a good thing, not only because I now have two students to juggle, but some of their books will not arrive until this afternoon via UPS. So, even with the books not coming until later today, I don't feel stressed out about having to wait for them.

Thus begins our 2009-2010 school year. I hope to be able to chronicle our journey at least once a week during this time. Please check out our curriculum choices in my right sidebar.