Relax, It's Only Their Education! - Homeschool Blogger

Yikes!! Teenagers!!!

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 14:28:00 -0500

As of last March, I have had an official teenager in my house. I have feared and worried over this for years. After all, the common perception of teenagers is that they are sullen, rebellious and out of control. I have seen a major difference in homeschooled teens. So I was hoping that homeschooling would be our insurance against all of the hormones.

Homeschooling is not a cure-all innoculation. Something strange is happening to my child and I feel helpless to stop it. If his favorite color has been blue for 13 years and I mention that, he adamantly argues that blue was never his favorite color. He gently reminded me that the hair on his head does not belong to me, but to him. So how do I let go, but keep control?

Well, realizing that this teenage task is more than I am ready for, I have found myself doing what I did when the kids were toddlers...I am reading books!!! I HIGHLY recommend "The Age of Opportunity" by Paul David Tripp to anyone who has teenagers or is going to have them one day.

He points out that we are not necessarily living to train them away from those big moments, like teen pregnancy or drug use. Instead, we need to be there as they are making those daily choices and guide them to God centered thinking. He reminded me that I don't own my son or the hair on his head (and neither does my son), but God does and that I need to help my son have right relations more vertically than horizontally. As homeschoolers we do seem to have more time to do this. Yet sometimes, we still let our idols get in the way. Do we want a house full of peace and harmony at any expense, complete control, or do we demand appreciation from our self centered teens? Do we feel that the choices our kids make is a direct reflection on our success as a parent? Have any of these things become our gods?

This can be a hard pill to swallow if your child has ever disappointed you when they have made poor choices. It is hard to let go of the fact that it is not about YOU. It is about your child's heart. My son is revealing his heart to me every day in his attitude and in his actions. He wants me to see it, too. He is insecure and wants me to point him to the only answer. This is my chance to minister the true gospel of God's grace and His truth, if I will make it about Him. Not me. Not my teenager. Him.

This book is SO much more than this. Read it as soon as possible!!!

An Awesome Homeschool Geography Tool!!

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 14:25:00 -0500

Interested in world geography? Always wanted a pen pal? Check out www.postcrossing.com

We recently discovered this great way of trading postcards worldwide. For each postcard you send, your address is given to someone in another part of the world, who then sends you a postcard. When you register with this website, you are allowed 5 international addresses to begin with. Our first 5 cards went to Germany, Finland, Estonia, The Netherlands and Hungary. Each address include a basic profile about the person you are sending postcards to. They may enjoy certain kinds of postcards or stamps or have special interests. For instance, one of our cards went to a kindergarten teacher who lives near the beach in the Netherlands and enjoys photography. We included the fact that we homeschool and live near the mountains in our profile.

When your first postcards is received, your address is then passed on to another postcrosser and you are allowed another address to send to. So as long as you are sending cards, you will receive them.

We haven't received any yet, but our first sent card was just received last week. We are looking forward to creating a collection of worldwide postcards.

We would also like to have USA postcards. Postcrossing.com connects you internationally, but not nationally. So we are just doing this through our own sources. If any of you would be interested in exchanging state postcards, we would love to trade with you!! Just email me privately with your address and I will send you mine.

Here I am...

Tue, 3 Jul 2007 13:54:00 -0500

The last entry was written a few weeks back, but I had trouble uploading it. I thought I would go ahead and put it on now, so you could get a feel for where I was and where I am now: ) Thanks so much to those who have emailed me and asked. That means a lot!! I am still dealing with a little bit of depression, but it's manageable. I am trying to get on a plan with my doctor.

I have actually started two other blogs to help me not clog each one up with too much information. I now a letterboxing blog and a running blog. I am sure I won't be writing on all of these all the time, but they will help me reach the right audience. http://footstepsontheroad.blogspot.com/ and http://dtandfambly.blogspot.com/

Speaking of which, our school has been ongoing this summer. With the school year distractions out of the way,w e are making good progress. We did hyave one of our children tested nad found out we have a major math disability to deal with. It was a relief, if that makes sense. Now we know the child id not lazy and it is not my teaching!! We are looking into using Math U See from the beginning to help bolster the numeric/concept skills. Then we will go from there. Has anyone used that curriculum? I'd love comments and thoughts.

Letterboxers Anonymous

Tue, 3 Jul 2007 13:41:00 -0500

We have had a few fun letterboxing trips lately I thought I'd share with you.

On Memorial Day we headed to the SC state highpoint, Sassafras Mountain. With a height of 3, 560 feet it is not huge, but it is higher than the FL state highpoint (300 something feet)! The mountain was truly covered in Sassafras trees. And the trails descending it were beautiful. We explored them a little, but we didn't get to do much real hiking since we had my nieces with us. Two year olds and long hikes generally don't mix. After nabbing our letterbox, we headed over to Stumphouse tunnel. This is an unfinished railroad tunnel carved out of a mountain. It was carved back in the days when hand tools and black powder did the work. Amazing! The letterbox here was hard work, but fun!

Last of all we hiked a short trail to a local waterfall. Some generous letterboxes planted three close together, so we had plenty to keep us busy on the trail. All of the waterfalls around here seem to be trickling now, though. We desperately need some good rain!

Yesterday we also spent some time with our local letterboxing friends in Hendersonville. We found a few boxes and had fun visiting. It's amazing how easy the clues are to solve when you have more than one brain figuring!! We got to see a popular landmark and an impressive view.

Now back to real life...

I truly enjoy letterboxing. I love being outdoors, especially on trails. I love having something to find at the end of the trail. This hobby brings peace to my mind, which at this time is raging with depression. This is one reason I have not been updating my blog. Writing is hard for me right now. I will be visiting my doctor again soon. I have struggled with this for years and have been on medication. I was so proud when I was finally able to quit taking it. I was stable, strong and ready to face the world.I have been medication free for several years now. Last year I had some concerns I discussed with my doctor, but I wasn't sad. Those concerns have escalated and I am struggling with sadness now. Depression is a disease that I cannot leave untreated. Pray for me as I get this under control again.

On the bright side, I have joined a beginners running club. This has come at a time that it has been a Godsend for me, just like letterboxing! I am able to have a sense of control, be outside and get in shape! I remember running in high school. Mt family life was a mess, but I could be free when my feet hit the pavement. Last week was Week 1. We walked 4 minutes and ran 2 minutes for a 30 minute total. I aimed to do this every other day. This week we are walking three minutes, running three minutes. Yesterday was my first stab at the increase. I was surprised that it was a challenge. I had done fairly well with the first week and I was very comfortable with the pace but it was time to push a little harder. By the end of 10 weeks, I think we are supposed to be able to run for 30 minutes, I am not sure. I will keep you updated on my progress. I encourage any of you who were thinking about running or getting in shape to consider doing it this way. Especially if you have a friend to do it with you!

Florida Trip Journal

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 09:08:00 -0500

It is very hard to think about math, science and history books after living these subjects in the exotic and beautiful Florida! We experienced marsh environments, coastal shores and estuaries. We saw forts, cracker shacks, sponge docks and lighthouses. We identified alligators (not too hard to do), ibises, cranes, tanagers, herons, anhingas and so much more! We calculated mileage, time for trips and hours left until home. We added up admission prices and made decisions NOT to spend our money sometimes! School was out, but we were still educating! Here is an overview of our trip.

Day 1: The drive down

We knew this would be a long drive, so we planned out stops ahead of time. First stop was a rest area that was home to a letterbox! Great excuse to stop and let everyone stretch. Then we were back on the road. Our big lunch stop was Jekyll Island. We got to walk on the beach, ride bikes and letterbox, of course! The letterboxes here took us off the beaten path where we discovered a huge rope swing and a marsh full of Fiddler Crabs! After getting back into the car, we listened to “Call it Courage”. Very appropriate story for our upcoming adventures! We were on the road until my dad's house, near Tampa.

Day 2: We rested and visited with my dad.

Day3: Lowry Park Zoo

We used our zoo pass, which cost $30 LESS than admission would've been!! We love this zoo. The kids fed lorikeets, petted stingrays and played in the fountains.

Day 4: Weedon Island/Fort DeSoto

On our way to the beach we stopped by the Weedon Island Nature preserve to find 2 letterboxes. We walked on a long boardwalk through mangrove swamps. It was great!

Then we hit Fort De Soto. This is a beautiful beach and historic area. So we swam and walked nature trails. We skipped the fort because we were short on time and we had visited it last year. But we did read the brochure about it to my husband. We met another letterboxing family here that was from New Hampshire. It was fun for the kids to have somebody to play with that was their age. Funny thing: First thing my kids asked, “Are they homeschooled?” I said I didn't think so. After meeting them, my kids thought they probably were. It turns out, they homeschooled for years and are just now in the school system, so they still had that mindset. Wherever they went to school, they were wonderful kids! We found two letterboxes here that led us on great nature trails!!

Day 5: USF Botanical Gardens

There were letterboxes here and I had always wanted to visit, so I took a few of the kids with me, while everyone else stayed home and rested. The gardens were small, but nice. They had a faery garden, a butterfly garden, an orchid garden (Gorgeous!), carnivorous plant garden, cactii garden and a bonsai garden!!

Day 6: Hillsborough River State Park

This was the highlight of our trip! We canoed down the Hillsborough River in search of an extreme letterbox. The only access to this box was by river, through alligators. How adventurous!! We sighted 9 alligators and many other interesting plants and animals. The river was beautiful. After this we headed to another park to search for a letterbox that was hidden next to an old cabin in the woods. We saw three armadillos waddling around here and ate an orange off of a bitter orange tree (YUCK!). Being at this old cabin in the middle of Florida woods was almost haunting. You could imagine the settlers of long ago living here.

Day 7: Tarpon Springs

I am not big on touristy places, but this was a neat town. In the early 1900s, Greek folks came over to begin a profitable sponge harvesting business in the Gulf of Mexico. The town is mostly Greek; street names, restaurants, and people. We watched a video on the history and harvesting of sponges. We learned about the Epiphany they hold here, where 50 boys jump in the bay in Jan to see who can retrieve a little wooden cross first. The winner receives a blessing and a year of good luck from the priest. My favorite part of this side trip was actually the cuban restaurant! I grew up eating cuban food in the Keys, so the chance to have an authentic cuban sub, fried plantains and cuban beans and rice was unpassable!

Day 8: Heading home

For our trip home we had two planned stops. The first was an orange grove where we picked up some fruit to bring home and share. The second was St. Simon's Island. We stopped by the light house and then headed out to Christ Church to find another letterbox. This was one of those wonderful side trips we might not have taken if not for letterboxing. We visited the old church and cemetery. The ceiling inside the church was very interesting. The docent told us that shipbuilders built the church and said that you could flip it over and sail away to England in it! The stained glass windows were amazing. One of the kids favorite ones was of Jesus dividing the loaves and fishes. When we found the letterbox and opened it, the stamp was an image of loaves and fishes!! That was really neat. We saw the Celtic Cross memorial to John and Charles Wesley, who had preached on this island. Then we headed home, exhausted and happy!

Back to Real Life

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 08:30:00 -0500

We are back and ready to get back to real life, sort of...
I will write more later, but in the meantime, here are a few pictures for you.

http://www.slide.com/r/jJZezqFd6z_VC-8fZsHQP1F_wBLpS_BH?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url

The Taming of the Crew

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 07:11:00 -0500

Last night, we took a break from packing to go see a local college's (FREE!!!) production of "Taming of the Shrew". I sent the girls to a cousin's house. I knew they would appreciate the sets and the costumes, but that would last about 10 minutes. So just my 11 and 13 yr. old boys went with me. Now, I don't know about you, but I wasn't expecting a whole lot from two outdoorsy, adolescent boys concerning a Shakespeare play, The language can be difficult, the times portrayed are foreign and some of the humor was probably still a little out of reach for them. I was requiring them to go and I figured they would be very relieved when it was over.

What a surprise when we were leaving!! My 11 year old claimed he understood every word! Lofty claim, becasue I was having trouble keeping up with the dialogue at several points. My 13 year old said he liked it alot. Is my crew actually tameable??? This may have been a fluke, but both boys came home and told their dad what a good play it was. After hearing the boys tell of it, the girls were begging to go to a Shakespeare play! I will check with my husband this morning to make sure that I am not simply relating a dream to you: )

Taming of the Shrew was a good first Shakespeare because it included lots of physical comedy. The actors and actresses did a great job conveying the dialogue with body language. The costumes and set were, indeed, beautiful! I laughed out loud many times during the play. Great stuff!!

Several years ago we used a curriculum called, "Shakespeare for Children." It introduces young elementary students to Shakespeare in hopes that they will build a positive mindset towards it early on. It was fun and we enjoyed our study, then. But last night was the real test. So far, so good. My kids still don't know that Shakespeare is a drag and too difficult to understand.

Getting ready...

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 11:57:00 -0500

We are busily cleaning and packing for our trip to my dad's house in Tampa, FL. So I probably won't be aroung homeschoolblogger next week. But I will have SO many cool pictures when we get back!! I can't wait to share them.

On our way down Saturday, we are going to stop at Jekyll Island for lunch and a stretch break. Have any of you ever been there before? This will be our first time. Last year we stopped at St. Simon's Island on the way down.

While in Tampa, we are planning on visiting the Lowry Park Zoo and Fort Desoto. Last year we went to both of those places and had a great time. AND it just so happens there are letterboxes in Florida, too! We have mapped out the ones we want to find already. Maybe we will plant one of our boxes down there?

After we return home, we will settle down into a more regular routine. March and April are always so busy for us that we really enjoy coming back down to earth for the summer.

A Spring Wildflower Slide Show

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 18:57:00 -0500

Here are some more spring flower pictures for any who are interested!

http://www.slide.com/r/CEvI-8Fj0j-aKBoJMQr8CsI8kQyMLBEy?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url

If someone can tell me how to make all of that a word, instead of computer talk, I'd sure appreciate you sharing: )

8 Things I Love About my 8 Year Old!

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 18:00:00 -0500

Everybody needs a child like this girl! She is a ray of sunshine and warmth in our family. We spent her birthday in a cabin in the mountains. She said it was the best birthday ever, and she's had some pretty good parties before. For her 8th birthday she got 'spa' treatment, to play a full game of Scrabble and to spend time with family. All some of her favorite things to do!! So in honor of Abbey Rose, here are 8 things I love about her...

#1-She loves to hug and be hugged.

#2-She genuinely loves people.

#3-She is at home in the woods or the spa.

#4-She is always willing to help.

#5-She is VERY competetive!! She is fun to play games with and watch when she is playing sports.

#6-She would rather receive flowers for her garden on her birthday than toys.

#7-She always mixes up words and stories, which makes for very good laughs!!!

#8-She can laugh at herself. This will get her far in life!

I wish you all could know her as I do!!