Thoughts on homeschooling in a different culture http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:12:00 -0500 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:12:00 -0500 I just started school for the year. I think I really only finished about a week before, but knowing that I will need to take time off for a move and a new baby, I am trying to plan ahead. It is exciting to be teaching 5 students at once. Really everyone needs help with their math which is very mentally stimulating. One huge blessing is having four readers. It is nice that many of them are learning lots on their own and learning how to read and follow directions. We are reading through the Little House On The Prairie series, we have done some related map work, and made a list of their work compared to ours. It really helps me be aware of the fact that most of my work is picking up and organizing stuff. I am on the lookout for ways to scale back on that problem, I am sure a move will help a bit. I am doing a weekly blog over at the Homeschool Blogger Company Front Porch, so it is a struggle to get things posted here, but I do appreciate reading what everyone else has to say. Blessings, Jennifer http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/563055/ Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:12:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/563055/ I haven't posted here for a while porque, I have to come up with something inspiring every week for homeschoolblogger at www.homeschoolblogger.com/hsbcompanyblog which is really taxing my lazy brain. I am going to be speaking next Saturday at the CFS conference in Escondido (near San Diego) and so I have been trying really hard to keep to our schedule so that my darling teenage daughter doesn't blast me with comments such as "Mom, I think you have only done that once" when I talk about kids preparing snacks and other tidbits. It is nice to have children who encourage us to do our best, even as we encourage them in the same way. To stay on track with our good habits, we all took a few moments this morning to clean up rooms, brush teeth and tidy the house.  They are all outside now working on their little gardens and washing up horse gear in hopes they can catch our neighbor's horses (they have permission from the neighbor).  Scott is busy at the orphanage directing a group who are building another bedroom for them.  It will be a huge blessing for them to have the boys not sleeping in the living room.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/526534/ Sat, 3 May 2008 14:02:01 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/526534/ I am still struggling to figure out how to upload pictures.  Every few months I figure it out and then don't use my newfound knowledge for a few months and forget. The sun is finally shining here!  We have been rained in and because of the rain, out of water(there is some irony there)every weekend this month.  The rain turns the road to mush which means the water truck can't get in until the road dries.  It is nice however to have some green hills to look at here in normally dry Baja. I flew through Bible, history and math yesterday so we could spend the nicest part of the day planting strawberries, spreading compost and lovingly potting a kangaroo paw(a flower, not the foot of a mammal).  I do hope it all lives.  The soil here seems to be completely dead!  About half of what I plant dies, good thing most of it is free stuff.  Geraniums are the one thing that seem to do well.  That and my aloes which are rapidly making progeny. We spent the hour before supper finishing up language and then after supper watched Lillies of The Field, with Sydney Poitier. It was fun to see all the cultures in this sweet movie.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/477667/ Sat, 9 Feb 2008 14:48:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/477667/ Ella turned one yesterday, It is amazing how fast the time has gone.  We were gone all day using our free zoo passes that the children won from the library and taking Emelie to her speech club.  Today has been catch up, laundry(very difficult without regular power) clean up, math, Eden's program, preschool with Emmett, change diapers, wash dishes, etc. etc. I do enjoy caring for my children and home, but a day like this after being gone for a day, sure does wear me out.  My boys just came inside from hauling buckets of gravel, I am glad they got some exercise and created some more mud free paths for us.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/442934/ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:32:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/442934/ We were at a park for a few minutes to see Scott's dad.  I am not really taller than my dear husband. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/424988/ Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:30:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/424988/ We had a great time with these families fixing a bathroom for an orphanage(mostly the men and older boys) and visiting and caring for babies.  I especially enjoyed getting to know these two homeschool moms.               http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/424966/ Sun, 11 Nov 2007 14:54:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/424966/ We are studying Early American History this year, and in my quest to save money on curriculum, I did not buy one for history.  I have to admit, I had quite a collection of materials from my 10 years of homeschooling, and I was helped by my sweet friend, Jennifer Steward . I have so far been reading The Light And The Glory For Children,  A Childs Story of America, (borrowed from Kate ) and Calico Bush, as story of Colonial Maine.  It has been great to read aloud more, do oral and written narration and use my collection of coloring books for coloring pages.  I had been using Story of The World, which I liked, except felt we missed a view of God's providence in history.  It is important to be discerning, one view of God's will and work, might not match with another one, (could Jamestown really be called a Christian settlement?) but I don't want to leave God out of history. We are having fun, the children drew pictures of Indian homes, built a log cabin out of sticks, and we had a Mayflower day where we ate pea soup and crackers for lunch aboard our boat(the living room rug). Teaching my children history is one of my favorite reasons to homeschool   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/403986/ Sat, 6 Oct 2007 13:57:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/403986/ Glenda was at my house yesterday.  She is a Mexican woman from Chiapas, a state in the South of Mexico.  She was telling me about her husbands relationship with his stepdad.  He grew up on a coffee plantation in Chiapas were his mom and stepdad worked cutting coffee.  His stepdad would send him out at three years old with a machete to cut down the mountain, and if he balked would beat him. I definitely believe in chores for kids, but this is what has given God -honoring, hard work in children a bad name.  The story of some people in Mexico sounds at times so completely unbelievable.  Glenda herself, had her mother die when she was 6 and then was abused by her older brother, which led her to leave home at 13 years old to be with her current "husband"(in Mexico many people say they are married, but have not really gone through the legal process.) Just one more reason to be thankful, in many of the world's countries people still die of hunger, children do the work of men, and baby girls are considered a nuisance.  Praise the Lord for his word and his message of love, justice and redemption through Jesus Christ. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/383890/ Sun, 2 Sep 2007 11:35:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/383890/ We just had a great evening at a church in Rosarito sharing about what God's word say's about parenting, as well as some health and nutrition basics.  It was very interesting to hear some of the questions at the end.  There was one family whose mother is giving them a bad time for having so many children(they have four) and another question came up about what the laws are regarding spanking.  I thought these were only issues that came up in the U.S.  but apparently the same worldly wisdom is prevalent in Mexico as well. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/368335/ Sun, 5 Aug 2007 16:38:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/368335/ We had a very exciting introduction to homeschooling meeting here in Mexico which was well attended.  It is such a strange thing to the people we know here, but a Christian homeschool mom that we met from Mexico City came and shared with the ladies, and gave them much inspiration to step out in faith. A family came with their daughter who has Cerebral Palsy, they are looking for help and ideas on taking care of her, in Mexico there are few resources for children with special needs. We are heading to Sacramento in a week to host a booth at the SCOPE conference.  It will be a great opportunity to encourage families to take the plunge and do a family mission trip.  We just listened to a C.D by Sally Clarkson, and she like many other homeschool leaders was urging families to take their children into miinistry with them.  It is definitely life changing to help the poor and needy, and incredible that it is so close to rich, and beautiful U.S.A.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/333974/ Sat, 26 May 2007 13:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/esperanzavallero/333974/