Buddhist/Christian Homeschooling family trying to get a handle on all the newness that comes along with being a first time homeschooler with values not reflected in the majority of my city! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:56:00 -0500 Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:56:00 -0500 After months of searching, I finally decided on a new blog site.  Those wishing to continue to read up on what's going on, feel free to visit me at www.myhomeschoolplace.com/herc I found this site increasingly difficult to use, and did some research, took a break from blogging in general, and decided that in order for me to get the most out of my blogging experience, I needed to move on.  I am thankful for homeschoolblogger.com for getting me started in the blogosphere, and will always remember my roots.  I hope to see some old friends and new ones at the new blog location, wish all of you luck with your HSing adventures, and bid thee farewell (LOL) Cari http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/340971/ Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/340971/ Yeah, I'm not too sure about all the changes happening around here either, friends!  I'm too old-fashioned, and it worked most of the time before - and it's not too user-friendly around here anymore unless you want a crash course in page design and html(-ing). We're continuing our studies, well into 1st grade if you feel the need to keep track (she's a year ahead of her PS peers), and well into 2nd grade for math - because IMHO, she's a genius. Unit study-wise, we're still learning about our bunny, Luna.  She's going thru those terrible teen years (well, relative to bunny age, at any rate, LOL) and needs corrections and gentle leadership if she's not going to become a nipper.  We've got the water bottle out, and use 2 fingers to the neck to prevent those adorably sharp teeth from sinking into our flesh when she gets in the mood to play rough! (just a tap, it doesn't take much to deter a bunny!)  She's a playful one - loves to veg out, and is a bit of a diva, with wanting all the attention when she's out.  She's likely to nudge you when she is in the mood, and she'll hop on you if you're not looking at her all the time! We even got a cute video of her 'attacking' a beanie baby-style giraffe, it's just hilarious. We're also learning about stages of pregnancy, week by week kind of thing.  She's looking forward to being a big sister, and we're taking on bits of baby care before the baby gets here.  How to swaddle, change a diaper, what kinds of toys can a baby play with, that sort of thing. She also knows the PG version of what happened to Tara Grant.  We're near where all this happened, and it's gained national attention, so I thought it best to give her the watered-down, age appropriate version, told with love for her, so nothing was too difficult on her - no details. (the husband was mad at his wife, so he killed her and tried to hide it.  The bad man had kids around your age, and now those kids don't have a mommy or a daddy, because when someone does something that horrible, they have to go to jail.) and she said to me, "That's not right, because even if he was mad at her, he should have just taken a break and gone to his room!" (brief pause) "That daddy should have loved his kids more, because now they have to live in a new home, without all their toys and clothes and stuff!"  I told her the kids would do fine with relatives, and told her they most likely have all the important toys with them by now.  She was relieved to hear that part, LOL.  She was also told what would happen to her if we were to die, and with whom she would most likely live - toys included!  It was a good way to open that door for that type of discussion, for our family, anyhow.  I couldn't believe that sort of evil existed around here.  I mean, I knew it was a possibility, but it's just always so hard to realize it's REAL, and it was in our stomping grounds, you know?  Just eerie... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/297635/ Sat, 10 Mar 2007 18:49:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/297635/ We've had quite a time lately!  We've had car troubles, then borrowed car troubles, then we were hemmoraging money into a rental before FINALLY purchasing a newer minivan!  I tell you, the stress has been unbearable.  I'm 19 weeks along (ALMOST at the halfway point).  I've decided to keep most of the pregnancy stuff to myself in a private, old-fashioned journal.  See, there are just some things that really don't belong on the internet, IMHO, and it'd be silly to assume everyone in cyberspace cares. Those who know me, and want real pregnancy updates and all that, already use my email or phone.  I feel it's just TMI if I go on and on about my cravings and aversions to (no offense) total strangers.  So this blog will not contain any more pregnancy stuff, but will at least ATTEMPT to be a record of what we're covering in our HSing adventure. We're reading more than anything.  We just recently obtained a baby bunny, who is the exact same colors of the moon (average moon, not pink or blue, ) so we named her Luna.  And, for those Harry Potter fans out there, we all know Luna's nickname is Looney.  Looney Tunes has Bugs BUNNY, bunnies tend to BE looney, so the name works on SO many levels.  She's a great bunny so far, and we're BOTH learning a lot about how different bunnies are from our other creatures. Our black and white dog, Bella, (the previous sicko, if you remember) gets SO fixated on the bunny, it's SCARY.  She's in need of some serious dicipline regarding that bunny - it's NOT FOOD!  K dog is fine with the bunny, she remembers the buns we've had in the past, and knows how to respect the pets in the family. Things we didn't know about bunnies last time:  - the cage should be the 'safe haven' and no one should reach in and grab the bunny.  - bunny love IS the nibbles on the clothes and hair  - litter training will take a LOT longer with a baby (the last buns were adopted as adults!!! I've never had a baby bunny!) and I need to be VERY PATIENT (good practice for a Buddhist anyhow, LOL) - bunnies don't like to cuddle all the time, and won't LIKE to be touched, pet, kissed, etc. all the time.  The best way to be with a bun is to just hang out together doing nothing (why is it everyone speaks of a DOG as the 'ultimate buddhist' when it's really the BUNNY, ha ha ha!) - bunnies actually recognize play, and will shake their head, kick up their heels, and invite you to play some more!  The more laughing at the bunny, the more it 'performs' for you! The rest of care and husbandry of bunnies, we already knew.  We're learning that it IS possible to train a bunny, but takes patience and bunny needs to be at least 6 mos old before it'll really take to the training.  Besides, the way to train a bunny is strictly positive reinforcement, with food rewards.  No amount of bunny psychology, dicipline techniques, or ESPECIALLY NOT PUNISHMENT will get a bunny to do what you want.  So we need to get to know Luna as a bunny, discover her favorite treats, and still need to assess what kind of bunny she'll be - cuddler? aloof? playful? before we can teach her things. MCREST starts today.  K dog and I are going to keep the guys company and break the ice.  MCREST is a program to help homeless men in our county by putting them in a month long program, to help them find jobs and transportation, feed them and give them a "home."  Different churches take the guests on for a week at a time.  The men have to pass drug tests and a nightly breathalizer test in order to stay in the program.  My job (as I'm pregnant, and can't help with heavy lifting, and still have some major food aversions so I can't help cook or serve w/o gagging!) is to visit with the guys and help them feel at home and just talk with them. Hopefully, K dog is mostly over her irrational fears of men, and will work in a therapy dog capacity in order to heal the men in ways medicine cannot.  Last year, I took Bella, and she got fearful after a loud noise.  She left a present in the dining area, and I banned her from coming back.  I worked with K dog for a year getting her used to different people and situations, and a few weeks ago, I took her to the church to reassess her degree of fear with strange men.  She accepted all of the men I introduced her to, with no barking.  Once she goes more than once, she'll remember the guys and look forward to all that attention, instead of being fearful.  My goal is mainly to help the men feel at home.  My secondary goal is to help K dog heal as well.  There's a chance I'll have to leave her at home, but I'm going to use all my experience as a trainer/behaviorist and create the picture in my head of the perfect MCREST visit. Daughter will not assist in MCREST until she's 16, regardless of the restrictions placed on the guests, there are just too many opportunities should any of them be a child predator, and I'm not going to compromise her saftey.  IF she participates next year it's in a setup capacity, either with cleaning or cooking for the guests before they arrive. Daughter passed a milestone (she's 5 1/2)!  She actually READ TO ME this time.  She sounded out the words, and needed help with only 2 of them (those funny phonics combos that don't make sense, lol).  It was a Biscuit book we haven't read before, so I really KNEW she wasn't doing anything from memory!!! WOO HOO!!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/287155/ Sun, 18 Feb 2007 11:20:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/287155/ I tried and tried to get the ticker on here.  Maybe it worked, maybe it didn't.  Something's wrong with homeschoolblogger again.  I can't even get into my comments to check my info again on putting a ticker in here! Arrgh!I'm still pregnant, 2 months along now.  Sick all the time, and can't wait for the 19th when I'll have my first prenatle visit.HSing is going fine.  We're still unschooling mostly.  I'm pretty tempramental when I'm pregnant, so we're not pushing the curriculum now.  I'd get too upset way too easily, not to mention the frustration factor.  How do moms do this when they're pregnant?! It's so much more difficult!This week is the Week of Enlightenment.  For more info, check out BeliefnetIt's listed under Buddhism, and I'm too tired today to fuss with the tempramental websites this morning.I'll update later, if the blog site decides to behave, lol! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/249789/ Mon, 4 Dec 2006 10:06:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/249789/ Okay, so I've been absent for a while.  There IS a reason for that!  Not only was I sick with a cold last week, but I caught an entirely different cold on top of it.  Now I'm all bronchial, and stuffy-nosed.  It's not fun.  I was resting, trying to recoup, trying to deal with all of these issues without medication (yesterday I cracked - I couldn't BREATHE!).Why on Earth would one try to battle the cold from H-E-double hockey sticks without medicine?I'm pregnant!  We're expecting baby 2 on July 15th of 2007.    We weren't exactly trying, but we weren't exactly preventing, and it happened!  Hubby is SOO excited, it's so cute!I wanted to do a home birth, which would have been ideal for me and my control-freak issues, LOL, but hubby was concerned - not to mention a bit in sticker shock!  So we're going to look into birthing centers and the other local hospitals with birthing style rooms.  If all else fails, we'll do what we did the first time, but with a birthing plan so I don't get as many surprises as I did last time.Besides, next year in November, my Baby Brother is getting married!  He and his Fiancee live in Florida, which means if I have to budget for 2 major events less than 4 mos apart, I'd have to choose which is more important.  Perfect birth or attending the wedding?  Sorry, but I have to err on the side that lets us show off our new bundle to adoring family and friends Homeschool wise - we just bought a curriculum for $20, which rocks!  It's part of Harcourt Family Learning series, with the focus on Math and English (and all that goes with it - grammar, spelling, writing, etc.)  I figure we do enough supplemental readings to catch up on history, geography, science and all that jazz.  I also had to buy a 2nd grade math workbook, because Daughter's sick of all that review stuff.Daughter read 2 readers all on her own.  The last time we checked these out was over the summer, and she's reading them without help now!  How'd that happen?!?  Is her memory that good, or is it just that she's really LEARNING to read?  I am constantly astounded by what she learns!  I'm such a proud momma!My only concern now is pregnancy brain and attitude these next 9 months!  I really have to check myself and my attitude/fuse when I'm teaching now... While this promises to be a less stressful pregnancy this time around (i.e. we're actually married this time, he's got a steady job, etc) there's no guarantee that the Hormone Fairy won't stick me with a bunch of rotten attitude here and there. (hormone fairy! LOL)No TV day is a weekly occurrence now.  Usually Tuesdays, as there's not much else on anyhow.  Perhaps once a year (during the summer) we'll do a week of no TV.  That'd be fun.  We did have a blast that first time!  Okay, gotta go eat lunch now!  I'm actually hungry today! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/238953/ Wed, 15 Nov 2006 11:40:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/238953/ I just finished looking at the Michigan Sample Ballot off my state web page.  I'm pretty well researched on all the issues and proposals.  As a fairly conservative family, I'm hoping our votes will help change the direction of Michigan's economy and well-being of all her citizens.  It is SO important to vote and let our voices be heard.  It's not something to take lightly, or to take at face value off of those slanted political ads.  There's always a hidden agenda for every party, and every ad.  Our family read all the literature out there, also reading opinion websites and articles.  We've read arguments on both sides, and have made our decisions.I, for one, can't wait to get out there and vote on Tuesday.  It's as exciting to me as it was when I turned 18.  I only hope my enthusiasm is contagious to my daughter so when she turns 18, she's as excited as I was!We did very fun things this week, aside from Halloween, actually!  Daughter built a worm park for her 'wormie friends' to live in over the winter.  She did the research (with little help from me) and built her worm park all on her own.  She dug up the dirt, put in toys, leaves, and worms.  They are going to winter under the sink, where it's warmer for them (she's so concerned about the worms getting too cold, so we have to look that up still - where DO worms go when it snows?)We had a No TV Day on the first of the month, building tents and reading more books, playing play-doh, and doing things other than staring at the idiot box.We're currently exploring government with Daughter as President for the Day (of the house, naturally).  She's a good president with a lot of cool ideas about how the house should be run.  She's making good, solid rules, and nothing really out there like 'dessert all day' or anything like that.  She's "letting me" go on the internet today, and she's doing her presidential best to run the household.  The rule I like the best is that all the housework waits until after her bedtime at 8:30!  She's bound to see the fault of that rule when she realizes we don't have clean dishes, LOL!All in all, it seems like we've been more Unschooling than structured learning.  It's been a blast trying on different ways of learning to see what the best fit is.  I love trying different things! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/231146/ Thu, 2 Nov 2006 10:51:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/231146/ I just read this article by a homeschooler who was an audience member for that Dr. Phil homeschooling episode. Dr. Phil ArticleI'm glad I didn't get picked, as I don't think I could've kept my mouth shut during the taping, and I would've come across as a crazy person.  I'm watching tonight like one might watch a train wreck.  I'm curious how badly Dr. Phil taints HSers images and the idea of HSing.  I'm just beside myself with anger and a sense of betrayal.  I toook psychology in college, the data supports homeschooling as a nurturing environment for children.  Not only are the parents the ones to deal with all those changes during middle school years, but parents are able to support their children in a non-aggressive environment where the gangly teens aren't made fun of, no one is bullied, and the only knives and guns in a homeschool are under the control of the parents.On a tangent- Nana took us to the Homeschooling Halloween Skating Party, and Daughter had a blast bouncing on those inflatables and running around like a crazy kid.  When asked if she made any friends, she says, "They're all my friends."  It was precious.  I was so excited to go!  With the one car, we're not able to attend a lot of these things, and this one was the biggest one we've heard about.  It was nice to see how many homeschoolers there were in our county.Daughter is doing much better in her potty habits, and has had more dry days than  wet days, which makes it easier to go out now.  So I'm slowly regaining my sanity and we're rebuilding trust in one another, which is always a good thing. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/227790/ Fri, 27 Oct 2006 14:23:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/227790/ Okay, we finally got the internet working!We've had a pretty good couple weeks.  Potty difficulty is waning, we've made it 3 dry days a week the past two weeks!  That link really helped from cryskey (sp?) and it's pretty much all I did was explain to her the need to exercize that particular muscle every day.  I think there's more room in there for her bladder to expand now since she's trying to poop every day.Okay, schooling DID take a back seat these past two weeks.  I figured learning how to keep underwear dry was more important than working on the letter K.  We did some reading and a ton of art projects the past two weeks.  Which if one compares it to public schools, really we're about on par with wasted time, lol. No, I amend that - It wasn't wasted time.  It's really important she learns proper elimination habits.  No one wants to hang with the smelly kid. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/221548/ Tue, 17 Oct 2006 11:47:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/221548/ Thanks for all the help, everyone!  THIS is why I LOVE blogging here.  Whenever I need help or encouragement - someone out there is willing to give advice.  You are all such precious and wonderful gifts.Daughter managed to keep it dry all day today (well, technically YESTERDAY, LOL) and we enjoyed a trip to the library, and additional story time this evening (and that amounts to extra cuddles, by the way)!Thanks again for all the help - I will keep posting to let everyone in on any progress we make. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/215762/ Fri, 6 Oct 2006 23:37:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/215762/ Okay, Daughter is 5.  She will be 6 in June.  Someone please tell me how I'm supposed to deal with her STILL eliminating in her underwear.  Not just #1, but also #2.  I've been keeping count recently.  In the past 30 days, she's been dry only two whole days.  There has NEVER been a nighttime period of dryness - I attribute that as being a medical issue with her bladder not growing fast enough, or she sleeps way too hard.  But during the day, she's old enough to keep it dry.  She did it during periods when she was 3 and 4, but she hits 5 and all of a sudden, I can't go anywhere or do anything without KNOWING she's going to have an accident.  I have to buy pull ups in order to go in anyone else's car - and anyone shopping knows that if you look, you're lucky to pay 10 dollars for a pack of like 4 pull ups.  I can't afford that, so we bring extra clothes.  She's five and I have to carry around a DIAPER BAG with wipes, and a change of clothes!!!  We basically can't leave the house.  I can't have a playdate, because chances are she'll have peed or pooped her underwear either that day or the day before.  Why reward her with a visit with a friend if she's not doing her JOB?!  I can't take a 30 minute walk, even.  We'll go before we leave and she still manages to soil herself within that 30 minute walk.  I'm at the end of my rope.  I can't do this!  What if I send her to public school?  She'd be ridiculed, but wouldn't that stop her from doing it again?!  It doesn't matter what we do as parents, she doesn't hear us.  Yesterday, she was allowed to wear underwear again (it's not like we left the house anyhow - yes, I grounded her from her undies - I told her they were sick of being pooped in.) and she managed to poop in them, and she took the feces with her hands and put them behind the dresser.  I'm not joking.I honestly hope she gets sick from this, like hospital stay, enema-inducing, heavy on the procedures - like SICK.  Perhaps then she'll LISTEN to what people are telling her.I'd set her loose in the backyard if it were warmer.  It's disgusting.  I have to do so much laundry on a daily basis, I may as well have a NEWBORN!  Her sheets and PJs are a load by themselves, then there's the 3 or 4 pair of undies and jeans per day.  It's NOT medical, by the way, so please no comments on 'maybe it's a UTI' because it's not that.  Something's wrong with her HEAD.  Amazing.  The kid grasps negative numbers, but can't grasp elimination on the potty for some reason.  She's done this total backslide.I know her fav. uncle left, her dad's gone all day at work, blah blah blah.  Not good enough for me.  I'm not patient enough for this.  It's not like I didn't give her outlets to express her emotions about Uncle leaving.  She's had access to art supplies during all this, but she's been grounded from everything - TV, her playroom, her toys, GameCube, Computer, her underwear and pants - everything except her art stuff and school worksheets.  I also make sure she knows she can talk to me about anything that is bothering her - she just doesn't talk about it.We can't go out with the other HSers because she's not deserving of a day out skating at the rink for their Halloween party if she's not even reliably potty trained and I'm going to have to change her!  Shoot if by some miracle we DID make it to the party, she'd have to LEAVE it if she DID have an accident.  Why pay admission if I'm most likely only going to be there for a good 10 minutes before she has a #2 in her undies?!I know I sound like the worst mom in the world here.  I'm not denying it, I FEEL like the worst mom in the world.  I feel like a failure that I can't get my child to go POTTY like the rest of us.  I feel inadequate as a supplier that I can't get her the pull ups she needs to keep her bedding dry (or leave the 4 walls of our dwelling).  I'm stir crazy, and it's making me an angry mom.  I CAN'T leave my house anymore!  HELP! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/215357/ Fri, 6 Oct 2006 09:33:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/toughmutts/215357/