tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90237394838056249042024-03-13T21:29:10.907-07:00What! Why? HOW?!A walk in the world of a homeschool familyJesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-66736548715675844452011-10-13T01:29:00.000-07:002011-10-13T01:32:19.014-07:00The Welcoming of Curly BearWe are taking a hiatus from school blogging at the moment.<br /><br />Our newest addition to our family was born on the 8/9/11.<br /><br />She is beautiful and also has a few issues. We have spent the first six weeks of her life in hospitals. For more information please go to: http://the-life-and-times-of-jess.blogspot.com/<br /><br />We will be back one day!Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-27501410141116055302011-05-05T21:15:00.000-07:002011-05-05T21:26:51.017-07:00Independent Work HabitsFor me independent work is a skill within itself that we work on daily. At the moment our chore system has taken inspiration from <a href="http://www.preschoolersandpeace.com/pandpblog/2006/5/18/chores-part-two.html">THIS </a>blog post. Each day after breakfast and again at about 4:30 my kids and I get six laminated cards with a job written and illustrated on each one. The kids and I work through the chores and I expect my children to work relatively independently as I move around helping each one. Even Tool Man knows how to do his chores (things like dust the bookshelves etc.) and because they have been taught explicitly the how's of doing them and they KNOW I will check up on them (one of my chores is to check everyone's work!) they usually get on with it. That is not to say we don't have to re-do. Princess Doc had to vacuum the dining area four times today before I was happy to let it go and I have had to have serious conversations with my sons about what IS and IS NOT appropriate to suck up with the vacuum cleaner (water out of the bathroom sink being NOT - betcha didn't know vacuum cleaners can shoot flame!). What has this got to do with doing math independently? Everything. If the only time they have to work independently is when they are doing academic work they will resist it with every fibre of their being - and kids can get very creative about resisting academic work that they don't want to do! If they have learned and daily practise the skill of working independently this will be reflected in the way they work. I teach independent working habits by being close and available without being involved. Sometimes this means I have to re-focus children multiple times which can be frustrating, but if I focus on teaching WORK HABITS before teaching content it works better in the long run.<br /><br />Things that have helped me streamline our day, foster independent work and cut out busy work for me include:<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Link group work to meals and non-negotiable daily events.</span> Our Bible work happens at the breakfast table and immediately before bed. We are working through <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Fighting-Karyn-Henley/dp/0974319732%3FSubscriptionId%3D0RAFPGWETQZXMXGFNN02%26tag%3Damznf-us-tbsearch-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0974319732">Sword Fighting by Karyn Henley </a>(brilliant by the way) in the mornings which gives us time to read from the Bible, discussion questions and scripture memorisation. Plus we sing 1 hymn - I choose a new hymn each week so the kids can learn it thoroughly. In the evenings we sing together as a family, have some discussion time with Daddy, pray and then when the kids are tucked into bed with the lights off I sit in the hall way and read aloud our Day-by-day Bible Story readings which is working us through the Bible chronologically. Our history and science reading happens over lunch. Our poetry reading happens over afternoon tea once a week. This really helps with the rhythm of our day.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I don't create paper clutter.</span> If my kids can discuss the story with me, describe what they know, ask insightful questions etc. it is pointless to create a picture or work sheet just to show that they know something that they and I already know that they know! It wastes both our time. Children get bored with and resist busy work and frankly, I don't blame them. I have a couple of work books that my kids started but got ahead of. Rather than pushing through just to "finish the book" I added them to our colouring/activity book collection. They now pull them out to doodle in or the younger ones use them (sometimes surprising me with what they learn!). Paper work is there to serve our needs, not the other way around.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I have a daily meeting with each child.</span> Each child gets my attention for 10-20 minutes a day. During this time I teach Tool Man his letters, sing songs, look at shapes etc. Farm Boy reads me his reader, we work on some memorisation and play a phonics/reading game. With Princess Doc we do some memorisation, work on her Latin or First Language Lessons book or work on her latest composition or go over what she is doing with math-u-see. I took inspiration for this from <a href="http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=334_426&products_id=11743">a portion of an e-book</a> that I read<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I don't require independent written work until the child is an independent reader.</span> It just creates work for me and is of limited value. The more I read about the subject, and the more I observe my own children, the less inclined I am to believe that sitting a four year old down with a pencil and a work sheet they "must" finish is in any way educationally beneficial. They are doing pre-reading or early reading exercises with me during their daily meeting and when "reading" their chore cards, measurement and math when they help in the kitchen, listening in on all the read alouds - written work at this point is a waste of both our time. Princess Doc, a proficient reader, has a to-do list every day that she can work through and tick off.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Go deeper rather than wider.</span> We are studying bones this "term". I could generate stacks of work sheets on this topic, but I am not. For our first composition of this term I asked Princess Doc the question "why do we have a rib cage?" I acted as scribe as she brain stormed. She found she wanted some information so got a book of the shelf to check it. When we had all the information I put it away until our next composition meeting. Then she re-read her information and dictated her first draft to me. We will edit at our next meeting and then she will type it up and publish it. Rather than labeling a rib cage on a work sheet, she has created a piece of writing (using many literacy skills) that discusses the function of a rib cage. She has researched the information herself. She put the words together herself. She will edit it with me and type it up and publish herself. It takes FAR longer than a work sheet, however it really only took us 15-20 minutes a week for four weeks and was a far richer learning experience and after our editing, the process will be entirely independent. Children will put far more effort into something they see will be valued and kept rather than "another work sheet".<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Don't expect too much</span>. The work turned in from independent work will rarely be as good as the work done with me hovering at the shoulder correcting and pushing and prodding kids along. However, will I be with them at university or at their apprenticeship pushing them along? The independent work is a truer indication of what they are honestly capable of.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I don't "prove" everything they know and don't over assess for an external assessor. </span>If an assessor walked through the day and demanded to see proof that my children are memorising scripture and learning about the Bible I could not show him anything - EXCEPT, children who are able to speak the scriptures. If an assessor asked to see proof that Farm Boy can read I can't show him any phonics work sheets or work books, but I can sit him down with a child who will read him "Bug On A Rug" (Farm Boy is not registered yet, so I have no need to prove anything anyway!). Princess Doc's math-u-see work, copy work and dictation work is all put together in chronological order. Compositions are filed with brainstorms, rough draft and editing tucked in behind. Art journals and nature journals are also available and clearly filed in display folders. But this is for our OWN enjoyment as much as for display! The fact that it satisfies the needs of our assessors for registration is almost incidental. I don't have to decide which pieces of paper to keep because we don't generate heaps of it. Frankly, if it isn't worth keeping it probably wasn't worth doing in the first place. I do not write reports for my children. It would not add anything to our schooling so would be pointless for me to do so.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Allow time for kids to develop their own interests on their own.</span> If I want my daughter to read independently, it makes more sense for me to allow her time to delve into her Enid Blyton collection than to assign her a reading list at this point. She is developing her reading entirely independently! Of course, I keep tabs on what she is reading and how often. I do this by hanging over the edge of her bunk at bed time and asking her interested questions or inviting her to join in "book talk" at the table. Usually she is more than happy to tell me what she's doing. She is a willing reader and if the only reading she had time to do was the reading I assigned to her, she would loose that willingness and joy. Their ability to work independently would wain significantly if they never had time to work independently on their own interests. It would be foolish of me to pull my boys in from riding bikes in the back yard to do "PE" at this age or to stop the children poking at the biscuit dough so that they can do their fine motor skill work with the play dough - but this is exactly the trap we can fall into as over eager homeschoolers of preschoolers out to "prove" we can do it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Accept that some kids will have a harder time staying focused than others.</span> Farm Boy will work for hours on something assigned to him, Princess Doc will drift off after about ten seconds if it doesn't interest her. This isn't because Farm Boy is a "better" or "smarter" child, it is simply because he has a work aptitude the same as Princess Doc has a reading aptitude. I have to work harder with Princess Doc on her work habits, I have to work harder with Farm Boy on his reading skills. It is just the way it is.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Don't expect everything and every day to be perfect</span>. If it is all perfect because I made it that way, it doesn't teach my children anything. We can all learn from our mistakes. Being a control freak, it doesn't always come naturally to let my kids make mistakes and sometimes I have taken it as a personal failure when they stuff up. Allowing them to work independently and keeping my meddling hands out can be good character training for me! Of course, I do have standards and sub-standard work or sloppy attitude does warrant a do-over. But being a perfectionist will just kill any joy in the process and isn't worth it. Initially I try and make sure all the work is well within the capability of a child before requiring them to work independently. This way I can focus on work habits rather than getting hung up on content.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-9421919321817253922011-02-21T18:00:00.000-08:002011-02-21T21:02:21.753-08:00When you move to crazy town....<span style="font-weight:bold;">WHAT </span>have we been up to?<br /><br />This last few months the Bear family moved to crazy town. No packing of boxes, thank goodness, just a slight shift in our mental balance. It started with the weather forgetting that we live in a cool-temperate climate and doing an impression of a tropical summer. Complete with some local flooding.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OoPOVjiD2wA/TWMlI7jOG-I/AAAAAAAAAWY/m9nHbbmqJf8/s1600/january%2B2011%2B006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OoPOVjiD2wA/TWMlI7jOG-I/AAAAAAAAAWY/m9nHbbmqJf8/s320/january%2B2011%2B006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576341598969404386" /></a><br /><br />The biggest lasting effect of all this rain has been our inability to get laundry dry! Yes, I know that isn't much compared to those who had their homes flooded, but I think any mother of many little ones knows that the laundry monster, once awakened, is very hard to put back to bed! We have a drier, but the humidity and the size of our house has meant that we have used it sparingly. So with toilet training, wet beds, camping trips and life in general we are drowning in an avalanche of washing!<br /><br />Yes, that is enough to send a Mama Bear slightly potty.... but it doesn't stop there.<br /><br />There was the completion of the boys room going from this <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lj4YtCGa3OE/TWMylGJhFbI/AAAAAAAAAWg/ewAuGpkd2H4/s1600/IMG_0349.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lj4YtCGa3OE/TWMylGJhFbI/AAAAAAAAAWg/ewAuGpkd2H4/s320/IMG_0349.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576356376501884338" /></a><br /><br />to this<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1Rkk2ryYFrY/TWM0AaIwsxI/AAAAAAAAAWo/pXQaqu4sV5I/s1600/IMG_2126.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1Rkk2ryYFrY/TWM0AaIwsxI/AAAAAAAAAWo/pXQaqu4sV5I/s320/IMG_2126.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576357945235518226" /></a><br /><br />which has meant the rearranging of almost every room in the house.<br /><br />And there have been birthdays <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e4hcGAi5NME/TWM2cWeZCrI/AAAAAAAAAWw/PY4HfLrgjxU/s1600/IMG_2334.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e4hcGAi5NME/TWM2cWeZCrI/AAAAAAAAAWw/PY4HfLrgjxU/s320/IMG_2334.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576360624312093362" /></a><br /><br />And camping trips<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WDIntdSQhtA/TWM3Gq-RqsI/AAAAAAAAAW4/CaU0qhkyzuo/s1600/IMG_2390.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WDIntdSQhtA/TWM3Gq-RqsI/AAAAAAAAAW4/CaU0qhkyzuo/s320/IMG_2390.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576361351369042626" /></a><br /><a href="http://"></a><br /><br />and automotive projects in the driveway (just in case you're wondering, the thing in the blue tarp is the motor)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xFhGHNWEoVo/TWM3thPvXuI/AAAAAAAAAXA/Kb4rQI18GXE/s1600/IMG_2433.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xFhGHNWEoVo/TWM3thPvXuI/AAAAAAAAAXA/Kb4rQI18GXE/s320/IMG_2433.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576362018772836066" /></a><br /><br /><br />day trips to the mountains<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2KS2UYIURkg/TWM4Xiru7II/AAAAAAAAAXI/m1DcRQYjxMk/s1600/IMG_2421.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2KS2UYIURkg/TWM4Xiru7II/AAAAAAAAAXI/m1DcRQYjxMk/s320/IMG_2421.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576362740713188482" /></a><br /><br /><br />And of course we have added a few regular commitments to our schedule that weren't there before because, you know, we have so much spare time on our hands. Plus a few of my own short term projects have all reached a deadline at once - funny how that happens! And our landscaping project in the front yard....let's just say I haven't been brave enough to photograph that one yet!<br /><br />So the Bear Family, residing in crazy town at the moment.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">WHY???</span><br /><br />Partially it has been out of our hands. We don't control the weather! Partially it has been completely our choice - if we don't make camping trips a priority they won't happen and we think they are important enough to put up with a little extra chaos. Also, it has been a choice to put up with short term chaos for long term gain. Having the children go from all sharing a room to having a girls room and a boys room has changed our lives for the better in SO many ways. Having that ute fixed and on the road will cut our fuel bills and be useful for Papa Bear to cart building materials, landscaping materials and lots of other materials. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">HOW???</span><br /><br />Being that this is a homeschooling blog I am going to give a quick rundown on how I keep school ticking along during times of chaos.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1. I put my own oxygen mask on first. </span> This is recommended to you every time you listen to the safety instructions before a plane takes off. Put your OWN oxygen mask on before helping anyone else, that way you won't be passed out on the floor with your child's oxygen mask only half on! Profound. Hard to apply at times. For me this looks like getting enough sleep, having an afternoon down time, eating well, drinking lots and taking my vitamins. If I do not do these things, I will be a burden to my family not a help during this time of chaos.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. I plan by weeks rather than days. </span> I have x amount that I expect we will get done in a week. We start on Sunday and work through until it is done or we hit Friday, which ever comes first! Usually, with no interruption, we are done except for a few cooking projects or read alouds by Wednesday and we get to focus on life learning for the rest of the week but if we have life stuff happen at the start of the week, we just shift our other work to the end of the week. At this point, we need the extra flexibility this allows and it works for me not to have to stress or re-plan if a day goes pear shaped. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. I plan. </span> Each week's work is planned with anything I need printed out and stuck in the appropriate manilla folder. The folders are numbered rather than dated so if it happens to take two weeks to get one week done, it is no biggie. But I never have to be sitting up scanning and printing the night before so Princess Doc has her school work in the morning. I wanted to have the whole year done, but I only have the first 12 weeks complete at this stage but I am just plodding along getting the rest done. So long as I stay a few weeks ahead of where we are I am happy. I got this idea from <a href="http://www.preschoolersandpeace.com/?p=593">Kendra at Preschoolers and Peace</a> and I have to say, I love the way it frees up my days.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4. I use some grab and go resources.</span> I am in love with resources like <a href="http://mathusee.com.au/">Math-U-See</a>, <a href="http://classicalacademicpress.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=12&zenid=bc6ab1a6240d80aa252a95f9f44eb32d">Song School Latin</a>, <a href="http://www.homeschoolingdownunder.com/">Downunder Literature copywork</a>, <a href="http://www.leatherwoodbooks.com.au/show.php?f=getcat&id=47&sc=30">First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind</a> and <a href="http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/spelling-wisdom/uk-ebook/">Simply Charlotte Mason's Spelling Wisdom</a>. These are all resources that I do not have to fiddle with which makes planning SO much easier. For the most part, my independent worker can work independently with these too! Other than our ten to fifteen minutes of couch time I rarely give my undivided attention to Princess Doc's schooling. I may go over a concept with her as I peg out the washing or check some of her work while I feed Laughing Boy but it is rare for her to need me to stop what I am doing. I believe this is an important part of her being a self motivated learner and I also believe this is important with the current level of chaos in our home! It WORKS for us, and that is what I want in a curriculum. I do not want to work for a curriculum! Also, it means on her really motivated days, Princess Doc is finished all her book work before I am out of bed - she's our morning lark in a house of night owls.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5. I go with it.</span> If it weren't for some major commitments toward the end of the year which will require some non-school weeks I would probably declare a fortnight's holidays and defeat that laundry monster and go crazy on the mess. But there are some inflexibilities in our life and we have to realise that. So each day I try and wash, dry and put away more washing than we make. Each day I try and make the house a little tidier than when I got up that morning. Each day I try and find time to laugh and love with my kids. Because I am the author of this crazy life and much of the crazy is of my own making. Plus, Crazy Town, it comes with benefits.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1r_b0jmad6U/TWNC3AeAmkI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/-EY8E8ygXao/s1600/IMG_2245.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1r_b0jmad6U/TWNC3AeAmkI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/-EY8E8ygXao/s320/IMG_2245.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576374276400912962" /></a>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-37292574705706097542011-02-07T21:14:00.000-08:002011-02-07T21:58:49.473-08:00Book Review: Out Live Your Life<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://booksneeze.com/art/_140_245_Book.248.cover.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 140px; height: 211px;" src="http://booksneeze.com/art/_140_245_Book.248.cover.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Why </span>did I choose to review this book?<br /><br />I have enjoyed some of Max Lucado's books previously and wanted to see if this one matched up. The title intrigued me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What </span>did I like about this book?<br />Max's books often follow a formula. Each chapter starts with an inspiring or convicting story, then comes a bit of Bible work or a little bit of "How do we apply this to our life?" type talk and then a big finish with a quote or push on to the next chapter. This was no exception to this formula. BUT, he makes this formula work. It reads like a series of darn good sermons on the topic of social justice. Some of Lucado's previous titles were enjoyable to read but a bit "fluffy" for me. They dealt very much in the realm of the emotional, not my personal happy place. This book was nitty gritty. It had the courage to take on the tricky topic social justice and wrestle it. While not pretending to have all the answers, this book did have the courage to confront some of the harder aspects of living out the Biblical call for Christians to be champions of social justice. I found the ideas and concepts this book puts forward to be challenging and practical without being guilt inducing and hopeless. I appreciated the continual returning to the Bible for inspiration and the openness within the suggestions that left room for the season of life of the reader. Let's face it, at this stage of life much of my time and energy is already double booked and many books that deal with this particular topic are designed to guilt anyone who doesn't have a spare 4-8 hours a day/grand per week to put toward service outside the home. I always appreciate a book that is practical and open ended.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What </span><span style="font-style:italic;">don't</span> I like about this book?<br /><br />It was fairly hard to pick any holes in this one. I know of some people who felt overwhelmed by the suggestions within the book, but I did not. I think if I were a person who felt that I MUST implement every good thing that I read in order to be a "good Christian", I may well have felt overwhelmed. But I think if you take it in context and relate it to the season of your life, it is a good read that continually brings one back to THE Book, which is really what you want in a Christian work.<br /><br />Overall, I would recommend this as an excellent read. Enjoyable, accessable, enough "meat" to it to satisfy me and enough inspiration to spur me on to bigger and better things in my own life.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-29113594591960420332011-01-19T19:49:00.000-08:002011-01-22T05:24:16.908-08:008 Ways a Mama Bear Can LearnIf Mama ain't learning...ain't nobody learning.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What </span>do I mean? <br /><br />Sometime in the last four or five generations we have picked up the idea, as a society, that learning happens at schools and universities. It is something that is done to a student by a qualified individual - often against that student's will. One day the student will graduate and then they will get to stop learning, other than occasional professional development or perhaps further education - again done at a school like facility or university.<br /><br />I am going to assume that if you are reading this blog you at least have a passing interest in home education. Therefore, it is fairly safe to assume that you already know that people can and do learn somewhere other than school. But do you know that YOU can learn still? Do your children know it? Do they SEE it?<br /><br />Not long ago I mentioned to Princess Doc that I had learned something and she asked "How come you didn't know that already? You're a grown up!" I explained that I am still learning every day and I hope to still be learning every day when I am ninety or more. It was a light bulb moment for her. Suddenly learning wasn't a path to be followed to a destination but an amazing place to be explored every day forever!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Why </span>should we keep learning?<br /><br />* To set a good example. A child will emulate behavior modeled far more readily than they will follow good advice. If your children see you learning, making mistakes, trying again, researching a topic of interest and completing a project they will learn skills that directly apply to their own studies and their own lives through your example.<br /><br />* To keep your brain healthy. Research suggests that a good diet, exercise and <span style="font-style:italic;">lifelong learning </span>are our best defense against age related brain disorders and mental illness like Alzheimers, age related bipolar disorder and many other devastating illnesses. If you don't use it you may well loose it.<br /><br />* To maintain healthy relationships. If you are a homeschooling mother odds are you are home with your children most of the time. It is VERY easy to make homeschooling, mothering and keeping house into an all consuming task. Ask yourself, if your ENTIRE identity is your home and children, what kind of relationship do you have with your husband? What kind of relationship will you have with your children when they leave home? I am by no means suggesting that we should shirk our responsibilities in this area in order to pursue hobbies and selfish interests but I am suggesting that a well rounded mind can help us to be better wives, mothers and home makers. <br /><br />* To develop our talents. If you are not familiar with the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, I'll encourage you to go and read it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">How </span>do we keep on learning?<br /><br />OK about now there are women rolling their eyes at the monitor and saying "Great, ANOTHER thing to add to the to-do list!".<br /><br />It's not about working harder, it's about working smarter! To learn, you don't need to enroll in a Masters program, you simply need to try something new, open a book, read something! Here are a few ideas of how to keep the learning going with a busy schedule.<br /><br />1 <span style="font-weight:bold;">Make yourself a book list</span>. If you look at the top of this blog you will see a link labeled <a href="http://whwhhow.blogspot.com/p/mama-bears-reading-list.html">Mama Bear's Reading List</a>. This is a list of books I want to read. I am trying to work through it at a slightly faster rate than I add to it! I read while I feed the littlest baby bear, I read while I wait for a doctor's appointment, I read for five or ten minutes after I get into bed (provided I get to bed before midnight), I read during nap times, I read whenever I get a spare moment and I'm not knitting...sometimes I multi-task and knit too. Compared to my ten book a week habit that I had pre-children it takes me a horribly long time to get through any book but the greatest thing about my learning right now is NO END OF SEMESTER EXAMS! If it takes me a year to get through a book, so what? As long as I am reading and enjoying and learning, what does it matter how long I take?<br /><br />2 <span style="font-weight:bold;">Practice a new skill or craft</span>. I am a self confessed yarn addict. I love to knit and I am also learning to crochet. There is always something to learn with these crafts and I am constantly challenged, frustrated, ecstatic, devastated, intrigued and thrilled with my yarn adventures. Thankfully, this is a portable and easy craft to pursue. I knit in front of the TV, in the car, while I listen to children reading, while I wait for appointments, when I am camping, when I am visiting friends, when I take the kids to playgroup. Pretty much any time I sit down and I'm not reading, I have yarn. Sometimes, I do both. I realise that not all crafts are this easy to accommodate, but get creative. If it is cake decorating, scrap booking, quilting or dress making that boils your personal potato find a way or make a way to do just a little bit each week. You will be surprised how fast it clocks up.<br /><br />3 <span style="font-weight:bold;">Connect with fellow students and experts</span>. When I joined <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/">ravelry</a>, a yarn crafter's social networking site, I fell in love with knitting all over again. You can find all sorts of forums, blogs and websites all over the net. You may have a local group or a friend with a shared interest who you can connect with. You need to be aware of your time spent here and make sure that it is adding to your learning, not taking away from your living (as internet over-usage is apt to do!) but it can be worth doing. <a href="http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/">Barns and Noble</a> run book clubs on their site which can be a great way to find people to discuss what you are reading with you.<br /><br />4 <span style="font-weight:bold;">Make use of podcasts, audio books and other techno aids</span>. Downloading a few podcasts into your MP3 player to listen to as you do the dishes or go for a walk, or peg out washing can be a fabulous, time efficient way to add to your learning. Seriously folks, there is SO MUCH out there, your problem will be narrowing it down. Here is a list of 20 places to start just from my own bookmarks and poking around. Can you believe, I am still saving for my MP3 player?<br /><br /><a href="http://librivox.org/">librivox</a><br /><a href="http://www.freeclassicaudiobooks.com/">free classic audiobooks</a><br /><a href="www.freechristianaudiobooks.com ">free christian audiobooks</a> <br /><a href="homeschoolradioshows.com ">homeschool radioshows </a><br />www.audiobooksforfree.com <br />www.learnoutloud.com <br />www.myaudioschool.com <br />www.abc.net.au/services/podcasting <br />www.gutenberg.org/browse/categories/1 <br />www.epnweb.org <br />itunes.stanford.edu<br />www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php<br />www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/podcasts<br />www.talkinghistory.org<br />www.philosophytalk.org<br />www.nature.com/nature/podcast/index.html<br />www.thenakedscientists.com<br />www.podcastdirectory.com<br />www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/<br />www.productivity501.com/free-academic-podcasts/78/<br /><br />(just as a side note, if your kids have ipods to load up with lots and lots of educational goodies, you may be interested in this page telling you how to set a maximum volume to protect your precious offspring from industrial deafness: http://support.apple.com/kb/TA38403?viewlocale=en_US)<br /><br />5 <span style="font-weight:bold;">Don't be afraid just to dabble</span>. I love to write. My writing consists of sporadic blogging and the grand aim of writing just one sentence per night in my journal. My garden teaches me heaps, but probably only gets an hour or two a week out of me. I love to cook new things, but only try maybe one new recipe per week. If you set your self small, attainable steps toward learning or improving your skills you will be more likely to get it done. ACHIEVABLE is the key word here.<br /><br />6 <span style="font-weight:bold;">Keep a notebook</span>. If there is a particular topic that interests you, start a notebook where you jot relevant facts, ideas, book titles that you want to track down, paste newspaper and magazine articles and make notes as you read books related to the subject. It could be dog breeding, meta-physical poetry, the role of women in the Bible, household management methods or healthy eating. Whatever it is, keeping your thoughts and research in a central place can help connect the dots. It doesn't need to be fancy, it won't be submitted for marking, it is for your eyes only.<br /><br />7 <span style="font-weight:bold;">Link it to the kids school work</span>. You love scrapbooking? Have the kids help you make a scrapbook and call it arts and crafts - or better yet, teach them to create their own scrap book about subjects they are studying (check out these links for more ideas: http://www.ehow.com/how_2237455_incorporate-scrapbooking-homeschool.html, http://www.squidoo.com/homeschoolscrapbooking, or just google homeschooling scrapbooking). Do you love dressmaking? Have the kids help you make medieval costumes as part of their history and craft learning. I always wanted to learn Latin so guess what we are learning this year? That's right! I can justify teaching Latin lots of different ways but when it boils down to it I want to learn it and it won't hurt for them to learn it too. Kids can make great study buddies! And sometimes, the best way to learn something is to teach it.<br /><br />8 <span style="font-weight:bold;">Take a short course</span>. You may not be able to commit to a Masters program, but perhaps you have time to take an Adult Ed course. Perhaps you can take a course online. I quickly scanned an interesting blog post the other day listing "<a href="http://www.marcandangel.com/2010/11/15/12-dozen-places-to-self-educate-yourself-online/">12 Dozen Places To Educate Yourself Online For Free</a>" and you can bet I have bookmarked that one for a better look. This is something I am more likely to pursue in a season of life when the bear cubs aren't quite so time-intensive, but it's nice to plan ahead sometimes. Perhaps you have a burning desire to learn how to Zumba, join your local gym. Perhaps you want to learn how to throw pots or draw, the local TAFE may well be running a short course. If you can work it in, it can be well worth doing.<br /><br />So check it out, think about it and get creative with your time. I honestly believe, nobody is to busy to learn.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-74019985486016281242011-01-18T22:49:00.000-08:002011-01-18T22:54:28.056-08:00Much has changed since the original walk through our day so I think it is time for a rehash. We will start off this series with a nutshell look at our day as planned for this year.<br /><br />This is how we are planning to do things:<br /><br />7:30-9:30 - get up, dressed, bedroom chores, hang out washing and have breakfast<br /><br />9:30-lunch time - 15 minute clean up time after breakfast, "table time" where we do our Bible study and any work we can do together like Latin, art activities etc. Then we have independent activities and chair time (this is where Erin does copywork, math-u-see etc. and I spend 10-15 minutes with each child snuggled on the couch reading stories, helping them memorise, working on phonics with my pre-reader and working through our language program. The kids also play in their rooms, outside or find some other way to express their individual creativity and learn independently i.e. make a complete mess. This time is usually peppered with cleaning up toilet training accidents, putting babies to bed or to the breast and general life stuff. By the end of the morning everyone is usually engaged in activities of their own choice. Like hovering over a sibling saying "Look, I'm not touching you!". We are so edjamacational in this house.<br /><br />lunch time - after lunch is made we sing a hymn and have lunch and I read aloud whatever other reading we are working on (Monday - history (Story Of The World), Tuesday - science(first term this year books about space exploration and astronomy), Wednesday - poetry, Thursday - (first term this year astronomy), Friday - River Cottage Family Cookbook)<br /><br />after lunch we have another 15 minute clean up, I read a chapter of our "for fun" read aloud and everyone goes down for a 30 minute rest (Erin usually works on a yarn craft like french knitting or long stitch or reads, the boys and Anna just read)<br /><br />after rest time we MAY do a little more stuff depending on how I feel and what is in the planning file (plaster fresco, for example, may be best done while the little ones are still asleep!), but for the most part this is when we do a bit of cleaning up and housework, get tea under way and I deal with any other projects I want to get done like perhaps a bit of sewing while the kids get turfed outside or in the bath or watch terribly educational things on TV (YouTube is an excellent resource and so are pages like this: http://pbskids.org/d...show/index.html and lets be honest, Bob the Builder is brilliant and Vegetales rock.)<br /><br />We usually eat somewhere between 6:30 and 7:30 then everyone has their teeth brushed etc. and the boys get into bed while the rest of us sit on the floor and we have our family devotions. Then the girls shoot off to bed and there you have it, our day in a nutshellJesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-11586216786611935892011-01-18T21:09:00.000-08:002011-01-18T21:46:12.915-08:00Teaching Farm Boy to Read Part 2Sorry about the cliffhanger there! I have been meaning to get back for weeks, but Christmas, renovations and life happened all at once. <br /><br />So, how did we go from letters to words? Once Farm Boy was fairly confident with the names and basic sounds of all the letters I found my trusty index cards. Seriously folks, don't homeschool without them. On each card I wrote a single word. I made a card each for the words that he knew how to read in the reader and then I added some words that I knew he would like to read - like his name, his siblings names, the word "cow" seeing as he loves all things cow related etc. Then after we read his reader, we played the sentence game. I put out some words to make a sentence that he would be able to read (for example: The cat sat on the hat.). When he had read it, I praised him up and changed it putting in a few different words and removing others. It helps if the sentence is funny, something like "The cat sat on Farm Boy" or "Tool Man sat on the cat". Four year olds have a fabulous love of the ridiculous and I use this to keep Farm Boy interested. <br /><br />As time goes on we added some other words and play the sentence game for a few minutes after we read. Some days we mix it up and I will write whole lot of "body part" cards and as Farm Boy reads them, he can stick them on himself or me (a game I got from a Peggy Kaye book called "Games for Reading") or we will walk around the house labeling things, people and pets. Farm boy gets to choose some cards to compose sentences for me to read too. It is invariably the case that a few of the sentences won't be grammatically correct and this is a great teaching point. First I will read the sentence exactly as it was composed "At the cat on sat" for example. Then I will screw up my face and exclaim "That doesn't make sense, that's SILLY!" After a giggle I encourage him to help me change it to something that DOES make sense.<br /><br />Why do I think the sentence game is so important? Because it stops a child thinking they can read simply because they memorised a reader then getting frustrated when they find they can't read the books in their book shelf. Mixing it up, seeing the words in different contexts, experimenting with formulation of correct sentences and trying out the meanings of words really gives reading ability a good work out. Knowing that C-A-T spells cat in the reader AND on the card is a big step in learning how to read. I believe in making our resources for this game together because I can tailor make it to the child. Phonetically, cow is way beyond where Farm Boy is at but because I know he loves cows it makes sense to use it now. So I wrote it and explained that O and W fight and say 'OW!' and it is one word he can always read. Because it comes from what he loves. Princess Doc had body parts and medical terms and I suspect Tool Man will want cars and tools. A child will want to read about what they are passionate about and will put the work in to learn if they see it as worthwhile.<br /><br />A Note on Writing:<br /><br />I do not believe a child should be required to write until they have shown an interest in learning OR are a proficient reader. Writing requires the mental knowledge of letters, what they mean and how to put them together. It also requires fine and gross motor skills that many early readers simply do not possess. When Princess Doc wanted to learn to read I used a popular text to start her off and it required that she write a little each day. My training had taught me that you teach letter formation at the same time as you teach the letter. Away we went and I found I was killing her love of reading. She hated having to write the letters because she simply did not have the fine motor skills to do it "properly". And if you know Princess Doc at all, you know that "properly" is very important to her. So I let it go and we just read - and today I have and confident novel reading six year old who is just now perfecting her letter formation. Sadly, many children are prevented from surging on with their reading at school because they haven't learned to write well enough yet. I personally see this and a linked but separate skill which may form at a completely different rate.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-33104688030150566192010-10-11T21:56:00.000-07:002010-10-11T22:56:13.590-07:00Teaching Farm Boy to ReadI am not really into the whole "teach your baby to read" thing. If that's what boils your potato, go ahead, but it isn't me. I would rather just read them lots and lots of books than mess around with flash cards! I was quite content to leave it until my children were at least seven before starting to teach then how to read.<br /><br />My children, however, had other ideas.<br /><br />At age 3 and a half, Princess Doc started asking me to teach her to read. Daily. For weeks on end. So I did and she is currently (at age 6) working toward her aim of reading 100 books in 50 days to raise money for a chosen charity (more on that in a later post). She read 15 books this afternoon.<br /><br />Thinking she was a bit of a freak, in the nicest possible way, I cautioned Papa Bear and various other friends and relatives not to compare the younger ones to her freaky deaky reading brilliance and let them learn in their own time - even if it wasn't until they were over the age of 7.<br /><br />Sure enough, Farm Boy turned 3 and a half and what did he start doing?<br /><br />Asking me to teach him to read.<br /><br />Repeatedly.<br /><br />For months.<br /><br />So I thought we'd document how we are going about teaching Farm Boy to read.<br /><br />The kicker with Farm Boy is that he did not yet know all of his letters when he wanted to start reading. I could have insisted that he learn letters first, but his passion was reading WORDS thank-you - specifically, reading the <a href="http://adnilpress.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=76&Itemid=57">orange Fitzroy readers</a> he saw his sister start reading. To me, insisting he learn ALL his letters was a little like telling someone that they must sing every note pitch perfect before learning to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep. Talk about killing the joy!<br /><br />So we learned letters on the fly while reading words.<br /><br />I read the reader to him, sounding out the letters. Then we read it together. After this, we got out some little cards with letters on them that are a part of a spelling game we have (scrabble tiles would work too) and made a couple of the words that are in the readers using the cards. We would name the letter, say the sound that it made then put it down in the pile. Then we would select letters from the pile to make words like "cat" and "hat".<br /><br />All up this entire process would take about ten minutes a day.<br /><br />I also made sure we caught Sesame Street each morning and added lots of alphabet books to our read aloud times.<br /><br />When Farm Boy started to get more confident with this, I added a double page spread of the alphabet in lower case and a double page spread of the alphabet in upper case to his Chair Time Book (yet another post to be written there, suffice to say it is a display book that we look through each day as we snuggle in my <a href="http://whwhhow.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-i-couldnt-do-without.html">Snuggle Spot</a>) and he would sing the alphabet through as he pointed to the letters. I would then ask him to find three or four specific letters on the pages. Because Farm Boy seems to be predominantly a <a href="http://www2.yk.psu.edu/learncenter/acskills/kinesthetic.html">kinesthetic learner</a> I would grab his hand and draw a giant letter in the air as I asked him something like "Can you find a wibble wobble W that says 'wuh'?" I'd also get him to make the sound too so the physical movement of 'writing' the letter in the air, the physical movement of making the sound and the movement of pointing to the letter on the page all engaged his brain in what was happening. Pretty soon, he was pointing out letters on signs, newspapers, shop fronts and magazines with great excitement.<br /><br />I try to make sure he experiences some type of success every time we read together and praise up everything he achieves. This time is very positive, with lots of cuddles and kisses and positive touch. Touch is an incredibly positive teaching tool. There are about a bazillion studies on the positive effects of touch on the brain which I won't go into now. Suffice to say, positive touch releases lots of happy juice into the brain and a happy brain is a learning brain. I wouldn't really have minded if he had decided to drop reading, but he hasn't and is making slow but good progress. He was very proud the day he could sit and read that little reader to Papa Bear perfectly and excited to start the next one!<br /><br />Next time, I will tell you how we progressed on to the next reader, words and my personal feelings on the links between reading and writing.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-73122181827220444202010-10-09T01:09:00.000-07:002010-10-09T02:06:51.655-07:00Book Review: Your Money, God's Way<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://booksneeze.com/art/_140_245_Book.245.cover.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 140px; height: 210px;" src="http://booksneeze.com/art/_140_245_Book.245.cover.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Why </span>did I choose to review this book?<br /><br />This book attracted me because dealing with money is something rarely broached in churches, unless they are asking for donations! Although we are not crippled by large debt, I am always on the look out for ways to refine our budget and use the blessings God has given us to His glory. I also want to be able to equip our children well for managing their own finances before they leave home so they can avoid some of the traps and challenges that we had to work so hard to get out of in our early married life. Budget management is a core life skill.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What </span><span style="font-style:italic;">do</span> I like about this book?<br /><br />I thought this book was one of the best I have ever read on this subject. I loved the way it tackled false assumptions (convictions) directly using the Word of God. I thought the advice given was practical, direct and balanced. I liked the way each chapter had a summary at the end and a list of practical ways to implement the advice given. The fact that most of the chapters contained several scripture quotes and I had my Bible open on my lap most of the time I was reading tells me that it is directing the reader to the Bible continually, a laudable achievement for a book on finance!<br /><br />At no point did I feel that lifestyles were being judged, the author simply presented truths such as "if you have one income, you need to live a lifestyle that is within the means that the income provides". This may seem obvious, and to a point it is, but it is something that many families need to hear. The core message of this book is about embracing freedom and contentment found in Jesus by being wise with our finances. Perhaps my favourite quote from this book was: "Jesus didn't die on the cross so you could lie awake at night, wondering how you're going to make the mortgage payment".<br /><br />In the Preface and Introduction the author continually warns the reader that she is going to "tell it like it is" which did make me feel a little like I was on an episode of Dr. Phil - but hey, I don't mind Dr. Phil! The actual body of the book was not combative or extreme in word or in concept. While it sought to challenge the reader, it uplifted as it edified rather than condemned. While it had a strong American feel to it (being a book written by an American for an American audience) I did not feel alienated as an Australian reader. <br /><br />While not every chapter directly related to my personal situation, I could easily think of a friend, acquaintance or family member to fit and I must confess, I recognised my own poor financial habits more than once! The final chapter gave broad but practical budgeting advice. As I finished this book I felt encouraged in my personal walk. I was compelled to go over our finances with Papa Bear and check it all out again and, while no major changes were made, I was left feeling so much better about what we have achieved and where we are going and overwhelmingly blessed to have all that we do have. I also felt compelled to make sure I kept to our aims and used every cent to glorify God. <br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What</span> <span style="font-style:italic;">don't</span> I like about this book?<br /><br />There is nothing in this book that I particularly DON'T like. <br /><br />I would have liked a reading list at the end of recommended stewardship and budgeting books and an Australian edition with the numbers in the final budgeting chapter tweaked to suit would have been good (electricity, food and fuel are MUCH more expensive here). Overall, however, it is a fantastic book and a valuable addition to our library. I think this one will be on the Bear Cub's high school reading list alongside The Richest Man In Babylon.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-20444140835639096472010-10-01T00:38:00.000-07:002010-10-01T00:38:00.190-07:00I have a problem....I am a compulsive book buyer! I can't help it, it is in my DNA or something.<br /><br />Would you like to come window shopping with me??<br /><br /><a href="http://www.leatherwoodbooks.com.au/index.php">Leatherwood books</a> has some lovely stuff, I especially like their activity books and novel selections<br /><br /><a href="http://www.adnilpress.com/"><br />Adnil press</a> could send me bankrupt with their fabulous curriculum selections <br /><br /><a href="http://www.downunderlit.com/">Downunder literature's </a>copywork is a core part of what we do and I love it!<br /><br /><a href="http://simplycharlottemason.com/">Simply Charlotte Mason</a> makes me drool, I really would like a copy of their Spelling program when Princess Doc is ready for it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ladybird.co.uk/">Ladybird books </a>hold so many happy childhood memories for me!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usborne.com/">Usborne </a>- need I say more?<br /><br />I love <a href="http://www.barefootbooks.com/">Barefoot Books</a> too, my favourite has to be Myron's Cow<br /><br /><a href="http://www.boomerangbooks.com.au/">Boomerang books</a> is a good source for Australian literature<br /><br />Naturalist clubs often have some great publications. <a href="http://www.gould.edu.au/shop/">Gould League</a> and <a href="http://www.tasfieldnats.org.au/Publications.html">Tasmanian field naturalist club </a>are two I like to window shop at.<br /><br />There's my random ten!<br /><br />Enjoy your weekend.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-5946983030243663262010-09-30T00:17:00.000-07:002010-09-30T00:30:02.242-07:00What I couldn't do without...Would you like to know what I couldn't school without?<br /><br />The lynch pin of all my homeschooling adventures?<br /><br />The core item that pulls everything together and keeps my sanity?<br /><br />Well, here it is.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TKQ7Nys8fAI/AAAAAAAAAWA/7wp80cbuMvE/s1600/Picture+016.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TKQ7Nys8fAI/AAAAAAAAAWA/7wp80cbuMvE/s320/Picture+016.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522604151197694978" /></a><br /><br /><br />And let's take a close up<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TKQ7cm43UtI/AAAAAAAAAWI/uQ9FIukS364/s1600/chair+closeup.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TKQ7cm43UtI/AAAAAAAAAWI/uQ9FIukS364/s320/chair+closeup.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522604405724500690" /></a><br /><br />See that? It is the one thing that I couldn't do without.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What </span>is it?<br />It is my snuggle spot.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Why</span> is it so important?<br />Because this is where relationships and learning collide in our home.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">How </span>do I use it?<br />Every day I sit here and read to my children, sit them on my knee and count with them, listen to them, talk to them, dream with them, help with memorisation, kiss hurts and laugh at antics.<br /><br />And that, my friends, is what homeschooling is to me.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-20130879174589774032010-09-22T05:49:00.000-07:002010-09-22T18:13:50.282-07:00The curriculum warsOne of the questions that seem to stress homeschooling mums most is "What curriculum should I use?". As with many parenting questions this one can start arguments that can break hearts and rend relationships apart. People get so hot under the collar about this one! And the marketers and advocates of "approaches" or "methods" of home schooling are not afraid to use a little ovarian guilt to get their point across. Honestly, think about it. Just to teach my child to read, according to the experts/marketers/rabid followers of certain methods I should:<br /><br />Use phonics and whole language (or "living books")but leave teaching them until they are at least 7 (or show signs of "reading readiness") because otherwise you will crush their individuality/give them artificially induced dyslexia/sap from their souls the will to learn and love reading but give them these fantastic literacy resources to use from the time they sit up also using these brilliant DVD's that can HELP YOUR CHILD GET A HEAD START and we all know that in the Human Race a head start IS important, you wouldn't want your child to be LEFT BEHIND would you? Because then you will get a big fat FAIL from God on your parenting report card and have to write "I am a bad mother" 10,000 on the cosmic blackboard and......<br /><br /><br />AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />BREATHE!<br /><br />This is just teaching them to read, I haven't even got to algebra, geography, history, science, foreign languages, composition.....<br /> <br />At this point many people send their kids to school. And, quite frankly, I can see why.<br /><br />So, <span style="font-weight:bold;">WHAT </span>do we do?<br /><br />Whatever works for us. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Why?</span><br /><br />By works, I mean meets our goal of having <span style="font-style:italic;">a loving, positive family home that equips our children with a love of the Lord and a love of learning.</span> Adding anything else to this is completely superfluous in my opinion.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">HOW?</span><br /><br />Here's how we manage to march to our own homeschool drum.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I realised that whatever I do someone will disagree with me and have good reasons for doing so. </span>One of the positive things about having crunchy friends, traditionalist friends, activist friends, conservative friends, radical conservative friends etc. is I have access to so many diverse opinions and ways of thinking. The down side is whatever I do I am likely to have someone I love disagree, sometimes even be offended. This does mean, however, that when I do something, it is more often than not authentic Mama Bear, from the heart, honest to goodness, having a darn good go at it.<br /><br />Which leads me to my next point.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Mama Bear and Papa Bear were chosen to raise these Baby Bears. </span> At the end of the day we are accountable to each other, to God and to the Bear Cubs. Friends, neighbours and curriculum marketers don't even get a look in. Our interests, loves, knowledge and experience uniquely equips us to give our children their education.<br /><br />And their education will be unique.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">There will be gaps in their education and THAT'S OK!</span> Do you know how I know? Because EVERYONE'S education has gaps when they graduate! That class you slept through, that year you had glandular fever, that semester when your heart was broken and you couldn't absorb anything... this all puts gaps in our education. The idea that we stop learning the day we graduate has somehow pervaded our society and made this into a big deal. The thing is, it isn't a big deal! My kids will be able to do some reading, find an expert to ask, take some classes. They can fill their own gaps. <br /><br />We never stop learning, our methods simply change and evolve as we grow.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />We may not stay doing the same thing forever. </span> What works for us now, may not work next year. Our needs change. I am a chronic curriculum tweaker. It's my hobby, I've been studying curriculum since before I went to Uni. But when there are a few more bear cubs hanging around the Cave I may need to order myself an "out-of-the-box" curriculum and just use it as is. AND THAT'S OK!!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Because it doesn't have to be perfect to be right.</span> If I were to wait for it to be perfect, we would never do ANYTHING. There is always something better on the next website, in the next cataloge, in the next book. Do do nothing because it isn't perfect is far more damaging than to set out and not have it all right.<br /><br />Because ultimately, there is no great big cosmic report card. <br /><br />I was blessed with these children.<br /><br />I will step forth in prayer and in Grace.<br /><br />I will seek to encourage and uplift my fellow mothers as they take their own journey.<br /><br />And perhaps one day, the Bear Cubs will rise up and call me blessed.<br /><br /><br />But it won't be because of my curriculum choice.<br /><br /><br />Check out what works for other people at <a href="http://wearethatfamily.com"><img border="0" outline="none" height="125" width="125" src="http://wearethatfamily.com/wp-content/themes/pixelhappy/images/button.png"></a>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-65968992883691824062010-09-18T08:49:00.000-07:002010-09-18T08:49:00.112-07:00When Science and Fun MeetWe did this for no other reason than I <a href="http://www.se7en.org.za/2010/03/01/se7en-science-experiments-very-simple-edible-science">saw it on my all time favorite Blog Se7en</a> and I thought it looked really cool!<br /><br />First we froze a big block of ice in an empty icecream container. Then we dyed some rock salt different colours with food dye. Then we placed the rock salt on the ice block and observed what happened.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TIuoS7eRgsI/AAAAAAAAAVk/rpLI8wd9JT8/s1600/Andrew%27s+birth+day+001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TIuoS7eRgsI/AAAAAAAAAVk/rpLI8wd9JT8/s320/Andrew%27s+birth+day+001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515687211801084610" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TIupu4YRTfI/AAAAAAAAAVs/Vn6UR5GuguU/s1600/Andrew%27s+birth+day+002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TIupu4YRTfI/AAAAAAAAAVs/Vn6UR5GuguU/s320/Andrew%27s+birth+day+002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515688791518563826" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TIuqQoBQN2I/AAAAAAAAAV0/t3tBxfStjNM/s1600/Andrew%27s+birth+day+006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TIuqQoBQN2I/AAAAAAAAAV0/t3tBxfStjNM/s320/Andrew%27s+birth+day+006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515689371242608482" /></a><br /><br /><br />Here are some other fun looking science type links, take a look and if you get time to try any, tell us how you get along!<br /><a href="http://homechemistry.blogspot.com/2010/03/salt-crystal-trees.html"><br />Home Chemistry make crystal trees<br /></a><br /><a href="http://theexplorationstation.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/green-fire/">The Exploration Station made GREEN FIRE! This is so awesome, but I think my boys need to be a LITTLE older...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.kidswhothink.blogspot.com/">Kids Who Think</a> have SO many interesting, open ended challenges<br /><a href="http://www.thecraftyclassroom.com/CraftGeologyRocksMinerals.html"><br />Crafty Classroom</a> has some great ideas for Geology that I DID want to try out this year but never got around to.<br /><br />I could waste DAYS in <a href="http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/kitchenscience/">Kitchen Science Experiments.</a><br /><br />There is something about being able to eat an experiment or model that makes learning so much more fun. Check it out at <a href="http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/animals/cell/jello/index.shtml">Enchanted Learning<br /></a><br />Rubber eggs are cool at <a href="http://pbskids.org/dragonflytv/superdoit/dissolvetheeggshell.html">Dragonfly TV</a> <br />This I have done with the kids but sadly forgot to take photos. <br /><br />More food experiments at <a href="http://www.hunkinsexperiments.com/themes/themes_food.htm">Hunkin's Experiments</a><br /><br />An eclectic bunch of experiments at <a href="http://www.scifun.org/HomeExpts/HOMEEXPTS.HTML">scifun.org</a><br /><br />And some simple experiments with <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/simplescience/feature.htm">The Magic School Bus</a><br /><br /><br />In the mood for some more fun wandering the web? Nip over to Se7en <a href="http://www.se7en.org.za/category/fabulous-friday-fun">and check out their Friday fun links</a>!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.se7en.org.za"><img src="http://www.se7en.org.za/wp-content/images/7logo.jpg" alt="Se7en+1" /></a>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-29146470622962487892010-09-13T02:42:00.000-07:002010-09-14T21:37:05.376-07:00Schooling with Baby<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItPU1xOV7I/AAAAAAAAATE/3BWDFMocP14/s1600/IMG_1826.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItPU1xOV7I/AAAAAAAAATE/3BWDFMocP14/s320/IMG_1826.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515589388094822322" /></a><br /><br /><br />One of the first questions people asked when they found out we were expecting was "so, will Princess Doc go to school now?"<br /><br />Answer: NO! Look what she would miss out on!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItQujtj6qI/AAAAAAAAATU/cpXvaqwSEOY/s1600/IMG_1779.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItQujtj6qI/AAAAAAAAATU/cpXvaqwSEOY/s320/IMG_1779.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515590929435847330" /></a><br /><br />And honestly, don't people know how busy you are with a newborn? Why would I want to spend time cutting lunches, hauling everyone off to drop her at school, rushing in for school events and assemblies, getting in on the P&F action, picking her up from school - not to mention any extracurricular activities...I am just to BUSY gazing at this...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItSq07dioI/AAAAAAAAATc/_65ZRw1zd7I/s1600/IMG_1789.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItSq07dioI/AAAAAAAAATc/_65ZRw1zd7I/s320/IMG_1789.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515593064361331330" /></a><br /><br />But seriously folks, schooling with baby on board does give an added dimension to our homeschool. These are some ways we adapted.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">We took June off.</span> One of the benefits of homeschooling is you can plan your school holidays whenever you like so we started ours a few weeks before Laughing Boy made an appearance and didn't plan to go back until the month after. It means that we haven't had any other "short" breaks through the year and we will go right through until December now, but it suited us.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItT0U3AsoI/AAAAAAAAATk/3kRXTe0E7DE/s1600/June+2010+082.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItT0U3AsoI/AAAAAAAAATk/3kRXTe0E7DE/s320/June+2010+082.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515594327063048834" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">We make to-do lists.</span> I have bought a financial year diary for Princess Doc. Each night I write her a short To-Do list and a little love note. She really likes this and it means that if she reaches a point where she needs help and I am busy, she can just move on to the next thing and we will get back to it later. I have also found that with a baby + toddlers, our days are rarely liner anymore. Having a list of goals I can refer to means that things don't get missed out just because we don't get to them at our "usual" time of day. I also add things that aren't strictly "school work" like cleaning rooms, outside chores, special games or activities etc. The line between "school" and "life" is very blurred in our home. This does have the added benefit of Princess Doc knowing when she is done for the day and her time has become her own.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItXTsCykxI/AAAAAAAAATs/B7jUYecLLiw/s1600/June+2010+033.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItXTsCykxI/AAAAAAAAATs/B7jUYecLLiw/s320/June+2010+033.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515598164397298450" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Laughing Boy is by our side most of the time</span>. If we are reading books, he is too. If we are cooking in the kitchen, so is he! This has always been the way with babies in our home, but is even more so with this one. He quite often sleeps in his rocker, in the Ergo or on a blanket. The bassinet is on wheels and is relocated through the house as needed. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItla0Zd5QI/AAAAAAAAAUk/FDZQvhASDH8/s1600/IMG_1825.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItla0Zd5QI/AAAAAAAAAUk/FDZQvhASDH8/s320/IMG_1825.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515613680061768962" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Life skills take a larger part in our schooling at the moment</span>. I have scrapped part of our plans for a cooking/writing project. Princess Doc (who adores cooking) is in the process of writing a cook book full of simple recipes she has learned to cook. Nearly every morning she is cooking the family porridge. In doing this she has learned about ratios as we adjusted the recipe to suit our family size and appetite, measurement, kitchen hygiene and many other things. Creating the cook book has included perfecting her writing skills, created a deeper understanding of the "procedure" text type (recipes, directions etc.) and a few spelling words that are very useful. This project dovetails with our current life situation very well and is a practical way to combine school and life.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItfiQfJKqI/AAAAAAAAAT8/Zm3nQiBiNVs/s1600/Andrew%27s+birth+day+040.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItfiQfJKqI/AAAAAAAAAT8/Zm3nQiBiNVs/s320/Andrew%27s+birth+day+040.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515607210791086754" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Time and school is more flexible</span>. We start school work for the week on Sunday most weeks. This way if we need to go into town for the day or if we just have a rotten day, we don't have to play "catch up" later. We always take Saturday "off" as Sabbath. School may start before breakfast, or may not start until after lunch. It may be finished by mid morning or we may be doing a few bits and pieces after the other kids are in bed. We go for the less stress option that day. When we have more children doing more structured schooling, this will not be as easy to do, but now it works perfectly. A wise woman once said "Do what works while it works. When it stops working, do something else" I think she was on to something there!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItjNM4ohOI/AAAAAAAAAUc/J8jdQttRtdA/s1600/IMG_1813.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItjNM4ohOI/AAAAAAAAAUc/J8jdQttRtdA/s320/IMG_1813.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515611247093515490" /></a><br /><br />The keys to babies and schooling in our home have proven to be: FLEXIBILITY, love, FLEXIBILITY, cuddles, FLEXIBILITY, cutting ourselves some slack and a little more FLEXIBILITY!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItitcwuhOI/AAAAAAAAAUU/CK4QGZYAGGM/s1600/IMG_1808.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TItitcwuhOI/AAAAAAAAAUU/CK4QGZYAGGM/s320/IMG_1808.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515610701599507682" /></a><br /><br />And really, it's so worth it!<br /><br /><br />I've submitted this post to <a href="http://wearethatfamily.com/2010/09/wfmw-linky/">Works For Me Wednesday. Go check out the other useful links</a> and take a look at the new project they have going at:<br /><br /><a href="http://wearethatfamily.com"><img border="0" outline="none" height="125" width="125" src="http://wearethatfamily.com/wp-content/themes/pixelhappy/images/button.png"></a>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-66238917481482131192010-09-09T20:15:00.000-07:002010-09-09T21:29:32.810-07:00Ten Homeschool BlogsHere are ten random blogs that I have found helpful in my homeschooling journey. Have fun exploring!<br /><br /><a href="http://allwaysoutside.blogspot.com"> Always Outside</a><br /><a href=" www.notimeforflashcards.com"><br />No Time for Flashcards</a><br /><br /><a href="http://practicalpages.wordpress.com/">Practical Pages</a><br /><br /><a href="http://wearethatfamily.com/ ">We Are That Family</a><br /><br /><a href="http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/ ">Crafty Crow</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.preschoolersandpeace.com/ ">Preschoolers and Peace</a><br /><br /><a href=" http://www.hsclassroom.net/ ">Home School Classroom</a><br /><br /><a href=" http://thesnailstrail.blogspot.com/ ">The Snail's Trail</a><br /><a href="http://homeschoolblogger.com/littlemen/ "><br />Little Men in my Library</a><br /><br /><br />And my all time favourite<br /><br /><a href=" http://www.se7en.org.za/ ">Se7en</a><br /><br />Have some fun visiting bloggers who actually take time to Blog! As for me, the bear cubs need me. Will see you all next week.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-8401838043446435032010-09-04T20:48:00.000-07:002010-09-04T23:38:17.996-07:00Book Review: Girl's Guide To Life<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://booksneeze.com/art/_140_245_Book.211.cover.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 140px; height: 227px;" src="http://booksneeze.com/art/_140_245_Book.211.cover.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Why</span> did I choose to review this book?<br /><br />My daughters are currently 6 and 20 months, not really the age group this book is aimed at. I am, however, trying to prepare myself and collect resources to help them prepare themselves for that murky time of life called PUBERTY! When I saw this book on <a href="http://booksneeze.com/blogger/resources/9781400315949">Book Sneeze</a>, I asked them to send it to me (for free) to review for them. And being such nice people, the did!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What </span><span style="font-style:italic;">do</span> I like about this book?<br /><br />I like the fact that this book takes time to explain the "nuts and bolts" of sexual development. It uses simple but precise language designed to inform without embarrassing. I also liked the fact that this book devotes a chapter to "cyber-self". It discuses various pros and cons of online life and gives some very good tips about being one's "authentic" self online, dealing with online bullying and gossip and being security conscious online. All very necessary things for a young lady growing up in today's society to think about. I applaud the author for trying to deal with some very real issues in today's society and prepare young ladies for adulthood in a Biblicaly conscious manner.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What </span><span style="font-style:italic;">don't </span>I like about this book?<br /><br />The general tone of this book becomes a little cheesy at times. Every now and then I felt like the author was trying to be the "cool youth group leader" who wears 'young' clothes and tries to talk hip - not realising much of the language they use just serves to point out just how out of touch they are. Kids can spot in-authenticity a mile off and there are many moments in this book where the author tries to be just that little bit TOO cool. <br /><br />This books takes it for granted that the reader will be savvy with today's pop culture and familiar with the world of reality television programs like "The Bachelor". For one thing, I think this will serve to date this book very quickly meaning that my daughters are unlikely to be interested when it is relevant to them. For another thing, while I enjoy TV in small doses and we own more than one, there is no way I would be allowing my daughters to regularly watch The Bachelor. I don't see myself as ultra conservative and, while a little prudish at times, I am not extreme. The only reason we would watch The Bachelor is to discuss and analyse it and I can tell you now it doesn't survive such analysis very well! I would like to see a Christian book of this nature teaching young girls to evaluate their viewing choices a little better. <br /><br />Perhaps my biggest criticism of this book is it's treatment of romance and behaviour toward the opposite sex. The option of courtship is discussed in the "romance" chapter and readers who want to know more about this option are referred to "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Josh Harris. For the majority of the book, however, the writer assumes that the reader will have or has had or does have a "crush" and/or boyfriend. In a world where teen girls who do not have a boyfriend (through choice or otherwise) are encouraged to obsess about this or made to feel freakish, I wonder if this adds fuel to the fire. <br /><br />Flirting is also described as "harmless". The author does not take the time to define exactly what she means by flirting, but my definition is this: Making a promise with your lips that your body does not intend to keep. I have a feeling that the author and I are talking about two very different things when we say flirting, but as she never defines this very loose word we have to be at least a little concerned about what kind of license this will give to girls. The book also gives little attention to being careful and gentle with the hearts of young men. This, combined with the comments about flirting, does little to prevent a young reader from unwittingly becoming or continuing to be a tease. Modesty in behaviour and dress, sending CLEAR signals to young men and basic respect for the hearts of others are SUCH important traits for young ladies to learn and with few lessons available "out there" I feel we need to grab every chance to teach them.<br /><br />I would also have liked to have seen a greater exploration of abuse within romantic relationships. Dealing with subjects such as physical abuse, emotional abuse, mental abuse and sexual pressure within relationships requires a little more than this particular book devotes to those subjects. Given that abuse within teenage relationships is frighteningly common, I feel it was important to address these issues in depth.<br /><br />I'm afraid that the positives of this book, for me, do not outweigh the negatives.<br /><br />I will not be using this book with the girl cubs. In spite of good intentions, it does not quite do the job for me.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-4614402105124084622010-09-02T17:19:00.000-07:002010-09-11T08:43:09.164-07:0020 great reasons to homeschoolClick to enlarge<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TIA_U_6FYGI/AAAAAAAAAS8/CMV3oU7HTTw/s1600/20greatreasonstohomeschool.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 237px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TIA_U_6FYGI/AAAAAAAAAS8/CMV3oU7HTTw/s320/20greatreasonstohomeschool.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512475573886476386" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">If you have a link or other funny that you think will have us rolling in the aisles, feel free to email me at (tasjess <span style="font-weight:bold;">at</span> gmail <span style="font-weight:bold;">dot</span> com)</span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-31283143735230064692010-08-31T23:52:00.000-07:002010-09-01T01:12:28.878-07:00Catching upLife since the littlest bear cub arrived has been as hectic as ever and twice as full of joy! Someone asked me recently how life with five was, I replied - extreme. As in Extreme Sport. Normal sports people ski down steep slopes at fast speeds, extreme sports people set of an avalanche and surf it to the bottom of the mountain. NORMAL parents have 2.4 children aged 2.4 years apart and live in a house that is at least 80% NOT under renovation most of the time and send their kids to the best school they can find. WE have five children aged under 7 years in a house that is at least 80% under renovation - and has been for over 2 years - and choose to homeschool!! Some gasp in admiration, others gasp in horror. But the majority do actually gasp.<br /><br />And so do I some days.<br /><br />But here's the thing with extreme sports. With the extreme challenges there are also extreme highs and I wouldn't change it for the world.<br /><br />Since Laughing Boy came on the scene things have had to become a little more streamlined. The others have all changed so much in the last few months too that the way we did things six months ago simply won't do now. So over the next few weeks I am going to walk through our day again so you can see just how much it has changed. The changes aren't because what we were doing didn't work - it is because what we were doing wouldn't work for us now. I am finding as we grow in our homeschooling journey there simply isn't any such thing as one-size fits all and our day will always be under construction. I am also going to do a few reviews because I like reviewing books and curriculum and find reading review helpful to me. If you have any funny or fun things for me to link to or post on Fridays, please feel free to send an e-mail to Tasjess <span style="font-style:italic;">at</span> gmail <span style="font-style:italic;">dot</span> com.<br /><br />Housekeeping aside, here are the top ten things our homeschool has learned since the arrival of Laughing Boy:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4BXFM9FPI/AAAAAAAAASE/hnFQYy-MVns/s1600/Picture+005.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4BXFM9FPI/AAAAAAAAASE/hnFQYy-MVns/s320/Picture+005.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511844489993196786" /></a><br /><br />10. While you think you are already flexible, add another child and you will find joints you never knew you had. Compared to six months ago, I am a contortionist now baby!!<br /><br />9. There's always time for fabulous hair dos - the frills of life are actually necessities.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4D-zzxQzI/AAAAAAAAASU/hflBn2zPRsE/s1600/June+2010+084.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4D-zzxQzI/AAAAAAAAASU/hflBn2zPRsE/s320/June+2010+084.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511847371542184754" /></a><br /><br />8. If a child can see purpose to the work required of them, they will put in ten times as much effort.<br /><br />7. We do not have time for busy work. 2 hours of quality work is a school day, packing it out with "stuff" just because it's in the work book does not work for any of us and chews up precious tree climbing time. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4Ko4Nr-TI/AAAAAAAAAS0/znNWKXXAZPY/s1600/June+2010+024.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4Ko4Nr-TI/AAAAAAAAAS0/znNWKXXAZPY/s320/June+2010+024.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511854691348904242" /></a><br /><br />6. Meal times are an excellent time for read alouds - captive audience!<br /><br />5. Life goes better when you laugh.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4Il216OFI/AAAAAAAAASs/8EvbsovEfBo/s1600/June+2010+083.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4Il216OFI/AAAAAAAAASs/8EvbsovEfBo/s320/June+2010+083.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511852440417876050" /></a><br /><br />4. It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful (a line stolen from <a href="http://www.thenester.com/">this blog</a>, but about so much more than decor)<br /><br />3. Learning will always happen, even if it isn't when and how Mama Bear expects.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4GC4SYmYI/AAAAAAAAASc/quzCbA8ERW0/s1600/IMG_1489.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4GC4SYmYI/AAAAAAAAASc/quzCbA8ERW0/s320/IMG_1489.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511849640487065986" /></a><br /><br />2. If you ignore laundry for a day or two, it breeds. It is hard to school when Mount Washmore is threatening to avalanche!<br /><br />1. Babies completely and utterly rock and make the world a better place.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4HgiuxskI/AAAAAAAAASk/-215cJ70zMk/s1600/June+2010+036.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 202px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/TH4HgiuxskI/AAAAAAAAASk/-215cJ70zMk/s320/June+2010+036.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511851249608274498" /></a>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-2934227527476355562010-08-26T19:24:00.000-07:002010-08-26T19:46:27.302-07:00And from hibernation we slowly emerge....Five days before the official first day of spring, we would like to announce the the emergence of Mama Bear, Papa Bear and FIVE Bear Cubs from hibernation. We have so much to tell you!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/THcmGDroDXI/AAAAAAAAAR8/RNXukwG-Itw/s1600/Picture+004.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P_BQYa-U_Jg/THcmGDroDXI/AAAAAAAAAR8/RNXukwG-Itw/s320/Picture+004.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509914554620448114" /></a><br /><br />It's been a cold but productive winter.<br /><br />Drop by next week for some bloggy goodness from the bear cave...Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-70316945978680048372010-05-26T23:56:00.000-07:002010-05-27T00:26:33.314-07:00Book Review: Chronological Guide to the Bible<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://booksneeze.com/art/_140_245_Book.154.cover.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 140px; height: 203px;" src="http://booksneeze.com/art/_140_245_Book.154.cover.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />Okay, I have been completely AWOL from the Blog for FAR too long. What have I been doing? Well, toward the end of each pregnancy I get a surge of creative energy which was channeled into making some kind of order of the Bear Cave. Not completely successfully might I add, but some serious progress was made. Plus, I have been reading. I have set myself some reading goals and as part of that I am getting some books from Book Sneeze to review<br /><br /><a href="http://booksneeze.com/reviews/blogger/11246?ref=badge"><img alt="I review for BookSneeze" src="http://booksneeze.com/images/booksneeze_badge.png" border="0" width="200" height="150"></a><br /><br />I just promise to review a book for them on my blog and they send me a book for free, how awesome is that? So between cleaning, tidying, organising, knitting, gardening, preparing, gestating and reading - blogging took a back seat for a while! Seeing as the Bear Cub is due to make an appearance in, say, a week and a half, I shan't make any promises I can't hold up in the future either! <br /><br />But on to the review!!<br /><br />Chronological Guide to the Bible is a reference book to be used when studying your own Bible. It places the events of the Bible in chronological terms and closely as can be figured, making notes of where the scholars disagree on the exact sequence of events. It gives a chronological reading guide (which can be used with the Bible version of your choice) then gives an overview of each book. It then goes on to describe the historical context of the book and reflect on how events or descriptions of events may have been received by the Israelites at the time and the surrounding peoples. Where appropriate, there are handy timelines to help make sense of the chronology. The pages are all full colour and there is a lot of detail on each page. <br /><br />For me at this stage of life (with my personal Bible study time being short, precious and sometimes totally interrupted) I probably will not use this to work through my Bible from cover to cover however it is a fantastic reference to dip into and get another perspective on an element that I am studying. For example, my personal studies at the moment are focusing on the book of James. In dipping into Chronological Guide I was able to find out about the historical context of the book quite easily which added to my own laid back but in depth study style. Later in life when things calm down, I may go through and do an in depth study using this book from cover to cover. I appreciate a book that has dual usage like that - appropriate not only for a sit down feast but also to dip into as a side dish. Perhaps my one complaint is that the print is not huge and at times the pages look quite busy which can be difficult on my distracted brain.<br /><br />The Bear Cubs probably won't be ready for this book until they reach their teens, but I forsee the 'fact lovers' among them really enjoying the detailed look at the Bible that this book brings.<br /><br />Overall, it is worth having on the shelf!!Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-14218654419664586812010-03-15T19:47:00.000-07:002010-03-15T20:06:47.822-07:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">What:</span> Teaching Poetry<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Why:</span><br /><br />I love poetry and always have. I read and write it myself and I want to pass that on to my kids. Poetry is writing at it's highest art form. The economy of language forces the poet to make each word count, using tricks like alliteration and onomatopoeia like a painter uses brush strokes. I can't help but get enthusiastic about it!<br /><br />If my children love poetry, they will want to do the work later on to understand it, both the words and the historical context.<br /><br />If you can read and write poetry effectively, you can read and write anything. And reading and writing is all about communication. And communication is all about reaching the hearts of another. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />HOW:</span><br /><br />The only 'formal' things we do is our 'refined afternoon tea' on Wednesday afternoon. We have something special to eat and cups of peppermint tea with honey at the table with a table cloth and POETRY. I have several books of it and we will each take it in turns selecting a poem - even Tool Man. At first they selected the illustrations that interested them (being non-readers) but now, after doing this for over a year, the older two are starting to ask for some of the poems by name. Princess Doc carefully reads each one in the book she has chosen before making her selection, so I get her to start choosing BEFORE the rest of us are at the table!<br /><br />Nonsense verse and nursery rhymes are a large part of our poetry reading and sometimes the 'refined' nature of our afternoon teas go out the window with toilet training accidents, upturned tea cups and detours into "manners training" and sometimes we just take a quilt outside and make it a picnic. What I want to pass on in this session is a love for the art of putting words together. Nursery rhymes are the river stones of our language, smoothed and refined in the mouths of generation after generation. Nonsense verse makes us laugh and evokes vivid imagery. My own favourites make appearances even though they are "above" the children's understanding, but the sensation of the words still speaks to all of us. Each afternoon tea starts with a special grace where we thank God for beautiful things and beautiful words and pray that all beauty will point us toward Him. It is a high point in our week!<br /><br />Rudyard Kipling's "If" and Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat" are equally adored in this house and it isn't unusual to have Wordsworth's "Daffodils" straight after "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". I am saving up to get my hands on a copy of "<a href="http://www.dymocks.com.au/ProductDetails/ProductDetail.aspx?R=9781877035296">Unreal Banana Peal</a>" and "<a href="http://www.dymocks.com.au/ProductDetails/ProductDetail.aspx?R=9781877035272">Far Out Brussel Sprout</a>" because of my own fond memories of the gross out humor in my own child hood and I think my own kids will be equally delighted!<br /><br />I think the most important thing with teaching poetry is to get down and dirty, throw out all the preconceptions of what poetry 'should' be and let it MOVE you. If you laugh, if you cry, if you get mad at the words on the page - they WILL learn.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-32368209798368792542010-02-27T03:42:00.000-08:002010-09-11T08:43:36.707-07:00I am a homeschool Mum<span style="font-weight:bold;">I believe in strong Character Education.<br /><br />Today I taught my son about Chivilry.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"We DO NOT hit ANYONE. ESPECIALLY girls.<br />Put down the shovel and say sorry to your sister."</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I am a homeschool Mum.<br /><br />I believe in giving my children a solid grounding in the Sciences.<br /><br />Today I taught my children about physics: cause and effect...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"If you drop that it will break. See."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">and natural history: animal behaviour...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"If you pull that cat's tail it will scratch you. See."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">and biology: Human anatomy...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Honey, there IS still blood inside you. Stop crying and let's just wash that"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">and Chemistry</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Dirt will come off better with soap and water. Go and wash your hands again."</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I am a homeschool Mum.<br /><br />I believe in teaching my children about the Scriptures and Worship.<br /><br />Through Bible study...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"...and King Darius called down to Daniel...What? No, there aren't lions under your bed. King Darius called down...put that down, now. King Darius....YOU stand THERE, NOW. YOU sit THERE, NOW. Keep your hands on your lap while I am reading please. Now, King Nebuchadnezzer...What? Oh yes King Darius, clever kid. Oh, you learned that from VeggieTales. Take your finger out of your nose please."<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">and singing songs of praise...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Jesus loves me (put that down now) this I know (NOW) for the Bible tells me so (that is disobedience, come here) little ones to HIM belong...."</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I am a homeschool Mum.<br /><br />I believe in teaching my children about the world around them...</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Did you know that pizza comes from a country named Italy kids? No, not THIS pizza. Yes, you're right, Daddy did buy this one from the shop."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">and events of history.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"You know, before cars people rode in horse carts and buggies. No, cars were invented before I was born. Yes, that is a long time ago."</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I am a homeschool Mum.<br /><br />I believe in giving my children life skills.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Go and make your bed. Now. No, don't argue, now. What? HOW did the sheets get wet? Oh. Just leave it honey, I will do it in a minute. Can you empty the dishwasher instead please?"</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">I am a homeschool Mum.<br /><br />I believe in giving my kids the best education I can.<br /></span><br />I believe HOME is the most important part of HOMESCHOOL.<br /><br />It has been one of those weeks, but it's Friday now and I am still glad that I am blessed with these children, this home and this life.<br /><br />Have a great weekend!Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-42949660634969402402010-02-26T17:33:00.000-08:002010-02-27T01:49:37.561-08:00Schooling the introvert<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SKx0fNQMLYo/Sxgly35aLbI/AAAAAAAAEHs/2EoE9GnT3vo/s400/introvert.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 382px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SKx0fNQMLYo/Sxgly35aLbI/AAAAAAAAEHs/2EoE9GnT3vo/s400/introvert.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">WHAT </span>is an introvert?<br /><br />My husband and I are both introverts. Let me define exactly what I am saying when I say we are introverts. I am saying we are energised by being alone or in a situation that does not require us to be socially active where as being in a very social situation (such as a party) can be quite draining - even if we enjoy it. Our introversion is of different degrees. Papa Bear enjoys having people around but also needs a bit of alone time with his own thoughts. Mama Bear, however, could quite happily live in a cave. Forever. Especially if I had a computer and a decent library.<br /><br />Being an introvert is NOT being shy. "<a href="http://giftedkids.about.com/od/glossary/g/introvert.htm">Shyness has an element of apprehension, nervousness and anxiety, and while an introvert may also be shy, introversion itself is not shyness</a>." In fact, paradoxically, I have known EXTROVERTS, people who crave and are energized buy the company of others, who are painfully shy! <br /><br />Being an introvert does NOT mean we lack social skills. Papa Bear <span style="font-style:italic;">is</span> much better than tact than I am I admit, but generally we can conduct ourselves fairly well. How many people do you know who are extroverts, life of the party types, who are often quite rude? i.e. LACK SOCIAL SKILLS!!<br /><br />Being an introvert does not mean we are depressed or mentally unbalanced or had a traumatic childhood. <br /><br />Psychologists will argue at length over the merits of "nature vs. nurture" (were they born that way or did the environment make them that way) but the fact that Papa Bear (introvert) + Mama Bear (extreme introvert) = Princess Doc (Extrovert!) makes me think that God made us all very special and unique and our social inclination is simply a part of that. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.encyclopedia.com/getimage.aspx?id=2795174&hero=yes"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="http://images.encyclopedia.com/getimage.aspx?id=2795174&hero=yes" border="0" alt="" /></a> <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">HOW </span>did being an introvert effect your (Mama Bear's) schooling? <br /><br />Throughout my school years the fact that I preferred to read during recess rather than play netball or socialise 'with the girls' caused many school staff members a great deal of concern. Numerous report cards worried and fussed over my "lack of social skills", however every single one of those teachers would also say that I could participate in class discussions, group activities and general class life as well if not better than most of my peers and maintained good relationships with my small group of friends. Their concern was that I seemed to prefer my own company for large portions of the day. If asked why this was a problem, I doubt many of them would be able to give adequate reason. However for most of the years I spent in school - even going through to my tertiary years (my teaching internship report card almost had "does not play well with others" on it because I preferred to eat lunch in the classroom rather than the staff room) - I was told or it was insinuated that I needed to CHANGE. That I needed to be different. That I needed to fit into the social mold being presented to me.<br /><br />You see, it is easier for a school to function if the student body is homoginised - if the students are fairly uniform in composition and blend together easily. When a student doesn't blend in for whatever reason, it usually makes life more difficult for the staff and sometimes for the other students. Hence, there is pressure placed <span style="font-style:italic;">DAILY </span>on students to blend in many classrooms and school settings. Being that introverts compose a minority in society (as one article puts it, "<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/03/caring-for-your-introvert/2696/">a minority in the regular population but a majority in the gifted population</a>.") and that by their very nature they find constant social interaction taxing - if not downright stressfull - what load does the average school setting place on the introverted child? What effect does it have on the introverted child to be labeled as "anti-social", "weird", "freaky" or "an outsider" not only by their peers but by the trusted adults who are meant to be mentoring and guiding them? Think on that for a while. It sort of makes me wonder if the stereotypical "strange, weird kid who simply snapped one day" used to be a perfectly normal introverted person who was subjected to pressures, bullying and bombarded by messages that they needed to be different until they really DID become unhealthy!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZMQs8eXYll0/RoiuVUxaCfI/AAAAAAAAAGs/Y7AtAN8pNhA/s320/introvert.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 255px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZMQs8eXYll0/RoiuVUxaCfI/AAAAAAAAAGs/Y7AtAN8pNhA/s320/introvert.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">WHY </span>does the world need introverts?<br /><br />Well, I would say that <a href="http://www.theintrovertadvantage.com/being.html">Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison</a> made contributions to the world. <a href="http://www.theintrovertzcoach.com/blueintrovertsinliterature.html">Hans Christian Anderson </a> and <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/1108introvert1108.html">C. S. Lewis</a> certainly made an impact on the world of literature. I would suggest that the reason introverts compose "<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/03/caring-for-your-introvert/2696/">a minority in the regular population but a majority in the gifted population</a>" is because introverts like to spend time with their own thoughts - giving their energy to figuring stuff out. Introverts have a special and unique contribution to bring to the world that is just as vital as the contribution made by extroverts. Introverts are a beautiful colour on the spectrum of human creation, NOT a defect. And God made us too!! There is an excellent article on <a href="http://www.onmission.com/site/c.cnKHIPNuEoG/b.2270961/k.7B4F/Evangelism_for_Introverts.htm">evangelism for introverts here</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.onmission.com/atf/cf/%7B6767E79D-6E1B-4602-98D7-FFF47EE72523%7D/evangelism_for_introverts.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 460px; height: 291px;" src="http://www.onmission.com/atf/cf/%7B6767E79D-6E1B-4602-98D7-FFF47EE72523%7D/evangelism_for_introverts.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />So, <span style="font-weight:bold;">HOW </span>do I handle the social aspect of my introverted child? <br /><br />So far I have one baby bear who I can identify clearly as an introvert (Farm Boy) and another who is showing signs along those lines (Pigeon). Princess Doc is a clear extrovert and Tool Man could go either way at this point. Catering for the varying social needs and desires of our brood is simply part of parenting. Here are some insights we have gleaned from our own experiences being and parenting introverts.<br /><br />First of all, let them be who they are! An introvert who is comfortable with the fact that they enjoy time alone will be far more functional socially than an introvert who feels inferior or defective because of their preference for alone time. It can be tempting for a homeschool family to push a child to participate in various groups and social events to assuage parental paranoia about raising an anti-social child. Don't do that! It is one thing to require a child to engage in family life and attend regular social events with the family, it is completely another to force arbitrary social stimuli on them for no logical reason other than to change their personality. <a href="http://help.com/post/100368-top-5-things-every-extrovert-should">"Introverts do like to socialize – only in a different manner and less frequently than extroverts."</a> If an introverted child is to attend groups, camps, clubs etc. it needs to be primarily motivated by that child's passions and interests such as astronomy groups, Bible Studies, nature clubs or music camps rather than arbitrary 'socialising opportunities' which will likely be boring and counterproductive at best. <br /><br />Second, take a look at your objectives in teaching your child about socialisation and society. Are you working to give them the tools they need to function successfully in society? Or are you trying to change them into an extrovert?<br /><br />Third, recognise social skills as just that, a set of skills. The general consensus in most schools is that the "sink or swim" method of teaching social skills is woefully inadequate in terms of success. Therefore many schools are implementing programs for directly teaching social skills - many labeling these programs as 'anti-bullying' as bullying seems to be a major side effect of the sink or swim method. In our home we explicitly teach things like empathy, humility and conflict resolution through our character education. We help our children maintain friendships by having letter writing as a part of our 'language program'. We make time to hang out with our friends and family in low pressure situations (i.e. around a BBQ) and we watch how our kids are handling associating with others to see where we need to instruct them. The ability to politely decline an invitation to play is a VITAL social skill for an introverted child, something you can role play with them very easily. Both extroverted and introverted children, however, need social skills. Ironically, social skills come most naturally to our most introverted child!<br /><br /><br />Fourth, create a home environment that allows for privacy and solitude. We live in a house where there are 4 kids sharing a bedroom and our living/dining/kitchen area is small and open plan. Even the bathroom in combined with the toilet so retreating into there is a limited time option! However, if Farm Boy is laying on his bed with Red Bear, it is like hanging a do not disturb sign. If Mama Bear and Papa Bear close the bedroom door, you better be bleeding or have broken bones if you disturb them! If Princess Doc is curled up with a book or bent over a project - you simply let her be unless there is a very good reason to interrupt. We allow each other space because we could not function otherwise. Allowing space and solitude alleviates pressure to constantly socialise and creates opportunity for each of us to cultivate our personal relationship with God as well as recharging our batteries. Long term, this is a positive move for the social life of the whole family, not just the introverts. It also teaches the extroverts among us to respect and value the introverts rather than bullying or harassing them into being constantly social.<br /><br />Last, ignore the critics and focus on what is best for your child. I have had people tell me that they could not possibly homeschool their child because the child is introverted and if they were homeschooled, they'd never speak to anyone! The reality is that I, and many other homeschooled introverts, found socialising MUCH easier once the pressure to be a social butterfly every day was taken off. Most introverted people still desire solid friendships and like all people they want to feel loved and valued. They just don't want to be talked at constantly! Even today, I find small talk taxing and it is an effort to engage in discussions about the weather etc. for more than five minutes. My friends have learned to, if not understand, tolerate this as one of the wonderful quirks that make up me. Isn't allowing the unique quirks of each child to develop a compelling reason to homeschool in the first place? I have learned to avoid, politely extract myself from or grin and bear small talk situations, to function within society without compromising my own integrity. Another good goal of a homeschool in my opinion!Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-60233943124971719342010-02-23T17:23:00.000-08:002010-08-25T01:20:00.347-07:00SocialisationSocialisation is the major 'issue' bought up by well meaning family, friends and strangers in the street. It is the question that makes many of us want to tear out our hair in frustration! It is also the question that makes many homeschoolers nervous and worried. In fact, some homeschoolers are so paranoid about it now days that they spend more time shipping their kids out and about to 'socialise' than they do schooling! <br /><br />I could wax long and lyrical about this subject, and many, many homeschool advocates (and critics) have, but at the end of the day what I have to worry about is what does this mean for <span style="font-style:italic;">US </span>and <span style="font-style:italic;">OUR </span>homeschool.<br /><br />First, let's define <span style="font-weight:bold;">WHAT </span>we want in the way of socialisation.<br /><br />In my opinion, a well socialised individual can interact effectively with a person or group of people, regardless of that person or group's background, status and abilities.<br /><br />I ain't quite there yet!!<br /><br />It is a life long thing to learn this socialisation thing. I aim to start my kids on that journey.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">WHY </span>is this important to my kids?<br /><br />Well, there is the great commission to start with "Go and make Disciples of all nations...". In order to do that you need to be able to communicate with and interact with people effectively.<br /><br />Also, friendships and relationships with others are important. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" Proverbs 27:17. <br /><br />Plus, I have been around homeschooling circles long enough to have come across kids who are rude, disrespectful, judgmental, condescending, sneaky, or otherwise unpleasant individuals who I don't want to be around. In other words - unsocialised! So I know that homeschooling isn't the cure for all things. And I will be spending ALL DAY MOST DAYS for the next however many years with these kids. Call me selfish, but I would like them to be the kind of people who you can be in the same room as for more than ten minutes without wanting to strangle them!<br /><br /><br />So, <span style="font-weight:bold;">HOW </span>are we going to 'do' socialisation?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2010 Socialisation</span><br /><br />It is the aim of Our Family Homeschool that each child will be given every opportunity to:<br /><br />• Form positive and lasting relationships with friends and family<br /><br />• Develop skills to manage and resolve conflict<br /><br />• Interact effectively with people from a variety of social, cultural and religious background and with various abilities.<br /><br />• Demonstrate a range of social skills in a variety of social settings <br /><br />• Actively participate in the local community and our church community<br /><br /><br /><br />This year, as well as our general lifestyle, Princess Doc will be given opportunity to:<br /><br />• Attend our statewide church family camp where she will participate in activities with her peer group as well as spending time with families from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds and of varying abilities.<br /><br />• Regularly participate in the Active After School Program at the Mole Creek Primary School OR participate in a local gymnastics program with her peers from a variety of social, cultural and religious backgrounds<br /><br />• Regularly attend our local church where she will interact with people from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds, age groups and abilities<br /><br />• Maintain friendships that she has already made via personal contact and letter writing<br /><br />• Maintain family relationships with her immediate family (which, I am sure, will develop her conflict management skills!) and her extended family<br /><br /><br /><br />Complex, ain't it!!<br /><br />And if all else fails, I can point out to the nay-sayers that I was homeschooled and if I am talking to them, possibly, I managed to pick up a few social skills! (or, you know, point out their school attending child being anti-social and kindly suggest they homeschool)Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023739483805624904.post-83853780925024397032010-02-22T02:32:00.000-08:002010-02-22T03:38:02.217-08:00Homeschooling in a Minor Key<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u45/sad_man.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 348px;" src="http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u45/sad_man.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Life, being what it is, and home, being what it is, can be somewhat unpredictable. You can be sailing merrily along and next thing you know, for one reason or another, you are in the doldrums. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3137/2715057696_5298f47fa5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 333px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3137/2715057696_5298f47fa5.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />When this happens, when grief or sickness, pain or depression strike, it is inevitable that it will have an effect on schooling. If people know about the troubles you face, the naysayers will often take this opportunity to chip away (with the best of intentions) at your resolve to homeschool at all. To tell the truth, this is often when we DON'T FEEL LIKE SCHOOLING ANYMORE. There, I said it. I, lover of all things homeschool and passionate advocate for homeschooling, have admitted that it isn't always sunshine and roses. Sometimes the key goes from major to minor. We wonder "if I find it an effort to shower today and preparing food for the family seems like an insurmountable challenge, would my child be better off at school today?". We question "surely if I could just sent them off to school I could get it together more, have some peace with no demands for a few hours."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dascot.org/depression/images/sad.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 424px;" src="http://www.dascot.org/depression/images/sad.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />We read homeschooling blogs, books, forums and support sites. We listen to the other Mums at homeschool groups and co-ops. We watch the Duggars on TV. And we wonder, am I the only one that doesn't have it together? The truth is, so many of us in the homeschooling world have had to defend our choices so often to everyone from our in-laws to the old lady in the grocery shop to actually admit that we feel sad and today life is tough IS HARD TO DO! But the fact is, friends get sick, accidents happen, people die. Life happens. And it's sad sometimes. If you think it is "un-Christian" to feel this way, I invite you to read Ecclesiasties, Lamentations, a fair portion of the Psalms, the stories of Israel in Exodus. I invite you to remember, <a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Jhn&c=11&v=35&t=KJV#35">Jesus wept.</a>. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mgwriters.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/grief-angel.jpg?w=450&h=450"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 450px;" src="http://mgwriters.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/grief-angel.jpg?w=450&h=450" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />Some things to remember:<br /><br />* Teachers have off days and down times too. They struggle through and try not to let it touch the kids for the most part, but they are not on the top of their game. One teacher I knew lost her mother, had major surgery and experienced major trauma within her family all in one year and still kept teaching all year. Yes, she did an OK job, the kids didn't get bells and whistles and things were kept simple. My point is, how do you know that if you send them to school they aren't going to be taught by another grief affected person? <br /><br />* Grief and sadness is a part of life. There is <a href="http://www.cardamompublishers.com/grief-and-homeschooling.htm">an article on Grief and Homeschooling</a> which challenges the idea that it is best to isolate children from grief. Perhaps it is best to experience this together as a family. Perhaps it underestimates our children to think that they will not pick up on and be affected by our grief simply because they are out of the house 8 hours a day?<br /><br />* It is OK to go vanilla! Julie from Brave Writer talks about <a href="http://blog.bravewriter.com/2010/01/13/email-grief/">experiencing grief and homeschooling in this article</a> and insightfully recommends dropping the bells and whistles. It will not harm your children to spend a year just doing the three R's - and the basics of those. They will learn.<br /><br />* Plan 'slack' into your program. There are the 'big' griefs, like a family member passing away or major illness touching the family, but there are also the 'little' griefs that rock your boat. Like the dog dying. If there is 'slack' in your program, like slow days planned into each week and a catch up week for the term, it is much easier to relax about having a few days of doona therapy where 'schooling' is a few read alouds and DVD's.<br /><br />* Take a break. Now I don't have many family or friends who I can drop all four of my kids off with for the day. This pretty much only happens when I am going off to add another bundle! But, I can feed the kids fish and chips, on a quilt in front of the TV, then put them to bed early and they consider it a special treat. I can ask Papa Bear to watch everyone for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon while I take some time out to pray, meditate, journal or window shop on Etsy. I can even ask Papa Bear to take the two older ones away for the weekend which leaves me naptimes and evenings of complete quiet and solitude - something I need to heal. Get inventive, but there is a way. Even if it is to throw your apron over your head and refuse to come out for a while!<br /><br />* Get Help. If you suspect you are suffering from depression (which I have dealt with more fully <a href="http://the-life-and-times-of-jess.blogspot.com/2008/12/depression.html">in my old blog here</a>) this goes double! Help may be professional counseling, or it may be letting your husband, friend, mother, pick up the slack for you a bit. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bahamasconference.org/images/grief2007hfa.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 515px;" src="http://www.bahamasconference.org/images/grief2007hfa.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />So what about you? What have your experiences with grief and homeschooling been like? How do you homeschool in a minor key?<br /><br />How do you remember that you WILL come out of the doldrums and one day, you will be in full sail again? <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.anchorsawaycharters.info/images/sail%20boat.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 480px; height: 321px;" src="http://www.anchorsawaycharters.info/images/sail%20boat.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10287890146598209845noreply@blogger.com0