What! Why? HOW?!

The Welcoming of Curly Bear

2011-10-13T01:29:00.000-07:00

We are taking a hiatus from school blogging at the moment.

Our newest addition to our family was born on the 8/9/11.

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/

We will be back one day!

Independent Work Habits

2011-05-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

For me independent work is a skill within itself that we work on daily. At the moment our chore system has taken inspiration from THIS 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.

Things that have helped me streamline our day, foster independent work and cut out busy work for me include:

Link group work to meals and non-negotiable daily events. Our Bible work happens at the breakfast table and immediately before bed. We are working through Sword Fighting by Karyn Henley (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.

I don't create paper clutter. 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.

I have a daily meeting with each child. 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 portion of an e-book that I read

I don't require independent written work until the child is an independent reader. 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.

Go deeper rather than wider. 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".

Don't expect too much. 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.

I don't "prove" everything they know and don't over assess for an external assessor. 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.

Allow time for kids to develop their own interests on their own. 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.

Accept that some kids will have a harder time staying focused than others. 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.

Don't expect everything and every day to be perfect. 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.

When you move to crazy town....

2011-02-21T18:00:00.000-08:00

WHAT have we been up to?

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.

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!

Yes, that is enough to send a Mama Bear slightly potty.... but it doesn't stop there.

There was the completion of the boys room going from this

to this

which has meant the rearranging of almost every room in the house.

And there have been birthdays

And camping trips

and automotive projects in the driveway (just in case you're wondering, the thing in the blue tarp is the motor)

day trips to the mountains

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!

So the Bear Family, residing in crazy town at the moment.

WHY???

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.

HOW???

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.

1. I put my own oxygen mask on first. 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.

2. I plan by weeks rather than days. 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.

3. I plan. 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 Kendra at Preschoolers and Peace and I have to say, I love the way it frees up my days.

4. I use some grab and go resources. I am in love with resources like Math-U-See, Song School Latin, Downunder Literature copywork, First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind and Simply Charlotte Mason's Spelling Wisdom. 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.

5. I go with it. 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.

Book Review: Out Live Your Life

2011-02-07T21:14:00.000-08:00

Why did I choose to review this book?

I have enjoyed some of Max Lucado's books previously and wanted to see if this one matched up. The title intrigued me.

What did I like about this book?
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.

What don't I like about this book?

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.

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.

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.”

8 Ways a Mama Bear Can Learn

2011-01-19T19:49:00.000-08:00

If Mama ain't learning...ain't nobody learning.

What do I mean?

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.

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?

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!

Why should we keep learning?

* 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.

* To keep your brain healthy. Research suggests that a good diet, exercise and lifelong learning 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.

* 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.

* 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.

How do we keep on learning?

OK about now there are women rolling their eyes at the monitor and saying "Great, ANOTHER thing to add to the to-do list!".

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.

1 Make yourself a book list. If you look at the top of this blog you will see a link labeled Mama Bear's Reading List. 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?

2 Practice a new skill or craft. 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.

3 Connect with fellow students and experts. When I joined ravelry, 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. Barns and Noble run book clubs on their site which can be a great way to find people to discuss what you are reading with you.

4 Make use of podcasts, audio books and other techno aids. 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?

librivox
free classic audiobooks
free christian audiobooks
homeschool radioshows
www.audiobooksforfree.com
www.learnoutloud.com
www.myaudioschool.com
www.abc.net.au/services/podcasting
www.gutenberg.org/browse/categories/1
www.epnweb.org
itunes.stanford.edu
www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php
www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/podcasts
www.talkinghistory.org
www.philosophytalk.org
www.nature.com/nature/podcast/index.html
www.thenakedscientists.com
www.podcastdirectory.com
www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/
www.productivity501.com/free-academic-podcasts/78/

(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)

5 Don't be afraid just to dabble. 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.

6 Keep a notebook. 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.

7 Link it to the kids school work. 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.

8 Take a short course. 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 "12 Dozen Places To Educate Yourself Online For Free" 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.

So check it out, think about it and get creative with your time. I honestly believe, nobody is to busy to learn.

2011-01-18T22:49:00.000-08:00

Much 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.

This is how we are planning to do things:

7:30-9:30 - get up, dressed, bedroom chores, hang out washing and have breakfast

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.

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)

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)

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.)

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 nutshell

Teaching Farm Boy to Read Part 2

2011-01-18T21:09:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the cliffhanger there! I have been meaning to get back for weeks, but Christmas, renovations and life happened all at once.

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.

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.

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.

A Note on Writing:

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.

Teaching Farm Boy to Read

2010-10-11T21:56:00.000-07:00

I 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.

My children, however, had other ideas.

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.

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.

Sure enough, Farm Boy turned 3 and a half and what did he start doing?

Asking me to teach him to read.

Repeatedly.

For months.

So I thought we'd document how we are going about teaching Farm Boy to read.

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 orange Fitzroy readers 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!

So we learned letters on the fly while reading words.

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".

All up this entire process would take about ten minutes a day.

I also made sure we caught Sesame Street each morning and added lots of alphabet books to our read aloud times.

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 Snuggle Spot) 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 kinesthetic learner 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.

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!

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.

Book Review: Your Money, God's Way

2010-10-09T01:09:00.000-07:00

Why did I choose to review this book?

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.

What do I like about this book?

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!

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".

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.

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.

What don't I like about this book?

There is nothing in this book that I particularly DON'T like.

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.

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.”

I have a problem....

2010-10-01T00:38:00.000-07:00

I am a compulsive book buyer! I can't help it, it is in my DNA or something.

Would you like to come window shopping with me??

Leatherwood books has some lovely stuff, I especially like their activity books and novel selections

Adnil press could send me bankrupt with their fabulous curriculum selections

Downunder literature's copywork is a core part of what we do and I love it!

Simply Charlotte Mason makes me drool, I really would like a copy of their Spelling program when Princess Doc is ready for it.

Ladybird books hold so many happy childhood memories for me!

Usborne - need I say more?

I love Barefoot Books too, my favourite has to be Myron's Cow

Boomerang books is a good source for Australian literature

Naturalist clubs often have some great publications. Gould League and Tasmanian field naturalist club are two I like to window shop at.

There's my random ten!

Enjoy your weekend.

What I couldn't do without...

2010-09-30T00:17:00.000-07:00

Would you like to know what I couldn't school without?

The lynch pin of all my homeschooling adventures?

The core item that pulls everything together and keeps my sanity?

Well, here it is.

And let's take a close up

See that? It is the one thing that I couldn't do without.

What is it?
It is my snuggle spot.

Why is it so important?
Because this is where relationships and learning collide in our home.

How do I use it?
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.

And that, my friends, is what homeschooling is to me.

The curriculum wars

2010-09-22T05:49:00.000-07:00

One 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:

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......

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

BREATHE!

This is just teaching them to read, I haven't even got to algebra, geography, history, science, foreign languages, composition.....

At this point many people send their kids to school. And, quite frankly, I can see why.

So, WHAT do we do?

Whatever works for us.

Why?

By works, I mean meets our goal of having a loving, positive family home that equips our children with a love of the Lord and a love of learning. Adding anything else to this is completely superfluous in my opinion.

HOW?

Here's how we manage to march to our own homeschool drum.

I realised that whatever I do someone will disagree with me and have good reasons for doing so. 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.

Which leads me to my next point.

Mama Bear and Papa Bear were chosen to raise these Baby Bears. 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.

And their education will be unique.

There will be gaps in their education and THAT'S OK! 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.

We never stop learning, our methods simply change and evolve as we grow.

We may not stay doing the same thing forever. 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!!

Because it doesn't have to be perfect to be right. 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.

Because ultimately, there is no great big cosmic report card.

I was blessed with these children.

I will step forth in prayer and in Grace.

I will seek to encourage and uplift my fellow mothers as they take their own journey.

And perhaps one day, the Bear Cubs will rise up and call me blessed.

But it won't be because of my curriculum choice.

Check out what works for other people at

When Science and Fun Meet

2010-09-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

We did this for no other reason than I saw it on my all time favorite Blog Se7en and I thought it looked really cool!

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.

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!

Home Chemistry make crystal trees

The Exploration Station made GREEN FIRE! This is so awesome, but I think my boys need to be a LITTLE older...

Kids Who Think have SO many interesting, open ended challenges

Crafty Classroom has some great ideas for Geology that I DID want to try out this year but never got around to.

I could waste DAYS in Kitchen Science Experiments.

There is something about being able to eat an experiment or model that makes learning so much more fun. Check it out at Enchanted Learning

Rubber eggs are cool at Dragonfly TV
This I have done with the kids but sadly forgot to take photos.

More food experiments at Hunkin's Experiments

An eclectic bunch of experiments at scifun.org

And some simple experiments with The Magic School Bus

In the mood for some more fun wandering the web? Nip over to Se7en and check out their Friday fun links!

Schooling with Baby

2010-09-13T02:42:00.000-07:00

One of the first questions people asked when they found out we were expecting was "so, will Princess Doc go to school now?"

Answer: NO! Look what she would miss out on!

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...

But seriously folks, schooling with baby on board does give an added dimension to our homeschool. These are some ways we adapted.

We took June off. 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.

We make to-do lists. 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.

Laughing Boy is by our side most of the time. 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.

Life skills take a larger part in our schooling at the moment. 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.

Time and school is more flexible. 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!

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!

And really, it's so worth it!

I've submitted this post to Works For Me Wednesday. Go check out the other useful links and take a look at the new project they have going at:

Ten Homeschool Blogs

2010-09-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

Here are ten random blogs that I have found helpful in my homeschooling journey. Have fun exploring!

Always Outside

No Time for Flashcards

Practical Pages

We Are That Family

Crafty Crow

Preschoolers and Peace

Home School Classroom

The Snail's Trail

Little Men in my Library

And my all time favourite

Se7en

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.

Book Review: Girl's Guide To Life

2010-09-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

Why did I choose to review this book?

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 Book Sneeze, I asked them to send it to me (for free) to review for them. And being such nice people, the did!

What do I like about this book?

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.

What don't I like about this book?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm afraid that the positives of this book, for me, do not outweigh the negatives.

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.

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.”

20 great reasons to homeschool

2010-09-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

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 at gmail dot com)

Catching up

2010-08-31T23:52:00.000-07:00

Life 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.

And so do I some days.

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.

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 at gmail dot com.

Housekeeping aside, here are the top ten things our homeschool has learned since the arrival of Laughing Boy:

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!!

9. There's always time for fabulous hair dos - the frills of life are actually necessities.

8. If a child can see purpose to the work required of them, they will put in ten times as much effort.

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.

6. Meal times are an excellent time for read alouds - captive audience!

5. Life goes better when you laugh.

4. It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful (a line stolen from this blog, but about so much more than decor)

3. Learning will always happen, even if it isn't when and how Mama Bear expects.

2. If you ignore laundry for a day or two, it breeds. It is hard to school when Mount Washmore is threatening to avalanche!

1. Babies completely and utterly rock and make the world a better place.

And from hibernation we slowly emerge....

2010-08-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

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!

It's been a cold but productive winter.

Drop by next week for some bloggy goodness from the bear cave...

Book Review: Chronological Guide to the Bible

2010-05-26T23:56:00.000-07:00

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

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!

But on to the review!!

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.

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.

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.

Overall, it is worth having on the shelf!!

2010-03-15T19:47:00.000-07:00

What: Teaching Poetry

Why:

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!

If my children love poetry, they will want to do the work later on to understand it, both the words and the historical context.

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.

HOW:

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!

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!

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 "Unreal Banana Peal" and "Far Out Brussel Sprout" 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!

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.

I am a homeschool Mum

2010-02-27T03:42:00.000-08:00

I believe in strong Character Education.

Today I taught my son about Chivilry.

"We DO NOT hit ANYONE. ESPECIALLY girls.
Put down the shovel and say sorry to your sister."

I am a homeschool Mum.

I believe in giving my children a solid grounding in the Sciences.

Today I taught my children about physics: cause and effect...

"If you drop that it will break. See."

and natural history: animal behaviour...

"If you pull that cat's tail it will scratch you. See."

and biology: Human anatomy...

"Honey, there IS still blood inside you. Stop crying and let's just wash that"

and Chemistry

"Dirt will come off better with soap and water. Go and wash your hands again."

I am a homeschool Mum.

I believe in teaching my children about the Scriptures and Worship.

Through Bible study...

"...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."

and singing songs of praise...

"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...."

I am a homeschool Mum.

I believe in teaching my children about the world around them...

"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."

and events of history.

"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."

I am a homeschool Mum.

I believe in giving my children life skills.

"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?"

I am a homeschool Mum.

I believe in giving my kids the best education I can.

I believe HOME is the most important part of HOMESCHOOL.

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.

Have a great weekend!

Schooling the introvert

2010-02-26T17:33:00.000-08:00

WHAT is an introvert?

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.

Being an introvert is NOT being shy. "Shyness has an element of apprehension, nervousness and anxiety, and while an introvert may also be shy, introversion itself is not shyness." In fact, paradoxically, I have known EXTROVERTS, people who crave and are energized buy the company of others, who are painfully shy!

Being an introvert does NOT mean we lack social skills. Papa Bear is 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!!

Being an introvert does not mean we are depressed or mentally unbalanced or had a traumatic childhood.

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.

HOW did being an introvert effect your (Mama Bear's) schooling?

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.

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 DAILY on students to blend in many classrooms and school settings. Being that introverts compose a minority in society (as one article puts it, "a minority in the regular population but a majority in the gifted population.") 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!

WHY does the world need introverts?

Well, I would say that Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison made contributions to the world. Hans Christian Anderson and C. S. Lewis certainly made an impact on the world of literature. I would suggest that the reason introverts compose "a minority in the regular population but a majority in the gifted population" 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 evangelism for introverts here.

So, HOW do I handle the social aspect of my introverted child?

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.

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. "Introverts do like to socialize – only in a different manner and less frequently than extroverts." 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.

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?

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!

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.

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!

Socialisation

2010-02-23T17:23:00.000-08:00

Socialisation 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!

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 US and OUR homeschool.

First, let's define WHAT we want in the way of socialisation.

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.

I ain't quite there yet!!

It is a life long thing to learn this socialisation thing. I aim to start my kids on that journey.

WHY is this important to my kids?

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.

Also, friendships and relationships with others are important. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" Proverbs 27:17.

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!

So, HOW are we going to 'do' socialisation?

2010 Socialisation

It is the aim of Our Family Homeschool that each child will be given every opportunity to:

• Form positive and lasting relationships with friends and family

• Develop skills to manage and resolve conflict

• Interact effectively with people from a variety of social, cultural and religious background and with various abilities.

• Demonstrate a range of social skills in a variety of social settings

• Actively participate in the local community and our church community

This year, as well as our general lifestyle, Princess Doc will be given opportunity to:

• 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.

• 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

• Regularly attend our local church where she will interact with people from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds, age groups and abilities

• Maintain friendships that she has already made via personal contact and letter writing

• Maintain family relationships with her immediate family (which, I am sure, will develop her conflict management skills!) and her extended family

Complex, ain't it!!

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)

Homeschooling in a Minor Key

2010-02-22T02:32:00.000-08:00

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.

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."

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, Jesus wept..

Some things to remember:

* 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?

* Grief and sadness is a part of life. There is an article on Grief and Homeschooling 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?

* It is OK to go vanilla! Julie from Brave Writer talks about experiencing grief and homeschooling in this article 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.

* 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.

* 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!

* Get Help. If you suspect you are suffering from depression (which I have dealt with more fully in my old blog here) 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.

So what about you? What have your experiences with grief and homeschooling been like? How do you homeschool in a minor key?

How do you remember that you WILL come out of the doldrums and one day, you will be in full sail again?

mapping out our week

2010-02-21T18:11:00.000-08:00

So....

WHAT does your weekly plan look like?

Well for the visual among you click here and take a look. I created a table in Word (the program I'm used to and have easy access to). It has five columns titled day, read alouds, independent work, hands on work and other.

In the Day column I rather prosaically put the name of each day in each row.

In the Read Alouds column I put the books we will be reading that day with the page numbers if applicable, including scripture readings and things that Princess Doc will be reading to me.

In the Independent Work column I put any work that I will not have to directly supervise and instruct. Things that can be done at the table while I am washing dishes or doing some other task with just casual input from me. This includes copywork and math-u-see work that has already been explained.

The Hands On Work column is for any work that requires direct supervision and/or may make mess! This includes artwork and crafts.

The Other column is for other stuff that fits with our over all aims and goals but doesn't fit into any other column. This includes visits to the library and other excursions.

Because it is for my eyes only most of the time, I use a personal short hand that most people wouldn't be able to understand (for example, TBAS p20-30 is The Book Of Animal Stories pages 20 - 30).

Forty weeks worth are printed out and put into a ring binder which lays flat, a week to a spread.

WHY do you do a weekly plan when you have already got your Big Idea plans?

I have already blogged a bit about our BIG planning. That is, the planning that we do with the big picture in mind like our nature and science rotations etc. However, the weekly where-the-rubber-hits-the-road is what I wanted to talk about today. You see it is all very well to have these lovely big reading lists and lofty goals and aims, but you actually have to DO something to get these things DONE. If you know what I mean.

One needs to take into account the fact that there are four children and a pregnant Mama involved here. Yesterday, for example, there were three changes of pants for Tool Man, four molars cutting for Pigeon, Farm Boy desperately wanting to read a reader in spite of not being able to identify his letters, Princess Doc had a broken night due to a nightmare (therefore Mama Bear had a broken night), the boys played Tarzan with the curtains in the bedroom and destroyed them, the little ones didn't take their nap because Tool Man climbed in Pigeon's cot and played with her the whole time and we expected visitors in the evening. Our day just had to adjust. There is a rhythm and a logic to it all, but it is like abstract art - not everyone gets it at first glance! If I had to stop and rifle through all the big plans, it would soon get overwhelming.

The planner also meets our state requirements for attendance records.

HOW do you use this planning format?

Through the day we have a routine where specific tasks fit which dovetails with our weekly plan. Having the weekly planner laid out on the ironing board where I can see it means that if our routine is disrupted (as it often is) and I am occupied I can direct Princess Doc to an independent task. Because I tick the tasks off as we go I can see what is still to get done and at the end of the day evaluate what didn't get done that day. If something doesn't get done I mark it with either an X if I fell it is best to just scrap that activity or if I felt I was going to be able to get to it another day, I would put an arrow next to it to remind me to plan it in at a later stage.

I fill in our planned activities using my "big idea" plans each week, referring back to check if there are any pending arrows, factoring in expected events (like our once-a-month trip in to town to the library) and allowing one light day to catch up on school work or house work that has dropped behind or just to have a REST! A light day also gives room for spontaneity (is it still spontaneity if you plan for it?) because if something comes up on Monday, I know that any little arrows I put in can be taken up on our planned 'light' day (usually Wednesday).

When all the baby bears are schooling I plan to colour code. Grey pencil for things for all the family, pink for Princess Doc specific activities, Blue for Farm Boy, Red for Tool Man and Purple for Pigeon. Things that two or three are involved in will probably be written in grey pencil and underlined in the appropriate colours.

So where my "Big Idea" planning is like my Atlas, shows where I am in the world and where I want to go eventually, my weekly planning is like my itinerary and street map, it shows me what I am doing and where I want to go today.

I just pray that I use my Compass, the Bible and the Holy Spirit, Every day!

Friday Funny

2010-02-20T04:43:00.000-08:00

We all face 'the comments' from well meaning people curious and/or judgemental about our choice to homeschool.

Once, I got offended.

Then I got defensive.

Then I got evangelical (no converts sorry to say).

Now I just shut up and let my kids be the proof of the pudding.

I don't need to defend or convert anymore.

But every now and then, on a cranky day, I feel like this:

Based on an article from here

But this, this is what is really in my heart now:

To the lady with the blue jacket and the disapproving tone.
I am glad you enjoyed sending your kids to school.
Your eyes look sad and I wonder how much joy you have had in your life.
I wish you'd enjoyed picking them up as much as you did dropping them off.

To the man with the football beenie and the concerned frown.
I am happy for you that you met your best friends at school.
It sounds like it was a very positive experience for you.
I hope my friends have good mates like you as they grow up.

To the lady with the purple hat and the laugh lines.
Thankyou, I think my children are lovely too!

Because the comments people make, are often not about me but about them.

Have a good weekend!

The creation of a routine

2010-02-15T04:11:00.000-08:00

Our routine is in a constant state of evolution. Every time things start running smoothly, someone drops a nap or schoolwork needs change or we have a baby or I get pregnant and need more rest than usual... You get the picture!

I have gained a lot from peeking into the routine planning of other Mums - especially homeschool Mums - over the years and I thought I would walk you through ours - What! Why? HOW? style.

WHAT is a routine?

For me a routine is the habitual sequence of steps our day follows. In my mind a routine differs from a schedule as a schedule is more clock oriented, a routine is more goal oriented.

WHY plan a routine?

All human beings have a routine of some sort. There are times when our routine is to float around in the morning until we get so hungry we eat breakfast, do some school work, have some lunch mid-afternoon, fly around and do some housework, get distracted and do a craft before packing up just before Daddy gets home (or after), eat tea FAR to late and get to bed even later. Generally though, we try and be a little more deliberate than this! Sitting down and planning a routine means we can put our priority things in first (worship, naps, meals, cleaning) then plan extra FUN stuff around them and not have to feel guilty when we are doing extra fun stuff because we know the important stuff is done or will get done.

HOW do you plan a routine?

I open a document in WORD and make a table with a column for me and each of the kids and a column to show the time chunk.

I chunk our days into periods of time then list the things each member of the family do during those time chunks, starting with priority or time sensitive items such as naps, meals, worship, cleaning etc.

The reason I do time chunks rather than specific times is because I find chunks more flexible. It means I can stop and deal with our latest toilet training accident or to kiss and cuddle a hurt child without worrying about how it throws out our day too much. Follow this link to an example of our routine I have drawn this one up recently and have yet to work out the bugs. I will revisit this and 'tweak' it several times before I am happy with it. Then, I'll have a baby and we will begin all over again!

For more ideas in creating routines, try these websites:

FlyLady (Especially Here)

Large Family Mothering (especially Here and Here)

Large Family Logistics While this lady has moved to a different blog now, this one is still a treasure trove of good advice!)

The Lockwood Family (especially Here and Here)

How about you? Do you have a routine? What does it look like? Do you have any tips or links to do with routines?

Product Review: Child-Size Masterpieces

2010-02-13T00:34:00.000-08:00

I have had my eye on this product for a few years, since before the baby bears started coming along! I first came across it when I was training as a teacher at University. I hadn't seen the actual product, just read about it in my research into Montessori, classical and other styles of schooling. When I bought it, I almost did as an impulse buy, adding it to some other purchases I had already made with Adnil press. I have only been using it for about a fortnight and my kids LOVE it! The cards on the cover were meant to be used to put on the cover of folders to store the other cards in, but my three oldest each claimed one and have them hanging on the wall above their beds. They love sorting through the cards, looking at them, talking about them and painting or drawing pictures 'inspired' by them.

Princess Doc has developed a love of Renoir as her chosen picture is Renoir's "A Girl With a Watering Can". This is an excellent artist for her as so many of his paintings are beautiful images of families, children and domestic life I feel sure she will find many paintings of his to relate to and love. Farm Boy has found many pictures of animals to love (of course!) and has amazed me with his eye for detail as he examines the pictures so closely and picks out things that I missed quite often. Even Tool Man sits on my knee and participates in matching the pictures and talks excitedly about what he sees in them.

Even I have found something to love with this resource as it has reawakened my love of many paintings I have not thought about for years! It has been wonderful to share this with my children and it has injected our own experimenting with drawing and painting with even greater enthusiasm. Of course, it has also awakened a strong desire to travel to Canberra to see a post-impressionist exhibition next year, but I don't think our budget will stretch that far!

I love this resource because it is:

*Easy to use with little preparation and clean up once the cards are cut out.

*Adaptable and appealing to a wide age range.

*Accessible to all of us and brings fine art into our home without trivialising it or making it less than what it is.

*Able to be used in a number of ways to keep it fresh and interesting. As well as the ways mentioned in the instruction manual, I intend to use the prints as narrative and writing prompts for the children.

*A starting point to launch so much further. Because of Princess Doc's reaction to "A Girl in a Watering Can" ("Oh, I want to paint like Renoir Mummy!!) I am getting her some age appropriate books on Renoir and other artists from the library which she devours and she is drawing and painting daily at the moment.

*It can be built on. Not only are there others in the series, I can also purchase other art post cards when we visit art galleries and museums and add them to the collection, and easy way to tailor the collection to include Australian art.

So if you were umming and ahhing about purchasing this one for your homeschool, know that it gets thumbs up in this house!

We struck out

2010-02-07T20:02:00.001-08:00

Yes, it happens, I don't always get it right!

We have been planning to study birds in the first 'term' of this year. I had chosen Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day Young Explorer Series by J. K. Fulbright as our 'spine' text. I pre-read it and I thought that it MAY be a little above the kids but I was excited about it. Well, I learned a lot from it! Forgetting, of course, that it was actually the KIDS who were meant to be learning not me!

I read the first few pages today and it sailed completely over their heads. Their eyes glazed over as I talked about Latin names and taxonomy. They had nothing to contribute when I asked questions and asked no questions of their own. Honestly, they learned more about birds from our reading of the Ugly Duckling this morning!

It was an honest mistake. I got excited about the information and know it is stuff I would love them to know about, but forgot about THEM in the mix!

So the brain cogs start whirring. What do I want Erin (the boys are pretty much just along for the ride on this one) to know about this? How can I teach her effectively and light her spark for the subject matter without drowning her in dry 'facts'? Honestly, the best way I think Erin can learn about the basics of taxonomy and scientific names is by labeling sketches and pictures for her nature journal with common and Latin names. And that's it! In my passion for this subject I forgot the golden rule of teaching a five and a half year old: KISS! Keep It Simple Sweetheart!

So I am putting this book on my bedside table to read. I will probably mention things I find out about to the kids as we brush over each subject area and I daresay it will be getting some airplay when birds next come around in our Nature subject rotation. But for now, I'm going to leave my kids alone, let them look at bird books and peek through binoculars and do my own learning - leave them to do theirs!

Schooling amid life

2010-01-28T20:24:00.000-08:00

You have it, the perfect year's plan.

Educational, fun, enriched, developmentally appropriate.

Then this happens:

A pair of very muddy, messy kids

Or this:

Farm boy being 'injured'

Or even this:

A very tired Papa Bear with a very new Pigeon

My own spectacular year's plan has already been shot in the foot and we weren't scheduled to start school until next week! Some core books that I was going to use got sent to the wrong address and won't arrive until next week 'sometime', no less than 3 separate lots of visitors will be coming for anything from a couple of days to over a week at a time and we are still trying to get organised after a big camping trip and a very busy January!

Aughh!!

It's enough to make a Mama Bear go and hibernate for an extra few months.

But here's the thing, we are homeschooling. HOMEschooling. Learning at home. Homes (or at least my home) are not always tidy, neatly scheduled places. Things do not always go to plan - LIFE does not always go to plan. Life is full of people, the good and the bad, the whole and the broken, most of whom will irritate you or intrude on your life in one form or another at some point. Learning doesn't always slot into its allotted time period. Interests and passions don't always fit into a neatly written Key Learning Area Statement. Toddlers don't always sit and play quietly with blocks at your feet while you school angelic, attentive older children. The phone doesn't wait until an opportune time to ring. The oven sometimes stops working and the fridge sometimes breaks down.

The key to it all, I suspect, is to stop being surprised!
It happened before and it will happen again.

This is how I dealt with things this time around:

*I got some perspective. People who have been homeschooling longer than me, have kids older than mine and who DON'T have the renovations etc. STILL HAVE LIFE HAPPEN. As a dead Beatle once said "life is what happens while we are making other plans" (pretty sure John Lennon was alive when he made the statement, but he is dead now. Sorry about the ambiguous grammar there). Yeah, we may not get to start Ancient History next week - so what? The Ancient Egyptians will still be just as dead the week after. Some visitors will just have to sit and listen to read alouds and gush over our fabulous creations, if they want to visit us they need to realise that it comes with the territory! My house is not spotless - meh, if it ever was I think I'd go into shock.

*I counted my blessings. I have a girlfriend who has three babies in hospital and another couple at home unwell with whooping cough. I know of another Mum who has a child in the ICU with a septic abdomen after an appendix rupture, her child nearly died. This is the third major hospital trip she has had with her kids in the last three years (she has 9 kids and each trip was totally unrelated but all life threatening). I can think of at least five happy, healthy little blessings to count plus one great big hairy one who gives great cuddles!

*I got real with God and prayed about it. I told Him how frustrated I was about people messing with my plans and life getting in the way. He told me He has plans for me, plans to prosper me and not to harm me. Some of those plans involve me ministering to those people who keep messing with my plans. He told me that Moses, David and Amos spent years tending sheep and dealing with the day-to-day ordinary life stuff - and those times were just as ordained by him as the times of great ministry and adventure. He told me I am a work in progress, and these are the times He is using to shape me. He told me He has it under control.

*I did stuff about the stuff that I could do stuff about. In other words, I worked within my sphere of influence instead of griping about things in my sphere of concern. Books should arrive in the next week or so, got the dining area mopped and cleaned out, had worship with the kids and put them to bed. Stuff I could do something about!

*I remembered that my children will learn no matter what and I would rather educate their hearts than fill them full of facts. To borrow a little from the words of scripture- if I keep to my yearly plan but give not kindness, compassion and love, I am as a clanging cymbal! Better yet, in the words of C. S. Lewis, "Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil"

So it is time now to whip off the cranky pants and get going. Time to do something about what I can do something about and leave the rest in His hands. After all, "many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

What is your home?

2010-01-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

The image I have of our home, homeschool included, is the image of the space station in Huston. Now before you go any further, all I know about space exploration and rocket science I learned from Hollywood and the odd "Jetsons" cartoon so those of you with rocket science degrees, don't laugh too hard at my analogies and just try and stick with me OK? Good.

WHAT do I think a space station does?

Now, from what I gather, space stations do lots and lots and lots of preparation and planning and equipping. Then they send their rockets, shuttles and other big things that go WHOOSH into space. They remain a place of support and contact for personnel who have been crazy enough to sit in the big things that go WHOOSH (I know that 'cause Tom Hanks said "Huston, we have a problem.") and then they go and pick up people who have crash landed into the sea (or wherever), debrief them and prepare them to do it all over again.

WHYis this like my home?

Right now I am preparing and equipping my children to go off on huge adventures - possibly even in big things that go WHOOSH (Tool Man would go nuts for that). There are four extraordinary little people in this house (five if you count the latest bear cub who is cooking away in there). They were created in my womb, but they weren't created by me. They were created by God, according to His purpose, to work to His Glory. They were NOT created to stay here with me every day for the rest of their lives. This I need to keep in mind as I raise them. I need to help train them for their role in the big things that go WHOOSH.

Imagine if NASA rushed in every time an astronaut made a mistake on the simulator and gave them a lolly just so their developing 'astronaut self-esteem' wouldn't be bruised? Every single take off would crash and burn! Astronauts are trained and taught using their mistakes to learn from. Their equipment is checked, double checked and triple checked. If their special astronaut-y job is to press the red button they learn everything there is to know about the red button 'till they can press it in their sleep. They are prepared physically, mentally and emotionally for the rigors of their mission. They are trained to work with their support team and their co-workers under all sorts of conditions - even the ones they don't like. They are trained for every scenario ever experienced and some that haven't ever happened, just in case. In this way, it is my job to train the little people in my care.

When they are out there in the black, I won't be there to direct them, watch them, protect them. They will be out on their own my voice often just a noise from a speaker. I can advise, I can brainstorm solutions with them, I can draw on my hard earned expertise and pick the brains of others - but in the end it is them who will be making the decisions and THEM who will live with the consequences. I pray that we will have the type of relationship that will mean they can call on me any time without fear of 'static' on the line (judgement, condemnation, 'interesting family dynamics' etc.) and I pray that their shuttle will be "...thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:17) and most of all I pray that they a strong lifeline to God, collecting their navigational data and Life Support straight from the Source. But it is THEM who will be flying the thing, not me.

Then there is the whole landing deal. If it goes well, I hope I am there to celebrate with them. If it doesn't, I hope this home can be a safe place to crash for a while and regroup, reassess and set out again.

So how do I know if we have done it? When can we call a mission a success? The answer is, the only missions that are completely unsuccessful are the ones that fail to get off the launch pad or the ones we learn nothing from.

HOW do I go about making this home into a space station?

These are some of the things that we do:

* Write the Word of God on their hearts, no mission is thoroughly equipped without it and it will not return to Him void. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Isaiah 55:10-11 )

* Actively guide and train their characters (Proverbs 22:6, Proverbs 23:13-14)

* Pray for them. (James 5:16, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

* Facilitate them to follow their calling as best we can (no point training them to press the red button when they are chosen to press the BLUE button is there?!) (Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 33:11)

* Love them to bits, no matter what!

And if by some miracle we get all this right, where do we expect our children to go?

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!

(see, movies are educational)

What about you? How do you see your home?

Our Summer/Autumn Nature planning

2010-01-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

Planning time! Here is a peek into what we are planning in the 'nature' componant for February, March, April and May this year.

I like to start planning by keeping in mind the "Big Idea" or the "why" of why we are studying this topic. This keeps our planning on track and helps cull out "busy work".

It is the aim of the Our Family Homeschool that each child will be given every opportunity to:

o Develop a curiosity about and appreciation for the natural world
o Confidently use scientific method and a variety of research methods to learn about the natural world
o Record their learning and reflections about the natural world
o Communicate effectively about the natural world with other people
o Explore many different aspects of the natural world both directly (direct observation and experimentation) and indirectly (research, reading, viewing a variety of media)
o Pursue personal interests in this area.

Now to the nitty-gritty, where the rubber hits the road type planning. This Summer and Autumn, as well as our general observations of the natural world, the children will be given opportunity to learn about birds.

We will use a variety of resources including the following core texts:
Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day Young Explorer Series by J. K. Fulbright
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock

As well as these core texts, we will select some of the following texts (sourced from our local library and our own bookshelves) to complement our learning:
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
• Stella Luna by Janell Cannon
• Song of the Swallows by Leo Polloti
• Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
• Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
• The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen
• Blue wren by Belinda Brooker
• Good-night, owl! by Pat Hutchins
• The bag of wind by Gerald Rose
• The story of karrawingi the emu by Leslie Rees
• The imaginary menagerie by Hazel Edwards
• Little falcon by Jutta Goetze; illustrated by Marg Towt
• The best beak in Boonaroo Bay by Narelle Oliver
• Pelican by Pauline Reilly; illustrated by Will Rolland
• The pinkish, purplish, bluish egg by Bill Peet
• Edward the emu by Sheena Knowles; illustrated by Rod Clement
• Waddle giggle gargle! by Pamela Allen
• Birds, beasts, flowers: Australian children's poetry by William Hart-Smith; edited by Brian Dibble
• The Egg by Gallimord Jeunesse
• Chick Egg Guidebook by G.Q.F. Manufacturing Co
• Chickens Aren't The Only Ones by Ruth Heller
• Big Egg by Molly Coxe
• Egg to Chick by Millicent E Selsam
• Who's Hatching (Scholastic Inc.)
• Bird behaviour by Louise Dawson and Mike Langman; introduction by Bill Oddie
• Birds by Paul McEvoy
• Australian backyard wildlife by Jim Grant and Bob Winters
• I wonder why vultures are bald, and other questions about birds by Amanda O'Neill
• Birds by Stephen Savage
• Whose chick is that? by Jill B. Bruce; illustrated by Jan Wade
• Australian bush birds by Harry Frauca
• The Puffin book of Australian birds by Helen Hunt
• Birds by Joy Richardson
• Gollancz children's encyclopedia of birds by Jinny Johnson
• Birds by Diane James & Sara Lynn; illustrated by Sue Cony
• 100 things you should know about birds by Jinny Johnson; consultant, Steve Parker
• Famous Australian birds by Gisela Kaplan
• Amazing Australian birds by Barry Silkstone
• Feathers by Cassie Mayer
• Australian owls, frogmouths & nightjars by Jill Morris, Lynne Tracey
• Bird by David Burnie
• Eggs and chicks by Fiona Patchett
• Penguins by Bobbie Kalman
• How birds live by Barry Silkstone
• What is a bird? by Barry Silkstone
• Where birds live by Barry Silkstone
• Field guide to Tasmanian birds by Dave Watts
• Birds by Kylie Currey
• Birds by Peter Holden
• The Gould League book of Australian birds by Don Goodsir
• How nature works: fascinating projects and experiments that reveal the secrets of nature by David Burnie

You may have noticed that there is a mix of fictional and non-ficton books in that list. You would be amazed the insight you can gather from a good work of fiction! Many picture books also contain amazing illustrations which are just too good to miss. Field guides are also a must. We have several sitting on the shelf by the dining room window so we can use them to identify birds we see out the window while we eat dinner.

We will also directly observe domestic and wild birds in a variety of settings. This little sentence is what will bring the whole thing to life! Peering through binoculars out the window into the back yard, patting a chook, holding a baby duckling, collecting the eggs with Nanny, taking a trip to the wetlands centre to spot birds and chat to the park rangers. This is what lights the fire within!

Of course, we will also incorporate a few web and TV resources. Bill Nye the Science Guy does a great program on birds. Enchanted Learning have some great Bird resources
and print outs. I've even gleaned a bit from the lapbooks on homeschoolshare.com

I'd love to hear about any other bird study ideas you have! Feel free to comment or leave a link.

Our funny for the week.

2010-01-08T00:13:00.000-08:00

Unstructured time - something I have learned

2010-01-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

Here is something I have learned about unstructured time this holidays:

It is important and I believe strongly in providing regular unstructured time, HOWEVER, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Kids, in my experience, get silly with how they spend their time if it is all left up to them. For example, a child with too much time on their hands may, let's say, decide to play doctors with the cat. The perfectly healthy cat. Can I just say I am unconvinced of the therapeutic value of giving a cat 'injections' with rusty nails.

*No cats were permanently harmed in the making of this post and said child now has a few extra chores around the house to keep idle fingers busy!*

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

And here's a chuckle

Summer Holidays

2009-12-31T21:34:00.000-08:00

WHEN do you take school holidays?

Well, it depends really. This year our plan is to have three months of holidays - January, June and December.

WHY?

January Mama Bear is trying to get the house up to scratch and planning all the school work for the year plus we have a big church camp to go to as well. June, we are having a new baby and we are taking a bit of time to get into the groove before hitting the books again and December is all about Christmas Prep and cleaning.

HOW?

Well, so far our holidays seem to be about me looking around wishing someone would do the housework, Princess Doc digging through the shelves to find anything that remotely looks like school work so she can do it and the younger ones bubbling along much as usual! Oh, I did take some time out to read a real grown up NOVEL or two as well. Princess Doc is not a fan of holidays and is champing at the bit to get back into school work but this is HOMEschool and the HOME part is probably why we need to take holidays most. A few weeks where we can give everything a good scrub and evaluate the direction we are taking gives clarity. Plus, I think Mama Bear deserves a few weeks hibernation, don't you?

What do holidays look like at your house?

The forteen days of homeschool (sung to the tune of the twelve days of Christmas)

2009-12-19T02:29:00.000-08:00

On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can you homeschool legally?"

On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Are they socialised, can you homeschool legally?"

On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Do you give them tests, are they socialised, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fourth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialised, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fifth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "YOU ARE SO STRANGE! What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialised, can you homeschool legally?"

On the sixth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How long will you homeschool, YOU ARE S0 STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialised, can you homeschool legally?"

On the seventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialised, do you homeschool legally?"

On the eighth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE! what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialised, do you homeschool legally?"

On the ninth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "They'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialised, do you homeschool legally?"

On the tenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they’re missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialised, can you homeschool legally?"

On the eleventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE! what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialised, can you homeschool legally?"

On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can they go to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialised, can you homeschool legally?"

On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: "They can go to college, yes you can do this, they can have graduation, we don't like the prom, we do it 'cos we like it, they are missing nothing, we'll homeschool forever, WE ARE NOT STRANGE!, We give them P.E., and we give them tests, they are socialised, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!"

On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How can I get started, why didn't you tell me, where do I buy curriculum, when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE? I think we can do this, if you will help us, we'll join a sports team, and we'll homeschool legally."

Decorating for Christmas

2009-12-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

We finish up "school" by December 1 so we can focus on getting ready for Christmas.

Things we do to get ready for Christmas include:

* Getting the house in order - some people spring clean, we summer clean!

* Preparing cards and gifts - we usually try to have this done by the last week of November, this year I'm settling for the second week of December!

* Creating a Jessie Tree - this year we are doing a reading each day and colouring a picture to stick up on the wall. I have strung up tinsel in the shape of a Christmas tree and we're filling it in as we go through the readings. We are really enjoying reminding ourselves of the "old" stories and placing the nativity in context! I use some resources that I found here

* We have fun! During this time I try and arrange cooking together, playing games, watching movies, reading books, going on walks and all those things that we love to do and normally only squeak in once or twice a week if we're lucky.

Our most recent addition to our celebrations is our gratitude chain.

We make a paper chain the usual way (step by step instructions here if you haven't done it before) except on each strip of paper we write and/or draw a blessing we have received this year. The blessings are many and varied - from answered prayer, to elephants; from safety and health to grass; from financial security to lollies! We will be adding to our chain as we prepare for Christmas with an attitude of gratitude.

God Bless you this Christmas Season!

The final step...

2009-11-30T22:43:00.000-08:00

in a journey through our day.

What do you do after you go outside again?

Well, there are all the normal end of day with several small children activities such as baths, chores, meals, brushing teeth etc. I will leave all that to your imagination! Our final thing that I feel is a part of our schooling is family worship and scripture review. Princess Doc also on occasion stays up a little later to read a book to Papa Bear. Each time she reads a book from her reader set through to him, she gets a stamp in the back of it. When a set of ten are stamped she earns a "girls night". Last girls night we watched Little Women, drank Rosehip Tea, ate popcorn and lollies and I did her hair in rags. It is a highlight of both our lives! But I digress, mostly we have family worship and scripture review.

Why?

Family worship gives the kids a chance to worship with Papa Bear. They get to see that singing and praying are not just things that Mums and kids do, Dads do it too.

Worshiping as a family is an incredibly powerful thing. Both for us as a family and for those we pray for.

Reviewing scripture that the kids have memorised is vital for keeping it in their minds and on their hearts. I do not want the scripture they have memorised to be simply a quick challenge of memory, then put away and forgotten. I want it to be a part of them.

How?

Our evening worship is very simple. After everyone is ready for bed, we choose a couple of songs, sing together and then each pray in turn. The kids kiss Dad goodnight one at a time then I tuck them in. As I tuck them in I say one of their memory verses to them and they repeat it after me. Sometimes they like to show off what they know and say it without my help, but the memory side is not the biggest issue at this point in the day. I want them to go to sleep with a verse of scripture in their heart and sometimes I will use the verse to launch a short conversation with them about a spiritual truth. Their memory verses are written on circles of coloured paper which are stuck together in the shape of caterpillars around the top of their bedroom wall so nobody has to display a feat of memory at that time of night, not even Mum! The verse is chosen by me at random or for a specific purpose. For example, if that specific child has been struggling with a challenge, we may say Philippians 4:13 to encourage him or her. When we have said the scripture I pray a blessing over them and then they say a prayer (on their own or after me depending on capabilities) and we finish with a kiss goodnight and a cuddle. Even if we have had a bad day, or perhaps ESPECIALLY if we have had a bad day, this is a really important and special time for each of the kids and a time they and I treasure. It takes time and effort and sometimes energy I don't think I have at that end of the day but it is always worth it.

Why do I class this as school? Because it teaches my children the most fundamental truths that I want to pass on to them in their childhood. Those truths are:

You are intensely loved, both by your parents and by God.

Blessing you is important to me and to God.

Listening to you is important to me and to God

Being near you makes me happy because you are special to me, and God feels the same way.

Worship is an important part of life, and your life goes better when it is filled with worship.

You are a unique individual with unique quirks, challenges and gifts and you are made for a special purpose.

Your family will do its best to help you with the challenges life throws up and God will ALWAYS help with the challenges life throws up.

And I believe that when a child knows these things, right deep in their hearts, that child is truly educated.

What?! No School Today?

2009-11-26T05:50:00.000-08:00

6 Answers You Should NEVER Give to the Question "What?! No School Today?"

1. Well normally yes, but this time of year I need help with the planting and plowing.

2. Goodness, no!!! I graduated 18 years ago, but thanks for the compliment!

3. What?! Where did you guys come from?! I thought I told you to stay at school! I'm sorry. This happens all the time. (sigh)

4. There isn't? Why, you'd think we'd see more kids out then, don't you?

5. On our planet we have different methods of education. (Shhh! No, I didn't give it away... keep your antennae down!)

6. Oh my goodness! I thought that today was Saturday...come on kids, hurry!

Anyone got any more to add?

science - how we do it.

2009-11-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

Princess Doc doing her mad scientist impression - her grandmother made her that white coat for her third birthday, I think we need to invest in another one!

I was reading The Gentle Art of Chaos blog and she was talking about science. My comment was getting a tad long, so I headed over here and blogged instead! You see, I love science, it is my favourite subject after Bible and English. I get deliriously excited about experiments and Latin names and tables of elements!! My biggest challenge is to focus myself and not get too carried away - starting to make a volcano on the kitchen table at 5pm is NOT a good idea!

So this is what we plan to do in a nut shell.

Each season (we 'structure' things loosely by season here and take Summer off, works for us) I pick a science topic and a nature topic - our next ones will be Birds and Human Biology with a hygiene and germs focus. During the term we keep our learning journals and do any funky paper things or record keeping in there (a whole post in itself that I will get back to another day). I will also grab a number of books on the topics from the library as well as de-shelving our own books to store in a basket in the lounge room to encourage us to leaf through them. I will often choose a "spine" book to help structure things too.

At the end of the season, we have a week set aside as Science Week where we do any messy or involved crafts or experiments and excursions all at once. So we get the joy and mess but only one week of clean up sessions! I am betting that science week will be one of the highlights of our 'term' and will create strong positive associations with the subject, making the kids FAR more likely to be as excited as their mother about tables of Elements and Latin names!! This structure also means that when I find a brilliant resource, rather than getting carried away and tossing out what we are currently doing or trying to pile it in on top - or putting it aside and loosing it - I can file it away under the year and season we will need it. Then when I get to doing birds, I open my bird file and pretty much all the work is done for me!

Here are our six year rotations:

Science Focus

Year 1
Human body/biology (hygiene, immune systems, skin), Geology, botany

Year 2
Astronomy/space exploration, Human body/biology (skeletal system, teeth, muscular system), Microbiology/magnification

Year 3
Meteorology, Human body/biology (digestive/urinary systems, nutrition), Marine exploration

Year 4
Human body/biology (respiratory and circulatory systems), Technology/engineering, aerodynamics and human flight

Year 5
Human body/biology (nervous system, 5 senses), Astronomy/space exploration, electronics

Year 6
Physics, Human body/biology (endocrine and reproductive systems), chemistry

Don't let the big "science" words scare you! At the age my kids are, Chemistry will be freezing stuff and melting it, combining bicarb soda and vinegar and baking yeast bread. This will give them an idea of how matter and chemical reactions work. They don't have to be charting the molecular structure! We do not have to cover EVERYTHING in that topic because we will get back to it again, eventually! My job is to teach some of the basics and ignite a passion. If I do my job right, they will be spending their free time checking this stuff out themselves.

Some good Science links are:

The Exploration Station
At Home Science
Teacher.net
It's a Boy's Life - the science posts
Chemistry Lapbook
Home Chemistry
Candy Experements

Nature Focus

Year 1
Birds, rocks and minerals, wildflowers and insects/invertebrates

Year 2
the skies (astronomy), Mammals, garden flowers and weeds

Year 3
climate and weather. Trees, marine life

Year 4
Reptiles, flowerless plants, birds

Year 5
trees, insects/invertebrates, food plants

Year 6
fish, amphibians and reptiles, mammals/marsupials

The nature rotation is a tweaked version of what they use for the Ambleside Online curriculum. The Handbook Of Nature Study Blog gives some great ideas, but I have needed to tweak and change to make it more relevant for Australia - aside from the fact that I have a compulsive need to tweak and change, it is a sickness I tell you! Downunder Literature has some brilliant spine texts for Australian nature study and we often use the Bush Calender to help inform our nature journalling. For more on how we do nature study take a look at other posts with the tag "nature" but I will get back to that later too.

2009-11-19T05:47:00.000-08:00

Two women met at a playground...

Two women meet at a playground, where their children are swinging and playing ball. The women are sitting on a bench watching. Eventually, they begin to talk.

W1: Hi. My name is Maggie. My kids are the three in red shirts --helps me keep track of them.

W2: (Smiles) I'm Patty. Mine are in the pink and yellow shirts. Do you come here a lot?

W1: Usually two or three times a week, after we go to the library.

W2: Wow! Where do you find the time?

W1: We homeschool, so we do it during the day most of the time.

W2: Some of my neighbors homeschool, but I send my kids to public school.

W1: How do you do it?

W2: It's not easy. I go to all the PTO meetings and work with the kids every day after school and stay real involved.

W1: But what about socialization? Aren't you worried about them being cooped up all day with kids their own ages, never getting the opportunity for natural relationships?

W2: Well, yes. But I work hard to balance that. They have some friends who're homeschooled, and we visit their grandparents almost every month.

W1: Sounds like you're a very dedicated mom. But don't you worry about all the opportunities they're missing out on? I mean they're so isolated from real life -- how will they know what the world is like -- what people do to make a living -- how to get along with all different kinds of people?

W2: Oh, we discussed that at PTO, and we started a fund to bring real people into the classrooms. Last month, we had a policeman and a doctor come in to talk to every class. And next month, we're having a woman from Japan and a man from Kenya come to speak.

W1: Oh, we met a man from Japan in the grocery store the other week, and he got to talking about his childhood in Tokyo. My kids were absolutely fascinated. We invited him to dinner and got to meet his wife and their three children.

W2: That's nice. Hmm. Maybe we should plan some Japanese food for the lunchroom on Multicultural Day.

W1: Maybe your Japanese guest could eat with the children.

W2: Oh, no. She's on a very tight schedule. She has two other schools to visit that day. It's a system wide thing we're doing.

W1: Oh, I'm sorry. Well, maybe you'll meet someone interesting in the grocery store sometime and you'll end up having them over for dinner.

W2: I don't think so. I never talk to people in the store --certainly not people who might not even speak my language. What if that Japanese man hadn't spoken English?

W1: To tell you the truth, I never had time to think about it. Before I even saw him, my six-year-old had asked him what he was going to do with all the oranges he was buying.

W2: Your child talks to strangers?

W1: I was right there with him. He knows that as long as he's with me, he can talk to anyone he wishes.

W2: But you're developing dangerous habits in him. My children never talk to strangers.

W1: Not even when they're with you?

W2: They're never with me, except at home after school. So you see why it's so important for them to understand that talking to strangers is a big no-no.

W1: Yes, I do. But if they were with you, they could get to meet interesting people and still be safe. They'd get a taste of the real world, in real settings. They'd also get a real feel for how to tell when a situation is dangerous or suspicious.

W2: They'll get that in the third and fifth grades in their health courses.

W1: Well, I can tell you're a very caring mom. Let me give you my number--if you ever want to talk, give me call. It was good to meet you.

Author Unknown

The next step...

2009-11-16T02:28:00.000-08:00

in a journey through our day.

What do you do after you finish reading aloud?

We take it outside again if it is clear, if not we do cleaning and/or craft inside.

Tool man getting ready to mount the trampoline

Why?

Why not?!

Remember, my oldest is FIVE. I could sit them down with lots of structured learning, but I honestly feel that now is not the time. Now is the time to foster a LOVE of learning and discovery and endless flash cards just doesn't do it for any of us.

Research shows that children who achieve academically early on through parental pressure are no better off later in life. In fact, many crash and burn because of the extra pressure.

Princess Doc is a high flier. Today as I was cleaning the kitchen she was leafing through the Bible reading bits out to me. Not a "Children's Bible", a normal, tiny print NIV Bible. She will seek out opportunities to learn from a rich environment WITHOUT me hovering. In fact, by stepping back and watching rather than being overly controlling of her academic exploits I have seen her acheive a far higher level academically than I would have ever thought her capable of. If I had scheduled her every waking moment, she never would have had time to discover she can read "Hop On Pop" all by herself - and I would still have her at basic readers and phonetic flash cards.

You don't have to teach everything NOW, you don't need to push. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was "if you feel that your child NEEDS to learn about something, leave them alone and go and learn about it yourself - they will catch up with you later". When Princess Doc wanted to learn to read I started trying to teach her to write as well. It became stressful for both of us as her fine motor skills just weren't up to this complex task. So I backed off the writing and just taught her to read. Yesterday she wrote out the alphabet song, complete with "now I know my ABC, next time won't you sing with me!" because she wanted to! If I had continued to push her she would hate writing and I would have created an obstacle for both her and me.

There will be time for a more structured academic program later. Next year we will probably have a bit more of a structured approach to our book work, a few more goals, because I have seen indicators that Princess Doc is ready for it and I think she'd thrive on it. Starting her before she was ready would mean that I would have to stand over her every day to get it done. What with the other little bears, I simply don't have time to do that! Plus, I want HER to be able to take ownership and be accountable for her OWN learning.

Children spend the day at school or child care, especially those who have to travel for a half hour plus, are exhausted at the end of the day and by the end of the week they are completely wiped. I don't want my kids to spend their only leisure hours at home, flopped on the couch because they're too tired to do anything else! Children who spend all their time in highly structured environments often lack the ability and drive to show initiative and play and learn on their own. So we allow down time and we encourage free play.

Farm Boy on the trampoline - a vital toy for any family with energetic boys!

How?

We bring in the washing, play games, walk across the road and play at the playground, have afternoon tea. Sometimes we even (horror of horrors!) watch TV! We clean the house together, the kids climb trees or dig in the dirt. We jump on the trampoline, they play imaginary games outside or in their room. We dump out the mega bloks and build. We make use of the dolls, teddies, dress ups, drawing equipment, games, bikes etc. Princess Doc often chooses to visit her school work boxes which are a shelf of shoe boxes filled with activities for her to do (a whole 'nother post there though!). It is hard to describe a "typical" day at this point because there are so many factors that come into play. One thing I do try to maintain though is a clean up time around 4-4:30ish before preparing for tea and bed which is vital for time management, stewardship and life skills learning. I know, I need to get better at it myself!

Princess Doc and the Tool Man caging a wild animal AKA Farm Boy - he was in on the game!

It's that time of week again

2009-11-12T05:43:00.000-08:00

The Ten Commandments Of Homeschooling

1. I am thy mother. There are three things in this house which art certain: death, chores, and schoolwork.

2. Thou shalt write thy name and all thy other work in thy neatest handwriting or thou will doest thy work over.

3. Remember that thy school days art Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and part of Friday. On these days, after honoring thy Lord, thou shalt do thy school work and chores before any other activity, or thou will not doest any other activity.

4. Honor thy mother by doing thy chores. Honor thy father by honoring thy mother, so that thy father will want to come home.

5. Thou shalt not kill thy brother nor sister, nor cause any harm to them either by word or deed.

6. Thou shalt not commit plagiarism.

7. Thou shalt not steal from any answer key nor another person's work.

8. Thou shalt not bear false information on a test due to lack of study.

9. Thou shalt not covet thy younger brother's easier school work nor thy older brother's privileges.

10. Thou shalt not cause thy mother to yell at thou loud enough to be heard by thy neighbor's wife.)

(Author Unknown)

A very interesting clip...

2009-11-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

The next step...

2009-11-06T20:52:00.001-08:00

in a journey through our day.

Just as a side note, my apologies for not being a more regular poster! It is spring, fine weather has struck after three months of RAIN and I am trying to find my garden!

What do you do after you finish go outside?

We have lunch and read aloud

Princess Doc "reading" as an 18 month old

Why?

If you don't know why you should read to your children, try it for a week!

Here are a few reasons why I do.

I LOVE reading, I LOVE my kids. If I do this, I get to combine two passions of my heart and call it a "educationally enriched experience". Plus I get to read Muddle Headed Wombat, The Hundred and One Dalmatians AND Possum Magic!

I get to instill a love of reading through sharing a positive experience (otherwise known as "a cuddle") AND a book with my kids.

The kids get exposed to language on a greater scale than they do through "ordinary" conversation.

We create opportunity to discuss Life, The Universe and Everything (no, I don't read Douglas Adams to them yet!) through talking about the books - for example reading about Ping leads to finding China in an atlas, reading about Blinky Bill leads to finding a book about Koalas and reading about Esther leads to a discussion about being brave and standing up for what you believe in.

She was just SO CUTE!

How?!

As we finish up lunch I clean up the younger two and read them two or three short books - usually Christopher chooses at least one of them. The older two can listen but the babies get the lap and most if not all direct conversation is between them and me. I put the little ones off to bed (Christopher usually takes a board book, a toy car and his toy monkey - presumably so he can read to the car and the monkey!) and start reading to the older ones.

The older two choose a picture book each and we read those, then often Erin reads me one of her "readers". Currently Erin is working through the Fitzroy Readers and we find them pretty good. Then we read our 'Bible story of the week'. Each week we select a Bible story (usually the one from the Sabbath School Lesson Pamphlet) and read it each day. We read it from the Bible and then read several Bible Story books, checking their accounts against the Bible. This is kind of our introduction to Bible Study, but it is all very informal and mainly we just read them and chat. Finally (if Mummy isn't falling asleep) we read a chapter or two of our current read aloud. If Mummy is falling asleep, she goes and has a little quiet time while the kids have their own quiet time, then she has a coffee and finishes reading!

Books I select may have some connection to our other learning or they may just be one of the books on my personal "I can't let my children leave childhood without this book!" list.

There are some excellent books about reading aloud to your children, here are my favourites:

Cushla and her Books by Dorothy Butler

Babies Need Books by Dorothy Butler

The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt

How to Raise a Reader by Elaine K McEwan

What about you? How do work "read aloud" time into the day? Why do you think it's important? What books do you and/or your children enjoy?

Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!

Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.

In case you haven't realised yet, the two things I think are VITAL for a child's development are books and...

LAUGHTER

End of week giggle again

2009-11-05T05:41:00.000-08:00

What About Socialization?

by Pam Hartley

10. We're training him to like isolation so that he can be an astronaut.

9. Socialization? We're Republicans!

8. Don't worry. We get together with other kids twice a week so he can learn how to spit on them and treat them disrespectfully.

7. We do Unit Studies on Socialization, and also Hair Washing, Clothes Folding, and other completely redundant subjects.

6. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. I was mentally planning her week of Girl Scouts, 4-H, dance class, karate, and soccer. What were you saying about socialization?

5. If I could get him to stop planning so many group camping trips and book fairs, I'd be able to convince him to socialize!

4. Huh?

3.Please, just for a change, ask me about college, okay?

2. Squeak, dive under the nearest object, peek out, and mutter "who are you and what do you want?"

1. Oh, I know what you mean! That's why we're homeschooling, for the socialization!"

A giggle for the end of the week...

2009-10-30T05:40:00.001-07:00

The next step...

2009-10-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

in a journey through our day.

What do you do after you finish morning tea and scripture reading?

Unless it is pouring with rain we go outside and the kids frolic while I hang washing and do gardening etc.

Princess Doc and Farm Boy on a winter's day

Why?

I know, I know. It doesn't SOUND very school-ish does it? But I consider this one of the most vital parts of our homeschool.

I COULD schedule a day full of activities and challenges, but then we would miss out on all that this time offers us including:

Spontaneous learning where a child will rush in for a hand book to find the name of a strange bird.

Developing the ability to select and organise ones OWN activities. Believe it or not deciding between riding a bike or bouncing on the trampoline involves a complex set of skills. Children who are hyper-scheduled miss out on these skills.

Supporting the natural growth and development of the body and brain. I was involved for a time with remedial therapies which supported children with learning disabilities and hyperactivity disorders etc. Many of the physical activities that we had these children do to get their bodies and brains working together and nural networks forming correctly were EXACTLY WHAT MY KIDS DO IF I LEAVE THEM ALONE! Jumping, running, crawling, wrestling, jumping jacks and more. Kids will do them if given space an opportunity. Kids who DON'T do these things are at risk of their bodies and possibly even their brains not working properly.

Conducting independent investigations. Wow! Sounds good doesn't it? Let me give you an example:

Farm Boy: Mum, look, there is a trail of slime behind this snail.

Mama Bear: Yep, cool.

Farm Boy: Hehe, now it is on my finger. It is wet Mum!

Mama Bear: Really?

Farm Boy: Yeah. Look, when it dries it goes shiny!

Mama Bear: You don't say?!

Farm Boy: Yep, look, they are all over here. I'm going snail hunting Mum!

That folks, is biology 101 independent investigation #245 in progress.

We conduct experiments. Sounds like we need white coats and crazy hair dos doesn't it? Not really! Princess Doc planted some bulbs in her garden with the hypothesis that if she planted and cared for them, flowers will bloom. She checks her garden and cares for it regularly. The bulbs are growing and very soon I suspect her hypothesis will be proven completely correct! White coats and crazy hair dos completely optional.

We work on our social skills. Yes, with only us at home. One trike + two little boys who want to ride it = a ripe opportunity to learn how to win friends and influence people! Conflict management 101 right in our own back yard.

We exercise our skills of observation and attention to detail. For example, today Princess Doc informed me that she found an aphid on her finger. She saw it and IDENTIFIED it all on her own. A very proud moment.

We have fun and we like it.

Tool Man doing his Ewok impression

How?!

So where is my scope and sequence?

Don't have one!

Every now and then there will be a funky challenge on a blog a catch up with or we will have an idea of what we want to do. Other times I will have need-to-do items with the garden etc and the kids will join me. Quite often the kids disappear into the yard somewhere, together or separately, and tell me about it later. So long as the basic rules of safety and kindness are followed, I'm happy!

Farm Boy proudly displaying his collection of.....dirt

If you are wanting a few ideas to keep you occupied while the kids are playing, these are ten sites to help inspire you, in no particular order!:

The Magnifying Glass

The Snail's Trail

Elsa Mora

By Sun and Candlelight

Crafty Crow

Snap Shots

Crafty Mama

Journey Into Unschooling

Herbal RootsZine

The Handbook of Nature Study

If you are priveledged enough to live in the wonderful land of Oz and would like to learn a little more about your immediate surroundings, try these sites:

Birds in Backyards

The Gould League

ABC Science: Scribbly Gum

Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife (if you are unfortunate enough NOT to live in Tasmania, check out the parks and wildlife site for your state. You will find it full of all sorts of info)

Images of Australian Fauna and Flora

What about you? How do work "unstructured activity" time and/or nature study into the day? Why do you think it's important? What, do your kids tend to choose to do/enjoy doing during these times?

Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!

Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.

The girls bonding

Proverbs

2009-10-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

in a journey through our day.

What do you do after you finish learning time?

Usually, we have some fruit and a drink for morning tea and read the chapter of proverbs that corrosponds to the date.

Why?

I find a bit of fruit and something to drink mid morning goes a long way to keeping little ones hydrated and less cranky!

Proverbs is a "how to" book for living life and has a handy 31 chapters that matches up with the dates quite nicely.

You'd be amazed the conversation that starts when reading proverbs with little ones.

You'd be amazed how much MUMMY learns about life from reading proverbs!

I want to establish and maintain a habit of opening the Bible every day for myself and for each member of the family.

Reading the Bible together means we come accross all sorts of words and concepts that need discussing and learning. We don't try and learn EVERYTHING each chapter has to offer every day, we just take a great big mouthful and chew on the Word together. If that isn't learning, I don't know what is!

How?!
We grab some fruit from the kitchen and the older ones set the table while I make up a jug of drink. We eat, drink and read - discuss sometimes - then pack up. All up, the most time this usually takes is 20 minutes.

Sometimes a particular proverb will be especially applicable ("an honest answer is like a kiss on the lips" was a catch phrase in our house for a while!) so we may discuss it, other times we will just read through with me explaining words or phrases they may not understand.

What about you? How do you feel about reading scripture as a family? Why do you feel that way? What, time of day do you read scripture as a family?

Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!

Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.

Learning time

2009-10-10T21:56:00.000-07:00

in a journey through our day.

What do you do after you finish praying?

We have our "learning time". We use this time to directly talk about things that I feel are beneficial to memorise or at least become familiar with.

Why?

Young children can memorise things quickly and easily so it makes sense to me to take advantage of this stage to lay a foundation for later learning.

This time encourages me to have direct conversation with the kids about different topics which helps build our relationship.

It's fun and we like it!

How?!

After prayer, we all pile back onto the couch and I get my display folder. The front of the folder is filled with song lyrics for songs and prayers but there are five sheets of paper in the back of the book, one sheet for each week day. Each day has something related to the Bible and something related to general knowledge on it.

Monday - we have a verse and the numbers to ten in Spanish
Tuesday - we have a psalm or part of a psalm
Wednesday - we have a proverb and a poem
Thursday - we have the Ten Commandments and the days of the week/months of the year
Friday - we have the names of the first five books of the Bible and the states and territories of Australia.

I will go into more detail about why I have chosen these things next week.

I read the scripture or Bible based item first then we discuss it and read it again with the children repeating after me OR with me leaving out words for them to fill in.

We then follow the same procedure with the second item on the list, I read through, we discuss, they repeat after me.

We stay with the same items for a maximum of three months before we change them. The focus isn't necessarily memorising, although they do tend to memorise what we are talking about. The focus is more getting a taste for the items and an understanding of what they mean and how their lives can be touched by them.

What about you? How do you feel about children memorising things? Why do you feel that way? What, do you plan to/did you do at different stages of your children's lives to help them learn scripture and facts?

Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!

Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.

Asking the Questions

2009-10-05T16:33:00.000-07:00

I have been asking homeschooling parents three questions:

WHAT is the most important thing for you to teach your child?

WHY is that important to you?

HOW have you gone about teaching them this?

Bek, mother of three boys aged 8 - bub in arms and blogger at Blessed answered like this:

God has been taking me on a journey discovering just this.

I haven't yet been homeschooling for a year and I love how God is guiding me. I believe that my main job is to train my children to love Jesus and make him the Lord of their lives.

I also believe in training my children to be successful in life. This obviously isn't so straight forward as each child has different qualities and trait s and so different training needs.

The only way for me to be able to do this is to rely fully of God everyday, teaching and training me so that I can do the same for my children. We are still setting up new routines (since my focus has been shifted from academic focused to God focused) but we are giving the Bible the pride of place and then trying to work in other things around that.

My biggest challenge is learning to juggle the different ages and stages all simultaneously but we have faith that God is doing a work in all of us. Prayerfully seeking God every day/hour/moment is the greatest tool. The bad days are the days that I haven't put this in the right place.

I would LOVE to hear YOUR answer to the questions! Please either share in the comments or e-mail me at

TasJess AT gmail DOT com

Answers can be as anonymous as you like or contain links to your own blog

The second step...

2009-10-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

in a journey through our day.

What do you do after you finish singing?

We pray.

Why?

Prayer connects us with God and establishes a two way conversation through the day.

We are establishing a pattern of prayer in our children's lives for them to continue into adulthood. While it is their choice to continue the pattern or not, it is easier to continue the pattern than to have to establish one from scratch.

It reminds me to check in with Him if I haven't already done so in the morning. It especially reminds me to pray FOR my children.

I can model prayer for the children, showing them that I need to take my self to the foot of the cross, ask for forgiveness and strength and direction.

Listening to my children pray gives me insight into where they are at emotionally and spiritually and helps me tap into their inner workings.

Spending time being quiet each day, even if only a few minutes, can help teach children self-calming techniques. A habit of daily quiet time has been linked to numerous health benefits.

Explicit teaching of an attitude of reverence and worship on a daily basis makes going to Church and other places where this attitude is required (i.e.weddings) a whole lot more fun for all of us! It also helps teach a respect for those around them.

Having this time when I expect them to follow direct instruction (i.e. kneel down, bow heads, close eyes etc.) tends to set a bit of a pattern of obedience for the day. A pattern that MAY be interrupted later in the day of course, but a pattern none the less!

How?!

We already prepared ourselves at the end of our singing time by singing "I have knees that bend by my chair..." and "Into My Heart". I will often, but not always, take time between these two songs to review my expectations during prayer times. This is done in a fun, light hearted manner. For example, I will play a game show host and ask them in my special "game show host" voice what we need to do with our hands, eyes, feet etc. during prayer time. Or I may ask one of the older ones to demonstrate to Anna or Christopher what they need to do during prayer times. They love to show off their knowledge and establishing CLEARLY that they know what they should do and I know that THEY know that I know what they should be doing means that stepping outside of these guidelines can be dealt with as defiance in the manner that our family deals with defiance. We don't make a big deal with this, and most of the time it is quite fun. I take the stance that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

*note*: we do pray at other times when not using our "prayer stance" and we talk often about how God can hear us any time, anywhere. We do talk about how when we pray together, it is good manners NOT to distract other people and how keeping an attitude of prayer can help us to concentrate.

When we have finished singing, the children will pray one at a time. Their prayers vary from "Dear Jesus, thank you for the whole world. Amen" to long and complex prayers that can go on for a while! Christopher usually repeats his prayers after me but is getting to the stage where he adds his own bits too. I finish our prayer session by praying for each of us and Daddy and anything else that has been on my heart (being mindful of little knees!) and then we say the Lord's Prayer together.

Next year I would like to start using some resources I collected from Preschool Sunday School Central

What about you? How you work prayer into your children's day? Why do you do things that way? What, if any, resources do you use to teach your children about prayer?

Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!

Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.

Animal School

2009-09-28T18:02:00.001-07:00

Asking the Questions

2009-09-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

I have been asking homeschooling parents three questions:

WHAT is the most important thing for you to teach your child?

WHY is that important to you?

HOW have you gone about teaching them this?

These are big, important questions that one could blog about for YEARS (in fact, I kinda plan to!) but there are some brave souls who have given me their answers, along with permission to share them on this Blog.

J is a Veteran homeschooler with six children ranging from little ones to teens. This is her answer:

The most important thing for me to teach my children is to love the Lord with all their heart, and have the skills to serve him faithfully.

This is my number one priority because this is the only thing that lasts for eternity.

I want to enjoy the forevers with my children, rather than without them.

From my perspective I feel that I am failing in my goal - I see all the problems and mistakes and sins (both mine and theirs), yet the feedback I receive tells me that my children are growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.

To achieve my goal, I am currently implementing a more spiritual focus to our learning, so that it does not revolve so completely around head knowledge, but that the facts that we learn are absorbed into our heart and hands and become applied to our lives. To achieve this I am attaching more importance to learning to resolve conflicts rather than extinguishing them and to refocusing on keeping God at the centre of everything rather than on the sidelines. Bible reading, prayer and singing are becoming a bigger part of our day.

We are also gleaning wisdom from the delight directed approach and looking for a wider range of ways to understand the world, ourselves and God. Currently this is taking its form in the acquiring of more practical skills - sewing, crochet, cooking, etc for the girls and working on the job with Dad for our son.

These are things that are right for us at this moment. I fully expect to be changing our implementation methods as we change as individuals and as a family. The one constant is to seek Gods guidance and try to follow it.

I would LOVE to hear YOUR answer to the questions! Please either share in the comments or e-mail me at TasJess gmail Answers can be as anonymous as you like or contain links to your own blog com

A walk through our day

2009-09-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

I want to walk you through our day What! Why? How? style!

What do you do to start each day?

We sing! We start each day with family worship and the first part of that is always singing.

Why?

Lots of reasons!

First and foremost we do this to worship God and get our hearts and heads right with Him.

To write Eternal Truths on their hearts. While we sing various praise songs, scripture songs and hymns they are learning about God and how we relate to Him. God thinks songs are so important, He dedicated at least one book to them in the Bible!

We also sing together because it is hard to stay mad with someone you are singing with (scientific fact I'm sure!). Whatever scuffles have occurred as we started our day can be let go as we hit the "reset" button. If there have been no scuffles to smooth over, it still draws us closer together.

Lung capacity, blood oxygenation and heart rate are all improved by SINGING. This aids in improving concentration levels and productivity. True story!

Singing is wonderful speech therapy. While we haven't had any issues with speech difficulties (unless you count teaching how to keep quiet!) in this house, singing does serve to improve the kid's grasp of the physical actions of speech. They are exercising their speech muscles and controlling their breathing, clearly forming words and having a go at sounds that they may usually avoid in their normal speech.

Singing uses both the Left and Right brain, exercising it completely and creating neural pathways that will be used for language, math and all those other "academic" ventures. The link between math and music has been clearly made by scientists and it is pretty obvious when you think of all the patterns etc. we find in music.

How?!

We take it in turns to choose one song each, starting with the oldest child - youngest child then finishing with Mum. My choice is usually our Hymn of the Week. I randomly select a hymn that I know that I'd like to teach the kids (some weeks are more random than others, sometimes there is a hymn that fits in beautifully with another aspect of our life or schooling, other times it is just luck of the draw).

We always finish with two songs to prepare us for prayer.

The first is "I Have Hands" which ends with:

I have knees that bend by my chair,
I have knees that bend by my chair,
I have hands that fold in prayer,
when I talk to Jesus

Then in our "prayer stance" we sing Into My Heart

If I were to give ten tips for family worship with preschoolers and toddlers they would be:

1. Use the KISSS principle – Keep it Short and Simple, Sweetheart! One song and a prayer done well has far more impact than a twenty minute session which leaves everyone in tears – including Mum!

2. Keep things predictable. Have worship at a fairly predictable time. After breakfast works for us, everyone is awake and fed and linking it to a feed time means we don’t forget. We don’t forget to eat very often in this house! Also if little ones know what to expect, they will be more likely to cooperate.

3. Have REALISTIC expectations. You are not going to have the Von Trapp family singing harmony in your lounge room. Expect there to be disasterous days. Expect to be singing solo for the first year or two of worship (I did!). Expect to have to teach your children how to behave during worship. Then you are less likely to be disappointed!

4. Realise that teaching and training your children is in and of itself an act of worship. It is hard to feel worshipful when you have to stop “Jesus Loves Me” ten times to administer correction, but correcting and teaching your children IS an act of worship.

5. Stick with it. If you are having worship as a part of the rhythm of your home, it is because it is important to you. Focus on the long term, the ETERNAL, benefits of family worship. It makes it easier to start family worship yet again when it resulted in tears the previous five times.

6. Personalise it to suit your family. At the moment, we have one song each, our pre-prayers songs, family prayer and The Lord’s Prayer. Totally different to what we did last year and I dare say it will change again next year. Do what works, and if it doesn’t work, change it.

7. Have clear expectations. Before worship starts, tell the kids what you want them to do with their hands, feet, eyes, mouth etc. during singing time. Eventually, get THEM to tell YOU and their other siblings what the expectations are (firstborns especially love this in my experience!) then when those things are NOT done, it is clear defiance and it can be dealt with in the way your family deals with defiance. There will be no space for argument or compromise and kids respond to clear boundaries.

8. Include them in choosing songs. This gives a feeling of ownership. At the moment I could quite cheerfully NEVER sing “The Wise Man Built His House Upon A Rock” OR “Whose the King of the Jungle” but we sing them every day because the boys love them.

9. Don’t expect to see fruit straight away. My kids still go mute during worship, then the other week while he was wandering around the back yard Farm Boy belts out “How Great Thou Art” at the top of his lungs. It gets written on their hearts, even if you can’t see it.

10. Make A Joyful Noise! Find a reason to laugh during worship. “I have fingers that tickle, tickle, tickle” is a verse of our pre-prayer song and it always makes us laugh. You can take a moment to tell the kids one reason you are thankful for them, one thing that makes them special. Whatever it is, make worship a pleasure, not a chore!

What about you? How you start your schooling day? Why do you do things that way? What, specifically, do you do?

Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!

Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.

Stating my intentions

2009-09-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

I have a blog already. It is more of an online journal really and as such it is a glimpse into my mind. Full of snippets, topics, unfinished thoughts, amusing anecdotes and more. So why am I starting another one?

Well, as I spend more time communicating with homeschooling parents I am fast coming to the realisation that too many are starting their journey IN THE WRONG PLACE.

Too many are starting with investigating curriculum, researching approaches and swapping organisational techniques. All of these are good things, but they are not the places to start.

We need to start with three little questions. WHAT? WHY? HOW?

WHAT are you trying to teach?

WHY are you trying to teach it?

HOW are you going to teach it?

If you get the what and the why sorted out, the how will largely be taken care of.

So on this Blog I will be asking people to share their answers to those questions. I will also share some of my answers and I will share snippets of my own journey with my children, but me sharing me is not the primary purpose of this Blog. I want to inspire you to ask yourself every day:

What am I teaching?

Why am I teaching it?

How am I going about teaching it?