Category Archives: homeschooling

Poetry

homeschooling November 11, 2009 Leave a comment

I did not get exposed to poetry very much growing up but have always loved it and desire for my children to get that exposure and hopefully fall in love with it too.

SMART
My dad gave me one dollar bill
‘Cause I’m his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
‘Cause two is more than one!
And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes – I guess he don’t know
That three is more than two!
Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just ’cause he can’t see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!
And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!
And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head —
Too proud of me to speak!
by: Shel Silverstein

being weird…

choices, homeschooling, parenting November 1, 2009 Leave a comment

I know most people go through times in their lives where they feel “weird”. Most of the time it happens when you are going through puberty and then hopefully you grow out of it. I have always been weird. Reading and my love affair with books would be a good place to start. I would literally have a book with me everywhere from the time I could read. I read anytime and anywhere and most of the time it wouldn’t matter what was going on around me – I could tune it all out. I was a public school student and that really got in the way of my love for books and reading. But I was quite the underachiever in formal education and so I would do the bare minimum of homework, you know scan the “reading” book story and answer the comprehension questions in quick fashion so that I could get back to the intriguing story I was involved in. Another way I am weird is that I detest rollercoasters. I just feel like God gave me feet, not wings so that I would stay here on His nice ground. I think rollercoasters are pointless. Those are, of course, just two examples of how weird I am. But now, as a grown-up, I am REALLY weird and just getting more weird it seems.
–I do not let other people raise my children (any age).
–I teach my children at home.
–I make my own laundry detergent.
–I take my children to church and teach them about God and His love.
–I spank.
–I use coupons.
–I clothe my children with yard sale, hand-me-downs, or clearance items.
–I let my kids get dirty, every day.
–I teach my children to say ma’am and sir.
–I expect obedience.
–I breastfeed my babies.
–I breastfeed my babies in public. (very weird)
–I enjoy spending time with my husband and my children.
–I respect my parents.
–I read my Bible and pray.
This list could go on and on. What is really neat is that I love being weird. For years, as an adolescent and into my 20’s I wanted to “fit in” and now the closer I grow to my Lord and the older I become I want to be more weird. In fact, I would love to be out and have people whisper as we leave “they are so weird”.
And that is pretty weird, isn’t it?
“Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord”
2 Corinthians 6:17

Sunshine

homeschooling, memories February 11, 2009 Leave a comment

Foster and Katie got to watch a tractor tilling up the ground in our neighbor’s garden and then Foster went back with a bucket and collected some mud and some huge worms. He kept the mud moist all day and wanted to “hide them so the birds won’t get them” every time he had to come inside. Although I think they were much more in danger from the stick he kept poking at them to get them to squirm!
Katie really loves our new swingset. She still doesn’t like to swing very fast or high but she’s getting braver.

We have been enjoying the past few days of sunshine! Theodore is really having fun outside now that he’s walking. He loves to climb in his big brother’s power wheels and just sit there. I guess it makes him feel like a big boy.

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Inside view

homeschooling February 3, 2009 Leave a comment

This was Theodore’s view of the snow. He actually went out in the snow a couple of weeks ago but this time it was right before nap so we just watched Foster and Katie out the window. He was OK with it at the time but most of the time he wants to be doing EVERYTHING they are doing. It makes our school time difficult because as we work at the table he wants to be up and into everything. Hopefully, by the time our school year kicks off next fall he will be able to stay a little more occupied with coloring and puzzles. Right now he still wants to throw the puzzle pieces, chew on crayons and markers and digest the play-doh. But Foster and Katie are still learning in spite of his interruptions. We played an alphabet game today and Katie can identify almost all her letters and actually knew the sounds some of them made. She is enjoying her first time taking a Monday Fun class too. She is in Pre-school Math and seems really excited about it. Foster is taking Interactive Story Time this semester and I think he’s enjoying his class also. I try to ask him what story they read or what they did in their class and he just says “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember”! I told Chris last night that I can’t imagine sending him off for 7 or 8 hours everyday and all him coming home and saying is “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember” or “Johnny hit Billy on the playground…” I need more involvement in my children’s lives at this point than just the pitiful leftovers of the day. As it is right now, I get to be excited with them and for them all day for their accomplishments and I get to share in their disappointments.

Walking and the budget haircut

homeschooling, Theodore, Toddlers January 15, 2009 1 Comment

Look at that smile! Grammy and I held him down for a short haircut but he forgave us and was off playing happily a little while later. He looks all grown up with all that shaggy blond hair gone. Especially now that he finally started walking! 16 1/2 months is a long time to wait when you have such a chunky guy to lug around. He is doing so well, he’ll be running with the big kids by summer. I can’t wait to watch him and all the summer adventures this year. There is something so wonderful about this stage, between starting to walk and before being able to talk, it can be a frustrating time but it’s amazing to watch how much he can get accomplished with no “words” just grunts, gestures, and whines. Katie and Foster are really enjoying him walking but it’s funny because even though he’s been doing it for a couple of weeks now, they wake up each day and the first time they see him walk that day they’ll exclaim excitedly “Theodore’s walking!” or “Look, Mommy, Theodore just walked all the way across the room!” As siblings they really have genuine joy for each other’s accomplishments, even if they squabble through the day, if someone accomplishes something new they each will cheer and encourage each other. Katie loves to encourage and build up her brothers. I hear her in the background “Good job Foster!” even if it’s nothing new or exciting for him, she acknowledges that he is doing something worthwhile. The kids and I have been down at mom’s this week helping her recover from surgery and I have been reading the best book I checked out from mom’s library. The name of it is 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy. It has been extremely helpful to me as I am trying to sort out what I will teach Foster for his Kindergarten year. Now I just have to come up with a budget and hopefully have the curriculum bought and organized by June or July. Since baby #4 is due July 25 I would really like to have all that planned out so that in August we can just start along with our lesson plans. This, of course, is just the plan because I am a planner and organizer and I enjoy that. However, I can hear all the chuckles out there from those of you who have had new babies and siblings close in age and tried to just survive and keep your house running and keep everyone alive from day to day, believe me I know we will have many days when that will be the case, but having a plan and a schedule make me feel as if I am still in some sort of control over the chaos! If you want to check out Cathy Duffy’s website it is www.CathyDuffyReviews.com It seems to be an abundant source of homeschool information.

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Foster’s numbers

Foster, homeschooling November 19, 2008 Leave a comment

Here is Foster showing me the number “8” “6” – he is loving learning that if you put numbers together they have different names. That’s his “86” written on his sister’s Dora board.

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