We've Been Doing Well

We've been doing well lately. We had our moments of sickness and such (I threw my back out for a week once here recently). But, lately things have been going smoothly.

My eight year old, for instance, just had major success on division. Division! She's not my child that things come easy to, but we've stuck with it and she's had success. We've also been figuring some things out for her handwriting. I switched her to practicing cursive. I started some occupational therapy from online sources. And, I think she's left handed! She's doing better since switching her. I have an adult friend who is ambidextrous and she said to get her typing - that this made schoolwork bearable for her son. So, I'm teaching her to type. We'll still be working on handwriting, because I want people to be able to read her handwriting when she writes them, but there is a big sigh of relief.

Weather wise it's been dreary here lately. I can't wait for Spring. I'm praying for some times of dry weather. I planted some Arugula and peas in my greenhouse and I should be starting other starts soon.

We've had two news calves born so far this Spring. We have six more to go. They are cute. That's good. Calving hasn't been too bad this year...at least neither needed to be pulled, although they did need a little doctoring here and there.

My little son is now 19 months old. I love him. He's a joy to all of us. He's a mellow little guy with big muscles. Just about the only time he gets mad is when we put the vacuum cleaner away. He wants to push that thing around the house endlessly. I hope he'll want to do that a little when he's older. He's also quite an artist. At least he runs to share in the art activities. And, so far, he writes with his left hand. Two lefties out of four kids?? My sister and mom were lefties.

A New Year

We are headed into a new school year. Much is staying the same. I'll be using the same combination of Charlotte Mason and Robinson in my schooling.

I'm adding a grammar program - Daily Grams. And I've discovered two fonts on Donna Young's website, which you can use in Word to make your own handwriting worksheets. I have one girl that desperately needs work on her handwriting beyond copywork. Then I have another that needs to solidify her knowledge of cursive. I think cursive is becoming more passe in general in this day, but I think it still a good skill to have down.

I've driven myself CRAZY trying to figure out what activities we are going to do this year (out of the house). Our state tightened it's funding, so what they were helping to pay for last year, they aren't this year. We were paying the full expense for dance and also for my oldest daughter's private violin lesson. Orchestra and art were mostly paid for by our homeschooling program. And, my younger (middle) daughter is moving up in dance (makes her dance more expensive) and my youngest daughter has been wanting to start dance. Obviously, it wasn't doable to pay for Orchestra, Private Violin, Art Class, and Dance.

My oldest thrives at art and I really wanted to keep that. Somehow I wanted to keep my kids playing an instrument. But, in the end, for this year, I sided with dance. The girls all love it and the youngest hasn't gotten a chance to do it. I also signed up for a few local classes for homeschoolers that are close to our home and that are free through our homeschooling program (and we retain our homeschooling status). So the two older girls are taking Drama and my oldest is taking Choir and all three girls are taking Dance. We'll see about an instrument. If Grandma can pay for lessons, we might do that too (just the lessons, not the Orchestra class). But, honestly, I think that may be stretching us too thin this year. Yet, I'd like to see them stay with an instrument.

Pray for me to just settle into what the Lord has directed me to do this year. I'm going to have a chance to work at our business too, a little too with the activities I picked for the girls. My husband can take the littles home and I can work while they take their classes, since work is very close to their classes. I'm also praying for my heart to be stirred for the lost and the hurting. Always, I guess. But, sometimes, as a homeschooling Mom, I think it becomes easy to be focused only on your kids and not on the needs of this world. I pray that this year I'd learn to pray, even in my busy-ness.

Right now, this weekend, my husband is gone with my 10 year old and 8 year old girls and my step-daughter on a camping trip. They are hiking and picking huckleberries. It's a great experience for them. I'm home with the 3 year old and the 1 year old. The one year old seems a little sick, but I'm thinking it's possible it could be a bad case of teething. He has a fever and no appetite. It's also VERY hot outside here (hot for us anyhow). It's September 10 and it was 91 degrees here today and tomorrow is supposed to be just as hot. Then, it is supposed to cool down. As far as I'm concerned heat like this is meant for spending time by the water.

It was never that hot here in the Summer part of Summer, so I suppose it's right that it's hot now. At least our corn is growing. We gave up on a lot of vegetables around here because when we planted them, the seeds rotted in the ground from the wet and the cold, and we planted our plants late. Everything I did in my 8' x 6' greenhouse did great. I really want a great big greenhouse. Nothing fancy, but I really think it could pay for itself as we could extend our seasons and even grow some things year round. That's a big project for my husband though. ;)

Homeschooling On The Weekend

I always have to remind myself when I become discouraged about homeschooling. I don't do these neat projects with my kids. We don't dress up as revolutionary war heroes or pretend to be Thomas Edison. Sometimes we'll color in and label a map about a book we've been reading, but we don't study everything about that place. We don't make flags to document our travels. We do no cooking representing the Ancient Roman civilization. We don't make circuit boards or do lots of hands on science experimenting.

But, my kids love learning. They love writing stories. They love Math. They love learning new vocabulary. They love telling me about the weather. They love finding out that mice are born naked and are mammals just like us and that they nurse their young. They love playing their violin or playing around on the piano. They love playing with blocks and putting the blocks in patterns. They love keeping score on board games. They love art. They love learning about nature by being out there with it or on the farm. My kids love being read to. They love to read the Bible. They love to memorize poems.

AND...it doesn't stop just because it's the weekend. When we have down time. My kids might ask for a video. But, if I say no, or when the video is done, they show a love of learning and keep writing, doing math, asking me about how things work, asking me how to spell such and such and what does this word mean.

My kids are great kids, despite all of my shortcomings. And homeschooling works. I need to remember that.

Playing With Toys

Everything has been going well around here regarding school...

However, we seem to be on round two of the chest cold we've had for six weeks. This must be a new virus because the kids...mostly the baby and the toddler...have a new, full-blown round of nasal and chest congestion. They never really got over the previous chest congestion. I'm hoping I've already had this because I was feeling sick for a few days about a week ago.

Snow came and went around here and never really amounted to much, but did keep us home from activities because of when it hit and the impact on our road. We were back to classes today despite the baby being sick. He did alright going out, but was very grumpy when we got home.

For school we've gotten in groove lately. The girls have changed how they've done vocabulary lately. I'm surprised they like it because it is extra work for them. They've been highlighting or writing down words they don't know in their school reading and looking them up in the dictionary and writing down a definition they can understand. We're using mostly Robinson curriculum this year and they have pre-written definitions for them to memorize. This is just a slight variation. I've been studying grammar from Robinson's source, as well as online sources...trying to solidify how I'm correcting their writing. I think we'll start reading some of the rules together. I'm really not into diagramming sentences or the like for grammar. I never learned from that... Yet, it seems to me that to teach writing to my children we need to know more than what we learn from good writing (the Charlotte Mason way). So, that is one area I'm working on right now.

I wanted to share this picture of how my oldest daughter arranged her animals she was playing with today. Some of their farm experiences, as well the influence of the many nature videos we watch are coming out I think.

Studying Monet

We were studying Monet today. We learned that Claude Monet liked to draw caricatures of friends and teachers as a young boy. We also learned that Monet used perspective a lot in most of his paintings. One daughter wanted to practice a caricature and the other perspective. Here are the drawings:

My middle daughter drew a caricature of her Grandmother.

My oldest daughter drew a road with people and buildings (with perspective). The painting is an Impressionist painting like Claude Monet's drawings.

This Is How We Do Science

This is how we do science around here:

(Among other things)

Homeschooling Writing Resources

Here are some good free supplemental writing and spelling resources:

Grammar And Writing Exercises From Houghton MacMillan

Grammar From ABC Teach

Writing Ideas From ABC Teach

Getting Into My Groove

This year I have been mostly experimenting with using the Robinson method for teaching. I must say I am impressed. Really, I think, the problem with education today (by in large) is that society expects far too little of children.

My nine year old this year is working through Saxon Math 5/6 and getting nearly 100% on every lesson. Robinson has the kids track their own progress in Saxon(how many they get correct) and repeat if they don't get at least 95% correct. My daughter loves this and it motivates her like nobody's business. My seven year old, who has always been a little slower in terms of development, is also very motivated. She wants to do Saxon Math 4/5. There is something really motivating about doing work they can be proud of. She is working on her multiplication tables still, but she has gotten down addition and subtraction facts cold.

And they are reading and doing writing. At this age, their writing can be copywork or it can be anything they want to write. I correct it after they do their writing and they have to go through and correct their spelling, grammar, etc. before the next day. This...my older daughter is not so thrilled with. But, they learn from the process amazingly. I make spelling lists from real world words they miss. And I explain phonics rules and grammar rules as we go along.

They do other work too. First off, they are in art and violin. Violin is fantastic for math. Art is fantastic for observation. When they are interested in other subjects (science, a foreign language...I let them study it on their own). Now, it's been pretty difficult having a new baby and before that being pregnant. That's part of my reason for going with this curriculum...it takes less prep on my part. I just didn't want to do (or pay for) a set curriculum.

I am also very interested in the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education. It holds a lot in common with the Robinson curriculum. It is clear that Robinson borrowed some from Charlotte Mason. Yet, I have found that certain things Charlotte taught, aren't absolutely necessary for well rounded, well educated children. Charlotte was a big proponent in her writing of switching subject when the child lost interest. Robinson is the opposite...'have them sit there till they get the discipline to do hard work'. Charlotte taught that actual lessons (not all of a child's learning) should be kept short (should be finished in the morning). Robinson teaches that lessons (reading, writing, and arithmatic) should last 5-6 hours 6 days a week, year round (minus vacations).

What I have found is that either method works, as long as the expectations for the child are high and the goal for the child's education are presented clearly. Homeschooling is so superior to group education, as long as an effort of excellence is put forth. I find myself free from the ideology of either method...or any other method. I can bring in nature study to teach science. If desired, I can bring in worksheets to teach a foreign language, phonics, latin, whatever. I can bring in a writing curriculum, if desired, to fine tune their writing. Yet, I don't have to...their education will still be superior to what they would get elsewhere if I don't. What I will do is rely on my children teaching themselves and using whatever tool I find to learn the subject naturally.

1 to 100 Number Line

I hate it when I'm looking for something very simple on the internet and it isn't available out there unless you pay for it. I don't blame people for trying to make a living through the internet. In fact, our family business is mostly internet based. But, I think we ought to share simple knowledge together.

The other day I was looking for a 1-100 number chart on the internet, so I could show my 7 year old an alternate way of figuring out how to count by 2,3,4,5,6,and so on. I couldn't find one. So, here is one, I'm sharing mine on Google docs. It's a great way of sharing.

1 to 100 Number Chart

Disclaimer: Google docs did not save the formatting I used for my Word chart, but the chart is still functional the way it is. Mine was just nicer than the version I share here. One of these days I'll have to figure out how to do PDFs so I can share more freely.

Robinson & Charlotte Mason

In the past when I have written about my struggles wrapping my brain around various homeschooling teaching styles, I have had readers comment that the Lord should lead my homeschooling. Just as individuals in the new church said, "I am of Apollos. I am of Paul." Not so, really, as believers we aren't of this church or that, of this group of that, of this belief or that, but rather we belong to Christ. I am of Christ. And, so my homeschool is of Christ as well. Well said. Yet...my explorations of various educational styles...Robinson, Charlotte Mason, Classical...is just that an exploration, and a struggle to find the right balance for me.

This year, I have purchased the Robinson curriculum. I don't intend to teach solely from the Robinson curriculum, although I think if I did my homeschooling experience would be easy and my kids would be well off having done so. The Robinson curriculum has one key factor that I love, love, love. The principle is to teach your children to teach themselves. I think it is a principle it shares deeply with the Charlotte Mason educational philosophy.

But, Charlotte Mason teaching is more parent intensive and therefore less child independent. That is, by default, I don't think most children would learn that they are to struggle to learn things themselves using the Charlotte Mason philosophy. This is mainly because Charlotte Mason is such a broad curriculum. Charlotte Mason did not believe in limiting a child's exposure to a few key areas, but she believed in exposing children broadly. Charlotte Mason includes:

• Reading
  
• Literature
  
• Poetry
  
• Copywork
  
• Writing
  
• Grammar
  
• Spelling
  
• Math
  
• Nature Study
  
• Geography
  
• Art
  
• Artist study
  
• Music Practice
  
• Music Study
  
• Foreign Language
  
• Latin
  
• Physical Education
  
• Hands-On Skills
  
• Etc.
  

Yet, instead of using traditional teaching methods employed by modern schools to teach these subjects, Charlotte Mason encourages us to use good, quality books; a natural learning environment; and frequent changes in our schedule to avoid boredom, in order to encourage the children to be fully invested in these subjects.

Robinson is all about math, writing, and reading, with an emphasis on math and reading. All other pursuits are supposed flow out of the reading the child is doing, or else out of the child's own free time (which Robinson suggests be free of such things as superfluous toys, tv, computer access, and video games).

Just as Robinson himeself added a systematic vocabulary study and examinations to the reading portion of his curriculum, I would argue for an effort to be made to include such things as ancient languages, geography, and art and music study to the reading time. Robinson does not address geography. He sees classical education pursuits such as Latin as irrelevant in modern times, because one has so much available in math and science to expand ones horizons with. Yet, I see Latin as something foundational to our language and therefore of value. I also see memorization of certain classic literature, poetry, and speeches as being of value. Yet, I think, Robinson's warning about adding too much to a young child's plate so that they truly don't learn to teach themselves, is a good admonition. This is not to mention the homeschooling teacher's tendency to wear herself thin. This isn't good for anyone.

Here is a summary of Robinson's teaching method as I see it so far:

1st Year (Age 5 or 6 depending on readiness)

• Work with the child to learn to read with strong phonics teaching
  
• Have child memorize all math tables (+, -, x, /) using flash cards
  

2nd Year (Age 6 or 7 depending on readiness)

• 1-2 Hours Math
  
  
  
  • Have child begin Saxon Math 5/4 – teaching self
    
  • 1/2 lesson per day at first, up to 1 lesson per day during first year
    
  • Aim for 5% or less error rate
    
  • Child corrects their own math lessons
    
  • Child tracks their own error rate
    
  
  
• 1/2 hour copywork (or essay if desired)
  
  
  
  • Parent corrects grammar, spelling, and punctuation
    
  • Must redo writing without errors before next day
    
  
  
• 2 1/2-4 1/2 hours reading (to total at least five hours of studies each day)
  
  
  
  • Vocabulary should be mastered as part of this time
    
  • When applicable, examinations on book should be taken as part of this time
    
  • To verify reading compression a written narration can be done on book readings that don’t have examinations to go with them
    
  
  

3rd Year On

• 1-2 Hours Math
  
  
  
  • Continue in Saxon Math Program Until Finished With Calculus, then move on to College Level Chemistry and Physics – teaching self
    
  • 1 lesson per day, up to 2 lessons per day depending on speed and accuracy
    
  • Aim for 5% or less error rate
    
  • Child corrects their own math lessons
    
  • Child tracks their own error rate
    
  
  
• 1/2 hour copywork (or essay if desired, minimum 1 page essay required for age 10 and above)
  
  
  
  • Parent corrects grammar, spelling, and punctuation
    
  • Must redo writing without errors before next day
    
  
  
• 2 1/2-4 1/2 hours reading (to total at least five hours of studies each day)
  
  
  
  • Vocabulary should be mastered as part of this time
    
  • When applicable, examinations on book should be taken as part of this time
    
  • To verify reading compression a written narration can be done on book readings that don’t have examinations to go with them
    
  
  

Other studies – music, cooking, art, dance, nature study, latin, foreign language, etc. should be done as an extracurricular pursuit after the 5-6 hours are completed. Do 5-6 hours of work, 6 days a week, 12 months a year – taking time off as needed for excursions outside the home. On days when you will be out in the afternoon, at least do math to keep their brain used to working. Taking more than one day off for the weekend causes Mondays to be primarily retraining their brain to work. The most important aspect of the curriculum is that the child takes responsibility for their own learning.

The Time Is Flying By

The time is flying by. We are two weeks and two days out from the arrival of the only little man in our house. I know his Daddy is glad to have some other masculinity in our household. I'm settling in, sort of, although I can't say there has been a single day that has been typical. Originally, the plan was to have my oldest girl stay with me and Dad take the two youngest (really the middle two now - ages 7 and 2) while I recovered from the C-section. It never really happened that way.

The first day home, my step-daughter was here too and we determined it was important for the whole family to bond.

The second day I had a Mother/Baby appointment. My step-daughter went with me to that while everyone else waited in the car. I think it was a good experience for her.

Then, my friend came for a day, which was great fun. My husband got to get out and do something with his tractor (I can't remember what - Jon loves to do things on his tractor). Really, that day was a blur.

Then, it was the weekend.

Then, my Mom called and said she intended to come help. I had asked her to come at some point, but not been specific on when. She came for five days. It was good. Jon got to go to work and certain farm jobs. My Mom went the grocery store for us and she did some laundry and dishes and made dinner one night. She really bonded with the grandchildren I think. It was challenging too, just because she approaches life and the kids way different than we do. Really, the kids would have been more of a help, but they kept listening for Grandparent sympathies about the chores they were asked to do.

Now, we've had a second weekend. Then, yesterday, Monday, I had a baby doctor's appointment that Jon had to take me to. (I can't pick up the toddler now and I can't drive because of the C-Section.) That practically took all day. And, now, today, Jon has done "work" but in the morning, it was clearing a business property we badly need to sell. Now, this afternoon, he's running into work and taking the toddler. So, I get to do my blogging.

And tomorrow probably he'll work and take the toddler or the toddler and the seven year old, and we'll do our original plan.

By the way, we are sort of switching curriculum this year. Not really, but I decided to buy Robinson curriculum. My teaching has kind of been a combination of Robinson and Charlotte Mason, so this isn't entirely new. But, I wanted to get his product so that, at least for this year, I can simply follow his curriculum (adding a little of my own). It's self-teaching (which I totally agree with) and that will work well for me this year, while I figure out more what I want to do. I think I would do Sonlight, but it's expensive and some of it I think I would view as unnecessary twaddle. So, I'd have to analyze my curriculum anyhow, I might as well follow Robinson and analyze what I want to do on top of that, anyhow.

One of the things my husband is doing for me this afternoon is getting the curriculum put together so it will work on my computer (which is Windows 7 64 bit). One of our employees helped us get together the necessary file/s to run Robinson's Reader Program in 64 bit. It's so nice to have that resource.

Here are a couple of cute pics to share with you of our little buddy.

A Day Out

The girls and I went out today. My two older girls went to art class. My toddler stayed with me. The girls take an art class through our local school district's home education program during the school year. And, the art school offers summer extension classes, a month at a time during the summer. My girls love their art class so we signed up through today.

My little girl and I went and did some shopping while the girls were in class. I bought my middle girl her birthday present, returned some library books, and stocked up on gluten free food for my middle daughter (I won't want to go out for that soon). Then, I picked up the older girls and we went to the grocery. I was hot and exhausted when we got home. I'm trying to prepare like crazy, because I have a week and a half before my C-Section.

When we got home, I asked my older daughter to bring in some groceries. My middle daughter ran to the back of the van and started digging (trying to figure out what bag of groceries she wanted to bring in I suppose). She found her gift. Oh, well, what do you do?

Here is a picture I will share with you of me, now, at 37 1/2 weeks pregnant, in the final countdown days. I can't wait for our little boy to arrive. Boy, will it be strange. :)

Not Much Happening

Really, not much has been happening around here – except for taking my daughter to the doctor, the persistent rain, and the kids normal activities – today was art and violin, tomorrow is dance.

I also think I’ve got to get my older daughter in to the doctor too because I think she isn’t hearing well and her ear hurts. She had an outer ear infection she got drops for. I’ll bet it never went away. But, she never told me. I told her today, “you need to tell me, you could lose hearing if you keep having ear infections”. My two older ones always have these quirky health problems going on with them and I’m always worried that the doctors think I am an over-worried mom – but the lives and livelihood of my children rest in my hands, so I guess what doctors think of me is less important.

I’ll finish my middle daughter’s story here soon. With the darkness of the heavy rains we’ve had here in the Northwest this May and the third trimester uncomfortability factor – I haven’t been taking pictures to go with my postings.

Here are some other observations from today:

"It’s a sad day for the cows today as they huddle against the fence line to attain some shelter from the winter-like rains by the neighbor’s 50 foot fir trees…even though the field is full of lusciously delicious green spring pasture they normally revel in. The frogs, however, are completely ecstatic, since they have found numerous new breeding grounds at the top of our property, rather than in the lowlands near the pond."

"Turkeys are funny. We moved them from the field to our yard because the chickens were pecking them. Now they are hanging out on our front porch “knocking” on the door because they want to be with us. Unfortunately, unlike a cat or dog, they don’t know not to do their business on the front porch."

"My kids are so excited (translation…hyper) today. I think it’s the schedule change and signing up for next year’s creative classes and buying next year’s music books. I’m in need of some routine. Natalie’s birthday this weekend. Good thing we just do family birthdays."

Morning Sickness Easing Up?

I've felt nicely free of "morning sickness" for about four days now. I'm hoping it sticks! We had a wonderful day this last Saturday playing out in the sun. And also a good day on Sunday, fellowshipping (and now I actually wanted to talk) at church. Since Sunday it's been an absolute deluge...hardly a moment without rain. I have my official ultrasound later this week and my friend agreed to watch the girls, so my husband gets to go with me. We are excited. I've been doing a little more school lately too, but not quite back to my normal schedule. I also worked my way about halfway through cleaning my desk.

Here is a picture of me about a week ago.

To Learn With Love

I'm re-reading "To Learn with Love - A Companion For Suzuki Parents". It's an excellent read for the parent, educator, and home educator alike even if your children are not involved in anything musical. Suzuki had so many insights into the aptitude of children and how to motivate them.

Here are two quotes from the first chapter, that I just love:

First Quote:

"Such statements as "At age three children are unable to...", or "A four-year old cannot comprehend...", caused him [Suzuki] to reject others' opinions and led him to study children directly himself."

"Suzuki observed the learning habits of children. These observations and his reflections on them gave birth to his idea to apply the mother-tongue method to the teaching of music to small children. As his success tells us, he found that children have enormous potential for learning and that poor teaching; poor environment and inadequate adult expectations have been the principal causes of limiting that potential."

Second Quote:

"Growth rates are by no means constant. 'Once a slow learner, always a slow learner' is simply not true. We should not put a tag on the slow beginner. Remember the story Suzuki told in "Nurtured by Love" about the parakeet named Peeko Miyazawa? Peeko had to hear 3000 repetitions of the word 'Peeko' before he was able to say it, but only 200 repetitions of his family name, 'Miyazawa'. 'Ability breeds ability,' Suzuki says."

..."What actually did happen was that Peeko, after learning to say his name, began to imitate everything he heard, even after only one hearing! I'm sure people marveled at Mr. Miyazawa's parakeet. Did he tell them that Peeko was an especially slow learner? Did anyone ever ask Winston Churchill when he learned to talk?...Or ask Jesse Owens when he learned to walk?"

 

Progress My Girls Are Making

This whole pregnancy thing almost has me convinced to do unschooling. I said, "almost."

It really is amazing when you put quality books in front of them and not a lot of digital entertainment, how they seek out learning on their own. I was so worried about my five year old. She's six now. She wasn't reading Bob books. Teaching her the sounds of the letters was one frustration after another.

We've kept plugging away at the phonics cards and doing a little reading here and there. And, mainly, I read to her and her sister. She listened to a lot of third/fourth grade level reading in our narration time. And, I must say that I've done a lot less narration, hardly any really...since being pregnant. Natalie, my eight year old, has been doing reading and written narration, but since being pregnant, I've hardly done any oral narration. I don't know if the timing just worked out, or if it was just the time for my six year old to be developmentally ready, but all the sudden the last few months (as I've been doing less reading), she's had a desire to read. By in large, she doesn't want to read "readers" she wants to read REAL (Living) books...Around The World In Eighty Days (kids edition), Little House On The Prairie. She works through it really slow, but she does decipher the words and read. And, she tells people she meets, "Do you know what? I read chapter books."

Here is a story she wrote recently. I thought it was creative, so I wanted to share it with you. A lot of her letters were backwards and I'll share her creative spelling, but her writing just tickles me.

A Bear and the Pig

A bear heard a pig oinking and the bear startied to followed the oinking. The pig startied to oinking eivn louder. It looked around but the bear ws beihhiend a tree. Win the pig ws not looking, the bear jumt out of his hieddying spot and jumps on the pig. The bear startied (to) fiend his Mom and Dad, but win he caim bak with his Mom and Dad the ham was was not thear. The fammully was sad.

The end

An Interpretation

So, basically the baby bear killed the pig, but couldn't carry him off and went to get his Mom and Dad, but when the bear family arrived to where the pig was, the pig was gone.

Life & Creation

Life

I'm having a difficult day today. It is the second day I had trouble sleeping, mainly I think because my tummy was bothering me in the middle of the night. I have major issues with sleep and it really effects me harder than most to not get enough. I'm normally not able to nap. So today I feel achey, kind of sick, a little dizzy, and very tired. I'm at 12 1/2 weeks of pregnancy. I should be getting over feeling sick. I was starting to.

Young Earth Book

Here is an interesting read. Considering the topic it's a pretty easy read and it's free.

Old Earth - Why Not?

I'd encourage you to read it out loud to your children. They will be inundated enough with evolution and fossil and geologic interpretations that tell them the Earth's fetures formed slowly over hundreds of millions of years. The thing I notice the more I listen to possible explanations is that the "experts" state things not as theories, but as facts. Then their theories contradict each other right and left.

Read this with your children and let them have a little amunition to realize their world viewpoint is not for the uneducated or uninformed.

Today

I started this blog to record the adventures of our homeschooling family and my reasons for homeschooling. It seems lately I have not been writing much about homeschooling. Yet, I am everyday impressed with homeschooling. I am impressed that even when I am doing the bare minimum, just by exposing my kids to a love of learning and by limiting their electronic access, they just keep on learning, even seemingly without me. Rachey has been writing notes and deciphering "chapter books". Natalie asks me to read and narrate - she misses it. And, they do ballet and art and violin. It's not something I have to pressure them to do. Don't get me wrong...there have been times. When violin was new and hard and Natalie was younger, she had to be pushed to do it some days. Rachey wants to play an instrument. I told her maybe next year (after the baby comes).

And they do math...but that isn't a voluntary activity...although for me that is largely a "child independent" activity, as I mainly follow the Robinson approach to Math...let them struggle with it and teach themselves...following mainly Saxon. I put Natalie (3rd) in Saxon 5/4 this year and she actually did better. Saxon 5/4 is the original Saxon - and unlike the younger grades and is much more to the point.

I got out my maternity clothes today. I had one of those crisis moments where even some of my sweats were uncomfortable and the looser of my pants were in the wash. I think most of my maternity clothes look pretty good on me, but no doubt about it, as I start wearing them, everyone will know I'm pregnant.

My husband is outside right now with the kids. I'm sitting here thinking about going to the shoe store - which is like terribly hard if I try to do that with my kids. I have particular feet and I really need a non-tennis or garden shoe that takes an insert. I don't really feel sick per se right now, but I feel achey and tired, so I'm not sure I want to go, but I"m sure I would be glad I did. Some shoes to got with my "new clothes" would be nice.

Good Teaching Resource

I came across this website this evening:

http://www.teachersdomain.org

This is great resource for short video clips and other media on a wide variety of academic subjects. Unlike UTube, you can mostly trust the content (outside of a few biased conclusions about global warming and evolution).

We looked up a video about the Gulf Stream and one about Shipwrecks and what they tell us about Ocean Currents. This related to a book Natalie was reading about Benjamin Franklin.

I love homeschooling.

 

Do You Do It All?

Do you ever find that your homeschooling doesn't happen in a vacuum. We should and do try to institute 12 steps to a cleaner house. We have the kids help out with chores. We try to limit how much the kids are allowed to get out at once. Yet, if we allow them to be creative at all, if we allow them to enjoy learning from time to time, then order turns to chaos. Well, at least for me. I know of a few perfect people, but I'm not one of them. I'll keep trying though. I'll keep trying to be a loving mom, homeschool with a passion, keep a clean house, eat well and feed my family well, love God, and take time for me. But, I for one, although I believe we should keep pressing forward, don't do it all. Do you?