Grammar Naturally!

I have always held to the idea, "the more you read, the better you read, write, and spell."  Having always maintained a love of reading, I surround my family with books, audio stories, and reading experiences. 

For Easter, Bubba received a Mad Libs book.  Hilarious stories flowed for hours.  What also happen was a basic understanding of grammar terms, naturally and easily.  Worksheets don't create the brain connections that enjoyable, interest led activities do!

Standarized Testing

Anxiety that grips you by the throat when in a circle of other homeschooling moms where the conversation turns to testing.  This may or may not have actually happened to me recently!

Moms say:

"I like to know where my kids are in subjects."

"Scores help me know what to teach next year."

"I feel such a weight to keep up.  This shows me if we are on track."

"My job is to ultimately prepare them for college."

"I need to know they are ready for higher education."

When faced with these legitimate goals and desires for their children, how do you respond if you feel like:

-I spend everyday with my kids and know their interest and knowledge in areas.

-Our children have ultimate input on what they want to explore further next year.

-I was led to homeschool so our children became individuals with personal passions and time for developing their talents.

-My job is to help our children become life-long learners.

Take a deep breath and call up a friend who has views like you.  Listen to a podcast or read a book that supports your view of education.

I suggest:

Weapons of Mass Instruction

Dumbing Down Curriculum

Traveler's Notebook with 3 Booklets

I heard the idea for a traveler's notebook on a podcast while walking our dog and was intrigued.  I priced them on Etsy and quickly discovered that they were out of my price range since of course I would want one for Sis, Bubba, and myself!  Luckily, I found a wonderful tutorial on Youtube!
DIY Traveler's Notebook by Sea Lemon
I also used her link to create booklets for the inside.  Like with any project I am fired-up to start I headed to Hobby Lobby to gather supplies with Sis as my assistant.  After much discussion, we selected covers, scrapbook paper and elastic cord that all coordinated.

Each screams personality!  Sis chose flowers with purple booklets inside.  For Bubba, we went with a camo theme of tan cover, RealTree camo inside and green booklets.  I love the cheery-ness mine provides with accents of bright yellows through out the cover, inside, and booklets.  Each turned out so well, I plan to pick up supplies to create one for my niece.

If you are looking for an easy, fun project to spice-up note taking, journal, or record keeping, give this a try.  As a bonus, I created 3 complete traveler's notebooks with 3 booklets inside each for the cost of one traveler's notebook (no booklets).

Author Obsession

Recently each person in our home became obsessed with reading their new favorite author.  Truly a blessing when you find a writer that you enjoy their style, topic, and personality. So who are these authors?

 When C. J. Box came recommended to me as well as my husband from several different friends, we knew these were novels that needed a try.  Once we each finished the first one I found, immediately we set out to read the entire Joe Pickett series.  While this story of a game warden in Wyoming may not be every one's cup of tea, it is very fitting for our hunting family.  

Bubba desiring pure boy entertainment worked his way through the first 2 tree-house books by Andy Griffiths.  To say he is anxiously awaiting the next 2 from amazon is an understatement.  He is intrigued by the humor and simply drawings.  Being a reluctant reader, I am glad he found a series he enjoys reading independently.

Who doesn't love Beverly Clearly?  I am thrilled at Sis's excitement over the Ramona series.  She is just beginning, but this determined reader enjoys life-like characters and an engaging story.  

Access

Finishing up reading Learning All the Time, I was struck by the quote:

"What adults can do for children is make more and more of that world and the people in it accessible and transparent to them."

The key word is access.  This means access to real-life---library, grocery store, nature trails, rivers, museums, gardens.  Living in these places--checking out books, shopping, hiking, fishing, exploring, planting---is true learning.  This is where adults live, grow, and flourish.

"On the whole, kids are more interested in things that adults really use than in the little we buy especially for them."

YES!  So many outside voices were shouting at me on how to teach my son to read years ago.  Voices in the homeschooling community, parents of his friends, my own education in achieving my master's degree in reading shouted to begin with phonics, sight words, and easy readers.  Each time I tried these routes he dug his heels in and our relationship suffered.  Knowing in my heart this wasn't working for him, me, or our family, I backed off.  While I continued to read aloud, enjoy jokes and poems, and share information on current events in his areas of interest, I let him on his own discover reading.  Guess what he did!  His reading addiction began with a difficult book on Special Forces and has continued following his interest reading entertaining and challenging material.  

I am so thankful I backed off and didn't diminish all interest in reading.  Now, I talk to parents of his friends who describe their sons as "hating reading" and refusing to read anything unless absolutely assigned.  

One size doesn't fit all.  Not every education philosophy works for every student.  Trust your child and follow their lead.  

Seasons

Reading nonfiction is a joy I discovered after becoming a parent.  I can glean insight from just about any text, even if it is disbelief in given information.  Weekly trips to the library placed this book, The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Daylight by Heidi St. John, in my path.  After reading through it mostly, I reaped this wisdom:

Like seasons in creation, life has seasons.  For example, there are seasons of want and seasons of plenty; seasons of rest and seasons of productivity; some seasons are joyful and others painful. Whatever the season I find myself in, it's comforting to know that God is there, too.

The word "season" is thrown around in circles of women today.  This is just the season you are in.  So its significance is often lost.  We live in ever changing seasons in our homeschool as well.

The season of littles and lots of play.
The season of read aloud abounding.
The season of experiments---messy and thought provoking.
The season of independent study.
The season of long discussions.
The season of friends and park days.
The season of trying something new.
The season of absorbing in a current passion.

What season are you in?

Natural Math Today

This morning, bubba woke up early with lots of questions and ideas on his height and weight as well as growth in those areas.  Step back to the day before.  

Baseball tryouts took place on a rainy, windy Saturday.  Boys were expected to assess with their age group in areas of batting, fielding, and throwing.  Bubba prepared for about a month before hand and did very well.  Looking at him with his age-group always amazes me.  Since I spend the day with him and his sister daily without comparing them to other children, I am astonished by his height and strength in relationship to those of boys in this group. Apparently, he noticed being taller and weighing more than other "10 year-olds."  

Upon waking, he found me to ask, " when will I be 5 feet tall?'  My response was to find a growth chart.  Having never examined one these he was blown away by the information.  I explained that when talking to other parents I often described him as "being off the charts" in height and weight.  Right now he falls at the 95 percentile.  Figuring this out allowed him ti find his location along the curve and what height to expect at what age thus answering his own question.  Figuring this problem out naturally took some conversion from feet to inches and inches to feet to discover his exact answer.  

Naturally curiosity about himself, his growth, and comparison to his group brought him to interesting math that was applicable to his life at this moment.

To Plan or Not to Plan?

 If you have been part of the homeschooling community long enough you know this is a loaded question in which everyone has their opinion.

Truth be told, I LOVE to plan.  Jotting down ideas, creating the connection with reading and activities, and providing a clean record of what is accomplished is thrilling to my "type A" personality. The feelings of guilt and sense of overwhelming unfulfilled plans is the down side.

My solution is "bullet journal" our day.  This picture is an example of a bullet journal although mine is much more free flowing.  Keeping a list of task I desire accomplished or at least a began in our day helps with the planner mindset.  Empty boxes for each child as well as a box labeled together for activities completed together allows me to keep record and just see all the learning taking place daily.  I also added a notes section to provide space for questions, ideas, and future plans that come up during our time together.

So thoughts, do you plan?

Never Stops

Some things never stop.  Laundry is one of them.  Others include dishes, messy counters, dog hair collecting in the corners, Nerf bullets under furniture, Lego creations in stages of build, smudged glass, dirty cars.  The list could go on and on.  Some days I am just too exhausted to face it all.  Choosing to ignore these never stopping things today and just move on.
  
Tell me I am not the only one?!

Sisters Grimm

Addictive!  The one word I would choose to describe these books. What a wonderful, enthralling audio book series that was randomly chosen at our library.  After listening to the 2nd book in the series, The Unusual Suspects, I immediately put book 1 and the rest of the series on hold in our library system.  All three of us are so engaged in the story, hanging on each word.  Bubba describes the audio book as a "movie of words."  Not only has this given mom a break from reading aloud for hours, but it opened up a rabbit trail to fairy tales.  

The connections, excitement, and laughs we enjoy reading the fairy tales is remarkable.  This organic learning and extension is proving to be very rewarding!

Refreshing

The sun is shining, the air is warmer, and we are ready to get outside.  Once out and away from distractions and confining space, discussion open up.  Recently on our walk, we talked about book genres and why we were enjoying the current fantasy series in our read aloud time.  That flowed directly into a discussion on future employment and business ventures for each child.  Before I knew it we were heading home to create a mowing business the kids decided to create.  Plans included Bubba mowing and Sis keeping books as well as handling customer service.  This works out well since she is the people person of the two.  Walking side-by-side in nature and fresh air seems to open them up to cooperating, exploring new ideas, and exciting energy. 

I admit I feel the same.  Most mornings, I walk or jog with our dog, Scout.  The refreshing time outside energizes me, allows me to pray, and prepares me for the day ahead.

How about you?  Does fresh air refresh you?

Hidden Blessing

Guess what!  I was blessed with an energetic, persistent, determined, inflexible, strong willed child.  There aren't many of us today that receive such a blessing.  Trust me.  I rarely see these traits in children at the park, with my friend's kids, and in restaurants.  Many days were spent trying to overcome his intense personality, but fortunately God opened my eyes to the joy he brings to our family.

It is often said his energy, persistence, determination, firmness, and strong desire will serve him later in life.  Probably true.  The thing is these attributes assist him now.

After living in Idaho for 5 years, we finally went snow skiing.  I should say my husband, my daughter, and I went skiing.  Bubba insisted on snowboarding.  Even after talking to friends who ski and snowboard, hearing the difficulty the first few days offer, and attempting without friends in his class, he insisted on snowboarding.  Other parents suggested making him ski first or giving some sort of bribe or deal to snowboard later.  Knowing that was a disaster waiting to happen, I signed him up for snowboarding and stood back.  His determination, strong will, energy, and persistence paid off.  He totally rocked the snowboarding!  Enjoyed the day!  Can't wait to go back!

If you are lucky enough to have one of these children, my suggestion is to love them where they are and lean into their understanding of self.

4 Reasons We Cook Everyday

Being a homeschooling mom is busy enough, I don't need to add unnecessary task to my "to do list," but I am passionate that we cook daily.

1.  Cooking is Real World
John Holt is right, my kids don't need any more artificial, prepackaged curriculum.  Cooking is something that must be done everyday by someone so you can eat.  Cooking involves science, math, reading, and critical thinking.  You don't have to create a reason to do it because wait long enough and everyone will naturally get hungry.

2.  Time Together.
Cooking is a side-by-side activity that allows conversation, thoughts, ideas, and insight to flow naturally.  Enjoying the fruits of your labor allows more time together to share stories, poems, and discussion.  

3.  Skill
Learning to cook gives each person a skill to be used today as well as later in life. Understanding food preparation, cooking techniques, and nutrition serves themselves and others.

4.  Passing on Tradition
Since we are from the South where everything centers on food and drinks, passing on recipes is crucial for traditions.  There is nothing like homemade bar-be-que sandwiches, potato salad, and pecan pie. 

So take some time, get together in the kitchen and cook!  

Trust

TRUST was the word put on my heart over and over for this year.

Trust in God.

Trust in myself.

Trust in each other.

Trust in my children.

Trust is defined as firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

This focus continues to challenge me daily.  As I trust myself on following my interest and passions, I trust my children to follow their passions and interests to grow and improve their God-given talents.

How do you look at trust?