Back to School (for lack of a witty title)

Hello, all!

We started our new school year yesterday with a bang. Or actually, with the absence of a bang, which I prefer; often the first day of school is met with a lot of sadness/apprehension/skepticism around here. Remember our "first day" photo from last year? Cole told me the other day, "Mom, when I think about starting school, it feels like my worst nightmare. And like my best day EVER." I guess that about sums it up.

But really, can you blame them? School for boys typically means having to give up the stuff they like (playing outside) for the stuff they don't (working sums and practicing handwriting), and so I understand the apprehension...conversely, I understand that on some level they are desperately bored and hopeful that this school year will bring some wonderfully messy projects and possibly another Greek War Ship made entirely of ice cream, whipped cream and frosting (a favorite from last year!).

Oh, and I am hopeful too. I still only have one child that is legally obligated to be schooling, and a gaggle of other wee ones that want to be included, but not forced to work. Ah, the complexity of homeschool! We are also coming off of nearly 6 weeks of 'making do' while Justin has been working out of town, and we are preparing to move for the first time in nearly 7 years.....no small task for people as 'packratty' as my beloved and me. It's a bit of a whirlwind. Big shout-out to my Big Sis who brought her two ones up to add in the chaos for an overnight...and then returned for another visit a short two weeks later to help with our yard sale. B: We are ever so thankful for your help and for all the fun!

Guess that's all for now, as I've just noticed the two-year-old is sitting in front of the oven LICKING IT. Apparently a bit of parenting is required.

Storytime

I think one of my favorite things about school this year has been the narrations: the boys create, and I write down their creations. Wonderful. Even a child that cannot write can tell a fabulous story! Here are a few for your reading enjoyment.

REESE'S PET, by Reese

Once upon a time there lived Reese. He walked along and found a little pond. He saw a tadpole and he picked it up with a bucket. It was full of water and he put in the tadpole. The end.

REESE'S SEA STORY, by Reese

Once upon a time there was a turtle. He was swimming along. He scared hisself by getting caught by a net. A octopus saw the turtle! The octopus swam to the turtle. A froggy jumped down in the water. The froggy got to the turtle first. The froggy freed the turtle. And then it was the regular sea again. The end.

THE KNIGHT'S FIRST BATTLE, by Reese

First some knights wanted to do a battle. They saw lots of other people doing battle and they really wanted to do one. The knights looked around for some bad guys. And the queen said, "Go find some bad guys." The knights looked around in the bushes. And then they found bad guys. And then they raised their shields and helmets and spears and swords and stuff like that. And they were finally fighting about a green jewel and a red jewel.

RED POEM, by Cole
Red is a strawberry
Red is a raspberry
Red is a jewel
Red is an apple
Red smells like a flower
Red feels like softness
Red looks like a red rose
Red is for the most wondrous thing you can find in the earth.

GOLD POEM, by Reese

Gold is a goldfish
Gold is a jewel
Gold is gold
Gold is a banana
Gold smells like bananas
Gold feels like a banana
Gold looks like a yellow cup
Gold bee.

THE QUEEN'S FIGHT, by Cole

One day there was a castle. And there was a good king that was two hundred years old. And he had two million knights guarding the castle. And one day a dragon came. It was a big, red, evil one. And he took the queen. And he took her two hundred miles away to the great evil castle. Which the evil king lived in the tallest building. And then below the big building, there was four small buildings on each corner of the big castle. And the dragon flew up to one of the small buildings which ten knights came to take the queen to the big building. And the stairs went around, and around, and around....there was four hundred steps. And they finally got the queen to the evil king's throne. Which the evil king said to her, "You are going in the dungeon for forty years. And when it's been forty years, if you are still alive, then we'll let you back to the castle. But if you are dead, then we will throw you in a pile of skeletons."

So they locked her up in jail with two hundred different locks. She stayed there for forty years. After forty years, the king had no queen at all, and then a woman came to the gate. It was the beautifulest girl the king had ever seen. And she said, "Your wife in jail is going to stay in there forever and I am the new queen." So the king married her and they had a lovely wedding. And there was a big feast at the end.

And then, ten minutes later, the real queen came home. And she said, "Let this queen go away!"

And suddenly the new queen turned into a bad guy witch. And the king was shocked to see how ugly this princess looked like! And the king called the guard as loud as he could. And they took her away. And the old queen said "I am the real queen." And then they lived happily ever after.
The end!

Fall Window Hangings

I have to show you what we did this week. I've been so excited to make these window hangings with the boys since finding them here a few weeks ago; we finally bought a new roll of clear contact paper Monday morning and got to work. The boys had such fun, and they turned out so beautiful, and I am so in love with them-- I just sit and stare at the window all day long. You know how I feel about kids and art and how I wish I was creative enough to give my sons opportunities to just fill my house with color...

They're so lovely, truly. The photos don't do justice. I LOVE that Cole's is made of all the different bright fall colors, I LOVE that Reese's has that beautiful branch right in the middle, I LOVE that Reuben chose to do his ENTIRELY in green. They make me so happy.

Week 3

M week!

We ate muffins,

played Barrel of Monkeys in math,

stared at a jelly jar full of m&ms all week before finally charting our guesses (1-100) on Thursday, counting them and eating them, yum!

and.... we made mud!

(we were supposed to learn to mop, too, but somehow that didn't get done....)

First Week of School, part three: Eat Local Week

UPDATED WITH PICTURES!

I know: I'm a little late posting this....this was actually our Week Two project...

The second week of September is Eat Local Week in Bellingham, when everyone rallies together to celebrate our diverse local food and agriculture. Restaurants, local businesses, community members and even the schools get involved. Last year our little family felt that we were doing our part by purchasing a share in a CSA; this year, we decided to take it a step further and make Eat Local week into a social studies project, to occupy us while we waited for our Story of the World books to arrive.

The mission: To create four (school-day) dinners using only ingredients found within a 100-mile radius. We thought originally that we'd like to "eat local" for every meal for four days, but I panicked thinking of all the staples I couldn't use (my boys eat a LOT). Like rice. And flour. Then Justin had the great idea to cook local dinners, and map our breakfasts/lunches/snacks to see how far THAT food had to travel to reach our plates....and contrast it to our dinners. I liked this idea much better.

So.....last Saturday, Justin took the bus to the market and stuffed his huge backpack FULL of fresh produce to the tune of about $30. Not a bad start. We loaded it all into a big wicker basket in the kitchen and waited for Monday to come.

I decided it would be appropriate to kick-start our week with a meal made out of our chicken eggs, being as they were absolutely the most local food we had available. It wasn't until about the middle of the day that I realized I had no way to cook the eggs (I was going to make omelettes) without butter. Hmm. This was going to be more complicated than I thought.

A call to Justin, and he came home at dinnertime with a pint of rich, heavy cream from Twin Brooks Creamery (Lynden).

(makes you lick your lips just thinking about it)

A few minutes in the mixer on high and we had wonderfully creamy, homemade butter:

Dinner: MUCH later than usual. Worth the wait? Absolutely. On the menu: Omelettes with eggs from the backyard, a smidgen of gouda cheese made in Ferndale, green and purple bell peppers and walla walla onions from the county, and fried yukon gold and red potatoes on the side (also from the county). I gave myself salt and pepper to use as freebies. Everything else was local.

*****
On Tuesday, I chose a stewing hen Justin bought from an Acme farm. I've never cooked a stewing hen before--the meat is much tougher, stringier, and less edible than broilers--but I wanted to see what I could make of it. I cut off the breast meat and set it aside, then hacked the rest of the bird (bones and all) into 2" pieces. This went into a soup pot with some of the homemade butter to fry.

When the meat was brown, I pulled it out and added a couple of chopped walla walla onions to the pot, and stirred them around a bit until they carmelized. Then I added the chicken back in with about 2 1/2 quarts of water, and simmered it for three hours or so, and it became a wonderfully rich, brown stock. When the stock was done, I strained out the chicken and onions, and started again with my empty pot. In went more butter, and the white of an enormous leek sliced into rings, and a few minced cloves of garlic. These all sauteed together for a few minutes before I added the strained stock back in and brought it up to a boil. Time to add the chopped breast meat and simmer for another couple of hours.

About a half hour before dinnertime, I threw in an entire bunch of chopped, fresh beets, a bowl of chopped potatoes, and some orange, yellow and purple carrots. I was on the phone with Janet when I tossed the beets in and I yelped, as their brilliant color immediately perforated every ounce of the soup. I fumbled around trying to explain to her that no, nothing was wrong, it was just that "the beets turned my soup red". Well, duh!

When I went to serve up the deep soup bowls, finally (seven hours after starting the stock!), I realized I had a few butterflies about the finished product. Soup is one of the foods I make most often, but I always serve it with a salad or hearty bread, in the event that my children don't eat much of their main course. Tonight there was only soup (we had greens but I didn't know what to use as a dressing, so I didn't bother putting them on the table). It was all or nothing here. We were rewarded when we took our first bites and all began moaning and grabbing our bellies, murmuring how good it was. Life-giving food, this. Unparalleled goodness. Even the little ones went back for seconds.

*****

After that, Wednesday's dinner was much simpler. I planned simply to bake some more of the trout still in our freezer from our kind neighbor (FYI: there WAS some debate in our household over this meal, as the fish, though locally caught, was most likely farmed.....Jury's still out on the exact details and whether the meal truly passes inspection.) Our vegetable cache was dwindling, so I piled us all into the car and we went to Fairhaven to check out the Wednesday market. Though much smaller than its Saturday comrade, the market did not disappoint, and gave ample opportunity to fill our mesh bag with just-picked corn ("so sweet it makes my cheeks hurt thinking about it," said the stall's owner), tart apples, and crisp cucumbers (plus the obligatory cookies from Mt. Bakery). I realized as we drove away that I should have bought more than I did (see Thursday). Dinner that night was trout (cooked without spices or flavorings), hot corn, tomato and cucumber slices, and a full skillet of Pommes Anna, which used up the rest of my butter, sadly, but whose crisp chips were well worth the sacrifice.

*****

Thursday: the last night of our Eat Local experiment. We were running painfully low on local food. I considered calling it good, throwing in the towel, and ordering a pizza. The last minute lunch-break shopping trip I planned was cancelled when Justin got called into a meeting and couldn't sit with the kids. We tossed around the idea of taking the family downtown for Ferndale-based Hempler's sausages...but then, I could buy those myself at Haggen for less money. We settled on this plan. Justin would be home at the usual time, I'd run down and get some sausages, we'd eat a little on the late side. No problem.

Well--you know. I was walking across the parking lot at Haggen when I realized I left my grocery money on the counter at home. And my wallet. I remembered that the drive-up at the nearby credit union was open late, so I got back in my car, drove the two blocks down the street, withdrew some money, and drove back. How silly. I walked straight back to the meat department, fully expecting to see advertisements for local poultry and Skagit county beef, but there was none of that. I found the extensive Hempler's section, but couldn't locate any info about where the meat was grown. Does a local processing company count as eating locally grown food? I didn't think so. Was I splitting hairs? Was I making this far too complicated? Would we eat before dark? Did any of this--the whole experiment--even matter?

I finally asked the girl behind the fish counter (couldn't locate the meat man, and I was running short on time) to direct me towards anything from Whatcom or Skagit county. She told me that sometimes they had Lummi Island salmon...but didn't that day. I told her that didn't help. She blinked at me a few times and told me that some of the packaged chicken was Washington grown. I told her that didn't help either. I said it nicely though (sort of), and thanked her before I left the store--empty handed.

By the time I reached the next store, now nearly on the opposite side of town, I was feeling deflated and sheepish. And frustrated. And hungry. I knew, however, that this little locally-owned natural food store would have what I needed. I left there with one single $40 bag of groceries. Skagit River Ranch beef sausages, a 5 lb bag of local carrots, more corn, two heads of broccoli, a jar of Maranatha peanut butter from the sale shelf, and a big glass jar of Twin Brooks whole milk with which to make pancakes in the morning.

We eventually ate dinner on Thursday night. The sausages were good but I was grumpy and missed my mustard. The corn was so good that it (almost) made up for it!

*****

So, there you have it. A post that took four days to live out and nearly two weeks to type....I used to have pictures on here but they caused the whole post to crash multiple times. I'll try to add them in tomorrow!

What Mama Is Learning

1) First-Day-Of-School-Hot-Cocoa is a contradiction in terms.

2) My homeschool needs a recess teacher.

3) Homeschools have bullies too, sometimes.

4) The first week of school brings anxiety, excitement, tears, and the need for extra sleep...whether the boys leave the house for school or not.

5) Sometimes the most frightening moment of parenting comes when you discover your toothbrush is in a different place than where you left it. (I know, it's not school related, but it's true, yes?)

First Week Of School, part two: Lesson Plans

We survived our first week of school! (one down, 35 to go) Had a bit of a slow start since our school weeks are usually only four days and Monday was a holiday. But I am thankful to be easing into it, since it's really the first sort of formal schooling for both Reese and Reuben, and since Cole is coming off of a summer of literally living out of doors. We've all needed an extra dose of grace this week.



Here's what we're studying! (I love hearing about what materials people are using--what's working, what isn't working, what brilliant ideas you have that I can steal! So feel free to post your lesson plans too and maybe I will come take something of yours *grin*)


Reading: Tons and tons of reading aloud. We're intermixing "kids' choice" library books with Sonlight Core 1 Read-Alouds, Daddy's choice "Wizard of Oz", folktales from a variety of countries and cultures, Bible stories, and other "ancients" literature. Cole and I just started "Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad" in our afternoon reading. It's very difficult material for him--I'm literally stopping every half-sentence to explain vocabulary, backstory and plot lines--but we're both loving it! Our mandatory "no TV or computers for the entire school week" rule is lending itself to much more reading around our house. Cole is working through his "I Can Read It" Sonlight Core 1 readers (see Language Arts), Reuben is learning letter recognition and sounds, and Reese is doing basic phonics and early reading exercises. We do all three of these simulateously in the mornings, so that the younger kids get the benefit of whatever info they might glean from Cole's lessons, and so that Cole gets the benefit of review through what his younger brothers are learning.



Writing: We've used Reason For Handwriting for the last couple of years and I'm loving it thus far. We chose it simply because the "style" of letters was the most similar to the lettering that both Justin and I learned as children. Beginning with the Grade 1 books, the writing exercises are all scripture verses, too, which I love.



Math: Horizons math books aren't very "hands-on", but Cole and Reese have done well with them, so we'll continue in this vein unless we hit a snag. I like that the workbooks introduce a concept, stay with it for a bit, move on to something else, and then circle back, over and over again. This method seems to be greatly effective in reinforcing abstract concepts in my boys' minds. Additionally, I'm trying to add a lot of my own manipulatives and real-life applications these days. We'll play a lot of games, cook, make our own colorful charts, count, sort, add, divide the buttons in Mama's button box, etc.



Spelling & Other Language Arts: For now, we're working with the Sonlight K and Core 1 LA materials we already had on hand. The programs are pretty all-inclusive, so spelling, dictation, grammar, vocabulary, narration and readers are all pre-planned and pre-organized. I did order a copy of First Language Lessons and we might supplement with that...or use at a later time.



History: This year we'll use Story of the World for the first time! I'm uber excited about it; history was always the one subject in school I just couldn't wrap my head around. I loved the stories and was able to memorize dates just fine--but I never could seem to comprehend which historical events were happening simultaneously. Learning American History separate from European History and so on created the illusion in my head that there were way more historical periods than actually existed. So for my own kids, I purchased several of the Usborne history materials, but I felt like I was falling into the same rut. I'm so excited to begin Story of the World and am hoping it will fulfill my expectations of presenting history in a linear way that will make it wonderful and appealing to all of us! Our books have been delayed in the mail, though, so next week, we will be working on an alternative social studies project....more on that to come (in part three of this post)!

Science: This week we will beginning Sonlight Core 1 Science...the last of our materials just arrived a few days ago and I haven't had a chance to peek at them much...so will have to update you later!

Bible: Our Bible reading falls into the "ancients" read-aloud category. For memorization, though, I have chosen Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

which I'm sure will take us at least eight weeks, if not sixteen. But I'm feeling deep emotion about this passage, as I've recognized that every other word out of my mouth the last year or so seems to be "it's not time for that, it's time to (fill in the blank)." I don't want to be a mother that is continually telling my boys that they can't wrestle, or be loud, or dig up the flowerplants...I want to be a mother that teaches her sons to recognize when those things are appropriate, and conversely, when it is appropriate to be silent, to embrace, to plant, to build. So I'm thrilled that God (and Solomon), in their wisdom, included this passage in the Holy Book and thankful for the opportunity to teach it to my children and watch its seeds begin to come alive in them.

Art: Ooh, this is a hard one for me. I am pretty much of the mindset that children should do art all day long! ....but I am hopeless when it comes to artistic creativity. Thankfully I married a man who is artistic to the core. I'm not planning a separate "art" segment yet, because I'm anticipating that the SOTW workbook will be full of crafts and art projects. If it turns out that isn't true, then Justin will take the reigns, and Fridays will become "Art with Daddy" days. And they just might anyway.

Montessori: On top of everything else....we'll focus each week on a different Life Skill to be taught in detail and practiced intentionally. Wonderful, majestic things like Saying Thank You (without prompting), Washing Dishes, Sewing, correctly Setting A Table, Sweeping, and (Daddy's favorite!) Being Silent. Hooray! I love how this instruction will further enforce the Ecclesiastes passage we'll be studying.

Whew! Is that it? What a whirlwind this homeschool thing is. As with every other area of parenting, it's dawning on me that homeschool, too, is more about my education than my childrens'. Thank you, Lord, for using these boys to refine me!

*******

"But women will be restored through childbearing--if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety" I Timothy 2:15

First Week Of School, part one: Meal Plan

Hooray for the arrival of the first week of school! Like everyone else, we've been bustling around the last few weeks trying to get everything in order...

Today we're cleaning the house and trying to prep as many foods as possible. This is the first year I will have all 3 boys at the table, and I'd love to have every day free to be with them instead of feeling stressed about getting dinner made and on the table.

Since it's the end of the month, the grocery envelope is close to empty and we're using up the last of the foods in our freezer--ground beef for the pastie and meatloaf, one lone flank steak, and some trout that our neighbor caught and gifted us with. Seasonal veggies, rice and legumes round out the remaining meals!

Here's our plan for the week:
Sunday: Indian spiced rice (with chicken)
Monday: Fresh pasta and pesto
Tuesday: Pastie
Wednesday: Split pea soup
Thursday: Marinated flank steak and grilled vegetables
Friday: Fish pie
Saturday: Basil/sundried tomato meatloaf and roasted fingerlings

...and how about one of my favorite recipes?

Indian Spiced Rice

This recipe is from a lovely book that my mother bought for me when I was in college: Vegetarian Planet, by Didi Emmons. It has become my favorite meal to make the day after roast chicken. Because of the lentils, it's a complete protein on its own, but Justin's one of those bodies that requires animal protein on a daily basis, so I just chop up whatever chicken remains from the previous night and stir it into the finished rice, and the two pair beautifully. Yum! (and so economical, too! These ingredients cost pennies!)

1 tablespoon oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon minced, fresh ginger

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/4 cups uncooked jasmine rice

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dried lentils

3 cups water

1 large potato (russet or sweet) or 2 small (reds or yukons)

1 small bell pepper, seeded and minced

1/2 cup peas

3 tablespoons raisins

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until softened. Add the ginger, garlic, coriander, cardamom, nutmeg and cumin. Cook for 3 minutes more, stirring frequently.

Add the rice and saute 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the salt and lentils, then stir in 3 cups water. Add the potato and cover the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn the heat to the lowest setting. After 10 minutes, lift the lid and add the bell pepper, peas and raisins. Stir well, then cover the rice again. Cook 10 minutes more, or until the rice, potatoes and lentils are tender.

School At Our House

This post is a long time coming. I have a handful of friends whose babies are just beginning to reach schooling age, and they have been pestering me for some time now for information and advice about homeschooling. I have been putting them off for so long that I am beginning to lose sleep at night, worrying that they will hunt me down. You know who you are. This post is for you.

For the rest of you, well, you know who you are, too. You think we are back-country, right-wing conservatives who are doing our children a great injustice by keeping them out of the public school system (grin). There are no hard feelings if you'd like to stop reading here, and check back later in the week for a less controversial topic. Instead, I will leave you with a video that will bring a smile to your face

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM6uqj0_jQc (btw, that's MY six-year-old!)

and a Quote Of The Day:

"These veggies taste good, but they look like you scraped them up off the ground at Dagobah." --Cole, age 6 (a child critic's review of Pasta, Beans 'n' Greens)

******************************************************
Okay, for the handful of you that remain: Let's get down to business.

WHY WE HOMESCHOOL
I don't know if I would have ever considered homeschooling were it not for my husband. He wanted to begin talking about the possibility of schooling our kids at home when I was only a few months pregnant with Cole. I was more interested in talking about how to stop the Cycle of Barfing and a way to develop a covert system of continuing to get paid at my job while spending the whole day asleep on my desk. So we differed, a bit. But that was when the conversation began.

My first impressions? Well, I was against it, frankly. I mean, come on. Homeschool kids are weird. Let's not deny it. They're smart, but weird-smart. Too smart. They don't fit into the rest of the world. They know how to do things like pluck a chicken and knit a hat, but can't recite Shakespeare or throw a ball. They don't know how to communicate with anyone who is not an immediate member of their (large) family. But despite all of this, I wanted to entertain the idea, and keep the dialogue running. I married Justin because he is wiser than me and often has a more refined sense of the eternal, so if it was important to him, I wanted to examine the topic further.

As time went on, I asked questions, talked to people, read books, listened to Dobson. I realized that Homeschooling Today is not what it was twenty-five years ago. People do this now. Lots of people. There are organizations (like our Whatcom Homeschool Association) set up to support homeschool families, share information, provide social activities (like fieldtrips and park days) and trade curriculums. There are curriculums. It's no longer a system of scavenging at the library and working sums on newsprint. It's a bit more refined, now. The churches even have Homeschool Small Groups you can join. It's everywhere.

So, when Cole turned four, we ventured into the Homeschool waters. Andie told us about Sonlight and it seemed to be what we were looking for. We took the plunge and purchased the Preschool program.

THE CURRICULUM DEBATE
Oh, now I'm getting ahead of myself, because of course, there are thousands of decisions to make when deciding to homeschool; it's not just "yes we will" or "no we won't". This right here is why I haven't responded to your questions before now----because THIS is the part that is complicated. First of all, there are so many methods of schooling: Unschooling, Classical, Charlotte Mason, etc etc etc....To use curriculum or not use curriculum? It gets overwhelming. Let's cut through all of that for a second. We bypassed most of the decisions by saying: 1) Let's buy a curriculum package (since we have no clue what we're doing) and 2) Let's buy the first one that appeals to us (instead of spending months and months researching all of them). I'm not saying this is the best approach; I'm just saying it worked for us, because it took a lot of the "agonizing over approach and materials" away for me. So when we came across Sonlight, we liked it, we picked it, we pulled out our Visa. Done.

Now. What appealed to us about Sonlight was the vast amount of literature. I liked the idea of my kids learning about history by reading books about certain parts of history--instead of poring over a history textbook--simply because history was the one subject in school that I never really understood, but I loved literature, and I think if I would have been taught this way, I would have gotten it, and loved it. There are workbooks for math, writing, etc....but most of their program is taught through literature. I've always dreamed of having an extensive library, so Sonlight alligned with the things I was passionate about. There are very few consumable resources. It's expensive, but--to me--it was worth the cost to invest in beautiful books that we could absolutely wear out through the years.

Okay, now right away, there were things that DIDN'T WORK for us with the Sonlight program, but we couldn't have known this without trying it. First of all, some of the "preschool" materials were extremely difficult--way over Cole's head. Secondly, at the manic age of four, he didn't like having 20 minutes a day of "sit down and read with Mom" time, and immediately began to resent school. Thirdly, the "schedule" they provide interfered with with a child's natural desire to learn and with the natural rhythm of reading--because they recommend that you pick up 5 different books and read one page out of each one, once a day. What? All this did was frustrate Cole. He'd ask to read another page and I'd say, "No, tomorrow." He'd fight back. There was a lot of push-and-pull between us--not at all the cozy, reading, co-learning experience I was looking for. Now I will say that Sonlight firmly maintains that their Schedules are meant to just be a Guideline, and they repeatedly advise that you manipulate that guideline to fit your own family. I'm sure that works for a lot of people. But I am a List Lover. If I have a list, I HAVE to check off each thing before going on to the next one. I CAN'T jump around and have things incomplete; it drives me crazy. So I fought to the death to stick to the list, and Cole fought against me, and we got things done (sort of), but we were unhappy.

Kindergarten: Same Thing. Push and pull, push and pull, Learning Under Duress. I kept thinking, "Is this why I wanted to homeschool? Absolutely not! We're missing something. Where is that Love of Learning I wanted to instill in my child?"

TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF....
Just recently, I've regained my focus. I've read a few good (anti-curriculum) articles about the original heart of homeschooling, concentrating on the idea of teaching your children at your knee, giving them firm grounding and strong character with some quality education mixed in. Oh! Oh, my soul began to breathe again. This is what I've been looking for. This is what I desire for my children. Not this Schedule-That-Mom-Doesn't-Understand-But-Is-Fighting-For. Not this Constant Dissension. But good, old-fashioned, family-style learning, All Of Us In It Together methodology, following our hearts and our unique gifts and our passions, while still checking off the basics. My boys can learn this way. Oh, they can learn this way! Why was I trying to duplicate the format of school, when that was what I was trying to avoid?!

Those of you who are new to this want me to give you a formula and tell you what books to read, what program to buy, and what path to follow. I can't do that. I'm still so new to it myself; I'm still finding my own path. You'll have to discover your own (I'm sorry). There are still a lot of things I love about Sonlight, truly. But I'm manipulating those things now, to fit my own needs. And quite frankly, this means buying a lot of the materials (mostly secondhand--or check your LIBRARY!) and NOT buying the Schedules. Because honestly, I can't have them in my house. I'm too much of an addict. I need to abstain from them altogether.

What we are left with: A pile of beautiful books available to us at all hours of the day. We can read as much or as little of them as we want. We can read three, four, ten a day....or flip through them and just look at the pictures and discuss the parts that are interesting to us. The only thing I continue to be a stickler about is that (most) every day we take a few minutes to practice our reading (Cole) and do a page or two of math (Reese and Cole). The rest is icing on the cake. And here's the result: PEACE AT HOME AND LOVE OF LEARNING! Hooray, hooray! The boys are pouring over books again, asking to be read to, begging to go to the library to research more about their favorite subjects. Science, history, literature--they're eating it up. I am too. We have found our joy again.

And here's the last thing: God is giving me more and more peace about having children that AREN'T of this world, that are only aliens here for a while. Weird homeschool kids, hooray! I am blessed now when someone recognizes that they DON'T fit in, because really, isn't that what we are asked to do? To raise up children that will fight for Good, and be focused on the Prize? That will run the good race? Many ask if we will homeschool forever. I don't know the answer to that. Does a soldier in the military ask his commander what the mission will be 12 years from now? The battle is ever-changing. But oh, it is a BATTLE! I better make sure these boys are ready. Because the day will come, surely, when their Commander will ask them to Stand and Fight. On that day, I can only place my hands on their heads, and give them their benediction, and pray that I have done my job well.

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"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master', he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" matthew 25:19-21

Budget Class

This morning during our school time I asked Cole to help me prepare the budget (our

"month" starts on the tenth). Those of you who read this blog regularly know how behind I am on our finances. I decided that today was the day to begin ironing out the wrinkles. I seem to never get it done because of the kids interrupting my concentration, so I decided to throw them purposefully into the mix and see what happened.

The first thing I did was get out the Monopoly set and pay Cole one month's salary, in mixed bills. He was amazed and kept exclaiming about how MUCH he had in his hot little paws. I was thinking, Just you wait and see....

The next things we set out were the ten-key, a piece of paper, and a pen. I asked him to tell me as many things he could think of that we would need to pay for over the course of the month. He surprised me with some (he remembered insurance on his own) and I surprised him with the vast NUMBER of the others. Soon we had a good long list, and his face was starting to fall when he looked at the money in his hands.

I wrote our salary number on the piece of paper, and away we went. One by one we went through our list, subtracting out all the necessary expenditures. After each one was recorded on the paper, Cole subtracted it on the ten-key, read me the new number, and then "paid me" for the bill. The closer we got to the end of our list, the more melancholy he became, finally saying, "Mom, I don't think we're going to have enough for gymnastics or the quilts (a future project)." I encouraged him to not give up too soon, and when all was said and done, we did have just enough for both the gymnastics class AND the quilts!

I was surprised at how many tangents a simple budget discussion created. Cole learned how to calculate ten percent, how to perform simple functions on the ten-key, and how to read numbers in the thousands. We discussed where and how a tithe might be given, why it is important to save a portion of every check, and what the difference is between health insurance and disability. We also worked hard to prioritize our expenses, making sure that the basic needs were satisfied before moving on to any luxuries.

I'm thinking now that this jointly affair should become a monthly occurrence. Having a helper certainly got me out of my finance rut, and I loved being able to see Cole's whole world expand with every new topic. He definitely has a new perspective on the daily workings of the checkbook!

On an unrelated note: A few days ago, the boys asked for some sliced cheese with their breakfast. They hadn't been eating more than a minute when Reese suddenly arranged his slices in his hand and said, "Got any 3's?" Cole immediately followed suit and they spent the next 20 minutes or so playing Go Fish with their cheese. I think it is hilarious how intently they are studying their "cards"!

Homeschooling: Outside The Home

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the excuse to get involved in community classes under the pretense that the kids need socialization. They don't, of course; it's just a common misconception, and, truth be told, there are many days I wonder if there's a method for making them LESS socialized-- Ah, but I digress.

This week, there was an opportunity we just couldn't miss: A science class for 5-10 year olds at the Roeder House! Any of you that know Cole know how much he loves science. AND the subject matter for the first class was the Human Body, which is pretty much his favorite topic to discuss in the whole world. He watched the clock all day and kept asking how much longer he had to wait before he could go to science.

The class went off without a hitch. I worried that being in a new location with new kids would cause him anxiety. He seemed a little apprehensive when I dropped him off, but was so jazzed up when I picked him up at 4:30 that he literally did not stop talking until he went to bed four hours later. Justin and I finally had to tag-team spending time with him because our heads were hurting!

Here is the skeleton he made in class with some cut out pieces of bones and a few strategically placed metal brads. It's his new favorite toy.

He has also now decided that for Halloween, he wants to be a skeleton wearing a black coat. (He doesn't HAVE a black coat; I have no idea where that came from.) Reese, not one to be outdone, will be a ghost.....with bat wings.....wearing a blue jet pack. I think this sewing Mama might have her work cut out for her!