Endings and beginnings

As you might have read on some of the other ClubMom blogs, ClubMom is ending the mom blogs program effective January 2008.  These blogs, plus links, will no longer be here when that time arrives. So check your blog rolls! It's a blessing in disguise for me as I struggled to maintain three blogs, a newspaper column, and a radio show, plus homeschooling. ClubMom handled it in the classiest way possible and I give them major props for that.

This will be my last post on Since Eve; I've enjoyed my time here, I've enjoyed a forum dedicated solely to faith and homeschooling. Some of the other ClubMom bloggers have chosen to continue their blogs and host them elsewhere; I am not. I often found myself halving my content from Mamalogues and Since Eve and I won't deny that somewhere along the line something didn't suffer. Instead, I will be discuss homeschooling more often at my main site. I've already began to incorporate a lot of helpful links from this site into my homeschooling category there. I hope you'll continue to join me; it's an everyday circus over there.

Thanks so much for those who followed me from Mamalogues, or who became a regular reader here. Thanks to those who boldly shared their experiences in homeschooling and their thoughts. I think every bit contributed to the awareness of such a wonderful education method.

All the best in the new year.

Dana

Love This: flashcards

So I'm going to do a new feature wherein I throw up a link to an educational product that catches my eye or that my friends have raved about. I saw these flashcards while compiling my gift guide for STLtoday.com. I am a sucker for all things on-the-go. And cute! HOW CUTE ARE THESE CARDS? Um, I'll take "Very" for $200 Alex?

(I also luuurve this space educational wheel. In fact, I love the whole Mudpuppy site. There.)

As I wrote this Ewan found a dust bunny under the chair and TASTED IT

He did have the presence of mind to walk it to the trash can in the kitchen when he realized that it wasn't cotton candy. At least that's what he said when he passed me.

"IS NOT COT-TAN CANNY, MAMA."

"I know, Scooter."

Morning with the symphony canceled due to the boys' colds. This was a Baroque piece too, so I'm über bummed.

We're scheduled for a trip to Hobby Lobby for some felt and other supplies. I assign Liam a sizable (for him) craft project each month that requires use of all his core subjects to complete. Last month he made jack-o-lanterns and on them copied pre-selected Bible verses which instruct us to not be afraid. I came up with it at the last minute and am surprised that it turned out so well. What did not turn out well, however, were photos of it because at the time my rechargables were dead and the charger lost because I am just so ON IT. I stopped caring about it when November blew through my front door.

Liam's November project is Thanksgiving placemats. We're using this leaf template from Martha Stewart; The boys will make felt cut-outs of their hands to serve as turkeys; they're also to write one thing for which they're thankful on each placemat, ten total. We'll also add pilgrims and an indigenous headdress to each as well. Liam was all "Mom, this is a really good idea," and I'm all "I know, RIGHT?"

Liam is studying indigenous American tribes this month for both Scouts and his curricula. It's a special lesson as our family roots are documented indigenous;  my mother's grandfather was a shaman-of-sorts and we have a list of family members whom we lost on the infamous Trail of Tears. It's both interesting and difficult to explain that to Liam as it's one of the first lessons that I've officially presented to him which detail how cruel humans can be to one another. 

Gets me through the homeschooling day

- Big cup of raspberry mocha from the neighborhood cafe for the cold fall mornings that Liam has gym, art lessons, or Spanish.

- M&Ms which I SHAMELESSLY use to shut the toddler up during Liam's tests or speed drills.

- Felt. Ridiculous creatures cut from felt make equation stories much more understandable and hysterical. For instance, learning addition and subtraction via Five Little Monkeys in felt is more entertaining when it's Five Little Zarbonians (a green alien race inspired by Gary Larson which subsist on potato chips and the noxious gas emitted in farts - Liam's idea) jumping on the bed.

- Pumpkin oil.

- The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. They are so warm and welcoming and it's evident that those who participate in the Kinderkonzerts care deeply about elementary music education.

- Prayer. During last week's onslaught of deadlines and stress my mantra was "Oh God. Put a hand over my mouth do it right now right now right now because I'm going to gnaw someone's head off."

- Our friends. They're all so encouraging towards how we educate the boys even if they themselves do it differently.

- Liam's "brag folder." In keeping with the state requirements to compile physical evidence of his progress, Liam has a special folder where we keep all of his assignments. He shows it to Chris every night and they go over it together - a review of material without Liam realizing that it's a review.

- A shower. Chris does not leave the house for work, nothing is done unless I'm alloted a shower in the morning. Chris usually dresses the boys; they brush their teeth, comb their hair and make their beds. It means that he cannot meet for business early early in the mornings, but when I work 30 hours a week from home plus homeschool, it's a point I refuse to either argue or compromise.

- A good mood. One of the reasons I started blogging was because I felt isolated, both personally and professionally, as a print journalist. Young, broke motherhood is hard. Blogging provided a way for me to continue writing while maintaining my perspective by writing about (and looking at) my life in a humorous tone. When mama ain't happy no one is happy, clothes don't get washed and all the joy in the world DIES. Maybe not, but you know the feeling isn't far from the truth. When I'm in a good mood my kids mirror my emotional state, Chris does the same. The mother sets the tone in a household. It's easier to rule with a smile than an iron fist (I can't believe I just said that. It sounds so ... veteran, so grandmotherly, so ... AWESOME).

- Music. Mostly the 90s metal, grunge-rock variety, lately plus Regina Spektor, Muse, Jesca Hoop, and Susan Tedeschi.

- Abeka curriculum. Love it love it love it.

- COFFEE. Did I already say that once? Because COFFEE.

- This guy:

Offline

This past week has been frustrating, very frustrating as Liam struggled to master reading two-vowel words. It was so frustrating that I had to step back from writing about it on this site because all I could spit into the post window was vinegar. I actually have a big long post saved as a draft but it's so angry and sounds so desperate; I was angry at myself and thought that I was failing him because we had the roughest week of homeschooling so far, or that maybe there was something wrong with him that he just couldn't get this. His struggle was contagious and began to seep into the other areas of his curriculum.

I was supportive and withheld my own frustration from him; I did all I could to help without babying him; I realized one of my fears: he is a perfectionist. He gets upset if his handwriting is sloppy - before even turning it in - and he cannot stand to fail. This disdain for failure is oftentimes crippling. He's just like me.

Then yesterday, a break-through. He breezed through a comprehensive list of one and two-vowel words, he remembered the rules that we reviewed for weeks and most importantly, he scored a 90 (out of 100) on his test. Only after I put my ego and my expectations for his performance aside did he drop his anxiety and the lesson clicked.

I am so glad that I learned this lesson earlier rather than later. The lesson isn't over, it isn't a success until the correct answers are deduced and understood - the success doesn't lie in the expediency. We're celebrating with hot apple cider and homemade pumpkin cheesecake.

More to come.

Who loves free stuff? Um, ME?

It's like Christmas! In October! I am a worksheet hoarder. I use them for a variety of purposes, either to further a lesson, or to keep skills sharp when we're on the road, in doctor's offices, or during school breaks. Much to the horror of one of my friends, I use some of them for clip art to use on different art projects. I pass extras off to friends. I have a Depression Era mentality. Halp.

So obviously I had to pass this link on, from wondrousworksheets.com: printable and colorful worksheets that cover a wide range of educational subjects. Login: reviewguest75 pass: worksheets75.

Another link - the Homeschool Diner, a website which features "a full menu of articles, curriculum ideas, and links to online resources. You'll also find helpful suggestions, friendly advice, and a little homeschool humor, on the side."

"There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world; and that is an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)

"Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire."
- W. B. Yeats (1865 - 1939)

A conversation

With Liam, en route home from a homeschool group fieldtrip to the symphony where they presented "Barbar the Little Elephant."

"So what was your favorite part of the symphony?"

"The killing!"