Seriously? You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

Had to quickly share a bright spot from my Wednesday...

We were studying the Mayflower and learning about what life was like on the journey to the New World. Seasickness, cramped quarters, hardtack, chamber pots, and rats were just a few of the delightful terms that came up during the reading. The kids each created a "trunk" that they were to fill with items that they wanted to bring with them on the Mayflower. When I saw a drawing in my daughter's trunk that looked just like a Bath and Body Works dispenser, I had to know. "Honey, what is that bottle that you're bringing to the New World?" Her reply... "Hand sanitizer."

Totally made my day. Hope your day gives you lots to laugh about!

Curriculum Clean-Out: Evan Moor History Pockets Native Americans

I'm so thrilled to send this History Pockets book along to someone who might love it as much as we did! I did this unit last year with my then first and third graders. The result were two beautiful portfolios full of crafts and learning. This is a great intro to Native Americans and has been gently, but lovingly used by our family. Seriously, these History Pockets were the highlight of our Open House.

I should make a note here that I can only ship domestically to the US for all of my giveaways and all entries must be received by 6:00 pm PST on August 28. (Gosh, I feel so legal!).

If you want to have a blast while studying Native American culture with your kids in the near future, feel free to leave me a comment and I'll choose the winner at random! Wish I could send one to everyone!

Who, Moi?!?!?

Wow, let's just say I'm new to this blogging thing. I really do not check the comments on my old posts frequently enough because sweet Kris at mommahomeschooling3.blogspot.com gave me a blog award. SAY WHAT?!?! Well, obviously I was floored and totally humbled. That was so nice of you Kris. I really enjoy reading your posts, too. In the spirit of playing along, here are seven things about me...

1. I love candles. It's going to be near 100 degrees where I live today, but I have a Hocus Pocus from PartyLite burning right now. Somehow, just smelling it makes me hopeful for fall. I also have issues with floral candles. Fruity, sure. Floral, no.
2. Diet Pepsi, not Diet Coke.
3. Travel is my luxury. My dream is to travel to every state in the US with my family.
4. I do NOT eat lettuce...EVER (was that emphatic enough?). Something about the crunchy, cool texture freaks me out. Not on hamburgers and no to salad, thank you!
5. Movies!!!! Love them! My favorites are all the Jane Austen remakes (1. Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson 2. Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightly) and Anne of Green Gables. I am definitely the kind to sit out all night for a midnight showing, too!
6. My dream car is an Econoline van. I sigh wistfully every time one drives by and think, "someday...".
7. I would LOVE to live in the country and have chickens and a goat. Bear in mind I've never raised an animal (outside of one dog and one cat), never been in 4-H, and the closest I've ever come to a barnyard uproar was a Target on Black Friday. Hey, a girl can dream!

Well, if you're not snoring by now out of sheer and utter boredom, I will let you know that I'm going to post my next curriculum give away later today. If you ARE snoring, you can thank me later for the extra sleep. I'm always here to help a girl out! :)

Blessings, Lins

Curriculum Clean-Out Charlotte's Web Literature Guide

I'm soooo excited to join the Bi-Annual Curriculum Clean-Out over at Homeschool Creations! I'll have something new to give away every day or two, so be sure to check back!

Today I am pleased to bless someone with a brand-new copy of the "Charlotte's Web" Literature Guide from Total Language Plus! TLP is a very popular curriculum and we really enjoyed using it when we read "Shiloh" last year. If this sounds like something you might be interested in adding to your homeschool, please just leave me a comment at the end of this post.

If you're in the mood, tell me which barnyard character from "Charlotte's Web" you most identify with. Mine is too easy... I definitely feel like I'm the goose, since I'll inevitably-evitably-evitably repeat myself one million-million-million times today! I'll use a random generator to select the winner and then get it to you as soon as possible.

Blessings, Lins

A Peek At Our Week(s)

Well, it's official... if you can't find the chargers for your camera batteries after returning from vacation, your camera will eventually stop functioning. Such is the case over at our house. We had such a wonderful start to the school year last week and I had hoped to share some of the photos of what our lessons actually looked like, but I suppose it's not to be. I found a few fun pics from my computer that I think are pretty representative of what we're all about, so here's to the last week of the "Not Back to School Blog Hop"!

Our youngest LOVES starting our day off with worship. Tried to catch him "conducting", but the good camera was out at this point.
He has actually surprised me with how mature he is getting. Can't believe he is actually engaged in pencil and paper work in this shot. I kind of put it out there and see what comes of it, and he has really been making an effort this week. I guess that's probably why he's been sound asleep within three minutes of bedtime every night this week! :)
Here our oldest is completing the first of our Presidents study pages. I downloaded the color photos from homeschoolshare.com and created my own fact sheet for them to fill in. I fill the youngest's in with grey marker and he traces what I've written (or doesn't depending on the mood!).
Love this shot! I made my first muffin tin lunch this week. The kids loved it. So much fun!
Well, here's where we get to the part where you see what we're really about! Our family is um, just slightly active. ;) My FAVORITE part of homeschooling is the field trips. The kids' educations have been so enriched by the going and the doing. We have such a blast!
Awww, here's our sweet girl. Dad made her a garden for her birthday present. She has a gift for gardening and we've enjoyed eating her tomatoes all summer long!
There are just the neatest museums near us. Most of them are SO interactive for the kids. Loved this exhibit about what the invention of electricity has done for us.
After studying Native Americans last year, we were blessed to be able to visit a wonderful western museum that had an amazing basket exhibit. The kids had a blast using the touch screens and seeing the familiar names of the different tribes.
These kids have no fear, I tell you! The docents at some of these wonderful places are just the neatest people you'll meet.
My city kids adored their day at the farm. Ohhhhh....someday....
My cousin wondered if the kids were saying "hey" to our Lord... :)
Tide pools have got to be my favorite places to explore. Some of these little hermit crabs just walked all over my kids.
Whale watching was wonderful, even if it did turn out to be dolphin and seal watching!
Can't believe the baby is finally big enough to go "rock climbing". He was so proud!
You know, most of the things we do are educational, but some are purely for the fun of it! If you haven't done it yet, click over to Heart of the Matter and check out what others are doing with the wonderful time they have at home. Truly, each day for us is a gift for which we are eternally thankful!

Blessings, Lins

It Takes All Kinds...

I have totally neglected this week's blog hop post (yes, school has started!). We are so, so busy and have been putting our school room to good use. I love seeing their work going up on the bulletins and the completed work in the trays. Ah, back to our routine. Well... for the most part. If you can't take a field trip on the fourth day of school, what's the point in homeschooling? Just kidding, but we are off to the beach today as soon as we get a few of the academics out of the way. Just popped in to introduce my amazing students!

Awww, they really are the best of friends. They love pretending to be pirates and exploring. I love watching them do it!
This is the fourth grader. If he could just explore tide pools from dawn til dusk and go frog catching after dark, he would be the happiest guy on the planet! I absolutely love watching the way his curious mind works!
This darling girl is our second grader. I am contemplating changing her name to The Huntress, or Xena, or something along those lines. She has this amazing ability to find sea creatures...giant crabs, fish, shrimp. Of course after she catches them, she is usually horrified, but she is amazing!

And finally... the baby. He is technically in PreK, but since he begged to "go to kindergarten", I caved. Guess, we'll be doing two years of kinder over here! Basically, this child does whatever he wants (and usually gets away with it because he's hilarious!).

So far, we are off to an excellent start! Loved seeing all of the beautiful student photos over at Heart of the Matter. Hope your year shows lots of promise, too.

"You Can Homeschool Because You Were A Teacher", "You Have Way More Patience Than I Do", And Other Lies People Mistake For Truth.

When we first started to tell people that we were homeschooling our children MANY responded with, “Well, that’s okay. You can do it because you were a teacher.” At first it seemed like such a benign thing to say (because when someone stands in front of you and says something positively CRA-ZY, you smile and say something nice, or try to justify it. “What’s that? You’re going to sculpt Michelangelo’s ‘David’ using only mashed potatoes? Well, that’ll be just fine. I’ve tasted those potatoes and they’re fantastic!”). It took a few months before I realized just how many people believed it and even worse, how many moms don’t believe they can teach their kids because of it.

I can tell you, absolutely unequivocally, that ANYONE can teach their child at home. Notice I didn’t say EVERYONE SHOULD teach their child at home. (For further clarification, please see Disney’s Ratatouille and pay special attention to the “anyone can cook” message.) Many people believe that teacher’s receive some magic key to the universe upon graduation that unlocks the mysteries of the human mind and how to shape it. We DO learn much about educational theories and practices, which is essential because it drives home the incredibly important fact that not all children learn the same way and what works for one, will not work for all. You see teaching is about reaching. You try one thing and it doesn’t work, but you don’t give up because something will, you just have to discover what it is.

Everything I learned about teaching, I learned on the job. It was a trial by fire. You have to do it and do it and do it again, until you find a measure of success. I’ll tell you another thing, it’s a good thing those new teachers are under contract because some days, you just don’t want to come back for the next one. It’s HARD work! Yet, with all things, practice makes perfect… or as close as you’re gonna get in this lifetime! The sense of accomplishment you feel when the year is over is second to none. You rose to the challenge and you’re fired up to do it again (well, after a massage and a vacation). I should have a Master’s Degree in Parenting for all the books I’ve read on the subject, but no book can substitute for the daily practice of actually doing it. It’s like muscle memory. You do something so habitually that what was once unnatural is now just like breathing.

Let me say it right here and now: ANY parent who feels called to homeschool their child, is already qualified to do it. I tell you I LOVED the students in my public school classroom and I wanted the very best for each and every one of them. That love is in no way the same as the fierce, “I would do anything and everything for this child of mine” love that a parent has. A teacher may throw up their hands in exasperation and say, “I just can’t reach this child today,” but a parent never would. A parent is compelled to keep trying because that’s what love does (even if we have to strap the kids in their car seats and drive around town so the Starbucks has a chance to flow freely through our veins before we go back into the fray).

Here’s another secret, teachers are not human sponges. I remember distinctly re-teaching myself the differences between mode, median, and mean before I taught a lesson on it. That doesn’t mean I was unqualified to teach it. It meant I needed to hold myself to a certain standard and plan far enough in advance that I did have mastery before the lesson came around. I love listening to homeschooling parents encourage each other by saying, “You only have to stay one day ahead of the students.” It’s true! Don’t overburden yourself by believing you have to have memorized every single second grade standard on the first day. Guess what? Your child might have mastered those standards in first grade, or they might not get it until third. You’re teaching a person, not a “norm”.

PLEASE don’t misunderstand me!!! Teachers have special training. They are qualified. Many of them know much more about “teaching” than I could ever hope to. I am NOT implying that ANYONE can go into a classroom and effectively instruct a differentiated group of 30-150 kids a day, in the same way I would not “gas” someone and do dental work in my home. Professionals are professionals because of their knowledge and training. They are the experts in the instruction of children within the scope of their training, just like you are the expert in teaching your own child. You are welcome to share my opinion with others, but just remember that not everyone agrees. J

Oh, and as for my patience… I am not some sort of superhuman! Are you kidding me?!? If someone said, “Would you rather stay at home all day, worn down by the bickering of your children and covered in baby spit or would you rather spend the day getting a mani-pedi and lunching al fresco with your dearest friends?” Hello?!? I’m going with the mani-pedi every time, but neither of those are realistic pictures of homeschooling or schooling moms. We ALL have our challenges. For us, life became more PEACEFUL when we brought our children home (see: Why We Do What We Do All Day Pt.1).

As for those other lies, “You’re incredible. I could never do that.” “Staying at home all day would drive me crazy. I could never do that.” “I could never do that. I don’t have that kind of patience.” Friends, hear each other’s hearts. Homeschooling mommies: Your friend or family member may really believe those things. They may also feel like you’re making a judgment about their choices. ALL parents want the best for their child. EVERY family needs to weigh the scales and decide what’s right for their family, and our knowledge is limited to our own. Where family members are concerned, remember they’ve got an interest in your children, too. If they want to justify what you’re doing, that’s probably okay, right? (“Well Myrtle, my daughter-in-law, Susie, has decided to homeschool her children, but she watches a lot of “19 Kids and Counting” and those Duggars sure seem to know what they’re doing. I’m sure it will be fine.”) YOU get to make the ultimate decision and only YOU have to answer for it. Friends and family members: You have NO idea what you’re capable of. You can do anything you’ve been called to do, but not by your own power. If we relied on our own strength, we would all fail. Your homeschooling friend is probably super-enthusiastic right now, too. They’re bubbling over and filled with the joy of finding the confidence to do something they didn’t think they could do. They are most likely not thinking a thing about what you did or are doing with your kids. Now… everybody hug it out. J

I love the phrase, “God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.” The greatest triumphs of all time were not recorded by those who did everything right and made no mistakes along the way. It’s the brokenness that makes the story special. It’s the meager beginning. It’s the courage it takes to do what you know you should, but might not believe you can. Give it to God and He will qualify you by His authority.