Don't Bug Me!

When I saw these model kits for making insects at the Target "dollar spot" the other day, I just had to grab some. Today the girls assembled them. The parts are labeled, they just matched them up. There were no instructions, but the girls were familiar with the concept from having assembled a giant ant built in the same way at the Butterfly Pavilion last month.

Gloria is enjoying studying insects this week. Today she drew pictures of bees in her science journal. She assembled the butterfly in this photo. Danya did the praying mantis.

The Writing Corner

It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Go to the corner!" I think Danya really likes writing her letters to family and friends in this little writing corner we set up. She gets distracted when she's trying to read or write when Gloria and I are working on something else right next to her. Here she can have relative solitude and quiet while she thinks.

Her handwriting and spelling have improved alot lately. I think the computer learning games we got her last year are really starting to sink in. Several of them are fun games that teach spelling and grammar rules while you play. (like this one: Elementary Success) She constantly amazes me at how much info she absorbs. She's already got 25 states and their capitols memorized and can locate them on a blank map of the U.S., too! This week she's also ready to move on to her 12 times tables! We gave her a math review this week and she just blew us away at how much she knows.

Who Put the Glad in Gladiator?

In our Story of the World book the girls are studying ancient Rome for history. Daniel previewed the Gladiator movie with Russel Crowe to see if it would be okay for the girls to watch. It was just too much for their age, so instead we let them watch some of the info about gladiators and some of the "making of" section on the special features part of the CD.

Gloria really enjoyed it, but Danya said, "Homeschool is supposed to be more fun than this." So I gave them their art books and let them each draw a picture of gladiators and write one thing they learned about them. Even Shannon made a picture!

Today we'll be reading about Rome in our Kingfisher History Encyclopedia and continue learning about life and customs of the time in our Living Long Ago book. I'm trying to find a fun game or craft to do. Maybe we'll build a colliseum out of blocks today.

Un-BEE-lievably Cute!

Gloria is learning about insects for science this week. She's covered honey bees, wasps, grasshoppers, and a few others. She's learning about the parts of their body and can label them now.

I hung little beehives on the wall. Danya and Gloria each have a little bee that they fly to the next hive every morning. That way they can anticipate the activity they are going to do when their work is finished for the day. They've made bug mobiles, bug puppets, and did a bug puzzle page. The activity they enjoyed the most so far was using a white ink pad to make finger prints on these black cards. Then I gave them glitter gel pens to decorate the finger prints to make them look like bees. They thought up "Bee" messages to write and we sent them out to a few people. We also sent the photos in the picture to Aunt Shirley. Today they get to play "Bug Bingo" for math.

Stab-Proof School Uniforms

I was reading some online news sites today and found this sad article Stab Proof School Uniforms. Just another reason to keep my kids safe at home. The fact that 16 kids were stabbed within two months seems to be acceptable to the police there. What scares me even more is that the teachers are unwilling to frisk the students they suspect of carrying weapons without being provided with their own Kevlar vests.

Remember when the news stories were all about how horrible it was that our troops in Iraq didn't have body armor? Now apparently it's our public school teachers who are in desperate need of body armor to protect them from the students.

Roller Derby

The girls asked us to take them somewhere with smooth floors so they could roll around on their Heelies today. We picked Target since I needed an electric pencil sharpener anyway (ours broke).

I didn't anticipate how many dangerous near collisions they would have. Gloria likes to flirt with disaster by flying full speed at someone's shopping cart or between two people and swerving at the last second. Danya tends to stop abruptly... when she hits a wall. We're going to have to institute some "Heely Rules" because we can't go turning every shopping experience into a roller derby.

Popcorn Pals

Today we picked up Shannon in the afternoon after we finished our homeschooling for the day. She came with us to Target where we all shared a small bag of popcorn.

We shopped for some small items from the "Dollar Spot" at Target. We're making a "treasure box" for our homeschool. Whenever one of the kids accomplishes something like being able to flawlessly say whatever they've been memorizing lately, or finishing reading a big book, they'll get to choose something out of the treasure box.

Until now we had little rewards, like when Danya memorized her 8 times tables, we flew her to bed every night for a week. She loved that, sticking her arms out to the side, stretching her body out flat, and making airplane noises while we zoomed her from the stairs to her room. But it was too hard on my back, so we need a new reward system. Hence, the treasure box.

Self Motivated

Today Kevin decided to walk without first being asked to. He came into my room while I was using the computer. He climbed up onto my printer which sits on the floor... and promptly fell off. He tried that about five times, slipping off repeatedly, before managing to sit on it like a chair.

Then he stood up and walked to me! I hugged him, sat him back down on the printer, and watched him get up and do it again! So I ran to get Daniel so he could see it, too. Daniel took these photos. Kevin is so proud of his new accomplishment!

King of the Jungle

Daniel finally tackled the jungle that was growing in our backyard today. We don't seem to have much real grass. It's mostly just weeds and bushy things growing out there. They grow in clumps sporadically.

It was about 90 degrees out and Daniel was green from the waist down by the time he came in. We're trying to get the house in good shape for the safety inspection that will hopefully happen this week.

Dr. Dad!

Wipeout! The kids went to the park to drive their Cinderella car today and Gloria crashed going to fast downhill on her Heelies. She scratched up both knees, the palms of her hands, and got a big goose egg on her forehead.

Daniel finally got a chance to break out the new jumbo first aide kit he bought a while back. He was using antiseptic sprays and letting Gloria choose from multiple sizes of band aids. She was so fascinated by all the supplies that she forgot to cry after a minute or two. Daniel is really good at distracting the kids when they get 'owies'.

Techno Baby

We've started all our kids out young using computers. They are definitely growing up in an age of technology. Last night we went to a website with games for babies (like this one: Fisher Price Peek-a-boo game). We showed Kevin how to press the space bar on the keyboard. Everytime he pushed the button a new baby would appear on the screen. He also played some games where an animal would pop up at different places on the screen and make it's sound and one where cartoon characters would jump out and say "peek-a-boo!"

He loved all of it. After a while he started just banging on the keyboard, so we turned off the game. We used to do the same kind of games with Danya when she was a baby. She was very good at just pressing the space bar. I hope that my kids will grow up so comfortable with computers that they will be able to disassemble and reassemble them by the time they are teenagers. I grew up using computers from the time I was 9, but didn't learn much more than keyboarding until I was 16 (around the time the internet really became useful). My kids are living in a whole different world.

Go Your Own Way!

One thing I've noticed since we first decided to homeschool two years ago is that others will frequently try to pigeon hole us. If they've just learned that we homeschool they immediately want to know why. Often it seems like they are trying to discover whether to mentally label us as anti-social weirdos, religious nuts, over protective parents, or hyper-parents who want to create little geniuses.

Or, if they are in favor of homeschooling, they want to place us in a sub-category of homeschoolers. They want to know what curriculum we use and what outside activities our children are enrolled in. I love discussing our homeschooling, but I don't like the stereo typing or the implied idea that we "must" do certain things to be considered homeschoolers or good parents. I say, if you are going to homeschool, be yourself. Don't try to be a certain kind of homeschooler, duplicate someone else's home/school life, or conform to anyone's expection of what you should be doing within your family. Go your own way! Swim against the stream!

For the record:

1. I don't use a pre-packaged curriculum. I use whatever I can afford at the moment and whatever looks like it might be enjoyable for my kids and me.
2. I don't turn off the phone during school hours to protect the "sanctity" of our school time. Nor do I avoid all use of computer games and movies. This refers back to #1.
3. I don't need time in the evenings to grade papers because I work with my children so that I can correct problems immediately before they've done it wrong on 20 different problems.
4. I don't "get sick of my kids", and do you realize how bad that sounds when you ask me that in front of your own kids?
5. My kids are not each on a sports team or enrolled in an outside club of some sort. We only participate in activities that have a unique and long term value and we closely guard our family time. Driving to various activities, practices, and games every night while we scarf our dinners in the van is not my idea of fun. We'd rather play together as a family, talking, laughing, encouraging, and exercising together instead of most of us at different events and sitting on benches watching the others play. Also, our money is better spent elsewhere. No, I don't think my kids have a high likelihood of becoming professional athletes, so why invest their time in that?
6. We can't participate in your homeschool co-op classes because it would consume too much of our family time and add unnecessary stress for me. This is related to #5.
7. I don't think my kids need to be bullied or ostracized in order to prepare them for the "real world". No, I don't believe my kids should be "exposed" to other ideas by spending five days a week with kids who are acting completely against our family's Christian values.

What many people don't seem to understand is that while we share ideas with other homeschoolers, we don't fit a certain mold. Most homeschoolers are very independent. That's why we are homeschoolers. We want what's best for our children and are determined to give them the best; the best of ourselves, the best of our time, the best of our resources, and help them become their best. So if you must label me or categorize me, here's what you can know for certain. I'm the kind of parent who absolutely loves my kids. My husband and I love spending time together as a family and our family comes first. The only real "plan" we follow is to love them, teach them, guide them, play with them, protect them, encourage them, and give them the freedom to become the wonderful, amazing, thinking men and women that God designed them to be.

Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Funny or Sad?

Slacker - thought I'd share. I'm still shaking my head over this one.

Love Comes Running

Daniel took the kids out yesterday morning because I'd had a rough night with Kevin. He was keeping the house quiet so I could take a short nap. He called me after they had visited a couple of parks on their walk and I told him to head back home and I'd meet them on the way.

When we saw each other at opposite ends of a long sidewalk Gloria's face lit up like the sun and she took off running towards me, arms pumping. I wanted to take a photo to capture that expression of love and joy. I am so blessed. This is such a big part of why we homeschool. I want to keep this close relationship, not lose it to the attitude that develops in public school kids.

I've spoken to many homeschooling moms who say that they decided to put one or more of their children into government school for a year. Within months they tell me that their kids are becoming rude, disobedient, focused on boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, and suddenly won't play with their younger siblings. And they start to believe that their parents know nothing and only their teacher holds the truth.

My prayer is that our family will stay close and loving. I love the way my girls treat their little brother. They are patient, helpful, compassionate, playful. And I love seeing that God has really placed on their hearts a desire to reach out and embrace the new children that He will place in our home soon. They don't talk about them as the "new kids" who will be coming. They talk about having new brothers or sisters.

The Future of Public School

I read this article today: The Village Raising Your Child. It is down right scary what's happening to public school children from Kindergarten on up. How can the courts support the public school's right to take complete authority of your children the minute they cross through the doorway of the school? photos

I think this push for mandatory mental health screening in schools is going to become a reality in the next year or two. My prayer is that homeschoolers will not be forced to comply with it. I'm afraid they'll come up with some idea like "you can't get vaccinations unless you also submit your child to this evalutaion". In some states where the mandatory school age ends at 16, they've gotten around that by making a law that says you can't get your driver's licence before the age of 18 unless you show proof that you are attending school. It doesn't matter if you've already graduated. I also see an even greater mass exodus from public schools coming as they try to wrest more and more authority away from parents. Here's an article about physical illnesses that often get misdiagnosed as mental disorders.

If you haven't read any books by Phyllis Schlafly, you should. She covers these topics and others in a way that makes sense. I'm going to be asking Daniel for her books as birthday and Christmas presents this coming fall. Oh, and the picture in the bottom right of the post is of the Police tactical team members in Moore, Oklahoma preparing for school shootings at Central Junior High School.

New Tube

We bought a new t.v. yesterday. We haven't had one upstairs at all because our main one was too big for the t.v. cabinet and the girls' little one broke. I'm very tired of sitting on the floor downstairs to watch a movie on our big t.v.

Yesterday we found this one on sale as an "out of box" special. They said that in the year 2009 it will be obsolete because it doesn't have the capability to read digital television or cable signals. Daniel and I said, "No problem." because we don't watch television and we don't have cable. We only want it for watching movies occasionally. We didn't have cable at our old house in Oklahoma. Then we got it briefly while we were in the apartment here in Colorado from Sept. to Feb., but we decided it was just a big time and money drain. Last night Daniel hooked up the new t.v. and I watched "Raising Helen" after the kids' bedtime. It was nice to be able to relax on the couch while watching a movie again. Right now Kevin is discovering the fascinating world of "Blue's Clues" videos that we collected when Danya was his age.

Rough Housing

I noticed that wrestling on the floor with three kids is extremely difficult yesterday. When they gang up they are stronger than me! So now I'm wondering how we will wrestle when our family size increases. I have the feeling we are going to get crushed, lol! We got a call from our county adoption people yesterday. They are sending out our home study info to various children's caseworkers this week. They said they have a lot of sibling groups right now, so that's good.

They also said we could very possibly end up with a group that includes a child very close to Kevin's age. That would be fun. Kevin would have a buddy, so he wouldn't have the same problem my little sister did. Toni is 5 years younger than me. So my brother and I often played together, and she got left out. Kevin is 5 years younger than Gloria, so we are really hoping that one or more of the kids will be between his age and hers. And it would mean that Kevin will have a partner to back him up for Thanksgiving family football when we play against the Maxwell twins.

Now we are just waiting for a call from the people who do the actual safety certification. Hopefully that will be in the next week or so. I think our house should be fine, and we are going to double check the list just to make sure we haven't missed anything.

What We're Reading: Space, Rome, Biographies

Now normally I like to blog about books we've already started. For instance, we are reading "Ramona the Pest" with the girls a chapter or two at a time. Today though, we got some new books at Borders that I thought I'd just mention all at once since it covers so many different topics.

In history we are beginning our study of ancient Rome. In the Magic Treehouse series we've read the first 11 books, but haven't been able to get hold of a copy of "Polar Bears Past Bedtime" because there is a wait list for it at all the local libraries. We own the book after that one which is about Pompeii called "Vacation Under the Volcano" and has a companion research guide about Ancient Rome. So to hurry up and get to that book we went ahead and bought the polar bear book and the Rome research guide. That way it ties in neatly with our history lessons.

I also got the Magic Treehouse research guide about Space. We already read the book about the Moon that it goes with. Since Danya is studying the Earth and Space for science this year, I thought it would be a good book for her to read. Lastly, I found a series of biographies about the childhoods of famous Americans. I figured that since we memorized the preamble to the U. S. Constitution for Civics, we might as well start with reading about George and Martha Washington. I prefer to read biographies (kids' versions for now), as part of our classical education for the kids. As they get older they'll read better, more in depth, biographies and autobiographies.

The Definition of "Mile Stones"

This week Kevin hit a major mile stone. He started walking! He will only take a few steps when we stand him up and ask him to come to us, but he gets very excited about it. We give him lots of praise and encouragement. We swing him in the air and tell him that he's a "big walkin' boy!"

In our history reading today the girls were learning about the Roman empire and the things they built. They learned how the Romans built their roads and that they put special stones along the way and carved them with the milage to the next town. They were called "mile stones". I explained to them that these stones are where we get the phrase "mile stones" when we talk about babies. We also read about gladiators and Daniel and I are debating wether or not to let them watch the movie, "Gladiator" and just fast forward past the one major icky scene near the beginning. I'm also trying to think of other good movies about Roman times. Maybe "Spartacus" or "Ben Hur". I'm open to suggestions.

Candy and Dinosaurs

We took the kids to the Broomfield Mall today to spend the money they got from the tooth fairy game we played. They wanted to buy candy from the specialty candy store. Gloria used hers to buy a plastic tube to fill with powdered candy. It was like creating sand art. Danya used hers to buy giant gummy snakes, ew!

Danya and Gloria both loved rolling on their Heelies all around the mall. The floors were perfect for gliding long distances. They also got to jump on a jupiter jump and have dinner in the food court.

Kevin's favorite part was the little indoor playground. The girls were too big to play on it. It was jam packed with kids, but Kevin hung in there. He climbed on dinosaurs, rode on their heads, and crawled all around talking to babies and big kids alike. He seemed surprised that one little boy offered to help him up onto a dinosaur, but didn't understand Kevin's sign language, lol.

Another Kevin related event was that while we were at the mall Daniel put Kevin up on his shoulders. Kevin took the opportunity to knock Daniel's glasses off. One lense popped out, but the screw stayed in. Luckily we were able to get them repaired quickly at an optometrist's store in the mall.