The Haul from the Garden

The tomatoes are doing well. We still have plenty on the vine. I fear this may be the end of our green onion season. The Serrano peppers haven't come up at all. I don't know if they will. I wish I knew what I did wrong on the pepper front.

One of the best things about growing our own tomatoes this year is that Z has given them a chance. He hates restaurant or store bought tomatoes, but he'll eat the home grown ones with now fuss.

Next season I'll be able to use my composted soil. Very excited about that project! I hope I can get my raised garden beds at least for Spring planting since I've been using containers for the past 3 years. I'm thinking the raised beds could totally be a homeschooling project, don't you?

Peace out. Peace in your 'hood.

The Gifts People Give You

I love gifts.

I'm okay with surprises. Sort of. Not really.

Anyway the other day my mom stopped by and had a little giftie for me. This isn't unusual for us. We are both thrift store shoppers and if a deal is too good to pass up for the other we take it. Because how can you go wrong with $.99 butter bell? So gifts for no occasion doesn't really merit a pause for thought. Unless...

My Mom: I saw this and thought of you.

Me: What part of this? 

My Mom: The whole thing. The canning, the gardening. It looks like there's a good article on recycling.

Me: Uh, thanks.

I'm still having a bit of difficulty finding my way to hippie acceptance for myself. It's nice to have a diagnosis, but the label still furrows my brow. Then to realize that people, your family in particular, thought of you that way all along? It's a bitter pill to swallow, my friends. A bitter pill indeed.

Of course I've read the magazine cover to cover. I wonder if they have a digital copy? Seems a shame to waste the paper.

/lainey 

A Working LOL

I do accounting work. Sexy, no? Well, it pays the bills (or in our case improves the quality of our life).

Generally accounting is pretty darned boring and when I see something in a client's notes that makes me smile, let alone laugh mah fool head off, then it must be shared.

Seen on the memo portion of the check: Another BS tax. Can't argue with that expense account.

How Mommy Got Her Groove Back

Yeah, not so much.

I'm really lousy at this consistency thing. I have plans to write. I even create drafts, take pictures and start the post, but the final execution eludes me. I guess I like the doing more than the recording. Shame that.

So let's catch y'all all up in one big swoop.

In homeschooling we finished up our 5th and 7th grade years. Over the summer our plan is to work 2-3 days mostly reviewing. The majority of our time will be project and goal based. For example the boys have set goals for the number of laps they'd like to be able to swim. Right now their endurance is lacking (they come by it honestly, my endurance is in the negative) and they want to improve. Dad has been lead on this class.

We are also doing a unit on the summer Olympics. We'll thrown in a dash of World Geography as we review the countries the Olympic participants' countries.

They boys have been doing a course on American Government. We thought it was timely with the elections this year. Dad has been doing a current events lesson about 2 times a week. The news is always a great teaching opportunity.

I've decided on our curriculum for next school year and when I say decided, what I mean is my current plan of action. Decision sounds so final and it's hard for me to commit (I've been married for 20 years, I think that's enough commitment for one lifetime.) for fear of making the wrong choice. That and I'm just a bit of a procrastinator.

Anyway, I've been ordering curriculum little by little. Definitely one of the down sides of homeschooling is that we pay for what we learn. I've tried to looks for what I want as inexpensively as possible, but sometimes it's just easier to buy what I need outright. When we have the funds, of course. So the plan:
8th Grader - Math U See, Winston Grammar, Cambridge Latin, American History and Geography unit studies and P.E. (golf or fencing).
6th Grader - Math U See, Spectrum Language Arts, Computer Science: Code Academy, Art (glass class) and P.E. (golf).

Of course all of it subject to change.
--

Spring Break Part Deux

We thought we'd go back to school this week. We thought wrong. After all the hubbub from last week we still needed some chill out time. (And I haven't rearranged the curriculum since I decided call it done with the online version.)

Of course then J got sick. A bit of a tummy bug. Please, oh please, don't let this go around the house. I couldn't take anymore.

Spring Break - Woo Woo!

We went camping this year for Spring Break. And when I say camping what I mean is we stayed in a rustic place with native plants and animals around us. There was a nearby river, waterfalls and a nature trail. We did all the typical camping stuff like sitting around a campfire, roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. 

Showdown at high noon. Okay, after lunch. 

Where is this Home on the Range you ask? Why it's just down the road a spell in the Texas hill country. It's all about appreciating what God gave us in this great state.  

Roughing it out by the lake. Or the activity pool as the locals call it.

We need some time off to get back to nature. It's important to connect with the land donchaknow.

Entering the "lazy river".

The boys went off exploring the campgrounds by way of water. Very adventurous those two. 

Making s'mores at the campfire.

Every night we enjoyed s'mores by the campfire. Do you know how fabulous it is to just come and enjoy without the worry about building the fire, finding a stick, buying the supplies, putting up the fire and all the other things that suck the fun right out of this kind of experience? The fact that some people would consider our campsite to be "real" camping isn't going to take away one bit from the thrill of the week.

So I highly recommend camping at the Hill Country Hyatt. All the pleasure and none of the pain. Activities like make-your-own-tote-bag or water balloon fights every two hours for the kids. It's a welcome respite from always being the entertainment point of contact. Since our kids were the few that were onsite the staff doted on them and even the guests by the pool (all 5 of them) spent time chatting them up. 

Shame it was so crowded at the pool.

One important lesson the boys learned this week was how to order room service. Very important to know the rules of hospitality. Unlike frog dissection, proper etiquette is a skill that will serve them through life. 

Four Months Out

Tomorrow marks four months since J has been in traditional school.

It's gone by really fast. I still feel a bit ass-over-tea-kettle in the planning department, but I'm hanging in there the best I can. Planning and preparation aren't necessarily hard so much as there are just a lot of moving parts to keep in the air. I can certainly see the desire, nay the need to keep everyone on the same page in a bricks & mortar school. Again, my hat is off to public school teachers.

When J first started homeschooling we said that we'd make the decision year by year. We knew the 2011-2012 academic year would be at home. We also knew he'd be at home for the 2012-2013 school year. The other day he told me he's is so much happier at home and that he'd prefer to homeschool through graduation. Of course I'll give him the freedom to change his mind, but he seems pretty adamant. We shall see.

Z has been homeschooling only since mid-February. Even though I worried about him missing out on the "fun" part of school I really think he's happier homeschooling. He still gets an attitude from time to time, but he's relaxed considerably from his time in a classroom environment. I loved his teacher. He loved his teacher. And even with all that love floating about I still think bringing him home when we did was the best choice for our family. There was nothing to be gained by keeping him in standardized testing environment. Needless stress.

The other reason I'm glad I pulled Z earlier than I had planned is because after The Test all the attention would be in the direction of the transition to middle school. We knew he wouldn't be attending the middle school so what was the point in him having to sit through the presentations and the forms and the tours. Waste of time for his situation.

I do feel a little sad when I think about the traditions that J took part in that Z won't do. On the other hand, Z is doing really cool stuff that J didn't experience when he was that age. Field trips and movies in the middle of the day. Reading on the porch swing and trying new recipes in the name of science. It's a trade off.

We are blessed.

Progress

Our seedlings are coming along so nicely. The Serrano peppers are taking off, but the cilantro is taking it's sweet time. Cilantro has always been a bit testy with me so I'm curious if we're going to be able to pull off growing from seed.

Serranos to the left, tomatoes in the middle and cilantro on the right.

Guess what? Lizard butt! Oh, I crack myself up. Actually I think that's a gecko on that palm tree. We went to T and C's house for the monthly gathering of Ladies Who Lunch and their Children Who Must Remain Upstairs. When we were leaving Z spotted this guy taking a stroll. We thought for a brief moment about taking him home with us and then though, um, NO.

He wouldn't turn around to get his face. Sorry. 

Mostly we left Gus (no reason not to name the little darling even if we didn't bring him home) because we already had a sloth at home. And by sloth I mean The World's Laziest Cat. He should really be more ashamed, but he can't be bothered.

Don't let our learning get in your way, Lucky.

Lockhart field trip

Ah, Texas History. A vital part of the education of any youth. So important in fact, that a whole year is dedicated to the history and geography of Texas in the public schools. So as to ensure that MY youth are not left behind we are exploring towns in Central Texas and learning first hand about the history of the area. 

The courthouse in the town square. It just doesn't get any more small town than this picturesque building. 

One cool thing about this courthouse, aside from the architecture and history, is that it was used in the film Where the Heart Is (one of the movies I watch every time I come across it on television). We learned that the building is built out of limestone and red sandstone. 

We also learned that some guy donated a plaque to honor another guy who donated six flags to Lockhart. Sometimes when you're a small town you've got to reach for the history. Good on 'em, I say.

Z, C and J on the steps of the Lockhart courthouse. 

We took in the historical monuments of the area. This one is a tribute to those that served in the armed forces. The bricks that line the pathway up to the door bear the names of significant people (or people who paid to buy the bricks, that part wasn't clear). Do you see C reading all the bricks in the background? These are history-seeking boys I'm telling you.

J's pointing at the Marines emblem for Mac and our cousin Joey.

Are you buying any of this?


So what's the real reason people go to Lockhart? Barbecue of course! This time we went to Kreuz (it's pronounce Crites iffn' you were wondering).  Look there it says 1900 right on the sign. If that isn't history I don't know what is.

Lockhart also boasts Black's and Smitty's, but at Kreuz you eat off butcher paper without forks and sans sauce. We thought that would appeal to the boy's inner caveman. 

Brisket, sausage and ribs with bread and pickles. That's it. That's all you need.

Yes, it really was as delicious as it looks. Just ask the boys.

Oh and after lunch we walked around town square. We went into the town's oldest pharmacy with a curio case that had original prescriptions, bottles and tools of the trade from the store. You know, before all that DEA brouhaha. We ducked into a sewing and quilt shop too, but the boys aren't very happy to recall that part of the trip.


We also visited an antique shop and the owner talked to the boys about the building. The original signage from the turn of two centuries ago (late 1800's) was on the exposed brick in charcoal. The owner told the boys that charcoal was the paint of that time period. Charcoal and whitewash which was used for fences and houses. History and Art, baby!


To cap off the day we headed over to Dairy Queen. There is nothing quite like a treat at a small town Dairy Queen. Another awesome field trip day in the books.

An Unforseen Benefit of Homeschooling

By far my most favorite part of homeschooling is the morning routine. We never had time to sit down and have breakfast or talk about our intentions for the day. Now the boys sleep in until about 9:00 a.m., get started on chores and turn to lessons by 10:00 a.m.

But before they get started on their day first Mommy needs her coffee.

My reusable ceramic coffee cup bought at a garage sale.

How awesome is it that part of the morning routine is J making my coffee? Pretty dang awesome I tell you.

Ladies Who Lunch

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend.


On Thursday we had our monthly "Ladies Who Lunch" gathering. This is a time for several of us moms to get together and Tracy makes lunch for us while we drink wine and the homeschoolers play upstairs. Everyone looks forward to it and very few miss the meeting because if you're not present then you're on the agenda. Which means we get to talk about you. It's in the rules.


J stayed over night because he could. You've got to love a mid-week sleepover. Z and I headed home where he, J and The Banker all played Minecraft. I think there were other homeschoolies sharing Zombie meat (don't ask), but those three I know for sure. Finally everyone went to bed because we took Day 5 as a movie day. J and The Banker went to see Wrath of the Titans. Another homeschooling mom took her kid and Z to the movies. Everyone met up and had fun while I worked. Nice, huh? Still I'm very pleased the we are building our homeschooling village after we left our PTA village behind in public school.


Reasons, seasons and lifetimes. Once again that old friendship adage holds true.

New Set Up

Argh.


I went through my precious darlings work product and did a little scrutiny on the grades. I usually go through each week and take a look at where their grades are landing, but I noticed a trend towards downward marks. Yes, the material does get harder, but these changes looked more like a critical case of Lazy Boy Syndrome.


It might be terminal.


As we get more comfortable with homeschooling the training of public school has waned. They feel much more at ease moving around and taking breaks. Unfortunately they're not terribly experienced with self-regulation. A byproduct of being told what to do every second of their day so it's not surprising we are having issues with the freedom. Time to tighten things up a bit.


At first the boys were at their desks in their rooms and I would check in on them, but their falling grades (I expect at a minimum grade of 85) require me to reassess that plan. Today I have set us all up at the kitchen table (which was my plan in the first place).

5th Grade left side and 7th Grade right side

Already I see improvement. All of us sitting at the table allows for immediate answers to questions. I can look up their grades on the spot and review trouble areas. They ask each other questions about whatever subject they're working on and the discussion ranges from the provocative (global warming) to the hilarious (Gilligan's Island attempts at rescue).


We take a break to share YouTube videos just to keep it fun.


I can log in to a server or my local network to do my work which helps me stay on task. The other day J asked if I could teach him accounting. He wants to take over my business so I don't have to work so hard. So. Darn. Cute.

Miniature Greenhouse

Spring has sprung!

Well, okay we didn't really get a winter here in Texas. At all. Usually we get at least 1 day of "Deep Freeze 2012" or some other equally apocalyptic title assigned by the media. We Texans can stretch this one cold day out for a weeks worth of news. How we'll prepare for it (buy all the canned goods and bottled water on store shelves), the actual day when the meteorologists give a play by play of the storm's path and the wrecks on the ice-covered roads.  Then the news follow up of insurance claims from the fools that actually took to the road (we Texans do NOT know how to drive in inclement weather and should not even attempt it). 

But I digress...my point was Spring is here!

This year we are going to further our urban homesteading by planting a garden. They boys and I picked out seeds and, given our lack of experience, purchased a mini greenhouse. Just to be safe we also bough a few plants in case our seeds don't sprout. 

My suburban farmers

We have seeds for serrano peppers, tomatoes (forgot which kind) and cilantro. I plan on giving away some of the cilantro to one of my girlfriends whose husband wants to start a garden too.

Do your seed thing!

We still have some space for more tomatoes since the package with all of 10 seeds. I think it will be fine to stagger out the seed production so that we'll have a tomato harvest throughout the summer. We'll have a container garden this year. I wanted to have a stair-step raised garden bed made, but time got away from me. Again.

This year Tracy is excited because it means we can swap herbs, plants and veggies for our life selectively off the grid. I can't wait for our monthly Hippie Moms lunch to share what we've grown, made or created!

Setting Goals

One of the reasons we decided to homeschool is because we thought project management and planning in the public schools didn't give our students enough practice. Yes, our kids had a spiral agenda, and if we're talking ways to make things easier for a teacher with 25 or more students, then paper planners are the way. However, in this day and age, most kids, or more importantly to me, my kids think digitally. I wanted my middle school students to be able to use his smartphone for information management, but that wasn't an option in public school.


I am a small business owner. I work with other small business owners. In order to communicate and collaborate it's necessary to have the tools that bring us together. I have not met one small business owner that uses a paper planner. Most independent contractors, self-employed individuals and small businesses use Google products. E-mail, calendar, tasks, documents and several industry specific applications that make it easier for people in remote (read not in the same building) able to work with one another. Pretty snazzy, huh? So to my way of thinking, the students should use a system from the onset so that their learning curve is limited when they become gainfully employed someday (please, God).


The first thing I did when we brought the boys home to school is get them on Google calendar, docs and they had been using email. Already we've seen improvement with their ability to manage short to medium range projects. Public schools create an artificial deadline for projects such as Science Fair or an Essay contest, but there is nothing like a real-world application to bring a goal into focus.


We've created a spreadsheet to manage our week. I input the lessons they are responsible for during the day as well as the household tasks they are required to complete. When they get off track they check the spreadsheet, refocus and get busy. It also helps that we have a work first, play later policy. This weekend we chatted about how the lessons are worked and both agreed they'd like to do several lessons of one subject a day rather than a lesson on each subject every school day. Pretty exciting that they were able to make the connection that something didn't feel quite as productive as it could be and offered an idea for renegotiation. I'm pretty excited about the change because it makes lesson planning easier for me and I think they'll actually finish their assignments quicker because they don't have to spend time mentally moving from one subject to another.


So now we are stretching this goal-setting skill a bit further with a middle range goal. I consider a mid-range goal to be in the 90 days or 3 months range. Over the weekend while chatting with my sister-in-law she brought up loving holding a garage sale. Ew. There is nothing I hate more that having a yard sale, but I think it's a valuable skill and she's darned good at it. So I agreed to provide the "stuff" and she agreed to hold the sale and split the proceeds. This sounds like a fine set of tasks for the boys (since most of the "stuff" is theirs). They have a plan for a June or July sale and will split the spoils of war 50-50. They're already deciding what to do with their haul. Good on 'em.


For a larger, longer project we are tackling the back yard as an outdoor living space. After our decision to homeschool we considered moving out of the county to lower our property taxes. We trolled the internet to see what was available in a the surrounding counties and ultimately decided to stay put. Looking at our options was great exercise because now we know we're in the right place to maintain our quality of life and keep our financial obligations in check.


Over the past week we talked about what we wanted the back yard living area to look like, rendered our own drawing and made a list of supplies that we would need to collect. This served as the outline of our project. We also talked about when we'd like to have our Backyard Oasis complete and listed the tasks that we could complete without additional resources. So towards that end we built a compost bin (more about that in another post), primed the chicken coop knowing we would get at least 2 chickens in the near future and trimmed several bushes (several of which croaked in the summer drought). This weekend provided immediate results and really gave us all the motivation to continue our work on this two-year project.


I love that I can see the "buy in" from the guys on these projects. Isn't that how it is in real life? In real life you either open on time or land the client or get the product to the consumer. Public school does it's best to simulate these experiences, but really when comes down to it the brass ring isn't the grade it's the result.

Texas History

In 7th grade and a bit in 4th grade students in public school are required to take a Texas History unit. People who aren't from Texas think it's crazy that we give that much time to particular area of study. To them we say, "I know you are, but what am I?"


Mature. I know.


The State says we have to have citizenship as a part of our homeschooling program. Other than that the State of Texas pretty much stays out of our home education business. And we like it that way. So as much as I'm all about doing my own homeschooling thing, I really love Texas History, Geography, Cultures and, well ALL things Texas. So while I'm not devoting a whole year to the subject I do plan on interjecting as much Texas studies into our curriculum as possible. There is not box curriculum for this so we're working off units and basically taking advantage of living in the great state of Texas to learn.


Tonight we watched Texas, The Big Picture, the IMAX movie that was shown at the Bob Bullock Museum when it first opened. The movie was probably way more spectacular on the big IMAX screen, but it didn't exactly bite at home. The imagery was amazing. The narrative helped them to make connections about places we've been and where they fit. Watching the movie brought up several questions that gave us ideas of what other units of Texas to study. I love questions in my class because it means they're paying attention to the material.


Yee Haw.

Current Events & Government Classes

Dad has picked up part of the teaching duties.

He's always been a fan of politics and with this being an election year he is like a pig in slop. Truthfully he's really good about vetting the news coverage and giving a concise summary of any given issue. It's one of the reasons we keep him around.

Isaac, that's my husband and, as point of clarification, my kid's dad, works quite a bit. He manages the administrative functions of a medical clinic. He's good at what he does, but he's gone from the our little Urban Ranch about 12 hours a day. He wants to be a part of the homeschooling process, but we're all figuring out where that should happen.

Enter current events. We're learning about History, but applying history to what's going on now in our world is a critical thinking exercise. So a few times a week Isaac, J and Z get together pick out a news article, read it aloud and talk about it. So simple, but we are really learning about what's going on in our kid's minds. They're developing opinions and practicing using that "articulation muscle".

I can't wait to see how they view this election season. They won't be old enough to vote even next election, but they'll know the issues that are important to them and where the candidates stand. I love raising free-range thinkers.

Civil Rights and Frugality Lesson

Today was "training day" at the new Alamo Drafthouse. Training day is sort of a soft opening for an establishment. The staff gets an opportunity to work out the kinks in their system with real patrons and we get to see and movie and eat cheap. 


Awesome.


Part of the reason we were able to take advantage of this opportunity is because we homeschool. The training day movie was shown on a Tuesday at noon. If we were in public school, despite what I believe to be a legitimate learning occasion, this would not qualify as reason to be out of the building. Shame that.


So there we are at noon on a Tuesday at a movie theater. I paid $2 each for the boys and I to see a first run movie and the food was half price. Order what you want boys, spare no expense (that doesn't exceed a $40 total bill). They certainly did. We had burgers, chicken tenders and I went with the chicken sandwich with chipolte mayo. Delicious. They serve Coke Zero and not just Diet Coke so I'm in love. My bill was $22 for all three of us eat. Now that is a lesson in thriftiness.


Since as homeschoolers we are looking for lessons everywhere, in everything we do I had to make the movie a learning experience. Civil rights lesson anyone? We had read about segregation in the South and we've heard Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, but I thought the story The Help told would allow the boys to understand the issues of the time in a less abstract way. And it did. When you put a human face on a history lesson it resonates in a way that a textbook cannot.

Goodwill Austin Computer Museum

We took a round about way to get to the museum field trip, but in the end all turned out well.


Late last year a flyer landed in my inbox offering tours behind the scenes of Goodwill Austin. I thought this would be a great opportunity for the boys to see a non-profit in action. I sent an e-mail, signed us up and told them about our field trip plans.


Let's just say we were not their target audience.


What the flyer did not make clear (or omitted) is that this presentation/tour was intended for potential employers for GW "graduates". Sorry we've got nuthin. Actually that's not entirely true. As a small business owner I'm always looking for good help, but first I have to go through all of my family as potential employees. That could take awhile so we're back to we've got nuthin.


The boys made their hasty retreat and I quickly followed, unfortunately walking out on the CEO of Goodwill Austin. Well it wasn't a walk-out so much as a quiet exit. No matter I'm sure he's over it.


As luck would have it the GW Computer store makes its home in the same shopping center where the tour was to take place. At the back of the GW computer store is the GW Computerworks Museum. This has been on our short list of field trips so we decided today was the day!

Hello, robot made of old computer parts. It's science...no, it's art...no, it's history. So many lessons all in one exhibit.

That big gunmetal gray box they're standing in front of holds a whopping 4 Gigs of memory compliments of 1980. To put it in perspective for them I explained that the computer in my office has 1TB of memory. That means we'd have to have an additional 25 big ol' computer cabinets in my office to replace my current set-up. Neither thought that was good idea considering how messy my office is usually. 

Total geek humor. It's a cassette fossil. Huh huh. I asked J if he knew what it was and he said "something that used to play music", but it was Z that actually came up with the word "cassette". Way to make me feel old, guys. Don't y'all remember waiting by the radio for "Open Arms" by Journey to come on so you could press record even if a little of the D.J.'s voice got on the tape? Okay, maybe that was just me.

So what started out as a bust turned into quite a fun trip. We topped it off with lunch at the Chinese food buffet and that beats cafeteria food any day!

Recalculating...Recalculating

When I'm driving by GPS and I made a turn Gladys, my GPS, doesn't agree with she gives me a lecture. She will get huffy with my choice (or circumstance) to take a different direction. Gladys then advises me that she is "recalculating my destination". Actually she hollars at me "recalculating...recalculating" as if I've turned her world upside down. Maybe I have.


It's a little like that with our new homeschool schedule.


Last week we took off from lessons to decompress and deschool. I think we are sufficiently decompressed, but deschooled is feeling like it will take a bit longer. For 8 years I've lived my life BPU/APU, Before Pick Up and After Pick Up. My whole body is on pointe waiting for half past 2 p.m. I've had an alarm on my phone to mark the time left before I needed to be on campus. Now there is no where we have to be at any given time. That doesn't mean we've gone all where-ever-the-wind-takes-us with regards to the structure of the day, but we are learning to be flexible. It's a long unused muscle.


The schedule was a bit part of why we choose to homeschool. There are so many cool things that happen during school hours. Museums are open, workshops are happening, government is running and art is all around us. It seems a bit disconnected to read about these events in a textbook rather than experience them firsthand. We're even planning a trip during what would have been The Test Week if we were in public school. Now we're going to take advantage of low-rate season and lovely weather to explore educationally relevant places. And isn't it all educationally revelant?


Tomorrow we start our Back To School. We have changed up the schedule to include waking up at 8:00 a.m. rather than the butt-crack of dawn to be at a building at 7:30 a.m. There are chores to be done first. The boys have a heavier workload than they did in their public school, but they're able to take breaks when they want and there aren't the usual distractions of rowdie classmates or changing classrooms. It's amazing how much can be accomplished when they are just working on the tasks at hand.


After all these years I wonder how long it will take before I stop watching the clock for 2:30? It's weird to live your life at the ready. For years I've felt I couldn't get momentum on a project because I had to stop what I was doing to deal with pick up. I can't go to the grocery store because it's almost 2:30. I can't run a quick errand because it's almost time for carpool. It's this odd little mantra based, not on what worked for us as a family, but on some arbitrary schedule set up by the school district. It's that same free-fall feeling I got when I graduated from university. That feeling that I should be doing something, shouldn't I? I have to learn to not fill every minute of the day to be "productive".


Recalculating...recalculating....

Feels Like Any Other Break-Up

Today we said good-bye to Z's school. At first we had planned to leave him in public school through 6th grade. Then we moved it to completing 5th grade. February 10 was his last "unofficial" day of public school.


Having two kids on two different schedules was not working for our family. Homeschool day was done by noon, sometimes 1 p.m. It would have been great to head out and do something fun or do life or whatever, but we couldn't really start anything because we had to be back by school dismissal. We weren't fully living the homeschool lifestyle, but we knew we'd be leaving the public school system. You can't ride two horses with one ass. It was decision time.


The end came honestly. He was sick on Monday and still a bit puny on Tuesday. Z was getting a bit weepy thinking about leaving school. Not because he wanted to be there, but because of the *anticipation* of the change. Well, that was an easy fix. We ripped off the band-aid, so to speak, and withdrew him. Daddy did take him to say good-bye to his teacher (we love her so much and were very sad to leave her class) and clean out his desk. Z was still a little teary Thursday, but by the end of the day he wanted to know what kinds of lessons he'd be learning.


Kids are so resilient. Adults not so much.


The song that keeps running through my mind is Reba McIntyre's "Falling Out of Love". That, along with Adele's "Rolling In The Deep", is one of the best moving-on songs of all time. The hook of "Falling Out of Love" that I relate to is "finding out that nothing feels as good as letting go". I wept in the shower so the kiddos couldn't hear me for a good long while. I set the tone for how we process this new adventure. I want them to be excited, but I am scared shitless. Yes, I said it. I. Am. Scared. I know second guessing is natural, but I feel so responsible. It's a heavy burden.


So I'm owning the feeling that I'm scared, but don't mistake my anxiety for regret. This IS the right decision for our family. Homeschooling works for us. I know it's not a choice others would make. That's okay. I know that as soon as this initial angst has passed we will be just fine.

Current Events

We've added a component to our curriculum last week. In order for Daddy to participate in the learning process he's taken over P.E. and is leading Current Events. Each day J and Daddy select an article of news and answer the 5 W's - who, what, where, when and why. Then they cover the pros, cons and their thoughts on the topic of the article. I love listening to them have these sometimes-deep-discussions. I also have had the opportunity to hear my boy's position on several issues. I am sometimes-quite-surprised.


Recently we joined the YMCA near our house. We haven't exactly been disciplined in our attendance, but I feel the membership will be put to good use as soon as the weather warms. The other thing I like about the YMCA is that their mission is more about community than just fitness. The facility has all the standard exercise equipment, but they also have a teen room (which my kids love), a cafe/social area with wireless internet, homework help and scheduled family activities. Our Y has also reached out to the homeschool community. The programs are still hit-or-miss, but I think that's because homeschoolers are so disparate in their wants and needs when developing their curriculum. I hope the YMCA makes use of daytime schedules and creates programs that we are able to participate in while the district kids are in class.


Having Daddy take over these two areas has freed me up to create systems for monitoring J's progress, research unit studies and gather materials for upcoming lessons. Finding our groove has been the most challenging part of this transition. It's not as if I can take somebody else's system because they're not doing what we do. This individualized learning is crazy.


Dude.

Scattered

Ugh.


I'm overwhelmed.


I still love homeschooling, but the choices are madness. When you send your child to a public school you take what they give you. It's a one-size-fits-all arrangement. Oh sure your child can choose between choir, band and orchestra, but the means and manner of each decision, as parents, we should not have to concern ourselves.


Bless our hearts.


Though, if I'm being honest, having some of those choices ready-made is a delicious cop out. Like picking up McDonald's for dinner when are soooo tired from everything going on in your world. Still, just like fast food, a steady diet of not-very-nutritious-educational-consumption will take its toll on a kiddo.


The other side of that coin is that I have to decide on my child's curriculum. So that means there are decisions to be made. Which means there is research to be done. For a perfectionist like me the process of narrowing down and then picking something has been a little slice of hell.


I'm on all the appropriate homeschooling groups and boards. These connections are vital in order to disprove the whole "weird, unsocialized homeschooler" stereotype. We are weird. I'll give you that, but we come by it honestly. Our town's motto is "Keep Austin Weird" and by comparison we are downright Beaver Cleaver-eque.


But I digress...


I've started out with an online curriculum that says it's from grades PK to 8th. Well, that's partially right. The science stops at 6th grade. So I've felt the need to fill in their science lessons in the form of unit studies. So far I'm loving Kahn Academy, BrainPop, YouTube and Netflix documentaries. The Social Studies lessons are pretty general too so I've expanded a bit on those lesson plans as well. The material isn't different from 5th grade to 7th grade, but the level in which the information is given is different. I see no reason to plan for only one kiddo so we're not using the subscription curriculum as much as I thought we would for some of the subjects.  For this particular curriculum I pay very little, though now that I think about for the amount I pay annualized that I could afford a traditional textbook/workbook/teacher's aid system. Okay for 1 or maybe 2 subjects. Decisions.


That's another thing, it's not cheap homeschooling. It doesn't have to be that way, but there are some activities I'd rather pay to have someone to teach them. For example chemistry. I would likely figure it all out, but why when there are wonderful people who love what they do and want to share their knowledge with my kid for the low, low price of ...wait, what? How much?? But if doling out the cash makes it easier on me then youbetcha I'm happy to pay. On the other hand public school isn't exactly a bargain with all the supplemental material purchases, fund raising and in-kind contributions. I'm probably spending about the same the funds have just been reallocated. Putting it into accounting terms makes me feel much better. Thank you.


Thankfully my village of homeschool veterans is growing. I'm learning about so many amazing opportunities that we never would have had in the public school system. Classes, workshops, field trips and co-ops are a normal part of the homeschooing community. It's been especially gratifying to see so many businesses in Austin cater to our eclectic little community.


Thanks for the virtual ear. I'm feeling much less scattered.

Public v. Homeschool

I've told you some good and some bad of our homeschooling days. Today we cover the ugly.

I am so over having a child in public school and a child who homeschools. I want to give Z a chance to experience all of elementary school, but the two different schedules are killing me. ::whine...whimper::

I want Z to homeschool. I want to not be beholden to the school district clock. I want to be free to take field trips or workshops to expand a lesson. I want to do our reading at a park on a blanket in the sun with a half-price diet cherry limeade from Sonic.

What I don't want to do is push Z before he's processed this change in his head. Still every day his leave-by date gets a little earlier. I feel one day soon he'll just be done too. He misses out on the cool stuff J and I do for school. He says he's worried he'll miss his friends, but he doesn't really get a chance to talk to them in school and he never makes time to see them after school so what's the diff?

But I get it. We all hate change and this little guy needs to sit with his options before he makes a move. He wants to be homeschooled. At this point it's just timing.

Please, Lord, give me patience through this transition.

Never Not Working

You know what I've learned these past few months? When you school at home and work at home you are never NOT working. There is always something to be done in between doing something. It's a paradigm shift I'll tell you what.

One of the losses of a Bricks & Mortar Education is no more centralized location. We go to co-op. We go to art class. We go somewhere else for park day (okay that's not so bad). Since my kids aren’t old enough to drive themselves that makes me the chauffer. I’m so thrilled that J’s music teacher comes to us every week. It means I don’t have to get up to leave just as I’m getting momentum behind my workload.

Lesson planning is another never-not-working situation. I’m constantly looking for, planning, creating and constructing lessons in areas that I feel so ill equipped to manage. Oh, and I’m doing this all without an IPG net because as a private school I don’t have to conform to the federal/state/local/district minimum standards. Of course I look over what public schools are required to teach in order to keep my “students” on the same playing field, but then !BAM! I take it up a notch.  We are working Science in units and I’m using several methods to facilitate learning. For example, we are studying the solar system right now. We’re reading about all the planets and their characteristics, their order in relation to the sun and the consequences of the location and what history we know. We’re also watching documentaries on the planets and solar system (Have I said that Netflix is the best investment for a homeschooling family? Well it is.). We will wrap up this unit by creating cakeball planets. Don’t worry I’ll post pictures when we’re done. We’ve been to NASA in Houston already, but if I can find another field trip locally we’ll take a day expand our knowledge base in that way too.

Of course I’m never-not-working as a small business owner as well. If I’m not actually doing billable work for clients then I’m cultivating relationships to build my client base. You have to be able to produce and market at the same time. I have to network to get my name and service out to the bookkeeping-buying public.  I get a little giggle when people say they don’t think they’d be good at “sales” (you know sales is just marketing without the expense line). But let me frame that perspective in a different way. One thing I’ve discovered as a small business owner is that you better get good at “sales” like it or not. Just because you buy office supplies and hang out a shingle doesn’t mean that the customers are going to start calling. You have to let people know who you are and what you do. And that, my sales-fearing friends, is the hard truth. You are selling you. So here I am never-not-working on my business plan, marketing plan, website, continuing education, client contact and potential-client follow up. I’m a clown with this many balls in the air.

I’m learning to live with our new “normal”. I must overcome the persistent voice of the Committee (in my head) that tries to convince me that things will slow down after XYZ. Or I can catch up as soon as ABC is behind me. When you’re never-not-working there is always something else next.

Carpe diem, baby.

Physical Ed

We've decided that our P.E. will consist of training for a 5K in April. J and I will walk-run-walk to get in fighting shape for a fun run. I think we have it narrowed down to the ASH Dash Bunny Run. This run seems like a low key (re)introduction to running.

To be sure, I hate running. We're doing this because he needs to have a goal or he'll put off whatever "it" is and never get it done. I think I need a timeline too. Training for a fun (ha) run has a definite date of completion. There is an open and closing bracket to the goal.

We'll be using the Couch to 5K plan to train. I started on this program a couple of years ago and it was relatively painless. I like that it gives clearly defined goals and doesn't try to get me to do more than my totally inactive self can manage.

Wish us luck!

2/1/2012 Update - I feel that it's just as important to report on the misses as well as the hits in this game. (I'm going with the sports analogy because we're talking about P.E. here, but I promise not to overdo it. Unless it's too late now.) We haven't walked one darn day. I'm going to chalk it up to end of the fiscal year/quarter/month that requires my attention so my life has been unbalanced. Still the decision is in tact and all we can do is get up and try again. I'll let you know.

Rearranging

I work from home. My son schools from home. My family lives at home. That's a lot of activity for one domicile. It's time to rearrange.

A few years ago I got two large stainless steel shelving units that went in my craft room/office. The shelves were to hold fabric when I got organized someday. I've tried. It's a work in progress. Still education waits for no one and my children need a space to learn.

Today we spent time swapping shelves from my fabric-bomb and paper-cyclone hit office to the kitchen. There is so much more room in the kitchen and dining area. I'm able to put my large baking pans and cookbooks on the shelves and still have room for cookie cutters, Christmas china and then boxes of homeschooling supplies.

Last summer my husband and I gave up our master bedroom for my business. I've spent quite a bit of time setting up my workspace. J has helped since he's home with me. I think that's fine because it gives a better grasp of what I do working from home. So now J needs a clean, flat surface to do his work. Enter the dining room table. I think the dining area is the best place for school work that isn't online because I'm able to monitor what he's accomplishing.

Sometimes you have to make things work. Before and after pictures to come soon.

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Write, J, Write

This week we were going to focus on a journal writing routine. I created three pages of journal prompts and the plan was for him to write 15 minutes a day on a private blog. I didn't want him to worry about grammar or spelling. This is to be an exercise in getting thoughts from his brain to "paper". Back in public school he was tested for dysgraphia, but wasn't diagnosed with it. I think there is something there or maybe his handwriting is a byproduct of the ADD somehow. So I figured typing out his thoughts in the form of a journal about subjects he may be interest in would help motivate him to write.

Not so much.

He writes for 3 minutes and then is done. Or so he thinks. I tell him more detail, but he says that's all he has to say. Alright, Forrest Gump. I don't want to push him too hard because if it becomes a battle of wills he will dig his heels in and we're stuck. I'm thinking about backing off the writing and focus more on reading. It will build his vocabulary (which is already pretty impressive) and he'll get a feel for the structure of the written word.

I'm a big believer in the watch-one-do-one-teach-one method of learning. Maybe we're still on the watch-one part of the equation? I still want to keep the routine of the journaling because it gives me a benchmark, but I think I'll stop stressing about the product.

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Field Trippin'

Today we went on our first homeschool field trip. The Long Center hosted the Architects of Air exhibit this week and I took both my boys to see it.

Wow. I didn't really know what to expect, but from the pictures it looked like a series of bouncy houses and that can't be bad.

Outside was a sight to behold, but inside blew me away. Inside are these rooms of color and design. It's meant for meditation and reflection (yeah, I know that sounds very woo-woo). The plastic that shapes the exhibit is .5 mm thick so everyone has to be very careful. We had to remove our shoes and thank goodness I remembered to bring warm wool socks. Some participants had only shoes sans socks, and although it was a lovely sunny day in downtown Austin, it was quite chilly. 

Back to the Architects of Air though.

Inside the dome the light came through the plastic in streams provided by the sun. So we learned a little about solar light.  We were so impressed with the the color and design. I think the boys made a connection about how art and science can work together. They still think in a very compartmentalized way as though if you like art you can't also be interested in science.

J looking like a Superhero.

See those lines are lit by the sun. We're in the red dome, but in other pictures the colors don't come out in photos the same as in real life, which is part why it's so interesting.

I took Z out of school to go on the field trip. That must be why he looks a little green, sick donchaknow. Actually I love this picture. It's on my phone's wallpaper now.

So that's our first official homeschool adventure. I can't wait to see where else this road leads us.

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Whew! That Was Exhausting!

The first week kicked my butt.

There I said it.

Of course the timing of beginning to homeschool could not have been worse. You see, I'm a bookkeeper. Yes, I work from home so there is some flexibility, but the work still needs to get done. And January is the month bookkeepers dread. We have to create reports for not only the fourth quarter, but also the year. Then we must produce many forms the IRS requires of businesses including payroll, sales tax, W4's and 1099's. It's always crazy in January and this year I threw a side of homeschooling on my already heaping plate full of crazy.

Even with the difficult circumstance I can say that I really have enjoyed homeschooling. I love knowing exactly what my child is learning. I'm in tune with his lessons and what he's accomplished. That was a major obstacle in public school. It was hard to get information on his assignments. Now that I'm the one assigning the work, I know.

For his part he says he loving homeschooling. He likes that he can double up on an assignment and then take time off when we have an opportunity to school out in the world (field trip, lessons on laptops at a coffee shop). He likes our new routine of eating lunch while watching "Gilmore Girls". I like that we are creating traditions.

There are some things that bug me, but that's a story for another time.

A Bite of the Elephant At A Time

My plan is to introduce another layer of homeschooling each week. The first week it was the core curriculum process. Last week we blended in electives - violin, P.E. and chess club. This week we will start our journal writing.

We've set up an online journal for J to write daily. Back in the day I used a spiral for a similar journaling activity. While he was in a bricks & mortar (b&m) school he used composition notebooks. Something I've decided to modify in our homeschool is that J can type his journal writing. He's been tested for dysgraphia and I was told that he doesn't have it, but I wonder. His writing hand doesn't seem to receive the message his brain is sending. When I ask him questions to test his comprehension, J is able to articulate the answer. What comes out handwritten on the page is not representative of his best work.

I have spent the last week collecting journal prompts, and until he he feels comfortable picking his own topics, I'll will e-mail his subject each day. Okay, I cheated a little and set up a week of scheduled messages to go out one each day. Technology in the (home)classroom, baby. At the moment my goal is for him to exercise the brain "muscle" that gets the thought out of his mind into the written word. He has to write for 15 minutes. He doesn't have have to stay on topic, but he has to write something. Copy a poem, make a list, tell the chicken a story, it doesn't matter as long as he is writing.

If you have an idea for teenage journal prompts, please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

Mama P.

Meeting & Mixing, Homeschool Clubs

We attended our first chess club meeting this week. Wow. Getting started was a little crazy because it was the first day back after the holidays and because they were trying a new pairing process. I'm sure the other reason was because there were parents who withdrew their kids over the break and are seeing if the chess club is a good fit. At least that's why we showed up to play.

Both J and I were overwhelmed. There were at least 25 tables with 2 pairings of players at each table (4 kids). While not every table was full there we a LOT of homeschooled kids in that room. It's hard to believe how many people are choosing this path. Close to 100 students were playing chess and even more were on the playground, reading or working on other projects. I was able to connect with a few other moms to talk about possibly creating a co-op or park day type of thing in our area for our kids (all of us had 10-13 year old boys).

I was overwhelmed at the first meeting, but I think both J and I will do much better the next time knowing what to expect. Anything new is hard to assimilate. Knowing that is one of the reasons I'm only introducing a task, activity or process at a time to our routine.

Mama P.

Starting Electives

Violin class resumed this week. We're using the same instructor we used when J was in the orchestra in public school. We LOVE Ms. Lauren. She is so enthusiastic and really works well with the preteen-teen set (and let's face it, they can be decidedly unlovable at times). We've set up a music space for J to practice. Daily. Right now they're working on "Hey Jude" by The Beatles.

He started Physical Education this week as well. We've been members of the YMCA before we homeschooled (I used to work there in fact) so we just signed him up for the Fit Start class. It's mostly orientation, but it will get him off to a good start. And us out of the house.

J is enjoying his core curriculum though it's not yet challenging him. That probably because I had him start at the beginning of year to get a gauge of where he was at and to see if there were any gaps in his learning that I needed to address. He's breezing through the lessons right now. Still the whole point is to find our rhythm to this homeschool gig so I'm good with where we are at for now.

I do worry that he's still so very "institutionalized". He asks permission to take a break or get a drink. I did tell him he need not ask me about going to the restroom. In fact, please don't. I know it will take time to lose the idea that he's got this straight line to follow. One of the larger reasons I did choose to homeschool is because I've seen the decline in critical thinking skills with students. I swear some of the students would stand out, look at the sky and drown if someone didn't tell them to come in from the rain. The more I was around it in the classroom with students, the more I became concerned that my offspring's brains were becoming Swiss cheese.

Tomorrow is Chess Club. It should be an adventure!

Mama P.

The First Friday

We only had two class days this week. My one and only student enjoyed his morning lessons and did well on his assessments. The nice thing about using an online curriculum is that J is able to do the lessons independently. That was a consideration because I do work from home and January is a busy month for me.

We are still working on a routine, of course, the "elective" classes haven't even started yet so I'm guessing we're going to have be flexible through this learning curve. Chess club starts next week. He starts back up with violin lessons as well. Dad registered him for a fitness class at the YMCA.

All in all I'd say a great first week.

And So It Begins

Today was the first actual day of school for my homeschooler. I must admit I really enjoyed the process, though I know the "honeymoon" period will wear off soon. Add to the first that today is also my HSers birthday. My baby, my firstborn is 13-years-old. So how could I be too hard on the first day of school AND his birthday??

I began our routine with morning meeting. We discussed the rough schedule and our expectations for the day. I made it clear that we are in a discovery process and what we do today may not be what our days look like on other days. He seemed to go with the flow.

Our morning meeting ended at 7:45 and we spent the next hour taking care of housekeeping. I had J clean off his desk, make his bed (which he's always been responsible for when he went to traditional school), feed the livestock, unload the dishwasher and sort the laundry. We'll call that portion of the program Home Economics.

We, and by we I mean me, have decided to use an online curriculum for the core subjects. I'm not comfortable saying *which* program yet because how can you have a full appreciate after only one day? I will say that the learning curve is short. I'm cautiously impressed. I promise I will write a full review of the program once I've sat with it awhile. I owe us and you that much.

It took J about 2.5 hours to complete a lesson in each subject, plus an extension lesson in his least favorite subject, Language Arts. I hold a B.A. in Communication so I'm baffled why neither of my children are at all interested in writing. I made my living writing for several years before they were born. How could not one iota of my prose rubbed off on them?

So with Math, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts out of the way for the day we went for a birthday lunch. The Austin Pizza Garden is a local restaurant in a Texas landmark building that used to be a brewery. Awesome a little Texas History include with the meal.

After lunch the Birthday Boy and I went to get his new smartphone. We told him that if he could keep up with his low-tech messaging phone for the duration of the contract that we would get him a smartphone for his 13th birthday. Who knew time would pass so quickly? So we made good on our promise and got him the same phone I have, which I love. Her name is Betty.

One of the reasons we wanted to take J out of traditional school is because even though he is on a "high tech" campus the expectations regarding use of technology are practically prehistoric. We want him to use a digital calendar (both my husband and I are on Google mail, calendar and docs) and the school wouldn't allow him to use a smartphone.  They wanted him to use a written agenda, which had heretofore been a brilliant failure given that J had not written one word in that spiral notebook. Not. One. Word. As Dr. Phil would say, "how's that working for you?" Not so much.

My younger, public school kid went back to his routine, but I think he's still undecided about his school future. We've totally upended Z's matriculation plans so I'll give him props for going with the flow, especially since this boy does not dig change. He's observing his brother's progress. I know he wants to finish the last year of elementary and I'm okay with that since I do love his teachers. I just don't know how ready I am to give him over to the belly of the beast from whom I just plucked his brother. We'll see.

Tomorrow we have more online curriculum and a documentary on World War II ships. He's also going to the grocery store with me. He gets to hold the coupon binder and average prices to help locate the best deal for the money. I feel just like Dr. Seuss letting him know, "oh the places we'll go".

Proximo tiempo.

Mama P.