It's Monday, David has been on his adventure for over a week now, and we are going to attempt to get back into a routine.
What is a routine? In our world, that means getting school done in the morning, and unschooling the rest of the time. Even though I love the idea of unschooling, the OCD part of me thinks that they should have some work that involves actual sit-down time to learn things that are hard to learn while unschooling.
Meg learns very well by unschooling things that involve grammar and spelling. I don't teach her spelling, but she just "knows" how to spell. I rarely catch her spelling something incorrectly. Sami has a ways to go in this area, but she was a late reader. I'm just tickled that she's reading and enjoying it!
The sit down part today will involve:
-Math. I'm going to start pushing them a little more in this area. I've been letting them coast because Meg protests so much and it's just too hard to fight her some days, and Sami takes forever by constantly erasing and rewriting her numbers to look "perfect." Dog-gone OCD. Today I took my big-girl pill today and I am going to find a way that will help Meg enjoy math and help Sami relax her standards. They are both good at it, but I am tired of it being so exhausting!
-Grammar. I think proper grammar is important, so we have been using worksheets I found online. Capitalization is the latest topic.
-Logic. A broad area! That's what makes it fun. I use all sorts of worksheets and puzzles that make them THINK. We've been using pattern pages where they have to finish the patterns presented.
-Science. I'm not that happy with what I'm using right now, but it's what we're trying out. It's a public-school book about the body and health. It's just plain old boring. What we've been doing is reading a couple of pages, then going through a "fun" book about the body to supplement. They would rather learn fun and gross things about the body instead of memorizing facts.
-History. We're going to wrap up learning about Thomas Edison. We love living history books.
-Reading. I encourage reading as much as possible. I let them read whatever they want for XX amount of time. Sometimes I have to make Megan pick something besides the instruction booklets for video games, but they love to read. When I tell them it's time to read, they go running for the books and they read past their prescribed time. I love to catch them reading for pleasure throughout the day! I'm also reading the "39 Clues" series to them, the "Sir Gadabout" series, and the "How to Train Your Dragon series" (again).
After school today, I want to head to the parents' house and paint their window frames and deck. Remind me to take some Tylenol before I start for my aching body!
Yesterday was their day off, but it wasn't mine. I did the obligatory dishes, laundry and house cleaning. I also cleaned the garage, mowed the lawn, sprayed weed killer over what felt like a square mile, finished the parents' taxes, and made home-made biscuits and gravy for dinner. It was a busy but satisfying day. Dave's parents came over after their mini trip to visit Pat's sister. They bought the girls an outfit each (Sami actually liked it!) and I got a pretty blouse. Thank God for great in-laws!
The busier we stay, the less we fret over Dave being gone. We miss him, but I'm keeping us busy so we don't dwell on it. I keep my chin up for the girls, and when they (especially Sami) get clingy, we ramp it up and get to playing and get distracted again.
By they way, the MY TAXES ARE DONE!!!!! What a nightmare.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Time to Start This Up Again...
Since my DH is in Iraq now, I thought this would be a good way to keep him up to date on what his homeschooling family is doing back home in Indiana. Life has been so busy, that I just haven't taken the time to add to this blog since some time in 2008. I hope this isn't the only one in 2010!
I Facebook a lot, and that has taken the place of blogging for me. The trouble with Facebook is that it leaves very little room for detail. And some of those details just aren't Facebook material.
So what has happened recently?
1. Dave has taken a civilian job in IRAQ. He will be gone about a year, but does get to come home every four months for leave. He will be working along side American soldiers. Why would someone work so far from his family? After much praying and discussion, we think that this is what God has intended for us to get us where we need to be financially, and by extension, emotionally. Stress about money is a terrible thing, even if we don't fight about it. Money stress is always lurking over our shoulders and is keeping us from being in an emotionally secure place where we can just relax and enjoy life. So temporarily we are trading our financial/emotional stress for just emotional stress. While money isn't everything, this job will get us where we need to be for the rest of our lives. If you know ANYTHING about Dave Ramsey, you know exactly what we are talking about.
We have a strong and loving marriage. We are looking at this next year as an adventure and we are not feeling sorry for ourselves. That's not to say that we won't miss each other. We definately will. But we will get through this.
2. The girls miss their Daddy (he's a real hands-on kind of Dad), but they are strong and they are adjusting well. They stress out a little easier right now, and things that normally don't bother them have been causing emotional distress ( small meltdowns). All in all, they have done remarkably well.
3. Homeschooling will continue, but I don't know if I want to continue as normal. If you know my family at all, we are half unschool/half traditional homeschool. I think I am going to kick it up a notch and see just where we can be. I dont' want to impress anyone else, or keep up with anyone else, but I think we can be further than where we are today. It will be harder, because my honey-do list is now my own to-do list, but we'll get it done.
I Facebook a lot, and that has taken the place of blogging for me. The trouble with Facebook is that it leaves very little room for detail. And some of those details just aren't Facebook material.
So what has happened recently?
1. Dave has taken a civilian job in IRAQ. He will be gone about a year, but does get to come home every four months for leave. He will be working along side American soldiers. Why would someone work so far from his family? After much praying and discussion, we think that this is what God has intended for us to get us where we need to be financially, and by extension, emotionally. Stress about money is a terrible thing, even if we don't fight about it. Money stress is always lurking over our shoulders and is keeping us from being in an emotionally secure place where we can just relax and enjoy life. So temporarily we are trading our financial/emotional stress for just emotional stress. While money isn't everything, this job will get us where we need to be for the rest of our lives. If you know ANYTHING about Dave Ramsey, you know exactly what we are talking about.
We have a strong and loving marriage. We are looking at this next year as an adventure and we are not feeling sorry for ourselves. That's not to say that we won't miss each other. We definately will. But we will get through this.
2. The girls miss their Daddy (he's a real hands-on kind of Dad), but they are strong and they are adjusting well. They stress out a little easier right now, and things that normally don't bother them have been causing emotional distress ( small meltdowns). All in all, they have done remarkably well.
3. Homeschooling will continue, but I don't know if I want to continue as normal. If you know my family at all, we are half unschool/half traditional homeschool. I think I am going to kick it up a notch and see just where we can be. I dont' want to impress anyone else, or keep up with anyone else, but I think we can be further than where we are today. It will be harder, because my honey-do list is now my own to-do list, but we'll get it done.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Taking a break
I'm glad we unschool, and I'm glad we've taken a little vacation...especially at this time of year. As with almost every family, we are full to the hilt with cookie baking, shopping (online, of course), and family get-togethers.
The little ladies had their singing recital last Saturday. I could not go (I was sooooo sad) because of my Aunt's funeral. My lovely husband escorted Sami and Megan to their recital. He met Grandma and Grandpa Newlin there.
Dave said that Sami volunteered to go first. Where did that come from??? I was so pleased to hear that! I didn't know she had it in her! She sand, "Do You Hear What I Hear" and was a lovely singer, of course. She is so gifted in that area. Megan went next and sang, "Silent Night." For the grand finale, they sang, "The Chipmunk Song" with dance moves. Grandma cried, of course.
If I can get my laptop hooked up to the internet, I'll post the pictures he took. ***NOTE: I didn't get the pictures uploaded fast enough. Sami got ahold of the camera and accidentally deleted them all. :(
The little ladies had their singing recital last Saturday. I could not go (I was sooooo sad) because of my Aunt's funeral. My lovely husband escorted Sami and Megan to their recital. He met Grandma and Grandpa Newlin there.
Dave said that Sami volunteered to go first. Where did that come from??? I was so pleased to hear that! I didn't know she had it in her! She sand, "Do You Hear What I Hear" and was a lovely singer, of course. She is so gifted in that area. Megan went next and sang, "Silent Night." For the grand finale, they sang, "The Chipmunk Song" with dance moves. Grandma cried, of course.
If I can get my laptop hooked up to the internet, I'll post the pictures he took. ***NOTE: I didn't get the pictures uploaded fast enough. Sami got ahold of the camera and accidentally deleted them all. :(
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Drive-By Media
The drive-by media got theirs...again. How long before they quit trying to smear people just for ratings? How long before they quit trying to indoctrinate us and push their agenda on us?
Friday, November 7, 2008
Ramblings
Here is a little bit of everything...
We have two deer in the freezer! Yay! We gave the third one away. Part of the joy of deer hunting is sharing what you get with friends and family so that they can enjoy it, too. It's a blessing.
We had a couple of calm weeks with not much running, but that all changed (again) and we've been running around again. All those ankle-biter appointments, errands (some self imposed, some imposed by DH), family get-togethers...it all adds up. Everything we did had importance attached to it, but it is still a major burn out instigator.
The girls' learning is coming along beautifully. I love being their teacher! Everything we do in learning brings me joy. If they aren't joyful about it, then I adjust my approach until they get excited about it, too. I don't like force feeding them anything that they aren't happy with it...but it's amazing how sugar coating something and making it taste like candy suddenly makes it a big treat. I never learned psychological warfare when I was in the army, but I sure learned it as a commander! :) Some of my soldiers were just big kids, after all. :)
Another two weeks of running and all should be calm again, but then that gets us right into the Christmas season. No one is ever busy at Christmas, right?
We have two deer in the freezer! Yay! We gave the third one away. Part of the joy of deer hunting is sharing what you get with friends and family so that they can enjoy it, too. It's a blessing.
We had a couple of calm weeks with not much running, but that all changed (again) and we've been running around again. All those ankle-biter appointments, errands (some self imposed, some imposed by DH), family get-togethers...it all adds up. Everything we did had importance attached to it, but it is still a major burn out instigator.
The girls' learning is coming along beautifully. I love being their teacher! Everything we do in learning brings me joy. If they aren't joyful about it, then I adjust my approach until they get excited about it, too. I don't like force feeding them anything that they aren't happy with it...but it's amazing how sugar coating something and making it taste like candy suddenly makes it a big treat. I never learned psychological warfare when I was in the army, but I sure learned it as a commander! :) Some of my soldiers were just big kids, after all. :)
Another two weeks of running and all should be calm again, but then that gets us right into the Christmas season. No one is ever busy at Christmas, right?
Monday, October 20, 2008
Finally slowing things down...phew! But we're still busy?
Cutting out all the extra running has been WONDERFUL! It's been so much more relaxing and pleasant around the house. We still do the things that we love, and we still do extras, just not crazy extra.
We went on a field trip to Brown County State Park last Friday. We got to explore the Discovery Trail (which was very fun) and we got to see the Nature Center and see birds up close. We then had a picnic lunch and played at a playground.
While at the park, a nice older couple sat next to us with their children and grandchildren. They started up a conversation with me, and turns out they were retired school teachers. I don't know what they thought about our rowdy group of homeschoolers, but I think offended them and scared them away because their granddaughter started bawling when one of our parents accidentally scared her. They left right after that without so much as a good-bye. Oh well.
We went to Apple Works today, and got to tour the facilities, pick our own apples, go on a hayride, pet animals at the petting zoo, and pick our own pumpkins. How fun was that??? Even the yellow jackets enjoyed it.
We went on a field trip to Brown County State Park last Friday. We got to explore the Discovery Trail (which was very fun) and we got to see the Nature Center and see birds up close. We then had a picnic lunch and played at a playground.
While at the park, a nice older couple sat next to us with their children and grandchildren. They started up a conversation with me, and turns out they were retired school teachers. I don't know what they thought about our rowdy group of homeschoolers, but I think offended them and scared them away because their granddaughter started bawling when one of our parents accidentally scared her. They left right after that without so much as a good-bye. Oh well.
We went to Apple Works today, and got to tour the facilities, pick our own apples, go on a hayride, pet animals at the petting zoo, and pick our own pumpkins. How fun was that??? Even the yellow jackets enjoyed it.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy!
I finally did it. I got too many activities scheduled and I am officially tired of running around and keeping the tires on my car hot. There are so many things that we like to do, and there are so many things that are necessary, and then there are all sorts of commitments made that can't be avoided.
Groceries, Food pick-ups, museums, HS group, music, gymnastics, library, story time, hair cuts, dentist, orthodontist, playdates, concerts, park visits...the list goes on and on. It might not be so bad except that we live out in the middle of nowhere, which means we spend countless hours in the car just to go somewhere. The nearest activity we go to is 15 minutes away, and the furthest is 45 minutes.
I'm going to sit back and take a hard look at everything going on in our lives and see where we can cut back on "extra" activities and see what is truly important to us and what is merely nice to do. Even though we "primarily" unschool (see previous post), I think that running ourselves ragged is contrary to an enriching learning environment.
Even when we listen to books on CD in the car, and even if they learn something at every location we go (that's the nature of unschooling), we end up exhausted and don't want to put forth any more effort than is absolutely necessary. We end up too tired to do the things in life that we really love, like walking through the yard, painting, crafting, snuggling, reading, hunting, etc.
Where do I draw the line?
.
Groceries, Food pick-ups, museums, HS group, music, gymnastics, library, story time, hair cuts, dentist, orthodontist, playdates, concerts, park visits...the list goes on and on. It might not be so bad except that we live out in the middle of nowhere, which means we spend countless hours in the car just to go somewhere. The nearest activity we go to is 15 minutes away, and the furthest is 45 minutes.
I'm going to sit back and take a hard look at everything going on in our lives and see where we can cut back on "extra" activities and see what is truly important to us and what is merely nice to do. Even though we "primarily" unschool (see previous post), I think that running ourselves ragged is contrary to an enriching learning environment.
Even when we listen to books on CD in the car, and even if they learn something at every location we go (that's the nature of unschooling), we end up exhausted and don't want to put forth any more effort than is absolutely necessary. We end up too tired to do the things in life that we really love, like walking through the yard, painting, crafting, snuggling, reading, hunting, etc.
Where do I draw the line?
.
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