Back to (Home) School 2014

Oh my goodness, what a throw-back. I didn't write a post like this last August, though I really should have. So, my last "back to (home) school" picture is from two years ago. I plan to make this an annual event, now.

Before I give you this year's picture, have a look at the past:

Back to (home) School 2012

In the 2012 "back to (home) school" entry, I wrote about the twins (S on the left and C in the middle) keeping each other entertained, but also distracting each other and relying on each other for answers. Those things are all still true. They're starting to diverge and have their own opinions, ideas and answers. They've also both managed to learn, grown and succeed despite using each other as a crutch at times.

C and S are seven this year. They're into gymnastics, reading, writing, and playing on their new play set. C is more of a leader while S is a great listener who takes direction well, but  both girls still sometimes let their emotions get the best of them when something goes wrong. M, who is now four, is a bit of a loose cannon, just like her sisters were when they were four. It's much harder to get her to sit still and learn, so she will be my challenge this year. She is starting more structured lessons. She'll be starting to learn phonics and reading specifically.

Another thing that echoes from 2012 to now: My kids asked if they were ever going to go to "real" school. Today, I was trimming their hair and talking about taking this year's picture and C said, "I want to go to a real school."

I said, "That's probably not going to happen."

She asked, "Why?"

I said, "A lot of reasons."

She demanded I tell her at least one and I thought, "haven't we gone over this before?"

"We're better equipped to teach you." I responded.

"Why?" She continued.

"Because we know you better than any teacher ever could, and we have only our kids to look after and teach. Most public schools have 20 or so kids with one teacher. It's hard for them to know each kid and teach each kid at their own pace."

"And you only have us." She realized.

"Yes. But you are technically part of the local school district. You could take classes there if you ever need to learn something we can't teach you, like if you need access to a lab to learn chemistry or something." I added.

"YAY!"

back to (home) school 2014

Back to (home) School 2014

For Fun: Me on my first day back to college. (8/18/14)

This post is part of the "NOT back-to-homeschool" blog hop through iHomeschool Network

Where Do We Learn?

I want to tell you a little bit about our classroom. 

I remember the four walls of elementary classes. Teachers try their best to make them exciting with bulletin boards and posters, but it doesn't compare to being outside. Being in my house doesn't compare to being outside, either.

Because we don't have a super structured curriculum, we tend to do our learning where and when we want. However, there are drawbacks to that, too. Sometimes it's hard to tell when they're learning. We can't quantify it because it isn't a set number of hours of the day. It's all day, at random. We also don't stop in the summer. I dial it back on the obvious lessons (we occasionally do worksheets and flash cards  and such during the traditional school year), but we still immerse them in life experiences and hands-on learning and offer answers to their many questions whenever we can.

This summer, we learned:

On the Play Set

While Building the Play Set

At the Renaissance Faire

To Shoot a Bow 

At the Lake

On a Boat

At Grandma Julie's Studio

To Fish

A Bit About Frogs

At Grandma Julie's House

On a Plane

In the Play Room

On a Bus

At Yellowstone Park

A Bit About Horses

On a Trampoline

On a Hike

On the Road

When Mom Got a Shot 

At the Zoo 

At Pride Fest

On the Computer

On the XBox

In the Garden 

On a Trail

On the Couch

While Playing Games

While We Were Sick

At the Table 

On a Walk

While Taking Stuff Apart

This post is part of the "NOT back-to-homeschool" blog hop through iHomeschool Network

Curriculum 2014

While I was on vacation in Minnesota, I received my letter from the school district confirming our homeschool status for this year. This is our second official year of homeschool, though I've been homeschooling them their whole lives if you ask me. This year, the twins (7) and M (4) are all considered by the state to be homeschooling.

Our homeschool method would probably be considered "unschool" primarily. There are some subjects I put more deliberate emphasis on, though. For example, when the twins were four, I put concentrated effort into teaching them to read. Learning to read helps open the door for self-education. Now, they read chapter books that are, in some cases, intended for kids three or more years older.

This year, I will be teaching M to read. We've worked on letter recognition and a bit of phonics leading up to this. She has a hard time sitting still and paying attention, which was never a problem for her older sisters.

The twins are reading chapter books a few years beyond their age range. They're also learning to use knives in the kitchen, and tools (including power tools) outside. This year, we'll work more on telling time, mental arithmetic, and multiplication and division. They have inherited their grandma's old macbook with which they will be using Khan Academy and other educational sites.

All three girls are in gymnastics. The twins just tried out for pre-team lessons but didn't make it. Still, their coach says their skill level is such that they should move on to the next level.  They'll try out for pre-team again when they're ready.

I will be going back to school starting the 18th, to work on a biology degree. For my language requirement, I'll be taking ASL, which I'm very excited about. My kids already know a bit of sign language and I intend to share my lessons with them.

I believe that ASL, art, and science lessons will crop up pretty organically around our house, so the table below lists only the topics I feel need more special focus. Of course, because we have a rather unstructured homeschool, we may cover much more than I have planned here.

M	Math: Counting Shapes Seasons Months Beginning adding and subtracting	Gym: Junior Girls	Language: Reading Phonics Letter drawing	Geography: Mapping Our Neighborhood	Life Skills: Scissors Glue Making Bed Tying Shoes Cleaning Up
S&C	Math: Mental Math Multiplication Division Telling Time Number Lines Measuring Money	Gym: Girls	Language: Reading Writing Story Telling Punctuation	Geography: Mapping Our Neighborhood Our State Our Country Our Continent Other Continents	Life Skills: Using Knives Doing Laundry Washing Dishes Sweeping Mopping Gardening

This post is part of the "NOT back-to-homeschool" blog hop through iHomeschool Network

He doesn't share

Cub is sick, so we write a blog together

This is a topic that has been on my mind for several weeks, now. Leading up to our family vacation in Montana, I knew this was going to present some awkward situations. Sometimes it makes me feel like my toddler is a jerk or a heathen, or I'm a bad mom. I don't know what to say when the issue arrises, but I can feel a sinking uneasiness almost every time I don't make my kids share.

At seven and f
our, my girls all tend to share organically. I don't force them to, but I have suggested it, "if you wanted to be nice." They can be reasoned with and they understand that they can always play with their own toys when company is gone. Plus, not one of them has ever been an only child. The twins were born first, then M, then cub. So, he has three older siblings to quibble with. Still, toddlers don't always like to share.

The cub is 18 months old and he is learning how to manipulate the world around him. He wants to flip light switches, push buttons, climb things and play music. When he discovers a new thing he can do, he wants to push the limits. Does it always have the same outcome? What if I do it a little differently? I watch him test things every day, including testing us with his demands.

He says "Why-uh" when he wants water and, "Nack" for a snack. After a messy meal he asks for a bath. He knows how to ask for milk, cookies, cheese, or a nap. He can ask to go outside. He can tell me when he has pooped, but usually only if I ask him first. If he doesn't know the word for something he wants, he points, then signs "please" and says "pee".

He wants to know how things work, whether it's a toy or a social puzzle. He want to experience everything and experiment. I don't want to limit his experience by demanding that he share something novel as soon as another toddler shows interest.

It's hard to explain this to every parent who says, "you should share." or "she said please." Even if your child has been very polite (and I sincerely congratulate you on teaching you toddler early manners), I still won't make my children share. I also won't make your child share with mine.

I understand and truly believe in the value of sharing, but not when it is forced. I do not want to teach my children that their desires are less important than those of their peers. No, you don't have to give up that toy just because someone else asked nicely. But I also don't want to teach them that they can have whatever they want just by asking. There are much more resourceful solutions to the problem of wanting something someone else has.

You could trade. You could just wait patiently. You could offer to play with the toy together. And, perhaps most importantly, you could just accept that maybe you won't get to play with it, and that's okay. You can find something else to play with.

I know, I'm going against the grain. Parenting is difficult. You make your choices based on what information is available to you. You make what you consider to be educated decisions and you hope for the best. If my kids were in public school and day care, they would probably be taught to share, and that would also be fine.

So far, I haven't had to worry much about people blatantly judging me when my son doesn't share. I just wanted to get this out there so people who have met/might meet my son will understand. As an added benefit, maybe some strangers will read this and understand that we are not so different. Please don't judge parents too harshly for their well-intentioned parenting decisions just because they didn't conform to yours.

Orientation and Immunizations

In my last post, I told you I'm going back to school and I took my placement exams. I got my results back and reaffirmed that I really need a refresher in the math department.

What I forgot to mention is my major will be biology. I decided on my major before I chose a college. I chose MSU Denver because they have a conservation biology and a wildlife biology focus for masters programs and I haven't decided on my masters plans just yet. I'm not even sure if I will pursue my masters at MSU. Papa has suggested we move to Australia for that portion, but that seems prohibitively expensive and complicated (but I could still homeschool the kids in Australia!).

Anyway, I had my orientation on Monday. I showed up nervous and kind of hungry because non-traditional student orientation is from 5pm to 8pm and I normally have dinner at 6. I did eat before I left, but a nervous, half-hour drive must have burned a lot of calories. Unfortunately, the food court and all of the various shops in the student union building (where orientation was held) were closed for lack of evening business traffic in the summer.

It's hard to learn much when you're hungry, but they did give me a folder of information to take home.

I got some holds removed from my account. I even signed up for American Sign Language 1, my first english class and Intro to Sociology. I'm still trying to determine what my fourth class will be for the first semester.

I spent yesterday and today calling seven different places in an attempt to track down my vaccination records. The last doctor's office I went to said my insurance provider would have them. My insurance provider said to call the doctor's office. I called my high school. They said to call the last college I attended. My college didn't have them because I was an online student. I called the health department where I got the shots in question and they said they only keep records until the person is 23. I'm 26. I called the last health department that gave me a shot and they only had that one shot on record, not the ones MSU wants proof of.

A couple of the people I talked to throughout that process suggested I ask about a titer test. It's a blood test to determine your immunity to certain things. MSU's health center said a titer test showing positive immunity would suffice for my records... but titer tests are uncomfortably expensive, especially when you consider that it could show levels below requirement (even though I've definitely had the shots) and then I'd have to have the vaccines anyway.

Ultimately, after much confusion and phone time and some help from Papa, I determined that I will have to get my MMR vaccines updated through the county health department and it will cost me less than $30 to do so. I have to have two shots before I start classes, and I have to get them at least one month apart. I better get started soon.

Going Back to School

I'm not really a risk taker. I once was, when I was small. My mom and sister could tell you all about the years when I spent my time flipping myself over the side of my crib or finding new ways to cross the monkey bars and climbing everything. Things happened and consequences started to scare me. Having kids was the final straw. When you've got other people to be accountable for, you hedge your bets... if you make bets at all.

Anyway, my acquired fear of failure made me hesitate (for years) to go to college. Right around the time I turned 21, I started classes for a visual communications degree at some expensive, online, nationally-accredited, not-quite-a-scam-but-close-enough college I won't tell you the name of. There was eventually a class action lawsuit against them.

I chose online school because I had the twins and I thought it would help me achieve my goals without having to leave my kids at home. I had no job and no idea what else to do for child care. What a cop-out, though. How do you take a physics lab class online?!

I dropped out after two of the three years that would have gotten me my bachelors degree. I couldn't stick to it once it really started to feel like a big, fake, waste of my money (even though my GPA was great and I was repeatedly on the president's list). Now, I'm 26 and I finally decided to go back.

It took a lot of support from Papa. The sad thing is, most of the support I needed was someone to tell me it was okay if I failed. How could I go back to school with all of the pressure of failure weighing down on me? What if I don't make a career out of my degree? My biggest stress was that I might drop out without a degree again and only waste everyone's time. Was it worth it to go back to college and leave my kids home if there was a chance I might not finish?

Papa said, "Yes". Education is valuable for education's sake. It's okay if I don't completely follow through. It's okay if I don't start a career. It's good for the kids to see me investing in myself even if I don't turn it into something lucrative. But he believes in me and he thinks I can and will.

Selfie on campus

Yesterday, I went to the campus for the first time and took my placement exams. The night before the test, I told Papa I was nervous and scared and, "should I have studied?" Of course I shouldn't have studied. The whole point of a placement exam is to figure out if I need a refresher in the core classes.

The morning of the test, I forgot to eat breakfast. I left my purse at home and had to come back when I noticed (after I got out of my neighborhood). I nearly ran out of gas on the way to the campus. I had to get off of the highway and fuel up at a truck stop with the worst traffic I've ever seen at a gas station. Then, I couldn't figure out how to get back on the highway, so I had to drive through the city on the surface roads.

When I got to the campus, I accidentally parked at the opposite corner of the campus from the testing office. I walked to the building and got lost inside... had to ask where the testing office was. I got to the testing office and the staff asked if I had made an appointment. No. I had not made an appointment. The website, the email, and the letters they had sent said I didn't need an appointment to take the placement exams. I even called and asked a few days in advance and the staff said I didn't need an appointment.

Guy says, "yeah, but it's finals week..." etc.
I say, "I just called a couple of days ago and was told I didn't need an appointment."
Guy says, "These people behind you have appointments and we're pretty full, aren't we?"
Other guy says, "No."

Long story short, I took my exams... the whole while wondering if I was going to make a scene when I passed out from hunger. It seemed inevitable and only a matter of when: either mid-exam, resulting in an embarrassing falling-out-of-chair scene, or as soon as I got out of the chair.

Then my phone was almost dead and I had no idea how to get home without my GPS. I got almost home on 7% battery power before it officially died. Good thing I know how to get home once I get close enough.

In conclusion: Success. Hilarious and ridiculous, messy (as usual) success.

*Note: I apologize to anyone who read this in the first 12 or so hours after it was posted. I tried to edit it with my 17-month-old son sitting next to me. You can imagine how that goes.

Ham and Veggie Chowder

I got this recipe from a recipe book my mom has called "slow cooker favorites". It's super easy, visually appealing, and delicious. It's also full of vegetables, so who can complain? I didn't want to add anything to mine (not even salt and pepper!) but salt, pepper, grated cheese, and crackers would be good options to make available when you serve this stuff.

Ham and Veggie Chowder

Makes 6 Servings

Total time 4 to 5 hours (on high) 7 to 9 hours (on low)
Time in the slow cooker 3.5 to 4.5 hours (on high) 6.5 to 8.5 hours (on low)

Prep time (probably not even) 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cans condensed cream of celery soup, undiluted
• 2 cups diced cooked ham (you can buy it already diced or dice up some leftovers)
• 1 10oz package frozen corn, thawed (You can also use strained and rinsed canned corn. I haven't tried fresh, but I imagine that would also work)
• 1 large baking potato, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (I used thyme powder, and it turned out fine)
• 2 cups small broccoli florets (I used fairly large ones, I recommend you don't. The broccoli does not get soft enough to break apart with a spoon easily, so larger pieces are pretty inconvenient.)
• 1/2 cup milk

Instructions

DO NOT PUT THE MILK IN YET!
I had Papa helping me with this dinner. I was chopping potatoes and peppers while he was putting other things in the slow cookers (we used two and made a double recipe). He didn't read to the end of the instructions before he put the milk in. Do not put the milk in until 15 to 30 minutes before serving. I know it looks like an unreasonably dry pile of vegetables and you want to add some liquid. There's not a lot of liquid in this recipe, especially in the early stages. Your milk will probably curdle if you add it too soon. In fact, it definitely will if you try to cook it on high for 3 or 4 hours. 

1. Combine condensed soup, ham, corn, potato, bell pepper and thyme in your slow cooker. Mix well.
2. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours.
3. THEN stir in broccoli and milk.
4. Cover and cook on high for 15 to 30 minutes or until broccoli is warm and tender, but not falling apart. 

Papa was tired and not feeling well when he was helping me. When he realized he had made a mistake, he wasn't sure how to fix it. I wound up sending my sister to the closest grocery store to get some new cream of celery soup while we dumped the slow cooker contents into a sieve and used the shower-like setting on the sink tap to wash all of the liquids off of the solid ingredients. 

It turned out fine; delicious even.