The Learning Curve

Oh My

2010-07-30T23:21:00.001-06:00

I have been gone forever it seems. But I have a decent excuse. I cracked and bruised a few ribs (like my whole left side) and banged up my left arm pretty bad, was having difficulties breathing for a while because of it (the ribs, not the arm) and the whole thing just left me laying on the couch most days, struggling to even work the remote control. (Note to self...NEVER again slip on steps made of cement during a rain storm!!!)

So, Squirt and I spent a whole lot of time watching documentaries the last month and a half of school (well, May and June since we are still currently doing our year round schooling - just taking a couple weeks off to enjoy the wonderful weather we've been here). When drugs kicked in, I would be able to do short stints at the computer printing off a few things - so he wouldn't completely forget that we are actually "schooling" and not just sitting around watching tv. He also worked daily on his math and began to read a copy of Real Science 4 Kids that I had been given by a local homeschooler here (she never used it). He liked it and I would often hear him yelling "Mommy, do we have any...(insert items here). I'm going to do an experiment!" Yes, when I was unable to guide him using the teacher/parent guide, he would take it upon himself to read that along with his own text and then create his own experiments.

Add to it that he has been thoroughly enjoying the subscription to KNOW magazine that he recieved for Christmas and I have more than once found my kitchen in disarray as a result. Little Man has also learned the valuable lesson of cleaning up after making a mess because Mommy was not able!

* He has also learned how to sort laundry, load washer and dryer, start said washer and dryer, fold clothes, put said clothes away, load dishwasher, set and clear table, sweep floors, clean bathrooms, dust, and even organize dvd's alphabetically and chronologically according to program type...That is my own Type A personality son and don't you dare NOT put the dvd back where you got it from! (A definate change from the boy who just a few months ago would leave dvd cases strewn throughout the house!!) He has also started to take the garbage out, sort the recycling, AND mow the lawn since Hubby purchased a "people powered" lawn mower.

I have to say, a mom could get VERY used to this! VERY used to it. In fact, my ribs seem to be acting up again...

Oh...I am currently exploring new items for our fourth year of homeschooling. I will post soon on what I choose and why I chose it.

May the Fourth Be With You

2010-05-04T02:26:00.003-06:00

Today is Star Wars Day at our house. Everything Star Wars.

Star Wars Concentration...

Star Wars Pajamas...

Darth Vader Costumes...

Yoda Punch...Yes, it is just a lovely shade of green...

You name it...We are putting a Star Wars Twist on it.

And so, in that light...I have found some wonderfully funny Star Wars songs that I would like to share with you. They are YouTube videos, all Lego, some Weird Al, but some are other songs I just happened to find looking for Star Wars stuff for this day. But there is also some education in this...Be sure to watch the last one!!! Be sure to put on your speakers!!!

Yoda

Vader Orchestra

The Saga Begins

Star Wars Cantina OR

Star Wars Cantina Sing-Along

(Both Cantina Videos should be viewed by parents before hand as there are some graphic parts from the movie. Be the judge for your own children)

Grocery Store Wars

So, just what are we going to do besides dress up like Darth Vader (and Mommy like Leia because I always wanted Bagels stuck to the side of my head but never had the hair to do it...okay...so that's not true...the bagel part...)

Well, first we're going to do a comparison between the Star Wars movies and other movies/books we are familiar with - Good Versus Evil type stuff. We're going to do a quick peek at how Anakin Skywalker can be viewed as a tragic character with deep conflict going on within him and how that conflict is so easily manipulated by Palpatine/Darth Sidious, a Dark Lord of the Sith. And while Anikin/Darth Vader might turn to the Dark Side, how he eventually redeems himself. A little deep some say, but I think at 8 Squirt can handle it in the context of Star Wars.

As well, we're going to toss in some fun by making our own "Death Star" - out of paper mache, of course. We also have some origami stuff - I found some wonderful Star Wars origami as well as some great Star Wars printables so be sure to check it out for your own Kiddos. Squirt will need help with it, but the end result should be pretty neat and we're hoping to have two or three new "toys" in the end.

We also have a few Star Wars games for the computer - DroidWorks, for example. Check out Lucas Learning for further lesson plans using these games. Since we are studying Simple Machines in science, we are going to look at pulleys using Training Mission 3 of DroidWorks.

We will also practice our multiplying skills with a rousing game of "Star Wars" - simply a deck of cards with the face cards removed. The dealer deals out the deck so the two players each have half a deck which is kept face down in front of the player. Each of the two players flips their top card over - the first person to answer with the correct product wins both cards. (Of course, the youngest of the two goes first when playing with Mom or Dad!!! And often is allowed to win when Mom or Dad is just a bit slower...) Play continues until one player holds all the cards. Luckily, we actually have Star Wars cards for this! But any deck will do OR you can make your own using various printables found on the net and card stock. Simply print the Star Wars images you like and using number stamps or markers add the various numbers to the cards for a deck of 20, 30 or even 50 or more. Laminate if you wish. (I would, since Squirt loves to play card games such as War, Dutch Blitz, etc)

I was also thinking of doing a movie poster or short story as practice for adjectives - describing the war or the movie using plenty of adjectives and examining what adjectives are, etc...But we will see about time. I don't want to spend too much time on "desk stuff" when it is supposed to be a FUN FILLED day!

After we are done "school" stuff, then we are going to wait for Squirt's best buddy to be dismissed from his school (public school) and he's going to rush right over with his Star Wars costume and the boys are going to have light saber battles, a Star Wars treasure hunt, building a Tie Fighter our of cardboard and then settling down to watch one or two (or more) of the Star Wars movies.

For some reason, Squirt's best buddy does not have school on Wednesday so after a quick discussion with BB's mother it was decided that the boys could spend the night together and they will be allowed to stay up a bit later...so if the movies go a bit late, that is fine with me, so long as they don't go and do something really silly like wake up at 4 in the morning! (yes, they have been known to do that!)

So our Star Wars event will be going on "late" into the night...

And it will include a Star Wars meal...of Blasteroids (apple dumplings), Naboo Nuggets (chicken nuggets), Fried Light Sabres (yes, fries) as well as a Jabba Salad (gotta get veggies in there somehow!)

Until later...

A Jedi's strength flows from the Force.

-- Yoda

I Feel So LOST

2010-04-13T14:54:00.000-06:00

I learned a long time ago not to rely on electronic gizmos to hold all my life in one convenient place. I had a PDA type planner once upon a time and guess what? It bit the dust one afternoon and nothing could be retrieved. Probably did not help matters that it actually fell into a mud puddle but that is a whole other issue.

So instead of buying another PDA (they were very expensive back then and just did not have the funds to purchase another one) I just started using a small binder type planner that you could easily add pages to, take pages out and another cool feature - you could draw in the cover with markers and decorate it with stickers! (Okay, so maybe that isn't a real good selling point BUT it was something I did to make it MINE. I had gold and silver markers and later found some cool metallic rainbow shades and had swirls and flowers and such - everyone around KNEW that black binder with all the doodles was MINE!)

I kind of got used to writing my stuff down on paper, with ink...the "old fashioned way". I did not have to worry about batteries. I did not have to recharge it constantly. I did not have to think about the batteries being low and the power being out so I could use the binder ANYWHERE and ANYTIME!

It held my life. Addresses. Phone numbers. Birthdays. Anniversaries. What I was going to be doing eight weeks from next Friday.

Everything was in there except lesson plans and unit plans because those were all in the teacher planner that the schools provided for me at the beginning of every year. But that little binder did hold lesson and unit ideas I wanted to try, books I wanted to look at for the classroom, lists of items I wanted to check out on my next trip to the teaching supply store, etc.

But then I left the world of having a paid job and entered motherhood. There was no use for a planner planner in the sense that I had to schedule every moment of every day. I was simply at home and if I wanted to go uptown to buy shoes I would simply pack up Baby and go uptown and buy shoes. BUT I still used it to plot out certain things - gifts I wanted to make for people, baking for Christmas, renovations for the house, as well as keeping track of work hours for the employees (because Hubby did not always do it) and get togethers with friends where I would have to make sure Hubby was home rather than take Baby with me.

Well, Baby got older and became Squirt and started school (kindergarten) and I returned to work.

I started to rely more and more on my little binder once again. Work hours...Baby sitter hours...Date nights...Grocery lists and "pick up before going home" kind of stuff...Squirt's group things that I also had to plan for (like Beaver scouts) and all that kind of stuff.

Then we started homeschooling and the little binder was no longer big enough. I purchased a larger binder that could easily hold all my units, lessons, weekly and daily plans, curriculum outlines, books we were using, books I wanted to check out, books I wanted to order from the library, books I wanted to purchase from Amazon...AND it still held everything else about my daily life - my scheduled time to work on Hubby's books, Squirt's practices and lessons outside the home, wrap up parties for the season, Beaver plans, renovation schedule, my new gardening plan for the flower beds, web sites I wanted to check out that people have mentioned to me...EVERYTHING was once again written down on paper for me to quickly look up, and all in once convenient place in my binder.

But all that ended yesterday at approximately 8 pm.

Beavers ended at 7:30. The other leader and I talked for a bit while we cleaned up, regrouping our thoughts about how the meeting went and discussing next week's meeting (we are focusing on Earth Day, the 3 Rs and environmental issues over the next month) as well as trying to decide on a date for our year end and what we are going to do.

We stepped outside the scout hall and set the alarm and locked up while the kids ran around. She called her hubby to tell him they were done and we stood there talking until he arrived. While we were talking, I set my binder down. Not sure where. I think I just put it on the bumper of the truck. They left. We left.

Binder stayed.

I got home and realized when I got in that I didn't have my binder and I was going to look to see what I needed to print off for school today. No binder...Have no idea what pages we were working on and if I had already printed them off...

Heart starts to beat a little faster BUT I go to the truck to see if I just forgot it in the backseat.

Nothing.

I look inside, thinking maybe I just left it by the door when I hung up my coat.

Nothing.

Squirt is looking.

Hubby is looking.

I am looking.

We found nothing.

Hubby was a dear and got in the truck to retrace our steps home and he found nothing but it was already getting dark so he said he might just not have seen it.

I went back there this morning...

And I found it...

Ripped apart and papers strewn about from here to there and everything soaking wet and ink running everywhere and who knows what else.

One of the Beaver parents lives across the street from the hall and she saw us in the parking lot. She wandered over and mentioned that there were a group of teens hanging around the hall last night around 11 pm and she actually had to call the police because they were drunk and she suspected they were also using IV drugs because there were needles there earlier that the fire department came and cleaned up after she called them. They had spray painted a few houses in the area and broke some vehicle windows and then she noticed them at the scout hall and that is when the police arrived.

She said it was likely that they were the ones who completely ripped apart my binder - the cover was completely ripped from the hinges and paper ripped and tossed about all over.

She helped me clean up the mess but there was no way I could save anything that was written. Not that I would have wanted to. She had grabbed rubber gloves from her place so we could clean up the mess simply because we just aren't sure exactly what these kids had done to the stuff. And no, it wasn't the work of a dog...there were no teeth marks or paw prints on anything and given the mud situation, there would have been muddy paw prints on something.

So today, I am replanning...

Everything.

Squirt's marks that were recorded are gone - not that it really matters. The district does not require that we hand in marks, just a simple portfolio (even pictures will do) showing that he is actually learning at home rather than simply sitting there playing playstation all day (as the superintendent says). I had the marks more as a reminder for him - he likes being able to see "98%" or "A" written under spelling, or history, or grammar. He likes to see "Level U Completed" after a bunch of As and Bs. It was something I used to show him how far he's come and he loved it.

But the thing that upsets me the most is the hours of planning I had that I now have to do over again. Because we are schooling year round this year, I had planned everything up to June, and had not just an outline for all we are going to do in July, August and September - including outlines for unit plans I want to do with him when we are camping and out in nature every day - but had already began to "flesh things out" including where we would be in science by the end of September and where we would be in Canadian history and Saskatchewan history by the end of September.

And all my addresses are gone...telephone numbers...email addresses...birthdays and anniversaries...

And today I just feel lost because when the phone rang and it was a parent calling to invite Squirt to a birthday party on the 24th, I went to reach for my binder and...

It was not there...I had to honestly think about WHERE I was going to write this down even though we have a calendar hanging up on the kitchen wall with a pen right beside it! But I don't write those things on that calendar! I write them in my binder!!!

So this evening, I am going uptown and I am buying a new binder and some dividers. All day today I have been visiting Donna Young's site and printing things like crazy and planning if nothing else at least what we are going to do for the next week.

But would I change and do my plans strictly on the computer? No. I find I am better able to plan using pen and paper...just me...but then everyone is different. Having lost all this stuff before when my PDA went on me, I know it isn't any more reliable than pen and paper if you don't back up your information.

I will, tho, be scanning the important stuff and storing them on a disk just in case it happens again.

On Time

2010-04-08T00:07:00.000-06:00

Time is valuable. My time is valuable even if there are those that say I am "JUST a stay at home mom". I still value my time and I value Squirt's time and Hubby's time...But most of all, I value OUR time together as a family.

Here's what happened that got me thinking about time.

Friends of ours have three children, all between the ages of 7 to 15. They are always on the go doing something, trying to balance a healthy family meal and getting two vehicles to three different places every single day of the week for some sports event or music lesson or dance recital.

In short, between public school and afterschool events these children are never home. On weekends they are driving around the province (or to other provinces) for tournements of some kind. And if not the children, then the parents are spending their time volunteering their time to help cut down on costs - work three bingos and they will pay for hotel costs, 40 hours in the kitchen at the rec plex and your ice fees are covered, etc etc.

Honestly, it was Squirt who said "I am glad we don't do that. I like being at home rather than driving all over to lessons and tournements."

And that is just it. How do the kids feel about never being at home? Do they like being dragged along to sit in a cold arena at 4:30 in the morning for a practice or would they rather be at home? Do they like having something going on every night of the week or do they wish they could just sit at home and watch a movie and eat popcorn?

I have seen it often, as a parent and as a former ps teacher, where parents schedule so much into their children's week but fail to ask the children what THEY want. Personally, I think children NEED downtime as much as they need these other things. Yeah, okay, your child loves to play baseball. Get him on a team, sure...BUT does he also need to be on the soccer team and attend spring hockey training and music lessons at the same time OR is that what Mom and Dad want?

We asked Squirt what he wanted. He loves bowling...He loves golf...He loves swimming. So in the winter, he does bowling on the weekends. In the summer we take swimming lessons at the outdoor pool. In the spring when bowling ends, we start with the golf lessons.

The rest of his time, away from scheduled school time, is HIS time. If he wants to take out a football and toss it around in the backyard with his friends, he is FREE to do so! If he wants to practice his putting on the front lawn, he is free to do so because we aren't rushing off to daily swimming lessons just before baseball practice and then tomorrow we have to rush to music lessons before soccer just before rushing off to our weekly scout meeting.

I think people forget that children need the structure BUT they need the downtime to just be kids as well.

And I think parents need that as well. Time to just sit and watch the children chasing bubbles and running through water sprinklers in the backyard while sipping lemonade.

I think we've forgotten that.

April Fools

2010-04-01T13:44:00.001-06:00

It seems we have a little jokester in our midst. I woke this morning to

Salt in the sugar bowl
Sugar in the salt shaker
Toilet paper missing from the bathroom - ALL 49 rolls (just restocked because there was only one left in the cabinet)
Telephone hanging upside down on the wall
My Dawgs hidden away - he still hasn't told me where they are so I'm in my sock feet still and so not used to that any more
Last night's knitting carefully ripped back - and he did such a wonderful job on that without a single twist, turn or lost stitch that I think someone has a new job!!! :)
My computer keyboard unplugged - noticed that one when I tried logging on the computer
Mouse missing from computer desk
Work folders missing from box - guess he figured if they were gone there would be no school???
Clocks all set at different times - stove said 10:30, microwave said 3:45, wall clock in kitchen was at 6:23 or something like that and livingroom claimed to be 4:50

He also pulled a few pranks on Daddy this morning.

Reset his alarm clock so Daddy ended up waking to his usual 6:15 alarm at 3:50 in the morning
Reset the alert on the cell phone so it is programmed to go off at various times through the day with the message "April Fools!" - Hubby said it has gone off 12 times so far - twice within three minutes. We didn't even know he knew how to set the alerts. Heck, WE don't even know how to set the alerts!!!
Hid his van keys
Hid his work boots
Hid his work hat
Hid his work coat
Hid his lunch kit AND his lunch (which had been in the fridge - Hubby found it in the freezer - no need for an ice pack today, huh?)

So I asked him when he did all these things. He said he woke up at 3 and had to pee and figured he would do all these things. We did not hear a thing! He was in our room, resetting the alarm, and we heard NOTHING!

Of course, if it was a stranger the dog would have barked and alerted us but because it was Squirt, Dog just followed him around the house...

So I asked him if there was anything else he did and he answered "Yeah, one more thing."

Just then I heard a scream from outside and he said...

"After it got light out and Daddy undid the alarm, I went outside and put a bunch of my springy snakes into the mailbox so they would jump out at the mail lady."

A Trip Across Canada

2010-03-25T16:29:00.001-06:00

We're taking a trip across Canada...Kind of.

We're following a journey with Honey over at Sunflower Schoolhouse and we are quite excited about it. Squirt was just asking all kinds of questions about Canada, especially after the Olympics and hearing where all the different Canadian athletes were from so this will be good for him.

So far, since Squirt was born, we've traveled through part of Saskatchewan (north of our home mostly) as well as Drumheller and parts of southwestern Alberta and into British Columbia (Okanogan region). This summer we are hoping to hit southern Saskatchewan and into the Manitoba area. Hubby and I toured the Riding Mountain Park area many years ago and would love to travel there again so fingers crossed that time will allow such a holiday this summer.

As we go on our journey, I will post our trip here and I will try to post pictures. I misplaced my camera cord and the computer refuses to read the camera memory card so will have to search for the cord this weekend. I know I was downloading pictures to the laptop over summer while we were camping so I'm thinking it might be in the camper. I do know I will definately be posting links and images about this beautiful province I call home and talking about the things we have here.

Like I tell everyone not familiar with Saskatchewan - the only thing flat and straight about this whole province are the borders!

With a Bit of Tweaking...

2010-03-11T12:45:00.001-06:00

Tweaking...I like that word. It fits well with what we've done to Ms. Patrick's system. We've tweaked it to become our own...and it works for us and our tiny space.

For us we decided to go with a file folder system simply because I wanted something that could be easily stuck away in non-school times. We do the "hands on paper and books" time at the kitchen table...in a small kitchen...where I cook and fold laundry and do books and payroll and where we also eat. There was simply no room in this area for a dozen workboxes regardless of how small they might have been - remember, they would have had to be large enough to accomodate the books and items we use, etc.

I found a box that works for us. I actually found it in the basement and it was a small desk file that I used to use to hold correspondence when I was teaching. It holds twelve file folders, neatly separated, but the box is still large enough to accomodate most of our workbooks and other items - though paint supplies still remain in the art cupboard but I simply add a sticky-note saying "retrieve red, blue and yellow paint and paint brushes from art cupboard"...not as handy but Squirt doesn't mind.

Each evening I take five minutes and gather together what we are working on the next day, fill the file box and set it on the table. I fill Squirt's basket with the chart labels - #1, #2, #3, etc with velcro on the back - so that they are ready to go first thing in the morning. I have a smallish basket where all the day's work goes into as Squirt finishes - math minutes sheets, file folder games, DVDs that he watched, etc. So when I have a moment I simply reach in, check over his work and mark it complete (or incomplete) and move on. He finishes anything I mark incomplete and then before his day is done, he has to place all papers where they belong - math minutes go into his math binder, science lapbook items go into a pouch in his science binder, etc. Then we are done AND the table is already cleared!!! No rushing to clear the table before setting the table for supper!

I'm sure Ms. Patrick would not approve BUT it is what works for us and that is the main point. We are getting a lot more accomplished PLUS Squirt is enjoying his day as it is broken up - I always include a couple games every day now - be it math games, scavenger hunts, computer games or file folder games - and I am able to do this because I am better planned for our learning experience.

And lately, with the extremely warm weather we've been having here, I have been able to plan far more activities for outside - and we've adapted even further by laminating index cards and I write activities on there and OUT WE GO! We've been at the park quite often, traipsing through what remains of the snow. We've gone exploring the neighbourhood via the back alley. We've examined snow crystals and "crunchy snow" (Squirt's words) and even discussed the physics behind snowmen..snow person?...We've examined trees and the buds at the very tips of the branches. We've painted snow...We've experimented with blowing bubbles in the cooler temperatures...We've blown coloured bubbles and watched how they exploded on the white snow...

Yes, we've taken pictures of everything we've done...but I seem to have misplaced the cord that allows me to download the pictures to the computer...but as soon as I find it I will include some pictures.

So each evening, based on what the weather is going to be according to the weather channel, I will fill the file folder/workboxes, or fill the index cards with various outdoor activities and our day is set.

Reading Gives Me a Headache

2010-01-19T19:42:00.010-06:00

I sometimes take in proof reading to earn a few extra dollars now and again ($$$ goes into the "Buy Tim Horton's Coffee for Mommy Fund").

University level papers.

Supposedly.

It is a sad commentary on our culture when I recieve papers stating such things as...(okay...I added most of the nastier comments as I was writing this entry...)

1. Canada's envolvement in the First World War started when Communist China bombed Pearl Harbour off the coast of Nova Scotia. (from a paper titled "Canada's Envolvement in World War One" - yes, that was how "involvement" was spelled...)
Now, I am not proclaiming to be a History Expert by any stretch of the imagination BUT I do know a few things. Even if you don't make it to the library on time and all the good history books are gone when you finally make it there, simply renting a couple movies would prove to anyone that...
a) Pearl Harbor was bombed during the SECOND World War, NOT the first!
b) It was NOT bombed by Communist China. It was bombed by Japan.
c) Pearl Harbor is NOT off the coast of Nova Scotia. Heck, Pearl Harbor and Nova Scotia do not even share the same ocean! They are on opposite sides of the continent AND in different countries
d) Pearl Harbor is NOT the reason Canada became involved in the First World War...Period. For further explanation, see a).
e) Computers come with a thing called "spell check". Please make use of it.

2. I don't believe in war so I think the point of my having to write a history paper about any war is fruitless and a waist of my valuble time and I wish to state that I am writing this paper under protest and that the only reason I agreed to write it at all was the fact that I would fail this class otherwise which I don't believe is fair and that some of us have other really important things to do with our lives than write papers about things that happened 200 years ago like World War One and...I could go on here but I won't. This is well over half a page of stuff just like this.
a) It is a HISTORY paper. Not a commentary on your beliefs. Just the facts, ma'am.
b) World War One did NOT happen over two hundred years ago. It did not even happen one hundred years ago. Close...but not quite.
c) The rest of the paper went on to make random disjointed points that were little more than direct quotes she was claiming as her own but joined together in paragraph long single sentences with "and", "but" and "or".
d) When I pointed out that what she had was and would be considered poor writing and plagerism by her professors, she was NOT happy and refused to pay me.
e) I told her I hoped she was going to spend the money on something she really needs - grammar and spelling classes because if she hopes to make it beyond first year university, she is really going to need them!

3. Cnda has 10 prov and 2 terr. They r BC, AB, SK...(etc) Cnda is a gr8 plc to liv bcuz we dont hve jst 1 kind of whether lyk other countries...it is even hard to copy this...It was FIVE pages of one giant text message, complete with slang and only three or four periods in the whole thing. One giant RUN ON text message!!!
1) Canada does indeed have ten provinces, and you were correct in your listing of them from west to east.
2) For several years now we have had THREE territories - my 8 year old son has known that since he was four. Any updated map includes Nunavut. Heck, just typing in "Canadian Territories" into your google search engine will bring up that fact, I am sure.
3) Save the texting for your friends. Even if this is a "rough draft" of your paper, this is NOT the place for texting.
4) Please act your age - you are 20 - and don't send "Mommy" to my door when you don't agree with the comments I've made on your paper to demand your money back for you. Even Mommy was stumped by the fact that you handed me a copy of a text message and said "this is NOT what she handed to you was it?"

so there! (yes, I am sticking my tongue out here)

4. I think this book was really good and found it really easy to read. I expecially liked the part where the main charcter changed from being a nasty kinda guy to a real nice person. And the part where Jim, the bartender, saves the little girl's life but ends up scarred was really sad but I can see where the writter wanted to point out that sometimes not everything good ends up being good for everyone and how events can make a person change for good or for bad...
a) Who was the author? What was the name of the book? I never did find out. Of a report that was supposed to 500 words, she had less than a page...and not once was the title or author named.
b) When writing a review as such (or a report) don't use "I". "(insert title here) written by (insert author here) was an easy read that told a story about how events in one's life can change a person." is much easier to read.
c) "kinda" is slang. Avoid using slang. It is "kind of". Better yet, avoid the term completely. "The main
character changed from a bitter, nasty person to someone who was kinder, gentler and more understanding of those around him.
d) This paper was written by a woman in her 40s. She did get nasty with me when I made my comments
and told her where to improve her writing. She also told me that "the professor was not concerned with grammar so why should I be".

HUH? I have yet to meet an ENGLISH PROFESSOR who is NOT concerned with grammar! (Besides, I know this professor. He is ALWAYS concerned with grammar in the papers handed in. This paper, as it was, would have garnered a "rewrite this as a second year university student and NOT as a fourth grader, please and thank you.")

5. I don't realy like to watch the Simsons but it was kind of funny how they summerised the book "Lord of the Dance" into a 30 minute cartoon show and actully made it far more injoyable then the book.
a) Am I the ONLY person with spell check on their computer??? Honestly...It feels like it!!!
b) Lord of the Dance? Sorry...It is NOT about Michael "All About ME!!" Flatley...The book is called "Lord of the FLIES". Correct title of book is always worth bonus points.
c) The Simpsons does MANY episodes based on literary works. I especially loved their version of "The Raven" by Poe.
d) HOW can you NOT enjoy watching The Simpsons???? (If I was the professor I would have deducted marks for that alone!!!)

Alright...Some of them were really poorly written pieces. Horrid, to be exact. And honestly, I know for several of the papers I see it is not the school system or the teachers to blame but complete and utter laziness. Honestly, thinking you can get away with writing your paper in "text style"? I know one high school history teacher who recieved an actual final draft "The GOOD COPY" as such, and the parents showed up to defend their daughter when he failed her! (The principal sided with the teacher on this one!)

It is "minimal work investment". I see the same work ethic when I go shopping or head to the local fast food outlet. Minimal work.

And so many parents seem all to ready to help their children do "minimal work" rather than promoting "going that extra mile" and "doing your best, and then adding a little bit more".

And if we continue to raise children who only do minimal work and that is ALL that is ever expected of them, it just leaves me wonder what our country will be like in another 25 years.

Scary.

....(I have copies of these papers...simply because I wanted DH to read them as well to prove that I wasn't completely crazy in thinking some people just "don't know nothing"...)

Side note: Not all the papers are handed to me from "fresh from high school" students. Some of the papers are written by 35+ aged students returning to school after an absense. Some are returning to school after having already earned a degree in another area. Most of them are written by students over the age of 30 who honestly should know better by now...

The Financial Cost of Homeschooling

2010-01-15T13:51:00.000-06:00

I was recently approached by someone asking how on earth we can afford to live off one income simply so I can homeschool.

Easy, I told her.

First, it costs me very little to homeschool. I don't purchase a lot of items every fall for the school year. This year I did spend a bit more than usual simply because of the math program I wanted for Squirt, as well as the grammar program. All totaled, those two programs cost me $75 for workbooks and texts. The rest we get for free from the library or internet. (I did spend a bit this year on games and other educational items such as the globe, models of the heart and other body parts, etc etc - but those are one time purchases so not a yearly expense so I did not include those in my "curriculum costs")

There is a wealth of free stuff for homeschoolers on the internet. It just takes some time to sort out and bookmark what you think you might use. If they come in the form of downloads, do it. The cost? Space on your computer or a few CDs or DVDs that you can peruse at your leisure.

Then there are always other homeschoolers or former homeschoolers. Not only to they offer a wealth of information and support, but often they have items you can borrow. I was able to find text books and unused workbooks that one former homeschooler never used - and she had been given them from another homeschooler who only used them slightly. Squirt didn't use the whole books, but there were bits and pieces of information and activities that we put to use. When we were done, they were given to another homeschooling family. Since these particular books had been long out of print we didn't feel guilty about "handing them down" to the next generation.

BUT I was not blind to the fact that she was not exactly asking about homeschooling costs, but the fact that we went from a two-income family to a single income family. Funny thing is, it was only AFTER having gone from 2 to 1 income that we were able to afford to purchase a house and buy a new vehicle.

Why?

Because our own silly spending habits HAD to change. After quitting my job to stay home and raise our son, we no longer ate out 3-4 times a week but started cooking and eating at home. We no longer bought what ever we wanted, when we wanted - every purchase has to actually be thought about and more often than not, we end up deciding we don't need it or we wait until it is on an extremely good sale - such as DHs quad - when others purchased theirs for $4000, he waited and waited and found a brand new one for $1500. We don't have brand new furniture and are in need, but we will find what we want at a price we can afford eventually.

I no longer had the expense of travelling to and from work or the added expense of rent on another house depending on where I worked - reserve positions often require you to live there simply because of distance so I would have to pay for a complete second house, food, television, heating, power, telephone, etc as well as contributing to our own house together.

So if I had returned to work, I would have had the added expense of child care costs (anywhere from $800 to $1800 a month depending on the establishment and if I would require Squirt to be transferred to and from school - and so much because we would not qualify for child care subsidies due to higher income levels). I would also have to have a decent wardrobe - no going to work in sweats or pajamas every day.

Then there are days when I would be required to be away, due to conferences or class trips, etc. And if Hubby was gone that week to work out of town? Well, we would have to arrange for Squirt to stay at one of the 24-hour day cares then...at an additional cost because we don't have family able to take him without him missing school. And really, who wants their kids staying with strangers for 2-3 days? NOT me!

Our yearly income tax would also be higher because DH would not qualify for the lower taxes because I would be making above $20 grand a year. As a teacher, if I had not taken any time off to raise our son I would be in the $50 thousand plus group now and would be paying taxes on that as well.

I had to laugh and told her that in actuality, our take home pay NOW is actually MORE than what it would be if we both worked - yes, it is something we figured out one evening just because we wanted to see. We would be living off of close to $10 thousand a year LESS if I returned to work simply due to taxes and monthly expenses.

So for us, it makes more sense financially for me to remain at home and homeschool our child.

Does it work that way for every family? Of course not. BUT what is true for any family is the fact that in order to homeschool or even remain home to raise your child/ren, you have to make adjustments. You have to change your spending habits - which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Story of OUR World

2010-01-06T14:23:00.000-06:00

We have been using Story of the World as a basis for our Social Studies, History and Geography programs. We've spent a lot of time exploring the different countries of the world via SOTW and Squirt knows not only where Egypt is but the surrounding countries as they were and as they are.

But I've decided that for the next couple months we are going to focus a little closer to home.

So starting today, we are going to explore Canada. We will be learning about Canada's rich history, the Aboriginal peoples, the provinces, resources, economy and all that kind of stuff. But we will also be focusing on Saskatchewan - our home province.

I decided this after a discussion DH and I had last night about what we're going to do this summer.

In June we are going to the science centre in Regina with the Beaver Scouts. We will even be spending the night IN the science centre so the Beavs are looking forward to that one! Watching IMAX as well...It is going to be a fun trip!

So then we started talking about how to extend this into a family holiday like we did with the Scout trip to Drumheller, Alberta last June. We went to Drumheller for the weekend with the Scouts, then extended our trip and visited the Calgary Zoo, Pincher Creek, Frank Slide and took the "scenic route" through the mountains and down into the Okanogan and back up into Banff, Alberta and home again.

So I thought, why can we not do the same thing this year BUT keep it in Saskatchewan? And what a better way to reinforce what we have learned about Saskatchewan than to explore a small corner of it?

DH agreed...but then added...

"Or, we could get our passports and maybe head down into the States and take him to see Yellowstone. And we never did make it into the Dakotas. I'd like to visit them someday so maybe this year since I'm planning on at least two full weeks..."...

So I guess holiday plans are still in the discussion phase...And two full weeks? I am still reeling from that announcement since he hasn't taken two full weeks of holidays since 1995 when we won a cruise on a clipper ship!

Anyways, you would think being Canadian and having lived in Saskatchewan I would KNOW what we're going to study right off the get go.

Oh...so wrong!

And I've come to realize just how much a person takes for granted and just lets slip by when it is part of a person's daily life.

I can tell you the name of the governor of California...but I honestly had to look up to see just who our MLA and our MP were!
I know who the president of the US is (and yes, the prime minister of Canada)...And I could tell you who were the two who ran together against Obama...but I had to look up to see who leads the opposition party of this country and the leaders of the parties who ran against Harper!
I can tell you the name of Obama's wife and that they have two girls...but I honestly couldn't tell you a single thing about Stephen Harper's family...I can now tho! His wife's name is Laureen, and they have two children, Benjamin and Rachel.

I could go on...and on...

Just goes to show how American television is such a part of our lives.

I think I'd better start watching the CBC a bit more. Dad will be happy with that.

Happy Anniversary!!!

2010-01-05T12:56:00.001-06:00

This week Carnival of Homeschool celebrates its FOURTH anniversary!

Don't know what the carnival is all about?

Well, each week homeschool bloggers can send in a blog entry. And each week, a few of those blogs are selected and posted in one spot for your easy viewing.

It is a nice way to check out various blogs and views without having to sift through a million and two blogs that are out there and the blogs are always thought provoking, often humourous, and always educational. Who knows. You might find a new favourite blog...err...let's make that SECOND favourite!!!

I sent in a post for this recent carnival ..."If the Shoe(Box) Fits..."...so be sure to read that as well when you check out the other blogs posted with Carnival of Homeschool!

I especially enjoyed Michelle's contribution on putting kids to work...Now if I could only convince my mother-in-law that Squirt picking up his own toys at the age of 8 is not considered me being a slave driver...Ah, well. She seems to have forgotten that her own youngest son was milking cows on his own at the age of three and carrying the two 5-gallon pails the mile back to town for her.

Anyways, enjoy the carnival!!!

The Workboxing Theory

2009-12-31T11:10:00.000-06:00

I re-read my post about Sue Patrick's Workbox System and realized that some might take it as something I don't like.

I DO like the theory behind the system.

In fact, many classroom teachers have been using similar systems for many years with success. In fact, similar ideas were something professors and instructors I had taught us to incorporate in one way or another in our daily classroom routines to ease classroom management - the "getting from point A to point B" smoothly and efficiently while still maintaining control and avoiding disruptions and enabling them to get through the lessons and work planned for the day.

I guess I was just disappointed that through the reading of various blogs and discussions on the subject I did not realize that was what the system was until I had the e-book.

BUT the idea behind workboxes?

I absolutely LOVE.

I just don't like the idea that her way is the only way.

A workbox system as she describes simply won't work for someone who lives in a house with less than 900 square feet of living space, half of which is currently under renovation, especially if you have more than one child.

Yeah, our actual living space right now is around the 475 square feet (I do have a path to the laundry room and second bathroom if it should be needed - both of which are in the basement). A small house, yes, but it is plenty big enough for the three of us and we don't require more - more space just means more stuff to clean and dust for Mommy here.

I don't like the idea that one person's way is the only way...for anything.

It is why there are different styles of houses. The basic structure is the same - four walls, a few rooms for living and sleeping - but the style of each house is different. You just have to look at your neighbours. Even if you have the same style of house as everyone else on your block, I can guarantee your decorating tastes are different.

It is why every family is different. A husband, perhaps. A wife, perhaps. Or maybe it is grandparents raising the next generation. One child...five children...or more (Bless all of you who have more! Some days I wonder how I can deal with one!)

I have never believed there is a one size fits all solution to anything, Sue Patrick's Workbox System included.

But I do believe this system or something similar will work for anyone - with tweaking and adjusting to suit your available space and your family and your style.

If you are new to the education process or have no idea where to begin putting together such a system or variant thereof, the book is a good starting point and I would recommend it if you can't wrap your head around the various blogs and discussions BUT just keep in mind that you might not agree with some of her ideas and beliefs.

There. Clarified.

I think...

When the Child's Away, Mom Will Play

2009-12-30T14:10:00.002-06:00

Well, it wasn't really play, but I did manage to get a few things done today that I would not normally have been able to accomplish in such a short time without hearing the standard "Mommy! Can you do this for me?" and "Mommy! I need your help!". (Yes, my son still calls me "Mommy" - not Ma, and not Mom or Mother...But MOMMY! Ah, the joys of homeschooling!) Or, from my ever loving but collector-of-everything-throw-nothing-out-~~cheap~~ ...er...thrifty Hubby "You're not giving that away are you?" or "Do you know how much we paid for that?" or the famous "you could sell that in a garage sale you know" - as if he sticks around long enough when we are having a garage sale to know exactly how much work one of them is...but I digress...

I went into our dark basement...alone...scary in itself...and picked out a couple plastic tubes and brought them upstairs. Set one on the floor and one on the chair and began to sort into piles: "Give Away" and "Keepsake Box".

They were Baby Clothes.

Weep...Weep...Sniffle...All out good bawling session while no one is around to witness it because my baby is not a baby any longer...

Through two big old plastic tubs of stuff, I ended up with one neat little stack of baby items that we are putting in Squirt's Keepsake Box. A sleeper my Grandmother bought for him along with a soft fluffy blanket one of my friends gave us, a cute little outfit my Hubby picked out himself - a little suit and tie combo - and a few other special items. The rest were placed into plastic bags and delivered next door. She does not have babies, but she has plenty of friends who are having babies and are in need of baby items due to low income levels. The clothes are going to be put to good use rather than just sitting in our basement taking up space.

I have to admit that once I had the items sorted I almost did not put them into the bags. Almost. I looked at the neat piles of 3 month old clothes and started to remember when Squirt was so tiny those little sleepers were actually too long on him. I got all weepy-eyed again. Then I quickly placed them into green bags so I could not see what was inside them.

But I knew. I set the bags near the entry way as I filled them - did I mention the tubs were BIG tubs? Very BIG tubs? Packed and stuffed so full the lids had to be taped on with duct tape? Yeah, I filled MORE than a couple bags. So once I had the bags filled, I put on the coat and proceeded to make a few trips to the neighbours.

I almost did not make it out the door the first time. I almost stopped and was going to turn the other direction and take the bags to the basement. Almost.

I trekked across the yard and knocked on the neighbour's door and said "I have some baby cloths for your friends" and proceeded to fill her house with bags.

It got so much easier after the first bag. So much easier that by the time I was done lugging the stuff over there and she mentioned that one of her friends was looking for a crib mattress because the cat sprayed all over her's, I was QUICK to volunteer our old crib mattress. After all, the crib is no good any longer because Squirt broke a clip that holds the rails in place and it cannot be replaced any longer (well, it can...but the piece costs almost as much as the crib cost us to begin with.)

I trekked across the back yard to the shed, dug out the mattress and dragged it over there as well while her hubby proceeded to fill up his truck to take things to her various friends.

I also took the baby bath tub and the baby bath seat (holds baby up in the bigger tub and frees Mommy's hands to wash baby and not worry about slippage). I took a bag of Playtex bottles (sans nipples) and some extra liners that had never been opened. I took...Well...I just took a whole bunch of stuff over there and freed up some space in the shed as well as a whole corner of our basement storage area.

So now I am left with this feeling of accomplishment over having cleared out that much in such a short time. No, I did not make any money from these items but I know they are going to people who really need them so I feel good about it.

I also learned something. I got rid off all those things and you know what? The memories of my son as a baby did NOT disappear with them! The memories are STILL HERE!!! In my heart and in my mind! I don't need to have the ALL the stuff that he wore as a baby because after all, it is not the stuff that makes the memories but the people - in this case, the birth of my son. I have baby pictures of him and I have him every day so why do I need to clutter my house with stuff?

And now I have these two big old plastic tubs sitting in the middle of my kitchen.

Wonder what I can fill them with...

I wonder if Squirt would notice a few toys missing from his room...AKA "Toys R Us"...

I still have a couple hours before he's scheduled to return....

If The Shoe (Box) Does Not Fit...A Review of Sue Patrick's Workbox System

2009-12-29T18:45:00.011-06:00

Not sure to what happened to my "one week off"...

But LIFE happens.

And computer issues.

So we are back now. Well...kind of. Squirt is with his Dad visiting family right now and I'm at home not straying too far from the "powder room" since I seem to have come down with something. I am feeling better now than I was at 6 am this morning so figured I would post what I've been thinking about recently.

I have been reading a lot about the newest catch phrase in homeschooling.

We all have heard it.

Sue Patrick's Workbox System

I was excited about this, thinking it was going to be something that would revolutionize our homeschool. Something that would make the difference between night and day for my son. That come 2010 we would start our first week with the workbox system in place and my son would rise and shine and not once whine about school ever ever again.

I should lie down while I'm dreaming. He's eight. He's going to whine and cry about school occasionally regardless of HOW we school - home or otherwise.

So, I started the book with a really open mind despite being sick (food poisoning - note to self - don't eat fast food from...never mind...just don't eat fast food is the safest bet on this. Your body will thank you for it). In fact, I was so open minded, it was even something I asked Hubby to purchase for me as a Christmas gift. (Aren't we so romantic after 20+ years of marriage?)

I wanted to learn about this system everyone was raving about. I wanted to turn our homeschool around and have everything in place according to the book by the time school started in 2010. I wanted our next few months to be happy and organized.

Just imagine!!! A system that promises that you and your child/ren will be happier and more productive and able to accomplish everything you set out for them in the day and still have time left over to spare!!!

I was excited as I finally had a chance to sit down and read the guide last night - okay, it was 3:30 in the morning and I was between trips to the bathroom.

Now, I am a "spell it out exactly" kind of person when it comes to something new. If you give me a camera, don't just hand me the manual. Hand me a manual WITH PICTURES of exactly what button does what and exactly how things are done in a step by step approach. Step one...do this. Step two...do this. Step three...We do this because we did this in step two...

Ms. Patrick does not do that. While her guide is clearly written, if you are like me it can be a bit of a struggle because I need pictures and instructions showing me EXACTLY how it should be done and exactly how it should look in each box. Granted, that can be difficult with so many different curriculums out there and trying to incorporate so many different levels and homeschool classrooms BUT "Workbox #1 should look similar to this" or "Place velcro here" would have been helpful.

I am also a "all in one place" kind of person. I find it annoying if I am sent something and then have to go searching for parts of the item in other places. Ms. Patrick's book is like that. You have the "bones" of her idea, but have to go hunting and downloading from her site for the "meat" (the printables that make her system work). I understand the concept behind it - trying to avoid having people download the whole book and sharing it all with others and infringing on copyright but at the same time, it makes it a pain in the butt for people like me who like everything in one place - and with one single click on the button. I am disorganized enough so now I have to have a separate folder for the downloads should I chose to use them. I can't just bring up the pdf of her book and have them all there.

So back to the book. The book itself was small for the changes it proclaims to make. BUT the whole theory when put into action can take up huge amounts of space contrary to what she claims - something about "relatively small amount of space".

10-12 clear shoe boxes on a stand PLUS exta space for the boxes as they are completed (I won't tell you more about this theory than what is already here) PER CHILD. I only have one child and can imagine what our small area would look like after the dog trips on the shoe boxes - or me as I rush to take another business call because I forgot to turn the phone off. I can not even begin to imagine what a school room would look like for someone who has seven or more children they are homeschooling! Can we say "lost amongst the workboxes"?

Right now our school room is in the kitchen. Our SMALL kitchen that also houses our fridge, stove, microwave, computer, business and educational filing cabinets, school book shelf, cd player and cd holder, not to mention the table and chairs where we eat all our meals. There is simply NO ROOM for another unit if I still want to use the room for what it was meant for - a place to cook our meals safely. Granted, we are going to be moving into the spare bedroom eventually but even then, the room is too small for workboxes as she spells out in the book. I am still going to have a have an adapted version to fit the idea into the room since it is still going to double as a spare bedroom.

I also have to say - and this is something I've heard from other homescoolers as well - that there are parts that seem very "regular school-y". The idea behind some of the cards such as "bathroom break", "wait" and "quiet please" card might be necessary if you have 2+ children (I know a few homeschool moms who have to deal with 12 or more children, which is a regular classroom and do need some classroom management skills to retain some semblance of order so something like this may work very well for homeschooling) but in my case, I have only one. And if he has to pee three times in the morning plus have a bowel movement before 10:30 break, then WHY should he need a card for it? It just seems like the old "Hallway Pass" of the institutionalized schools we are trying to avoid. In our house, if you have to go pee...You go and pee! No card needed. No asking permission. Just go and do your bodily business and return asap. And don't forget to wash your hands when you are done!

I also disagreed with a few of Ms. Patrick's theories regarding the Mother's role during school time. In fact, I had to stop reading for a bit and take a deep breath because I honestly felt as if by NOT following her "beliefs" I was doing a grave disservice to my son. Here's the gist - as a homeschooling mother, you should focus 100% on schooling during school time. That is fine...IF you don't have anything else in life that requires doing.

Now, I not only homeschool our son but I am also the "office manager" for my husband's growing business. That means I do the books, do the billing and the quotes, look up prices for billing and quotes, do up payroll for his employees and all the government forms that entails, banking, etc. I am also the housekeeper, cook, maid, chauffer, laundress, kisser of boo-boos, etc. WithOUT me doing this, there would be NO homeschooling at all because I would have to go out and get a job to PAY for someone else to do these things.

So no, I canNOT NOT do these things and save them ONLY for non school times. When Squirt is doing independent work, why can I NOT be doing up the payroll? When Squirt is reading a passage to me from a book, why can I NOT be folding the laundry? Why can we NOT be using 11:30 meal making or 2:30 grocery shopping to teach home economics? Why can I NOT use his math time to have him help sort coupons? Is that not teaching math AND home economics AND budgeting during school time?

If I saved everything non school related ONLY for non-school times, I would be too busy in the evenings doing those things that there would be NO family time. The dishes still have to be washed and the laundry still has to be done whether you homeschool or don't homeschool and you are not doing a disservice to your child by not doing ONLY schooling during school time. If anything, you are teaching them that they are able to multi-task so long as you are doing it efficiently.

And if I am having an issue with this, I can only imagine what the poor mother who has toddlers and babies to deal with must feel like. Can't change a diaper during "school time"? Can't feed the baby during school time? THIS is part of life and part of homeschooling. THIS teaches our children about life - that "the real world" does NOT always fit into a nice little package all neatly tied up into sections labeled "school", "home", "work", etc. That sometimes these things intermingle and we HAVE to learn to balance them in order to function "in the real world".

Another point I disagreed with was the tone that her way was the "only way" and had to be followed to a T.

I used to teach in a regular classroom. There is NO ONE WAY that fits EVERY child and EVERY family. It is the main reason we chose to homeschool. No single curriculum is perfect for every child. Just as Sonlight migh have worked for your son, it might not have worked for your daughter. Just as Singapore Math might not have worked for you does not mean it does not work for me - which it does...IN CONJUNCTION WITH Math U See...Note that? Singapore Math works for us BUT we also use Math U See to supplement...because no one single program has worked for us 100%.

As a teacher I discovered that every child is different and while Ms. Patrick's system might work "as she lays out" for Child/Family A does not mean it will work 100% for Child/Family B as she claims. I believe that is a pretty broad statement to make - because her system as she lays out simply will NOT work for us AS IS. It DOES need tweaking to fit our needs and space.

It is simply a matter of "the shoe (box) not always fitting"...

That all being said, I have to say, I have used a very similar method when I was teaching and had forgotten all about it until reading Sue Patrick's guide. It wasn't workboxes BUT I did have a coloured card system set up in my classroom and the day's activities listed on the board. My students would recieve their coloured cards for the day as they walked into the classroom.

They would place their cards in the library card envelopes taped to the top of their desks - one envelope for each subject and labeled "1", "2", "3" etc - staggered so they could easily see the slots but not see the complete envelope and taped securely so they could see the coloured cards but it didn't take up a lot of room on their desk tops. They would fill each slot with a card then we would do our morning routine and our first "group lesson". They would then go to their cubby and moving from left to right begin their day.

Before I left the school the day before, I would go through their cubbies and set their workbooks, binders, notebooks, etc in the order we would be working the next day. Then I would organize the cards once again - I would just put them into a recipe card box that had dividers labeled by name in alphabetical order ready to hand out the next day.When they were done, they would hand me the card, I would stamp it, they would return it to the basket on my desk and they would return to their desk to the next card - independent reading, math practice, or what ever.

Through the day we had "group lessons" such as social studies, science or language arts, but we also had "independent time" which was where they could pick from one of several learning centers set up around the classroom and do an activity from there, making sure they showed me their completed work before I stamped their cards and they would move on again.

If they completed their work before the rest, they had to look over their card envelopes and make sure that I had not replaced one or two for incomplete work or corrections - if they found I had returned the #4 card, then they had to come to me and find out what it was they hadn't completed or what corrections they needed to make. After that, they would have "free time" until the rest of the class was done - free time being reading a book of their choice from my library of classroom books, doing an art project, working on puzzles or quiet games with other students who were done their work as well.

This allowed them - as young as grade one - to work on being independent, but also freed up my time to work with students who were struggling in one area or another.

At the end of the school day, all the cards would be gone from their slots on their desk. The children knew where in the day they were by merely glancing at the coloured cards - five slots empty, they were half way done their day and would soon have an hour for lunch and play. Oh, look...only one slot left! We're almost done for the whole day!!

These were not things I learned from one particular book but rather called "classroom management skills" that we were taught in university as well as during my internship. In fact, many of the learning centers I used were ones I created in university and during internship...I wonder if I still have them...

Anyways, I read the book.

Do I recommend it?

Here's my take.

IF you are new to homeschooling and don't know where or how to begin, it might be one of those books that helps give you some guidance, a starting point for organizing your school room.

IF you are looking for the reasoning behind her system, you will need to purchase the book.

IF you are simply looking for a few ideas to try out in your classroom to help get you and the Kiddos organized, well...Maybe do a google or yahoo search for homeschool workboxes and see what comes up and then decide if you need the book.

BUT for someone who went to university and earned a degree in education and taught in the regular school system for several years it was simply 122 pages of stuff I learned about classroom management and running an efficient classroom. (and not even a full 122 pages since several of the pages of the pdf Hubby ordered are left intentionally blank for notes, section dividers, etc)

So while I don't necessarily have the space for Sue Patrick's system as she states in the book and neither do I agree with everything she says, I do want to thank her deeply for reminding me that YES I can incorporate what worked for me as a regular classroom teacher as well as tweak some of Ms. Patrick's ideas without feeling guilty for "going regular school" while still maintaining some of the freedoms I LOVE about homeschooling.

And so, I will go and set up some things for January and I will tell my son he will still be allowed to pee and talk when ever he needs and wants.

Besides, Mommy has never been a real stickler for the rules. After all, THAT is why I am a homeschooler!

Our First Week Off

2009-10-02T13:46:00.000-06:00

We decided at the beginning of the school year to try something a little different this year. Instead of following the regular school year schedule, we were going to "do school" for three weeks, then take a week off. We would also be "doing school" year round versus taking July and August completely off. Not that we really completely took July and August off - we still did a few unit plans that did not involve paper work. Nature stuff mostly - like observing animals, plants, insects, weather, etc.

So this was our first official week off on our new schedule and this is what I discovered...

If there is nothing planned for school, Squirt is constantly asking what we are going to do for school that day.

If there is nothing planned for school, PS2 and DS are boring and he's on his own computer (the old computer that has next to no memory) playing Reader Rabbit or some other educational game.

If there is nothing planned for school, Squirt can be found on the couch reading about bears, wolves, stars, planets and what ever other book we dragged home from the library.

If there is nothing planned for school, Squirt will plug in the cd/cassette player and listen to books on tape while reading along. This week was Suess and Munsch.

If there is nothing planned for school, Squirt can be found in the kitchen asking if we can bake cookies and asking me why we use this ingredient or that and what each of them do.

If there is nothing planned for school, Squirt is at the table doing a craft on his own. This week it was a toilet paper tube Autumn Wreath (complete with bent beyond any further use wire coat hanger), milk carton pirate ship, beaver lodge out of toothpicks and popsicle sticks and what ever else happened to strike his fancy.

If there is nothing planned for school, Squirt can be found sitting on the floor playing with Legos he hasn't played with in over six months.

In short...If there is nothing planned for school, I don't hear a single complaint about school. I don't hear a single moan or groan about coming to the table. I don't hear a single "when I'm done this level" - when he's pulled out the ps2 without my knowledge and started playing when he knows he's not allowed to play it until after 4 pm...

I think I just might like this new schedule.

An Autumn Bounty

2009-09-23T17:18:00.003-06:00

We had a bit of a bountiful surprise this afternoon...or this morning...not sure when since everything was left outside of the gate and we didn't notice it until this afternoon.

Five banana boxes of corn on the cob...

Five 10-gallon pails of carrots...

Three 10-gallon pails of potatoes...

Four large boxes of beets...

Four large boxes of ~~turnips~~ rutabagas...

Two very large boxes of tomatoes...

Two large boxes of onions...

There were also several very large zucchini as well as several assorted squashs...squashes??? (How do you pluralize squash? Do you even pluralize squash??? My little grammar professor is outside playing and not here for me to ask...)

So this afternoon Squirt and I have been shucking corn...cleaning dirt off of the beets, ~~turnips~~ rutabagas and potatoes. We've been cleaning onions and removing the greens. Sorting tomatoes - there were already several ripe and ready in the box so we're going to have sliced tomatoes on toast for lunch tomorrow.

I have blanched the beets to make for easy skin removal and chopped them up and tossed the bags into the freezer...As I've done with the ~~turnips~~ rutabagas (I didn't bother cooking either the ~~turnips~~ rutabagas or beets since I usually toss them into soups or stews anyways). The corn has been placed into bags and frozen. The carrots and potatoes and onions are going to be moved to the basement for now and once the weather cools we'll be taking them to the garage for winter storage as the basement is warmer than the garage in the winter - but right now the garage is much warmer than the basement.

My hands are purple, green and black with dirt and have little cuts all over from the husking process (and a slice from when I was peeling the ~~turnips~~ rutabagas- I forgot how hard those babies are!!!) My hands hurt from all the husking, peeling and cutting and are a little stiff now. So much for crocheting this evening while I watch television.

Tomorrow I am going to cut up the zucchini and shred it up for baking over the winter. Nothing makes a cake as moist as a cup or two of shredded zucchini. It's also handy for tossing into soups and stir-fries even from the frozen state.

As for the other squash...I'm going to have to do some research and figure out exactly what they are before I will know what to do with them - cooking and storage wise. I am pretty sure a couple of them are spaghetti squash but not sure about the others.

I don't know who dropped all this wonderful stuff off but I have to say...

Thank you. Your generosity is more than appreciated.

It wasn't what I had planned for the day but Squirt learned a few things...Such as painting with beet juice...all over the sidewalk...and we're hoping it does eventually rinse away since he also painted on the front door with it before I noticed what he was up to.

He learned about harvest and storage of food first hand rather than sitting at the table looking at books...

And while this was going on, someone was combining the field behind our house and we were outside shucking corn.

It was not only an Autumn Bounty for food...but an Autumn Bounty of learning just where food comes from.

And really, isn't that why we homeschool?

I Wasn't Going to Write About This But...

2009-09-22T17:00:00.000-06:00

Dawn over here got me thinking about it with her post and reminded me of just how lucky we are living in Canada.

I have always appreciated the fact that we in Canada have universal health care...Just as I appreciate the fact that I live in the province that started the whole trend. After my mother's lengthy fight against cancer, that appreciation was even more so due to the fact that we did not have to worry about health care costs while spending the last days with Mom.

But sometimes, you take those things for granted and tend to let the appreciation slide by the wayside and you have to be reminded about just how lucky you are - thanks Dawn for the reminder!!!

Yesterday, Squirt twisted his ankle. It started to swell almost immediately and I was concerned that there was more damage than just a twisted ankle. I called his doctor who said that he would likely just send him straight to the ER and the hospital for xrays anyways so he suggested we just head straight there.

Cost of the phone call to talk to the doctor about this matter? Nothing.

So I loaded up Squirt and off to the hospital ER we went. We were promptly met by a nurse at the door who immediately retrieved a wheelchair for me to place wimpering little man in. Then she immediately wheeled him into an examination room.

Total time from door to examination room: possibly 2 minutes.

She called for the doctor and while we waited we began to fill out the necessary forms. I was in the process of retrieving Squirt's Health Services Card from my purse when the doctor walked in.

Total wait for the doctor: 10 minutes at the most.

She examined his ankle and announced that she was pretty certain nothing was broken (which immediately calmed my crying child - bonus!!!) but she wanted to make sure there wasn't any hairline fractures so she called down to xray and asked if we could get him in there still.

Yup.

No problem.

The nurse wheeled Squirt to the elevator and I followed along as the two of them chatted - about Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, by the way - and she left us with our forms by the xray room. It was a very short time later that a young gentleman came out, wheeled us into the room and proceeded to take xrays.

Total wait time from getting to the room until the technician started to take the xrays: 15 minutes maximum.

After that, we were wheeled back upstairs and I sat in the examine room again as we waited for the results.

Wait time: we might have waited 10 minutes tops. I wasn't really keeping track by this time simply because Squirt was feeling much better and was complaining about having to wait "forever" and having forgotten his DS in the truck. Yeah...~~Put on your big boy underwear and deal with it~~...such is life, dear child of mine...

The doctor came in, announced that there were no breaks, no fractures and proceeded to wrap his ankle in a tensor bandage.

Cost of bandage: nothing. They felt sorry for me because I happened to have no money on me. Usually it would cost $ 4.50 the receptionist winked when she told me. (I am going to go back there and pay them for it...I just didn't have cash on my yesterday and Hubby needed my truck today as his employees had the van at another site...)

Total cost out of pocket for yesterday's adventure: 0...Zero...Zip...Nada...

Well, there was the $1 that I had to stick in the parking meter, which also happened to be all the money I had in my purse at the time - but we won't include that in health care costs.

And we got home before Hubby and we still had supper before 6 in the evening.

A Visit from Pepe Le Pew

2009-09-21T10:56:00.001-06:00

plus

equals

STINK!!!

Last night we let the dog out to do his business for the last time before locking doors and heading to bed. What we got back was STINK!!!

Now, you have to understand, our yard is fenced. And the fence is secure. We used to have a very small dog that could squeeze through tiny openings so we went through the whole fence and closed off all openings bigger than 3"...Yes, the small dog could manage to squeeze himself through such small openings and be gone sometimes for days.

So, Sammy doesn't do that. He never leaves the yard without us telling him to, such as getting into a vehicle when we are getting ready to head somewhere. In fact, the gate has blown open and all Sammy does is sit at the edge of the fence and look out. Even if a cat wanders by, he will stand there and bark but will not leave the yard.

Anyhoo, last night we let Sammy out. As soon as I opened the door, I knew something was up. Dogs all along the street were barking like mad. But, it happens often. There are vehicles that use the back alley to get into garages or driveways (not everyone on our street has front access to their homes via drive ways). Five minutes after we let him out, we could hear Sammy barking like mad. Hubby goes to the door and hollers for him to come in.

And no sooner was he called in and he was booted out again while we figured out what to do about the smell. We were going to just let him sleep in the garage but then I stumbled upon a website that talked about how to get rid of skunk smell on pets.

Here's the recipe, should you ever need it...

1 cup 3% hydrogen peroxide

1/2 cup baking soda

a good squirt of dish soap

You mix it up and use it right away. This isn't something you can make ahead of time and store until needed according to the site...which of course I can't find again so I can't link you to it.

So I mixed up a batch - used up all my peroxide AND baking soda in the process - and Hubby brought the dog in and placed him in the tub. I handed him the solution and left them in the bathroom as the smell was just too strong for me (Sorry, Hubby. There are just some things plumbers are better suited for and this is one of them!)

Use a rag dipped in the solution to do around the face and make sure to get the creature wet from head to toe with this stuff. Allow it to sit on the animal for 5 minutes or so, then rinse well and shampoo with regular doggie shampoo with conditioner as the solution does dry out their skin. We didn't have any doggie shampoo left (of course!) so Hubby just used my shampoo and then gave him a good dollop of my conditioner and rinsed him off.

He came out smelling nice.

No more skunk smell on the dog.

Now, if only the lingering affects would leave the house we'd be good to go.

Somehow the smell is still lingering in the air here and I'm hoping that after spending the day with the windows open it will be gone.

As for the skunk...I was talking to a neighbour this morning about the skunk and she mentioned there had been one in the back alley last night annoying the dogs. "Luckily none of mine got sprayed" she said...Yeah...But mine did.

So we know now...it was in the back alley and sprayed him through the fence.

So for anyone keeping score...We have had moose, bear, rabbits and skunks wandering down our back alley and eagles, owls and geese flying overhead almost every day in the last 8 years.

Really, who needs to live in the wilderness when you get this living in the city?

Lessons from a Teacher on Social Skills

2009-09-17T13:07:00.001-06:00

One of the nice things about homeschooling is the fact that during the day, Squirt and I get to do all kinds of things that regular classroom students don't have the opportunity to do. We can go to the park and explore the trails. We can go to the park and play on the swings virtually undisturbed by "the bullies" of the playground. We can go for walks around our neighbourhood and examine every crack and crevice in the sidewalk and discuss how the freezing of moisture in the ground causes the pushing up of the ground which causes the cement and pavement to crack over the winter, leaving these cracks and crevices when the ground thaws again in the spring.

It was during one of these walks this week when we witnessed a fight on the school ground just as the students were being dismissed for lunch. Once the fight had broken out and the kids all sent on their way - home or to the office - I happened to overhear the teachers talking...

"Why don't the parents teach these kids any social skills?" was the main question they were asking as they dusted off their hands.

Then, one of the teachers noticed us and noticed that Squirt was not one of the students at the smallish school.

"Are you wanting to register him for school?" She asked.

Squirt said "No. We homeschool. We're out for a walk because it's a beautiful day."

The teacher looked at me and honestly, the first thing out of her mouth was "Aren't you worried about socialization? How is he ever going to learn how to behave with other people if he doesn't attend school?"

HUH?

Yeah, I was dumbfounded. They had JUST broken up a fist fight between a 70 pound kid who was being beaten by TWO kids who were almost twice his size and I am supposed to be concerned about my son's LACK of socialization???

AND they had JUST said "Why aren't these parents teaching their children any social skills?" while I am doing exactly that by teaching my son that fighting is NOT something he does to fix a problem and I am supposed to be concerned that I am not teaching my son enough to "survive in the real world"?

I just looked at her and smiled and said "If the socialization you speak of is the fighting we just witnessed, then no, I am not concerned at all because in our house and in our yard, my son knows he is not going to be beaten up and bullied. He knows it is safe to say what he wants, when he wants and to whom ever he wants because we discuss things. He knows he does not have to raise his hand to use the bathroom and he knows he does not have to raise his hand to ask a question. He can speak to an adult as easily as he can speak to a seven year old, and the topic is often the same."

"Yes, but there are skills children need to know that they can only learn from their peers" she tried to push. "How is he going to learn how to play with children who are different than him? After all, not all people in the world are white and middle class."

She did say this with a sneer...and it made me want to laugh...

I am part Native. And while we consider ourselves middle class, the Sask government has just informed us that we are low income. Didn't know that, Mr. Wall...Thanks for telling us, Mr. Wall...

"He has peers," I answered. "He plays regularly with the kids in the neighbourhood. Not just for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon, but for 1-3 hours a day, sometimes longer if he wants and if the kids are able. He plays with children who are white, who are brown, who are black and who are yellow. He plays with children who are 4 and children who are 14. He plays with children who are Christian, he plays with children who are Jehovah's Witnesses. He has friends who are Jewish and friends who are being raised agnostic and those who are being raised athiest. He has friends who have Down Syndrome and friends who walk with braces or are not able to walk at all. He has a friend who is unable to see, and a friend who is hard of hearing. And he has family members who are Mennonite, and family members who live on reserve. And all of his friends and family he looks at as that...friends and family. He does not look at them and sees white or brown, religious preference or abilities. He just sees friends and family."

Of course, she started in on a rant about how I am the downfall of the education system because "people like me" think we can do better than the "trained professionals" ...

But it was Squirt who made her go quiet when he said...

"Mommy, were all teachers like this when you worked as a teacher?"

(Yes, my son is a pro at the subtleties of language and he did put a little more emphasis on the fact that I was once a teacher!)

I just smiled and said "No, Squirt." and we went along our little walk.

Hmmm...Maybe she was homeschooled and never learned the social skills she would have at public school...

Oh Me...Oh My...

2009-09-03T01:04:00.001-06:00

I can't sleep.

I am going to blame Hubby.

Before heading off to bed himself at 9 pm, he said to me "Well, if we're going into the city on Saturday, I'll take you to the teaching store and you can pick up some things for homeschooling. Will $300 be enough or do you want more?"

Is the man CRAZY???

For starters, I am quite happy with $300.

I am VERY HAPPY with $300.

BUT to go an add "or do you want more?" ???

The man either had way too much sun today (we've been on a hot streak here and tomorrow is going to be even hotter!) or he was into something he should NOT have been into!

But I am not going to complain. It is just now my head is reeling trying to figure out exactly HOW to spend the $300 he offered me along with the $200 I have managed to save for school stuff.

It is almost too much for me and I am all giddy like a kid on Christmas morning! I feel like I've had three pots of Tim Horton's coffee!!!

I know I am going to get a few games. Squirt LOVES to play games. I saw a few on the last trip to the teacher store that I know he will LOVE - solar system, math, grammar games for my LGK (Little Grammar King).

He is also fascinated with the human body so if I can find small models that he can take apart and view "how they work" for a decent price I will pick up a heart and a brain (sounds disgusting when you put it like that).

I want to get some craft supplies and file folders as well - but I can get those any time so I am not going to really worry about them on Saturday unless I find something really neat or really cheap.

I am hoping to hit the fantabulous book store there as well and see if there's any books Squirt will like.

My head hurts just thinking about it.

Hopefully Hubby doesn't wake up in the morning and think "WHAT did I say to her???"

A New School Year is Upon Us...

2009-09-01T14:45:00.000-06:00

And I figured I would start a new blog.

Actually...the other one was giving me issues with my postings and pictures so I thought I would try a new one and see how that works. If I start having the same issues again then I will have to look at trying another forum so fingers crossed. I really like Blogger.

As the title says, it is about our homeschooling journey - the Learning Curve as we walk along this path - but I would like it to focus on other aspects of education as well...such as the things my son teaches me as well as things I learn along the road. It might contain the occasional rant -be forwarned...since turning 40 last December my patience has been tethered by a tiny fragile fraying little thread when it comes to the stupidity people exhibit.

We haven't started school here yet. We are waiting until the 8th of September and then we will plunge into school. Squirt is both looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. He is looking forward to the learning aspects and getting back into some semblance of a routine but he is dreading the fact that once school starts he's not going to have the freedom and access to ps2 and ds that he's had over the summer as well as the fact that Mom has been pretty lax when it comes to things like cleaning his room and helping out with the chores. I just didn't have the heart to tell him he had to leave his friends and what ever games they were playing outside just to come in and help clean the house. I know...I was a BIG SOFTEE this summer.

Anyways, I have pretty much our whole year plotted out. Science is once again taking a big portion of our schedule simply because Squirt loves science - and I can incorporate reading, writing, math and even spelling into our science program. Plus I love science. It is so much nicer to teach something you are passionate about.

This year we are beginning our science with a fairly indepth unit on Animal Classification. We are utilizing dvds, power points and other visual aids as much as we are reading about animal classification. We are even going to build a spine so that he can see exactly why a vertebrate is so different than an invertebrate. I am really excited about this unit.

Once I have actually typed it up (it is a bunch of hand written notes right now) I will try to remember to post it here for anyone who might want to use it or at least give you some ideas for a unit of your own. I will try to do that with all the units we do this year.

Once we have completed that unit, we will start to examine the Five Classes of Vertebrates, examining each one fairly indepth and picking one or two animals from each class to examine even closer.

Now, Squirt has always been fascinated with bears - in a good way (maybe because I've always called him Little Bear???) He is leary of them but loves to watch them. This summer we happened to spend three weeks at the lake while Hubby worked from there and one evening a two-year old cub happened to wonder through our site. I noticed it right away (there is a particular smell bears have and I smelled the bear before I actually saw it) and motioned for everyone to get into the camper (Squirt had a friend spending a few days with us).

We gathered around the table and kept watch out of the window. He wondered through, stopped at the picnic table where we had been sitting and snacking on chips and pop while I made supper (yeah, I know...snacking before supper??? I slapped my own fingers...after popping another handful of chips into my mouth of course.)

Anyhoo...back to the bear...

This black bear cub (remember, he was only 2 years old and in bear time that is still a cub - a young teenager) climbed up onto the table and proceeded to finish off our bag of chips. In fact, the bag was stuck on his nose for a time as he licked every bit of greasy little bits and pieces from the bottom. THEN he stuck his nose into the cups that still contained rootbeer and drank what he could before knocking the cups over and lapping up what he was able to spill on the table. He even found the cooking forks we had used that afternoon to roast marshmallows and proceeded to lick off the remaining sticky stuff that I hadn't been able to burn off. He really seemed to enjoy that until he poked himself with one of the tines. Then he went to the edge of the table where I had set our little camp barbeque and proceeded to try to eat the potatoes I had cooking there - still in the foil and VERY hot.

Did you know bears do NOT like getting burned?

He let out a squeal and shook his paw and nose and left the barbeque alone after that.

Smart bear.

He proceeded to sniff through everything in the campsite but surprisingly didn't tear anything apart or knock anything over. He just sniffed. In truth, we are pretty clean campers. Pop cans get put away right away. Garbage is removed as soon as we are able to remove it. Our belongs remain neatly stacked by the camper when not in use. Food is stored away and safe. We know that we are in THEIR domain and try to live WITH them rather than attrack them. Bears are wild animals and wild animals are unpredictable.

Now, during this time I was thinking to myself..."TAKE A PICTURE! TAKE A PICTURE!" and then I remembered that morning Squirt, his buddy and I had taken a walk through Boundry Bog - a 20 minute drive from our campsite - and my camera was still in the truck. Of course. Just like it was in the truck when a fox cub came and sat down right at my feet...then took off when he realized PEOPLE!!! Just like it was in the truck when a moose wondered through our site.

Yeah, all the wonderful animal shots and my camera was never right at hand. Always in the truck. And when I finally remembered to bring it into the camper, the only time we saw animals was when we were in the...you guessed it...TRUCK!

Anyways, after the bear wondered off to better and more tasty horizons - like the local garbage recepticles where he was found completely emersed and upside down inside a garbage can - Squirt wanted to know more about black bears...and brown bears...and grizzley bears...and polar bears...and then he discovered the Spirit Bears! Oh, talk about GLORY!!! Learn more about Kermode Bears or Spirit Bears here.

Luckily, we had an electrified site and I just happened to have my laptop and external hard drive with me! Yes, we are modern campers. The only thing we don't have for camping is a satellite dish...and I refuse to go that far.

So we did a bit of research on bears with what little I had on the external because...of course...all the bear information is on the main computer not the external. But we were able to find out enough to satisfy Squirt for the time being...but he has been asking more and more about bears and I did promise him we would look closely at the Family Ursidae.

You so got to love when kids get so interested in something that they are constantly asking about it!

Okay...so there are moments when it gets downright annoying BUT in the interest of education, it is wonderful!

And so, back to the bear...

I suspect this was the bear's first year on his own and he was surviving the easiest way he could - by taking over the campground. Most of the people were careful - storing food away from where they slept, putting away food and garbage and such - but of course there are always those who seem to think the campgrounds are for them and then rant and rave when they return to their site and find it destroyed by a young and hungry bear in search of food. In fact, that is what happened in the campground.

A family had been tenting and fishing and had left everything out in their site while they went fishing. When they returned, their coolers were overturned, their fish catch from that morning had been eaten as was all the food they had brought for their weekend stay. Finding such an easy target, the bear continued to search their site including ripping apart their tent which happened to have all their snacks stored - chips, pop, chocolate bars, etc. They also admitted to the conservation officer who arrived shortly after they discovered what had happened in their absence that they had cleaned that morning's catch in their campsite because "the kids didn't want to wait around the smelly fish cleaning hut while we cleaned the fish."

Yeah, real smart campers. Read the pamphlets - they all say to NOT clean the fish in the campsite, to keep coolers in the vehicle and do NOT store food in your tent and do NOT eat near or in your tent. But perhaps this young family did not know how to read.

Oh...wait. I recall him mentioning he was a teacher. Sad...real sad.

Anyways, the conservation officers had up a couple bear traps but before they were able to capture the bear for transfer to somewhere less populated, the bear met an unfortunate end. Because he had grown accustomed to people, he was also not afraid of vehicles. Two days after he had wondered through our site he happened to wonder onto the highway where he was struck by a vehicle. Squirt was not happy to hear what happened. He wanted to see the animal captured and moved to a safer place.

So on that note, I will just say this...

Rest in Peace Our Wild Little Friend.

May your spirit find

fields filled with blueberries

and

fish filled streams