Jello Cell

I know a lot of people have made various edible cells and that would have been fun, but we made an almost edible plant cell using the directions found in Janet VanCleave's book Plants.  She has loads of great ideas in her book and we did several of them, but not nearly as many as I planned due to unexpected craziness before Christmas.  

We used lemon jello, a cranberry for the nucleus, and a variety of beans for organelles.  Beans are cheap.  When we finished the kids drew and labeled their own cell on paper and then they ate the jello. Weirdos.

Looking at examples of plant cells for their own diagram in the book World of Plants by Usborne.  I highly recommend this book as a reference.  The pictures were awesome and everything was laid out really neatly and well. This is one I want to buy for my own collection.

Harriet loved squishing the jello around.  She turns three in February (how did this happen??) and she has decided, most firmly, that she can do all the school stuff the older kids do.  I love her diagram.  I also love the note she carefully wrote for me the other day; asking me to spell out all the words, followed by her carefully writing down each letter (no, they didn't look like letters but they looked lovely nonetheless).  She also reads with me, which consists of her picking a book she has memorized and reading it to me by carefully moving her finger from one word to the next as she tells me the story.  I love this age so much!

This kid is in the loud stage where he sounds like he is dying if everything isn't just exactly how he wants it.  He's also started fighting against naps (he's five, but my kids all needed naps until then) for the first time.  He used to tell me when it was nap time and then go lay down.  I only have him nap about every third day, but that is pushing his capacity to cope.  Today I made him lay down and he yelled and screamed like he was being eaten by cannibals and then slept like one of the dead for three hours and still went straight to sleep at his 7:30 bedtime.  I might need to bump his nap schedule back to every other day.  I swear motherhood is about carefully orchestrating everything just so to prevent and redirect and anticipate.

After we made our cells I broke out the microscope for the first time --  oohh, ahhh -- and the kiddos went nutso they loved it so much.  I bought a set of pre-prepared slides so we looked at all the plant slides in the set.  Unfortunately, the microscope had to be put away before the children wanted it to because I got tired of the jostling and muttering and open hostilities about whose turn it was and how long each turn had been and who was going next.

One highlight of the day for me was harassing my son, Cowen, about letting me poke him with something sharp so we could look at blood under the microscope.  I had to niggle him a little about his masculinity being called into question if he refused.  He couldn't let the girls be poked!  That wouldn't be gentlemanly.  He conceded the point about the girls readily enough and eventually said I could poke him (I didn't).  I loved the manful squaring of the shoulders and sweet stoicism.  I adore boys.

Random side note, if you have a man-child and haven't read Why Gender Matters by Leonard Sax, you should repent immediately and go read it.  It is a really fantastic look at the actual physiological differences between boys and girls (way more than I ever dreamt) and some of the emotional/mental differences as well.  When I taught education students at a local university, I always had them read this book.



 

Small Rant: Shielding Your Children From the World

I was just surfing the internet reading up on the latest homeschool news.  Always a mistake.  Yes, I should be in bed but I'm trying to recover from a not-the-greatest day by spending some quality alone time.  I'll regret it tomorrow.

Homeschool news always prompts comments.  My hubby forbid me from reading those comments several years ago as they usually make my head explode (red-heads are known for their even-keel personalities after all) but every once in awhile I can't help myself.  I keep thinking that the general public will stop making uneducated, ill-informed comments about socialization and lack of accountability.

They haven't.  

Here's my biggest pet-peeve comment from anti-homeschooler commenters: "Homeschoolers just want to protect their children from the world.  Their children will never be able to handle real life."  (That wasn't a direct quote; I was using the quote marks improperly--just in case you were wondering.)

Isn't it my right to protect my children as much as possible from the harsh things of the world?  Shouldn't every responsible parent protect their children from the worst parts of growing up if at all possible?  Wouldn't the world be a kinder, lovelier place if that protection was in place?  The logic of allowing your children to experience awful things is very questionable.  If a child endures bullying does that make the child better?  Stronger?  More bitter?  More angry?  More unsure of himself?  Is there any research to back up the theory that it will make the child stronger and a more competent adult?  If so, why do we spend so much time passing bullying legislation and trying to remove it from our schools?  If it makes children stronger and more capable of "handling life" we should encourage bullying and reward bullies for all the good they do our society.  

What about sexual harassment?  That's a good one.  If a girl doesn't hear 3-10 nasty sexual innuendoes or crass comments a week she'll probably grow up to be completely unable to handle the workplace where that sort of thing is absolutely not tolerated.  At least, not in any of the workplaces I've experienced.  

What other lovely things must our children experience to truly "handle life"?  Drugs?  Loneliness?  Isolation?  I know--how about the vicious meanness my sister dealt with because she refused to allow other students to use her answers?  Excellent.  Can't manage life at all until you've experienced all that great stuff.  Because I deal with it every single day as an adult.  Right?  Don't you?  

And the next question is when should our children experience all this stuff to turn out the optimal adult? Pre-school?  Kindergarten?  Surely if your child can't handle basic bullying by age 8 he's going to be an utter failure in life.  You should make sure he's getting his fair share of bullying right away.  You don't want him to get behind.  Definitely if your daughter can't handle a reference to her pubic hair (I'm a red-head, there's special criteria for harassing us) by the time she's 12 you might as well give up on her now.  She'll be a complete failure in the "real" world.  

Heavens, why not throw them in daycare at birth so they learn to compete for attention, feed themselves, change their own diapers, and comfort themselves when they get fussy?  Wouldn't want to pamper them.  Babies, after all, are only a few short years younger than the kindergarteners who absolutely must be in school to turn out as decent citizens.

My point is that our world is a harsh, harsh place and whatever I can do to allow my children to remain innocent of that fact, I will do.  For as long as I can do it.  The reality is that we can't protect our children nearly as much or as long as we would wish--regardless of how we educate them.  While I understand people being wary of homeschooling (I certainly was before I tried it) the "bubble" argument is stupid.  No two ways about it.  

Curriculum Thoughts

I have found it pretty impossible to do school these days. The baby's schedule and my exhaustion combined with post-partum fuzzy brain has necessitated a small hiatus.

I expected that.

What I didn't expect was my obsession with picking curriculum for next year. I think it is because I can pick curriculum sitting down, it allows me to feel like I'm being a little productive, and it is fun. Fun, fun, fun.

So far I have almost every subject decided. I'm still investigating a few options for art and adding/subtracting from my "wish list."

Here are my thoughts on my choices. First, I really like A Beka math for its frustrating amount of review problems--now that I've gotten past the "do every problem" mentality. It really is a great program when you pick and choose the problems based on your child's competence.

However, I like A Beka a LOT MORE when combined with The Thinking Company's math reasoning books. The Math Reasoning books are fantastic for critical thinking/problem solving and terrible for reviewing basic concepts. I've found that a mix of problem solving (what my children like best) and practicing the basics of computation (what A Beka does best) has proven a real winner for us.

Math Program: A Beka math with The Thinking Co.'s Mathematical Reasoning books.

Miriam is turning 8 this June and in my head that means she has to start "real school." Before 8, I just can't take it all that seriously. Example: language arts. We haven't done much by way of real gung-ho grammar in the past. This year, however, I feel strongly that it is time to start. Due to my recent discovery of The Well-Trained Mind (I'll be sharing my thoughts on that book in another post) I discovered the Rod and Staff Publishing Co. When I looked through their third grade language arts program I found--miracle of miracles--that it requires diagramming sentences. WAHOO!! When I taught English in a public school I found sentence diagramming to be the number one best way to learn/teach grammar. Really. And it isn't even awful--it is actually pretty fun. It's like a game or puzzle. Sold.

Picking a spelling program has proven extremely time consuming. Every program has its advocates and denigrators. Every expert has an opinion. It always comes down to the needs of your child. We've been using Sequential Speller and loving it. My daughter spells the words out loud and feels very proud that she can spell such long words. However, Miriam is also a reluctant writer because she hates misspelling words. Unlike me, Miriam does not pick up spelling from reading. I need a program that lays things out for her--so more phonics based--that she can do independently and will hopefully help jumpstart her writing because the words she's learning to spell are words she's comfortable using in her writing (unlike most words in Sequential Speller). With all those many requirements, I finally decided on the Rod and Staff spelling program. She can do it independently, it groups words in a way that makes sense, and I think it will appeal to Miriam. Plus, we can keep using Sequential Speller for fun.

Language Arts Program: Rod and Staff for Miriam and for Cowen Language Lessons for the Very Young. Rod and Staff Spelling for Miriam and my own made-up spelling curriculum for Cowen. McGuffey's Eclectic Readers for Miriam (thank you Dad for the best Christmas present!!) for reading. Cowen and Emeline (yes, she's ready) will be using the Little Books: Set One and Set Two for reading. (I have a whole new plan for teaching reading--I'll tell you all about it in anther post.)

As you all know, I make up my own science and history.

For handwriting we will continue to use Handwriting Without Tears. We love that program. It has worked miracles in our homeschool.

The jury is still out on art. I am currently investigating a book called Storybook Art that has art projects drawn from children's books. The premise is that the author of the art book found 100 "greatest" children's books. Then she studied how the illustrators illustrated the books and created art projects that helps children do what the illustrator did in the children's book. I love the premise. I just got the book from the library so I'll be looking through it thoroughly in the next week or so. If you've used this book or any of its projects, let me know what you think.

There you have it. I haven't bought any of the new stuff yet because I don't want to be hasty and make mistakes. I'm prone to doing that. However, I am very pleased with how far along I am in the process and pleased with my plans for schooling this summer.

If you have used any of these materials and have thoughts on them--PLEASE SHARE. Also, if you have found a product you think is fantastic--PLEASE SHARE. Picking curriculum is good fun, but it is also a long, nerve-wracking process. I hate spending money only to find out that the curriculum didn't match the child. It happens.

Still, in the end, there is just something very elemental and soul-satisfying about setting all the new books on the table and really going to town planning for the new school year. I love it. Love it, love it.

Review of the first half of the Year

So far, this has been our best year of homeschooling ever. I am more than a little surprised that I am saying that. I am not what anyone would consider a cheerful pregnant person. I fall into the short-tempered, grumpy, and highly irritable pregnant person category.

I didn't have high expectations for this year.

I didn't even have a strong spiritual witness that I needed to homeschool this year. In fact, when I prayed about it I felt like it didn't matter if we homeschooled or not. I could choose.

I chose to homeschool because I wanted to have baptism prep with Miriam and I was unable to fathom entertaining Cowen with Miriam gone every day. The boy is very dependent on her. There were other reasons, but those were my main two. (Putting Cowen in public school kindergarten was out of the question for various reasons.)

I went into the school year with lingering nasty morning sickness, a sense of doom, and a commitment to baptism prep. That was it.

And yet, this year has been fantastic beyond my wildest hopes. I've thought long about why this has been the case and I've hit on a few answers.

1) I started to practice what I preach in that I don't think children need formal academics before they are 8.

Ever since I started taking education classes and thinking about education systems and the purpose of education, my opinion on early education has shifted and solidified to anti-formal schooling for young children. I have come to believe most strongly that a mother's influence is the most important thing a child can have--especially for children under the age of 8--and that time with mother is the best gift you can give a young child. I have also come to believe very strongly that pushing academics early on can distort a child's self-perception and diminish a child's interest in learning.

I have long thought that, but when you first start to homeschool you get hit with a barrage of anti-homeschooling sentiment from all those around you. Especially your nearest and dearest who worry about your children out of love. It is hard to resist feeling the need to "fight back" by proving your children's smarts and pushing them to achieve according to public school standards. We are so used to competing and measuring and comparing that it is hard to let that go no matter how firm our convictions.

This year, I stopped worrying about it. If Miriam got "behind" in math, I didn't care. If Cowen didn't learn to read in kindergarten, I didn't care. I don't think children need to know anything specific before they hit age 8 except gospel principles and how much you love them. I finally, finally, gratefully lived up to that belief. It has made all the difference.

2) I remembered that I am a teacher who can adapt to her student's learning styles.

Some of you might be rolling your eyes right now. I know--most homeschool moms are really good at recognizing their children's learning styles and adapting to them. Again, for me, this was related to wanting to prove that my children were not falling behind. Instead of looking at my daughter and evaluating her needs, I pushed her in math to get a certain amount done just to get it done. I really am a good teacher. Professionally speaking that is. It took watching a teacher give a fantastic lesson on graphing for me to remember that I am good at creating lesson plans to teach things and I never used textbooks when I taught professionally. Why was I so welded to Miriam's math book?? It was an "aha" moment. I could teach math. Not just stick a math book in front of my child.

Reevaluating my math strategy has changed our homeschool drastically. Miriam's favorite subject this year has been math and it is because I am teaching it and because I took the time (a great deal of time) this summer to really think about how Miriam would learn math best.

3) I tried harder to match lesson plans to my children's interests.

At the risk of sounding like an unschooler--which I am not--I have to say that following my children's lead in what to study has made a big difference this year. I started out the year thinking we would study ancient history. I tend to focus on history because it is my thing, so I know a lot about it and I can easily create lessons plans. Easy is a good thing.

But this year, Miriam told me that she wanted to be an animal rescuer so I scratched my lessons on Persia and started our animal classification unit. Not because Miriam said to, but because I was paying attention to her interests. Let me be perfectly clear here--I am not an unschooler. I do not believe that children know enough to know what they want to study, let alone what they should study. I am also not a real TJEder. I like some TJEd ideas, but not "inspire not require." I believe in a whole lot of requiring. But I am also a teacher, and teacher's know that students only get excited about learning something if you sell it to them well. With animal classification I was able to sell it well in addition to my children's pre-existing interest.

The result was one of the best units I've ever put together. Not because the actual lesson plans were always that great, but because interest remained high long after I thought it would wane. I originally planned on spending a total of one month on the whole thing. Instead we spent almost a month on each category of animal because my children really loved learning about the subject.

4) I was less rigid about our schedule.

5) I spent more time during the summer pondering my end goals for my children and aligning my homeschool to match those goals.

Clarity of purpose creates stunning results. I started homeschooling for particular reasons, but those reasons have shifted a great deal in the three years we've been at this. During the summer I figured out what my goals are now. Then I focused our day around those things. For example, piano is more important to me than math right now. So, at the end of the day if Miriam hadn't practiced piano I felt grumpy. Once I realized this, I planned our schedule to make sure the critical things--devotional, music time, piano practicing, and baptism prep--always happened. If we didn't get to other subjects like math or language arts, I didn't mind because we did the things I felt were critical. Having a really solid focus has meant that I am happier at the end of the day with what has been accomplished and that my children are happier because I am happier.

6) I actively found ways to let my children create.

My children have been happier and more joyful during school time because they love to create. Seeing their enthusiasm has made me happier. I like to facilitate happiness in my little ones.

7) I asked for more revelation in school matters because school affects everything else in our family, including the spiritual development of my children.

This is the most important difference this year. I read several good books this year about Christ and developing a more loving attitude towards those around you. I highly recommend President Eyring's book To Draw Closer to God. I also listened carefully to Sister Beck who promised that revelation will be given in abundance to the sisters if they ask for it.

I started asking for it.

Revelation has come that is so simple, but has helped in so many ways. For example, Miriam and I put together a check list of things she needs to know and do before she is baptized in July. At the end of one week, I pulled out the list and was going to go through it with her and check off the items she had done. But then I had a thought--that this was something she should do with her priesthood leader. So that Sunday, Miriam and her dad had their first baptism meeting/interview and went through the list together.

I could have done it. It wasn't the difference between doing something bad or something good. It was the difference between doing something good and doing something much better. I didn't think of it myself. That kind of revelation has been so helpful. Nothing earth shaking, but I have felt more confident in my decisions. I have felt more love from my Savior. I have felt more love and peace in my home. Even with my losing my temper every sixty seconds. (Irritable pregnant person syndrome.) I have felt more guided in what I should do for and with my children. I have given Miriam more independance and trusted her and my Savior more. I have felt less need to control everything all the time. I have even managed to not yell at my kids during devotional now and again. :)

I still have a long way to go in creating the atmosphere in my home that I want, but diligently seeking more revelation has changed our home this year. And because of that, our homeschool has changed.

As I get nearer and nearer to delivering number five, I remain hopeful that home and homeschool won't fall apart and that this year will continue to be the best homeschooling year we've had.

Inspiration

I was on youtube the other day, looking for a particular Uchtdorf message that my sister had my husband put on a dvd for her ward's Young Women in Excellence program.

I didn't find it, but I did find this:

I'm sure some of you remember this talk. It struck me then. And it struck me again when I watched the MormonMessage version.

It caused me to reflect on how much I love to create.

I love to create happiness in my marriage.
I love to create yummy, healthy, homemade food.
I love to create YA fantasy novels and historical nonfiction for children. I love to write.
I love to create beautiful babies.
I love to create music. I love to create memories. I love to create memories through music. (My children and friends performing for my children's great-grandparents.)
I love to create opportunities for my children to explore nature.
I love to create libraries. And readers.
I love to create Christmas stockings.
I love to create colorful spaces.
I love to create cakes.
Especially cakes that involve a shark eating an out-of-place knight.
I love to create curriculum.
I love to create/inspire happiness in my children.
There are so many, many opportunities for me to create and I am grateful for each one.

It is sad that I sometimes forget that my children also love to create.

Notice that I do NOT like creating art. Of any form. I do not like to color. I do not like to cut. I do not like to paste. I do not like to scrapbook. I do not like to draw or paint or anything like unto it. I also do not enjoy cooking with children, as it creates huge messes and I am, in general, opposed to huge messes.

It is not surprising that I sometimes forget how much my children enjoy all those things. And even worse, I forget to incorporate those things into our school curriculum. I'm imposing my limitations on my limitless children. I am curtailing their creative expression.

After pondering this for several days, I decided I needed to reevaluate my upcoming curriculum. My animal classification bird unit was totally revamped, making creating a central feature. I'll be posting about it in the upcoming days. My children have loved ever single creative thing we have done. And so have I. Truly--when I remember President Uchtdorf's message, I can color with a smile. In motherhood, and in homeschooling, we sometimes need to stretch ourselves for the good of our children. I'm trying.

Now, go create something.

(Miriam: the day she came to me and explained that she'd created a "band in a drum." She's a creative soul.)

My thoughts on Men's Week

(Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. My laptop charger cord died and we were down to one computer. With my husband claiming to need the computer to study every night, I couldn't get a blog in edgewise. The new cord came in the mail today--bless you amazon--so I'm back!)

During Men's Week, several ideas jumped out at me. I wanted to discuss some of those ideas.

1) From J.: ". . . the love of reading is KEY to individuality in learning and understanding." I thought this was an interesting idea because homeschoolers often talk about individualizing, or personalizing, education for each child as a positive of homeschooling. I would argue, however, that a child who is taught to love to read will naturally love to learn and will always personalize their education. For example, how many of you ever read a novel during a science class? There you go--you were personalizing your own education. (I had a science teacher that would ask me what I was reading at the beginning of every class and when I bawled the whole hour while reading Goodbye, Mickey Mouse he only mocked me a little bit.)

I'm not trying to take away from a homeschooling parent's ability to personalize, I'm just saying the all children who love to read personalize their education. Some kids know a whole lot about Sacketts, and others about elves, and others about murder mysteries. I knew a lot about historical fiction. And dragons. I love me a good dragon book.

As a reader and long time self-educator, I know how to find information in a book. So while homeschoolers want to contend that they corner the market on personalized education, it isn't quite true. Reading is the key to an individualized education--as J. pointed out.

2) Also from J., writing about his wife Julia: ". . . and I have enjoyed watching her grow through being challenged socially, politically, scientifically, and mathematically herself." When I read that, all I could think was, oh my, I bet she hasn't always enjoyed being stretched in all those areas. Being a homeschool mom is, well, its hard. It changes us. And change is most often hard.

3) Nick mentioned the time wasting that takes place in school. As a former public school teacher I just want to add an emphatic amen. Don't get me started on announcements.

4) Brett talked about the differences between primary school in Switzerland and the States. There, his second grader comes home at noon. Wouldn't that be awesome--half day second grade? Brett said something important: ". . . and do well academically despite not working like slaves as primary schoolers." I noticed this when we moved from Canada to the States--that elementary school here is so intense. Homework in elementary school?? Crazy.

Many people think that they need to push their children while their children are young and their "sponge-like brains" are absorbing everything. I would argue the opposite. Let your children be little. Let them run and play. They are absorbing everything but the important stuff, like how to be a nice brother and what is heaven, isn't happening during school time. One of my main educational beliefs is that formal schooling shouldn't start until age 8. I don't know if I will put my daughter back into school when she's 8 like I orginally planned, but I do know that the "school" we do now I consider practice for grade 2, and a way to keep my kids out of trouble.

5) Lastly, a few thoughts from my dad that I wanted to discuss. First: "To sum up this lengthy treatise, parents need to provide an educationally rich home environment, instill in their children a belief in the importance of learning and the value of an education, and to teach their children to take responsibility for their own learning."

I thought it was ironic and yet made perfect sense that a die-hard public school supporter would essentially say the same thing that homeschoolers are so fond of saying--teach your children to take responsibility for their own learning. This plays out in a variety of ways. For me and my siblings it meant hearing the inevitable, "Figure it out yourself, I already did my homework," response from my dad if we were desperate enough to ask him for help with homework. Don't ask me how this resulted in children who excelled in school, but it did.

I did well in school because I wanted to go to college and I wanted a scholarship. It wasn't about pleasing my parents. I also wanted to learn. How could I not, with two parents who loved to read, surrounded us with good literature, talked about what we were learning, and continued to learn themselves. It really is about the educationally rich home environment, and belief system that honors education, and giving the responsibility to the children.

My dad also said, "This would be great because the K-12 curriculum is a very small part of what a child should be learning, and, in fact, aside from basic literacy skills, it is probably less important than many other things that parents could and should be teaching their children if they had the time." Another important reminder that school learning is great, but not the most important part of our life-long education.

My Soapbox

I wrote an email to a nice person today about my wariness of homeschool blogs that style themselves as "LDS" or "Christian" and decided to post parts of it here. Allow me to begin with what I feel is a very important truth:

Homeschooling is not mandatory for salvation.

I often find myself uncomfortable reading homeschool blogs. Many blogs preach (and I mean preach) a certain type of homeschooling, such as TJEd or Charlotte Mason, or unschooling. The more attached a blogger is to a certain philosopy, the more uncomfortable I feel. Not because I think there is something wrong with those homeschooling methodologies but because homeschooling is not the one true religion. It is a valid choice among many valid choices. And each particular methodology is a valid homeschooling option among many valid homeschooling options. When I read homeschooling blogs, I usually wind up feeling alienated rather than supported or inspired.

I'm not saying that there can't be homeschool blogs aimed specifically at families utilizing a particular approach. Obviously, Charlotte Mason fans want blogs specifically aimed to help them reach their specific homeschooling goals. That only makes sense. It is mostly the attitude I find troubling. The us/them feeling. I like to learn about different methodologies so I can take what I like from each one. I do not like to read a blog that insists one methodology is the one and only way to true homeschooling happiness in this life and the next.

As for sanctimonious LDS homeschoolers . . .. I find it troublesome when any Christian homeschoolers, but especially LDS homeschoolers, imply or outright state that homeschooling is somehow more morally correct than not homeschooling. This is a very pervasive attitude and again, I think it is alienating and ridiculous. Of course, many homeschoolers believe no such thing. I am not trying to say that anyone who made a decision to homeschool based on revelation or a fear of unhealthy influences at school, or because they think Halloween is a wicked holiday are sanctimonious. I would not homeschool if I didn't feel that my Heavenly Father approved. However, I will never put a quote from President Benson (or any other religious figure) on my blog as a way to support or legitimize my choice. It is not doctrine to homeschool.

I'm afraid I might have stepped onto a soapbox again, but I feel strongly that we are all here to support each other and that means nixing the attitude of us/them or right/wrong (as pertains to homeschooling--not the commandments).

And now I am stepping down from my soapbox.

Why I Homeschool

Since starting to homeschool, I've noticed that I LOVE to hear why other people homeschool. It is almost an obsession, to the point where I don't feel like I really know a fellow homeschooler until I've heard their "why I homeschool" story. I don't have a story so much as a journey. I'm sure I'll share more of that later. For right now, I'll tell you why I started homeschooling. The first reason, and perhaps still the best reason: I wanted my children to have exceptionally close relationships with each other. Very close sibling relationships are not always the norm now that people live in cities where other friendships can dominate the growing up years. I wanted my children to be the exception in that they are tight. Tighter than my brother's football team tight. Tighter than my brother's football pants tight.

So far it has worked like a charm. See exhibit A (the picture below).


When I was growing up, we moved around a lot. By the time I left for college the longest I'd lived anywhere was almost three years. There were nine children in my family and we were tight. Very tight. I have long believed that this is because of three reasons. 1) We lived on a farm when I was younger and developed relationships there because we lacked other playmate options. 2) We moved around so much that we were always the "new kids." When you are the new kid you don't have a best friend yet, so you play with your siblings. That gave us a six month period every other year at least to renew our sibling relationships. 3) My parents liked us and liked doing things with us, so there was a whole lot of wholesome recreational activity around our house. Besides that, there were so many of us that there was always something going on. It might have also helped that my dad is a white Bill Cosby mixed with Weird Al and my mother a goddess in the kitchen. Good jokes, good food, good friends--my house was amazing.

Now that we are all grown, we are still tight. Family website tight. Call at least one of my sisters daily tight. Catch up on each other's blogs tight. Write YA fantasy together tight. Reunions, get-togethers, in each other's business tight. I love it. I want that for my children.

But my hubby and I aren't going to pick up and move every two years like my father. We don't live on a farm. I attempt to make my children feel as loved and liked as my mother did me, but I'm a lot like my father (why fates???) so I don't think I do quite as good a job at that as she did.

Enter homeschooling. I really did decide to homeschool so my children would be forced to build the kind of relationship that I was able to build with my siblings. I'm not saying that other people who lived in one place their whole lives and attended school can't have tight relationships with their sibs. I'm just saying I wanted to make it a priority and homeschool seemed like the right solution.

That is one reason. There are others. So many others. I'll tell you more later.

PS--Becky B., my buddy who is about to embark on a homeschool adventure of her own, has labeled my blog useful, but lacking a certain consistency of posting. I promise to post more often. Really.

Math

Has anyone else noticed that homeschooling is a journey that takes you, as the primary educator, on roads you previously thought were too wild to traverse?

I'll put it more plainly. I used to think most homeschoolers were loonies. Whacked. Crazy. Etc. I joined the homeschooling scene hesitantly--secure in my decision, but entirely skeptical of other homeschoolers. I was a "retired" public school teacher, for heaven's sake. And now, two years in, I still vacillate between joy at the incredible richness of experience available to those of us off the beaten path and a deep-seated fear that I am getting as loony as the looniest of the homeschoolers.

My decision to stop teaching math is a prime example. (That was a joke--prime, get it? That's about as good as my math humor gets.) I have noticed lately that my Miriam is starting to dislike math. She still loves her math analogies and problem solving strategy books--but the math workbook that goes over the same thing so many times that we both want to pull our hair out? That has to go.

I've been counseling people for years to ease up on the reading anxiety. That learning to read can't be pushed. That children mature differently. Provide a literacy-rich environment and the child will learn when he is ready. So why is it so hard to apply those same principles to math? Is it my fear that she'll fall dreadfully and irretrievably behind? Please. She's a smarty-pants. Is it my fear that my hubby will freak out? A little--but he usually comes around.

Okay, I'll admit it. It is my fear that I won't be able to provide a math-rich environment for my kids. It isn't that I can't "do" math. It's that I don't enjoy it. Creating a literacy-rich environment in my home is a joy. A delight. I can create an atmosphere so literacy dense you can taste the words when you walk in the room (and step on one of the 40 books scattered on the floor) without any effort on my part. It's as much a part of me as breathing.

Math is different. Math is . . . work. So much work. I don't know the best math children's books. I don't know the best math games. I don't know where the best resources are located online. I have no idea how to create a math-dense environment in our home. Work, work, work!! It would be so much easier to just stick with the math program we've been using. But I can't.

So here I am. Facing yet another of those dark, overgrown, tangled homeschool roads that I thought I would always safely avoid because only loonies walked it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'll keep you posted on how it's going. I feel confident that shoving traditional math in the garbage is the right thing, but oh it is hard to inch myself onto this particular path.