Ain't Nothin Gonna Break-a My Striiiide

Procrastination. Is that the cause of our non-schooling summer? I really really wanted to continue blasting through, thinking we would take a few weeks off, which turned into two months. Here we are, mid-July, and full school just hasn’t happened. Blah.

Sure, Large reads most days; not the literary classics I had planned, but whatever his heart desires. This summer his heart desired Rick Riordan’s newest release Throne of Fire. Thanks to Mr. Riordan’s books, he has learned the names and some details about Greek and Roman gods, so at least there’s that.  Medium *acts* like he’s reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins, (yes, still), but usually has to get a drink, go to the bathroom, randomly roam outside, doze off… you get the picture. Reading is not his gig, especially when he wants to play an uneducational app about slicing fruit or flying a jet pack. Small read to me daily when trying to earn a new (shudder) video game, quickly meeting his goal, then sadly realizing that thanks to Medium’s avoidance approach, the chances of the three of them finishing their required books to get the game, wasn’t going to happen. Bless his heart.

This weekend, I buckled down and marched boldly into mapping out our entire school year.  I spent any spare time during the week pouring over homeschooling genius’ blogs about organizing the day, the week, the year, and finally settled on trying the approach I stumbled upon at the ever helpful Facebook. Thanks to Chelli at The Planted Trees I now have the subjects, weeks, and a rough yearly outline done! Yay! I would do a happy dance but my spine is currently misshapen thanks to hunching over the laptop for hours. Maybe when all this planning business is finished I’ll put off starting school a day and get a massage take the kids on an invigorating nature walk.

I have the bones of the schedule worked out, but not the actual dig-into-the-books lesson break downs. That’s the goal of the next two weeks because…….

We will officially start back on a full schedule July 30!! For my own “I school year round” attitude I want  have, we’re starting in July.  If we started in August, after finishing in May, we would be on a standard school year schedule. Which we’re obviously not. Obviously.

The tentative, written-in-pencil-only weekly schedule looks like this:

I know it is hard to make out with all of the erasing that occurred. Fam is the time block we do together as a well, family, lasting at the most two hours. Reading is when I will read to them while they eat breakfast or work quietly at something or other. The numbers in parantheses are the amounts of time I *think* a subject will take. Memory Work involves poetry, math facts, Bible passages, etc. Friday isn't scheduled into the school week because that will be field trip/catch up day, until we join a local homeschool coop which meets on Fridays starting in September. 

Last semester I let them pick the order they completed their subjects. For Large and Medium I will probably stick with this, because they liked having some control over their school day and it helps them learn responsibility and planning.  Small will have a modified version, where he will pick the order of some of his subjects, but they will be put into time blocks. For example, in the morning, he will have an hour of Grammar, Spelling, and Reading, all of which he will complete with me. He can pick which one he starts with each day, but they will all three be completed in that time block. As this is only our second semester at this homeschooling thing, and I still consider myself a newbie, if something doesn’twork, we’ll change it. No biggie. Flexibility and Perseverance….my homeschool sanity chant. I'm in FULL PLANNING MODE and..

Ain't nothin' gonna to break my stride
Nobody's gonna slow me down, oh-no
I got to keep on movin'
Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride
I'm running and I won't touch ground
Oh-no, I got to keep on movin'

Break my Stride  by Matthew Wilder

Mmmm, coffee

The best iced mocha I have come up with:
1. Brew one cup of coffee. I use the Large cup setting on my Keurig, (which is probably 8-10 ounces?) into a tall, 16-20oz cup that can withstand hot or cold beverages. No glass!
2. Add 2 packets of Splenda
3. Add 5 ice cubes
4. Add 1/2 cup milk (see why you need a really big cup?)
5. This is where I get technical: add one Mississippi of Hershey syrup. It doesn't need to be exact, and I never measure. As you're giving your coffee a good squirt, say "one Mississippi", and that's probably enough.
6. Stir and sip that deliciousness!

You can adjust the amount of milk to fit your "really big cup", as I do depending on which one is clean. In the summer I still want to enjoy my morning beverage, but the thought of drinking something hot is very un-yummy compared to this refreshing, caffeine-laden refreshment. Mmmmmm.

I know you are diggin' my Oklahoma State cup too. I do love it so.

Believe it or Not

Having had kids in public school, I understand both sides of the public school v. homeschool debate. The boys were blessed with teachers, for the most part, that cared about their students, classroom atmosphere, learning new techniques, and wanting the best for the student and parent. They were not a reason for homeschooling. Those teachers were the reason deciding to homeschool was difficult. Knowing that Large loved most of his teachers so much and enjoyed their attention for six years, that Medium only got to spend time with a few, and that Small only had a semester with one of the best still makes me sad. Those teachers warm my heart when I think of them. They are doing their part to educate the future generations, using the tools that they have been taught themselves, and within the constantly changing rules and guidelines they have to follow.


It is those rules, guidelines, and other governmental crapola that is, in my mind, working against teachers. Making test scores the ultimate goal, attaching pay raises to test scores...it isn't right, and it doesn't work. Where else in society are people regulated to rooms based on their age and not their intelligence level? What profession has employees sitting in offices doing work based not on their ability, but their age. What business gives the hired hands standardized fill-in-the-dot tests and punishes their boss if scores are low, even if profits (actual learning) and employee contentment (student happiness) are high?


I love reading Deb's blog, Not Inadequate.  She's a funny, quirky, homeschool mom who is currently living out of various Vacation Rentals By Owner, while travelling the US, giving her kids a real education by reading about geoducks (snicker snicker) because they saw one in the Pacific Northwest, or "researching" bison by watching them walk down the road near Yellowstone. One of her blogs included a video that I absosmurfly loved because it clearly and entertainingly shows why the current education system doesn't work. I unabashedly copied her, including it in this blog for my three many readers to enjoy.




Sir Stephen, I love your accent and ability to draw more than a stick person.


I'm not saying I will never put my kids back into public school, because I don't know what the future holds for my family. We decided to try a semester of homeschooling, and are all so hooked as of now we have most of our books to start the next "year" at any time. :-)

It's a Cruel, Cruel Summer

I’m clearly not adept at giving regular reports on our progress. BUT, learning is happening. I PROMISE!  And so, I give you a really long summary of the past several weeks…ok months.

Large and Medium are on Lesson 29 out of 30 in their Math U See books, and unfortunately for them, I already have most of their next sets ready and waiting. Snicker Snicker.  Thanks to eBay (again) I found the teacher guides and DVDs for Large and Small, but will be picking up student packs containing their workbooks and test booklets, and Medium’s complete set next week. Small is excited to be starting the same program as brothers, which means getting to watch a DVD with Mom. Watching math videos does not excite this English major, but the fact that he is good at math already and has a positive attitude about it, makes me think maybe he will major in something in college that will allow him to buy me a vacation home somewhere tropical. This should become one of my goals in homeschooling. I’m almost sure of it.

Small’s reading is so precious to me. He learned to read at school from our beloved Mrs. J., so I can’t take credit for teaching him, but I do love listening to him as he learns new concepts like the sound ‘ight’ makes or ‘ing’. He just finished Bob Books Set 4 Complex Words and will start Set 5 Long Vowels this week. These will be a breeze since he already covered long vowels in his Spelling book. Harvard here we come.

Medium is no lover of reading, even though it is clearly EASY for him. He finally found a book series at the library that he loves: Beast Quest. Really, son?  After willingly buying two for him to read on the Kindle PLUS the one from the library, I’m making him move on.  He started Mr. Popper’s Penguins yesterday and I found an 89 page unit study online. Score! He sets the timer and reads for 30 minutes on my Kindle or his Ipod. He’s such a techie kid that if I can find a way to make it feel less school-like and more video-game-ish, the whining-complaining factor drops significantly.

Large finished reading Holes and thanks to my neighbor/jr. high English teacher/friend, I had a reading comprehension packet to go with it. Yay for supportive friends! He absolutely loved the book and movie, and convinced his brothers to dig holes with him in the backyard to “build character.” The coming-in-the-house-covered-in mud every. single. day. made it much less funny. The character-building had to stop. I informed Large that being grounded from all things with screens built more character than playing in the mud, and he determined they were finished with that part of their training. Well played big brother.  He’s now reading Tuck Everlasting with much less enthusiasm and an irritating amount of grimacing/sighing.

We’re racing through Large and Medium’s grammar books, trying to finish an entire year’s worth of material in one semester. That means usually two to three lessons per day, but because they have learned a lot of the concepts already, it only takes about 30 minutes to complete. I’m also skipping most of the writing assignments, focusing mainly on the grammar parts such as adjectives and adverbs for Medium, and predicate nominatives and direct objects for Large. I know, I KNOW. Writing is very important, but the plan for now is to just get through the books, and hit the writing assignments this summer.

That’s right. We’re not taking the summer off.

The boys are not on board with this plan and believe it to be the highest form of cruelty. They are used to having almost three months to let whatever information and education they’ve attained be rotted away by hours of SpongeBob, Playstation, and Ipod apps. I don’t have a concrete plan yet, but think we will take a few weeks off at the end of May, or early June, then start back by doing school a few days a week. I need me some sunny pool and lake time too, so hopefully with two days of math and grammar, with a little history and science thrown in, and daily reading, I’ll feel like we’re having the best of both worlds. The boys will probably feel like they’re being served a huge injustice. Maybe I can convince the Hubster that a new backyard pool is a necessity to homeschooling.  And that we can afford it. And that we will not make him spend every free minute of his time cleaning and maintaining it.

 Yes, this also should become one of my goals. Along with a trip to Disney World and a visit to the Olympics and Stonehenge. Goals are important. I should make a list.

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to......

I just got chills from Sesame Street.

Normally the TV isn’t on unless:
A) the kids are outside and I’m catching up on General Hospital  (don’t judge me)
B) we’re watching a Planet Earth video, or
C) school work and chores are finished.
This morning Small asked if he could watch something educational while enjoying his Cocoa Puffs (again, don’t judge). The first thing that came on was Sesame Street and which is totally educational! Well, ok Sesame Street is probably only educational for a four year old, but I didn’t consider it as brain rotting as Tuff Puppy, so PBS it was. I decided that this breakfast distraction was long enough for me to squeeze in some computer time.  Listening to the TV in the background, a song suddenly transported me back to 1979, sitting in the floor in front of my parent’s TV, watching my beloved Sesame Street. I still remember that it was on channel 12, which I had to manually twist a knob to get to, at 9am after Good Morning America. I loved me some Sesame Street.

“Somebody come and play. Somebody come and play today….”  Originally performed by a group of children in 1974, and sometime later by a lonely Ernie, this classic childhood anthem still captures kids’ basic need: playing with friends.  Normally hearing this song would just bring a smile, but the version I heard today was so beautiful because the children’s voices were from the PS22 Chorus of 2011.

Here, go listen. I'll wait.

Wasn't that awesome?

As I sit writing my blog, still having not started “school” for the day at 10:00am, I push the guilt away. Why? Because Medium and Small are outside watering their newly planted trees and playing with a toy airplane, while Large checks on the newborn kittens and their mother. They are outside playing together on a beautiful spring morning. When they come in, we will do "school". We’re using the Mystery of History curriculum and today we are studying the Sumerians. Small will try out their form of writing, cuneiform, on clay while Medium and Large will build a structure out of Legos following the Sumerians ziggurat. All three will do Math, Spelling, and Reading. Medium and Large will do grammar. They will all again, go outside and play. 

It is OK to start bookwork, or what we typically consider "school" at 10:30, or even 11:00. I myself am learning that at home, education happens everywhere, including a desk with a pencil, or the front yard with a water hose.

The Sea Was Calling

One of my hopes for homeschooling  was that if Mark had to travel for work, which he occasionally does, the boys and I could travel with him, or if not “with” him, then meet him at said town and spend time learning about that area. It seems like such a great idea, but I still haven’t pulled it off. His first trip this winter was to south Texas, but the weather was supposed to be rainy the few days he was there, and of course, we all got sick, so that didn’t happen.  In mid-March, he found out on a Thursday that he would be leaving on Monday to go to North Dakota. Perfect! Spring Break here we come. Except, it wasn’t perfect because he was going to an area over run with pipeline workers and would be staying in a “man-camp”. Cue pity-party and the wild desire to blow thousands of dollars on a last minute trip to Disney world.

After a day of moping around quick realization that Girlie couldn't go with us either due to her school schedule,  I did remember that since before we started our Ocean Unit study, the plan was to end it with a trip to the ocean. Said trip hadn't been booked because we just couldn’t work it out thanks to Mark’s unknown, going-to-happen-sometime-in-the-future travel plans. He's not a lounge on the beach kind of guy anyway, AND we were finishing our study..... mid-March! Convincing my mother, Nana, that she needed to go to the beach with us, my father to baby-sit my niece for her, and my cousin that she needed her travelling babysitter Girlie for the week, and VOILA! Galveston, Texas here we come! Girlie gets to go to Chicago, boys and I get to go to the beach, and Mark doesn't have to take a road trip (which he hates). Win-Win-Win!

I know the thought of an eleven hour car ride with three boys seems, well, not fun to most people. For us, armed with a DVD player, Nintendo DS’s, snacks, and plenty of pit stops it was easy-peasy. The most frustrating part was when we finally made it to Houston, (almost there!) we hit traffic, bumper to bumper, barely moving for miles and miles and what seemed like hours and hours. It was a little stressful, because by this time the boys were slap happy, and alleviated their boredom by being really loud which is not good when I’m trying to avoid getting rear-ended by the IDIOT  guy behind me.

Even though it was Texas’ spring break week, I easily found us a hotel room with an oceanview balcony. After the long car ride Monday, we decided to just chill there that night rather than venture out. We had pizza delivered, a luxury not available for us non-city-dwellers, and enjoyed listening to the waves crashing onto shore. We listened rather than watched because the thickest fog EVER rolled in right after we did.

Tuesday we hit Walmart for boogie boards and picnic supplies, then found a sweet spot on the beach. Again, for Spring Break, it wasn’t crowded at all. We saw no one drinking, very few string bikinis, and no gaggles of college bros and…girls being all spring-breaky. Galveston is basically one long narrow strip of beach, for about 8 miles, with parking up on the Seawall and steps leading down to the beach. By the time we got there it was noon and the fog STILL hadn’t burned off like it does with sunrise at home, but it had lifted enough to sit on the beach and see the kids in the ocean. We unloaded, slathered up with sunscreen, and the boys hit the waves with their boogie boards while Nana and I soaked up the sun. I did need to get some good shots of the boys’ ocean time, so I stood at the edge, awaiting the blissful feel of ocean water washing sand off my toes. The water was about the temperature of Antarctica. Ok, maybe not Antarctica, but definitely creek water-ish. This bothered the boys about as much as snow at Christmas, and when we finally coaxed them out for lunch, their lips were blue. Truly. By the end of the day, despite repeated sun-screen applications, we were all sunburned, happy, and starving. Dinner was at Tortugas Mexican Restaurant (no mystery why the boys wanted to eat here, Captain Jack).

Wednesday we celebrated Middle’s birthday at Rainforest Café, rode the Ferry, saw dolphins swimming wild and free, and spent another afternoon on the beach. Thursday, we packed up and drove home.

As field trips go, it was super relaxing, and they learned that seagulls will catch and eat pizza crust if you throw it to them off a 3^rd floor balcony, but will drop lettuce. That’s education, homeschool style.

Love is a Battlefield

There are days when homeschooling three boys fills my soul with such contentment I can scarcely believe my luck. When we’re praying for people at church and they remember things I forgot, when they whiz through several math chapters after finally “getting it”, when we’re outside geocaching together on a beautiful day instead of being in classrooms or offices miles from each other….

Tuesday was not one of those days.

Tuesday’s “day o’ irritations” began with Medium spilling an ENTIRE bowl of cereal, which he had accidentally filled to the brim with milk. Hey, no crying over spilled milk, right? We cleaned it up, easy peasy. After a severe berating from his brothers (yeah, like they NEVER spill anything), we proceeded with our usual school day. For lunch we were enjoying leftover spaghetti when Medium sat his FULL plate half on the counter, half off, and yes, the ENTIRE plate hit the floor, face down, after flinging it onto the nearby cabinet and refrigerator doors. Ok, deep breath. Everyone has one of those days when they seem to drop everything. Which he did. Again. When he refilled his plate. Another plate of spaghetti hit the floor. DUDE!!! At this point I’m wondering why I bother mopping EVER, but help Medium clean up this little accident, carry his plate to his seat, and refrain from hand-feeding it to him. I mean, really, what are the chances of another accident?

Good. The chances are good.

As the boys are heading outside to play, I sneak into the pantry looking for something chocolaty. It’s been a rough morning, yo! As I step out of the pantry, I am blinded in one eye as a softball sized hard foam ball smacks me in the face. Yep, Medium nailed it. Keeping any profanity from passing my lips, I stagger to the counter while he profusely apologizes over and over. He was aiming for the pantry door. I calmly ask through watery eyes why he would throw a ball as hard as he could at a GLASS DOOR??? Confused, he replied, “cause I wanted to?” At the point of flying into a Tasmanian devil  fit, I ask him to please go outside. No need for more apologies, just leave before bodily harm is inflicted. He must have sensed the calm was barely holding back the wave of hiney-chewing that was about to hit and wisely exited the premises. I never found anything chocolate.

Sing it, Pat Benatar. Love is a Battlefield.