OH, The Hours I Have Invested

As the new school year approaches I find that it is necessary to finish up much of the planning that needs to take place. I also still look at a room that has gone unpainted, unfinished, unprepared for school. Normally that is not a big deal but I really want the school mess to leave my kitchen and have its own permanent location.  I know that many use their kitchen and living room but I find that it makes for more clutter than I want at the end of my day.  I want to keep projects out so they can be easily accessed and completed. I have the additional space, which many lack, so why not use it?

If you follow my blog you already know that the stringent guidelines of my SCCCHE co-op did not fit well with my values as a Christian.  Apparently there are groups of Christians who do not recall that old saying of What Would Jesus Do.  With that said there is another coop that is forming in our area. I am excited as it is a homeschool coop for all who homeschool.  Can you imagine that we would all some how be able to come together with the diversity of our families and get along?  The distance is further but the time to drive there is the same. We will be gathering on Thursdays and have several parent lead classes scheduled. It is not a huge offering like we had at Master's Lyceum but it took years for ML to grow like it did. BTW Master's Lyceum is taking a hiatus this fall.  I am not sure what all took place but the SCCCHE Master's Lyceum apparently had some theft issues and lack of people to help set up and clean up.  That of course is the rumor as I have understood it but I am sure it is accurate.  I know many who did not do their fair share to help ML be all it could be.  Then again it is possible they too felt left out by the leadership team who had it all together.  OK>>>>I am really getting petty now but it is how I feel and is how I was treated.  I can leave it in the past but that does not mean I have never discuss it when looking forward to the new coop and how different it will be.

I am going to conduct two Magic School Bus Science classes. It is an easy class as all material is available publically online all I had to do was to determine which week I was doing each lesson.  The other class is more of a challenge. I wanted to do a life skills class that I am calling Money, Maps and Measurements.  I have all sorts of plans in my head but cannot get it onto the paper well and the map resources are proving to be more  complicated than I originally thought.  I do believe it is time for me to do a huge road trip and gather maps.

Other items being planned are our St. Louis Zoo Homeschool Classes.  We are signed up for the three in the fall. They will be the second Monday of the month.  We have placed on our calendar the Magic House Homeschool Days which are the first Mondays of the month from October to February.  Traditionally, the Missouri History Museum has program as well on the third Monday of the month.  Hummmm, it looks as if we will only be in our regular homeschool environment three days per week. No wonder children love to be homeschooled.

I am going to continue our KTM routine and fit it in with our Monday programs.  It seems that my MM&M class will conflict with a class Grace wants to attend at co-op so I will conduct the lesson for her and Faith.  Call it a practice run. 

Our purchases this year for curriculum material was only $46.00.  I really overbought last year but with all the medical issues of Owen and myself we did not work ahead as I had planned. Either way we are fine as the girls have a good, solid academic base to build on this year.  It is funny that our school cost is so small. In the local news are more and more reports of the rising cost of school enrollment, book rental, and activity fees.  I have said it for years.  It is cheaper to homeschool than to public school. 

As for Owen, he is doing remarkable well. Since he received his pacemaker life has had a huge change for us.  As a matter of fact, Kelley is going to take on a part-time job.  The cost of living keeps going up around here and they find that an additional $300 per month or so would be of great help.  She will not be working in her degree field but will be in a happy environment, doing a job that should lift your heart as you do it.  Owen is doing well enough that he will go to nursery during the co-op as Kelley's job requires every Thursday and Friday. 

Grace did find the perfect donkey for her birthday but we ended up getting two of them and Faith is going to give it a shot at training it and taking care of it.  I have found a sweet little bunny for Faith when the classroom is finished. She will be very surprised.

Well, I will be off for now. As the year kicks off I will be able to blog more about what we are doing again. Keep your eyes opened for wonderful experiences to be shared.


Oh yes, I almost forgot. I get more readers when I post a picture.  This picture was Faith several years ago. It was Grace's second day at kindergarten in public school. She didn't understand the first day but the second day she had it all figured out.

Rocket Building

A new opportunity has presented itself to us. It was a chance to be with a group of other homeschooled children to build rockets, learn a little about the rocket and then next week we will launch the rockets.

The class was held in the home of a friend's mother. The friend was homeschooled by her mother and now teaches her own children. We have attended group classes before but it was always in a public setting.  So lesson one was about bringing a small hostess gift. On the way there we stopped at the florist and Faith picked out a small but nice bouquet to give the hostess of the house.  She was tickled to do this rather old fashion activity.

Overall, they did well paying attention to what Mr. Fischer had to say. I noticed Grace trying to look around him so I know was paying attention.  Putting the project together required my assistance to a very small degree. Grace did will in following the directions she was given.  Mr. Fischer had determined that the two youngest ones were go have a rocket that was mostly built already. It meant that Faith did not have much to build on her rocket and so she was bored a bit at the end. 

We will launch the rockets next week and the girls are excited. I am sure Grace will count down the days along with Faith.  In the coming up week we will have some extra learning opportunities about rockets and the role they serve in today's world.

Hodge Podge of Stuff

As it turns out, I made a good choice to keep F out of lesson time when she became totally unruly. The next day she did her lessons with serious effort and enjoyed the day as well.  So just what is happening in our lesson time these days?

G is advancing in he knowledge of our language. Her writing skills improve each day and we are at capitalization rule number 5. Seems she likes the structure of each rule gradually being introduced. He spelling in naturally improving as well.  Math has not been tears for three days in a row. She really seems to enjoy our classroom money and we are going deeper into how to count your money. Yesterday she got a huge pile of coins and first separated them and learned to count coins by beginning with your largest value coin. She has great reading comprehension for the short stories in her book but also for a timed reading lesson.  It is funny that she has added on an extra class to her routine. She does not have a phonics lesson now but a little review from time to time. Well, she got a book as a gift that is too easy for her but does take thought to complete. It is a great review for her and she has begun each day with that book on her own. If she wants to take on more why not let her but it is a real confidence booster for her.

F is doing well but still that drag it out reader. I like that she blends her words but dislike that she blends every single word before she reads it. I think she would enjoy reading if she would just let loose and let it flow.  Her phonics are newer concepts and I think I will need to slow down as they are becoming so many special sounds that it is beginning to clutter in her thoughts. I will probably spend more days on each sound for a while. Yesterday she kept getting confused with TH,SH, and could not think it through when it was at the end of the word. I am not concerned about when she completes first grade. I thought it would take two years for Kindergarten but maybe this will be the grade that she settles for a bit and gets closer to her real age level.  Her math skills are better than G so we will move on. I just hope that she does not pass G in math level as I know that will be hard for G to take.  I am seeing more and more age level actions in F.  I think I need to bring down my methods a notch as she wants the "baby" and fun preschool type of stuff too.  I ordered a Blueberries for Sal from the library and will do the FIAR lessons to go along with that book. 

We got a few little fall time crafts to do which will be on the agenda for today. I disliked the lessons in the book for nutrition and got a book called  The Monster Health Book: A Guide to Eating Healthy, Being Active & Feeling Great for Monsters & Kids! and it will be a great fun book for years to come. It covers lots of impotant nutrition and eating habits material in a fun manner.

Tonight is our coop meeting and the 4H club has arranged for a group of reptile handlers to be there to discuss the animals. Girls are looking forward to this but G has a girl scout meeting. Her scouts only meet every other week and it really makes it hard to feel like a group that way.  G wants to go to the coop meeting so K will let her make her choice. The SCCCHE coop also has a family night next weekend that will include hayrides and bonfires. Sounds like a great night! 

On a final note, the baby's room is all decorated. I need to get some photos of the room but it is all fireman theme including a mural that K and her friend painted on the wall. That same friend is holding a baby shower for her. They do not have any boy items and K loaned (gave away) so many of her baby items to help others out that she finds herself without. Seems when she loaned out her very nice swing to a friend who had twins that it did not come back but instead that friend loaned it to a sister and that sister gave it to a friend. Sharing is a valuable trait to have but sometimes it sure can bite you hard.  I am old fashioned and do not geneally consider a shower for your third child proper but her friend put together a cute theme that clearly revealed that the frills are being put away and there is a need to welcome this boy.  K has a friend who is about to have a daughter so she has clothers from 12 months to 4t that she will give to her. That will clear some space in her house as well.

Well, off to make my oatmeal and get my day flowing. Have a blessed day to any and all who read my blog.

This has been a busy yet productive week. The girls are really looking forward to another Kitchen Table Monday but I find that it adds to my planning process. Coming up will be taking a large old fish tank and getting it cleaned up so we can make a Rain Forest. Just one more item I came across from the enchantedlearning.com site. I still need to get the plant for it which do not seem available to me locally so we will make a trip toward Belleville but probably end up at the Missouri Botanical Garden shop in St. Louis. It should be a fun project for them complete.

Friday was our second enrichment day and it went very well. My class sizes are not too large and it seems we get a lot accomplished. Additionally, I have only one distracter in each class which is so much better than last year. My helpers are indeed helpful and I think I am doing too little to help out some times. The children think I am a bit weird as I try to get them to act out the story but they cannot seem to do so without feeling uncomfortable. One boy even told me that I was too crazy and he just cannot do that.

G is enjoying her class in tumbling probably more than ballet and loves her other classes of scrapbooking and read a book make a craft.  I have to find other pictures as she will have her first project completed nest week.  F tells me "I just love Five In A Row".  She was very proud to mark the location of Ohio on the large map in the room this week as well.  She first found Illinois then point and said Indiana, Ohio.  "There it is, just to the East of  Indiana that is next to our state Illinois."  (show off).  She enjoys the social aspect that goes along with tumbling, as there is wait time while each child does their trick.  This year the tumbling class has a mother who is also a tumbling instructor so they are double blessed.  The last class of the day is Solar System and K stays in that room to help. F is first grade but young which means she barely makes it as a class participant, for that reason K thought she would be present.  She is glad she did, yes F needs a bit more help with some things and we learned that just because she was doing well cutting we need to be better about adding that into her class plan as it is apparently a lost skill.  That class is large, it is at the end of the day so for a home school student who does not spend a long day at home we find this is a stressor at the end of the day. G does well although she had five class times all together and has to wake at 0645 and hit the road with me by 0730, then she is several class times until 1430 with a 30 minute lunch break.  There are likely a few others who are in the same boat but begin at 0830. Well my point is that this class has many girls who are disrupters.  During the first week that was bad for the room but this week G ended up sitting next to one who had brought toys to class. So now K will be choosing G's seat in the future.  I plan to send an email to the leadership crew and discussing the toy issue in the classroom. 

This week began our second year in the 4H Cloverbud program. I expect it to be a great experience as long as G can hold on that long. It meets once per month at the end of a Lyceum day so it is an extra long day for G. The group is small with only three youths meeting the age requirement.  Then there are three children who are tag-a-longs that for now will participate as well. Our leader Mrs. F. headed up the group last year but her girl went onto 4H, still next year her youngest will be a Cloverbud so she has decided to stay on with the program. Thus the third tag a long. As for G, well she was all giggles and squirmy and a bit disruptive. I can say in her defense that it had been a long day but most of all the group was so wild and out of control last year that she sort of learned that it was part of the process.  I think she will do fine now that she has had it revealed to her that no one else was wild in the room.  I say that like she ran and screamed but she was just a bit --center of attention- mode I guess.  We likely put a halt to it as well as I did have her go tell Mrs. F that she was sorry for being disruptive.  Overall, we know where we are headed to this season and have some project books ordered for G to complete.  I think she will really enjoy it and I expect her daddy to help with this, not for it to be part of what we do in class time. 

Coming up this week is a field trip to THE CITY MUSEUM in St. Louis.  This is a place unlike any other museum. This creative man takes items from Old St. Louis and creates, recycles, it to a fun center surrounded by art with tunnels and caverns and slides. Climbing all around the center even on suspended tunnels made of metal bars all vibrant in color. I will be sure top post pictures of this. IF you ever travel to St. Louis and stay it would be a great day of fun to take your family too.  It is not a museum in the sense of displays and tablets to read but it is indeed a tribute to much old architecture. 

It is Sunday and I am not at work. I had an anaphylatic reaction to something I ate in the cafeteria yesterday and at 0100 today I was still in need of steroids and Benadryl. So now I am at the point of feeling good enough to get a few things done and pace my day.  Head if foggy so it is possible that some of the event yesterday was related to my APS.  The doctor tells me that my chest and face were beet read when I arrived and we both know that means I could have tossed another pulmonary embolism.  A little Epi, respiratory treatment, and IV Solumedrol to the rescue.  I use to do this a lot until I got fully anticoagulated.  Often events show like an allergic reaction and the treatment for symptom relieve is the same anyway.  I checked my INR and I am therapeutic  so nothing more would be done either way.  Our ER doctors are so kind to not drag me into a million tests as well;  they have come to know me over the many years and have seen some pretty odd manifestations.  Oh well, here I am today to tell about it once again.

At the end of the week K will have a 3D ultrasound completed. Should be interesting to see if baby O looks anything like his pictures. 

Well, I think I will head to get some charcoal and plants for out rain forest.  "till next time

79 enrichment opportunities in one place

I did manage to feel rather exhausted by the end of the day. I would like to think that it is my age but all the parents looked a bit whipped at the close of the day. I am going to be brutally honest in this post.

Our co-op is called St. Clair County Christian Home Educators (SCCCHE) and I know that last year there wer a little more than 180 families. I heard it said that we no are around 200 families strong, and as our leadership team clearly states, we have 3-8 kiddos on the average per family. There are parents who have been educating at home for over 20 years. I cannot imagine how difficult it woulld be to do this 20 years ago.  We also have an enrichment program called Master's Lyceum and there are 143 families registered to participate this semester as of 9/1/11.

Lyceum is an enrichment opportunty that I feel is like no other. Of course, I do not have others to compare but it is a blessing to be connected with this group.  This year there are 79 classes offered plus a group PE.  We use two floors of their classroom section and they have a huge classroom section.  Some classes are very artsy crafty, some are logical and thought provoking, some are direct learning of a particular subject, some chalenge our bodies to bend and flex. The leadership team is very clear that this should enhance what we are teaching in our homes and should never be in place of what we teach at home. Julie, our rock, makes it cleat that "we are not a school, we do not aspire to be a school, we come beside you as you teach you child".  (oh her voice is so firm but soft and sweet when she says this). 

I have two classes I lead this semester but the subject is the same. We do a lapbook all around the book Curious George Rides A Bike.  At the end of the ten weeks they will learn about the story sequence, ordinal numbers, general information about monkeys, ostriches and have an opportunity to recreate the story as a group play.  I have Curious George party face mask that we put on when we are feeling curious about something. I identify that George is a monkey and point out as the story goes along the opportunity that presents itself and how George could have made better choices. After all, this was written in 1952 and nobody gave second thought to George hopping into a truck with strangers.  We will weigh and measure each child and compare height and weight and we will create classification cards as well as we separate items with one, two, three and four wheels.  It always amazes me that so much can be done from one simple storybook that children love to read and hear. 

G enjoyed her first tumbling class very much. She has seen her girl scout friends doing cartwheels and such so of course she wants to be able to do this too.  She was full of energy and tried it all.  Her second class is a beginning scrapbook class.  She loves to do crafty things but I am very weak in this area.  There are only three girls who are taking this class and I must say that there were so many good choices during this time slot that it was hard to make a choice. As the adult there were other ones I would like to see her do but we us this time for what she wants to do.  We sent our photos of the Missouri Botanical Gardens but they expect to do four projects and so I have to get more picutres once she knows her theme. From there was ballet class. This class is taught by a professional but this year they are both in the same class due to age breakdown. All I can say is that we expect a prayer intervention as they sure did not do well in the same class together.

--off topie--why did they have issue in the same class...they are next to each other every day when we have lesson time...one faces one wall and the other faces the opposite wall...there elbows nearly touch as we put the desk in the middle of the entire room ---back on topic---

Following ballet G went to group P.E. and then joined K and I for a picnic lunch.  During the next hour of class, G was in a book called "Read a book, Make a craft" then to a class about the Solar System.  At the end of the day, when she is beginning to drag she finally reaches a class with an academic nature.  She enjoyed her day very much but it is long as she has five classes. 

Next is F, who enjoyed her first experience with FIAR.  She has outgrown the Learning Centers time and this was a natural progression for her.  Then there was the famous ballet class as discusse above, followed by P.E. and picnic lunch. After lunch F was in tumbling and then Solar System.  They did well in Solar System class but K was there to help out in that class.  F was not as tired although she did have to get up just as early. Nope, not true as she was still asleep and K was helping G to get ready when I arrived at their house so maybe those extra 15 minutes made the difference.

So what about the brutaully honest part of this post?  Here it goes!  Homeschoolers have certain stereotypes that we face. Well folks, the reason that stereotypes exist is because the NORMAL people blend in so well that no one can tell we homeschool.  It is the extreme one that stand out in the crowd and prompts others to look and observe what is going on. With 143 families I am certain to run into some. Now let me say before I say...that.... I appreciate the individual wonder of every family God has created, that I do NOT live in a glass house so I am not trying to toss stones...BUT......BUT

If you have a child who has serious medical needs that you must attend to and you do not have the time to pick up your child from his class as you must keep the sick child away from others. PERHAPS you should not participate or find another family that is willing to take on the responsibility of your children.  If you have a child with a learning disability then you should participate in the class with your child as I am only a grandparent or parent and I am not educated in the special teaching methods for your child.  OH and do not wait until after the first class to tell me that your child has a learning disability.

IF you tell someone you will help in a busy class that has lots of cutting and glue then you should show up and stay for the entire class. 

If your child does not learn to contain his wildness or learn to accept accountability then you should keep him in the walls of your home as you are harming the future view of homeschoolers and ultimately harming the future of homeschool. 

I feel like I am making up a bunch of  "red neck" jokes.  Seriously though, some parents just do not have a handle on managing their child in public yet it really is not the child.  It is the adult.  Adults that make poor choices and their choice effects other people.  They must have a headache every night unless God has shielded them from that possibility. I wonder how some manage to get from home to church when they cannot read a map of a building and understand that 203 means it is on the second floor while 309 is on the third floor. 

Back to the kiddos and families that do not drag the homeschool community into the lime-light.  It is amazing that these children make it through the hallways in a somewhat orderly fashion and no one breaks out in a fight or pushes others out of the way.  I know that in the next two weeks almost all the children, even the four year olds will be able to move from room to room with east.  BTW the doors have monitors and no one leaves without the proper adult or enters without the proper ID. No one walks a hall without a name tag, and trust me if Julie finds a person without a name tag she has the perfect solution and is not afraid to initiate operation name tag sheriff to the offender.

I must say that my class went smoother than I had anticipated and I am ready for next week.