More than what is learned in a classroom

This past week the television has not been on. We, as on extended family, have been getting the house in order. Not my house but the house that G and F live in. It took all of us but everything is in its place. Well almost everything, we have a clean learning area but the items in that area need to be arranged for the new year. I let G and F know right away that we needed and expected their help. I gave them the excuse that K is pregnant and I am getting too old to crawl along the floor picking up things but then I also told them that they really need to take on the accountability in the family to help "make it go".

They really seemed to take on the teachings this week and did not complain about what needed to be done. When we reached their toy area I sat back and gave direction on how to manage and clean the area. They need that right now, we all understand how it is when you look at a task and are not sure where to begin.  I hope that this is an ongoing thing. I believe that one other advantage to home education is that it is more about developing a complete independent effective adult. To do that you include them into the daily grind of homemaking, you take the extra minute it takes for them to help pay for an item at the store, you cover a grocery list and assess the needs of the household, you develop a menu together, you fold laundry and put the items where they belong.  This is an area that I know I failed as a mother. I went to work, gave them everything and expected nothing. WOW, let me tell you that it has shown in both of my adult children.

My own children learned much outside of their brick and mortar school as we were an active household. But it is only in the last two years that my 30 yr old son is taking full responsibility of his life. K, the mother to G and F is 24 yrs old and she is a great mom but it is only because she is now a SAHM that she is managing the homemaker skills. I just did not include them on a daily basis and so it was their disadvantage as an adult.

Last night my son took the time to teach G how to ride her bike without training wheels. She should have had them off before now but was too afraid. So, she did not ride her bike much as she did not find it a lot of  fun anymore. Of course, training wheels slow down a person of her age and size. Uncle D was wonderful, she was on her own in no time and then he taught her how to lean into a turn and get started on her own. She was so proud of herself, and told me that she did not know riding a bike could be so much fun.

Overall it has been a week of valuable lessons even though our structured lessons do not begin until next week.

OH, I almost forgot......... I got  the co-op email last night and they announce a group movie that include a 67 page lesson plan. It is a true story called DOLPHIN TALE.  We are looking forward to this. Even Grandpa wants to go.

Gotta Get My Groove On

We are going to begin classtime on Monday but the classroom was very much abused during the summer break. I emtered the room to find wonderful artwork on the white boards and all the dry erase markers in need of replacement. Crates moved around, wall hangings dropped to the floor. You see, we teach in a room that does not flow into required living space but apparently living is managed to flow into it.

I can imagine them playing school when no one is around. I can imagine them in a good game of hide and seek and thus crates moved and little ones packed under them.

What I did not imagine was that it would take me days to get this room ready for school days.  K has been doing well and no more bedrest or light duty. Being the mother of K of course I refuse to permit her to do so much heavy work and wow her house really got out of cotrol with all the things that have been going on. So for the past two days we have all been doing deep, deep cleaning. Sure, it is not my house but K had so much time that she could not do much and I do not want her bending and lifting. That is where the girls come in. F and G are both small enough that bending down is not such a chore. We have the entire upstairs clean as a whistle except for the redecoration of the nursery as this time there will be a boy in the room.   Everything is in its place and it was nice to see it finished.

I began on the classroom downstairs and F's room is all in order but tomorrow we will all head down the stairs until it is finished or until 4pm which ever comes first. WHY am I helping?  Like I said, as mother I do not want K to overdo it as this is her last attempt for a third child. Additionally, I have to be there four days per week when we have class and it is so much nicer to begin the year with all in place.

Things I must do before I move on in the classroom:
1. wipe down walls
2. get new wall tacky to display items on the wall
3. clean the reading nook, seems they took some crackers to their nook to read with them
4. wash the dry art from the white board and pray for the best
5 replace light bulbs
6. pack away last years stuff and keep until this time next year
7.get the calendar up to date with seasons, month and schedule
8. get new printer cord as the bunny chewed this one
9. get printer ink
10. get printer paper
11. sharpen pencils
12 inventory colored pencils and crayons then decide if we need new items
13. new glue
14. wash desk-- I think each girl washes their own
15 clean carpet
16. get new curriculum out of boxes and into its place.

I had hoped to be at the Botanical Gardens again today but we have to get this done first.
Finally, G must learn to ride that bike without her training wheels. That is where Uncle D comes in. He is going to work with G tomorrow night for us. Parents can't do it, my health won't let me and Uncle D loves to make memories with G and F.

In the middle of this I must not neglect my own home. I have two bedrooms that I am going to redo. I have carpet pulled from one but more clutter built in it. I must clear out the other and pull carpet as well. I can go without these rooms as it is just Roger and myself but when the grands sleep over I want new rooms for them. I usually have these rooms closed off vents and closed doors otherwise. I want it done before the new baby as I always like having a baby bed up in my house so when a grand sleeps they are safe and comfy.

I also have to prepare for my Lyceum classes to teach as well so I must stop draggin' my feet.

Field Trips

So far we have twelve field trips on our school schedule. That is between yesterday and April 17, 2012.  Four of them will be participating in the Magic House Homeschool Monday program. It will cost $3/person and is only 2 hours long but is just enough. The girls also look forward to a totally unhealthy lunch of a footlong hot dog as the SONIC down the road on the way home. Two of them are to the Missouri Botanical Gardens with one of those under out belt so far. BUT...

I have not yet included any activities at the St.Louis Science Center or Legislative Day in Springfield, Illinois just to mention a few. I have not yet included the trip to Purina Farms or The St. Louis Art Museum. 

I am not sure how to fit in everything else with all of our plans. Lets hope that we all have the energy to endure this school year.

Not Back to School Field Trip

It seems that this week is the start of our local school districts. Several begin today for a part day while others had this day as their first full day of attendance.

K called me this morning and thought it was a great day for a spur of the moment field trip. Their friends in the community have headed back. they saw old co-op friends at the meeting last night and are beginning to feel the pressure is on to begin again.  I think K had a great idea!  All of the other children are attending school and the local centers will have a much smaller crowd. SO WHERE TO GO?

Missouri Botanical Gardens is what she tells me.  OK, I have not been for longer than I can remember.  She pick me up and off we go.  The girls had a wonderful time.  We only spent two hours there as it was getting rather humid and hot and we got a late start to the day. We wanted to be sure as well to get out of St. Louis and back to Illinois before the traffic crowds the bridge.  So many things have been added since I was last there and it was not just a walk through a garden.

We are going to be sure to include The Missouri Botanical Gardens into our curriculum plans.  I am probably going to join as a member like I did the zoo and have a huge savings over the course of the year.  We will begin sooner so we are not stuck in the heat, as K is really blooming with new baby growth she was feeling pretty darn hot and miserable at the end.  We were happy to discover that there is a water play area and the girls cooled off a bit while playing.

We are not going to begin our first structured learning class until August 29th but will consider this day into our school year and call it our Kick off of Not going Back to School. We will repeat it again on Tuesday next week as a Still Not Back to School  trip.  I will have them do the tree hunt next week that is taking place as part of the learning center's program. 

Here are a few pictures of our day:



F the youngest, K the mother, G the oldest




There are blown glass sculptures through the gardens. G loved it which is great as it is in the lesson plan this year.



I found out why and now I can move on

I CAN POST COMMENTS AGAIN.  Turns out that I click on the "remember me" button and it tends to block post ability.  NOW I can post about my G and F again.

I spent yesterday with a father who is considering home school for his daughter. -A- is a girl scout w/ G's troop and a beautiful child. So many changes in the cut backs of their small community school.  It is of course his decision but I hope they do make the home school choice. It would not effect my life but I know it will have a positive impact on -A-. 

I still await the Language Arts books for G, otherwise I would have all the lessons and days planned out until November 5th. 

We are looking into a trip to Purina Farms .  K remembers doing this as a girl scout and wants to take the girls.  We will be doing a field trip with the co-op in September.  That trip will be to the City Museum in St. Louis.  The girls love the city museum and the group rate is a huge savings, additionally, they will see familiar faces.

G is going to do a scrapbooking class during Master's Lyceum and we can use the pictures from these trips so she has a nice supply and choices.

Posting Comments

I am apparently not able to access my google account in order to make comments to friend bloggers.  I do not understand this.  I can follow by friends but cannot post to them.  It is frustrating.

I wanted to tell Kayla congrats on winning the curriculum!  I wanted to let her know that G got the postcard yesterday.

I wanted to tell Leslie so much about the blessings she has received. 

I want to share but it won't let me.

Co-op Meeting was so helpful

We joined up with the local co-op group when we began home school last year.  The group we joined is called the St. Clair County Christian Home Educators (SCCCHE). Apparently there is yet another increase in members this year. It seems there will be about 234 families this year. THAT is families, not children.  I like groups like this because there is a wealth of information and support from the veterans of the group.  As the group grows it is also amazing the additional other talents that come along and the advancement of the web page and enrollment via electronic media is wonderful.  We are on the furthest fringes of our county, which is geographically rather large. The leadership of the SCCCHE emphasizes to members that the center focus of our schools should remain in our homes and not on the group. They encourage participation but not to the extreme of doing it all. 

Last night we previewed a DVD called The Trojan Horse as well.  Our area does not offer public school at home like the video was talking about but I did hear a person discussing it in their district.  I continue to be blessed by living in Illinois. We are certainly free in regards to parent choices and education in our state. That is hard to believe as Illinois is otherwise a very controlling state with lots of government involvement.  For one long state we tend to be ignored in the South and many only think of Chicago and Cook County, I might add we do have corrupt politics in our state. Gosh, our last several governors are serving prison terms.  This year the co-op will have a contact person for matters with HSLDA which is only a stronger indicator that our state has the potential to see more bills introduced that will effect our home school freedoms.  Last April, 4000 homeschoolers appeared in Springfield when a bill was first introduced. It quickly died but now that they know we have a strong voice and will be a large presence I expect to see further matters to be more subtle when presented. 

Once again I rambled off subject. If you think I am bad at then when I type, you should try having a conversation with me. ;)

So we also have information about our enrichment program for the semester. WOW, I was so off on the anticipated start date when I did lesson plans until October 28th.  It will mean that I must reschedule two weeks worth of lessons and of course it rolls down hill.  Seems that my lesson plans will now be completed until November 3rd. 

It turns out that I will be teaching my class twice this semester. I had thought once was plenty but told the coordinator to use me where I am needed. So it was a surprise to find that I am needed during the last hour or there would not have been other choices for the younger kiddos.  It will be a long day. 

As it turns out, one of G's girl scout buddies is also to be home schooled this year. Her father will be the primary teacher. Their family joined the co-op last night. Their decision comes on the heels of a school closure. It seems there is this tiny community that has a small old building for their school. The district home is in another larger community and they closed this school and are bringing all the children to the main school building.  This makes a very long day in these rural communities of an hour or longer bus ride to school and back again, additionally, the community the live in is very different than the one they will travel to.  Although diversity and understanding are important, it is also important to surround your children with those who share your values and faith.  They are lost right now, much like me one year ago. I have so much to learn about home education but will share with them what I have found so far.

Well, once again I am off base of my original topic. What was my topic?  Oh well, I guess it is time to go outside and enjoy this cooler temperatures this morning.