Valentine's Day Driving

14 February 2012

Happy Valentine's Day! It was computer day today so I let the kids play for a couple hours after breakfast while I prepared to be driving around all day. I made lunches and snacks, collected all of the cards we would be delivering and phoning relatives for address to mail some of the Valentine's cards to.

From 11:00 am until 4:00 pm we were out delivering cards and spending some time with the cousins. After 4 I took the kids to Denny's as their Valentine's treat. Unfortunately that meant we drove the normally one hour drive home in peak traffic time so it took us nearly twice as long to get there. While in the car we have been listening to the audio recording of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Ra absolutely loves it and has insisted on listening to it instead of music.

Once at home we read from Genesis in the KJV Bible and a few chapters of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I read more of The Original Homeschooling Series Volume 1 - Home Education by Charlotte Mason. It is one of those books that hits you over the head with the "Ah ha!" bat just about every other paragraph. It is going to take me quite some time to get through this book and the other five in the series, but it will definitely be worth it.

German Bibles and Cinnamon

10 February 2012

Payday. Best day of the week. HA! We cleaned the house this morning and went to the bank and to a couple stores to pick up some resources I have wanted to have around the house. I picked up an illustrated Old Testament Stories, a Bible in German, some posterboard to make sewing cards, accounting ledger notebook, graph paper, and some posters and pamphlets which our faith releases.

After our errands we went out to eat since we weren't close to home. Elisa invited us to her house because her daughters wanted to do the Cinnamon Challenge and wanted us to watch and they were going to post it on YouTube. We stayed there and played for a couple hours before coming home to make dinner and do some studying and research.

We read some more of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett before bedtime. I did a bunch of reading about TJEd and more homeschooling ideas. I was so engrossed with it I didn't get in my reading of Laddie: A True Blue Story by Gene Stratton Porter. Hopefully I will get in at least a chapter tomorrow!

The Wise Man and the Foolish Man

9 February 2012

My kids and I spent the night at my sister's house last night and so there is not a whole lot on the agenda today. My mom had asked to be involved with the homeschooling I am doing as so I asked her if she would mind doing a singing time with the kids.

We decided on the song "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man" from the Children's Songbook of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My mom prepared a whole lesson around this song that started with the scripture passage the song is about and an explanation and discussion with the kids about what the sand and the rock and the house represents. Then she put a pile of dirt and a rock in her bathtub, each with a plastic cup balanced on top. She turned on "the rain" and we watched the effects of the water on the earth. We sang the song several times and watched some YouTube videos people had made with the song. It was very fun and the kids enjoyed it a lot.

I finally finished The Chosen by Chaim Potok. A very good book with an extremely meaningful ending. The remainder of the day was spent playing with cousins until 6:30pm when we drove home. We read two more chapters in The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and then I settled the kids in bed and soaked in a much deserved hot shower. I am now going to settle down for the night and start reading Laddie: A True Blue Story by Gene Stratton Porter.

The Wild Garden

8 February 2012

Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday! I always (or nearly always) forget to take our garbage dumpster out to the curb on Wednesday! Good thing we have two dumpsters or perhaps that is a bad thing. Maybe if we only had one dumpster remembering to take it to the curb would climb higher on my priority "to remember" list.

We ran a few errands in the morning. I had to take Em in to get some of her immunizations and since we were across the street from the used bookstore I stopped in and bought a few more books.

My sister-in-law's sister asked me if I could give her a ride to a friends house so she could go searching for a car with him. She offered to pay my gas money and so I consented and also decided that since I had been planning on driving that direction tomorrow anyways I called my sister to see if we could just spend the night. I am very accustomed to the hour drive down there, but I will avoid it if I can. She said that would be fine so long as I helped her maintain the younger kids because she had some teenage girls coming over for a cupcake decorating activity. Before going to her house I stopped by the local thrift store to see what books they had and I was able to get a dozen books I have on my list at $0.50 a piece!

When the activity started I herded the kids downstairs (four of mine and three of hers). I knew there wasn't a whole lot for such rambunctious kids to do down there so I came prepared with The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I told them all that they could play and didn't have to listen to the story, but it would be nice if they could keep quiet so those who did want to listen would be able to hear. At the end on the first chapter I had asked everyone to be quieter a few dozen times. By the end of the second chapter I was essentially reading to myself so I stopped reading and just maintained the kids from getting into things they weren't allowed in. Ten minutes after I stopped reading A couple of the kids asked why I stopped. I explained that no one was listening and a few of them defended themselves saying that they had been listening. Perhaps I should have picked up the book again and continued reading at the chance that someone would actually have sat down and enjoyed it, but I felt I had been thoroughly ignored so I didn't.

After the girls left the younger kids were allowed upstairs to decorate the leftover cupcakes with the leftover frosting. We cleaned up and my kids helped my sister's kids with their homework. (I know! I was surprised too!) Usually I worry about my kids being a distraction to their cousins but my sister commented that tonight it was easier to get them to sit down and do their work than it regularly was. After they were caught up with their homework we all sat to read scriptures and have a family prayer.

I read my kids The Secret Garden, from the beginning. When they were all asleep I talked with my brother a bit about homeschooling. He loves to hear about it and wishes his wife would be willing to homeschool but she does not feel adequate to be able to teach them herself. He did buy A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille in e-book format while we were talking. Maybe then my sister-in-law will be a little bit more comfortable with the idea. Maybe not. Who but God knows?

P.S. I didn't have a chance all day to read The Chosen by Chaim Potok. I didn't finish it last night but I only have a few chapters left! Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Religious Devotion

7 February 2012

I started reading The Chosen by Chaim Potok this morning and by the end of the day I was nearly all the way through it. Of course, that meant I didn't do anything else all day.  It was computer day for the kids and they were happy that I didn't restrict the amount of time they were allowed to play. Ah well, I will finish the book tomorrow and get the house fully cleaned then.

Usually my kids go a little wild when I spend the day reading (or listening to an audio book as it has been in the past), but this time they were well behaved. There was not fighting or arguing to speak of and the house was pretty well still intact by the end of the day. My little Em crawled around and played by my side while I read. She had a little bit of a fever and a runny nose; I'm pretty sure she is starting to cut her first teeth. The poor baby.

I am already looking forward to re-reading The Chosen as well and looking up all of the Hebrew and Yiddish words and phrases to find their meanings. The devotion the characters in this book have to their religious studies is astounding and impressive. I am going to try to incorporate at least ten minutes of scripture reading into our hour of reading time before bed. It will be a good thing not only for the kids, but for myself as well.

Happy Housework

6 February 2012

My husband, Chris had a day off work today so we spent it doing errands, much to the dismay of our children. They really don't like being in the car all day long and who can blame them? We managed to keep the house clean and keep up with laundry (While on errands I bought more hangers. I found that when I keep all of the clothes cleaned, I can't use the dirty laundry pile as clothing storage, lol).

I decided I needed to keep my house in order about a week ago. It has always been one of those, "but it always just gets dirty right after I clean it so why bother" things for me. I wouldn't do laundry until someone ran out of socks or underwear or pants. I wouldn't wash dishes until we were out of cups or forks or spoons. I wouldn't make the kids clean their rooms unless someone was coming over to visit and I would never make them make their beds. I used to tell my husband "Why make your bed in the morning? I straighten it out at night right before I climb in, that's when it's important."

For anyone familiar with Dave Ramsey, this idea of perpetual housework to me was like the idea of the perpetual car payment. "You will always have a car payment (housework), that's just the way it is (why worry about doing it)." 

Well, obviously I have been extremely stressed about housework just about every day of my life because of this attitude. When I read Charlotte Mason stress the importance of teaching our kids these good habits, it finally clicked. My poor husband has been patient with me for eight years while he tried to get me to do more housework and not let if pile up till I was so stressed about it I didn't want to do any of it. But the light finally turned on. My kids learn the most from me. If I want them to clean their rooms, I have to clean mine as well. I need to take charge and lead. I need to make sure they do the things that will help them be successful adults with healthy habits. If they grow up to be slobs or brats, it's MY FAULT. I guess that sorta scared me into straightening up.

I have been so much happier since I have been keeping my house clean. I don't do all the work myself, actually the kids do at least as much if not more than I do now. They clean the front room and their bedrooms, they make their beds, put away their laundry (all except what needs to be hung in the closet), put away dishes from the dishwasher, load the dishwasher, bring all the dirty laundry to the laundry room, and watch Em when I need them too. I basically keep my own room cleaned, sweep, mop, vacuum, wash the laundry, fold and hang up clothes and make meals. With the chores not completely on my shoulders anymore we have a lot more family time and the kids have a greater respect for the cleanliness of the house and aren't so quick to dirty it constantly.

We went out to Antelope Island again today to show Chris some of the trails we hiked around. We didn't stay long because it was close to supper time when we were done with our errands and the kids began whining about being hungry. After supper Chris let me read more of Little Britches by Ralph Moody while he played XBOX with the kids.  At 8:00 p m I read Hansel and Grethel from the Grimm Fairy Tales to Ra, since El and Ca were still playing games with Chris.

After the kids were in bed I finished reading Little Britches and I was very satisfied with the book. It was different from most every book that I have read because their was no defined "antagonist." It is written as a memoir and perhaps that is what I liked so much about it. When I read it again I want to write down all of the advice Ralph received from his pa. They were so brief, to the point and yet thought provoking. I loved the book.

Now to move on to book number three. The Chosen by Chaim Potok. But it is late and that will have to wait until tomorrow.

p.s. I don't know why all the pictures I chose for this post ended up being B&W, oh well!

Grocery Store Math

3 February 2012 

This morning I found myself lost on the internet. I was preparing my schedule for next week and decided that I wanted to incorporate some educational flash game sites on the kids "computer days" Tuesday and Thursday. I came across Manga High, a math website where you have to sign up as a school and I registered my "home school" as a school and included on the roster, not only my own kids, but all of my nieces and nephews as well. It took up most of my morning, so I didn't get any reading done before we had to go grocery shopping.

At the grocery store I began asking the kids to locate the name label in the produce department and the prices. Ra asked me why I was getting the brown pears instead of the green pears. I had her show me the different kinds of pears she saw and I helped her read the labels. There were Bartlett pears, D'Anjou pears, and Bosc pears. I had her tell me how much each cost, and which one cost most and which one cost least. I told her that was why we were buying the Bosc pears, because they were the least expensive. While picking out our pasta I had the kids find which brand was on sale and verify that it was the cheapest. Then I had Ra identify the bowtie pasta, El identified the shell pasta and Ca identified the macaroni pasta.

On the cereal isle we looked at the brand of cereal we always buy and the kids know they can pick from the "blue bag" cereals. I showed Ra where the Net Weight was written on the bags and had her compare the weight of the "blue bag" to the "orange bag" cereals. The "blue bag" was 32 oz and the "orange bag" was 39 oz. She told me there was a difference of 7 oz and that it was the "blue bag" that had fewer ounces. I then had her compare the prices. The "blue bag" cereal was $3.88 and the "orange bag" cereal was $6.79. I told her that the "orange bag" cereal was almost two times the price of the "blue bag cereal but it didn't have two times more cereal in the bag, so the "blue bag" cereal was cheaper.

We had a similar exercise when choosing Orange Juice. I started by having them identify the ones which where on sale, then had them choose the cheapest one. It was a Half Gallon for $1.99. I had Ra look at the full Gallon of the same brand to make sure that $1.99 was the best price. I had her round up $1.99 to $2.00 and figure out the cost of buying a gallon's worth of orange juice if we bought them as Half Gallons. The full Gallon orange juice wasn't on sale, but it was $3.49. Ra told me we needed to buy the Gallon orange juice and not the two Half Gallon orange juices, because it would be cheapest.

To summarize, we were at the grocery store for 30 minutes and we went over identification, pricing, grouping, colors, sorting, units of measurement, rounding, and overall I had the best shopping experience with four young kids at the grocery store I could ever have imagined. Next week I will give Ra the grocery list and have her keep track of the prices so we can know how much we will be spending before we check out.

The kids spent the rest of the day with Grandma J who is going to be out of town for a couple weeks. They went to the Aviary and the Recycle center with Grandma and had a fun time. We read for 20 minutes before the kids went to bed and I am planning on getting in a few chapters of Little Britches by Ralph Moody before I call it a night.

Weekend Rearrangement

28 & 29 January 2012

The weekend was fun. I spent a lot of time with the kids and hubby. We kept the house clean and rearranged our basement so that we could bring in our giant bookshelf from the shed. We finally took down our Christmas tree (we're lazy, I know) and moved our television back upstairs. The computers were rearranged on the wall opposite the bookshelf. Our book collection may be pitifully small right now but it wont stay that way for long. I found a great used bookstore called The ReAd Cat and I bought seven books while I was there. I would have bought a good deal more, but even at $3 a piece I have to keep an eye on my budget.

I have been reading a good deal and am just about 3/4 through my book. I should be able to finish it by Tuesday or Wednesday. I also read some more Charlotte Mason this weekend and I feel utterly reprimanded for my lack of structure in the dealings of my household. My husband has pestered me about keeping the house cleaner for as long as we have had kids, but I have always thought his request unreasonable. Charlotte makes it quite clear that my children will learn my bad habits (which of course I have always known) and will carry them with them throughout their lives. This thought in pertaining to housework and such has never interlocked until reading last night. I fear I have done a wretched job as a mother in regards to housework and responsibilities. This is what I will work on with the kids while I complete my 2 month self education primer with TJ Ed. I will work on being a better mother while I prepare myself to be their scholastic teacher as well.

I just need to follow Cinderella's lead and do my work cheerfully and not grudgingly. It will be easier that way, I am sure of it.

Inspiration

27 January 2012

Reading, reading and more reading. I have been reading The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'amour as well as Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series Volume 1 Home Education. I have to admit I am making much better headway on Louis L'amour's book than on Charlotte Mason's. Most likely because I am taking notes on the Charlotte Mason book. It is filled with very truthful and valuable information. I fear I will never be able to get through all six books in the series. Ah well, for now I need to focus on reading the books on my assigned reading list from TJ Ed, I have six books I need to read for that alone and hopefully do so in a 2 month time frame.

I also read a little bit more of Dracula by Bram Stoker to the kids today. We came across another food "Robber Steak" and decided to make it for dinner tomorrow night because we would have to go grocery shopping to get the ingredients and I wasn't in the mood to pack up the kids to go to the grocery store that late in the day.

Four years ago my husband and I were introduced to The Dave Ramsey Show on the radio and we soon bought his book. It was so full of common sense ah-ha's for us that it changed our lives forever and we spent the next thirty months getting out of debt living as God would have us live. When I read A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille and as I read Charlotte Mason's book(s) I have the same feelings. Charlotte Mason has so much information in her book it sends my mind reeling but gets me excited. This is down to earth, practical information that makes an enormous change in our well being, mentally, physically, and spiritually. I feel like I want to shout it out to the world from the tops of the highest peaks. My soul weeps knowing that an overwhelming majority of people will not accept such knowledge when it is presented to them and even more will not seek for it.

Whether or not people accept the knowledge is not up to me, however I can do my best to be an example and mentor to others so that they might see the fruits of my labors and want it for themselves. The old saying "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." has a whole new meaning to me now. I may not be able to make him drink, but I can inspire him and let him choose of his own accord what he will do.

Overcoming Our Computer Addiction

26 January 2012

It was computer day again today. My kids are used to being able to play on the computer for as long as they want, whenever they want so long as there is no homework. Well, since I took them out of public school I decided that we needed a more structured way to deal with the computer time. My husband and I decided that limiting their computer usage to 2 to 3 hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays would be a good place to start. 

I haven't set the best example for them on this as I played World of Warcraft from the time my oldest was only 9 months old until almost a year and a half ago. It was a hard addiction to kick. To entertain my kids while I played, and because children learn by example, each of my kids has been playing on the computer since around two years old. Now before you go and get all up in arms about how horrible it is that my kids start playing on the computer at age 2, let me tell you that I have been diligent in teaching them where they are and are not allowed to go on the internet. Which basically comes down to you can't go anywhere but Friv, NickJr, Poptropica, Playhouse Disney, and Starfall. (Starfall is an awesome website for preschoolers btw, my two boys taught themselves the alphabet and their numbers up to 12, without my input at all!)They know that there is big trouble if I find them on any other site that I have not approved.

All that aside though, I agree that we, as a family have had way too much time on the computer and not enough time playing together and being outside and active. Hence the drastic change. But of course, if I am to expect my kids to stay off the computer, I have to set the example. So I have immersed myself in everything I have known I should be doing for a very long time but have always for an excuse not to. Like doing laundry everyday and reading more books, keeping the house clean and orderly and spending more time actively doing things with my children. So, while my children played on the computer I cleaned the kitchen and did the laundry, taking short breaks in between to read my book, The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'amour.

I have never been a fast reader and in the past it has usually taken me several months to get through a 400 page novel. But I am determined to read this book in a week and it is nearly 600 pages. It is a big goal, but I know it is possible. I have done it before (when I read the first Harry Potter book I finished in in 2 days!) and I can do it again, and continue to do it from now on. It seems a little slow starting as I generally read fantasy novels it is taking me a little bit to get into the setting. Wild west is definitely different than enchanted forests.     

Booklist

25 January 2012

Today I read the appendixes in the book A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille and have found that I really need to take two months to prepare myself to teach my kids with this method. We went to the library and I let each of the kids pick out 2 books and I checked out my person list of assigned reading. The books I checked out are as follows;

The Lonesome Gods by Louis L'amour
Little Britches, Father and I Were Ranchers by Ralph Moody
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
Laddie, A True Blue Story by Gene Stratton Porter
Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley

I started reading The Lonesome Gods first because several of my immediate family members love Louis L'amour and I had never read his work before. When I looked at the list of titles of 200 of the suggested classics I recognized most of them, though I am ashamed to say I had only read two of them and both of them before the age of ten! I have a lot to learn, but I am excited about it now. I have a reason to read these books. I will learn from them, they will be my mentors.

On a side note, at church on Sunday I was asked to be the coordinator for the 8-11 year old girls Activity Day once a week. I am excited for this opportunity to serve my community and to get to know the young girls in the neighborhood. Ra will be eight this summer and it will be a great opportunity for her to make new friends and for me to be able to get to know her friends as well. I hope to be able to use some of what I have learned from the TJ Ed and Charlotte Mason in these activities.

Dracula and Cinderella

23 January 2012

Today was our second day in our new homeschooling routine. Ra and I discussed the book we read yesterday, Cinderella by Henry W Hewet. Ra was quick to point out that their were differences between the book and the Disney movie. I explained to her that the movie was based on the story; the story was written first, then Disney made their own version of it. I explained to her that there are a lot of stories and movies that were originally written a long time ago and because it was such a well loved story, other people rewrite it and make it their own by changing little things. I will list the differences we came up with here.

• Cinderella's father was still alive in the book.
• The Step Mother did not play as big of a role in the book as she does in the Disney movie.
• Cinderella does not have friend mice in the book, she collects mice and rats and lizards from around the estate at her Faery Godmother's request.
• Cinderella goes to the ball on two different nights, not just one. 
• There is no backstory for the Prince in the book.
• In the book, Cinderella's Step Sisters begged for forgiveness when they found out it was her at the ball.
• Cinderella invites the Step Sisters to live in the palace and arranges for them to be married to dukes in the book. 
• The biggest difference we found was that Cinderella was extremely patient and loving in the book, even more so than the movie. Cinderella did not even so much as sigh at the tasks she was given to do. She happily helped her Step Sisters get ready for the ball and even showed them great kindness and went out of her way to be generous with them at the ball when they did not know who she was. An ultimate example of "turn the other cheek" and forgiveness.

The discussion that many stories we have now are adaptations of great literary works started Ra thinking. She loves the kids series Monster High, which if you don't know has a cast of adapted familiar characters. Some of them are Draculaura, Frankie Stein, Cleo DeNile, Deuce Gorgon, etc. She asked about them and I told her that they are all based on stories of monsters. Some are myths, some are novels, and some (Cleo and Nefra) are based on real historical figures. She asked if we could read Dracula and so, after warning her that it will get scary she sat next to me and we began reading.

• We made a map in Google Maps "My Maps" program that showed all of the cities Jonathon Harker stopped at on his was to Romania. 
• We talked about which geographic direction Harker was travelling. 
• We located the Danube River and the Carpathian Mountains on a map. 
• We talked about the difference in how long it takes to travel between the time this story was set in compared to modern days.
• We discussed the difference between dinner and supper because he makes a point of correcting himself in the journal entry.  
• We talked about what he meant when he said that the meal "was very good but thirsty."  
• We noted that "Mina" is probably his wife.
• We looked up the recipe for Paprika Hendl and Dumplings and made them for dinner.

All of that in the first three paragraphs of the book! I am extremely excited for this new approach to teaching. I will have to read ahead tomorrow before reading it with the children so that I can be a little better prepared. Other than these activities I had fun spending more time with the kids than I usually do. I decided that I would play with them and not tell them "no" unless there was something that I MUST do. It was an extremely fun day today.