As a parent you are given about 2 decades to teach your kids what you want them to learn.  Not just things like math and spelling.  Things like the importance of family, the importance of taking care of your body/health, the importance of play, the importance of living out your values, and being a good person.

Childhood is something you will never get back.  (Getting weepy here.)  I have heard that many veteran HSers regret that they did not take this time to enjoy being with their kids and wished that they had played with them more.  Instead they spent their time trying to fulfill some other person’s schedule and expectations.  I want my children to be life long learners and not feel that learning starts and stops with a clock, a school building,  a schedule, or a textbook.

I hope I don’t sound too preachy.  I certainly have more questions than answers and I am FULL of self-doubt MOST OF THE TIME!  If  my kids are “behind” anyone then they are probably ”ahead” in some areas too.  Like knowing who their parents are and spending hours of quality time with them.  Like learning how to live with siblings.  Learning how to catch a garter snake and carry it without fear.  LOL.  You name it.  And they are probably ahead in academic areas that PS’d kids would not be tested on.  Did you know what a mortgage was when you were in 2nd grade?  Did they teach you that in grade school?  Did they teach you how to compost?  Or any of the other strange and wonderful things that our HS’d kids are exposed to on a regular basis?  And when was the last time you heard a PS kid say they aced the exam on how to keep their 4 yo brother happy and content while mom was busy working on a project? 

Finally, I think of a quote I once read.  All learning is self-taught learning.  Not sure if I agree with it completely but it does make me think.  I often try to remember how I learned the things I did learn and why.  Which teachers were good teachers and which teachers I did not like and why.  I think a lot of what I learned was because I loved the subject or the project.  And I was blessed with some very good teachers, people who were caring and dedicated and passionate about their subject. 

I am constantly thinking about how to get my children to learn more.  And I spend a lot of time wondering if I am doing a good enough job.  If nothing else, we HSers are courageous.  It takes guts and faith to do this work.  It is NOT for the faint hearted.  We won’t know how well we have done the job until years from now!!!  But I do see glimmers.  My kids enjoy books and reading.  They love nature and are gentle hearted (most of the time!)  They don’t think of the library as “that place with the computer games”!  And they don’t think that school is the only place where you can get an education.   

I have lots of weaknesses.  Who doesn’t?  I sometimes wonder if they (and I) would be better off if they were in a traditional school setting.  I did have a near meltdown earlier this week.  Better now, thank you.  We are all just doing the best we can.  And yes, maybe the planets are out of alignment this week.  That would explain a number of things for me!   

Charlotte Mason would say that as a parent you need to lay a feast before your children and if so, they will end up being well-rounded educated individuals.  The trick for me is getting the feast on the table.  !!!  I am working on that. 

I know what I want for my kids.  I am NOT positive how I am going to get there or IF I will get there.  But for me, HSing sure beats having my kids follow someone else’s ideas of what it means to be educated.

End of rant.  

Lucy

Well, it has been a month since I posted.  I was posting regularly then found myself unable to post anything.  Not because there is nothing going on over here.   On the contrary, there is lots to talk about it but it takes time for me to organize my thoughts.  And sometimes my thoughts are not things that many would want to hear! 

We toured a local florist/greenhouse yesterday and had a really good time.  I was happy that we were able to do this with a number of other homeschooling families.  It was so nice to be surrounded by flowers and cacti and other things that remind me that winter will eventually pass and spring is just a few weeks away.  We saw lovely fountains, huge topiaries, and even dined “outside” in their greenhouse.  The greenhouse has a lovely French cafe where one can purchase quiches, soups, baguettes, salads, pastries, etc.  I bought a chocolate pastry to take home to my dh.  It was covered in chocolate and had 18k gold decorating on it.  W, esp., really wanted to buy the cake and try it.  I think he thought he could somehow save the gold.  But it was nearly impossible because it was so thin.  Definitely worth the $5.oo just to be able to tell people that you have eaten gold!

My semi-local homeschool group is in the midst of some re-vamping.  There are some people, myself included, who are thinking of leaving the group to start a group that is less conservative and prayer-focused.  I am torn though.  I am just starting to get to know people and I like being part of a larger community, something I have missed for a while.  I want my kids to have opportunities to meet and play with other children.  I want to be able to organize field trips with other homeschool families.  I don’t want to be isolated from other HSers.  I want connections.  But … the group I am currently in does not fit me perfectly.  It sometimes contrasts with my own personal and political viewpoints.  It is a good 25 minute drive from my home and so it is hard for me to be active in it and set up playdates with other kids.  There is a part of me that wants to start a Charlotte Mason-inspired HS group in my town and I am still contemplating that.  I really need to figure out what it is that I want and need in order to thrive as a home educator. 

I am hoping I can come to some kind of conclusion about what to do this year in regard to the groups.  I really want to meet and connect with more HSers this year.

I think these cold temperatures have frozen some of my brain cells.  Right now it is -3F.  It has been cold like this for about four days and I am starting to feel it.  I am trying to get my children and myself outside every day as Charlotte Mason would recommend but it. is. so. cooooold.  I think a warm up is in the near future.  Maybe my brain will thaw and I will be able to come up with something worth writing. 

Until then, I do need to share that my daughter has made great progress in learning how to knit.  She received a Klutz knitting book as a Christmas gift and has already learned how to cast on!  I am so proud of her.  She has been practicing this so much that tonight she told me her wrist was getting sore.

My 8 year old son has been listening to Harry Potter audio CDs and is the chief gardener in the house.  Today we picked up some strawberry seeds at Target’s Dollar Spot and watched the soil ”pellet” magically transform itself before our very eyes!  Now we have three strawberry plants, two pine trees, lots of snow (alyssum), and some herbs growing in our kitchen.  Not bad, eh?

My four year old is studying birds with me.  We have an old bird calendar that has all kinds of bird photos with the bird’s name written below.   He is getting really good at knowing all about the different kinds of woodpeckers.  Charlotte Mason would be so proud!  I know I am. 

We have “officially” started back to school.  We are concentrating on a Charlotte Mason approach this year and I am borrowing lots of good ideas from Ambleside Online.  We are doing short lessons in the morning in math, copywork and reading.  There is still lots of time to play outdoors which is a high priority for me.  Today all three of them rode their bikes in front of our house and played in the yard.  When they came in to do schoolwork, they seemed ready to settle down and work on their math workbooks.  There was actual quiet in my house for those 20 minutes or so!  Then after a short break we did copy work:

Hurt No Living Thing by Christina Rossetti. 

Hurt no living thing:
Ladybird, nor butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing,
Nor cricket chirping cheerily,
Nor grasshopper so light of leap,
Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,
Nor harmless worms that creep.

This is a great poem and dovetails nicely with the yogic philosophy of non-violence, something I am concentrating on this week.  Later today, we plan to make rice krispie bars, have teatime, and read some more.  I also hope to get some cleaning done.  And maybe we will even watch the Nancy Drew DVD we picked up from the library. 

Songs of Innocence-The Schoolboy

by William Blake

I love to rise in a summer morn
When the birds sing on every tree;
The distant huntsman winds his horn,
And the skylark sings with me.
Oh, what sweet company!But to go to school in a summer morn,
Oh! it drives all joy away;
Under a cruel eye outworn
The little ones spend the day
In sighing and dismay.

Ah! then at times I drooping sit,
And spend many an anxious hour;
Nor in my book can I take delight,
Nor sit in learning’s bower,
Worn through with the dreary shower.

How can the bird that is born for joy
Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child, when fears annoy,
But droop his tender wing,
And forget his youthful spring?

O, father and mother, if buds are nipped
And blossoms blown away,
And if the tender plants are stripped
Of their joy in the springing day,
By sorrow and care’s dismay,

How shall the summer arise in joy,
Or the summer fruits appear?
Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,
Or bless the mellowing year,
When the blasts of winter appear?

We went ice skating at the pond again today.  It is our best antidote to the winter doldrums.  We were out there for two full hours.  The three kids, a couple of neighborhood friends, and I all skated.  I love going out there and being on the marsh.  I love shovelling the snow.  (I did a lot of that yesterday and today.)  I love seeing how my children are getting better and better on the ice.  I love being outside with my children.  In short, I just love it!

It is part of our daily schedule to go outside.  I want my kids to spend at least 15 minutes a day outside, preferably an hour or more.  And today, we spent two glorious hours on the ice.  I did a lot of shovelling and the kids skated and played a bit in the cattails that border the pond where we skate.  They were resting in the cattails with one of our neighbor friends and hiding from her brother at one point.  Of course, it wasn’t long before my 3 yo ds gave them away!   

Skating outside on a frozen pond is a fond childhood memory of mine.  My siblings and I grew up on a street that had a pond at the end of it.  Every winter the neighborhood kids would shovel it, lace up their skates and play.  The boys played hockey and the girls practiced their “figure skating”.  I remember dreaming that one day I could grow up to be a Olympic figure skating champion.  Do kids these days have the same aspirations?

Anyway, I am thrilled that my children are now growing up with the same opportunity I had.  The opportunity to skate every winter day on the pond across from our house.  It is one of those things that a child should do if they grow up in a climate such as ours.  That and perhaps, ice fishing???   

I want my children to grow up having embraced the “out of doors” as Charlotte Mason would say.  Even when it is cold outside, there is always something to do.  Because of the heavy snowfalls and frigid temperatures, this winter has been great for sledding, snowboarding and ice skating.  I would like my family to try snowshoeing and cross-country skiing some time too.

I agree wholeheartedly with Charlotte Mason.  ”Never be within doors, when you can rightly be without.”

Today started out with me reading There’s A Batwing In My Lunchbox by Ann Hodgman.  My 7 yo son has really taken an interest in this book even though I am sure it will not land on the Charlotte Mason lists for recommended reading.  Nonetheless, it was a very (unexpectedly) entertaining read for me, W and my 9 yo dd.  We finished the book tonight amidst a lot of jumping and running.  H, our energetic 3 yo, was dressed in a cape (courtesy of his elder siblings) and he ran around the house tonight saying he was Super Why from the PBS series of the same name.  H loves this show.  He calls it his show.  It teaches kids to read and even the older kids seem to enjoy it although they (esp. W) would not admit that.  H wanted us to read him The Lady With The Alligator Purse for his bedtime reading.  W started to read the first page to him, then told us he didn’t want to read it in front of all of us.  W seems to be progressing in his reading abilities but seems to lack the confidence to read much on his own.  It is usually a “forced” subject.  I hope that changes in time.  I know that he really likes to be read to; he really can follow a storyline.  That, I think, is more important than skill at this point in his education.  I want all of my children to have a real love of books and so far, I have yet to be discouraged.  

Harry Potter was being read over the past few weeks.  C and W read the first 3 books in order.  W listened to them on audio CD/or tape.  He erased some of the window markers that C had applied to our bathroom mirror at Christmas time and replaced “I (heart symbol) Henry” with “I (heart symbol) HP”  At first I wasn’t sure what it meant or who wrote it but then it dawned on me.  W really liked the books.  Unfortunately, watching the video of the first HP movie seemed to fuel some nightmares so we are going to give the whole HP series a rest for the time being.

Yesterday the boys put on shorts and their MN Twins t-shirts (gifts from TCF last summer) and played catch in the living room.  It was fun, even for mom, and it took our mind off the fact that it is very cold outside these days.  All three kids also spent some time sledding down the hill in the backyard.  We have had new snow to cover some of the bare patches in the back, thankfully. 

Today it was skateboarding.  Papa John (i.e.  Daddy) let the boys do some tricks on the skateboard in the lower level.  It didn’t seem to matter too much that the floor was carpeted.  Fun, regardless of the conditions!

C spent a good portion of the day reading and building on the Lego extravaganza she and W have in the bedroom.  We need to take a photo of it and record it.

Triton, our betta friend, got some clean water to swim in today.  It was looking pretty cloudy.  It made me realize that I need to come up with a schedule for all the work that needs to be done in a given day/week/month.  There is so much to do that we need to come up with a better plan to get it all done.  So that is one of my goals for the month – to get more organized.  Yeah, I know.  It has been a goal of mine for a long time.  

Hopefully, we can figure out what has been fatiguing C these past couple of years and get everyone back on some sort of a schedule.  It seems like the new non-dairy diet has made her a much happier, more even-keeled, more energetic girl.  If eliminating dairy can do all that for her, it is more than worth the effort.  It has been a bit of a shift to switch from our dairy-laden diet to a diet high in meat but like I said, it seems to be working.  I plan to incorporate more fish and legumes into the diet as well.  Heck, I would go vegan if I could.  That could be something to work toward.  C told me last night before she fell asleep that she feels happier on this non-dairy diet.  That is definitely a good thing.