Rediscovering Daily Joy: Baby Steps

When I look back at the last 5-6 years, sometimes I wonder how I made it.

Three more pregnancies.  Three more babies for a total of seven. One resulting in a funeral.  Two that lived.
A miscarriage that required a D&C.
Three different jobs.  One that moved us across the country.
Two moves which entailed selling a house, renting a house, buying a house, and renovating said house.
Extended family illness.
Extended family turbulence.
We've experienced 3 hurricanes since moving to NC: Mathew, Florence, Michael.  None of them really impacted our family much, but the aftermath and crisis cleanup has been a new experience for us.
Kids starting high school/driving.  This has been a bigger deal than I expected!

And on top of it all - homeschool.

It occurred to me some months ago that in the midst of all the change, grief, and recovery I'd lost something.  Something about me.  I've gained something too, to be sure.  More than I could begin to describe in a mere blog post.  But the piece I lost has something to do with every day joy.  For years now it's just been about survival.  Getting through it.  Moving on.  Solving problems. Adapting.

I feel like now I've finally hit a bit of smooth sailing.  and it's time to recover the bit of myself that just enjoys life. Time to recover hobbies, interests, pass times; things that add to my daily joy.

I actually had to sit down and think about this cause I had really forgotten what it is that I like to do when I'm not just adapting or surviving.  It came back to me slowly. I know it sounds dumb.  Really strange, in fact.  How can a person forget what they like to do?  How can a person forget what makes them happy?  I don't know.  But I did!

Looking back over time I was able to identify the things I love to do and things that bring me joy.  Let me first point out the obvious: My family is what brings me the most joy.  But my family is also what  creates the most work and stress for me!  It's a strange paradox.  But sometimes I need to look outside my work as mother and wife to fill my own cup and replenish my soul.  Also, soul replenishing is best done in a spiritual way.  I know this from experience.  Nothing I do on my own will be enough.  I believe that if we first seek the kingdom of God, all thing will be added unto us.  Including joy. (Mathew 6:33)

So,  here are some things that bring me joy and that I want to put back into my life.  I'll admit right off that they all seem to be interrelated.

Nature. Being outside.  Whether just sitting, reading, walking, hiking, swimming, raking leaves, running...being outside.  This is hard for most of the year in NC because I hate the heat and humidity.  I really only feel comfortable outside here during a few months of the year, which makes this a hard one for me and is one reason I miss the west coast as badly as I do.  But I need to work this back into my life.

Gardening.  Other than raising children, I can't think of anything so satisfying and gratifying as eating food you grew yourself.  I miss this so much.  I miss our WA garden.  I am resolved to figure out gardening in NC. My last summer's attempt was pathetic.

Reading and Learning.  I've been wanting to go back to school for a long time and get my masters.  Now that my husband FINALLY finished his masters, it feels like more of a possibility.  But until we have the money, time and guidance to know what to study (?) I will keep learning each day on my own.  I've always loved reading in the bath tub at the end of the day with a mug of herbal tea at my side.  I need to make time for that again.

Self Reliance. For some reason, I really love knowing that I can do things on my own without relying on government or modern conveniences.  Maybe I'm a little bit granola.  Granola lite.  I love to make my own laundry soap, can my own beans, dry my own laundry, mend my own clothes, gather my own eggs, etc.  I love to learn about alternative healing methods that let me take control of my own health. I like being captain of my ship, I guess you could say.  This falls into the category of learning too because you have to learn a lot to be able to do things on your own.  This may be one reason why I love to homeschool as well.

Music.  In years gone by I played the piano.  Before our Hazel died I was learning violin with my daughter.  I've sung in choirs.  I've performed in musicals.  Attending live music of most any kind almost always makes me cry for sheer joy. I used to have a music collection.  I need more music in my life again.

So that's a starter list.  A pretty good one for now.

Ok, to the point.  In the spirit of rediscovering joyful things, I've been scouring youtube for more information on things I love.  I came across a really great channel called Roots and Refuge.

This video that Jess shared inspired me to grow my own little winter greens on my deck.  So I went to amazon (because nobody is carrying seeds right now) and bought some salad seeds




And here's what I've now got growing on my deck:





Did it bring me joy?  Yeah.  It did.  Just taking the time to do something I like was enough to bring me a measure of joy. I'll feel even more joyful if these things actually sprout and I get to eat some romaine lettuce and kale in January from my own deck! 

hey if this works out I'm going to do lots of these things.  But for now it's just baby steps toward daily joy. Finding small things I can do each day that will help me feel whole so that I can then give my whole self to my family and do the work I feel that God has given me.

A great STEM book for kids

I'm excited to tell you about a great new book written by one of my homeschooling friends, Shenek Alston.  I've known Shenek for nearly two years now. We met at our homeschool co-op that convenes on Fridays at a local church.   I've always gone to Shenek with questions about how to handle math for my kids, especially the older ones, and appreciated the good advice she's shared with me.   My son has also attended some of her online math workshops and really enjoyed them.  With a PhD in math and a thriving tutoring clientele, she's certainly a well of information for many homeschoolers.  With three of her own children and another due in Jan. 2019, Shenek is no stranger to the daily rigors of homeschooling. I wish you could meet her! I think you'd love her down-to-earth personality, fun sense of humor, and her cultivated STEM expertise just as much as I do!

So take a moment to check out her new book Anna, Kid Engineer and see how it can motivate your kids to enjoy STEM at your house too! 

You can learn more about this great book and sign up for Shenek's newsletter HERE.

Preschool Dexterity and Counting

My preschooler is already really good at holding a pen and she can write (scribble) for a gooooooood long while as she fills paaaaaaages in her notebooks.  But that doesn't mean she couldn't use a good finger workout to build up those fine motor skills! Right?

So here's a look at a fun activity we did this week to do just that!


I strung a piece of thin rope across our school room and taught her how to pinch a clothes pin to hang up socks.  Sounds easy.  It took lots of practice for her to get it.  Lots.

It got a lot easier when I showed her how to just flop the sock over the line before pinning it so that she didn't have to focus on holding the sock toe up to the line while at the same time squeezing the pin and catching the sock in the pin's grip before it fell to the floor.  Yeah.  Focusing on one hard task instead of two is usually best for preschoolers :)

We extended the activity by counting the socks as well.  She does pretty good until she gets to the teens and then she just creates her own totally unique number system.

Science Olympiad: Data Crunchers!

Homeschoolers have so many great opportunities.  Sometimes it's overwhelming trying to weed through all of the classes, co-ops, clubs, field trips, lessons, projects and curriculum.  Yes?  Please tell me I'm not alone in this struggle!  As my 15-yo would say: "The Struggle is real!"

One thing I've always wanted to do with my kids is First Lego League.  It looks really cool.  The kids seem to have fun.  And it's all STEM-my, which is a hot buzz word these days.  If your kids are getting tons of STEM, then your homeschool is rockin' it right?  I don't know.  So I've heard.

But I could never find the inner "oomph" to jump in the FLL realm.  Honestly the commitment and the techno aspect of it turned me off.  I'm not very techie at all.  

At the same time, I do want some kind of long term effort that culminates in some cool project or acquired skill set that is demonstrable in a competitive environment with other students.  I feel like homeschoolers don't really get many opportunities to do that sort of thing (Like a science fair or something).  

These thoughts were swirling in my mind when out of the blue SCIENCE OLYPMIAD crossed my radar.  A few months ago I would have let my eyes skim over those words as I melted with exhaustion at the very thought of it.  But times and seasons, my friends.  Times and seasons.  Recent decisions and circumstances have freed up some of my mental storage capacity! And I felt like I had the energy to tackle this.

If I had known exactly what I was getting into when we signed up two of our girls for this program, I may have reconsidered?  But I'm glad that ignorance is bliss.  I'm glad I didn't shy away from this.  It DOES feel like it's going to be a lot of work (yet manageable) but I also think it will be SO worth it! 

My 8th grader is in two different events: Solar System and Write it/Do it.  My 3rd grader is in two events called Data Crunchers and Body  Builders.  Here's teh very happy news: I'm already teaching a Human Body Systems class for my 3rd grader at our weekly co-op so BOOM!  There you go.  Study time is built in to our week already!  Data Crunchers on the other hand...we're having to put in some real effort there. But that was part of the goal!  

So this Data Cruncher event is kinda like statistics for kids.  It's more than I would have really thought would be age appropriate for elementary school.  But what evs.  We're doing it!    Here we are at the house with some friends working on learning what a "mean" is.  I had the kids stack as many blocks as possible in 40 seconds.  Then we found the group's average (mean) tower height.  We did this several times along with other timed activities (hopping on one foot, spinning) and it was really fun!  

Who said statistics can't be fun?

Little House in the Big Woods: Maple and Square Dance

Is there anybody that doesn't love the Little House series?  My mom bought me the set when I was in 4th or 5th grade and I still have them.  My kids use them now and I love sharing these great American stories with my family.

Right now my 3rd grader is reading the first book in the series, Little House in the Big Woods.  In fact she just finished it today as part of the MBTP Unit.  This girl of mine is a born baker.  She finds absolute joy in the kitchen.  So of course one of her favorite activities form the unit was making maple bars after reading about how maple syrup was made on the frontier many years ago.

Here's a glimpse at her experience wtih this recipe from the unit:






This wasn't my favorite recipe, to be honest.  It lacked a real maple flavor. I'd suggest adding some good ole maple flavoring to the recipe or the glaze for added effect.  But it was a simple recipe that she did mostly on her own and they certainly did disappear quickly here in our household of eight!

Our final project involved learning and doing some square dancing with family or friends.  It just so happened that our city was hosting a bluegrass festival this weekend.  We went and heard some fabulous fiddling, just like Pa's.  And we loved the dancing too!  Wow, what great timing. I had a hrad time keeping my feet still during the performance!

Funny Eyes

I love it when a lesson ends with a really good laugh!  It's one of my favorite things about homeschooling.  Today we were learning about light waves, the light spectrum, bending light, etc.  So we were messing around with these prisms and discovering what we could do with them.  Here's something really silly that we quickly discovered about prisms.

Might be good for a chuckle.

The Art Club Lives On

The past two years since we've moved to NC my 4th child has missed her art club and art club friends.  We had started something a while back but when I became pregnant with #7 I had to let a few things go and art club was on the list.

But it's back!  In a revised sort of way.  We have 3 families participating and anywhere from 4-7 kids at each meeting, depending on the moods of younger siblings :)

We hold the club every other Weds at 1 pm and rotate homes.  Each home teaches a different subject.  So I'm actually the only home doing art.  The other two homes are doing baking and science.

We've only just begun but so far so good. As always, I forget to take pictures when I'm the one in charge and only think of it after the event is over.  I'm keeping it super simple this year and letting the curriculum do all the work for me.  I'm taking ideas from the Home Art Studio series




I don't play the video for the kids. I watch it ahead of time so I can lead the project in real time. I find that works better and if I feel like switching things up mid stream then I'm not confined by what the video dictates.

Anyway, our first project was about concentric circles radial patterns.  Here's what my own little artist came up with.



We still do art on our own at home as well using Meet the Masters.  We just studied Homer Winslow and made these traced sketches.




And apple prints from our preschooler!!  :)

Right Start Math -Tangrams

After you've been homeschooling for 10+ years you've gathered up a lot of memories.  Some good. Some not so good.  Most great!

I have this funny habit of  writing down the date of each math lesson we complete in our Right Start math books.  I didn't discover Right Start math until I started homeschooling our second child. So unfortunately my oldest is not part of the log.  But today while I was doing math with my 4th child I was taking note of the fact that I've taught this math lesson three times so far (two more rounds to go) and the time span between each child's lesson.  It's fun to look at the dates and think, "Oh I was just barely pregnant with baby 5 when I taught this to my son and feeling really sick."  Or, "Oh we did this lesson right before that tree fell down in our back yard."  And it triggers a whole slew of memories.  Very nostalgic.

This particular lesson on tan-grams was fun to remember because I took note of each pattern configuration that each child came up with and it was interesting to see how they compare.  Children, even from the same family, are so unique with a surprising set of similarities and differences.  I love being surprised by my kids and what they can come up with each day as they play and learn.

Here's a pic of what this lesson looks like from our Level C book today.

It's just another day in paradise!

Could you Homestead AND Homeschool?

I have zero idea how I stumbled upon this cool YouTuber family that homeschools and homesteads in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.  But I did.  I discovered them just a few days ago and I'm a little bit obsessed with their videos because it blows my mind how anybody could raise their six children in 500 square feet while homeschooling and homesteading.

Their family is super cute.  Also they have six kids, we have six (living) children. They are the ultimate DIYers and I like to DIY as well.  They make an effort to be "producers" and I like that concept too.  What really draws me to them is their genuine love for what they do.  Their motto is "What ever you do, do it with your whole heart!"  I think I've tried to live by that all my life so I feel a connection to this notion of whole  heartedness.

This video they posted a while back on how and why they homeschool is enlightening.  I'm struck by how fully and completely they utilize the freedom that homeschooling allows.  Often times I find myself caught in the "must dos" and "should dos" of home educating my kids that I forget the bigger picture of what I'm really doing.  I get bogged down in details and curriculum and end of year testing.  Staying above that, staying in the realm of real education, is a constant challenge.

Ok, so take a look at this video and then I'll share my thoughts with you about it.




So did you like that?  What did you think?

Here's my reaction: Wow! Amazing parents!  I love that they are so united as a couple on pretty much everything!  I agree with many of their reasons for homeschooling.  I do have a very different approach however, and that's ok.  That's what makes HSing great! We all do it in a way that works for us.  For example, I'm not really down with air writing.  I'm too tactile and so are my kids. We DO need the paper, the pencil, the seats, the table, the manipulatives, the projects.  We really like that! So I have probably WAY more homeschooling stuff than they do.  I DO hang on to my stuff so that I can reuse it again and thereby save money. I have a whole room (probably the size of their entire house) dedicated to home education.  So, that's where we differ a ton.

But I love that they have extended their classroom to include the entire homestead.  I don't have a homestead.  I have to educate in other ways. :)

I think my main take away from this came from Carrie's comments at the end when she addressed her background in education (she's a licensed teacher in CA) and the struggle she has had with her own list of "shoulds".  It's very freeing to think that our goal  is not to simply instill knowledge, but rather to imbue wisdom.

Her one comment about "useless knowledge" was a bit grating though.  I like to think that all learning is interrelated.  Knowledge is never useless (to a degree, right? Let's be reasonable).   But yes, to her point: There's no need to think that we can teach it all, do it all, fill every gap, address every topic.  We just can't.  There WILL be gaps.  But as she stated, if we do our job right, our kids will have the tools (and knowledge!) to fill their own gaps, prepare their own path, pass their own tests, and reach their own goals what ever they may be.

Ok, on a different note: here are some fun pictures from the days when I did a little bit of my own backyard homesteading in WA.  We had chickens for a few years. And I've always had a garden every year.  It was an adventure for sure! I'd love to do chickens again here in NC.

And here's a pic of my garden back in the day: 

So there may be a tad of a homesteader in me.  But just a tad.

Loop Schedules for Homeschool and mini book review: Teaching from Rest

LOOP SCHEDULES! 

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?

Have you collected some really great pieces of curriculum, manipulatives, educational games, read-a-louds, or other nuggets of truth you'd like to share with your children but you'r just not sure when or how to fit it all in?  Yeah. Me too!

After 10+ years of homeschool, I've got a lot of great tools in my homeschool tool chest.  And now that my oldest children are in middle/high school, my second wave of children are ready to repeat some of the curriculum we covered years ago.  (that's why I don't get rid of my stuff people!)  The problem is HOW and WHEN?  Where do I find extra minutes in the day among all the other many to-dos that must get done, especially as our family has grown over the years?

Answer:  LOOP SCHEDULES.

I'm not sure why I never thought of this on my own. I kind of had the idea, but didn't really formalize it or manifest it concretely until reading this book about two months ago:

This book is worth the money.  Just go ahead and buy that one for yourself right now!  Really.
The title of that book is a misnomer, in my opinion.  So don't let that throw you off.  When I first read that title I laughed! It seemed like the *ultimate* oxymoron.   I began to understand the author's use of the word "rest" as I came to the end of the book.  Think of the word rest in the sense of  "rest assured" or "rest in the knowledge that..."

Two nuggets I'll share from the book:
1) A job well done is simply a job that is faithfully done.  Faithfully putting in our best effort is enough.  God makes up the rest.
2) Loop schedules!

Ok so that takes me back to my intro: How to fit it all in.  Loop schedules are simply this: You rotate your way through different subjects/topics without regard to the day of the week or what you have been able to accomplish in a set period of time.  you simply do what's next on the loop and pick up where you left  off....however long ago that was.

Pictures are worth 1K words, right? So here's a pic of our current loop schedules.  As always, it's subject to change. I actually have TWO back-to-back loops happening each morning.

Super fancy huh?  With my clothes pins and all?

Ok, so every day we have our routine of Prayer, pledge of allegiance, a scripture or inspirational thought, and then we work on our memorization. Right now we are working on memorizing The Living Christ.  We're not quite half way through it.

Then we move on to loop A, which really is only 15-20 minutes of our day. But it's a chance to hit on some things that I feel like we've been ignoring for too long.  I have found hat our read alouds have taken a back seat since the last baby was born. I wanted to make sure they find their way back into our day so I rotate a read-a-loud (same book till it's done) regularly into our loop A.    During our read alouds the girls have a craft to work on.  Rightnow they are using a loom to make bracelets while  I read.    I got the idea on facebook.

The girls call this a "jelly fish" loom.  You cans see the bracelet coming out the underside.  

During Math Games/Songs we practice math facts or concepts. I use a lot of the game ideas in the Right Start math  games manual. We also do math bingo or other online games I've found and accumulated.  And we sing some math fact songs from Times to Remember.

I LOVE that we are back to doing Music Appreciation.  I have been wanting to get back to that for a long time!  We are re-using our Level 1 of Harmony Fine Arts this year, but only hitting on the composers.    While they are listening to compositions I have them sketch works of art in their sketchbooks from the child size master piece cards.

 

So once we complete Loop A we move on the the meatier Loop B.  These are the weekly group classes that we've always done, only now I don't try to squeeze them in once a week.  We do them when ever they come up on the loop.   And as you can see, I have a loop within a loop.  When ever we get to the Language Arts part of the loop, I use sub categories to hit on different aspects of L.A. each time we do it.  I think this just adds more variety and spice to our days.  It keeps things interesting and reinforces what the kids are doing separately on their own in LA during the week.

Why do I love Loop Schedules? 

Because they free me up from the 5-day week limitations.  I no longer limit myself to just five "extra" things we can do in a week. I can add as many things as I want to my loops and know that we will hit on each subject an equal number of times as we rotate through.  

I love loops because I no longer feel the stress of "Oh we had a field trip this Tuesday so we won't be able to fit in our science experiment this week".  Of course we will fit it in! IT just won't be on Tuesday. Nothing gets bumped or missed or pushed back.  It's just a pause int he loop until we come back to it. 

This seriously has been a breath of fresh air into my homeschool-mom life.  It has released me from so many constraints that I was feeling and has added some of the joy and fun back into our homeschool.

I know I didn't go over everything in our loop and how we cover those topics. I hear baby waking up from nap time on this stormy Saturday morning. I'll get to that next time...or whenever it comes up in my personal loop!  :) 

Aa is for Apple

I've been using a new preschool plan with this little pre-preschooler of mine.  And  I have to say I like it! It's simple, but well thought out.  It's easy yet engaging.  The price was reasonable and it doesn't require me to have a ton of extra gadgets and gizmos and craft items to do the lesson plans.  I found it online here: BusyToddler.com  and I'm glad I did!

Now, realize that I don't have "school time" with my preschooler.  I just glance over the suggested books, activities, and skills for the week and pick out a few that I want to cover in a day.  Then when I have a moment (like when her siblings are busy doing independent work and the baby is asleep) then I pull her away from Peppa Pig (literally) to do some "letters".  She seems to like it for the most part.

In the video above she is transferring apples from one bowl to the next as part of the A-Apples unit.  Each unit is two weeks. We're about read y to move on to the next unit, however. I think she's already getting Aa and the sound that goes with it. She can already pick out the letters when she sees them around  her during the day! Yay. Small successes.

We certainly arent' following the schedule or lesson plans as outlined in the curriculum.  But I love not having to think up my own activities to do with her each day.  I am using my Montessori sound boxes with her too. And adding in a few of my own letter work with her as well.  And let's not forget StarFall.com  I think my now-3rd grader was pretty much raised by StarFall.com

Tip: Some of the recommended read aloud picture books were hard to find at my library.  But I was able to find them on YouTube!  I love YouTube.   For example, I couldn't find this book at my library





 But I found it easily on YouTube

 I muted the video and read it out loud to her as we sat at the computer together. I just fast forward the video a bit to "turn the pages". Worked pretty well. #preschool hack ;)

New Favorite Hobby

A few weeks ago a fellow homeschooling friend invited my 3rd and 8th graders to hangout at their house with their 6th grader.  By the way, isn't that awesome that these girls of different ages and mix so well and be really close friends? I think it's a beautiful thing and not commonly found outside the homeschool arena.

Anyway, this friend had an overwhelming influence on my girls and their new love of Sculpey Clay!!  They learned that their baking addictions can manifest in the form of miniature Sculpey replicas of their baking delights!  So much fun creating mini versions of edible treats!  The only problem: When they got home they were totally  bummed that they did not have any sculpey of their own to continue the fun.

I was able to let my oldest cash in her tickets (I'll blog later about our ticket system) from last quarter and she used the money to buy her own set of Sculpey clay.  And fortuitously, my 3rd grader just recently turned eight and received a set of oven-bake clay as well!  How about that!  It all worked out.  Our home is now a sculpey home and these two girls have really enjoyed exploring what they can do with this new medium.  It's a wonderful way for them to wile away the hours together dreaming up new items for the bakery they will someday own. 

We found these storage trays in the bead section of Joanne's for about $3.00.  We bought the clay tools a while back on Amazon.

One of these things is not like the others...

Check out the details!  Those mini truffles are actually FILLED (with a different color of Sculpey)

The girls have toyed with the idea of selling their mini delights as dollhouse accessories on Etsy!  Fun idea!  I haven't ever tried selling on Etsy but it might be a fun adventure.

Preschool - Round 5 - It's worth it

I remember when my older kids were starting preschool and I was SO excited to have marvelous room decorations, amazing lesson plans, uber fun activities, etc.   After homeschooling for ten years, some of that zeal and boundless energy has been leached from my bones.  Not gonna lie. 

Here I am with another preschooler on my hands.  And it's time to brush off all my preschool skills and put them to use.  I have to stop and remind myself that these precious preschool years are so fleeting and so wonderful.  I really want to take advantage of them and not waste a moment. Well, ok, so I'm sure a few moments will be spent on Peppa Pig while I get work done with the older kids.  But my goal is to be more organized and intentional about spending some quality "school time" with my pre-pre K student.  She's a little ball of fire and keeps me on my toes.  I love the way she makes us laugh one moment, and then has us thinking about the eternities in the next with her sweet words and thoughts.

Anyway, the other day we had fun introducing Aa and Bb.  It was so nostalgic to pull out my old sound boxes and show them to her.  My older girls gathered round to "oooo" and "ahhhh" and share their memories of using the sound boxes way back when.  It was a fun mommy moment to hear them talk about their "favorite boxes" and squeal when they saw the little items they remembered from preschool phonics.  Moments like that do make it worth your while, don't they?