Loafing again

I don't know what's up with us LOL I'm to the point that we've been unschooling again. It's the same old struggle that I had at the end of last school year. Wherein I want to let go and let live but still find the need to have some organized bookwork too even though I know that there's much more to life than just that. I really don't know how to end this struggle. I'm hoping that once all of my daughter's activities begin that it'll be easier to get on track with schoolwork. I know that's probably wishful thinking though. So does anyone have anything that could help to motivate the 2 of us around here?

The 1st day of school...

...didn't go bad at all (as you can read about here). Here I was prepared for a fight and nope - no fight whatsoever. Of course, I'm not complaining - just praying that the rest of the year goes just as smoothly. I also wish that I could find the same motivation for the things that I have going on. I've been letting my businesses and schoolwork go by the way side lately. Maybe now that I have a fractured ankle though, things will ease up some as I simply cannot stand sitting still doing absolutely nothing. Speaking of which: I can't believe that I fractured an ankle again this summer - my right 1 last summer & my left 1 this summer UGGG

Anyhow... I'm glad that we're back to school and things are going well. Let me know how your first day goes for you.

Long time no see

I cannot honestly believe that this summer has been here and gone already. Of course, this is something that I've written about in my other blog so I won't "re-hash" it here. However, I don't think I'm alone in wondering where the summer has gone.

So, when does everyone start back to homeschooling? We start Tuesday and then all of our other activities (only 3 in total - 2 church youth groups and 1 day school program) begin throughout the month of September. I was going to start on Monday but life somehow has a way of getting into the way. In fact, we're only going to have 3 days of school next week but it's time to get back at it, no matter how slow or fast we may go. (Isn't that the joy of homeschooling anyway?)

I'm actually looking forward to starting school stuff with my daughter again. We were going to homeschool over the summer but that just fell to the way side as summer somehow has a way of making us lazy and want to spend more time outdoors, which is good.

This year my daughter will be in a day school for 12 hours a week simply for socialization as she'll be about 1 year older than the other children in her class. The main reason that I did this is because I am good friends with the lady who is also a Christian and has a full degree and tons of experience in elementary education, so she's going to get my daughter reading. I've done everything that I can think of and it's just not working. I'm anxious for her to start reading as I know that she'll love it and that it'll open a whole new world to her, which I'm excited about.

So, this year I have 12 hours to myself. This will be great for me as I have some new clients and work lined up to fill the time. I also have my own Seminary classes to deal with. I'm sure that it'll also be good to not have mommy and daughter around each other 24/7 as we both need a break and as a single mom that's oftentimes hard to come by. Now don't get me wrong, I love the time we're together but we do need time apart too.

Anyhow... Who else is looking forward to starting the school year? What great things do you have planned?

MIA

Yes, I've been MIA again. I could blame it on summer, but I won't. There's actually been a lot going on around here:

1. I've been accepted to Dallas Theological Seminary's online program starting August 6. It's been a life long dream/goal/calling for me to get my Masters of Divinity so this is just the next step :D
2. I've got some steady writing work that's been keeping me from having to search for new work, which is great. Of course, I still have my Hub Page about homeschooling that I've been adding 5 articles to each week. I'm also writing for a new homeschool blog. Otherwise, most of what I'm doing is ghost writing.
3. I'm still working on my Shaklee business, which is getting better by the day - persistance does pay off. Don't forget that you can get $100 in FREE products. Check it out!
4. I've been teaching my daughter to read and she's actually catching on really fast.

We still have a lot to do this summer, including 2 more weeks of Vacation Bible School at 2 different churches. I don't see things settling down to a routine until school starts up again. (Yes, I've been doing some school daily with my daughter but we'll start up "for real" near the end of August.) I plan on using a schedule this year as I just don't see how I'm going to run 2 businesses, homeschool, take my own classes, be active at my church and handle everything else that comes up without one. As you probably can tell, this is against my nature so here's hoping that I can adjust to it.

Well, that's my life. I hope all is well with you. I'll do my best to post again soon.

I haven't been around for a while...

Sorry! I've been ridiculously busy. I kind of knew this would happen this summer but didn't want to believe it. My daughter is in 4 different day camps this summer and since I have to walk her to each of them I'm "stuck" there too. She's having a ball though. She's making lots of friends and we've even been able to plug in to a new church, which is a great blessing. However, since most of my money comes from my freelance writing, with the limited time that I do have I've been spending on that. I do have the possibility of cutting down in this area and writing for only 5 companies without having to worry about getting more clients, which I praise God for. This would then open up my schedule some and allow me to work more on my Shaklee business and not be handcuffed to my computer LOL I'm sure my daughter would really love this too. I'm just glad that it's taken a little less than a year to get to this point. Now to get my Shaklee business to that point and I'll be lovin' life. I did have the goal of getting my daughter to be able to read by the end of August but with everything else happening, that, and some of my other goals, are going to have to wait. I don't think that a 6-year-old HAS to be able to read as most can't read ntil they're 8. So, I'm laying off on her and we haven't done any school work this summer which is a nice change of pace for the both of us I'm sure. I know that just living life each day can be a great teacher as well and I'm just trusting and allowing that to happen. Anyhow, that's what's up in our life. I'll try to be around a bit more. Happy 4th of July everyone!

I know we're not "normal" but...

I'm wondering when everyone does their curriculum shopping? We don't use formal curriculum per say. In fact the majority of our workbooks are purchased from the local dollar store that has a very nice selection of educational items available. I think that I already have everything that we will be needing for quite some time but I still sat down and wrote an article about what you should take into consideration whenever you are choosing curriculum. I think that if I had enough money to purchase curriculum, I'd be in over my head and thus overwhelmed by it all. So, I'm thankful that the system we're currently using works.

ALSO...

I'm in search of some good advice and FREE materials here ladies... I have a goal for this summer: I want to teach my daughter to read. I've tried 100 Easy Lessons and it doesn't work for us because she knows what all the letters sound like and I can't seem to find any reasonably priced "Hooked On Phonics" packages, which is what I used whenever I was learning to read. I have the "Bob" books and a bunch of worksheets from the aforementioned workbooks. Do you have anything else that you think would be useful for us. I've heard of Starfall BUT I don't like having my daughter on my work computer so I bought her a VTech Nitro Notebook which has a TON of educational stuff on it. So I need "physical" materials like worksheets and anything else that you could suggest. If anyone knows of a lapbook we could do that would be AWESOME too as she loves those but hates file folder games (don't ask me why as I've never been able to figure it out LOL)

Thanks!

Math: Do you dread it or love it?

My daughter and I seem to share the same dislike of math. I find this unfortunate because she is SO smart. I know that she is able to grasp these concepts but just isn't enjoying it. This is something that I also know: when she enjoys something she'll learn it and want to learn more about it. I guess this shouldn't surprise me though. After all, isn't that the heart of unschooling? Spending time doing those things that you enjoy and learning more about those things that interest you. Anyhow, since I want my daughter to enjoy math I did some reading, thinking and writing. Here is what I found:

The importance of math manipulatives (I really would like to purchase Math U See)
Understanding how math works (This is a book that I've read about and now I want to purchase LOL)
Using rewards & competition (Since I only have 1 child I searched diligently for a way to have her compete with herself. I hope this helps others who are only homeschooling 1 child.)

Summer is here for us

I'd wanted to homeschool year around but I've been so burnt out that after I'm done with my work for the day I just want to lay around and do nothing. I fell asleep at 8PM last night. Today all I've done is clean the house, do laundry, go to the bank and do a little clothes shopping. I made ham and eggs with fresh bread for lunch and now I just want to be done for the day. I do need to work on my Shaklee business and see if I can't get something going to get some products moving but otherwise I don't want to do anything. It's so hot out today (almost 90) and humid too. I think that has a big part of why I'm feeling this way. I've still been getting my daughter to watch educational stuff on TV and play educational games on the computer but I really need to start doing the index cards again as that's what I really wanted to focus on this summer. I've finally been able to get on a 4 day work schedule so I'm only working online 24 hours a week. The rest of the time I'm on and off doing advertising. I also have been able to get laundry and house cleaning done on Fridays so that Saturdays is farmers market and R&R, which is what I do almost all day on Sunday too. It's going to be hard getting up at 6:30AM for church though. I miss going at night but do like this new church better. I just know that once I get on a schedule it's going to get all messed up again bc my dd is going to 4 weeks of different campst this summer. Anyhow, that's my life so I'll stop babbling now...

Just a little fun!

Which Peanuts Character are You?

You are Lucy!
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OK As promised....

I said a while ago that I'd started a new business. Well, now I feel that I am ready to reveal it.

***DRUM ROLL PLEASE***

I'm not sure if any of you remember the 20 20 Earth Day special but it really impacted my daughter and I. Ever since then we've wanted to live green. Besides using natural soap and lotion, buying organic food and changing our light bulbs to energy saving ones, recycling cans/plastic bottles/paper, I also found a great company for which I'm working as an independent distributor. They have cleaning products, laundry and dish soap, vitamins, makeup and even a great weight loss plan. I invite you to check them out and even try one of their products. I'm sure you'll feel the difference just like we have. This is really an easy business as all you have to do is learn to operate a mini-office outlet from home. So, you do not have to pressure your loved ones into purchasing anything. All you have to do is go through the free online training. From there it's up to set your own hours and make a great income. So, if you're interested, let me know.

OK I'll calm down now LOL I'm just really excited about this business as I'm already seeing results.

Back to homeschooling now...

How's your week been? Mine has been pretty busy with other things besides homeschooling, which is why I'm glad that we also unschool.

Studying the states of the United States

As I've mentioned before, I've stated to use index cards as an educational aid for my child. They are very helpful whenever we have some time to wait at a restaurant or at a doctor's appointment. I've also taken some relaxed days of school to just review them with her as a "drill." Well, we've also started to study the 50 states. Now since she's only 5 I'm taking things really slow and making it a lot of fun for her. This is what I'm doing and how you can do it too. So far, it seems to be working quite well. I just hope she does not grow tired of it before we have learned all 50 states, their abbreviations and flags. Hopefully this is something that you can use in your homeschool and that your children will also get a lot of enjoyment from. Let me know what you think!

Unschooling

A lot of people are starting to wonder if it's really all that it's cracked up to be. I know that as a somewhat unschooling parent, I really enjoy the freedom that my daughter has throughout the day to learn about things simply by exploring her environment. Many of you allow your child to be completely unschooled and even that seems to be working fine. You may have noticed by now that this is a topic that I'm constantly wrestling with. As such, I wrote an article that looks at both sides of this issue. I'd love to know what side you are on!

Mondays

It doesn't matter who you are or what you do, I bet you hate Mondays just as much as I do. This is because after 2 great days of R&R it's time to get back to the grind stone. I'm especially having a difficult time with it this week though, so I wrote this article.

The reason why I'm having such a rough time is because we had a lot of fun this weekend. On Saturday we went to a carnival that was full of games and great food. We sampled foods from a variety of ethnic groups and my daughter even won 2 toys: a stuffed unicorn and a magical want. It was a lot of fun!

Then Sunday we went to see how sheep are sheered and how wool was made back in the 1800's. We then got to tour a house, barn, etc. to see how they lived. It was really neat and my daughter was full of questions.

So, today there's nothing good to look forward to. As such, we're struggling to get going again. Nevertheless, back to the grindstone we go.

Special needs children

I'm taking some time to write about homeschooling children with special needs. Here is one I wrote about why deaf children should be homeschooled.

What are the challenges of homeschooling?

I can think of a lot of challenges but there's probably some that I've forgotten. Here's the list of challenges that I've come up with. Are there any that I've missed? I challenge you to come up with more ;)

Homeschool groups

Have you ever wondered how a homeschool group should operate? Well, this is something that I was thinking about this morning because I'm getting really tired of not having a homeschool group around here and so I'm considering starting one next school year. Anyhow, I did some research and writing to come up with this little piece about how homeschool groups work. Please feel free to let me know if I've missed anything.

Have you heard about using index cards for homeschooling?

I know I hadn't heard about it until today. I just happened to "accidentally" run across it while I was looking through some message forums today. It sent me searching to find out more information about this topic and here is what I found. I must say that I do really like this idea and may start using it with my daughter. Since it works for any manner in which you would like to homeschool your child, I can definitely see it fitting in nicely with our unschooling lifestyle. Let me know what you think.

Does your child have ADD/ADHD?

Personally, I HATE these terms. I do not believe in them at all. I won't allow them to be placed upon my daughter either, even though she'd more than fit them if she went to a traditional school. Well, I've found a new way of looking at ADD/ADHD and it supports those of us who loathe these labels and have chosen to unschool our children who would have fit these labels in traditional schools. Take a moment to check out what I'm talking about and then let me know what you think. Personally, I think that it makes 1 heck of a lot of sense. Have a great day everyone!

Special needs children

A lot of people seem to think that if your child is required to have an IEP that they cannot homeschool this child. This simply is not true. In fact, an IEP can be wrote up specifically to be used within a homeschool environment. Here is what you need to do to make this happen. The only thing that you will be possibly losing out by doing this is the special therapies that the public school can provide. However, there are some school districts that will make special concessions for your child to be able to get these services. Otherwise having a good insurance can really help out with the cost. So, if you have a special needs child, do not give up on the thought of homeschooling him/her.

So much to tell

Sorry I didn't get to tell you this before, but the art festival was very enjoyable. The lady was making glass beads and it was so neat to watch how she used her torch to make them. While she was unable to make bigger glass objects because of the set up and such, she did tell us, in detail, how she made glasses that you drink out of. My dd was soooo amazed by it all and would have stayed there for the entire night if I'd let her LOL. We did take advantage of some sales too and she got a beautiful glass bead fish necklace and I got a bookmark and picked up a necklace that I'd ordered previously. Dinner was wonderful too. I just wish she could control her energy sometimes LOL I know in a public school they'd definitely mark her ADHD and so I'm glad I'm homeschooling her so she isn't forced into a label and all that it brings with it.

I've been so busy lately myself. My writing has really taken off. I'm not even going out looking for it. It's just coming to me which is something I thank God for. With this in mind, I've started a new business venture that I'll introduce to you within the next week or so. I'm sure you'll like it too so think green ;)

Otherwise, I've done some research on who John Holt is. If you're like me, you've probably heard his name before. You may even know that he's the founder of unschooling. However, it's really neat to read all about him and what has led him to create what we now call "unschooling" as well as to influence several other organizations as well.

Anyhow, I best get some work done before dd wakes up :)

Some thoughts on my way out the door LOL

We're getting ready to head out to an art show this afternoon where we'll see how glass blowing is done. I am anxious to see this myself and yet couldn't help thinking about how this could fit into a homeschooler's curriculum. Of course, I can't be the only 1 who occassionally stops to think about curriculum and how challenging it can be to find the right 1. Here's a little something that I wrote that I hope will be helpful for new homeschoolers when choosing curriculum. I'm off to shower now but I'll let you know how the event went later on today. I hope everyone has an enjoyable Saturday!

Strong proponents of homeschooling listen up

OK So I should be listening to myself here and take heed before ever making the statement that "every parent really should consider homeschooling their children." Why? Because it simply is not true. There really are some parents who should not consider homeschooling their children. These people just are not cut out for it. Who am I talking about? Read on and find out :D

Believe it or not: Homeschool children ARE socialized (WOW!)

Sorry for the hint of sarcasm there LOL...

Last week I wrote an article about why so many traditional school parents tend to defend the socialization process that takes place in the public schools. Tonight, while my daughter is with my parents, I decided to write an article "explaining" how homeschool children get socialization. I'm not sure why I felt the need to defend us but it may have something to do with the number of parents I've been running into that defend this area's public schools. I also had a member of my church's staff last night decide to tell me why I shouldn't homeschool. While you may not know it, I really hate controversy and will do anything to avoid it. As such, I think that this article is my way of silently fighting back LOL

Thinking green

We had a really cool night at church tonight. Lately my daughter and I have been talking a lot about taking care of Mother Earth. I guess it's just part of me getting back to who I really am: a hippy tree hugger :D Anyhow my daughter has really gotten into it lately. Then tonight at church we went out to clean up the church by collecting garbage. While a lot of you may not think this is "cool" we really had fun doing it together.

An anti-homeschooling area

As I've mentioned in earlier postings, I'm living in an area where there are not any homeschoolers. In fact, this area is somewhat hostile towards homeschoolers. It seems that just because the school has won an award of excellence the people around here are just blindly following it and placing their kids into the school. A lot of the time I hear people telling me my daughter is losing out on so much socialization because she's homeschooled. Well, I decided to take a look at why these people feel this way and I wrote an editorial about it.

"Homeschooly" stuff

I know I just posted something else that was on my mind, but I really wanted to share our day with you because it just goes to prove that learning and socializing really is all around you, wherever you go, whatever you do. So, here's an outline of the highlights of our day:

1. We went for a nature walk and picked up recycling. It was really interesting some of the things that we found when we looked close enough to find it.
2. We had a plumber in our home to fix a copper pipe. Guess who was his willing assistant?
3. We went to the bank and talked about money and banking.
4. We went to the ice cream store for some sherbert and it was time that the kids were walking home from school. So, my daughter got to socialize with some of them.
5. While walking home from the ice cream store she talked to a child who showed her how to play the viola.
6. We did laundry, which is always an education in itself LOL

So, what did you do today?

Keeping an eye toward the future

Am I the only homeschool mom that keeps an eye on the future? What I mean is that my daughter is only 5 and a half years old and I'm already concerned about doing things right so that she can get into college. I even went so far as to do some research and write an article about this.

I know that I'm basically an unschooler but I can't give up on doing some workbook stuff each day. We only spend about a half hour on it but it makes me feel better. My daughter doesn't mind doing it since she can play and do art stuff the rest of the day. Now if she said she really didn't want to do it at all, I'm not sure that I'd be able to just let it go. I'm so nervous about making sure that she is educated even though she's doing second/third grade work. She also watches a lot of educational stuff on TV and all her toys are educational in 1 way or another so I really should relax but I just can't do it LOL

Am I the only 1 that is this way?

OK I am officially technically challenged LOL

I just tried to set up an account at MySpace and I can't for the life of me figure out how to add friends. So, I'm putting out a cry for help. Does anyone use MySpace? If so, can you please tell me how to add friends? Thanks!

P.S. Now that I'm writing for 2 other homeschool blogs (Hub Pages and Phenomenal Homeschooling), I'm not going to be writing about homeschooling for Associated Content anymore. I'll only be writing about freelance writing there from now on. As such, I've removed the RSS feed for AC from this blog but it is still on my Writer's Life Blog.

Socialization

Yep, that big "S" word again. This time I'm not talking about it for our children, but for us mothers. I've been having a hard time finding ways in which to socialize with other mothers. Sure, I go out and talk to people on a daily basis but I really miss forming a tight bond of friendship with someone. It seems that the friends I use to have are still single and the 1 mom that I did bond with is now busy moving to Cleveland (and I do wish her all the best). So, now, once again I'm on my own to try to find some new friendships. Am I the only 1 that seems to not be able to find these friendships? I know that I moved into an area that does not have many homeschoolers, but you'd think that there would be a way to bond with someone. I don't think that we're hermits but I do think that I have difficulty interacting with mothers who do not share at least some of my same interests. With this in mind I wrote down some things that I'd like to try to do so that I can form these friendships. Of course, I'd love to hear what you guys and gals think about socialization for homeschool moms. Where have you found friendships, outside of homeschool groups (as there are none around where I live)? Please give me a hand here as I'm starting to feel that all I do is work and homeschool, which is making me start to feel a bit lonely. Thanks everyone!

The dreaded "S" word

Am I the only 1 who doesn't seem to know how to get socialization into their homeschool. Unfortunately there are not any homeschool groups in my area. However, in a lot of other ways we are blessed because there are so many great programs that my dd is involved with and they're all in working distance from my house. Plus we're really involved in our church's wonderful children's programming. There's also a playground only a few blocks away. While I haven't been able to have many play dates at my home, my dd is still around other children each day. Here are some of the techniques that I've used to encourage play dates. I honestly believe that these things would work if more parents actually had time to do play dates. Unfortunately in this day and age so many parents are just too busy for play dates. Am I the only 1 discovering this? I'd like to know of your success at establishing play dates for your child. What has and hasn't worked?

Reflections from a homeschool mom

I swear sometimes I get really reflective on the area of homeschooling. I guess it's called good parenting whenever you stop to make sure that you are doing everything in your power to ensure that your child is getting a good homeschool education, which I know my dd is getting and yet I still stop to reflect once in a while. Well, today, I was reflecting upon my budget and decided to write an article sharing some tips as to how we manage to homeschool on a budget.

Just sharing some random thoughts

I ran across this quote on 1 of the blogs I read daily: "Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive . . . then go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive." Like she mentioned, this quote by Howard Thurman really does describe unschooling in such a wonderful way.

I also read The 5 Best Things About Homeschooling and want to share it with you because it invoked a resounding AMEN from me. I think you'll also agree.

Spring is finally back here and we're about to go out and enjoy it. I hope it stays this time. Have a great day everyone!

P.S. I have just updated my other blog, Phenomenal Homeschooling, with some information about unit studies. If this topic is of interest to you, I invite you to come on over and take a look.

Am I the only 1...

... that struggles with scheduling? I know that I'm probably not alone and that this is probably why we primarily unschool (I say primarily because I do suggest some schoolwork for my dd to do on occasion). I've spent the day working on articles (1 of which I wrote about scheduling) while dd has been playing and watching educational television. We also walked to the store and back but I feel as though we should have done more. Nevertheless, I know she's learning and so I guess I should just relax LOL

I'm procrastinating again LOL

OK so I'm procrastinating again and I know I shouldn't LOL This time I'm putting off finishing a report that I'm writing. I know that I'll be angry about it at the end of the day though. Yet, here I am thinking about all of the things that I need to do:

1. I have to put all the loose papers into my dd's portfolio
2. I have coupons to sort through
3. I have paperwork to do
4. There are lots of articles that I need to write for clients
5. I still have Easter decorations to take down and put away
6. I have a house that needs cleaned

Nevertheless, here I sit wondering: Am I the only 1 that procrastinates this much?

Curriculum

"Have you ordered your curriculum yet?" is a question that I'm getting tired of hearing as an unschooling parent. Why? Because when I state that I don't order curriculum I get questioned to death. I've noticed this quite often lately. However, I've decided not to go on a rant about it because it'd just be a waste of time. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this recently?

And for those of you who are choosing homeschool curriculum this year, here are some pointers for you.

Portfolios

I live in a state where portfolios are required and when I did some cleaning of my book shelf the other day, I realized just how far behind I am in this process. So, what did I do about this? I wrote an article LOL Leave it to me to find a way to procrastinate even farther.

I must be crazy!

OK I must be crazy as I now own 5 blogs LOL My newest 1 is my writing journal. If any of you are interested in writing or are a writer, feel free to check it out. I doubt that I'll promote it much as it was just a place to share my thoughts about work as I'd like to keep Homeschool 4 Us on target, being about only homeschooling life.

Speaking of this blog...

I added a new section over in the right hand column of the places that I visit daily. If you know of any other places that I should visit daily, please let me know. I love learning from the wonderful people who are generous enough to read my blog.

Well, I spent the last 2 hours getting myself better situated with my life online and printing out our next lapbook. We've officially finished studying the rain forest and are about to embark on a lapbook about ancient Egypt, focusing on pyramids. I'm kind of looking forward to it as I found a really neat book to go with it. It's called "Discovering Egypt" by Pinwheel Children's Books and it's a pull the tabs book but it's packed full of great info.

OK Back to work I must go...

What a day!

I've been so tired all day. So, what do I choose to do? Clean off my bookshelf in order to get some books together to take and cash in on. Now my house is a mess. Then I tried to set up my new blog and I'm having a dang time doing that too. Why did I choose to do these things today? Why am I sooo tired? I have so much stuff to catch up on with my homeschool stuff but at least I've made a dent in it today.

P.S. I finally got an article posted to my new blog. In this 1 I chose to write about the cost of homeschooling. Take a read and let me know what you think!

Why do you homeschool? What makes for a good homeschooling day in your family?

Christine challenged us in her blog to share why we homeschool. Then I look at another 1 of my favorite blogs, entitled Mom Is Teaching, where she asks us what makes a good homeschool day. Well, after some thought I realized that I don't have a really in depth reason for why I'm homeschooling. Simply put I'm homeschooling to ensure that my dd has a safe place to learn and excel. As such, I feel that I'm providing her with a better education than she could get from the good school district we live in - isn't that humorous. When it comes to having a good homeschooling day... Mine is whenever I can tell that my dd has learned something from what we've done that day. Usually this happens simply by talking to her and hearing what she's learned on Animal Planet or National Geographic, or from something we've done together. Anyway, I'd love to hear from you why you homeschool and what makes a good homeschooling day for your family.

Reading

I don't know what exactly to entitle this post bc it's such a mix of things. It's also going to be a short post as I'm at my parents' house celebrating Easter. Anyhow, not many of you know this about me but it was a real struggle to let go and truly be an unschooler. Even now I still question myself sometimes, even though dd is the 1 that always asks me to do a workbook. Well, today we stopped at the local drug store to pick up a few things. We were looking for Scott tissue because it was on sale and who knows why we couldn't find it but dd, who can find almost anything anyway LOL, pointed it out to us. I asked her how she knew it and she said she sounded it out. I was like WOW, my dd can actually read. Now this may sound like I didn't think she could read but you have to understand how reluctant my dd usually is when it comes to sounding out words, which I know she can do. It just was a pleasant surpise to me as well as a confirmation that unschooling is working. I can even see it in the conversations that she's had with my parents today. She is definitely paying attention whenever she watches an educational show on TV or is in Sunday school even though I'm so use to "yelling" at her to sit still, which she never does despite what I try. Yet she's still learning so much. What a happy moment for me, someone who was reluctant to unschool for such a long time.

Something Cute

Here's a cute quiz to find out what type of a homeschooler you are. Here's what I got:

Martha Stewart No project is simple for you, everything is very involved; lace, ruffles, and flowers make it a good thing. Your curriculum is heavy on fine arts: art appreciation/recognition, historical architecture, music, creative writing, and literary classics. If your students absorb a little math and science along the way, so much the better.

This is too funny considering that I'm no Martha Stewart but we are big time into art, crafts and I work as a freelance writer. I'd love to find out what you are!

Happy Easter / A Blessed Ressurection Day For All

We went to our church's egg hunt today which was fun. I am going to have to find a better egg hunt to coinside with it next year though. Mostly it was a lot of coloring, which my dd really doesn't enjoy. Then they get to find 1 egg with their name on it and things inside of it like a stamp, a bracelet, etc. They also got to hear the Easter story. My dd is really into finding eggs but this year it just didn't work out. So, next year we'll find a good, additional egg hunt to go to hopefully. Then we had Arby's for lunch and did my taxes. I can't believe I'm getting such a nice refund this year. I hope my student loans don't take all of it because if they don't I'm buying myself a laptop WOOHOO!!! Tomorrow we'll go to my parents house for Easter dinner and then church. Of course, dd will get a basket of stuff from the bunny and 1 from us, but we went really light on the candy this year, which made me happy. Instead we gave her 2 stuffed bunnies, some cute stuff from the dollar store, a nice bracelet and a leap pad game. I think she'll love it, especially since all of the dollar store stuff is from the Easter Bunny and the cutesy, nice stuff is from us LOL Anyhow...

HAPPY EASTER

&

A BLESSED RESURRECTION DAY

TO YOU & YOUR FAMILY

Just a thought

When you stop to think about homeschooling, what is the first thing that you think of? Do you think of a certain method? I'm sure that's what a lot of us think about whenever we hear this word. That's probably because we use our own specific method. However, I think that all of us should try to challenge ourselves to think about learning at home instead. This would definitely help to bring some unity to this community, which is something that we should all be concerned about.

Sleep is over-rated

NOT!!! LOL However, lately my body seems to think that it is. I've been unable to sleep much and all I do is toss and turn. I'm not sure why I'm this way but tonight was another 1 of those nights. In fact, I lay there thinking about some things that I need to "fix" about our life and our homeschool (besides the fact that I need to put our winter clothes in boxes and our summer clothes in the dresser and that I need to box up some books to take to Half Price books and sell LOL), with this in mind, I actually dragged myself out of bed and wrote a post on Phenomenal Homeschooling. I really hope that it doesn't sound preachy but if it does, please note that I'm preaching to myself more than to anyone else LOL

Easter eggs

Naturally dyed Easter eggs obviously aren't for us LOL We tryed using parsely, sage, blueberries and red onions. The only thing worked was the sage and blueberries. So out of 24 hardboiled eggs we have a bunch of orange and purple ones and some that are still white as we got tired LOL It's too much work for too little return. So, that's our story (& I'm stickin' to it).

Just back from Africa...

...or it seemed like we were really there. Let me explain LOL My church recently had some of its members return from Zambabwe Africa where they were on a mission trip. Tonight they did crafts, sang songs, spoke some language, played games, etc. but it really felt as though they brought a piece of Africa to us. My dd and I did a small lesson this afternoon about Africa and it included a puzzle of the continent. Tonight was an absolutely wonderful "icing on the cake" so to speak. My dd even got a necklace from Africa bc 1 of the teachers took a liking to her. We really had a blast!

P.S.

I just posted a new entry on Phenomenal Homeschooling about unschooling. I'd love to have some other unschoolers post their comments. I'm going to write at least a few more entries about this form of schooling, then move on to the other types. I'll get around to them all eventually while including some news stories along the way too LOL

I'm a blog-aholic

I don't know what it is with me but I LOVE looking around at other homeschool blogs and bookmarking them here. It's like a little addiction of mine to see what others have going on in their homeschools. Not that I'm trying to compete, by any means, but I just truly enjoy it. Anyhow, I've added some new ones tonight LOL

I must say

I'm really glad that I've been spending the money to have most of the learning channels on our cable TV. I didn't realize it until now though. Instead of watching Noggin or the Disney channel, my dd has been watching animal planet and about babies. Right now she's eating a bowl of popcorn watching something about China. Not only does this have the great benefit of being educational, but since my office is in close proximity I can watch her and the TV show too. So, if she wants to show me or ask me something all I have to do is turn my head. I really do know that she's learning a lot too, all I have to do is listen to her throughout the days.

An always evolving schedule

I swear that me and dd canNOT stay on a schedule to save our lives and every time I try to get us onto a more "normalized" schedule it just doesn't work. Then to top if off, dd has been wanting to watch animal and doctor shows so I haven't been pushing the bookwork and have been feeling somewhat guilty but she's learning so much and teaching me so much too. I know that I keep saying that we unschool and so I should live and let live but it just gets to me sometimes. I feel like she needs to prove to me that she's learning by doing workbooks and not just by telling me stuff. She's really quite smart though everyone tells me as they also tell me not to worry about it. I just don't know how to make myself feel better even though I spend all day with her outside and then run around cleaning the house and working at night. I swear I bounce on and off this computer like a yo-yo. I write 1 article, go fold a load of clothes, do another article, go do a load of dishes, etc. I guess I just need to get use to this new stage of life as I do believe thatlife does evolve in stages. Thanks for letting me vent though!

Oh WOW

I'm happy to announce that I started a new blog that will a part of a network of blogs written by work at home moms. The name of this blog is Phenomenal Homeschooling and I will be writing articles and reviews there instead of blogging about personal things like I do here. Of course, there will still be a lot of me in that blog as well. I hope you'll stop over and check it out. I'm also going to start being the homeschool blogger at 2 other sites as well. More on that sometime soon, when I have more details to share with you. For now, I hope you'll check my newest blog out!

Spring has sprung

It is so absolutely beautiful outside today! We went out walking today. Checked out a new store, had Mediteranean food for lunch and then went to a consignment shop where I picked up a white board for myself and a tape player for dd. We just came inside bc I think dd needs a break but by golly am I itching to go right back outside LOL Tomorrow is suppose to be just as nice and then into the 50s it will go for a while but still that's great weather. I think we'll be outside a lot while the weather isn't too hot. I'm really not looking forward to the summer heat though. It could stay this way and I'd be really happy. The only thing I wish is that I could think of more ways to do homeschool outside. All I can think of right now is nature walks and phys ed. Does anyone have any more suggestions for a 1st/2nd grader? I'd love to hear them!

Just a share

I found this so touching that I just had to share it. I hope you have a Kleenex available.

A day off of school

This is the first sick day of the year. My dd has had a bad cold for a few days now but it really hit her hard last night and today. She was up coughing and crying throughout the night. So, I decided to just let her sleep today. We went to bed last night at 10PM and she woke up around 1PM today. I guess she really needed the sleep even though she's been lying around playing games with me and watching educational shows on TV today. Does this mean that mommy had a day off? No, of course not. I worked today, did a load of laundry and will probably do some house cleaning yet tonight. Oh well, 1 of these days I'll take some time off LOL With the warm weather coming it shouldn't be too long before I do. It seems that when it's warm outside I don't work or do much housework during the day. Everything usually happens at night during the warm days instead LOL So, we'll see, especially since this is the first year that I'll be making a full time living with my online business, which is something that I don't want to brag about, but I sure am proud of it. Anyway, I have some stuff to finish up here online...

1 last thing I just have to get off of my chest here...

I was just thinking about this and it irritated me LOL Anyway, at the park tonight I was told "you live in the best school district in the area you really SHOULD put your child in school here, you won't regret it." Ummm... You don't know me or my child, you just met us. I don't get all some people can be so defensive of public schools. I mean sheesh, I'm just bringing my dd down here to socialize and maybe make a few friends. You don't need to be giving me a lecture here. I don't know maybe I'm just a tad on the witchy side but for goodness sakes, don't push your lifestyle on me and I won't push mine on yours. With that thought in mind I simply rolled my eyes and chose not to say anything. What would you have done?

Hmmm....

OK I know I'm posting a few posts here and maybe should have consolidated them but who knows LOL What I would like to know though is this: Do you know of any homeschool blogs? Do you have a homeschool? Well, in either case, please share them with me.

As you can see I have added some to my list but I'd really like to find more to enjoy. My latest addition is Mom Is Teaching, which I found because she was gracious enough to stop by and tell me she wrote about my blog. Well, I checked her blog out, enjoyed it and now I've added it to my links. So, regardless of what kind of other homeschooling/unschooling blog you have using whatever kind of method works best for you and your family, could you please share it with me?

Thanks!

A day at the zoo

We spent most of the day at the zoo today. It was a great learning experience as we even heard a lion roar. While I have a lot of work to do, it's on days like this that I'm so thankful that I can work for myself from home. I actually managed to get enough work done today too as I'm not even behind. This amazes me sometimes because we even went outside to the park after dinner tonight. I know I do a lot of things during the day and rarely sit still but it all pays off in the end is what I'm finding out. This nice weather also makes me glad to be a homeschooling wahm since I know there are so many things my dd is learning while we're self sufficient and enjoying life. I have to finish 2 articles, fold laundry and do some other chores yet tonight so I'd better stop prattling LOL

A Special Video

This video is very touching, especially for any parent with a special needs child of any "type." I thought that you would enjoy it:
Can World Strongest Dad - The funniest videos clips are here

The Ebb & Flow Of Homeschooling

Am I the only 1 who keeps changing things around in their homeschool? I seriously doubt that I am but I just changed some other stuff and how we're doing things. As I continue to get to know my dd better, I keep wanting to improve things so that she'll do better and learn more. I love this "job!" Although, like all jobs, there are some days I hate it LOL I think this new stuff will help though. I'm starting to make sure that my dd is around older kids and doing more activities in the afternoon as by no means are either of us morning people LOL

Did you see the lunar eclipse tonight?

We did and it was so much fun. As unschoolers we really love when things like this happen so that we can learn about them. We went outside to hunt for the moon and it wasn't there (of course LOL) to my dd's surprise. My dd was fascinated by why it wasn't there. It was so much fun to use this as a real teachable moment!

What a nice day :-)

My dd, a close friend and I went for a walk into "town" today because it was so nice out. We stopped at an upper class resale shop and I got a cross stitch for $1 and dd got a Snow White snow globe with 2 dwarfs on it... all for $5. Then we stopped for lunch at a Meditteranean restaraunt and their food was awesome. It was the first time I'd ever had this type of food and I really liked it. So, we accomplished physical education, history and social studies all without any books. I had sooo much fun! Now I'm catching up on a few things while dd watches noggin then we'll do some "real" school work :-) I just wanted to share our nice little adventure.

I must be a little crazy...

...because every time I get new books in the mail that I have ordered, I get so excited. Recently I ordered about $13 worth of books from Elaine at Yahoo auctions. Well, they arrived today and I swear they are in perfect condition! I've never received such well taken care of books from anyone's auctions before. Of course the other books were usable but these didn't even look as though they'd been used!!! Anyhow I'm really looking to diving into them. I got "A Year Full of Stories" by Georgie Adams and started reading to my dd from it. She's insisted that we start on day 1 which is fine by me because the first story was wonderful so I'm sure they all will be just as wonderful. I also ordered "Great Dinosaur Atlas" by DK and "The Ocean's Atlas" by Anita Ganeri. These books are so in depth, I didn't even imagine how in depth they were. I love the fact that they can also be used as reference books once we read through them. I've grown so tired of having piddly books on my shelves that dd looks at a few times and then is done, so I'm glad that I spent my money wisely this time. We'll certainly get a lot of use out of these. In fact, my mom was saying that I'm spending too much money on homeschooling but the truth is, I've spent maybe $100 for this coming school year and think that we'll do fine for a long time to come thanks to my wise purchases and the library.

President's Day

Well, it's President's day... We spent the morning at the library where dd exercised, read a book and did a craft. Now that we're home I do have some things that I'd like to do for President's day once I get to them LOL I printed out 2 pictures of Lincoln for dd to color, which she's done, so I should get a move on. I have a short bio of him written by another homeschool child that I want to read to her. After that we have a puzzle to put together with some questions about Lincoln. That will serve as a nice little lesson about him for today LOL So what are you doing for President's day?

This may be the day I actually lose my mind

I've been brought up to believe that the way a child acts has a lot to say about the parents. I'm starting not to believe this anymore though. We've been having an "off" week around here. I'm not sure if it's because of the blizzard or what. My dd just isn't herself and it's making it a lot harder to be able to do anything that we normally do, not that this week is anywhere near normal. Anyway, I just had to vent and share that the old addage that says how a child acts really has a lot to say about their parents is junk.

Trying to stay sane in an insane world

I am starting to think that this world really is quite insane. There is just so much going on around me that people seem to think is normal but I step back and shake my head in bewilderment. I've decided that I'm not going to worry about anyone but me and my dd anymore though. It's just not worth my time and energy. I need to do schoolwork and work on my part time job on a daily basis. In reality, that keeps me busy enough. When I add in all of dd's activities and keeping up with things around the house while having time for myself it's just not worth it anymore. Days like yesterday just don't settle well with me. It's not healthy for me to feel that way. I know what is going on in my life, I know how to keep myself organized, I know what needs to be done and how and when it needs to be done. From now on, I've decided that this is the only thing that really matters AMEN

The day from Hell

I don't like being yelled at all day long and yet that's what I got from my parents all day today. I'm sorry you can skip reading this post but I really have got to vent. I've been told that my house isn't perfect, I don't do enough to help my dd with her autism, that I let her do too much herself, that she should be in public school and that I shouldn't be working. Well, I'm sorry that my house looks lived in and that we have projects going on for school. I'm sorry that I don't have a perfect child. I'm sorry that I don't coddle my dd. And I'm sorry that I can't live off of Social Security alone. I'm sorry that I don't feel she'd thrive in public school. I'm sorry that I want my dd to have a really good life and to have the very best that I can give her. What it comes down to is that I'm not perfect and they think that they are and so I should be. It's just ludicrous but I can't be exactly what they want me to be. I'm my own person and I'm doing a lot of great things for my dd so it's time they stand up and take notice while understanding that I am happy with who I am and that we aren't slobs but aren't perfect either. THE END

Happiness

... is a state of mind. And right now I'm feeling very happy and content with my family's life. I do wish that I had more time in the day to do things but that is not all that important. Everything is getting done, my dd is getting a good education and I'm working full time from home. I may have to work every day and sometimes do 2 or 3 things at once but I am happy. Sorry, sometimes I just need to remind myself that I really do have everything that I want in my life right now LOL Anyway, I'm off to work on my 2nd ebook. If you haven't done so already, check out my 1st one here. OK until tomorrow...

Welcome home Julie!!!

We have a new member of our household that we brought home from the pet store today, and no, I'm not talking about the 4 fish we went to get. There was a whole big tank of hermit crabs there too. All of them had really pretty painted shells. Well, I let my dd get a blue one and I got her the habitat stuff to go with it so now we have a new member of the household LOL She's carrying Julie around like she's her new best friend... Tooooo cute!!!

I also got 3 new books to read. So now I'm reading 6 books: 2 on homeschooling, 1 on fish, 1 on hermit crabs, 1 non-fiction book about a dog and it's cute/funny and 1 Chicken Soup for the preschool parent's soul. I did finish taking notes on the source that I was drawing some information on so that I can start writing my next ebook. I still have to finish taking notes on another homeschool book that I'm drawing from for another ebook. All that's going to have to wait though until I write an ebook for a client.

Well, I've got stuff to do...

FINALLY!!! A productive day at home...

Well the temperatures around here are averaging 7 degrees outside today so I decided to forego a trip to the library and see what we could accomplish at home instead. Well, my dd surprised me at how good at finding things to do she can be once in a blue moon LOL She has done a really great job today. This morning she played Play Do while I did a little bit of work. From there we've watched a video about China, did a craft, played with money and now she's watching Dora while I catch up on a little bit more work. She's also done some dancing and improvised free play while I've done some work on my next ebook. Plus I cleaned up some of the house while she was working on StarFall.com (an awesome site that teaches children how to read, it comes HIGHLY recommended by me). I also have done some writing and some organizing of other work that needs done this week. It feels really good to have such a productive day today that I just had to brag LOL I really hope that this is an indication of what's to come because I for one could use some more time at home! Tomorrow we're going on a field trip which she's been really looking forward to so this is probably the only day we'll be home until Friday but then Friday is always so busy because I do about 4 loads of laundry so she usually doesn't have time to be bored LOL I'll talk to you after the field trip tomorrow, hopefully with some new insights LOL Until then, I'm off to finish organizing a couple of articles so that they'll be easier for me to write and then I have to clean up the living room: It looks like a tornado hit there but that's OK because it was all in good cause :-)

I thought this was interesting...

I found it on a forum. It's from "Webb Crew."

It’s True: Homeschool Kids Are Lacking
Yes, it's true. Home schooled kids do lack some of the social skills of other kids their age. Here are a few.

1. Home schooled kids are less likely to be able to relate to the drug
culture.

2. Home schooled kids are less likely to be able to relate to violent peers.

3. Home schooled kids are less likely to be able to converse well using profanity.

4. Home schooled kids are less likely to be able to let adults know that they are smarter than the adults.

5. Home schooled kids are to good at conversing with adults since they have been deprived of age segregated classrooms.

6. Home schooled kids are less likely to be swayed by the opinions of their peers and are therefore less likely to fit in

7. Home shooled kids are more likely to stay dependent on their parents.

8. Home schooled kids are more likely to stay involved in church.

9. Home schooled kids are more likely to put their self interests aside for others and therefore are less likely to get their "rights"

10. Home schooled kids are more likely to get a good education and therefore miss out on the thrill of working in a McDonald's for the rest of theirlives.

11. Home schooled kids are less likely to have older kids instruct them to say "words your teacher has never heard come from a child's mouth before"

12. Home schooled kids are less likely to be able to collect welfare, so they will actually have to work for a living.

13. Home schooled kids are less likely to have peer pressure push them into early sexual activity so they will miss out on getting Father's Day or Mother's Day presents before they graduate from high school.

14. Home schooled kids are more likely to grow up respecting their parents and therefore rely on them for advice instead of getting to figure everything out on their own.

15. Home schooled kids will never know the intimacy of gang involvement.

16. Home schooled kids are less likely to understand why adultery among national leaders is OK.

17. Home schooled kids are less likely to be overly dependent on others so they won't fit in as well in a one-world government.

18. Home schooled kids will never be involved in school sports so they won't understand why being a star quarterback is more important than being well educated and kind to other people.
19. Home schooled kids are more likely to home school their own kids and thus condemn future generations to these same horrible consequences.

Unschooling

OK I'll be the first to admit that this complete unschooling thing doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe it's because if I don't give my dd something to do she won't do anything. She'd rather watch TV or play computer games than play with toys or try learning something on her own. Now if I mention school, she'll dive right in with a passion that most parents envy. This isn't to say that I don't believe in child-led education though because I do. Whenever dd is interested in learning about something I'm right there providing information and fun ways to learn about her interest. However complete unschooling doesn't make any sense to me because I tend to see it like this article does. In other words, if children are allowed to do whatever they want, whenever they want, won't they think that is how they should be for the rest of their life? When does unschooling stop and real life begin? I just can't wrap my head around it although I'd like to.

I don't get it...

I have been reading how scared a lot of parents are to change their curriculum when it's truly clear that their child is miserable and not doing well with the approach that they are currently using. I'm sorry but in my opinion homeschooling is meant to be enjoyable so that you can establish the love of learning within your child. If your curriculum isn't doing this for your child then PLEASE for your child's sake and your own sanity, find something that does work well for him/her.

My Crazy Mixed Up World

I hate staying at home. It makes me so lazy. I swear I don't do anything when I'm home for several days in a row but lay around and want to sleep. I know that this time could be much more valuable for us than it is but I'm also having a hard time with homeschooling lately. I just can't get on the ball and I'm not sure why. Sure there's a lot of different things that I could blame it on but what it comes right down to is being more disciplined. I know that it isn't hurting dd to not do bookwork - heck she's almost 2 years ahead now and has been playing a lot of educational games online lately but it just really bothers me that we're not doing what I think that we're suppose to be doing. Hopefully I'll get us back on track now that activities are back in swing but this child led stuff really isn't working too well for my home. I tried the unschooling route and now I see that it's not for us. While I do a lot of educational and time worthy things for myself, dd just isn't motivated to do the same for herself. This just proves to me that unschooling doesn't work for everyone and that my dd won't play with things unless I show her them or encourage her to do so. I really need to get back in gear here and I'm feeling really bad that I haven't been doing so. Of course this doesn't mean that we have to do textbook work each and every day but hell I need to start doing something. We did some stuff yesterday but Monday and today were a total waste. Anyhow, I really need to stop beating myself up here and get back on the right road. Thanks for letting me vent!

Random Thoughts Of A Madwoman

I started writing my new (second) ebook today. It feels good to do this research and I can think of more homeschooling books that I'll publish eventually. Can you tell how much of a nerd I really am? I spend my time writing, reading, drawing and cross stitching. All of these things are fun for me while most of you would pass them up in an instant LOL

I need to start my website soon. I own the site homeschool4us.com and have BIG plans for it but since I'm writing full time and homeschooling full time as a single mom I'm just not getting too far with that. However, someone just pointed out to me tonight that I really have to get a move on it.

I have a lot of stuff that just keeps piling up and boy I'm lousy at keeping up with it all. I really think that it's because I have too many plates that I'm trying to keep spinning but there's really not any that I can do away with.

It's suppose to snow a lot here tonight so I'll be home tomorrow so here's hoping that I can start getting things set up so that I can get ahead with my life :-)

Too Many Plates Spinning Too Little Time

I've come up with a metaphor recently that a lot of my friends seem to like. As the title suggests I am using plates to signify the different things that I have to keep up with (keep spinning) in my life. Of course, there is way too little time to do it all. I know that I'm not the only homeschooling mom that feels this way but I wish that I could find a way to better manage them. I keep trying but so far not so good LOL

Feast Or Famine

That's my life as a freelance writer. I don't get it. Either I get too much work or not enough. It just doesn't make sense and I wish I knew a way to control it better. It seems that when I stop looking for work I go through a famine until I start looking for work then I get too much to feast on. Thankfully I have a friend who is also a freelance writer who can help me or I'd be stressing out majorly right now LOL I just need to learn how to balance it better LOL

So Far So Good

This has been a good week. I kind of relaxed after seeing that I was driving us both nuts last week. Then I spoke to an evaluator that I plan to use and seeing what she wants has helped me to relax even more. We've done more reading, crafts, games, and such this week than anything else. DD is really enjoying it even though she still hates sitting still for me to read to her but we're slowly trying to find an activity for her to do with her hands while I read. We're using the Charlotte Mason approach there though now that I understand it better. I was asking questions before but now that I understand it better I can see that she's suppose to tell me what she thinks I said - in her own words. I'm also glad for the true friendship that I've been developing with a local homeschool mom. So, all is good in my world except for this stinkin' snow LOL

Welcome Tuesday

I love these days when we're home in the morning because I can get up and start working. I can easily do 3 hours of work straight off while dd entertains herself, then I'm done for the day and I can grab a quick shower before we homeschool or do whatever else we need to do for the day. I really wish that we had more days like this. It'd sure be a lot easier, especially since we're not morning people and so we can also sleep in. Nonetheless, I'm just about done working for the day YAY!

A New Week...

...is here and hopefully now that we've changed "curriculum" we'll be able to feel much more relaxed. I haven't been feeling good for a few days but I really think that it's the weather, which reminds me that I really need to check on 1 of my friends who suffers from depression. Thankfully we don't have nearly as much stuff scheduled to do this week so things should go smoother. It also helps that I've figured out how to use the library computers so that times like right now I can do work instead of sitting around doing nothing. I'm hoping that these few changes that we've made will be good for us. I just hate being stressed out all of the time because I know it's bad for the both of us. Anyhow, it's lunch time so I better go round up dd and feed her before her next class starts.

Car Schooling

That's what I swear I feel like I've been doing this week and it truly stinks LOL I know that I claim to be an eclectic homeschooler who borders on unschooling but we're not getting anywhere besides burnt out this way. I need to really look at what we're doing and how we're doing it. It's time to check things out again. I think that we need to do more reading and games than we're doing because those things would fit in a lot better than this let's do worksheets approach. I must admit that I still do like doing lapbooks and so does my daughter so we should still do those. Which reminds me that I actually have a bunch of games to assemble LOL Guess I'll go work on that for a while, thanks for reminding me, but I did want to catch up here too :-)

What a nice day :-)

We had a really nice day today. We spent it with my dd's friend's family. First we had lunch then the children played games with my dd's friend's dad while my dd's friend's mom and I went shopping at the book store. I got some AWESOME buys. I got a science kit with 100 experiments in it for only $12; a computer curriculum for 2nd grade for $6; and 2 workbooks: living math and a geography one, both really thick, both only $2 a piece. Then we came home and made a winnie the pooh cake and used a variety of food colors mixed in white icing to decorate the cake. In there sometime I also got a new writing gig and this one sounds like it could keep me really busy. So, all is right in my family's world tonight :-D

S-L-O-W

That's how you could describe my writing business right now. I'm really unhappy about it because I need the money but what can I do. There's really not a lot to do around here either. I've been doing crafts like I mentioned but I'm really starting to get bored. I don't know what to do but I do hope that it picks up soon. Homeschooling and behavior are finally getting better though. DD has calmed down a lot since I implemented the new behavior system. She's even getting her schooling done in 30 minutes, most days. At least there is that which I can rejoice about. Thanks for letting me rant and praise today LOL

Feeling Crafty

I have really been getting in touch with the things that I enjoy doing. It's nice when I have to only work a few hours a day because that leaves me with so much extra time to be able to do the things that I enjoy. I'm finding that I really like to do cross stitch and to draw cartoon type figures. I also enjoy doing puzzles. Since we only homeschool for 30 minutes per day, and even that is broken up throughout our day, that leaves my dd with plenty of time to be around me to see me doing these things. I think it's really helping her because she's started to color and do puzzles with me. It's nice and enjoyable for the both of us. Of course, I do need to find more time to read and work on my next book. I think that this time will come though. I honestly think that my excitement about these other hobbies is what's taking up my time right now. Eventually I will learn not to spend all my time doing just one thing. I know that I can always depend upon Mondays trip to the library to work on my book. I can cross stitch at night after dd goes to bed. I just need to stop earlier so that I can read. My drawing will fit in throughout the rest of the day. Two hours of work and 1 hour of housework each day really isn't all that much. I love how homeschooling doesn't only allow you to learn new things with your child but it also helps you to rediscover yourself and the things that you enjoy doing. It's just a matter of finding the time to do all of these things since we're involved in so many activities but it will all work out in the end :-)

Lazy day

We're having another lazy day here but this time I refuse to fight it. I'm just going with the flow. I think that seeing that this is normal sometimes has really helped me to relax and feel better when it happens to us. I must say though that my daughter sure has shaped up since I started the new behavior plan. I don't know why but it's definitely helped. Basically I've been setting the timer for an hour and then when she misbehaves telling her to choose between a coin or misbehaving. If she doesn't misbehave she gets a coin, if she misbehaves she doesn't get one. The coins are given out at the end of the hour and the timer is then reset. When she gets 10 coins she gets to put a sticker on the behavior chart. When she gets 10 stickers she gets $1 for in her piggy bank. I'm not sure why it's working but I'm glad that it is. Anyhow I know that I said I'd share this with you so there you go.

Library days

I love going to our local library. Actually it's about a town away but it's such a great library that we still go there. We spend from 10AM til 1PM there on Mondays taking 2 different classes and getting books for the week. Anyway, I find that a lot of the time it is just as fulfilling for me as the craft and exercise are for my daughter. Today I met a homeschooling mom who has an 8yo son with ADHD. I spoke with her for about 15 minutes but that 15 minutes was VERY helpful. I was asking her how she managed to homeschool her son since he's so hyper (I witnessed it for myself LOL) She told me that she breaks the school lessons up throughout the entire day and also does a lot of book reading. I asked her how she managed to have her son sit still for a book and she said that she let him play. Well, I voiced my concerns about this as it was something that I've heard about other families doing and she told me that even if it's just their subconscience listening that they're still learning. This made me feel a lot better about letting my dd play while I read a book to her. I am also going to start trying to do the worksheets throughout the day instead of all at once. Hopefully this will work out better for us. I know that my attention span is short unless I really get into something so I'm sure my dd is the same way so unless she really gets into something I'm going to do 1 worksheet at a time. We're also going to get back into the swing of playing educational file folder games. I think this will make things better for the both of us. I'm tired of arguing with my dd so I'm trying to find ways around it. I've also implemented a new behavior chart so hopefully that'll also work. I'll have to tell you more about that later though because right now I'm off to unpack our stuff from the library. I also got some great books that I'll have to be sure to tell you about too.

The Weekend

This weekend went really fast. I figured out that I spend 2 hours preparing lessons for the week. I spent most of Saturday by myself as I sent my dd to my parents. I couldn't take any more sassin. Well she's back home again so it's back into the swing of things we go - especially since this is the week when all of her activities start up again. I've been so tired lately that I really should go get some rest so that I'm ready to get going this week. 'Nite!

The effects of weather

I've noticed that not only does nasty, grey, wet weather effect how we feel, but it also effects our homeschooling lives here as well. Both my daughter and I couldn't get motivated to do much today. I wish we could plan not to do schoolwork or anything else on days like this but where we live we get so many of these days that we'd never get anything done. I simply am going to have to find a better way in which we can work with these days. I'd love to hear some suggestions though. Thanks!

Random babblings LOL

It's been another busy day. I don't really have too much to say about it. We managed to accomplish everything on our list which is good, but I'm wondering just how good of an idea it is to do morning things. My daughter is really going to have to get use to it I guess. Neither of us are morning people but such is life. I got a new homeschool book from the library to read. I haven't finished the other 2 or so that I own but I'll get there. For some reason when I know that there is a due date for a book I read it quicker. Well, the week is almost over. I can't believe it and yet next week is going to go even faster. I do know that dear daughter really likes being out and about but I prefer staying home LOL What a difference there is between the 2 of us and she's only 5 LOL Oh well! In some ways it's nice to see her developing her own personality.

A better day today

I'm not sure why we're having a better day today. I didn't do anything much different. I had my daughter's therapist have a long talk to her about her behavior and that helped some. I also got out of bed when I was suppose to and so we've gotten a ton of stuff done today. We were out and about a lot though. While this isn't good for my business it seems that this is something that my daughter really needs. I think that next week, when all of her activities start up again, will be good for her but I don't know about me LOL I'll survive somehow though. I am actually looking forward to it all though if she keeps this attitude up because we'll only be home 2.5 days. At least I have a business that can be packed up and taken along with me. Speaking of which, my business is slowly starting to grow and do better, which makes me quite happy. Anyhow, enough of my random babblings for now. I do like to blog though because it really gives me some time to think through things. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to do so.

Goals for this "semester" of our lives

Things are getting busier and busier around here now that the holidays are over and all of our activities are starting up again. This is going to be a big balancing act as our schedule will be different this semester because of the scheduling of these activities. We only added one new thing but in actuality we are only going to be home 2 days out of 7 now. I don't want to do all of our schoolwork in just 2 days though. However, I do know that the things we are involved in are important activities that will be beneficial. Luckily we can do most of our schoolwork in 1/2 hour per day. It just concerns me how everything is going to work out between school, housework, activities and my writing business. I know it will work and that I'm a proven worrier but still it's going to take some time to get use to before I will be able to relax and go with the flow. One thing that I really need to work on is getting out of bed and getting moving in the morning. I keep setting my alarm for 7 thinking that I'll get up and get showered before my daughter wakes up but instead I just sleep until she wakes me. This is something that I really need to work on fixing because this hour could really benefit me immensely. I just don't know how to change it. I think I'm going to move my alarm away from the bed tonight and give it a try. Wish me luck!

Happy New Year!

I don't have much to share today but did want to wish all my readers a happy new year. I can hardly believe that it's 2007 already. This year is off to a good start and I think that this is going to be a really good year for my family. I hope that you will also have a very nice year.