Januray 26, 2010

Third week of school. This week would be our monthly week off, but because the boys' Dad is working serious overtime at two jobs and didn't have the ability to have visitation last week, we just took last week as the week off just in case he gets some time off this week and he wants to spend some time with them. It doesn't look like he will be able to, but that's okay. Just in case.

The first two weeks of January we did our basics, Math and Grammar (and of course, Bible), in addition to a Martin Luther King, Jr. Unit Study. The study went rather well. Next year we'll see about going into more detail and extending the unit study past MLKJr Day, maybe for the entire month of January, and getting more into slavery or women's rights. Although now that I think about it, isn't there a Women's Rights Month? I'll have to research that. If there is, I know what we'll be doing then. ;-)

Our Soul Food Dinner turned out alright. We didn't invite extended family, it was just us. Cooking took ALL DAY. The boys helped out as much as they could, which isn't really much since I haven't REALLY taught them how to cook. .But we did get a little Math in in the form of fractions and measurements. Started cooking at 9am, didn't get done until 6:30pm. I was exhausted that night.

Here are the pictures of the food we prepared for our Soul Food Dinner: (click on the picture to be taken to the recipe)

Sour Cream Cornbread

I honestly don't know that I've ever had cornbread quite so moist and delicious! Which is actually saying a lot because I LOVE cornbread! It was a sweet cornbread, which I do prefer. Next time, though, I'm going to replace the sugar with agave nectar.

Collard Greens (modified recipe)

Becasue we don't eat pork, and it's near impossible ot find turkey or beef bacon that is as fatty as pork bacon, I had to modify the recipe a little bit. Instead of using smoked pork bacon, I used smoked beef brats. I don't know what traditional collard greens are supposed to taste like, but these were pretty darn good. For cooked veggies, anyway. Not something we'll make on a regular basis, but once in a while perhaps.

Sweet Potato Pie

MMmmmmmm.....Sweet Potato Pie. The kids didn't like it, but they don't like sweet potatoes. Which is interesting. They ADORED mashed sweet potatoes when they were babies and starting to eat "solids". *shrugs* That's okay. Just means more for me. ;-)

Corn Pudding

We may or may not try this again. IF we do, we'll eat it after it's been out of the oven for about 15-20 minutes so it's still warmish. Eating it cold is....well, gross.

Batter-fried Chicken

They couldn't wait long enough for me to get a picture of a FULL plate of fried chicken. It was enjoyable, except the batter tasted burned to me. Mike didn't think it did, though. Next time, I'll use boneless chicken instead of whole chicken so that the frying doesn't take as long and the batter is less likely to taste burned.

Seems I forgot to take a picture of the Apple Crisp. I could have sworn I took one. Maybe it's on my memory card (that's not in my camera because my camera took it's final nose dive. I did get my replacement today from Fed-Ex though, so maybe I can post the Apple Crisp later.

This week we're simply doing the basics for education, Math and Grammar. At least until I can get the stuff needed for our Winter Olympics Unit Study in honor of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Christopher's best friend is doing that right now. His Mom suggested it to me, it sounded good, so we'll see what we can do. I want to, because even *I* get bored with just the basics all the time. We have a Netflix subscription so we'll probably "rent" a video pertaining to the original Olympic games, and possibly do a lapbook. Along with other potential activities.

Whatever I can do to make their education more interesting.

They do seem to be doing very well. Math is still giving Christopher a little bit of a hard time, but he's finding it easier to learn the information, whereas before he couldn't even get to the point of understanding. I think it's the lack of pressure to get it done that's helping that issue. I do need to find the information I got from the SOESD about who to go to in order to get a PDP developed for him. Standardized testing time is coming up for us (we need to get it done by September) and I know that traditional testing doesn't work for either of my boys, but especially Christopher. He's working on it, but he still has a difficult time understanding the question when he has to read it himself, which means the wrong answer. If someone else reads it to him, he understands it better. If I can get a PDP created for him that will specify that someone needs to read the test to him, he'll probably do a lot better. We'll just have to see.

The boys' Dad told Micheal on the phone the other night that Oregon is trying to do away with the right to home school. Something to do with the public school system not having enough funding because people are pulling their kids out and homeschooling them so they want to do away with Oregon homeschooling so the schools can get more money. Poor Micheal almost died. He hates the idea of that possibility. He almost cried when he asked his Dad why they want to take away home school.

So I had to explain to Micheal some things. First, I explained to him that people still pay taxes, and a portion of those taxes goes to the school system. Yes, the school system isn't getting enough of the taxes, but that's another thing entirely. I also explained to him that MOST of the people pulling their kids out of public school aren't homeschooling their kids, they're sending them to private schools. So what is the government going to do? Deny private education as well? That's not going to happen. So he doesn't have to worry about not being able to home school. They may try to regulate WHO can home school, like Washington does by allowing only those who have at least a two-year degree be the educator, but even if they do something like that we will figure it out. Grandma and Grandpa have two year degrees. Grandma has home schooled before...she home schooled my little brother (who is now 22). It'll be taken care of. And even if we can't home school, I'll send him to private school before I send him back to the public school system that failed him and his brother.

So that's our life in a nutshell....up to now, anyway. I hope everyone's school year is going well.

I have a favor to ask of you.

I have a friend who is a single mom to two beautiful girls, ages 3 and 6. Because she is a single mom, she is the sole breadwinner for the family, and she works a full-time job.

She wants very much to home school her girls. Unfortunately, she doesn't have that much of a support group. Her family doesn't think she can do it. Not because they are against homeschooling, but because she is a single mom working full-time.

What I would like for you to do is link me to any and all blogs, anywhere on the internet, managed by the single working parent. I'd like for her to have that kind of support network, even if it is via internet. I'd like for her to be able to see that being a single working parent doesn't mean she can't home school. I'd like for her to have these people at hand so she can ask them any questions she has about how they manage to do it.

I want to help her succeed in any way I can. She lives many states away, or I'd support her by helping her home school. But I can't do that, so this is the next best thing.

So please, if you know of any good, active single parent blogs, TELL ME!

Martin Luther King, Jr, Unit Study (part two)

I've finished the preparations for the unit study next month for Martin Luther King, Jr day. I picked the books (now to go to the library and get them) and found the soul food recipes.

Books

• Martin Luther King, Jr
• March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World, by Christine King Farris
• Dreams: The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr, by Peter Murray
• The Day Martin Luther King, Jr Was Shot, by James Haskins

• Women's Suffrage
• You Want Women To Vote, Lizzie Stanton?, by Jean Fritz
• The Day the Women Got the Vote, by George Sullivan
• Women Win the Vote, by Betsy Covington Smith
  

Soul Food Dinner

• Batter Fried Chicken
• Collard Greens^{(recipe calls for bacon, but either I'll leave that out or use turkey or beef bacon)}
• Mashed Potatoes
• Sour Cream Cornbread
• Corn Pudding
• Sweet Potato Pie
• Apple Crisp

Not exactly the healthiest meal, but once in a while an unhealthy meal isn't going to kill you. Though with my arteries, and Mike's, this meal just might. ;-) I think what we're going to do is get the house really clean between now and then, and then invite our family over for dinner. We'll have to see, though. It's still a couple weeks away, so I have some time to see if we can get it all done (the house cleaning, I mean). I'll probably send out e-vites to everyone requesting an RSVP.

Since I work on Mondays, and really shouldn't request it off, I've divvied up the recipes and decided what can be made the day before and what should wait until the day of to be made. I've got it all written out in my planner. So now the Martin Luther King, Jr Day Unit Study is complete. The next holiday is President's Day. I don't know if I'll be doing a unit study this year on President's Day, though. Maybe next year.

Mini Unit Study: Martin Luther King Jr.

I've been doing some prep work ahead of time so I don't find myself procrastinating like I did last year with the homeschooling stuff, and then not being ready when the time came.

January 18 is Martin Luther King, Jr Day. My plan is to have a unit study the week before MLKJr Day, ending ON MLKJr Day. The week before will be a unit study not necessarily specifically about MLKJr, but about the issues MLKJr fought against or an introduction to other civil rights issues in history. I need some input on how the unit study sounds. Right now it's pretty basic, nothing extra. Once I get the basics figured out I'll be adding more activities.

Because of how I have our weeks set up, it will basically be a three day study. (The unit study itself doesn't include the Bible and Math studies we'll be doing)

DAY ONE:

• What is prejudice/discrimination?
• Give some examples of reasons people discriminate. (Meaning ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, etc)
• What was women's suffrage? (This is just to introduce them to another historical civil rights issue)
  
• Read [I haven't picked out a book on women's suffrage yet].
• What does the Bible say about discrimination?
• Do a short skit depicting a woman being denied the ability to vote. Describe how that made you feel. (I know I have boys, which might not make it hit home completely, but they are very good at imagining what it would be like to be someone else, so I think it will work)

DAY TWO:

• What is "segregation"?
• Give some examples of segregation.
• What is the Golden Rule?
• Who does it apply to?
  
• Should we treat someone differently just because they are different than we are?
• Read "Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott" by Teresa Celsi
• Do a short skit depicting Rosa Parks bus incident.
• Describe how it made you feel. (I am contemplating purchasing some dark brown body paint to use on the child who will be acting as Rosa Parks, just so they can really look different for the purposes of the skit)
  

DAY THREE (Martin Luther King, Jr DAY):

• Read [I haven't chosen a book about MLKJr to read yet].
• Do MLKJr puzzle activity on page 14. (I have a MLKJr thematic unit study book. It's not quite what I had expected, so I'm modifying the unit study, but using some of the resources in the book)
• Discuss the DC March of August '63.
• Take turns reading the "I Have a Dream" speech
• Do the "Peaceful Protest" activity on page 16.
• Do "I Have a Dream" activity on page 12. (This activity involves the children drawing a dream they have inside a dream cloud)
• Discuss importance of standing up for what you believe in, even in adversity.
• HOME ECONOMICS: Make ["Soul Food" recipe I haven't yet chosen]. (I may decide to do a full meal of "soul food"...the only potential problem I'm seeing is that most of the dishes include pork or certain types of seafood we don't eat. I'll have to figure out how to modify it)
• POSSIBLE EXTRA CREDIT: Little known fact, our personal family history includes slaves and inter-ethnic marriage. My Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather's first wife died. When the slaves were freed, my GGGGGrandfather had a slave he was quite fond of, so he married her. It has not yet been determined if OUR family lineage comes through that union or the union with his first wife, but when looking at some members of the family (one of my brothers included), there are some very distinct African features. For an extra credit project, we may attempt to look more deeply into our family lineage.

*If you are interested, I'll be updating this entry to include bits and pieces that haven't been decided on yet. Such the specific books or the menu for the soul food meal.

Hello again

I know. It's been awhile. Again. I'm sorry if anybody has been waiting in anticipation for my posts. lol

We start our new official school year on January 4. I decided a January - December school year would better suit us. We won't be taking any lengthy breaks, like a 12 week long summer break, but there will be random breaks throughout the year. Of course, I do still have to discuss this with their Dad so we can work out visitation. But even six weeks break is too much for them to take. They get completely out of the swing of things. Two weeks at a time, tops.

Our method is still going to be pretty eclectic. I'm going through the calendar and looking for holidays I might like to do unit studies on, and then doing a search for such unit studies online. Both of my boys are pretty kinesthetic in their learning (though one is auditory kinesthetic and the other is visual kinesthetic), so I am going to try to have as much learning AWAY FROM the desk as possible. Some subjects it won't be that possible, like Math or Grammar. But the rest of the learning we can do away from a desk, hands on kinds of things.

I'm also going to be searching for an affordable (read: FREE) way to test them to get more details on their learning styles. As much information as possible to help them succeed.

We're going to be using CIMT for our Math curriculum, and Scott Foresman for our Grammar curriculum. Any other curriculum is going to be pretty random.

Hello, October. We've missed you.

I'm really trying to learn how to take things in stride. Some days it's okay, some days not so much.

On Tuesday we did Home Ec in the form of going grocery shopping. Threw a little Mathematics in with it. Didn't get much of anything else done.

On Wednesday we did Home Ec in the form of housekeeping and learning how to correctly wash dishes (so they get clean). Nothing else got done.

Now, given how our Bible studies go, we have Thursday and Friday to get Tuesday and Wednesdays studies done. Thursday is a half day because that's the day they go to their Dad's in the middle of the week, and I'm just hoping that Friday he'll be willing to bring them home in the morning instead of at lunch. I'll probably send their copywork with them Thursday so they can at least get SOMETHING done Thursday evening to catch up with Tuesday and Wednesday.

So many schools are temporarily closing because so many people are sick. Of course people are speculating H1N1, but it's not confirmed yet. We had one school here where 75% of the student population was sick all at once. My kids have yet to get the flu. They started getting colds, but those went away faster than they appeared. I'm glad my kids aren't AT school. They'd probably be at home anyway.

The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List

by Deborah Markus, from Secular Homeschooling,Issue #1, Fall 2007

1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?

2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.

3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.

4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.

5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.

6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.

7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.

8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.

9 Stop assuming that if we're religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.

10 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.

11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to school.

12 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.

13 Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky.

14 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

15 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.

16 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.

17 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it's some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.

18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.

19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.

20 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.

21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she's homeschooled.

22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.

23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.

24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.

25 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!