How do you do it?

How do you keep from stringing them up by their toenails? Or taping them to the wall with duct tape?

How do you keep from banging your own head against the wall day after day?

I know they're boys. I know they're kids. I get that. And young boys have the nature of ADHD, whether they HAVE ADHD or not.

Some days I can handle this. Other days (like today), not so much.

And this time it's not just Micheal. This time it's Christopher, too.

Neither one of them is concentrating on themselves. When one of them needs help with a problem, the other one has to sit there and watch. As if that weren't bad enough, the one doing the watching chuckles at the one needing the help if the question is something the one doing the watching already knows and apparently thinks that everyone should know it.

And then there's the ever present "I don't understand the question" (the question being [fill in the missing number] 1500-____=500)...FROM MY 4TH/5TH GRADER....after having done these sorts of equations for AT LEAST the last three weeks and could do them practically with his eyes shut from the start.

And it seems we have all of a sudden forgotten how to do basic addition. 2+2 is confounding today and in order to solve that problem one absolutely MUST use a calculator.

Does sunshine cause the brain to malfunction? Something like....Sunshine Alzheimers? Because that's what it looks like is going on here. The sun comes out and all of a sudden everything is forgotten.

And it doesn't help them any that Mommy is having an especially OCD sort of day and everything must be done precisely as planned in exactly the manner planned. Yes, I have OCD. Sometimes it's a problem, sometimes it's not. Some days I'm normal (ha ha) and spontaneous and fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, but some days (like today) I'm very by-the-book scheduled. When it comes to housecleaning, it's great. When it comes to homeschooling...not so much.

Oh dear. **EDIT**

Well, I think it's safe to say the novelty has already worn off. I'm not being nearly as organized this week as I was (or as I should be). And I am highly unmotivated. Do you ever go through feelings like that while homeschooling?

Maybe it's because of the sun shining outside and the warmth. Yesterday we only did a couple hours of classes. Today we got three classes done in less than two hours. And we're done. We're not done because we got it all done, we're done because I neglected to create lesson plans for this week for a couple of classes and therefore I have no idea what to do beyond what we've already done for those classes.

Serious laziness has abounded this week.

Maybe it's because I am Mommy, and being a Mommy also means I am female. And we all know what THAT means.

But *shrugs* At least we got the most important subjects done...Bible, Math, and English/Grammar.

I sent the kids outside at 9am and told them to play outside while the temperature is still acceptable. Christopher came in 20 minutes later, washes up, and comes to sit down in his desk chair and tells me he is ready to learn some more. And while there is no more learning planned for today, it warms my heart that he WANTS to learn, as opposed to the way he was before when he couldn't get far enough away from a textbook.

This is our third week of homeschooling, and I would already call it a brilliant success.

**EDIT**
Me: Since we've got so much done today and still have lots of time, why don't we do tomorrow's work today so we can have a free day tomorrow.

Chris: No, that's okay. I kinda like doing the work.

Mikey: Christopher likes to do the work.

Me: Since when?

Chris: Since homeschooling.

Me: Ok, who are YOU, and what have you done with MY children?

Rough Week

Had a bit of a rough week getting everything ready. I'll update the lesson plans and links when I get a chance.

Another day, and a beautiful gift

Last night I started a project to use for our Bible classes next week. Since the boys struggle with being able to find Scripture because they don't know where to find the various books of the Bible (with the exception of Genesis and Revelation), I decided we are going to spend the next two weeks going over the books of the Bible in order, beginning with the Old Testament.

So I started looking things up, found a good lesson plan that covers both Old and New Testaments. So I split them into two lessons. Then I started thinking about what would be the best way to teach them so they can retain the information. So I put in a request for information regarding free Books of the Bible songs that can be found on the internet, because the ones I was finding ....well, they just wouldn't work.

So my friend Kimberly said she has a children's cd with Books of the Bible songs, and she burned it for me. And it has JUST the song that I wanted! And the song that helps me when I have a brain fart and can't remember where to find Hosea or Hebrews.

Then, I started looking for crafts or other projects that we could use for hands on learning. I found a visual aid of a bookshelf with the books of the Bible divided into categories. I printed it out and grabbed a poster board, pencil, and ruler, and started on the project while my shows were on. I didn't get to bed until 4am because it took FIVE HOURS to draw the silly thing!!

It took three more hours today to color it. But it's done. For the Old Testament anyway. Wednesday I have to start on next week's for the New Testament.

Before completion


Finished!


I'm so glad to be done with it! It was HARD WORK! The bookshelf itself didn't turn out like I had hoped, but I was never good at shading. But otherwise, I think I did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself.

I also got all the lesson plans for next week done. I've decided that for the Histories and Sciences, we're going to do a two-week schedule for them. Two weeks for World History, two weeks for American History, two weeks for Earth Science, and two weeks for....(I call it) Natural Science (because I can't think of what it would REALLY be called, lol). They'll all be done during the same period, but if we break it down into two week increments, we won't be as pressed to get it all done. So third period the first two weeks will be World; third period the next two weeks will be Earth; third period for weeks five and six will be American; and third period for weeks seven and eight will be Natural. That gives us longer to focus on the topic, too.

Like this week we've had Egypt for World History. Cramming it into four days is just not feasible. They don't learn anything. So I decided to extend it and we'll be doing Egypt again next week. Then in two weeks we'll be doing Volcanoes, and we'll take two weeks to study those so they can learn about volcanoes, what makes them, where they're located, famous volcanoes throughout history. i just think it'll be better that way.

Homeschooling is getting better. I've joined a couple of sites that send out homeschooling freebies (like e-books and the like), which makes things easier. Loads of sites that have worksheets for various subjects. And now that I know exactly where to look and exactly how to search, it's getting easier.

Oh my goodness! You HAVE to listen to this video! She is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! And it's nice to see Simon Cowell in awe. She gets ridiculed before she sings, but OH MY GOODNESS!!! She's AMAZING! I can't embed it, so here is the link Britian's Got Talent. You won't regret it. I promise.

What did I tell you? Was I right or was I RIGHT?

Common misconception of homeschooled children

So I was reading a blog about a mom who took her young daughter to the zoo and they ran into a family of seven kids. All of them were very well behaved, as opposed (apparently) to this woman's children.

They were homeschooled children.

One of her commentors asked if homeschooled children are typically better behaved because they have no social life.

Why do people STILL think that homeschooling means no social life? And did it NOT occur to them that having that social life that school provides isn't necessarily a GOOD thing?

In school, you have dozens of kids, all with different personalities. Many of those kids are horribly bad influences, and young children don't understand about peer pressure and don't know how to ignore it. And you can't find a school that DOESN'T have kids like that. It doesn't exist. What is the problem of homeschooling your kids and taking them away from those negative influences until such a time that they have learned what peer pressure is and that they CAN ignore it?

And it doesn't mean they don't have a social life, anyway. These days, there are SO MANY homeschool communities that have regular field trips. And since homeschooled children DO tend to be better behaved, then when you get together with those other homeschooling families, your kids are surrounded by POSITIVE influences instead of NEGATIVE influences. They're not being socially deprived, and they're being surrounded by positive influences.

Contrary to popular belief, kids don't need to be around other kids all the time in order to have a social life. It is actually better that kids are NOT around other kids all the time. They learn better because they're not competing and not being made to feel like an idiot because they can't keep up with the next kid in their class. It's BEST when they have one or two in a classroom
(homeschooling) while they learn, and develop their social skills by getting together with other kids their age once a week or twice a month. Having them around their peers all the time only teaches them how to fight and deceive to get what they want. Is that REALLY the social life you want your child to have?

Sure, there ARE some homeschooled children who don't develop much of a social life outside of their family, but those are truly fewer and farther between than most people know. They only think that's the norm for homeschoolers because those are the only homeschoolers they hear about. But if they were to truly look into it, they'd realize that more often than not, homeschoolers are just as well socialized as schooled children.

Week Two of homeschooling

Homeschooling is going rather well, thank you. I've learned that the best way to not try my patience is to simply let them take their time and not push them. Amazingly enough, they get done faster that way. Even with the spacing off and distraction, if I just gently remind them that we are in school right now, instead of nag them about it, they get their work done at a faster pace.

And I realized today that they are not at all behind in Math. The Math program we are using is a British Math program, which means they are one grade level ahead of our Math programs here in the States. So what is 4th grade level in the British program, is 5th grade level in the US program. So that means my boys are doing the same grade level they were doing when I pulled them out of school. Not TOO important, it's just nice to know they weren't as far behind as we thought they were, they just needed fewer distractions and the ability to work at their own pace.
I'm also excited about a hearing for a homeschooling bill that homeschoolers WANT to pass here in Oregon. Currently, Oregon homeschoolers are required to take the state issued exams at certain intervals. The problem with this is that if the child falls below what the Educational School District has deemed appropriate, you risk having to put them back in school. There is a little bit of leniency and time to bring their scores back up, but it's still not reasonable enough.

The new bill that I PRAY passes would negate the homeschoolers requirement to take those intervalled state issued tests. You can take them privately if you like, but you wouldn't be required to take them at those intervals (or at all, for that matter). And I think that would be WONDERFUL, because in order to get a "decent" score on those tests, you have to have learned all those things in those tests for one thing. Public school teachers teach for the tests, not for retention. Or they teach the kids how to guess their answers, and the kids never REALLY learn anything.

For another thing, my kids are NOT test takers. They're like me and flake at the sight of a test. Oh sure, when I was their ages I did the Iowa tests excellently, scoring well into high school, sometimes college, with some of them (Reading, mostly). But not all kids are test takers. It doesn't mean they aren't LEARNING, it means they can't test. Too much pressure shuts them down.

Thirdly, I am letting them learn at their own pace, with minimal pushing. They continue to learn, but it's not rushed so they learn a certain thing by a certain time. As long as they learn what they need to know by high school in order to take high school level courses, it is all good. And they will, but they will learn to RETAIN, not to pass a test.

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST FOR 13 YEAR OLD BOY

An old friend and classmate of mine posted the following prayer request in her Facebook status update. I told her I would pass it around....I also ask that if you feel so inclined, please pass it around as well:

Urgent Prayers requested for a good friends 13 year old son, who was
assaulted at school today by another student who told him he was going to kill
him and he broke his neck. He is on his way to Harborview right now. Tobin
P******** is his name. His father is Mark P******** for those that know him.
Please, please pray for this family.