Rainbow Cupcakes

March 22nd, 2011

I may be a holiday slacker, but any ol’ random day?  I can rock those.

To make these beauties..

Buy a box of yellow or white cake mix.

Gather the ingredients on the back of the box.  You can be normal and include the eggs or do like me and completely forget that you’re out of eggs until you’ve whipped all the children in your house into a colored cupcake wanting frenzy and then realize you’re flat out.  Then get a friend on Facebook to rescue you with egg substitutes like mayo and flax seed.  Flax seed have I not, but mayo, that’s an item I know well.

You should know, the mayo for us made them so soft that they collapsed and I was forced to ice this massive pile of rainbowness.  Oh the horrors.

Mix the mix with the you know.. mixer.

Then divide the batter into however many colors you want in your cupcakes.  I went easy and chose the four that come in the little food coloring boxes.

Color the batter that is now divided into the bowls.

Spray your cupcake pans.

Drip a little of one color into every cupcake holder.

Then drip on top of that another color.

And another.

And another.

I’m not a precise person.  I like precise, but I fail at that.  So I just slopped them in there all drippy messy like.

And baked them.

Cooled them.  Which was extremely difficult to do in this house.

Then iced and sprinkled them.

Then turn the children loose.

And prepare to clean the mess that follows!

It helps if you’re studying colors and the mixing thereof in your art lessons – just for background art, yo?

May you do the same soon!!

I Really Like Homeschooling

March 21st, 2011

I do.  It’s true.  I homeschool for a lot of reasons.

I think where I am now in homeschooling is a nice place to be.  It wasn’t always this nice.

So far on the homeschooling timeline (and I’ve only been on it a mere 5 years now) I’ve hit my stride.  I’ve homeschooled long enough to have actually taught more than one child to read (the fear in most first-timers’ hearts), I’ve acquired enough materials to wing it if I have to, and I have enough knowledge (about my kids, learning styles, and my own teaching style) to know what will work and what won’t.  I have enough time in to know that if something doesn’t work I can chunk it.  I have enough time in to know not to buy a whole set of anything, but rather to buy just enough to try it out, and then buy what we need as we go – what works today for this child might not work tomorrow for that child.

I also embrace seasons.  I now know that the hard season of laying on the couch, sick as a dog pregnant, handing out worksheets is a season.  It will pass.  I know that I generally like our books and curriculum we’ve chosen right now and are progressing along nicely.  But I also know when it gets stale and we’re bored and we’re itching to not do anything then it’s time to do a unit study – lapbooking, delve into a good book and notebook it, or just take an unscheduled break.  I’ve been doing this long enough to know that I’m not a schedule kind of person when it comes to many children and teaching them.  I can’t pick up a curriculum plan that says you must do 3 hours a day, 5 days a week for 6 weeks and then take a break.  We won’t make it.  We won’t be able to check off all those subjects exactly.  Some math takes us longer to “get”.  One child gets very ill for a week and falls behind.  It just happens.  So we year round and take our time and aim for the greater goal of teaching them all they need to know before they graduate instead of the micromanaged smaller picture.

Though I don’t necessarily like that I’m a holiday slacker, I like that I’m not freaking out anymore about being a holiday slacker.  Like the fact that we didn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day (because we were preparing to go on vacation the next day), but then left up our Valentine’s banner right through St. Patrick’s Day (which we also celebrated with a parade the Saturday before, but then completely neglected the actual day).

I love that I know I can tailor any curriculum that my kids and I like to fit us and our needs.  Like our new Rod and Staff language arts.  I briefly struggled with why can’t my 9 year old write 7 sentences without having a meltdown and then Brenda talked me down, reminded me it wasn’t shocking that a 9 year old boy is still having fine motor skills issues and just to write it (or have them write it on the board).  I remembered that I want him to get the concepts, I don’t need him to be bogged down and overwhelmed.

So I wrote the sentences from the book on the board (with an extra from me as an example sentence), split them between the two boys to correct, and turned them loose.  That night I looked over at our picked up dining room and smiled at the blackboard.  I like that we learned about Amenhotep IV and Nefertiti.  I like that the sentences we corrected were about God and His creation.  I like that there’s a sun hanging over our table.  I like that I have the alphabet and old leftover holiday banners up over the blackboard.

I like that Supermoon occurred the year we’re studying Astronomy.

I like that arts and crafts and pajama pants are a part of our days.

I just really like homeschooling.

BigMan 4!

March 16th, 2011

From this 2 month smiley (who by the way, if I remember correctly was much more cry-y at this age than this picture would lead you to believe)..

To ant bites..

To chipped teeth..

To pennies lodged..

To I onna nuhse and watch, watch, watch…

To naming himself..

To being an Indian..

To milk spilling..

To pool jumping..

To big brother..

How we got from there to here I’ll never know.  But as wild as the ride has been and promises to be, BigMan, I love you from here to yonder and beyond.  Happy 4th Birthday, sweet boy!

The Socialization Myth

March 14th, 2011

The other day while going about our normal evening at home business.  Matt quietly pointed out to me this scene at the computer.

Here sits my 5 year old daughter holding her 17 month old brother, she started a show on the computer for him and was rubbing his head (much like I do) “mama-ing him” as Matt said.  I snapped a very quick low quality pic with my phone to capture the memory.  I said to Matt at this scene “I’ll take our civilization over the socialized alternative.”  He agreed.  We smiled.

And that exchange brought to mind several discussions I’ve seen lately about homeschooling and the apparent inherent lack of socialization that comes with that decision.  (It’s not just one of you, I promise, it’s all over the place as my friends look to springtime and the coming fall and try to decide what they’ll do with their kiddos.)  And I never write about it.  For several reasons.  One, as I’ve said many times before I really don’t like picking fights (and this, friends, ends up a fight most times, sadly).  Another reason I don’t is because the circles I now run in it’s a non-issue.  It’s been discussed so much that I kinda consider it decided, handled, over.  But really, with as many people who’ve mentioned it lately I felt like maybe I should address how I feel about it.  How it’s panning out for us.

First of all let me begin with the quote I referenced above.

“I want my children to be civilized, not socialized.” ~author unknown

See, you’ve already got your fightin’ gloves on, don’tcha?

Dictionary.com defines them as such:

so·cial·ized

/ˈsoʊʃəˌlaɪz/  Show Spelled [soh-shuh-lahyz]

–verb (used with object) 

1. to make social;  make fit for life in companionship with others.

2. to make socialistic;  establish or regulate according to the theories of socialism.

3. Education . to treat as a group activity: to socialize spelling quizzes.

–verb (used without object) 

4. to associate or mingle sociably with others: to socialize with one’s fellow workers.

civ·i·lized

/ˈsɪvəˌlaɪzd/ Show Spelled[siv-uh-lahyzd] 

–adjective 

1. having an advanced or humane culture, society, etc.

2. polite; well-bred; refined.

3. of or pertaining to civilized people: The civilized world must fight ignorance.

4. easy to manage or control; well organized or ordered: The car is quiet and civilized, even in sharp turns.

I am fully aware that these are not either/or, mutually exclusive.  I’m also fully aware that it’s mainly just a comeback, something to quip at those who don’t know better and are trying to make us feel bad for our own decisions.  And that it is possible to come through public schools and be civilized.  I kind of like to think of myself as civilized.  At least sometimes.  And I came out of public schools.  But let me tell you, from my own experience in school and my own experience with the masses of children we are exposed to frequently (and yes, my children are exposed to masses of children frequently, socialization, anyone?) that it would appear that “civilized” is a lot harder to achieve in public school.  Much like you can reach the second floor by running up the down escalator, but it would be a much more direct, not to mention pleasant, route were you to take, say, the up escalator.

A picture Matt snapped at the parade the other day.  We were hanging out with friends.  Public school socialized friends, even! (gasp!)

Let’s break it down further.

You are sending your 5 year old to school to socialize?  Or to learn how to socialize?  Am I correct?  If this is the case, who are you wanting them to learn to socialize with?  Their peers, right?  Kids their own age.  Theywill get this there.  They will play on the playground, they will sit next to one another in the classroom.  But for the most part these will not be guided and taught interactions.  The teachers are there to teach the information and keep order.  Not be micromanaging each and every interaction.  So a lot of the interactions will fall through the unguided cracks.  Which is great.  I don’t overly micromanage every conversation my kids have, but the younger they are the more guided I like to be.  It’s how they learn.  The whole “let them fight it out, they’ll learn who’s boss” mentality is for a pack of dogs.  Not my children who are learning how to negotiate, compromise, and put others first.  Unless you will not be surprised or dismayed when your teenager is still “fighting it out” with you and others when they are far too old to be “fighting it out”.  I also want my children to know how to socialize with babies, younger children than themselves, older teenagers, and adults as well.  Without bullying, being clueless, running roughshod over them, or thinking disrespect for teachers and adults is the norm.  It’s not.  And if it is nowadays, it shouldn’t be.  Guide them in a different direction.  And the easiest way to guide them in a different, more considerate and compassionate direction is to teach them.  In their interactions.  If you are not there for 7 hours of their day and a minimum of 2 more hours a day are spent rushing through getting ready and off to said socialization and then they have those hours of sleep that they are not learning from you how to work out issues and play appropriately then you have handed over a lot of time of guidance to.. somewhere else.

Looking on the flipside.. is it possible that my children who live in the sticks and are homeschooled can be socialized?  Is it possible that my very social, wanting to talk and play with everyone girl will get enough socialization?  Well, first of all I certainly hope so.  And in hoping I work in that direction.  We go to homeschool groups (are you laughing about a bunch of unsocialized homeschoolers hanging out together?  Because typing out that sentence kinda made me giggle), we go to parks (with lots of other “socialized” children that make me balk every time I go out), we go to stores, we go to friends’ houses, we go to birthday parties, we go to soccer, we go to museums, we go to the library, the list goes on.  And at each of these places we learn how to line up, wait our turn, listen for directions, play with others, and generally just hang out.  Is it enough?  Not according to my girl, but aside from enrolling her in an all girls boarding school I don’t think I could ever get her socially satiated.  Such is life, she’ll learn disappointment around here too.

Speaking of socializing.. do you know how many kids were at the city park on a pretty Saturday, the day of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade?  We might have learned a little bit of socialization and tolerance that day.  Maybe.

Let’s also take a look at the type of socializing they’ll be getting.  Besides the “fight it out” mostly unsupervised playground socialization we’ve already talked about, there’s the darker side.  The horror stories that are real, not just in the movies or the rumor mills.  And from what I understand (from others with children in schools, from pop culture tv, and from the older children I’ve been around) it’s worse now than when I was in school.  Really?  Because it was kinda awful back then.  I plan to write a separate post about the sexual trends in children in an upcoming post.  There’s too much to fit in here.

So, as scattered and not well said as all this is my point is: I homeschool.  My kids are socialized.  They are learning slowly each day how to be civilized.  You can have children in public schools who are both.  You can homeschool and have children who are neither.  If you float through life and don’t have a goal in mind nor a plan to reach that goal then you are most likely destined for near failure.  Whatever you do, whatever you decide know that you will have to work towards whatever goal you have.  It should be thought out.  Worked toward.  And prayed over constantly.

My children are not perfect as the rest of this post might would have you believe.  Here are two of my children bored and complaining the day of the parade (of all things!) and having to wait on a pizza (oh, the horrors!)  And yes, I did take their picture while they were less than happy.  I’m that kind of mother.  But instead of unattended and stewing in their boredom and frustration I was there to redirect, teach, and yes, maybe mock while taking pictures.

I’m fully aware that you can come through homeschooling and be completely uncivilized.  But it’s an awareness decision.  Once you know what it is you want to attain, figure out how it’s best to attain that for your family, and go forward in that direction.  For instance I am aware that I want civilized children that know how to relate to others, serve others (as the Lord taught us), and keep others first.  I am aware that’s a battle that I can most easily fight with each interaction while they are young.

The unexamined life is not worth living. ~ Socrates

Examine, know all the facts – don’t just buy the party line.  Make informed decisions.  It’s what we’ve done.  This is the direction I’ve chosen.

I want to choose the up escalator to go up, if you will.

Now I’m sure the gloves will come off and the fighting will commence.  Let’s just keep it civilized, ‘k?

Teach Me Joy - Animal Play (A Curriculum Review)

March 2nd, 2011

I recently purchased a preschool curriculum from TeachMeJoy.com by Joy Bryant.

Though she has several offered (and more coming) after researching those available I chose Animal Play for 2 and 3 year olds.  I had been wanting something a little more structured for BigMan (my soon to be 4 year old, like this month) and this really fit the bill for us.  I’m normally not a proponent of “curriculum” for “preschool”.  I believe in playing, freedom, and learning in life at this age.  But I saw that he wasn’t getting as much one-on-one time since school work with the other three has increased this year.  He also had begun to ask for school work like his siblings.  So I wanted school work combined with play.  Structure but flexible fun.

I think I found it in this.

Also, confession time.. Four years into homeschooling and I’m a complete nervous wreck chicken anytime I have to buy school books.  I love talking about them.  I love looking at them.  I love getting them in the mail.  I love using them.  But I break out into a cold sweat when I have to fork over the money for them.  It’s not the money so much as the fear of wasting the money on something I won’t use.  But it was much easier to step up to this one.  The price was already very reasonable and then she had a half-price sale going.  Which doesn’t seem to be a one-time fluke – she currently has a 20% sale going.

What You’re Paying For

A download.  All the paperwork and worksheets for your child to complete, flash cards, a memory game and the weekly layout of what you should do when.

It’s an extensive printing download so get a ream of paper and a new ink cartridge.  But every printout can be printed black and white (that SO matters to me).  I printed the entire thing at once.  Well, there was that my-printer-jammed-in-the-middle-of-it-issue, but that was resolved quickly (and caused by me, incidentally, unlike this most recent printer hitch that involved a wadded up pipe cleaner).  I stacked the printouts according to category, used my 3 hole punch to punch holes in all of them, and set aside to organize later.

I already had 2 binders around the house – a large one and a small one.  Perfect for my teacher’s book and his completed work book.

After everything was printed I set about organizing it by day instead of categories.  I wanted this quickly usable each day so it was worth the work upfront.  And I love detailed organizational work like this, in my former big city life I was the perfect Administrator’s Assistant.  I’m a helper like that.

In his binder (per her suggestion) I put a separator between the alphabet work he would be doing and his numbers.  I didn’t have pre-made separators so I just cut a manilla folder to fit, punched holes and used the other half to keep my place in the teacher’s guide.  A bookmark, if you will.

I keep the teacher’s binder, his completed binder, the books, and that week’s craft supplies in a bucket in my homeschool cabinet.  I just pull it all out when we’re ready.

I didn’t have card stock so for the flash cards and memory game I printed it on regular printer paper and glued them onto construction paper.  I will go back and contact paper them for durability now that I know I will use them.

It was all pretty self-explanatory as to what went where once I sat and looked at it a bit.  Which I planned on doing anyway, I just separated it as I went.  I left the clip art grouped together and put it in the back of the binder to pull from at my will.  I also punched holes in some blank printer paper and put it in the back of my teacher’s binder.  That way when it calls for painting, gluing, crafting on plain paper it was already done and ready to hand to him.

What Else You Should Buy Ahead of Time

In the download you get a product overview and suggested book list.  I printed both of these as well and put them in the very front of my binder.  I’ll use the library for the suggested book list.  But the daily recommended books I wanted to buy.  Now, again I was tempted to break out in a buyer’s remorse sweat, but then I realized they were really good books (with a Wee Sing cd thrown in and we all know how much I love Wee Sing!).  These are books I would buy anyway.  That I would use even if my (and BigMan’s) desire fizzled out on the curriculum.  So, I looked around and ordered the suggested books.  I will tell you, she suggested some animal homes books (four of them to be exact) and I didn’t get them.  One of the main reasons I didn’t get them was while searching I realized the author wrote palm reading books, a Golden Compass book, and some other books I wouldn’t allow my kids to read.  I’m normally not a “boycotting” kind of person, but it didn’t set well with me and I figured I could buy something else or just skip that section.  So, I did.

Here’s the list of what I bought with sample pages from each.  I LOVE them!  Well worth the prices and if you order through my Amazon links (the titles of the books are links to my Amazon account) below I get a kick-back – just so you know!

My Big Book of 5-minute Devotions

The Rhyme Bible Storybook

Bible Animals (My Little Church Book)

Alphabet Art: With A-Z Animal Art & Fingerplays (Williamson Little Hands Series)

Wee Sing Animals, Animals, Animals

Not listed in her list, but something I love for this age to learn to cut and build hand strength are these Let’s Cut Paper! (Kumon First Steps Workbooks).

What You’ll Be Teaching

Alphabet letters

Numbers

Shapes

Colors

Music, Fingerplays, and Musical Activities

Bible Stories

Memory Verses

Animals and their habitats

How You’ll Be Teaching It

In a unit study, 3 days a week style.

For instance, week 1 you’ll cover the letter A, the number 1, and the animals Alligator and Ant.

There are 32 weeks of planned activities with new information all the way up to the last week and fun systematic reviews built in all along the way.

You can choose to do the 3 days or like us, do it everyday that all my other children “do school”.  Between the ample info for each day and the extra activities section for each week, plus the extra printouts I got fromEnchanted Learning and sticker books from the dollar store it was very easy to stretch it to 5 or 6 days a week.

The Pros and Cons (I haven’t already addressed)

I love that once you’ve done the organizational work that it’s super easy to see what you’re going to do today.  And next week.  Speaking of the next week, I also love that there is a list of “This Week’s Supplies” so that when I’m making my regular shopping list for payday I can glance at that and jot down any items I don’t already have around the house like this weeks bubble paper, color tissue paper, and contact paper.  I also buy for two weeks at a time (since our paydays and thusly our shopping trips are every two weeks).

It can definitely be a con for you if you’re not fond of organizing like I am, but I say again, push on through (or bribe someone else to do it!) it is worth it.

Also, noteworthy.  I’ve had several people ask about the age appropriateness of the material.  They’ve asked about doing these things with their 2 year olds.  I say again, I’m starting this with my almost 4 year old.  I watch for readiness from my children to know when to start their actual “school work”.  With this child (and it would’ve been the same with my 2 older boys at this age) he hasn’t been ready to do this work until now.  Some of the Bible and devotions reading is a tad long for his attention span.  That’s one of the reasons I have been able to easily stretch it out to 5 or 6 days.  And his fine motor skills would’ve been sketchy to do stay in the lines and trace the letters before now.  But my girl would’ve been ready for this right when she turned two.  She was a sitter, listener, be-still-er, and she loved writing even then.  So, yes, it is age appropriate if your child is ready for this kind of work.  If not, I would totally suggest relaxing, taking it easy, waiting til they’re ready (like I did with my nearly 4 year old) and not push them to do work that will only frustrate them and you.

Another huge pro for me is that my other much-too-old-for-this-kind-of-work children join in too.  They want me to wait until they get to a stopping place in their age-appropriate work so they can come sit with us and listen to the Bible Stories, devotionals, and animal facts.  They love learning the actions to the songs and singing and dancing with BigMan.  And BigMan loves that he’s a part of the group, not doing “baby work” all alone.  It gets everybody moving, singing, and crafting together.  A good fun break from all that language arts, history, and math work of elementary school!

I do know this: two week’s of lessons in and my 3 year old boy can’t get enough of it.  This is working for us and I love it!  And I know that I am anxiously awaiting the Kindergarten curriculum this summer.

If you have questions please feel free to ask me!