Emerson's "Self Reliance"

There is some writing that I have always adored and that I read and reread.  And each time I spend some time with this piece, I read something new in it.  It is Emerson's "Self Reliance".  I recently found a cool blog activity, a 30-day writing challenge associated with others who love his writing, that I want to do.
Here.
On this blog.Tee Hee.  I hope this entertains as much as I plan on enjoying it!

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Jan 20, I've decided to NOT blog this as it is quite TMI, 

but I'm leaving this post in case anyone is interested in the project. 

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Here is today's PROMPT from Self Reliance:

Ordinary Things by Ana Guardia

“Every artist was first an amateur.”

To be an artist one has to find beauty in ordinary things. 

Find 10 things of great beauty in the landscape that surrounds you. 

For example, crumple sheets on your bed in the morning, 

the smell of coffee making its way around a busy office.

1. The sound of my son and daughter singing a song together in the other room.
2. The smooth shiny wood of the desk top
3. This adorable little box in which I keep my flossers handy.
4. In front of me is an old picture of my Aunt Elizabeth, age about 98 in the picture.  She is wearing a striped orange sweatshirt and a ski cap.
5. Hanging on the desk lamp is a small stuffed purple dragon keychain given to me by a young and sweet friend of the family.  He brought it to me and handed it to me with a smile.
6. On the table across the room is a pile of new books, purchased for my reading fever.  They are stacked haphazardly, next to the new sofa lamp.
7. Sticking out of the letter holder on this desk is a small circle of embroidered fabric that I created one night using the pretty threads I had purchased for another project.  Just a random pattern that I created as I stitched.
8. My glass sits on a beautifully painted wooden coaster sent to me by my friend Rayven from Okinawa.  Probably junk souvenirs for the tourists, but painted with leaping dolphins against a red sunset.
9. In front of me is a business card sent to me by my sister Brenda in Colorado.  It is really beautiful.  A sky blue on one with with her contact information, a color image of some gorgeous Colorado landscape.  
10. and Sitting beside my computer is a stack of Holiday cards, all of them a mini-microcosm of the sender's faith and creed.

Lovely, I am surrounded by beauty.

You Live and You Learn...

In a previous post I talked about how we have plans to take January OFF and to do new things each day.
NICE IDEA.
Didn't work!

Today we had the moment where we were disgusted with our own indolence and we decided to get cracking!  Everyone was excited and full of vibrancy after we decided to GET BUSY.

Immediately each child had a million things and plans and work that they were wanting to do.  I have to admit, I was a bit floored.  With total freedom and "permission" to do absolutely nothing, they prefer to be productive?

As I always say, being a homeschooling mom means to be learning forever!

I was proud of our conversation and I was proud of the kids' abilities to ask for what they want. And I am happy to be getting into the books again. I admit, I was feeling pretty crappy about how little we were doing. WHEW, I'm glad the feeling was mutual!

This evening I've been working on some projects that the kids wanted to work on. In the meantime, Jerry and Liz are out working on the set for the upcoming show! This is TECH WEEK and we are all busy with projects for the performance. I hope I remember to post some pictures of the dress she will be wearing.

The show is set in 1916 and we were having a heck of a time finding a formal dress for her to wear. Finally a friend loaned us a very pretty black lacy dress. I made about a dozen "upgrades" to the 1916 style. It's now STUNNING! I'll make sure to get some pictures and post them.

THANK YOU Patti Schneiderjohn for sharing your 1980's fashions with us!

And, tonight, John John has been dancing, martial artsing, bathing, and snacking. Just your basic night.

And, finally, last night I spent some time making my own personalized clip art for this blog. It was a blast and I made about a hundred of them. LOL
I hope they make my blog look SO MUCH more cool!

Peace.

That's My Girl...

challenging children

From behind her locked bedroom door I hear her singing, humming, dancing, laughing, talking with friends, and silent. I know that, within her private sanctuary, she is reading, writing, living, and loving. She shares her poetry with me. I get to read her fan fic. I get to hear the songs she is willing to share. With a sense of wonder, I think to myself, that's MY girl!

She attires herself with style and personality. She carries herself with the seeming dichotomous qualities of dignity and timidity. She shares her deepest self with me with such courage and trust that I am humbled. She carries qualities of every other woman in my family and in Jerry's family. She, while being a kaleidoscope of past females, is distinctively herself. She carries her shoulders back and her head up high. That is my girl.

She is able to stand in front of crowds of strangers and receive their attention, their applause, their energy. She can stand there as they rise to their feet and clap hands with the thrill of acclaim and ovations. It is a wonder to see her accept those accolades with a bowed head and quiet smile. That is my girl.

She quietly lounges with her reading or her writing, continually trying on fictional "lives" and, thereby, standing up for who SHE is. She accepts my apologies and my love as I patiently learn anew and again the best ways to love this child. She struggles with some qualities of "self" while fiercely hanging on to who she is determined to be. She forges her own way through the unforgiving treacheries of adolescence. She sings her own tune. That is my girl.

Looking in to my daughter's eyes I see determination, defiance, curiosity and wisdom, teasing, trust. I see the sunshine of her spirit, a spirit indomitable and exquisite. The soft grey-blue eyes play with the colors she surrounds herself with. Her hesitant smile, while awaiting your goodwill, steadfastly offers her good heart. She looks at me and I know she is happy. She shares the things that thrill her. She is moved by love and sweetness. She is the early morning of hope. She is my girl.

She loops her arms about my shoulders, gathering me close. She touches her cheek with mine as we feel one another smile. She wraps herself tightly around me, somehow leaving space for her independence. She hold my hand as I drive. She offers me her mints. She shares her secrets and her hopes and the loves of her life with me, late in the night, quiet as midnight. She giggles and dances with her dad in a dance of pure love. And, when the moon is just right, she offers us the very best of herself. She is my girl.

She and I are writing a play together as well as working on other projects together. Deep inside, I feel solid as a rock. She is my girl.

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My Boy...

I can see him now...sitting on the floor with his back to me, arms askew, Legos sorted into incomprehensible piles... The sounds of pilots, attackers, and heroes coming out of both sides of his mouth. Adventure pouring around and through him. His elbows stick out a bit too far, his hands fumble as he gets used to his longer fingers, his knee caps visible from behind as his legs lengthen...

My boy loves to snuggle up under the covers with my hands in his hair. He loves to sit on my lap and listen to books. His lips whisper secrets into my neck as he holds on tight. His secrets slip into my waiting and longing ears. His fingers slip around mine as we walk away from the car, his eyes slip over to me with a crinkly grin. His song echoes through the bathroom door as he reads long after he needs to be in there. His too-long bangs fall into his eyes; my fingers long to sweep them aside so I can see those grey-green eyes.

My boy reads my moods quicker than a barometer. He sneaks a cherry-flavored cough drop out of my dresser drawer and shows it to me before slipping it sweetly into his mouth. He tells on himself when he forgets to do something. He folds clothes into clumps and puts them away. He stands close enough to me for me to breath in his freshness, his "outside" smell. He laughs riotously and secretly gathers his blanky close at night. He talks during every reading of the book with other thoughts that his mind can't possibly contain for one more second. His fingers slip silently into my hand as he dreams. He gently adjusts his toys...

My boy gets cross when he witnesses injustice, injury, and cruelty.  He gets sad when he sees unkindness.

My boy tells me everything. He lowers his eyes with a grin and tells me about a pretty girl. He can't believe how he was lucky enough to get the best mom on earth. He is curious about where dialects come from. He wonders what people "get" from being mean to others. He has questions about refraction, life, and gummy bears. My boy hugs his buddies, his family, his friends.

My heart aches with love for this child.
I hope every day that Jerry and I are able to provide him with the strength, love, constancy, and direction that he will need in this world. 

I can see him now...sitting on the floor with his back to me, arms askew, Legos sorted into incomprehensible piles... The sounds of pilots, attackers, and heroes coming out of both sides of his mouth. Adventure pouring around and through him. His elbows stick out a bit too far, his hands fumble as he gets used to his longer fingers, his knee caps visible from behind...I slip into the room, sit quietly, and begin playing...

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Not-Back-to-School Party

homeschool co op, field trips,

Today our homeschool group had an event at a local favorite family spot, the City Museum.  It is a unique play-and-learn MARVEL of a location for getting together with friends and hanging out.  The entire place is styled by architects who have no end to their creativity.  There is not a single inch of this place that doesn't show, in the minutest of detail, the talents of internationally acclaimed artist Bob Cassilly and his team.

Our group occupied the building from the first through the fourth floors and it was an amazing sight of kids enjoying themselves on materials salvaged from various building sites and other donated materials.

This place is the original STEAM PUNK fun spot!
We had some new families show up to see our group at it's best.

At one point, several of the moms and I were talking and the moms were saying that some of the other Christian homeschooling groups in the area refer to our homeschool group as "That Group", as though we were infamous for our dirty dealings or something...LOL.  We are secular as a group, but there are people who practice many different religions and creeds.  Atheists, Agnostic, Mormon, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Quaker, Pagan, and probably other creeds that I don't even know about.  It's a wonderful group that loves and accepts all people. 

That is why I found it interesting that our group is actually being spoken of by other groups.  I can't even remember other groups being discussed AT ALL in our group except for if a member had dual membership and is mentioning activities with other groups.  I guess I shouldn't be, but I am flabbergasted at the negativity.

Ah well, back to the fun of the day!

We had about 80 adults, teens, and children running through the mazes and secret tunnels, climbing the structures, inside and out, and enjoying the beauty, magnificence, and FUN of this great St. Louis attraction.

Oh, and we were celebrating our children NOT returning to school after the holidays...

a GREAT reason to celebrate!

Homeschool Support and Information for Newbies

Just a QUICK blog post to pass along this excellent website I just found.  A website that contains so much information on homeschooling it almost makes everyone else obsolete!  (JK!)

http://learninfreedom.org/

Reasons Why You Should Not Homeschool

I have given this alot of thought and I realize that homeschooling is NOT for everyone. As much as I believe that most people could homeschool the hell out of their beloved family I realize that it is not the right choice for some people for some very important reasons.

Here are the reasons that I have come up with.  PLEASE FEEL FREE to add to my list.

1. If you simply adore the selling of the pizza, gift wrap, nuts, cookies, posters, holiday cards, and other fund raisers, you should not homeschool.  If going door-to-door, taking the order form to work, and delivering in the dead of winter is a bright part of your year, I would hate for you to miss out!
2. If you enjoy making the same lunch look different each morning, you might miss that if you homeschool. I mean, who doesn't want to make smiley faces with apple slices, raisins, and peanut butter sandwiches?!
3. If you whole heartedly agree with recent decision that pizza is, in fact, a vegetable, then please don't homeschool! We like to lump VEGETABLES in the vegetable group.
4. If your children love the school breakfasts too, yum.
5. If you sincerely love the morning round-up of the carpool,
6. If  your children love the fun of the school bus, including the kids at the back of the bus,
7. If you and your children love the rules of the school system that guide your every move, you should not homeschool.
8. If you enjoy handing the reins of your child over to a teacher who is holding 29 other sets of reins...for over six hours a day,
9. If you love that early morning WAKE UP routine,
10. If you enjoy the parent/teacher conferences where your child's teacher shares successes and goals with you and decides what is important in your child's learning career,
11. If it is OK with you that  your teacher knows more about your child's day than you do,
12. If your child enjoys being a "Wallflower", "Bully", "Brain", or any other label, 
13. If you think that being bullied prepares a child for life,
14. If you think a classroom full of 26 other ten-year-olds is "an environment conducive to learning",
15. If you don't mind paying for school pictures, supplies, new clothes, books, Kleenex for the teacher, valentines, art fee, 
16. If you don't mind your son coming home telling you that Josh's brother told Josh where babies come from that Josh shared that nugget with your son,
17. If you think your child will learn best from his seat,
18. If you have a problem with books on your kitchen table, under the bed, on wall-spanning bookshelves, and every other level space in the house,
19. If you enjoy the past-bedtime freak out of not having the project done for tomorrow,
20. Or the two hours of homework each night,
21. Or if you enjoy your kids having to check with their friends before they can make up their own minds,
22. If you enjoy drilling a sobbing child in multiplication tables,
23. If you don't mind your child being around "the seven deadly words" each day,
24. Or the depression of the Friday spelling test,
25. If you have a problem with the grocery story lady asking "are the kids off of school today?",
26. If you prefer having your kids SOMEWHERE ELSE,
27. If you don't mind the forgotten lunch, back pack, permission slip,
28. If you dislike rainy days in pajamas and reading books together,
29. or if you simply don't like them then you probably shouldn't homeschool.

Look, I admit that a bit of this is tongue-in-cheek and I have many public schooled kids that I ADORE.
But don't miss my point:

YOU CAN DO IT! 

It will be different and it will not look like school

and you CAN do it!

In Retrospect...Considering Homeschool

considering homeschool

I was just about to read a blog post by another homeschooling parent, a post called Beginning Homeschooling:  What I Wish I Had  Done Differently. I love the idea of that post. So, I didn't read it. Instead I came here to post my own thoughts on the matter before reading her thoughts. 

We have homeschooled from almost the beginning. My 14 year old daughter had a year of preschool and half a year of kindergarten. She also has had a few sporadic forays into public education for a variety of reasons, all of which lasted very brief periods of time. My 11 year old son has never been in school at all. He has never expressed the slightest interest in going to school.
So we have homeschooled from the start; we had no transitional time from public school to homeschool. Not really.

It's a difficult concept to consider and I'm not even sure how useful the thought is to another family. Homeschooling experiences are so unique and so diverse.
What would I change, having started homeschooling from the first?

• I'm not sure it is actually possible, but I wish I could have relaxed in that first year. I was a nervous wreck, though I was certain we were on the right road.
• I would have been less defensive with people in the beginning.  But, again, you live and you learn. Maybe I had to earn the wisdom that comes from years of homeschooling.
• I would have spent less money. I am a book lover so I probably would still spend money on my library, but, probably, far less on texts and workbooks that were never used. Also, less on stuff I thought I needed to do.
• I would worry less about written work. The type of work whose sole purpose is to determine if my child comprehended the work or not. I would trust in the learning process without the constant need for testing it. Again, I probably needed to learn that one too.
•  I like to think I would have felt more confident about my instincts. I often have these feelings that I need to try one thing and to let go of another. I can think of a time or two where it took me a fairly long time to trust that instinct. It has to do with trusting myself, trusting my children, and trusting the learning process. Maybe, again, I had to experience those times in order to learn from them.

Overall, my experience seems to be that I needed to learn how beautiful and natural the process of learning actually is. It took me quite a long time to get out of my "school-y" head and to not apply that same method of study to our homeschool life together. Many times I have gone back on past subjects and tested the kids and they have looked at me like I have lost my mind. They can't possibly know the fear the comes from being a parent! Anyway, it turns out that they always know and they always remember and they have often made connections between seemingly divergent points. They don't keep subject matter compartmentalized as I did:  this is Science, this is Math, this is History, this is Art. Instead, they see the world as a complex and interconnected place. I love seeing that they truly ARE learning daily and making sense of the world as we go.

I am happy that we have often taken lots of time "off" and gone out to play, explore, experience the world. We have done many projects, games, and activities together. We have created our own things to play with and have used them in many ways. We have spent hours on board games, puzzles, putting on shows, dressing up, pretending, and just hanging out and laughing. I think we got that part RIGHT!

That's a good question: what else have we gotten right?

I have changed materials fairly quickly when we didn't care for them. I have responded to the kids' suggestions for areas of study or exploration. I have encouraged the kids to follow their bliss with activities. I have gone out of my way again and again in following their bliss. Perfection is unnecessary. Mistakes are wonderful ways to learn. We appreciate the flexibility. We take vacations on "off" times. We travel as much as possible. I have stayed up late with one child and gotten up early with the other one in order to have excellent and extensive one-on-one time with each child. Times I cherish so much. We have put aside the books and learned from many other sources, people, websites, locations, events, and points of view. We have made friends from as many different strata as possible, with wonderful results! We have not lingered in painful friendships unnecessarily. We have worked on cold and rainy days and taken breathtakingly beautiful days OFF. We have rushed forward in textbooks when the interest and ability were there and we have lagged behind in others when the interest and ability were not there. We have valued quality over quantity. We have made efforts to create learning experiences for our friends and co-homeschoolers by sharing our talents and interests. We have worked on character and ethics and citizenship frequently and continually. And we have studied hard whenever we were able to buckle down and focus.

I think we have done great. And we continue to revisit our methodology and subject matter regularly to make sure we are still on the right track and doing what makes sense in the ways that work. Homeschooling my children is one of the greatest joys of my life.

So, if you are thinking about starting homeschooling soon, or if you are researching, maybe these thoughts will help you.

My main advice:  

TRUST IN THE LEARNING INSTINCT 

TRUST YOURSELF

TRUST YOUR CHILDREN!

What advice would you give to someone considering homeschooling?

English 1

Getting a special book as a gift

One day my daughter, The Doctor, and I were reading a novel together and talking about the book. You know, analyzing it and whatnot. It occurred to me that this would be alot more fun if other people were in the discussion too.
Our homeschool co op class English 1 was born.

I offered it as a class to our co op and it went over well! We are reading novels, plays, poetry, Shakespeare, and prose. We are writing poetry, paragraphs, five-paragraph essays, journal entries, personal blog posts, and, eventually, the two-page essay. The class has become a wonderful part of each week.
 
On Wednesdays, the kids tromp over and hang out. When class begins, we have a short writing prompt for our journals. Then we have a lesson in grammar, writing, analysis, or other types of lessons. We read poetry in class, public speaking, and reading our journals.

We have also had "film nights" when we have read books that have been made into movies. These are pretty fun and include alot of hanging out, loud laughter, interested comments, and a more full understanding of the story. Our first film night was the Franco Zerrirelli's 1968 film Romeo and Juliet.

AND WE TALK ABOUT LITERATURE!
It is a great group of kids who are, mostly, involved, prepared, and engaged.

One neat thing we did was this. Everyone in the class went to www.blogger.com and started their own blogs for middle-of-the-week lessons. The blogs are each unique and express each person in their own distinctive way. One girl designed her blog to look like pie! Another boy has penguins all over his blog, including sound! Some of the titles are extremely clever and the designs are ingenious!  Hockey, writing, horse riding, playgrounds, funny titles, pictures, captions.  It's fantastic to see their creativity!

Using this venue, I can comment on assigned work and offer personalized suggestions for further skills work or just work for the fun of it. The blog idea is a cool one because the kids have become better at organizing their writing as well as designing their own personal writing space. The blog is, at this point, private, between each student, their parents, and me.


I give activities for reading and writing during the week and they post this work on their blog. From these posts, the kids get very individualized critique from me AND a pretty neat way to express themselves in their own unique ways! Using the blog, I can give extra work through the week and each student can work on writing ideas unique to their own goals. Also, many of the kids write extra stuff on their own and offer it to me to read on their blogs. It's a real honor to have such work shared with me.

Coming in a few weeks, I'm offering a writing workshop for kids from this group and other teens or adults as well. We will do some fun writing activities and games.


Because the common wisdom is:  If you want to learn how to write, you have to WRITE!

This class is one of those activities that give our homeschool experience such meaning. We created it, carried it out, and offered it to others. I enjoy having the kids grow, try their wings, and offer glimpses of their genius!

The kids enjoy it so much, they have added a second part to the class that begins in February. They have added One Acts, as an activity class where the participants will write, produce, and put on their own one act(s)! The kids will be working out how the class goes, will find sets, costumes, and props, and will put on the show for our homeschool group.

Talk about seeing GROWTH happen!!!

January, We Start the Year off Fine

It's January, half way through the "school year" and, after looking at where we are in are textbooks and realizing we are "behind" in most of them, we decided to take January OFF!  Yes, Folks, off.

We are calling it "A January of New Experiences" and we've decided that each day, rain or shine, we have to do something different, go someplace we have never gone before, or eat a new food.  We also decided that, since we HATE rules, that this is a guideline rather than a rule.  *grin*

So, today we went to a part of town, accessed our GPS, and went to a new park.  It was 70 degrees in January (!!!) so we played there for a couple of hours.  It was a beautiful day and everyone was in fine form.
We proceeded to try a new restaurant and have fun together this evening at home.  All in all, a wonderful day.
I was just sitting and talking with Dr. Who, who is happy and smiling, and she went on and on about how happy she is.

Yes, Folks, taking time OFF!