Dear Blog, I promise, I have not abandoned you. I look at you daily and feel like I have nothing to write, because we haven't been doing anything super exciting. Except that we actually have. I just have been writing those "doings" on my other blog, Sweet Honey Iced Tea. No, dear blog, I'm not cheating on you. Also, it's December. It's the busy season. So I've been sidetracked. And there was NaNoWriMo. And I feel like we're not doing anything blog-worthy school-wise. Tuna's been using Time 4 Learning during this busy season. I'll be blogging about that in a few weeks, by the way. Here are a few photos of what we've been doing, sweet blog. I will return to you full force soon. As soon as I can.
There were some sick days that called for piles of blankets, pillows, puppies, and movies.
We saw St. Nick at the Rothenburg Christmas Market.
And we ate roasted chestnuts which were delicious.
We've made Christmas crafts. Starlight Mint Tray.
I made gluten-free sugar "Lofthouse" Christmas cookies. Recipe on Sweet Honey Iced Tea blog.
We made bath fizzies.
...and a Santa tulle wreath.
We "put up" our live tree and decorated it.
Tuna rode a kiddie ride.
We're visiting all the Christmas markets we can during this, our last Christmas in Germany.
Tuna's digging up dinos.
on my dining room table.
We went to a gingerbread house party.
And tonight we're going to the post's tree lighting ceremony. In the blowing snow. There you have it. Our life for the last couple weeks. Two more weeks of busy then I should slow down a bit. Be well, dear blog. I will come back to you soon. Love, Michelle
I don't understand why this is still a question in the mind of anyone who knows my child. However, I'd like to say that it's a little insulting if you do know her and you're still asking me if I'm worried about her socialization. And if you don't know her, well,
But let's sit with this a moment. Let's talk about socialization. First, a look at the dictionary definition of the word:
By asking if I'm worried about Tuna's socialization, you're asking me if she knows how to act in public. And you've seen her act in public. So what you're really saying, even if you don't come out and say it, is that my kid is a freak.
And I can try to convince you that Tuna is socialized. I can. I can try to tell you how social she is. I can tell you that on Monday, she goes to gym class and critical thinking class with her peers (from several grades)
Look! She can even raise her hand! They ALL can!
I could tell you that she does community service.
I could tell you that she donated her hair to Locks of Love and that it was her own idea. I could tell you how she thinks of others constantly.
If I wanted to convince you that Tuna is, in fact, socialized, I could show you that she is a well-versed world traveler who knows how to use public transportation and how to ask for help anywhere she goes.
Or,
I could remind you that you're not socializing your child by sending them to school.
But, funny, that. You don't hear of homeschoolers asking public school parents if they aren't worried about socialization. Here, let's turn the tables for a minute.
Questions Commonly Asked of Homeschoolers Which Ought to be Asked of Parents Who Send Children to Public Schools, Turned Around on Said Parents:
1. I could never send my child away all day. I don't know how you do it. I can't imagine not spending my day with the person I helped create because I wanted a child. I would lose my mind. Don't you get sick of having them gone all the time? (I fear the answer to this one, though)
2. What curriculum does the school use? What? You don't know? You mean to tell me you don't know the brand of textbook being taught to your child all day? Don't you think it's your job to know what's being taught to your child? Oh, wait.
3. What are your children's teachers' qualifications? If you think they all have teaching degrees, you are mistaken. Do you know? Do you ask? Don't you think it's your right to ask?
4. What about socialization? Aren't you worried that your child is being socialized by the wrong people, the wrong influences? I would be. Hell, I am. I have a high schooler in the public school system. I know what "socialization" looks like.
Tuna is not a weird little hermit freak because she doesn't go to school. She actually gets to lead a full life while the kids who do go to school leave when the sun comes up and comes home minutes before it sets. You should see them running off the bus. They scream, almost uncontrollably, letting out all the pent-up energy they can't expel at school. It's sad. They can't control their little bodies any longer and they lose control. It's insanity.
Oh, hi. Have you ever noticed that your life -- homeschool or otherwise -- gets super busy this time of year? This is my busy season. Events to attend. People to visit. Shopping to get done. Food to cook. More events. Events which require shopping. Events which require food. One thing that is in danger of going by the wayside is homeschool. This time of year, we always slack a bit. And that's okay. Sometimes. I found a pretty decent fix for this year. Since I'm taking on novel writing in addition to the rest of my holiday season commitments, it was imperative that we find a way to continue education, even in an unconventional way. I thought I'd share what's been working for us with you. Because surely I'm not the only mom who turns into a crazy person this time of year. You all have full schedules, right? It's not just me? (tell me it's not just me) Workbooks: If we're not using them all the time, they are a novelty. I picked up this one from Kumon on fifth grade writing. And this one from McGraw-Hill on fifth grade math. One page from each per day gets math and language arts out of the way painlessly. We're still reading through Life of Fred. We don't use it every school day, but it entertains Tuna and she's still learning from it. It still bugs me. But she loves it. Online School: We just signed up for Time4Learning. Tuna used it today for math and language arts. I'll be posting a review of the program soon, after I have had a chance to use it a while. Reading Aloud: This is so important. Even as Tuna gets older -- especially as she gets older -- reading aloud helps us connect and exposes Tuna to great books at the same time. Kids who are read to generally become kids who love to read. Right now, Tuna and I are reading Bud, Not Buddy. Read alouds help center us, giving a calm period of time in our hectic schedule. Games: We love games. This is another way to center our day while giving Tuna a great education. A simple one we like to play: Take a deck of flash cards (we're using multiplication and division right now) and lay them in a circular pattern on the kitchen table like this:
You'll need one die and a marker (steal marker pieces from another game -- we use our Harry Potter marker pieces) for each player. Rolling the die, move your marker that many spaces up the spiral of flash cards. Answer the fact. Answer correctly to move on for your next turn. Answer incorrectly, and you're given the answer, but you have to re-answer on your next turn in order to advance. Winner is the first to the center of the spiral. Other games we love:
Blokus
Monopoly
Scrabble
Yahtzee
Battleship
Real-world learning: Field trips, cooking, shopping, car care -- I recently had to put washer and power steering fluid in my car and used the opportunity to teach Tuna how to do those things.
Co-ops: We still have homeschool P.E. and critical thinking, though we don't always make it to class. We've got some holiday-related activities coming up with our co-ops, too.
Random stuff we do: We have been loving Brain Quest cards. We're learning random facts on multiple subjects. Tuna does art on her own, making several pretty fantastic chalk pastels. We'll be making Christmas crafts at home, too.
So as you can see, even though we're crazy-busy, we can still get a solid education in our day for Tuna without having to send her to the big brick block down the road. As a matter of fact, I still think what we're doing is superior to the public school system, particularly because it demonstrates self-discipline during busy times, and adaptation based on personal needs.
One thing I've learned this year: Our educational needs vary from season to season, year to year, and even week to week. Being flexible and creative helps ensure Tuna gets the best education I can offer.
I usually talk about Tuna on this blog, but this was fun to compile for a Facebook game going around, and I thought I'd share it here so you could all know a little bit about Tuna's mom. ;) 1. When I was five years old, maybe a bit younger, I was excited to try my new skates in front of my house. The old man who lived next door, Mr. Costa, told me I was going to fall and get hurt if I skated. That's exactly what happened. Two bloody (scarred, now) knees. I thought for years he caused my fall.
2. I can't eat meat if there's any sign there was even once a bone attached to it, and if I see anything vein-like, I'm done. No skin. No fat. That pretty much limits my meat consumption. I think I could be a vegetarian except whenever I try I miss meat. Weird.
3. I hate confrontation to the point that I will avoid it at almost all costs. But if confrontation is what you provoke out of me, you will awaken a beast and I just might take you by surprise.
4. During seasons of insomnia (just about every summer), I use movies to lull myself to sleep. I'll use the same movie for several nights in a row. One of the movies that is best at getting me to sleep is The Exorcist. Remember that if #3 applies to you.
5. Like He Who Must Not Be Named, I feel like I leave little horcruxes behind at all of our duty stations. Only, I don't kill people (see number 3), but rather I find little places I love dearly, or people I hate to leave behind, so I feel like I leave a part of me with them. I am spread across the globe.
6. I was raised on a small farm. When I was about ten years old, one of our old, crotchety ducks named Dickie flew full force into my left temple. That was the first time I actually "saw stars" and understood.
7. I think my house is haunted. I do not think every one of my houses is haunted, but this one is different. I do believe in spooks. I do believe in spooks. I do, I do, I do believe in spooks.
8. I remember in smells and sounds. A song will come on the radio and I'll think to myself, "ninth grade" or "that time we went roller skating" ...or I'll smell something and think "grandpa" or "my mother's perfume" -- and when we PCSed to Fort Benning, around the Alabama mark, I started smelling the salty air of the ocean coming from the coasts. Yes, that far away. I can also smell snow coming.
9. I don't want all the best things in life. I want all the simplest things. A small house. A tiny car. A simple existance. I'm not out to keep up with the Joneses.
1.) Having a child, who doesn't fit perfectly into a square mold, in public school is exhausting, both physically and mentally. I recently got back from a marathon conference with my oldest daughter's principal, vice principal, and guidance staff about how she's "not fitting in" and they all basically told me that Bay is claiming she's being bullied and that there are vicious rumors spreading about her, only, Bay is the only one telling them, so it must be in her head. Like, they're interviewing the alleged rumor mill and they're all -gasp!- denying saying nasty things about my daughter. They asked me if Bay sees someone in mental health. They told me I should get her involved in the church. She is not an average ninth grader. For starters, she dresses like an adult, no hoodies and sweat pants for Bay. Second, we're fairly certain she's dyslexic (and I got them to agree to testing today). She's awkward socially. And she's not a perfect student academically. She doesn't fit into their little mold. Also, she's being gossiped about by more than one adult in the school. Yeah. We have never, not once, had a smooth year with the public school system. We've had a teacher ask Bay if she forgot to take her ADD medicine before in front of the entire class (in second grade, and no, she wasn't on any medication, nor did she have any diagnoses of any sort). We've had teachers lose work. We've had schools refuse to deal with physical violence. So if you're wondering if homeschool is for you, reread this entry in my blog. The system is awful. Thankfully, we've only got 3.5 years left in it. I don't know how we'd handle any more. I really sincerely never want Tuna to go to school. Ever. (Oh, and yes, there's only one reason in this post. We can talk about more reasons later.) In other news, check out our view on the way home from that meeting. I love Bavaria.
Please bare with me as I try to write a novel in less than thirty days. NaNoWriMo is consuming my existence. This is a new addition in my delicately balanced life, so give me a week to adjust and I will be back to posting.
Meanwhile, we've shaken up our entire fifth grade curriculum in preparation for Moving Beyond the Page for sixth grade. I've all but ditched Life of Fred. As it gets to the middle grades, it gets muddy and I do not need muddy. We're just reading Story of the World, not doing maps, which we've found do nothing to improve geography skills, and we've stopped doing the activity book completely. We're ditching Elemental Science. It's so dull that it's hard to pick up and do. We are only on week three. It's not worth it. Gone. We're going to do some experiments, nature study, and dissections, and study some scientists. Still going strong: Brave Writer. Added: math games weekly, some awesome trivia cards called Brain Quest, flash card work, and a math workbook.
Today is our last geology class with the co-op. It's been a wonderful addition to Tuna's education, and we're sad that it's over, but those five hours a week will be a welcomed addition to our schedule.
See you in a week, hopefully with well over half of my novel finished.
As I was scrounging the Internet and Pinterest for homeschool + middle school + Thanksgiving, I noticed something. It doesn't exist. All the Thanksgiving homeschool stuff is for little kids. Gluing popcorn onto paper cobs. Toilet paper tube pilgrims. Feather headbands and paper pilgrim hats and stick pilgrim houses. Nothing for the big kids. Well, it's out there. It's just hard to find and there's not enough of it. So, I'm going it alone, forging the way for my middle grader. Over the next thirty days, I'll share Thanksgiving teaching ideas: lessons, crafts, recipes, projects. Tuna and I are embarking on 30 Days of Thanksgiving. Won't you join us? Here's our plan for activities: Sundays: nature and science activities Mondays: art activities Tuesdays: poetry activities Wednesdays: cooking activities Thursdays: videos and movies Fridays: reading and writing activities Saturdays: craft activities Day 1 We're thankful for... Tuna: I'm thankful for having parents. That's my top priority. I have to have parents. Mom: NaNoWriMo, which has inspired me to finally put pen to paper (or, well, keyboard to word processing software) and write my first novel. Activity: Sign up to receive letters from a Pilgrim girl and Wampanoag Boy in your email throughout November. Link is under the header "Letters from the new world" on the right side of the page. Begin working through the lesson plan here. We aren't doing all the writing. We're just picking one writing activity and doing that.
