Now what?

Rambling #2 (see previous post for why this is #2)

A little history: Back in 1994, I was visiting teaching (a Mormon thing) at a Lois Upton-Rowley's house and her teen age daughter walked through the living room and into the kitchen. It was a traditional school day and my first thought was, "How dare this mom let her daughter's germ get to my baby." (I had my four month old with me.) So I politely asked why her daughter was home from school. She told me that she was homeschooled. 

Oh, goodness. What is this "homeschooled" thing? We had a rather lengthy conversation about it. She ended up giving me a notice for a state wide conference that was just in a few weeks. 

I drug my husband and two children (2 years old and 4 months) to that conference and drank the Kool-aid. I was in! 

Fast forward to April 2016, and six kids later. My baby just took the entrance exam for Bellevue College's Running Start program and got in. I'm done!

Now what?

About three years ago a friend who didn't homeschool and is just a bit older than I warned me (I was in a group of women so it wasn't so drastic as this will sound) that once your baby is out of the house and it is just you and your husband and he isn't ready to retire and you aren't willing to get a minimum wage job, you better find something or you will go crazy.  "Take it from me," she said, "Capital C, capital R, capital A, capital Z, capital Y with lots of exclamation points after."

Thankfully I listened and got certified as a personal trainer. I have my personal training, but I really need more clients as the middle of my day next year will be silent. I have one more month of where the middle of my day is still homeschooled focus, but after that..."Now what?"

Maybe I volunteer at some cancer thing...
Maybe I go back to school...
Maybe I market myself to pieces...
Maybe I study on my own...
Maybe I teach PE in private schools...
Maybe I take a nap....

But I'm so glad I homeschooled. Best 22 years of my life! I wouldn't trade them for anything. I have life long memories with my children and boy did I learn a lot. 

Homeschooling

I'm grateful for the past 22 years for the chance to homeschool my children. I won't lie, there have been many bumps in the road, but I eventually learned how to smooth them out, go around them or make them part of our life. 

I say this because after 22 years of homeschooling, I'm in the middle of my second to last year and I'm facing some tough decisions. 

First, what to do with ten book cases of books?
Second, what am I going to do next?
Third, how to deal with the emotional drain packing up ten book cases cause? I want to blame the dust for my tears, but I really think it is the memories.

Lewis and Clark (What a trip--three weeks across the USA!)
Baseball (Junior sure made that unit fun!)
Gardening/Botany (I should let my kids do the garden every year.)
Human Body (What is connect to what?)
Dissections (GROSS! I still faint at the smell of earthworms.)
History of US (
British Royalty (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded and lived--or something like that.)
Cooking (I should do that one every year, they know what's for dinner and when it is.)
Geography (Now where is Liechtenstein anyway?)
Geology (Baking soda, vinegar, food coloring and a mop.)
Chemistry (I'm still not sure how I taught that!)
Flight (I still can't believe he let Kray fly that plane!)
Washington State History (Road Trip!)
Weather (How many of you have a Stevenson Screen?)

Frogs! Gross!

Stevenson Screen

Freedom

Editor's note:

I was asked to write a "patriotic" article for an upcoming LDS-NHA publication. It is supposed to be 500-700 words in length, but of course I couldn't help myself and I wrote more, about twice as more as they wanted. I really, really hate butchering my articles, but I had to for the publication but I really liked the article I originally wrote. Here is that article, the long one:

Freedom

By Doreen Blanding

Norman Rockwell painted a set of paintings called the

Four Freedoms

He painted these in 1943 in the midst of World War II. Our brave young men, who are now our great-grandfathers, were “over there” fighting for our freedoms. He painted these four paintings, Freedom from Fear, Freedom from Want, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Worship in just four months. He was inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 speech about the four principles for universal rights: Freedom from Want, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Worship and Freedom from Fear.

Since our family studied Norman Rockwell many years ago, I’ve taken a keen interest in his work. I’ve always loved his style of painting and loved the truthfulness, warmth, love and life he portrayed in each and every painting. As I look at these paintings I see four things that I want my children never to take for granted and to always treasure. Of course we have these freedoms because of the blood many generations have shed for us. From Nephi’s men to the soldier who fell just last week, they all have fought for the land of freedom.

The scriptures have promised us that this land will be the Land of Promise if we live righteously. “And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath shall come upon them” (Ether 2:9).

Our freedoms in the Land of Promise are predicated on our choosing to serve God. As Joshua said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) We get to keep the freedoms our forefathers worked out for us over 200 years ago because of our righteousness. It is my duty to see to it that my children are protectors of the Land of Promise.

“Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—with be held accountable before God for these discharge of these obligations.” (The Family: A Proclamation to the World)

I have the sacred duty of making sure my children are free from want, from fear and free to speak and worship as they will. As I homeschool my children I instill in them these freedoms every day and in every lesson. I have taught them that even if life gets tough we have Heavenly Father on our side and we shouldn’t fear. I remember sitting around the television on September 11, 2001, and thinking to myself as well as expressing to my children that we shouldn’t be afraid. We had been following the commandments of God and we will be protected and even if something were to happen to us we had been baptized and sealed together as a family. I knew that we shouldn’t fear what happened or what will happen, as long as we are righteous and obey the commandments. I still feel the same today and so do my children. We are truly free from fear.

The freedom from want is one that I feel strongly obligated to teach my sons. They will one day be the head of a household and have to provide for their family. I want them to be able to get and keep a good and honest job that will allow them to be good citizen, a wonderful father, a faithful husband as well as an obedient Priesthood holder. I want their families to never fear because their cupboard is empty or their father is gone. I only have one daughter and I want her to be able to choose a young man like the ones I am raising. I want her to never fear where her next meal will be coming from or if her family will have enough. That means I need to educate my children so that they can be good family members, citizens and spouses. I want my children to always live free from want.

The founding fathers put “freedom of speech” as part of the first amendment to the United States Constitution. They thought it so important that the citizens of the United States of America have the ability to speak their minds and hearts. It is upon this principle that the gospel was able to reach my great-grandfather in Alabama. It was on this principle that two young men in 1972 found my husband’s family and were able to speak their minds and hearts about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thankfully both of these families join the Church and today practice the freedom of speech. I can attest that my children are not afraid to speak their minds and do so regularly. One day my sons and maybe even my daughter will be able to practice their freedom of speech as they take the gospel message to others who are seeking the truth. We are free to speak.

Along with freedom of speech, the first Amendment also says that Congress can “…make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” As our family has been studying different cultures the past few years, our hearts are sadden when we read about governments who had or still have laws dictating to their citizens what and who they will call their gods and who and how they will worship. As my family has studies our family history in our school we have found that our family has not always enjoyed the freedom of worship. In the 1840’s Norwegians didn’t welcome the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our family suffered greatly because of the persecution. In the 1500’s our family was thrown out of two countries for their religious beliefs and that same family was thrown out of England in the 1600’s because they worshiped differently than the government told them to. I never want my children to fear because of how they worship. We are free to worship.

As the United States of America celebrates its 232th birthday, think about the freedoms we enjoy. Not just the four freedoms that Norman Rockwell painted about, but the freedoms we get because we live in the free country we do. The freedom we get because we are serving the Lord and the freedoms we get because we are a Child of God. My family, like those in Normal Rockwell’s paintings, is free from want and fear, free to speak and worship and we are free to choose life, love, happiness and righteousness. My God always bless us with freedom forever.

Our History isn't Sanitized

In our study of just the American history for the past few years we have learned that our history is full of woes as well as wonderful and pleasant things. There is no way getting around the brutality of human struggles and their nasty outcomes.

There is no way you can sanitize what really happened. People murdered each other, fought amongst their own, enslaved them too. When you add "mother nature" into the mix it can get even more nasty.

There was an email I read from another homeschooling mom who was mortified that when she watched a documentary about Colonial America there was a rather violent accident shown in graphic detail. She is very upset that her young children saw it and wanted to know if there was a place to go and read previews that would tell you how violent a documentary is. Of course there is not such website that I have found that does something like this, but if we want to sanitize our history then we need to stop teaching truth. What she needs to do is to preview the DVD before she shows it to her children.

There is no way that you can sanitize our history; what happened, happened. When we go about changing things then we run the risk of repeating history because we don't know history and therefore can't learn from it.

Right now my children and I are studying World War I and the times that surround it. The United States had a huge influx of immigrants during the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the families who came were extremely poor. Throw that into the industrial revolution and you have a recipe for disaster and that is exactly what happened. America had small children working, terrible housing conditions, poor wages, sweat shops and unsafe work conditions. This all was awful.

About this time photography was booming and so today we have a lot of pictures from that era. Film was just coming into its own and so we have moving pictures that we can watch as well. As my children and I are watching what really happened back then, I'm glad the movie producers and book editors have kept real life in the documentaries we have seen. I want my children to know about child labor, how awful war can be, how awful life without an education is and how hard many of the immigrants had to work just to put food on their table. I want my kids to really know what history was so they don't repeat the bad stuff and learn from the good stuff.

After all the Bible is full of pretty violent and "icky" stuff and yet, we are asked, if not commanded, to read. Why? So we can learn from the good and bad stuff. Life isn't sanitary, it is messy, but we all need to know about reality. As Miss Frizzle says, "

What no Recess?

A few days ago (Saturday, December 2, 2006) I was reading an article in my local newspaper, "The Seattle Times," with the headline "Elementary schools increasingly restrict or ban recess for kids" This article is about a national trend to rid the public schools of recess. The article says that 40% of schools have eliminated recess or are thinking about it. The two reasons they gave were ridiculous! The first was the fear of liability and the second was so that more time can be spent in instruction. "That fear of liability and the pressure to prepare students for high-stakes testing have spurred thousands of schools to cut recess and physical education -- usually in favor of increasing math and reading instruction." I don't think I want to be in a nation where kids don't play anymore.

What has this world come to? We have become a nation where coffee is too hot, guacamole doesn't have enough avocado and now slides are too slippery, asphalt is to hard and heaven forbid a child might trip over their shoelace (oh that's right we now have velcro).
"Running at recess was banned last year in Broward County, Fla. In October, officials at the elementary school south of Boston banned tag and touch football. Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo. And Spokane banned tag during recess. And this past summer, Portland public schools eliminated swings from their playgrounds, along with merry-go-rounds, tube slides, track rides, arch climbers and teeter-totters."
How ridiculous is this? When are we going to pull out all the trees God gave us because the kids might fall out of them and do what little boys do; break an arm?

Public schools are consistently teaching to the test, especially here in Washington where we teach to the WASL. They teach so much to the test that art, music and now play are being pushed out of our children's lives! This is a shame! "But with all the other subjects we're mandated to have, all we have left for recess is 15 minutes." We are so fixated on the goal (but I'm not sure what the goal is and I'm not sure they do either) we are forgetting to look out the side windows of this fast moving train at the scenery. We are forgetting to get on our hands and knees and play horsey. We aren't playing tag anymore, kick the can, kick ball, rounders and all the other fun games we played as children on the playground. Our children aren't playing them either. We are too busy to teach our children so we left it to the public schools. Now we aren't teaching our children to play and we left it to the public schools but now they are giving play up because they have to teach to some test that is going to tell us our kids don't know anything. Well let me tell you something, our kids don't know anything because they aren't outside making their heart pump, blood circulate and or making synapses inside their brain. They are so concerned with facts that they are forgetting the fun! Boys and girls should be outside running and jumping. They should be out there picking sides for a kickball game, solving conflicts because someone "missed the base." Kids NEED TO PLAY!

"If we continue to eliminate physically vigorous games that help strengthen children's circulation, their strength and muscular conditioning, then just like a river, their bodies become susceptible to disease," say Rhonda Clements, a former president of the American Association for the Child's Right to Play. (She is also a professor of education at Manhattanville College in New York and has written or edited nine books on the value of child's play.)

"The most recent numbers from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention show that 17 percent of children and adolescents are overweight."

If the kids aren't playing at school then they must get it at home. But they aren't getting it at home. At home their head is stuck in front of a screen so they can "relax, and veg out" since they worked so hard at school and are facing HOURS of homework. Our kids aren't playing with the neighbor kids. The kids aren't climbing trees, riding bikes and playing stick ball in the street. I will admit it isn't safe out there because of all the loonies running around BUT they don't even get the chance to do that, there is no time because they are busy doing homework or "vegging out."

I also want to know where and when the kids are going to blow off steam? I know that while working on a very mentally taxing project, if I schedule in some breaks I work better and smarter. I actually save time by exercising. I get up at 5 every morning to go spend an hour exercising so that my day runs smoother. When I turn off my alarm and miss my workout my days don't go so well, even with the extra hour or so of sleep. I wonder how these kids are going to make it. How will they be able to work smarter on those dreaded tests?

America wants to move to the head of the class so badly they are forgetting that the beauty is in the journey and the goal should be to learn in all areas of their life. Math, science, English, history, art, music and physical education. There is seldom joy in life when it just one sided. We don't need extremely "smart kids" we need extremely well rounded healthy kids in America. We need kids who know how to lead because they learned how to lead on the play ground. We need kids who know how to play by the rules and not cheat. We need kids who are healthy because they know how to play and have fun. We need recess!

Life is School and Love is the Lesson

I saw this saying on the bumper of a car a few weeks ago and I have been thinking about it ever since.

There is a lot of truth in this saying. Our school motto is "Life is school and school is life," and if you add that "love is the lesson" we have a complete curriculum.

What better way to teach spelling, science, math, language arts, social studies, history, etc. than through love. It doesn't matter the book, what matters is the attitude of the student and the teacher. I believe that when both the teacher and student love each other and approach their academic studies with love then you recipe for success.

If you take the love out, learning doesn't necessarily stop, it just takes a bit more time, more head aches and more planning.

When you homeschool you already have that love part because of the child-mother relationship unlike in a traditional school setting. That doesn't mean that traditional teachers don't love their students and the students their teachers, but there is something more between a mother and child.

I'm not sure if it is "illegal" for teacher to hug their students when they do a wonderful job on an assignment, but I can only imagine it is with all the law suits that land in court. As a mother I constantly hug my kids when they do well and when they don't do well. I know students don't get to sit in their teacher's laps during story time, but my kids do. I know that when there is a bad day, we can talk about it and work through it and make a bad day turn out to be an OK day if not a great day.

As we enter a new school year, I hope that I can add to our school motto, "Life is school and school if life and love is the lesson." Yeah, I think that sounds better; now I just need to change our website.

Doreen

I Believe in Miracles

A week before the 6th WALDSFE conference I sent an email to the other board member, Robin, to ask her what thoughts were about a new idea I had to fix a problem I thought we had; no one showing up for the annual WALDSFE conference. My idea was to hold three or four mini conferences in my home. We have a rather large basement and could put 20, maybe even 30 people down there in a classroom setting. We have a large screen TV that is hooked up for Power Point presentations. If we need it we could even put a smaller class in my family room. This sounds like a great solution to WALDSFE's financial problem. Our problem is a simple one. It costs close to $4,000 to put on the yearly homeschool conference, even with a switch to a less expensive venue, and we just don't have the number of people we need to pay for the conference.

But a miracle happened June 10th in Redmond, Washington. I had about 60 people pre-register and for the conference and in the past only about 20 show up for at the door registration. I prepared for such, but I think there was 40 who showed up at the door. I also had two extra vendors appear in the last week or two to help our cash flow. In fact even though the deli screwed up my order and charged us more for the sandwiches (I checked back in March they were less than $6 and by conference time they were over $6) I think we made money this year. That will hopefully make up for the past six years when we were in the red.

But even more than the financial boost, this conference was one that just made my heart sing. We had a great set of presenters. Everyone spoke with such conviction and with the Spirit. The vendors were just awesome. The attendees were even better! But to top if off for me was the set of teens that showed up. I got to be with them for three of the hours and they just were awesome!

I don't know who it was who leaned over my back and whispered in my ear, "Thank you," while my friend Jolene speak. I had made up my mind to announce that we are going to do the idea I had proposed to my board member. Dang it! If I didn't have the Spirit whisper to me, "not yet, not yet." I took the microphone and broke down. How could I tell these faithful parents that we aren't doing this again? How could I look into those eyes and say I won't share my knowledge, passion and experience?

The jury is still out as my husband would like me to take a break if not for the financial reason at least for the time and energy that I give up. I'm thinking of maybe doing both. A few mini conferences here at my house and a major conference. I just can't give up preaching the gospel of homeschooling because I believe in miracles.

My Little Red Wagon

When I was a little girl, I had a little red wagon, well by the time I got it, being child #6, it wasn't so red anymore and it was pretty beat up, but it still had four wheels that were more or less still round and the handle still worked even will all the rope wrapped around the handle from my older brothers trying to tie it to their bikes. I still loved it.

That wagon was as many things to me as I could imagine. It was a covered wagon when I wanted to play "Little House on the Prairie." It was my station wagon when I played "House" with all my baby dolls tucked in with their blankets. It was front row behind the home team dugout when we played ball (the baby dolls had to cheer me on). It was a dump truck when I played in the sand. It was many things, but mostly it was where I put my treasures as I went around the neighborhood. Leaves, flowers, "gold" nuggets, "silver" nuggets, bottle caps, chewed tennis balls, and sticks found their way into my wagon. I recall with fondness the day I found a bicycle reflector and taped it on the back of my wagon. It was wonderful.

Now that I’m grown up and have responsibilities (or that's what they tell my I'm supposed to have done these past almost 40 years) I still have a wagon that I get to put things I find as I walk around the neighborhood. Today I found a book on nutrition that I might want to thumb through later tonight. Yesterday, I found a website on protozoa, that might come in handy when I want to study microbiology. Sometime someone suggests something I should put in my wagon, like the scriptures. I find all sorts of wonderful stuff to put in my wagon as I take this journey called life.

Every now and then it gets a bit heavy and I need to take out some of the stuff that was once a treasure but is now baggage, or stuff that I really don't need anymore, or that I've already used and it is time for someone else to find it. That's when I sit down and examine what is in my wagon.

Today I found an article on how to study the scriptures more earnestly that I had placed in my wagon in 1999. After reading the pages, I think I will keep this one for a little while longer as I ponder on the words as I pull my wagon along. I found an article on how to potty train a child; don't need that one anymore now that my youngest is five. Out it goes to make room for something else. I'll put that in the give to someone else pile. I found an Ensign article on how to talk to teens; I knew I would need it, just didn't know when I would need it. I think I will sit down and read it from beginning to end right now since my teens and I aren't communicating so well. I found the set of scriptures I keep in my wagon, dog eared, well worn, well marked and well loved. These have yet to leave my wagon and every morning they greet me on top of my wagon load of things to ponder on, today, tomorrow or eventually.

As mothers we collect a lot of information on how to better ourselves, our families, and our relationships. Sometimes the information isn't applicable today or may even seem like it will ever be applicable to us, but if we just place it in our wagon, we can decide later to use it or toss it. Our minds can remember remarkable things if we just let them. Here is where pondering on what we have in our wagons is so important. They work even better when we listen to the Spirit direct us.

Just the other day I came upon a parenting situation where I needed something from my wagon that I had heard many moons ago. Thankfully, I hadn't tossed it and quickly found it in the dark recesses of my wagon. I quickly looked at that information that so long ago in a Homemaking Meeting was presented (see how long ago that was) and refreshed my memory. I then put what I had learned into practice.

Just the other day on a homeschooling emailing group there was a discussion on parenting techniques and how each of us use different techniques on different children, but all in the same family. I thought about the techniques I have learned about and put in my wagon to use for later.

I'm thankful I have placed them there because what isn't the key to a child's heart might be tomorrow or next year. What might work for one child might not for another, and I have a bunch of keys to try when the time comes.

As Alma tells his son, "O, remember, remember…." we too need to remember the things we place in our little red wagons that we carry around with us. What we hear about today, might not be pertinent today, but who knows what tomorrow will bring? If we listen to the Holy Spirit tell us what to put in our wagons and what to take out and when to use it or where to find it, our lives will be better because we hung on to treasures we put in our little red wagons.

WALDSFE Conference 2006

Since 2000 I have put on or helped put on a yearly LDS Homeschool Conference. I almost didn't do this, but I signed on the dotted line yesterday. Every year I think of all the work, money, and energy that goes into it and think maybe I shouldn't do it again. Each year the numbers go down and I'm afraid that we won't break even. For a few years it wasn't a problem, but of late, it has become a problem.

I'm not sure why I'm going it again this year except I feel it is my duty as a veteran homeschooler to continue the tradition. I also feel that there are many out there who need help getting their feet under them. There are other who need a pick me up. The ones who I want so desperately to come are those who "have been there done that" but don't come because they think they know it all. I will disagree. I've been at this for 14 years and every conference I go to I learn something new or in a different way that can help me. But the most important thing I get from conferences is the knowledge that I'm not the only one and there is a sense of strength in our synergy.

So here I go again, putting together another homeschool conference. I just hope it is the best yet.

Doreen

The School Bus

On the back of my van there is a sticker that says "Homeschool Bus." I purchased it at a state curriculum fair and I put it on my van immediately. Our van, a green, 15 passenger Ford Econoline Van, is a bus, might as well tell the world what kind of bus. Of course we have had comments on the bumper sticker, but most of the comments come from my own inner thoughts as I drive through my home town.

I leave the home rather early to make it to therapy appointments for injuries sustained in an auto accident. No, I wasn't in my van, I was in my husband's little sports car. On the corner of my street is a school bus stop. As I drive by in the darkness of the morning around 7, I can't help but think about my children still tucked in bed, snoring away unaware that their friends are standing in the pouring rain waiting for the school bus.

I wonder about those heavy back backs that none of the youth can carry properly because that wouldn't be cool or they are just plain too heavy. I wonder about how those children can stand in the cold rain waiting for the bus without a coat. I know their parents aren't that poor. I wonder about those who have the speakers suck in their ears from their IPods. Do they hear their classmate's "good morning"? Of course not since all of them have some sort of ear paraphernalia and are too tired to speak.

I continue my drive to the downtown area and I follow this bus, stopping at all the corners, picking up more students as it slowly creeps along. I keep kicking myself for not leaving 30 seconds earlier so I can be on the other side of the bus instead of stopping every block for the yellow, then red lights.

I watch the bus drive by the lower income apartments that aren't too far from my home. I think what a great thing public school is for these kids whose parents work to provide them with the basics. These children aren't much different than those standing at my corner. Some of them don't have coats, but I don't wonder if it is because they can't afford them or they too choose not to wear them. I see things dangling from their ears. I see eyes looking at the ground just like those that got on earlier avoiding eye contact with the other kids on the bus.

As the bus finally turns the corner to go up "Educational Hill" I continue to think of those children with those heavy back packs slung over their shoulders. What are they going to learn today? What are they going to go home too? What are they going to learn in class today? Do their teachers care for them? Do those children know how lucky they are to have an education?

My thoughts turn back to my own children? What are we going to learn today? Did I prepare my lessons thoughtfully? Do I care for them? Do my children know how lucky they are to have an education? As I return home and start the day these thoughts still linger with me.

In the afternoon, as my children are playing we watch the school bus go by in the opposite direction, headlights on as it is after 4:00 and very dark. How luck are my children to be done with school, no homework, no reports to go research, nothing to do but have fun, learn and be part of a family. It sure makes our evenings less hectic.

I'm still thinking about that school bus, the one sitting in my driveway with over 100,000 miles on it that has taken my children to places no other school bus could take them. We've been to Grandma's house, Disneyland, Zion National Park, we've followed the Lewis and Clark trail (link here), we gone to Canada, the Red Wood forest, Temple Square, the beach, the ocean, Deception Pass, Whidbey Island, Fort Nisqually, the Puget Sound, Fort Casey and more places we can't even remember. It has also taken us to places that are closer to home and I guess the yellow school bus could take the public school kids there, but we prefer our little school bus to take us to the library, the park, the store, the movies, the aquarium, the zoo, the museum and basically through life.

Where has your "school bus" gone lately?

Doreen

One Hundred Twenty-one Miles

Every Tuesday I fill up my gas tank just after my therapy appointment. When I do this I reset the trip odometer to see how far I go on a tank of gas. I noticed that last Tuesday I drove 121 miles before I called it quits for the day.

Let see where I went.
Home from therapy in Bellevue
Jason's drum lessons in Redmond
Jessie music class in Redmond
Pick Kray and Andrea up from class & drop her off in Redmond
Jessie's ballet class in Duvall
Mike, Matt and Chris art class in Redmond
Kray and Jason to theater class in Duvall (pick up Jessie)
Pick up Mike, Matt and Chris at art class in Redmond
Back to Duvall to pick up Kray and Jason
Drop Kray and Jason off at game night in Redmond (but it is almost Bellevue)
Run by a pizza shop to get dinner
Run by library to drop off over due library books.
Home--finally (hopefully I don't have to go and get Kray and Jason at 10)

And to think I didn't go anywhere--just drove 121 miles today!

Doreen

Helaman's Academy

Well, if we are going to be friends then you must know everything about me (or at least the parts I want you to). One part that is awful hard to hide is the fact that we are a homeschooling family. It just is the way our family operates now. We have homeschooled since the get go and haven't looked back.

It is the most rewarding and yet tiring thing we have ever done. Right now at this juncture in our life we are trying to figure out how to do middle and high school. It is a challenge when the subject matter is more involved and time consuming. I know that we should give my high schooler the responsibility of his own education, but he hasn't shown that maturity that needs to be there to carry it out. I'm hoping that in the next few months (not years) he shows that maturity and desire. But until then….

I'm totally enjoying learning with my kids. I sometimes have to stop and think, am I doing this for them or me? I'm learning so much. I'm constantly reminded how truly enjoyable learning can be. I just hope that I can share that with my children.

Right now our major course of learning (we do unit studies) is a general science study and poetry. I'm having fun relearning my love of poetry and really understanding science for the first time. I don't know how I missed all this great stuff!

My oldest is in math that I just give assignments and correct. Hopefully he understands it and when he doesn't dear old math genius Steve gets to step in and help out. My second child is still at a place in his math, where if I read the text I can help him out, but he is slowly getting to a place where I'm going to have to turn it over to dear old dad. I can handle the rest of the children--after all I'm retaking 4th grade math now for the third time. I hope by the sixth time through I get to pass it. ~big smile~

Writing is where we fall down. As much as I love to write, my kids just don't have that love. Even my husband keeps a blog and writes a ton of game reviews for his business, but my kids just don't have that love. Somehow I have to get them to write--hence the poetry unit. I have a sinking feeling that come due date, no one will have their poetry notebook in a state of readiness and I will either give in or throw a fit. And when you don't write, spelling is awful! My oldest has worse spelling than I do, but it is his own fault. He refuses to learn. The rest of them are pretty good. We also have a problem with a few of the kids handwriting. But I'm learning how to fix that problem and so are they.

Science and history are our very strong passions. I am more for the history part but I force myself to do at least two science units a year, and am growing to love it. Right now you could say I have a strong like for science.

We love history so much that when we studied Lewis and Clark we took a almost 4 week vacation and drove back to St. Louis and follow their trail (as best we could) back to Washington. Talk about a trip of a lifetime! You can read about it here . Just click on the icon in the middle of the page "Coup of Disharmony" or you can start it here.

One of our favorite subject is reading. We are a reading family. When I get around to it, I'm going to add book reviews to this blog. We need to find a new book to read as a family, but I kind of let January be a month off from a family book, mostly because of a ski trip and because I lost my voice for about two weeks. I had enough of a voice that I could teach the unit lessons and then I had to stop. It is coming back and I can almost sing again. I've got to find a new book to read as a family and although my bookshelves are full of great books, I just don't know what to read. I'll have to ponder on that this week.

Now if you really want to know about our homeschooling, check our website out. Somewhere in that large website you will find out all about us. But if you don't have time or don't really care, just remember this one thing--I LOVE HOMESCHOOLING and so do my kids! (sorry but I no longer support the website) 

Doreen