Homeschool Happenings Around Here

Last year, which was our inaugural Homeschool Attempt, I had given myself the goal of Having My Shit Together by the end of October.  And, low and behold, we somehow did.  

We found our groove and held onto it for dear life and continued strong into November and December, made it through the holidays unscathed and past January and the snow and even through February, that dreary month where Homeschool Blogs warn about "the February Slump" and discuss that just about everybody falls off in February, and somehow we didn't, we just kept going into March, and by then, we'd trucked through enough days of real, actual learning to know that we could slack now and then and still be done (according to the law) long before June.  And so, as it warmed up, we took more days off and explored the backyard, and then came back and hit school hard and mixed that up for a while until it was June, and we (I mean I) put together the portfolios that were no longer legally necessary in PA and had our wonderful evaluator come by and then, wham!  It was done.  

And now it's another end-of-October and, I can safely say, We Have Our Shit Together, again.  I have mentioned previously that we started light, in the summer still, here and there when it was disgusting hot outside or when it just felt right to crack open the books.  September brought a slacker week that we spent doing Not-Back-To-School activities with our Homeschool Group.  And, we even had two road trips in between now and then, a weekend and a week, where we did No School.  I had quite an enlightening moment in the beginning of the year when I realized, not by thinking of it the first time as it was information that I knew already, but I guess actually realizing, that instead of just teaching Riley "kindergarten" around the big kids' schooling last year, that she was actually in the mix, the real-deal mix this year as a Bona-Fide 1st Grader, seeing how we had clearly finished Kinder last year.  It was a real Oh Shit moment, let me tell you, to now have 3 "real" homeschoolers to keep tabs on, instead of 2 and a pretty-easy Kinder and a toddler to keep underfoot.  I quickly threw together a 3rd portfolio binder and ordered a 1st Grade math program and off we went.  

I was not concerned about RJ and any "preschool" in the least.  Honestly, just being in this family, he gets enough homeschool off-gassing that he is just fine.  I think the "Homeschool Preschool" curriculum out on the 'net is, a crock of shit, for the most part.  I much prefer natural exposure to learning for that age of children.  But, as a natural consequence of being the 4th in a homeschooling family, he was like, "Where the heck is MY school, Mom??"  So I printed him some stuff, grabbed some workbooks that Riley had never used, and sat him down when he requested it, which was pretty often, I must say, and as he already has letter and number recognition down pat, worked on letter and number writing, tracing shapes, sorting, classifying, identifying and all kinds of other wonderful things. 

In the meantime, we were watching my same-RJ-aged nephew on Tuesdays and Thursdays while his mama does her student-teaching locally.  This nephew goes to preschool part-time from 9 to 12, so here we are, walking him across the street to preschool and picking him up 4 times a week.  So then, I had this brilliant idea to let RJ go to school WITH him during that same time.  Mostly so he can hang out with his cuz, but also to have an opportunity to see what he is like in a school setting (since the other 3 all had something at some point) and lastly, it does allow me to devote some real hardcore time to office work during those hours, as the other 3 can be set up to work independently during that time.  Much to our surprise, and despite my 3-minute long speech to the teachers of potential RJ disaster areas, he is, at school, a perfect-behaving little bean.  So far.  Really, he could be just getting warmed up.  Time will tell...

RJ and Cuz on RJ's 1st Day of Preschool, wearing a Steam Train shirt and Thomas hat, of course. 

And so here are a few pictures of Us and School to add to my boring verbage about how our Homeschool Has Its Shit Together this year.  Sadly, and I must take note of this, there aren't any pictures of my completely independent and totally responsible 7th grader doing his work.  

We really like Riley's new math program.  It's interactive and uses counters a lot to show how the math works, checks skills and has tests.

RJ still hasn't chosen one hand or the other yet, he uses both interchangeably. 

Indy needs non-traditional "seating" to do her best work...

Sometimes, when you're 5, your writing for the day is copying sentences about How To Behave Properly in public.  And not embarrass the living shit out of your mother. 

Sometimes, Art Class is outside.  The Person She Loves the Most, as drawing is entitled, is Me.  Yeah, my kids Rock.

Sometimes, all those Amazon boxes can be used for projects. 

Play-Doh is great for school breaks. 

Working hard... on something that is NOT school!  You're busted, Riley!

Sometimes, school involves chores first, like putting away the dishes. 

Or, doing the dishes. 

Riley the Distracted got her desk moved to the living room in hopes that she can concentrate better...

Although she still does best with Hands-On activities, like creating, with Mud and Dirt.

This guy had quite the surprise in store for us, when he sat down and colored, pretty much for the first time ever, and whipped out this Multiple-Color-Usage, Stay-In-The-Lines, Appropriate-Use-Of-Colors set of Masterpieces... we never knew, dude!  Mostly because you Just. Do. Not. Stay. Still!!

And here he is switched back to the left hand (see right hand use above).  Amazing, bud, simply amazing!  That plus your love of singing, and that crying-if-Chase-doesn't-let-you-play-his-trombone thing you do, you are gonna be one Artsy, Musical Guy!

And then, if we weren't busy enough, because sometimes God is a Laughing God, and because just when Everything's Great, and your back-up vehicle fits just the 6 of you and no more (for those days when your Daily Driver Diesel decides it needs a little Engine Attention), and you have reached that point of Travel-With-No-Bags-And-Strollers and "Go Potty, Getchur' Shoes On and Get In The Car is a reality, well, then this happens:

Riley says it's an Alien, and RJ took the 3D pic into preschool for Show-And-Tell for Letter D, for Dinosaur... but it's most likely either a Boy, or a Girl, due to arrive in early April 2016.  

Fall is Here

Fall being here generally means I can update my kid ages.  Indy turns 10 a few days after the first official day of fall, and then the 95-day stretch in between the beginning of kid birthdays and the end of kid birthdays is over.  June, July, August and finally, September, knocks 'em all out.

Like this:

Chaser turns 12.  12!!  Omg. 

He is too cool for home-baked cake.  Cheesecake Factory gets a visit. 

 Riley turns 5, and requests Red, White and Blue Rice Krispie treats for her friend celebration.  

RJ turns 3, big sis Indigo decorates his cake special with Thomas. 

She is pretty good with that icing pointy-thing. 

Indy turns 10. 

I have no cake pic because we took it with our other camera that I don't know how to get pics off of yet. 

So now we have fully upgraded - in 95 days, from 11, 9, 4 and 2 to 12, 10, 5 and 3.  I can stop stumbling over their ages now. 

Cross that off the list.  Done.  

Also somewhere in those 95 days (also mostly called summer, as Chase's birthday falls a day before Summer begins and Indy's 2 days after Fall begins, so yeah, summer), we did some other stuff.

The gardens produced for us.....

...and we ate well....

....and we made pickles, sweet and spicy, mmm, mmm, mmm!

The best-tasting potatoes ever!

This is called Plant-to-Mouth Gardening.

Cleaning and snipping green beans.

More cucumbers anyone??? 

Some people slept during local town fairs.  Don't worry, I ate his platter of delicious Polish fare, as to not be wasteful.

We threw in some school for good measure:

This tiny traveler hopped on a plane with her grandparents to visit her great-grandparents in SC.  

And this shaggy-headed tot scoured Pinterest for the perfect new 'do:

Lookin' cool, RJ!

We worked on the farmhouse.

Somehow I still end up like this before 7am on most days (view clock in background for proof)...

Soccer started for Riley in town and Chase out of town.  It wouldn't be nearly as much fun if they played in the SAME town, you know.

RJ still finds afternoon grocery shopping to be an ideal time for a nap. 

Let me explain this cart for a minute, lest we look bad - the Lunchable is for Riley, it's been explained that this is the only one she will ever get because they are fake and nasty (she heard about them and was curious, and for $2 I let her experience it), the Boston Market frozen meals are for my neighbor, who has a love affair with them and can't find them in his regular store anymore, and the Potato Chips are mine.  Because I deserve them, dammit.

Another nap in another store. 

I visited an allergist for the first time in, oh, 28 years.  I thought a few things might come up. 

Confirmed.  Nature hates me.  This here back of mine, which came up in less than a minute, caused quite a stir in the allergist's office, and I did not have to go the whole 20 minutes, because I was maxed out on everything in about 5 and they were starting to worry, standing by with epinephrine, and clipboards, they all had clipboards.  They brought interns in from another part of the hospital to have a gander at the Super-Allergic Patient in Room #2.  Glad I can be so helpful.  See that non-reactive spot on the left side?  That's feathers.  I can be around feathers, out of all the environmentals.  That's it.  Feathers.

Since my back was filled up, they hit my arm for some more.  This here's me reacting to the entire Farm, and some foods that I already suspected because they make my mouth super-itchy, like Avocado and Apples.  It was a fun time.  I'll post more about that adventure later, mostly because according to the test, I'm SEVERELY ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS.  Except I don't react and I eat peanuts all the time.  So, ha, take that all you Bumper Sticker Moms - I was right!  Most of you don't actually need to teach your kid to hassle Moms with Granola Bars that are in a 1-mile radius of them. 

And, more excitingly, we rode THOMAS! (I'm also not allergic to trains.  Good thing.)

Peep, Peep!

Teachers Can Tell

As September wraps up, and school all around the country, and maybe the world, has started up back in full force again, I can't help but wonder about what Teachers think that first month, as they're meeting their new classes every year.  Pooling together all my observations and considerations about types of parents, types of kids, types of families, I've come to a conclusion.

Teachers Can Tell. 

Teaching isn't a job people fall into, usually.  Especially in today's world.  People who want to be teachers have to work hard to get certified and pass tests to be actual teachers.  From having attended a University known as a "teaching college," meaning their education program is large and well known and therefore many, many students attend to become teachers, I know a lot of people who have become.... wait for it.... teachers.

I also know some who graduated, but couldn't pass the tests for the life of them.  It was surprising to me that all, not some, of these young people who couldn't pass the state tests (and some took it up to 10 times), went on to be hired as teachers at private schools.  Not just any private schools, the kind that market themselves to be Elite and Highly Academic and, you know, better than the rest.  It changed the way I think of private schools, forever.  So many people will tout private school as a "better" educational option than public schools.  I think there's a wide variability of factors to play into that, and it can't just be used as a blanket statement.  Personally, sending my kids to a private school will never be an option, since I now know all these people working for them who couldn't pass the teaching test, and second, contrary to popular belief, many (way too many) private schools aren't meeting their state minimums in many areas.

Enough about that.

The kind of person who becomes a teacher, (regardless of where they end up teaching) really must be an organized person.  Many, possibly most, probably identify as Type A Personality, and don't take offense to that at all, rather, they embrace it.  If they aren't those things, they are either really good at flying by the seat of their pants, or faking organization and Type A-ness.  That's "A-ness," not "Anus."  Geeez, Get your mind out of the gutter.

Teachers are smart.  Otherwise, they simply wouldn't become teachers.  I'm pretty convinced of this.  Although everyone, especially people who work in education, have got that story about that one teacher, you know the one, they're the biggest friggin' idiot in the world and no one knows how they even got their job...

But back to those Smart, Type A teachers.  They're generally not just smart, they're generally Very Intelligent, and sometimes Over Achievers.  All in a good way, of course.

And so, that's how They Can Tell.

My conclusion is that Teachers Can Tell, usually on the first day of school, and most absolutely by the last day of the first week of school, what every kid's home life is like.  Maybe not 100%, but a pretty darn good idea.

For instance, They Can Tell who plays too many video games, and who lives in a house where the TV is always on.  The younger the age group, the easier it is to tell, I'll bet.  These kids generally act like Jackasses and use language and phrases that doesn't come from anywhere else but video games and TV that they probably shouldn't be watching.

They Can Tell who has parents who yell and scream and call them names, based on their interactions with other children.  These kids are also acting like Jackasses.

They Can Tell which children are just fixtures in their parents' homes, told to go play on the iPad, or go in another room, and stay off the furniture and don't touch ANYTHING.

They Can Tell who gets proper attention from their parents and who doesn't, just by the kid's behaviors and interactions, and most importantly, how they interact with the teacher, the adult.

They Can Tell, at snack or lunchtime, which families make an effort for nutrition.  I babysat a kid once who opened his lunchbag one day, we collectively counted his grams of sugar, as they had just learned about this in school, he had 159 grams of sugar in his lunch!!  And his teacher was supposed to try to teach him after consuming that??  Similarly, even if teachers are not in the lunchroom, I'll bet They Can Tell which kids had an unruly amount of sugar or simple carbs just by how they act after lunch.

They Can Tell which children have parents who are pushovers, or who just don't care enough to follow through with consequences or even with setting boundaries in the first place.  Teachers have to tag these kids early and make extra effort in enforcing the school rules, as often these kids have never had anyone to do that for them before.

They Can Tell which kids come from families who may not be perfect, but who are stable and put a great deal of emphasis and effort on supporting their children's education.  A possibly unfortunate truth in public education is that since these children have the proper support at home, the teacher generally is forced to allocate much more time and effort for children in other situations, who need it considerably more, leaving the most well-adjusted kids to have less of the teacher's time and attention.

They Can Tell which ones are Firstly's.  A Firstly is my term for a kid who is the firstborn, and for all intensive purposes, is currently an Only Child, but is also young enough that it is likely the case that a sibling just hasn't been made yet, or the sibling is a young enough baby to not be affecting the parent's attention on the Firstly yet.  Firstlys, especially in today's world where it seems like every new parent is handed a free Helicopter on their way out the hospital door, are tough kids for teachers in the younger grades, as they are now in a situation where they are suddenly not the center of attention.  There are not puddles of extended family clapping for them for doing typical, everyday things.  There is no one in the classroom taking video of them writing their name for the 57th time and sharing it on social media so friends and family can "ooh" and "aaah" over it.  Besides these poor, unknowing children waiting for approval and applause after every scissor cut and glue paste they perform, they don't know what to do without all that Helicopter Prompting.  The teacher doesn't stand over them, stooped down to be near their size and in a sing-song voice tell them everything they need to be doing.  Without a personal trainer by their side to deliver these kind of prompts, like, "Do that thing you do!!" and "Sing the ABC song again!" and "Show me how you do that!"  a Firstly is surely just lost.  But, have no fear.  Most Teachers can handle these Firstlys wonderfully, and hopefully by the end of the year, these kids will realize that other people exist in the universe and not every question is directed at just them.

They Can Tell when Mom or Dad did that book report for little Peyton or Finn.  There was a time when I attended a Book Report presentation in Chase's 2nd grade class.  The Dad with the video camera?  Whose son walked in the room in a full cardboard box robot costume, complete with electric lights and sound?  Right.  He fooled no one.  We all smiled, but we all knew who made that robot.  I mean, come on.

I'm sure there are many other half-witty, semi-sarcastic, super-judgey categories that I can make up here, but since I've got to get back to teaching my own collection of kids, we'll leave it at this.

Mostly, this is meant to be funny, mostly to people like Teachers, or people like me who like categorizing attributes and making informed guesses on the social dynamics and environments of others.  

All the compliments to Teachers are meant to be taken as 100% non-sarcastic and real, since Teachers really are a special subset of humans that do far more in their typical day than most people could ever know.

And that part about today's Firstlys.  Totally true.  So much praise for so little, time will tell just how much damage that will do.  Now let me get back to putting my kids down and making sure they know how non-special and completely ordinary they are.....