Moon Phases With Cookies

Science is my favorite subject, but it generally requires a mommy that is not on bed rest to execute properly. So, our science projects these days have been few and far between and have all been very simple and easy to do. My plan is to put science on a back burner until summer. Then, after the new baby comes and I can get out of bed, we will being tackling this year's science. However, this is a project that  can be handled from my easy chair and done mostly without my help.

It's a given that if bribed with sweets, you can get kids to do just about anything. So, this is a science lesson that has been done many, many times by many, many teachers both at home and in traditional school settings. My kids are gluten free, so they only see these kind of cookies maybe once every year or two.

We started our lesson by going over the phases of the moon. There are several sites online you can do this with. We used this one by gwit.org. I couldn't get the intro video to work, but the site has several other interesting facts and little demos about the moon. It even has a spot to type in your weight to see what you weigh on the moon.

I started by drawing 8 circles in a circular pattern then labeled the small circles with the 8 phases of the moon shown on the site. I used the lid to a gatorade bottle to draw the circles. Gluten free sandwich cookies are generally a little smaller than their original counterparts, but the gatorade bottle lid was the perfect size for us. The girls used a case knife to pry open the cookies and then scrape and spred the cream in the desired positions. They looked at the chart on the above site to see the order and how much of the moon was showing in each phase. Then, they put the cookies in order. After they were done, they got to eat the cookies. Finally, they used their papers to draw in the moon phases.

Bed Rest Changes Things

Surprisingly, I am actually finding stuff to keep me busy while on bed rest. However, I have deep routed desires to get out of the house. I'm not on total bed rest. I am allowed to sit up with my feet up, and probably do so more than I should. I do get out every once in while, mostly to church and occasionally a dinner. I have made 2 very short trips to the craft store, hence the reason I have a few things to keep me busy. There have been many changes in our house hold to accommodate the rest of the family and myself while I spend so much time laying down. We are normally a very green, cloth diapering, healthy food eating type of family. Since a lot of the cooking, cleaning and laundry have fallen onto John and Nia, we have more throw away items and more fast food. We have paper towels for the first time in years and Cameron is in disposables. I have to continuously remind myself that I can't expect my family to do things the way I would do them, Especially with items such as cleaning and cooking.

School in this season of our lives looks a bit different also. I'm focusing on language arts and math (that really hasn't changed). Our multiple times a week field trips are totally gone for a while though, along with play dates, my coffee Mondays with other moms, extra curricular activities and the two homeschool groups we joined this year. I have decided to put science on hold until our new little bundle arrives. History is done mostly through videos right now and we haven't been doing to many projects to go along with them, just worksheets. Instead of using the table to work with manipulatives, Anara uses  a tray on my bed. She actually seems to think this last one is kind of cool. The kids are in charge of what they do for art and P.E. Previously we have always tried to be done with school work by around 4 or 4:30. Now we do it at any time I feel up for it, even if that means we are making fraction pizzas on my bed at 10 p.m.

We have also had to move things around a bit. It was to challenging keeping Cameron out of all the homeschool stuff while it was in our one large main room. It is now all in the master bedroom so little fingers will leave it alone. We also invested in a few more organizational items so I can tell the kids exactly where to get things. Our furniture in the main room has been moved around so I can keep a better eye on Mr. Mischievous when I'm in the living room.

Lately we have started hosting a few more things than usual at our house. The thought is that if I can't get out, then we will just have to have people in. It's been fun. We have one set of friends that is at our house at least once a week and often more. This has been a huge blessing to me. They haven't told me, but I know this is a conscious choice on their part. Since meeting them a couple of years ago, they have always been very busy people.

My children are learning things through this that I would have never even thought threw exactly how to teach them.

They are learning compassion and how to truly be helpful. I need so much help right now and they are the ones providing most of that help. Sania is the main cook for the house right now. Through the week she makes sure everyone has breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks. Anara is usually my go get'er. She fetches nearly everything I could possibly need from books to bottles of water. This is on top of keeping up with school work and chasing after Cameron all day.

They are learning the importance of seizing the moment. More and more often lately, I feel like the walking dead. However, sometimes I feel almost normal. At those times we try to do something a little more fun. Within the confines of my bed rest rules that is. Today, John took me out for breakfast then this afternoon he drove us all to the park and I watched the kids play as I sat in car. This may not seem like much, but when doctors orders keep you confined to the only the ground floor of a small townhouse, any excursion, even ones where you don't leave the car, are exciting.

They are learning how to work together. It takes real team work for the girls to keep an eye on Cameron and get a gluten free lunch or dinner ready. It also takes a tremendous amount of effort and teamwork to keep little Cameron entertained while school work gets done.

Invisible Ink

For social studies this year we are studying U.S. History. John was a double major in college and one of those majors was history, so this is a subject we don't have a curriculum we follow. Part of what we are doing this year is watching Liberty's Kids (Click here to find out more about Liberty's Kids). We rented these videos a few years ago from the public library and this year we found them on Netflix. Today's episode was entitled 'Postmaster General Franklin' and we did a little project to go along with it. Invisible Ink!

With simply baking soda and water it is easy to make invisible ink. We used about 2 spoonfuls of each, but then poured off a little of the water. The girls used cotton swabs to draw with the solution on printer paper.

Next let the paper dry.

There are a few different ways to make the invisible ink become visible, a heat source such as a light bulb or candle, grape juice, or lemon juice. The show used a candle as a heat source. I wanted to  stick with using a heat source, but a light bulb instead of a candle. I just imagined our whole house going up in flames at the thought of the kids holding paper over a candle. Using a light bulb, you still have to be careful. The paper can still catch on fire. This was the plan, however, all of our light bulbs are the low heat, energy efficient variety. They just don't emit enough heat for this project, so we went with lemon juice. Anara used her fingers to spread the juice on the papers. By the time Nia got back to the table, Cameron had already finished her paper for her.

Here are the results, which were only a little easier to make out in person than by this picture. They must have used a better medium or tools in Franklin's day or the messages would have had to of been really short. These didn't turn out great, but the kids got an idea what it would have been like to use invisible ink. It's a challenge writing something when you can't see what you are writing.

Maternity/Due Date Count Down

You may have noticed the little maternity counter on the side of the blog that counts down how many days remain until my due date. On day 101, I decided to take a little break from the norm and make a counter of our own for the house. We also watched 101 Dalmatians. If this had not been so impromptu, I may have planned a few more activities for the day.

This is the latest image we have of the newest member of family!

I find it really exciting and very sweet how the kids interact with their pre-born sibling. Every time Cameron is on my lap he lifts up my shirt and talks to my stomach. This is really cute unless we have company. He also pushes gently trying to get his little brother to push back, which actually happens more often than not. Both of the girls also talk to my belly. Nia generally says something short like, "Hi, baby," "I love you little guy," or "I can't wait to hold you and get out of doing school work while I take naps with you." Anara has a different approach.  She is determined to make herself this baby's most favorite person. She thinks the key to this is to be the person that spends the most time talking to him. I can usually expect 2 to 5 conversations or stories from Anara to the baby each day that last anywhere from 3 to 15 minutes.

Homeschool Opposition, The Nay Sayers

One of the most challenging parts of being a homeschool family is dealing with those wonderful people that feel you shouldn't. Of those people, family members are the absolute worst. When in the general population, if someone disagrees with homeschooling, they tend to just roll their eyes and keep their comments to themselves (or if they do comment, you can walk away). However, have a family member, oh say a grandparent or aunt that feels homeschooling is done only by weirdos and you get an ear full on a constant basis.

Every once in a while you may run into someone in public that doesn't agree with homeschooling. We have only had this happen a few times. I've been ready to dish out a quick, "It's our legal right to make this choice for our family." However, what I have found is that my children are very assertive and capable of defending their right to be homeschooled all on there own.

Our household really only has one opposer. We have a huge extended family, so I think only having one is extremely lucky. She lives 6 hours away so we don't see her very much, but she does call often. The conversation generally takes a nose dive when she asks the innocent sounding question of, "So, how is homeschool going?" Coming from anyone else in the world, I'm happy and quick to answer this question. Coming from this relative I know it's her spring board for lecture on socialization, learning discipline by sitting in a classroom all day, my incapabilities, well, the list will go on and on if I let it. The conversation always ends with her asking me exactly when my husband and I will allow our kids to go to school like normal children.

So, how do we deal with this relative? At first we repeatedly told her the reasons why we homeschool (which you can find here). Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to resinate with her or she just feels her opinions should change our mind. So, now we simply tell her we are not having the discussion again. If she persist, we get off the phone.

How do you or would you handle those people that disagree with you homeschooling?

Sisterly Love On Valentine's Day

This year Anara desperately wanted to have a Valentine's day party for a few of her friends. The plan was to do this, until mommy was put on bed rest. She has been completely bummed about the whole thing for several days now. So, last night, after ash Wednesday service at church, Nia had John take her to the store to buy Valentine's decorations and stuff to make cupcakes with. She did this with her own, hard owned money. Then she stayed up until about 1 a.m. decorating the house and making cupcakes. Nia left a package of the window clings, like pictured above, so Anara could put them up herself. Could you imagine growing up with Sania as a big sister?

The hearts here and in the next picture are all 1 banner. It's positioned to be over head as you walk down the last couple of steps of our stairs.

On a side note, the little man hanging from the ceiling in the top left of this picture has been there since July. He was a party favor at Anara's birthday party.

These cupcakes are gluten free with bubblegum flavor icing. Nia let my husband and I try one last night, they were so yummy.

Can't wait to see Anara's face when she wakes up!!

and... 

Here are some photos from when Anara got up

Hearing Impaired Homeschooling Mishap

Recently Cam got a hold of Nia's hearing aid, ripped it into 2 pieces and lost part of it (luckily it was the cheaper part). The kids were upstairs and I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but it happened. Not having her hearing aid makes life and school a pinch harder for Nia. Without it she must be looking exactly at your lips to really understand what you are saying. Her speech is also difficult to understand when her hearing aid is out. I really didn't realize how difficult her speech was to understand until she began wearing the hearing aid and has now had to do without it. It has made a huge change in how she pronounces words and her spelling ability has improved leaps and bounds. It makes perfect sense; being able to hear how a word is formed is a key part in pronouncing and spelling it properly.

A little about Sania's hearing aid

Nia's hearing aid consists of of 2 main parts the electrical part and a molded part that fits inside her ear. The one shown has an older molding that is now a little to small and has a crack in it. These two pieces each have a tube that extends from them and the two tubes join together (This is where Cam tore it apart). The electrical part can last 3 to 5 years. For the molded part we have a to get a new mold made every few months as she grows as this is the part that goes inside the ear. It's nice that she gets to pick a new color scheme every few months for the ear piece. She gets to pick the colors, but we won't know exactly how it's maker will put those colors together until it arrives in the mail a few weeks later. Her last color choices were black and white. When it arrived, she wasn't as happy with it as she has been previously (which I believe is part of the reason Cameron was able to get his little fingers on it). The colors are usually fairly crisp, but the black and white were mudded together making a lot of gray. It kind of looked like, well, mold.

How we try to prevent this sort of thing

Several places in the house we have tiny bowls perched in high places, well high enough Cameron can't reach them. I think most of the bowls, like the one pictured, would be considered salt bowls. Nia generally takes her hearing aid out if it starts to get a bit itchy, when she is home alone or for an assortment of other reasons. I started grabbing up these bowls because without a designated spot close by for Nia to put her hearing aid, it was being placed anywhere and everywhere. This led to it constantly being lost. We would find it in pockets, amongst dirty dishes, under clothes in the bathroom, in a shoe, I'm sure you get the picture. Although usually very cheap, this bowls can be a little hard to find. Most households just don't use salt bowls anymore. We currently have 4, but my goal is to collect enough to put close by to all of the spots she has a tendency to take off the hearing aid. I think another 4 would cover it.

Episencial Bubble Bath Review

Product: Episencial Sweet Dreams Bubble Bath

What I paid: Nothing, but it retails for $9

Where I got it: I recieved this for free when agreeing to host a Healthy Child Party at www.healthychild.org You can purchase it on the Episencial.com

What I like: It is made with organic products and the even the bottle is earth friendly. My kids have ubber sensitive skin so I'm really reluctant to try anything out on them. This is free from additives and other icky stuff that could bother their skin though and it really doesn't have a sent. So I thought it was worth a try. The bubbles lasted a really long time also. Cameron and Anara tried it out together and since this was the first bubble bath either of them have ever had, they stayed in for long while. We re-warmed the water twice and there were still bubbles to be played with.

Could it be better: Love it how it is.

Do I recommend: Yep, in fact I 'm about to buy some more. I realize it's a bit more pricey than other bubble baths out there, but I really haven't seen another brand I would consider trying on my kids.

Walk Through Baby Gate Review

Regelo Easy Step Metal Walk Through Baby Gate

Product: Regelo Easy Step Metal Walk Through Baby Gate

What I paid: $31.50

Where I got it: Amazon.com

What I like: -The latch is easy to manipulate, my 6 year old daughter could easily do it.

Could it be better: Oh yes, way better. This is my 3rd child and I spent a good deal of time working in childcare so I've used a far share of baby gates. This and one other run a tie in being my least favorite. The other however at least will keep your toddler out of where you don't want them to be. This one comes with little cup things that are to be screwed into the wall then tension is used to hold the gate into the cups. That being done, my son could knock it over easy at 12 months old, which is when this was purchased. -The gate relies on tension to hold it in place, however the same tension is used to adjust the spot where the gate closes. Too much tension and the gate won't close, to little and it won't close or stay up. - The gate door opening is not wide enough.  Even very slim people would go through gate and have to turn sideways. This generally ended up in them bumping the gate, knocking it over, and me having to put it up again.

Do I recommend: No

Little update:
We have now moved to an older home where the doorways are a wee bit smaller. I have found that the gate works rather well in the smaller doorways. The doors I have used it in have all been between 29'' and 33''. So, if that fits the spot you need a gate in AND you never plan on wanting/needing it elsewhere, then it is a decent little gate. I don't think it would work well on a door past 33 inches.

High School Credit Planning For Homeschoolers

Whew, this last week I've been looking more into planing for Sania's high school years. Basically what I'm finding is that it's a real headache just planning for it. As a homeschooler, her possibilities for earning credits are endless. However, I've found different colleges actually require different numbers of credits and may have slight differences in the basic classes they may or may not require. One site suggested checking with possible colleges your child plans on attending before planning out high school course work.

When I start a conversation with Nia about high school, her eyes kind of glaze over. She is clearly uninterested. Who can blame her, if she were in public school, Sania would be a 7th grader this year. Being homeschooled, she is working on 3 high school level classes right now. She is interested in her future, but like any 13 year old, right now she is more interested in right now. If I were to try and get her to figure out her top college choices, I think she would have me taken straight to the looney bin. 

So how do we plan for the future. Obviously, I'm not going to ask my 13 year old to make any concrete plans on the mater. I was 30-ish before I actually knew what I wanted to do with my life. There are several basic credits you can plan on your son or daughter needing. Then electives should be based on things they are interested in or if they do have a planned college major or a few they are thinking about, plan electives around these. Nia recently picked out a few possible career choices (you can read about that in a post here), and we are looking at electives that will help her decide if she is really interested in these choices. Here is a bit of break down on what high school credits are generally needed.

Math - 3 to 4 credits, Most colleges require Algebra 1 and Geometry.

English - 4 credits

Science - 3 credits - Some colleges ask that all 3 have labs, others require only 1 lab.

Social Studies - 2 to 4 - US and World history are generally required, some colleges also require a credit in government.

Foreign Language - 2 to 4 -  Most colleges require 2, some require 4, and there are a few colleges that do not require any foreign language credits.

Physical Education - 1 to 2, some colleges may require this to be broken into health and p.e. components.

Fine Arts - 1 - This may or may not be required.

Electives - Enough electives should be included so that the student has a total of 21 to 25 credits.

Ok, now that I've gone over all the things your kid needs to qualify as a high school education, I'll go over what exactly it is that qualifies work as a high school credit. High school credit can be counted in 1/2 credit or 1 credit increments. If your child is working out of a High School level book, then, obviously in earns a high school credit. If your teen is working through book that would equal 1 credit in public school or one designed similarly for homeschoolers, then finishing that book earns them 1 high school credit. If you are not using a traditional curriculum then you can count up hours. This can be done either by literally counting up the hours or looking at hours per week.

1 Credit = between 120 and 180 hours = 3 to 5 hours per week for an average school year

1/2 Credit = between 75 to 90 hours = 1 to 3 hours per week for an average school year

The above information was gathered from eHow, The Princeton Review, and from a webinar  done by Lee Binz. You can find Lee Binz's blog here.

Health Issues

Lately I have been having a few little health issues, mostly with my heart. I won't go into the exact details, it makes me crazy tired and causes me to randomly black out. Both of these things are compounded by low sodium levels. My doctor has told me to spend most of my time resting. This is annoying phrase to me that doctors seem to throw around a bit. They generally don't give specifics on this. So I asked how much is most of my time? My doctor further explained this by saying I should spend a lot of time in bed and otherwise sitting with my feet up. So, I'm still not exactly sure as to how much time I'm supposed to be resting as opposed to not resting. I have found that if I don't spend more than an hour or so a day on my feet, I generally feel ok. If I do to much in a day I really feel horrible for the next 3 or 4 days.

Needless to say 'The Go' hasn't been a big part of our homeschool lately. The blacking out makes it where I can't drive. The need for rest wouldn't allow me to stay anywhere for very long even if I could drive. I do get to out some, generally just to dinner or one quick shopping trip (don't worry, my husband drives). All of this staying in has made the kids a bit crazy and on each others nerves. They miss their friends and they just miss doing things in general.

Here are is a photo of the rest of family heading out so this mama could get some rest.

...and one of Cameron getting into mischief, his most favorite activity since mommy can't chase him down right now.

IXL For Math Review

Product: IXL.com

What I pay: $9.95 a month

Where to get it: on their website linked here and above

What I like: -I mostly like that Anara actually begs to do math on a regular basis. Really, I have to make her not do math and move on to other subjects. Days (like Sundays) when math isn't even on the agenda she ask to do math. -Also, if your child misses a problem the program shows them how to do it properly. -I like that the company emails you with updates on your child's progress. -I like the parent side of the program where you can check on how much time your child has spent doing math and each lesson. This part is actually really cool, the photo attached to this post is a screen shot of part of the parent report. It gives you information on how many problems were missed, time a lesson took, percentage of time they have spent on different subject matter (like addition and fractions). This information is presented in both list form and graph forms. I really look forward to printing out the parent section at the end of the year and adding it to Anara's math binder. -If you are worried about covering everything that would be covered in public school in your area, there is a portion of IXL that lines up what they do with your area's standards be it state or country.

Could it be better: -One feature I like and don't like is that when your child misses a problem an extra problem is added. What I like is that your child still has a chance to achieve a 100 on the lesson, however this can make the lesson go on forever and if your child is working independently it can take a while before you realize how many they have missed. -I think it would also be nice if there was some sort of video that could be watched to demonstrate how problems in each lesson are done. This isn't a big deal in 1st grade, but the program goes up to the Algebra level. I'm sure there are problems in that section I would have a hard time explaining. Also, it's hard to know exactly how difficult the problems will become in each lesson so explain how to do each lesson can be hit or miss.

How we found and use it: Last year while Anara attended public 1/2 day kindergarten, her school used it as and enrichment resource and Anara really enjoyed using it. I have a list of all of the lessons for first grade printed in my planner binder. I use this list to plan which manipulatives and activities we are going to do outside of IXL for math. Each day for math I either have Anara work with a manipulative or do an IXL lesson or 2. Sometimes she does both. It really depends on her energy level and desire to work for the day.

Do I recommend it: Definitely,  since it's a monthly subscription fee, I would have stopped using it months ago if we didn't love it.

When I Grow Up: Carrer Choices

This week Sania has been looking into possible future careers. You may be asking why we decided to make this a priority right now. Well, I'm trying to get somewhat of a plan ready for high school. High school will need to be a bit more organized than how we currently do things. It takes high school worthy credits to get into college and to excel through college. Allowing Nia to randomly pick subjects and study topics as she does with about half her work in the past just won't cut it.

First we made out a list of a bunch of possibilities that looked interesting to her. I have to say that many things I thought she would be naturally drawn to, she crinkled her nose at suggestion of, and a few things that made her list I was surprised by. Next we looked at the Occupational Outlook Handbook on the Department of Labor site and put a page in her journal for each occupation she was considering, there were about a dozen at this point. From here she was able to learn a little about each job. Some jobs she decided immediately that they wouldn't be for her. One of these being baker because of early mornings and low pay. Did you know the average baker only brings in about $23,000 a year? She actually narrowed down her possibly list to 4 main types of careers with this step. I'm not wanting her to make this list any smaller. She is only 12, and still has plenty of time to change her mind a zillion times before she actually needs to make any real decisions on this.

Right now her top choices are the fields of interior design, writing, theater, and archeology. The next step is to spend about a week on each field and look at the types of schooling needed for them and different careers to be had within those fields and do a project or two related to the different types of work.

Action Bible Devotional Review

This is my very first review, but I've decided to try out a few. So, here goes...

Product: The Action Bible Devotional by Jeremy V. Jones

What I Paid: $11

Where I Got Mine: Sam's Club

What I like: My hubby and kids are big fans of comics, so getting my kids into this study is no problem. We are only a little into it, but so far the lessons at the end of the story seem to be adaptable to many different age levels. My 13 and 6 year olds both are able to get something from the lessons. I've only known about the Action Bible itself for a short time, but I haven't seen a kid (or adult) yet that hasn't found the illustrations and format of the Bible very cool and engaging.

Could It Be Better: 1- The devotional is divided up into 'weeks' instead of just 'lessons.' Not a huge deal, but my 6 year old does like point this out at the start of every lesson. I don't feel like there is enough here to do a weekly lesson for say a Sunday school class or other type of kids ministry. This really feels more like a home study which is generally done daily, not weekly. 2- The stories are pulled right out of The Action Bible. I would have rather seen a book of just lessons to go along with all of the stories inside The Action Bible instead of a selection of 52 of the stories pulled out and given lessons to. It feels like a bit of a waste of paper. 3- I would prefer the devotionals to go story by story through The Action Bible. There are 215 stories in The Action Bible. I would happily purchase 4 devotionals to get a lesson for each story in the Bible. 4- Give me a game or some kind of movement. The lessons are good, don't get me wrong, but my kids have grown to expect some kind of movement with their Bible study.

Do I recommend it: YES!!! I can be little a critical of Bible studies in general. This one hits the mark of what I and my family need it to be. Captivating, enlightening, and thought provoking are the top words that come to when I think of what I like in a kids Bible study. This devotional is definitely those things.

That Difficult Age: 5 Things That Make Parenting A 6-11 Year OldChallenging

I think every parent or set of parents has an age rage that is more challenging than the others. For many, this is the teenage years. Some find it the toddler time frame. For my husband and I it appears to be from about age 6 to 11.

So what is it about this age group that we find so challenging?

1.  Definite Opinions About What They Like.
Ok, so this isn't new for kids budding into this age group, but it is much more intense than it was a year or two ago. Parental opinion on what we think is spectacular isn't as relevant. Gone are the days of convincing your little angel that the super sweet dress you have had picked out for weeks is the one to wear to that special event. They may have had their own ideas about what they like in fashion, toys, and food before, but now those opinions are much stronger. Sometimes those opinions are based from the opinions of friends or older siblings, but sometimes they are totally and randomly their own. It's hard for a parent when their opinion suddenly isn't the most important or possibly doesn't matter at all to the little person that recently thought they hung the moon. It's also hard to hand over the reins of control to someone so small.

2.  Mouth Control
Mouth control is my husband's most challenging issue with any age, but between the ages of 6-11 seems to be the toughest. This age group has the brain power to come up with some serious wordage. However, they lack the knowledge to control what comes out of their mouth sometimes. That word they heard on the playground or from you while being cut off in traffic just seems to fly out. Their opinions that Aunt Sue's gravy tasts like liquid garbage or that you are being a complete jerk also come flying out. They have quick, snappy, and often mean words at this age. It's our job to teach them how to understand their feelings and have self-control. Oh, and those opinions that we talked about in issue 1, well, they just want them to be known.

3.  Puberty
At the end of this time frame, puberty is just beginning. For many the most challenging part of puberty is the beginning. The sudden change in hormone levels can make your child go from sweet and angelic to an angry monster and then to a sobbing mess in a matter of minutes seconds. There have been times in the past when John would have sworn that we needed to have our oldest (and now our second child) analyzed for being bipolar. It's scary when your normally mild mannered sweetheart is screaming at her sister from across the house then breaks down into tears. For some kids this can also bring on a large weight gain and other body changes. Adults don't deal with body change well. Billions of dollars are spent yearly to prove this. How do you think your kid is handling it? My best advice is to talk, talk, talk, and when you think they understand everything, talk some more.

4.  Not a little kid anymore... Not a teenager yet
This is the age when your kid has just outgrown all those really cool things that are designed for little kids. Those fun play areas at malls and science centers are now a thing of the past. Some of their most beloved toys are now just a bit small. However, these are the things that have defined the world of fun for them for the entirety of their life. On the other hand, they just aren't big enough to do those cool things teens do yet. Not big enough to prepare the family dinner on their own or go places by their self. As a parent this comes with constant explaining to our adolescent why they are too big, small, young, or old. Accompanying this is the fact sometimes they seem to think like a little kid and sometimes more adult. This bouncing back in forth in the thought processes is really the most challenging part of this age for me.

5.  Privacy Please!!!
Your little one that used to want to share EVERYTHING with you, now wants some space of their own. During this time you will definitely be told, "I need some alone time," even by the most social of children. That kid that was running around your house naked maybe a week ago will suddenly flip out when her little brother walks into their bedroom while they are changing clothes. At this age privacy is selective. My oldest has always been able to talk to my husband (or anyone for that matter) about her period, but one mention of a bra and she will run out of the room with a bright red face. They may have boxes of 'secret' things or start locking their bedroom or bathroom door.  Many kids start a private journal. The tricky part with all this privacy is knowing where to set the boundaries. They need and want privacy, but at times allowing them to much privacy can be dangerous.

Mischief Maker... how to get sharpie off linoleum

The other day Nia walked into the bathroom and started yelling, "MOM, you're not going to like this!"

Being that it was the bathroom, I had no idea what I was about to walk into. Since my gross tolerance level is significantly lowered with pregnancy, my first question was, "how bad is it?"

Nia, "You don't want to go in there."

So, prepared for the worst, I held my breath and rounded the corner to the bathroom. Permanent marker on the floor. Whew, at least I wasn't going to throw up. Well, maybe not whew, I had never dealt with this particular issue before. So obviously... I googled. Several sights suggested several 'fixes.'

My first attempt was hand sanitizer. Mainly because there was a bottle of it on the bathroom counter. Here is a shot of it globbed on over the err, artwork. Nia and I rubbed it in a bit. No luck. Let it set about 20 minutes. Not even a little fading after it was wiped off.

As I searched the house for items used in other recommendations, Nia sprayed Off Deep Woods bug spray on it. I saw this a handful of places online and had the least hope for this method, but I knew exactly where the bug spray was and amazingly, it worked! Nia said it actually disappeared like magic as she sprayed. She even asked if she could scribble on the floor so she could show me. Anyway, I decided to dig a little deeper as to why this worked so well. A few sites suggested this worked by removing the protective coating that is on the linoleum and would only work on newer floors.

Ahh, crisis averted. The teacher part of me wants desperately to turn this into a science experiment. Ideas are brewing.

The Flu

My plan this year was to begin our official Christmas break on Sunday. Unfortunately,  the flu bug has hit our family so we started a couple of days early. Today and tomorrow were mainly going to be filled with art, history, and a science experiment or two. Now it's looking more like leftover soup, tea with honey, and boxes of tissue.

Curriculum for 2012

Just before we were about to order materials this year, our family took a big financial hit. So, the loathing I normally feel for picking out curriculum was doubled. I hate picking out curriculum. No, I HATE, HATE picking out curriculum. I get very intimidated by the price tag. If it’s low, I’m afraid it won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on. If it’s expensive, what if it sucks? We have to pinch a lot of pennies around this household to get materials. I’ve actually had nightmares about picking out expensive, horrible curriculum. All that being said, we mainly focus on math and language arts/reading and let the rest fall into place. At any rate, this is what we are currently using.

Anara our 1st grader uses:

Math

ixl.com

Instead of buying an actual curriculum, I decided to sign up for an account through IXL. I’ve taught and tutored more math lessons than I can count. So I don’t really need a book to tell me how to teach her this at the 1st grade level. I just need a list of topics to keep me on track and having a set of problems for Anara to work out saves me a lot of time. So, we are using a ton of manipulatives along with IXL for 1st grade. So far this formula = math love for this little girl. She even request to do extra math a lot of days.

Spelling

Sequential Spelling 1.

I cannot rave enough about this spelling book by Don McCabe. I used it with my oldest when we started to homeschool her. Spelling test are set up a little differently. First off, there is NO studying. Second, you take a test everyday. Third, your child, no matter how bad they have proven to be at spelling, will do well. Ok, your thinking sounds ridiculous. It goes a little something like this. At this level your first word will be something like ‘at’ the next word may be ‘bat’ then ‘mat.’ Here is the special part. As your testing your child, you are writing on a white board or chalk board (we use the outer part of a 3-ring binder and a dry erase marker). We have just started using it with Anara, but Nia has had success with it, I can’t see us ever using anything else. Great for children with dyslexia. It has helped Nia (and myself) become much better spellers.

Language Arts

Daily Warm-Ups: Language Skills 1st grade

We haven’t totally gotten into this yet. Anara is still at the early stages of reading so we are focusing more on handwriting and plan to start this with-in the next month or 3 depending on how she progresses with handwriting. This includes a daily worksheet and a daily written assignment.

Handwriting

Handwriting Without Tears

We don’t actually have this curriculum. I was able to find enough materials and videos free online to piece together enough to get by with. If I were buying, this is what I would get though.
Update: We actually did wind up buying the book for this. This is one of those things that there are a zillion extra little options you can purchase. I decided to only purchase the student work book. Glad I stuck with just that, instructions are in the workbook and I don't feel the other stuff is necessary.

Reading

Explode the Code

We have just ordered Explode the Code. We also use a handful of manipulatives and several trips to the library. We started with a Teach Your Child To Read IN 100 Lessons and have decided to change. I really think if you force your child to suffer threw it, the 100 Lessons text would work. But it is incredibly, well, boring. It’s black and white text with no pictures. Anara needs pictures, momma needs pictures.  I’ll have to let you know how Explode the Code works and what we decide on to replace the 100 lessons book.

Update:

Wilson Reading

This is designed to teach those with dyslexia in grades 3 through adult. I only pulled this out and used it with Anara for a few weeks because we already had it. I think we could have made this one work, but Anara was really board with it also. It was designed mostly with older kids and adults in mind so, no cute pictures, games, or anything else that  makes curriculum fun for a 6 year old.

Reading Eggs

This is an online game sort of curriculum. Anara loves IXL for math, so I searched out something simular to do for reading. It offered a free trial, so we signed up. She really loved it and it helped a lot. However, she had made her way through about 1/2 the material in our free trial and you purchase a year at a time. I couldn't justify purchasing a year of a program that she would finish within another 2 or 3 weeks. If they took this up to a 3rd or 5th grade level, I would have been pleased as a peach to make a purchase here. With IXL you can purchase a month at a time, I would have been thrilled with this option for Reading Eggs. Those options just are not available.

Now that it is towards the end of the year, I'll fill you in on what we ended up doing. Anara has continued to work with Explode the code. She has also worked with a few manipulates for language arts. I read to her from a chapter book each day (we also read other small books). She also reads to me for about 30 minutes each day from books of her choice.

Update: We wound up being offered another free trial of Reading Eggs, which we took and Anara completed that program.

Sania our 7th grader uses:

Teaching Text Books Algebra I

I think most save Algebra for high school, but Nia gets really board with math if it isn’t challenging. So far we are really liking this. There is a short lecture for her to listen to and watch each day via cd rom, although she generally skips it. Explanations are also in her text book if she needs to refresh on them. Each problem in the book can also be explained on the computer screen if she needs it to be. It’s the start of our school year, so Nia isn’t very far into this material, but she seems to be liking it. She says the way it’s presented it makes Algebra seem easy.

Language Arts

Daily Spark: Critical Writing.

Nia has the parts of speech down so this year I wanted to focus more on writing with her. This little book has daily assignments of interesting stuff to write about. It is geared more for the high school age bracket though.

Reading

Even though Nia is child with dyslexia she has become a great, no amazing reader. She has trained herself to read blocks of words at a time instead of reading a single word at a time. Not exactly sure how she does it, but it works for her. At any rate, we just let her read what ever she wants. One month she might jump into a box of her dad’s old comic books and the next breeze through a couple of novels from one of Rick Warren’s series. More on Nia's journey with dyslexia can be found here.

Spelling

Sequential Spelling 7

See above under Anara’s spelling curriculum to find out how I feel about Sequential Spelling.

Yoga

I try to get in a little yoga with the kids. It’s fun and easy and anyone can do it. Even Cameron joins in. Ever seen a 1 year old do yoga. Insanely CUTE!!! We have a copy of The ABCs of Yoga for Kids coloring book for the kids to flip through and pick poses they want to do. We have also learned a little by checking out books at the library and watching videos. Not pros by any means and it’s been years since I myself could be found on a yoga mat in a class, but it’s a fun way to ease the kids back into their work after I get lunch cleaned up.

A little update: My new favorite resource for doing yoga with the kids is YouTube. At Nia's suggestion, I did a quick little search for 'yoga kid' and a plethora of videos pop up. What's great is there are several different lengths of videos. So if you have 5 minutes for yoga today, done. If you have an hour, well good luck keeping your kids interested for that long, but there are videos long enough. I suggest the CosmicKidsYoga channel which currently has 5 kids yoga videos on it

How We Roll, Err... Our Homeschool Style

My very first year of homeschooling I was given a small tidbit of advice from a veteran homeschooling momma,

“Focus on math and reading and the rest will fall into place.”

Ok, at the time, I thought she was a nut job and didn't take the advice at all. I was new to this experience and wanted stone solid answers on curriculum, schedules, and running the home like a school. I had spent nearly a decade working in public schools or pre-schools and gosh darn it, I was good at it. At some point I realized that if I thought the way regular school is done was the right choice for my kids, shouldn’t I just send them there. So, what we do now is focus on math and reading and let the rest fall into place. If someone would have just told me... oh wait, they did.

We like to get in as many trips as possible. Days that we are out and about (generally one to three times a week) we also try to get in math, reading, and spelling. I try to be a stickler about getting these 3 in everyday, no matter what. If it’s a long trip to our destination the kids watch a documentary on the way. My theory on this is not to let book work get in the way of an educational opportunity. How much can you remember about your 2nd grade social studies book? What about the trips you took?

The day after a field trip we throw in a  journal about the outing. We get in most of the remaining subjects with projects. My kids always have something they want to know more about or an idea they want to execute.  If someone is under the weather, it's documentary day.