Tuesday Teaching Tidbit : Keeping the Books Organized

As promised, here's a little peek at how we organize our schoolish books so that we can find what we need when we need it.  Nothing revolutionary here, but it sure helps to have some sort of plan for dealing with the masses of books you end up with when you homeschool.

Solstice Prep

It's our crazy week!  Every June we have a week in which falls Father's Day, Haven's birthday, Summer Solstice, and our wedding anniversary.  Phew!  I'm tired just typing that out.  It's a half dreaded, half anticipated week for me.  Lot's of fun to look forward to, but lots of planning, shopping, crafting, and clean up to do too.  It's enough to make a momma feel a bit overwhelmed.

Joe and kids climbing around an arch for Father's Day

This weekend we took our new-to-us camping trailer to Arches National Park for a Father's Day camping trip.  We had a blast with our 1 day in Arches and I am in love with trailer camping!  Minimal packing, almost zero unpacking, and air conditioning while you sleep in the desert.  What more could you ask for?

Today's focus was on wrapping up birthday planning and getting a jump on Solstice.  I'll show you birthday stuff after the big day, but I thought I'd give you a peek at the solstice plans in case that's one you're planning on celebrating too and want some ideas.

Today we went to the second hand stores and got the boys each a tie dye shirt for a buck, and Hannah Jane got a t-shirt dress for 2 bucks.  Normally, we'd tie dye ourselves, but honestly, the insanity of this week and the fact that it snuck up on me again made it a second hand tie dye kind of occasion.  Anyway, we bought the cheap-o shirts and dress and then I did a Google Image search for "Summer Solstice Art."  Each of the kids picked out their favorite piece of art and I printed it on the Avery dark fabric transfers and ironed them on.  I'm pretty sure I'm within the bounds of the law since I'm not planning to sell the shirts later, but I share this with a fair amount of caution. Hunter's is a desert sun with lizards around it, Haven's is like a shell pattern that spills out into a sun shape, and Hannah Jane's is a little sun goddess holding up the lamp of the world.  

Later on, we're going to try and make s little sun queen like this one, and some sun beam babies like this for table decorations for our solstice party.  My friend's family is going to make a solar oven to bring so we can have solar oven lunch (hopefully with someone else making the oven, it will work this time!) and with the kids on the big day, we're going to make felt leaf crowns with tie-dye stars or moons in the middle, and we're going to try a technique for marbleizing paper that uses spray paint in a water bucket to make some sun art.

Those are the plans at the moment.  I'll post pictures as things get made and tell you how it goes.  I historically stink at felt crafting, but I still love it so I keep trying.  And the marbleized paper looks too good to be true, so we're going to try a little ahead of time just to make sure it's not a flop when our friends are over.  There's nothing quite like having a crowd of excited kids standing by to see that what you promised you'd do isn't actually going to work.  Had that happen at the science party this year and it really felt awful.  

The Illusion of Authority

I'm pretty sure that the reason my kids love history, is that it's simply an exciting, never ending story.  It's like a good book with no final chapter, so you always have more coming.  But I noticed something this week, as I chose Medes and the Persians as a bed time read-aloud book, and then had the kids listening to the Story of the World on CD in the van.

When I tell them stories from my childhood, their eyes get big and they learn forward and smile and enjoy hearing it from the authority.  I am the authority on my childhood and as close to an authority on my parents' and grandparents' lives as they can get, so it has a different energy when I tell those stories.  But when I read non-fiction to them, I'm just reading someone else's account.  It's good, but since I'm reading it, I'm obviously not the authority.  Their eyes aren't as big and they lean back and relax into it rather than sit forward in eager anticipation.  

When I put the Story of the World on in the van, they listened like I was telling the story of my life to them.  I thought this strange at first, because I've read them that book aloud and I didn't get the same listener's energy from them when I read it as this narrator was getting.  And then it hit me.  They can't see that he's reading a book.  They way his voice lulls and lilts like a grandpa around a campfire, they are hearing these stories like they're being told by the authority from memory.  

They read with that same eager anticipation, presumably because it was the authority who put those words on the paper.  But having me read non-fiction aloud is like having a third party mediator telling the story.  It's like reading the transcripts from the court hearing - far less exciting that sitting in the court room.  

This is, of course, just my current working theory.  But I'm going to roll with it for a few weeks and see if there's not some way to get more distance out of our read aloud time than I have been.  Story telling, after all, is becoming a lost art and if you've ever been with an excellent story teller, you know how entrancing it can be.  My plan to engage them a little more in history stories that I would read to them rather than have them read for themselves, is to to read them ahead and really study them, and see if I can't tell them rather than read them, with lots of expression and on my feet rather than seated - as if I'm the authority and I saw it for myself - and see if I can get that eyes wide open energy with history stories at bed time.  

I took a brief story telling class in college (from that same professor who was obsessed with Freudian psychology and fairy tales) and it was really eye opening.  Lots of planning and energy go into telling an engaging story.  We were assigned mundane tales that everyone has hear before, but we had to tell them before the class in a way that would make our classmates really engaged.  I had Little Red Riding Hood and I told it like I'd never told it before.  As a result, I tell it to my kids with crazy energy and clawing hands and terrified faces.  It's a winner!  So now, I want to apply that same tactic to get the illusion of authority when I tell them about the Trojan horse or Cleopatra and Caesar.    

So let the literary experiment begin!  Can kids retain even more history details if the art of story telling is employed and the illusion of authority created?  We shall see, my friends.  We shall see.  

Tuesday Teaching Tidbit : Unique E-mail Addresses for Minors without Fibbing to Google!

Ever wanted to create an account for your kids on a free educational website, but were required to have unique e-mail addresses for each child who needed an account?  Have your kids ever come home from school with a note requiring that they have their own e-mail account?  Seems to be the norm these days, even for elementary schoolers.

Yes, in this tech crazy world, schools and companies that cater to children are more and more often expecting kids to have their own e-mail address.  Some parents are fine with this and don't mind either fibbing to Google or Microsoft to get one or paying for a secure, kid-friendly e-mail account.  

Me?  I didn't really want my kids to have their own e-mail accounts.  But then I caved because it was so often required for the good stuff (like the early days of Khan Academy) and so I tried to find a free host that would allow kid accounts, to no avail.  I'm not big on forking over the credit card number to a company I've never heard of.  Ya know?

But the solution has been found!  I'm pretty excited to have figured this out after all of these years.  Maybe everyone already knew this, but I didn't and none of the moms that I went to for advice did either.  They all just fibbed to Google.  LOL!  No more fibbing, Mommas!  Gmail is parent friendly and they've created a loophole just for this little conundrum.  Well, it's probably for some other conundrum, but it works for this one, so check out the video and celebrate!

Water Colored Note Cards and Waldorf Art Supply Analysis

We're getting all Waldorfish over here today!  We are so excited to finally have some painting boards, so we had to do a little wet on wet watercoloring to christen them.  My goal for the new school year is to incorporate more art into our days.  If you know me, or you've read my book, you're aware that when I get lazy in the planning, my default mode is to hyper-school and just plow through masses of content, neglecting the artsy stuff altogether.  And kids need the artsy stuff.  I know they do.  And I love the artsy stuff!  I just forget to go for it when I'm not planning things in advance.

So I try to plan our very trivium-based academics within a Waldorf-inspired framework.  I know.  Those two methods couldn't me more different.  But Trivium is what I trust and it is in line with my core educational values, but Waldorf brings in the nurture and warmth that the trivium can lack.  The best way that I've found to plan a Waldorf-inspired, trivium based day is to follow a trivium course schedule, and transition between classes with verses, accentuate everything with dance, art, poetry, and bright cheery colors, and observe the heck out of every single kind of celebration you can think of (like solstices and equinoxes and such).  

Today, to welcome our new paint boards into the house, we made boho-flower note cards to give to friends.  They turned out so, so beautiful and cheery and everything I hoped they would be.

 Even Haven's, which was made without following directions in the slightest, and which ended with the death of a brand new fine tipped Sharpie (GAR!!!!) ended up pretty stinking lovely.  Secretly I hoped he would feel the sting of not having followed directions (I know...what kind of mother am I?) but it was gorgeous and he was pleased and I am enough over the Sharpie destruction now that I can be happy for him and his successful, if somewhat rouge art project.  LOL!  

After we set up our boards and sketched out the boundaries of our boho-flower, we said our painting verse:

Now I take my brush so gently, in my hand with loving care,

Watch the colors flow so softly, on the paper clean and clear.

Isn't that so sweet?  It's exactly the mindset I want the kids to be in for art.  Gentle and appreciative.  Love it!  The boys (one in particular, who shall remain nameless) can be like tiny bulldozers, not just as they move, but in attitude as they work, just plowing through art projects like tankers (or like their mom plows through school work when she isn't prepared with art projects).  The verses really remind them about how they should approach their painting (and how their mom should approach all of life).  We really need that little reminder at the outset of each task.

Hunter's final product really impressed me.  The colors he chose worked well together, there was good variation between fat petals and kind of gnarly petals, and it just felt good to look at.  He generally doesn't like having to participate in art projects, but today he was present and ready to roll and in the end he was really proud of his creation.  He asked me to take his picture with it so many times, and Hunter often hides when the camera comes out, so that says a lot about his feelings about his flower.   

So hooray for painting boards and a successful first project!  

I've held back on buying paint boards forever because when I look at the Waldorf boards online, they're either crazy expensive, or the white topped ones, which allow for the truest paint color with wet on wet especially, are made of laminated particle board.  Particle board is chock-full of chemicals and doesn't hold up well when exposed to moisture, and it's not exactly what I would consider a natural product anyway, so I decided to go with large white cutting boards.  I'm so glad I did.  The little channel to catch meat juices also catches run-away paint for that kid who refuses to wring some water out of his brush before each stroke, keeping our counter tops and the woman who cleans them happy.  

I've also hesitated to buy the expensive "real" paint supplies.  Technically we will be reimbursed for art supplies this year anyway, but I can't even bring myself to spend that kind of money on water colors when someone else is paying.  I can't.  I'd rather buy Crayola and let them paint their little hearts out than buy $20 paints and then hover over them and analyze their appreciation of the high quality materials to decide if they are worthy of this major investment.  Art is supposed to be laid back and I can't relax when a 6 year old has his brush in $20 paint.  Sorry, dyed in the wool Waldorfians, but our flowers turned out right nice with the $1.98 paints.  And I've found that the crayon brand called Cray-Z is so cheaply made that it's super blendable and waxy like the beeswax crayons, so score!  I did break down and buy the spendy oil pastels, but I've tried the cheap of those and they aren't nice and blendy like the big ticket stuff, so I feel justified.  

So that's how we've budgetized the Waldorf-feeling art class: alternative board material, cheap on the paint and crayons, spendy on the oil pastels and colored pencils.  

Almost Like Little House

For several summers, the kids have been bringing in handfuls of a weed they find in the goat field, calling it "wild mint," and making "perfume, bug spray, and foot wash" out of it by mashing it between rocks, swirling it in jars of water, etc.  You know.  The usual stuff a country kid would do with a smell-good weed.  A few times I've seen their play date guests leave with a nasty jar of foul looking liquid and when I ask, they say, "Oh, everyone wants a jar of our mint foot wash!"

Well, this week when a sudden stomach illness in a state park sent us home early from our vacation with Grandma Jamma and aunt Jeanie, the kids were sent out to the field to play so that ailing Grandma Jamma could sleep in peace.  When they came in, it was with a gift of wild mint.  Finally, I agreed to look it up and see if it is in fact a wild mint and if it's safe to take a taste of.  After some searching, we found that it is in the mint family, and is called lemon balm.  All of the first hits that came back to me when I searched lemon balm were for pesto recipes, so I sent Hannah Jane back out with a basket to gather some for a dinner billed to Mother Nature's tab.

She came in with tons of it and said, "I gathered a lot, but I wanted to leave some to grow for another meal.  Isn't it exciting?  It's almost like Little House on the Prairie!"  And it was exciting to identify a plant growing wild and use it in a meal.  It's the kind of thing I always say we should do, but never actually get around to.  So, yay for us!

Haven helped strip the leaves.  He happily packed it in the food processor with the walnuts and garlic and oil.  He was so excited about the idea of a meal from the wild that he could barely contain himself!  

Aunt Jeanie ended up offering to take the family out for dinner since we were technically supposed to be on vacation still, so the pesto had a night to sit in the fridge and let the flavors all blend.  Tonight, as I felt the stomach bug finally heading my way despite the myriad of old wives tales I had committed myself and the kids to today, it was great to have something easy to make for dinner and not have to call Joe and ask him to buy something on the way home from work.  I just boiled up the noodles and stirred in our much anticipated pesto sauce.  

Hannah Jane obviously wouldn't try any even though the thought had been so enchanting.  Hunter surprisingly said he hated it and asked me to rinse his noodles off, but when I went to rinse them, there were only 2 noodles left.  Haven adored it and wants it every day.  I liked it and Joe seemed to really enjoy it as well.  It had a very earthy flavor.  Not earthy as in bad, but I don't want to admit it, but earthy as in rich and bold flavor that my tongue has never experienced before.  I definitely want to have it again.  I think it might have been better with pine nuts and a little black pepper.  I improvised a little, combining the recipes that called for ingredients that I happened to have on hand.  For now, here's the recipe we used.

In a food processor, combine:

2 packed cups of lemon balm leaves

1/2 cup of walnuts

6 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp minced garlic (or if you're one of those people who doesn't get your garlic from a jar, 3 cloves)

salt to taste

Joe, having been nervous about me letting the kids cook dinner from something they scrounged up in the goat field, did a little research of his own, and as I sat on the bed eating very little and fearing the feeling of the inevitable stomach bug upon me, mentioned that he read that lemon balm has anti-viral properties.  Handy for a day like today.  Maybe I should have the kids go gather up some more and make a tea from it and see if I can shorten the lifespan of this gut twister!  

I'm excited about our little wild find and can't wait to find more things we can make with lemon balm.  I'm also a little more motivated to see what else we can identify in the wild and cook with.  I have frienda who are way into this and I admire their skills, but have just never quite gotten up and done it.  But it was fun!  Maybe I'll take them up on their expertise!

See Ya Later, Mom!

Last week, we found ourselves in a magical place called Goblin Valley. Goblin Valley State Park is a crazy desert that used to be a sea during the Jurassic period, and by some geological miracle (or basic science for those who understand such wondrous things) all of these wonky little stone globs formed all around, making excellent climbing challenges for kids of all ages.  The kids darted from formation to formation, climbing, jumping, chasing.  It was kid-heaven.

Joe and I sat reclined in a patch of shade discussing some dull grown-up topic when Hunter and Hannah Jane breezed past us.  Just a few seconds later, Haven ran by after them and called out, "See ya later, Mom!"  

See ya later, Mom.  It's a simple phrase that I hear almost every day, but in that moment all full of the stuff of family memories, the weight of that phrase hit me hard.  I turned to Joe and said, "Isn't that all any parent ever needs to hear?  Doesn't it just say everything you want for your child?"  Joe looked a little confused, but after I explained, he agreed.

See ya later, Mom, says I've found my adventure and I'm off to chase it, full of independence and confidence.   It also says, even in my moment of liberation, I haven't forgotten you.  I'm calling out because you're remembered and I love you.

What more could we want?  We spend our parenting hours trying to empower them with the tools and skills they'll need to feel good about going out on their own and chasing their dreams and adventures.  But even when they fly, they're our babies and our most prized joys.  They are a tiny piece of us delving into the future and no matter how independent we want them to someday be, we hope that when they get there - when they reach their own branch on the path of life- they'll look back over their shoulders and  share the moment with us.

See ya later, Mom.  It's independence and acknowledgement all rolled into 4 simple words.  What more could a parent ask for?

Tuesday Teaching Tidbit : Schooling without a School Room

Hello, friends!  Hope you had a lovely Memorial Day weekend.

Today's teaching tidbit video is not at all what I had planned, but our handy man was banging around in the next room, so it was too loud to do much of a sit down and chat sort of thing.  Several readers have asked about our school space, so this seemed like a fine time to give a quick tour.  In the book, Home Field Advantage, we were still using our school room, but we've opted to use a new charter school that not only reimburses us for the curriculum that we choose, but also gives us a tech allowance to add some computers to our home, which will make our days flow a lot more smoothly.  Can't wait!  But our internet connection stinks downstairs no matter what strength router I've tried, so we're moving upstairs.  Since most people school without a designated school room, I thought it might be handy to see how we've arranged things.

As I mentioned, I keep our history and literature books in the living room.  We have a wall of book shelves in there and it's the very next room, so it just makes sense not to have them all piled up in the sun room.  Once the bathroom construction junk is gone, I'll take you in there and show you the color coding system I've used to keep our books in order.  If you're a homeschooler, you know how easy it would be to let books just take over the house!

Keeping all of the posters and calendar stuff that we need under the couch and just pulling them out for the correct lesson keeps us from having kid posters all over the walls of our grown up room.  I also have a chalk board, white board, and felt board under there, which I forgot to pull out and show you.  That really gives us everything that we had downstairs, but in an easy to put away arrangement.  

I said that this is the boundary within which we stay during school hours, but I didn't mention our exceptions to that.  This is actually where we stay during our together school time.  When we get to the parts that they do on their own, like reading and instrument practice, they spread out across the house.  I've noticed, though, that once they spread out, they're not big on regrouping, so we do all of our together courses first, and then split up and plan to stay split up for the day unless we're coming back together for some sort of hands-on, 'so fun it's worth sitting down for' sort of lesson.  This might be a science project, art video, or some sort of edible model building.

So there ya have it!  We've only been schooling upstairs for about 2 months, but so far it's working quite well.  And with it being in the sun room, we have lots of natural light and don't need to use a lot of electricity during the day.  Can't wait to get those new computers in here so that the kids don't have to wait in line to do their math and typing.  Things are about to get a lot easier!

Next week is going to be pretty crazy, so I probably won't be posting a video or even do much blogging.  But Tuesday videos will be back in 2 weeks!