Never Say Never

I am just going to blurt it out.

James has been attending public school for almost 3 weeks now. 

I am not even joking. This is for real. And...I am okay with it. So is James.

I am sure you want to know why. I am always curious why homeschoolers make the decision to put their kids in public school. It's a life commitment and lifestyle. I know some do it when their children get older. And they thrive. Most homeschool parents I know are not militant about what they do. After all, so many of our family and friends have children in public school and we love them.

For me, the decision was sort of made for me. My husband and I are separated. I don't know where we will end up but it was unexpected and a shock to me. So, I want to take a minute to ask you to pray for me. For James. For our whole family and that includes my husband.

I registered James for school 2 weeks after it began.  I was scrambling to adjust my work hours, continue homeschooling and finding child care for James while I was still working night hours. I have said prayers of gratitude for my family in Louisburg and my neighbors living right next door.

Registering James for public school required deep breathing and the plastering onto my face the biggest and sweetest fake smile I could muster. (I personally think my fake smile is scary-looking) The guidance counselor could not understand that I didn't have attendance records. I had Woodcock-Johnson standardized test results that showed where James is academically but she was fixated on attendance records. I had to explain that North Carolina does not require homeschools to maintain attendance records (or even regsiter your homeschool) until the child turns 7.  Surely the schools get homeschoolers into the public school from time to time. I was surprised that they didn't have some inkling of the law. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

Now for more shocking news: School has been great. Both for James AND me. In all honesty, I was not looking forward to the beginning of the school year. I was tired. All summer. Working nights after doing so much during the day with James was exhausting. And I didn't feel I was doing enough. I went through the motions. I bought the curriculum I wanted to use, I was coordinating a boy's book club. I had signed up for the co-op on Fridays through our homeschool group. But I wasn't looking forward to any of it. It all just made me feel more tired.

See, when I get on a train, I can't get off. When I make a commitment that big, I don't quit. It NEVER occurred to me to stop. Ever. I needed someone to say to me, "Connie, stop it.". Not that I would have listened the first time. Probably not. I am not a quitter. (I will read a terrible book to the end because I can't stand not to finish it.) But stop homeschooling to save my marriage? Make it stronger? Hell yeah. The core of homeschooling, for me, is family and edcuation. But we were no longer having family time during the week. Thirty minutes for dinner before I had to run out tthe door for work is not quality time.

Ironic isn't it. I have free time now. I am doing less. I am at home at night. I am not so tired. But we are not an intact family. So, I am asking again. Pray for us.

Another revelation to share: I see God in the midst of the chaos. Sometimes God needs to do something BIG to get our attention. He certainly has mine. I don't know the why's or His reason but I am trusting in Him. The week that I decided to register James for school, my email inbox was inundated with emails from Crossroads Fellowship Church. Some days I would get 2 emails about all the goings-on and new classes and services. So I thought, "Fine God. I hear you. And I'm going." So we have. James and I. It's been good. The message for the month is about getting answers to the hard qustions like Why does God allow sin? Why Does God allow disease and disaster? In listening during the past few Sundays I know this: God allows sin because He gave us Free Will and wants us to use it.. He gave us the choice to love Him. Or not. The choice, also, to love each other. Or not. And sometimes He needs to get our attention.

I know God has a purpose for my life. I know there was (is?) purpose in my marriage and in homeschooling James in his early years. But the next chapter? I do not know. But I am not afraid.

I do not know if I will continue to post my writings here. I am no longer a homeschooler but my journey continues. So. Stay tuned if you wish.

HOME-SCHOOLING: Socialization not a problem - Washington Times

Love this article and had to share. This is the #1 myth that is perpetuated by people who dislike the idea of homeschooling or those who are ignorant of what homeschooling really looks like and what it can be.

HOME-SCHOOLING: Socialization not a problem - Washington Times

The Real World??

I don't think there are any words really necessary to add to this photo. But I will tell you this, I have had people look at me like I am crazy because I want to be the adult my child sees for 6 hours a day five days a week. The center of their world. Their guide, teacher, moral compass, biggest influence. Ever. And if my kid grows up to be screwed up then it's all on me. But if he grows up to be someone exceptional and wonderful and good, then that too is all on me. Well, I guess he could get some of the credit.

Hackschooling Makes Me Happy: Logan LaPlante at TEDxUniversityofNevada

Hackschooling. Creativity IS just as important as literacy. Thanks Logan.

I am not a Homeschool Superstar either

A homeschooling mom friend shared this article this morning on Facebook and as I read it, I thought, "Yes! She is speaking to me!". I am not the crafty, creative kind of mom. I loath the thought of doing complex science experiments in the kitchen. I mean, even when looking for a new recipe to try, I won't use one that has more than, like, 8-10 ingredients and takes all day to make. No way. And to be honest, my son is not inclined to do crafts either. He whines when I ask him to do a coloring page that I can put on the refrigerator. I like simple. Like vanilla ice cream. It's good just how it is. Throwing a bunch of stuff in it pretty much guarantees I won't even taste the vanilla ice cream. But I digress.

I do love the blogs of the Superstars. I do. I have been able to tweak some of their ideas to suit me. I have found great books to read and fun (and free) holiday lesson plans. But, I homeschool in a way that makes me a "peaceful and happy mommy". I do have so much "otherness" in my life. I work. I cook and clean. I run. I make sure we have lots of social opportunities. I sign us up for almost all the field trips that are offered. We sit and read books together. James is becoming an avid reader of all things Berenstain Bears and I could not be more pleased. And my husband thinks I am doing a great job with our son. That means so much to me. I make sure I have the basics covered: math, reading, writing, phonics. I throw in interesting tidbits there and there. I bought an inflatable globe. I signed James up for a Minecraft class that starts in January. We did a whole Thanksgiving study in November that was really interesting and involved a lot of reading books aloud...that I got from a mommy friend. We even listened to Rush Limbaugh's audio book Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims in the car. James loved it! After we had finished the book, we attended a special Native American celebration at the NC Museum of History where we saw NC native tribes dance. When James saw them, he turned to me and excitedly asked, "Is Samoset here!?! Is Freedom here?!?" Samoset was one of the Indians that befriended the pilgrims and William Bradford. Freedom was a character in Rush's book. She is native American.

So, I won't be one of the Superstars that, to me, are like the Martha Stewarts of homeschooling. Martha Stewart makes me tired! But I love their creativeness and ingenuity and I glean what I can and what I know will work in my home. Anything that keeps me a peaceful and happy mommy because that is good for my son. But, maybe, just maybe, we WILL make an igloo out of sugar cubes. ;)

Homeschool Superstars and why I am not one.

A Series of Firsts this week

It has been a good week. James and I have moved into our second week of homeschool kindergarten and with that came the first Friday with the Legacy co-op through the group in which we are members. I was very nervous going into it. See, I would be teaching a class for the first time...for other people's kids! And James would be taking two classes in which others were teaching him. It was a great experience!!

First day with Legacy (each Friday for 8 weeks).
James just knew there would be Show & Tell and he wanted to take the horn worm he had caught on Thursday evening. I, hesitantly, allowed it. I figured if it didn't go well, we would release him and no harm done. He stood up in a room FULL of strangers and talked about his horn worm. He told them where they live and that  they turn into pupa and then into hawk moths. He told them about the white cocoons that can grow on their backs and turn into wasps. I almost cried. What a wonderful Show & Tell. As soon as he sat down, a little boy came and sat next to me on the floor and stared at me; willing me to look at him. It worked. I looked at him and realized exactly what he wanted. He wanted an up-close view of that horn worm. James was making friends. I should have known. He was also a big hit during snack time too. Even little girls wanted a close-up look.

Show & Tell

First time teaching kindergartners.
After Show & Tell and some announcements, James went to Geology class as I went to my Five in a Row reading/crafts class. My co-teacher, Diana, was leading our first class so I helped with getting the crafts set up. We have about 10 girls and 2 boys in our class. Wow. Girls are soooooo different than boys! And Diana and I are a great team because she has a daughter in the class so she knows about little girls...and of course I know about little boys. These two boys weren't much different than James. They can't sit still and the little girls can! it's uncanny! We read "Three Names". It's a story of a boy and a dog. Then we moved to the craft table. They are decorating paper plates each week so that by the end of the class, they will have a complete mobile of all the stories we have read. I take no credit for this. Diana is great with crafts. After that, Diana took the kids to the floor for a game of marbles. There was a part of the story in which the boys play marbles. Everyone enjoyed that.

A game of marbles

After the first hour class (the kids who are a part of Legacy take 2 classes each Friday morning), everyone goes to the big room for snack time. Lordy!! I forgot that I was supposed to bring snacks for James! I was mortified! Luckily, Diana came to the rescue. She had an extra granola bar. But as soon as I saw James come into the room, I realized I had nothing to worry about. He had a chocolate mustache!!! I was thinking to myself, how did he get a chocolate mustache in Geology class?!?!?! I soon found out. He comes up to me (still carrying his creature peeper with the horn worm inside) and, with a big grin, tells me, "Mom! We made the center of the Earf (Earth) with marshmallows and chocolate!!! Well, well, well. Geology IS a great class! Rocks, fossils AND chocolate! No doubt! He loved it and told me that he knew his class was WAY better than my stupid class. Yes, he actually said that but in the car on the way home he says to me, "Mom, tell me about your class. I want to hear allllll about it.". Ha! One of the benefits of Legacy is that the Moms teach a class and then they get an hour break to have some R&R with the other moms. It was nice to have that time built in. My group had about 15-20 moms and we introduced ourselves and decided on how we would use our time for the remaining 8 weeks. We prayed for each other in small groups at the end of our hour. It was touching. I haven't prayed with others so intimately in years.

First 5K
As a way to carve out some time for myself, I started the Couch to 5K training program. I had seen some of my girlfriends via Facebook running and having a great time doing it. I ran in high school and I have always thought of myself as a runner even though I haven't run in years. I was a sprinter in high school, did some road races in college and I thought it was time to reconnect with the runner in me. So, the Couch to 5K program was perfect. It's a 9-week training program and I signed up for a 5K that would take place 10 weeks after beginning the program. James watched me train each day. He tried to run with me sometimes. I ran yesterday. At the North Carolina Zoo. There were about 500 runners there. And I did it! It was so awesome! Chris, my husband, and James were with me and it made it so wonderful. I loved that they were with me. My men. So, it's official. I have the bug now. My next 5K is on October 6th with one of my very best friends from high school. We haven't been in touch for a while and I am looking forward to running and reconnecting. :) The one after that....is Thanksgiving Day!!! Haha. See? I have the bug!

Run Wild 5K

I have another blog post in me right now but on a totally different subject. The next topic will be about knowing your child and readiness. :) Can't wait to tackle that one.

Did you know...skipping is a pre-reading skill?

As I am home again and thinking about all I learned at the NCHE conference, I am able to take a deep breath, let it out....and wait. That's right. Wait. "For what?, you ask? So glad you did! Charlotte Mason, who was an educator in England in the late 1800's and early 1900's, believed education was 3-pronged: it was an atmosphere, a discipline and a [way of] life. Her philosophy included lots of play and "hours in the outdoors" for small children; time to explore their world and study Nature. She also supported the delay of academics until the child was 6 or 7 years of age. Now I understand why. When young children get the opportunity to play and explore outside they are paving their way to a preparedness for academics.

All children are born with over one billion neurons in their brains but all those neurons are not yet fully connected to each other by synapses that are strengthened through "active interest and mental effort by the child". Active interest + mental effort= play! This is the start of early education! Young children (preschoolers) need opportunities to develop gross motor skills, develop bilateral coordination, cross their midline, work on fine motor skills and ocular (eye) motor skills. There are seven eye muscles that are important to a child's eye development so they can focus closely to something (like words on a page). Their eyes won't fully develop until age 6-8 AND many pediatric eye specialists confirm that children's eyes are made primarily for distance vision. James has been asking for an Xbox 360 since Christmas. I have told him that Daddy and I are thinking about it as a birthday gift. After learning about eye development, he is getting a bicycle for his birthday!

So. Skipping is a pre-reading skill. And here are some others:

• riding a bike without training wheels (bilateral coordination, gross motor skills, fine motor skills)
• can do jumping jacks (bilateral coordination, gross motor skills, motor patterning)
• pretending (visualization)

At this point, James can not skip, do a jumping jack or ride a bike. Those skills need to be practiced and perfected before he has the ability to sit down and attend to doing academics. And you know what? I am totally fine with that. I think that's how we (parents, teachers, anyone who loves the child) instill a love of learning. We wait and we watch, looking for those teachable moments. And if we try it and it doesn't work, well, we wait some more. And when they are ready, they will be willing and it will be easier for them. The hard part? Dealing with Society's perceived expectations. I can predict it now: "James is _____ years old and he isn't reading yet? James is ____ years old and he isn't doing addition and subtraction yet? Well what ARE you doing?" "For now, we are....playing.", I will reply in the most sweetest voice I can muster (for the record, I don't think it's very sweet so who knows what it will actually sound like)

Sources for this post: www.simplycharlottemason.com and Susan Chrisman whom can be found at www.lifelonglearnersonline.com

A Preschool homeschool Sample day at my house

James and I have found our groove lately. He is even ASKING for school and reminds me if I don't get to it in the mornings. I love that. :) So here is what a typical morning looks like for us.

• Wake up: 7:30-8:00am

Then downstairs to enjoy coffee for me and chocolate milk or hot chocolate for James. Let the dogs out and give them treats.

• School "lesson": 9ish-10isham

Still in my PJ's, I go prepare our lessons for the day. I am still using the Calvert School PreK Curriculum so everything is pretty much laid out lesson by lesson in the big book. I also add worksheets from www.education.com from time to time depending on the lesson topics for the day. I use those mostly to encourge James to write and draw. It's not his favorite but he will do dot-to-dot pictures, mazes and tracing letters and numbers.

1.  Today's Date on "My First Daily Planner" banner
2. Pledge of Allegiance which has been "Red, White and Blue, I love you!" I am not working on teaching the actual Pledge.
3. Picture Study Art: Rembrandt's "Christ shows his wounds to doubting Thomas".   So far, we have studied "Jacob Wrestling with the Angel" and "The Militia of Captain Frans Banning Cocq, known as 'The Night Watch'". We study each piece of art for a week.
4. The topic for the next couple of days is wild animals. It's review for him but the lessons encourage careful observation (pre-reading skill), talking about what he knows and the lesson usually incorporates math as well.
5. Story from an included book with the curriculum that fit with the topic
6. Singing the ABC song.
7. Occasionally a topic will lead to more questions from James so we scoot over to the computer and look up videos or stories. Reaches have included Big Foot, Angels, The Devil, various wild animals, weather (i.e. tornadoes).

All of this takes about 20 minutes of our morning and we are done. There are days that we may miss a lesson so I will combine the best of a couple (or three) lessons in order to "catch up". I got behind during the Christmas holiday and the aftermath. I started combining lessons and skipped items that would require us, for example, to talk about snowmen in March. We still do additional reading during the day at nap time and bed time...and any other time James might request a book. He goes through phrases of favorite activities so we do that too. For a while, it was Candyland all day, everyday. Right now, he just can't keep his little monkey paws off any electronic in the house. Every time I turn around he has my phone, or Chris' phone, his Leap pad, my camera, or my Nook. He knows how to use all of them. He knows how to download the free games to my phone. I'm waiting for it to start smoking from all the activity on it.We now have the capability to Skype, too, so he has been enjoying that as well.

This sample and the length of lessons are great for preparing James for next year. He can hardly sit still for 20 minutes so that in itself is good practice for him. The rest of the day is incidental learning for him. I also try to give him plenty of outdoor time to play and run around. We have been doing picnics at the park with nature walks around the lake and playground time.

So, gotta tie this up and get my lessons ready for this morning. I am still in my pj's and I hear James' leap pad from the living room. :)

Practicing the ABC song

Here is a sample of some of the work we did this morning. :)

Feeling So Encouraged

I think this post is more of a big THANK YOU to all the homeschooling families that have come before me. All those parents who felt so strongly convicted that they took this path less traveled and in their journeys have paved the way for so many others. They made my journey so EASY compared to what the pioneers had to do and face. It parallels how I came to be a sign language interpreter in a way. So many children of deaf adults paved the way for me to have the career I have so enjoyed. In the early days, small children, sometimes, were forced to interpret for their parents in all sorts of scenarios that are unimaginable to me now. They would interpret for their parents when they were doing their bank business, buying a car, parent-teacher meetings at school. You name it. Places where children are not meant to be. Then they grew up and started teaching others and so it began that interpreters were on their way to the infancy stages of a profession. And it's like that for me now with making the choice to homeschool my son. So many others have been brave and learned hard lessons along the way and they now teach new homeschoolers and create resources for us that they wish they had had when they were doing it....alone.

I sometimes get frustrated when others seem to think I am choosing this path because I think I am the perfect teacher or that I think my son is perfect too. On the contrary! I am scared that I will make my son stupid some days! I worry about how I will teach advanced math courses and chemistry and, and, and. But if I let all my fears prevent me from doing what I KNOW to be right for my family then I really will have failed. I think it's a harder road than sending James to public school but that's not why I chose this path either. I just keep remembering that "the right thing is never the easy thing" which applies to so many things in life. And for me, homeschooling is that right thing. So sometimes I WILL feel like quitting. But I won't. Some days I won't have the patience I need to do my very best. I will try again tomorrow. Some days I will feel like I don't have the time. I will have to make time. And I will have to make time for adult friends and me time. I will hear friends snicker at my choice and think I am trying to hide my son from world and to BE the only thing in his world. I will remember all the reasons I am taking this path and put those negative things out of my mind. I will be relentless in my pursuit. Even though, there will be days when I think I am just not cut out to be a homeschool mom and I am ruining my kid.  Here's a great article that made me laugh and nod in agreement. I think this woman has been spying on me! Why I am not cut out to be a homeschool mom

And when all the self talk fails, I only need to open my eyes because.....Here is the biggest reason!

I love this kid!

Gearing up for....Kindergarten!

Well, it feels like Spring outside so I am already looking forward to the NC Home Educators (NCHE) conference in May. I am really excited about attending this year because I feel like I have a direction for what we will be doing next year. In preparation, I just ordered two things from the Simply Charlotte Mason  website.

 


 We will start a Picture Study lesson when this arrives in a couple of weeks.



And I also ordered "Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education" printed book and DVD. In the DVD, Sonya Shafer is presenting. I have seen her and her husband at the NCHE conference. They do the curcuit of home school conferences. It's nice to meet these people and hear what they have to say. Sonya is very encouraging and her voice and presentation style have a calming effect on me. The terror subsides and I feel like I can do this and it will be fun and wonderful. If nothing else, the conference is worth that.



We are going to have a great year! I can't believe that I am making preparations for teaching kindergarten. Where did the time go? James looks forward to his lessons most of the time. He tells people he is already IN school and that Mommy is his teacher like there wouldn't be an alternative. :)

The happy ending to a most trying week

If I had sat down to write this blog earlier in the week, it would have been an incomplete story. It all started on Sunday a week ago. We were having a family day and we were out and about. James pooped in his underwear. On Sunday, I didn't think anything of it. We had been away from home most of the day and he is not one to poop anywhere but home. But then on Monday he did it again. And Tuesday. And Wednesday. It happened more than once on Wednesday and I got tired of cleaning dirty underwear, So, I made him choose to wear a Pull-up or go commando. He choose commando. Weird. On Thursday, same thing. More than once. Friday too. Even with the babysitter. I thought for sure he wouldn't do it with her. He did. And then he proceeded to actully POOP 3 more times on Friday. What the world? I tried asking him if he was worried about something. No. Did his tummy hurt? No. Well, and before I get to the end of the poop part of the story, let me show you something else.

This happened on Wednesday. I had recently learned that James could put his shoes on all by himself from my brother-in-law but he was holding out at home letting me and Chris think he couldn't do it. Then we asked him to start putting on his own socks too. Well, you see how that went on Wednesday. This is a clip of the last 5 minutes or so...of the 20 minutes of screaming and whining. You would have thought I had pinched him and made him bleed. I did no such thing. I asked him and then expected him to put on his own socks and shoes. Also, in this video you can see his bald spot prominently displayed. I cut his hair on Tuesday. It was "No TV Tuesday" and I got bored and James needed a haircut. It was traumatic to say the least and I will no longer be in charge of haircuts. It will now be a Father/Son outing. Soooooo, fast forward to Friday. We've had pooping in the underwear everyday, the awful haircut on Tuesday, meltdown over socks on Wednesday and so I thought we needed to get out and go to the park on Friday afternoon. We had a GREAT time...until it was time to leave. I swear there were several kids at the park having meltdowns at the same time. It was freaky friday at the park. We had to quickly stop at the grocery store on the way home and my patience was hanging on by a thread. And then James snapped that thread. He stopped walking with me in the parking lot and took a defiant pose, folded his arms across his chest and gave me his mean face and said, "You are a mean mommy and I don't want to go anywhere wif you. I don't want to go to the grocery store and I don't want to go home wif you.". This is what popped in to my head,

"Ok. That's fine James. When we get into the grocery store I want you to look around for a nice couple you might like to go home with. I will give them your booster seat from my car and you can go home with them." He thought I was joking so I actively started helping him "look" for someone else to go home with. There was a nice lady in the produce section. And the man with the little boy in the racecar cart. James could have a little brother! And then, I stopped a couple. And winked at them. Here is what I said, "James thinks I am a mean mommy and he doesn't want to go home with me. Do you need a little boy?" They played along! The man said, "Well, I have some work that needs to be done around the house and I could use some help with my dogs". James was holding on to my sleeve with all his might and I said to him, "James! They have dogs! You love dogs!". He says, "MMMMMMMM! No Mommy!" I looked back at the couple and shrugged my shoulders, "I'm sorry. I guess he has changed his mind". The man looked down at James and said, "I think you have a very nice mommy". We drove in silence all the way home and when I pulled into the garage, I looked back at James and told him, "I love you always. No matter what". I think he may have needed to hear that. I  know that sometimes kids need to know that even when they mess up or act up that their parents will always love them. I will.

Back to the poop portion of this week-long saga. At 7:30 pm on Friday night, James sat at the top of the stairs- 5 feet from the bathroom- and pooped in his underwear again. This time I made him help me clean his underwear. He did not like getting poop on his hands and he cried and cried. I had to put him in the bathtub to get his completely clean. And then I did this. I grabbed the phone from my room came out into the hall way in front of his bathroom so he could see me and this is what he heard me say:

Hi Dr. Nechyba. This is Connie Lewis. I am very concerned about James. He has pooped in his underwear everyday this week. He normally is very good at putting all his poop in the potty. What should I do? *silence for a few seconds* What? Really? There's a no-poop-in-your-underwear shot? *silence except for James gasping and looking horrified* So if James can go a whole day without pooping in his underwear then he doesn't need the shot? Ok, well I will give you a call back tomorrow night and let you know if I need to bring him in or not. (this was a completely FAKE call. I never dialed a number)

It was a gamble. But it worked! James pooped THREE times before lunchtime on Saturday morning. He'd been holding it in for some reason. We called Daddy and Nana & Pop-Pop and Mawmaw to tell them the good news: James would not need the shot! We are now 2 1/2 days of clean underwear and all poop in the potty. Needless to say, we had 2 days of lessons on Monday and Tuesday and the rest of the week was spent dealing with poop and socks and attitude. 

Ok, it's a new day. And a new beginning. Wish me luck!

North Carolina Home Educators Conference

 I wanted to take the time to make a plug for the North Carolina Home Educators Conference that will be held May 24-26 (Memorial Day weekend) in Winston-Salem, NC. Click here for a link to their website.

Every year they host a AMAZING conference. I have attended the last 2 years and this year will be my third. Early bird registration is open now and, for members, the cost is $50 and the deadline is April 20, 2012. I recommend paying the extra $3 for the speaker handout booklet. I love that thing! I can take notes in it and have a little information from all the various workshops over the course of the 3 days. During the conference, they also sell audio of ALL the workshops. You can dowload them as an MP3 file or buy a CD. They cater to all learning styles. ;)

The first year I attended I went alone. As I waited in line for my registration packet, I couldn't believe all the FAMILIES that were there together. Moms and Dads and kids of all ages- newborns to graduating students. All are welcome. And this year the conference is hosting their first ever Children's Conference for children ages 5-12. The older students normally have all sorts of activities like a dance, talent show, they volunteer at the conference and then there is a graduation ceremony on the last day.

Some readers/friends who are not currently homeschoolers have contacted me about homeschooling. They shared with me that they were considering it as a viable option for their family. This is a great place to learn so much about homeschooling. There are workshops on topics such as the state laws that apply to homeschooling, preschoolers, middle schoolers, high schoolers, preparing for college, specific learning challenges, homeschooling a large family, teaching writing or math and homeschool athletics. Here in North Carolina, there is a football league, basketball for girls and boys, volleyball, cross country, baseball, tennis and other sports coming soon due to demand. And if you aren't in North Carolina, find out what is available in your state. If you Google your state and the words "home educators" you are bound to get a hit on something useful. For example, I googled "Virginia home educators" and I got a hit for the Home Educators Association of Virginia.

Good Luck and hope to see you at the NCHE Conference in May.

Let's talk Religion

Man. I have been putting this topic for a while. It's such a BIG topic for me. Where to begin. Well, I grew up going to church. I have been baptized TWICE. The preacher who baptized me when I was 12 or so had cheated on his wife so I wanted to do it again. I had to make sure it stuck. I know. That's just weird. It was a big part of my life as a teenager and that was my own choosing. I am STILL grateful for the relationships I had during that time in my life. My church and my friends and teachers there sustained me through that tumultuous time called adolescence. I then promptly stopped going to church once I went to college. I was in a new town and I had new friends and I didn't make room for it. So. Now I am a mother and I have a little one to think about. And in my last blog post, the "25 Rules for Mothers of Sons" says that mothers should give their sons something to believe in so that they are never, never, NEVER alone. I have also recently read "Heaven is for real: A little boy's astounding story of his trip to Heaven and back. I downloaded it to my Nook tablet I got for Christmas and I couldn't put it down. I read it in about 2-3 hours.

I needed LOTS of tissues to wipe my tears away. An amazing story of a child's experience that is believable and, I dare say, true. I believe little Colton went to Heaven. I remembered from my own Sunday school lessons that Jesus told the grown-ups, "And a child shall lead them" (Isaiah 11:6). The whole piece of scripture says that the "wolves will lie with the lamb and the leopard with the goat and the lion with the calf, and a child shall lead them". I am no theologian but on it's face this scripture says to me, there will be peace and it's a child who will be a big part of that. Colton said that "Jesus loves the children"and he said it over and over and over and over. Jesus told the grown-ups to believe as a child would believe. Whoa. That's hard. But, back to my story. Now, I stopped going to church but God never stopped trying to get my attention. There was that time I went to the Easter service that first year after my Grandaddy died. I was in his church. The young preacher held up a small, old hymnal that was practically an antique and told the congregation that Roland Hutchinson gave it to him on one of his last visits with him. That was my Grandaddy. I think God was telling me, "Remember me". I'm crying now just typing it out. And since then, there were some dark days but God has put people in my life along the way. Reminding me to remember. I started helping out at the food pantry at Faith Baptist Church with James. I finally decided to go visit. I had been opposed to going to a baptist church because I grew up in one but I needed to go...and I needed to take James. I was nervous. Chris stayed at home. I quickly downloaded the Bible onto my Nook (there are so many FREE Bible apps) on my way out the door. I hoped to see the ONE person I knew there from the food pantry. And guess what? She was the first face I saw. She found me. God put her there? She's a homeschooler too. She helped me get James settled in his class and then helped me find my way to "big church". It's a BIG church. I sat alone. Learned alot. Felt the tears well up inside me. Tears of remembrance. We ate the Lord's Supper. I forgot to wait to pray before eating my bit of cracker. So embarrassing. So now I just gotta keep going. I knew that choosing to homeschool James would lead me back. After all, many of the pioneers of homeschooling choose this path when prayer gotten taken out of school. When religion was no longer ok. When children couldn't draw pictures of themselves praying at bedtime or Jesus on the cross. So, maybe I am choosing God again. It's definitely been on mind and heart lately. Lots of interesting videos going around on Facebook about religion and what did Jesus really mean or say about religion.

And interesting article in response to the video: Does Jesus hate religion? kinda, sorta, not really. But maybe I like little Colton's teachings the best. I can trust that he had no ulterior motives. He's was only 3 years old after all. He told of things he couldn't possibly have known. Most everything he shared with his parents can be substantiated with scripture in the Bible. Yes, I think a child shall lead them (us). And the most amazing part of his story is the search for a true likeness of Jesus. His parents had given up on ever finding a picture of Jesus that little Colton would say looked like Jesus...until he saw this picture:

When little Colton saw this picture, he couldn't believe it. He was stunned. You know who drew this picture? (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!) There was a little girl, a prodigy, who was also very young. She too had been to Heaven...many times though she never "died" like Colton. She grew up in a home where her mother/parents were atheists. Yes, Jesus loves the children. He loves me too even though I haven't been the best I can be. But one thing is for sure, He meant for me to write this today. James is taking a nap. Going on 2 hours now. THAT is a miracle.

Taste Testing in the Kitchen

After the whirlwind of Christmas and the New Year, getting the house back to normal and getting over some kind of bug this week, we are doing our first formal lesson since the middle of December. Today we spent a good chunk of time in the kitchen talking about the sense of taste. It was a HUGE hit! James tasted granulated sugar, powdered sugar, honey, salt, lemon juice, nuts, cucumber, mini saltine cracker, bit in to an orange peel (to taste something bitter), cheese whiz, sipped milk and water too. He was eager to taste something spicy until I mentioned salsa then that idea was nipped in the bud. He became anxious when I wanted him to close his eyes and let me place something in his mouth. He saw that I had the saltines in my hand and when I told him I wouldn't give one to him because he peeked, he relented and closed his eyes. I put a dab of cheese whiz on my finger and put it in his mouth. He made a funny face. He doesn't like cheese whiz! I tried to give him a saltine with cheese whiz and he told me to take it off. He only wanted the cracker. I don't get this kid's taste buds at all. We talked about texture a little also with the 2 different kinds of sugars and I quizzed him on ALL the different kinds of textures of foods he might like. Surprisingly, he only discounted slimy, mushy and sometimes moist. I had made some colored flashcards of tastes, textures and temperature some time ago in hopes of using them to encourage James to try new foods. I mean, even the video mail from Santa asking him to NOT be afraid to try new foods didn't work! See the video from Santa
 He couldn't tell me that ice cream was sweet. He associated it with cold first. And the sour taste was a real winner this morning. He made "lemonade with the lemon juice, water and a little pinch of sugar. Now he is asking for lime juice to mix in there too. Go figure. The only thing I can think is that sour registers the strongest taste in his mouth...even more so than the sugar although the sugar made him smile. He kept sticking his finger in the lemon juice. Tomorrow we will talk about the sense of smell and along with the smells of the kitchen, we may venture outside to smell some pine cones and things we can find in the woods behind our house.

Child's Garden

It's only a few days after Christmas and I am able to sit down and think about education. I surprise myself. I did get two books I had been wanting to read though and that may have put my butt in gear. I got The Early Years: A Charlotte Mason Preschool Handbook and Better Late than Early by Raymond and Dorothy Moore. Both books speak to the idea of waiting to start a formal education for children. We're talking as late as 8 to 10 years old. That is just unheard of! The BLTE (Better Late than Early) book is a book of technical information and research about how a child's brain develops and through that research put forth the evidence that waiting to start a formal education is actually better for the child. Now, they are NOT saying to just sit around and do nothing with a child for their first 8 to 10 years of life. Heck no! They are saying that waiting to start the academics is better conducted when the child is more mature, etc. They have other arguments but I just started reading it. I can see that this one is going to be tough to finish. It is VERY technical. The CM (Charlotte Mason) book is quite different. She also says that waiting to start formal academics is best but she suggests starting at age 6 or 7. I love her theories and how she wrote. I could devour that one. The reason I wanted these two books has to do with a sort of knowing I have about how to best teach James. I have a strong conviction that slowing down the busy, activity-driven life that James COULD have is the right path. Society says that our kids should be playing soccer or t-ball and taking gymnastics or karate, music lessons and art class. No. I think waiting is the key and I need respected sources to keep myself sane. Well, easier said than done. It goes completely against the grain of what is the norm today. CM (Charlotte Mason) says that the early years of a child's life should be a "quite growing time". I love that. It makes me breath a sigh of relief really. Truly, in the early years, a child's education is self-guided. They are learning and observing EVERYTHING around them. It's a parent's job to guide the child to "right habits of thinking and behaving and nourishing their mind with loving, right and noble ideas". That's what Charlotte Mason said. Isn't that what we ALL want for our children? Did you know that the word "kindergarten" means "child's garden"? I am 40 years old and I never knew that. Is kindergarten these days like a child's garden where they can explore and play and grow? Kindergarten as we now know it was started in Germany by Friedrich Froebel. The main activities of his Play and Activity Institute was singing, dancing, gardening and self-directed play with basic toys or "gifts" as he called them. That ain't the kindergarten of today. But I want James' "kindergarten" to be a garden. It means Chris and I chose the influences around him right now. I know all the people in his life and the activities that he does. If he were in kindergarten at the public school I would have to accept that all the kids and the teacher in his classroom would possibly have a greater influence over him than me and that I would not know everything he does for those 6 hours he is away from me. THAT is unacceptable. I am pretty sure that his "garden" is here at home in our fun yellow room...and beyond.