I draw naked people

Z worked very hard to draw a picture of himself and Ryan playing outside yesterday afternoon.  At dinner he spontaneously began a commentary on his masterpiece.

Z: Mom, I drew dad kind of fat.
Mom: Why is that?
Z: Because I drew him with clothes on.  I usually don't draw people with clothes on.  I usually draw them naked.
Mom: (Trying to keep a somewhat composed face here, with very raised eyebrows) Oh really, why is that?
Z: Because it is too hard to draw all the clothes on right. That's why he ended up so big.
Mom: Oh, I see...

Then T chimes in loudly,
"I only draw naked people too!"
Here entered much laughter!

And you thought your dinner conversations were a bit odd at times???

Thanks to the Revolutionary War...

You know how you can read something but it doesn't really sink in until you experience it? 

I have read in a number of locations about young elementary children reading more and growing in their reading skills if they simply read books about topics that interest them.  Sounds good, right?  Maybe that works for some families...

Back in the fall Z would pick out books about large machinery, building projects, and space at the library.  These topics interested him.  However, most of these books were written far above his reading level.  He couldn't even attempt most of the words.  So I read them to him or he simply looked at the pictures.  I began to think we would be in this 'beginning reader' stage forever.  Maybe I just don't know what I am doing, I thought.  After all, I didn't even know what the difference was between a vowel's long and short sound two years ago.  

Then our history curriculum began taking us through the period of the Revolutionary War.  Z really enjoyed this study.  One night he even tried to rope his sisters into role playing a battle!  I was thoroughly amused when he informed them that he was the English, they were the Americans and they better run.  Later I asked him why he decided to be the English and he responded, "Because the English had a bigger army."

I began to notice him wanting to read more about the Revolution.  I decided to pick up some beginning chapter books and just see what happened.  He attacked these books!  His reading jumped by leaps and bounds.  He wanted to read the words, even if they looked big.  And that gave him confidence.  And that seems to be more than half the battle with him.

By everything I can find it appears that he catapulted from approximately first to third grade reading level in about three months. 

He is devouring books on his own.  Z now knows what it is like to anticipate the end to an exciting story. He is choosing to read in his free time.  It is suddenly not work for him! 

It is very rewarding as his teacher and parent to see this transition. 

In the last week alone he has finished The Boxcar Children, a biography on Daniel Boone, Tornado by Betsy Byers, and begun Daniel's Duck by Clyde Bulla. As my mom told me recently, I am going to need to take a wagon to the library soon! And I won't be complaining!

For beginning readers on the Revolutionary War I we enjoyed:
Six Silver Spoons
Sam, the Minuteman
George, the drummer boy
18 Penny Goose
Buttons for General Washington

From the mouth of Z

Last night as we finished dinner Z asked if he could have his candy cane, which the kids received from a Live Nativity we attended this past weekend.  I said 'sure', remembering how every Christmas this goes the same way with him.  He unwrapped it and suddenly I heard this very loud and horrified, "YUCK! I don't like how that tastes AT ALL!"  I am snickering as he seems to be jumping around the living room trying to get the taste out of his mouth when he hollers in a very disturbed tone , "Oh that is AWFUL; it tastes like Grandma's yucky toothpaste!"

Favorite Homeschool Purchase this year!

A few weeks back I read a post on Five J's blog about Flashmaster and thought that this tool sounded like a great idea for us.  We were struggling with helping Z really cement his basic addition facts while not exhausting him or us.  However, when I looked the product up on Amazon I was a little horrified at its price.  So I dismissed it and went on our flashcard and worksheet way. 

Then, ten days ago, Ryan and I stopped by a local rummage sale that had been advertised on our homeschool email chain.  Lo and behold...there was a used Flashmaster in its box with directions for a fifth of its new price.  It quickly went home with us.

I don't know who invented this complicated looking gadget, but it is fantastic!  It is made in such a way that kids learn how to use it without hardly an explanation and it feels fun to them.  Mind you...we are not a computer or video game family, but he has almost all the buttons figured out. It allows him to MOVE anywhere and everywhere while learning, which is big for him, and he can see his results, which is motivating to him.  So, from the family room I hear "Mom, I missed two on my '3' tables".  Then, from upstairs comes, "Mom, I got a 100% this time!". 

He even decided to take it in the car on our hour long trip to Grandma's a few days ago!  I certainly never saw flashcards going anywhere with him!

The best part: I can cook dinner, change a diaper, teach T her phonics.......all while he works on his math facts! 

Fishin' in the Rain

J was loudly singing, Z was trying to shout over her giving instructions as to where the fish were...I hope our neighbors had as good a laugh at this as we did.

The Sunday School Report

Last night at dinner Ryan and I were asking Z what he learned in Sunday School that morning:

Heather: Z, what did you learn today in your class?
Z: I don't remember his name
Ryan: OK, what did he do?
Z: He was the beer taster
Ryan: Yes, what else?
Z: He told the king he was going to go fix a wall
Heather: Then what?
Z: Well, he had to walk somewhere that would take us a whole year if we walked.  But he walked a whole year and never slept!
Ryan: I'm pretty sure he slept
Z: No, he walked the whole way and never slept and he took a flashlight, two letters, and an ax in his backpack. And he had a little army to keep him safe.  The king gave him all of that stuff. He was the beer taster for the king.
Ryan: I don't think he had a flashlight
Z: Oh, yes he did.  I saw it!
Ryan: So, the guy in your class had a flashlight, but I don't think the person in the Bible had a flashlight with him.
Z: Why?
Ryan: They didn't have batteries back then
Z: Oh (rather perplexed)
Heather: OK, so then what?
Z: Then he got there and slept three whole days because he hadn't slept for a whole year.  Then he walked around the wall to look at it.  Then he went and told the people that were in charge of the city about his walk around.
Ryan: Ya, and then what?
Z: I don't remember.  Next week we are going to study a lot more about the story.  But he was the beer taster.  He had to make sure there wasn't any poison in there.
Heather: So, do you remember his name now?
Z: No
Heather: It starts with a N
Z: Nebuchadnezzar!!! (Seeing my look)  Oh ya..Nehemiah!!!

Pheww...We made it. 
Apparently he has been in Wisconsin long enough for the fascination with beer to rub off on him!

So, it has begun...

Here in the midwest fall is a definite season! Leaves turn and fall, nights are cool and the humidity is gone.

This fall also brought additions to our schedule.  A few weeks ago both Z and T were excitedly telling their grandparents about their upcoming classes.  Z was about to begin swimming and T a dance class.  My dad looked knowingly at Ryan and I and said with a barely detectable smirk, "And so it begins...". 

There are many schools of thought regarding homeschool families and time spent outside of the home.  For that matter there are many philosophies about today's kids and busyness in general.  I tend to reside half way between a homebody and the "I need to get out every day" type.  Currently I slide a little more towards the homebody type because of how incredibly awkward 'going out' can be with five little people in tow.  Really, the first dance class is still nearly a nightmare in my mind. Just picture a mom carrying a toddler and a baby carrier into a packed room while trying not to lose three other kids and attempting to find T some used tap shoes in her size before her class begins.  Oh, and I have no clue about how to tie tap shoes or how they should fit.  But I digress... So no matter what my desires or inconveniences are they really are not the determining factors when deciding what we should do outside of our home.

I recently read somewhere that it is absurd of parents to run their children around constantly from class to event to shopping and finally back home again all of their childhood years and then expect them to be content housewives or involved fathers at home.  I think this makes a lot of sense.  Of course, God has given each of us different personalities or tendencies, but styles of living are also somewhat learned.  Staying at home requires that members of a family learn to get along more often, build deeper relationships with each other (provided they are not in front of the TV constantly), and learn from one another.  In addition, home is where the most basic of adult tasks are learned: laundry, mowing the lawn, cooking, etc.

On the other hand, there are those that believe that we must 'socialize' our children and introduce them to as many extracurricular activities as possible.  Socialization is necessary, but this can take place in many settings, including one's home (just live one day in our house and you will see many a social learning situations arise).  And having a broad range of knowledge regarding sports, music, etc are helpful in the adult world.

When it comes to choosing electives I come at this from primarily one standpoint.  What is the child's primary interest that lines up with a good life skill and their God given abilities?  Obviously, as children get older they gradually need to be more of the decision maker, but we are not at that point.  When children find their niche it builds their confidence and self esteem.  In other words, we are looking for what helps us achieve one of our ultimate goals: enabling our children to be productive and confident adults.

So, we are trying out one elective per child at this point.  Obviously this could become rather chaotic in a few years, but there will be adjustments along the way.  I will continue to attempt to balance a peaceful schedule with some quality time spent out for the kids to explore their interests beyond basic academics. 

As for Z, he has had three swimming lessons and that boy can swim!  As a lot of you know, we have moved A LOT in the past few years so getting the children into swimming lessons really hasn't happened much on a consistent basis.  But now he is taking off.  And by the way, Ryan and I were wrong! Gasp! Goggles do help kids swim.  We both came from the "they need to learn how to swim without them" camp.  But Z kept stopping to wipe off his eyes anytime he went under water.  I asked his teacher what she thought and a few days later Ryan and I decided to give up our commitment to this ever-so-life-changing issue.  Now he is doing a front crawl and working very hard on his back and front floats.

Where to begin with T????  About a year or two ago T was somehow introduced to ballet.  I am still trying to remember when and what the catalyst was, but frankly I can hardly remember a time in which she was walking and not interested in dancing ballet.  She has exhausted the collection of every children's ballet book at two libraries now and is working on a third, has watched the New York Ballet perform The Nutcraker on video, and has listened to me read the entire full story of the ballet (I was shocked).  And she doesn't just look at these books, oh no, they are textbooks to be learned from!  So, the local rec department offers these insanely low priced dance classes taught by a Christian woman.  The class is both tap and ballet.  The teacher is using the tap to try to teach rhythm, but T calls it her ballet class.  We will see where this goes.  She applies herself with a tangible amount of determination....and cuteness. (She is in the black leotard in the bottom pic).

So, it has begun...

Light at the end of the tunnel!

By: Heather
I don't know how many times we have been informed, "It all goes so fast..enjoy it".  For us, I think we receive those comments primarily as we are trying to herd our brood through some sort of retail line or simply attempting to shuffle everyone through a parking lot without any catastrophes. I am fairly sure that we attract these comments at those particular times because our eyes are darting in five directions at once, we are having three conversations, and usually carrying much more than your average luggage cart. Thus, it appears that we aren't enjoying ourselves. 

Well, often we aren't!  Don't get me wrong, it can be fun, sometimes, to all go out places.  But there are times, despite the best preparations, that Ryan and I can leave what was to be a delightful excursion wishing only for a hot tub on a quiet island. 

One such time was cherry picking.  Cherry picking sounds like fun, doesn't it?  We thought so!  Understand, we are nearly pros at the 'pick-your-own-fruit' thing, or at least we thought we were.  We pick about two hundred pounds of apples a year and often a third of that amount in plums, and sometimes some berries.  But we had never harvested cherries.  We did our research, I knew how I was going to store the fruit, had a jam recipe ready in the kitchen, etc.

Well, in case you weren't aware, cherries are A LOT smaller than apples, or even plums.  However, we never contemplated this obvious fact.  So, I happily told the farmer we would take him up on his "pick 7 pails, receive the 8th free" deal. 

I'll never forget picking for a few minutes, looking down..... looking at Ryan....and then slowly muttering about how it was going to take a lot of cherries to fill up a pail. To which Ryan raised his eyebrows and knowingly said, "um, ya, they are kind of small". 

Three and a half hours later in the hot sun, with bites all over us, Ryan and I with serious neck cramps, and juice running down 10 arms (way past the elbows) we had our 8 pails of cherries!  See, about 15 minutes into the picking M decided he was tired, needed a nap, and would not just wander around the trees as usual.  So, back to the car I trudged carrying a crying S, who was also hot and tired, to get a backpack for Ryan to put M in and a front pack to put S in on me. We had planned on just leaving her in her carrying seat while we picked the fruit- recall our miscalculation.  So, for the remaining part of the picking Ryan repeatedly reached up high for cherries with 30 pounds on his back (M is nearly 100% muscle) while I awkwardly picked and moved ladders around for the kids with S in a front pack.  What an absurd sight we all were!

Our older three were great troopers and enjoyed the day for the most part.  But you can see how sometimes us adults just might not be having a blast.  It can feel like a really long haul anticipating the days of a little more independence on the part of our children. Yesterday, though, I witnessed a beautiful beacon of hope. 

As we walked out of the grocery store yesterday with our two carts (the extra for the purpose of carrying our littlest ones) Z and I parked them near the trunk and I began placing and buckling the younger children into their appropriate car seats.   I turned around to unload the groceries and put the carts back only to see a gleaming smile on Z's face as he asked if he could take the carts back.  He had placed all of the groceries into the trunk, including the milk, very neatly.  I astoundedly said, "Wow, of course!". 

This may seem small, but it was a very happy moment to realize that at least one of them is getting old enough to not just want to help with everyday things, but able to recognize a need and take care of it!

Yeah!!! There is a light at the end of tunnel.  By the way, we have all enjoyed the jam, crisps, and syrup from our more than 100 CUPS of cherries.