Cuckoo-crazies

Well, I am back among the living. I am still sick, but I am at least able to write something fairly coherent and not cough my head off every 2 seconds. (cough cough cough)

Okay, I'm back. ;)

My 3 year old has a new word: Cuckoo-crazies. No, I don't know where he got it from, but (considering the house he lives in) it is a pretty logical addition to his vocabulary. He has also informed every member in the house that he/she is cuckoo-crazy. Surprisingly, everyone has agreed.

Not sure how Grandma is going to feel about being called cuckoo-crazy, but that's another day....

Homeschooling and resources for special needs children

This topic recently came up on a message board I am on.

For the purpose of this post, the term "special needs" can refer to anything from ADD to autism and anything in between.

How do you homeschool if you have a special needs child?

Sometimes (as in the case of an ADD or ADHD child), homeschooling can be the perfect way to alleviate the hardship kids suffer in a traditional school setting.

But what if your child needs professional resources in addition to homeschooling?

Laws vary from state to state, but most of the time homeschoolers can use the resources offered by the school district/county to help with a special needs child (at little or no cost).

However, some homeschoolers want nothing to do with the governmental system. Period. And they prefer to use a private doctor/therapist/program.

Both have their pros and cons. Do your research and do what you feel comfortable doing.

The important thing is to make sure your kids get whatever help they need.

A whole new approach to education

Actually, it's not "new" - it's "old."

Heart of Wisdom is a homeschooling resource that I have been looking at for a while now. Now is the time of year for homeschoolers to begin thinking about gearing up for next year. (Yes, I know it's early, but curricula needs to be decided upon and bought in advance.)

Reasons why I really like the HOW approach:

• I like the approach used by HOW. It is designed on a 4-year plan, and it covers all of the required subjects. It also has a 4-step approach to lessons, and it is based on the Hebrew education style (as opposed to the Greek education style taught in schools).
• It seems less structured, so I feel it is going to be a good "fit" for my daughter, but there is still plenty of content - so it will challenge my son.
• Part of the lessons are "how this helps me in everyday life." - how many times have you heard students ask, "When am I ever going to use this?"
• There is a heavy emphasis on the Bible.
• There are a LOT of Internet links in the lessons.
• There is an emphasis on writing.

My only drawback is that it does look time-consuming for the parent, but that is okay.

I am going to spend the next few days/weeks poking around the website and seeing what I think, but it really does look like a good curriculum to use.

If anyone has used this (or if you know of a fantastic curriculum), feel free to leave a comment!

Mommy's little treehugger

First, let me start by saying that the title of this post refers to my 9 year old, and I say it with love. :o)


Somehow I have a little activist on my hands. I do my part for charity stuff, but Camryn takes it to a whoooooole new level.


I fully expect her to join GreenPeace or some such organization when she gets older. Or start her own.


When I asked her about which Presidential candidate she thought would be the best, her answer was: "Someone who would be conscious of environmental issues. We have to conserve our natural resources." This was from a 9 year old. And she just rattled it off like she says that kind of stuff every day of the week.


Case in point:


We had a food drive for our church this week. (We have a food pantry at the church.) Camryn called relatives and collected 65 items for the food pantry!!! She collected more by herself than most of the adult classes did altogether!!

What does this have to do with homeschooling?

Each of my kids has their own strength. My older son is really strong in science and math. Because I share this passion, it is easy for me to relate to it and get excited about it.

But I finally realized that Camryn has a true gift, as well. She has a heart of compassion. She can motivate people to contribute to worthy cuases. She never meets a stranger. She relates well to younger kids, older kids and adults. She loves talking to an audience.

And so, in the long run, her gift is as valuable as any other. (And perhaps more so.)

My job is to help her nurture and grow that talent over the next 9 years. :D

Curriculum choices are an obvious start, but I also need to choose projects and other opportunities for her to gain experience in her chosen "field."

By the time she is 18, she could have an impressive resume built up!

Having control

Kids in public schools around here will be going back to school on Thursday. I never understood that - going back to school for 2 days and then being off for the weekend.

We are off until Monday. Yeah, only 2 less days than the public school kids, but it seems like more because of the weekend.

I love the flexibility of homeschooling. It makes for a much more relaxed time.

I have also decided that we are not taking off 2 months for the summer. I am going to have some time off, but then we are going to take a shorter break so that the kids don't forget all that they have learned. :D

I like being able to control our schedule. It makes things work for us.

Guns, shots fired and sex

I am feeling ill today.

I live in a relatively small city. Not a huge metropolis.

This week alone, the following stories have made news:

• Shots fired at a local high school
• A loaded, cocked handgun was found in a girl's bookbag at the same school
• A teacher has been arrested, accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student.

The first two incidents happened in the school right across the street from my church on 2 different days.

The third incident happened at the high school my kids would be going to, if I would allow them to set foot back in public school. (Um. No. Not gonna happen.)

What on earth is happening in our schools?

I have a theory. Just my personal theory - not gonna research it to see if anyone else agrees. Maybe I will later.

Kids need supervision. They need adult interaction.

Years of having latchkey kids and letting other people raise our kids has begun to come around and bite us in the butt.

God designed families to be a certain way. They designed it so that kids would be raised and nurtured by family members. In some instances, friends and extended family would have to step up and help (when there was a death in the family, for example, and Mom or Dad passed away). They were also educated by parents (at least in the younger years).

Trust me - if you spend all day together, you bond. You can't HELP but bond. Hahaha.

I have worked in day care centers. There are some wonderful ones - and I have seen them. Still, it is just not the same as being with Mom or Dad. Period. It just isn't.

I have seen some research indicating that young kids in day care are advanced academically compared to peers who are at home. (The research was done using at-risk kids, so I believe the study to have limited application to the average family, but that is not the issue here.) Let's assume they are right and ALL kids benefit academically from being in day care.

Knowing their alphabet a year early or being able to say colors and shapes does NOT make up for the love of a Mom or Dad. Hugs and kisses all day go a LOT longer than drilling colors and shapes in the classroom.

As far as the academic end, I have this to say: it depends on the parents and the child.

My oldest son was reading at age 3 (almost 4). Why? Because he wanted to play on the computer, and I said he had to learn how to read before he could play on the computer. So he asked to be taught to read. Within a week, he was reading words and putting together sentences. He is reading on a college level now (at 11 years old).

My daughter was a different story. I could not get her to sit still long enough to read a book until she was around 5. She learned how to read when she was almost 6. At 9, she is reading on about a 6th grade level (about 2 years ahead).

My youngest just turned 3. He knows his colors and shapes and numbers up to 12. He can do some really basic addition. Reading holds zero interest for him at this point.

Now, in all of these cases, the same person taught them. Me. Same teacher, same basic methods, 3 different kids.

Yeah, I got off on a tangent, but the point is that early academic training does not insure academic success later on, but Mom and Dad being around helps a lot more.

I do not know the details of the incidents I mentioned in the beginning of this article, but I can make a few bets, one of which is that the kids had a lot of unsupervised time.

Maybe my kids will be sick of being around me by the time they graduate from high school and go to college, but I doubt it. Most homeschooling families I have seen have very close ties in high school, college and beyond.

I love being a mom

Well, after stuffing ourselves with food yesterday, we left my Dad's house and settled in for a quiet night.

I was in my room when my three-year old climbed on the bed with me. We cuddled and snuggled for a while. Lots of kisses and hugs. Then he smiled at me and said, "Me happy."

My heart melted. I blinked back a tear.

"Me happy, too," I said.

Yep, those are the moments that make you realize what is so great about being a mom.

"Miss Suzy Homemaker" I am not.....

Today, I realized that housekeeping is not my talent.

Yeah, I know that I should have realized this a while back, but I am a little slow these days.

As I was dusting furniture this morning, my oldest son walked in and asked, "Is someone coming over?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because you are dusting. Like moving stuff around and dusting underneath, too." It didn't help that this was said with a bit of a wide-eyed surprised look, either.

To complete my humiliation, I finally admitted that, yes, someone was coming over and that is why I was dusting.

Another clue should have been our pre-dinner ritual. Someone (usually my hubby or my oldest son) would cover the smoke detector with a dish towel before I would start cooking. This ritual was suggested by my oldest son when the smoke detector would prompt "Dinner's ready!" being announced by the kids and bring kids running to the dinner table. (The kids were bewildered as to why this assumption would bother me.)

(There was another concern I had - what if the smoke alarm went off during the night?? The kids were so used to it that if it went off at 2 in the morning, they would just wonder why I was cooking at such an odd hour.)

Okay, back to my non-Suzy-Homemaker-ness.

My home, to put it nicely, has always looked "lived in." It is clean, but not looking like a model home. (Somehow having 4 kids does that. I dunno.)

Oh yeah. To complete my humiliation, when Hubby came home from work, he looked around (wide-eyed) and asked, "Is someone coming over?"

The Holidays - Homeschooling Style

Only 2 weeks until Thanksgiving! Where has the time gone?

I love homeschooling during the holidays! We can take an extra day off (which we are) and we are taking 3 weeks off for Christmas! Hooray! We will also have a Thanksgiving party AND a Christmas party for "school". I am so excited!! We are using the time before Christmas to make presents and get things ready for everyone.

In my opinion, these are the things the kids will remember most - the fun memories we make together. These are the things that are important - spending time together.

They may never use the Geometry or Algebra they learn, but they will always look back on these memories fondly. Best of all, I am not having to hear about how they celebrated Christmas in school. I will be a part of the celebration.

And I love that. :o)

On the lighter side

Are anyone else's kids like this, or am I just darned lucky?

Here is a typical conversation with my daughter, who is 9. We were driving in the car and she found a catalog for homeschooling materials and saw a book in it about landslides.

HER: "What's a landslide?"

ME: blah blah blah blah (detailed explanation about landslides) ...."and they pretty much destroy everything in their path"

HER: "Really? It destroys EVERYTHING???"

ME: "Well, yes, it does, if it's large enough."

HER: "Like houses, trees, cars??"

ME: "Yes, everything."

HER: "So if I was wearing this shoe, and I was in a landslide, it would destroy my shoe?"

ME: *my left eye is starting to twitch* "YES, it would."

HER: "What about cats? Would it destroy cats?"

ME: *twitch* "YES! It would!"

HER: "So what if I was standing ON the house, WITH a cat, WEARING my shoe. Would it destroy us all?"

At this point, the conversation went downhill.

Yes, I love homeschooling, but conversations like this are why I have grey hairs.....