Turtle day at library storytime

Georgyana's 4th Birthday

Happy 4th Birthday, Georgie!

10 Things About Georgie...

1. She was born on "May Day" as a preemie at 30 weeks gestation, by emergency C-section.  She weighed 2 lbs 14 oz.  She stayed in NICU for 28 days.
2. The NICU nurses always called her "feisty".  I asked why and they answered that they had to change her position every 20 mins, because she was always wiggling and not content.
3. When she came home, she was the Baby That Never Slept.  I pumped breastmilk for her around the clock, but had to keep her in the crook of my knee while pumping for her, because she didn't sleep, lol!  That was really exhausting...
4. I finally discovered that she slept on my shoulder.  We slept this way together for the 1st 6 months!
5. She learned to breastfeed at 2 months old, just before her expected due date.
6. She couldn't settle down to sleep and screamed non stop through every car ride.  Sometimes I could settle her by singing "Runaway" and other old 50s-60s music (why, I don't know...lol! We're not oldies people, here)
7. She learned to walk at 17 and a half months old (just when I was starting to worry...)
8. She seemed to love the color yellow.  Yellow, yellow, yellow.  But then at her 3rd birthday, she decided to explore the color Blue.  Ever since that day, everything is blue (with the occasional yellow), and she really wants a blue birthday cake and blue ice cream.  We're having a blue themed party.
9. She was never a baby that attached to thumb sucking or pacifiers (she didn't soothe with either).  She liked to nurse, and nursed until she was 2 years and 4 months old.
10. She is fiercely independent.  She plows ahead and does what she wants to do.  She can speak for herself, dress herself, cook for herself, prove you wrong, and get whatever she wants, when she wants it.

Sidenote:  time-outs are a real bear...lol!

Okay, and a few more facts...

• She pronounces the word "girl" as "GORE!" as in, "he's a boy, and I'm a GORE".  Likewise, "squirrel" is "SQUORE".
• She likes the movie Cats & Dogs, but calls it "Ooo-Loo", after the puppy named "Lou"
• She loves Shawn the Sheep and all things inspired from or by Shawn, such as Wallace & Gromit, and Timmy Time.  But Shawn the Sheep seems to be her #1 preference.
• She likes My Little Pony, too (Friendship is Magic).
• She likes to paint pictures and make crafts
• She enjoys climbing trees and running through puddles (she loves the outdoors).  She also likes to find frogs and other living things.
• She likes to read Curious George books, Sam-I-Am (Green Eggs and Ham), and other books like those.
• She loves to wink, and has all sorts of funny, endearing expressions

She is my very last of 3 kids, and I love her dearly.  I love watching her become the motivated, capable, independent little girl that God created her to be!

National Homeschool Debacle Month

April is National Homeschool Debacle Month.  You never heard of this before?  That's because I just proclaimed it!  I've spent oodles of time on the phone with friends, relating my own homeschool debacle.  And they, likewise, have called me in a panicked mess with their homeschool debacle.  I think it is just the month in which we see all the failures of our past year, and we hope to fix them next year.  We're in a quandary, because our fixes aren't apparent, and what we hoped for doesn't seem to be matching up with what we can realistically do.  We're searching for the perfect curriculum, perfect schedule, perfect arrangement so that things can run smoother next year. 

I have a few key phrases that I use to talk myself down from the homeschool ledge.  I'll share them...

"Just sit on it"
When the choices are overwhelming, when I can't decide between one thing or another, or when the plans don't seem to be coming together nicely, "just sit on it".  Let things settle and brew internally for awhile.  You know that problem that you finally set aside, and then *pop*, the answer arrives unexpectedly in a dream?  Same idea, here. 

"If it seems too hard, then it probably is"
Things should not be so extremely hard that they seem impossible to overcome.  I coined this phrase when my 4yo was breaking out daily in hives, but we couldn't find the cause.  I was trying to keep her off of OTC meds for 10 days so that I could take her in to an allergist and get the skin test.  She was miserable on my lap, as I rubbed hydrocortisone and ice cubes on her body.  I cried out, "this is too hard!" and it was!  I finally came to my senses, put her on Zyrtec, and we were both much happier.  Long story short, the same thing is true with our homeschool day.  If spending 5 hours teaching our children one-on-one is too hard, or if implementing an amazing curriculum (confession: mine was MFW) proves too difficult, then it probably was.  Yes, homeschooling is challenging.  But there is also supposed to be rest and peace, if God has called us to it.  "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light".  Maybe the daily mentoring we do with our children is enough, and the rest of those things we do (reading, workbooks, experiments, classes, etc.) are icing on the cake!

I was really in a debacle when my plans for CC Challenge were not coming together for my oldest next year.  I realized that tutoring CC Challenge A myself was too hard, given our own special family circumstances.  Wanting it badly wasn't going to change our own dynamics that would create an impossible situation for me.  I realized I needed to "just sit on it" - afterall, maybe another mom will rise to the occasion of tutoring Challenge A.  Or...as I was looking at outside options and discussing things with dd, perhaps there are better things for her to do next year.  We discovered Exploration Education for Physical Science.  I saw it at the Cincinnati Convention, and showed it to dd this morning, and we were both excited by it.  (Sidenote: getting a positive reaction from dd about anything educational is a very very rare thing, indeed).  Dd looked at our co-op schedule for Seeds of Faith, and found classes of interest to her.  It reminded me what we're really about as a homeschool family: finding those talents and developing the interests of our children so that they can really shine for God's glory in this world:) 

Next year

Next year...

G, age 4
Georgie will begin Classical Conversations for the 4-5yos at our new campus. She'll have her own preschool classes at Seeds of Faith homeschool co-op.  She'll start her 2nd year of AWANA Cubbies.  At home, we'll keep working on letter sounds, basic letter writing, basic counting, and maybe start with letter sound blending to make words (probably closer to 4.5-5).  We'll keep reading good books.  She'll keep helping out with cooking and cleaning.  And I should probably organize or attend a few field trips (Fire Station, farm or apple orchard, and nature center).  You know, all the typical preschool-y things.   

Z, turning 11
Z will start Classical Conversations Foundations for the 5th-6th graders (and I might tutor this age level, not sure yet.).  She'll also be in CC's Essentials class, which covers grammar and writing, with some math fact practice.  She'll take enrichment classes at Seeds of Faith.  She'll be in her Very Last Year of AWANA and will graduate with the other 6th graders next April (sniff, sniffle...).  She'll continue with 2 church musicals (Sept-Dec, Jan-Apr).  At home:

Horizons 5 Math, finish mid-year and begin 6
Grammar & Writing: CC (IEW Middle Ages, and CC's unique grammar program)
History: continue Story of the World, will read right on through the books + CC memorization
Science: ? (Abeka Order and Design?) + CC memorization and CC experiments
Literature: ?
Music: continue piano

A, turning 13
AAAaaarrrrgggghhhh....
This is the topic of much frustration. 
Seeds of Faith co-op is a definite.  It will be her last year for the church musical (8th grade) and she will probably have a good acting role.  She will be a leader for AWANA Cubbies.  CC....she would be ready for the Challenge program, but we do not have a tutor for this, as of yet.

I've looked at so many programs, online classes, etc. and nothing quite meets my goals for her, and her goals for herself, like Challenge.  I keep looking at tutoring it myself, but I do not think it will work out for me this year.  I would loooove to tutor Challenge.  In fact, I think I was created to tutor Challenge:)  However, I will also have a 4 year old, and moms of 4-year-olds have a rather awkward problem on their hands.  First, the 4-year-old actually needs someone watching her for 3-4 hours on Monday afternoons for 24 weeks and full days for 6 weeks.  Second, the mom of the 4-year-old needs time outside of class to learn the material and plan lessons.  This is not easy to come by.  So, if I had a babysitter for 12-16 hours per week, for 30 weeks, we'd be good to go!  But alas...so I will just sit and wait.  I will trust that God has a plan for this child, and He will provide for her.  In the meantime, I'll just so the best I can with what I have, and hope it's enough.  What I'm finding from wiser, more experienced homeschool moms is that God's grace IS sufficient, and these children (under His care) grow up and shine in the real world, when that day comes.  Even when the parents of these children (ahem) seem to be royally messing it up. 

So my plan for her is to watch and wait on the Lord.  Yeah. 

Me, 38 (lol)
I'm planning on teaching a blogging class at Seeds of Faith.  A is hoping to take the class.  I'm excited about this class and hope it flies (you never know until registration if a class will be cancelled).  I might tutor CC 5th-6th graders in Foundations (unless the heavens open and I'm able to tutor Challenge A, which we are not counting on).
 

Long time no write

Everyone is finally better!  Z improved on Friday and was completely recovered on Saturday: just in time for dress rehearsal for the church musical.  The kids were in the musical on Sunday, performing Good Kings Come in Small Packages (about King Josiah in the Bible).  It was an awesome musical and the kids performed wonderfully.  I was very proud of both of them:-) 

That's it.  I think that was the last planned activity for the year, and now we are done with everything except the last few weeks of school.  We're making Week 33 drag on for about 3 weeks now, lol!  I'm ready to throw in the towel!  I'm thinking ahead to next year, but have very little enthusiasm left for this year. 

The weather is finally improving.  67 degrees outside right now.  We took a long walk until I saw Georgie wiggling and dancing, and realized that we didn't visit the potty before we left (oops). 

I keep dreaming ahead about how wonderful next year will be, and how great the plans.  I'm not sure how I can make next year stellar, though, when I can barely pull one day's lessons together to finish up this year.  I'm just done. Done, done, done. 

Before the convention, I was all caught up on laundry (thanks, Mom! - she came over and helped me fold).  After convention, everyone got sick and I washed an endless supply of towels, bedding, and PJs, but no clothing.  Now we are woefully behind on laundry; the first indication being dh asking, "do I have any underwear?".  It's hard to tackle the mountainous load when I'm feeling rather day-dreamy, drifty, and spontaneous ("hey, let's skip work and play outside!").  (But, I did, in fact, wash underwear for dh, because I'm a good wifey).

Back on the couch

Now Z has the stomach virus.  It's weird how it hits: dinner goes down just fine, and then all of sudden - whammo! The kid is crying and complaining of sharp pains, lower down (around the intestines).  It lasts a very long time - you don't eat for 2 days, and day 3 is still iffy.  Even day 4 and 5 is iffy.  It's a long time before you can tackle a real meal.

It went through G and A, and I thought I had it, although mine took a different course.  I had the sharp pains, but not as bad, and I slept through most of mine.  I didn't vomit (though almost did, once), and I was able to eat by day 3.  I'm really hoping I had it already! 

A is on day 5, and even now, she has intense pain in the late morning/early afternoon.  She cries on the couch for an hour, and then gradually feels a bit better.  She's fine by 1pm and ready to live out a (mostly) normal day.  She does her school work at that point, and plays outside. 

We're technically on Week 33, but I'm not sure why...lol.  Why are we doing school?  What is the purpose?  It is much harder to be a mom and teacher with a sick older kid than a sick little kid. The 3yo just sat on my lap while she was sick.  I could easily teach with a sick little one on my lap.  I had no where to go, and nothing to do, other than throw in the next load of sicky-laundry.  Then, I'd just sit there and teach, while comforting the little one.  Now, the little one is recovered, and causing much chaos.  The older one is sick and needy.  The other one is attempting schoolwork, but frustrated by my lack of attention to her questions.  And then, the weather is nice, so when there is a reprieve to the sickies, everyone wants outside! 

One more thing happened between last week and this week: G burned her hand on the stove.  It was her day 6 and she was finally eating.  It was bedtime, but she was hungry, so I made her a quick egg to eat.  After she finished eating her egg, she came over to ask for another.  She looked at the stove and said, "See, it's not hot!" and put her hand on it.  I tried calming her down for an hour, but she was still crying.  We'd cooled it down, given Ibuprofen, put antibiotic ointment on it, and wrapped it.  We'd tried candy and tv shows to calm her.  Nothing did it, so I packed up G and a just-barely-recovering A in the car, and we headed to 24/7 urgent care.  Except that 24/7 urgent care now closes at 10pm.  So we drove around to other urgent cares, which also close at 10.  We landed at Meijer around midnight for some OTC cream, and G was much calmer and coherent.  "I'm sorry, I won't touch the stove again," she said.  So we headed home and she slept fine.  The burn looks much better now, and it was not as bad as I thought (I had suspected 2nd degree burn, but it is not).  I probably didn't need to run all over hill and dale looking for urgent care, but I couldn't tell how bad it was at the time.  At least the car ride settled her and kept me busy, lol.

So that has been my exciting 2 weeks, and here we are again...back on the couch.

Things I learned from the Convention

At the Cincinnati Convention, I heard so many wonderful stories and ideas!  I thought I'd put a conglomerate spin on what I gleaned from the convention.

• Having discussions with my children is probably the single most important thing I can do as a homeschool teacher.  I learned how to ask the right questions to foster good discussions.
• Good discussions boost their reading comprehension, their writing skills, and their critical / analytical skills.
• Choosing one great book and reading it slowly, soaking in all of its merits, is better than reading 10 great books quickly.
• As homeschoolers we should be "teaching from a state of rest" - this is something I have heard Andrew Kern say several times, but I'm beginning to comprehend it, and interpret it in my own life.  (Of course, I have my relapses...) 
• You can make up goofy songs to remember algebra formulas:) (never considered that before!)
• Getting our students to ask questions before they read their texts, and then finding those answers within the text, can help boost their understanding of non fiction (textbooks, informative non fiction, etc.).
• I've never heard such a beautiful reading from the Bible of Martha and Mary as I did from Linda Lacour Hobar (Mystery of History).  I expected so little from her talk entitled "Martha and Mary Decide to Homeschool", thinking "yeah, yeah, another organized mom will tell me how to pull my act together by telling to me make a rigid schedule" - lol.  But no...it was not only helpful, but entirely relatable, and heartfelt. 
• I need to keep learning...it is imperative that I (the homeschool mom) learn those very things that I did not have the opportunity to learn in school.  If I desire it for my children, I should seek it, myself.  And so, reading Great Books, and tackling Latin, and figuring out Math...these are all worthy goals to develop myself.

And my husband taught me:

He is amazing home organizer and manager; he completes me:)

The kids do really well with some structure in their daily grind, a morning shower, and a clean home.

I actually CAN keep a clean kitchen, so long as my husband designs a system for me, because otherwise, I am hopeless in that department.

Things I wish I had done at the Convention, but didn't:

I wish I'd gotten my picture taken with some homeschool celebrities, lol!

And I wish I'd made the time to sit at the Classical Couch, and have a good discussion with some amazing people.