School Pictures

During one of my freak-out homeschool mommy moments, I started wondering how many "normal" activities my kids would miss by not going to school.  For some reason, Picture Day kept coming to mind (seriously?).  Since I'm not much of a picture person, it's ironic that I was worried about my kiddos not getting to have their pictures made at school.  It's not like I was planning on hanging up pics of my children against boring blue or fake bookshelf backdrops. 

Anyway, because my children aren't going to miss out on anything, our personal photographer took Kindergarten and Pre-K photos for us.  After she sent me these photos, I realized that it was I who had missed out on something great.  For years, I had been photographed at school without having my mom to fix my hair or tell me how to smile.  No one ever took the time to photograph me "in my element" (a la the train tracks above).  Instead, I had been shuffled through for the annual mugshot that will forever mark me in the pages of whatever institution I was attending.  Very rarely did these shots flatter me or evoke some special memory. Even my photos in cap and gown still make me gag.  Those photos don't say anything about me!

So lest my children think that they are missing out on something special at school called Picture Day, I can assure them that they are not.  They might not be in a 100 page book filled with other children's mugshots, but their pictures will be taken by someone who can give them undivided attention.  Mommy will work with the photographer to touch up or re-do the photos.  And someday, they'll be proud to show their own children pictures of them when they were in school.

Don't Take Parenthood for Granted

I sat through my first continuing legal education class today.  Okay, technically it wasn't my first CLE, but it was my first "live" class to attend.  My frugal self likes to take the freebie classes I find online.  Today, however, I ventured out into the adult world.

I chose this particular class because it was sponsored by the Texas Homeschool Coalition.  Half of the day was relevant to me as a mother and lawyer, but the other half was a fascinating presentation by some lawyers who actually practice family law in courtroom on a regular basis.  Totally not my area of expertise.  That said, these folks do amazing work representing parents!

Today, I was reminded of what a privilege it is to be a parent.  It's easy to take my "parent" status for granted.  Yet, there are people out there working hard to regain or maintain that privilege that they may have lost--sometimes through no real fault of their own.

As a school nurse, parents aggravated me a lot.  They would send their kids to school with dirty clothes, no socks, no coat, lice in their hair, no lunch, with high fevers, etc.  Then, when I would call home to explain that their child needed medical attention or clothing, the parents would get mad at me!  I can't tell you how many times I had to explain that I do not give lice to children or actively seek out fevers.  They happen.  And good parents deal with it.  Mainly, because they're good parents who love their kids. 

Now that I have children of my own, I know what a pain in the backside it can be to have to cancel my plans to cart the kiddos around town to the urgent care or pharmacy when someone starts sneezing the wrong way or screaming because they bumped their nose.  It's absolutely horrific to sit in a doctor's office for 5+ hours having all 3 children tested for a disease and treated for whatever ailment they've managed to acquire.  I get it.  I've done it.  I will likely do it again.  Why?  Because I'm a mom!

It's easy to forget that the grossness that comes along with being a mom is a privilege.  When you're up to your elbows cleaning up a body fluid from a spot on the floor where it doesn't belong,  it can slip your mind that you are lucky to be getting to do this job.  But not everyone gets to clean up stinky messes or sticky fingerprints.  Only those of us who have the privilege of being parents get these opportunities. 

Some of us suffered through pregnancy to birth our little ones; some adopted and gave love that another parent couldn't give; and some have found other methods to parent and love a child.  Don't take this privilege for granted.  It's not absolute.  And time is fleeting. 

Now go hug a kid.

Goodbye Sweet November!

Photo provided by my 4 year old. 

Hmmm...  Apparently I missed a month.  Somehow November came and went and I recorded NOTHING!  So here's my November update a few days late:

• Baby G, now Princess G, turned 2 years old!  We are officially out of the baby phase at our house.  We even moved the crib downstairs and gave Princess G's room a re-do with a sparkly big girl bed and matching dresser.  If I ever get her curtains hung, hopefully I can post some pics.  It's very pink and everything Mommy dreamed about when she found out she was having a little girl. There's nothing shabby chic, vintage, or cutesy about it.  This girl lives in a world of pink frills and bling!
• We hosted 2 Thanksgiving dinners at our house.  The first dinner was with our small group family from our church.  One of the guys fried up 2 turkeys and showed us how Thanksgiving in the South is supposed to taste.  So, for our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner with our actual families, we decided that a creole bird was the way to go.  There's nothing like creole butter and seasoning to add some flavor to a usually bland holiday meal!
• We attended Homeschool Week at the Sea Life Park twice.  From now on, we are definitely capitalizing on homeschool week wherever we can find it.  No field trips or crazy crowds and discounted tickets!  This was a field trip that we will repeat.
•  We decorated for Christmas a little earlier than usual.  In the past, I've been big on golds and whites and fancy decor.  But this year, I decided that my very Texas house needed some Texas-like decor.  So imagine red burlap bows, cowboy boot stockings, beads, tin stars, reclaimed wood picture frames, and red sweater-like couch pillows.  Just thinking about it makes me want a cup of hot chocolate.  
• We're getting new neighbors.  A moving van showed up across the street at the beginning of the month and our previous neighbors drove off without any warning.  The next day, a For Sale sign showed up and the inspector and fix-it guys showed up this week to get the house ready for a new family!
• We had our first freeze. 
• We went to our last SMU home football game.  It was as painful as expected.  But hopefully next season will be a little more exciting with the newly hired Coach Morris!
• Some cool things happened at work with some cases I've been working on, but the details are kind of confidential (you'll have to use your imagination).
• We started 2nd grade math! When Boy Wonder finished his last lesson in the 1st grade book, I ventured over to our local Mardel store in search of more math.  They were able to order our next set of books right in time for our little guy to get started.  (Rod and Staff won't sell their books on a website since they are Mennonite, but you can order via catalog or phone or at Mardel).  Our little guy was so excited about his new books that he finished 12 lessons in 1 week!  Now if I can only get him to stop telling people that he's in 2nd grade (he's in kindergarten) we'll be in good shape. 

Wow!  So much happened last month and this little blog post is all I have to show for it.  Such is life when you're having fun.

Tears Happen

I really didn't think it could happen to me.  I've read that it happens to other moms.  I've heard rumors that it happens frequently when you homeschool. I really didn't think that I would actually break down and cry--especially in a public place.  But I did.

I think some days and weeks just make you cry.  It's easy to get overwhelmed.  You try to follow curriculum and realize that your child is on a different week's lesson (or year) for each subject.  It gets confusing. Then you realize that the assigned reading book is really boring.  Then you skip reading for a couple of days.  And then you start brainstorming who else is going to spend hours of their day listening to your kindergartner grader read these boring "classic" books. Seriously, I was thinking about taking my son to the retirement home by our house so that the older people could listen to him read! 

Then on Sunday during the sermon it occurred to me that I must be a horrible mom, a terrible teacher, and a lazy person.  The last few weeks I've felt that I live in a combat zone.  I might as well be throwing a mortar shell when I ask my son to complete his phonics pages.  The day that I had the audacity to request that my pupil take an afternoon nap, he literally started launching projectiles down the stairs.  I'm not kidding when I say that school has been nothing short of war.  So when the pastor starting preaching on Sunday about how a godly woman is a peaceful woman, I started to cry.  Is it possible to homeschool in peace?

After my sobbing episode on Sunday, someone offered to substitute for me on Monday.  This gave me time to reflect on my predicament and my lesson plans.  A wise person pointed out that my lesson plans have been pretty demanding for a kindergartner.  Since I'm not regularly around other kindergartners, it's easy to lose sight of how easy and breezy kindergarten can be!  Most kindergartners are not studying the Assyrian empire, fractions, and binomial nomenclature.  Yet, the fact that my son understands these concepts and can quote all of his weekly memory verses is a pretty good sign that I'm not failing as a teacher.  I just need to learn how to relax and enjoy the process and maybe not be quite so ambitious.

I obviously haven't gotten this whole homeschooling thing entirely figured out.  Truth is, with three kids who have three very different personalities, I may never figure out the magic formula for perfectly balancing my mommy and teacher roles.  In fact, there may be more tears in the future.   And it's okay. I just keep telling myself that sometimes God allows us to cry for tears to clear our eyes so that we can see the good things ahead (author unknown).

Teaching Music

Learning music is like learning a foreign language.  It stretches you.  It takes time.  You may never use it professionally later in life.  But it's worth the effort to not be illiterate in an international language that crosses cultures, continents, and classes.  It's worth opening your heart and mind to an art form that requires high levels of brain function and emotion at the same time.  Martin Luther (the theologian) once said, "Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world."  So why not share that treasure with our children?

The concept of teaching basic music is not new.  In fact, way back when I was in elementary school, basic music instruction was a part of the curriculum.  Every week, my class would head to the music hall where we would have a class in basic music theory.  Then, by the time we were in 3rd or 4th grade, we knew enough music to be able to play the recorder (this is an instrument).  It may have seemed like a waste of time to some, but having this hour of music each week made school more interesting and taught me musical concepts that I still use today.  If you don't get music instruction at school, where else are you going to get it?

Needless to say, our kindergarten curriculum involves learning music.  We decided to start music instruction with piano lessons.  Boy Wonder is a little young for piano lessons (when I taught piano lessons, I preferred having my students start in 1st or 2nd grade), but since he has a good grasp on math, I figured we might as well forge ahead into the world of music.  As expected, after only a few weeks, we're at the point where we can combine music with our math or spelling curriculum and create a hybrid lesson.

The best part about hybrid lessons is that it's not difficult to come up with these kind of problems if you know any musical theory.  If you don't know musical theory or are too busy to create your own worksheets like me, there are some great resources on the internet.  For example, I found this wonderful website, http://funandlearnmusic.com/ that has free downloadable music math pages which are way cuter than any I would create on my own.  This website has quite a few worksheets that address both basic and more advanced theory concepts in a fun way. 

Hybrid lessons work for just about every subject in school.  Music Math is kind of awesome. It forces the student to learn and memorize music concepts while allowing them to practice their math skills.
Similarly, Music Spelling with the A-G alphabet reinforces basic spelling with note recognition.  For kiddos who struggle to identify the lines and spaces on the grand staff, Music Spelling can help. Aside from musical theory, there are tons of opportunities to use music in our Bible, Social Studies, History and Science lessons as well.  In fact, I will never forget my pronouns or helping verbs because my middle school English teacher used music to help us memorize all kinds of concepts!  Who knew that music could be so educational?!

Music might be the best tool that I've got in my homeschool mommy shed.  It's a language that I know well and understand. It's a subject that lends itself to any situation or setting.  It's an avenue to praise our Heavenly Father.  And hopefully my children will come to discover that music is a friend for life.

The Spelling Test

It finally happened.  I went from being the cool mom to suddenly being the Wicked Witch of the West.  All because of a spelling test.  Apparently, only mean mommies expect perfection in spelling.

Since Boy Wonder isn't going off to a classroom where he is graded and ranked among his peers, it's been a little challenging to explain the concept of grades.  Other than the fact that he likes getting ice cream when he produces perfect math homework, he doesn't seem to understand the importance of not getting anything wrong.  Hence, it's been a challenge to get him to memorize his spelling words. 

I discovered that Boy Wonder enjoys "guessing" on his spelling tests, but it completely defeats the purpose of spelling if he's not going to learn the words.  As a problem-solving, game-loving person myself, I can understand why he enjoys the "guessing tests", but they are completely wasting our time.  They worked when we were spelling easy words with short vowel sounds, but they don't work anymore. I know he can memorize, because he memorizes his Bible verses every week in 1 or 2 days!  He just has no desire to memorize a list of words.

So I got creative.  I tried to incentivize him by telling him that we can stop the spelling tests as soon as he spells all of the words correctly (like when my teachers said that those who aced the Wednesday tests didn't have to take the Friday test), but he wasn't buying this tactic.  Thus, last week there were tears, heated mother-son conversations, and frustration on both sides.

Then Daddy stepped in.  Daddy explained to Boy Wonder that spelling is important.  He explained that just about every good job requires employees to be able to spell.  And there are expectations that employees will spell correctly.  He also explained that misspelling words in the documents that he drafts for clients could, and probably would, get him fired.  Daddy very cleverly demonstrated to Boy Wonder that we must all spell with perfection if we want to be successful in life. 

Voila! The next morning, Boy Wonder aced the test.  No problems. Not only did he ace the test, but he was able to spell similar words that followed the same phonetic rules.  And when retested later, he still spelled all the words correctly.

Grades don't have the same magical, motivating factor for homeschoolers that they do for many in the classroom setting.  Motivating a homeschooler to learn is different from engaging an entire classroom or creating a competitive atmosphere.  Thankfully, Mr. Wonderful is an amazing motivational speaker.  Plus, he's a daddy (and everyone who could care less about making mom happy always wants to please daddy, right?).  I can never underestimate the power of having Daddy involved in the homeschool process.  It's a secret weapon that most school teachers don't have.  It's the secret weapon that I discovered, all because of a lousy spelling test! 

The Vintage Book Baby Shower

I attended a true Southern baby shower last weekend hosted by some of my friends from Alabama.  The theme was "vintage books."  And it was adorable!  The hostesses had stacks of vintage books and toys on display, and they served soda in glass bottles, ice cream, and vintage snacks.  Plus, most of the guests showed up in their party dresses to fit the occasion.  I wore a sleeveless black lace dress and brought my best accessory--Princess G in a long sundress with a big bow in her hair. 

In hind sight, I should have taken pictures to share with you all.  But, since the shower wasn't for me, I felt like it was a slight invasion of privacy to take pictures of another person's party for my blog.  I can't take credit for any of the creativity at this party, so instead of showing and bragging, I will share in words. 

The vintage book baby shower was inspired by the expectant parent's love of books.  In order to help them build a book collection for their baby, the hostesses asked the attendees to forgo buying a card and to instead bring a book with a letter to the family written inside.  Since cards these days cost about $5 each, buying a book instead of card wasn't really that big of a deal.  The biggest challenge with this request was to make sure we all didn't duplicate books.  So, in my case, I found a book that included trains, cats, dogs, and a story of friendship--everything that a little boy could want in a book!  It wasn't a classic must-have for a baby book collection, but it was the kind of book that I know will be appreciated by a little boy.

Instead of playing countless dumb party games, the hostesses asked the party goers to create a book for the new baby.  They passed out different sheets of paper that described events in a baby's life and asked the party goers to fill in blanks (mad lib style) on our sheet and then to illustrate our page. The end results were pretty hilarious.  There were stories that included everything from baby's first bath to baby's first trip to the zoo.  Even the baby's daddy and uncle wrote and illustrated a story about baby's first Alabama football game!

It's not very often that I attend a party where I think it was fabulous enough to write about. But this party was super creative and actually practical.  Not only did the parents not have 25 cards to trash or stick in a box in a closet somewhere, but they now have the beginnings of a wonderful library for their little boy.

I'm not sure everyone will take kindly to the idea of giving books in lieu of cards.  In fact, I'm sure the idea won't appeal to the old folks who must follow social decorum by purchasing cards.  And I doubt my techie friends, who shudder at the idea of holding an actual book, would adapt well to this concept either.  But if you want to stop buying me cards, I'll take a good book any day!

At Last: A Movie for Moms

Saturday night, after a long afternoon of football, I curled up in bed and ordered in a movie.  This was a big deal for me.  With all that I have going on in my life right now, I rarely have the time, or the desire to waste the time, that it takes to watch a movie.  A decade ago, my "hobby" was to check out new releases at the theater with my then boyfriend-now husband.  (We could probably win any movie trivia from the early 2000's!)  But when Boy Wonder came along in 2008, our world completely changed. Instead of having hours to devote to major Hollywood productions, we started watching seasons of old TV shows, because frankly, giving up an hour here or there is significantly easier to justify than the hours it takes to be a movie connoisseur.  Anyway, Saturday's movie night was kind of a one-off for me.

Because I had seen a preview during a football game that fascinated me, I ordered in Mom's Night Out.  This movie was absolutely hilarious, clean, a little over-the-top, and frighteningly relatable!  From the scribbling on the wall, to the screaming daughter in the car at church who messed up mom's mascara, to the best friend who looks amazingly similar to my friend at church, to the "my homeschooler is smarter than your honor student" bumper sticker, I feel like Allyson and I are soul mates.  (Okay, in all fairness, I don't have this bumper sticker, but I probably should.  Except that Mr. Wonderful thinks that bumper stickers are trashy, so I can't.  But, still...)

Any mother of young children who is trying to have it "all together" can totally relate to this movie.  Some might think that the scenes in the movie seem a little far-fetched, but you don't need a screenwriter to come up with any of these plots.  Our children frequently live them out for us!  Just last week, my friend's 2 year old climbed to the top of the McDonald's playground and refused to come down for an hour and a half  just to spite her.  (And although I know I shouldn't laugh about it, the fact that this adorable little boy would do such a thing to his beautiful mother, who just had baby #2, cracks me up!) 

If you've been having a lot of those mommy "moments" lately, you definitely need to take an hour and a half to watch this movie.  Or, if you've been extremely judgmental toward mothers whose children were having an all-out brawl at Hobby Lobby on Friday (yes, those were mine!), then watch the movie.  Give moms a break. And remember, you too were once a bratty two year old! 

The Truth About Leveled Readers

 

Boy Wonder is starting to read books.  I'm not sure how to explain it, but somehow he went from sounding out words in his phonics textbooks to reading sentences in real story books in a matter of weeks.  Hallelujah!  I just don't know if I could take another half hour of reading about AL and Tim from the Phonics readers.  The adventures of Little Bear and his conversations with Mother Bear are so much more enjoyable for everyone!

The Little Bear Level 1, I Can Read book is actually part of our reading curriculum.  Memoria Press uses a Charlotte Masonish approach to reading by using living books in place of reading textbooks for the curriculum.  Unlike Charlotte Mason, however, Memoria Press includes workbooks with questions and vocabulary review to aid in reading comprehension.  As a first time homeschooling mom, this is one workbook that I appreciate.  (A good CM homeschool mom wouldn't mess with workbooks but would ask the questions orally.)

Little Bear has turned out to be a wonderful experience both for my reader and for me.  My son actually understands what he's reading and is able to laugh throughout the stories.  Plus, he has managed the "new" non-phonetic words pretty well because he can put them in the context of what he is reading.  So reading is actually becoming a fun activity.  So much so, that I decided to invest in some more Level 1 readers that I hope we can appreciate reading together. 

When I went to Amazon, however, I noticed that other parents had written some very negative reviews next to some I Can Read books.  These reviews seemed to be a little nonsensical since they were about books like Curious George and The Berestein Bears.  These are wonderful early reader books!  Unfortunately, parents seem to think that Level 1 readers are going to be books where all the words follow easy phonetic rules.  These parents are wrong.


Leveled readers are wonderful tools for parents or teachers who are actively trying to help a child master reading.  These books are not so useful for teaching basic phonics sounds to preschoolers.  Just consider the titles of Little Bear or Curious George.  In the titles of these books alone, you have rules about silent vowels, long vowels, "ou" sounds, soft g sounds, etc. You can bet that these books include a lot of these rules, in addition to a set of sight words that are often identified for the reader on the front or back page of the book.

Parents need to understand that just because their 2 year old can identify the word c-a-t, doesn't mean that they are ready to read about Amelia Bedelia. Don't blame the leveled readers!  Level 1 is for beginning readers, not early preschoolers.  Even the I Can Read people say that Level 1 "books have short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts for children eager to read on their own."  If you want simpler books, try out the Introduction to Reading Books from the I Can Read folks.  These are more appropriate for the preschool crowd.

Teaching somebody to read the English language is not the simplest task in the world.  It can be done through a systematic and patient approach.  And when it all starts to click and fall into place, your reader can enjoy simple Level 1 books.  If you try too early, everyone gets discouraged.  But if you're patient, these can be loads of fun!  Leveled readers are great teaching tools if they are used appropriately.

Take a Moment

Happy Friday! I hope you get to take a moment to enjoy the beauty around you today.  I hope you have a chance to Be Still before your Maker. 

Today, I'm thanking God for my sweet Baby G who has grown into a beautify Princess G.  She's certainly a Southern belle, but she's got a streak of her mommy in her as well!  There's nothing like a go-getter who wears lace and tulle and cowgirl boots.