5 Essentials of Homeschooling: If you build it they will come...

This week I am going to talk to you about the 5 Essentials of Homeschooling. Instead of writing about my favorite brand of #2 pencil and math curriculum, I want to talk to you about what I consider to be truly Heart issues. Of course, these issues are what I have found to be true in my own experience. They might be different for you. My topics for the week are Discipline (the self kind, not the a timeout…though you might need one), Flexibility (and if you can put your leg over your head I don’t want to hear about it), Creativity (you might be able to borrow someone else’s), Teachability (believe it or not…you’re not done learning)  and Grace (I need it daily!). My apologies to those who really wanted to know my thoughts on dry erase boards (I like them) and co-ops (I am slightly afraid of them). Happy Reading! 

 Discipline.

Ugh. I can’t even believe I’ve started here. My friends. This one is a doozy for me. And it might be for you, too. If you have ever lost your pants in a public place, sent your child into the big, wide world without breakfast, looked down at your feet at the doctor’s office to find you wore two completely different shoes or started a batch of tomato soup only to discover you were out of tomatoes; you might be my sister. I take that back…you are just my kindred spirit.  My real life sister is an organized, well-mannered, put-together and generally a perfect individual. But stay tuned. I have a few things to talk to yous peoples (the orderly kind) about later in the week. 

I have a friend whose husband teases her about being her own little circus. We are friends for a reason. My circus is truly a sight to see. Highly entertaining. And sparkly, very sparkly. I love spontaneity. There is part of me that cringes away from all things predictable.  It can be exhausting.  

I have some issues. I always seem to be behind in my dish duty. And on occasion my bedroom feels as if we are preparing for the apocalypse. Anybody need a safe place to hide in case of a zombie attack? I can hide at least 15 under the pile at the end of my bed. 

Being ever the student, I have purchased countless organization books and resources. I’ve tried every system and program. Okay. Maybe I didn’t really try. I just read and read about it.  And therein lies the problem. If you are the type who has 42 organizational books, 36 diet books, and 752 How to Homeschool Without Losing Your Mind books, I feel your pain. 

The bottom line? It’s not my resources that are going to change my life. It’s me. I have to be willing to spend fewer hours working on those important tasks like Downton Abbey marathons. Or perusing through Pinterest. Or spending days on an Ancient Egypt unit. I need to do first things first.

How does Discipline translate into the Homeschooled Household? 

It is absolutely necessary. I speak from experience. 

One of the beauties of homeschooling is its flexibility. However, it’s easy to get trapped into the excuse of that flexibility. 

“We really don’t have to do math today. Or tomorrow. We can pick it up next week.” 

“I realize the house is chaotic. We are homeschoolers. We thrive in chaos.”

The truth is that I really don’t like chaos. My visual brain likes things that appeal to my senses. Which means I function better when my environment is tidy and attractive. My busy boy thrives when I stick to a schedule and can anticipate our next activity or subject. 

This means I must Discipline my own wants, needs, issues and obsessions. Being the Overkill Queen that I am (I’m always up for a “theme”), it is so very tempting to do this with color coordinated gusto.

Anybody hear me out there?  I start designing my own fleet of adorable binders. I spend hours on the computer creating my own perfectly designed forms. I check out every book available at the library and immerse myself in preparations for a smoothly run homeschool and home. By this time, I have devoted so much time developing and talking about my system, my “get up and go” has run away from home.  

It all seems like so much work. 

Here’s the thing. I have discovered that there has to be a delicate balance between Discipline and Flexibility (which I shall address later on this week). Discipline means I put aside my own ideas of a perfect Ancient Egypt unit. It means I might have to get up earlier in the morning. Go to bed a little early. Drink my water. Take my vitamins. Plan ahead for those harder days and make sure I keep Josiah on a predictable schedule. It also means of letting go of my ideas of ideal circumstances. 

I have learned that I those small steps; those good choices, will bring me the results I desire. Though I am not opposed to a turn around the Big Top  every now and again. Can I do it? Over the past year and a half, I have lost over 80 pounds. Yikes! My 12-year-old doesn’t even weigh 80 pounds! When things seem impossible, when it just seems too hard to press forward; I remind myself that all things are possible through Him (Philippians 4:13). He is able to help me through the hard things. I just have to be willing to put a little elbow grease into it. 

I want to leave with you this great resource. I enjoyed reading and applying what I learned. It is a series on how to have a more disciplined life from moneysavingmom..com

This post is part of a Big Ole Blog Hop featuring a bunch of us Crew Folks (at the Schoolhouse Review Crew ). I invite you to check out some of the other fabulous blog posts below featuring a few of my Crew Peeps. They are...

Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
Heather @ Thrift Schooling
Joanie @ Simple Living Mama
Lisa @ Home to 4 Kiddos
Amy @ Homeschool Encouragement
Monique @ Living Life and Learning
Jenn @ Fresh Start Academy
Lori @ Special Connection Homeschool

You can find even more bloggers at the Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog all week long!


  

Come back tomorrow! I will be talking about Flexibility,

Take my advice...Or not!

I'm pretty good at giving advice. Just ask me.

For example, if you were to ask me about clean underwear and accidents I would go into lengthy detail about how I know first hand how necessary it is not to leave your house everyday in dirty drawers.

I also don't advocate running with scissors.

Of course, I have been known to take advice as well. I'm not that self-sufficient. I also don't claim to know everything. My mom always said this about me. "I may be frequently wrong, but I am never in doubt."

There is a bit of advice I thought would never mean much at all.

You know the one about putting things in your ears smaller than  your elbow?

I admit it. I am a chronic ear cleaner. I am obsessed with a Q-Tip.

But, I'm also cheap. My last crop of Q-Tips came from a nameless dollar store (not called Q-tips, but cotton swabs). There has been a few times while cleaning out my ears I thought to myself, "These are lousy. I sure hope one doesn't come off in my ear one of these days."

Famous last words.

It would happen to me.

This past week, while completing my ear shining ritual, I lost a bit of that cotton swab in my ear. Only I thought I got it all out.

But then I changed my mind. My ear felt funny. It hurt. I had The Muffin look. He didn't see anything. I tugged and rubbed and pulled. No evidence of cotton.

Saturday night I had my Mom look. She brought out her medical kit and a flash light.

Sure 'nuff. I had a whole cotton swab tip way down in my ear.

I think the thing was down there at least 5 days.

I teased her about thinking her days of pulling things out of her children's ears were over. Never would have guessed she would have to worry about digging a cotton swab out of her forty-something daughter's ear.

This morning I went straight out. And brought a proper box of Q-Tips. My husband looked at me like I was crazy. I stared back at him with an expression that only had to confirm his suspicions.

I'm considering some other advice I've been given and frequently ignore. Has anybody actually tried licking a frozen pole? I have my doubts.

When your mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it is a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.
Erma Bombeck
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/advice.html#irtvsxCAFBuVMVhc.99

When your mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it is a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.
Erma Bombeck
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/advice.html#irtvsxCAFBuVMVhc.99

Flying the Coop

We've had some odd winter weather here in the Ozarks. Of course, I have heard many people comment on the strange weather in their little corner of the world.  Last Sunday it was 12 degrees (it later reached -9) and snowing. Today...just a week later...we had great wind gusts and 66 degrees.

I wanted to share with you a little bit of adventure. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you have no doubt read some of my postings about my father's other children...his chickens. He is a product of his own upbringing and those hillbilly ways of "using what you have." Dad didn't want a traditional chicken coop. He wanted one he could move about the yard. He wanted the chickens to be able to take advantage of fresh bugs and grass, yet have the privacy of some sort enclosure. Plus, his chickens are kind of dingy (as most chickens are). I won't bore you with tales of his dingy chickens. This story is really about the wind. And an unfortunate event.

 When we returned to my parents' farm after church this morning, Josiah was given the task of feeding the chickens. Dad had driven up the road to go on his weekly visit to the nursing home to see his elderly Aunt. Mom and I changed into our Sunday slouch clothes and the Studly Muffin settled down in front of some sort of football game. Don't ask me who was playing. Some guys wearing uniforms. That's all I know.

Josiah came running in the house...eyes wide, panting slightly. "The Chicken Coop blew away and the chickens are running all over the yard." Immediately, Mom and The Muffin sprang into action. He in his dress shirt, pants and tie (and leather dress shoes) straight from delivering the Sunday Morning message. Mom in her festive Rudolph the Red-nose Reindeer Fuzzy Pants.  I stayed behind where I could safely take pictures from back kitchen door and snicker.

I know my limits. 

The following photograph is my view. I've also added a few clues to help you see what is going on. I'm waiting for the late night showing of Downton Abbey to come on..I had nothing better to do. Nobody tell me what happened.

I mentioned before that Dad constructed the chicken coop out of some of this and that. A tarp covers one whole end and the top of it. It also was a great sail in the wind. It landed on one of his prize pear trees and broke it in half

The Chicken Coop fixers spent the next few minutes deciding how to approach the whole thing. After all, they themselves are not the designer of the Chicken Coop. Nor are they accustomed to such goings on. 

They finally decided to set the Chicken Coop back up. They also kept having to chase the chickens away from the coop so it wouldn't blow over again on them. We were having ham for lunch...not fried chicken.

Ah! I finally figured out how to make my camera phone zoom in. Not the best picture quality, but if you squint hard enough you can make out the Rudolph's Red Nose on Mom's Fuzzy Pants.

I will say that they wound up having to lay the Coop on it's side. It kept trying to blow closer to the pond. And closer to another fruit tree.

Poor girls. The wind was blowing so hard it looked as if their feathers were billow skirts waiting to take them away.

The Chicken Coop Brigade decided to leave well enough alone and wait for Dad (aka the Chicken Whisperer) to set the whole thing right again 

A man can only do so  much in his Sunday best.  There was football to watch, after all.

And where was Solomon (the big black dog) during the whole adventure? Sunning himself on the hill. He can't possibly be bothered with all this mess when there is a nap to be had. Can't say that I blame him.

Lessons From 2013

I've learned a few things in my 'somethingsomething' years on the earth. One of the most important is to try and glean something from even the most dismal or trying failures and events. You know the old saying, "If at first you don't succeed"....Well. The least you can do is have fun in the trying.

Some days….when I am needing a little affirmation…I look back at some of my favorite blogs. After all, it does a girl good to know that her ramblings have been appreciated by a few folks. And yes. I am absolutely being modest. If you must know Blogger keeps track of all the page view each of my posts get. Let’s just say that a few have been more popular than others. Let’s also say that I have to squint just a little when glancing at the page views of some of them. They are more than a little dismal.  Could it be that some of my ramblings are less than coherent? 

So in the spirit of reflection I want to share a few of my less popular posts. I invite you to give them another chance. If you dare. Or if you have time, which is really the point…isn’t it? 

The first post is about a conversation Josiah and I had…about a conversation he had with a friend in the hot tub. With me so far?  I can’t imagine why more people didn’t click on this one to read it. I’m sure Josiah’s grandparents thought it highly entertaining. This one is called Hot Tub Conversations. 

Now the next one is really a forgotten little gem. I consider it some of my best advice. Ever. It’s about how to reach a goal by taking Baby Steps. Who couldn’t use that kind of advice? I need to go back and read it again! (it’s just that good)

So maybe this blog post provides you with a little TMI. Nevertheless. It’s filled with valuable advice.I entitled it Necessities.

When I am too busy or stressed to form coherent sentences, I often write posts I refer to as “Random Thoughts.” These sometimes are my most popular posts. I suspect that most of you read them because you like to assure yourself that you are indeed not as crazy as me. You are probably right. This Random Thoughts, entitled “Just Counting Sheep,” didn’t get as much attention. Perhaps because you aren’t interested in my sleepless prattle.

So enough of the bad news. I suppose I just need to remember that my readers enjoy more informative and inspirational material. It won’t change my writing habits much (I am too much of a fruitcake for that). Here are a list of some of my more favored posts, month by month. 

January – Getting Crafty: How to Make an Altered Bag Book

February – Raising a Bookworm

March – The Case of the Missing Textbook

April – Becoming Bendable

May – Menu Math

June – Stay camp (Or Something Like It)

July – My Weight Loss Story So Far

August – Beke’s Lovely Overnight Oatmeal

September – The Old Truck and Daddy

 

October – Happy Anniversary to Me (22 years)!

November – Pumpkin Pie According to Betty

December – Random Thoughts: Beke and the Messy Room

 I'm linking up this post to the TOS Crew Blog. Go check it out!