The Teacher and the Principal

In a public school, you have teachers, and you have a principal, right?  The principal supervises, trains, encourages and supports the teachers.  If a teacher needs help, she or he can turn to the principal.  Well, we decided early on that we needed that system here in our school, too.  We haven't yet named our little educational haven -- but we do have a supervisory system in place. :) 

Daddy's job is to support, encourage, and provide back-up discipline when it is needed.  Now, I have to admit: I was a nerdy, people-pleasing, peace-keeping, straight-A sort of bookworm.  The only time I got sent to the principal's office was my senior year of high school, and it was so the principal could congratulate me on being the first student in school history to score a 100% on one of Mr. Meacham's Calculus tests.  (To be fair, I scored a 76% on the next one, and ended the class with an average in the mid-80s.  The 100% was a bit of a fluke.  Calculus is really hard!)  

My little star pupil gets sent to her principal's office with a bit more frequency.   My tender-hearted little nurturer is also hard-headed and a bit willful, and there are sometimes battles I have to put on pause until Daddy gets home.   There have been a few times when a poor attitude has led to Elisa not finishing an assignment (like a math test!) in a timely manner.  I struggle to know how to discipline for balking at or refusing to do work -- so, we have simply set the test or page aside, moved on to the next subject, and waited for the principal. (Dum, du-dum du-dum!)  

One Friday night, Elisa finished a math test in her room while the rest of us watched The Sound of Music and ate popcorn. One day this week,  she was really struggling with having a defiant attitude and disrespectful speech.   While I disciplined her throughout the day, I also reminded her that the principal would receive a report at the end of the day.   It happened to be small group night, so I didn't give my report until after our guests were gone and the kids were in bed.  Erik woke her up to talk her.  The next day he called at lunchtime and made her give him a report of her attitude. She was surprisingly honest. :) 

Today, she gets to show him a 100% math test and tell him about how she measured the length of a dinosaur in the backyard and danced with silk scarves to classical music.  She can fill him in on how Louis' dad stole the trumpet in Trumpet of the Swan and tell him how she scrawled spelling words while sitting outside by the pond.  

Having a principal is a good thing.  Having a wonderful, loving, supportive daddy and husband is even better.

Each Day....

For several months, books by Karen Andreola have been sitting on my bedside table - books about British educator Charlotte Mason and how her methods can be applied in the home.  I have been inspired by two fictional diaries of a homeschooling mom, and learned a great deal about Charlotte Mason's teachings from Karen's larger, non-fiction volume.  I still have a lot to learn about teaching, about classical education, about igniting a life-long love of learning in my little girls.  But, I do remember, every day, this one simple reminder of Charlotte's. 

Each day, give your children: 

- something to love
- something to do
- something to think about. 

When I get to the end of the day and ponder where I have failed and where I have succeeded as a mom, it is easy to find the flaws.  I can count so many things I should have done, so many things I did wrong, so many opportunities I lost in the shuffle.  Do you feel like that?  As moms, we should have clean homes, well-stocked kitchens, gourmet and nutritious meals on the table. We should have our little ones enrolled in sports and arts activities, they should be learning another language, they should be doing crafts and playing outside, they should be engaged in learning, they should be kind and helpful, they should be happy.  They should be listening to classical music and viewing great art, and playing creatively. Whew!  I can't do it all! 

If I think about those three things, my balance scale of a day's success becomes less weighty on the side of the "should-dos." 

Did I hug and snuggle and kiss and tell each of my children how deeply loved they are by me and by God? 

Did I play with them outdoors?  Help them with a simple task or chore around the house? 

Did I read to them? Were their minds given thoughts from good literature (or the Bible!) to ponder or to "hang a peg" for future learning and thinking?


Sometimes, I just need to slow down. Relax. And pare down life with my kids to the basics of loving, doing and thinking.   
 

 

An Apple A Day

Over our Spring Break, I spent some time thinking through how to add life to our school days... how to thrive and not just muddle through. I think everyone (whether in a classroom or at home) probably hits a lull in the Spring as weather warms and indoor study seems less appealing. But, I shared a while back that many of my good intentions have sort of gone astray during pregnancy, family sickness, and in the daily struggles that arise. Often it seems that fun projects get put aside to take time for discipline, training and discipling. And I guess that is part of why we homeschool! :) But - I do want to thrive.

We have set aside our country studies for a while and are taking time to enjoy Sadie's preschool projects with the whole crew. Sadie finished All About Reading, Level Pre-One, and the next level was a bit too challenging for her. So, to bridge the gap, we jumped into the kindergarten program by My Father's World. While the curriculum is labeled as kindergarten, I feel it is really more appropriate as a preschool program. It is a letter-of-the-week style program, which means it concentrates on very basic letter sounds and short vowel reading. It has some very simple math, sweet Bible lessons incorporated with each new letter, hands-on activities, and good book recommendations. We are on Unit 4 and are enjoying the change. I think change is good, especially in springtime. :)

This week was A for Apple. The book selections were fun for this unit. We got to do things like make apple juice jello and write letters in it, and taste test several different varieties of fresh apples. We learned about how "if we remain in Jesus, we will bear much fruit!" and talked about the fruits of the Spirit from Galatians.

Apple Books! Funny - nearly every one of them had an apple pie recipe at the end. :)
Apple Graphing. We counted how many apples of each color we had.
After we taste tested (red delicious, golden delicious, fuji, granny smith, and an Asian pear (just for fun))the girls chopped them up to make an apple salad with Greek yogurt for lunch.

The fruits of the Spirit... and they only grow if we remain in Jesus. Trying to grow them on our own is like bringing in a fallen, dead branch from outside, placing it in a vase, and expecting it to sprout leaves! :)

I have also been trying to be more consistent and efficient with our mornings... getting things done in a timely manner so we actually start by 9 - with beds made, dishes washed, and kids all dressed. That doesn't seem like it should be hard, but it can be! We put out a blanket and pillows and are enjoying morning circle time and Bible before we sit at our desks or the kitchen table for lessons.

This week, Elisa finished her phonics program. She still stumbles over words with more than three syllables, but is fun to sit and read with her! The last lesson was simply a fourteen syllable word: supercalafragilisticexpialidocious! As a treat, we read it together, and then enjoyed watching the scene from Mary Poppins where Burt and Mary sing that silly song! It was a celebratory sort of break in our day.

A lot is up on the air as far as our plans for next year. We have the opportunity to join a new classical co-op, and aren't sure how that will change curriculum and our daily load... I'd like to have things well sorted out before our little blessing arrives, so that when we start up in the fall I can just "open and go." We'll see! :)

And.... this week, counting gifts and miracles.... we saw a double rainbow, brilliant in a patch of blue sky on a rainy afternoon. We rode our bikes past a huge moose munching willows in the creek. We jumped in puddles and picked up worms. We tried on two garbage bags full of perfect-condition new clothes. We found used bunk-beds for a reasonable price. I listened to three kids sing "Christ in risen from the grave!" in perfect unison and sweet lisps. Raina slept in undies for all of her naps.... and so much more!

Navigating the Library

For a homeschooling mom, the library is an important resource. Whether building a curriculum out of library books or simply finding supplemental materials and "good" readers... having and using a library card is vital! I often wonder how moms with large families manage the library. Especially if they are using the library for key curriculum pieces that are needed at specific times.


Going to the library used to be easy. Even when Raina was tiny, I wore her in a carrier and we could spend an hour or two choosing books, reading them in the children's literacy area, playing with games or toys, or coloring pictures at the tot-sized tables. Now, it is a bit more of a challenge. Our library is under construction, which means the children's area is temporarily tiny, and there are very few toys or other activities for little ones to occupy themselves with. There isn't a reading area. And, my Raina-bean is no longer content in a carrier. :)

(this photo is almost a year old. But - that little Sandra Boynton book is still one of her favorites!)

Since it is still important, even if it's harder, I have had to develop a bit of a system for how our growing family uses the library. We usually have 20-30 books checked out at once, and we visit the library every three weeks. That means a bit of planning ahead. If I need a book about Nicaragua in three weeks, I need to check it now! That sort of planning can be a bit challenging for me. Usually, I select and reserve books online the night before we go. I have lists that correspond with Sadie's preschool units, and with our country studies (though we have been really lagging on those!). We also have general read-alouds that I compile from various reading lists (Honey for a Child's Heart, homeschool catalogs, etc.). I also select readers or early chapter books based on the 1st and 2nd grade reading lists from our homeschool catalogs. Then, when we enter the library, I grab that big stack off the hold shelf, and all we have to do is add to it!

I want our kids to read good literature. So I choose a lot of our books. However, I also give them freedom to choose books they enjoy - even if they are ones I think are sort of worthless twaddle (like the Arthur and DW series, which Sadie loves!). And I read the twaddle with a glad heart. :) Right now, the big girls are doing well with self-control in removing books from the shelves. I used to say they had to show me a book before they could take it off the shelf, but now they are allowed to choose five each and then we can look over them together. Elisa has her own card, and she usually likes to check out those "free" books herself. Last time she ended up with seven, because we found a series of readers we both like and she wanted more. Raina gets to stick with Mama as we browse or help the older girls find their "special" books. Last week I did have to veto one book. One of the girls picked up a brightly colored picture book called "Mom and Mum Get Married!" Yikes. Glad I caught that one before it came home with us!



We also have utilized the Inter-Library Loan option frequently - although that takes even more planning ahead because the books have to be mailed - usually from out of state.

Although the books get strewn about the house, their home-base is a basket in the living room. And - we have only ever lost one book. It was a year and a half ago and it was a tiny Bob reader that was a part of a seven book set. :)

Our system works for us. For now. I actually am planning on adding a couple hundred dollars to our school budget - to avoid dependency on the library for required resources. I am anticipating that trips to the library aren't necessarily going to get easier, and it will be nice to have what we need on hand.

What about you? Does anyone have tips on how their family uses the library? I am always so amazed when homeschool families are able to build curriculum that way. I think that would take a more organized mama than I!

(again, this is an old photo. But - the scene hasn't really changed. All three can be telling a different story and be happy.)