When In Rome...

Billy's school teacher gave him an assignment: Print out the Roman Numerals he had learned in class that day, on his home computer. The following morning Billy's mom regretted to inform the teacher that Billy had been unable to complete his assignment. The reason? "The keyboard on our computer doesn't include Roman Numerals."

Did you know that Homeschool eStore gives away a free book in pdf format every week? If your kids are interested in Roman Numerals, you might be interested in this week's selection.

If you didn't get that joke, you might want to do the lesson yourself first.

Unexpected Detours

Sunday morning I woke up to find that sometime during the night my voice had gone away and left an upper respiratory infection in its stead. The week did not go as I had planned, but one of the things I've learned in our homeschooling journey is that sometimes the best lessons come when you least expect them.

Scott had taken Monday off for the purpose of finishing the remodeling of his study. Instead he spent it being me so I could be sick. He took care of the toddler I babysit (with our kids' help) and did school with the kids. It was math day and Katie and Aidan are currently working on memorizing their multiplication tables. Scott played a gameshow type game with them to test them on the ones they've learned so far. They had so much fun with it, and I would have never thought of it on my own.

The kids have enjoyed choosing their poems to memorize. Even Aidan, who told me the first night that he's "just not into poetry" and spent the first two days searching for a poem that was exactly ten lines long (that was the minimum, and I told them it has to be an entire poem; they can't just say the first ten lines and leave us hanging) has now found a poem about dogs which is much longer than ten lines and he's pretty jazzed about learning it. We've listened to Poetry Speaks to Children more and are really enjoying it. Libby carries the book around and reads it quite a bit.

Earlier this week I referred to a giant stuffed Tigger as an albatross, sparking a conversation on The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Then Friday night as I was cooking smoked sausage and cabbage I quoted to Aidan, "The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things...of shoes and ships and sealing wax; of cabbages and kings." After dinner I read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner to the kids--not the whole poem; I told them the basic story and read some of the more famous lines out loud. Then I read them The Walrus and the Carpenter and we talked about the origins and interpretations of it. The kids have started paying attention when they see poetry, and seeking it out on their own. At bedtime when they have time to read they are often practicing their poems with each other.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday and Friday mornings when we normally "do school" the kids were learning to paint walls with their dad. (He was painting in the mornings and working 3:30-midnight this week.)

Not long ago someone questioned on my other blog if my kids were getting enough "school days" in, since 3 days a week doesn't add up to the 180 days some think is necessary. (Apparently some states require that minimum of homeschoolers; ours doesn't.) Of course most schools spend the first six weeks reviewing, which is not necessary when we don't take off several months at a time. Aside from that though, "school days" refers to our more structured things. We do things every day that could be "counted" as school if I were required to keep records. This whole poetry "unit" is one of those things. It is exactly how I want our school to happen. There is enough structure to get the kids going on something they might not ordinarily choose to learn about, and enough freedom to explore it on their own, which multiplies how much they learn and how much they will remember later.

I was motivated, though, to start keeping more records of just what my kids are learning day to day. I started a private blog which is serving as somewhat of a journal, but I expect some of my observations will make their way over here.

Poetry Speaks to Children

How glad am I that Shannon reviewed this book/cd combo? I've kept it new in my bloglines since December, and a few weeks ago I ordered it for the birthday of one of my kids. The timing turned out to be perfect, as this week I completely lost my voice. Tonight instead of reading out loud as I usually do, we listened to some of the poems on the cd, read by their authors. After that I told them their assignment: Each child has to memorize a poem by a week from Thursday. It has to be at least ten lines and it has to be an entire poem; other than that they can choose, from this book or another.

When I was in fifth grade, we had to recite a poem every Friday. I can still remember some of the ones I learned, and I'm re-learning one of my favorites to recite along with the kids next week.

Poetry has never been a great love of mine, but I have been meaning to dip into it a little with the kids, and this was the perfect kick-off.

Q&A Homeschooling with Little Ones

I got two questions yesterday in comments that were somewhat related, so I'm going to combine them and try to answer both today.

"I don't know if you were referring to this, but how do you balance homeschooling your kids while babysitting a toddler? I mean, I'm sure that's what you did when you had a toddler of your own and older children, but now you stick to a schedule (more or less), go places with your kids, run errands... plus, the toddler is not yours, which means extra responsibility... do you play with the toddler? Do your kids do part of the babysitting (ie, helping with feeding, playing, napping...)?
I have three kids. The two eldest go to private school (4 and 6 yo) and the 3rd is a toddler (almost 2). When the three are home I can barely read or write with the eldest, read and draw with the middle one, etc, because the toddler comes in always, and chaos ensues. And he's a calm and nice toddler..." Marta

First, for anyone homeschooling but especially with younger ones, I recommend a schedule or routine. I used Managers of Their Homes to set up my morning routine for school days--other days it's a more relaxed routine.

The reason I scheduled the bulk of our structured schooling time between 9-12 is because, at the time, the toddler took a nap during those hours. Now her nap has shortened, so she has blanket time (sits on a blanket with some toys--she has to stay on the blanket during this time) for the first 30 minutes or so, then she plays a little with one of the kids who has a scheduled break at that time or who has finished early with schoolwork, then she takes a two-hour nap. In the afternoon she takes a one hour nap (the time on that varies somewhat) and that's when we have DEAR--Drop Everything And Read. The older three take turns reading to my five-year-old or sometimes he listens to a book on tape and the others read on their own, a book of their choosing. I try to read during this time if I can because I think it's good for the kids to see me reading. And...honestly, because I love to read.

The toddler gets here early in the morning, about 6:45, before the other kids wake up. Usually she and I talk a few minutes when she first gets here then sometimes she watches a video while the kids are getting up and ready, sometimes she tags around with me and chatters, and sometimes she "helps" the older kids with their morning work. She eats breakfast when we do and at 9:00 she starts blanket time.

Our afternoons are less structured--if I am reading to the kids, I have her sit in the room with us, but I usually give her something quiet to play with. Often the kids will play with her during their free time, but then since she's not "ours" she's a little more of a novelty to them. If she were a sibling I would still assign them times to play with her because I think that's important, but it helps that I usually don't have to ask because they want to.

I play with her some, but it's more random. I do talk to her often when she's tagging around with me, which she likes to do, and of course there are the spontaneous tickles or zerberts, but I don't really spend tons of time just playing with her because there are four other people here who like to play with her too. If I had a younger one of my own, I would schedule individual time with him/her just like I do the older ones, only instead of "school" it would be playing. I always schedule the youngest one first because they are usually less tolerant to waiting for time with Mommy and more relaxed and well-behaved after they've gotten it.

The other kids do help with her, but as I said before, they enjoy it. It's not drudgery. If they didn't, I would still have them help some because I think it's important for them to learn about taking care of little ones and I think, no matter how much they may grumble, that kids need to have responsibilities and jobs to do; basically, they need to know they are needed.

I wouldn't say there's more responsibility with her than with my own, but it is different. When she was a baby I hovered more when my kids held her than I might if she were my own; my kids are old enough that I sometimes let them stay here if I'm going for a walk or to the store around the corner--if she were mine, I might let her stay with them but being someone else's I won't. If she were mine I would certainly let her go in the backyard with my older ones supervising (they beg for me to let them) but because she's not mine I don't let her go outside without me.

If we are running errands, etc. she goes with us. Her parents are fine with this. I asked about it when we were interviewing--if they were not, I would have told them we weren't a good fit. I need to be able to run errands and take my other kids to their activities during the day.

"I also wonder about the younger ones, I have a 4th gr. 2nd gr. & a 5 & 3 yr.olds, which I end up not playing with as much as I should/want to and it's hard to train them when hom/sch. and making sure the older 2 are obeying about finishing their schooling - ugh! ? any ideas would be great." Lisa

I think it's important to recognize that you will probably never do anything as much as you would like to. You won't be able to play with the younger ones as much as you did the older ones because you have more than one child now. On the other hand, your younger children have siblings to play with and you oldest one didn't. (Unless you had twins.) I think you should schedule time with the younger ones like you do the older ones, schedule in "buffer time" for getting children back on task, etc and have some activities for the younger ones to do. You can Google activities for preschoolers and find tons of them, I'm sure. A few ideas off the top of my head would be play-do, puzzles, a tub of beans with measuring cups and scoops and, Dawson's favorite, a sink full of soapy water and water toys. (It goes without saying that he would lose this privilege if he made a huge mess with it.) I try to rotate the activities and sometimes he still says he's bored or doesn't like what I've provided--at those times I tell him firmly that, bored or not, he can not interrupt my time with the other kids. Usually he starts playing with whatever I've given him; occasionally he just daydreams a little, but he typically is good about not interrupting. (This is where I think it helps that he has already had my undivided attention for thirty minutes earlier that morning.) Also, his activities change every thirty minutes. He rotates from time with me, homework I have assigned him, thirty minutes of computer time, practicing his violin, and about 30 minutes of whatever activity I have provided for him that day. I would not recommend giving a younger child several hours of "free time" and expecting them not to interrupt.

I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, please ask.

Q&A: How do we do it all?

Managing your money is simple: you spend less than you earn, stay out of debt, and save aggressively.

Spending less than you earn is simple: you make a budget and stick to it.

Sticking to your budget is simple: you stay out of restaurants, cook from scratch, clip coupons, track the sales and shop at several stores.

Which is all simple, until you have children and you're doing all of that with them in tow.

Homeschooling is simple: you choose your approach, get the curriculum and follow it. Except when do you do that, in between all the cooking and bargain shopping? Don't forget to have some regular time to yourself.

Regular time to yourself is simple: set aside the time and make arrangements for the kids. Except you don't have time because of the homeschooling and the bargain shopping, and you don't have money for a sitter because of the spending less than you make.

Time management is simple: make a schedule and stick to it. Except when someone poops, pees or hurls off schedule. Or you're so exhausted and sick from pregnancy that you can't do everything on the schedule.

The thing is, you don't homeschool in a vacuum. When you are deciding on what schooling approach to use you have to consider every other part of your life. What is your financial situation? Do you work? Does your husband work? How many hours, and what hours? What are your outside commitments and activities? What are your personalities and particular gifts? I don't think there is a one size fits all approach, or even a one size fits all answer to how your husband will be involved.

As I mentioned in the last post, Scott works a full time job away from home with hours that vary anywhere from a 6-3:30 shift to a 3:30-midnight shift, or somewhere in between the two. Presently he is also working on building a home business and he frequently does home repairs when he is here. You might wonder why I don't work a job instead of him working two. Well, in a sense I do. I babysit a toddler, and I spend several hours a week tracking sales and coupons to get the most use of our grocery money. Every two weeks I host an organic produce co-op at our home, in exchange for which I receive enough fruit and vegetables to feed our family of six. The end result is that I can pay for all of our food, household cleaners and most of the clothing we need out of my babysitting money.*

I've already shared some of the ways we do it all: a workable schedule, a homeschooling approach that fits our lifestyle, a husband who pitches in. I think the biggest help, though, has been letting go of my perfectionism.

I simply realize that I will never be the best writer, housekeeper, homeschooler, mom, or bargain shopper. This is because it's not my job to be the best at one thing; it's my job to balance it all.

The trick is to find a balance we can live with. There will always be ideas left unwritten; I write enough to find satisfaction but not so much I'm neglecting my other jobs. (Usually.) Our home is not usually dirty but most of the time it is lightly cluttered. There are some great homeschooling opportunities that we missed, but there are some great ones we took, too. There are bargains I've missed out on, but I catch enough that I can usually stick to our budget. I cook from scratch most days, but I take advantage of some more affordable convenience foods so that some days I don't have to cook.

I plan to write about some other specifics, but without a doubt the biggest key for us is working with what we have and not expecting perfection from ourselves.

*I've actually been thinking about posting specifics on this--if you would be interested in learning about it, would you leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail and let me know?

Q&A: Help from the Hubster

A question or several from the lovely Lori...

"...What I want to know is, how (specifically) your husband is involved in the homeschooling in your house. Does he help decide what you will teach the kids? Does he know where you are in your books, etc? Could he pick up and teach without needing help from you? How, if at all, does he keep you accountable? Is he your "administrator" or does he just let you do whatever you want to do?..."

"...Does your husband help you plan lessons and/or the sequence of your lessons? How involved is he in curriculum selection? Does he ask you to report on the kids' work or on your success with presenting all of the material? Does he teach any lessons? Does he know what the kids are doing in school without you having to tell him? Does he know where to find lesson plans and the materials to carry them out? How much of this does he take the initiative to do, and how much do you have to ask him to do? Do you have a regular time set aside for discussing how the homeschooling is going, or do you only do that as needed? Do you have any advice for specific things a wife can request that would bring greater involvement from the husband?"

(I've edited the e-mail a bit, removing the parts where Lori and I exchanged sarcastic humor and shamelessly schmoozed on how much we like each other's blogs.)

I think this all boils down to two main questions, so I'm going to cover it in two posts. The first is "How involved is your husband in homeschooling?" The other is "How do you homeschool more than one child?" AKA "How do you do it all?" (which was, by the way, the question that inspired the making of this very blog.) I intended to address these questions separately, but the more I think about it the more I realize how intertwined they are so I will try to answer them both and, in the process, be as long-winded as possible.

When we were considering homeschooling we talked a lot about what philosophy/approach we wanted to pursue. We visited bookfairs and listened to speakers and read books and talked a lot. The approach we have gone with weaves our children's education together with the other areas of our lives. They are so enmeshed that it's difficult to completely separate them from each other. We like this; but it makes it rather challenging to answer this particular question. Does he help with formal academic lessons? Not that often at present, although he has before. Does he help me? Yes, and every way he helps has a trickle-down effect that helps with the homeschooling.

Scott works a full time job away from home with hours that vary anywhere from a 6-3:30 shift to a 3:30-midnight shift, or somewhere in between the two. Presently he is also working on building a home business and he frequently does home repairs when he is here. (He does get a lot of vacation time so that helps balance out how busy his schedule is.) I think our formal schooling is more effective if we do it on a steady, predictable schedule and his work schedule is not predictable. Neither is the nature of his home business nor, unfortunately, our need for home repairs.

I wrote about our basic schooling routine here and here. When Scott is here during the time we normally do formal school, at times he helps with it and then we all do something as a family; sometimes I do school as usual and he works on a project, or sometimes I "swap days" so we can do something else that day. In general, though, when he offers to help take up the slack on something, I usually ask for his help in one of the following areas:

1) Things I have trouble doing physically. For example, I have a history of back injuries so I don't mop the floor any more. At the same time, I recognize that Scott's schedule is extremely full and paying our bills is a higher priority than a shiny floor. The floor gets vacuumed and spot-cleaned and every once in a while Scott gives it a good scrubbing.
2) Things which he has a gift for and I do not. Scott is great about taking the kids on adventures. He loves to take them exploring through the woods, rollerblading through the park or sledding on the ice. I'm not as enthusiastic about that sort of thing, but I'm a big reader. I love talking with the kids about what they're reading and suggesting things they might like. Since our approach is highly literature based, it just makes sense for me to do more of the book stuff and Scott to spend his time with them doing things he loves and is good at. Scott does read to them some, but not as much as me. When he reads to them it's usually the Bible or history because those are things he enjoys more. Neither one of us has a huge passion for math and science and neither one of us minds doing them, but time-wise it makes more sense for me to do it.
3) Things he doesn't hate as much as I do. I have this thing about formatting documents on the computer to fit the page correctly. There is no logical reason why I can't do it, it just makes me want to scream. Scott doesn't mind formatting but he hates looking things up online. So generally when something needs to be looked up I do it, and when something needs to be formatted he does it. Scott doesn't mind doing dishes or folding towels, but he hates folding clothes. I feel about the same about all of them so if he's offering to help and those are the things I'm doing, I'll fold the clothes and ask him to do something he doesn't mind doing, like towels or dishes.

Scott knows our basic school routine and sometimes the kids talk to him about what we're reading, etc. All the books we're working in are bookmarked and in a stack, and the kids would be able to tell him where they are and what we are doing if they needed to. If I were out of commission for a while this might be necessary, but for one day...by the time I explain everything to him I could just do it myself.

I talk to Scott when something particularly exciting happens school-wise, or chat with him about what we're doing and how it's going; similar to the way we talk about anything else going on in our household. If I'm changing curriculum I usually talk to him about it and get his input. If he has a concern about something he talks to me about it, but we don't have any formal evaluation or particular time to talk about it, just when things come up. As far as "keeping me accountable" he doesn't watchdog me; he knows that homeschooling is just like anything else. You have good times and bad and some days are more productive than others. He doesn't hold it over my head if I don't get everything on the list done. He knows that I am trying to get it all done and he trusts me to do my best.

I don't really make out lesson plans...For Science, Math, Handwriting and Spelling we just go through the book in order. For Literature we read one book at a time and when we finish that one we pick another. My younger kids have reading exercises and those, too, are just going through the book in order. Other than that, we really encourage the kids to research what they're interested in. Scott does set goals with them and often takes them to the library and helps them find the books they're looking for.

Next time I'll talk about how we get it all done.

Shakin' some Speare

Katie first became interested in Shakespeare last year when she and I accompanied Scott on a business trip to London. While there, we toured The Globe Theatre, a reproduction of Shakespeare's original theatre. A few months later we checked out "Romeo and Juliet" from the library. I watched it with the kids, stopping it every few minutes to explain what was happening.

Since then Katie has read several of Shakespeare's plays on her own. We are currently, during our school time together, reading the original Romeo and Juliet along with the Wishbone version of "Romeo and Juliet". We read one chapter of the Wishbone book, which tells the basic story in an easy-to-understand manner, then we read the corresponding scene out of the original. Katie also received Who Was William Shakespeare? for Christmas, which she has enjoyed.

Currently she is organizing a group of friends and siblings to perform a scene from "Romeo and Juliet". Her biggest struggle so far is convincing her brothers to wear tights. I think she may have to bend on this one, or we could end up with a scene resembling one from "Julius Ceasar".

Especially when they find out about the kissing scene.

Homeschooling for Excellence

Homeschooling for Excellence is one of my favorite books on homeschooling. I love the authors real, down-to-earth attitude and the accounts of their homeschooling while homesteading in California. (Did you know people in the 20th century were still homesteading? I didn't.) They used the delayed academics approach and 3 of their 4 sons ended up in Harvard. While sending my kids to Harvard is not a goal in my life per se, it's nice to have the knowledge handy when in the company of well-meaning friends and family who are convinced my children will grow up to be recluse losers, hanging out in the bus stops and subways and trying to eat their own hands.