I'm not very good at posting consistently anyway, but I am going to take a long break from this blog. I'm at a place right now where I need to start limiting internet time and photography wins out as the one gift I give myself time for, even if I have to shift things around. So I will still be at my 365 blog, or if I decide not to even blog that anymore, I'll be posting my photos on my Flickr page.
Thanks so much to those of you who took the time to read my ramblings, this last year has been so hard with a very high-needs baby, and it shows no sign of letting up anytime soon. I just want to simplify and focus on my kids and the little things for now.
I'm going to leave this blog here for now in case I change my mind or until I decide if there are any family/homeschooling memories on here I want to preserve. But I have a feeling I'll delete it after awhile because I'd love to blog again in a few years when life settles down, but start fresh and have a purpose for blogging and consistent features.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Note to Self
I asked the kids to each name something they wish we could do in homeschool, without hesitation they each fired something off.
Bunny:
arts and crafts
creative writing assignments or book reports with due dates (she wants to be given the assignment and have a date she has to have it turned in by, so not how I operate but funny that she wishes for this; I will try to make it happen.)
RB:
take apart old electronics
Tiger:
dissect animals
Bunny:
arts and crafts
creative writing assignments or book reports with due dates (she wants to be given the assignment and have a date she has to have it turned in by, so not how I operate but funny that she wishes for this; I will try to make it happen.)
RB:
take apart old electronics
Tiger:
dissect animals
Monday, January 9, 2012
52 Books in 52 Weeks: Week 1
I read The Giver by Lois Lowry for week 1. Yes, I started off easy with a children's book, but I had no time to get to the library and had this on my shelf and needed to preread it for two of my kids, so it'll have to do!
This book will be a good introduction to dystopian fiction- it's not graphic or violent, though there is one event that the protagonist witnesses that led me to decide to wait another year or two to give this to my current, rather sensitive, 5th and 4th graders. I think this book will lead to some great discussions. Though in some ways it barely scratches the surface, it is a children's novel and will be a good introduction we can build on later when they're ready for deeper explorations.
This book will be a good introduction to dystopian fiction- it's not graphic or violent, though there is one event that the protagonist witnesses that led me to decide to wait another year or two to give this to my current, rather sensitive, 5th and 4th graders. I think this book will lead to some great discussions. Though in some ways it barely scratches the surface, it is a children's novel and will be a good introduction we can build on later when they're ready for deeper explorations.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The stuff of homeschooling- a rambling post
I started off this week all enthusiastic about organizing our homeschool stuff. You know, that new year, new start feeling?
I cleaned out the school room closet which is always a problem because it's small and doesn't have a light in it, so things seem be perpetually lost in there.
Okay, I mostly cleaned out the closet. There are still odds and ends that need to go elsewhere, but I ran out of steam. And I'm still deciding what exactly to do with it. My kids have asked repeatedly to try workboxes again, they thought they were fun when we tried them briefly, and I think I need more help staying on track myself, but I'm afraid the baby will just dismantle them every day. So I was thinking of making all of those letter trays you see in the closet into workboxes, but I haven't quite worked that out yet.
Here is my secret, I have huge rubbermaid bins of toys and curriculum stored in another room.
My middle kids prefer sharing a room and wanted to turn a bedroom into a playroom now that so many toys have to be kept out of the baby's reach. This bedroom/playroom has their lego table and other small things, so it's strictly off limits for the baby and has become the kids' little getaway. They have a card table set up in a corner for games and a reading corner with bean bag chairs and a book case. It also has these ugly shelves near the ceiling that the house came with and I've never gotten around to doing anything about, because while ugly, they make a very good storage space.
I love strewing. I may have discussed this before. I think kids learn a lot on their own, with the right tools and experiences available, and I love having lots of hands-on learning things for them to choose from. Being that I have five kids, there were years of birthdays and Christmases where they received science kits, board games, microscopes, wooden toys, Lego, Playmobil, Lauri toys, and lots of other goodies. I've hung on to nearly everything since we're blessed with a lot of storage space in this house, and now I have the baby who will be able to reuse things as he gets older. All of this stuff is in those bins.
My bins are organized by number and I have a document on my computer that lists everything in each bin, that way it's easy to find what I want or to find similar themed things when rotating what we have out. It's not pretty or fancy, but it works.
When I cleaned out the closet, I decided to sort and categorize all of our curriculum into bins too and I was shocked (and a little dismayed) by how much we have. But I think I'm always afraid I'll get rid of something and then wish I still had it.
So I boxed up almost all of it and put it in the other room. I'm experimenting and seeing if having very little curriculum available simplifies things for us.
My awesome hubby tried to find me an over the door shoe organizer when he was out doing the grocery shopping alone with the kids while I had some alone time. It turned out to have mesh pockets, which won't work for the little things I want to keep in it in the school room. So I have to go find one with plastic pockets and then see if that helps with the constant mess of pencils, staplers, tape, and the flotsam and jetsam of homeschooling.
Not a terribly exciting post, but what I've been up to this week.
I cleaned out the school room closet which is always a problem because it's small and doesn't have a light in it, so things seem be perpetually lost in there.
Okay, I mostly cleaned out the closet. There are still odds and ends that need to go elsewhere, but I ran out of steam. And I'm still deciding what exactly to do with it. My kids have asked repeatedly to try workboxes again, they thought they were fun when we tried them briefly, and I think I need more help staying on track myself, but I'm afraid the baby will just dismantle them every day. So I was thinking of making all of those letter trays you see in the closet into workboxes, but I haven't quite worked that out yet.
Here is my secret, I have huge rubbermaid bins of toys and curriculum stored in another room.
My middle kids prefer sharing a room and wanted to turn a bedroom into a playroom now that so many toys have to be kept out of the baby's reach. This bedroom/playroom has their lego table and other small things, so it's strictly off limits for the baby and has become the kids' little getaway. They have a card table set up in a corner for games and a reading corner with bean bag chairs and a book case. It also has these ugly shelves near the ceiling that the house came with and I've never gotten around to doing anything about, because while ugly, they make a very good storage space.
I love strewing. I may have discussed this before. I think kids learn a lot on their own, with the right tools and experiences available, and I love having lots of hands-on learning things for them to choose from. Being that I have five kids, there were years of birthdays and Christmases where they received science kits, board games, microscopes, wooden toys, Lego, Playmobil, Lauri toys, and lots of other goodies. I've hung on to nearly everything since we're blessed with a lot of storage space in this house, and now I have the baby who will be able to reuse things as he gets older. All of this stuff is in those bins.
My bins are organized by number and I have a document on my computer that lists everything in each bin, that way it's easy to find what I want or to find similar themed things when rotating what we have out. It's not pretty or fancy, but it works.
When I cleaned out the closet, I decided to sort and categorize all of our curriculum into bins too and I was shocked (and a little dismayed) by how much we have. But I think I'm always afraid I'll get rid of something and then wish I still had it.
So I boxed up almost all of it and put it in the other room. I'm experimenting and seeing if having very little curriculum available simplifies things for us.
My awesome hubby tried to find me an over the door shoe organizer when he was out doing the grocery shopping alone with the kids while I had some alone time. It turned out to have mesh pockets, which won't work for the little things I want to keep in it in the school room. So I have to go find one with plastic pockets and then see if that helps with the constant mess of pencils, staplers, tape, and the flotsam and jetsam of homeschooling.
Not a terribly exciting post, but what I've been up to this week.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Organizing
I started blogging my 365 project today at http://www.eyefreckles.blogspot.com
Tomorrow, I plan to reorganize a bunch of school stuff and blog about it. I have bins and bins of curriculum, messy bookshelves, a black hole of a closet in our learning room, and I'm tired of the kids not putting the staplers and supplies back on the art shelves. So I have some ideas and am going to try to get it all organized tomorrow. Organizing does not come naturally to me, it's something I have to think a lot about, search for ideas about (so happy Pinterest is here now for this), and implement and redo several times before I hit on something that works for us.
I feel energized and want to begin our next school term with everything in order. Wish me luck!
Tomorrow, I plan to reorganize a bunch of school stuff and blog about it. I have bins and bins of curriculum, messy bookshelves, a black hole of a closet in our learning room, and I'm tired of the kids not putting the staplers and supplies back on the art shelves. So I have some ideas and am going to try to get it all organized tomorrow. Organizing does not come naturally to me, it's something I have to think a lot about, search for ideas about (so happy Pinterest is here now for this), and implement and redo several times before I hit on something that works for us.
I feel energized and want to begin our next school term with everything in order. Wish me luck!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
DPP: Day 30 and 31
The last of 2011...
(I forgot to take any photo at all on day 29.)
Day 30
We have a shopping area near us that is beautifully decorated for Christmas. The lights everywhere are so pretty to look at so we go there at night and stroll around. There are musicians playing in the town square, with their guitar cases open for coins, and a horse-drawn carriage. People like to congregate in the square, and it just has a cozy and fun feeling. We went out to eat (Mexican- Baby loved it. Who knew?) and then strolled around for awhile afterward. They were filming a movie there, which was interesting. We went over to the book store and browsed around and bought a few books. (Bunny needed the next book after A Wrinkle in Time.) It was a nice evening.
Day 31
Baby loves when someone leaves the door to the study open because we keep the piano in there and he loves playing the piano. Here he is with one sock on and one sock off, doing one of his favorite things. For some reason he constantly takes one sock off. Just one.
Happy New Year!
(I forgot to take any photo at all on day 29.)
Day 30
We have a shopping area near us that is beautifully decorated for Christmas. The lights everywhere are so pretty to look at so we go there at night and stroll around. There are musicians playing in the town square, with their guitar cases open for coins, and a horse-drawn carriage. People like to congregate in the square, and it just has a cozy and fun feeling. We went out to eat (Mexican- Baby loved it. Who knew?) and then strolled around for awhile afterward. They were filming a movie there, which was interesting. We went over to the book store and browsed around and bought a few books. (Bunny needed the next book after A Wrinkle in Time.) It was a nice evening.
Day 31
Baby loves when someone leaves the door to the study open because we keep the piano in there and he loves playing the piano. Here he is with one sock on and one sock off, doing one of his favorite things. For some reason he constantly takes one sock off. Just one.
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
DPP: Day 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28
Do you think I could cram anymore days in there?!
My computer had conked out so I was posting on the kids' laptop in the meantime, and hadn't been able to update my photos for the December Photo Project. I will be starting a 365 project soon but it will be on a separate blog, so I promise no more bombarding with daily pictures on this blog once December is over!
Day 24
I did way too much Christmas baking on Christmas eve. These are chocolate chip peppermint crunch cookies. Very decadent and rich but different and good. The bit of sea salt sprinkled on top was a nice contrast to the chocolate and peppermint. Recipe here.
Day 25
I tortured my kids by insisting on a picture before they could open presents.
Day 26
The kids were completely thrilled to be at Best Buy on the day after Christmas. I felt how they look.
Day 27
Where's Waldo?
Day 28
Me and My Shadow
Baby really is her shadow. He loves his big sister.
My computer had conked out so I was posting on the kids' laptop in the meantime, and hadn't been able to update my photos for the December Photo Project. I will be starting a 365 project soon but it will be on a separate blog, so I promise no more bombarding with daily pictures on this blog once December is over!
Day 24
I did way too much Christmas baking on Christmas eve. These are chocolate chip peppermint crunch cookies. Very decadent and rich but different and good. The bit of sea salt sprinkled on top was a nice contrast to the chocolate and peppermint. Recipe here.
Day 25
I tortured my kids by insisting on a picture before they could open presents.
Day 26
The kids were completely thrilled to be at Best Buy on the day after Christmas. I felt how they look.
Day 27
Where's Waldo?
Day 28
Me and My Shadow
Baby really is her shadow. He loves his big sister.
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