We've got the look

A week ago our homeschool group was planning a clean up day in one of the local parks. We were going to take rubbish bags and gloves and go and tidy they place up a bit. Unfortunately it was scheduled for what was supposed to be one of the hottest days of the year with an extreme UV warning...

9am:
Mummy McT: "The park activity has been cancelled because it's too dangerous to have all the kids out in the sun cleaning up the park."
Boys: "Awww, it's okay, we would just drink lots of water and we'd be fine"

10am:
Mummy McT: "Time to hang out the washing, boys"
Boys: "But mum, it's too dangerous to be outside doing stuff like that because it's so hot"
Mummy McT: *stares them in the eyes* "drink some water"

They know the Mummy Stare... unfortunately some of them have adopted it into their own repertoire of smart-a**ery and can deliver a killer comeback with a deadpan face and eyes locked on their target.

I'm sure it was passed on by genetics and is not a learned behaviour... nope, that one just couldn't be helped... now lets just pray they use it for good and not evil.

Monkey knows the power of a well timed look

"I don't like writing"

Monkey resists writing as much as possible. The funny thing is he so often writes in his own time. He's actually really enjoying having a way to express himself and it helps us to understand his emotions instead of just having a meltdown.

I'm wondering if these are admissible as writing examples to submit with our homeschooling report...

"Never believe your parents"

"Do not disturb me"

I wish I could remember what I did to deserve these beautifully written signs getting placed around my house... probably something horrible like asking him to do a little more writing for his school work.  But I can't remember, we had our cuddles, we did some exercises to let his body download the drama and we moved on.

Kids.

If you didn't laugh you'd cry.

All week it was nothing but pain to get even one sentence from him. Then, at 3:30 on Friday afternoon, he decided to write a book. Yes, a book. Just in case you weren't sure the definition of a book is "lots and lots of sentences one after the other" I had to double check with him that we both had the same definition because I honestly couldn't believe it.

I don't know if I should cheer, cry, or tear my hair out.  Maybe I should just write about it.

Do as I say, not as I do.

Going through my draft posts (there's a lot) and found this from March last year.

*****
I'm finding myself in a situation that is all too familiar for one or two of my kids. I've had my confidence knocked... hard.

I've talked all the boys through it at times, even Butterfly in her own little way has been encouraged to "just keep trying" which I guess is much the same thing. I know what I tell them to do, I know I say it because it really is the best advice for the situation. I know that if you believe that what you are doing is right then you need to stand up for yourself. Assess the criticism (which may not even be criticism, but just feels like it), see if it holds merit, decide if you need to change what you are doing or your opinion, then act on your decision. At this point you either stay the same or you change.

Right now I'm at the assessing stage... the more I assess the more I am convincing myself that it's a personal attack... yet somewhere inside I know it's not...

*****

So... nearly a year on... it's kind of still hurting. I spoke to those with knowledge in the field and established that I SHOULD keep going. I saw the problem from both perspectives, I sought more views from the opposing perspective to make sure I understood. I came to the decision that I SHOULD stick to my guns and although in this situation neither party was exactly wrong, they were just different approaches to the same thing, I knew that the answer I had to give to those questioning me was a "your way" or "my way" answer.

But "shoulds" are one thing, next I had to decide if this was a sword I was willing to fall on. Would I step back, allow the requested changes to be made or would I stand firm, believing that it wasn't just "but we've always done it this way" it was actually what was currently the right way to do it?

I stood.

I don't feel like it's a win.

I feel like I'm constantly scrutinised to see if I made the wrong decision... but I also feel like that's stupid and of course I'm not.

Why is it so easy to dish out advice to our kids but to act on it ourselves takes courage that we forget we, and our kids, possess.

I recently told my sweet Monkey to "Just keep doing what you are doing, hopefully you will see the change in your friendship" when he was telling me about a friendship struggle he's having. "I don't want you to talk to X's mum, so maybe it's best if I'm just not friends with X any more." I answered him "well, it's just one part of an otherwise great friendship... stick with it, you'll be glad you did". He's not so sure, but with courage he's going to try. Friendships take a lot of courage. Sticking with a friendship through the hard times takes HUGE amounts of courage.

There's really not much point to this... just a reminder, sent out into the great big internet land, to take courage. What an example we can be to our kids when we really can be proud if they do what we do.

What if "Until Next Time" means "See you in Heaven"?

Sorry, emotional release here...

I had to say goodbye to a friend today. She's moving just about as far away as she can without leaving the country.

I say goodbye to lots of friends here. Living long term in a largely transient town means that every year there are friends working for mines that close who get shuffled off to the next location, defence friends come and go with sad frequency, many others "do their time" so they can earn their return to the "big city"... it's jus the way it is. Some you get really close to, others you don't. I don't form many tight close friendships so usually the goodbyes are just the regular kind of rough... this one wasn't. Not long after they moved here N, her husband (P) and their 1 year old son (A) came along to our church and N & A came to our playgroup. We clicked... we were so different, but so much the same. I feel like that's kind of the basis of most good friendships. She needed a friend who would take her as she was (ups and downs related to a past injury), I needed a friend who would take me as I was (scatterbrained and messy). We fit well together. She didn't judge me for the state of my housekeeping, in fact she offered to help me out (folding seems more fun with a friend, after all). I didn't mind if she had to cancel plans at the last minute or rearrange plans to fit with her health, I'd just go with the flow.

Do you ever wonder what our heavenly reunions will be like?

Today we had to say goodbye. They leave on Sunday for their new posting in Hobart. HOBART! There were tears. Both of us realise that even though I am desperate for a Tasmanian holiday (I was telling A (now 4yo) how lovely it will be that it's so green there since we are in drought here and he said "No, it's WHITE there because it SNOWS!!") and even though she has a brother up here who she may possibly come and visit or they may possibly by posted back here by the army at some point, it's all "what if" and "maybe". The only assurance we have that we will see each other again is the faith we both have that Jesus has promised that those who love him will one day be in Heaven.

Whenever I consider that day I'm never really sure what that meeting will be like. Will we seek out a reunion of our earthly relationships? Will all else pale in comparison to being in Christ's glory? I don't know. But I know that sometimes, "Until next time" is very likely to mean "See you in Heaven". 

A Fresher Start

When we started homeschooling I figured that was a fresh start for us. Then on our 1 year anniversary we un-enrolled from the Distance Ed school we were with and started going it alone. In Qld you are supposed to register with the HEU (Home Education Unit) if you aren't using a DE school. Though the penalties for not doing so are minor, usually a reprimand with "register within this period and we won't do anything" and I'm not sure if that is even followed up on. We finished out term 3 carrying on roughly with the plan we were already working on with the DE school but with a few modifications. So now, in term 4, we are starting fresh again... so it's a fresher start or something like that.

I thought I might just throw in some links here for what we are getting up to this term. If nothing else it will help me when it comes to reporting time to look back at what I PLANNED to get done.

Our overall theme for this term is The Great Barrier Reef. Our homeschool group has 4 excursions planned to Reef HQ for specific educational tours. To go along with that I'm using some great resources from GBRMPA (which for those not in the know of reef associated acronyms is Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority). If you are interested in those you can find them here. They are awesome full unit plans that are geared towards science but there's plenty of other stuff in there.

I got these decorator test tube "vases" from Kmart.

They aren't suitable for anything too serious, but they'll work for us... until I buy a bunsen burner...

For Science we are trying out resources from Super Charged Science. I'm a bit excited about these. They are designed by an ex-NASA scientist and she "teaches" via video and there's workbooks that outline the materials you need and it's done with the intention that the homeschooling parent doesn't need to be involved if they don't want to... but I love science so I'll be getting right in there with the kiddos.

For Maths they are finishing off the workbooks that we were using with the DE school. They are standard books for their year levels so I know they are covering all the relevant topics. BUT there will be a whole lot of maths involved in Economics.

For Economics (which is technically only a subject that Lion "needs" to do for Year 5, but they are all doing it to whatever level they are capable) we are using SimCity BuildIt app. The kids started playing it and I started so I could answer Monkey's questions and check it was a safe game for them to be playing (I sacrifice so much for these kids)... but I quickly realised there's so much they are able to learn with this game. So much they are learning without even realising it and so much scope for me to use it to make learning what they need to know more fun!

Then comes PE, I don't really include it as an actual subject usually, I felt like we could for this term. Much of the PE curriculum is incorporated into day to day learning with homeschooling. They research sports the like, they borrow books from the library to find out rules, they learn about general health in day to day life and being involved in purposeful discussions about food choices etc. So why is it an actual subject for this term? Because we got this...

It's a slack line! If you don't know what a slack line is then it's kind of like tightrope walking on a ratchet strap. For now we just need to learn to balance and walk on it, so there will be no tricks, but if you look up some of the awesome videos on youtube you'll find people risking life and limb doing crazy crazy stuff on their strap.

Ours is staying low to the ground for now and we have to use a helper strap which is a bit tricky to find a height that works for all 3 of the boys... though I don't think Monkey will need it for long. That kid really is a little monkey!

For English they are still using Grammar books that we've been going on all year. Gum Drops Grammar, they are fantastic and we've found some new books that interest the boys through them. English is incorporated into various other subjects and I'm writing my own plan for that but we are also possibly participating in the young writers version of NaNoWriMo. I need to decide if I have the patience for that.

Now most of that is for the big two, Lion and Dragon. Monkey is just in Prep, the first year of school in Qld and it's still not actually compulsory just highly encouraged, so I'm just keeping him interested in learning anything at all at the moment while we work on the skills that are the foundation of his future learning, basic number and letter skills and he's started to really shoot ahead with his reading after a very rough start. I find it hard to not compare what he knows to kids in a mainstream classroom... then I remind myself that I actually think those kids are pushed too hard too soon so why would I compare my kid to them? I would love to see the younger years being much more focused on hands on learning, play based learning, fewer workbooks and more reading books. He rides along when he wants to on activities and projects his brothers are doing and he does love his Maths workbook and there are certain things that at some point he needs to learn... but when to push and when to hold myself back is probably something I'll never figure out.

So that's the plan for Term 4, 2015. I'll add more if I think of it. I'm not sure if this will be a regular feature, I guess it depends if I find it helpful to refer back to or not.

You have a blog?

Blogging comes up often amongst homeschoolers. A lot of them keep a blog of sorts to help keep track of their schooling journey or to record when they did what, what programs and curriculum they were using... lots of reason... also in spite of the constant pace of things homeschool mums tend to get bored, I think. Not regular "there's nothing to do" kind of bored, more tired of the monotony and the education-centric thinking of almost every aspect of their day.

Without fail when blogging comes up and I mention that we have a blog I get this response... "You have a blog? You should put all that crazy stuff from Facebook on your blog!" And I know I should, but the short and sweet format of Facebook fits better with my schedule, or lack of schedule.

Right now though, I miss the cathartic outlet of writing, the focus that it allows me (even if the writing has nothing to do with whatever I need to focus on, it's weird) and the creative expression.  So............ I'm going to try and get blogging again. I might just do a few lines here and there, maybe a little catch up from my Facebook posts, maybe I'll fade away again after a week or two, but I need to get my fingers typing and record some of our year of homeschooling.

So for now, until I get my backside moving, here's a photo of Butterfly doing what girls do...

Guest post of Wolfbooks.

Mummy McTavish wrote this post for another blog.  Titled:

3 Series That Get Boys Hooked On Reading

You can read it here or head over to Wolfsbooks to read it.

Being a avid reader and married to a bibliophile, I just assumed that our kids would naturally be readers and lovers of books as well.  Let me tell you that this is not the case and has been a source of frustration for us, my wife especially, to get our boys interested in reading for enjoyment.

We recently seem to have turned a corner so I have asked my wife to write a 'guest post' on what she thinks has caused the turn around.

---

An expert, I am not. A homeschooling mother, desperate for her kids to find a love of reading, I most certainly am.

Until recently I was getting ready to pay my boys for finishing a book. They started so many and finished none of them. I was tearing my hair out and going crazy! I had books recommended by friends as sure winners for their age groups, I had bought many of these books only to see them sit unread or unfinished (this is where the library is your friend… unless you forget to return them, then lose them and end up paying 3 times the retail price to replace them).

I don’t know exactly what it was that turned the boys around, where they will now willingly pick up a book that isn’t about minecraft, where they can read for periods of time and actually lose track of time because they are enjoying reading, but I can tell you which books they were in at the time which I am pretty sure had something to do with it.

The 13 Story Tree House.

Okay, so it’s below their reading level… or where their reading level should have been, but I’ll get to that later. It’s hilarious, apparently. I don’ t see it, but I’m a 30+ year old mum who has a limit on how many poo jokes she can handle in one sitting. The best thing is, it’s short chapters so they get their confidence built up as they finish each chapter and with many pictures through the book they have finished what seems to be a reasonably thick book in no time at all… and they now have a dozen or more poo jokes added to their repertoire.

The story is written by Andy Griffiths and illustrated by Terry Denton, and it is about their (highly exaggerated) process of writing this actual story. As a bonus… there’s plenty more of these books with at least one in the works to be released later this year.

Zac Power

He’s a boy spy. There’s mystery, intrigue, villains, good guys, cool gadgets, space ships and again… nice short chapters to build their confidence! There are a few different Zac Power series, they are written by a team of writers under the pseudonym H I Larry.

Start off with the Test Drive or Spy Camp series made for younger/beginner readers, they are the ones that got my wannabe spy sucked in and waiting for me to buy him the next books.

Boy vs Beast

Now I’m not so up to speed on these ones, I just know that I forked out for the next 11 books in the series that he’s reading because Scholastic had a half price sale and that’s not to be sneezed at! I’m not sure that each series is named in any particular way. The books follow Kai Masters, Border Captain, as he battles beasts (bet you didn’t guess that one) to keep earth safe.

The series is the brainchild of two women, Louise Park and Susannah McFarlane, writing under the pseudonym Mac Park. Interestingly, Susannah is the concept creator of the Zac Power books… she obviously knows what kids want to read!

These are the books that my reluctant readers have so far decided they can’t put down. All of them are aimed at readers between 6 & 8 years old, but don’t let that stop you if you have a struggling 10 year old like I do. There’s no point in presenting a struggling reader with books aimed at his age level when he will feel like he is constantly failing because it’s too hard. The other undesirable outcome is that he reads because you are telling him to and he reads the words but gets no enjoyment from the story because concentrating on the words he’s reading is more than enough work for him! Honestly, once they are reading, let them read at the level they feel comfortable. For sure, give them stuff that challenges them too, but don’t let them get lost in the “shoulds” of reading levels and grade averages. If they can’t read it then dial it back to something they can read and get them enjoying the reading. Once they are enjoying it they will naturally push themselves further.

All of these are by Australian authors, which is wonderful to see, but also means that there aren’t many references that the kids wont understand. I remember reading books growing up and there were so many American cultural references that I had no idea what was going on in some sections.

Other books that we have enjoyed…

The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Written by Brian Selznick and now turned into a movie as well (Hugo, released in 2011). I love this book, it’s daunting to pick it up, it’s one hefty book, but as you look through you see that there, interspersed through the story, are pages and pages of the most beautiful drawings. Sometimes you have to pour over half a dozen pages of drawings before you get to the next page of writing. I think it’s a beautiful way for kids who are now reading chapter books to get to remember some of that wonder of reading a picture book.

The Faraway Tree Series.

Didn’t we all read Enid Blyton books as a kid? The language is fast becoming out-dated but we have read them as read-alouds together and when my voice fades we also have the audio CD. This means that I can explain some of the more unusual phrases. These are also great for developing listening skills. There are so many detailed descriptions throughout the stories and it’s fun to get the kids to draw what they think the tree looks like, or one of the characters or to explain who lives above and below certain other people in the tree.

Toad Away

Morris Gleitzman is a funny man. This is another one we have just started reading aloud. I asked my facebook friends for suggestions for read-aloud books and Gleitzman was recommended by a few of them so… we started. Now, a word of warning… do not start doing voices for all of the characters if you aren’t in it for the long haul. I can carry that on for a chapter at a time but they love it and the story is so engaging and funny that they aren’t happy with just one chapter at a time!