[Today I will not tell all the cute young women who are starting to homeschool that they are making themselves crazy for nothing.]

I think the goal should be to encourage new homeschooling moms, especially those with young children, to avoid letting outside influences put unnecessary stress on their families. They should be encouraged to use *their* gifts to teach their children and not try to be someone they're not.

 

I started out slow and relaxed with my oldest. I had a couple of workbooks from Wal-Mart that we used occasionally, we counted ALOT, went to the library, read tons of books. It was great and both of my oldest two learned to read, write, and do simple math. I started feeling the Pinterest, blogger-mom pressure by the time I got to my third and decided we needed unit study, letter of the week, games, crafts, and cooking projects all documented in a lapbook. Trouble is, I don't like cooking, I'm not good at crafts or lapbooking, most unit studies stress me out, and the whole thing fizzled after 2 letters.

 

At first I felt disappointed and like I was depriving my kids of something important. Then, I started to feel like all those other moms who did those things were wasting their time, going overboard, and being ridiculous. Eventually I came to realize that I simply am not gifted in that way but other moms ARE and that's ok. It was stressing me out to try and be creative mom when really I'm more of a classical/traditional/CM type of mom. I should stick with being me.

 

I have friend who IS creative mom. She loves to cook, sew, and DIY everything. She throws amazing birthday parties. (My birthday parties involve inviting people over and serving cake - the end LOL). This past year she did the unit study/letter of the week artsy thing with her 4 year old and they had a great time. She wasn't stressed about it at all. Now this year K is coming and she thinks she needs a rigorous curriculum with workbooks, lots of writing, and time at the table. We're very close and she thinks she needs her school to look like mine. (Nevermind that I have 4 kids, the oldest of which is in 6th grade and my school doesn't really look like she thinks it does anyway.) I have been trying to encourage her to trust herself and keep doing school her way.

 

I think we need to be careful about judging young moms. They will learn a lot from experience just as we did. Some of them are super excited about school and have been researching for years - that's ok. Some are going to jump right in to school-at-home for K4. As long as they and their child are enjoying it, great! Some are going to spend every night on Pinterest planning the perfect activities to engage their little ones. If they enjoy it why is it a problem? We shouldn't encourage young moms to ignore their own gifts. We should be encouraging them to use their strengths as they teach their children. And we should be patient, understanding, and encouraging as they figure out what those gifts and strengths are. There is no one right way to start homeschooling.

[The KonMari Method]

I did my clothes today. I got rid of about 1/3 of what I had. There were a few things that can't go until I get a replacement. I folded everything the Konmari way too and my drawers look great! I love that I can see everything and I have tons of extra room.

 

I re-folded everything in my DH's drawers too. He seriously needs to clean out his stuff! He has tons of clothes but doesn't wear most of them. He has quite a bit more clothes and shoes than I do - even before I cleaned out! Hopefully he'll be inspired when he sees how much I got rid of and go through his. It should be easy now that he can see everything at once.

 

My oldest DD was watching me and next thing I knew I heard her drawers banging around while she did her stuff. I limit how many clothes our kids have so she didn't't have anything to get rid of but her drawers look great!

 

Books are next! I won't be able to get to them the rest of this week but come Monday I'll be my tackling my bookshelves. Good thing we have an empty room right now! I can sort in there.

[First Day of School Plans/Routine - How do you do it?]

We homeschool year round and have never done anything special for our "first day". I think we will this year though. I need something to inject some newness into our school days. I've been reading this thread with interest and plan to steal some ideas. :-)

 

I think we'll start with a special breakfast where I will officially promote them to the next grade. I'll go over the schedule for the new year including extra-curriculars and my piano lesson schedule. I'll pull out the books for each subject and talk about the goals for each one and the fun extras I have planned in. For most subjects we'll be partway through a curriculum but we will have a couple of new things I can show them. I'll get them all new notebooks and folders this year instead of just continuing to fill up the old ones. Maybe I'll get them each a couple of fun school supplies that I wouldn't usually get or cute folders instead of the cheapest boring ones. I'll fill their boxes the night before so it'll be a fun surprise. I also want to write my goals for each one and a letter to each of them in their new assignment books. Then I'll let them decorate their new notebooks. In the afternoon we'll go on a field trip to one of the museums we're members of or maybe the science center. We'll end the day with cupcakes or ice cream. No formal lessons the first day - just fun stuff. I don't plan to tell them any of this so it will be a surprise. :-)

 

I'm planning to take a couple weeks off after the public schools start back and then start our new year on September 14th or 15th. Our anniversary is the 14th but my DH is scheduled to work. If he takes it off we'll start the 15th instead.

[Piano question AGAIN...thank you so much for looking...]

I just want to chime in on practicing 1 piece for weeks or even months. That is totally normal as the pieces get more difficult. In fact, I very seldom have even beginners who pass a song in 1 week or even 2. I have my students work on a piece until it is mastered. My former teacher does the same and he an excellent reputation due to the quality of the music his students play. Many people who are unrelated to the students drive from as much as an hour away to hear his student recitals.

[s/o swimming - could you pass?]

My DH and I could both do that pretty easily and I'm fairly certain my older 2 Dc could too. My younger two could do some but not all. We have them in swimming lessons this summer and swim often at my in-law's pool. It's above ground though. Our swim lessons are free and in an outdoor pool. I'd love to continue when summer is over but so far I haven't found anywhere that's affordable for us.

[WAY out of my comfort zone..... I tried tubing last night]

Any hints or tips fore on tubing techniques? I start off OK but once we get going I start slipping and it is really hard to handle on.

Not really. Just hang on tight is all. LOL My tubing experiences have been with my DH driving the boat. His goal was always to get the tube off the water and eventually toss the passenger. He didn't do this with everyone, just people who like a wild ride with a swim at the end. LOL

[If you are a grandma, are your grandkids being home schooled?]

We did attend a home school convention this past spring. I was always very eclectic, and it appears they may be as well. They both love Homegrown Preschooler and Montessori methods, as well as some more traditional methods. It seems like they'll do a nice mix.

 

I'm glad they are both committed to home schooling. My other daughter and my son have told me they want me to home school their kids for them (when they have some). I just want to stay in the game because I enjoy it!

I hope my post didn't sound like you should reconsider helping with homeschooling. It's awesome that you are able and willing to help them out!

 

I am an extremely independent person. I have definite ideas of how I want things done and I don't accept help well. There are times when I really could use some help but refuse to ask or accept it because things wouldn't be done exactly as I would do it. Definitely a character flaw on my part that I am working on. I'm sure my personality influences my thoughts on homeschooling help.

 

After re-reading my post I thought it may not have come across as I intended and could maybe use some clarification. :-)

[WAY out of my comfort zone..... I tried tubing last night]

I love tubing! Everyone should try it. :-)

 

Getting out of my comfort zone is something I've been trying to do more often. I started voice lessons last fall. I already play the piano and violin and have for years. Voice lessons are different though. It's so....personal. Weird sounds coming out? That's all me. Can't blame it on the instrument.

:-P

 

This spring I started doing karate with my kids. This one is REALLY outside my comfort zone! I'm enjoying it but it definitely violates my personal "don't do anything that may make you look stupid in front of other people" rule. I just try to not to think about it too much.

 

I've been trying to push myself a little more lately. I feel like I've missed out on a lot of fun things due to my strict adherence to my aforementioned rule. I have a DD who leans this way too and I'm trying to set a good example.

[If you are a grandma, are your grandkids being home schooled?]

I'm not a grandma but my DH and I were both home schooled. My MIL will occasionally make comments about helping me with school but I'm glad she hasn't. Mostly because of methodology differences. She homeschooled my DH and his brother with Abeka video school and was a K teacher using Abeka before that. I am too CM for that. I don't like all the drill, the dry textbooks, or the comprehension questions. I prefer short lessons with engaging books and narration. She definitely means well but many of her ideas for helping me have been much too traditional for my taste. I don't think it's because she thinks I'm doing it "wrong", but more because that's all she knows. (We get along extremely well in case that sounds like we don't.)

 

I would recommend finding out what your DD or DS wants their homeschool to look like (traditional, interest led, CM, classical, etc.) so that you can help them in a way that fits with their goals and then learn more about that style if it's new to you. I don't homeschool the way either of our mothers did and your son or daughter probably won't either. Maybe attend a conference with them so you can see what catches their attention. (I would love to bring my MIL to one so she could see what the homeschooling world looks like now and what part of it I'm drawn to but I really don't think she could handle the crowds or schedule.)

 

I don't anticipate my mom ever wanting to help me homeschool. My youngest sister has one year left of HS and then my mom will finally be done after 27 years of homeschooling. She is ready to be done! She was never terribly confident homeschooling anyway and I actually dragged her along to a convention and helped her figure out my sister's HS plan a few years ago. She might teach sewing/quilting lessons though.

[K curriculum similar to My Father's World]

A friend of mine is getting ready to start homeschooling their 5yo. She did some things for preschool - mostly self-designed letter of the week type unit studies. This year she really wants a more formal curriculum and she's a little stressed out about what to choose or where to even begin looking. I LOVE to research curriculum so I thought I'd give her a hand. :-)

 

I think her DH would like something like Abeka but that really doesn't seem to be her teaching style (judging by the hands on nature of the unit studies she did last year). I was telling her about LOE for phonics since it's very hands on and active. I was also thinking maybe RS math or MUS would be a good fit. Then today I thought MFW may be perfect as it's hands on, unit studies, and has everything all in one box with lesson plans/schedule. Scheduling it all out and getting it done is also stressful for her. What else should I suggest that would be similar to MFW? Or separate subjects that would be hands-on or involve activity in addition to the worksheets? I want to e-mail her some links tomorrow.

[Can you spot the drowning child before the lifeguard?]

Something like this happened to me at a public pool when I was 10 or 11. I was a decent swimmer who swam multiple times a week for as long as I can remember. I went to a pool with a friend. We both jumped in together but we're too close to each other and she landed on me. I was disoriented and tired from several hours of swimming and couldn't get back to the surface. I'm not sure if I looked like this child or not but I felt like I was stuck under water and remember thinking that no one could see me because I couldn't call for help. Fortunately a life guard saw me and pulled me out. I remember being surprised -and thankful! - that he was able to recognize that I needed help even though I wasn't doing the "right" things to signal for it. At the same time, I didn't realize that what was happening was that I was drowning. It didn't seem that extreme for some reason and I went right back to swimming after I caught my breath. I still love swimming. I feel like I should have been/should be a little more freaked out by that incident than I am though.

[Question for those who do not shave or who delay shaving in daughters]

I'm waiting until my DDs ask. They are 11, 9, and almost 8. They know I shave and I think that's good enough. With the way our culture is today, I'm very careful to avoid saying anything that may make them think they need to alter their appearance in some way to be beautiful, even if it's just shaving. I have no problem with it if they want to though. I was shaving when I was 9. I too, like a pp, am part Sasquatch. :-P I was begging my mom to let me shave when I was 8 because I hated the long, dark hair that would stick out through my white tights. I only shave my legs and underarms. I've heard some women shave their arms too? I considered it when a piano student asked why I had hairy arms like a boy, but I don't have time to shave anything else every day - legs take long enough. :-P I get it from my dad. People used to call him Chewbacca when he was younger.

[The KonMari Method]

I deep cleaned my dining room yesterday. Not exactly Konmari since we're supposed to start with clothes but I really needed a whole room DONE for the motivation factor. I chose the dining room because it's small with only a few pieces of furniture and I knew I could get it done in a day. Plus it was more gross than other rooms for some reason. It looks fabulous. It's clean and decluttered. Some of the decorative things that I wouldn't have said sparked joy individually actually DO in their new arrangement. And I started a list of things the room needs from a practical/organizational and decorative standpoint. I think I'll do this for each room and then slowly chip away at the list. I want to make my home a more pleasant, beautiful place to be and I'm learning that not only do some things need to be removed but some things need to be added too.

[The KonMari Method]

I believe that she said 3 months. I think it would take a lot less time for a stay at home mom though. Maybe a month? A word of warning; it took me 7(?) hours to do everybody's clothes. I would not start at night.

I was planning to just do mine and maybe my DH's (but not declutter his as much as I'm dying to). My DH doesn't get home from work until 11:30 so I'm used to working at night. I'll see how it goes though. I might wait til tomorrow.

[The KonMari Method]

I finished reading the book this afternoon. I've been cleaning all day to try to recover from our crazy weekend. I feel like things should at least be cleaned up enough to be back to their "normal" cluttered state before I start Konmari-ing. :-P I'm almost done, just two rooms to go. I'm hoping to do my clothes tonight.

 

I like the idea of making this a "quick", one-time project instead of dragging it out forever. But what does that mean? How fast is fast? Does she mean get it done in a week? month? several months? I want to get it done before I lose interest and it's never finished. I'm just afraid my attention span won't be long enough to see this through. I guess I can only work as fast as I can work - I just really want this done. I want my house to be clean and peaceful. Just rambling...sorry. Back to work....

[The KonMari Method]

I started reading the book last night and got about halfway through. I'm excited to get started on my clothes on Monday. I don't anticipate actually talking to inanimate objects but I do plan to pull it all out and touch each thing as I decide what "sparks joy". I think I'm going to end up having to keep some things that don't spark joy simply because I need some pants, socks, underwear, and bras. My wardrobe is in rough shape but maybe going through it all piece by piece and seeing that most of it needs to go will be the motivation I need to get out and shop. My DH will be so happy - seriously - he's been begging me to buy new clothes for...forever...but I hate to shop.

 

I like the way she folds clothes. It makes so much more sense to be able to see everything. I should do it to my DH's and DC's drawers too.

[The KonMari Method]

Ok. I should just get the book. I heard about it this spring when I was planning my spring/summer of deep cleaning, decluttering, and organizing. I decided that I didn't need a book to tell me how to declutter. And now here I sit, it's nearly August, and I've managed to clean out one small closet. It's just too overwhelming. I need to return some books to the library this afternoon so I'll check and see if they have it. If not I'll just buy it on my Kindle. I can read it this weekend and be ready to get started next week while the kids are spending 3 hours a day at VBS. Ahhh...I envision a clean, tidy house by the time we get back into school in the fall and maybe even by the time my grandparents come to visit in August.

[Curious: do you still have your wisdom teeth?]

I was supposed to have mine out about 8 years ago but the oral surgeon recommended waiting until I was no longer breastfeeding since they weren't causing any problems. I ended up getting pregnant again before that happened so I never had them pulled. The dentist I was going to at the time was mad that I didn't get them pulled and suggested that I should have just stopped breastfeeding if I was that concerned. That made me mad and I quit going to him. I didn't find a new dentist until just last year (7 year later). By the time I went last year two of my wisdom teeth had erupted and now a third has started. They're coming in straight and he hasn't mentioned pulling them. I'm not likely to have problems with decay as I've never had a single cavity.

[Couch-to-5K: July 12-18]

I tried W6D3 yesterday but couldn't finish it. After 17 minutes my legs simply refused to run any further and I ended up walking the rest of the way home. I tried to start running again a couple of times but it just wasn't there. That was disappointing. I have some ideas what the problem was though. I run first thing in the morning and usually drink a glass of water first. I forgot the water yesterday and think that may have been part of the problem. Also, TOM is a few days away and my energy levels always tank in the days leading up. I'm not sure what that'll mean for W7 runs. I'm going to try for the 24 minutes(?) tomorrow and see what happens. I'll at least go as far as I can and try to build each day.

[Couch-to-5K: July 12-18]

W6D2. It went pretty well except that I did get shin splints again. I do a 3 mile loop and at the end of the C25k part (including the 5 minute warm-up) I still have 11 or 12 minutes to walk to get home. I think it will take some time after I finish the program to be able to run the whole 3 miles.

 

I need to figure out something to listen to while I run. I think it would be easier and go by faster if I had a distraction. I don't have a smart phone or an i-pod but my kids have a couple of old smart phones with CD's loaded onto them. If nothing else maybe I'll find some earbuds and listen to Adventures In Odyssey while I run. :-P

[Couch-to-5K: July 12-18]

I thought W6D1 was harder than the 20 minute run from W5D3 also. I'm sure that was partly due to my calves cramping up. That's never happened to me before. I kept going but it was uncomfortable and my feet started to feel kinda numb and heavy. Only one more interval run left and then just longer runs that build to 30 minutes.

 

My younger sister wants me to do a Warrior Dash with her this fall so I need to stick with this and build my endurance and speed. I'd love to make her keep up with me instead of the other way around. Especially since I'm twice her age - or was until she turned 17 yesterday. :-)

[Which Bewitched Style Super Power Regarding Housecleaning Do You Wish You Had]

I will take all of them please. :-) Cooking, cleaning, laundry, decluttering, deep cleaning, yard work...the whole shebang. I'm terrible at housework. I know what to do and how to do it. I know what kinds of systems work. My mom taught me well. I just don't like to do it. I'd rather spend my time reading, playing the piano and violin, researching homeschooling curriculum and topics, and doing school and going on fun outings with my kids. I do enjoy some yard work but I don't really have time to do it.

 

If I had to choose just one super power, right now it would be cleaning the kitchen. We've had a fun packed day with multiple activities. It was great. But now we're home and it seems our preparations have left a disaster in the kitchen. I've been wasting time on-line waiting for my super power to show up, or the cleaning fairies, or...something, but alas, it hasn't happened. I guess I'll go clean it myself. Sigh....

[Couch-to-5K: July 5-11]

W5D3. I did it. I think I'll try running around the block in the opposite direction. I ended up with the last 5 minutes of the run being mostly up hill - and pretty steep hills too. It was difficult and ugly but I kept going until the end. The first 15 minutes weren't bad. Maybe if I go the other direction the hills won't be as bad.

[Couch-to-5K: July 5-11]

W5D2 complete. I've started C25k multiple times over the last 5 years and I think this is the farthest I've made it into the program. I'm pretty excited about. Over halfway seems like nearly done!

 

A few years ago I was able to run 20 minutes after a round of Insanity but I lost that quickly. I was in my best shape ever after doing Insanity and I am super excited to be so close to that fitness level again. I'm also a little terrified of trying to run 20 whole minutes on Saturday. I hope I can do it!

[Ladies, Be Prepared!!!]

We both have work to do in this area. Our house is in both our names (pretty sure), but our cars all our bills are in DH's only. I do have a couple of credit cards in my name and an exceptional credit score. We don't have any life insurance and only about a 1 month emergency fund. I do all our bill paying and insurance information, and handle all paper work. My DH has no idea about any of that or any of the login/password information. I do all the homeschooling also and will admit that my record keeping is lacking. I'm not sure that he'd be able to keep school going the way I currently have it. He'd have to figure out all the doctor and dentist stuff for the kids too as I currently take care of all that. I don't have a degree so a job would be difficult. I teach piano lessons but I'd have to take on a lot more students.

 

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. My DH is a police officer and has a higher than average risk of death or serious injury. In fact, he's already had one work injury that was nearly career-ending. That was a scary year.

 

We are debt-free except our house. At least we've got that going for us.