We have slowly been working on the kid's rooms, and tonight my Sweet Potato got to move into her freshly painted room. The smile on her face would brighten the room, if it was not already painted day-glow turquoise!! Put on your sunglasses and take a look at what she calls "the best room I have ever had!!!!"





We still have to hang things on the walls, make and hang curtains and I probably need to paint the dresser...but she could care less! It is so fulfilling to do something so relatively simple that means so much to my girl.



She wrote in her journal the other day: "I wish my whole room was horses. But Mommy said no." Well, that broke my heart, and I honestly don't remember saying no, so I am going to do my best to get that girl a horse room!! Looking for old horse shoes, or tack or any cool thing we can hang up, and I hope to paint something...either on the wall or as a piece of art...we will see!

A very interesting book!

I have been reading an interesting book, lately, "100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum : Choosing the Right Curriculum and Approach For Your Child'" by Cathy Duffy. Of course I had heard of this book, but never picked it up to read it because I had already figured out what curriculum I was going to use. What a shame!! The first five chapters of this book are a gold mine for any homeschooling mom...and even for those moms who only have a passing interest in homeschooling - wow! What a lot of good information!!

She goes through, step by step and helps you understand why it is important to have a "philosophy of education" (she defines philosophy as 'common sense dressed up in fancy clothes'), how you think learning should happen in your home, and how you want to teach or 'run your school'. She also spends a good amount of time helping you understand which educational approach is right for your children, and how to mix approaches.

For example if you come from a background where formal education is very important to you, and all the "feel good fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants stuff that you see gives you the heebie-jeebies, then you might choose the Classical approach. If you have lots of wiggly boys who learn best when their hands and their brains are involved, then you might like the Unit Study approach. In all, she covers nine different approaches.

Mrs. Duffy then goes into helping you figure out what is going to work for your family, by talking about your confidence level, the time you have to give to schooling, how much money you have to spend and how you want your religious beliefs to impact your schooling. One of the things I loved was that she gives examples of all of these things in Chapter 3, so that you can see exactly how to use the technique she is presenting.

But, I have to say that chapter 4 is my favorite chapter! I can't tell you how many times I have had people say to me "I can't homeschool because...my kid needs structure....my kid needs the social interaction...my kid argues about everything...my kid won't be still". Guess what? We all have kids like that! I have three of those in my house...the wiggly one, the arguing one and the structured one. Mrs. Duffy wrote that she thinks God gives us kids that are different from us to stretch and grow us. Can I hear an AMEN!!

So, Chapter 4 is all about learning styles and teaching styles and how to take your strengths and weaknesses and your kid's strengths and weaknesses and put it all together into something that will work for your family. It was like a light bulb going off for me. Personally, it helped me to understand my littlest one better, for example why he gets so upset when I ask him to do something that he 'already knows'. It's part of his personality, the way God made him...and it is my job to help him understand that sometimes we do have to do things over and over, and sometimes it is okay to move on.

Then, in Chapter 5, Mrs. Duffy goes on to help the reader understand "who should learn what and when?" - a great chapter to teach you how to determine what needs to happen when and how to tailor it for each specific child in your home - because really, one of the things that is so amazing about homeschooling is that you can tailor your child's education to your child.

And then the rest of the book gives Mrs. Duffy's Top 100 Picks for curriculum, which becomes very easy to sort through once you have done the work in the first four chapters.

Anyway, whether you are a seasoned homeschooler, or a mom who is wanting to know what all this 'homeschool talk' is about, I highly recommend this book - especially the first five chapters. And if you are a mom who just wants to understand her kids better, and would like to have a glimpse into working with your child's personality instead of against it - then just read Chapter 4. If you read it, let me know what you think!

Happy January!

Day...whatever!

12/15/09 - branching out...an imaginary story about a sweet horse named Dove that Sweet Potato meet a few months ago:

"Once upon a time there was a horse named Dove. When Dove went to play outside she would play with the other horses. Then she would go back to her stall. The next day Dove woke up early and played outside and played by herself and ran and jumped in the air. Then Dove saw something, it was a horse! Dove couldn't believe it! But soon they made friends. Dove's owner made her come in her stall. The next day Dove woke up and heard a noise. Then all of the owners took all of the horses out of their stalls then all kinds of horses went outside. The horses ran around the barrels and jumped over the gate by the barn."



12/17/09

"Yesterday Anna and Kaitlyn came to our house. I taught Kaitlyn how to sew. Kaitlyn sewed two Christmas presents. Then Anna came in the room and asked to sew and I helped her sew Pineapple's cat. While Kaitlyn was sewing, she said that they also go to church. She said she went to CSD and she missed me because I always go in the grownup church. Then they had to leave to go to church."

It's so fun to have friend over!! While the "big girls" were sewing and hanging out, Jalapeno and his "betrothed" Anna helped make peanut butter cups. But that wasn't exciting enough for them, so they went down to the playroom, to play fire-rescue heroes!!



12/18/2009 - a big day in our home!! We went...well, let's let SP tell the story:

"Yesterday we got birds! We really didn't know that we were going to get the birds. We have three of them. We had to get a cage, a toy stick and we had to get a lot of stuff. We were going to get two birds but my mom said htat we could have three. We have to clean the cage. We put paper towels on the bottom of the cage. We love our birds. We have to take good care of the birds."



So yes, we went to the pet store to add to our hermit crab collection, which had dwindled over the summer down to one crab - Water. They didn't have any at the first store, so we trekked onward, in search of the perfect companions for dear Water. After we made our crab selection ("no we are NOT paying $3 more just because the shell is red, white and blue!") we were headed out of the store when we discovered that this store was closing, and so all of the bird stuff was half off...AND, I had in my possession cash from family to buy gifts for the kids for Christmas...sooo to make a long story short - I know - TOO LATE!! - we came home with three darling little spice finches who are named Miley, Angel and Puggy. OH, and three crabs (can you REALLY call them cute?!?) Whose names change by the hour, but I believe right now, we have Thunder Bolt (really, a crab named Thunder Bolt?!?), Rosie (no offense Granny) and Calypso.

Ummmm....Days 4-14...

Well, it's been kinda crazy around here for the last two weeks, so I have not had the time to get on here and keep the tally going...so I am going to let Sweet Potato's journal entries clue you in, and add a few fun pics too!

12/3/09:

"Yesterday while my mom was gone, Grammy, Jalapeno and I played war. Then Jalapeno and I played monkeys. My mom came home. Then Jalapeno, Pineapple and I found an interesting game. We danced with a jumping plastic horse. Last night we listened to music while we ate dinner. Before dinner I was drawing ballerinas for a book."



12/4/09:

"Yesterday we decorated the rail. Then Mommy and the boys set up the nutcracker. Last night we went to a place called the street of Bethlehem. We made a lantern, and a necklace, and we made all kinds of things and I can't remember the rest. We saw a show of Mary and Joseph. Baby Jesus was a real baby but it was not really Jesus. Yesterday before we went to the thing, Mommy and Grammy were putting up the houses that have lights. Yesterday I got to use Christmas stencils in a book."





12/7/09:

"Yesterday it was my Mom's birthday. I gave her a special card, it was a ballerina with a paper tutu, it was purple. I gave her a rock and a picture. Of course the rock was purple, because her favorite color is purple. Mommy also likes chickens. Mommy has a whole shelf in the schoolroom. We even have crabs."



12/8/09:

"We got to open presents and I got a horse barn. Jalapeno likes horses because he likes to copy me. but I have no idea why. We have a fake horse outside my barn. I took some paper and cut three boxes and wrote their names. Then Mommy made some saddles. My barn has a gate and a trough and a jump over gate. It has three horses because I got two with it and I got one in my stocking."









12/10/09:

"Today we are having chocolate chip pancackes. Jalapeno came to Daddy's office to tell me. I was in a hurry. We all like chocolate chips. One time Jacob, Christian and Will came and we had chocolate chip pancakes. This morning Mommy was blending some chocolate chips. I am glad that it did not wake up Grammy. We don't always have chocolate chip pancakes."

12/14/09:

"Today we are going to the gym. There is a foam pit, and a trampoline, balls, big stuffed shapes, and you can roll in a big circle because it has handles. We like to go to the gym because it has all those fun things. It also has gymnastics bars. I always swing on the bars because I can practice for the trapeze at home. I am happy that Grammy gets to go. But I am sad that Grandpa didn't get to come."

One of the things that Grammie and Sweet Potato have been doing a lot of, is sewing! SP is getting so good with her needle and thread! She is making pillows, an apron for Grammie, and stuffed animals for her brothers.



Another special event that happened while Grammie was here was we got to go to the Compassion Christmas party - the kids had a great time watching and listening to some drumming and singing from Africa, eating cookies, making an ornament and listening to story time.



So as you can see, it has been a busy two weeks! We so loved having Grammie and Grandpa here with us, and everyone is so sad they are gone.

Naptime is over - better get busy!

Day 3...

Sweet Potato's journal entry:



12/02/09
"Why did I get ice cream? Because I kept my room clean. I had to keep my room clean for fourteen days. And I did. And since I kept my room clean I got a chocolate dipped cone. Jalapeno and Pineapple kept their room clean. And after the fourteenth day Grandpa and Grammy came. And we went to Wendy's and after Wendy's we went to DQ. Last night we cracked nuts. Then I had to go to bed early. Then I fussed about my glasses. Today it snowed but it is too cold outside. Last night I got to sleep in the boy's room."

Like I said..."character training"!!

We started a plan, two weeks ago to keep our rooms "inspection ready": toys put away, clothes put away or in the laundry, beds made. Each day they got a check mark if they met the criteria...if they got 11 checks, they get an ice cream cone, 14 checks and they get a chocolate dipped cone. They all had to sign the "contract" and did amazingly well..the boys got twelve checks, and Sweet Potato got all fourteen!! Now instead of saying "Go clean your room" fourthousandsevenhundredtwelve times, I say, "hmmm...I wonder if your rooms are ready for inspection?" and they all race away to make sure they are...Mommy is loving it!!







While I was at MOPS today, the kids got to stay home with Grammie and Grandpa! They played games, colored, did puzzles, played cards and read books - what a fun morning!

After the boys went down for quiet time, Sweet Potato and I sat down to do the 'prescribed' math for the day...and she was HOT, so we did seven days worth in about an hour! It makes up for the days when the brain is turned OFF, and we don't get any done!!

Another day full of learning, and it's only 2:41!!

Day 2...

Day 2:

Sweet Potato's journal entry:

12/01/09
"Today Grammy and Grandpa came and I am glad. Grammy takes us to McDonald's but only Grandpa takes us to DQ. Mommy took us to Wendy's and then we went to DQ. Yesterday I got to use two ovens! I am glad. I love horses and Jalapeno likes horses too. Mrs. Bethany likes tigers. Grammy likes a canary bird."

Today, we went to the "Big Belly Airport" (don't ask me why they call it that, they started using that term when they were 4 and 2...preschool humor, I guess) to pick up Grammie and Grandpa...can you say EXCITED?!!? After spotting the ugly blue horse (I mean honestly...with the gorgeous view that the airport provides, why do we need to have Denver guests talking about the bright blue horse with the flaming orange eyes?!?), we parked and went in to meet them at the top of the escalator.

After dinner, the boys got to color with Grammie and Grandpa, while Sweet Potato had some, shall we say, "character training"...hoping for a more relaxed day tomorrow!

Day 1

Sweet Potato's journal entry:

"11/30/09 Today I got to go to Mrs. Patty's. She taught me how to use both mixers. We made mints and nut bars and I can't remember the rest, but we made four recipes. It was fun! We even went to a store and I bought a Colonial Times book (Jalapeno got Bakugan, Pineapple got a car)."

She got to hang out with Mrs. Patty for the whole day! Besides the cooking they did, they also watched a couple of movies, played hide and seek (Howie the dog played too) and generally she had a good time being the only kid in the house.

After Jalapeno's reading lesson (he was reading some short sentences today!!) the boys and I had Mrs. Allison, Seth and Paige over, and we made bunches of monster cookies, some peanut butter cups and some meringue cookies.







Once Daddy got home, he and the kids worked on a center piece for our Christmas table...they are not done yet, but it looks pretty cool!