Merry, Merry Christmas!

Well, I'm back and I'm really happy that I am. After a week of steroid infusions my symptoms are improved, although not quite back to normal, but much, much better! I'm walking on my own. I had to use a walker for two weeks. My reading and writing are back to normal. I actually went a few days where I was suddenly dyslexic. During this time everything I said was slurred. I also went a day where I couldn't remember my children's names. That was my lowest point. I have always been a pretty upbeat person, but I experienced horrible depression during that time. This was my worst flare up and one of my weirdest. I lost all sense of taste, balance, feeling on one side of my face, and I had double, blurred vision.  My taste isn't completely back and I still have blurred vision, but those are easy to live with. I feel like myself again!
Instead of Thanksgiving dinner at our house, which would have been too much even with the family helping, we spent the day at the Unitarian Universalist Church we attend. It was lovely. Ethan made two awesome pumpkin pies to take and our favorite mashed potatoes . With my husband and Peter working, Ethan became my caregiver during my flare. He did all the cleaning, dishes, laundry, cooking, and childcare. I'm so grateful for him. I don't know how we would have coped without him. He found out he really likes to cook, and says he might some day take some cooking classes. He, like Max, has aspergers. He experiences extreme anxiety when he's in crowds so that makes college classes impossible at this point. Hearing him say he might consider cooking classes is a big step.
We celebrated Chalica at the beginning of December. It really just entailed a lot of discussions about UU principles with Bess. I'm thinking about ways we can create a more fleshed out experience for next year.
My husband was hired by AT&T a couple of weeks ago in tech support. After trying unsuccessfully for months to get a job in his field, hospital administration, we're over the moon he has a job. He starts in January.
All in all, life is good. MS bites, but we're coping. As Bess' book from BookShark says It Could Always Be Worse.

Until Next Time and the Happiest of Holidays to All of You!

(And Thank you to Jessica McCarthy for taking the time to leave me a kind comment on my last blog post. It came at a particularly low point and was much appreciated!)

Taking a Blogging Break

I wanted to thank all of you who have read my little blog. I've really enjoyed this. It's fun talking about homeschooling to someone even if they're anonymous. It saves my poor husband from my blathering. He's wonderfully responsive even when I know he couldn't give a rat's behind about curriculum.
 "Should I teach Latin this year?"
 "Sure sounds good."
 "Should I buy our books piecemeal or support the curriculum company?"
 "What do you think?"
 "Should I teach them leprechauns exist and the world was created five years ago?"
 "Yep.I support you."  
And he does support me. He's kind and loving, just not a curriculum junkie like I am. And I'm beyond happy I have my "curriculum-makes-my-eyes-glaze-over-husband". I've really had to rely on him for everything these last two months. My MS went into overdrive and I am having a whole lot of symptoms .Hopefully my new medication will resolve some of them.
So now we get to why I'm having a blogging break. I can barely type right now. I'm usually a pretty good typist(one of the few useful things I learned from public school),but recently I have been having trouble typing. I have to one-finger type and my hands are really clumsy.  I end up accidentally spelling everything wrong . It takes forever. These two paragraphs have taken 40 minutes. I know my family would help me, but I write better on my own.
So I hope to be back soon. I'll still be reading homeschool blogs, just not writing my own for a while.
I really hope you all enjoy your holidays! I wish you all well. Thank you for reading!
Until Next Time!

Goodbye, October!

Halloween was mostly wonderful. I did take a nasty fall on our front walk. I think it might be time for a temporary cane. MS -- I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. But the rest of the holiday week was wonderful. My witch and dragon attended two Halloween parties and had an "Awesome Time!!!"
It was really cold for Halloween and a little rainy, but that just meant more candy since there were fewer kids willing to brave the elements. They probably went trick or treating at the mall. I refuse to do that. I think talking to the neighbors is a huge part of the holiday.
We always wait until Halloween day to carve our jack o' lantern, rather than watch it slowly droop and draw fruit flies, and then fight about who has to stick the candles into the smelly carcass. Plus I love having the house scented by roasting pumpkin seeds on Halloween. I'm addicted to the things. And since they're full of fiber and the kids love them, I feel like it cancels out some of the unhealthiness of the holiday. At least that's what I tell myself as my 6 yr old tries to cram three Milky Ways at once  into his mouth. A handful of seeds makes up for a thousand calories of sugar, right? Right? Let me live with my delusions.
Now it's time to put up the Thanksgiving decorations and plan our dinner. I'm actually making a turkey this time since we're no longer vegans. I have to locate my old recipe for brining the turkey which resulted in a juicy, not dry bird. I always look forward to cooking with the whole family, watching the Macy's parade, and avoiding Black Friday shopping. Both my husband and Peter have to work Black Friday which means we might have to eat our dinner the day before so that they can rest up for the overnight shift. But as long as people get their cheap piece of crap from China, I guess our family time is of little significance.......and yes, I'm slightly bitter.

But we'll make the most of it.  That seems to be our family motto these days.

I hope you and your family had a lovely Halloween! Until Next Time!

Autumn!

I guess it won't come as a surprise that I love fall since I've never changed my blog header from our tree's autumn foliage. It's 80% love of fall color and 20% laziness.
We're getting really excited about Halloween! Max and Bess have been busy putting up our decorations this week.

I don't know what it is about fall, but as soon as it's here I instantly go into soup-making-mode. I don't know why. It's just beginning to get cool in our part of the country. Nevertheless, we're eating soup. This week I made Midwest Chowder and Cream of Broccoli-Cheese Soup, both of which were really good. Next up, Chicken and Dumplings. While not a soup, it still seems right for this time of year.
And yes, I said Chicken and Dumplings. Our vegan and vegetarian days are at an end. After my last visit to the hospital, I found out, along with my MS symptoms, I'm extremely anemic. I'll be on mega doses of iron for at least 6 months. To be honest, it didn't really come as much of a surprise. I've been so tired and often depressed for a few months. I just didn't feel right. I'm not blaming our diet completely; there are plenty of vegetarian options for iron, but I always had so much energy as an omnivore, and I didn't as a vegan. When I discussed this with the family, my husband and Ethan admitted they had been overly tired as well and craving meat for a while. So our five years as vegans and a few months as vegetarians are over. It was a hard decision. We love animals. Hell, we don't even kill spiders if we don't have to. Charlotte's Web and James and the Giant Peach made all the kids staunch protectors of spiders. But I am convinced now that we are meant to be omnivores. I could give you all the reasons, but if there's one thing vegans hate it's former vegans who claim health reasons for eating meat, dairy, and eggs. I know, because it used to annoy me too. So I won't add to that. It's not an argument I want to have. I'll just say, this is a choice we're making for our family. It's our choice. Actually, that's pretty close to what I say to people who question homeschooling, so I've had practice.

What We're Reading This Week

Bess is reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Max is "reading" The Lego Adventure Book 2 for about the thousandth time. I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Bess and I just read the chapter on the Trojan War in A Child's History of the World from BookShark, so we're following that with Tales from the Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne.

What We're Crafting

I'm working on Bess' Halloween costume. She's going to be a witch this year. I found a $3 hat at Target along with a $3 broom. She and I are making a no-sew tutu with spiderweb pattern mesh cloth. We're using a fabric pen to draw stripes on a pair of old tights. I think it's going to be pretty neat. I'm surprised. I'm not very crafty. My Halloween projects usually end with me saying, "Who wants to go to the store and just buy one of these?"

What We're Watching

Fireplace for the Home on Netflix. This is what we poor non-fireplace-owners do when the rest of you lucky people are scenting the neighborhood with the wonderful smell of firewood burning. It's not quite the same but it's not bad.

My next posts will be a review of Horizons Math and of BookShark 1 mid-year. We're at the halfway point, 18 weeks of 36. Since every time I even say the word BookShark my page views increase exponentially, I thought a review might be helpful for those considering the program. Spoiler Alert: We love it. However, I know it wouldn't work for every family, so I'll make sure to give an in-depth look at the curriculum.

I hope you're enjoying the fall weather as much as we are! Until Next Time!

Banned Books Week

This is one of my favorite weeks! I absolutely love it. We read a bunch of great books and laugh about what people have found offensive. Captain Underpants was the most challenged book of 2013. It boggles the mind! We love that series! I have never understood why people feel the need to make decisions for everyone about what is appropriate or not to read. Our library has tons of books I wouldn't let my children read, but that's a choice I make for MY family, not yours. Here's an idea. Pay attention to what your kids bring home from the library. Problem solved.
Here's a link to information about Banned Books Week.

We're starting off by reading Where The Wild Things Are for Max.

Yes, that was banned too. And then on to A Wrinkle in Time for Bess, also banned. Sigh.

What Were Cooking-- Midwest Chowder, so delicious and simple to make. With the weather cooling, it feels perfect for soup making. We serve it with Soft White Dinner Rolls. This is a really easy recipe  for bread. A child could do it. Hmm. Maybe it's time to teach Bess to make rolls....

What Were Creating--Homemade Paper Lanterns. I'll post a picture when we're finished.

What We're Watching--They Might Be Giants:Here Comes Science

 What I'm Watching--The Korean drama My Lovely Girl.

What I'm Reading--For my Banned Books Week selection I'm rereading To Kill A Mockingbird. I never tire of it. It's perfection.

So that's what's on the docket for this week. We're planning on plenty of fall walks, too. I'm sure Bess and Max will have our house overflowing with found acorns and pine cones soon.
I hope you have a great week!

Until Next Time!

Simplifying Our Schedule

I realize I've been neglecting my little blog recently. I was in the hospital for three days last week following a pretty serious MS flare up. I'm doing better now, and other than being really tired from the infusion treatments, I'm feeling pretty well. The one good thing to come out of that mess was that I had 3 days to stare at the ceiling and think. I couldn't read because my eyesight was blurry, and for someone who hates cable there's not much else to do but think. And being the boring homeschool mom I am, most of my thinking was school related. So here's what the hospital drop ceiling tiles revealed to me.--- I Need to Simplify Our School Day. We Are Doing Too Much.
Bess, at 7, is really smart and is the "perfect" student. Other than occasional grumbling about math, she will sit at a desk as long as I ask her to and do her work, and work hard at it, and then follow up by reading history and science books for fun. But now I think, I've been piling too much on. Just because she can do it, doesn't mean she should. She learns so much on her own from reading and her own projects, there's really no reason to schedule so many "extras".
So here are the rules I've outlined for myself for this year.

Trust in the Program
BookShark is a solid program. There's no reason to supplement so much. Bess as a second grader has learned more history and geography than I learned in any one year of public school. Plus she loves the curriculum, so she retains most of what she's learned. What we read for fun is supplement enough.


Trust in Bess' Choices
Bess is doing enough "extra" on her own already. She is constantly throwing down bits of knowledge she's gained. Recently a discussion by our older two about the Thor movies led to Bess leading a family talk about Norse gods. This is par for the course with Bess and it's almost always from books she's chosen herself. Sometimes it's inspired from initial BookShark readings. She chooses enough good non-fiction to balance her fiction selections. She is a capable selector of books. I need to remember that.

Just Because Bess is Capable of More Doesn't Mean She Needs More
I don't ever want to destroy Bess' love of learning. I think if I keep her on the path I'd initially set for the year, I just might do that. We don't need to formalize art. We enjoy making art and reading art books often. That's enough for now. Learning Korean was probably more a whim than an actual desire on her part. So that's on the chopping block too. Grammar can wait until next year. Latin also. Supplementing geography is completely unnecessary. BookShark has more than enough built in. Piano lessons are gone. She hated them. Learning to code, that's finished(what was I thinking?).
We won't ever be unschoolers. It's not our learning style. But we learn enough from spontaneous projects, outings, and reading that we are educating ourselves enough to have much of our learning feel child-led. I need to trust that.

Keep Extracurricular Activities to a Minimum
It's been a difficult year, and I need a rest. I don't want to be constantly going from one activity to another. We're limiting Bess to 4 extracurricular activities per week (2 are on the same day at the same location). Ballet, Science and Storytime at the library, and Brownies will be it. Max is easy. He doesn't enjoy any organized activities at this point.

Max Will Have Only Two Subjects This Year
Reading and Math and playing are more than enough for Max. He needs down time and I don't want to frustrate him. We recently had him tested and his IQ results led me to believe he was capable of so much more. I suddenly felt compelled to have my startlingly smart boy on the fast track to genius-ville. However, Max needs less, not more. He needs time to be a kid, relax, and work on dealing with the world. So for the time being, I'm buying building games and puzzles, and every Lego we can afford. He's happy. That's enough for now.

This is what I'm cutting from my plans---Evan Moore 6-trait Writing, Critical Thinking Company's Editor-in-Chief, Evan Moore Daily Geography Practice, Zaner-Bloser Spelling, Typing Instructor for Kids, Khan Academy, piano lessons, all formal art instruction, all foreign language instruction, handwriting for Max, formal science instruction for Max. 
It feels freeing just to list everything we're not doing this year.

As a reminder to myself for the future.....I've made out a five year plan for Bess. I fully expect the plan to change over the years, but this will remind me to keep things simple. Max has a one year plan at this point, as he's kind of the wild card. Time will only reveal how we'll educate Max to fit his style of learning. I'd need a crystal ball and flux capacitor to figure out Max's future educational arc.

Why five years? Because that's how many boxes I had on my graph. Seriously. I'm too lazy to make another graph. I've been shoving my plans onto this same graph outline for years!

So that's my epiphany. If you also need an awakening, whether spiritual or educational(and in graph form!), may I recommend hospital ceiling tiles. Their wisdom is endless. At least that's what they told me when I was hopped up on pain killers.

Until Next Time!

Great Giveaway from Moving Beyond the Page

FYI: By posting about this giveaway I'm getting an extra entry into the drawing. (I will always tell you if my positive reviews end up with me getting free or discounted stuff.)

How to enter to win: Simply comment on the August 2014 giveaway and you are entered. You can earn up to five more entries by sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Google+profile, Pinterest, or by reviewing on your personal blog, as I am doing. You have to go back to Secular Homeschool and comment with links to your share or review. And of course you have to be a Secular Homeschool Community member. But why wouldn't you be? It's an awesome place!

We used Moving Beyond the Page for one semester when my daughter was five. It was right after our Connections Academy disaster, and I wanted something hands on and fun for Bess. She loved it! We used Age 5-7: Environment Concept. It added a new layer to our nature walks in the woods. She understood so much more about habitats and homes, weather, and our place on the planet. I felt our discussions were much more in depth, and yet the curriculum wasn't too difficult to implement. I was very impressed. We probably would have stayed with MBtP if it hadn't been for the fact that Bess needed much more reading than is offered. So on to Sonlight, and then BookShark. But I have been thinking quite a bit about how MBtP would be perfect for Max. It's hands on with lots of discussions. I really think it would be just the thing for my more hands-on learner.
I have heard people complain about the price of MBtP, but really I think it's a really good price for what one gets. I like that one can buy just one concept to try out, not a full year, and for those really strapped for cash, most of the books can be found at any good library.
The customer service is better than any company from which I've ordered. They are quick to answer questions, helpful, polite, and seem sincere in the wish to make sure you have everything you need for a great school year.
So sure, I hope I win the contest. But I'd happily give this review without free stuff. I never regretted our purchase.
I wish good luck to all who enter!

Until next time!