You CAN Teach Your Child

I am my girls' best teacher.

Wanna know how I know?

Quick recap if you are new here: I taught public school for 11 years. God changed my heart and our family a LOT in the course of 3 or 4 years and I prayed fervently for God to bring me home. He did. We are now a homeschooling family. Something I NEVER thought I would be doing. Being home seemed an impossible thing to ask for.

And now I have trouble watching others teach my kids. Let me explain.

Sweetheart and Little Bit were taking karate. Sweetheart is STILL taking karate, but Little Bit hung up her gi after the first time she was expected to spar. She was not a fan.

So the parents sit there and watch the class. Sweetheart (and Little Bit) were both a bit lost for the first few classes, understandably. I think I've heard the teacher say to them, "Don't look at your mom! Look at me!" about a hundred times. Why do they keep looking at me? They didn't know what to do, and so they looked to their parent. I think that's how it should be, by the way. And I hear that I should expect them to look more to their peers as they get older. Is that true? Do I have to let that be the way things play out? Don't worry, I'm not suggesting they sit at my feet until they are adults....I just mean, can't parents have such a relationship with their children that they don't necessarily depend on their friends only but on their parents as well? I'm just asking. I think that may be psychology talking.

So anyway, it's totally frustrating to sit there and watch my children be confused and listen to the instructions that are being given to them and see that they still do not understand. I KNOW if I could just say one thing to them, it would all be clear. I even know what that one thing is. I know better than their karate teacher. Not about karate, mind you, but about how to teach my children.

And since I am the one teaching all the subjects to them, I know what they've learned. How different that is from when Sweetheart was in public school and I would wonder what she was learning all day! The backpack didn't offer any clues, and she was full of information as most children are when their parents question them about their day at school. But now....

At our mid-week small group meeting last night, my girls were the only children there besides a 12 year old girl. It was very strange--our small group is normally crawling with kiddos. So instead of leaving the room for a children's lesson, the girls sat with us. I had Sweetheart open her Bible and read along with the story. It was from Acts 14 when Paul and Barnabas healed a man and the people in the city thought they were gods. Our ears perked up when we saw that they thought Barnabas was Zeus! I bumped Sweetheart, whose eyes got wide. We've been studying Zeus in history and so she very well understood this story. No one else would have known that. I'm not saying that's bad-it's just that it is so much easier to help your child make connections when you know what they are learning.

We are the only homeschooling family at our church and I think people look at us and think, "Well, Brenda was a teacher, so I'm sure she does OK." Karly and I dealt with that myth here and here. You can teach your child. You are the parent. They are probably already looking to you. You will be involved with them and know what they are learning. There will be no gaps as the new teacher next year tries to figure out what they know and don't know.

Homeschooling just works.

Fitness Friday Assignment

Your assignment this week is twofold. Ready?

Part 1: Tell us how you sneak exercise in when you can't "get to they gym" or "the treadmill is broken" or whatever. What do you do at work/around the house/etc. to move more? Let's put our heads together and figure out how we can sneak in some more exercise. You know, I've read that vacuuming burns a lot of calories, but I don't have much carpet!

Part 2: Let us know how your week went. Let us know your goals for next week. Not your long-term goals, just your goals for next week.

See you all on Friday ladies!!!

Oh, and I corrected at least 3 or 4 Mr. Linky entries last week. Make sure you link directly to your Fitness Friday post and not just to your blog, so that we can find that entry even a few months from now. To do that on most blogs, you click the title of the post after it has been published and paste it in the Mr. Linky box. On other blogs, you click on the timestamp. Let me know if you need help!

You are all such an encouragement and I am thankful for you. Oh! And don't forget to pray for each other!

Now My Planning Will Come to a Halt So I Can Think

If you can carve out 20 minutes any time this week, PLEASE watch this speech.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

This talk was given at a conference by Sir Ken Robinson. He is extremely enjoyable to listen to, and funny. He is speaking about the need to change how we educate our children. I am sure he means "within our school systems", but that isn't really the focus of his talk.

I will not go into the possibility or non-possibility of our school systems ever being reformed, but trust me when I say this made me think about how I educate my children at home.

Some of my thoughts:

• Why does homemaking get dropped down to last place? Why is that something I have to work so hard to fit in?
• Where have the arts been in our homeschool?
• I must be prayerful about what to focus on....not just follow the models given to me by society.
• Even within the arts, the focus might should follow each child's lead...rather than what I think is important. Again, prayerful.
• I am suddenly reminded of how far behind Sweetheart fell while in public school. I remember the meeting when it was suggested we might want to "test her further" in a few months. I've given those talks--I know what was being suggested.
• I am suddenly amazed by how well she is doing in homeschool. And how much art plays a part of her learning. If she can draw it, she can learn it. They don't allow that in public school so much. Unless it is "art time."
• How many other children could be saved?
• And how perfectly horrifying it is to think of strip mining. I've seen strip mining. Is that really what is happening to our kiddos?

If you do get a chance to watch this, please come back and let me know your thoughts.

Do We Really Have to Finish the School Year.....

...before we start planning next year?

Good. I thought not.

I'm going through my awesome homeschool links section on my computer (and husband's laptop). I have so much there I can't even find what I want. I thought I'd share while I go through them.

Bible Stuff
The Crafty Classroom shares about a children's Bible they can be independent with. My girls would love reading this.

First heard of this from Grafted Branch (who remembers her? Sniff. Come back GB!). This scripture memory system works. Just look. Here's the link. Actually, the whole site is pretty great.

Preschool and Kindergarten Stuff
All 4 1 and 1 4 All shares a long list of preschool activities. Very worthy of bookmarking!

Brightly Beaming Resources and their free Letter of the Week curriculum. I CAN NOT say enough about this. It is so wonderful. I'm not getting rid of this because it starts at nursery age and goes up much higher. It is a just right fit for little ones. I used this with Little Bit when she was 3. It's JUST ENOUGH.

Color Mountain offers these very simple coloring sheets of letters and numbers. PERFECT for gluing buttons on the "B" and Cheerios on the "C", etc.

A Kindergarten theme round-up at Early Childhood Links. I'm a fan of the thematic units, especially at this age.

Have mercy. This site is from a private school Pre-K teacher. She has THE BEST IDEAS!!!! We used several of them this year. Prekinders.com ROCKS!

Did I mention I like thematic units?? Kinder Korner has a great list of themes and tons of activities. It's all right there.

Reading and Writing Stuff
The Dolch Sight Word Lists are a gold standard to some. THESE, at JanBrett.com are GORGEOUS!!!

I just found this blog last week and I love what I see. All things writing at The Write Start. Very worth a visit but ESPECIALLY if you have a reluctant writer.

Writing worksheet maker. Not sure I've ever used it, but I'm glad I "re-found" it.

Something from the government I bookmarked! Hmm. Beginning to Read activities for pre-school through grade 2.

Ready to go copywork over at Simply Charlotte Mason. Just print and go!

Free printable little books at Nellie Edge. Five Little Monkeys, Eency Weency Spider, Spanish titles too. (This could have gone under Preschool and Kindergarten Stuff as well.)

A page of free printable little book links over at Mrs. Jones' Room. Just follow the links and have your printer ink ready!

Notebooking/Lapbooking Stuff

Free printable resources at Notebooking Pages. Tons of categories to choose from!

I can't give you a direct link to all the lapbooks here, but go to Jamin's blog and scroll down her sidebar for "Our Lapbooks." Good stuff there!

Carissa's Tot Books are miniature versions of big kid lapbooks. She is so nice she shares all the awesome stuff she makes. Little Bit LOVED the tot books we made last year. Sometimes we just printed parts of them---check it out if you have little ones.

General Homeschooling Stuff
Ann Ziese's site Home's Cool is a gem.

For the organization-lover. Or the organization challenged. Donna Young's printables are a girl's best friend.

I go to this every year. World Book's Typical Course of Study for each grade level will alleviate your fears that you are "forgetting something."

Encouragement from Cindy Rushton. Great for new and experienced homeschooling moms!

Lesson Plan Stuff
Fun themes at Fun Lesson Plans. Makes sense, huh?

I print one of these calendars every single month. Very helpful for planning! (not just school but family activities too!)

College Stuff
Just looking ahead. I bookmarked this article by Voddie Baucham. If you have older kids, it's worth looking at.

For the Kids Stuff
Good math practice at Hungry Frog. I like this one because it doesn't go too fast and you can change the options. Also, Multiplication.com has great interactive games. Try Patty's Paints or the Penguin Ice Cream game.

Starfall. Need I say more?

Some blessed soul has gone and put all the old stories on 45's on the internet. Your child can listen to Robin Hood, Peter and the Wolf, etc. Very nice over at Kiddie Records Weekly.

Because hard work deserves a reward....let your kids have 5 minutes on this after they do actual school work. Mom might want to play too!

Learn the states at Jims Pages.

Online flash cards at Mr. Martini's. They look just like the real thing and offer great practice when no one has time to flash cards at Junior. Plus, some kids just respond better to the computer on this.

Well, I hope any of that was helpful to some of you. I cleaned out my "Homeschool" bookmarked pages in the process.

What sites can you NOT live without? Let us know in the comments. I love getting new links!

Fitness Friday: The Picture This Edition

Your honor, the State would like to present it's evidence now.

Go ahead.

Thank you your Honor. This woman (gesturing toward the accused) claims to host a "Fitness" event online every week, but we have evidence that she is not qualified to do so.

If it would please the court, I would like to enter into evidence this photograph:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, please direct your attention to the photograph on the screen. The defendant blathers on endlessly about....

Objection!

Sustained. Counselor, please re-phrase your statement.

Your Honor, the defendant talks about purchasing an exercise DVD and working out right here on this spot in her living room. As you can see, there is ample room for such activity, but closer examination proves that the carpet is not worn at all. We move that no such activity has occurred here.

And now I would like to enter into evidence this photograph.

On the left, you will find the drink of choice that the defendant USED to consume on a daily basis. However, just when her "fitness" activity online has resumed, we have evidence that she actually spends far more time drinking the beverage on the right. Clearly, this is an unhealthy choice for someone who claims to host a fitness event.

Your Honor, I have just one more piece of evidence to present before I step down. The following are photographs of the defendant's pantry. Please take note of the disorganization, the unhealthy food choices, the lack of any ingredients to form a meal with. The State moves that this woman (again with the gestures) doesn't even complete a weekly meal plan on a regular basis. How can she expect to lose weight with such poor planning?

Objection!

I have nothing further, Your Honor.

Someone help me. I seem to have misplaced my motivation.