Book purge

It's time for my annual summer book purge. In a few weeks I'll start planning the school year for David, Marley, and Sam. Before I plan, I go through our personal library, see what I'd like to use for the year, and cull any books that we're not likely to use again.

With only three children left at home to teach, and those getting older by the minute, I'm going to try to get rid of more books than I usually do. This year I hope to weed out two thousand books. At least. Yesterday in just over an hour I pulled 15 boxes averaging 16 books per box.

All the books will be donated to a used-book store, and Tom will deliver them for me and bring the boxes back so I can refill them. I think I may reach my goal in just a few days and I'm hopeful that the books will be read and used by someone else.

'Tis the season to negotiate

Mid-December in our house is when the children come to me and ask when their Christmas break begins. They get the kitchen calendar and the lesson-plan book and start their arguments or negotiations.

They begin with pointing out how much school work they have completed. I respond by showing how much is left to complete by the end of our academic year.

They move on to how much potential help they could be with housework if they had no school work. I remind them that this year is a calm year for us. For the first time in three years we are not moving; our home is not on a Christmas tour of homes; we are not hosting the annual Christmas night dinner for the extended family. And this year is an off-year for our big Christmas cookie bake. (We only bake dozens and dozens of cookies to give away every other year.)

Finally, because they know that from my point of view this is the weakest argument, they list everyone they know who is already out for Christmas break.

The end result is that the timing of the break remains the same: December 19 will be our last day of school work, and we will resume our studies on January 5. However, I agree to less daily work - only math and reading. And for reading, instead of their assigned literature they can read Christmas books. They may sleep in late this week, but they have to complete their work before 2:00 p.m. each day.

I think we're all happy with this arrangement.

Homeschooling: starting and adjusting

This year we began by halves; we made a soft start with our academic studies back in August. By mid-September I could see which days were busiest with supplemental classes and outside activities and could adjust our schedule accordingly. Also apparent by then was which material did not work for us, and which did. So I switched David's focus for grammar and writing (twice), and changed Sarah's and Joan's reading lists for literature and now I think we're on the right track for the year - at least for the next few months. (The main thing I've learned from the past 18 years of homeschooling my children is that for us flexibility is the key to a successful and stress-free year. )

Having only five children to teach and no babies or toddlers to care for is very different - but in a pleasant way - for us. So this year I'm able to be a little bit more hands-on and activity-rich in some areas.

One area of study we're enjoying now is science with Marley and Sam. Back in the mid-1990's I bought Anna Botsford Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study and Dorothy Edwards Shuttlesworth's book, Exploring Nature with Your Child. I used them mainly for reference and enjoyed browsing through them both and comparing them, but they've not been used at all since then. This past summer I pulled them both off the shelf, read through them again, and decided they'd be great to use with Sam and Marley.

We've begun our nature study with birds and have spent the last three weeks learning about and observing birds. Next we'll move on to trees. I think. It may be insects. We may study both at the same time. We can be flexible.

Pray, then plan

Every July I plan for the upcoming school year. I gather materials, look over what I have, order what (if anything) I need, and write out all the lesson plans for all the children in each and every subject area. It usually takes me about two weeks, and I look forward with excitement and eagerness to my planning time. We've homeschooled for 18 years in six different states, and this "plan of attack" has always served me well. I'm not a natural organizer, and I've found that spending the time organizing the entire school year before we begin it makes everything flow more smoothly in our household.

This year I'm struggling to feel anything at all. I'm just disinterested. But I still have to do it. So I'm taking this week, plus an extra day, to pray and pray and pray. For two days I'm also fasting while praying. And I'm asking Steve for prayers, and for his guidance and wisdom.

I'm also reading some in a few of my favorite homeschooling resources. They're all books I've read completely before (some more than once) so this week I'm just dipping in and reading a chapter here, a few pages there and getting a few ideas.

But the book I'm spending the most time reading is this one:



I'm convinced that for encouragement, wisdom, guidance, and excitement, it will motivate me the most.

Joan's art

Yesterday Joan brought home her first painting from her art class. She took to class this picture of the driveway we had at our last home in Virginia:

And painted this picture:

and gave it to me!

What happened on Wednesday

Joan got up early (a generous sacrifice on her part, because Joan loves her sleep!) and made french toast for the family.

Sarah and Joan had their first geometry lesson - and liked it.

David finished all his work before noon. Marley moved right along in The Wind in the Willows and gave me frequent updates.

Sam worked another couple-of-days'-worth of arithmetic and phonics.

We made pizza for lunch. Joan had her first art painting class with her grandmother.

David played with Sam before he left for football practice.

Sarah, Joan, and I discussed the first part of Fahrenheit 451 and both girls were very animated and enthusiastic. (Kristi has written some great discussion questions.)

We had a quiet, productive, and fun day.

First day of school

This was Sam's very first day of school, ever. When I woke him up this morning and told him to hurry up, and get started on schoolwork, he said, "I don't want to do schoolwork. I want to play."

"You will play - a lot. But first you'll learn some arithmetic and phonics, " I replied.

He grumped off to the dining room table where his work was laid out, and started to work on arithmetic. I got the rest of the children started and came back to Sam. He had finished today's work and was half-way through tomorrow's. I told him to stop - he had gone far enough, too far, even.

"But I love this!" So he finished up tomorrow's work, too. Same story with phonics. All-in-all a satisfactory beginning.

And from the rest? All happy with their reading/literature assignments; content with math; enjoying the science and history; pleased with Bible; laughing at their grammar and vocabulary work (it's pretty much review now); and okay with art and music. (Except for David, who is working through The Dangerous Book for Boys for his art lessons. and likes that quite a bit.)

Joan and Sarah are working through a literature unit designed by Kristi E. and they're very excited about reading, discussing, and writing about Fahrenheit 451 as their first assignment.

Lesson plans, etc.

(This is for you, Marla!)

Next week is looking very good for doing the year's lesson plans. Steve will be away every day for work, and I have kept my calendar clear of any obligations. I know everyone else has already started school - both homeschoolers and public schoolers - but we're going to enjoy the last of summer and begin our lessons on the Tuesday after Labor Day.

I have my weekly planner that covers July 2007 through August 2008. This helps me keep track of various appointments, activities, and obligations throughout the year, and I take it with me whenever I go out (unlike my wall calendar, which also helps us keep track of what family members are doing).

For each child each year I write up a syllabus and make a fairly extensive list of books for science, history, and reading. We don't always get through every book listed, but the list is there if we need it. The syllabi are kept in a three-ring binder, along with the syllabi from years past. I use this "master plan" as a framework for the individual lesson plans, and the children often refer to it if they want to work ahead, or ask for substitutions, etc.

After I have my syllabus completed I can make actual lesson plans. I use a teacher plan book and usually write plans for two children in each book, using different colored inks so the children know which lesson is whose.

Each morning the children check the plan book for their assigned work. When a child completes a lesson or assignment, he checks it off in the teacher plan book. If he decides to work ahead, that's fine - he just marks whatever he completes. Completed work is checked by older siblings, and any mistakes are corrected with me. Paperwork goes in a folder with the child's name on it. Some work has no paper trail, because we do it orally. Every two or three weeks I check the plan books to make sure we're not getting behind. (Getting ahead is fine!)

Lessons that are done together are written in black ink.

And that is what works for us.

A time to plan

It's time - actually, it's past time - for me to plan the lessons for the upcoming year. I hope to be done with it by the end of the month. Email me or call me if you need something from me.

Courtesy for children - resources

Our homeschooling has tended to be done in waves, due to the ages of our children. Therefore, I often think that I've taught a child something only to realize that I haven't. I taught/read/did that particular fact/book/activity ten years ago with another child or group of children. The children of the first wave are now 27 and 29. The children of the second wave are now 14, 16, 18, and almost 20. The children of the third wave are 5, 9, and 11.

Years ago, I taught Glenn and Aric basic courtesy for boys/young men using nothing but a list I made and consulting Steve to fill in any gaps I might have.

For Tom, Jacy, Sarah, and Joan, we used some material from Rod & Staff, and filled in the gaps with my list.

About a year ago I realized I'd not assessed the manners and habits of the younger children. It is to be hoped that they have learned most everything they need to know about how to behave in a courteous and deferential manner from observing their siblings and Steve and me. And for the most part, I think they have. Still, it was evident that I would have to go over a few things with them so I looked for some books on manners that we could use along with the Bible.

We have to go to the Bible as our primary resource because all courtesy really is the working out of various admonitions in Scripture, and are evidence of our obedience to God and our love for one another. This is just as true for our five-year-old as son it is for his fifty-one-year-old father.

Finding verses that relate to courtesy makes a good Bible study. I've done it alone, and with the children, going from the general to the specific. Today we went over some of those verses again, as a review for everyone, and so that we could compare the Scripture to the books I have David and Marley reading.

Here are a few general verses that guide us in how to behave courteously - what it looks like, so to speak - and why we want to do it:

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. (I Peter 3:8,9)

Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being. (I Corinthians 10:24)

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. (Romans 12:3)

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. (Romans 12:10)

Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. (Romans 12:16)

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil. (I Corinthians 13:4,5)

One thing we agreed upon in our discussion this morning: etiquette is not always the same thing as courtesy. Etiquette is a custom or tradition that a culture or society decides. Courtesy is - or should be - the result of doing unto others as you would have them to you, esteeming others as better than yourself, humbling yourself, putting the comfort and well-being of others ahead of your own comfort and well-being, overlooking offenses, and being a servant, just as Jesus Christ acted as a servant.

Some of our verses that show courtesy more specifically are these:

You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:32)

Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips. (Proverbs 27:2)

If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake. (I Corinthians 10:27)

David is reading Stand Up, Shake Hands, and Say "How Do You Do" It is primarily a book of etiquette, but we've enjoyed discussing it and why we differ on some points in the book. It also contains information he may never use (like whom one should tip or not tip on a cruise), and some information a bit obsolete (to have a good party with girls, one should have a record player and some popular records!), but he's enjoying it and as we keep going back to Scripture I think it's useful enough to continue reading.

Marley is reading A Little Book of Manners: Courtesy and Kindness for Young Ladies. While covering etiquette and manners, this book bases it all on the premise that "Love has manners." Some of the advice differs slightly from what we have our children do, but not substantially. I really like this book, and Marley is enjoying it, too. Covered in this small, prettily illustrated volume are: how to greet others; how to answer and use the telephone; what to do when you're a visitor; mealtime behavior; how to host or be a guest at a party; how and why to write thank-you notes.

Recently I saw that the same authors have written a similar book for boys. I think I may get one for Sam.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

Why I love homeschooling - Reason #3

I get to learn - both along with my children, and independently of them.

We've been homeschooling for a while (16 years) so we have a lot of material that we use over and over. The last curriculum fair or homeschool conference I attended was at least 7 years ago, and due to moving six times in the last five years I get no more homeschool catalogs. All that to say, while I do not NEED any new books or other material, I do LIKE to SEE what's out there, both for the children and for me.

For the first eight or nine years that we homeschooled I'd get material that I wanted to study or read when I bought books for the children. Over the years topics I studied included: herbs (growing and using them); pregnancy and childbirth; services of a doula; bread baking; care, storage, and restoration of books; history of samplers and other fancy needlework; creation science; the Lewis & Clark expedition; Theodore Roosevelt; Abigail Adams; the Norman Conquest; and so on.

Each year I would immerse myself in learning about a topic, event, a person, etc., and buy a few books and check out a lot more at the library and through interlibrary loan. It hasn't made me an expert on anything, but I have enjoyed learning and sometimes my family has experienced tangible rewards from my studies (like fresh bread from a variety of grains during the year I delved into bread-making).

It's been several years since I've gotten any new material for the children from any source, and at least as many years since I've bought anything "educational" for me. This year I ordered quite a few books from Amazon and independent booksellers, and even bought several books from Books-A-Million to use in studying literature. I also subscribed to a newsletter on-line for me (and for Jacy, Sarah, and Joan). I'm enjoying it immensely! Each morning the newsletter is in my email inbox and we see what's happened on this day in literature. Today in Literature gave me a two-week trial membership to see what it was like. At the end of my two weeks I decided that I wanted to have a premium subscription for a year, and the girls and I have been enjoying it now for about two months.

I haven't decided what I'm going to focus on for my studies this year, but it may end up being a survey of literature.

Why I love homeschooling - Reason #2

There are so many neat resources available! A few years ago my friend Lynn designed and wrote a unit study based on the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. I am not a unit study mom - I haven't a creative bone in my body, and I'm way too lazy and disorganized to successfully pull off anything really "fun." But because this came from the pen (computer) of someone I know and love, and whose taste in books I trust, I had to give it a try.

Lynn named her unit study Lion Preparatory Academy and divided it up to cover 35 weeks. We used it from August to December of 2002. David and Marley were much younger and didn't really participate, but Tom, Jacy, Sarah, and Joan enjoyed it and always looked forward to our "Narnia days." We didn't finish the course - only about 12 weeks - and I thought we'd get back to it eventually. In the meantime, I was so enthralled with what I (still) believe to be The Best Unit Study Ever that I showed it to all my homeschooling friends in VA and even loaned it to someone to "keep for a few weeks to look at."

I'll bet you can guess what happened. "A few weeks" turned into a few months, then to a couple of years, and I forgot who had it. When I started packing to move from Virginia to Alabama last December I missed my book. I called Kristi, because she was the most likely to have it. When I'd shown it to her she loved it, and expressed a wish to use it someday. She and I got together with all our children about once a month for lunch, conversation, and play, and I just knew Kristi had borrowed it to use and would be ready to return it. But she didn't have it. So I queried other, less-likely, candidates. No one had my book! Now I was desperate. It was worth every penny Lynn charged, but I'd hoped I wouldn't have to buy a second copy for myself! I told Steve my problem and he advised me to "take a deep breath, suck it up, and call Lynn and order another copy. " So I did, and decided to also order a copy for Kristi as a gift.

This year I decided that the three youngest children were at an age-range that was do-able for me to attempt Lion Prep again, but this time for the entire year. We've marked Friday as our "Narnia day," and we'll spend a year in Narnia!

(You can read more about Lion Prep here .)

Why I love homeschooling - Reason #1

We can be so flexible in our choice of setting for our day of schoolwork. Today is Tom's last day at home so we decided to go to the lake for a few hours. David brought his history and read it for about fifteen minutes, then he went swimming, played, ate lunch, and read history again. Joan brought her algebra and went swimming, then worked her entire lesson and ate lunch.

Tom, Jacy, and Sarah got on the Sea-Doo and went for a ride and explored several islands about a mile away from Mom and Dad's house. Marley and Sam went for rides with Tom, then swam, played, and ate lunch. I brought a couple of books to read, a sock to knit, and a unit study guide I'll be using this year with the three younger children. I ended up deciding which activities we'd do in the unit study for the next four weeks, then ate lunch and read Bob Greene's book:

(Don't ask me how it is, because I'm only to page 39. I gave copies to my brother and to my father for Father's Day, and when I saw it at the library last week I decided I wanted to read it too. Actually, I knew I wanted to read it when I gave it to Chuck and Dad, but I didn't want them to think I gave it to them because I wanted to borrow it to read later!)

I enjoyed reading and planning out on the patio while listening to the children play and swim. I love homeschooling!

After about two hours we packed up and drove home (Sarah got in 45 minutes of driving time today - only about 75 more road-hours to go until I'm ready to turn her loose alone behind the wheel!). Now I'll go over Latin with the girls and the rest of the children will complete any work they have to do. We'll help Tom pack, load the van, and enjoy our afternoon and evening together.

Back to academic work

We started our "schoolwork" yesterday. I'd rather start in September after Labor Day, but if we begin earlier I don't feel like we're getting behind if we take off a day here or a week there. Here's the small bookcase that holds the books the children are currently using. The contents change as the year progresses:

Jacy, Sarah, and I share the top shelf. Joan and David have the middle shelf. Marley and Sam's books are on the bottom shelf.

And so that Jeannine won't lie awake tonight trying to figure out the titles on those shelves, here are the close-ups:

Now that we're back to work, I really look forward to the end of the school day and time to tidy up the house so I can enjoy an hour of knitting and an hour of reading. So now I'll go work on Dad's cardigan (which is fitting him! - I measured what I've completed of the back on him and it is the right size) and then read a bit in Middlemarch.

Planning

This is the last week in July. I've had a great spring and summer, and summer's not over yet! But it will end too soon for the children and for me.

I have put off, and put off, and put off planning next year's lessons. I can't put it off any longer. Trish and I want to get together again soon, and Penny is coming for a weekend visit. The children have friends coming for a week. If we want to be able to play without worry, the planning for the academic year has to be done and in place so that we're ready to start our work as soon as our guests have gone home.

So I'm turning off the computer, unplugging the phone and the TV, and boxing up my summer reading (except for Middlemarch), and maybe even restricting the knitting to car-knitting only! For the next few days, and probably the first part of next week, I'll be buried in stack of books with reams of paper and half-a-dozen pens.

See you later!

Yeah, TV

I enjoy reading about other homeschoolers and what they do in their daily lives. Now I read weblogs, but I used to read every homeschooling magazine I could find. Jeannine and Cindy just told about their TV-watching and non-TV-watching habits.

I'll admit we watch TV. And movies. And DVD's. And we probably have enough cable channels to shock a good homeschooling family senseless. We read a lot. We have a lot of books. We subscribe to and read lots of magazines and three newspapers. And we still watch TV. And it might be on at any time of the day - not tuned to public television.

I think we may be the ugly duckling of homeschooling families, and we're unlikely to ever grow into a swan. We don't go to bed at dusk or even at 8:00 p.m. Our crew is more likely to be awake at midnight or later. You may then correctly surmise that we do not rise at what Steve terms "zero dark-thirty" or what Marley calls "dawn strip." Our normal out-of-bed time is around 8:00 a.m. - later if we stayed up late watching a DVD or something on... TV.

I don't shudder at standardized tests and test all my children annually, and the 10th or 11th graders take the ACT and the SAT. I really don't like manufacturing a paper trail of work samples, report cards, and progress reports, and I admit that my favorite states for homeschooling were those that left me alone to educate my children without requiring me to report to someone. (Texas was heaven, and Virginia ran a close second.)

We don't dress alike when we're in public, so we look like a motley crew rather than candidates to grace a homeschool publication. (Now that I think of it, we never dress alike, even when we're not in public.)

We're definitely not Luddites! We greatly enjoy our air conditioning, our digital camera, our cell phones, our TV's, our dishwasher, microwave and (you may want to quit reading or at least shut your eyes for a moment) processed food! I used to grind wheat and hand mix dough for bread every day. What happened? I had a few more babies and more children to teach and less time for baking rustic loaves of bread. We're actually sick less often than we used to be, but I don't think it has anything to do with the food we eat and much more to do with where we live (more rural, less metropolitan) and the age of my children (older kids don't touch everything and then put their fingers in their mouths, noses, or eyes like younger ones do).

I rarely meet families who don't gasp in horror when they hear that we're late to bed and late to rise. And many others politely avert their eyes from the TV in the family room and the basket on top of it that's bursting with remote controls. But I live in hope that God will continue to bring into our lives and into our circle of friends these lovely swan homeschoolers that encourage and befriend us despite our shortcomings.