30 Minutes Devoted to Thought Brings About Education

November 29, 2017

I am currently very slowly reading a book called "The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had" By: Susan Wise Bauer.  And it said something that really struck me. So I wanted to share.

"The first task of self-education is not the reading of Plato, but the finding of thirty minutes in which you can devote yourself to thought, rather than to activity."

The author even recommends scheduling a set time for it 4 days a week. Maybe doing exactly that will help me make progress with the stack of books that I have on my nightstand. What book are you reading right now to keep yourself learning and growing?

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them...or at least Me

October 8, 2017

So I have found Kyrilene carting around a 'Birds of Utah Field Guide' book many times over the last several weeks and today at quiet time she says to me

"Mom want to see the pretty bird in my book?" 

Does anyone know how hard it way not to brush that aside with a that's nice dear now get in bed? SO HARD. As I tucked her into bed for nap time with her book I asked her to show it to me again and I asked her to tell me about the colors.

"This one is my favorite, it's going to be my pet." she says.

As I looked at the picture of a black-billed magpie I couldn't help but think really of all the colorful birds in this book this is the one? So I told her its name and studied the parts of the bird with her for a few minutes. And I think it truly took a child to remind me that there is beauty in all of God's creations, even and especially in the common magpie. She has now named this picture Ana (from Frozen) and we are going to watch for them on our next trip to the park, I hope they haven't all migrated already. But if so she may find another bird to appreciate that day.

Jeremiah Stays Home Experiment

January 11, 2017

Oh man, what an intense day it has been.  Jeremiah has been asking to do "school with mom" for a few weeks now.  I finally gave in and let him join us for homeschool today.  It changed the way the whole day went having him home with us.

My emotions ran the whole gambit from delighted to have him home and enjoying how excited he was or certain things, clear to not being sure I would survive the "Are we done yet?" questions because he was hoping staying home meant video games and it didn't.

We got to singing time, calendar time, handwriting, phonics, scriptures, math, history, and poetry.  What a list.  Plus he has been getting up too early in the am for the last few weeks, so we are letting him stay up a whole hour later than normal.  I sure hope that a later bedtime will stop the 4:00 am wake up calls.  I am so looking forward to everyone going to sleep tonight. Especially me.

Wisdom from "Anne of the Island"

October 11, 2016

I am currently reading Anne of the Island with my girls before bed each night and this part really struck me as a beautiful thought and I wanted to share it with all of you. 

"There is so much in the world for us all if we only have the eyes to see it, and the heart to love it, and the hand to gather it to ourselves - so much in men and women, so much in art and literature, so much everywhere in which to delight, and for which to be thankful." pg. 217

Post It Notes & Weighted Pencils

October 2, 2016

Jeremiah's school work and his ability to learn and express what he is learning has always been something that has been a real struggle for us.  Koolen DeVries Syndrome comes with global mental delays and permanent mental challenges in a lot of areas.

I think we are finally figuring out where and how to help Jeremiah with his school work. He is finally starting to write with a weighted pencil and a post-it note per letter. The weight from the pencil seems to help keep his hand on the page and from going everywhere at once and the post-it gives his eye a good space that is different from the white worksheet in which to write each letter or number.

His assessments also went really well the last time they were done because he had a scribe for everything they weren't testing handwriting for. I was blown away with the results his teacher showed us. I think post-it squares and that new pencil weight just became my best friends. At least when it comes to school and home work time.

The Wisdom of Charlotte Mason and Mothers

July 7, 2016

So while reading a bit of Charlotte Mason this morning I came across a quote that I really wanted to share with all mothers everywhere. So here it is:

"If mothers could learn to do for themselves what they do for their children when these are overdone, we should have happier households. Let the mother go out to play!"

This is such a gentle reminder to me that I have to have time for myself to unwind and relax not only for myself but for my entire family to be happier.

Tartar Sauce or Cream of Tartar Sauce You Decide

June 20, 2016

Clarissa called to me from the kitchen today and asked

"Mom, does Tartar Sauce for fish really go in the cookies I want to bake? I can't find any in the fridge." 

After thinking for a minute I asked her if she meant Cream of Tartar and she looked and said

"Yes, is there a difference?"

So she learned the difference today and made cookies while I was out of the house. It makes me giggle to think of her making tartar sauce cookies. I am grateful for cellphones so she could learn before and not after baking them today.

End of the School Year and Time to Repack the House Again

May 27, 2016

Well we have officially wrapped up our first year of homeschool. I can't teach or plan while trying to pack for the second time in a year. At least this is for the move into our permanent house. We are all looking forward to being settled enough we can finally unpack everything.

Potential to Learn and Potential to Teach

April 15, 2016

Picked up a book called "Mommy, Teach Me!" to read yesterday evening on a whim and I am so glad that I did. This quote has really stuck with me and so I wanted to share it with all of you.

"Throughout centuries and over a wide range of cultures, parents have been their children's primary teachers in the early years and sometimes longer. This leads me to believe that since every child has the potential to learn every parent has the potential to teach...I believe that any parent with a desire to teach can learn to do it and do it well."

I think this sums up my feelings about homeschooling perfectly. Because even without a degree in education, I am researching and reading everything I can get my hands on about child development and learning and I feel like with the Lord's guidance I am learning how to teach my children and teach them well. Even when you don't know how to do something you can always learn if you want to.

Homeschool + Toddler = Total Distraction

February 11, 2016

Here I sit helping Clarissa work on her math lesson, and in comes the cutest and biggest distraction there is in our family right now, Kyrilene AKA: The Toddler.  We love her dearly and wouldn't trade her for the world but she is certainly giving me a challenge at figuring out how to keep her busy and happy and still have the time and focus and energy to give to the older three children with their lessons.

Right now I admit that TV time happens so math and science can happen and if nap time doesn't happen then reading and writing or something else equally important has a much harder time getting done.  I mean who can resist that cute little face?

Suggestions?  Ideas?  Advise?  I will take them all, anything that will help us with our family routine and schedule so we can get to everything that needs to be done each day.  On the plus side today we did get three days worth of science done this morning while "The Toddler" watched Tinkerbell.

Lego's, Dangerous Animals and a Child's Imagination

February 4, 2016

Treysen choose the cassowary bird as his dangerous animal to write about a couple of days ago for his creative writing assignment and today he begged me to let him do legos as his art time for school.  He even promised that it was school related.  Although bummed that we didn't have enough of the right colors for a realistic looking bird he didn't let that stop him.

Clarissa not to be outdone by her younger brother set to work on her writing project subject a cane toad.  She used every single green block we owned and even convinced her brother to swap out the green blocks he had used for other colors but to no avail.  We still didn't have enough green and just like his cassowary her cane toad ended up a rainbow of lego color.

I love watching my kids use their own ideas and imagination when they play and build with their toys.  It means so much more to them and they learn and grow in so many more ways then when they just follow a printed set of directions.  They both think they would make good lego set designers someday.  I smile and nod knowingly and look forward to what they will decide they want to be when they grow up tomorrow.

Family History

January 9, 2016

So we are studying the prophets this year as part of our religion in homeschool and while reading from our short stories book we came across the name of one of our ancestors. The kids got so excited and thought it was super cool to learn something about someone we are related to. They all begged me to break out my grandmothers research and stories so they could learn more. It is so amazing to me how quickly my kids can catch the vision of something. The girls insisted that learning about our ancestors is important and they want to start doing family history.

So can you guess what we will be doing on Monday?

This is something I would never have been able to share with them or teach them without all the work and research my Grandma Cowley did. And it was definitely not something I pictured happening when we began our homeschool journey nine months ago. It makes me even more grateful for the time I got to spend with my grandmother, learning about our family history. It's going to be an interesting spring.

My Daughter Has Bangs

October 23, 2015

After working at home with my ten year old daughter for the last two months of school this spring and starting homeschool again in August after summer break I realized something I found super interesting.  My sweet girl has bangs again.  Just a few weeks after withdrawing her from public school and beginning our journey learning together in April I noticed that she had super short spikes of hair all over the top of her head and especially right along the front where bangs would normally be.  Since she doesn’t like bangs and didn’t have any before I asked if she had cut her hair on her own.

Mortified she insisted that she had definitely not cut her hair and so we tried to figure out what was going on.  Eventually after quite a conversation we discovered this.  She had been so stressed out and frustrated at school that she had started pulling her own hair out one hair at time whenever she felt over-whelmed and stressed out.  This feeling had apparently been just about all the time from the damage I could see growing back.

Now after six and a half months doing school at home I can finally see that we have succeeded with this issue at least.  She is no longer stressed out and pulling her hair.  It’s growing back.  The top is long enough it blends in with the rest and you can’t tell it was ever super short and spikey.  And her bangs while they still annoy her, they also no longer embarrass her whenever we go anywhere because they are proper bang length.

This is just one more thing that confirms to me that we really were guided to this homeschool path in order to figure out what is best for my kids.  Because as much as I might have days where I am stressed and could say, you guys make me want to pull my hair out sometimes;  A child, especially a ten year old child should never have to be that stressed out.  Hopefully now she will learn better ways to handle stress than this and we can move forward from here.

A Spooky Cooking Club Delight

October 8, 2015

Well, we made it through the girl's first cooking club project. Even got both the girls treats done on time. The kitchen was a disaster and we were all covered in frosting and cheese but we made it. HAHA! Thought I would share the results. Green-eyed monster cupcakes and a Cheesenstein Cheese Ball.

The recipes came from a Taste of Home Holiday Magazine and the girls had a blast making them.  I admit it was a bit more stressful then fun for me.  But we divided and conquered.  While I helped Seriah with her cupcakes, her father helped Clarissa with her cheeseball.


And it was after this that I swore decorative holiday themed food belonged only in a test kitchen.  Baking like this is definitely not one of my talents.

They Sweetly Wrench Your Heart

September 1, 2015

So Jeremiah asked me so sweetly this morning "Can I stay home with you guys?" I must admit it kind of wrenched my heart a little that he can tell something is going on here at home and he is feeling a little left out. He even told me he would do work with me and learn his letters and numbers and words. It definitely makes me question whether keeping him in public school this year is the right thing. Even though I was so sure it was when school started a month ago. I guess its time to pray about it some more.

My son Jeremiah has a condition call Koolen DeVries Syndrome that creates a bunch of medical problems and a wide range of learning challenges and mental disabilities.  This first year homeschooling I really wanted to start slow and focus on the girls and getting their gabs and struggles filled in and caught up before considering whether bringing Jeremiah home from public school would be the right thing.  As of right now he is getting OT, PT, Speech and other educational services through the school district and we both feel like this is what he needs at the moment.  Even if his questions wrench my heart.  It is a mother's job to make the hard decisions and do what is best for each one of her children isn't it?  And each one of those children might need something that is a little different from the others.

Schoolwork Doesn't Compete With Your Favorite Uncle

August 6, 2015

So I know it's probably crazy to even think of trying this but we tried it. School in Arizona started for us this last Monday the 3rd. My son is going to public school for kindergarten and we are homeschooling the older kids.

Well with a recent death in the family I packed up all our stuff to start and figured oh we will do it in the car, or there is time before and after the funeral we can get it done. As a brand new homeschooler I have learned something everyone else probably already knew. Math can not compete with wrestling your favorite uncle so don't even try. And don't bother with handwriting of any kind in the car or you will have carsick kids. Or at least we did.

So much for my first official week of homeschool this year. We are giving up and going to the aquarium tomorrow and then starting over next week. Hopefully it will be less exciting. I just wanted to share our little experience to bring a smile to all those who can relate and know the feeling.

Another School Year About to Begin

July 30, 2015

One more Meet and Greet for school finished. I think I melted into soup on the walk to and from the school. It is so hot today. Poor Jeremiah didn't want to go and after we got there he didn't want to leave. I sure wish I knew how to help him handle change better.

I can't believe school is starting again so soon. I am so not ready to end the summer yet. It's going to be an interesting year with him in public school and all my other kids homeschooling.  I am just not sure I am ready to bring home a special needs kid with lots of learning challenges while I am learning how to teach in general so he goes to school this year and we live and learn.

And the 1st Grader Joined the Rest at Home at His Own Request

April 9, 2015

Well, Treysen has convinced me without even having to try every hard. He gets to be homeschooled next year along with his sisters. I ordered his math and Language arts supplies. He was so excited when I told him his books arrived last night. You would have thought he won a million dollars or something. I love that boy.

A Personal Day turns into a Permanent Day

March 30, 2015

Clarissa took a personal day off from school today due to stress and we did a trial run of homeschool. I was really surprised with how well things went, and what an almost instant relief she seemed to feel. We have decided to withdrawl her from school tomorrow and let her finish up her school year here at home. I am so grateful to the Lord who has guided me every step along this path and helped me get the books and supplies I need to help her continue to grow and succeed at home. What a grand adventure we are about to embark on.

My 1st Grader's Experience With Pills At School

March 22, 2015

In January while washing laundry I found a little Ziploc bag with a assortment of different pills in it in the wash.  Not labelled in any way and each pill was different.  Needless to say I kind of freaked out a bit with my husband as we talked about how to approach the kids and handle the situation.  Fortunately for them it was a quiet freak out that they didn’t witness.  All they saw was the calm and composed approach we used to deal with it.  So I started with my fifth grader and the conversation went something like this “Hey sweetheart I was doing laundry today and I found something weird in the wash that isn’t mine.”  I showed her the baggie and asked.  “Is this yours or do you know anything about it by chance?”  She insisted that she had never seen it before and didn’t know what it was.  Knowing I can trust her because she is always honest with me, I moved down the line to my fourth grader.  Same conversation and same answer.  While it was a relief it was also more worrisome because now I only had my younger children left to ask.

When my first grader walked in the door from playing outside I asked him the same question.  His response “Are those mine mom?”  I calmly asked him to tell me a little bit about the bag.  “Oh, a friend at school gave it to me but I didn’t know what it was so I just put it in my pocket and forgot about it.”  Did he take or eat any of the pills? No.  Did he understand that this little bag was considered drugs? No, he face turned very pale and he insisted that he would never take drugs and didn’t know that medicine was drugs.  The details of the event were that another first grader had given him the bag on the playground during lunch time and told him not to worry about it because he would forget that he gave them to my son.  Fortunately, because we have a child with epilepsy and a heart condition we have previously instilled in all of our children how dangerous medicine can be and that if they take their brother’s pills or anyone’s pills without mom or dad knowing they could get sick and die.  Because of this knowledge about medicine and not the talk about drugs we had with my son, he was protected and knew better then to take any of the pills he was given.

My son’s teacher was contacted and the school principal got involved and I gave the principal the now partially dissolved pills from being in the washing machine to show the other child involved and the child’s parents.  Do I think the other first grader should be punished severely? No.  This may shock you and you may disagree, but at the age of 6 years old I firmly believe that this child didn’t understand that he was doing something so dangerous any more then my own 6 year old son did.  I only wanted to make sure that the child understood that it was dangerous and should never happen again.  Honestly, it could easily have been a daily pack from mom’s purse with her vitamins and a pain killer or something, but it was not something that I could just let go.

Now that it has been dealt with I have had the strong impression that I needed to share our story.  Not because I wanted people to tell me what they thought about how it was handled, but because children deserve to be protected.  I have always wondered when the right time to warn my children and teach them about drugs and medicine was, and I can honestly say that with the world the way it is today that as soon as they head off to school, or as soon as they can reach the medicine cabinet is when you should be talking with your children.  Tell them what medicine they are taking when they are sick and why you are giving it to them.  Explain what could happen if they took too much of it and help them understand that when you take something and you don’t need it because you are sick it is considered drugs.