Unconditional Love

Are you on Pinterest? I am. It's an obsession. I'm an ideas kinda gal with sometimes little follow through, so like Johnnie 5, I want "more input!" and Pinterest delivers. I don't have a single creative bone in me and Pinterest lets me steal be inspired by others creativity.  For me, it's extremely cathartic to mindlessly pin, pin, pin after a long, tiring day of homeschooling. 

Speaking of long and tiring days, have I mentioned that homeschooling is long and tiring? Well let me tell you. It's long. And tiring. Maybe not for people who have been planning to stay at home or to homeschool, maybe not for people who have been doing it for a couple years, maybe not for people who have experience working with numerous children of multiple ages at the same time. But for me and especially as we are transitioning...my days are long. And tiring.

Don't get me wrong, I love my kids. But sometimes they drive me nuts!!! Late this afternoon was one such time when I took them to The I.D.E.A. Store to pick out some arts and crafts materials for Valentine's Day and for our homeschooling. That part was awesome. The I.D.E.A. Store is awesome. My kids were being awesome. It was in the parking lot when one of them made a very disappointing choice. Grrr! It took every ounce of my being to keep my cool, to not freak out and to try to make it a teaching moment. 

That moment was not made. I just had to bite my tongue because it was the end of a long, tiring day. I had used up the rest of my patience reserves 2 minutes prior when I attempted to keep them from messing around with the check out counter. I knew that nothing that would come out of my mouth at that point could be positive. So I kept it shut. We drove in silence. 

When we got home Bo took over and I disappeared upstairs to make this.

I'm gaining an appreciation for arts and crafts when before I thought they were pointless and just created something that would eventually end up in the garbage. If for nothing else this it calmed me. I channeled my frustration into bending the wire hanger. I loved the scratchy, natural feel of the burlap and knew that it would allow me to cut imprecisely and not worry about it having to look perfect. I just wanted to make something beautiful. It turned out better than I expected. Thank you Naptime Decorator for the inspiration.

I hung it on the offenders door. I want my kids to know that I love them unconditionally. Even after a long and tiring day. Even after they have committed an offense. We are all rough and all imperfect, just like this burlap heart. I need to remember that more about myself and about my kids.

Weakness and P.E.

It was a long week. I'll just say that. Over the past several days I've gone back and forth about how much to talk about the inner workings of our homeschool and my views on it. We have a lot of struggles, a lot of joys, and everything in the between. I'm still figuring out how to blog about our lives and what to include. I have found numerous homeschool bloggers to be extremely helpful and the best ones are those that lay it all on the table. The raw ones provide the such comfort and encouragement, or at least strength in numbers that we are trying our best and that is all we can do. 

The utmost comfort comes from my heavenly Father. In our weakness, His strength shines through. So I think everyone in my family must be burning from His rays now. I know he has uniquely created each one of my kids and also me. I am also certain that this is where I am to be and somehow I am to raise and teach them. So, wisdom, discernment, and patience are what I am praying for most now.

Well, onto the fun stuff. Eventually I'll do more formal P.E. with the kids, but in the meantime, I'm being ok with just making sure they are active at least an hour a day. But really, who has to make sure kids are active everyday? They are so energetic, it seems like they never get tired. Anyway, I also don't have a set schedule of aerobic, muscle strengthening, learning a particular skill, etc., but we just go with the flow and have fun at this point. I'm cool with that too. When it is raining outside and I'm not feeling creative at all, we can always rely on our default: running around the house. Mei has picked up on this very quickly. And has added flying wings. I dunno if she made that up or saw her brothers do it. Anyway, she is pure cuteness when she does it.

One thing I can feel accomplished about this week is sticking to our responsibilities. The boys helped a ton with their basic responsibilities as well as assisting me out with laundry, cleaning the kitchen and generally cleaning up of the house to have friends over. Bean also helped me take down the Christmas tree (yes, I still had my tree up). At Grandma and grandpa's house they had a blast getting leaves out of the flower bed. 

My hard little workers! They were so proud of themselves. I was too. Ok, maybe I can do this.

Nocturnal Project - Living Books Part 2

My previous post on nocturnal books highlighted our favorite children's stories that were also great non-fiction and educational books. Today's books are purely fictional, but both you and I know, there is plenty to learn from fiction too!

Papa Please Get The Moon For Me by Eric Carle

The interactivity of this book is engaging as children help the father retrieve the moon for his daughter. The board book format makes it more accessible to Mei too. The only drawback is that Tey keeps asking me to bring him the moon, and I'm having a hard time explaining that I can't!

Bears in the Night by Stan Berenstain

The repetition of this story is perfect for Tey as he is learning to read from it. Bean enjoys reading it to him too, which I love. They both think it quite humorous that little bears would be so mischievous as to seek out at night without a parent, but the best part is hooting when the owl is discovered.

Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

The kids' hearts break for poor kitten who thinks the full moon is a bowl of milk. We enjoy her perseverance through numerous challenges and are glad that it is rewarded in the end.



Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

Ah, Stellaluna...this books will never get old. A family favorite, both my boys are drawn to this story time and time again, even before our nocturnal studies. It has a powerful message about fitting in and trying your darnedest to be something you are not. It is a good intro to how bats and birds are similar and different and the color pencil drawings are beautifully life-like.

What are you favorite picture books about the night?

Night Owls

No study is complete without field trips. This week is chuck full of them, kicking off with a guided night hike at the Middle Fork River Forest Preserve. I was hesitant to go given that it was cold (and I don't like cold), it's in the middle of nowhere (country roads after dark still sometimes creep me out despite living out here for over a decade), and I had a slight fear that we'd be attacked by a wild animal (but I didn't tell Bean that). Despite my initial hesitation, it was a night I don't think we'll soon forget.

Screech Owl
Photo by Angela Bartels

From our family, it was just Bean and I and he was totally in his element: skipping around in excitement, asking a lot of questions and rattling off his knowledge of all kinds of owls that he's been learning about. It wasn't long into our hike that the guide called a screech owl with a recording. It sounds like a UFO, then like a horse whinnying. Off in the distance, we heard it reply . Then the call got closer and closer. When the guide turned on her light, there it was right beside us up in the closest tree! So amazing and beautiful! Bean got to see it too. I think that was the best part of the night.

For the rest of our hike, she also attempted to call a barred owl, which sounds like someone asking, "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?" but nothing ever responded. Still, we got to see an animal's burrow, some coyote's poop, and a deers' path. We also got to hear the rushing water of the Middle Fork River which was pretty high due to all the monsoon-like torrential rains we've gotten in the past couple days. There was something so peaceful about being out there in nature, yet also so sad that even though we were 45 minutes away from Champaign, you could still see it's light pollution in the southwestern sky.

Right before we left, the guide attempted a couple times to call the great horned owl, the largest owl in Illinois. She called the owls in order of smallest to largest, to better coax them out. The great horned owl responded very, very far off with a deep hoot, but only once and it never came close. Only she and I heard it. Then the wind soon picked up and it was difficult to hear anything. Bean didn't seem too bummed about not hearing it. He had a great time and we picked up more info to do more night hikes again.

On the way home, we were only 10 minutes into the drive when Bean fell asleep. It was only 8 o'clock. I guess the only night owls here are the ones at the forest preserve. :)

Fueled

Continuing on with our studies of all things of the night and learning more about space and celestial bodies, today we read a REALLY old book of children's poems called "Poetry for Space Enthusiasts." Yes, really, there is such a book. We came across this rare gem among a bunch of books that a local middle school was giving away earlier this fall right when we were making the decision to home school. I found that many of the books they were getting rid of were a little biased because of their perspective on history, outdated about science, or perhaps had a too strong emphasis on God for the taste of public school. Because of that we barely picked up any history books unless it was a biography and most of the science we chose was about life sciences and especially not technology. The God thing we can deal with.

"Poetry for Space Enthusiasts" seemed like it might be a fun way to add poetry into the mix of our current topic. From first glance it had some poems with humor in it, which I thought would engage the children if the other ones didn't. And if nothing else, it would would be corny and Bo and I would get a good laugh.

We read a handful of them today, but this one really struck me.

Fueled

Fueled
by a million
man-made
wings of fire -
the rocket tore a tunnel
through the sky -
and everybody cheered
Fueled
only by a thought from God -
the seedling
urged its way
through the thickness of black -
and as it pierced
the heavy ceiling of the soil -
and launched itself
up into outer space -
no
one
even
clapped.

by Marcie Hans

Talk about profound for a children's book! We are so quick to ooh and aah at the marvels of what humans have made, but take for granted the miracle that is God's creation. We definitely need to reflect on this more.

Nocturnal Project - Living Books Part 1

As per the Bean's request, we've been deeply engrossed in all things nocturnal at our homeschool since the start of the new year. I've learned so much and we're still going strong, so figured I'd better start blogging and just do it in segments.

Thanks to our amazing local libraries, we have a shelf full of informative books about the moon, the stars, and nocturnal animals. Here are some of our favorites that are children's storybooks. The kids are easily engaged in learning night time facts from these living books because they all have amazing illustrations, captivating text. Without further ado, they are presented in Bean's rank order.

On the Moon by Anna Milbourne

This is a great first book of moon exploration. It introduces new ideas and facts about the moon with simple vocabulary. The combination of real NASA photos with cartoon drawings is creative and engaging.



Zoo In The Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations by Jacqueline Mitton

This book tells memorable, brief stories for many of the common animal constellations. The pictures of the constellations include reflective material for the stars, which vary in size depending on how bright they appear in the sky.


Where Are the Night Animals? by Mary Ann Fraser

Beautifully and realistically illustrated, "Where are the Night Animals?" tells the story of several North American nocturnal animals (i.e., barn owl, opossums, tree frogs, skunk, coyote, raccoon, harvest mice) on a typical evening. In additional to contrasting diurnal and nocturnal animals, this book discusses how each of these nocturnal animals have adapted to survive in the dark.

The Goodnight Circle by Carolyn Lesser

Beginning with "day animals" going to sleep, this richly descriptive and poetic story continues through the night and ends with day break. This is a perfect bedtime story as it is highlights the silent times: first when day animals have gone to sleep and before night animals have awoken and second when night animals have gone to sleep and before day animals have awoken. Repetition of saying "good night" and "good morning," encourages participation of even non-readers.

There Once Was a Sky Full of Stars by Bob Crelin

This book will raise your awareness of light pollution. It not only whites out the natural beauty of our night sky, but also it has detrimental effects on the planet and animals. Environmentally conscious readers will find the suggestions helpful and imaginative readers will enjoy looking for hidden images in the illustrated moonlit night, just like they probably do in real life!

The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In addition to the birthday breakfast, we've been learning a lot about Dr. King and his life and tragic death. Bean has been copying some of his famous quotes and in doing so has unintentionally (on his part) memorized some too. Funny story, after he wrote one, I asked him what he just wrote and his first response was, "I don't know; I can't remember all that." Then he recited verbatim, "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend." He was surprised by that. What a Sneaky Mommy I am! :) More importantly, we talk about what these quotes mean on an ongoing basis, throughout the day and over the past couple weeks. I really like the practice of reflecting on great thinkers thoughts.

As recommended by Charlotte Mason, for any subject, we rely heavily on living books. By far our favorite about MLK was this beautiful, poetic and short book.

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

It is a perfect introduction book for all my kids because it begins with Martin as a child forming his ideas about equality from his parents and the Bible. It has the author's words in black text and Dr. King's words in other colors. This made it fun to take turns reading with Bean (this was his idea). It emphasized for him the "Big Words" that were Dr. King's non-violent weapons in the fight for equality.

From it we were able to talk about the fairness of segregation laws, the courage needed to stand up for one's beliefs especially if they are against the current law, and the sadness of Dr. King being murdered. It's deep stuff, but we just touched on it. Here is Bean reading his favorite quote in the book, and the second one is another that he memorized from copywork.

Bean and I also worked together on this vocabulary sheet that highlighted a lot of the words we read about but don't hear very often, like "nonviolence," "boycott," "speech." Through conversation, I related the words to his everyday experiences and now we try to use the words more often to talk about the civil rights movement and other topics as well.

Bo and Tey also watched the "I Have a Dream" speech at home and Bean and I went to a public viewing of it followed by a discussion. At this point it is hard to assess what Bean took away from that experience. He asked a few questions during the viewing, but after was not actively listening to the discussion. Still, I participated in it and he was exposed to that, so it at least conveys the importance of reflecting on Dr. King's words and how to engage in dialogue about it while respecting the opinions of others.

I'm excited about Saturday because at a local performing arts center there will be a celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When we went two years ago it was an absolute blast, though I don't think my kids remember it now. This will likely wrap up my "lesson" so to speak on MLK, but the values we learned over the last view weeks will be carried on and we will continue to emphasize the virtues of Dr. King that are worth emulating for character development.

~~~~~
Funny things my kids have said in relation to MLK:

Tey: [After someone says "Martin Luther King."] "Martin Luther King, JUNIOR, maybe."

Bean: [Narrating to me a historical fiction story about Martin Luther King as a child and quoting what his mother said.] "Some white folks (which he pronounced "fox" until he asked me what it meant) believe that they are better than we black people."
(Yep, he actually said "we" in reference to being black, but then corrected himself.