Balancing Act

school

faith

How much is too much? Are you one who tends to overextend yourself, dabbling in so many extra things that you find yourself too run ragged to enjoy any of them? I am.

creative thinking

sports

I don't know how I get myself up to my neck in a tangled schedule of extra classes and activities. I was so proud of myself at the beginning of the year. My schedule was tight in places but flexible enough that it still felt relaxed. I felt so comfortable in fact that when approached to join a team here and a group there I thought, "Wow, this is a group my kids would love. It's educational, fun, and just what I think homeschoolers should do to capitalize on the free time they have!" I mapped it all out on the calendar and it looked "do-able" so we took the plunge.

art

music

Then reality hit. The extras started coming in: extra hours on projects to get them done, materials to run to the store to get, extra rehearsals, various homework assignments, and many other unseen time suckers. And once committed to any project, you can believe that all involved believe that it should be your number one priority. If I dare hint at how hectic things have become, others roll their eyes and tell you that everyone else is busy too.

team building

Yet, my life isn't about how busy everyone else is. If I cared about normal, I probably wouldn't homeschool. It's time to make the tough decisions because that is my job. So, I talked to the kids and found out what they loved and what they merely enjoyed. I hate to withdraw from activities that may have an impact upon others but sometimes that is the only way to regain balance.

scouting

 So, I ask you, How do you keep from doing this? How do you find, and keep, balance?

Junior Thespians

My kids have discovered Shakespeare. We've been reading books from the Shakespeare can be Fun series by Lois Burdett. These books are fantastic at introducing the bard to children. They include the more famous lines and keep the adult content to a minimum. In Romeo and Juliet, they do die in the end which shocked my son. I explained that Shakespeare used tragedy to make us think about things. His drawings have since taken on a very macabre element which he excuses as tragedy. I'd better make a note of that on any that make it into the scrapbook.

Then, they watched a little cartoon on Netflix called Romeo and Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss. Okay, this movie is isn't the greatest and everyone lives happily everafter, BUT! They use the proper names of the characters and adhere to the central story line. I'm happy with it considering my three-year-old now knows Juliet was a Capulet and Romeo was a Montague!

They next ran with the whole Romeo and Juliet idea and decided to organize a neighborhood play. My son was to do the scenery and my daughter would handle costumes. My three year old kept lying dramatically over her stuffed animals saying "I'm dead. Just kidding!" All was going well until they came across one tiny problem: my daughter wanted to be Juliet and my son insisted on being Romeo. Ewwww.

Well, there is always the Tempest or Macbeth. I have no fear, they will have moved on to Robin Hood by tomorrow! 

~~~~~Wordless Wednesday~~~~~ Pictures taken by my kids

Taken by Jelly Bean

button pushed by Gum Drop

Taken by Snickers

History in the Baking

King Alfred's Cakes

I'm trying a new approach to history. We read through several chapters and work our way back through the projects that go with them for a fun review. We are using The Story of the World Vol. 2 by Susan Bauer.  We just read about King Alfred the Great and how he pushed back the viking invaders after they forced him from his castle. The story goes that while Alfred was biding his time, he lived with a farming family who was unaware of his identity as king. While staying with the farmer, he was expected to help out with the chores. When asked to watch the baking cakes while the woman of the house left to tend to other chores, Alfred completely forgot and let them burn. When the farmer's wife returned, she scolded him terribly and he was so ashamed he couldn't bring himself to tell her she was scolding the king.

Our project was to see if the kids were better at tending cakes than King Alfred. We mixed up a small batch of sweet cakes and set them to bake without a timer. I left to tend to other chores and left it up to the kids to watch over the cakes so they wouldn't burn. This was perfectly safe because they watched through a window and never opened the door. After a while, my daughter thought it was time. They were beautiful! My kids are definitely better cooks than King Alfred!

Sprinkly Sun ~~~~Chihuly's Cheekwood Exhibit

These would have made for a great "Wordless Wednesday" but today being Thursday, you get commentary too.

 Cheekwood Botanical Gardens had a free day November 2nd. Most public schools were out this day so they could be used as polling stations on voting day. Add to this a final week of a Chihuly exhibit, and we knew we were in for some serious crowds. But, hey! Did I mention it was free?!

 The crowds were only bad at the beginning. Parking was a beast. But once inside, the gardens were not crowded at all. A few places where some major exhibits were centered resulted in an occasional line, but we never had to wait to see anything.

 We topped a hill and saw people playing by a pond. One of the most picturesque moments of my life. It looked like a movie set.

 The kids felt like they were on a scavenger hunt. We would round a bend and hear "Ooooh! Chihuly! I see the next Chihuly!"

Gum Drop (left) first noticed the "sun" in the posters flanking the entrance. She pointed to it then and said she liked that "sprinkly sun" best. When we came to it she would stand and look at it for a long time. She was disappointed we couldn't go right up to it and take a picture of her sitting under it. She told her daddy all about it when we got home. It never fails to stun me how art moves people of all ages.  If you ever have a chance to see Chihuly's work in person, I highly recommend it. Things I learned: 1. Each piece of glass is separate and rearranged for each exhibit. 2. Chihuly visited Cheekwood years ago and made sketches of displays he wanted to do. He then constructed them in his studio, made detailed instructions and had them shipped to the location. 3. Cheekwood has been working on the grounds for a year leading to the exhibit to ensure the plants around the exhibits were complimentary to the art. 4. Only about eight pieces were broken during the shipping and set up of this exhibit.

Love the season of death

I love this time of year and all of the harvest celebrations. Two holidays our family celebrates this time of year are Halloween and All Saint's Day. On Halloween my kids will pose as Darth Vader escorting Queen Isabel of Spain and their little sister the princess.  My favorite things of Halloween, are plastic masks, candy, jack-o-lanterns and even the eerie sound effects my neighbors set up with motion detectors. I could do without the gore. Blood and guts and haunted houses aren't my cup of tea. But this night is when I give a nod to death and all of the mysteries that natural end holds for us all.  No matter what anyone says or believes, I have yet to meet anyone who knows what death is truly like from experience. And that is precisely what unnerves many of us. I see Halloween as a time for us to poke fun at ourselves and our fears of this very natural part of life.

All Saint's Day is the other side of death's story. This is the part of faith. November 1st is when I honor all those who have actually gone before me and I place my faith and trust in God who holds them with care. I light a candle. My kids to dress up because our church holds a parade where they can dress as their favorite saint.

St. Christopher the Christ bearer

Two books we've enjoyed greatly are Once Upon A Time Saints and More Once Upon A Time Saints by Ethel Pochocki. These books are great! These are legends and stories of early Christians who are often lesser known and their stories are G-rated.  We used these books to choose their saint. My oldest picked St. Zita. St. Zita was domestic, charitable, and loved by the angels. My son picked St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers who is said to have carried the Christ child over rough waters. My three year old still wants to be a princess.

Good Questions

My daughter was talking with a friend recently who said she was not smart. She insisted on calling herself "dumb" because the only thing she was good at in school was science.  After thinking for a moment, my daughter told her that the only thing she really knew a lot about was ancient Egypt and that none of it would really do her any good in real life. This exchange must have been simmering in her because several days later she brought it up to me and asked me several really good questions.

I only know about Egypt because I have a passion for it. What about things I don't like? Will I be able to learn about them? Why do you think I am smart when I hardly know anything yet? 
Can you still be considered smart if you aren't great at everything?

Where to begin? I hope I got it right. In the back in forth conversation that followed, I hope she heard me clearly because those questions strike at the heart of why I choose to homeschool.

First of all I told her that no one is born with a lot of knowledge. "Smart" is what we call people who can learn relatively easily. Because she can learn, she is smart. All the knowledge she accumulated about ancient Egypt is just proof that she can learn when she tries.

Next I told her that by learning about things she is passionate about, she is discovering how to learn in a fun way. The key is that learning about boring or uninteresting topics is done in exactly the same way. Research, reading, and asking questions will serve her well even if she doesn't like what she is looking into. Learning how to gather, sort, and compile information is more important than any of the actual facts she gathers. True, it's harder and more work when you aren't interested, but it is a lot easier if you know what to do.

Lastly, I told her that nobody is good at everything. Yes, there will be subjects that just don't click easily or sometimes at all. That's okay. Do your best and focus on your strengths. Life will go on!

There you have it, one of the top ten reasons why we homeschool: I want to teach my kids how to lead themselves to knowledge rather than how to play follow-the-leader. There is absolutely no "teaching to a test" here. Our lessons, whether they are structured or not, are all based on teaching them how to think for themselves. If they can learn for the sake of learning and not to please me or a random teacher, I will feel that I did something right.