I hate math

Ugh if I hear that one more time, I will go crazy.  We have tried so many math programs over the years and finally we seemed to have settled on one - Teaching Textbooks, it is wonderful, truly the best for my older two and my 11 yo seems to like it but today I heard those dreaded words "I hate math" from my daughter and I was telling her she did not and that everyone has to do math and now we are all doing this program and no one gets to change, but then I heard myself and remembered why I home school in the first place.  Why you ask?  Well let's see the main reason was because I wanted them to have a freedom in the way they learned, to not be kept in a box and that includes not using a program just because the rest of the family uses it.  So it hit me she loves to bake and shes loves the basic concepts and she doesn't have to have a program to get that.  To some degree I have lost track of my eclectic style and keep following along on the paths of others and that makes me so mad because I am truly my own style but over the last bunch of years I have lost me and my sense of learning from doing and learning at our own pace and style. 

All this from one little state, you ask, why yes can you believe it?  But it took her saying it with such persistence to make me realize I have lost our own path and begun to follow others and it's time for a change.

I will let you know what she chooses.

What's up next on the reading list? 

Going through so many changes

As you can tell by my lack of posts life has gotten quite busy, yes we are still homeschooling which is why we are quite busy, Nolan is graduating this year, we are so excited, my daughter and I got heavily back into crafting, thank goodness we have a book business that has some great craft books, but we are also very fortunate to have a wonderful library system too and they are full of some of the new crafting books.  So between homeschooling, crafting, Daniel's interest in monster creatures and leisure reading (I said that while chuckling, because there really is no time for leisure reading, but I find bits and pieces), I have flipped through many pages over the last few months.

So let's see my favorites right now are Thirst 3, I am almost done with this one, got if as a Christmas gift and I really enjoy this authors style.

One of my favorites for crafting was this one - The New Handmade

Plus I also read an interesting book called Kiss Your Dentist Goodbye
I found this particularly interesting and I think anyone could glean something from this book, my whole family is now using her process for keeping our teeth clean, however we are looking for non-chemical clean products, I will share with you what I find on my other blog La mia vita bella once I find them.

You get the point, I could go on and on but I won't.  There are so many amazing books to read, some are just plain ole fun, some are educational, some help you learn a new craft or even trade and some invigorate the imagination.  Start with your local library to try out a new book and if you find something you must own of course check out our store to see if we have it =D .

Enjoy this beautiful day.

Read a fun book

I just finished a book called Schooled by Gordon Korman.  Great story!! 

Capricorn Anderson had never watched a television show before. He'd never tasted a pizza. He had never even heard of a wedgie. And he had never, in his wildest dreams, thought of living anywhere but Garland Farm commune with his hippie caretaker, Rain.

 

Capricorn (Cap for short) had lived every day of his life on Garland Farm growing fruits and vegetables. He was homeschooled by Rain, the only person he knew in the world. Life was simple for Cap. But when Rain falls out of a tree while picking plums and is hospital-ridden, he has to attend the local middle school and live with his new guidance counselor and her irritable daughter. While Cap knew a lot about Zen Buddhism, no amount formal education could ready him for the trials and tribulations of public middle school.

 

Cap doesn't exactly fit in at Claverage Middle School (dubbed C Average by the kids). He has long, ungroomed hair, wears hemp clothes, and practices Tai Chi out on the lawn. His weirdness basically makes him biggest nerd in school. This is great news for Zach Powers, big man on campus.  He can't wait to instate the age-old tradition in C-Average School:  The biggest nerd is nominated for class president--and wins.  So when Cap becomes president, he is more puzzled than ever.  But as Cap begins to take on his duties, the joke starts to turn on Zach. 

 

Will Cap turn out to be the greatest President in the history of C-Average School?  Or the biggest punchline?  

 

Not much new on the curriculum front and we are taking a short break from school for now.  I am working at getting back to posting as often as I can with new and fun stuff to share.

Using something new

I have found a new math product that we are testing and so far my oldest who is the one using it, likes it quite a bit. What I like is that it works in the areas of need, so while he almost has algebra down pat he needs quite a bit of work in Geometry, so the program covers more in that area. The program is called Aleks - check it out here - http://www.aleks.com/homeschool.

What I really love is I can see how much he is doing daily without being over his shoulder. He learned recently that I get reports bi-weekly and it shows me exactly how much time he has put in each day and how far he has progressed and what he has mastered and what is left to master. He has tried many different programs and seems to enjoy this process the best.

After a long break

I am back. I have missed writing. So many things have happened, it has been a busy year. This year I am homeschooling 3rd, 5th, 10th and 11th. I can't believe I am nearing our first senior year. We went through our many shelves of books and educational materials and I had the children choose what they were interested in. How nice to have the shelves cleared quite a bit and only books of interest remain. For a brief time I was worried about my oldest, have I given him everything he needs to succeed in the world, did we cover everything, you know all the "right" subjects. Then it hit me I have been teaching them how to learn this whole time and 90% of what I know I learned after high school and a large amount of that I learned in the last 10 years. So even though I still worry a bit I know they will be just fine. They have not been taught in a box or to meet a certain test, they have been taught to think outside of the box and to follow their interest. I hope this leads to them finding joy in their life in what ever path they choose.

Peace

Somedays...

Some days are great and others just seem to fail tremendously. What a heart sad day. Makes me question everything I have done raising my children over the years. What happens to turn from the years of joy to all this turmoil. Raising children is the absolutely hands down hardest job in the whole world, yes harder than being president of any corporation or even the country. It seems to me in those jobs you can buy your respect, but as a parent you have to earn every darn bit of it from your children. I always felt like I put 150% into raising these amazing children I have, but days like today I just feel sad and I know my husband must feel the same, it is pure defeat, that is all I can call it. My witty joyful self just retreats in defeat. I miss her when she goes away, more I miss what I dream for my family. I know the things I could have done differently but overall our children our blessed, they want for nothing and I don't mean materially (as I am sure they would say they lack in the material items department, though I beg to differ), we love them tremendously and show them by actually spending time with them, being a part of their lives and showing interest in them.

Today I just feel sad for them, they don't get it, they don't get all that we offer them and they don't see the gift in each other, they are blind in their hearts.

Trying new things

I spend a good part of my day willing my children to try new things. I have over the years tried many news things, but never venture too far outside my comfort zone. I love our book business but I kind of always keep in just so, enough books to sell but not so many that I might lose control, but alas what that creates is a business that is stagnent. So over this last week and a half I have been really working at growing my business and learning new ways to do so. I am excited to watch it grow and seem to be working at it with a passion, finally.

I have taken even more strides, I have been watching this website where you can apply to be a writer for them, I have always loved to write, but most of my writing is personal I never shared it, well until I began blogging but that too is very new. So finally I submitted an application with a sample of my work, at first I was scared because all of a sudden nothing would come to my mind to write about, well I finally left the computer went about my day and sure enough as usual while I was driving in the car my story came to me, this is so typical of me to think of what I want to write while I am driving, this wouldn't be a problem except usually by the time I get home my story has left my mind. So this time, because I knew it was important and I had a pad of paper, I began writing it at each stoplight I hit. I was very pleased with the outcome. So I submitted my application and now we will wait and see. I am good with that because finally I took another step outside my comfortable little box.

And on another big note, I applied for a part-time job, I haven't worked outside the home since Nolan was 15 months old. This is right up my alley, involves coffee (aaahhh life it good) and much more, so that is all I will say for now, but again I am so excited that I took that step. I want my children to see you can try lots of things and be good at them.

Oh so much more I want to share on what I would like for my children and you will be surprised as it does not even remotely involve the "American Dream", as to me that is more of a nightmare and I would never want my children to feel stuck. Anyway I will share more on that later.