Thursday, June 20, 2013

Setting Goals and Planning: Part 1

It's the most wonderful time of the year! No, wait...that was vacation a couple of weeks ago. Okay, it's another wonderful time of the year, and I'm sure every geeky homeschool mom feels this deep in her heart when summer comes: It is planning-for-next-year-and-for-sure-I'm-going-to-get-it-all-right-this-year time.

You know the old adage "Failure to plan is planning to fail." I have found this to be increasingly true as my children get older and they really need more structure and guidance to help them stay on track.

In this post I will lay out a bit of how I go about planning for the school year, with an emphasis on planning for Tapestry of Grace.

In the terms beginning with July 2013 and ending in May 2014, here are our goals for both students. My son will be 12 in August and my daughter turned 8 in May.

My first step is to lay out all goals for the school year, both the reasonable and the unreasonable ones. Then I have to plug in the activities that the children and I do outside of the house. It all has to fit with a bit of margin. I do not "do" the soccer-mom mentality well at all. I like to be home a lot, I need time to think, to write, and to hang with my family. I cannot function without some wiggle room, so I have had to pare back a bit. For instance, I had hoped to include latin and a public speaking course for my son this year. However, with the amount of time that TOG will take, not to mention all the other areas of study and activities, it is just not realistic to think that we can do all of that and still find time to buy food or wash clothes, so I let those two things go (the latin and public speaking, not food and clothes!) Even without them I have set the bar pretty high for my son, but since we plan to plug away at this from July through May with time off when we need and a long break at Christmas, I hope to keep it manageable and interesting. The activities we need to work around are CrossFit, AWANA, art, and this year, Civil Air Patrol (if my son continues to express interest in joining, and from all I can tell he has made up his mind.) These are lifestyle choices and we make our them very carefully.

Health and Fitness (also known as leading a healthy lifestyle)
A major part of our lifestyle is our choice to eat "clean" and work out regularly. Together we are constantly discussing nutrition, healthy living and fitness. We read and discuss topics from a wide variety of sources. We go to the box and kick some major butt doing CrossFit together. This is a huge and unmovable priority in our lives. In some ways it determines where all the other pieces of our routine fall into place because meal prep, family mealtime, eating clean and exercising at least 3 days a week takes a lot of time and energy. This must be weighed heavily when considering how much we will include in our schedule.

Math, Writing and Grammar

The first priorities in the academic realm are to make sure that math, writing and grammar are planned, because without these one cannot make much headway any other subject.

Math
- Matt will finish MUS Pre-Algebra and begin Algebra 1.

- Molly will finish MUS Gamma. Multiplication facts should be memorized.

Language Study
- Matt should complete season 2 in Analytical Grammar, Writing With Skill level 1, IEW Narnia, Caesar's English 2, and he should be working through Phonetic Zoo level C.

- Molly should memorize the parts of speech and work through First Language Lessons level 3. I am not yet settled on which spelling to use with her. We will either work through Phonics Road 2 or All About Spelling 3. She needs to strengthen her reading skills, so I am leaning toward PR 2. This will necessitate a review of PR 1 this summer. Phonics Road is her favorite. It is not my favorite to teach, however, so I may just have to suck it up this time.

TOG: Literature, Worldview, History and Geography

Close behind Math, writing and grammar, I consider literature to be the next priority. My kids and I have covered so much good literature, and if I had to make a choice between studying history or literature, I would choose literature, hands-down. History facts are important, but literature is the stuff of life told by people who are experiencing and interpreting it in real time. I do consider some historical fiction to count as literature sometimes, but if there are stories, legends, novels, plays, poetry or epics written and told by real people in history, I choose these for my kids. Thankfully, TOG has done much of this hard work for me by providing excellent choices of books for every level.

Following literature my next priority is worldview studies, though arguably this could and should be at the top of this list before all other areas of study, but I am looking at things from a purely academic perspective at the moment, and the study of literature bumps up against the worldview studies. Perhaps I should say they go hand-in-hand. This is where we tackle the history of religion, comparative religion, famous thinkers, philosophy, doctrine and theology. I believe it is essential that worldview is examined with parents in the home to ensure a healthy grounding in the beliefs that a family holds. I do not believe it is wrongful "indoctrination," "brainwashing," or otherwise when families to teach their own children why they believe in God and how to worship, as well as how other people throughout the world believe and worship. This is traditional the world over, and has been for millenia, and it gives children a secure framework and a means to deal with the world and its challenges. I also feel that a solid foundation in the study of logic is part of this area of study.

Following worldview come the more fact-based areas of history, geography and science. We enjoy weaving the subjects together, believing them all to relate to and affect each other, so history could be compared to the loom that holds it all together. We engage all our areas of study within the context of history.

- Matt will be working through the history, literature and worldview readings for Year 1 (Ancients). He will complete the assigned map work each week. He will be expected to read and prepare answers to all of the accountability questions for history and worldview so that he can participate in the weekly socratic discussions, and each week I will select one or two of those questions to which he will write a written response. He should also complete the literature questions each week.

- Molly will be using Story of the World (Bauer) which TOG assigns as an alternate text. Since I have the SOTW series, activity books and audio books, this will be very appropriate for her. I will read the worldview selections for her grade level to or with her as well as her literature selections. She will be doing some lower grammar and some upper grammar level books. I choose these based on her reading level, as well as the quality of the story. She has a very rich literary mind and enjoys stories written at a higher level, though she cannot read them independently yet. I will provide selections from both levels. It is my hope that I can get some hands-on projects done with her this year from the SOTW activity guide, but I have to confess that I am not the best "craft mom."

Logic
- Matt will be covering The Fallacy Detective with our co-op.

Science 
- Matt will be working through Apologia General Science and doing discussion and experiments once a week with a group of friends that we co-op with.

- Molly will be working through Apologia Swimming Creatures and doing weekly discussion and experiments with the co-op group.

In part two, I will discuss how I assemble the TOG notebooks and plan quarterly and weekly.

Monday, June 17, 2013

The Permanent Record (or, Stuff Parents Say)

When I was a kid I had a fear of being late, or absent from school, or of getting a bad grade in something because my mom used to say,

"That will go on your permanent record!"

This pronouncement generated visions in my head of people wearing reading glasses and important-looking suits, sitting behind a long table, making decisions about my life. They would look over my file, which is by that time quite fat, and every tardy, absent, or poor mark would be circled in red. One too many, they mutter to each other, shake their heads, move my file aside and move on to examine the boy who had the perfect attendance record every year. He gets the nod.

Who are those people? Why are they examining me? What are they preventing me from doing? As strange as it sounds, I don't think she was kidding. I think she believed in the "permanent record." She gave this warning more than once, and she was always telling me not to do things because "You don't want to get a reputation for... (insert whatever here)." So instead I had the reputation of being a goody-goody. Oh, don't get me wrong--I was a sinner along with the best of them. I just managed to keep it hidden while I was in school, while sins and issues were still kid-sized, but it all comes oozing out eventually, doesn't it?

I have had a recurring nightmare through my adult life in which I must go back to high school and take one English and one Math credit because if I don't, both my B.A. and my M.A. are null and void. I find myself back in the same honors English class taught by the same teacher, but usually the students are 17 year old kids, not my classmates I graduated with. Invariably I hear myself saying, "This is so stupid! I could teach this class myself, why do I have to go through this?" Once in the dream, when I was pregnant with my daughter, I finally got up, left the classroom, signed myself out of school and left, and decided it didn't matter anymore. I haven't had the dream in the same way since. It was tied to a twisted belief that there must be something buried in my past that I can make go back and fix and then "it will all be okay."

The strangest things can burden children for life. An often-repeated line or phrase, a belief that we hold, a prejudice. I think sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking that because we homeschool that we are insulating them from these things, or that by our extra effort in child-rearing that we will win the award for turning out healthy, unadulterated humans. Unfortunately, homeschooling is not a fix for these things. The permanent record is not a myth. Rather it is one that we create in our minds, and often with our parents' help--the lies and ungodly beliefs that we cling to. There is nothing in ourselves that can expunge the record, but God can. We can be completely new. We can  go to the cross and wipe out the permanent record that has haunted us.

As we teach our children, and more importantly pray for them, we must help them write a different record--one in which the Examiner holds out his hand and says, "well done." Frequent talks about heart motives, forgiveness, asking for their forgiveness when it is needed, praying together, walking together in the truth, not in wrongs and rights, comparisons, and concern for reputation, but in whole relationship, will soften the surface upon which the record is set. Let us help them to constantly revise the record with the truth.

A few nights ago, I had the dream again. I went back to the high school English class but this time there were only about 5 of my old classmates there and the same teacher. I was aware that most had moved on, and we wouldn't see them again. Once again, I had the sense that I was wasting my time. Once in the classroom I discovered someone had stolen my iPhone. I decided to look around the school and see if anything was different, and I found it to be completely changed, and it was all rather chaotic, all except for that one classroom which was stubbornly remained as it was in 1987. I decided to look for a place where I could get a cup of coffee, and I found a counter with a coffee maker on it. Behind it I heard my text alert and looked, and there was my phone on a charger. Indignant that someone would be so bold, I removed it from the charger and walked away. I started to go back to the classroom and then thought, "No...I've been doing this (school) on my own for years now (this definitely tied in to me homeschooling my kids). It just doesn't matter. I'm going home," and walked out the door.

I think I may finally be free of the permanent record. Let the one we are writing with our children be full of grace and truth, forgiveness and acceptance.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the Best Man I Know. Glen, you have made being a wife and mother the happiest thing in the world. Our kids are blessed to have you as their dad.


Thursday, June 13, 2013

Why I Need Vacation

This year was the third year in a row that we have vacationed in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We have rented the same house each year with another family, and have included several other families, as well. Every vacation has been outstanding, but this year in particular it was practically perfect. I have been meaning to write this post since we came home, before I say anything more about homeschooling, curriculum, schedules or educational challenges.

When I was a kid we took two trips, both to visit uncles. Being severely limited in finances and somewhat restricted to what types of activities we could engage in due to my mother's rheumatoid arthritis, I just took it for granted that vacation was something that was a huge luxury that only rich people could experience. I still think that vacation is a huge luxury, but I have discovered that it is one that I can not only afford, but it is something that I need to make room in my time and budget for, because the benefits greatly outweigh the costs. Here is my apologetic for vacations.

Headspace: I need to get away to a place that is different from my house. I love my home. I love the look, feel, and smell of my house. I love my shower and my bed and my cats and my kids' stuffed animals and the garden, and my computer and Facebook page, my kitchen and my refrigerator. This house is where I live and work. I do not leave it for much of anything except to go to the box to exercise. Eventually, I need to stop working, stop cleaning, stop fixing things and just think about something else. I need perspective. I need to not be responsible for everything. I need to do nothing and have that be okay.




More Yeses, Fewer Nos: Mom, can I have ice cream? Yes. Mom, can I bury you in the sand? Yes, or at least my feet. Mom, will you come fly this kite with me? Yes. Dad, can we catch crabs? Yes. Mom, can I go potty in the ocean? Yes. (Please do, so I don't have to walk back to the house with you.) Mom, can I jump off of this high lifeguard chair? Yes. Mom, will you wear this mustache? Yes. Mom, can I stay up late? Yes. Mom, can we watch movies all afternoon? Yes. Mom, can we ride the go-carts? Yes. Mom, will you bring our lunch down to the beach? Yes. Mom, can I roll down this very steep hill? Yes. Dad, can we overload the back of the truck and ride without seat belts? Yes. Yes you can. You get the idea. On vacation, almost nothing is a no, or at least it shouldn't be. I think that kids need time to be as free as possible without the grown-up contingent hovering over them, making sure they have done their chores, cleaned up their dishes, finished their school work, followed the rules. They need this as much as we need the break from hovering! At the beach, if they really don't care about the sand in the bed they are sleeping in, then they don't have to take a bath. If they don't care, why should I? I need to see them laughing, playing, enjoying their friends, being carefree. I need to see my husband relaxing and spending time doing nothing, sleeping if he wants, having a drink if he wants, playing with the kids and making them laugh...being goofy. Everyday stresses tend to suck that kind of living out of a person, and vacation brings it back.








Life and Beauty: I need to spend time in a place that specializes in beauty and teems with non-human life. So does my family. We need to see different colors, smell different air, touch different creatures. We need to dig ourselves into the earth and pull out the shells, the crabs, the fish. We need to see the dolphins frolicking in the morning, visit the wild horses grazing on the dunes, and feed the seagulls stale chips. We need to see the stars without all the light pollution and feel the majesty of the massive sky over the vast ocean and remember that we are small. We need "different." It changes us, reminds us that we are more than just people--we are part of a far greater plan that reaches far beyond what our imaginations can grasp. This is healthy.

clam hunting

night crabbing

look, Mom!

Claws! Those pinch hard. Ask my husband if they draw blood!

Where is the girl with the stale chips?

Wild horses of Corolla

Time with friends: On these vacations we have spent incredible weeks with friends who are like-minded in so many ways. This past vacation we shared the common ground of a love for Christ, homeschooling, healthy eating, and a need and desire to relax completely. We played hard, shared the daily tasks of cooking and childcare so that everyone got a break from the daily grind, laughed a ton, and waited with eager anticipation to see who would be the lucky dork who fell backwards in the tricky chair that lives in that house. We were not disappointed. The kids got along so well, free of conflict and strife, and all were sad to leave each other at the end of the week. Vacation truly would not be the same without these special families with whom we have grown so much over the years.

manicures

Levi, "ahead" of everyone else.

Mustache madness!

getting smacked by waves

best friends...

brothers...

sisters...

Look out! Pirate on the beach!

Game time after breakfast

Mostly, I just need to see this:

Enjoying time with my Nikon

Enjoying the ride

Enjoying the waves

Goofy.

Free

Free
Nearly flying


Safe with Dad

My favorites

annual traditions
Do we have to leave?
Until next year...