Wordless Wednesday: Let Me See!

Week 25: Tips, Tricks and Major Accomplishments!

Tip 
I'll admit it. This winter I have been struggling to find a groove, as I have mentioned in previous posts. The addition of 3 days out of the house for workouts, plus two for the kids has meant that I have easily become disorganized with the more bookish lessons. Something motivated me last week to sit down and make a very simple assignment chart for them for the week, and it proved so helpful. I have used assignment charts before, over and over, and they always seem to be only moderately helpful for us, but this one, this week WORKED.

Trick
I also made a shift in how I asked DD7 to approach her math lessons. Rather than plopping down two sheets of math for her to do, I asked her to do as much as she could in 30 minutes, and what she didn't finish she would need complete before free time / computer time as "homework" for lack of a better term. (Thanks to my friend Heather for giving me the idea to do it.) It has worked beautifully. She no longer feels overwhelmed by the amount of math she needs to do, and stays more focused on the task so as to avoid the homework.

Major Accomplishment! (aka Bragging Mom Alert!)
The major accomplishment of the week is that my son finished his first full essay! He wrote a paper about his Japanese family's situation during WWII. It was a difficult assignment for several reasons. First he was writing more than he has ever written at once, so the length of the task was daunting. Second, he was writing from information he had gathered from a lengthy interview with his grandfather in which he took notes. We also recorded the interview, but he primarily used his notes. The spelling and some of the facts, dates and places were a bit sketchy in his memory, as he was a young child at the time of the Japanese relocation, so it was up to us to do a bit of research and match up our information with public records. To add to the challenge, this information was difficult for DS 11 to put into words because it was personal, and he felt a strong desire to please his dad and grandfather with the final product. Finally, in the middle of the paper the poor guy got delayed by a stomach bug, and set us back a week. What we thought would take one solid week to accomplish took several, with quite a few touch-ups and tweaks. The end product, however was well worth the effort, and I am so proud of him! It was a major goal we had set for this school year to integrate history, family history, and writing skills.

Now that this major project is done, we will wrap up the end of WWII and Unit two of Tapestry of Grace, finish our last chapter of science and the "school year" will be over. We will go away on our annual beach vacation, and then through the summer we will do "summer school" type lessons in math, grammar, writing, and possibly geography. I am working on a plan for that, since the kids tell me that is where I "dropped the ball" this year. I can see the light at the end, and I am so ready for vacation! A glorious week at the beach to play and soak up the sun with my favorite people cannot come soon enough. Well, yes it can. I have a lot of prep-work to do to get ready for the trip!

Summer vacation is coming soon! 

Paradigm Shifts, Finding Balance

As I sat down to write this morning I thought, "It's been a few weeks..." I didn't realize it had been more than two months since I last blogged. Partly it has been due to the Accidental CrossFitter and the more frequent posts there, but it is more than just the blog. CrossFit certainly has cut into my free time, and I am gone from the house for approximately 6 hours per week to sustain this habit. This has been a huge paradigm shift for me emotionally and physically. For years I have been hearing the advice that we need to let some things go in order to achieve balance, but  I don't know that I have ever really been able to achieve that. My own maxim to myself is, "You cannot do two things well." I suppose this is my own version of letting something go.

This year CrossFit has been the thing that we have done really well. Cleaning, getting the laundry done, having lessons planned well each week--not so much. Even so, every member of the family has benefitted from the impact CF has had on our life. But in order to get the stuff of daily life done, I am having to learn how to train my children to do jobs and then actually delegate work to them, I am having to learn how to accept a dirtier kitchen floor than I am comfortable with, I am having to consider year round lessons to allow for the fluctuations in our life that seem to be inevitable. However, in the process of learning how to let things go a bit, I have learned that fitness and health is a top priority in my life, and one that needs to remain.

The flip side of this paradigm shift has been sorting out what is essential in our homeschool priorities. Somehow, despite my feelings of being scattered and disorganized this year (i.e. school did not fit into a tidy 9-3 timeframe), we are about to finish exactly what we have needed to complete this school year. Science is nearly finished, Matt finished his math curriculum and has started pre-algebra, Molly has somehow learned her addition and subtraction facts and has figured out how to regroup, tell time and count money, her reading level has improved, we have digested plenty of good literature, and learned about the first half of  the 20th century, which was my goal with Tapestry of Grace this year, and none of it has looked like I thought it would.

I suppose this is the journey. As our children change, are we ready to change, as well? My year has not looked the way I thought it would, but it has looked like this, and I am more than okay with that:

Molly reading to me on the deck on a beautiful spring day

an especially tough WOD that Matt crushed

working up to a 105# dead lift

Making friends at CF

prepping the garden for spring planting

learning how to make everything Paleo, like this...

and this...

and this...though I did already know how to roast a chicken I've
just been doing it more often and better than ever...

science activities...

and dissections with friends...

It has been a good year. Neat and tidy it has not been, which is why I have not been doing my usual weekly updates, but it has been productive, and it has been good. In the next month we will be wrapping up the traditional school year and will embark on our first time working through the summer on lessons. I hope to establish a simple routine that will keep us moving on math, grammar, writing and also get a jump start on the Tapestry of Grace, year 1, so that when we need breaks during the winter months, we can take them. 

I continue to learn as I go. Learning to let go of my own expectations is the hardest lesson of all...

On Courage

CrossFit continues to challenge me on every level. Here I must venture into boldly proclaiming my faith through my writing. This, too, takes courage. I hope you are encouraged, and are able to apply the same to your homeschooling. These choices require us to set aside fear...

Benchmark #4: Courage

Week 17...History, Geography and Dissections, Oh My!

Since October 25, my life has been overwhelmed by a lifestyle decision--that in order to be healthy, I was going to have to break down and finally get some exercise. The first three months of this choice have been wonderful, difficult, exhilarating, and overwhelming! Figuring out how to balance three days of going to the box (it's a box, it's not a "gym") and still get school done has been a bit of a trick, but we've been doing okay. I have taken every opportunity to get the kids involved in the process of changing our health and fitness. They continue to love attending CrossFit Kids, and Matt is going to participate in his first CF competition in a couple of weeks! Along with the fitness emphasis, I have also enjoyed spending time with my girl in the kitchen. It is wonderful to see both kids interested in making healthier choices in our diet, as well.

Making bone broth in the pressure cooker

Don't worry, I corrected her right after I snapped the photo!

This week, however, I made the serendipitous mistake of sleeping past my WOD time. The kids were not at all eager to have me rushing out the door to make it to class, so I went to the 3:30 p.m. class instead. What a difference that made in our day! I decided to see if it was just a fluke and went at the same time on Wednesday, and again, it was a great school day! Regular exercise and diet change has also blessed me with sustained energy throughout the day, and so I am able to stay focused, clear-headed and in control of the tasks, allowing us to get far more done. The result was that in this week my CrossFit life and homeschool life came into balance, and actually complemented, rather than competed with each other. I realize in light of this that it's been a while since I did a thorough weekly report, and so today I will bring everything up to date.

Math and language lessons are going well. Matt has begun working through the Art of Problem Solving's Pre-Algebra book, and Molly is doing multi-digit subtraction. Matt is wrapping up week 8 of Writing with Skill (we take two weeks per lesson) and continued his work in Analytical Grammar.
In history the kids have been learning about the beginning of WWI, and I continue to be impressed at the level of reading Matt is willing to do on the subject. He asked me to get a copy of Mein Kampf so he could try to read it. I obliged, of course. He is reading a biography of Roosevelt, and various other selections. One of his favorite books this year has been the very well-written and illustrated World Wars book, published by Usborne. We also colored maps that showed the extent of Germany's domination in Europe, and compared that to modern-day maps. We are also reading the story of Corrie Ten Boom together aloud.

In literature Molly listened to Mr. Popper's Penguins and Matt is reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Together we are listening to the unabridged Fellowship of the Ring.

In science, we are continuing our studies of Anatomy and Physiology, and both absolutely love the lessons, the notebook pages, and the labs. This week we dissected a sheep heart and a frog. I was amazed at how the kids were not grossed out by the experience at all, but rather wanted to see, feel and identify everything. The smell of the specimens was far more difficult for them to tolerate than any other aspect of the experience (as evidenced by many of my daughter's facial expressions!) Both of them thoroughly enjoyed the lab, despite the nauseated looks. It was great that Dad got to be part of the experience, too, as he happened to have the day off.

Excited to get started!

Dad this smells gross!

We found the aorta!

Using the probe to pass through the aorta into the left ventricle.

The kids really enjoyed identifying the muscles, digestive organs, liver, kidneys and heart of the frog, which they have learned in previous chapters.

Proud of their work!

On Respect

It is getting so that I cannot separate the experiences and lessons I have at CrossFit from our homeschooling life. The further I go I realize that it is all one thing, and I have to address it here. Below is a post from The Accidental CrossFitter that I wrote this morning, and I think it is equally important here. Consider how your attitude toward yourself and your body affects how you lead your children...

I gained a nugget of wisdom today from an old friend. We were talking about CF (because it's all I ever talk about right now!) and I told her that one of the reasons I decided I needed to get moving is because my kids had only ever seen me sedentary, and I needed to lead them into a more active lifestyle. In response she said something that really made me stop and think, and it is this: If we do not allow ourselves to change, or we set an example of something that is not good for us (such as a sedentary lifestyle), then eventually our children will lose respect for us. Even more, they will lose respect for "mother"--that identity, that role, that office. "Mother" becomes a static point in their past who can not speak authoritatively into their lives because she has ceased to learn, grow, change, or to keep pace with them. I am not saying that we have to do the same things that they do or be enmeshed in their lives in an unhealthy way. On the contrary, they need to see that we are individuals--that our lives do not spin solely on their axes, but that we have lives that we are cultivating by being active, dynamic learners of human existence! If it so happens that we are sharing a common interest, even better!

There was this one hurdle to cross, however. In the past I didn't want my children to see me being weak, or at my worst. I didn't have respect for myself or what I had allowed my body to become. I knew I needed to do better. I knew that I was full of excuses. I knew that I hated how I looked. I needed to to regain respect for myself. 

You know those moments in life when someone says the simplest thing to you, but it is the wisdom for the moment to cover just about everything? Well, I was grousing to my coach about ring dips at class. I am terrible, even at assisted ring dips, so I asked my coach for an alternative. He gave me a thicker band (more assistance), set me up and told me to suck it up. More specifically, he got in my space, towered over me (he's a Marine officer and about 6'5") and said with a twinkle in his eye, but in all seriousness, "I hear your excuses and I'm not buyin' 'em."

Matt counts for his sister...

Right. Thank you. Excuses are the front door to loss of respect. When I hear people whining about what they can't do, I want to walk away and say, "talk to the hand," but unfortunately I cannot walk away from myself. 

In the last three months, I have learned so much about what it means to be an example to my kids and demonstrate self-respect. We have all discovered the joy of exercising together. I am ashamed to admit that I used to be very private about exercise--I would not do it around the kids. I hated for them to see me sweat, I felt weak and out of shape and I did not want them to see at my "worst." However, I finally realized that they need to see me rise up and face my weakness, and that this in itself was leadership. I have allowed them to see me sweat, suffer, and be challenged. They share in my victories and miseries and I in theirs. I have done WODs with them that were tough for all of us. I am still usually last to finish, and there is no greater feeling than having my kids cheer for me saying "Come on, Mom! Just five more! You're almost there!" 

Matt is finding his niche with CF. He is already doing things that are pretty spectacular, and he throws himself completely into it. He enjoys the activity and the challenge. He is getting to know the  coach and the other kids at the box, and doesn't want to miss class. He is supporting his little sister who also thinks she is one tough cookie to be hanging and doin' with all the bigger dogs. She enjoys having his support.

I have raised my kids to have a deep faith and walk with God. Now I have to teach them to respect all of His creation including themselves. I guess that means I must start with me.

24" box jump

Cleared it--perfect form!