School Work.... Without Force!

So yes, I am posting a LOT of pictures all of a sudden! That's how I work. :) LOL

Tonight Brenna got some of her 'school stuff' from the shelf that I have in the computer room and decided to do some work. This is what happens all the time in my house and I absolutely LOVE it. I can not stand dishes in the sink, a dirty floor, laundry to be done, things laying around... BUT if there is learning stuff, like papers and workbooks, scattered throughout my house I just adore it!

Here's little Brenna learning all on her own - without parental guidence or force... *GASP!* Look what happens when you don't MAKE them do school work!! It actually becomes FUN!

Some pictures that Brenna took

I thought I would post some pictures that Brenna took. She loves to take my camera and go around the house and take loads of pictures. Thank goodness for my memory card. She will literally take about thirty pictures within five minutes!


Here's a picture of her favorite buddy - Tantrum. For those who do not know about him - he is her 'lovey' that she just can't live without.
















Cute picture that she took of herself. :)
















Her new buddy - Cuddles.
















One she took of me sitting at the computer....
















Another one she took of herself

Make-your-own-pizza day!

When I was a kid my Mom used to let us make our own pizzas with hoagie (sp??) rolls. We did that the other day for lunch and Brenna had such a great time and I got to relive my childhood. LOL They didn't taste quite as good as they did when I was a kid though. Mom, what was your secret ingredient?? :) Here's a couple pictures I took....

Summer time and lots of plans!

I figured that it is about time that I wrote another post. I am patting myself on the back for being much better about updating my blog. LOL :) Couple things to write about.....

Brenna was finally able to take out her earrings today. Six weeks is a long time for a six year old! I told her earlier this week that she would be able to wear new earrings soon and her little eyes got huge, her smile even bigger, and she was so excited. So today we went to the mall and I bought her an 'earring tree' and a bunch of earrings to fill it with. When we took out her original ones she cringed a little, anticipating pain, but soon found out that it was not as bad as she expected. She immediately picked out a new pair and I helped her put them on. I think it will be a while before she is able to do it herself. Maybe not - she surprises me a lot. Sometimes I get a kick out the way small things make her so happy. :) To be a kid again...... LOL

So we have a couple camping trips planned for this summer and all three of us are looking very forward to some great outdoor fun. Next month we are going to go with Brendon's mom and step-dad. The plans are still in the making but we are very excited. In August we are going back to central Texas for about 3 or 4 nights of camping at our favorite spot - Garner State Park! I think we would live there if we could! (Secretly, we have contemplated how much money it would take to go camping across Texas and surrounding States for a whole year. LOL If only Brendon's job would be secure for a whole year, I think we just might do it but I don't think that would happen. If only....)

We have such fond memories of last year at Garner and still look at the pictures all the time. I am hoping to get my parents to join us this year. My Mom is the one needing convincing. She's not much of an 'outdoorsy' person. But I think she would have a wonderful time if she just went. (I know you're reding this Mom....) I'd like to plan one more trip - maybe in the fall - to someplace that we have not been to yet. Of course there will be lots of pictures when we get back from them all. I'm so thankful that Brenna likes camping as much as Brendon and I do. It's just so great to get away from the city, cook all your meals outdoors, sleep in a tent and my favorite - no make-up or blow dryer! :) I love the simplicity and of course the relaxation. Something about being outside for three or four days straight just replenishes your soul.

So Brenna is not in karate anymore. After much thought she decided that it just wasn't really for her - at least right now. She did say that maybe when she gets older she would try it again. I really hope so because I think it is a great skill to have. She said that she wanted to get back into gymnastics so I will be looking into that again and signing her up very soon. I have also thought about getting her into an art class.

She is starting swimming lessons next week though! She was supposed to do it last summer but at the time she was still a little afraid of the water. In the last few months she has been dunking her head under water in the bath and seeing how long she can hold her breath and just getting to be much more comfortable with it. She is excited about learning how to swim now. She will be taking private lessons with my Mom's friend who has been teaching swimming for over 20 years. I will try to snap a few pictures of her and post them (IF I remember my camera).

Well nothing else really going on with us. Just enjoying the summer weather as well as praying for rain!!

Here's a picture that Brenna drew that she wanted to share. She is turning into quite the little artist!!

Funny Thing I Found

Here's a funny little thing I found on the Internet about socialization and homeschooling......


"When my wife and I mention we are strongly considering home schooling our children, we are without fail asked, 'But what about socialization?--' Fortunately, we found a way our kids can receive the same socialization that government schools provide.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I will personally corner my son in the bathroom, give him a wedgie and take his lunch money.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my wife will make sure to tease our children for not being in the 'in' crowd, taking special care to poke fun at any physical abnormalities.

Fridays will be 'Fad and Peer Pressure Day.' We will all compete to see who has the coolest toys, the most expensive clothes, and the loudest, fastest, and most dangerous car.

Every day, my wife and I will adhere to a routine of cursing and swearing in the hall and mentioning our weekend exploits with alcohol and immorality..--.. And we have asked them to report us to the authorities in the event we mention faith, religion, or try to bring up morals and values."

WOW!!

I read in the Parade magazine this past Sunday about the debate on the whole homeschooling issue in California (can read about it here) and came across this comment left by somebody. I thought it was wonderful and wanted post it on my blog. This is WELL SAID!

"As a homeschooling mother of a teenage boy who has his own business and has been more involved in the community in his young years than most people are in a lifetime, I am appauled and disgusted at CA's proposition to make homeschooling illegal! What the public needs to ask itself is why it isn't illegal for an institution to hold everyone between the ages of 5 and 18 prisoner for the best years of their lives, force-feeding them disconnected information that is not developmentally appropriate nor of interest to most children and effectively brainwashing them to be obedient cublicle workers and puppets of a comsumeristic, power-obsessed government. Homeschooling, especially John Taylor Gatto and John Holt's vision of homeschooling, allows children to live life now, passionately, fully, playfully and intelligently, not waste away in some pseudo-human stand-by mode in which they are IV fed the line about "what they can be someday" if they just sit down and shut up and robotically do what the teacher says. Forced schooling is a human rights violation that produces a passive, dumbed-down populace. Children's basic physical, emotional, developmental and intellectual needs are denied and ignored in public school. Powerless children form cruel and toxic peer cultures in order to grasp at some semblance of power in their immature, regimented lives. Children can't play anymore. There is no joy to childhood in public schools. Children who cannot conform to this excrutiating system are diagnosed with fabricated "brain disorders" and are drugged with dangerous, neurologically-altering chemicals. Homeschoolers are often exceptional youth who live a rich, vibrant life that public schooled children can only dream of! Instead of taking away this fundamental right for children to learn in freedom, we should be asking ourselves why it is legal and accepted blindly that we turn our children over to the government at age 5 to be isolated from family and from their own lives, interests, needs and passions for the best hours, days and years of their lives."

Thoughts on This School Year....

So I recently went back and spent a good chunk of time reading my entire blog from start to finish. It was quite interesting and I had forgotten a lot of the stuff I wrote about. It's so funny how much things changed from one month to another and how much I changed my "teaching methods". I am now totally approaching homeschooling completely different then I ever thought I would. I have read in many, many different books that the first year of homeschooling is basically a trial-and-error kind of thing and you're just figuring things out. I really thought I had it all figured out when I first started but how wrong I was. I went from one end of the spectrum to the other in just under a year -- having a completely structured sit-at-the-table school-like setting to such a non-structured, child-led learning style, as well as pretty much everything in between.

To be honest, I was scared to death when I first though about, as well as uttered the words to Brendon for the first time, "I'm going to homeschool Brenna". I felt in my heart that it was the right thing to do but of course you still question yourself. You wonder "Am I doing the right thing?", "Is she going to miss out on some aspect of childhood by not going to school?", "Are people going to think I'm absolutely nuts!?", and the self-doubt goes on and on. I even cried the night before she was supposed to start school at public school. My husband was the only one who knew about that one - until this moment I have never admitted that to anyone else. He was my savior though and was so good to me and reassured me that I WAS doing the right thing and reminded me of all the reasons why I chose to do what I wanted to do -- I don't know what I would do without that guy. :) It was very emotional for me that entire week, before and after that "first day of school". I thought that what I was doing was wrong and I started second guessing myself -- but you know what? I felt that way because I had never known anything different. EVERYONE sent their kids to school. That was what childhood WAS - school. But you know what I have learned this past year? Childhood is more than that. Childhood is exploring and creating and imagining. Childhood is having the freedom you need without being tied down to a school schedule and homework (especially at such a young age). I LOVE that we are able to plan school around life instead of life around school (my new motto). There have been countless nights this past year that, out of the blue (on a weekday none the less! LOL), we will all sit in the backyard and just talk or play and not even have a care in the world about the time. Brendon works such crazy hours too and it's nice that Brenna gets to stay up a little later then she would if she was going to school so that she can spend time with her Dad. That is so important. Homeschooling for us is a way of life that I would not change for anything. It gives our family such wonderful freedom that we wouldn't have if we were tied down to a school schedule.

Another thing that I realized this year is that I absolutely LOVE being with my daughter and she absolutely loves being with ME. And, for us, that is how it should be. I have stayed at home with Brenna since the day she was born and I have not missed out on one single thing and we have both enjoyed so much together. Most of Brenna's friends go to public school and yes, she hears about "real school" and sometimes it does make me a little nervous that she will start to wish that she could go to school. Just the other day though, she had two of her friends from the neighborhood over (girl 10 and boy 6) and I heard them talking to her about their school and telling her how nice Mrs. So-and-So is and all the stuff they get to do. Brenna was listening and not saying a word and when they were finished she told them that she loved being homeschooled and loved being able to do things with her Mom all day. She told them about her homeschool group and all the things that we do with them. She told them about being able to spend so much time with her PaPa and JoJo (Great-Grandparents) and said that she would never get to do those things if she went to school. That just made me beam! :)

I could go on and on about WHY I choose not to send my daughter to school and all the benefits that we get out of homeschooling but this post would seriously turn into a book. LOL
So back to my teaching...which was the whole point of this post. (Yes, I tend to go off on little tangents. :)

This year I learned a lot about the kind of teacher that I want to be for my daughter. I have read probably a dozen books on homeschooling as well as books on children in general. Just ask my husband. He will tell you about all the books I ordered on amazon.com and about all the information that I tried to fill his head with. hehehe Poor guy was constantly getting bombarded with, "So what I read today was...". I would cook dinner, literally, with a spoon in one hand and a book in the other. It was, and still is, ridiculous. LOL But I LOVE gathering as much information as I can. I know I have stated many times in my blog about how much I read.

After getting so much information though, I came to the conclusion that children learn best when they learn what THEY want to learn. My little Brenna is such a curious little sponge and has absolutely no problem with learning things on a daily basis. She asks soooo many questions throughout our day and is interested in lots and lots of different things. I gave up forcing her to sit at the table and do her "school work". It just was not working for us at all and we were both miserable. I figured out though that I have to jump on the opportunities that are presented to me everyday. Brenna will ask soooo many questions about obscure things every day. Instead of just saying, "I don't know", I go out of my way to find her the answers. The Internet is a WONDERFUL resource!! To me, that is being the best teacher that I can possibly be. And the beauty of that is it is things that SHE wants to know and not things that are forced on her. So will she retain that information better that way?? You betcha! And I tell ya, that kid asks some crazy questions!! LOL :)

So now that our completely-laid-back-year-of-Kindergarten is over what do I plan to do for first grade? I am still not getting a full-fledged curriculum for her. I don't believe in over-whelming her with text book school stuff right now - that can come later. We have plenty of time for that. As I mentioned in my last post though, I did get her a math curriculum, which we are having a good time with so far. We will work on her handwriting this year as well, but as far as anything else I think we will just keep having fun. Don't get me wrong - I'm not planning on being such a laid back homeschool Mom forever. There will come a time when we WILL do more school-like stuff but for right now what we are doing is really working for us. My daughter is learning PLENTY and we are having a blast in the process!

Homeschool Conference was GREAT!

So the conference that Lisa and I went to was so wonderful - I had such a great time and it was very inspiring! It was also very cool being around so many other people who homeschool. There were three big buildings set up with all the vendors and it was a lot of fun walking through and looking at everything. It was a bit overwhelming and there was so much that I wanted to buy but I stayed focused and just got the one thing that I went there for, which was a math curriculum. I went to two different seminars on two different math programs and finally decided on the one I wanted. I got her the Math-U-See curriculum. I was not planning on starting it until this fall but we already did our first lesson yesterday and it is a lot of fun and Brenna seems to like it. Some of the stuff is very easy and Brenna already knows it, so I think we will be finished with it rather quickly. The thing that I really like about this curriculum is that it is not based on grade-level. There are four different books and it is up to the child and how fast they catch on as to when you move to the next. So this first one might take us six months or so to finish but the next one might take over a year. It's all about mastering the concepts, not necessarily memorization or being at this topic at the time. I did want to look for a handwriting curriculum as well but I think I can handle that one on my own this year without workbooks and stuff.
I also got something else that is rather interesting. Brenna has been really into recycling lately and Lisa and I came across these composting kits with worms. It is so neat and such a great science lesson. You can read more about it here if you want to. So now we have about 100 pet worms (which will double within a couple months) in this bin and we feed them our organic trash and later I will have wonderful soil to feed my plants. We'll write more about it later and included pictures as well.

So I think homeschool conferences are going to become part of my yearly "must-do's". I got so much information and heard quite a few inspiring speakers. And like I said in my last post, it is nice being able to see all of the curriculum and pick it up and flip through it since there are so many to choose from. As Brenna gets older I'll start incorporating more and more curriculum and the conferences are such a wonderful way to really get a feel for something.

Homeschool Conference

So I am going to a REAL homeschool conference this weekend with my sister-in-law, Lisa, and I am really looking very forward to it! It's a pretty big one that will have all the curriculum vendors as well as some great speakers. I have been researching the speakers and their topics today, trying to figure out which ones I want to go to. So far the one that I am looking most forward to is "Organization: Time and Home". LOL Those who really know me know exactly HOW much I am looking forward to THAT one. :)
It is going to be awesome to be able to see all the stuff that the vendors have too. It is so different being able to actually LOOK at curriculum instead of just reading about it online or in a book. There are literally hundreds of different types of curriculum to choose from and to me it is a bit overwhelming. I think it will really help me to be able to flip through the books and see what it all entails. I'm not planning on getting too much when it comes to curriculum next year but I am looking into getting something for math as well as writing. I think those will be my two major things for Brenna next year. We'll see what kind of cool things I find though.
Anyways, I will post about my experience when we get back!! It's going to be like Disney World for a homeschool Mom!!! :)

Earrings!!

So Brenna and I were shopping yesterday and out of the blue she starts talking about getting her ears pierced. I have been wanting her to do it for a long time but it was completely up to her as to when she would get it done.
Well after talking about it a lot she finally looked at me with a big smile and said she was ready to get her ears pierced. Of course I haulted my shopping right then and there, checked-out and drove to the mall.
She did great and I am so proud of her! She looks like such a big kid now. :)

Another Camping Trip and Our Brenna is a HERO!!

Brendon, Brenna and I went camping at Lake Corpus Christi this past weekend. It was quite an eventful trip! We left on Friday and our plans were to stay until Monday. We made reservations last week but a few days before we were supposed to go we found out that there were, not one but TWO, cold fronts that were supposed to come in. We didn't let that scare us away though and went anyways. LOL We got there Friday evening and set up camp (picture to the left) and had a nice time hanging out and cooking dinner. Brenna made a couple friends right off the bat and kicked her ball around with them for a while. We went to bed Friday night and I woke up at 4 in the morning to flashes of lightening illuminating our tent. I waited for a while and it proceeded to get worse so I finally decided to wake up Brendon. It started to sprinkle a little and we felt like we had to come up with some kind of plan. Our tent was set up beneath two huge trees so we figured that it wasn't the safest place to be during a lightening storm. By this time Brenna had woken up from the thunder and us talking. We decided that the best place for us to be at that time was our truck. Right when we established a plan of action it started poring down rain! So now we started to panic a bit and I ran out to the truck and got our ponchos. Brendon then picked up Brenna and carried her like a sack of potatoes out to the truck. We then scrambled to get pillows and blankets transferred from the tent and after all the chaos we were finally safe and snug in our truck and spent the rest of the morning trying to get more sleep. It was quite an adventure!! We now look back on it and laugh. LOL

So after that huge mess we contemplated on whether we were going to stay or bail on our trip. We were driving around the park and came across these screened-in shelters. We decided to give up our tent because it was supposed to storm again that night. Long story short - we didn't have bad weather that night BUT it was still fun staying in the shelter. It did rain most of the next day (Sunday) so it was nice having a big place to stay and somewhere to hang out and play board games.
Saturday was beautiful though and we spent most of the afternoon at the lake. We had a big raft and Brenna loved swimming around everywhere. She still is not a good swimmer so she is stuck to wearing a life vest. There were lots of kids there and she made a few friends and had a blast.

Now here is quite a story.......(I am sure most of you know it by now but I just HAVE to tell it...)

Brendon and I were sitting at the picnic table that we were fortunate enough to call dibs on. Brenna was doing fine and she had her life vest on and we felt very comfortable letting her swim in the lake by herself (she stayed close to shore). As I was watching Brenna, my eyes went to this kid (about 5 years old) who kept going under water (about 20 feet from Brenna). At first I thought he was just playing around but I soon realized that he was in need of help - apparently he couldn't swim and was struggling to stay above the water. As soon as I realized that, I saw Brenna swimming towards the little boy. She was going as fast as she could and got to that little boy before anyone else realized what was going on. She held him up and kept his head above water and started paddling him back to the shore. When she was about half way back the boy's Dad realized what was happening and ran out there to get him. Poor thing was crying and coughing and was so scared. I truly feel that if Brenna had not seen him and been so brave to do what she did then things could have turned out really, really bad.
Brendon and I are so proud of her!!! She thought fast and didn't even hesitate one second when she realized that somebody needed help. Brendon and I asked her what she was thinking and how she knew he was in trouble and she just said that she saw that he couldn't swim and saw him going under water and she just kinda shrugged her shoulders and said, "I just knew I had to help him."
Later when we were leaving the boy came up to Brenna with his Aunt and thanked her for saving his life. It was such an amazing thing that my little girl did and as parents we couldn't be prouder!!! GOOD JOB BRENNA!!!!

Lots of pictures!!

We have done so much these last couple weeks. I have a lot to write about as well as quite a few pictures to post. I guess I'll start with the park clean-up for Girl Scouts.

On the 19th Brenna and her Girl Scout Troop went to one of the local parks and picked up trash. They have been discussing recycling and how to make the world a better place. They all had a really good time and stayed afterwards and had lunch and played on the playground for a while.

We also went to Rio Fest that weekend and Brenna had such a good time. Rio Fest is a small festival that they have here once a year. There are games and activities for the kids to do as well as GREAT food (that's my favorite part! LOL). She got to pet a camel, see how a cow is milked, pet a miniature horse, ride in a paddle boat and also sat in a real helicopter! She was the only kid there at the time and the pilot let her wear the helmet (I got a great picture of that!). This year they had a section with bouncy houses and of course that is where we spent most of our time. I took some cute pictures of Brenna that I want to share.

Another really cool thing happened too since I last posted. Brenna and I went to the zoo with my friend Mieree and her daughter two weeks ago. Since both of the girls are homeschooled we usually go during the week while other kids are in school. It is so nice and we practically have the whole place to ourselves. The girls can run ahead and look at what they want and we don't have to worry about a lot of other people. Wonderful example of #13 from one of my favorite things that I have ever read about homeschooling..... 13. Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky.

So while we were there the girls were in the petting zoo brushing the goats and playing with the baby camel that they have in there. A woman who worked at the zoo came out carrying three huge bottles and told the girls (who were the only kids there) that she could use a helper - she was there to feed the camel! Yes, Brenna got to feed a baby camel three bottles!! It was so cool and such a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing. I've never fed a camel a bottle, have you?? :) LOL That's just one of the things I love about homeschooling - you're out in the real world and get to experience things that you never would if you were at school. But being the forgetful Mom that I am I didn't even have my camera!! I was sooooo upset about that.

Anyway, I finally finished reading my book about the benefits of socialization when you homeschool and it was WONDERFUL (I wrote about it in my last post). In fact, I am reading it for a second time just so I can absorb as much information from it as I can. It made so many great points and really justified my reason for homeschooling. The entire book talks about how children who are homeschooled really ARE better socialized than kids who are in school. Most people think it is the other way around. I won't get into all the details. If you're interested then just ask. I'll send you a big long email that you probably will wish you never asked for. LOL :)

So as a closing --- I just want to thank everyone who takes time to read my blog. I have over 1300 hits so far (almost 1400!) in just under a year. I think that is amazing and I am grateful. Hopefully I will become better at not posting so sporadically. :)

New Book

So yes, I am addicted to books about homeschooling and am reading yet another one. Curriculum, socialization, general information about homeschooling - just about anything. As I have said before, I don't think I have ever been as passionate about something in my entire life as I am about this. I don't read the books to convince myself that what I am doing is right for us - because I strongly believe in what I am doing is soooooo for me and my family (I could not imagine doing anything else!) - I read them to gain as much knowledge as I can on the subject for myself and so that I can also educate other people when they have questions.
For example.... Brenna plays with two twin boys that live right behind us. I love these boys and they all play so great together. They are six years old and currently go to public school. When I first met their Mom (about a year ago) and when she found out I was homeschooing Brenna she told me that was something that she could never do. (Never say never....) Recently she has told me that she is, in fact, considering homeschooling all three of her boys because she is fed up with the public school system. All of her reasons are things that I have been against from the start and reasons as to why I do what I do....

- way too much emphasis on the standardized testing. Apparently there are 23 bench-mark tests throughout the year! Yes!! 23!! In one school year!! That is almost three a month. So they really ARE going to school just to learn how to take a test - sad. And WHY would I want to send my child to public school if the only thing she is going to learn is how to pass a government test?? What exactly are they really learning from that?

- the "bad" kids at the school are making things miserable for all the kids. When the bad kids mess up then the entire class gets punished. "The inmates are winning", she says. This is one huge thing for me. I absolutely DO NOT want to send my kid to public school where she will socialize and hang around kids who I do not know at all. My sister-in-law told me that when she was working in the public school district, she would have little kids (I'm talking 2nd or 3rd grade) tell her all about the horror movie that they went and saw the night before. Just the other day my Dad and I were sitting in the waiting room at the hospital to see my Grandpa and this father was there with his two small children talking to another man. During about a one minute conversation he used about four curse words while his kids were sitting two feet away from him. My Dad looked at me and said, "That is what's wrong with kids today" and basically insinuated that he doesn't blame me for what I am doing.

- the kids don't really get to socialize at school. I just found out that the public school that Brenna would be attending does not allow boys and girls to play together on the playground. What kind of socialization is that? Does that happen in life? Just out of curiosity I looked up the definitions of "socialization" on the Internet and this is what I got.....

1. a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position.
2. To place under government or group ownership or control. (interesting....)
3. To make fit for companionship with others; make sociable.
4. To convert or adapt to the needs of society.

Does this sound like what is happening in the public schools? Which definition is true in relation to acquiring socialization skills in school? The kids don't get to talk in the cafeteria during lunch; they are not allowed to talk during class and now, apparently, they are not allowed to intermingle with the opposite sex.

Okay, so I am starting to get a little off topic. My whole point was about talking to this Mom who was thinking about homeschooling her three boys. That is why I love to read all the books that I do. When she called me and started asking me questions I had the answers. Not just my opinion but facts.

Okay, so my whole point of this post was to share a passage from this book that I am reading and I got a bit carried away and made this post longer than I had anticipated.
The book I am reading is The Well-Adjusted Child - The Social Benefits of Homeschooling by Rachel Gathercole. I was very excited to find this book because, until now, I was not able to find a book just on the socialization aspect of homeschooling. Almost all touch on it but to have an entire book focused on that one subject was very exhilarating. I am only about a quarter of the way through it but I came across a very interesting piece that I wanted to share. I will post it and then leave my post at that since this has become quite long. I will probably be posting more from this book in the next few days, as well, as I come across things that really move me.

Part of Chapter Three - What is Good Socialization, Anyway?

" Socialization is important. There is not doubt about that. No one wants their child to be a "misfit"; no one wants their child to be lonely, unhappy, or unprepared for future relationships. There is no doubt why the question of children's socialization is an issue for all parents and is a particularly common focus when people think or inquire about homeschooling. Parents, quite rightly, want their children to grow up in a healthy and proper social environment. Concerned citizens want all children to have this opportunity as well.
But unless we know exactly what healthy socialization is, we can not determine what kind of environment encourages it or even whether children - homeschooled, traditionally schooled, or otherwise - are properly or improperly socialized. So just what is good socialization?
This may seem like a simple enough question. But though everyone agrees that socialization is important, there is no commonly understood and accepted definition of "good" socialization. It is not enough to say that good socialization means being "normal". Every individual developes her own idea of what socialization (and even "normal") means and what it should be. There is no standardized test at the end of high school rendering a socialization score, no common objectives for socialization over the course of schooling. There is only happiness and the ability to function well in the world. And even these are very personalized matters.
Indeed, socialization is a very personal concept. We must all chose what kind of socialization we want or feel is appropriate for our children. Is it an ability to "fit in"? To be comfortable being oneself? To get along with others, to stand up for oneself, or both? To blend in or to walk away in the face of peer pressure? Is it preparation to belong to a group? To lead it? The interpretations and perspectives abound. Likewise, as pointed out earlier, the question, " What about socialization?" asked of homeschoolers by a hundred different people can mean a hundred different things. Do homeschoolers have friends? Self-esteem? Do they hold down jobs when they grow up? Are they "cool"? Do their parents smother them? How will they learn to deal with bullies? Learn independence? Sometimes it means one of these things, sometimes several, and sometimes something completely different. One thing is certain: socialization remains an elusive, abstract concept that parents, educators, and citizens alike fear because, in the end, we simply do not know what it is."

Birthday Girl At Last!

So much has happened since I posted last. One huge thing is that my little girl turned 6 years old. Her birthday was Sunday, April 6th. She was so excited about not being 5 anymore and had been looking forward to her birthday for months. :) She had her birthday party at the bowling alley on Saturday and all the kids had such a great time. We had a wonderful turn out and thirteen of Brenna's friends joined her in celebrating. She had a Hannah Montana party (of course!) and she wore her jean skirt with a Hannah t-shirt. I found a really cute hair extention thing with purple and blonde/brown hair that we clipped on her ponytail and she looked adorable. I downloaded all of the pictures from her party to a website so if you want to check all of them out then just click on the link below. (Double click on the first picture and just click "Next" on the right to view them one by one)http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v23/raving_butterfly/Brenna6Birthday/

For her birthday Brenna decided that she wanted to go to the beach. We packed up Sunday morning and spent nearly the whole day there. We took our screened-in porch tent that we use for camping, along with a table, chairs and a cooler full of drinks and food and drove on the beach and found a nice little spot to set up our "day camp". Our friends Jake and Mieree and their daughter Rhiannon met us there. The girls had so much fun together and Brenna went boogie boarding all by herself and did a fantastic job.

After we got home that evening Brenna was relaxing and watching a tv show and Brendon and I surprised her with a piece of her birthday cake from her party with a candle and sang Happy Birthday.

Here are a few pictures from the beach......

So the co-ops that our homeschool group have been doing are going wonderfully. Next week is our last one and we are going to miss going on Wednesdays. We will be doing it again next school year though. Since the co-ops will be ending we will start doing Report Days again as well as field trips.

Here are a few pictures from co-op during "recess" that I wanted to share.

New Pictures

Well I fianlly get to post some new pictures on here. Yes, that is Brenna at school in her pajamas! LOL She did such a great job this morning practicing her writing and is getting so much better. I will start posting more pictures of the things she does during the day.

New Computer At Last!

Well I finally went and bought a new computer! That means I will start posting more pictures as well because I now have an up-to-date computer that I can download my camera software on to. I really want to start putting more pictures of Brenna's work and the experiments that we do. So I think it will be fun for everyone. :) I want to try to put small videos on the blog too - I will have to figure out how to do that.
Anyway, tomorrow night we are going to an Easter Egg Hunt with the homeschool group. The church that the group meets at do it every year. It is at someone's house out on 3 acres and there will be bouncy houses, hotdogs and and an egg hunt as soon as it gets dark. The kids find eggs by flashlight! I think we are going to have sooo much fun!

Well everyone, look for lots and lots of pictures soon! I will also post again later when I have more time! :)

Livestock Show

Brendon, Brenna and I went to the livestock show this past weekend and had a wonderful time! Brenna really showed more of an interest in the animals this year and even asked me if she could raise a pig when she gets bigger. YEA! Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I was in FFA in High School and had animals at the stock show - those were my fondest memories and I absolutely loved it. I would be the happiest Mom in the world if Brenna decided that she wanted to do the same thing. Brendon said that the only reason I want her to do it is so I can do it again too. LOL I did look into 4-H but according to the website she has to be 8 or older to participate. If anyone (maybe Stephanie!??) knows different then please let me know. I don't think that I would necessarily have her raise an animal right away but it would be nice to get her involved with a horticulture project or something. We did see this little girl (maybe about 7?) showing a heifer at the stock show and Brenna was AMAZED and thought she was great. :)
Anyways, Brenna had a blast at the carnival too! We got her a wrist band so she was able to go on all the rides she wanted to. I think that's where we spent most of the day. Oh, and guess what?? She had to stand in line! *GASP* It was touch and go there for a little while but she did pretty good for a homeschooled kid who didn't learn how to stand in line at school. (Sorry - I had to be a little sarcastic there. If your confused, read my previous post....)
So of course I don't have any pictures because I forgot to take my camera. Maybe we'll go again next weekend and I won't be so forgetful. I just feel that I HAVE to get a picture of her standing in line for the blog. That would be too funny. :) Maybe I'll put it on the sidebar with a cute little caption. LOL

Till next time.... off to bed. :)

Rants of a Non-Conformist

So I'm warning you now - if you don't want to hear/read strong opinions about my thoughts on homeschooling then I suggest you just skip this post. And just for the record - I do not mean to offend anyone.

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So I have been 'officially' homeschooling for almost an entire school year and have not really come across very many people that object to my choice. For the most part everyone pretty much supports me and I am grateful for that. My family has stood behind me 100% - maybe not since day one when I first brought it up, but after educating them on homeschooling I think those who were iffy about it have realized that it's not such a horrible thing and is nothing like they thought it was. To be honest, when I first heard of homeschooling the first thing that came to my mind was "Oh, those poor kids!". Since then I have educated myself and have read many, many books about the subject. You will not find a more passionate person about homeschooling. I love to talk to people about it, even though I find myself not offering as much information as I used to unless the person I am talking to specifically asks about it.
The thing that really irks me though is when people who know NOTHING about homeschooling open their mouths and tell you what you are doing is wrong. Maybe not in those exact words but they pretty much get their opinion across to you. Most of these people base their opinion on a "couple weird homeschool kids" they knew years ago. So are they weird and a little shy BECAUSE of homeschooling or would they be the same way if they attended public or private school?? I actually worked in a private school for a little while and came across some kids who were a "little off" and not as social as most of the other kids. Did I think anything of it? No, because everyone has a different personality - some are not as outgoing as others, even as adults. It's not fair that people tend to judge and scrutinize homeschooled children more then they do school kids. Perfect example of #20 from the Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List - "Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood." How true that is.

So yes, as you can tell, the reason for this post is because I had a run-in with a person who just does not agree with my choice at all. Not a friend or family member - I will just say that it was an acquaintance.
Basically their whole argument was the "socialization thing". Without even knowing ANYTHING at all about homeschooling they had the nerve to tell me that they were worried about my child socially.
***insert huge eye roll***
"What about having friends?" (She has more than I do!)
"How is she going to learn how to behave and follow directions?" (Because she spends all day with her meanie Mommy who orders her around, makes her clean her room, help with the house work, feed all her pets, take her on all my errands - you want me to go on??? I think what you might ACTUALLY be concerned about is that my kid is not going to turn out to be some cookie-cutter, government raised school child who can't think for herself)
"How is she going to learn how to stand in line?" (You're kidding, right????? What are some of your examples of standing in line in everyday life? The grocery store, bank, DMV - been there, done that - WITH my child. She learns about standing in line just fine THANK YOU. In fact, she acts better most of the time then other children at those places, who I assume learned to stand in line at school)
"Does she get to play with other kids on a regular basis?" (No, she's locked up at home all day and night and has absolutely no contact with other children..... Of course she gets to play with other kids!! I've practically adopted the neighborhood children!)

Ok, so if you know my child AT ALL then you would know that she does, in fact, know how to socialize - I call her my social little butterfly. Most of the time I can not get her to QUIT talking! She talks to EVERYBODY! When we go to the park she is the first kid there to walk up to another kid and say, "Hi! My name is Brenna - do you want to play?" As for having friends - almost every day of the week I have at least two kids from our neighborhood over here playing. Actually, as I am writing this right now she is in her room playing with three little girls that live in our neighborhood. She has friends in my Mom's neighborhood, in karate, Girl Scouts and in our homeschool group. My daughter gets along and knows how to socialize with kids of ALL AGES. She has friends as young as 3 and as old as 10 and they get along GREAT and act as if age difference is not a factor. Would she get that in school? No - she would be segregated into a classroom with children 6 months older or 6 months younger then her. Is that realistic? Does that happen in real life? When was the last time that you were at a job or a party or at any kind of function where ALL of the people were either 6 months younger or 6 months older then you (well besides your High School reunion LOL)? In real life you need to learn to get along with people of all ages, right? Socialization is what happens in society. When we play, talk, work and live with other people - people of all ages - we are socialized by the experience. Very little of this happens in schools.

Here are a few paragraphs from a wonderful article that I found written by a homeschool parent of five years. It says exactly how I feel but I am not able to put it into words as eloquently as he does so I will just share this with you (read the entire article here).......

"In order for children to become assimilated into society properly, it is important to have a variety of experiences and be exposed to differing opinions and views. This enables them to think for themselves and form their own opinions. This is exactly what public education does not want; public education is for the lowest common denominator and influencing all of the students to share the same views ("group-think") and thought-control through various means, including peer-pressure.
Homeschooling allows parents the freedom to associate with other interested parties, visit local businesses, museums, libraries, etc. as part of school, and to interact with people of all ages in the community. For example, my son goes on field trips with other homeschooling families in our community. He recently was able to visit an audiologist, a McDonald's restaurant (to see how they run their operation), and several other similar activities. He gets to meet and talk to people of different ages doing interesting (and sometimes not so interesting) occupations. He spends a lot of his free time with kids older and younger than himself, and adults from twenty to over ninety years old.
Meanwhile, in public school, children are segregated by age, and have very little interaction with other adults, except their teacher(s). This environment only promotes alienation from different age groups, especially adults. This is beginning to look like the real socialization problem."

Brenna interacts with many, many children as well as adults - which is very important too. As most of you know, I am my Grandfather's caretaker and Brenna and I go over there everyday of the week. She spends a lot of time with her great-grandparents. My Grandpa has diabetes and has been on dialysis for the past couple years. When Brenna is around him she is so sweet and she loves to take care of her Papa. She has learned empathy, caring and how to interact with older people. She knows that she has to 'speak up a little' and she knows what is and is not good for Papa to eat (she sounds so cute when she says, "Papa, that's not good for your blood sugar!"). She is getting a priceless life lesson by spending so much time with them. If she was going to school, she would be missing out on all of that.
The bottom line on all of this is that I love my daughter with everything that I have. I love spending time with her and teaching her and yes, I love the fact that I have control over what kind of socialization she obtains and who it is with. If that sounds too protective, then so be it. Brendon and I are the only people in this whole world who are responsible for raising her and making sure that she turns out to be the best person that she can be.

I apologize for being so blunt and opinionated in this post. I told Brendon that I was going to post about this after I had that encounter and he said that I should just let it go and not write this post. I told him though that I would never say any of this TO someone (at least not as ugly LOL) and that I am usually not this obnoxious but this IS my blog and it IS about homeschooling - the good and the bad - and that I should be able to write what and how I feel. I don't force anyone to read this. I love to write and I really enjoy it.
And just for the record - I don't want anyone to feel that they can't talk to me about homeschooling for fear that I will "blow up" and become offended. I LOVE talking about it and I love educating people and answering questions. Questions, even the silliest ones, I don't mind (I actually LOVE them! :) - I just get irritated when uneducated people spout off stupid, ignorant things when they have no idea what they are talking about.
Thanks for letting me vent. Maybe SOMEBODY got some entertainment from it. LOL :) *cringing as I hit the "Publish Post" button*