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*

Co-op Classes

So I guess everyone is just going to have to accept the fact that I will have a new post about every two weeks. LOL I know I was supposed to post after our first co-op class but now two have passed and I am just getting around to writing.
The classes so far have gone pretty well. We have such a wonderful group of kids and they are all so pleasent to be around and so easy to teach. As I said before, we have been learning about weather in the Kinder-1st class. The past two weeks have been about the water cycle and they have really seemed to enjoy it. I only have two more weeks of playing teacher until it is my turn to help the mom who is helping me right now. I think I am finished with the water cycle so I will have to come up with something new. Brenna mentioned learning about rainbows and I actually came across a cool science experiment involving milk, oil and food coloring. I'll have to try that one out and see what else I can come up with too.
The Mom's Chat that we have been doing at co-op has been nice. As I mentioned before, all the moms take turns and only teach for one hour out of the two. The hour that you are not teaching is spent sitting and talking about various topics with some of the other moms. As I said, it's nice BUT I think it is waaayyy too structured. There is a moderator who kinda keeps things going by following a detailed agenda typed up on a piece of paper. So that might be okay for a bunch of people sitting around who had absolutely nothing to talk about but that is definitely not a problem with our group. In fact, before we 'officially' start with the chat we are all sitting around having a great conversation that is suddenly haulted when our moderator shows up. Our last chat was about our kids and what kind of responsibilities they have around the house. The only thing we had time for (the hour goes by pretty fast) was going around the table and listening to each person say what their kid(s) does around the house. I really don't think anyone got anything useful out of the whole thing. Maybe next week I'll volunteer to be the moderator, stand up, rip up the agenda and say "Ok ladies, let's just TALK!" LOL!! Yeah right.

Anyway, we have been busy painting the outside of our house, FINALLY! When we bought our house almost four years ago the paint was pretty shabby and has done nothing but get worse. We had someone come and replace some boards, which is what was holding us up. So after that got finished I became a painting fool. We have the front pretty much finished except for a few small details. It looks soooo much better and we are very happy with it. This weekend we were supposed to start on the sides but I seriously need a break. I didn't realize how much work it is to paint a house! It's not just the painting though - it's the pressure washing, sanding and caulking that takes up so much time. I seriously went through four tubes of caulking just in the front! So next weekend we will pick up our brushes again and get to work. I will have to post some before and after pictures on here soon.

So Brenna has been doing great with her homeschooling. I have been really concentrating on her reading comprehension lately. Since she is getting so good at reading I kinda wanted to see if she was just 'going through the motions' or if she was really comprehending what she was reading. After she reads a book now I have been asking her questions about the story. Come to find out she really does pay attention to what she is reading and does a fantastic job answering my questions. I also have this booklet with short stories that have little quizzes and she does great with those as well. We've also been doing some math here and there - addition, subtraction and even touching on a little bit of multiplication. My next project I want to do is get a big map of the world and start studying where all of our food that we eat comes from. I want her to realize that food does not just come from the grocery store and that most of it comes from very far away. I thought it would be interesting to hang up the map somewhere and start labeling it with pictures and/or words of the foods we buy.

Ok, well I am off to clean my house. It's gotten pretty bad this week since I used every second of my free time to paint. I am going to send Brenna and Brendon off to play golf while I crank up my music and get my house in order again!
Hope everyone has a great week! :)

(Note - Please forgive any misspellings. For some reason the Spell Checker on here is not working)

Ramblings...

With Brenna in bed, my house all clean and Brendon at work for a bit I thought this would be a good time to post. Seems like I don't have all that much time to myself these days. Between keeping up with Brenna (questions, projects, playing games, ect...), going to my Grandparents everyday and all the other tedious little tasks I am responsible for I sometimes feel like I can't even breathe without penciling it in to my schedule. But that's okay - I like to keep busy. It IS nice though having some peace and quiet every now and then. And I absolutely treasure those days when I have nothing at all to do! No Girl Scouts, karate, grocery shopping, homeschool stuff, ect. Usually that happens on a weekend. That's when I go out in my yard for hours and mow, water, pull weeds and trim. That is my therapy. My yard work replenishes my soul. Sounds silly to most but that is what I love to do. I can not wait until Spring when I can mow my grass more than once a month and start having things to do on a weekly basis again. Brenna likes to help me with yard work. Her favorite thing is pulling weeds OF COURSE! What 5 year old doesn't like to get dirty? :)
Anyway, we had our Homeschool Group Report Day this past Wednesday. Brenna didn't do a report this time. Most of the kids do not do one every time. I am sure she will during the next one though. She wants to do it on butterflies so we'll have to start on that soon.
Next week our Co-op starts again. I am not prepared for that AT ALL. I will have the Kinder-1st for the first hour and I think I already mentioned that we are doing weather related stuff. So I am sure this weekend I will be surfing the Net and going to the library to get all the stuff I need. I do this a lot - put stuff off till the last minute. I think I work better like that sometimes, I don't know. It drives me crazy though. LOL

So our Valentines's Day was very nice. Last night (Wednesday) I stayed up until almost midnight and cut out about 50 different size red and pink hearts from construction paper and hung them all with string from the ceiling in the livingroom. When Brenna woke up this morning and walked out into the livingroom she had a huge smile on her face and thought it was so cool. They came to right above her head and she ran around the room hitting them all with her hands. I like to do little things like that to surprise her. :) She also had heart shaped waffles for breakfast.
Brendon came home from work and had a beautiful bouquet of flowers, chocolate covered strawberries and a card for me. He also bought Brenna a card and a box of SweetHearts. I still have the hearts hanging in the livingroom. I will probably leave them up until this weekend. It took me about two hours to do it so I want to leave them up for a little while.
Well Brendon is home so I better end this. I will probably post again next week after co-op.
Till keyboard and fingers meet again.....

Tragedy

This morning Brenna and I were supposed to go to Report Day for the Homeschool Group. As we were getting ready I received a phone call that it was cancelled and was told that one of the Dad's from our homeschool group was involved in a helicopter crash. It was an AirCare helicopter and he was the pilot. His body has not been found yet.
If you could please say a small prayer for this family. They just moved here from Michigan not too long ago and have no family here. The mother (Karen)homeschools all three of their boys. I just can not even imagine what she is going through right now.
Thanks.

******UPDATE****** 2/7
I did not think it was necessary to create a new post. Just wanted to let everyone know that Robert was found the next day after the helicopter accident. Him, as well as two others, did not survive. There are quite a few women from our homeschool group that are helping Karen with meals and childcare as well as emotional support. My heart really goes out to her. As a stay-at-home/homeschool Mom I know that this is my worst fear. Please continue to keep her and her boys in your prayers.

Hannah Montana

Today Brenna, Kastine and I went to the Hannah Montana Movie/Concert. It was in 3D and was so, so, so cool!! It was the next best thing to actually going to a live concert. The girls had a BLAST and thought it was great. I took a couple pictures of Brenna posing before the movie.
She wore her "rock star" outfit that PJ and Jenny got her for Christmas.

My Big Brag for the Day

So I forgot to mention in my previous posts....

Brenna is exceeding wonderfully in her reading!! She reads everything now and hardly needs any help. Just the other night she read a book that was a 2nd - 3rd grade reading level all by herself (with the exception of a few words like 'prevention'). I was so proud of her!! She was just beaming when she was finished and was very proud of herself as well. YEAH BRENNA!!

Pictures from our Zoo Trip (post about it below)

Just Some Thoughts....

So my blog now has over 1000 hits and I am so greatful and so happy (and quite surprised to be honest!) that people actually care enough about my boring life to want to read about it. LOL :)

Anyway, nothing really all that new going on with us lately. Brenna is doing FANTASTIC in karate and is sooooooo much better about not talking and paying attention more. I think a little of that might be rubbing off at home too - not much but enough. Maybe *I* should make her give me 10 push-ups when she acts up. Not a bad idea.... :) I'm willing to try anything sometimes. Really though, she is a good kid - just so hyper sometimes. She has an endless supply of energy - as most kids this age have, I am assuming (hoping!) - and she makes me tired just watching her sometimes. Some friends of ours come over quite a bit on the weekends - no children of their own yet, I might add - and are just in awe at how much Brenna just goes and goes and goes. And this is at about 8pm, right before her bedtime, and they wonder how on Earth she falls asleep at night. Sometimes I wonder that too, but she is usually asleep fairly quick - even when she's running around the livingroom five minutes before bedtime. LOL I guess I would be too if I did as much as she does.
Every once in a while I think about how she would be if she did go to school and was expected to sit still for longer than a few minutes?? Oh I laugh just thinking about it!! Her poor, poor teacher. I love it though - I love that she is so creative, goofy, silly and full of energy. I love that we can spend all day outside if that's what she wants to do. I love her imagination and her stories that she makes up and her love for nature. I really could not see her cooped up in a classroom all day.
Speaking of not being cooped up all day -- Brenna and I went to the zoo yesterday afternoon and had such a wonderul time. We practically had it to ourselves and would see somebody else every once in a while. It was a beautiful day and all the animals were out playing. We took a clipboard and some paper with us and did a cool experiment. While we were going through the zoo we categorized all of the animals by which continent they were from. Come to find out, most of the animals in our zoo come from Africa. Brenna also took her colored pencils and drew quite a few masterpieces of some of the animals. One picture she drew was of a spider monkey that was behind glass. While she was drawing, that funny little monkey was right there at the ledge watching her and I swear if it wasn't POSING! So cute!
Ok, we are off to karate pretty soon. As soon as I get a new computer (which will be soon!) I will start posting more pictures.

The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List

The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List
From Secular Homeschooling Magazine, Issue #1

1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?

2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.

3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.

4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.

5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.

6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.

7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.

8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.

9 Stop assuming that if we're religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.

10 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.

11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to school.

12 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.

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.

14 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

15 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.

16 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.

17 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it's some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.

18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.

19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.

20 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.

21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she's homeschooled.

22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.

23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.

24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.

25 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!

A little bit of everything...

Merry (belated) Christmas to everyone! I hope everyone had a great holiday. Ours was wonderful - lots of family, food and gifts. :) Brenna made out pretty good this year and got a lot of nice things. Brendon and I got her a lot of cool stuff (no toys from us this year!). She got a new bike from 'Santa', a helmet, telescope, a planetarium, a couple games and her own set of golf clubs. Brendon loves to play and Brenna has really been showing an interest in it and wants to go with him all the time. So I found these cute clubs with a bag just her size. She was so excited and has gone out with Daddy once. They played 9 holes and he said that she got the ball in three of the holes all by herself. :) They are going to start going out to the driving range and the putting practice area every weekend. I will have to go with them and take my camera. Brendon said that she did real good and was very excited. She is our retirement plan. LOL!
So Brenna got a karaoke machine from Grandma and Grandpa too, which she LOVES! You really should see her sing Hannah Montana songs - it is pretty entertaining. Aunt Jenny and PJ got her a "rock star" outfit and she has a blond wig and knows ALL the moves. By the way, Hannah Montana is a pop star that Brenna loves. No more Wiggles or cute little kid songs for her. It is actually kinda sad for me. Makes me realize that she is not a little baby anymore. I can't believe that she will be 6 this year. How the time flies!! I am so ready for another baby - hopefully this year will be our lucky year. :)

Anyways, Brenna is doing GREAT in karate and Brendon and I are so proud of her. Anyone who knows Brenna knows that she LOVES to talk and is a social little butterfly and wants to make friends with everybody! That has really been our biggest obstacle in karate. She just wants to talk to everyone and "be Brenna", as my Mother would say. I finally had a talk with her and told her that karate is not 'social time'. She has been MUCH better and is paying attention a lot more. Her teacher is great with her though. He actually made her do push-ups a couple weeks ago because she would not stop talking. I hate to say this but... I thought it was GREAT! LOL :) She needs that and needs to learn how to pay attention more and focus on things. Right now she is a white belt (beginning belt) but on March 1st she will be take the promotion test for her yellow belt.

Well there's not really much to write about on the homeschooling. We took an extra long Christmas vacation. LOL The Homeschool Group has not met in a while because of Christmas and the New Year. That should all resume sometime pretty soon. In February we will start our Co-op again but this time it will be for two months instead of one and we will be meeting every Wednesday. I will be one of the teachers in the Kinder-1st class and will be teaching them about weather. I will have to start researching things soon and come up with some cool hands-on stuff. I am all about the hands-on learning. Kids learn so much better that way and have so much more fun.
As for OUR homeschooling, we really haven't been doing that much the past month. Brenna came down with two colds/sinus stuff within a month and each one knocked her on her butt for about a week. I was sick too for almost a week and a half so that kinda slowed us down a bit. Neither of us were sick during Christmas though, thank goodness. I really wasn't all that concerned with 'school stuff' during the holidays either. She has been reading though and is getting better and better. We have started reading the Junie B. Jones series. They are about a 5 year old little girl and are so funny and she loves them. They are chapter books, which I like so much better then the books with pictures on every page that you are finished with in five minutes. We incorporate math and science into our days as well - it might not be 'sit-at-the-table' type stuff but what 5 year old wants to do THAT? LOL For example, we were at my Grandma's the other day and I was filling her ice maker and had a few huge chunks that I had to get rid of in the sink. A light bulb went off in my head and I called Brenna in the kitchen. I showed her the ice and asked her what ice was made of and why it was hard, told her what temperature water had to get to in order to freeze, ect.... I had the faucet running and asked her what would happen if I put it under the warm water. She was so interested and was really into it and answered all of my questions correctly. She had a blast holding the ice and watching it melt under the water in her hand. It was a lot of fun and she loved it! Something so simple yet so fascinating to a five year old. I love it!
I would like to start doing more writing pretty soon with her though. She knows HOW to write all of her letters, we just need to perfect them. We will probably accomplish that with pavement and chalk. :) I am also thinking of giving her spelling words every week and having spelling tests on Fridays. Nothing hard - just easy words like 'the', 'girl', 'boy', ect.... She writes all the time and does a pretty good job spelling most things but she writes phonetically (the way things sound) - like 'knock' to her is 'nok'. I have read that it is very good that she is doing that - especially at her age. I think she will have fun with spelling words though. And if not, then that's okay - I will at least try it. I do not want to force her to do anything. That's why so many kids have such a hard time learning or think that learning isn't FUN - because it is FORCED on them. I don't want to force anything on my daughter. If some people think that I am going too easy on her or think that kids are SUPPOSED to be forced to learn or "that's just what they need to do", then so be it. That is one of the reasons why I chose to homeschool. All the books I have read and articles on the Internet all say the same thing when it comes to children learning - it HAS to be fun and enjoyable to them and something that THEY want to do. Is my daughter going to never learn anything unless I make her sit at the table and force her to study and read out of textbooks and do worksheets? Of course not. Children have a natural desire to learn. A lot of times that natural desire is crushed (by the public school system I think) because they are made to do things. Does that mean that I will never make her sit and study something or challenge her? No. But she is only 5 and I want to instill in her at an early age that learning is fun; not a chore or something that has to be dreaded. I want to eventually have a child that craves knowledge and WANTS to learn new things. I, as a mother, do not want to crush that natural desire.

OMG! A month - really???

A whole month has gone by without me updating! Shame on me. I really was trying to be better too. I hope everyone has not given up on me. I guess I should send out another email and let everyone know that I have not forgotten about my blog. I do have an excuse though - a lame one, BUT an excuse no less. LOL My computer crashed and I have been using a laptop that Brendon's Mom gave us. I am very grateful that I at least HAVE a computer (and that I don't have to go out right away and spend hundreds of dollars on a new one! - thank you Dea Jae) but it really stinks typing on a laptop keyboard. So I finally hooked up my regular keyboard to the laptop and - WAH-LA! - now I am posting! :)
So I guess a lot has happened in the past month. Brenna is still in karate and she is doing GREAT! I am so proud of her. She goes twice a week - sometimes three, depending on if she has Girl Scouts that week (Girl Scouts is three weeks out of the month). She loves it and really looks forward to going. Girl Scouts is going pretty good too. Being a Daisy scout is pretty boring though. I didn't start until 2nd grade so I was already a Brownie. Maybe her leader has something to do with that though?? Ok, I will NOT be ugly. Brendon met her the last meeting and totally understands what I have been telling him (read my last post if you haven't and you will understand).
Anyway, homeschooling is going great too. On out last Report Day for the Homeschool Group Brenna finally did a presentation on her tadpoles and it was a big hit. We brought about 5 tadpoles and also the four frogs that we had. All of our tadpoles that we have now came from that same egg sack but they are all different - it's really kinda weird. I guess it is kinda like 'survival of the fittest'. Maybe some get more food than others, I have no idea. At the present moment we have 8 frogs, about 4 in the tadpole tank that will be ready in the next couple days and many others that don't even have legs yet. We still have a plethora (oooo! good word to teach Brenna!!) of tadpoles and now I am at the point that I can not wait to get rid of them ALL! How long have we been doing this?? TOO LONG! I will have to look back on my blog and see when we started. I feel sorry for my next child because I don't think I will ever have tadpoles again. LOL!!
So I am not posting pictures this time because (getting back to my computer crashing) I don't have any on the current computer that I am using. I can download them onto my Mom's computer so I will have to do that next time and post pictures very soon.
As for the updating, I will try harder to update more often. Thanks for dealing with my 'sporadicness' (omg, is that even a word??? ).