I feel like I've said it a million times, but I love our backyard! This is our second summer here and I don't regret for an instant picking this house. We came from an apartment so that fact alone makes me jump for joy at even having a backyard at all. But this yard is the perfect size for us, not huge but manageable, and is surrounded by shade-providing trees.
This afternoon Primus had a friend over to play. I was
also asked at the last minute to babysit my friend's boys who are around Tertius'
age. So I rounded up all 6 kids (plus the baby), plenty of towels, Tertius'
little potty, a bunch of snacks, baby mush for Quartus, and other random
necessities and headed outside.
The big kids jumped right into the big blowup pool
and had a grand old time. My friend's kids splashed around with various buckets
and cups of water. And Quartus and I relaxed on a blanket in the shade with
the hose nearby so I could spray rugrats and keep buckets filled.
We
played out there for over 2 hours. It was a wonderful way to spend a summer
afternoon!
Friday, June 21, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
A New Take On the "Socialization" Question
Several weeks ago at a girls' night some friends of mine were asking me questions about homeschool. I'm always happy to answer any questions.
Of course, the socialization issue came up. I've read several blogs that have eloquently stated rebuttals and explanations as to why socialization is not something to worry about. I'm not as eloquent as them. So for the moment, forgive me for the gross oversimplification: Socialization is a myth and a non-issue. Just trust me for now.
But then one friend said something that really threw me for a loop. She said that her father holds an important position at our local LDS Family Services counseling center. And he claimed that ALL of the young missionaries who came to get counseling because they could not function in their companionships were homeschooled.
What?? How is that possible?? Homeschoolers don't know how to get along with and live with strangers from all walks of life? Homeschoolers are bad missionaries?
My friend was asking how one would combat that. I had no good answer for her and for the evening, it seemed like I would be doing my children a disservice if I didn't send them to public high school (at least) so they could learn to associate with all types of people.
I've always said that my kids learn just as much about bullies, teasing, and having to deal with people they may not like at the moment by being at home than they would by going to school. And I can't see how sitting in 6 different classrooms for 6 hours of the day would help teach them "real life" people skills. But maybe I was wrong??
Working under the assumption that this statistic my friend's father claimed is true, I was eager to learn more. I contemplated and prayed about it and discussed it with Hubby. Hubby is in favor of our children having the option of going to public high school (a bridge we will cross when we come to it). But even so, he was able to help me think things through and alleviate some of my fears.
But even more helpful was a conversation I had with a new friend I met, Sarah. Sarah was homeschooled from 5th grade through graduation, homeschooled her teenage sibling through high school, and is currently homeschooling several of her own young children. She was able to give me some great insight. (And for the record, she didn't seem one bit socially awkward to me.)
Basically, Sarah observed that homeschooled kids who were "brainiac," socially awkward, and had a hard time making friends had parents who were also introverted, socially awkward, and would rather stay at home and have their child be their only friend (and it would be natural for this kind of parent to be interested in homeschooling.) There's probably a "Nature vs. Nurture" discussion that could be had there. She also observed that these kids usually had zero or one sibling.
That makes total sense to me! So I'm going to assume that this was the case with the majority of missionaries that my friend's dad counseled.
So to any readers who are considering homeschooling and have several kids, don't worry! They'll probably be fine.
To any readers who are considering homeschooling their only child, maybe just make an extra effort to make sure your kid is involved with church groups, enrichment classes, sports teams, scouts, community activities, etc.
It's nice to have more of an answer to this dilemma I briefly experienced. But either way, the bottom line is that Hubby and I prayed about our decision to homeschool. And we have had confirmation time and again that this is the right choice for our children right now. If that means in the future that they will have an extra challenge when they serve a mission or go live in college dorms, then they will have to deal with it and learn and grow when they come to it. I trust that our lives are in God's hands and that He has a plan for my family.
Of course, the socialization issue came up. I've read several blogs that have eloquently stated rebuttals and explanations as to why socialization is not something to worry about. I'm not as eloquent as them. So for the moment, forgive me for the gross oversimplification: Socialization is a myth and a non-issue. Just trust me for now.
But then one friend said something that really threw me for a loop. She said that her father holds an important position at our local LDS Family Services counseling center. And he claimed that ALL of the young missionaries who came to get counseling because they could not function in their companionships were homeschooled.
What?? How is that possible?? Homeschoolers don't know how to get along with and live with strangers from all walks of life? Homeschoolers are bad missionaries?
My friend was asking how one would combat that. I had no good answer for her and for the evening, it seemed like I would be doing my children a disservice if I didn't send them to public high school (at least) so they could learn to associate with all types of people.
I've always said that my kids learn just as much about bullies, teasing, and having to deal with people they may not like at the moment by being at home than they would by going to school. And I can't see how sitting in 6 different classrooms for 6 hours of the day would help teach them "real life" people skills. But maybe I was wrong??
Working under the assumption that this statistic my friend's father claimed is true, I was eager to learn more. I contemplated and prayed about it and discussed it with Hubby. Hubby is in favor of our children having the option of going to public high school (a bridge we will cross when we come to it). But even so, he was able to help me think things through and alleviate some of my fears.
But even more helpful was a conversation I had with a new friend I met, Sarah. Sarah was homeschooled from 5th grade through graduation, homeschooled her teenage sibling through high school, and is currently homeschooling several of her own young children. She was able to give me some great insight. (And for the record, she didn't seem one bit socially awkward to me.)
Basically, Sarah observed that homeschooled kids who were "brainiac," socially awkward, and had a hard time making friends had parents who were also introverted, socially awkward, and would rather stay at home and have their child be their only friend (and it would be natural for this kind of parent to be interested in homeschooling.) There's probably a "Nature vs. Nurture" discussion that could be had there. She also observed that these kids usually had zero or one sibling.
That makes total sense to me! So I'm going to assume that this was the case with the majority of missionaries that my friend's dad counseled.
So to any readers who are considering homeschooling and have several kids, don't worry! They'll probably be fine.
To any readers who are considering homeschooling their only child, maybe just make an extra effort to make sure your kid is involved with church groups, enrichment classes, sports teams, scouts, community activities, etc.
It's nice to have more of an answer to this dilemma I briefly experienced. But either way, the bottom line is that Hubby and I prayed about our decision to homeschool. And we have had confirmation time and again that this is the right choice for our children right now. If that means in the future that they will have an extra challenge when they serve a mission or go live in college dorms, then they will have to deal with it and learn and grow when they come to it. I trust that our lives are in God's hands and that He has a plan for my family.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Two Amazing Websites for Reading Books Online
I introduced our summer reading challenges to the kids tonight. It went over really well! They all seemed super excited about their bags and wanted to fill them as full as they could with books to read.
While I did let my nieces and nephews borrow several books from my own collection, they will need some more new stories soon. And they don't have a public library close by that they can go to once or twice a week, like we do. In fact, their local branch is even closed in the summer! So I found these two great sites for them. My kids and I explored them today and fell in love!
Both of these are totally 100% FREE!
1. We Give Books http://www.wegivebooks.org/
From their site: "We are dedicated to delivering award-winning books so you can read and share beautiful stories with the children in your life. By giving you great books for young readers, our goal is to create memories that will last a lifetime. Books are the heart of We Give Books — books for reading and books for giving!"
You do have to sign up with your email address, but you don't have to download anything. They have a huge database of children's books that is searchable by title, author, age, and genre. You just click on the book and then you can click to turn the pages and read the story to yourself (there's no audio.)
2. Storyline Online http://www.storylineonline.net/
From their site: "The Screen Actor's Guild Foundation is proud to bring you Storyline Online, an on-line streaming video program featuring SAG members reading children's books aloud!"
The videos cut between the actor holding the book reading, and looking at pictures from the book (some of which have been animated). I like to put on the closed captioning so my girls can read along. They have activity ideas available for each story, too. There are 25 stories available. I hope they make more!
While I did let my nieces and nephews borrow several books from my own collection, they will need some more new stories soon. And they don't have a public library close by that they can go to once or twice a week, like we do. In fact, their local branch is even closed in the summer! So I found these two great sites for them. My kids and I explored them today and fell in love!
Both of these are totally 100% FREE!
1. We Give Books http://www.wegivebooks.org/
From their site: "We are dedicated to delivering award-winning books so you can read and share beautiful stories with the children in your life. By giving you great books for young readers, our goal is to create memories that will last a lifetime. Books are the heart of We Give Books — books for reading and books for giving!"
You do have to sign up with your email address, but you don't have to download anything. They have a huge database of children's books that is searchable by title, author, age, and genre. You just click on the book and then you can click to turn the pages and read the story to yourself (there's no audio.)
2. Storyline Online http://www.storylineonline.net/
From their site: "The Screen Actor's Guild Foundation is proud to bring you Storyline Online, an on-line streaming video program featuring SAG members reading children's books aloud!"
The videos cut between the actor holding the book reading, and looking at pictures from the book (some of which have been animated). I like to put on the closed captioning so my girls can read along. They have activity ideas available for each story, too. There are 25 stories available. I hope they make more!
Summer Reading
My brother and sister-in-law send their kids to public school. So whenever any one of our kids does something quirky, we like to tease, "Oh, it's because you homeschool/ It's because you send them to public school." Good times.
Well, this summer I decided to fully embrace the image I have in my head of the weird-homeschooling-aunt-who-makes-the-kids-learn-during-summer-break. So I set to work making book bags for my three kiddos plus my four nieces/nephews.
I made two different sizes. The bigger ones are for the little kids and they can fit the largest picture books. The smaller ones, for the kids who can read, are a good size for several leveled readers or chapter books. The idea is that they can look through my personal library, pick out several books to start with, and store them in their bags.
Also inside the bags, the kids will find:
* Book Journal-found in the dollar section at Target. At the end of the summer, I'll give them a candy for each book that they write about.
* Book log/activity sheet from our local public library. Once the kids fill these up, I'll take them to the library so they can pick out a free book to keep.
* Book log from Barnes and Noble. The kids will each get a free book for completing this, too.
* Zippered pencil case and pencil. These were provided by our public library when we signed up for the summer reading program.
* That rectangle piece of cardboard at the top right of the picture came inside the pencil cases. We're going to do some fun bookmark craft with it!
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