Homeschooling Means...#29

...when a loved one is sick, Daddy takes care of the kids while Mommy spends a lot of time at the hospital. Meanwhile, the kids do a very abbreviated school load for a few days and Mommy feels no guilt about it whatsoever. 

(Ok, did I feel stress about what we didn't get done and worry about getting behind in our curriculum? Maybe. But I'm a nutcase who needs to be reminded about how I should be prioritizing my life. 😁 But no guilt.)

(This series is meant to be mostly lighthearted and fun.  Some may be serious, but most will be silly, braggy, or of the keepin'-it-real variety.  Not every homeschool is the same.  And some of these things could be said by public school parents.  This is just to highlight MY experience with MY homeschool and MY children.  Enjoy these little insights into our life and feel free to share your own "Homeschooling means..." in the comments!)

Homeschooling Means...#28

...an impromptu history lesson about World War II propaganda at the dinner table on a Sunday.

Somehow "freedom fries," "liberty sandwiches," and "victory gardens" came up.  Then Hubby said something about propaganda, which prompted Primus to ask what that word meant.  She had heard it before but didn't understand.  Hence, the history lesson and discussion about what it is, what its purpose is, and what are the short and long-term effects to our country and culture.  

The kids already knew about Rosie the Riveter, and it blew their minds when we told them that Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss both made propaganda cartoons during the war years.  So of course we had to show them some.  


The first one I found is where Donald Duck has a nightmare about joining the Nazis.  The kids thought it was hilarious, especially when Donald is coerced to repeat "Heil Hitler" over and over again while assembling shells. They kept quoting Donald and singing "Der Fuehrer's Face." 

We had to have a serious discussion before I let them rewatch it. While it's hilarious when you understand the context and nature of the cartoon, they are not allowed to repeat any of it outside of our home. Because the world is crazier than usual right now and could you imagine the outrage and problems it might cause??



We also watched this one where "Commando Duck" is tasked with wiping out the enemy Japanese camp. There are some VERY racist things about the Japanese in this one! Wow!  We discussed what was going on, why they were being characterized like that, how absolutely ridiculous and offensive it was, and what the goal of this propaganda piece was.

Especially with Hubby being such a history fanatic, we believe strongly in our house that we must learn from the past in order to prevent it from happening in the future.  We don't want to put our kids in a bubble and hide the ugly things of the past from them.  We want them to see how much better things are in the present and then continue to improve things for the future.


(This series is meant to be mostly lighthearted and fun.  Some may be serious, but most will be silly, braggy, or of the keepin'-it-real variety.  Not every homeschool is the same.  And some of these things could be said by public school parents.  This is just to highlight MY experience with MY homeschool and MY children.  Enjoy these little insights into our life and feel free to share your own "Homeschooling means..." in the comments!)

When the Library Fines You For a Book You Already Returned...

Pro-tip for you today: if the library says you haven't returned a book (but you're pretty sure you have) and you've turned the house upside down and still haven't found it...then go and see if it's in the library sitting on a shelf! 

We go to the library at least once a week and check out a lot of books. There were three that we had used for school last year (one for science and two for history) that I was pretty sure had gotten returned before the end of the school year. But they were still on my account.

I just kept renewing them and hoping that they would turn up under a pile of blankets or something. But one of the books was renewed so many times and was so late that they just billed me for the full cost of the book! That was finally the kick in the butt I needed to do some more digging.

I went to the three libraries that we frequent, because I have no idea which one I would have returned it to, and checked their shelves. I had even written down the bar-codes so I could make sure I wasn't just finding a duplicate copy instead of the one I checked out.

At the last library I found all three of my overdue books in the exact place you would have expected them to be reshelved after being checked in. Except apparently they didn't actually get scanned in before being put away!

Thankfully the librarian was very understanding and apologetic and removed all fines from my account.  I've been taking my kids to the public library on a weekly basis for the past 10 years and this is not the first time this has happened to us.  It's so frustrating.  I think from now on I'm going to try and return books at the same location every time.  Hopefully that will make the search and resolution easier the next time it (hopefully doesn't) happen.

The Boy Felt a Need to Destroy

After finding a cardboard box and asking if they could have it, the boys grabbed their plastic tools. As they sawed off a flap and hammered golf tees into a side, it appeared they wanted to simply play with toys and practice being men. It was pretty cute.

But soon they were ripping the box with their hands and hammering seemingly indiscriminately with all their might. I asked what they were doing and Tertius responded matter of factly, "Just destroying this part and this part." "Why?" "None of your business." I don't think he was trying to be rude; he just simply did not have an actual goal that he could put into words for me.

They finally got the box all the way open and pounded it some more with their hammers until it lay flat. Quartus declared that it was a mattress but Tertius tried to vaguely explain that now they could add more pieces of cardboard to it and then make things with it. (Then he taped the flaps back on and patched the holes with tape.) 

These boys crack me up. It's so fun to watch them and try to figure out how their minds work. I guess I'm pretty lucky that Tertius channels his need to destroy things into a cardboard box instead of dumping flour, drawing on walls, or breaking things that matter!

A Peek at My 2017 Homeschool Planner

I do love doing some of our school planning and record keeping digitally.  But nothing will ever replace a physical plan book that I can hold in my hand, flip through, and make handwritten notes.

This year I bought myself a nice spiral notebook and added a few tabs with masking tape for quick reference.

The first thing I see when I open it up is our weekly routine.  I also have a copy of this hanging on the wall for the kids to be able to reference.  

The next page has a copy of the school calendar that our charter requires us to follow, along with a list of all the holidays we are supposed to take.  As I've said before, I like to do schoolwork as normal on most of our scheduled holidays so then we can take a day off whenever we need to, guilt free.  I keep track of those changes here.

The two pages after that is where I have all the curriculum we're going to use for the year.

Next is all my planning for our history curriculum, Story of the World.

After that, I have a few pages that list every non-fiction children's book we own.  Typing all this up was a new project I did this summer. When Hubby saw me stapling this and the following in my plan book, he remarked that organizing is obviously my hobby.

After the non-fiction books, I have cataloged all of the chapter books we own.  This has been helpful to make sure I don't accidentally acquire a double of a book we already have.  I have them all organized according to reading level (as determined by Scholastic's Book Wizard.)

Also included is a page where I can keep track of the testing the kids will do.  The packets I use for oral reading tests are clipped to the back cover.

Next is an inventory of all the literature guides we own.  This was useful at the beginning of the summer when I was deciding on which curriculum to use.  I also expect to be able to us this same notebook next school year and so it will be nice to have this at hand again.

One thing I really like about this notebook is that it has this movable and two-sided pocket to hold any loose items.

Finally, there are plenty of blank lined pages where I can record our learning and accomplishments on a weekly basis.

So there you have it! What does your homeschool planning and record keeping look like?

The Great Purge

In our house, I am the one who normally handles all organization and other things that generally keep the household running smoothly.   And while it feels good to get rid of stuff and the minimalist lifestyle sounds a little appealing, I tend to be a hoarder. It's often really hard for me to let things go if they're still useful and if I think I may need it one day.

Our kitchen is really small with not enough cupboard space. The kids' plastic dishware was out of control. Hubby finally put his foot down and insisted that we needed to get rid of most of it.  He was not blind to the overcrowded cupboard of cups, overflowing box of plates and bowls, or counter piled high with dirty dishes.

When we were blessed with a kid-free couple of days, he washed everything and then we sat down and made some hard decisions. The above box is everything we got rid of.

 And this box is everything we kept. The kids weren't too pleased that some of the stuff disappeared. But I think we'll all live.

Snack Cupboard Update

A long time ago I shared what our snack organization looked like.  I recently reorganized.

Before, we had cardboard boxes in this cubby space to hold snacks. Boxes rip and so a more durable solution was needed. It's a weird size hole and I couldn't find anything that would fit and work the way I wanted.

But then I realized that these drawers that were being used for storage in the school room would work really well! Sadly, it appears the company does not make this precise size anymore so I had to shuffle things around so I could use them here.

I still use a hodge podge of random little containers to hold individual portions of snacks. When the kids empty a container, they just throw it back in the drawer.

When the drawers are getting full of empty containers, then I take them out and restock. It's hard to see because the picture is so dark below, but there is plenty of storage space behind the drawers.

This is where I can store pre-filled containers and boxes of granola bars that aren't needed yet. This is my favorite part because if the kids run out of snacks in the drawers and I don't have time to refill them, then it's no big deal because I have a bunch already ready and waiting.

How do you do snack time?

Call the Midwife

Perhaps my favorite episode of Call the Midwife is season 4, "episode 8."

(SPOILER ALERT)

This is the episode where a pregnant woman with hyperemesis gravidarum is treated with Thalidomide.  Given that I had HG with 3 of my 4, it really hit home.  And at the end of the episode when the "miracle" drug is revealed, my heart sank and I felt awful dread because I knew what would be coming in future episodes.

This is also the episode where Trixie hits rock bottom and begins attending AA.  Addiction recovery is close to my heart so I found her scenes moving and beautifully deep.  She is such a fascinating character and I love to see her development.

Finally, this is also the episode where Sister Monica Joan introduced me to the word "transmogrify."  I need to find a way to work this into my regular vocabulary.  :)

I just love this show and can't wait for season 6 to come to Netflix!

Marriage Counseling

Many years ago we hit a low point in our marriage.  We saw an LDS Family Services counselor a few times.  Hubby really didn't like her and didn't see the value in seeing her.  So finally one day, minutes before our appointment, he refused to go see her anymore.  So I went alone.

That was the last time either one of us saw her.

She basically told me, "Why are you still married to him?" and as good as told me I was justified in divorce.  I was confused and sad and in despair, and then horrified.  When I came home in tears, Hubby wrapped me in his arms and said, "I'm so sorry!  I knew I shouldn't have let you go."

Our problems didn't justify divorce!  Though we both had faults and were currently struggling, we were both committed to keeping our marriage eternal.

Perhaps she was trying to shock me into action or use reverse psychology.  If that was her goal, then I suppose it worked.  But all the same, we were angry and hated her!

Thankfully, over the months and years after that awful appointment we were able to heal, forgive, and strengthen our relationship.  (Perhaps the biggest thing that helped us was the progress I made in my own relationship with my Heavenly Father with the help of the 12 Steps and my support group.)

So why do I share this?  I suppose the lesson here is, if you don't "click" with a therapist, find a new one!

You should also look for other ways to find the help you need.  We have been blessed by the support of a different therapist, Bishops, a Visiting Teacher, the aforementioned support group, and dear friends. But above all, we can attribute the current success of our marriage to the fact that each of us made a choice to improve ourselves and our situation.  We were able to change with the help and guidance of our loving Heavenly Father and the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  To them, I am eternally grateful.

For more information about where and how to find the right support for you and your situation, the following link is wonderful.

Spouse and Family Support Guide, chapter 6, "Thy Friends Do Stand By Thee"