Spending time with African Penguins
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January 31, 2012
January 17, 2012
What our kids teach us
This morning listening to Sara Groves with my youngest I was struck by how much our kids teach us. Sara sings about this in many of her songs and Sirah was asking me about it today. We discussed some of the many things my kids have taught me and the others they help me to remember. I am a teacher in many ways and all good teachers know we always are learning from unique places. Life is full of teachable moments and as much as I talk about the teachable moments I share with my kids I rarely talk about what they teach me. The list is to numerous to fully share but this year my goal is to share more of these things.
I am truly blessed to be the mother of these great kids, it is an awesome privelage. One I can too easily overlook if I am not careful. This year has helped me to realize it even more as I watch each of them deal with challenges and trials that life throws at them individually and us as a family. It has not been our easiest year, still it has been a great year in its own way. Rarely do you stop and take time to truly assess what you love and what is important to you, what your core values are and what hills you will die on, even rarer is when the whole family is asked to do it at the same time.
It is good to discover the common ground of family priorities. As a family we have some clarity about what is important to us. Many things were confirmed for us this year: the desire to have a parent home full time with the kids, home schooling really is our way of life, swimming is much more than just a sport of choice for our family, we truly value Awana, we love our neighborhood, home and overall general way of life, we can get by on much less. Home is really where we all are. Location does not matter, being together and supporting and loving each other through the challenges, that is what matters. My children have taught me so much this year.
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I am truly blessed to be the mother of these great kids, it is an awesome privelage. One I can too easily overlook if I am not careful. This year has helped me to realize it even more as I watch each of them deal with challenges and trials that life throws at them individually and us as a family. It has not been our easiest year, still it has been a great year in its own way. Rarely do you stop and take time to truly assess what you love and what is important to you, what your core values are and what hills you will die on, even rarer is when the whole family is asked to do it at the same time.
It is good to discover the common ground of family priorities. As a family we have some clarity about what is important to us. Many things were confirmed for us this year: the desire to have a parent home full time with the kids, home schooling really is our way of life, swimming is much more than just a sport of choice for our family, we truly value Awana, we love our neighborhood, home and overall general way of life, we can get by on much less. Home is really where we all are. Location does not matter, being together and supporting and loving each other through the challenges, that is what matters. My children have taught me so much this year.
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January 13, 2012
135,898
What a crazy number that is. This is the number of times this blog has been viewed as of tonight. That is over 15,000 times a year if I average it out over the 8 years I have been blogging here. Of course I know it did not look like that. Apparently I had over 5000 views last month even though I have only posted a total of 19 times in all of 2011! Many people land here after a Google search, most likely looking for a lesson plan, book recommendation, or field trip idea, or just anything they can find about homeschooling. I have had regular readers over the years but the past few years has seen me rarely blogging and that does not lend itself well to regular readers since there is nothing to regularly read :) Still I know a few of you are still out there and will read these words I write even after the months of silence that has been here. For that I thank you for your interest and especially for your support and encouragement through the years.
This year has been a very different one for our family, a different season in many ways. Tonight when I was at Target for the second time in the day already I was thinking about this blog as a friend asked me for the address yesterday. When I handed it to her I reminded her that it is only my best foot forward and all days are not shiny and happy and perfect like they may seem if you only know me through the posts on this page. You are only seeing the highlights, the things I wanted to record, remember and look back on years later. I started blogging before almost anyone I know. I started blogging in 2001 and this blog was born is 2003. Statistics always fascinate me because numbers speak in interesting ways. These numbers might interest you, the number in parenthesis is the number of posts for the year:
Blog Archive
► 2011 (19)
► 2010 (68)
► 2009 (32)
► 2008 (69)
► 2007 (236)
► 2006 (224)
► 2005 (468)
► 2004 (484)
► 2003 (257)
We can clearly see I used to be an avid blogger and then in 2008 something must have happened in my world that changed the kind of blogger I became and last year probably disqualified me from even being considered a blogger anymore :) So I reflect back and wonder what was it about 2008 that changed in me and my life and led to the changes here? Not sure I have a perfect answer. My best guess was my youngest turned 5 and we were out of the house MUCH more. The taxi days of homeschooling had begun. I also started schooling three kids at once and I can still remember the challenges that brought.
I can remember back in the preschool days when all I did was read aloud all day long and would constantly get asked "How do you read that many books?" I remember saying "I just make the time" or "I just always say yes when they ask." Well what I did not know then was that I also simply had more "free time" then. By that I mean time undictated by anyone else's schedule or commitments. Free time I was not trying to use to fit algebra, swimming, science experiments, church groups, playdates, coops, tutoring, teaching outside classes, book clubs, and the list goes on. I simply had more time and yes I made a choice about how to use that time but it is hard to find the time I want to read aloud to my youngest and I certainly do not do it as often as I used to.
We are on the road often and when we are home we are trying to learn long division, spelling lists, how to write essays and get all that hands on time in science in. Sure I could make more read aloud time. We could quit swimming, gym, book club, and not do outside playdates but we are not going to do that either. So we fit it in as best we can and we still try to prioritize. I still make my kids read an hour a day even through our busy schedules. I do my best to make sure my youngest gets atleast half of that time daily if not all of it with me so she can read aloud. If we don't get it in together she still has to do it on her own. Reading is portable and lends itself nicely to all the time in the car we have. We used to do audio books which I loved but now I find it easier to let them all do their own independent reading while we drive from here to there. Maybe a shared audio book is on our horizon though as I miss them as I type this.
If you told me back when I had three kids under the age of 4 that I had more time then I would have laughed in your face but on reflection I did. I am not saying it was not busy, it was the busiest year of my life, and probably the most exhausting. But so much of it was at home and it was almost as if time stood still on some days and passed so slowly. Now it moves at record pace and we constantly fight to slow it down. Tonight as I sat and watched movies with my girls now 12 and 8 I enjoyed the slowness of the evening. I enjoyed their presence and simply doing nothing together but being entertained. Tomorrow brings swim meets, next week brings geometry, building a hovercraft, starting year end projects, studying for major tests and daily swim practice for important upcoming meets. But for tonight we took the time to eat pizza and ice cream and gummy bears while we watched Flipped and Dolphin Tales and simply enjoyed each other.
When I started this blog 8 years ago I don't think I ever believed I would still be typing here and say the words my 12 and 8 year old daughter. I still recall blogging all about my pregnancy and birth of our youngest before many even knew blogs at all. It has served its purpose through the years and I will continue to keep it around even if I only touch base here a few times a year. Who know perhaps this year will be different but I somehow doubt it.
If you are here for the first time, look around and clearly I used to have more ideas to share. I still have and execute ideas all the time, I just have less time to share them sadly for you. However, I am at peace with that for me, because it means we are spending the time living and enjoying. Somedays I still can't help but wonder at the number 135,898 and say to myself "really" this is just a little blog about a little homeschool family in middle america but okay glad you find value here :)
Be blessed in all you do and hug those babies!
Tenniel
This year has been a very different one for our family, a different season in many ways. Tonight when I was at Target for the second time in the day already I was thinking about this blog as a friend asked me for the address yesterday. When I handed it to her I reminded her that it is only my best foot forward and all days are not shiny and happy and perfect like they may seem if you only know me through the posts on this page. You are only seeing the highlights, the things I wanted to record, remember and look back on years later. I started blogging before almost anyone I know. I started blogging in 2001 and this blog was born is 2003. Statistics always fascinate me because numbers speak in interesting ways. These numbers might interest you, the number in parenthesis is the number of posts for the year:
Blog Archive
► 2011 (19)
► 2010 (68)
► 2009 (32)
► 2008 (69)
► 2007 (236)
► 2006 (224)
► 2005 (468)
► 2004 (484)
► 2003 (257)
We can clearly see I used to be an avid blogger and then in 2008 something must have happened in my world that changed the kind of blogger I became and last year probably disqualified me from even being considered a blogger anymore :) So I reflect back and wonder what was it about 2008 that changed in me and my life and led to the changes here? Not sure I have a perfect answer. My best guess was my youngest turned 5 and we were out of the house MUCH more. The taxi days of homeschooling had begun. I also started schooling three kids at once and I can still remember the challenges that brought.
I can remember back in the preschool days when all I did was read aloud all day long and would constantly get asked "How do you read that many books?" I remember saying "I just make the time" or "I just always say yes when they ask." Well what I did not know then was that I also simply had more "free time" then. By that I mean time undictated by anyone else's schedule or commitments. Free time I was not trying to use to fit algebra, swimming, science experiments, church groups, playdates, coops, tutoring, teaching outside classes, book clubs, and the list goes on. I simply had more time and yes I made a choice about how to use that time but it is hard to find the time I want to read aloud to my youngest and I certainly do not do it as often as I used to.
We are on the road often and when we are home we are trying to learn long division, spelling lists, how to write essays and get all that hands on time in science in. Sure I could make more read aloud time. We could quit swimming, gym, book club, and not do outside playdates but we are not going to do that either. So we fit it in as best we can and we still try to prioritize. I still make my kids read an hour a day even through our busy schedules. I do my best to make sure my youngest gets atleast half of that time daily if not all of it with me so she can read aloud. If we don't get it in together she still has to do it on her own. Reading is portable and lends itself nicely to all the time in the car we have. We used to do audio books which I loved but now I find it easier to let them all do their own independent reading while we drive from here to there. Maybe a shared audio book is on our horizon though as I miss them as I type this.
If you told me back when I had three kids under the age of 4 that I had more time then I would have laughed in your face but on reflection I did. I am not saying it was not busy, it was the busiest year of my life, and probably the most exhausting. But so much of it was at home and it was almost as if time stood still on some days and passed so slowly. Now it moves at record pace and we constantly fight to slow it down. Tonight as I sat and watched movies with my girls now 12 and 8 I enjoyed the slowness of the evening. I enjoyed their presence and simply doing nothing together but being entertained. Tomorrow brings swim meets, next week brings geometry, building a hovercraft, starting year end projects, studying for major tests and daily swim practice for important upcoming meets. But for tonight we took the time to eat pizza and ice cream and gummy bears while we watched Flipped and Dolphin Tales and simply enjoyed each other.
When I started this blog 8 years ago I don't think I ever believed I would still be typing here and say the words my 12 and 8 year old daughter. I still recall blogging all about my pregnancy and birth of our youngest before many even knew blogs at all. It has served its purpose through the years and I will continue to keep it around even if I only touch base here a few times a year. Who know perhaps this year will be different but I somehow doubt it.
If you are here for the first time, look around and clearly I used to have more ideas to share. I still have and execute ideas all the time, I just have less time to share them sadly for you. However, I am at peace with that for me, because it means we are spending the time living and enjoying. Somedays I still can't help but wonder at the number 135,898 and say to myself "really" this is just a little blog about a little homeschool family in middle america but okay glad you find value here :)
Be blessed in all you do and hug those babies!
Tenniel
September 22, 2011
Finding a New Normal
This year is a new experience for us home schooling. I am working part time outside of the home for the first time since we began this journey. I have done some outside teaching all along at home school groups but the kids have always been with me in their other classes. Now I am back teaching in the college classroom as an adjunct, teaching a high school debate class and doing ACT tutoring. The kids are in 7th, 5th and 3rd grade. Life is very busy. We are learning to create new routines. We are finding our new normal.
This is also our first year without an active home school cooperative. After 8 years with home school coops it feels odd to not have a place we all go and do something together. The kids are taking a gym class each week at the time of our old coop and Maria is taking a weekly Spanish class at a home school tutoring center. We miss Academy but it was for a season of our life and this is our new season that we are finding peace with now.
I thought I would truly miss the teaching part for myself as I love working with junior and senior high kids. Life has brought me new opportunities and I still get to work with kids other than my own through my tutoring and starting up a local debate academy to teach junior and senior high kids those skills. In addition now I get to work with college students again since I have resumed teaching as an adjunct. I also of course teach my own kids. This year has reminded me of how much I love sharing my knowledge and skills in the area of argument and debate. I realize how much I truly love teaching and coaching and I am thankful for the new opportunities to do so.
September 13, 2011
September 12, 2011
Fun Sparkly Playdough
Fairy Dust Teaching: Galaxy Playdough Enjoy!
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August 29, 2011
Summer Extension
I planned to start today. The sky is perfectly blue. The weather is warm enough for swimming but gentle beautiful breezes. The curriculum has not all arrived in the mail yet and we only have three days left with the pool with water slides. I think we can start next week and enjoy the beauty of summer and all its fun for just another week.
August 20, 2011
Required Reading List
Harry Potter is well loved in this house. However, my kids did not just get the books whenever and read start to finish. There are many good discussion topics in Harry Potter and I wanted to wait until they were old enough to discuss the books more in full. In addition I wanted them to have read certain other books to be able to refer to in our conversations. I also wanted them to read most of the classics in at least abridged form so we made a deal. They would get to read Harry Potter when they finished what I wanted them to read first. I also wait until they are 10 for the first two books 11 for the next three books and 12 for the final two books. There were lists of books to read before each of these.
Recently some friends asked me to recreate the list of books I required at age 10 and before the first Harry Potter. I do require slightly different books based on gender. Below is Ciaran's list since he is most recent in my memory. My son Ciaran was not what I would call an enthusiastic reader until recently. Still he did read everything required of him as he desired to read Harry Potter. I asked him after he finished the first two books if Harry Potter was worth reading everything I required and he said yes, which honestly surprised me. Of everything he read, the only book he truly hated and trudged through was Hans Brinker. The rest he either liked or said he did not mind in the end, even if he was reluctant to start it.
When a "classic" title is listed I only required the abridged Great Illustrated Classic version. If you are unfamiliar with this books series, get familiar with it. A very gentle introduction to the main story of all the classics. I remember reading many as a child and wanted my own kids to read them as well. It makes the transition to reading the unabridged versions much easier for later years. The stories are easy to read, big typset, and a whole page picture for every page of writing. Still the stories are fairly true to the unabridged versions with easier language and a few minor changes overall. They are pretty quick reads even for reluctant readers. This list is not in order he read them - just broken down by category required
Classics Unabridged - 3
Pinocchio
Peter Pan
Wind in the Willows
Great Illustrated Classics - 17
Treasure Island
Gulliver's Travels
Around the World in 80 Days
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Pollyana
The Secret Garden
Kidnapped
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
Swiss Family Robinson
Oliver Twist
Robinson Crusoe
The Time Machine
The Prince and the Pauper
The Jungle Book
Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
The Adventures of Hucklberry Finn
General Fiction Required - 11
Indian in the Cupboard - Lynn Banks
Mary Poppins - P.L Travers
The Black Stallion
Black Beauty
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Chocolate Touch
Snow Treasure
Charlottes Web
Bridge to Terabithia
Tuck Everlasting
The Call of the Wild
Recently some friends asked me to recreate the list of books I required at age 10 and before the first Harry Potter. I do require slightly different books based on gender. Below is Ciaran's list since he is most recent in my memory. My son Ciaran was not what I would call an enthusiastic reader until recently. Still he did read everything required of him as he desired to read Harry Potter. I asked him after he finished the first two books if Harry Potter was worth reading everything I required and he said yes, which honestly surprised me. Of everything he read, the only book he truly hated and trudged through was Hans Brinker. The rest he either liked or said he did not mind in the end, even if he was reluctant to start it.
When a "classic" title is listed I only required the abridged Great Illustrated Classic version. If you are unfamiliar with this books series, get familiar with it. A very gentle introduction to the main story of all the classics. I remember reading many as a child and wanted my own kids to read them as well. It makes the transition to reading the unabridged versions much easier for later years. The stories are easy to read, big typset, and a whole page picture for every page of writing. Still the stories are fairly true to the unabridged versions with easier language and a few minor changes overall. They are pretty quick reads even for reluctant readers. This list is not in order he read them - just broken down by category required
Classics Unabridged - 3
Pinocchio
Peter Pan
Wind in the Willows
Great Illustrated Classics - 17
Treasure Island
Gulliver's Travels
Around the World in 80 Days
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Pollyana
The Secret Garden
Kidnapped
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
Swiss Family Robinson
Oliver Twist
Robinson Crusoe
The Time Machine
The Prince and the Pauper
The Jungle Book
Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
The Adventures of Hucklberry Finn
General Fiction Required - 11
Indian in the Cupboard - Lynn Banks
Mary Poppins - P.L Travers
The Black Stallion
Black Beauty
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Chocolate Touch
Snow Treasure
Charlottes Web
Bridge to Terabithia
Tuck Everlasting
The Call of the Wild
Series Books Required - 15 with some choice
The entire Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (7 books)
The Wizard of Oz series - Frank L Baun (5 books of choice)
Little House series (3 books of choice for Ciaran, On the Banks of Plum Creek required)
The entire Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (7 books)
The Wizard of Oz series - Frank L Baun (5 books of choice)
Little House series (3 books of choice for Ciaran, On the Banks of Plum Creek required)
50 Favorite Picture Books for Kids
I have been thinking about picture book a lot lately. With my youngest being 8 I know our time with these books is waning. Still I cling to and love children's picture books. Every year we buy each child a special picture book for their birthday and for Christmas. We write a short inscription about them and the book inside. It is getting harder to find good picture books that represent them as we already own so many of the good books here in the house. At 11 we switch to buying good quality leather covered books to start their own special book collection to take with them when they move. But back to picture books.
Sirah just had a birthday and I spent awhile looking through the kids books for her. I decided on My Name is Not Isabella by Jennifer Fosberry. This is a sweet book that encourages kids to dream big dreams. In the book the girl pretends to be various famous women in history. It fit Sirah's personality this year and was an encouraging and sweet book.
Still as I was in the bookstore I was struck by how few new good children's books there are. I keep coming back to our old standards even as I read many new books. There are plenty of good pictures but the stories and meanings just do not seem as rich as children's books of past. So I started thinking I would keep a list here of some of my favorite children's books. Feel free to add your own in the comments. I am not ranking the books on this list if they made the list they are good in my mind and well loved in our house.
Miss Rumphius
Roxaboxen
The Empty Pot
Weslandia
The Story of Ferdinand
Little Bear
Frog and Toad
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Salamander Room
Birthday for Frances
Stone Soup
Make way for Ducklings
Blueberry Shoe
Sailor Moo
The Boy Who Changed the World
Courage
I'd be your Hero
I'd be your Princess
A Coat for Anna
Seven Silly Eaters
Musical Beds
I Love you the Purplest
Owl Moon
The Bee Tree
The Giving Tree
Quick as a Cricket
The Quiet Place
The Paper Bag Princess
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
The Story about Ping
The Kissing Hand
A Pocket full of Kisses
Butterfly House
If You Give a Moose a Muffin
Bedtime for Frances
The Wretched Stone
Love You Forever
Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good, Very Bad Day
I'm Gonna Like Me
Someday
The Mitten
Abuela
A Chair for my Mother
Guess How Much I Love You
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear
Thanks to You: Wisdom from Mother and Child
Pickles to Pittsburgh
Madeline
All of Beatrix Potter
Still as I was in the bookstore I was struck by how few new good children's books there are. I keep coming back to our old standards even as I read many new books. There are plenty of good pictures but the stories and meanings just do not seem as rich as children's books of past. So I started thinking I would keep a list here of some of my favorite children's books. Feel free to add your own in the comments. I am not ranking the books on this list if they made the list they are good in my mind and well loved in our house.
Miss Rumphius
Roxaboxen
The Empty Pot
Weslandia
The Story of Ferdinand
Little Bear
Frog and Toad
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Salamander Room
Birthday for Frances
Stone Soup
Make way for Ducklings
Blueberry Shoe
Sailor Moo
The Boy Who Changed the World
Courage
I'd be your Hero
I'd be your Princess
A Coat for Anna
Seven Silly Eaters
Musical Beds
I Love you the Purplest
Owl Moon
The Bee Tree
The Giving Tree
Quick as a Cricket
The Quiet Place
The Paper Bag Princess
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
The Story about Ping
The Kissing Hand
A Pocket full of Kisses
Butterfly House
If You Give a Moose a Muffin
Bedtime for Frances
The Wretched Stone
Love You Forever
Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good, Very Bad Day
I'm Gonna Like Me
Someday
The Mitten
Abuela
A Chair for my Mother
Guess How Much I Love You
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear
Thanks to You: Wisdom from Mother and Child
Pickles to Pittsburgh
Madeline
All of Beatrix Potter
Questions They Ask - Answers we Find
One of the things I love about raising net-natives is Google. I know it makes things too easy sometimes but overall I think it is great to be able to just answer immediately many of the random curious questions they have. Like today. What is the longest living animal on Earth?
August 16, 2011
I Miss You Too
Thanks to all of you who have emailed and left comments here sharing that you miss me and my regular writing. I miss connecting with all of you and I miss my writing here as well. It is hard to think about the fact that I have been blogging here for over 8 years, with more consistency some years than others. The past few years have been busy and my writing pursuits have been elsewhere. I spent a lot of time working on writing a book only to abandon it as the time has passed for such a book. Perhaps I will one day write another. I have been busy teaching, raising a family and doing all that goes with it.
Recently I thought back quite a few years to when I regularly posted reading lists, something I have come to discover many of you actually loved about this blog. During that time I wondered at all the "how in the world?" type comments I received about the amount of reading we did. At the time I thought to myself it is because that is the choice we make, not realizing how hard that choice can sometimes be to make. Flash forward quite a few years - to the living in the car phase of homeschooling and I realize how hard it can be to make time for read alouds and even finding the time to make the kids read on their own. It is hard but I still say it is possible.
We still read a lot. The kids read on their own more than I read aloud now but we still probably read more than the average household as I still require at least one hour of reading every day by all my kids once they reach 2nd grade. Sirah recently told me I was a "tiger mother" when it comes to reading and I responded with "I can live with that." All of my kids are readers now and all of them will actually admit to enjoying reading now - not a day I was ever sure I would see with two of them :)
My kids recently had to create a list of their favorite books (50 for my 12 year old, 20 for my 10 year old and 5 for my 7 year old) both the 12 and 10 year old had a hard time limiting what would make that list - that made me happy. It also made it worth all the battles we have had over the years about reading: yes you will read even though you don't want to, no you can't have screen time until you read, yes you have to finish that boring book, yes I am serious, no I don't care that your friends don't have to read in the summer, yes you have to finish my list of 30 books I want you to read before you get to read Harry Potter, yes you still have to read an hour a day during the school year and your sports season, yes I am serious you will have to do this until you are 18 and move out of the house. When they move out they can choose to read however they want or to never read again - at least I will be confident they can read anything they want or need to, ever. And if that makes me a tiger mom about reading I can live with that label.
I still keep lists I just never posted them here anymore as I use a software now that does not make it easy and I never realized people missed that. This year I will go back to it. Of course the lists will be shorter as the books are longer now :) You will have to go back a few years for the good picture books and early reader lists. I do miss that time, I miss the read alouds and the hours on end with nothing better to do than read picture books. I think when I am retired I will go to the library and read books to young children on end - my grandchild will hopefully enjoy being read to. It gets harder and harder to make time for read alouds especially once I knew they could all read on their own.
One of my kids fought me hard about reading. I knew the child was ready, but was just purely resistant. I could not figure out why. I pushed, I cajoled, I offered carrots, I withheld privelages, nothing seemed to convince this capable child to read. Finally I got an answer to why the child did not want to read. I was told there was a fear I would stop reading aloud once the child was reading. This child truly loved listening to me read out loud so had decided to simply wait to read on their own, no matter what. How did I get such stubborn kids :) I promised I would continue to read aloud (and I have) and the child agreed to read and reads well alone now.
Why am I spending so much time talking about reading tonight? It is on my mind and heart as I think about this blog and about approaching a new year of home schooling. As I wrote their schedules today I worked a half hour of reading (my choice) into their school day every day and they will still need to do an additional half hour in the evenings (their choice), and yes they have to read on weekends too. I am getting excited thinking about what books I will pick for their required reading this year. I think if my children will remember anything about school with me it will be the emphasis on reading. Why am I such a stickler for reading? It is because I believe if you can read well you can learn anything. You can find the answer to any question. The world opens up to you as does the fantasy realm.
I look around and I smile when I see kids carrying ereaders because I know for some of them it means they will read more. I know for others it likely means they were already avid readers with desperate parents trying to find a better solution. I smile and compliment kids when I see them reading in public, I ask them about their books and I am truly interested when I listen to them talk about them. I often recommend books to kids based on what they are currently reading. I ask them for their recommendations and listen to them. I host book clubs and read the books with the kids - I am up to over 60 books read for my kids book club discussions. I love seeing kids love reading. I wish I could help all adults feel the same way. I cherish my reading friends and always love their recommendations. I just finished reading Unbroken and Mindset both recommended and enjoyed - even though I would not have picked them up on my own. My own reading time is some of my favorite time.
I have started keeping track of books I have read and have been going back and trying to write down and recall all of them. I simply can't recall them all. I am up over 6000 books recalled. No that is a list I don't think I am going to share. I can only imagine what honest glimpses into my soul that list would give as well as the random and wrong assumptions people could make about me from just seeing the list. I did not love everything I read but I am thankful to have read so much good, bad, ugly and life changing. Each book has left an imprint on my life. I have encouraged my kids to keep track of their reads throughout their lives as well. It was my own parents love of reading that inspired me to read. I grew up seeing them read, reading myself and we all still read today. May my children and their children on down learn to love reading. May you and yours as well!
Thanks for listening to my ramblings to those of you who just stopped by for the first time and those of you who have been around for the duration of this blog. I have heard your requests and the book lists will return as will some occasional thoughts from me.
Recently I thought back quite a few years to when I regularly posted reading lists, something I have come to discover many of you actually loved about this blog. During that time I wondered at all the "how in the world?" type comments I received about the amount of reading we did. At the time I thought to myself it is because that is the choice we make, not realizing how hard that choice can sometimes be to make. Flash forward quite a few years - to the living in the car phase of homeschooling and I realize how hard it can be to make time for read alouds and even finding the time to make the kids read on their own. It is hard but I still say it is possible.
We still read a lot. The kids read on their own more than I read aloud now but we still probably read more than the average household as I still require at least one hour of reading every day by all my kids once they reach 2nd grade. Sirah recently told me I was a "tiger mother" when it comes to reading and I responded with "I can live with that." All of my kids are readers now and all of them will actually admit to enjoying reading now - not a day I was ever sure I would see with two of them :)
My kids recently had to create a list of their favorite books (50 for my 12 year old, 20 for my 10 year old and 5 for my 7 year old) both the 12 and 10 year old had a hard time limiting what would make that list - that made me happy. It also made it worth all the battles we have had over the years about reading: yes you will read even though you don't want to, no you can't have screen time until you read, yes you have to finish that boring book, yes I am serious, no I don't care that your friends don't have to read in the summer, yes you have to finish my list of 30 books I want you to read before you get to read Harry Potter, yes you still have to read an hour a day during the school year and your sports season, yes I am serious you will have to do this until you are 18 and move out of the house. When they move out they can choose to read however they want or to never read again - at least I will be confident they can read anything they want or need to, ever. And if that makes me a tiger mom about reading I can live with that label.
I still keep lists I just never posted them here anymore as I use a software now that does not make it easy and I never realized people missed that. This year I will go back to it. Of course the lists will be shorter as the books are longer now :) You will have to go back a few years for the good picture books and early reader lists. I do miss that time, I miss the read alouds and the hours on end with nothing better to do than read picture books. I think when I am retired I will go to the library and read books to young children on end - my grandchild will hopefully enjoy being read to. It gets harder and harder to make time for read alouds especially once I knew they could all read on their own.
One of my kids fought me hard about reading. I knew the child was ready, but was just purely resistant. I could not figure out why. I pushed, I cajoled, I offered carrots, I withheld privelages, nothing seemed to convince this capable child to read. Finally I got an answer to why the child did not want to read. I was told there was a fear I would stop reading aloud once the child was reading. This child truly loved listening to me read out loud so had decided to simply wait to read on their own, no matter what. How did I get such stubborn kids :) I promised I would continue to read aloud (and I have) and the child agreed to read and reads well alone now.
Why am I spending so much time talking about reading tonight? It is on my mind and heart as I think about this blog and about approaching a new year of home schooling. As I wrote their schedules today I worked a half hour of reading (my choice) into their school day every day and they will still need to do an additional half hour in the evenings (their choice), and yes they have to read on weekends too. I am getting excited thinking about what books I will pick for their required reading this year. I think if my children will remember anything about school with me it will be the emphasis on reading. Why am I such a stickler for reading? It is because I believe if you can read well you can learn anything. You can find the answer to any question. The world opens up to you as does the fantasy realm.
I look around and I smile when I see kids carrying ereaders because I know for some of them it means they will read more. I know for others it likely means they were already avid readers with desperate parents trying to find a better solution. I smile and compliment kids when I see them reading in public, I ask them about their books and I am truly interested when I listen to them talk about them. I often recommend books to kids based on what they are currently reading. I ask them for their recommendations and listen to them. I host book clubs and read the books with the kids - I am up to over 60 books read for my kids book club discussions. I love seeing kids love reading. I wish I could help all adults feel the same way. I cherish my reading friends and always love their recommendations. I just finished reading Unbroken and Mindset both recommended and enjoyed - even though I would not have picked them up on my own. My own reading time is some of my favorite time.
I have started keeping track of books I have read and have been going back and trying to write down and recall all of them. I simply can't recall them all. I am up over 6000 books recalled. No that is a list I don't think I am going to share. I can only imagine what honest glimpses into my soul that list would give as well as the random and wrong assumptions people could make about me from just seeing the list. I did not love everything I read but I am thankful to have read so much good, bad, ugly and life changing. Each book has left an imprint on my life. I have encouraged my kids to keep track of their reads throughout their lives as well. It was my own parents love of reading that inspired me to read. I grew up seeing them read, reading myself and we all still read today. May my children and their children on down learn to love reading. May you and yours as well!
Thanks for listening to my ramblings to those of you who just stopped by for the first time and those of you who have been around for the duration of this blog. I have heard your requests and the book lists will return as will some occasional thoughts from me.
June 1, 2011
Been Awhile
The school year is done. In some ways it is hard to believe I have been home schooling for 7 years. Changes are ahead for our family though homeschooling will still continue. Today is the launch of my husband's new company and the mark of a new adventure in our life.
Summer pace has arrived. The kids have a little work left to finish up from the year if they did not finish their books. Two are working on math, one spelling and one grammar, one child was finished by the first week of May. The summer reading bin is filled, card and board games are being played with much more frequency, our hammock is well loved and the bikes are dusted off and being used regularly. Life is good.
Summer pace has arrived. The kids have a little work left to finish up from the year if they did not finish their books. Two are working on math, one spelling and one grammar, one child was finished by the first week of May. The summer reading bin is filled, card and board games are being played with much more frequency, our hammock is well loved and the bikes are dusted off and being used regularly. Life is good.
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