Some other things we did today... While the focus was has been on helping the kids have also done some other activities worth mentioning. Our daughter did three pages in a preschool workbook on practing the concepts of less and more and opposites. Both children spent quiet time working with activity books that have pieces they put into the book to finish the storyline. The books work on things like colors, counting, what different animals do and what they eat. Each book has several pieces that need to be fit in the proper place and the kids worked on them (our daughter independently, our son with my help) and they really seemed to enjoy them. They also had quite a bit of free art time today. Drawing on big rolled out pieces of paper on the floor, on the easel and on smaller pages to color at their desks. Our daughter practiced writing her name, which she can do completely by herself and our son really enjoyed drawing circles. They helped make lemonade and pick up the yard some. They took turns playing with the dog and had some make believe time together while I was able to work on other activities. And of course there have been several stories read throughout the day as always.

Peace,
Tenn

A day of helping...Today we have spent the day learning about different ways we help people, and it all seems to have just fallen into place that way. The kids spent a good part of the morning helping our friends get ready to leave for their next adventure. They got to be "big helpers" and help get the trailer all ready for the road, which included things like bringing up the stabalizing legs, closing windows, moving wood from the tires, rolling up wires, and stabalizing the hitch properly. They were fascinated by it all and were doing a good job with their particular tasks. It was so nice that our friends gave them the opportunity to help. Then when they were outside playing they took turns pushing one another on the swing and helping each other out that way. They watched a video about helping pets and other people. Our daughter has spent her brother's naptime helping me fold laundry, clean the bedrooms and our basement. She will soon help me make cookies and dinner for our neighbor who is in need of some extra help. I always enjoy those days when the lessons of the day just seem to come together without any hard planning on my part. Just reminds me how amazing and wonderful our God is, that even on days when I can't muster the strength or creativity to come up with a plan he drops one in my lap!

Peace,
Tenn

A weekend of fun...It has been a great weekend! We had friends visiting us from out of town. Friends of ours who decided to take a cross country trip and visit all the states in the US, and they are doing it! They pulled up to our driveway with a big trailer and spent the weekend. We spent Sunday at the Mall of America and visited Camp Snoopy, the indoor amusement park. The kids had a great time riding on the rides, as did our friends. Then it was back to our house for a barbeque, outdoor play, kite flying at a local field and fireworks at night. It was great to catch up with old friends, make new friends and all just relax.

Peace,
Tenn

A day of quiet play...Well who am I kidding, it is NEVER truly quiet in this house! LOL! We began the day with our friday playgroup with our homeschool group. It was raining so we moved from the park to a coffeshop. This coffeshop has the right idea though, one room is the typical coffeshop setting with the counter and tables and a couch or two, the other room is WONDERFUL for parents and children. The room is a big playroom with couches, chairs and a few scattered tables. There are climbing toys (including a big one with several slides), riding toys and a bunch of other toys, a piano for them to bang on and a computer they can fiddle with. This coffeeshop was doing a booming business in the mother and toddler/preschooler demographic, why aren't there more of these wonderful places? The kids had a great time playing with their friends and the moms were able to have real conversation over coffee and tea. Some of the topics included extended breastfeeding, breastfeeding in public, the family bed, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, homeschooling, sock puppet doll making, kids sleeping (or more often not sleeping) through the night, waldorf schooling, curriculms used or not used, pregnancy and some other personal stories.

After playgroup we headed home for lunch and our son took a nap. I tried to read some more Harry Potter but decided a better use of my time was really to have quiet time with our daughter. So we had some special mommy and me time, during which I let her pick what to do. First we read some stories, then we did some school worksheets (practicing tracing and drawing straight lines and shapes and her entire alphabet), then it was dancing time. This is one of her favorites to put on some tunes and dance around the room together - I do have fun once we are doing it. Then we cleaned up the room and decided to do a project. We made some felt letters and numbers by tracing punch out letters onto felt and cutting them out. She helped punch out the letters and then just wanted to practice cutting. So I worked on the letters and numbers and she used her scissors to cut paper, felt, cardboard and anything else she could find into strips, shapes, fringe and patterns. We made 4" high letter and numbers out of felt and put the numbers into a handmade book of cardstock so they could practice tracing them with their fingers to learn how to draw them and for our son to learn to recognize them. The letter we kept for use on a felt board to learn phonics, spelling, or whatever else we do with them. Then we built castles out of wood blocks and she practiced "bowling" with a wooden bowling set she has. She cleaned up while I did the laundry and then our son was awake.

Upstairs for a snack and some free play for them - today it was hide and seek and some imaginary bug hunt. Then they each played independently, our son with a big wooden busy block with different activities on it and our daughter reading books to herself. Next it was group play with a Jumbo Music Cube that teaches shapes and some basic life skills in a fun and easy to remember way. Then it was time for dinner and now they are back into imagination play. They have been trying on different shoes and being princesses and mommy and all sorts of other things. Their imagination never ceases to amaze me. I love that they get along so well and can entertain each other now for periods of time. I think I will set up some markers and paper for some free draw now while I finish up dishes and cleaning up and then into the bath and off to bed. Another rewarding, yet easygoing day here.

Peace,
Tenn

Sculptures and Stamp Pads...Thursday we headed over to an art museum that has a wonderful outdoor sculpture garden for a homeschool tour. The kids learned about different materials that scluptures are made out of, took a tour through them and even got to climb on two of them, they weren't allowed to touch the others! They paid close attention to the tour guides and answered questions. It was informative and fun for them. Then we headed into the arts and crafts lab there and the kids made rubber stamp books and learned about patterns and overlap. The books turned out very cute and everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves. Some parents stayed and toured the musuem, we did not - we went outside for some free play with the kids and a walk by the greenhouses.

Then it was home for lunch, naps, cleaning and free play. They finished up coloring their under the sea book and read some more from the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. We started a phonics reader with our daughter and our son learned how to sing happy birthday! All in all it was another good day.

Peace,
Tenn

Spontaneously on the ocean floor...We awoke this morning to a power outage following massive storms, the kids did not find it fun to be in a house without electricity. At first I thought we could take the opportunity to talk all about life with and without power, but not if I wanted to keep my sanity! So we piled in the van and headed out for breakfast. The kids loved this treat and were actually very well behaved considering I braved a sit down place alone with the two of them, I think our waitress was scared at first as was the elderly couple sitting near us, but in the end everyone seemed pleasantly surprised, myself included. After an uneventful breakfast where we went through the latest edition of My Big Backyard several times and colored the menu and every blank piece of paper I had with me and some I didn't care if they were colored over we headed back to the house. Power still out, back to the van on a rainy, messy, dreary and sticky day.

We found ourselves at a library and to our luck there was a special program going on today about Ocean Life. We had a wonderful day of learning all without any planning on my part, how wonderful! The program was quite good, the teacher talked all about different animals that lived in the ocean with big pictures and laminated cut outs of different creatures. She had puppets she used to illustrate the animal behaviors and even which ones ate one another. She had hands on artifacts like a shark skin, shark teeth, hermit crab shells, starfish, sand dollar, a preserved turtle and lots of shells. She even had a few live creatures with her that the kids could wait in line to touch.

Our son loved touching the horshoe crab, pencil sea urchin and cowry snail. His sister decided she was sure they would hurt her and was not interested in touching them even after watching her brother and about another 80 or so kids. But I of course did not make her, gave her plenty of opportunities (to my son's delight) and let her make her choice. She felt a good safe distance (her hand nowhere near the water) was best. Needless to say the program was a hit and we spent quite awhile afterwards playing with the puppets and naming them all and reenacting some of the things the teacher did.

Then it was off to the children's section to find some books on ocean life. I was sure they would all be gone, after all we were one of the last to leave and there were over 80 kids there. I was wrong (either our library has lots of easy readers on the subject or other parents decided not to follow through with books). We got some general books about sea life and ocean animals. We also got some specialized books on jellyfish, crabs, and starfish - some of the kids favorites from the presentation. We checked out an informational video about ocean animal life and the kids even used their "free picks" to choose a fiction book and a video of their choice about fish and sea turtles.

This library also had some fun alphabet and number and shape mats in a special section where kids can actually make some noise in the library. We headed over there and played a spontaneous phonics game. Our daughter jumped from letter to letter and gave three words that started with each letter while on it. Our son jumped from one shape to another practicing his shapes and colors. Then they took turns jumping the numbers and saying them out loud. I rearranged the mats a few times and even did some basic three letter words for our daughter to sound out. They really had fun and kids kept coming over to watch what we were doing. We cleaned up the area and then they built a fort out of some cushions they had in the area and played in that for awhile while I read bits from "The Well-Trained Mind" , a classical approach homeschooling book. I am also reading "The Unschooling Handbook", two approaches that probably couldn't be all that more different if they tried and yet there is so much good in both of them! After awhile we headed over to check out our books and head home again.

A quick pit stop at the florist to pick up a bouquet for our neighbor who is recovering from brain cancer surgery and is in many ways like a grandmother to our kids. The kids picked out some beautiful purple lillies for her and received some treats from the florist, including some roses of their own. We came home - still to no power - and made homemade get well cards for her. The kids wrote their names (our son with my help - our daughter alone) and drew their own pictures, each card being unique. Over for a quick visit and well wishes and to deliver the flowers. Home for lunch and a nap. Our eldest refused so she read the new books from the library by herself for quiet time. A quick cleaning of the house and dinner.

Then off to pick up a kitchen compost bucket, the kids enjoy bringing the compost to the yard and learning what you can and cannot compost. The smell of my bowl full of clipping can get old though! Our daughter thinks we should just throw the vegetables right onto the flowers to help them grow. This concept is a bit hard for them to understand just yet I think, but still we talk about it and teach them the right way. We are listening to "The Jungle Book" unabridged in the car during the day now and the kids seems to be enjoying it and are even starting to ask questions about it.

We returned home and read some of our library books about ocean life and colored a few pages from our new work in progress "Under the Sea" book. I again printed out several coloring pages of sea animals for them to color and then put together in a book. I wonder how many of these books we are going to create? They truly seem to enjoy it though and it is a cute finished project. It was late though so only a few pages tonight and we can finish them tommorrow as well as watch the video and finish our library books. Serona gave them a nice bath and then read from "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" as they fell asleep. I am typing this and then trying to fall asleep after a few more pages (at 350 now) of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".

Thanks for reading,
Tenn

The importance of play...Yesterday we headed to the dr's for an early morning visit to hear their baby's heartbeat. They love being able to be "helpers" there and to hear the heart, I think they are really starting to understand what is going on and are getting excited. Of course I need to bring a million things to distract them while I try to carry on a conversation with my midwife. Yesterday file folder games and food seemed to work the best. Our two year old practiced matching colors and patterns and our near four year old worked on matching numbers and a phonics game. They seemed to enjoy it and not realize they were learning something.

On our way home we contacted a friend we haven't seen in awhile, the little boy our daughter believes she is going to marry when she gets older. We spent the next 5 hours at their house. The kids just played in their own little world while the mothers actually had adult conversation (what's that again?) They were pretty evenly paired (about 3 months difference between the older 2 and 6 months between the younger two) and they played amazingly well together. They ran around, climbed, jumped on a mattress set out for that purpose, pretended they were firefighters and ballerinas and police officers. Went camping, hiking and just exploring. They sat and read books to each other for almost a half hour and they were really good about including the younger siblings in their play. They were all in such a good mood and clearly had so much fun. At one point we all read a book together and acted it out with puppets and the kids pulled those file folder games out of my bag and were playing with them again. But other than that and supervising lunch they pretty much kept to themselves, of course asking us to watch them now and again. It really reminded me of some of the things kids find most important and get true joy out of.

This is also a family that has made some very similar parenting choices as us and our kids get along really well, in part I believe because of those similarities. While it is nice to have lots of diversity in their lives it is also nice to have some relationships where you have confidence that the children are on the same page as yours and everyone is very nice and inclusive of one another and even differences can be worked out between the kids with little adult intervention. At one point one child accidently hit the other with a toy and the child who was hit (our daughter) said to the other "I really didn't like when you did that to me, could you not do it again." And the little boy said "I'm sorry and I won't." It was a refreshing change of pace from the way I have seen some other children try to resolve or not resolve their differences with my kids. And the result was we had 5 hours together with 2 4 year olds and 2 2 year olds with no meltdowns, no fights and two missed naps! It was a wonderful day!

Peace,
Tenn

Highlights from a weekend of kites, plays, zoos and web pages...It's been a busy weekend and I have not taken time to write. Thought I would capture the highlights here. Friday night we had a family picnic and flew a kite at a local park. Then Serona took our oldest to a Harry Potter party to purchase the new book at midnight. Saturday was another relaxed day with some yardwork and playtime in the morning and then back to the park for more kite time, the kids really seem to enjoy this. They each took turns flying the kite and talking a bit about how it works, the other one would chase the shadow on the ground and try to keep up with the kite. Then we split up for kid dates, I took our oldest to see a Children's Theater production and Serona took our youngest out for a lunch date and some special reading time. Then a visit with their uncle and some reading from their new book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Sunday was our 6 year anniversary and we spent it with the kids and friends. After church, we took the kids to a petting zoo at a local community fair. They had a great time petting and feeding all the animals and learning about them. One seemed particularly attached to a gentle black bunny rabbit and the other preferred to try to chase the chickens and the ducks! Then home for a vegetarian barbeque with friends. The kids were so excited as their new friends were older than them and into organizing activities for them all to play together. The older girls seemed to enjoy spending time with the kids and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Yesterday was a day filled with exhaustion for me and I don't remember much of what we did. Had some reading time, some art time and some file folder time. They played at a friends house and we took a big group nap. After dinner I had some special bonding time with our youngest as we went to bed early and Serona taught our oldest how to build a webpage as he built one for her on the subject of her choosing, princesses. He will have to write to tell you more. Hope your weekend went well.

Peace,
Tenn

The power of water...Today did not start out as a banner day that is for sure but it ended on a good note for all of us. I was really dragging this morning, did not want to get out of bed or really do much of anything, but two kids will make you forget that and move like it or not. We made breakfast and things were not improving, the kids and I were at a clash, they may have been great yesterday - but what I feared as a result of my long phone session then came today not yesterday. I threw in the towel for a half hour and let them watch a Little Bear video while I snoozed on the couch - going in and out of sleep with their rythms. Then I read to them and was falling asleep while trying to read the Adventures of Lowly the Worm. So we began what became a 45 minute battle to get them outside, there are times I truly wish I needn't worry about sunblock or getting them out of their pajamas. If my kids were not so fair skinned today I would have just conceded. You'd think they would learn the routine and accept that they really need to wear sunblock and playclothes to go outside. You would think these children who loved the outdoors would willingly comply. Well not today, they bucked at every move I made and after a near hour of this I almost did not want to go outside anymore, but I knew inside it would help. Yesterday they had the wisdom to go outside, today it was I.

Once outside they ran to the pool and it was like magic, the crab apples of a few minutes ago were shiny happy people. Water play seemed to soothe them and allow them to get out all their stress and just relax. I was very relieved and was even able to just pull up a chair near the pool and watch them play and talk to them occasionally while finishing one of my own projects. The hardest part of our time outside was when the dog ran up to greet a neighbor walking by and he was a bit friendly. The kids just splashed, played with their toys, rocks, and whatever else they could find nearby. Even the bugs seemed to stay away today, a real blessing at our house. I was able to relax and we all turned into different people. Then we did some sidewalk chalking together. Their new favorite is for me to outline their bodies while they lay on the sidewalk and then they can draw their faces, clothes and color them. It really is cute and fun to do, of course they are continually scared that an ant is going to crawl on them while they are lying down. I still don't understand the mixed bug fear and enamour that my kids seem to have, love them one minute - petrified the next. A few more minutes and we were headed inside for lunch only to be sidetracked by a playful dragonfly. We followed him around the yard and watched him for nearly a half hour, I was amazed at his patience with us, the kids really loved it and were sad when he finally gave up and flew away.

Then lunch and naptime for the younger while the eldest had school time. She is very excited because we just got real school desks, the kind with the flip up top, nice wooden and metal ones, it makes her want to do more and more. While I put our son to sleep she had some quiet time reading books to her dolls and playing with her LeapPad - she was so good that we both feel asleep, she nicely and even quietly came in and woke me up to ask if we could have some special school time while her brother slept, how could I say no? We went to her desk and she pulled out some paper and began drawing her shapes and practicing her name. She asked me to help her make a book of shapes and if I could find some on the computer for her. So I surfed and began printing out her first shape book while she worked independently. Then she traced and colored the pages I printed out while I was printing out more for her. Then we worked on a puzzle together, one of the big floor ones, she could do most of it by herself. Then she worked on some file folder games (counting, numbers, matching, phonics and her letters) and I did laundry and cleaned up - continually coming back to her to check on her progress and help her as she needed, though she needed little help and seemed to prefer to work alone, even asking me at times to "not peek" until she was all done. Then we finished her book, she punched each page with the tree hole puncher and cut the yarn herself. I strung it through and tied it into bows and she had two new books today, "Her first shape book" and "Her first pointalism art book" which was composed of artwork she did in the copyshop the other day while I made photocopies and she pushed a pen through cardstock in a million dots and then used a marker to make other pages of dots. She is very into making books these days and it is alot of fun and easy enough for her to do, and I think she really likes the sense of accomplishment at having a "finished" project.

Then off to make dinner, where we talked about how corn and wheat grow as I husked corn and made some seitan. We talked about why we wash vegetables, about them growing in the dirt and how some are sprayed with chemicals called pesticides. Then the two of them played together while I finished up dinner and cleaned up. Our daughter keeps trying to teach our son things and wants to help him, sometimes he plays along other times he tries to get her to play chase. Mostly they seem to play in an imaginary world together, it is amazing to watch and listen to them. Today they got so caught up with one another I think they forgot I was there, I only caught snippets of their play as I wanted to foster it along and not hinder it in any way, but they both really seemed to enjoy it. Today they went to a LLL meeting and to the store and to school and back home, they did laundry, ran from the dog and rode their bicycles, took an airplane and fixed cards and who knows what else that I didn't catch onto. They learn so much from one another in so many ways I can never teach them, I'm so glad they have each other. Sometimes at the end of the day I need to remind myself that after one has run me all day long and the other has talked to me all day and I am so mentally and physically exhausted. Yet they have each other and I know the blessing of a sibling is truly a blessing for both of them.

I headed out tonight after diiner and the kids had a special date with dad. Serona was hitching the bike trailer onto the back of his bike when I left, so I am thinking that is what they did. I just came home from a wonderful meeting with several moms from the homeschool support group I recently joined and feel so refreshed, even better everyone is already asleep. I will be headed off soon as well. Tonights meeting was so good for me - I met many wonderful women and felt very welcome and comfortable there. It was refreshing and wonderful to be in an environment with like minded and supportive people. Well thanks for reading.

Peace,
Tenn

Nature Walks and other backyard adventures... On Wensday this week we had a more truncated day together than usual. I had a three hour phone training session and the kids had a "mother's helper" come and play with them. This girl is WONDERFUL with them, they played games, read, and just enjoyed themselves, they did not want her to leave. They were even able to co-exist in the same house with me and not talk to me for almost three hours - I have to admit I was amazed. I also got quite a bit out of the training, I will be a volunteer on a new advertising PSA campaign coming out on National Breastfeeding Awareness. So after the training, naps and lunch we had just a few hours together. So we lathered on the sunscreen and sadly the bug spray and headed out the doors into the big world of our backyard. I had hoped for some pool time for them and some nice calm sitting time for me - they of course had other ideas. We were to go on an adventure hike, through our backyard, our neighbor's yard, the big field behind us and the little trail that is nearby that winds through some trees and goes the length of maybe 4 of our neighbor's houses, but to them it was exploration and it was a good time.

It ended up being one of those moments where I was dragged into doing something I didn't want to and couldn't imagine anything having been more fun afterwards and I asked myself, why didn't I want to do that again? We watched bugs pollinate, and fly all around, we picked wildflowers, blew some dandellions, felt tree bark and learned about how trees grow and why they are so rough, looked for birds and tried to catch a dragonfly. The kids took turn walking their balance beam of a fallen tree only to jump off again and start it all over. We ran in the field (ok they ran I watched and encouraged them to run back towards me again), found walking sticks, and found an old swing (really a round piece of wood hanging on a long rope) and swung on it. We talked to the neighborhood dogs, waved at neighbors, and kept each other good company. We returned from our adventure and ate some dinner.

Then off to a local children's supply shop that the kids and mom both like. There they played with a really nice wooden kitchen set - making me eggs and pizza and tea while I browsed the store for some supplies. Then they cleaned up and started playing with the cash register and cleaning supplies. Soon they were sitting on some beanbags reading each other books while I finished up - they didn't want to leave when it came time to. Then home for some stories and sleep. When the kids drifted off and Serona returned home we continued work on our file folder games (they really turned out nice).

In reality a day I was dreading (a three hour training session with my kids???) turned into a fabulous day full of fun activities and passive learning. I'm so glad that the kids dragged me outside and made me enjoy myself even when I seemed almost determined not to.

Peace,
Tenn

Late nights with file folders, again...As a chronic sufferer of pregnancy induced insomnia I find myself looking for things to do at 1 or 2am each day as I find it literally impossible to fall asleep. Last night I worked on some file folder games for the kids. As I was listening to Norah Jones and laminating file folders and small cut out shapes and cutting velcro I flashed back to other late nights with file folders not so long ago. Only under very different circumstances however. Those of you who know me - will remember all too vividly my years of intercollegiate debate, first as a competitor and then as a coach. It was during those years that I was very frequently awake at 1 or 2am in a room full of file folders, only then they were filled with the latest breaking news or the theoretical research of a complex foreign policy topic. I was a research addict and would be up at all hours of the night cutting cards, creating briefs and drinking mountain dew. Only now my drinks have changed (water or tea with lemons), my music is more mellow (Norah Jones instead of Nine Inch Nails or the Grateful Dead), and the subject matter is quite different (foreign policy to shapes and colors) and yet I find myself in an all too familiar place up at 1am further education and learning with some file folders.

I have changed so much over these years, I believe for the better. I still love debate and miss the intellectual challenge and honesty that occurred so freely in that environment. I miss the brilliant people I spent my days and nights with and I miss the travel believe it or not. Debate has in many ways made me into the person that I am today and I see its influences in my everyday life. Perhaps the thing I recognize the most is my love and passion for knowledge, my desire to keep people and research honest, and my love of a good intellectual fight and the depths that pushes us all too. I want to pass many of these characteristics on to our children. I want them to love knowledge, have a deep desire to learn more and a passion to share that knowledge. I want them to seek the truth and change their lives to live by it. I want them to learn to be advocates in life. To be discerning and able to tear an argument apart merely on its own weaknesses. I want them to learn to analyze what they hear, read and see and be able to find the truth and the trash in it and deal with each appropriately. I want them to be smart and intellectually honest.

I think about the first time debate truly got under my skin. I was a freshman in college and the World Trade Center had just been bombed (the first time) and I was sitting on my dorm floor cutting cards about the tragedy when I realized how important it all was and how so many people never got that deep. Terrorism scared me for the first time that night as I thought about the possibilities that could occur. I found a new desire to learn to improve myself and the world I was in and maybe make a difference someday. I became passionate about debate that night and the passion never died. When I became a coach I just wanted to pass the passion on to my students, but what I found was they kept passing it back to me and I soon discovered that my favorite moment of coaching always came when the light bulb went on for a student, the moment the switch was flipped and they were forever changed, when they got it. I was fortunate to see that many times over during my short tenure as a coach and each moment was so beautiful. Now as a mother I have that opportunity again with each of my children, many times over again.

Just as I was there for each of their first steps - I hope to be there when each of them learns to read, to do math, to understand complex concepts and to be so proud of that perfect sentence they wrote. Clearly they will need to have their fathers grammatical skills and not my own for that to be achieved! I think learning is such an amazing and powerful process to be a part of - how wonderful it is that God lets us take part in each others lives in that way. I have seen some light bulbs go off in my children already and what a powerful and moving experience it is for me to be a part of, I look forward to all the days to come and the moments that it brings us.

So as I questioned my sanity last night after cutting what felt like my hundredth piece of velcro to stick to some laminated shapes - when I ask myself is it all worth it? Is my work here important, could I make a difference somewhere else, the answer is always yes it is worth it. Yes I probably could make a difference somewhere else, but how significant? My mother-in-love (not only law), who in many ways is my Titus 2 woman, once said something very wise to me when I was a new mom struggling with societal pressures against my decision to be a stay at home mother. "Why be the same thing to every person when you can be everything to just one person" The impact of that statement hit me hard when I thought about the responsibility we have as parents and I have never second guessed my decision to stay at home with my children again. I was an excellent debate coach and teacher and now I am an excellent mother and I would not trade in that role and consider myself blessed to have the opportunities I have.

While the content and circumstances are completely different I once again find myself utilizing file folders to further my education and the learning of another. I find myself up at all hours of the night excited by a project that many others would consider a waste of time, if not downright insane. I find myself dedicated to the furthering of knowledge and learning and committed to building the tools needed at the time. I am pleased with Norah Jones and tea and with my little file folder games and perhaps they will be one of the tools that helps my little padawans lights turn on, as previous sessions with the Grateful Dead and Mountain Dew and cutting ev on the latest postmodern theory helped some of my co-debtors and the ones I coached light the fire within them. Either way I find myself smiling that as much as life changes it stays the same. The consistency of file folders in my life is one small way that makes me smile and feel like a cohesive whole and make sense of the many different paths my life has taken to bring me to this point.

Peace,
Tenn

Dragonflies, dancing and splashing...Today was a hot one, nearing the 90's by early morning we traded in our normal pattern of preschool cooperative class for a morning in the sun. Spent outdoors the morning consisted of discovering and counting dragonflies, birds, and bees all at work in their natural habitat. It also included running through the frog sprinkler and splashing in the pool. At some point the pool water became tea and the mothers were served tea in plastic cups from the children who carried them back and forth from the pool. We were apparently very thirsty for quite a few trips were made. The kids romped through the yard and the mothers worked on future supplies and curriculm as well as just chatted up the morning. Lunch consisted of some tofu, melon, pretzels and dare I say it? Green Kool-Aid! These kids hardly knew what to do with themselves - quite a change from the standard fare of water, soymilk and the occasional glass of 100% juice! They ran through the yard discovering things in the garden and working out some of their differences on their own, apparently the pink cup was quite popular! We lasted just as long as tempers can in small children spending large amounts of time together when bumping into naptime for younger siblings. Then we were off. The afternoon included some time for dancing with mom, a nap - unfortunately in the car, and cleanup responsibilities around the house. A treat of a video in the late afternoon so mom could finish paying the bills and sort out her banking nightmares and then out to the yard to await Serona's return. Free play with some balls, water, tricycles and sidewalk chalk and plenty of time climbing into and falling out of the hammock made up the remainder of their day. All in all another good day here.

Peace,
Tenn

A weekend at play...This weekend was a perfect combination of good weather, relaxation and good fun. Having no real plans we were all able to just relax and enjoy one another and the good weather throughout the weekend. We of course honored Serona this weekend for his role as an excellent father. We spent much of the time outside enjoying our yard and some local parks, we took some long drives and took long family naps. We saw hot air ballons, a duck family, listened to trains passing by, counted to 100 while tossing a ball, learned to play hopscotch, read about half of "The Magician's Newphew" by C.S. Lewis, learned to ride a two wheeler and tricycle, splashed in a pool, watered and weeded the flower garden, played red light - green light, and just swung lazily in the hammock. All in all a perfect weekend.

Peace,
Tenn

Wrapping up the day...The kids got really excited and we made a homeade book about their trip to the farm. We printed out some coloring pages from a preschool site online which included a cover (My day at the farm) and individual pictures of all the farm animals they saw. Our four year old colored all the pages, i colored the cover and we included artwork they both made today of all the people that were there with us as well as a brochure from the farm and some stenciling they did. We punched holes in it and used a cardstock cover and backpage and tied it with pretty yarn they strang through the holes and they are very proud of their artwork, a way to increase the lasting memory of it.

Peace,
Tenn

On the farm...Today has been a great day - we took a field trip with our local homeschool group to a nearby historical working farm. The kids had a great time, there were probably about 30 families there - most with multiple kids so we split into smaller groups. Our group had about 9 families and maybe 15 kids, it was a great size for the tour of the farm. We started out with a big group discussion of what the farm was like and it a little history, the farm is over 150 years old and still tries to show what life during that time is like. After the intial talk and outline of the "rules" we were off exploring. Our group started in the garden, where one of the workers, dressed traditionally showed us the garden and talked to the kids about gardening and the types of food grown. Then we walked out to the garden and saw the plants in different stages and as a group we planted a row of corn, everyone got to plant two seeds and the adults filled in the rest. The kids really enjoyed it, even our two year old was able to plant some seeds himself! Then we went to the chicken coop and saw the roosters and learned about some games that kids on the farm - our oldest really enjoyed "where's the slipper" and then they played a version of red light green light and learned some more about playing games (not with toys) on the farm.

Then it was off to the barns, they went into the main barn and talked about the different animals and about storing and using hay. The kids each got to drop some hay down a shoot to feed the animals below. They were getting excited because they were going to see the animals soon. Then they went down in the cellar and learned about the structure of the building and how it keeps the room the same temperature year round. They saw horses and cows in here. They all took turns petting the baby calf and were learning about how animals have children too.

Then it was over to look at the pigs, there was a very large pig napping in the shade that they all surronded and learned about from another worker and they took turns petting the pig. Then it was over to see the baby pigs running around the pigpen and they saw one taking a mudbath. Then over to see the ox - from a good distance with a nice big fence in between them. Then we got to see the sheep and pet a baby lamb and several sheep. They actually got to go into the holding area and this was both kids favorite parts. I couldn't get our two year old to leave his new friends and our daughter is still talking about it, saying the lamb was her favorite part.

Next each child took turns pumping water into buckets from the water spout and washed their hands. We went into the farmhouse and talked about the different roles women and men, boys and girls fufilled on the farm in those days. They learned about the differences between this house and their own, and the different types of chores needed to maintain a house during that time. Then they went into the kitchen and helped sort beans and bake crackers. They saw the old stove and got to roll out dough and grind coffee themselves. The worker taught them all about food on the farm and life in the house. The whole tour was a little over two hours and the kids were so well behaved and continuosly interested, they seemed to really learn alot and enjoy the hands on experiences.

When we returned home they both drew some freehand pictures and stencils of life on the farm and what they experienced. I'll combine that and some of the photos we took into a scrapbook for them later. They are using their animal markers to color and saying which animals are which. I think reading some books about the farm later and maybe a coloring sheet for the younger one and a worksheet for the older about farm animals will round out the day. Overall a great day and alot of fun for everyone.

Peace,
Tenn

Playdates and Lessons Learned... Today was a playdate day - which always follows a seperate flow in our lives. We had breakfast, cleanup, storytime and free play time before we went. Free play was fun as they learned to do different tricks with those big exercise balls I have. The kind you sit on to do stretches, they were rolling and tumbling all around, practicing balance and learning about spatial relationships (mostly of their own bodies to the ground and how long it takes to fall). Then it was off to a friends house to play, where we learned about sharing, taking turns, respect, manners, dealing with frustrations and just plain having fun. Our son loved to play with the cars on a train table and track they had and the oldest was content to lead everyone around with directions and to make us all meals in the play kitchen. Then it was off for home - where they received a new package in the mail with a book, an activity book and a puzzle. They immediately brought the puzzle to the kitchen table and worked on it together. Then we all read the book which was full of activities for them to do, it is a mimicking song they had to follow. Then naps and quiet time all around. Now they are sharing a snack of pretzels rods which they are organzing by size and grouping together and counting. An afternoon jaunt to the local park or a romp in the yard and making dinner and reading stories will round out our day.


Peace,
Tenn

On Practical Life Exercises...Today was a pretty mellow day for us, we spend nearly the whole day here at the house. The kids worked on things like free drawing and art and reading stories. Our daughter worked on some Montessori Practical Life Exercises, learning to assume and fufill some basic household responsibilities like clearing and setting dishes, washing the table and chairs, washing and preparing vegetables for meals and skipping and dancing. She really enjoyed herself and felt a sense of accomplishment and pride. Our son worked on his colors, counting and object recognition and language development. Then he decided a very long nap was the only thing on his agenda for the afternoon. They've spent the late afternoon in imaginary pretend play together going to school, on a boat, on an airplane and performing a ballet, now they are just plain chasing one another. It's been a good day here.

Peace,
Tenn

Of Painted Turtles...Last night Serona brought home a painted box turtle from his workplace, it was just wandering about the grounds when he left work. The kids were so excited they loved watching him move around and wanted to feed him and see him in water. We only kept him for a little while so the kids could see him and learn about him then Serona brought him back to a local lake to let him free. When he returned he hopped online and found information about turtles and talked to the kids about their habitat, eating habits and other charachteristics. They really seemed to respond to it. When I was at the library I picked up a book about turtles and two hand puppets for them to play with to reinfornce the lessons. I love spontaneous lessons that reasonate with the kids and build memories at the same time.

Peace,
Tenn

On Butterflies and Flowers...We just finished up our co-op for the morning. Today we learned about flowers, how they grow, all their parts and all about pollination. This was a follow-up lesson to butterflies where the kids learned about caterpillars and butterflies and saw butterflies in different stages and pretended to change into butterflies themselves. They finished that day with a craft of creating butterflies from their own handprints.

Today we pretended to be seeds and grew into beautiful flowers. We went for a walk outside and examined a variety of flowers, witnessed pollination in action and took apart a pretty iris to learn about all the parts of a flower. Then they had a craft to make a flower from all the parts themselves. The kids really enjoyed themselves and had a good hands on experience. I loved being outside with them and sharing their excitment at learning all about the flowers and finding ones in different colors.

Now we just need to clean up our house from their free playtime. Amazing what just a few children can accomplish in such a short period of time! But they did have fun.

Peace,
Tenn

Weekend Adventures with Soy Well our daughter asked a simple question over breakfast this weekend. "Daddy how do we make soy milk?" So we began an explanation of the proccess as best we knew, there was actually some description on our soy milk container as well. Then I ran into the kitchen and brought out some dried soybeans and some edamame to illustrate the point better. Suddenly we found ourselves leaving the dishes on the table and grinding soy beans to make some fresh soy milk. We hopped online to find a recipe for homemade soymilk and suddenly we found ourselves actually making some ourselves. For timesake we skipped some steps because we were more trying to show how to do it than actually make some for regular drinking (we had just picked up many gallons at our food buying coop that very morning) but it actually turned out quite tasty.

The kids were very interested and involved as we showed them what soybeans look like in the pod (edamame) and what they look like dried (dried soybeans), ground up beans, and then added some boiling water and soaked it through a cheesecloth (we actually used a tee shirt as we didn't have a cheese cloth on hand, and then simmered it with some flavoring. Daddy and the kids had a great time and I even remembered to take a little video of it. The kids still remember how they made it and are more in touch with how much work goes into making their milk. They understand that it grows in a garden and then is harvested and cooked. They even understand that the same food can come in different forms, fresh, frozen, dried and liquid. It was a great impromptu lesson and alot of fun.

Peace,
Tenn

A co-op is born... About a year ago I read the book Playful Learning by Engelhardt and Sullivan and began to think about alternatives to preschool for my kids. I found myself very unimpressed by the large majority of programs offered in our area and challenged myself to think what it was I wanted my children to experience. This book helped me organize my thoughts and realize that I wanted the kids to experience learning with other children their age and have opportunities to do some things that are more fun with other kids. But I still wanted to maintain control over what they were learning and offer different ways of learning it. So I approached several mothers with children my daughters age who I felt shared similar parenting and teaching values as our family did. Two mothers really liked the idea and we began meeting once a week, alternating houses and teachers and took turns teaching the kids. The kids could play games, learn songs, do craft projects, have snacks together and just have playtime. The mothers were able to socialize and trust one another to teach each others kids, the kids developed close relationships with each other and the other mothers. It has been a great overall experience for all of us.

I then began to try to start a preschool cooperative for my younger son but realized he was a bit too young to organize activities for him and the kids his age. Instead he participates in limited ways in my older daughters co - op and everyone has benefitted from the differences in age and they have all bonded together. In many ways he is older because he spends time with the older kids, but he is still learning at his own pace and have fun doing it. A co - op can be a good way to meet children's needs but you need to find the right families to do it with and have similar goals and approaches. We were very blessed to find that right from the start. I made my choices based on the mothers and how I had seen them interact with their children and some discussions we had previously had. We are moving into our second year with the co - op and are planning on continuing it even as some of the other children will be enrolled in private school as well. And siblings have been born that could form into another co - op in the future.

Tenn

The early days...    Before I started formally thinking about homeschooling I've always been teaching my kids both informally and in more formal ways as was age appropriate. My first was subjected to so much in utero as I was finishing my masters degree in Communications Studies and coaching intercollegiate debate throughout almost my entire pregnancy. Serona's favorite early baby pastime was reading science fiction and fantasy books out loud to her while she laid on his chest. Then we moved across country and I found myself at home with a very young child as my only companion and I talked to her and with her almost all day long and not in baby talk either. We moved through our days together and I explained and labelled everything in her world and mine. When we went to the grocery store, each item we put in our basket was named and described. This is a pepper, it is red, it grows in the ground, etc. This continued and has only gotten more detailed as they got older. Serona thought a good challenge word for her when she was two years old was Anti-disestablishmentarianism and we are very proud of the fact that at age three she could name her president, senator and governor and recognize them by picture. But the thing is we never saw this as odd, until others were shocked or surprised.

We just always have had the philospohy of sharing the world with them and taking them to places others might not take their kids and teaching them by experience. They've been at political rallies, speeches at universities, formal talks by activists and religious scholars, band performances at bars, drama productions, a star wars convention and numerous other "unusual" places to find infants, toddlers and preschoolers. They have done amazingly well and have learned so much from their experiences. They have waved signs on election day and participated in campaigning, they have heard the president and first lady speak in person, and have shook hands with Ralph Nader. Sure they had their moments at some of these events - but overall they were extremely well behaved and received many positive comments from those around us. I can't help but believe that this has contributed to how well adjusted and smart they already are.

For a long time I just moved through life this way - teaching in the teachable moments and making it very real to them in ways they could understand. When our daughter was three she seemed to need more - her options would have been to go to a "preschool" which in most cases is paying for daycare and play with other kids, or to spend over 500 a month to go to a Montessori or Waldorf program - who actually do teach young children. So we decided just to increase our formal working with her at home. I began more structured (not to structured though - it is me and she was 3 after all) teaching. We picked a letter a day at first and then settled on a letter a week to learn about. We would make lists of words that started with that letter, keep a cardboard box that she filled with things that began with that letter, made collages from magazine cutouts of objects that start with that letter and practice recognizing and reading that letter. We would pick themes to go with the week, A week we visited an apple orchard, made apple pie, apple soup and learned a song about apples. B week we learned about bears and made our kitchen table into a cave and hibernated. C week we watched clouds and read "It looked like spilt milk" and so on the list went. She loved it, we had plans and my son then 1 1/2 started to get interested in it as well and we moved through the days learning and having fun, without too much structure but enough to keep us organized. By three and a half she was really ready to want to start reading on her own and we began trying to foster that desire.

My son is a completely different child with a completely different learning style. He is a very active child and easily bored, he needs hands on experiences and had little patience for sitting still. I found that I could meet both of their needs when "teaching" in the way I did. I could read a book about a subject and then have hands on experiences or objects that my son could learn from. I began to realize that this enhanced and stretched both of their learning styles while meeting the needs of each of them. I would spend more of the hands on time with my son making sure he understood what we were doing then and more of my attention went to my daughter when we focused on more bookish teaching techniques. Yet each was able to get what they needed from the lesson and a bit extra as well. It was and is a very natural combination of teaching and learning for us.

Being a pretty left brained individual I have found it more challenging to teach my younger son - but that is good as it stretches me too and helps us all to have more well rounded experiences. While flash cards and books were very effective in teaching my daughter colors and language - they did very little for my son. However playing with certain toys, letting him touch and see green leaves and oranges and our little cardboard sound box worked very well for him. Music and art and anything physical helps him learn and we utilize that in our life teaching experiences. I have many teachable moments with him playing in the yard that I need to take advantage of and in those moments I really see the advantages of homeschooling as both my kids would be likely lost in the "system" for completely different reasons. My daughter would go largely unchallenged and quickly become bored and my son would be forced to learn in a method that is not conducive to his learning style and would probably be left behind or misunderstood and mislabelled.

I am so thankful for these early experiences we have had for they have shown me the benefits that teaching our kids at home can offer our family and has given me the confidence that we have naturally been doing that at home all along. I have learned so much about each of my children and myself through these experiences and that can only serve to enhance our education throughout our lives. As we stand at a crossroads where we are making a choice to "homeschool" I realize that we made that choice a long time ago and that we have been doing it all along, we are just choosing to continue and improve upon that.

Peace,
Tenn

Why homeschool?   Well the reasons vary from family to family and I won't even pretend to cover all the various reasons. When the time came to discuss options for our family, Serona and I did not start out thinking this is the direction we would choose - but it seems more and more every day we feel at peace with this path, atleast for this point in our lives. We began with the discussion of public versus private and began investigating options in our area. We quickly realized that the price tags on the private schools could near over 10,000 a year per child. Knowing that our family will atleast have three kids each two years apart in school that became overwhelming to even consider. But consider it we did and we could not find the justification in our minds for spending that kind of money for one child when we could use far less than that and educate all three of our kids at home.

Then of course we discussed public schools and we quickly realized that we have many hesitations about that route as well, from poor standards to the values (or lack thereof) taught in the school systems in our area we felt this would be putting limitations on our children and setting us up for potential problems with values, morals and even the way our children are taught to think about the world. So we found ourselves continually coming back to the option of homeschooling, atleast at an early age, until our kids needs outstrip what we can offer them (if it reaches this point), until they have a basic grasp of how to learn, make moral judgements and learn to discern truth for themselves, or until we go crazy trying. So we made a commitment to use some resources to transform our basement into a classroom environment for our kids and begin that adventure this summer.

So we are jumping into this world. Anticipating all the criticism sure to come I have my defense ready "We don't do anything else "Normal" so why should this be any different?" But seriously there are many good reasons we are making this choice. To name just a few, we feel that we know our kids and their personalities very well and can tailor teaching them to their individual styles and give them more attention. We can help them learn how to tell the difference between right and wrong, while still teaching tolerance and respect. We can allow them to learn at their own pace (as fast or slow as that may be) and utilize their interests in their education. They can have some control over their own education and the choices we make about what and how to learn about their world. We can incorporate our faith in very realistic ways. We can spend lots of time at museums and public libraries and parks. I'm sure more of our reasons will come out as we go through this adventure together but there are a few reasons to satiate your curiosity.

Tenn

Welcome and why we do what we do...    Well Serona over at CyberEcology finally got me started on trying to blog regularly and I thought it might be fun to keep track of all the things we are doing here with our young padawans in the early stages of their education. I have contemplated this before but thought to myself there really wouldn't be all that much to share but recently I realized that we truly are doing some interesting and fun things that others might be interested in. If nothing else it will serve as a record for my kids later on in life. So thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy what we have to say and that it inspires you and your family to pursue your life long education in this world.

Peace,
Tenn