I have a question about co-ops. We actually belong to a small, 4 family co-op that we love. But, we're moving soon and they have a very large co-op where we are moving to. It sounds like from your posts that your co-op is large. May I ask what you like and dislike about it? Have you ever been part of a small co-op and if so, what did you like and dislike about that?
Hi Jen! Good luck with your move. We have moved so many times I know it can be challenging but there are many blessings that come with it too. Over the years we have been part of several different sized coops and homeschool groups. As you guessed there are advantages and disadvantages to both.
When we first started we meet once a week with two other families and did preschool type activities. At the time I did not think of it as a coop or support group but now looking back these lovely ladies helped me gain my confidence as a homeschool parent and helped me realize the joy and that I would not need to do it all alone. We were just three friends who had similar aged children who decided to get together for the kids and plan activities, nothing extremely formal and it was preschool time anyway. We loved this group because we were friends first but this is not typical.
We started looking around for a support group for when she got older because I knew it was important to have that in place early so when I needed the help and support it was already there and so I had people I could learn from and go to with my questions.
Since then we have formally been part of three support groups or cooperatives. One medium sized, one small and one very large. We spent about two years with the small group and now a year and a half with the big group.
I will try to be objective but will be upfront in saying that my perceptions of small and big groups are obviously very influenced by our experiences with our support groups, since that is what I can draw from. There are wonderful small and big groups and there are lousy small and big groups. Many of the advantages and disadvantages are similar to the benefits and challenges of going to a big school or a small school, or a big church versus a small church. The short answer is big groups offer more flexibility and options but are intimidating and sometimes overwhelming and small groups offer more intimacy but are very limiting.
For our family there is absolutely no question that the group we are with now is the best group for us and I love being part of a big group. The advantages of a big group are primarily in opportunity. With more families to choose from you have more opportunity for friendships to develop for both you and your children. You have more opportunity for meeting like minded people. You have more opportunity for finding answers to your questions and support for your needs. Typically a big group offers more opportunities for field trips, classes and other organized activities. A well run big support group is also very organized. A big group offers the opportunity to create smaller groups of friends and to have different friends for different things. A big group can do certain things that a smaller group can not. For example I have not yet come across a field trip we could not do because our numbers can be small or very large. One of the most valuable assets of a big group is families with children of wide age ranges and parents who are veterans, are in the thick of it, are in your stage, and are just starting out. A big group offers a lot of flexibility.
The downsides to a big group is it can be intimidating and difficult to become part of the activities. Big support groups are like big churches, they can be great or they can not be. You have to be the kind of person who can just jump in and get involved in smaller activities right away. You typically need to take much more initiative with a big group and get yourself and your children involved. There can be a less welcoming environment (though there does not need to be) and it can be really intimidating to some people, both parents and children. When faced with a large group you can feel overwhelmed and like everyone else knows each other and you will never get to know everyone and be part of everything. A big group can have a central core of people that can seem (and sometimes really is) not able to be broken into as a new person. A big group requires more personal work and intiative. It can take longer to develop closer relationships. There are often so many options that you face "a problem of good" where it all is good and you have too much to choose from.
Now onto smaller groups. Smaller support groups are usually welcoming and very intimate. You grow close together and you know well everyone involved both parents and children. Small groups offer an easy circle of people to get to know and offers a level of intimacy hard to intially find in a large group. It is usually easier and less intimidating to break into a small group. Small support groups you typically do everything together so your families grow comfortable together and you have a tight knit group of people. There are less people to coordinate so it is easier to meet more peoples needs and desires. In small groups people tend to be willing to compromise a lot knowing they need to meet each others needs. The intimacy often offers a safe environment for sharing and support. Very often the support group becomes your closest friends and the relationships extend well beyond homeschooling.
Small groups are intimate and usually close-knit.
The downsides I found of a smaller group were in its limitations. As a small group you have less options, you have less people to meet minimum numbers for things and less people to organize and run things. Typically there is less organization and formality to the group and it can kind of ebb and flow in activity. A small group can easily be controlled by a strong personality or a cluster of people and if you don't agree where things are going it will affect you. A small group is limiting in the number of friends your children and you can make. It is harder to find like minded people in small groups, especially for each member of your family. Small groups can often become cliquish to both outsiders and even sometimes to some of its own members. In small groups you put "all your eggs in one basket" so to say and if you lose that basket or something cracks inside it everyone gets messy. Small groups can be limiting.
Now all that being said there are always exceptions and really the bottom line to finding any support group is not size but what it offers you and your family and how you feel about the individuals in the group and the groups organization and overall philosophy. Sometimes in your life you need different things, sometimes you need small and sometimes you need large, both offer advantages and disadvantages and that is why both are around. Personally I find we fit better with big groups because then we can make our own smaller groups within the larger group where we fit but I still have the opportunities, support and experiences from the bigger group to draw from and rely on.
Since you mentioned you are moving to an area with a big group I want to come back to talk about big groups. In moving to a new place being part of a big group will offer you a lot of opportunities. Opportunities to meet people, to do things, to make friends in a variety of circles. But it will require more work from you and a willing spirit to just jump right in and take initiative to get involved and get to know people. Most often people in a big group are welcoming but busy in their lives and don't always stop to invite people in. Sometimes you will crash and burn in a big group and things you try will flop and you will have to try again. It takes more time for intimacy to develop and it can seem like everyone else is close but really often those are perceptions and the work pays off and you find yourself in the middle of everything with a lot of options.
It really depends a lot on your personality and what you like and dislike. I will be honest though and say that the large group that I am a part of is truly an exceptional group of women. It is like a small church and we support and love and encourage each other in so many ways that go beyond homeschooling. I know that what I am a part of right now is rare and a blessing and I am enjoying every moment of it. Our group has led me to make posts like It Takes a Village, Spotlight on our Coopand Way to Start the Year. I have found a group of very close intimate women as my friends that I meet once a week for coffee, discussion, prayer and a bible study, we've been meeting almost since I started the group. My kids have started developing their closer friends and have a large circle of people to choose from to play with and enjoy. We have so many field trips, class and activities that learning to say no is an important skill. We are part of thriving cooperative classes, have done drama camps, serve together as a group, and have what feels like all the resources I need when it comes to a question or need related to homeschooling and experience. So my post may be very biased because we love our big group!
Many blessings to you in your move. If you want to talk more about this personally feel free to email me.
Tenniel
January 19, 2007
Q and A: Are You SuperHuman?
Dear Tenniel,
You are amazing! You are inspiring! But are you superhuman? Let me begin my noting that your blog may have been the most influential factor in my decision to homeschool this year. Your links are extremely useful; your lesson plans are tremendously helpful. Most of all, though, your conversational description of your daily homeschool adventures has set a very productive (albeit sometimes lofty and intimidating) bar for my own family. I'll admit, I feel alternately inspired and inadequate when reading your blogs.
So I post this question (a variation on the prior "superhuman" inquiry): is it all really as amazing as it sounds? Do you NEVER have days when you hunger for adult conversation? Aren't you ever short of patience with your kids out of an inexplicable sense of resentfulness that has no foundation in their behavior? Do you ever feel the mother-guilt that I (and I would venture to suggest at least a handful of other mothers) feel when faced with your own ambitious standards for parenting? And finally, and perhaps most importantly, do you EVER sleep?
BTW -- Homeschooling has been going FAMOUSLY for us. Thank you for your inspiration. It has been, and I daresay it will remain, a joy to follow your blog.
First Amy, thanks for the compliments and I am glad you find the blog useful and inspiring at times. I never thought when I started writing this for our own little family that anyone would even want to read it much less enjoy it, so thanks!
I am honestly glad someone asked this question and with the good humor that you did Amy :) If there is a subject that permeates most of the emails I get and some of the comments I get in real life it is this superhuman thing. It makes me both want to laugh and cry at the same time. It is a tough question to answer but a very reasonable one to ask. My answer will likely be long and complicated, as you asked quite a few questions in this one, just like me so please be patient with me.
The short answer is of course I am not super-human and I have bad days too, we ALL do! Ever notice when I have not blogged for awhile? Sometimes it is because I have nothing good or positive to say or things aren't going great, sometimes it is just because we are too busy or I don't want to blog. The bottom line though, I CHOOSE what to blog about - this is not a full open peek into our home and our days, this is the "best of", the "high points", the things I want to replicate, remember and share. As a friend of mine pointed out reading my blog does not offer a realistic picture of the WHOLE of homeschooling or parenting. So please don't take it that way, what you are reading is a glimpse of our best moments, of the moments I choose to share.
People have suggested in the past that I blog about the ugly side of things too and our down days. I have honestly tried, and have managed to hit post a few times, but I don't like what I type. I don't like the way I sound or how I come across, so I typically don't do it. These are also typically days that I don't want to remember or replicate so why bother writing about them? In most cases if I don't want to write about it and it does not come from my heart I don't write about it. In real life I welcome my friends to see the messes in my life and it helps them realize that I am a real person with real flaws. In my blog I don't try to portray a realistic view of all of homeschooling, I just write what I want to share and remember. We have bad moments and bad overall days just like everyone else. And if it makes you feel better I just washed my floors tonight for the first time in I can't remember how long (many months at least) and the water was black!
One of the things you mentioned is that you like my conversational style and descriptions of our day - those come from my heart and they are things I think people can find value in reading, whether it be just my own family or another homeschool family so those naturally are all the good things. In real life my conversations may share more of my flaws but here it is easier and more interesting to write about my victories and precious moments than my struggles. Just because I don't write about them does not mean I don't have them.
The bottom line to remember when homeschooling is not to compare your actual homeschool life with the snapshot of another homeschool family's life that you see. Because all you are seeing in anyone else is a snapshot - a part of their broader life, the details you can see, the details they choose to share, or you happen to see. You are not seeing the whole reality in my life or in anyone else's life that you admire. Whether it be in a blog or in real life, we only see what we are shown and not the whole picture.
Now we really do have a lot of great days and we really do love homeschooling and that is what you see here, those are the things I choose to share, the good things, those are all real, we do the things I write about here. So I am glad you find them inspiring but don't be intimidated or ever feel inadequate. The other thing to mention is this is what is right for my family, for me and my kids, every family is so different and our style will not work for everyone. So continue doing what you love with your kids and ENJOY them and homeschooling.
Remember none of us are superhuman, not me, not your best homeschooling friend, not the head of your homeschool coop, none of us, we are all normal homeschooling moms and dads who face similar challenges and want to share our victories and what worked for us with others, always keep that perspective
Now was that too long of an answer to the first part of your question? I think that was the meat of the question so I spent a lot of time. Can you tell since I am conversational that I just type like I would talk and until I am done saying what I want to say no matter how long that is? On to your more specific questions.
Is it all really as amazing as it sounds?
Yes a lot of it is, I think the opportunities and experiences that we have homeschooling our family are amazing and wonderful. BUT of course it is not ALL always amazing. Some of it is quite mundane, some of it drudgery, some of it annoying, frustrating, and sometimes I am just plain tired but all together it really is amazing and wonderful. Apply all the discussion from above about only seeing part of our homeschool experience.
Do you NEVER have days when you hunger for adult conversation?
Of course I hunger for adult conversation - on a daily basis! I need it and I do my best to try and get it. My husband is wonderful and let's me decompress when he comes home. Sometimes in the middle of the day I will email or instant message or call him just to talk. I call family members or talk to neighbors. I often will call a friend in the afternoon and chat or if I am having a bad morning in the morning. I do out of respect for their schedule try to ask right after I say hello "Is this a bad time or an ok time?" and respect the needs of their family. Often I call in the afternoon when I am doing my chores, laundry, dishes, cleaning that I can talk and work at the same time. I also get together with regularity for field trips, classes and other events with other moms. A strange thing I do that helps me feel in touch with the "adult world" is I read news sites all through the day - it keeps me connected, keeps my brain going and gives me a break from the kids. I used to read blogs but I get too sucked into them so now just news headlines and a few stories.
Aren't you ever short of patience with your kids out of an inexplicable sense of resentfulness that has no foundation in their behavior?
I am not really sure what you mean here. I lose my patience to be sure just like anyone else. Most often this is child behavior related for me though. I can not relate to the reason you listed. I do not feel any resentfulness to my situation or my kids because I chose it and I want this. I do not wish I was doing anything else or that my kids were in school or not here. I really don't. Generally if I lose my patience I know what caused it, unless of course I am PMSing, LOL! I do pray every day for patience, strength, creativity and wisdom. No, I guess I don't experience this. Or maybe I don't understand the question.
Do you ever feel the mother-guilt that I (and I would venture to suggest at least a handful of other mothers) feel when faced with your own ambitious standards for parenting?
Do I feel guilty when I do not meet my own high standards? No - but I try to be better - and sometimes I feel like a failure to be sure. But guilt only comes if I know I should have done something different and purposefully made choices to do something counter or different to that. For me that is not guilt that is conviction of the poor choices I am making (like spending this long on a blog post with four laundry baskets sitting next to me). I have high standards, but they are there for a reason and we feel they are best for our family so I try my best to meet them but don't beat myself up if I fail.
We try to be very intentional in our choices as a family and we therefore do have high standards. There are a lot of reasons for our choices and a lot of prayer, thought and research goes into our choices. We have tried to make conscious standards and priorities for our family and do our best to live up to them. We fall short to be sure and sometimes we re-evaluate and change our standards or goals if we need to. Other times we are convicted to bring our behavior into line with our priorities, and try to work at that. We are gentle with ourselves and don't beat ourselves up over it but are also honest with ourselves and hold ourselves and each other accountable.
I guess for me that distinction between guilt and conviction is important. As is a continual reminder to myself that we made intentional choices for a reason so we should try to follow through. But there is also reality and sometimes we expect or want too much from ourselves and we need to re-asses and be willing to change our own standards. We also need to be careful not to make someone else's standards for themselves our standards for ourselves. Each family is unique and has different needs and priorities and we need to be careful to not compare or try to adopt someone else's standards that we simply can not live up to as our own.
Create your standards for your family then do your best to live by them but understand and forgive yourself when you don't. No need for guilt, just improve what you can and let go of the rest. Sometimes we all need to re-evaluate our standards and remind ourselves that our standards are different than other peoples and that is OK.
And finally, and perhaps most importantly, do you EVER sleep?
Not enough :)
Amy, thanks for your questions and your honesty. I am so glad to hear that homeschooling is going so well for you and your family! Many Blessings
Tenniel
You are amazing! You are inspiring! But are you superhuman? Let me begin my noting that your blog may have been the most influential factor in my decision to homeschool this year. Your links are extremely useful; your lesson plans are tremendously helpful. Most of all, though, your conversational description of your daily homeschool adventures has set a very productive (albeit sometimes lofty and intimidating) bar for my own family. I'll admit, I feel alternately inspired and inadequate when reading your blogs.
So I post this question (a variation on the prior "superhuman" inquiry): is it all really as amazing as it sounds? Do you NEVER have days when you hunger for adult conversation? Aren't you ever short of patience with your kids out of an inexplicable sense of resentfulness that has no foundation in their behavior? Do you ever feel the mother-guilt that I (and I would venture to suggest at least a handful of other mothers) feel when faced with your own ambitious standards for parenting? And finally, and perhaps most importantly, do you EVER sleep?
BTW -- Homeschooling has been going FAMOUSLY for us. Thank you for your inspiration. It has been, and I daresay it will remain, a joy to follow your blog.
First Amy, thanks for the compliments and I am glad you find the blog useful and inspiring at times. I never thought when I started writing this for our own little family that anyone would even want to read it much less enjoy it, so thanks!
I am honestly glad someone asked this question and with the good humor that you did Amy :) If there is a subject that permeates most of the emails I get and some of the comments I get in real life it is this superhuman thing. It makes me both want to laugh and cry at the same time. It is a tough question to answer but a very reasonable one to ask. My answer will likely be long and complicated, as you asked quite a few questions in this one, just like me so please be patient with me.
The short answer is of course I am not super-human and I have bad days too, we ALL do! Ever notice when I have not blogged for awhile? Sometimes it is because I have nothing good or positive to say or things aren't going great, sometimes it is just because we are too busy or I don't want to blog. The bottom line though, I CHOOSE what to blog about - this is not a full open peek into our home and our days, this is the "best of", the "high points", the things I want to replicate, remember and share. As a friend of mine pointed out reading my blog does not offer a realistic picture of the WHOLE of homeschooling or parenting. So please don't take it that way, what you are reading is a glimpse of our best moments, of the moments I choose to share.
People have suggested in the past that I blog about the ugly side of things too and our down days. I have honestly tried, and have managed to hit post a few times, but I don't like what I type. I don't like the way I sound or how I come across, so I typically don't do it. These are also typically days that I don't want to remember or replicate so why bother writing about them? In most cases if I don't want to write about it and it does not come from my heart I don't write about it. In real life I welcome my friends to see the messes in my life and it helps them realize that I am a real person with real flaws. In my blog I don't try to portray a realistic view of all of homeschooling, I just write what I want to share and remember. We have bad moments and bad overall days just like everyone else. And if it makes you feel better I just washed my floors tonight for the first time in I can't remember how long (many months at least) and the water was black!
One of the things you mentioned is that you like my conversational style and descriptions of our day - those come from my heart and they are things I think people can find value in reading, whether it be just my own family or another homeschool family so those naturally are all the good things. In real life my conversations may share more of my flaws but here it is easier and more interesting to write about my victories and precious moments than my struggles. Just because I don't write about them does not mean I don't have them.
The bottom line to remember when homeschooling is not to compare your actual homeschool life with the snapshot of another homeschool family's life that you see. Because all you are seeing in anyone else is a snapshot - a part of their broader life, the details you can see, the details they choose to share, or you happen to see. You are not seeing the whole reality in my life or in anyone else's life that you admire. Whether it be in a blog or in real life, we only see what we are shown and not the whole picture.
Now we really do have a lot of great days and we really do love homeschooling and that is what you see here, those are the things I choose to share, the good things, those are all real, we do the things I write about here. So I am glad you find them inspiring but don't be intimidated or ever feel inadequate. The other thing to mention is this is what is right for my family, for me and my kids, every family is so different and our style will not work for everyone. So continue doing what you love with your kids and ENJOY them and homeschooling.
Remember none of us are superhuman, not me, not your best homeschooling friend, not the head of your homeschool coop, none of us, we are all normal homeschooling moms and dads who face similar challenges and want to share our victories and what worked for us with others, always keep that perspective
Now was that too long of an answer to the first part of your question? I think that was the meat of the question so I spent a lot of time. Can you tell since I am conversational that I just type like I would talk and until I am done saying what I want to say no matter how long that is? On to your more specific questions.
Is it all really as amazing as it sounds?
Yes a lot of it is, I think the opportunities and experiences that we have homeschooling our family are amazing and wonderful. BUT of course it is not ALL always amazing. Some of it is quite mundane, some of it drudgery, some of it annoying, frustrating, and sometimes I am just plain tired but all together it really is amazing and wonderful. Apply all the discussion from above about only seeing part of our homeschool experience.
Do you NEVER have days when you hunger for adult conversation?
Of course I hunger for adult conversation - on a daily basis! I need it and I do my best to try and get it. My husband is wonderful and let's me decompress when he comes home. Sometimes in the middle of the day I will email or instant message or call him just to talk. I call family members or talk to neighbors. I often will call a friend in the afternoon and chat or if I am having a bad morning in the morning. I do out of respect for their schedule try to ask right after I say hello "Is this a bad time or an ok time?" and respect the needs of their family. Often I call in the afternoon when I am doing my chores, laundry, dishes, cleaning that I can talk and work at the same time. I also get together with regularity for field trips, classes and other events with other moms. A strange thing I do that helps me feel in touch with the "adult world" is I read news sites all through the day - it keeps me connected, keeps my brain going and gives me a break from the kids. I used to read blogs but I get too sucked into them so now just news headlines and a few stories.
Aren't you ever short of patience with your kids out of an inexplicable sense of resentfulness that has no foundation in their behavior?
I am not really sure what you mean here. I lose my patience to be sure just like anyone else. Most often this is child behavior related for me though. I can not relate to the reason you listed. I do not feel any resentfulness to my situation or my kids because I chose it and I want this. I do not wish I was doing anything else or that my kids were in school or not here. I really don't. Generally if I lose my patience I know what caused it, unless of course I am PMSing, LOL! I do pray every day for patience, strength, creativity and wisdom. No, I guess I don't experience this. Or maybe I don't understand the question.
Do you ever feel the mother-guilt that I (and I would venture to suggest at least a handful of other mothers) feel when faced with your own ambitious standards for parenting?
Do I feel guilty when I do not meet my own high standards? No - but I try to be better - and sometimes I feel like a failure to be sure. But guilt only comes if I know I should have done something different and purposefully made choices to do something counter or different to that. For me that is not guilt that is conviction of the poor choices I am making (like spending this long on a blog post with four laundry baskets sitting next to me). I have high standards, but they are there for a reason and we feel they are best for our family so I try my best to meet them but don't beat myself up if I fail.
We try to be very intentional in our choices as a family and we therefore do have high standards. There are a lot of reasons for our choices and a lot of prayer, thought and research goes into our choices. We have tried to make conscious standards and priorities for our family and do our best to live up to them. We fall short to be sure and sometimes we re-evaluate and change our standards or goals if we need to. Other times we are convicted to bring our behavior into line with our priorities, and try to work at that. We are gentle with ourselves and don't beat ourselves up over it but are also honest with ourselves and hold ourselves and each other accountable.
I guess for me that distinction between guilt and conviction is important. As is a continual reminder to myself that we made intentional choices for a reason so we should try to follow through. But there is also reality and sometimes we expect or want too much from ourselves and we need to re-asses and be willing to change our own standards. We also need to be careful not to make someone else's standards for themselves our standards for ourselves. Each family is unique and has different needs and priorities and we need to be careful to not compare or try to adopt someone else's standards that we simply can not live up to as our own.
Create your standards for your family then do your best to live by them but understand and forgive yourself when you don't. No need for guilt, just improve what you can and let go of the rest. Sometimes we all need to re-evaluate our standards and remind ourselves that our standards are different than other peoples and that is OK.
And finally, and perhaps most importantly, do you EVER sleep?
Not enough :)
Amy, thanks for your questions and your honesty. I am so glad to hear that homeschooling is going so well for you and your family! Many Blessings
Tenniel
January 18, 2007
You May Not Read Shakespeare Without my Permission!
Now there is a sentence you do not expect to utter to your 7 year old child. Or atleast I did not anticipate the words come out of my mouth until they did. I walked into our home library to find our copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare open on the couch. The only person that could or would have opened it was Rhiannon, our 7 year old daughter.
What would have possesed her to do so I am not quite sure. Perhaps because it was on our leather bound bookshelf next to her copy of Anne of Green Gables? Perhaps because it is one of the largest books and she wanted to know if she could read it? Perhaps because she remembered us talking about him recently.
At any rate for sure there is content inappropriate for her to read in there and I doubt she can understand much of it anyway. So out the words come and a reminder that she may not just pick up any book in our library and start reading without permission. She may read any book in her section but not any book.
The things I have to say as a parent confound me sometimes.
What would have possesed her to do so I am not quite sure. Perhaps because it was on our leather bound bookshelf next to her copy of Anne of Green Gables? Perhaps because it is one of the largest books and she wanted to know if she could read it? Perhaps because she remembered us talking about him recently.
At any rate for sure there is content inappropriate for her to read in there and I doubt she can understand much of it anyway. So out the words come and a reminder that she may not just pick up any book in our library and start reading without permission. She may read any book in her section but not any book.
The things I have to say as a parent confound me sometimes.
Q and A: Homeschool Schedule
"hi, I really enjoy reading your blogs. you asked for some questions and I have one for you. Do you try to have a set schedule for homeschooling and getting your lessons in with the kids or do you just do them when the timing is right and it’s a good opportunity? or a little of both? I have kids about the same ages as yours... "
In general we try to have some set school times and then we do other things when they come up. We typically start somewhere around 9:30 and try to be done before noon. Somedays we really only get in two solid hours of school but that is enough to complete our lessons. Sometimes we school later in the afternoon or longer one day of the week to take off for another day for a field trip or activity.
I have set "goals" for the week and when they are done, they are done and we don't push on unless the kids want to - which sometimes they do. If we don't finish our goals for the week we try to make them up the next week but find that over time it works itself out. Of course this is for our formal sit down together school time and does not include the kids independent reading time and other crafts and activities that we do which tend to be in the afternoons or when there is interest.
My kids are still young so I anticipate and plan for that time to get longer as they get older and I am schooling more of them. In our morning school time we typically cover math, language arts, phonics, handwriting, spelling, and either history or science on a daily basis. This is our formal teaching time and they do their math and language art worksheets or practice now as well. We also try to do either music or art, geography, read alouds, any special lessons we may have, on a weekly basis. The kids also have some quiet devotional time, I find this works best when they need a break from each other, their work, me or just the room, or if they need an attitude change.
As for everything else - we do as they show interest usually based on a question they ask me. One of the annoying things about me is when they ask a question if I can I try to look it up and answer it. One of the annoying things about them is they have learned that about me and when I don't want to take the time to do it they remind me the real answer (not the made up mommy answer) is right there (as they point to a computer) and I then have to look it up. This is not to say I ALWAYS do but we try to more often than not. Sometimes this leads to a full lesson and sometimes it does not, sometimes it leads to an addition to our library list and sometimes it does not.
The only other thing we try to do each day is read. I try to read aloud to the younger two early in the day, Ciaran has to read aloud to me and practice reading on his own and Rhiannon reads at least a half hour (usually it is more difficult to make her stop reading than start). At night after dinner we always do a family read aloud - a big chapter book with no or few pictures that we read a chapter from a night. We started this when they were 3 and 2 years old and have tried to continue. Of course we miss nights - but they remind us when we do and we try to make it a priority. I count that because I honestly think a good majority of their education has come from being read aloud to continuously, and it is a good reminder that not all learning has to come during school hours.
That is just what we have found works best for us. Good luck with your own family and finding the rhythm that is right for you!
Tenniel
In general we try to have some set school times and then we do other things when they come up. We typically start somewhere around 9:30 and try to be done before noon. Somedays we really only get in two solid hours of school but that is enough to complete our lessons. Sometimes we school later in the afternoon or longer one day of the week to take off for another day for a field trip or activity.
I have set "goals" for the week and when they are done, they are done and we don't push on unless the kids want to - which sometimes they do. If we don't finish our goals for the week we try to make them up the next week but find that over time it works itself out. Of course this is for our formal sit down together school time and does not include the kids independent reading time and other crafts and activities that we do which tend to be in the afternoons or when there is interest.
My kids are still young so I anticipate and plan for that time to get longer as they get older and I am schooling more of them. In our morning school time we typically cover math, language arts, phonics, handwriting, spelling, and either history or science on a daily basis. This is our formal teaching time and they do their math and language art worksheets or practice now as well. We also try to do either music or art, geography, read alouds, any special lessons we may have, on a weekly basis. The kids also have some quiet devotional time, I find this works best when they need a break from each other, their work, me or just the room, or if they need an attitude change.
As for everything else - we do as they show interest usually based on a question they ask me. One of the annoying things about me is when they ask a question if I can I try to look it up and answer it. One of the annoying things about them is they have learned that about me and when I don't want to take the time to do it they remind me the real answer (not the made up mommy answer) is right there (as they point to a computer) and I then have to look it up. This is not to say I ALWAYS do but we try to more often than not. Sometimes this leads to a full lesson and sometimes it does not, sometimes it leads to an addition to our library list and sometimes it does not.
The only other thing we try to do each day is read. I try to read aloud to the younger two early in the day, Ciaran has to read aloud to me and practice reading on his own and Rhiannon reads at least a half hour (usually it is more difficult to make her stop reading than start). At night after dinner we always do a family read aloud - a big chapter book with no or few pictures that we read a chapter from a night. We started this when they were 3 and 2 years old and have tried to continue. Of course we miss nights - but they remind us when we do and we try to make it a priority. I count that because I honestly think a good majority of their education has come from being read aloud to continuously, and it is a good reminder that not all learning has to come during school hours.
That is just what we have found works best for us. Good luck with your own family and finding the rhythm that is right for you!
Tenniel
January 17, 2007
Q and A with Tenniel
Every once in awhile I get kind of stale in my blogging and to try to spice things up. So I throw out an opportunity to ask me questions that I will try to answer in a blog post. Someone once asked me about what I did before kids and that led to an interesting post. So anyone have anything they want to know about homeschooling or blogging or us? Of course this is my blog so I reserve the right to not answer :) But typically I do. Leave a comment or send an email and I will do my best.
Peace,
Tenniel
Peace,
Tenniel
January 15, 2007
January 14, 2007
Switching Math Programs
Since the beginning we have been using Miquon math for Rhiannon. We have recently come to a point in her book where we need to stop. She followed through fractions pretty well but now we are at multiplying and dividing fractions and I have decided to stop for awhile as the concept is pretty complex for her and she really does not need to be learning it yet.
We are going to switch over to Singapore math for awhile and review some of the concepts that she needs more practice in. The books just arrived and I am looking forward to it. Will report back later how the transition goes. We are keeping all the Miquon books and will come back to this when the timing is right. Ciaran is continuing his work in Miquon as well.
We are going to switch over to Singapore math for awhile and review some of the concepts that she needs more practice in. The books just arrived and I am looking forward to it. Will report back later how the transition goes. We are keeping all the Miquon books and will come back to this when the timing is right. Ciaran is continuing his work in Miquon as well.
January 13, 2007
Good Kids
I am thankful to have such good kids. Serona is out of town and I got sick. I am really not feeling well, like stay in bed all day not feeling well. My tummy and head hurt and I have some sort of bug that keeps me running back and forth to the bathroom. But the kids are being so good and so helpful, especially Rhiannon.
We have a system down now where I actually have my cell phone and she has the house phone and I can call her if I need her, the kids are managing well all things considered and they are being very good. It is times like this that I am thankful they are such good kids and I realize how blessed I am.
We have a system down now where I actually have my cell phone and she has the house phone and I can call her if I need her, the kids are managing well all things considered and they are being very good. It is times like this that I am thankful they are such good kids and I realize how blessed I am.
January 12, 2007
Brrr...it is MN
Been wondering for awhile if this really was Minnesota, now I know for sure that it is. Right now it is a balmy 2 degrees and negative 11 with the windchill. Don'tcha wish you lived here now?
The Vikings
To complete our recent study on the Vikings we went to the MN Science Museum with some friends and too time to see the Omni Presentation Vikings:Journey to New Worlds. It was really well done and it was a perfect way to round out our recent studies.
It was almost as if the books we read and the movie were created in parellel, suppose that is simply because they both stuck fairly closely to the actual historical events and covered the main points fairly accurately. I will be honest the film is intense for young children, it is well done but let's face it the Vikings are a tough subject to teach given some of the things they did. The opening scene is one of the toughest for kids and it made me question the wisdom of having them in there but by the end I was glad we were there and the film never went too far over the top IMHO.
It was neat to see Rhiannon's face as she watched what we have been reading about come to life for her on the very big screen. She made the connections often before the movie told her. Part of the film was told from a narrative perspective and she knew who it was, Leif Ericsson, who she also knew as Leif the Lucky, she recognized who Erik the Red was and knew which countries they went to and the reasons for the names of different places. She would often realize right before they shared the detail and share it with me or get wide eyed at the fact that she knew it already.
This offered an opportunity for her to see that we are spending time on important things, things that it is helpful to know or that other people know. It also gave her a confidence that she knows things and brought to life a story that she knows from history. The fact that we were even sitting in this theater is a personal victory for Rhiannon as well. A year ago she simply could not handle discussing anything that was tough or related to someone being hurt much less something as intense as the Vikings history.
Rhia is a sensitive soul and we try to be sensitive to that but also help her understand that some bad things have happened in history and in life and still do. We are cautious in the way she has to face those and have really worked with her in the difference between fantasy and reality and the value of learning the negatives of history and the things that went along with them. She was not at all upset by this film because she already knew what was coming and why they did what they did. She understood the ugliness of the warfare of the time but also that the same personality traits are what opened up the new worlds of Iceland, Greenland and part of North America. It is amazing to be part of this journey with her and watch her as she grows and matures.
We do respect her limits though and do our best to help her succeed. For example later this afternoon while walking through the museum several of the kids were quite interested in the mummy exhibit. Knowing that was too much for her I warned her before she ran ahead to join them, they are in the mummy room and she stopped and went to look at something else. Knowing your child and their needs and limits is very useful at times like this. Learning how and when you need to push a little and pull back and hold close is an interesting walk as a parent - a lifelong journey with different situations but a similar theme running through it.
If you have studied the Vikings history I would recommend this film - but you need to know your own child before you take a young child - so maybe preview it first. I am glad we went and it was overall a great day spent with good friends and a very empty science museum giving us lots of time to explore, learn and play.
Peace,
Tenniel
It was almost as if the books we read and the movie were created in parellel, suppose that is simply because they both stuck fairly closely to the actual historical events and covered the main points fairly accurately. I will be honest the film is intense for young children, it is well done but let's face it the Vikings are a tough subject to teach given some of the things they did. The opening scene is one of the toughest for kids and it made me question the wisdom of having them in there but by the end I was glad we were there and the film never went too far over the top IMHO.
It was neat to see Rhiannon's face as she watched what we have been reading about come to life for her on the very big screen. She made the connections often before the movie told her. Part of the film was told from a narrative perspective and she knew who it was, Leif Ericsson, who she also knew as Leif the Lucky, she recognized who Erik the Red was and knew which countries they went to and the reasons for the names of different places. She would often realize right before they shared the detail and share it with me or get wide eyed at the fact that she knew it already.
This offered an opportunity for her to see that we are spending time on important things, things that it is helpful to know or that other people know. It also gave her a confidence that she knows things and brought to life a story that she knows from history. The fact that we were even sitting in this theater is a personal victory for Rhiannon as well. A year ago she simply could not handle discussing anything that was tough or related to someone being hurt much less something as intense as the Vikings history.
Rhia is a sensitive soul and we try to be sensitive to that but also help her understand that some bad things have happened in history and in life and still do. We are cautious in the way she has to face those and have really worked with her in the difference between fantasy and reality and the value of learning the negatives of history and the things that went along with them. She was not at all upset by this film because she already knew what was coming and why they did what they did. She understood the ugliness of the warfare of the time but also that the same personality traits are what opened up the new worlds of Iceland, Greenland and part of North America. It is amazing to be part of this journey with her and watch her as she grows and matures.
We do respect her limits though and do our best to help her succeed. For example later this afternoon while walking through the museum several of the kids were quite interested in the mummy exhibit. Knowing that was too much for her I warned her before she ran ahead to join them, they are in the mummy room and she stopped and went to look at something else. Knowing your child and their needs and limits is very useful at times like this. Learning how and when you need to push a little and pull back and hold close is an interesting walk as a parent - a lifelong journey with different situations but a similar theme running through it.
If you have studied the Vikings history I would recommend this film - but you need to know your own child before you take a young child - so maybe preview it first. I am glad we went and it was overall a great day spent with good friends and a very empty science museum giving us lots of time to explore, learn and play.
Peace,
Tenniel
January 8, 2007
Family Bio
It's been awhile since I updated our bio so here you go.
There is Serona (the dad), he recently turned 32 and is in the middle of a career change. He has spent the past 6 years as a a senior computer consultant and manager for a small software company. He is transitioning into a Director of Product Managment position for a very large software company. He has two undergrad degrees in Political Science and Philosophy and a graduate degree in Communications, and is also a former debater. His interests are reading, writing (especially fantasy and science fiction), keeping up with current events and politics, wine tasting and blogging. He loves anything and everything Star Wars, acting and playing Xbox games.
Then there is me, Tenn, also 32 and a Stay at Home Mom. My undergrad studies were in Environmental Politics and I have an MA in Communications with an emphasis on Social Movements and Argumentation. My main interests are: reading, blogging, journaling, research, hiking, biking, crocheting, and knitting. I have recently started watching some TV shows on DVD with Serona - a real stretch for my 15 years of no watching TV, but atleast it is just on DVD and on my own time.
Next come the children: Rhiannon, Ciaran, and Sirah. Rhiannon is 7 years old and in second grade. She loves horses, fairies and her American girl dolls. Her current favorite fairy is Rani and her most recent American girl doll is Kirsten. She has also recently developed a passion for art, especially sketching and colored pencil coloring. She is an avid reader and we can't keep ahead of her. Recent reads include all the American girl books, the Little House series, Fairy Realm series and all the Disney Fairy books. She also enjoys reading classics like Anne of Green Gables and Peter Pan. She enjoys dancing, rock climbing and playing dress up with her sister and friends. Some of her favorite games to play are gin rummy and da vinci's code. In the summer she likes biking and swims like a fish.
Ciaran is almost 6 now and all boy. He loves his new punching bag and learning boxing from dad. He still loves frogs in an amazing way and has developed a real passion for science, especially nature and the human body. He has started reading and is doing well with it. He loves video games and would play Monkey Ball or snowboarding all day if he could. He also enjoys playing nearly any board game he can get someone to play with him and doing puzzles. He has started to show a real interest in K'nex and seems to have a natural skill for it. He plays with his star wars action figures, cars, blocks and trains. He also loves to dress up as a knight or prince. We recently got a foosball table that he can be found at every day and he reaches the top of the climbing wall with ease now. He is swimming very well and loves his water rockets. He is loud and proud and has a contagious smile and a genuine spirit that is very loveable. His newest passion is music, he loves his choirs and he works hard at it learning all his songs and motions and singing them with passion and pride.
Sirah, she is the kind of little girl that makes everyone wish they had more little ones. She is very cute and adorable and she knows it and works that angle pretty well. I find myself treasuring her hugs and just pulling her into my lap and holding her more and more knowing that she is growing so rapidly now. She is three and her newest milestone, no more pullups (first time out of diapers and pull ups for our family in 7 and a half years!!!!) She loves animals, especially dogs and kittens. She got Bitty Baby twins for Christmas and they are her newest friends she plays with, joining her care bears and of course Special Bear who came from London, a traditional Winnie the Pooh bear at tea parties. She loves music and sings all the time, even when she goes to the bathroom. She has recently taken to dress up and playing fairies and horses so Rhiannon will play with her. She plays board games with Ciaran and moves easily between them and their interest. She is now showing more and more interest in being read to and started sledding for the first time. When she talks you think she is much older and she is very expressive of her opinions and desires. She has a very cute dispostion and a fiery temper that is actually cute if you can imagine that. Her favorite pastime is "cooking" food for us all in her kitchen, setting up her grocery store and ringing us up with her cash register and being my actual assistant in the kitchen while I cook. She seems to have a passion and interest for food and serving others.
Rounding out our family are our Australian Shepherds, a four year old male and a 2 year old female. They are loving, patient and friendly though fiercely protective of the kids. They love to run and spend time in the yard. Oh and chew lots of cardboard and run dirt paths in our yard!
We are Christian, environmentalists, social justice advocates, vegetarians, right-leaning, techies, outdoors loving, non-tv watching, attachment parenting, homeschooling, crunchy conservatives, friendly, funny, highly educated, readers, and researchers) So come get to know us and stay awhile. We love having you.
There is Serona (the dad), he recently turned 32 and is in the middle of a career change. He has spent the past 6 years as a a senior computer consultant and manager for a small software company. He is transitioning into a Director of Product Managment position for a very large software company. He has two undergrad degrees in Political Science and Philosophy and a graduate degree in Communications, and is also a former debater. His interests are reading, writing (especially fantasy and science fiction), keeping up with current events and politics, wine tasting and blogging. He loves anything and everything Star Wars, acting and playing Xbox games.
Then there is me, Tenn, also 32 and a Stay at Home Mom. My undergrad studies were in Environmental Politics and I have an MA in Communications with an emphasis on Social Movements and Argumentation. My main interests are: reading, blogging, journaling, research, hiking, biking, crocheting, and knitting. I have recently started watching some TV shows on DVD with Serona - a real stretch for my 15 years of no watching TV, but atleast it is just on DVD and on my own time.
Next come the children: Rhiannon, Ciaran, and Sirah. Rhiannon is 7 years old and in second grade. She loves horses, fairies and her American girl dolls. Her current favorite fairy is Rani and her most recent American girl doll is Kirsten. She has also recently developed a passion for art, especially sketching and colored pencil coloring. She is an avid reader and we can't keep ahead of her. Recent reads include all the American girl books, the Little House series, Fairy Realm series and all the Disney Fairy books. She also enjoys reading classics like Anne of Green Gables and Peter Pan. She enjoys dancing, rock climbing and playing dress up with her sister and friends. Some of her favorite games to play are gin rummy and da vinci's code. In the summer she likes biking and swims like a fish.
Ciaran is almost 6 now and all boy. He loves his new punching bag and learning boxing from dad. He still loves frogs in an amazing way and has developed a real passion for science, especially nature and the human body. He has started reading and is doing well with it. He loves video games and would play Monkey Ball or snowboarding all day if he could. He also enjoys playing nearly any board game he can get someone to play with him and doing puzzles. He has started to show a real interest in K'nex and seems to have a natural skill for it. He plays with his star wars action figures, cars, blocks and trains. He also loves to dress up as a knight or prince. We recently got a foosball table that he can be found at every day and he reaches the top of the climbing wall with ease now. He is swimming very well and loves his water rockets. He is loud and proud and has a contagious smile and a genuine spirit that is very loveable. His newest passion is music, he loves his choirs and he works hard at it learning all his songs and motions and singing them with passion and pride.
Sirah, she is the kind of little girl that makes everyone wish they had more little ones. She is very cute and adorable and she knows it and works that angle pretty well. I find myself treasuring her hugs and just pulling her into my lap and holding her more and more knowing that she is growing so rapidly now. She is three and her newest milestone, no more pullups (first time out of diapers and pull ups for our family in 7 and a half years!!!!) She loves animals, especially dogs and kittens. She got Bitty Baby twins for Christmas and they are her newest friends she plays with, joining her care bears and of course Special Bear who came from London, a traditional Winnie the Pooh bear at tea parties. She loves music and sings all the time, even when she goes to the bathroom. She has recently taken to dress up and playing fairies and horses so Rhiannon will play with her. She plays board games with Ciaran and moves easily between them and their interest. She is now showing more and more interest in being read to and started sledding for the first time. When she talks you think she is much older and she is very expressive of her opinions and desires. She has a very cute dispostion and a fiery temper that is actually cute if you can imagine that. Her favorite pastime is "cooking" food for us all in her kitchen, setting up her grocery store and ringing us up with her cash register and being my actual assistant in the kitchen while I cook. She seems to have a passion and interest for food and serving others.
Rounding out our family are our Australian Shepherds, a four year old male and a 2 year old female. They are loving, patient and friendly though fiercely protective of the kids. They love to run and spend time in the yard. Oh and chew lots of cardboard and run dirt paths in our yard!
We are Christian, environmentalists, social justice advocates, vegetarians, right-leaning, techies, outdoors loving, non-tv watching, attachment parenting, homeschooling, crunchy conservatives, friendly, funny, highly educated, readers, and researchers) So come get to know us and stay awhile. We love having you.
Physics Circus
We recently went on a fun field trip called The Physics Circus. It is a great and interesting show. Like they said at the end of the show Physics is interesting, understandable and fun! Ciaran and Rhiannon both seemed to really enjoy the show and Sirah was okay, though grew impatient by the end.
The show was filled with interesting things you can do with physics and the kids were amazed and interested in them. I am glad my kids are young though because if Ciaran was 12 or 13 I am not so sure I would have been thrilled with the demonstration of how to teepee a house using a leaf blower or how to propel yourself on wheels with a fire extinguisher! But since I am pretty safe, for the time being, from them doing those things I was able to relax and enjoy the show.
Ciaran's favorite part was when they demonstrated the force of air pressure by launching a ping pong ball through three pop cans and across the stage just with air pressure! Rhiannon's favorite was when they shot a billiard ball from a cannon while simultaneously dropping a man from a crane and he caught the ball with his glove because both objects fall at the same rate. Sirah's favorite part was when they launched an egg with a slingshot and caught it in a sheet and it did not break.
All in all the show was entertaining, fast moving and enjoyable. Majority of the audience was public school groups and a few other homeschool groups joined us. It was a nice way to spend the morning and it fueled Ciaran's love of science more and gave Rhiannon some insight and interest that science is fun. If you have an opportunity to see this show or one like it I highly recommend it.
Peace,
Tenniel
The show was filled with interesting things you can do with physics and the kids were amazed and interested in them. I am glad my kids are young though because if Ciaran was 12 or 13 I am not so sure I would have been thrilled with the demonstration of how to teepee a house using a leaf blower or how to propel yourself on wheels with a fire extinguisher! But since I am pretty safe, for the time being, from them doing those things I was able to relax and enjoy the show.
Ciaran's favorite part was when they demonstrated the force of air pressure by launching a ping pong ball through three pop cans and across the stage just with air pressure! Rhiannon's favorite was when they shot a billiard ball from a cannon while simultaneously dropping a man from a crane and he caught the ball with his glove because both objects fall at the same rate. Sirah's favorite part was when they launched an egg with a slingshot and caught it in a sheet and it did not break.
All in all the show was entertaining, fast moving and enjoyable. Majority of the audience was public school groups and a few other homeschool groups joined us. It was a nice way to spend the morning and it fueled Ciaran's love of science more and gave Rhiannon some insight and interest that science is fun. If you have an opportunity to see this show or one like it I highly recommend it.
Peace,
Tenniel
January 7, 2007
New Homeschool Coop Classes
We will restart our homeschool cooperative soon. For this semester I will be co-teaching a Little House on the Prairie literature class for the 2nd-4th graders. We will most likely use On the Banks of Plum Creek and end the class with a field trip to Plum Creek since it is located in our state not too far away. More details to follow as we plan and execute the class.
I will also be teaching a research class for 5th grade and up students. I will target the class for the older end of this spectrum but allow younger students willing to do the work to join the class. The focus of this class will be to give the students a basic understanding of the value of research, how to approach a topic, how to narrow and choose resources, how to integrate resources into your writing or assignments and how to navigate different sources such as the internet, the library and newspapers.
As always I am excited for the upcoming semesters and look forward to another great group of classes from this group and am thankful for the opportunity to share some of my skills and to teach so many neat kids.
I will also be teaching a research class for 5th grade and up students. I will target the class for the older end of this spectrum but allow younger students willing to do the work to join the class. The focus of this class will be to give the students a basic understanding of the value of research, how to approach a topic, how to narrow and choose resources, how to integrate resources into your writing or assignments and how to navigate different sources such as the internet, the library and newspapers.
As always I am excited for the upcoming semesters and look forward to another great group of classes from this group and am thankful for the opportunity to share some of my skills and to teach so many neat kids.
Happy Birthday Serona
Serona is 32 now! Happy Birthday Serona! We had a lovely dinner with friends that involved wine which was what he wanted. For his birthday he got lots of wine, a gift certificate for wine, a wine rack, a riedel white wine glass, notice a theme? He also got a set of Guinness glasses, the new X-Men movie, some dark chocolate, and a creative zen. We ad a very nice day.
January 3, 2007
Printables Online
I really do love homeschooling in this day and age. Using the internet for resources makes everything so easy. Nearly every day I print something off to use in our schooling. Whether it be a coloring sheet, a dot to dot, a manuscript worksheet, a math practice page, pictures or descriptions of a topic we are working on or the many other things I print out I am thankful for it.
Resources are just seconds away, easy to find and print out and use here in our home. It truly is a blessing. For our stage right now I love that I can print out manuscript pages for numbers, letters and even cursive. There are even tools that let you write your own sentences to print out.
When we first started I bought an expensive letter stamp kit and it was messy and never really worked perfectly. Using printable pages online gives me consistency every time and an unlimited reuse. Thank you to all who provide free resources and thank you to google for making it so easy to find.
Peace,
Tenniel
Resources are just seconds away, easy to find and print out and use here in our home. It truly is a blessing. For our stage right now I love that I can print out manuscript pages for numbers, letters and even cursive. There are even tools that let you write your own sentences to print out.
When we first started I bought an expensive letter stamp kit and it was messy and never really worked perfectly. Using printable pages online gives me consistency every time and an unlimited reuse. Thank you to all who provide free resources and thank you to google for making it so easy to find.
Peace,
Tenniel
Blessing our Friends
I have been blessed these past few years with some truly wonderful women that I get to call friends. Over the years I have had many friends and some have come and gone and a few have stayed around through the passing of years but it is only recently that I have been blessed with some friends who are also prayer partners and fellow ministry workers and we have made bonds of friendship that are truly unique. I am thankful for them. For Christmas this year I put together a special CD for them, coming out of my mixed tape background. Okay so they are getting the gift post-Christmas as I just finalized it tonight.
I also wrote extensive liner notes (because as you know it is near impossible for me to be brief)that I have decided to post here. The notes list the titles and artists of each song and the reason I choose the song for the CD. There were others I thought I might put on that did not make the final cut. Putting together this CD made me realize how truly blessed and thankful I am to have friends that pray for me with regularity. For I have seen the results and know the importance and the difference it makes and that above all else has drawn me to these special women.
I wanted to post it here because I want to remember this and share it with all of you as a tribute to these women. Thank your friends and count your blessings of them in your life.
Tenniel
1. This One's For All the Girls - Martina McBride
This first song makes me think of all the stages of being a woman and the struggles and beautiful moments we go through as women.
2. Bless the Broken Road - Rascal Flatts
This second song reminds me of my past and the broken road that it was. I went through many trials and bad friendships but I thank God for those individuals that prepared the way for each of you and led me to appreciate you all the more.
3. Painting Pictures of Egypt - Sara Groves
This song is a transitional song for me. Having traveled and moved so much and having lived what feels like two completely different lives this song holds a lot of meaning for me. It helps me remember not to compare my past life with my present with rose colored glasses and to really enjoy the place that I am right now because I can never go back because I have outgrown it.
4. Jesus Take the Wheel - Carrie Underwood
This song is about letting go of the false sense of control I have over my life. Reminding me to truly turn control over to God and to trust him completely.
5. That's Why We Praise Him - Maranatha Singers
There are so many awesome songs about God how do I choose? This one is uplifting to me and reminds me of so many of the amazing things he has done for us and reminds me of why we want to praise him - he gave his everything.
6. Song to John - June Carter Cash
This song few people will understand or appreciate the way you all will. Women who view their husbands and their marriages this way are rare - I am thankful for each of you and the way you help me walk the walk and be honoring to my husband.
7. Teach Your Children - Crosby, Stills and Nash
I grew up on music like this, my dad's passion and what better song for a bunch of homeschooling moms? I am inspired by the way you teach and love your children, not only the basic school subjects but about faith and life and all that is truly important. Thanks for being an inspiration to me.
8. Fireflies - Faith Hill
This song may seem not to fit but it is currently our favorite family sing along song. We blast it in the van and all sing different parts. It is about dreaming, imagination and all the good parts of being a child and remembering how to be a child even as we grow up, holding onto our dreams and sense of imagination. Also Sirah sings the Tinker Bell line, you can imagine how cute that is!
9. Rainbow Connection - Kenny Loggins
Another song from childhood that is great to listen to as adults. Makes me think of Winnie the Pooh and the muppets, rainbows, joy and friendship.
10. No One Like You - David Crowder
David Crowder is a favorite singer of mine and this is another inspiring worship song. Full of energy and passion but deep and beautiful - the way I want to be before God for there truly is No One Like him. In you my friends I see God's image and each of you is also beautiful and there is none like you.
11. Somebody's Praying Me Through - Allen Asbury
The words of this song are self-explanatory. While it may be about soldiers and war it is also about all of us. You have prayed me through the spiritual minefields and battlefields in my life. Thank you and keep praying dear sisters.
12. More Than You'll Ever Know - Watermark
This song was the inspiration for this whole CD. Because you truly mean more to me than you will ever know. I laugh and cry with you. I do feel like I have been near God when I am with you and above all I know that you have been on your knees for me and my family and have fought off my enemies and carried my heavy burdens. You have been my strength and my inspiration and my spiritual warriors - you have spoken the truth over my life even when it was hard to hear.
13. Because You Loved Me - Celine Dion
This is a song about friendship and a song about how friendship and love inspires us to be better and how we are blessed to be loved by each other.
14. Best of Friends - Soundtrack Fox and the Hound
This is from one of my favorite Disney movies and it is a cute song about friendship
15. Home - Deep Blue Something
This is a band many of you have probably never heard of but Serona and I love. This song makes me think about friendship and all the fun and silly moments that we remember and love. And if I lost my memory I might really sit and just have a Guinness and I know that friends feel like home to me.
16. I Hope You Dance - LeeAnn Womack
One of my favorite songs of all time. A good reminder that we always have choices to make and that we can be bold and have fun. Let this be my reminder to you to not take life for granted and sit on the sidelines but be passionate and involved and have fun and always remember to dance.
17. Wish for You - Faith Hill
When I hear this song I think of being on the ocean shore during sunset, on top of a mountain looking over God's creation and all the peaceful places I have been in my life. These are the things I pray your life is filled with.
18. Every Minute - Sara Groves
"I am long on staying. I am slow to leave. Especially when it comes to you my friend. You have taught me to slow down and to prop up my feet. It's the fine art of being who I am...And at the risk of wearing out my welcome. At the risk of self-discovery. I'll take every moment and every minute that you'll give me."
19. Hey God - Lonestar
God has His ways and His plans and while they are sometimes hard to understand I am humbled by what He does for us and in our lives. I want to thank Him for all He has done for me and especially for bringing you to me.
Thank you dear friend.
May God bless you and know that you will always have a friend on her knees for you and your family through the years and all that they bring.
With much love and friendship,
Your sister in Christ,
I also wrote extensive liner notes (because as you know it is near impossible for me to be brief)that I have decided to post here. The notes list the titles and artists of each song and the reason I choose the song for the CD. There were others I thought I might put on that did not make the final cut. Putting together this CD made me realize how truly blessed and thankful I am to have friends that pray for me with regularity. For I have seen the results and know the importance and the difference it makes and that above all else has drawn me to these special women.
I wanted to post it here because I want to remember this and share it with all of you as a tribute to these women. Thank your friends and count your blessings of them in your life.
Tenniel
1. This One's For All the Girls - Martina McBride
This first song makes me think of all the stages of being a woman and the struggles and beautiful moments we go through as women.
2. Bless the Broken Road - Rascal Flatts
This second song reminds me of my past and the broken road that it was. I went through many trials and bad friendships but I thank God for those individuals that prepared the way for each of you and led me to appreciate you all the more.
3. Painting Pictures of Egypt - Sara Groves
This song is a transitional song for me. Having traveled and moved so much and having lived what feels like two completely different lives this song holds a lot of meaning for me. It helps me remember not to compare my past life with my present with rose colored glasses and to really enjoy the place that I am right now because I can never go back because I have outgrown it.
4. Jesus Take the Wheel - Carrie Underwood
This song is about letting go of the false sense of control I have over my life. Reminding me to truly turn control over to God and to trust him completely.
5. That's Why We Praise Him - Maranatha Singers
There are so many awesome songs about God how do I choose? This one is uplifting to me and reminds me of so many of the amazing things he has done for us and reminds me of why we want to praise him - he gave his everything.
6. Song to John - June Carter Cash
This song few people will understand or appreciate the way you all will. Women who view their husbands and their marriages this way are rare - I am thankful for each of you and the way you help me walk the walk and be honoring to my husband.
7. Teach Your Children - Crosby, Stills and Nash
I grew up on music like this, my dad's passion and what better song for a bunch of homeschooling moms? I am inspired by the way you teach and love your children, not only the basic school subjects but about faith and life and all that is truly important. Thanks for being an inspiration to me.
8. Fireflies - Faith Hill
This song may seem not to fit but it is currently our favorite family sing along song. We blast it in the van and all sing different parts. It is about dreaming, imagination and all the good parts of being a child and remembering how to be a child even as we grow up, holding onto our dreams and sense of imagination. Also Sirah sings the Tinker Bell line, you can imagine how cute that is!
9. Rainbow Connection - Kenny Loggins
Another song from childhood that is great to listen to as adults. Makes me think of Winnie the Pooh and the muppets, rainbows, joy and friendship.
10. No One Like You - David Crowder
David Crowder is a favorite singer of mine and this is another inspiring worship song. Full of energy and passion but deep and beautiful - the way I want to be before God for there truly is No One Like him. In you my friends I see God's image and each of you is also beautiful and there is none like you.
11. Somebody's Praying Me Through - Allen Asbury
The words of this song are self-explanatory. While it may be about soldiers and war it is also about all of us. You have prayed me through the spiritual minefields and battlefields in my life. Thank you and keep praying dear sisters.
12. More Than You'll Ever Know - Watermark
This song was the inspiration for this whole CD. Because you truly mean more to me than you will ever know. I laugh and cry with you. I do feel like I have been near God when I am with you and above all I know that you have been on your knees for me and my family and have fought off my enemies and carried my heavy burdens. You have been my strength and my inspiration and my spiritual warriors - you have spoken the truth over my life even when it was hard to hear.
13. Because You Loved Me - Celine Dion
This is a song about friendship and a song about how friendship and love inspires us to be better and how we are blessed to be loved by each other.
14. Best of Friends - Soundtrack Fox and the Hound
This is from one of my favorite Disney movies and it is a cute song about friendship
15. Home - Deep Blue Something
This is a band many of you have probably never heard of but Serona and I love. This song makes me think about friendship and all the fun and silly moments that we remember and love. And if I lost my memory I might really sit and just have a Guinness and I know that friends feel like home to me.
16. I Hope You Dance - LeeAnn Womack
One of my favorite songs of all time. A good reminder that we always have choices to make and that we can be bold and have fun. Let this be my reminder to you to not take life for granted and sit on the sidelines but be passionate and involved and have fun and always remember to dance.
17. Wish for You - Faith Hill
When I hear this song I think of being on the ocean shore during sunset, on top of a mountain looking over God's creation and all the peaceful places I have been in my life. These are the things I pray your life is filled with.
18. Every Minute - Sara Groves
"I am long on staying. I am slow to leave. Especially when it comes to you my friend. You have taught me to slow down and to prop up my feet. It's the fine art of being who I am...And at the risk of wearing out my welcome. At the risk of self-discovery. I'll take every moment and every minute that you'll give me."
19. Hey God - Lonestar
God has His ways and His plans and while they are sometimes hard to understand I am humbled by what He does for us and in our lives. I want to thank Him for all He has done for me and especially for bringing you to me.
Thank you dear friend.
May God bless you and know that you will always have a friend on her knees for you and your family through the years and all that they bring.
With much love and friendship,
Your sister in Christ,
December 31, 2006
What a Year!
We had an amazing year filled with many blessings and a few challenges. Since I did not do a Christmas letter this year I will do an overview of our year here. Mostly personal with a few school items covered as well.
We started the year with Serona's 31st birthday and a lovely wine tasting to celebrate. Then we went right into Rhiannon having a tonsillectomy. Unfortunately her recovery was long and trying ending up with pneumonia and dehydration, thus January was a hard month for us all. We did some dinosaur preschool activities, some snow safety and science activities, ice melting experiment, and enjoyed a visit from grandma.
In February Serona spent majority of the month traveling to a conference in Orlando and then two weeks in London and Ireland. I began teaching a Narnia class for our homeschool cooperative focusing on The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe. We also had an awesome Mall Scavenger Hunt at the Mall of America, focused on our Learning the 50 States lesson plan, curled up on the couch with a lot of read-alouds, taught Mama Do You Love Me to Ciaran's preschool class, practiced Learning to Fly and enjoyed the snow and cold of a Minnesota winter.
March brought a very fun unit study with two other families as we studied Mozambique, in picturesI created one of my favorite lesson plans ever for a gender split class on the books I'd Be Your Princess and I'd Be Your Hero. Ciaran began formal Miquon math. I put together a useful list of websites we use in homeschooling for our support groups curriculum fair. We ended the month celebrating Ciaran's fifth birthday.
April brought warmer weather finally and the much missed sun back to Minnesota. We got back to came out of hibernation. Rhia continued on her Illustrated Bible. We anxiously awaited the first signs of the frogs. We spent time on our Easter lesson plans and I put together an overview of our curriculum choices for the year and Rhia continued to amaze us with her reading list. On a fun note Serona and I had front row tickets to One Man Star Wars Show. Ciaran began t-ball in 45 degree windy weather! He also finally celebrated his birthday party from the month before at a local nature preserve. He waited so he could hear the frogs.
We finished school in early May, here is our year review. I found ketchup in a drawer, played at the farm. The highlight of the month and maybe even the year was our family trip to Walt Disney World! You can read day by day synopsis if you really want (yes we blogged from Disney because we are that geeky!). Arrival Day, First Day at the Parks, Day at the Castle, Epcot and Magic Kingdom, Star Wars Costumes in 90 degree weather - Magic Kingdom until 2am!, Pirate Pool and heading home. You can also read our Tips and Tricks for Walt Disney World with little kids.
Well it is tough to top a trip to Walt Disney World but our summer that started in Orlando continued to be a great time. We filled our days with nature hikes, days at the pool and beach, playing at the park, examining frogs, tadpoles, a drama camp, and performance. I wrote a bit on why we love field trips. Serona and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We would take our special time to celebrate in September though.
July brought Rhiannon's 7th birthday tea party, visits from the Maine grandparents, the New York grandparents, and a special robin's nest under our deck that we followed from eggs to fledglings. Rhiannon even went horseback riding.
August brought two more major vacations - this time to New York and California. For her birthday my parents paid all expenses for a weekend vacation to New York City for Rhiannon and I. We had an amazing time spending time with the grandparents, enjoying the extended family at a reunion, surprising my future SIL at her wedding shower and enjoying Manhattan including the American girl store, Rhia's first ever broadway show, Beauty and the Beast and dinner at the View. In between we filled our time with the rock wall, a visit to the Irish Fair, a special day of family worship, and Sirah's 3rd birthday! Rhia broke her arm and wore a bright red cast. I managed to lose 30 pounds over the course of the year. We headed off to California for my brother's wedding at the end of the month.
September started with us in sunny Southern California. Serona wanting to move here because of the ocean and mountains, weather and family. We spent our time here with family, at the beach, hiking, at their beautiful wedding, and then Serona and I finally celebrated our anniversary with a little getaway to Temecula wine country while the kids visited with Grandma and Grandpa. We returned from our fun 2 week California vacation and jumped right into school. Ciaran started Kindergarten this year and Rhiannon 2nd grade here at home with me. We went on several field trips: River Rendevouz, Oliver Kelly Farm, and a botany class. Ciaran and Sirah began Letter of the Week studies, PE in the garage and resumed classes with our homeschool cooperative. Rhiannon really enjoyed her American girl class on Felicity and Kaya.
October brought some fun lessons, a visit to the alpaca farm, and art museum tour. We started political campaigning with the kids. Ciaran started reading on his own. Academy brought more fun classes for the kids and for me, including this Kirsten class. We started volunteering at our local chapter of Feed My Starving Children and loved it so much we go back once a month. We tried to spend as much time outside in quiet moments like this before the cold snap began.
November brought a very unexpected time for our family. The month began as we expected, knee deep in political work for the upcoming election. We had a big group of little girls over for a special American Girl movie night , rock climbing, and all the usual things. Suddenly Serona found himself on an impossible and unpredictable project at work what was supposed to be a 4 day project turned into him being in New York City for 32 days straight! He left on Monday November 6th for a business trip to NYC and his return flight was not until Friday December 8th - after he packed for a simple 4 day trip. This was unexpected and challenging on our family, on no one more than Serona though, working 16-18 hour days away from home. The silver lining in all of this was that Serona's company decided to fly me and the kids to NYC to be with him for Thanksgiving. So the kids and I got free airfare for a 10 day trip to New York. We were able to enjoy being with our family for Thanksgiving, enjoy the city, and be together for some of that long trip for Serona.
December started with us in MN and Serona in NY. We finished up our homeschool cooperative classes including my argument class, and american girl class. We spent time making Christmas candy, soap and other little gifts. We enjoyed ringing the Salvation Army bell, returning to Feed My Starving Children and some other little service projects. The kids rehearsed for choir and continued with their Awana verses. We spent time each night after dinner reading by candlelight from a wonderful book called Jotham's Journey and enjoying other holiday traditions. We wrapped up our school work and spent lots of time enjoying each other as a family. After his long time away from us Serona had some time off to reconnect with us and being back in MN. We cherished and enjoyed the days of playing games, watching movies, sleeping late, reading and just being together. We were so thankful to be sharing meals together again and to have him home. The big news this month is Serona's new job. After 6 years as a software consultant he is making a transition to product marketing in a position that seems to be tailor made for him. He is excited and hopeful for the new position which we believe will be all around better for our family and for his career. December ended out with another wonderful week off to celebrate the holiday together. We all enjoyed our new Christmas gifts and downtime together. The kids were filled with sheer joy today when it FINALLY snowed here in MN! We have about 8 inches on the ground and they are loving every minute of sledding and making snowballs. We highly recommend these great sno-ball makers and using boogie boards instead of sleds!
All in all it was an amazing year. It was a year filled with mostly good health and lots of vacations and travels. Many blessings and opportunities. The kids are all doing great, school is going well and we are looking forward to a new year. Hopefully a quieter year but a joy filled one all the same. Many blessings to you and yours this New Year.
Peace in Him,
Tenniel
We started the year with Serona's 31st birthday and a lovely wine tasting to celebrate. Then we went right into Rhiannon having a tonsillectomy. Unfortunately her recovery was long and trying ending up with pneumonia and dehydration, thus January was a hard month for us all. We did some dinosaur preschool activities, some snow safety and science activities, ice melting experiment, and enjoyed a visit from grandma.
In February Serona spent majority of the month traveling to a conference in Orlando and then two weeks in London and Ireland. I began teaching a Narnia class for our homeschool cooperative focusing on The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe. We also had an awesome Mall Scavenger Hunt at the Mall of America, focused on our Learning the 50 States lesson plan, curled up on the couch with a lot of read-alouds, taught Mama Do You Love Me to Ciaran's preschool class, practiced Learning to Fly and enjoyed the snow and cold of a Minnesota winter.
March brought a very fun unit study with two other families as we studied Mozambique, in picturesI created one of my favorite lesson plans ever for a gender split class on the books I'd Be Your Princess and I'd Be Your Hero. Ciaran began formal Miquon math. I put together a useful list of websites we use in homeschooling for our support groups curriculum fair. We ended the month celebrating Ciaran's fifth birthday.
April brought warmer weather finally and the much missed sun back to Minnesota. We got back to came out of hibernation. Rhia continued on her Illustrated Bible. We anxiously awaited the first signs of the frogs. We spent time on our Easter lesson plans and I put together an overview of our curriculum choices for the year and Rhia continued to amaze us with her reading list. On a fun note Serona and I had front row tickets to One Man Star Wars Show. Ciaran began t-ball in 45 degree windy weather! He also finally celebrated his birthday party from the month before at a local nature preserve. He waited so he could hear the frogs.
We finished school in early May, here is our year review. I found ketchup in a drawer, played at the farm. The highlight of the month and maybe even the year was our family trip to Walt Disney World! You can read day by day synopsis if you really want (yes we blogged from Disney because we are that geeky!). Arrival Day, First Day at the Parks, Day at the Castle, Epcot and Magic Kingdom, Star Wars Costumes in 90 degree weather - Magic Kingdom until 2am!, Pirate Pool and heading home. You can also read our Tips and Tricks for Walt Disney World with little kids.
Well it is tough to top a trip to Walt Disney World but our summer that started in Orlando continued to be a great time. We filled our days with nature hikes, days at the pool and beach, playing at the park, examining frogs, tadpoles, a drama camp, and performance. I wrote a bit on why we love field trips. Serona and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We would take our special time to celebrate in September though.
July brought Rhiannon's 7th birthday tea party, visits from the Maine grandparents, the New York grandparents, and a special robin's nest under our deck that we followed from eggs to fledglings. Rhiannon even went horseback riding.
August brought two more major vacations - this time to New York and California. For her birthday my parents paid all expenses for a weekend vacation to New York City for Rhiannon and I. We had an amazing time spending time with the grandparents, enjoying the extended family at a reunion, surprising my future SIL at her wedding shower and enjoying Manhattan including the American girl store, Rhia's first ever broadway show, Beauty and the Beast and dinner at the View. In between we filled our time with the rock wall, a visit to the Irish Fair, a special day of family worship, and Sirah's 3rd birthday! Rhia broke her arm and wore a bright red cast. I managed to lose 30 pounds over the course of the year. We headed off to California for my brother's wedding at the end of the month.
September started with us in sunny Southern California. Serona wanting to move here because of the ocean and mountains, weather and family. We spent our time here with family, at the beach, hiking, at their beautiful wedding, and then Serona and I finally celebrated our anniversary with a little getaway to Temecula wine country while the kids visited with Grandma and Grandpa. We returned from our fun 2 week California vacation and jumped right into school. Ciaran started Kindergarten this year and Rhiannon 2nd grade here at home with me. We went on several field trips: River Rendevouz, Oliver Kelly Farm, and a botany class. Ciaran and Sirah began Letter of the Week studies, PE in the garage and resumed classes with our homeschool cooperative. Rhiannon really enjoyed her American girl class on Felicity and Kaya.
October brought some fun lessons, a visit to the alpaca farm, and art museum tour. We started political campaigning with the kids. Ciaran started reading on his own. Academy brought more fun classes for the kids and for me, including this Kirsten class. We started volunteering at our local chapter of Feed My Starving Children and loved it so much we go back once a month. We tried to spend as much time outside in quiet moments like this before the cold snap began.
November brought a very unexpected time for our family. The month began as we expected, knee deep in political work for the upcoming election. We had a big group of little girls over for a special American Girl movie night , rock climbing, and all the usual things. Suddenly Serona found himself on an impossible and unpredictable project at work what was supposed to be a 4 day project turned into him being in New York City for 32 days straight! He left on Monday November 6th for a business trip to NYC and his return flight was not until Friday December 8th - after he packed for a simple 4 day trip. This was unexpected and challenging on our family, on no one more than Serona though, working 16-18 hour days away from home. The silver lining in all of this was that Serona's company decided to fly me and the kids to NYC to be with him for Thanksgiving. So the kids and I got free airfare for a 10 day trip to New York. We were able to enjoy being with our family for Thanksgiving, enjoy the city, and be together for some of that long trip for Serona.
December started with us in MN and Serona in NY. We finished up our homeschool cooperative classes including my argument class, and american girl class. We spent time making Christmas candy, soap and other little gifts. We enjoyed ringing the Salvation Army bell, returning to Feed My Starving Children and some other little service projects. The kids rehearsed for choir and continued with their Awana verses. We spent time each night after dinner reading by candlelight from a wonderful book called Jotham's Journey and enjoying other holiday traditions. We wrapped up our school work and spent lots of time enjoying each other as a family. After his long time away from us Serona had some time off to reconnect with us and being back in MN. We cherished and enjoyed the days of playing games, watching movies, sleeping late, reading and just being together. We were so thankful to be sharing meals together again and to have him home. The big news this month is Serona's new job. After 6 years as a software consultant he is making a transition to product marketing in a position that seems to be tailor made for him. He is excited and hopeful for the new position which we believe will be all around better for our family and for his career. December ended out with another wonderful week off to celebrate the holiday together. We all enjoyed our new Christmas gifts and downtime together. The kids were filled with sheer joy today when it FINALLY snowed here in MN! We have about 8 inches on the ground and they are loving every minute of sledding and making snowballs. We highly recommend these great sno-ball makers and using boogie boards instead of sleds!
All in all it was an amazing year. It was a year filled with mostly good health and lots of vacations and travels. Many blessings and opportunities. The kids are all doing great, school is going well and we are looking forward to a new year. Hopefully a quieter year but a joy filled one all the same. Many blessings to you and yours this New Year.
Peace in Him,
Tenniel
December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
-Isaiah 9:6
December 24, 2006
Christmas Eve Choir
Our day is going to be spent at church. Rhiannon sings in choir for the morning two services and Ciaran for the evening services. Rhiannon sang a modified version of the Peanuts Christmas Song and Ciaran is singing "Look Who Just Checked In" and "O Come to My Heart" - Hope you have a Merry Christmas!
December 21, 2006
Christmas Ornaments
Gorwing up my parents started a family tradition that we have continued. Each year at Christmastime every member of the family received a new ornament for the tree. When we moved out of the house and started our own tree we received all our own ornaments. It was a nice way to have a base for our own family tree. We started it with our own children and on vacations we try to buy an ornament as well to remember the time. This year we actually began marking their ornaments in some way because I already have a hard time remembering whose is whose and it has only been 7 years so far!
Instead of overcrowding our tree over time some of the ornaments break and we just thin some out. We love the tradition. We started by picking ornaments for the kids and then took some years where we let them pick their own but I think we are going back to picking for them - something that represents each of them for that year. And is not a very large and bright red bird that we have this year at Sirah's request. It is a fun and relatively cheap tradition that brings joy each year and can be passed on through the years to our children as they move away and begin their own tradition.
Instead of overcrowding our tree over time some of the ornaments break and we just thin some out. We love the tradition. We started by picking ornaments for the kids and then took some years where we let them pick their own but I think we are going back to picking for them - something that represents each of them for that year. And is not a very large and bright red bird that we have this year at Sirah's request. It is a fun and relatively cheap tradition that brings joy each year and can be passed on through the years to our children as they move away and begin their own tradition.
December 19, 2006
Advent Tradition
For the past two years we have had a nice Advent tradition that we have been slowly adding on to. Here is how we try to spend each evening for the 4 weeks before Christmas.
After dinner we put on a pot of tea, clean the dishes and the table and then light our Advent wreath. We do not have anything fancy just a fake plain green wreath and four candles in small candleholders. We all sit around the dinner table - the wreath is in the center and drink tea. The kids current favorite is Sleepytime. If we are going to have desert this is when we have it - if nothing else they usually get a Hershey's kiss.
While we drink our tea we read a chapter from our Advent book. This year we are reading Jotham's Journey. Last year we read another book from the same series, Bartholomew's Passage. We love these books. They are intense for young children and at times we edit parts of it because it gets graphic but the stories are really inspiring and help refocus us back to the birth of Christ during a hectic time.
The books are designed so you read one a night from the fourth sunday before Christmas until Christmas morning. You could really read any book but we really enjoy this series. They are impossible to find now, we borrowed from friends both last year and this year.
After we finish our chapter we sing a Christmas Carol - we take turns choosing each night. After the song we all go around the table and pray together and for each other. This is also a time when we share any prayer requests we have. Then when prayers are done the kids take turns blowing out the candles and we head off to bed.
Some families choose to let their children light a candle to walk to their room with but our children are too young and we like our house too much to facilitate it burning down, so we just blow them out then.
This tradition has been wonderful. It is such a special family time. It is great to calm down together and come together bringing the focus on the upcoming birth of Christ. We really take time to be quiet and still and reflect on that. We take time to pray together and sing songs that remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.
Some nights Serona will gather the kids around the Christmas tree afterwards and tell them a story he makes up about our family friend Benkin (an imaginary character he made up) and the adventures the children go on with him. They really love these stories and laying in front of the tree listening.
The Christmas season is a very good one for us. It helped this year that nearly all our shopping was done before Thanksgiving - that took a lot of pressure off. It also really makes a difference to have a daily tradition that brings us all together, quiet and calm and focusing on Christ. It really is a time we cherish together.
Peace,
Tenniel
After dinner we put on a pot of tea, clean the dishes and the table and then light our Advent wreath. We do not have anything fancy just a fake plain green wreath and four candles in small candleholders. We all sit around the dinner table - the wreath is in the center and drink tea. The kids current favorite is Sleepytime. If we are going to have desert this is when we have it - if nothing else they usually get a Hershey's kiss.
While we drink our tea we read a chapter from our Advent book. This year we are reading Jotham's Journey. Last year we read another book from the same series, Bartholomew's Passage. We love these books. They are intense for young children and at times we edit parts of it because it gets graphic but the stories are really inspiring and help refocus us back to the birth of Christ during a hectic time.
The books are designed so you read one a night from the fourth sunday before Christmas until Christmas morning. You could really read any book but we really enjoy this series. They are impossible to find now, we borrowed from friends both last year and this year.
After we finish our chapter we sing a Christmas Carol - we take turns choosing each night. After the song we all go around the table and pray together and for each other. This is also a time when we share any prayer requests we have. Then when prayers are done the kids take turns blowing out the candles and we head off to bed.
Some families choose to let their children light a candle to walk to their room with but our children are too young and we like our house too much to facilitate it burning down, so we just blow them out then.
This tradition has been wonderful. It is such a special family time. It is great to calm down together and come together bringing the focus on the upcoming birth of Christ. We really take time to be quiet and still and reflect on that. We take time to pray together and sing songs that remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.
Some nights Serona will gather the kids around the Christmas tree afterwards and tell them a story he makes up about our family friend Benkin (an imaginary character he made up) and the adventures the children go on with him. They really love these stories and laying in front of the tree listening.
The Christmas season is a very good one for us. It helped this year that nearly all our shopping was done before Thanksgiving - that took a lot of pressure off. It also really makes a difference to have a daily tradition that brings us all together, quiet and calm and focusing on Christ. It really is a time we cherish together.
Peace,
Tenniel
December 8, 2006
Schooling Update
Haven't posted one in awhile so thought I would.
Ciaran - Working on reading phonetically fluently. He can sound out any clear phonics word and is working more at simply recognizing them or sounding them out quickly in his head and saying them. The Primary Phonics readers are working really well for him and we are enjoying them. He has moved into some doctor suess and level one readers as well. We are still doing Explode the Code and his is almost finished with Level One. I supplement with Phonics Pathways because Explode the Code moves very slowly. He still uses the Starfall website some as well.
For math we are working through Miquon's orange book. Lately he has worked on number lines, adding three or four numbers, completing equations like 2 + x =5, and filling in whether it is addition or subtraction. He uses rods and an abacus for the more complicated problems. He also really enjoys doing Leon's Math Games, he especially enjoys the movies and Math Dojo.
He is working on his letters and is much better at handwriting now. He holds the pencil right and can write his name small enough now to get a library card (our standard is when you can write small enough for the back of the card). He is consistently writing from left to right now as opposed to right to left (he was spelling correctly and the word looked right at the end but he started with the last letter). He has figured out how to adjust for being a lefty well.
His big deal was our visit to Body Worlds. He has been begging to for almost the whole time it has been here and just him and I went last week. He really enjoyed it and was fascinated. He listened to the recordings about each exhibit and asked good questions. I was surprised at how well it held his attention. He definitely has a science bend to him. I will not be surprised if he ends up a scientist, researcher or doctor based on the way I see his mind and interests working now.
Rhiannon is doing well. We are working on fractions now - dividing and multiplying whole numbers with fractions and adding fractions. She has grasped the concept of fractions quickly. We are gently introducing division at this time through fractions as well. She has been working on her multiplication tables and the patterns of numbers as well. She also just finished up a section on multiplying multiple digit numbers. We are working through the Miquon blue book with her.
For language arts she finished up Explode the Code Level 3 and is working through Primary Language Lessons as well. We have begun cursive work. She enjoys working on each letter individually but gets very frustrated when she tries to combine letters. I may look into a formal handwriting program for her this spring. We do regular dictations and narrations as well. She reads all the time and lately I have let her revisit some of her old favorites - she is currently rereading Anne of Green Gables and some of the American girl books. On vacation she picked up a series of books about the Presidents as Young Men, she really enjoyed those.
We are continuing our work in Botany - we will be dissecting a flower this week and making homemade soap with some herbs. For history we are in the Middle Ages we are just getting ready to study Charlemagne. History still seems to be one of her favorite subjects and one of the first she reaches for when given a choice. We really are enjoying the Story of the World series. For physical education she is taking a homeschool gym class one a week and every other week twice a week. She is also doing a rock climbing class and swimming when we can.
All is all school work is going well and they seem to be enjoying it and progressing along well. We fill in with field trips, nature walks, playdates, and crafts.
Peace,
Tenniel
Ciaran - Working on reading phonetically fluently. He can sound out any clear phonics word and is working more at simply recognizing them or sounding them out quickly in his head and saying them. The Primary Phonics readers are working really well for him and we are enjoying them. He has moved into some doctor suess and level one readers as well. We are still doing Explode the Code and his is almost finished with Level One. I supplement with Phonics Pathways because Explode the Code moves very slowly. He still uses the Starfall website some as well.
For math we are working through Miquon's orange book. Lately he has worked on number lines, adding three or four numbers, completing equations like 2 + x =5, and filling in whether it is addition or subtraction. He uses rods and an abacus for the more complicated problems. He also really enjoys doing Leon's Math Games, he especially enjoys the movies and Math Dojo.
He is working on his letters and is much better at handwriting now. He holds the pencil right and can write his name small enough now to get a library card (our standard is when you can write small enough for the back of the card). He is consistently writing from left to right now as opposed to right to left (he was spelling correctly and the word looked right at the end but he started with the last letter). He has figured out how to adjust for being a lefty well.
His big deal was our visit to Body Worlds. He has been begging to for almost the whole time it has been here and just him and I went last week. He really enjoyed it and was fascinated. He listened to the recordings about each exhibit and asked good questions. I was surprised at how well it held his attention. He definitely has a science bend to him. I will not be surprised if he ends up a scientist, researcher or doctor based on the way I see his mind and interests working now.
Rhiannon is doing well. We are working on fractions now - dividing and multiplying whole numbers with fractions and adding fractions. She has grasped the concept of fractions quickly. We are gently introducing division at this time through fractions as well. She has been working on her multiplication tables and the patterns of numbers as well. She also just finished up a section on multiplying multiple digit numbers. We are working through the Miquon blue book with her.
For language arts she finished up Explode the Code Level 3 and is working through Primary Language Lessons as well. We have begun cursive work. She enjoys working on each letter individually but gets very frustrated when she tries to combine letters. I may look into a formal handwriting program for her this spring. We do regular dictations and narrations as well. She reads all the time and lately I have let her revisit some of her old favorites - she is currently rereading Anne of Green Gables and some of the American girl books. On vacation she picked up a series of books about the Presidents as Young Men, she really enjoyed those.
We are continuing our work in Botany - we will be dissecting a flower this week and making homemade soap with some herbs. For history we are in the Middle Ages we are just getting ready to study Charlemagne. History still seems to be one of her favorite subjects and one of the first she reaches for when given a choice. We really are enjoying the Story of the World series. For physical education she is taking a homeschool gym class one a week and every other week twice a week. She is also doing a rock climbing class and swimming when we can.
All is all school work is going well and they seem to be enjoying it and progressing along well. We fill in with field trips, nature walks, playdates, and crafts.
Peace,
Tenniel
December 7, 2006
Always Be Prepared
Well I was a girl scout once upon a time, you would think I would know better. You would think I would follow their motto. But life catches you off guard every once in awhile. Take last night.
A typical Minnesota night. It was actually 4 degrees -14 with the wind chill. Not exactly the night you want to be outside in the cold with nothing more than jeans, a t-shirt and some socks. No, I did not have mittens and a scarf on, instead I did not have a coat or even shoes on. Are you wondering why and how I could do this to myself? Well so am I. Here is the story.
I was cleaning my entry way late last night and went to put a box of summer shoes into my garage. Since I was just walking right into my closed garage I did not bother to put on a coat or even shoes - after all it was going to be just a few seconds. Sure I knew it would be cold but for a short time, something I do often - braving the cold in bare feet to throw out the trash or get something from the car or get the mail. Well I was wrong.
On this particular evening my garage door shut behind me and was to my shock locked! Now I don't know about all of you "prepared" people but I do not carry my keys and cell phone around the house with me while I am cleaning at 11:30pm. I am not expecting the unexpected - perhaps I should have. My dogs apparently had not thought ahead either because they found themselves right there with me.
After trying the door several times in disbelief I told myself surely something else was open. I proceeded to the other doors and of course they were all locked. My house was apparently prepared for the evening even if I was not. Serona not being home I found myself and my dogs locked out of our house and our three children sleeping soundly inside.
So I did what any sane person in my situation would do - I began pounding on the doors and windows. I rang the bell for 5 minutes straight. Nothing, no movement, no lights, no sign of anyone waking. I am now COLD! I search through the garage and find Serona's work boots and pull them onto my feet, while too big at least they are taking the chill out of my feet which are thankful to be off the cold concrete. I tried the doors several more times and realize I am simply going to have to go to a neighbor for help. As I look around I realize all my neighbors are now in bed, no lights to be seen anywhere. I went across to a friends house, very thankful at this moment that we have taken time to know our neighbors and so thankful that we are blessed with good neighbors.
As I pressed the bell closer to midnight than I would have preferred I took comfort in knowing they would open their doors to me just as I would to them. Their dog barked, my neighbor answered the door in his robe and I woke their little girl - but they were so kind and helpful. I explained the situation and asked to use their phone to call the police so they can help me break into my own home. They suggested I go back and give it another try to wake the kids up before we call the police. So I went back across the street ringing, banging and now throwing rocks gently at my children's window. Praying I am not going to frighten them but that I can wake them.
My neighbor came over carrying a coat for me. Remember I have now been outside in the severe cold weather in jeans and a t-shirt for about 15 minutes now. He tried to fiddle with my door and realized it was not going to work. He rang the bell and I banged on our doors more. No luck. I went back to pitching rocks at the window while he rang the bell. I am in shock at this point that no one is stirring in the house. We suddenly hear my youngest crying and I run around to a window hoping she will wander my way. Instead we hear silence and I know she has climbed into bed with one of her siblings for comfort. We resume noisemaking - I am getting dismayed now and sure we will be heading over to call the police soon.
My neighbor comes up with an idea - he carries a ladder and a screwdriver out to the window I am pitching rocks out and props the ladder against the side of my house and encourages me to climb up it. Now you know I love my children and that I am quite cold because little in this world could make me climb a ladder that is propped against a house. I was scared to do it, I was alright at first but when I had to get up on that last step I did not want to do it. My neighbor was right it had to be me peering in my kids window, if it was him all it would do is terrify them. So I climbed and he assured me he would not let me fall and he is someone I trust and besides I clearly had limited choices now so up the ladder I went.
Banging on their window and calling them, now I can see two of them sleeping and still not stirring! I am beginning to lose hope not to mention I feel like my fingers are going to freeze off soon. Neighbor hands me a screwdriver and tells me to bang with that since it will be a sharper sound. I do and suddenly they begin stirring. Ciaran wakes up frightened by the noise. I yell through the window to him that it is okay and that he needs to wake up and help me. He is quite groggy and unsure of where I am. I tell him to look out the window and I see this big grin - he was confused but I think thankful to see me and wondering how I am where I am all at once the moment he is awoken by a loud noise banging on his window. I tell him to open the front door and thankfully he listens.
Before my foot reaches the bottom of the ladder I hear the hysteria at my front door as they open it. Sirah is awake now and both of them are crying and nearly hysterical. My neighbor thankfully puts away the ladder, I thank him and I close the garage and head inside to my blessed warm house to resettle my now scared kids. I just hold them close and thank Ciaran. I tell him how brave he was and what a big helper he was to me. I snuggle in their room until they are asleep so thankful for my home on this cold night. Thankful for fantastic neighbors. Thankful for obedient children and amazed that Rhiannon managed to sleep through the entire thing!
I know you are supposed to try to be prepared most of the time, but really how can you ALWAYS be prepared? How can you know prepare for a step into the garage to turn into 45 minutes in severe cold weather? How can you prepare yourself and your family for a four day business trip that turns into more than a month straight on the road? Sometimes we get curve balls and we just need to deal with them the best we can. I suppose I should not have stepped outside without shoes and a coat on even for a moment - but really who knew?
It really brought home how cold it gets here and how it can be dangerous. We do keep blankets in our car, I do require them all to have their winter coats, socks and shoes with them in the car even if they don't want them or may not use them. We put our snow scraper in the car in late September and keep it there until the end of April. So I guess in overall theory I agree with the Girls Scouts that you should strive to "Always Be Prepared". But I am also convinced you just can't always be prepared. Prepare as much as you can but then be ready to adapt to life's little surprises. Cultivate those relationships for you never know when you are going to depend on them or when they will depend on you. Thanks to my neighbors and to my son!
Blessings,
Tenniel
A typical Minnesota night. It was actually 4 degrees -14 with the wind chill. Not exactly the night you want to be outside in the cold with nothing more than jeans, a t-shirt and some socks. No, I did not have mittens and a scarf on, instead I did not have a coat or even shoes on. Are you wondering why and how I could do this to myself? Well so am I. Here is the story.
I was cleaning my entry way late last night and went to put a box of summer shoes into my garage. Since I was just walking right into my closed garage I did not bother to put on a coat or even shoes - after all it was going to be just a few seconds. Sure I knew it would be cold but for a short time, something I do often - braving the cold in bare feet to throw out the trash or get something from the car or get the mail. Well I was wrong.
On this particular evening my garage door shut behind me and was to my shock locked! Now I don't know about all of you "prepared" people but I do not carry my keys and cell phone around the house with me while I am cleaning at 11:30pm. I am not expecting the unexpected - perhaps I should have. My dogs apparently had not thought ahead either because they found themselves right there with me.
After trying the door several times in disbelief I told myself surely something else was open. I proceeded to the other doors and of course they were all locked. My house was apparently prepared for the evening even if I was not. Serona not being home I found myself and my dogs locked out of our house and our three children sleeping soundly inside.
So I did what any sane person in my situation would do - I began pounding on the doors and windows. I rang the bell for 5 minutes straight. Nothing, no movement, no lights, no sign of anyone waking. I am now COLD! I search through the garage and find Serona's work boots and pull them onto my feet, while too big at least they are taking the chill out of my feet which are thankful to be off the cold concrete. I tried the doors several more times and realize I am simply going to have to go to a neighbor for help. As I look around I realize all my neighbors are now in bed, no lights to be seen anywhere. I went across to a friends house, very thankful at this moment that we have taken time to know our neighbors and so thankful that we are blessed with good neighbors.
As I pressed the bell closer to midnight than I would have preferred I took comfort in knowing they would open their doors to me just as I would to them. Their dog barked, my neighbor answered the door in his robe and I woke their little girl - but they were so kind and helpful. I explained the situation and asked to use their phone to call the police so they can help me break into my own home. They suggested I go back and give it another try to wake the kids up before we call the police. So I went back across the street ringing, banging and now throwing rocks gently at my children's window. Praying I am not going to frighten them but that I can wake them.
My neighbor came over carrying a coat for me. Remember I have now been outside in the severe cold weather in jeans and a t-shirt for about 15 minutes now. He tried to fiddle with my door and realized it was not going to work. He rang the bell and I banged on our doors more. No luck. I went back to pitching rocks at the window while he rang the bell. I am in shock at this point that no one is stirring in the house. We suddenly hear my youngest crying and I run around to a window hoping she will wander my way. Instead we hear silence and I know she has climbed into bed with one of her siblings for comfort. We resume noisemaking - I am getting dismayed now and sure we will be heading over to call the police soon.
My neighbor comes up with an idea - he carries a ladder and a screwdriver out to the window I am pitching rocks out and props the ladder against the side of my house and encourages me to climb up it. Now you know I love my children and that I am quite cold because little in this world could make me climb a ladder that is propped against a house. I was scared to do it, I was alright at first but when I had to get up on that last step I did not want to do it. My neighbor was right it had to be me peering in my kids window, if it was him all it would do is terrify them. So I climbed and he assured me he would not let me fall and he is someone I trust and besides I clearly had limited choices now so up the ladder I went.
Banging on their window and calling them, now I can see two of them sleeping and still not stirring! I am beginning to lose hope not to mention I feel like my fingers are going to freeze off soon. Neighbor hands me a screwdriver and tells me to bang with that since it will be a sharper sound. I do and suddenly they begin stirring. Ciaran wakes up frightened by the noise. I yell through the window to him that it is okay and that he needs to wake up and help me. He is quite groggy and unsure of where I am. I tell him to look out the window and I see this big grin - he was confused but I think thankful to see me and wondering how I am where I am all at once the moment he is awoken by a loud noise banging on his window. I tell him to open the front door and thankfully he listens.
Before my foot reaches the bottom of the ladder I hear the hysteria at my front door as they open it. Sirah is awake now and both of them are crying and nearly hysterical. My neighbor thankfully puts away the ladder, I thank him and I close the garage and head inside to my blessed warm house to resettle my now scared kids. I just hold them close and thank Ciaran. I tell him how brave he was and what a big helper he was to me. I snuggle in their room until they are asleep so thankful for my home on this cold night. Thankful for fantastic neighbors. Thankful for obedient children and amazed that Rhiannon managed to sleep through the entire thing!
I know you are supposed to try to be prepared most of the time, but really how can you ALWAYS be prepared? How can you know prepare for a step into the garage to turn into 45 minutes in severe cold weather? How can you prepare yourself and your family for a four day business trip that turns into more than a month straight on the road? Sometimes we get curve balls and we just need to deal with them the best we can. I suppose I should not have stepped outside without shoes and a coat on even for a moment - but really who knew?
It really brought home how cold it gets here and how it can be dangerous. We do keep blankets in our car, I do require them all to have their winter coats, socks and shoes with them in the car even if they don't want them or may not use them. We put our snow scraper in the car in late September and keep it there until the end of April. So I guess in overall theory I agree with the Girls Scouts that you should strive to "Always Be Prepared". But I am also convinced you just can't always be prepared. Prepare as much as you can but then be ready to adapt to life's little surprises. Cultivate those relationships for you never know when you are going to depend on them or when they will depend on you. Thanks to my neighbors and to my son!
Blessings,
Tenniel
December 5, 2006
Ringing the Bell
It is cold in Minnesota by most normal standards, which means most people in Minnesota are still in denial that it is cold since this can be normal for us. It was just above double digits in real temperature and below zero with wind chill factor. Lucky for our little family that today was our scheduled day to ring the Salvation Army Bell.
We had swimming and dance lessons this morning and then we bundled up. I am talking snow pants, boots, scarves, hats, mittens full bundling up and headed to a nearby store to take our shift at the kettle. Our homeschool group organized a day of volunteering and we had a short shift in the middle of it.
Thankfully when we arrived at the store we were blessed to discover they had moved the kettle indoors in between the exit and outside sliding glass doors. We were still thankful for our warm clothes though hats and scarves were removed mittens were still needed and we were thankful for the extra warmth as the door opened continually. But we were sheltered from the bitter wind and for that I am thankful.
This was our first year ringing for the Salvation Army and I am thankful we had the opportunity to do so. The kids enjoyed it - we were only there about 45 minutes or so and that was about the right amount of time any longer and they would have been weary of it I think. Sirah started wearing down about 10 minutes from when we stopped. They took turns ringing the bell and we sang Christmas carols, loudly.
We did find that the Christmas carols seemed to make people smile and thank us or stop and make a comment and we definitely received more donations when we sang. One woman who worked at the store even said "How can I miss this opportunity since you are singing so well." The kids were excited at each donation and said "Thank You" and "Merry Christmas" each time. They too noticed that the singing seemed to bring more donations and it kept them excited to sing.
We sang several songs but soon discovered that the 12 Days of Christmas was our best song and it was a nice long song that we knew all the words too and it seemed to make people smile so that is what we sang for most of the time. The poor cashier working right inside the door probably does not want to hear that song again for awhile. Especially since my Ciaran loves to sing loudly and really only has one volume when it comes to singing.
I recommend taking a turn at the kettle if you have an opportunity to do so. The kids enjoyed it and I think people liked seeing children there ringing the bell. We talked a bit about the salvation army and who they help and why we were doing what we were doing. We spent family time together serving in an easy way and we of course went out for hot cocoa afterwards.
Every month we try to do a service project together either through church, our homeschool group or just on our own. During the holidays we tend to do more than one a month. This was one of two service projects we are doing this month. The kids enjoyed it and it is one I think we will do each year going forward.
To volunteer to ring the bell for the Salvation Army go here as a start. By the way the child in the photo is not mine but I thought it was a cute photo.
Peace in Christ,
Tenniel
December 4, 2006
Family Christmas Traditions
Many families have them, sometimes we talk about them, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we love the traditions and sometimes we don't. Well I come from a big Irish family. One who actually creates traditions so we have yet more reasons to all get together. We get together a lot. Well I should say they do as I am from New York where all my extended family is and we currently live in Minnesota. This was actually my first Thanksgiving home in 13 years! Still I was raised with these traditions so even if I don't have the opportunity to do them every year I know them by heart and they still feel like my traditions because I know that my family is doing them a few states away.
Some signs of the tradition still show up even in Minnesota. For example if you come to my home during the holidays you will likely notice that you are drinking out of a 12 days of Christmas mug and that as much as I am not a knick knack type person I have a full set of the 12 days of Christmas mugs and plates. This does seem out of place for my personality, but it a big part of who I am.
How can a song be a big part of who I am? Well it is a long story and it involves some crazy but fun family traditions that I am about to explain. As I said I grew up in a big family. My father is the middle child of 5 and when his siblings grew up and got married they all had a bunch of kids and we all get together A LOT. I grew up with aunts and uncles close like extended parents and cousins that at times felt like siblings. We are not quite My Big Fat Greek Wedding but something closer to that than to most families only we are Irish. Everyone is in everyone's lives and knows everyones business and everyone loves one another unconditionally and we spend time together.
At no time is this more apparent than during the holidays. Thanksgiving dinner had 26 people all around the table - yes it was one huge table and we were not even all there - that was only some of us we spent the day together. We were at my uncle's house from about 3pm until nearly midnight. My kids just jumped right in and even though we have not been around much you would not know it with how well everyone was getting along and how seamless it was to jump back in. One of the things I love about my family is there really is no gender divide. It is not women in the kitchen men watching football kind of a day. Sure some women were in the kitchen and so were some men. Some men and boys watched football but so did some women and everyone was so mixed up there is no divide like that - I love that and was raised thinking that was normal. Then grew up to see that it is rare. But everyone has Thanksgiving traditions and there really isn't anything unique about ours other than the fact that we always have sardines (well they do we are vegetarian).
What is unusual is about to come now. Two days later we returned to the same home for the first tree decorating party of the season. My dad and his siblings all go to each others homes to decorate their Christmas trees together and make a big party day of it. This year the first party was early to catch those out of towners here for Thanksgiving. So we arrive around 4 pm and visit and just chat - yes we still had lots to talk about just two days later. We had dinner and then started decorating the tree together complete with teams of people holding the garland as it is strung and many critics on how the lights and garland look on the tree. Years of shared memories and ornaments are there and we sing a lot. We don't know all the words and we make some up sometimes and we hum a lot. But we also have a lot of fun. We pick individual songs as we go up. Like Rhia this year "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" or "I'll have a blue Christmas" when an ornament goes up for someone not there or "Grandma Got run over by a reindeer" when a new grandma puts her ornament on the tree. It is crazy and silly and a lot of fun and a big part of who I am.
Not only do we put ornaments up together but our family carries on a tradition from my grandma's house started long ago, I always remember it so it has been going on to me what feels like forever, at least from the time I was a young child. Every member of the family has an ornament with his or her name on it. We put them on the tree in the order you came to the family. So sometimes like in my case I put an ornament on before my uncle who is older than me because I was born before he married my aunt. We start and the top and work our way down to the newest family member - which can at times include a serious boyfriend or girlfriend. When each family member puts their ornament on the tree they have to pick a song for everyone to sing while they walk to the tree and put their ornament on. Yes we have a big family and yes this takes a long time and yes we have repeat songs but it is a lot of fun and it is uniquely us.
Then after this is all done desert is typically served and at the table you will find glasses or mugs with eggnog. Whether you drink eggnog or not you need to take a glass. Your glass typically includes your whole family group or some combination of people as there are only 12 glasses and many more of us. Then the fun begins as family members try to swap glasses, steal them sometimes, or try to con someone out of their glass. The goal for most family members is to get the highest possible number and avoid the low numbers, except for 5 which is always in high demand and 2 which is almost always assigned unofficially. Wondering what is going on. Well in my family at the tree decorating and at Christmas we always sing the 12 days of Christmas. You and your group of people have to sing the part of your cup. Thus the desire for high numbers as the lucky winner of 12 only has to sing once and the two turtle doves sing just about every time. Somewhere along the way we agreed that everyone would sing the partridge in a pear tree part, two turtle doves is usually reserved for a certain couple (such as the newest, or soon to be married, or just married, etc) and five is coveted and fought over. It is another fun and goofy tradition that I love as does everyone else. We grumble when we get a low number and we do try to get the other cups but all enjoy doing it and it is a part of who we are.
One other thing I forgot to mention whenever a door opens and someone arrives at the house we all sing "We wish you a Merry Christmas" and head for the door, no matter where we are in the house. It is really a great way to be greeted and to greet one another at the holidays. For many years on Christmas day we ended up with an impromptu band in the basement complete with drummers, guitarists and singers. We have mistletoe, and eggnog, liquor and lots of snacks and all the normal things that other families have but we also have our own traditions that make us who we are. So that is why I have a 12 days of Christmas set here. Though we have never had the family here to decorate a tree - Minnesota is just a bit too cold not to mention too far for most of them to travel. Still the traditions are part of who I am and hope to pass on to my children and eventually their children.
We have many other "Irish traditions" in our big clan. Next summer I can share more about the Family Olympics which is when we all get together and divide into teams the in-laws and the outlaws (who are the actual blood siblings) and compete in athletic events against each other for a prize at the end. We have elaborate themes, catch goldfish with our bare hands and have a lot of fun. Yet another "tradition" created so we could get together. Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my history and family. Anything you want to share about your own holiday traditions?
Peace,
Tenniel
Some signs of the tradition still show up even in Minnesota. For example if you come to my home during the holidays you will likely notice that you are drinking out of a 12 days of Christmas mug and that as much as I am not a knick knack type person I have a full set of the 12 days of Christmas mugs and plates. This does seem out of place for my personality, but it a big part of who I am.
How can a song be a big part of who I am? Well it is a long story and it involves some crazy but fun family traditions that I am about to explain. As I said I grew up in a big family. My father is the middle child of 5 and when his siblings grew up and got married they all had a bunch of kids and we all get together A LOT. I grew up with aunts and uncles close like extended parents and cousins that at times felt like siblings. We are not quite My Big Fat Greek Wedding but something closer to that than to most families only we are Irish. Everyone is in everyone's lives and knows everyones business and everyone loves one another unconditionally and we spend time together.
At no time is this more apparent than during the holidays. Thanksgiving dinner had 26 people all around the table - yes it was one huge table and we were not even all there - that was only some of us we spent the day together. We were at my uncle's house from about 3pm until nearly midnight. My kids just jumped right in and even though we have not been around much you would not know it with how well everyone was getting along and how seamless it was to jump back in. One of the things I love about my family is there really is no gender divide. It is not women in the kitchen men watching football kind of a day. Sure some women were in the kitchen and so were some men. Some men and boys watched football but so did some women and everyone was so mixed up there is no divide like that - I love that and was raised thinking that was normal. Then grew up to see that it is rare. But everyone has Thanksgiving traditions and there really isn't anything unique about ours other than the fact that we always have sardines (well they do we are vegetarian).
What is unusual is about to come now. Two days later we returned to the same home for the first tree decorating party of the season. My dad and his siblings all go to each others homes to decorate their Christmas trees together and make a big party day of it. This year the first party was early to catch those out of towners here for Thanksgiving. So we arrive around 4 pm and visit and just chat - yes we still had lots to talk about just two days later. We had dinner and then started decorating the tree together complete with teams of people holding the garland as it is strung and many critics on how the lights and garland look on the tree. Years of shared memories and ornaments are there and we sing a lot. We don't know all the words and we make some up sometimes and we hum a lot. But we also have a lot of fun. We pick individual songs as we go up. Like Rhia this year "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" or "I'll have a blue Christmas" when an ornament goes up for someone not there or "Grandma Got run over by a reindeer" when a new grandma puts her ornament on the tree. It is crazy and silly and a lot of fun and a big part of who I am.
Not only do we put ornaments up together but our family carries on a tradition from my grandma's house started long ago, I always remember it so it has been going on to me what feels like forever, at least from the time I was a young child. Every member of the family has an ornament with his or her name on it. We put them on the tree in the order you came to the family. So sometimes like in my case I put an ornament on before my uncle who is older than me because I was born before he married my aunt. We start and the top and work our way down to the newest family member - which can at times include a serious boyfriend or girlfriend. When each family member puts their ornament on the tree they have to pick a song for everyone to sing while they walk to the tree and put their ornament on. Yes we have a big family and yes this takes a long time and yes we have repeat songs but it is a lot of fun and it is uniquely us.
Then after this is all done desert is typically served and at the table you will find glasses or mugs with eggnog. Whether you drink eggnog or not you need to take a glass. Your glass typically includes your whole family group or some combination of people as there are only 12 glasses and many more of us. Then the fun begins as family members try to swap glasses, steal them sometimes, or try to con someone out of their glass. The goal for most family members is to get the highest possible number and avoid the low numbers, except for 5 which is always in high demand and 2 which is almost always assigned unofficially. Wondering what is going on. Well in my family at the tree decorating and at Christmas we always sing the 12 days of Christmas. You and your group of people have to sing the part of your cup. Thus the desire for high numbers as the lucky winner of 12 only has to sing once and the two turtle doves sing just about every time. Somewhere along the way we agreed that everyone would sing the partridge in a pear tree part, two turtle doves is usually reserved for a certain couple (such as the newest, or soon to be married, or just married, etc) and five is coveted and fought over. It is another fun and goofy tradition that I love as does everyone else. We grumble when we get a low number and we do try to get the other cups but all enjoy doing it and it is a part of who we are.
One other thing I forgot to mention whenever a door opens and someone arrives at the house we all sing "We wish you a Merry Christmas" and head for the door, no matter where we are in the house. It is really a great way to be greeted and to greet one another at the holidays. For many years on Christmas day we ended up with an impromptu band in the basement complete with drummers, guitarists and singers. We have mistletoe, and eggnog, liquor and lots of snacks and all the normal things that other families have but we also have our own traditions that make us who we are. So that is why I have a 12 days of Christmas set here. Though we have never had the family here to decorate a tree - Minnesota is just a bit too cold not to mention too far for most of them to travel. Still the traditions are part of who I am and hope to pass on to my children and eventually their children.
We have many other "Irish traditions" in our big clan. Next summer I can share more about the Family Olympics which is when we all get together and divide into teams the in-laws and the outlaws (who are the actual blood siblings) and compete in athletic events against each other for a prize at the end. We have elaborate themes, catch goldfish with our bare hands and have a lot of fun. Yet another "tradition" created so we could get together. Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my history and family. Anything you want to share about your own holiday traditions?
Peace,
Tenniel
December 3, 2006
Homeschool Cooperative Wrap Up
Well our homeschool coop has come to an end for the semester. It was another wonderful and successful year. I am always amazed when I see how much is accomplished in such a short period of times. We typically only meet 6 times a semester as we usually meet every other week - but still the kids get so much out of it and as a group we get so much done and offered.
At the end of our semester we always have a showcase where each class gets a few minutes to explain what they did and all of the rest of us get to find out all the options that were offered. It is a good opportunity for the kids to get up in front of a large crowd and speak or perform or whatever they are doing.
As for our family the younger two were both in a Five in a Row type class where their three hours are divided by a story and activity hour, then music time, craft time and ending with game and free playtime. The day is based around the themes from the book they are learning. They really enjoy their classes. For Ciaran his favorite part is music and Sirah loves craft time. For showcase they sang two songs they learned - they have music time together so they sang together at showcase which was cute.
Rhia has three elective classes she chooses from about 4 options per her. This semester she choose the American girl class I taught, a PE class and an art class called Meet the Masters where they learned about Picasso, Monet and Van Gogh and then did an art piece based on their work.
Each mom is expected to either teach or assist two of the three hours and then gets one hour off to visit and enjoy. This year I taught an American girl class for 2-4th graders and an Introduction to Argument class for 6-9th graders. I really enjoyed both classes. Check other posts for summaries of the classes.
There were so many options offered that I can not even mention them all here. From k'nex to army battles, craft classes to drama classes, number science to a class on the presidents, Shakespeare and Creative writing and many other options for the kids. We truly are blessed to be part of this group. Thanks to all of you who make it possible!
Blessings,
Tenn
At the end of our semester we always have a showcase where each class gets a few minutes to explain what they did and all of the rest of us get to find out all the options that were offered. It is a good opportunity for the kids to get up in front of a large crowd and speak or perform or whatever they are doing.
As for our family the younger two were both in a Five in a Row type class where their three hours are divided by a story and activity hour, then music time, craft time and ending with game and free playtime. The day is based around the themes from the book they are learning. They really enjoy their classes. For Ciaran his favorite part is music and Sirah loves craft time. For showcase they sang two songs they learned - they have music time together so they sang together at showcase which was cute.
Rhia has three elective classes she chooses from about 4 options per her. This semester she choose the American girl class I taught, a PE class and an art class called Meet the Masters where they learned about Picasso, Monet and Van Gogh and then did an art piece based on their work.
Each mom is expected to either teach or assist two of the three hours and then gets one hour off to visit and enjoy. This year I taught an American girl class for 2-4th graders and an Introduction to Argument class for 6-9th graders. I really enjoyed both classes. Check other posts for summaries of the classes.
There were so many options offered that I can not even mention them all here. From k'nex to army battles, craft classes to drama classes, number science to a class on the presidents, Shakespeare and Creative writing and many other options for the kids. We truly are blessed to be part of this group. Thanks to all of you who make it possible!
Blessings,
Tenn
American Girl Class Round Up
I had the wonderful opportunity to teach an American girl class for our homeschool cooperative. This class was fun because I had wonderful co-teachers who really have the skills I lack (anything arts and crafty) and we worked really well together. We had a great group of girls and the class was really memorable.
We took one doll each week and looked at her time period. I talked about the time period and location she lived in and offered some of the responsibilities and fun that girls their age would have had in that time period. We began the class with Felicity, then studied Kaya, Kirsten, Samantha and ended with Molly. The first four classes followed the same basic format. We had a talk time which I based heavily off the "Welcome to X world" series of American girl books where we covered history location and activities. Then majority of the class was spent in three activity stations which my co-teachers organized and executed for the most part. Which included crafts and games such as:
Felicity: Needlepoint, Game of Graces, Learning the Minuet, writing with a feather pen, using a wax seal and trying Sally Lunn bread
Kirsten: Sewing a patchwork pillow, painting a wooden spoon, making a yarn doll, reciting a poem in Swedish, eating Swedish cookies
Kaya: beading, weaving, making a corn husk doll, playing a traditional drum
Samantha: making silhouettes, bead boxes and rehearsing for our play.
The last few classes varied as for week five we put on a production of a Samantha play. The girls worked really hard and rehearsed and memorized their lines for several weeks. We had nine girls and only 6 parts so some of them split parts and they really did a great job. Somehow scenery and props came together and it all worked out very well. We were all impressed with how it turned out and the girls loved it. Many mentioned it as their favorite part of the class.
For the final class we had a fancy tea party with snacks from each of the girls we studied and the girls came dressed up and many brought their dolls. We talked briefly about Molly and we had a special guest speaker. One of the girls in our class has a grandmother who was 10 years old during WWII and had an older brother go overseas in the war. She came and spoke about her experiences and the girls enjoyed her and the tea party.
It was a great class and I would recommend it to teach to a group of young girls - it is easy to pull together and very memorable for the girls. It really made it special for the girls to do these things together and see what girls there age did over time. There was a bond of friendship created between many of these girls and a sense of accomplishment from doing the play together and hopefully they learned a bit of history while having all this fun. I think we had perfect ages for this class (7-10), if you know a group of girls in this age range consider offering it.
Peace,
Tenn
We took one doll each week and looked at her time period. I talked about the time period and location she lived in and offered some of the responsibilities and fun that girls their age would have had in that time period. We began the class with Felicity, then studied Kaya, Kirsten, Samantha and ended with Molly. The first four classes followed the same basic format. We had a talk time which I based heavily off the "Welcome to X world" series of American girl books where we covered history location and activities. Then majority of the class was spent in three activity stations which my co-teachers organized and executed for the most part. Which included crafts and games such as:
Felicity: Needlepoint, Game of Graces, Learning the Minuet, writing with a feather pen, using a wax seal and trying Sally Lunn bread
Kirsten: Sewing a patchwork pillow, painting a wooden spoon, making a yarn doll, reciting a poem in Swedish, eating Swedish cookies
Kaya: beading, weaving, making a corn husk doll, playing a traditional drum
Samantha: making silhouettes, bead boxes and rehearsing for our play.
The last few classes varied as for week five we put on a production of a Samantha play. The girls worked really hard and rehearsed and memorized their lines for several weeks. We had nine girls and only 6 parts so some of them split parts and they really did a great job. Somehow scenery and props came together and it all worked out very well. We were all impressed with how it turned out and the girls loved it. Many mentioned it as their favorite part of the class.
For the final class we had a fancy tea party with snacks from each of the girls we studied and the girls came dressed up and many brought their dolls. We talked briefly about Molly and we had a special guest speaker. One of the girls in our class has a grandmother who was 10 years old during WWII and had an older brother go overseas in the war. She came and spoke about her experiences and the girls enjoyed her and the tea party.
It was a great class and I would recommend it to teach to a group of young girls - it is easy to pull together and very memorable for the girls. It really made it special for the girls to do these things together and see what girls there age did over time. There was a bond of friendship created between many of these girls and a sense of accomplishment from doing the play together and hopefully they learned a bit of history while having all this fun. I think we had perfect ages for this class (7-10), if you know a group of girls in this age range consider offering it.
Peace,
Tenn
Argument Class Round Up
The second class I taught was an Introduction to Argument class for 6th-9th graders. I limited my class to six students and I had six boys and it was a lot of fun for me. Teaching this class made me realize how much I miss coaching debate and reminded me how much I love teaching argument and how important I believe the skill to be.
For me the greatest challenge in teaching this class was figuring out how to narrow my teaching topic down to a mere 6 hours. This six hours was really more like three actual hours of in class teaching time because the boys had to present their arguments in class and we had to spend some time preparing for showcase.
If you only have three hours to teach key elements of basic argument what do you choose? This was the question I had to answer and I decided that argument construction was the most important thing to teach them. I presented a basic format and structure for argument. A very simplified outline for them to follow and asked each student to pick a single topic they wanted to work on for the semester. The class would be spent refining that argument so their last argument was much better than their first argument.
These boys were patient with me because they were my guinea pigs and I did learn along the way and have better ideas about how to teach the class in the future. Still I think in the end they got something out of it. Some of them were really responsive to the teaching and comments and seemed to make big improvements. Now whether they were just jumping through assigned hoops or really got it is a seperate question that only time will tell.
What I hoped they would leave the class with was two main things. First that argument is about constructing well reasoned and supported claims for a position and not so much about attacking an opponent. Secondly I wanted them to walk away with an understanding of basic elements that should be found in all good arguments and an ability to use that structure themselves whether it be for a personal or a political issue they want to prove. I think they understood those things in the end and had at least an initial experience of actually doing them.
The thing about teaching argument is most of it is done through the refining process. I spent a lot of time with each students paper writing at times pages of comments on how they could improve or strengthen their argument. Then I watched them do just that and see for themselves why my comments and suggestions made their arguments better. So some of the teaching was actually not done in the class itself but in the discussion we had in the writing of their assignments.
The tough part about this class is that there is not enough time for them to really practice these skills over and over again and that is what really build argument skills is practice of the skill. That is why debate is so wonderful because it offers you many opportunities to practice your craft.
I have decided in the future to divide the class into two parts. Argument Construction and Answering Argument. With the first being a pre-requisite for the second class. With only 6 hours a session that is the best I can do so I can really give time to build each skill. Then anyone who is serious about learning and refining argument skills can move into a debate team or advanced argument class offered somewhere else.
Teaching the class reminded me that I love argument and love debate. I kind of hope my kids will want to be involved in it someday so we can get back involved in the community. Right now my kids are too young for me to offer to coach other people's kids as debate is very time consuming and that time simply has to go to my kids. Still it was fun to have a taste of that again and have an opportunity to work with some really talented and gifted kids who had both an interest and a natural ability for argument.
Peace,
Tenniel
For me the greatest challenge in teaching this class was figuring out how to narrow my teaching topic down to a mere 6 hours. This six hours was really more like three actual hours of in class teaching time because the boys had to present their arguments in class and we had to spend some time preparing for showcase.
If you only have three hours to teach key elements of basic argument what do you choose? This was the question I had to answer and I decided that argument construction was the most important thing to teach them. I presented a basic format and structure for argument. A very simplified outline for them to follow and asked each student to pick a single topic they wanted to work on for the semester. The class would be spent refining that argument so their last argument was much better than their first argument.
These boys were patient with me because they were my guinea pigs and I did learn along the way and have better ideas about how to teach the class in the future. Still I think in the end they got something out of it. Some of them were really responsive to the teaching and comments and seemed to make big improvements. Now whether they were just jumping through assigned hoops or really got it is a seperate question that only time will tell.
What I hoped they would leave the class with was two main things. First that argument is about constructing well reasoned and supported claims for a position and not so much about attacking an opponent. Secondly I wanted them to walk away with an understanding of basic elements that should be found in all good arguments and an ability to use that structure themselves whether it be for a personal or a political issue they want to prove. I think they understood those things in the end and had at least an initial experience of actually doing them.
The thing about teaching argument is most of it is done through the refining process. I spent a lot of time with each students paper writing at times pages of comments on how they could improve or strengthen their argument. Then I watched them do just that and see for themselves why my comments and suggestions made their arguments better. So some of the teaching was actually not done in the class itself but in the discussion we had in the writing of their assignments.
The tough part about this class is that there is not enough time for them to really practice these skills over and over again and that is what really build argument skills is practice of the skill. That is why debate is so wonderful because it offers you many opportunities to practice your craft.
I have decided in the future to divide the class into two parts. Argument Construction and Answering Argument. With the first being a pre-requisite for the second class. With only 6 hours a session that is the best I can do so I can really give time to build each skill. Then anyone who is serious about learning and refining argument skills can move into a debate team or advanced argument class offered somewhere else.
Teaching the class reminded me that I love argument and love debate. I kind of hope my kids will want to be involved in it someday so we can get back involved in the community. Right now my kids are too young for me to offer to coach other people's kids as debate is very time consuming and that time simply has to go to my kids. Still it was fun to have a taste of that again and have an opportunity to work with some really talented and gifted kids who had both an interest and a natural ability for argument.
Peace,
Tenniel
December 1, 2006
Congratulations to Mamadala
My friend Mamadala just had her twin boys! Praise the Lord for a safe delivery and healthy mommy and babies. I just could not be happier for them. When the good news came today at our homeschool coop I just could not help but let the tears flow as they needed to. Congrats
Mamadala and family. The Lord and Janey are smiling down on you today.
With love,
Tenniel
Mamadala and family. The Lord and Janey are smiling down on you today.
With love,
Tenniel
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