Progress Report

Eden's progress report showed up in the mail on Saturday. As I opened it I realized what it was and I was instantly nervous. Here it was...the proof that homeschooling her was a good idea or not. Actually that's not totally true. Even if her grades weren't great I still feel that Eden found her confidence while being home schooled. She would never have been able to discover that if she had been harassed at school for the last three years. But, I still wondered, "Did I teach her enough to tackle these Pre AP courses?" Right now she has all B's and one C. The C is in Drama. Duh! Why??? That should be the one she has the best grade in. We talked about it last night and I encouraged her to realize that drama isn't just an easy course. It too needs serious consideration. Just because you like it doesn't mean you're good at it. It takes paying attention, taking notes, studying lines and being prepared the same as any other class. It too shows up on your transcripts for college. She agreed. I also made a vow to myself that I'm simply going to run through each course in the afternoon to prompt her memory of what she did that day and what needs to be done that night. I'm trying not to help too much, but help enough. I want her to learn to be responsible for her own things. It's really important to learn before college.

All of this being said here I have to be proud that she's getting all B's in the hard courses. It proves to me that not only did homeschooling bring her more confidence in herself, she did grasp what I taught her and I was successful in my endeavor to get her ready for high school. I almost didn't graduate high school myself. Not because I wasn't smart enough I was lazy and had no motivation. I wanted to do other things. But having never gone to college I felt judged sometimes by others about homeschooling. I would lose my confidence, especially when I got to a problem I couldn't solve alone. But I look back now and realize that I didn't let my lack of knowledge stop me. I found the right resources and used them to help me along. We muddled through it together figuring things out side by side. I think it helped Eden to realize that I don't know everything and that I have to work to get the answers the same as she does. It also helped her to see that I wouldn't simply give up. I was going to do all I could to find the right answer and how I came to that answer. When I would finally get it right I'd be overjoyed. It was a celebration. I really loved figuring it all out with her. I miss that.

I really do miss having her home with me. It's different not seeing her all the time. Because her homework can be so time consuming and with having club meetings after school some days and youth on Thursday nights our time is limited. I think we appreciate each other a little more. I know I appreciate all the help she used to lend with the little ones. I have the good life before. I never took advantage of Eden being here, but I would leave her in charge from time to time so I could run an errand. But it's time to start loosening that grip. Let Eden become who Eden will become. Because she's so smart, talented, personable, beautiful inside and out her possibilities are endless.

School Days, Gardening, Canning and fun!

We are well into our school days now and all seems to be going great! We are having such a great time learning all about the seasons, shapes, number and even our letters. We've learned the magic two colors do when they meet each other. Our school fairy loves to visit, play tricks and leave gifts on our nature table during the week. Last Friday Jade and Jaeger received little bean bags to play with.





Joey has been reviewing some math and writing skills, just getting warmed up for all the neat things we will learn this year. Yesterday we made jalapeno pepper jelly. It's so delicious. Joey put on his gloves and helped cut and clean the peppers. He measured the sugar and vinegar and did all the stirring. I handled the canning, but he watched carefully to see how it was done. We learned a lot about keeping thing sanitary and the difference between sanitization and sterilization. It was a fun lesson. The nicest part is the peppers came from the garden we planted together last spring.

Basket of items from our garden

Jalapeno pepper jelly to share

We've taken video of the little one saying their abc's. It's so cute to watch them try to say the lmno part. They also count really well. See the videos below.

Our garden

It occurred to me that we planted our garden last spring and I don't think we have any pictures of it on my blog. If we do it's from when it first began. Here's some pictures of our garden from beginning to now.

Our garden before we began planting

While we were waiting for the right time to plant we decided to do some paintings in the garden on the fence to entice our plants to grow.

Here is my painting of corn

Eden's carrot

Jade's painting....abstract artist

Here's a pic of three of our paintings...the tomato in the middle is Joey's

Our starts...almost time to plant

Sugar snap peas

Our tomato plant...so tiny then.

Our first planting of corn...we're on our third now

Picture of the whole garden as it began to get full

Our tomato getting bigger

Another view of our garden

One of our four sunflowers...very short here

This sunflower ended up being our biggest. It towered several feet above that fence.

Butter lettuce...these were yummy

Jalopenos....they're great to eat like this, but when they get red they are spicy

Our cuccumbers. These get huge and are so delicious

I have never liked tomatoes before. I love them now that I can eat them out of my own garden. We have made the best salsa out of these too.

Basil....if only you could smell this stuff.

Watermelon...you should see how big this is now. I can't take a picture of the entire thing. It spans the entire garden. We have about 3 or 4 melons on it now.

One of our melons....little bitty

Look at the hair on that corn. That has to be one of the most beautiful colors.

Our corn wasn't plentiful, but what we had of it was delicious

Getting taller

A bugs eye view

Sunflower

A pretty good idea of what our garden looks like today

First Week of Preschool

We started preschool for my 3 year old, Jade and my friend's son Jaeger this Tuesday. I really wasn't ready, but had made myself a promise to start on that date and wanted to stick to it. With the school room organized enough to teach in and no real plan I dove in head first and did what came naturally to me.



While I use a Waldorf style curriculum to follow I have to modify it slightly. While my daughter Jade will be homeschooled for some time to come, my friend's little one would be entering into a public school come kindergarten. I want to make sure he's ready to succeed when that happens. So I take the beauty, the stories, the playfulness of Waldorf preschool and add in some basics. We talk about shapes, letters, numbers, colors. We begin each day with a prayer. We play different rhythm instruments everyday and practice counting while we beat out a rhythm. We take a break for snack and some fresh air and head back in to do something fun and artful.



We have a school fairy that watches over us each day we have school. She likes to play mischeif with out nature table by taking things off to see if we notice or she'll leave little presents for the kids if they've done exceptionally well for the week. Today she left a note and some Jelly Bellies.



We visited the Jelly Belly factory yesterday and took a tour to see how they make this yummy candy. We had a blast. My friend Tiffany, her two little ones, my two littlest ones and I drove to Fairfield for the day and had the best time. The kids were pretty well behaved considering the amount of time they had to spend in the car. We only had trouble on the way home with a little arguing. Otherwise it was a fun and interesting day. We learned how they make them, shape them, color them, flavor them, coat them, polish them and stamp them. We even got to see what happens when they don't quite meet the high standards that Jelly Bellies must face. They become a Belly Flop! How funny!!



Today we did some painting. It was fun and the kids listened pretty well considering they are only 3 years old. I'm attaching pictures to go with our activities this week.



I'd say for the first week it went well. As we begin to adjust to the rules of our school and to each other and our new schedules it'll get better and better. They are both so eager to learn new things. I love watching them learn something new and really grasp what they are learning. When I get to see that light come on inside it just makes my day.



Jade and I spent some time this afternoon just free painting. It was a nice time relaxing together. I asked Joey if he wanted to paint and he didn't. Today is his last free day at home before he starts school, so I think he wanted to take advantage of his time to himself. I can respect that. Attached are pictures of our afternoon paintings also. Three of them are mine and one is Jade's. She's very talented. :-)

Jade and her squares

Jaeger and his squares

Kids being silly kids

Board work

Jaeger not posing like a monster or something....He's just being Jaeger

Jade's painting today

Jaeger's painting today

My painting today

Of course we need a picture of Jager

One of my paintings from our afternoon painting session

Jade's painting from our afternoon painting session

My second painting from this afternoon

So it finally happened

Another non homeschooling post, but I figure it's fair to keep up with what's happening with Eden too. So today Eden finally had a dose of not liking school very much. Her homework took longer tonight than usual and she got irritated. She was tired and just not having it. The questions came up about why she needs to take Pre AP courses if that is not going to be her career goal. Of course we answered her with the best answer we could and it wasn't good enough because at that point she wanted to hear that she wouldn't need them so she could stop working so hard. The thing is she can do these classes! She really can! If she was in normal English, Geometry and Biology she would end up getting bored and in trouble for talking etc. Both her grades and her bahavior will sit on her transcripts. College is not an option....it's a requirement. She wants to go to an arts college, but that's what she wants right now. How do we know she'll feel the same by the end of Junior or Senior year? She very well may still want arts school, but Jerod and I want her to think seriously about taking some business courses in college so she will have that backgroud to go with her arts degree. Also, it's something she can fall back on if her first option doesn't pan out. I'm not thinking negatively, just practically. Our daughter has talent in art, movie writing, directing, acting etc. She's only 13 and she really has a knack for it, but it's a tough world out there and even if she makes something of her art we want her to know how to manage herself. We want her to be smart enough to spot a bad deal. Yes, these classes are more difficult. Do I like having to sit with her and explain her homework to her? Do I like that I feel stupid that I don't understand what she is learning in Geometry? No! Actually I do like doing homework with her. It's time for us to spend together since she's so busy and I feel like we have fun with it. Especially when I do figure out what she's doing with Geometry and I feel victorious! I really do. Then I have an easier time explaining it to her. I think Eden expects that it will all come easy to her. The point is that she's learning and that's what it's about. It's not going to come as easily to her now because she's finally in a class that challenges her mind unlike any other time in school. Before she would get bored. It also doesn't help that this is a far cry from our homeschooling days. We have it easy here at home. The work is the same, but we are done mid-day, so it feels like less.

So that's what we are facing right now. It'll get better in a week or two and she'll be used to the schedule. She still likes school just fine, so we haven't lost ground there. Thank God!

Eden's First Day of School

So I know it isn't part of the actual homeschool journey, but it does play into our daily life. Eden started her first day of high school yesterday. It was her first day back to regular school after three wonderful years of homeschooling her. All day long I worried for her. I wanted her experience to be wonderful and all she had hoped it would be. It was.

Our day started out rocky. We had backpack issues because the brand new one she had gotten didn't fit her things and we knew she'd need more room by days end. So we had to dig out an old one and of course it was pink. It used to be one of her favorite colors, but as she's gotten older she had decided she doesn't like it anymore. So here she is her first day of school coming in with a backpack she hates. That's not really a big deal in the scheme of things and she was a great sport about it as she usually is. Then her ride was late and I wasn't sure she was coming at all, so we had to rely on Grandpa to get her there and she ended up being late anyway. Thankfully they were understanding about it since it was the first day of school, so no tardy on her record. As Grandpa pulled away from the curb my friend Tiffany arrived apologizing for being late. She had hit that morning school traffic and didn't anticipate how long it would take to drop off her son and get to our house to pick up Eden. But it turned out it was God's doing since Eden accidentally left her report on the table that was due on the first day. So Tiffany loaded us all into her car to take me to school to drop off her report. God works in great ways.

All day I thought about my oldest baby on her first day of high school. I reflected on many of her firsts. I still cannot believe she's old enough to be a freshman. It just blows my mind. She's such a beautiful young lady inside and out. But I wasn't only nervous for how she'd do socially, but academically as well. I taught her for three years and now it was time to prove it was a job well done. I had decided several months ago to put her in Pre-Advanced Placement classes because I know Eden can do them. She has the brains to do them. It will help her immensely with college when she gets there. I finally had to tell myself that if she doesn't do well in those classes that it's OK. It doesn't mean I was a bad teacher. She learned so much more than just what books could teacher her while home with me. Her self esteem was mended. She was pulled out of school after 5th grade having stomach cramps from nerves and having gnawed off the skin on her fingertips. Kids had brutally teased her and yet she still made Principal's Honor Roll. At home she was able to relax and really absorb all she was learning. I feel she learned enough to take on the challenges high school offers.

When she came home and told me about her day I was so proud of her. She kept to herself some, but not to the point of being a loner. She listened to what her teachers had to say in each class and didn't get distracted. She had made a friend at a BBQ before school started who was in her Spanish class. They were to meet for lunch, but Eden couldn't find her in the sea of people in the cafeteria. Eden say a boy eating his lunch alone, so she walked up and asked to sit with him. They talked all through lunch. When I was a kid I don't think I would have had the guts to do that. When I told Eden that I was so proud of her for it her response was "I know what it's like to sit and eat lunch alone. It isn't fun." Wow! She told me all about her classes and teachers and she's so excited. She wants so badly to do well. Getting good grades is so important to her and I'm so happy about that.

I really think she's going to be just fine this year. Of course I'll always worry about my kids, but she did great yesterday. I'm so happy and proud.

Getting Ready

Well we've been working hard on getting our school room ready for our first day of school. Instead of a school table we are going to use individual desks. I found an old desk at a shop here in town that has the top that opens and closes with the chair that's attached. It's painted like a white cow with black spots. It's so neat! That will be Joey's desk this year. We found a cute wooden table and chair at a garage sale that's just perfect for Jade. Eden's aunt Lisa and aunt Heather found another desk that they purchased for us. I'm just waiting on Jerod to make arrangements to pick it up. We did quite a bit of rearranging in our school room. It's going to be a fun room to teach and learn in this year.

I have two preschoolers and my 5th grader. This year I will be using the 4th year Waldorf curriculum for my son. We get to study all about the Norse myths this year and I'm so looking forward to all the wonderful stories. With my preschoolers I'm using Waldorf too except that I'm using a mixture of preschool methods along with some 1st year lessons. I'm only doing so because I have a boy I'm teaching who will enter a main stream school for kindergarten and I want him to be prepared. So we aren't putting a lot of pressure on learning the letters and numbers, but we are going to tell stories about them and get to know them some. We will also do a lot of playing, cooking, cleaning, coloring, painting and fun things. It's going to be a fun year.

My oldest got registered for high school on Wednesday. She received her student ID and she's very proud of it. She has her PE uniform, so she set. We received her schedule too and it's in perfect order. She has all of her core classes interwoven into her electives. It's great! She ends her day with drama class. What a great way to end the day!

So now all I have to do is finish up the school room and plan our days out and we are ready to roll. I'm so looking forward to getting back into the rhythm of school.