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He won! Oldest Son won the Area Home Education Association's Spelling Bee! He worked really hard. Methodically. Systematically. Diligently. We know now, though, that it is sheer dumb luck that picks the winner of most Bees. We've identified at least 15 words on the list of four-hundred and something that OS just isn't ever going to spell correctly. If he does, its a total accident. But noone asked any of those today. It was an eventful Bee -- full of humor, and both good and bad sportsmanship. Good for Middle Son to watch. He says he wants to try it next year. Can Mommy's blood pressure take one more? |
Posted in homeschool
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So many people say to me, "I just don't see HOW you homeschool with a baby." And I always reply with a snarky, "Oh, I just have really low standards," or "Well, I do it really badly." And truly, I did, although I was sure the end would justify my means and it would all come out in the wash. [I struggle often with mixed metaphors.] Now I think I've found the secret to homeschooling with a baby. At least a million people have mentioned to me that this is what they do and I just let it go in one ear and out the other. Didn't see how it could work for me. It has taken me two days of just doing it to be pretty sure it works great! We worked out shifts for babysitting the little guy. One big boy gets him for an hour in the den (usually watching the exhalted Bear Grylls) while the other gets one hour of focused Mommy time. Mommy having had lots of coffee. Mommy away from the distraction of the computer (mostly), the phone, and biggest distraction of all: Baby. Mommy has definitely got a bad case of ADD. Once you interrupt me, you've lost me for an hour. Give me 15 minutes of quiet concentration and I rock. I mean, with 3 hours of concentration, I could probably find the cure for cancer, world hunger, and corruption in government. But I digress. After First Boy gets one hour of uninterrupted Mommy time in a quiet classroom complete with securely closed door, that boy heads on downstairs to take the next shift. He's older, so he has the additional task of providing a snack for baby and starting lunch, so that when Big Boy #2 and I descend the stairs, fully grasping sentence diagramming, multiplying by 10s, etc., I can just kiss and hug baby and put him down for his nap. We hork down our lunches and head back upstairs to have lessons together - baby-free. Often, the baby will sleep for 3 hours, since I leave him in his swing watching HGTV. I figure it is bound to put anyone of the male species straight to sleep. Of course, the Big Problem with this strategy is that it tacks a whole hour onto the school day. I also worry about not spending enough time with baby. On the other hand, the 2 hours he spends one-on-one with his brothers would be the same 2 hours we'd all be trying to keep him from bothering them and distracting them from their school work. And the Big Boys are like me. Disturb them and then just TRY to reel them back. I've already made some gruesome discoveries in the depths of the boys' schoolwork. They've been forced by baby to work somewhat independently and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose when you do that. Oldest Son is just finishing up Chapter ONE of his English book, for example. Yes, that is correct: that is ONE chapter out of ELEVEN, and we are now halfway through the school year, are we not?? Fortunately, that one is a really quick learner and I'm not very worried about him at all -- academically. I do worry about his sloppiness and why, oh why does he do his math in his head and not "show" his work? And the handwriting! Oh my. But this hour alone with each boy is priceless. We laugh more. Things are less tense, since I don't have to constantly say, "Focus!" or "Stay on Task!" Or, "Baby, put that knife down!" or "Baby, get off the table!" So while the day IS longer, it flies by much quicker and is vastly more rewarding. And while I enjoyed doing school nearer the coffee pot for a while, it is great to have my white board back and a dedicated classroom to keep our books and tools organized. Next steps: Make sure there's mastery in the basic ground already covered while somehow catching up, and THEN adding some additional work in that has been missing entirely. The really cool stuff that makes homeschool so great. Do you have other tips for homeschooling with a baby? I'd love to hear them and I promise not to let them go in one ear and out the other this time. |
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The only thing worse than public speaking for getting my stomach in distress is having my son participate in the annual Spelling Bee. I was running to and fro to the bathroom all morning in anticipation. So, it is with mixed emotion that I report that Oldest Son will be advancing to the next level of intestinal torture on January 7th. He missed the word "futon" after about a million back and forths between the two of them at the end and so came in second place to the same 8th grade boy who won last year -- same situation with an extended spell-off, so I was very proud of him (it actually crossed my mind that he might have missed "futon" from sheer extended stress, if not just impatience for it to end, since he already knew he was advancing. He denies this). They will meet again at the Smoky Mountain HEA Bee where last year the two boys placed 1st and 2nd place also. Oldest Son is motivated purely by the possibility of a trip to Washington D.C. if he can win two more contests. I'm just glad he's motivated by SOMETHING. Hmmm. Perhaps I should promise him a trip to somewhere fun if he completes his Math and Grammar early this year?? |
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Tonight, I got to do something fabulous! The King and I went out for dinner at the SunSpot with my sister and another couple and had a nice dinner that did not include any meat-cutting for anyone else, no plastic cups with lids, no crayons or color-on menus. After that, we did something even more fabulous. We saw Loreena McKinnett from the 3rd row of the Orchestra Pit at the fabulous Tennessee Theatre (thanks to our friends Michael and Athena, who are in visiting for the weekend). Loreena is a Canadian, whose voice makes one dream of what the voice of angels must be like, and whose music has its basis in Celtic history, but enjoys an occasional middle eastern beat. I think this song is a particularly good example of that fusion. This video gives you a good feel for the what the performance was like. Her band uses a wide range of sometimes obscure instruments. But once you hear them, you wonder, "Gee, why doesn't everyone play the Oud?" Or the Celtic Bouzouki, Greek Lute, or most especially that incredible Hurdy Gurdy. Sometimes, you see someone sing live and realize their sound was largely manufactured in a studio somewhere. Not Loreena. Her voice takes you to a whole different dimension, and it is seemingly effortless. And in the course of this incredible event, we watched her play the piano, the harp, the accordion, and the keyboard. And each of the other 9 people on stage were so masterful at their instruments that you felt certain they could have drawn their own crowds to most any venue. Particularly the guy on the violin. I saw his face during a particularly impressive solo (we were quite close) and thought to myself: "I want to help my kids find something they can be that passionate about." Honestly, there were at least 3 times in which tears just involuntarily flowed down my face from the sheer beauty of the various performances. And I don't think there was a moment when my feet or my head weren't moving to the beat. I must have been quite a spectacle! But I wasn't the least bit worried, because I knew all eyes were glued to the stage. It was the show of a lifetime. If you aren't familiar with the music of Loreena McKinnett, give yourself a little treat and go through the excerpts here on her website. And if ever she comes to town again, don't miss it! |
Posted in homeschool
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I was so thrilled when we finally stopped traveling the week after 4th of July and I knew I was going to be home all summer. I was going to get so much done. I was going to repaint and redecorate everything. New curtains here, drapes there, organize this, throw out that... you get the picture. When school began again, I was going to have my house in order. Now, here it is one month later and not one dribble of paint has been distributed (except for the paint the people who are painting my front porch have put on it), nor one piece of fabric swathed. I have only seen the surface of the rug in my bedroom once since June 18th, and that's because Sally peed on the laundry that was lying on it and it had to be rewashed -- and then replaced on the rug, never to be moved again. The King can barely muscle through the stacks of laundry and storage boxes that litter our room. (Yes, that's right; the storage boxes that contain our winter clothes are still waiting to be deposited in the storage space upstairs.) And the plants I bought last Spring? Most are in the ground, but at least 10 of them still await permanent resting places! Oldest Son has somehow kept them alive through the drought and heat this long. And now, school is looming on the horizon for me like the dark clouds preceding a typhoon. We have to start August 20th, to be able to stop at the end of May next year. We have a couple of vacations worked into the schedule, so I can't complain. Too much. I have a lot of books to start the year out, but still several things to order/find: *Handwriting Without Tears for 3rd grader Also, you clever writing teachers, I understand the need for journaling, but how do you folks who get your kids to do that consistently pull it off? I bought cool journal books and cool pens, but no dice. Mostly, I want to have more fun this year and not worry so much about getting behind. And somehow, do all this with Baby running around, swinging from the chandeliers! |