Sandy Southwest

Speech Therapy II....

And so started our adventure with speech therapy...

A spent the next 6 years in speech.  The first 2 years were still in Germany....with an American speech therapist.  Aimee quickly learned sign language, while we were waiting for her hearing to develop and for her to start speaking.

At the age of 2, her hearing had improved - she now was 97% hearing in both ears.  However, there were problems to deal with for her not being able to hear - most of the problems dealt with her inability to process sounds and noises.  We spent many parties and activities outside with her - because her poor little brain couldn't handle the sensory overload.  Even today, she still does not do well with excess noise and sounds - she prefers quiet.

A finally spoke at age 2 1/2!  I don't remember her first words - but she was speaking!  By the time she was 3, we had moved to our home here and she quickly was enrolled with the local school district for speech.  She advanced quickly there - because of the wonderful therapist she had!  Her therapist worked her hard each visit, and A quickly progressed!

Today, A has no difficulties with speech or hearing.  She does, however, have a small learning difficulty with spelling, mostly due to what could be labeled an auditory processing dsylexia.  However, it isn't severe, and I am teaching and working with her each day to overcome the problems from it.  We have changed to a rule based spelling program - instead of requiring phonics and sounding out words, we work with words within each spelling rule. 

But, lest we get comfortable, our adventure with speech therapy was to continue....

Oh, and today is library day!  We love the library!  We max out our cards each time!

Speech therapy

Our family's journey with speech therapy started about 9 years ago, with the birth of Big A.  Born at 33 weeks, she was small, just 4 lbs. 11 oz., but she was healthy and perfect in every way.  She had been sick during the pregnancy and was brought into the world early, because she was getting sicker each day she remained inside.  She remained behind developmentally, which was totally expected.  She was sick quite a bit - I believe that she had pneumonia 4 times that first winter.  She was also diagnosed aplastic anemic at 9 months old.  That was resolved wtih using iron supplements each day with her for 6 months.  Though by age 1, she had caught up with most babies her age - she walked right after her first birthday!  However, she wasn't speaking.

One day, Mike came home from work.  Now, at this time, we were in Germany, living in a 3rd floor apartment, up 5 flights of stairs.  Our stairwell echoed quite well, mostly due to the fact that it had marble floors and was very spacious in both width and height.  We shared this stairwell with 5 other families.  And when ever someone came home, you could here the big, heavy, metal doors slam shut (or the door open when they were leaving).  So, Mike came home and "shut" the door - it slammed each time.  No matter how hard you tried - the doors always slammed shut.  The kids would rush up to greet him.  Nothing out of the ordinary - until the day when Big A was sitting on the floor with her back turned the front door.  Big M and Little M were behind her back when Mike rushed in and "shut" the door.  M & M went running over to meet him.  But, big A?  She still sat with her back to the door.

I didn't think of it at the time.  I just tucked in back in my mind to deal with at some later point.  I picked her up and showed her Daddy was home! 

2 days later, big A was sitting there again...with her back turned playing.  I was vacuuming the carpet where she was and told her several times to get out of the way.  She never moved!  So, I bumped her with the vacuum to get her attention...

and I scared her death!  She jumped high!  Literally, jumped!  She started screaming and ran into my arms.  I had scared and surprised her when I bumped her with the vacuum!

Can you imagine the warning bells going off in my head now? 

Immediately, we made an appointment with her dr.  She then was sent to see the audiologist at the big military hospital.  And there, we were given a diagnosis - she had a 100% hearing loss in both ears.  The audiologist said that it was due to 2 causes:  1) her ears had not finished developing after she was born due to fluid in the ears and 2) the aplastic anemia had caused her ears to not develop - her body was trying to survive, and because hearing is not a vital necessity, the energy was directed elsewhere.

So, why wasn't this caught when she was born?  Because standard hearing checks for newborns didn't become mandatory until 1998 - 6 months after she was born!

So, our sweet little daugher could NOT hear.  Our options were 1) allow the doctor to puncture a hole to remove all the fluid or 2) use medication.  The medication would take longer.  We opted for the medication - mostly to avoid surgery at all cost!  She spent 9 months on medication, drying up all the excess fluid in her middle and inner ear tubes.

She was able to hear within 6 months!  And so started speech therapy....

New chore charts....

Not a very catchy title, huh?  But hey, this is what it is - new chore charts.  After spending the morning on the phone with my mom (as she was helping me overcome my frustrations and limitations on being able to do it all anymore), she helped me re-work our chore system. 

The previous chore charts are listed here in the blog - I loved the system!  I made it up - with kitchen, house and bedroom zones.  It has worked wonderfully for while I had so many young children!  The kitchen was divided into small, easy workable chores for everyone as was the house.  But, about 1 month ago - I had to stop it...

I asked my 2 teenagers to help me one day - no big deal; one would assume...However the conversation went like this:

Me, "Matt, please unload the dishwasher please."  Matt, "NO!  That's NOT my chore.  My chore is table.  It's done!" 

Me, "Lina, please pick up the family room."  Lina, "NO - my chore is bathroom!"

So, that day, I tossed the chore charts in the filing cabinet and a little "family" meeting with my kids!  It was actually more like a "you listen and Mom talks" meeting.  I informed my little nay sayers that as of this moment that there would-be no more chore charts - just Mom telling what and when to clean up!  So, my sweet little children have been practicing obedience this past month! 

So, yesterday, in the midst of my tears and anguish, my mom helped me re-do the system for having older children.  Here it is: 

 Daily Chores:  Unload & Table - Load & Counters - Kitchen Trash & Floor - Bath & Hall - Family Room - School Room & Office Area - Floors & Vacuum

 To be done on Saturday mornings: Laundry Area - Mop Floors - Hercules’ Yard (the dog) – Dusting - Fridge & Microwave - House Trash - Porches

 To be done 1st Saturday of each month:  Garage – Blinds - Doors/Door Jambs – Baseboards - Garbage Cans

So, is this going to work?  It will!  The new system quits using a micromanaged system for having little kids – it now requires everyone to do a little more.  I assigned Matt, the oldest a permanent job of unloading the dishwasher and table.  The reason is this – he attends a public high school and as such, he is out the door for seminary at 6:15 am (thanks to me driving him – how much longer until he turns 16?) – So, he has this permanent chore – thereby making it easier for the rest of us!

When Michael returns, then he will get a permanent chore also – most likely the trash and floors.

The chart is the same – I have chores going across the top with names along the side.  Chores are rotated out once per week – every Monday morning they change.  The littlest ones get help from me with the chores.

The weekly chores will be assigned/”volunteered” each Sat morning with 2 children doing each one.  Same with the monthly chores.

The kids are excited to try this – though apprehensive – I mean, “loading and cleaning off the counters?  That is tooooo much work, MOM!

 Please.

Coping Skills....or How to not eat chocolate when stressed

Today, I lost it.  I had enough.  I woke up with a slight headache and realized that it was from stress.  So, what stress could be causing it, I thought?

I came up with the following list:  deployed husband for over 1 year, 6 kids, a large house to clean, a yard to clean, a garage to clean, a bedroom to finish painting, a bathroom to re-tile, children who aren't always willing to help with chores, and most important -

I am tired of being alone - of being the sole parent and provider for 6 children.

So, I did what any woman would do - I called my MOM!!

And while I was crying, she and I worked on the chores list for in the house - we found a new way to try - slightly more condensed - and then she just listened to my me cry and cry and cry.

And then - I made the children put away all the laundry.

I scrubbed my kitchen table - very hard.

And then we cleaned the garage (the bane of my exsistence!) - it seems to be the black hole that NASA was looking for.  If you are missing anything, just ask - it might be in the black hole in our garage.

So, coping skills for the day:  crying, putting away laundry, scrubbing the kitchen table, and cleaning the garage.  Oh, and Mom and I looked for houses in our dream state!  We plan on moving our families there when my husband returns home!  Nothing like looking at beautiful homes on acreage that is all green!  (compared to the brown, dusty color of the southwest desert).

And I didn't go near the chocolate chips!

2007 - 2008 School Schedule

So, with Big M finishing summer school (he got an A-B in Algebra!), we have been hanging out and working on new projects in the house (actually outside the house - we are trying to re-landscape the front to get rid of the grass).

I also have been trying out a new school schedule - we have only been doing "school work" for 3 hours per day.  This doesn't include reading times or piano.  It seems to be working - we have a definitice block of hours for school.  No appointments, etc are being done during that time.  It seems to be working and the kids are getting more school work done in a shorter amount of time.

Here is the tentative schedule of our next year:     

	Matt	Melina	Aimee	Ammon	Jacob	Josie
6-7	school	breakfast, dress, bedroom	breakfast, dress, bedroom	breakfast, dress, bedroom	breakfast, dress, bedroom	breakfast, dress, bedroom
7-8	school	chores	chores	chores	chores	chores
8-9	school	free	free	free	free	free
9-10	school	spelling 7, writing, grammar	spelling 5 writing, grammar	spelling 1 writing, grammar	phonics, writing	structured play
10-11	school	saxon 7/6 & algebra 1/2	saxon 5/4	saxon 2 & 3	saxon 1	number play
11-12	school	pathway reader silent reading	pathway reader silent reading	pathway reader silent reading	read w/mom	read/mom
12-1	school	lunch	lunch	lunch	lunch	lunch
1-2	school	history & science review	history & science review	piano, reading	piano, reading	nap
2-3	school	piano, reading	piano, reading	history & science review	history & science review	nap
3-4	homework	free	free	free	free	play
4-6	boxing	swimming	free	free	free	play

 Ammon has speech on Wednesdays and Fridays - thus making our afternoon schedule movable - reading can go with us, as can history and science reviews (though I am still trying to figure out if the piano will fit in the van )

Matt attends public school - so his schedule is set for him - he is taking:  English 10, Geometry, German 1, Biology, ROTC, World History/Health. 

Hopefully, this will work!

The new uncluttered (and moved around) Family Room, School Room and Office area!

So, the way our house is set up is like a big U with a room right in the middle (14'x16')!  Originally I had my formal table, couch, and hutch in there.  And then 1 part was the kitchen, the next was the kitchen table area and family room (9'x26'), and then the school room was the last part of the U, about 9'x20'.

After much delibration, and the need for more space with 2 teens now, I decided to forgo the formal room.  I sold everything but the hutch and then re-painted it! 

So, here are the pictures of it before:

So, things are a bit cramped, right?  Here are the new pictures!

Everything is much bigger - with less furniture!  It feels very nice - we also decluttered (again!) while we did it!

And now it doesn't feel like we are crammed in the house!

Do you fit in?

Have you ever felt that you no longer fit in someplace?  I have been part of a homeschooling board that is LDS for about 3 years now - and lately I find myself having problems with being there.  I find myself wondering if the people there truly care about me?  Are they concerned like the feign to be when I ask for help?  Or are they just saying those things to appease me?

I find this board to be uplifting at times.  However, at other time, I find it to be a HUGE source of contention.  It seems that at times, even when one asks for advice or for prayers, that the women there feel that it's necessary to interject their opinion about your problem or situation!  Which then makes you feel even worse.

And then there are the ladies who choose to stir up contention - no matter what the subject.  I'm afraid that I don't understand the need of some women to either debate every subject (Oh, I know!  They are trying to impress us with their intellect.) or they must have something negative to say about your problem/situation.

So, over the last month, while I go and read this board, I have not posted (but 3 times) - I find that while I may have something to say about it in my head, that my heart has no desire to speak that thought aloud - let alone write it down and put it into cyberspace.

I have found another board to talk with people at times.  Another homeschooling board.  Where the women are not judgemental.  You ask an opinion - you get many - and no comments along the lines of:

pray about

read your scriptures more

my child would never do that!

go to the temple more

or my personal favorite:  you are using the wrong homeschool cirruculum - you need to use Thomas Jefferson Education!

Why I choose this classical method I will discuss in a different post.  But needless to say, getting beat down every time you have something to say can wear thin on the soul.

I have made 2 friends from this previous board - that I talk with privately through e-mail.  However, I have noticed that they are the only 2 that miss me - but not from the board itself - they miss me when I don't write to them every few days.

And no, no one has missed me from the LDS board...it seems that like I was in high school - I tend to not be remembered nor recognized as someone important with something to say.

I refuse to be debating or ugly or cause contention.  As women in the world, we should be raising each other up - not tearing each other down.

So, I don't fit in again...and such is my life.

Do working parents contribute to truancy?

Interesting question, yes?

i believe that it can.  The family having 2 working parents leave that leave the home before school and requiring the child to get themselves ready for school and then to get there leaves concern that the child will choose not to go to school that day.  Too much freedom being given. 

Now, my mom was not a working mom - she choose to stay home and raise us.  But I still found a way to skip school...

I tried skipping school several times in the 10th grade....granted, I detested living in Kansas - my brother and sister joke with me that we only had to live there for 364 days - not even for a whole year.  We didn't enjoy Kansas whatsoever.  Nor did we like the schools!  It was not an easy year.

And I had early morning seminary!  Scary - even though we lived across from the building on the post where class was held - I hated going - I hated having to be up that early (can you say 5 am?) each day.  I wanted to SLEEP - not learn about the gospel from some boring dad!

I would take the bus to school and then leave!  But wouldn't you know it - after the 2nd time, the school would call my mom - or even worse - they would call my dad - at WORK!  Calling my dad at work was a bad idea!  He ws at Command and General Staff in Kansas (a school for officers in the military) - so interrupting him was interrupting his class he was in!  Bad idea! 

I would come home on the bus - and pretend that I had been in school all day....

until the day the school called my mom.  And she met me at the door.  I don't have to tell you about how embarassing the following conversation was, do I?  It went sort of like this:

Mom:  How was school today?

Me:  Fine.

Mom:  That's interesting...

Me:  (walking right into this!)  Why?

Mom:  Because the school called and said that you weren't in classes all day.  Did you have an appointment that I forgot to take you to?  Did you have to walk?

Me (now I know I'm dead - or at least grounded until I'm 30):  n-n-no...

Mom:  That's what I thought too.

Me: oh.

Mom:  So your dad and I have come up with a solution!  Want to hear it?

Me (no, because I know that they are going to kill me!):  sure...

Mom:  As of tomorrow, I will drive you to school myself!  And I have arranged for the school to call me if you are not in class.  That way we both will know if you are not school!  Sounds great, huh?  And then I will pick you up from school each day!

Me:  um...okay...

What she didn't tell me was that she had arranged for the school to call her if I was even 5 minutes late for class!  So, now she not only knew if I was skipping school, but if I was tardy!

Needless to say - I didn't skip school again.  Ever!

And yes, my mom dropped me off - and picked my up to the end of that school year.

To watch or not watch?

I get so frustrated at times!  I know that watching tv can be good - there are so many educational programs out there that benefit my family.  And yet, i get so frustrated because the little boys only want to watch cartoons!

And AM wants to do the same - veg in front of the tv until her eyes pop out! 

So....I got this wonderful thing - a tv allowance box - it works...but....

they still want to waych tv instead of read!

We already only allow GameCube on Friday nights and Sat afternoon (after chores)...

and know I'm thinking that I'm going to have to do the same for tv - no tv except for friday...

but how do you work with the toddler?  She watches 3 tv shows - Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse and The Wiggles.  And it keeps her busy!  Especially while I'm trying to help with math or reading with the older ones...

And why can't she watch it?  Because the tv has all those magnetic properties!  And once it attracts 1 child - it's going to attract the rest of them!  No matter the age - they all end up watching her tv show!   

AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

okay, now I feel better - on to changing the code and having a talk with everyone about too much tv!

Does life get in the way?

Somedays we get school done.

Somedays we don't get school done.

And sometimes we go for 2-3 weeks without schoolword - just like the last 3 weeks!

We spent 1 week helping Nana and Pop get their house ready for all their company (my grandmother, 2 aunts, 1 uncle, 1 cousin, 1 brother and 3 nephews! ).

We then spent the next week with everyone here...

and then it took me the last week to catch up on laundry, home cleaning and spring cleaning - things I had put off to help out Nana and Pop (can you imagine that many people coming into your home for 7 days?) - I'm glad that they stayed there and not here at my house.

It was an interesting visit - my grandmother's 80 birthday.  Lots of things were done and said - and I'm not sure if they were good or bad - especially the comments directed to me about my number of children - or all the comments made about my homeschooling decisions.

Anyway - everyone left - and life returned to normal.  We did our spring cleaning, and some organization (mostly my sewing room/shed) and went through clothes.  We did some shopping for clothes - of course giving the older ones a budget and having them get what they needed within their budget.

we did do some reading - and then just rested and played and relaxed.

And I'm glad that we are starting school on Monday!  Children can only go so long without constructive things to do...

My goal for this month - to eliminate everyone's tv time until after 7pm (except the toddler - Little Einsteins keeps her still while I teach math and reading).

House Chores!

So, in response to some friends on the WTM board - I'm posting how I have set up my home and family for chores.  I made this system myself about 7 years ago (when I only had 3 children) - because I was determined that having a large family didn't mean I had to have a dirty house NOR did it mean that I should be cleaning all day long!  Here it is:

  Kitchen Chore (everyday list): 

Unload:  unload dishwasher and drain tray everyday

Load: load dishwasher and wash large pots/pans by hand, wipe out sink & faucet area

Counters: put away items, clear trash, wipe down (including stovetop)

Table: clear and wipe off table, benches, chairs, & highchair

Floors: sweep and shake out rugs

Trash:  take trash out

Fridge/microwave:  wipe out inside of microwave and outside of both

 Kitchen chores (Saturday list):

 Unload: wipe down dishwasher (outside), remove any large food pieces

Load:   scrub out sink (with bleach)

Counters: remove everything normally on counters and wipe down, wipe down cabinet doors and handles

Table:  wipe down table, chairs, benches, highchair (all legs, etc)

Floors:  sweep and mop floor, vacuum rugs

Trash:  wash out trash bins and clean trash cabinet (it’s inside a cabinet)

Fridge/Microwave:  wipe out inside of fridge and clear out anything gross

 House chores (everyday):

 Family room:  put away people’s things, remove all trash, straighten pillows

School room:  clear school tables, counters and computer desk. Remove all large trash off floor.

Front room/entry way:  remove all people’s things, straighten pillows, straighten piano area.

Bathrooms: swish toilet, wipe off counters and sink, pick up floor and trash, straighten towels.

Outside porches:  remove toys and trash, roll up hose. Shake out front rug.

Floors/vacuum: sweep or vacuum floors, vacuum family room.

Trash: empty trash bins daily, take/put up big trash bins for pickup day, wipe off switches plates

 House chores (Saturday):

 Family room:  all above plus dust tables and lamps

School room: all above plus dust shelves, wipe off tables, and straighten bookshelves

Front room/entry way:  all above and dust and wipe off glass

Bathrooms: all above plus scrub out bathtub and wipe down mirror

Outside porches: all above plus sweep porches. Clean out dog run.

Floors/vacuum: all above plus mop all floors, shake out rugs, and vacuum all rooms

Trash bins: all above and wipe out trash bins, wipe off switch plates, wipe off door jambs, doors and doorknobs

 Monthly chores:

 Wipe off baseboards

Wipe off ceiling fans

Wipe down windows (inside 1 month, outside next month)

Vacuum under couches

Clean out linen clost

 Bedroom chore list (everyday):

 Toys

Clothes

Books

Shoes

Trash

Bed made

 Bedroom chore list (Saturday):  All above plus clear off all flat surfaces.  Dust.

 Bedroom chore list (monthly):  Clean out closet.

My chore charts are just big graphs:  names down 1 side, with the chore name across the top with boxes to fill in.  They are laminated and allow my wipe it off each week (I keep them on the fridge).  We rotate chores on a weekly basis - every Monday for us.  I keep another list on the fridge - the one that list what is to be done for each chore, daily and weekly.  This leaves no room for arguments over what is required for each chore. 

When I first started this system, I worked beside my children to teach them the porper way to do the chore for 1 week (they were 8, 5, and 3, #4 was on his way).  Now that they are older, they help teach the younger ones how to do the same work.

Once I fine tuned this system(it took about 2 months to fine tune it), it now only takes us 1 hour in the morning to clean the home (less if the dishwasher got loaded the night before!).  We spend about 15 min after lunch making sure everything is still picked up (I'm still chasing a pre-schooler and toddler).  And then it takes about 30 min at night to finish up for the day - most of the work being in the kitchen (obviously).

On Saturday, we spend about 1 more hour in the morning finishing the weekly portion of each chore - but we often work together and it gets done even faster!  We do 1 of the monthly chores also each Saturday - fans one week, baseboards another, etc.

People are always surprised to find that I have a large family - because my home is always clean!  it isn't very hard - it requires a good system and then good habits of cleaning quickly each day.

I love having a large family and I love having a clean home! 

Now laundry - that's all whole other subject!  One to be approached another day!

Wow! It's been a while....

things have been so busy - I manage to check my e-mail and visit a message board 1x a day, but I haven't had time (or have made any time) to update my blog...so is the life of a deployed soldier's wife and family.

Things have changed since Sept - Mat is now is a public high school - he was making school here very hard - we spent so much time fighting, that the younger ones were not getting as much as they needed from me.  So, off he went to high school!  And amazingly enough, he likes it!!   And things are much quieter here at home.

I am going to try and post more - I need somplace to contemplate hs'ing strategies and talk about how the kids are doing...and I want my dh to be able to keep up with us also.

Anyway, all the other kids are doing good in school. 

Jacob is working on letter/number recognition and is pretty smart!  The other day, he was writing in numbers on my sudoku puzzle!  Granted they weren't in the right place - but they were numbers nonetheless.

Ammon is reading!  He is now reading readers and working from Pathway readers.  He is almost done with the Saxon 1 math! 

Aimee is doing well.  She has almost finished her Saxon 3 math and is learning spelling through memorization - not phonics.  It seems that her auditory dyslexia doesn't allow for her brain to connect sounds with letters - she constantly is working on it- I have her helping Ammon with his reading - but we went to Dolche sight words for spelling - and she is doing much better - she is starting to increase her cache of words for writing.  She does hate writing though - and I'm not sure how to help her there.

Melina is truly a smart girl!  She is in Saxon 7/6 math and is about 1/2 through the book!  Her writing skilles are improving also.  She works pretty efficiently (except for math - the bane of her exsistence) and I'm hoping to get her reading more classics this year.

Co-op is going well too.  We are in SOTW 3 and am finishing up biology and inventions and technology.  We'll be starting on Human Anatomy soon. 

Anyway, this is what has been happening - I'll try and post again this next week,

Quiet!

One of the things I enjoy with Mike gone is quiet.  Mat is at the dance, and all the others are in bed!  And the house is quiet!

We accomplished a lot this - from school to reading to keeping the house clean! - Hey, you try and keep the house clean with 6 kids, 1 dog and a deployed husband - it's not as easy as it seems!

Ammon is really coming along in his reading!  I'm super excited about it!  He and Aimee are using the Dolche sight words for spelling and he already knew about 2/3 of the pre-primer words...

Jacob is learning his abc's and doing well at it!

Mat is figuring about algebra...

and Lina moved into her 7th grade math book (and she's 6th grade equilivant age -wise)

and Josie - well, she walks, talks, and throw a pretty good tantrum at times!  She got in 2 more teeth...

And I'm just trying to maintain my sanity until Mike returns.

Co-op Tuesdays

On Tuesdays we meet with 2 other families for school.  We have 10 kids in our group, 4 teens(Mat, Andrew, Rachel, Bethany), 3 younger(Melina, Aimee, Nathan), and the my 3 little ones(Ammon, Jacob, Josie).  We have lots of fun doing our 4 subjects -

1st is History!  We read all together, do map work for the section and time era we are reading about and then do an activity related to our lesson. 

2nd is L:ife Skills.  This is actually geared for the teens, but the other participate.  They have been learning how to fill out a job application, how to make decisions with pors/cons, and today we learned about apartments!  We went on a quick field trip to the apartments up the street from us.  The owner walked the kids through the lease, showed them around an apartment, what to look  for the move-in/out list, what additional costs there are, and what happens if you don't pay rent...the kids were a bit surprised to find out it cost more than just your acutal rent!  And they had fun looking for an apartment!

3rd is Science.  The teens are studying Biology.  This is the lesson I teach!  I love working with them and we spend about 4 weeks going over 1 lesson) - they receive assingments from me for the next week so that they can keep reviewing what we have learned.  I give them the tests, orally, and they do extremely well!  They seem to be understanding the material and enjoy class.

4th is Science for the younger ones.  They're currently studying Invenvtion and Technology.  Today they were studying radio and radio waves.  They did a couple of experiments and had lots of fun.

In between all this we allow the kids to play GameCube or the computer.  We eat lunch for about 1 hour and then get back to work!  We spend the whole day together and have lots of fun learning.

1 week off

Well, with Mike gone,  the kids and I are moving to a 4 weeks on for school and 1 week off.  There is lots to do and with only 1 adult, it's hard to get everything done...school, chores, outside chores, sewing for new seasons (seeing I make about 3/4 of everyone's clothes - but not Mat's!), de-cluttering, trying to remodel my bedroom and bath and more....

So, we are going to take this next week off from school.  We plan on going through the boxes in the garage for yard sale or goodwill.  I also plan on de-cluttering Lina's room  and the little boys' room ...and Ames' closet ...

I also need to clean up 2 boxes of new material and then the house should be good to go!At least for another 4 weeks!

Mat is really giving me a hard time about this high school thing! He only wants to go a 1 particular school because his friends go there - not for academics!(the school is only the failing list for AZ)  So, Mike and I are having him sign a contract - to encourage to finish his schoolwork for his freshman year - he's been slacking VERY badly, trying to use the excuse that he can always do the work at the public school....

His contract spells out which textbooks he must accomplish and what type of behavior is expected from him. 

We have joined up with 2 other families for a co-op.  We meet 1x a week and have a history lesson, science (biology for Mat and the other 3 teens; inventions and technology for Lina, Aimee, and another friend) and then Lifeskills for the teens.  We are together for about 6 hours and really enjoy the time learning with friends!  I teach the biology class because I'm strong in the science department.  Becky, my friend teaches history and Cathy teaches Lifeskills.

The kids really enjoy being able to work with other kids and I love the break from teaching all the time.  The moms get time to talk and the kids get time to play GameCube.

Our Family!

There it is!  The Family portrait taken of our family  before dh deployed!  The photographer told us not to wear white, after he took all the photos, but you have to admit, our family looks good in white shirts!

If anyone know how to get the oldest 2 to quit bickering, I'm all ears!

Summer Break

We don't often take a summer break.  At least not for as long as we have been on one now.  But, the last several weeks have been hard.  We are trying to deal with the deployment of Dad and adjust to being a 1 parent household.  And then we have been having to help move my brother and sister-in-law out of Az (lest they NOT leave and remain here, always in the way).  And then there are the sports. And now we are in the rut of not schooling. 

So, we are taking time off until Scout camp is done.  And then after that we will stat back up in school.  Which is good because my mother's house is quite filthy from my brother and sil and it needs a major cleaning (which we get to help do, of course).

For our summer schedule, we will be concentrating in 4 areas - Math, Reading/writing, Science, and Art.

I really need some good time with science (seeing it's chemistry) and I think by concentrating on this subject for a couple of hours 2x a week, that we will get a little more done!

I'm looking forward to Art - I love musuems and learning about the lives of artists.  And Nana is going to help by teaching about art techniques and how to do them! 

I'm really hoping that A. will be reading a little better by the end of summer.  And I'm hoping to spend some time with J. on his ABC's and number recognition.

I'm frustrated.  I have lots I want to do for school right now and everything seems to be against me for doing it.  The baby needs nursing, Dad leaving, Nana needing help cleaning, moving my brother out of her house, and scout camp, and birthdays, and SPORTS! 

What also makes this summer frustating is that A, the 6 year old, got into the private speech summer camp again this year .  Don't get me wrong - I'm glad he's there, he needs this to finish of his speech impediment; but it's aggravating to have to take him to and from class (it's 3 hours long) and it's 20 minutes away!

Plus, L. and M. both have sports - L. has to be there before A. goes to speech and then picked up right after I get back on this side of town .  So, everyday, I feel a bit razzled until 12:15 when we get home...

And then I have home repair and touch-ups that my dh left me with!  Talk about driving me crazy!  He was so busy with school and trying to deploy, that these things were not important to him - and yet they were (and still are) to me!  And so, I have this hugemongous list of things to do, not including the re-landscaping of the backyard and the water system that needs to be put in up front.

My church job is not going well.  I'm the choir director and no-one comes to choir.  Well, not quite no-one.  I get 3-4 people each Sunday - that's it! .  I have tried praying for inspiritation, asking the bishopric to help, and we still are getting no-one turning up for choir.  It really is dejecting - I feel as if they believe it's not important to others to praise God through song. 

I'm supposed to juggle all this - home repairs, school, single parenthood, church, and maintain my sanity.  And yet, somehow I will.  And I will nurse the baby, too!

Adjusting Attitudes about School

When Monster finished the 6th grade, we took him out of public school.  Same for Bear and Kala - they were in 3rd and 1st.  It was the best decision, yet this year I have been dealing with horrible attitudes and temper tantrums .  I get attitude about doing any work whatsoever from Bear and then tantrums from the 2 of them (fortunately for Kala, she missed this lovely part od public school and doesn't do this yet! ).

So, after going crazy and yelling at the 2 of them, my mom called.  When I told her of the problem, she had an easy solution: Would they be allowed to do this? and Would they be allowed to treat their public school teacher this way?  and  What would be the consequence for this type of behavior?

Why I didn't think of this, I don't know, but after all of us calming down, I spoke with each with them.  I listened to them (at least to Monster, Bear was in the "I don't care" mode) and told them what is expected of them.

The new (enforced) rules:

1. You will accomplish all school work each day.
2. You will quietly and calmly to the teacher (ME!)
3. You will ask for help withou over-reacting or yelling or screaming.
4. You will not complain nor back-talk about your assignments.
5. You get 1 warning.
6. After that, you get the privilege of doing 10 minutes of "detention" i.e., very boring copywork (trust me here - I have lots of boring college level chemistry/forensic testing books and nursing books), with the loss of any break time until lunch.
7. The teacher has the privilege of deciding if you can get more "detention" time or lose any fun stuff (riding bikes, trampoline, going to the park).

This seems to be working - each of them have only had to get their warning - so, maybe thing will be calmer now (I can only hope)!

Taking time off...

So, we take time off from our school life.  We have been doing lots of life lessons this past 2 weeks.  We have helped my mother pack up my grandmother's house and we our currently spring cleaning our home and catching up on laundry (with 8 people's laundry and linens, 1 day missed is like not doing it for 1 week!)

I do enjoy being able to determine my own schedule - it allows for all of like to happen and for children to see it happen, and for them to partcipate!

Library Day

So, this is our homeschooling blog.  I'm hoping to keep with this so that while my dh is deployed he will be able to keep up with our school work without having to have extensively long phone calls and emails...

Somedays, we can't seem to get out the door for the library!  I have the goal of us accomplishing all our work except writing and history and yet, it's 11:30am and we are STILL at home!  However, we are dressed and chores are done and so is some of our school work.

Trying to make sure that all the kids get attention for each subject, espeically the older ones literally drives me nuts on days like this.

And let's not mention the noise level.  My oldest daughter, Bear, loves to play piano - and rather play than do anything else.  So, she gets angry when I say, "No", because I can't handle the noise level.  Neither can the oldest, Monster, he too hates noise.  It literally makes the 2 of us crazy with anger...

So, as soon as Monster finishes his math, we are out the door (I hope...)