Homeschooling 2nd Grade for the Second Time

This year my youngest son is in the 2nd grade. I’ve been thinking a lot lately how different it feels homeschooling him than it did when I was homeschooling 2nd grade with my eldest son. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but homeschooling for the second time around seems so much easier. Maybe it’s because I’m an experienced homeschooling mom now, or maybe it’s his personality, or a little bit of both.

Now that I’ve “been there done that,” I am more laid back about teaching academics. From the experience I had with my elder son, I know my younger son will become fluent at reading in his own good time. Though I’m doing the same kind of reading lessons with him as I did with his older brother, I have no inner angst about whether what I’m doing is right or not. If he can’t remember something, I simply say, “That’s okay. You will.” 

My younger son is also different from his brother. For example, it astonishes me how he’ll fill out worksheets with minimal complaint, and sometimes he asks for certain workbooks! I couldn’t use any worksheets with my eldest when he was younger. Now he’s fine with them, but back then, I had to be more creative about teaching him. We did a lot of things orally, watched a lot of YouTube videos, and did hands-on projects that took several afternoons to complete.

My younger son loves hands-on projects, too, but he doesn’t initiate them or request them like his older brother did. I have to make a point of giving him an opportunity to do some of the fun experiments and building projects I did with his older brother, but he doesn’t always want to do them. He likes to play independently, so I give him plenty of time to do that. 

When I look back at my eldest son’s 2nd grade, it seems like there was more time during the day even though I was trying to teach while also handling his younger brother. We went on more play dates and nature walks. But now this same young man has different interests, and as he gets older, there is more to teach. So I do more lesson planning, and as a result, I do more lesson planning for the 2nd grader, too. He’s getting lessons that his older brother didn’t have to do in the 2nd grade, such as Spanish, history and cello lessons. He also listens to more middle school-age books that I read aloud.

Each of the 2nd grades I’ve conducted in this house has been similar, yet very different, too. They’ve each fulfilled the needs of the individual child while also fitting into what our family needs at the time. This makes me happy. My boys would not have gotten this individualized 2nd grade in a traditional school, and they would not have had the opportunity to figure out what they like to do, if they had they been restricted to a one-level curriculum with a heavy emphasis on a few academic subjects. Being part of a family where all the members are working on individual goals alongside each other has been enriching and inspiring for my boys as well as for my husband and me.

Do you have more than one child that you homeschool? What have you done differently each time, or what has the experience of teaching multiple children taught you?

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Homeschool Transitions: Making the Shift from Kindergarten to 1st Grade in Your Homeschool

Kindergarten is fun. We might play games, foster make-believe time, spend hours at the park, read books, sing songs, or any number of activities that feels easy to plan and implement. Around 1st grade, however, many of us need to register our homeschools with the government. Now, it feels real. Now is when we become not just parents, but also—really, officially—teachers.

Can we really do this? Yes, we can.

First grade actually is not the year you need to stress about getting that perfect curriculum, or determining exactly what style of homeschooling you like best, or figuring out how you are going to juggle school with a toddler and a baby. Rest assured, the main work of first graders is still playing and exploring.

Researchers have learned that children learn self-regulation through make-believe. That is, they learn the skills to control their emotions, learn new things, and delay gratification, which will be more essential to learning in the long run. Susan Engel, senior lecturer in psychology at Williams College, wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times: “Research has shown unequivocally that children learn best when they are interested in the material or activity they are learning. Play—from building contraptions to enacting stories to inventing games—can allow children to satisfy their curiosity about the things that interest them in their own way. It can also help them acquire higher-order thinking skills, like generating testable hypotheses, imagining situations from someone else’s perspective, and thinking of alternate solutions.”

It’s not that you shouldn’t start doing your homework about curricula, if you want to use a curriculum, or evaluating different homeschool philosophies, but you shouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the possibilities. Don’t get caught up in the worry of how, what, and when of homeschooling right now. If you enter homeschooling with a sense of adventure and curiosity (just like your kids!), you will find that all those things tend to work themselves out.

CURRICU􏰏LUM

If you find a curriculum that you fall in love with, try it. But remember that all children develop differently. If you love it but your child doesn’t, it may mean that you need to wait another year. Or, you might want to experiment with other resources. There are plenty of free and inexpensive materials out there. You might want to exhaust these—especially the library—before making a big purchase.

Chances are, if you do this, you will:

• 1) learn more about your student (is nature her thing? would that nature-based curriculum be the ticket?), 
• 2) learn how your student learns (is he more of a visual learner or hands-on?),
• and 3) get a feel for what works for you. (Do you need something that does the planning for you, or is it easier for you to piece together some curriculum of your own?)

You don’t have to stick to a curriculum if your child balks at it. While you want to foster good habits, you need to pay attention to your child’s reactions so that you start to understand when he really needs more time—a little growth and maturity can go a long way—or when he might just be stubborn. If your child is in tears, it’s probably wise to pack the lessons away for a while. You will see a big difference in the reaction of child who can do the lesson but just doesn’t want to. That usually means some complaining and sulking on his part and some nudging on your part, but not tears or a loss of spirit. If a child can do the lesson, but he absolutely hates it—so much so that he’s losing his enjoyment of learning—you might want to reconsider your tactics, too.

The bottom line is that school should not cause tears, and you want to remember why you decided to homeschool in the first place. You can get creative. You don’t have to stick with any curriculum or method if it doesn’t seem right for you or your child.

“Do you want your child’s education to be about checking off a bunch of boxes, or do you want it to be about exploration and fostering a love of learning?”

COURSE OF STUDY

Before you consult one of those all-encompassing “What Your 1st Grader Should Know” lists, sit down and make a list of what you believe to be the most important elements of a well-rounded education. It may include subjects, such as the most influential artists of our time, and your priorities, such as to learn at his own pace or having plenty of time to move around and play.

As you learn more about educational philosophies and what interests your child, your list might change, but it is an important tool to refer to throughout your homeschooling journey. It will help you keep from getting steered in the wrong direction when, say, you hear the local school is teaching xyz in your daughter’s grade, and you realize you haven’t even touched on that subject. Or when your friend’s child loves a cool class, but your son isn’t interested at all. Your list will remind you what is important. It will remind you that while you can’t cover everything, you are covering the things that matter.

When you consult a course of study for 1st grade, such as the thorough lists on World Book’s website, take a look at the lists for 2nd grade and 3rd grade, too. You’ll find that while some concepts are added in each grade, many are repeated. So if your child just doesn’t get skip counting in first grade, don’t fret—skip counting is on the 2nd grade list, too. And, of course, these lists should be taken with a grain of salt. Talk to a seasoned unschooler, and you’ll find that most children will learn everything they need to know as they need to know it.

Before you get overwhelmed by the lists and go out and buy an expensive curriculum that is supposed to cover everything, challenge yourself to make the library your main homeschool resource. (If you don’t live near a good library, be sure to find out if your state has an interlibrary loan.) Let your child pick any books he wants, but keep a list of your picks, too. In the 1st grade, you might want to find books on these topics:

• literature—Any storybook goes

• math—Yes, there are storybooks for math!

• holidays—find books to read to help you learn about the history and how different people celebrate

• animals and their habitats

• plants and how a seed grows

• the water cycle

• the planets

• science experiments for kids

This is not an exhaustive list, but if you get in the habit of going to the library and showing your children how to use it, the world will open up to them—and you.

You might find lists are burdensome, or you might find them a helpful guide. Either way is OK. The bottom line is don’t worry about it, especially in the first grade. Do you want your child’s education to be about checking off a bunch of boxes, or do you want it to be about exploration and fostering a love of learning?

Experiment with schedules, resources, and take the time to get to know your child and different ways of homeschooling. After all, in first grade, you have a long way until graduation. 

This article is excerpted from the summer 2015 issue of HSL.

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Shelli has more advice for making the 1st grade transition in her book The Everyday Homeschooler's Guide to Teaching 1st Grade.

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How to Homeschool Preschool

You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment or experience to help introduce your 3- or 4-year-old to the joys of learning.

Does this sound familiar? You’re delighted with your decision to homeschool your preschooler—until panic hits, and you wonder how you’ll ever be able to teach your child everything she needs to know to graduate high school. Your first instinct is to start searching for the perfect curriculum, but the truth is, you don’t need a curriculum to teach preschool. So how do you do it? That’s easy, but only if you love exploring the world and learning new things at least as much as your child does.

YOUR􏰒􏰈 TEACHING INSTRUMENT IS YOUR VOICE􏰊

Talk to your child. Be patient. Tell her all the simple things you take for granted. “Tree.” “Green leaf. Isn’t it pretty?” “Do you like carrots? I like carrots.” As kids get older, your conversations will get more sophisticated. Ask your child questions. Answer their questions. Teach them everything you know through conversation and story. (Don’t worry about what you don’t know. As the questions get harder, teach your child how to find answers by letting them watch you search for answers in books, at the library, on the Internet, and by talking to others.) 

YOUR 􏰒􏰈TEACHING RESOURCE IS THE LIBRARY􏰊

Take frequent trips to the library. At least once a month, let your child pick whatever books he likes. Let him explore the library, play with the toys there, and take him to story times. Letting kids explore and play at the library will teach them it’s a fun place.

Reading, arithmetic, and all those other fundamentals can be learned by any child (or adult) who has a desire to learn. Don’t worry if your 4- or 5-year-old isn’t reading yet. Some children learn to read early; others aren’t ready until they’re 7 or 8. This has no bearing on their intelligence. It’s simply how they’re developing.

When you think about it, there are more important things young children should be learning. You may want to write a list of what is most important to you to impart to your children. It may look something like this: A love of learning, tenacity, kindness, and creativity.

Foster a love of learning by exploring the world with your child and being fascinated by it. Every child is delighted by those small things we take for granted—flowers, butterflies, a beetle on the sidewalk. If you don’t delight in these things, neither will your child.

Help your child find answers to his questions. If he asks a question at an inconvenient time, say, “That’s a great question. We can look it up later. Remind me, OK?”

If you show your children how you plan, set goals, and carry out your daily tasks, you will be a wonderful role model of tenacity. As your child takes on a project, be there with him. Don’t take over, but help him when he gets stuck.

To teach children how to be kind, we must be kind ourselves. Kindness is more than being kind to people. Teach children to be kind to animals and even bugs.

To foster creativity, let your children play and create. You won’t need to do any planning for this; just don’t squash their natural creativity!

Chances are with this formula, they will learn more than they need to know to pass traditional preschool, but you probably won’t need to worry about that. Enthusiastic parents don’t offer a child a curriculum—they offer them the world. 

THE ULTIMATE PRESCHOOL TOOLKIT

Activities:

• Read together
• Spend time in nature
• Visit interesting places
• Make-believe
• Games
• Share your own work with your child

Toys:

The best toys require a child to use his imagination.

• Toy animals
• Any kind of building set
• Puzzles
• Puppets
• Pretend food

School supplies:

• Different kinds of paper
• Crayons, markers, pencils
• Scissors, glue, and tape
• Paint
• Air-dry modeling clay
• Other art materials from craft stores or the recycling bin

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How TV Time Fits into Our Homeschool’s Daily Routine

Shelli's family watches documentaries every day—and screen time has become an important ritual for their homeschool routine. Here's why their daily documentary works for them.

I commit that primordial parenting sin: I let my children watch a lot of television. And not only that, I let them watch during lunch and dinner. If you are shaking your head and thinking, Never would I allow my children to do this!, I don’t blame you. There was a time when I thought the same thing, and I fought against so much TV viewing. But in my house, I felt like a fish trying to swim upstream because I was the only one spoiling the fun. My husband loves watching TV, but fortunately, he’s not the kind of person to waste time in front of the TV or watch useless programming. On the contrary, he uses it to learn and relax. It took me a while to jump on board this boat.

I think the reason I fought against it is because when I was little, I usually ate alone with my food on a TV tray, watching TV My siblings were so much older than me that they were rarely home at mealtimes, and my father worked late, and my mother would wait to eat with him when he got home. When I became an adult, I longed to have a family meal around a table. Now I realize mealtimes at a table are more helpful to families who don’t spend all day together. My husband works at home, and we talk frequently during the day.

We decided we should make a habit of watching documentaries at least once a day, and with our Apple TV and Netflix, we have hundreds of documentaries we can watch. The thing about watching at lunch is that we always have this time to sit down together. During other parts of the day, one or more of us is too busy, but during meals we can relax, and the boys stay quieter and eat better while they watch television. So we watch part of a documentary every day at this time for about 30 minutes. (During dinner we may watch a cooking show or something else fun, though usually educational in its own way.)

The boys love the documentaries because they have been watching since they were babies. They don’t think documentaries are boring. There is something about watching them every day as a family that makes them extra special, and not only that, the documentaries have spurred interests, deeper inquiries, and good conversation, too. I can now challenge anyone who says that watching TV is passive and non-interactive! It all depends on how you do it.

For many years, we had to watch nature documentaries, i.e. documentaries about animals, because for little boys, any other documentary was a little boring. But now as they’re getting older, I see their interests expanding. They loved a documentary reenacting the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb, one about the Vikings, and they’re enjoying the more complex NOVA science documentaries too. They have probably learned more about science through these documentaries than all the science classes at the nature center or any of the science books I’ve read to them.

We have watched so many documentaries now that sometimes we visit the same place with a new photographer. “Oh, I remember seeing this place in another documentary,” one of us will say. Or we’ll notice when two documentaries use the same footage, which rarely happens, but occasionally it does. It’s always exciting to see something completely new, and this happens often. “Wow. I never knew that!” or “Where is that?!” we’ll cry out. Sometimes we are critical of the documentaries, and we discuss how the director may have manipulated the footage to make it too dramatic. Though we realize sometimes nature documentarians have to manipulate images or set the scene, we appreciate when this is done sparingly and only when necessary. So we have our favorites (BBC, PBS Nature), and then we have those we are wary of because too much license is taken.

We have also become huge fans of David Attenborough, considered a “rock star” to us geeky, documentary-watching families. I even went so far as to write him a letter, thank- ing him for his excellent programming, and he wrote me back a hand-written letter! (Swoon! I have framed his letter.)

I teach geography with the documentaries. I keep our globe handy, and I’ll find the place the documentary is taking us to. I’ll point it out to the boys, and we’ll all huddle around the map for a few moments. Sometimes the 6-year-old will go get the globe when I forget. I’m impressed that my boys know more about our world than I ever did at their age.

I have lived and traveled abroad in real life, and I will say that nothing quite compares to being in a foreign land, smelling the smells, listening to the sounds, and trying to speak the language. You can’t capture that with video. However, when you watch a documentary every single day over many years, it does something to your awareness of your place in the universe. You begin to piece together that vague and indescribable puzzle of how our world is functioning, and it reminds you that your troubles and cares are very minor in the big scheme of things.

You are also reminded that most of our world is incredibly beautiful. There are places I will never go, but I’m so glad someone ventured there so that I can see it through their lens. My boys have watched a tiger tend to her cubs and followed the dolphins in their cooperative effort to hunt for food. We have seen blizzards rage in Antarctica and watched Snowy Owls feed their chicks in the Arctic. We’ve seen tribes in the South American jungle who live strikingly different lives than we do, and we’ve followed an eccentric chef on his travels around the world.

You also begin to see how humans and animals are so similar.... a reminder that we are actually animals ourselves. We have similar needs, and our basic daily tasks are the same. When there is an anomaly in nature, we ooh and ahh, such as watching the male seahorse carry the eggs with his babies in a pouch on the front of his tail until the babies emerge, fully developed. It’s fascinating because it’s so out of the ordinary.

I have also learned that, as someone in a documentary so eloquently stated, “Life depends on death.” Everyday I see how this is true, and even as I sit there eating my lunch, my life depends on the death of other living things as well. The best documentaries do not gloss over how dangerous it is in the wild and how cruel nature can appear to be; yet somehow this realization has been uplifting to me. I am grateful for my life, and I fear death very little.

I no longer worry about the amount of television my boys watch. I have realized it’s up to me to make sure their lives have a variety of activities in them. So I schedule time for everything. We read books, do meaningful lessons, cook together, visit museums, play games together, and when the weather cooperates, we go outside together. When you look at all our activities as a whole, television is a mere fraction of that, but truth to tell, those documentaries are high on my priority list now, too.

I will even go so far as to say that spending the last few years watching nature documentaries everyday with my family has been one of the best experiences of my life. It is nothing like my experience watching TV alone while I was a child. We are a family who learns together while we eat. I have even seen the benefits of watching movies, children’s programming or the cooking shows we love because it is not a passive viewing. We don’t sit all day idly watching TV. We have specific goals to achieve, and the television is one of the tools we use to achieve those goals. When you gather around your television and use it to spark conversation and deeper learning, it’s a very worthy thing.

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Stuff We Like :: 9.15.17

Homeschool

At first I thought a more relaxed approach to teaching writing would work, but now I am going the formal route. I’m going to try out the Institute for Excellence in Writing’s Student Writing Intensive this year with my son because I like what I’ve read about it. I’ll let you know how it goes.

At Home

My 8-year-old keeps asking me to make these yeast rolls, and I’m gaining weight eating them, but they are so, so good.

My 8-year-old also asked for more zoob pieces for his birthday, so now he has 1,250 pieces. You should see the stuff he’s building. I highly recommend this set.

I finally got around to writing about what my boys love best. (No surprise: digital games)

At Home/School/Life

in the magazine: I love Claire Webb’s column about her first year of college after graduating as a homeschooler in the Summer 2017 issue.

on the blog: Beverly’s 7 Ideas to Simplify Your Homeschool Day

on twitter: I love finding new artists to follow. I’m especially enjoying these pen drawings by Lee Zimmerman.

Books We’re Loving Right Now

All of us: Blood on the River: James Town, 1607

The 11-year-old: Mattimeo

The 8-year-old: The Magic Tree House series

Me: I’m finally getting around to reading Oliver Twist.

Television

We recently finished Star Trek: The Next Generation (Netflix) with the boys, and what a fun time we had. This show generated a lot of great conversations. Now we’re backtracking and watching the original series.

We also watched Supergirl (Netflix) this summer, and I highly recommend it! I’m not a huge super hero fan, but this show is fun, upbeat, and teaches positive lessons. I also loved that my sons were watching strong female characters too.

As for documentaries, you’ve got to check out BBC’s The Hunt. (Also on Netflix.)

As for me, I loved watching Poldark, Indian Summers, The Durrells in Corfu, and Mercy Street on Amazon Prime this summer. They are all excellent programs.

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At Home with the Editors: Planning Daily Lessons

Shelli keeps the big picture in mind when she’s making her homeschool’s day-to-day plan.

I’m definitely what you would call a planner, but I am not a rigid planner. If I didn’t make some kind of homeschool schedule, I would wake up each morning and begin focusing on random stuff. Maybe it would be educational, or maybe I’d clean the house, or maybe I’d exercise or write. I wouldn’t waste the time, but since we have specific goals we’d like to accomplish, I have to make sure I make those a priority and do them first. I save the random stuff for late afternoons and weekends.

My system for planning daily lessons has evolved over the years until I landed on what seems the simplest way to do it for me. It may be too simple and/or kind of messy for you. I take notes in different places for different reasons, and it's a little different from Amy’s bullet journal, but since we all have to figure out our own way of doing things, I’ll tell you what I do.

A Master List

PHOTO BY SHELLI BOND PABIS

I keep one “priority list,” which I made during the summer, on what I’d like to accomplish this coming year with the boys. It’s a general list and not in any order. I note a few of my curriculum choices, but not all of them. I don’t need to know the details because I’ve already figured out the books and curricula, and I keep them in stacks around my room, so I can grab what I need when I need it.

As you can see in the photo, I have a list for each boy. (I’ve covered their names for privacy.)  I also have a list of lessons that I do with the boys together. In the bottom right hand corner, I’ve listed the things they’ve told me they want to study this year, and we’ll probably add more to that later.

This list is simply a reminder to me as I plan our daily lessons: “Shelli, don’t forget to use News-O-Matic. Or that new cursive workbook.” “Don’t forget that the 8-year-old wants to do more science experiments.” I keep the list right on top of my desk, which is crucial to remembering to use it.

The Daily Lesson Plan

PHOTO BY SHELLI BOND PABIS

As far as planning our daily lessons, I am super sophisticated. (NOT!) I keep a stack of blank scrap paper that I’ve cut into small squares (recycled from odd prints outs that I don’t need anymore) on my desk, and every morning (or — if I’m really on the ball — the night before), I make a list of what I hope to accomplish that day. 

(I also start off the year by making a “I hope to accomplish…” weekly schedule too, which tells me that it works pretty well if I, for example, do math on Mondays & Wednesdays and writing on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I usually stop referring to this after I get into a groove for daily planning.)

This agenda is not set in stone, but I always put the most important item first. As you can see in the photo, “Music Theory” is at the top for Monday because in the afternoon, my son has his piano lesson, and I don’t want to forget to have him do his theory homework. We may or may not get to our Spanish lesson, and that’s okay. Spanish will rotate into a higher “priority” position on another day. (See my post: Our “Order of Things.”)

This little list of our “daily plan” gets thrown away at the end of the day after I’ve recorded what we’ve actually done on my homeschool chart.

The Homeschool Chart

PHOTO BY SHELLI BOND PABIS

The other item I keep on my desk is a chart I created for myself so that I can record what we’ve actually done that day.  Our day may have turned out a little (or a lot) different from my plan, and that’s okay. I use the chart to note what happened, and it’s used for record keeping and attendance. With the chart, I can see what we’ve already worked on this week, which helps me decide what the priority will be the next day.

By the end of the week, these charts can look pretty messy. I use a lot of abbreviations that I’ve created for myself, and most of my notes are brief enough to fit into the boxes, or I might spill over into another box. I don’t worry about being neat because I’m the only person who will see these charts. (Note: The chart in the photo is from this summer when we were going lighter on lessons, so it’s not nearly as messy as a chart from mid-winter.)

These charts get filed into my boys’ yearly portfolios (3-ring binders). (The portfolios are where I keep loose worksheets, fliers to museums we visit, receipts for classes, and the items required by law in my state.)

Click here, if you’d like to download a chart to adapt to your needs.

This system is working well for me right now, and it helps me not worry about finishing any particular curriculum in one year. We can slow down and focus on areas that need more attention, or we can skip those things that don’t seem necessary, which becomes apparent as we move through the year. As long as I can see that the boys are making progress, I’m happy. 

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Mind Your Manners: Tips for Encouraging Good Behavior in Your Homeschool

Over the past eleven years, I've encountered many moments when my kids would not do what I wanted them to do. *insert laugh track* Does that sound familiar? Parenting can be wonderful, but it's also an endlessly bumpy road fraught with wondering and second-guessing.

Fortunately, I've picked up on a few observations about my kids that have helped me. I still face challenges sometimes, but since I have two awesome boys, either these things have helped, or I'm just very lucky.

Every child and family is different, so maybe these tips won't help everybody, but I offer them in case they will. I hope you’ll leave your own tips in the comments area. 

I've learned that to get my boys to do the things I would like for them to do, I first need to:

• Examine my agenda. Is this for me and my ego, or is it really necessary for them to live a good life?
• Be explicit. I always have a good reason why I want them to behave a certain way, and I try to explain myself in language they can understand. However, very young kids don’t always understand reason, so I try not to over-explain either. Sometimes I just need to use a firm no. (See last point.)
• If it’s safe, non-destructive, and not bothering other people, let them do what they want to do. Usually, what they want to do is harmless and won't wreck my day. I find that the kids respect my wishes more, if I give them as much freedom as possible.
• Include them in planning. When it comes to the simple daily routine and planning, I seek their input and respect their opinion on what they want to do. This doesn’t mean I’ll always do what they want, but occasionally I’ve been known to go with their ideas instead of mine.
• Keep a regular routine. Until I had kids, I never knew how important a routine could be. My kids know what to expect and when. They complain less about the things they dislike because they know it lasts only so long, and they also know that their “fun time” will be coming regularly. They don’t need to ask for more because their day is filled with a variety of activities, and they always know it’ll be coming around again the next day.
• Do it myself. If it's something like cleaning the house or being polite to other people, then I have to be a role model before I ask them to help or explain why it’s a good idea. If it's something like getting my child to paint, or sew, or learn any new skill, then I should sit down and try doing it myself without worrying about whether they will join me. Kids often want to do what their parents are doing, but if they don't, I know this might not be for them, and that’s okay. They are still benefitting by watching me struggle to improve my skills.
• If it's something like learning math, then again, I should be willing to do it with them, and I need to pay close attention to them. Are they not developmentally ready for it, or are they capable, but they don't like it? Waiting a year or two can make a big difference. And if they don't like it, letting them know that they only have to do, say, 15 minutes a day works wonders.
• If it's something like getting them to take medicine that will save their life, then if I have done all the above, my child will know that when I'm non-negotiating, it's for a good reason, and they better obey me.
• Be firm. Similarly, when I say NO, I should mean no. (This takes practice.) I also need to watch my voice. A deeper, authoritative voice works much better than a soft, sing-songy voice. I can almost always tell when a mom is going to cave in on her “no” by the voice she is using — kids know, too!

What have you learned about your kids that make a big difference in your day?

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Brace Yourselves: We Are Not Bookworms

If you’re like me, you might feel a little awed, or perhaps a little intimidated, by certain homeschool families who seem to read all the books. I mean, they read so many books that they can constantly generate lists and lists of books to recommend to other readers. Classics. Adventures. Science stories. Biographies. History. Young Adult. Storybooks. (Ahem. Just read this blog and home/school/life magazine to find these lists and the people who write them.) 

While I take six months to read, for example, one adult book for myself and one young adult book to my boys for their homeschool “literature” requirement, these people are literally reading stacks and stacks of books.

How fair is that?!

Okay, it’s totally fair. And it’s totally cool. I love that there are avid readers in the world, and I love the book recommendations. I would love to read all the books too, but I realized a long time ago that this was impossible for me, mostly because it takes me so long to finish a book. I also decided I wouldn’t sign up for any program that told me what I should read to my students because I knew I’d never finish them, and even if I could, I knew I wouldn’t agree with all the selections anyway. (For the same reason, I resist the urge to join book clubs.) Instead, I pick one good book that is calling me to read it, and I enjoy it until the end, and I don’t worry about the fact that I’ll never get around to reading all the books. (Even though that’s so, so sad.)

I read so slow that my husband thought it would be funny to start buying me huge books. (So, obviously, this is partly why it takes me a long time to read them.) Fortunately, I love the long classics. In the past couple of years, I’ve read …And Ladies of the Club and Anna Karenina. Yep, just two. I did read a few shorter non-classics and nature books too.

This past year I tried to read to my boys in the mornings before we did our lessons, but we only managed that about three days a week, if that. My literature-readaloud was The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich because not only is Erdrich one of my favorite authors, the subject matter also covered American history. It took us about five months to finish it. Yep, that’s right; it took us five months to finish a 256-page book.

It took that long because, as I said, we didn’t read everyday, and even when we could read, I didn’t always get to it. We had appointments to get to, or sometimes we read our history books, or I felt we needed to spend more time on math. Sometimes I just skipped reading altogether so that the boys could have a shorter lesson time. My boys need short lesson times because they need to move. 

When my boys were younger, I imagined us going to the library at least twice a month and coming home with stacks of books to read together on the sofa. I wanted us to become a family of bookworms. But this never happened for several reasons. 1) My boys liked listening to books, but not enough for us to get through stacks and stacks of them before they were due at the library. And I also found out that I didn’t like sitting that much either! 2) We don’t live near a big library. (We live near a very small library, and when my eldest son was three and four-years-old, I did take him there occasionally, and we checked out many storybooks. But everything is easier when you have just one child.)

I would say we are readers, but we aren’t bookworms. Besides the sporadic morning readalouds, I read to my boys most nights before bed, but just for a few minutes each. We finish these books faster because we’re reading them everyday. This past year, I read the My Side of the Mountain trilogy and Redwall to my 10-year-old. Now we’re reading Mossflower. 

Even though we only read for a few minutes at any given time, and I don’t have a long list of books to recommend to you, I know my boys are growing up to become readers. This is because our house is full of books, and we read something almost everyday. This past year and a half, as his reading skills have greatly improved, my 10-year-old began reading graphic novels silently to himself – every day! (Yay.) My 7-year-old can’t read yet, but he says he wants to know how to read so that he can read the graphic novels his older brother is reading. 

So I’m just saying: You don’t have to read all the books. You just have to read a little bit of something almost everyday.

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At Home with the Editors: A Day in the Life of a Homeschool Mom

One time an acquaintance I know (who doesn’t homeschool her kids) told me that she imagined the homeschooling life to be very relaxing, and she thought that we would have lots of time during our days to do whatever we wanted. [Can we add a laugh track here?]

On one hand, I think homeschooling is pretty awesome because we’re in charge of our time, and there is a freedom in this. However, to say it’s always relaxing or that we can do whatever we want is a myth. As my children get older, and as they become more dedicated to certain interests, I have found our free time shrinking. I look back with nostalgia on those days when I had a toddler and 1st grader. We had fun doing easy activities, going on playdates, and exploring nature and storybooks. Although it’s very hard work to take care of small children, the work I did with them wasn’t hard, and I got to pick what we did!

“To say homeschooling always relaxing or that we can do whatever we want is a myth.”

This past year I had a 4th grader and a 1st grader, and it was a great year, but it was different from past years. It felt more academic and regimented. This was mostly because my 4th grader has been devoting himself to learning classical piano in a competitive way. This is his thing, and he wants to do it. It’s been an awesome journey for all of us, but relaxing? With lots of free time? Nope. 

With this in mind, I thought I’d write what my daily schedule looked like this year—the whole day. Although, it makes me feel a little exposed to write about this. Parents can be so judgmental, and simply writing a list doesn’t give you the real picture of our daily life.

Keep in mind that no two days are the same. Three days a week I took one of my sons to an appointment or two. Some days we would take a break from something or everything! At least once a month we’d have a play date. Weekends were free.  Next year, our schedule may change. Our days are always in flux, but in general, this is our daily routine. It’s a routine that has developed to work around our obligations as well as our personal interests. For the most part, it is fun! But it’s also a lot of work!

The times listed are approximate start times, but we’re often running late on everything!

• 7:30ish a.m. I wake up. Read news, yoga, check e-mail, sometimes write.

• 8:30-9:00 a.m. Boys wake up. I fix them breakfast and eat with them. I may put laundry in. Do some dishes. We get dressed. Boys will play before we transition to lesson time.

• 10:00 a.m. Begin morning lessons. I try to read aloud to both boys for about 30 minutes. Then my 10-year-old works on math, grammar, music theory, etc. My 7-year-old gets to play while 10-year-old does one-on-one lessons with me. We usually do this until lunchtime.

• 12:00-12:30 p.m. Lunch time. Boys play while I make lunch. My husband joins us while we watch part of a nature, history, or science documentary. (He works from home.)

• 1:00-1:30 p.m. Clean up dishes. Boys help sweep & clear dishes. More “transitional” play.

• 1:30 p.m. Husband sits with my 10-year-old while he practices piano for at least an hour, sometimes more. I go upstairs to do one-on-one lessons with my 7-year-old. We do math, reading, handwriting, a science book readaloud, play games, and read about birds.

• 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. Whew. We’re all tired now. The boys watch a kids’ program and then play games on their digital tablets and/or computer. This is my 1~1.5 hours of free time when I might do any of the following: take a walk, nap, cook, bake, write, check social media, clean, more laundry (always laundry). I tend to rotate these activities and do what seems most pressing at the time.

• 4:00 p.m. Boys finish playing games and the 10-year-old will go outside to play. 7-year-old either plays inside with his toys or goes outside. If I haven’t already, I need to start thinking about dinner, but I usually put this off. I prefer to sit on the front porch and watch the boys play. Or I putter in the garden.

• 4:30 p.m. This is the time that my 7-year-old likes to practice piano. I sit and listen and/or run back and forth to kitchen while cooking dinner.

• 5:00 or 5:30 p.m. Dinner. Lately we’ve been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation together. This show starts lots of great conversations!

• 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. I do the dishes. Boys help clean up. More play.

• 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. My 10-year-old practices piano again for another hour. My husband is his audience again, and many times, I am too. But I usually go off with the 7-year-old to either play a game, sketch together or paint…. whatever he wants to do.

• 7:30 or 8:00p.m. Boys take showers & get ready for bed.

• 8:30-9:00p.m. Boys watch gaming YouTube videos. Eat snacks. I take my shower and get ready for bed. Then I curl up in bed and watch something on Masterpiece Theatre.

• 9:30ish p.m. Boys clean up and go upstairs. I read books to them. Daddy talks with them about their day.

• 10:15 p.m. Lights out for the boys. I retreat to my bed to read a book!

• 11:00 p.m. Lights out for me!

Does anyone else’s schedule resemble mine? Let’s commiserate/celebrate together!

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New Resource: Your Guide to Homeschooling 1st Grade

When I began homeschooling, I felt overwhelmed. There were too many books, blogs, and other resources. I wanted a short, sweet guide to help me get started teaching my son. I never found that, so I decided to write one myself.

I’m happy to announce that The Everyday Homeschooler’s Guide to Teaching 1st Grade is now finished and available for you! It’s short, but it’s also packed with information. This book will be helpful to any parent who has a child between the ages of 4-8 or thereabouts. “First Grade” is merely a guide. Not an absolute.

When we officially began homeschooling (that is, according to the state law), I asked, “What are 1st grade students supposed to learn?” Yes, there are books and websites out there that will tell you, and when I looked at them, I started to panic! Are you kidding me? A first grader is supposed to know all that?! 

I calmed down, and ultimately, I used those lists as a guide for some simple lessons, but truthfully, I didn’t teach even a quarter of it to my son that year. Instead, I realized that by creating an environment that would honor his questions and foster his creativity, he was learning more than enough. I knew it was important that I let him use his imagination, play, and start a good routine. When he was five-years-old, I decided to create priorities for our homeschool that are still helping me plan our goals six years later. And the daily habits I set in place that year have helped me tremendously as we dig into more academic work now.

I wrote The Everyday Homeschooler’s Guide to Teaching 1st Grade for those of you who want to teach your children, but you also don’t want them to lose their love of learning. There is a list (not an overwhelming one) about what 1st graders typically learn in school, but then I also show you how to start thinking like a homeschooler. The first grade is the perfect time for setting up good habits that will last throughout your child’s whole education, and I will encourage you to set up the habits that are most important to you. 

Also in this e-book you will find: 

• a list of the most popular educational philosophies used by homeschoolers today
• clickable resource links
• how to create a physical environment that will foster creativity and learning
• a tip on how to get your child to try something without forcing him/her
• tips on lesson planning and scheduling
• tips on how to meet other homeschoolers
• a secular resource guide
• suggested reading list
• and more…

I hope you’ll check out the Table of Contents and Introduction here and also get back to me about this and other resources you’d like to see here on home/school/life. Amy and I are dedicated to making the home/school/life website a complete resource for families at every stage of homeschooling, so we want your input. Thanks!

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At Home with the Editors: Shelli's Summer Homeschool

Summer can have a mind of its own, so I know that making a firm agenda for these hot months is futile. Still, past summers have proved that we benefit from a little structure in our days. So I do a few homeschool lessons during the summer, and I also make summertime my time for planning, record-keeping, and cleaning up for a new year. While I do these “administrative” things, my boys have extra time to play, so that makes them happy.

LESSONS

First, I keep our homeschool lessons light. This year, I decided to only do Spanish and readalouds during our morning lesson time. I’ve struggled to include a foreign language in our homeschool in the past, so by putting away almost everything else for now, it’s easy to do one Spanish lesson per day. (I’m trying out Calico Spanish Level A right now, and I’ll let you know how we like it!) I also have a number of books that I never get around to reading to the boys during the winter months, so now is my chance.

PLANNING

It’s great to take a long time to plan and think about what I want to do with the boys in the fall. I have some new curricula to try out, and instead of feeling like I have to read through it all and understand how to use it right away, I have all summer to peruse it. I use my time wisely by going through my curricula (old and new) about once a week until I’ve looked at everything and made my plans. I’m very excited to begin exploring the Institute for Excellence in Writing’s Teaching Writing: Structure and Style and Student Writing Intensive DVD courses this summer. I hope that they may be a good fit for my son beginning in the fall.

RECORD-KEEPING

The biggest project I undertake every summer is our record keeping. By law, I have to write progress reports for both my boys, but since it’s for our eyes only, I consider it more of a keepsake. I write a list of every subject, and under each heading, I use bullet points to list all the curriculum, books, field trips, and classes that my boys have completed that year. Then, since I’m a photographer, I create a slideshow of the photographs from our homeschool year. My boys love watching the slideshow because they’ve usually forgotten what they were doing at the beginning of the year!

CLEANING

I’m not talking about cleaning my house when I talk about cleaning up our homeschool, although the de-cluttering I do definitely benefits the house. First, I go through homeschool supplies and books and get rid of the things I don’t think we’ll need anymore. (I give good stuff to charity and throw away the rest.) I also like to go through anything the boys may have built or made that year, and I ask them what they want to keep and throw away. This year, I did a deep purge of craft supplies and the recyclables that my eldest son used to use to make things with. He just isn’t into building anymore, and his younger brother is more into drawing and painting. So I have made more room for paints and paper. 

I also store away the binders with last year’s work, progress reports and everything else we finished. While I try to let go of things, I probably keep a lot more than I need. But there’s always time to declutter again next summer or the summer after that.

What is homeschooling like during the summer for you? Do you take a break from everything, or do you homeschool year-round?

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Not-So-New Books: Redwall

It’s been a challenge to find books that my 10-year-old son likes to read or listen to, but we have hit gold with the first book of a very long series: Redwall by Brian Jacques. It has everything that my son likes: nature (the characters are all animals), adventure, and rebellion (he is a Star Wars fan, after all). 

Redwall is an ancient stone abbey, inhabited by peaceful mice that take care of and offer comfort to all the woodland creatures living in Mossflower—the forested area around the abbey. Unfortunately, an evil, one-eyed rat named Cluny and his followers are on their way to Redwall, aiming to conquer it and seize control of all of Mossflower. The mice of Redwall and their friends have to band together to save their home. Among them, a very special mouse named Mathias is on an epic journey to find the sword that belonged to Martin the Warrior, an ancient hero in Redwall history. He knows that if he can find this sword, he might be able to save Redwall. 

This book is on one hand a classic story of good versus evil, but it’s also a very intelligent book. I love how unlikely characters are brought together and become friends in order to fight against injustice. Female characters take on key roles in the fight too. The author shows how pride, arrogance, and greed will eventually send a character to his or her doom. This is a book that as an adult, I enjoyed just as much as my son. We are now reading the second book in this series, Mossflower, and oh my, there are twenty more books after that! I’m pretty sure my son will want to read them all.

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Book Review: The Curve of Time

The Curve of Time

By M. Wylie Blanchet

Buy on Amazon

The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet is a must-read for all homeschooling moms. It’s a memoir written by a widow and a mother of five children, who, during the 1920s and 30s, took her children on their 25-foot cruiser, The Caprice, to explore the waters of British Columbia every summer. During the winter, they lived in their Little House, which overlooked the water, and she home educated her children. This was at a time when there were still relatively few white residents in this area.

There is information that is not given in the book, such as what exactly happened to her husband, or where her children went after they grew up. If you aren’t familiar with British Columbia, you may not understand exactly where every inlet and fjord is that they explored, but none of that bothered me. I was enthralled with each chapter, which is a short account of each of their adventures. They followed the orcas, had an encounter with a bear and cougar, talked to locals, and explored the winter villages of Native Americans who were still living there at that time. (I didn’t exactly approve of how they entered the villages without permission, but considering this was written in a different time, I decided to appreciate this first-person account of this primary document.) 

As I was reading the book, I marveled at this woman who not only was raising five young children all by herself, she also had to be a captain, navigator, meteorologist, and mechanic. I traveled on these waters many years ago with my father in his boat, so I know it’s important to understand the tides and how deep the water is before you attempt to enter any small cove. And Wylie Blanchet had no technology to help her! There was no such thing as a depth finder in her day. Then I thought about the challenges of raising and homeschooling two boys on land with my husband, and I wondered if she might be a super woman. 

Or, perhaps she found it easier to contain all five children into a small boat. There was no end to the entertainment they found on the beaches and in the woods, catching fish for dinner, picking berries, escaping bears, finding small fresh water lakes, and making friends with other settlers along the way. I appreciated her details about the flora and fauna. I felt like I was in The Caprice and seeing a world that I’ll never be able to go to. I was sad when the book ended because I wanted the adventures to continue.

This book might be a little boring for the younger crowd, but it would be a good book to include in history studies or as a selection of Canadian literature for high school students. The 50th anniversary edition includes black and white family photographs taken by Blanchet’s family, which will bring you closer to this endearing family.

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Resource Review: News-O-Matic Is a Kid-Friendly Introduction to Current Events

Several years ago I was searching for a way to share current events with my son, and I stumbled upon News-O-Matic in the app store. I am so glad I found it because my son loves it and learns so much from this award-winning newspaper for kids. Most importantly, I know he’ll learn about the big stories in kid-appropriate ways. 

Every weekday, there are five, new stories written by real journalists, and it covers U.S., international news, sports, arts, science and more. Kids can interact with the app by writing to the editor, drawing pictures and even voting on their favorite stories. My son doesn’t do any of that, but he always loves it when I include News-O-Matic in his daily lessons. 

He will curl up into a corner and pick the stories he wants to hear. He can read the stories himself, or he can play the audio and listen to someone read the story to him. There are often photos, maps and videos clips accompanying the stories. The app also provides Spanish translations, and there is definition and pronunciation support for hard words. There are some games on the app too, but my son rarely plays those.

My husband and I often whisper to each other, “News-O-Matic is so great!” because a week doesn’t go by when our son doesn’t tell us something he’s learned or seen on the app. Sometimes it’s a news story we’ve already read about on our regular media sites, or sometimes it’s something we know nothing about. My son is particularly interested in the stories about science or new inventions, so he keeps us up to date on that. I am also pleased with the history and geography lessons he has gotten just by reading stories on News-O-Matic. He was even able to follow the Presidential election through this app, and he received history lessons on past presidents during that time.

This app requires a subscription fee ($4.99/month or $49.99/year), but it’s been the best subscription I’ve ever committed to. You can try it for free for a month.

There is also a school version for $19.99 per year. Homeschoolers may be able to purchase this, but I don’t have experience with it.

• Learn more about News-O-Matic at http://press4kids.com/info/
• Read it online at https://www.newsomatic.org/
• Find it on iTunes or Google Play.

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More from Shelli

Stuff We Like :: 5.12.17

This week's Stuff We Like comes courtesy of HSL's fab senior editor Shelli.

Homeschool

I’m loving delving into world history with my boys, especially with this Kingfisher Encyclopedia, my husband’s history podcasts, and lots of library books.

My young classical pianist is enjoying these “Masterpieces old and new” music videos on Khan Academy.

My Faves this Week on Twitter

On Getting a Starter Kit for a Butterfly Garden

Stunning art made out of driftwood

I always heart owls.

At Home/School/Life

in the magazine: everything in the spring issue that just came out!

in a future magazine: I’m really enjoying perusing some Spanish curriculums for a review I will write for a future issue.

on the blog: This Civil War reading list

one year ago: What we did in kindergarten

two years ago: Rhythms and routines in unschooling

Books We’re Loving Right Now

All of us: The Game of Silence

The 10-year-old: Mossflower

The 7-year-old: The Complete Adventures of Curious George: 75th Anniversary Edition

Me: The new Pevear and Volokhonsky translation of Anna Karenina

Games

I am constantly losing to my seven-year-old son in Star Wars Monopoly, and to make matters worse, I am miffed that Rey was left out of the character tokens. (Though happy to hear many people have complained, and they will include her in a later edition.) Still, it’s a fun game.

I fare better at Qwirkle, or my old favorite, Yahtzee.

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Book Review: The My Side of the Mountain Trilogy

My Side of the Mountain Trilogy (My Side of the Mountain / On the Far Side of the Mountain / Frightful's Mountain)

By Jean Craighead George

Buy on Amazon

When I was a young girl, I read My Side of the Mountain, and it instantly became one of my favorite books. I wanted to be Sam Gribley, a fifteen-year-old boy who lives alone in a tree in the Catskill Mountains. He learns to live off the land, and he captures and raises a peregrine falcon, named Frightful, to help him hunt. He also becomes friends with The Baron, a weasel, learns the ways of other forest animals, and meets some interesting people, too.

I knew I had to read this book to my eldest son, who is 10 years old, and I hoped he would like it as much as I did. He did. And to my delight, while we were reading it, I discovered that its author, Jean Craighead George, wrote two sequels to My Side of the Mountain. The second book, On the Far Side of the Mountain, is about when Sam’s younger sister, Alice, joins him on the mountain, making a home of her own in a nearby tree. But Sam is devastated when a so-called conservation officer confiscates Frightful, and then to make life more complicated for him, his sister disappears. Most of this book is about Sam’s quest to find Alice and the danger that he and a friend encounter when they finally get close to finding her.

What I love about this second book is that it deals with the issue of capturing wild birds of prey, which is against the law, yet it also tells us that it’s possible to become a legal falconer. This theme of conservation is carried further into the third book, which has become my favorite in this trilogy. Frightful’s Mountain is written entirely from the falcon’s perspective, and she is now a free bird. Since Sam raised her, however, she has a lot of challenges to overcome, if she wants to become an independent falcon that will raise offspring of her own. With Sam’s help, and with the help of other people who love peregrine falcons, she slowly makes her way back into the wild.

I was not surprised to see that My Side of the Mountain was a Newberry Honor Book. It is definitely a classic. This trilogy, also, is a must read for anyone who loves nature, particularly birds. That’s probably why my son and I loved it so much. ;)

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Hands-On Science: Raising Tadpoles

Life science takes on a whole new meaning when you’re raising tadpoles from tiny eggs to hopping frogs.

For young children, the best science curriculum is simple acts of exploration and observation. Be open to new discoveries and seize opportunities to involve yourself in the unfolding of natural processes whether by sitting and watching, spending more time in nature, or being intentional about answering your questions. How does that happen? How does that work? Why? When? What?

A few years ago, my husband seized an opportunity for my boys when he took my youngest son (then 2 years old) to a park, and together they found hundreds of tiny black tadpoles in a pool of water in the shoals of a stream. With a cup from the car, my husband scooped up a few of the tadpoles, and my two-year-old proudly and carefully carried the cup back to the car. Imagine my eldest son’s surprise when he and I returned home, and his brother told us we were going to raise tadpoles. Could we do that without hurting them? I wondered. Raising tadpoles was much easier than I thought it would be. We used an old container box—the kind that can slide under a bed—and put it on the front porch. We filled it with water and some big rocks, and my husband used the water conditioner that we use for our fish aquarium to get the chlorine out. Later, we returned to the stream where we found the tadpoles and collected water from it because there are microorganisms in it that the tadpoles could feed on. (If you raise tadpoles, you might want to start with water from the source where you find your tadpoles, if you don’t already have a habitat set up.)

My husband also purchased a cheap water filter from the pet store, but we didn’t use it to filter the water. Instead, we let it gently circulate the water and make bubbles—this put oxygen in the water. Tadpoles have gills like fish and breath by passing oxygenated water through their gills. However, we have seen tadpoles living quite comfortably in puddles or stagnant water, so a filter may not be necessary.

Next we wondered what to feed our tadpoles. Luckily we found some frog/tadpole food at the pet store, but we also put frozen spinach leaves into the box—the tadpoles loved it! And as I said, we gave them water from the stream so they could eat any microorganisms from it.

When we weren’t keeping vigil over our tadpoles, we kept a piece of old window screen on top of the box to keep out mosquitoes or any predators that might come up on our porch. We felt it was important to keep the tadpoles outside so that they would experience the same temperatures they would have at the stream.

After the habitat was set up, all we needed to do was watch them grow. And they grew fast! As it turned out, our little frogs were fowler toads, which we recognized as soon as they started to get their spots because fowler toads like to live around our house too. Other frogs might have taken much longer to transform into adults, but since I had two little boys watching the whole process, I was grateful for the quick transition. Every morning we would run outside to see our tadpoles, and we could see a difference in them. They got bigger and bigger, they sprouted back legs, front legs, and their coloring changed. Oh the excitement!

During this process, I learned from my herpetologist friend that whenever we find tadpoles around here (in north Georgia) that are solid black, they are definitely toads. Other tadpoles, such as those from tree or chorus frogs, are clear, and if viewed from the bottom, you can see an orange-colored circle, which is their intestines.

We learned on the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory’s (SREL) website that female fowler toads lay eggs in strings with clutches of up to 25,000 eggs in spring or summer after a heavy rain, and that tadpoles go through metamorphosis within two months. But we only had our little tadpoles from June 15 to July 4.

Two out of three of the toadlets lost their tails within a day and were sitting up on the rocks in the habitat. Since they were no longer tadpoles, we no longer knew what to feed them, so on July 4th—a very fitting day—we decided to release them back near the stream where we found them. The third one, which had always developed about one day behind the others, was still in the water and had a tail, so we found a shallow part of the stream to put him in with plenty of leaf cover for him to hide under.

It was a wonderful experience for me, let alone for my children, who delighted in the whole process. I am happy that my husband took that opportunity to do something special with his boys, and I’m glad we gave those three little tadpoles a safe place to grow and reach the next stage of their lives. 

Tadpole Notes:

If you want to raise tadpoles, you should first check your state’s regulations about collecting them from the wild. Some states prohibit this. Furthermore, if you buy tadpoles online, make sure you find a species that can be released into your area (if you plan to release them).

Carolina.com is a reputable resource for schools, and many of their products can be used in the home as well. (This is the company that we purchased butterfly larvae from. You can read about that in the summer 2014 issue of home / school / life.) They will state on their website, if you live in a state where a live specimen cannot be shipped.

This column was originally published in the spring 2015 issue of HSL.

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The Gadgets I Can’t Live Without

Sometimes I long for what seems like “simpler days.” I get this way whenever I visit an old homestead and wander through its log house and gardens, thinking about how people used to live off the land, and it was so much quieter. At least, I think it must have been quieter without televisions or cars or leaf blowers.

In reality, the past wasn’t simple at all, and it was much worse for many people. While we’re still working out some major “kinks” in the name of progress, and sometimes it feels like we’re taking a step backwards, the present does offer many gadgets that make our lives a little easier. Perhaps I could live without them, but frankly, I don’t want to.

Here’s a list of my favorite gadgets besides my computer. (A computer is just a given, right?) These have become indispensable while staying home full-time to homeschool my boys.

Roku Express

Roku Box :: Every day my family watches documentaries on Netflix, PBS, Amazon Prime or YouTube. The Roku Box gives us easy access to them on our television, and I think we have all become so much smarter by watching TV! We also have fun watching shows like Star Trek or Chopped. Despite the claims that television makes you disconnect, I would argue that we interact and converse over our family TV time just as much as any other part of the day.

The New Google Home by Google

Google Home :: This is a new gadget that I got for Christmas. To tell the truth, I wasn’t sure I’d use it very much, but every morning, it tells me the weather, my appointments for the day and the news. Right now as I’m writing this, I asked it to play me some Miles Davis, and wow, the speakers are great. Earlier today, my seven-year-old asked it what the circumference of the Earth is and then asked what the population of the Earth is as well as several countries. Now when my boys ask me questions, if my arms are elbow deep in dishwater, I can say, “Go ask Google” instead of “Just a minute!” and risk losing their enthusiasm for the question. Indeed, this Google Home has increased our enthusiasm for asking questions. There are many other things it can do too, but if all it does is answer little boys’ questions and bring more jazz into my life, I’d say that it was a well spent hundred bucks.

Crock-Pot SCCPVL610-S 6-Quart Programmable Cook and Carry Oval Slow Cooker, Digital Timer, Stainless Steel

Crock Pot :: I still have a lot to learn about slow cooking (I’d sure appreciate some more good recipes), but this gadget makes life so much easier. Fill it up with food in the morning, and then bam! Dinner is ready at five. Here’s a couple of good dishes we’ve found so far: a Mississippi Roast and Mexican Lasagna.

Anker RoboVac 10, Self-Docking Robotic Vacuum Cleaner with Drop-Sensing Technology (BLACK)

Mr. Robot :: We call it “Mr. Robot,” but it’s actually an Anker RoboVac 10. It’s a robotic vacuum cleaner, and yes, it works! In fact, this is my #1 can’t-live-without-gadget. It works great, and when I first began using it, I suddenly knew how housewives must have felt when they received the first washing machine or dishwasher. I tell everyone I know that they won’t regret buying a robotic vacuum, and I especially think that homeschooling moms should have one. You can turn it on while you’re homeschooling. As someone who has pets, two little boys, a (ahem) not-so-neat husband, and we’re all home 24/7, my house needs a lot of sweeping, so I’m extremely grateful for the robotic vacuum. (A bonus feature of the robotic vacuum is that it motivates little boys to pick up their toys!)

These are my must have gadgets. What are yours? And, as an added tip – keep an eye out for sales around the holidays or Mother’s Day. You may find good discounts on these products. Never pay full price!

Note: Unfortunately, Shelli was not paid any money for her glowing reviews of these products.

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Time for You: Mama’s Bread Project

I had always wanted to learn how to bake bread, but I never got around to it until my family and I watched a documentary series titled Cooked, and one of the episodes was on bread. In that show, I learned that it was possible to grow your own wild yeast, and this sounded so cool that I had to try it.

I spend a lot of time supporting my boys’ projects, and I thought it was time for me to have a project of my own. I ordered a book on how to bake artisan breads. I watched countless videos on YouTube about growing wild yeast and baking bread. And then, I did grow wild yeast. It was so cool. And then, I did bake bread with it. I was proud of myself. My family supported my endeavor, and they eagerly tried the bread.

I spent several months on this project, and I enjoyed learning about this ancient practice of baking bread. When my son and I read the part in the Little House series about how Ma Ingalls made sourdough biscuits, we were so excited to know exactly what this meant. I had a sourdough culture downstairs on my kitchen counter bubbling right then.

During this project, I encountered many people online who also grew their wild yeast and loved baking bread. I learned a lot of tips from Twitter friends, and I even inspired a local couple to try making bread this way when I wrote about it in my newspaper column.

My husband almost always liked the breads I made, even if they weren’t perfect, but over time, my bread got better and better. I was never able to bake that perfect rustic loaf with those big holes in it that I had imagined in the beginning, but I was happy with what I was doing. Despite this, I finally threw the sourdough culture away, and I switched to store bought yeast.

Why? Well, a few reasons. First, my boys never loved the bread, and it was a lot of work. You have to constantly feed your sourdough culture and pamper it like a well-loved pet. I know I could have stored it in the refrigerator, but then I’d have to get it out two to three days before I was going to bake bread and feed it until it was ready. How did I know that in three days I’d feel like baking bread? 

Our homeschooling lifestyle offers a lot of flexibility, but I finally decided that I was just too busy to keep up with the wild yeast. Besides that, I felt satisfied. I did what I set out to do: learn how to bake bread. And after going to the trouble to use a sourdough culture, using store bought yeast seemed easy peasy.

This whole experience made me understand how and why my boys’ projects sometimes peter out. Once you feel like you’ve mastered a process, or at least learned a sufficient amount to understand it well, it feels extremely satisfying, and sometimes, that’s all you need to do. However, you’ll always carry the knowledge of what you learned, and you’ll continue to do the things that you love the most.

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Citizen Science Project #12: Flu Near You

Not only was my family sick over our winter vacation in December, my kids are sick again now, a month later, and so am I. Sigh. But, I found the perfect citizen science project to go along with my sore throat. 

Flu Near You is a tool that allows individuals to report and track infectious diseases. It was created by epidemiologists at Harvard, Boston Children’s Hospital and The Skoll Global Threats Fund because tracking flu symptoms is slow when they rely on doctor’s offices to do the reporting. Many people don’t even visit the doctor when they have flu-like symptoms.

If you sign up with Flu Near You, your personal information will remain completely confidential, and your report will be anonymous to the researchers. Once a week, you’ll receive an e-mail reminding you to report any symptoms—or no symptoms—that your family is experiencing.  Even if you don’t think you have the flu, but you have a sore throat, you should report that. You cannot know for certain if you have the flu unless you visit a doctor, so Flu Near You does not expect you to know exactly what you have. You simply click on any symptoms. They have recently added more symptoms so that they can identify potential outbreaks of other diseases, such as Zika, Chikungunya, or Dengue fever.

It only takes a minute to make the report. Flu Near You will collect these reports and list them on a map that you can access on their website. This way, you’ll know if there is a flu outbreak where you are traveling to or in your local area. If there is, you can take extra precaution.

I signed up for Flu Near You, and they only asked me for my e-mail address, birthdate, gender, and zip code. I was able to add other family members using nicknames, but this was optional. When reporting, I simply click on any symptoms we have (or “no symptoms”) and then click “report.” It was that easy.

Learn more about Flu Near You by clicking on this link.

And that’s my year of citizen science projects! Thank you to everyone who has been following along. 

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