Old Time Summer

Category: Motivation

  • End of

    The year marches on. Soon November will be over and the last month of the year will commence. I need my children to really get the pedal pressed all the way to the floor and go, go, go! It’s been slow, and it’s always, “I will later” and then not. Also I still need funds to get more stuff. It’s always birthdays and gadgets and never getting ahead and never quite catching up on pure educational stuff.

    Oh well, there’s always next year. (roll eyes)

    It’s gonna get tough for them. I will need to get another computer here (old laptops are on their way out, one dead now and one nearly so.) I have blogs for them to record lots of data, things they learn, ideas they have, reviews of books, research … and it’s like leading a horse to water, you can do that, but you can’t make him drink.

    My children love using the computer to look at things, learn things by searching and reading, but getting them to save stuff into a post, even a private password protected post, nope. Blank Slate Disorder. But I have helped them with it, and still it persists. Like I said, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

    Somehow I have to figure out why they won’t, and what will induce them to do so. Nothing, so far, has worked. Oh well.

  • Summer H-School

    Summer is fast approaching. It’s been a tough Spring around here. Our HVAC is out of order, no A/C all year, we’ve needed it since March. We are getting a new system installed in a couple of days, and that will unleash a new lease on life in homeschooling endeavors. 🙂

    I suffer in heat and heat/humidity combinations. I can do very little without losing most motivation, and even desire to move at all, let alone cook dinner … schooling suffereth.

    What goes on is still educational, just nothing terribly official. So the Summer is make-up time, which is always is, there is always something that makes it necessary around here. I’m a year-rounder anyhow, take time off here and there happily. There is education in every part of life, so it’s not really that there is any time off.

    I’m hoping for more $ to put towards some things for my eldest, programs that he can go fully into himself. Then I can put more of myself towards my younger 3, especially the two younger boys (10 and nearly 4) My 12 yr. old daughter needs a little help, push here and there, but she’s pretty self-motivating as long as she has something to do.

    We have house issues to conquer as well. Drywall projects, and finish flooring, then PAINT, PAINT, PAINT! Then hopefully it’ll be clear where my educational stuff is, and we can use it and flourish.

     

  • The year progresses with less progress

    I’ve been working with my two oldest to get them using blogs to write things about their schooling. It’s not always easy to get them doing things, and I figured this would help them. Well, it did and didn’t.

    One thing it did that is BAD is makes them think they can be on the computer all the time, or whenever they want. We have two older laptops that aren’t “owned” by an adult, so in the a.m. they open them up and search for stuff, look on their kid’s forum I let them go to sometimes before, and for my daughter, 12, she’s claiming the computer that is a tablet laptop, and draws most of the time anymore. My 14 year old loves to search for all sorts of information, but doesn’t write much of anything. He has written several things about LBP2 though. What is that? Oh, a game, Little Big Planet 2.

    My daughter will write something if I get on her case, she’s not so bad, but given her own way, she rarely writes much of anything, may write a post, give it a title but no body, and save it. Or write such a nothing summary of something, that’s it.

    My daughter used to be the one ahead in Math-U-See, but my son is now quite a few chapters ahead. They gave themselves a haiatus on it for a few months, for some reason, but I’ve gotten the whip out lately about it. So they are both forging ahead again. My other son, the 10 year old, is reticent to do any Math-U-See, he’s on the older level all by himself and just isn’t wanting much of anything to do with it, or with reading or writing or anything that isn’t a cartoon, video game, outdoor something or other. He can read now, but it’s so difficult to get him to do it “I already read that” is his answer when I ask him to read something aloud, or to read it by himself and tell me about it afterward. “Yes, but I want you to read it again, it’s not a bad thing to re-read something.” is my response sometimes. Of course there are a myriad of responses I could give him. He’s different, I know. He’s not into books as much as electronic usage. Thankfully he’s not into the computer much yet.

    A major thing that I’m including in their education is chores (Home Economics for ALL!)  More fun than “chores” is actual helping with cooking, and it’s a great help for me. My daughter can make a few things for dinner by herself, aide me in other things, is learning along the way. Right now she’s learning why drop biscuits are better when I make the exact same recipe as she does.Mine are light and fluffy … good really good, her’s less good, more dense, much less good.

    My 14 year old helps more than cooks. Helps with prep and taking care of some things that I’m cooking, breaking up ground meat as it browns, for example. Also gets pre-cracked spelt or kamut into a dish with the right stuff to soak it overnight for hot cereal in the morning, I pre-crack the grain and keep it in the freezer. He gets it prepped and cooks it the next day.

    The examples above are not all they do, they are becoming very capable about the kitchen, and will both be able to feed themselves and others when they are adults. That’s something that everyone, no matter what their sex is, needs to be able to do. Gender Roles aren’t so great all the time. In my case it’s exactly that. I can cook. I love to cook. I don’t love to cook all the time though. I get weary of it fast when I feel I’ve been cooking a lot. No set amount, it just is part of who I am, I enjoy it to a point, then need some time off. I would LOVE to do Dinner’s in the Freezer, but I haven’t been able to get it planned out and get the help I need to make it work at the right time to do it. It’s exactly the kind of thing I need, but I also do have lower energy than a lot of people and it is OVERWHELMING to do even three meals in a weekend to put away in the freezer.

    Sometimes I get all into it and make double of what I would for just a meal (to put half away for another day) and then it doesn’t work out, like part of it gets ruined, or my bigger guys eat more than usual, or … I’m so tired by the end and don’t get it put into the freezer, then ….

    Then I can’t cook for a couple of days and … it’s just frustrating.

    So, Spring is here. Trees are blooming early, way early, it’s been hot, chilly, warm, chilly, hot, nice, hot, chilly … just not COLD anymore. Hot and warm I could do away with. Our A/C isn’t working (not the first time) and it’s bad on the hot days. I don’t function at all when it’s hot.

    I need to function more to get more educational things done. I’m awaiting building a new desktop computer for me to use, and once that is in place I can sit at a desk with a keyboard and do much more than I can manage to do with my laptop. It’s a matter of many things, my laptop is capable of much, just not as much as my desktop will, and with a desk and desktop I’m more functional. My laptop could be on a desk, but it still doesn’t go as well for me as a desktop computer on a desk.

    I’m guessing this is the same thing as the children. The old desktop is monitorless now. I have it connected to the TV and it’s nowhere near a place to sit with a mouse and keyboard, have to stand and weirdo do stuff, so the laptops … well they need to do their Latin on the desktop, math-u-see videos … and maybe they’d be better with writing more …

     

     

     

     

  • Summer about over: Exploring future

    Our summer wasn’t much of one. It’s been hot, muggy, dreary, allergy-prone most of the time. When it’s not gray and overcast it’s super duper hot. When it is overcast it’s not AS hot. In any case it’s the house that makes it what it is, on sunny days it’s hard to keep the house cool, keeping it “cool enough” is nye impossible. On dreary gray days it’s hard to move. So let’s explore what each means.

    Too hot in the house: nothing much gets done.

    Too dark in the house: nothing much gets done.

    That’s the truth.

    It’s always something that I’m trying to get done, more productivity, more educational stuff going on. I’ve let it go this summer, though I did want to press on and get even more done. Basically I’ve gotten my DD to embrace writing about things she’s learned, some. My DS no. He wrote a little early on, then nothing.

    Video games and cartoons take higher precedence for my boys. My girl, she’d lay in bed reading all the time, or drawing, or painting, or creating with clay.

    I see value in all the things my girl does, less value in the things my boys do. I do not dis-value video games and cartoons, but I do know it’s only something that should be in a model of many things, less time with those things and more time with un-named things (things that have more reading and thinking involved, historical, nature, human study, mathematical, language, Biblical …)

    All my children need to spend more time with the books, software and such that I have for them to learn with, instead of just the video gaming side of things, or just the artistic side of things. The middle is where there is need of deeper exploration, and that’s what I’m trying to get to happen soon. The meaty middle of educational concerns is coming up soon (after “Labor Day” and then it’ll be all that other stuff is the dessert, and I’m going to get them going on the meaty stuff sooner than that, but it’ll be a tasting affair until September, when the real eating starts.

  • Getting things going better

    Spring and the coming summer ALWAYS make me feel more into “schooling” for some reason, as does the Christmas Season, which is kind of strange when I think about it. Anyhow, I do know somewhat where we live has to do with it, the weather and seasons, Spring & Summer very hot and sunny, or rainy, but humid and miserable. Good for inside living, doing educational things. Christmas coming is after Thanksgiving, so I get into the stuff of Christmas, the weather may or maynot be winter-like, but the sun goes to bed early, comes up late, and that gets me feeling that education is needed to be more formal, and crafty … so when others are off, I like doing stuff. Also, I prefer weekend educational more than weekday, not that hubby has to be around, I just have a hard time motivating things along and getting anything else done at all.

    So to bring this post to a point, it’s mid-Spring, first birthday of the year is over, Mother’s Day is over, now we have a month before Father’s Day, Summer Solstice and another birthday. So now is the time to get head over heals into everything that we can educationally minded.

    One thing will be Math-U-See, I’m pushing my two oldest to complete their terribly low level (Beta) to get to the new package we are picking up today (Gamma) level & get going seriously to get up to par.

    No more messing around not getting the right stuff into our home when it’s needed. $ is needed, doing it on purpose instead of looking for extra $ when it sometimes comes around.

    There are other things I need too, literature, geography & history kinds of things to go with my Bible, History, Geography Charlotte Mason sort of program. I have some of it, need some more to really make it fly.

    I also want more literature for the sake of literature. (I mean good books, not pamphlets from some company.)

    So it’s tough too then when I have 4 children that get up at different times in the morning. Eldest sleeps too long, teen already. Second oldest doesn’t get up early, but sometimes gets up early, or too late, or something. Mostly they both are sluggish in the morning and so nothing gets done fully enough until afternoon, that doesn’t include schooling.

    My 9 year old boy is struggling to read still. He CAN do it, just hasn’t gotten to the successful stage of “I can do it!” so we are going to get him Brain Safari software, see it it can motivate and progress him.

    Right now things are between pay times, so I can’t get the program through my online co-op, hope it’ll be around when I can safely order the product.

    I don’t look at the homeschool co-op site often enough, so I miss good deals, don’t know what some of them mean since I didn’t see when it started to understand what they are doing with it near the end of it’s run “extended a month” with no dates on the page at all. FWIW

    I think I write on this blog more about trying to get going, rather than what we are doing, have done, etc. I need to change that.

  • Know Thyself

    It’s Monday, time for “official” education-ing to be happening. I’m getting “them” to do their Latin on Tues. & Thurs., and every day do their “Grammar” & “Spelling Wisdom” & “Creative Writing” & “Math-U-See” & “Catechism Q & A” (Westminster Shorter) …

    Just for starters, trying to get THESE things happening regularly. Hopefully I can get the rest of the art things I need to employ the Art program I have sooner than later. Also need to get some more things to use the Bible/History stuff I have.

    I’m using the rest of this month to get on track and catch-up the very basics, then begin again in January and February with the other things I don’t yet have.

    I’m also using this month for crafty-ness, creative writing, special audio books (holiday stories) and whatever else that happens and is a “learning moment” or whatever.

    One thing I did for my two eldest in early November, I got them each their own day-timer from Target, the made by Franklin-Covey student spiral bound sort, so it started in August. I’m trying to get them to record things they do, places they went, things they NEED to do, etc. Start getting themselves accustomed to organizing themselves in a book. I like it for a semi-journal recording of what I’ve done. I haven’t had one every year, but I have used different calendars similarly, cramming things in here and there, though I haven’t done it to the extent that I have wished I would have through the years.

    Part of what I want my children to learn is “archiving” what they do, learn, read, like, etc. through the years, on paper.

    I found two things of mine from when I was younger in some things I went through in our storage area last week. One is a “slam book” that I started in 1981. I actually only had one friend “sign in” and log her answers, then the other “sign ins” are all me from 1981 to 1990. I had forgotten about it. I’m going to have my children make their own versions later this month.

    The other thing I found is a small spiral bound notebook with 1-year of my life at a church my friend and I started to attend and decided to join, but waited a year to officially do it. I wrote about the people & things we did for that year. I had forgotten about that as well. It’s funny to look back on these things.

    I never had a “diary” that I kept up with. I found them too emo-stupid usually to be able to write one as was thought of should be in a diary when I was young. Like, I looked back at what I wrote the day before or the week before, and felt embarrassed, couldn’t stand what I had written, how childish it seemed afterthefact. Sometimes I feel like that about blog posts, or forum posts, but I don’t actually post as much as I write, because of that I decide while I’m still writing that it’s too NOT what I want to post, so I stop/delete it. I at times am able to just look at it as an editor and re-write it, but usually I don’t. I find that tedious.

    Many times I do write things and then don’t do anything with it, feeling satisfied that I got it organized in my head by writing it out, and don’t save it. I would like to keep a better record of myself …

    I would like my children to keep a good record of themselves through their life. So the things I like to do and want to do I will start doing and have them do them too. It’s good to know where you are and how you got there. Personal journaling/notebooking of life can aide in that journey of understanding.

  • Creative Writing

    I’ve not posted for quite awhile here. Instead I’ve been trying to get the children to do their chores without being prompted daily, a work in progress, slow, if any progress, on most fronts. I’ve also been trying to get them interested in doing the educational things that I have for them in their main binders, which has all the information they need to self-kick themselves into doing things Mon-Fri, but yet they rely on ME to actually push them into doing anything.

    I’ve been busy with two birthdays and thanksgiving and now it’s Christmas season. I’m always having problems getting enough school work out of the children that I have to make it keep on going through Christmas season, though I’d rather be able to take-off. There is plenty of extra-stuff at Christmas time for educationalness, official and not.

    So I’m writing here now to kick-start ME to get MORE done with them now. To buckle down and force the issue to use what we have, even if we don’t have all we need to do some things. I’m definitely requiring betterment of handwriting from my children, since I have a good handwriting ability and want them to also have that in this computer age. Hold an old-fashioned value for the hand written things, notes, letters, lists, stories, books, scrapbooking, crafting …

    Education is something that can be measured from many angles, and I prefer to have one of the measured angles be “an ability to clearly put down ones thoughts to paper with ink flowing from a pen in hand.”

    Also, the use of computer is to be learned fully. The handwriting is also part of “art” as it IS an art-form to have legible, even beautiful writing ability.

    Another thing that I’m starting is having my two eldest write something creative every day, in a section of their “Grammar Notebook” — to have a place to practice better grammar in creative writing, a place to think creatively and have constructive criticism about how to up it together better, for grammar and flow of thought, and beauty in the turn of words.

    Moreso it’ll be they will try and write well as they can. I’ll be a light-editor and try to spark them on to better writing and self-editing. To spot the errors themselves afterwards, to be able to read for editing sake, what they themselves write.

    I can do that myself but don’t always put it into practice. Too oft writing something so long that I look at it and delete it (mostly thinking of things I type on the computer) instead of editing it. Or I post it without editing and am very embarrassed of myself when much later I read it when searching for something and am then faced with what to do with it. It almost haunts me that there are things of mine out there totally un-edited.

    So I want to teach them that they can write and edit and write some more, and finally edit completely and be satisfied with it. Making it a good habit from a young age. I didn’t. I often just wrote and still do, fast and free. Though I know better.

    Right now I do have my eldest sitting with his notebook looking blank as he embarks on this new creative writing. All he has to do is write something. Just anything OK. Nothing wonderful. Just anything OK, not perfect, just idea put into form. Just a start. It all starts in the head and that is the hardest part. What to write about.

    I have lists of “camera activities” from a scrapbooking magazine this past year that I think are great jumping off points for creative writing as well. I know how hard starting things can be. I used to struggle in elementary school when I was supposed to write a poem. I couldn’t ever think of how to start. So eventually my mother would write a line or two, and from there I every time was able to fully write the rest of it by myself, even change something my mother wrote and make it my own from start to finish. It was a writers block I always had.

    I find it interesting since I also have that same sort of thing in music, but it’s more so what I consider my “gift” –I am more an arranger than a writer or original music. I create by recreating. It doesn’t matter if one doesn’t have absolute originality in them. Creativity is being “creative with what you have” and if it’s recycling, it’s very green and very 2000’s. 🙂

    Creative writing is about writing creatively. Making something, anything, interesting. Making the reader interested in what is written so much so that they want to finish reading it and feel some sense of understanding and thankfulness for the writing afterwards. That’s all. It’s something to work on and make something of some little thing. It doesn’t have to be a big important topic. Just anything. Like, why I like what I like. Just make it interesting with the way words can work with each other to be entertaining, informative with a twist of whatever it is that makes them sing.

  • Wisdom and Chores

    Education isn’t only book learning, and also isn’t just stuff that is in a book that says must be taught. It’s all of life and that’s my focus this week, getting stuff DONE, and getting the children to see that it can be done as a team, each doing their part makes it all go … where it is supposed to go.

    We have issues with our house, it’s too small, little place for putting things. There are finishes that need to be applied to the walls, the floors, and other places. Some we have things to do with that, some we need money to get things done. Some of it (“cleaning and organizing”) needs to happen to make these other things happen. Make it more likely to happen, at the least.

    A lot of it is day in and day out stuff. It takes work and thinking of it to make it get done, and no one wishes to dwell there, which makes it hard on me since I hate living like this, being the one saying what needs done all the time, pushing, pushing, pushing, while all along I’ve tried to motivate each one to do something on their own, to be “in charge” and do it without being told every day/week or whatever it happens to be. It’s partly that on the whole none of us are very keen on cleaning. We like things clean, but find it hard to make it happen. I make a mess when I cook or do craft stuff. To limit one self to not making a mess or stopping the event and cleaning up is beyond my desire or wish to force on myself or children. Making a mess is OK, somebody else can help to clean it up. It’s the “your room doesn’t have to be spotless but I do want our living areas to be more clean than dirty, I need help from everyone to keep the kitty litter clean, keep the floors swept, the steps too, dishes done, table in order, couch clean, baby toys picked up now and then …

    Certain people have particular chores, and starting this week I am fully implementing earning blocks of computer time/game time for getting chores done ISC, which is the deal that was supposed to be how they acted at home and out & about. ISC stands for Instant, Sweet, Complete.

    They understand it, but are too lazy to make it happen, and bank on that being what will get me to stop bugging them, just go with the flow, as crazy as it is.

    So the other thing that goes with this is a lesson I have on Manners, and also getting the Westminster Catechism going full force. These things are simple yet take time and forethought. Can be thought of as ‘complex’ but that’s just the wrong view. Simple things are picking up toys. Putting dirty clothing in baskets. Putting things in the hall closet in order not chaos. Animal chores are for us and them, not just a chore. We like the animals, so keep their areas cleaner. Makes us all happier. So do it ISC. Learning one or more Catechism Q&A a week isn’t hard. Some are easier and some are harder. Just like most things. They better us to understand them.

    Which brings me to all of life, lessons are for this: to come to wisdom in full age.

    First is Knowledge.

    Then comes Understanding.

    Lastly comes Wisdom.

    Wisdom in many areas, how to know the right way, thing, common sense that is smarter than plain on common sense. Wisdom’s way, wise sense.

    One reason for things being as they are here in our house is because my husband travels for business a lot, and is fairly busy with work on phone/computer at home otherwise. In a small house that needs work done on it besides the normal daily needs of keeping a house up, it’s difficult to get much of anything done like needs done. It is hard.

    So the push for “schooling” is not going to happen now. It’s gonna be the earning of block of time for computer/games when chores and things are done ISC, and getting manners and Catechism going fully. Getting things clean and ready for moving, painting, installing, etc.

  • Reading Struggles

    Our 8 year old isn’t reading still, though he does recognize some letter/word combos … but just stays frustrated about not reading, that it doesn’t magically appear, I think.

    My frustration is high as well. We have had this and that and that other and this other thing to aide him. Me working with him, he working alone with a program. Nothing works.

    Reader Rabbit really helped my eldest, Russell, move forward in reading. He didn’t have RR at first, it was something we got later. Asa, the 8 year old, “grew up” having RR around. So what did he do after he got through with one of the RR dics? “I beat it” was his comment. Game mentality.

    We got the new TAG reading system from LeapFrog in order to have an interactive book experience that wasn’t fully electronic, and give him a new challenge. He uses it, but won’t USE it. I sit with him and he just dullardly looks on, or loses it.

    So if I just talk about it other times he says “I’ve gotten all the rewards I can get, I can’t get more, it won’t give me more” is what he says. Game Mentality.

    Now as games go, it is beneficial to be able to read, but it’s quite the phenomena that most games can be played without reading. I mean, others can aide the non-reader through “HAVE TO READ SOMETHING” parts, and depending on what game it is and the non-readers desire to play that game … it can work. I’ve seen him play Wii or PS3 or PS2 or internet games, and he just goes, goes, goes. As long as it moves, he can do it, and just blusters through any words, never trying to read.

    It’s a game mentality, which I’m not trying to break, I just want to add reading onto his skill set. I want him to read, I want him to want to read. I just need him to read so he can read anything in life that he comes in contact with. I would like him to love reading, but I can’t make him be a great lover of reading.

    My first two children love reading and read, read, read. Both started their massive reading ability by the time they were my Asa’s current age. I’m not looking for that in him. I know it’s taking longer, and I’m only looking for some progress in understanding that learning a few words and phonograms is step 1, and step 2 is an easy step, but even step 1 seems to disappear, as if he’s looking for an easy ramp to reading, not wanting to climb steps. Even a whole word approach isn’t working. There is no ramp up to the spot he wants one. He’s stuck in the nether-regions of “It’d be so nice if I could read, I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

  • Summer “School”

    For us “schooling” never ends. Even when it’s not “official” of course. All life is education.

    I’ve been very slack with the children of late, but since the 4th of July is now past I’ll be ramping up more and more as the summer goes on. There’s much to catch up on since in 2007 we had a new baby and things have been light ever since really. (My eldest born was 4 years old in 2000 when the third was born, and not officially schooling until he was 6/7, so we never “had a baby” during our official homeschooling years until 2007.)

    Unofficial education has occurred every day, but it doesn’t count towards any saved information as a whole, just fragments that apply to many things here and there, they count but not in that “official” way, in other words.

    There is much freedom in the whole year for homeschoolers who don’t “set up” an actual classroom experience in their home, so I don’t feel bad about doing school stuff during the summer. I remember how summer felt for me when I was young, but that was a different way of life, and my children don’t have that overbearing feeling of life most of the year that I had. Summer was freedom, and that’s what homeschooling is too. Freedom to learn whenever, and to get more done overall as well.