More of a 'To Do' List, Really

This morning's coffee time is more like a starting line. There's no cream, just milk, so I feel in a rush to get to the store.

School work lately is very self-directed. Many real life things are included like resume building and driver's education and keep your room clean and your laundry caught up and PLEASE get rid of the clutter. A provincial credit course - hopefully our last - in in progress. This unit is Biology and we're having fun supplementing with the Crash Course Biology videos. The kids are keeping up with their peer run book club. We're looking at Romeo and Juliet this month. I really need to share a blog about our Shakespeare experience. I very well may have got this one thing right. Recently we switched from Saxon math to Teaching Textbooks. The Boy is working his way through Algebra 1; The Girl has recently finished it and is waiting for her neglectful parents to obtain Algebra 2. She's very patient. Both kids, having put on the writing brakes, have been cajoled onto working through an upper elementary/early high school writing program. It's bare bones, but introduces the important writing styles, gives examples and sets out a choice of assignments. And, of course, the calibre of writing emerging from their heads is super.

Today's school work is called Home Ec. Cleaning up and being on stand-by for the new fridge to be delivered. Hopefully. The cooler and bins are waiting to be loaded and set outside, but that won't be happening until there's an actual new fridge in my house. A grocery trip this morning is so overdue that The Boy has volunteered to come along and help. Poor hungry teenager. After lunch, I have a meeting and The Boy will come along as he has a volunteering gig on Friday afternoons. The Girl has a social engagement, which is not surprising.

Today is the day that packing up our house will officially commence. In 4 short weeks we will have a new house. The books are the first to be packed. I can do without them for 28 days....right??

♥Mrs. A.

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Street Faire Success!

After a month of preparations, our Street Faire experience was a success. (Please excuse my shoddy photography skills - it was busy and I was a little stressed. Really, the table looked lovely.) We sold glitter snowflakes, puzzle piece gingerbread men and knitted gnomes.

I'm quite pleased with how all our ornaments turned out. I think the kids were happy that all the work we did resulted in a nice table with lots of sales. Our knitted gnomes were $2 each and the other ornaments were $1 each. The kids insisted on this pricing as I was wanted to charge $.50 for the snowflakes and gingerbread men. It turns out that this pricing strategy was perfect. I'm glad I listened to the kids.

We sold cider for $.50 a cup. The Boy Child was in charge of this and he did a really good job. Before the sale, the class in the hall ran late cutting severely into set-up time for the vendors. The Boy had to do all the prep and set-up for cider on his own as The Girl Child and I were frantically busy with getting the table ready.

We had a little helper all day. She is very cute and very fond of my big kids. She was responsible for hanging all the ornaments and helping with pouring the cider.

As far as the business end of things went, we spent a little over $30 in supplies. Our profit was a little over $40 after we covered our supply cost. We sold about $80 worth of ornaments and cider. There was a little deal-making and bartering that went on which accounts for our difference.

 

Sales were good, but I prepared many ornaments and now have all that I need as gift toppers and for family. Amazingly, that means I planned ahead and got a Christmas project out of the way in November. I love it when I surprise myself with being organized!

 

♥Mrs. A.

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Geology 101

 Just a quick blog today to share some pictures from our program yesterday. The kids were quite excited to be on campus. And a busy day on campus it was. Students everywhere. It was a grey cold day and I have to wonder about all those students' well-being attending a university during the coldest, greyest days of the year surrounded by big grey buildings...

Miller Hall houses the School of Geology, obviously. The kids were very entertained to see classes in action. Upstairs (why, yes, we did explore and poke around before our class...) the kids saw students working independently in large empty classrooms, profs meeting with students and some really old display cases with rocks in them. Miller Hall also houses a very nice museum (including an interactive room complete with sandbox) where we could see lots of rocks; many interesting and unique pieces from our area.

The curator of Miller Museum delivered two programs. The first was a discussion and overview of geology, "An interactive overview of rocks, minerals, fossils and Earth processes illustrated with many touch samples (including a meteorite, a dinosaur bone, examples of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and mineral ores)".


Lapis Lazuli in its natural habitat.

Coral Fossil

Fossilized Shells shown during discussion of early life on earth

Sample of Carbonized Leaves

Lots of hands on time.

A specimen from Canada's fossil forest 1000km above the treeline in NWT. Nothing like fossilized (not petrified!) wood in Canada's north to teach us about Continental drift.

  

Our second talk was titled The Earth Through Time. "While seated along an 8 meter-long geological time scale graphic, students hear a 50 minute lecture about the major changes in the Earth's geosphere, atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere since its formation. The talk is illustrated with rocks and fossils spanning the entire 4.6 billion years of Earth history including meteorites, the oldest known terrestrial rocks, the appearance of life and its progression from exclusively single-celled organisms in the beginning to the complex life of the present day." The Curator pulled out some rare samples that were very impressive.

Impressive fossil of a lizard like creature from 250+ million years ago.

Also on the camera were a collection of pictures my kids are becoming known for. Picture after picture of samples of rocks in cases. I have a catalogue of the Gems exhibit at ROM in Toronto as well as a good record of the Smithsonian's rock collection in Washington. I can see us going back to Miller Hall just to hang out when we are in the city.

The Museum is a wonderful mix of 1930's original display cases and more modern methods of imaging and display.








A recently donated collection.








The Boy Child's favourite.







♥Mrs. A.

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Homeschoolers' Street Faire Preparations



Later this week the kids and I will head out to our day of homeschooling activities. Part of the day will include a Street Faire. A Street Faire is a new idea for our homeschooling group. A hall has been rented and tables have been booked. Some people are crafting, some people are selling services and some are hoping to sell their used books and supplies. Buskers have been scheduled - any homeschooler can have a 20minute block of time to entertain any way they please.

I'm encouraging my kids to take part and the process has been not unlike molasses so far. I suggested we make Christmas ornaments to sell. It's something we do every year for family (except we don't charge family members for the Christmas ornaments they receive from us, of course) so it wasn't a big leap to start a bit early this year and have a load of ornaments ready for the Street Faire. We thought of a few ideas and talked around costs for materials. We planned the set up for our table and agreed that presentation and a 'nice looking table' was important. We got our materials and I suggested a schedule so our supplies would be ready in time.

I encouraged the kids to think of something they liked or enjoyed to share at the Street Faire. The Boy will be selling cups of warm apple cider. Cider was a hit at the homeschoolers' Thanksgiving Pot-Luck so he is hoping that is a sign that it will be popular at the Street Faire. The Girl thought about baking her gingersnap Christmas cookies but then decided against it. I've been knitting up wee gnomes in spare moments to go with our 'ornaments' theme. Not sure if they'll sell or not, but some of the homeschooling mamas that have seen them in progress seem pretty excited about them.

Knitted Gnomes



The ornaments we decided to make are a crafty Gingerbread man and snowflakes. In the photo are the puzzle piece ornaments I made for family in 2007. The ones we're making this year are a tiny bit different and I haven't come across them on Pinterest yet. I think I'll keep them hidden for another couple of days. I don't have a good photo of them yet as their 'icing' is freshly finished and still drying.

Ornaments in Progress

I'm very pleased with the snowflakes we've made. They're made of hot glue then sparkle-ified to be festive. I got a little worried that the 'suggested schedule' was not inspiring enough motivation for the kids, so I spent the weekend exhausting my hot glue sticks. The kids popped in and out, helping with Modge Podge and sparkles and string.

Finished Sparkly Snowflakes

We now have a full inventory of Sparkly Snowflakes (71.5 snowflakes and two numb fingertips can be had for three small packages of Dollar Store glue sticks) and Puzzle Piece Gingerbread Men (42 of these little guys as that's how many of the little head pieces I could afford to buy at Home Depot).

The kids and I are still disagreeing about the selling price of the ornaments. I say $0.50 and they say a full $1. The Knitted Gnomes are to be priced for more, perhaps $3 each or 2 for $5. I'm discovering that I'm not very good at asking for money for our crafts. I'm feeling a bit of stress. Even though the event planned is expected to be a place where money will be exchanged. I suppose we'll get it all sorted out one way or the other. Mr. A will be very upset with me, though, if I give these things away for free!

Check back at the end of the week and hopefully I'll have happy stories to tell about our very first Homeschoolers' Street Faire!

♥ Mrs. A.

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Free Prime Ministers of Canada Unit Study

Every now and then I come across something to order on a federal or provincial government website. Honestly, I don't specifically go cruising their websites. But sometimes I'll come across the mention of a resource or someone who says they found a useful tidbit...for FREE! It's the 'for FREE' part that most people get worked up about.

This time I found a Canadian Prime Ministers package. A coil bound volume contains a complete unit study with handouts and activities designed for high school student to 'explore the role, responsibilities and lives of Canadian prime ministers'. A CD ROM of 'archival documents' is included. I expect this is where the handouts are hiding, too.

A folder in the back of the book contains a poster and a 3-page biographical pamphlet for each of Canada's 22 prime minsters. It's a very current resource with the current idiot prime minister in office included.

Before we get into this unit, I'm going to take it to book club. A funny thing to do, perhaps. One of the ladies who comes has a wonderful knack for picking out bias and it's something I'm dismal at. So I love putting things in front of her and then, after a bit of discussion, understanding how the author is trying to brainwash me. Not that the Canadian government is awfully biased, but there is a marked conservative bent to everything.

I like finding resources that are aimed at older students. Our local  area is having a surge of new homeschoolers with younger children, so that is where the conversation has been lately. This resource will be interesting to get into on a couple of different levels. It may count toward The Girl Child's 9th grade history credit or I will save it for the 10th grade civics credit. The kids are so excited. (←sarcasm)

In case anyone pops by and in interested in which government website I ordered this from, it's published by the Library and Archives of Canada (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/). However, I can't find a link to the material there. It's at the Government of Canada Publications website here. Check it out. Order something. Your kids will be reaaallllyy impressed (←also sarcasm).

♥Mrs. A.

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New Year New Rule.

Mr. A and I have been discussing homeschooling in greater depth this last year. In particular we've been talking about the challenges I'm finding as the kids get older. I'm struggling to balance academics and daily life with all the important things that are coming up as the kids grow into young adults - autonomy, independence, emotions, control, respect.

Mr. A has a fairly black-and-white outlook whereas I'm definitely a colourful kind of girl. This last calendar year I've been waffling from one colour to the next trying to find a groove what we all fit into. Mr. A is very patient. Long story short, I haven't been very successful. So Mr. A has swooped in and handed me a solution.

We've started into the New Year with a New Rule. Normally we're a little like pirates around here - tending toward guidelines rather than hard and fast rules. So you can image how the kids sat up and took note when Mr. A announced a Rule when they were expecting a discussion.

And a simple and silly rule it may seem: no screens until your day's schoolwork is complete. But it has trickle-down consequences. I can't concentrate on schoolwork if things around the house aren't taken care of. If I have to take care of everything then it takes me a long time to get to the books.

Today was essentially Day #1. Mr. A is back to work which means that our holidays are over. The rub is that the kids' peers have another week of school break; they're under the self-imposed impression they have another week of free time. (Never mind the three weeks they've already had off!) So in typical Mrs. A fashion, I toed the middle of the line. There were no screens until today's school work was finished...but I let the kids police their schedule for the day. They started to get antsy about 1pm when we hadn't hit the books and I was still doing post-holiday housework.

In the end we accomplished what we needed to. And the kids pretty quickly picked up on the principle the Rule is meant to accomplish.

I'm so thankful for Mr. A's problems solving tendencies. (Sometimes I don't feel very thankful - like when I mention something in passing and he swoops in with 4 different solutions to pick from when really I was simply venting and just needed him to say soothing things. But really, I do appreciate this man skill he has.) And in true Father Knows Best style, my kids tend to tune in when Dad speaks up. So I hope this New Year's New Rule helps to get us into the groove we're all looking for.

~Mrs. A.

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A Mostly Optimistic Outlook

About a month ago I checked in. A week later, we were off to our official start of a new-to-us homeschooling school year. As we were headed to our annual local HSer picnic, I remembered that I should probably take some pictures.

Surprisingly, the kids didn't balk. I suppose my '...in a hundred years when I'm old and alone and you're off gallivanting the globe all I have are pictures...' speech has finally started to sink in.

As I was saying...We're into our third official week of all things schoolish and I am happy to announce that I am feeling cautiously optimistic. We're being very schoolish this year which makes both the kids feel as though they are accomplishing things throughout the day. Now, if only I could get organized enough to get to more subjects through the week.

The Girl Child has begun her grade 9 year and as per her request, I am tracking her work so she can earn her high school credits or equivalent-to-credit. Of course, I must also plan and prepare her work. We are filling in a few holes in Science before starting credit work after Christmas. We are also planning for credits in Math, English, Art, Phys Ed, Science and an ILC Credit called Strategies For Success. Half credits are planned in History, Geography, Drama and perhaps Civics.

The Boy Child is officially grade 7 aged. He has a full schoolwork plate with some interesting things planned. More on that as the year progresses. It seems I'll need to brush up on my astrophysics. His guitar playing is moving forward in leaps and bounds. I'm gobsmacked at his playing by ear. I've ordered a theory book for him to start as I simply can't bear from him to continue lessons with no theory training! <--My hangup. The relationship he's developed with his teacher is absolutely perfect for him. I thought we'd stay no longer than a year with this particular teacher, but I've since changed my tune.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the school year unfolds. I scrapped all the planning I did over the summer (not too much, really) and I'm redoing it all. So I don't feel that I've got a handle on all the material we'll cover this year. It's coming though. Math, the first chunk of Science, Strategies For Success and the Shakespeare studies/Drama are all mapped out. I've outsourced Canadian History and French but am doing some supporting work at home. I've changed my record keeping and planning binder so that The Girl Child can work through just about anything we're to cover independently. This means I need an order of study and page numbers and worksheets ready to go. This was something that was really important to her - the option of being able to work on her own - so we're going with it. I'm more organized this way, to in theory, it should be a win-win scenario.

Challenges are afoot though. The Girl Child wants more social opportunities, a job and less time with her brother. They're both smarter and quicker than their mother! The Boy Child builds energy faster than he can drain it - and in a house full of introverted un-kinesthetic learning/working people, that's difficult! Staying consistent with a morning schedule that gets us (the kids and I) up and going is my particular nemesis, but I'm making progress. Getting off the sugar definitely helped.

So all in all a positive outlook and some general excitement about the coming year. I'm looking forward to seeing how we make out.

♥Mrs. A.

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And Then There Were 4

A few days ago we muddled through the process of candling the eggs. I decided I should be over-cautious which resulted in a couple of '?' status reports on eggs #6 and #3. To be fair, they had lovely dark shells and I am very much a rookie and I certainly didn't want to disqualify anyone who didn't deserve it.


#5, #11, #13(my favourite: smooth and very pink shell with the cutest pointy end) and #15 all received positive reports granting them continued access to the incubator. Just yesterday I cleared out the rest after reading stories about bursting rotten eggs in the incubator. And, of course, after a second, very thourough, candling session.

Before 'lockdown', those important final three days when the eggs are not turned or touched and the incubator is not opened, I will check them once more for signs of life. I've been very realistic with the children, hoping they don't expect too much out of this experiment. I've been clear that even though all signs point to 4 little chicks in the very near future, sometimes eggs don't hatch or chicks don't survive the hatching process.

We should have some action on the 30th. XXXXX (←Crossed fingers )

♥Mrs. A.

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New Project

In typical homeschooling mother fashion, last week I found myself discussing the schoolish side of life with a fellow homeschooling mom. And in typical homeschooling mother fashion, I on-the-spot dove into an unexpected project. It is living underneath my messy, catch-all bulletin boards. In further typical homeschooling mother fashion, I have myself in fits over the little intricacies of this project. It's consuming brain cells and I'm sure my sleep will soon be affected. There are 16 chicken eggs baking in there. If I could get the temperature to sit still, I'd feel a lot better. I'm not sure how many are fertilized. We're on Day 3 right now. At about Day 8 I can check and see if I have any baby chickens growing. I don't expect they will all develop, let alone hatch, but the hope is that there will be at least some action. The eggs are from a nearby farm of a homeschooling chicken-raising mom. She's very cool and busy with 4 kidlets under 9. If this chicken hatching scheme works out, even a little, it will be a win-win for both of us. She gets new fowl for her flock and I get a really cool science experiment. If I'm not too devastated after my first go at this, I will probably do it again. I'll just have to manage another very un-typical homeschooling mother 21-days at home... ♥Mrs. A. ...who would be a lot less crazy if her paragraph spacing would stay where it was put!

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Has Anyone Seen My Rose Coloured Glasses??

I was all set to call this blog post 'Back to the Grind' but that would imply some grinding being done in the recent past.

The 'official' end of our Winter holiday happened a week and a half ago. To appease the minions, I schedule our school year according to the local school calendar. I suppose it works out well as the school days are measurable in case I was ever asked to speak to the amount of school work we do. However, by following the local schedule, I'm also constantly reminded that although it seems that society is brainwashed into believing that school is a consistent variable in a child's life, school attendance is actually very inconsistent. There are very few 5-day school weeks in the 36-week schedule. But I digress. My point is that we should be back to a full complement of school work by now.

Every day I've been dreading the work that hasn't, and isn't, being done. Throughout the fall, I gave up on one thing after another. My planner pages are blank for more of weeks 1 through 14 than not. World history stalled at week 3. Miss K's math was a disaster that still hasn't been solved. And The Boy Child's science - other than self-directed experiments in gravity, density and trajectory, the engineering of forts (indoor and out) and some theoretical dabble in time travel and astrophysics - has been nonexistent....never mind.

I suppose my point is this: I've failed miserably on the measurable outcomes in Scheduled Paper Work Land. But if I do some careful observation, I know that learning and other valuable work is being done. I just have to figure out why I'm being so hard on myself about the whole situation.

But I've resigned myself to a steely attitude of stick-with-it-ness no matter the cost. And the cost today very nearly had me swerving into the high-school parking lot I was driving past to be front and center at the 'Open House For 8th Graders' they were hosting in the gym. Crossing against three lanes at lunch hour was the only thing that stopped me. Later, I was thinking that I probably won't break Miss K in just one dismal-ish year of homeschooling. It was the thought I had when she was 6 (minus the dismal) and we were just embarking on this homeschooling journey. I just thought I'd have things down pat by year 8.

Sometimes stick-with-it-ness is depressing. But I think it is better than the alternative - throwing in the towel. So, I will look forward to another homeschooling day tomorrow. Even though I'm not having a good academic time right now, I still appreciate each and every day I have my kids at home with me.

♥Mrs. A.

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Mondays...

This Fall, Mondays are particularly busy. I think today was fairly typical in scheduling, but it was better than many of my typical Mondays of late. I think I might be getting my Monday-act together...

After everyone has been fed and watered and we shovel up the weekend clutter it's usually around 9a.m. Monday mornings give us only an hour or so for any bookwork we want to accomplish. It's not too difficult to get the kids to hit the books on Mondays. I have them start with their journals. The Girl Child writes copious amounts - her biographer is going to have lots to sift through! The Boy Child, not so much. He's more matter of fact. 'Required' journal writing for The Boy amounts to a sentence per 'grade' so he's up to 6 sentences per journal entry. And that's a very loose definition of 'sentence' I'm using.

At 11a.m. I start getting the afternoon set up. The kids are sent to grab themselves a snack and then they pack another for later. I prepare lunch for Mr. A and myself and set it aside. French books and skating things are gathered and packed into the car. Today I dressed for a run and dug out my iPod. We left the house at 11:45.

My very good friend has taken it upon herself to teach a group of homeschoolers - her two included - French this school year. She's gone to a huge amount of work to plan weekly lessons for 5 families of kids, ages 8 through 15. The kids spend an hour and a half doing games and activities, vocab and dialogue. The focus is on spending time speaking the language which is awesome for my two-kid crew. The Boy and The Girl are quite well versed in their vocab, writing and reading skills. The speaking-out-loud has been a bone of contention in our past school years.

Today was the first Monday I snuck away from the other moms at French. I went for a miserable little run. I haven't run since the summer, really, so I was speaking fairly sternly with myself about the degree of laziness and depression that was taking over. I went for half an hour, 'running' for 3 minutes then walking for 1. Once I was done, I was glad I had done it. It's amazing how long improved cardiovascular fitness can hang on. I never thought I'd get 6 intervals completed today. I zipped home to change my muddy, wet running pants. While there, I constructed lunch for Mr. A and delivered it to his basement office (he's programming today and tends to focus in on his work and forgets altogether about regular bodily routines like caloric intake) before heading back to pick up the kids.

After French, we trek over to the local rink and spend an hour skating. The local homeschoolers have sort of dominated the 'Parent & Tot' time slot for the past few years. It was a quiet takeover...beginning years ago when the children blended in with those every-other-day kindergartners. Today there were 15 homeschoolers plus a bunch of moms on the ice.

Once we're home things depend on The Boy Child's hockey schedule. If he plays early, at 4:30p.m., we usually relax and snack before heading out the door at 4:15p.m. There are beefits to living in the rink's backyard! Today he played late, at 5:30p.m., so we had time to focus on some geography for a half hour before snacking and re-packing the hockey bag. I cleaned the kitchen and The Girl made pizza crust which we left in the warm oven to rise while we were at the rink.

At home, after hockey, I focus on getting some sort of food on the table fairly immediately. The low blood sugar is pretty apparent by this time on Monday. It's nice when we sit down to eat. Everyone knows that their responsibilities have been taken care of for the day. Relax mode starts to kick in. I like hearing about the kids' day - even though I've been there for most of it. I find it terribly interesting how different our experiences are even though we share the same space and activities.

We had a nice family evening culminating in apple crisp before bedtime. I'm watching the results of the local election and will head off to bed shortly. Hopefully next Monday will go as smoothly as today. Methinks if I keep up with weekend laundry and regular meal planning like a good, responsible grown up, I shouldn't have any problems.

~Mrs. A.

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The Process of Math

Last Spring I started planning for the upcoming school year. One particular area I spent a while thinking about was The Girl Child's math.

When I sat down with her to discuss her thoughts about math, she thought perhaps she might like an easy-math school year. Fair enough.

The Girl has worked very hard the last few years wading through a bunch of Saxon Math. She's very good at it. Diligent. And when all is said and done, proud of herself.

I looked through a few options. At length. In the end, The Girl decided to work through a workbook style 8th grade level program. She knew it would be mostly review. The plan was to begin her 9th grade year, 2011-2012, with Algebra as most math programs provide. She felt she wasn't up for a heavy math year and to begin Algebra in her 8th grade year just felt like a heavy thought to her at that point.

So September rolled around and The Girl Child was happily anticipating wading only ankle deep into the new math workbook. Fairly immediately, she needed some help interpreting the instructions. She was feeling knee deep in icy waters since she was used to doing her own math these last 3 years.

We've muddled through to October and things haven't improved. I'm not impressed with the online support materials. The Girl is not impressed with the whole math situation. She's 1/3 the way through the workbooks and has done nothing more complicated than common multiples.

A meeting of minds - hers and mine -was called over hot chocolates. I told her my feelings: that she was putting a lot of work into being frustrated with basic math skills she had mastered long ago; that I felt she could work equally hard and further her skill set which would inspire confidence instead of the discouragement she was currently experiencing. She thought that made sense.

She's decided to look over some of the Saxon options available to her. She asked if I'd print her a placement test. I'd also like to get my hands on a copy of Life of Fred for her to peruse.

I told her that as part of our somewhat structured homeschooling style, she needed to work on some sort of math on a regular basis. But I wanted her to be clear that I was happy for her to choose her resources. I trust her to take some responsibility at this point in her learning.

I hope we'll have something decided on soon. But I suppose that this has been a good exercise for us. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out in the end.

~Mrs. A.

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5K...Almost

For many months I've been silent on the topic of running...or fitness...or just about anything, for that matter. So today I thought I'd gather some thoughts about it and perhaps even grace the page with a picture.

I'm a C25K failure. I made it through the majority of the training and then I stopped. I think my main excuse was a broken toe, but we all know that I just got lazy with it because toes certainly don't stay broken forever.

This Spring, a group of the homeschooling kids embarked on a learn-to-run adventure. The coach was a homeschooler mom who is a runner, a coach and an all-round cracker jack. So, in true homeschooler mom fashion, she took on a huge project with her 4 wee kidlets in tow. Not only were the kids going to work through the learn-to-run program, but the moms were going to take part also. Some moms were up for running, some moms wanted a fitness walking program. Coach Cracker Jack took us all on.

Partway through our training, the local private school asked if any homeschooler was interested in participating in the track and field season. Since many of the kids did, our training days took on a different look. The kids did track and field things and we moms did our training runs. The kids are fit, being active kids, so they easily kept up with the moms' progress with the learn to run program.

Last weekend, there was a fundraising fun run for a local not-for-profit that is near and dear to my heart. Throwing all caution and my negative nay-saying conscience to the wind - after all, I'm only 4/5 of the way through the training program - I recruited The Boy and I registered us for the 5K Fun Run. I figured it would be the perfect venue to learn the process of a Race Day.

I had managed to run 5k non-stop with Coach Cracker Jack breathing down my neck and threatening to look at my jiggly backside during one of our training days. But my personal training runs had suffered for two weeks afterward. I wasn't sure I should do 5k non-stop for this Fun Run. So my plan was to run/walk 5min:1min intervals until I finished. As well, I was sort of curious as to how The Boy would do. He'd run a solid, constant 4k before, but he'd never done a 5k. His plan was to do the intervals with me.

Fun Run Day dawned overcast and cool. It was windy down by the water where we'd be running. It was great running weather. I managed to register and mill around with other running folk without tipping anyone off that I was an imposter. I was sure my yoga pants would give me away! The race itself was great - my official finish time was 35:21 and I had plenty of juice at the end. Yea me!

Now The Boy was another story. He started off with me, was blown away at the starting line by the big boys who were runners and he spent the first 5 minutes considering things. After that, he let testosterone rule the day and I didn't see him again until I crossed the finish line. He finished in 31:24 and is certain that he will easily break the 30 minute mark at the upcoming Canada Day Run. He's very proud of himself. We both are :-)

So I continue with my training runs. I'm motivated and looking forward to the local Canada Day Run as well. I'll be running every 2 days now instead of every 3 or 4. I've managed to figure out my iPod and I've got a great running playlist that helps with my pace.

As Mr. A says when something is working out for the best: all that and a bag o'bananas! My personal bag 'o bananas is that I've got a bunch of skirts and summer pants that fit...again. Onward - to Canada Day! I wonder if I can break the 30 minute mark...?

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~May~

May's calendar page is sitting on my computer desk waiting to be blogged. It's sitting there quite innocently, right where I put it. But it's kind of glowering, too. Glaring it's blogging want.

May wasn't anything spectacular. I'm sure it was sort of indicative if the way things usually are around here. I sifted and coasted and drifted through the days, sometimes wishing I could keep my head in the game more consistently. I suppose I would feel better if I were able to concentrate on the wonderfulness of my kids and the happiness of the dogs and the simple luxury I live in every day. I'll have to remember that.

I started May with a clean house and a new haircut. I had a really nice Mother's Day.

Treats!

I helped my mom out by going to work for her for a day. That was interesting. One working momma meant two sets of packed lunches, a baby-sitter, a puppy-sitter, packed up school work, a morning rush, a late dinner and an early bedtime. Totally not something I would do every day on purpose. I suppose it was a jarring experience just because we've not lived that way in a long, long time.

The skittish white dog got an eye infection. And Mr. A, bless his poor, oblivious heart, learned the ins and outs of dealing with the vet. I think he debriefed for a week.

Niece!

My new knitting group seems to have taken off quite nicely. As I had hoped, a good crowd of diversity has shown up and they all seem to be happy with a relaxed, social atmosphere. I find myself looking forward to spending a couple of hours planning and preparing for the meetings. So, every other week at the local library, we knit. The other attendees have taken it upon themselves to carve out some space at the local pub to knit on the off weeks. Hilarious. And awesome.

New Kittens!

On the home school front, we're picking our way through the final bits of work for the year. Much of the language arts we did was finished in May. We're a little behind my schedule in our history studies and the kids made a plan to finish their math by June 4. Running club finished early so the coach could take some of the kids and groom them to join the local private school's track team. We had a social picnic-park play after a museum program to kick off the good weather. I'll have to remember to have another at the end of this month. We took in the local multicultural fair as well. Always a good time. It always surprises me how much the kids enjoy themselves there even though it's loud and crowded and they are scared to try the different food. They eat cotton candy and apple crisp while the rest of us are sampling Indian, Jamaican, Turkish, Irish and Chinese food.

"Science" With Mr. A!

The Blue Eyed Bandit grew so much over May! She's impressing everyone at obedience even though we didn't practice a whole lot. She's very smart. She's such a happy, peaceful puppy. And ever since I moved her crate to my bedroom, she's slept through the night. That only took me three months to figure out.

Bad Dog!

I was reminded throughout May that I have 'Me' opportunities popping up all over the place. It's a little exciting after focusing solely on the kids for so many years. I'm part of a book club that I love. The knitting group, getting out a couple of times a week for a walk/run, puppy classes. We even had a couple over twice in May. I don't want to call them Couple Friends...Mr. A is shy, you know...but I think there's potential!

June is shaping up: We still have to get the boats out so we can get out on the River with the kids. And the car is having major surgery to the tune of the cost of a week long family vacation to somewhere a plane ride away. The next round of puppy classes will start. The Boy will be playing soccer and I will be convening his age group. Exciting times, I say!

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I Love Me A Seminar

I love seminars. Or sessions. Or whatever you call those things you choose to attend when you get yourself to a conference. I love that I get a choice. I guess that's a good thing about being a grown-up (or a homeschooler...). You get to choose which classes you'd like to attend. And if the choices aren't' making your skirt fly up, then you just go shopping at the vendor fair.

Every time I go to a conference and attend the seminars, I take notes. I suppose this means I intend to go home and review my notes. Upon review, I intend to implement the points I noted as relevant. But we all know how that goes with me...meh. So I have this file folder on my shelf full of important conference notes. All those good intentions, those secrets to a perfect homeschool, those perfectly outlined subjects to teach with all the little tricks to make your kids love it. Just sitting on my shelf with the accompanying handout.

Handouts are a funny thing. I'm a little picky about handouts. I figure, if you're going to go to the trouble of preparing a seminar, why give it all away in the handout?! I think handouts should be a guide - a menu, if you will. Then, as you sit through the seminar, you're served the meat and potatoes of the meal. At the conference I attended last weekend, one of the presenters read through her handout for the duration of the seminar. She read each and every point that was printed on the paper. 2/3 of the way through her talk, people had caught on and were starting to leave. I think most people who come to a conference are looking to spend their time as efficiently as possible. Listening to someone read through a handout just doesn't fit the bill.

Of course, getting to choose your seminar usually means that you've got a vested interest in the subject matter. Chances are, you're going to enjoy yourself. It's likely that the topic is going to speak to you and you're going to want to implement the new method/material. At the very least, you'll find yourself motivated.

The last seminar I attended that I really enjoyed was called "Organizing Your Homeschool". The handout was nice. It was an outline of what the presenter would cover. It's got contact information and web addresses for reference. So now, a week later, I look at the handout and I'm reminded of all the interesting things the presenter had to say. I love a good handout. The presenter herself is an experienced speaker. That's always a plus. Experience means time for questions at the end of the seminar. It means getting all the material covered. It usually means not a lot of um's and ah's.

I thought I would tuck in my seminar notes here at Zehn+. I waffle back and forth as to if I should or not. After all, I don't want to be accused of spreading 'trade secrets' that usually cost something to hear and generally put dinner on someone's table. On the other hand, blogging my notes will get them off my shelf where they are just taking up space. They'll be easier for me to reference, too. My notes are not going to win any awards and they're definitely not going to overshadow someone's hard work nor will they reiterate a seminar word for word. They're going to speak to me. So without further ado, here's what I scribbled during my "Organizing Your Homeschool" seminar last weekend:

Organizing Your Homeschool

April 17, 2010

Sheila Wray Gregoire

(Reference Sheila's book To Love, Honour and Vacuum. There is an appendix just for homeschooling moms.)

Part A:Why Homeschooling Becomes Hectic

When you're home all the time, the issues any family has become magnified. If homeschooling fails, it usually has more to do with these issues than with academics:

managing housework
occupying small children
respect
getting children to work
organizing time

- Do you find yourself busy every day but do you feel like you're not accomplishing anything? It's like things are spinning out of control. How do you stop the spinning? Pick a point and move steadily toward it. The point you pick should be your goal, the reason you're homeschooling.

- Look to your goal. Focus on your family relationship; your relationship with your kids. Get rid of the things that are causing you to feel unorganized/hectic. (For those who like to, check out Hebrews 12: 1-3: Look to Jesus. Focus on Relationship. Throw off the weights that hinder you.)

Part B: Change What You Do

- respect + order = a more peaceful home
- plan for a comfortable home, not a perfect home
- plan for a flexible homeschool, not a perfect homeschool
- have room for kids to explore and learn; they need space to spread out (use bookcases and have table space avail)

Declutter - one room a week until you can maintain; 15minutes at a time if it's overwhelming; everything needs a place esp in kids' rooms

Homeschool Decluttering - take photos and get rid of the projects; save favourite artwork and have it bound; save important work in a portfolio and get rid of the rest; go back and make school year portfolios to reduce storage bins; keep special work, tests and essays

Daily Housework - tidy time is separate from cleaning time; have regular tidy times with the kids

Plan - have a daily plan; prioritize schoolwork

Meal Plan - menus save a whole lot of stress and time

Consistency - when kids know what to expect, they do it without complaining; mom must model the expectations (eg. if schoolwork starts at 9, mom has to be ready at 9!!)

Inconsistency = a level of stress in the house (this is totally loud and clear in our house at dinner time. I never know what to make or when it will land on the table!); kids will push boundaries to see what the limit is; this leaves no room for creative exploration

Schedule - do you want a regimented schedule or something more flexible? Decide.

Forms and suggestions : http://www.donnayoung.org/ or http://www.sheilawraygregoire.com/ (click on Free Stuff)

Part C: Change Our Relationship Dynamic

Although we want some structure and accomplishment in our day, we also want fun and spontaneity; that won't happen on its own

1. Sheila says kids need to clean
- give kids an area to be responsible for during cleaning or tidy time
- everyone needs to feel productive; start the day with chores; mom feels resentful if she has to do it all

2. Sheila says to plan downtime/creative time
- have rules during 'school time' so kids don't run off and watch tv (no screens, no phone)
(- this makes schoolwork a priority)
- RULES APPLY TO MOM AS WELL (although Sheila says running off to do laundry is ok)
- have interesting things available to do (colouring/activity books, novels, puzzles, games)
- mom can set up things (like a science exploration or demo) to inspire; rotate these
- mom needs to be disciplined if the kids are expected to be

3. Sheila says to get outside
- burn energy doing errands, playing games, getting exercise, exploring
- garden, nature study, whatever gets the kids outside

4. Sheila says to protect your time
- try to consolidate errands/lessons/appointments on one day
- try to consolidate making/taking calls to an hour a day; leave the rest 'till tomorrow
- stay away from email and Facebook during school/family/organizing time

Sheila's last word: Attitude Shift: You are at work. Your children are at work. For this time, you will be present.

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My Surprise Treasure

This is the surprise treasure I found at the conference this past weekend. It is a basic novel study guide put together by Sheila Wray Gregoire. (If you click though, beware the Pink!)

I have often lamented the fact that novel studies cost $10 - $25 and can only be used once if the kids write in them. My most recent forays into novel study with the kids have ended in disaster. I'll spare you the messy details.

I was so excited when Sheila mentioned her new resource during her seminar at the conference. Mr. A is convinced that it was a barely disguised sales tactic (always the skeptic!), but I still say it was a timely answer to a question from the audience.

Before the end of the day, I popped back into Sheila's seminar room and bought a copy for myself. I'm excited to have a guide to help us through a novel study but I'm also excited that I have a flexible resource aimed at older homeschooling kids.

At first glance, the 'Any Novel' Novel Study guide looks simple, straightforward and easy to use. It's laid out neatly without a lot of fluff and filler.

The section for students takes off from the starting line. The reader is to map out the work into a manageable schedule. There are even check boxes for those who like such thing.

The Guide then flows through the major components of any good study guide: understanding character, plot, theme and setting.

There are different kinds of projects and exercises for the student to choose from throughout. There are vocabulary exercises, writing prompts, art projects and craft suggestions. Lots of choice allowing the Guide to be used over and over again.

The parent guide is written to keep you in the loop. It lets you know what your student is working on thereby reducing the over-the-shoulder-itis that we parents sometimes succumb to.

When I use this novel study, I am going to remove the parent guide and give the rest of it to the kids. They are at an age where I can expect more independent work from them but they still need some guidance to stay on track. I think this resource has just enough coaching to get the job done.

We're not big on marking and grades. However, as the kids are noticing their friends getting marked and graded on everything, the conversation does come up. We probably won't mark a novel study, but the marking scheme is there. I know the Girl Child will go over it and quietly consider her her work against the marking scheme. The Boy, if he finds the chart, will pester me until I assign him a mark.

And there you have it: a straightforward novel study master. Just plug in your own novel. I bought my hard copy for $20. A download purchase costs $14.95 ($15.65 CAD). The link is here. Just for the record, that's quite a page of advertisement. The link to buy is down at the bottom. I'll be sure to chronicle our first foray into novel study land. Messy details and all.

♥Mrs. A

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Thoughts On A Conference

Mr. A and I are back from a local-ish homeschooling conference. I have all sorts of thoughts and ideas swirling around my head. Before I tackle those, though, I thought I would debrief the conference experience itself.

Normally I look forward to a yearly homeschooling conference. I find them encouraging and motivating. I like being surrounded by like-minded people...even if I don't know any of them.

I like attending seminars given by authors of materials we use. It's insightful to hear the reasoning and intention behind a particular curriculum. The authors are full of great ideas and tidbits that really help you to use their material to your greatest advantage.

I especially enjoy the vendor fair. I comparison shop. I'm a touchy-feely shopper so I need to flip pages. I need to check page layout. I need to weigh the book in my hands. If I know what I want, I have no problem ordering from a catalogue. But if I'm looking for something new, I have to browse with my hands and see what else is on the shelf nearby.

This year, my conference experience was going to be very different. Mr. A decided to come with me. This would be his first conference. I never pegged Mr. A as the HSing conference type. I was worried that he might not enjoy the day or be engaged by the speakers. But, the lure of the conference was strong. It overshadowed my trepidation and we made a date of attending together. I decided the day called for an open minded attitude on my part. After all, Mr. A would at least enjoy spending the day with me.

Being a (mostly) confident and (fairly) experienced HSing mom, I knew to get the most out of the conference I had to take what I wanted and leave the rest. I left the keynote address and snapped up a seminar given by someone I've waited two years to hear speak. (<--more on that later!) I made the call to skip the last seminar in order to spend time in the vendor hall when it wasn't so crowded. One of my main goals of the day was to browse for new grammar and science resources. Mr. A and I decided to only buy what I can't order from my favourite HS supplier instead of buying all our supplies. It was hard not to buy everything up right then, but I was able to persevere since Mr. A was Keeper of the Currency. I also like to buy direct if I can. I was able to get our French workbooks directly from the author as well as a surprise treasure directly from the source. (<--more on that later, too!)

Mr. A stuck by my side the whole day. I thought Mr. A represented the supportive homeschooling dad very well. He was a little amused to be the only guy in the room a couple of times throughout the day. In the first seminar (titled: Organizing Your Homeschool) he listened intently and seemed to be impressed that I was taking notes. A couple of times he leaned over and waggled his eyebrows at me while nodding toward the presenter suggestively. That was my cue to take a note. I choose not to analyze his motives too closely. I was trying to be open minded, after all.

The end of the day involved a detour to a nearby MEC store. I'm not too sure what it has to do with helping me feel encouraged and motivated about homeschooling, but Mr. A insisted I needed a new kayaking PFD. That would be the yellow and black bits alongside my new collection of catalogues in the photo above. I decided this open minded attitude thing definitely made for a successful day.

Feeling jazzed about the remainder of the school year,

♥Mrs. A.

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Winds of Change for The Boy Child

The Boy Child came to me last week and made a very valid point. He hates math and history. They're boring and too much work. It makes the whole school day awful, waiting for those nasty subjects to be finished with, only to have to do it all over again tomorrow.

Ouch. Over the summer I had carefully considered our subjects and acquired the materials. I had carefully considered our calendar. Then I carefully broke down our materials into daily work that could be fit comfortably over the course of our calendar. Good plan, right? Lots of room for days off and flexibility. Easily encompasses the kids' request of 'Please don't make us do catching up on our work this year, Mom'. Yet still lots of stuff to get through. Mr. A like to see us doing stuff in our day.

The Boy's point quickly reminded me that I had no backup: no Plan B, no alternate exit. I needed a detour and I needed one now...well, for Thursday, the complaint being heard at Wednesday's bedtime. Knowing me, if I thought about this problem too long, I would turn it into a perfectionist's nightmare requiring me to re-plan 36 weeks of schoolwork complete with re-vamped resources and new paperwork. And wouldn't that stall our momentum?

So I thought the best course of action would be to take inventory. I can't change the materials, but I can change the method of delivery if I want. The Girl, who participates in the history work, is not opposed to the work once she gets going on it. In fact, she's doing a good job. So, modifications required for The Boy, but not necessarily The Girl.

Math
The Boy Child is working his way through Saxon 5/4 this year. I chose the Saxon program based on my own math insecurities and my lack of regular-use-of-all-things-mathish as well as for the painfully detailed explanations they provide for every step of every concept. The Boy, being fairly math minded and very quick on learning concepts, only does half the daily questions in the problem set. Even numbered problems on even numbered lessons and odd numbered problems on odd numbered lessons gives him regular and thorough practice. Test Days are popular because there is no lesson that day, just the 20-question test. There are several parts to a Saxon Math lesson. Each day, The Boy reads a lesson and does the questions presented to practice the new concept. There is the problem set of questions that I mentioned above. There is also a daily fact practice page that takes 2 to 5 minutes to do, depending on how motivated The Boy is. As long as test scores stay in the excellent range (my expectation) The Boy Child may retain responsibility for the amount of time and effort he puts into the reading and practice of the lessons (his effort). I also cut off fact practice at 5 minutes, whether he has completed the page or not.

Due to his Math Blues, the Boy Child has spent increasing amounts of time being inefficient in his math studies. He hovers his pencil over the math fact page, usually 40 - 100 questions of one operation (+, -, x, /), looking for the '5 facts' or the ones that will be '0' or any with a '3' in the fact. A painfully slow method which sees him completing only 1/3 of the facts which makes him frustrated because I stop him after 5 minutes of this silliness and he never finishes a page so therefore it is too hard, too much writing, too boooorrrring.

We have agreed on the following arrangement:

• The Boy will continue to read the lesson.


• The Boy will verbally complete a practice question or two.


• The Boy will continue to do half of the daily problem set.


• The Boy will use flash cards (x, /) instead of any written fact practice pages.

World History
We are working our way thorough the third book and activities of Story Of The World (early Modern Times) this year. A typical week's work will include reading a chapter in two or three different sittings, verbal review questions, a narrated summary paragraph, a map activity, a related reading in our Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History and one other activity (Internet links from the UILE or something out of the SOTW Activity Guide).

The Boy likes the readings. He likes the maps. The activities he likes, too, as long as there are not too many arts & crafty type things. Usually though, they are science-y type things or boyish stuff...like the day we burned the (cardboard) streets of London down in our driveway. That was popular.

The sticking point in our World History studies are the narrative paragraphs. After we read a section, we review using the questions in the Activity Guide. I don't have the kids do this to prove they were paying attention, but to practice composition. Through question and answer, the kids practice composing a sentence. Just one. It doesn't even have to be a good sentence, just a half-decent one. I'm happy with one or two relevant nouns. So really, it's a Language Arts exercise. After Q & A, the next task is to compose a summary paragraph. Nothing fancy, just beginning-middle-end. The Girl Child is getting pretty good at this. She has worked her way up to a page of single-spaced writing which is quite interesting and entertaining to listen to when she reads it back.

I'm not too sure what The Boy is finding frustrating. He composes with coaching and I scribe. We chatted about this and I tried to explain that the more we did this, the easier the exercise becomes. He agreed to try to be patient and I agreed to stick more strictly to the 'Beginning-Middle-End' requirement. We'll revisit in a couple of weeks.

Canadian History
Our Canadian history studies this year take us through a chronological timeline from the first discovery to Nunavut, our newest territory, being created. We're up to the fall of New France. Which touches on New England's independence and explains why most of us Canuk's are speaking English instead of French. It was all decided by a battle that started after breakfast and was finished in time for lunch.

We're following Courage & Conquest. It's a great outline. You can make it very in depth or just skim the surface if you'd rather. You can rely on the historical literature suggestions or focus on the non-fiction reading suggestions.

Each week I introduce our chapter with a quick overview from Courage & Conquest. I've been great about signing out this week's suggested reading when I was at the library last week. Clever, organized, on-the-ball homeschooling Mom, am I not? So we read. I admit I've been a little non-fiction heavy in my choices. The kids weren't nearly as excited about Champlain's journal as I thought they would be. We are watching our way through the highly recommended and very well done Canada: A People's History.

The Boy says all of this is boring. So I have suggested we scale back on the non-fiction. Instead we will focus on read alouds from well-written historical fiction selections. This means about an hour a day, minimum, of me reading out loud. Only one day per week will I get out the non-fiction. The DVD selections will be optional for The Boy. He has agreed to give stories with a female protagonist a good chance before declaring them unworthy and unacceptable, even if it means he has to 'distract' himself with marble-run building, Lego or XBox360.

* * *

The Boy has been pulling out the colourful Saxon multiplication/division flash cards on his own to practice. And he is reviewing many more facts than I would ask him to. We completed our first narrative paragraph of the New Year today. He tried very hard to remember relevant points from our reading and I tried to give him sentence starters and other composition suggestions. He apologized for such a 'painful process' and I hugged him and told him 'Not at all!' He made an effort, I tried to be helpful in the way that he needed and it was all over in 20 minutes. We are reading from the Dear Canada series. It is a book about the Fille du Roi. Even though the story is about a girl, Hélène d'Onge, it is enjoyable enough that we managed two readings today.

Our mutually agreed upon changes seem to be working. I can tell because the bedtime complaining is almost nill. We shall see if these changes will carry us through the remainder of our school year, or if we have to change it up again.

I am seriously counting my lucky stars tonight as I wrap up this blog. I can't help but suspect how lost The Boy would be if he was a child in the school system. He doesn't like to write, read, cut, draw, colour, create, be near girls, sit still or regurgitate facts. I am thankful for so many things tonight. But, that's another blog. ☺

♥Mrs. A

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Happy New Year! (and some Link Love)

How's that for a creative, attention grabbing title? Weak, I know. But really, I hope you had a good New Year's celebration as quiet or as feisty-spicy as it may or may not have been. I hope you're looking forward to seeing how 2010 pans out. By the way, are you a 'twenty-ten' kind of person or are you more in the 'two thousand ten' camp? Mrs. A. needs to know because I keep waffling.

The New Year and I have a Love-Hate relationship. I love beginnings: clean slates, starting lines, fresh starts. I hate the stick-with-it-ness that I inevitably and predictably procrastinate my way out of. Therefore, there is a noticeable lack of resolution proclamation around here. The disappointment is just not worth it. I do, however, have a few ideas percolating in the background...but nothing I'm willing to lay claim to just yet.

This New Year has started off on a positive note for me. There are new beginnings happening in the bedroom. Real actual furniture has been purchased. That's it, just furniture. This may not be very exciting for most folk, but I'm over the moon. One of the pitfalls of starting a family before establishing a household is the persistent lingering of the college bachelor pad homestead: practical before pretty and pieced together before planned. But no more - Mr. A and I will soon have a proper grown-up bedroom. In our search for a proper dresser, Mr. A and I found ourselves purchasing a complete bedroom set. More economical in the long run. Next month will see us purchase proper mattresses so we can replace the outdated, hand-me-down waterbed I've been sleeping in these last ten years. To distract me from the wait, Mr. A. purchased me paint. I LOVE to paint! So I am now the proud owner of a half-painted bedroom half-furnished with real furniture. (If the novelty of staring at my half-bedroom wears off, I'll paint the downstairs trim until the mattresses are ordered.)

I'm also excited about our New Year homeschooling plans. The last few evenings I've had our books out, getting organized for this coming week, Week #14/36 of our homeschooling year. Happily, I don't have a lot to do due to the work I did planning things out in the fall. New additions to our work arrived under the Christmas tree thanks to my supportive and overly generous mother-in-law. The Girl Child has a new art program Artistic Pursuits. She'll also be taking art classes with a local artist who is highly skilled in graphic design and technical illustration. As part of my thrown-together-in-desperation science curriculum, we'll be reading our way through Galileo for Kids: His Life and Ideas. The Boy Child is keen to use our telescope so hopefully the calendar I bought Skywatchers 2010 will be a daily reminder to do so. Although I am excited to resume our daily bookwork, I can't say that the kids are. I've been visualizing the appropriate parenting methods - patience and clear communication of expectations - that I will employ to deal with any slugishness or resistance. I should have a good week in me before I have to resort to bribery.

I figured that a New Year requires a little virtual closet cleaning as well. I've pared down my blogroll reading list. My goal is to spend no more than an hour poking through cyberspace on my daily blog-crawl and related side-clicks. I do love my blog reading. Good writing, ideas, inspiration and even a bit of entertainment all available with a couple of clicks. I'm such an instant gratification kind of girl. So here's what's holding my attention lately. Peruse at your leisure:

• A Small Corner of Nowhere - check out Audrey's blogroll as well
• Boarding In Bedlam - great writing by Arby...I love me a HSing dad
• Cake Wrecks - this would be part of the aforementioned entertainment
• Free-Range Kids - parenting inspiration and confirmation of philosophy for me
• Handmade Homeschool - check out Sarah's New Year's idea for 2010 - 12 in 12. Inspired!
• Home Spun Juggling - Cristina, her writing and her comics are long-time favourites
• Nurtured By Love - ideas, inspiration and good writing
• Peer Into Our World - Debbie's gone private for now, but a wise and wonderful HSing mom
• Pioneer Woman - Doesn't everyone read here? This one has 'ideas' and 'entertainment'.
• The Homeschool Classroom - more ideas...
• The Woman's Colony - a lot of articles...play catch-up on the weekend with coffee
• Totally Smitten Mama - beautiful babies, cool crafts and really thoughtful writing
• A Knitting Nurse - I keep coming back for Rudee's writing...and knitting

I hope you'll forward any favourite haunts my way. After all, I'm a quick reader. As long as everyone doesn't get all ambitious by blogging every day, I should be able to keep up.

I'm off to rest up for an early start tomorrow. I find it best to return to a regular schedule after holidays by scheduling early morning guests..my dad should be popping by around 8am. Hopefully I'll be dressed and have the dog walked by then. It's always good to have Monday morning ambitions.

♥Mrs. A.

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