A Little Bit of Everything

Let's see what is going on with us lately? Well we love to travel and have done a lot of it this year. We are now in Florida. It is beautiful here. Really the heat is quite comparable to home, it is hot and humid. All though the temperature is comparable, something is different here. I am not sure it is just the humidity, that must be a part of it but there is more more than a high humidity, there is a wetness to the air. So since the temps are so hot we are not doing any major outdoor parks. We did go over to the Jungle Garden's, and we plan on going to the beach. Other than that we are sticking with indoor activities. I am going to look at local aquariums since Lars LOVES them. Steve goes back to work in just over a week. That is always a sad time. We love spending extended time together in the summer. This year the summer seemed even shorter because of our travels but it was also much more interesting and enriching. We really got to share a lot this summer not just our travels but also are hearts. We have had some very good conversations. I am learning to draw him out and really listen. I wish that were not such a challenge for me, but it really is. My thoughts rush and seem to also rush right out of my mouth. I have to put a door down on my thoughts to listen and that is a challenge. Steve has wonderful insight to share when he is drawn out. He is such and amazing gift from God. I do hope that I bless him as much as he blesses me. For Lars school year we are considering moving to more of an interest based approach. This is scary, yet he has a desire and drive to learn. He also has a decently wide range of interests that I think it will work well. I think he may be fantastic at choosing an area to learn then setting goals for his learning and for showing what he has learned. We are also deciding whether we should implement a co-op or not. Still working on that. He will continue with Art and Photography I will have to share the pictures he got of the bird diving on the lake. I thought they were pretty good. We also will stick with our Math program he still does not like Math but he seems as happy as possible with this Math. God is working on my heart and in the heart of our family. I do not yet know what he is going to do, and I am okay with that. It is odd but there is a peace when it is given over. It is not as if we are not involved in the choices but it is God who gives us the go ahead or the stop sign. I cannot wait to see what he does! I think that it really is an exciting time. The link is to the song that keeps going through my head right now. The line about stepping out on the water is speaking to my heart now.

Sometimes there are really no words. I mean in High School one teacher said that there was no such thing as writers block. Instead just keep putting words down and they will come. I am overwhelmed at times with all the evil things in the world. There is so much. Life is so precious, how is it that I am so blessed and other are not? I do not know the answer to this question. I just know that it is there. Then what do you do? How do you even begin to overcome anything? I mean there are children starving in this world. There are people dying of very curable diseases. There are children who sit day after day in cribs because not only are they orphans but they are in countries that are already so very poor. Yet I am blessed. How do I begin to be a blessing to others? I do not know. There are so many causes out there. Many ways to help. How do you choose one? I am sure there are many worthy causes that we could just give money to. The bigger question is, what if God is calling me to something bigger? What if He is asking me to walk down a road that I am unsure of? What if it requires more of me than I am able to give? Look at that look at all the "What Ifs." What if? What if God can do something huge through me? What if it requires all of me forever? Am I willing or am I afraid of all the what ifs? So I, and really since it involves my husband too it is we, so we stand at a crossroads or maybe it is a pinnacle one that could change us forever. One that would change us forever. Yet as we stand there the big question is "What IF'?

Travel

We are traveling through the West and having a fantastic trip. We started out in Sioux Falls. It was so beautiful to see; there we also visited some relatives. My mother is a twin and we were able to visit with my mother’s twin. It was wonderful to see them together. We saw the city including a buffalo ranch, the falls there, and a wonderful butterfly garden. It was so fantastic to see the area. Lars loved taking pictures there. I will share them as soon as I can get them uploaded. Our next big stop was Dead Wood. We stayed in a rustic but character filled hotel. The hotel had so many of the original doors and some of the wood work. It was clean with high ceilings. We spent two nights there and got our laundry done up while Steve was able to tour the museums there and he loved that. Our next stop was The Bad Lands. Oh my talk about wonder! There are no words to describe what it is like to step out of the car into another land. The rock structures, the pits, the cliffs all brought a lump to my throat and it was hard to take it all in. We are having such a great time and have seen so much more I will continue to update.

Socialization

One of the things that keeps being stated concerning homeschooling is, "What about your child's social skills?" I do understand this in some ways. In other ways I do not. I think that people may picture Lars and I home alone all day everyday. I never pictured this at all so this question, and really often a form of judgement, surprises me. I know that from some people this is an honest concern. Others just use it in their armory as a list of reasons why they are against homeschooling.

I was talking to a friend who also decided to homeschool this year. During this conversation I think I was able to firm up some of my feelings on this. There are really more than one aspect of socialization. The first is what it sounds like social skills. The time spent in the company of others and in this case peers. How does Lars social time stack up against when he was in school? Well in middle school the actual social time was very limited. They had only a 15 minute recess and a half hour lunch. Then there was the time waiting for the bus. Seeing that the crazy bus took forever to get him home after the time change he had very little time to interact with the kids in the neighborhood. Between getting home between 4:30 and 4:45 and home work it left little to no time to play after school. This means for true social time Lars was getting just over 3 hours a week. That is if they actually got recess and were able to talk and socialize at lunch.

With our homeschool schedule Lars is now done when the other kids are getting off the bus. If the weather is nice they are able to play for a good period of time before dinner. Lars also has much more time to play on the weekends since our projects and work are all done during the week. We also do most of our work on a 4 day schedule and we spend about 4 hours at a local park with many other homeschoolers. There are many boys there and they have very well organized games and activities that they put together and play. This is an extended time to really be with, work with, and interact with children of various ages. We are working on plans for something inside for the colder times and times with nasty weather. When I have looked at this Lars actually gets much more social time with his peers now than he did at school.

The second part of socialization comes down to learning how to get along in society's parameters. In this is involved working with others, learning to take leadership, learning to accept leadership, and learning to get your needs met while following society's written and unwritten laws. Children in school work on these a lot; raise your hand to talk, wait in line for the bathroom, wait for a drink, don't interrupt, contribute to a project, don't goof off too much. These are all things that children are exposed to in school.

This is where I as a homeschooling mom must purposely put in items in place. Having Lars accompany me to stores often shows him how to follow many social norms. Norms such as, wait your turn, don't run in the store, don't hit others with your cart, politely ask for what you need, try your best but seek help when needed and so on. However, children learn very well when put with others. Lars is in a Lego Robotics group this year. They are working on programing a robot to solve every day problems. He works in a group of about 10 boys to do this. He is also taking homeschool classes at the zoo and COSI (a local science center). He is also in a homeschool band. When we get back from Florida he will be taking a homeschool PE class. All of these classes give him the opportunity to work in groups with others to accomplish tasks. He can emerge as a leader, a follower, or something in between. If he chooses not to carry his load he will hear about it from his peers.

He is gaining much practice with his social skills with these experiences. One of the parts I really like is that since he is not always with the same groups his role can change as he grows and changes. This allows him the freedom to try being the leader and try being the follower and feel out what each role is like. He does not get pigeon-holed into a role and feel as if he must stay in that because that is what his group of peers expects.

These are my thoughts on socialization. They will probably grow and change as we continue down out homeschool experience. We will also have to figure out what to do for the several weeks we are in Florida. I have found a group of homeschoolers there and several places that offer classes. I hope to be able to participate in these while we are there.

One Child

I always pictured myself the mother to quite a few children. As a young teen I imagined the family I would have one day. I wanted 12 children. As I got older and helped care for other people's children I realized that 12 was a lot. I thought perhaps 2 to 3 children would be ideal, maybe even 4. Never did I picture myself with just one. Yet that is the place the Lord has me.

It was surprising to me to end up divorced shortly after the birth of my son. It was a whole new journey for me. Those first years went so fast, I went to school to get my teaching degree and had a packed schedule between working and mothering and being a student. I met the man that is now my husband when Lars was 4. They took to each other right off. That was so comforting. We married just 2 days after his 6th birthday. I had finished my degree and was looking for teaching work. We were open to more children but I thought that my feelings had changed and I would be fine with or without more children. That year we found out we were expecting. We were thrilled. When we lost that baby it was then that I realised how much I wanted more children. Lars is like a walking advertisement for having children he brings so much joy to our lives.

We have been though over 5 years of heartbreak with secondary infertility. I had never dreamed that if I wanted children that I could not have them. This journey has not been for the faint of heart. I trust that God in his wisdom will do what is really best for our family. I know that. I am also so very thankful for the child we do have and our daughter who I will meet in heaven. I just wish we could add to our family now. Then there are the times that I realise how easy we have it. You know I actually get to sleep through the night, and I do not have to take are car seat and diaper bag with me everywhere. we are very portable and can be very flexible. Those are very good things. I also try hard not to pine aways about not having more and try to really enjoy the one I have.

I love being a mom even if things have not turned out the way I had planned them I still love being a mom.

Best and Worst

Over at Bakers Dozen she is doing a Best and Worst Wednesday. I thought I would try my hand at it. Here is the link I tried to link but cannot do it http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341d7c8453ef0154366c8d95970c



Best Part(s) of Homeschool

Watching my son be very interested in science and bible when he said that his favorite subject is Bible I was thrilled. Here he is with one of his science experiments



Worst part
Listening to his frustration mount as he was working on the next project and he was not understanding the confusing directions and when he followed them it did not work the way it was supposed to. I must learn not to take on his frustration.

Best part of this week so far

Tonight hubby and I will have a date night!

Worst Part

I feel like I am doing a lot each day, but at the end of the day I feel that very little.

Best part of having a 12 year old boy
He is interested in so many things and his thinking skills are really developing. He is challenging ideas and thinking through the whys of things.

The Worst part
I no longer have all the answer for all of his questions

Today

Well today for the first time I think parts of homeschool got to be a challange for Lars. I am pretty sick but I have this week planned out. He also had some things to finish up for last week. So for the most part he was able to work things out with very little input on my part. I made an appointment at the doctor office this morning. When it got time for me to leave he was still asleep. This was okay with me I knew he would be sleeping late because he took his medicine last night. He had not had it in a few days and it can make him pretty tired. So I woke him a little and told him I had to go. When I returned he still had not gotten to work. He continued to putter around for a long time. I did not get mad I just kept my mouth shut and did not push him. Later in the day at the time we normally finish up he asked if he should finish up tomorrow. He was surprised when I told him that he needed to keep working since he had not started till later. He was not too happy but did not really get mad at me about it. He was more upset that he had to finish up in his room instead of the living room since it was our quitting time and the TV would be on. I am anxious to see if this motivates him to begin earlier. We shall see.

I am half thining about having him work on the book I am. It is called 30 Days to Understanding the Bible. I am finding it pretty good it has some real meat to it. It gives a basic understanding of the whole bible. Some of it is basic but it also has some very good points that it brings out. I like some parts of the bible program we chose but I hate the way it just leaps through the bible here, there, and everwhere. I do not like that part. I love the time line and the maps it has. I just do not know why you would study Joeseph before Adam, creation, or Noah or even Abraham.? I will probably use it this year and then just keep the maps. In the mean time I may have him read the book above to give him a basic overview then we can go deeper into each era of the bible. We will have to see about that.