like Mary

Someday I will learn to be like Mary and "keep these things and ponder them in (my) heart. Hopefully, I learn sooner than later. I do talk to much and I am sorry if I offend.

One of my friends forwarded a link to this post to me. I think I will keep a copy with me always. :)

The Bitter Homeschooler’s Wish List

By Hannah Russell-Davis

November 9, 2007

Tags: homeschool, humor, lifestyle design.

There are predictable reactions when people find out we homeschool our kids. So, when I ran across this rant in Secular Homeschooling Magazine, I had to laugh…hard…and share it with you all. Consider yourself warned. We homeschoolers can be a scrappy bunch.

1. Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is — and it is — it’s insulting to imply that we’re criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?

2. Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you’re talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we’ve got a decent grasp of both concepts.

3. Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.

4. Don’t assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.

5. If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.

6. Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You’re probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you’ve ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.

7. We don’t look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they’re in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we’re doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.

8. Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.

9. Stop assuming that if we’re religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.

10. We didn’t go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.

11. Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn’t have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don’t need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can’t teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there’s a reason I’m so reluctant to send my child to school.

12. If my kid’s only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he’d learn in school, please understand that you’re calling me an idiot. Don’t act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.

13. Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We’re the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it’s crowded and icky.

14. Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we’re into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don’t have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

15. Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don’t get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I’m one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.

16. Don’t ask my kid if she wouldn’t rather go to school unless you don’t mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn’t rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.

17. Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it’s some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you’re horrified. One of these days, I won’t bother disagreeing with you any more.

18. If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you’re allowed to ask how we’ll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can’t, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn’t possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.

19. Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child’s teacher as well as her parent. I don’t see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.

20. Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he’s homeschooled. It’s not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.

21. Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she’s homeschooled.

22. Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.

23. Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.

24. Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won’t get because they don’t go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.

25. Here’s a thought: If you can’t say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!

Science

Science is one of our favorite subjects.  See here we are learning chemistry/marine biology. 

OK, really it was just clean out the fish tank day.  Amazing how much real learning takes place when you don't have to fake it.  

Homeschool perks

Being homeschoolers has lots of perks.  One of the perks is that you get serious discounts on really great gymnastics classes.  We took our first class today.  It was very fun.  

This afternoon we had our first jam session for the Gospel show that is coming up in March.  I love to hear all the kids playing together.  I tried to get pictures but they turned out really dark.  Homeschooling is good for music lessons too.  Our teacher is booked full for after school slots, but we got in because we can be there at 2:00.  I love our new teacher and all the group stuff we get to do really helps and makes playing fun.  

Of course the best perk is that we get to be together!

More studying

Can you see his tooth?  The other one popped just barely.  HAPPY DAYS!  Goodness I love my kids!

Other news.  I have been studying Rh disease this week.  It turns out that when one is first sensitized to Rh D+, one forms IgM antibodies.  IgM antibodies cannot cross the placenta!  What does that mean and why do I care?  Well I'll tell you.  

It means that as long as I take my vitamins, eat my veggies, and stick with the midwifery model of care, I could have a dozen kids if I wanted to!  Sorry, Ky I guess you can't have all my stuff just yet.  

The only way it is a problem is if I am again exposed to rh + blood. A second exposure will cause my body to produce  IgG antibodies (which can cross the placenta and attack baby's red blood cells).  

What could cause a second exposure?

Well, of course, trauma such as a car accident, but also such things as amnios, managed third stage labor, and, possibly, ultrasounds.  

Why midwifery?

Going to an OB with a pregnancy is like sending a kid to "check" to see if the Caden is awake. (Bang the door open, flip the light on, poke, poke, "Yep, Mom, he's awake!)

I love my midwives.  They take care of me and my baby.  I am a person, not a chart, and they listen to me.  They tailor their care to MY needs not the needs of their legal department.  If a problem arrises, we work together to figure it out and make the decisions together. 

God gave us our own agency, I like to use mine.  

PS No, I am not pregnant yet.  I'll keep you posted.  Don't hold your breath.

PPS I highly recommend the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control and Pregnancy Achievement by Toni Weschler, MPH.  Thanks for the tip, Jill!  Great book!

PSS Also Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth (spelling could be off there.)  This book will help you like your children enough to want to have more.  Again, Thanks for the tip, Jill.

Homeschool Chemistry

So I have been studying cooking lately using Alton Brown as my mentor (through his DVDs and Cookbooks that are so handily available at our local library - good stuff!).  Anyway, Randy took me on a date (yes, a real DATE!) a couple of weeks ago and we ate at Fuddrucker's Restaurant.  As we were ordering our food, I suddenly really wanted to see their kitchen.  So I asked to speak to a manager and asked him if he ever did kitchen tours for homeschool groups.  He said that he had never thought of such a thing but it sounded like fun and he would love to do it.  

I invited a few other families and we went this morning.   It was great!  I had a great time and I think the kids did too.  We got to see the kitchen and walk in the fridge and stuff.  The very best part was when we got to go into the in store bakery where they make their own buns, bread, and treats.  We got to sample some treats and play with their dough.  They have great dough! Here's what I learned: heat = height.  It's so simple, I can't believe I never learned it before.  

What, you don't know what I'm talking about?  Ok, I'll explain.

When your dough is raising, the more heat you have the higher your dough will raise (to a point, too hot and it will cook).  If you want wider dough, you want more humidity.  And, conversely, if you want less spread on your dough, lower the humidity.  

It's that great!  I love the chemistry in cooking.  Maybe I would have learned chemistry better if Mr. Bill had used more food.  The only food he ever had was bananas and oatmeal, and he never shared that.  

I love this homeschooling stuff!

 

Here Let Me Help You with That, Mom.

Look at my BABY!  He forgets all the time that he is supposed to be a baby.  Darn kid, growing way too fast.  He will be seven months old tomorrow.  

Fairytale Ball

The girls and I had a girls night out last night.  We attended an elegant fairytale ball in a beautiful castle.  There was dancing, crafts, and food.  Fun was had by all.  When the clock struck 8:00, the beautiful castle turned back into a library and all the princesses had to return home.  

We have AWESOME librarians!

quick update

Caden got his first tooth today.
Colin got glasses on Friday.
Randy turned 33 today.
Grace is a Sunbeam.

Don't Blink!

In case anyone was wondering why I haven't posted in a while, I submit these photos.  One day you give birth to a tiny, little, helpless fellow and the next thing you know, he is turning into a real boy and becomes impossible to keep track of!  He is getting so fast!  I can't keep up.  He is crawling all over the place.  Today he tried climbing on the stool and learned to crawl through the tunnels. As I am posting this, the crazy little guy is attempting the stairs.  YIKES!  

He loves to eat his solids, especially peaches, and his sisters are thrilled to help with that job. (Hooray for big sisters!  A big sister should come standard with every new baby, they are very handy to have around.)  

His pincher grasp is developing nicely and he can find choking hazards to practice it on no matter how recently I just vacuumed or swept.  

Motherhood is very scary and very, very fun!