Cooperative Homeschooling--how fun is that!

We joined the LMHSC, and today was our first day. It was fabulous. The kids were so excited about the classes, and everyone was on the hunt for friends. The church where we meet was crammed with kids, around 70 or so. There were classes for all my kids even the baby had a place to be. The four class periods moved very smoothly and my husband was able to come over for lunch with us.
When I collected the kids at the end of the day they were all planning for next week, and I have to confess my teacher genes began to itch. I'd forgotten the pleasure of a group of age mates working on a project. The only thing now is to decide what I'd like to teach and when I'll feel up to adding another responsibility in my crowded life. I could ditch my novel--some of my writer's group suggested I should, but every time I decide to do that my conscience bothers me. At this moment that's the only thing I can jettison, so I guess I've got a year to do my planning.
I love planning!

Playing Hide and Seek with the Saints

This fall I'm surrounded by saints. Since we are studying the medieval period and I wanted to add some uplifting devotional material we're reading the biographies of prominent medieval saints. Some of them were on the menu because if your going to read medieval philosophy you're going to read Augustine and Acquinas. The others I added because I didn't thing you'd have a good grasp of the period without St. Joan of Arc and St Catherine of Sienna. The funny thing with the saints though is the sense that somehow they are with you.
As a former Baptist I wouldn't have expected this to be an important part of my spiritual practice, but it is. It all started with St. Zita who even before there was any serious thoughts about converting adopted me. She is my patron saint and sadly overlooked. I discovered her in a book about find your birthday saint. She's April 27 which you might consider my rebirth in some ways, but it isn't my birthday. I was just drawn to the brief portrait of a household servant whose sanctity was universally acknowledged. She came from being one of the most unimportant people in her household to attain sainthood. When I find myself performing feats of household magic I never thought I'd manage I feel her presence.
The rest of the saints we're learning about help out too. My son is not the best behaved child and whenever he is being a real trial in mass I find myself appealing to St. Monica, Augustine's mother. Whenever I think of St. Francis, I always feel sorry for him. We'll be studying him as well, but the sorrow comes from what must be overuse. Here's my little St. Zita with nothing to do, and poor St. Francis, everyone remembers him. Leave it to me to feel sorry for the saints.
For my own personal reading, I'm learning about Mother Theresa. I'm firmly convinced of her sanctity. Her life inspires and frightens me. She is braver than anyone I know, and always effective when I'm afraid.

Cold Weather Socks

The best thing about summer is the lack of socks. If it were up to me, we'd live in a warm climate where I can go barefoot or in sandals every day. My feet are all kinds of rough and I care not. I like to feel the world spinning around under my feet. My kids love summer sandals too. When it's time to go we stick our feet in and fasten the velcro. Thirty seconds later we're in the van and on our way.
Winter is not so simple, mainly because of the socks. At the moment we have three sizes of socks, not that that stops anyone from trying to wear whatever size they find--only the baby's socks are safe. Peter hasn't realized that there is supposed to be a gender difference between the white tubes we put our feet in, so there isn't much hope there either. I don't know why socks are so difficult to organize, but they are.
We begin with bulk discount packages and dire warnings about abusing or losing socks. I've considered requiring a sock oath, but why tempt my children to sin? The first week or two getting socks and shoes on is only two or three minutes longer, but then, somehow, the socks disappear. The rest of the winter is a constant rerun of the following conversation. "I bought you 15 pairs of socks and you are telling me you can't find any?" or its variant "I bought you 15 pairs of socks and all you can find is this mismatched horror I don't remember purchasing--ever?"
I do love the days when the snow falls and falls and falls and falls. I do love Christmas looking like a post card. I do love the wondrous comfort of a hot beverage after a day of running errands or playing with the kids. I just wish we could enjoy all of that in our bare feet.

Diagram of a Woman's Mind

A friend sent this to me. I can't figure out how to post it so it is animated like the version she sent me, but the idea is right on. All those little blue balls are ideas or decisions a woman has to make. We seldom have the luxury of thinking about one thing at a time, so we've made a strength out of managing whatever presents itself. I had a lot of fun with this thing.

Goodbye to Chekov

In my youth I spent a lot of time in my parent's shadow. In some ways it wasn't a shadow, it was a spotlight. If I chewed gum I was in trouble twice before the flavor was gone. Being the child of two teachers at the school you attend is tough. The most difficult thing for me was sorting out friendships. Who was my friend because they liked me? Who was my friend because they liked my parents? Who was my friend because they wanted to find out good stuff for the gossip mill? The other thing I disliked was what I privately called "The Chekov Effect."
My grandmother was a spoiler. She knew my cousin loved Star Trek, so she painstakingly collected a set of coffee mugs through a magazine offer. The porcelain company sent her two Sulu's and two Chekov's, but no Captain Kirk. She had to go through all kinds of hassel to get Captain Kirk, but when she asked them what she should do with the extra Sulu and Chekov? "Keep them" they said, "nobody wants them anyway." In my life, I was always Chekov. You Checked Off that you had him, but his only real purpose was completeness.
Being Baptist there wasn't any real escape, shoot, I walked into my writer's group and found someone I could play six degrees of being Baptist with. Within a few minutes we'd uncovered a mutual friendship that was pretty significant. I tend to end those conversations back in Chekov mode.
I'm not a Baptist anymore. I love all my Baptist friends. I love my parents, but for the first time I'm just an ordinary church member. I have no parental burden to bear. I have no fond memories that I am required to recount. I'm just the rather inept Catholic trying to remember to bow, then put your left hand on top of your right, then say "Amen" then eat (praying you don't sneeze or drop it or something else equally awful) then cross your self while trying to return to the proper pew gracefully and on time.
The lack of pressure was very scary at first, but now I'm beginning to enjoy it. Discovering who you are when you can be anyone is fun. The best thing though has been the general clearing of my ideas about who my friends are/were, and the closeness I feel without the nagging worry about why people choose to be my friend. Thanks to everyone who's stuck by me in the bad parts. Hopefully the good parts are ahead of us.

Time Tracker

I am currently enjoying the weariness that only teachers and homeschoolers completing their first week of school can truly understand. School this year starts at 9 and ends at 4. It's the only way to fit everything into four days instead of five. This is the first year I've decided to hold firm about homework. If they don't finish within the given hour, they must do it in the evening. It helps that we've banned all electronic media, including the internet during the work week. Tokens for weekend use must be earned by completing the work on time. I thought this was going to be a real drag, but I bought the above device--the Time Tracker--and it really has worked small miracles. They decided to divide the hour evenly between the three sections, and they do try to beat the clock. When the red zone beeps and lights up, the atmosphere in the room changes. The price for this gadget seemed high when I bought it. Now, they could charge me more.
The schedule isn't as bad as I thought it would be. We begin with phonics/writing. On one level I'm teaching the ABC's on the other they are writing essays and preparing speeches. The second hour is math which Kurt grades so I just have to get it done and on his clipboard. Third hour is reading time ranging from The Bug Bag to How to Read a Book. We take a break for lunch and a walk, then we come right back for spelling and handwriting. I still can't believe I have to teach those, but any time I come across my own work I had the same problems. Amnesia is a kind friend. My favorite hour is the sixth where we alternate between Chemistry and history. I wish the whole day could be devoted to science and history. The last hour we work on grammar. This week it was very easy to skip it. I'll have to be more disciplined as the book shifts gears from introductory stuff that's pretty useless to serious instruction.
I have 18 years left of being a mom. Motherhood hasn't had an expiration date before. Bumping into it makes me feel like the clock has left the green zone and entered the yellow. Knowing that makes all the work feel trifling and pleasurable.

Another Milestone

I was updating my poetry file and I've written over 50 poems. They vary in quality and kind, but I'm still proud to have done it at all. Maybe my next milestone should be writing 50 good poems. :)