Our newest garden bed

I hope that this works out in the cool way we envisioned it and doesn't end up as aesthetically pleasing as a van bench on the front porch.  Neal and I went to what is know as Peter's place (the flea/junk/eyesore/ shop) and he came upon an idea for our square foot garden.  We might as well plant one since the grass is mostly weeds anyway.  We decided on an actual bed frame as the surround, and even found a discarded composting bin .. all for fifteen bucks!  So, my man will likely keep you filled in with pictures, while I try to think of something else to blog about ...



The other really cool thing we experienced this week was not, perhaps, as emotional as a kindergarten graduation (not really "done" here in the homeschool circles) but definitely elicited cheers all around ...

 



I have no idea how it is that a Mamma robin can build a nest right over your head without you noticing, but I guess that is all part of God's plan.  We had a great time watching these three (though you cannot see the third in this pic) stretch their necks for a feed, and scrunch down to hide whenever we approached the garage.  One of them looked a ton like "Beeker" from the Muppet Show.  He had the craziest "hair" ever ...  Anyway, we were enjoying the beautiful weather last night out on the porch and, as usual, were staring over in the robin direction when it happened.

fat boy (aka Beeker) flew the coup!  I have always wanted to see the whole thing from start to finish, but never have I been so obliged until now.  He hopped along the top ledge of the garage for quite some time until taking flight.  We all cheered (Neal missed it because he just stepped inside for a quick minute) like he was one of us; freedom realized is a beautiful thing.

One down, two to go ... *UPDATE*

My oldest went outside with me to water the garden and were delighted to watch the last robin fly the coup, sort of.  Actually, he glided down from the garage and ended up inside.  I guess his wings aren't quite dry.  My son walked slowly around the car from the left so mr. robin would hobble out to the right, and onto the grass.  His legs aren't so great yet either.  He fell quite a number of times in his attempt at independence when just yesterday he was being fed by his mamma. 

I thought of me

I want to do it all on my own and I am not always willing to wait for the best timing.  I wobble and stumble, sqwaking all the while, trying to show off and prove that I know exactly what I am up to until ...

hilarious.  little chubb got himself stuck in a hole ... in lattice ... in the fence ... in my garden.  Yep, that's me allright.

new site full of homeschool videos

I really like the Erskine site as it is, but now this is even cooler.  My guys watched these videos when they got back from delivering papers.  Here is the link for you to check them out (but you have to sign up) 

freehomeschoolvideos

tomorrow I will be teaching French to the 5-9 year olds as well as the 10 and up class. Sensass. Je parle Francais, mais, je parle un peu du Français.  Naturellement... j'ai un professeur fantastique (bonne chance).

the happy problem

As things are beginning to wind down to a close for summer (yes!) we spent the morning here tying up loose ends.  The boys have been working really hard to fill the requirements for as many Cub and Scout badges they can before the year is out.  My oldest just brought home his beautiful canoe paddle ... complete with burnished initials and the year.  It is deserving of a home on his bedroom wall, made of Arizona Cypress, and waiting to be dipped in Bear Creek in June for the over-night canoe trip.  He spent the morning researching pinhole cameras. 

My youngest swims up the second week in May (becomes a Scout) and will make for easier badge work around here since they will be in the same troop again, meeting on the same day of the week (free date night for Ma and Pa!).  He was introduced to my beloved sewing machine and undertook the task of making bean bags.  His Dad helped him find an easy pattern on the Internet last night while I was at rehearsal.  So, what have I got to complain about?

The happy problem?

The ten year old, on his very first try, sews a straighter line than me.

Move Over, Charlotte

we had a really great homeschool weekend (I know, maybe I should let the kids rest, but homeschooling is life, right?)  Saturday had us at a Scout car rally since my oldest placed first for the Bluewater area a few months back.  None of us really,  really wanted to go, but we knew that the other family competing with us were some good homeschool friends.  What we didn't know was there is a wee black history museum nestled in the corner of the building we would be racing in.  Chatham, Ontario, is a place full of history, being on the underground railroad route (I find myself completely fascinated by black history and wanting to learn more and more).

Yesterday we went to church and then felt a need to celebrate the first warm weekend yet by spending the rest of the day gathering and burning brush.  We live in town, but we can have a fire if we also have a water source or fire extinguisher near by and are also cooking (hotdogs and smores always count).  In the process we not only saw a great toad, and helped him move in,







By the time we had also witnessed a rabbit, a woodpecker, multiple robins and squirrels, this little toad had completely buried himself and, we hope, settled in for a long summer of garden life.  (I have to refrain from posting all the pictures so my boys can have a post today, too!) If we hadn't had our eyes open, all this would have still happened but we would have been none the wiser.  Imagine.  I wonder what else simply passes us by because we are too busy to take the time to reflect?  I am beginning to practice the art of seeing by "being".  I mean that I am trying to remember to take some time each day, in the middle of whatever it is that presents itself as pressing, to stop and observe what is happening on the outside of my concentration.  I think it's working.

While I was off at another rehearsal, my husband and boys took a bike ride.  Normally they would go the "back way" downtown, but last night they took a detour to Bear Creak and were rewarded with the sight of a muscrat ... as close as 5 feet the boys estimate.  No one else to see it but my three.  The muscrat swam straight down the overflow of the dam, too (a small waterfall, but cool to see him in action).  We already own a muscrat skull from a previous adventure ... now to do some more research to add to our science notebook.  What did you see this weekend?

Is God Safe?

The latest plan of the RCMP:

The RCMP is gathering aerial photographs and blueprints of thousands of schools and universities across Canada as part of its plan for responding to school shootings, unveiled Thursday.  You can read the rest of the article here.

It reminds me of the preciousness of peace.  Last night, as soon as my husband turned  out the light above our bed, our little kitten crawled over to my neck and snuggled in for the night.  I had no choice but to curl my right arm around his fuzzy, warm body thinking all the while that I was like the wee child sleeping with her beloved stuffed teddy bear for comfort.  Then my thoughts moved to the wonderful man already asleep beside me (how come he falls asleep so quickly?) and how I appreciate the nights he is home to turn off the lights and lock up the house for us.  I love his concern over our home and our little family.  He makes me feel secure. 

I am thankful that the RCMP is doing all they can at this time to be prepared for what could happen.   I trust that they will do their utmost to protect us with whatever resources they have, in whatever capacity they can.  I am thankful that the Lord has blessed me with a healthy, strong, competent, hard-working husband that can do his best to offer us his protection; to cover us with prayer whenever we are weak with fear.  I am doing all I can to learn all about this God who holds me captive by His love ... so that even in the darkness, I can trace His path like the steps I know to take in my house in the middle of the night.  I want to know him like the back of my hand.

I know there are people out there who question how I can serve a God who lets innocent people die, as happened in the Virginia tragedy. 

"Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord" ---  Romans 12:19 NASB 

I am reminded of the Erwin McManus quote "We serve a dangerous God.  His is not safe but He is good."  He doesn't tell people to hate, kill and destroy.  His Spirit grieves when His children suffer.  He weeps when we weep.  I don't have the answers for huge questions like that, but I know He does, and He can handle the asking.

am I the only one?

Am I the only one who, coming to the beginning of a new homeschooling week and looking back on the one that preceeded it, sees that she spent a lot of time doing something but cannot necessarily find a category heading to file it under?

not that I am worried.

I took a VARK learning styles test earlier in the week (one of the many somethings I mentioned earlier) and was relieved to discover that those of us who talk out loud to ourselves are simply proving that we are auditory learners (not in need of psychotherapy after all).  I have also discovered that I am a  very global thinker (which my husband has been trying to tell me all these years.   I just couldn't  quite "picture" it).  As a matter of fact, I am so global that even though I have read Cynthia Tobias' book The Way They Learn many times over, I still don't get it!

I  learned a lot more about my teaching style this week too (yep, another something) when I linked from the Homeschool Minute to the Cindy Downes site .  I find it mildly humourous that my boys have tried desperately to get me to convert from military school (as they seem to view it some days) to un-schooling, and I scored a big 68% in favour of that method!  I react very strongly to being referred to as an unschooler for some reason (methinks thou dost protest too much).  I like to remind the boys that we are "home-schooling" in general, not just "home-ing"  I also scored 72% for Charlotte Mason, though it was not a surprise.  The next in line was Unit Studies, at 64%, another funny because I tell my husband and great friend on a regular basis how much "I hate Unit Studies ... they so don't work for us", to which my husband replies "didn't you just finish writing one?"

If nothing else, I am slowly (painfully slowly) beginning to realize that not only do I homeschool eclectically, but I basically do life eclectically.   I may have been at this homeschooling experiment for 6 years now, but I still like to say that I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.  I am having fun, and have my hand in many pots right now (I act in the local theatre group, I sing and write songs for guitar though I cannot read "proper" music, I am a lino print maker and an altered book artist, a writer of poetry and curriculum, a Mom who loves to homeschool, and a wife to a fantastic man who still hasn't figured out the best way to do life either).

We are eclectic, and we are full.

filled with ... fear?

I am, unfortunately, a woman whose life is sometimes driven by fear.  Not that I am neurotic (though I am sure there is a quiz out there somewhere that could tell me differently), but in the stillness of my mind, when I take the time to just "be", that is when I realize I invite a lot of fear in.  I am not resigning myself to the thought that "this is just how I was made", however.  It is not true.

I saw a man on Oprah yesterday (yes, I really do enjoy her show for the most part) who defined the role of perception.  He claims, and I am inclined to agree with him, that it is the job of our perception, in our brain, to prove to us that what we think is actually right.  If I think that life is dull, boring, not so great, and never in my favour, then my "perceptors" will seek out circumstances that are dull, boring, not so great, and never in my favour, to prove to me that I am correct in that line of thinking.  On the flip side, if I believe that I am a joyful person, happy, contented, secure, and living a fantastic life, then my perception will work to pick up on the circumstances around me to prove my theory that life is, well, life is excellent!

Imagine what adopting that truth could do to my fear

Who is Responsible for Your Children's Education?

The following is a brief overview of the roles of some of the individuals and groups responsible for publicly funded elementary and secondary education in Ontario.  The duties are legislated in the province's "Education Act", Chapter E.2, Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1990, as ammended.:

The Ontario Government and the Education Act

Education is a provincial and government responsibility in Canada.  In Ontario, education is governed principally by the "Education Act" and its regulations.  The "Education Act" and its regulations set out duties and responsibilities of the Minister of Education and the duties and responsibilities of school boards, school board supervisory officers, principals, teachers, parents and students.

the Minister of Education

School Boards

Principals

Teachers

Students

Parents

School Councils

Ontario College of Teachers

Education Quality and Accountability Office

These links are pretty comprehensive and include a number of duties for each section.  Though I admit I did not read them in depth, I saw a lot of requirements for the person who holds the title, and it seemed reasonable considering the number of children in a typical school on a typical day.  Under the title of Students, if you didn't look already, one will find the following:

Students are responsible for:

• attending classes and taking examinations; and


• exercising self-discipline and behaving courteously toward both their teachers and their fellow students.

Sounds reasonable to any homeschooling parent, right?  It is something we all strive for and, usually, accomplish fairly easily because we homeschool ... together.  It was when I read the role of the parent that I was literally stunned.  I scrolled down the page farther, hoping to find the missing or mis-laid requirements, but there were none.

Parents are responsible for:

• ensuring their children attend school.  Generally speaking, attendance is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16.

And that is all "they" wrote.  Parents of public school children need only be responsible to drop their children off at the "brick box".  They don't even need to feed them breakfast anymore if they don't want to (or can't?).  Just drive them there, or make them walk.

Might explain a LOT...

just stay home, again or still

I was trying to take advantage of the fact that, being Good Friday, my husband is home for the whole day, when I stumbled upon some laughable quotes.  At least, they are laughable to me because my kids aren't subject to the "system".  As a matter of fact, here in Ontario, as homeschoolers we are free to do whatever we please, whenever it pleases us.  No school system needs to know we are even homeschooling at all.  My husband and I have chosen to let them know, usually, each year because we have had our boys in Public school for a few months, but it is not necessary and most of my friends don't bother.  You don't need a B.A. to homeschool in High School, though I happen to have one.  I am free to ask the local Principal if I may borrow textbooks, and he is free to tell me "no".  So far, the idea has not tempted me. 

I was looking online at the new and improved Ministry guidelines for public schools (grades K to 12 now that grade 13 has been abolished) and laughed outloud.  This is what I read under Science,

The development of skills and knowledge in science and technology is often related to learning in other subject areas. When planning programs, teachers should emphasize this cross-curricular learning by:

• coordinating the teaching of related content in two or more subject areas


• providing opportunities for students to work towards expectations in two or more subjects within one lesson.

Isn't this what homeschoolers have been doing forever?  If the "system" would like some help in diversifying, planning, writing curriculum and the like, why don't they just come and job shadow?

Heavy on the "home" in homeschool

My husband had a pretty bad day a while back, and now it's bit me in the behind, too.

You know it's a test of self-control when:

your oldest son has started night-coughing, again, seemingly without ceasing, for what feels like the thirty-first day in a row, only this time he coughs so hard that his gordita supper lands on his (why?) stupid, organic, cannot be machine-washed or dry cleaned, or anything other than spot-washed for that matter, comforter that, of course, was free but would cost hundreds of dollars to replace, and it is raining outside so I cannot hang it out, along with his Buckley's that obviously now is not going to have the desired effect on his coughing that is still going on at 4 am.

My husband woke up, finally, at the sweet hour of 8 am, not even close to 6:15 am, precisely half an hour after the work day begins for him, approximately twenty minutes from his office.  My loving response, in my haze?  "are you going to get fired?"  His eyes were almost as big as his hair (move over Bob Ross).

I came downstairs to call my parents and ask them how to clean the dumb cannot be cleaned by any means comforter because they have one too, and they even were the ones who gave me the cursed thing in the first place, and that was when cat number two stunk up the whole lower level doing his thing in the litter box, except when I turned to look, he had actually done his thing all up the side of the wall, the water meter box, and the floor.

did I mention that today is also "regular" laundry day?

I think homeschool today is going to be a little heavy on the home.