Dec 30 2013

Starting to Homeschool – Looking Back at 2013

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Adriana Zoder

Looking back at 2013, I can split the year in three sections, even though homeschooling is woven throughout:

1. January-May: preparing to start homeschooling in the fall, I spent my time reading and gathering curriculum. I taught the children in a gentle and relaxed way, with short lessons. We read a lot and worked our way through “Before Five in a Row.” They were both preschoolers.

My daughter gave herself a radical haircut in February and the incident haunted me for months. It still does, as her hair is still growing into what it used to be. I was running errands in town and my mom was watching my children. My mom forgot to put the scissors up. One can put the scissors up 99 times. It’s the 100th time one doesn’t, that the inevitable happens.

My children at Camp Wesley Woods in Townsend, a few days after she cut her hair. This cat looks just like ours. They could not believe their eyes.

2. June-August: my sister, her husband, and their 14-year-old son spent the summer with us. She is a successful blogger in Romania and provided the much-needed inspiration and push for me to start blogging. Yay for older sisters who help younger sisters take new paths!

From the left: the four of us, my sister, mom, nephew and brother-in-law. We enjoyed their company for almost three months – Europeans get amazingly long vacations, don’t they?

3. September-December: I started homeschooling my son officially, as he began kindergarten. My daughter is in preschool and I work with her too, according to her desire. She asks to do math every day.

Children being educated at home work on their projects at the dining room table.

My children working on their books in the beginning of the school year.

Homeschooling and blogging about it sure keep me busy. I enjoy it. I keep telling myself my children will grow up in a flash. Then, I will have all the time in the world to do whatever I might feel that I don’t have time for right now.

Dec 27 2013

My Husband Does Not Want Me to Homeschool

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Adriana Zoder

To all mothers who feel called to homeschool but cannot, because their husbands do not approve:

I don’t know what is going on in your marriage. I have no idea how you two make decisions. But I know that God can intervene, based on what happened to me.

Here’s my story in short:

1. I did not want to homeschool.

2. God changed my heart.

3. I wanted to homeschool.

4. My husband did not.

5. I prayed.

6. God changed my husband’s heart.

7. We homeschool.

Want details? Read on.

Don’t want details? Skip to the last paragraph.

Once I decided homeschooling would be the best for the children, I tried talking to my husband about it, to no avail. We covered many angles. We turned the homeschooling lifestyle inside out. Finally, he decided we would not homeschool.

It wasn’t about the money. It was about:

the unknown
the weirdness factor
the fear our children would resent us
the conviction our children would turn out as social misfits
[insert the usual arguments against homeschooling from people who don’t have much information about it]

I got really, really sad. I felt I lost a dream.

As I counseled with a homeschooling mom, she said, “Adriana, the decision to homeschool happens in a split second. All the odds may be against it in your family. Then, something happens. God makes it possible. God changes hearts, you know?”

She was right.

My husband reads to our children every day. This routine has already created numerous memories.

Just as I resigned myself to visions of PTA meetings and 5K race fundraisers at my children’s future school – because my children were only one and four at the time – my husband said, “OK, let’s homeschool…”

What changed his mind? He said he had this thought: “If homeschooling the kids means so much to my wife, why not let her do it? What harm can it do? If the kids get behind, they can catch up once we put them in school. If she gets overwhelmed with it, it will be her decision to quit. I won’t be the bad guy.”

The Holy Spirit was reasoning with him. I could not win the argument. God could, and He did. My husband listened. Now that’s the key.

God knows your husband. Pray and wait patiently on the Lord. If your husband’s heart does not change about homeschooling, God knows about it. He understands. God knows your heart and He will note your disappointment. Hang in there!

Dec 24 2013

Merry Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Adriana Zoder

Our family is taking two weeks of break from homeschooling. Of course, learning never stops. My son keeps practicing his violin and putting together LEGO Education models. My daughter asks to do math and reading. I work with her for 15 minutes or until she loses focus. But the pace is slow and the projects are initiated by them. We read to them every day.

We have been baking cookies for neighbors and other special people in our lives. The children were so excited to deliver the goodies. That’s Home Ec. and service on my list of educational objectives, but I don’t record them through the holiday season.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours – The Zoder Family

We wish you and your family a peaceful and joyous holiday season and a Merry Christmas!

Dec 20 2013

French Friday, 4 Calendar Vocabulary Games

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Adriana Zoder

If you need a bit more fun in your homeschool, use the French calendar vocabulary flash cards I made a few weeks ago with the following four games:

1. Attach the French days of the week vocabulary cards to your calendar display. Cover the days of the week in English with your French cards. If the English words are bigger than the French cards, you can glue the French flash cards onto bigger paper, like construction paper.

Attach the cards with push pins or clothes pins onto your calendar board. Ask your students to recite the days of the week in French first. Then, reveal the English words.

2. If you have eight or more students, have seven students carry a day of the week flash card and another child arrange them in order. Take turns. If you have less than eight, you can have your students carry two cards each, in order.

Another variation: the students can arrange the flash cards in sequential order on the table. For kinesthetic learners, put the cards on the floor, on a hopscotch rug or on a hopscotch outline you made with pencils or popsicle sticks.

If the weather permits it, play the game outside, on a hopscotch drawn with chalk in your driveway. They can say the name of each day as they reach the respective square.

3. Have your students make up a song with the days of the week to the tune of an English song they know well. Try “Twinkle, Twinkle” or “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

4. To rehearse the names slowly, show them how to break the word into syllables, e.g. “mar-di.” Clapping the beats of the syllables is a great way to experience the pronunciation in slow repetition – essential for memorization.

Hope these games bring a bit more variety and fun to your homeschool learning. A bientôt!

For more French Friday posts, click here.

Dec 16 2013

Fake It Till You Make It – In Homeschooling or Life In General

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Adriana Zoder

In homeschooling, some subjects can or should be delegated. Two weeks ago, we found a violin teacher for our son.

Since then, he has had two lessons and we have practiced daily. I say “we” because I brought out my violin (I took eight years of lessons as a child) and played alongside him.

He is still not comfortable with the bow, so he plucks the strings – pizzicato in music terms. Apparently, that is just fine, because most children do not start bowing until lesson five or six. Beginners must focus on so many other issues: holding the violin, not letting it slide down their chest, standing straight and not shifting weight from leg to leg etc etc etc.

Since the teacher’s other students had a recital last week, she thought it might be good for my son to join in. Yes, after only two lessons. He would get to see other children play and get inspired. We will get to see how well he deals with stage fright. Brilliant plan.

The location? An assisted living facility in Knoxville. The budding musicians would put smiles on the faces of their parents, as well as those of elderly people.

The teacher chose a piece for him – a duet with her. Since I play violin, I practiced her part with him for two days before the recital, twice a day. That was all the time we had.

And, just like that, my son performed in his very first recital. The teacher covered a lot of his, shall we say, growth areas.

After only two violin lessons, my son does pizzicato for his first recital, while his teacher plays a more elaborate tune.

Even though he was nervous, he made it through. He even decided to walk up with the other students, when they lined up, and play for the group pieces – which he had never heard or played before. He certainly did not have to play with them. The teacher told him that.

What did he play? Not sure. I could not hear his pizzicato from all the strings. But he stood there and plucked strings on his violin until the end. You know what they say: fake it till you make it. My son did exactly that. Nobody knew that he did not know the music.

My son stands with other students who perform a group piece. He plucked away, having never practiced before.

My son stands with other students who perform a group piece. He plucked away, having never practiced the tunes before.

If that isn’t a metaphor for homeschooling… No matter how much you prepare, you will have days when you must do something you are not fully prepared for. My adage is, fake it till you make it. It goes for many other areas of life, don’t you think?

Dec 13 2013

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Adriana Zoder

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is the best thing for homeschool since sliced bread. The yearly membership option is the way to go if you want to save money – yours for only $139 for the entire family. There are so many courses to go through. You don’t want to be limited by time as you would be if you invested in this educational opportunity only one month at a time.

If you want a co-op experience, by all means take your children to a brick-and-mortar co-op in your area. We tried it and loved it, but we had to give it up after one semester because of the drive (50 minutes one way).

My children were five and two at the time. We chose only three courses per child because it would have been too much to stay there the whole day, for five courses each. It was tough to wake them up early once a week, too. Over time, the ride wore them down. I got worn out, too.

So, needless to say, I am pretty excited about SchoolhouseTeachers.com, where I can access more than 50 courses for the same amount of money, no alarm clock and no commute. Online learning rocks.

These courses are for all school ages, from preschoolers to highschoolers, and there is plenty in there just for mom – like convention recordings (I listened to one by Heidi St. John), planners (right there I saved at least $40 on a planner for me and one for my son who is in kindergarten) and e-books (149 of them by the end of the year).

Since my son does math on a first grade level and reads on a third grade level, while his official grade is kindergarten, it’s nice to have a buffet of courses on different levels. This allows for a customized education – one of the main advantages of homeschooling.

As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I receive a free membership for a year and let me just say this: my homeschool experience has already improved in only ten days of taking advantage of this online learning source.

We accessed preschool activities and crafts from the pre-K/elementary tab by clicking on Homegrown Preschool and Schoolhouse Preschool. I’ll be really honest and tell you that after reading through some of these activities I felt discouraged because making cinnamon-scented ornaments, glittery peppermint playdough or minty green goop seems overwhelming to me.

I would rather cuddle up with my children with a stack of books. I read to them for an hour straight and we only pause for water breaks. But then, I know they really enjoy crafts, so where is the balance?

Luckily for me, the preschool section contains lots of crafts and activities that fit my position on the arts-and-crafts spectrum, like Stained Glass Canvass or Painting Sunflowers.

As I looked through the Elementary Student Planner, I found a cute song in the geography section about the seven continents. I was not planning to teach my children the continents this year. But guess what? They know them because we sang this song a couple of times, in front of a world map, for the past few days.

Then, there’s the Charlotte Mason section – 16 weeks worth of how-to articles and free resources to implement a Charlotte Mason education in your home. I so look forward to systematically going through it starting on January 1.

I have already skimmed through it and found a great blog post from Ambleside Online about establishing the routine of tea time. Slowing down at 3:30 pm to brew herbal tea and smear jam on scones goes against most of the grains in my body, except the one that says, “Take time to enjoy your children.”

I have a strong tendency toward Classical Education, which is why I am happy to see there are courses in Classical History and Classical Archaeology. However, I love the Charlotte Mason approach, too and was looking to create a moment in the day when I do not interact with my children while keeping in mind specific goals. I think I just found it, through tea time.

Sure, we open A Year in Art and look at two or three paintings, according to their interest. And yes, we open the atlas so they know where Louveciennes or Delft are – locations mentioned in the paintings.

But other than that, we sit there and put something sweet and warm in our tummies and talk. I let them open the conversation and bring up whatever topic they want to talk about. I have already found out some things about my children of which I was not aware. And that’s the main reason I homeschool my children – to enjoy them, to get to know them, and to give them the best of me – however much or little it represents.

Dec 9 2013

3 Tips to Avoid Homeschool Burnout

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Adriana Zoder

The über-famous picture of Earth taken by the last lunar crew, Apollo 17, back in December 1972, has inspired generations over the past four decades. What’s the connection between the blue marble and homeschooling? Just look at that beauty hanging in space. When you get overwhelmed with homeschooling and your world, you should take a look at the world. It puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

The Earth seen from Apollo 17

As astutely noticed by David Thornburg, when they took this picture, the Apollo astronauts were going to the Moon. They looked forward to it. Literally. They also had the sense to turn around and look at what they left behind. And they snapped this picture.

As you push forward in your homeschooling efforts, it might help to look back now and then, especially if you feel the brink of burnout drawing closer. Here are 3 things you should do when you feel homeschooling burnout creeping in:

1. Stop teaching altogether. Allow yourself a few days. Call them “in-service.” Take your children to their outside-the-home educational activities, but do not teach in the home. Read up on favorite topics. Window shop. Take walks. Your children benefit from free play. You can always catch up on planned lessons.

2. Change perspectives. Have you been on the road a lot lately? Stay home. Have you been cooped up? Take a field trip. Have you spent too much time cleaning and sprucing up the house in addition to homeschooling? Stop cleaning. Has the house seen better days? Clean it up.

3. Look back at the moment when you first thought of homeschooling. It might make you cringe, but it might also inspire you. That first hint of interest in teaching your own children, that first conversation with God about your inadequacies and fears, that first trip to a used curriculum fair and the confirmation that – wonder of wonders! – homeschoolers do not have three eyes…

You know your experience better than anybody else. Think about it and see where that meditation takes you. Hopefully it will be a place of warm, fuzzy feelings and a renewed resolve to guide your children’s education. Homeschooling is an adventure and a journey. Let’s see the forest while looking at the trees.

Dec 8 2013

Top Mommy Blogs – I’m a Member

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Adriana Zoder

When I started this blog in August, I looked around for some mommy blog directories where I can meet other mommy bloggers. I found topmommyblogs.com, but I could not join right away. They have really high standards to join. For starters, one must have been blogging for at least three months before applying. Then, there are some other criteria.

I put it on my calendar to apply in November and started blogging my heart out about my passion, which is homeschooling my children. I almost forgot about joining this site, but my calendar reminded me about it.

So when my blog turned three months old, I applied to TopMommyBlogs.com and got accepted. I immediately put their badge on the right side menu for all to see and vote for me.

I have not said much about them because I did not want anybody to get confused between the voting going on at Homeschool Blog Awards and this voting, at Top Mommy Blogs.

The Top Mommy Blogs website is ranked highly for its high quality content, as well as for the many incoming links from all these amazing, quality blogs. If you are into coupons, head over there right now because they have a special section for coupon blogs. Many other blogging categories are represented, from adoption stories to working moms, to spiritual and religious, to travel and activities.

And yes, there is the homeschooling category, where I am ranked #3 at the moment. Those rankings vary based on the number of people that vote for me from my blog’s front page – see badge on the right-hand menu. Every time you visit my site, you can click on that badge to be taken to their site – which gives me a vote.

What do I win? Recognition in the homeschooling category and overall. In other words, higher rankings on their page. Which means more traffic – more opportunities for me to help a homeschooling mom who is perhaps going through what I am going through. If I don’t get clicks, over time, they take me off their site. Not good. So please click for me on the badge below, above, or from the right hand menu. Whenever you remember, whenever you have an extra second. Thank you!

Dec 6 2013

French Friday, Weather

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Adriana Zoder

The weather outside is frightful, so we might as well talk about it, right? Here are some expressions to get you started with small talk in French. Please find a PDF link below, to use in your homeschool.

French Weather

For more French Friday posts, please click here.

Dec 2 2013

2013 National Gingerbread House Competition

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Adriana Zoder

We took two days off from homeschool to celebrate Thanksgiving, but does learning ever stop?

Ice Sculpture Pilgrims, Grove Park Inn

What if we took a trip to a hotel that has been around for 100 years – where we saw a 1914 Ford T-model and where the likes of Thomas Edison, John Ford and many politicians and celebrities have stayed? Would that qualify as a field trip?

The main lobby features two giant fire places – The Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC

Thanksgiving Day found us at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. My husband’s family came there to meet us and we enjoyed a great feast.

The banquet hall featured ice sculptures such as this one.

We also got to walk around this century-old establishment to admire the 2013 National Gingerbread House Competition Top 10 winners in four different categories: Adult, Youth, Teen and Child. I wish you could smell the gingerbread. Enjoy the pictures!

Of course, we spent a few minutes gazing at the Grand Prize Winner – two adorable Panda bears chewing into their bamboo sticks.

Holding my daughter as we look at the 2013 National Gingerbread House Competition Grand Prize

Before we left, we looked for the outdoor fire place and we found it. We also found this adorable teddybear.

Our children posed in front of the outdoor fireplace, with an oversized sleigh and teddybear – The Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC

I feel very tempted to put this down as a homeschool field trip, but I won’t. It will go down in our family history as a family trip and a Thanksgiving celebration.

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