Tag Archives: Thoughtful Thursday

Jul 2 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 27 – Homeschool Conferences

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I have said it before, and I will say it again: homeschooling parents should attend a homeschool conference at least once a year. Sorry for should-ing all over you, but you should. I am not saying you should spend money on transportation, hotels and restaurants to get to one. But if you have a local event, by all means change your schedule, get a second job to pay for the fee, volunteer at the conference for discounts, do whatever it takes and attend.

Adriana Zoder and Susan Wise Bauer at the Appalachian Home Educators Conference in Knoxville, June 2015

With Susan Wise Bauer at the Appalachian Home Educators Conference in Knoxville, June 2015

The reason people don’t attend homeschool conferences is that they don’t think they will get enough value out of them. I know, I know, some of you are saying, “That’s not true. Some actually can’t afford a conference.” I can agree with that only for the extremely poor, but even they make an effort to earn some extra money for something they deem valuable.

Ultimately, it is human nature to choose activity A over activity B because activity B does not offer as much satisfaction or perceived value as activity A. Sure, I understand schedule conflicts. I also understand lack of resources. I even understand the fact that homeschooling parents are afraid of being made to feel inadequate in their efforts by so-called homeschooling experts.  Continue reading »

Jun 25 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 26 – Summer Camp

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Our son attended Cohutta Springs Youth Camp in Crandall, GA for five days (and five nights). It was very difficult to be without him for me. I missed him a lot, especially the first day. Deciding to send him there was a God thing back in May, so now that it was all done and settled, I prayed harder for peace. Peace finally came, along with confirmations that he was having a wonderful time. One of the counselors happens to be our sitter and she texted me by the second day that he was doing well and enjoying his time there.

He really enjoyed himself there. Every day, each cabin experienced four activities from a list which included: archery, swimming, BMX, the blob (giant air-filled pillow floating on their lake), banana boat rides (two boats shaped like bananas, connected in the middle, three kids per side), creative arts (they painted ceramic turtles), canoeing, indoor sports in the gym on rainy days, and more. Each cabin had their own worship time in the morning and then, as a whole, the campers assembled for morning and evening worship.

They put pictures on their secure site for parents to look at and it was fun to look for our son’s lovely face every day. He did not appear in the slide shows every day, as they could not get all the kids in there. When we did spot him, it was such a strange feeling: our son, so far away, having fun and living life away from us for almost a week.

Children and counselor at Cohutta Springs Youth Camp

My son (Superman shirt) with friends plus their counselor

It is not exactly a good feeling, but I decided I was going to be brave and accept the cycle of life. Children grow up. Continue reading »

Jun 11 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 24 – Completion

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Learning never ends, but school years do. After 180 days of school, we were happy to take our children out for a nice lunch at The Wild Plum Tea Room and give them their Certificates of Completion. Our son finished first grade, and our daughter Pre-Kindergarten.

We would like to go to the same restaurant every year for this event, but maybe that’s not necessary. Maybe every year we will feel like trying a different place. Who knows what the future will bring?

Completion

But The Wild Plum was a great choice for this year. They serve their delicious orange tea and many healthy choices.

Too bad it is not exactly man food. Our principal was not too fond of their menu, but we made it through and had a good time as a family (and school).  Continue reading »

Jun 4 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 23 – Growth

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My children are growing. They are doing what everybody else’s children are supposed to do: grow. It is glorious to behold and sad and so exhilarating at the same time. The first time they do something new, I rejoice. Then, I take a step back and analyze. They have never done this before. This is new. This signifies growth. Oh, they are growing before my eyes. Why am I sad?

Thoughtful Thursday - Growth

I have asked other moms and they also say it is a bit sad to see children grow up. Do we not want them to lose their innocence? Their small size? Their cuteness? Maybe all of these combined and more.

This week, my daughter offered to clean the bathrooms. Again. I usually refuse because I feel uncomfortable with the thought. I think her too small and then I have to do double work, go behind her etc etc.  Continue reading »

May 28 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 22 – Fussiness

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For the past two weeks, I have been eating humble pie. I have made so many clumsy mistakes, I finally saw what I was supposed to learn: I am human and clumsy. So are my children. I need to stop with the fussiness already. It all culminated with my finding Mom Enough – especially the first chapter by Rachel Jankovic. I received a new perspective and repented some more.

I have been a bit too harsh and hard on them lately. When they make mistakes because they are small and human and still learning, I have overreacted. And then I spilled the gelatin mixture as we were pouring it into LEGO molds, giving myself 30 minutes of cleaning sticky goo from the kitchen counters and floors. My son even helped of his own free will, even though it was not his mistake. But he was helping his mom because he wanted to, which humbled me further.

Don't fuss at your children

And then I forgot I placed my cell phone inside my son’s violin case, which meant we thought I left my cell inside the building where our son had his recital. This wrong belief, stemming from my own forgetfulness, meant that we spent two hours in front of a building on the UTK campus, waiting for a police man to come unlock the building on Friday evening Memorial Day weekend. It gets worse: it was our 10th anniversary, too.  Continue reading »

May 21 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 21 – Recitals

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Twice a year, our son has music recitals: December and May. He takes piano and violin lessons. He enjoys both and it is hard to know right now if or when he will drop one and focus more on the one that he keeps. Recently, he even played a piano piece in church – his first special music.

Mom, son and daughter, after violin recital

With my son and daughter after his violin recital, May 2015

Here is his violin recital – Hunters’ Chorus by Carl Maria von Weber. His piano piece in church was Chant Arabe, an anonymous song from the first Suzuki piano book.

We are coming up in the world, my husband and I. We used to be the ones with the noisy babies, who could not even sit in church. Now, one of our babies is blessing our church family with music.

Thoughtful Thursday - Recitals

Several people came up to my son before and after his performance, to encourage him or to thank him for it. Continue reading »

May 14 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 20 – Silence

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My husband and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary this month. It is not something we celebrate in one single event or through one romantic dinner or gift exchange. Two people reach a 10th anniversary over time, through many events and several happenings. Why should celebrating it be any different? So we took an overnight trip to Hot Springs, NC as one part of our celebration. A few weeks ago, we went to the Biltmore House, where we got engaged. And so on.

Hot Springs Library Sign

Gotta love a library marquee

Hot Springs is a small mountain town on the Appalachian Trail, famous for its hot mineral spring water. They have only four hotels and as many restaurants. The Resort and Spa we stayed in delivers the hot spring mineral water directly into your suite’s hot tub. It’s a quiet town with nothing going on – unless you count the young man we saw walking around in a plastic sack as a skirt or the No Fracking Way bumper sticker we saw on a car.

They have a romantic caboose in the middle of the town, parked there for good, and a stone Presbyterian church, stained glass windows and all. It’s a quiet place when you need quiet. Peace. Quiet. Silence.

I started homeschooling because I could not separate myself from my children for seven hours a day, five days a week. So you can understand that it is hard for me to separate from them overnight. Two years ago, we took a similar trip to Hot Springs, just before we started homeschooling. I felt really anxious to know what they were up to. I missed the kids and they missed me.  Continue reading »

May 7 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 19 – The Muse

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They used to call it East Tennessee Discovery Center. I hear they used to have live lizards. We only started going to The Muse in Knoxville a few months ago. Their name was already changed and there are no more lizards. Instead, they have all sorts of educational areas. The Planetarium is still there.

It is part of the Association of Science and Technology Centers. I cannot say enough about The Muse. As such, an annual membership at The Muse will get you free admission in all other facilities throughout the country, located more than 90 miles away from it. We bought an annual membership last November and, when we spent Thanksgiving in Charlotte, we visited Discovery Place over there for free. By the way, Charlotte’s Discovery Place is huge – a four-story building. You still have to pay for parking, of course, but if you travel, you will find that this annual membership is a deal.

TT19

Today, my kids wanted to go to The Muse. We put everything else on hold, got into the car, and hit the road. We do have lots more chapters to finish in all our books for the year, but I decided this field trip was worth our time. Children learn so much by doing at this stage. Continue reading »

Apr 30 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 18 – Biltmore

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We have been meaning to go back to the Biltmore ever since we got engaged there, 10 years and two children ago. But, somehow, we never managed to get back there. Asheville, NC is a gorgeous city and the Biltmore Estate has always fascinated us. Now that Belk sponsored an exhibit of over 45 Downton Abbey costumes, we decided we just absolutely, positively, no doubt about it had to make it to the Biltmore.

Family on the Biltmore House balcony

Our family on the Biltmore House balcony

Our children loved this field trip. It was their first time at the Biltmore and they enjoyed everything. They have so many things to do there, we decided to upgrade our daily tickets to an annual pass because we shall definitely return several times in the next 12 months. Today we only had time for the House tour, lunch, the gift shop, and Antler Hill Farm (a petting zoo with goats, hens, and roosters). Continue reading »

Apr 23 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 17 – Test Results

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We received our son’s Terra Nova 3 test scores and we were very pleased. His scores were excellent, way above the national average and showing that he does work beyond his grade level. We are very proud of him indeed. We will continue doing what we have been doing.

Thoughtful Thursday - Test Results

We learned several things from his test scores. Even though he did not score low in any one objective, he scored lower in some objectives and higher in others. Looking back at our school year, some of the scores surprised me and others confirmed what I already knew about him; all the more reason to keep testing every year.

We are not in this situation, but we know that if a child tests lower than expected, we should all consider several reasons. It could be that the child has never learned the subject matter presented on the test. Or, perhaps, the child never really understood what was taught to him. Last but not least, the child may know the subject, but he may very well just be so nervous about the test, that he freezes and forgets the answers.

All this to say that tests are good tools to assess where your child is, where you are, where you need to grow.