Oodles4Noodles

Monthly Home Learning Wrap~Up September 2013

2013-10-18T15:05:00.000-06:00

What we read:

· The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

· Finished Venom and Song by Batson & Hopper

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

· Mystery of History covering

o Ice Age, dinosaurs, Gilgamesh, Stonehenge, early Egypt, the Minoans

· Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

What we did:

· Lots if nail art. Lorelei started a nail polish swatch & design notebook

· Researched acrylic nails – pros, cons, how-to

· Lorelei did her own acrylic manicure

· Doodling & tangling

· Played around with photo editing

· Worked on drawing realistic cats

· Made banana bread

· Worked on Life of Fred, Kidneys – Chapters 1 - 5

· Made lots of flexahexagons

· Designing outfits on Polyvore app

· Disappearing egg shell experiment

· Helicopter tour of Oahu

· Ivory soap experiment – states of matter, heat, expanding gases

· Cool Math 4 Kids strategy games

· Pinterest for design inspiration

· Researched Vietnamese flying fox – actually a bat, lives in newly discovered Son Doong Cave in Vietnam

· Journaling, poem writing

· Iphone upgrade and playing around with it

· Seterra geography, memorizing North American countries & US States

· Writing emoji stories

· Upcycled a jean jacket into a jean vest – ombre dyed in bleach

· Made Lembas bread for Hobbit week!

· Made clay props for Halloween costume

· Learned about diabetes now that our cat has high glucose

What we watched:

· Vihart video on parabola doodling. Covered how parabolas, dots, lines, cones & cone sections are all related.

· Latest VSauce videos

· Vihart videos about flexahexagons.

· Observed an ant colony invading our mint plant

· Observed a mud wasp making a hive

Where we went:

· Sally’s Beauty supply for info about acrylic nails. Had to ask for help by herself. Big step.

· Tok cat to the Vet.

· Trampoline House

· BIG ISLAND WEEKEND TRIP!

o Volcanoes National Park

o Southern most point in the US!

o Black & green sand beach

o Top of Mauna Kea

o Keck Observatory, got a nice mini tour from a scientist there

o Found a locals beach full of old glass. Decades old, broken soda & beer bottles. La’s favorite part!

o Swam with Manta Rays! Incredible!

What we talked about:

· Government shutdown, how the Congress is designed to function vs. how it functions today.

· Issues of mind control in government.

· Facism vs. Communism

· Idioms and their historical origins

There is No "School" in Our Homeschool

2013-10-18T14:55:00.000-06:00

"Image courtesy of scottchan/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net"

Where schools think… We think …

Teach, Mentor

Lessons, Learning

Subjects, Living

Testing, Discussion

Productivity, Meta-learning

Textbooks, Living books

Rewards & punishments, Natural consequences

Coercion, Following interests

Well roundedness, Specialization

Equality, Individualization

School days, hours, Learning all the time

Assignments, Learning together

Compulsion, Freedom and choice

Learning materials, All things hold learning potential

Scope & Sequence, Learning new skills as they become

useful & meaningful

Recreating real world Being in the real world

in school ,

Age-segregation, Age-integration

Preparing for “real life”, Living a real life

Lacy Shells Newborn Bonnet

2013-09-16T19:34:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since my last pattern post. This one has been in my notebook for some time. I'm happy to finally get it typed up for you! It is in newborn size, but you can easily adjust it by making the back portion with more rounds, adding clusters in the body rows, and adding more rows. It's very light and airy and very sweet. Hope you enjoy it.

Download on Ravelry HERE
and Craftsy HERE

Monthly Home Learning Wrap-Up ~ August 2013

2013-09-06T17:33:00.001-06:00

What we read:

· Swiss Family Robinson

· Rereading Sea of Monsters

What we did:

· Clothes shopping

· Designing original outfits

· Started Instagram for our 2 cats – A Tale of 2 Kitties

· Lots of Nail Art

· Attempted some cardboard construction

· Grew hydroponic lettuce

· Mulan lead to looking up the legend and China history. Research on the Hunnic Empire. Evolution of civilizations.

· Went to see Cats – the musical, her first on stage professional musical

What we watched:

· Outrageous Acts of Science, Vsauce, CutePolish

· PercyJackson: The Sea of Monsters movie

· Perseid Meteor Shower – which we learned does not originate from Perseus

· RL Stien’s Haunting Hour

· Disney’s Mulan

· Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson

Where we went:

· Youth group – sundae party

· Hiking on Pupukea

· Trip to AZ & NY – NY State Fair, Canyon Climb, time with cousins, swimming, acrylic nails, shopping, etc. … So many experiences, too much to keep track of!

What we talked about:

· Narrated to me, plot of Percy Jackson and how they compare and contrast to the movies and the original Greek myths

· Anxiety about growing up, adult responsibilities

· Discussed the difference in intelligent horror vs. slasher films and social/political commentary

Monthly Home Learning Wrap Up ~ July 2013

2013-09-06T17:27:00.000-06:00

What we read:

· The Giver, Messenger, Gathering Blue & Son by Lois Lowry

· Son of Neptune & Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

· After about 6 months of Lorelei feeling like she just did not want to read, she has caught the reading bug again. She read The Mark of Athena in one week. It is almost 600 pages.

What we did:

· We did lots of snorkeling this month. We even had the opportunity to sea an eagle spotted ray!

· Long paddle board trip Sunset to Waimea

· Lorelei has continued do explore design through original nail art designs and starting a fashion notebook. She is sketching original designs and putting together outfits for different occasions.

· Lorelei has been gaining inspiration through exploring ideas on Pinterest.

· Lorelei has had to make consumer decisions based on her wish list of things to buy and her budget. Lots of real math in this.

· Played games on Cool Math 4 Kids – mostly strategy, problem solving games

· Jewelry making with friend on a sleepover

· Caught a gecko & cane spider and trapped then together to see what would happen – nothing.

· Water proofed a paper boat

What we watched:

· Outrageous Acts of Science, Vsauce, CutePolish

· Crash Course video on the Cold War & The 4th of July

Where we went:

· This month La spent 2 weeks a camp. She did lots of outdoor activities and memorized many Bible verses. She loved both week and had a ball.

· Graphic Art Supply store for sketch books, pencils, other supplies

· Ice skating, Waterpark & Podium cart racing (she’s a wild driver!)

What we talked about:

· Security features on money

· Actual dates of adoption & signing of the Declaration of Independence

· Puberty & development

· Plans for this Fall

Relaxed Record Keeping Plan

2013-07-26T20:24:00.001-06:00

*Series Intro*

*For the past 6 months or so I have been exploring the ins and outs of Relaxed Homeschooling (RHS) and Unschooling (UnS). In that time I have come to see that my daughter NEEDS this type of learning and education if she is to be who she is meant to be. Anything else will not support her full development. My reason for coming up with any kind of plan at all is twofold. This school year we will be moving to a state in which we will be joining an umbrella school. So, my task here is to come up with a relaxed plan that will meet the requirements of the umbrella school. Secondly, a dear friend of mine in state that only requires an attendance record for homeschool statute compliance was accused of educational neglect. Having never tested her children, and not done much record keeping, it was difficult for her to prove that her children were in deed growing and learning, as they should. So now I am a bit paranoid about the remote possibility of this happening to us. If it ever does, by some fluke chance, I will have this plan to back up our efforts.

I've decided to put our plan into a series of posts. Both as a reference for me in the future and with the hope that it might be of help to other homeschool moms! ;)

See all the entries in the series by clicking HERE*

Relaxed record Keeping Plan – Part Three

I have really been looking forward to sharing this post in this series about our Relaxed Homeschool Plan. I am a list maker! I love to check boxes. I think that is one reason why I have fluctuated from schoolish to unschoolish ideas, back and forth over the years. Gentle schoolish ideas speak to my mind, unschoolish ideas speak to my heart. My daughter is the exact opposite! Just this morning, I asked her what her plan is for today. She laughed and said, “Plan, don’t you know me at all?” Still laughing. Maybe you can relate?

Below is my plan for record keeping that satisfies my need to check boxes, her need for freedom, and the requirements of our umbrella school.

Our Umbrella School Requires

1. Report of number of school days twice a year. We must have a total of 180 days each school year (July to June), but we are not required keep an attendance record. Since everyday is a learning day, that’s no problem.

2. Provide an educational plan that includes one resource per subject. This is easy. We have books on every subject in our house.

3. Report grades for each subject twice per year. For now, I can use Pass/Fail if I want, or letter grades. Letter grades are easier than you think. I will give all A’s. Here’s why.

Schools use grades to rank students and to rate how much of the required material is mastered. I have no one to rank my daughter against. We do not have required material. She is pursuing her own interests in her own way. There is no way to grade that. So I don’t feel guilty giving her A’s. It is a hoop that the umbrella school is required to jump through, so we must as well.

Other Record Keeping

In addition to the above, there are a few things that I would like to do for record keeping. I have many reasons for wanting to do more than is required. I want back up if we are ever challenged with educational neglect charges. I want to be able to look back on our year and see what we have accomplished. I want to be able to assess where we are going in this journey and next steps we might take. This will be in a form of a portfolio binder. Below is a list and explanation of what goes into this binder.

* The Curriculum Plan/Course Descriptions I talked about in Post#2

* The Home Education Plan I talked about in Post#2

* Resource Lists by Subject

o I make these lists on Easybib.com. I have a list for each subject. As we use a resource I add it to this list. I put everything on these lists! It’s not just for books. You add in the info for magazines, TV shows, websites and even fieldtrips. There is an entry form for just about every resource type and it puts them in bibliography form automatically. I will print these out at the end of the school year. Oh, and it’s free!

* Monthly narrative summaries

o I have a weekly planning form where I jot down our read-alouds, appointments, strewing and sharing plans, and notes about what we did each day.

o At the end of the month I sit down and write up, in narrative form, what we did over the past month. I print this out. Then in the margins I go through and label school subjects our activities fall into.

* Then I have a section of work samples and pictures.

* Test Report

o I have decided to do a standardized test each year from now on. This is not because I want the results. If you ask me, testing is all about ranking how well kids take tests, not evaluation what they know. I am doing a test to help my daughter gain test taking skills. No matter what she does in life, taking tests will be part of it. We are a test happy society. She needs to learn and practice test-taking skills as well as get used to the process.

* Year End Evaluation

o This will be a narrative evaluation drawing from the monthly summaries. Basically my goal here is to keep in touch with my daughters strengths, areas for growth and develop ideas for strewing and sharing for the next school year. Oh, and our “school year” is year round, July-June, because our learning is not confined to school activities or hours.

So that’s our plan. If you have read this and you homeschool, I hope it has been helpful to you. Feel free to use and modify any forms in these posts. Thanks for reading. ;)

Homeschoolers Are Not Judging You

2013-07-24T19:10:00.000-06:00

It never fails. I meet someone new. I’m at a dinner party, or maybe the line at Safeway. My new acquaintance finds out we homeschool. 90% of the time their very next statement goes something like this…

“Wow, I could never be that patient!”

~ insert nervous laugh~ “I’d love to do that, but I think we would kill each other.”

Or other variations of “I could never homeschool” that includes some reference to patience, chaotic kids, needing “me-time”, finances, etc…

There is always a hint of defensiveness, or justification in the tone of these comments.

I laugh, nod politely, say something like, “Well, it’s not for everyone.” (Which I do believe) When I really want to scream, “I don't know you. You don't know me. I'm not judging you!”

Why oh why, do you feel the need to justify to me the fact that you do not homeschool your kids?

Do you think I am judging you because you send your kids to school?

I’m not. Our decision to homeschool is based on personal decisions and is not some sort of silent judgment on all those who choose school for their children. It has nothing to do with you!

So please, you may keep these comments to yourself. If you can’t, then at least be honest with your comments.

The truth is, it is a matter of willingness, not ability. Homeschooling is not for everyone. Not all parents are willing to spend that much time with their kids, challenge long held educational paradigms, make financial adjustments, and many other lifestyle modifications that homeschooling entails. And that is fine. I don’t pass judgment on your choices. I don’t think that makes you a worse parent than me. There are things I am not willing to do for my child! For example, I hate driving long distances. If there was some class or club she wanted to do and it is more than a 45 minute drive, I won’t do it.

You may just think homeschooling is some crazy stupid idea. That’s OK with me too!

As parents, we are all charged with making the best decisions we can for our children. All of our choices cannot and should not be the same. We all need the freedom to make the choices we feel are best.

So the next time you meet a new family and find out they homeschool, say you think they are crazy, say you would never want to (not that you can’t) homeschool, say something supportive, ask questions or say nothing at all, because they are not judging you!

Writing a Curriculum Plan

2013-07-12T21:11:00.000-06:00

Writing a Curriculum Plan - Part 2

Just when I get used to not thinking in terms school subjects, we are moving to a state were I must list subjects, have a plan for each subject and report grades and attendance twice a year. (Grades? More on that in a later post). If you are reading a biography about an Egyptian Pharaoh is that literature, history, science, or art? Guess what? It's all of them! Life is not compartmentalized into subject boxes and learning isn't either.

The key here is to think in general terms of what you might do in each subject area. The best example I have seen of this is the Acme Academy Course of Study on Sandra Dodd's Website. Go read it, I'll wait...

I adapted this and wrote one for us. I was even sneaker and changed "will include" to "may include". That way I am not committing us to doing anything in particular. Here is a link to the one I came up with. Feel free to download it and change it as you wish.

Ok, so that was a really detailed plan that anyone would have a hard time challenging as a solid curriculum plan. But I needed something much more practical. Something that I could go to that was more specific. So I came up with this.

Course Descriptions for 2013-2014

Math:

Student will review lower-level math fundamentals and gain skill in subjects such as geometry and pre-algebra corresponding to her ability.

Resources: Life of Fred, Intermediate series, Fractions, Decimals & Percents

Language Arts:

Student will gain skill in the areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening. Methods used include: student and teacher chosen literature, writing within context of study topics and creative pursuits, discussing literature, and family read alouds.

Resources: The Library! ;), Don't Forget to Write for writing ideas, lot's of other ideas on my Writing Pinterest Board, this awesome blog series on Becoming a Writing Mentor to Your Child.

Science:

Science will be addressed within the context of student interest. Inquiry, reading, videos, fieldtrips, time in nature will all be employed in this area.

Resources: Lots of Youtube & other videos, hiking, maybe nature journaling, we also have a lot of science resource books around the house.

Social Studies:

Social studies, history and geography will be addressed within the context of student interest. Research, time-lines, biography, historical fiction, various texts, videos, and fieldtrips will all be employed in this area.

Resources: The Library again, All Through the Ages - A History through Literature Guide (Awesome!), The Mystery of History (MOH) - I use this as a read aloud a couple times a week and skip around, we usually don't do the activities.

Health & Physical Education:

Health and physical education is fully integrated as a part of daily living skills and participation in the wider community with an emphasis upon the physical activities that may be conducive to health and vigor of body and mind. Activities will include skiing, hiking and ice-skating.

Resources: Our own 2 feet, a couple books on puberty

Fine Arts:
Student will develop her knowledge of art, music and drama through informal and structured methods in a variety of ways, including: attending concerts and plays, possible art classes, choral singing, listening to various styles of music, and studying fashion and design.

Resources: This will focus mainly on fashion. Her one big passion right now. Lots of Pinterest & Youtube! Sketch book & drawing utensils, we are looking for a choir/chorus to join and will go to concerts and plays.

Below is a basic plan for implementing the above:

We begin each day with me reading aloud. We have done this ever since La showed an interest in books. We usually pick these books together. We cover lots of classics this way.
After read aloud, we have what I call "sharing time" in my head, but never give it a label out load (I can just hear her complaining how "preschool" it sounds, LOL!). It really is a big kid version of preschool circle time. I just transition into it naturally. This is where I share something that I think is really cool. It could be a second read-aloud, a video, a game, anything really. These things may or may not have to do with her current interests, but it is something that I am genuinely interested in. She may or may not find it interesting, but many of her interests have been sparked this way in the past. I keep this pretty short, too. No longer than 20 minutes. It's the one treachery thing I do and I don't do it everyday, but most days.
Strewing - This is basically providing resources that enhance current interests. No strings attached! Please read this blog post series, The Art of Strewing or buy her ebook Here. You can get it for $1.61! Totally worth it!
We will do Life of Fred together 3 times a week. This is her idea and she asked me to hold her to it. I can't say that she is really interested in math, but feels as though she needs to learn it. She also said she wants a little more structure, so some what formal math 3x a week it is.
After this she will work on whatever interests her. I made a list of "Things to do When You Can’t Think of Anything to Do" (☜ click to view and download it) which she said is too long. But it will be there if she just can't think of anything she wants to do.
Each week La will write something, anything. She doesn't like to write. If her pursuits don't naturally involve writing, I am going to require she writes something for me to review each week. (OK, so this is the second teachery thing I am doing) Right now she is agreeing to this. I am adding this requirement because she never writes and I am worried about her not gaining sufficient writing skill. So, we'll see how this goes ...
I made a Weekly Summary Report (☜ click to view and download it) for her to fill out each week. It's pretty simple and I want her to start keeping her own records so she can take it over in the High School years.

So that's the basics of our plan this year. Right now it's as unschoolish as I am comfortable with. I may loosen up even more as the year goes on. We will see... My next post will be about my plans for record keeping. The left side of my brain really likes that topic! ;)

I added this post to iHomeschool Network's Not Back to School Blog Hop. There you can check out how many other homeschoolers are approaching their own unique education!

Long Term Relaxed Homeschooling (RHS) Goals

2013-07-10T20:23:00.000-06:00

*Series Intro*

*For the past 6 months or so I have been exploring the ins and outs of Relaxed Homeschooling (RHS) and Unschooling (UnS). In that time I have come to see that my daughter NEEDS this type of learning and education if she is to be who she is meant to be. Anything else will not support her full development. My reason for coming up with any kind of plan at all is twofold. This school year we will be moving to a state in which we will be joining an umbrella school. So, my task here is to come up with a relaxed plan that will meet the requirements of the umbrella school. Secondly, a dear friend of mine in state that only requires an attendance record for homeschool statute compliance, was accused of educational neglect. Having never tested her children, and not done much record keeping, it was difficult for her to prove that her children were in deed growing and learning as they should. So now I am a bit paranoid about the remote possibility of this happening to us. If it ever does, by some fluke chance, I will have this plan to back up our efforts.

I've decided to put our plan into a series of posts. Both as a reference for me in the future and with the hope that it might be of help to other homeschool moms! ;)

See all the entries in the series by clicking HERE*

Long Term Goals - Part One

Begin with the end in mind. This is our starting point. I think we all need to know a little about where we are going on this journey. What skills, knowledge, attributes, habits, etc... do what want your kids to realize before they leave your home? These are tough questions that we all must answer to have any type of path. I highly recommend you get this little booklet titled, Relaxed Record Keeping by Mary Hood, Ph.D. You can get it the ARCHERS website and lots of other great resources too.

I used her guidelines to come up with our own Long Term Goals.

Long-Term Home Education Goals

Values:
• Biblical values. We accomplish this through Bible reading,
discussion, problem solving together, and parental modeling.

Attitudes:
• Develop a life-long love of learning
• Enough organization to accomplish life goals
• Respect for others
• Perseverance in adversity
• Optimism

Habits:
• Cleanliness
• Finding out what you don’t know
• How to fill your time
• Getting work done when it’s needed
• Reading regularly
• Work on something you don't really like to achieve something
you want
• Checking habits for results

Skills:
• Communication -reading, writing, speaking & listening
• Enough mathematic skills for her goals
• How to find out what you need to know
and then finding it out
• Test taking skills
• Goal setting skills

Talents & Interests:
• Find out what these are
• Pursue them
• Learn to work hard and in depth at something you love
• Internships
• Lots of exposure to different things
• Have a way to earn income by the time she leaves the house

Knowledge:
• Mainly dictated by talents & interests
• Grounding in History
• Grounding in Basic Science

As you can see these broad and basic, yet how they are accomplished will be specific and individualized for La. I hope that these goals will be tool for making future plans and decisions.

We are Hackschooling

2013-06-04T17:41:00.000-06:00

The past few months I've been doing a lot of thinking, praying and reading about relaxed, unschoolish education ideas. I have decided we really aren't unschoolers. 10 years ago I might have used that term and been comfortable with it, but not anymore. I find that it carries too much baggage from unschooling gurus and other philosophies that have been attached to the idea, which was once a purely educational philosophy. Now it seems you can't call yourself an unschooler if you limit screen time, maintain parental authority, or use a text book at all. The unschool movement, once a movement in educational freedom, has become a movement rich in it's own dogmatic ideals, full of contradiction and judgment of those who do not agree. The only unschool place where I have found that this does not happen is the Christian Unschooling Facebook Group. This group has been very helpful to me!

I think the best name for what we are doing is Hackschooling or Hackademics. What I mean by this is that we do what works. We set goals based on interests and talents, not standards. We use what best suites us to reach those goals. Anything that works is good; books, classes, clubs, internships, even text books. We think less and less within the context of school subjects and think more and more in the terms of life goals and purpose. This is a true education to me! Below is a talk given by a 13 year old young man that really explains it well. Enjoy it!

Baby Breeches

2013-05-01T19:29:00.000-06:00

I have seen these cute pants being used as photo props so I thought I'd give it a shot. They were so easy once I started! This pattern is written for Newborn but I included some general instructions about making it bigger. They are so versatile too! You could use this pattern in lots of ways. Here are some ideas.

For a daiper cover, stop after the first leg row. For shorts make the legs 3 or 4 rows, for capris make the legs 5 or 6 rows long.

You could add suspenders, or a front bib and suspenders for overalls.

You could add butt ruffles or sew on butt pockets.

Oh, how about a little old fashioned “trap door” on the butt!

These would be really cute for a girl if you leave off the last three leg rows and add a scalloped edge instead.

You could make bell-bottoms by increaseing in the inner and outer “seam” area of the bottom of the legs.

I think they would look great worked in linked double crochet! I just found this stitch and I really like the look of it. It also makes a more connected fabric without the gaps you get between stitches in double crochet.

The choices are endless! Have fun!!!

Please share what you make from this pattern! Also let me know how the sizing works as I have not tried it on a baby! :)

Download the pattern on Crafsty HERE

Download the pattern on Ravelry HERE

Almost Unschooling

2013-04-14T20:15:00.001-06:00

It's been a month since my last post about dropping our curriculum. It's been a very fun month of exploring new and old ideas about education for me. I have been reading many blogs, websites and books. Here are a few of the resources I have been devouring
Books -
Christian Unschooling by Teri J Brown
The Joyful Home Schooler by Mary Hood, Ph.D.
Wisdom's Way of Learning 4 Booklet Set by Marilyn Howshall

Websites-
http://www.christianunschooling.com/ and their Facebook Page
http://livingjoyfully.ca/
http://www.archersforthelord.org/ and their Facebook Page

Through all of this I have come to some conclusions.

I have no desire to reproduce any methods of learning used in schools! None of these methods are based on active, interest lead learning. I have no interests in text books or teacher directed lessons or projects. These methods do not produce real learning. Things forced are never remembered long term.
My role as a homeschool mom can be described as mentor, resource manager, and cheer-leader - not as a teacher.
The only way to approach this kind of education is through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Without the Lord in the center, this type of education becomes self-centered.
A relaxed approach to education is the best fit for my daughter's learning style and personality.

I have also learned much about my daughter the last few weeks.

Her main ways of learning are through creative pursuits and taking in visual information through books and videos
Without the stress of forced lessons, we get along MUCH better. We have had very few disagreements and she had been much more conversational.
She is even more creatively bent that I realized! She seems to almost always be creating something - nail art, an outfit, drawing, rearranging her room, etc... She also spends a lot of time looking at things other people have created on Youtube and Pinterest. This is one of her major gifting.
She has a great memory!

La's Original Nail Art

I titled this post Almost Unschooling because there are some aspects of Unschooling I do not agree with. As I have read, I learned that most Unschoolers do not limit TV & video games. The rational is that kids will eventually self-regulate these mediums when they are not "forbidden fruit" and that these are actually valuable learning tools. While I agree with these two points somewhat, I am not willing to let my child binge on TV for 9 months while I wait for her to self-regulate. I believe that yes, TV & videos games have learning value, but they take up the time that could be spent on active learning that has even more value. Also, I do not think all TV programs and all video games have equal value. Secondly, many Unschoolers seem to subscribe to a democratic parenting process where parents do not have authority over their children. This does not work for my husband or myself. I do believe in letting children of all ages express their opinions and feelings in a respectful manner. I do believe that their opinions and feelings need to validated. I also believe that parents have the final word on decisions for the family. A four year old may not be able to reason that he has eaten enough sugar and needs to stop. That's what his parents are for. I believe in Authoritative Parenting, not Authoritarian or Permissive. Clear boundaries, logical and natural consequences, love, affection, and respect.

There are still a lot of things I am questioning. Whenever I want to say no to La, I am questioning why I want to say no. I am saying yes more often and we are having fun. Every time the word "should" pops into my head with regards to schoolish things I ask myself why I am "shoulding on myself" ;). Usually it's my years of school programming talking. I know I will be adding some sort of structure to our educational efforts. I am just not sure what that will look like yet. It may just be some guided goal setting ...

I have been journalling what we have been doing every week. Below is this week's summary. I write it up in narrative form and then on the right I put the school subjects that go along with each paragraph. I need to do an evaluation at the end of the school year, so I am doing this to help in that. This week I found it harder to think in school subjects. In real-life learning, the lines between school subjects gets blurry very fast! All subjects in life are so inter-connected it is hard to separate them. Take archery for example. I put Physical Education for archery but it is also Science, Math, Social Development Opportunity, Survival Skills and History.

As you can see there is so much learning happening all the time! This is just a sampling of what we did. There was more. When you think about, I am only guessing at what she actually has learned. I know what she knows from conversation, but I am not in her head. I truly believe you can never know exactly what your kids are learning, because you are not them.

I have a lot more to learn and sort out, but I am truly enjoying this journey!

If It's Broke, Fix it!

2013-03-11T13:16:00.000-06:00

photo credit

I knew it wasn't working. The resistance and tears I got from my daughter told me so. At first I blamed it on her attitude. After all, we had never used any kind of curriculum before. Sure we had used some textbooks, but we used them in a very loose manner. We would read from them when we felt like like. Do the assignments if they seemed interesting. But last spring when I began thinking about this school year I became worried about "gaps" in her skills and knowledge so, I started searching for a curriculum.

Why did I worry? Looking back I think it was just my daughter's age. We were heading into 6th grade age. Although we have never paid much attention to grade levels. I was thinking; she needs to learn to write, work on spelling, do more math ... High School years will be here before you know it!

One word describes my motivation - FEAR. Fear of the "gaps", fear of not having skills needed for college, fear of the judgement of others. Let me just say, this is a bad motivation for anything!!

For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

2 Timothy 1:17

So I found a curriculum I really loved, and still do in concept. It is based in literature, and the lessons are short and gentle. I really fits my teaching style. Just enough structure, I thought. We started out OK with it, even liking many parts. I did a lot of tweaking to it! But we lost our joy. School work became something to get over with so we could do what we really wanted to do. The structure of the lessons became too repetitious. Some children will love this aspect! We found it got boring. It became a struggle. So we stopped. Abruptly. Now what?

Well, I'm working on defining our plan. I've gone back and reread some books on Leadership Education and Relaxed Homeschooling. Some books about Unschooling too. I had to ask myself, what is the one reason we are doing this? I know homeschoolers have many reasons for choosing this path, but we all have one that is the most important! So I came to our main reason.

To raise my child in a manner which allows her to discover her God given purpose in life and allows her the freedom to pursue that purpose.

That's it, and it's big!

How do you accomplish this? Well, first she needs time to discover herself ... her interests, talents and passions. These are the areas God has gifted her in. Then she needs time to pursue these. Finally, she needs exposure to lots of different experiences. How can you know what you are talented or interested in if you have never experienced it?

So we have come to a place of no lessons, no requirements, passion pursuing education. But still I fear. Will she ever learn Algebra? Does she even need it? Can she learn it when it comes up in her pursuit of daily life? if it doesn't come up in "real-life" then why does she need to learn it? These are the questions I am asking. I don't have the answers right now.

The one thing I do know is to not make a decision out of fear. To trust that the Holy Spirit will lead us in these decisions. Right now I am not sure what our homeschooling will look like next year, but I know it won't look like school!

Chunky Ribbed Earwarmer

2013-01-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

Hello loyal fans!!

Here is the $.99 Chunky Ribbed Earwarmer Pattern as promised! This is NOT a beginner pattern. You should be familiar with working in front post, back post ribbing. Have fun & as always I'd love to see pic's of your creations.

Download the pattern on Ravelry HERE

Download the pattern on Craftsy HERE

Half Hat Earwarmer

2013-01-15T23:25:00.003-07:00

My Mom needed some earwarmers for her morning walks so what's a dutiful daughter to do? Whip out some stash yarn and make her one! You can download this pattern on Ravelry HERE or Craftsy HERE. Enjoy!!

Grain-Free Brownie Pancakes

2012-07-13T16:05:00.000-06:00

I have been reading some articles about going grain-free. I haven't jumped on this band wagon, but what I have read has inspired my to cut back the grains I am eating, especially wheat.
(If you want to learn more about these ideas I recommend this Blog & this Article.)

I have been cooking regular food with grain alternative ingredients. Here is a pancake I came up with that is super yummy & does taste like a brownie! It's good for you too.

This is more of method rather than a recipe.

In one bowl combine 3/4 of a scoop of whey protein powder, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 2 tbs. coconut flour, 1 tb. unsweeted baking cocoa powder, 1-3 tsp. of sweetener. (I use Truvia because it is all natural)

In another bowl beat one egg with 2tbs. milk (I use almond or coconut milk), dash of vanilla and a tsp. of oil (I use coconut oil - melted)

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients (as my mama always told me to do). Add more milk as necessary to get a pancake batter consistency. Then cook on a griddle or frying pan like your usual pancakes. They are great alone, or with some berries. I just heat up some frozen berries in the microwave as shown below.

YUM!! Lots of fiber, protein & healthy fats! I know they are pretty good because my daughter
asks for them and she never asks for any of my "healthy food"!

This version is made without the cocoa powder and 3 tbs. of coconut flour. It's more like a plain pancake.

Give it a try and let me know how they turn out!

Chunky Diaper Cover

2012-06-17T20:21:00.002-06:00

Here is a new pattern. It's been a long time coming!!!! I hope you all enjoy it. I haven't been crocheting much lately. I am not sure why..... I started working on a few things this week so hopefully there will be more in the NEAR future.

You can download this pattern on Ravelry HERE.
On Craftsy HERE.

Enjoy & thanks for sticking with me!!!

The Skinny Rules Rule

2012-06-14T16:26:00.002-06:00

I am always attracted to new diet books. When you struggle with your weight, it seems you are always looking for new advise that will make a difference. At least I am. I picked up The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper at Costco a couple weeks ago. It was worth the $16 I spent on it!

Link to Book on Amazon

I read the book in one afternoon. The first 110 pages are the rules and tips for implementing them. The rest of the 260 pages are menus and recipes. Which I love!

I started implementing these rules the day after I read the book. I have to admit, most of them I was doing already. The few that were new have really helped me fine tune my diet plan. These rules are simple, but not all are easy. Here are the rules that I have been implementing that are new to me.

DRINK A LARGE GLASS OF WATER BEFORE EACH MEAL. This means snacks as well. Now, I drink a lot of water, but not this much. So I have been drinking a 16 oz. glass before each meal and my water intake is up to 10 to 12, 8 oz. glasses a day!

EAT APPLES & BERRIES EVERYDAY. This I was not doing at all! I ate fruit only occasionally, thinking the sugar would inhibit my weight loss. Not so, I learned!

NO CARBS AFTER LUNCH. What??? When I read this my heart sank. No pasta or rice with dinner! I have been following this rule and it has not been so bad. However, the last rule is what makes this rule livable for me.

MAKE ONE DAY A WEEK MEATLESS. Ok, no biggy for me. I love beans & eggs.

GO TO BED HUNGRY. This basically means stop eating 3 hours before you go to bed. I don't like this one either. I love to have a small snack & usually some herbal tea about an hour before bed. But I have been having just the tea & I am surviving. I wake up VERY hungry now too! I eat breakfast as soon as I get up, instead of an hour or two later. I am sure this is boosting my metabolism.

PLAN ONE SLURGE MEAL A WEEK. Alright, now this I can do!! I can walk away from any temptation during the week if I know I can have it at a planned time. Look at me, learning delayed gratification!

So, the bottom line is, how does it work. Well, in the first week I lost 5 pounds, which is huge for me. I am not the type who loses that much easily! Before this, my top weekly loss was 3.5 pounds! Now I am half way through week 2. I am very hopeful for this week. This way of eating has got me over a month long plateau.

The menus and recipes are simple and tasty. My daughter however, is not happy with them. They don't exactly appeal to an 11-year-old’s pallet. Oh, well! She needs to learn to eat something besides mac and cheese & fried chicken.

If you have been thinking about this book, I can recommend it! It’s working for me!

Stick With It Saturday!

2012-05-12T10:16:00.001-06:00

Time for Stick With It Saturday with Sam's Noggin.

I am pretty happy with this week's progress. After losing only 1.5 pounds in 3 weeks, this last week I was able to lose 2 pounds. I think the key has been eating breakfast & drinking water. I did have a dinner of 2 pieces of pizza and salad. I was working off the theory that once in a while you need to give your body a calorie boost to stoke the fire of your metabolism. This week it worked, but I wouldn't have done this unless I had been pretty much stuck for a few weeks. It worked this week, but it is like playing with fire when you do this. It can backfire on you. Have I said 'fire' enough in this post? Geez!

Next week I start Phase 2 in Jillian Michael's Body Revolution. All the workouts change this week and get harder, so I am expected encouraging results. One thing I can say about this program is that I really feel like I am in better physical condition! My endurance and strength have improved greatly. I can now do 15 REAL push-ups! In January I couldn't do even one!

My goal is to lose 2 more pounds over the next 2 weeks. Hubby & I are going to Vegas and I'd like to be at or pass the 30 pounds lost mark. If I get there, I will be the thinnest I have been in 12 years. All that time spent feeling bad about myself for being over weight. Why didn't I do this sooner? Hmmm.... That's a pretty profound question. I will need to think about that.....

See you next Saturday!

Curriculum Clarity!!!

2012-05-08T20:03:00.001-06:00

I have been doing that Spring thing again. Thinking so much about what we will be doing next year for homeschool that I lose focus on finishing this year! Luckily we are basically done. La is finishing up one last project & most of her 3R's (reading, 'riting & 'rithmetic) are done for the year.

So my search began a few weeks ago. Through prayer & reflection, I knew I needed to look for something different, something with a little more structure. As I shared on the Homeschool Compass page, I want plans & structure, but I also need a curriculum that is flexible and uses natural methods where subjects are connected instead of compartmentalized. Also it's important that it be engaging. There should be something fun to look forward to everyday.

I searched around and compiled a list of possibilities. If you would like to see that list, you can see the Pintrest Board I compiled here. After thoroughly comparing all these choices, I have come to a clear decision. Next year we will be using (drumroooooollllllll)

Learn All About This Curriculum Here
Photo from http://www.home-school-curriculum.com/

We are so excited! I have already placed my order & the BIG BOX with all books & supplies arrives tomorrow! For a few days now I have been saying it will be like Christmas morning when we open it!

I chose this curriculum basically because it checked all the boxes for me! I simply think I will love everything about it! If you identify with our Homeschool Compass, I highly suggest you download the samples and check it out!

Ah, the peace of making a decision and knowing it is right.

My First "Stick With it Saturday"

2012-05-05T15:35:00.000-06:00

Today is my 1st Stick With it Saturday. I found this weekly linky party over at Sam's Noggin. So here it goes.

I started my weight loss journey January 18th of this year. So far I have lost 26 pounds and 14 inches.

I started out with P90X. It was a little more old school weight lifting than I expected. I bought it because my doctor recommended it. I think I may go back to it when I get down to my last 20 pounds or so.

I few weeks ago I started Jillian Michael's Body Revolution. Now this I really like. It is hard, but the moves are efficient. What I mean by that is most of the time you are working upper body, lower body & getting cardio in all in one movement. The workouts are all about 30 minutes long which makes them very doable. P90X was an hour or more most days. I just ended my 3rd week.

Here is a current progress picture. Please no mean comments about my before picture!

I haven't lost a lot on the scale these last 3 weeks, but I have lost inches & I can see my muscles toning up!

So here's my plan for this week.

Sunday: Work Out 3

Monday: Work Out 4

Tuesday: Cardio 1

Wednesday: Work Out 3

Thursday: Work Out 4

Friday: Cardio 1

Saturday: Rest

Nutrition Goals:

Eat Breakfast Every Day!

Drink 8 glasses of water daily

Eat 5+ servings of vegetables daily

Limit whole grain OR starchy veggie to once daily

My husband are I are going to Las Vegas May 25th & I'd like to lose 5 more pounds by then. Check in next week to see how I do.

Plarn Tutorial

2012-05-05T14:11:00.001-06:00

I decided to try my hand at making plarn today. Plarn = plastic bag yarn. I took some picture as I went along. You can make several yards with one trip to the grocery store!

First you need grocery bags or other plastic bags and a pair of scissors. I decided to make 2 stranded plarn because the grocery bags I used are very thin.

Step One. Lay your bag out flat. Right side out and side pleats tucked in.

Step Two. Fold in half top to bottom and and then fold in half again. But off the handles & bottom and toss those.

Step Three. Now you will have a folded -up tube of plastic. Cut this tube in strips. My strips are approximately 3/4 inch. I wouldn't go any thinner than 1/2 inch. Exact measurements are not crucial.

Step Four. Unfold all your strips. they will be circular strips.

Step Five. Now you need to link up all your strips. Lay one strip down pulled out into an oval shape. Lay another strip down on top overlapping the end. Like this.

Reach under the end of the left hand strip and grab the end on the right hand strip. Pull this end under the left hand strip until a knot forms. Continue to link the rest of your strips this way.

Pull the grabbed strip through to the right.

From one grocery bag I was able to get just over 9 yards. I thought I might make a sun hat out of it, but I didin't like the way it was working up. However, I do think it would make a great reusable bag. If you have made something useful with plarn please share!

Cutting My Own Hair - WHAT???

2012-04-25T13:34:00.002-06:00

Yes that's what I said! I cut my own hair. I have been thinking about giving it a go for a while now & finally did it. The hardest part was the first cut. I didn't cut much, but next time I will be braver. Here is the basics of what I did.

First, I followed Feye's Hair Trimming Instructions HERE.
I followed the V-shape method and planned to take it one more step to the U-shape method, but I liked the V-shape. On me, it really came out more like a U-shape anyhow.

The I did the layers and front with the ponytail method. This video HERE is basically what I followed. I watched MANY videos on how to do this before I tried it & no one ruined their hair, so I figured I could do it to. Here are the results.

I am at least as happy with it as when I get it cut professionally. Also I found this great tool to help out next time I cut it. It's called a Creaclip and looks like this.

You can check out this product at http://creaclip.com/ . I am very excited to try cutting my hair with this tool. I will write a review after I give it a try. I figured it was worth a try for $30. We'll see.....
Do you have any adventurous DIY stories. If so, I'd love to hear about them in the comments! Till next time!

Pixie Bonnet Tutorial

2012-03-27T15:04:00.000-06:00

Hope you enjoy this tutorial on making a basic Pixie Bonnet. With this tutorial you can use any yarn, hook, stitches or stitch pattern you like. Have fun and please share what you create!! This pattern can be downloaded from Ravelry Here or Craftsy Here!

The Versatile Blogger Award!!!

2012-02-14T16:43:00.002-07:00

I received my first blog award!!!

Olga from OlgaSoleil has awarded me The Versatile Blogger Award! I am super excited since it is my first blog award ever!!

Thank you so much Olga!!!

The Award has Rules:

1. Add the award to your blog

2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you

3. Mention 7 random things about yourself

4. List the rules

5. Award to 15 bloggers

6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 FUN FACTS ABOUT ME!

1. I was named after a Holly's song title "Carrie-Anne".

2. I love orange.

3. When I was 8 years old I won the "Holiday Muppet's' Drawing Contest" put on by our local PBS Station.

4. I grew up in Upstate New York, but have lived "Out West" for almost 19 years.

5. I love long motorcycle trips and once rode from Phoenix, AZ to NY in 3 days.

6. I have one child and like it that way!!

7. I have recently taken up knitting & really like it!

And below are the

15 wonderful and inspiring to whom

I am passing on "The Versatile Blogger"award.
Check them out!
1. A Jennuine Life
2. Aesthetic Nest
3. Alli Crafts
4. Easy Makes Me Happy
5. icandy handmade
6. Little Big Gir Studio
7. One Sheepish Girl
8. Our Seven Dwarfs
9. Room 118 Photography
10. The Royal Sisters
11. Julie Kundhi
12. Make It Do
13. Simply Notable
14. Roman Sock
15. The Purl Bee

Again, Thanks so much and enjoy!!