Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

If there were one big lesson I learned this year in homeschool, it is this: Loosen Up and Have Fun!! We chose to homeschool so we could have fun with our kids - you know - build models, do experiments, read and write books together, visit museums, explore the world, etc.  We wanted to help our kids develop their imagination, creativity, and outside-the-box thinking.  Every parent wants to give their child the ability to be awesome , right? And then there's reality:  most days it takes everything I have just to get through 3 subjects with each child.  When school is over, we have lunch.  Then I take nap while they play computer and video games.  This happens pretty much every day. This is not what I pictured when we decided to homeschool.  I think I pictured more of a Little House on the Prairie/Anne of Green Gables/Up combo.  You know - precocious, wholesome children.  Girls with cute braided hair and dresses.  Homemade bre...

We have chosen to homeschool our kids while living on one income.  We love field trips...but we can't often do expensive things.  So, I took on the challenge and found some really great field trips close to home at little to no cost.  How great is that?  I post these not necessarily because everyone that reads the blog lives in our area (that is surely not the case).  Rather, this post is designed to shake up your mental juices so that you can discover some great free field trips for your family in your part of the world, too! Check out your local colleges or universities! The local library offers all sorts of programs for kids and adults. Browse zoo and museum schedules - you may find they have FREE days! Call up local food establishments and ask if they do tours. Contact the post office, fire station, police station, or ambulance service to ask if they would do a presentation. Ask a farmer if you can tour their farm! I recently scheduled an outing...

Recently, I shared my story about trying to discover why my daughter has problems learning with a group of friends. For months, I have been processing, thinking, rethinking, and overthinking this whole thing.  Am I overreacting?  Am I just imagining this?  Should I involve the public school?  Should I seek private testing?  Is this all really necessary?  And just saying it all out loud, asking for prayer for the whole situation...it just broke open a dam.  It revealed a line of thought I didn't even know was in my head: "I just want my kids to be awesome!" I said this aloud and heard it myself for the first time.  Lightbulb! What parent has ever looked at their child and thought to themselves, "I just want my child to be average.  I'll be happy with that."  How about, "If my child is awful at everything, that would be fine."  Or: "If my child never succeeds at anything, that would be o.k. with me." Doesn't that sound ...

After talking with some knowledgeable people and reading lots of blogs, state education websites, and Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz, M.D., I have decided sending the letter is the right thing to do. As my hubby and I were signing it the other night, I said I was still nervous about it.  He said, "Honey, you've been writing this letter for the last 6 months.  I have full confidence in you.  Send it!"  Okay - point taken (had it really been 6 months?  yep, it had.)  My sister and my cousin encouraged me to get the ball rolling, too.  It was time. And so, this morning, at the crack of 11:00, I loaded up my sickly crew (2 of the 3 have some sort of nasty cold - yuck!) and we trudged through the slushy snow and biting wind to the minivan.  We made the short drive to our local teeny tiny post office, rounded the block until a spot opened up (there are only 3 spots available), and led my 3 little ducks into the building.  Everythi...

When I saw that our local college was offering a science fair for homeschoolers, I said, "Yes!"  What could be more fun than doing a science fair project?  I love science!!  And my kids do, too.  So I signed up. What I didn't think about was the amount of work that goes into a science fair project.  In fact, a week or two ago, I shared that we were going to do the science fair to a mother of much older children and she exclaimed, "Oh!  I hated the science fair!  It was awful!"  What was she thinking?  She's nuts.  This was going to be fun! Doing the experiment was great fun, but then you have to record results, make a display board, and practice the presentation multiple times.  Most of this only occurred after repeated encouragement that we were almost done.  This all took a whopping amount of time, patience, and perseverance. I think it took us about 3 weeks to get it all ready.  My kiddo could only handle 20...

Here are a few pictures of what we did during the Great Big Snowstorm of 2016: While it was snowing, we made things.  First, we made snow ice cream  (we had this for a snack 3 days in a row!) Then we made some chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies.  I love making these because they are easy and they don't dirty too many dishes.  And they're really yummy, too. Once the snow stopped falling, we had some fun!  We measured 13 inches of snow, which was knee high for our 4- and 5-year olds.  What an adventure trying to walk in deep snow! We made a snow man (complete with carrot nose) We went sledding the next day - we've been dying to try the new sledding hills at a local park, and our kids were finally all old enough to take and try it out.  Yay! We had a great time!  My littles were too timid to try sledding on their own, so my husband and I took turns scrunching together with them on the sleds and shooting do...

What do you do when you homeschool and you are concerned that one of your children may have a learning disability? I have struggled for months, trying to decide whether or not to have my child evaluated.  I would have to send a formal, certified letter to our public school basically demanding that my child be put through a battery of tests to determine where the problem lies. I don't feel qualified to make this demand of my local school district.  I don't even know exactly what I'm asking for, or what I need.  When a child is in public school and his teacher notices he's having some problems, the special education teacher is consulted and testing may or may not follow.  It's all in house - easy peasy!  (I've never actually been through this process myself, but this is how I picture it.)  The support staff are there, the psychologists and special education staff are there.  This is what they do. When you homeschool, you have to figure it all o...