Waldorf Rhythm – Musically Speaking

If you’ve done any reading at all about Waldorf education, you have surely encountered Waldorf’s three R’s: rhythm, rhythm and rhythm. Yes, rhythm is a BIG DEAL in Waldorf world! Visit any Waldorf-inspired blog and you will likely find a post. Google “Waldorf rhythm” and you get 461K results! Pinterest is full of Waldorf rhythm pins and every Waldorf book will include it. In fact, there are actually entire Waldorf books just about rhythm – why you need one, what it is, how to tweak it, what to put in it, how to get your family doing it, etc.  Every website I’ve visited, every book I’ve read, when they get to the practical steps to establishing a Waldorf home starts with rhythm. There’s just no escaping it, no skipping it, no racing on to the gnomes, play silks and knitting. Even if you do race on to the gnomes, play silks and knitting…you will eventually find yourself back where you started trying to figure out rhythm!

If you haven’t done any reading at all about Waldorf education, check out the links on this post. For rhythm-specific reading, my favorites can be found here on Waldorf Essentials by Melisa Nielsen and this post at Waldorf Inspired Learning. These ladies do an amazing job of explaining what you need to know about rhythm – what it is, why you need it, how to do it, etc.

Fortunately for me, we already had a good start on rhythm before coming to Waldorf. I don’t consider myself to be especially organized, but I am a rather regularish sort of person – a regularish sort of person with two small children I homeschool, a household to run and a menagerie to tend. Out of necessity, I have had routines in place for a long time! But as I dove into my rhythm reading, I realized that what I was doing was not a rhythm. A rhythm is not simply “Breakfast at 7, Lunch at 12, Rest at 1” or “clear the table, put away leftovers, wash the dishes” or even “floors on Monday, bathrooms on Tuesday, kitchen on Wednesday” – a rhythm is so much more!

Rhythm is a pattern of in breaths and out breaths.

??????????

Yeah. That breath thing made no sense to me. So, I read some more and then put it into terms that mean something to me – music terms!

What does rhythm mean in music? Well, as a Kodaly-inspired educator, this means the children first learn to “pat steady” to a bank of folk songs. Once they can do this, then I give them the term “steady beat” to name that constant patting, stomping, clapping, dancing heartbeat they have experienced. Then I guide them to identify that the words of the songs don’t plod along following that steady beat exactly, one word to a beat. Some words do fall exactly on the beat – but some crowd together and move faster than the beat. And sometimes there are no words at all – just a beat or more of total silence. Once the children have found places in their familiar songs that do all of these things, I give them the term “rhythm” to name the concept of patterns of short and long sounds and silences. Next come the names for those sounds and silences – quarter note, eighth note pair and so on.

As their musical repertoire grows and they create their own songs, we explore how different rhythmic patterns evoke different moods and sensations and this is where Waldorf rhythm starts to make sense to me! They experience the excitement – and exhaustion! – of many rapidly repeated notes, of accelerando (speeding up). They feel soothed by a succession of slow, sustained notes and ritardando (slowing down). They feel anticipation or completion at a rest and the engagement that happens when rhythms vary, the lack of satisfaction when changes are too abrupt.

Here is the song we were singing before I thought about home rhythm in these terms.

Daily Rhythm
6:00             Good Morning!
6:30             Breakfast, clear table; dress, teeth, hair.
7:30             Outside Play/Mom does chores
8:30             Monday – Friday: Main Lesson; Saturday – Sunday: Free play.
9:30             Snack Time
                     Monday – Friday: Lively Arts
                     Saturday: Library/Baseball
                     Sunday: Free Play
12:00           Lunch, clear table
                     Free Play
1:00             Rest Period
3:00             Walk Dog
                     Free Play/Housework and Dinner Prep
5:30             Evening Activities
6:30             Dinner
7:30             Shower, Pajamas, Teeth, Etc. Maybe a story if we aren’t furious with each other.
8:00             Good Night!…maybe. Probably not. Up and down, and round and round.

You can see there was a lot of free play while I tried to get things done – free play that usually became a free-for-all. Someone almost always got hurt, something almost always got destroyed – and I wasn’t really getting any of those things done I was trying to do! And meals and rest times were battlegrounds!

My study of Waldorf rhythm has brought me to compose something new – a day with rhythmic variety without any abrupt changes. I’ve tried to alternate “rapid notes” and “slow notes” and I make sure we have some strategic “rests” as well. I’ve also thought about transitions and incorporated accelerandi and ritardandi  to eliminating abrupt shifts.

 

Happy boy!

Of course, I am also learning that no matter where we are in our rhythm, my active engagement is required. We can alternate degrees of my active engagement – I can teach a lesson, then work on computer, read them a story, then fold laundry while they play – but I can’t check out for long stretches of the day to play on Facebook clean. I can have tiny little breaks – a quarter rest, maybe even a half rest – but no tacit for mommy! (A tacit is when a musician has rests for a really long time, pages even.)

 

Armed with a new understanding of rhythm, our days now look like this:

Daily Rhythm
6:00     Good Morning!
6:30     Breakfast, clear table, dress, teeth and hair
Morning Home Care (Daily chores we do together)
             Outside Play & Nature Walk
8:30     Monday – Friday: Main Lesson
             Saturday – Sunday: Free Play/Special Time
9:30     Snack Time
Monday – Friday: Lively Arts
Saturday: Library/Baseball
Sunday: Free Play
12:00    Lunch, clear table
              Story Time
1:00      Rest Period
3:00      Walk Dog
Afternoon Home Care (Major chores we do once a week, together)
Handwork
Meal Preparation (which we often do together)
Free Play
5:30      Evening Activities
6:30      Dinner
7:30      Shower, Pajamas, Teeth, Etc.
Story
8:00     Good Night!

Daily Rhythm

You can see that our morning time still begins with a lot of focused activity – eating, getting dressed, morning chores. I have accepted that I am going to have be actively involved many times – they aren’t going to dress, etc., without my being present in their room. This sustained concentrated effort is hard for Scooter and Cheech (and me…) but once done, they get to slow down and play outside and I finish up my morning routine. After a short time on their own, I take them on a nature walk. This time acts as a gradual accelerando into main lesson time and has been smooth sailing since the change! (Gnomes be praised!) Lively Arts act as a lovely little ritardando right through lunch and story culminating in a satisfying and welcome rest.  After rest, we jump right into activity/accelerando – walking the dog and hard-core housework (together!). Handwork, which is somewhat active (mentally) but also relaxing (physically) creates a great ritardando into dinner prep time and free play. Our evening activities are usually another series of “rapid notes” before our final ritardando – dinner, getting ready for bed and a story. By the time we get to bedtime, that rest is (mostly) welcome. Some days circumstances (illness, baseball practice, torrential rains) intervene and we have to rearrange – we play jazz and improvise.  But having once established the rhythm, we can easily reestablish it after any departure.

Of course, rhythm is only one part of those changes, but it is a BIG part! My kids are getting regular doses of intense mental/physical activity and interaction with me and each other throughout the day as well as and regular doses of less intense activity and interaction. Overall, they are calmer, more cooperative and we are more connected. And that is good for all families, right? Not just homeschool families or Waldorf families!

 

Waldorf Homeschool Resources

Spring Nature Table

After a year of cobbling together my own curriculum…I am done. D. O. N. E. DONE. Scooter is done, mama is done, we are done. Maybe I’ll blog about it later, maybe not. I have a lot I could say that maybe someone somewhere might find helpful, but that will just have to wait for now. I am up to my eyeballs in a complete paradigm shift as we change course radically and implement a Waldorf-inspired packaged curriculum from Oak Meadow. I am excited about it, it is amazing, it is changing our family dynamic and I’d love to share about all of that in great detail – but it will just have to wait!

In the meantime, several of my homeschooling friends are very curious about what we are doing  and have asked me to share a few resources I’ve found helpful. There is a ton of information available, so these are just things I’ve found and loved so far in no particular order.

Websites

Oak Meadow

Waldorf-Inspired Learning

Waldorf Without Walls

The Waldorf Homeschool Connection

Moon Child

The Online Waldorf Library

Waldorf Homeschoolers

Books

The Heart of Learning

Waldorf Education: A Family Guide

Understanding Waldorf Education: Teaching from the Inside out

Seven Times the Sun: Guiding Your Child Through the Rhythms of the Day

Materials

Oak Meadow Bookstore

Waldorf Books

Bella Luna Toys

And, of course, Etsy. Beware. If you search, “Waldorf Toys” you will be on there a long, long, long time and you will spend all your money.

Let me know what you find and love! Happy reading!

Free Printable: Baking with Blends Game

This week, I’m sharing one of Scooter’s favorite games, Baking with Blends. Players traverse a baking-themed board and read words featuring blends – beginning, final, and beginning +  final.

For the uninitiated, a blend is two or more consonants whose sounds “blend” together to create one, smooth sound. The word “blend” has two blends: /bl/ and /nd/. Systematic study and practice with blends helps build fluency.

Please note that this game is neither complex nor particularly creative. It doesn’t even have anything to do with baking. But, it has been a very effective trick tool for getting Scooter to practice blends. Could I just use flash cards? Sure, but there would be a lot of crying involved. (Scooter and me.) Add some cutesy little pictures and tell him it’s a game? Scooter will practice blends all day long without any crying involved. (Except for me if we are going on round 6 or 7).

So, I hope you enjoy this printable. Let me know what you think!

Salmonella and Homeschooling Success

Today is the first-ever blog hop at a site I really love – SecularHomeschool.com. As the school year comes to a close (for some, not all), they’ve asked folks to celebrate our successes. So, what have we done successfully this year? Here are my Top 5.

5. We did not make a mummified chicken. No, we did not. Even though I fell in love with our history curriculum because of the mummified chicken project in the activity book, sanity saved the day and I said, “No. Un-huh. We are not doing no nasty mummified chicken in this kitchen with a toddler and a six year old menace. Because ain’t nobody got time for salmonella!” Sometimes, even homeschooling moms need to know when mummifying a chicken is overkill.

4. We figured out what to do with the toddler!!! People ask frequently how homeschool works when you have one that isn’t, technically, homeschooling and has the attention span of a crack-addicted flea. And it is a trick. In a nutshell, he has five busy boxes – and since we only school four days a week, the rotation makes one of them feel “new” every two weeks. (If you want to see what’s in them, I’ll be posting soon.)

3. We have a schedule/routine that is working for us. It’s sensitive to the needs of both of our kids, to both adults and leaves lots of room for other things like outside play, trips to the library and taking care of our ever-growing menagerie. (So that no one gets salmonella.)

2. We took the leap and actually decided to home school full time. It was a process. It was terrifying. But it was what we knew in our guts we needed to do. We looked, we leapt, we landed (mostly) on our feet. And that is something I’m really proud of.

1. But my biggest source of pride and satisfaction is that I’ve managed to carve out time to pursue my own interests. (Gasp!) Yes, interests that have little (or nothing) to do with my kids or homeschool. Interests that give me a greater sense of purpose (other than my kids or homeschool). Interests that connect me to the outside world. This has always been a challenge for me as a mother whether I was working outside the home, working from home, or just working in the home, but it’s been harder now since we leapt into homeschooling. But, I’m doing it. And I hope that, in addition to phonics and number bonds and the names of the planets in the solar system, the lesson that taking care of yourself is essential is a lesson my children are learning well. (That and handwashing. Because salmonella.)

Ta da! For more fabulous homeschool successes, hop on over to some of these other folks’ blogs.

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3 Things I Took With Me from Public School

Before I became an accidental homeschooler, I was an on-purpose middle school and high school teacher. I loved it and I hated it, but mostly, I loved it. It was hard, it was fun and sometimes I cried and I (thought) bad words. But, I was actually pretty good at it and I’d like to share three things that worked then that I find are still working now.

1. When I first began teaching, my amazing mentor told me, “You bring the fun – or they will. And you’ll never like the fun they come up with.” If content is uninteresting, delivery is boring and activities are humdrum ho-hum, you can guarantee that your classroom will swiftly devolve into a zoo. When working with beginning teachers who were struggling to manage their classrooms, this was one of the FIRST things I considered. And it is still true in my homeschool, enrollment two. If I don’t tie the content to my children’s interest, or I dish up the same-old same-old every day, or I fail to frequently incorporate the kinds of activities they enjoy, we are going to have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad school day.

Which brings me to…
2. Learning styles matter. Learning styles refer to the preferred way a person learns. Think about yourself and how you like to learn new things. Do you like to read a book? Would you prefer to watch a movie or video or listen to a recording presenting the material or skill? Or, would you learn best if you actually got up and did the thing alongside a master teacher? Most people have one dominant learning style, with a secondary style as well. Most adults can manage to learn in a number of different ways because we have been conditioned to do so – and it makes it rather convenient since many of us have to listen to presentations, read books or trade journals or watch videos for our jobs. However, forcing children to “learn” in a way that is not their preferred style much of the time is torturous both for the teacher and the child. Teaching in their preferred style helps make sure that at least some of the planned activities are those they enjoy.

But what about the necessary activities they don’t enjoy? (And I realize there is an entire school of thought that says children should only do activities they enjoy. But, I’m just not running that kind of joint.)

For those times when an activity is not interesting or fun, I suggest…

3. “Probably so, but nevertheless…” This was a phrase I learned at a conference my first year teaching and it has served me well. For example, Scooter loathes math fact flashcards. I have chosen this practice method for two reasons. First of all, not everything can be cute and fun – I simply am not going to make up a puppet show or game for everything we do. (I may never make up a puppet show in fact.) Secondly, in the case of math facts, a recent study suggests that cutesy little games and activities aren’t nearly as good as old-fashioned “drill and kill.” In fact, worksheets and flashcards may be the absolute best way to teach math facts. Do we do some games? Sure. Do we do some hands-on activities? Absolutely. But sometimes, we do flashcards. And Scooter hates them. More than he hates broccoli, which is saying something.

But this is where, “Probably so, but nevertheless” really comes in handy.,

Observe.

Scooter: I HATE flashcards!

Me: Probably so, but nevertheless, we are going to do them.

Scooter: They are BORING and STUPID!

Me: Probably so, but nevertheless, it is time for flashcards.

Scooter: I can’t wait for them to be OVER!!!

Me: Probably so, but nevertheless, here we go!

Notice the following things about this handy phrase. “Probably so….” acknowledges the child’s feelings. “Probably so….” allows the child to save face because no disagreement is stated. “Probably so” presents no counter-argument. (Why not? Because in the throes of battle, it is not fruitful for me to argue the benefits of flashcards. Scooter does not give two fat farts about how flash cards affect his brain synapses, or about how they are the building blocks for math and science (his favorite subjects) or about the virtues of obedience or how hard I worked to make them. He just HATES them and he is mad!)

“Probably so” acknowledges all of that, skips the argument and moves right on to, “Nevertheless….” which is firm and assertive – and I keep repeating it until Scooter figures out it’s do the damn cards or hear, “Probably so, but nevertheless” on repeat ad infinitum.

Try this phrase. Really. Everyone who has tried it has grown to love it as much as I do. (My cohort wanted to get tee shirts made, but we never did. Nevertheless, it’s a great phrase.) Then, let me know how it went.

So, in summary, bring the fun, teach to your child’s learning style and remember, “Probably so, but nevertheless…” covers a multitude of wrongs.

And finally, I want to say that public school – and especially public school teachers – have many strengths. I know there are bad apples and bad schools, but most I have ever encountered are well-educated, highly skilled professionals committed to learning more, doing better and giving all they have to their students. This post was inspired by yet another thing I read today slamming public schools and public school teachers – and it made me mad and it hurt my heart. We homeschool because it’s best for our family – but not because public schools or public school teachers are bad. I owe much of my success at home (and in school) to public schools and public school teachers. I am a better human being for the experiences and relationships I had there. So, godspeed, public educators – and thank you.

 

 

Daily Schedule

Every homeschooling methodology book I’ve read (except for Unschooling books) seems to include a section on schedules.

Which I skip. Because, hey – it’s my home and my family and I am going to do what works for us, right?

But, I understand some families considering homeschooling or new to homeschooling would like to know our schedule, so in this post I’ll share ours.

However, you need to know a few things about our family to fully appreciate a) why I felt confident jumping into homeschooling without following someone else’s schedule and b) why we use this particular type of scheduling method.

First, our family needs routine. One of us has Attention Deficit Disorder. Two, possibly three of us, also cope with anxiety. Routines are comforting to us, keep us on track, help us develop a sense of predictability and accomplishment and generally, keep the wheels from falling off. We’ve been refining our home and family routines for quite a while – adding a homeschooling routine/schedule into the mix wasn’t really that big of a deal.

Second, we use this particular type of schedule because it is visual, touchable and flexible. Scooter does not read independently yet, both boys enjoy turning little cards, and it is easily changed each day.

Your family may not need as much detail or need a touchable system. Your family may just roll along happily and without question with one caregiver acting as ringmaster. (If this is your family, lucky, lucky you.)

But, in any case, here is what works for us.

I found daily schedule cards at this site. I love them! They are small, have a picture on each one, have lots of variety (boardwalk, anyone?) including two blank cards, and best of all – they are free! I printed them on heavy card stock (grey was what I had on hand) and just cut them out. They fit five-across in my table-top pocket chart by Learning Resources.

Next, I created my own cards for  our actual school work. They are larger, but also have a picture on each one and include blank cards. As soon as I figure out how (which will be after I make dinner, bathe the spawn, and wrestle them to bed), I will link to my file so you can download a copy if you’d like. Update: You can now download my School Activity Cards.

Please know that we do not do every subject every day except for Language Arts and Math. Scooter is barely six and I have other things to do – like manage a household, maintain my super-model figure and write blog posts to be read for the masses.

Instead, I often allow him to choose between science and history – though lately we have done both since both of the unit studies we are doing really interest him right now. (The solar system and ancient Egypt, for the curious.)

We do art and music when we make time. The kids usually do some kind of art every day. Just this week, in fact, they did a Jackson Pollock recreation with popcorn, mini marshmallows and Nerds candy on the new family room rug while I was on the phone. But, I digress. As for music, we do that whenever I can stomach the thought of fighting over the instruments or singing another round of “We Are the Dinosaurs.” Most days, we turn on NPR in the car, hope it’s a musical program and call it done. The shoemaker’s children…

Life Skills includes sewing, cleaning, cooking, helping with the chickens and helping with the yard and garden. Basically, anything that needs doing around the homestead that I can do with some “help” from the children with reasonable hope of success. Scooter’s chores include making his bed, sorting laundry, putting clean laundry away, putting his own belongings away, helping me put many of his brother’s belongings away, clearing the table after meals, walking the dog at lunch time (just down the driveway and around the culdesac – don’t freak out!), and setting the table for dinner. He also dusts, uses the hand vacuum around the edges and corners of rooms, cleans glass-topped tables and the front of the china cabinet and sorts clean socks. He feeds his own fish and helps feed the mammals. He tells me this is exhausting.

And, last but not least, German – new this week.

I know, Classical educator friends – no Latin. What about the children? Well, I know this may be quite a shock, but Latin doesn’t give me any warm fuzzies. None. And at this point in my life, I cannot muster up the strength to teach something about which I have no warm fuzzies. Ad infernum cum eo.

So, there it is. Ta da. Now, go do what works for you and ignore this post entirely.

3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Homeschool

This post is inspired by one I read recently here. I read this post as we contemplated our own decision and took the time to really think through each item. It was a very helpful article to me. (And currently, item one on her list is at the TOP of my frustrations!)

But, I wanted to add my own thoughts to the brew. So, here they are.

1. Don’t home school because public school is “evil.” Because it’s not. Public school is one of the best things to come out of modern civilization. Before public school, the only people who got to get an education were those whose parents could afford private school, private tutors, or both. Or maybe, your parents worked for some progressive-minded folks who let you learn alongside Cyril and Cecily with the governess. Poor people didn’t often get a formal education – many of them never learned to read or write, let alone own a book. So if you were born poor, you would likely stay poor and have the difficult (and shortened) life span that your parents had and their parents before them. If your parents were in trade and your trade was in high demand, lucky you. If your parents cleaned cesspools for a living, that’s what you had to look forward to. Public school is an amazing thing – it helps level the playing field and expands children’s horizons. and even though I’m a home schooling mom, I still believe in public school and I always will. I’ll fight anyone to. the. death. that says we should do away with it. (So, there!)

2. Don’t home school because you think it will be easy. It’s not easy. In fact, some days, it’s really really hard. Like, tear your hair out hard and drink up the liquor cabinet hard. Like, run away from home and leave no forwarding address hard. It may be easier in some ways than attending a brick and mortar school – days are more flexible, no worries about having the “right” clothes – but it is absolutely not easy. In the words of Westley, “Anyone who tells you differently, is selling something.” The thing they are selling may just be their religion or their persona – but someone who tells you it’s easy? Selling something.

3. Don’t home school because you think your child’s annoying habits and mannerisms will disappear when they are away from corrupting influences. Scooter is still Scooter with all of his charms and flaws. He still has temper tantrums. He is still mean to Cheech sometimes. He still has trouble sharing, changing direction and making his bed. He still picks his nose and needs reminders to flush the toilet. And we are still working on eliminating, “I seen” and “hisself” (which he learned from his teacher) from his vocabulary. Just because we have him home with us doesn’t mean he has transformed into the perfect child with impeccable manners and flawless grammar. In fact, we get to enjoy him picking up a host of new flaws…from us.

So, there you have it. Three excellent reasons NOT to home school.

Give me time and I’ll come up with more.

“So…what do you DO all day?”

People wonder what we do all day. I mean, having moved from a decent-sized city with a children’s museum and zoo, numerous parks and play places, two malls and numerous restaurants, etc., to an itty bitty small Texas town – and homeschooling, too, “What do you actually DO all day?” is a legitimate question. 

Sometimes, I think this is code for, “Ohmigerd, aren’t you BORED OUT OF YOUR MIND?” As for the out of my mind part, I’ve written about that already. And as for occasional boredom? Absolutely! But, I think occasional boredom is part of the human condition. We were bored at times in the bustling mid-sized city we used to call home and sometimes, and we are sometimes bored here.

But if you mean, “What do you do for fun?” I can tell you all about that!

Just like many families I know, homeschooling or not, rural or not, we look forward to weekends when we can all be together for much of each day, including the primary breadwinner.

So Saturday we made the trek into town for some shopping with the kids. (“Put yore good pants on, Scooter, and brush yore tooth! We’re goin’ to the big city!”) It’s a 35-minute drive which, to me, still seems like a long ride in the car. (That may have something to do with my role as snack dispenser and backseat sheriff, but I can’t be certain.)

T-ball season started Monday and Scooter needed a new bat. So, of course, we left the sporting goods store with a new bat, a new helmet, a new tee, a bucket of balls and a football for Cheech. The bat, helmet and football are all Seahawks colors and Cheech alarmed the staff by shouting, “GO HAWKS!!!!” at checkout multiple times. (That’s my boy!)

Then we headed to Target and I resisted singing, “Jerusalem! Jeruuuuuuusalem!” since Cheech had made enough of a scene at the sports store. But when the husband said he’d take the spawn so I could browse in peace, I had to hum the line, “Bring me my arrows of desire,” ever so softly.

And after a nice little lunch at a chain burger joint, we happily headed home. We had had enough suburbia for the week. It was too much traffic, too much noise, too much stuff, too MUCH. We had made our homage to consumerism at the sports store, left Target with only three things that we actually needed (for less than $20!) and ate an inexpensive little lunch. In the words of Goldilocks, it was, “Just right.”

We did need some new homeschool supplies, however…So on the way back, we stopped off and picked up these.

It’s not lunch, kids…

We are not new chickaneers, so buying new chicks at the locally-owned feed store was a cinch. (Last year, I ordered from My Pet Chicken, which I highly recommend for their variety of breeds, wealth of information and the fact that they will ship as few as three chickens – a definite plus for the beginning birder.)

We chose three breeds, all pullets (girls). They were already sexed at the store, but I checked to confirm. Yes, I have mad skills. One accidental rooster is enough and a brief peek at the business end of each chick wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever done.

And here they are!

Honey Bun, Sassy and Sweet Pea

The black one with the yellow blaze is a Barred Rock. After several escape attempts and her pecking me repeatedly through the air holes of their travel container, we named her Sassy. She better be a great layer!

The solid black chick is a black sex-link, a cross between a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster and a Barred Rock hen. Sex-link means the chicks have marks that distinguish them male from female. The females are solid black and the males have a white dot on their head. This is a meat chicken, but Sweet Pea need not worry. She will die of old age here at our wildlife refuge.

My favorite is Honey Bun, a little Ameraucauna. She will grow up to have golden feathers and may lay colored eggs. I like her because she quickly let Sassy know she would not be taking any sass.

After getting the chicks established in their brooder, it was time for the boys to nap which meant some alone time for me and the husband. Bow chicken wow wow! IOW, time to clean the chicken coop!

We’ve had a lot of rain and snow lately and the flock have had to stay inside a lot. One of the roof panels has been leaking, so the situation was fowl. (See what I did there?) Our coop has a cement foundation with a drain line, so a shovel, bucket, hose and broom did the trick and about three hours later, they settled in to their nice, clean digs.

We also paced out a chicken run expansion and will start construction this weekend. Scooter will help me drive posts and dig the perimeter trench. Cheech will use a power saw and nail gun to make some gates.* We will call it “animal husbandry, physical education and technical education” in our homeschool binder and I’ll post an update soon. (Is there an HGTV show for chicken coops? Hmm. Maybe there should be.) We also hauled limbs from recent storms, built up the burn pile, fixed a fence and then it was high time to clean up and feed the animals.

They had pepperoni pizza and we had combination. All while watching “Babe,” the perfect movie to end this particular day.(Did we really have a choice?)

By 9, we were ready for bed. And then, we were up before the sun (and the accidental rooster!) to start another day.

So that’s our version of rural living. It’s definitely not what I envisioned when we moved here, but it’s alright. Were you surprised? I bet you thought there would be a square dance. Maybe next Saturday.

My sweet pea and Sweet Pea

*Lies. All lies. Just wanted to see if I could scare you.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with My Pet Chicken, I just like them enough to tell other people without compensation.

Homeschooling and Insanity

There are lots of people who think homeschooling is insane. From the moment I announced I was even thinking about it, I heard, “I could never homeschool!” or “I’d go nuts if I homeschooled!” Then, I decided to quit talking to myself and carry on.

To be fair, homeschooling would be an insane choice for some families. However, we are fortunate to have the time and resources as well as a workable match between parent and child personalities to make it work (at least for now). I would never suggest that homeschooling is for everyone – but it is most definitely not in our case, “insane.”

And I’d like to keep it that way. (And so would my husband and the kids despite their daily attempts to drive me over the edge.)

So right after I looked into the legalities of homeschooling (okay…BEFORE), I thought long and hard about what I would need to maintain this thin veneer of sanity. Because this past year? It has been really tough. And I only recently turned the proverbial corner toward a better state of mental and emotional well-being.

My husband as well as my best friend were also concerned. My husband thought it was the best option for Scooter, but worried it wasn’t the best option for me. My best friend had similar thoughts. So, I thought long and hard, talked through things, asked for ideas, and came up with a plan.

The first thing I realized was that, as much as possible, I wanted to mitigate the enormity of this change by making it as smooth a transition as possible. I didn’t want to completely upset the apple cart by changing our entire home routine. So…I didn’t. I planned our homeschooling day like our public-schooling day. (Except without the part where we took Scooter to school each morning at 7:15 a.m. or picked him up later in the afternoon.) We maintained our morning routine: brain-rotting cartoons, breakfast, dress and brush, chores, then school. And that has worked great for us. I need structure, my kids need structure, and structure has made this change less of a “change.”

I also realized that I had to have daily therapy – i.e. time for creative endeavor. Everyone has their thing, and my thing is creating, most often writing, but sometimes practicing piano, composing, reading, studying something new or occasionally, crafting. (As in very, very occasionally. Sorry about those unfinished slippers from 1998, Mom. I’ll finish them soon.) So, every day, I force my children to have a rest period while I head to our little home office or curl up somewhere and read or study. So far, I’ve worked on new state teaching certifications, a nonfiction children’s book prospectus and some fairly bad poetry. It’s been awesome and I look forward to it every day.

I also asked for and received a gym membership and promises to take care of the spawn in the mornings so that I can go run/walk/crawl and do some strength training. Most mornings so far, this hasn’t happened due to weather and illness. But next week is the week! Really, really!

We also get out of the house regularly. No way was I going to be cooped up all day, every day. It wasn’t going to work for me or for the kids. So, three mornings a week, we go on some kind of short outing or errand. Now that Scooter is starting T-ball and a math club at a local library, we may cut down, but getting out and seeing the big, wide world is essential.

And last, but not least, I asked my husband to please, pretty please take over the morning and evening childcare duties. Let’s be honest – I’ve always been the default parent and I probably always will be. But if I am going to continue to be the parent primarily responsible for their safety, feeding, napping, crapping, social calendar AND their education, he can deal with dress and brush and bath and jammies.

Routine, creative time, exercise, getting out and assistance – that’s what I’ve required to be successful at our new endeavor. If you are thinking about homeschooling, what do you need to stay sane?

Thanks for reading.

First Things First: Legalities

The first thing we did after deciding to homeschool was to research our state’s laws. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), Texas has some of the most lax rules about homeschooling in the country. We do not have to file a letter of intent with our school district, have our curriculum reviewed, or have our kids tested annually.

What we do have to do is to have a “bonafide” curriculum in visual form that covers reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and good citizenship. (Does anyone else find it alarming that Texas requires no science, social studies, fine arts or physical/health education?)

What are the laws where you live? Every state is different, but you can find out about yours at this site.

We also had to officially withdraw Scooter from public school. You can’t just not show up one day…or twelve. Please, look at your state laws carefully and make sure your child is attending regularly right up to the day you withdraw. We chose to withdraw by certified letter, a great option in Texas. Yes, road conditions were poor, but it had more to do with the fact that mama doesn’t look good in prison orange. Scooter didn’t care about retrieving any personal belongings (or what was left of them), he didn’t care about saying goodbye and $10 is a small price to pay for the library book we still had at home. A certified letter also has the added benefit of providing a clear paper trail of when exactly you withdrew your child if that should become necessary.

We also chose to join an association that provides legal support to homeschooling families. There have been some cases of parents being taken to court for truancy or being investigated for child abuse and neglect simply because of their decision to homeschool. [As of this posting, the Homeschool Police have not made a visit. Stay tuned.] In Texas, the Texas Homeschool Coalition may be of interest to you. If you live elsewhere, check out the Home School Legal Defense Association.  Read the fine print – many will not help you if your legal troubles began before you joined, especially if those issues were related to excessive absences.

In many cases, you will also need to actually begin homeschooling the day after you withdraw your child. What that looks like will depend on you – but just in case the Homeschool Police come knocking, you’ll want to have something in hand. In Homeschooling – Help! Where do I start?, I will share how we went about deciding what to teach. After the excruciating process of making the decision and the nail-biting experience of withdrawing him, choosing what we were going to work on was FUN!

Thanks for reading!