A Bad Day

Posted by Cindy on November 20, 2007

Well, it happened.  We’ve been working towards this for a while now.  We had a really bad homeschooling day.  You know, one of those days Todd “The Familyman” Wilson describes in his cartoon book.  The husband comes home from work to find mom missing in action.  After several minutes of searching, he finds her locked in a dark closet in the fetal position!  I guess our day wasn’t that bad, but it was close.

I’m convinced that people (including children) who are immeasurably blessed, take their blessings for granted.  To not know what it’s like “on the other side of the fence” seems to blind you to how wonderful your side of the fence really is.  My children have never known sitting for hours on end in a public school.  They’ve never known sitting for hours on end in front of a dvd teacher.  They’ve never even known sitting in front of textbook after textbook on a daily basis.

They have no idea what a cool mom I really am.  I don’t say that in a boastful way!  What I mean is that they have no idea how exciting and wonderful their days really are.  They don’t know that not every child gets to do experiments, lapbooks, field trips, nature walks, cooking and art.  They don’t realize that not every child gets to sit wherever they want to do their work.  They don’t realize that not every child gets to take the day off on an unusually beautiful day in the middle of winter.  They don’t realize that not every child is free to spend the afternoon grooming and riding horses.  Believe you me, I tell them how blessed they are.  Sadly, they just don’t get it.

I’m not down for the count – just frustrated.  I’m not giving up on them either.  I know they’ll begin to understand their blessings as the get older.  I’m just so tired of the whining and complaining.  I wish there were a way to help them to see  – really see – how wonderful their life is.

We seem to go through a season such as this every year about this time.  The holidays are coming.  It’s time for a school break.  Yesterday was the feast at co-op.  It’s always hard to lasso my kids back into schoolwork after a special day like yesterday.  Top that off with all the junk food they ate and I know why today has been “one of those days.”

After my, ahem, “mommy tantrum”, I went to my room to fold about seven loads of laundry that have been piling up.  I heard a lot of ruckus in the kitchen, then complete quiet for about 20 minutes.  Soft footsteps came to the door, then a little knock.  The door opened a crack and through the crack came a folded peice of paper.  That 20 minutes of quiet had been spent writing an apology note.  They gave me great big hugs and led me downstairs to a wonderfully cleaned kitchen.  Yes, there’s hope for them yet!   I suppose there’s hope for me, too.

A Thanksgiving Feast

Posted by Cindy on November 19, 2007

We are part of such a wonderful co-op!  Every year we attend a Thanksgiving Feast the Monday before Thanksgiving.  Each year focuses on an historical time period – this year happened to be the 1950′s.  The moms work to prepare eight different stations that teach the children about the food, clothes, games, and general lifestyle of the times.  Groups of children travel around the stations having all sorts of fun!  This year’s stations included clothing styles, fast food sampling, toys of the decade, games of the decade, popular books & tv shows, popsicle stick creations, paint by number, and beaded bracelets.

We usually end the day with a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but this year called for food from the 50′s.  We ate hot dogs, french fries, mac n’ cheese, jello and rice krispy treats.  Let’s just say the kids probably enjoyed the meal a tad more than the adults.

This One’s For You, Mrs. Debbie!

Posted by Cindy on

Debbie teaches the Contenders of the Faith class for our little boys at co-op.  She’s doing a fantastic job!!  So far, they’ve learned things like fire safety, camping skills and how to use various tools.  She sent an email out not too long ago encouraging the parents to build something with their boys.  So, for you, Mrs. Debbie, Caleb and his Dad made from scratch this bike ramp.  (It’s only fallen apart twice!)

Next project….a tree house!!  Hopefully, it won’t fall apart even once! 

Giving Thanks

Posted by Cindy on November 18, 2007

Books!  We love books around here!  Here’s a sampling of the Thanksgiving books sitting on our shelf this year.  Anyone who’s ever used Five In A Row just has to be a fan of Cranberry Thanksgiving!  We read it every year, along with other informational books and historical fiction stories.

Here’s my poor attempt at a Thanksgiving tree this year.  Luckily, the kids covered over it with many leaves of thankfulness!!  I think we’ll fill in some more thankful leaves soon to cover it up even more. 

One Grain of Rice Math Activity

Posted by Cindy on November 16, 2007

Have you ever read One Grain of Rice by Demi?  Good book!  We read it again the other day and my 5th grader did some fun math activities to go along with the story.

I found the activities and worksheets at this site.

After reading the story, Mahayla had to chart the number of grains of rice the raja gave away.  Since the numbers became huge, I let her use a calculator.

Next, she had to determine how many cups of rice were given away on a few of the days, as well as the weight of the rice and number of people it would feed.

Fun math, real-world type stuff, and lots of computation!  Who could ask for more?