What To Teach?

We can get too easily bogged down in the academic part of homeschooling, a relatively minor part of the whole, which is to raise competent, caring, literate, happy people. ~ Diane Flynn Keith

I am excited as I watch my children blossom into the kind of people I enjoy being around.  They enjoy learning, appreciate others, and are well mannered.  Jared opens doors and does chores without being asked; Mercedes shows tremendous responsibility and trustworthiness far beyond her years.  They often help each other with their school work.  Mercedes is preparing to babysit.  Jared is preparing for his Eagle scout (he's 9 - at this point it's simply setting the goal). 

What do you teach when you homeschool?

I focus on the 3Rs - Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmatic.  We do a lot of history, both reading and by watching documentaries on YouTube (gotta love the Internet for curriculum!).  Now that we're coming up on the American Revolution, we're discussing the factors that lead to the Revolution and how they apply today. 

I also teach home management skills.  People don't seem to do this, but as a working homeschooling mother I cannot do what I do without my children's help.  We work with chore charts and establish routines that will serve them for years to come.  The kids help with laundry, cooking, menu planning, mending, vacuuming - and we discuss what laundry hampers are for (I've decided that the inability to use a hamper is on the Y chromosome...).  Why is it important to keep our home neat and tidy? 

We read - a lot.  Jared is currently reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Mercedes is reading Little House on the Prairie.  Both of these are favorites of mine, so I know when they haven't been reading.   

We're adding Spanish and French to the curriculum as well, as their father is Mexican (and his parents speak no English) and we have a friend who is a native speaker of French and German. 

I don't do much with the computer, other than locating accurate historical videos.  I find it is much more important to lay the foundation properly - literacy is much more vital than computer use. 

We do handwriting and copy work.  The time may come when they won't have access to a PC or smartphone - but they will always be able to write.

You see, I'm not raising "superkids."  I'm raising competent adults, who wont' be living in my basement.  I choose what I teach with that in mind.  If they like to learn, are well mannered, and interact well with the rest of society (not just their age groups), the rest is easy....

Storage, Hoarding, and Clutter

OK, so this is not really a homeschooling post, but it is home-oriented. 

I've been reading a bunch of blogs that are very alarmist in nature.  Store, store, store, hoard, hoard, hoard.  Get a treadle sewing machine and other items for living off the grid.  Repent, for the end is near!

Well, maybe repentance is in order (it's never a bad thing).  And I'll grant that having an emergency plan and kit ready is smart.  But what worries me is that so many of these sites recommend "storing" so much that will probably never be used.

Yes, I know how to sew - and rather well, too.  I'm a good cook, and I like to have food storage on hand.  But I don't have material - because my lifestyle (homeschooling, work at home mother with a virtual assistance business and a bookkeeping business) doesn't allow me the time to sew.  It almost doesn't allow me time to blog!  And it so much of this sounds like hoarding without a plan.  Besides, I live in a small, 3 bedroom townhome with no storage space and too many people (my oldest daughter and her 2 kids are staying here temporarily).   And I have a "thing" about looking like I furnish my home in early Goodwill.  I'm not likely to make a desk by placing a board over food storage buckets or anything like unto it.

So here is my suggestion.

Don't even THINK about storage until you've decluttered.  Get the house under control.  Get rid of EVERYTHING that you don't use and love.  Really.  If you don't absolutely love it, or if you don't use it, get it out of your house.  I'm planning to empty a couple of rooms (slowly!) down to the walls, scrub the room, and then thoughtfully consider what I want that room to be used for and what needs to be in it.  Declutter at least 15 minutes a day. 

Once the house is decluttered (and it will be an ongoing challenge), if you want to do food/fuel/clothing storage, do it thoughtfully.  Consider where you will keep your storage (again, I'm never going to set the TV on food buckets, but YMMV.)  Will you love it there?  Will you USE it?  There's no point in storing things you won't use, and holding on to baby clothes when your youngest is in college is just silly.  Buying a year's supply of canned foods may make sense, but don't just dash out and start buying wheat. 

Store what you use.

Use what you store.

Don't let it take over your house.  It's not likely we'll be off the grid for years at a time. 

Put some real thought behind it rather than hanging on every word the alarmists tell you.

My personal emergency plan is to pack everyone up in the van and drive to Kentucky.  Well, not really, but I know I have items that can be bartered in an emergency, I'm building a stash of cash to keep on hand for emergencies, and although I don't generally need to butcher a chicken, I do know how. 

I want to make sure that my home is, and remains, a haven.  It can't do that if I'm hoarding "just in case."

"How do you get your kids to clean?'

I was recently asked this when I was bragging about keeping my home neat using the Flylady program. 


I don't get my kids to clean.  I ask them to clean up after themselves.  Right now, that's a challenge in and of itself.  It's not their job to be my maids any more than it's my job to be theirs. 

I ask them to put their own laundry away, clear their own plates from the table, and bring the laundry downstairs.  They are to keep their own rooms clean, and clean up their own dirty clothes out of the bathroom when they're done with baths.  They make their own beds and change their own sheets. 

I occasionally ask them to take out the garbage, and they think loading the dishwasher and doing laundry is pretty cool.  So I let them do that, and praise them to the skies when they do.

I remind them often that "housework done improperly still blesses the family" and, while I do teach the correct way to clean things, I also tell them that it doesn't have to be perfect.  Just better. 

And I never, ever use cleaning as a punishment.  I want them to like cleaning!  I use it as a reward!  I also never nag them about any jobs more than putting their own things away.  You know, teaching them to take care of their own messes is teaching responsibility.  Ultimately, if everyone cleans up after themselves, there's not much left to do!

I talk to them about how much better the house (or their rooms) feel when it's clean.  It's so much nicer to be able to walk around barefoot without stepping on Legos and getting hurt.

I let them see how hard I work.  I talk to them about my routines and Flylady.  "See?  Flylady says to shine my sink - I guess I'd better go do that!"

And I help them declutter.  Mercedes just went through her clothes and got rid of everything that she doesn't love or that is too small.  Jared got rid of some toys he doesn't like any more because he's outgrown them.  Clutter can't be organized, just gotten rid of. 

Most importantly, I set the example.  When I was messy, so were they.  When I'm working at FLYing, so do they, and without any prodding from me. 

So start with making them responsible for their OWN things and let them grow into the routines.  And remember - they aren't interested in cleaning the house, you are.  Show them how desirable a clean, neat house is, and they'll follow through on that.

Getting too busy!

This past couple of weeks I've moved my office back into my home, leaving me with both more time and more demands on that time.  It's hard to juggle housekeeping, paid work, homeschooling, and recreation sometimes.  However, nothing is more rewarding than having the kids laying in the living room (where my office is) working on schoolwork while I do my bookkeeping. 

I love being a homeschooling mom. 

What? Me, Organized?

I was telling a friend of mine about my day.  Honestly, I don't think I do that much more than any other mom - I just keep my kids close to me while I do it.  I get up the same time as everyone else (7ish - 8ish), get the kids ready for the day, give them their lessons, work, and keep my house (reasonably) clean. 

Her reaction was, "Wow, you must be so organized!"

Well, I am, in my work life.  My desk is clean and organized - it has to be for me to keep my clients happy. 

My organization starts the night before.  I have a rule that I don't go to bed until the house is cleaned up - not perfect, but tidied.  I want the bathroom where the kids take their baths cleaned, laundry in the hampers, the kitchen cleaned from dinner, the dining room table cleared, and the living room picked up.  It takes me about 20 minutes to get all this done. 

Then I decide what clothes I want to wear the next day, and make sure they're in good repair. 

Everything I need for the next day, I set on my desk or place by the front door.  Do I know where my keys and purse are?

I spend a little time pampering myself, meditating, catching up on my leisure reading, and I'm ready for bed. 

All of a sudden, the next morning is easy!

Thanks to FlyLady, who taught me the way. 

Almost done!

Mercedes' room is taking shape.  I may be hauling things out to the lawn on Saturday morning to give away or sell!  We got rid of this huge dresser that took up a whole wall of her room.  My friends gave me a smaller chest of drawers, so we painted that black (Meche's favorite color is red) and tucked it into a corner of the room with a silk plant on top.  I'll find a little red bowl for her crystals.

She already had a cream colored bedspread, so I bought red sheets and put the cream spread back on the bed.

I painted the room country white.  We rent, so I'm technically not supposed to paint at all, but since we've lived here 9 years without painting, and since I'm just using white again, I figured I deserved to give my girl a freshly painted room.  It's so nice to watch the marks on the wall disappear under the paint roller!

I'm now looking for a red area rug, red or red and black curtains (the blind is filthy and I don't know how to clean it), mosquito netting,  and a writing desk.  The really lovely part is that I've only spent about $30 on the room so far - a gallon of white paint, a quart of black paint, and some Gorilla Glue to fix her closet door.  And a $12 set of sheets at Wal-Mart.

Mercedes is quite the "neat freak," so I think she will appreciate having a beautiful room again.

Proud Mama Moment - Laundry

This morning Jared complained that there were no clean jeans in his drawer.  (There probably were, but who knows.)  So I told him to check the dryer.  Didn't think about it again.

I came downstairs to finish getting ready for work, and what did I see? 

A basket full of clean clothes.

A newly filled dryer.

An empty washer.

Jared had moved the laundry through without being asked.  He then came to me and told me there were no dryer sheets, which was why he hadn't started it.  He sees me doing laundry every day (a la Flylady) and decided to help.  I had already taken time to teach him how to sort laundry, how to load and run the washer, and how to load and run the dryer.  (It does help that I have front loaders.)


Very, very cool.  I am so proud of him I could pop. Way to go, Jared!

(By the way - this is his self-portrait)

And she's off.....

My baby girl.  Off to Kentucky.  Without me. 

It was hard to see her go (although she was with my sister), because this IS her first big adventure.  And this is my LAST girl.  She's somewhere in Colorado by now, most likely. 

This is going to be so good for her.  I'm excited for her and delighted that she has the opportunity to visit grandparents almost on her own. 

In the meantime, I warned her that I would declutter and clean her room, and after seeing how nice her place at her dad's is, it looks like some redecorating is in order.  (I don't have a domestic bone in my body.  I forget about stuff like that.)  I'm pretty sure I can get this done 15 minutes at a time!

Teaching Responsibility

I got so tickled with my kids tonight.  Here's a mama brag story for you!  We got home after a long day at work/play and needed to clean the house before bed.  I'm a freak about it, because, really, that's the only time I have to clean and then I know it will be neat for a few hours.

Mercedes promptly started unloading the dishwasher, Jared took the garbage out and sorted the laundry, I handwashed a few dishes and sharp knives, and Mercedes swept and mopped the kitchen and the dining room.

Wow!

I love that spending so much time together leads to such enthusiastic kids.  They see how hard I work, and they're quick to respond with help! 

Cleaning house the Flylady way!

At some point, I suppose I should clean up the house today,  It's so challenging to find time to get things done these days - by the time homeschooling done (the formal part) and I've gone to work and come home I'm wiped out. 

The only program I've found that remotely works for me is Flylady.  Her motto?  You can do anything for 15 minutes!  Now *somewhere* here I have a timer that I bought from her.  It is amazing how much you can do in just 15 minutes.  My 3 bedroom townhouse takes less than 2 hours to deep clean, IF I spend a full 15 minutes on each room.  The kids learn quick that they can focus on 15 minutes per subject (longer if they're into it, but at least 15 minutes). 

I can focus on writing if I just get started and write for 15 minutes - or brainstorm ideas for blog posts.  I have lots of ideas, but I have a hard time putting them into action.  By focusing on one thing for 15 minutes, I can get more done in less time.

The other half of her program that I'm implementing is routines.  Making a habit one month at a time.  I'm finally getting into the habit of making my bed - although my mom tried for years to instill that one in me.  Routines help the kids so much, by simply making it easy for them to remember what they need to do next.  If it's bedtime, we get a bath, pajamas on, teeth brushed, straighten up rooms, kiss from Mom (along with prayers etc), and go to sleep.  I'm working on leaving my home tidy before bed - sink shined, dishes done, garbage out, and living room straightened.  Then I don't wake to the demoralization of a wreck first thing in the morning.

Unfortunately, training my adult daughter has been more of a challenge than training the little kids (sorry, Krista).  I didn't have Flylady when she was little, so I'm hoping that as I get the routines in place, I'll also start getting more help.  It feels worse to leave a mess in a clean area than it does to make more of a mess in a messy area. 

Here's hoping!