February 2019

In February we say good-bye

to the migrating Monarch butterfly. 

~Nicola

Dates of Interest:

These are some of the days our family is celebrating this month or simply things we are taking note of or interest in.

Birthday celebrations in our family!

February 14: St. Valentine's Day

February 15-18: Great Backyard Bird Count

Homeschooling:

Just to keep it real; homeschooling is hard right now. We are simultaneously trying to address some learning and developmental challenges, while planning for the start of high school next year for our eldest. It is clear the combination is bringing up a lot of intense feelings, worry, and confusion for all of us.

Fifth grader: He is working on weekly homework for both his Shakespeare class and Exercise Physiology class, as well as his project for his Shakespeare class. His chosen topic is the Globe Theater.  He is using Teaching Textbooks and Key To workbooks for math and we are using games to review. We are continuing to use REWARDS to support his progress with language arts differences.

Eighth grader: She is working on homework, research project, and practicing lines for her Shakespeare class. She is getting a small amount of outside support for language arts and I am trying to work with her on math. Right now, we are focusing heavily on emotional health and skill building.

Self-care:

This has continued to be very difficult for me. Due to high needs parenting, I think I have gotten depleted enough that I really need some deep care to restore myself. I am trying for daily exercise and deep breathing. (A practice of 3 slow, deep breaths, in through the nose, hold, out through the mouth. Breath 1 is just the breath. Breath 2, expanding and stretching my body. Breath 3, thinking "what is important right now?" and focusing on that.)  I need to increase my water intake. My journaling has been spotty. What I think I really need to address next is a therapist or new listening partnership.

Parenting:

Parenting and homeschooling are all so deeply woven together! I have been saying yes just about every time Brown Mouse asks me to play our made up basketball trampoline game. Laughter, connection, and physical exercise are wonderful. With Lala Bug, I am making myself available when she seeks me out and I am working to reduce the corrections and increase the positive comments. Following M's power tool accident and subsequent emergency department visit (he is okay!), our highly sensitive girl has really struggled with us. Fear is a powerful thing to a sensitive being that is both both teen and young girl in one growing, changing mind and body.

Home life:

We have made expectations more clear, limits more clear, and everyone is helping a bit more. This is something we will continue to work on! We have done a couple more chunks of purging and I have a load to bring to the donation place, although you can't see the dent! We also did a deep clean of our bathroom (we have moisture problems during winter) and you can see the difference there!

Crafting:

Brown Mouse has been building. He got interested in earthquakes again and made a shake table and some buildings. He has also been playing with his Tinker Crates. (These were a birthday present from us. They come from KiwiCo. I have no affiliation and yes, I would recommend them.)  M had to take a rest because of his hand injury. Lala Bug has favored reading over crafting the past couple weeks and I have been deep in paperwork during my "extra" time. So little crafting has happened. Just typing that motivates me to put out some crafty "morning invitations!"

Happy February to you all. I know many homeschoolers dislike February, but it is one of my favorite months. I think of it as a "red" month, full of celebrations, picking up a little cheer after "blue" January. It has been wet and cold here. We even got snow here in coastal California last night! Be well.

(You will enjoy Carrie's monthly The Parenting Passageway post, here!)

learning period 3: 2018-2019

I have posted previously about how our charter follows learning periods. (Here is my post from learning period 2, which links to learning period 1 as well as other posts.) I shifted into posting monthly at the start of 2019, but since I was specific about subjects in these learning period posts and I started the school year this way, I am going to do both to finish the school year. (Note: I am writing this at the beginning of March, having forgotten to share about learning period 3, December 2018 and January 2019, so will back-date this to post it chronologically!)

December and January were what I would call heavy on learning but light on academics. We had a number of appointments lasting into December, the holidays, the move of the kids' beloved occupational therapist, high school applications, and some deep stresses and anxieties all affecting our homeschool. There was joy and learning (you cannot stop it, even if you try), but less documentation.

Social studies: We continued with our American Girl history project, had a fabulous hands-on field trip to a Native American history site, and during this learning period, we watched a number of documentaries that lead to a lot of big conversations. (I subscribed to Curiosity Stream when there was a $1 per month deal and we also really enjoyed the Netflix series Tales by Light.) Towards the end of this learning period, the kids began classes through our charter school. Both chose to participate in the Shakespeare class being offered. As part of this class, there are weekly homework assignments and a history research project.

Math: Teaching Textbooks for Brown Mouse, Khan Academy for Lala Bug, games, and Key To... series workbooks for both kids. We are more consistent with math this year, but it still seems to be slow going.

Language arts and Writing: This third learning period, both kids joined a weekly book group offered by one of our charter teachers. They read Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. This was a non-required precursor to the Shakespeare performance class I mentioned above. I used Brave Writer ideas as we read through Nine Gnome Nights by Sieglinde de Francesa of Teach Wonderment. Lala Bug is getting weekly support from a teacher at our charter school and Brown Mouse is still working through a reading and spelling support program called REWARDS, which he is having success with.

Science: During this learning period, much of the science we covered was through our nature studies; overwintering ladybug beetles, migrating birds, weather, earthquake exploration, and some chemistry.

Onward into learning period 4 already!

January 2019

My blogging friend Carrie, of The Parenting Passageway, writes helpful, inspiring, meaningful posts on a very regular basis. I read and nod along with so many. She often writes a post for each month discussing relevant dates and ways to honor and celebrate those days as well as the season itself. This month, she added what she and her children were covering in each grade she is homeschooling, as well as personal and home goals and activities. I loved reading it and thought it was a format of sharing I would like to try. So here goes...

In January we hope for rain

to fill our reservoirs again. 

~Nicola

Dates of Interest:

These are some of the days our family is celebrating this month or simply things we are taking note of or interest in.

January 1: New Year's Day - for our family, this is the last day of our holiday countdown and a day that M has off of work.

January 20: Total Lunar Eclipse - I am excited that the eclipse can be seen at a time our kids can be awake to see it! Rainy weather may affect us, but fingers crossed we get a glimpse.

January 21: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, observed

January 28: Journey North Mystery Class begins

Homeschooling:

After a very clunky few months, we are settling into a new and more predictable rhythm, which is very welcome!

Both kids are participating in a class and, ultimately, a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night right now. A lot of their lesson work stems from or is tied to this class, whether it be speech (learning lines), writing, or history.

Fifth grader: He is beginning to research and work on a project for the Shakespeare class. His chosen topic is architecture. I will help him narrow it down more as he explores his resources. He has regular/daily math he is doing using Teaching Textbooks and Key To workbooks. I am noticing some areas we need to review and/or gap-fill, so we are working on those, as well. He has learning differences with phonics, spelling, and writing, so we are using a program called REWARDS to support his progress in these areas.

Eight grader: She is also beginning to research and work on a project for the Shakespeare class. Her chosen topic is bookbinding in Elizabethan England. She is working on math daily using Khan Academy and Key To workbooks. We are also working through gaps. We have just gone through a lengthy evaluation for her and so are processing all we learned and making a plan for how to continue encouraging her strengths while adjusting assistance in the areas she needs more support.

Self-care:

My word for the year is present. My goal is to be mindful right now. A lot has happened in the past couple of years in our family that has affected my responses, reactions, and abilities to stay present. Also, we are having to do a lot more thinking and planning for educational changes next year. For various reasons, I have felt depleted and it has affected my health. So for self-care, I have resumed waking before everyone, getting a quiet cup of tea, and journaling. I have shifted my journaling prompts again, and having something fresh, helps. I am also getting daily exercise and M and I are re-establishing an at-home date night weekly.

Parenting:

One on one time for any of us (parent-child or husband-wife) has been ridiculously limited lately, so one of my goals right now is to make sure we are getting at least a little bit (that isn't connected to homeschool lessons). For Brown Mouse, this means remembering to pause what I am doing and join him in his play. For Lala Bug, it means joining her while she knits or crafts. And for M and me, it means those date nights I mentioned and a willingness to stay up later than my body likes, for at least one night a week, as his schedule and mine are a bit different. In addition, I have been mulling over Brown Mouse's social needs and supporting Lala Bug in building up the skills she will need for high school. We are still undecided about how/where she will be for 9th grade, so we have been touring schools and learning about the charter schools that serve homeschooled high schoolers.

Home Life:

I ended 2018 and began 2019 thinking a lot about my words for the years, shifting from happy to present. With my inner work toward happy came a foundation of work I needed to do around my expectations of others, limits/boundaries, and holding those limits with love. With a goal of being present, comes strength. All of that said, I have been doing a lot of inner work on my own needs, guilt, and what I am teaching my children through how I express all of this. Part of the result is that I am being clearer with the kids about the need for each of them to contribute more in our home, so I can be responsible for less. In addition, we are working towards some simple renovations (really, completion of projects started long ago) and a thorough purge and clean as we move toward re-arranging who sleeps in which rooms of our small house. This is long overdue and feels like a huge hurdle, so we are tackling a little bit at a time.

Crafting:

I simply don't have the time and energy I had when the kids were littler, to do the types of creating or writing I used to do. I know, it is a matter of how I choose to use my time. Right now, those pursuits are getting less of me. I have been reading for pleasure, I have been doing a tiny bit of knitting, and I have been taking photographs, which I love. Both kids are expressing an interest in photography, so I am considering signing us up for an online photo class. This would be something we could enjoy together, do in our own time from home, and also expose Lala Bug to online classes, which she will need to be familiar with in high school. We, as a family, have been crafting a lot, though. There was a lot of merry making leading up to Christmas and I have supported my very crafty children!

Well...so much January goodness. Although it is already mid-January, I have enjoyed sharing our plans. Maybe as we go along, I will also share what we actually did! If you care to share what is happening at your house, I would love to read it!

Holiday Countdown 2018

Each year, we countdown during the holidays. I know I am a little late in posting this, but the reality for us is that we didn't feel all that Christmasy until it was all over. We had a little get-away after the new year and came home feeling a little more in the spirit, so I am finally posting on 12th night.

This is our December countdown for 2018. It took us through December, through January 1, 2019. I change it to adjust to my growing kids, who still love and ask for this tradition each year. This year, I noticed that perhaps we don't need the countdown after Christmas quite so much. I have always included this to ease some of the post-holiday let-down. Next year, the kids will let me know what they want and need. I love this tradition, too.

1. Sparkle Stories Advent stories begin!
2. Special holiday event with friends.
3. Light the Menorah. (The kids were given a new build-your-own Menoroah.)
4. Make latkes
5. Make a holiday decoration for Grannie (They decorated a wreath, which we hung on her front door.)
6. Happy St. Nicholas and Play dreidel (The kids were given a dreidel decorating kit.)
7. Pull out the holiday books!
8. Pull out Christmas decorations and start to decorate.
9. Get a Christmas tree!
10. Decorate the Christmas tree and watch Yogi’s first Christmas (a tradition)
11. Treasure Hunt!  (The kids found a mini tree to decorate for their room, their dolls and stuffed animals.)
12. Make a card or gift.
13. Pull out instruments or sing. Practice a Christmas song. (We had such a fun jam session!)
14. Take care of the birds.
15. See the hillside nativity scene.
16. Attend a holiday concert.
17. Choose a candy cane from the tree.
18. Treasure Hunt! (Each kid found a new article of clothing.)
19. Bunny day! Take extra care of our rabbit.
20. Neighborhood day! Pick up garbage, deliver toffee and cards.
21. Winter Solstice! Visit the library book store and choose a book for yourself and one as a gift.
22. Get out in nature! Super high tide today What unusual shore birds can you spot?
23. Bake cookies. Celebrate Christmas with family.
24. Take a rain walk and get a kettle corn treat.
25. Merry Christmas! Celebrate Christmas with family.
26. Make paper snowflakes.
27. Have a play date with friends at the park.
28. Write thank you notes
29. Take a hike.  See the ladybugs.
30. Go see Mary Poppins Returns with friends and perform and act of service for neighbor, family, or friend
31. Winter Spiral
32. (January 1): Make a ‘dream garden’ collage for 2019
    
    

     

    

    
    

    

    
    

    
    

present

I am not sure at what point the word present landed on my list of possible words for 2019, but it was some months ago, perhaps even nearly a year ago. Sometime in November, though, it floated to the top of my mind and stuck there. Well, in honesty, I tipped back and forth between present and presence, but I decided that present had a little more flexibility to it and I am a woman who likes a little flexibility.

Each year, I choose a guiding word for myself. In fact, 2019 marks my 10th year of doing so. Woah. My words so far have been calm (2010), nourish (2011), hope (2012), renewal (2013), treasure (2014), joy (2015), potato (really, humor and laughter...potato was a family joke, 2016), harmony (2017), and happy (with expectations and boundaries being the foundation, 2018).

Just writing those words evokes so many memories and emotions for me, each word chosen carefully to honor where I was at that time in my life and my personal growth. I carry each word forward with me, knowing which ones I still need to meditate on from time to time.

As I reflect on my word for 2018, happy, I feel so good. So many really hard things happened for me (I don't want to use the words to me) in 2018 with regard to relationships with several people close to me. The kind of hurts that last a long time and grief that resurfaces in moments we least want it to, but makes us more confident, stronger, and reflect more on ourselves and what is most important. Coming into 2018, I already knew that the foundation of happy for me at this time in my life, was a need to be clear about my expectations of others (and myself) and a need to work on setting and holding boundaries. While still a work in progress for me, I have come a long way and each step has contributed to my overall sense of happy.

I will keep working on that in 2019, but the latter half of 2018 left me recognizing that I am having to work really hard to stay present. Parts of me feel stuck in the past, parts of me feel too forward-thinking, and part of me just feels muddled, fuzzy headed, wrapped up in worries, and unable to stay focused and mindful of what is important right now. All we have is today. I want to have happy presence with my family, I want to have clarity of mind, and I want to feel lighter and less drained. I think this may mean viewing the word present in a different way, as well...as a present to myself or the gift of self-care.

Do you have a word or goal for 2019?

toffee (again!)

This is a post previously shared on my former blog and posted again each year. This is such a favorite that I receive multiple requests for it each year. 

 

Toffee
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Butter an 8-inch square pan. spread the chopped nuts in the pan.
Heat the butter and sugar and boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture darkens and just begins to smoke, approximately 7 minutes.
Immediately pour the mixture evenly over the nuts and sprinkle the chocolate chips over this.
Cover the pan with a cookie sheet to keep the heat in and melt the chocolate.
Spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee layer. If desired, sprinkle more chopped nuts into the chocolate layer. Score while still warm, unless you don't mind irregularly broken pieces. (I don't mind them.) Refrigerate until hard.

Nicola's edited additions: I don't usually stir constantly. A reader commented about butter separation. When she did so, it had never happened to me. It subsequently happened once. I believe it was because I started with frozen butter and let that melt and begin to bubble before I added the sugar. Make sure you put these in the pan at the same time, room temperature. If you like hard toffee, make sure you cook it long enough. (It begins to have a slightly burnt smell.) If you like softer toffee, don't cook it as long. The 7 minute marker is helpful, but I find it takes longer, and after you have done a handful of batches, you will also notice the mixture thin and darken slightly.

from The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn

learning period 2 of 2018-2019

I really haven't been blogging much and when I have, it has been more of a documentation and sharing of our homeschooling than anything else creative or economical. I shared learning period 1 and "our 168" (hours per week) in October and didn't post in November at all!

I am back to share a little about learning period 2, which was October and November. Here we are in December and time is zipping by always more quickly than I would like.

October and November were filled with numerous atypical appointments. December, in addition to all the celebrations, will have its fair share of appointments too.  I love the winter holidays, but I am slow to get into them right now, because I am dragging a bit and worn from our inconsistent rhythm. I need to create something to look forward to in January, when appointments are done, new rhythm can be made, and that helps ease the bleakness I tend to feel after the holidays.

Can you tell we did a block on chocolate? I had intended for this to be more of a math block and began with Marsha Johnson's History of Chocolate guide, but one book lead to another, which lead to maps (we love Map of the Month) and history and science. So we did a little math, but we learned more about the history of the Americas, how chocolate was made originally, how it is made now, how it spread in popularity, and we taste tested various chocolates. We even made chocolate. This was a wonderful block!

Social studies: We studied the history and geography of chocolate. We studied early U.S. history a little more through various avenues...our American Girl 4-H project, reading Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, and through the Constitution class Lala Bug took through our charter school. The class had them exploring different parts of the Constitution, choosing a topic, writing a paper, and giving a speech, as well as multiple quizzes. Between her love of history and 4-H speaking experiences, Lala rocked the class.

Math: Teaching Textbooks for Brown Mouse, Khan Academy for Lala Bug, games, and Key To... series workbooks for both kids. We are more consistent with math right now and all I can hope is that it is enough. Brown Mouse took a math class through our charter, where they covered a lot about ratios and fractions and Lala Bug, of course, knit a lot and continued writing knitting patterns.

Language arts and Writing: We are loving Brave Writer for language arts and writing. This second learning period we read and worked through the Arrow guide for Frindle by Andrew Clements (just a fun book) and we are working through Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes right now. The Constitution class Lala Bug was in gave her the extra writing work she needed and for Brown Mouse, we are working through a reading and spelling support program called REWARDS, which he is having success with.

 

Science: Lala Bug took a personal interest, deep dive into the history of the U.S. exploration of space, particularly the moon, which, of course, covered a lot of science, as well. The interested began with the book Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon by Suzanne Slade, which was excellent. We also explored science during our chocolate block and Brown Mouse took a Nature Detectives class through our charter. He really enjoyed that and because of our weekly nature studies, he really got a chance to shine, sharing some of his knowledge with his friends and teachers.

Nature plays a big role in our homeschool, with time spent weekly exploring and monthly at the farm with 4-H. This past month, our state was heavily hit with devastating wildfires. The smoke from the fires blew our way and settled to stay for a couple of weeks. It affected our ability to be outside and made for some interested observations, recordings, and conversations.

Moving into December and the new year, I need to take some time to re-evaluate where we are and where we need to shift. We have toured several schools now and I have also attended more discussion groups about homeschooling high school. It is time for us to begin putting in applications for high schools and our family to sit down and discuss wants, needs, goals, and plans. Lots ahead of us!