To homeschool or not to homeschool

To homeschool or not to homeschool has been a topic of conversation in our home since Eleanor was born in 2008. The inclination to homeschool has been on my heart even before that, but I figured the notion would be fleeting. I planned to work full-time, and neither Jon nor I were homeschooled. But, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, as the saying goes. The more I have seriously considered and lived with the idea of homeschooling, the more comfortable I am with our decision and the more I know it is the right decision for us.

Eleanor has always been a little crazy about her books and how they are organized. And OH! that pacifier. There was never a child who loved a pacifier more than Eleanor.

We have met some resistance from friends and family, but I think it's important to follow in the direction that we feel is best for our family. We've also had a lot of support from some, and that has been truly appreciated.

Why are we homeschooling, you might ask? We have several reasons, but those reasons do not include general dissatisfaction with public schools. My degree is in secondary education, and by all accounts, I should be teaching science. Jon and I also had very memorable public educations and harbor no ill-will toward it. Some of my best memories were made in school. I value school teachers. I value school as an institution. I happily support the public school system by paying my property taxes with a giving heart. We are not homeschooling because we are afraid. Given the current climate of school shootings and school violence, I think student safety is in the back of everyone's mind, but I refuse to make a choice to homeschool based on fear.

Instead, we are homeschooling because I want to personalize Eleanor's (and her siblings') education. I want to learn with her and help her develop her strengths and her interests. I also want to spend my days with my kids. I enjoy my kids as people (so far), and don't want the best of their days spent away from me. I am also drawn to the flexibility. I get to plan and dictate our days. We can take Fridays off, learn through the summer, visit a park or museum--whatever works best for us. And, I guess that's the bottom line. It's about what works best for us. I like that. If, at any point, it stops working for us, we will re-evaluate. It's that easy.

Her fuzzy head makes me a bit weepy. I loved her hair, and her intensity for anything new and exciting. She was a challenging toddler.

The biggest argument against homeschooling I hear is "what about socialization?" What about it? Those who ask that question really must not think much of our parenting, or know much about our schedule.  Teaching Eleanor social graces and making sure she has proper outlets to develop relationships with peers is always at the forefront of our parenting decisions. The beauty of homeschooling is I have a little more control over with whom and WHERE she socializes at this young and tender age. Even before school has started, Eleanor is involved. It's just her personality. She plays with kids her own age, she is involved in age-appropriate activities, and she is social. If you're comparing her or us to some idea of a stereotyped homeschooled child, I ask you to re-examine your stereotype and become more informed about homeschooling. If you still can't see that it really will be OK, that's fine. We can agree to disagree.

If you think homeschooling will make my kids weird, I ask you to consider that they might have been weird before we decided to homeschool :) I mean, most of my readers have met me. I'm a little weird. Jon is a little weird. It is only fitting that our children would be a bit weird regardless of where they go to school.

So, this is the why. More on the how I plan to implement homeschooling for our family to follow. 

My sweet, sweet girl.

Fill-you-in #14

On this last and beautiful day of April, I've carved out a piece of time type up a blog post. Blogging has been a rarity lately because I was working furiously to finish up a marketing project, and then last week, when things should have slowed down, pneumonia hit Eleanor hard. In between caring for my sweet, sick girl, and trying to keep my other sweet girl healthy, it just didn't happen.

This week is another busy one, but it's full of fun. We have three soccer games this week to make up for last week's never-ending rain storm, three "lessons" for Eleanor, two book clubs, a hair cut and dinner with a friend, and a partridge in a pear tree a full hummingbird feeder. Yesterday, we had a few "firsts". I went to the SHEM (homeschool) convention in Springfield last weekend, we visited a homeschooling group for the first time, and Eleanor had her first piano lesson. Both went well, and I might write more on homeschooling later.

I've read lots of good books lately, and have a reviews coming for Beautiful Ruins and The Bell Jar. I've been notified by the library that The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Fault in Our Stars are waiting for me. When it rains, it pours! And, I'm starting to notice that the library's wait list NEVER takes as long as anticipated.

We wrapped up Game of Thrones Season 2, and oohhh was it good. I'm all geared up to read book #4 as soon as I can work it in. Rarely does a tv series or movie meet my expectations after I've read the book, but GoT does an excellent job. I don't even tell Jon he needs to read the book instead of watch the show :) I've been wanting to pick back up with Mad Men, too. I'm only on season 2.

Here's to a good week, friends! We're off to enjoy the weather before it gets COLD!

Fill-You-In #13

I might as well start calling these posts "Insta-XX". I stopped hauling around the real camera, and have been snapping my entire life with Instagram. It's just so convenient and filters make everything prettier.

Wehad a great week. We weathered the cold and rain at the beginning of the week with tumbling and soccer practice. The end of the week gave way to visits with grandmas (on both sides), a coffee date with a good friend for me, an early morning soccer game followed by a monster-breakfast at Smith's Restaurant, and a joint birthday party for two brothers (Calvin and Nolan). I slowed things down today to nap, play outside, work a little marketing magic, read, run, and get ice cream cones at "old McDonald's". The quiet spring rain seems like fitting way to end the day. A BIG thumbs down to the impending rain and (relative) cold. The week in pictures (from Instagram):

You might have noticed that Eleanor has been flashing us some very awkward smiles and poses. Getting her to look right at the camera is a tall order. I have no patience for it, and the awkwardness is reminiscent of her phase.

Books: I finished Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Watership Down this week.. Both books were great! Watership is easily one of my favorite books. It was sooo good. If you haven't read it, go read it. It's an adventure that just happens to be an adventure of bunnies, but it's so much more than a book about bunnies. I may never look at rabbits the same, though. Reviews coming soon. I just started Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walters.

No TV, no crafts. Just work.

Memorable moments: Eve stuffing her feet in her mouth melts my heart. She's still trying sooo hard to crawl.

Watching Eleanor struggle to climb a tree with her twiggy arms (pun intended) in a dress cracked me and the neighbors up. On a less heart warming note, I nearly blinded Eleanor today. She was peacefully watching TV and the mood struck to rough her up a bit (I think I get this mood from my father). I intended to throw a small toy at her to get her to howl. Throw I did. The toy landed right under her left eye. It left a little scratch and caused instantaneous bawling. Mom of the year award right here! If you see Eleanor this week, ask her what happened to her eye. I'm sure she'll make me look great ;) I am very thankful that her wound is just a scratch and not a lost eye. I nearly bawled along with her. New commandment: Mom shalt not throw toys. I've always had terrible aim. Thank God children are forgiving.

Peace be with you!
Mari

Fill-You-In #12

What a great week we've had over here. I've been busy working on a few marketing projects. They've been enjoyable, and I've enjoyed collaborating with my co-workers even if it's mostly through email. I work with an extremely talented group of ladies, and I learn so much from them. I'm thankful for the professional outlet every now and then.

This week was the start of the spring soccer season, but I failed to get any pictures. I meant to take pictures at Tuesday night practice, but Eve successfully ended her first pooping strike with one heck of a mess on the soccer fields. I meant to take pictures of the first game, but it was cold AND windy, so I watched from the car with Eve. We are the pink team and the girls chose mermaids for their mascot. Cuteness pretty much oozes on and off the soccer field when six little girls are involved. I believe there were two criers (my daughter included), three potty breaks, and one little girl who just didn't want to play. It was so windy that no one blamed her.

Jon's mom, grandma, and grandpa (but from different sides) came up Friday to see the girls and take us to "the bbq barn". We had a good time and enjoyed cross-generational bonding. I think Eleanor tried to cripple her great-grandpa Fred.

Saturday, I got to celebrate Lindsey and her sweet baby, Avery. We had a great baby shower with lots of good food, great friends, and cute presents. The cuteness just doesn't stop. At one point, Lindsey looked at me and said, "Look at all of this pink wrapping paper. We are surrounded." I told her to get used to it. It never. ever. stops. :)

I'm reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. It's great. You can expect a book review in a few weeks. I've watched no TV, have done zero crafting, minimal cleaning, and even less cooking, but that's how it goes.

Without further adieu, the week in pictures (Almost entirely from Instagram. My apologies to my followers for the redundancy):

Sisters, sister and more sisters. We took as many walks as we could. The week was sandwiched with warm weather--Hallelujah! 

 Baby Shower delightfulness (Linds, I guess you get to see a few more--mostly of me.):

 Me and the mama to be. Lovely, isn't she?

 Lindsey and Kendra. They go waaay back.

Me with the sisters-in-law, Katie and Kendra. Katie graciously offered to help me with my hosting duties, and we unintentionally kind of matched. She has good taste!

 

Kind of boring, but I was SUPER pleased with how our (mine and my mom's) Sunday school project turned out. The kids (Kindergarteners) made stained glass for the "Light is good" lesson. I don't know how many times I said, "WHO is the light of the world?" They would look at me, and one of them would say, "JESUS!" I would reply, "GOOD! JESUS is the light of the what?" That went on for a while. I always hope they can tell their parents what we talked about in class.

 Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a book to finish come Hell or high water 3 a.m. Have a great week, everyone!

Book Thoughts: In the Time of the Butterflies

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a fictionalized account of four Dominican sisters, Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabel. She recounts some facts and invents a lot of (good) story to convey their lives and deaths during the Dominican revolution in the 1950s and 60s against the dictator Trujillo. The story is told from the perspective of the only surviving sister, Dede, many years after her sisters were assassinated.

The story starts out as the girls are growing up on the family farm with their  devoutly Catholic mother and ??? father (you'll have to read the story to find out about him!). The sisters help run the family business, dream about boys, and go off to school. The drama quickly heats up when Minerva catches the dictator's eye--it's all downhill from there. Although the story is based on fact, Alvarez creates riveting stories for each of the sisters and the book is full of personal and national rebellion, growth, love, family, babies, husbands, friendship and sacrifice. Each sister stands out in her own way, and makes unique contributions to the revolution, although Minerva Mirabel is the clear leader. Their assassinations are foretold in the beginning, but it doesn't make them any easier to stomach. I cried. and cried. and cried some more. The sisters left behind a mother, a sister, their husbands, and their babies. If you read it, have your tissues handy (if you're the weepy sort).

Much like Running the Rift, I'm glad to be informed about history through historical fiction. I enjoyed Alvarez's version of the Mirabel sisters, and was horrified at the Dominican Republic's past of which I had no prior knowledge. As good historical-fic often does, I was inspired to read up on the Mirabel sisters and the Dominican Republic. The story was good, the history important, and the writing enjoyable.

The book was nominated for the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award, is a "The BIG READ" selection from the National Endowment for the Arts, and according to Wikipedia, was even banned by a NY school district because it has a detailed diagram of how to construct a bomb!

I'd recommend this book to anyone, and I thank my book club friend, Amanda, for bringing it to the Christmas book exchange, so I could steal it from my other friend, Emily, and read it! I'll be passing it along soon.

Fill-You-In #11

It's been a whirlwind of a week. We've been busy every night this week with events and friends & family. Some of it has been hard work, but all of it has been fun.

The week kicked off with tumbling, a shopping trip to Springfield with my mom, and Book Bunch #2 at my house. We discussed Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James. Not pictured are the lovely Linda and Annie.

Old man winter finally took the hint and got on his way. We can only hope it was for good! The girls and I got out to enjoy the sunshine and took several walks in our new double stroller. We also got a package from my dear friend, Lisa, from Wisconsin who happens to be Eve's godmother. She sent lots of goodies, including these adorable flower headbands.

The end of the week brought a torrent of Easter preparations. Due to church board obligations, it fell to my dad (read: his wife and daughter) to prepare and host a reception for those that were baptized/confirmed at the Easter vigil. We cleaned, crafted, decorated, shopped, and prepared food. It was late and we were tired, but it went off without a hitch.

I got home in time to stuff around 450 Easter eggs with Jon for the Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday, and to set out the girls' Easter baskets. This year, Eve wore Eleanor's first Easter dress, and Eleanor picked out her own dress. I will say that she chose a dress that I would not have, but it looked much better than I anticipated, and she was very proud of her fashion selection.

 

They look alike, right? Not exactly alike, but definitely like sisters. I know my mom will say Eve looks a lot like I did as a baby in that particular picture. She doesn't always, but she does there.

 I'm sure any mother of multiple children could have warned me that getting a pic of both girls would be difficult. Oh. my. goodness. This is one of about 50 pictures, 98% of which are unusable. Praise the Lord, we got one!

 

What a difference a year makes!

Thanks to my mom and dad for hiding all of the eggs! The Easter egg hunt was a success, and Eleanor dumped all of her eggs unopened back into the bin. Apparently, it wasn't about the candy. (Side story: We had a dramatic episode the night before Easter that ended with me telling Eleanor that Easter was one of those special days where she could eat ALL the candy she wanted. Unlimited candy. The freedom was fun for her, but she limited herself very well.)

 We had lunch at my parents. It was fast, because we were all beat. Eve looks like we all felt. Done.

At home we had a short rest and rallied for a great evening of bike riding, running, Easter egg coloring, coffee, working on some marketing things, and story time. We had a great day. I'm going to see if I can squeeze in a few minutes of reading Watership Down before I pass out.

Soccer starts this week and we get to celebrate Lindsey and her sweet baby at a baby shower. I hope to finish Watership Down as I'm on a TIGHT reading schedule through the end of April. I also have A LOT of work to get done. Thankfully, I spent some time today getting organized.

Thanks for sticking with me! Happy Easter! 

Book Thoughts: Death Comes to Pemberley

I've moving away from calling my book opinions "reviews", because when I think of a book review, I think of a critical analysis of plots, characters, themes and symbolism. I might touch on some of those things sometimes, but mostly I'm just hitting the high points of what I thought. Book Thoughts seems appropriate.

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James is a murder-mystery novel based on the characters of the beloved Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. The book was chosen as a read for the Book Bunch, my Bolivar-based book club. On the night before a grand ball at Pemberley, a carriage arrives with a hysterical Lydia Wickham declaring she heard gunshots fired and that her beloved George is in danger and might be dead. Mr. Darcy & co. set out on a cold and stormy night to find George Wickham hunched over a body and mumbling what sounds like a confession. An investigation ensues and Wickham is put on trial for murder. In the mean time, a romance between Georgianna Darcy and a young lawyer is building, a young man is dying, and people are keeping all sorts of fun secrets.

I'm not especially familiar with the "who done it" type books, but from what I understand, they follow a pattern, much like romance novels. I'm not a gullible person, but I am a gullible reader. I knew that Wickham probably didn't murder anyone BUT MAYBE HE DID. Just like I was positive that Katniss wasn't going to die in The Hunger Games, BUT WHAT IF SHE DOES (ImustreadthestoryasfastaspossibletoseethatI'mright.)? I was curious for the details, and while I was reading I didn't consider how James maintained the integrity of Austen's characters. Overall, I thought the story was fun and the mystery was kind of? satisfying.

After I finished and lived with the story for a few days, some of the details registered boiled to the surface. I was not happy with Elizabeth's and Jane's minor roles. This book was more about Mr. Darcy and George Wickham. James took some liberties with Darcy's inner-most thoughts that Austen left unsaid. She killed some of the mystery of Fitzwilliam Darcy, and I don't think she got it right. I'd say more, but it might ruin your perception of him and his love for Jane. AND the characters lacked Austen's famous wit.

Did James do Austen's characters justice? Not really. I still liked the book, but I didn't love it. I would read something else of P.D. James', but let's leave Austen be.