I Am a Home Schooler

An Early American Day - And One Man

I am a home schooler.

My two youngest boys go to Covenant Family Tutorial one day a week,

with other classical Christian home schooled children.

I am one of the teachers.

We have been studying the early years of our nation.

We had an Early American Day.

We began our day by exploring:

noticing our surroundings,

and taking notes

to inspire nature poems.

We prepared:

and ate rustic food:

We played some of the same games

the Native American children might have played:

Cliff Hodges, owner, founder and CEO of Adventure Out, was our guest:

 

He showed us many things the early Americans made to survive:

He told us great stories of his own hunting adventures using only his handmade weapons.
He is a brave man.

He chipped obsidian to make the beginnings of an arrowhead:

A finished arrowhead takes more than 20 hours to complete.
It is good for only one shot.
He is a patient man.

He makes bows from a thick piece of special hard wood,

and even uses various parts of the animal to complete all his weapons,

just like people of earlier times would have done.

He is a hardworking man.
Like the earliest of Americans.

The younger children made their own bows and arrows,
using foam shapes, sticks, feathers and string,
and imagined life in early America:

 

A great day was had!

*****

Personally, I was inspired by One Man.

A man who is patient.
A man who works hard.
A man who followed his passion
and built a successful business because of it.
A man who inspires others.
To embrace that which interests them.
To work hard developing skills.
And to work hard some more.

*****

Are we always telling our children to work hard
so they can go to college
and get a good job
and live happily ever after?

Or do we encourage
our children
our friends
our selves
to find that which naturally flows from them,
their passion,
their gifts,
and work hard at that?
To find their Place?

For I dare to think
each of us finding our Place
is what will bring
our children
our friends
and ourselves
the richness of this life.

And a difference in our world it will make.

*****

Homeschool-mom hat # 342:

Help my children find their unique gifts and run with it...

I Am a Homeschooler

I am a homeschooler. 

It is my passion.

Before my sewing, cooking, bread baking and crafting,

I am a homeschooler.

My world of all things crafty

flows out of my love for homeschooling,

and making my children's experience both educational and art-filled.

I believe creativity naturally flows out of a disciplined, orderly life.

Now, I don't mean orderly as in the house all tidy and clean every minute of every day,

for this house is not.

I mean orderly in the sense of having a serious educational plan

that challenges and inspires us,
is fit to each individual,
provides a biblical worldview,

and makes life-long learning-loving people out of us.

I am still in the process of actively homeschooling my 2 youngest.

I love my days with them.

Some of the greatest moments in my life have been while teaching my children.

I will tell you just one.

My youngest had what I called situational dyslexia.

There is no such thing.

He doesn't have dyslexia at all.

But when he was a little guy he got everything mixed up.

And I mean everything.

White was black.

Up was down. 

Big was small.

Yesterday was tomorrow.

More was less.

Forwards was backwards.

I could go on.

When he was around 5 years old,

my oldest, sweet Hannah, and I were sitting on my bed trying to teach him some early math.

Yep. Homeschooling is a whole-family affair around here.

Now, try teaching someone to add 

that can't comprehend more and less!

We tried and tried.

We used every possible way we could think to get it across

to my boy,

her adorable brother.

Throwing up our arms,

which had already been flying in hopes of some gesture that would bring light

to the mystery of teaching such things 

to such a boy,

we fell backwards on the bed

laughing hysterically at the impossibility

and the pure cuteness of our predicament.

He was laughing, too.

He still laughs at his story,

for it is often told.

We put math aside for another day,

  when this boy was ready.

He wasn't labeled as a slow learner that day,

or put in a special class.

He was ... enjoyed.

He gave us memories that day.

Memories that will always be with us.

Memories rather than fear and frustration because

I am a homeschooler.

***********

On a typical homeschool day,

here is what my ever so lovely centerpiece

of freshly picked lemons can become:

Japanese Tea Ceremony

I help teach a group of homeschoolers weekly at Covenant Family Tutorial. 

Here is one of the great afternoon classes that was held:

This Japanese Tea Ceremony ceremony begins by removing shoes, putting on slippers and quietly sitting on pillows in a circle.

The founder/owner of CFT and teacher Miss Lutz explains the history of the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

 

We drink tea called a chawan, then make slurping sounds to signify our appreciation to our host:

Being told to slurp by an adult made for some pretty happy kids!

 

Hot water and lemon cleans the palate:

Putting the cup on the floor in front of them they place both their hands on the ground forming a triangle. A short blessing is said. Except for a few giggles and wiggles, the room is silent.

When each of the several cups is brought to them, they place it in the palm of their hand, look at the cup, turn it in three moves so it faces you again before butting it down. In the Japanese culture, it is important for guests to notice and complement the hostess' dishes.

Now a several course meal is served.
Here is a plate of food representing the mountains and sea eaten in silence, 

except for the slurp at the end, of course:

Then a plate with pickles accompanied by white rice:

Popcorn is served representing winter:

More twisting of cups:

At the close of our ceremony, we once again admire our hostess' dishware, marveling at the beauty, thanking her for inviting us:

We silently and respectfully leave the room by bowing:

then backing out:

Gather a group of amazing kids, or just your own, and try a Japanese Tea Ceremony. There are a variety of ways to perform one. Choose the traditions you would enjoy and have fun learning about another time in history, and another culture.

A Preschool Thanksgiving

Upon a time 

once not too long ago

my dear friend heard my heart

saying it missed having wee ones around

to home school

for homeschooling the tiny

is such a delight.

I said

it will be a joy

to someday have grandchildren

with whom I can teach and create

for I am a home schooler at heart

and will always be

no matter how old my own children grow.

Upon hearing such spoken words

she turned on the light

in my world of too-old-for-finger-painting children

and beckoned me 

to share my love for beauty, homeschooling and wee ones

with the precious 

who although not my own

frequently pitter patter their chubby feet

through my homey home.

So an adventure with the young we had

my boys and I....

******

We began our Thanksgiving Adventure
under our 'church tent' in our England

singing songs of thankfulness

clapping, stomping and raising our hands

until King James 

told us we could no longer sing our songs.

Here is my King James:

Since we don't want to stop singing our songs,
we made boats

making sure to draw pictures on them

of all the things we would put on our boats
if we were sailing away from King James
and his England.

Then we sailed our boats into my living room America

where we found a village built of Lincoln Logs

(thanks to my older boys)

and some wild corn

for that is what the pilgrims found in the new world.

After playing in our new found America for a while

we noticed how hungry we were

for kids are pretty much always hungry

but there was no food

other than that hard old corn

when Squanto came in to help us.

Here is my Squanto:

He showed us how to plant corn with fish

(goldfish crackers, that is)

in his garden out side

so we could have more food to eat.

Squanto showed the pilgrims how to pop popcorn, too.

My Squanto gave each a bag of caramel corn I made the night before.

I know.

They probably didn't have caramel corn

but we did:

Since the Indians helped us so,

when our food grew

we made a feast to share together.

We made apple turnovers.

We ate them:

 

After walking through the Thanksgiving story,

we made a few more projects

like this turkey picture

where hands were colorfully painted 

to make a turkey print.

Each mom wrote down their child's thankful words:

 

 

We made a corn bracelet:

 

(hint. it's not as easy as one would think to get holes in corn.
poke holes ahead of time after soaking kernels
or for your entertainment
have the big boys use a drill.)

and a 'give thanks' banner
(hint. glue seeps through felt. use a cool hot glue gun??!!?)

We read this simply beautiful picture book walking us through our pilgrim adventure:

A story was told
and many thankful words were spoken today
for we were reminded that there is much we have to be thankful for.

*****

May you all have a few quiet moments this week
to sit with the young in your life
showing them the many ways they too are blessed.