Month ONE - Our Homeschooling Journey

So our homeschooling journey has begun.

We are now into week four and just enjoying every minute of it - so far.  I am well aware of the fact that there will be days that I question my sanity in making this decision but in the long run I feel pretty sure it will pay off for us.

My biggest challenge at this point:  "What do I do with the 16 month old who wants to run around and get into everything while we are trying to focus?"  I have tried giving her plastic containers with clear lids and noisy things inside to shake around...that held it's appeal for about 10 minutes (which was way longer than I expected it to!).  I bought those little marker pals that look like little weeble wobbles and are suppose to be easy for babies to hold....or eat in our case!  I'm sure I will figure out a way to keep all children safe and entertained eventually. lol!

My biggest "shocker" at this point is how much my plans have already changed since we've begun teaching/learning at home.  I was so worried about finding the perfect curriculum in the beginning and now it's become more hands on on my part.  I am using my brain (who'dathunkit?) to put fun projects and learning activities together that the kids are really enjoying and so far so good!  I'm sure at some point I will purchase a subject or two if it's something I don't feel confident in putting together or my own, but for now we're doing alright and having fun! 

Currently: We have been reading the "Little House" books and just finished "Little House in the Big Woods".  We might read a chapter in the morning before schooling or in the evening and then the kids will then draw a picture of their favorite scene in the book and Landon (since he's older and writing now) will write a couple of sentences to "tell the story" of what he has drawn.  We use that to work on his grammar.  We will be using these books for language arts and history.  (And a little math, too!!) Landon helps me out with some of the reading as well. 

I started a homeschooling group 4 weeks ago as well.  Through the summer months we will be meeting at the park where the kids can play and socialize and we can get to know eachother better.  We plan to start a Co-op this fall and have been discussing what our group goals are and what will be offered to the children in the co-op.

There's alot more I could say but for now I am off to bed since we have lots to do in the morning!  I will try to update soon and fill you all in on what else we have been up to!  Feel free to share your thoughts or advice~ 

So Long Public Schools....It's Time We Said Goodbye.

Finally!

I have been more anxious for this day than my son was! 

The LAST day of school - and not just before summer break.

Hopefully for GOOD.

Those of you who have been following this blog already know about the decision we made to homeschool our children.  And if you read that entire novel I wrote, then you also understand our reasoning why.

I have been scouring the internet, harrassing fellow homeschooling parents and following online groups, blogs, facebook pages - DIGGING for information and poring through catalogs to decide on our curriculum.

For now, I think we have a plan-

Plans can always change -

especially when it comes to children...

but for now

I feel confident in our decision and how we plan to school our children.

It's been such an exciting step for us to take that I could hardly wait for my little man to get off the bus on his last day in the Public School System and walk home to us -

where he can stay to learn,

to play,

to be himself,

to just be FREE.

Not bound by rules and judgement and criticism from people that don't want to listen to his 6 year old imagination

But with people who embrace his ideas and have a reason for wanting to see him succeed in everything he does. 

And where he can have a curriculum designed specifically to fit his individual needs and learning style.

I think that is pretty special.

So in one week -

we start our journey of year round schooling.

AND finally STOP

wishing, hoping, PRAYING,

the Public Schools will change

in time for OUR KIDS.

Weekend Getaway

One of my most favorite things about this time of year is all the time I get to spend with my hubby and the kids.  Not that we aren't busy spending time together the rest of the year, but in the Spring, Summer and Fall we spend alot of time outside.  

This weekend we our heading down to our "Cavin" (as Landon use to call it) for some R&R and lots of hiking of course!! 

It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive to this beautiful State Park and it is a sight to see.  I honestly didn't think Indiana had anything but corn fields, but after seeing Turkey Run for the first time 2 years ago, I was pleasantly surprised. 

This was taken last year on one of my favorite trails.  Our youngest is in a wrap on my back.  The kids were amazing.  They hiked for two days and the second day they put in 5 1/2 hours!!!

I love that we haven't stopped doing the things that we always enjoyed just because we have little kids.  We change cloth diapers and I nurse the baby right on the trails.  We stop and enjoy the scenery when the kids need a snack or a little break.  We learn about different trees and plants and and animal tracks.  It's so peaceful that I can hardly wait to inhale the fresh air and the beauty and be with my adorable little family in our own little paradise.

The "Poop" on Cloth Diapers

*Disclaimer: Not for the weak stomached!*  :)

Cloth Diapering is something I love to talk about so this is the first off many posts to come on this topic.  At some point I will get into the types of cloth diapers reasons to try it, etc, but for now I wanted to answer some questions that seem to be on everyone's mind about using cloth.

So what do you do with the poopy ones?

This is a question that I think I most get asked.
It's really simple!  Swishing them in your toilet bowl and hanging on tight while you flush will get rid of the majority of the poo.  If that is too scary for you, you can buy a diaper sprayer for around $40 that attaches to the toilet so you can "spray" the poo into the pot.  When you are done with that, simply toss the less dirty dipe into your wet bag or diaper pail to await laundry day. 

If you are a first time mom, this probably is what is scaring you from taking the plunge to cloth diaper.  It sounds a little intimidating to have your hands in poo.  Well, I don't usually make a habit of getting poo on myself and lets face it: no matter how you diaper your baby, you still have to deal with the messiest of situations and will at some point get poo on your hands.  In my own experience I found that cloth diapers have done a far superior job of containing the largest of poo-splosions.

How do you clean the poopy diapers?

Have washing machine - will launder!!  We wash our own dirty dipes in our home washing machine.  There are still diaper services around that will pick up your dirties if you like.  I decided that option would be somewhat redundant for us since one of the MAJOR reasons I decided to cloth diaper was to save money.  Diaper service will run you a minimum of $16/week and I don't think you get to pick out all the cute "fancy diapers" (as my childs' pediatrician calls them).  Just prefolds and covers.  Which are very cost effective, but again, you are paying for someone to wash them and that does not put any money back in your pocket.  (There's an entire cloth diapering community who want to buy your used (clean) diapers when you no longer need them!! So it's justifiable to buy the super cute ones.)

What about staining?

Ok, stains bother me even if I am not going to see the stain because it's folded up inside the dipe and covering my precious baby's bum.  I guess it's a mind set thing.  I have found that by dunking the dipes (even if it's not a solid poo) right after taking it off the baby is the first step to success in removing stains.  Charlies All Purpose Cleaner is my "go-to" and "can't live without" stain remover.  For newborn poo (breastfed poo - no experience with the other) it's definitely a diaper saver and got every last bit of mustard color out of our dipes.  Just spray and agitate it into the dipe.  I still use it from time to time now, but with our laundering routine and the types of dipes we use I don't often need it. 

The Power of the SUN!!

For stubborn stains, the sun is still the BEST remedy of all!  After laundering and before drying, set you diapers outside to catch some rays.  A few hours normally does the trick, but you can always spray them down with a garden hose and leave them out the next day too.  Try it - it really works!!

I read a great article a while back about a mom that lives in Oregon (where they don't see alot of sun) and "sun's" her diapers in the rain! 

Happy cloth diapering!!

link on "sunning" in the rain:
http://www.iloveclothdiapers.com/2010/11/sunning-your-diapers-in-rain.html

Below is a pricing chart from a local diapering service to give you an idea of weekly/monthly charges for prefolds and covers.

Weekly Quantity of Diapers	Weekly Charge		Monthly Charge
20-30 per week		$16.00	$64.00
31-40 per week		$18.50	$74.00
41-50 per week		$19.50	$78.00
51-60 per week		$20.00	$80.00
61-70 per week		$22.50	$90.00
71-80 per week		$25.00	$100.00
81-90 per week		$27.00	$108.00
91-100 per week		$29.50	$118.00
101-110 per week		$31.50	$126.00
111-120 per week		$33.50	$134.00
121-130 per week		$35.00	$140.00
131-140 per week		$37.50	$150.00
141-150 per week		$38.50	$154.00
151-160 per week		$40.00	$160.00

Camping Season Has Begun!!

Spring is such an exciting season for my family.  We love to hike, camp, garden and pretty much anything associated with being outside. 

Growing up in Maine definitely built the foundation for my love of being outside.  The first thing most people wonder about Mainers is usually "What the heck do you do for fun?"  Well, we made our own fun and definitely spent alot of time outside (regardless of the season).

I did alot of camping with my dad growing up.  He has this great camp in the middle of NOWHERE - no seriously - there is NOTHING for MILES upon MILES upon MILES (except blackflies and moose.)  BUT, before that camp was there we pitched a tent, fished in the lake (well, dad fished - I was banned from that at age 13 but that's another story) and ate trout for breakfast.  There was no "shower facility" or "public restroom" nearby - there was the woods and occasionally someone would yell "BEAR!" when your pants were down - just for fun.  At night, the sky was PITCH BLACK except for the twinkling of a trillion stars.  Eventually, dad built his camp and we graduated from woods to "outhouse" and no-shower to "fresh rainwater caught in a black plastic rain barrel.  If you were lucky enough, you'd even get a hot shower if the sun was out strong that day.  And you'd cross your finger hoping you didn't run out of water while there was still soap in your hair.  YEP, that was the life.  I haven't been up there in years.  It's become the "man-cave" and women seldom get invited.  There is a sound proof room for the my grandfather who snores like a lumberjack.  (And sorry Papa - we can STILL HEAR YOU!!)

When I moved to the Chicago area and met Bob, I really was itching to go camping and he took me to this "campground city" with RV's and motorhomes and tents so close you can hear things you don't want to hear from your neighbors at night.  BUT, it was camping and I was with Bob and around a campfire so I adapted.  For the next few years we continued to tent camp and even took our infant son along with us for his first camping trip at 3 months old.  I think the temp reached 110 degrees that day - fun stuff, especially when you are breastfeeding -

Eventually, we upgraded to an old motorhome that was gifted us by my father.  It's a little too old and nerve wracking to drive very far, so after the first few "attempted" camping trips with it we parked it in a "camper city" not far away from the first campground we stayed at together.  This will be our 4th season there and I have totally grown to love it.  It's not the camping I grew up to know, but we are outside, our kids have tons of other kids they play with all day long that they see every season and let's face it - it sure is nice to sleep in a real bed and turn on the air conditioning on a really hot day!

FOUR more days....we are on the countdown.  Four days till campfires and smores.  Four days till my kids can run and be free.  It's no Maine, but I've grown to love it just the same.  My kids will grow up having memories of all of us fishing, hiking and sitting around a campfire.  And I'm sure I'll break out the tent again. Eventually....

Composting

BY BOB:

I built a compost bin outside today.  I already have a compost tumbler, but we make way too much compostable trash for it to keep up.  I will probably make another tumbler in the future, but for now, we can use the bin.  It will give us a good way to produce good fertile soil for the garden, and allow us to keep compostable things out of landfills.  When we are composting everything possible and recycling, we average a bag of garbage every 8-10 days for a family of 5.  Also, since there is no organic waste in the trash, it doesn't stink in the house.  So you can leave it in there for 10 days without gagging.  The plan right now is to keep things in the compost bin and move them to the tumbler in batches, that way once I close the tumbler, I will just have to go turn it once every day or so, but the other waste will go in the bin to begin te composting process.  Today when we were at the store, I looked at compost and saw that a bag costs about $2.50.  We could easily use 20-30 bags in the garden.  Instead of purchasing it, I thought it would be better on all fronts to make our own.  I do enjoy making things out of trash.

Operation Homeschool is a GO!!!!

I know what many of you are thinking because I was you only a short time ago.  Trust me, I never could have imagined that I would be HOMESCHOOLING.

This is the first of many posts I will be writing on this subject matter because right now, we haven't even done it yet.  All we have done is made the decision to and there is a long, exciting (and slightly scary) road ahead of us.  Two months ago if you had asked me if I would ever homeschool my children the answer would have been "NO.  Absolutely NOT.  Not EVER."  Mostly that was because I didn't think I was capable of taking on the task.  The other part was that I was worried about the what sort of social life a homeschooled child has. 

So, here's what has slowly been changing my mind:

After Landon was born we immediately knew that we would have to look into private schooling because the area we live in has TERRIBLE schools.  Like 48% graduate rates, mouthy kids, thugs, mostly teachers that wouldn't even send their OWN children to these schools.  We had toured Montessori School when he was 2 maybe and decided that was the style of schooling we agreed with.   At age 3, (2 1/2 months before school let out) he had speech delays and we put him in a special ed program at the PUBLIC SCHOOL.  We thought "it's just pre-k - what can it possibly hurt?"  He had a wonderful teacher who we just loved so much and we were excited that he would have 2 more school years with her before kindergarten.  She called me in June to tell me that another teacher with seniority wanted to teach pre-school because she never had and guess what?!??  They GAVE THAT TEACHER HER JOB!!  I spent the summer petitioning and attending school board meetings trying to fight for this WONDERFUL teacher!!  But, you guessed it, the crooked union laws won.  So, Landon had a former 6th grade teacher that year who was "hoping" she was going to have it easy teaching pre-school.  I'm not saying she was a bad teacher, she just had zero patience with young children.

The following school year, they changed the schools all around and decided to place pre-schoolers up to grade 4 in a different school.  The school he had been attending would now be for 5th and 6th graders only.  Upon registering him and Emma since she was now living with us, we had so many issues with the office losing our applications and telling us school would start on a certain day only to be yelled at the day we brought them that "You aren't suppose to be here!!  Today is for 1-4th graders only!  Didn't you get the phone call saying that we changed it until next week?"  I never got the phone call.  So they blamed me for not having an answering machine.  Which I do.  So they blamed me for putting the wrong number on my forms.  Which I didn't.  Back and forth we went with this.  Me remaining completely calm while they were all worried over it not being "their fault".  That's all I heard from office staff, the principal and Landon's teacher the first time I met her "It's not my fault  they lost your paperwork and told you the wrong day".  Yeah, great first impression.  I was walking in with my hand outstretched and that's how I am greeted. GREAT.  After that, there was another incident with the office staff that finally left me walking out crying and saying "Forget it.  I am NOT sending my kids here."  That was in August.  By November Emma needed a program for her delays and by January Landon was so jealous that we put him back in school too.  Emma had a fabulous teacher while Landon's was, well, the same lady that gave me the lovely first impression of her and that's how the remainder of the year went.  Not fun. 

This year, same crap.  I have in some ways just conformed to all the bull as I am sure many parents end up doing since it's a battle that we just can't win.  Again, we figured, "it's Kindergarten - this will be the last year and then we will place him elsewhere for 1st grade."  We have spent hours pouring over the options.  It's amazing how you can convince yourself the your options are so great when really they are just slightly better than what you had.  We applied to a Charter School as well as a neighboring public school who is accepting tuition paying students in this fall.  The Charter School will contain the children in our city who were kicked out of public school.  HMMMM....   The public school only has room for a few students each year and if he gets in this year, he's not guaranteed a place next year.  And since they have 3 elementary schools, if they can find room for him it may not be in the same school year after year.  SO, not only does he have to be driven to school and picked up each day, he will have to make new friends each year too?  Again, we were scratching our heads...  and at this point Montessori is out of the question becuase it's $5,500/YEAR!!  YIKES!!

I said to Bob very quietly (expecting a debate) "It makes you understand why people homeschool their kids."  He agreed with me.  I couldn't believe it.  That little sentence and we changed our beliefs COMPLETELY.  We aren't going into this blindly.  We have been scouring the internet for information, pros and cons of homeschooling and talking with dozens of familes that have done and are doing this themselves.  So far, we have a list of about 25 pros and 2 cons.  What would you have done?  Landon is SO excited and Bob and I suddenly felt this tremendous weight just disappear. 

So, I know that I have written a novel, and the few of you that are still reading this are either judging us (hey, I was you not too long ago) or totally in agreement with us but I wanted to be honest about how we reached this decision for our family based on our situation.  Clearly, homeschooling is not for everyone.  We have a huge journey ahead of us and I am sure there will be days when I question the decision we have made.  For now, I am just so thankful that we have been able to make this decision and agree on it together.  

Introductions

My name is Daphne.  My husband Bob has been encouraging me to start this blog for several years now and finally won.  He thinks I need an outlet for all of my thoughts and apparently thinks you want to read them.  So here we go:

Bob and I have been married since December 2004.  We live in a modest home in the suburbs of Chicago.  We have a son, Landon, who was born miraculously 3 months after we married.  It was the 'immaculate conception' as we call it.  We did have a shotgun wedding but thankfully it has all worked out just wonderfully for us.  In the summer of 2009, we found out we were expecting 2 exciting additions to the family:  we became guardians to my niece, Emma in early August (she is 7 months younger than Landon) and in March 2010, our daughter Adeline Belle completed our family.

We have always been naturally minded but since having children we have taken strides to makeover our life to how we want to really live it.  That's where this blog comes in.  We wanted to document our successes (and failures) get feedback and advice from our readers and hopefully open some eyes to new ways to try things.  We want to show people that no matter where you live or how much space you have you can live a natural, organic and healthy life.

Some things to come:  Cloth Diapering 101; Gardening; Composting; Homeschooling; Outdoor Family activities; Benefits of Breastfeeding; Co-Sleeping and Babywearing