Mariposa Academy Homeschool

I’ve been getting that question a lot lately. That and its close sibling, “And you homeschool, too? With a baby?”

People are amazed that I can manage to homeschool with three children, one of whom is not quite five months old. They act like it’s some sort of amazing feat of daring and skill, or at least of remarkable patience and organization.

The truth is, though, that I am neither organized nor especially patient, and that homeschooling while mothering a baby as well as my two big kids is actually pretty easy. I would even go so far as to say that homeschooling keeps me sane and makes my life as a mom of three easier.

I would never be able to get Llani off to school on time in the mornings. Never. I am the furthest thing from a morning person, and Llani follows in my footsteps. If she went to public school, not only would she be late every day, but our mornings would be full of stress, yelling, and tears. Most mornings, Llani wakes at around eight-thirty or so, and we start school by around ten. And that’s with me nudging her along.

While Llani does school I often have to keep darting back and forth among her brother, her sister, and her, but it’s really not hard. When I tell her to get started, Zeke asks eagerly, “Can I do my schoolwork, too?” I tell him yes, and he picks a workbook out of his homeschool tote. He and Llani both have square fabric totes (the collapsible kind with a wire frame) in their room. Llani’s is filled with the Sonlight materials we’re currently working on, and Zeke’s is filled with a bunch of preschool workbooks, maze books, and dot-to-dots.

Either I will tell Llani which assignment to do, or she will look at the Instructor’s Guide and choose an assignment. Now that we are using Sonlight I hardly have to do any lesson planning. I just look at the IG, check off what we’ve done, and see what’s next. I can easily read to Llani while nursing Luz. Often, Llani will sit on the bed or floor and read one of her schoolbooks to Luz, which keeps the baby calm. Llani and I will both read Zeke the instructions in the workbooks, and they will sit together and work. Even when Llani needs my help or participation, it’s a simple thing to ask her questions while changing the baby, or to bounce the baby in my arms while pointing out things on the wall map.

If I’m lucky, I get Luz down for a nap before I prepare lunch. But if not, Llani and Zeke play with her while I put together sandwiches or heat up a frozen pizza. After lunch is more of the same, augmented by coffee and snacks, and hopefully another nap for the baby. Sometimes we will leave our reader (the book Llani is supposed to read on her own) and our read-aloud (the book I’m supposed to read to her, but she often opts to read it herself instead) for bedtime. It’s always nice when Zeke gets to listen, and sometimes Adrian will listen, too, or read from the read-aloud.

We follow a four-day schedule for most subjects, and Friday is our day to catch up with anything we missed, go on field trips (not that we’ve done that yet), or just relax. Our schedule is flexible, and school sometimes gets interrupted by errands. The nice thing is that we can always do an assignment in the evening or on the weekend if our day gets messed up. If we have something like a doctor’s appointment, Llani brings a book or a workbook so she can get some work done in the waiting room. Soon we will start Zeke’s speech therapy again twice a week. I think I’ll make one of those days our day off, even if it’s not a Friday, and on the other day I’ll have Llani bring work to do.

If I weren’t homeschooling, our mornings would be horrid and I’d also have to run our afternoon schedule according to dismissal time. I’d still be supervising and helping with lessons, but they’d be homework assigned by the teacher instead of things that I’d decided upon. Homeschooling is much easier, and more fun, for my children and me than sending them to school ever would be.

I am dragging today. It’s been grey and rainy all day (edges/remnants of tropical storm Fay), and days like this sap what little energy I have. Llani has been procrastinating her schoolwork and I don’t really have the energy to push her. Still, she’s doing well. She did a ton of math work, she did some reading, and part of her language arts work (working with similes). She still has to do social studies, science, and Spanish today, but she’ll get it done, even if it is toward evening. Now if only we could find Charlotte’s Web. That’s our current read-aloud. Llani misplaced her copy a few days ago. On Sunday, my mom brought over my old copy that she had at her house. Llani caught up with the reading Sunday night, and promptly lost that copy of the book, too. I don’t understand how two copies of the same book could go missing that quickly. At least it’s a book we’ve read (and listened to on audiobook, and seen two movie versions of) before. At worst, I can play our audiobook of it. It is read by E. B. White himself, and really a treat to listen to.

Can I say again that I absolutely love Sonlight? Because I do. It’s really terrific. I am so glad I decided to try it. I’m so glad I didn’t let the price or the fact that it’s a Christian curriculum scare me off. Those two factors, by the way, proved to be way less significant than I first thought they would be. It is easy to secularize, and I bought most of the material at a discount. Some I got from Ebay, some from VegSource, and some from my local bookstore with my 20% homeschooler’s discount.

You may have noticed that my blog is still messed up. I know Mom #1 wants to kill me. I am a lazy lazy lazybones, I know. Seriously, I am going to fix it soon. I need to back it up, clear the whole thing, and do a clean re-install of Wordpress. If that doesn’t fix it, nothing will.

Because my blog is messed up, my blogroll doesn’t show. So I am just going to tell you about the fantastic blog I have been reading religiously lately: The Jason Show. Heartwarming and hilarious. Go read.

Yep, it is week two, day two of second grade here at Mariposa Academy. Llani couldn’t wait to start her new curriculum so we started last week. We are using Sonlight Core 1 and so far we are both loving it. I feel so much more on top of things now that I have everything planned out for me. I open up my Instructor’s Guide, see what the assignments are, and check them off as we go. I don’t have to worry about not covering a subject, and I don’t have to spend hours hunting down resources and putting together lessons.

I have changed some things around. Most importantly, I am secularizing the curriculum. I skip the Bible section entirely. For geography, Sonlight uses a couple of books about missionaries and “Bibleless peoples.” I am skipping those books and instead using other books about various countries and cultures around the world. Right now our social studies spine is the Dorling Kindersley book Children Just Like Me. I’m using it as a substitute for The Usborne Book of Peoples of the World, which I wasn’t able to buy in time. I finally ordered it directly from Sonlight and it should arrive soon, at which point I’ll use both books together. But for now I think the DK book is a nice substitute. Each 2-page spread tells about a particular child’s country and customs. We read about the child, talk about his/her life, and find the child’s country, its capital, and any cities mentioned, on the map. Llani is learning a lot.

We are using the Level 2 Intermediate readers. They are actually below Llani’s reading level, but I decided to use them so that next year, when we use Core Two, we can use the Level 2 Advanced readers and in fourth grade, when we study Core 3, she’ll be reading the Level 3 readers. from Core 3 upward, the readers are closely tied to the social studies work, so I want her to be reading the appropriate readers when we get to that point. I don’t think it’s harming Llani any to have readers that are easy for her. She is enjoying the stories and learning a lot from them. She sometimes reads her read-alouds independently instead of listening to me read them to her, and she reads challenging books on her own time.

For math we are using Singapore. It seems to have just the right amount of repetition, and I’ve read several reviews saying that it helps children think mathematically. Math is Llani’s least-favorite subject but she seems to be understanding it well. We are on the 1A, which is below her grade level, because she really needs to bone up on her basic math facts. She is moving through it quickly, and I am confident that she will be up to grade level or maybe even beyond it later in the school year.

We are studying handwriting again this year, after trying it and discontinuing a year or two ago. I think she is finally ready now; she seems to have the motor skills and the ability to sit still. We’re doing Getty-Dubay Italic. She tried a traditional cursive first, but it was too difficult for her. This is within her abilities and the italic will make the transition to cursive easier.

Llani says she is enjoying our new way of homeschooling, and likes it better than what we used to do. When I ask her what she likes about it she shrugs and says she doesn’t know. I think the structure makes her feel more comfortable, even though she can’t really express it. She likes to look at the Instructor’s Guide and see what assignments she has for the day. She probably feels more in control when she knows what is in store for her.

Bit by bit, I’m putting together our Sonlight curriculum. I love finding deals on Ebay or VegSource, and I jump up and down every time I get a package. I’m a geek, I know. So far I have the Language Arts and Science Instructor’s Guides and the Readers Schedule. I just wrote to someone selling a History IG so I probably have that, too. This weekend I am going to buy a 3-inch binder. I can’t wait to start setting everything up. Llani is excited each time a box comes. She already read one of the readers and one or two of the read-alouds. She wants to know why she can’t just read the read-alouds herself. I might let her, if she can keep up with the schedule. I don’t see why not.

Today she decided that she Hates Math and that Math Is Boring. She procrastinated for a good couple of hours, and finally breezed through the work in ten minutes once I sat down next to her and kept her on task. We have tried several math curricula over the past couple years, and I honestly think she is going to complain no matter what we use. I’m not even sure that she really hates math. I think it’s more that she hates having an assignment when she’d rather just play. She hasn’t memorized her basic math facts, but she understands math concepts very well and I think as time goes on she will do very well in math. I just have to get her to sit down and do it.

Yesterday my sister was over and she cleaned the kids’ room. She is amazing. Where I am overwhelmed to the point of immobility, she can’t wait to get in there and tackle the mess. She threw out a bunch of stuff, got everything up off the floor, organized some of it, and vacuumed. It looks almost spotless in there, whereas before it was a hazard to walk across the floor. There is still stuff in boxes and bins that we have to go through and organize, but it’s such an enormous change from what it was. I am so grateful. Because of this, Llani was actually able to sit at her desk and work today.

It’s official; we’re using Sonlight next year. I’ve been scouring Ebay and other sources for bargains and putting the curriculum together piecemeal. Tomorrow is the one day of the month when FS/WTB ads are allowed on the Sonlight Secular Yahoo list, and I’ve half a mind to post a WTB at midnight. I’m a woman on a mission.

I’ve decided that since we’re going to have designated “school time,” I might as well relax for now and let this officially be summer vacation. So I am not pushing any structured activities at this point. Once we get our math curriculum, though, I’m going to start doing math and Spanish every day. I think Llani could stand to bone up on her math, and math and Spanish both benefit greatly from regular practice. Also, we need to get into the habit of following a daily routine and “having school.”

Llani has said she can’t wait till school starts– but that’s because she can’t wait to do science experiments. I hope her enthusiasm holds when she has to do math work or listen to history read-alouds.

Luz is three months old today. To celebrate, she rolled over onto her tummy for the first time at about four in the morning. Hee! I can’t believe it’s been three months already; it really went by in a flash.

I started Zoloft on Saturday. I was going to wait until after my cardiologist appointment, but I couldn’t get that appointment until late this month, and I did not want to wait that long for the Zoloft. I’m looking forward to feeling better soon.

I am 99% sure that we’re going to take a more structured approach to homeschooling for second grade, and 98% sure that that approach will be Sonlight. It is a Christian curriculum, but it can be used secularly without a lot of hassle. It is literature-based and features many high-quality children’s books. Lots of classics and Newbery award winners. I have always resisted boxed curricula, but ever since I looked at Sonlight I knew that if I did use a boxed curriculum, it would probably be Sonlight. And now here I am, thinking a boxed curriculum might actually be the best thing for us, after all. Having everything all planned out would free me from planning lessons and gathering materials. It would alleviate my stress about learning gaps. I would always know what to do next, and we could go through our scheduled lessons within a few hours and have the rest of the day for free play and exploration. I know it will be a challenge for us to get used to a schedule, but once we manage that I think everything else will be easier.

I’ve linked it before and I do so again now:

Every face I look at seems beautiful to me, Melissa Wiley’s blog post about patience.

Why am I linking it for a second time? Because I am reading it again for inspiration, and finding it very helpful. And if I find it helpful to refer to this post time and again, my readers may well find it helpful, too.

The kids and I were waiting at the bus stop today, coming home from speech therapy. I saw a few motorcycles coming toward us, flying flags– American and a couple others. “Look, look,” I told the kids excitedly, “a motorcycle parade!”Because really, what’s cooler than a motorcycle parade? But as they got close I saw it was just four motorcycles. With the American flags were black POW-MIA flags, and yellow flags that said “Patriot Guard Riders.” Then I realized that they were riding in front of a hearse. It was a funeral procession. A funeral procession for a fallen servicemember, and they were riding to protect the servicemember’s family and loved ones from the intrusion of the Fred Phelps assholes.

That servicemember was a stranger to me, but I teared up anyway. What a tregedy. As if it weren’t fucked up enough anyway that so many young people are over there dying so that W can play cowboy and oil companies can increase their profit margins, now when they come home in body bags their families have to contend with vitriolic bigots intruding on their personal grief.

So, yes, my blog is messed up right now. I updated to the latest WordPress version and obviously something went wrong. Tech Support (aka Adrian) is stumped. Apparently when I mess up databases, I don’t play around. Word to the wise: when the instructions say to back everything up just in case, that’s not a step you should skip.

A couple of people have asked how the monthly shopping is going. The first day we tried it, we went to Big Lots. While Big Lots might be great for unexpected bargains, it’s not a place you can do your basic shopping. We ended up putting most of our items back on the shelf and joining Costco. Costco is great. I totally recommend it for families of four or more. With fewer than four people, it might not be worth it. And even with four of us able to use our Costco purchases, many things are just too big. We’re just not going to buy a 25lb bag of flour. But there is a lot that is both useful and a great bargain. We stock up on pantry staples, household stuff, and even a few perishables. Some things, like 3-packs of soy milk or 3 dozen eggs, we do manage to use quickly enough. Other things, like giant bags of shredded cheese or broccoli florets, I repackage into quart ziplocks and freeze.

For the rest of the perishables, as well as wine and some specialty items we can’t get at Costco, we go to Trader Joe’s. To be honest, I haven’t sat down and done the math to see how much we’re saving, but I’m sure it’s quite a bit. When I look into the shopping cart and see how much we’re getting for our money, it’s significantly more than we’d be getting for the same amount at Harris Teeter.

Right now Llani is “spelling” out words that Zeke wants to write– but instead of saying the name of the letter, she is saying the sound the letter makes in the word. For the most part, Zeke is writing the correct letter! I am so impressed with my little boy!