Mariposa Academy Homeschool

This afternoon I’m having a bunch of friends over for a stitch & bitch/playdate. I really need to clean up! Need to pick up, vacuum, and mop the dining and livingroom. That should be pretty easy, and the kids looove to mop so I’ll let them do that. Need to clean the kitchen. Looks daunting, but I know it won’t be too bad once I get started. Need to clean out the catbox. A gross job but not a difficult one. Vacuum hallway and bathroom. Pretty quick. My room– I’ll just shut the door on that horror show. The kids’ room– oh. my. Maude. How in the world will I ever get the kids’ room presentable? Or, um, at least safe for toddlers? That place is a disaster area!

For now, I am drinking coffee and trying to wake up enough to get started on everything else. And trying to figure out whether the funny feeling in my tummy is the beginning of cramps, because I haven’t gotten my period yet. And trying to resist the urge to take another test before Sunday, because it’s ridiculous to think I might be pregnant when we weren’t trying and my cycles have always been wonky so I can’t even say my period is truly late. And wondering if the fact that I so want to be pregnant, and I was so disappointed when the test was negative last Sunday, means that I should just say the hell with drinking wine and eating cheese in Spain and just start trying now.

…to be disappointed that I’m not pregnant, when we weren’t even trying. Right?

You might try one of these:

or

I am suddenly shopping for something I used to scoff at: a high-end stroller. A high-end double jogging/all-terrain stroller to be exact. Because we walk so much, my kids still need to be in a stroller. Yes, even Llani, who is six. And yes, she does get to walk and run a lot, and no, I’m not trying to hold her back from growing up. She’s not in the stroller instead of walking. She’s in the stroller instead of in a car.

I need a stroller that can hold a 34lb kid (and her 27lb brother) with room to grow (thank Maude Llani’s so petite!), and one that’s easy to push and steer with both kids in it. The one we have now, a Graco DuoGlider, is quickly becoming impossible. I am tired and achy all the time from pushing that beast. So… that eliminates just about everything except the double joggers with front swivel wheels.

The TikeTech Trax360 (on the left) looks like my best bet, as it is lighter than most double joggers, can fit through standard doorways, and has all the features I want. It’s also under $500 (Yes, my jaw dropped at the prices, too). The problem is, no one in Charlotte sells them, so I would have to buy it online without being able to test it out first. That scares me. Of course, I’d buy it from someplace with a liberal return policy, but still. What a pain it would be to dismantle the stroller, pack it up just right, and pay for return shipping.

The one on the right, the BabyJogger City Double, is available in a store right near my house, so I’m going to try it out. But it’s over 30lbs and over $500, so it’s really not my first choice.

If any of my readers have tried either of these (or an alternative), please tell me what you think.

Whenever I hold a tiny baby I feel like a kid who brought a bag of treats to school. I know I should share, but I really don’t want to, and I keep hoping no one notices or complains as I continue hogging the baby all to myself.

The other day I got to hold my 11-day-old nephew for a good long time, and it was so hard to hand him back to my sister. Even harder? Waiting until our Spain trip (in September) to start trying to conceive. The following morning I felt really nauseous (most likely from all the food and sangria I’d had at my parents’ barbecue the previous day), and I actually started hoping I was pregnant. Must. Wait. Until. Spain.

Sigh.

The other night I told Adrian that I wanted at least two more kids. That I’d love to have four or five kids, maybe even more. I thought I’d scare him; instead he said, “Great! I’ve always loved big families!” So basically we decided in that instant that we’re gonna keep having more kids until I get too old. I’m thirty-six now, so I don’t know how many more years I can realistically keep birthing babies. But hey, there’s always adoption.

The other night, Llani told me she’d been thinking about math, figuring out counting by twos and why 3×2=6. We started talking about skip counting and multiplying, and she did some multiplying by twos and threes. She had a very firm grasp on the concept of multiplication and was able to figure out a lot of the problems I gave her. After a while she’d had enough. I worked hard to push her just to the limit of her patience and no further.

Something clicked for me at that point, something I’d noticed about Llani before but never thought about and made the connection among different subject areas. A simple thing, really. Although her comprehension and skills are ahead of her age in many areas, her attention span and patience is still that of a six-year-old.

She reads at a third or fourth grade level. Give her a page of text written at a fourth grade level and she will most likely read it and understand it just fine. But when she reads chapter books, or even if I read a novel aloud to her, she gets bored pretty quickly. It’s not that we’re reading boring books, either. It happens across the board– she’ll be thrilled the first couple nights that we read something, and then the third or fourth night she’ll want to start something different. I think we have started at least twice as many books as we have read all the way through. She’s the same with independent reading. She’ll start a chapter book and enjoy it, but she’ll tire of it after the first two or three chapters.

Math is the same way– she understands so much when we talk about it and I give her a few problems to do, and she’s enthusiastic about it. But sit her down with a page of problems, or talk to her for too long, and she will get completely frustrated and overwhelmed.

What I finally realized is that she’s like this in everything. Science, history, geography… she loves learning, has an impressive comprehension of so many things, but once she’s done, she’s done. Knowing this helps me to find that balance between exposing her to different things, strewing her path with learning opportunities… and pushing her too hard.

Jacob Matthew was born yesterday at 11:46am. 7lbs. 6oz., 21 in. long. I saw him come into the world, and I had the honor of cutting the cord! Amazing! And less than an hour after his birth, he was latched on and nursing like a champ.

My sister is tired and sore, but doing well. She and her new son will be going home today, and we’ll probably be visiting her tonight once Adrian gets home from work. I’m going to bake her a macaroni and cheese.

Oh my goodness, what a morning!! Whine whine whine from the time Zeke woke up until I put the kids in the tub! I don’t know what’s up with him today, but it is not pleasant. Hopefully the bath will improve things. It’s amazing how water (or just about any sensory activity, but especially water) helps crabby kids.

Speaking of water, our condo complex’s pool opens today, which is terrific. Especially since it’s supposed to go up to 90 degrees this afternoon. Not that we will actually get to the pool today. We’re going to my friend Robin’s house for a ViaMaterna Stitch & Bitch. That will be a lot of fun. I’m going to start knitting a wool soaker this afternoon, using this pattern, for a pregnant friend. Robin’s son is Zeke’s age and the kids always have fun together. And I always have fun with Robin and I don’t see her nearly enough. Robin’s neighborhood, Montclaire, is one of the areas we’re thinking of moving to. I think Montclaire, Madison Park and Starmount (which are near each other and sort of similar in housing style and price) are my favorite neighborhoods in Charlotte. Well, no, actually Plaza-Midwood is my favorite. But Montclaire, Madison Park and Starmount are my favorites of the neighborhoods I can probably afford.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Moore Formula lately. Yes, the Moores are conservative Christian homeschoolers, and no, I don’t believe in their homeschooling philosophy, even the academic parts, wholeheartedly. But I love their simple formula of study, service, and work. It makes a lot of sense to me, and seems very applicable to an unschooling approach. Especially since they advise holding off on formal academics until at least age 8. Now, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with my child not knowing how to read at age 10 or 12. I think that’s a bit extreme. But the general idea of following a child’s interests and looking for readiness signs? What could make more sense than that? I also love manual work and service of others as components of a homeschool approach. Both are so important for character development as well as general education. I wish I could think of some sort of volunteer work the kids and I could all do together. Zekey is still too young for anything I can think of. Maybe once I learn to drive more things will open up for us. Or maybe if we get more involved in the synagogue (which also would be when I learn to drive). Hmmm, maybe we can send care packages to servicepeople in Iraq and Afghanistan. the kids could help me pack stuff and tape the boxes. I don’t know if they will really make a connection between smoothing down packing tape in our livingroom and these people that they are helping halfway around the world, though. I’ll have to give it more thought.