Homeschooling Out of a Hotel Room

I can't even begin to explain how challenging these last few weeks have been for us. We've relocated to another state... temporarily... and are still trying to adjust. At home the kids always have something to do, but since our new home away from home is a hotel room, we don't have many options on what we can do. We haven't been having the best weather, so getting out and about hasn't been at the top of our list.
At home the kids can go play out in their playhouse, on the back porch, or somewhere else in the house! Here in this one room hotel room, there is no where to go and get away and no back yard with a swing set (we did find a nice park, though... it's only been warm enough to go one time, though)! We did bring the wii with us and have it hooked up now, but when there is another family living under you, there really isn't even much you can do on the wii! Jumping all around is not an option! It's already bad enough that my kids sound like elephants when they walk! lol! I do feel sorry for the people below us!
They only have to put up with us for a few more days, though and then we'll head out for that cruise we have had planned! Can't wait! The kids will have plenty of room to run amuck on the ship... with their Camp Carnival & Circle C staff leaders of course and ... HOPEFULLY...  the dh and I can get some 'alone' time! much needed alone time-- I must add! Actually ... when you are living in close quarters like this, everyone is in need of alone time! I am planning on bringing along my Kindle and kicking back in a deck chair! Oh... I so can't wait!! Just a few more days! No home-schooling that week!! That is just as much a break for me as it is for the kids! Countdown on my Dashboard - 6 days, 20 hours, 46 mins!

Blessings,

Lil Mr. Sneezy

Ok...well this one has me stumped. Anyone ever heard of a cat being allergic to the outdoors? One of our cats will soon be dubbed Lil Mr. Sneezy! When put him in the yard,  he of course freaks out b/c he's not used to being outside but the crazy thing is that he starts wheezing and sneezing! so idk what to think!

The tragic story is how we came to adopt the lil thing... I turned on the dryer and heard a horrid sound. After moving everything around, grabbing a cage, and setting up a way to trap what we thought was a squirrel, I finally reached in and pulled out this tiny kitten. How in the world it managed to make it's way on my porch I haven't the foggiest b/c we have a door... slipped on unnoticed while one of us were coming in is all I can figure.  My dryer vent cover broke not real long ago, and we've yet to get a new one. Thinking nothing could get on the porch and get in, we didn't much worry about it.

Well, this little feller made his way on the porch, went in through my vent, and was completely in my dryer...and was almost killed. Luckily as quick as I heard the horrid noise, I knew something was there and we found the feller... but not before fur blew out my vent! He had a patch of hair shaved off his scalp and off each ear,  half his little nose was gone [literally!], and his lower front leg was ripped open from the joint to the paw.

Now, I am no cat person...never was...but... I felt horrible!!! I doctored and coddled him constantly even letting him sleep on my chest at night!! and prayed with my kids that he would be ok. I knew it wasn't my fault the lil guy climbed in the dryer vent, but I knew I had turned it on and off twice trying to figure out what was going on...so my doings led to his near death experience.

Well, he's a spoiled rotten little kitty now! He's all healed up, thankfully, but he still doesn't have leather on his nose. I don't think that will return. Ever so often he'll bump it and it will bleed, but all his other wounds are healed.

He's now getting big enough to go out into the world and chase the chickens, birds, and field mice! Mostly he's male...fixed or not...they spray, so he's got to go outside, but each time I take him out he goes crazy! I don't know if the wheezing and sneezing is anxiety or allergies, but it's the strangest thing I've ever seen!

So call me crazy, but I'm going to pray this little kitten gets over whatever he has so he can live a fun, full life outdoors. You might think it's a little silly to pray for a cat, but Proverbs 12:10 says "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast." so why not... if a God tells us a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, then God must also regard the life of all beasts...even lil sneezy ones and would be okay with us praying for it! and what would I tell my kids anyway if I said no to that.. we pray for them when they are sick! I couldn't just say... God doesn't care about that, now could I?

So...here is our little sneezy feller (including a depiction of him drawn by my 6 yr old as part of one his creative writing assignments... he's learning about pets, why we think God gave us pets, and how we are supposed to care for and love them. He'll be memorizing Proverbs 12:10, too).

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Um... the cat or the bed... one of the two is a bit out of proportion! If he grows to be this big...well...I'm moving out! lol!

Negative Numbers in 1st Grade??? hmm...

Yep, yep... I knew something was up! My 6 year old had me a bit puzzled. He just asked me what 3-4 was? Of course I know negative numbers, I just wasn't sure where he was coming from. I knew I looked at that work, and there wasn't anything like that in it...or was there?


I said, "do you mean 4-3?... u can figure that out yourself!" 


He said, "no... 3-4! Maybe it's negative 1 but I'm not sure!" 


I said, "You're right, but read your paper again... I am sure it is a 4-3!" 


After all, when did we start doing negatives in 1st grade? lol! 


Actually it wasn't even 4-3. He's doing double digit subtraction so it was a 4-3 in the right column. The problem was 74 minus 53 or something....I don't recall! but... I have no idea where he picked up on the negative numbers other than overhearing me doing math & algebra with my older two. 


I thought he'd lost his mind... till I heard a correct answer out of him. He's killing me... that incessant talking while working! I don't see how he learns anything! I can't even concentrate on my own thoughts here lately! lol!


Blessings,

P.E. Redneck Style

I am absolutely positively pooped, but I accomplished so much today...AND I'm sore as I'll get out! Early this morning I pitched in and helped the kids with their chores, did everything I normally do, and then swapped furniture around between two rooms... wanting to change things up a little bit.  We of course got all our studies in today, too...started on time, stayed with the schedule, and finished on time! That's a miracle! lol! I'm luv'n it! b/c... well, let's just say I'm a little OCD about things! I hardly get it all to work the way "I" want! Life with kids, ya know! :) It's interesting around here; that's for sure! Every single one of us are wired a little different...I didn't know there were so many different ways to be wired! rolf!

Anywayzzz... I was very excited that we got our music lessons in as well as were able to have some family fun and games outside for P.E. You would have cracked up watching me, a grown woman, roll a huge barrel down the driveway around a basketball goal and back in efforts to beat my kid's time! No mercy! rofl! I did it, but that barrel practically got away from me on the downhill!  My laugh for the day was when my 6 year old tried it and rolled right over with the barrel!!!! You're probably thinking how mean!!! but we're country...and that was just mighty funny! We couldn't help but crack up! His feet were straight up in the air in a handstand, his body keeping the barrel from rolling any further!! Um... how many people do you know use a deer feeder barrel to play P.E. games! Yep... we got a lil redneck in us!

Blessings,

Do you PLEDGE?

As a homeschooling family we start our day w/ prayer, pledge, and song time.  We say the pledge to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible. I was just conversing with someone new on fb and found this (which I adapted a bit). 

I pledge to... 

Present my hands to God
Lend Him my voice
Exist in His life as a vessel of prayer
Defend Him as He defended me
Give Him my heart, life, & soul
Enter into His presence & humble myself before Him


can't help but iluv it!


Blessings,

Seriously, now!

School-- Just do it to get through it. It’s not imperative that you do your best; do what you have to do to get by.

I know this had to be my husband’s attitude because my MIL once gave me his last and final report card to take a look at. My jaw dropped! I couldn’t imagine how he passed! Btw you can pass in school with pretty much straight Ds as long as you have another grade here or there that brings you up. Totally unacceptable! Gotta love the public school system for that!

And I, of course, just absolutely love my hubby when he says something like “He’s just like I was. I didn’t see the point. When are you ever going to use that stuff? I still haven’t used it. Not since I did it in college, anyway!”

Well, believe you me… I know I haven’t used much Algebra since college either (other than teaching), but why in the world don’t you think before you let something like that come out of your pie-whole in front of your kid who could already care less about school! His mind is on mowers, baseball bats, hunting, and of course he already knows what he is going to be when he grows up…. Algebra isn’t necessary for that.

Hello… it is a necessary class you must take in college and you will have to go to college for the career your day-dreaming about while you are supposed to be getting that algebra problem done!  Or did someone forget to mention that?

Math/Algebra… I live it, breathe it, eat it…well not really but it’s the 1/4 the pizza thing, ½ a bag of chips, thing, and the calorie counting thing! Don’t forget donuts have a “whole” in the middle! Lol! I’m kidding! I do enjoy math, though, so I guess it is hard for me to understand why my son seems to have such a block with it.

As long as I sit and work the problems with him, allowing him to talk me through it while I write it on the overhead, he can do them time and time again. The moment I sit him down alone and say to do problems 3-10, he literally zones out! He stares at it and does nothing. This is where the “mom won’t help me” bit came in (prior post). Forgive me for thinking he should try and work some problems on his own for a change. Um… that’s how we did it when I taught public school. That is the way it is done. I don’t think his college algebra teacher will go for this method either.

So I’m covertly observing him and it actually looks like he’s asleep…hmm.  I get a little closer. Lean in…be very, very quiet! (Sigh….) He IS asleep!

“Son… Hey… Wake up…” soft and slow

No response.

“Boy, waaaake up!” with that southern drawl again, but a snap on the up to end it along with a thump on the head

“Wha…huh? I’m working?” blinking his eyes

“You were sleeping.”

“Oh… uh… no ma’am.” scratching his head

“That wasn’t a question. I saw you sleeping!”

“uh… I was just thinking.”

“Get that problem done!”  and the eyebrow raise

“Yes, Ma’am.”

And yep, my eyes did a roll! God knows I need some patience! Oh wait… back to the fruits of the spirit again? And I am really feeling it… Longsuffering? I’m going to suffer a long time through the teenage years aren’t I? Yeah, yeah… I know that’s not the interpretation I should be getting from the Good Book. I am trying to be funny… key word in there… trying! You really need a sense of humor if you’re raising a teenager.

Temperance...With a teenager?

“Mom won’t help me!” was the excuse I heard him give to his dad for not completing his Algebra.

“What?” replied my husband.

“I don’t understand and she won’t help me!”

“Did you ask her?”

“Um…”

The rest was basically lost because I was fuming about the words that I am sure weren’t meant for my ears!

I felt a sting similar to the time I accidently went for my cast iron skillet forgetting I that pone of cornbread just came out the hot oven. And oh wee…. that holler that followed! Scary! It was much the same ‘n came just as quick as the one I hollered out when jerking back those burnt fingers!

“WHAT DID YOUuuu JUST SAaaaYyyy? I WOoooN’T HEEELP YOUuuu? ”

‘n don’t forget to add this momma’s southern drawl to it, because I did draw it out most exaggerated I might add!

I then make my way into the room and the lecture begins (I must have been speaking 90wpm)…

“I help you all the time! I spend every moment of my day helping you and attending to your every need! You wanted to buff up, and I commit to waking up an hour earlier to squeeze a workout into our day. You want to go biking, and I go with you most every time. You wanted to go hiking in the KNF with us, though you had not met all your responsibilities (chores and schoolwork), so I took you anyway, because I hate leaving you behind! You have youth events with the church, and I let you go to those, because I know it is important for you to be with other kids your age since you are a homeschooling kiddo & socializing with others your age is important!

I haven’t done some of the things I planned on doing with your brother and sister, because I was too busy doing stuff with you/helping you! Or…I did those things that were supposed to be special and just for them, involved you, and they end up being about you and not about them!

They don’t complain, though I know they’re disappointed! You don’t think about what they give up for your happiness. They want to feel special and important, too!  In return-- you disturb them, pick and poke at them, mess with their stuff, or do anything you can think of to aggravate them.

Our entire world seems to revolve around you and your needs!  How could you act this way? And how could you say that I don’t help you?

We do everything to make you happy! I can’t believe you don’t appreciate what I do for you!”

The color temporarily left the boys face, because he knew good and well that everything I said was absolutely, positivity true. Of course my husband knows that, too, so next I turn to him…

“I can’t believe you let him talk about me this way!”

“Um… you kinda of didn’t give me a chance to say anything!”

And I guess that was true!

Oh the fun of raising a teenage boy! I recall stories from other moms and their teens and I looked at my little guy and told myself, “Oh, that will never be my boy! My kid goes to church, he’s raised up right, & he’s just the sweetest and most loving kid I know! He’ll always think I am the most awesome mom on God’s green earth!”

Rofl! I must have been delusional!

And so… that wasn’t my proudest moment, but I did speak my mind. I know for sure now that whatever amount of praying I was doing, I have got to do a whole lot more. Otherwise I don’t know how I am going to make it through the rest of his teen years! And what is worse, just as we get through the worst ones, the middle child will come into them, and then after 4 years, our youngest will be there.

I have got to get my armor on! And well I better get my basket of fruit, too or I’ll be turning into a basket case!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…” (Galations 5:22-23)

Umm… obviously I confused “TEMPERance” for “Temper” when I went off on the boy. Funny thing is-- we have this plastered on our fridge!

Yep… I maybe need to have a little more self-control!

I wish it was as easy as tacking a few apples on my chest, because honestly…it wasn’t the first time I’ve lost my temper on him! I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be the last time! 

Do your kids genuinely enjoy homeschooling?

If you started at home with pre-k or K, don’t answer that question. Actually, I don’t even think you really need to answer the question if you started them at the elementary level. Most kids that age adapt rather quickly. I’m mostly talking about your teenager who was pulled from the public school system. Does he/she like homeschooling? I’m curious if it’s just a boy thing, or if girls are the same way when it comes to the feeling of “missing out” on life.

He’s a lot like his dad when it comes to high school. Getting an education is a must do, because the law says I have to! It’s not really necessary!  The only difference between the two of them is that his dad wasn’t real outgoing. Our boy gets that part from me. Public school was extremely important for one reason and one reason only…socializing! It’s where you hang out with your friends, talk in class, talk at lunch, talk on the bus, and of course there’s the sports!

I get it, I do, but I also knew I had to make the grades! I had the parent who threatened physical punishment for anything less than an A.  The man was ridiculous, but that is an entirely different story.  We don’t talk about him much, so back to the subject… I was lucky to make a B with all of my socializing and what I had to put up with at home. I did make worse grades and took my punishment. I was most likely capable of getting a B with little effort had I kept my mouth shut, but I didn’t. As for straight A’s… That wasn’t likely. I didn’t learn how to study till I got into college. I struggled for a while, but it paid off in the end! I wasn’t top of the class with my 3.67 GPA for my undergrad, but I did get a 4.0 when I graduated with my masters. It wasn’t easy. It’s not supposed to be.

I never pressure my boy to make all A’s (or even all B’s) but I do want him to do his best. I know what he is capable of, but sometimes I feel like he is going to be forever miserable for the simple fact we are home-schooling. Or at least he wants me to feel that way because he’s not getting his endless hours of talking and socializing.

He enjoyed public school. Ask me how I know!...He hardly ever missed school. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to get behind on assignments and the like, though because he NEVER had any of those, nor did he ever have homework… Bahaahaaahaa!

We decided to home school for several reasons. At the top of our list was that our boy was so easily influenced by the world. We envisioned what the high school years could bring about and how he would deal with peer pressure. Our go with the flow, follow the crowd boy… oh you can imagine.  Because he already (just in the 7^th grade) focused too much on socializing than his education, he was very close to failing by the 2nd half of the year. The grades were gradually declining. Assignments weren’t getting done in class. Homework never came home to get done. He was becoming more obsessed with having friends, hanging out, and sports. We knew we had to do some re-directing. He needed to find the JOY in life and not just be full of joy in school.

So our boy is still working on the whole JOY thing (Jesus 1^st, Others 2^nd, Yourself Last), but it’s coming along terribly slow and not without trying to make the rest of us feel miserable for turning his life upside down. He doesn’t realize that there are certain influences you don’t need in your life, and removing them form the equation is an easier way to handle things at this point. As you grow in Christ, one can become more equipped to handle all the good and the bad this world has to offer.

I love the Bible scripture in my header.

“Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

I’m trying! I’m trying, Lord!

‘n a note to all readers who don’t know a thing about homeschooling or happened upon a one of those rare families that lock their kids in the home and never let them out giving the rest of us homeschooling families a bad name… (eyes roll) spare me the replies with a story, please! I am not raising up a socially deprived outcast who won’t be able to function in the real world!

The boy does get to socialize! Yes, the majority of that is with people at Sunday school, youth service, church/outreach events, and family, but he does travel a lot. He goes on hunting trips with his paw paw! I have yet to have the two of them return without a story of meeting someone new, hitting it off, and practically making lifelong friends. Yep, these are adults, but he does well with them. He even befriended one man’s wife and hung out with the entire family for a few hours.

Our vacations are much the same, except he typically meets people closer in his age. On our last cruise, he befriended a bartender. We’re not drinkers, but the guy was assigned to our area of the dining room. They got to talking here and there and even when he wasn’t working the dining room. On the last day, they swapped contact info.

There is definitely something about him! Complete strangers become best friends in a matter of minutes! One guy even passed off his iPhone 4 to him to play games with while he was break dancing. He could have ran off with that $300 device and tossed it overboard or gave it to his mom…lol! … yeah… I know! I would have given it back! Maybe…lol! Jk!

Anywayz….He’s never made a person, young or old that he hasn’t found something in common with and eventually called friend. He maintains those relationships and the relationships from public school via phone and online, so he’s not socially inept. But I guess some resentment to what he ‘thinks’ he is missing out on is expected. We all know there is nothing like hanging out with your buds at lunch, ya know. 

Counting Down!

Yep! We can start counting down! School starts in less than 2 weeks for us! What about for your family?

I've finalized the schedule and I am actually luv'n it! We have to get in 180 days by law (though I've already checked the public school calendar and their days add up to 177)!!  Since we have planned some travels I wanted to make sure to schedule in those dates as well!

We normally take our "school in a bag" when we travel, but this year I decided to just leave it at home and truly vacation! It will be most enjoyable for the kids, but tis a secret... This plan is mostly for me! Hee! Hee! :) As you can see from this snapshot that my lil guy had no problem keeping up with his school work while we were visiting family in virginia! Of course we had a quaint lil one bedroom house all to ourselves so we were free from distractions during school time! It was great! 

HoMeSkOol'n Away From Home

By not taking our "school in a bag" on the road with us, I had to plan rather carefully...gotta get the 180!  I felt it best to not waste a moment while we're at home! So I've decided to keep school "in session" for all the national holidays such as Labor Day, Veteran's Day, MLK, and President's Day. Instead we will have school on those days and dedicate our learning to learning about important people/places/events that have to do with these special days!

We also, opted to skip the two days off for Mardi Gras that the public school kids will be taking. Living in Louisiana, there is definitely a history lesson to be learned, but as a Christian home-schooling family...we will not "celebrate" this holiday. We've opted to skip "fair day" too. I am sure we will make an evening of viewing all the 4H displays, the animals, and maybe take in the rodeo, but that's about it.

So with all that said...
Looks like we've got our 180 Days!!!! ...and we are only starting a day ahead of the public schools! We'll end the same day they end! We would have ended sooner, but we got plenty of breaks planned as you can see....


Aug 9                   First Day of School
Aug 21st-29th      Fall Fun Break  (Snorkeling in Calica)
Nov 20th-28th     Thanksgiving Break
Dec 8th-14th       Winter Fun Break (Shopping for Christmas Presents in Cozumel)
Dec 25th-Jan 2    Christmas Break
Mar 12th-20th      Spring Break (Fun in the Sun in Belize & Isla Roatan)
April 16th-24th    Easter Break
May 27th             Last Day of School

iLuv Cruising!
CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES

Just one of the reasons iLuv Homeschooling!!!

Oh the places you can go! Pack a backpack for each kid and the possibilities are endless! Our most memorable learning place last year was Mexico! We took a Carnival Cruise and had a blast! The kids were able to do various things on the cruise ship with their respective groups, but the best was seeing the sites in Mexico. We went to both Progresso & Cozumel! The beaches were of course great, but the best part was the Mayan Ruins in Progresso! We had to fork out a little cash for the tour, but the experience was priceless!

Ok. I tried to post more pics...

and I do have some pretty awesome ones, but it was taking forever! 

Feel free to just CLICK HERE! to view the pics!

BOMBarded by School Work!

We received our homeschool materials Tuesday evening right at the end of dinner. My mom is out of town, so I had invited my dad to come have a good home-cooked meal with us. The boys and the men were still raking in the food, but definitely slowing down! They probably would have been done at this point had they stopped talking about everything under the sun! The UPS man came rolling up the drive just as I was excusing myself from the table. I grinned from ear to ear & looked at my kiddos letting out a loud “wahoo”! I then joked that since the materials were here, we could just go ahead and start school! ha ha!
My little guy didn’t like that idea very much, I suppose! umm…go figure! lol! As my daughter and I trotted excitedly outside to get the materials from the UPS man, the wheels were just a turning in that little mind! He got a grumbly look on his face, rolled his eyes, let out a long, exaggerated groan, and then that grumbly face switched to a mischievous grin! In a fit of giggles, he told his daddy and paw paw that he wished he had a stick of dynamite! Everyone was laughing pretty good when I came back in the door! My hubby informed me our ds wanted a stick of dynamite! Sadly, I didn’t quite get it! I couldn’t imagine why a 6 year old would need a stick of dynamite and why in the world that would be so funny! My husband went on… “Well, I’m thinking it is to blow up those boxes ya got there!” rofl! Way 2 much Looney Tunes episodes with “TNT”, ya think?

About This Blog

iLive! iLuv! iTeach! blog are the ramblings of me…a homeschooling mom! I am proud to say that I am a Christian woman who believes in rearing her children up the Biblical way, Proverbs 22:6! I have an awesome husband who supports our homeschooling endeavor though times aren’t always easy on one income! We’ve been married for over 16 years and we’ve had our ups and downs, but God always lights a way! Our most precious treasures are our children: our eldest son – age 14, our daughter – age 10, & our youngest son – age 6!

My husband and I don’t have many close friends, as the majority of our time is devoted to our family! We love spending time with the children and each other! Children grow up so fast, and we don’t want to miss a minute of their lives! God blessed us greatly when he brought the two of us together and then entrusted us with three beautiful children! My hopes will be that they will grow up to glorify HIM in all aspects of their life even if we haven’t been the greatest example to them! We believe in admitting our mistakes, learning from them, and pointing them out to our children so they may learn from them also! After all… we’re not perfect, but Praise GOD we’re forgiven!