7. Snuggled into a bed with them all at naptime.
6. In the front seat of the car with a story tape playing and them buckled into carseats listening, pulled over at a rest stop with doors locked.
5. Reading aloud living history/historical fiction books from our homeschool curriculum.
4. On a quilt in the backyard while they played in the sandbox.
3. In the kids' bed while they cleaned their room.
2. On the couch while they watched PBS.
And....
1. On a blanket on the floor on top of blocks and cars while they climbed on top of me.
It's not Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, it's just having young children. Thankfully it's a self-limiting condition.
This post was for MamaDweeb, who couldn't post today because she needed a nap.
2011 Wrap-Up
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| Where I do my work. |
Not that I think I can compete with those bloggers, here is a compilation of my top-read posts of each month:
February Bedtime Works for Me Oh, that was nearly a year ago and I'm happy to say my girls still want carried to bed and tucked in.
March Seven Kids Mornings In this day of reality TV, apparently posts that detail how you spend each moment are still popular.
April Grocery Budgeting the food co-op thing never did work out like I had hoped...
May Let's Talk Teens, Sex, and the Gospel I promised to revisit the popular post of January- and this post was read even more. Just behind it, not quite tied but with more feedback, was Modesty, My Opinion
June Top 7 Listening Devices While you make your New Years' Resolutions, consider things in your life that keep you from really listening to your kids.
July I must have been feeling the hot August topics early- my two highest-viewed had nearly no comments. So why read and not comment? Afraid? Was I too outspoken? Those posts were Religious Inspired Modesty and Spank or Spank Not, But Don't use Euphemisms.
August started hot right off, the first post got over 100 hits: How do you Keep from Going Crazy? But then I saw later on, over 150 hits for Keep the House Visitor Ready in 15 minutes a Day! Apparently I never answered the questions about what steam cleaner I use- I haven't been able to find the model still available on the internet... but if I had to replace it, I'd get this one Wagner 915 1,500-Watt On-Demand Power Steamer and Cleaner
September I'm always curious when a post gets twice as many hits as the others, but no one has commented.... Tantrums in the 3 Year Old. Sometimes I get the feeling from young moms that I don't have any clue what I'm talking about- even though my college major was Human Development and Family Studies, I nannied and taught in daycares and churches for hundreds of kids over ten years before doing all that while concurrently raising seven of my own. But young moms just sort of stare through me because I don't parrot what they read in the books they have? Note: I read those books too, and threw them out.
October My idea to post our personal college visit reviews must have been good. I asked others to send in their reviews of their college visits so I could post more-- but no one has. Please? I can't visit all the colleges. The most viewed post this month was William Jewell College, Liberty, MO.
November Seven Beauty Basics I Pass to My Daughters . By the way, I introduced my oldest daughter to Noxema because my grandmother used it and I used it as a teen. She loves it and has the same bright complexion I had as a teen. My grandmother had the softest, smoothest face. And the scent just makes me feel the comfort of being with grandmother.
December Pizzas are Veggies
Should Christians do Santa, or not?
Some Christian groups are quite vocal this year for everyone to "put Christ in Christmas." They are offended by Santa Claus. Years ago I even heard people say that Santa is an anagram for Satan.
There are blogs about removing all Santa from your holiday expressions. Oh, excuse me. I mean Christmas celebration.
What I have found out is that neither choice - Santa or no- is more moral or right than the other.
Refusing to "do" Santa did not make my older children any more holy and pure. While it made us more acceptable to fellow Christians, it did alienate us from some non-Christians. Most non-Christians didn't care, but they certainly were not more drawn to us or our faith.
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| lovingly hand-knit by Grannie |
So what now? Now we visit many different families, of all cultures and churches. We enjoy going to Christmas tree lightings and Santa parties with them. We even go to Hannukah parties. We haven't lost our faith. I tell you, if this "faith" in Jesus requires brainwashing then how is it faith?
Santa will be bringing the kids' gifts this Christmas morning. We even transitioned from "playing a Santa game" in the "tradition of St. Nick" to just flat out telling the baby that Santa was bringing her gift. We have a lot of fun- all the children who never had Santa especially think it's a huge hoot to take the littles to see Santa, help them write letters to Santa, and just plunge into the wonder of it all.
It's not like Christmas is even a particularly Christian holiday anyway- how exactly is it like Jesus to spend the month shopping, decorating with baubles and hoping for stuff? It's an American holiday, and America uses Santa in it.
Lu Ann's Candied Popcorn Balls
You have to try these. They've been a tradition at our house, from my mother-in-law.
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Horrific Winter Hands
This year I have found a neat substitute! I learned (the hard way) some years ago that "expired" sunscreen does not protect you from sunburn. But I hate to throw away sunscreen. The waterproof stuff is just not a "lotion" you want to use if you don't have to... right?
Enter the winter hands. Waterproof sunscreen may not protect us on a day at the beach- but it is a GREAT hand lotion in the winter. Mine is True Blue Spa from Bed, Bath and Beyond. It doesn't feel sticky and nasty, it actually feels kind of silky. But the best part is, it seems to protect my hands longer and better than any other hand lotion I've ever used in the winter.
Plus, it is a great way to use up the summer's sunscreen instead of tossing it in the trash!
Works for me!
Linked up to WFMW at http://wearethatfamily.com/.
Public schools and high-stakes testing
My letter to the editor regarding the state of KCMO Schools:
The MAP test and other similar high stakes tests have done absolutely nothing to help children learn, and instead they tie teacher’s hands. MAP tests and state takeover undermine fundamentals of democracy (Strauss, “The complete list of problems with high-stakes standardized tests,” WashingtonPost.com,11/1/11.)
I wonder if James would fail the tests, like Strauss reports in “When an adult took standardized tests forced on kids” at WashingtonPost.com, 12/5/11.
Homeschoolers know the truth- if you want parents to be accountable to their children’s education you must put the parents- not the Testing Industry or the state- in charge of the education. This means getting RID of the beaurocracy. Get RID of standardized curriculum. Get RID of red tape. Get RID of the tests.
Why do homeschools succeed where public schools fail? They take individuals into mind, not classrooms full of standardized children. Choices are made by people who intimately know the children. Parents pick from myriad curriculum or eschew curriculum and pick and choose individual learning resources.
How can we apply this to our public schools? Let the teachers get to know the students and pick the curriculum that matches their teaching style and the children’s learning styles. Let the parents pick their schools and teachers according to what works best for their individual familes or even individual children. (For instance, I have 7 children who attended 3 different schools + homeschool last year, and this year 2 different schools + homeschool.)
How do we know what children are learning? How do we know it’s “working”? Look at the children. Listen to the children. Just pay attention to the *people* rather than sheets of data. The results will speak for themselves. You know as well as anyone that as soon as the Spelling Bee or Geography Bee winners are announced, people say “Bet they’re homeschooled.” Colleges know~ that’s why the best colleges have admitted homeschoolers for decades and now actively recruit homeschoolers.
But homeschoolers as individuals sometimes lack, due to financial constraints, something public schools have– inspirational mentors and teachers, dedicated labs, dance teams, orchestras, math bowls, chess teams, debate teams, robotics and science clubs. My kids have eventually transitioned into public schools so that they have access to those things that require group participation that I could not afford to access through homeschool channels. In the states of Washington and Colorado, homeschooled students have the options of a hybridized education where the parents can enroll their students in individual academic classes and/or extracurricular activities but still homeschool for all the rest. Those parents have something MO parents should have.
I fully support public school as an ideology- but not the dinosaur of an institution built for an entirely different world. It was public school teachers that so inspired my own son that he is applying to colleges as an education major. I do think that KCMO Schools can learn from homeschooling- Very few homeschoolers submit their children to the high stakes, standardized tests, and even those that are required by law (in other states, not MO) to have their children tested, they do not “teach to the test” or choose curriculum that matches the test questions. My homeschool friends will even throw away the envelopes with the scores, without looking at them.
Test scores have so little to do with learning… that my opinion is that if you are going to allow testing in your school you may as well also put an Xbox in each classroom and publish the high scores kids get on them.
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