Great Finds for Moms and Teachers (Homeschoolers, that includes you too!)...

I decided this week that my secret to successful homeschooling is going to be teaching through thematics. With two boys aged 3 and 6 and my daughter who is 8, I found I was bouncing around between the three of them going in all different directions and at the same time trying to juggle their different developmental abilities and interests. It was totally exhausting and while we were getting a little bit done here and there, I can't really say we were having much fun!

After I had my light bulb moment of Thematic Teaching, I sat down last night and made a huge list of every possible subject my children might be interested in (I'm all about lists lately as I am sure you have noticed in my last two posts :Þ) and made sure at the same time I would be able to incorporate just about any subject matter into each theme as well.

I thought the easiest and most interesting way to get started was looking around more at our community and and all the wonderful people who make it such a great place to live. Thus, we are starting next week with "Community Helpers". I am sooooo excited and I am hoping it will grab Matthew and Noah's attention when I focus on Police, Fire and EMS, and anything related to big trucks that dump sand, plow roads and go fast with lights and sirens, while also meeting Maria's need to help out and be and active part of her neighbourhood at large. The great thing is, is that it is a huge topic with so many great directions to go in and so many fantastic resources available out there.

After doing an extensive search last night I found two wonderful websites that are excellent when it comes to teaching specifically with a thematics approach.

The first one is Teach-nology.com This is an exceptional teaching resource with *thousands* of free worksheets, lesson plans, teaching tips and more, in addition to a great section on teaching with themes. There is an option to get a membership, but from the poking around I've done in the last day or so it seems like there is plenty for free!

The second wonderful site that will support our thematic approach to learning is EnchantedLearning.com. Here I simply typed "firetrucks" into their search box and came up with everything I need to teach Math, Spelling, Phonics, Art, Science and more that revolves around...you guessed it, firetrucks! Matthew and Noah will be thrilled! I'll probably have to tweak it a bit for Maria but either way it is a great start with hundreds of ideas to use and work off of. There is also a membership option and while there is a lot for free there, there isn't as much as say Teach-nology in the free section. I did get a membership though and it has been well worth the $25 already!

Last but not least in my quest to make my homeschooling life easier (aka Noah entertained for longer than 5 minutes!!) I found I found a brilliant Etsy shop called Time for Tots that specializes in and I quote:

"... creating dynamic, durable, and hands-on activity kits for young learners. Each game and activity includes colorful manipulatives, counters, and fun learning tools that will provide rich learning opportunities for each and every tot."

Look at these adorable little kits!

Early Toddler Learning Kit by Time for Tots on Etsy

Word Games Kit by Time for Tots on Etsy

Those are just two examples of the unique and distinctive learning kits they offer (in addition to offering customizable kits to meet your specific needs), so definitely check them out to see everything they have to offer! I noticed on their Facebook Page that they have some great deals for the month of March, so be sure to head there too!



I just stumbled across their site yesterday so I have not yet had the chance to order from them (I will be this weekend for sure!) but they come highly recommended by fellow Mothering.com members and have a perfect Etsy feedback score.

If you are looking for other great learning resources on the web, be sure to go back and check out our post from January 28, 2011!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Spring is almost here, woohooo! :D

With love and light ♥,
 

How Unplugging Our Children Brightens Our Life...

The other day I wrote that I have a secret when it comes to helping to be a good facilitator in your child's learning process and creative endeavours.

I know there are people out there who were reading the post with a raised eyebrow and thinking,

"I buy books but my children don't seem interested."

"I buy crafty stuff to fill the craft box and they rarely use it."

"I suggest nature walks and no one wants to go."

"All my kids want to do is watch TV/play video games/sit on the computer..."

So, what do you do when you have a child who doesn't seem to be interested in anything or doesn't seem to want to discover, explore, learn and create?

You unplug them, that is what you do.

What do I mean by "unplug" them, you ask? I mean shut off the TV, the video games, the computer, whatever it is that they are plugged into the most, shut.it.off.

How would I know this? Well because my kids the last few months have been so wired, so "plugged in" and up until I "unplugged" them, they had no interest in anything that wasn't happening on a screen. I'm not kidding. Getting them to read a book was absolutely torturous to them.

Now, before anyone sits out there on their 'cable free soapbox' while they ride their bike to generate electricity to power their internet connection - because I know you are out there!! ;o) you need to know the back story before you judge (and I only say that because, *cough* I used to be one of those annoying people who knew everything there was to know about having children. Then I actually had them. *cough*).

I feel I was totally justified and I feel zero guilt for letting my kids watch as much TV and playing as many games as they wanted. In September and October we were in the process of moving 3 hours away to an entirely different city while my husband started a new job. Just after we moved and were starting to feel settled in, my brother, who was also one of my best friends, died suddently and unexpectedly in November and well, life for us has been a bit of a roller coaster to say the least. I'm not perfect nor do I pretend to be. ;o)

(On a side note, before I go on: If you are at all in one of those places of a huge life change, dealing with an illness, grief, bereavement, pregnant and can barely move etc etc etc don't feel guilty if you are doing what you have to do to get through the day at this time. Skip this post and come back to it when you are ready to emerge back to the world. I will confess that when I was pregnant with Noah and I was so freakin' nauseous and tired that I could honestly tell you what time it was by what show was on Treehouse TV. This time with moving and my brother's death I would rotate between the TV, the Wii and the computer for my kids. It was what we needed to do at the time to get through. So long as it is a temporary situation, everything will be fine I'm sure.♥) 

Okay, back to what I was saying. I have had moments in my life when we've been unplugged and moments, like I mentioned most recently, when we were so plugged into technology our eyes looked like they were going to bug out of our heads.

It's funny though, ironically enough, during our 'plugged in' times I was setting the kids up in front of the TV or whatever because I needed the quiet. They were quiet for the time being, however afterwards, OMG they were c.r.a.z.y!! Have you noticed that even though you put on a movie for the 'quiet time' your child(ren) is/are often crazier than they were before you started the show? Mine definitely were and it really isn't worth the trade off for me.

This is what I have found since we've unplugged our kids:

1. They are calmer. I know, I know there are also some of you sitting out there thinking, "DUH Laila!". :Þ But, even 30 minutes, which can be fine for a lot of kids is too much for mine.

2. They are happier. Way, way happier and more fun to be around. They think they are happier when they can watch their shows, play their games and have their screen time at their leisure, but they aren't. At all. They are anxious, wigged out and so often overstimulated that they don't know what they feel which causes them to argue more and fight with each other and everyone else around them. And again, it doesn't always come from huge amounts of screen time. 30 minutes is often enough to send my 6 year old son to the brink of overstimulated craziness.

3. They reconnect with the world around them when they don't have access to a 'screen' of some sort. They explore, imagine, create and while yes they 'jones out' a bit the first few days without the TV or video games, by day 3 they are completely mellowed, more engaged and come back to their natural child like curiosity. It's wonderful!

4. They read more! A lot more. They will pick up a book and start reading for fun or want me to to read to them. Yay! :D

So if you are out there grumbling to yourself about how your children don't do anything but watch TV or play video games, be the parent. Unplug them.

If you have children with behaviour issues, unplug them. Trust me.

Oh yes, while we are on the word "trust", trust me as well that they will also be a little freaked for the first few days, but they will get used to it. They will, but it might take some time.

However, don't just think you can magically unplug and they will happily run off and read a book. You will most likely have to take the time to sit with them, play with them, read to them. In other words engage them, show them again what is around them that is also interesting, especially if they are coming out of the habit that we have created the last couple of months and that is basically they are forgetting how to easily entertain themselves, because they are used to being entertained by something or someone without putting in any sort of effort on their own.

If they are used to screen time and you are used to them being in front of a screen this change will take a bit of patience on everyone's part. It is so worth it though when you see them run off to create Lego masterpieces on their own in a few days! That however is also a great benefit to becoming generally unplugged, your connection with your child can and will only grow stronger. Just don't give in.  It's so easy to give in when everyone is getting used to the change and just begging for "...one show!" or "...only one game, I promise I'll stop after one game!" Don't do it!

(Hint: To really succeed at this, you need to anticipate those moments and be prepared in advance on how you are going to help them navigate this change, this is vital.)

We are starting on a 21 day challenge in our house for our kids. My husband and I don't watch much TV (other than the hockey games which my husband PVR's). Starting Monday, Janurary 3, we have told the kids there are no videos unless they are directly educational or homeschooling related and limited computer games, again, only for educational purposes (i.e BrainPopJr.com where they are truly having to listen and learn, or if they are researching a project they are working on). Zero Wii or Xbox for 21 days. I don't know who had a harder time wrapping their head around that last one, my husband or my boys. ;o)

So, we haven't totally unplugged I guess, because being homeschoolers we do have a true and educational need for the computer and a video here and there. But I explained to the kids that after 2 months of big and often stressful life changes, we all created a few bad habits in our family and we need to create new ones, and that it takes generally 3 weeks to create new habits that are better for us.

We all need new habits around here and that is how we are starting our New Year. With less electronic stimulation, more family time and more team work/respect around the house. Oh ya that is another perk, I find when my kids are "unplugged" they are WAY more helpful around the house. They clean their rooms up without as much of a grumble (they still do grumble a bit, but it is short lived), they help in the kitchen and they get along and play better with each other. I'm assuming it is because being asked to clean up after themselves is honestly, probably way too overwhelming to their brains when they've been playing video games or watching TV all day.

Their "energy" really does seem to brighten and come more alive when they aren't bogged down with all the electronic stimulation. So I encourage you to give it a try in your house as well. Take baby steps if you have to like we did last year and just go for a week to start. To see the difference I find though, you really do need to go at least 3-4 days. I promise you'll be pleasantly surprised! :D

As a mom of 3 kids ages 3, 6 and 8 I can honestly say life is so much easier without all the gadgets, games and TV.  I'll be sure to post in my "Tree House" how things are going. This week will be an adventure I'm sure! :D

Anyone want to join me on this 21 day challenge? Post your comments below or find us on Facebook and let us know how it is going! :D

Happy New Year Everyone!

With love and light ♥,

Wordy Wednesday on a Thursday...

It's been that kind of week, where I am a day behind everything! How is your week going? How was your Hanukkah/Solstice/Christmas/Kwanzzaa this year?

I've been sitting here in front of my laptop since Tuesday feeling all sorts of pressure to come up with something witty and inspiring for our last Wordy Wednesday of the year. It's Wordy Wednesday and I am at a loss for words.

Ironic really, isn't it?

I can't say that this post will necessarily be inspiring or witty but I'll open up and share with you one of my struggles this past fall if you are willing to listen, and I'll also share with you the one special word I am reminding myself of on daily basis. :o)

One of the things I have grappled with the last few months is our homeschooling journey. Since September our life has been a gong show and 'school' has been put on the back burner. It's not to say that learning isn't happening (because as far as I am concerned humans, especially children, are learning and growing all the time) but for this first year we have aligned with a few subjects so we are responsible to have something to show to our school board by next week. Think workbooks and the like.

We made it through Christmas, the first Chrismtas without my brother and my mom and I feel that I have turned a corner in my grieving process, which is good (that corner sooooo needed to be turned but I also was aware enough that I couldn't force it, I just had to go with it...). We are settled into our new house and I finally am getting a grip on my 'new normal' and coming out of that fog that can have one so entrenched after major life changes such as we have been through.

All of a sudden the fogginess lifted this week from my aura and psyche and I 'woke up' to look around at my life and saw that my house is chaos, my kids are chaos, which means that me and my hubby feel like we are in chaos and I especially feel like I am running to catch a fast moving train so I can get all caught up on everthing in my life, as of like, yesterday. I'm an Aries, when I decide things need to be done, I decide they need to be done, as of like...well... yesterday. :Þ

The one thing I need to get a grip on is how I am helping my children learn. I don't want to use the word 'teach' because I don't want to teach them per se, I want to help them grow and learn. I want to be a facilitator in their learning process. As a mother I am naturally a teacher yes and that comes with the job description of parenthood.

However, I realize that I never 'taught' my children to walk. I walk, my husband walks, all the people around them that are bigger and older etc walk, so naturally they learn to walk. No one has to teach them. They just learn. On their own. When they show interest yes we help them, but no one is sitting their child down and introducing official lessons on how to walk. The same goes for talking. We don't teach our children to talk, we help them with sounds and words as that part of them is developing, but the learning is their own process and of their own volition.

It is an inate natural human desire that is rooted deep within us to learn. To grow. To explore. To create. To discover.

This week when I saw the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel and then actually got through that foggy tunnel that grief can envelope you in, I remembered one of my homeschooling mantra's that I told myself as I started this journey:

Trust your children.

And I mean really truly trust them when it comes to what and especially how they learn.

Trust that they want to explore. Trust that they want to grow. Trust that they want to create. Trust that they want to discover.

And just as importantly:

Trust that you can trust yourself to trust your children and help them grow in any direction they want to go in.

The key word is TRUST.

It seems so simple really, but it is so much easier said than done.

There is a secret I have found to helping them do that, but for now I am going to let you all chew on that for a bit. I'll post my little secret to the trusting process this weekend for our Friday Finds, which following the trend for the past few days will be a day or so late, because well it's just been that kind of a week. :D We'll get back to our regular schedule next week. ;o)

Have a wonderful New Year's Eve!

With love and light, ♥

Winterize Your Home and Get Smart! This Weeks Friday's Finds....

 

Photo by Evgeni Dinev

Ahh, Fall feels like it is finally officially here, in these parts anyway! Isn't this photo lovely? I conjures up all sorts of warm fuzzies doesn't it? :D

With Mother Earth in her full Autumnal glory it's time to start scurrying around and preparing for Winter! For those of us who face months of cold temperatures and weekly snow falls, making sure our houses are at their peak efficiency, energy wise, isn't just an environmentally friendly thing to do, it will also ease the load on your wallet before those utility bills start showing up in the mail box.

Now, I'm not one for re-inventing the wheel when it isn't necessary and I like to give credit where credit is due, so for our fabulous readers I found this perfect list on The Daily Green that has almost 20 simple ways to get your home ready for the upcoming winter season!

Remember, simple solutions for a significant impact! Being eco friendly doesn't mean having to blow your budget, you can be an Eco Diva and save money too! :D

Click here to learn '19 Easy Home Winterization Projects' Courtesy of The Daily Green.com

Be sure to come back and let us know what you have done to prep for winter!

I have also been shopping this week (which always makes my hubby a little nervous :Þ)... I have found some amazing math tools to help our kids with what can seem to be an overwhelming subject (when it doesn't have to be because really it all boils down to just patterns, but I am a bit of a math geek so maybe I am wrong here!).

We are in our first year of homeschooling and with that comes a lot of trial and error on what tools/curricula works, what my children's learning styles are and how to take that knowledge and mesh it together in the best way possible for them.

Maria really seems to be taking the time to find her niche with math and what she has fallen in love with is a set of some amazing Montessori numbers and counters to help her visualize it better. (I have to thank my friend T for pointing me in this direction! Thanks T!) Now I know the Montessori parents out there are nodding their heads because they know all this already, but this was a huge light bulb moment for me (and subsequently is taking our homeschooling journey down the Montessori path the more I learn about it and see how much my kids love it).

It's tangible, they can touch it, feel it, move it around and make sense of it in a way that works for them. Matthew actually picks these up and plays with them for fun and without even realizing it starts making little math lessons for himself just through play. I love it! :D

So what is it I am talking about?

{drum roll please.......}

Golden Bead Material!

Ha, I know you are probably thinking "Ummm, what the heck are Golden Bead Materials and how on earth to they relate to math?" :D

They are wonderful beads, blocks and nice big wooden numbers from 1-9000 that the kids can touch and play with and really see how the numbers work and add up. I bought this whole set because I have 3 kids and I know that if I had only one set of them it would end up in a huge fight (and then there goes the math lesson!), but you don't have to buy this exact set that I've pictured. Maria loves math now because of these great little Montessori items and that alone was worth the cost!

Click here to go to Montessori Equipment and see for yourself all the awesome things they have to make education more fun for the kids! I ordered from MontessoriEquipment.ca on a Sunday night and my order was at my door by 8am Wednesday morning. That is my kind of online shopping! :D

(Note for our American friends there is MontessoriEquipment.com and for our Canadian friends there is MontessoriEquipment.ca not that it matters really but it makes the exchange rate and shipping part easier especially with the upcoming busy postal season.)

And that my friends is this weeks 'Friday's Finds'! Now you'll all be sitting smart in your energy efficient homes! ;o)

Have a wonderful weekend!

With love and light,


 

The lesson of the day is...

Photo Credit



We are officially starting homeschooling next week as a family. Matthew has theoretically been homeschooled since January in a very child led, unschooling sort of way after I decided kindergarten just wasn't working for him, but next week Maria starts with us and I am so excited! There is all this manic energy around town right now as everyone frantically wraps up their holidays and dashes around to get school supplies. The kids and I? We're just chillin' and planning for our vacation in September!

Matty had a really hard time in Kindergarten last year. And in hindsight, I think his teacher had a really hard time figuring out the best way to help him learn.

What never came across the school's mind though I'm sure, is maybe this child just doesn't fit in to school...maybe what we know and believe to be true (that school is the only avenue for academic learning and academic growth) is *not* true after all? Maybe some kids just do better learning at home in a more flexible environment.

After all we don't expect adults to do the exact same thing as an occupation. Imagine if you took a mechanic and forced that person to sit in an office all day, in say a HR position, dealing with paperwork and people problems for 40+ hours a week. Can you imagine how cranky that person would probably be after awhile? Or say force an elementary teacher to be a neurosurgeon. If they would just "apply themselves" and "focus better", I'm sure they could do it. ;o)

The whole concept of this cookie cutter style of education is bizarre to me. Some kids do great in school and there are amazing teachers out there who add so much value to a child's learning, I know a few personally myself. At the same time though, there are a lot of little "mechanics" out there who climb the walls at the notion of being stuck in one place all day long, 5 days a week and not able to move and learn as they need to. My son was one of them. I am one of them and I could strongly relate to how he was feeling last year.

So on January 11, 2010 I pulled Matty out of school and it was truly the best parenting decision I have made in a long, long time. In the meantime, I felt totally drained by the experience and the fact that the school administration didn't quite see things my way. It took me a few months to process the whole ordeal and come to terms with it since it wasn't an amicable separation on the part of the school and I.

The 6 year old little girl in me who was always raised to do as you are told and listen to authority still had to process that feeling that the "Teacher, the Principal and Vice Principal" weren't happy with me and *GASP* maybe they were even mad at me! It's funny really, that even as a confidant 35 year old woman, wife and mother to 3 that just those labels on those 3 people (Teacher, Principal and Vice Principal) could make me feel, even for a fleeting moment, inferior and make me doubt for a second how well I knew my child and what was best for him. But it was very short lived, then the typical headstrong Aries side of me came out and on we went merrily on our way... ;o)

That rollercoaster experience with Matthew and school certainly taught me a few things:

A ) Listen to your instincts/intuition!

If I had done that, I wouldn't have had to drag Matty through the wringer all fall last year because the school thought there was something wrong with him. There is nothing wrong with him, other than, well, he doesn't fit the neat and tidy mold of what is expected in public school. I only had to go through Behaviour Support Specialists, Social Workers, the Pediatrician and a Child Psychiatrist before I was told what I already knew. I KNEW in September it wasn't going to work. I couldn't say how I knew, I just *knew* ya know?

When the child psychiatrist told me after seeing Matthew and evaluating him and going over every little facet of his personality, that Matthew was fine and that his issues at school were due to stress, something in me as a mother just kinda...umm...snapped. Especially when it seems they were trying to flag him for Autism when he clearly, is not Autistic. Not even close. Quirky, stubborn and a little high strung yes, but not Autistic. Because of all this nonsense, it took a long time for me to convince Matthew there wasn't anything wrong with him. He thought he was broken and kept asking if he needed "fixing". Ugh.

B ) If you are a non conformist and you try to conform, especially to a mainstream traditional model of education in a smallish community, chances are it isn't going to work so well. And chances are too, you'll end up looking like a bit of a kook when you finally come unglued and stop conforming, but that is okay.

I have always wanted to homeschool. When we lived in Calgary I had planned on it, but when we moved to a smaller community in 2007 it intimidated me really. I was used to having soooooooooo many different resources and ideas at my fingertips to do with my kids (the Science Centre, Zoo, etc etc) that this town doesn't have. But, I realize now that I can do very well without having large edu-tainment facilities like that, and really, they are only a few hours away so we'll be there a lot in the spring, summer, fall I'm sure anyway.

I don't vaccinate, I had a planned unassisted homebirth, we happily co-sleep and my youngest is 3 years old and still nurses. A lot. I don't ever do what is expected, I do what I feel is best for each individual child combined with the needs of the family. Why would the way I choose to educate my children be any different?