Life 101 - Bootcamp Style

After tripping over a toy for the umpteenth time and finding the toothpaste uncapped again, I decided it was high time to do something.  Obviously, in our attempts to educate our spark plugs in Bible, math, language arts, and other subjects, one area of training was sorely lacking:  home management. 

Look out, spark plugs! 

Welcome to Life 101, also known as Mama's Bootcamp for Life. 

Between school work, park days, grocery shopping, piano teaching, and all the other little parts of life, the house work was sorely neglected.  I'm doing my utmost to beat back the Laundry Monster and limit my Dirty Dishes Display, but what I really wanted was to hit the pause button on life and get regrouped and reorganized.  The problem was, though, that I couldn't figure out how accomplish this without taking an entire week off of school to do so.

For a while, I toyed with the idea of doing exactly that:  one week, free of school work, for me to purge stuff and clean up all while hoping the spark plugs wouldn't come behind me and undo everything.  But that would send us a week later into the summer, and I wasn't convinced that the give and take would be worth it.

And then I had an epiphany.  Was home management something I wanted to teach my children?  Yes.  (Come to think of it, there was even an entire major at my college dedicated to this very area, called Home Economics.  Imagine that.)  Is it an important life skill?  Absolutely.  Would their future spouses thank me in the years ahead?  No doubt about it.    The answers to those questions settled the matter, and so I began formulating a new plan.

For an entire week in March, we will be cleaning, decluttering, learning to properly care for belongings, and creating permanent homes for what we don't donate, sell, or toss.  The spark plugs and I will be learning how to do this together, so that hopefully they'll learn some skills along the way (and stay occupied so that they're not undoing all the progress).  To keep it both fun and educational, however, I set some goals.  I'll share them below, more as an accountability method for me than for any other reason.  Lord willing, we will:

-begin each day with Bible, as we normally do
-research verses about good stewardship
-tackle one room each day, together
-eliminate at least 100 things from each room.  The 100 items can consist of trash to be tossed; unwanted toys do donate; borrowed things to be returned to their rightful owners; and even gadgets to sell.  I don't care how "The 100" exit the front door as long as they permanently leave our dwelling.  (We can work on math with counting and grouping all of this stuff, too!)
-learn to work as a team and conquer some of our argumentative, selfish behaviors
-have fun and enjoy the sense of accomplishment

This may end up a total disaster, but I think it's worth the attempt.  I won't know for sure that we'll meet all of the above goals, but unless we make a stab at it, we won't accomplish anything at all. 

I'll post later about the exact dates we hope to try this.  In the mean time, I'm going to go lace up my drill sergeant boots!

How Does A Homeschooler Change A Light Bulb?

 (Photo Credit)

This was too cute to pass up.

Q: How does a home schooler change a light bulb?

A: First, mom checks out three books at the library on electricity, then the kids make models of light bulbs, read a biography of Thomas Edison and do a skit based on his life. 

Next, everyone studies the history of lighting methods, wrapping up with dipping their own candles. 

Then, everyone takes a trip to the store where they compare types of light bulbs as well as prices and figure out how much change they'll get if they buy two bulbs for $1.99 and pay with a five-dollar bill. 

On the way home, a discussion develops over the history of money and also Abraham Lincoln, as his picture is on the five-dollar bill. 

Finally, after building a homemade ladder out of branches dragged from the woods, the light bulb is installed. 

And there is light.

Photo Fun!

My friend K is rarely without camera in hand, and as a result, she's captured living science in up-close detail.  Recently, she printed out a few selections of her artwork onto post-card-sized photo paper and addressed them to each of my spark plugs. 

On the back, she wrote out interesting, fun facts about each of her selections, something that fascinated my spark plugs' inner scientist. 

For a while, we put the pictures on our refrigerator, but then we decided to turn them into a science page for our notebook journals. 

The boys each taped their own cards onto paper, making sure that every picture could be flipped up to read the information on the back.  Then they wrote out the names of each insect, plant, or animal next to the photos.

Last of all, we slid the completed pages into plastic sleeves to protect the project.  The boys can pull out the pages whenever they want to re-read the information on the back.  This was a fun project and a great addition to our journals!

For more of K's photography, enjoy some of here selections here.  I especially love some of the titles she gives to her work!

Simple Science: Laundry Detergent!

This year, we're trying lots of hands-on things.  Since making my own laundry detergent is something I routinely do, I decided to get the kids involved for some simple science.  We had lots of fun with this practical and frugal experiment. 

First, we pulled out our detergent-making supplies:  our 5-gallon bucket (which is actually a kitty litter container that we got from Freecycle); Borax; Super Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda); and the hard-to-find Fels-Naptha (ironically, when I went to make this last week, the Fels-Naptha was the only ingredient I had on hand).

The spark plugs each took a turn trying to grate the soap.  It's hard work!

In fact, it was so hard to grate that I ended up shaving and crumbling it with a knife.  Now, why hadn't I ever thought to do this before?  I also think it would have worked to whir it through my mini-prep Cuisinart blender, but I cracked the top to it and it no longer works. 

Next, we melted the Fels-Naptha in boiling water and then added the Borax and Washing Soda.  This might not look appetizing, but it smells like sweet soap, and I really like the scent.

After thinning and cooling the boiling mixture with water, we poured the contents into our 5-gallon tub and filled the rest of it with more water.  The spark plugs loved this part!

Last of all, they each tried stirring the liquid, which gels in about 24 hours.  Mama has fresh detergent, the house smells good, and the spark plugs had fun, all for little cost out of pocket.  That's my kind of learning!

Special Post: Rules for Maintaining Sanity

As much as I enjoy writing, I find reading - especially other blogs - to be equally as wonderful.  When my friend Danielle posted her "Rules for Maintaining Sanity" on her blog, I was so encouraged that she gave me permission to repost it.  You can find more of her posts about her "great big family of little peoples" at The Joyful Noise Schoolhouse.  I hope you all will be as blessed as I was!

From Danielle:

Really, this list would be for anyone with kids, no matter what their ages, or where they accomplish their schoolwork. 

Laugh

A lot. 

Especially when you'd rather cry.  When both schoolaged kids need the very same red crayon (no, I cannot use the other identicle red crayon, I need that one!), the preschooler yanks the box away from everyone and in the process dumps it on the floor, and the baby starts screaming "Yaaayyy!!!" simply to add to the mayhem--laugh!  "You guys are so goofy!!  You were trying so hard to get your way that you all made a huge mess!  Go pick it up."

Not that anything like that has ever happened here!

Be Thankful.

Always. 

It's tough, sometimes.  Especially on the days where nothing seems to be going right.  Some days there's just too much noise to handle.  The thought of how nice and quiet it will be someday, when all these joyful noisemakers are on their own can seem rather dreamy.  Until I think of the ones who never lived long enough to make noise.  I'm thankful the noise!

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Really.  Don't.  It isn't worth it! 

I'm a school nerd.  I love looking at all the new curricula on the market.  I love talking about school with other moms (especially the ones who've been at this for a hundred years and know everything there is to know...You know--the "perfect" moms!).  It took me a few years to find the combination of schooling sources that works for our family.  But we have it, now.  Looking at glossy magazines and switching textbooks every semester isn't going to do anyone any favors.  Every curriculum has its strenghts and weaknesses.  The grass isn't necessarily more nutritious from that pasture over there, simply because it looks a little darker or a little taller, or...

But if it is broken...

Fix it.

Sometimes a great idea just doesn't pan out.  This happened to us last year.  I was looking for the perfect science course.  You know--the one that has all pros and no cons.  Right.  Well, I found it. Except it didn't quite work.  I love Answers in Genesis' God's Design. It is my dream to use this.  Someday.  But with two non-schooling kids running around, and only one proficient reader, I needed a much simpler approach.  (We ended up with Christian Light's God's Light in Science, by the way.)

Pray.

Without ceasing. 

Spend time on your face before the Lord, begging for the souls of your children.  And their hearts.  In fact, you may not get their souls, if you don't first have their hearts.  Be sensative to their state. 

Spend time pouring your heart out to the Lord for your husband.  Nothing else will strenthen that relationship as much.  Your relationship to him is of utmost importance to the stability of your children--they're watching.

And, of course, as the day unfolds, be in a constant state of prayer for sanity!  When the kids make you angry (not they ever would, of course, but should such a situation ever arise...) breath a prayer for the right reaction and words.  Two seconds could make the difference between harsh words and tears or a gentle reprimand in love.

Stay in the Word of God.

Every day.  Somehow, somewhere, make time to meditate on the Word of God.  Let its pure waters cleanse your mind and heart.  Those precepts will come out in your parenting, and they will see His reflection in you.

Yeah.  That's my desire.  I've got a loooong way to go.  Just ask my kids.  And my husband. 

Look back.

Every now and then.  Don't dwell there.  But let the Lord show you how far He's brought you.  It's good to  know He doesn't give up on us!

Love.

As He loves.

Everyone from strangers to those in your own home.  It'll change the way you think.

It's a good life, really.  After all, it's the one we were given by the Lord.

So smile and rejoice!

Monterey Bay Aquarium Field Trip

We've long loved visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium and are very privileged to live so close to it.  When a friend notified me that the aquarium was offering free admission for home schoolers, we eagerly signed up!  We carpooled with two other families.  The kids did great on the drive, entertaining themselves with creative stories and silly songs.

Years ago, the aquarium had been a huge cannery, so our first stop once inside was to see how the canning operations worked.  My boys, of course, were all about touching the fake sardines.

Next, we watched a video on creatures of the deep, which the kids had never seen.  It's funny, but as many times as we've been to the aquarium, we usually look at the tanks and skip the touch pools, movies, and hands-on activities.  The video was very informative, though, and the docent did an excellent job of showing some very amazing clips of a vampire squid, an underwater worm, a Dumbo octopus (pictured above), and several other amazing creatures.  (Photo Credit)

 

After the video, we went to the kids' discovery area, something else new for us.  This room is often closed when we're there, but today the staff had set it up to specifically accommodate home schoolers by adding extra exhibits for us to see.  T's favorite, of course, were the shark jaws.  He's definitely inherited his daddy's love of fierce fish!

Our next exhibit was the long-awaited 1.2 million-gallon Outer Bay tank.  This is by far my favorite display, and on our past two visits, it was closed for maintenance.  This was also K's favorite tank, mostly because there were two hammerhead sharks swimming around.  He finds their flat profiles hilarious and easy to recognize.  My friend A caught this photo of L watching the mackerel schooling.

And here is my favorite fish:  the sun fish!  This slow, ugly giant can grow to 10 feet or more, although the particular specimen shown is probably 4-5 feet in length.  Again, photo credit goes to A.  I think she took this one just for me! 

We then walked over to the kelp beds where several of the kids posed for a photo.  This 3-story-tall tank has a mechanism at the top that produces waves very similar to the lunar pull on the ocean.  It's great fun to see the leafy kelp swaying up and down with the man-made current.  T recognized the resident Leopard Sharks, much to his delight.

In the Splash Zone designed for younger visitors, we saw several fun, brightly colored tanks full of butterfly fish, sponges, tangs, clams, anemones, and tomato clownfish.  Everyone enjoyed the vibrant, tropical colors.

Another adventure of the day was the octopus.  While this guy is normally squashed up in a corner looking very uninspiring, on this particular visit he was in a great mood.  He willingly showed off for us, torpedoing through the water like a bullet and then spreading his tentacles out on the glass much like an umbrella.  (Photo Credit)

We weren't able to see every area on this trip - we skipped the ray tank, the salmon river, and the sea horse exhibit - but spending the day with friends and viewing new displays of God's amazing marine creation made for a great afternoon.

According to Plan

I love planning, preparing, scheduling, and ordering my day.  Having an idea of what I'd like to accomplish greatly aids me in getting through my day.  Imagine my dismay when, last week, I came accross James 4:15 in the kids' daily devotional:  "If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."  Later on that same day, my Bible reading assignment took me to the same passage where James admonishes us to follow the Lord's plans, not ours.

"Okay, Lord," I wondered, "what do you have in store for us tomorrow?"  I sincerely hoped that He wasn't planning on one of the kids waking up sick or needing to go to Urgent Care for something!

Since I'd read the same passage twice in one day and since I was pretty sure that the authors of the devotional hadn't conspired with my daily Bible reading coordinators, I tried to be prepared for whatever was coming down the pike.

I was looking forward to the next day's school assignments - it was supposed to be a catch-up day since we'd not completed a few things in the previous weeks and I felt that some of our missed assignments needed to be finished.  After breakfast the following morning, though, I realized that I'd left our binder of curriculum in the car and that Jon had the car at work.

Oops.

This normally would have completely derailed my day's productivity, but since I had just read about following the Lord's will and not necessarily my own, I was able to switch gears.  We pulled out our core curriculum that wasn't in the car and had a good day of Bible, math, reading, and spelling.

I then got the brilliant idea to have the kids help me make laundry soap.  Not only were we on the dregs of the last batch I had made, but it would be very sciency and would make up for my leaving the science activities in the car.  I ran to the laundry room (grateful once again to have such a room in my house!) to get the needed ingredients.

And then I discovered that I only had the Fels Naptha and not the Borax or Washing Soda,  Really?  I thought.  How on earth do I have the one ingredient that is most difficult to obtain and not have the simple ingredients?

Once again, I was reminded of the verse.  Suddenly I got the brilliant idea to walk to the store to get the Borax and the Washing Soda.  We'd walked there many times, and we could all use the exercise.

Of course, though, I'd left the stroller in the car along with the school work, and carrying home heavy boxes of laundry fillers while dragging along a tired toddler didn't appeal.

All that to say, my day definitely did NOT go as planned, but the Lord had prepared my heart earlier so that none of these little setbacks irritated me much at all.  This in itself was a miracle since I like to be on top of things.

We ended up cleaning house and calling it a day.  I don't know why the Lord planned our day the way He did, but the lesson I learned was very needed.  We can always make soap another day (look for a laundry soap post soon!); we got some good work done on our core subjects; and I got a clean house, too.  There's not much to complain about when I think of all the blessings!  (Photo Credit)