Unsolicited Homeschool Advice

I will be honest with you; while so many other people are struggling to find the new "normal," not much has changed around our house. We are still homeschooling, plugging along as best we can. 

With so many folks involuntarily homeschooling these days, I wanted to share some unsolicited homeschool advice. 

Here it goes.

Homeschooling doesn't need to look like it does at school. Sometimes homeschooling is assigned bookwork.

Okay, so perhaps something more than math was going on at this table. . . 

And sometimes the learning just happens without the teacher. Recognize those moments for what they are-- organic learning. Here are a few examples of what that looks like at our house.

I did assign a book for my older two boys to read-- Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. But I didn't ask them to do anything with that. Last Wednesday, one son found something in Burke that resonated with him, and he surprised me with a little note on our whiteboard. This led to an impromptu discussion. It was unplanned, but it was learning.

We have a sad little piano in our basement. It is somewhat broken and a little out of tune. We don't have a piano teacher or lessons. I don't know how to play. But lately my students have been plunking away at favorite tunes. A few have taught themselves to read music the last few weeks by reading a piano instruction book. All by themselves and because they want to.

Sure, I teach music and music appreciation, but this was something I hadn't planned. (I promise you, I did NOT plan to hear so many thousands of renditions of "Ode to Joy" each day for the last 2 or 3 weeks.) And it has been very good for the children.

The big deal this week at our house is bees. We got a call on Monday morning from the post office; they wanted us to come pick up those boxes of bees that were waiting for us. Imagine that!

So we picked them up, and with no prior experience, my eldest installed the bees in the two hives he built by himself (maybe with some help from his younger brother) with materials he bought with his own money. 

Why bees? I don't know exactly why, but he became fascinated with them from reading. So he read more and more and more. It wasn't an assignment; it was his own interest.

So this week our entire family has learned about bees from the hands-on experience. We've learned about how to install bees in a hive. And we've learned something about disappointment.

Hello, dead queen bee.

I'm not saying that while your children are home they need to pick up an expensive hobby like beekeeping or that they need to learn to play a musical instrument. But you should allow your children to explore their interests-- on their own. Learning happens all by itself sometimes, and overwhelmed parents who are trying to work and teach school from home can take comfort in that.

While learning happens on its own, don't completely ignore your children. If you notice an interest, try to give your child time and resources like books or craft materials or free rein in the kitchen to follow that inclination. And don't be disappointed if the interest only lasts one day. Learning happened. Really, it did. 

And if your child is more interested in laying out all those educational books Grandma bought him on the floor so the army soldiers can have a better surface for combat, so be it. Yes, independent play like that can be learning, too. 

So don't stress too much. Do what you can*, and then allow your children a little independence. Learning will happen without you. I promise. 

This picture is from almost 9 years ago when I was very pregnant and had 2 preschoolers. While the boys were outside for recess, I was inside having a meltdown because I hadn't planned a fun activity for the boys to make a model of the solar system.  The next thing I knew, the boys were running inside and dragging me out to show me their creation-- a sidewalk chalk model of the solar system. And they explained to me all about it using big vocabulary words and everything. The best part was that it was completely their own idea.

*Please make sure your children read or are read to (by you or by audiobooks or by Grandpa on the phone) while they are not in school. It can be assigned by school or it can be a newspaper or an old fairy tale. Keep them exposed to words!

Five on Friday

1. Bees!  Okay, so not yet. But soon. Soon we will have bees. My eldest son has been obsessed with interested in honeybees for a couple of years. He saved up money, bought supplies, and ordered bees. He also set up a webpage for the whole endeavor. I'm a bit of a partner with him in this, but we've changed roles because he is the boss while I am the underling.

Son-created website

So, if you're interested in following along on our latest adventure, check out Sideling View Apiary's webpage. He will be updating the blog there to document our adventure in treatment-free beekeeping. I'll also put a link in my sidebar.

2. Instagram. I signed up to Instagram today so I can follow my friends. But. I haven't figured out how to post things yet. Someday. (I think a big problem is that I don't have a cell phone.)

3.  Dress. I made a dress for my daughter for Easter. I learned a lot. Unfortunately, I had to learn a lot the hard way. For example, store-bought patterns can have multiple mistakes (I'm talking to you New Look #6427). But my sweetie was absolutely thrilled with the results.

Hand-dyed scarf was made at homeschool group.

I spent a lot of time on this, so I haven't made much headway on the Great Clothes Heap Challenge. However, I like to think I learned skills that will come in handy when I try to repurpose that huge pile of unwanted stuff and make it useful again.

4. Soap. Remember how pioneer-y I was feeling a few week ago?  Well, the soap didn't come out perfectly. In fact, when we flopped it out of our primary mold, it wasn't ready and cracked and generally looked ugly. But it'll be okay. Today we cut it into bars. We put all the ugly ones and pieces into a container; these bits and pieces will become "hand-milled" soap later because my daughter wants to make "flavored" soap. (By "flavored," she means "scented.")

Ugly soap

5. Spring. It's still a bit chilly out sometimes, but spring is here. It's fun watching spring creep up Sideling Hill.

I'm looking forward to getting more things planted outside. One of them is this beauty a friend gave to me.

I have just the spot for this on the east side of the house.

That's all for now. How's your week been?

Easter Present

Alleluia! 

He is risen!

Because I didn't get a new picture of Jesus this year. . . 

Have a wonderful Easter!

Easter Past

My dad told me that it was national siblings day today (or yesterday), and folks on Facebook were posting pictures of themselves with their siblings. Since I don't do Facebook (except for my Etsy shop), I thought I'd post a picture here because I love my sisters. It's a bonus that my mother was in the picture, too.

Ta-da!

That's me, right there in front wearing the crocheted purple skirt and vest. My sisters are the ladylike-looking ones on either side. 

I'm fairly certain I was all dolled-up because it was Easter. I was blessed then to have two wonderful big sisters, and I am no less blessed now!

Life is Still Full

Do you worry? My mother did. If people could be paid for worrying, my mother would’ve been filthy rich. 

Since the pandemic situation interrupted our normal routines, I’ve found myself thinking of Mom and, to be honest, feeling somewhat relieved that she didn’t have to deal with it all. For starters, she had severe COPD. For years we avoided visits with her if anyone had so much as a sniffle. This coronavirus would have killed her, no doubt. Plus worrying about social distancing and toilet paper and money problems and the health of all her grandkids— well, all that worrying would’ve done her in just as quickly as old COVID-19.

You know, even if you’re not normally a worrier, the current situation is enough to make you feel unwell. We’re all of us a little topsy-turvy. Even homeschoolers like me who are used to being home with the kids have had to change routines. My children are bemoaning a lack of new library books while I am missing gathering together with my church family each Sunday. My husband, a pastor, has been scrambling to figure out the best way to shepherd his congregation. 

Yes, these times are more difficult for most of us, and worry comes too easily. We have been told that worry cannot add a single hour to our lives, and I know it is true. Otherwise, my anxious mother would still be alive. But she is not.

But we are alive, and that, my friends, is important. If you open your front door tomorrow morning, the birds will tell you all about it, if you’ll listen. So will those spring peepers (if you’re more of an evening person). Listen to them.

Turn off the television, the smart phone, the radio, and the computer, and listen right now. What do you hear? Do you hear your children laughing or maybe whining or perhaps jumping on your bed despite the fact they’ve been warned three times already? Life.

Or maybe you hear your husband turning the pages of his newspaper or making your morning coffee? Life.

Maybe you hear the cat sitting on the ledge outside your kitchen window meowing for some food? Life.

Even the faucet dripping, the toilet flushing, and the dishes clinking in the dishwasher are all sounds that accompany life.

Right now we have an opportunity to be still and listen. We have enough time in a way we’ve never had it before. There are no meetings, no school, no sports practices or games. 

In a time when we feel helpless to help, try listening. Listen on the phone to your friend tell the same story for the third time. Listen to your child or grandchild read from a book or recite the times tables. Listen to your spouse sing in the shower or chop up vegetables for supper. Listen to your dog snore on the rug in the evening.

Be still and soak up all the wonderful sounds of life until you are full, so full of the joy of it all that there’s no room left for useless worry.

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Speaking of joy and life and an end to all need for worry— Easter is approaching, and Easter means eggs. At our last church potluck, I had the supreme joy of tasting smoked deviled eggs for the first time. If you have a smoker and like deviled eggs, you simply must make these for your Easter dinner. No arguments; make these!

That being said, I haven’t made them myself, so I don’t have a tried-and-true recipe to share with you. However, my friend who made those lovely eggs told me how she did it (she doesn’t use a recipe), and that is what I can share with you. My directions assume you know how to hard-boil and make deviled eggs.*

Smoked Deviled Eggs

First, hard-boil eggs. Next, peel the hard-boiled eggs. Then smoke the peeled eggs in your smoker on the lowest setting for half an hour to an hour. They will be a light shade of brown.

After eggs are smoked, follow your normal recipe for deviled eggs. I don’t follow an exact recipe for the egg yolk mixture, but I do add mayonnaise, mustard, and a little of something sour like vinegar or pickle relish. My friend adds some horseradish. And don’t forget to sprinkle paprika on top; my family says it’s not really deviled eggs without the paprika on top!

*If you’ve never made hard-boiled eggs or deviled eggs, you should be able to find a basic recipe in most cookbooks or online. Or you can send me an email, and I’ll walk you through it.

**This column was printed in the April 1, 2020, issue of the Hancock News.