Homeschool IS different...

     It is exhausting defending the right and preference for homeschooling sometimes.  In one of my many opportunities to "explain" it, I think I finally hit on the right combination of words.  To sum it up in one word, I would choose the word "different".  Home school is different than public school.  Home school is different than private school.  Home school is different than parochial school. 
     Now, to only speak for myself from this point on, I would say...we are not trying to recreate any school method at home.  We don't have to, we don't want to, we don't need to.  Those methods are in place because one teacher has a room full of same-age kids, doing the same thing at the same time.  I took "methods" classes in college, that is where you learn classroom management, discipline and behavior modification techniques, mostly. Teaching certain material to certain kids with different learning styles is talked about, but reality dictates that you would have to figure that out as you go, based on real kids and real curriculum.  Any logical person can surmise that one teacher is not going to be able to teach the same material in the same way to  all kids and have a 100% success rate.  They have to vary their methods, or develop a method that will  efficiently encompass MOST students.  Herein lies the frustration for classroom teachers...they are expected to reach all students sufficiently in each subject area during the allotted class time...with no child left behind.  In order not to leave anyone behind, they may teach geared toward the slowest learner, thus slowing down the whole class.  There are procedures followed in a public school because of school rules, government statutes, and requirements that fluctuate depending on who is the principal, superintendent, governor, etc.   God Bless those teachers...it is challenging, I'm sure.
          That addresses merely Academic issues.  Then there is everything else.  How do you want your kids to dress: modestly. How do you want them to act: with character and integrity.  How do you want them to speak:  respectfully.  How do you want them to treat other people:  with kindness.  A public school is definitely a showcase for the gamut of ill-behavior...fighting, cursing, promiscuity, immodest dress.  I can honestly report great statistics for attendance and good behavior in our home school.  Before I go on a tangent here, I don't want to get into comparing. 
     Naturally there is going to be overlap among school methods and home school methods.  We do have curriculum, we do have goals, there are assignments and field trips.  Our pace, however, is not dictated by an outside entity, it is dictated by individual need.  I sometimes get caught up in the comparison game..."so and so" is in Kindergarten and she can read...your daughter is in first grade and she can't.  AAAAARRRRGGGHHH! That pierces my pride, because I know if I had sent my daughter to school, under the same circumstances day in and day out as "so and so", she would be able to read by now, too.
 So what. 
I have enjoyed her company at home, and her creativity has been stretched and utilized and provided many learning opportunities in the realm of problem solving.  Her many scenario's often include constructing a store, making paper money, labeling her toys for sale, writing invitations to the grand opening (spelled phonetically, not correctly, but that's OK), or she is the librarian and gathers a collection of books.  She likes to play outdoors with her siblings, imagination in full steam there, as well.  Freedom is priceless.
   To reword my point here...no one else need worry that my kids are "behind" their public/private/parochial school peers...we are not on that track.  We are not in that race.  We are doing something different here, it is organic in nature, it is unfolding on its own...you cannot predict it, judge it, evaluate it.  We have goals here, they are both spiritual and practical, and I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but I deserve the right to home school, just as much as others deserve the right to choose public or other schools for their kids.  This is America, people have fought and died for freedoms such as these...Indiana is a very "home school-friendly" state, and that is not lost on me.   I am grateful for this opportunity to educate my own children as I see fit, and I intend to revel in this particular freedom.

The Unbirthday Party...or...The Anti-Party Birthday

   Ok...first...necessity is the mother of invention.  Second, I will have to admit that No. 2 son's birthday just came out of nowhere and suprised me this year.  Over the years, I have become less and less of a planner and more and more a fan of the "fly by the seat of your pants" methodology.  Luckily, I function generally well under pressure.
      So, Monday, I realize that Carson's actual birthday is Tuesday. No weekend party planned, no sleepover, no cake ordered nor the materials to bake one...as a matter of fact, he has an orthodontist appointment scheduled that day.  If that doesn't spell F U N  then I don't know what does.  That's right up there with the year I put new toothbrushes and socks in the Christmas stockings. 
     Anyway...On Tuesday, between errands, I inform Carson that since this is his special day, he gets to pick anything or anyplace he wants for supper, and either bowling or a movie.  I took a courtesy spin thru the parking lot of the cheap theater, not to influence, just to see if there was anything he wanted to see there.  Cha-Ching...Yogi Bear is there!!!  It gets better, for supper, he wants to order Papa John's Pizza and have it delivered at home...$12.42...theater tickets...$15.00 for a family of six (one free baby of course)...Back at home, I happened to have all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies...so I made some and one big one for the birthday boy...he loved it.   I may be done with birthday parties forever! This was too easy.

Self-Pay...

Ha! This does not mean pay yourself a little something.  This is what you tell the Doctor's office when they ask for your insurance card, and you don't carry insurance.  Then they ask for money.  Today was my first prenatal visit.  And this is not my first rodeo...I know that the "Doctor's fee" is seperate from the "Hospital charges" and every little lab test has its own bill.  You have to ASK for the "self-pay" discount, they don't just assume you would want it.(making a dumb face while shrugging my shoulders) So, trying to be pro-active, I want to know how much this is going to cost me.  I have been on the phone all afternoon, calling various numbers that I have, only to be told I need to call a different #, where they then tell me I have to call yet another number because they don't have that information, etc., etc.,  I just want to plan ahead, people.  I don't like to plop down $9,000 all at once!!! It seems like the world is against trying to be responsible.

Moments...

Moments are fleeting...if they are good, we must burn them into our brains!  I think we do this automatically as human beings because I remember really fun things from waaaaayyy back there in my childhood.  I only hope my kids are doing the same.  That being said, I hope I remember that being 36 isn't so bad, when I'm say 56, and being 56 is a walk in the park compared to being 76 and any age you are after that is day after day of potential to have good memories until you are gone from this earth. 
Note to self: Don't screw it up for everyone, Kim!!!

Mean Mommy...

So I have realized that I am mean.  A mean mom, that is.  Under the pressure to discipline my generally well-behaved children, I have been the mean one for years.  Lord knows my husband isn't the heavy.  Unfortunately, I feel like I have no control over the "reprimand gene".  It just comes out.  I have read all about how positive reinforcement works better than punishment, and that makes sense to me, but I can't seem to do it.  How was I raised?  I don't remember.  Wait, yes I do.  I was  probably the least disciplined, however I do remember getting paddled or spanked.  Not too many times, but memorable nonetheless. I can only imagine that my own mother would have been "meaner" to me if she had to be around me as much as I am around my kids...which is 24/7.  What is the answer to my meanness, should I get a job or send the kids to school?  Getting a job would mean the kids go to school by default, and sending them to school and me staying home sounds like heaven...right now.  Unfortunately, I would have to throw my convictions out the window if I did either. I don't wish for my children to be raised or educated by anyone else when I am available to do so. Perhaps there is a middle ground, something I can do to bring serenity into my environment, to add peace to the landscape...Prayer, meditation, DUCT TAPE!(for my own mouth, of course;)

How do you spell phenergen?

I don't know if I spelled that right...This is what the Dr. prescribed when I told her about my heinous nausea.  I had been warned that it would "knock me out".  Armed with this information, I decided to take only half a pill...still knocked me out.  Ok, I'll just take a fourth, which resembles a crumb, still knocked me out and did not take care of my nausea.  So I'm in a quandry...one day, I think I will just take a whole one, say so long cruel world, and see how far that gets me.

Now I remember...

Now I remember why I said I couldn't do this whole pregnancy thing again.  Uggghhh...vomiting, lethargy, the house is getting behind...and by my standards this means almost horrific conditions.  Where is that cleaning fairy, do I have to put a broken feather duster under my pillow?