Re-Thinking School...Again

I feel the need to do this on a regular basis.  I find that our household has regular cycles.  I will be organized and on top of things, the kids are engaged in lessons.  Then things begin to slide.  The cleanliness of our home slides downward, I am less organized, fewer school lessons are happening.  Since we school year-round, I kind of expect this.  Usually through the summer, school lessons become much more relaxed and less planned.  There is less table-time and more outdoor exploration time.  I think this is fairly natural and good.  However, as my children's peers are returning to school and the world (including most homeschoolers) gets into "back-to-school" mode, I can't help but feel like I need to kick our homeschooling into a higher gear.  Often, I question what this should look like for our family and take a short season of prayerful study and consideration.  Thankfully, we have a couple of weeks here with a relaxed schedule that I can afford to do this.

When I first decided to homeschool over 13 years ago when my oldest was ready to start kindergarten, I was led to a book called, Wisdom's Way of Learning by Marilyn Howshall.  It was so odd how this book came into my hands and I firmly believe that it was a gift of God to point me in the right direction as I began this homeschooling journey.  This book prevented me from having the school-at-home mentality.  Being, myself, a product of the public school system, that was all I really knew about education.  This book, however, was written by a mom who was much further on her homeschooling journey and had really questioned education and sought God for answers.  From this I learned that education should not be all about the curriculum and scope and sequence charts.  It is about our children's hearts, pointing them toward God and helping them to find God's purpose for their lives.  Homeschooling then is more about training our child's character, teaching them how to learn, and seeking God's voice.  This is very challenging, but does lift the burden of making sure we cover everything.  If we have taught our children how to learn anything, when they need it, they will learn it quickly.

I lost this book over the years and after a couple of moves.  I may have lent it out, but I just don't remember.  This year I discovered that I could buy it in a revised e-book form from Marilyn's website.  So, re-reading this book now, as my oldest begins her senior year, I feel like I am coming around full-circle.  Over the years I have struggled with implementing this.  Part of me finds it easier to just use a scope and sequence like a checklist and go through the motions of school using canned curriculum while part of me rebels against it.  REALLY rebels against it.  I can't tell you how many curriculums we have begun to use, but *I* just couldn't get through them.  It feels so wrong to me.  I think it is because God has shown me real life learning and I can't go back.  But because of this I have often felt like a failure as a homeschooling mom.  I have my feet planted in both camps and therefore I do not feel successful with either.

I am still mulling this around in my mind.  I feel like God is really trying to open my eyes to a big truth here.  As this becomes more concrete in my own head, I will be able to share it better.  But suffice to say, I will be stepping back away from most curriculum and textbooks and using real-life, blank notebooks, and my library card this year.  And prayer.  I will be using LOTS of prayer.

As the school bus drives past...

As the rest of the world around me readies to send their children back to school, I can't help but feel so thankful that I don't have to.  I would be lying if I didn't admit that a small part of me craves to gain the hours of quiet time in my day, but ultimately they are not worth the price.  I know in my heart that homeschooling is what is right for our family right now.  It is what God has led us to and it works for us.  I know that for others, God has led them to other avenues for schooling.  But, I do have to say that I am ever so grateful that our place is here, at home.

So, as I hear the school bus rumble by, I will be thankful that my kids are still in their pajamas and preparing for their day calmly without rushing and I didn't have to get up early to pack lunches.  I will enjoy spending the days with my children doing devotions around the breakfast table and reading lessons cuddled on the couch.  Of course, it is not all such sweetness.  It is hard work and there are days where no one seems to want to do what they should be, but I will take those times in trade for the good ones.  The days when I get to see my children's eyes light up with understanding, when they work together as a team, when things just work.  I am feeling so blessed for this opportunity to teach my children!

School's NOT Out for Summer (Schooling Year-Round)

As the traditional school year comes to a close and our year-round homeschool does not, I begin to question myself and reevaluate whether we are on the right course. Even all of my homeschool friends are counting the days until they are done for the year. As much as I would like to take a vacation from my teaching responsibilities, I feel like learning is a lifelong thing and we should never actually take a break from it. I find it hard to believe that my homeschooling friends truly take a break from learning either I think what they are really doing is taking a break from the schoolWORK. You know, the textbooks and curriculum and grading papers and making assignments. I can't blame anyone for that!

I really struggle with traditional schoolwork aspect of education. Part of me would love to see my children happily sitting at their little desks working away at above grade level curriculum each day. But the reality is that that is not always very fun. It can be so boring for the kids and therefore, they are not learning very much. It is also a lot of work planning and grading all those lessons not mention the pain in making the children get the work done when they would rather be doing other things. I remember how boring I thought much of my schoolwork was. What I don't remember is much of what I “learned” in that process. I feel like I am learning so much more with my kids now.

Part of me is very rebellious toward traditional education methods. I feel like so much of it is busy-work that doesn't engage real learning. I personally love to learn new things. Something will spark my interest and I learn about it. You would not believe all of the things that I dabble in. I am reading non-fiction books all of the time just to learn about stuff. Do I do this because it was assigned to me? Of course not! I do it because I want to. I do it because there is a reason to learn it because it will be a help in my life. As I think about it, this is the gift of education that I want to pass along to my kids. I want them to passionately want to know about and do things and have the skills to be able to learn them.

I am coming to realize that I could be classified as and “unschooler.” According to Wikipedia:

“Unschooling is a range of educational philosophies and practices centered on allowing children to learn through their natural life experiences, including child directed play, game play,household responsibilities, work experience, and social interaction, rather than through a more traditional school curriculum. Unschooling encourages exploration of activities led by the children themselves, facilitated by the adults. Unschooling differs from conventional schooling principally in the thesis that standard curricula and conventional grading methods, as well as other features of traditional schooling, are counterproductive to the goal of maximizing the education of each child.”

Yep, that sounds a lot like me. I definitely am not a radical unschooler because things are not completely child led. When I see a need for my children to learn something in particular, I force my own agenda. The older children do use a math curriculum and we use various curriculums for different subjects during different seasons. I require reading, copywork, dictation, and some memorization. When the kids have an interest or questions about something we look up an answer. Google can be our best friend. If more interest is sparked, we utilize our local library to research more. Sometimes we get all school-ish with a subject doing more paperwork, but more often we just talk about it so I know that they understand it.

One thing I find is a big requirement for this type of education is a lot of one-on-one quiet time with God. Before each of my children were born, He knew their complete life-path. He knows exactly what they need to be equipped for the work He has for them.  So, that's what I am doing praying and thinking and listening.

Outside Activities

It has been a busy week.  You can probably tell because I have been pretty quiet here.  Even homeschoolers are affected by Fall back-to-school time because that's when many of our outside activities start back up.  I sometimes struggle with outside activities.  There is a big part of me that is just a homebody and loves having long days at home.  Because of this, I have always been pretty selective about what we choose to do away from home.  I have always made an effort to choose outside activities that benefit as many family members as possible.  With six children, if each chose an activity that just they were involved in, I would soon be carting everyone everywhere all the time and we would never be home at all. 

This year we have been blessed with several opportunities that many in the family can participate in at once.  Our first one is Bible Study Fellowship (BSF).  I began in this program back in 1996 when I had one preschooler and another on the way.  I went to a daytime class that had a preschool program.  BSF is an amazing tool for studying the bible.  I would highly recommend it to anyone.  I went through 7 years of study completing all the studies that they offered at that time.  I stepped away from this to allow me to get involved at other bible studies at my church, but my MIL and SIL were attending an evening BSF class and my MIL took my older two girls to the school-aged program offered.  They loved it and benefited a lot from this.  But several years ago, my MIL felt that it was time to move on to something else.  Last year I felt a nudge to return to BSF.  Although I was craving it for myself, I also knew that my older daughters who had done it before were desiring to study like that again, as well.  So, this is our second year back.  I am fortunate that I am able to take my oldest 4 children with me and we are all studying the book of Isaiah together this year.  What a blessing!  The cost for this program is nothing, although there is an offering plate there if you want to donate something. 

This is also our second year to participate in a homeschool gym class coop. Three of my children are the right ages to take advantage of this (the 8, 6, & 4 year olds).  This meets one afternoon a week and gives them an opportunity to burn some energy, learn some group sports and meet new friends. The requirements are that I need to help teach and the cost is minimal.

We have also joined another homeschool coop this year that meets one afternoon a week.  This is an academic coop with classes offered for all ages from preschool though high school.  We have never participated in anything like this, so it is a new experience.  I think it will be a good for the kids to experience a taste of learning in a more school-like setting.  I love the fact that they all have class at one place at the same time.  Again, I will have some teaching requirements and the cost is minimal. 

We also signed up for a homeschool, Christian drama group.  My older two girls have really been wanting to get involved in something like this.  This, too, is an activity that most of the children (the oldest 4) can participate in.  It also will meet one afternoon a week once it starts up.  I don't have to teach for this one (which is a good thing because I don't think I would be horrible in this area).  There is one cost per family, so with 4 participating, it works out to be very reasonable for us. 

Another thing we do as a family is 4-H.  We are involved in a club that meets monthly and all the kids can take part.  Well, the baby comes with us to the meetings, but doesn't really have much part in things. 4-H has lots of great projects that are a great resource from a homeschooling standpoint.  Cost for this is pretty minimal, too.

Do you see a recurring theme here?  Reasonable time requirements, minimal cost, many in family can benefit from it.  We don't have each child involved in a different sport or activity that would have us running most evenings.  We still have a few other things like youth group and a church dance group that fall into the evenings, but it is not too much.  So, although we have many things we are doing this year, it is my hope that it is very doable because we are doing most of them as a family and the schedule is not too crazy.  Because we already have a good number of activities planned, it is easier to say no to other worthwhile things that come along that maybe only one child may be involved with.

So, that's how we handle outside activities in our family.  How do you all do it?

POIs...Points of Interest

Points of interest discovered that I thought I'd share...

Homeschool/Educational Printables:

Freeology.com
Site full of tins of useful printables and more.  Some things I discovered were list of journal topics to use as writing prompts, and interesting graphic organizers for taking notes.

Amazing Preschool Activities
I found them while on a search for coloring pages for my little preschooler who keeps begging for MORE schoolwork like her older siblings.  There are coloring pages by topic which is nice when you are looking for something specific like Princesses, in our case.  There are other printables on the site, as well.

DonnaYoung.org
No list of printables sites would be complete without including this one.  Donna Young has created TONS of forms, calendars, planner pages, worksheets in most subjects and more.  She has it all on her site available for download.  I think this is such an amazing resource that I have added a link to her on the right side of the blog here. 

The Blessing of Unmet Needs

Wanting...
Lately I have been struggling with having many things that I feel like I need and want and not having the means to get them. The tight budget can be so exhausting at times. If I am honest, I have to admit that I get so tired of worrying about every dime that gets spent and feeling guilty for spending a few dollars to grab a cup of coffee with my hubby or going over my grocery budget. When I see a need, I want to be able to fill that need and the simplest way to do that is to purchase something to meet that need. I can't do that at this point in my life; my budget will not allow it. I cannot even tell you how many times I have questioned God about why He is bringing us through this financial valley. I know in my heart that it is for His good purpose and I cannot deny how much this process of struggle has grown me.

Lately one of my struggles has been in the area of curriculum for homeschooling my children. I basically have nothing in the budget for it right now. If I buy something, I will have to steal money from another area of my budget. Since most of my budget expenses are fixed bills, I don't really have many areas with any play. I doubt that I can convince my hubby to eat beans and rice for a week so that I can buy a couple of books for school. So, I have been seeking God in this. He is the one who has given me this high calling to educate my children and He is also the one in control of our finances (or lack of them). Every day I have been seeking His wisdom in this area. God is so good and gracious. He is teaching me about what is really important and about how we learn. He has reminded me of what He taught me many many years ago when I first started on this adventure of homeschooling. I was struggling then, too, with how to teach my child. She was having some difficulties and not picking up on things, reading in particular, very well. I tried several curriculums and techniques, beat my head against the wall, and cried out to God. His answer to me was to back off on trying to make her read. So for nearly two years, I rarely forced her to read anything. I read aloud to her, she listened to scads of audio books and learning continued in other areas. Oh, I encouraged reading, but I just didn't push it. This process forced me to constantly seek God and think a lot about my goals in homeschooling. I came to the conclusion that even if my children grew up illiterate, but they loved the Lord with all their heart, soul and mind, I would have to say that I had succeeded. God can accomplish anything with a yielded heart, even one with zero academic knowledge.

Now, just to clarify, my goals are not to have my children grow up illiterate, [wink] but having this idea in mind, puts things in perspective. It is important to remember what is the most important. It is so easy with homeschooling to get wrapped up in the curriculum and worrying about the body of knowledge that you are trying to cram into their little minds. But, because I can't just run out and purchase a curriculum, I am forced to stop and really think through what is important in the education of my children. Because I have to be more creative and thoughtful in finding resources to teach them, I am seeking God for His wisdom. If I had plenty of money right now, I would have picked out curriculum and we would be going along our merry way working on them. I would have looked at a some government educational standards list and said we need this subject and that, forced my children to do those subjects and checked it off my list. Yay, job done. But what if that is merely the education that society says they should have and not even remotely close to what the Lord deems important for their specific lives?

So, as painful as it is, I have to say that I am thankful for our financial strife. It has forced me to look at what is really important and see that God has a better way for us. This applies to all of our areas of life, not just homeschooling. These unmet needs and wants have driven me to my knees to seek God's Wisdom – what a blessing that is!

Just one of the (many) reasons why we homeschool...

Am I doing enough?

Am I doing enough? I am I teaching my children all that they need? Am I missing something? I think this is the mantra of many homeschooling moms. I know these are questions that I continually wrestle with. These are things that I struggle with often - things that drive me to my knees in prayer. Lately, my knees are feeling battered and bruised again as I grapple with these thoughts. After 11 years of homeschooling, you would think that I have this all figured out. At least *I* thought I would by now. But circumstances change, the kids change and mature, and what works for one does NOT necessarily work for the others. So, I am constantly reevaluating what we are doing; keeping what works, and trying something new for what doesn't.

Last night I was woken by an icky dream and was unable to get back to sleep. As I lay awake, my mind went to the recent news story about two local homeschooling moms who were charged with educational neglect and could even face jail time because the authorities said they didn't adequately teach their children or keep proper records. Shivers go down my spine when I hear this and once again, those questions haunt me. Am I doing enough? Am I teaching the right things? Are my children lacking something?

So, I sit here and question what we are doing and our approach to education. I am not a big fan of boxed curriculum. I went to public school and spent plenty of years in textbooks and felt that my education was lacking. Most of what I studied did not stick with me. Because of this attitude, we are rather eclectic with what we do, using real life and real books. I try to spark interest in a subject instead of merely cramming it down my children's throats. When someone has a desire to learn something or a need to know it, they will learn it quickly and well. My ultimate goal is to give my children strong foundations for learning. I want them to learn HOW to learn independently. They should not need someone to spoon feed them information. They need to know how to research it, and learn out of there own motivation and will.

With all that being said, I feel that there still may be weak areas in my children's education. Sometimes I think it may be easier to just buy a boxed curriculum and merely make sure they do it. At least by the world's standards, they would have a complete, well-rounded education. It certainly would make my record keeping easier, especially as the number of students I am teaching increases. However, there is something deep down nagging inside of me that says that there would be SO MUCH more that would be missing out while their heads were buried in boring textbooks. I fear that their love and desire for learning would be squelched.

So I wrestle...
I fall to my knees in prayer...
I ask the All-Knowing One for Wisdom...
I know I will not find the answers or my questions within myself or in this world. So in the quiet, I seek Him, and I listen for answers, for I know that eventually they will come.

How to Learn

Even though schooling and education continues year-round in our household, as the beginning of the new school year approaches for everyone else, I start to re-evaluate where we are and set new goals. I have been looking at and praying about what is important - what are my priorities when it comes to teaching my children. One of the things on my list is to teach my children to be independent learners. What does that mean? Eventually, I want my children to be able to learn anything that they need or want to all by themselves. I want to work my way right out of my job as teacher. Lately, I have been thinking more about what steps are needed to accomplish this. How do you teach someone how to learn?

To discover how I should go about teaching my children to independently learn, I first need to look at how I, myself, go about learning something. For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed being an independent learner. When I want to know something, or how to do something, I just figure it out. I don't feel the need to necessarily take a class or ask to be tutored by someone else.
Here are the steps I generally take:

Search out all resources on the subject. I gather all of the information that I can find on the subject. I search the internet for pertinent articles, raid my local library for books on the subject, look to see if their are any classes in the area teaching this subject, and think about who I know with knowledge about this subject so that I can either pick their brain or have them direct me to more resources that they find of value.

Evaluate resources. This is the weeding out process. After, I have all the information and resources I can find, I evaluate which ones are worth my time and/or money. I most likely will not read every book on a subject cover to cover, but I will skim them to see which seem most helpful to me. I skim lots of websites, bookmarking those that are of value for future reference. I consider whether a class is worth my time and money. For myself, I have found that often I can get the same info that I would get in a class through good books that I can get from the library for free saving my time and money.

Study resources. Here is where the learning takes place. I take advantage of the best resources and study them, taking notes if necessary to learn the material and internalize it.

Use what has been learned. If you do not use it, you will lose it. You need to put whatever you have just learned to use if you want to truly know it and retain it. Especially if you are trying to learn a skill, you need to practice it. You can read how to bake bread or change the oil in a car, but until you actually DO it, you don't fully know the process. Practice makes perfect! If what you are learning is more informational. then it is important that you somehow communicate and share this information either by teaching it to someone else or writing an article about it. The process of retelling something in your own words is an important part of learning. I forces you to understand it better.

So, these are the steps that I want my children to learn and put into practice. Of course, as their teacher and their mom, I am (hopefully) an important resource for them, as well. I have life skills and knowledge in many areas that they would be learning. For me, I need to remember to restrain myself. I can play teacher and spoon feed them information, but that will be less effective than if they seek it out for themselves. Often, I look at myself as more of a facilitator of my children's learning. I guide and steer them to where they need to be, but then let them work things out and learn on their own. If they get stuck, of course I am there to give them help.

You Might Be a Homeschooler...

Where to begin...

I know I been awful quiet lately. I have had a whirlwind of things flooding my time and my thoughts. When my mind is this cluttered, I have trouble sitting down and organizing my thoughts enough to write a simple blog post.







I have really been thinking hard about the direction of our homeschooling. After ten years of experience under our belts with this, you would think I'd have this under control and be handling it like a pro. No matter how long you do this, it is still work. It takes thought and effort and creativity. What works like a charm for one child doesn't for the next. Where the kids are in life and their development is constantly changing and being able to adapt to that is important if you want them to have a love for learning.



Although we homeschool year-round, we tend to get into a simplified maintenance mode in the summer. Then when fall comes around and everyone around us is gearing up for going back to school, I feel the need to examine where we are and kick it up a notch. This year, though, I feel a lack of direction and a bit overwhelmed. Part of that is the fact that, my oldest is officially 9th grade - a freshman in high school. Technically, I only have 4 more years to prepare her to face life on her own. The clock is ticking. I also need to come up with a better system for record keeping, because right now I am terrible at it. I don't know for sure where God will lead her, but if it is college, she needs a good transcript. My little scribbles in my calendar planner are not going to cut it!


So, I have been doing a bit of studying of my own. I have been praying, and reading several books by godly homeschooling women. I feel like God is nudging me in a slightly different direction, but I am having trouble seeing it. I am considering various topics of study and curriculum options, but although they all seem good, none of them feels quite right to me. I think that is the Holy Spirit telling me that He has a better plan for us. He has just not fully revealed what it is yet. I guess I need to go through a period of spiritual growth before I am going to get it. That is one thing about homeschooling, you think you are doing it just to teach your children and it ends up that you are doing just as much learning and growing through the process!

If you are interested, here are a few of the books I have been reading and getting a lot out of:

Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+la by Barb Shelton

The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach: Bible Based Homeschooling

Managers of Their Homes: A Practical Guide to Daily Scheduling for Christian Homeschool Families by Steve and Teri Maxwell

And I plan to read
Homeschooling the High Schooler by Diana McAlister

and, of course, the Holy BIBLE - the best instruction manual.


In other news...
I'm still pregnant - in my 19th week. I am still having a bit of nausea which is unusual for me and I am still lacking a lot of energy. This means that I am having trouble keeping up on housework and laundry along with everything else I need to do. Hubby is anxiously awaiting that "nesting" thing to kick in so he can have a clean and organized house. Sadly, it's kicked in for me mentally, but certainly not physically. So, I am seeing all the things I want to accomplish, and have no oomph to get it done.

Because of my past history of gestational diabetes, and the fact that I had periodically checked my blood sugar early on and discovered it was a bit high, I took the glucose test that you normally would get at about 26 weeks early. It came out too high so my doctor is having me watch my diet and regularly check my sugars. It looks like I am going to have to start on a low dose of insulin like I did with my last pregnancy. I'm bummed, but that worked out great before, so I am hoping that it will work out as well this time. too.

So, that's my life lately. I'm falling behind on a lot of stuff including laundry, scrapbooking and even taking photos of my kids. Thankfully, my oldest daughter has been in photography and has been making up for me.






You can see more on her blog, Everything.

The Sky this Month

This is so cool. The Classical Astronomy website has put together this great video showing what we can see this month in the night sky. It is so wonderful to observe the majesty of God's creation this way.
Check it out!

Makes you think...

I saw this video on Christine Smith's blog this morning and it is one that really makes you think. How then should we be educating our children to prepare them for the world of the future?



This one was interesting too, even though some of the info is duplicated.



I can't help but wonder how God will use this age of information. Think about the opportunities for sharing the LOVE of Christ to the world.

Christmas Hangover

No, I haven't been drinking, but I do feel like I have a hangover of sorts. After the months of planning and preparation for Christmas, I can finally take a breath and relax. Of course, all those tasks that I have been putting off until after Christmas are now looming over my head. I really don't even know where to start. [sigh] That's just life, though. There is always so much to do. I don't think it would matter how much time I had, I would still never run out of work. I do have to say that this was my most organized Christmas ever. I owe that to early planning. I did that this year with the help of this little Christmas planner. What a difference it makes starting in October! The planner has a week by week schedule to follow and really helps you to get a lot done. It also helps that we were more minimal with the Christmas gifts this year. Our kids got their traditional gifts of PJs, socks, and underwear and then we got a big family gift.

And about that...all I can say is that Wii are having fun!

My kids (especially the older ones) have been drooling over the Wii for quite some time. We were not going to buy such an extravagant gift, but when I started thinking about how much we would end up spending on individual gifts for 5 kids, I figured we would have that kind of outlay of money anyway.

If you want to see something hilarious, watch a 4 year old and a 6 year old in a Wii boxing match. They put so much into it. Abi was giving Patrick some kung fu air kicks even though we kept telling her to just use her arms. Patrick felt it nescessary to make the punching sound effects. I suppose that is just because he is a boy and LOVES to make those kinds of sounds. I wonder if he is ever in a situation where he really needs to fight if he will add the sounds, too. "Take that...ppshhhh....pshhhhh..." Hee hee! Both kids were running in place so fast that I thought they were going to wear down the floor. They have a boxing technique all their own!

Santa also brought the kids some used PS2 games for their stockings, so they are kind of in video game overload. I figured I would let them go crazy this week because we are on holiday, but then we are gonna have to enforce some serious limits.

Off the subject of Christmas...
Here's a funny little video parody about homeschool families. I got a kick out of it.

Speaking of homeschooling, I got creative this morning and put together a cute Reading Record sheet. My oldest already keeps her own reading list, but I am going to start having my 10 year old keep her own, too, and I thought she would do better using a form. Of course, I will still have to keep track of what the little ones do. Keeping good school records is a weak area for me. I thought perhaps I would be more excited about it if I had something cute to use.

Credits for the reading form can be found here.

I better get away from the computer and go have some fun with the family.
Have a great day!

Signed Scared

So, does this scrapbook page make you scared? Yeah, they are supposed to be signing scared. Part of the sign is making a scared face, but they aren't too convinving. They're having too much fun!

We have been learning sign language in this house. I have been intrigued with sign language since I was a girl. I don't know why, I just thought it was cool. I learned the whole ASL alphabet and tried to get my friends to learn it too so that we could "talk" in this secret code, but it never happened. A year or so ago, I discovered Signing Time videos. They sounded great and had really good reviews, but I couldn't afford to buy them and my local library did not have them. Last Christmas I was struggling to come up with a wish list to pass around for my baby who was just 3 months old (because in our family we always do this for everyone). Then I had the brilliant idea to put down the Signing Time DVDs. Studies show that signing with babies is such a positive thing. Rachel got the first DVD and all the kids and I watched it. Rachel was too young to learn the signs and we were not diligent in signing them to her. But around her 1st birthday I pulled the DVD back out and we all relearned the signs and starting using them with her. Since then she has learned to recognize quite a few and has signed back to us: milk, more, sleep, and cookie. Our library now has the whole series of DVDs and we have been checking them out and learning tons as a family. It has been a fun project.

Anyway...I went into all of this to explain this fun scrapbook page. One of Patrick and Abi's favorite signs is "scared." I am sure this is because they get to make a "scared" face along with the sign. When I had the camera out on Patrick's birthday, they decided to pose silly for me and this is what I got. Details and credits for the page can be found here.

Here is a song from the Signing Time Zoo Train DVD. We got it from the library and my little ones love it.

Oh, and this one has been requested a lot by the younger set in this house.

Lunar Eclipse

Did you see it?
I set my alarm for 4:30am so that I could witness the lunar eclipse this morning. My two oldest girls sat out on the front porch with me in the dark and watched the earth's shadow pass in front of the moon and make it disappear. Very cool! Poor homeschooled kids - their lessons start even in the wee hours of the morning!

From this photo you can see that I really have no idea how to shoot something like this and I was dreaming about a big ol' telephoto lens for my 20d. Oh well...someday.

We were fortunate enough to see the moon completely eclipsed before the sun rose and the moon dropped over the horizon.

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