Math & Why I Homeschool

We have this book called 50 Mathematical Ideas you Really Need to Know. It's my husbands book and it's a great little bathroom reader almost laid out like a miniature for dummies book... except for this book is not for dummies. It contains everything from probability to topology to fractals to Fermat's last theorem.
In the introduction of this book I was happy to read a true statement of mathematical faith from a homeschool (unschooling) parents eyes; "The time and pressure of school does not help either, For mathematics is a subject where there is no merit in being fast. People need time to allow the ideas to sink in."

I wish I had been granted such leisure in all areas of "math." If so, I may not had grown up with such the distaste I had for math. The drudgery of repetition and memorization killed all practical need I had for math in my life. Forbidding me to use a calculator to help me learn concepts when memorization failed me made me bitter. It also made it hard for me to use calculators as an adult! Computing is no good if you don't understand the concepts!

Real life allows for people, adult people, to explore and express their interests freely. I so wish children had this luxury. Math scared me, haunted me, pressured me. So when I fell behind (in just the forth grade) I fled from it like one would flee a burning building. Throughout my public school career I'd gain some speed, only to be left in the dust over and over again. There were times I didn't even try, but there were also many times I tried so hard I thought I was finally getting somewhere...but, just more dust appeared.

I can appreciate math for what it is now. A richer companion to arithmetic within a complex world of numbers, methods and theories. A mysterious subject I've never scratched the surface of.

Unschooling Math
So, we unschool math. We take it all painfully slow. Or not so painfully I should say. I want every concept, every number, every method to make sense to the kids. My husband backs me on this and since he's really mathematically smart (and the one with two degrees;) I trust his opinion in this unschool venture of our own regarding kids and math. So the other day for some reason (can't remember the context now) I mentioned while talking to the kids that 1/4 was half of a half. I didn't think I was heard so I repeated myself. Sage pipped in, "Yeah mom that's 25%."

Another one of those stunned homeschool/unschool moments. Simple? Yes. Third grade appropriate? I don't know, perhaps. But the stunned part is because we do basic arithmetic still. We do money and time practice. We do some conceptual stuff like multiplication, but in a small scale. All in all the boys do basic stuff. They learn from it. They explore it. It's still fun for them, and most important not drudgery. The point is math is everywhere and they say things like this and pick up "education" like this from everything! And that is why I love "unschooling" so very much.

The First Three Reasons: Why We Started Homeschooling
1. I was told Charlotte (at age 7-8) may need to be tested "LD" in spelling.
Are you kidding me? "Learning Disabled" in spelling? This is idiotic. Like, can't she just grow up and be a self proclaimed "bad speller"? Do they really need to label her so that she has a bona fide excuse that will help to get her to pass classes? Big whoop you're not a great speller, my family is full of them.
Not to mention telling her at age 7 or 8 she's "LD" is setting her up for a lifetime of I'm not good so I'll never be good or a "why try then" attitude.

2. I found out Charlotte was being pulled out of regular class for extra reading help.
The real kicker: She was being pulled out of class when the rest of the class was practicing for spelling tests. This explained how poorly she was doing in spelling! And I'm the one that had to point it out to the teacher! What's even more, I found out she was missing recess time for not finishing work. When was this work supposed to have been done? ...wait for it... while she was at extra reading help! (No Child Left Behind Program sponsored.)

3. Charlotte started coming home crying everyday. She didn't want to do homework and I wondered what in #!%& they did all day long only to have homework at night.
I was done with the nonsense. When taken out of public school she turned back into my happy go lucky bright eyed child again almost overnight. Within 2 years a kid whose teacher said she wasn't reading chapter books yet so that made her behind had read the whole entire 7 book Harry Potter series herself.

much needed update -click to enlarge picrures

I'm not happy when I spend time online when I have so many other things to do. BUT, I'm not happy when I don't spend time on my blog or website because not only do I enjoy it, it also stores bits of my life here and there that will one day only be a glimpse of me and these days past. I want my kids to be able to read my blogs (which I print up and store in notebooks) and see what mine and their lives were like.
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So lots has happened. Pretty fall days and Thanksgiving came and left.

I perfected my homemade organic pizza and learned how to make good home made tortillas finally (Which my kids dubbed better than the ones they had in Mexico --very flattering lol! Not sure they are that good, but okay!)

I also made and perfected homemade apple turnovers.

We switched all our flour and cheese to organic! yay! (buy through a co op)

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Christmas came and left without a trace ... well there are toys and lots of new bills too pay..sigh...

We had a beautiful time with Ricky home for lots of days in a row. And I'm wishing for a replay of all the wonderful family fun time.

Pictured here is our X mas breakfast -all 8 of us are in there. Sebastian was nursing, so you can only see his super white bald-ish head in front of me. Look at us...Mom and dad are having having mimosas :)

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Sebastian is a happy joy of a baby still. BUT teething has struck our household early. He is fussy this month. He is pushing on 5 months old (not until the 23rd) and he is unhappy about the havoc being caused by teeth buds. :( It's making this mama tired and the house fall apart a little bit too.

Oh well such is life. Poor little guy. We use hylands teething tablets, Boiron teething drops, homeopathic Belladonna, and Motrin.

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I am proud to say my husband passed the Series 7 exam! for work. Which is a big deal. (We read online only 30% of people pass it the first time --so it could have gone either way)

He spent a lot of time preparing for it. Actually, he was only home about half the month of December. It sucked. And his studying obviously paid off.

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Enough is enough

The commute to the city for Ricky to work is just enough now. He says he'll do it longer, I say hell no. The money we are spending on rooms overnight, gas, Etc. adds up. I'd rather spend that on a mortgage.

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Well, we finally found the perfect house for us. We made an offer and it's been accepted. Now we deal with costly home inspections, the process of getting our pre approved loan actually approved, and blah blah blah.

The home is lovely. The best we could do given what we want (better would be more land, but this is okay!)

We would be on 1 acre, have a old historic style house that sits right across from a old peaceful cemetery dating back to the 1800's. It has a 20x40 ft in-ground swimming pool surrounded by a fence of grapevines! It also has a small pool storage house, 2 detached garages, good trees ... one old tree particularity worth mentioning as it is huge and perfect for climbing and/or for a tree house.

The home is 4bed 2bath +2 extra small rooms, full basement (unfinished but in good shape to finish), sun room off kitchen, oh and tons of lush creeping ivy outside. I love it. We love it. It looks like home. Let's hope all goes well. Our closing date is actually set for Jan 31. Talk about getting stuff done.

...we will see...

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Penelope is crying at me and this is exactly why I don't blog any more...too much to do, too many kids to sit still ;)

Santa Baby

I'm in so much baby love that I'm dizzy!

Day of the Dead

We had a really fun time decorating skulls for Dia De Los Muertos, The Day of the Dead.

It was a memorable but super easy craft. The skull molds only took me a half hour to make (we made even more than is shown here) then they dry over night. I was shocked at how well they stayed together. All that is in them is sugar, meringue powder, and a tiny bit of water. The trick to good decorating frosting is also meringue powder. I can't wait to apply this new learned trick of the trade to cookies this holiday season! We bought this kit on sale here

Absolutely the biggest surprise ever

Sat Oct 25 was our big Halloween party here. For those that don't know a small portion of my family runs a riverfront camp/cabin/floating resort. Every year we invite our favorite/best customers, have a DJ, costume contest, and dance all night (we love throwing a party). We know everyone we invite but I always do the stranger danger talk to my kids before a party (except in reverse; these people know us --but we don't know some of them very well, Etc.)

The rest of our family; my dad, mom, siblings, Etc. live in Las Vegas. We miss them an awful lot.

So the party starts at 7:30 and we are hanging out and eating. People in costumes are trickling in, there is a REALLY creepy costume that was familiar and super creepy to me but I couldn't place it. I asked Ricky where I knew that creepy thing from. He said that it is "Jigsaw" from the horror movie Saw. I have Penelope on my hip at the time and I notice after a few minutes the Saw guy is waving at Penelope from afar and she is memorized. As he turns away she waves back.


At about 8:30pm Sage is talking to my aunt in the kitchen and he looks upset. I ask him what is wrong and he won't really tell us. I did hear him say something about creepy and he looked like he might cry. Mother's intuition said, "Is it the creepy costume guy?" I just knew it was Saw guy, and I was right. So my aunt gets Sage settled in watching a movie with Layla and Penelope. The kids have a closed off room from the party + the office that is locked and they can play, sleep, or whatever if they don't feel like being at the party.


Apparently when my Aunt got Sage settled in with the girls he yold her this Saw guy was following him and the kids around, so she starts watching this guy --I had no idea she didn't tell me.


At around 9pm Obama and McCain costumes walk in. Funny as heck costumes, this couple pulls it off so well. They can barely make it to the dance hall and I snag the couple and get a picture with them. Ricky and I are going back and forth checking on kids and mingling with people. I suddenly get roped into helping to judge the costume contest. So I'm standing next to the DJ with the other judges and we are trying to make our selections and I say, "Well the Saw guy scared the crap out of Sage so he gets scariest costume as far as I'm concerned." It was agreed. Just as the DJ is getting ready to make the announcements I change spots and suddenly find myself next to Saw guy. I turn to him and say, "I just have to tell you, your costume scared the crap out of my son tonight." The person pulls the mask up very slowly; imagine my utter surprise when it was my dad inside!!!! I did a trple take and screamed so loud I can't believe no one heard me over the DJ's announcements. Then the clown standing next to me lifted up her big glasses and said hi. It was my mom!!! I looked around and finding that no one heard me freak out  I calmed down and started grabbing family members in to watch. Knowing my dad was going to get the award for scariest I was trying to get as many people as I could in my family so they could see him be awarded. I told them, "Come here, stand right here and just wait!!!" Ricky was at the private door the kids were behind keeping an eye on them and I had to practically run crowds of people over trying to get to him.


Scariest costume is announced and my dad goes to the center of the room and unveils himself; to whom the family freaks out and my aunt Sharon cries in shock. (my mom stayed hiding a while longer from everyone!)


As my dad was winning his costume award I notice I'm standing behind Obama and McCain. Something clicked in my head and as I starred at the back of McCain my eyes scanned the back of his head/hairline. I lifted up a small flap in the back of the mask gently. This was my little brother. I just knew it. I grabbed him and turned him around to me and said OMG you're my brother!! He shook his head no and I jumped up pointed and said yes! (Could you imagine how funny it would have been if I was wrong!!) Obama looked at me and I knew that had to be his wife. I don't think I've ever been so shocked in my life than this night!


I let the other family members figure it out on their own and in their own ways so they could have as much fun as I had just had. They waited a while to show others!

We took my dad back to see the kids and Sage was SO CUTE. He said, "I'm so glad that was you Grandpa." :)


So things are really kicking now. We are dancing and having fun. The kids (all of them expect Sebastian -I nursed him and he went back to sleep) are having fun at the party with us. The kids even find some friends to dance and run around with too. Suddenly I notice my aunt looking at a costumed person. I go up to her and she says, "Is it, is it him!?" I go closer to this Joker costume and look... then I say a bad word and jump up in down and hug him. It was my other little brother. The guy sitting next to him in a old man mask gets up and reveals himself too, it's my brothers friend and a very, very good friend of the family who we haven't seen in years.


Best surprise ever. Words can't even express the brilliance or surprise they had just pulled off. This will be a tough one to top. We had NO CLUE, none at all.


My dad said it was indescribable seeing us all like that, you know, without us knowing we were being watched. He said, "I feel like I saw a small window to your world. Like if I wasn't here this is what you'd be doing"


In the picture I took with Obama/McCain my parents are in the background. Awesome since I had no clue and there I was posing with my family.

Overdue update

We have had a wonderful time adjusting with a new baby. We have had a pretty easy time with a some what new homeschool schedule even if we are still working out the kinks. Being a mother of six is wonderful. I don't have time to write anymore. But I'm going to try and make time. (how does one make time? I'll just cook some up in a pot on the stove I guess?!)

We have loved every minute of our new baby in the house. He is nothing but a sweetheart. It's like we've always had him. The kids are absolutely the best kids and big brothers and sisters. My husband and I are not taking care of these children alone...we all take care of each other. Today Penelope (it's her her birthday today) took off her diaper and said, "Go more." And Sage (8) said, "You have to go potty more?" Penelope then shook her head yes and off he rushed her to the bathroom. I checked on them what seemed to be some time later and they were reading books on the potty.

I barely remember the last time I wrote. Between then and now so much has happened. Lots of adventures have been had, and learning taken place. The kids are learning lots of math without very much help at all. It amazes me still that this "unschooling" (child led learning) thing works ;)

We have a new vehicle for the whole fam (and a 4x4 for the winter). We kept the mini van but we now have an 8 passenger vehicle (an Excursion, we call it "the beast") the licence plate we got for it is KID BUS.

Charlotte has metal brackets and will get braces this month. She had a slumber party for her birthday and it was such a blast. Even her dad and I had a ball. We've been skating a couple times, to the library, to the annual pick your own pumpkin patch/hayride/maze place, to a fun play about dinosaurs, and to a conservation class about animal tracks, bones and fur.

Sage and Layla found love for yet another reading site at http://www.readingeggs.com/
(ooo, That reminds me the free trial for that just expired today.)

The kids have been studying world religions again. We have an animated dvd from netflix that while not very complete has been a starting point for conversations and intro into religion. I downloaded some basic bible stories from itunes for them too. They just love stories and history. Most children do. They have been into Greek mythology for years.

We have been baking/cooking from scratch now more than ever. Cookies, muffins, breads, soups, pies, pot pies...

Oh this is exciting for us... We also got a new dining table! (for free! from freecycle!) It did not come with any chairs, but that's ok we had some chairs. But the table very comfortably seats all eight of us! Well Sebastian isn't using his seat quite yet. :)

I hope to post of our Halloween adventures and sugar skull making! during the first week of November.

Below the kids caught a hummingbird that got into the house by mistake. Penelope is admiring him in the jar. He was not hurt and they let him go right after the photo op. Layla didn't want to be photographed that day.

We had a baby boy.

He's here...he's here....


A wonderful, lovely, sweet, cuddly, sleeps a lot, happy, not too demanding (thus far) baby boy. I knew he was a boy. I knew he was out there waiting for us to be his family. His name is Sebastian. I'm completely enamoured by his perfectly round velvety head, long fingers, soft mouth, his chin that is like daddy's, and the way he curls around and fits against my body when he sleeps in bed with me. I am in newborn love. Again.

And here is my half dozen...

Sometimes, for a moment, life seems utterly perfect and stress free.

So needless to say we have been pre occupied and I haven't been posting. I updated my blog and website with birth info and stuff. It was a fabulous unassisted birth (my fourth UC) with my husband.

Right now the kids all have a little cold and so we are stir crazy. We just started leaving the house with the newborn after being home for 2 weeks, then they get sick and we are stuck at home again! At least the weather has been nice. I've been enjoying nursing Sebastian on the porch in 70 degree weather.

Other...
Lately lots and lots of fun has been had at this website by our whole family http://www.fantasticcontraption.com/ I lost my husband for an entire day because of it. I lost myself for an entire afternoon. It's great for kids, too.

We are currently test driving many 8-9 passenger (gas hog) vehicles.

I'm already missing being pregnant, despite the fact that I've already mentioned that it's nice having my body back. Sebastian turning 3 weeks old this Saturday makes me a little sad. I want him to be a newborn for at least a year.
Labor day weekend was spent bonding with our newborn and having lots and lots of family fun...

(yes I am aware Charlotte IS my clone)

Below Layla shows off her Kitty craft


And next we need to re-establish some sort of schedule. Charlotte will turn 12, Penelope will turn 2... and falling leaves, blue jeans, sweaters, and Halloween will be upon us. Our favorite.