Mom Is Teaching

I found an interesting article being talked about over at Just Enough, and Nothing More. The article can be found here.

But it’s frustrating to me that it goes without question so often that mothers are obligated to turn those brains and energy over to their children, keeping nothing for themselves, and not even getting that (meager) paycheck at the end of the day that professional teachers receive.

(more…)

Every summer a new wave of nervous parents enter the homeschooling debate. Maybe they had an unnerving year, or maybe it is the accumulation of several. For some the school year went by fine, but they wonder if it could ahve been better. Some parents don’t even have school aged children yet but are anxious about sending them off to outside schools. What ever their reasons they spend the summer biting their nails and trying to decide whether to take the leap or not.

(more…)

June 1-7 is Low Impact week. To celebrate I am going to share some great tips, advice, and information on what you can do with your children each day to lower your impact on the earth. I hope you all will join me, and maybe blog about your own adventures in being low impact.

I am sure asking this question is like striking a hornets nest, but I’ve never been afraid of getting stung.

I actually found this very debate happening at Helium. You can read my answer to the dangerous question here. Being as this is a homeschool blog I am sure you can guess where my loyalty lies, but if you are interested in the specifics of my answer it could be a controversal read.

Melissa over at The Lilting House stirred up a great conversation in her post “Can We Really Educate Every American Child?” where she shared the US Secretary of Education’s less than clear answer to the question “what would you do, in a perfect world?”

I wanted to share this quote from the Madam Secretary Margaret Spellings.

The other thing is this notion that, I mean, can we really educate every American child? I mean, we’re so far away from doing that, it’s not even funny. Half of our minority kids aren’t getting out of high school on time. Most of the jobs, the things that are going to make this country and them successful, require a couple years of college these days. So we have to close this gap, because—you talk about haves and have nots—

Does any one else cringe at the Secretary of Education saying that we’re so far away from educating every American Child that it is not even funny? Does anyone else find that statement telling of something seriously wrong with the current educational system in the US? What does Ms. Spellings think is the problem?

Low expectations. What the President calls “the soft bigotry of low expectations.”

Low expectations. Some might point towards the “teach to test” method that most US schools use these days. Children are not taught information that they should retain for future use, or even taught how to seek out the information themselves. They are simply taught how to spt back the random facts given to them onto the mandated tests, then forget about them within minutes of leaving the building.

There are also some who point instead to the parents. They claim that we (the majority) are raising a generation of tv-watching zombies. Children incapable of real education because they have been programmed from birth to sit mutely and absorb the information being fed them from the tv shows, the video games, and expensive “educational” toys. Mama Squirrel at Dewey’s Treehouse shares her own experience and thoughts on this in There’s something in that.

So come on, I want your opinions on this. Is homeschooling better than public education? Is there something wrong with the public educational system? Can it be fixed? And who is really to blame for the fact that we are so far away from educating every child in America?

homeschool, formal education, education, children, learning

Welcome to the 4th edition of the Carnival of SAHMs! I’m excited to be hosting it here at Mom Is Teaching. Though this is mostly a homeschooling blog, the majority of homeschooling happens because of dedicated stay-at-home moms. I hope this blog carnival has something that everyone can enjoy.

As Stay at Home Moms we face unique challenges. Caring for our children and our homes is a 24/7 job, one that we get no vacations or sick days from. We often feel overwhelmed with the pressure to nuture, teach, and discipline our children without a thought to our own needs and wants.

“A man’s work is from sun to sun, but a mother’s work is never done.”~ Unknown

We often try to be everything to everyone, at the sacrifice of ourselves. Erica Douglas tells us to Stop Trying To Be a Perfect Parent at LittleMummy.Com.

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed we don’t know what to do next. Dexie suggests Feeling Overwhelmed?, Go Take A Walk posted at Superwoman.casaying, “What I did when I felt overwhelmed with everything.” That is great advice.

Too often we feel that everything we do goes unnoticed and unappriciated. Hueina Su shares with us Journey into Love posted at Intensive Care for the Nurturer’s Soul, saying, “Motherhood has been an absolutely amazing journey for me. This post is my reflections on Mother’s Day. It’s my small token of appreciation and inspiration for all mothers.”

And another token of praise comes from Summer as she shares Happy Mother’s Day posted at Wired For Noise, reminding us that every day is Mother’s day.

Sometimes we just have to let go and letlife take its course. Lori Radun helps us with Finding Peace in Letting Go posted at The Mom Coach.

“The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

We strive to make sure that our children are getting the best education that they can, but what about mom? Surely the Stay-at-Home mom deserves to expand herself as well. Try something new, take a few moments to learn something you have been interested in, maybe pick up a new hobby. Anything that makes mom happy is bound to make for a happier home.

Anco presents Freshwater Aquarium Starter Guide posted at Tipskey - Unlock Practicality, saying, “Maintaining a freshwater aquarium can be a pastime activity for SAHM.”

If you just can’t break out of mommy-mode maybe you could try making something new for your children. Melitsa asks us Have you started your babies’ treasure basket? posted at Play-Activities.com, saying, “Little one’s are always getting into things. Here’s a fun way of encouraging that curiosity with this play activity.”

Perhaps you could give blogging a try, and make a little money from it. Stephanie tells us how in $200 Toward Debt posted at Stop the Ride!.

Becoming a mother makes you the mother of all children. From now on each wounded, abandoned, frightened child is yours. You live in the suffering mothers of every race and creed and weep with them. You long to comfort all who are desolate. ~ Charlotte Gray

Sometimes being a mother can be a frightening job. Part of being “on-call” 24/7 as a Stay-at-Home mom is making sure we keep our children safe.

Megan Bayliss shares with us Imaginif: Home of the BITSS Model of Protective Behaviours posted at Imaginif…, saying, “SAHM’s are in the enviable position of being able to teach their children protective behaviours. Surrounded by protective triggers within in the home, us SAHM’s take child safety and protection to heights never before discussed. Well done to us.”

Sometimes the things we have to protect our children from are lurking in places we enjoy ourselves, like the internet. Dexie tells us more about Myspace Removed Sex Offenders Profiles posted at Superwoman.ca, saying, “Myspace has started doing their part, let’s do ours.”

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it. ~ Mark Twain

Children can be the best comedians we will ever know, even if their antics only make us laugh.

Hueina Su presents In Praise of Green Beans posted at Echoes of Cold Moon, saying, “In my house, everyone has to finish the veggies on their plate. My kids hate green beans, so they made acrostic poems to express how they feel.”

Sometimes getting dirty is half the fun. Mama Duck presents Messy party ideas - part 3 posted at Lil Duck Duck.

Even a little trouble can make us smile. :: Suzanne :: shares a good idea that make me laugh with Toy Jail posted at :: adventures in daily living ::.

Before you were conceived I wanted you, Before you were born I loved you, Before you were here an hour I would die for you, This is the miracle of life. ~ Maureen Hawkins

I wanted to end this on a serious note. Despite the problems, the stress, the moments we need to just get away we all love our children very much. Though we sometimes joke of a vacation without them, the truth is we need our children as much as they need us.

Jenny-up the hill shares her personal grief with us in10 Days posted at Up the Hill Gang.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Carnival of SAHMs using our carnival submission form. The carnival will be back June 11th over at WiredFor Noise. If you are interested in hosting this carnival on your own blog please send an email to carnivalsahm@gmail.com Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

blogging, blog carnival, carnival of sahms, sahm, stay at home mom, mom, motherhood

Donna of Crazy Crafting Mama if the winner of the Fairy Chronicles books! She will be receiving volumes 1 and 2 of the series, some awesome flower seeds, and some beautiful garden decorations. I hope her daughter loves them.

And don’t worry, I have 2 more books that I will be offering in a contest very soon. This time the books are for mom, so be on the lookout for the next contest. And thanks to everyone who entered!

I thought I would share a glimpse into our week and share a recipe that we enjoyed. My oldest has been really into animals lately, so we have been enjoying Animal planet in the evenings. On Monday we watched a show about bears living in Canada. At one point the bears were grazing through a field of blueberry bushes. So on Tuesday when we went to the library I made sure to grab Blueberries for Sal. We also picked up some books on hiking and camping and all the animals you can see.

Then on Wednesday we packed up and went to a local park that we love. There are lots of trees, flowers, a creek, and a small hill covered in brush and plants. Its a pretty small area, but to little kids it is huge. That evening We went to the store and bought some blueberries and a small thing of plain yogurt. Thursday we used the plain yogurt to make our own yogurt that we could eat with the blueberries. It cultured all day Thursday and was ready to eat Friday morning for breakfast.

(more…)

Caitlin Snaring, a homeschooler, becomes the second female ever to win the National Geographic Bee.

I am actually watching the footage of the 2007 National Geographic Bee as I type this and am enjoying see the background on all of the amazing children who participated. They are all so intelligent and and interesting, and beyond that each are great kids in so many ways beyond just geography.

Sources:
Caitlin Snaring Wins National Geographic Bee
Washington Girl Wins Geography Bee
CAITLIN SNARING FROM WASHINGTON STATE WINS 2007 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BEE

Caitlin Snaring, National Geography Bee, geography, homeschooling

If your house is like mine you are probably alrady drowning in the sea of catalogs coming. Every curriculum company, educational toy maker, book supplier, and more are filling my mailbox with offers to “Get ready for homeschooling this fall!” I’ll admit it, I do get a little tempted by some of the great deals and interesting supplies I find. It is probably a good thing I don’t have a credit card with a high limit or I might get myself into trouble.

There are some notable ones out of all the catalogs that I wanted to share, in case your mail carrier isn’t giving you dirty looks like mine.

Shekinah Curriculum Cellar Lots of great books on sale is what I love the best about this catalog. There are some amazing books here as well as some great curriculum supplies.

Timberdoodle Doesn’t everyone love Timberdoodle? I love the Never Bored books they offer as well as all the fun games.

Bright Minds I don’t even know how this catalog found me, but I’m sure glad it did. Why? Because I was able to stumble upon Dr. DooRiddles. This is such a fun book and we’re realyl enjoying doing random riddles throughout the day.

Love To Learn This is one that was actually sent to me by a friend in an email, but still one I wanted to note. Namely because of this books, Whole Foods From the Whole World. I just love the recipes in this book, and how easy they are to make with kids. Mmm, healthy cooking with a cultural touch.

Those are just a few of my favorites that don’t seem to get noticed as much as some of the other catalogs. Though I can’t afford everything I set my eyes upon I can still flip through them and dream. What are some of your favorites?

homeschool, homeschooling, catalogs, homeschool catalogs, curriculum, homeschool supplies

wordless wednesday, photos

A hilarious comment over at the blog of my good friend, and homeschooling super-hero, Welcome To My Brain was just begging for a response. Though I know the commenter will probably never return and never read this, it is still a bit of therapy to reply. And who knows, there might be others who feel the same way. So here is the chance to answer them before they leave remarks. (A bit of background- Christine is a breastfeeding supporter, and every week posts a random photo of a mother nursing)

I just can’t seem how people can homeschool their kids and they get enough stuff in one day then being in a regular public school. I would NEVER homeschool my kids because I would be afraid that they wouldn’t get into a good college. And if they couldn’t I would think about that forever, like the “what if’s”.

And Im sure your kids don’t enough schooling… when they are learning, their mom is on the internet trying to find pictures of womens boobs and then posting them to her blog. Sad is what it is. - Kirstie

Well Kirstie, lets look at this logically. First we have the time issue. Yes, public schools take 8 hours a day to get everything done. So I can see how you would assume that homeschooling can take the entire day away. But you see with homeschooling you get to trim a lot of the fat off. Take away the time between classes, time settling the class, time answering the same question 15 different ways, time dealing with the disruptive students, time dealing with thos late to class or needing to leave early, and all the other few hundred moments each day where the teachers are not actively teaching. You’ve sliced your school time in half! But you also get to add to it with homeschooling! You can teach while you eat meals, teach on the weekends, teach at night, teach in the car, and teach during all the other moments that public school teachers do not have access to the children. Wow. So the time required has been cut in half, but the time available has been doubled. Not to mention that older children are able to care for themselves in some instances. Imagine back to school. How often was the class quietly during their work while the teacher sat at the desk waiting for a question to be asked? Well the same thing applies to homeschool, except instead of sitting there waiting I can wash the dishes, check my email, take a shower, cook, clean, or anything else that I need to do. The freedom of homeschooling is a bonus for the parents as much as for the children.

As for fear of them not getting into a good school, well that can be said of public schools as well. There is no guarentee that public or private schooled children will go to college, let alone a good one. Would you spend your days worrying about the “what if” if they did not get in and were not homeschooled? That arguement just seems silly. And frankly, I find it a bit sad that that is the best you can come up with.

As for looking for picture of boobs, well you see sad and I see a woman passionate about mothers and babies. To each their own.

So Kirstie, if you’re out there, I’d love to hear your reply. And any other homeschooler who would like a chance to get out their frustration here is your invitation. What would you like to say?

*EDIT*
Well, she responded.

Wow.

Looks like Im making big news in the blog world. People think that Im not going to respond after what happened over here the other day. Im not a coward and Im sick of all of these moms talking about me in a bad way. Im sorry but I guess Im the only one who cares about my childrens future.

Talk to all of you later when your kids are sitting on the street with a sign saying “will work for food”.

I’m just glad to know that all of us homeschooling moms don’t care about our children’s futures. It’s always nice to be shwon the truth.

homeschool, homeschooling, arguements against homeschooling, blogging, comments

The Carnival of Homeschooling is up and running over at Lilting House. It is a great read this week, definitely something to check out.

If you are the crafty type Make it from Sratch is also up at Stop the Ride. Thats a great carnival for getting inspired.

If you’re looking for something a little more laid back the Carnival of Family Life is a great place to start.

Don’t forget to get your posts in to the Carnival of SAHMs. I’ll be hosting it here on the 29th.

Some of you may remember the Country Fair. Doc has brought back it back, Call for submissions - 7th Country Fair.

I have been fortunate enough to get my hands on books 1 and 2 of The Fairy Chronicles by J.H. Sweet. I sat down immediately and began reading them and I fell in love! The books follow the tales of a group of ordinary girls who find out that they are also fairies created by Mother Nature to care for the world.

Fairies: Delightful, magical spirits with likenesses and kinship to flowers, incents, and other small creatures. fairies are problem solvers, helpers, fixers, and protectors of nature. They get along well with gnomes and most other living things.

Geared towards girls ages 7 and up these books are wonderful tales of young girls blessed with special gifts. Each girl is unique in her own way and learns that each has their own special power. The tales are fun without being too over the top. Each of the characters is very believable, even for fairies and gnomes. There are beautiful illustrations sprinkled through the pages that makes the books even more delightful . These are definitely great books for young girls to feel special, powerful, and in tune with nature. The characters are well written, the stories are fun, and the themes are wonderful for all young girls.

I love these books so much that I’m going to pass them along to one lucky reader. Yep, these wonderful books could be your’s to enjoy! You have from today, May 21st, until this Saturday to add yourself below to Mr. Linky. Saturday night I will select at random one lucky person to win both book 1, Marigold and the Feather of Hope, and book 2, Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams. But there is more. The lucky winner will also get the beginnings of a fairy garden of their very own! That’s right, I’m adding some great flower seeds and some perfect garden decorations. Your special girl could be enjoying the books outside in her own beautiful garden.

(Due to shipping costs this is for the US only, sorry)

books, reading, fairies, The Fairy Chronicles, girls, young reader books, nature, fiction

I found this interesting song over at More Than Fine and it made me giggle and wince at the same time. (more…)

I found this fun meme over at Homeschooling with laughter & love and I had to share it.

1. ONE HOMESCHOOL BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED:
Rebecca Rupp - Home Learning Year by Year

2. ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN’T BE WITHOUT:
The internet. I can find everything and anything online

3. ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT:
So far I have been lucky and haven’t bought anything that I have come to regret

4. ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR:
All of the Williamson Little Hands Series. They are full of fun ideas that my boys love.

5. ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR:
A friend has graciously let me borrow her old Oak Meadow guidebooks to read and absorb.

6. ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY:
I wish I could afford to buy the Enki Education curriculum, but it is a bit too costly for me

7. ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED:
I don’t know. There are so many great ones available already

8. ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOG YOU ENJOY READING:
Oh, practically all of them!

9. ONE WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY:
A-Z Homeschooling

10. TAG OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS:
Consider yourself tagged!

homeschool, homeschooling, meme