500 down

I just reviewed my 500th book on Goodreads. I'm sure there are books I've read that I haven't remembered. Most of these have written comments. I can't believe I've read so many books.

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2614810-crystal

It's that time of year again

It's time for us to start looking at new homeschool materials, evaluate what worked or didn't and see what new things we want to add to our schedule. It's a daunting task, to be honest. While the Virgo in me loves the planning, sifting through enormous amounts of online materials searching for that gem of a workbook or product to fill an educational need makes me want to pull my hair out.

There are times when a box of curriculum looks really tempting. Everything I'd need to teach all wrapped up in a neat little box. I know families that have found these boxes work well for their kids. And I sometimes envy them. But we started out five years ago with a four year old that learned how to read all by himself. Spelling and writing shortly followed and before I knew it the five year old Alex was getting into first grade materials.

I didn't hold him back. I didn't want to.

Part of our reasoning for choosing homeschool is to allow them to grow and develop at their own paces. Similar to a Montessori method of education where the are allowed to progress as they grow and learn instead of enlisting rigid parameters based on the calandar year or age. But I now have a nearly nine year old that is in third grade for somethings, fourth for others and even fifth on a few which makes coordinating his school a tad difficult.

I also do not use the exact same things for each child. Since they grow and develop at different rates, they also have different learning methods. Alex is very literal, he can take written words and follow directions to complete tasks with minimal assistance and retain the knowledge. On the other hand, Olivia is very tactile needing to see with her hands how something is done or should be. Videos and manipulatives work better for her, workbooks and texts work better for Alex. Then Cordelia (6) is more like Alex but enjoys the tactile or visual learning aids as well. And I still have two other kids to figure out over the next few years.

All in all, it makes for a very hectic time of year in which I try and take a small budget and wrap it around learning styes and materials. Our favorite website http://www.rainbowresource.com/ has a huge library of materials at discounted prices. We also go through a Homeschool buyers co-op and  have gotten some really great prices on http://www.ixl.com/ and http://www.brainpop.com/ Right now the girls are working at http://www.headsprout.com/ which matches up with Olivia's need for tactile and visual aids for reading comprehension.

But it's hard to know what will work and what won't.  There are many things we've invested in that have failed miserably. It makes the decision-making just that much harder. Since I'm also a tactile person (it drives hubby crazy that I like to physically write lists out on paper instead of using the computer or my phone) purchasing online has it's own difficulties for me.

Does anyone have any tips on purchasing materials? I'd love to know!

Book Nest

In my quest to remake our homeschool experience I'm trying to open myself up to what I have dubbed "alternative days". I have a fairly rigid schedule that I try and stick to. Wednesday and Friday are our "short days" where we do just a little less work but it's still sit-and-write work, which gets borrr-ing.

Yesterday, in a fit of desperation inspiration I had all the kids gather up their pillows and blankets. I threw mine into the mix and made everyone a place. Then I instructed them to gather up a half dozen or so books they'd like to read or look at. If they could be quiet, stay in their places, and not fight for a couple hours that would be school for the day.

I love reading. If I could get a job staying in my jammies, lay in bed and read book after book after book I would shun the living world and never be seen again such is the conviction of my love. I want to instill that same zest for written words to my children.

Children that have more energy than a fully fueled 747. Sitting and looking at books for hours just isn't in them. I tried to encourage it anyway by setting a good example and making use of my own spot in the book nest. For a couple hours. I sacrifice, I really do.

My go to

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I get distracted with glossy pages, full color photos and hardcovers. My brain yells "ooh, ooh, ooh" and my hands itch to open up the cover and find the magical mysteries hidden inside.

And then, as I turn the pretty pages I get disillusioned. Disappointed. Disenchanted. Because I know that these eye-candy cookbooks don't compare to Fannie Farmer. 

She's priced right, no-nonsense and is nearly 1200 pages of recipes, techniques and cooking methods along with both traditional, simple meals and elegant dishes.

She covers what to do when you overbeat an egg, how to stuff tarts and diagrams on cuts of meat from every different animal. And entire section in the front discusses the use and function of herbs and kitchen tools.

I love this book so much I'm declaring it to be the gift to give for new parents, newlyweds and everyone else that I discover is lacking some Farmer in their house.

"Only not dying."

The past few days I've been busy filling the hours with housework, chores and errands. Trying to make the most of my week with only two kids about. A good bit of the time I succeeded but there was a fair amount of failure when I just goofed off. Life can't all be work, now.

During my lolligagging, I was able to read a few more pages in the Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich book. With my epiphany during the first forty pages, I cleared out at least 1,348.765 pounds of books and some clothes that are now lining the shelves of the battered woman's shelter. That was a good move and already story time is easier, feels less overwhelming. Giving to those who need it eases my heart of the burden. The cleaning also brought about my finding The Little House on the Prarie story time hardcover. The two oldest girls listened to me read the first two chapters tonight. I missed those camp-goers terribly. It was a good way to reconnect.

With the reading of the next four pages of Voluntary Simplicity I find myself at mental red light. Here, the author delves into a section called "Maintaining Ourselves and Surpassing Ourselves" again, another point of balance. (Which is what everything seems to hinge on). Maintaining our bodies while our minds seek to surpass what and where we are now. Mere maintenance allows only for our bodies to not die. Living isn't truly accomplished. Yet, focusing entirely on providing ourselves with a meaningful, soulful, existence our basic needs won't be met and we will die. The balance of both is crucial.

My mind is pondering this. I can feel the thoughts rolling over and tumbling around in the grey folds of my brain. To shun everything and merely exist won't work. This is what the author has said from the begining. Letting go of material wealth, turning off the power, sacrificing the things that make us happy or lively will not help us to move toward, well, for lack of a better word, enlightenment. For a long time I've thought that the only way to make the move to simplistic living was to get down to brass tacks, live a barren life. The key is to find a balance between technology and rustic living.

Have I been doing this? Have I been neglecting the maintenance to focus on the surpassing? Engrossing myself in classes, lessons, books and websites hoping to learn from text what I cannot learn by doing?

Then today I came across a quote on my Zen-a-day calendar.

As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise you will miss most of your life. - Buddha

Has this been the way I've been handling life? Constantly looking forward to "the next thing". The next course, the next article, the next blog post or workshop letting the experiences of the day pass me by while I wait? Holding an idyllic scene in my mind of what life will be like when we finally get on our land? Thinking that today isn't as good as it is because my dreams haven't been realized? 

I think I might have been. I think that scares me.

So, today I look at what today is. What can it be, what time can I spend forging memories in my children's hearts while still working towards the goals that are written across my own. I will stumble. It's the way of me, but I'm hoping as I continue reading this particular book that life starts to balance out a little more. And by only not dying, I'm hoping I really get to live.

Voluntary Simplicity - Books

Yesterday, I started reading a book called Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich . I picked it up at the thrift store a few days ago. It looked like something I needed to read. For all my wishy-washy posts about paring down and simplifying and being completely bewildered at where to start and how much was too much, I wish someone would have recommended this book to me.

So, for all of you that are as confuddled as I have been, start reading this book.

I'm only about forty pages in but so far the gist of the book is not to simplify so much that you lack, but to remove the things from your home that hinder your ability to enjoy everything else. It's not about the amount of things but what those things mean to you. How they enhance your life and help you along your inward journey. You may have many things or very few. Neither is wrong or right, it's a personal balance we must look inside our hearts to achieve.

There is one part of our home that we are overrun with; Books. I love books, to get rid of a book is like sacrilege to me. I love the brightly colored covers, the surprise endings, the myriad of places you can visit snuggled in your own bed. I love the thoughts and ideas that igneight my brain when I'm fully engrossed in a story. I love every single thing about books. Except...

We are overrun with books. The kids have three books shelves stacked so high they can't find the ones they want. Two nearly reach the ceiling. They become hard to put away neatly, get bent and torn because they can't be cleaned up easily. Good books get shoved into the background behind fluffy television-character featured books. We have a full bookcase downstairs, plus magazine racks in assorted places and another two shelves that line the top of one wall. Some books are very, very good. Others are senseless stories that hold no value save for relative entertainment. And that's not including any of our homeschool books, which take up another floor to ceiling shelving unit in the once-diningroom-turned-homeschool room.

Today, I start the task of simplifying our books. As much as it pains me to part with them, there are just too many to fully enjoy the good ones. The start will be easy, ridding ourselves of the books that hold little value to make room for the classics and dearly loved. These books will be packed up and donated to either the library or the woman's shelter down the road.

I can take comfort that they will have a good home and get loved by other children while my life becomes a little easier at story time. I look forward to sharing with you our efforts for voluntary simplicity and hope you check out the book I mentioned above, even if you too, have too many books.

Unitarians are not vampires

.

No matter what they might say in Japan...but we'd probably accept them at our night services as long as they understood our definition of "pot luck".

A new week ahead

This coming week I hope to get much accomplished. I've purchased a book that I'm hoping will help me. It's called Managers Of Their Homes. It's hard to find but worth the read, even if it is overloaded with talk about God and quotes out of the bible as the only reasons to get anything accomplished heavily Christian based. I haven't had trouble skimming or flat out skipping parts that don't apply to our family (like the scheduling babies thing, WTH?). They do have good ideas about how to get the other kids to do stuff with the younger and some other tips and tricks that I hadn't thought of. Though, scheduling our lives from waking to sleep (and some even schedule the sleep ON the chart!) is a little much for me. I can't believe they didn't schedule sex, then again "Alone time with (insert husbands name)" might just be that...Somethings just aren't meant to be scheduled, folks. I'm going to roll off this slowly so I don't fall on my butt.

I'm taking this week to organize, really think about what's important to us, what needs to be scheduled to get done, how much time I want to devote to things. Maybe I can even schedule in a daily shower for myself without people trying to join me, crying when they can't or incessantly banging on the door to come in. Wouldn't that be something? If I could, it'd be worth the $28 for the book for that alone.

Craft Book Give Away Update

Well, I was hoping to boost readership and maybe I did. I don't know. There was only one reply to my blog give away and they didn't actually fufill the requirements of the challenge so I'm not actually sure what to do. I think what I may do is donate all the books to a local charity. I'm thinking The Springs. I donate to them a few times a year and I know it's a good local cause. I've sent my money on to Haiti. I do what I can for those close to home too.

So, if you did in fact register through the blog following the instructions on how to enter and cyber space ate your comment -which does happen- send me a message. Otherwise, the books will go to the donation center by the end of the week!

Craft book blog give away!!!

To boost readership (I guess until they get the free thing then who knows) I've decided to do a craft book blog giveaway.

To enter you have to post a reply to just one of my previous posts (with something relavent not just "hi" I'm trying to reward readership, you'll only cheat yourselves)  and then report back here with the post name and your name! You have until January 15th, 2010 to post and the book will be mailed out by the end of the month.

Here are the books currently up for grabs. Note: you will recieve ONE book of your choosing not the whole pile, don't be greedy.

These are all brand new books that might have shelf wear because they've been sitting on my shelf for god knows how long. Depending on the number of entrants I might give away the whole stack or do multiple drawings. Good luck!