Oinks and Giggles

I have been picking up a friend's son after school. She is an old friend that just moved back home after the loss of her middle child and a rough divorce. He was 4 1/2 and chronically ill. She is struggling to get on her feet here with a three year old and a seven year old all while grieving. She is a strong and amazing person.

Her seven year old that I pick up is struggling the most. He is angry and withdrawn. Most days I pick up a whole horde of children; 4 not including my 2. The seven year old sits silent and solemn while the others excitedly chatter about their respective days.

The other day my hubs was at home, the other kiddos had choir and dance and I found myself on my way to pick him up alone. I knew the moment we met in the drive through could go either way-either very well or very wrong. But alas, I had the upper hand because without any additional passengers, he was guaranteed to the coveted front seat position. Not only that, but I had taken the pickup to get him, his favorite.

I wait, listening to the radio, loving the few moments alone. The bell rings and he comes skipping out-a good sign. Our eyes meet and he flashes me a toothless smile. Fate is on my side! Squeezing through the crowd of children he finally reaches the truck, propelling the door open. "Oh, sweet, I get the front seat and in the TRUCK!" We maneuver out of the school zone and I ask him what color he got. (This is the part that is hard-he hasn't been doing well with behavior in class) He grins. "A yellow!" For those who might not know-yellow is under green but before red. It means less than satisfactory-a warning. Usually this means he is upset. But the wide grin throws me off.

"What was the crime?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, don't worry, it wasn't my fault today." he replies, while digging through his backpack.
"Oh?" I ask, wondering what possibly had happened.
"I got a yellow for making pig noises in the hallway. But our rule chart in the class definitely doesn't say you can't make pig noises. I checked. It says, "Be Quiet in the hallway." And I was making the pig noises quietly, so it can't be my fault." Still relaxed and happy, he pulls out his folder. Sure enough it is marked, "Making pig noises in the hallway" with a yellow dot.
Suddenly, involuntarily, a snort of laughter escapes. I can't help it! I look at him and he giggles. I lose it and we are both giggling the rest of the drive home.

When we get home he goes off to play by himself as usual. Jason asks how his day was and he mumbles, "Fine." But I know better. I know there are pig noises and laughter and joy hiding deep inside that little boy just waiting to emerge. Maybe they will only reveal themselves a little at a time. But I know they are there. And for today, that is enough to be thankful for.

Why I Love Homeschooling

Today began normally...cuddles in bed, chores together, and for breakfast we began to make Banana Bread as we do about once a week. My little ones are helping measure and pour, still in their pajamas with sweet little bedheads and a mystery unfolds...

The recipe calls for 2 eggs. There are 3 in the carton. The first one we try cracks, but to our amazement it has been hard boiled. (Probably by Daddy earlier in the week.) Both my cooking assistants abandon their jobs to carry the egg around in a basket wrapped in a blanket pretending that "a baby chickadee is about to hatch." I finish the bread as they eat breakfast in a hushed whisper (not to wake the early hatching, yet somehow still sleeping egg.) I get our lessons prepared.

I usually hop in the shower while they begin their journals, but this morning I emerge from my shower to complete silence. I look around for a moment before discovering that they are outside (on North Texas's last 80 degree day in November-a cold front hits tomorrow dropping us to the 40's) still in pajamas, fervently coloring a self drawn map. I sit down and ask what they are doing.

"We are drawing the map to help the mommy find her baby egg." So I'm told. They busily use those imaginations to play for another hour on this glorious sunny day, laughing and playing together. I leave them to do some laundry.

I finish the laundry and enter the kitchen to find two dressed children busy doing geography together. Surprised, I ask, "What about playing outside?" to which Trace answers, "We are ready to get some work done now, Mom."

I am so glad they weren't in a classroom staring out the window imagining what they could be doing. I am so glad they are taking the initiative to be responsible. I am so glad that they played on the last sunny day we will see for awhile but still finished what we had planned for the day. I love being with my children, giving them freedom. I LOVE homeschooling.

Carnival of Homeschooling Week 48

Check out this week's carnival at The Common Room. Once again, it's great and has wonderful posts. Also, I am included for the first time, fun, fun, fun!

Social Studies in the New Year

I love the new year. I get excited to re-evaluate and get rejuvenated with our curriculum. As I was looking at what we wanted to dive into in January, I found a book I just HAVE to have -homeschool moms know about the book obsession ;) I began a outline for a lesson using it. The book is:

One review summarizes it this way:

Hungry Planet: What The World Eats" by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio grabs your attention for the startlingly varied stories it tells about how people feed themselves in 24 countries around the world. Its contents are based on detailed research, beautifully photographed, presented with often disturbing clarity. We are introduced to 30 families, representing every continent, each family photographed with the food they had for the week they were interviewed. The household range is from the most affluent in the developed countries to the most awesome. "A rich and thoughtful commentary on today's human condition."

We will use this book to

1. Examine the importance of food in our lives by using a cool lesson plan I found on www.homeschoolingabout.com called Make a Meal of It!

2. Study different cultures and what they eat and how they obtain their food.

To really dive into number one, we will start by discussing where food comes from. We are going to go shopping and get various foods.

Then we will talk about the global diversity of the origins of our food. I have a worksheet I printed from the site mentioned above to classify where the food came from, how it was packaged, the name of the food and the price.

Lastly, we will talk about hunger and poverty, what we can do to help; and donate these foods to a food bank when we are finished.

I would love to take the children to serve in a soup kitchen. I think this would be a wonderful humbling activity for our whole family. It is great to serve together and show the children how important food can be for people.

For number two, my favorite part!-a field trip to the Farmer's Market and Central Market to examine the varieties of foods and gather some things for cooking up some multicultural foods!

I found the coolest multicultural food books on Amazon. They are board books, but have awesome illustrations and simple engaging text. Here's the Listmania List. The author covers Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Mexican and even Southern (let's not lie-it's the best!) foods.

I am so excited to really get into this lesson and I think the kids will love it! Not to mention food is on my top list of things I am passionate about! Even greater, Peter Menzel has another book called Material World where he photographed families all over the world with all their earthly possessions. It is a stark, revealing look at what matters and what materialism is about. I think this would nicely lead us right into a more in depth look at countries and families around the world.

My hope is to grow an appreciation of our lives and the provisions the Lord has made for us. We can never be joyful or thankful enough for all the blessings he pours down on us everyday.

Some Great Carnivals!

The 47th Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Tami's Blog. I eagerly look forward to every Tuesday morning when I can grab a can of caffeine, ingore my kids and blissfully read through the blogs of kindred homeschooling spirits.

Also you can find this week's Carnival of Kid Comedy at Life in a shoe. And this week's Carnival of Family Life is hosted by the Thrifty Mommy. Check 'em out in your free time!