Back to School in 5,4,3,2,

1!
Tomorrow is the first day back to school and I think I am more anxious than the kids. It's the synchronous math course that has me bothered. LOL. I liked the flexibility we had at making our own schedule these past two years. I am not a morning person, actually I have been. I used to work 7am to 3 pm shift. It burned me out. Since we've been homeschooling, I would sleep a little later, make breakfast and have lessons started around 10 am. That's doable.

This synchronous math course is at 8 am. That means I need to get up earlier to make a healthy breakfast so that she can think straight. Math hasn't been her strongest subject. She is doing much better now in this school though.

I am excited too. Two of my children will have the same teacher from last year. My youngest will have the same teacher for the past three years. I feel really good about that. She knows us pretty well. We all feel comfortable and that is very important for my baby.

All around, we will have a busy year. There will be a lot to get used to with my oldest but it should be great. The teachers at PAVCS are wonderful. I love cyber schooling. It is a great option for homeschooling parents. Some of us enjoy having the support the teachers and the school offer. I know I do. This will be an awesome school year!!!!

Woe is me

I am feeling so old all of a sudden. School starts back next week. Today I went to open house with my middle schooler. I have a middle schooler. She is in 7TH GRADE. Time is passing me by so quickly. She was my little baby not so long ago, or so it seems to me.

My youngest is turning 8 next month. 8. I'm not ready for her to grow up. I need her to continue being my little baby, at least for a little while longer.

I am gonna miss the days of them just being sweet little girls. They will be 8, 10 and 13 by the end of the schoolyear. That does not sound good to me. They are getting to the point where they will be taller than me, especially the 9 year old. She's outgrowing her 12 year old sister.

Time is leaving me behind, making my babies young ladies and making me old.

Ah well. As I've been saying for years, I don't get older, I get better. Hopefully, they will as well.

Get ya mind right!

I have to laugh at the effort some folks put into ruining a good thing. It's sad, really. There are folks who can't allow themselves to see others happy. It's too much to bear, even if they, themselves are claiming to be content.

To that I say, Leave me be. If you're not working with me, you're working against me. I don't need the unnecessary drama.

In the grand scheme of things, you only serve as a passing headache. At the end of the day, you're gone as if you never existed. You're meaningless and irrelevant, to me.

I try my best to treat everyone with love and hope that the people I meet in my travels have good intentions. More often than not, I find that I am wrong. That's okay though. Without the occasional stalker, wannabe and clone, I would never elevate to being a better me. Honestly, all the idiotic b.s. they try to pull only serves to make me stronger in my faith and in my love for myself and my family.

Silly them. They only make themselves look bad.

Life doth truly go on....

Sometimes, I wonder

To be honest, this whole Michael Vick controversy put some things into perspective. I'm not saying I agree with what he did, not at all. I do, however, deem people more important. I may be wrong but that's my thought.

So here's my issue. I spoke to a young lady who works for a business I frequent. I told her about an idea for the business to give back to the community and it's people. Don't get me wrong, I know some businesses don't care to give back but this place is always spouting about saving whales and the rainforest trees, etc. I thought, hey, why not give back to the homeless shelter within walking distance of the business and help out other human beings who currently can't help themsemves? My idea was not even going to come out of the stores profits.

My idea: Have a promotion for customers to bring an unwrapped school supply. Give a coupon/voucher or gift for customers who do so as well as spend an amount in the range of $20 - $30.

This business has promotions where they give free gifts with a $50 purchase regularly. I was just trying to add to that by offering them a chance to help PEOPLE as well as their other ventures.

I know I'm babbling. They liked the idea but were unwilling to use it. I'm not upset with the decision but I am a bit hurt. I hurt for the people who could have benefitted from the idea.

I listen to sports radio and I hear people saying how awful Mike Vick is for what he did to those dogs but no one makes a big deal of the senseless murders that have occurred. Maybe I'm not understanding. It seems that we are valuing our pets over our people. The man did his time, let him restart his life.

I tie these things in together because it makes sense to me that way. I know some won't understand. As I told my children, if our pet were injured or murdered, I would be very hurt. But if my children were injured or murdered, I would be devastated. That's just my feeling on all of this.

It really makes me wonder. Are animals and trees more important, less important or equally important than people? If equal, why do we eat them? Just my thoughts...

Another day...today.

Today has been just blah for me. I just felt so sad for a bit. It has passed now. There are too many things going on and too many hurt feelings to deal with. I'm still struggling with my uncle's death. It intensifies everything else happening around me. Money is also an issue. I am no longer making my own money. It is something for me to get used to, even after almost two years. I am fine though, I count my blessings. I have so much to be grateful for...so much that makes me happy.
I feel better now. Sometimes, I need to see it, to release it.
I'm good.

A day in the life...

...of a homeschooling family :)



Some days learning opportunities just fall into our laps.
On Friday, we decided to take a trip to our local zoo. We recently joined and thought it would be a nice outting on a not so hot day.

We arrived at the McNeil Avian Center which is a new habitat. It was wonderful. I learned, I mean...we learned about bird migration. Some birds don't migrate, some do. Some go farther than others. It was interesting. Our children were on the edge of their seats listening and watching this 14 minute video. There was so much information and it was told in a way to keep the younger children engaged. I loved it.

From there, we walked into the bird habitats. There was one called the African Savanna, another was called the Tropical Rainforest. All around us were birds of all sizes, shapes and colors. It was a bird lovers paradise. Check it out!



http://www.thehomeschoollounge.com/

On Homeschooling and Socialization

For the life of me, I need to know, why anytime I say I homeschool my children, people say "Make sure you let them go out and play with other children." They make it seem as if I am holding my children captive in a cell in the name of learning, as if we spend all day, everyday in our house. Do people not realize that homeschooling allows more opportunites for socialization?

Case in point, children who attend brick and mortar schools sit in a building from about 9 am - 3 pm. We may choose to do the same on a really cold day but otherwise, we can take a trip to a science or art museum, have a picnic in the park, visit our local zoo, have P.E. at the playground of our choice, etc. The list is endless.

It gets to be annoying at times. My children have more opportunities to socialize with children and adults since we've been homeschooling. We also have more time to visit family. They have a structured curriculum to follow but a flexible schedule makes anything possible. Taking a trip to the grocery store is a learning opportunity and a social experience. You never know who you'll meet.

This also gives us the opportunity to feel safe and know that our children are learning from people who love them and care about their progression. They have wonderful teachers and loving academic coaches :)

We all enjoy this experience. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Who you calling a n****??? (O.P.C.)

Other People's Children

It's funny, whenever I take my children places, especially to restaurants, I get the nicest compliments. "They are so well-behaved." "I didn't know they were there." Sweet, right?

I'm proud that my children know how to act in public. It saddens me that some other people's children don't. Don't get me wrong, I'm not speaking of normal, child-like behavior. Nor am I referring to infant and toddler behaviors. My children are 7, 9 and 12. I expect them to use table manners, appropriate language and inside voices when dining.

There are certain places I usually avoid eating in because they attract a "certain type" of crowd. I prefer to avoid trouble. I don't wish to fight and argue over petty stuff. It's not in my nature, beneath me, I'd say.

But in light of this recession, I took a particular buffet spot up on their e-club offer. I received a coupon for a free buffet for joining. They also have a kids eat for $1.99 deal after 4pm Monday though Saturdays but I digress.

We visited our closest location. As my husband and I were filling our plates, (the children beat us back to the table) a group of young boys, around 6 through 10 years of age), walk past our table and called my 12-year-old "The N Word." When we returned to the table, she was visibly upset. As she explained what happened, we thought of going over and speaking to the parents. I looked over and realized, there were no parents present. They were accompanied by what seemed to be an older sister who was encouraging the behavior. I decided there was no point in addressing this group of "children" as they were being asked to leave anyway.

Somedays, it really bothers me to encounter these types of people. I wonder about some of their parents. In my time working with children, I've found so many parents who are comfortable with these types of behaviors. They are also the first to say "my child was a good child."

I really just don't know.

When Doves Cry

"I'm fine."
I had the hardest time waking up Saturday morning. During the time I should have been dressing, I was dreaming. It's strange for me to remember a dream. Usually, they are not so vivid but this one was.

I was dreaming that I was at the family house, getting ready to leave for the funeral. Everyone piled into the car except me and my uncle's youngest son. We said we would walk around to the church. After the car pulled off, we heard a noise in my uncle's room. Mind you this is ten minutes before the funeral was to begin. When we went to check on the noise, my uncle was sitting there looking at us.

I say to him "Everyone is at your funeral, waiting for you. It starts in ten minutes. What are you doing here?" He says, "I'm fine." We continue explaining, thinking he didn't understand. Again, he says, "I'm fine. I'm going back to sleep now."

I can LOL at it now but at the time I was thinking, you've been sleeping for a week. Get up!
I reluctantly told my mom about my dream after the funeral and repast. She says, "he's fine. What don't you understand? He came to you to let you know, he is fine."

I still didn't understand. She did not get through to me at all. I still wasn't ready to understand.
So, I explained it all to my husband and he said the same thing. "He's fine. He knew you needed to know."

I understand now.

As the dream went on, I walked down the stairs to head to the church and let everyone know he was fine. There were two women awaiting me. They were asking if I was okay. I explained to them how he had just awakened. The one woman said "I'm so glad to hear." The other just smiled. I finally gained my good senses and recognized the first women to be my good friend Kyra. I also noticed that the two had their hands filled with bags and food. I asked, "Why did you come so far?" Kyra said, "Because we are friends." The other woman just smiled again. It took me longer to recognize her but I now realize she was my good friend Stephanie. I think they appeared because they both offered their love and guidance when I needed it most.

Today, I thank The Creator for that dream. It brought me so much peace. I really would have walked in there with an ugly attitude. There were two people I was hoping would not be there and one showed up. But I was better for it after that dream and after those reverends preached. Wooo! I could feel the spirit. I could feel the love in that room. My uncle was loved! I am a better person because he was in my life.

Better days

This past week has had it's ups and downs. My uncle's funeral was yesterday. That was the low of my week. I knew saying goodbye would be difficult but it was downright traumatic. His two sons were most upset. They were told by one doctor that my uncle was having a surgery that would make him all better. His two sons were really believing that. They needed to believe.

Tomorrow morn, my uncle will be transported to a veteran's memerial burial ground. I don't think I can go. I can't go through anymore of the heartache. I can mourn at home.

On the brighter side, outside of all the sadness and pain, it was great to spend so much time with my family. We really do pull together in times of madness. We need to get better at gathering for good times as well.

My little family and I had a great time in Ocean City on Tuesday and Thursday. It must have been obvious that I needed to get away. I'm hoping we can find time to go back before this summer is out. I'm hoping better days are ahead.