We celebrate Yoda style

Yoda stopped by stop N shop and dropped off this cake for Johanna to celebrate her new milestone.

..and on the matter of subjects

Why is home ec considered and extra curricular activity? why is it not pushed more and kept on the same plane as say, Algebra?
I remember taking sewing in 7th grade and barely learning how to make a wrap around skirt. Nobody cared whether I could do it or not. Truthfully not even me. Cooking was joke and we learned how to make one meal and planned out the menu from start to finish. What if I didn't want to make the dinner? Would I have gotten a tutor? Would letters be sent home, "Valerie is not doing her cooking homework and may not graduate" ?
I don't think so.
However, not finishing my assigned accounting homework almost held back my diploma. who decides what classes are important?
At no point in my life do I wish I had paid more attention in chemistry. Sure there are important chemical reactions that a person might need to know about..and I can't tell you how many times I have needed to know the periodic table (Oh wait only when someone orders water and I write h2O)
This is not to say that kids should not be taught these subjects. Yes kids should be taught everything but they should not be taught that one set of learning is more valuable then another.
when I was high school I had a tutor for algebra and when I asked her, "Why do I need to know this? I'll never need it?"
she gave me this answer, "It's exercise for your brain"
I know it sounds silly but that really changed the way I thought about all my classes. I didn't even particularly like that tutor but that answer has always stayed with me.
I went from straight Ds to high Bs and even a few As in that algebra class. However what I really wish was considered equally as important was sewing and cooking. Those are skills I could use. Skills I need.
Imagine the shift in thinking if home ec were considered more important than algebra or Ancient and medieval history. Principals calling home for dropped stitches and rosemary chive mix ups (Did he even study the recipe at home?" )
It's funny, too b/c when people ask about homeschooling they get very worried that I I wont be able to teach things like, chemistry or calculus...but no one ever worries about my kids not learning to sew or cook. Those are 2 skills that they will need no matter their life direction or career choice. Those are thoe ones I need to really bruah up on.

News bulletin...we are no longer homeschooling

From now on when anyone asks about school I am just going to say,. "they don't go"
I am imagining something like this:
"What grade is she in?"
"She doesn't go to school"
"Oh...at all?"
"nope"
"you homeschool?"
"No no school at all...home or otherwise"
"oh..I mean you must do something?"
"Holy cow yes..I am very busy"
"no I mean to teach them..don't you have to do something"
"I don't think so"
"Aren't you worried they wont to be able to go to college or even read?"
"No"
"don't you have to report to the school or something"
"no"
"Is that legal?"
"Yup"

See I don't think I am schooling them at home. Sure I'm educating them but parents who have their kids in school are educating their children as well. Mine just don't have added in a routine stop for several hours a day away from me.
So we are officially not sending our kids to school...but we are not homeschooling.

Not to diss a man on his birthday but....

Johanna is not a huge Dr. Suess fan. As a "preschooler" (Do homeschoolers use that classification? I don't know) she was actually terrified of many of his books.
The only story she loved was the ever popular, McElligot's pool
What? You never heard of it? I'm shocked ;)
Anyway I think she liked it b/c it had to do with fishing. She also did enjoy Green Eggs and Ham as toddler but really that was it.
Cat in the Hat made her shake with fear..that was just the cover. I can't say if we ever read it or not.
So as Johanna is learning to read the very fun Dr Suess books are not really her choice. Maybe later when her reading is stronger but they do not capture her the way they do for so many other children. Mostly they confuse her or scare her.
Up until today I was using a book called "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons but I had used up all my renewals so back to the library it went. It is on hold again but, until we get it ,I wanted something easy for Johanna to practice reading. Many of the easy readers are still just a little too hard throwing in words that are good for the story but not good for sounding out.
So I went with a very classic standby. Dick and Jane. These are the books that my mother used to learn how to read. I have heard they are quite out dated and dull compared to todays fun Dr. Suess easy readers.
All I knew was that Dick and Jane had a cat so Johanna would be happy.
Tonight she read 2 chapters entirely on her own.
Yes, the words are simple..yes the stories are repetitive but the illustrations are adorable. Johanna does not seem to mind the simplistic story and actually got quite a kick out of "Puff" as the baby and jumping from the stroller.
The nice thing about these stories is that she can feel that sense of accomplishemnt over the story.
Yes the stories are simple but so is childhood.

Shhhhhh.....

Can you keep a secret? Well you know the truth is some days I worry that I am not cut out to do this at all.
I can't really tell anyone that because the first reaction is, "well put them in school"
I often think I either am a martyr or people think I am. I can't always figure out the truth. If a kid in school is doing poorly or acting out you don't often hear, "Well just pull him out and homeschool him" but as homeschoolers life has to be perfect or people question us and I sincerely think they don't really want to help b/c well, we did this to ourselves. Just put them in school..as though that would solve all the problems. In my opinion I really think it would create more problems but again...no one wants to hear that.
So my blog has pictures of smiling learning children in their happy carefree homeschooled life. There are no pictures of the bad mommy AKA teacher moments. There are no photos of the worry I have for my daughter and how something is just not right. How I see her struggling in some inside way that has nothing to do with homeschooling but will assuredly be blamed on it.
I joke that she is not "that way" b/c we homeschool but rather we homeschool b/c she is "that way".
Her anxiety peaks and puts everyone on edge. I hear, even my husband's thoughts, "Put her in school"
and sometimes when I am on my last ounce of patience..I want her in school but not for any other reason then; I need her to get into enough trouble, that someone looks into it. That someone says, "this child needs help" That something IS wrong. I don't know how to to go about telling someone what I see when it's so hard to explain anxiety and not have it sound like a child who needs to be disciplined more effectively or a child, who of course is like that, b/c she is homeschooled.
But Shhhhh don't tell anyone about that.