So much to sort out.

Tonight I thought I would go back into my bookcase and pull out all the textbooks, books, picture books etc to try to work out some more "school" stuff for the girls to work on tomorrow. Today when the kids were all in daycare, hubby and I went out to town, bought some play swords for our little boy, who thinks he is a muskateer and I found some disney princess books, that were actually pretty educational. The girls were overjoyed to be doing "schoolwork" along with their favourite princesses.

I know that the whole commercialism aspect of disney is really not a great thing, but then the girls enjoy being princesses and dressing up and quite frankly, I would rather them act like little girls doing girly things, than being tomboyish and feministic. I don't think that girls and women for that matter should act more manly than men, its a complete turnoff to me personally. You can be assertive if you need to, whilst still being feminine. I know its the in thing to be a strong, independant woman, who is non-reliant on any man, but its just not me nor is it how I want my girls to grow up. Call me old-fashioned, but women should be women and men should men and there should be no mixing up the two. I like a strong, independent man, who is not afraid to stand up for something, nor afraid to fight, and will protect his family until the end. I can't stand a man who is wimpy or girlier than a girl which so many men of today seem to be. Yes, it is nice that these sorts of guys can say all the right stuff, but seriously, would I feel comforted if he were protecting me in a dangerous situation? I doubt it. Suffice to say, my boy is a rough and ready type, and we encourage him in his swordplay, and Daddy is a ready opponent and yes, we do let him play with guns also. ;-)

So back to the books etc. I now have a pile of things appropriate for each of my girls and will aim to do a little each day of the basic drills. My 6 year old whilst a prolific reader is an atrocious speller, just like her father, so I really need to address that. I have been buying quite a few things from the classified sections of the the homeschooling forums I frequent, mostly aussiehomeschool and rockpoolaustralia. Amongst those, I bought a spelling journal, which has spaces for new words, and testing areas and complete sections on spelling rules (some of which I didn't even know), plural rules, and a whole bunch of other useful stuff which will be a great starting point for her. I also have a whole lot of flash cards and some spelling workbooks/teachers texts that I hope will help us both get her spelling on track. My 4 year old has only recently in the last few weeks shown a real interest in learning to read so we are mainly focusing on phonics at this stage. She has picked up quite a bit just from listening to her sister learning which is great. I also need to renew my Reading Eggs subsciption for them. This website program has really helped them by providing a fun, entertaining aspect to the phonics journey they are on.

Well, I am off to bed. Fingers crossed that our family members and friends within the cyclone's path keep themselves and their families safe tomorrow and in the following days.

AARRGGHH!

I love 3 year olds! Can you detect my sarcasm in those words??? The temper tantrums are enough to send me bonkers. I don't remember the girls ever having such episodes as my boy does, so I'm thinking that it must just be a boy thing. If it isn't ear-splitting screams, its yelling or its crying or he is following me around connected to my leg with his little arms locked tight doing all three! I try to ignore, sometimes it works. I try to do time out, that doesn't work in the least. I try to reason and whilst it doesn't work all the time, it does sometimes. Or I can trick him by asking him to do something by catering to one of 5 alter-egos he has made up recently. In a house of 5 people, he has to realise that I can't drop everything and give into his every whim whenever he wants me to. Very frustrating, but I've heard it all gets better once they hit 4 years old, so here's to another 10 months of lovely 3 year old temper tantrums!

On a nicer note, we all had a pretty good afternoon with the kids baking some mini banana cream pies, and vegetable pancakes for dinner. Yes, the kitchen was a bit of a mess afterwards and amongst the little fights about who got to do what parts of the cooking, they figured it all out and the results were yummy. Daddy wasn't too keen on the cream pies, but the kids thought they were fantastic and would have eaten the lot right then and there, but we managed to save some and seeing as all three of the kids have daycare tomorrow, they are going to take some to share with everyone. The girls have bookmarked sausage rolls for dinner tomorrow night, very easy for them to make and we will be making a double or even maybe triple batch to freeze the extras. I know its probably not the most healthiest choice, but they enjoy cooking, and it all gets eaten so I don't mind so much. As most people know, little kids can be quite picky so its a bit of a struggle sometimes getting them to eat at all. They do eat a lot of fruit and I smuggle vegetables in almost everything I make...spaghetti sauce, rissoles, meatloaf, vegetable pancakes, chicken pasta, and the new choice, chicken and salad wraps with sweet chilli sauce. Yes, they actually eat lettuce!!! LOL  :)

Well I have had my little rant for today, and now I am off to pack lunch boxes for daycare and organise clothes for tomorrow. :)

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises

was oftentimes filled with your tears.

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find

it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy,

Kahlil Gibran

Time for me to start blogging again :)

It has been a while since my last post...gosh, that sounds a bit like the beginning of a confession. Not that I have ever done so, as I have never been religious and in all honesty, never will. However, some aspects of religion I think make a lot of sense. Yes, that does make us a bit of a pecularity within the homeschooling community because we are secular as there are quite a lot of homeschoolers whose main reason for choosing to educate their own children is based on their religion. I have my own reasons, and after commenting on a fellow homeschoolers new blog I have been thinking of it all alot.

Regardless of what you are talking about, there will always be the generalizations and homeschoolers aren't exempt. Generally, people think that homeschoolers are either hippies or very strict bible-bashers and I am neither one of those, however I do use reusable cloth menstrual pads by choice, so make of that what you will ;-)I am neither a teacher, nor am I qualified unless you want to refer to my Certificate in Office Administration that I did 13 years ago. I haven't studied for years and years in a particular field, nor do I have any fancy letters behind my name. What I do have is a love for my children, and their well-being and the genuine want to help them learn as much as possible and to guide them into making the right choices when they are unable to do so at a young age. I hope that they will take with them into their own adult lives a sense of never-ending love, support and a wealth of knowledge so they may have the best life they are able to. I want them to know that no matter where they are, that our family home will always be a safe haven for them when the world is unkind or things don't go to plan. In this, I don't think that I am any different to any other homeschooling parent.

I know that other parents send their kids to school, and whilst I don't agree with it, I don't hold it against them. It is their decision and I would hope that other people would think the same in regards to myself. At this time of our lives, homeschooling works for us, and my children are learning everyday. They may not be at the level of other kids, they may also be ahead in some aspects, they may be lacking in others, but I don't think it makes any difference as they are still so young. I don't see the point in pushing too much on them. My 6 year is reading well on her own and my 4 year old can write some letters and knows the sounds of others, and my 3 year old knows his colours and can count to 20 and sometimes higher when he is in the mood. I could go on and on pointing out all the things they do, but whats the point. Each child will learn in their own time and everything will click at some stage and there will be no stopping them then. To me, the ability to read is foremost. Once that basic skill is learnt, the world is open to you via the pages of any book you choose to open. Yes, I do worry about whether I am teaching them enough some days, but I think too much emphasis is placed on being like everyone else at a certain level that the joy of learning is lost and isn't that the whole reason we homeschool in the first place. To ensure our kids actually have fun learning, not just force-fed everything at a certain time, on a certain day, in a certain month of a certain year.

No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep

in the dawning of your knowledge.

The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers,

gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.

If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom,

but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.

For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.

Kahlil Gibran