What a week!
Our ward got split on Sunday and it's created quite the ripple effect of things to worry about and take care as a result.
Spring has officially ticked me off. It keeps coming and making me happy, then abandoning me and letting Winter come back. Jerk. We've had snow a few days this week. SNOW.
Steve's parents came last night. The visit was too short, but it was so nice to see them.
We cannot wait for school to be over with! I have been counting down the days with much more vigor than the kids.
Speaking of school. The last couple of weeks Jonah, Celeste and I have been studying the Island of Crete, the Persians, Athenians, and all those ancient civilizations around the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas during our History lessons. Very interesting stuff! I have left my opinions on these civilizations completely out of our lessons. Today I asked them to do their writing assignments on Greece. I found their blog posts on this assignment quite interesting. Celeste had one take on it, and Jonah an entirely different one. Note, they did these posts entirely on their own and in different rooms from each other. I just came in and read them when they were done and we discussed the grammar a bit. Celeste and Jonah have writing styles that are polar opposites and on different levels, but it's interesting to see what they said. I love the individuality children even in the same family come with! Kids are the best. My kids especially are at a point in their lives that I would freeze in this moment (for each of them) if I could. I think I'm experiencing the best phase of my life ever.
Check it out:
Celeste's blog post about the Greeks- Jonah's blog post about the Greeks.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
History that really feels personal
This is likely not interesting to most people, but it is intensely interesting to us! So I wanted to make sure we documented it on our family blog.
Our family has spent the past several hours researching our family history.
We found out some fun stuff.
Steve's line had an ancestor that was living in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials. She made it through just fine.
My line I was able to see back to ancestors who were born in the year 1000 or closely to. That was pretty cool!
We got sidetracked deciding to find out if we had an ancestor that came over on the Mayflower. (There were only 102 passengers I believe.)
We found 36 direct line ancestors (possibly more as we only looked on my father's father's side of the family,) who lived in Plymouth Mass., when it was just getting started. I wish I had known this when Steve and I were there last year!
We also learned that
Francis Cooke was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact. (See image at top.)
They only know of 26 male Mayflower passengers to have descendants. Many died in the first year. He brought with him his 13 year old son and left his wife and younger children at home. She came with them soon thereafter. Francis was an important part of Plymouth. He served in many civil capacities. There is an article about him on Wikipedia. I found this part of the article particularly interesting; it's a quote from
William Bradford (the elected Governor of Plymouth 30 times.)
"Francis Cooke is still living, a very old man, and hath seen his children's children have children. After his wife came over with other of his children; he hath three still living by her, all married and have five children, so their increase is eight. And his son John which came over with him is married, and hath four children living."
And my children and I are part of that "increase".
Pretty cool.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tough Decision
We are really struggling with some big decisions in our family!
Now I post about this on here simply to examine our options and issues in a well thought-out, documented manner. (I will only discuss one of these issues we're grappling with at this time for now.) We welcome thoughts and opinions. However, we do know that these decisions will ultimately be up to us and what we feel is the right thing to do for our family. We've been thinking, discussing, and praying about these things for months now and still no answers. I'm starting to feel more pressure and impatience to make a decision!
First is the decision to continue homeschooling next year. I've been losing sleep over this decision! Just today the school called me and asked me to make a decision about whether or not I'd be re-enrolling Jonah and Celeste next year ASAP. I literally vacillate between sending the kids back to public school and homeschooling them next year daily. Some moments I feel like homeschooling has been such a great thing for them, and other days I feel like I really don't want to do it long term. It's tough. It's time consuming. It's a lot of responsibility!
Pros:
*Jonah is a much happier, emotionally stable kid when he's homeschooled. He's got some special needs with being Bipolar and ADD and I think I know him well enough and love him enough to meet those needs.
*I get a lot more time with my homeschooled kids.
*My kids that are homeschooled are a lot less stressed.
*My kids that are homeschooled have more time to just be kids.
*I get to teach them what I want and feel is important.
*They get to learn at their own pace and in a manner that best fits their personality and learning strengths/weaknesses.
*They don't have to suffer with bad teachers, time wasting in public school, stupid busy work and projects that are pointless, kids that bully or who are screwed up, bad language, being at school for 7 whole hours, then sent home with another hour or so of homework, etc...
*They are taught by a teacher that actually truly loves them deeply and has a vested interest in their eternal progression and happiness.
Cons:
*I have a LOT less time to myself or to do things that I might enjoy doing. This is my biggest concern by far. As great as the pros seem, this con is a very BIG con. Very selfish ~ but it is what it is.
*I don't get sick days or can't call in a substitute.
*Sometimes the kids don't feel like working and with the unconditional love they know I have for them, they can refuse to work without worrying too much.
*I'm not that smart. (You can see it in my blog posts.) I have to either get smarter, or rely on hired help to come in.
*They don't get to be with friends and other kids outside of our family as much.
Here are some arguments against homeschooling that I want to address.
The most common one you'll hear is that homeschooled kids are social freaks.
I've done a lot of thinking and researching about this topic. What I've found, is that statistically these kids are socially doing great in general. They are well adjusted, more confident, and can function in social settings just fine. In fact this is an argument you don't hear a whole lot about in the homeschool debate among professionals anymore because the people that know a lot about the research and the statistics, know that this really isn't an issue.
There are plenty of ways to get around this too by setting up ways to have your kid socialize with other kids. There are homeschool groups around here that do things together as well.
The kids that are social freaks are social freaks for other reasons. Namely, their parents are weird or the kid has anxiety or psychological problems (which is one of the reasons in which kids will be homeschooled,) among other reasons. (I admit that my kids are a little weird socially. But they've been in public school almost their whole lives. I wish I could blame it on their schooling, but I can't.)
The second argument against it is that kids that are homeschooled aren't getting as good of quality education.
This is another argument that among professionals that know the studies and statistics about academic achievement have found this issue to be a non-issue. Many homeschooled kids have higher IQ's, better ACT and SAT scores, are getting more college scholarships and so forth.
There are so many curriculum options for homeschool that the issue really lies in the parents. Are they disciplined enough to stick with it? Are they responsible enough to make sure that their child is getting the proper tutoring in all the essential subjects? You've got plenty of parents of public school kids who fail miserably in being involved and helpful in their child's education. On the flip-side, you're gonna have parents in the homeschool world who are failing as well.
So the past few months, I'd say that homeschool has been a success. But it's hard! I just don't know if I could do it long term. This was a trial run for us.
One thing is pretty certain though, is I don't want to have some kids in public school and some in homeschool. The reason for that is that Eden and Becca are jealous. They don't get as much of my attention as Jonah and Celeste do. When I'm homeschooling 2 kids & sending 2 kids to public school, I am dealing with the challenges of both concurrently. I have to teach two of my kids during the day. Then when the other two kids get home, I have to do homework with them. I still need to go to the school quite often and volunteer there and be involved. I still have to deal with the public school schedule and it steps on the toes of the freedom of a homeschool schedule. Really annoying.
What do my kids want?
Celeste- She goes back and forth. Last I heard, she wants to be homeschooled next year.
Jonah- DEFINITELY wants to be homeschooled and is very certain about it. He's worried about having to go back to public school.
Eden- She's not sure.
Becca- Definitely wants to be homeschooled.
Another factor in this decision is their desires. I know that if I choose something against what their desires are, I will be setting myself up for some added stress as they could rebel or fight, or be more distressed with what they have to do next year. Because of this, I have asked their input. We have researched it together. We have been praying about it. They feel a little responsible for the decision too.
So next year I am going to either:
1- Homeschool all 4 kids.
or
2- Send them all to school and pray all will go well as I will have a lot less control in their education.
What's your say on it?
Now I post about this on here simply to examine our options and issues in a well thought-out, documented manner. (I will only discuss one of these issues we're grappling with at this time for now.) We welcome thoughts and opinions. However, we do know that these decisions will ultimately be up to us and what we feel is the right thing to do for our family. We've been thinking, discussing, and praying about these things for months now and still no answers. I'm starting to feel more pressure and impatience to make a decision!
First is the decision to continue homeschooling next year. I've been losing sleep over this decision! Just today the school called me and asked me to make a decision about whether or not I'd be re-enrolling Jonah and Celeste next year ASAP. I literally vacillate between sending the kids back to public school and homeschooling them next year daily. Some moments I feel like homeschooling has been such a great thing for them, and other days I feel like I really don't want to do it long term. It's tough. It's time consuming. It's a lot of responsibility!
Pros:
*Jonah is a much happier, emotionally stable kid when he's homeschooled. He's got some special needs with being Bipolar and ADD and I think I know him well enough and love him enough to meet those needs.
*I get a lot more time with my homeschooled kids.
*My kids that are homeschooled are a lot less stressed.
*My kids that are homeschooled have more time to just be kids.
*I get to teach them what I want and feel is important.
*They get to learn at their own pace and in a manner that best fits their personality and learning strengths/weaknesses.
*They don't have to suffer with bad teachers, time wasting in public school, stupid busy work and projects that are pointless, kids that bully or who are screwed up, bad language, being at school for 7 whole hours, then sent home with another hour or so of homework, etc...
*They are taught by a teacher that actually truly loves them deeply and has a vested interest in their eternal progression and happiness.
Cons:
*I have a LOT less time to myself or to do things that I might enjoy doing. This is my biggest concern by far. As great as the pros seem, this con is a very BIG con. Very selfish ~ but it is what it is.
*I don't get sick days or can't call in a substitute.
*Sometimes the kids don't feel like working and with the unconditional love they know I have for them, they can refuse to work without worrying too much.
*I'm not that smart. (You can see it in my blog posts.) I have to either get smarter, or rely on hired help to come in.
*They don't get to be with friends and other kids outside of our family as much.
Here are some arguments against homeschooling that I want to address.
The most common one you'll hear is that homeschooled kids are social freaks.
I've done a lot of thinking and researching about this topic. What I've found, is that statistically these kids are socially doing great in general. They are well adjusted, more confident, and can function in social settings just fine. In fact this is an argument you don't hear a whole lot about in the homeschool debate among professionals anymore because the people that know a lot about the research and the statistics, know that this really isn't an issue.
There are plenty of ways to get around this too by setting up ways to have your kid socialize with other kids. There are homeschool groups around here that do things together as well.
The kids that are social freaks are social freaks for other reasons. Namely, their parents are weird or the kid has anxiety or psychological problems (which is one of the reasons in which kids will be homeschooled,) among other reasons. (I admit that my kids are a little weird socially. But they've been in public school almost their whole lives. I wish I could blame it on their schooling, but I can't.)
The second argument against it is that kids that are homeschooled aren't getting as good of quality education.
This is another argument that among professionals that know the studies and statistics about academic achievement have found this issue to be a non-issue. Many homeschooled kids have higher IQ's, better ACT and SAT scores, are getting more college scholarships and so forth.
There are so many curriculum options for homeschool that the issue really lies in the parents. Are they disciplined enough to stick with it? Are they responsible enough to make sure that their child is getting the proper tutoring in all the essential subjects? You've got plenty of parents of public school kids who fail miserably in being involved and helpful in their child's education. On the flip-side, you're gonna have parents in the homeschool world who are failing as well.
So the past few months, I'd say that homeschool has been a success. But it's hard! I just don't know if I could do it long term. This was a trial run for us.
One thing is pretty certain though, is I don't want to have some kids in public school and some in homeschool. The reason for that is that Eden and Becca are jealous. They don't get as much of my attention as Jonah and Celeste do. When I'm homeschooling 2 kids & sending 2 kids to public school, I am dealing with the challenges of both concurrently. I have to teach two of my kids during the day. Then when the other two kids get home, I have to do homework with them. I still need to go to the school quite often and volunteer there and be involved. I still have to deal with the public school schedule and it steps on the toes of the freedom of a homeschool schedule. Really annoying.
What do my kids want?
Celeste- She goes back and forth. Last I heard, she wants to be homeschooled next year.
Jonah- DEFINITELY wants to be homeschooled and is very certain about it. He's worried about having to go back to public school.
Eden- She's not sure.
Becca- Definitely wants to be homeschooled.
Another factor in this decision is their desires. I know that if I choose something against what their desires are, I will be setting myself up for some added stress as they could rebel or fight, or be more distressed with what they have to do next year. Because of this, I have asked their input. We have researched it together. We have been praying about it. They feel a little responsible for the decision too.
So next year I am going to either:
1- Homeschool all 4 kids.
or
2- Send them all to school and pray all will go well as I will have a lot less control in their education.
What's your say on it?
Monday, April 12, 2010
California Break
We had a wonderful Spring Break!!! I only wish it weren't over!
On Saturday (3rd) we left home and drove straight through to San Jose. With having to stop and use chains with snow, it took us 15 hours to get there.
We listened to Conference in the car and I really enjoyed the morning session the most.
On Sunday we just chilled in the hotel room most of the day and watched Conference. It didn't feel much like Easter but the Easter Bunny did manage to find the kids while we were there. Our hotel was so nice!
On Monday Steve went to work there in San Jose while the kids and I got to go to Apple and have lunch with Sam, Michelle and Meghan. Apple's cafeteria was pretty darn impressive and being with Uncle Sam and his family was even better.
After that, Michelle, Meghan and the kids and I went to the Egyptian Museum. We were pretty impressed with this museum. It had stuff I never imagined they could have acquired. And it was fun to see things that went along with what we've been learning about in homeschool.
The grounds were very nice too.
It wasn't the warmest of weather, but still nice and warm enough for the kids to brave the outdoor pool a couple of times.
On Tuesday the kids and I headed to San Francisco and met up with Steve's boss' wife and their baby. She is such a super nice person and their baby is adorable! She showed us around and it was just a perfect day.
We went to the Legion of honor, which is an incredible art museum. INCREDIBLE.
The grounds there were pretty spectacular as well.
After that we hiked around Golden Gate Park which was also gorgeous. We went through the Botanical Gardens as well.
I noticed too late that the kids and I were getting too much sun and no sunscreen. I improvised with this little turban (aka burp cloth) for Charity. Too cute.
We then headed over to the beach for a bit. The kids love the beach. It was pretty windy though.
On Wednesday I took the kids to Great America amusement park. (Steve worked all day Monday through Thursday.)
Going to an amusement park with 5 children and only one adult can be kind of tricky, but it actually went as perfect as possible. I got a nice little tan.
The kids wanted to dry out after a water attraction soaked them. I got a kick out of watching them come up with this solution.
On Thursday it seemed I spent half the day getting the hotel room put back together and us all packed up to head to Bakersfield. I then took the kids to see "How to Train a Dragon" which they really enjoyed. We walked around the entire Great Mall and spent no money shopping! Then we picked Steve up from work and drove home to Bakersfield.
^^Charity Gene with her Grandma Gene.
We spent the next couple of days enjoying my parents, siblings, niece and nephews and grandparents, and taking hardly any photos. But it was a great time!
We arrived home late last night and are back to reality. It was good while it lasted.
On Saturday (3rd) we left home and drove straight through to San Jose. With having to stop and use chains with snow, it took us 15 hours to get there.
We listened to Conference in the car and I really enjoyed the morning session the most.
On Sunday we just chilled in the hotel room most of the day and watched Conference. It didn't feel much like Easter but the Easter Bunny did manage to find the kids while we were there. Our hotel was so nice!
On Monday Steve went to work there in San Jose while the kids and I got to go to Apple and have lunch with Sam, Michelle and Meghan. Apple's cafeteria was pretty darn impressive and being with Uncle Sam and his family was even better.
After that, Michelle, Meghan and the kids and I went to the Egyptian Museum. We were pretty impressed with this museum. It had stuff I never imagined they could have acquired. And it was fun to see things that went along with what we've been learning about in homeschool.
The grounds were very nice too.
It wasn't the warmest of weather, but still nice and warm enough for the kids to brave the outdoor pool a couple of times.
On Tuesday the kids and I headed to San Francisco and met up with Steve's boss' wife and their baby. She is such a super nice person and their baby is adorable! She showed us around and it was just a perfect day.
We went to the Legion of honor, which is an incredible art museum. INCREDIBLE.
The grounds there were pretty spectacular as well.
After that we hiked around Golden Gate Park which was also gorgeous. We went through the Botanical Gardens as well.
I noticed too late that the kids and I were getting too much sun and no sunscreen. I improvised with this little turban (aka burp cloth) for Charity. Too cute.
We then headed over to the beach for a bit. The kids love the beach. It was pretty windy though.
On Wednesday I took the kids to Great America amusement park. (Steve worked all day Monday through Thursday.) 
Going to an amusement park with 5 children and only one adult can be kind of tricky, but it actually went as perfect as possible. I got a nice little tan.
The kids wanted to dry out after a water attraction soaked them. I got a kick out of watching them come up with this solution.
On Thursday it seemed I spent half the day getting the hotel room put back together and us all packed up to head to Bakersfield. I then took the kids to see "How to Train a Dragon" which they really enjoyed. We walked around the entire Great Mall and spent no money shopping! Then we picked Steve up from work and drove home to Bakersfield.
^^Charity Gene with her Grandma Gene.We spent the next couple of days enjoying my parents, siblings, niece and nephews and grandparents, and taking hardly any photos. But it was a great time!
We arrived home late last night and are back to reality. It was good while it lasted.
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