I can edumakate my kidzzz

I just read an online article for a Charlotte, NC publication that compares me with Muslim terrorists, Stepford Wives and Rosemary's Baby (well, the devil worshipers in Rosemary's Baby)because I homeschool. It talks about women with braids in their hair (uh oh, I sometimes braid my hair and it is in the way if I leave it down.... uh oh!) and who wear long skirts (GASP!!!!! I sometimes wear long skirts because I find them comfortable!) as religious fanatics/martyrs committing "suicide book-learning". I realize that this is possibly a parody or a satirical piece, but the fact that ANYONE could compare homeschooling families to terrorists pisses me off.

Then, it discusses whether or not I am qualified to teach my children. In case you are wondering.... YES! I am taking this rather personally!!!! A direct quote from the article says "I know that homeschooled kids have won high-profile academic contests, but for every homeschooler that aces a spelling bee, there's some poor child being "instructed" by a parent who's barely literate herself. Teachers in the public school system are required to have certification and college degrees, yet any yahoo can force their kids to stay home as long as they pass an annual test." Ummmm.... satirical or not.... this is obnoxious!!!! There are bad examples in any sample of populace that you research (and there is a fantastic letter responding to this article talking about this) but I am tired of having to defend of what I am doing!

I may not have finished college, but this was due to poor choices not a lack of intelligence. I have 3 energetic, intelligent and loud boys. Yet I am enjoying the progress I am seeing happen in our little "School for Boys". I had always said" wow! I could never do that!" when talking to homeschooling parents. But circumstances in our lives made it the best choice for our family and our children. I am stressed and depressed and yet it has nothing to do with being a homeschooler. It has to do with having not a single local friend to go have some time out with. It has to do with not being able to have a date night with my husband because we don't know anyone who could watch the kids. It has to do with money and how expensive a move to NY is going to be. None of it has to do with being with my boys during the day.

Satire or not, there is a reason more and more people are making this choice every year. Maybe because people like the one who wrote this obnoxious article are rampant in the public school system....

Nine years later.....

Another one has passed and I am always hearing that the pain recedes as time passes, but nine years later, it is still as hard as the week after the planes hit. I know it is hard on my kids to see me so upset, but I don't hide it from them because I think it's important for them to see that things that you hear about on the news affects real people. When we talk about Aunt Patrice who died in the World Trade center, she's not just the reason my middle son's middle name is Patrick. She was a hero who died trying to help a pregnant woman evacuate. She was a beloved wife, a loved sister, a cool aunt. She was murdered by people who hated this country NOT because of anything our military had done, but because our women are allowed to walk around heads and faces uncovered. Because women can vote, own property, and make decisions without a father or husband consulting. She and 2, 700+ were murdered because we refuse to stone to death gay people. Because we as a country try to judge people on the content of their character, not their gender or sexual preference. Because we are tolerant of other religions. Because our country is run on freedom (well, it was... but lets not go there) not on one religion.

It does make me sad that people seem to have become numb to September 11th. The date wasn't even mentioned in my church..not even a prayer for the victims. I noticed some people online who acted like it was any regular old day. I don't expect weeping and wailing, nor anger and rage! I don't expect black armbands. I just expect some circumspect behavior.... maybe just giving a thought to the heroes of that day; firefighters, police, the flight 93 passengers, or the everyday person who thought of helping others before thinking of themselves.....

Like my Aunt Patrice, wife, sister, aunt, great aunt....and in my opinion...hero.

Aaaaaaaaahhhhh(tumn)

Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!! Woke up and got ready to go to church this morning when the boys came bursting into the apartment (they had been walking the dog) saying "It's COLD outside Mom!". I was skeptical, but I have to say once we left the apartment for church, it was rather cool outside!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE cool weather! It has been in the 80's for a couple of weeks and while it's cooler than the 90 degree days we had been suffering through, it hasn't felt like fall until today. I kept thinking that it's just an effect of Hurricane Earl's passage and it'll get very hot again this afternoon, but no, it didn't! It was nice and still warm enough to bring the boys to the pool! One of the pluses of moving to the North East of our country is that I will finally be able to have four seasons!!!! Having grown up in South Florida and spent my adult life in Central Florida the seasons are one of the positives of moving to NY. When my husband and I took the dog for an evening walk, even the air smelled different! The leaves haven't changed, not yet. I can almost picture God walking over to a big knob on the wall with all four seasons around it (kind of like an old oven settings dial) and he chose today to turn that dial to the picture of Autumn with a picture of beautiful orange and red leaves falling off of a huge tree. Hope the leaves start changing colors soon!

Homeschool shmomeschool!

This should be easy! They are only in elementary school! Readin', writin', and 'rithmatic, right?
Right? Hello?.... could you stop laughing and get up off of the floor? I only have 3 kids.... it's not like we are the Duggar family.... it's only ....3 boys.....3 wonderful, smart, caring.....loud....argumentative...pummel eachother at the drop of a hat....BOYS!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

What was I thinking???? Well, I was thinking that since the Army has only moved us here for 5 and a half months, that I need to provided continuity and stability for my boys so they aren't in 3 schools in 3 states in 2010. Now I am thinking I should just send the boys to a military boarding school!!!! Just kidding...a little....

I am actually starting to enjoy homeschooling! In the one month that I have been homeschooling, I have seen such improvement in their handwriting (one of our main focuses)! The little voice in my head (one of many) that gives air to my doubts about whether I am doing the right thing, seems to be getting quieter. I have a lefty, ZT, whose handwriting was illegible. His teachers (even the awesome ones in TX) just didn't have the time to focus on him. Homeschooling has helped sooooo much! All I have the 3 of them doing for writing journal, is copywork from the Bible. They are still on Adam and Eve and I am already seeing massive improvement!!!! Even Dr. Destructo (Mr. I am not a baby so stop calling me your baby!!!) has stopped crying and having a tantrum at the idea of writing journal time. When we started, he cried and cried.. So I told him he could write, or take a nap. He chose the nap. Then he didn't want the nap, but would do these extreme fake yawns to try to stop writing time. Yesterday, even with the distraction of Daddy being home from Fort Jackson, he went and got his journal, his pencil and his Bible book from his bin and started doing is writing journal ON HIS OWN!!!!! I didn't have to tell him, his brothers didn't even have theirs out yet and he did it!!! And he is improving!!! I know they don't work on handwriting in Kindergarten, but his writing was awful. It seemed almost like baby scribbles, Now you can understand each word! It's kind of exciting!

I never thought I'd enjoy the homeschooling. I know some parents could be around their kids 24/7, but I'm not one of them. There is too much of me in their personalities, I guess. I need breaks from them and also from my hubby! So I thought homeschooling would be like a chore that I would have to force my smile during school time. But I am actually enjoying it. We are reading some books aloud and I love that the boys laugh when I do some of the voices!

I guess the lesson of the day is I can get as much enjoyment out of homeschooling as I put into it.... sounds like fun to me!!!!