A Surprise Gift to a Lucky Reader in Honor of Luke’s Birthday – Chance to Win a Copy of Good and Easy Eats Expires Tomorrow Night

Today is our eldest son’s birthday, and since our family will be going gluten-free in the new year largely for him, I wanted announce a surprise giveaway – a gift that we were offered that will help us along with out GFCF journey and one want to offer to others as well:

 *****

This fantastic e-book is a cookbook for anyone – not just GFCF families. It offers 70 healthy, easy, allergen-free recipes, which could well become pleasing staples in your family’s daily diet.  (The giveaway information is at the bottom.)

Good and Easy Eats' author, Kim Wilson was kind enough to offer me a pre-release copy of the book to review. Needless to say, since I loved Kim’s cookbook Every Day Gluten-Free cookbook, I jumped at the chance to try out her new e-book.

My rating:

A * READABILITY

Good and Easy Eats is well-organized and easy-to-read. It not only contains 70 family-pleasing recipes divided into Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Snack and Dessert categories, but it also has Kim’s thoughts and tips on:

• Wholesome Eating
• Ingredient Information
• Gluten-Free Baking
• Basic Kitchen Tools
• Simplified Baking Tips
• Stocking a Basic Pantry
• The Cost Of Wholesome Eating
• Organic Purchases
• An Average Day of Eating and Menu Examples
• Juicing

All of this is presented with the practical format you’d expect in a cookbook and the additional notes and tips you’d hope a friend offers when passing along a favorite recipe.

I love Kim shares such tidbits as how to tweak particular recipes, for example:

“This topping can be prepared without the nutritional yeast (particularly for those who have yeast concerns), but it adds a nice cheesy flavor if you don’t have a problem with it.  The pumpkin seeds are optional, but bring a depth to the blend that makes it even 'cheesier'!”

And why you should try particular recipe, such as:

“You might be tempted to skip over this recipe, but I encourage you not to. It has such great texture and flavor. Company has always enjoyed it at our home. It’s also such a simple way to prepare steel-cut oats (otherwise you’re stuck stirring a pot for about an hour!).”

Kim’s style definitely makes you feel like Good and Easy Eats is as much an off-the-shelf cookbook as it is a collection of tried-and-true tips and recipes penned just for you from a friend. Her notes contain encouragement and expertise, which both newbies to healthy, whole, allergen-free eating and those further along on the journey can appreciate.

A * for RELEVANCE:

Who could not use a collection of everyday recipes that are not only healthy, but truly tasty, too? And, better yet, since so many of us have friends or family members that face food intolerances and allergies, who would not appreciate a collection of go-to recipes that are gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free and yeast-free?

That is exactly what Good and Easy Eats is: a go-to guide for feeding family and friends every day, regardless of common allergies and intolerances. In Kim’s own words:

“In creating this ebook, I have collected the best-of-the-best from (all my published books) plus added many more recipes that have become tried-and-true staples in our home and in the homes of thousands of other families who have found that healthy eating can be simple, affordable and tasty!”

Tried-and-true recipes that leave me confident that I am feeding my family well without keeping me chained to the kitchen counter are certainly something I find useful!

A * for PRACTICALITY

Okay, I have to be honest here, I almost knocked Good and Easy Eats down a partial star for practicality based only on the fact that it is an e-book. For I admit it: I am a bit of a luddite. Even if I enjoy reading and writing blogs, I don’t own much technology and still prefer my books in the good old-fashioned printed form, especially cook books. However, I have had second thoughts.

One of my goals for the new year is to finish a family cookbook – a three-ring binder to house all of our family’s new favorite GFCF recipes for every day as well as special days. The fact that Good and Easy Eats is an e-book will make doing so easy for me. Since there are so many recipes in it that we like, I can simply print favorites out and place them in the binder. Also, if a recipe gets egg, batter or oil on it – as sometimes happens to recipes in our home since my children often act as junior chefs – I don’t need to be chagrined. I can just print another page! That’s pretty practical in my opinion.

Plus, because Good and Easy Eats is electronic, it is by default “green” and easy-to-find. Paper is not wasted on things you do not need to access and it is always ready on your computer. The kids cannot misplace it on you.

A * for LONGEVITY

Even if our GFCF experiment in the new year goes bust, I know we’ll continue using Good and Easy Eats. The recipes in it are ones we enjoy simply because they are healthy, whole and tasty. The fact that they are intolerance-friendly is simply a bonus! Plus, I think our son is going to ask for the Pumpkin Pie every year from now on for his birthday breakfast…

A * for VALUE

At $4.95, Good and Easy Eats is priced not only to sell, but also to help! In my opinion, budgets won’t be broken by this low-cost, high-use cookbook and bellies will be happily filled.

I recommend Good and Easy Eats not only for anyone who wants a great resource for everyday home cooking, but also for anyone who wants to share a collection of allergen-free recipes for family or friends to use. At $4.95, the book makes an easy gift to give your family or someone else’s!

Also, as a bonus, anyone who purchases Good and Easy Eats gains access to links of:

• a video of a Fruit Smoothie Demo
• a Fruit Smoothie eReport entitled A Great Nutritional Start to Each Day
• a podcast of Kim’s Introduction to Wholesome Eating Class
• Kim’s Exclusive Menu Planning System

The Giveaway

To win Good and Easy Eats:

• Visit Kim Wilson’s  Good and Easy Eats and then come back and leave a comment on this post saying why you’d love her e- book or any of her other books.
• Share about this giveaway on any and all of you social networking sites – Facebook, Twitter, your blog, etc. – then come back to tell me you did so. (I will trust your honesty!)
• Leave a comment with a tip, recipe or resource you and your family use for every day healthy eating. Ones that involve whole-food GFCF cooking are especially welcome.

I’ll announce a winner by Saturday morning, the day the book will be available for purchase. That way, if you don’t win, but still want the book, you can be one of the first to order it here: Good and Easy Eats

Our Advent Word Wall: A Simple and Beautiful Way to Integrate Learning Every Day

When I designed our Advent plan for simply living, learning and loving during this season, I envisioned a beautiful Advent alphabet border stretching down our hallway.  

As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  When I witness my children merrily practicing the stokes of a letter, smiling as they sketch a picture of a key word or bouncing with excitement as they come up with another word to add to our list each day, I can think of nothing more beautiful than the simple border we are making.

My eyes don't see the print through the recycled paper we are using, nor the ways the border could be more visually appealing if approached in another way.  Instead, I observe the wonder of my children learning and the pride they take each time we add another day's letter to the wall.  That, in my opinion, makes our Advent word wall a masterpiece.

Integrating Our Advent World Wall into Our Day

Every day, I ask the children if they can guess what the letter of the day is.  Now that we have a few letters up on our wall, Nina sometimes goes over to it to sing along until she can guess.  Luke, on the other hand, usually just shouts out a letter.

Once we have announced the letter, we explore its sound through repeating the sounds the letter makes in songs or chants, often with impromptu actions.  Then, I share some key Advent-themed words that begin with the letter, or have the children guess them by giving clues about how the word plays into Advent or the story of Jesus' birth.  We write these words in purple (for Advent) on a half sheet of paper and, then, try to fill the rest of the sheet with other words that begin with the letter.

As we read the books of the day, we listen for other words that start with our letter of the day and add those to the list as well.

We also practice writing the letter, either using copies of our Handwriting without Tears workbook, personal dry-erase boards or an easel chalkboard.

After the children feel comfortable writing the letter, they take turns writing the capital and lower-case version on a half sheet of paper and illustrating around it with key word sketches.  This sheet is hung in the hallway along with our word list.

Throughout the day, we key into other skills as we walk by the word list.  For example, since both children are still working on the concepts of "columns" and "rows" for Math, I sometimes ask them to find a specific letter or word in the __ column of the __ list.  For literacy, I ask Nina to slap the letter called __ or the one that makes the sound __, and I ask Luke to point to the word __ or to read x number of words from the __ list for me.  I also have them refer to the Wall when they ask me how to write specific words or letters, or they do so voluntarily on their own.

Indeed, we have been finding our Advent Word Wall a simple, yet effective anchor for our Advent explorations this year.  Not only do we have fun adding the next letter of the alphabet each day, but we also discover new ways to many quick, but valuable visits to it in order to both expand and consolidate learning.

We'd welcome your ideas on how we might continue to enjoy our Advent Word Wall.

Earn Your Way: A Game for Motivating Early Reading while Attending to Sensory Diet

Sometimes, traditional decoding and reading activities aren't what my son needs.  Instead, he needs a burst of activity for his sensory diet.

Thus, one day a few weeks back when my son was balking about doing "school work" and was more interested in baking and eating some GFCF cookies than he was in practicing his reading skills, I went with it. I immersed him in practical life skills to make the cookie batter with the promise that we would go outside for a bit while the cookies baked.  Then, I capitalized on his desire to test the cookies by preparing a challenge for him on our front walkway.


Yes, in order to get in a burst of much needed "heavy work" while also encouraging reading practice, I adapted our CVC Chalk Word Jump Game into a challenge where my son had to earn his way back to the kitchen for the tasters he so wanted.

Now, I am not advocating food as a reward on a regular basis, so let me add the caveat that any motivator could be used in the place of tempting home-baked cookies.  The important thing is not what the motivator is, but that your child is enticed to play the game.  Ass things turned out with my son, after the cookie motivator once and the motivation of having me unlock the car door so we could go somewhere he wanted to go the second time we played the game, I found my son playing on his own – completely self-motivated – until the rain washed away our "game board."

Want to try out our effective game for helping kinesthetic learners and children who need extra sensory input get some reading practice?  Go for it.  Here is how to play

Earn Your Way

 

Materials

• chalk (or paper, a writing utensil and tape if playing inside)
• front walkway (sidewalk or hallway)
• a motivator (such as fresh-baked GFCF cookies, to go inside, to go outside to play, to go for a ride or to play with a specific toy)

Presentation

1. Write a fairly long lst of words on your walkway (or on sheets of paper taped to the floor if playing inside.)  Be sure to include words your child has mastered as well as some new ones.
2. Let your child know you have a challenge game prepared and that if he or she completes it, access to the motivator awaits.
3. Ask your child to stand at one end of the list, to read (or sound out) the first word and, then, to shout it out as he or she stomps on it.
4. Offer encouragement as your child progresses through the list, stating things your child has accomplished, such as, "You sounded out a four letter word."  Or, "You stomped with such power."  Or, "You've read five words already."  In other words, be specific with your praise.  Of course, offer help as needed as well.
5. When your child gets to the end of the list, congratulate him or her with some big high fives and a comment, such as, "Wow!  You read 1, 2, 3, 4....TWENTY-SIX words just now!"  Then, offer access to the motivator.

Skills

• Decoding Words
• Gross Motor
• Proprioception
• Motor Coordination/Motor Planning
• Listening/Following Directions 

Quick Tips/Extensions

• If your child has mastered all basic phonemes, be sure to include an example of each in the list of words you choose to write.   
• Mix basic sight words with phonics-based ones.  If your child needs it, cue that the sight words are "puzzle words" or "challenge words" that may not be able to be sounded out traditionally.
• As an extension, play Hide-n-Seek Words:  Call out a word from the list that has a smaller word hiding within it, for example "cat", "tin" or "trip".  Have your child run to jump on it.  Then, challenge your child to find the shorter word hiding in the larger one.
• As another extension, play Silly Stories:  Have your child jump on a word and begin a story that starts with it.  Then, you jump on a different word and find a way to weave the word you are on into your child's story.  Take turns jumping on different words and incorporating them into the story.
• For repetition, use the list whenever you enter or exit the house.  Sometimes, challenge your child to read all the words.  Other times, challenge your child to read five of them.  At still other times, challenge your child to read all words that contain a specific letter.
• Vary vestibular and proprioceptive input by having your child hop on, run around, skip to, slither by, gallop to or spin around words.

How do you use motivators to get "heavy work" into your child's day?  

What movement-based ways do you encourage early reading skills?

Do you have a frugal, fun and effective early learning activity to share? 

Please leave a comment to share.

This post is being shared at We Are THAT Family's Works for Me Wednesday because outdoor reading lessons that include heavy work really work for us.

3 Ways to Bring Little Ones Closer to Mother Mary

My four-year-old followed me into the bedroom the other day when I was about to put her brother down for nap.  She draped a blanket over her head saying, "I am like Mary."  A few minutes later, she smiled sweetly and added,  "Mommy, if you died, I would look after Jack."

I was taken aback for a moment.  How did my little girl go from dramatizing Our Lady to thinking about a day when she might foster her baby brother?

Then, I remembered that some of the books we have been reading with our ABC Advent plans had included parents that had passed on.  She was simply processing those stories and reaching out with compassion to share her love for me and her brother.

I took my daughter's hand and explained that I didn't plan on going to heaven anytime soon, but that if I did, I would still be with her and her siblings just as Our Mother is here for us.  I would be in her heart.  I then thanked her for warming my heart by volunteering that she would be God's hands of love for her baby brother here on earth should I ever not be able to be so.

With that, she happily went back to playing Mary as I snuggled "her baby Jesus"  to sleep for his nap.

Me? I reflected on why she might have such a strong affection for Our Mother Mary.

Introducing Young Children to Our Mother

1.  Sing:  One of the first things I did when my children were born was pray with them.  With my own tune, I sang the Our Father and the Hail Mary as I held them close to me not long after delivery.  Since then, I have continued to sing them these payers on occasion.  I have also noted my daughter singing the Hail Mary to her baby on her own when she is trying to soothe him.  There is something about song that speaks to children.

2.  Look:  At a very young age, I began pointing out images and statues of Mary to my children and asking them if they would like to say a prayer to our Mother in Heaven.  I also have included many picture books with Mary in our reading basket.  Being able to envision Mary helps the children develop a relationship to her.

3.  Play:  My children enjoy playing with me, their earthly mother, and so it follows that although they cannot directly play with their Heavenly Mother, they might enjoy playing with the idea of her.  Thus, I incorporate Mary-themed play into our lives through such things as the 3-Part Life of Mary Cards I made, Mary Spoon Puppets we made as a part of a Mother's Day gift and art projects like the one we did for the Assumption.  Play is the work, and often the language, of young children.  It is a wonderful way to help them get to know Our Mother.

This week, as we near the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I wonder how others bring their young children close to Our Mother.  I invite you to share your thoughts and resource tips on this topic, as well as one other ways you train your children up with happy hearts through a comment or linking up.

Thank you to the folks who linked up last week. 

Holly's church new year hats, with printable template included, were far cuter than our paper ones were and her Advent book baskets for children and adults sure had some wonderful titles.  The way Heidi is preparing her home for Christmas is lovely. Colleen reviewed a helpful Advent resource book and Mama Hooper incorporated some of the ideas she found here into her own family's celebration of the season.

Relishing Quiet amidst the Chaos: Homeschool Mother’s Journal, Mid-November thru Early December

 

Fridays keep coming and going before I get myself together to finish a Homeschool Mother’s Journal post.  This Friday, I was determined to post one before midnight.  So, I took advantage of many of the pauses between the chaos of life in order to complete it. The result?  A marathon post to share the richness of the past three weeks.

Now, I know if your life is anything like mine, time for reading long posts may be limited. Thus, I take no offense if you simply click on from here.  At the same time, though, I invite you to stay a while if you can.  Read about what we’ve been doing and thinking.  Then, share your own thoughts, questions and tips in return.  For, as it says in the sidebar: whether you join us for a moment, a mile or more, we appreciate your company along the way as we journey to train happy hearts in our children and ourselves.

In my life over the past couple weeks…

was a balance of all my roles, including that of Citizen. Yep, I was called for jury service in mid-November, which afforded me time to sit in blessed quiet for a number of hours while waiting to see if I would be empanelled. For this mommy of three little ones, that was a GIFT!

Ah, quiet. I recall the days when it was something I hated. During my single life, I almost always had music going or chattered away aloud. Now, I relish the peace.

Having a few consecutive hours of quiet as I awaited jury empanelment highlighted for me how vital such time can be. The experience of breathing out time is a perfect antidote to the go-go-go of modern life. A pause in life to let one’s mind wander seems to be just the tweak needed to ensure maximum performance when the brain must remain revved up for a while. A moment of relative stillness can be so healing.

With this in mind, I have been consciously seeking to savor moments of quiet for myself and my family at home since. A few minutes of quiet before jumping out of bed to get on with the day’s tasks, afternoon lulls when I recall the lesson I learned when our camera took a bath, times spent snuggled on the couch or on a blanket outside while doing some of our Advent reading…Yes, I have been aiming to add more and more such times to life at home during this season.

In our homeschool since …

my last Homeschool Mother’s Journal post on November 11, we have been doing everything and nothing. I put it that way because we have not been spending long hours in our learning room doing lesson after lesson.  Thus, by some folk’s standards, what we are doing might not be considered “schooling”.  I disagree.  Learning has been woven into almost everything we have been doing.  I constantly note evidence of our children meeting both state-sanctioned learning standards and my personal beliefs about what I think toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarteners should be exposed to, exploring and discovering.

Some highlights have been:

Faith

Observing Advent with our ABC plans has been rewarding thus far. Although we have not stuck to the letter of the plans (and I never expected we would), we have been focusing on stories, sensory activities, service and love – all the while growing in our understanding of Salvation History and the true meaning of Christmas.

There have been some very warm moments during story times. In fact, some of Luke’s comments one day as we read together while our in-home Behavior Specialist visited not only elicited a heartfelt “awww” and pat on Luke’s back from her, but made my heart smile with a “he gets it”. He is spending more and more of his free play time enacting interpretations of stories we read, as well as the Christmas story itself (as is happening in the picture below with Luke “Joseph” leading Nina “Mary” on a “donkey). This, in turn tempers some of his more impulsive, destructive and aggressive behaviors. It just goes to show how powerful picture books can be!

And, Nina? My baby girl who could have cared less about sitting intently to be read to from books some years ago is definitely gone. I adore having the preschooler that took her place cuddled against me, completely enraptured in stories. I also smile when she applies the examples of virtues and love that we read about to daily life and play. She is such a compassionate child – often going to Jack before I do if he cries and always getting quiet to pray when she hears or sees and emergency vehicle. Seeing her innate concern for others develop balances the moments when her age-appropriate (but no less grating) tattle-taling, whining and overtired tantruming rear up. So does her love for Mary! She almost always chooses the “hail Mary” when it is her turn to lead prayer and she likes to put blankets on her head to enact Our Mother, too.  I wonder if both her GG’s prayers from heaven might have something to do with this. They both turned to Mary often as well.

And Jack? He is still quite young to demonstrate his growing faith, but is always an example to us of God’s plan. Not a day goes by when I don’t recognize our “surprise” child as a testimony to the importance of being open to life. As I watch his little hands at work when he gets into activities meant for his older siblings, such as the soap carving pictured above, I marvel at his purpose.  Often, I pause, unable to imagine our family without the gift of Jack. There is such beauty to in his being.

I adore the simple, treasured moments of witnessing Jack’s development. Just this past week, he has taken to sitting in my lap as his sibling sit on other side of me during our read aloud time. There, he smiles, points distinctly to different objects in the pictures of each book and makes sounds. Donkeys, in particular, captured his attention the other day as he captured mine and his siblings.  With his cheerful personality, I do not doubt that he will one day carry any burdens he faces in life with little complaint just like this animal can. 

Reading

Nina constantly requests to play Phoneme I Spy when we are driving in the car and is enjoying learning her letters though games like “Slap” as we build our hallway Advent alphabet.

Luke spells words all on his own with letter blocks (and evidences his obsession with 39 Clues, a book-on-CD that his co-op friends turned him into that stars Dan and Amy Kahill.) 

Luke is getting stronger at reading phonetically spelled words.  And he and Nina are becoming quite adept at coming up with words for specific onsets.

Writing

Nina likes to spend free time working writing muscles by cutting paper up into bits and writing messages on it.  She also enjoys just making crosses and o’s on paper.

Luke constantly sketches things and has taken to labeling them with inventive and phonetically spelled words, such as “pupe dog Luke” above.

Mathematics

The children have been learning concrete math concepts through cooking with me.  I hope to reinforce some literacy along with this by making more cards like the Crock Pot Recipe Cards I shared a while back.

Luke and Nina explore concrete addition and subtraction of numbers up to ten with a block stacking game we made up.

Games like Pajaggle, which we reviewed, have also been providing hands-on math and fine motor practice.

Plus

The children used group-time and art skills, as well as practiced gratitude, while making our annual cornucopia of thanks.

Despite having stacking blocks and stacking cups, Jack prefers the real thing.  See what he gets up to, working his sensorial and coordination skills while Mommy does dishes!

Science Lab experiments led by Daddy keep inquiry-based learning and discovery going.

Luke, Nina and Jack practiced their manners and turn taking while being wonderfully behaved and quite inquisitive at a recent Creative Kids Co-op field trip to a vet’s office.

Luke was excited to try out Science equipment.

Nina was not afraid to ask questions and get answers.

Even Jack got in on the hands-on learning!

With out other Co-op some good heavy work in, helping to push the big boys on the tables while cleaning up from a delightful homeschool support group Thanksgiving luncheon we attended, which came complete with crafts, games and good food. It was followed by a long stretch of friend-time at a local playground, which ended in me cracking up as Luke told me he liked playing with one particular little girl because, “she is cute” and Nina asked me if we could “have a date” with the girl’s family soon.

Who says homeschoolers miss out on socialization? Our children consistently spend “school time” sharing experiences with folks of all ages – age-similar peers and children and adults at home, at co-ops and within our community. I think this perfect socialization for real life when they grow up. 

The kids also experienced their first “substitute teacher” while I fulfilled my jury duty service. During this time, the kids enjoyed Grammy-as-Teacher of the regular substitute-teacher silliness syndrome, but with all the love, learning and smiles that I hope they can always approach both change and learning with. Together, they enjoyed being read chapters of Devotional Stories for Little Folks; Luke proudly read some Bob Books to Grammy; both children completed some Handwriting Without Tears practice sheets and pages from the Calvert Kindergarten Math Supplement Book; and everyone had fun. (Big thanks to Tiffani, from Our Journey thru Autism, for passing along HWT and Calvert to me. Although we are not always box-and-workbook curriculum types, these resources are wonderful and come in quite handy for when Grammy plays substitute homeschool teacher.)

Helpful Homeschooling Tips to Share

Purposely leave lulls in the day. It is during such times that children often consolidate and expand upon their skills.

I was amused one day this past month when Nina made a cut-and-tape person which now sits on my bed. It not only evidenced her increasing skill at handling scissors, but also her knowledge of body parts, her creativity and her imagination.

Likewise, when Luke began making letters from homemade playdough and forming those letters into words while acting out extensions Leapfrog video scenes, I smiled at his initiative and increasing literacy skills.

Always, when I catch a glimpse of Nina, Luke and Jack engaged in cooperative, peaceful, yet exuberant play, it makes me smile to think about the habits or the heart that are forming.

No one can force love of learning or one another. Each of us can, however, provide tools and allow time for it. I am glad the Spirit has moved me to prioritize offering my children “alone” time and space. (I put “alone” in quotes because, in reality, they are often not alone, but with each other, and, always, with me just a few steps, a room or a floor away when such time and space is offered.)

I am inspired by…

God’s design. In children, in the rhythm of seasons, in the unique properties of everything I see, taste and touch.

Sometimes, I pause to really savor something through my senses and mind and, when I do, the everyday becomes awe-inspiring. How anyone can think that there is no God is beyond me. The design of our universe and the things in it are simply too amazing to be coincidence, as far as I am concerned. I am so glad a Masterful Creator shaped it all for us.

Places We’ve Been Going and People We’ve Been Seeing

One Saturday, we got back into the habit of going to the Lowe’s Build and Grow clinics. These free clinics are a great way to spend some time as a family while working fine motor skills and doing handicrafts.  Plus – bonus – we sometimes come away with practical tools for homeschooling, as was the case with the simple Science Labs we made, which the children have been enjoying.

 

We checked out WWI Memorial Park in North Attleboro for our Family Day one Sunday. What a great place! Animals in a petting zoo, several playground areas, a “beach” sandbox and – the favorite of the day – a mega slide in Julia’s Garden. Such fun it was to zoom down that slide! (And, how special that Julia’s family chose to honor her memory by creating the delightful Julia’s Garden. May Julia smile down from heaven as she witnesses so many families enjoying the garden and may her own family be at pace, knowing Julia is with God and that their memorial to her is helping others appreciate the gift of having their own children nearby still.)

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we enjoyed family time at the Plymouth Thanksgiving Parade and related events. The highlights for our children were crafting at the kids tent and exploring the Revolutionary War through World Wars encampment, where they got to participate in a Scavenger Hunt and games.

We enjoyed a family Thanksgiving at Grammy and Grampy’s. While everyone was gathered there, we also celebrated an early extended-family birthday for Daddy, Luke and one cousin. Ever since, Luke has been stomping and running to light up the glow-sneakers he so badly wanted and received.  And, I have been lit up over the fact that our extended family prioritizes time to get together with one another, even if only for “special days”.  Continuing the tradition of family that I grew up with is something I value. 

This past weekend, we had fun hiking the Blue Hills, where Luke designed an experiment in his head which he tried out later in the week.  After that, we checked out Marbles: The Brain Store, live and in person. It was hard to tear Luke away from this place and, when we finally got him out of the store, he literally skipped away saying, “Can we go here every day?” That boy loves his brain games! We will certainly be putting some of the games from the easy-to-navigate Marbles website on our holiday wish list.  (See the side bar for a discount button to click through if you’d like to do the same.)

We continue to enjoy our local library for story hours as well as just time to browse, play and socialize. This past week, while Luke and Nina shared some time on the kids computer at the library and I caught up with a friend we bumped into, Jack took it upon himself to crawl up into a chair to “read”. It was so cute! I was glad I had a camera in my bag to try to capture the moment. Key word being “try” since by the time I got the camera out, the chance for the cutest shot had passed, but I got an okay one just to remember the moment with anyway.

Plus, there’s the usual errands, appointments, classes, etc.

My favorite thing over the few week was…

Jack waving “bye bye”.

At 17 months old, Jack is still without understandable spoken words, but he is certainly not without communication. He clearly shakes his head “no” at times, points to things he wants, takes another’s hands and leads them to wear he wants to go, engages others in laughter and play, etc. It has only been in the past few weeks, however, that he has begun to use gestures such as waving “bye bye”.

Every time he has done it since late November, my heart has swelled with joy at seeing him mastering this step towards further communication with others.

And – wow – when he patted a seat on the couch next to me to indicate that he wanted his brother, who had one of our Advent reading books in hand, to come and sit with us, I melted!

A close second to it was celebrating the new church year as a family – simple party hats, noise makers and chocolate fondue with dippers made this a tradition I want to continue.

What’s working for me…

is prioritizing quiet times for my husband and me to think, write and create and for our children to play, snuggle and create as well. Yes, this sometimes means progress on our house remains at a standstill or that rigorous homeschooling is delayed, but it also means we all feel happier and healthier – more relaxed, balanced and blessed. At the end of the day, that is far more important than any “urgent” tasks as far as I am concerned.

Trust me, though, it takes a fair amount of “work” for me to allow for such quiet times. I am an ultra-task oriented person. Sitting and “doing nothing” are not in my nature. So, I have to keep in mind that the apparent “nothing” is actually “something”.  I find myself constantly self-coaching about letting creativity, quiet and peace unfold when they can instead of moving us along to the next thing I had on my list.

Of course, once I get this down pat, the next step will be re-layering productivity atop the pauses. Balance can be an elusive concept for this momma, but I am getting closer to it, I think.

Thoughts I Have

Books, blogs and business ideas have been dancing in my head recently. Some are ones that I thought about when I was still a Singleton. Others are ones that Mike and I mulled over shortly after becoming Marrieds. Still others only began to take shape in my mind once Motherhood arrived. Many of them will never come to fruition, but all of them have been pirouetting through my consciousness again over the past few weeks. I am not sure why.

I am sure that NOW is not the time to pursue such things. So, I am trying to just acknowledge the ideas, jot a few thoughts about them down and move on with what NOW is the time for – mostly mothering and educating my children.

I have been praying that the Holy Spirit guides me in all choices and that, if any of the ideas in my head are ones I should act on, the Spirit informs me WHEN and HOW to do so. Of course, I’d appreciate hearing from others who are going through (or have been through) similar periods of prioritizing parenting and projects and would love tips and resource ideas you might have to share.

Things I’ve been Working On

Homeschooling, decluttering, cleaning, organizing, writing and making a habit of personal prayer time with Mommy’s Retreat basket at hand are all things I continue to work at.

I also spent a fair amount of time making An Alphabet of Plans for a Literature-Based Family Advent Rich in Sensory Input and Special Activities, which the kids and I have been enjoying all week.

Mostly, though, I have just been working on being real with myself and others and taking advantages of the pauses of life.  While getting real offers me perspective, the pauses offer peace.  However, as I mentioned before, letting life unfold is something I really have to work at. 

By nature, I am a task-oriented person.  The part of my elementary school report card that I took the greatest pride in getting good marks in was “uses time wisely”.  For years, I have equated “wise” with “accomplished”.  Keeping busy with things to do and things done is how I roll.  So, learning to roll with the both impromptu and intentional pauses has been difficult for me.  It’s a choice I am obviously glad I am making, though. 

So are my children, as you can see by Nina’s joy-filled face during a restful picnic at a park.

I’ve been reading…

among other things:

Handwriting Without Tears Teaching Guide, which was generously passed along to me by my friend Tiffani from Our Journey thru Autism. As I read the guide, I am impressed with both the theory of the program and also the suggestions and tools for putting it into practice.

From Chaos to Calm: Effective Parenting for Challenging Children with ADHD and other Behavior Problems, a book that both confirms existing knowledge and ideas I had about dealing with children who are wired differently and suggests some new strategies. I had to return the book before finishing it and letting all its ideas sink in, but plan to get it again sometime and would definitely suggest that others challenged by “less easy” kids pick this book up from the library to browse.

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, which is a rather large book with small print and lots of information, so it’s a slow read for me, but one I have been finding interesting as I seek to understand how best to nourish our family. For me, a vegetarian of many years who is just beginning to add meat back into my diet, it is a particularly interesting read.

lots of books from Future Horizons, which I am again beginning to dedicate time to review and share about here. In the meantime, please remember that you can get a 15% discount at Future Horizons by using the code HAPPY when you check out.  By doing so, you will not only receive 15% off the total cost of whatever you purchase, but also FREE SHIPPING (in the continental US only.) Details about this offer can be found at my post about discounts for you for Future Horizons Materials and Conferences.

I’m cooking…

more and more according to weekly menu plans that I create. Yes, I have been getting better at making and sticking to these one again .  I find that the investment of time to do so really pays off, especially when I feel brain-dead.  Using menu plans, we are eating healthier, with a bit more variety.  Plus, I am getting ahold of our food budget again.

Helps in planning our meals each week include Everyday Gluten-Free and Special Diets for Special Kids, Volumes 1 and 2 Combined: Research and Recipes. The recipes I select from these are all a part of getting us ready to go gluten-free in the new year.

I’m grateful for…

my parent’s help. Without them, jury duty service and having cars at the shop recently would have been far more difficult to manage. I appreciate that they willingly look after our children and lend us vehicles when we ask them to do so. I hope to be an equally there-to-serve parent when my grown-up children need me to be one day.

I am also grateful for each moment of quiet that I have savored since remembering how powerful these can be.

And, I am still smiling over an incident at a gas pump the other day, where a woman unexpectedly gifted my children and me. I want to dedicate a whole post to that when I can. Keep an eye out for it.

I’m praying for…

many intentions, as usual, but especially today for:

 

• fellow homeschooling mothers, that we may hear God’s word and act on His will through both the mundane and the marvelous moments of our callings.
• all who need a little extra love and help this season.
• anyone who needs to take a pause. May the Spirit move them to find stillness and quiet, if only for a moment. May grace and restoration be theirs.

A Photo to Share

This is  Jack popping his head out of the window of a playground train he and his sibling were playing on during one of our Sabbath family days.  Every time I look at this picture I remember that even when life seems to be barreling down its tracks, it is important  to stop to breathe in its goodness. 

Pop on over to The Homeschool Mother's Journal to find many (briefer) journal entries from hoemschoolers.

Montessori-at-Home Realities: Answers to a Reader's Questions

Don't Let This Photo Fool You

The other day, a fellow Montessori-inspired reader sent me a personal email with some comments and questions.  I thought I would answer it here in case anyone has similar things on their minds:

“I envy you when I see photos of your kids working in the school room.  Do you have another space for their toys?  Do you keep them in their bedrooms?”

Oh dear!  Don’t let select photos fool you.  The toys may not be in the pictures, but they are there.  Truly, traditional toys constantly creep into our learning room.  Likewise, learning materials get carried to other rooms, sometimes one purpose – such as when we plan to work at the kitchen tables – and sometimes just because I am not paying attention when one of the children has an impulse to use “Montessori materials” as toys.  It’s not how I planned it and it isn’t ideal, but it is real life and the way our days flow…

 As far as where we keep “regular” toys:  We rotate them from our basement storage area to our living room.  From there, they often end up all throughout the house.

 Also, please be aware that my children do not just work in our classroom.  In fact, they often play and create there.  Sometimes this is purposeful and okay by me.  At other times, they Our Work Room Agreement, which we drew up and signed on the first day of school this year, end up making extraordinary messes.  These, of course, don’t end up on the blog because I am often too exasperated or too busy helping to clean them to photograph and upload them.  So, as is the case with most blogs, what you see on this one is but a small portion of what happens on a daily basis.

“I don't have space for individual rooms for each child, so since they sleep together.  They are a bit cramped in one room and I choose to only put books for them help them settle easy to bed.”

I do similarly.
 All three of my children sleep in one literal bed-room.  It is not yet decorated the way I envision it, but it sticks pretty closely to Montessori principles.  Besides their mattresses, which are on platforms or not, depending on their age, to allow for them to get in and out of bed on their own, there is: 

• one small bureau that houses their jammies, socks and tees in a way each of them can access them, and which is topped with a CD player, bedtime CD’s and light

• a small book case to house board books with covers facing out so our youngest to explore

• a closet with clothes on rods at child-height and extra linens stored at Mama-height

• a hanging shelf with some framed prayers and our paper-paged bedtime chapter books (out of the baby’s hand-and-mouth reach)

•  a bucket of stuffed toys for quiet play

Oh, those stuffed toys and how they like to be let loose multiple times a day!  I really need to simplify the selection.

“Legos , Duplos , puzzles, doll house , games, cars, playdough…cannot they all be in the school area on separate shelves?  Would this create distraction?”

I had our learning shelves set up in our living room before, and I often had “toys” and “work” side-by-side in separate cubbies.  My thought was that so long as all the toys were developmentally-appropriate ones, why not have them out there?  (I am not a Montessori purist.)  Now, I simply choose to keep mostly learning materials on the shelves in a room where the door can be closed because it not only helps my older children differentiate between which things can be used in personally creative ways and which may have guidelines, but it also allows me to keep my youngest away from materials he is not ready for when need be.

“Yesterday I visited a small private preschool with my three years old , I observed him moving around from digging dinosaur in the sand, to play on the mat with cars to play kitchen , to making puzzle, to ten minutes playdough play, to reading corner nicely and on his own.  How can this be accomplished when you are homeschooling an older sibling when she is needing one-on-one ...Where will your tiny tot be when you are working with your boys one-on-one?”

Well, every time I think I have this quandary figured out, my children go and change things up on me.  Different things work on different days and, on some days, nothing works at all.

My nearly 18-month-old does not move from one activity to another happily and independently for long periods of time, but he does sometimes.  At other times, I ask my preschooler or kindergartner to play with him while I work with a sibling, but I don’t force them to do so.  Thus, I find I sometimes have to just “give up” one-on-one time until the little one is napping or thoroughly immersed in something.  At such times, I remind myself that in a traditional Montessori school, the infants and toddlers are in one room and the 3-6’s in another.  I do not have this luxury, and, thus, manage as I can.

More and more, I see that Montessori-inspired homeschooling can look a lot like traditional Montessori learning.  However, it can also look very different as the realities home weave together with Montessori-essence.

“I cannot believe a tot can go through her workbox or shelf on her own moving from one activity to the other.  Mine will do the transfer once or twice than he needs something else and all this is more fun and nice when played with mama… we can be done with our trays in half an hour, then what?”

My youngest does not really have shelves and workboxes that he uses exclusively nor independently for long spurts of time.  Rather, he has several items on shelves that he explores as he wishes and, when his big siblings and I need some time without his little hands and curious mind about, we relegate him to the hallway with a few toys and, often, one of us to accompany him.

My preschooler moves through her shelves and boxes when we have learning room time okay, as does my kindergartener, but both seek my attention often just like their little brother does.  Every day is a new day and the “normalization” one would see in a traditional Montessori school, as well as the picture-perfect ideal we often imagine unfolding in one another’s homes as we browse blogs, is not a reality here.  What is there is the reality that life, learning and love are happening and that is enough for me!

“You don't want your tot to wonder on his own…so…we…just follow him and play with him and use his naps and time when his dad is around to do school with his five years old sister… not much can be achieved then because she wants to play with papa, too, and, after playing with little bro all morning, I am finding she needs a nap, too.”

I don’t mind when my little one wanders about by himself for a bit in the house, so long as I know he is safe.  Frankly I think it is good for his sense of independence.  However, we, too, often play with him (and each other!) instead of concentrating on learning.  Then, we use his naptime for some learning or cleaning.  When Daddy is home, we rarely “school” because all the kids want to play with Daddy or we are attending to home, outside activities or regular daily routines, such as bedtime.

I am okay with all this because: 

• my children are still young and I do not believe a pre-k or kindergarten program needs to be that rigorous.

• I do my best to follow my children’s interests and needs.

• I am confident that in a loving home with thoughtful parents, learning happens regardless of the amount of time spent on formal lessons.

Again, I am not a Montessori-purist, but a Mama who  is drawn to Maria’s philosophy’s in combination with some others, as well as a huge dose of what my heart and head tell me and the Spirit inspires me to pursue.

“Mama is exhausted too and her break used to be when kiddos are napping.  Now, no rest for mama.”

Oh, I feel for this one!  My eldest gave up naps at 18 months, so I have rarely had time for rest/nap myself.  Instituting a quiet time has been an ongoing struggle for years here.  Sometimes we manage.  Other times, I just pray for grace and enough energy to make it until my kids finally crash at night.

When I am frustrated, tired or feeling defeated, I try to remind myself that this is a stage in our lives and will pass.  I also try to think about what I want to remember and what I want my children to remember when we look back at this stage:  JOY.

I am the first to admit that joy is not something I share enough of with my children as I try to figure out how to balance home, work, homeschooling and life.  Like many moms, I get frustrated, tired, hyperfocused…  A host of less-important human mom-stuff sometimes seems to take precedence over the responsibility and gift of training my children up.  Moreover, I recognize that being a teacher or guide at a school comes with an entirely different set of parameters than being a mom at home who also takes on the role as teacher/guide.  Discovering how best to fulfill my roles and to do it with grace and joy is something I am working on.  I pray the Spirit will illuminate the way.

Messes Are Part of Learning

I pray, as well, that through being honest about all this here I offer the reader who took the time to email some perspective, solidarity and a few helpful ideas.  I also hope that I might encourage others that have heard similar calls similar to mine and that if what I have written here sparks a thought from a Montessori parent who is more experienced or balanced than I am that person would be willing to share in a comment.

Guiding our children in our own homes is a rewarding experience.  It can also feel solitary and wearisome at times.  Through the blogging community, perhaps we can inspire a sense of harmony and togetherness.  I hope so at least.

 

This post is being shared at Montessori Monday hosted by One Hook Wonder and Living Montessori Now, where you'll find both practical ideas and perspective on bringing Montessori-inspired learning to children.