Year Round Homeschooling and How We Organize It

I have shared my system for organizing our year-round school schedule before here, but today I wanted to touch on it again, this time with a visual I created to help simplify my explanation:

   

It really is simple, but with all the different jargon out there to describe portions of academic calendars, I thought this little chart would help to put into perspective what I mean when I am talking about the way I organize our year. I use four keywords to describe different portions of the year - the school year, the semester, the unit, and the gap. 

School Year - Our "school years" begin in the summer, followed by "graduation" the next spring. I intentionally coincide this part of our calendar with traditional schools, mainly to give other people a point of reference (when they ask Hunter the ever-famous question, "What grade are you in?") I consider Hunter in whatever grade he would be if he were in school (currently, 1st grade) but that doesn't dictate what level of work he does (he is above grade level in almost all subjects)

Semesters - The second level of organization is "semesters". I keep it really simple and just have one semester per season. The summer semester goes from June through August, fall semester from September through November, winter semester is December through February, and spring semester covers March through May, in general. Since the beginning of each week doesn't always coincide with the beginning of each month (obviously), the semesters will sometimes slightly overlap into other months (for instance, this year the "summer semester" runs from May 27 - August 25).

Units - The third level of organization is units. I make lesson plans for two-week periods, also known by me as units. Each semester has six units. 

Gaps - Also within the third level of organization is what I refer to as "gap" weeks. There are fifty two weeks per year, and if you divide fifty two by four (semesters) you will end up with thirteen weeks in each semester. Since units are two weeks each, that leaves you with six units per semester (twelve weeks) and one week left over. That extra week is what I call a "gap", and I leave it free of lesson plans, allowing us to use that week to catchup, review, or take a break.  

Why This Planning System Works Well For Us

1. Schooling Year Round Gives Us LOTS of Flexibility - A traditional school calendar goes for 36 weeks, or 180 days. With planning flexible lessons 48 weeks per year (and using the 180 days as a "guide"), that gives us 20 days per semester - 80 days per year - to take off for an impromptu day at the beach, visitors, sickness, no-motivation days, holidays, or vacation, if we need to.

2. I Plan More Fun Things - Just because "Winter Unit 3" overlaps December 25, doesn't mean we'll be doing math worksheets at 8:00 am on Christmas morning.

Throughout the year, I plan based on the season, holidays, and known events. For example, in the unit that goes through Christmas, I might plan only a bit of math review to do a few days during the unit, while using Christmas books for our literature and poetry, and postponing our normal history studies to talk about Christmas traditions around the world or to learn about the birth of Christ.

 Summer involves a much lighter work load, and many more fun activities and field trips are planned into our units. Planning lessons year round allows me to take a "school as life" approach to education and to lighten up all around. Knowing that I have flexibility makes it easier to incoporate the fun things.

3. The Flexibility and Fun Means We Don't Need Large Breaks - The rigors of traditional schooling make a good case for giving kids a much-needed summer break to relax, rejuvenate, and just enjoy being a kid. But homeschooling, particularly in this way (with flexibility for days off whenever needed, impromptu vacations, and incorporation of joyous activities and varying workloads throughout the year) makes such a break unnecessary.

In addition, being able to skip the summer vacation also means being able to skip all the downfalls of this giant break in learning, too. In the spring, time ends up being wasted because the end-of-year testing takes place a couple weeks before the end of school, making the last couple of weeks before school lets out somewhat of a "dead zone" where not too many new skills are being learned. When school resumes in the fall, it is well-known that the first several weeks are spent on reviewing forgotten material from the previous grade, as well as getting back into the old routine and readjusting behavioral standards. I would estimate that this equates to at least 3-6 weeks of school completely wasted due to summer break.  

How This Organizational System Helps Me Plan 

The School Year - As mentioned, the "school year" is more for other peoples' point of reference, but it does help to have a definite beginning and end to describe the goals I want to accomplish each year.

Semesters - Dividing up the year by the seasons (or semesters) helps in terms of goal simplicity, too. I am better able to define what I want to accomplish during each season, to see how much I have actually accomplished each season, and to plan our topics of study based on the seasons (for instance, lighter workloads in the summer, or holiday and seasonal lessons).

Units - The units are the key players in my lesson planning grand scheme, and were the beginning of this whole schedule in the first place.

I used to plan in one-week increments, but ended up spending most of my time feeling behind, discouraged, and guilty because we were never able to accomplish everything I wanted to get done. 

Making my plans last for two weeks has brought beautiful benefits to my family. I don't feel so rushed, there is room for error and "life", and even more importantly, we can cover topics in much greater depth than we were able to before.

Gaps - The gap weeks don't always happen the week following unit 6 (in fact, they rarely do). If we take a week-long family vacation during what would normally be in unit 2, the gap week just gets switched around and all the other units get bumped down a week. Guilt-free flexibility!


I hope that this post has been informative and useful to some of you. Perhaps if only to get a glimpse at how life works around here, or maybe as some inspiration if you are considering adopting a year-round school schedule in your own home.

I should also mention, that even though I have only talked about Hunter's schooling so far in this post, I plan Damien's (10 months old) activities and lessons on the same schedule - in two-week units, with no-plan gap weeks, and goals divided by year and season.

I would love to hear your comments!  

"All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern." 1 Chronicles 28:19

Hunter is 7 years, 1 month old (1st grade)
Damien is 10 months, 2 weeks old (grade "KB")

Educational (and other) Goals for 2012

What a big year next year is going to be.

Hunter is going to turn seven. Seven.

Wasn't he just, y'know, like two?

By the end of next year, this little crawling monster of mine is going to be an eighteen month old, talking-running-hopefully reading, full-fledge toddler.

Oy.

There are also a lot of other changes coming up for our family next year, although I can't really discuss all of them on this blog. They will be big, though.

So here are a few little thoughts on things that I want to do and accomplish in this next year. (I might add to this more, later).


1. Start our running program as a family again

2. Build a new brachiation ladder (monkey bars) for Hunter's room

3. Blog regularly and increase readership with good, useful content

4. Read at least 10 "high level" novels aloud with the boys

5. Work with Hunter on improving his penmanship and composition

6. Teach Damien how to swim independently

7. Have Damien reading simple sentences and home-made books

8. Teach Damien (and Hunter) at least 1000 bits of intelligence (flash cards), (in: art, biology, general science, geography, history, human anatomy, languages, literature, mathematics, music, and scripture)

9. Potty train Damien

10. Build own website

11. Learn how to develop apps

12. Start online business - thousands of free downloads and a few material things to sell

13. Learn more about Montessori activities, specifically for infants and toddlers

14. Touch up on my Spanish - be able to hold a simple conversation again

15. Help Damien understand simple mathematics and numbers

16. Complete our studies of ancient history and move onto the middle ages

17. Read through the Bible with the boys at least once 

18. Read through Proverbs with boys at least 10 times

19. Visit all museums in local city

20. Have Hunter ready to begin algebra and geometry by end of year (Math 8)

21. Have Hunter working at at least a fourth to fifth grade level in most subjects

22. Inventory, declutter, and simplify school supplies

23. Teach Hunter to play piano beyond beginners level

24. Take the boys to Yosmite

25. See the Grand Canyon with the boys

26. Resume "Word of the Day"

27. Go to bed every night with a clean kitchen

28. Keep a simple homeschooling journal for each boy

29. Touch up on Hunter's geography skills

30. Eat homemade dinners 6x a week - limit processed food and eating out

31. Wean Damien from pacifier (by 12 months)

32. Limit sugar to once a day - less regularly for the boys

33. Learn at least 200 words in American Sign Language and use regularly with Damien

34. Take pictures every day

35. Have Hunter baptized (he voluntarily asked if he could be last December)

36. Smile. Be patient. Enjoy each moment.

"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." 

Proverbs 16:9

Hunter is 6 years, 9 months old
Damien is 6 months, 3 weeks old

The Year Where I Accidentally Discovered the Secret to a Stress-Free Christmas

It's Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas!

But this picture wasn't taken today. Or even this weekend. It was actually taken in the beginning of December.

Originally, the idea of choosing to celebrate Christmas several weeks early due to Daddy's military obligations was kind of a bummer.

I mean, it would have been "better" to have Christmas on, y'know, Christmas, right?

But this Christmas season turned out to have a million little hidden benefits accidentally twisted in. And I wouldn't trade the lessons I learned for the world.

You see, knowing that we were going to celebrate Christmas early, meant that everything else had to be done ahead, too.

Throughout the fall, we purchased the boys' Christmas gifts here and there. A little something one day and a little something another, as we were doing our regular day-to-day shopping. In the end, all of their gifts were all bought and wrapped by mid November.

No rush, no stress, and coincidentally, no big hit on our budget since it was spread out and gradual.

After Thanksgiving, when the actual Christmas celebrations started rolling out, we kept it simple.

No stressing out about perfection. Just enjoying our family, together.

And then, "our family Christmas" was over. But that's when the magic started happening.

For the rest of the world, they chaos called December began. Stressing. Worrying. About the lines at the stores. The crazy drivers. The money. The late night gift-wrapping marathons. The question of what to get who. Forgetting something followed by hectic last-minute store runs. So much to do in so little time.

And do you know what we did? We watched.

We watched everyone worrying and hurrying and stressing and fretting and... We drank hot chocolate and watched Christmas movies.

We played board games under the Christmas tree.

We built graham cracker houses and painted ornaments and took pictures with Santa.

We read books, and sang songs, and really thought about the reason for the season.

And it was incredible.

It wasn't perfect, of course. We missed Daddy, and that was hard.

But the accidental gift of having to have every obligation done early, was priceless.

Christmas was peaceful. Christmas was stress-free. Christmas was everything it was supposed to be.

The secret, one that I already knew, was one simple thing. Early. Ahead.

I've known that little trick for a long time. But never got to experience its magic until now.

So next year, when we will hopefully be exchanging sweet gifts and commencing festivities on the 25th, and maybe even enjoying it with extended family, I hope that I will always remember the magic that was this year.

And have everything ready before December rolls around. So I can once again enjoy the peacefulness that Christmas is supposed to be.

Merry Christmas!

May your celebrations be filled with peace, whenever and wherever they occur!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." 

Isaiah 9:6

Thank you for your comments!

Hunter is 6 years, 9 months old

Damien is 6 months, 3 weeks old

Baby Schedules (Newborn)

Damien @ 3 weeks old

I have started implementing a flexible nursing / sleeping schedule with Damien since last week (just after he turned 2 weeks old), and it has been going relatively well.

I (loosely) use the principles of Babywise, although definitely not all of them. The key elements that I take from this method are:

• The pattern of eat - wake - sleep rather than eat - sleep - wake. The reason for this is so that baby isn't dependent on nursing to fall asleep.

• Encouraging full feedings instead of "snacking" (nursing for a suitable amount of time so that the baby isn't hungry an hour later).

• Encouraging full naps instead of "cat napping"

• Having a regular but flexible daily routine, for many purposes, but a key purpose being to encourage day time / night time awareness and regularity and to promote nighttime sleep.

I think that this is important to our homeschool program (for both Hunter and Damien) because

1. It promotes regularity, routine, and habit in our days (and I get 100% more done with routine)
2. Healthy sleep is essential for the well-being of everyone in the family

Right now, this is our feeding routine:

Nursing at

5:00 - 7:30 - 10:00 - 12:30 - 3:00 

5:30 - 7:30 - 9:30 - 11:30

Sometimes he sleeps straight through until 5:00 am, sometimes he wakes up at 3:00.

The bold feeding times are our day time feedings. After these feeding, he ideally has an awake period, followed by a short nap before the next feeding. 

The non-bold feeding times - 5:00 am, 9:30 & 11:30 pm - are "night time" feedings, after which he goes straight back to sleep. These are the feedings that we will eventually drop, one at a time.

It's definitely not perfect, and the times are loose. If he gets hungry sooner than one of these times, I certainly don't deprive him. I change things up a bit, as needed, without feeling any remorse. A schedule is, by all means, a tool, and nothing more.

During most of the day, he eats every 2.5 hours, but in the evening I feed him every 2 hours. I only found out later that this more-frequent-evening-feeding is actually a technique (called "cluster feeding") used to help babies sleep longer through the night - but we actually started doing it because he wanted to eat more often in the evening and tended to be fussy at that time. However, it really does help him sleep better, so we are keeping it up even if he doesn't necessarily demand it.

He rarely has a "perfect cycle", i.e. staying awake for exactly a half hour after nursing, and then falling peacefully asleep until the next feeding. It's flexible - sometimes he sleeps almost the whole time period between feedings, stays awake almost that whole time period at others, or splits even at other periods.

We'll strive for more regularity as time progresses, but for now he's little and I try to go with his flow, offering only minor guidance and structure, and seeing a regular schedule as something to work towards and gently ease him into.

And, of course, to adapt (or throw out the window) on days when the need is there.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"  

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Damien is 3 weeks, 0 days old

Homeschooling After Baby

My expectations for after the baby was born - for Hunter's schoolwork, household upkeep, and other non-essential tasks - have been low. 

I didn't quite remember what it was like to have a newborn, or how long it would take to be back to myself after birth, so I didn't want to overload myself with unrealistic expectations and be disappointed or frustrated.

Hunter, Damien and I have spent a lot of time in bed the last twelve days since we've been home. Damien and I, nursing and napping, but Hunter joins us every now and then to read aloud to Damien (this has been his favorite activity with his new brother), listen to me read aloud, or play a board game together.

There has been a lot of chess, and one of Hunter's new favorites, Minotaurus by Lego.

We have been reading a lot of stories and poems from The Book of Virtues, reading from the KJV Bible, and this week started a new chapter book, Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott.

Since the baby was born, I have told Hunter that he only has to do three independent subjects - Bible, reading, and a little bit of math. I figured this would be good for him and it takes him less than an hour a day - the rest of the day he has been getting to play with his uncle who is in town, his friends who are out of school, or occupy himself with a dozen other things he likes to do around the house.

He has started the Encyclopedia Brown books and really enjoys them (currently, Encyclopedia Brown Carries On), is reading a chapter a day from the book of Leviticus (KJV), and a few drill sheets from Math Three.

Next week we'll add a few more subjects back into our load, but we'll continue to keep things light for most of the summer as we adjust to this new lifestyle and enjoy the warm (ok, hot) weather.

"And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." 

Deuteronomy 11:19

Hunter is 6 years, 2 months old
Damien is 1 week, 6 days old

Our Daily Homeschool Schedule, Winter 2011

Making designs out of leftover dough while
helping make dinner

Our schedule has changed a lot over the past few months, not only as life circumstances have changed - deployments, work schedules, pregnancy, health, etc. - but, more importantly, as Hunter has changed.

But then again, this is always the case. It seems like he changes so rapidly even every few weeks, as does, but to a lesser extent, life. I've found that usually I don't post about our schedule because of this. But I figure that I probably should post about it anyway, so I can have a keepsake of what life was like at a particular period in our life.

I am sure this is going to change a lot once the baby is born, and probably before that too, but this is what is working for us right now, mid "kindergarten" year:

Early Morning

6:00-8:15  For the first time in his life, Hunter has become an early riser. This a fairly new thing, but it has actually been working amazingly well for both of us and Hunter loves it. I have been waking him up as I'm going downstairs, usually just a little before 6:00, and he comes down in his pajamas and starts working on his independent work until breakfast.

Right now, this includes

• reading (one chapter from the KJV Bible and one chapter of a middle- to late-elementary chapter book)

• math worksheets (Facts Masters [timed], word problems, and one or two other math worksheets, generally in the 2nd - 4th grade level [I know it's a lot, but the kid loves math!])

• building thinking skills (2 pages a day from level 1)

• penmanship (I make my own practice sheets from this site, right now he does an upper- and lowercase letter a day of both cursive and D'Nealian print) 

• spelling (using the same site as above, he practices tracing and then copying related spelling words, right now I just use common words, such as number words, color words, etc.)

Amazingly, he seems to accomplish more in this two-hour time block than he often would in a six-hour time block before! I think that he is more alert, focused, motivated, and free from distractions at this time,  and am really glad we went out and tried something different!

It is also amazing how much he can do independently now. Six months ago I had to sit next to him and hold his hand through virtually everything. It is nice seeing him blossom into a self-motivated, independent learner.

A recent morning Hunter chose to build a park of "sculptures" out
of Jenga pieces

Morning

8:15-9:15 - Breakfast  At about 8:15 I usually send him upstairs to get dressed, and we have breakfast at 8:30 or a little after with the daycare kids. Mealtimes with daycare kids are somewhat of a drawn-out process, so even a simple meal, setup and cleanup takes at least an hour. I try to read him the Proverb of the day during breakfast from the KJV. After breakfast cleanup I review Hunter's memory work (bits) with him.

9:15-9:45 Circle Time  At about 9:15, I sit down with the daycare kids to do a circle time and Hunter usually participates. We say the pledge of allegiance, sing the national anthem, sing one or two children's songs that usually involve actions or hand motions, do calendar and weather time, read one or two short stories, and then do our Jones Geniuses Early Learning work for a few minutes - right now my daycare kids are all still working on their letter sounds and counting forwards and backwards, and a little arithmetic. Hunter generally sits in on all this, or sometimes he will choose an activity from his workboxes to do during this time.

Writing a story and learning about word processing in his free time

9:45-11:15 - Free Choice  Hunter doesn't really have a "schedule" for a lot of the day. Once he has completed his independent work, he can choose to do, for the most part, whatever he wants. I put different activities in his bottom workboxes, and encourage him to choose at least some of those each day, but sometimes if he asks to do something else, he can.

He will often choose to draw (this is a favorite of his), write a story on the computer, play a board game by himself, or build something. I usually send him outside to exercise for at least fifteen minutes to a half hour during this time.

11:30-12:30 - Lunch  I start making lunch around 11:00 while Hunter continues to do whatever he's doing, and we will eat around 11:30. He is in charge of the cleanup for both breakfast and lunch, and is usually done with lunch cleanup by about 12:30. I try to read him a chapter of whatever part of the Bible we're currently on during lunch, and review memory work (bits).

Singing hymns

Afternoon

12:30-1:00  By the time he's done with cleanup I usually have all the kids laid down for their naps. At this point I like to sing our hymns that we're working on. Right now we read the actual sheet music out of a hymn book while the instrumental music to the song plays off of a youtube video. I find that this really helps me relax and unwind after a long morning, refocus, and put my mind in a peaceful state.

After hymns, we will read a little poetry, and then read a chapter of whatever chapter book we're on at the moment. These are generally pieces of literature that are slightly above Hunter's reading level, and we really enjoy the stories together. Then we review our memory work (bits) for the third and final time.

1:00-3:00  From 1-3 is mom and Hunter teaching time while the daycare kids nap and listen to classical music. This is when I will sit down with him, maybe read from a history or science book and have a discussion, help him with a project, craft, or experiment, or introduce a new concept in math or language arts. 

Often we finish early and he goes up into his room to play. I also try to send him outside for another set of fun exercises.

Afternoon keyboarding time

Late Afternoon

3:00-3:15 - Chores  When the kids wake up, Hunter does his "after daycare chores" and vacuums, cleans the bathroom, empties the trash, and straightens shelves.

3:15-3:30 Piano  At 3:15 or 3:30, Hunter has a short piano (keyboard) lesson. He works on fingering, perfect pitch, music theory, and a song.

3:30  Hunter usually goes outside and plays with his friends until dinner time or some other event, such as going on errands, basketball practice, or doing something with Brandon.

Evening

Our evenings vary quite a bit. We eat dinner at some point, often play board games together, try and go for a daily walk/run, sometimes watch a movie. In slightly warmer weather we usually swim every night. On Tuesdays we are running errands most of the evening, Mondays are often a big cleaning day. Fridays we usually go out.

7:00-8:00  Hunter usually starts getting ready for bed at 7:00. He showers, lays out his clothes and anything else he needs for tomorrow, and writes in his calendar and day planner (this part he does with me).  At bedtime Brandon or I will usually read him a story, and find flags/countries/landmarks with him on his bedside geography display. He is in bed by 8:00 and falls asleep with a recording of the New Testament (KJV) on his mp3 player.

For now, this is the general outline of our days...

Well, most of the time. I hope this was helpful!

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." 

Psalm 118:24

Hunter is 5 years, 11 months old

How Smart is Your Baby Program Weekly Logs & Checklists

Weekly logs for various stages of brain development and stimulation 

Seven pages.

If only you knew what went into these seven pages.

For the past er, week or so I have devoted almost every spare moment to perfecting this little document.

This may or may not have resulted laundry that didn't get done and other menial tasks put off for another day.

I have been working on making my own, customized versions of weekly logs for the Doman motor and sensory stimulation programs as outlined in How Smart is Your Baby.

Am I the only one who ever asked why the book didn't come with these?

Oh, I know. The book has checklists. But the checklists in the book are a full page per day. And that is a full page per day for each aspect, which actually would come out to three full pages per day. Not only would that make for an unusually high paper budget, but I needed something a little more compact, at a glance, all-in-one.

So I made my own.

I am publishing these documents now as some sort of appeasement to myself for all the hours I spent on them. Don't ask me why it took so long. It just did.

And now that I am done, Hunter might have some more clean socks.

Hopefully some other people will find some benefit out of my toil. If you've got a newborn or a little baby (or are expecting one) and are planning to implement Doman's book, enjoy!
Stage I-III Doman Program Motor & Sensory Logs

If you've never read the book that these logs are meant to be a companion to, they may seem a little, er, weird. I'm certainly not going to even try to explain everything right now, but essentially the exercises on these logs were developed as a means to intentionally help your baby develop and grow, and in turn reach their milestones sooner than if it were left to chance. It is also a means of evaluating your baby's neurological health, noting any issues long before they would be otherwise apparent.

The exercises were developed after years and years of research from the IAHP on how the brain grows and why, with the original focus of helping to heal brain injuries in children. Many of these same exercises are still used today to help grow and heal the brains of brain-injured children.

I will be writing much more about the program in time come!

"And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record..." 

1 Chronicles 16:4

Baby boy #2 is currently 25 weeks, 1 day gestation

Hunter's Chores (at almost 6 years old)

Hunter, 5 years 10 months old, taking care
of his personal belongings

I have heard that the amish have a saying that children before seven are (chore wise) a burden, between seven and fourteen they can carry their own weight, and from fourteen on upwards they bring in a profit to the household.

So in other words, a house full of amish seven-year-olds would be able to run self-sufficiently.

Not exactly within the realm of our current cultural expectations. But I think it can serve as a reminder that children, when given the chance, can and do rise to the occasion of responsibility.

Hunter, at 13 months old, "helping" with the dishes

Hunter has "helped" out with anything and everything possible from the time he could sit up by himself. He grew up believing that work was part of life and that he was part of life too, so work has always been second nature to him.

I think that this parenting and educational philosophy has really helped him in developing a strong work ethic, and, at almost six years old, being able to be almost completely self-sufficient as well as a genuinely contributing member of the family.

Hunter at 4 years, 7 months old, vacuuming his room

Since I've found it helpful to see other people's kids' chore lists, I thought I would share what Hunter does around the house at this point in his life:

General Chores 
Checklist type stuff Hunter does on a regular basis

• Clean bedroom weekly
• vacuum floor and closet, 
• dust shelves and windows, 
• organize and straighten bookshelf, closet, drawers
• empty trash can
• Clean own bathroom weekly
• clean and sanitize sink, toilet, mirrors, shower
• sweep and mop floor
• empty trash, clean trash can
• Deep clean bedroom periodically
• declutter
• clean windows, walls, TV, toys, etc.
• Laundry
• sort dirty laundry into dark and light
• often, put family laundry in washer or switch to dryer (he knows how to run the washer and dryer and can do this by himself, but I usually do this with him as he's still learning what can and can't go in the dryer and how to load the washer evenly)
• fold or hang up all of own laundry and put away 
• help fold family laundry, towels, blankets, etc.
• help gather and transport clean or dirty laundry
• change own sheets and bedding
• Empty kitchen trash as needed
• Take trash and recycling to street weekly
• Sweep sidewalks, patio, driveway weekly 
• Check mailbox daily
• Bring in newspaper

Helping prepare dinner, age 4 years 5 months old

Being Part of a Family

Besides his "chores", Hunter helps out around the house whenever and with whatever needed (these are usually some of his favorite things to do)

• Kitchen
• set and clear table
• load and unload dishwasher
• wash dishes for fun
• help prepare food (all the time)
• put leftovers away
• make own meals and snacks
• Carry in and put away groceries, other purchased items
• Help bag items while at the store
• Rake yard
• Help out with desk work 
• cutting, sorting papers, shredding
• Help wash the car
• Help out when mom does deep cleaning
• dusting, washing windows, mopping, vacuuming, etc.
• Help with all projects
• use tools, assemble things, run errands
• Organizing projects
• Basically, anything that we're doing, he's doing too!

Hunter, after a shower, at 4 years 5 months old

Self Care

Personally, I think this stuff goes without saying and isn't necessarily a "chore", but since it's generally on other people's chore lists for younger kids I thought I would include it:

• Hygiene
• shower, brush and floss teeth, comb hair, trim nails, etc.
• Routines
• Make bed, lay out clothes and other items for next day
• Pick up after self
• Keep self organized
• manage calendar, day planner (with help)
• Independent school work
• all school work that he can do independently, such as math practice sheets, reading, penmanship, much more

Hunter, at age 3 years 0 months,
carrying in groceries

His "Employed" Chores
I don't believe in paying kids to contribute to the family, and am not really comfortable with an "allowance", but Hunter has jobs he does to contribute to my home business (part time child care) that he gets paid a small sum for each week.

• Clean up after the kids' meals 
• clear table, put away food, clean entire kitchen
• Clean kids play area daily
• straightening and organizing all toys
• vacuuming carpet
• Clean bathroom used by kids daily
• sanitize sink, toilet, walls, trash can, sweep floor
• Empty diaper pail, take dirty diapers outside as needed
• Help with kids whenever needed
• read stories during circle time
• help with whatever I need assistance with
• Also included on his list is setting a good example, being gentle, focusing on assigned task, etc.

So, there you have it, life in our house right now!

What kind of things do your kids do to help out around the house?

"It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." 

Lamentations 3:27

Hunter is 5 years, 10 months old

Hunter's Bedroom, Volume II

Last time I posted pictures of Hunter's bedroom, we had been living here in California for a couple of weeks.

It was, to say the least, a little, er, empty.

Now, after living here for sixteen months, we have acquired a few more things, mostly second hand, and I thought I would put a new update of what Hunter's room looks like now.

View 1 (click to enlarge)

• His bed, which now has a space-themed comforter and pillow case that I found at a consignment sale. His drawers harbor clothes and, two of them, toys (not quite as empty anymore).

• Basketball and baseball rugs.

• A new world map, which is very detailedly labeled (unlike the simple outline map that he had before, which had no labels). This is much better now that he can read really well, and he is discovering a lot of things on his own. He also has a new detailed label USA map.

• A sports shelf, which very suitably is holding his trophies and team pictures.

• His own bulletin board, where he hangs his patches, the occasional note or picture, pins, used stickers that he doesn't want to throw away, whatever he wants really.

• His whale hamper, and a light-up world globe.

View 2 (click to enlarge)

• At the head of his bed, his make-shift headboard. The top shelf holds some books that he currently enjoys reading in bed (we now have a much larger collection in the house), a football bank that doubles as a bookend, a "Dictionary of Aviation", and a little tin solider can which serves as a sort of junk drawer. On the bottom shelf there is his alarm clock, his tools, and some DVDs.

• Space curtain. 

• On his window sill, a picture frame and his chap stick, his telescope, a motorcycle from Color Me Mine, and a favorite astronomy book.

• His Cars TV, a DVD player, and Vtech system. (We do not have cable TV in our house and he uses these things maybe a couple times a month)

• His tent and play tunnel, which he got in Christmas 2009 and plays in all the time.

View 3 (click to enlarge)

• His tent again.

• Fiber-optic nightlight.

• Space border stickers, which we got at the dollar store. 

View 4 (click to enlarge)

•  On the wall to the left, is some sort of planets "thing". We are going to fill in the holes (I think it was intended to be a beanbag toss) with pictures of the planets, either painted pictures by Hunter or real-life pictures from the internet.

• Below, his calendar, which this year is themed "National Parks". Next to the calendar is his morning and evening routines.

• His garbage can, and his five-pound weights (testosterone, anyone?). 

• Above his closet are some minor league baseball flags that we got at a game.

Closet, detail (click to enlarge)

Shelf inside his closet, which harbors (from top)

• Aircraft carrier toy.

• His spiderman and ninja costumes, and his new legos (currently in bags / cardboard box).

• WWE arena, world champion belt, and puzzles.

• An Ironman truck, and all of his Hotwheels racetracks.

• To the left, hanging stuffed animal mesh cubbies, and, not pictured, some toy swords and guns.

Closet, detail (click to enlarge)

• Other side of his closet: Clothes, shoes, and hats!

Now that we have a bigger house, his room no longer doubles as a school room and most teaching aids and educational toys have been moved downstairs, where we spend most of our time.

Even still, Hunter still enjoys lots of educational pursuits in here on his own, such as reading, watching science and history videos, his avid astronomy interests, lots of geography, doing puzzles, drawing, or other quiet activities, learning to stay organized and responsible in his personal space, keeping his calendar up to date, and, of course, good old fashioned pretend play.

See the just-moved-in post of what Hunter's bedroom looked like before, and the five-part series of our old bedroom/school room in Indiana. 

"...I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake." 

Genesis 30:27

Hunter is 5 years, 10 months old

My Unconventional List of Baby Supplies

My nephew, Jordan, at three months old,
gazing at a contrast board

Do you know what was the first baby thing I went out and bought when I found out I was pregnant?

Two large pieces of white foam board and a half dozen pieces of black poster board.

If you're a Doman parent you know exactly what I'm talking about.

If you're not I will just leave it as an inside joke for the moment. (hint: it has to do with the above picture)

Fast forward almost two months later, and I have finally finished scanning through my copy of How Smart is Your Baby? [the answer: very] I now have a shopping list of things to buy, make, or collect in preparation for baby's arrival.

The aforementioned Doman book is all about creating the ideal growth and development environment for your baby that helps them instead of hinders them. It is about intentional infant parenting practices, that recognize how to brain grows and caters to those ways on purpose rather than letting it happen by chance.

So, as such, my list of "baby supplies" includes strange things like black and white patterns for visual stimulation, a homemade crawling track, which is an ideal environment for tummy time and newborn mobility, a flashlight for developing pupil constrictions, and a wooden dowel for enforcing and growing the grasp reflex.

But, hey, what's wrong with a little unconventional?

So, my "nesting instinct" is filling my home with things like black, white, and brightly-colored poster board, large pictures, sound-making objects such as a xylophone and a triangle, grasping objects, fabrics of various textures, and flashlights.

I'm also working on making (some of) my own baby equipment. Instead of an exersaucer, bouncy seat, jumper, swing, play yard, walker, bassinette, and all the multiple other things that we contrive to contain babies in their pre-walking stage, we are going to simply have a (homemade) crawling track. And a floor. Much cheaper, and much better for baby's development. We might also have a sling for when the baby is being held.

For the bed, baby will most likely sleep with us (or sleep in the crawling track next to us) for the first couple months. Then I am thinking about devising some sort of Montessori floor bed with a mini brachiation ladder over it, for when the baby is a bit older, like we had here. Again, a little unconventional. But that's ok.

I'm actually really excited. About the new possibilities. The new understanding. The new adventure.

So, here's to the unconventional. 

Which just may be the new normal in 50 years.

"For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."

Proverbs 2:6

Baby #2 is 11 weeks, 1 day gestation