What I've been up to. . . .

Ahh, a moment of computer time.  A moment is about all I have these days.  What's new that is taking up my days you ask?

1.  The General has started his high school journey.  Actually I feel more like the one in the hot seat.

2.  The General is running cross country with the local school district.

3.  Bubby is now an official kindergartner.  The great thing, he really doesn't require a lot of teaching.  He's absorbed most of the information you need for kindergarten on his own.  The down side, he's the only one in the house excited about school.  He gets upset if we forget to do his workbooks.  (For example, we've been on a field trip, so I skip the seat work.).  The only other kid dorky enough to love homework around here?  That would be me, as a child.  ;)

4.  Princess is a dancing machine.  She's now up to 2 ballet classes a week, with one jazz class, and Nutcracker on the weekends.  It is a lot of time at the studio, but she loves it.  So far we seem to be able to manage as a family, so dance on my beautiful girl.

5.  Nutcracker season is here!!  Right now I'm pondering why this doesn't make me cringe and become overwhelmed.  I realize I actually find the experience enjoyable.  The benefits and joy she receives from being a part of this production far outweigh the time and effort we put in.  Of course we are at the beginning.  This may be like child birth.  As soon as it is over, you focus on the great gift, and push the pain to the back.    I haven't had to deal with the late nights and all encompassing rehearsal schedules yet.  I'll get back to you in December. . . .

6.  I am facilitating the bible study group this year.  We are studying James.  Talk about conviction.  This one isn't so deep in history and theology, but oh does it hit the heart.  Right where it needs attention.

Fortunately God gives me what I need to add these things into our home schooling journey.  I'm humbled at His confidence in my abilities, because sometimes I just feel like surely someone else would do a much better job than I can!

Happy Friday my friends.  I hope this finds you all well, and enjoying the busy corners of your world.  May God hold you close in your trials, and dance with you in your joys.  Please leave me a comment, and let me know how you are.
 
Until the next moment,
Tami

A question for Library Ann. . .

or anyone else who may have read An Army At Dawn by Rick Atkinson.

The General just picked up this book, and I am having a hard time finding a review. Well, I did find one that said it was an excellent book. However, the gentleman didn't say if it would be an excellent book for a 13 year old boy.

So if any of you folks have read this book I would appreciate your feedback. With Nutcracker being in full swing, I just do not have time to pre-read this one for him.

Thank you for your time,

Mrs. Nomad

Head Mistress of the Nomad Academy

1st Day of School: Traditions

The General was starting 4th grade, and Princess was a sweet little kindergarten student.

This is The General and Princess on the first day of school, back in 2005. They were helping make Sticky Buns. Sticky Buns have been a tradition of our first day of school. A fun way to start the day, and when they were younger it was a great math lesson.

In working on this post, I've had to face some hard realities. First of all, I have only 3 pictures in the past 6 years of our first day of school. (This is actually our 7th year of homeschooling, but the first year we were kind of thrown in at the last minute. So we started "traditional" school that year.) In the beginning it was all fresh and new, and I had my camera out to capture the moment. As the years progressed, no pictures. :(

Unfortunately, another not so nice tradition has crept in. That is my overwhelming feelings of doubt and guilt on the first day of school. My feeling like I'm not a good homeschooling momma. Since we used to be year round schoolers, (It is too hard to make my children school in WA during the summer. When the sun finally shines, I feel like we need to soak every last moment of it in.) we generally do not have "new" stuff in the fall. I buy supplies as we need them. So when the "official" first day rolls around, I feel all sorts of angst and inadequacy at my lack of cool first day experiences. When I give in to this, it just kind of steam rolls into an "I suck" mentality. You can imagine that really isn't healthy. Or true.

When I was blubbering about this to Mr. Nomad, he listened kindly. Gave me my moment of feeling sorry for myself, and then said, "so a field trip to Las Vegas, that wasn't cool enough?" Hmmmm. . . . . I think he has a point.

I'm guilty of the ugly comparisons. I look around and see the cool stuff everyone else is doing, but do not take the time to give myself credit for the great things I do. It reminds me of that Attitude quote I have in my side bar. Life is what I choose to make it. I can line myself up with our Lord, and have peace. (Not saying there aren't going to be challenges.) Or, I can get caught up in feeling sorry for myself.

So today on my third day of homeschooling, in this our 7th season, I will celebrate. I am celebrating the fact that at 13, my son is turning into a young man with great character. I am celebrating the fact that my daughter has a wonderful spirit, and loves to serve. I am celebrating the fact that my children love to go to Mass, and when it comes to the Eucharist, THEY GET IT!

Now Bubby, we're still working on it. He's having a hard time lately, which is probably why I let myself get a bit blue. (Consistently molding a 4 year old really wears on you after awhile.) But, my little man does get Confession. He hasn't officially received this sacrament, but he gets it. Whenever he does something wrong, you can see him cross himself, then mutter a little prayer asking Jesus to forgive him.

This experience has reminded me to zoom out, and look at the big picture. No, I'm not always good at the big splash days. But I am good at the every day. Not so much me, but God working through me. If I keep Christ at my center, and my heart open to the Holy Spirit, the fruits will continue to multiply.

Monday after Spring Break Blues. . .

Okay, it is Monday morning. We had a wonderful time on our Spring Break. No traveling for us, but our dear friends from Charleston, SC flew in to spend a week with us. Fun was had by all. Now it is Monday. . .time to get back on track. Oh, I think I'm going to need the whole pot of coffee for this one.

On a side note: How is it every day I stayed up way too late chatting, and had the freedom to sleep in, Bubby managed to haul his little hiney out of bed around 7:00AM. . . Yet today when I need to be up and at 'em, the boy is still slumbering away past 8:00AM????

Another reason homeschooling rocks. . .

You don't have to get all spruced up for the day until you are good and ready!
This is me, quizzing the big kiddos on their American History. This was taken right after lunch. That is Princess and Bubby enjoying some bubbly play while we were schooling. The General was in our closet playing with his action figures.
I love the time we spend together learning, playing, and just enjoying one another's company. I am so grateful our family has been blessed with this opportunity.

Teacher's Little Helper

I was over at No Heavy Lifting today, leaving a comment for Dawn, when I began bubbling over the joys of Magic School Bus. If you have elementary aged school, these little videos are gold.

Back when I was pregnant with Bubby, The General was in 3rd grade, and Princess was starting Kindergarten. Each day we would begin our school day around 8:00AM, with a break for lunch around noon. This happened to coincide with PBS' airing of Magic School Bus. My kiddos were thrilled. Initially I was a little concerned about breaking for TV mid-day. However, after a few weeks of collapsing my pregnant body on the couch, I realized two things. #1 I needed the mid-day break, and #2 it was good stuff.

I'd lay down for those 30 minutes, and get up refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the day. Which was important, as Mr. Nomad was working long days at the Pentagon. No Daddy coming home in the evening for respite. I was pretty much on my own.

After watching the program with the kiddos a few days, I realized they were learning some great science. In fact after a couple weeks, I bagged the expensive science curriculum I had purchased for The General. I left it to the fates he would be okay in science, instead focusing on other academics that year. In the spring I had him tested. Guess what?? My boy scored in the 99th percentile for science.

Now I can't attribute all of that to Magic School Bus, as we are a nerdy science family. We love nature hikes, and he lived for all of those Jeff Corwin and Steve Erwin shows when he was a younger. Animal Planet's Top 10 is still one of his favorite shows.

However, I do think the Frizz was useful. Now we tried both the videos and the books. The books were fun for experiments, but the videos explain things in a much more captivating way. You can find both the videos and books at the local library. I'm sure NetFlix or other video services may also have them on hand.

Magic School Bus was a life saver that year. Hopefully Ms. Frizzle and the rest of the gang can help out a few other mommas with lots on their plates.

I think I can, I think I can. . .

Our first day back to school after our wonderful Christmas break. We are all moving a little slow. Can we rewind, and go back to the beginning of Advent again?

Do you have plans for Advent?

Okay, I will admit I do not like to get the Christmas ball rolling until after Thanksgiving. I refuse to purchase or set out any decorations until after the turkey is put away. Why in the world am I asking you about Advent, which is still a few weeks away?

I want to share with you two great books that make Advent such a special time.

First there is this one,We read this as a family two years ago. It was by far our favorite part of Advent, and the Christmas season. Arnold Ytreeide does such a great job with these books. You read a chapter each night, with the end of the book culminating on Christmas. Although these books have been around awhile, until last year they were out of print. You had to rely on eBay or Amazon, and let me tell you the old supply and demand economics was definitely at work.

You can imagine my joy when they announced the reprint. Although we had to take last year off, I just couldn't justify $100 for a book I knew I could get for less than $15 in a year. I was chomping at the bit to get our copy of Bartholomew's Passage for this season's Advent. I'm happy to announce our copy has safely made it to the Nomad Pad, and is patiently waiting for the first day of Advent to bring us great joy.

**Note to parents: The opinions about this book are mine, and mine alone. I first heard about these books on the SL-Catholic forum, where people were praising them. HOWEVER, as with everything, not everyone shares the same opinions. After I purchased the first book, I was scared stiff. One woman came out of her blog silence, and railed on and on about how terrible and awful the book was. She felt it was too dark and scary. Now when we read the first one, The General was 10 and Princess was 7 going on 8. My kiddos are pretty sensitive, and we had no problems. Please do read other reviews if you have concerns. End of warning.

Good luck planning your Advent season. If you do decide to go with Jotham's Journey, the first of the trilogy, you can find them here. Let me know what you think.

How embarassing!

Okay blogger friends. I know some of you may not know me well, and think that if you pointed out my errors I would be horribly embarrassed and think you were rude. That couldn't be further from the truth. I am one of those people that greatly appreciates the friend that points out the spinach stuck between my teeth. Granted, I do like the correction to be kind. Mean spirited making fun is not what I have in mind. Oh, and of course discretion is also appreciated. So now that we've got that cleared up. . .

I was just giving The General his spelling words. (I know, most 7th graders don't do spelling, but he's weird and likes it. Who am I to deny him?) Well, pseudonym was one of his words to spell today. When he asked me what it meant, I quickly googled the word to give him an exact definition. Here's what I found: pseudonym n. A fictitious name, especially a pen name.

What is the big deal? Why is that important? I just realized this whole time on my blog side bar, I had written that I'd given my children pseudo names. Very nice home school lady, it should be: I have given my children pseudonyms. Yep, I home school my children. Such a proud day for Mrs. Nomad.

On the up side. . .(the other thing you need to know about me. I'm a hopeless, or shall I say hopeful, optimist) this is exactly why I love teaching my children. I learn new things all the time, and I LOVE IT!

Okay, now I'm totally confused. As I'm spell checking this post, Lord only knows I don't want to misspell words and further my humiliation, psuedo name comes up as a correctly spelled word. So what is the story here masters of the English language? Have I been a bone head, or not?

Discovery Trail: The Great Plains Museum

This one was right next to the Comanche Cultural Center. I wrote about that a few days ago, here. So we were able to walk right on over (blowing the whistles the nice ladies gave the kiddos the whole way. . .wasn't that a swell trinket?--typed with clinched teeth) to the museum. This one wasn't free, but it was affordable.Here are the kiddos in front of the steam engine. There were two portions to the museum, one outside and the other indoors. There is typically a guide outside to answer questions and give a tour. Unfortunately he was at lunch when we stopped by.

That was okay though. The kiddos had a great time exploring the trading post, black smith shop, and the rest of the fort. We've studied history pretty extensively, so for them they weren't so interested in stories. They were happy to pose for pictures and just explore on their own.

Since it was a little toasty outside, we decided to head into the comfort of air conditioning. Now this is where the kiddos had a blast. They spent over an hour playing dress up. The Civil War Soldier Uniforms kept it fun for The General, while Princess and Bubby were happy to be pioneers. Doesn't Bubby look like the little boy from those "Been Farmin' Long" posters that were popular back in the 70's or 80's?Every wagon train needs a to stop for supper. The General was such a trooper to play along. I'm so proud of him when he does this stuff. Most preteens are "too cool" for this kind of fun. I'm soaking it up, and appreciating this stage and his personality.

My friend's girls at the bank. Along with the wagon, there was a main street.

While dress up and pretend were by far the favorite activity, we also enjoyed looking at the Dust Bowl photos display. Since we have been studying The Great Depression in history, it was a nice surprise on the field trip. We came home and promptly watched "The Grapes of Wrath." Oh, how I love it when curriculum and real life field trips come together so nicely.

Playing cards, the best teaching aid. . .ever!

I'll admit I am a bit nostalgic about playing cards. My Grandma used to play cards for hours with me. Most of the time we would play Rummy, but then there were great games of Double Solitaire. I would try to explain the games and rules, but you see there were no hard and fast rules. Grandma would let me "make-up" different rules. No, I wasn't just trying to cheat to be the big winner. I always wanted to make the games last as long as possible. There were a lot of "play until you get to the bottom of the pile" games. One time Grandma and I stayed up until 1:00AM playing cards.

I didn't really maintain my card playing over the years, that is until I began homeschooling. I have found you cannot beat the ordinary playing card for fun in math. We seem to go in spurts of playing, recently the games have been rekindled as Princess is still struggling with those darn multiplication facts. I'm still making up different rules, depending on what skill we need to tackle.

Here are some fun examples:
For the toddler/preschool set (Bubby's age) we play Slap Jack. You know the simple game. Divide the cards evenly, take turns laying a card down face up. The first one to recognize the Jacks hits the pile, yelling "SLAP JACK!" They in turn get to take all of the cards. The first person to get all the cards wins. This has been a great little starter game for Bubby. He caught on right away to the whole Jack thing, what little boy doesn't want to smack the heck out of everything? He is also learning the rest of his numbers. As I lay down different numbers I recite their name.

Once they get their numbers down, you can began to teach order. I like the good old game of war. Again divide cards evenly, each person lays down a card (face up). The person with the highest number wins. If there is a tie, you lay down 3 more cards (face down) saying, "I, do, declare war!" Then you lay down a card face up and whoever has the larger number wins that big pile. Very exciting.

When we started basic addition, subtraction and multiplication I modified the war game. We both lay down a card, but instead the child has to say the answer first. For example, we are working on multiplication. So Princess and I lay down our cards, face up. I say ___ times ___ equals, and then I give her a 5 second head start. She has to get the correct answer before me. We play until she has "won" all of the cards from me. Now do they LOVE this, not exactly. But they prefer it to flash cards, and I mix in other fun card games of their choice. Princess has been creating her own games, and I can't help but think that is good for her brain.

When they are in about 1st or 2nd grade, the one educational card game they all LOVE and beg to play is sums of ten. You lay down cards the ace, a one, a two, a three, a four, and a five. All in a row. Then you deal seven cards for each player. You take turns laying down on the piles, with the nine going on the ace, eight on the two, seven on the three. . .making the sums of ten. If you cannot lay down, you draw a card from the pile. If possible lay it down, if not you pass to the next player. Whoever gets rid of their cards first wins.

The beauty of card games is simply this, many are based on adding and subtracting your scores. Perfect for helping with math skills. Let the kiddos be the score keepers. They feel grown up, and when they are beating you they can't wait to add up those points!

Not only do I find these games a great way to keep some of our math skills fresh over the summer, cards are easy to carry along. The games keep the kiddos occupied in a quiet manner (unless it is a really close game, and then I'm sorry I just can't help but yell when they beat me!). Finally it is just a fun way to spend time together with your children. When we are playing, I'm building some wonderful memories--I know because each time I shuffle the cards I think of Grandma.

So there you have it, a little tip for summer fun that is educational. What are some of your plans for summer learning? Do you have a favorite teaching tool or game? I'd love to hear your ideas. Actually it is Princess, The General and Bubby who would most appreciate fun ways to keep school fresh this summer.

Eucharistic discussion with the kiddos.

This was so great I just have to share. One of our recent religion lessons sparked a very nice discussion about the Eucharist. The big kiddos have had their First Holy Communion, and are able to share in the Eucharist each week. Unfortunately they don't let three-year-olds into the class, much to Bubby's displeasure. He wants, "some of that body too!" Fortunately we have been able to stave him off with the beauty of the blessing. So all of you Eucharistic Ministers out there, if you see a small boy coming to you with his little arms crossed. . .please, oh please give him a blessing. It really breaks his heart when he is passed over. Sorry, I digressed.

On to the story. . .we were talking about our experience with the Eucharist, and The General and Princess began saying why they love going to mass each week. They love the Eucharist. Here's a direct quote that brings tears to this Catholic momma's eyes: "I love it because when you take the Eucharist in, you feel Christ. It is a warm, glowy feeling right here (they point to their heart)."

I know I have shared this before, but it is worthy of saying again, and again. God does not give children for us to impart our wonderful knowledge to the next generation. God gives us children to raise us up. Motherhood has been that for me. I am such a better person now than I was 12 years ago when I started this career. The General has taught me patience and to appreciate and celebrate every one's special gifts. Princess has taught me to control my anger. Bubby, well we are still a work in progress. I know my faith has and continues to deepen with each passing year, each new lesson.

There it is!! This is why I continue to give up my autonomy, a social life and lunches or coffees to homeschool my children. Without homeschooling, I know we would not be having this level of religious education or spiritual discussion. I'm not saying others haven't or do not do a good job raising children in school. I've seen them, and I love many schooled children. They are beautiful, smart and perfect. I just know with the five personalities in this family, right now homeschooling is the best option for us.

Nature's Adventures

We've been taking advantage of the recent sunshine by getting out for some very fun hikes. The General, Princess, Flipper (our friend's little girl who frequently sounds like a dolphin), Bubby, Flipper's big brother & the CEO of our little nomadic clan. Don't you think the two extra kiddos fit in well? I'm trying to figure out how I can steal them when we leave for OK in a couple of weeks.

The gang swinging on the fence like a bunch of monkeys. That is Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains in the background.

The General penned this poem in tribute to our love of hiking.

Nature's Adventures

By: The General

On the trail we hike and go

To see nature we must be quiet and slow

Look up high in that tree

See a bird's nest built so eloquently

Wow! A flower is in the clover

Watch out so you don't tip it over

That bit, fat, ole slug, a slimy trail he weaves

Now it is time for us to leave

Homeschooling. . .I have options!

Well, I was out and about to meet more homeschoolers the other night. This time it was an informational meeting for Olympia Regional Learning Academy (ORLA). Here's the 411. This program is for homeschoolers K-12. Basically you sign up, and they offer FREE classes in core and enrichment areas. The classes are taught by certified teachers or community experts. They also provide you a budget for homeschooling supplies. The only thing you have to do in return is have a learning plan on file with them. So far, this learning plan does not look very intimidating. Basically I would just have to tell them what I plan to teach for the year. I can also change my plan as the year goes along. There are no work samples and no mandatory testing. I do have to stay on site for any children under the age of 12 to provide supervision.
Now let me tell you about the classes they offer. They look like so much fun. I saw lots of cool art, drama, dance, science, etc. . . The General would have such a great time in some drama or art courses, and Princess would LOVE Irish Dance. However, I'm still investigating, looking for the hidden glitch. After our experience with the charter school in DC I am very reluctant to give up my autonomy.
As I am talking with homeschoolers here I am amazed at the support the school districts provide homeschoolers. You can take your homeschooled children to the local school, and take part in any of the classes they offer. Can you believe it? So you, as the parent choose what you want for your child. As I said before I'm still looking for the hidden catch.
Now, IF all of this is true, I am just so excited. Can you imagine how much fun we will have? How wonderful to have classes for the kiddos. Classes that I don't have to plan, organize & teach. We would be able to meet lots of other homeschool families. I'm trying not to get overly excited.
Two of the ladies I met had been doing the program for a couple of years, and they love it. They were so welcoming and kind. One even gave me her number.
So wish me luck as I continue to dig around for resources for our next school year. I'm going to continue to talk with people about ORLA, and also check in to the neighborhood school. ORLA really sounds fabulous, but it would be about a 25 minute commute, while the neighborhood school would be only 5-10 minutes. BUT, ORLA is all homeschoolers, so my kiddos may have more in common with them. At the neighborhood school they might be outsiders just coming in for a class here and there.
This is appears to be the most homeschool friendly place we've ever lived. Have any of you ever homeschooled here? Or do you know anyone who has lived here? If so, I'd love to hear your experiences. So far it looks very promising!

Promising Connections

Monday night I was invited, or maybe I just crashed, a mom's night out with the Catholic Homeschool group I found on the web. The members are from several different parishes here in the South Sound, but they meet at our church.

It was an enjoyable evening. The ladies were very welcoming, and full of information about homeschooling here in Washington State. There were no other military families, which is a plus and a minus. Plus, they don't move all the time. These ladies have grown up here, so they really know the area. They are a wealth of information. Minus, sometimes non-military people don't "get" our life.

More than that, sometimes they don't like to invest in friendships with us. I hope these families like us, mostly for my children. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have friends. Right now though I'm more concerned about The General and Princess. Not having friends is hard for little people used to walking out the door to a neighborhood filled with children.

The really funny thing is this. When I am out with my children, yes the whopping three of them, I get comments about how many children I have. It seems anything over two is crazy these days. Well, we are by far the smallest family in this new group. Most of the families had around 8 children, with one having 14! Almost all of them had kiddos The General, Princess & Bubby's age. If they like us, we are going to have a really good time! Oh, I hope they like us. . .

Maybe a better phrase would be, "I hope we have enough in common to become great friends." I'm finding the longer we do this moving thing, the less I am enjoying making friends. It's not that I don't enjoy getting to know people. It is just that I am not done with my old friends yet. I long to spend more time with them. I miss the history I have with people we've been stationed with. You know the ones who watch your children, while you are in the hospital? The ones that you cling to in times of crisis? Yes, I miss those people.