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alicegunther
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["Candleside," as in a small group of moms chatting around the kitchen table, preferably with a fragrant candle and something hot in mugs.]
I just thought I would start a thread for any moms--especially new members--who might wish to join the conversation, but feel a bit overwhelmed as to where to begin. Perhaps this may become a getting to know you thread, separate from the first introduction.
Please chime in an say "hello" here, post your thoughts, or ask a question. Tell us about how you found our forum or what attracted you to home education in the first place. Older members are encouraged to participate too.
Oh, and please be sure and respond, or I am going to be sitting at the table by myself, and that's never any fun! Besides, now that the coffee is brewed, I was hoping you would bring the scones.
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Love, Alice
mother of seven!
      
Cottage Blessings
Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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Lorri
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Hello, Alice! Thanks for the invitation. It's always hard to start posting on a new forum because there are nuances you haven't learned yet. I can't remember how I found this forum. I started homeschooling after a less than stellar 3 week experience with preschool for my oldest. Those 3 difficult weeks ended up truly being a blessing that God used to lead me down this path.
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alicegunther
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Lorri wrote:
| Hello, Alice! Thanks for the invitation. It's always hard to start posting on a new forum because there are nuances you haven't learned yet. I can't remember how I found this forum. I started homeschooling after a less than stellar 3 week experience with preschool for my oldest. Those 3 difficult weeks ended up truly being a blessing that God used to lead me down this path. |
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Thank you for the rapid response, Lorri! It does my heart good.
Many of my friends have similar tales to tell, one in particular who took her daughter out of kindergarten because she could see her personality changing and wanted "her little girl back." I do think God leads us down this path and it is a vocation.
Getting a late start this morning, but I'll be back later. So great to hear from you!
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Love, Alice
mother of seven!
Cottage Blessings
Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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JennGM
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Hi Alice, and Lorri! This is just what I need after a very busy Christmas season! I have some leftover King Cake that goes well with coffee!
Although I talk so much on this forum, my very weakness is homeschooling, so that's why I linger, hoping I can gain confidence and ideas. I have one son, he's an active 3. I am the oldest of seven, and I homeschooled during high school with all my other siblings homeschooling at the same time. We were some of the original rebels. But I only knew boxed curriculum.
I always wanted to homeschool my family, but wasn't completely sold until I saw all the possibilities other than just boxed curriculum. I'm drawn to many different approaches, such as Montessori, CM, unschooling, Classical...Elizabeth's book was an eye-opener as to having a learning environment catered to each child.
I am now trying to figure out how to do it. How can I organize my day? Where shall we "do" our schooling? What approach(es) will I take? Will my son respond to me well just being an only child? Can I get up enough energy and enthusiasm, get out of my comfort zone and really help my son learn (and also be a good wife)?
That's the other blessing of this forum -- the prayers behind the scenes. I know that I pray for the members and their intentions everyday...and I've witnessed the power of prayer in my own life from this Board. This 4Real support network, online and on the knees, is the most helpful to me...and why I keep coming back for more.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Lorri
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JennGM wrote:
I am now trying to figure out how to do it. How can I organize my day? Where shall we "do" our schooling? What approach(es) will I take? Will my son respond to me well just being an only child? Can I get up enough energy and enthusiasm, get out of my comfort zone and really help my son learn (and also be a good wife)?
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Those are all good questions, Jenn. You are lucky to have the real life experience of having been homeschooled yourself. You are also fortunate to know right now, while your ds is small, that you want to homeschool him. Gives you more room to find your way while he's younger and there is less pressure. Up until this year, we have always done all our reading sitting on the couch, then all seat work at a little kiddie table in the living room. I sit between my 2 oldest on the couch and the baby sits for as long as his goldfish crackers last! We stopped using the kiddie table when the baby was able to pull himself up and grab at the pencils. Now we've moved seatwork to the dining room table.
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Mary G
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Lorri wrote:
| Up until this year, we have always done all our reading sitting on the couch, then all seat work at a little kiddie table in the living room. I sit between my 2 oldest on the couch and the baby sits for as long as his goldfish crackers last! We stopped using the kiddie table when the baby was able to pull himself up and grab at the pencils. Now we've moved seatwork to the dining room table. |
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Lorri -- how many kids and ages? With my 2 "littles" (almost 8 and almost 7) I still love the cuddle time on the couch with the reading -- either they're practicing reading to me or I'm reading to them. It helps having my Irish twins (13 months apart)....
Welcome and so glad Alice started this chat around the coffee table...
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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MaryM
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alicegunther wrote:
| Older members are encouraged to participate too. |
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How old do I have to be? 
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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Lorri
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Quote:
Lorri -- how many kids and ages? With my 2 "littles" (almost 8 and almost 7) I still love the cuddle time on the couch with the reading -- either they're practicing reading to me or I'm reading to them. It helps having my Irish twins (13 months apart)....
Welcome and so glad Alice started this chat around the coffee table... |
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My children at home are 8, 6 and 16 months. The two older ones fight over who gets to sit next to the baby on the couch because he feeds goldfish crackers to whoever he's sitting with!
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Mary G
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Lorri -- yours sound like mine; it's interesting how soon the youngest gets interesting when they want to avoid school work (today was a prime example -- Thomas says, "but Mom, I'm just helping him the computer game" -- right!
And Mary M, since you'll ALWAYS be younger than me ... well, let's just not go there, ok?
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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JodieLyn
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Hi Ladies - I've posted a bit but still struggling with getting to know the other ladies here. And I'm pretty much sticking to only 3 forums (here, loving the little ones and the more the merrier)
I feel a bit starved for Catholic community. The homeschooling I seem to have confidence for and support for elsewhere. We even have a good Church here.. but we're a small parish, and cover a huge area so people are few and far between. I don't think there's anyone I could chat with about wearing all or mainly dresses for instance. There's only two Catholic families that I know homeschooling. things like that.
And since anything having to do with studying or learning more seems to be always adult only settings, and we can't afford to pay for a babysitter and due to his job my dh is often not available either.. well.. online works great for me.
I don't care for coffee but if you could put on water for tea I like quite a few different herbal teas.. and I could bring a lovely date nut roll.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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guitarnan
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Jodie,
You're surely in the right place here. We recently moved back to MD from a tiny parish in WV, so I can relate to your "huge area" issue. Our parishioners came from two states. They pretty much didn't get the whole Catholic homeschooling thing...homeschoolers were only our family and one other (who's since left the parish, due to lack of support for their openness to life...but have found a great parish an hour away).
I think what's helped me most here is that I can ask pretty much any kind of question (Korean craft ideas...math textbooks...you name it) and get answers, links, shared experiences, etc., right away. I feel very connected and very OK with the idea that I am not alone in homeschooling for eternity.
There are a lot of tea-lovers here...try asking about your favorite in Fireside Chat and you will be surprised at how many tea-drinking sisters you have! (Personally, I love Irish Breakfast and can't tolerate Earl Gray, hot or otherwise...!!!)
Then there's the extended family...I suppose that should be another thread. My mom is now relying on the Fireside Chat crockpot ladies for some recipes (tested by me, I assume) for her long-term kitchen renovation this spring. She's finally figured out that my friends here are really Real.
Irish breakfast, anyone?
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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stefoodie
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I'll take some Irish breakfast. And I'm offering slices of leftover Rosca de Reyes.
Just enjoying the atmosphere here.... always love to see new "faces" and new ideas. And always grateful for the "oldies" as well. You guys don't know just how much you've helped me and my family in our homeschooling journey.
We homeschooled now 15-yo from 96-98, then it was public school and private preschool for the 2 kids, then we went back to homeschooling in 2001 and haven't looked back.
Just stopped by for some tea.... gotta go check on the Char Siu for dinner (late one tonight)... but I'll check back again!
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stef
mom to five
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JodieLyn
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Let's see I recognize Mary M she knows the area where I live.. Hi Mary.. but everyone else I'm still trying to figure out.
Thanks Nancy.. yes I'm not "avoiding" the homeschooling parts here.. and I really should get over to somewhere (reading or literature) for Catholic answers to help me find books for our history timeline reading. It's more a finite amount of time. Though I get some time since I can get away with sitting here while nursing the baby.
I like herb teas.. works well since I can't have caffiene anyway. My favorites usually have some cinnamon in them.. nice strong flavor that can give you the "wake up" feeling others seem to get from caffiene
Oh and Nancy how long since you moved? I see you're still "wading through boxes".. btdt too many times.. I've moved more than many military and this being in one place for almost 6 years is a very new experience for me.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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guitarnan
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Ha ha, Jodie, I will never, ever finish unpacking. We have been in this (old, we bought it in 1991) house since July. Check back in 2 years and we'll be almost unpacked! (Hopefully not...but I know us...20+ years of Navy life will never convince me that getting organized helps anything.)
What history periods are you working on now? I love history and literature!
Also...we're roiboos tea aficionados here...our German friends got us onto this ("redbush" in English), and with a vanilla flavor added it's really nice and healthful! Have you tried it?
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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JodieLyn
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Stef, what is Char Siu?
Nancy it seems to get worse each time.. I dread another move after being here for 6 years and adding 4 children. Do you say how many children and what ages online? I've never had roiboos tea.. is it a black tea? I get headaches from caffieine so I rarely have any at all.. occationally (especially with chinese food) I'll have some green tea (I like the jasmine green tea)
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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teamgriswold
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Hi all! My name is X-Hail (pronounced shy-eel) and I've been lurking around for a good while now, I guess it's time to chime in. My husband is the youth minister here at our parish in PA. We've always homeschooled, our little blessings are ds 8, ds 5 and dd 3. We've been trying to add to that little group, we hope and pray it will be soon.
I found the CCM list before the forum because one of my dearest friends always talked about all the wonderful ladies on the list. By the time I got around to checking it out she and her family were in the missions and this forum started soon after. I've learned so much here and our family has been so blessed by all of you.
My husband and I always knew we wanted to homeschool our children....so here we are.
Thank you Alice for starting this thread, I needed the "baby step".
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Genevieve
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Jodie,
Char Siu is Chinese bbq pork. :) Yummy! My dh *loves* it when they stuffed it into a bun.
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Genevieve
The Good Within
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MichelleW
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Jodie,
Where are you? I am in Oregon, too. In the coast range...
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Michelle
Mom to 3 (dd 14, ds 15, and ds 16)
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JodieLyn
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Hi Michelle - we're way cross the state on the eastern side. We've been over to the coast near Newport a couple of times.
Thanks Genevieve.. it sounds real good. I've been slowly trying to teach myself a bit of chinese cooking. We have such a limited supply of resturants here as well as a limited supply of funds that I've decided to use my talent in the kitchen to make it even less of a desire to go out (except for avoiding having to clean dishes )
Oh and as far as history.. we're currently in ancient history.. just starting some children's books on the epic of Gilgamesh. But I'm working on the next time period from Jesus' birth to about 600AD.. with figuring out what books I want.. getting my lists distributed by age level and looking for holes to fill in. Like an expensive book (~ $35) was recommended on some list I used to help compile it (can't recall which) bunch of short stories but only one story was used. So I am looking for something else for "the last days of the colosseum". Things like that. I have it split into 4 levels and something around a 4 year cycle (seems typical for this type of thing).. but I didn't want to use a non-Catholic curriculum here.. and the only Catholic curriculum like this I was finding is only on the second year and well.. from what I can see of the speed they're working.. I don't want to depend on them for years 3 and 4.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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JuliaT
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Hi everybody,
I don't post too often. I find it hard to join in a group that has been established for awhile, so I mostly lurk. I can't remember how I found this forum. I think it may have been from Elizabeth's 4RealLearning site. I have learned alot since coming here.
My husband and I knew we would be homeschooling before we even had children. It was a given. I had lots of time to read about hsing and the various methods. I consider this a blessing. We have been hsing now for 3 yrs. We do a mish mosh of just about everything--CM, classical, RealLearning and a bit of Montessori.
The hardest thing I am finding right now is how to teach two children. I know that may sound silly to those of you who have 5 or more, but I am really struggling with this. It's not a real big problem right now because my middle child is still in K. I am wondering how things are going to play out when he is older. The reason that this is an issue is that I have chosen curriculums that are mommy-intensive. I can't just give them a workbook and let them go at it. I have to be with them for most of the time. So this is my dilemma right now. I don't know what I am going to do when my youngest comes into the mix.
Thank you, Alice, for starting this thread. I am enjoying it.
Blessings,
Julia
mom to 3(7,6,4)
http://www.homschoolblogger.com/Juliainsk
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Candleside Chat
