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Thursday, November 19, 2020

How do I teach High School math...when I failed it in High School

 




 I thought I would have my husband teach once we got to Algebra, but we haven’t had luck with that approach.   The few times we have waited until he got home to help explain a problem, it ends up not successful because:

a.) he is jumping into a scope and sequence without knowing the methods they have learned

b.) we forget in the bustle of the evening

c.) we want family time at night

d.) my boys learn best in the morning

Don’t get me wrong, I am not putting down any moms who have their husband help. I am sure that mine will need to once we get to some higher levels,  mostly because he LOVES math and I very much do not.  If he wants to help in a subject I don’t like, more power to him!  I just don’t want single moms, or moms whose husbands don’t want to teach, to think they can’t teach high school level math.

So how do I teach a subject I don't understand?  I search for people who do.


1. DVD/VIDEO TEACHER

We have DVD math teacher in Math U See.  We have used this curriculum since my boys were in Kindergarten.  I was nervous about using it for high school, but have had great success!  We are halfway through Geometry with no plans of switching. When they were in younger grades I would watcht he DVD with them, read the manual, then teach them some practice lessons.  Once we got to high school math, they watch the lesson on their own, read the manful, then do their own homework.  All I have to do is grade!


2. YOU TUBE MATH TEACHERS

You Tube Videos are a modern homeschool moms’ dream! During a hard week in Algebra we once watched three different You-Tube videos from three different teachers on the distributive property because the DVD lesson wasn't sinking in when they did their homework.  


3. CORRECTIONS ON HOMEWORK, NOT GRADES

I don't give final grades on homework, only mark for corrections.   I will mark what they got wrong on homework, but they have to fix it until they get it right. If they still can't see what they got wrong after they have tried to fix it a few ways, I let them see the teacher's manual to see how they got wrong. We pray through the frustrations, and not pushing them to move on until they master a concept is a key to Math U See. Some days it is HARD, and we all get frustrated, but this approach has built confidence and joy in learning. I do grade their tests, but for their final grade they also get a 100% for daily work since they do their homework until it is all correcr.


4. PHOTO MATH APP

If all else fails, I use the photo-math app.  Seriously, if you have a high schooler taking math, get this app for yourself.  I don’t let them use it, unless all of the above has not helped, but when we needed it, it was a life saver. 



There has been plenty of years where we struggled, but learning isn’t learning without the struggle

Homeschool Moms, you can do this.  If I can do it, anyone can. 


 



Sunday, November 1, 2020

Empty Wells

 


Are you a fill-the-bottom-half of your gas tank or or fill-the-top-half kind of person? As a teenager and broke young parent, I was a fill-the-bottom-half.  I knew exactly how many miles I could drive after that little green light came on!

In the recent years I have become a fill-the-top-half person because of safety, and fact that I had a van that gas tank indicator was broken! I never knew exactly how much was in my tank, and you never know when a winter storm will hit and you need to be prepared. It also only takes 1 or 2 times running out of gas to realize how much easier it is to fill the top half. 

I told a friend recently I feel like my emotional "tank" is on empty and I'm struggling to barely fill the bottom half. We all know 2020 is a "running on fumes" year.  

I am not going to explain why I'm empty (it can be said with just a simple "2020"), but God is reminding me again how to "fill my tank" when a storm is happening.

My last "running on fumes" season was when I had infant twins, and very low financial resources,  We were young broke parents, I had no friends who were also moms due to having babies at 23 and attending a church with no other moms.

I can feel the emotional echoes of that time, feeling isolated and drained, without built-in ways to meet my needs.  During that time I had to fight hard to find connection, and I slowly healed and got to the point where I was filling the "top half" of my emotional tank.

Switching from modern gas-tank metaphor to a more biblical water-bucket metaphor, God has often warned me of empty wells. I know they don't work through experience, but I keep finding my wandering back to quench my thirst in wells that do not satisfy. 

Why do I return to something that has proven unreliable in the long run? I return because these wells promise to satiate my thirst, and they require very little from me. 

They promise distractions from the pain, or momentary pleasure, and they give both. They promise a numbing feeling that sometimes we all desperately crave in a broken world.

Empty wells also promise self sufficiency, with very little vulnerability. I get to pull up the bucket, and in that I feel in control. Almost all my empty wells are in my control, and are one-way: no true intimacy is required.

But they do not satiate my need for peace. I thirst for unconditional love, for genuine relationships, and for someone to see my heart without fear of them hurting me. Empty wells of this world do not meet these needs.

Again, why do I keep returning when I know that my thirst will not be met? I return to these empty well when I do not trust in the sufficiency of His grace to slake my thirst. I do not trust in His unconditional love, His genuine want for relationship with me, and His ability to see my heart without hurting me.

Our enemy doesn't have to destroy us completely if he can slowly distract us. Distractions from the true well of Life are just promising enough that we mistake them for life giving, people and things that take more than they can ever give. 

What is an empty well that God is calling you to walk away from in 2020?  Procrastination, social media, dysfunctional relationships, and world powers all might make the list.

And what wells is He calling you to? Intentional relationships? Productive living, not just busyness that numbs? Spiritual discipline to renew your mind?

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:38

Monday, September 28, 2020

Spiritually Fed During Coronavirus

 


The modern Christian rhythm of getting "filled" on Sunday Morning has been disrupted by this Pandemic. Our spiritual routines are changed by online sermons, watching your kids during the sermon because of no children's church, or dealing with divisiveness in your church about a piece of cotton over your face. 

What do we do when we have to learn to be in charge of our personal growth?  Coronavirus has highlighted the need for personal spiritual disciplines more than any other time in my life.

 Personally, all my usual outlets of spiritual development have either been put on hold, moved online, or changed drastically due to restrictions.   Our less than 100 people church has had to move to two services, so I see only half my church family any given Sunday. Our weekly small group can't gather to eat together safely. My homeschool co-op prayer group has been cancelled because not enough people could agree on meeting with or without a mask.  My Bible study (www.bsfinternational.org) has moved online, which still keeps me in The Word, but definitely feels a bit different. 

But maybe this interruption is one of the many things God is trying to work out for good?  We were never ever meant to be "fed" on only Sunday (and don't get me started on my biggest pet peeve of someone leaving a church because they were not "being fed"). 

Babies are fed. Adults feed themselves.

God didn't make our bodies to only eat physical food one day a week, then pray those calories last for 6 more days.  Our bodies are designed to eat everyday, and as we grow up, to enjoy the responsibility of feeding ourselves.  

Daily Bread.  Intentional relationship. Constant Prayer.

These are the rhythms God has given us to feed our souls.

How are you feeding yourself during this time of Coronavirus?

(This is NOT A POST ABOUT WHETHER COVID RESTRICTITONS SHOULD BE THERE OR NOT. I will deleted comments debating restrictions.)

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Homeschool Planner: Home and Life Daily Organizer: 52 Week Undated Weekly Planner for Life and Homeschool


Homeschool Planner:
 52 Week Undated Weekly Planner for Life and Homeschool

Plan your life all in one planner! Ideal for anyone who want to keep all their to-do lists in one place!I have homeschool for 8 years, and created this planner after not finding what I needed elsewhere. I have used for 2 years and the to-do lists for my entire life are inside.

You can buy on Amazon or on LearningCursive.org



INCLUDES:
  • 52 weeks undated weekly planner with 10 subjects/to-dos
  • Weekly meal planning
  • 12 month attendance tracker
  • Password tracker
  • Curriculum order tracker
  • Areas of study tracker (up to 4 kids)
  • High school credits tracker (up to 2 high schoolers)
  • Semester Grade Trackers (for up to four kids)





Saturday, August 15, 2020

First Day of School HAMILTON Treasure Hunt

 

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
HAMILTON TREASURE HUNT


Start your school year with FUN!  A Treasure Hunt on the first day is a great way to get your kids excited about starting the school year! It seemed only fitting that this year's treasure hunt is themed after our new favorite Historical Musical, 
HAMILTON!

We have started our year with a Treasure Hunt for for almost six years now.  We change them up each year, but here are a few examples of Treasure Hunt Part One and Treasure Hunt Part Three.  I thought that my middle school aged children may not enjoy it as much as they did when they were in 2nd or 3rd grade, but it is still a huge hit.






TREASURE HUNT TIPS

1. Depending the age of your children, try to number the clues so they go from room to room, preventing them stumbling onto Clue #4 before Clue #2. For example, Put clues #2 and #3 in the first room of your house, Clues #3 and #4 in the second room, etc. 

2. For younger children, have the clues on the outside of objects so they can be found easily.  For older children, you can tuck them inside things, but be there to provide guidance (see tip #4).

3. If possible, hide the treasure in a different level, so that they don’t come upon it while searching for clues. For example, our boys’ treasure basket will be on their bed, and I don’t have any clues in their room, so they won’t happen on them.  You could end in your basement or outside in the garden to prevent them from finding the treasure too soon. 

4. Keep is short and fun.  The point of this is not to solve a super hard riddle, but to start the school year with some fun and a prize.


TREASURE HUNT CLUES


Clue #1- Hand it to them

Ooh, if the shoe fits, wear it
If New York’s in debt—
Why should Virginia bear it?


Clue #2 In the Shoe Bin

The President is going to bring the nation to the brink
Of meddling in the middle of a military mess,
A game of chess,
Where France is Queen and King-less.



Clue #3 on our chess board in game closet

Why do you write like you’re
running out of time?
Write day and night like you’re
running out of time?
Ev’ry day you fight, like running out of time
running out of time



Clue #4 Behind the clock

Hey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwing away my shot!


Clue #5 In or On the Fridge

Then a hurricane came and devastation rained
our man saw his future drip-dripping down the drain
put a pencil to his temple connected it to his brain
and he wrote his first refrain a testament to his pain



Clue #6 On the Pencil Holder

Look around look around the revolutions
happening in New York!
look around look around at
how lucky we are to be alive right now!



Clue #7  On New York on our Globe

Come back to bed, that would be enough

Put Treasure on their pillows
Keep the prizes inexpensive. This year I bought them:
  • Hamilton Soundtrack- Clean (yes, my kids do still sometimes listen to CDs, I also got it in MP3 format)
  • Replacement whoopie cushion from Dollar Tree 
  • Silly putty from Dollar Tree (they love to love with it while doing school)
  • Fakes Mustaches from Dollar Tree (they are making a movie and they need costumes)


BUY PDF DOWNLOAD 

I have created a PDF download with 14 different Hamilton Clues so you can personalize it to fit your own home! 






Wednesday, August 12, 2020

When Should I Start My Homeschool Year?

 


Homeschool is about freedom, freedom to chose when YOU start. Don't chose for others, and don't let others chose for you.

There is no time that you "should" start, except for the time that works for your family, and it is ok if that takes a little bit to figure out what works best for you.

In years past we have have tried on several different start dates; after Labor Day, at the beginning of August, same time as our local public schools, and one year we tried year round.

After eight years of homeschooling, we have figured out that starting mid August works for us, for now.

A few reasons starting mid August works for my family during this season:

  1.  My husband works in the schools and I like to be on his schedule.
  2. We take a lot of November & December days off to work on my in-laws Christmas Tree Farm.
  3. We attend a weekly co-op and Bible Study that begin in September (when it isn't a pandemic) so I like to get into our routine for a few weeks before our schedule gets interrupted.
  4. Because of those weekly outside activities, we usually do a 3 day week, and I need the extra time given by starting early to get through our year long curriculum if I want all of June and and July off (which is what we like because of family birthdays).
  5. I NEED two months off by May, but we all start aching for routine again by August.

But those are OUR reasons, and you don't live my life. You don't have my kids or my schedule.

Did you just have a baby and need to take an extra month off, do it!

Did you set up your classroom and your kids are excited to begin, go for it!

Do you have a pool membership through September and can't bare to end summer just yet? That is great!

Did you plan to start last week, but had a super stressful weekend, so you postponed a week? Yep, that's me! 🙋🏼‍♀️

YOUR life is what determines your homeschool start date?

Whatever you do, don't judge or compare yourself with anyone else because of their schedule.


Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Finding the PERFECT Homeschool Curriculum



I repeat, there is no PERFECT HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM!

The best advice I ever received as new homeschool moms was to find a curriculum that is OK, and then STOP LOOKING. Homeschool parents take years off their life searching for the elusive "perfect" curriculum".

Don’t look for curriculum, look for a homeschool style, then find something that fits that style. There are styles that work better for your child, styles that DON’T WORK for your child, but there will never be a PERFECT FIT.

I personally love our curriculum, My Father's World, because it combines a few different learning styles that fit our family.  That said, we ignore one third of what is in the manual because it just doesn't "fit" where we are, or that academic need is met elsewhere. We skip their Bible many times because we do to a Bible Study that has its own homework for my kids, and we skip their art because we take art classes outside the home.

Your teacher’s Manual is not god, and NO teacher’s manual is perfect. Just because your teacher's manual says they should be able to write that sentence that week doesn't mean your child is ready to write that sentence. It doesn’t necessarily mean you need a new teacher’s manual, it just means you get to make it work for YOUR family.

It is OK to stay on a Math concept for two weeks, even though your manual says they should learn it in two days. When you get "stuck" try to count it as a blessing because if your child was not one-on-one with you are home, they would not be "stuck", they would be "left behind".

Making it work is not something you know right away, and that is OK.  You will learn slowly how to make sometime work for your family, what parts to throw out and what to keep, just like you did in those early years of parenting.  You learned what stuffed animals comforted  your child enough to fall asleep, or how to make green beans more appetizing.

If you are looking for curriculum, and up to your eyeballs in stress, take a breath. It will be OK! We have ALL been there. You will find something that works, and you can make work for your family.

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

How Long is Your Homeschool Day?


HOW LONG IS YOUR HOMESCHOOL DAY?


The rule of thumb is to add about 20 minutes for each grade, but every KID is different and every DAY is different. Some days we get through our whole day in an hour and half, some days it feels like we trudge through at snail's pace.

How Long is Your Homeschool Day?
  • Preschool- 15 to 30 min
  • Kindergarten- 30 min to 1 hour
  • 1st to 2nd Grade- 45 min to 1.5 hours
  • 3rd to 4th Grade- 1.5 to 3 hours
  • 5th to 6th Grade- 2.5 to 3.5 hours
  • 7th to 8th grade- 3 to 4.5 hours
  • High School- 3.5 to 6 hours

1. STRUCTURED LEARNING 
These times apply to STRUCTURED learning, a.k.a direct teaching and/or "seat-work".  This does not include field trips, cooking dinner together, play time, and all the other learning that happens every moment in your house! 

 Your day may go over this time with extra-curricular and fun educational activities that don't fall into "structured" learning. Guided free-play (like play-dough and dress up), gym class, audio-books, separate art class, and field trips are different, and will last longer because they REQUIRE A DIFERENT TYPE OF BRAIN ENGAGEMENT.

I taught preschool and kindergarten, and I can attest that the times above are the longest any STRUCTURED time will be effective in those younger ages. Yes, you can get a compliant child to sit and listen or do worksheet for longer, but in my experience retention falls drastically after these age-appropriate windows of direct teaching.

2. TIME RANGES, NOT SET IN STONE
These are just jumping off ranges for new homeschoolers to see that they do not have to fill the same time period at the public school! Public school class schedules require a lot of crowd control time, and you don't have that crowd. Many moms are afraid they are missing something if they get Kindergarten done in 45 minutes, but as a former Kindergarten teacher, I can promise you that you are not!

3. Every KID is different and every DAY is different. 
Some days we get through our whole day in an hour and half, some days it feels like we trudge through at snail's pace.

You have to find out what works for you. What works for your student, may slow down another.
This year we found the day goes faster when we do Math first (because my sons says then his brain isn't already tired when he gets to it), but that approach may slow down your day. Like I said, all kids are different. 

Some days my kids through their school work super fast, but the next day we have a science lab, a math test, and an English paper to write and it takes most of the day.



If your days are CONSISTENTLY GOING WAY OVER THESE TIME RANGES and your children are struggling, maybe take some time to reflect WHY that is. 

  • Are you expecting too much independent work from your student, and they need more one on one time?
  • Is there too much busywork or redundancies in your curriculum? 
  • Would switching to audiobooks help a child who is struggling to get their reading done? 
  • Do you need to drop back a grade level in a few subjects?
  • Are you overscheduled on homeschool activities and trying to cram things into a shorter period of time?
  • Do you kids work better in the morning and you are trying to get work done in the afternoon?  Or vice versa?

Does this schedule ring true for your homeschool day? Please let me know in the comments!


Thursday, July 2, 2020

Drawn to God: Sermon Notes Journal

Drawn to God: Sermon Notes Journal for any age


After creating Sermon Notes for Kids and Sermon Notes for Teen, I had several requests for an adult sermon notes journal.  As I came up with a plan, I designed the journal I needed myself!

Drawn to God is a 52 Week Sermon Notebook for Doodlers and Artists, or anyone who needs space to process the sermon through writing. This journal is the perfect notebook for engaging creatively with the sermon with options to write, reflect, and draw.






Each 2 Page Layout Includes:
  • Key Sermon Points & Verse
  • Worship Lyric that spoke to me
  • How will I apply this to my life?
  • What part of the sermon am I struggling to believe or put into action?
  • Praises & prayer requests
  • Drawing section to illustrate or write more anything God has laid on your heart


More Book Details:
  • 52 weeks, 2 page layout for each week
  • 108 pages of Sermon Journal
  • 8.5 by 11 inches
  • Unisex cover and pages, can be used for men or women
  • Matte Cover & Paperback Cover



Tuesday, June 2, 2020

I didn't know



I didn't know what I didn't know.

Yesterday as I drove, I cried with lament for our country, but also tears of gratitude for finally being awake. This white girl who knew she  didn't want to be a racist her whole life, from the first time I heard my mother use the N word, but I didn't  know what I didn't know.

I thanked God for waking me up to what lamenting and listening means.  I repented for the wake of slavery that I didn't cause, but do benefit from. I then asked for God to show me more of my unconscious biases. Repeat.

 I am a white girl who grew up in a white town, a small town in  central Indiana. The county I lived in is literally named White County, and more than once I heard adult and teens around me say, "White County needs to stay white."

The only POC I knew were Mexican and Latin  americans immigrants and their children, and the 2 half-black adopted kids in our school corporatation.

My best friend was a 2nd generation Latina, who was born in Indiana, with parents from El Salvador. She was sometimes bullied by the Mexican kids for hanging out with white kids. I loved her, but I see now never understood her experiences as a person of color, because she was accepted by me and our friends, so I didn't get how others wouldn't accept her.  To be honest, I never asked. 

I saw how racist my classmates and adults surrounding me saw the Mexican kids, ones who spoke Spanish and wore dark lipstick, they were differen, they were other. I will admit, I did too. I didn't think of myself as racist by any means, but they were different to me, and that made me uncomfortable.  

 I saw my best friend as different from the Mexican immigrants, and I didn't equate her experience with theirs. I loved being part of her culture when we were at her house, and listening to her parents speak Spanish, but she was like me.  I never asked about what it felt like to be a latina in a white world. We were from the same town, wore the same clothes, liked the same music. When others saw her inny company, and with all our white friends, they acted differently to her than the Mexican kids in our town. If anyone gave her any crap, I saw it as isolated racists from a small town. I didn't realize until VERY recently that my white privilege protected her when she was with me. 

 As a teen, I heard on the news about profiling, and I remember not knowing why it was wrong. 

Why wouldn't you pull over someone that fits the description of the suspect? 

Why would you be scared of the police if you did nothing wrong?

 I didn't know how times the only "description" they fit was "black". 

 I didn't know how times there is no suspect at all, just suspicion because of the color their skin.

 I didn't know how many times just the color of dark skin meant quicker escalation, due to fear on booths sides, that turned to violence.

 I didn't know how many times that "suspicious feeling" that led to white people calling the cops many times just meant "they are black in a white area".

 I didn't know.

I am grateful that when I married young I moved away from that tiny town.

 It took way too long for me to fully wake up, but I was trying. I knew I didn't want to be racist. I wanted to be awake to injustice, but I felt like in a dream where I was trying to wake up, but my you can't can't open your eyes. I started to meet POC, and I saw their anger, but still I just didn't get it.

 My husband and I starting working with Young Life in South Bend. I got to serve with amazing African American teens and adult leaders. I must admit it was really really uncomfortable at first. 
Remember, white girl from a white town in White County? I was so nervous any time I was around a black person, not due to fears but the unknown. I was always hyper aware when I was with a black teen versus a white teen. It was new, and it was hard.  I  needed to live in the discomfort of being in someone's space, in their culture, and OUT of my own. It was so good for me because it started to wake me up. 

To me, being awake means you can't sleep though it just because it doesn't effect you.  You can sleep through a train when it is 10 miles away, but you can't when it's in your living room, or in your neighbor's yard.  As a white girl, I can easily live as if the train of racism is 10 to 20 miles away.  I could stay in my bubble and know that my sons or husband don't have to live the consequences.   That is wrong, as a human and a Christian.  The train of racism is crashing through the bedrooms of human beings, of image-bearers of God. Who am I to go to sleep again, just because it doesn't touch my life personally?

One of best thing that ever happened to me as a naive little white girl was going to Windy Gap Summer Camp as a Young Life leader, I was 21 years old. My husband and I were two of only a dozen white people, at a camp of 500 Black and Hispanic leaders and students. I experienced for the first time even a tiny fraction of what it felt like to be a minority. 

 Guys it was one of the most uncomfortable weeks in my entire life. I didn't understand the music references, hair culture, the movies, even just words used made me feel like I was always just out of the loop. I literally stuck out in every single group, and saw all eyes look at me every time I entered a room.

Guys, it was also one the best weeks in my entire life. It was scary, but oh how wonderful it was for me to walk even a step in the shoes of a minority. I was brave enough to ask my girls about why they wore a scarf at night, and the girls got to ask a while person ask why they watched their hair so much. I saw teen girls fight over stupid and serious stuff, just like every other teen girl in the world.

I learned about the importance of respect in the girls' lives, and how little they got in the world, which led to them fighting so hard for it, even in sometimes what I viewed as trivial little things, like someone stealing their Pepsi. 

God allowed me to witness teen boys of color conquer literal mountains, with their storng Male leader of color right next to them. 

God wanted me to be surrounded by my brothers and sisters of color in a way that there was no way I could ever be the same as I was before. I was surrounded by amazing human beings, with color and culture that shook my heart with its strength. 

I could never not know again what it feel like, even a tiny tiny sliver of a percentage, of what it felt like to be a minority. I hadn't woken up fully, but it had begun. 

Over the next 16 years I would be able to befriend more people of color (honestly  enough and I will admit my circle of friend is still predominantly white, which I don't want to always be that way). 

 I would see men and women of color in local church and government leadership. I began to learn the truth behind profiling, and brothers and sisters colors told their experiences of being pulled over and questioned. 

 I would serve on a jury where an older black man was chased in a car by 3 rich white college students in the middle of the night, yet HE was charged with a charged crime of brandishing a ln unloaded weapon out his car window when they refused to stop tailgating ans following hok for a half hour in the dead of night. It took me and one other man on the jury to advocate for this man to not he found guilty on all charges, and even then he had to be found guilty on brandishing a weapon, because he did. I still remember how angry I felt at the injustice of these white affluent boys testifying as victims in court, with no explanation of their harassment other than they followed him becasue he "looked suspicious". I regret deeply I didn't fight harder to get all charges dropped.

I have been trying to read books that not only centered on civil rights, but intentionally seek out books and movies that have black actors as the leads, not just opposite a white person, and don't just feature people of color as being "sassy" or the sidekick. I sometimes felt odd as a white girl watching Janet Jackson in "Poetic Justice", or singing "Freedom is coming tomorrow" from Sarafina, or the loving the amazing Whitney in "Waiting to Exhale", but I wanted to see more. I did not want to be color blind, because  the color I was beginning to see was beautiful.

I was pretty close to being awake , but Ahmaud, Breonna, and George have fully woken me up. It took too long,  for which I am repentant, but I am awake.

 I am the mother to two almost 13 year old white boys. My sons will never have to be scared to be pulled over by police. They will never have to worry about wearing a hoodie on a walk in their grandparent's neighborhood.  

No, black lives do not matter MORE, they matter TOO. The point of #blacklivesmatter is because unconscious and conscious bias are real. I know they are real, because  I lived with them, in my family and in my own mind. 

I know racist is a scary word that congers up KKK and Nazis,  but the concept that I have learned is there isn't a dichotomy of racists and not racist. We ALL fall on a spectrum of bias, and and we ALL have blind spots of bias (a.k.a unconscious bias).

White Guilt is not what I am advocating. It isn't my FAULT I was born a white girl in an all community, but it is my RESPPNSIBLITY to educate myself about the experiences of others.  

What is your unconscious bias? What are your blind spots? I wasn't "racist" like a KKK member, but I was way too biased for way too long, even though I didn't want to be. I know I still have unconscious biases, but I want to do better.

We may never agree exactly how to fix the problem of racism in America, but I definitely know we can't fix a problem we don't believe is there.

Lord, don't ever let me fall asleep to the pains and wounds of an entire community. 

I want to do better.

Friday, May 29, 2020

Naan Bread- Egg, Dairy, & Yeast Free


I LOVE Naan Bread, but with my allergies I have not been able to have it for the past three years.  I finally have a great recipe! I combined several recipes and this one has turned out the best, with the chewy taste of yeasted bread!

Dry Ingredients
  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 to 1/4 tsp garlic powder (optional) 
Wet Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened original almond milk
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened plain or Greek style almond milk yogurt 
  • 2 tsp olive oil
Directions
  1. Combine all dry ingredients and mix well
  2. Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add oil, milk, and yogurt. Mix together until it forms a ball, add flour as needed if too sticky.  Knead until very smooth and elastic- at least 5 minutes- adding more flour as necessary.  The more you knead, the more it will be a bread like texture. 
  3. Cover dough in a bowl with a towel, and let dough rest for 20 to 45 minutes. 
  4. Heat a non stick skillet over medium-high heat.
  5. Divide dough into 8 pieces.  Roll one piece of dough until very thin (less than 1/8 inch). 
  6. Brush olive oil onto one side of naan. One at a time, cook the naan in a heated skillet until bubbly parts are dark brown/blacking on each side (about 30 seconds)
  7. Repeat by brushing olive oil to one side of naan, when you flip the naan, if you are using a non stick pan you shouldn't have to put oil on both sides.  I found if you add the oil to pan, instead of brushing the naan, it smokes too quickly. 
  8. Optional- brush with butter and add seasoning (cilantro, garlic, etc). 

  

Thursday, May 21, 2020

To Homeschool Moms during the "new reality" of Coronavirus


Speaking specifically to my fellow homeschool moms:

The new Coronavirus CDC guidelines for schools reopening in the fall came out this week. NO ONE knows what this will look like in implementation. Every school will look different in how they want, and can, follow these guidelines. No matter what your local school does, we all know life is going to be different, and probably harder, for your public school friends, and their kids next year, not to mention the amazing humans we call teachers.

While some of my friends are choosing to homeschool after quarantine, please please please remember homeschooling is not an option for many families, and furthermore it isn't even the best choice for many kids.

It is going to be very tempting as we see many parents frustrated with the realities to say, "That is why WE homeschool." This is not helpful.

The response,"That is why we homeschool" is NOT an appropriate or helpful response when a friend (who has a different schooling choice that you) is sharing a struggle with their child. Seriously, stop this.

I have been on the receiving end of "That is why we send our kids to school" more times that I can count; it is hurtful and judgmental. When a friend confides a parenting struggle we can listen to validate, prayerfully answer with scripture and encouragement, or just keep your mouth shut.

Not every mom should homeschool, and not every kid should be homeschooled. I know, gasp! Yes, this is a homeschool page. Yes, I LOVE homeschooling with my entire being, but I also firmly believe this lifestyle is not for every kid or family. My page is here to support those who feel the call, and believe it is best for their family.

I am not saying we should not be open to our friends about about homeschool. We MUST be there during this time to answer questions for anyone who is considering homeschool. I am very open about my choice to homeschool so that moms who are on the fence feel comfortable talking to me. But being open to helping is not the same as giving unsolicited advice to a public school mom whose struggling with their new reality.

Please pray and support your friend's choice to continue public school in the same way you want them to support your choice to homeschool.





Thursday, April 23, 2020

Learning Cursive with Literature


MY NEW WEBSITE IS DONE!

All my workbooks can now be found easily in one place at LearningCursive.org !

Meaning Matters

​A student, child or adult, learns best when the content is connected to something meaningful in their own lives.  Learning with Literature Workbooks take the whining out of handwriting practice with meaningful words and quotes from beloved children's literature.  Perfect for Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers.

Designed for elementary students just learning cursive, middle schoolers who need practice, or anyone who wants to improve their handwriting

Print workbooks also available for younger students!

I DEEPLY appreciate every book sold, and every link shared! THANK YOU!



CURSIVE WORKBOOKS






PRINT WORKBOOKS



SERMON NOTES FOR KIDS AND TEENS