*Mark Trail is the intellectual property of North American Syndicate, Inc.

We don’t have high expectations, do we?

Homeschooling families are a diverse bunch. Each homeschool holds to its own specific combination of philosophy, priorities and outcomes. Each of us prefers to read certain types of literature. Some put a high value on music education, while for some, the scientific method rules the roost. We all look to round our children, but let’s face it, we have our preferences… As a matter of fact, these preferences usually drive the decision to homeschool in the first place.

In spite of our differences in technique, we do have much in common. If there is one theme that runs through every conversation I have with homeschooling families (moms and dads), it is the desire to raise children who exhibit honorable character traits in both their personal and professional lives. I love talking to like-minded people who place so much value on this piece of their children’s developing minds and hearts.

But…

Once we get past discussing our mutual commitment to character training, the conversation often drifts into frustration. Parents today, homeschooling or not, know the end result they seek, but they have no road map.

In times past, for good or otherwise, young people learned how to train their children from their parents. Your household had rules, which generally aligned with the rules in other households. You knew what would fly (going to a ball game with a friend’s family) and what wouldn’t (going to a party at a friend’s house – where their parents wouldn’t be there.)

Today’s families are often operating on a drifting foundation. Many parents are still trying to get their arms around their own belief system… they haven’t shaped their own thinking. Is it then any wonder that they don’t feel capable or qualified to teach their children about what is good and right?

Confusing? Yup… but also a significant opportunity!

Homeschooling is the perfect environment for us to hone our own character while we do the same for our children.

Three things to keep in mind:

1) No matter how far behind you feel, you are still ahead of your kids. Take comfort in knowing that you have experiences that have taught you the good and right. Take those as a starting point and work from there.

2) Ancora imparo – “I am still learning”. This is my life’s motto… I find it encouraging that no matter where we are in life, we still get to learn and grow. We never have to be stagnant. Work on your own development alongside your children. They will respect you and your values more when they see how thoughtful you are about your own character.

3) You have resources… use them. Use curriculum if you need some guidance. Or, you can try a more expository approach to character training. Word study is a tool I use for my own research, learning, as well as Bible study.

My hope for you is renewed confidence in your ability to train your children up in integrity. Later this month, we will talk a little bit more about word study as a framework to train your children’s hearts while you build their brains.

I also want to send a big shout out to our friend Kristin Franke at Home Sweet Life… she won a copy of Little Pilgrim’s Progress in our April giveaway!

Congratulations, Kristin!

This is a book near and dear to my heart. I remember reading it to my children when they were very young . The wonder on their faces as they heard about little Christian and his journey to the Celestial City more than made up for the loss of my voice:-)

From the back cover: “For more than a half century… Little Christian and Christiana have captivated children in their quest to reach the Celestial City. A journey fraught with danger, pitfalls, and temptation, this retelling of John Bunyan’s classic allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress, celebrates more than 60 years. The anniversary edition of Little Pilgrim’s Progress contains the best of the many illustrations used to depict the highs and lows of the Christian journey through life and the ultimate reward: eternity with Christ. This profound allegory will delight children ages 8-12, providing spiritually rich reading they will adore and long remember.”

What I Love

The beauty of this book is that it tames the darkness of the original in order to bring the material to a place where young people can feel its depth without drowning in verbosity and adult fear. The author remains true to the story and doesn’t degrade the message. I am usually one to read originals… we love the original versions of The Mysterious Island or the Henty books. But, Pilgrim’s Progress is so much more than just a story. It speaks to the spirit and that’s why it is important to make it accessible when children are young. The challenge of this story is what it brings to the heart, and what a gift it is to plant those seeds at a young age!

The book itself is terrific, but what I am especially excited about is the study guide, called the Little Pilgrim’s Progress Adventure Guide, that Moody is putting out with the 60th Anniversary Edition of the book. Accessible, thoughtful, equally helpful in an individual or group environment, the Guide utilizes different modalities such as vocabulary study, comprehension questions, allegorical concepts, literature elements, bible application, and character analysis to open up the rich lessons contained in the book.

I could see a homeschooling family using this book and study guide not just as a literature study, but also as a unit study for character development. If you want to dig even deeper, the guide is a great jumping off point for character study. It will also be helpful to anyone having difficulty with training children in heart issues. The common language that you develop when reading this book as a family is immensely useful when training or disciplining children. I remember using the book for this very thing when the boys were younger.

What Could Be Improved

Honestly, I don’t know that I would change anything.  The language is right for the audience, the content is respectful of the original and the analysis is appropriate for the version.  Kudos to Moody for bringing this timeless classic into a format suitable for younger children.

Grade from the Professor

A+

I am excited to walk through this book with my own children one more time. They have older hearts now, and I suspect that this will be a terrific tool to draw them in to examine, in an age-appropriate manner, the motives that lie behind their actions. I was just getting ready to read the full version of Pilgrim’s Progress.  Having just finished Anna Karenina, I needed something that will subvert the human condition for a loftier goal. I think I will make it a point to align my reading with Little Pilgrim’s Progress, so the boys and I can discuss both versions.

But, that’s not all…

(are you ready for it?  I know, the suspense is killing you…)

Moody Publishers has been kind enough to provide one copy of Little Pilgrim’s Progress and the Adventure Guide for me to giveaway to you! You can register by sending me an email, by making a comment below, or by liking the Professor Mom page on Facebook. I will be drawing the winner’s name on Monday morning. Good luck!

Scott and I sat with him that night, and he purred on my soft robe.  (He was normally a purring machine and hadn’t purred all day, so in retrospect, I see that was sort of a last effort on his part to love us.)  I slept on the couch Tuesday evening in case he passed away in the night.  I really didn’t want the boys to find him before I did.  It was a very long night.

On Wednesday, he was worse.  After talking to Scott about it and the both of us sitting down with the kids, I called the vet – who was able to translate my squeaked out, monosyllabic request for an appointment.  The thought of losing him nearly broke my heart, but the thought of such a dear, good cat suffering was even worse.  He had been a faithful friend through my entire adult life.  I knew that it was only a matter of a few hours before he would be in really bad shape, and I wanted to save both the cat and the kids from having to go through that.

That afternoon, Scott came home early so he could take the kids out and about, while I said good-bye to my little buddy.  It wasn’t easy, but I knew I had to do it.  Afterwards, I was a wreck.  I think God had given me just enough strength to stay the course and do what needed to be done, because when it was over, I was unbelievably sad.  When the family came home, we all grieved together.

It was a heart-wrenching time, but as the days passed, I was able to watch the kids and see the workings of their hearts as they processed their loss.  It crossed my mind that many of you may have found or may find yourself in this position.  I thought it might be helpful to share how we handled talking to the boys about the death of their pet, as well as ask you all to share any additional tips you have found to ease the process.  So, do feel free to share.

(Note – since changing to the WordPress platform, I have received copious amounts of spam comments.  In order to keep the blog clean and useful, I now approve comments before they post.  So, if you don’t see your comment immediately, never fear… I will get it online asap:-)

Be Honest

When we knew for certain the cat was fading, we sat the kids down and told them, in clear and simple terms.  We told them that animals give us certain signs when their life is ending and that Izzy was exhibiting those signs.  We let them know that he would soon be suffering and that by taking him to the vet, we would be saving him from a painful ending.  We reminded them what a wonderful cat he had been and made sure they knew that we were helping him to go peacefully because of our love for him.

Be Brief

We let them cry when they needed to, but more than once over the course of those first days, we had to bring them out of their grief so they could catch their breath.  We needed to give them a distraction so their hearts could rest and recover.  This was especially true for our younger, more sensitive son.  His grief was overwhelming him that first night.  I told him to just picture a white wall in front of him.  He is a very visual kids – just like his dad – so I told him that anytime an image invaded his thoughts, he could erase it so that the wall was white again.  He could cry when he felt sad, but that white wall was always there for him if he needed to stop feeling sad for a while.

Kids are also remarkably resilient.  They feel loss deeply, but are much more quick to return to daily life after a loss than grown-ups are.  Watch for signs that they need normalcy.  I was a little amazed that they seemed so much better than I was, in a shorter time frame.  I had to be careful not to let my (longer) grieving process affect the healing that they were experiencing.

Be Bare

The kids haven’t often seen me cry.  I used this opportunity to show them a little bit of my emotional side.  They saw me cry for Izzy those first days.  They now know first-hand that Mom and Dad can experience loss and can be sad and that everything will still be ok.  That being said, they saw that sadness come from a self-controlled adult, not a mom who was a hot mess.  (I saved the hot mess for moments for when I was alone:-)  A parent who is a hot mess is scary to a child regardless of their age.  A grieving child is already fearful and sad enough without feeling like they need to take care of you as well.  While this is a good opportunity to be bare with your kids, that openness needs to be tempered with self-control.

Be Thankful

Healing comes from many places.  For me, gratitude has been remarkably healing.  I am so thankful for the long life of that cat, for his health, for his happy disposition.  I am also thankful that his end was as good as I could have imagined it short of him going peacefully in his sleep.  Scott and I have both talked to the kids about all of the joy Izzy brought us and how lucky we were to have him for so long.  The silly stories and happy memories, while bittersweet, have their own healing power.

Be Aware

Everyone processes grief differently, and kids are usually more resilient than we think.  As a parent, it was important for me to read them carefully and use this situation to teach them how to handle their emotions.  I could see what they were feeling much more clearly than they could and give them words for their feelings.

I also had to make sure they weren’t trying to bear the weight of my feelings.  For example, it took a few days before I really wanted to eat.  I didn’t make big deal of it.  I knew my appetite would come back (although…:-)  But, they apparently noticed and kept trying to entice me to eat with Snickers and Swedish Fish, which really cracked me up.  I was glad they were being thoughtful of others.  After a few tries, though, I had to make it clear that I was in no danger of starving to death.  I told them that my body was just working on getting through my sadness and that, eventually, I would have more energy for eating again.  I could almost see the relief in their faces.

Be Flexible

As weird as it sounds, Izzy was like a big fluffy brother to the boys.  Because we homeschool, he was always with us – reading on the couch, playing with scraps of paper from a project, or “talking” to us while we did math.  They were used to having him around 24-7.  When he was suddenly gone, it was like a big empty space settled into our home and our hearts.  The days leading up to his death and the one after felt very foggy to all of us.  I let them play much more than normal and suspended school for that time.  We were just focused on the next breath and didn’t expect too much from ourselves.

Be Normal

That being said, daily routines are comforting forces in our lives that carry us safely from one day to the next.  Childhood thrives on routine, and this can be especially true after a loss.  We took a day after Izzy passed to be sad, but the day after that, I made it a point to start in on some schoolwork again.  That may seem a little cold to some, but for us, it was crucial to get back into our daily lives and work.  It also helped us work through so many of the touchpoints in the day that reminded us of Izzy.  It was hard to do morning read-aloud time (a staple in our house) without him jumping up and sleeping on us while we read on the couch.  But, after the first day, it became a little easier, and so on.  We experienced many moments like that over the last week.  But, our routines kept us going and working through them, which in turn was very healing in itself.

We still miss our cat.  I truly believe God places certain animals in our lives and hearts as little mercies.  I share our story with the hope that it can be helpful to your family if you find yourself in similar circumstances.  Everyone’s experience with the loss of a pet and the accompanying grief is different.  Some people can’t understand loving an animal, and others feel very deeply for their pets.  I was certainly surprised at how heartbroken I felt.  But, the beauty of love is more powerful than the loss, and I feel so blessed to have had my little companion for as long as I did.  I like to think that, even as he left us, he gave us a parting gift… the opportunity to face a loss together as a family and grow closer because of it.

Out on the Well-Trained Mind forums the other day, the Hive was discussing daily schedules.  Being the planning-Nazi that I am, I relish looking over how people structure their days.  Sometimes, just skimming someone else’s post reminds me to add something to our schedule.  Likewise, reading about a different thought process helps me to eliminate some extraneous homeschooling activities.

Of course, I like to give something back to the discussion.  At the beginning of this school year, I tested different homeschool planning software.  I really enjoyed Homeschool Tracker, and was in love with the concepts behind Rebecca Keliher’s Well-Planned Day web app.  Unfortunately, I needed something with a bit less of a learning curve than HST and something further down the development pipeline that WPD was at the time.

I wanted something I could print that would:

• be EASY to update
• eliminate the ever-present refrain of “what’s next, Mom?”
• be something each boy could keep in his binder
• have a space for the week number and its overlying topic
• act as a checklist so that said boys could glance at the page and see their progress for the day and week
• list extra work for the week that wasn’t day specific
• have room for chores
• show our activities for the week to trigger reminders for the kids (“oh, we have Scouts on Tuesday… I need to bring x…”)
• track what I was doing with them as read alouds, etc., to enhance recordkeeping

and last, but not least, be PRETTY!  (Does that make me shallow?:-))

So, what to do?  (I know you are all waiting with bated breath…)

I am sorry to say the answer isn’t at all sexy… I simply called on my old friend, Microsoft Excel.  That’s right.  He is like an old ratty sweater – maybe inelegant, but infinitely useful and comfortable.

Anyway…

After posting a screen capture of the weekly plan that I developed using said ratty old sweater:-), I heard from ALOT of people wondering how I created it and whether there is some mysterious app out there that no one knows about.  Based on that feedback, I concluded that a blog post was in order… so, here we are.

To that end, and for your planning enjoyment, I have uploaded a copy of the spreadsheet.  I copy nine weeks of worksheets in each file, so that I have the files setup by quarters.  Feel free to use it as you like.  This is an Excel 2007 file, but those of you who have older software will probably still be able to convert it with minimal loss to the format.

[box style='download']

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 Next time, I will give you a little more detail on how I use the planning doc each week.

So what is the Pages of History Series? Here is a description of the Series on the Pages of History Facebook page (which you can visit and see what other are saying about the series.)

“From a mysterious safe in a dusty library comes the gateway to a journey through history. What James and Lance thought would be a boring school project is astonishingly transformed into an adventure that will forever change their lives.

Perfect for family story time or individual study, Pages of History transports the reader through the timeline of the world—providing a view of God’s work in every age.

In this exciting first volume, James and Lance travel from Creation through the Reformation. Their adventures in history will captivate readers young and old.”

This 448-page, hardcover book covers 96 major events and thousands of years of history in the format of a compelling story with an unapologetically Christian worldview.

What I Love

The storyline woven throughout the book involves two boys who basically travel through time, learning about different pieces of history as they go. A wise dove guides them through, introducing the boys to different characters and providing moral commentary on the events. The way the authors use the dove as a thread through the story is a clever tool to keep the story moving and to provide the boys with mature oversight as they continue their adventure.

The history for this time period is addressed in a very age-appropriate manner. Without covering up ugly episodes, the authors have been discerning in how much detail the story needs. The boys have many zany adventures, which are thoughtfully interspersed with some of the heavier historical events. I really enjoyed that balance.

This story really shows how history is God’s story and that every time has validity. The boys are today’s boys… they talk like today’s boys, think like today’s boys and question like today’s boys. Children of today will relate easily to the language the boys and their culture references, however, the authors keep it tasteful. As the story progresses, the history points the boys to God and His plan for the world.

What Could Be Improved

In future books, I would like to see just a little more fluidity to the story line. For instance, the first time I came across Alexander the Great, he was given a brief mention and then the story moved on. I had no way of knowing whether that thread would be picked up again later. (It was:-) In my mind though, the flow of the story would be a little smoother if there was a callout box or something that would let me know that more was forthcoming… Maybe something like a foreshadow box or something of that nature.

Also, the two boys are definitely boys, and there is a slight flavor of “why would a battle be fought over a girl?” It didn’t bother me, but some girls may have a hard time relating.

Grade from the Professor

B+

This series looks very promising and, frankly, it is just plain fun. I am especially pleased to see such a well-done narrative of history for the elementary age. Even my fifth-grader enjoyed whiz zing through it because the story was catchy and it reinforced some of his more in-depth studies. For fourth grade and under, this would be a great spine for the study of history. And, it is my understanding that more volumes will be forthcoming.

I am also pleased to let you know that the folks at Veritas are running a launch special that includes a $10 Veritas coupon with every order AND volume pricing of 40% off of orders for 5 copies or more. The link for that is http://resource2.veritaspress.com/Promotions/Pages_of_History.html. After the cutoff on Friday, November 30 at midnight, that will convert to an About The Book page with order link.

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When I was doing my planning for the year, one thing that had me scratching my head was what we would use for a timeline. We started on our second four-year cycle, and we had filled our Book of Time from Sonlight. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try something different. I also looked at History Through the Ages Record of Time from Homeschool in the Woods. They offer a beautiful timeline book and CDs of printable figures, both of which I may still use at some point.

Being in a rare, crafty mood, however, I wanted to make something with my hands:-)

Brief caveat: I realize that I titled the homemade timelines “History through the Ages.” This is merely because that is what it is… I am in no way trying to steal the title from the fine folks at Homeschool in the Woods.

So, I grabbed a couple of handy, dandy sketchbooks, some colored pencils and a ruler and got to work.

The sketchbooks are about 100 pages long (I was using these timeline instructions from Donna Young’s super helpful website, and I didn’t want to run short.). I also made sure they were perforated, so that I could easily remove pages, and place one neatly over that truly lovely orange cover, ahem…

Then, since I am using Tapestry of Grace as an outline for our curriculum choices this year, I printed out their beautiful Map of the Humanities, which TOG generously offers for free download here. Too bad my color printer was on the fritz… the map isn’t quite as beautiful as it was intended to be.

That’s better… Anyway, I adhered it to some pretty green paper and scored it to fold into itself. Then, I glued it onto one of the first pages in the timeline book, so the kids can refer to it as we move through history.

This is just a little matching band for the folded map. (Told you I was in a crafty mood:-)

Then, using Donna Young’s spacing instructions and my handy-dandy ruler, I simply placed lines at the top of each page about 1″ down and labeled each page with the time period title and beginning and ending dates in the appropriate color. (Donna’s timeline instructions assign different colors to different time periods. For example, Ancient Civilizations, shown above, are in green pencil. When you get to The Classical World, you change your pencil color to blue. Pretty, isn’t it? And, really, is there anyone who doesn’t like color coding?)

Voila! A cheap and (relatively) easy timeline book that the kids can customize.

(I am just how noticing that my dear boy wrote my name on his timeline book. When I asked him why my name was on his book, he said, “Oh, sorry about that. I thought that since you made the book, it was ‘by’ you.” You can tell this little guy is the son of a writer:-)

This is also a project that your kids can make themselves. The labeling of the time periods can get a little putsy, but you can certainly split that up into different sessions, instead of ding it all at once like I did. Happy crafting!

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Sometime in the not-so-distant future, though, we will bring the shop back. 

Thanks for checking in!

It’s almost time for the Great Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati, and I am busy making plans. Two years ago, I attended this mammoth homeschooling convention for the first time and loved it. So, this year, I am packing up some of my best girls and heading south again.

So much to do, so little time! I do a lot of pre-planning so I can use my convention time wisely (in addition to presentations and vendor booths, there has to be time for food, talk, and ice cream at Graeters in Fountain Square… Yum!). What I actually do at the convention is, however, fodder for the homeschool convention planning post later in the week. We need to get the heavy lifting done first. In my world, that means doing some research and making initial curriculum decisions for our homeschool.

I don’t know about you, but annual planning for me puts my home into a temporary state of insanity as I corral stray curricula, dog-eared magazines, and notes – bits of paper in different notebooks reminding me of all of the terrific ideas that I may want to use in the future. (My husband is not a fan of this time of year. I can always see the relief on his face when all of the stacks of books and papers are returned once again to their rightful locations.) This process can go on for weeks and even though I enjoy thinking about next year (I think another blogger called it Pine-time – pining for next year), I much prefer an orderly house so that my kids are still learning this year while I design their homeschool for next year.

Thanks to one little piece of technology, my mountains have truly become molehills, and I feel like singing for joy…

My iPad, dubbed “Paddy” by the small people, has been a terrific tool for homeschooling… both for day-to-day operations and for curriculum planning.

Before I get into the whys and how’s, let me tell you that, even though I used to work in tech (on big web projects for big companies), I haven’t exactly stayed on the cutting edge of technology. All of the pregnancies, diapers, dishes, and general mom-chaos forced me to prioritize (maybe a better word would be survive) and I have been a little out of touch with all things tech-trendy. By the time I came out of toddler fog, I realized I didn’t have a clue what was out there and even worse, didn’t really want to know. Why? Because I felt a bit foolish that I was so clueless. I also viewed many of the newer devices, such as tablets and smartphones as consumption-oriented and frankly, I could not figure out where people found the time to consume that much media. I did NOT need yet another distraction… Especially one that was so tempting that it would pull me away from productive work.

However, one of my dear friends is a lover of all things Mac, and she gently dragged me into the present. When I got the opportunity to interact with her iPhone, I realized there was more to it than watching goofy YouTube videos and playing Angry Birds.

After a ton of research and even more waffling, I bit the bullet. Scott wanted to buy me one for Christmas. It took me until March to decide. (I know you are all wondering about my sanity at this point.) It was worth the wait, however, because I have been transferring lots of my paper-based mountains into appropriate apps that make my homeschool and business tasks much more organized and portable.

How then does my lightbulb moment translate into easier curriculum planning for the next school year?

Through the strategic use of apps. An iPad is really just a pretty paperweight without its apps. These little software add-ons are the true heart and soul of the table. Invest a little time in figuring out which ones work for your life and goals and you will not be sorry.

These are some of the gems I have found, with some notes on how I use them to plan my homeschool curriculum needs for the year.

iThoughts

iThoughts is a mind-mapping app that I used to create the graphic you see at the top of this post. I basically create a node for each child and use branches for each subject that I want each child to study next year. From there, I list different curricula that I have been interested in for that subject at that level.

I can also create a map for each year, so if I see a resource for high school or some other future need, I simply place it in the curriculum planning map for that year. Since the app allows me to link within a map, I add the link to the vendor’s website (see the little globe next to History Odyssey?) and voila… I get it out of my head and into a format where I know I won’t lose it – which is exactly the opposite of all of those notebooks I have all over the house.

I also add notes like the one next to Sonlight Core A. In this case, the note reminds me that I need to dig those materials out of labelled bins I keep in our basement. This is incredibly useful because even though I can keep most of our materials in our school room, I find we work better when we apply the ‘less is more’ approach. I like clear spaces… they help me to think. When we are in the throes of modern history, I don’t need to have 40 books on the ancients cluttering up our mental workspace.

Homeschool Tracker Plus

I have been trying out Homeschool Tracker Plus online to keep track of our library. With the books multiplying like Mogwai in water – am I dating myself? – I need an overview of our books that doesn’t involve me dressed in old sweats rearranging boxes in the basement. I know some of you are probably trying to imagine where you would get the time to input all of your books. It’s easier than you think. The software allows you to input books based on ISBN number and it pulls the info for you. I have been trying to do a shelf a day, which takes about 25 minutes… The great thing about doing this with iPad is that you can move easily around the house to wherever your books are.

With my library on the screen I can gauge what I have and what I need to look for either online or at the convention.

While I like Homeschool Tracker Plus (it has great features), it isn’t especially lovely (yes, pretty things motivate me:-) and it does have a pretty steep learning curve. That is why I am looking forward to seeing the new planning software that Rebecca Keliher and the folks over at Well-Planned Day are working on. Their planners are amazing, and I love how they keep up with technology… Not to mention that pretty much everything they do is stunning! Their well-designed products keep my dominant logical side in line by giving my right-brain some eye candy.

(I did put my name in the ring for the Beta… If I get to play with it, I’ll give you a post with the inside scoop!)

Springpad

Moving on, I also use an app called Springpad, which lets me keep all sorts of lists. One of the more useful features for homeschool planning is the shopping list feature. I can search books and websites and keep them in one shopping list that lets me check off each item as I buy it. It can search the web for books, which is nice for pricing items. I also can make notes tracking when I bought a particular item… sometimes I even note where I put it so I can actually find it when August rolls around and my brain is still floating in the lake under a sunny sky:-)

Now you have the dirt on how I use my iPad to streamline homeschool curriculum planning. It has been wonderful to have everything in one place and be able to jot notes as I think of them, all the while knowing nothing is going into the no man’s land that was my paper-based system. Don’t get me wrong, I still love paper – the smell, the feel… but I really love having everything in one place, where it is useful and orderly. And the best part is that I can take all of it with me to the homeschool convention without needing an appointment with the chiropractor when I get back!