Life Skills Versus Cursive/State Capitals

If you’re a teacher reading this, take your laptop to the toilet or put on a diaper because you’re going to crap your pants.

I think life skills are more useful to teach than cursive or state capitals.

When I went to Richie Rich Elementary School (aka Westwood View) in 6th grade there was this ONE day where we got to do some cool elective. Somehow I got into this class where they were making crepes. It was awesome to get out of the normal doldrums of class AND to make something I live for: food.

So on the Homeschool Grid for my boys, I’m crossing off Handwriting and changing that set of boxes to Life Skills. They have handwriting down pat and practice it daily in their workbooks. They play around with cursive when they feel like it. State capitals will come, but won’t be drilled into their heads so they forget as soon as summer comes.

Joel already knows how to make a microwave egg, omelets and toast, how to clean a bathroom and vacuum, how to work the VCR and DVD players. In the future we’ll do budgeting, checkbook balancing, oil changing in the van, gardening and staying out of debt.

And I’m not being judgmental of parents of kids in school here … we all know they (and the kids) are too wiped out by the end of the day (and THEN have to struggle with stupid homework … don’t get me started) to even contemplate teaching life skills.

God bless ‘em, somehow my parents taught me how to balance a checkbook, pay my own car insurance and tickets and buy 2 cars of my own before I was 18. Of course, I was an Only Child, which is a whole ‘nother story.

Can you think of some Life Skills kids that are not being taught before kids graduate into the real world?

Messy Homeschool Bookshelves

Does this bookshelf look messy to you? If so, does the excuse count that I have 5 kids? How about the excuse that I homeschool?

Yeah, you’re probably right … I need to get rid of some stuff. I mean, how many of those workbooks do we really even use? Real-life experience is so much better at teaching sometimes anyway. And how many of those books do we read over and over again? How many of them could we just get at the library if we were dying to read them? And how many coloring books does a kid need (I’ve already given away a bunch)?

What are those baskets on the middle shelf, you ask? They are Michael and Joel’s homeschooling baskets. They hold their workbooks, projects, books they’re reading, stuff they don’t want their sister to get into. Yeah, I don’t know how I’m going to someday fit FIVE baskets on those shelves, but I think it’s a good problem to have.

That tub is full of rubber stamps and markers … more stuff we don’t want The Littles to get into.

On top is my fault … my attempts to catch up on baby books and scrapbooking. Oh, and a container of magazines.

That blue folder laying down under the tub is my Christmas stuff: catalogs, ideas for the kids, Christmas letters, budgets, etc.

It’s dangerous. The other day I reached for something and a bunch of stuff fell and almost bonked Sam on the head.

The Lego Monster

My kids love Legos. Eva loves destroying the creations. I hate stepping on them. This is a picture of Michael with a Lego creation he made and the instruction booklet he made to go with it. I think I need to start keeping the instruction booklets for the Lego stuff (Atlantis, Star Wars, power miners, etc.) in a binder in page protectors or something.

How do you tame the Lego monster?

Bedwetting Over the Age of 5

I took Callie to the doctor for her "kindergarten" checkup and vaccines. The doctor wanted to know if she was fully potty-trained. I told him she still wets the bed some. I didn't express that it was a problem, but he suggested all kind of stuff, from bed alarms to medication.

The thing is, I know lots of people with kids who wet the bed. Some of these kids are approaching 10. I don't want to medicate her to dry up her bladder. She just sleeps heavy. I never had any problems with the boys, and I know everybody is different, so I'm not worried about it. It will stop eventually. She is dry during the day and never has accidents during the day.

Does your older kid wet the bed? Suggestions?

Disciplining Parents

The other day Eva, who is 2, says in a menacing tone to me:

"Mommy. NOW. One, two, ten."

Where did she learn that? I never COUNT as discipline!