Smrt Lernins

I have decided to start my own 101 in 1001 project on January 1st. Are any of you other homeschooling parents out there (or non-homeschooling readers) starting this project and looking for moral support along the way? I believe community keeps you honest and on track.

My list will start on January 1, 2010 and go through September 28, 2012.

A little about 101 in 1001:

The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Smrt Mama’s 101 in 1001

Blogging [8 Total]
1. Participate in NaBloPoMo in 2010
2. Participate in NaBloPoMo in 2011
3. Tag all past LiveJournal entries
4. Comment on two homeschool blogs weekly for a year (104 comments, total) [weeks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
5. Find one new homeschool blog a month to add to blogroll [1/10 The Diosa Dotada Endeavor , 2/10 Classless and Lovin' It, 3/10 Doc's Sunrise Rants]
6. Do two “Day in the Life” photo essays and post in blog
7. Create content for three pages on Smrt Lernins [Completed: Adventures in Smrt Lernins 02/05/10, Smrt Curricula 02/04/10, and Secular Thursdays 02/05/10]
8. Update Smrt Lernins look with custom template

Breastfeeding, Pregnancy, and Birth (Education and Advocacy) [14 Total]
9. Earn a professional certification/accreditation relating to pregnancy/birth
10. Earn a professional certification/accreditation relating to breastfeeding
11. Provide labor support at five births
12. Subscribe to Mothering magazine [reconsidering this one, as Peggy O'Mara is batshit crazy]
13. Become a paying La Leche League member
14. Develop written action plan for NMBBC
15. Hold four NMBBC meetings
16. Develop care provider survey and distribute to local maternity providers
17. Compile provider book for NMBBC, with notes
18. Hold two BOLD Red Tent events [1/10]
19. Write “My Mother was a VBAC Pioneer” article for submission to Mothering magazine
20. Write one additional article for submission to Mothering magazine
21. Update amniotic sac, breastpumps, and early days of breastfeeding essays’ links on LJ and make those essays public
22. Update and cite sources in “Birth Safety as a Binary Condition” and “‘Brave’ Has Nothing to Do With It” essays

Crafting [16 Total]
23. Knit something for myself that’s larger than a headband/hat
24. Knit a sweater (at least child-sized)
25. Knit a pair of socks
26. Learn intarsia knitting
27. Learn stranded color knitting
28. Learn cable knitting
29. Learn provisional and cable cast-on [01/02/10 -- am unimpressed]
30. Learn magic loop knitting
31. Perfect sizing for “Daw’s Drawers” pattern and put it on Ravelry
32. Develop dollhouse-sized Waldorf doll pattern and make doll family for the kids
33. Stock my Hyena Cart at least four times in a year, including one themed stocking
34. Knit two pairs of longies for Babypie each winter until potty training
35. Knit two pairs of shorties for Babypie each spring until potty training
36. Make wardrobe for the Tank’s Bibi and Babypie’s baby
37. Hook Pet Society-style strawberry rug for Babypie’s room (in red and pink)
38. Make curtains, pillow shams, and comforter/quilt for Babypie’s room (red and pink, strawberries)

Health, Fitness, and Nutrition [13 Total]
39. Lose 25 pounds to reach next major weight loss goal (165 pounds)
40. Lose 10 pounds to reach final weight loss goal (155 pounds)
41. Maintain final goal weight for a year
42. Start and complete a fitness program (like 30 Day Shred, Couch to 5K, or Body for Life)
43. Find physical activity I like enough to do at least twice weekly and do it twice weekly for a month
44. Replace all HFCS food products in the home with HFCS-free alternatives
45. Switch to locally raised and/or free-range organic chicken
46. Build chicken coop and raise chickens
47. Build small garden box and grow at least two food-producing plants a year
48. Switch to SLS-free products for myself and the children
49. Can my own tomato sauce (from locally grown tomatoes)
50. Go to chiropractor once a month for a year
51. Get a full physical (including bloodwork and gyn)

Home/Yard Improvement and Organization [18 Total]
52. Buy our house from my parents
53. Purchase new living room furniture
54. Replace carpets with laminate flooring
55. Repaint living room
56. Repaint kitchen
57. Repaint school room
58. Find at least one large piece of artwork to hang in the living room
59. Remodel office for Captain Science to use as bedroom
60. Repaint Cpt. Science’s old room and move the Tank into it
61. Apply dinosaur transfer to the Tank’s new walls
62. Strip border from and repaint the Tank’s old room and move Babypie into it
63. Dig up front flower bed (w/ rock wall) and replant
64. Plant placentas
65. Reorganize children’s memory boxes
66. Sort saved baby clothes for longer-term storage
67. Develop and implement a filing/storage system for physical photographs
68. Develop and implement a filing system for digital photos
69. Choose favorite digital photographs and have prints made

Personal Improvement [12 Total]
70. Write thank you notes on behalf of myself and the children (have Cpt. Science write his own) for Christmas and birthday gifts
71. Get hair cut at least every 12 weeks for a year
72. Get highlights and have them touched up at least once
73. Buy five flattering tops for each new size while I lose weight
74. Buy two flattering pairs of pants for each new size while I lost weight
75. Get professionally fitted for bras and purchase two properly-fitting bras
76. Go through clothes and donate anything that doesn’t fit or flatter
77. Have Visian Toric ICL implants (after they get approved for the US)
78. Read four new books a month (at least one of them non-fiction) each month
79. Have date night with Officer Daddyman (sans children) at least once a month (1/10)
80. Have ladies’ night out (even if it’s just a coffee with Patchfire) at least once a month [1/10]
81. Develop personal website on existing domain

Safety and Security (both physical and legal) [10 Total]
82. Purchase a standing gun safe
83. Purchase a fireproof lock box and put important documents in it
84. Go to firing range four times (Yes, I’m a great big Liberal, but w/ a cop husband, guns in the home are a reality, and I need to know how to use them safely)
85. Learn to disassemble, clean, and reassemble any firearms kept in the house
86. Have a will and living will made
87. Set up 529 college savings plans for Babypie and the Tank
88. Change Captain Science’s name on his 529 plan
89. Get Babypie’s birth certificate and Social Security card
90. Eliminate family credit card debt
91. Develop emergency plans for family and do at least two practice drills

Writing/Editing [10 Total]
92. Submit two short stories to literary journals
93. Submit ten poems to literary journals
94. Submit five articles to magazines for publication
95. Create professional website
96. Update writing portfolio (make print and digital copies)
97. Create world “bible” for The Great Journey with Officer Daddyman
98. Complete a novel-length work
99. Compile recipes and write flavor text for Apocalicious
100. Develop creative writing curriculum for homeschoolers
101. Find a literary agent

I never worried about Captain Science being expose to a diverse enough assortment of people. Our family isn’t monochromatic. The kids’ godmother is black, our dear family friend who is for all intents and purposes their aunt is Japanese (lives in Japan, visits yearly), their great-grandfather is Mexican. Captain Science went to a Montessori school for three years. It was owned by an Iranian couple and the ethnic/racial make up of the school was mainly Iranian, Indian, black, Chinese, and white, in that order. From there, he moved to the public school, which adequately represented our part of the county’s diverse makeup. His classmates were white, black, Hispanic, Arabic, of varying religions and socioeconomic backgrounds. Being around people of all colors was normal for him.

Now we’re homeschooling, though, and that has changed. The homeschool co-op is predominantly white. Most of the children he plays with regularly are white, because that the demographic of our street in the neighborhood. Every child in The Tank’s preschool is white (and most are Methodist, because it’s a Methodist preschool and their parents belong to the church — we don’t). When we go to the local playgrounds, they seek out playmates of all colors, but they just aren’t getting the same sort of daily exposure to diverse groups that Captain Science used to have.

This worries me. How do other homeschoolers address this issue? Do they address it at all? Do they worry about their child being limited to other children who are of the same race, religion, and/or socioeconomic status? I know that for some homeschooling parents, this is exactly what they strive for, but to me, it’s one of the few down sides to homeschooling. Most of the homeschoolers around here are white and that’s just the way it is. It’s not like I can magically manifest a more diverse group of kids, just to compensate for that uncomfortable feeling of homogeneity.

I think race is an important issue to address, though. I don’t buy into the whole “we live in post-racial times” nonsense. We don’t. Having a president with his own diverse background doesn’t completely eliminate racial (or socioeconomic) tensions and disparity in this country. It was just so much easier to talk about diversity when we were in a group that was actually diverse.

I’m not a very crafty parent, which is somewhat incongruous, as I am a crafty person. I sew, knit, crochet, make Waldorf-style dolls, dabble at quilting, but I don’t really do kid crafts. It should come more naturally than it does, because I’m also a 12-year veteran of Girl Scouting, including several years as a camp counselor to 2nd and 3rd graders. I know how to finger weave, make paper bag hand puppets, make my own candles and all of those great crafts, but it just never occurs to me to do them.

I never sit down and think, “Gee! I sure would like to have the kids make their own crayons today!” I don’t make tomato sauce and make that mental leap to, “Wouldn’t it be fun to use this as finger paint on butcher paper?” I seldom, if ever, come up with holiday, seasonal, or weather related craft ideas on the fly. Even things like painting and working with clay don’t pop into my head as an idea for filling time. The Tank came home from preschool yesterday wearing a beautiful necklace made from dyed, dry pasta of different shapes and sizes, and I never, ever would have thought to make something like that.

Why are some parents like that and others aren’t? I have friends who routinely set up seasonal sensory tables for their children, who make their own playdough on a whim, who always have an idea for something like paper pumpkins or turkeys to provide holiday-relevant activities, who festoon their mantels with garlands made from paper leaves colored and cut out by their children. I’m an intelligent person. I daresay that I’m at least a moderately creative one. I like to think I’m even a fairly fun mom at times. Why don’t I even think about making designs from glue and shaking cinnamon and glitter on to them? Why don’t I make felt “paper” dolls with my kids? Why don’t we make and bind our own books?

Am I missing a creativity gene? A parenting gene? Am I somehow wrong-thinking and a right-thinking parent would do these things? I feel guilty when I see all the crafts my friends do with their children, because I worry that my kids are missing out on some special part of childhood that a better or more progressive/involved parent would offer them. I don’t remember my mother providing us with endless craft activities as we grew up, at least, not outside of Girl Scouts. I always thought that was what Scouting was for. My boys don’t do Scouting (Captain Science tried, but we quit half a year in, because it was every bit as bad as I’d thought it would be, and then some). I know I’ll want to lead a Girl Scout troop for Babypie at some point, and I’m sure we’ll do make all the milk carton ice candles, clothespin reindeer, and paper plate masks there that a little girl could desire, but what about my boys? Are they going to suffer and be uncreative individuals for a lack of crafting in childhood?

How do I find the motivation for this? Do I even need the motivation for this? Will macaroni jewelry be the dividing line between the wise and the foolish, the enlightened and the worldly, the creative and the dull? Does so much depend upon a tissue paper mosaic of a red wheelbarrow, glazed with homemade finger paint, beside the pipe cleaner chickens?

This is just a quick update about our current program(s) of study, mainly to give me an at-a-glance look at our curricula:

Grammar: Growing with Grammar Grade 4, 3-4 chapter lessons twice weekly, with sentence diagramming as applicable and Houghton Mifflin Grammar Blast quizzes to demonstrate mastery of new concepts.

Vocabulary: Vocabulary from history chapters 2x weekly, vocabulary words from Rare Words 2x weekly, starting Vocabulary from Classical Roots, Grade 4 2x weekly [on hold for one more week due to broken arm].

Writing: Writing Strands Level 3, 1-3 sections 2x weekly, depending on chapter content. [on hold due to broken arm]

History: Using History: The Definitive Visual Guide as our spine text, 1-2 sections 2x weekly. Daily activities include vocabulary, important people/places/events, summary or narrative, timeline, maps, supplemental reading. Currently covering Greece, so supplemental reading includes Greek mythology from various sources, Greek literature, and Eyewitness: Ancient Greece as an alternating text w/ our main history text. One project per culture/time period.

Mathematics: Life of Fred: Fractions, four one-chapter lessons or three one-chapter lessons and the bridge per week.

Science: TOPScience physics lessons (currently on magnetism), twice weekly with Patchfire and Eclectic Girl.

Music Appreciation: Once weekly segments from Classics for Kids, one composer a week.

PE: Martial arts once weekly (at co-op), running and calisthenics 2-3 times weekly [on hold due to broken arm].

Extracurricular: Chess, math club (cyphers), and film making, once weekly through the co-op.

Still need to add:

Arts appreciation (looking for program)

Foreign language (possibly Japanese, possibly using Rosetta Stone, possibly starting in the spring semester)

Handwriting (picking one up this week to start once his arm is healed)

Typing (starting with the free BBC Dance Mat Typing but if that doesn’t do the trick, trying Typing Instructor

.

Entertaining any suggestions, questions, criticisms, or comments on our curricula!

I’m going to start a homeschool band. Not a marching band (we have one locally), but a hard rock band. It will be called Headbanger and the Special Snowflakes. If you don’t get why that’s funny, you’re probably not a homeschooler, you’re a homeschooler who has never met another homeschooler, or you don’t frequent the Well-Trained Mind or Mothering.com forums. If you haven’t read those forums prior to now, don’t start, as they about scared me out of homeschooling.

While I haven’t been homeschooling long, the social circles in which I travel include quite a few homeschoolers. Between them and the homeschoolers I’ve met through the co-op, I’ve started to notice a trend towards a few homeschooling archetypes. At risk of offending, oh, everyone I know, here is my very tongue-in-cheek assessment of the secular homeschooling archetypes:

The Organized Mom — She is better at this than you will ever be. If you’re comparing yourself to other homeschoolers, just go ahead and quit before you get around to comparing yourself to her. You might even consider flinging yourself onto your sword. She has her days scheduled to the color-coded minute and her children obey them perfectly. She researched her curricula extensively and is most likely following a Classical model. She’s already finished planning her curriculum for next year. Her children are enrolled in enrichment programs and are now very enriched and can Appreciate (with a capital A) art and music. Her motto: “It’s never too early to start looking at colleges.”

The Earnest Mom — She really, really wants to be good at this. She’s absolutely certain that homeschooling was the right decision for her children. She’s equally certain that she could screw up at any moment and doom her children to a lifetime of social awkwardness and community college. She relies on the experience and expertise of other homeschoolers, especially The Organized Mom, to guide her curriculum choices. At one moment convinced the work load is much too heavy, and the next, adding logic and Bavarian folk dancing, she’s desperate to get it Right™ so that her child can be successful and well-rounded. Her motto: “Does this sound rigorous enough to you?”

The Idealist Mom — She believes in the power and magic of homeschooling to an extent that is almost, ironically, religious. Homeschooling isn’t just an educational choice; it’s part and parcel to a way of life that includes things like dye-free, organic, vegetarian eating and not having a television. The world in which she lives isn’t necessarily connected with the reality shared by the rest of us. She has bought into the mythos of homeschooling: that children educated at home are smarter, more socially adjusted, better educated, and better behaved than other children (and never mind that her own kids are scaling the walls with their eyes rolling around in their heads…they’re just expressing their creativity like the sweet little free spirits they are). Homeschooling, she says, is a natural extension of her parenting style. To be fair, the Idealist Mom does believe in giving her children a good education, she just places equal emphasis on creative, non-traditional expression as she does on more academic pursuits. Her motto: “Homeschooling nurtures children into becoming better people.”

The Laissez Faire Mom — She doesn’t believe in formal education, which works out well, since she’s much too overwhelmed to actually develop a formal curriculum. The world is her children’s school, and they can learn all they need to know through their interaction with it (and a couple of workbooks, just in case). What can books and table learning teach a child that unlimited time in the Creativity Corner can’t? The Laissez Faire mom experiences homeschooling through playgroups, music time, and co-op’d art classes. She believes, to a fault, in letting children learn at their own pace and explore their own interests. While her methods may seem successful with children under the age of 10, her 12 year old may be frustrated when she dreams of engineering, and realizes that not yet having completed fourth grade math may squash the dream before it starts. Her motto: “They practically educate themselves!”

The Delicate Mom — There’s one reason and one reason alone why this parent is homeschooling: no one else can appreciate the many special needs of her precious little baby. Her kid is the one with the note pinned to his shirt that says “Please don’t feed me peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, soy, apples, chicken, yeast products, or Red 40″ who has autism, ADHD, and two sensory integration disorders. Her child never misbehaves; he has a condition. He only acts out because you fed him something you weren’t supposed to. Her goal is to protect her fragile darling from the peanut-coated evil of of The System, which vastly under appreciates his uniqueness. Curriculum is not important to The Delicate Mom, because her child is going to be living with her until he’s 40, anyway. Her motto: “You couldn’t possibly understand such a gifted, special child.”

Do you see yourself on this list? I’m pretty sure into which archetype I fall *cough*Earnest*cough*