Displaced

 My comfortable little world keeps shifting and I am doing my best to keep up. I am supposed to move to California. But my house hasn't sold so I am still in Connecticut. My last homeschooler started college classes this Fall and put me out of a job I have loved for the past decade or so. Shane growing up is also putting me out of the career that has required every last ounce of love, creativity, patience, energy, and gumption I could muster for the last 30 odd years: full-time mom.

So, what next?

A while back I went into New York City to attend a career workshop put on by the church. It was held in this LDS meetinghouse in the Chelsea area. A territory I was not familiar with. It is always an adventure finding my way around NYC and any new area tests my driving and navigating skills to the limits.

The workshop promised to "Make negatives into positives" among other things. I figured 30 years out of the regular work force might be a bit of a negative to overcome. And maybe my lack of a degree or any other serious training or skill. On my drive to the city I contemplated the irony that I had worked at Bradshaw Auto Parts and then  did house sitting/babysitting and then ran a daycare in our home while Andy earned his "Three Degrees of Glory" as I like to call them. Then I pushed and prodded and nagged and cheered and hammered out essays and faxed last minute transcripts and drove apathetic scholars to early morning ACT tests, not to mention the relentless determination required to get each child to early morning seminary with the required attendance for BYU--all in an effort to get our 8 children into college-- where so far they have earned or will earn their degrees of various sorts. You can add to that the recurring  panic I went through when I first started homeschooling as I contemplated how much responsibility I had taken on for the future success of our younger five children. At least once a month I felt overwhelmed by the dread that I might be ruining their lives. It was great motivation to keep The Gale Academy of Classical Education running at a pace to prepare our scholars for higher education. So somewhere in this I had a point...

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

Or always a determined supporter, never a college graduate...

I have teased Shane for many years that I am going to follow him to college and finish my degree. He just rolls his eyes but I think it worries him a little that I might actually do that. 

I would like to, but I will have to find gainful employment before I can make that happen.

I did my best at the workshop to prepare my Power Statements and outline my skills and strengths. I was sitting amongst some pretty heavy hitters in the education and employment categories. A professional opera singer who had sung for operas in Sweden and Austria. She had since directed an award-winning choir and was looking for a position teaching voice and choir. An entrepreneur from India who had run a big successful business there. He had an engineering degree.  A woman from Spain who was struggling with English was a talented graphic designer. It was a supportive group and I learned a lot from them. The church has a great employment program and the people who were running the workshop had a very helpful understanding and perspective on the varied, unique circumstances of each participant. 

I was grateful to be among people who valued my chosen career up to that point. They guided me through the process of taking the skills and talents that had served me well as a mom and home educator and turning that experience into a resume. I was also grateful to see that my years of service  as Relief Society President, Stake Young Women Presidency and Girls Camp and Cub Scout volunteering were all considered proof that I was a productive and capable human being. 

It is a new phase of life for me and I am ready to jump in. 

As soon as the house sells. 

And we get moved to wherever we are going to live in California. 

And I get a job. 

Car Chat

We were headed for the mall this afternoon--a rare excursion since we moved to California. I seem to have lost interest in shopping in general and malls in particular. But the youngsters had cleaned their rooms and bathrooms and the living room to "my kind of clean"...this is an elusively high standard of cleanliness that I reserve for company and as incentive for when they want something enough to put in extra effort. They scurry around cleaning and tossing dirty clothes into the laundry room and before I bother to go look I ask them, "Is it just clean, or is it MY kind of clean." They know that a slap-dash, lick and a promise effort isn't going to get them that ride to the mall to purchase their long-awaited game. They know they are going to have to step it up and go all out. There will not be things shoved into corners or under beds. The bedspread will not be covering rumpled sheets and dirty socks. The sinks will not be harboring toothpaste dribble. When they really want something, I find out what they are really capable of--and their meager everyday efforts become a little lackluster. But such is the life of a mom--I do all that I can to motivate and inspire and the kids do all that they can to get out of as much work as possible.

So, where was I...oh yeah...on the way to the mall. This particular mall has a caramel popcorn establishment. Oh, I have a weakness for caramel corn. Two favorite things wrapped into one delicious, tasty, crunchy snack. I don't even think about it 99.9% of the time. It's too much work to make it myself and I have only been to the mall a handful of times since we moved here. But just thinking about going to this mall turns my thoughts to the caramel corn. Like Pavlov's dogs. Mmmmm Caramel corn, drool.

I just typed all of this to tell you our conversation on the way to the mall:

Me: You all have one main objective while we are at the mall, you must keep me from going anywhere near the caramel corn.
Sam: Oh, you know you want it.
(Sam likes it as much as I do--and is always happy to help me eat it.)
Shane: Do we have to do like Odysseus' men and tie you up to keep you from the Siren call of caramel corn?
Sam: We'll stuff beeswax in your nostrils.
Shayla: Oh! I get it--they stuffed their ears with beeswax so they couldn't hear the Sirens' song! Hahaha! We are such nerds. I mean geeks.

The family that laughs at Greek mythology references together, stays together...or maybe they homeschool.

OK, we're nerds.

I mean geeks.

Why I Homeschool Reason # 38

Billy Shakes

I was just about to get after Shane for staying up late when he told me he had been reading

Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice.

Then we discussed The Merchant of Venice over breakfast:

Shane: That loophole was pretty awesome.

A pound of flesh but not one drop of blood.

Me: Yeah, that Portia's pretty clever.

Shane: I don't know why he didn't take the offer of two times the money.

I would have--that would have been 6,000 ducats.

Me: I know--it sounds like a lot of money.

Shane: He wanted the guy dead so bad--he could have just

taken the money and gone on with his life.

Me: Revenge makes people do crazy things.

Shane:  True that. I'm going to memorize that part--"The quality of mercy is not

strained..."

Me: Well, OK, if you insist.

Extra points if you can guess why I chose the number 38 for this homeschool post :)

Our Town

Yesterday, The Gale Academy of Classical Education drove about town taking pictures for a project we call "Farewell to Camas". Actually, I call it that. The boys call it: "Anything to Get Out of Regular School Work".

We began where it all started for our family: at the trailer park where we lived right after Andy graduated from BYU. His first job was at Tektronix and we found a used single-wide trailer for an affordable price and moved it into this place. Scott was just a baby and this is where he learned to walk and talk. We have pictures of him inside the actual trailer when he was an actual baby but those are packed away in long-term storage. It was in our little trailer where Scott learned the names and sounds of all the farm animals. His favorite game was to have Andy tell him, "Scott, where's the horse?" Scott would run into his room and bring back the horse from his Fisher-Price farm. Then we'd ask him, "What does the horse say?" (this was in the days before every toy did all the work for kids--they could actually use their own imaginations and make the sounds themselves!). He would make the neighing sound and then wait for the next animal. He also spent many hours here with a magnetic alphabet board that he got for his 1st Birthday. He would point to a letter and say, "What's this?" and I would tell him the letter and the sound. He would go through the whole alphabet and then start over. Since we didn't have TV, this was as exciting as it got. But along the way, he learned to spell his name and other simple words.

This is also where we lived when Siara was born. When she started crawling she was a speed racer and could dash from one end of the trailer to the other in record time. Usually with Scott running after her and both of them laughing. I started doing daycare here so the trailer got a little crowded some days. I made a Noah's ark out of a grocery bag and traced the animals from the nursery manual. I mounted them on cardboard and Scott, Siara and the daycare kids played with that happily for hours.

When we found out Shanna was on the way, we decided it was time to find a bigger place. That will be a later post. Stay tuned for another episode of "Farewell to Camas".

Love is in the Air

Happy Valentine's Day!

This week at the Gale Academy of Classical Education, I thought it would be nice for the boys to carry on the tradition of giving Valentines. They put in a request for the kind with candy: Pixie Stix and Fun Dip. So after the morning's core curriculum, we gathered 'round the table for some fun. I encouraged them to fill out some for their friends and family members. I left them to their Valentine project while I got some Young Women business taken care of. When I got back, I saw that they had put together some of the hearts--they were made so that the Pixie Stix go through the heart and then an arrow point is attached to the end and it's a lovely arrow-pierced Valentine. They were each enjoying a Fun Dip Valentine. They had given them to each other. And that was it.

Sam: "There's no way I'm giving one to Seth--he'll beat me up if I do."
Shane: "I'm not giving any to my friends either--that's embarrassing."

I talked them into making one for Shayla and that was the extent of our Valentine festivities. They were happy to keep the rest of the Valentines for themselves and have been enjoying Fun Dip and Pixie Stix the past few days. They were thoughtful enough to share the goodies when they had some friends over last night--I guess that's as close as it's going to get to giving out Valentines.

Let's Do Lunch

Me (far right) and some of my siblings in our Blanding days

Homeschooling provides me with the opportunity to spend more time on a daily basis with our children. This in turn naturally opens up chances for me to share with them (OK... bore them with) experiences from my youth. This came up recently when I spent some time with Shayla. We got on the subject of field trips and it brought up this memory:

When I was in the third grade, I was quite self-sufficient. My mother had been sick for several years (hepatitis) and also had given birth to four of my younger siblings in a short span so she was usually exhausted. She was asleep in bed in the morning when I left for school and asleep on the couch when I came home. My Dad was working all week in another town and was only home on the weekends. I would get up and make myself oatmeal for breakfast. Since this was in the days before microwaves (I know--the Dark Ages!) and since I couldn't light the gas stove, I would put oatmeal in a bowl and pour milk on it if we had it. And water if we didn't. Yes, that's where I developed the taste for my favorite gourmet delight. I accomplished this by scooting a chair from place to place to reach the things I needed. Some mornings I also might need to change a diaper or fill a baby bottle for someone before I left for school. I didn't really know what time I was supposed to leave. I just got ready and went.

Due to these delays, I would get to school every day after everyone was seated in their desks doing a reading assignment. I didn't realize I was late and my teacher: Mr. Bayles, never said anything to me about being tardy. So I continued on like that through the school year.

Toward the end of the year, we were excited to learn that we were going on a field trip! This was in southern Utah (Blanding!) and we were going to go see some sheep get sheared somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. This would also give us the opportunity to enjoy the beauties of nature and have a picnic with the sack lunches we would be bringing.

The night before the field trip, I decided to pack my lunch. I don't think I even told my parents I needed a lunch or that I was going on a field trip for that matter. Like I said, I was self-sufficient. I found the bread bag empty except for two heels (you know--the end pieces) so I used those to make an apricot jam sandwich. We had a lot of apricot jam because we had A LOT of apricot trees. I placed the bread with the heels facing in so it looked like regular bread. We didn't have such luxuries as sandwich bags so I put the sandwich in the empty bread bag. I looked in the 'fridge for any other possible lunch items and found a plum. It was only slightly overripe so I decided it would do. A large grocery bag was all I could find to carry this lunch so I put my two items in there and went to bed.

The next morning I realized I needed to bring something to drink. I rummaged around in the cupboards and came up with a giant, heavy, stainless steel thermos. A relic from one of my Dad's old lunch boxes most likely. I filled it with water and put it in the grocery sack as well. Then I decided to throw in some Band-aids, a needle and thread and a jar of Mentholatum...just in case. (This part Shayla found hysterical: me carrying a giant grocery bag to school with random junk and only two --actually only ONE edible item in there!)

I got to school as they were boarding the buses. My teacher collected our lunches as we got on. I was happy to find out that I got to sit next to my best friend: Marcia Butt (Yes, that was really her name--and her dad was on the High Council, so when he spoke in church they introduced "Brother Butt". But let me just say, back in that time we didn't use that word, we only said 'bottom' or 'behind' or 'rump' or maybe 'hind-end'. So we didn't even know it was funny and at least when I knew her, no one made fun of her name--so you can stop laughing now and I'll get on with my story).

So off we went to the middle of nowhere. It was a long, hot dusty bus ride. When we all piled out of the bus, we gathered around a corral of sheep and watched them go from fluffy to flat. They ran around bleating in their coatless, naked state. Most of them had nicks and cuts from the sharp shears. I can't even tell you what it was we were supposed to learn from this experience. I mainly took away that it isn't very fun to be a sheep.

Then it was time for lunch. We were handed our lunches--funny, I didn't write my name on mine but my teacher knew exactly which one it was! By then the sun was beating down on our desert picnic spot and we all tried to find shade in the overhangs of rock formations. I sat with my classmates and saw them pull out various flavors of pop, Twinkies, little bags of chips, and nicely made sandwiches. They were trading around with each other. No one was interested in anything I had. I was a resilient child, it didn't bother me and I was glad to have the sandwich and I ate the less mushy parts of the plum. Unfortunately, the thermos had leaked and I only had a few swallows of water. The bag was wet but it dried in the hot sun and served me well the rest of the day holding my garbage and the "preparedness" items I had brought along.

After lunch we had a blast. We slid down the rocks and played in the sand. We chased after horned toads and the boys who caught them chased after us with them. Marcia tore her pants on the rocks--but I saved the day with my 'sewing kit'. All in all, it was a very enjoyable and memorable day.

At the end of the school year, I got my report card: Straight A's. A few absences. No tardies.

After school was out that summer, one day I saw my teacher, Mr. Bayles walking up to my house. In his hand was the giant, leaky thermos. I guess I left it on the bus and it got left in his classroom. It gave him a chance to visit with my Dad.
Mr. Bayles was also Brother Bayles, our Home Teacher. He knew my situation and didn't penalize me for something I couldn't help.

Country Bumpkins

Here at the

Gale Academy of Classical Education

We like to get creative with P.E.

Three strikes and the pumpkin's OUT

Somebody Call the Fun Police

Here at the

Gale Academy of Classical Education

we take education very seriously...most of the time. Yesterday, while Sam was immersed in algebra, I was helping Shane memorize the 5o states and capitals. He was writing up a study guide and we were both reading information about each state as he wrote down the capitals for them. If you're ever looking for some entertainment, look up the mottoes for our Nifty, Fifty, United States (a shout-out to my little sister Julienne for teaching me that song on our looooong bus rides to and from Zuni High School--I can still rattle off all 50 states to the tune of that silly song!).

Let me just share a few of them with you here...

I'll start with the straightforward, more meaningful ones--these I would consider a MOTTO:

Delaware's is..."Liberty and Independence" --succinct, to the point.

Kentucky: "United We Stand, Divided We Fall"--we can all relate to that

New Hampshire: "Live Free or Die"--Don't mess with these people

Some are a little obtuse:

Maine: "I Direct" --really, who are you and what do you direct?

Kansas: "To the Stars Through Difficulties"--in a galaxy far, far away

Michigan: Let's see it in Latin first "Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice (Scary Spice's cousin I believe)" Interpreted:

"If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you-- Why yes, I do seek a pleasant peninsula.

These were put together by committee:

North Dakota: "Liberty and Union, Now and Forever,One and Inseperable"

South Carolina... Latin first... "Animis opibusque parati" and" Dum Spiro Spero" or in other words: "Prepared in Mind and Resources" and "While I Breathe, I Hope"

These states got it with just ONE word:

Texas: "Friendship"...I thought it was 'Don't Mess With Texas'

Utah: "Industry" yeah, get to work

Wisconsin: "Forward" turn around!

Rhode Island: "Hope" ask South Carolina about breathing while you hope

South Dakota: "Rule" Do they mean they have just one rule or are they the boss of the rest of us?

Some sound a bit threatening:

Virginia: "Thus Ever to Tyrants" that means YOU King George

West Virginia: "Mountaineers Are Always Free" you can't hold us down--we'll go climb a mountain!

And now for the finale:

New Mexico: "It grows at it goes" what is it..a fungus?

Connecticut: "He who transplanted still sustains" so many possibilities...

Rolling on the floor laughing encore:

Maryland: "Fatti maschii, parole femine" funny in any language.

"Manly deeds, womanly words"

the boys spent the rest of the afternoon acting this out dramatically and loudly

What a Zoo!

Yesterday The Gale Academy of Classical Education took a field trip. I saw an article in the newspaper that said the World Forestry Center over in the big city has a new exhibit called "From Wolf to Woof". It shows the history of the domestic dog from it's early beginnings as a wild creature. Because of the recent study here of the coyote carcass-- I thought this might be a nice way to enrich their learning. So off we went. Sadly, I didn't read the fine print: the exhibit doesn't open until Sept. 28th. But we were already there so we took advantage of the opportunity to look around. We learned a lot about trees and forests and some of the critters that we see everyday in our own little neck of the woods. Their favorite part was the jeep ride through Africa. They weren't really listening to the interesting facts about forests in Africa--they were too busy pretending to run over the rhinos and gazelles...and each other.

The local zoo is right across from the forestry center so we decided to take a side trip while we were there. There has been a great deal of excitement lately because one of the elephants had a baby. He is three weeks old now and soooo cute! They took a vote among the local community and named him "Sam" (it's short for the Hindi word for 'King of the Ocean' because he likes his bath--how cute is that!?). So Sam got to see his namesake and he took some pictures.

Homeschool Science Project

One of the big positives that proponents of home schooling tout is that it preserves the Love of Learning. All of us hopefully have a good memory of discovering something for the first time that really inspired us and made us want to know more. When we really care about a topic, we leave no stone unturned searching for information just because we want to. We don't need a teacher or a parent prodding us to study. Forcing us to memorize facts. Making us churn out a report. We just do it because we are interested. And in our excitement we gain KNOWLEDGE almost without realizing it!

This happened here recently with the discovery of a dead coyote. It seems this hapless coyote crossed the road and was hit by a car on the other side of the river. (Luckily, they didn't notice it until nature's scavengers had taken care of its soft tissue and it was mostly dried out.) Its decomposing carcass generated a lot of interest here at the Gale Academy of Classical Education. First, my would-be scientists had to get across the river for a closer inspection. They put on swimsuits and old shoes and set out on their expedition. The river is a little low right now and there are enough rocks that they walked most of the way across and only had to wade a few yards in the water. The coyote carcass had fallen onto a fairly flat rock which made for an easy inspection. And thanks to that ever-trusty, long respected scientific tool: the stick--they were able to observe every detail of this road-kill. They sloshed back across the river to report their findings. The findings were thus: "Its guts are all shriveled and mostly gone" "The fur is stuck to the bones but there isn't any flesh" "I lifted up the skull with a stick and the jaw fell open--COOL!"

It was then decided that the specimen should be brought over to our side of the river for a more detailed study. Not one to stand in the way of science, but still being a Mom, I suggested plastic gloves and eye protection as well as a large plastic garbage bag to bring it back. They are going to bleach what is left and put the bones together: "The knee-bone's connected to the leg-bone" etc. etc. What better way to learn anatomy and nurture an interest in zoology?

An Important Side-Note: For all parents of any future grandchildren, let me say that though I make light of some of the "icky" stuff that happens out here in Nature, I really am a stickler for safety and cleanliness. I should take out stock in the Clorox company-- it is my best friend and has been through all the raising of the eight children (whom you will notice are healthy and for the most part well-adjusted!) Just to let you know--your children will be safe and clean and loved and spoiled when they are in my care. Although, when they are about seven or so I will probably let them poke at dead stuff with a stick.

Why I Homeschool

One of my little OCD quirks is having a file drawer in my kitchen as part of the cabinetry: pots and pans, plates and cups, immunization records and newspaper articles. So one of my files is labeled: "Why I Homeschool" it holds the bits and pieces I gather in my wanderings that remind me of the bigger picture. If you homeschool, you need to be reminded from time to time why on earth you ever gave up your peace and quiet, your long days of solitude, your soap operas and bonbons (except for me it would be BYU-TV and oatmeal) for all day refereeing, re-learning algebra and dissecting frogs. A recent newspaper article entitled "Passing the Trash" got me riveted back into focus. Apparently, public schools find it such a hassle to deal with teachers unions (aka: The Devil) when it comes to getting rid of teachers who are perves, molesters, or just plain kid-haters, they have to sneak these so-called teachers out the back door and send them to another school. Where they can continue their careers in ruining children's lives. THAT is one of the many reasons I homeschool!