Homeschooling Curriculum, Traditional and Non

I love math lessons where my children get to manipulate objects in order to understand basic mathematical concepts. " These 4 peg people want to go to a party, now those 3 peg people are going too, let's bring them all over to the party. How many peg people are at the party?" I know though, that she not only needs to understand the concepts but also what they look like down on paper. So after a few days of addition and subtraction using apple slices, apple seeds and toy pegs, we are ready to do some worksheets from Complete Canadian Curriculum.

I would show you a picture of her worksheet, except there is no copying of any form allowed. I am a goody 2 shoes. Next is a fun game to help Jack recognize numbers and colours. I made a giant dice out of a cube box and a number chart from The Dollar Store. I coloured the ends of Popsicle sticks and wrote the name of the corresponding colour on them as well. Then I put them colour-side-down into a cup.

So we start out by throwing the dice and seeing what number is up. Then the dice thrower picks a stick. Then the person who's turn it is, has to find that number of that coloured objects. for example 4 red objects. When they are found they are put in a basket and re-counted. What I liked most about this game, is that the kids began using teamwork almost right away, helping each other find objects of that colour.

Next was music time. My kids love to dance (who's doesn't?) So I found some kids break dancing videos on you-tube and we watched them. Then I put on some Run DMC and let them go nuts.

They did a lot of killer moves, but my camera was too slow to capture a lot of them. Jooniper even did some stalls. Joonpier wrote about dogs in her blog today and we took a picture of her dog sticker collage. What I love most about Homeschooling is how creative you can be with the curriculum. I think tomorrow will be yoga, got to build those core muscles to hold those stalls!

Apple Day!

Dirt Girl World featured apples yesterday. So Jooniper, Jack, Scott and I went to the grocery store and purchased 2 of each variety of apple. Unfortunately, Jooniper was getting over the flu so we were not able to do more than that. Today, Jooniper is feeling much better so we were able to continue our lesson. I drew a picture of each type of apple we had purchased, and labeled it. I wrote what colours the apples were inside the picture of the apple. I then lined up the apples and we discussed the shape, colour and "shinyness" of each apple and jooni placed the correct apples on there picture counterparts.

Jooniper coloured each apple picture. After that it was taste test time. We cut up each apple into slices. We practised our subtraction by taking away slices and eating them then counting what is left. Yummy math time!

We opened the apples, extracted the seeds and counted them. Then we made a poster demonstrating the cycle of seed to apple. I've been storing apple seeds in the fridge, I think we'll plant them this afternoon. Gotta go, Dirt Girl World is coming on!

Things I Wish I Knew Before I Had My First Baby.

My first birth experience was very traumatizing. I had no idea what my rights were, or that I even had any. "Hospital policy" was quoted at me left, right and center whenever I asked "why?" or "I want my baby back.". I often felt like I was being patted on the head. So I gritted my teeth and counted the hours until I had my freedom back. My second birth I knew my rights,as I had a wonderful midwife who answered all my informed choice questions as well as a supportive doula that I shared my fears with. I had a better breastfeeding education than my nurses. My baby slept skin to skin with my arms propped up with pillows. My son was latched on all night. I was able to doze for 8 hours. Much longer than with my first baby, who can sleep when their baby is screaming across the hall and the nurses won't bring him/her to you? When the nurse noticed that I was only writing down which side I breastfed on last not the length of time, she chided me. "That's to make sure your baby is getting enough to drink," at which point I told her that "there is no current research that supports that the duration of time on the breast can determine the amount of breastmilk ingested. In fact, the timing of feedings is considered to be counter-productive to breastfeeding success according to the World Health Organization. But it is a wonderful tool to help me remember which breast I fed with last. " She answered "It won't hurt to just write it down." Then left in a huff. When I knew my rights and was able to firmly assert them, my hospital stay was almost pleasant, except that they let my meds wear off and I had to walk to my car 3 days post c-sect with no pain meds in my system. Also, I was able to have my mother stay in the hospital with me, so there was never a reason for them to "help" with the baby, or take it away for a long period of time. Thanks mom. So here is a list of the things I wish I knew before having my first baby.

1.That hospital policy does not override a mother's legal right to informed choice.
Mother: "I don't want an iv" nurse "well it's hospital policy, just in case there's an emergency."
You still have a right to refuse. According to Canadian Medical Association's code of ethics and the Canadian Nursing Association's code of ethics. A patient has the right to refuse any medical test/procedures without further pressure from the health-care provider. In fact, a nurse who is just following the doctors orders and carries out a procedure after the patient has refused said procedure, is just as legally liable as the doctor who gave the order despite the patient's refusal.

2. Cesarean sections are not the "easy way out". They are risky, painful for weeks (sometimes years) afterward and leave you helpless to do simple but necessary motherly tasks.

3. According to the WHO hospitals with c-section rates higher than 15% actually have higher maternal mortality rates and higher incidences of re-hospitalization. In other words, this
life saving procedure when done in excess is a life-endangering procedure. The average c-sect rate in Canada is 25%. So feel free to ask questions when a cesarean is suggested. Your life may depend on it. There are many hospitals in Europe that have less than 15% c-section rate and much lower maternal and infant mortality rates than Canada.

4. It is not a requirement to have a formal breastfeeding education to be a L&D nurse or a doctor, though, the health-care providers who do not have a formal education (18 hours is the minimum recommended by the World Health Organization) will still offer advise. Nurse "Oh well, the baby's not getting enough liquid because your 'real milk' hasn't come in yet." or "write down each feeding and the length to show your baby's getting enough milk" Scientific research has debunked both of these misconceptions, but I still heard them coming out of healthcare providers mouths.

5. The Doctors responsible for creating the policies for formula supplementation usually have no formal breastfeeding education. So, if it is suggested that your baby be supplemented with formula, ask that a healthcare professional with at least an 18 hour breastfeeding education be consulted first. If possible, ask to speak with an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, they are the gold standard in breastfeeding information and current breastfeeding research. Once again, you have the right to make an informed choice for your baby. It is not considered an informed choice if the caregiver does not have accurate or up to date information. You wouldn't consult Orthopedic Surgeon for advise on treating glaucoma, you'd see an eye specialist. It should not be any different for breastfeeding.

6. When I got home I would need a lot of breastfeeding support. I had no idea how much patience and confidence I would need to learn to breastfeed, and in turn, my baby to learn as well. Thank goodness for midwives, postpartum doulas and public health nurse Lactation Consultants. Find yourself at least one of these to help with the first 3 weeks of breastfeeding.

7. A new baby will want to eat between once every three hours to once an hour. This is not a sign that the baby isn't getting enough. This is very important to the production of breastmilk.

8. Breastfeeding, though very rewarding, is exhausting.

9. Sometimes babies just cry and all you can do is comfort them the best you can, they are adapting to a whole new world. Don't take it personally.

Praying With Little Ones

Do Buddhists pray? Well that depends on the Buddhist. There are Christian Buddhists, and being as I think Christ was "the man" and more Divine than human. I suppose that's what I am. Buddha said there were 180,000 paths to enlightenment (which I believe to be living in full connection with God's love, when we conquer our inner "evils" that act as a block between the creator and ourselves) my children will have to find and follow their own path to God. A creator of many names, but made of the same love. So at night we pray. It is simple, we call God; God, though I have explained that God is neither male or female as God does not need a penis or vagina to create life like animals do. I know, I'm a little blunt. So first we sing a song with a melody fashioned after Raffi's "Thanks A lot" song. Then we each sing what we are thankful for. Jack's mostly thankful for his ricemilk and on one touching night; thankful for Scott. Jooniper is mostly thankful for her glow in the dark star stickers on her ceiling and what ever else is in her line of sight. I am usually thankful for my family and Scott is thankful for the fun things we did that day. Then comes the time to ask God for something we want. Jack always declines, and re-thanks God for his ricemilk. Jooniper asks for toys for Jack so he can have one of his own so she doesn't have to share hers. I usually ask for help being wise, courageous or patient. Scott rarely asks for anything. Then we say "Goodnight God." And start the song portion of our nighttime routine. I think the most important thing I can do for my children spiritually, is open up a line of communication between themselves and God. Jooniper is getting older and I have been reading her the story of Siddartha, we have read Bible stories as well as Native American Folklore. Anyone have a children's spiritual book they recommend? How do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your childrens daily lives?

Homeschooling at the "Lighthouse". Interest driven schooling can be the most fun. This morning jack pretended that his toy was an umbrella and asked us to use the rainstick to rain on him. Then we did rain dances to make the rainstick rain. Then we looked up rain dances and other tribal dances on youtube. The children bounced up and down to Zulu and Korean rain dances. So as a tribute, during Jooni's snack, she rubbed blueberries all over her face as face paint like the people she saw in some of the videos. Well, if it's in the name of cultural education, who am I to make her wash it off? After snack, we begun to plant our carrot, beet, squash and pea garden. The kids got a lesson in how worms help make the soil more nutritious for the plants. Mostly, they wanted to touch the worms. They helped moisten the compost and soil in the wormfarm and transplanted the worms to our indoor garden. To incorporate math into the lesson I read the instructions on the back of the seed packages and using a tape measure, Jooniper showed me where we should put the seeds either one every inch or counting by 2's. After the planting was done, Jooniper and I wrote a story about planting a garden. I typed it up and left blank the vocabulary I thought was most suited to her learning level. She printed the words into the story and was excited she could read them herself.

Next was music time with Scott. Jack loves to join in with a harmonica while Scott plays his guitar and sings songs. Jooniper's favorite song is "naming the animals". She brings her small plastic animals into the room and Scott has to make up a song about each one, the kids get to name the animal IE: Zwanky the zebra and Scott has to fit it into his song. The kids dance, play drums and use shakers to join-in on the concert.

Jooniper loves her computer time, sometimes she wants to play kids games from kids BBC, today she wanted to have fun typing with the word processor. She likes to change the size of the letters, make them bold and Italic. She types the words she knows but to write a story, she likes me to sound out the words so she can type them. Art time today consisted of still-life. She set up her monkey and teddy and drew them. I was quite impressed. Scott, Joon and Jack made a Finding Nemo themed poster, Whales, Sharks, Turtles etc. Now it is time for the little ones to play outside, the adults are exhausted.

Homeschooling With Dirt Girl

I love Dirt Girl World. Love it. With spring just a little more than around the corner for us Muskokians, I've been feeling the itch to start an indoor garden. As a homeschooler, I always try to make lesson plans around what I have to get done anyways. The grocery store, is a wonderful opportunity to count, sort and share responsibilities, plus Jooni gets to write/read the shopping list with my help. Laundry; sorting and motor skills. Doing the dishes always turns into a lesson of percussion with pots, pans and spoons. So I really wanted to include them in gardening. Of course there's the basics Seed+Water+Sun+Dirt+Love=Healthy plant. But dirt Girl World takes the lessons deeper, into sustainable farming/ecological balance and natural pest control. I learned that Nasturtiums keep away slugs. Funny enough, I picked up some Nasturtium seeds the day before. So we made a poster together about natural ways to keep slugs away from our plants, then we planted Nasturtiums in mugs to later transplant into our outdoor garden. I think Dirt Girl World may become apart of my daily curriculum. I love how much I get to learn as a homeschooler. As a sidenote I discovered Alphablocks on Kids BBC website, pure genious. Have a great day, teach what you love and love what you teach.

Working with a doula partner...

As doulas, we like to guarantee that we will be with our clients as soon as they need us for as long as they need us. This can be tricky when you are a not only a doula but also a mother of young children. Arranging childcare is particularly troublesome. What happens when your spouse has to go to work, your mother in law is unavailable and your babysitter has got the flu? I got a call from a client believing she was in early labour and that was my situation. I scrambled around for numbers of all the babysitters I knew (when really I should have been napping). I couldn't find anyone to take them. My client called back and told me it was a "false alarm". Thank goodness for that because I had 8 hours to go before my spouse got home from work.

There was also a time when I vomited twice the night before and got a call at 8:00am the next morning. She was cramping and feeling sick and had lost her mucus plug. Uh oh. I knew I could have the flu, I also knew I could have just ate something that didn't sit well. Not knowing if it was contagious or not I decided I was not entering a room with a labouring woman or a newborn until it had been 24 hours since the last time I felt sick. I told them the situation and asked if they'd be willing to have another doula. They agreed, though really hoped I could make it. I called around and found another doula who was willing to be on-call for the next 12 hours. We arranged how much of the birth-fee she would receive, should this client need her services that day. It was just something I ate and the labour didn't start until the next morning, whew.

I found that the most stressful part of my job was the 1/2 hour I had to get ready to go to the birth, a time where I should be centering myself, not running around like a chicken with her head cut-off. Then, after I arranged childcare for the next 24 hours, the question became what do I do if the labour is longer than 24 hrs? Will my spouse be able to find a sitter?

I needed a partner.

There are amazing doulas in my area. They all have specialties, registered massage therapists, hypnobirth educators, expansive knowledge of natural remedies. My specialty is breastfeeding support, many of my clients told me that is why the hired me, (and my stunning personality of course ;). So it was important for me to have a partner with breastfeeding counseling education and experience, should I not be able to make a birth. It was also imperative that the doula I worked with be willing to volunteer for some births, I offer my services for free to women under the age of 20. Enter Emma, my sister's friend who just moved to the area. She contacted me on facebook and we got together. I found we had similar philosophies and she had been a Le Leche League leader, so she had a lot of breastfeeding counseling experience. We worked together briefly then I took some time off for personal reasons. Now I'm back and ready to take on births.

I cannot tell you how much of a relief it is knowing that no matter what (other than a horrific snow storm blocking the roads) my clients will be well supported during their birth. My partner inspires me to get out there and advertise, she also gives me someone to de-brief with after a birth. She gives me inspiration and ideas for improving my skills and classes. I just hope that I am able to do the same for her.