I guess one could say that each number was cool, big, nice and “graet”.

When asked about the misspelling of “great”, he said, “Mom…you always taught me, ‘When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and says it’s name.’ So, it can’t be spelled ‘g-r-E-a-t’….then it would be pronounced ‘greet.’”

I just love homeschooling!

Ok, I haven’t had a toddler in seven years. So maybe I don’t remember at what age the other boys did this, but…Jonah really amazed his ol’ parents tonight. Keep in mind that he won’t be two til the end of this month.

I let him play with a set of colorful foam letter stamps tonight. I heard him saying “O”, “Y”, “T”…he often jibber-jabbers random letters of the alphabet so I didn’t think he was actually matching the letters with the appropriate names.

Until I looked.

And saw him pick up “E” and “A” and “B”, saying all their names as he did it. I called Donnie over and we just laughed out loud as he continued to pick up random letters and name them correctly. Because we haven’t really taught him this. (As a matter of fact, I had zero plans to do any “official” homeschooling with him besides reading books together, coloring, etc. until he was at least four.)

Since they were stamps, that means some of the letters appeared backwards, so, not wanting to confuse the tot, we got out a set of wooden ABC blocks. These also had numbers printed on them.

“Four! Three! Seven!” (which sounded like “seh-zen”.) All correct. He accurately named 1 through 9 as we showed him each number in random order.

He was really having fun with this, occasionally throwing a block on the floor and saying “Uh-woah” (his version of “uh-oh”) then cracking up while his dad fetched the blocks. He mixed up a couple of letters, like calling the letter “U” a “V”—and saying “O” for “Q” but I’ll give him those. After all, they are close in shape. And did I mention he’s not yet two?

Yes, I am shamelessly bragging, and quite obviously biased, but I think we’ve got one smart cookie over here.

Actually, make that three smart cookies. While I’m in full-on Mom Brag Mode, let me tell you that on Friday, Zach got an A on his Bible and history quizzes, while Eli scored a 100 on his spelling test and 96 on his first unit Language Arts test.

Yeah…I’m proud of my smart boys!

Perfect Attendance.

Good Citizenship.

Honor Student.

Reading awards! Writing awards! Math awards! They’re everywhere! But hey, when my kids were in school, I bragged about them, too.

In all honesty, it is one of the bummers about homeschooling. Though we have groups we attend and the kids are involved in extracurricular activities, their school-years scrapbooks are going to be rather devoid of any official certificates declaring how smart, creative and friendly they are.

But I guess I really don’t need a piece of paper from a practical stranger to tell me those things, and I don’t really need a certificate in hand to comment on how awesome my kids are.

Because I have this blog and I can tell you now: they are pretty darn awesome.

When I hear someone share, “My kid got an award for having all ‘A’s'!” I want to respond, “My kids got all A’s, too!” Because it’s true: we make sure the kids have mastered material before moving on. And we don’t waste time on “fluff” or busy-work that makes for easily-earned 100′s in a grade-book. Homeschooling acceptance has come a long way, but still…somehow, people often count an “A” from a mother as less-valuable than an “A” from a schoolteacher.

When I hear, “My kid earned a certificate for perfect attendance!” I think, “Mine did, too!” Because they were here every single day we had instruction…all 180 of ‘em! LOL

And then there are those who remark about how hard their kids worked to earn their honor student accolades. I’m sure that they did work hard. Unfortunately, articles like this one and this blog mirror other studies I’ve read that state a dismally-increasing number of college freshmen require remedial classes—even those who were considered at the top of their class in high school—which leaves me wondering whether “honor student” credentials from a school still mean what they did even 20 years ago.

One of my kids has a friend who always says that homeschooling is so easy compared to the work he does at school. I can see how it might appear that way, but every homeschooling kid I know is a hard worker.

Not only that, I haven’t met many traditionally-schooled 7th-grade boys who can successfully learn Latin roots with a toddler climbing up his leg and shoving jellybeans in his ear! Talk about learning Life Skills! LOL

So as the end of our school year at home approaches, I want to publicly pat my boys on the back and let them know how proud I am of them.

Well done, boys—well done.

Behold Eli’s spelling page from today:

He overheard Zach and I discussing “picturesque” scenes as we worked on Z’s Vocabulary from Classical Roots lesson. So Eli got distracted and drew one scene we discussed: a picnic on a hilltop on a sunny day.

(The blue box above is where he drew the contrast between a stormy night on the left, and a sunny day on the right.)

But wait! That’s not all! Here is the illustration drawn sideways on the top of his spelling page. (Turned and conveniently labeled with arrows pointing to the various elements of his drawing.)

Should I be glad that he remembered the science documentary we watched, that featured the Shearwater, these amazing fishing birds that can dive up to 70 meters below the surface of the sea? Or should he be in trouble for goofing off and doodling, because we all know no public school teacher would put up with that?

I just find it so amusing, how both he and Zach are prone to doodling, just like their parents were. (OK, are!)  I guess that double-dose of artistic genes they received has to be expressed somehow?

The other items were gleaned from research for writing projects, or simply learned from that great teacher we call “Life.”

1. Lightning replenishes nitrogen, and plays a big part in making the nitrogen usable for living creatures. Am I the only one who didn’t even know there was a nitrogen cycle? The kids and I just thought it was so cool that God had an amazing purpose for lightning ages before ol’ Ben Franklin used it to discover electricity.

2. Bushwackers were renegade southern soldiers in the Civil War; guerrillas or snipers, if you will. I always thought that word was used to describe natives who had to “whack” through underbrush to make paths through the jungle…or disgruntled liberals unhappy with our previous president. (Tee hee!)

3. The Hubble Space Telescope has sent back images of faint galaxies that are perhaps 12 billion light-years away. That is 12 billion times 6 trillion miles. I can’t even wrap my brain around that figure, or comprehend the vastness of outer space.

4. These noodles contain no calories and no net carbs. Interesting. Though a friend tells me the texture is quite reminiscent of eating worms. I didn’t ask how she knew what it was like, eating worms.

5. Pinatas once held a Christian meaning that I’d never heard until now. The traditional round pinata with seven cones represents the seven deadly sins. The goodies inside represent the treasures of heaven. The stick represents the virtue to overcome sin; the blindfold, faith, teaching that with virtue and faith one can overcome sin and obtain the treasures of heaven. I should probably apologize in advance to Eli, because I plan to make the pinata at this weekend’s birthday party a moment to teach these gems. But he knows his mother; I just can’t resist the opportunity to create a living history lesson!

6. A deadly Egyptian cobra escaped from the Bronx Zoo this week. GACK!!! The zoo officials are stating that it’s probably hiding inside the reptile house. Of course that’s what they would say, that he’s just peacefully, quietly hanging out in a dark corner somewhere inside the building, which thankfully, they closed. I’m just glad that New York is far, far away because you can never trust a snake.

7. Casey Abrams on American Idol, in addition to looking remarkably like Yukon Cornelius, suffers from ulcerative colitis and has had several blood transfusions since the show began. Poor guy! I really like him and am glad they saved him last week. Now if they could just send Stefano home…

8. Classic appendicitis symptoms might not mean appendicitis at all — or anything, for that matter, as proven by my 9-year-old at the ER last week.

9. Even if it’s your third child, and you’ve done it twice before, letting a toddler cry-it-out at bedtime is one of the most gut-wrenching things you’ll ever do and should not be attempted without a shot of scotch or a dose of Xanax ahead of time. (Or if you’re not into chemical help, non-stop prayer. Which doesn’t hurt, regardless.)

10. Mustering the resolve to keep your mostly-sweet teenager grounded for a week is almost as difficult as sitting through crying-it-out with a toddler. I just keep reminding myself that these years of simultaneously parenting a teen, a tween and a toddler are guaranteed to provide me with writing material for the rest of my life.

Check out OhAmanda for more Top Ten Tuesday lists!

It’s the “Mommy’s Flaring” edition of Friday Fill-ins. Wheeee. Now, please pass the Advil.

1. I love to go to bed because someday I hope the few hours I rest there will add up to one decent night’s sleep. Eventually. Perhaps by the time Jonah leaves for college.

2. It’s not the amount of sleep you get that counts; it’s the quality! Unfortunately for me, I’m lacking in both regards.

3. The last thing I had to eat was a homemade pumpkin muffin.

4. They tell me that learning to write in cursive is no longer essential. But in our homeschool, we’re doing it anyway.

5. Please take a moment to pause in silence, in remembrance of my youth.

6. The grace of God and the mercy of others have brought you this far.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to doing as little as possible, tomorrow my plans include submitting articles to a variety of publications and Sunday, I want to relax again after going to church and cooking dinner for a friend, then start getting things ready for Eli’s big 9th birthday on Monday!

Jonah wanted Zach to hold him while we were doing school the other day. Zach is such an awesome brother…he just picked him up and kept on working like a grown-up would!

And on the other side of the table, we have Eli, otherwise known as The Shirtless Wonder!

(As in, “I wonder what happened to his shirt?”) Yes, most of the time, we run a very casual homeschool.

People often ask, “What do you do with Jonah while you’re teaching the other two?”

Well, we’ve come up with a couple of effective solutions. First, we put him in here:

Sometimes the cat squeezes in too, and they have a really good time. When Jonah gets bored with the buffet cabinet, we stow him under the computer desk. He prefers it to diagramming sentences or doing long division.

(I probably shouldn’t have to include this disclaimer, but there is no latch on the buffet door, and the clear panel is flexible acrylic, not glass. So it’s harmless to let him crawl in there. And I don’t really make him diagram sentences or do long division. He’s far too busy multiplying fractions and memorizing the periodic table.)

Last week, we started some seeds in the hopes of having a vegetable and herb garden this summer. Eli is planting parsley seeds into a little mini-greenhouse thingie.

Hey! He’s wearing a shirt! Amazing!

With very few exceptions, that has totally been my experience with homeschoolers, too. Meeting them is what encouraged me to give it a try…now here we are, four years later, still enjoying it (for the most part! LOL) and hoping beyond hope that our kids grow into the kinds of adults mentioned in this piece:

The Lasting Influence of Homeschooling

Mmm-hmm, I said it. For all my gushing about how much I love our homeschooling lifestyle, there are a few things that I’m really not all that fond of. And I don’t mind admitting it.

I will say that the good outweighs the bad, tremendously, or it’s not something we’d keep doing. I can never imagine going back to the years my kids were in school. But I think we veterans do newer home teachers a disservice if we aren’t honest about the negative aspects of homeschooling. Because there are a few…

1. Feeling under scrutiny all the time. If your public or private-schooled kid acts like a fool out in public, or says something that makes him sound at least three grade levels below his age, you can always blame his teachers or the kids he hangs out with all day. But when you homeschool, it all falls back on you. And people aren’t always as gracious as you hope they might be. They’re all too quick to slap that “weird homeschooled kid” label on your child, not realizing that he would be just as quirky — possibly, more so — if he went to school all day. Another aspect of this is that people tend to expect your kids to be geniuses and like to quiz them on the spot. Somehow a myth got started that all homeschooled kids are academic superstars. But most are remarkably average. And like any other kid, they don’t usually enjoy being asked to multiply 235×684 quickly in their heads just to prove that they’re actually being educated.

2. It can be overwhelming. The choices — OH EM GEE — the choices! Everything from curricula to co-ops to conventions, there are so many options for us these days. In many ways that is a blessing. But for the decision-impaired like me, it can feel like too much to choose from. Kind of like deciding you’d like to try a new shampoo — I could easily stand on the hair-care aisle at Target for an hour, reading labels, trying to figure out which meets my needs best. Making educational choices for your precious children is like that, but a thousand times more complicated.

3. It can be lonely. Not in the “lonely weird isolated homeschooler” stereotypical kind of way, but the burden of carrying sole responsibility for your child’s education can feel very lonely at times. Even your spouse rarely understands exactly how heavy it can feel. And friends who don’t homeschool — particularly those who teach for a profession — just don’t get it. You have struggles that you cannot share with some of your closest friends because if they haven’t walked that path, they really don’t understand what you’re dealing with. And often, they see it as something you brought on yourself. Which, I suppose, would be true…

4. Curriculum is expensive. Sure, there are sources to buy used stuff, but at least online, that can be iffy. It is so hard to make a good choice without holding the materials in your hands (which is the value of attending homeschooling conferences)…and even then, you can think one program is going to fit your child perfectly, only to discover that he despises it. Though the flexibility to switch courses midstream is one of the big positives of homeschooling, sometimes you just can’t afford to.

5. People wonder what you do all day. “Since you’re home all day, can’t you _________” (Fill in the blank: run this errand, babysit my child, talk on the phone for an hour, head up this ministry, teach this class…) And the snark-lover inside of me wants to reply, “Sure! Because all I’m doing is sitting on my arse eating bon-bons while the kids play video games all day!” I have never been this busy in my life. Which leads me to…

6. Homeschooling is a full-time job. What with planning, teaching, grading, co-op classes and field trips for children of varying ages, grades and abilities, homeschooling easily takes up as much time as any other 40-hour-a-week job. And of course, that’s in addition to the already full-time job of running a household, and any other paid work you do, like my freelance writing. Boredom is something I only vaguely remember — I never, ever wipe clean my to-do list. There is always something to do.

7. You’re always second-guessing yourself. Should I have chosen the other science curriculum? Are Jane’s kids learning more than mine? Is the Thursday co-op better suited to meet our needs, or should we stay where we are another year? Are my kids keeping up with their schooled peers? What if I miss giving them something that they truly need?

8. You wonder if your child will have regrets. I hear this one a lot from the traditionally-schooled crowd. Sure, my kids might feel bad one day that they missed playing high school sports, or going to pep rallies, or attending the prom. It bothers me that they might miss these things. But we can’t have everything. There are homeschooling alternatives to just about anything positive a good school can offer its students, and that will have to be good enough. I hope that my kids will know one day that homeschooling wasn’t about depriving them of anything, but doing our best to give them the best. Even if that does mean missing prom.

9. Everything at home wears out much faster — including yourself! Because we’re at home a lot, everything gets used more frequently than in a household where everyone is gone to work or school all day. Our dishwasher door just broke, the septic tank must get pumped soon or we’ll be in real trouble, our furniture and computers take a real beating. And as far as me wearing out, some days I just have nothing left to give by the end of the day. Especially now that we have a toddler in the mix. I know I should take better care of myself, but finding the time for that is difficult.

10. Your house is never, ever clean for more than a few minutes at a time. Again, because we’re here so much, I struggle to keep things clean. Sometimes I really miss those blank hours I enjoyed when my kids were in school, when I could get something done without a bunch of young ‘uns underfoot. My sink is always full of dishes, the floors are always in need of cleaning, there is always a pile or three of laundry on the furniture or sitting around the house in baskets. It seems the minute I get one area tidy, another area goes to pot, and it’s just one long fruitless cycle of trying to stay ahead of something that I cannot beat.

Now, if you read all of that, you might wonder why anyone thinks homeschooling is worth it. But as I said above, the good things far outweigh the bad.  And before I’m tempted to start listing all of those gems (which I already have, more than once) I’ll shush for now.

Check out OhAmanda to make your own Top Ten Tuesday list!

I recently found out that a friend is considering sending her child to the school that my boys used to attend, and where I worked for a while. Our experience there ended up being so awful that I feel an obligation to warn others what they might be in for if they choose this particular school. And I told her so.

But is that meddling? Is that just spreading negativity against the person(s) who harmed us? Does it seem vengeful to do so?

I just don’t know. I really don’t know.

Because on the one hand, the bible says not to gossip, that revenge is the Lord’s, to obey the Golden Rule and not wish harm on anyone.

But on the other hand, if I were unknowingly sending my child into a situation that could harm him, as a mom, I would want to know. I’d want to hear all sides to an issue before making a decision. If things ended up going wrong and I found out later that a friend knew this was a potentially bad choice but didn’t tell me, I’d be upset.

Would you?

I mean, it’s not like we’re talking about an unscrupulous car dealer, or a bad real estate agent. We’re talking about a business that people entrust their little children to. When it’s kids that could ultimately be hurt, I’m much more verbal about exposing unethical behavior.

One of our family’s doctors warned us about this place even as our children went there, and we didn’t listen because we hadn’t encountered any of the things we were hearing about. Other friends who’d left the school in anger told us why and we just thought, well, that won’t happen to us.

But they were right. We should’ve listened. Even the Lord was nudging my heart to move my kids out of that place but I ignored it until the tables were turned on me. And then I knew that everything they’d said was true. And sometimes I still regret not listening soon enough. I regret what my child went through there. It took a couple of years of homeschooling to undo all the damage they did. And in all honesty, if I never see those people again, it will be too soon.

As all the moms out there can testify, you can take a whole lot of crap when it’s directed solely at you, but if somebody hurts your kid, it’s gloves off, baby. It’s hard to let that stuff go. I don’t want to come across as meddling or spiteful, but I don’t want anyone else’s child being hurt like mine was. I simply don’t.

So, the question remains: am I operating from a place of warning, meddling or unforgiveness? I suppose I might be the only one who can really answer that. But I thank you in advance for any feedback!