it's not actually all about breakfast. Getting up early, and sitting down to eat breakfast with the kids is definitely something I am trying to do more of!
The bigger picture is that I am rethinking meals, cooking and food entirely...
I will say it was much easier to celebrate in my kitchen when I spent my days and nights here at home. Supper-time was always something I looked forward to and I think both the kids and I have been missing those times.
Lately, breakfast and lunch have tended to be sporadic, on-the-go/quick meals and I'm now striving to switch it up! I have always been solution-based, so having identified the way we, as a family "do food," i have come up with a plan:
On days that I have to work at night only, we'll have a hearty breakfast of juice, eggs, toast/grain, and our main meal (protein, starch, vegetable) will be lunch. This will leave just a few caloric needs for the evening so my sitter(s) can relax and play more/worry about mealtime less.
Days that I work both the lunch & dinner shifts, we'll heap it on at breakfast, have a light lunch and a more substantial dinner.
Days off.... they don't count and I'll just make sure we stay full of good & healthy food and indulge in the famous discretionary category ;)
On a side note, something that really grinds my gears is that I am not just thinking this all up for the first time; back when I was doing childcare at home, I had this down to a science and prided myself on creating individualized menus so that children went home after being here all day needing just a serving each of fruit, grain & protein to round out their day. Alas, those fancy files are saved on a no longer operable pc.
So.... (did I mention I am rethinking everything lately?)
A typical Split Shift Day (such as tomorrow) will look like this:
AM Snack
Yogurt
Granola
Breakfast
Eggs & Cheese
Toast (whole grain with butter and All-fruit spread)
100% Juice
Lunch
Pasta/Marinara
Green beans
Milk
PM Snack
Carrot sticks & Dip
Supper
Crackers(whole grain) & Peanut Butter
Oranges
Bedtime Snack
Leftover Birthday Cake
Oh, did I mention I have really been thinking these things through?
Here's a more thorough breakdown of our varying portions, based on caloric needs:
The 4 year old girl /The 6.5 year old boy /The Mama
.....................................................We all consume the same portion!
2 oz. Whole Grain Granola............................................................
4 oz. Yogurt.........................................................................
2 Eggs...............................................................................
1 Slice swiss cheese.................................................................
1 Slice toast /2 Slices toast /2 Slices toast
1 Cup juice /1 Cup juice /1.5 Cups juice
.75 C. Carrot sticks /1.25 C. Carrot sticks /1.5 C. Carrots
Processed Ranch Dip...........................................................
.5 C. Pasta /1 C. Pasta
.75 C. Green beans /1.25 C. Green beans
1 C. Milk.....................................................................
6-8 Crackers....................................... 1 C. Pasta/Rice
2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter........................ 4 oz. Protein
1.5 C. Veggie
BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, when I get home,
I WILL HAVE MY CAKE
AND EAT IT TOO :)
Gosh, I'm hungry now! And....... I think that is enough rethinking food for today!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
New Year, New Habits
(I let the kids stay up 'til midnight)
5 days into the New Year, 2010, rather than the usual compulsion to think of things that I should cut back on or attempt to eradicate from my life, I am finding myself drawn to new patterns of action. There are definitely three areas of focus most on my mind; they are myself and my own well-being, my children (schooling/education in particular) and the balancing act of work and keeping my home. Some of the changes I aspire to make are fleeting thoughts that may not stick, while there are others that I am approaching with a fixity of purpose (resolve). I will share more about each of them as time goes on...
They are:
Do Breakfast.
Do something Creative every day.
Keep Cleaning Routines.
Treat my body Lovingly.
Homeschool without Fear of Failure.
Trust my Convictions.
Work Hard & Work Well.
Track & Budget Money.
Keep Close to Friends and Family.
Make More & Buy Less.
Read for Leisure.
Write and Blog More.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Ch-ch-ch-changes.....
"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain."
-Maya Angelou
This is where I am today. I found out on Tuesday that two of my childcare clients will no longer be attending. Obviously, because this is my source of income now, I have some mixed feelings on it. I have spent the past couple days processing the facts, contemplating my next move, making lists (this is something I have done since childhood- listing the pros and cons of every situation), and talking it out…. Last night, I reached a place of peace about the whole ordeal.
When I started this blog, I did so as a personal celebration of being right where I want to be- home with and educating my own kiddos. I wanted to share my methods and the unique challenges present in homeschooling as a single mother. I have to admit, I have been tempted to fall into thinking that maybe it is true- that maybe homeschooling is only for two-parent families that live in a 3 bedroom ranch, with two cars and two pets….I wanted to throw in the towel and hang my head, admit failure and return to a traditional job. I actually wanted to cry at having been such a fool as to celebrate something that is honestly not possible…. Everyone who knows me knows this is not my style. But it is part of my process. You know what, though, my home is not going to fall apart because of lost income; it never has and never will. I am not going to fall apart because of a little setback. Lack of focus is the only real danger...
The choices I have made in regards to my children’s education require sacrifice. The sacrifices of my own education and income potential pale in comparison to the heartfelt joy and rewards of being solely responsible for my children’s education.
Truth be told, the challenge of having such a wide range of ages in my home (aside from providing a new found respect for the homeschooling moms of many) caused its own set of sacrifices- for my son. He told me yesterday that when I am happy I teach him all day. As I said in a prior post, there are times that planned activities fall by the wayside, as topics of interest steer us in different directions. I have to be honest- there are also times when our curriculum would suffer because I was just too darn busy with the other kids and the inevitable amount of housework that ensued. Not to mention, there were many things (like legos) that couldn’t be played with while the littlest guy was underfoot.
Moving forward, I am making some changes to my childcare program.
Group Composition
Our newest guy, the after-kindergartener, is a keeper and for this I am very happy. He will be with us full time in the summer, which is another reason to rejoice in having no more than the number of children that I can transport in my car. This means I will accept no more than one other child. Furthermore, I have to remain committed to accepting only a child who can learn alongside my son, daughter and friend. So, I will only accept a child between the ages of 3-6; please feel free to remind me of this when the $250/week parents of infants call….
Scheduling
Having seen how my son’s curriculum schedule can so easily be influenced by the needs of other children in my home, I’m switching things up a bit. What I had been doing was scheduling his activities- handwriting, phonics, math, science and spelling, around the other children. Moving forward, I am working on a master schedule, similar to one I saw on another homeschooling blog. The idea is to create my son’s schedule first in one column and then fill in appropriate activities for the others. It brings my son’s education back to being the focal point.
In short, I had built our daily schedule to satisfy potential clients, rather than base it on what truly works for me and my own children. I hate to even say it, but we are really not “morning people.” Jumping right in at 7am every day just wasn’t working for us. When I was still working in the afternoons (and adhering to the hourly bus schedule), we had no choice but to jump in and squeeze in what we could in the two hours we had together. Nowadays, we literally have all day. Can I say that again, we have all day!
I am excited for this new month, and for the changes that are mine to make. I can’t say that I like not being in control, but I can change my attitude and not complain. I can focus on the long list of pros, on all the positives that come with uncontrolled change, not only accepting, but finding ways to be genuinely grateful. That is where I am today, back to celebrating!
Monday, January 5, 2009
January's Monthly Theme: Stories & Storytelling (Legends, Myths, Nursery Rhymes, Fact OR Fiction?)
Letters of the Week: Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp
Ll- Legends- King Arthur & Others
Mm- Myths- Greek Mythology for Children
Nn- Nursery Rhymes
Oo- Fact Or Fiction?
Mathematics for the Month: Early addition- how many more do we need to make___ (to ten)
Continue Time Concepts- 12 = o'clock, __ :00 and 6=thirty,__ :30 the quarter hour :15
Shape- Square (pre-K) Cube (K)
Baking- 1 Cup, 1/2 cup, 1/4 Cup
Monthly Science Experiments: White (color of snow)
What happens when you add white to any color?
Make your own ice cream
Other: Continue World Map Exploration
L WEEK:
Spelling
love
lit
land
and
it
Sight Word of the Week: and We are continuing our focus on the 30 most commonly used words in the English language
Handwriting
Book List (going to the library today)
Special Projects
Story Mobile - Children will create a setting, three characters and attach to a mobile and use spoken words to tell their own story
Letters of the Week: Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp
Ll- Legends- King Arthur & Others
Mm- Myths- Greek Mythology for Children
Nn- Nursery Rhymes
Oo- Fact Or Fiction?
Mathematics for the Month: Early addition- how many more do we need to make___ (to ten)
Continue Time Concepts- 12 = o'clock, __ :00 and 6=thirty,__ :30 the quarter hour :15
Shape- Square (pre-K) Cube (K)
Baking- 1 Cup, 1/2 cup, 1/4 Cup
Monthly Science Experiments: White (color of snow)
What happens when you add white to any color?
Make your own ice cream
Other: Continue World Map Exploration
L WEEK:
Spelling
love
lit
land
and
it
Sight Word of the Week: and We are continuing our focus on the 30 most commonly used words in the English language
Handwriting
Book List (going to the library today)
Special Projects
Story Mobile - Children will create a setting, three characters and attach to a mobile and use spoken words to tell their own story
Sunday, December 21, 2008
K Week- Kwanzaa
So, I must say that I slacked off a bit for K Week, in more ways than one, blogging included. Being the first letter of Kobey's name, we have no trouble with recognition/phonics and practiced proper formation (using just two strokes of the pencil, one for the straight line, one for the angle) just a little.
The most profound part of K week was our beginning to explore Kwanzaa. Admittedly, I have always felt intimidated by the task of trying to teach my bi-racial children a sense of regard and respect for African culture and heritage. We began with the colors of Kwanzaa- green, black and red, illustrated while making M&M cookies of course :) I have never really fully understood the scope and meaning of Kwanzaa, its history or purpose (outside the knowledge that public school must give an obligatory nod to the holiday if they are to celebrate any holidays at all). The holiday was created in 1966 to give African Americans a unique way of celebrating their history and culture. There are three represetative colors and seven qualities that are celebrated through the ritual of lighting the Kinara... The festivities begin on December 26 - January 1. It is important to me that readers undertand that Kwanzaa is not a "replacement" for Christmas, nor is it a religious holiday. I will share more about the seven aspects as we go through each day the week after Christmas. Merely teaching my children about the colors has sparked an interest and curiousity that ousted spelling lists and sight words for the week. I am okay with this, as some schools take a two week vacation this time of year, and we are just continuing along.
The Colors of Kwanzaa and Glimpses of Our Conversations
Green- the mother land of Africa and the concept of Hope. Having always been aware of the world map, my children and I looked at where Africa is, how far away and how long it would have taken for Africans to come by boat... I also shared a map of the world as it is printed in Japan, to offer a different perspective...
Black- representative for the race's skin color- my children have always been keenly aware of their brown skin, and their father's darker color. Following the advice of experts, I have done nothing more than speak of their distinct features in a positive way- beautiful brown skin and curly hair. During this color, Eva recalled that in preschool, she had made a family tree, on which there is a picture of me and their father, and she pointed out that on her tree, he and I are standing next to each other in front of a tree. At this point, Kobey wondered if I, too, could celebrate Kwanzaa although my skin is not black. I answered that anybody with respect and regard for Africa and African people can celebrate, and that yes, we will celebrate as a family. He was adamant about bringing his color-by-number kinara to his afternoon childcare provider to share with them what he was learning.
Red- the color red in the Kwanzaa celebration is representative of the bloodshed of African ancestors. I remember as an eight year old child, I lost sleep when I became aware f the topic of slavery and it having been a part of American history. Just as I have omitted the topic of evil or God's wrath when reading from the Bible, I have more or less ommitted the topic of slavery from our learning about race thus far. In simple terms, I explained that after Caucasian settlers (recall of our November lessons) came to America, they decided to bring African people here to be slaves. You can imagine my shock and horror when Kobey interjected "and you got one of them Mama?" And in the next breath, "wait, what is a slave?" This is Kindergarten so I kept the answer simple- a slave is someone who is forced to work for no money, treated very badly and given very poor living conditions, that instead of being free people, they are the property of the people they work for... I had to explain that slavery is a part of American history from long ago (several generations back), and that back then, there would have been almost no chance that their father and I would have gotten together. Somewhere around this point is when Eva chimed in that she has African people too :)
I went on to explain about the underground railroad and the Civil War- good guys and bad guys who felt differently about how the African slaves should be treated, whether or not they should be free to live and earn money on their own. Remarkably, he decided at that point, that "this" is all he wants to learn about now. This year, and only this year, I am planning on spending the entire month of February exploring Black History, as is custom in traditional school settings. Beyond that, we will reserve February as a special month to explore the topic in greater depth, but I will integrate knowledge and awareness of black history into every month, every topic, every subject (as I feel it should be done); Kobey wondered is it almost February?
For these lessons, I gathered information online and "lectured" at the table while my children colored. M&M Cookie night was an introduction that was followed by more formal learning the next morning. I will look up and add the links to the resources that I used. Additionally, I added these books to our monthly reading list:
My First Kwanzaa Book by Deborah Newton Chocolate
Seven Candles for Kwanzaa by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Kuku wa Handa (Handa's Hen) by Eileen Brown, a story written in both Swahili and English
Speaking of books, I am hoping to add a book list feature to my blog; I adjusted our Reading List based on what was available at the library, and will update and post the list later today. ON to L Week!
The most profound part of K week was our beginning to explore Kwanzaa. Admittedly, I have always felt intimidated by the task of trying to teach my bi-racial children a sense of regard and respect for African culture and heritage. We began with the colors of Kwanzaa- green, black and red, illustrated while making M&M cookies of course :) I have never really fully understood the scope and meaning of Kwanzaa, its history or purpose (outside the knowledge that public school must give an obligatory nod to the holiday if they are to celebrate any holidays at all). The holiday was created in 1966 to give African Americans a unique way of celebrating their history and culture. There are three represetative colors and seven qualities that are celebrated through the ritual of lighting the Kinara... The festivities begin on December 26 - January 1. It is important to me that readers undertand that Kwanzaa is not a "replacement" for Christmas, nor is it a religious holiday. I will share more about the seven aspects as we go through each day the week after Christmas. Merely teaching my children about the colors has sparked an interest and curiousity that ousted spelling lists and sight words for the week. I am okay with this, as some schools take a two week vacation this time of year, and we are just continuing along.
The Colors of Kwanzaa and Glimpses of Our Conversations
Green- the mother land of Africa and the concept of Hope. Having always been aware of the world map, my children and I looked at where Africa is, how far away and how long it would have taken for Africans to come by boat... I also shared a map of the world as it is printed in Japan, to offer a different perspective...
Black- representative for the race's skin color- my children have always been keenly aware of their brown skin, and their father's darker color. Following the advice of experts, I have done nothing more than speak of their distinct features in a positive way- beautiful brown skin and curly hair. During this color, Eva recalled that in preschool, she had made a family tree, on which there is a picture of me and their father, and she pointed out that on her tree, he and I are standing next to each other in front of a tree. At this point, Kobey wondered if I, too, could celebrate Kwanzaa although my skin is not black. I answered that anybody with respect and regard for Africa and African people can celebrate, and that yes, we will celebrate as a family. He was adamant about bringing his color-by-number kinara to his afternoon childcare provider to share with them what he was learning.
Red- the color red in the Kwanzaa celebration is representative of the bloodshed of African ancestors. I remember as an eight year old child, I lost sleep when I became aware f the topic of slavery and it having been a part of American history. Just as I have omitted the topic of evil or God's wrath when reading from the Bible, I have more or less ommitted the topic of slavery from our learning about race thus far. In simple terms, I explained that after Caucasian settlers (recall of our November lessons) came to America, they decided to bring African people here to be slaves. You can imagine my shock and horror when Kobey interjected "and you got one of them Mama?" And in the next breath, "wait, what is a slave?" This is Kindergarten so I kept the answer simple- a slave is someone who is forced to work for no money, treated very badly and given very poor living conditions, that instead of being free people, they are the property of the people they work for... I had to explain that slavery is a part of American history from long ago (several generations back), and that back then, there would have been almost no chance that their father and I would have gotten together. Somewhere around this point is when Eva chimed in that she has African people too :)
I went on to explain about the underground railroad and the Civil War- good guys and bad guys who felt differently about how the African slaves should be treated, whether or not they should be free to live and earn money on their own. Remarkably, he decided at that point, that "this" is all he wants to learn about now. This year, and only this year, I am planning on spending the entire month of February exploring Black History, as is custom in traditional school settings. Beyond that, we will reserve February as a special month to explore the topic in greater depth, but I will integrate knowledge and awareness of black history into every month, every topic, every subject (as I feel it should be done); Kobey wondered is it almost February?
For these lessons, I gathered information online and "lectured" at the table while my children colored. M&M Cookie night was an introduction that was followed by more formal learning the next morning. I will look up and add the links to the resources that I used. Additionally, I added these books to our monthly reading list:
My First Kwanzaa Book by Deborah Newton Chocolate
Seven Candles for Kwanzaa by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Kuku wa Handa (Handa's Hen) by Eileen Brown, a story written in both Swahili and English
Speaking of books, I am hoping to add a book list feature to my blog; I adjusted our Reading List based on what was available at the library, and will update and post the list later today. ON to L Week!
Friday, December 5, 2008
The Celebration Begins
For the past couple months, I have squeezed my son's Kindergarten curriculum into a less than two hour block of time in the morning, and have utilized public transportation to get both my children to childcare, so that I could work in a childcare environment, and of course, make some money. The whole experience is something I will have to write about another time. I will say that none of us will ever forget our bus stop days, my kids' pleading with me to never get another car (because riding the bus is that much fun:), the morning exercise... Most important is the goodness we gleaned from a seemingly bleak situation, and the clarity of purpose that I have gained for myself.
When I left my job recently, I did so with much trepidation in regards to several aspects of life-- finances not being the least among them. Above all these concerns, however, is my desire to offer my own children the best of myself-- full days of attentive care, study and exploration. I first dabbled in the idea of homeschooling back in 2006, following the birth of Eva. Kobey had been enrolled in a preschool program, and I was in school full time, taking mostly online courses. In short, I felt I could do a better job with his Early Education, and my schedule allowed me to do so... There the journey began, but was cut short when I enrolled in courses that had me on campus full time.
In September 2007, we all began attending our respective classes full time. As with everything, there were good and bad times, accomplishments and failures, sadness and joy. There are the parts of the experience that I will forever appreciate and those that I wish we could have avoided. I will ALWAYS appreciate my brothers' financial and emotional support during those times. I have not finished my degree, but I am so much closer. Will I ever finish? Do I care about obtaining an Accounting Degree? Those are questions for another day... In May 2008, it became clear to me that I would not be sending my son off to Public Kindergarten in the Fall. I knew nothing but that fact, and I went with my conviction, and when my landlord sold our duplex, when my car broke down, when I was barely able to make ends meet, and when I was frustrated to almost daily tears, I stuck by it.
What I consider my real homeschooling journey began with the belief that I would do Kobey's Kindergarten Year (I mean ,really, who can screw up Kindergarten?) and prepare him for public or private school next Fall. It has since grown and deepened and looking forward, it is unclear how long I will remain his primary teacher... I have visited a multitude of homeschooling websites, blogs and informative pages, researched national education guidelines, state laws, and have accepted a wide range of opinions on the subject. From all this, one of the best things I have learned is to take it year by year, to allow myself and my children to experience the present, and not worry what the future may hold. All along, since 2006, I have kept in contact with several homeschooling families-- their blogs, websites and online discussions; I want to take a second to thank those women, as the sharing of their lives and schooling situations has been intrumental to the belief that I can do it too.
Since my first child was very young, I have admired and appreciated homeschooling, but allowed myself to be repressed by the belief that there was no way a single mothe rof two could ever make it work. Some of you may remeber an almost-contempt that I felt toward those who I believed were only successful in their schooling endeavors because of their money-making husbands. At that time, I was pretty bitter and often saddened by the choices of my past. I was angry at times and resentful of my children's father. I possessed a severely defeatist attitude and sold my self short on my dreams.
I have been humbled by my experience as the sole provider for my children, and I have come to not only accept my situation, but to embrace and truly appreciate our unique family life. I have learned that the attention anyone gives to consumerism and commercialism is not only based on how much money one actually has, but is formed by our personal values and convictions. I no longer look at mine as a temporary situation that a college degree could "fix" but as a cause for celebration and an ever-deeping and widening love of my home and all things domestic.
So, I am starting this blog, to offer my experience, as a Mother, a Home-keeper and Schooler. It has been a long road from feeling admitedly sorry for myself and my fatherless children to the realization of the intrinsic beauty in our lives. There have been moments and people of great influence on my journey, and there have been simple experiences of crying to some tunes over a sinkfull of dishes. Domesticity and Tradition have been big players all along. A prayerful state of being has been the Star. I want to share some of that, for the reader and for myself, a permanent record of my heart... As I begin, it may take some looking back, some self-reflection, but that is where the celebration begins!!
When I left my job recently, I did so with much trepidation in regards to several aspects of life-- finances not being the least among them. Above all these concerns, however, is my desire to offer my own children the best of myself-- full days of attentive care, study and exploration. I first dabbled in the idea of homeschooling back in 2006, following the birth of Eva. Kobey had been enrolled in a preschool program, and I was in school full time, taking mostly online courses. In short, I felt I could do a better job with his Early Education, and my schedule allowed me to do so... There the journey began, but was cut short when I enrolled in courses that had me on campus full time.
In September 2007, we all began attending our respective classes full time. As with everything, there were good and bad times, accomplishments and failures, sadness and joy. There are the parts of the experience that I will forever appreciate and those that I wish we could have avoided. I will ALWAYS appreciate my brothers' financial and emotional support during those times. I have not finished my degree, but I am so much closer. Will I ever finish? Do I care about obtaining an Accounting Degree? Those are questions for another day... In May 2008, it became clear to me that I would not be sending my son off to Public Kindergarten in the Fall. I knew nothing but that fact, and I went with my conviction, and when my landlord sold our duplex, when my car broke down, when I was barely able to make ends meet, and when I was frustrated to almost daily tears, I stuck by it.
What I consider my real homeschooling journey began with the belief that I would do Kobey's Kindergarten Year (I mean ,really, who can screw up Kindergarten?) and prepare him for public or private school next Fall. It has since grown and deepened and looking forward, it is unclear how long I will remain his primary teacher... I have visited a multitude of homeschooling websites, blogs and informative pages, researched national education guidelines, state laws, and have accepted a wide range of opinions on the subject. From all this, one of the best things I have learned is to take it year by year, to allow myself and my children to experience the present, and not worry what the future may hold. All along, since 2006, I have kept in contact with several homeschooling families-- their blogs, websites and online discussions; I want to take a second to thank those women, as the sharing of their lives and schooling situations has been intrumental to the belief that I can do it too.
Since my first child was very young, I have admired and appreciated homeschooling, but allowed myself to be repressed by the belief that there was no way a single mothe rof two could ever make it work. Some of you may remeber an almost-contempt that I felt toward those who I believed were only successful in their schooling endeavors because of their money-making husbands. At that time, I was pretty bitter and often saddened by the choices of my past. I was angry at times and resentful of my children's father. I possessed a severely defeatist attitude and sold my self short on my dreams.
I have been humbled by my experience as the sole provider for my children, and I have come to not only accept my situation, but to embrace and truly appreciate our unique family life. I have learned that the attention anyone gives to consumerism and commercialism is not only based on how much money one actually has, but is formed by our personal values and convictions. I no longer look at mine as a temporary situation that a college degree could "fix" but as a cause for celebration and an ever-deeping and widening love of my home and all things domestic.
So, I am starting this blog, to offer my experience, as a Mother, a Home-keeper and Schooler. It has been a long road from feeling admitedly sorry for myself and my fatherless children to the realization of the intrinsic beauty in our lives. There have been moments and people of great influence on my journey, and there have been simple experiences of crying to some tunes over a sinkfull of dishes. Domesticity and Tradition have been big players all along. A prayerful state of being has been the Star. I want to share some of that, for the reader and for myself, a permanent record of my heart... As I begin, it may take some looking back, some self-reflection, but that is where the celebration begins!!
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