It's The Holiday Season....

Let's talk religion!!

A bit of history; I am baptised Protestant, I attended a Catholic primary school and went to church each Friday.  We do not practice any religion in our home, although I am open to religion and am a spiritual person.  Spiritual person who doesn't practice a religion? Yes, I believe there are gods who are within us, and around us, in nature.  I believe we need to treat others as we like to be treated, or karma will abound.  I believe that when you take a step back and truly watch the world around you, that you will experience much more then you will running through your day as we normally would.

Religion is an institution that causes conflict, where the expectation to donate money is there every week, where one person preaches the words of one book, this kind of organized religion is not in our household.  At least not at the moment.  That may change as our children get older.  If our children find a religion that they are interested in, that they want to follow, I will support that.

Religion has come up in our little home over the past 2 weeks because our oldest daughter has a religion course in school.  This doesn't bother me, in general.  My stumbling block is that I am trying to find a way to teach my 7 year old that Jesus may exist, he may have planted one grain of sand and created the Earth and Noah's ark may have saved every animal in existence from a great flood, but the world could have always been here the way it is now, or it could have been born from one massive bang.....

We celebrate Christmas in our home.  Not as a religious celebration, but because it is tradition.  Has been tradition since my Mom was a little girl in Germany and my Dad a little boy in the USA.  We still enjoy turkey on the 24th, Santa comes for a visit that night as well and then we have a lazy day on the 25th with lots of food and gift sharing.  Our tree is decorated each year, we bake yummy things and share merry beverages with family.  Family is always around, sleeping wherever there is a piece of floor.  Gift giving is limited to one Secret Santa, one gift from each Grandparent and then the parents decide from there.

How do you take Christmas, which has become a consumer time of year instead of a family oriented holiday, and help your children hang on to the traditions, help them understand that Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Dongzhi and Yule are just as important to other cultures around the world.  How can a school focus solely on Christianity as our world has become so small and the classroom is most certainly full of children from many different backgrounds?

Wouldn't it be more educational to have the children share their holiday traditions is a special way with the class?  Wouldn't that help the kids reflect more on why their family has lit a candle for the past 2 weeks?  I know my children would be much more interested in learning what their classmates do over the holidays, religious and otherwise, then learning about Noah's Ark.

This little blurb comes from the Globe and Mail, last Decemeber:

Tony Pontes, the director of education at Peel District School Board – one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse in Canada – sent a memo this month encouraging staff to celebrate Christmas with their students, but also Ashura, Hanukkah, Yule and Kwanzaa.

A decade ago, when the region began to change with immigration from South and East Asia, some schools were apprehensive about mentioning Christmas with an increasingly non-Christian student population. But there’s value in it, Mr. Pontes says.

“If schools are acknowledging and celebrating all faiths and all holy days throughout the year, there need not be any issue or discomfort around Christmas.”

I will always say Merry Christmas, because this is my tradition.  I want my children to learn about religion in school, I just wish there was a more general way of approaching the subject, as a whole, because the course is called Religion, not Christianity.  I don't think nativity scenes should be taken down, nor do I believe that menorah's should be removed from city hall decorations.  I think we should each hold on to our individual tradition and when in Rome.....

I also believe that our children need to have something to believe in, other then just Santa.  Am I the only Mama struggling with this?  How do you begin to introduce your child to other religions while their school only teaches one?

When I find the answer, I will share.  Unless you have an idea!

After School Organization

We have started a "clean sweep".  Normally I can stay on top of the clutter, when new shoes, shirts or even artwork come into the house, something needs to leave.  Our home isn't large enough to collect everything, and with three little ones it is easy to collect.... everything!

As the seasons change and the clothes in the closet change, we do a donation pile and a garbage pile. As tax season passes, we shred old papers from four or five years ago.  This time I pushed our de-clutter time a little long.  So now we are going extreme by opening each box in all the closets and reorganizing like mad!

Until last year, my biggest weakness was the kids artwork.  I had no idea where to put it as it came in the door, nor what to do with it until the end of the year when I could take my time, compare all the projects and keep what we loved.

Then I discovered after school boxes.  Take a box that is big enough to hold your needs, but small enough for your child to handle.  I have three blue boxes that are approximately 9" by 12" by 3" with a hinged lid and an id. label.  These boxes fit easily into my small cabinet space.

In each box are items that help with homework and after school entertainment.  Chloe has pencils, erasers, a ruler and a math lapbook.  Mea has pencils erasers and colouring pages.  Rafael also has colouring pages, pom poms to make insects and felt monsters which entertain for what seems like hours.  You can find some great ideas for the monsters here; Monsters.  

With the boxes, everyone can sit at the table and "work".... if the legos and cars don't distract first.  The boxes are also a great place to temporarily store colouring pages that come from school, and finished projects too.

When the after school boxes start to fill, I do a quick toss of items that never got fully finished, and that I know will not make it to the school year box.  After the quick toss, the projects that are left are put into a drawer until the end of the school year, when we go through each and every project to decide what we keep in our school year box for the next 20 some years.

I've seen those cute little school year books at Chapters. I can't imagine having to dwindle down my childrens artwork to a few pieces to fit into the little pocket of this book.  So I opted for something a little larger. 

No, that is not my child!  This idea came from iheart organizing with free printable labels, and cover sheets to boot!  All three of my boxes have files and file holders with labels, and cover sheets from preschool to grade 12, even though my little man does not begin kindergarden for another 2 1/2 years.

The boxes sit in each closet and the girls love to go through them every couple of months and remember! I will love it in 10 years!!

Do you have secrets for entertaining the little ones while big sister/ brother needs help with homework?

Report Cards

My girls received their report cards this week.  I always tell myself that this is just a number or, in Mea's case, a letter.  Is this how I truly feel?  I don't want my kids to feel as though they need to achieve a certain percentage.  Why?  Because I know they work hard to achieve the mark they get.  I try to work with them from day to day, to help them understand what they are learning in school, along with helping them in real life.  First of all, if I start putting pressure on them to attain a certain goal, I would personally approach it with too much aggression, because I'm very competitive.  Also, at this point, I don't think a number on a report card tells us anything we haven't already established since the beginning of the year.

At my daughters school the professors take the time to evaluate each presentation, each report.  It is just a check in a table that is stapled to the front of a test or paper or presentation.  It provides basic information on the effort made for each skill.  I assume this process is easy for a teacher and it is insightful for me. It helps me understand where improvements need to be made but is not negative.

Chloe's report card is presented as a percentage.  She does understand percentages; I'm not sure she really needs to compare herself to her classmates.  And she knows where she needs to improve, but she understands this from the work we do at home.  The class average is there for the parents, so we can be proud of our kids for being above average.  Does this create a false sense of accomplishment for a student?

What if your child is not above the class average?  The student who doesn't work hard, who spirit may already be broken, who is just plain lazy. Is a percentage going to inspire them to work harder? Or just convince them they are beyond hope.  How do you feel about this percentage comparison?  How do you react; what do you say to your child?  It's still just a number.  They are still learning each day, they are still progressing, we are still helping them answer those questions!

I think reports cards are required and can be stimulating for students, but if you just receive a percentage with a cut and paste comment or two, where is the focus for the child?  It's on the number and how they compare to the rest of the students.  The focus is not on the improvements your child has made, the areas they enjoy learning or the fact that they have a bad attitude towards french and tend to give up a little too quickly when a test question poses a problem.....as in the case of Chloe.

We are also lucky that the teachers take 15 minutes during report card week to meet with parents.  The only downside to this for me would be the language barrier.  Both my husband and I go to the meeting, but he doesn't focus on the same details I would if I could understand the details the teacher was talking about.  And I am the one that does homework each night.

This is just the beginning, the primary grades.  My goal is to make school enjoyable, to ensure the enthusiasm is there each day before my girls get on the bus, and to help certify that the work laid out by the teacher is understood, on some level.  What is the answer to the report card.....?  I have no idea.  What is the difference between a b+ and an a-, no idea. Percentages are more precise, but in the end will this years professor grade the same as next years?  I know with certainty that Chloe loves math, loves reading, and needs to learn to spell.  Beyond that, I hope my girls are happy with the work they do each day.

Do the report cards you receive include comments on life's most important skills; self-respect, self-love, independence, balance and generosity....?

Homework Evaluation

An evaluation was sent home with Chloe last week. It was to evaluate homework. Does she argue when it is homework time? Is she able to focus? Does she have the tools to successfully complete her tasks? And is she able to complete her work in the time allotted?

It was presented as a self-evaluation in conjunction with a parental evaluation. I was a little surprised by the evaluation. Was it meant to spark conversation between parent/ child, was it meant to bring light to any issues a child is having with homework. I mean, shouldn't that be clear by this point? But, the most eye opening part of the evaluation was not anything my daughter wrote, nor her response to my responses. The surprise was a question regarding her respect of the allotted time to complete homework. Why would I give my daughter a time limit on practicing addition, on reading a book, on spelling new words. Really, we go until she is done, mentally done.

Some days she doesn't want to stop. She will spend her 35 minutes doing her review, which is laid out by the professor. After this, I always ask her if she wants more. Some days she chooses to read on her own, some days she takes the ipad and does a spelling test, some days she decides on math practice on the computer. Math is her favorite because we use khanacademy.org which allows her to progress at her own pace. Most days though, she joins her brother and sister playing, because she is a kid!

In my opinion, if Chloe is distracted because Rafael and Emelia have created the best game ever in dino land with rainbow rice, well she sure as heck is not going to focus on her phonetics while she reads the 10 sentences in front of her.

We do what we can, sure I push some nights, but I know where her difficulties lie and I know what she enjoys working on because it comes easy to her. Chloe struggles with spelling. Lucky for her, Auntie Aimee shared a fun app where you create your own spelling test with recorded prompts. The child listens to the word and goes through the test in practice mode, with smiley hints, or in test mode for a mark at the end. It's been very helpful, check out Super Speller - it's free and you can create the test in the language of your choice!

We work to ensure there is not a battle every night. There shouldn't be, she has spent the whole day in school, at a desk, under flourescent lights..... learning! She has her ways of clearly, although non verbally, telling me when she is drained and not learning anymore. I try to compromise the best I can because I know next year, when her little sister begins grade 1, my patients towards homework will be tested even more!

Life Skills

This week I am working on organizing life skills. The kids get to watch me try to make life in our little home run more smoothly. You see we live in a wonderful neighbourhood, lots of young families, a backyard, parks, trees... but our home is a meager 804 square feet. My lover likes to point out that this does not include the basement, which is liveable space. Our daughters sleep down there, the playroom and the family room are there, therefore it should be included. The kicker is when you sell a house the square footage of a basement is not included in the overall square footage of the house. Never the less, our home is quite petite, by today's standards, for a growing family of five with a large dog, four fish and two guinea pigs.

For this reason, I am continually at war with "stuff" that is constantly trying to take over my house, and that is never capable of finding it's home inside our home!

Back to life skills..... In general, we are fairly relaxed in our home. We don't make our bed each morning. So, how can we ask our kids to make their bed each morning. In order to maintain a tidy looking home, we are now making our bed, most days! We never go to bed with a dirty kitchen, we work to have the dining room table; the hub of our life, clear before dinner. We are working, as a family, to get our space to function on a daily basis. It is mentally trying!!

This week I am moving on to the lists. I love lists, every part of me craves a list for almost everyday of my existence!

I have started with little cards stuck to the closet doors in my girls rooms. You can find the free printable here Printable Cards. It's working, for my little girl. She loves the idea of taking care of herself each morning. She's 5, she's at a good age. It's my big girl that is already in a habit, a bad habit, of getting up and needing to be reminded repeatedly, to get dressed, brush her teeth before school. She's 7, so after 3 years of school and of being reminded, she is not interested is creating a new routine at the moment.

It needs to change simply because I have 3 kids to get ready in the morning before I go to school. The big picture is that in 25 years, when she has her own home, I want her to have the skills, whether she chooses to use them or not, to maintain her home, her health, respect her family, friends and society in general.

I am that mom that refuses to wash the dishes of my teenage kids, I expect them to know how to change a tire, check the oil and washer fluid when they begin to drive, plan a menu, grocery shop and cook before they head to college because McDo is disgusting and expensive.

Simply, this is the basis of my job, the basis of my goals and dreams for my children, so it's about time. Here is an age appropriate lists, in my opinion, that I am going to begin with my kids. Don't take this list to seriously, freaking out when you read that my 3 year old sweeps the floor. He actually vacuums!! But honestly it's because he wants to distract me  from vacuuming for the third time that week.

Life Skills List

(**UPDATE - I have graduated, I think, from the school of Posting a Doc to a Blog. So the list is attached for you to print and share!)

Man, it looks easy on paper!!

Are our youth missing life skills? We rush around during our day, completing our tasks, but do we take a minute to explain to our children that when we pass a door, you hold the door for the next person and you always let your elders pass in front of you. Do we remind them not to interrupt a conversation. My children are important to me, my children should be heard, but they also need to respect others.

Election Results and a New Blog!

This is a Canadian based site.... so the hype of the election does not have me glued to the tv tonight. I will patiently wait until tomorrow morning for the news. So I will, instead, take this time to post the first page of my blog. A blog about education, the public school system and how this mom plans to rework the experience my three children will have in that institution.

Don't get me wrong, my children use the public school system, I am a product of the public school system and I have the utmost respect for teachers and professors. I think much more credit should be given to teachers who spend their weekends correcting papers, researching ways to engage a 7 year old, learning new technologies to apply in class. They definitely do not get the recognition they should.

That is not where I am going with this blog. I will look at the greater picture that is our public school system and I do hope to spark some discussion and controversy and new ways to engage your children.

I'm going to attempt to find the answer to a question that has been on my mind since grade 1 began for my big girl: Can you mix the public school system with the principles of homeschooling: today, in grade 2; and tomorrow, through high school?

I appreciate the regularity that the public school system offers. The fact that I don't need to think outside my bubble to discover how I need to introduce them to the basics of math, science and phonetics. I like that a list of homework is sent home each night so we can sit down, check things off and accomplish what has been laid out.

What saddens me is the effect that a less the great grade has on my 7 year old. What saddens me is that at 7 years old she puts enough pressure on herself to perform that she has driven herself to tears after a spelling test, before it was graded. What saddens me is that homework feels just like that..... work.

I am not an educator.... professionally that is. But I am a mother of three young children, each of whom I want to ensure have a world of knowledge available to them at the blink of an eye and have fun discovering all there is to learn. Therefore, yes, I consider myself an educator.

My sister is a homeschooler and my nieces, ages 9 and 12 have a much different view of learning. They are learning at home, on the road, at the beach, the museum and at classes put on through their community which includes dismantling and rebuilding a computer, building real rockets from paper and robots from lego.

Moving forward, I will create and share new and existing tools to help with the continuation of learning once the school bells ring and our children have returned to their comfort zone.

So I lied, the elections are on in the background, Romney is leading at the moment. I wonder if a result of this election will be a change to the school system in the United States. There are many different views on where the school system should go. Our current system is centuries old and definitely needs some attention. Follow this link to a Ted talk by Sir Ken Robinson, one very interesting view on changing education paradigms.

http://www.ted.com