Charlotte Mason Discussion Series: Follow Up Week 1

Last week, the discussion was about the first two items on the "Attainments by age 6."  Princess Tarja memorized "Hey Diddle Diddle", Psalm 96:1 and "Amazing Grace."  I took a short video of her progress so that you can see that it is possible for a child that has not been five years old for very long, to do this kind of work. 

Have a Great Day!
Laurel Santiago

Charlotte Mason Discussion Series: List of Attainments by Age 6, 1 and 2

I have two princesses that are under the age of 6.  Charlotte Mason does not have a curriculum for preK or Kindergarten.  We do use Time4Learning.com for Tarja's PreK and Kindergarten work.  She is doing so well, that I can picture us using this program all the way through 8th grade.  However, I do want her to have a well rounded, Charlotte Mason education, so I invite you to share this journey with us, as we go through one goal at a time. 

1. To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns. 

We are going to start with some classic poems such as THESE.

And these particular children's HYMNS.

2. To recite, perfectly and beautifully, a PARABLE and a PSALM

This list of attainments that I am working from can be found HERE.  This is where I send all of my friends that are new to or curious about homeschooling.  I hope that you will return to find out about our progress, and to learn about the next goals that we will work toward until Princess Tarja has her 6th birthday next year. 

Have a Great Day!
Laurel Santiago

2013 Homeschool Year in Review

There has been so much happening in our homeschool, that I hope that I don't leave out anything important here.  I like to do this annual review as much for myself as for my followers.  It feels good to see that what we have accomplished as a family. 

First of all, we participated in our local homeschool group, which has actually been the only active homeschool group that we have encountered.

Tarja finished preK and is almost finished with her Kindergarten portion of Time4Learning.com, and she just turned five years old this past March.  She has been active in baton twirling, tee ball, Girl Scouts and the Sands Art Association.

Abbey has been volunteering at the local animal shelter.  The ladies that run the shelter are teaching her the art of dog grooming, which has been a long time dream of hers.  By doing this, she earned her community service bar from Girl Scouts.  She bridged to Seniors in Girl Scouts, and has been active in baton twirling, softball, and the Sands Art Association.  She started her own successful business as a "mother's helper".  She is now CPR and First Aid certified and just earned her certificate in Forestry and Wildlife Conservation.

Melody is still plugging away with her online college courses, became a young crew trainer at McDonalds, and recently found a new job in a local veterinary clinic.  She has been my assistant Girl Scout leader, my assistant baton twirling coach, and has been active in the Sands Art Association.  Her 18th birthday is in two more days, and at that point, she will start gearing up to lead her own Girl Scout troop. 

Ivana, our tiniest princess, has recently learned how to walk and is very interested in baton twirling and any sort of technology that she can get her hands on (cell phones, computers, TV's, game systems, etc.)

Have a Great Day!
Laurel Santiago

Don't Ask Me if I'm BUSY

I haven't been able to update my blog in quite a long time, and you are about to find out why. 

For starters, I would like to share something that I have always found to be humorous.  All of my friends, ESPECIALLY really good, caring, considerate friends, will call and start off the conversation with, "Are you busy?"  Umm....

I'm not quite sure to how answer that question.  I AM busy.  I can't think of any time that I'm NOT busy, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to talk to you!!!!  I would love to talk to a good friend now and then, even if I can only stay on the phone for a short time.  In fact, I have grown to prefer texting, because I can text a friend, no matter how loud or chaotic my household is, because sometimes it's hard to hear or be heard with all of the background noise.  IF you really need me for something, I will try to help.  It doesn't matter how busy I am.  I know that I don't get to just "hang out" much or go places that aren't planned way in advance, but I will try to figure out how to give you a ride somewhere, or run an errand for you or whatever else it is that you need, because I love you. 

Now that we understand each other, I will give a not so brief rundown of what I have NOT been blogging about for the past month or so.

1.  We got to go to the Dinosaur George exhibit that came to town.  I posted a video of that on my YOUTUBE channel.

2.  My baton twirling class, The Sparklers, got to perform at the West Texas Drillers halftime. 

3.  Tarja is playing tee ball.

4.  Abbey is playing softball.

5.  Abbey has been working as a mother's helper.

6.  We had a Girl Scout bridging ceremony, and Abbey bridged to Senior Girl Scouts.

7.  My Girl Scout unit is planning a Mom and Me tea party and a day camp.

8.  I am doing ChaCha.com, Avon, ACE, teaching twirling class AND private lessons, and am doing custom crochet orders.

9.  Abbey is volunteering at the local animal shelter.

10.  Melody was on the hunt for a new job, and FOUND one, as you will read in my previous post.

11.  Ivana has been working on her toothy smile, making it quite noisy and stressful around here.

12.  Our dog, Molly, just blessed us with five puppies today.

13.  Abbey and I have been working hard to finish up and/or tie up loose ends with her school work.

14.  Tarja is nearly through with her Kindergarten portion of Time4learning......and her fifth birthday was in March.

15.  Ivana just started walking, and that means that we need to start roller skating or jogging or something to keep up.  At the end of the Dinosaur George video, you can see Ivana walking into her favorite restaurant for lunch.

 16.  Abbey and I decided to go on a diet.  Of course, she doesn't really need to lose any weight, but she's been a good diet buddy.  Both of us are getting some nice results.

17.  There's more.  I know that there is, but I have to get some other things done.

Have a Great Day!
Laurel Santiago

After nearly 12 years of homeschooling.......

I don't know how long many of you have been following my blog posts, but I have a whole lot to say tonight.  First of all, thank you, Jesus, for making all of this possible for us.  The journey has not been an easy one, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world.  I have always felt like that even though my first Princess has received her diploma, she has not truly graduated until she could prove that she could get and keep a good job.  Today, she interviewed and was given what I consider to be a good job, especially for someone who is just a couple of weeks shy of her 18th birthday.

Here is how it all went down.  When we first moved to this town, we literally had a relative in my living room, screaming at me about how my kids have no lives and that he would NEVER do to his kids what I am doing to mine.

Because of all the drama that this relative and others created over our homeschooling, we kept her graduation a secret.  She literally graduated on her 16th birthday.  We had a big Sweet 16 Party for her, and the King decreed that we wouldn't say anything about her graduating high school early, but would celebrate when she graduates college.

Shortly after her birthday, I created her transcript, ordered her diploma and found an online college that offered business administration. 

Just a few days later, she got her first job at a convenience store.  The convenience store job didn't work out, because the store manager very badly took advantage of Melody not having to attend school for 8 hours per day like the other teenagers.  This kept her from being able to do what she needed to do for her college curriculum, so she had to leave that job and look elsewhere.

She was hired to work for McDonalds, which was the only other place that was interested in hiring teenagers.  After a year at McDonalds, she was promoted to crew trainer.  She still works at McDonalds.

 Besides her work at McDonalds, she has been helping in our family business, by teaching my 7 and under group of baton twirlers twice a week.

A long time Girl Scout, she recently took her training to become a Girl Scout leader, and will have her own troop next year.  Be still, my heart!

TODAY, she interviewed for and  is set to start working for a local veterinarian.  She will start right after her 18th birthday.  She is super, super excited, and so am I.  Even though she is still working on her online college courses, I feel like she/we have finally made it to the end of our homeschooling journey.   I don't know what the future holds for her sisters, but Princess Abbey is already training for her career of choice, and we might just send Princess Tarja and Princess Ivana off to become Divas for one of those wrestling organizations that comes on TV. 

Furthermore, now that I know what I didn't know before, we will not hide the fact that the Four Princesses are graduating early ever again.  We and they have worked too long and hard to have to hide our light under a bushel.  If you are considering homeschooling and aren't sure, I hope that you have been inspired in some way by the Four Princesses.

Have a Great Day!
Laurel Santiago
 

High School Dropout Pep Talks

I have been somewhat absent this past week, because I've been so busy.  However, I have observed lots and lots of food for thought during our adventures.  One of those being about how some families are slaves to their chosen curriculum. We are not, but everybody's family situation in different.

Another being that I do get somewhat somewhat annoyed with folks that didn't take education seriously, spent their young lives acting like the Prodigal Son, and then come along and try to give the Four Princesses a pep talk about how they should stay in school, don't drink, don't do drugs, don't get pregnant, blah, blah, blah.  I really and truly do not think that it is right for someone who is wallowing in self pity for the poor decisions that they made in life, to stand before our family and try to use themselves as an example of how they lived it up throughout high school, their lives fell apart, and the Four Princesses should try very hard not to do the same.  Are you joking????

Here's the people that I would rather have around to give the Four Princesses a pep talk:

1.  People that finished high school.  I don't care how successful you have been afterwards, just let them know that you made it through.
2.  People that went BACK to school after they saw the error of their ways.  This is far better than someone who didn't pay their dues, and still doesn't care about it.
3.  People who may or may not have an education, but who have worked hard and made a decent life for themselves anyway.  Isn't this part of the idea of homeschooling/unschooling? 
4.  People who are self employed and loving it.
5.  People who chose family over career.  What are the rewards and blessings of raising children?
6.  People who sacrificed education and careers to take care of others (not the kind that dropped out for the sake of fun).
7.  People who have cleaned up their lives and now really do have nice families, can earn a living, want to explore and learn, even as adults.
8.  People that love fine arts.
9.  People that like to read.
10.  People that like to help others.
11.  Prayer warriors.
12.  Creative minds that aren't currently scrambled by substance abuse.
13.  People who take charge of their lives rather than letting life happen to them.
14.  People who are proactive in the education of their own children.

On a more positive note, Spring has about sprung in West Texas.  We might have Spring fever and not do as much "school work" as usual today.  There are other things to learn and see and do.  It's humid, like it might rain.  The birds are singing.  Everybody feels lazy. 

Have a Great Day!
Laurel Santiago

Goals for My Birthday

Last year, I post 36 blessings for my birthday.  This year, I've decided to set goals for myself.  Some goals are pretty cliche', but others are quite different and unusual.  I might not be able to meet these goals in one year, but these are things that have been on my mental wishlist and getting them into print seems to help me reach them faster.

1.  My health.  I need to play dancing games with the girls as often as possible, and do a better job of shunning sugar and unnatural foods.

2.  Financial Peace:  this is a tough one, but a work in progress.

3.  100 baton twirling students.  That's a BIG number, but I'm sticking to it.

4.  An office:  I need a little place that I can call home for my business, where I can do registrations, take orders for uniforms, have some twirling supplies on hand to purchase at registration, and so forth and so on. 

5.  Christmas:  I didn't do such a good job this year of getting everything ready on time.  I was going through some things that made me feel more like Scrooge than Santa, particularly the fact that everyone in my household was sick for about a month.  I will do better next Christmas.

6.  Vegetables:  Princess Melody wants to try raised bed gardening, and I want to help.  I have never had a successful garden, but every Spring, I try again.

7.  Solar Power:  How much of my house could I get on solar energy before the year is out without too much expense?

8.  Slow cooker meals:  On twirling nights, we need them.

9.  Book more shows for my twirling class.

10.  I have plans of starting a scouting program for families, not just for girls or boys.  BIG project that I've been mentally working on for about 5 years.

11.  Keep more journals and memory books to keep track of our history together as a family.

12.  Make the front yard look like a glittering, glowing fairyland.

13.  Make some much needed repairs on the house.

14.  Conquer the clutter in my house.

15.  Work on some creative wealth building.

16.  Play more games.

17.  Read more books.

18.  Learn to draw.