Jewish and Homeschooling in an Amazing World

It’s Erev Shabbos Again!

Wow, time flies. The first week of summer…. well…. I guess it was reasonably good. I have not actually made an official schedule, and we started our days pretty late most days, even though I was up to get DH out to work at our usual time. I tried thinking that it is now summer and so I would enjoy the mornings while the boys slept, just taking it easy only to find out that if we start halfway through the morning, we don’t get things done as early as I would like.

So yes, we still do some schooling during the summer, it keeps them busy a bit, and I feel like I have accomplished something during the day. Davening, making Camp Harper shirts, parsha, math, laining practicing, boy led gym and our new class – Ivrit along with afternoon Tea time and Khan Academy chemistry videos were all a rage this week. Oh, and don’t forget the beginnings of green foliage removal from the garden bed! No, the week was not really how I envisioned it, I envisioned more green foliage removal as well as more learning such as dik duk. Next week? Probably not, the boys are going to camp and it is going to a busy week getting all items needed for three boys! One good thing – all three boys are going together to the same camp! Yeah! I like when those things happen like that, all boys doing the same thing at the same time at the same place. Just makes for an easier life for Mommy.

When I think about the week, three highlights come to mind. The first one is our afternoon tea time. The boys had fun watching videos on the history and proper etiquette on how to have tea time. It was nice to have a little break, have some veggies and a few mezonos along with our lemon tea. It really helped tie everyone over until supper and gave us the flexibility to have a little later supper if we wanted.

My almost 4 year old is just so excited. Just a few few short days left until his birthday – his hebrew one anyways. This morning he woke up saying it was his birthday. Why? Because it is Mommy’s birthday and I will be banned from the kitchen in a couple of hours for 4 beautiful boys to create their masterpiece. I think I’ll remember NOT to sweep and mop until afterwards. 😉 4 is going to be such an exciting age!

“No, you can’t have that paper.”
Sad face.
“I am writing down what you are doing for school next year!”
One boy who jumps up and down with a yelp and gives me the biggest hug and says, “Thank you Mommy!” – Priceless. As I continued to write things down, I kept getting nudged – “Is that my school? What is my school work?” I think I have my work cut out for me this coming year!

Last night the Harper boys finished Mesechta Bava Basra and since watermelon is just not enough for a siyum, so I’m told, brownies were also made.

I’m being kicked out of the kitchen now so that the bakers can do their stuff! Wishing everyone a wonderful Shabbos!

And….. We’re Done!

We are finally done! Yeah! We are done for I said we are done. I figured that when I spent the last day cleaning (happily) instead of working on schoolwork, we were done. It’s not that we are not going to work anymore until the fall, it is that I am so ready (and so are the boys) to finish up and start something new. The boys knew yesterday was going to be the last day, but it was not until the following conversation that it became reality:

Me to a boy : “Do you have any books we did not finish?”Boy: “No.”
Me: “No?”
Boy: “No. When am I finished school?”
Me: “Now.”

So one boy was finished and that forced a brother to finish his one last reading before his schooling was finished. The third boy, well, he finished his reading and by default he is finished as well. He still has a few more readings in a couple of books, but I just might tell him to go and read them some time. It is time to finish. Sometimes it is not that the material was completely, 100% finished, sometimes it is when even the teacher has spent all her energy on the year and would rather wash toilets than teach one more day; it is when every last drop of energy is used up and there is nothing left to give that school is finished.

Don’t get me wrong, we have TONS of learning that we have planned to do this summer, more than usual. It is all the stuff that we have not been able to put into the school year but want or need to do. And it is everything from continuing math everyday to dik duk, to piano lessons and practicing, to laining and watching those chemistry videos on Khan Academy that one boy is just so excited about watching (even though I have no clue if he is even up to that level yet, but I will not say no!) We also have some field trips I would like to do as well as the weekly/daily elective of green foliage picking outside (a.k.a. weeding!) Ah, don’t forget the long awaited sleep away scout camp for a week and the week long family outing with Grandpa afterwards.

We did have an exciting week at “camp.” The boys had a 3-day online camp all about castles and catapults. They had lots of fun and learned a lot, not only about castles and catapults, but about daily lives of peasants and nobles, knights and, of course, weapons! It was a very interactive class purchased from Currclick. Two boys created a castle for their camp project while another boy put together a Power Point presentation on coat of arms. Bonus? It was only $15 for all three boys, how could I say no?

One thing that I have taken from the conference was the idea that everything has its time. It is very easy to go around the house and say, “Oh, this needs to get done, and that needs to get done but I can’t do it all!” One of the speakers was talking about how she does all her laundry on a certain day. If it is not that day, then she does not do it. The same goes for other things that need to get done. Now, I can’t do my laundry all in one day, and I do need to wash and dry a load every morning as I go and iron a shirt for DH. However, I decided for last week and this week that I was not going to fold and put away the laundry until Friday. Friday we have time. It was amazing how liberated I felt all week, knowing that I did not have to worry about when I was going to do it! It is the same for my suppers – I take a few minutes every Sunday, before I go shop, and I have a list of each item I need for the week. I do not have to worry about what is for supper while I make lunch, and I do not have to worry about not having ingredients. I am feeling a bit more free! So, no, the guest bed downstairs is rarely empty, but I worry less about the clothes.

I am very excited to start our summer routine, and I don’t mind the teaching, I just need to teach new things. I am also excited about the next school year. Two boys already have all their materials from their oldest brother, so that just leaves books for Boy #1 and not to forget our newly almost-4 year old who is

“officially” a Pre-schooler! My, where has the time flown? Baruch Hashem we have reached this point for the last two months have been hard on the both of us for he has so wanted to start school and I was being stubborn and not wanting to START a boy (who I was not prepared to start) when all his brothers were FINISHING for the year. I could not muster up any energy to even think about what would be good for him.

“Mommy, what was I before I was a pre-schooler?””What do you mean?”
“What grade was I in before?”
How to tell such a little boy that he was not in any grade before? He could not fathom him NOT in a grade, and I could not think of a “grade” when put on the spot, for after all, his brothers were all in grades, so of course was he.

As the sun is shining outside and the day is hot, and our over baked challahs, chicken soup, cookies, zucchini bread and cinnamon buns are done, welcome to summer! Now is the time to think about how to revamp our school corner while noticing how neat it actually looks today (!!!), finish the little bit of cooking that is left, fold laundry and straighten the house, and of course, enjoy some of the re-jew-venating sunshine and heat so that we are relaxed and ready to enjoy this week’s Shabbos.

Until next time, have a most wonderful and relaxing Shabbos!

The No-Drive Week

Well, it was not really a very productive week at all. I am not going to say it was not productive, for we did get some stuff done, but not as productive as I thought it should be. Not sure if it was the weather (we have had a lot of rain lately,) or the fact that beautiful boy #3 is spending the week with Grandpa and his cousin, or a mixture of both, or something else. Whatever the case is, it started at the beginning of the week and kept spilling out to the rest of the week. Shabbos is coming and I am so looking forward to it! Shabbos always seems to put a fresh start on things.

We did get somewhere this week in our efforts to finish up the remaining schoolwork. We have used Khan Academy for math this year, and instead of using it like one would use a normal textbook or school work, where you learn a topic, do a certain amount of questions and then move on to the next, I decided to use a different approach this year. The way Khan Academy is set up is that one can learn a topic through the videos and then do sets of exercises pertaining to what was learned. Obviously, there are many ways to use the system, but if one wanted to use it for a curriculum then they would watch the videos and do the related exercises. The exercises come in sets of 8. There is the option of looking at hints for the particular problem in question (which is nice!) if needed. If a correct answer is gotten on the first try, 3 leaves are given. Fewer leaves are awarded if the correct answer was entered in on a second (or third, or fourth) try and/or if hints were used. At the end of the set, the program looks at the speed at which the answers were entered and how many correct on the first try and gives you a green progress bar. When the computer has determined that you are proficient in the particular topic, it gives you a blue bar across the page and lets you know you are ready to move on.

Two of the boys have, for the most part, learned their multiplication facts. I would make them go over the questions without letting them look at a table. Sometimes it would take several weeks before they would be proficient, but eventually they would get their blue bars and move on. One of the older boys does not know his multiplication table very well. He has been stuck on multiplication for several months. He would get questions right, but because of his speed, he would have to do it over again, and again, and again. He was getting frustrated about having to do the same thing for so long – and when he would get the questions right the first time! Finally, he mastered the multiplication, and went on to division.

At the beginning of the week, he went and got a copy of the multiplication table and started to crank out the correct answers quite quickly. Unlike his brothers, he actually understood how to do long division so much faster than his brothers. I decided to let him be. I could work on his math facts in the summer. In the meantime, he was a little happier to sit down and do his work, not to mention that one time when I looked at his work, I was able to point out an error just by doing the entire question in my head, ie. without writing anything down. I then suggested a game – I would do the entire question in my head (ie. mental math), and he would work out the problem on paper. We would then compare answers – if the answers were right, he would enter the answer on the computer. Let’s just say that we both had fun with math! By the next day, I had forgotten the fun that we had, but luckily the boy didn’t. “Mom, let’s do that game again!” is what he said to me when I sat him down. It took me a minute to remember what he was talking about, but let’s just say that he did enough rounds to earn his blue bar (which finished math class for the day!)

A few things I learned – I have to be more creative and really think about the purposes of different learning (ie perhaps looking at the multiplication table is fine for division…..) and I learned how to overcome MY fear of mental math! Yes, me, the one who enjoys math is the same one who freezes up when someone asks me to do mental math. I feel very confident on forgoing my stage fright when doing long division in my head now when asked. I too can still learn! 🙂

We did take advantage of the dry, sunny weather earlier this week and had a nice picnic supper at the park next door. All boys earned awards at the cub scout awards night – even my boy scout! (He finally received his religious award that he earned while a cub scout! 🙂 ) The two cub scouts in the family earned their Arrow of Light as well as their religious award. One cub ready to become a boy scout in 1 week. My, oh my, they are getting big.

The missing boy has been missed by everyone, but the plane just took off from his connecting flight – Sorry Sis, thanks for being around just in case the flight did not take off, but you won’t get to see your nephew this Shabbos! Two more hours and our home will feel complete again. 😀

Wishing you all a wonderful Shabbos!

It’s Not Summer Yet

Well, I made it to Monday! I actually did enjoy myself camping despite the fact that my arms and legs look and feel like I have the chickenpox. It was as if those mosquitoes were starved and no one had come to visit them in days (or hours)! Even though it was hot and mosquito free in the sun and cool and mosquito infested in the forest and we were lucky to be included in a storm on Saturday evening that went through the night, I had a good time. It is always nice to be away in nature and to be able to enjoy and appreciate Hashem’s creations. No phones, no internet, very few cars. The only noises were the various birds that sang some gorgeous music starting at 4:30 in the morning. Our boys enjoyed it as well. They even got up at 4:30 in the morning on Shabbos morning to play frizbee in the field (we constructed an eruv as well.) Showers were had by all when we got back on Sunday to clean up and remove any lingering insects that thought our home would be better than their home. And yes, I was told of some of interesting places where those lingering bugs were found, I just won’t mention them here!

Monday was a day where I got little done, on purpose. The boys emptied most of the car, the tents and sleeping bags were opened up in the backyard and aired out and dried the day before, and eventually they all got rolled up again Monday. We davened, did parsha and math. I just would not do much more other than laundry and some basic cleaning up of the kitchen. we listened to Mishnayos in the evening and then the big surprise came when I realized the boys were in bed ON TIME; and not the “new usual” since Daddy’s accident, it was the real bedtime! If nothing else, that did put a nice smile on my face since I was annoyed that it took almost 4 hours to pack up all the tents in the backyard and there were only 5 of them.

Today went much better. We got off to a late start but managed to pack in outside davening, not just one but two sessions of math, piano practicing, merit badge completion including the required counselor signature, dropping off camp forms to be filled out by the boys’ doctor, mishnayos and even some cleaning by boys on their own! It started off by one beautiful boy waking up and being dressed before the parents got out of bed, him helping make his father’s lunch, doing his breakfast job before I could even finish eating, davening with his father, and not to mention coming over, on his own accord, to massage my shoulders. I was not sure what he wanted from me, but with nicely massaged shoulders I was most likely going to say yes to whatever it was. To thank him to the punch, I handed him a new treat I bought that was supposed to have been for fast helpers in rolling up the tents but never happened for the fast helpers were replaced with snails. A little brother wanted an extra special treat as well, however, I blurted out that extra special treats go to boys to do extra, extra special chores all on their own. Smile. So, while davening, the already davened boy cleaned up the front yard, including picking up lots of trash, did lots of work in my kitchen by being proactive and putting away the remaining bags of groceries from the previous day and meriting himself a second extra special treat. The youngest also wanted to help and so he kept asking me for chores and so that is how I got my kitchen and dining room swept AND mopped as only a 3 year old can do and earned himself an extra, extra special treat as well. 🙂 Unfortunately none of the others took the bait. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to take what I can get!

As I started to feel good about myself with regards to how nice the day went I remembered something: It was not summer time yet and we still have school work to finish. Minor details. 😐 So, tomorrow morning is going to start by figuring out what each boy has left to do and making a short schedule on how to finish it. Technically we have 1.5 weeks of school before the end of the year, and I think we can get it all in except math. Thank goodness for summer!

In some of my down time, which I actually had today, I was excited about the summer. I thought of all sorts of stuff for the boys to do that we just do not get to do during the year because of time; more math, typing practice (we started last summer), dik duk, Hebrew, more piano practice and lessons, chemistry from Khan Academy by request from boy #3, and the list went on. Hmm. Perhaps I need to rethink our summer? I *had* been thinking about just a couple of classes a day for the summer, but there is just so much I want to do! Perhaps Camp Harper is going to be more than just playing like planned. I am wondering if I can make a Camp Harper that is more of an educational camp that lasts through lunch. Can I make it fun as well? There is going to be one week of Scout camp for three boys – overnight sleeping in tents through rain and shine which overlaps a bit with a visit from Grandpa, but can I really pull off putting in a lot of good learning in the summer AND keeping it fun? I will have to mull that over in my mind. It will, most likely, have to include a field trip of some sort somewhere most weeks to help liven it up; picnics to various places near us, one or two trips to the zoo, maybe even a walk down the Erie Canal to visit some neat shops that are down the path. What ever the case is, I think I will have much better luck if we start off the summer by making camp shirts. The boys always liked doing that in the past when we did do it.

I still have a few weeks to think about the summer, and not to mention look for next year’s books that I need to order so I can read them (hopefully) before school starts, and don’t forget to figure out what school work to do with a newly 4 year old; though he has taken to Readingeggs.com for beginning ABC’s and especially their new math program. I’m about ready to find La La Land now, there is a lot to do tomorrow morning and just the fact that when I’m there I don’t itch is a good reason to go! Oh, and yes, the boys got into bed within a few minutes of the real bedtime again tonight. We might be on a roll. 🙂

To An Absolutely Amazing Weekend!

Yael – here is the post you were waiting for! The conference has come and gone, but where to start? As the rain is pouring outside, and the boys are getting ready for bed so they can get ready for more tomorrow, I have a few minutes to write. What started out as a short trip and back to the conference, turned into something more. Oh, so much more!

My husband called me up and informed that he had a vacation day that he had to use or loose. We decided that driving 6 hours from Motzei Shabbos until Sunday morning at 9am was too much in the summer time, so we decided to use it on Friday and drive to our friends’ house in Virginia to spend Shabbos. That way the trip into Baltimore would be short and we would actually be awake. My husband had Monday off for Memorial Day and we were going to find something nice and educational for the boys that day and then drive home. That was the plan!

What I need to say here is that this new plan was thought of and decided within an hour or two late on Thursday afternoon – meaning I had just a few hours to pack for a departure of early Friday morning! Not to mention we had scouts and challah baking that night as well. Somehow everything got packed and we had a very nice drive to Virginia. We arrived at our destination on time and were pretty pleased with ourselves…that is until our friends’ daughter asked if we could just move our van over just a bit. The van would not start. I thought perhaps it was the battery in our key (it is one of those fob keys,) and our friend had replacement batteries. Nope. We thought ahead and had purchased AAA. I honestly thought it was the key – the battery was replaced about a year ago, lights came on, etc. Just the car did not turn on when I turned the key. AAA sent out a locksmith. He could not figure out the problem, and with Shabbos just minutes away, we had to let him go. (Fob keys are usually only able to be made at the dealership…)

Shabbos was wonderful! To wonderful friends, to meeting new friends, to boys having lots of fun! It was really nice. But then reality kicked in and that key issue just did not go away during Shabbos. Tried calling AAA again, but the locksmith I talked too said they could not give me a new key until several days after the weekend. 😐 Never mind, it’s too late, time for bed, I cannot think. Sunday morning – what to do? How to get to the conference? Never fear – friends are here! After convincing us that they really did intend to drive into Baltimore that day, we had our ride. So, we were a little late, that was fine, we made it late in the morning, but we made it! Baruch Hashem. What were we to do afterwards? Once step at a time, worrying would come later. Boys were sent to be babysitters or to be babysat, and the parents were free! My oldest was one of the boys watching the other sort of older boys. He was shocked that about 28 bottles of juice was finished up by 15 boys (including the teenagers) in 4 hours. Those are boys for you! You put it out, it will be gone! 🙂 Baruch Hashem!

It was wonderful. So many people, so many vendors! It was so nice to be amongst so many fellow homeschoolers. It really felt like one big family with everyone out there to help other people out. It was a place where one could just walk up to anyone else and ask questions or help give answers. There were many wonderful speakers, an amazing binder full of chizuk to everyone, and yes, enough food to fill everyone’s tummy. I think the big thing that I got out of it all was the connections. Over the last year or so I have met many people online, and this weekend was a time where I seemed to have met many of those people in person! It was so nice to put a face to a name and to connect in person. I am really a quiet person, but since I have “known” these people already, when we finally met, it was not a new friend feeling and I enjoyed every bit of it! I wish we had more time to chat with everyone, even with our friends we have met several times before, there was just so much to do and so many people to talk too that we did not get to chat with any one person.

When the conference was about ready to end, our dear friend was just finishing up her trip and was there to pick us up. She drove us to the airport so we could pick up our rental van that AAA is supposed to pay for (we purchased the highest AAA membership – 200 miles towing and up to $1500 in a car rental OR food and lodging on a trip interruption.) After taking forever to pick up the van, driving back, waiting several hours for a tow truck, we were finally ready to drive all the way back to Baltimore to our prepaid hotel. We had the man tow our truck 189 miles towards home to the car dealership. At after midnight, we were ready for bed. We were NOT going to set any alarm for the next morning.

Monday was a nice lazy start. After getting up late, driving next door to Target to get a carseat that we left at the conference and food to eat, we were ready to find a place to eat our food. It was really lunch time. We ended up going out to eat instead! The perks of being in such a huge Jewish population – we just drove up and down the street and saw restaurant upon restaurant that was available to eat at. After filling up our bellies, we decided that we should do some learning, and we headed on over to Fort McHenry for an amazing adventure!

It was a beautiful day to be outside. We walked around and found ourselves near some canons and a Park Ranger. After standing there admiring the canons for a few minutes, the Park Ranger started giving the crowd some information about the canons. One of them was an original that was found in France, and the others were replicas. He was funny, entertaining, and educational all in one. Apparently it took over 20 people per canon to man it. He started taking children and positioning them in different places, at the same time, telling them what their job was. The canon was “shot” 3 times in total. It was wonderful! We also took a tour of the Star Fort and saw the barracks, prison and other rooms. Back in the main building, we watched a movie about the battle at the fort in September 1814. It was an awesome film! Even though we all knew the outcome, we were kept in “suspense” anxious to find out the ending. It was also wonderful that we saw the canons and how they worked first before seeing the movie, we understood more of what was going on and it was more meaningful to us. I will not give away the ending – it was a wonderful surprise! The whole movie was only about 10-15 minutes long and so worth every minute of it. I would recommend 1.5-2 hours for a nice visit and tour.

After too long of a visit to the gift store, we were on our way to find our car. We arrived in Lewisburg, PA just after suppertime – that breakfast we bought in the morning sure came in handy! We went into our motel room (and I think we were the only guests there!) ate supper, did mishnayos and finally went into bed. We were exhausted from the weekend, and it was not over. Up early again to get to the dealer about the time they opened. Long story short – it was something under the dashboard that went out and it would take a day or so to fix, so on our way home we went. Made it back to do the afternoon classes in Room613 and send Daddy to work a full day.

It is now Wednesday morning. Clothes from the trip have been washed and dried. Counters have been cleaned and food for the rest of the week bought. In about an hour we are off again to drive back to Lewisburg to pick up the car and get one of the two keys we have rekeyed. We are now down to only one key. New keys cost $225. That’s a fob key for you. Tomorrow, Thursday, I make challah, have scouts and go shopping for the boy scouts. Why? Because Friday is the beginning of the boy scout campout and us two parents are the adults. I am so not interested in camping at the moment, but we cannot disappoint those beautiful boys! It should be fun, really. Monday. I think my extended weekend will be over then. Bonus? I don’t have to make any food for Shabbos (except for challah which I volunteered,)- the Boy Scouts are doing the food making, cleaning, and most importantly, the tent raising and lowering!

Reviewing the Past Year

Today is the 54th day of the omer, which is 7 weeks and 5 days! Yes, that is what my boys are in to. Actually, I think they forgot to mention that today so please, do not tell them! 😉 The last couple of years they have increased the counting by about week and I think they have petered off with their counting now. Hope you all had a great Shavuos. We did. The weather was gorgeous and the three older boys even went to shul and stayed up all night. I had two boys who were awake until 6:30 the following evening. They ended up crashing (in the rooms that had a light blaring all night) and not waking up until the morning. Cheesecake was delicious and so were both of our homemade ice cream flavours – vanilla and chocolate mint. Tomorrow starts school though, the home stretch! We have started davening outside again a few weeks ago. Not every day yet, but several times a week.

The last 5 weeks of school always seems to be the hardest to complete. I know I said the same thing last year, but yes, it is still true. I am not sure why. I thought perhaps this year would be different for Pesach came early and we were able to get back onto a routine almost immediately, and usually I cannot get back into a routine after Pesach. I am thinking it is just that time of year.

Boys are finishing up books and with just a few weeks left; I do not really want to start them on something new. For my oldest, I have just told him to do something that is left so he gets certain subjects done twice in a week. For the middle two boys I have taken the past 2 weeks or so and worked on their Weeblos scout awards. Number 2 boys is aging out of Cub Scouts and we are working hard on finishing up the famed Arrow of Light that he can carry over to the Boy Scouts uniform. Actually, I am having Number 3 boy (who has one year left in Cub Scouts) finish it up as well. That way I do not have to worry about his stuff next year. They have just finished their second (and final) Jewish award for Cub Scouts and we will be handing in their completed forms this week.

Number 4 boy, well, just as we are finishing up the school year, he is just getting revved up – “Mommy, when is MY schooling?” and “What can I do?” No longer is playing with his blocks, cars or legos good enough to occupy him for the day! He is growing up. Baruch Hashem. The only problem is that I am not really ready for him yet and was not planning on it until the fall. When he came to see me in bed this morning (today is Sunday), I asked him what he wanted to do today. His response? “Do my school work!” He bugged me this morning until we got it done.

I think this past year went fairly well considering Daddy’s accident turned everything around for a long time, and even then, we all learned a lot and still got most of our schooling done that needed to get done. The one thing that did not go as planned is math. Other than not getting to it when Daddy was home recovering, I had a different math goal this year than I had in the past. Instead of just giving them the work and after the work was done to move on, I made the boys all get proficient in an area before we moved on. Not only does this mean they have to do many questions sometimes in one area, they have spend a month on one section perfecting it. We did have plans for the oldest boy to be ready for algebra this past December, but he is still not finished his math. We did not have a realistic goal in mind. I am glad I did what I did though. I am hoping that in the next month or so he will be done and he will be ready to start on algebra in the summer. As far as scheduling goes, next year is going to different, I know that already. Room613 is going to change around when classes are, being done mostly in the morning, which gives us the afternoon to do our secular studies or other things we would like to do. That means that Number 4 will get all my attention in the morning! I am just worried what to do with him in the afternoons. Still have some time to think about that one.

I have had several people ask me what I plan on doing in the summer. We do take off most of the summer, for we all need it, however, even though I am a laid back person, I notice that if we do not have any sort of schedule at all during the summer, then I feel the day was just wasted away. So, how to combine both a vacation but yet some sort of schedule to make us all happy is the question. Last year I did a very small schedule in the morning – davening, parsha and then 1 hour of math and typing skills. After that, everyone was free to do what they choose to do. With only 1.75-2 hours of work in the morning, it was just enough to feel like we accomplished something and enough time in the day to feel like we all had free time. I am thinking of adding a few minutes of dik duk a couple times a week and alternating it with something else – the stuff that we cannot seem to get done during the year.

There is one week where the three older boys are going to the Jewish contingency of the Boy Scout camp. Grandpa will be coming about that time and will have a few days with just Number 4 before we all go on a trip with him. This is what all that popcorn selling has done for them! 😀

Well, we finished off the afternoon with a spontaneous trip to the famous Lilac Festival. I love lilacs, they are one of my favorite flowers, if not the favorite and the smell of the flowers are just amazing. We have one outside in our front yard that bloomed amazingly this year. I wanted to walk around more, but because we were not planning on it, we just happened to be there for we found a nice shtender on the side of the road for taking, my Mr. 3 year old almost 4 year old kept telling me that his feet hurt and he did not want to walk anymore. Yes, it was nap time, I did not have to look at the clock to know that.

Next weekend is the conference! We are so excited and hyped to go and meet everyone. I hear there are going to be about 300 people there – almost triple what it was last year! Hope everyone has a wonderful week and hope to see many of you next weekend!

What to Write?

So it has happened; writer’s block. I would love to sit down and write about all the things I think about when I am not at the computer to write, and then those amazing thoughts just go and elude me. All of them. I had so many wonderful things I wanted to write about. Perhaps I need to tell them that it is not very nice of them and at least a few of them need to come back! Or, perhaps it is just that I am trying to get everything in and I just do not seem to have time to sit down and do it all.

It has been an interesting week. Even with 4 very busy boys to keep me company, it is lonely without DH. I see it in the boys as well. Even though they do not say much, and even though they do not normally see Daddy during the day, when he has to go away on his business trips, it is felt by everyone. It seems like it is harder on all of us. Shabbos is the worst I think. Right before Shabbos, a boy mentioned (more than once) that it was going to be weird without Daddy. It was. It was quiet. We did not sing, we just had our meal, cleaned up and went to bed. (So, Daddy, just in case you were wondering, we all do miss you!)

However, there is always that little silver lining that we can find if we look for it. I did not take the boys to shul on Friday night. I am not on the weekly email list for shul times and when we tried to look before lighting, we could not find out if there was early davening or not. And anyways, it was too late to go and take the little one and walk back with him and eat. At least it was for me. So, the boys davened at home. And WOW, did they daven! Out loud, with hardly any bickering, and if I was not in the mood beforehand, that was just the start! Shalom Aleichem was sung with feeling and with all voices heard (and I can never get my boys to really sing with us.) Mommy had to give them brachos this week, and each one came over, without any cues, right on time to get theirs. Even Aishes Chayil was sung so much better than usual.

The next morning I went with them to shul, instead of coming later with the littlest one. Dvar Torahs were said at breakfast, table cleaned, and off we went. I did tell them sternly to daven, there was no one to watch them and yes, I was more than just a little worried, I was stuck on the other side of the mechitza! But they did not need watching this week. All three of the older boys sat next to each other, very mentchlich like and davened! Much better than I have ever seen them do before. I think somehow they just knew. They instinctively knew they had to do better than usual and they lived up to the task. Children tend to do that to us when we least expect it. I think that maybe, just maybe, they will get there.

I have started davening a bit later a few of the days and sometimes we have missed parsha over the past week for that is the time that Daddy has available to call and talk for a few minutes. It is hard with the huge time zone change. The nice thing is that we have done several video chats and the boys have been able to see Daddy and Daddy saw all of us. The boys have been able to show off some of their show and tell wares and feel proud. That does seem to help a little bit. I have even remembered (to my great surprise) to have the boys do their Mishnah Yomit every day.

With no one to make me go to bed, I have stayed up late every night. I have tried to be productive. I do have a new project that I just started, and I have tried to listen to shiurim while I work, but it is not really the best I know. It is just hard to stay on track like we should. Even though Daddy does not stay home and learn with us during the day, it is amazing how our entire day is affected. Is that why I had a boy come up to me and for the first time ever come and massage my shoulders today – and do it twice today at that? I am not sure, however, as I remember how good of a massager he is, I smile and think to myself that yes, he is a keeper!

And now, it is time to turn the internet back on (for it is so late that the timer has turned if off for the night!) so I can post and then go straight to bed before I remember that I was proof reading my book for errors instead of doing my new project and get tempted to stay up even later.

‘Night.

Late for a Purim Unveiling?

Photo: Check out this adorable Lag B'Omer cupcake. Looks like something kids would enjoy making (and eating!). I was talking to my husband last week about how even if one does not change what they do but change their approach to something, how all of a sudden one can change the situation into a totally different light – and nothing was physically different about whatever it was that was done. About 6 months ago this happened to me. I had this fantasy to get all the laundry washed, dried, folded AND put away before Shabbos. Yes, I do laundry during the week, but it does not get all done, and for some unknown amazing reason it just seems to come back on a very regular basis. This was very stressful and I would obviously not get it all done (like who in their right mind tries to wash, dry and fold the clothes and towels thrown in the laundry a few hours before Shabbos? I obviously was not in my right mind.)

I finally woke up and decided that was ridiculous and since then, I try to get whatever is washed and dried at least folded and put away. At least all put back in the basket to be put away later. With that attitude, I have usually been able to enter Shabbos so much more relaxed. I know that my house is never going to be perfect, and nor do I want it to be and I have accepted it happily in return for a more peaceful entrance into the much awaited special day. One might say, that by lowering the bar I would get less. No, I actually get at least the same, and sometimes I might even get more. What I do not get is the anxious feeling that I have to get it all done, NOW!

One big thing that I have been working on myself, and very recently trying to instill in the boys a lot lately, is Emunah (trust in Hashem.) If nothing else, it provides relief and less stress and worry into my life. I do not need extra worrying, I get enough of it already as a parent trying to raise 4 beautiful gifts, trying to be the best wife and trying to work on myself to make myself the best I can be. There are many things that I do not have control over, and why bother worrying about them. As long as I have trust in Hashem and know that He does only good and since He created me He will look after me, I cannot have those extra worries. He knows, I do not. I have tried to talk about this to the boys lately as opportunity arises to help them as well.

We have definitely been put to the test.

My husband has been suspicious that layoffs were coming soon. About 2 weeks ago his suspicions were justified and layoffs were
announced. What were we supposed to do? The only thing we can, or anyone, can; we try our best and do our part. For the last two weeks the two of us have talked and talk about our contingency plan. We had something to work with and started to put everything in place. Most of what it entailed was to figure out if our plan was viable and if it was, what was the best approach to take to make it happen. We obviously went back and forth with our emotions – loving it, not wanting to do it, loving it, hating change, loving it. All through the weeks we kept reminding each other: “Hashem knows best and He has always provided for us and whatever He decides is the best.” We did a very good and thorough planning and had such amazing detailed information. We spent many hours researching and talking and thinking. This past week we both talked from after supper until after 11:30pm every night (and my house shows it!) By the time we went to bed on Wednesday night, it was all set! We knew exactly what we were going to do. Our part was done. The only thing left to do is to sit back and wait for the future. It was not in our hands. If the plan was good for us, Hashem would let it happen, if not, we had complete trust that He would make sure we understood not to go through with it.

Wednesday night we were not worried. Antsy about what the future would bring, but not worried. We had complete trust that Hashem would guide us along the correct path. We actually were thinking our contingency plan would be good no matter what and that if it was not good then we trusted that Hashem would make it so obvious it was not. Well, our sign came.

Thursday morning my husband writes me – our contingency plan blew up. There were two other people involved in our contingency plan. One of them blew up at the other. There was no plan. It was almost like being dunked in a huge vat of ice water. Not only would we now not wanted to have worked with the person that blew up, that person actually nixed the whole plan for us – we cannot go through with it even if we wanted to. It is all for the good. What we didn’t expect was what happened a few hours later.

Hashem knows. My husband was thinking that perhaps layoffs were coming this week and so we just sat and waited. (Layoffs will happen by next week and there have been a few given earlier this week just not the bulk of them.) All that thinking, research and gathering up of toys and books and whatnot in the living room from the boys flash through my mind. This is good. There was really nothing to think about. I had no more thinking inside of me, I already did it all. I did my part already. Then, just hours after the bomb hit, I get another text from my husband. His work asked him to go on a business trip to multiple places. When? In three days. Lag B’Omer. Length of trip? However long it takes to get the job done. My unofficial personal third party guess is that the most likely case is about 2 weeks. If we are lucky, it will be less. As one of boys stated: “I guess he’s not getting laid off, is he?” Um, no, does not look like it. Isn’t it a little late for Purim? Or, is it just a bit on the early side? 😉

As I sit here and wait for boys to wake themselves up, I am ever so thankful that I have let Someone else do all the worrying for me! Life takes us on roller coaster rides and yes, life does get stressful for I do need to do work and make decisions – I have to put in effort and do my part, however, the outcome of whatever I do (or do not do), is out of my control. I can just imagine the possible headache and tight painful shoulders I would have had otherwise. Glad I do not have them! Today is going to be a busy day. Today is the only day to shop and pack before Daddy leaves. Baruch Hashem we have boys who can, and love to cook. They will help me this morning and that will be done.

In order not to stress out too much today in having to get everything done, I think I will keep in mind that even though I do not like
my boys running in the house, there is just no way I can tell a little boy who wears a cape or a bathrobe and tells me that he can fly just seconds before he “flies” down my hall. Or, how this week he asked how to spell my name. And he did. Or how his older brothers are proud that they can whip and fuse ropes. These all put a smile on my face and remind me it is the little things that make it all worthwhile (and keep those grey hairs from appearing too soon!)

Que sera sera, whatever will be will be. Things will get done. Food will be cooked and bags will be packed (somehow!). I have learned not to expect anything else in such situations. The only thing I would like to do is make just a few treats for Shabbos – just because. We all need them. I saw a neat photo of a Lag B’Omer cupcake that I can keep the boys busy decorating (so I can pack 😉 ) and some delicious looking strawberry/banana sliced snakes that we might have for breakfast tomorrow with our cinnamon buns. 🙂 It is all good.

Have a great Shabbos and Lag B’Omer!

Upcoming 5th Annual Torah Homeschool Conference!

Photo: TorahTutors will be at the Torah Homeschooling Conference in Baltimore on May 25-26th - I would love to meet you! For more information, email me at rmeyers@TorahTutors.org The 5th Annual Torah Homeschool Conference is almost here! In less than 6 weeks homeschooling families from around the world (yes, the world!) will be coming together to share thoughts and ideas. If you have not registered already, there is still time and join us. We would love to see you! Instead of writing something, I have decided to post information about the conference and then hopefully take the time to do some writing for the conference.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

To register for the conference, just go to: http://www.eventbee.com/v/torahhomeeducationconference/event?eid=942488333

The 5th Annual Torah Home Education Conference will take place, G-d willing, on Sunday, May 26 2013. The conference opens with check-in at 8:15 AM with complementary morning refreshments and concludes at 6:30 PM.

A catered lunch by Eden Cafe will be served. The cost is $15 per meal and can be purchased along with your registration. New this year, we will be organizing special seating for the lunch period. Attendees will be placed at tables according to their specific interests and background. When you register, please take the time to fill out the registration questionnaire to let us know about your family, the ages of your children, how long you’ve been homeschooling, specific areas of concern to you, etc.

Vendors will be on hand to display and sell the materials they’ve created to enhance your Torah homeschooling experience. It will be possible to visit these vendors from the lunch period through the end of the day.

Schedule of the Day: (subject to change)

8:15 – Check-in

9:00 – Opening Remarks

9:15 – Educating for Eternity: Clarifying Our Vision and Passing it on to Our Children Susan Lapin

10:05 -Learning as a Way of Life; Life as a Way of Learning Yael Resnick

How to develop a “homeschooling mindset” that frees your children’s natural love of learning, anytime and anywhere-and how to catch opportunities for learning academics holistically throughout the day. Specific examples and guidance will be given in the contexts of math, Hebrew, science, language arts, and more.

For the Record: Creative Ways to Keep Track Karen Zeitlin

This workshop will discuss a range of options for keeping records of your child’s growth and accomplishments as well as present methods to create support documents for umbrella groups and/or other official documentation. Using a creative, multimedia-based approach, participants will be presented with ideas to support their record keeping.

10:55 – Teaching to Our Children: A Look at Individualized Education Yosef Beck

Worried that your homeschooler will never learn what he or she needs to make it in the real world? Yosef Beck will share how his experiences as both a homeschooler and as a homeschooling father have helped him relax and enjoy teaching his children instead of worrying about their developmental progress. From spending a year playing Nintendo to overcoming his hatred of math to be accepted into one of the leading Physics departments in the United States, Yosef Beck will entertain and reassure you that your homeschooler will (probably) turn out a normal human being.

Setting Priorities Beyond Academics Rebecca Masinter

Although it is tempting to view homeschooling from a primarily academic lens, why stop there? Aren’t the lessons we’re teaching in interpersonal relationships (i.e. sibling rivalries), home management (i.e. chores), and character development (Yes, you must wait patiently for your turn with Mommy!), equally deserving of our attention? This workshop will explore some Torah priorities, how to determine your family’s particular priorities, and how we can balance the pursuit of those priorities with the “schooling” part of homeschooling.

11:45 – Hash It Out – A Moderated Shmooze

A Father’s Perspective David Eagle, Esq.

12:15 – Lunch

2:45 – Skills-Based Homeschooling in Torah Sheba’al Peh – Principles and Practice Rabbi Dr. Pinchas Hayman

One of the great benefits of homeschooling is the opportunity to share the atmosphere and contents of Kodesh with our children in a manner which leads to respect and love for the Masorah. However, most parents find themselves limited to the study of content, and don’t feel they are adequately advancing their children as competent and independent learners. Rabbi Hayman’s presentation will focus on the theory, method and practice of skills-based instruction for homeschooling, with an emphasis on Torah Sheb’al Peh – Mishnah and Talmud.

3:35 – Unschooling Kodesh: an Oxymoron? Jessie Fischbein

Limudei Kodesh through a Classical Education Lens Yael Aldrich

4:25 – Ways to Prevent Mother Meltdown Robin Alberg

5:15 – Homeschooling Parent Panel: Questions from You

6:00 – Closing Remarks

Featured Speakers:

Susan Lapin, growing up in Brooklyn, NY, had no idea that marriage would entail sailing across the Pacific or homeschooling seven children. After 16 years of homeschooling she now writes and produces books and audio CDs with her husband, Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Her blog, Susan’s Musings, goes to over 37,000 subscribers each week.

Yael Resnick is a homeschooling mother of five, math teacher at The Binah School, piano teacher, writer, composer of Jewish choral music, publisher of Natural Jewish Parenting magazine, co-founder of Room613.net, and coordinator of the Room613 and NJP online communities. Yael is also the creator of a growing collection of original curriculum materials, including a new Hebrew language program based on her unique, holistic approach to education.

Karen Zeitlin is the wife of Rabbi Hillel Zeitlin, mother of four homeschooled children and grandmother of two. She is a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist and has a BA in Educational Kinesiology. Along with her husband, she is homeschooling their fourth child, and has homeschooled 16 out of the past 20 years. She currently spends part of her year in Israel where her older children have all established Torah based homes and professional lives. Her current interests include learning Torah, music, art, hiking and reading.

Yosef Beck was homeschooled from 4th grade through college and is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Holding degrees in both Business Management and Physics, Yosef currently works for Jabian Consulting, a Management and IT consulting firm in Atlanta, GA. Yosef and his wife Elisheva (also homeschooled), are homeschooling their two sons, ages 1 and 2.

Rebecca Masinter

Dovid Eagle has been married to home education guru Yehudis Eagle for more than 28 years and they have 11 children. He has survived innumerable years of formal education, having graduated from Amherst College in 1982 and Columbia Law School in 1989, with several years of yeshiva education during and after college. When Dovid and Yehudis began home educating their children about 20 years ago, an old college friend quipped, “So let me try to understand this, you are experimenting on your own kids?” So far Dovid has been very happy with the experiment. For his day job, Dovid is a litigation attorney in Wilmington, Delaware.

Rabbi Dr. Pinchas Hayman is the founder and CEO of Bonayich Educational Services, Ltd, an Israeli consulting firm founded in 2004 that specializes in curricula and materials for the teaching of Torah Sheb’al Peh. His Mishnah program – V’Shinantam – and his Talmud skills program – V’Dibarta Bam – are rapidly becoming the gold standard in Orthodox day school education. His new program for adults – Pathways in Torah Sheb’al Peh – enables even novices to gain mastery of Talmud skills within two years. Rabbi Hayman spent seven years as the founding Rabbi of the renewed Congregation House of Jacob – Mikveh Israel in Calgary, Alberta, and almost twenty years as a lecturer in Education and Talmud at Bar Ilan, and served as the head of the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education in the Diaspora, and directed the Teacher Certificate program in Talmud and Torah Sheb’al Peh at Bar Ilan. He and his wife Shoshana have six children and eighteen grandchildren! Rabbi Hayman lectures widely in synagogues, and consults to over a hundred schools worldwide – in the US, Canada, Latin America, Australia, England and Europe.

Jessie Fischbein teaches 11th grade Chumash at Midreshet Shalhevet early every morning, leaving the rest of the day for homeschooling. She isn’t very good at housework, but she keeps practicing. She regularly gives shiurim on parsha and other Torah subjects. She is the author of the book Infertility in the Bible, about how the Imahos handled their challenges and what that means for us. These hobbies in no way qualify her to teach her children, but do help answer the question: What do you do all day? Her family has been homeschooling for fourteen years. Her oldest daughter homeschooled until she asked to go to high school. They have been exploring the efficiency and joy of unschooling for the past six years. The children (ages 1 1/2- 11) choose their daily activities and are the instigators of their educations.

Yael Aldrich is the jet-lagged face behind Jewish, Orthodox, and Homeschooling on YahooGroups. She travels around the world with her husband, Rabbi Dr. Daniel Aldrich, and four lively children, schlepping Lively Latin, Story of the World, Gemara, Explode the Code and scads of Lego in way too many suitcases. She hopes to settle down someday and take HOMEschooling more seriously.

Robin Alberg is the mother of four homeschoolers, ages 2, 5, 6, and 9. She became an observant Jew as a young adult, and is deeply grateful for her opportunity to now receive a Jewish education through homeschooling.

Gila Haor

and…

Childcare NEW!!

We have arranged childcare for children of parents attending the conference at the Park Heights JCC, the same location as the conference. Lunch, snacks, cuddles and a whole day of fun will be provided at reasonable rates.

Conference Vendors NEW!!

We are excited to announce that the following educational businesses/organizations are coming to this year’s conference:

Chitrik Academy http://www.chitrikacademy.com/about

Chinuch.org http://chinuch.org/ will be bringing computers to train new users to its site.

Morah Moriah will be bringing some of her items for you to look at.

Plus many more!

Shabbos and Optional Family Field Trip (Monday, May 27)

We are delighted to offer programming on Shabbos including a Friday night Oneg, Shabbos Day speaker, afternoon park playdate and Shalosh Seudos, as well as an optional Family Field Trip Day on Monday, 5/27. Shabbos hospitality will be provided if requested. We will do our best to find housing for those interested in staying through Monday.

For information on kosher restaurants, activities and local minyanim please visit Baltimore Jewish Life.

Post Pesach

Pesach has come and gone, I hope everyone had a good holiday. I really like all the Yomim Tovim and miss them when they go. I know I’m weird for most people are excited and can’t wait until the holidays are over, but I just love them. I love the cooking (and I do simple things and don’t drive myself crazy,) love spending time with the boys (still!) and of course my husband, and just love the Yom Tov feel. I honestly do not mind being with my children, even the day after. I wonder if it is because I am with them all day almost 365 days a year and they really are my life, for now. Some how I think holidays are more of a break than a burden for even though they are still with me, I have one less job to do during the day so it is like a vacation. 🙂

I try to do at least one nice, fun thing during Chol Hamoed. We do not go all out and crazy and feel like we have to fill up all the spare time, I guess it is partly because I spend a lot of quality time with the boys all year long, and partly because I don’t like to feel crazy. I like the lazy, nice, fun, relaxing vacation. We drove to Niagra Falls to meet up with my brother and his family who came in to Toronto to his wife’s family from all the way across the continent. Unfortunately it was for only an hour because I misunderstood our meeting area and went 20 minutes the opposite direction and then had to backtrack. 🙁 But, I will take that hour opposed to nothing! We had not seen them since last Pesach. We also went to the Children’s Museum on Friday afternoon before my pass expired. It was a fun time, I was able to send the older boys off to do whatever they wanted while I took the little one around for the stuff he wanted.

While other mothers were frustrated from sugar highs and otherwise seemingly cooped up children (and parents) the day after, I used this time to put the boys to work. They worked on finishing up the packing that I did not get to finish at night and taking everything down to the basement (which really was not that much work, but I was glad I did not have to do it!) I even got my floors mopped for me which saved me from having to purchase a new mop head for one more week. We did daven and do a small bit of Torah learning but really did take the rest of the day off. It was really nice.

So today was the first day back at school. We even started on time! Davening, parsha and then the rest of our scheduled day. Since we have a schedule set out for when everything is done during the week, and this is the only day of real “school” for the week, I just let the boys pick out whatever they wanted to work on for the most part. It is a nice treat for them. There was still some left over sugar/Yom Tovness left inside of their beautiful bodies and some of the concentration was just not there, and yes, some tantruming was still present, but by the end of the night things have settled down and one boy is enjoying himself as I type and is on a night hike with his scout troop. I assume they have enjoyed their smores by now, and are about ready to walk back to the cars. Today was a nice change to the snow and nice cold we got on the last day of Yom Tov! It was in the 50’s and sunny, a great time for a hike! Spring has definitely come now.

My 3 year old did not want to sing any songs before or during Pesach, but now that it is after the holiday he has started singing his “Ma Nishtanah” for all of us to hear. That is so like him! He asked me yesterday when Pesach is coming again. I think he’s getting ready for next year quite on the early side! Now, it is time to make some shlissel challah (a “key” challah) for the segula of parnassa (money) which is customary to do the first Shabbos after Pesach. Usually this is the time where my school schedule starts to dwindle away somehow and I have all sorts of new ideas to try out for the coming year, but I think since Pesach was so early this year, I am still in the current school mode and am confident that next week will be a great start to the rest of the year.