Two great minds of Science

During the part of the day that Wesley settles down for a nap, I read aloud to the kids. Some history, some science, some fun reading and some health. For the past week, we've been reading the life story of Marie Curie for science. Sadie (4) sometimes listens while hanging upside down on the couch silently or sits doing her writing and illustrating in her journal. I'm never quite sure how much or how little is being absorbed. Today was a "hanging upside down" kind of day. Suddenly there was a BOOM. I quit reading and looked up to see Sadie flopped unceremoniously on her bum, blond hair flipped into her face, mouth wide open in shock. Everyone had a good laugh as she got herself sitting prim on the couch as if nothing had happened and i resumed reading. At the end of the chapter i called her over to look at the picture of Marie Curie and Albert Einstein out for a walk together. She pointed to them and commented, "Now which one is Murray and which one is Curry?"

Flat Stanley visits the Jespersens

We were sent 4 "Flat Stanley's" this year. Three from Indonesia and one from a public school in Edmonton. There is a story (I've never read it though.) about a boy who gets squished and can send himself through the mail all over the world. A lot of public schools make flat paper "Stanleys" and send them all over the world and get messages back about what their little Stanley did while he was gone. This last project was by far our best Flat Stanley visit. We are sending him home with his journal today but i couldn't bear to part with it without taking pictures. He didn't go far from home but hopefully his journal will be interesting enough. :)

Sample of horse hair from a fiddle bow.

Grain sample and goat hair sample.

Horse hair and hoof trimming samples.

Cat paw prints.

Piglet paw prints and piglet snout print.

Oyster shells and turkey feathers.

Beaver fur (from a beaver Darren shot...but we didn't include that information) and a sample of the bark he chewed off. Plus pussy-willows from Sadie.

Quotes from the kids.

Everyone finished off the book with "flat" hand prints for the school kids to compare their hands to. Here is Sadie's.

Learning (on the fly) to sketch with the kids

I have never taken art but have always wanted *deeply* to be able to "do" art. When we've done read aloud during the course of our home school i always got the kids to draw or do an art project while they listened. This year we got good sketch books and pencils from Staples and started watching YouTube videos to get some inspiration. Yesterday, during fiddle lessons, we drew from reference pictures i had printed off of the Internet. I am always shocked when something turns out better than i expected when it is something i have no training in doing or teaching. Anyways, here is my unfinished fish with the horrible tail and some of the kids' sketches. Carrie (10), Ellie (6) and I all did the baby face. Robin's is the birds from a folksy picture and Darren's is the eyes. Carrie did a foot that she is quite pleased with as well. I will have to take more pics as she did not think that the baby face was her best one.

The oldest student in my homeschool

This morning I did something that I am terrified of--city driving. :P Sadie had an appointment with her endocrinologist and I didn't really want to truck in there with 6 kids and my chauffeuring husband again. We take up all the waiting room not to mention the appointment room. Curt offered to stay home with the kids and run "school" while I drove in. The last time I thought i was going to have to drive in alone a friend suddenly offered to come along for the ride. (Thanks Laurianne!) Today I had to "grow up" and learn how to maneuver traffic circles and underground parking by myself. I am 34 after all and i guess it's about time. I printed off directions from Google maps and held my breath the whole way...except when i was praying that I wouldn't get lost. Halfway into the city i thought i had missed a turn and started to pray out loud. "Please Jesus, help me find my way there!" Around the next traffic circle i saw a building that i recognized and shouted out "Thank you Jesus!" Sadie, so excited in the back seat hoots "Did Jesus help us to not get lost!!???...YAY!!" After we waited in line for enough vehicles to exit the full underground parking lot, I thought we may have difficulty finding a parking space inside but a large truck pulled out of a slot after only one "circling" and Sadie announced "Jesus got us a parking spot too!" haa!! The appointment went well and we headed home. Curt had gotten everyone through math and science and the little ones through LA, and had cleaned our room to boot! (He should do this more often) I thought i would send the older kids off to practice fiddle, Wes for a nap and spend time with the little 3. We read 3 books about honey bees and then i decided we would make candles with the beeswax block i had been keeping in the freezer for a time such as this. Well, by the time the wax was melted, i had lost my audience and there I stood...alone... dipping candles. Sometimes I feel like the oldest student in my homeschool. I quit after 3 dips and decided to try again tomorrow now that the candles were all started. Someone is going to have fun whether they like it or not!!

The "Perfect Curriculum"

I was dreaming about choosing homeschooling curriculum. My last dream before I woke up. I was poring over all the different selections. I couldn't decide. Suddenly my dream changed and there was a walking baby in a one piece jammie. The baby was walking along what was like a stage, there was soft music and the spotlights around the baby were a psychedelic swirl of colors, sometimes focusing on the baby, sometimes the stage, sometimes...hey! There were people all watching the baby, neatly lined on stands. The baby stopped and focused in one one face. A blond woman with pearl earrings and a hot pink skirt and jacket. A bright white light focused on the "mother" which i recognized her to be. (Not that I've ever dressed that way, or seen any mothers who do lately!! :)) She didn't know what to do, how to react, but the baby was "choosing" her, and just kept staring at her insistently. The baby didn't say anything but the camera lens of my dream, which became the baby's perspective, slowly zoomed in on the shocked mother's face and the music grew in volume. It's then that the dream shredded away from me and...
i woke up
to a new sound.
Wesley calling my name from his crib.
"mamamamamamama..."
I'm wondering now if that dream was born out of a comment i heard at the homeschooling conference. "As the mother... You ARE the curriculum."
God has created the perfect learning environment when He created families. (whether we are trying to teach or not) A father, a mother, children... a home. This is His...We are His... this family...but what am i teaching simply because of who I am, what i say, what i do? Lord, teach me to be the mother you would have me be. Let my faith in YOU be obvious by my actions, my words and the life i live day to day. I surrender this "imperfect curriculum", me, into your hands. Let this life of motherhood praise you.

(Nuclear) Family Reunion and Free-Falling

Just got back from the homeschooling conference. Really, it was more of a mini family reunion to me than a homeschooling event. The picture I wanted of all 5 of us (Mom, Dad, Steph, Paige and I) I didn't get. I did get one of Mom, Dad and one tiny representative from each of our families though and it's an interesting shot to me. Mom and Dad took turns "strollering" the babies to sleep and mom bought each little one a new outfit at the Sears sale across the road from the convention. Dad introduced and treated us all to the mouthwatering BEEF VINDALOO(?) at Moxie's. Such Herculean effort to dine out with 3 babies, one of whom was teething, but we did... more than once. :) mmmmmmmm..No cooking/cleaning, lots of eating! While we were sitting at Earls eating our last lunch out together the song "Free Fallin'" started to play. Not Tom Petty's version but John Mayer's new version. I know the song is about a philosophical bad boy...but when the chorus hit with it's repetitious "free fallin'" lyric, John Mayer was singing "my song". I've been telling Curt for months that as soon as all of these doctors appointments for Sadie are done with, we are going to run away to the bush together as a family. After this little recent trip out west I'm starting to realize that a quick getaway won't leave our problems in the dust, won't take the knots out of my spine, the ache out of my heart or the worry from my mind. The song "Free Fallin'" keeps resurfacing, so tonight I'm going to take captive that very attractive idea of just spiraling into a pit of "free-falling" despair and cling to what i know to be true:

"The Lord delights in the way of the man whose steps he has made firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand." Psalm 37:23, 24

"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 55:22

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God." Psalm 40:1,2,3

"Specialties"

I've been cooking a lot again lately. It seems to go in cycles i think. I notice that when i most need to clean and get organized, i bake instead. Somehow it makes me feel like I've accomplished something nice without having to scrub toilets and floors. This year, my thought was to get each child interested in one recipe that they could memorize and "specialize" in. We've done it with bread and pies but no one memorized anything. Darren has decided that "brownies" are his specialty. He also enjoys making meatballs. There is something about mixing raw ground beef with his bare hands and rolling it into balls that appeals to him. Carrie, Ellie and Robin love the finished product of whatever they make... (and the compliments from Dad) and with Sadie, it's all about being able to do something *all by herself* and then eat her "craft". :) Still working on specific recipes for specific kids...and in the meantime everyone vibrates to be the one to crack the egg in the pot. I think an ultimate goal would be to have each kid do a part of a meal and then i could, i guess...maybe...if i really *HAVE* to... clean a few toilets and floors. :(

Latest big project

Darren and Carrie worked on "circle stories" last month and after they were done I suggested we make them into books. I wanted Robin to do one too so she collected the poems she wrote this year and decided to put together a poetry book. Ellie did a "baby book". She is quite impressed with her final product and keeps it in a secret location. I couldn't find it tonight when I went to take pictures. I'll have to ask her where she hid it tomorrow and get pics of it too. The books exactly match each child's interests. Darren's is about an imaginary mushroom and box collector, Carrie's is about a family of orphaned Native children, Robin's is all about the poetry and art and Ellie's is about teaching babies how to read. :) I wrote Robin's and Ellie's author write-ups for the back page, but Darren and Carrie had to do their own. We found the blank "little golden books" at Walmart and covered them in something like mac-tac. We used fiberglass tape for the edges that wouldn't stick. Carrie and Ellie (my little twins of different ages) are finished but Darren and Robin are still working on illustrations and coloring. Darren because he's not too fond of coloring and Robin because she is taking time to make it just right.

Carrie's big lovey ending, (family is more important than having 3 magic wishes).....................................................

Darren's vain hero. The "bubble" is someone saying "You're SO handsome!....................................

Robin's poem about the movement and color of leaves in the fall. She had already done a "visual" to go with the poem when she originally wrote it so we took a picture of it and included it in the book.................

Robin's poem she wrote for her cousin Cairo's Haiku contest and illustrations to go with.............................

Here is Ellie's. She pulled it out for me this morning. Very cute.

"Tree---House"

"Worm--Caterpillar"


"Horse"

Her dedication page reads: "Dedicated to my favourite babies: Jada, Wesley, Mielle, Gage, Elijah, Ryder, Julia and Carter. I love you." She has a long list of favourite babies! :)

Show and Tell...and JOY!!

Curt came home early today and the kids were still on a high from some of the projects they have been working on. The older 3 had 10 minutes to write a fictional news report from a "news station" on the moon. The date would be July 20th 1969, the day that Neil Armstrong landed there with Apollo 11. They had to include as much information about the moon that they could remember from the past week. Robin (grade 2 was only expected to give a few facts and draw a picture of the landing.) When the 10 minutes were up I told them to gather in the living room for presentation. Ellie went first as she had a bible verse she has been trying to memorize. Everyone was very patient as she held the paper in front of her 5 year old face and slowly read through the verse line by line. Sadie of course is not slow to figure out when there is an opportunity to shine. When Ellie finished, she yelled out "MY TURN!!" She stood up on the fireplace ledge and smiled smugly at us all until we started clapping. Then, satisfied with her applause, came to "snuggle" again. Next was Robin. She held up her picture. It was then i realized that she had basically drawn a whole lot of aliens with an "eyeball shop" and one of the items in the store was what my children refer to as a "hind" (end). How lovely! I insisted that she give me some of the scientific facts pertaining to the moon. Darren blurted out..."Hint! There are NO aliens!" And he giggled behind his paper. Robin laughed and rattled off "...no oxygen, no atmosphere, rocks fall on the moon and make craters...". Hmmm, next time she will write a paper too. :) Darren and Carrie got up and gave cute little presentations "reporting live from (insert their nicknames here) station" There was even an interview with Neil Armstrong. As soon as the older two were done, Sadie insisted that we perform the "puppy song" for Curt. Now, ever since Darren was a baby I used to play music on the piano and tell stories. When it would thunder, i would pound on the lower keys making minor chords and then high splashes of upper keys. Rain would be descending high notes. Sunshine would be suspended chords, and puppies, well they would be fast, clownish chording. She went wild barking and acting out the story for Curt. Robin played the music for "the puppy begging" with sliding notes on her fiddle.
Some days feel like I've worked till I'm bone weary and there is nothing to show for it. Other days, God just pours joy on every little effort and I see again that He's building something with these days I'm laying into His hands! This family, these children are my offering back to Him. I'm going to not hold tightly to frustration and weariness, but hold my hands *open* to Him with my own mother-to-God "Show and Tell". Hands open for him to pour His JOY over and through it all.

Psalm 92:4
For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the work of your hands.

Mission Impossible

After reading my sisters' blog about some of the events of her morning i thought i would record the events of my day... um... about 15 minutes into it i realized this was going to be an impossible task... actually, when Wes got up all through the night I knew today was going to be a day that may not be worth recording! At 7:30 am when my 9 year old came in the bedroom to inform me that the rest of the family was up... "...all except you mom...even DARREN is up!" I quick jumped out of bed with regret that I hadn't started off with a morning worth talking about. I started with a frenzy, giving out orders for everyone to get eating and cleaning up... made coffee but started teaching math instead of pausing to drink it. Sent Carrie off with her math lesson to complete the assignment, Ellie and Robin doing drills, Sadie on Starfall. I took Wes from Darren and got his math "investigation" started while nursing the babe and reading little golden books to the little ones who were ready for some attention. After that I'm not sure what happened...I had a 3 minute shower in there somewhere and listened to reading while i blow-dried my hair? Did numerous loads of laundry... I think I folded 4 of them and just put in a diaper load. Two or three loads of dishes. One batch of bread was made, two pans of buns, lunch, puzzles, baths, writing assignments, phonics, L.A. school, plugged toilets, diaper changes, lots of clean-up... blah blah... Then Wes decided that he didn't like the taco flavoured breast milk and thought a little screaming was in order. I shooed the other kids outside and tried to help Wes find his "happy place"...he didn't find it for about an hour. It was at the piano where he could see himself reflecting as he listened to me play. As soon as I quit, the writhing and air passing commenced. I put Sadie to naps when she came in rosy cheeked then called my sister Paige for verbal support and love. We were on the phone maybe 2 minutes before her youngest, a new walker, stood up under her piano and bonked his head hard enough to make the blood and tears flow. We listened to the crying on each others' ends of the line and laughed. *One* day it will be silence on both ends. When i remember that, I don't mind the sound of tears from my little ones so much. Both of us nursing sad boys, we talked a few minutes more and then hung up. Life is short...and fast...Curt just got home and I remembered that it's family day... I'm going to go enjoy it with grunting sad Wes.

Natural Eye

My daughter Robin has always had a little eye for art so a year ago when we were throwing a baby shower for a cousin in the extended family, I asked her to help me make the banner. She did a huge beautiful picture of chicks flying and a farm yard with fences and women working at the laundry line, kids on the swings, animals in the trees. I was so impressed with her shading and ended up only doing the lettering for the banner and some of the background coloring so we could have it done on time. She was in grade 1 at the time. We gave the drawing to the new mother. Robbie is the kind of girl to leave little pictures and papers all over the house with I love you's on them and small precious crafts that she has made. I've been trying to get her to work at bigger projects to cut down on the sheer number of smaller projects she creates!
This year, I asked her to draw me a picture for my wall. She started at it and right away I noticed that she had been influenced by some of the art she has been looking at. She drew the wind as 3 great swirls in the sky and the bushes were made up of curling branches. Immediately I recognized it as something I had seen in two different pictures that she really likes. In my music room is a portion of Klimt's work. The tree in the background is made up of huge swirling branches. One of her favourite art books sits on the mantle with VanGogh's The Starry Night on the front page. His chilly wind depicted in swirling icy blues. I'm thrilled that she is picking up little elements of art that catch her eye. So much fun to see each child find passion in something they love and grow in their passion whether or not I am a great teacher in that area or not. Today, she started an ocean scene for Grannie influenced by the illustrations in a book we read about St. Columba. This afternoon we hung her sweet new picture in the livingroom as praise and encouragement for a whole weeks worth of work. May God multiply her little loaves and fishes in the area of creativity to bring herself joy and Him honor.

Time Machine

There is something about the pitch black Alberta winter mornings and the smell of fresh snow and ice that go with them mixed with the silence of this part of the country that tugs at my childhood memories. I can remember the frantic rush to get up, washed, dressed, fed and then hurrying to get my layers of poofy winter snow clothes on, my backpack... and then walking the long walk up the lane with a hot chocolate or coffee in my 10 year old hands to keep me warm. We three girls stood at the top of the lane that led to our acreage and talked...or fought... or stared bleary-eyed into the dark morning watching the steam off the tops of our mugs. Waiting for the sound of the little bus to come crunching through the snow around the bend. We would tuck our mugs into the little birdhouse shaped mailbox at the top of the lane, pick up our bags and shuffle through the snow and up the steps of the bus. My best friend Kyla was always there and the windows of the bus were covered in vine patterns of ice. We rode a small country bus of mostly french immersion students so were fairly tight knit. The bus driver would crank 630 CHED which used to be a music station. Whitney Houston, Hewie Lewis and the News, Corey Hart, Duran Duran, Wham...Top 40. Fast forward 24 years... same winter, same smells, same countryside...but my children won't look back out the rear window of any school bus watching their home, mother, baby brother and sister fade into the distance. These dark Alberta mornings make me thankful for the time I get to spend in the company of my children. Such a gift to be in the presence of the ones I love most.

perfectionism

I was going to comment along with the last blogs' entries about "guilt" but it started getting long. The root of that kind of guilt is really perfectionism isn't it!? When my mom first started talking about "perfectionism" about 10 years ago, my first thought was "Well that's for sure not me! Just look at my house and the way I dress. I'm definitely not perfect!" I thought perfectionism was an outward thing. Over the years I've learned that it's not about how things look from the outside but what is going on inside the head and heart that determines your level of perfectionism. If you do things well and it still doesn't feel like you did all you could have, should have, would have. If your child is doing his/her best and yet you feel the need to continue pushing...not teaching... pushing. If reality finds it almost impossible to meet your expectations... you are a perfectionist. For me it is most definitely about letting go of perfection not only for myself but for my kids. Whether it be my agonizing over Darren's epilepsy. hah! What will agony do but cause more agony and give him a complex. One of my children struggled with math, another with reading...should i feel like a failure over that? No! Those problems are resolving, but it's taken time. What if it wasn't getting any better? I know I sure didn't perform straight A's all the way through my schooling. How can I expect that from my children? And even if I was a straight A student. Does that mean that my children will be too? Goals are great. I was raised to believe they are necessary and I do have high aspirations for each of my children but when life throws a curve ball, I want to respond in a way that says to my kids "It's o.k....life will go on. It's not the end of the world and you don't have to beat yourself over every difficulty or seeming "failure". Especially as homeschooling moms I think we attach our children's successes and failures to ourselves. (I'll have to blog on this as well I think! hah!-so much to say!) So dangerous for both mother and child. My deepest desire after all isn't that my children would be geniuses, gorgeous, talented, fashionable... or even completely happy. My deepest desire for them is that they would know and LOVE their Heavenly Father and want to please Him... not me... or some horribly high standard they invent to beat themselves with. Life is too precious and short. But God's Grace is "fully sufficient". ;) -j

Eating like a Roman Soldier

Yesterday we started "The Story of the World---History for the Classical Child". I bought the C.D so had it running while we were all around the table working on the map and coloring work that went with the story. Suddenly, 1/2 way through the lessons, Curt came exploding through the back door and announced "I'm going to pick up a billy goat!! Who wants to come!!??" Books were slammed shut, pencils thrown in the general direction of the pencil box and the C.D. droned on telling the story of the rise and fall of Rome... I looked around at the empty table thinking "Thanks alot 'principal Curt"!... and then smiled. We have a fun principal. :) Anyways, today we finished off the lesson and decided to do the cooking ideas that went with it. We were to cook our food over a fire-pit and eat with our hands like the Roman Soldiers. It's a little chilly to be cooking over an open fire so i decided to use the oven. I had frozen ziplock bags full of meatballs in the freezer to sent Darren to bring me 6 of them. He cut up some potatos, grabbed a bag of carrots and mushrooms from the fridge and i pulled out alluminum foil to make packages for their food. Darren helped each of the other kids to load up their alluminum foil with food, sprinkle it with salt and pepper and a bit of butter and then we sealed them and marked them. Half and hour in the oven at 400, and lunch was served. I got Carrie to dress up a pizza crust from the freezer just in case. (Oh me of little faith!) They loved it. Carrie offered to make it for breakfast tomorrow morning and every little bit was eaten up... and so was the pizza! This afternoon we are making Roman columns out of sugar cookie dough and then coming in like the Goths and Huns...etc Barbarians to destroy Roman rule... and of course eat all the cookies. I think I will like this new program but I may not lose my baby weight too quickly! eeek!--j

The Truth About Homeschooling

The truth about homeschooling:



You will have to answer math questions from the bathtub,

while changing poopie diapers,

while making dinner,

while helping someone else with reading,

while folding laundry.


You will quickly realize that you forgot everything you learned in school... and then re-learn it as you teach. Some days you will be certain that you are the only one learning anything--you're not.


In a desperate attempt to still be able to do some of the things you loved to do most, you will force your children to do them with you. (Playing the piano, reading your bible and singing alone becomes "worship time" all together. Quilting becomes "sewing lessons".)


Your kids will pick up your bad habits and cause you to think about your own character daily. For every child this is multiplied over again. Some days you will feel like a failure-- You're not.


"Me Time" is that moment when you take the crumby tablecloth out the back door to shake it out and the chilly winter air hits you like a fresh kiss.

You will have to lock yourself in the bathroom on occasion to carry on a private phone conversation. When you come out crying they will say "Where were you for so long! Darren's bugging everyone, Sadie is eating all the Halloween candy and Robin's not doing her work!!" You will suck up your tears and get on with it.

There is no such thing as a sick day.

.........

Your children become each others' best playmates, give each other nick names, call each other "buddy", spend every school day (together) making memories (together).

You will be the one to teach your child to read fluently. As you sit together on the couch, she will hold the book with one hand and rest the other on your belly so she can feel her baby brother kick inside when she gets words right. When he kicks she'll stop reading, look up at you and say. "He likes when I read to him." You will fall in love with your roll as a mother all over again.

When your child comes to you and says "I need a hug." You will be the one to melt in it, no matter what time of the day it is.


When it's blistery, blizzardy, snowing and dark on a school day, you don't have to drive anywhere....or call the school to see if it's in session or send your children out into the darkness of the Alberta dawn to wait for the bus. You get to announce a hot chocolate morning and make popcorn snacks during lessons and be a hero.

When your child is struggling with something, "the class" won't move on without her. She is "the class." and you can slow down to accommodate her. When she is gifted, she won't have to wait for the class to catch up. She can work ahead of her "grade".

When your child falls in love with a subject, there is freedom to explore it for months.


When your 3 year old wants someone to play with, her siblings are home and there are lots of options for playmates throughout the day.

When your husband decides to go fishing, horseback riding, fencing, pick up sheep, hunting, with the kids, you don't have to pull your kids out of school lessons. Those become the school lessons.

When the vet comes over to castrate the stallion, perform an ultrasound on a horse, or a biopsy on a cancerous tumor on a horse and he finds out that you homeschool, he offers more information and demonstration than you could imagine....or want. :)

You get to decide what is important... and teach it.

You will see your children try.... and fail... and succeed, you will try... and fail... and succeed. You will be prideful some days, defeated others.


People will attack you publicly for your decision to teach your own children at home. Other people will heap praise. You'll be comfortable with neither....But you'll come to really enjoy and value your children, your home, and your role in it all.

My Girl Carrie

This is Carrie in her Robin Hood outfit. She likes "Much", Robin's side-kick from the BBC's version of Robin Hood. She made the mocassins herself from a kit and the bow from a twig and baler twine. It works. :)


This is Carrie tying 15 horse hairs together at a time while making her Sioux war bonnet.

When Carrie was born she was so sweet and dainty looking. As she grew, she wore braids every day in her white long hair and pink dresses. On Sunday's we would take the braids out and give her a fancy hair-do with the "POOF" left by the braids. Then one day she decided that her new name would be "Clevin the Clown" She wore a clown suit every day and would draw pictures of herself as "Clevin" and leave them on a tiny white board outside of her room with hearts. We would leave a message back to her. "I love you Clevin." Suddenly Clevin's name changed to "Cloven", then "Cloovin"... and then one day she told us that Clevin had died...the fad was over. Then came a pair of shorts...they were her favorite fashion statement for 2 summers. Her closet became emptier and emptier as she grew out of things but did not want me to buy her anything else... her shorts would do....even during the homeschooling winter. We started fiddle lessons in the city and her French Canadian teacher sported an engineer hat. She loved it so i got her one for 3$ in the city... That hat was snatched off of her head so many times over the course of 2 years by teasing cousins but she loved it... It was in 2 years worth of school pictures. The summer of '07, we threw a "Cowboy Camp" for all the cousins. We did hay rides, lantern making, we made herbal medicines over the fire. We went canoeing, had an archery competition, music nights... and even one scary moment when a villain on a dark horse, shooting wildly from his horse and yelling, kidnapped Grampsie from the campfire. ( Our niece Mollen still does not like Curt.) It was a lot of fun crammed into a few days. One of the things we had set up was Curt's outfitters tent with a huge cardboard poster listing Indian names that they could all choose from with their meanings. I didn't realize how much Carrie would fall in love with certain aspects of Native culture. She named each person in our house with a Cree name, telling them their meaning and still to this day refers to them by these names. (The other day, my 3 year old informed someone at church that her name was "Tatiopa" meaning "Happy Hostess"...They looked at me and said "What did she say!??") She signs her own Cree name everywhere. All this past summer she wore clothes she considered to be "Native", and wore huge turkey feathers in her hair that she found in the turkey pen. This fall, when i told the kids they would be doing a research report on Russia (which we were studying) all she wanted to write about was "The Blackfoot Indians"...I let her. She requested that we bring Curt's bear skin into her room. Every night after that we found her sleeping on the bearskin on her floor, no blankets. She told us we could take her bed out of her room as she didn't need it. If we wanted, we could set up a tipi instead! :) Today, as I was carefully mending a pair of pants that have been worn by Carrie for about 8 months straight now, i wondered if she would be the same person had we not chosen to home school... would she still feel free enough to wear the same clown suit, shorts, hat, brown outfit every day with turkey feathers in her hair? (probably not at school) Or would she feel drawn to common fads? Would she still be interested so deeply in certain topics so that she was motivated to read and study about them on her own... or would she be tired at the end of a long school day? The latest fad, mixed into the "everything Native" fad is now "Robin Hood". And time marches on!! What a great childhood! Homeschooling rocks. I didn't realize when i started how much of a difference it makes but I'm loving what it's bringing to our children, to our home, and to my experience as a Mama.