Controlled chaos

I made homemade bread for the first time (not as hard as I thought) and angel cookies for the feast of the archangels. I want to be able to bake a simple treat for our favorite saints' days, but I guess I have to be humble enough to admit I can't do everything I'd like to do. 

Whenever I am trying to do anything other than play with the monsters kiddos (cooking, cleaning, etc), I have to temporarily allow for some controlled chaos of messes, taking things out of their places, playing with things they probably shouldn't be playing with, etc (see pic of kitchen above). And these days, if we don't have a calm morning in which I pay attention to Addie, she won't sleep for her nap. Then we all suffer and she will conk out at another random time like she did on the day of the archangels at three o'clock (also see pic above). 

Article up

Hello friends, 
I have an article up on CatholicStand called

'Homeschooling in Response to Communism'

Little Town on the Prairie Quotes

I read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little Town on the Prairie and loved it, just like all the books before it. I especially liked seeing how teenagers fit into society, how they socialized within social rules and had lots of supervision. It kind of reminded me of how mormon teens socialize nowadays. It makes sense, because Laura got married at 18 and lots of mormons get married at 18, too. So you have to have a plan for responsible dating. And you have to have a society that helps and community. That's my dream for when my kids are teenagers. Here are some of my favorite quotes. 

"I mean I don't believe we ought to think so much about ourselves, about whether we are bad or good," Mary explained. "But, my goodness! How can anybody be good without thinking about it?" Laura demanded. "I don't know, I guess we couldn't," Mary admitted. "I don't know how to say what I mean very well. But - it isn't so much thinking, as - as just knowing. Just being sure of the goodness of God." (chapter " Springtime on the Claim")

"The earthly life is a battle," said Ma. "If it isn't one thing to contend with, it's another. It always has been so, and it always will be. The sooner you make up your mind to that, the better off you are, and hte more thankful for your pleasures. Now Mary, I'm ready to fit the bodice." (chapter "Blackbirds")

She had not known how hard it would be, sometimes, never to be cross with Grace who was always trying to help and only making more work. It was amazing, too, how dirty they all got, while cleaning a house that had seemed quite clean. The harder they worked, th dirtier everything became. (Chapter "Mary goes to college")

The alphabet path

Before I get ahead of myself, I knooooow there is no rush in starting letters and numbers and the educational models I like say "when in doubt, do less". Having said that, Addie has known the alphabet song for a while and she spontaneously started pointing out letters in books or on signs outsider and asking about them, so I feel like I'm following her lead and not forcing anything. Last week she asked, "Do you want to see me write my name?" And I thought yeah right but said "yes". And she drew something that resembled the letter "A"! I was so surprised. So I said, we're starting the alphabet!
I've admired ShowerofRoses's Alphabet Path, but when I actually looked into doing it, I got a headache. It is so confusing, there are so many different crafts and baking activities she does... my goodness! So I got the simplest ideas possible: printable letters to make a book with, a handwriting page for practice, modeling clay to shape the letters with, a new mini chalkboard for practicing letters on. And we don't do one a day or one a week, but one whenever she feels like it. I say in the morning, "Let's pick something out to do for preschool." Somedays she might not want anything, but if she wants to pick a letter ("let's do the ABCs!"), I help her cut and glue the printable letter (eventually we'll put them all together for a book), then she does the handwriting page and I help her model the letter out of clay, which goes in the oven 5-10 min. The next day, if she wants to do a letter again, we might do a simple craft from Pinterest with that letter (see apple stamping above), paint the modeling clay that has dried, and draw on the chalkboard. That's it! And it has been so much fun for the both of us, it really has. The main struggle has been keeping her brother away, who wants to be doing the EXACT thing she is doing. Oh my goodness, what a wrecking machine. 

PS We also really like SuperSimpleSong's Turn and Learn the ABCs videos and Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book. 

Homeschooling and scholé

I finally got around to making a "fine art gallery" for our budding artists. I thought this pin was so cute at least a year or two ago, and it has always stayed in my mind since. Funny how that works. And I still have other pins in my head for a future date, or a future house. 
Even though my children are one and three years old, lately I have been feeling like I am actually homeschooling. Oddly enough, I love it. Even though it is something I don't really want to do, too counter-cultural especially in Portugal, something that hasn't been decided by my husband and I, it is something that seems to naturally grow. I guess even people who have their kids in school still "homeschool" to an extent. Some 'homeschoolers' just delegate a little less. When you are constantly envisioning what you'd like your family culture and family traditions to look like a year from now, five years from now, ten years from now, etc., and when you see really great ideas about what could be so healthy and happy for your child's development... who is FULL of potential and can be shaped any which way (the vulnerability and potential of it all really scares me)... you don't want to delegate education. You don't want to hand them over to another "curriculum" or program that is not that dream that keeps growing in your head. At least when they are so small. 

My homeschooling friend sent me this podcast with Dr. Christopher Perrin, which touches on classical education and the Greek concept of scholé. I LOVED IT. I identified so much with this concept of learning, even as adults... perhaps especially as adults, because then kids just follow along. I think back to a few really restful dinners or coffees I've had with friends where there was this intense exchange of ideas and communion. Or the theology of the body congresses I've been to, where everyone was learning the same thing and so excited just to meet each other and talk to each other. 

I liked Dr. Perrin's suggestions about how to do "scholé" with kids, which is an environment of beauty for all the senses, reading to them, contact with nature.  Those have been all of my goals, too. I also have the goals of musical instruments, art/drawing well, sports, living the liturgical year with a special snack and book at home, praying together and doing the housework together like Laura Ingalls Wilder. For now, these goals just aren't possible to achieve if they're at a school all day. So it's exciting to learn more about this scholé and be able to shape our family and our future in this way. 

PS Another podcast I liked was "No-Fuss Art for Morning Time" and we bought the preschool chalk art course, which is what is pictured above.