Getting into Homeschooling

I find myself spending more and more time researching educational activities to do with Abby now that our outdoor playtime is rather limited. I get sucked into reading about curriculum and content standards, looking at pictures of various classroom set-ups, and assessment options. It's really enough to make my head hurt. It's hard to believe that I have until September 2015 before I really need to be worried about this.

I have been working on writing out exactly why it is that I want to homeschool because I think it's very important to have clear reasons and goals for everything you do. My primary reason for wanting to homeschool is that I am a control freak. There. I said it. Now, can we move on?

Our state does not regulate or monitor homeschools, which is both a blessing and a curse I suppose. This just leaves me with more options. Options are good, unless you have a hard time making decisions. Funny, I can order a coffee like no one's business, but choose a homeschool curriculum? No way. This could determine whether or not my daughter likes to read, or paint, or play piano, or none of the above. It could determine whether or not she gets into Yale, or even wants to go to college at all. This is HUGE. To me, this decision is bigger than buying a house in the right school district, or choosing the right outfit on picture day, or the right dress for senior prom. This is one of the millions of decisions I have the opportunity, or blessing, of making that will undoubtedly affect my child(ren) for their entire adult lives.

No pressure, right? Eeek. What happened to cloth or disposable, homebirth or hospital, vaccines or no?

If I were rich I could purchase the best pre-packaged curriculum on the market and it would provide a day by day plan of what we're to do. I could buy all of the expensive equipment and materials she would need to be an A+ student. I'd mail in samples of Abby's work and that would be that.

Since I am far from rich, that's not really an option. So, I could fly by the seat of my pants and teach what I feel like teaching when I feel like teaching and when she feels like learning it. I can spend countless hours online searching for free printable activity guides and even more time collecting materials for projects that might "someday" take shape. I guess I would just cross my fingers and hope that I cover everything before she's 18. This method seriously appealed to me at first. Teach what she wants to learn? What an interesting concept. I could dive into this more and go on and on about how and why I think it would work best, but I'd really just be trying to convince myself, so I won't.

The option that, at the moment, seems to be the most attractive to me is enrolling in a virtual academy or a distance learning program. Most of them are free public schools. They pick a curriculum for you, they deliver them to you, they coach you through it, they assess the learning, and they hold you accountable. It sounds so simple and sublime. Is this a homeschool cop out? Will it provide enough flexibility in lesson planning? Will it nurture her interests or teach to a test in a different setting?

I just don't know at this point. Thankfully I still have some time to figure it out.

New Camera & A Day at the Farm

I have to start by telling you all how much I dislike the auto save function. After over an hour of work on this post I accidentally deleted everything and at that very moment Blogger decided to auto save. Are you joking me right now? Nope. Can't undo. So... I will start again... from scratch. Only this time it will be better. I hope.

You may have noticed the sudden appearance of pictures in my posts, due entirely to the fact that I have an amazing husband who recently gave me a camera that I have been wanting for a long, long time as an early Christmas present.

When I was in high school I was a photographer for the school newspaper and yearbook. In my junior year, I won a JEA award for black and white photography from prints that I'd made with about five minutes of darkroom instruction. I later took a few classes at the junior college and have dreamed of having my own darkroom ever since. There is just something incredible about the process of making something appear where nothing was before. I like to think that it's the closest I will ever feel to how God felt when He created the earth.

It's been less than ten years since I spent my summer afternoons in the cool basement darkroom on the RCC campus and a lot has changed. I'm not even sure that DSLRs existed then and if they did I certainly didn't know about it. Darkrooms and the skills that paved the way for Photoshop are now obsolete. Then cell phones were just phones and now the camera on my phone is a higher quality than the first digital point and shoot I owned. The one thing that hasn't changed, thankfully, is good composition.

I am still in the process of familiarizing myself with my new camera, but am very pleased with it so far! Abby is my most photographed and most difficult subject, but she's getting used to having the paparazzi around and I'm getting better at utilizing more than just the shutter button! I am pretty rusty though, so I am planning on going through all of my old photography class assignments and redoing them. I'm planning to post them as I go and hope to be able to include samples of my 35mm assignments as well.

We took a little family outing on Sunday to drop off our flatbed trailer at a friend's farm. It was a gorgeous day, but bitter cold wind kept us from staying out for as long as we (read: Abby) would have liked. Abby was able to chase chickens, collect eggs, pet barn cats, bunnies, sheep and even sit on a horse.

This picture is very special to me and I'll tell you why - when I was pregnant Greg fell in love with the name Abigail for several reasons, but mainly I think because of it's dual meaning "joy of the Father". This picture  captures my husband's joy and love for his daughter in a way that words can't even begin to describe. To anyone who doesn't know my husband this might just look like a picture of a smiling man, but to me and to those who know him well there is much more to be seen. My husband doesn't smile and when he does his teeth don't show. I have loved watching him grow over the years and I am excited to see him continue to grow through the coming stages of our life.

This is JL and her favorite horse, Hannah. JL and her family have been such a big part of our lives for the last three years. It's a long and funny story about how God brings people into your lives when you need them the most, how persistent, good and faithful He is when you resist His will.

JL is an amazing woman and I am so blessed to know her. This big smile says so much of what I can't put into words about her.

This is JL's littlest, the youngest of five. He is the most animated, courteous, and adorable five year old that I have ever known! I just love this kid! I could take his picture all day... what a ham!

Thanks L family for a wonderful day and for being such wonderful people!

Montessori Made Simple

In the past Abby has done quite well using silverware at mealtimes, but lately she seems to prefer her hands. I decided to try a few Montessori life skills activities to see if I could pique her interest in silverware while also working on mind-hand coordination.

Our first activity was moving beans from one bowl to another and back again using a tablespoon. She did very well and responded better than I had expected to the "tray" concept that MM was so fond of.

Look at that concentration!

I got a little ahead of myself for the second activity and gave her a small pitcher with water and several small glasses. She did well, but was clearly not ready for the water. I regrouped and brought out two small glasses one of which was filled about two-thirds of the way with dried beans. I demonstrated how to pour from one jar to the next and then back again. She eagerly took the reigns. At first she was using her right hand to pour from right to left and her left hand to pour from left to right, but then she stopped pouring with her left hand altogether. Instead, she would use her right hand pour the beans from the glass on the right to the glass on the left then she would put the empty glass down, pick up the full glass with her left hand, transfer it to her right hand and continue.

She went on and on playing this "game" for quite a long while longer than I expected it would have held her interest. When I told her we were all done she protested quite vocally! Later in the evening when I brought the game out again she used her first two-sign ASL phrase, "fun game." Score two for Abby!

Rejoining the Blogosphere: Samoa Cupcakes

New Camera = Food Pictures!

These two cutie pies are the best darn taste testers I could ever ask for! And the one on the right's Mama "maturing" another year was a great excuse to try a new cupcake recipe - her request: Anything chocolate or Samoa.

Samoa cupcakes it is! The Birthday Girl is quite the cake baker herself and has just about perfected the Samoa cupcake. I, on the other hand, had never attempted it. I decided to make this recipe from Sweet Little Details, with a few very minor variations. The cake is the perfect consistency for a cupcake. It's sturdy without being dense or dry. I found the frosting to be a tad too sweet for my liking, so I ended up with about two cups of leftover frosting. I hate to waste, so I popped them in empty jelly jars to store them in the freezer. I think we may have to veer from tradition this Christmas morning because this frosting would be amazing on cinnamon rolls! Heck, tomorrow is Saturday... that's a good enough reason to make cinnamon rolls, right?

Samoa Cupcakes

2 C. AP flour

3/4 C. cocoa powder

1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature

1 3/4 C. sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp coconut extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 C. whole milk, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder. Cream together the butter, sugar, salt, and baking soda until fluffy and light. Combine milk and extracts in a measuring cup. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. With mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the milk beating just until combined.
3. Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly. (I find that an ice-cream scoop works perfectly for this! Not a new trick, I know, but still…) Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20-22 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Caramel Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks unsalted butter

½ tsp salt

¾ C packed brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 C. prepared caramel

3 Tbsp milk

5 C. powdered sugar

1 C. sweetened shredded coconut

¼ C. semi-sweet chocolate chips

¼ C. prepared caramel

Shortening or coconut oil

1. Using a mixer, cream butter and brown sugar together. Add vanilla, salt, caramel syrup, milk until combined. Begin adding in the sugar slowly and mixing thoroughly after each addition.
2. To toast the coconut, spread the coconut onto a rimmed sheet pan. Toast in a 350°F oven, stirring frequently, until the coconut is an even brown color, about 10 minutes.
3. Frost your cooled cupcakes in whatever way you prefer. For mine I used a small cookie scoop to portion out two scoops and then used the back of it to “swirl” it around.
4. Heat chocolate chips in microwave for about 30 seconds or until drizzle-able. You may need to thin your chocolate with a small amount of shortening or coconut oil to accomplish the desired consistency. Drizzle the frosted cupcakes with slightly cooled melted chocolate and caramel in opposite directions. Top with a generous pinch of cooled toasted coconut.