Homeschool Covid Isolation

I'm starting to grieve the lost year with my teen son.  At the start of the year I was enjoying watching his independence grow, new friendships being made and high school opportunities begining to open up.  All snatched away in what began as a four week flatten the curve exercise which has now morphed into something that words fail to describe. Here I sit six months later under what is effectively house arrest in Melbourne along with a fifth of Australia's population when...

A fellow homeschool Mom in a local homeschool group penned the following words which resonated with my heart and I would like to share with you today. (Shared with her permission.)

My heart is as heavy as yours.

 

As we joyfully see all other children returning to day care and school - enjoying their friendships and social time, and lessons as normal - but we privately mourn for our own children.

 

Because for the first time in history, group home education programs are considered socialisation. While all other children enjoy seeing their friends and learning together, our children remain in total isolation, not able to resume any of our cherished group learning programs. 

 

Homeschooled children need connection with friends too. They need normalcy too. They need their education to return to normal too. Homeschooling mothers need a break too. 

 

People may say things like “We’re in this together”. But it doesn’t feel like that right now. We feel excluded from the togetherness.

 

My gut tells me that I won’t see my children participating in their homeschool education programs until 2021. We haven’t had anything running since March, and while the past eight weeks of canceled day care and remote learning have been so hard for families... it’s been six months for us. Please think of us.

 

“All the world is my school” (George Whitman), if only it could be right now

 We are in plain sight yet forgotten.  What most families do not grasp is that this is not normal for us either.  We enjoy all the aspects of homechooling and covid schooling restrictions impact us too.  

 

How are you all coping with 'covid normal' and home educating?  

Chareen

 

Melbourne Covid Lockdown #2

Tonight at midnight Melbourne goes back into stage three lockdown for #covid19. I had many conflicting thoughts yesterday and then I saw a friend share this verse on Facebook yesterday and felt the Lord encourage me to count His blessings and love towards me and my family over the next six weeks.

Blessed be the LORD, for He has wondrously shown His steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city. - Psalm 31:21

#melbourneundersiege #covid19 #mygodisgood #godisawesome

Hairy Maclary From Donaldson's Dairy {5 Days of Picture Books}

Welcome to day five of beautiful picture books you can read over and over. Lynley Dodd was first introduced to our family when we moved to New Zealand and she is a firm favourite around here.  Her books can be read over and over and over again.  Whenever I find her books I snatch them up and bring them home. 

Hairy Maclary From Donaldson's Dairy

• Format Paperback | 32 pages
• Dimensions 188 x 251 x 4mm | 128g
• Publication date 10 Jul 2014
• Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
• Publication City/Country London, United Kingdom
• Language English
• Illustrations note w. numerous col. ill.
• ISBN10 0723278059
• ISBN13 9780723278054

From Book Depository: "Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy is the hilarious rhyming classic by Lynley Dodd. Hairy Maclary goes off for a walk in town, followed by doggish friends of all shapes and sizes. One by one they join Hairy Maclary until they meet SCARFACE CLAW! Scarface Claw is the toughest Tom in town, and causes all the others to run for home. The brilliant cumulative rhyme and terrific pictures of this story has turned it into a classic - and it is still one of the most popular picture books today."

Here are a few others by Lynley Dodd we have enjoyed:

• Slinky Malinki's Christmas Crackers - Festive preparations are being made in Slinky Malinki's house and the rapscallion, mischievous cat is most curious about the Christmas tree. With its reindeer, ribbons, baubles and bells, it's too tempting a treat for Slinky not to investigate. So Slinky Malinki, with mischievous glee, creeps out from the shadows to climb up the tree...
•  Scarface Claw - Big, bullying tom cat, Scarface Claw, Hairy Maclary's arch-enemy, is at the centre of this story. But like most bullies, Scarface turns out to be not quite as tough as he and the other animals think when he is scared by his own reflection.
• Hairy Maclary's Rumpus At The Vet  - Hairy Maclary is waiting to see the vet with lots of other pets. Then something happens to turn the waiting room into a kerfuffling scramble of paws, a tangle of bodies and a jumble of jaws . . . what can be the matter? Another rumbustious, rhyming romp with Hairy Maclary
• Schnitzel Von Krumm Forget-Me-Not  - Schnitzel von Krumm's family is going on holiday. It's all of a puzzle to Schnitzel and soon his meddling leads to a spot of bother.
• Slinky Malinki Catflaps  - Slinky Malinki wakes from a cosy sleep, stretches and slips out through the catflap and into the night. He's soon joined by his friends Greywacke Jones, Butterball Brown, the Poppadum kittens and the rest of the gang. Hobnobbing happily on the wall,ten in a row, the cats are disturbed by the crotchety Scarface Claw. The cats hiss and yowl until all the neighbours complain. Scarface slopes off and Slinky Malinki invites his friends home to sit in front of the fire, hobnobbing happily, ten in a row.
• Hairy Maclary's Showbusiness  - When Hairy Maclary bounces and pounces his way into the cat show, his flustering and blustering bring a very unexpected result . . . Another rollicking, rhyming adventure with Hairy Maclary (from Donaldson's Dairy) and friends
• Slinky Malinki  - Slinky Malinki steals anything from a clothes peg, to a slipper, to a string of sausages, to a clock! Our hero is a BAD cat! The story is told in wonderful rhyme and through pictures full of life and movement.

In all honesty I could go on listing books as I haven't met a Lynley Dodd book I didn't like!  Be sure to take a look through all the books she has published.  I often wonder if my families taste for ryhming sentances come from these clever books...

Do you have a children's author you like who enjoys ryming words?

Mike Mulligan and More A Virginai Lee Burton Treasury {5 Days of Picture Books}

Before I started on my home school journey I visited many homeschooling families to see what they were using.  After many months I settled on using Sonlight Curriculum to begin our journey.  Over the years I have used many different curriculum options however we've always seemed to migrate back to my first option.  When Nathaniel was little we used the pre-school package from Sonlight and in this package we received Mike Mulligan and More A Virginai Lee Burton Treasury.

This is one of the most beautiful picture book compendiums I own. I loved reading these stories over and over and over again. The pictures are gorgeous and the characters are lovely. Each charater brings honour to living a simple life with integrity. Each hero exhibits determination and a graceful adaptation to the changes life brings their way.   Each story in this treasury is complete and unabridged.

• For ages 0-5
• Format Hardback | 208 pages
• Dimensions 216 x 238 x 16mm | 1,016.05g
• Publication date 28 Oct 2002
• Publisher HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
• Language English
• Illustrations note Illustrations, unspecified
• ISBN10 061825627X
• ISBN13 9780618256273 

Books in the Treasury

The Little House was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1943.
From Book Depository: "The Little House, a poignant story of a cute country cottage that becomes engulfed by the city that grows up around it. The house has an expressive face of windows and doors, and even the feelings of a person, so she's sad when she's surrounded by the dirty, noisy city's hustle and bustle: "She missed the field of daisies / and the apple trees dancing in the moonlight." Fortunately, there's a happy ending, as the house is taken back to the country where she belongs."

 Maybelle the Cable Car is based on actual historical events in San Francisco.  It chronicals the city's efforts to keep the cable cars running.  The story shows how the voice fo the people can be heard in the true spirit of democracy to achieve good things.

Katy and the Big Snow illustrates how important even the smallest jobs really are.
From Book Depository: "Katy, a brave and untiring tractor, who pushes a bulldozer in the summer and a snowplow in the winter, makes it possible for the townspeople to do their jobs. In this enduring winter favorite from the Caldecott Medal winner Burton, Katy the snowplow finally gets her chance to shine when a blizzard blankets the city and everyone is relying on Katy to help dig out. Children love sharing Katy's shining moment of glory and will inevitably admire her "chug, chug, chug" endurance."

 Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel 
From Amazon: "Mike and his trusty steam shovel, Mary Anne, dig deep canals for boats to travel through, cut mountain passes for trains, and hollow out cellars for city skyscrapers -- the very symbol of industrial America. But with progress come new machines, and soon the inseparable duo are out of work. Mike believes that Mary Anne can dig as much in a day as one hundred men can dig in a week, and the two have one last chance to prove it and save Mary Anne from the scrap heap. What happens next in the small town of Popperville is a testament to their friendship, and to old-fashioned hard work and ingenuity."

Do you have a picture book author who has impacted your home or childhood to recommend?

My Nest is Best {5 Days of Picture Books}

I've been contemplating the "Stay Home Stay Safe" mantra that is currently our social norm. One of the things I've come to realise is that I have had the privledge of staying home for the last three decades.  My home is my haven and I love to be here.  However this isolation is NOT our normal.  I am missing my home educating friends and their famlies. I am missing my family.  I am missing my community.  However I am greatful for the blessings that I do have.    Dwelling on what I don't have is not healthy.  We are created to think and meditate on the good things we do have and as such it's time to start listing the positives of the Stay Home Mandate we are living through.

Yesterday I shared five picture books to read out loud.  Today I'd like to share one of my favourites:  My Nest is Best by P.D. Eastman.

{Please note that the links below to Book Depository are affiliate links.  You will not pay more for the books however I will receive a commision should you choose to purchase a book from them} 

My Nest is Best 

• For ages 0-5
• Format Board book | 14 pages
• Dimensions 150.88 x 212.85 x 14.48mm | 244.94g
• Publication date 24 May 2005
• Publisher Random House USA Inc
• Imprint Random House Books for Young Readers
• Language English
• Illustrations note Colour Illustrations
• ISBN10 037583267X
• ISBN13 9780375832673 

About PD Eastman

• He is an author/illustrator of children's books
• Trained at the National Academy of Design
• Sold more than 30 million books
• Was in the army with Theodor Geisel who became known as Dr. Seuss

Other Titles by PD Eastman

• Are You My Mother?
• Go, Dog. Go!
• The Best Nest
• Sam and the Firefly
• Red, Stop! Green, Go! 
• Flap Your Wings 
• Big Dog . . . Little Dog 
• The Alphabet Book 
• Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary 

Do you have a favourite picture book Author?

Picture Books to Read out Loud {5 Days of Picture Books}

A few weeks back Sonlight asked:  Name a picture book that you never tire of reading aloud.  Since many of us are now in isolation and Quarantine-schooling I thought I'd share some of the suggestions with you.

{Please note that the links below to Book Depository are affiliate links.  You will not pay more for the books however I will receive a commision should you choose to purchase a book from them} 

"Stand Back," said the elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"

Blueberries for Sal

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel

Are You My Mother?

 

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Have you read any of these?  We have read and enjoyed a few of them over the years and I'm certainly looking forward to reading them to my grand children one day.

What are your favourite read aloud picture books? 

Quarantine-schooling is NOT Homeschooling and other thoughts.

I recently came accross and shared the following thought on Facebook:  "Non of us are truly homeschooling; we are quarantine-schooling.  Homeschooling involves visits to libraries, parks, the ice-skating rink, play dates, museums, co-op, gymnastics, etc ...  This is completely different."  Some families are emergency schooling at home or have found themselves with children at home due to early school closures.  I wanted to say take a deep breath and please do remember that homeschool/education is NOT school at home.  You do not need to school for eight hours a day.  I will be sharing more on Monday.

I got thinking about this new normal that we are all struggling with and decided to blow the dust off my blog and start sharing some resources as I find them whilst ambling through too much social media!

One of the biggest blessings in my life is the homeschool friends I have met through being a member of the Homeschool Review Crew.  My friend Michele from over at Family, Faith & Fridays has set forth a fabulous challenge:  A Letter a Day.  I think I will be taking this one up starting on Monday. I really love the idea of posting a letter, yes a snail mail letter to someone.  Social distancing does not mean disconnection.

Here are some great ideas and articals

• The Great Indoors Challenge - Fabulous ideas for your children to do indoors.  There are over 100 activities to access and they can be found here.
• Use toys at home and the sun to create shadow drawings 
• Education Unboxed has some fabulous resources listed to help with Math etc. 
• Ronit Bird is a website dedicated to help parents who have children with special needs (dyscalculia, dyslexia and other specific difficulties)
• Stream Shakespeare via Globe Player. 
• Audible have launched a FREE Stories for kids division.
• Homeschooling is not the same as crisis schooling - Advice during the coronavirus covid 19 Shut downs.

Oh my I have just found a lovely old book on Google Books.  It's a free eBook called: Grand-Papa's Arithmetic: A Story of Two Little Apple Merchants. 

Are you wanting to purchase books to be home delivered?  Take a look at these companies:

• Book Depository 
• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Audible 
• Books A Million

If you are looking for some quick links to specific areas be sure to check out my page of Homeschool Help links.

In anticipation of more regular blogging and wondering how you are all holding up with the lack of social contact.

Blessings
Chareen

Linking with Homeschool Highlights.