Our two child things (5 and 2) are currently in Hawaii, but we are a military family, and we live where the Army tells us. This blog is designed to keep us in touch with our family and the friends we have made along the way, to offer insight into our turbulent military lifestyle, and to share our experiences as we try out "homing school." So glad you stopped by!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Anniversary

Hmmm...it's August. That means I started this blog a year ago. Since then I have not always updated it regularly, and I have not made a million dollars off of advertising like I'm sure The Pioneer Woman does. Nevertheless, thanks a lot to those of you take a look at "Where the Child Things Are" every now and then. All 3 of you. :P

Settling In

Thank goodness, our move to Texas is over! Now that it's behind me and I'm settling in to our new house, I am so happy I made the choice to move. We finally have the chance to be a part of our relatives' daily lives and they are a part of ours. This weekend we got to attend a niece's first birthday party, which is SUCH a special event, and one that--as an Army family--we would kind of expect to miss. I am also finally getting my fix of certain food items that just aren't the same away from Texas: fajitas, kolaches, Blue Bell, brisket, hand-made tortillas, etc...
And we are so blessed to have the house that we do. My oh-so-generous relatives offered to let us live in a home they moved out of about 5 years ago but never put on the market. I may get so spoiled living here that I never want to go back to military housing again. This house has way more space than we are used to and is on a lot with a few acres, which we are loving! In fact, Scott, if you are reading this, our next place has got to have a little land! You can get a riding lawn mower!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Dealing with Deployment--Bedtime

Hallmark's recordable books are just PERFECT for military families! A friend gave one to us shortly before Scott left; what an awesome gift! So that he could still read a story before bed, Scott recorded himself reading the book to the kids, and they love it! In fact, one night, when I tucked the older child thing into bed, I forgot about her "Daddy book." After I went downstairs, I heard her in her bedroom reading it herself. She also says she wants Daddy to make her a new book for Christmas this year. Awwww... And it's good for the baby to hear Daddy's voice and to hear us talking about him when we read.
Highly recommend these books to any military family with small children!! I love that Scott can still be a part of the bedtime routine, even when he's on the other side of the world.


Monday, August 16, 2010

Dipping My Toes Into the Homeschooling Waters


By the time our oldest child thing starts kindergarten, we will be in Hawaii, which literally has the worst public school system in the country. Pretty much as soon as we got to Hawaii and learned a little about the schools, we started discussing our options. One option that (to my surprise) my husband brought up is homeschooling.

I have to admit, at first I didn't seriously consider it. "Why would I want to do that?" I asked. I mean, it does seem like a way out-there thing to do. But, the more stories I heard from kids in public schools and the more research I did on private schools (and their tuition), the more it seemed like a good choice.

So I am dipping my toes into the homeschooling waters. To see if I have the capabilities, endurance and patience to homeschool successfully, we are going to try out a preschool curriculum this year. I'm actually excited about it, and my mindset has shifted. Why wouldn't you want to do this? (Ok, there are actually quite a few good reasons not to, but...don't remind me). If you could provide your child with an educator who could design a curriculum specifically for that child--that allowed for in-depth exploration in areas of interest and reviewed areas of weakness until they were mastered, that didn't leave that child behind because his/her peers were ready to move on or expect that child to mindlessly fill out worksheets because other children needed remediation, that challenged the child to be way more than average--wouldn't you?

My answer is yes, so here we go! We are going to focus on phonics and reading this year, but also touch on art, science, history, Bible and math. And you may have noticed in my picture that we are including the essential-for-any-homeschooler My Little Pony Coloring Book.

If at the end of the year the child thing has learned and I have not gone insane, we may very well do it officially for kindergarten next year.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

The Child Things are in...

the Lone Star State! After months of considering it, I decided to move out of our place in Hawaii so that we could be closer to family during the deployment. I'm still not sure if it was the right decision. As with anything, there are upsides and downsides, but we are here, and we plan on enjoying our time in Texas. We are going to eat all the Mexican food and BBQ we can get, take pictures of the bluebonnets in the spring, and spend lots of time with the Texans we love.

There are a few things I am already NOT enjoying, however. For instance, I had forgotten how nasty it feels to have your jeans stuck to your legs because you are drenched in sweat from walking to your car. I will certainly miss the absolutely perfect weather and awesome scenery of Hawaii (oh, and the shave ice), but we'll be back there in a year. So I guess we've got the best of both worlds this way. :)