Who Feeds The Children?!

Parents are responsible for their children, despite the Nanny State thinking that they are.
Parents have brains.
Parents need to know the power of good nutrition.
Parents can choose to only allow “good” food habitually in their homes.
Treat foods need to not have a HOME in our homes.
Know the difference between food and food products. Choose the former.
Parents, grow up and be good parents.

What Curriculum?!

Who is going to determine what your child needs to learn?

For under 12s, talk hug read laugh dance listen run play bake games parks libraries socialise (haha) – just live and enjoy family life.

Join in with others – anyone can advertise on their local homeschool group to create a Park Day. Advertise a few days in advance – and if you’re the only ones there – you enjoy yourself anyway.

What do YOU (the adultparent) want your children to be like by the time they are 18 years old? 🙂 (They can’t not learn – provide a fun safe curious environment)

Trust your children.

Homeschooling Under Fives

A lot of learning happens without pens, pencils, felt pens, books even (shock, horror). Mix up whatever you do, working with the stages of your child/ren.

Homeschooling is nothing mystical or special – it’s just enjoying running in the park, turning over leaves, window-shopping, engaging with the world around you like a happy (I’d like to say, normal) family. Books and desks are not the only way to learn reading and writing (that’s what schools do and it kills the pleasure of learning often) – enjoy life around you doing ordinary everyday life stuff.

Lego, cars, blocks, balls, boxes, being mother’s little helper are excellent imagination starters for 2-3 year olds. Remember you are the mother and if you want them to sit and ‘read’ a book with you for a few minutes, then that is what you work towards.

Choose what is really important to you and your family in life (your priorities), then pursue those. You are answerable to God, your husband and child/ren, and yourself for the choices you make. If your child isn’t speaking and reading by the time he’s 10-11 yo, then come and see me. (But you probably won’t need to)   🙂 

Don’t buy in to others’ comments. Comparison is a killer – it leads to pride or shame/ rejection/ depression. None of that stuff you need on top of the responsibility of being the fantastic mum + helpmeet that you are.

The best thing for your child’s mind is you smiling, chatting, touching, engaging – even for short bursts throughout the day.

Enjoy!

Children Eating Vegetables

Note that there is no hyphen in the title : Children eating vegetables. It would be tragic if it was : Children-eating Vegetables.

It was never difficult to get our children to eat vegetables.

We taught them the colours of the rainbow (ROYGBIV) by what’s on the plate (good thing we had a blue tablecloth).
Meals are habitually at the dinner table.

:: Also if they weren’t keen on first taste: “That’s OK, we’ll try again another time.”
No stress attitude; add in the fun of trying new things … no problem.

:: No menu was offered. Eat what’s on the plate, one reheat, and, if not finished within two minutes of the last adult, finished! and what’s left on the plate is the first thing you eat next meal. Not surprisingly, I think that only happened twice.

Children hear things

Children hear things adults say.

Written in a child’s heart. Like a curse, if negative.

Help them to hear God’s Truth and Love and Blessings.

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Encourage.

I read an article discussing phrases for encouraging children.

Here is my Pinterest board of various pics / posters that could be hung around the home, as reminders.

Encourage.

 

Mother Knows Best!

I’m chuckling here thinking again about last Thursday – another interesting day in our homeschooling life.

My 13 yo boy wakes up Thursday morning. This is the best day – sports action, then music (keyboard). Really good!

My 15 yo daughter is joking about ways to get out of going to Sports action (netball/ball skills), doesn’t want to go, would rather do anything else.

We’ve always made plans in one of three ways: 1. Mum+Dad make the decision (‘cos we’re the parents/adults and think, in the big scheme of things, this will be a good thing for you to do.
2. Let’s talk about the fors/againsts together, then M+D will ultimately make the decision, taking into account what you say.
3. Let’s talk about it, then you (children) make the decision, and M+D will work with you to help make it happen.

Sports was a #1 decision. You’re going, you’re going for at least two terms, you’re going to enjoy it, give it your best shot.

By the end of sports, 13 yo boy has badly bruised finger, realises he hasn’t brought his music, and is whimpering, declaring it’s a bad day, wanting to bail out on music (which he wasn’t allowed to).

15 yo girl enjoyed running around, seeing some different young people, and got complimented by the coach on her netball skills in the second game of netball she’s played. Let’s go to sports every day!

We’ll happily bundle into the van next Thursday, hopefully with the music bag, snacks and drinks …

Shows that sometimes we can listen too much to what our kids want and what they don’t.

Most times, Mother DOES know best!

My Teenagers – You want to go out?

My teenagers …

You WANT to go out?

This is the information your mother and father require before you get permission to go.

 

Name
When are you hoping to go out
Where do you want to go
Who else is going
How are you getting there
What is their cell phone / contact number
What are you going to do there
How are you getting home
When coming back (M+D will gladly pick you up at 9.30 pm)
Have you got the OK from M+D BEFORE final plans are made?
Consequence if your word is not kept:

 

National Association of School Lunches Takes Aim at Those Who Dare to Eat at Home

by Valorie Delp

The National Association of School Lunches today, in a bold public statement, expressed their concern over untrained mothers serving lunch to their children. Says one source, “The problem is wide spread. We have mothers, who are untrained in how to serve lunches, feeding their children, in their homes. Something simply has to be done.”

The National Association of School Lunches warns parents of the possible ramifications of feeding their children at home: Children will be deprived of the social experience of eating in the cafeteria. Some important social rites of passage, such as food fights, will be completely skipped.

Students who eat at home may not get to learn how others students in other parts of the world eat. Exposure to chopsticks or eating on the floor will be completely diminished.

Students who eat at home may not get the full range of foods that are available only through the school cafeteria.

There is no quantifiable way to measure the nutritional standard of the food being served. Surely parents need to be told what foods their children must eat. Lunch eating is serious–moms could never figure this out on their own.

But the biggest argument put forth by the National Association of School Lunches is that mothers are untrained in serving lunches. They strongly feel that in order to serve school lunches, one must have taken important courses and be certified in things like serving techniques, placing the food properly on the tray, anti food-fight tactical manoeuvres and how to dollop mush. Although mothers serve their children lunches every day from birth until that child enters school, once the child is school-aged, the parent must be trained or their lack of training could be a detriment. Previous experience counts for nothing in the hard core, fast paced world of school lunch serving.

Another key concern are health and safety standards that are required by law in school cafeterias. Although I cannot explain how the phenomenon might occur, apparently home is clean enough for breakfast and dinner but during the lunch hour, homes everywhere must be attacked by germs and bacteria thus necessitating state produced standards for cleanliness for the lunch hour.

Finally, school lunch personnel everywhere are concerned about accountability. Should children have to prove that they’re getting adequate nutrition or perhaps should mothers have to submit meal plans for the year to be approved by the state department of school lunches to check and make sure that the food that’s going to be served meets nutritional standards.

Come back later as I have a feeling that there might be more from the National Association of School Lunches.

 

Pinterest

.
  Your Other Mother – a wide range of support for mothers of all aged children

also

  BankWhitt – homeschool, faith, design, quotes, organisation, places

Join the inspiration!

Christmas Wish List 2012

14  nearly 15 yo daughter

Gumboots – money for camp – burgundy or lime shoes – metal guitar strings – Avengers on DVD –  overseas travel! – long board – photography, cooking, or interior design course –

12 nearly 13 yo son

Lego sorter – drum kit – PSP – long board – Astrosaurs: The Carnivore Curse, book – go to Parachute Festival – mangoes 2 or 3 –

 

Some of those seem reasonable …