Lionden Landing

Many people have asked me why I send Froggy to Religious School even though I teach all the subjects here at home.  She is far ahead in the book learning compared with her classmates yet I won't ever take her out.  Why?  Because I can't give her this.  I can't give her the community and the music and the fun and the friends here alone at home.

We still use this Siddur for davening with Froggy.  Abba recently asked when we would move on. I told him" when she asks or when she stops finding new insights and meaning in the Siddur. Like with many children, davening has not always been a joy with Froggy.  But one of the few joys that has come out of this horrible sad time is seeing the kavod with which Froggy davens.  She came home after her first Sunday School after the Yom Tovim and whispered to me that she had done her best to daven the intermediate blessings of the Amidah at Shul and had remember the one in which we ask for healing and said Mishebairach for me. She is finally choosing to read the Hebrew in her Siddur on her own.  She has taken the initiative to lead more of the morning davening when she and Abba daven together which is great since Abba cannot read the Hebrew. This new Kavod may not last but I am enjoying it while it is present.

On Sunday, I attend the Torah Home Education Conference.  It was amazing.  This was the 4th annual conference and it was about twice as big as last year.  There were families from all over the continent.  The prize for the farthest travel went to a mom from Victoria BC.  The speakers were amazing.  The opening session was inspiring reminding us as parents not to give in to peer pressure but to make the choices that are best for each precious child given into our care.  Unfortunately in many Orthodox communities, homeschooling families have to fight external pressures long and hard so these comments were well appreciated. There were several parallel sessions which is both a wonderful and sad thing.  It is great that the conference was large enough to support simultaneous sessions and allow more varied topics.  It is sad because it meant that I did not get to hear all the speakers.  Thank goodness the sessions are available via MP3 so ...

I read quite a bit but don't share much of it here.  However my two latest are special, most notably because they are non-fiction.  The first is Parenting with Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility.  Abba and I both read the original version back when Froggy was a tiny bit.  Since our persective and needs had changed I thought it was time for a reread, especially since the authors has updated the book.  The book is an easy read with engaging antidotes.  It is written from a Christian perspective but applicable to any person who wants to raise a mensch .  We chose this model of parenting because it complemented our beliefs and worked well with Attachment Parenting.  It is based on love and all actions are done in a calm, loving manner.  Some of the suggestions seemed silly to me especially the first time I read it before I was dealing with the situations but unlike many other discipline books none ever seemed to harsh for me. ...

The vast majority of our "school" time is spent on Limudei Kodesh.  I include learning Modern Hebrew as part of that because it is something we only do because we are Jewish.  Learning it helps her with davening and other studies.  So I put a great deal of time and effort into finding just the right balance.  So after much thought and consideration, we are launching on a new plan for the upcoming school year. Thanks to encouragement and suggestions from Adventures in Mamaland , I am starting Chumash with Froggy.  As she is, we are starting with Lech Lecha.  We will be using a collection of homemade worksheets/activities in addition to the great free workbook Mamaland suggested from Bright Beginnings .   We are taking it nice and slow.  I suspect as time goes on we will do one passuk a week.  But for this very first passuk, we are spending two weeks.  Each day we will practice reading the passuk and do some sort of activity or worksh...

As part of our Shavuot preparations, we read the Megillah Ruth in Froggy's Child's Bible 2: Lessons From the Prophets and Writings.  For a first introduction to Shavuot, understanding that it celebrates HaShem giving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai is sufficient.  Last year we made cardboard cutouts with the Alef-Bet for 1-10 on them as well as 10 commandment cookies.  But as children get older they need to experience the fullness of the holiday.  Since Megillah Ruth is always read on Shavuot and only then I wanted Froggy to know her it as well.  Ruth may not be vital to Shavuot as Esther is to Purim but it is still important.   Thanks to Adventures in Mamaland, I had a great craft to bring Ruth to life    I printed out two copies on cardstock as she suggested. And then Froggy colored it. Then I cut out one set and she cut out the other.   Next came gluing, Froggy's favorite part.    And Ruth standing ta...

Sunday morning bright and early I will head to Baltimore for my first ever Jewish Homeschool conference .  Daddy and Froggy are going to spend the day together at the amusement park while I get to go be in my element.  There are lots of panels and I have finally chosen which ones I will attend (mostly) Laying a Foundation: Homeschooling the Young Family Nuts and Bolts of Homeschooling: Getting Started The Marvelous Midos Machine – Your Home Children in a Homeschool Environment: Socially Deprived OR Selectively Engaged? There are two session blocks where I still cannot decide. I still need to pick between  “Choosing to Homeschool: A second generation perspective”  or ” The Monster in the Mind: Acknowledging and Dealing with Burnout”   “Homeschooled Teen Girls Share ” – panel discussion or “Jewish Community and Homeschooling in the Internet Age:  Creating Connections, Networks, and Friends”     There is going to be a vend...

All my friends and fellow homeschool moms have been talking about this or that conference that they are planning on attending.  None fit my schedule or needs until Adventures in Mamaland started szvitzing about her upcoming plans. Well now I get to cheer to.  We cleared the schedule and I am officially registered.  I get to go to the   I have spent way too much on Judaics / Hebrew curriculum that does not work for us because I had to buy it without much information.  I am really looking forward to being able to examine the curriculum before purchasing and being able to actually talk to people who use it and meet other Jewish homeschoolers.

Since we are celebrating Tu B'Shevat this week I have tried to center some of our activities around that.  As well our letter for the week is Ayin and our word for the week is Aetz. Monday - Still on vacation - traveling home Tuesday - Nature - Trees Wednesday - Field Trip - Air and Space Museum - The Wright Brothers Thursday - Children's Tu B'Shevat Seder at our house - We will make suet feeders and some yet to be determined art project. Friday - Parsha Project  - sequencing from Chinuch, maybe also some copywork depending on how much writing we have done by this point.