Esteban

This year, things have been different again. After recovering from the disappointing Esteban had when he lost his 2 jobs, he felt happy again when he received the suggestion of volunteering in a computer course at UFV. He also started another course with UFV called Computer Applications on-line and the opportunity to help in a Ministry who cooks lunch for single Moms. He was busy and feeling competent again.

Esteban also had the opportunity to be a speaker in a panel of youth with Aspergers Syndrome. This panel was organized by a Special Needs Teacher at one of the classes for Special Needs at UFV. Again, Esteban had a second opportunity to speak again  in front  of around 50 people. All parents, professionals and kids. In both occasions, he did a great job. We felt very proud of him to do this and felt very impressed at the way he approached the audience and articulated his ideas. He had good insight and great confidence.

This month, we will be celebrating Esteban's graduation. I am excited to see him walk with his cap and gown and to dance the waltz with him. We are practicing at home already! Another exciting part of the ceremony is that Alfredo and I will get the chance to walk in the procession along other parents before the students.

Now, he has been offered the opportunity to take a work experience program for Special Needs People at UFV. The program is called TASK
I don't know if Esteban will still take the master Commission Discipleship Program at church after TASK.

Well, too many things happening in Esteban's life and feeling happy that all have been life experiences that God has prepared to help Esteban to grow and to become a great man.

New things

One whole year without writing! Life got so busy and health issues consumed most of my time. I felt like trapped in space for almost 10 months! I am so thankful to God for His healing. He totally healed me from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. No question about it!

After a nice summer full of local activities such as gleaning for apples,plums,pears and grapes with Food Matters,Party in the Park,Art in the Park,fLake with friends from Austin,Texas,picnics,walks and more.

Now, with my 3 kids in the teenage stage, life gets a different feeling. A mix  of freedom and a bit of fear of change fill my life at this moment. Freedom because now I have more time for myself to do things like volunteering everywhere I can, working out, watching on-line studies,read books about different topics other than homeschooling,etc. Fear of change comes with watching my kids growing up. I could have a very spiritual posture about this but in reality, I am a mother who struggles with letting go. I feel happy for how they are becoming more responsible and mature everyday but seeing them having jobs and dealing with grown up stuff makes me feel they are not the dependant little people they used to be and that life is changing.

The idea of opening my arms and let go scares me at times. I know God has a plan and a bright future for them but still my human nature and heart keeps me from freely accept the fact of this new season.

Anyway, life goes on and this year, I am ready to keep going!

Esteban is now 18 and doing only English 12 and Italian. He started working in 2 places and love it! He takes the bus to work and has been very responsible with his savings and spending. I can totally see him growing and becoming a man. He will take a Cook Apprenticeship in January.

Fernanda is struggling a bit with her on-line courses ( English and Italian) as she takes things in a very slow pace but still doing her best. Loving playing piano,baking cookies,reading like a book worm and enjoying her visual arts class.She also enjoys babysitting twice a week and save money. One of her best and envied qualities.

Andrea will be starting using Time4learning  http://www.time4learning.com/  which is an interactive site for English and math. She used it a while ago and enjoyed it. Also loving reading Hamlet and using her new ipad that she got from the school. She loves all the apps and talking to SIRI. Very busy with CSOPA rehearsing for "Shrek",learning how to tap and still finding time to bake what she calls Killing Brownies.

Alfredo working and playing volleyball a couple of times a week and keeping his funny attitude all the time.
The highlight of the year would be getting our Canadian Citizenship! After almost 15 years of procrastination, finally the time came. It was a very exciting day and very emotional. Happy moments sharing with my parents and sister and thankful hearts towards God for His great favour and love.

Definitely a different season but a very blessed time God is giving us with all these new adventures!
Claudine

First day of school

"Another first day of school and everybody survived". That's what I used to say in past years when my kids were younger and more work was needed from me.Now, my kids are older and have become more independent in  many areas.

Today was withot doubt, a very different first day of school. We started the day by joining the team of Food Matters Chilliwack and spent 2 1/2 hrs picking apples and raking. It was fun!

After lunch, we had a short devotional to put our school year,goals and plans before God.

Then,the kids started with their school work. Esteban did his on-line courses and so does Fernanda. Andrea started with writing using Story Starters.It wasn't a full day but a good start.

Every year God shows his mercy and love to us by guiding us and helping us to accomplish different goals. Eventhough I like planning for everything, sometimes short term plans are better for us as we never know if things will run smoothly or if we will encounter little bumps on the way that will make us slow down and even sometimes just to change things completely.
As I have learned for the past 8 years of homeschooling, having short term goals help me to prevent us to feel overwhelmed or frusttaed when we don't accomplish what we thought we had to accomplish. I have learned to slow down and wait until making the next step.
For example: I used to plan the entire month and once or twice I tried to plan the entire year. When the kids used to get stuck with something, get sick or maybe even enjoying a topic too much to quit.
That's when I felt overwhelmed because my timeline and goals suddenly changed!

Now, when planning, I don't start a new plan until completing the previous one.This means that if I schedule a series of activities or a study, I don't go ahead because the schedule says so but I have the time and no pressure to stop and slow down because I don't have something coming up right away or I don't have anything that makes me feel I am behind on schedule.
I have learned to attend the needs of my kids and not the needs of a schedule.
I hope you get the idea!

 

 

               

Tomorrow, we will start using Thinking Like a Christian, a study of the Christian worldview. Fernanda will be doing on-line courses like English 10,Apprenticeship and Workplace Math 10, Music 10 and Italian 11. She will continue with her piano lessons and probably with pottery or visual art classes.

Esteban will be doing English 11, Robotics 11 and Information Technology.He will also be taking some cooking classes at UFV(University of the Fraser Valley),a Food Safe course as well as a IOS App design ipad and ipod course.

Andrea will be doing writing with Story Startes and other different resources through the year, Math using Teaching Textbooks.Different unit studies starting this month with Al Capone. She prepared a long list of topics she would like to study for the year.

She will befull time involved with CSOPA ( Chilliwack of Performing Arts School) preparing to performed in Annie as "Pepper"one of the orphans.

 

 

 

 

      

This year is all about their interests. We'll see how this approach works for this year.

Ta ta

 

 

 

 

 



 

Becoming a Coach.

Today I was reflecting on how time passes so quickly. I still remember the so many unit studies I planned and develop for my kids. I loved to plan our units choosing resources from different places. I was never a one curriculum kind of person. I liked, and still now, I like to gather the best from different places until I find what I have in mind as a whole.

I remember how I used to spend the day reading,explaining and ,making things with my kids.Sometimes working all together and sometimes one on one.It was very consuming but very rewarding. I miss those days.

Now, my kids are old enough to complete their assignments on their own, to take their own decisions and to manage their own time.Although I should feel happy seeing my kids growing and becoming more independent. I feel melancholic just by thinking that one day they won't be needing me as much as they used to. For a Mom, this isn't easy. The bond I have with my kids is huge. Especially since we started homeschooling.

My friend Christine, posted this quote on Faceboook from Jeannie Fulbright. 

 ‎"One goal we should have as a homeschool parent is to move from teacher to coach to adviser before they leave for college. Transition from teacher to coach is just before junior high for most. From coach to adviser happens mid-high school." Jeannie Fulbright

This brought one of my favourite books I read in 2006 to my  memory. "The Learning Coach Approach" by Linda Dobson.

When I read this book, my idea of teaching totally changed. Although my kids were small enough to depend on me, which I liked, I kept the role as teacher for a while until the beginning of this year, when I realized they were ready to move to the next stage.
This book encourage parents to start coaching their kids from the beginning when they are still small. I agree on this approach but as Jeannie says, I believe the real coaching stage comes later when they are not looking for more lectures or explanations but just looking for assurance, encouragment and support.

This new season has been good for me and for them as well. Now, I have more time to pursue things I like doing. Things I put on hold for some years.

I joined the Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra and Chorus which I totally love,I also joined the ladies bible study at church and the Dragon Boat team for a short period of time. Now, I have more time to read other type of books that are not about homeschooling.

This time is special and important too because I can attend to the unique needs my kids have. I am not too focus on academics but on character and spiritual growth.I still spend time with my kids as much as I can, especially when they get stuck on academics or just by being there encouraging them when things don't go as expected. I am there to cheer them up and to purposely help them to meditate and to reflect on their own abilities,mistakes and life in  general.

I am getting used to this stage in life and beginning to like it. I have more freedom to observe,to recognize the areas where my kids need me more and others where they can handle by themselves.I am not so much focus on the academics anymore so this helps me to attend other areas also important.My time as teacher is done. The time to be a coach and a facilitator has began.

For our new school year, I have decided to let my kids pursue their interest in a deeper way. They will have the freedom to explore and to discover their own talents and to incorporate everything into their area of interest. To develop a more intense love for learning is my goal.

I pray for new ideas on how to encourage,to inspire and to guide my kids during this season. To see them blossoming and feeling competent in their own way.

Isn't this the role of a coach?

Lovely tunes

A tune here and a tune there. That's what we hear all day long in our home. Our daughter Fernanda loves playing piano. She has become very captivated by it and enjoys every moment.
We are so pleased and happy with her for the dedication she has put into it.
This is a short video of Fernanda playing "Spanish Caballero".

Going back to the old ways.

              The decision has been taken. We are going back to the traditional way of homeschooling. After trying the DL program here in BC for 1 year, I realized that my kids were losing the love of learning they used to have. They became one more group of students within the school system. The only difference was that they were working at home.When we started 8 years ago,it never crossed my mind the idea of joining the DL program. Not even for the $1000 per child.Despide my convictions, I wanted to give the DL a try for 1 year and see if my kids were missing something out.

Well, we joined the program but it didn't work. We had great teachers and friends working along side of us supporting my kids and my very own way of homeschooling but it wasn't our teachers but the system which caused our pain.The tension over having to follow the learning outcomes,the stress for one of my daughters to work on topics she wasn't interested in and bringing conflict and constant discussions between us plus the little time left to do other activities was enough for us to take the final decision.

I know that the way learning is presented has everything to do with motivation but definetely when the load of work, isolated subjects and boring topics are part of the job. It is definetely neither pleasant nor motivating to continue.We could have just worked on our own and submit fake work when required but is that really true and honest?

Now that we decided to go back to traditional homeschooling. I am very excited to see what God has in store for us. Thrilled to be able to have the freedom to choose, to explore, to make mistakes and to follow our own interests without anyone watching our steps.For 6 years we studied things deeply. We went on a topic without worrying on finishing on a certain time. No datelines!

The money from the DL program was good but we can't rely on that compromising our convictions and freedom of true homeschooling. We are so blessed here in Canada to be able to homeschool and in fact being called homeschooler.

In the middle of last year, I learned the fact that being a DL student makes students to lose their status as homeschoolers. I was shocked and very upset. I didn't know that!

We need to defend our privilege while we can. There are other countries and even provinces in Canada  fighting constantly for this freedom.

After praying and asking God for His very unique peace. I am 100% sure that going back to traditional homeschooling is the way to go. You can only know this kind of peace if you have experienced this kind of peace before. It is a way of seeking,trusting and receiving

Fernanda with Christopher Paulini Author of  Eragon    

I know God has great plans for my kids and terrific and exciting new learning experiences still to explore.No doubt when we trust in God's plan living and seeking His will.

We can be sure when His voice is calling just as the sheep knows his shepherd's voice.

I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord.Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.Plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Real News

Since last year we have been watching the news together.I enjoy this time because I know my children are being exposed to real news, in real time and also are able to follow the stories as they develop into real and complicated cases sometimes for several days.This makes the story more interesting to follow.
 Because my kids are older enough to understand  the context like conflict in other countries,election fraud,riots,consequences to crimes,dishonesty,government issues,global economy and more.They can give their personal opinion and voice in a wide variety of topics.
I like discussing some of these topics with them as well as listening to their different opinions. What I enjoy the most is the assurance of knowing my children are filtering what they hear with the word of God.
We also have discussed the dangers with drugs and bad relationships. Profound emotions arise when we hear  about some of the behaviours and actions from people in different countries and how this has affected  the entire society.
My children have a strong Godly foundation which help them to have healthy choices when socializing with friends as well as strong and firm moral values for not to fall into the dangers of drugs or innapropiate actions that may hurt themselves or others.
I am thankful we can educate our children at home especially with all these violent acts happening in schools. My children also feel safe at home while they can still know what is happening around the world without exaclty being in the middle of the chaos.

So much real learning happening every day around here.Some from good books and others from real experiences whether self experience or by watching the news.