A Transition for Afterschool Homeschool

I have been working behind the scenes a bit and can now announce that Afterschool Homeschool has moved to http://anappleformom.com.

Not only that, but as you may have guessed from the URL, the name has changed to An Apple for Mom. The old content can be found at the new URL.

Please let me know if you encounter any technical difficulties with this move...and I'll see you at An Apple for Mom!

Schedule Helps Saturday: Review of 168 Hours

                                    

The book 168 Hours, by Laura Vanderkam, is being mentioned everywhere. When I saw a copy in my local library, I knew people had been talking about it - although I didn't remember which people nor what they had said about it - so I picked it up and brought it home.

Here are the things I find positive about the book:

1. It is motivating, and it reminds people that each hour we choose what to do. Pretty much everyone who says, "I don't have the time for that," is being untruthful or inexact. They should be saying, "I don't choose to use my time to do that." This is Laura Vanderkam's most important point.
2. I am sure it works well for some people. In fact, I think I used a version of this process in college when I achieved two of my loftiest life goals.
3. I love the cover. Truly. For some reason, the spare design and vivid yellow are motivating in themselves.
4. Several of the details she mentions are helpful.
5. The book is well-written, and the research she includes is fascinating. A good read.
6. Core competencies (defined below).
7. Fitting the most important things into one's schedule first, and fitting everything else in later.
8. Her statement that no one will be able to do everything. Some things one wants to do will have to be dropped.

Here are the things I disagree with:

1. Optimizing time using a planning process like this one can backfire.
   
   I will have to use personal example here: When I tried mapping out my life by choosing what I would do in my 168 hours per week, it was exhilarating to see what I could fit in. One of Vanderkam's points is that you have to let go of some things. You just have to. Some things will not be possible. Absolutely. This is the strongest point of the book. But even so, I felt rushed during each half hour to get my planned item done so that I could move on to the next thing I had chosen to do. This was even after making a conscious sacrifice of things like a thorough cleaning regimen, reading fiction, most correspondence, knitting (a hobby I love), and some of the time I usually spend with my husband. To be fair, I admit that this could be a personal preference or tendency that I have to feel rushed and unsettled when trying to live life in half-hour or even one-hour increments. People who go out to work usually have a large chunk of time in which to do their work, so that segment of their lives does not have to feel rushed. As a stay-at-home mom who chooses to care for her young children herself, I can't do just one thing, to the exclusion of all others, for more than two hours at a time.
   
2. Outsourcing domestic chores. The author is all about outsourcing tasks that do not fall under one's core competencies - defined as the things one can do that no one else can do better and/or the things that one is good at and would be doing anyway even if it weren't a paid activity. Often, nurturing one's own family is a core competency. Writing is another potential core competency. The implication in this book is that domestic tasks are not core competencies.
   
   Vanderkam is zealous about the idea of outsourcing domestic chores. Each time a domestic chore is mentioned, it appears as a negative and unnecessary distraction, a horror of a waste of time that, sadly, could have been avoided if one would only hire someone else to do it.
   
   I disagree. After a few weeks living my life as planned through the 168 Hours planning process, I found that I was not satisfied with my life nor feeling fulfilled. I had to go back to a previous schedule I was using that was more relaxed and included lots of time for domestic chores. I feel that I am nurturing my family by doing the daily and weekly home routines, where Vanderkam would disagree with me. She makes the point that one can spend quality time with children doing things like museuming, walking, exploring, and reading in early mornings and evenings, with work in between and after. True. Those things can be done at those times. But I think that the home routine also nurtures children. She admits in the book that she and her husband were more comfortable living in a somewhat disorganized, cluttered home until they learned that their young child valued order and cleanliness. They learned this through his behavior at child care, where he picked up after other children.
   
   Healthy children grow into healthy adults in a variety of settings and ways of life. For me, and I believe for my family, the home setting needs to be an orderly, routinized place where someone can almost always be found at home tending to domestic needs. I have also found that, as a parent, I need to "waste" time just hanging around my children in order to get to the conversations that really matter. One can't schedule the deep questions and concerns that children bring up as they are digging in the dirt or helping bring groceries in from the car.

This book could be helpful for many people, so if time management and optimization books are your thing, 168 Hours is a well-written and interesting example of the genre. You can go to the 168 Hours website to download a free time management spreadsheet to see if the book is something you want to spend your time on.

In case anyone is wondering, I am not being compensated in any way for this review, unless you end up ordering the book through my Amazon link at the top of the post.

New Commitment to Teaching the Basics at Home

Image courtesy of Capture Queen with Creative Commons licensing.

Since my oldest child started kindergarten, I am reminded how much depends on a foundation of the basics. School teachers want children to be able to:

• Follow directions.
• Sit still.
• Color a picture.
• Write their names.
• Recognize their names.
• Button, unbutton, zip, open, and close clothing, backpacks, and containers when necessary.
• Tie their own shoes or use velcro.
• Listen to stories.
• Share objects. Or keep items separate when they belong to different people.
• Share their thoughts in an orderly way (e.g., raising their hands and waiting until called upon).

These are extremely basic skills! I highly recommend the Children's Learning Activities blog for basic activities that prepare children, bit by bit, for a structured learning environment.

Specific things "our" kindergarten teacher wants parents to ensure:

• That children get enough sleep each night.
• That children eat breakfast.
• That children use the restroom before school.
• That children can tie or fasten their own shoes.
• That children wear the appropriate shoes and clothing for playing and physical education.
• That any money children bring to school is for a specific school purpose.
• That children know how they are getting home at the end of the day.
• That children can pack their own backpacks.
• That children can open their own lunch containers.
• That children know their job is school. Learning is fun, but it can also be hard work. Children should be prepared to work at skills and at gaining knowledge.

She is expecting common sense and organization. These are tremendously important skills to instill in our children.

Arrangements

Dear Readers,

Please excuse the lack of new posts for about a week. There has been an accidental injury to a family member so we are all dealing with appointments and arrangements for the time being. Thank you, and see you back here soon!

Sincerely,

Feed Me Ideas Friday: Favorite Learning Activities This Week

This Friday, and many upcoming Fridays, I want to share some favorite children's activities from around the blogosphere.

First, Erin James has an informative post: Talking to Your Kids about September 11th. 

As she says, emotions about this 2001 event can still be raw, and it is helpful to see her ideas on talking with children about the events and the feelings. This post is written from a Christian perspective.

Are we there yet??? by Raegan at Children's Learning Activities

If you are ever going to travel anywhere with your children again, this post is worth reading. It is a simple but illuminating way to show children how much time is left in the trip. Requirements: Just a ribbon or string and clips like clothespins or barrettes.

Pipe Cleaner Bead Math: Another one from Children's Learning Activities, by Plowmanators

Sometimes it is hard to grasp a math concept until you can actually, um, grasp it. These pipe cleaner bead bracelets are made with different numbers of beads that children can count, move, and pull into groupings that show them just how many ways they can add up to the number.

6 (Delicious!) Ways to Serve Veggies at Breakfast, by Stacie Billis on Momtastic

What a great way to get veggies in before the children even think to protest them! Who is on their guard first thing in the morning? Not my little ones! This is the time of day I sneak in their "healthy" read-alouds, too.

My favorite on Stacie's list is roasted mashed sweet potato as a bread spread over cream cheese or butter, or just right on top of a nice muffin. Zucchini pancakes/waffles also made the list - I successfully served zucchini whole wheat waffles to my family last week.

Have a mindful and lovely Labor Day weekend!