Focus: Money

  

I can't deny it... my family has been talking a lot about money lately.  I hate money.  I would live on a commune in a second.  But money is a harsh reality that we can either live with... or live with.  While money can't buy happiness, knowing how to manage what you have can sure spare a lot of headache.

We are a middle income family.  My children have everything they NEED, and much of what they want.  However, last year my husband made less money than the year before. A significant amount less. (Sound familiar?)  So we need to be careful about where we spend or we will end up eating beans and rice at the end of the month.  Not that I don't love beans and rice... just maybe not for breakfast. So, in the spirit of unschooling,  I decided to bring the kids in on the conversation in a very real way.  This is how we did it.

Games.

I picked up one game called Real World Math: Unexpected Events.  http://www.teachercreated.com/products/real-world-math-unexpected-events-game-7804  

In this game, each player has a little check book.  The object is to go around the board, filling out debits and credits in your check ledger... and whomever has the most money left at the end, wins!  Now, thank the goodness that filling out a check book ledger is like riding a bike.  You don't forget how.  I hadn't actually filled out my check book ledger in years, and yearsandyears.  Now, in the first game Cady and I ended up in the red.  I explained to the kids that this was bad.  We talked about why you should not spend money you don't have... but this game didn't allow for that. While the game is fun, and my kids actually WANT to play it, I wanted something to teach them the value of managing money and how to stay within a budget.  How could I make this lesson better?

Make up a game.

 Now, I am a self-admitted enabler.  I have always been the kind of mom that does everything for everyone... until I realized that it was killing me and not doing anyone else any favors in the long run.  This year, I've been better about having the kids do household chores.  But I felt like I was a serious nag all the time.  OR they would say, "I'll do it later."  Part of the great thing about homeschooling is that the kids have all this "extra time."  I had been letting them waste that playing games and watching TV while I turned into an exhausted house frau... and then an angry army drill sergeant.  Time to combine lessons on money  management with job responsibility.

In comes "THE CHORE GAME."  (photo right)

I picked up one of these pocket organizers at The Teacher Store.  On sturdy note cards, I made pictures of different chores around our house.  Feed the Guinea Pigs, Clean the Bathroom, Empty Dishwasher, et cetera.  Each chore has a matching pair.  Each card has a payment value on it.  For example, Clean the Bathroom is $100.  Every Sunday, we sit down and play a game of Chores (which is played just like Old Maid).  There is one card that has no match, but instead of Old Maid, it's Manager.  The player left with the Manager wins the game, but also is responsible for making sure everyone else gets their chores done that week.

Each family member has a line of pockets, each with seven pockets labeled with the days of the week.  After the game is played, everyone distributes their cards into the days they will perform their chore.  Daily chores are simply moved down the line as they are completed each day.  When one-time chores are completed, they are flipped over.  At the end of the week, salaries will be paid (in fake "housebucks") if all the jobs were completed.  The kids can then use those "housebucks" for activities or exchange it for money ($100 Housebucks = $1.00.  Generally their chores add up to about $300-$400 housebucks a week.)  I created a menu of things the kids really like, so they can gauge what to save for.  My daughter loves sleepovers, so a sleepover with one friend is $250 Housebucks.  Why?  Because it costs us money, time and energy to have a friend over.  It is a privilege that must be earned.  Lunch out at one of our local diners is $200 house bucks.  Family bowling night is $1000 Housebucks.  

And yes, my husband and I play, too.  Sometimes he will get Cook Dinner or Clean Bathroom... and it shows the kids that while Dad works and makes the family's money, he also has an important part to play at home.  It takes a team.  YAY, TEAM FAMILY!!!

So far, it has worked really well.  We have added a few more chore cards as we saw a need for them.  Sometimes they don't get their stuff done, and I have to tell the manager to do his or her job.  The laundry still looks like Trash Heap, and more often than not you have to maneuver your way carefully through the bedrooms.  BUT, it feels like we are a team.  We all enjoy the game, and the kids choose their activities wisely... knowing that if they have a sleepover on Saturday, they may not have enough Housebucks to also go out to lunch Tuesday.

The next step in the game is to make checkbook ledgers for each of us, so the "cash" doesn't run out.

Let me know if you have questions on how to implement this game at home!  Also, PLEASE share with us any other money - management activities or resources you have used successfully.

Also, tell us about free and cheap field trips and other home school-ey stuff.  Share the wealth! :)

I'm Back, but Not the Same

I am so sorry, dear readers.  I have been absent for what seems like a lifetime.  Indeed, I feel like a different woman now from when I last posted.  This year of home schooling, or let's just say "living,"  has taken an incredible turn into the sunshine.  Before I start singing "the hills are alive, with the sound of music," let me just ground that in the fact that my feet are fully on the ground and I always carry an umbrella.  But for now, I am happy and my family is harmonious.

I have realized, through a long and unexpected series of events and new relationships, that it's not precisely how you teach your children math and history and science that's the real foundation of education.  More so, it's how you build their relationship with learning that's important.  My ingrained (from 17 years of formal education) adherence to academic rigidity was causing a major chasm between me and my children, and my husband's insistence on a tight schedule was interfering with our loving relationship.  Ugh.

I've recently had the opportunity to be in company with a great deal of unschoolers.  While for a very long time I was afraid of that term, I have now come to embrace its very essence.  It means- to follow the child's lead, to give them a taste of many different learning opportunities and let them run with whatever interests them, to center their education around what inspires them.  I still make sure they do math, and learn proper grammar and spelling... but why should I make Asher do a report about a famous author when he is eager and willing to write an inspiring blog post about his passion for parkour?  When he is in a production of Carmina Burana at the Opera House, it makes sense for him to learn about Carl Orff.  When Cady is busy making organic cotton candy, she is more than excited to look up the history of "Faerie Floss," along the way learning a great deal about the World's Fair and life in the early 1900's.

Asher is taking History of the Renaissance and Physics at our co-op, along with cooking, knitting, felting, and drama.  Cady is taking Cooking Around the World, learning about various cultures as she tastes her way through exotic countries.  The thing I've learned about most home schooled kids is that when they want to learn about something, they do.  Another thing I've learned is that home education in the U.S. is growing by 15% annually, and colleges are actively searching out home educated children because they tend to choose their majors well and become passionate about their work- thus being high achievers in their fields.

An incredible shift has taken place in my mind... from "homeschooling because I didn't have an option", to homeschooling as my chosen option.  I like how we are able to learn in a holistic environment, instead of chopping life into subjects.  For us, for my family (because I have said many times, I would never claim it's the best for everyone), it's what works for now- and maybe for a very long time.

Another exciting thing is that our family is in serious conversation about getting back into the coffee shop business.  The kids LOVE this idea.   I will leave you with a little snippet from one of my other blogs, which highlights unschooling at its finest!

I imagine a cool, funky, eclectic shop with big leather couches and a checker board painted on one of the wooden tables. [Asher] would have a hand in all the baking... because his desire has been (for several years running) to be a pastry chef... and judging by his chocolate death pie (handed down from father to son), he's doin' all right! [Cady] could spin her organic cotton candy in the certified kitchen, re-branding it “Sugar Buzz.” It would give us something to work toward as a family, together. As a home schooling family, it is the perfect platform for learning about life, about economics, about work and money management.[Asher]voluntarily read a book called “Beat the Rat Race” last night, and gave me a run-down of assets and liabilities this afternoon. We also watched a video about coffee production, from plant to cup. They were fascinated.

While Dad gets roasting, the kids and I will be starting a tiny little windowsill hydroponic coffee farm. (No officer, those are coffea arabica plants. Like a cup o joe, Joe?) I seriously think it's the logical next step in the world of the caffeine junky. However, it takes three years to achieve a cherry... In the meantime, the lovely process of growth and germination will provide us with excellent botany lessons! I also hope to plant some various potted tea herbs. Making our own delicious herbal-brews may also be on our horizon. Why do it if you're going to do it half-assed, right?

So we no longer separate school from life.  Our family feels in harmony, happy, and re-energized!  Sure, we have our struggles like every other family.  But now they seem small and conquerable, hills compared to mountains.  I look forward to sharing more of my journey with you!  Perhaps I will eventually give up the pseudonyms so you can also follow our coffee shop journey... Let me think about that! 

So for now,

Kara Muse

"Home" Does Not = Recluse

You know that house in the neighborhood where there's always about seventeen bikes strewn about the front lawn, an abandoned lemonade stand by the sidewalk, chalk drawings smothering the driveway, and plastic cups littering the patio table?  That house where the bushes are never trimmed, the windows rarely clean of window crayon... but the door is always open and you can usually smell chocolate chip cookies baking?  Oh, and you can usually see a slew of kids eating those cookies and drinking that lemonade and dropping those bikes on the lawn.

Yep.  You know that house.  You probably have a strong opinion about that house, one way or another.  In Blue Grass Farms, at least in four block radius of the court, that house is my house.  And we like it that way.

The other day I had a family member, once again, play the "socialization card" in his argument against home schooling.  Hmmmm. 

Let's compare:  Our first day of homeschool this year, my kids finished up by 12:00 noon.  By that time, the new neighbor's boys were in their back yard.  Cady and Asher ran out to the fence to introduce themselves, and before I knew it they were at our house playing Foosball, jumping on the trampoline, riding bikes, and having lemonade.  While they were still over, my daughter's friend M came by to join in the raucous.  She stayed on for dinner (a big pot of chicken and rice soup, home made).  She had three bowls... Leaving just enough to have another neighbor and his kids over for soup, too.  Oh, and the single guy across the street stopped over just in time to lap up the last ladleful!

THEN, as the sun was just thinking about drifting off to sleep, another friend stopped next door to help her boyfriend move some of his stuff in, bringing along her two boys... who immediately ran to our tree for climbing and our trampoline!  My kids weren't  "alone" until time for them to drop into bed.

So much for my reclusive home schooled kids turning out to be uni bombers, holed up in a shack plotting against society because they weren't exposed to hundreds of kids in a controlled, scheduled setting from 8:00-3:00, Monday through Friday.  Sorry to disappoint you, disgruntled anti-homeschool family member.  Your argument doesn't make sense.  Want to debate?

Right now, my daughter is sitting next to me with her friend that slept over night last night.  My son is at his Michigan Opera Theatre Children's Chorus rehearsal for Carmina Burana for three hours (oh, yes, it takes more than one kid to put on an opera... there's only 50 kids and many adult performers... including professionals from Cirque de Soleil [shameless plug]).

Yesterday, they had a great day at their homeschool classes.  And yes, they are real classes:  Earth Science, Drama, Medieval History and Literature, Math.  Each class had 6-15 kids.  Nice teacher - student ratio, huh?  And Asher got an enthusiastic sleepover invitation.  It didn't happen to work for last night, but we will plan it for the near future.  The point is, he was INVITED! 

Hmmm, yes I "hmmmm" again.  His last year at public school he was never invited to a thing  by a classmate, and sat alone at lunch almost every day.  Which is a more fertile environment for the growing of a reclusive, angry human being? 

For this child, for my family, for right now (because this family is the only one I am qualified to make these kind of decisions for), I am confident that home is where we need to be. 

Home.. and at rehearsal in Detroit, and at the dance studio, and the community theatre rehearsal, and at the home school group in Warren, and at scouts, and at art class, and at music lessons, and at the neighbor's house, and riding bikes with a mob of kids in the neighborhood... Learning how to be kids with other kids through life, through groups, through lots and lots of free play...  tromping around the neighborhood with kids, thinking of things to do, riding bikes, making up games... THAT's where kids learn how to navigate life.

Home doesn't mean "homebound," it doesn't mean "recluse."  Home is just where we cover the academics... out in the world is where we cover the rest.