The Autodidact

Christmas Greetings from the Marinos! 2017 was quite the year. God was faithful. God provided. God protected. Deborah moved out on her own in February, and graduated from Paramedic school in April. She was the only female in her class that made it through. She spent some time this summer managing and teaching Lifeguards at the local city pool, somehow while working 70+ hours a week as a paramedic. Sewing is still a passion and Deb creates such beautiful items!  Lewis is a junior in college, but also pursuing a law enforcement career. You'll just have to read next year's letter to see how that all pans out.  Margaret got her driver's license finally. Now she can drive herself to both choirs she sings in, swim practice, and her job. She tried out for track last year and really enjoyed that, and lettered in it as well as in swimming. She sang beautifully at her brother's wedding, and might study music next year at college. You'll have to rea

I had just had my babies and was then snatched away from certain death at the hands of the animal warden when I found myself in a large home with lots of kids and dogs. A really nice lady took me in and began to search for someone who would like to take me home forever. I wouldn't have minded staying there, but I understood this was just a stop on my tumultuous journey. Then after only a couple of days, the nice lady called a neighbor to come and meet me. She came with her kids, and I took one look at her, and knew. She was mine. My new mom, and these kids were mine. She snapped a leash on me and we walked to my new house. It was great! There were couches and beds and chairs- and they were all mine! There was food in my bowl every morning and evening, but better yet, the kids dropped a lot of food on the floor that I dutifully picked up. Thus began my career as a nanny and comforter, a guard dog and floor cleaner. Goodness, these folks sure needed me and I have no idea how they

On a typical day, my 8 year old is pretty busy with his education. I mean, he is at it all day. Oh, he's not sitting quietly at a desk, with a little halo hanging over his head. He's not diligently doing school work, like they do in school. He's too busy for that because he is being educated. If he has slept in a bit, he fixes himself breakfast. He makes really tasty scrambled eggs, but sometimes he just toasts a bagel or has cereal. Of course, he knows how to clean up after himself as well. Then he's off to getting dressed and making his bed and picking up his room a bit. He hops on his bike for a bit of exercise. But then he has to dash off to shoot his BB gun at an impressive array of targets he has set up in the back yard. He tried to set up moving targets using twine and a pulley system, but realized the danger of having a sibling operating the targets while down range, and scrapped that. Legos are next, and he spends quite a bit of time putting together

So now you find yourself with several children and the oldest is anywhere from 6 to 8 or 9 years old, and you are trying to figure out how to do school with the oldest, while taking care of the younger ones. And you think the only way around this is to make the older one do most of her school work independently. While I address the bigger picture of homeschooling while mothering little ones  here , this idea of pushing our children into independent work needs to be discussed. I have 7 children, my youngest being 6. Of all of them, only one was a truly independent learner. I really don't recall teaching her to read or do math; in fact, I rarely had the pleasure of explaining much of anything to her. But even she sat at the table with us doing her work. We would do some subjects together, and some (like math) independently, but all at the same location. Since she was an early reader, she would read on her own for pleasure wherever she chose. We all worked at the dining room table,

Sometimes things are too close to your heart to be able to speak of them. They can be pondered, but when it comes to words on paper, nothing seems to be able to describe how you feel. One day, recently, I discovered a Cardinal's nest right under my kitchen window. The babies had just hatched, and were fuzzy lumps with mouths opening wide whenever they thought food was near. They were so helpless and tiny, but mom and dad were always nearby to feed and protect, ready to die, if necessary, for their babies. The kids and I took such joy in watching them! Every morning we would check their progress, and day by day, they grew bigger and stronger and more feathers. It seemed they would be little forever. We thought we would have more time with them. But one morning, the 8 year old breathlessly came running to me to announce that one of the babies was out of the nest. It's too soon, I thought. Maybe it fell out, and we should put it back in, I thought. But no, mom a

So your wife wants to homeschool, but you're not so sure. You're full of questions and doubts and you want what's best for your child. Maybe you don't know any other homeschooling dads or their kids to see first hand how it all works. And you are likely a guy who wants to see proof, the bottom line, a flow chart or a graph- something tangible and, preferably involving numbers, that demonstrates just how well your child is doing. And so you, being the man of the house, and taking your responsibility as such seriously, express your misgivings to your wife. You may have given her a set amount of time to prove herself, or you have allowed her to go ahead, but you are open about your doubts. Maybe you are ready to pull the plug and make your wife put your child in school. Or, she is asking you- begging you- to let her homeschool. And you are not on board with that. I'd like you to imagine something for a minute. Imagine having worked hard at your company for 5-6 year

Women's Day is a thing now, I guess. The culture says I need to abstain from paid or unpaid labor and spend no money. I am being asked to only spend money in small businesses owned by women or people of color. I am asked to wear red. (Although this puzzles me. If I'm not going anywhere, who will know what I am wearing?) Let me tell you how I will spend my day. I will awaken, probably with my 5 year old snuggled up to me and sound asleep. She draws such comfort from being as close to me as she can. So, I will allow someone else to use my body. And I will relish it. I will get out of bed, and be thankful for another day. I will make breakfast for myself, as my husband gets up earlier than I to eat and watch the news. After I eat, I will whip up a batch of French Toast. The kids will come down and eat and be so happy! I will work to please others, they will be thankful, and I will draw pleasure from it. Then, I will organize the kids to pack up some books to take with us a

Now that I've graduated two and have a junior, and have used several levels of Saxon Math, I have a few things to share with those of you who want to use it, but are overwhelmed. I have older editions, so I'm not sure what the newer ones tell the parents how to use the books. My versions instruct the parents that to be successful, and have any hope at all of making it in the world, the student MUST complete EVERY problem in the book. In each and every book. Good grief. I about put my oldest in the hospital with that approach. I make all my mistakes on her, poor thing. Even bright math geeks need a good chunk of time per day to accomplish this, and I have noticed that many curricula of various subjects expect the same amount of work for the child to have a shot at a good life after high school. I have come up with a more sane and realistic approach. One that will work on most kids, and allows them to work at their own pace. One that will allow the child time for other subjec

The last two months have been filled with doctor's appointments and lots of time in waiting rooms. I have to take the younger 4 with me as I just don't quite trust them at home alone and the 14 year old is not really ready for that kind or responsibility.  I've watched all my grand plans for this year fall by the wayside in order for one of my kids to get the medical interventions she needs. Some weeks, nothing happens; other weeks, we manage to do something "school-ish" for a couple of days. I can't recall the last time we were home and did school every day of one whole week.  I still have to grocery shop, do laundry, manage my kitchen and keep house. Oh yes, and my oldest son is getting married in the Spring. I've been feeling like a failure and a slacker. The kids take school work with them, but waiting rooms are a bit distracting, so little gets done. Oddly enough, the one who is spending all the time being cared for by a variety of medi

I thought it was time for a change in the name of my blog. Why "The Autodidact"? I don't fancy myself as much as a self learner as my kids are. I wish I were half as resourceful as they are. But since this blog is about them and about mothering and homeschooling, I thought the title apt. I am amazed at what those kids learn when I am not meddling in their lives. And not just stuff out of books (and that accounts for much!), but stuff they learn to make and think, or how to figure things out for themselves. Adventures they have all by themselves or just with a sibling or two. It's not that I am absentee parenting- we are with each other for much of the day, or at least in close proximity. But they do wander off and amuse themselves with "play" but what they are really doing is teaching themselves. Most of the time, they don't even realize it. And so, I dedicate my new blog name to my kids- amazing autodidacts!

Electronics. Video games. TV shows. Ipads. PCs. Phones. They are everywhere and seemingly in the hands of most kids- and very young ones at that. I have older kids who never had those things because they weren't nearly as ubiquitous as they are today. I have young children who don't have them because the older ones turned out fine and perfectly normal without being plugged in to something. Honestly, it looks really weird to me to see kids as young as 8 or 9 engrossed in a device. Like they are unaware of their surroundings- in fact bored with them. Even though it's a common sight, it somehow seems as though they are enslaved. Enslaved to an object many times smaller than they are, but many times more powerful. It's just so sad, almost abusive, in fact. But parenting seems so much easier when a little device is placed in a child's hands. But is it? Often I hear moms wonder how to limit them in the home or how to wean the kids off or take a break. They seem helple

You never know what might come of a trip to the grocery store, and over the years, interesting things have happened there. Last week, I was at one of my usual stops on grocery day, waiting in a slow line with the 4 younger kids. The 8 year old, who loves to find analogue clocks and figure out the time, was studying the big clock on the wall. Only the 3,6,9, and 12 were on the clock, and the minutes were not marked off, so he was really enjoying the challenge. We discussed it and I gave him a bit of coaching, helping him think it through. He figured it out and by then we were almost done being checked out. We loaded the cart and went on our way. I gave it no more thought. Later in the day, when I realized I had forgotten a few things, I went back to the store by myself. The cashier spotted me in line, smiled and said: "weren't you just here?" in a friendly way. I recalled that she was the cashier from earlier, and remarked at what a good memory she had. She said she reme

We may have had our last dinner together as a family. At least, as a family that still all lives under one roof. The 21 year old begins moving out this weekend and will be officially out of the house in a few days. It was a simple meal. Nothing special. Just some soup. The younger kids and I had been eating for a few minutes when my husband and the 20 year old came home. Then the 21 year old arrived a few minutes later. People came and went and shuffled places around the table. There were a few squabbles and I had to send the 5 year old away from the table for a bad attitude. She later decided to eat her dinner and returned. I think the 16 year old left the table in tears and then came back. Someone threw a balled-up napkin across the room. The conversation started with discussing a tragic death of a police officer from a hit and run, to politics, then on to abortion. The younger ones drifted into the adjoining living room while the 4 older kids and my husband and I talked. The 13

New Years dinner calls for a seafood pasta dinner in our house. This year, I tweaked it to create something a bit different and new.  This will be an approximate recipe- I was cooking on the fly. Cook up your favorite pasta- this time I used Penne.  Cook some shrimp, scallops and sausage. You could use chorizo or Italian, You could also add mussels or any other meat that appeals to you. I also added green onions and bell peppers to the seafood. For the sauce, I blended in the Vita Mix some milk, Romano cheese, butter and yogurt and a pinch of flour. Once thoroughly blended, I added taco seasonings.  Mix everything in a large serving dish and serve immediately.

Here's a quick and easy one-pot dish that even the kids could make. This was adapted from an old recipe from one of my favorite cook books- More with Less. This makes enough for my family of 9 with leftover for a few lunches. Cut up: 6 cups potatoes 3 cups carrots 3 cups chopped celery 3 cups frozen corn Place veggies in a large pot with 1 1/2 cups water and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are mostly done. Add 5 cups of milk and heat- but do not boil. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese until melted. It's that simple. Enjoy!