The Autodidact

Hey Newbies! You there, just starting out with your little ones! Yes, YOU! Having trouble teaching your 3 year old? Your 4 year old won’t sit still? Your 2 year old is fighting with you over school work? The 5 year old would rather be playing? Your 6 year old not even reading yet?? I have great news! This is normal! Your kids are OK. Kids are not meant for formal school work on a daily, consistent basis until they are about 8 years old. Notice I said “daily” and “consistent.” It’s so tempting to jump into formal schooling at the first sign our little ones express an interest in something. But then they lose interest and become frustrated with us for expecting them to conform to our notion of “school.” School is not natural. It is foreign to the wonderful, intricate mind and body of a child. It confounds them. They just want to learn, but too often we interpret that as a sign they are ready to sit still, hold a pencil and do formal schooling. But children are much more fl...

Here's an easy Italian dish that pleases the whole family. Prep time is not long, and you can do all of it, except for the baking, ahead of time. You will need: 3 chicken breasts 4 cups seasoned bread crumbs 3 eggs olive oil- up to a cup 1/2 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 24-30 oz (or more if you want) of spaghetti sauce Cut 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts into strips with scissors. It's much easier to do this when the chicken is partially thawed. Whisk 3 eggs in a bowl, and pour about 2 cups of seasoned bread crumbs onto a plate. Have 2 more cups of crumbs ready to use as the old crumbs will get gummed up from the eggs. Just add crumbs as you need them. Pour about a quarter of a cup olive oil into a large skillet and heat on medium high. When your oil is hot, coat the chicken pieces with egg one at a time, and dredge through the crumbs. Place in pan and brown on one side, then turn over to brown on the other. You...

Stuffed Peppers are so simple that no recipe is really needed. But sometimes things are so simple, we forget about them! These can be whipped up in minutes but look like you fussed. They are truly comfort food on a cool evening, and are so easy.  For my crew, I cut off the tops of 14 Italian style peppers. I used about 2 pounds of Italian sausage. You can use bulk, or links (just remove the casing). You can use mild or spicy sausage. When my husband makes these, he mixes in Mozzarella cheese. Stuff the sausage in the peppers and bake at 350 or so for about 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on them and test inside the largest pepper to make sure the sausage is fully cooked. Ready to pop in the oven. While they are baking, pull out some homemade  Italian bread  bread from the freezer, cook up some pasta and heat up some spaghetti or marinara sauce. Open a nice bottle of red wine. The peppers will brown and shrivel a bit, but they are delicious. Man...

The kids and I are studying South America this year for school, and I decided it would be fun to find traditional dishes from each country and cook as we work our way around the continent. This is a recipe that looked easy to make and used easy to find ingredients. For a large family, you will need: 3-4 pounds boneless chicken 16 ounces bacon 2 onions 6 garlic cloves 1 chili pepper 1 can tomato paste 4 t garam masala 10 allspice berries 6 T soy sauce 3 T brown sugar 2 cups chicken broth 2/3 cups coconut milk ! lg can of pork and beans 1 t salt 1 t black pepper 1/2 t nutmeg 1 T peanut oil celery leaves for garnish 1.Cut chicken into small pieces and season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set aside. 2,Mince onions, chili pepper and garlic. Set aside. 3.Cut bacon into small pieces and cook. Drain and set aside. 4. In a large pot, heat the peanut oil and a tablespoon or so of the bacon drippings and cook the chicken. Cook only halfway. 5...

College and the real world weighs heavily on those homeschoolers whose children are not quite there yet. How will I get them into college? How will they function in the real world or the classroom? What curricula or method or type of co-op is the best to help in this endeavor? Now that I have two graduates who are out there in that real world of college and work, they have graciously given me feedback on what prepared them for the paths they have chosen to pursue. My oldest has an Associates of Arts, and EMT certification and is in Medic school, while working as an EMT and, for the summer, as a lifeguard instructor/pool manager. My second oldest is in the Army National Guard, is also working as a lifeguard for the summer, drills with the Guard once a month, and has finished one year of college. Do we really have such little faith in our kids' abilities to think that a classroom or a job would completely stymie them? Do we really think that once they set foot out in the real w...

Recently, I was in a very encouraging and lively Facebook discussion concerning a newbie homeschooler mom who was ready to throw in the towel. With a 6 year old. It was great to see so many other moms come along side her and encourage her and ask good questions. Among things recommended by many, including myself, was simply reading to her children. To just push aside all the workbooks and projects and curricula and read aloud, and then read some more. Then go play and do some chores together. The mom and some other moms feeling the same were encouraged and open to the advice from the older, more experienced moms. During the conversation, the original poster said she liked the idea of shoving aside the school stuff and just reading and living life with her kids, but it felt like cheating. And a light went on in my head. Bingo! Eureka! She was so right. We ARE cheating, beating the system at its own game. We moms, some with "only" a high school diploma, armed with ve...

Mothers's Day is hard for me, but not for the usual reasons. I just have trouble accepting any honor or credit for my mothering. I've messed up big time on more than one occasion; I have found myself doing and saying the very things I swore I would never do or say; I just don't feel worthy of the accolades and flowers, however much I like having them. And that's the struggle for me: the handmade cards, flowers, special meals and well wishes all feel good and at the same time point out to me my horrible failures. I look at my kids and see all the good things that they are and do, and I say to myself "How did that happen? How did they learn that? It surely wasn't something I did!" I look at their struggles and shortcomings and I say to myself "That's my fault. I did this, and I can't undo it. I hope they can forgive me and overcome it." Mother's Day for me is part beating myself up for the job I've done, and part being in...