Category Archives: Mama Jen

Six Kids, Three Countries, One Family – “That’s {not so} Crazy!”


The following blog post was written in the Summer:

We spent this past Saturday at a baseball tournament. Both boys were involved, so it meant some running around and coordinating schedules so both boys could get to the correct field at the correct time. Bob helps with both teams so it usually leaves me (and often my parents!) with the four younger kids.

As I was getting their lunch ready and they were sitting on the blanket waiting, a mom of one of Jacob’s teammates asked how old they all were. I went through their ages and she said “that’s crazy!”. She then confirmed that I was indeed Jacob’s mom and I mentioned we had another son playing on the 8U team, her reply “that’s crazy, you guys are crazy!”. Then some more of the usual questions followed… “Are they siblings?” etc, etc. Again the reply was “you guys are crazy!”. I walked away from the blanket for a moment and came back with something else and she said to me “I was just curious, I didn’t mean anything by the questions” and I said in return “It’s no problem, we get those questions all the time”. And we do. Our family looks visibly different than other families so we do open ourselves up to more stares and more questions. I am not really sure what causes more attention, the fact that we have six children who are fairly close in age, or the fact that we are an “international” family.

While we do often get many nice comments about our family, we also get the “that’s crazy” response too. Obviously this mom realized that her comments were a bit awkward. I don’t think my response or lack of response to “that’s crazy!” was anything impolite, I am just not sure what kind of response she was expecting from me. She certainly wasn’t paying me a compliment. She could have chosen to ask her questions and then made no comment at all.

We have made these choices for our family simply because they have been our choices, not because we want or need validation from others. I often wonder why people feel they have to comment at all? We do feel blessed at how God has chosen to form and grow our family and we love to talk about adoption. We also hope in some very small way that we can encourage others to consider adoption. It really was the whole point of making our blog public so that people can see, even though we are not biologically related, we still are a real family in every sense of the word.

~ Mama Jen

ABOUT MAMA JEN
Jen is a wife to one amazing husband and mom to six energetic kids.  Visit Forever, For Always, No Matter What where she blogs about their Catholic faith, homeschooling and adoption.

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Guest Post: Homeschooling with Boys

Are you homeschooling?

Do you have boys?

Are you homeschooling boys?

I had a conversation recently with a friend who is homeschooling her 6 year-old son.  We were talking about different curriculum options and she was looking for my opinion – which I am always happy to give, sometimes even if I’m not asked!  My oldest is only 9 years-old so I am certainly no expert, but these are a few things that have worked for us.  My 9-year-old and 7-year-old are as different as night and day, yet these suggestions have worked for both of them.

1.  Have him answer questions orally instead of requiring writing.

2.  Use oral narration to check for comprehension.  When you read something interesting isn’t it fun to share the information with someone?  I don’t think I have ever said “wow, this is fascinating.  I can’t wait to answer the questions at the end of the section!”  At dinner Dad is usually the recipient of the fun facts from the day.

3.  Don’t be a slave to the curriculum – use what works.  You really don’t have to finish a workbook or 
do every single page.  It’s okay to drop something for a few weeks and come back to it at a later date.

4.  Let them keep their hands busy with legos or blocks while you read.

5.  Play games.  I need to do more of this, but playing games teach a whole host of things, such as counting, taking turns, and good sportsmanship.  Plus it’s fun!

6.  Ask your son what he is interested in learning about.  Of course in life there are many things that we do simply because they must be done, whether we like them or not.  Laundry, cleaning toilets, changing sheets on a bunk bed are a few that I can think of, but we still have plenty of time to learn about things we are truly interested in.  Boys they are usually interested in things like snakes, frogs, trucks, trains, or sports.  A whole lot of learning can occur while delving into these interesting topics.

7.  Whatever you do keep it short and sweet.  Short lessons with lots of in between time for moving around, chores, outside time, or whatever is necessary.  Boys need to move and it makes learning time much more productive.

All of these suggestions can be used with girls too!  None of these are anything new or earth-shattering, but they really can make learning more enjoyable for the whole family.

~ Mama Jen

ABOUT MAMA JEN
Jen is a wife to one amazing husband and mom to six energetic kids.  Visit Forever, For Always, No Matter What where she blogs about their Catholic faith, homeschooling and adoption.

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e-mail me, raisinglittlesaints {at} gmail.com
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On Raising Saints: Mama Mission for December {and November Accomplishments}

Welcome to On Raising Saints: Mama Mission!!!  I am setting monthly goals for myself and posting them here.  A couple of mama friends have also joined up in hopes of living a more authentic Catholic life.  If you missed my introductory post On Raising Saints: Mama Missions, please go there first before continuing and especially if you want to participate as well.

November Mission Update:  November was my first month doing the Raising Saints: Mama Mission.  November has come and gone and now I get to let you all know how I did, lol. {hear the lack of excitement in my voice?}  Looking back, my November Mission was VERY ambitious (don’t say I told you so, but one of you told me so, lol).  Here’s my list from November:

These are my missions for the month of November:

1.  Get up at 6:30AM.  {Epic fail!  I think I did this maybe 5 of the 30 days in November, I’m so not the early bird!  *sigh*}

2.  Get to bed by 10:30PM.   {Another Epic fail! Of course, I am totally an night owl, this is something I’ve been trying to work on for two years now, so I have to cut me some slake and not think I can accomplish this in 30 days, lol (Why?  see epic fail above in no. 1)}

3.  Update the Chore Chart now that the kids are ready for new jobs (smaller kids ready for more responsibilities).  {I started this and not finished, I’m analyzing whom will do what and testing out before printing so, I’ll say this is half done}

4.  Finish reading Raising Real Men for Timberdoodle.  {Still reading the book, love it, but I’m also reading 3 other books, I have to stop reading more than one at a time, lol, add to December mission?}

5.  Keep up with reading and using Magnificat on a daily basis to start and end my days with prayers.  {I did pretty good with this one, LOVED the Magnificat and posting about how awesome it is and what a great Christmas gift this would be from your hubbys *hint* *hint*}  

6.  Go to daily Mass.  {This got squashed because our Parish went from two Masses daily to one Mass and alternating mornings and evenings.  My hubby did better than I on this one, and since we are ONE in Christ through Marriage, I’ll give this one a half accomplishment as well, lol}

7.  Get to Co-Op in time for the Rosary which isn’t mandatory so I use that time to get there instead of being there :(.  {This didn’t happen but once, Co-Op is over.  I did, however prayed the Rosary on the way there if we knew we weren’t going to join the group.  Half accomplishment!}

8.  Purge toys and clothing by giving the good things away to those who need them.  DONE!  Yay, this felt so good…I got two huge garbage bags full, also got a still usable but not needed monitor and donates all to Goodwill.  I need another toy purge though and deciding on becoming a minimalist in this department, more later.}

9.  Stick to my daily schedule with the kids as much as possible (I know things happen but I really need to be more in this).  {With some wiggle room, this was accomplished, except not at the desired times, see #s 1 and 2 above!}

10. Catch up with all the reviews I need to do for this blog (I have a box full of goodies).  {Reviews are in the works, for some reason (maybe because of Christmas) a bunch of them came in the door all at the same time}

While I did make progress in some of the items, I didn’t get most of it accomplished so for November I’ll have to say that:

My On Raising Saints Mama Mission for December 2011:  I’m going to go lean this time and not set myself for some future failure, rofl, and considering we are busy with Advent and preparing for Christmas, here is my mission:
1.  Get up at 6:30AM &  Get to bed by 10:30PM.
2.  Update the Chore Chart now that the kids are ready for new jobs (smaller kids ready for more responsibilities).
3.  Finish reading Raising Real Men for Timberdoodle.



What is your December Mama Mission?  If you participated last month, how did you do?

Blessings,
Mama Erika

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Happy Father’s Day to The Principal of the School

In honor of all Fathers {the Principals of our Schools} on Father’s Day, we introduce Mama Jen in her first Guest Blog on Raising {& Teaching} Little Saints, discussing the crucial role that fathers play in the success of the home schools.  
Welcome Mama Jen to RLS!  ~ Mama Erika
Interested in being a guest blogger on RLS?  
e-mail me, raisinglittlesaints {at} gmail.com

______________________________________________________________________

The Principal of the School
When I first brought up the topic of home education to my husband, his initial reaction was “no way, our kids will be weird and they will miss all kinds of normal stuff!”. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way baby! Now my husband is our biggest cheerleader and supporter of our home education journey.

Husbands can be such an integral part of the day, whether or not they are actively involved in teaching a class. Some dads are responsible for science, others for math, maybe some are in charge of the history lessons for the day. In our house, Dad isn’t responsible for a particular subject. He takes on a much broader role. He’s more like the superintendent, because he is also responsible for funding, maintenance, coach, and cheerleader.

Maybe some home educating moms desire a husband who will take charge of math, or science, or whatever. But my husband has a job that keeps him more than busy, I would prefer his time with us to be spent on more relaxed family activities like reading aloud, nature walks, bike rides, etc

What he does do is vitally important to the success of our day/month/year. He is a tremendous source of encouragement for all of us. Just the mere fact that I know he prays for us during the day is extremely uplifting.

He has gone from thinking home education was odd and our kids would be “weird”, to seeing it as been a great opportunity for our family. Sometimes the kids will say something throughout the course of dinner or anywhere really and he will catch my eye and say “see they do remember stuff!”.

My husband is a great sounding board for curriculum choices. He and I know our children best and he sometimes has a different insight into a particular child. He often can see the whole picture and not be consumed by the nitty gritty of daily tasks. Many times he can see progress in a particular area that I have missed.

Plain and simple, I couldn’t do this home education journey without his support, encouragement, and laughter!

How has your husband enriched your home education journey?

~ Mama Jen

ABOUT MAMA JEN
Jen is a wife to one amazing husband and mom to six energetic kids.  Visit Forever, For Always, No Matter What where she blogs about their Catholic faith, homeschooling and adoption.

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