New Member Tina Rod.
Tina
Hi!! I'm new, I was referred to the list by Ren (Hi Ren!!). I'm 30
years old, married for 9 years to my high school crush (we didn't
actually start dating till he was in college, so I can't call him my
high school sweetheart), who is in the US Air Force for the past 9
years. I am lucky enough to be the mother of two wonderful kids,
Kyle, age 7, and Nicole, age 4. We just started our homeschool
journey this year, my son went to public school last year for
Kindergarten. I have had a facinating (to me anyway) evolution since
I started down this homeschooling path as I worked from near total
ignorance to basic concepts, to overwhelmed by all the options (and
opinions) out there. When we first officially started I had WAY too
much curriculum, I mean total overkill. Luckily I let go of some of
my insecurities and we started culling it down week by week and
tweaking and adjusting to fit the kids better and better as we went.
But I still wasn't happy with it, it still felt "unnatural" (do you
remember those commercials? "That's not Natural! But Oak Express
is!!"). So as I had gradually grown more and more attracted to
Unschooling (at the beginning I feared it), I've finally decided that
this is definately the way we should go. So now I just need to make
the last adjustments, the hardest of which seems to be letting go of
the fears and assumed need for control and intervention.
Part of the reason I know deep inside that Unschooling will/does work
is because when I really thought about it, I unschooled myself in
most of the things I know how to do today. Yes I went to school (13
years of PS, 1 year of college, 6 months of vo-tech school), but I
remember it always seemed to get in the way of what I really wanted
to learn about, and I always seemed to do so well on my own (in vo-
tech school I only took half of the class, was offered a job doing
what I was learning at the school after one week of class, went full
time and stopped the class after the first semester, took the
completion test at the end of the year and not only passed, I made
the highest grade out of all the students who had taken the whole two
year class). So I know it works because I've seen it in myself.
One thing I do still have issues with, I don't know if anyone else
here has a problem with this, is my husband. He does not get on
board with the unschool/homeschool/child led/natural child
rearing/etc. He was raised by very strict, borderline abusive
parents, and he tends to get very loud/angry/negative. I'm working
with him, trying to get him to come around, but still it's
challenging sometimes. I know in the past I have been what I feel
now is a "bad" parent, partly because growing up and everything I've
ever known is you do what your parents did, what you are told, you
don't go against the "flow", and I've just in the past few years
begun to wake up and realize I don't have to do things these ways, I
can strike my own path and do what feels right to me. My biggest
problem is I have an utter lack of support. So I'm working on giving
myself the confidence and approval I thought I needed from others,
and building up a strong character that can put up with the comments
from others. Heck, where I am, people think I'm nuts because I can
actually stand to be around my kids for more than 3 hours!! Can you
believe that?? My neighbors actually stopped talking to me because
they thought I was weird that I spend all day with my kids and
actually enjoy it!! I'm not going to question a mom on her choices
for her family, but why do they think it's any business of theirs or
a problem of mine that I spend time with my kids and like it??
Anyway, so we are just starting the unschooling part of our
adventure, or rather the full unschooling part. We have been taking
long breaks during the day where we build puppet theaters and make
puppet shows, create new games, build an obstacle course that goes
through the livingroom, kitchen, and dining room, built lightsabers
out of paper, etc. In fact, those things actually derailed
our "scheduled homeschool" to the point we are about three weeks
behind, although that won't matter any more. I look forward to
tossing the books and discovering where the children will take us.
Oh, and if it's important, I live in southwest Oklahoma, but we will
be moving to central OK sometime this fall when my husband gets out
of the military. I like cats and dogs, although I'm more partial to
cats. I love to read, watch movies, stimulating tv, some junk tv,
email, groups, surfing the internet, playing The Sims (original and
2), cooking (or actually more baking), some crafts, learning new
things all the time, playing board games, attempting to clean up/out
my house, and a whole bunch of other stuff I can't think of at the
moment. I'm nowhere near perfect in anyway, I tend to have long
runon sentences (and long commentaries in parenthesis that may
pertain to the topic or might just be a mindless wandering thought),
I'm a little of this and that and defy most labels, I'm lost, looking
for like minded people and yet at the same time realizing that as a
unique person I can settle for common threads. I'm mathmatically
challenged except where it comes to money, I love to write email but
not letters, I have 40 years of National Geographics that I inherited
from my Great Aunt (and I intend to read them all, eventually). Most
of that probably isn't relavent in anyway, but there it is
nonetheless. Also, I'm a much better speller when I'm sending email
from my outlook express, as I have spell check. ;) Oh, and if any
of this doesn't make sense, I'm running on little sleep at the
moment, so that's why.
Anyway, I'm glad to be a part of the group!! I look forward to
meeting you all!!
Tina Rod.
Dysfunctional Domestic Diva
years old, married for 9 years to my high school crush (we didn't
actually start dating till he was in college, so I can't call him my
high school sweetheart), who is in the US Air Force for the past 9
years. I am lucky enough to be the mother of two wonderful kids,
Kyle, age 7, and Nicole, age 4. We just started our homeschool
journey this year, my son went to public school last year for
Kindergarten. I have had a facinating (to me anyway) evolution since
I started down this homeschooling path as I worked from near total
ignorance to basic concepts, to overwhelmed by all the options (and
opinions) out there. When we first officially started I had WAY too
much curriculum, I mean total overkill. Luckily I let go of some of
my insecurities and we started culling it down week by week and
tweaking and adjusting to fit the kids better and better as we went.
But I still wasn't happy with it, it still felt "unnatural" (do you
remember those commercials? "That's not Natural! But Oak Express
is!!"). So as I had gradually grown more and more attracted to
Unschooling (at the beginning I feared it), I've finally decided that
this is definately the way we should go. So now I just need to make
the last adjustments, the hardest of which seems to be letting go of
the fears and assumed need for control and intervention.
Part of the reason I know deep inside that Unschooling will/does work
is because when I really thought about it, I unschooled myself in
most of the things I know how to do today. Yes I went to school (13
years of PS, 1 year of college, 6 months of vo-tech school), but I
remember it always seemed to get in the way of what I really wanted
to learn about, and I always seemed to do so well on my own (in vo-
tech school I only took half of the class, was offered a job doing
what I was learning at the school after one week of class, went full
time and stopped the class after the first semester, took the
completion test at the end of the year and not only passed, I made
the highest grade out of all the students who had taken the whole two
year class). So I know it works because I've seen it in myself.
One thing I do still have issues with, I don't know if anyone else
here has a problem with this, is my husband. He does not get on
board with the unschool/homeschool/child led/natural child
rearing/etc. He was raised by very strict, borderline abusive
parents, and he tends to get very loud/angry/negative. I'm working
with him, trying to get him to come around, but still it's
challenging sometimes. I know in the past I have been what I feel
now is a "bad" parent, partly because growing up and everything I've
ever known is you do what your parents did, what you are told, you
don't go against the "flow", and I've just in the past few years
begun to wake up and realize I don't have to do things these ways, I
can strike my own path and do what feels right to me. My biggest
problem is I have an utter lack of support. So I'm working on giving
myself the confidence and approval I thought I needed from others,
and building up a strong character that can put up with the comments
from others. Heck, where I am, people think I'm nuts because I can
actually stand to be around my kids for more than 3 hours!! Can you
believe that?? My neighbors actually stopped talking to me because
they thought I was weird that I spend all day with my kids and
actually enjoy it!! I'm not going to question a mom on her choices
for her family, but why do they think it's any business of theirs or
a problem of mine that I spend time with my kids and like it??
Anyway, so we are just starting the unschooling part of our
adventure, or rather the full unschooling part. We have been taking
long breaks during the day where we build puppet theaters and make
puppet shows, create new games, build an obstacle course that goes
through the livingroom, kitchen, and dining room, built lightsabers
out of paper, etc. In fact, those things actually derailed
our "scheduled homeschool" to the point we are about three weeks
behind, although that won't matter any more. I look forward to
tossing the books and discovering where the children will take us.
Oh, and if it's important, I live in southwest Oklahoma, but we will
be moving to central OK sometime this fall when my husband gets out
of the military. I like cats and dogs, although I'm more partial to
cats. I love to read, watch movies, stimulating tv, some junk tv,
email, groups, surfing the internet, playing The Sims (original and
2), cooking (or actually more baking), some crafts, learning new
things all the time, playing board games, attempting to clean up/out
my house, and a whole bunch of other stuff I can't think of at the
moment. I'm nowhere near perfect in anyway, I tend to have long
runon sentences (and long commentaries in parenthesis that may
pertain to the topic or might just be a mindless wandering thought),
I'm a little of this and that and defy most labels, I'm lost, looking
for like minded people and yet at the same time realizing that as a
unique person I can settle for common threads. I'm mathmatically
challenged except where it comes to money, I love to write email but
not letters, I have 40 years of National Geographics that I inherited
from my Great Aunt (and I intend to read them all, eventually). Most
of that probably isn't relavent in anyway, but there it is
nonetheless. Also, I'm a much better speller when I'm sending email
from my outlook express, as I have spell check. ;) Oh, and if any
of this doesn't make sense, I'm running on little sleep at the
moment, so that's why.
Anyway, I'm glad to be a part of the group!! I look forward to
meeting you all!!
Tina Rod.
Dysfunctional Domestic Diva
Tina
Melissa, Cool!! Maybe we can meet when I get up there? What part of Central OK do you live in? We are thinking about Choctaw, or some where near that area. We are originally from the Little Axe area, but after living in/near cities and towns for the past 9 years, hubby wants to live closer to the city. I still want some country type land to run about on, so we are trying to find a place to make us both happy. He'll most likely work in OKC somewhere.
I agree with you about the parents who can't wait for their kids to go to school. My neighbor would go crazy if her kids had a three day weekend, she couldn't handle it. I was the opposite the one year my son went to school, I couldn't wait for him to come home and would count down the days till he had a long break and would be home with us. I was so happy when school was over and he was home again!!
°Ü° Tina Rod. °Ü°
Dysfunctional Domestic Diva
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I agree with you about the parents who can't wait for their kids to go to school. My neighbor would go crazy if her kids had a three day weekend, she couldn't handle it. I was the opposite the one year my son went to school, I couldn't wait for him to come home and would count down the days till he had a long break and would be home with us. I was so happy when school was over and he was home again!!
°Ü° Tina Rod. °Ü°
Dysfunctional Domestic Diva
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Tina
Kay, thank you for the book suggestion!! I'll look into that!! DH is willing to change, he just didn't have a lot of good role models growing up, and he is a little more stuck in "this is the way it's always done" than I am. I always seem to wonder "Why is this the way it's done? That's stupid!" So I change, show him that it is good/does work, and then he comes around. He is trying, he just tends to back slide when he gets frustrated. But I'll look for that book, thank you!!
°Ü° Tina Rod. °Ü°
Dysfunctional Domestic Diva
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
°Ü° Tina Rod. °Ü°
Dysfunctional Domestic Diva
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
multimomma
Hi Tina,
I'm in central Oklahoma as well, so when you move, you can know that *I* won't think you're
crazy for enjoying being with your kids. I get that over and over too, statements about how
they can't wait until their kids are back in school (our district was only out for nine days for
the winter holiday) and how can I stand it? It breaks my heart for those kids...to hear that
their parents can't stand for them to be around.
Anyway, I ramble too, I'm your age, and I have seven kids, two of them are your children's
ages. I'm new to homeschooling, and still feeling my way. This group and the AlwaysLearning
group have really been my mainstay for the past few weeks.
As for pets, don't really like mammals, all of our pets have been crustaceans or reptiles. ;-)
Melissa
I'm in central Oklahoma as well, so when you move, you can know that *I* won't think you're
crazy for enjoying being with your kids. I get that over and over too, statements about how
they can't wait until their kids are back in school (our district was only out for nine days for
the winter holiday) and how can I stand it? It breaks my heart for those kids...to hear that
their parents can't stand for them to be around.
Anyway, I ramble too, I'm your age, and I have seven kids, two of them are your children's
ages. I'm new to homeschooling, and still feeling my way. This group and the AlwaysLearning
group have really been my mainstay for the past few weeks.
As for pets, don't really like mammals, all of our pets have been crustaceans or reptiles. ;-)
Melissa
--- In [email protected], "Tina" <poey@c...> wrote:
> Oh, and if it's important, I live in southwest Oklahoma, but we will
> be moving to central OK sometime this fall when my husband gets out
> of the military. I like cats and dogs,
nrskay
Hi Tina and welcome;
I have a very tolerant and kind dh, but I have a friend who's husband
is mean with the kids. He treats them terribly at times, almost to
the point of abuse. Anyway I recommended a book to her and she is
reading it with her husband in the hopes he will see his behavior and
want to change it.
It's called "Nonviolent Communication" by M. Rosenberg. You can find
it on Amazon or maybe at the library. I don't know if your husband is
willing to change, but thought I would share this.
Kay
I have a very tolerant and kind dh, but I have a friend who's husband
is mean with the kids. He treats them terribly at times, almost to
the point of abuse. Anyway I recommended a book to her and she is
reading it with her husband in the hopes he will see his behavior and
want to change it.
It's called "Nonviolent Communication" by M. Rosenberg. You can find
it on Amazon or maybe at the library. I don't know if your husband is
willing to change, but thought I would share this.
Kay
Tina
Melissa, Wow, that's great to know!! My husband currently is in computer systems operations, although this is his third career field in the Air Force, he was a Satellite Systems Operator and an Avionics Technician before. He's planning on staying in computers when he gets out, although he might go back into one of his other fields, it just depends. Right now he's setting up the standardization and evaluation section for his computer techs, and although he doesn't necessarily want to do this exact job in the civilian world, he's admitted he's considering it. He kind of likes more hands on working with setting up and fixing the computers, but being in charge of this program has pushed him to research and build something from scratch, which he likes to do. He just doesn't consider it very hands on.
We go through Norman everytime we go home, as we take the HE Bailey spur from the turnpike and take hwy 9 out to where our parents live. We are thinking about going up for the Medieval fair too, the kids love that.
°Ü° Tina Rod. °Ü°
Dysfunctional Domestic Diva
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
We go through Norman everytime we go home, as we take the HE Bailey spur from the turnpike and take hwy 9 out to where our parents live. We are thinking about going up for the Medieval fair too, the kids love that.
°Ü° Tina Rod. °Ü°
Dysfunctional Domestic Diva
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Tina
Melissa, Wow, how cool!! Hubby and I kind of officially hooked up at the medieval fair too!! We had gone on a couple of dates before hand, maybe two or three (duh, that's a couple, sorry), but the weekend we went to the fair we decided to make it official. It's funny, we became official on April 4 (4-4) and then got married almost 4 years later on August 8 (8-8). I always said 4 was my lucky number.
I've always wanted to get involved with the SCA, but we never did. I have thought about joining as a family now that the kids are big enough to get into it. They both love sword fighting and the time period (they also love Star Wars, and in a weird way, they kind of interconnect). I had a very good friend in school that was a major member for many years, although I don't know if he still is part of it or not. We would usually find him there when we went.
What day do you usually go? We have usually gone on a Saturday, but last year it was SOO crowded that I'm thinking about having hubby take some leave so we can head up early and go on Friday. At the very least we can leave the dog at my parents house and not have to worry about her at the park.
Hubby really wants to get on at Tinker (he lived there as a kid when his dad was in the AF and he has always wanted to go back). I think he feels more comfortable with the military element since he was a military brat and now has spent most of his adult life in the military too. But he's open to anything, and although we are thinking Choctaw, we are open to living anywhere in the area. I figure when he finds his job we can go from there.
That would be cool to meet at the fair though!! And your son's shield sounds cool!! I think if we got into it my son would want to build his own armor and weapons too. I won't allow guns in my house, but swords are okay, and I can't quite figure out how I make that justification cause they technically both are weapons, but some how I make them different. My husband is about to start Tai Chi and when he heard they have swords, he was so excited.
°Ü° Tina Rod. °Ü°
Dysfunctional Domestic Diva
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I've always wanted to get involved with the SCA, but we never did. I have thought about joining as a family now that the kids are big enough to get into it. They both love sword fighting and the time period (they also love Star Wars, and in a weird way, they kind of interconnect). I had a very good friend in school that was a major member for many years, although I don't know if he still is part of it or not. We would usually find him there when we went.
What day do you usually go? We have usually gone on a Saturday, but last year it was SOO crowded that I'm thinking about having hubby take some leave so we can head up early and go on Friday. At the very least we can leave the dog at my parents house and not have to worry about her at the park.
Hubby really wants to get on at Tinker (he lived there as a kid when his dad was in the AF and he has always wanted to go back). I think he feels more comfortable with the military element since he was a military brat and now has spent most of his adult life in the military too. But he's open to anything, and although we are thinking Choctaw, we are open to living anywhere in the area. I figure when he finds his job we can go from there.
That would be cool to meet at the fair though!! And your son's shield sounds cool!! I think if we got into it my son would want to build his own armor and weapons too. I won't allow guns in my house, but swords are okay, and I can't quite figure out how I make that justification cause they technically both are weapons, but some how I make them different. My husband is about to start Tai Chi and when he heard they have swords, he was so excited.
°Ü° Tina Rod. °Ü°
Dysfunctional Domestic Diva
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
multimomma
I live in Norman, and love it. There's a huge homeschooling community here,
www.nahe-ok.org and no one looks at you funny or asks why your kids aren't at school. In
fact, during the day nearly everywhere you go you'll meet up with another homeschooling
family. Choctaw is nice, that's in eastern OK county right?
Where is your hubby working now? What kind of work does he do? Does he have any ideas of
where he wants to go?
anyway, I'd like to meet up with you sometimes...just let me know. We're really flexible on
timing ;-)
Melissa
www.nahe-ok.org and no one looks at you funny or asks why your kids aren't at school. In
fact, during the day nearly everywhere you go you'll meet up with another homeschooling
family. Choctaw is nice, that's in eastern OK county right?
Where is your hubby working now? What kind of work does he do? Does he have any ideas of
where he wants to go?
anyway, I'd like to meet up with you sometimes...just let me know. We're really flexible on
timing ;-)
Melissa
--- In [email protected], "Tina" <poey@c...> wrote:
>
> Melissa, Cool!! Maybe we can meet when I get up there? What part of Central OK do you
live in? We are thinking about Choctaw, or some where near that area. We are originally from
the Little Axe area
multimomma
dagnabbit, forgot to mention another group, homeschoolinginOKCmetro...the listowner is an
unschooler, so there's no fear of joining and having them think you're nuts. LOL!
M
unschooler, so there's no fear of joining and having them think you're nuts. LOL!
M
--- In [email protected], "multimomma" <autismhelp@c...> wrote:
>
> I live in Norman, and love it. There's a huge homeschooling community here,
multimomma
Medieval fair=cool! I've gone every year since I was 14, and it was my hubby and my first
date! A gentleman taught him how to kiss my hand romantically, and I always wish I could
find him again and let him know he jumpstarted a marriage. First weekend of April...we'll
meet you there!
Last year Josh was excited and got out some wood and made his own viking style sword and
shield to take. After Global Oklahoma this year (where the UCO SCA set up a village) he was
disappointed to see that his shield was not made like theirs. But he got some ideas on what
to do differently. I think very cool last year he became interested in building a trebuchet. Like
I said, Norman is a great place to find resources....
We're going to the movies tomorrow, followed by a visit to the art museum. Interesting mix,
and might make for a long day.
Your hubby might check out both Tinker AFB and OU because I believe they are always
looking for IT guys. It's steady, OU pays more but Tinker has better benefits. Just some ideas.
Melissa
date! A gentleman taught him how to kiss my hand romantically, and I always wish I could
find him again and let him know he jumpstarted a marriage. First weekend of April...we'll
meet you there!
Last year Josh was excited and got out some wood and made his own viking style sword and
shield to take. After Global Oklahoma this year (where the UCO SCA set up a village) he was
disappointed to see that his shield was not made like theirs. But he got some ideas on what
to do differently. I think very cool last year he became interested in building a trebuchet. Like
I said, Norman is a great place to find resources....
We're going to the movies tomorrow, followed by a visit to the art museum. Interesting mix,
and might make for a long day.
Your hubby might check out both Tinker AFB and OU because I believe they are always
looking for IT guys. It's steady, OU pays more but Tinker has better benefits. Just some ideas.
Melissa
--- In [email protected], "Tina" <poey@c...> wrote:
We are thinking about going up for the Medieval fair too, the kids love that.