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Stop telling me you’re sick of homeschooling!

I get it.  We're all isolated, or at least, most of us are.  We're home with kids.  It's exasperating. How are you holding up? If you’re like lots of people I'm hearing from -- and the eerily similar memes they’re sharing – you’re thinking one of a few things: a) this is why I'm not cut out for homeschooling b) this is why I didn't homeschool my kids c) homeschooling is killing me !!! Sometimes, this disgust / exasperation is cleverly disguised as admiration for people who DO homeschool, but it basically comes down to the same thing -- homeschoolers must be nuts. And I totally feel for you.  I’m absolutely certain you’re going out of your tree with rangy kids running around begging you for their next snack or meal or whatever it is. (I created this helpful guide to aid GZ in understanding what he was allowed to snack on right before supper…) Look, I don't speak for anybody.  Heck, I'm not even a homeschooler anymore.  So maybe somebody else can ...

The annual summer-schooling post: 5778 edition!

Well, we're back in the homeschooling saddle, if only for a few days before I'm heading off on a crazy-stupid two-day gallivant across Europe. The entire month before summer vacation, every Israeli parents' WhatsApp group is on fire with camp registrations and plans to ensure that our beloved sweeties don't have to go more than ten minutes without a “misgeret ,” or framework.  It's mostly for the parents' benefit, so they don’t have to miss work, which I get, but I also believe kids need a break.  I mean, school let out last Friday, and on Sunday morning, most of my kids' friends were off to the various "day camps" run by the schools. That one Shabbos can't have felt like much of a vacation. I was wondering how it would go with summerschooling this year, because NR is getting older and GZ is the same amount of stubborn as always, or perhaps more so with age.  But if these last 3 days are any indication, it's actually going better than in...

Who's YOUR tribe? Finding yourself in a crowd

Have you ever had the feeling that you completely belong someplace? Before we left Toronto, I got to go to the Torah homeschooling conference twice.  And the biggest thing I felt, both times I walked through the door of the Jewish Community Center in Baltimore for the conference, was "Here I am."  Not JUST me, but people like me.  My tribe. "Finding your tribe" is a popular expression that goes back maybe about a decade.  I have no clue where it comes from, or who coined it, and if you know more than I do, I'd be happy to find out.  Google isn't showing me any references before 2012, but that's because Google, like most of us, is entirely now-oriented. Finding your tribe is a primal thing, locating the people you click with and clicking.  It's about what Kurt Vonnegut called

Stepping out of the Misgeret

For Israeli parents, one word seems like the absolute number-one most important to remember – yes, even before Bamba and Shoko beSakit (chocolate milk in a bag, a staple of childhood here):  Misgeret. Misgeret (מִסְגֶּרֶת) literally means “frame.”  This is a misgeret: And so is this: And so is this: Because the other meaning of the word “Misgeret” is “where you put your kids.”  In English, you might say something like “structure” or “system” or “framework.”  But I don’t know if you’d panic about it in quite the way parents here do. Sure, like working parents everywhere, Israeli parents want to make sure they can work without disruption by kids’ days off, summer vacation, etc.  So structure is important for that.  But it’s more than that.  I think parenting here used to be more laid-back, until maybe a decade ago when people started panicking about math and science scores and keeping up with the rest of the world, and now the biggest reason fo...

Teach kids Hebrew with the hottest viral song from Israel (Don’t worry, it’s totally appropriate!)

The biggest musical sensation here in Israel this winter / spring is a small and strange song called “Geshem, Geshem,” written by Jihan Jaber, an Israeli Arab Hebrew teacher who wanted to give her students an easy, fun way to learn Hebrew. And if she can use it to teach kids Hebrew… why can’t you? GZ is totally into the darbuka, a simple little drum that apparently he’s been learning in music class at school.  This is the original and easiest accompaniment for this song (see video below), but really, whatever percussion instrument you have will do. I’ve created a cute little mini-book that you can print, staple, and read / sing with kids. There’s also a completely blank version so kids can add their own illustrations before cutting out the individual pages.  I’ve moved the text a little here so there’s as much room for creativity as possible on each page:

Book Reviews of Kids’ Books by (my) Kids

We’re back to summer schooling, which includes weekly book reports / reviews (I know there’s a difference, but whatever…).  I thought it would be fun to share a list of book reviews my kids have written over the last however-many years, mainly during the summer. Hopefully, I’ll update this list as the kids create new reviews.  I’ve vowed that I’m going to make them write one new review each week for the remaining 7 weeks of summer… (NOTE:  Some of the links are messed up.  I have vowed to fix them but it seems like it’s not going to happen until summer is over.  Forgive me if you hit a broken one!) Almost a Winner (Teddy Mars) - Funny and interesting, a review by GZ, age 8         The BFG – A Great Classic, Review by YM, age 12 and GZ, age 8       The Fourteenth Goldfish -  A fun and suspenseful story, a review by NRM, age 11         Schooled by Gordon Korman, Review by NR, age 11 ...

Parenting, a moment too late

Have you ever had the feeling that you’ve finally figured everything out? And then… something happens and you realize – nope.  You never had it figured out in the first place. Like daycare.  Daycare was a struggle.  Staying on top of the fees, bringing in clothes, diapers, supplies, whatever the kids needed.  You probably think I’m a big whiner when I say that, but hear me out:  I was a new mommy, a single mommy, a working mommy.  It was tough getting all my stuff together. I actually remember the moment when it all clicked.  I was standing in the principal’s office chatting with her.  I’d had kids there for maybe four years, and seen her almost every day since then.  It’s like what they say about marriage, right?  Sickness, health, good times, bad times, phone calls about money, phone calls about… I don’t know, other stuff.  And I realized there were no outstanding bills, the kids had all they need, I knew their teacher’s na...

The books you bought from me in 2014. (And why I care, and you might, too.)

Blogging has become disgustingly analytical these days.  If I wanted, I could spend all day gazing at my proverbial naval, looking at statistics, and finding out along the way exactly who you are and what you like and creating content you’ll love. Luckily for you (unluckily for my pocketbook), I’m too cynical for all of that. But I do check my Amazon reports every month to find out who’s clicking on the links I share, and what you’re buying.  That’s because I get a teeny-tiny kickback from Amazon every time you click through.  What do I do with the money?  Sometimes, I buy ebooks, which have become incredibly important since we moved thousands of kilometres away from our favourite library.  And sometimes, if I have enough piled up to buy an actual book, then I buy copies to send reviewers, though sometimes that ends badly .  It isn’t big money, hardly even real money, but it is something, and sometimes, it comes in handy. You should know right off the...

A new kind of science book – written for Jewish kids

Let’s face it.  There are more of them than there are of us. I’m talking about Christians. Lots of them in the world.  And not so many of us. When we were homeschooling, I envied Christian homeschoolers the wealth of educational kkresources they had that integrated their faith with every subject imaginable:  from literature to math, from history to science.  So much so that we tried out a few programs, like Apologia Science .  I liked them to some extent, and the faith part was great, but we kept running up against bits of the program that we couldn’t use:  the Christian parts. I particularly loved the idea of integrating faith and science.  That’s why I decided to create a new series of science ebooks written specifically for kids growing up with a Jewish worldview. Have you ever wanted to hand your kids a science book knowing they’ll get more out of it than just the bare facts? Have you wished they could learn about science through the wonde...

MamaLand Review: Every Picture Tells a Story, a new illustrated weekly parsha book for kids

How are parsha books like popcorn?  You can’t have just one!  If you’re anything like our family, you already have a preponderance of parsha books.  But it’s impossible to have “enough,” isn’t it?  Especially when it comes to finding great kids’ parsha books that are both appealing to kids and reflect your family’s hashkafa (religious outlook).  And especially if the author isn’t afraid to do something a little different.  So when the chance to review a new parsha book that combines words and pictures in an innovative new format came along, I got a bit excited.  There’s a good chance that this book may be just right for your family. For my review, I received free from the publisher both the hardcover Every Picture Tells a Story Volume One:  Bereishis (Menorah Books: 2014) and the accompanying softcover colouring book : Aren’t those great covers?  They’re bilingual!  And they tell you exactly what you’re going to get inside....

Two things that are definitely not “us.” Thing #1.

Thing #2 is Tzfat.  A city we love, but will probably never live in.  You can read more about that over here . But it’s Thing #1 that hurts.  Thing #1 is homeschooling. It’s hard not to cry as I write this (partly because Windows Live Writer ate my last version of this after I’d spent 10 minutes typing – waah ). I have had the BEST summer, learning at home with the kids.  Learning, growing, exploring, doing cool stuff together.  And yeah, proving to myself that even here in Israel, I’m still me.  They’re still them, albeit now with a touch of Israeli schoolkid chutzpah. Given the choice, the kids would continue homeschooling, all year long.  Staying in PJs, going on tiyulim, choosing what to learn, how fast, at exactly the right level. Given the choice, we grown-ups would continue homeschooling, all year long.  Avoiding making lunches, and yeah, staying in PJs.  Missing the chance to throw ourselves on the one-size-fits-all, inexorabl...

What we’re doing for school this summer.

  So did I mention we’re homeschooling again? At least for the summer.  Does that make me the kind of wannabe / poseur I hate?  Or an earnest parent trying hard to make something work during weird, transitional times… I’m not sure what the answer is, but I thought I’d share a quick update on how things are going this summer with our “homeschooling / summerschooling” plans.  (It was originally going to be quick – sorry!!) It remains to be seen whether we’re going to do this long-term.  But the truth is, it feels very good.  Very, very good. In some areas, we’re picking up exactly where we left off.  But mostly, things slipped a lot during the year.  The only area in which both kids are further ahead (besides Hebrew!) is math. I had a few clear criteria before we started:

New kids’ siddurs from Koren give Artscroll a run for its money.

If there’s one thing that causes hand-wringing and hair-pulling in the Torah homeschooling world, it’s choosing a siddur. It makes sense, doesn’t it? We’re passionate about educating our kids, We’re passionate about Judaism, Tefillah (prayer) is an important cornerstone of Judaism.  Therefore… The siddur we choose is critical. Hence the hair-pulling.  (or tichel-pulling, as the case may be) Complicating things is the fact that many homeschooling parents are baalei teshuvah (newly-observant) or geirim (converts), who may not know the text or its meaning and might feel insecure about sharing these things with their kids. Since my own personal favourite grown-up siddur is my Koren / Sacks siddur, I was thrilled to receive review copies of two new kids’ siddurs from Koren Publishers.  One, the Koren Children’s Siddur, is for young kids, the other, Ani Tefillah, is aimed more at middle grades and high schoolers.  The distinctive Koren fonts and layout have been...

“When you interrupt a girl’s school day” – seen on Facebook

Agree or disagree?  What do you think of this message that’s been floating around for a day or two on facebook: "When you interrupt a girl’s school day to force her to change clothes or to send her home because her shorts are short, or her bra straps are visible, you are telling her that hiding her body is more important than her education. You are telling her that making sure the boys have a distraction-free learning environment is more important than her education. You are telling her that boys are more entitled to an education than she is. ” Doesn’t it depend on what you’re telling the boys?  And doesn’t this presuppose that there are boys in the school in the first place?? What are you telling the boys? My daughter went to school for 12 years where she could be sent home if she was inappropriately dressed.  But then again, so did my son (albeit, at the end, to a school with slightly different standards – I have to include this disclaimer in case one of them s...

Erica and Jeffrey Henderson: CPS abuse poster family or “non-kosher” fraud?

The headlines circulating on facebook are the nightmare of every homeschooling family: “A homebirthing, homeschooling, non vacinating, kosher family ripped apart by Local Law Enforcement and CPS without lawful charges.”  Eep. That’s bad, right??? But something in that term “kosher family” prompted me to dig a little. What does that mean, a “kosher family?”  Were Erica Michelle Henderson and Jeffrey Henderson actually hiding something? The Hendersons’ own appeal-for-money-and-sympathy website says her breast milk must be tested for alchohol as " she drinks on Shabbat, a Jewish religious day." Another site , discussing the family’s first visit with their kids in 2 years, says, “The announcement of the visit was made on Friday, to which Mrs. Henderson said, “Baruch Hashem!” which in Hebrew means “Blessed be the name of the Lord!” Today began the Jewish festival of Passover, celebrated to mark the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt.” Why doesn’t it just come ou...