Spring Fever in the Garden

This is what we see when we open the bag to find that the

praying mantis's have hatched. Now keep in mind this is

only one egg that has hatched as each egg hatches 500-600

tiny praying mantis's.

Emily displaying her little praying mantis she is releasing.

Andrew holding his little praying mantis.

Kathlena holding a tiny praying mantis.

We have been busy building a new garden this year. Tilling, hauling in dirt, stringing hot wire fence to keep the deer out and finally planting. About six weeks ago I purchased some praying mantis eggs off of ebay so that the kids could watch them hatch and then we could release them into the garden. They are ferocious bug eaters! So, they make for good pest control in the garden. We did this last year too and it was so fun to see the hundreds of tiny praying mantis's crawl out of the bag.

Today we found that one of the eggs had hatched so we headed out to the garden to release them. Here are a few short video clips and some pictures we took. Andrew and Kathlena are loving gardening...I can hardly wait til harvest time as they will so enjoy picking the fruit of their labor.

Cultivating a love for learning

After reading and talking about scarecrows in our BFIAR
book this week...Runaway Bunny. We decided our garden
needed a scarecrow too. I found one in the attic, an old fall
decoration and said Why not?

Kathlena with her first braids. Emily use to wear

her hair in braids like this all the time. Her friend

Chloe called them "Emily braids" because Emily

always wore them this way. Emily is so excited that

Kathlena's hair is now long enough to braid. It turned

out pretty cute. Emily has dreamed about having a

little sister to braid hair with and I am so thankful that

she has Kathlena and that Kathlena has such a wonderful

big sister to look up to.

Kathleeena Braids!!

After our first year of homeschooling from a box a couple of veteran homeschool parents in the homeschool community taught me how to cultivate a love for learning. This method of learning completely changed how I viewed education and my motivation for teaching and learning. I like most went to public school and I did quite well in school. I attribute most of my success though to the fact that I had "home school" parents who were teaching me to love learning. They just did it with less hours per week. My Dad I have talked about before, he can fix anything and learned this from his father. So, I learned from him that failure gets you one step closer to success, how to problem solve and be resourceful. I married a man who was raised this way also.
I think in part this is also why home school veterans like Steve and Becky Lambert, Chris and Ellyn Davis, Ruth Beechick and Little Bear Wheeler resonated with us so well and steered us in the direction of thinking about education outside the box. I am so thankful for this because I think I would have drowned amidst the "schooling" at home methods. The idea of sitting up late at night grading papers reminded me why I did not want to be an education major in college. I prefer the Hebrew method of learning as we walk along together learning.

In the eight months since Andrew and Kathlena have been home I have become even more sure of this way of learning. This is how they have picked up English. They do everything with us. I continue to be amazed at their growth both physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

Recently, we were watching Dr. Jobe Martin's Incredible Creatures DVD's which talk about amazing features that animals have that can only point to a creator whom Dr. Martin, once an evolutionist now turned creationist clearly names as the one and only God of the Bible. Andrew has retained so many interesting facts from watching one DVD one time. It has also caused him to ask questions in light of what he is learning from our scripture reading time and what he has learned from the Catechism for Children. He is so inquisitive and I love that I am here for those moments of discovery.

Today while on our walk, Andrew started working on his Mailbox Math again. He is now quite good at reading random 2-digit numbers as we go from street to street. We are working on predicting what number will be next and the concept of evens on one side and odd on the other(a practical lesson for finding addresses one day). Math has become a game to him and he likes the challenge. He also learned the concept of more and less, most and least today with M&M's. M&M's are one of my favorite math tools...well and jelly beans. Now the pages of his math book come alive from a few hands on activities. He enjoys doing his math or maph as Kathlena calls it.

Kathlena has been cracking us up on our walks lately as she is beginning to recognize more about her surroundings. In her Scarlet O'Hara sounding voice she calls from her stroller while pointing to houses in our neighborhood "This is not my home!" until she sees her home and gets very excited exclaiming "It's my home, It's my home, It's my dog-Chase" I remember months ago when Andrew began to recognize and distinguish our home from the other houses in our neighborhood. It is a sweet sound to hear them exclaim "It's my home!" like a soldier who has come home from the battle.

The my dog in question being walked.

Emily and J.Michael are good at working independently and responsibly on assigned tasks. There favorites are doing research on projects. Whether it is how to raise crickets or photography composition to anything they can dream of or read about. Of course this is the way I learn too. If I don't know something then I can head to a book or the Internet and find out.

Emily our photographer. This is a self portrait. I love this picture

as it captures the essence of our sweet, creative Mimi.

As I was writing this tonight I heard Chase barking and barking which means he has found something. He had cornered a opossum. It was a big, ugly one too. Andrew, J.Michael and Emily were still awake so I let them get up and come outside with a spot light and camera in hand. Another learning opportunity knocking at our door...never a dull moment. I am sure that tomorrow we will be talking about nocturnal animals such as the opossum and how one could end up in our yard.

Much to be thankful for this year

It has been a sweet time of learning about the meaning of Thanksgiving and it's significance to our Christian heritage. Andrew and Kathlena had no idea what Thanksgiving was, but have had so much fun learning about it. We used a book called Cranberry Thanksgiving that is a cute tale set in the New England cranberry bogs, about a Grandmother and her special cranberry bread recipe. Grandmother and granddaughter invite two friends for Thanksgiving exploring the concepts of relationships, charity, honesty, and Thanksgiving. Andrew's favorite character is Mr. Whiskers. It has been so fun to learn anew through their eyes.

At dinner each night Daddy went through ThanksLiving Treasures devotional by Family Life. We learned about the six treasures: God's Word, Protection, Freedom, Health, Salvation and Provision. We talked about the hardship and perseverance of the pilgrims, and God's sovereign protection over them.

We also made our annual "Thanksgiving tree" made from hand print cut-outs everyone got to write down the things they are thankful for and put them on the tree as a reminder of all the blessing we have been given. Here are some pictures of us making our tree.

Emily helping trace Andrew's hands. Andrew was thankful
for Mommy and Daddy, sisters and J.Michael, Mema, friends,
Uncle Darrell "who is so good at catching all the fish", grandparents,
God.

Kathlena and J.Michael working on their hands.

My very thoughtful Emily filling up her hands with all she
is thankful for. Things Emily is thankful for are...Laughter, joy,
parents and grandparents, brothers and sister, country music,
that the God-given rights and liberties to worship the Lord freely and
openly are acknowledged by our government.

Some of the things J.Michael is thankful for are...pets, family
and extended family, Jump-Jump, C.S. Lewis, John R.
Erickson, Nana's Beef.


Putting the tree in place...thank you helpers.

Andrew and Kathlena gathering up their hands.

Proudly displaying them.

J.Michael handing some out to put on the tree.

Kathlena putting hers on...she was thankful for her bed,

bubbie, Andrew, Mimi, Mommy and Daddy, Mrs. Hoood, grandparents,

Uncle Todd, Happy the goat, Lucy the gecko, Chase and Charlie.

Adoption, Language Development and Homeschooling

I have found a common thread throughout my research on IA (internationally adopted) children and language development. Most if not all of the research and expert advise in language development are based on children being placed in the government school system at the age of 5. Most of what I have read points to the difficulty of newly adopted IA kids coming into the schools without enough time to have a proficiency of the language to proceed in academics by the "normal" track thus requiring specialized care in the system. Many of these language development articles point to how you can get your kids labeled correctly in the system i.e. understanding your kids MA (mental age) vs. LA (language age)-new term being coined for IA kids in the school system who in the past have been mislabeled with younger MA but no true cognitive delays only speech/communication, but in time they catch up only it is hard to shake the MA label once it is attached. The most glaring remedy for all of these issues to me is simply....HOMESCHOOL. Even if it is only for the first year. Homeschooling gives the extra years without the labels plus it fosters the family life over institutional life in a government school. The additional time with family can only continue to reinforce attachment without introducing new people who will have 40 plus hours a week with your child.

Interesting to me are the assessments made about children in orphanages with large age-related peer groups and few caretakers as one of the main reasons for language delay yet, this is the situation in our government schools today and at ever increasing hours a day. Children grouped by age and in ever increasing numbers to one or two adults according to this study results in language development delays. "No matter how caring or well-equipped an orphanage appears to be, placing a large number of children in the care of a few adults is a recipe for delayed language".-Orphanage Care and Language While I realize for many children a stable loving family is a huge factor in making up for delays I can't help but think that increasing the number of hours with that family would have exponential results especially in the first year.

State Homeschool Convention...Woodlands, TX

Ahhh! How I love to go to Home School Conventions. A time of encouragement, seeing old friends (almost like a reunion of sorts), and of course buying those needed resources to educate our children. We have been walking through the halls of home school conventions now for 9 yrs. I am not the same person who first timidly walked into that enormous convention hall in Arlington, TX. Not only was the exhibit hall huge but, the door of life that I had just entered was a call I trusted in faith. We have seen many changes through the years in Home School Conventions most of them though I think have been the Lord growing and changing us.

As I think back to those early years I am so grateful for those speakers, families that spoke vision to us at these conferences. In our early years the Lord led us to people like Chris Davis of Elijah Co., Steve and Jane Lambert of FIAR, Raymond Moore, and Ruth Beechick who challenged us to think outside the box. I am so grateful for their sacrifice and wisdom.

For the past 4yrs we have been attending the State Convention held in The Woodlands, TX. Even before we moved here we loved to go to this convention. We have also attended the THSC sponsored field trips. This year it was to Washington on the Brazos the birthplace of Texas. Each year the field trip is geared towards a time and place in Texas History and provides a day of fun and education for the whole family. While it was quite "warm" this year and a very new experience for us with little ones it turned out to be a great trip. Although, I think we will try to come back in the fall when it is not so hot to see the rest of the park. We did get to pick some cotton in the heat so it gave us a real flavor for what it was like long ago! By 1800's terms I would also be nearing the end of my life at my current age and after seeing how hard life was I can see why!

Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Learning about pick'n cotton.

J.Michael making a water haul.

Kathlena would have taken a long time to fill a

sack of cotton as she liked to pick a tiny bit at a

time.

Andrew thought this was so funny to find cotton

that we use for "boo boo's" on a plant outside.

We went to the evening event where we heard Dr. Jeff Myers, a great speaker and communicator talk about the importance of instilling a Christian Worldview into our children. Dr. Myer's new book Handoff: The Only Way to Win the Race of Life is inspiring families to have a multi generational vision of passing on their Biblical heritage. A book we look forward to reading.

After Dr. Myers spoke we had the opportunity to view the THSC movie Taking a Stand in Texas: The Battle of Home School Freedom . This is a well made, inspiring movie that every home schooler should watch. Leeper vs. Arlington was only 14yrs ago...the battle has been very recently won for us. This documentary was so powerful in delivering the courage and emotion of a handful of faithful parents who trusted the Lord and fought for the right to raise/teach their children at home in Texas. They are the reason that we have such freedom in Texas today and PTL for their courage and for paving the way for us today.

Day 1

Our first full day at the convention was exciting. J.Michael and Andrew attended the children's program while Emily, Kathlena and I tried to catch some speakers sessions and do a little shopping in the exhibit hall. Well, this was definitely a new experience for me. Kathlena was sure that the rules did not apply in this crowded convention hall but, she quickly found out that yes in fact they do! So, much of the first session I missed as I was doing my active parenting duty in the family bathroom. The end of session 1 proved to be much better for me and those in the surrounding rows from us. Emily and I pretty much stuck to Dr. Myers sessions and were not disappointed.
At lunch I decided that the morning had gone well enough for Andrew in the children's program that I would let J.Michael go with us as he really wanted to hear Dr. Myers speak and sent Andrew back to the children's program on his own. While at the time this seemed like a good idea and I still think it was so that I could see how we were doing I later decided that it was really best for him to be with us. So, for Sat. we decided to all stay together thus ending our time in the children's program for the weekend. Andrew loved the singing and listening to stories but, I think a little overwhelming at this point for him to fully understand enough to participate at the pace of an unfamiliar group setting. It was good though for me to see how we are progressing and what areas we need to try and work on.
Emily and J.Michael both wanted to attend John R. Erickson's talk on Christian writing. Kathlena and I did some more shopping and they were allowed to go together. I think this was really fun for them to do something together just the two of them that they really both love. They really enjoyed hearing Mr. Erickson. J.Michael was even able to have the opportunity to talk to Mr. Erickson. Emily had prepared a letter for Mr. and Mrs. Erickson. It was something she has looked forward to all year.

Our whole family loves the Hank the Cowdog series but, even more impressive than his great book series has been Mr. Erickson who has attended the THSC conferences faithfully for the past 4yrs. In fact it was 3 yrs ago at this very conference that we were first introduced to Hank the Cowdog and we have been full fledged fans ever since(the t-shirt wearing kind of fans!). Mr. Erickson not only attends these conferences performing his songs and entertaining us with his talented voices of characters while reading excerpts from his books but, he pours into his young readers his wisdom of being a Christian man in a world that tries to undermine the Christian values he grew up with. He honestly shares his story of how difficult it was to finally get his book series published and his personal journey of self publishing his books. He is a modern day hero in my book, a living testimony of what the Lord has done in the life of a man who faithfully trusted Him when everyone in the publishing world was telling him to give up his dream of the Hank the Cowdog series and writing. He is very successful and could choose to spend his time elsewhere but, he doesn't...instead you will find him in Aug. at the Texas State Home School convention encouraging the next generation to take back the mediums of film and writing good books with strong family values...Christian values. Thank you Mr. Erickson from a very grateful home school mom who loves your world of Hank but loves even more that parents and kids have Mr. Erickson the man to look up to.
Day 2

We took today at a little slower pace as Daddy had an early leadership training meeting. I decided it best that we take the morning off and wait for Daddy before we head over to the conference. We would still spend almost 8hrs at the convention today. We all stayed together and Andrew got to see the exhibit hall...he liked all the books.

Not long after we arrived we were told by some friends that Mr. Erickson had been paging Emily to his booth. He wanted to meet this young lady who had written him a letter. From a mother's and father's heart I so admire Mr. Erickson. He has such a heart for young people...and to think that he never intended the Hank series to be for kids. The Lord knew best though and we are so blessed to know this man and his wife who so graciously give back to the Home School community year after year. Mr. Erickson was very complimentary of Emily's writing and has asked Emily to keep up with him and write him from time to time. Wow! we are honored to have met and get to know Mr. and Mrs. Erickson.

It was great to see so many old friends and for them to see in person Andrew and Kathlena. We were encouraged by Dr. Myers, once again and ended the day with the annual Hank the Cowdog songs and stories. It made me feel we were sitting around the campfire out on the TX panhandle, cowboy style only we were really in the a/c with no bugs. A wonderful end to a great weekend.

Jesse Bear What Will You Wear

I couldn't resist I have already started the little ones back to "education" David banned the word "school" in our house a few years ago. (It was such a relief for me no more school.) Well, anyway I just love educating our children and I love, love good books. Especially really good children's books that teach simple concepts in a fun way. Jesse Bear What will you Wear by Nancy White Carlstrom is one of those books. We have just started making our way through one of my favorite home school mom's books Before Five in a Row by Jane Claire Lambert. I love her simple style of reading good books and fostering a love of learning. I am particularly pleased with her selection of books for this volume. Especially for internationally adopted children these simple books that following the pictures and a few key words in English they can quickly understand and mimic the activities in the books.



Andrew and Kathlena can't wait to do their book each day. It is so fun to see them so excited and eager about learning. It is great one on two time for me with them and great snuggle time fostering attachment and sweet memories together. We did a fun activity where we tried on footed pj's just like Jesse Bear...it was so cute. They both loved the footed pj's but, I told them we would have to put them up until winter b/c it is just too hot in July in Houston to be wearing flannel footed pj's. We had fun matching and trying on clothes and talking about clothes we wear in the summer vs. winter. It was lots of fun and produced many giggles...one of the best parts of learning. Below is a video of one of our days together reading Jesse Bear. Just a taste of a day in the life of the Shiflet household. Thank you J.Michael for videoing...great job--keep up the good work preserving memories for your family.

The House by the Dvina

We are currently studying Russian History in the Shiflet Home School through the biography of Eugenie Fraser, The House by the Dvina: A Russian Childhood. This book begins in Russia in the 1880's and follows the generations of a family who lived through the revolution; including the author herself. She died only five years ago at the age of 96 but left behind a precious legacy in her book on the region of Archangel and it's history during Imperial Russia and through the revolution of 1917.

This is a very descriptive and well written book that engulfs you into another time and place. I must say I have been so drawn in to this story especially knowing it is the birthplace of two of my children. Archangels, a place that has endured many harsh winters as well as the desolation of the Soviet regime, can be described as place that possesses generations of survivors. This book is a time capsule to a place that only exists the minds of those who were there and lived to tell about it. Eugenie Fraser is just such a person and penned this detailed account when she was 80yrs. old. I am grateful as it is a link to my Russian children's birthland, written beautifully to capture this amazing old city.

Emily and J.Michael love this book beg for just one more chapter. The sound a mother loves to hear from her children who are enraptured in a good book. For those adopting from Russia or just interested in Russian history I highly recommend this book. You will find it hard to put down.