And just like that, the whole country became home school families!

Does anyone else feel like a month has passed since last Wednesday? Our “cancelling school” announcement came on a Thursday night, and that was the day the world felt like it began to unravel. Then we all sort of went underground.

Now you know this all feels extremely ironic to me. I said I would never home school again. It was not for me. Honestly, I was a bit scared of this task. I tried it before. for two years, gave myself v-tach repeatedly, and then they boys returned to school. V-tach is a dangerous heart arrhythmia that is rare, and most of you do not need to worry about it. I have much to learn in the way I handle stress, so I take heart pills now. Really I should probably return to full on anxiety pills too, but that is a topic for another day.

I have good news.

So far the second act of home-schooling our four boys has gone drastically more smoothly than our first try. Still, I won’t count our chickens before they hatch. I am sure this could all still go horribly wrong. In the meantime, when I start to feel like the room is too chaotic for me, I make them all chant that mom is in charge several times, threaten to take away all video games, and then things calm down.

In fact, I did take away video games from two unfortunate ruffians today who forgot Mom was in charge, and that is THE KEY to maintaining order: making good on any threats/promises. Consequences are obnoxiously important.

The hardest thing about home school for me has always been the chaos. I like things to be quiet and somewhat peaceful, which is hilarious because I have four children. In an attempt to control my environment, I make schedules and lists like this, and it helps a great deal:

My motto is that the times themselves are not important. They are a loose guide to remind me to give recess and lunch and not forget anything I had planned to do. As they say in the Army, “The plan is nothing, but planning is everything.” Well, I think they say that in the Army. Someone says it. If they don’t say it, then they should.

So many questions

This week brought up so many questions for us. Did it for you too? I texted my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law because they both taught middle school for years. I do not know the first thing about teaching middle school. Elementary school is where my experience lies, but my eighth grader has informed me that my activities are “for five-year-olds.” This is an exaggeration, of course. I am not teaching anyone how to read or count. But at the same time, he’s right. My stuff is elementary, so I have been frantically digging for how to level things up.

People have sent me questions too.

Ah, feeling useful felt good. Thank you for asking me questions. The questions I was asked were about home schooling school-aged children when you have a toddler underfoot. This is what I told her, just off the top of my head. It isn’t much, since this was all via text message. We are being good citizens and staying socially distant.

Ideas/advice for someone trying to homeschool older siblings when there’s a toddler at home:

-Pray on your face and cry. (hahaha I really wish I were kidding.)

-First, the older siblings have to know that mom is in charge, and they cannot say “no” to any of her directions. They do not say “no” to their teachers, so they must treat you with that same respect.

-Mom can provide choices, but the stress of dealing with disobedience is mind-blowing. (I was having to deal with it at the moment I texted about this, so the feelings of frustration were still raw.)

-My best tip is to start the day with a toddler activity.

-If you need to work with one sibling, put the other sibling in charge of the toddler.

-Do some group reading where Mom reads out loud to all the kids. You can also watch educational YouTube or National Geographic videos together while the toddler plays with a game or toy they don’t always have access to.

-Older siblings can also read to the toddler.

-Find work the older siblings can do online alone, like Brain Pop or whatever sites your school system recommended. One of my kids is learning a language using Duolingo. He likes it, and I am not even involved. We actually use the app version. I think he has learned more from the app than he was learning in his French classroom at school, but the traditional classroom is not his favorite way to learn.

I could talk about home-schooling all day because I am currently overseeing the education of four boys, and it consumes much of my day. Ah yes! Another excuse to spend less time cleaning!

Click here for more of my articles on home-schooling, written back when I spent two years fully engaged in teaching our boys.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for my new book, Tour Israel in Pictures and Stories. It ends at midnight Thursday night/Friday morning. I was so excited tonight to discover that it is currently the #2 best seller in Israel travel guides on Amazon. Wahoo! Thanks for your support, everyone!

Send me any great activities you know for middle schoolers who hate school work, and send any questions you have too. Best of luck you all! No stressing. It isn’t worth giving yourself heart problems. Keep calm and home school on.

The post Life in the Underground Day 2: The Great Return to Home School appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Middle Schoolers Can Be Super Picky

But then, aren’t most people picky about what they read? I will deliberate for 5 minutes, put a book down, pick up another, change my mind, go back to book A, put it down, and then finally decide on a different book altogether. The older I get the pickier I seem to be.

When I go to the library to pick out books for my middle school boys, I am always overwhelmed by the choices. It seems like endless stacks of Rick Riordan wannabe books. My oldest son was a big fan of the Percy Jackson series, but that does not mean that he wants to continue to read endless books about dragons or fighting mythological gods and creatures. He has sort of a been there/done that attitude, and now he would rather read new things. I cannot for the life of me pick out a book for him from the middle schooler section of the library because it seems to be all about monsters and such, and that is not his interest.

I have one son who likes compilation-type books about sports facts. My other middle school son likes books that are funny and relatable. Neither of them are that into fantasy, and the whole middle school section is fantasy galore. It is a challenge.

The books in this list are all books that the boys read willingly, with no coercion from Mom.

#1. The Action Bible

This Bible is written in full graphic novel form, like a comic book for the Bible. It is written for readers ages 9 and up. One of my boys has already read through the whole thing twice, and I only bought it a month ago. This one was a big hit.

#2. A Dog Like Daisy, by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb

This book is told through the eyes of a shelter dog who is adopted and is training to become a service dog. There is only one word for this book: HILARIOUS. The boys laughed so hard at this one.

#3. I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919 by Lauren Tarshis

Believe it or not, the molasses flood was a real thing that happened, and people actually died. It was in Boston in 1919, and this was even better than some of the other I Survived books. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

#4. Spider-Man The Lifeline Tablet Saga

This is a thick book-form collection of Spiderman comic books written by Stan Lee and Fabian Nicieza, published as a compilation in 2017. The comics in it were originally written in 1963. This puts together Amazing Spider-man #68-75 and Spider-Man: Lifeline #1-3.

I did not read it, but I did consult with the clerk at the comic book store about which ones were appropriate for middle school boys, as opposed to older teen/ adult comics. Spiderman has a wholesome “friendly neighborhood spiderman” feel to it. I did not read the book, but the boys seemed to enjoy it.

#5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Wrecking Ball, by Jeff Kinney

Wrecking Ball is the most recent installment of the famous series. When I worked at the library I noticed that almost every child reads these at least once. My kids have read them over and over again. When they run out of reading material, they revisit these funny tales of the ever-relatable Greg Heffley.

#6. Year in Sports 2020, by James Buckley, Jr.

One funny thing about these books is that the title is misleading, the year part that is. The very fact that 2020’s year is already published shows you that the facts cannot actually be the best of 2020. This whole series is a year ahead in title as opposed to material. The facts inside reflect the happenings of 2018 and 2019. My sons that follow sports LOVE these. My other sons do not, so like all books, it definitely depends on the interests of your children.

The boys have owned each year of these for as long as I can remember, and I just opened it up and read some of it for the first time. It was surprisingly interesting.

#7. The Far Side Gallery 3, by Gary Larson

My husband’s parents own the whole series of Far Side Galleries. Every summer and Christmas when we are visiting them, the boys dive into these classic comic collections. The boys managed to sneak #3 home, I think, unless we actually owned one. I am not sure.. Sorry Nonna! We may owe you a Far Side book. Check and see if you have #3. This is another one they have read over and over again because obviously The Far Side was always enjoyable.

They also get a kick out of Calvin and Hobbes collections, though they have not read any recently.

I hope this list gives you some ideas for books for your middle schoolers. If you are anything like me, I am always looking for new books that they will actually read. Sadly, I cannot tell you how many times we have bought them or checked out books that they would not read. Feel free to add more suggestions for good books in the comments below!

The post 7 Books for Middle Schoolers We Enjoyed this Year appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.