Life in Show Biz

That way!

We have had a production company in our village filming a short movie in the hall and local shop. There was a call out for extras so we volunteered the children from Peter down and I was there to ensure Zach's compliance.
It was a great day where we were able to experience all the behind the scenes work that goes into filming a scene.  So much effort into such a small scene!  In breaks the children were curious and asked questions and the film crew responded marvellously.  They even had Martin and Rose hop onto the camera dolly and push it around to see how it all worked.
The crew were very surprised at how well the children behaved and performed their roles as extras in the movie.
So today we can record as an excursion in film studies!

Dressmaking - Starting Small

A matching full summer outfit - in miniature

Clare and Rose wanted to buy some American Girl dolls and the various accessories.
Although Clare has earned the money working in our shop, the cost to purchase and ship to Australia was exorbitant. Clare was willing but our parental veto was invoked.
Although disappointed, Clare accepted the decision.  A short time later Aldi was selling 18" dolls for $25 with a starting outfit.  Deal!
Now it was a matter of dresses and accessories.
Both grandmothers are very good seamstresses and Lana has the skills too. So this has provided a great opportunity for Clare to learn the skills doing something she wants to do.
We purchased some doll patterns for very reasonable prices (some Free) from You Can Make This and with some initial tutoring from Lana, Clare has been quite busy.
YouTube has also been handy with instructions for making shoes.  This photo shows her first attempt at shoes and her first dress from the patterns she purchased.
Based on this method of dressmaking, for the cost the one American Girl doll we will have quite a wardrobe of clothes and accessories!
Now all this sewing is done after "Schoolwork" and on the weekends.  Because this isn't schoolwork, but fun!

Preparing Dinner for today and tomorrow

Many hands make dinner work

As a family we enjoy the taste of home made crumbed chicken.  Remembering the story of the little red hen and the making of her bread, everyone gets to help.
Lana chops up dried bread in the food processor and then we mix in some pepper and basil and if - we feel up to it - grated lemon rind.  The children then line up for the manufacturing process.
Lana slices the chicken breast into thin pieces.
This goes to Zach (4) who coats it in plain (general purpose) flour.
Clare (13) then dunks it in an egg and milk mixture.
Martin (6) then coats the wet thing in the bread crumb mixture and adds it to the pile.
Meanwhile, Rose (9) and Peter (15) washed and cut up the potatoes that had been peeled by Clare.  Rose cut and peeled the carrots.
Once the potatoes, carrots and peas are boiled, Ariel (22) will assist with the frying of the chicken schnitzels in the electric fry pan.  James (17) and Peter will then help set the table that has been cleared by the other children.
After dinner, James and Peter will do the washup, with the younger ones filling or emptying the dishwasher as required.
So when people ask us "How do you cook for so many?" we can simply answer, "Together".
This really works well because we have the lifestyle that homeschooling allows.  We have no school homework or incessant "extra-curricular" activities to interrupt these life skills.
I think I will record this as today's "Home Economics" lesson.

It's show time

Clare's quilt

This time of year is Show Season and it is a very busy time for Lana and the girls. Although the boys used to put in some entries, the girls plan all year to put in entries and combined with Lana and her Mum we end up providing a reasonable share of the Pavilion entries at the local shows.
I put in my photographs for which I get some prizes, but Lana and the girls really collect the accolades.
This is especially true in the junior classes.  Over the years we have seen a steady drop in the number of junior entries.  Homeschoolers seem to represent over 75% of the entries, especially if you exclude the school entries which consist of 20 to 30 identical projects with minor variations to show each child's individuality.
It seems that young people are just not learning traditional crafts such as quilting, knitting, cooking, cross stitch, and so on. By young people I mean people our age and younger.  As the older contributors start getting past their ability to do as much crafty things, the number of entries steadily decreases.
This year we put in 39 entries in one show and 49 in the other main show.  That is a lot of work, but it is fine encouragement for Lana and the children to see their work put to the test and deemed worthy of praise.  It's not just me telling them it looks good.

Homeschooling Carnival at Every Bed of Roses

Every Bed of Roses is hosting the 428th Carnival of Homeschooling.

Our post about Eric doing some Apprentice practice at our shop is included.  As a follow up, the dinner is this Friday and we have our 30 bookings. It should be a great night!

Proving we homeschool

What a great Principal!

There are a number of Agricultural shows this time of year and they are all managed by groups of volunteers that donate a lot of time and energy to providing a venue for the local area to show off all their livestock, produce and arts and crafts as well as providing a few day's worth of entertainment.  Each town and group have their own style which allows for friendly competition between shows and room for experimentation.
Most now have a special school children special on the Friday which allows school children to get in for free with up to two or three adult supervisors. It is a great idea to encourage the children to get in touch with farming and their local produce.
But what about homeschoolers?
Other shows recognise that if you are at the gate during school hours with a number of children that look part of a set, you are most likely homeschoolers. But one show we attended recently felt it was their job to police eligibility.  Obviously they felt there would be a problem for truant children coming to the show with their parents trying for free entry. The guy in charge decided that homeschoolers had to present a letter proving they were homeschooling.
A stupid policy requires an appropriate response.
The local schooling board provides a letter to homeschooling families which could be shown to satisfy this requirement, but they had no right to see it so that was not an option for us.
So I wrote the above letter (click on it for a closer view).
On the Friday, Lana went up to the entry gate with Ariel and the two younger girls and presented the letter.  The lady at the gate just opened it, glanced at the letterhead which looked official and showed it to the gate man in charge.  He glanced at it, nodded and said, "Yeah".  So they let them all in for free.
Lana was ready to have a rant and argue the stupidity of the policy and they didn't even read my lovely letter!
As a family we put 39 exhibits into the Pavilion.  (This is the large shed which contains all the arts, crafts, photography and smaller non-livestock exhibits at the show). Other homeschooling families also put in lots of entries.  If there were no homeschoolers putting in entries the Pavilion would be about 25% emptier.

One more interesting thing.  Lana asked Martin if he wanted to come to the show.
"Yeah!" answered Martin enthusiastically.
"You will have to have a bath first" said Lana.
"I won't go then," answered Martin, so he stayed home.
I really have to read Tom Sawyer to the children.  I think they will recognise Tom.

Practical Training

Would you eat a dinner from this man?

As part of our practical homeschooling, we are able to use our business to provide unique opportunities for each of our children depending on their differing talents and desires.
We are about to start a monthly series of Chef's special dinners in which our son, now a 2nd year apprentice chef, will be preparing a three course meal for 30 diners.
This is a good opportunity as almost all of the diners already know him from his time working at the shop, and we are able to combine our experience of serving larger groups with his experience as an apprentice chef.
Part of the preparation was doing a trial run for just the family, but as this is catering for 10 people, it is a pretty good trial.  The meal was excellent and together we were able to apply a few refinements to the preparation plan and only one or two tweaks to the meals. Our taste buds are still remembering the fine dinner.
To make sure the dessert work at the scale required for 30 people, we made a large cake even though it was just for us.  Only some of it was eaten at the trial, but the rest went extremely well with our cafe customers next day.  General reaction was sighs of satisfaction and queries as to where we had obtained the cake. We just said our son did a fine job!
It's good seeing positive results to our evolving education plan over the years. Concentrating on the fundamentals and providing good work experience earlier on has helped create a citizen that can make an excellent contribution to the society.

Bruggietales in the Carnival of Homeschooling again

The latest Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Notes from a Homeschooled Mom, titled:

The 427th Homeschool Carnival "Just Keep blogging" edition.

Our post about Rose not doing schoolwork is included.

I'm cooking - not doing schoolwork

Real Hot Chocolate

It was a wet and relatively cool day so we were all inside.  Rose figured this was a good time to make something from the recipe book she borrowed from the library.
"It's real hot chocolate, Dad," Rose explained to me, "And it's a cold day so it's perfect."
How could I say no?
So she made it all herself, following the instructions, making enough for everyone, boiling the milk, mixing the ingredients and sharing it out.
It all worked out really well, and the best thing was that this wasn't schoolwork.  It was fun.

Bruggietales in the Carnival of Homeschooling

We were part of the original Carnivals of Homeschooling many years ago but have been quiet for the last few years.
But our post regarding alternative means of qualifying for University/College entrance is included in this week's edition at Corn and Oil at the Post Olympic Carnival of Homeschooling.  Enjoy.

Preparing for the future - but not by doing year 12

Training on the job

When we first started homeschooling over 17 years ago, among all the questions was: "What will you do about year 12 and University?"
At the time we simply answered, "We will cross that bridge when we get to it." and "We just do one year at a time and see how it goes." which deferred the problem until a future time.

We have been quiet on Bruggietales for the last few years because we have been working on the answer to that concern from complete strangers about the welfare of our children.
My theory was that children have the capacity for much more but are rarely given the chance. In the age of sail 15 year olds were lieutenants in the army and navy and were working in responsible positions throughout the economy.  Why not ours?
So we bought a shop.  It is a country store which sells everything as well as being the local Post Office agency and we added in a cafe and restaurant. We then put Ariel (then 17 years old) in charge. My business is integrating business systems so I was initially heavily involved setting up systems and working how the store should run, liaising with suppliers and generally training Ariel how it all worked.  As each child got older, they were added to the employee pool.
The children were also paid award wages and conditions and everything was run as a professional business. In this way they were able to learn not only business skills but also personal money skills.

Perhaps a bit young, but he volunteered.

However, in this world that suffers from credentialism - that is, the requirement that a bit of paper means much more than mere experience - this was insufficient to answer that question from so long ago.
So we utilised the traineeship/apprenticeship schemes in place to foster staff training.  We signed up each of the young people who worked for us full time - both our children and other young people who we employed - into a Level III certificate in Retail Management.  This is equivalent to a TAFE (like a US community college) course.  Not only did this provide the young people with a framework within which all the experience they were getting made sense as part of the greater business structure, it also counted as a study pre-requisite for University enrolment.
Normally children complete a gruelling and stressful year 11 and 12 (called the HSC - Higher School Certificate) which then gives them a score which can be used to get into the standard entry stream of University enrolments. But you can also enter University showing prior studies and this works just as well.  And as the Level III certificate counts as tertiary studies, you're in.  Of course, this depends on the degree the young person wishes to study, but the principle is sound.

I volunteered for my birthday

When Eric was 17 he applied and was accepted to the online open university and they accepted his qualifications.  He worked out that a University degree wasn't for him, but we proved that the Certificate III was sufficient for him to enrol.
Through our store we have now provided two of our children and three other young employees with Level III certificates.  Ariel actually completed a level IV certificate and Diploma in Business management.
Even though the business is basically break even - and a loss in the early years - the net cost was less than school fees for year 11 and 12 and TAFE fees.  And the children earned full time wages.
So now when we are asked what we will do for HSC and qualifying for University we can answer, "We'll buy a business."

Benefits of homeschooling?

I am not sure where we found this fine image but it reminded me of the fun the children have had in the back yard, chasing each other with wooden swords or guns.
Cool.

Sibling Togetherness

One of the ladies in our online homeschooling list was gathering input regarding the homeschooling effects on sibling rivalry.  I referred the group to our previous posts (here here and here) but this led to discussions at home as well.

Eric likes sitting next to Zach in the van.  He reckons there are some great advantages, along with a few disadvantages, but overall he prefers that seat.  Eric says, "It is entertaining and at times highly profitable".

Advantages
 - You can play with the baby (see here and here for some examples)
 - You can eat the left overs which means you often get one and a half ice creams.

Disadvantages
 - When they are tired and scream.  Not pleasant but worth the effort in calming them down.

(The second photo is when Rose was three months old.  Eric added a Red Nose to Rose)

The other children wanted to add in their bit too:

The Boys (17,14,12): multi player games with opponents on hand is fun.

Peter (12): without them you get bored so easily

Ariel (19): [Evil laugh] - you can get them to do tasks you don't want to: but they're noisy and they take up your time and you have to feed them ... (after a delay)... but sometimes they're fun.

James (14): They're fun.  The younger ones find all my old tricks really new and funny.

Clare (9): You have someone to play with.

Martin (3): Because you love 'em.

The Latest Carnival of Homeschooling

The latest Carnival of Homeschooling is up with lots of interesting links to posts.
Our post regarding the DIY Business College is included.

Enjoy!

DIY Business College

When we purchased the Shop we wanted to make it more than just a quiet little job. One of our aims was to provide the young people working there with valuable training and experience.
Part of this is ensuring all the staff are familiar with the many aspects of the shop from Coffee, Cooking, Post Office, Newsagency, DVD rentals, Groceries and more. I wanted them to have something on their resume when they moved on.
Ariel, Eric and a local girl are all working on an official apprenticeship with an Employment Training organisation. They are doing a course in Business Management - Ariel doing a Level 4 certificate, and Eric and the girl doing Level 3 this year, and the level 4 certificate next year.
This course is college equivalent training and will help if they ever want to continue on to a University level degree later.
We have seen their service levels and knowledge grow quickly as they apply the training to their work at the Shop.
For Eric this is a great homeschooling alternative to the typical year 11 and 12 studies.  Not only is he getting invaluable experience with business and getting paid, but he obtains credits that can be applied to a university (college) degree in a few years' time.  As he is only 16, this works out very well.
This is also a great test of how we have done in preparing the children.  We have homeschooled them from the beginning, so this is the first real external means we have had to confirm our methods.  The reaction from the external trainer is very positive.  Woo hoo!
We were told at every stage by friends and strangers, "Just you wait until X is Y years old!  Then you will be in trouble."  Well, so far we have enjoyed every stage of each child and continue to enjoy living and working with the older ones too.

Sibling Rivalry Revisited

We had a guest the other night joining us for dinner.  After the meal when the children were cleaning up and washing dishes, our guest asked, "Don't your children fight?"
Lana and I looked at each other and pondered.
"Not really," we replied, "They have occasional disagreements but these get sorted out pretty quickly."
"Don't they yell or scream at each other?" our guest asked in amazement.
"Rarely, but we stomped on that behaviour very early on and now they have learned appropriate conflict resolution skills.  Also, when the children fight over something - a toy, a game or anything - we will get the object in dispute and tell them 'If this is causing you to fight, we don't want this thing in our home' and then throw it in the bin.  Pretty quickly the children learned that it wasn't worth fighting over 'stuff'"
"Hmm," he said, sitting back and watching the children singing off key - but loudly - and obviously enjoying themselves while they were cleaning up.
That is one advantage of homeschooling.  Rather than being thrown into the school jungle with no direct adult supervision, they are able to learn from adults when the problems occur, as memories are fresh and actions are obvious and not distorted by time and emotion.  Of course, the pressure was on Lana and I to grow up too, which was probably the hardest part.  We can't expect them to follow appropriate problem resolution techniques if we are squabbling over stupid little things.
"Ahh, but what about when they get in the 'real' world?  How about then huh?"
We actually believe the family is the "Real" world.  School life certainly isn't real life as what works in school doesn't work anywhere else.  So assuming "Real World" means the workplace, shops, sports and everything outside of home and school, we can answer that our methods work very well.
One on one taught conflict resolution techniques work great in the "outside" world.  The children have been performing admirably in the shop and in sports teams in which they have participated.
So, the experiment continues...
Previous articles about sibling rivalry are here and here.

(The photo is of Eric teaching Martin to fire a bow and arrow.  Martin concentrated very well and once he fired his arrow he went back to his primary role of arrow fetching.)

Order vs Disorder

Do you ever get sick and tired of cleaning up the house?  After all it will only get messy in minutes or hours anyway.

Well, a new study reported in The Economist shows that disorder leads to more disorder and crime.

AHI reports on the story and it is fascinating.

When the researchers had graffiti on the nearby wall, petty crime and littering increased dramatically.  I suspect this study can also be applied to homeschooling.  Although you can be too over the top in having a spotless home, an organised home is much more efficient for work, study and play.  At last you can find your things easier!

Bruggie Brothers Garden Maintenance

In line with our financial training for the children, the older boys Eric (15) and James(12.5) wanted some more funds for the things they wanted. This meant finding a way of earning money from people other than Dad and Mum.
One of the local village residents only comes down every couple of weeks and found the maintenance portion very draining to their enjoyment of village life. So they pay the boys a fixed amount per month to keep the grounds maintained - mowing, leaf clearing, gutter cleaning and so on. This is apportioned to us as a contribution to capital costs (lawn mower, trimmer and so on) and then each of the boys splitting across their savings and spending accounts. This then led to getting more mowing work for a couple more residents on an ad hoc basis.
This photo is the one we use for their business cards for their business: Bruggie Brothers Garden Maintenance.
This has led to another milestone. When the children earn a consistent $10 or more per month they can open up a bank account. This is pretty exciting for them as they see interest received as a bonus money.
"So the bank pays me not to spend my money?" James asked in amazement the other day.

"Yes," I replied, "Ariel earned a week's wages last quarter for leaving the money in her account."
"Cool."
Although the children earn their own money and at least 1/3rd goes into savings, we retain veto rights over their purchases. This has allowed them to learn what is - and more importantly, what is not - appropriate spending.
The other condition to having their own bank account is maintaining their own set of accounts in Quicken. That way we can do reports and see all the money they earned and where it all went.
Reviewing their accounts involve me asking questions like, "Look how much you spent on these items over the last year. How much do you still play with them? Do you still have them?"
This is a great training tool.
I was very interested when James came up to me the other day and asked, "Can you change my savings/spend mix? I want to save half rather than a third."
Woohoo! Tick off that little check box marked "Learn basic financial responsibility".

4H Carnival Of Homeschooling

The Carnival Of Homeschooling is up at Corn and Oil, celebrating the National 4H week.

We experienced 4H when we lived in Georgia, when Ariel and Eric joined in the BB gun competitions.  They didn't get through the try-outs but did pretty well for beginners.  (See how young Eric looks in the second link!)

Personal Highlights of the carnival:

Video killed the Book - we have found that movies rarely do justice to the book.  Many times we eagerly read the book and at other times we avoided the film supposedly "based" on books we really enjoy.  (For example, Around the World in 80 days is a great book that none of the movies have really captured.)

Why I don't like calling it "Home School" - We call our education home schooling for two reasons.  It is the commonly understood word that everyone has heard.  The second reason is that we redefine "school" to be more than just 9 to 3, plus homework, plus travel plus fundraising plus extra curricular activities.  For us it is the whole education experience from reading, writing and arithmetic, plus listening to stories, playing around, games, building things, dressing up, visiting shops, people, church, events and buildings.  For us "school" is a holistic education.

And, of course, there is our post: Another Homeschool Reason: No Fundraising.

Another Homeschool Reason - No Fundraising

Last weekend we attended a fundraising for a local public primary (elementary) school. They were desperately trying to raise the funds to keep the school open. I don't know how raising funds would help determine the ability to remain open for a public school, but I stopped by the Parents and Friends stall and asked how many students were attending the school.
"Three." The lady answered
"Three?" I asked in surprise.
"But there will be more next year."
This sounds a bit hopeful. With a dwindling child population, how can the State (which funds schools in Australia) legitimately maintain the school for three children. Our homeschool is double the number of students and we have NO assistance from the government.
So why do so many parents have to bring chocolates, lollies and other stuff to sell at their workplaces to raise funds for their school? If I asked people to give me some money to build a playground in my back yard, they would laugh. If I asked them to buy something to help in fund raising for recreation facilities for my children's school, they would find this more acceptable. Yet there is no difference.  Here is a photo of the school playground.
When people ask me about homeschooling, one of the benefits I list is "No fundraising". I always get the response how this IS a definite benefit.

(The photo is of Clare dutifully pointing out the termite mound on the school grounds. Isn't it huge!) She was eyeing the great school playground, and once I had taken the photo she joined the rest of our children to play on the equipment. We felt good knowing that double the normal school population was able to use the equipment.)