Worm Loves Worm... an emotional roller coaster.

Never has a single book given me such a roller coaster of emotions.

Worm Loves Worm by J.J.Austrian, illustrated by Mike Curato

I can’t even begin to explain how this book had me flipping and flopping at the turn of every page. Let me try.

First, my daughter picked it up. As a general rule, I try to read everything she brings me… only saying no to the truly bad books. Ya, know. The ones that, literally, hurt your feelings as you read them or worse, make you dumber as a human being.

I have to say, that with FEW exceptions… books were characters are ‘named’ as their species, have, in my experience, been high on the list of books that hurt my very soul to read them. So ‘Worm Loves Worm’ was instantly low on my list of exciting things for my daughter to bring me.

But when she wants to read it… we suck up our feelings and read it. Even if it hurts. So we opened the book.

Spoiler Alert!

Worm marries worm… I just wanted to make that clear. Not only are they in love… they marry.

So, as they discuss getting married, other creatures impose their ideas on what a wedding includes. These impositions include, a minister, a best beetle, and brides bees. Then a cake, rings and a band. 

‘Oh great.’ I think to myself, another book about how a marriage isn’t real unless you have a “traditional” wedding. Am I reading too much into a picture book… No. No, I’m not.  

But, she’s loving it so I read on. I did appreciate Worm and Worm retorting each suggestion with perfectly valid reasons they didn’t need those things. They don’t need rings, they have no fingers. They don’t need a band, they have no feet for dancing. I also began to appreciate Worm and Worm for remaining optimistic and finding ways to incorporate these things they don’t really need and having such a positive attitude. 

Even still, after several pages of this, I’m getting annoyed with their acceptance of every demand made by their friends. Then, the final straw for me? Wedding attire. As someone who married her high school sweetheart almost 10 years after graduation, at a park, wearing jeans… I almost put the book down when everyone suggested they needed a dress and tux.

Now, if you’re reading this book along with your kid… or along with this post. Don’t close it just yet. I promise. 

Keep going.

Because, Worm and Worm finally stand up for themselves, completely. They each wear part of a dress and part of a tux… rendering them each completely unisex. Gender Neutral? Equal. 

“We can be both.” they declare. Even after Cricket tries to shoot that down, their response is perfect… and I’m sold.

Worm and Worm are now married. I retrace my emotional roller coaster to snap these pictures for this lovely post and I realize… the worm with the white in it’s eyes… never speaks! It’s always the worm with only pupils, who’s mouth is open, talking. 

Now, what started as a book that was surely going to hurt my feelings to read. Turned into a great book on gender equality, using a wedding, the most UNequal gender event (possibly)…. but then turned into a dark book about abusive relationships. (and don’t even get me started on the cannibalism, I’m looking at you spider)

FRIENDS! If you’re in a relationship that denies you a say in how your life turns out, PLEASE! Get help. Just because Worm was preaching equality in the wedding does not mean they were practicing it in the relationship. Lesson learned!

Nothing is ever as it seems… not even Worm Loves Worm.

ING

!jen

Homeschool Weirdos! Yep, we have those.

Homeschoolers are weird. This is probably the most common phrase regarding our lifestyle choice and it's also the most common UNtruth. But don't take my word for it, see it for yourself. 

The kids and I have been talking about what we'll do in June when they finish their experiment public school year, all the things we'll do over the summer and what our schooling will look like next year as we look forward to retirement from the Navy. One of the things they decided was joining the ranks of YouTubers. Not wanting to wait until school was out, they decided to start making video's now.

They wanted to let people know what homeschoolers get to do all day. How we learn by doing and exploring and experiencing the world. 

We started as fairly regular homeschoolers with a very Montessori flair. I'm certified in the Montessori method and have years of education experience so I knew just what to do when we started this 'homeschooling' thing. 

Famous last words.

Each year we continued homeschooling, following our kids to what they wanted to learn and love (as Montessori does), I realized that we are way more UNschoolers than anything else. 

We learn about whales by going to the coast and whale watching after a bit of library research. We explored building and mathematics and following instructions at Lego School. We learned about the rainforest by hiking in it and seeing it first hand. 

These are the experiences that my children thrive in and beg for. So when they said they wanted to start making YouTube videos... you bet I was on board.

They made a list of ten different episode ideas, then gave each episode a list of materials it might need. We sat down and gave each episode a 'budget' and discussed using it wisely. We talked about making videos with no cost to save up for a video with more materials. 

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Yeah, it's 'school'. 

Each episode requires such planning and organization, when I involve them in it, they learn. Learn by doing and being responsible and planning and even editing.

Yes, you read that right. 

#WestWind is the editor. I record them (like, I actually push the record button... go me!). We decided this would be best, as them watching themselves in selfie mode would just be disastrous. Then I upload the clips and she takes over in iMovie. 

She LOVES it. After working all day at school, asking to edit is the first request when she gets home. If there aren't episodes to edit, she is actually sad. She has learned about royalty free music and where to obtain it. She has leaned about cutting out 'dead air' and watching for when her brother might feel the need to scratch himself (ahhhh), so she can cut that out too. No one wants to see it ;)

The aforementioned brother? #FlyBoy is a natural in timing and poise. He knows just how to move the video along and sign off when everything is done. The youngest? #MoonSeeker is just an adorable addition for now. But don't you worry! She's working on her own segments too, you'll see. 

Do you have weird homeschoolers? 

What are they doing lately?

How are they learning and loving it?

ING

!jen

Chores for my FIVE year old? Folding laundry....

What CAN he do??

In this day and age when parents are SO eager to get back to teaching their kids to be responsible, we find ourselves asking, HOW??

How do we know when they’re ready for chores?

How do we know which chores?

How to we start?

How do we teach?

How do we survive waiting for them to learn it properly?

How? How? How?

There are SO many cute guides to age appropriate chores. Just google 'age appropriate chores'... a step further is to search images specifically. There's a TON. Like this one:

by Heather at Sports Mom Survival Guide

But these are simply that, guides. Each child is their own person. My oldest was reading 2nd grade books as she entered 1st. My middle one is almost 5 and barely getting around to caring about the sounds letters make. So why would they be able and ready to do the same chores at the same ages?? They’re NOT. PLEASE remember, these info graphics are guidelines.

So #IcarusRex is now able to fold laundry. How do I know?? I watched him ‘fold’ blankets and napkins and saw that the manual dexterity was there. The concentration was there. The desire was there…. so I gave him a lesson. Guess what?! He was able to do it without fussing, with a certain amount of ease, and still with a bit of room for improvement. 

SO what IS our ‘laundry folding’ lesson?

Step One: 

Lay out the shirt ‘picture side’ down. I do this part during our first few tries. (I know he can do this part because he does it for getting dressed daily, but since this is a new lesson, I do the first few for him)

Step One

We place the picture side down, for 2 reasons. 

1. picture side down is how he gets dressed, it ensures the picture is on his front instead of back. 

2. we can see the picture when it's in the drawer, making choosing it easier.

Step Two:

Fold one side over to the other. (left to right or right to left, doesn’t matter)

Step Two

Step Three:

Fold arms over body of shirt. (just so the sleeves no longer stick out)

Step Three

Step Four:

Fold bottom up to cover sleeves. (create a rectangle/square)

Step Four

Folding in Action ;) 

He LOVED that he did every shirt alone. We also had a lesson on folding bottoms that day. So #IcarusRex was especially accomplished by the end of our chore. 

 

There is NO task in our day or life that can’t be broken down into manageable, age appropriate, steps. All we, as parents, need to do is think logically about the task and assess what each child is capable of. My youngest (now 2 years old), can move laundry from basket to washer to dryer to basket. LOVES to in fact. Would I expect her to fold and return the clothes to the dresser? Of course not. But SO many parents do this, or something similar. They see their child doing part of a chore and assume they can do all of that chore. Take it easy folks! 

Have fun with each stage of each child’s go at life. Through that fun… you’ll witness and observe, not only their abilities and skill but you’ll observe SO many moments, otherwise missed. 

ING

!jen

Comment below and let me know what chore you're planning to give a lesson on or loved giving a lesson on previously. OR let me know which chore you have NO IDEA how to teach effectively and I'll blog it ;) I'm all about helping you Montessori your life and lessons.