My new blog home

You’re cordially invited to join me at my Banquet Table and partake of all the goodies on it!

www.bankwhitt.wordpress.com

There are some things that I like about homeschooljournal.net but as my other blogs are at wordpress, I decided (for now) to transfer my blog life to http://bankwhitt.wordpress.com.

My 9yo boy came up with the name ‘bankwhitt’ as it relates to our name, where we live, and to ‘banquet’ my name here.

Come and join the banquet table over there.

Look forward to catching up with you there  …

A new theme – with changing colours

Rearranged the recipes – categorised too

Here are the various parts of my life:

www.lapbooking.wordpress.com – Lapbooking – presentation folders for school projects or unit studies. Also www.lapbooking.tumblr.com resources and webquests.

www.nzhomeed.wordpress.com – general homeschooling info for NZ

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/MigraineHealth/ - forum for women who have migraines

My Husband’s site:

www.2restore.wordpress.com

My children’s (neglected) blogsite:

www.kiwikids.tumblr.com

I’m president of MOPS NZ:

www.mops.org.nz
mother organisation’s huge website: www.mops.org

MUM-e-Mail – free twice-a-month encouragement for mothers of under 6s and their supporters: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MUM-e-Mail/

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This is gathered with some other interesting sites I like
at Crayon “Banquet Times”  – click items down the LHS

Create your own newspaper : http://www.crayon.net/scripts/login.cgi?mode=create

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Keeping occupied!

What makes the world go around? The little things of life like words that come to mean so much more when spoken each and all day.

1. Thank you
Not just when something is good, but also for another bringing correction and truth into your life. Thank you can specifically encourage character qualities in one another’s lives, eg. “Thank you for being thoughtful and seeing that I needed a drink”. Or simply, “I appreciate you (for being you).”

2. How may I help? or How can I best help you now?
We are created for living in community. We can be an arm at the elbow for each other. A small child can reach under the couch. A tall person gets the jar from the top shelf. A younger person holds the door open for an Elder. Mother can help child with a new word or a tricky maths problem. We best achieve what we would like when we help others to achieve what they need or want. 

3. Please
Yes, “please” is still a classic when asking for something. Hopefully, for our children (and the adults too), this word along with the other polite niceties of life will freely flow off the tongue.

4. How about a hug?

• A bear hug,
• a “Good Morning” hug (you know the day goes so much better with one or two of these),
• a family hug (complete with the hand pats on the back - are you a 2-patter or 3-patter?),
• an Olympic hug (everyone in, jumping and noisy as!),
• an arm across the shoulder

- all say “I love you”, “I want you around me”, “I’m glad to be with you”.

5. I love you
We may leave secret notes, hug or kiss, or gaze longingly into our Other’s eyes, but at times nothing substitutes a verbalised truth: “I love you” said with the tone of voice that will melt the Other’s heart (and our own).

6.  You can do it
Encouragement and giving hope are high on the list of priorities for parents and grandparents to offer to their children. A smile, a pat on the back, a hearty “yeah!” all show our children that they are finding their place in the world - our part of it anyway. This gives them confidence to try out new things as they mature.

7. Good job!
Right up there with other forms of encouragement. Honest, speecific, and deserved praise and rewards can be spread around generously. This models a generous and warm spirit for our children.

8. Tell me more
More encouragement. Words like these show your child that you are listening and that you would like to hear more about what’s on their mind. “Tell me more” encourages conversation without passing judgement or giving immediate advice.

9. Let’s all pitch in
Co-operation and team effort make many jobs easier and speedier – and often more fun: “Let’s all pitch in and finish raking the leaves so we can go in and bake cookies,” or “Let’s all pitch in and clean up the kitchen or we’ll miss the movie.” Family activities and group chores can develop into pleasant rituals that enrich a child’s life and create fond memories.

10. It’s time to…
“It’s time to get ready for bed”, or “do your work”, or “tidy up your bedroom floor”. Children need structure in their daily lives to provide a measure of security and predictability in an often insecure world. It is up to you as parent to establish and maintain a workable schedule of activities, always remembering that children benefit from regular mealtimes and bedtimes.

Here’s an interesting view on praising children. 

There are other phrases that need to be used at times that we’ll look at next Monday – those harder phrases that define boundaries and admit wrong.

Enjoy your children! They might not always sit on your lap, but they’re never too young or old to give a warm cuddle and a loving word in their ear.
Shalom,

Why don’t I write much on Thoughtful Thursday?

Why do I forget  …  ?

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(love this .. sorry, can’t remember who I swiped it off)

Today included – vaguely in this order:

• up and cuppa of green tea whilst clearing e-mails
• answered letters
• question asked by MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) publicity leader in regards to Press Releases – got me curious. Went for a search and gathered 2 pages of notes and links. Uploaded that file to the yahoogroup.
• Had “Good Morning” hug with both of my children – they know their days go a whole lot better starting with one of these!
• Breakfast – cough! Ham and egg done in (george foreman-type) griller – protein has to give you energy!?
• Set my children into their homeschooling for the day. N7 is doing multiplication and roman numerals now – so pleased with himself. G9 set about to organise her BREAD lapbook – all by herself. I was going to help her, but left her to ask questions and do it herself. She’s proud of her efforts today.
• U.G. [bro-in-law] came to fix the diaphragm in the toilet cistern so it won’t leak all the time. Sat and had a yakker with him over a cuppa.
• Sat in the midday sun, but closed the door cos of the winter breeze. The chn and I sat reading recipe books – trying to gain inspiration for what we could possibly have for lunch and also tea! Had rice, bacon, etc on the griller. Also a salad-filled tortilla (complete with beetroot).
• N7 painted. G9 continued on her lapbook. I continued sorting things out on the net – trying out some new gadgets.
• Went for a walk to the Mall [.7km away] – met a several people we knew. But didn’t see DH who got home early and came looking for us! Shopped at the expensive supermarket for the things we can’t get at our cheap supermarket.
• DH announced we could go out for tea tonight – such music to my ears [good thing I didn't get the chicken out of the freezer after all].
• Chn did a clean-up. I cleared the e-mail again. Wrote this. Read some blogs.
• Darn! just found the gif that I could have used – must have gotten filed in an obscure place.
• time for tea – yay! Queen’s Birthday weekend – no work on Monday for DH.

Later,