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Mothering Magazine Sponsored Chat with Marty Layne -- In the process of being a stay at home homeschooling mom, Marty Layne notes that she learned as much as her children. Drawing from those experiences, she authored and published Learning At Home: A Mother's Guide To Homeschooling. The book bears the unique honor of having been translated into Indonesian, and the third English language edition (the Newly Revised Edition) will be in print mid-February 2007.

Her children are all grown up now, but Marty wouldn't trade the years her family spent in the park, at the beach, in their backyard, or in the house—years rich in experience, relationships, time, and books—for anything. Marty speaks at various homeschooling conferences and presents workshops about mothering, education, homeschooling, and having fun. She also teaches infant massage and games-to-play-with-a-baby classes (an early literacy program she developed) to new parents and their babies. Marty was a volunteer La Leche League Leader for 12 years. In addition to writing and publishing Learning At Home: A Mother's Guide To Homeschooling, Marty has also recorded Brighten the Day—songs she and her kids sang for years, that celebrate the seasons. Visit her website at www.martylayne.com.

www.mothering.com
2/28/07

20 mamas in attendance

21:08:26 Webmama_Tina i'm so glad to have marty lane with us tonite!
21:09:04 Webmama_Tina once again, info on this chat....
21:09:37 Webmama_Tina In the process of being a stay at home homeschooling mom, Marty Lane notes that she learned as much as her children. Drawing from those experiences, she authored and published Learning At Home: A Mother's Guide To Homeschooling. The book bears the unique honor of having been translated into Indonesian, and the third English language edition (the Newly Revised Edition) will be in print mid-February 2007.  Her children are all grown up now, but Marty wouldn't trade the years her family spent in the park, at the beach, in their backyard, or in the house—years rich in experience, relationships, time, and books—for anything. Marty speaks at various homeschooling conferences and presents workshops about mothering, education, homeschooling, and having fun. She also teaches infant massage and games-to-play-with-a-baby classes (an early literacy program she developed) to new parents and their babies. Marty was a volunteer La Leche League Leader for 12 years. In addition to writing and publishing Learning At Home: A Mother's Guide To Homeschooling, Marty has also recorded Brighten the Day—songs she and her kids sang for years, that celebrate the seasons. Visit her website at www.martylayne.com
21:11:00 Webmama_Tina anything you'd like to add to that intro marty?
21:11:11 Marty Sings Now that my children are grown up and adults, I have time to do things like speak in chat rooms.:)   If you read through my intro as posted you'll know I had 4 children and homeschooled them k-12
21:11:45 Marty Sings I am happy to share my perspective on learning, creating a learing environment and burnout as well as other topics of interest
21:11:56 musician_mother ?
21:12:24 Webmama_Tina Welcome to this week's Mothering Sponsored chat! This is a moderated chat. Please make sure you read and fully understand the Moderated Chat Instructions before participating in this chat. Instructions can be found here: http://www.mommychats.com/modrules.htm  ...A Friendly Reminder: Please do not post unless it is your turn to ask a question. If you have a question, please post a single \?\" and you'll be added to the queue. Have your question ready when your name is called. "
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21:13:07 Webmama_Tina well marty, i'm just starting out on this homeschooling adventure so i am sure i can come up with a load of questions, LOL!
21:13:27 Webmama_Tina lets start with musician_mother though...since she got her question mark up there first! :)
21:13:36 Webmama_Tina you're up musician_mother! :)
21:14:07 mollyoh ?
21:14:08 musician_mother thank you....just wondering exactly how to homeschool regarding materials 
21:15:38 Marty Sings There are so many materials available to use homeschooling that I can't give you a one size fits all answer.  I'd recommend spending more money on toys such as blocks, dolls, art materials, books then on curriculum materials.  
21:16:08 Marty Sings It all depends on the age of your children.  What are there ages?
21:16:24 musician_mother 11 months:)
21:16:31 Marty Sings MY typos will be myriad so hopefully you can read what I mean
21:17:20 Marty Sings IN the second chapter of my book I go into a great deal of detail about materials and creating a learning environment.  That might be helpful for oyu.
21:17:36 musician_mother thank you
21:18:26 Marty Sings You're welcome!
21:18:27 Monette ?
21:18:40 Webmama_Tina monette, go ahead
21:19:06 Webmama_Tina ohhhh woops
21:19:08 Webmama_Tina sorry
21:19:20 Webmama_Tina mollyoh was next
21:19:28 Webmama_Tina sorry molly, missed ya til just now
21:20:03 Webmama_Tina go ahead mollyoh
21:20:13 mollyoh that's ok.  my question is about family.  My mother is finding the idea of homeschooling really tough.  I\m finding hearing her voice in my head all the time really tough.  Any advice?"
21:20:52 Webmama_Tina current chatter:  mollyoh.....  upcoming chatters: Monette, Webmama_Tina
21:21:32 Marty Sings One of the things to remember when family members question homeschooling is that it can soemtiems feel like a criticism.  I found it helped to listen empathetically and reflect back the feelings that are being expressed.
21:22:21 mollyoh thanks.  I think I\ve tried that and perhaps she's  just so far away it hasn't worked yet.  I\"ll keep listening for her feelings ( and hope she hears mine!)"
21:22:24 Marty Sings Grandparents want the best for their grandchildren and homeschooling seems such a strange choice.  It does help that there are so many families who have doen this and their chidlren are fine.
21:22:55 mollyoh yes, I wish she knew some.  Any homeschoolers I introduce her to she finds fault with. 
21:23:19 Webmama_Tina marty do you have any or know of any great articles that maybe you could recommend that are written maybe with this in mind?
21:23:24 Marty Sings Often our own parents can't hear our feelings.  You may never be able to convince her that homeschooling is a good idea.  Then it is an internal problem for you in how to deal with that - can you agree to disagree
21:24:11 Marty Sings Chapter 8 in my book about preventing burnout addresses some of these issues.  There are not a lot of things written about this that i have found
21:24:19 mollyoh YOu know, today I was wondering just what it is I want from her.  I think I would like her to notice some of the good things I am doing for the kids.  
21:24:22 mollyoh Thanks again.
21:24:31 emilikow ?
21:24:45 Webmama_Tina here's something i wrote...not professional by any means, but i did write it specifically with the inlaws in mind: http://fresnofamily.com/homeschool/believe.html
21:25:02 SandraMort Is it regarding structured or unschooling, Tina?
21:25:05 Marty Sings Molly - you may find that this comes a few years down the road.  
21:25:06 Webmama_Tina don't know if it would help, but thought i'd share...i'm sure there are professionally written ones out there somewhere :)
21:25:13 Webmama_Tina just homeschooling in general
21:25:17 SandraMort Oh, okay.
21:25:33 Webmama_Tina monette is up next! :)
21:25:37 Monette I am planning to homeschool my daughter in the fall. She'll be in 4th grade, and has been at a Waldorf school since kindergarten. I am planning to use a Waldorf-based curriculum, but I'd love ideas on what a typical homeschooling day would look like. 
21:27:29 Marty Sings A typical homeschooling day can look anyway you want it to - some people follow a curriculum and do school type things in the morning leaving the afternoon free to do other stuff.  it depends on you and your daughter and what you're comfortable with.
21:28:26 Marty Sings I follwed a child-directed style of homeschooling so my chidlren spent a lot of time playing, I read many hors of stories ot them everyday and we went to the beach, the museum, the library etc.
21:28:50 Monette Sounds wonderful! So, no curriculum?
21:29:03 Marty Sings At first most new homeschoolers follow a schedule, but overtime, many find that the schedule gets in the way of learning
21:29:44 Monette Interesting. Other than your book, what other resources would you recommend for a new homeschooler -- books, websites, etc.?
21:29:47 Webmama_Tina darned if i can get myself into a schedule! LOL
21:30:06 Marty Sings We followed a curriculum that occurred organically.  My sons were interested in medival Lego so we read about those times, etc.  My daughter was fascinated by families and generations so we read all of the books about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her various f
21:30:23 Marty Sings family members
21:30:47 SandraMort Gets expensive :)
21:30:51 Webmama_Tina sounds a little charlotte mason-y :)
21:31:04 Webmama_Tina (reading up on her right now...really liking the ideas so far)
21:31:16 SandraMort ?
21:31:19 Marty Sings My book :), A_Z Home's Cool site and the library
21:32:04 Monette Thanks, Marty. I'm definitely buying your book!
21:32:44 Marty Sings Basic craft supplies, art supplies, good quality paper, recorders, etc. are also fun things - By the way I have 6 copies of my 2nd edition left  New edition should be available soon.  Check my website
21:33:38 Marty Sings YOu're welcome Monette - Have fun!  I think that's the main ingredient of a great homeschooling curriculum
21:34:27 Webmama_Tina current chatter: Webmama_Tina...upcoming chatters: emilikow, SandraMort 
21:34:38 Webmama_Tina ok my question is regarding homeschooling and toddlers...
21:35:07 Webmama_Tina i haven't done much yet with my 6yr old...nothing structured at least...because my 19mo son makes it darn near impossible
21:35:19 Marty Sings That sounds familiar
21:35:29 Webmama_Tina i would love some ideas for what to do to keep the baby entertained so i can do focused work with my daughter
21:35:35 Webmama_Tina  the second i try to do anything he is on top of us
21:35:39 Webmama_Tina or tearing it up
21:36:00 Webmama_Tina and his naps are not long enough to really get into much....he always wakes up mid-way
21:36:17 Webmama_Tina just as we get involved in something, it seems, he's awake
21:36:41 Webmama_Tina so this year i've been saying we are \unintentionally unschooling\"....LOL"
21:36:45 Marty Sings Yes - I would have loved that, too.  Play-doh sometimes works or nursing the toddler.  when people asked me what i did with my younger children while I was teaching my older ones, I always said the real question is what were the older ones doing while I 
21:37:36 Marty Sings was busy with the younger ones.  Can you read to your 6 yr old and toddler at the same time?  And perhaps bedtime is the best time to have focused attention with your 6 yr old a great time to read and talk.  Mental math can be done anywhere and anytime
21:37:51 Marty Sings Play games like I-Spy or 20 questions
21:38:02 Webmama_Tina sometimes i can...not for long though...he tends to turn the pages for us...really fast, lol
21:38:13 Marty Sings And your 6 yr old is learning a lot interacting with you and her younger sibling
21:38:36 SpikesMom ?
21:38:45 Webmama_Tina and bedtime is daddy's realm, since the baby needs me direly at that point
21:38:53 Webmama_Tina i-spy is a good idea
21:38:54 Marty Sings The other suggestion that works for some people is to have a teenagers come in and play with your toddler so you and your 6 yr old can do something together.
21:39:04 Webmama_Tina something i can do without blocking him, lol
21:39:10 canadianmom Hey Tina,Hi everyone
21:39:20 Marty Sings Can daddy do soemthing with your toddler before bedtime so you and your daughter have some time together?
21:39:34 Webmama_Tina yeah i think i may have to look for a mother's helper...i REALLY need one
21:40:13 SandraMort cheaper than tuition for private school
21:40:16 Webmama_Tina we've tried that but the baby just goes so ballistic for me in the evening...its exhausting...the more i try to distract him with daddy teh more he tends to want me... *sigh* so we are just trying to ride this out
21:40:44 Webmama_Tina current chatter: Webmama_Tina...upcoming chatters: emilikow, SandraMort, SpikesMom 
21:41:06 Webmama_Tina just wondered if you knew any other great tricks ;)
21:41:11 Marty Sings Riding it out is often the only way to do it.  You may find that a younger child - 10-11 yr old might be a great mother's helper.  Contact your local homeschooling group and see if there aren't some kids that age willing to play
21:41:31 Webmama_Tina i've even tried setting him up wtih his own activities while we do something...but he won't have anything to do with it...wants what big sister is doing and that's all that he'll have, LOL
21:41:34 Marty Sings It will change :)
21:41:44 Webmama_Tina ok thanks
21:41:52 Webmama_Tina yeah i keep telling myself that *sigh*
21:42:07 Webmama_Tina might have been easier if they weren't so far apart in age, cuz then he'd have been older...oh well
21:42:13