From the archives: Or we can keep on...

First posted April 2006 (which makes it fifteen years ago); edited slightly. The Apprentice was fourteen, still homeschooling that spring, but later in the year she started part time at the local high school. Ponytails was eight and a half. Crayons/Lydia was almost five.

 "Mom makes us work too hard." "Not another book!" "School is hard." If my children were talking Barbies, they might echo that unfortunate doll (who had her conversation chip yanked for saying that math is too hard). Yes, the Apprentice and Ponytails do complain about school, lest you think that these Shakespeare-reading progeny do everything excellently without ever needing to be prodded (that's only true of other peoples' children, right?). After all, The Apprentice isn't planning on going to university anyway...she alternates between interests in hairdressing/cosmetics, photography, and computer information systems (maybe she'll figure out a way to do all of them). Why does this stuff matter?

[2021 update: The Apprentice did a hairstyling apprenticeship first, but also studied science/math at university, and now works in computer information systems.]

So I have some alternatives. I could buy a fill-in-the-blanks homeschool curriculum instead of boring them with Thomas More or Winston Churchill. (Jane Austen and Charles Dickens don't get the "boring" face, for some reason.) I could let them follow their own interests completely. I could buy some of those prepared novel studies, comprehension workbooks, language textbooks, and spend a lot more time teaching them to write five-sentence paragraphs. (Squirrelings, that's not meant to be a threat--some homeschoolers spend a lot of time on those things because that's just the way they do school, and it works for them.)

I could send them to public school, so that they could develop the the following characteristics of current university students. (This list comes from the story "Educating the next wave" in a local newspaper. I'm only including some of them.)

* "Doing" is more important than "knowing." In other words, what you know is less important than knowing where to get the answer. "You don't have to master the subject anymore," Sharpe said. [Associate Professor Bob Sharpe of Wilfrid Laurier University, who led a seminar about preparing for the next generation of students.]
* They have zero tolerance for delays. When they send an e-mail to a professor, they want an answer immediately.
* They're consumers rather than producers of knowledge.
* They blur the lines between consumer and creator by sampling information on the Internet and producing new forms of expression. (That last one, in particular, intrigues me. It sounds like one of those creative report card comments that really means "He cheated on his term paper.")

Or we can keep on reading writers who are much wiser and better educated than we are, taking what we can from their thoughts, and making our responses to their books a central part of Treehouse homeschooling.

In spite of the grousing, there are those moments when I know that what we're doing is what we're supposed to be doing. Like when Ponytails asked for a James Whitcomb Riley poetry book at a booksale last year, or The Apprentice kindly found me a volume of Tennyson at this year's sale. Or when I found The Apprentice reading her Canadian history book without being reminded, or saw Ponytails poring over a map of Narnia. Or when The Apprentice found a creative way to make her science experiment work even though somebody discarded the plastic pop bottle she was hoarding. (Sorry.) Or when Ponytails was genuinely sad at finishing a biography of Galileo. Or when Crayons read me back part of the Charlotte's Web chapter we'd just finished together.

We'll try to understand that delays happen...there are disappointments...and that not everything's fun (though something can be enjoyable in its own way without being fun). Maybe the Squirrelings will be strange enough to think that knowing something is even more valuable than knowing where to look it up (or where to copy it from the Internet). Maybe when we've read Utopia and How to Read a Book and Whatever Happened to Justice, there won't be so many blurry lines. Maybe they will be subversive enough to think that they can be producers as well as consumers of knowledge.

If they turned out like that, I wouldn't mind at all.

Bad dwarves, card games, and Sunday thoughts

The Apprentice is here for the weekend, and she brought a card game that she thrifted (that's my girl). If you've played Mille Bornes, it's a bit like that: you're either a good dwarf miner, or a bad dwarf saboteur, and only you know which type of card you've gotten. The object is to build a path of cards towards three other mystery cards, two rocks and one gold (again you don't know which is which, although there are opportunities to find out). If you can guess who's acting like a friendly dwarf or a saboteur, you can either try to help them or stymie them; but they might be bluffing. If the good dwarves get to the gold, they share it; if the saboteurs keep them away, they keep it themselves. Simple, right? Kids could play this; you don't even have to be able to read.

Here's the thought: sometimes making good choices is about discernment, trying to figure out what the saboteurs are in our lives and squashing them.  (I said what, not who.) What are the positive and negative factors? You can waste a lot of time trying to tell one from the other, and sometimes the saboteurs are going to win even if you slow them down with broken-pickaxe cards. 

The other approach is to keep going with our own tasks (building the road to the goal/gold). You take the good with the bad, extend grace whenever possible, and realize that, in real life, good and evil can switch places. Or what began as evil, God can turn to...gold. You might be better using your turn to put down a path card instead of strewing broken-pickaxes around.

It won't help anyone win the card game, but it might help with the bigger story.

From the archives: just another school day, about ten years ago

First posted March 2007. Links updated/edited. Ponytails was in Grade Four, and Lydia (Crayons) was doing kindergarten. The Apprentice was in her second semester at public high school, but she was also doing Canadian Geography with me.

We had a picture study lesson that was kind of a transition lesson: we've been studying John Constable, and we're going to be starting Claude Monet, so I read about both of them from Hillyer and Huey's Young People's Story of Fine Art: The Last Two Hundred Years. (Basically the same as Hillyer's art book) The book talks about the problem of making something in a painting bright enough to look realistic, like trees; painters before Constable used to make their trees brown, but Constable managed to make them green by using little dabs of different colours; and that's why he was an influence on Monet and the impressionists, both in the "dab" technique and because of his interest in light and the brightness of things. We looked at a Monet calendar I have and also some prints-on-canvas I got from Hampstead House; I held them up close and then from across the room so the girls could see the difference. The prints aren't great, but you could still get the effects; "The bridge at Argenteuil" was wonderful with all its reflections in the water.

It was a good lesson because it felt like we were all discovering something together, and because it linked something we knew about (Constable) with something new.

Besides that...we finished "Les Biscuits," a story in our French book about a greedy girl who grabs a handful of dog biscuits instead of chocolate cookies from the kitchen shelf; a chapter of Sajo and the Beaver People (we're almost done, the beaver is about to be rescued); and some geography, about faults in the earth. Ponytails worked on multiplying 3 digits times 2 digits, and played a game of Math Munchers on the computer. Crayons did a Miquon Math page. And there was an ongoing game of paper dolls. Oh, also Ponytails is reading The Secret Garden to herself, and Crayons is busy with a bunch of old Ladybug magazines.

The Apprentice and I did some of her geography in the evening as well: we finished reading a Canadian Geographic article about David Keith, a Canadian environmental researcher who is also involved in public policy. Real people doing real things.

How was your day?

Related: Another post about Grade Four/Kindergarten

From the archives: When cooking is like homeschooling, or vice versa

First posted in October, 2005. The Apprentice was 13 and doing Homeschool Grade 9. Ponytails had just turned 8, and Lydia (Crayons, at that time) was 4.

Yesterday the Squirrelings took a walk with Mama Squirrel (in this insanely warm October weather) and we decided to pick up some bananas at a gourmet food store that was on our route. It's the sort of place that's fun to browse in but also a place mostly for Serious Cooks. There are bottles of olive oil that cost as much as wine, more kinds of cheese than there probably are cows giving the milk for them, and jars of capers and all such things that have very limited use for the Treehouse brand of cookery. Crayons got to try a sample of cheese that had chopped oranges sandwiched in the middle--that got mixed reviews. We ended up buying the bananas, a piece of Gouda, and a two-dollar chocolate bar to split later for dessert.

Does Mama Squirrel know how to cook? Yes, she puts three meals on the table every day for the five squirrels, along with the occasional company meal, Christmas dinner and birthday cake. (All right, Mr. Fixit does the turkey roasting. And he cooks some meals on weekends. And makes pancakes.) Does Mama Squirrel know how to cook with $40 olive oil and capers? No, and the squirrelings wouldn't eat it if she did. Would Mama Squirrel know how to work a shift in a restaurant kitchen? Does she know how to make a roux? No, although she did work one summer with a chef who showed her how to bump lettuce, chop onions with a mean-looking chef's knife, and squish garlic. What are the Squirrels having for dinner tonight? Farmer's sausage sitting on some sauerkraut in the crockpot, frozen perogies, and some vegetable yet to be decided.

Does Mama Squirrel know how to teach the Squirrelings? With modesty, she thinks that the Squirrelings seem to read, write and figger as well as most other kids. Are the Squirrelings socially competent? Have they missed out on not having to share their Legos with the rest of the class? No, they still have to negotiate for the pieces they want and refrain from bashing each other. Is Mama Squirrel happy when she sees not one but two pairs of feet sticking out from under the Chev Caprice during an oil change on a beautiful afternoon? Oh yes. (And Ponytails would be under there too if Mr. Fixit would let her, but this activity is restricted to those who are actually getting Dad-credit for Transportation Technology.)

Does Mama Squirrel buy all her groceries at the gourmet store or her teaching supplies at the teacher's store? Nope. Does she get her recipes from Gourmet, or her teaching ideas from whatever the teacher's magazine is? Nope. The last time she made a dessert from a magazine like that, she ended up pushing raspberries through a sieve and making this cream thing, having to chill the thing about three times, and ended up with something that pretty much resembled raspberry yogurt. The last time she flipped through some classroom ideas, she was dazzled (not) by the fun little ditties we could sing about making people graphs (in a previous post) and the wonderful idea of demonstrating the letter D by having children paste dimes on their letter D's.

Does that mean professional chefs and professional teachers are wasting their time? No, it's just that Mama Squirrel has other things to do than sieve raspberries and paste dimes. She'd rather eat the raspberries and spend the dimes.

And that's the difference between classroom schooling and homeschooling. Bon appetit.

A Treehouse Hallowe'en Flashback: Because you never know when you might go cosmic bowling

First posted just after Hallowe'en 2007. The Apprentice was in tenth grade.

Some people buy leftover candy after Halloween. Some people buy dressup clothes.

The Apprentice bought two cans of spray-on hair colour, Real Cheap. One makes your hair look really weird under blacklights. The other is just purple.

Now I guess she's ready in case Barbie phones her up.

What were the keepers? Looking back on a library sale

I've never done this before, exactly.

In October, 2008, our family went to a giant book sale at the downtown library. We brought home about forty books, picked out by various members of the family. At that time, we had one Squirreling in high school, one who was spending a year in public school, and one doing second grade at home. Now we have two Big-Squirrels moved out, and one Teenage Squirrel who is no longer homeschooling. We've also been through several bookshelf purges.

So this is the question: out of such a random list, what did we love? And what do we still have? The titles are in bold; my comments follow each one.

A Story of the Group of Seven (Hunkin--about a well-known group of Canadian artists): I still have this, I think; I don't think I can ever escape the Group of Seven.

Cornelius Krieghoff (Hugues de Jouvancourt) (one of our term's artists): something we used and then passed on.

Adventures of Richard Wagner (Opal Wheeler) and
Young Brahms (Sybil Deucher--same series as the Wheeler music bios): we probably used these at some point, but they've been passed on to other homeschoolers. We kept the first one in the series that we ever used, Grieg.

Elisabeth & the Water Troll (Wangerin): I didn't keep this because the same story appears in Swallowing the Golden Stone.

Meet the Malones (Weber) and
Beany Malone (Weber): These have stayed on the shelf, partly out of sentiment (they're identical to the ones I used to borrow from the library) and partly because they're good books.

The Glass Slipper (Eleanor Farjeon--her version of Cinderella): we haven't managed to get rid of this one yet. Like, it's Eleanor Farjeon.

Go With the Poem (Lillian Moore): this was an anthology of 20th-century children's poems, but I don't remember it at all; we must not have kept it long.

The Unbroken Web (Richard Adams), a.k.a. The Iron Wolf and Other Stories: we probably picked this up because of reading Watership Down, but I don't remember anyone being that interested; it got kind of "meh" reviews on Goodreads too.

The Cuckoo Clock (Mary Stolz): I think we still have this with the fairy tale books. It's one of the ones that gets pulled during cleanouts and then put back.

The Story of Holly and Ivy (Christmas story by Rumer Godden; we already have a copy of this, but this edition has illustrations by Barbara Cooney): we kept this one. It was a favourite of Lydia's when she was younger.

The Coat-Hanger Christmas Tree (Eleanor Estes): I like Eleanor Estes, and I thought I would really like this, but I think we read it once and then passed it on. I get it mixed up with Elizabeth Enright's "A Christmas Tree for Lydia," which we also had a copy of and gave away.

'Round the Christmas Tree (Corrin): a collection of stories; it wasn't one we kept

The Alley (Eleanor Estes): I don't remember reading this with the girls (or in my own childhood), but according to the Goodreads reviews, we seem to have missed something worthwhile. Maybe it was the slow start.

Doctor on an Elephant (Kroll): we must not have read this much because I barely remember it

Diamond in the Window (Langton): this one comes up all the time on lost-books boards, but it was too creepy for my readaloud taste.

Harry's Mad (Dick King-Smith--about a parrot): a favourite. I think we must have borrowed this from the library before finding it at the book sale, because I'm sure we read it with The Apprentice, um, much earlier than eleventh grade.

Ben and Me: we used this when we learned about Benjamin Franklin.

Backyard Vacation: Outdoor Fun: this is by Carolyn Haas, and looks like it would have been fun, but maybe the activities were just things we couldn't do.

Mountain Bluebird (Hirschi): I don't remember this one.

Thanksgiving Fun: there are several books with this title, and I don't remember which this one was--must not have been one we used much

An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving (Alcott): we must have skipped over this one too; maybe it was just that particular time in our lives.

Cat's Cradles, Owl's Eyes: I think this was an extra copy, because it was already one of the girls' favourite cats-cradle books

Winners! Super Champions of Ice Hockey (don't ask): Lydia wanted this because her best friend loved hockey.

Not Much News: Ruby's Letters from Home (Edna Staebler): I was looking forward to reading this, but for some reason I never got into it. I think I felt too nosy, reading someone else's personal letters.

These High Green Hills (Jan Karon): this was around the time I was first reading the Mitford novels

Crystals and Crystal Gardens: do not remember this
Sugar Free Kids' Cookery: do not remember this either

Make Clothes Fun!: this was published in 1992 and was already pretty dated by 2008. How to make your clothes funkier.

Miss Patch's Learn to Sew Book: this was one I had seen listed in Books Children Love, and it did turn out to be a good introduction to simple sewing projects

Dancing Is (Ancona): I think that was also listed in Books Children Love, but it wasn't one the girls liked much.

Ballet Company: I know this was by Kate Castle, but it wasn't one we kept.

Some others I've forgotten:
Have Fun with Magnifying
The Past of Pastimes (Bartlett)
World of Swans
Music for Very Little People.

So, maybe half a dozen keepers after eight years. Was it worth the trouble? Of course.

"'A parrot,' the man said carefully. 'Shpeaking on the telephone. Time I shtopped,' and he emptied the bottle onto the pavement." ~~ Harry's Mad

From the archives: Coffeemamma, Cruise Night, and Climbing

First posted July, 2006. All the Squirrelings were...well, ten years younger than they are now.

1. Met Coffeemamma and three of the Blue Castle progeny in the park, along with another AmblesideOnline mamma and her family. It was so nice to talk in person after all these years of long-distance chats!

2. All the Squirrels went to the Elora Gorge, and had a good time wandering through the woods, oohing over the precipices, and climbing up and down 59 steps (Ponytails counted them) carved out of the rock.

3. Mr. Fixit, Ponytails and the Apprentice went to Cruise Night with Grandpa Squirrel. Ponytails says, "There were a lot of people, and we met one of our cousin squirrels, and he had some new wheels--it was long and black, one of those cars with no roof, and it had red seats, I think. It was really cool and it made nice smoke."

4. Ponytails made Shrinky Dinks (Shrink Art). Note to Coffeemamma: "thank you so much for the Shrink Art, it's very fun!"

From the archives: Food and the Apprentice

First posted August, 2006. The Apprentice was just about to enter the world of public high school.

A new quiz to do if you're bored. Made up exclusively by me.

What was the best ___ you ever had?

1. Pasta/spaghetti?
Fettucini Alfredo from a little restaurant downtown that's not there anymore.

2. Best chocolate chip cookies?
Neiman-Marcus cookies.

3. Birthday cake?
My hot dog birthday cake, complete with fries. I think the one I linked to is the right one, family members feel free to correct me.

4. Chicken burger?
A certain resturant's Monterey Jack bacon chicken burger *drools*.

5. Hamburger?
Mr. Fixit's. I'm not bad at it either.

6. Pumpkin pie?
If you give her some whipped cream, that Mamasquirrel can make one mean pumpkin pie.

7. What's your favourite food, and who made it?
Cabbage rolls. Preferably made by Mr. Fixit, with the little spice packets from the meat store.

8. Name three people you'd like to join in.
Mamasquirrel. Pippinsqueak. Katelyn.

From the Archives: The Apprentice and King Arthur

First posted June 2005. The Apprentice was finishing Grade 8, using AmblesideOnline's Year 7.

This is one of the exams that I wrote this week–it’s about King Arthur, The Once and Future King. I didn’t actually interview anybody–it’s fictional.

This morning on CNN news, we go to Stonehenge for an eye-opening experience–we will broadcast on live television a conversation discussing two books in The Once and Future King series, The Sword in the Stone, and The Queen of Air and Darkness. The conversation will be between the author, T. H. White, and King Arthur, the main character of the books. Let’s go over now . . .

King Arthur: As I was saying, T. H., you’ve documented my life remarkably!

White: Why, thank you! But I must say, I have a couple of questions for you.

KA: Go ahead. I, also, must ask you some questions.

W: What was it like when Merlin turned you into things?

KA: It was most enjoyable. The room would start to spin, it would go all black for a minute, and I would be a fish–or a deer.

W: Neat! So . . .did Merlin actually move Stonehenge?

KA: I am sworn to secrecy.

W: Oh–that’s too bad. What did you learn as an animal (or bird)?

KA: I learned life lessons and morals, the value of human life. I also learned about those animals.

W: The value of human life?

KA: When I was an ant, it was so tedious, absurd, and frustrating that I now highly value my life.

W: That’s interesting! You said that you have some questions for me?

KA: Why, yes. For one, King Pellinore was much more absurd than you wrote. Most of the time, the Questing Beast chased him! And he didn’t even know it.

W: That’s not a question.

KA: A comment, I agree. Why did you make Merlin so disgusting at the beginning of the book?

W: With the owl on his shoulder? I do admit that I stretched the truth a little bit.

KA: Not a little bit. That did not happen to him.

W: Very well, I’ll keep that in mind.

KA: What is all this mixed-up history? The events which took place in these books did not happen then. What have you done?

W: Since I wrote The Once and Future King more for pleasure than to make a bestseller, I did things my own way.

KA: A final question. Is my life really as intriguing as you advertise? You truly think that?

W: King Arthur, I love the story of your life deeply. Thank you for spending this time with me. I’m so glad that you like my books.

And now, CNN weather with Bob McChang—over to you, Bob.

Treehouse snapshots: Easter Weekend

These pictures are for The Apprentice, who may not be able to  get here because she is under the weather.

Chippy sympathizes.

Front hall

Love seat

Working on the dining room

Dolls kicking back

Family souvenirs

Coffee table 

 

Lydia's tissue flowers on a vintage box embroidered with porcupine quills

Stained glass we have had for a long time...I just moved it to another window so we would notice it again

Ceramics my mom painted in the 1980's

We decluttered some holiday things this year, but Mr. Fixit wanted to keep the rabbit.

Now all we need is the ice to melt. (It's dripping! Yes!)

 Actually it's less dripping, more sliding from the roof with great smashings and crashings (to quote Lloyd Alexander).  Those things that look like broken panes of glass are shovel-sized pieces of ice. They sound like thunder when they roll down the steel roof of the Treehouse.

From the archives: Homeschooling in 2007

First posted September 2007.

So far most of the term's plans have been working out. Doing the JUMP Math Fractions Unit was definitely a good choice for Ponytails; in fact, now she thinks math is getting a little too easy. She's finding that doing more of her own reading and doing written narrations (especially her Bible readings and Poor Richard) is a bit tougher than she'd like, but it's only a small part of the day. Ponytails also keeps amazing me by getting all her spelling words right. We just learned about General Braddock in Canadian history (yes, it's part of Canadian history too), and we're about to do the fall of Quebec. Reading Robinson Crusoe along with an audio book has worked well too; we're just at the point now where he's getting shipwrecked. Ponytails is unimpressed by Crusoe's tendency to shoot everything that moves, though.

I changed Crayons' Bible schedule; we were going to use the readings from her Bible League Planner, but we found they jumped through too much too fast--especially because they continue over the weekends and she doesn't use the planner then. We've gone back to using Daddy's copy of the Golden Children's Bible, reading the Genesis stories. This is actually very cool, because our study of Turkey has also mentioned the Tigris and Euphrates, Mount Ararat, and Haran (in the story of Abraham). I love it when threads come together unexpectedly like that.

Crayons has been reading books to herself at an awesome speed; I'm glad we can go a little slower with her school time books. We're enjoying the Just So Stories and the rest of Year One; we've also been going through the Little House books at bedtime.

We've done less on crafts than I wanted to this month, but that's partly because the weather's been so good; in all the school days that Crayons circled the weather symbols in her planner, there was only about one day she didn't circle the sun. But there's no big hurry...Christmas is only THREE MONTHS AWAY...

We're taking a bit longer than I expected to work through two books that we're all reading together: Organized KIDZ and Ben Franklin. We're also reading Five Little Peppers together. So it's just as well that I decided to hold off on starting Astronomy and French until later this fall--we're busy enough for now.

And if you want to know how The Apprentice is doing...she's solving equations for x and y using elimination and substitution; exploring problems of ecosystems; watching videos about the early 20th century (with me); teaching the younger Squirrelings how to play chess (okay, she's just learning herself); and her second-year hairstyling class finally gets to Use Scissors. Kind of like student nurses passing their probation in all those old nurse novels...I think she's also reading Emma.

What's up around here?

In Treehouse news:

If you hadn't gathered this already, I have been working on a book, both the writing and the rest of it. It's the rest of it that feels like I've taken on a full-time job, but I think the worst is over. I promise to let you know more about it soon.

Mr. Fixit expanded the local side of his antiques business, so it's been interesting seeing how that's working out. We have been watching DVDs of Ironside (the original series) and The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency.

The Apprentice has had a successful financial internship, except for breaking her foot last week. She's the only Squirreling so far to actually break a bone. Anyway, it looks like she will be staying on there for awhile.

Ponytails is almost done high school, and she just got hired for a food-related job that she is happy about. Tonight is her last school choir concert.

Lydia is battling dandelion allergies, catching up on Churchill, and planning a belated birthday party. She is hoping to do some volunteering over the summer.

Lydia Knits Hats

Lydia started this school year barely knowing how to knit, and now she's up to double-pointed needles. Yay! (And thanks to the Apprentice for some coaching.)

P.S. Here's the pattern.

The Apprentice Knits

My Christmas present from The Apprentice: an Amanda hat. Thank you, Apprentice!

What's up at the Treehouse? Busy day

Ponytails is busy with Grade Twelve, her part-time job, and several extracurriculars.

The Apprentice has found herself a full-time job, which she started this week.  Still out of town, but now she'll be working weekdays instead of weekends.

Lydia, the Squirreling formerly known as Dollygirl, will be leaving shortly for a whole-day What Every Babysitter Should Know course. It's run by St. John Ambulance, but today's session was arranged through a homeschool group.

What's up at the Treehouse?

Ponytails has been working (scooping ice cream) and parking-lot driving with Mr. Fixit.

The Apprentice has been working out of town and we haven't seen her much lately, but she's coming for a visit today.

Dollygirl Lydia has been working on trying to replace a worn-out swimsuit.  Which isn't easy.  Even in the summer. But she did finally find one so that she can go swimming with The Apprentice.

Mama Squirrel has been working on school stuff, both for the Treehouse and for online projects.  Today Mr. Fixit has promised to get the Fruit of Her Labours printed out (that means the school plan for the year).

Mr. Fixt, as usual, has been working on the things he works on. Recently that's included doing colour developing in the kitchen sink. Really, you can, or at least he can. Technology is wonderful.

 (Phone photo found here.)  (Car photo found here.)  (Camera photo found here.)

Three weeks until school starts, and the Squirrelings grow up

Seems like just yesterday we were posting those countdown photos of the dolls...a whole year has gone by. It's kind of funny that there are three of them sitting on the couch, much like the three Squirrelings.

The Apprentice will be experiencing, for the first time in her memory, a September when she will NOT be starting school.  (Except for the year Ponytails was born and we delayed school until Canadian Thanksgiving.)

Ponytails, whose first blog posts here looked like this, has a part-time job and is going into her last year of high school.

And Dollygirl (a.k.a. Crayons)  is now a little bit taller than I am, and recently acquired an adult-sized bike. This week I gave away all the multiplication flash cards and our set of Monopoly Junior.  (She wants to keep the Pirate Snakes and Ladders game, though.)

What's up in the Treehouse

The weather is hot and sweaty.

Ponytails has one grade 11 exam left to go today, then she's free free free for the summer.

The Apprentice has been doing some odd jobs.  Today she's training for one of the oddest yet.  (It's legal. Just unusual.)

Mr. Fixit (and the Apprentice) did a bunch of fixit stuff around the house, involving cement work, water pumps, and plastic tubing.

Mama Squirrel has been cleaning out books (some are going to a church yard sale), typing up a schedule for September's school, and doing a few other homeschool-related things now that we're not actually doing school.  We just received a few lovely new (old) arrivals for the bookshelf--photos to come.

Some news from The Apprentice

Our Apprentice had not even started high school when we started this blog.  We have posts following her through ninth grade at home, her move to public high school, her hairstyling apprenticeship (yes, we thought it was funny too, because the nickname came before the real thing), and her moving on (and out) to university.  Apprentice would have had another year of school to go yet for the Honours program, but she has decided that enough is enough, for now anyway, and she will be graduating with her B.Sc. in June.

And after that?

The Apprentice (who we should probably rename The Graduate, except that Dustin Hoffman already did that) is already set up with her housemates and her mini slow cooker, so she's going to stay where she is and look for a job there.  And enjoy having absolutely no homework, at least after final exams.

CONGRATULATIONS, APPRENTICE!

Frugal Finds and Fixes: The Apprentice Does the Math

In this edition of "Frugal Finds and Fixes," we interview our resident university student, The Apprentice.  

Mama Squirrel:  You are a busy full-time student, and a lot of money-saving things (the housekeeping, cooking kind) take time. You also have the problem of limited/shared space. How do you manage to do all that and stay sane?

Apprentice:  You're right, a lot of money-saving things do take time. To be honest, I'm definitely no Amy Dacyczyn. I do what I can, but am fine with spending a bit more money to save time or frustration..

One of the biggest examples of this is my living situation. Last year I was living in a student house with five other students. This year I've moved to an apartment shared with two people. The rent and utilities are significantly higher, but the advantages I have living here are worth the money. I have an above-ground room, quiet study space, and a large kitchen with tons of cupboards and a full-size fridge. I'm also closer to school. This living situation is more conducive to sleeping, studying, cooking, and travelling to school from, which are what my house is for! For me, frugality isn't about spending less money, it's about getting the most out of the money you do spend.

A smaller-scale example is food. I really like cooking, but often coming home after a late class I can be fairly tired and not feel like cooking. I know I could spend less on food, but having a few convenience foods around for a quick dinner is still cheaper than eating out when I don't feel like cooking. Yesterday I bought 2 kg of chicken fingers for $10, which will last me for many many meals and costs the same as going to a restaurant and ordering chicken tenders once. I do cook actual healthy meals most of the time, but the point I'm trying to make is that there are less frugal things and more frugal things that you can do. Both of them will save you money compared to a non-frugal thing like eating out.

At the same time, I certainly try to use frugal strategies that take a little (but not too much) time. Examples include baking my own treats, taking lunches and snacks to school, and fixing things that break. What I'd recommend most though are frugal strategies that don't really have a time element to them, just frugal thought. Since I was little I've learned that store brands are just as good as name brands, just without a fancier package. You can find clothes and household items at the thrift store for a tenth of the price, sometimes even new with tags. Textbooks are cheaper bought used from another student, and when the next year I just sell them to someone else and make most if not all of my money back. Taking a walk or bike ride outside costs much less than a gym membership.

Entertainment is a tricky category. It depends on what you like to do. Lots of activities have lower-priced alternatives, but those alternatives are not really the same thing, so it may be worth it to you to spend the extra money if that's something you really want to do. Going out to a movie and watching a movie at home are both fun, but a different experience. There are lots of free concerts and music festivals, but if you want to see a big name artist, you'll have to pay the big money for a ticket. Staying in is always cheaper than going out, but don't let that limit you every time.

Mama Squirrel:  What have you learned since being on your own that you didn't know before?

Apprentice:   Honestly a lot of the things that I do now are things that I picked up growing up, it's just that I didn't need to apply them until I started living on my own. I've tagged along with my parents at all sorts of activities, and helped out a lot at home: I often surprise myself by just doing something I didn't even know I knew how to do. I can pick out a cut of meat at the store, paint a room, bake a birthday cake, and build furniture. None of these things were something I had ever done on my own until I had to, but the knowledge was there and I just had to retrieve it.

Mama Squirrel: Any advice for the young and frugal?

Apprentice:  If there's something you don't know how to do, websites like eHow are incredibly useful. Even just Googling "what temperature bake turkey legs" will help you out a lot.

Definitely make smart choices at the store. If you're not much of a cook, that's okay. But buying a case of drinks, box of cereal and some lunch supplies will save you hundreds of dollars even if you're still eating out for dinner. A 500mL bottle of pop out of a vending machine costs about $2.50 around here, whereas cases frequently go on sale for $3, which works out to 25 cents a 355mL can. That's $5/L versus 70 cents/L. A box of cereal and litre of milk will give you breakfast for over a week for $6 or so. Buying store brand will save you even more.

Mama Squirrel:  Thanks, Apprentice!