If you’re considering a homeschool education I encourage you to join one of these groups to learn more.  I’ve always know homeschooling families to be very open to sharing information and wanting to support other families in their education decisions.

Homeschoolers of Memphis eclectic logo

Here are some local groups and activities available to homeschooling families.  Please add your reviews and additional information via a comment.

Support Groups and Classes

CommUnity
A group offering classes for homeschoolers in grades 4-12. There are fees for classes and supplies

‎Homeschoolers of Memphis eclectic
No fee to join, members plan activities and share their expertise. A secular group.

Memphis-Area Home Education Association (MAHEA)
A Christian organization that organizes events and sports, lobbies the state legislature and a monthly newsletter. $35/year (per family)

MidSouth Homeschool Convention
An annual convention in Memphis (around April) with vendors, programs and speakers. A Christian organization.

Ebony Homeschoolers
A Christian group providing information and encouragement to the African American homeschooling community. MAHEA membership required.

Latino Memphis Homeschool
Support and activities for bilingual homeschool families.

Blessed Sacrament Homeschool Group
A Catholic group supporting the greater Memphis area.

Classical Conversations
Group classes held at various area churches

Veritas Classical Schools
A Christian organization providing classes and supplies.

Tennessee Virtual Academy
An online public school authorized by the Union County School District.  Students can take one or two classes while continuing to go to a traditional “brick-and-mortar” school or an entire curriculum.

In The Loop
A Memphis homeschool support group focused on general support of the homeschooling family – not specific to any religion or race.

Area Homeschooler Activities

Various area museums have planned activities specifically for homeschoolers. Here are the ones I found with help from the EMMs on Facebook:

• Memphis Zoo
• Brooks Museum
• Pink Palace
• Memphis Jewish Community Center
• Ikle Creative Designs (art classes)

Looking for swim lessons?  The Memphis Jewish Community Center offers lessons for infants to adults.  Right now they are offering two free weeks of beginner or intermediate lessons to one EMM fan.  Enter the giveaway here.  Learn more about their swim school and awesome outdoor water park here.  You don’t have to be a member (or Jewish) to take swim lessons.  Check them out!

Are you annoyed with the cost and lack of options for airline travel from Memphis?  Take the Mid-South Air Service Task Force survey today.  Or maybe you’re a middle or high school parent ticked off about the 7am start time this fall?  Sign this petition to keep the 7:30am start time.

Concerned about autism?  Dad and film maker Darrell Cobbins is bringing his film United States of Autism to Memphis on June 1st.  More info and tickets here.

Spray Tanning

Esthetiques

• Esthethetiques on Brookhaven is great! They actually spray you
• Esthitiques is great! Love them!
• Esthetiques Skin Spa is the best in memphis!! located right in East memphis!! BEST SOLUTION

Eden Spa & Laser
Esthetiques or Eden Spa, both spray you. I liked my results better at Eden.

Jamazin Mobile Airbrush Tanning

• Jamie Tedder will come to you, Jamazin Mobile Airbrush Tanning, she is great!
• I own Jamazin Mobile Airbrush Tanning. I am a certified licensed technician and a member of the Memphis Area BBB! I have been spraying for 5 years. I have a large clientele and I travel in the Memphis Area and Desoto County, MS Areas.

Capelli Salon, Tintarella. They come to your home.

Merle Norman

• Alisa Dewberry and partner Leslie Vannucci ,actually do spray tans ! I can go mobile ( with no clean up on your part) or I work out of Merle Norman in Collierville 850-9105 we have a tent and do the sprays manually!
• Alisa Dewberry at Merle Norman in Collierville …give her a call!

Tanning

Tropical Tans in Arlington! You can just buy minutes. They have two different bronze beds.

Palm Beach Tan

• Palm Beach in Collierville is great!
• You can pay for single sessions at palm beach tan. They have an amazing bronzing bed for about $20 a pop.

Tan-n-Go let’s you pay per session. No fees if I remember.

Elite Beach

Ringling Brothers Circus
Landers Center
May 17th-19th

Ruthless The Musical
Germantown Community Theater
May 17 – June 2
Eight-year-old Tina Denmark knows she was born to play Pippi Longstocking, and she will do anything to win the part in her school musical. Anything includes murdering the leading lady! This aggressively outrageous musical hit garnered rave reviews during its long Off-Broadway run which opened with Britney Spears in the leading role.

Symphony in the Rose Garden
Collerville
May 19th
The Germantown Symphony Orchestra will provide a relaxing afternoon of entertainment in the beautiful Rose Garden at the home of Bob and Mary Jean Smith

Sunset Symphony & Fireworks
Tom Lee Park
May 25th
The Park will open at 2pm with musical entertainment all afternoon and a acres of picnic promise. The Memphis Symphony Orchestra will began playing at 7:30 and the evening will end with a spectacular Fireworks show.  Tickets are on sale now for $8 at www.ticketmaster.com or www.memphisinmay.org Admission is $9 at the gate. Children 6 and under are admitted free.

Cycle the Greenway Family Ride
June 2nd
Christian Brothers High School
A 1.5 mile family bike ride, registration required.

Dinosaur Dinner with Dad
Children’s Museum of Memphis
Friday, June 14
Everyone in the family is in for a ROARING good time as we celebrate Father’s Day with a Dinosaur Dinner and a special gift for dad. Tickets are $25 per person. To purchase tickets visit the CMOM website or call 901-458-2678.

Star Spangled Salute
Harrell Performing Arts Theater
June 29 & 30
Celebrate our nation’s independence with an all-American style show of flag waving musical favorites and family fun.

Greese
Harrell Performing Arts Theater
July 19-28
This family-friendly version is perfect for all ages.

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

I hope you all have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend.

My big kid and my mom

Invisible Mother

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’

Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I’m invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, ‘What time is it?’ I’m a satellite guide to answer, ‘What number is the Disney Channel?’ I’m a car to order, ‘Right around 5:30, please.’

Some days I’m a crystal ball; ‘Where’s my other sock?, Where’s my phone?, What’s for dinner?’

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, ‘I brought you this.’ It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: ‘With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.’

In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

1. No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names.
2. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
3. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
4. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that
will be covered by the roof. No one will ever see it.’ And the workman replied, ‘Because God sees.’

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you. I see the sacrifices you
make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the
morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.’ That would mean I’d built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he’d say, ‘You’re gonna love it there…’

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

Some items at Erika’s Ladies Consignment Sale

It’s finally NICE outside!  If you’re looking to get some new spring and summer clothes without spending a ton check out Erika’s Ladies Consignment Sale happening at 1971 N. Germantown Parkway.  The Lily Pulitzer clothes in the photo above should give you a good idea of what’s at this sale – great stuff!  The public sale starts tonight (5:30-10pm) and continues Thursday (10-7) and Friday (10-5), then the half-price sale is Saturday and Sunday (11-4).  Check out their website and Facebook page for more info and pictures.

Want to get some free stuff in honor of Mother’s Day?  Whole Foods is holding a “Mom-O-Rama” event on Thursday, May 9th from 10am-1pm with mom-friendly demos and samples. The first 50 moms also get a free reusable gift bag with tons of goodies.  I’m so there!

The MJCC pool and water park make me wish I was a kid!

Are you done with your summer schedule?  I’m sitting here with the phone, my wallet and a bunch of papers next to me trying to figure it out (and trying not to panic).  The Memphis Jewish Community Center has a fabulous facility (including an awesome pool with waterpark) with great summer camps – and you don’t have to be a member (or Jewish) to participate.  Right now the MJCC is doing a Buy One Get One FREE camp giveaway for one lucky EMM fan.  You have to be new camper, but you can buy a camp for one kid and send a second kid to camp for free (or use it all on one child).  Camps are for rising K through 8th graders (up to a $525 value).  Enter the giveaway here.

Business News

• Orvis opened at Laurelwood last week, go check out the pebble floor – very cool
• Samuel’s Furniture is closing and everything is on sale
• Blues City Thrift, an upscale non-profit thrift store, recently opened near Quince and Kirby
• Hot Yoga Plus Memphis is opening May 29th in the Laurelwood Shopping Center

Signing “ball” at 15 months

I started doing this with my first son, thinking if he could just learn a few key words like “more” “hungry” and “water” it would make both of our lives better.  It took him a while to pick up his first sign (probably because I was so excited to try I started way too young) but once he got that he was very open to learning more.  Next thing I know we’re signing “airplane” and “car” and more.

My second son picked up signing as well, and it was amazing to see him sign “sleep” – okay, let’s take a nap! It worked well for me to learn a handful of signs and use them while I was saying the word.  Like “more” “eat” “hungry” “water” and “sleep.”  I also purchased the first three Signing Times videos.  With the combination of the videos and me consistently using the signs it didn’t take too long before they were signing to me.

Here are some resources to get started signing (you don’t need to spend a lot of money to do this):

• Sign With Me online video dictionary, free
• Signing Time series of videos
• Baby Sign Language top 10 signs, free
• Baby Sign Language iPhone app, free

Six months seems to be a good age to start, but don’t expect them to start signing that young.  And if they can’t get the sign exactly right don’t worry about it, adapt to whatever they can do.  What other resources do you recommend for baby sign language?

Mirrors on the wall and ceiling, three TVs, and records – this was high style livin’

We enjoyed the history lesson that Graceland provides.  It was fun to see the house decorated in 60s/70s style and listen to the tid bits of info on the provided self-guided audio tour.  I definitely enjoyed seeing what life was like back in those days, and how Elvis and Memphis are connected.  My favorite parts were all the mirrors, the carpeted walls and ceiling, the jumpsuits, the gold and platinum records and the airplanes.  A child who is interested in popular music, fashion or history would enjoy aspects of the tour, but this is not exactly a kid-friendly experience.  We went on a rainy Friday around 9:30am and it was still pretty crowded inside the house.  You need to be able to listen to the audio recordings (on headphones) in order to get anything out of the tour, so keep that in mind.  The end of the tour also briefly touches on drug use, so that’s important to keep in mind when it comes to kids.

Well….at least the crazy rug will hide the stains!

If you bring kids I’d definitely recommend going as early as possible (it got more crowded as the morning went on) and watching some videos on Elvis before you go.  It would be helpful to give a child perspective on who Elvis was before the tour starts.  Be prepared to give your kids a history lesson – things like what houses cost back then, what performers were like before Elvis (so the whole Elvis the Pelvis thing makes sense to them), and even what a record is – as they are going to be confused without some background information.

The logo on the back of the plane is a lightening bolt – letters stand for Taking Care of Business.

You park across the street from Graceland (fee), purchase tickets and take a bus to the house, then after the tour the bus takes you back to the ticketing area.  The ticketing area has bathrooms, restaurants and lots of gift shops.  There is a public bathroom at Graceland, you access it from outside which is after the tour of the main house – so it’s best to go to the bathroom before you get on the bus!  I don’t recommend bringing a stroller on the house tour as you go down into the basement then back up another set of stairs, so a stroller would be in the way.

We got a AAA discount on tickets, but I’m not aware of any other discounts.  If you know of one please share via a comment.  This was a fun experience and we were glad we went.  It’s definitely not something I’d take my almost 5 year old to, but my 9 year old would have enjoyed parts of the tour.

Graceland Mansion
3765 Elvis Presley Blvd.
Memphis, TN

Here are the top things teachers said they do NOT want.

• Scented things like lotions and candles.  “All gifts are appreciated. However, there are some that get re-gifted to others….lotions and candles. Those are such personal preferences.”
• Plants, mugs, picture frames, magnets, etc.  “you can only take so many lotions, candles, plants, mugs and picture frames.“
• Candy and Sweets “A lot of my colleagues are on diets and food isn’t always the right thing, especially sweets.”

What do teachers want?  To sum it up in two words: Gift Cards.  If you know what your child’s teacher likes to do in their spare time than go for a store focused on that.  Not sure?  How about an activity?  And what teacher doesn’t need help buying books or other school supplies?  If you can only spare $5 it is still appreciated.  Or organize the other parents and pool your funds to provide one larger gift from all of you.

Pull out a note card and hand write a thank you note to the teacher.  A personal message thanking them for their efforts is huge.  Have younger kids throw in a drawing or note of their own.

Here are some suggestions:

• Interests/Hobbies.  Starbucks, Michael’s/Hobby Lobby, Home Depot/Lowe’s (gardening or home improvement projects), Barnes & Noble or Booksellers, iTunes, Dick’s Sporting Goods/Sports Authority
• Practical.  Target, Knowledge Tree (tons of teacher supplies), Office Depot/Staples, Kroger, Kohl’s, Stein Mart, Oak Court or Wolfchase Mall, TJ Maxx, Kid Station (if they have young children)
• Activities/Outings.  YoLo or Sweet CeCe’s, movie theater, spa’s (mani/pedi), restaurants

And a few comments from the teachers:

As a teacher, we mostly appreciate gift cards. Even a 5 dollar target or sbux card is great!

As a teacher I always appreciate ANY gift, but I too tend to get too much food that isn’t good for my waistline….it is constantly in the teachers lounge too! I love getting a gift card to Barnes and Noble or even an iTunes gift card!

We’re always grateful if you think of us. Especially the often forgotten special area teachers. Trust me, as a teacher, if I’m given something, it will get used somehow.

The coolest gift I ever received was a gift card to the mall… so it was good in ALL of their stores. The BEST gift? I’m a huge baseball fan, and one year a family got tickets to the Cardinals game for me. 1st base… field level. Awesome!!

Always appreciated gifts for the classroom… Books for our library, toys/puzzles for indoor recess, magazine subscriptions, etc.

As a reading teacher, I like getting grade appropriate books to add to my classroom library. I also ask the student to write their name and the year on the inside front cover. When students borrow them the next year, they always notice the signature.

The best gift that I ever received was a donation made in my honor to an animal sanctuary.

Gift cards are awesome… Or something I can use in my classroom like stickers, books, special markers, stamps and stamp pads.

(and my favorite comment):

I liked liquor. But people get mad when I suggest that. Also long heartfelt notes were awesome.

The Red Cross offers classes on CPR, babysitting, first aid and more.

Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown offers and Infant Safety and CPR class

Baptist Women’s Hospital offers infant CPR as part of their Expectant Parents class

Two Nurses & A Manikin offers CPR and first aid courses which include infant CPR

Some Memphis YMCA branches offer courses

Restart the Heart CPR offers CPR and first aid courses

Heartbeat CPR offers CPR and first aid courses