The homeschool years

A change of pace, a new scene

2010-02-03T06:17:00.000-08:00

Recently I've made a decision with my family to send my two children back to public school. This was not an easy decision. I've been homeschooling them for two years, of which I had grown very accustomed to doing. Most of the time we had a good routine and I was proud of what I was teaching them. It gave me a great sense of accomplishment and drew me closer to them. Even more importantly to me was that my husband and I stood our ground and kept pushing ahead even when various family members were against my decision to home school.

So, what made me send them back? They did...sort of. It's a combination of reasons, however their repeated requests initiated it all. I believe that in dealing with my own health issues over the last 7-8 months, I was slacking in my enthusiasm and zeal regarding home school. Which of course is an energy that the children can feel. Then after my surgery, I was immobile for a few weeks and totally gotten off routine. School began to be hit or miss, boring and non-challenging and anyone who knows my kids personally will understand that school days like that just wont do!

Humbly and somewhat reluctantly, I gave in to the requests (more like pleas) to go back to school. I was sad at first because I felt like I was failing in some way. As if my children's requests to return to public school was a reflection on me as a mother and teacher. Now I realize that it is more of a need for change of scenery, nothing personal. It was agreed that it will be for a period of one year and then we will go back to our home school refreshed and re-focused. Basically we will alternate schooling. Of course, I had mixed feelings as we walked through the halls of the brick and mortar setting. The children were really excited. Even more exciting to me is that my children in comparison to the other students are fine academically. They were trying to contain their excitement for fear that they were "hurting my feelings."* insert a long "aaaawwwwwww" * But I knew they were happy to be back in population. I'm trying to be positive and enjoy my break. I mean, I think I can find a few things to fill my time. Every teacher deserves a break right?

In the meantime, I will be shutting down my home school blog. Or actually just combining some of what I blog about here i.e. my children, to my main blog site; I'm the mommy I'll blog if I want to . So, I'll end my last home school blog post by saying to my readers, " thank you for following our journey, the support and encouragement I have received has been priceless and made it so much easier to push ahead.

Recognition of a talent

2010-01-21T08:32:00.000-08:00

This wonderful masterpiece that you are viewing is the work of my boy. I am so proud of him! As some of you may know, both of my children are enrolled in the After School Program of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. One of the things that I like about the club is that it is not just a place for children to go and play for a few hours. They actually have structured classes that are enriching to the growth of children. One of which is ART class. This class is wonderful for my kids particularly because while trying to keep up with their basic subjects, other subjects such as arts is put on the backside.

A few months ago during art, each student was asked to draw and paint something with acrylic, the best selections were to be entered in the National Fine Arts Exhibit. My son chose to draw his own rendition of Where The Wild Things Are. This was of interest to him because earlier that month we studied Maurice Sendak as one of the great American authors and illustrators.

Well, the art teacher decided that Isaiah's work was so good that his work would be entered. The result? He came in 2ND place, and has an opportunity to go to the next level in the competition. He received a certificate of merit for his achievement in the National Fine Arts Exhibit Program as well as a ribbon. This was a great boost to his self esteem, and it should be. Everyone has their own gifts and talents.

Don't you think he has a wonderful gift?....

Who wants McDonalds?

2010-01-07T09:51:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to attend an event in support of the Ronald McDonald House Charity. I was allowed to bring the children and so I thought, "Field trip!"

It was a great experience from beginning to end. We were picked up and dropped off by limo (the kids loved that). We arrived at a McDonald's in Decatur, Ga ate lunch and was educated about how McDonald's Supports the Charity by promoting Give a Hand week, November 10-20 2009. The employees that work the registers and drive thru were expected to kindly ask the patrons to give a hand by donating $1 to the RMHC. The fun part? The kids and I had the privilege of working the counter and drive thru for a good cause...

Indya, working the counter

Isaiah working the drive thru

Needless to say, the kids REALLY enjoyed this experience. When this was done we were then taken to the actual Ronald McDonald House. There we took a tour, It was beautiful. We learned about the children and their families that are residents there. It was sad, but encouraging all at the same time. My children were able to see a side of life that is not as easy going as their own. They were able to learn about the difficulties that other children are going through because of serious illness.

As we went through the tour we were given advice as to how we can donate our time, money and services to help these families in need. Volunteering our time to help others is not a new concept to our family. We volunteer our time regularly in our ministry. However, this gave the children an opportunity to see another aspect of volunteering. I hope it will be one that sticks with them, it builds empathy and character inside of a person to step out of the box and help another.

At the end of the day, we were tired yet happy. Although it was a field trip, I had to find a way to get some writing in. So, I had the children to put their feelings about the experience onto paper. They were not thrilled about that, but I was. I was planning on sharing what they wrote in their notebooks on the blog, but as a testimony to the disorganization in our house...I cant find the notebook.

I know,

BAD HOME SHOOL MOM

Inside the mind of a beautiful boy

2010-01-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

I just had to share this.

The other day my son and I were doing math work. The program we use is Saxon and I love it because it works progressively with a lot of repetition. Which is good for him because of his LD in math and his issues with ADHD. However this particular day, he was really having a hard time. I guess I was getting frustrated too because I felt like the work was not hard, but very simple math facts that he should know on a *snap*. So, I asked him "honey why are you not able to answer these facts? I know you know the answers. I heard you say them before".

His reply?

"NUMBERS IN MY HEAD ARE LIKE TRYING TO CATCH A TAXI THAT DOESN'T SLOW DOWN."

My mouth shut and my heart opened after that touching and sincere comment. Out of the mouths of babes...

starting over, starting slow

2009-12-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

Wow it's been a while since my last posting. Many things have happened. One thing is that we have had a complete technological meltdown in our home. We have three computers that all crashed and burned within a week or two of each other. For those of you who live and breathe by your computers you know what that means...madness, mayhem & withdrawl! I never even thought it was possible, but we are making it. Thank goodness for the internet capabilities of my phone, without it I fear I would be completely disconnected. Gasp!

All of our homeschooling files are destroyed and I will basically have to start my collection of resourceful sites from scratch. We are starting over, and for added measure we are having less than filling school days due to my surgery and recovery. More on that later ... yeah I know, too much.

Not alone in the struggle

2009-10-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

I was at the library recently and was looking for something educational for the kids to watch on video. I saw one that immediately grabbed my attention, because it spoke to my heart on a personal level. It was a video from the Stuttering Foundation of America. Stuttering: for kids, by kids. I got the video because ever since I was a young child I have struggled with stuttering, some times worse than others. Over the years, into adulthood I have found my own ways of coping with it and minimizing it. However, it still poses a challenge for me.

Imagine my feelings when I realized that my son would also be dealing with this issue. It became noticeable when he was around 7 that he was a stutterer. Over the years he has been teased because of it and I can tell that it makes him feel somewhat inadequate, different from the rest. My heart goes out to him. I know the struggle.

Somehow, I came across something on the Internet this week that said this was International Stuttering Awareness Day. HA! I was so surprised to see this. I never knew there was an organization out there dedicated to supporting, educating, treating and preventing STUTTERING. http://www.stutteringhelp.org/ holds a wealth of information for parents, teachers, children and professionals. If you, your child or someone else you know is dealing with this issue please send them to the site. It's worth a try.

Click this link here to watch the video that I watched with my son. I'm glad we watched it, so he could see that he was not alone.

Something is starting to click

2009-10-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

Today during math, my daughter began to really complain about a lesson that she claims she had completed on a previous day. Now mind you it was on her daily planner as a new assignment, and although she did not have any record of completed work in her notebook, she was holding fast to her claim. So, since it was just a review of everything she has done in the last week I did not bother with trying to prove my point. Frankly, I was not in the mood for the parent-child argument. The child can be quite the drama queen especially when she believes herself to be right.

In view of that fact I moved her on to the next step on the agenda which was an assessment. During this time both she and my son are doing math. She gets to a point where she has trouble with a problem, and I say to her very matter-of-factly "maybe you should have done the review." Well that caused a slight rise in her, that yet again I decided to not give audience to. The interesting aspect of this scenario is that I did not have to say anything, because the big brother stepped in. As she is ranting he says to her "you really shouldn't complain about doing reviews. Even though you have done the work before, it's just good practice. I don't really like to go over my math facts everyday, but I listen to mom and do it anyway. And when I am doing my work I get more answers correct because I've been practicing. It's just better for you Indya...Listen to me I'm just trying to help you out." (insert raised eyebrow from mom watching silently on the side)

That was a moment of pride for me. It showed me that even though the children sometimes give me a hard time, they are hearing me. It may be a insignificant point to some but it was a big step forward to me. It showed maturity and growth with my son and perhaps that a sturdy foundation is being laid for good study habits...I hope. :)

Great American Authors

2009-10-05T14:29:00.001-07:00

PBS activity packs

2009-10-05T13:43:00.001-07:00

I know many people are familiar with the PBS Channels and of course the PBS websites. But did you know about the website for PBS Teachers? If you do, then great! You already know about the gems that are laying within. The site is full of topics and resources for teachers to expand the minds of students. One tool that I am liking a lot is the Activity packs. Each one focuses on a curricular theme and includes links to great PBS resources and supplemental activities.

I figured with the opening of the new movie: Where the Wild Things are, it would be good to use the Language Arts activity pack for American Author Maurice Sendak. I think it's cool because it takes heavy work out of my hands, and is sort of a one stop shop because of the resources that have already been gathered for us. Even cooler is the widget that I can post and share with you. Whenever we use an activity pack for a particular topic or subject you will be able to see it here and perhaps grab it for yourself.

I spy with my little eye

2009-09-28T22:31:00.000-07:00

We are so excited! Today I bought a telescope for us to gaze into the sky. I had seen this telescope made by Emerson at CVS, Of all places for $14! The children and I really enjoy looking up into the night sky. We are always very fascinated with the beauty of the constellations. However I have always put off buying a telescope because I cringe at the thought of paying out a lot of money for it. In my mind, a good telescope was an expensive telescope.

So, I'll admit it, I originally turned my nose up at it. But for some reason I couldn't get it out of my head. So, today I went and bought it. I figured why not give it a try? I'm sure I'll get my $14 worth.It's a good start. I was pretty impressed with what I was getting for the price:

50x/100x refractor telescope with adjustable tripod.
A high-quality glass optic.
Interchangeable 50x and 100x lenses.
An adjustable full sized tripod included.

I wonder what amazing sights we will see?

I smell a astronomy project coming up...

It's gonna be a peice a' cake! NOT

2009-09-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well. School has been back in effect for about a little over a month now and to say the very least it has been hectic. In an effort to make things easier for myself and more challenging for my daughter I enrolled her in the k12 program. It has definitely been a challenge, but easier? Nah! not at all. I guess the jokes on me with this one. Between trying to navigate the k12 system, the seemingly daily assessments, and the weekly online classroom meet ups, EASY is not the current adjective of choice.

On top of it all, it has become an even bigger struggle in balance for me because the children are on a totally different curriculum now. In the past year and a half that I have been home schooling, both children primarily learned from the same lesson plans for their various subjects with the exception of math. While it is nice to only have to work out lessons for one child, it is still very stressful. The way things are now, EVERY SUBJECT is completely different for my little students, pulling me into a whirlwind every day. Which currently leaves me wishing that I had a mommy clone! Each week that goes by I am getting things a little bit more smoothed out than the week before but it it is still a work in progress.

I am currently working on getting the lesson plans for my son set up for the next 8 weeks. You know good organization is the key to this mom's balancing act, although I sometimes am lacking in that area. I have lots of ideas these days for some fun projects and I feel really good about that. I feel like my creativity is coming back (seems like I was going kinda dull there for a moment), really! I'm serious this time *winks*smiles*. I am working on a new book list for the children, which I will be posting here. It is my goal to have them to each read a new book every 4-6 wk complete with a simple book report. There are so many times that I get great joy and satisfaction from creating my own lesson plans for school. It is nice to be able to study what ever specifically interests us, and to learn about it in a way that is exciting for us. Which is why I have not enrolled both of my children in the k12 program. I don't want to totally lose that creative control....yeah, I might have some control issues *side eye glance*

Almost forgot how good this felt

2009-09-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

Since I spend a large portion of my time teaching and reading with the children all week for school, I have to admit that I haven't done much reading with them for fun. Prior to home schooling I read them bedtime stories just about every day. However, somehow we have gotten totally out of doing it, we've lost our way.

Well, that is until tonight. The children were supposed to be asleep as I walked past their bedroom to complete my evening chores. Then, breaking the silence, I hear a little voice requesting a bed time story. Not to mention the adorable face looking up at me so sincere that I could not say no.

I found a good book and curled up beside my little girl and read her a story with the emphasis of a professional story teller. Oh the joy, that I felt as I slipped into that familiar place. That warm and fuzzy place of love and security. The feel of her beaming eyes of adoration just reminded me of what I was missing and perhaps what she may have been missing too.

So, the bond was renewed and once again I was mommy. Just plain ol' mommy the story teller, the bed tucker, the goodnight forehead kisser and the bear hug giver. Yeah....the chores had to wait. I had something more important to tend to.

The Classics

2009-09-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

This week I have added something new to our school day. The children and I have been listening to Classical music while learning. I have heard that listening to the classics such as Beethoven & Bach is great for the mind while learning facts. I figured it couldn't hurt, in fact it is a much better choice than listening to Beyonce, Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers or radio Disney during school hours.

I thought I would have lots of complaints, but I was pleasantly surprised. I used a very soft volume. Each of the kids enjoyed the CD's that I played for them and even put them on repeat. Indya wanted to swap out hers with Isaiah just so that she could hear what he was listening to in comparison to her. It was soothing to me also. I normally will listen to classical, symphony music while preparing for bed to calm myself after a busy day, but it was a nice change of pace to hear it in the middle of the day.

There is some controversy out there as to whether or not it is actually beneficial or not. I looked it up and there is a whole lot of info to read on the subject. I'll admit, I did not overly indulge myself with it. All I know is that we did it, we liked it, and we'll do it again.

Dinosaurs and Trains, Oh My!

2009-08-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

There is so much junk on the television that we have to put limits on the type of shows and how much of it our children can watch. Which is why I was pleased to know that GPBS created a new show that was filled with not only all the usual "kid stuff" that draws kids in, but one that really teaches something (and that draws parents in).

Even better, we were invited to "Doughnuts & Dinosaurs ; a special screening of

Dinosaur Train. A new show, airing on September 13Th.

As we watched the show I was very impressed. Although it was created for the pint size people of the world, they did not use pint sized words. The scenes were creatively designed to explain the habitats, daily activity and physical characteristics of various dinosaurs and their respective time periods. Along with teaching proper pronunciation of some of those tough dinosaur names like.....well, you know what I mean. And besides the educational side of it all, the show and it's characters are funny! Even I was chuckling at the jokes and witty humor.

*My niece Montreal and daughter Indya posing with Buddy, one of the characters. I kept laughing because the kids were almost his same height and I was expecting something adult sized. I was thinking to myself; " is that a kid in that suite or is it a really short adult?"

After the screening was over we were totally delighted to receive our doughnuts.

Okay, maybe I was totally delighted.

We got there just before the screening began and I could barely contain myself for fear of the idea that I Missed the Doughnuts. Oooooh and they were from Krispy Kreme too! Also There were juices provided, but I would have much rather had a nice hot cup of Joe to dip my doughnut, but I digress, and I know...be happy for what I had. (I was)

Sooooo, anyhow the GPBS studio staff really treated the invited guests wonderfully. There was face painting, balloon sculpting,arts and crafts, and a train ride available for all to enjoy.

Which we really did.

*Miss Indya getting her face painted with the moon and stars

*Montreal and Indya, night and day

*did you notice the rockin' shirts? Cool right?

* This is the Dino Train that we rode outside the studios. It was supposed to be a kiddie ride, but the conductor made it really fun for all ages. We literally had to hold on to our seat!

Whoo whoo!

Many times we say there are not enough good programs on TV, so when there is one that has good content and well written we should support it. Especially the ones on public broadcasting. So please mark your calender for Dinosaur week, September 13-18 2009 on GPB. For more information on Dinosaur train and other dinosaur programs that week ,you can also click on these links http://www.gpb.org/dinosaur-train and

http://www.gpb.org/dinosaur-week

Stars in our eyes

2009-08-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

Last night was such a wonderful experience. My children and I were able to watch the Perseids Meteor shower from our backyard. We were a little down hearted the day before because it was so cloudy that we couldn't see anything at all. However, last night was not so bad and it was such a wonderment to view. We got our sheets and pillows and laid down on the trampoline with our eyes heavenward. We saw about 10 shooting stars in a 45 minute time frame.

Here are a few facts that we learned regarding the Perseids

The Perseids Showers (and all meteor showers)happens when debris from a passing comet gets left behind in that objects orbit around the sun,. When earth passes through it, the pieces get burned while coming through our atmosphere.
Every year the earth passes through the debris of the Swift - Tuttle comet. And because the shooting stars appear to be pointing outward from the constellation Perseus they are called the Perseids.
The Comet from which the Perseid showers come from was first discovered in 1862, and then a second time in 1992, 130 years later! The next sighting is expected in 2125.

*facts taken from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090812-perseids-perseid-meteor-shower.html *

According to what we have read, the next big meteor shower , the Geminids is set to begin in mid-December. We have already marked our calenders!

Wonderment & Amazement ...We were reminded of the scripture that says "You are worthy , Jehovah, even our God, to Receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created." *Revelation 4:11*

It's here!

2009-08-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

I just got the All About Spelling Level 2 book along with the material packet in the mail today. Just as in level one (and standard in all the levels) the manual provides step-by-step lesson plans and a built-in daily review. We will continue to teach and learn visually: using the color coded letter tiles. Auditory activities such as: segmenting words out, and orally reviewing the flash cards. And Kinestheticly by writing dictated phonograms, and building new spelling words with the letter tiles. Some new spelling rules will be introduced in this level as well.

The best part about it, is how well constructed each book is, making my job stress-free (almost).

Moving forward!

New beginings

2009-08-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

Summer is slowly beginning to wind down around here, and the thoughts and ideas around a school schedule are gaining momentum in our brains. Although I can think of one person in my house who is a great resister. *wink, wink* I think even he is beginning to get a little anxious.
I believe I mentioned in a earlier post that I enrolled my daughter in the K12 curriculum, I was a little skeptical about it but I'm slowly melting. Over the past 3-4 weeks we have been receiving various UPS shipments from K12. These packages consist of all her school supplies for the year, including a science kit, colored wax sticks, a dry erase board, work books and reading books. To impress me even further, Yesterday, they sent over a new computer complete with flat panel monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, printer ink and microphone headsets to plug into the computer....How cool is that?! The best part about it all is that I've not had to come out of pocket for it. Not even for the computer. My daughter already had a computer that she used for some school work but recently, it went kerplunk! and we have not fixed it. So, when asked by the K12 coordinator if I needed one, and they said they were willing to provide it for me, I was elated.
So as we unpacked all of her new school things, I could see the gleam in her eyes and the excitement welling up. New Beginning's, indeed.

Here we go again!

2009-07-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's almost that time of year again.

Back to School!!

Although technically we haven't totally been out of school, but you get my drift.

Ever since I was a little kid in public school I always enjoyed the excitement and anxiety of the first few days of school. To me it was a clean slate, a great opportunity to prove my academic worth and make right all the wrongs from the previous school year. My outlook was always optimistic. I couldn't wait to see who was going to be in my new class, who was going to be my new teacher and of course what new things would I learn?

To add even more significance to the occasion was all the new stuff I got! New clothes, shoes, book bags, pencils, paper and a new lunch box.

Well, I haven't changed much since my school days. I still get excited about the first days of school, not for me, but for my children. Of course they are no longer in public school but just the same, I am excited....They might not be, but I am.

As a home schooling mom I am so excited to take the children to their next level academically. I love to see them learn something new and watch the innocent "aha" moments come across their faces. It makes me feel progressive when their new books arrive in the mail and I stack them ever so neatly on the shelf.

Although there are certain things that I don't worry about purchasing for the children when this time of year rolls around, I still get excited over some of the basics that are sold for dirt cheap.

I was going through my Sundays paper and already I saw a few ads for back to school supplies.

So, if you are like me and get a little excited about these things, head on over to Staples this week 7/12-7/15. They have a great deal going on. Items for 1cent, $1, lots of BOGO's on the crayons, markers and pens, and if you got the Sunday paper you can use the $5 off coupon for purchase of $20 or more.

I plan on being there this week, to pick up and stock up on all that we need for the coming school year. It's gonna be a good year I'm excited. Can you tell?

2009-06-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned in a previous post, we are reading as a group The Sign Of The Beaver. As we are reading it we are also using a unit study that i found on http://www.homeschoolshare.com/. We are not finished with the book yet (we got a late start on it) but I just had to post about our progress with it so far.

My kids, especially my son LOVES the book. He is always anxious for the next chapter and is hanging on to every line I read. I'm enjoying, reading this book with animation to them. It's fun. I feel as though I'm making it come alive.

I love the unit study for this book as well, because it provides a lot of opportunity for dialogue, research and reflection. The unit study is broke down by each chapter, which is good for helping the information to stick in their minds. After reading each chapter I refer to it for an activity. One of the research points that we enjoyed so far was learning about log cabins, click here to see what I'm talking about. I am really excited to see how this is story is going to unfold. I believe there are some great life lessons in this and I hope we will finish it this week.

As always, I'll keep ya posted.

Summer Schooling

2009-06-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

Lately, you may have noticed I have not been posting very much about school. Reason why is, well, uuummm because we have not been doing much of it. We've been having lazy summer days by the pool. It's not that we are NOT doing school, we just aren't doing very much. Well, of course we are still doing our daily reading with our summer reading books, with a little bit of math a couple of times each week. The kids each have to complete the last bit of their Saxon math books before the new school year starts. I think that is the beauty of Home school, the ability to go at your own pace, but still accomplish the goal. I'm trying to take small moments to teach in between the actual school time we have. Such as; when at the local Walmart we may try to add up the prices, working with fractions as we cook together, and sometimes looking up words in the dictionary to answer those "what does that mean?" questions (they hate that). I try to find interesting scientific books to read when we go to the library also.We are just trying to stay steady, I think in doing that, everything should be fine. I think it will be a nice summer. Even if we are still learning.

The new school year coming up, I have decided to change things up a bit. I'm a little nervous about it, but I'm also excited. I have signed my daughter up for the k-12 curriculum through the Georgia virtual academy. Why? well, basically & more importantly over everything else, it is because I was beginning to struggle with keeping a balance between the two students. At many times they are on two separate ends of the learning spectrum. My daughter operates well and seems to thrive on a accelerated pace, I don't seem to ever have enough work to keep her challenged and busy. My son often requires a slower pace, enjoys one on one working and is frustrated with a heavy work load. I have heard from various people the pros and cons of this home school program and I decided to take a chance with it and let my girl be the guinea pig *wink*. I think it will give her the challenge she needs. I'll continue with my son the way I have been the past year and a half, since I think it works well for him. As always I will keep you guys posted as we progress.

Teaching a boy

2009-06-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

There is no question about it that boys and girls are different. They have different learning styles and thought processes. I realize this more and more as my son and daughter grow and learn each day.

Introspectively I was listening to the topic of conversation this morning on our local radio station . What was the discussion about? Chivalry. Is Chivalry dead? The viewpoints of each caller was varied, I wished I could call in to add my 2 cents. But I never get through, so I didn't even try.

If I could have gotten through, this is what I would have said....

"Chivalry might be going dead, but I'm keeping it alive and bringing it back. I'm doing this by educating my son on the subject. It's apart of his "curriculum" so to speak, and it comes with weekly pop quizes, and hands on experiments. I am teaching him how to be a gentleman, explaining to him that opening a door for a woman is an act of kindness and a lesson in selflessness. Most importantly that it begins at home with his mother, sister, grandmothers, and aunts. I try to show him that although a girl is his equal, there is a delicacy about her that is not to be viewed as a weakness. But that it deserves the up most respect. I try to explain to him that when he offers to bring the groceries in without being asked, he is building a bridge of appreciation."

During these lessons, my son doesn't always understand what he is being taught. He doesn't always see the benefits or the purpose of it in his future much like the way a kid doesn't realize the benefit of math until he / she gets older. However, I know he will be a better man because of it. Whether he understands it now or not, I know he will appreciate his education when he is older. All the while he is being verbally instructed, I do not forget that the power of a good living example cannot be ignored. He sees that example in his father, a positive role model in his life.

So, I will not let chivalry die. I will continue to educate my son. How about you? Are you making chivalry a subject to be learned with your boys?

Ssshhhh!....quiet in the library

2009-05-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

Went to the library this evening....Alone! Oh the joy. I always enjoy the rare opportunity to go to such an enchanting place without the children. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy our trips there together. However, sometimes I get a little annoyed when they don't like some of my choices of cool books. (Control issues, I know) It's not that I don't want them to pick any of their own books because I do. It's interesting to see what they are drawn to, but as a lot of you parents out there already know sometimes it's just junk reading i.e., comic books.

I know, some of you might think "well as long as they are reading is all that matters." True. But ever so often I like to add my two cents to help broaden their minds. I remember as a young one, so often my own mother would pick out books for me. Some that I may not have wanted to read but as an adult I am thankful for now, because it is the reason why I enjoy such a wide spectrum of authors today.

So, what did I get? I got a few books based on science, geography & anatomy. I picked up a couple of *girly* short chapter books for my daughter along with A smart girls guide to Manners by American girl. (DD loves American girl). What I consider my personal pride & joy are two books. One is The Sign Of The Beaver, by Elizabeth Speare. I have a whole unit study for this book. I've been holding it for about a year. I finally got the book to use with the unit study! I think we will read this one together, the 3 of us as a group reading. Then I picked up the book Tunnels by Gordon/Williams. I had seen this book at Barnes & Noble a few weeks ago. Long Story.....it will be awhile before we go back there again. Anyhow, I found it in the library. It's a thriller for kids, doesn't seem HarryPotterish. Just edgy and suspenseful. My son likes some thriller types, so I hope this was a good choice. I don't really know why I'm so excited about this particular book for my son. I just am.

Well I think we are getting a good start to our summer reading. What about you & your family?

Essential oil education

2009-05-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

Over 5 years ago I began a personal and eventually a business journey into the world of aromatherapy. I totally love using essential oils. I use them in my reflexology practice and for personal use frequently.

I know, you're probably wondering what does this have to do with children or home school? Well actually it has a lot to do with it. Have you ever thought of using essential oils with your children? I have used them for many things with mine; stomach aches, chest colds, anti-bacterial ointments, sleep aids, and skin rashes. Most recently though, I am using it as a tool for concentration and mental clarity in our home during our school hours.

In the world of aromatherapy it is known that certain oils such as Lemon, Rosemary, Sweet orange, bergamot, eucalyptus and Frankincense to name a few, all have properties that assist the mind. They help to clear the fog so to speak and can inspire confidence, and reduce tension (great for when taking quiz's). I use the essential oils in a nebulizing diffuser and also in a tea light diffuser (although the nebulizer is best). And since the sense of smell is also connected to our memory this is a win-win situation. Not only are we creating a pleasantly smelling environment in our homes, we are giving our children's mind's a natural boost.

So, maybe you can give this a try in your home. Remember, for the most effective results you should only use therapeutic grade essential oils.

*I am a Certified Aromatherapist. I received my certificate from The Heal Center in Atlanta, Ga*

Organized Mess

2009-05-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that no matter how much I try to keep our media closet neat and orderly, it winds up looking disheveled. The media closet holds all of our school books, notebooks, supplies, etc. After school every day I give stern instructions of where to put each item when we are done using them. However, despite my efforts ( and theirs, according to them) it winds up being totally disorganized. I keep putting it off because I know it wont be a quick project, and I'm just not in the mood for it. But, I know I can't keep procrastinating. Summer is approaching, and the new school year will begin in August. With new books coming in, I've got to get this closet together so all of our new stuff with have a decent home to be proud of. Maybe I need some new shelving. Maybe I need some rules to post up in the closet to help us all to keep it neat....oh who knows? If you have a good suggestion, feel free to share it with me.

A sense of accomplishment

2009-05-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

We have finally finished level one of our All About Spelling curriculum last week. Each time we finished a lesson, the kids would rush to color in their progress chart, because they liked to see how close they were getting to the end. It made them feel like they did a lot of work when they could look and see they've completed 5, 10, 20 lessons! They felt a real sense of accomplishment when they received their certificate of completion for level one. I can't wait until we start on level two.

Creating an Eco-system

2009-05-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

Today we had an opportunity to work with our hands, which is my children's favorite kind of learning. We built a Terrarium! They couldn't wait to play in the dirt with this project. What I liked best is that it was educational, fun, simple and only took about 30 minutes to do it. It is also a good way to recycle plastic bottles. If you want to create your own, you only need

A 2 liter soda bottle
scissors
soil
small plant that likes humidity (our local garden center gave us a free snippet of one)
pebbles
small plastic animals
bits of bark
masking tape

Stage one: bottle with rocks

Stage two: fill bottle with soil and plant
Stage three: add plastic animals (we used seashells)
Stage four: add bits of bark

Stage five: add water, put the "lid" on

There you have it! A complete ecosystems made by little hands.

As we worked on the project we discussed what this would need to grow, and we talked about photosynthesis. As we were working on this I asked the kids if they would like to try another one, but instead of using a plant we would just use seeds. They seemed to like the idea. I'm going to give them a notebooking page to track the progress of their terrarium.

2009-05-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

I found a new game. Multiplication Math War! ( I don't like calling games for children "war", but this is the name of the game. maybe i can come up with a new name later) It is a game to help your child strengthen his/her multiplication skills and provides practice in comparing numbers. All you need is a deck of cards and a kitchen timer.

After shuffling the cards, you deal them face down giving each player an equal number of cards until the deck runs out. Each player keeps his cards in a stack. The picture cards are given the value of 10 and aces get a value of either 11 or 1. Each player turns two cards face up, reads the number sentence and supplies the answer. I.E., if your child draws a 5 and a 4, he says 5x4=20. If you draw a 7 and an 8, then your number sentence is 7x8=56. Because you product is larger, you win the four cards and you put them at the bottom of your pile. If each of you has a number sentence with the same product, then it's war. Each player puts four cards face down and turns up two of them.

The player with the largest product win the eight cards. Set up the timer and play the game for 10 to 15 minutes. When the bell goes off, each player counts his cards. The player with the most cards wins. If one player runs out of cards before time is up, then the other player wins.

I plan on using this game with my 4Th grader. It's a great alternative to just doing boring drills with flash cards!

Earth Day 2009

2009-04-22T15:48:00.001-07:00

Today was Earth Day. Did you have any particular way of showing your appreciation for the wondrous creation on our planet? Well, today I took the kids out on a field trip to the movies! We saw the Disney Nature movie, Earth. It was a great movie, I felt that the children learned something new and grew to a new appreciation of life. This evening in my continued effort to encourage better writing, I plan on having them write a paragraph or two on what they saw in the movie. Perhaps I may even include a little art project as well. When that is complete I will share it with you.
Earlier this week I gave them opportunity to surf the web (carefully picked sites that I deemed age appropriate) and learn about the various ways we can help the earth and our enviornment. My daughter learned about the energy hogs and how she can do her part in saving energy. She particularly liked learning about that, and I was pleasantly surprised as she went thru the house identifying the things we were doing that wasted energy. I hope my electric and water bill will be cheaper now! hehehe. If you would be interested in viewing some of these sites with your children , go to www.earthday.gov/kids.htm .

Now, to further enhance their appreciation of our planet today, they get the chance to beautify our back yard by working together and raking it....they are gonna love that....Sike! Now how's that for "hands on" learning experience?! *wink*

2009-04-16T09:10:00.001-07:00

We finally completed our Continental Hop African lapbooking project....Now that we have finished it, I wonder why it took so long in the first place. At Least, now we can move on to our next continent!

...and just case your wondering, my camera broke so these have been taken with my camera phone.

The cover (designed by the children)

The mini book all about the various habitats in Africa. Information about the various predators and the dangers they pose to animal in Africa

A mini booklet to explain the differences between hunting, culling and poaching of animals particularly in Africa.

Maps of Madagascar, the major rivers in Africa and of the whole continent

Flip books explaining how opposite animal types (some familiar to the African continent) work together for a common cause.

Pop up books defining the predator's, prey, and scavenger 's of the African continent.

Horse back riding

2009-04-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

Got a chance to take the kids out for some nice fresh air today. One of our friends has a horse and invited us over for a ride. The kids love to ride TJ, he is a sweet 7 yr old horse. While there they also got a little education on how to care for horses and how to handle them when riding or standing near them. It was a good day.

Improvements in spelling

2009-04-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I purchased the All About spelling program for my children. They were having some struggles with spelling, which consequently was turning into a bit of a reading problem. I knew of another homeschooling family who was using it with success. Anyway, we have been using the program and I must admit that I love it. We are only on Level One right now which is pretty basic, but that's okay by me. Sometimes you have to begin on ground zero and go through all the levels before you can reach the top. It's the only way I can be sure that no steps have been missed. Each lesson is short but effective. I appreciate the use of the phonogram cards because it helps to reinforce the sounds that the letters of the alphabet make. Often times the children think that they "know", when they only really remember one or two sounds and as brought out in the reviews of the phonogram's some letters have 1-4 sounds. I also like how the lessons require the children to segment the sounds of the letters on the board when they have to spell a word.

There is plenty of repetition and the use of manipulative's (letter tiles). Both of which are important for my children's particular learning styles. They each have a sense of accomplishment too when at the end of the lesson they get to color in their progress chart. Just in the short time that we have been using this program I am beginning to see a difference in my son's writing. He has fewer misspelled words and my daughter's reading is much more accurate than before. It's as if She can "hear" the words more clearly when reading out loud, and correct herself because she now recognizes the correct sounds of various consonants & vowels. This program has also impressed upon me how important it is to correct young children when words are mispronounced in general conversation. Often times when children are beginning to talk or learning new words and phrases they will say them incorrectly. I know I've been guilty of "letting it go" because it was so cute. But the reality is that sometimes a child's spelling problem is due to a general misunderstanding of the proper pronunciation. They will spell it the way they hear it. A great example in the manual in level one was in the word Probably, which is often mispronounced as "prob'bly". Can you see where a problem could form in spelling that word?

So, we will continue using this program all the way through. It's simple and it works great. You can't beat that combination.

Homeschool blues?

2009-04-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe some of you have noticed that I've not been posting as regularly as you have grown accustomed to. It seems that my posts are getting to be a little too far spaced, perhaps. It's not that we haven't been doing our school lessons, I can assure you. In fact we have been staying on schedule (for the most part). However I must admit, we are just going through the basics. Nothing too exciting, it seems as though perhaps we have just gotten into a bit of a rut. Reading, writing and Arithmetic...even I'm beginning to get bored with it. It's been a while since we have had a fun science project (although the requests have been made). We have been working on a lap book to go along with our study of the African Continent, but for some reason it is taking FOREVER to complete it. I'm not 100% sure of the exact reason for what is going on right now, and I'm sure we are not the first homeschoolers to have such a dilemma. One thing I know for sure is that from time to time throughout the year I can become terribly inconsistent, which is not a good thing because it creates an imbalance. Fortunately, these spells don't last too long, which I do believe I feel this episode coming to a close. This week is spring break in our area and I am going to make an attempt to pull myself up by the bootstrap. Not sure exactly what it will be, but I'm hoping it will be exactly what this classroom needs to rejuvenate itself. So stay tuned, as I begin to let my creative juices flow there are bound to be some new posts to follow.

Cool Educational Websites

2009-03-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a way to encourage writing. My children seem to begrudge anything that requires writing more than one sentence. I've often had them to do copy work, or they may be required to write notes that I have on the board regarding a specific topic. But I don't think that it is enough. So, I was surfing the web and found a cool site. Some of you home schooler's may already be familiar with this site but it is new to me, http://www.eduplace.com/ . On this site I found a page that was helpful. It was full of ideas for kids to write about. It seemed simple enough the ideas that were presented, all according to the grade levels. However, they didn't seem to come up into my head. So anyhow, I'm thankful that someone did the thinking for me in this instance. I was able to get the kids into a nice little writing exorcise this morning using it. They griped but that's okay, It made them think. I'm going to be using this site a little bit more, I'm sure there are more treasures for me to find.

The BIG Six Week Book Challenge

2009-03-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this past Friday was the end of the six week book challenge. Each of the kids completed the reading of 6 books. It was a little bit more of a struggle for one than it was for the other, but it was all good in the end. Not only did they have to read the books but they also had to write a report and do a verbal presentation for each book! So I created a cover sheet as well as a note page for each book with a question and answer format in which they were required to fill in with information about the books. This in itself was a great idea, but due to my own procrastination it was not started on nor completed until 3 hours before it was due. LOL! talk about pressure on the kids. I felt bad, really. Mainly for the fact that they were rushed, in how and what they had to write. But the most important thing was that they READ the books and enjoyed them (especially my son). The writing will come later. In fact, I'm going to implement the written book report system in their curriculum.

My Sister and Mother had planned a sort of banquet for them, complete with awards, a meal and dessert. Very special indeed. Here are the pictures from the festivities:

The program

My son's presentation

Showing his trophy!

One of his gifts

My daughter giving her presentation

Showing her trophy!

Opening her gift.

Even my 3 yr old niece got a trophy for her participation!

An Educational Tour

2009-02-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we took a tour of an old school house in an our county. This was a special school house because it was the only African American School in the county.The Hiram Rosenwald School. We learned that it was one of the many schools that was built with funds provided by Julius Rosenwald(President of Sears and Roebuck) and spearheaded by the great educator Booker T. Washington. The school taught grades 1-9 with only TWO teachers. One teacher taught grades 1-4 while the other taught 5-9. There were many original artifacts such as desks and books within the school building and various pictures of the teachers and students who attended. We were given a brief tour. I was happy for the children to see this first hand. It was educational and insightful. the school was open from 1930-1955. Here are a few pictures that I took, not much but you get an idea

The Historical Landmark sign

The old wood stove that the students lunch was prepared on.

The Old School Bell

If you would like more information about these schools and perhaps find one in your area go to this website:

http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/sites/southern-region/rosenwald-schools/

Book Challenge Follow-up

2009-02-19T10:23:00.000-08:00

Well, we are a few weeks into our challenge. It's ironic...the one child whom I thought would be up to the challenge is actually the one who is behind in the reading and is not enthusiastic. Goes to show, you really can't judge a book by it's cover. LOL! Even moms have to remember that sometimes. *wink*

So far this is what they have read:

Isaiah 1.- Harry the poisonous centipede by Lynne Reid Banks. 2- Stink and the incredible supergalactic Jawbreaker by Megan McDonald. 3- Diary of a Wimpy kid, Roderick rules by Jeff Kinney. 4- Diary of a Wimpy kid, Last straw by Jeff Kinney.

Indya 1.- Julies journey 1974 An American Girl. 2- Clam I Am by Dr. Seuss. 3- My last best friend ( by default, she actually started this one shortly prior to the challenge).

I think they both are doing great...I'm proud that they are even trying to participate in this challenge. A couple more weeks to go....we will see how comes off victorious! I'll keep you posted.

Spelling and Reading Challenges

2009-02-05T07:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I have really been frustrated lately. It seems that my sweet little ones are still struggling in certain areas of reading. My daughter can read okay, however she mispronounces words because she does not always remember the various consonant teams and vowel sounds. My son reads daily, but continues to have some challenges. Some of the things he does in reading makes me wonder about dyslexia (Martha..IM me ;). Well I've tried various ways to help with reading and fluency of words. None seem to stick. It may work for a short while and then I feel like I am back to square one. And on top of it all my son just hates doing his spelling tests because no matter how much he studies and we practice he does not do well with spelling (bad for the self esteem). So I have decided to get the All about spelling Multi sensory program for spelling. I've heard good things about it from a friend who uses it for her three children. Ive been vacillating back and forth with getting the program for a few months and now I will submit and admit "I need help" . I hope this will bring good results. As we go along I will be sure to post our spelling progress.

Lap books

2009-02-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of the Lapbook projects the children and I have worked on in the last few months. We enjoy doing them. I hope we get to do a few more before the summer.

# 1 - The Atlantic Ocean Lapbook

# 2- True Freedom for the Maya Lapbook

# 3- Addy, an American Girl Lapbook (this was just for Indya)

Our new Baby

2009-01-30T11:37:00.000-08:00

Meet, sweetness. This is our new addition. We are so excited to have her. I'm in love with her already. She is Labrador and Pitt bull mixed ( a mutt). I don't know why we have done this to ourselves..more responsibility.

Updates & schedules

2009-01-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

Well, last weeks school week was quite uneventful. It was a very short week. Monday was a holiday and so because many of their friends were out of Public School that day, my children spent time with friends instead of school. Friday, was our ministry day and so that leaves us with Tuesday-Thursday. We have kept it fairly simple last week and it looks as though it is continuing through this week. Mainly focusing on the basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic. Trying to get some extra math in especially. But the best part of last week was that we were able to stick to our schedule! We were able to go out together in our ministry, and what a day it was. The weather held up nicely almost like a new spring day and we met several friendly people. It was an encouragement for us and I hope this Friday will prove just as good.

The BIG Six Week Book Challenge

2009-01-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

Ok....My sister gave the children a challenge. She told them if they were to each read 6 books in 6 weeks she would give them each a prize. So, needless to say the children say they are up for the challenge and we are getting new books to read from the library in the morning. They have to be books appropriate for their age levels. The books cannot be preschool books that they can read in a snap. I'll keep you posted on how they are coming along! I hope they both excel in this challenge, I know it sounds like a little bit of pressure. However, I'm going to try and keep as much balance and fun in this as possible so that each one feels like a winner and has a good sense of accomplishment. I'll let you know their progress in 3 weeks.

A Productive week

2009-01-21T22:37:00.000-08:00

Last week we had a full schedule of school lessons. Not only did we complete two science projects, but we were able to complete a unit study and a Lap book Project. The Lap Book was very interesting on the Maya Indians and followed up nicely I thought ,to our study last quarter on the Cherokee Indians in the Trail of Tears. Two different type of Indians, but Indian none the less. The Maya have a very interesting culture, and an especially violent past regarding their form of worship. As usual the children found it of utmost interest at the human sacrifices that were offered up to the false gods (oh so gruesome). We used the information presented in the 12/01/08 WT and the lap book cut outs from another home school mom/friend. This was a simple yet informative study for the children. It is also our third Lap book that we have created since school began in august. I hope to get pictures of it to show you soon. I think they learned a lot from it....but please don't test them on it, you just may receive a dear in the headlights look followed by "huh?" No matter what they say...I did teach them and I have the pictures to prove it! lol!

(statue guarding the entrance to the temple)

As for my plan for the four day school week with one day for our volunteer ministry, it was a bust. Two reasons why: We were without transportation on Friday and it was 11 degrees outside. NOT a good combination. Soooooooo, we try again this week.

Well, that was our previous school week in review. I'll chat with you next week on more of what went on this week...until then, thanks for following our progress. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Musical Inspiration

2009-01-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I had the opportunity to take my daughter to her first Broadway musical. She loves music so much, I just could not pass up the opportunity to watch her senses tingle. I took her to see Hairspray!...We met a friend with her daughter at the theater and my child couldn't have been happier.

History

2009-01-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the children and I watched the Presidential Inaugaration. It was interesting to hear their thoughts on what was going on and where we fit in this with balance and discernment.
We briefly discussed the National Anthem and what it meant for those who sing it. I figured this counts towards a History lesson for them. No different than what is probably going on in the Public Schools all week. I guess in an effort to gear up for Black History Month, the local station has been playing movies about Dr. King, Muhammad Ali, and movies featuring Denzel. My children watched the documentary about Dr. King and part of the Ali story. I believe I will create my own list of important African Americans for them to study the next few weeks. I believe this will be fun and interesting. I think I'll have to schedule a couple of field trips in for them, although the places I have in mind, I have already taken them once before. Oh well, these type things rarely get old. And as usual, I'm gonna try to add my own flavor to it all. As always, I'll keep you posted.

How to make a battery

2009-01-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

Wondering what he is doing? He is trying a new science experiment. On Thursday my oldest learned all about electricity and he got to experiment with becoming a "Human Battery". All you need to complete this experiment is simple household items. Lemon Juice, paper towels, 5 dimes and 5 pennies. Then with wet fingers (middle & thumb) you create a closed circuit and let the tingling begin! This is the part of school that he loves the most; experiments, trying things out. But of course, I can't just let him have all fun and no work, hehehe, what kind of mom do you think I am? So I had to torture him with a reading and writing assignment about electricity first. Then after the experiment he had to record what he did in his science experiment notebook. He wasn't too thrilled about that part; CLASSIC. ;-)

For really cool experiments you can check out a site that I recently discovered. http://www.education.com/

Planet Mars

2009-01-14T19:58:00.000-08:00

Today we completed a unit study on Mars. The unit study was created by another homeschooling mom in my home school group. She used the article out of the February 2009 Watchtower. We listened to the article about the Red Planet together and then tried to answer the questions together. The unit study also included a online treasure hunt to find the answers to various facts about Mars. To make this activity fun, I added a little challenge for the kids. I pulled out the 'ol egg timer! 15 minutes each to find as many answers to the questions as possible. Ready! - Set! - Go! The one with the most answers is the winner. Ohhhhh, the pressure for the poor kids! They had to look up the answers on the different websites listed. It was so funny to see them race against the clock. All in all it was soooo much fun, and educational too. Now I can't guarantee that the info is implanted permanently in their brains but, we certainly did put forth our best effort today. And we had fun doing it too. Oh, and btw since today is Wednesday and we listened to the WT this will count as one of our Keep on the Watch Activity. *wink*

Back to school

2009-01-12T06:10:00.000-08:00

Last week was our first week back after a two week break. As I mentioned before I did not have my lessons for the next ten weeks planned out the way I like, However, I was able to have a week worth of lessons for us. So, how did it go? your asking? Well, The first day was a nightmare! My children went back to school with teeth clenched. Holding onto their blankets in their warm beds for dear life. That first day was sooooo long! The rest of the week went by pretty well. There was two things in particular that I enjoyed along with them. One was their history lesson about Benjamin Franklin and the other was watching them use their Moon Log Sheets. We enjoyed learning about the many things that he invented (some I didn't even know). We read his biography from a six chapter book. We read a chapter a day and used our really cool notebooking page to write down important facts, created by our friend Maty. The Moon Log was really cool too. Since we have been reading so much on Astronomy, I created a form for them to track the phases of the moon. Each night (if it wasn't raining) they had to go outside to view the moon. Writing down on the log sheet what the moon and it's surrounding area looked like. They had to use the proper terms for describing the moon phase, i.e. , waxing, waning, new, full. There was a spot for them to also draw a picture of the moon. They enjoyed this project very much. My daughter said to me, " Ooooh mommy! this is the most exciting thing of my life!" HILARIOUS.

Last week we also discovered the EGG TIMER. Who knew that something as simple as setting a timer for various lessons and tasks would be so motivating to kids ( and adults *wink, wink*). It is going to become a new practice in our lives.

This week is going to be an introduction of something new, something my students have been begging me for....a Four Day School Week. We will have school Monday - Thursday, however Friday will not be just a full day of free play. We will be using part of Friday for our Ministry. I'm hoping and praying that we can be consistent in this endeavor. The great part about this is that the children are excited to use part of their day off to volunteer their time in helping others. That, in itself is a blessing indeed.

Music Appreciation Class part II

2009-01-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

Now, after watching my daughter broaden her view of music, I thought it would be a perfect time for she and her brother to practice their instruments. A few weeks ago, we purchased an acoustic guitar and a recorder (flute) for the kids. Each instrument came with lessons and it's fairly easy to self teach. We had previously went over a lesson or two, but lately they have been kinda just playing around with it. So today we had another real lesson and they did so good! They each were able to play a bar of music reading the notes on the scale. I was quite proud of them and they were proud of themselves. Take a look at my two music students.

We used the First Act Discovery learn and play instruments. If you would like to learn more about these easy to use and teach instruments and activity books, check out this site.

Music Appreciation Class

2009-01-07T20:04:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what has gotten into her, but all day today Indya has been in a music mood. While practicing her ASL today she insisted on listening to Billy Holiday
(not a bad choice, better than Hannah Montanna;) ). She sang along to the entire CD. But what was most hilarious to me is what came the next few hours. She discovered the Motown Sound! Now she is already familiar with the Temptations, but today she found out about the SUPREME'S. LOL! We have a Dianna Ross and the Supreme's greatest hits CD and she was hypnotized by the glamour of this spectacular group. She looked over every picture included in the booklet and decided she was going to be the part of Mary Wilson from the group. For the next 3 hours she sang "Baby Love", "Stop in the name of love" and several other hits, despite the protests of her older brother. Not only was there singing but dance steps too. Wow! A D-I-V-A in her own right, indeed. Here is a picture of our little supreme

Magic Rocks

2009-01-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

Okay, Isaiah finally got an opportunity to use his Magic Rocks experiment his Nanna bought him like 9 months ago. He was sooo excited! I allowed him to do it all on his own as long as he read the directions carefully. I just supervised.

This kit came with two tanks and plenty of colorful rocks. He had to a situate the rocks in the tanks, add water and a chemical solution and within 6 hours the rocks grow and form a colorful underwater rock garden.

Interesting......

No lessons

2009-01-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

Well, looks like our "break" was more than I bargained for. I have been sick for two weeks. All of the time that I thought we would have to work on our new lessons, and catch up on our projects is now gone. I was waaaay to sick to do any of the things that I had planned. Soooo, we will be starting our next quarter of school without any solid lesson plans. What a Bummer! We will be taking each school day one at a time...Who knows, it might not be so bad (I'll keep you posted). It may actually make it more interesting (I hope).Heeerrre we go! 2009 school year is starting off with a BANG...LOL!

Anniversary!

2008-12-20T02:15:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it! This week marks the one year anniversary on my decision to take my son out of Public School. What an emotional ride it has been. Primarily for me I think. My son had been in third grade for only 5 months and I (and he) was at wits end. He was having notes sent home weekly about his lack of focus, inability to complete assignments and failing grades in math and language arts. His self esteem was at a low and we were running out of punishments / consequences. Something had to give! Maybe I wouldn't have felt so desperate if the previous school year hadn't been spent putting him in two tutoring programs. One that was free, offered by the school twice a week and the other (not so free) which costs us $1,000.00 for private sessions 2X's a week for about 6 mos. Soooo, I made a decision to take him out of Public school and try to get him back on track emotionally and academically myself. While trying to figure out how to help him I turned to his pediatrician and we made arrangements for him to have a series of tests done. Long story short, he has ADHD with learning Disability in Math and Reading and is currently receiving Occupational Therapy. I was sad but also relieved. Now, I have an explanation for what I have noticed and have asked his teachers about since he was in kindergarten. Now I can try to teach him in a way that is right for him. It has not been easy, my decisions involving home school has changed our lives. Learning about my son's learning Disabilities and my role as his mother and teacher regarding it can sometimes be overwhelming. I feel as though in some ways I am teaching myself and my husband all over again. It definitely is a learning experience on patience and understanding for us both. However, I must say that the results are better now than they were a year ago. Last year my son was basically a D/F student in math and Language Arts, currently I am proud to say that he is at a A/B math average. His reading has greatly improved, due to more frequent trips to the library, barns & noble, and being apart of the Theocratic Ministry School. Language Arts is still a challenge but it is improved to about a C average. The self esteem is an ongoing struggle for him, it goes up and down but we work on it. All in all I believe that Homeschooling was the best thing that I could have done for him. My daughter? Well, she was a good student before and continues to be so now. I'm proud of her too. She does not posses the same challenges as her brother but she is pushing through her own challenges just fine(with a little help from mom *wink*). I think this new anniversary calls for a CELEBRATION...Cake and Ice cream for everyone!

Time for a break

2008-12-20T01:44:00.000-08:00

Well, we have pretty much reached the end of our 2 school quarter. We have completed the planned lessons that I wrote out with a few small extras thrown in. There is one project that we did not complete *yet* (actually two). I say yet, because I am determined to have them do this project although we are no longer working on this topic. What project ? I am talking about
the paper making project, to go along nicely with our study of trees. I found a very cool website; www.howstuffworks.com. This site gave very detailed instructions on how to make your own paper. How cool is that?! Maybe I'm a little lame and everyone else already knew how to make their own paper, but I did not. Until now. Anyhow, we were not able to get around to doing it. But, I shall not be deterred! 2ND, we have the Fruitage of the Spirit Art Project we were working on for this quarter, still working on and is yet to be completed. Both great ideas but unfinished for now. The next week or maybe two (hehehe) we will take a little break from "school". I'm thinking this will be the perfect opportunity to focus on these incomplete projects. So perhaps it will be more like a semi -break. We will concentrate on our "fun" stuff and make things light and easy. During this time it will be back to the drawing board for me to figure out the next ten weeks of our school year. As always, I'll keep you posted. ;)

Charlotte Mason Technique discovery

2008-12-04T06:37:00.000-08:00

I have recently begun reading up on the techniques of Charlotte Mason. I have read her name in numerous blogs and group postings regarding homeschooling. What I found interesting in my brief search, is that by default I already practice a few of her methods. For instance, she believed in teaching various subjects through Living Books as opposed to Dry Text Book reading. Which basically is reading about a subject or person from an author who has a sincere interest in the topic and writes in such a way that is personable and really captures the child's attention...making it come alive. Case in point, when we make our monthly trips to the library i like to pick up books on subjects that we are not currently studying, but is still a point of interest. Example, Helen Keller, Ben Franklin, States of America, Earth Science. Most recently, I grabbed a book about the Moon. I read the book to them while they were eating lunch. Well, later on that evening while out running errands they were watching the moon. They were able to point out which phase the moon was in on that night. They actually were correct in the terminology that they used as well. I was impressed so I threw in a question just because I couldn't help myself and low and behold they knew the answer instantly! I thought to myself, "wow, all we did was read a short book about the moon, but they remember it as if they had actually studied it". Doing things this way also leads into a deeper study of the subject. As in the case of the moon I have printed out a fact file from learningpage.com for them to add to their notebooks and I plan to create a MOON Journal for them to start a little observation project for the next week (that's for starters). Perhaps we will find a movie to watch on the topic as well (I did that with Helen Keller and other topics too). This is part of the reason why I am continuing to love homeschooling. I just wanted to share my personal discovery. I'm going to continue reading up on the methods of Charlotte Mason.

A waxing crescent moon

Building Character

2008-12-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

Well, another week and another Wednesday has past. For our on the Watch Wednesday We read the article in the 8/1/08 Watchtower entitled; Samuel stuck to what was right, part of the "teach your children" series. I basically read this article to them and gave them each and opportunity to read the scriptures cited. I really enjoyed reading this with the children because, not only did it encourage them to stay on the path of righteousness but it gave me an opportunity to expound on my God given role as a good parent. This article was great in working to build good character and provided a good opportunity to reach their hearts. According to their countenance, I believe they had a level of appreciation for this article too. Along with the freshly baked, chocolate mint cookies, this was a nice way to end our day.

Vacation Rut

2008-12-03T06:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, I think that we are in a Vacation Rut! What is that you may ask? I think that is when you go on vacation, break your routine and when you get back to it, you can't. That is what has happened to us. We went away to Florida on a mini vacation, took the kids to the beach and visited with family. I even read three novels! I thought when we got back we would be refreshed and ready to begin learning......NOT! Ever since we got back the children have been complaining about school and acting as if this is a new situation. I'm also guilty, Ive been too lazy to start school at a decent hour. I've been dragging my butt too, this is not a good look for me the TEACHER. I have got to get focused, however this will take longer than I expected. Guess this will be a VERY nontraditional school week. I'll keep you posted :)

Too much yelling

2008-11-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

Well, for our On The Watch Wednesday, I decided that we needed to do some reinforcement. We seem to be having issue with yelling in our home these days...Not Good. Its appears to me that the yelling is for any and everything. And because they are so sensitive, they freak out if we raise our voice just a pinch, which causes us to be even more upset because of all the drama from them...I mean sometimes they really should get an award! Could it be that being together day in and day out is putting everyone on edge? I'm not sure about that, the children get plenty of association outside of our home on a weekly basis. I think that they are just at that stage in their childhood that is really testy. Sooooo, long story short I found an article in the Watchtower library called : "What can I do when my parents yell at me?" We read it together, read the suggested scriptural texts and talked about the problem. The article gave some really good advice on what the children should try not to do and what they should instead, try to do. Good information for parents and children...I think I will type up the try to's and try not to's and post it in the house as a friendly reminder. I know that may not be what some of my HS'ng Moms following the on the Watch posts had in mind, but We needed some serious reinforcements. Oh well, maybe next week's on the watch post will be a Little more interesting.

World Cultture Studies

2008-11-14T10:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, we have completed our culture study on Ecuador. I must say that the children enjoyed it and so did I. We learned a lot about the various people that make up that country and how they live, work and play. They have an interesting mix. The children seemed to really enjoy the section where they learned about the animals and plants native to the area. We were able to view various websites to check out some of these most interesting animals, birds and trees. At the end of our study, we had a brief cooking class. We made a potato soup that is native to Ecuador and listened to a folk song from an Ecuadorian singer over the Internet. My son and I loved the soup, however it left a lot to be desired by my little girl. (But she doesn't count, she don't like any food! lol!)

Acorns, a failed project

2008-11-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

If you can remember on an earlier post, I wrote about some acorns that we gathered while on our nature trail. We were so excited to find so many varieties of them and I just knew it would be a great thing to learn about. Well, I did research and found out that they could be eaten and even found a recipe online at www.backwoodshome.com . What I didnt realized though, is that acorns can go bad...go figure! We kept them in a bag, until we could use them in a project. however after a few weeks we peered into the bag and low and behold they had mold growing on them. YUCK. So there goes that experiment! lol. Oh well..maybe next fall. At least we can still read about them.

The "ear tree"

2008-11-07T08:42:00.001-08:00

We went on our camping trip this past weekend. It was great! The scenery was beautiful and we enjoyed being out in nature. Remember last month when I posted about a nature hike we took at the state park? We found a tree that had a weird shape of an ear but I couldn't get a picture because my camera battery was dead. Well, here it is! We went back on that trail while on our camping trip and my camera was ready....So what do you think? does it look like an ear to you?We are gonna have to eventually research this and find out what causes the tree to grow this way. If any of you know what the cause is, will you let us know? Thanks.

2008-10-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of one of the art activities for our tree study. We picked up leaves and brought them inside to create beautiful leaf rubbings. The children really got creative and used various colors. My son was so excited about what he learned to do with the leaves, that he tried to show anyone who would listen and watch him what he could do with a leaf and a crayon!

next ten weeks

2008-10-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well, we have completed the first 11 weeks of school. With the last week being a primary focus of math and reading. I was searching my brain to find something fresh for us to study these next 10 weeks. The following is what we will be studying: FYI -math, Language arts, reading and spelling are nonnegotiable (of course) so I will not e listing these.

History : learning the 50 states, Learning about various presidents (regarding their relevence to important historical events). Studying native american indian tribes, particulary the tribes involved with the Trail of tears and that whole experiance.

Science/Nature study : Butterfly unit study (got a few books from the library for it). Based on our nature walk at the state park a few weeks ago we will be reading about various types of Grasshoppers, a great study on Trees : types, patterns, habits, purposes. Acorns : found great info on the web for that. It will be a "hands on project". Stay tuned for updates on that fun. Can't wait to share with you what I have planned for it!

Cultures : Since we know of a couple from our congregation that went to Equador on assignment from Bethel to help will construction, we will do some reading and investigating on this country. I plan on making this an "experiance", I hope the kids will like it.

ASL History: As part of this ongoing "class" for this school year, the children will be learning about Helen Kellar. I found a great book at the library and I can't wait to share it with them. As a child, I myself was inspired by the Helen Kellar story.

Spiritual Advancement : Since " 'tis the season", I thought it would be great opportunity to go over the secular history and meanings behind the two up and coming holidays. The children seemed to have been extra inquisitive these days so i must strike while the iron is hot! I also had an idea based on our recent bible reading assignment to help them with remembering to keep on their Suit of Armor. That seems like it will be great fun, and my camera will be ready for that!

I also have added a new text book that I ordered from Rod & Staff to help with phonetic reading for my son. Ive heard good things about R&S, so I am eager to see the outcome. I also have a new publication from the library that Ive added for my daughter as well. It also teaches better phonic skills to improve reading with just short 5 minute lessons each day.

So there it is. What the students of the learning Academy will be educated on for the next 10 weeks. I'm very excited about these lesson plans that I have cooked up. Now, I just have to find the time to log it all in my Homeschool Tracker program...ugh! where does the time go?

pictures of nature

2008-10-09T19:15:00.000-07:00

One of the beautiful scenes we were able to witness while on our

walk at this great state park in Georgia.

Here we have an old wasp nest in the hollow trunk of a tree. We thought this was a great find while on our nature walk. We were amazed!

This tree looked interesting to us... we are not sure why it looks this way. My initial thought is that it has been nibbled on by a dear. But that is just my speculation. I think it will be a research point for us real soon.

Look closely now, can you see what that is? I just picked up a book for us to study about these types of insects at the library today.

I don't have a picture yet, but we found also some really cool variations of nuts and acorns while on our walk. I hope that we will be able to do a small study on those as well. perhaps on what is most prevalent in our area, what they are used for now and in the past, for animals and humans. who knows? there is so much to be learned about even something as simple as an acorn or some wild tree nuts. look at what learn when we read about the mustard seed? When we learn about the creation from our Creator all around us, our education is limitless. :) I will keep you posted.

Back to Nature, state park

2008-10-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, Soooo this week hasn't been the Most Academic for us. We are winding down our last week or so of the 10 week lesson plans I created for us. Wednesday we decided to visit one of the state parks in our area. Oh! the weather was beautiful! And the students were jumping for joy that we were getting out of the school house and going on a "field trip". So we gathered all the things we would need for our big adventure; Camera. Pencil. Paper. comfortable shoes. One medium pepperoni pizza & drinks (gotta have energy ;) ). We got to the park, spoke to the park ranger and chose a trail that was 4 miles long! Talk about over doing it...Well it was great, tiresome but great. As we walked i asked my daughter (2nd grade)to count how many fallen trees she saw on the trail..She counted 111 trees and was too tired to count anymore. But it's okay, she was counting ;) ;). We were able to collect some very nice tree leaves, nuts and various acorn types. We saw various types of trees and a few weird insects. I tried to take good pic's and I think I did okay, towards the end we saw a very unusual formation on a tree that looked like a giant ear! I quickly got the camera ready, and oopsie! the batteries were dead! couldn't get the picture! I really wanted to show that one to you. Oh well maybe next time...All in all we had a great time collecting and looking at things that we can do research on. I think we got enough things to have some really cool nature study and science lessons for the next month, maybe more if I try hard enough. I got a few pictures for you to view. hope you like them....By the way, we like the area so much we've made reservations for the campsite at the end of the month! We're goin' Campin' ya'll! LOL

2008-09-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Heeheehaha! a few of my

"nature pics".

'08 School fall pictures

2008-09-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, The students have not had their School Pictures for this year yet. So after some inspiration from a friend in Texas who also home schools ( she took her own pics of her children for school) I decided to try my photography skills. I don't think I did too bad... I even tried my hand at Nature Photography! Ha ha ha, funny what you pick up from your association with cool people. :) Check them out on my side bar and tell me what you think...

Off to the Library we go!

2008-09-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

The other day, after school we took a trip to the library. I thought it would be a good idea since I needed to get some reference books for teaching the kids and perhaps they might find an interesting book or two to bring home as well. The trip proved successful and they each found books (as did I).What touched my heart and was somewhat comical to me was what took place later. When we got home later that evening, each child was very excited to read their new books. My daughter had completed her last book from Barnes & Noble and began eagerly reading the library book. My son is still working on his Book from B&N, but was already into the second chapter of his library book. I "suggested" to him that he finish the first book before he read any more of the second book. Well! that just did not sit well with him. He said he really wanted to read this book also and that he was going to read them both each day. Needless to say we went back and forth with our viewpoints, each presenting our arguments and then I stopped the discussion with a loud "wait a minute!"...I said, "Isaiah, do you know what we are doing? We are having an argument about you reading! Not because I am making you read, but because you want to read! I hate to say this but I am so happy to have this argument right now". With that said, he just looked at me with an all knowing type grin and said "yeah".... That was my proud homeschooling moment. :) :)

One thing I know....

2008-09-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

One thing I know for sure is...being a parent and a homeschooling parent on top of that is a lot of work. I have come to appreciate that I have to continue to "upgrade" myself if I am ever going to successfully teach my children, my students. However I take on the challenge with joy ( sometimes with stress, :) ), because I feel that I am attempting to give them the very best that I can. Because we have only been homeschooling for 9 months, I often display feelings of uncertainty and feel as though I am walking in circles alone in the dark. Deep down inside though, I know that we are going to be okay. Especially when I see my sons confidence increase when he is doing his math work. Or when we are watching or reading something and the children remind me that they have knowledge of it already because of a particular study that we did. As a home school mom I am constantly reminded in various ways that we have to go at our own pace and that to have consistency in what we do is most important and all things will fall into place. Realizing that I do not have to cave in to pressure of "proving" that my kids are "smart" to others. We are proven to ourselves and it is our satisfaction that matters the most. So for as long as I can do this I will. I know there is happiness at the end of this rainbow....I have no particular reason for creating this post, no one has made me mad or offended us about our choice of homeschooling lately, But these are just some private thoughts that I had recently and wanted to share them with you...If you have had similar thoughts let me know, I'd love to hear them.

Try, try, again

2008-09-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

Our school year has been so far so good. We have a few "projects" that we have been working on. Two of which are school related (oceans lapbook, family tree notebook) and two that are theocratic (bible book flash cards and 12 minor prophets notebook). As we move along however I see some difficulty with comprehension and pronunciation when we are reading for both children. So after doing some reading on the topic, talking with others and so forth. I have decided to try a WORD BANK. I used an empty, round oatmeal box and I labeled it "word bank". I cut open a top sort of like a piggy bank and I added words that I come across in our daily reading. I put the words on an index card with the definition and part of speech, i.e. verb, noun, etc. Each day they pull one card out of the bank read over it and make three sentences with it. At the end of the week I am going to quiz them on the definition and spelling. I'm also trying to come up with a word wall to put up sight words for them. But that will probably be later down the line. Time is always of the essence and never seems to be on my side...

Baker, Baker, Muffin makers!

2008-08-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

As part of our Community Helpers Unit Study yesterday, we learned about the baker. The children not only learned about a bakers job, but got to experience it first hand! They baked Blueberry Munchkin Muffins. While learning a new recipe, they also got a mini math lesson about measurements including fractions! I'll admit trying to teach these things to them was not the easiest at first with these guys. Their minds were primarily on eating the muffins and so I had to take a little break when they wouldn't stop slipslidding all over the kitchen floor! But once they got settled, I think I actually taught them something. Neither one of them have covered fractions in school yet, so I had to show them the basics off of my own memory...hehehe. All in all at the end of our class they realized that a bakers job is not so easy and, to be a good baker you have to know how to 1.read directions well 2. follow the instructions well and 2.be able to understand math. Check out our pics!

Back to school part 2

2008-08-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well, the kids certainly got their share of party time before school officially started up. The Saturday following the pool party at Frank and Sherri's, they went to a backyard cookout given by our friends the Kendricks. They had so much fun, my kids are so social that they just about have fun with anybody, anywhere! This party had good food and good friends, and a couple of cute games. Check out the pics that I've posted.

Party Time

2008-08-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday some friends of ours had a "back to school" pool party for the kids. It was very nice..."Sherry and Uncle Frank" did a great job of planning this party for the kids. They provided the big yard space, pool, gifts, and games for the children. They swam all day long, ran around and ate good food. About half of the children there are home schooled and the other half attend public school and the grades were 1st grade through 9th grade...one child for each grade (except 3rd). It was a really hot day, even I got in the pool to play with the kids. Everyone was tired after that party, well... except the boys, who after the pool party decided to have an "after party" and go play video games for 4 more hours! A long day Indeed :)

Bible flash cards

2008-08-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

Well, after viewing a friend's (Martha) Blog the other day I became inspired to try a new project. To help will learning the books of the bible she used clothes pins with the name of each book written on it and the object of the "game" so to speak was to be able to hang the pins back up in the correct book order. Well I did not have any clothes pins but I did have some card stock and so my NEW PROJECT began. Indya and I got out our card stock, crayons, markers, and colored pencils. We cut out 4 squares on each page about the size of a big flash card. We then wrote down various books of the bible on each card and then we designed them any way that we wanted to. Which is fun for us because we can use our individual creativity on the cards. Indya got tired of cutting out so many cards(66), she just wanted to get to the artistic side of this new project...A child after my own heart! I decided that on one side of each card we will have the Bible book and the other side of the card will hold one or two scriptures from that book. The goal is to be able to place the bible books in order and to learn verses at the same time. I'm hoping we can come up with some really fun ways to use these cards. We are not done with them yet so, I will keep you posted on how they turn out. In the meantime, check out the cute pic of baby girl cutting out her flash cards!...

Light at the end of a tunnel

2008-07-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

So, okay I've been working my brain until it can't be worked any more. But I think I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel."HOORAY for me!"
Now, first off I have installed the Home school tracker on my computer and I think it is amazing! It has helped me to get organized for each subject and assignments that we will be working on. I have actually set up all of our lessons for the first quarter (3mos) of this new school year.
Starting August 11th we will begin our full school schedule. Until then the children are doing "light" work...just enough to keep their brains from going dead, LOL!

Now, when it comes to MATH they will be working on grade level/age appropriate lessons from their new Saxon math books. We will be using the Spectrum books for their language arts working on spelling weekly, using a workbook. I have two unit studies for us to do.

The first unit study is on Communities/families. I printed it from homeschoolhelperonline, and I tweaked it just a little. In this unit study we learn and discuss families various types and how they make up communities. I will use this as an opportunity for them to begin writing in their Family tree notebooks that downloaded from thenotebookingnook.com. They will learn about their own family history, write about themselves and get an opportunity to "interview" various family members. Under this lesson on families we will also learn more detail about the Bethel family living at the Watchtower Bible and tract society's branch offices. Lessons 2-9 of this unit study is about various jobs and people who help in a community. Our activities will include Artwork, using the Internet, a science project,and a baking/cooking project and perhaps a field trip. The last lesson in this unit will be learning about maps, in which we will create a map of our neighborhood, learn how to use various maps understanding symbols and direction.

The second unit study is about Oceans/the water cycle. They will learn about the Atlantic ocean and learn the names of the other 4 oceans. This unit study will help them understand the ways in which the ocean is used...the resources of the ocean, why the sea is salty, learn about sea life and where the water cycle fits into it all.we will have a science project or two with this unit. What is so cool is that I have found several videos from netflix that we can watch and use as one of our learning resources. And best of all,we will create a lapbook from this study, I'm so excited to see how it will turn out. I'll be sure to post pics about that!

Next thing to be learned this quarter is American Sign language!!! This is our elective. I think this is awesome....I found videos online with netflix that taught children ASL in a simple way. We will discuss what it means to be deaf, who uses ASL and why...I would like for them to practice the ASL and I will take them on a field trip to a meeting were they can meet and interact with the deaf using what they have learned during the prior weeks. I'm excited about this because they have expressed interest in sign language after seeing someone doing it one day. Especially Indya. And now they will have the opportunity to learn it, something they never would have been able to do in public school.

Each month they will be required to choose a book from our reading list, read it completely and write a Brief report.

Finally, they will continue to learn to use the keyboard properly using the ten thumbs typing program, continue their bible education, have computer lab(using the Internet and email safely)and volunteer service weekly.

I look forward to the next three months of educating my Children. It looks like it's going to be a challenge but now that I have my ducks in a row...i'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

That old feeling

2008-07-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, i know we are supposed to be on a "break" but it is not a break for me...I'm starting to get that "old feeling" back. You know the one, where you start to think of new ideas for learning. I started brainstorming and thinking of the new lesson plans and how I am gonna teach new things to the kids. I'll admit I had a "brain dead" moment, but I think we will recover. I have a feeling that this year our home school adventures will be great! I am planning on making the trip to the local walmart to pick up new supplies. I heard that walmart has some exclusive double notebooks available and I will definitely be picking these up, it will be useful for our note booking and lap booking projects. I have decided that we will use the Saxon Home school Math this year, I have not yet decided on a Language arts curriculum yet. I am still looking for something I am comfortable with, and for the other subjects i am still working on lessons for that. Before we get started I will definitely update our site so that you will know what's going on.. well by for now...."got that old feeling"......

A small break

2008-07-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we are on a "break" for 30 days. School is out until August, we moved and with all the caos involved with that we have not been on the best schedule. It's been pretty much hit or miss for the last 2 1/2 mos....I hope to be regenerated by then and we can start on all new lesson plans! cant wait to see what we can learn! Will keep you posted!

lessons and breaks

2008-04-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

Well, It's back to school this week. We took 1 week off last week to just do nothing involving school. We are on a 4 week on 1 week off schedule. Primarily because we are gonna be on a year 'round school schedule, it would be beneficial to me as the parent/teacher and for them to take frequent breaks.

While on our "break" I still tried to include something educational. We went to the Fernbank Musuem and spent the afternoon checking out Dinosaurs and fun science facts! The kids had a great time...it was nice to get out of the house and go somewhere. Also during the week we went to the local Comet trail to roller skate. It was beautiful outside and the kids really got a workout! We were able to look at various aspects of nature and learn a lesson about life (at least I did)....

While on the trail I was encouraging the kids to skate independently and uninhibitedly. I reflected on my days as a young one growing up in NYC I would skate outside by myself. I loved the wind whipping in my face as I rolled down hills and turned sharp corners. I wanted them to be the same. However, Indya was so insistent about holding my hand while she skated because she felt she was not a good skater. I reluctantly did it, only to fuss and complain and let her hand go a hundred times. I would show her how to skate and gain momentum, how to just coast etc , etc.

However she wasn't buying it. There where tears and refusals to skate anymore, along with pouting and sitting on the concrete for a "break". Eventually I gave up trying to make her skate by herself and just started to hold her hand on the long way back. Well, wouldn't you know!? After a little while of just holding hands, casually talking and skating she began to skate faster and faster. There was confidence and joy as she saw that she could do it. She eventually just let go of my hand and starting doing the things I was teaching her about skating and she was off like a rocket!....I was so happy for her, and for myself.

We both learned a lesson...In life we all need someone to hold our hand for just a little while. We should not be afraid to ask for it, nor should we begrudgingly give it. When we help and teach a person who is in need and lacks confidence, we give them the ability to see what was not clearly possible to themselves. And with patience and time we can let go and soar on our own....We all need a hand sometimes.

Curriculum help

2008-04-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

I was referred to a great website for HS'ng mom's by someone in my HS group. It is called Currclick-curriculum at a click! It is wonderful. I was able to get some great worksheets for free and / or at a very cheap price. I was able to order 3 workbooks for the children for under $15! That is a wonderful savings considering that these are not your run of the mill workbooks, they range 55-99 pages long. It is designed to help the children to sort of help themselves in learning concepts with little help from the parent/teacher. The best part of it is that you just download the workbooks which are PDF files to your computer and print it out at home, NO shipping & handling. How smart is that?!!
They will begin using the workbooks on Monday for their math subjects....As soon as I buy more ink for the printer to print out the other 2 workbooks ;)

Billy Holiday

2008-04-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

This week's music lesson is on Billy Holiday. The same scenario was repeated as last week, listen to the music and read a bio about said artist. However I did change it up a little bit. The kids were required to not only narrate back to me what I read but also had to write it down. They wrote in their own words somewhat of a bio about Billy Holiday based on questions I asked. At the end I asked them to each to give their personal opinion about her music...The results? Interesting! lol!

Here are some pic's of the students enjoying the music of the great Lady Day

2008-04-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's the deal. Last week we had a good week, this week is well, um okay...could be better. I'm still trying to get this homeschooling thing down packed! Sometimes I feel like I am doing pretty good, and other times I think to myself
"help! I don't know what I'm doing here!" I have given myself until the new school year ( FALL 08)to be better organized. I figured I could use the first 6 months of HS'ng to "get myself together". The funny thing is that I don't think the kids are suffering at all in spite of all my foolishness and mayhem. They are completing the work that is assigned to them everyday. It is just me...my mind is constantly turning over how I can improve what they are doing.. how I can be most effective. I keep researching various curriculums for math and phonics. I concern myself too much maybe with what style of HS'ng I am doing (there are many out there). Most importantly I want to make sure that they are really getting an effective education. I think that I mainly am obsessing a lot also because of self imposed pressure, or is it self imposed pressure from others? (if that makes any sense). Basically allowing the negative feeling of how others view HS'ng get the best of me. So I get overly anxious at times because I don't want my kids to appear to be less adequate than other children their age. Truth of the matter is though, that I really believe that my children are and will continue to be right on point if not a little advanced in some areas of academics.
Well anyway, I know what your probably thinking...Just keep doing what I'm doing, these are my children and remember that I wont do anything that will harm them. As long as I am working and teaching with love then something good will always come out. Well Said! :)......Well those are my wacky thoughts for the day, CYA next time..

Music education

2008-04-04T20:37:00.000-07:00

The next four weeks we will be studying famous music composers. I thought that would be a "fun" subject for us. I wondered what I would do to make it interesting for the kids. So I decided that I would not require them to do any writing or reading, their only requirement would be to LISTEN.
I will play one song from each composer, and read a short bio about them. Well this went over very well with them! This week we learned about Duke Ellington and listened to his piece called "the A train". As the children "listened", they danced! I was concerned that maybe they were not really listening but at the end of our lesson I asked them a few review questions and guess what?- they knew the answers. Not only did they know the answers but they were enthusiastic about it!
So I think this was a great Idea! I felt that they really learned something and i felt proud that I had a hand in helping them to not only learn it but to have fun while learning it.

We'll see how next week goes...

2008-03-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

A new approach

2008-03-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, after thinking really hard about our homeschool I decided that I needed to organize a little bit better. One of my friends said that she puts all of her son's work in a hanging file system. Every day his work is already put together and all he has to do is go to the file cabinet and pick out his assignments..it allows him to to be somewhat independant and allows her some time to do what she needs to do also.
So anywho, I get on the web sunday night and printup some worksheets, printable books, charts, planners etc, etc,... and I organize what I think is a pretty good system. I even made up a Chore Chart (the notebooking nook is awesome!). Everything is all written out for them. I was up way past 1 a.m. doing this work. Well Monday come and I woke the kids up explained to them how things were about to be from now on...they will have a new system. I explained that they will not be on a "time" schedule, but on a work/chore/play schedule. there are no times (i.e. 9:00-9:30am)set up to do each thing but it begins when they get up, and continues as they complete a chore, task, school assignment.
It was a long day yesterday.... But I figured this morning would be better because they have their charts!.....Wrong! they woke up started off slightly on point and then it went downhill. they went into their rooms to play. they came out after awhile and ate breakfast then they finished their chores...now the school day is starting...it is 11a.m. Generally speaking its not too bad, if they do their work as they ought to for the rest of the day. But if they don't then it will be another Looooooonnng day...
I want them to learn to work independantly and responsibly, I dont want them to feel the same pressure to be on a tight schedule just as in school.....Im not sure if im going about it the best way. If felt like a good idea at first...Perhaps I will need to give it a few weeks and allow them some time to get into their new "unscheduled schedule".

All new to me

2008-03-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

Wow! this is all new to me. EVERYTHING...
I am a mother of two great children, a boy and a girl whom are sometimes too smart for their own good. I had not planned on homeschooling them, well at least not until middle school. Until recently I was very content with them going to school and having my "free time".
As with other homeschooling families, I was becoming dissatisfied with a few things in reference to how my son was learning and being taught in the public schools. My view is that the "school" structure was not the best structure for my son to thrive in. He was becoming lost academicly. My Daughter however, thrives in the "school" structure. So in responce to our son's needs and my daughters wants; We (my husband and I) decided...lets just do it now, and so we did. As of 01/01/08 I have become an official "teaching mom"! It is all so new to me and I sometimes am a little insecure with my abilities. But with some encouragement from a few friends and family members I am able to keep on doing what I do because in my heart I feel that it is the best thing I can do for my "babies".
So, now I am involving myself in blogging to help me make some sense of it all. I hope to learn more about homeschooling from others and maybe one day someone will learn something about homeschooling from me.
until next time....

The homeschool years

A change of pace, a new scene

Recognition of a talent

Who wants McDonalds?

Inside the mind of a beautiful boy

starting over, starting slow

Not alone in the struggle

Something is starting to click

Great American Authors

PBS activity packs

I spy with my little eye

It's gonna be a peice a' cake! NOT

Almost forgot how good this felt

The Classics

Dinosaurs and Trains, Oh My!

Stars in our eyes

It's here!

New beginings

Here we go again!

Summer Schooling

Teaching a boy

Ssshhhh!....quiet in the library

Essential oil education

Organized Mess

A sense of accomplishment

Creating an Eco-system

Earth Day 2009

Horse back riding

Improvements in spelling

Homeschool blues?

Cool Educational Websites

The BIG Six Week Book Challenge

An Educational Tour

More time for READING

Book Challenge Follow-up

Spelling and Reading Challenges

Lap books

Our new Baby

Updates & schedules

The BIG Six Week Book Challenge

A Productive week

Musical Inspiration

History

How to make a battery

Planet Mars

Back to school

Music Appreciation Class part II

Music Appreciation Class

Magic Rocks

No lessons

Anniversary!

Time for a break

Charlotte Mason Technique discovery

Building Character

Vacation Rut

Too much yelling

World Cultture Studies

Acorns, a failed project

The "ear tree"

next ten weeks

pictures of nature

Back to Nature, state park

'08 School fall pictures

Off to the Library we go!

One thing I know....

Try, try, again

Baker, Baker, Muffin makers!

Back to school part 2

Party Time

Bible flash cards

Light at the end of a tunnel

That old feeling

A small break

lessons and breaks

Curriculum help

Billy Holiday

Music education

A new approach

All new to me