Homeschool Blues?

Every once in a while, it hits me how much I enjoy home-schooling (as gramatically incorrect as that word is).  Here is a short list.  How many can you relate to?
1.  Waking up after traditional school kids have arrived at school (if I want to, that is).
2.  Finding a one-week old cup of gatorade in my son's room and deciding to use it as a science lesson on mold!
3.  Learning a lot of things I either forgot or never learned when I was a kid.
4.  Teaching at my child's ability level, not their "grade."
5.  Having control of my child's social options.
6.  Telling my daughter it's okay NOT to play dodge ball!
7.  No homework (yes, even as a parent and even a former public school teacher I think homework stinks!)
8.  The connection to other home-schooling parents. 

9.  Home lunches!
10.  Teaching God's Word shamelessly.

Of course there are huge challenges, but who needs to be reminded of them? 
I'd love to hear why you all think homeschooling is so great, too.  Here  is Tim Hawkins' opinion:

Grammar Shrammar!

I was going to vent today about how difficult one of my children has been lately and how frustrated I am.  But then I read The Homeschool Minute email and decided to pursue a lighter tone.  
I'm not a huge Ruth Beechick fan, but I know who she is and that she has written books on teaching kids to read and write.  She's old and respectable, right?  
I went to college a long time ago.  I graduated with a degree in English.  Blah  blah blah.  I eventually, ironically, taught high school English, though I knew nothing about teaching at the time.  And still, I always thought schools spent too much time on grammar and that sentence diagramming was a waste of time, paper, pencils, and brain power.  Still do.
So, when little old me (I?), full time homeschooling mama, has the same opinion as some respected, published, homeschooling legend, I'm tickled.  Here's what Ruth said in today's article:

It's Just Common Sense

Ruth Beechick, Curriculum Specialist 

I have seen an occasional engineering student who enjoyed diagramming. Everyone else thinks it is a dumb assignment. I do too. Research has not shown that knowing how to diagram makes better writing.

~ Ruth

(http://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Homeschool-Minute---Let-s-Talk-about-Diagramming-Sentences.html?soid=1101381905269&aid=VRbwtDvoCvo)

It's like standardized testing and playing with matches: Just Don't Do it. 

Christmas Season?

Can't you see it?  It's right around the corner.  Christmas!  Well, December anyway.  I know it's not one of the four seasons, Vivaldi.  But it isn't exactly a simple holiday, either, is it?  
I was moving some of E's summer clothes out of her closet and drawers, and moving her winter clothes in this past week.  (I wish I had enough clothes to have separate summer and winter wardrobes).  I'm looking forward to seeing both kids in their cold season clothes, especially those cute Christmassy outfits.  
But, alas, it was 80 degrees today!  Good grief, Charlie Brown.  Get your shorts back on and re-stock the sunscreen supply.  
Maybe Christmas is a little farther away than I thought.  

Keeping it Real

I'm a Todd Wilson fan.  I liked to read his articles in The Old Schoolhouse (TOS) magazine (when it was still a magazine and not a digital something or other) and on The Homeschool Minute (email) by TOS.  He usually shoots for funny and simple.  I remember his advice about whether to give your kids standardized tests:  "Don't do it."  
Here's his input from today's Homeschool Minute on teaching kids to write (point number 1 is my favorite):

The Familyman
Todd Wilson, Familyman Ministries

Once again, I'm in a topic that puts me in way over my head. I don't know how to help a child write a decent paragraph; I can barely write one myself . . . and I'm a writer. My thinking is, instead of trying to get your child to write a decent paragraph, work on allowing yourself to accept "decent."

Because you're a homeschooling mom and have trouble assessing what qualifies as a decent paragraph, I'll do it for you. Here's what makes for a decent paragraph:

1. It should have some words in it . . . and some of them should be spelled correctly.
2. I would have them write like they speak, minimizing grammatical rules.
3. Then I would read it and say, "Looks good to me . . . you did a great job." I wouldn't correct it or modify it. The more you correct, the less they'll want to write.
4. For those kids who like to write, let them write. For those kids who don't like to write, I wouldn't make them write too much. Let them spend the most time on the subjects they do best.
5. If you just can't help yourself and think you need to get your child to write better, then check out Andrew Pudewa's writing program (Institute for Excellence in Writing). My wife uses it and loves it.

Be real,

Todd

European Puzzle

Thank goodness for the mail today.  Let's just say the morning was exactly home school picture perfect.  Ok?  Then we got a package at the door.  Yay!  I love packages.  It was a puzzle of Europe I ordered.  See, we were learning about Italy and England this past month.  We are about to move on to Australia, but this puzzle was timely in other ways.  

Some of the reviewers and amazon knocked it because the pieces are not locking.  That didn't discourage us.  I like that most of the countries have their own shaped pieces and that E had to put them in just the right position to make them fit.  For this brief time, it was a good day! 











Ta Da!

Geography Fair

Last week our local home school group put on a geography fair.  Each student chose a place to highlight with a display and food.  Elizabeth chose England right off the bat, a girl after Harry Potter's heart.  Unfortunately, with all the changes going on in our lives, we waited until the last week to work on it.  I only had regular poster board instead of the larger tri-fold display boards.  I let E do all of the display on her own with my guidance.  After seeing some of the other more elaborate displays, I wished we had done more.  But in the end, E learned more about her country of choice - even I learned that England itself is not a country but more like a state, part of the United Kingdom with Wales and Scotland.  
Here are some pictures of the event.

 We made carrot cake as our food.  Apparently, the English like it for dessert.  

 E's friend Zoe explaining her country, Panama. 

 Guess what Z's favorite part of the fair was.

 Showing off her work to daddy.

 Some of the other amazing displays.

Schmience?

I admit it.  I'm not much of a science teacher.  It's not that we never do any science at home.  It's just harder for me to enjoy it than other subjects.  So when I find a fun way to add science into our days, I like to share.  
Recently I found out that the Kratt brothers, who used to have a PBS show called Zoboomafoo,  have a new show called Wild Kratts.  It's a bit more mature and, yes, educational.  Today E and I watched a show about earth worms.  Now she wants to go dig some up.  Now don't get all science-uppity on me.  I don't intend for this show to teach my kid all her science lessons.  It is a nice starting point into some animal science studies, that's all.  
Here's a clip: