Starting to Homeschool: Academics

I was recently asked by a reader (Johnny) where he should curriculum wise with his 7th grader that he is going to start homeschooling. I don't have a ton of experience homeschooling older kids but I do have some recommendations.

My number 1 recommendation is to involve the kid!!! By junior high they want and need some ownership in order to learn responsibility and to get excited about it!

Make a list of what subjects you want to cover as far as interest and as far as high school goals. One example: if you want to hit calculus you need to start algebra by 8th grade. I have a friend whose kid wants to be a missionary so I would recommend Biblical Hebrew. Or art maybe something they have a passion for so encourage that.

I would prepare for the fact that no matter how well you research curriculum that it may not work for your kid. It is ok to sell or trash something just because they don't like it or it doesn't work well for your student. That is why I recommend looking at a friend's copy, download sample pages (CBD shows many inside pages for books), or buying it used!

I also recommend that you be real with yourself. Don't start looking at curriculum based on where your kids "should" be but where they are. If you buy something to advanced remember that you can hold onto it for when they get there. Don't freak and don't pressure them. Learning is a journey not a destination (how corny is that;).

I would also use the junior high years as a time to start looking forward to high school. There will need to be more record keeping to get your kid into college so now is a good time to start thinking about it.

So now to the real question... curriculum. Since this reader told me they are in California and I can specifically recommend that they attend the CHEA conference, which is coming up quickly. CHEA gives a free day to all first time homeschoolers so use it! But I recommend conferences no matter where you are. They all have many curriculum booths so you can touch and look at everything.

I personally am a big Singapore math fan but I don't know anyone who has used them with older kids. But I have heard great things about Teaching Textbook for older kids. One of the nice things is that you don't have to actually do the teaching. They also have their own placement tests. I have also heard great things about Bob Jones satellite classes for older kids.

As far as history and social sciences go I recommend the real book mentality. Find a point, event or arena in history that interests you or your student and get books on it. You could go with something as broad as California history or specific things like Thomas Edison (that covers real science too;) or World Ward II. Then just have them do a project, paper, presentation or something on it. Depending on your kid they may want to do an art piece. I personally loved writing research papers (yes, I am a dork;). But something that shows they are getting it. You may just get them 1 book from the library and it may spark a year of study to find out more about it.

I also have the same mentality on reading. Pull up any reading list (from people you agree with versus nuts;) and start working through the books. You can also pair your literature with your history. Study Elizabeth I for history then read Shakespeare. Greek history and the Odessy.

The most important this is to enjoy the ride!!! So for those of you with experience in this age range: what specific curriculum do recommend for a junior high student?

My Guilt, My Fear

I knew that I would probably have some pretty bright kids. I am blessed with a husband who is absolutely brilliant so the chances of smart kids were good. But what I didn't expect was the guilt in the face of their brilliance.

NerdBug (8) and NerdPie (6) were pretty bright. NerdBug didn't really read early but once he did the kid started eating books. He is a year ahead in math and overall pretty bright. NerdPie started doing 25 piece puzzles at like 14 months old, she read in kindergarten, and is ahead at math too. So, while I know my kids are above grade level, I have been afraid that I am not educating them up to their total potential. I should be doing more with them but life always seems to get in the way. I have Latin to do with the oldest that I can't make time for. I am not diligent on the history. They could be speaking foreign languages, doing physics, who knows what. So if I was guilty and afraid before.....

NerdDad started going through a great book series with Nerdling in the this last month. Here is what my 4 year old (he won't be 4 1/2 until the end of January) read last night all by himself:

Mike has a hen. The hen is black. It is a fine hen. The hen is lost. Mike is sad. Is the hen in the nest? It is not in the nest.

The word egg is what stumped him. I am in so much trouble.....

What if I don't equip them well enough? Their intellect and brilliance is a gift, what if I am squandering it? What could they do if they had a better mom? In all seriousness, I am not wondering about sending them to public school. I know that a teacher in a class of 30 couldn't take as far as I am now. But, there is always a but, is it as far as I could take them?

Uh, Mommy Guilt exponentiated.

A Little Science Fun!

This was cool and easily do able! I think we will have to do this experiment soon with the kids. Ahhh, the fun of homeschooling. Get to play with toys and call it school!

Carnival of Homeschooling: Welcome to the NerdFamily House!

Hi everyone! Welcome to the NerdFamily House! We are having our first rain of the season out here so I hope you didn't get to wet. Come on in, let me take your jackets and bags. Make yourself at home!

Before we get into anything just a quick a reminder for all those in California. It is once again time for affidavits!! If you file a PSA you only have until October 15th to get over and fill that out online!!

You can grab a cup of coffee or a soda and go join in on the education conversations around the kitchen table. Beverly at Beverly’s Homeschooling Blog (About.com) is talking about Why we love the Charlotte Mason Method. Successful Homeschooling talks about The Hidden Joy of Rote Memorization that is found in classical homeschooling. Special Needs Homeschooling talks about Sexual Education for the Mentally Disabled. They look at both how to educate and how to protect the mentally disabled in the arena of sex. Bur Bur & Friends:Community Park has Resources for Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Minds in Bloom offers questions that parents can ask children to encourage them to think creatively and critically about their work in 8 Questions to Ask Children about their Art Work. The Curriculum Choice looks at Latin for Children vs Latina Christina.

There are some great people over by the piano talking music education. Diamonds in the Rough shares with us a source for Free Sheet Music. Texas Homeschooler asks us about thePurpose for Music.

At the white board there is a little math talk going on. The Homeschooling Physicist has given us Math Interlude: Homeschool Math by Rotating Wheat Thins Boxes. You gotta check it out!Lesson Pathways Blog talks to us about Using On-Line Math Resources.

Over at the writing desk we have some interesting lessons. SmallWorld gives us a creative writing lesson with SmallWorld's WordSmithery Week 7: Writing About the Weather. Then Across the Page gives us Curriculum spotlight: Writing with Ease. Under the Golden Apple Tree offers Spelling Helps for the Spelling Challenged Student.

The kids can go over to the kitchen island where the kids can go their hands dirty for education! Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers goes through step-by-step: Making a Paper Mache Map. The Informed Parent has some great ideas for Costumes for all the upcoming festivities. Quiverfull Family is sharing their Creative Cooking that got them their Jello cell. It is an awfully cool idea!

Check out over by the bookshelves. The Mommy Earth has a book review: The Walrus Warning and the Smithsonian Oceanic Collection. Over at NerdFamily Things I have a litst of books that seemed to help Reading and Learning While Little.

Over on the couches we are having some interesting conversations on the politic of schooling and other profundities. Barbara Frank Online has One Dirty Little Secret about College, I am sure there are more but this one really causes you to think. Home Education Today asks us, "Is my child missing out on the high school experience?" The Thinking Mother tell us about how She Worked Outside the Home for 1 Week and what spoke to her about it. Corn and Oil gives us “Taking Away the Youth”- Perspective of an Illini Graduate Student (homeschooler). It is a poignant piece that talks about the political pushing towards more institutional school time. They wonder what we're doing to our children and how this will affect homeschoolers. Save Money Homeschooling wants to know if (Is) the Recession Increasing Or Decreasing the Number of Homeschoolers? No Fighting No Biting wants to know is More School Better? Mommy's Life reminds us that You CAN Teach Your Kids! She shares her response to 3 common things that are said to her about homeschooling.

Make sure you stop by the tv for a little entertainment. It is hooked up to the laptop (yes, this is the NerdFamily House) for a little entertainment. Why Homeschool asks, "Are you a homeschooler or homeschooled?" It is a hilarious video that Janine found. You have to see it! Speaking of entertainment, Notes From a Homeschooling Mom shares with us a Homeschool must see: Little House on the Prarie, the Musical. Unfortunately it isn't coming to California but I would love to see it!

Looking out the back window and out into the world are some great field trip posts. Percival Blakeney Academy talks about Rice Harvesting they got to go participate in. Practical Homeschooling gives us 40 Free Field Trip Ideas.

Just for fun....Chocolate Kids claims Healthy Chocolate Turns My Son Into 10 Year Old Maths Genius!

I love having you all over and look forward to doing it again. Make sure you get all your coats and bags and try to stay dry out there!

So this was fun, right?!?! So show your love by tweet, digging, blogging and anything else you can do to promote out carnival! Go check out all the awesome articles and comment so the authors know that they are valued! Make sure that you send in your articles for next week's carnival at BlogCarnival. Next week it will be held at No Fighting No Biting.

Charter Schooling: A Better Homeschool?

Since it is summer, everyone starts thinking about what kind of schooling they want to do. This is the time to decide between public, private and homeschooling. Well, I have recently been asked what I think about charter schooling as a form of/alternative to homeschooling.

First, lets talk a little about what a charter school is. A charter school simply refers to the funding and oversite issues that apply to theses special public schools. Some are traditional schools and some are offsite schools. Not all charter schools are offsite schools. What I mean by offsite schools is that kids don't attend every day (some once a week, some once a month, etc) but they still have a teacher. Sometimes they will still have sports and clubs. Sometimes not. They have homework assigned and every so often check in to make sure it is getting done, to get tested and (I assume) help if they need it.

So the pluses are that you don't have to keep all the records and all the books are free. Some off extracuricular activities that don't cost anything. You have a trained teacher to assist you as you go. Typically you can move along at your own pace be that faster or slower. You can minimize anything in the curriculum that you don't agree with. If you are homeschooling for social reasons it pulls your children out of the typical school society and you can protect them a little more.

The cons (and this is the side I sit on) start with the fact this isn't homeschooling but public schooling at home. You answer to the public schools, as you should because they are paying for it. While you can minimize certain subjects/issues that you don't agree with, you can't just choose to not teach them at all. Now some allow you a little latitude in what you teach but not complete control. So you also have to fit within the traditional education theory and are not going to be allowed to do a classical education, unschooling or even eclectic. Your kids will still need to take the standardized testing that the public schools have. Personally, I find the tests a gigantic waste of time and effort so I don't want to have to do that. You do have a teacher that you answer to. And you have attendance rules of how many days and how many hours you kid has to do school.

I think it really boils down to the fact that it is public school and that comes with strings. The leash may be looser but it is still there. It is a good option for someone who has no qualms with the public school other than social and religious issues. I think there are better options but that is my humble opinion;).

Real Life

One of the arguements that I hear often is that homeschooling doesn't prepare your kids for "real life" because they are isolated. I always disagree. I think that being around real people, volunteering and apprenticing lead to a good picture of real life. We now have proof that the education system doesn't care about real life.

There is a person who has been given advanced medical training in the military. But now that she wants her degree, the school won't recognize the training or the experience. So maybe it is the ivory tower that shields your kids from "real life"?

So Who Do the Unions Work For?

We know that the teacher's unions don't work for the parents. We also know they don't work for the students. That is perfectly illustrated by the teacher who got her job back after getting her class to vote a boy out who has Asperger's.

But now it appears that they don't work for the teachers either. The teacher's union in Detroit is trying to get 70 teacher's fired because they didn't pay their dues. I just it just confirms what some of us already knew. The teachers unions are entities that only work to dupport the union itself. It is evidenced by their politics and now this.

Homeschool Posts

Here is a collection of my posts that I thought would be helpful for those who are interested in homeschooling. You can also go over to my NerdFamily Things blog and click on any of the keywords that seem relevant (such as math, literature, etc).

How to Start Homeschooling in California

Education Styles

Curriculum Choices

First Grade WTM Materials

See I Teach My Kids History!

Thomas Edison-the first extreme athlete!!!

It's All About the Info

Awesome isn't it? CraftyHedgeHog over at Etsy made this (sold out right now) and they also have a fetal pig. It gives me a great idea. As a homeschooler I am always looking for new ways of learning. Who says you have to actually dissect an animal? I know of many moms who don't want to do it for a variety of reasons but worry. This is a rite of passage. Can you have a good grasp on biology without doing a dissection? Well, I don't know. Couldn't you do an awesome 3-D model like this? Since it is all about learning the information, you imagination would be the limit.

I really think this translates to all areas of learning. There is no end all thing you have to do. It's all about the info!

Musings at the Gym

So I was walking on the treadmill and they have different tvs going. A news story came on about the economy really hurting people who have kids who are in private schools. Apparently many people are taking out 2nd mortgages in order keep their kids (elementary aged kids were the ones shown here) in private school. You have to be kidding?!?!?

Tell me why homeschooling isn't a better option than this? Is it really better to have to have both parents out of the home working (possibly 2 jobs)? Wouldn't your kids be better served to have a parent around every once in a while? I have known a few families where mom has worked just for the private school tuition and that was before the economy issues. They are sure that this is the better education and experience for their kids. This is the thing that angers me about anti-homeschooling parents. It is the mentality that the personal financial sacrifice is the nobler one. I wonder if it is that they don't actually value the personal position of parent. The impact you have on your child's life simply by being present. And that doesn't even account for the clear academic benifits to having the small group learning environment (which has been proven repeatedly) and the over all desirability of homeschoolers to colleges.

Ugh! This is what happens when I go to the gym at 6am;).

Technology, Education and Life

All I could think as I watched this video is about if our educational system is prepared to equip our kids for the next new things. The current public school system seems to be built upon a system that wasn't working before so why would it work better in the future? The current system teaches kids (by design) how to be great followers and workers, not entrepreneurs and inventors. Learning how to learn, logic and a love for knowledge is what kids need to be taught today to be competitive tomorrow. Are we teaching them that? I hope that I am.

Carnival of Homeschooling: NerdHouse

Welcome to the NerdHouse. Why don't you come on in and see the Carnival of Homeschooling we have set up? Lot's of people are already here with all kinds of great entries.

As we go in take a look at the family bulletin board. Kim at Kim's Play Place has is announcing Science and Technology Education Blog Carnival. I also have Home Spun Strip (#325) from Home Spun Homeschooling. They are always so cute and refreshing.

Let's take a seat in the living room for a moment to talk about the challenges and joys we face as homeschoolers. There isn't anything like a little community support. Erin at Delighting in His Richness shares I thought I could, I thought I could! She shares how to overcome the afternoon slump with kids. Summer over at Wired For Noise shares the 5 Books That Influenced Me to Homeschool. Susan over at The Expanding Life talks about our ever changing roles as parents and teachers in Serving Punch. Renae at Life Nurturing Education shares a glimpse in Like Mother, Like Daughter. The Crazy Mom over at The Crazy House share a humorous and encouraging look with Testing, Testing, 1-2-3. Timothy at Sometimes I'm Actually Coherent gives us How Times Have Changed. While reading one of the lessons from a McGuffey Reader prompts some thought on the question: What is childhood for? Why Homeschool talks about One of the great things about homeschooling - vacations. Beverly’s Homeschooling Blog (About.com)
has a forum member who wants to know How do you keep your sanity?

Let's go join that group over by the bookshelf. They are sharing some of their learning experiences. Tammy over at Adventures on Beck's Bounty share about her nature study with A Bird Highway? Christine over at Our Curious Home tells us about the First Day of this Late Winter Co-op. Dolfin at Lionden Landing shares her groups initial plans in building their Sunflower House. Dana at Principled Discovery tells us about What My Daughter Learned Through Blogging. Sue over at Homeschooling High School tells us why we should Teach Your Teens Real Life Money Skills. Two Kid Schoolhouse tells us why she reads aloud to her reading children in Reading Up. ChristineMM of The Thinking Mother talks about homeschool lesson task lists in Assignment List Time I Guess. Learned Genius tells us Why You Should Read the Classics: A Bibliophile's Diatribe. Jenny at Home is Where You Start From shares Our First Week with Sonlight's Language Arts.

They group over by the desks are giving each other some resources. Lynn over at Eclectic Education shared Our Lapbooks. We here at the NerdFamily need to get started lapbooking too. HEM Takes A Closer Look gives us a great piece on Hands On Learning. Tracey at Glue on her fingers, dirt on her toes, she makes laughter wherever she goes has a great unit study with Spring Forward, Fall Back. Living By Learning shares some great online resources and tips on Looking at Chinese Paintings with Kids. Shannon at Song of My Heart has a great Colonial Days and The American Revolution unit. HomeschoolBuzz.com Reviews shares their review of Artistic Pursuits Jr. High book one: The Elements of Art and composition. Let's Play Math shares a great Math Warm-Up: Today is February 4 x 3 x 2 x 1. Petticoat Government has a Cuisenaire Rod Suggestion.

Not all lessons have a spot on a report card. Both the joy and burden of being a homeschooling parent is that we are also tasked with the subjects in life. Jennifer at Cage Free Monkeys dealing with a lesson on sorrowing due to pet loss in Breaking Hearts. The Reluctant Homeschooler helps her daughter through friendship issues in I'm Busy Right Now. Becca at Inspiration for Mothers tells us What to tell your kids about suffering and injustice in the world. Dana at A Very Nearly Tea gives us a glimpse at Teaching Understanding.

Over at the kitchen table they are talking a little politics. Brian over at New Hampshire Rocks! tell us about an Attempt to Undermine Home Education in New Hampshire. Alasandra over at Alasandra's Homeschool Blog gives us Why Carol Moore Chose Not to Homeschool that invalidates her argument. Barbara Frank Online asks if Our Parental Rights in Jeopardy? Life Without School Community Blog talks about The Myth of Credentialism.

That brings us to the end of this week's Carnival of Homeschooling. Please submit your entries for next week's carnival that will be hosted over at Life Nuturing Education. Thanks again for joining me! So go read and comment!

Continuing Ed Anyone?

Apparently there are some free online courses in nanotech. Who says I need to put my kids in school to have them taught by some of the best and the brightest? With today's internet there are more and more free courses being made available. So I can teach my kids all I know and then go to those bigger and brighter to teach them more. Stanford and MIT also have all kinds of courses for free. That more is more than they can get in any public school! Heck, when I can find the time I want to take the many courses offered. Maybe even a paid college degree will soon be outdated? What do you all think?

A Great Homeschooling Benefit: A More Creative Halloween!

I made a discovery about a month ago. I realized that my kids were already making cool projects for history that could be used to go with Halloween costumes. I gently suggested that we not buy costumes this year but make ones from our history readings. The boys have decided to become Roman Soldiers and NerdPie is going to be a Celtic Queen with NerdPud as one of her daughters. The kids got all excited but then I started feeling guilty. These costumes will look so hand made, because they are. You are looking at some of the pieces to one of my kids' Roman Standard project for history so obviously this won't be professional craftmenship. But since my kids are in this exclusive school no on else will have their costume at the church event. Not only that but I get to save major money and I get to have my kids involved in creating something and isn't that more value than just walking around and getting candy. I think so.

Now a disclaimer, these are going to look so made by kids and that really includes all the parts I am doing and came up with. I sewed a dress for my oldest daughter to wear under her cloak she is helping make and it is obvious that it is my first dress I have ever made. But oh well, it is one night and the kids won't know any better as long as all of you don't tell them;).

Homeschool Myth: Manipulatives

An argument I have heard against homeschooling is lack of materials/manipulatives. I was told that it would cost an arm and a leg to get all the hands on teaching tools I would need to teach preschool and the first few years of elementary school and that is why they needed to go to a school enviroment. I say, "Bologna!". Yes, you might need a few things but many of the big things will be just cheap things you have around the house. For counters you can use beans or M&M's(great reward system too;). For those nifty little fraction models...An apple or orange and a knife. You can even get a kid safe knife (or a pumpkin knife) and have the kiddo cut it themselves. Be creative and cheap!

Now there will be times when, depending on the kid, you might need a real mainpulative. Take for example those lovely unit blocks in my picture. All kids may not need those but the NerdBug's math progress came to a screeching halt when we got to borrowing and carrying so we went and got a little help. Something you need to keep in mind is the local teacher store isn't your only option, and sometime that is a costly option. I went into our local teacher store (GW Supply) and found some unit blocks but not all that I wanted. They had the tens and the ones but not the hundreds and they were about $9 a bag. So I went on line and found these interlocking ones at a fraction of the price and they lock together (the ones at GW didn't). All I did was go to the website on the bag. After shipping and handling I still paid less (less than $18 for all 3 sets plus a couple of clearance items;). So remember to look around. The Internet is your oyster!

One last thing, if you are going to invest in something try to make it do double duty. It can teach basic addition and subtraction, carrying, borrowing and fractions.

This is the first manipulative I needed to buy so that myth is officially debunked!

Things I Learned Homeschooling

No one will deny that homeschooling is a learning experience. What I think that many people don't realize is that no one really learns more that the homeschooling parent. Now I was very prepared to what homeschooling was and some of the lessons I would learn. I would gain knowledge that was left out of my conventional education. I would learn to have patience and how to schedule better. Already I see those lesson taking form in me. But there are some lessons I didn't foresee and I am sure that there are more to come.

The big lesson I didn't foresee was sometimes you need to leave them the heck alone. It started when I was trying to teach my oldest how to use scissors. I couldn't figure out how to communicate to him on how to make the scissors work and cut on the line. So I went to a woman at church who works in our children's department and asked for advice. She said hand him the scissors and paper, then leave him alone. Well, she was right.

Same child a couple of years later we are working on first grade math. Now I tutored math for years so I felt like I had a handle on this situation. Well, I may have been wrong;). The fact that I was making sure that he had a handle on the concepts before I gave him the work to do was really exasperating him. I found that he worked so much better if I gave him his workbook and when he stumbled (more than once or twice) then I would pull out the textbook and go over the lesson.

Now this isn't always the approach for all my children but it was something I wasn't prepared for. I just wonder what unexpected lesson I will be learning next;).

Yet Another Reason We Homeschool

Recently my inbox has been flooded with pieces talking about how something needs to be done about the proposed Harvey Milk Day in California public schools.

I have to say that I am a bit ambivalent because it seems to fall in line with the purpose of socialized education. Which is to inhibit the development of Judeo-Christian values. This is what is called a "Dog Bites Man Story". If a man bites a dog, that is news. But is a dog bites a man, not so much because that is what dogs do. Homosexuality has become mainstream within the school system. So what makes you think that they wouldn't be looking for pioneers to celebrate? Just like when school became integrated we then began celebrating heroes of the integration (such as Martin Luther King Jr.). I am not saying that these people are equal in achievement. Harvey Milk is famous for being an openly gay politician who was killed for it. So he is the perfect martyr.

What worries me more is the situation that arose recently in Dos Palos where a kid was punished for wearing a shirt that depicted the US flag. And why?

The assistant principal initially thought Shelly's T-shirt violated a clause of the school dress code that does not allow "shirts/blouses that promote specific races, cultures, or ethnicities."

As NerdDad said when he heard about it, we have to be careful to not offend anyone who doesn't like America like the teachers. While I understand that the schools don't support my values but now they are blatant about their dislike for America. I think at this point, these type of situations are more dangerous than Harvey Milk Day.

But the overriding issue? I don't know what to say to parents who have their kids in school who are angry about Harvey Milk and say,"Call the Governor". My gut says, "You already handed you kids over to the school system. What did you expect? And do you really think a phone call will fix it all?" I know it is harsh but unfortunately true. If you don't like the influence of the system on your child (Harvey Milk Day, etc) the only thing you can really do to stop it is to remove the child from the situation.

Now do I just abandon the school system? No, I vote for change (and not Obama;) and do try to change things but not at the cost of my kids.

There is my rant for the day.

Carnival of Homeschooling

Welcome to the Nerd Family House, why don't you come on in to see the great carnival we have going on inside.


Why don't we stop by the playroom so the kids who are done with their work can play. While we are here, let's check out Guilt Free Homeschooling and their post, Preschoolers' Educational School-Time Activities. If you are frustrated with keeping a preschooler occupied while you work with your older students, this list of activities is just what you need! These are simple activities that will teach valuable skills to your preschoolers, while keeping them engaged in their own FUN school-time projects using many materials you may already have available.


Here is the table where the kids are doing their seat work. Speaking of seat work and classes. The Daily Planet talks about Miss Amanda's new Spanish class in Homeschool Memoirs: Something New! Learning at His feet has a great post on Instructions in Teaching Drawing. I know here at the Nerdfamily I can totally use this because I can't draw a straight line much less anything else;). Laura Frantz gives us The Two Shall Meet: An Unschooler Charlotte Mason Narration.

No Fighting, No Biting! shows us how homeschoolers can learn science in the country in Real Life Biology 101. A Ten O'Clock shares lesson plans to accompany Classical Conversations Science memory work for Cycle 3.

Countdown to College shares about the National History Day projects in Making History (and BTW colleges and scholarship committees love these kind of things). Then over at Ms. Julie's Place, she has 2 posts that outline a simple science experiment/demonstration that can become the center of a unit study encompassing science concepts with biology, physics, and ecology, literature, math, theology, and more in An Eggs-traordinary Experiement Part I and Part II.

Greg Laden's Blog talks about a pre-algebra book in X+Y= WHAT??? SmallWorld offer us On the Trail with Lewis and Clark. She offers a review of the resources they used during their study of Lewis and Clark. Successful Homeschooling gives us Homeschool Physical Education. Mrs. Happy Housewife writes Carolus Linnaeus and Taxonomy in which she shares her taxonomy puzzle. Happy to be at Home offers us help in Teaching "d" and "b" differentiation including downloads!



Come sit down for a moment and have a cup of coffee. We can talk about the joys and challenges of our journey (and that includes the political side) and get a little support. Delighting in His Richness has a great post of encouragement, The Wheat Seed. It really can put life in perspective.

The Thinking Mother struggles with different ways to make a 'to do' list of homeschooling assignments for her children in Torn About Homeschool Scheduling. Welcome to My Brain offers what they do in Our School Day. Then Ordinary Time offers us The Art of the Schedule.

Tomorrow is Another Day offers her initial thoughts of homeschooling high school as she starts week 3 in her son's high school career in High School- So Far, So Good. The Family Revised has a great piece on The Expanse of Goals. She reminds us of the fact we are looking at the whole child and what all that entails. Simple Pleasures share her First Day of School. Cage Free Monkeys tells us about their Rainy Days.

Missy ponders the reasons of her decision to homeschool in Life Without School's offering that Sometimes It's Just a Shirt. Save Money Homeschooling reminds us that Homeschooling Has So Many Options. Practical Homeschooling offers us another installment of 101 Reasons to Homeschool Series with #5 Youthful Optomism. Barbara Frank Online talks about homeschooling freedom in The School Buses are Out Again.


A Family Runs Through It offers on man's Unfinished Opinion on homeschooling. Beverly's Homeschooling Blog asks, "Does your family support homeschooling?". She talks about how well meaning family members often share their concerns with us when they hear about our homeschooling and sometimes it's hard to know what to say. Bending the Twigs tells us to submit your comments in the debate about the merits of homeschooling between the Homeschool Association of California and the California Teachers' Association in And In This Corner. Alasandra's Homeschool Blog Awards is discussing how Scholastic Blames Homeschoolers for Measles Outbreak.

Principled Discovery has a hilarious piece with What's the matter with kids today? Learning at Home will give you a chuckle with her New Get Rich Quick Scheme. We have the kids at home all day, we might as well make a buck or two;). Life Nurturing Education gives us a quirky look at You Know You're a Homeschooler When....


Did you see my new piano (well new to me;)? Well, that is another story. But music is a great thing! But alas, I have no talent. Or do I? Thomas West Music has a great piece called Pitch Development: Exercising Your "Inner Ear". West says, ""I can't carry a tune in a bucket" is a common expression of those who consider themselves unmusical. Having a "tin ear" is another common description. It is certainly true that individuals possess varying levels of aptitude in regards to their musical intelligence, however, just like mathematic or linguistic intelligence, every person can take their aptitude level as a starting point and work to build stronger skills in that area." So maybe there is hope for me yet!

Let us go check out the group on the couches. They are handing out much needed advice on children and teaching. Henry, at Why Homeschool, reminds us that it is important to teach our children correct principles from the start in "Why is it so important to teach, correctly, the first time". Because if they accept a wrong idea, it can be very hard to unlearn it. Then Concerning Kids has an enlightening piece on Child Obesity.

Chrysalis offers up an insightful Family Life: Secrets of Raising Girls. I have 2 girls and I need this kind of information! Sharp Brain offers a piece on brain health and cognitive fitness in Your Brain at Work. OLIN e-Book e-Publishing Blog offers us the first chapter of an e-book that asks the question, "Just What Does 'Christ First' Mean with Homeschooling?".

Janice Campbell offers an academically-oriented four-year high school plan, with an emphasis on looking forward and preparing for life after high school. The plan is suitable for use whether or not your student plans to go to college.

Stop the Ride! is offering some great Free Educational Downloads. While The Sojourner offers her Favorite Homeschooling Curriculum for Free by download.

I am closing out with a contest from Mom is Teaching, but enter quickly because the deadline is Wednesday.

Thank you for coming by our "home". I hope you have enjoyed yourself, maybe even enough to participate next time. To find out all about that you can go to Why Homeschool to get all the details on how to participate. Next week we will all get together for move carnival fun at A Pondering Heart on Tuesday September 23rd.

Now go and read all these wonderful posts. Also be gracious to all the many article writers and let them know how much they are appreciated by commenting!

Call for Submissions!

For those of you who are afraid I will never blog about anything other than politics again, I am here to give you hope. Tuesday I will be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling but I need something from all of you. I need your entries. Have an interesting piece on homeschooling? Then pop over to BlogCarnival and fill out a simple form. Then come back and read all the awesome entries we have!

Homeschooler Powers Activate: Name the Bug

My friends over at The Weave were taking pictures at the park on Saturday and found this bug. While you can't really see the wings, it was flying. As The Weave describes it, it is a cross between a spider and a June Bug but they don't know what it is.

Well, I have faith in all you homeschooling families and I think it is a great time to show off your science knowledge. What is this bug? Let's knock the socks off this public school teacher(Who is a great guy, even though;). Leave your guesses or narrowing knowledge in the comments.

Adam Smith on Public School

On a recent family trip to the library (what else do you expect from a group called the NerdFamily? ;) NerdDad found a great book. It is P. J. O'Rourke's On The Wealth of Nations (Books That Changed the World). Now we here in the Nerd Family are huge P.J. O'Rourke fans, and we can speak of his greatness further in the future, so NerdDad checked it out and found that Adam Smith had his opinions on school and how it should work.

This piece got NerdDad's attention and then he had to share with me;):

Adam Smith was only a tepid fan of public education. As he went on to explain in book 5 of Wealth, he thought that some government subsidy of education was needed so that "even the common labourer may afford it." Teachers, however, should be "partly, but not wholly paid" by the state. "In modern times the diligence of public teachers is more or less corrupted by the circumstances, which render them more or less independent of their success and reputation," wrote Smith, making his modern times sound like ours. And Smith believed that certain very prestigious institutions of higher learning were teaching "a mere useless and pedantic heap of sophistry and nonsense." Was UC Berkeley even around back then?

O'Rourke then goes on to further expand on Smith's views. About how there was value in an ability and not just being a highly (or overpaid) specialist. This is all tied into how our economy works and what should be valued.

To me this further proves that merit of the public school educational experience isn't the education because the public education system can be skewed by itself, its beliefs and its own social agenda. The public education system is not at all driven by what would be considered useful knowledge or what is good and productive. Just as God created man in His image, the public education system is trying to create a society of its own ideals and creation rather than concentrating on the knowledge it is getting paid to pass on.

And for something completely different.....

These lyrics have been bouncing around for a couple weeks and now the author put it to music. Enjoy!

I know you are a good homeschooler but...

Tell me, have you heard something similar? Where someone you know starts off on how you are a great homeschooler but on the whole they are against it because of the bad homeschooling parents. You educate yourself on teaching and are bright but what about the others? You know, the ones that don't make sure their kids learn anything or they lock their kids in the basement;). Or better yet can't read or do any figurin';).

I had this happen a lot over VBS. I served with a teacher who said she used to teach homeschoolers and she kind of felt that who does it or the kids' progress needed to be regulated. When I got further details come to find out she didn't teach "homeschoolers". She was teaching at a charter school (read public school) that was an independent study program for kids that were already basically bombing out.

I also have been hearing about parents that weren't making sure their kids did any work. Or left them at home alone while the mom went to work. Or parents that don't like doing anything with their kids.

Well, I had an epiphany moment. I was talking about the Rachel L ruling with a lawyer friend of mine (who is pro-homeschooling) and the comeback for all these arguments hit me.

Parents who don't like their kids and don't want to teach them won't homeschool! It is too hard. Those parents are going to be the first ones in line for the public school.

Now will there be exceptions, sure. But those exceptions to all parenting rules already exist. Parents who are going to lock their kids in the basement and neglect them are already breaking the law. They aren't using the out of "homeschooling" to get away with anything;).

California Homeschoolers Breathe Easy

Now I am not one of those people who panicked about homeschooling in California after the initial ruling in the Rachel L case but I am now breathing easier. The Appeals Court in California that initially released the controversial ruling that forbade homeschooling had vacated their ruling. They then heard from various effected parties.

Well, the ruling is out and it is just as we homeschoolers orginally said. Taken from CHN's site:

Today's court ruling held that (1) California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education; and (2) the statutory permission to home school may constitutionally be overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared a dependent. Homeschooling, therefore, remains a legal educational option in California.

So it is over and the Nerdfamily doesn't have to move;). Go read up more at CHN and HSLDA.

The First Key to Homeschooling and Not Losing It

Ok, so that may be a broad statement but I think it may be true. One of the most common reasons I hear parents say they couldn't homeschool is that their kids would drive them crazy (I even heard this from public school teachers). I smile and say that I must be lucky.

Well, I realized what they are referring to is a societal problem. Silicon Valley Moms had an article, G'Head, Hurl those Insults, Doesn't Bother Me, that talked about learning to ignore what your kids say when they are venting. Then it hit me, parents are trained to accept their kids treating them like dirt. Well, most homeschooling parents I know don't! Now I have a few strong willed kids and we go head to head, don't get me wrong. But, they don't yell at me (without a severe punishment), don't hit and don't disregard my instructions with regularity. These things have been known to happen but they are dealt with and it definitely isn't the norm.

What is the secret? Raise you kids to be people that you would care to be around. Set expectations and consequences for when those expectations aren't met (and that will happen). Many parents demand that their kids respect their teachers and friends in ways they don't expect their kids to respect them or their siblings. The truth is that those kids may tow the line a bit but they may not really respect anyone and then they grow up to be parents who have to vent to each other and on their kids.

But, then I wonder in the words of Dr. Phil, "How's that working for you". Then I here disturbing thing like this (from the same article),

And in fact an added bonus is after we have an episode, which with Donovan often culminates in a punch to the gut (he punching me, don't get your panties in a wad), I get spontaneous hugs and kisses, proclamations of love and "I'm speaking to you mommy" and "I'm your friend mommy," a lot of love thrown my way.

So it is just me or does that sound like Battered Wife Syndrome? The other thing is, haven't we settled the matter that venting on someone isn't a healthy way to deal with anger? So maybe you should teach your kids how to handle their anger instead of you learning how to handle their anger.

I guess this is just the basis of why I can homeschool my kids with out losing my mind (though some days 6 hours alone sounds great to me too).

Rehearing on the Big CA Homeschool Case

For those of you who might be interested, Ann has a piece on what happened at the rehearing this week. Now we just wait for the outcome.....

How I Schedule

Heart of the Matter has asked how we schedule. I have a confession, I don't do any firm scheduling but I have zones of schooling. But that is the beauty of homeschooling, you can form it to whatever works for you. So what do I actually do? Every season is different but lets work through this last academic year. We can't just look at school schedules without looking at life a little broader.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday: We do book work from about 11-12. Then we read together from 12:30-1, finish book work or do projects from 4:30-5:30.
Tuesday: NerdBug has choir in the morning and we are all at church until lunch. Book work about 4:30-5:30.
Thursday: NerdBug goes to the homeschooling room and does some book work and plays games from 9-11am. Then he finishes us book work from 4:30-5:30.
Friday: Sometimes we skip all real school to go play at the park or go do something fun.

So that is all I do! I keep it really laid back and try to just bring learning into life! What do you do?

Kindergarten is a War Zone

Kindergarten is the easy grade to try out public school, right? The kids are to young to really corrupt each other and kindergarten teachers are sweet people who love little kids (why else would they choose to chase them), right? Not so much.

So here is our first situation. First imagine an adorable 5 year old boy (and I do me cute!) who has some discipline problems so mom takes him to outside doctors (as recommended by the principal) and they start the process to get him officially diagnosed with Aspberger's. Some 5 year old boys can have discipline problems to begin with but pile on Aspberger's and I am sure it can be rough. But how rough would it have to be for a teacher to pull this kid up in front of the class, have every student say what they don't like about him and then vote as to whether they want to keep him in the class. That is exactly what what Wendy Barton did in Florida.

If that isn't bad enough here is the second situation. So your five year old comes home and complains that his teacher doesn't like him and that he kids don't either. While your child is saying all this you are getting progress reports that are well mixed in the good marks and the bad. The teacher says sometimes your child is disruptive and can't keep his hands to himself. But when you ask the teacher if you should set up a "behavior plan" with the teacher she says she doesn't have time. So it must not be that big of a deal. Well, many times you would say that the kid is being to sensitive to limited correction and isn't really reading the situation properly. Well, what if that kid started acting out at home? The parents of Gabriel Ross decided to send a tape recorder in his pocket to see what is really going on. The results were shocking.

What they heard over four hours of tape shocked them. Woodward can be heard telling Gabriel that he had "tortured and tormented" her and other teachers all year.

"I've been more than nice to you all year long and you've been ignorant, selfish, self-absorbed, the whole thing! I'm done!" Woodward says to Gabriel on the tape. She continues: "Something needs to be done because you are pathetic! If me saying these words to you hurt, I hope it does because you're hurting everyone else around you."

Gabriel can be heard crying on the tape.

Now I am hearing some people say this is evidence of a bad school system and that is why you should homeschool. I am looking at it a little differently. Apparently all the training these teachers got didn't prepare them to actually deal with kids. I think this should be empowering to any parent who has ever doubted that they can teach their own kids. Do you think the home environment will be healthier than this? Now, I am not saying that all teachers are like this because they aren't. But, all the training can't be the end all and be all to teaching your child so have a little faith in yourself, your intelligence and your love. You can do it!

Technorati Tags: Alex Barton, Gabriel Ross

Are You Striving for Merely Average?

While many people in my area would never in a million years homeschool, a lot of them want to say how great it is that I do. Then they give you the reasons that they can't do it with their kids. So I am going to start address those reasons here. Let me preface all this with while I think it would be great for our society, I don't think everyone needs to homeschool. But people start talking like they feel guilty and have to justify their decision. They are not my kids, it is none of my business! But, if you are going to use these silly reasons I need to start addressing them.

The first one is this fear that their kids will not be "normal" or fit in. What does that even mean? I have heard that academically they would be very advanced so they could no longer fit in with their peers. How is this a problem people? So people want their kids to just be "normal"? Isn't that the same thing as average? Average, the median, a C? You want to make sure that your kids can play all the social manipulation games to survive in a children's society? That is all your hopes and dreams are for your kids?

To me this is a mentality that "I will sell out my kids future so they can have more friends today". Talk about shortsighted. My children are very bright but they get along with many types of people. But even at almost 7 and 5, my kids are already losing patience with some issues that are considered normal for their age group. Things like when kids "decide" one day that they like 1 kid but you can't talk to that other kid. So my kids can't play that game, yes I am a failure as a parent;). Just imagine how great the world would be if we all refused to play.

I don't think there is a single parent who would admit that average is all they hope for but I wonder if that is truly what they mean. The soap box if being put away for the afternoon;).

Update: Here are a couple (not all) of the definitions of Normal from Dictionary.com.
-the average or mean: Production may fall below normal.
-the standard or type.

Kids and Their Questions

Scienceray has a great post called 8 Questions About the Human Body That Kids Always Ask. I totally think it is worth the read. It reminds me of many of the questions I had as a kid!

Carnival of Homeschooling

Welcome to the 120th Carnival of Homeschooling and come on into our home. I am sorry I am running late but I had women's retreat this weekend and choir and Bible Study today. So sorry. Let me drop my purse and Bible, just make yourself comfortable and ignore the mess;).

Yes, your kids are more than welcome. They can play here with the others in the playroom. Maybe Sarah's kids from over at Small World can show their wonderful creativity like they did At the Carnival.

Oh did you see the bookshelves and the computer? It is great to have such a learning nook. Kerry over at 10 O'Clock Scholar is sharing a great Geography and Science Combined Unit. Barbara Frank is sharing a great project when she asks, Is There a Young Writer in Your House? Tiffany at the Natural Family Living Blog does a book review on Finding Your Child's Strength. One of my favorite sites, Let's Play Math, is sharing Math Games by Kids that has lots of great Math resources. Homeschool Buzz Reviews asks us if we are looking for a break from your serious reading? Check out our review of the entertaining classic graphic novel Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. The Reluctant Homeschooler has recently switched from using textbooks to using biographies with her 16 year old so now he is asking, "Why do I have to learn all that?".

Let's go in the kitchen and get a cup of coffee and a snack. Oh, over on the island is the crafting center. ChristineMM at The Thinking Mother is Playing with Needle Felting. sharing how she and her two boys have been enjoying doing daily needle felting which qualifies for 'homeschool art class'.

I love my kitchen too. I am blessed to have so much space in here but it gets messy. Let’s look in at Ship Full O’Pirates. Jenny is sharing some wisdom on Galley Duty.

Take a seat at the kitchen table so we can listen to some of the wonderful people who are willing to give us advice and pointers. Michelle over at Organically Inclined starts the conversation with Attachment Parenting and the Independent Teen. Have you ever asked, My child won’t do craft activities- what now? If so, Melitsa at Play-Activities.com has some answers. Terri at Cricket's Corner shares The Rite of the Hanger for those times that you realize your kids are growing up. Renae at Life Nurturing Education looks at life and the kids with Looking at the Future. A Mountain Homeschool deals with an issue we all deal with in Birthday Parties (and that whole "gift" thing). Life Without School says children need trust .... and they need mentors, guides, and facilitators in Healthy Mentorship. The Upside Down World wants advice on what to do when mom is the one who doesn't want to do school work in Homeschooling Blahs.

Wow that has given us so much to think about but there are so many to talk to we have to keep moving. Let's go sit in the living room and hear all the blood stirring political and insightful philosophical talk. HappyCampers at Reese's View of the World start us off with a poignant Saturday Quote. Then Alasandra of Alasandra's Blog Awards is talking about The Harassment of Homeschoolers Continues At The American Chronicle. Rational Jenn mentions something. Oh, In Case You Haven't Seen This Yet includes some excerpts from an op-ed entitled "Your Child Is Not State Property," and directly challenges the idea that homeschooling parents and children should be monitored by the state. Remember, THEY work for US! :o) Then Findings gives us Socialized Homeschooling in which she discusses the different alternatives available for establishing a social life for my children as homeschoolers. Cristina at Home Spun Juggling continues her series "You can learn a lot from watching animals" with A Tick to Ride. Theresa at Olin gives us another reason to homeschool with Coming to A School Near You. Then Henry Cate at Why Homeschool also gives us Yet Another Reason to Homeschool - Help Stop a Pandemic. Then Learning at Home reminds us that sometimes we are Getting MORE than we paid for in some cases. A Family Runs Through It give us Comment Love where she is seeking advice to jerks who leave her anti-homeschooling comments. Then Dawn Adams presents Day by Day Discoveries: If it Looks Too Good to be True... posted at Day by Day Discoveries talking about K-12 Free.

Oh, that group over in the garage, they are getting ready to take their learning out into the world. Bookworms and Tea Lovers is telling us how to get the most out of Visiting Museums with Children. Brain Blog has provided us with 2 essays that were submitted by homeschoolers in Florida with Brain Health and Alzheimer's Prevention. Jennifer of Diary of 1 shares The Child's Spring Book. It tells us how to make a ziplock-bag-book full of the specimens of spring! My Domestic Church offers us If you build it, they will come! It is all about their homeschool soccer league. Peakmore Academy shares all about Science Fair and more! The Sojourner says Sometimes You Just Gotta Have Fun With Your Kids! She says that sometimes you need to just "play" with your kids like she did at the county fair!

Thanks so much for coming over and hanging out with me! Next week Principled Discovery will be hosting this wonderful carnival. Go over to BlogCarnival and get your entry in before Monday night at 6pm (pacific). If you like this carnival please use what ever social bookmarking (Stumble, Digg, etc) you participate in so we can share this with others. Now go visiting and comment on their blogs about what a great job they all have done!

Technorati Tags: Homeschooling, Carnival of Homeschooling

How We Got Started Homeschooling

I often say the thing that got me started on the idea of homeschooling was attending public school and knowing kids at private schools. But I am not sure if that is totally true. I think it was watching my younger siblings starting school while I was still in high school. I started seeing all the negative things that started as early as kindergarten and paralleled that with my corrupting high school experience and it got me thinking about why we were in school. My brother was a severe asthmatic so at one point early in his school career my mother pulled him out to do a long term, parent directed schooling through the district. With just this change I saw amazing differences in both his intellect and personality. Then we he went back to school I saw him go from very advanced back to normal.

That was it for me. Then looking at my own schooling I realized how the herding mentality held me back as a student and I already knew the social issues that were bad (obviously I was and am a nerd). Then I was blessed to meet someone likeminded. NerdDad had seen the negatives in his own schooling career and decided he wouldn't want to put his children in it either.

We both wanted 4 kids, the wife to stay home and to homeschool. That is part of what got me interested in him;). Now I don't want you to think we were the kids left behind and we are bitter we couldn't read. We were kind of the opposite. Self teachers who never felt nurtured. It was obvious that we weren't in an environment that loved learning (except for a few teachers and their classes) and the school wasn't really caring on developing our character. We were the kids who would have been better left alone in the library for a few years. Now we do know the kids left behind and the schools didn't serve them either. So we decided the schools don't serve anyone other than the government, for the most part.

Once we got married we began educating ourselves on homeschooling. Then obviously we had kids. I loved the classical theory and The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home. So here we are just a couple years in but completely committed to homeschooling!

Heart of the Matter

"Clearly there is an appropriate kind of sheltering. When those who are opposed to homeschooling accuse me of sheltering my children, my reply is always, 'What are you going to accuse me of next, feeding and clothing them?" ~R.C. Sproul Jr

Heart of the Matter asked us to comment on this quote. I am constantly amazed that education is not put in the same category as food and shelter. I have many friends whom I respect that send their kids to public school but... I am really frustrated with these people who think that homeschooling is doing a disservice to our children (versus it just not being a choice for them). If I wanted to be a homeschooling extremist I could make a strong case for public school to not be the norm.

In the US it is our responsibility to feed, clothe and shelter our children. When we are unable or unwilling to do that the government will step in. It means you don't have as many choices as to what your child eats, wears or lives but it gets the basics done. Public school can be viewed similarly, as educational welfare. When you send your child to public school you are ceding both some of your responsibilities and your privileges as a parent such as time school starts, the standards, the curriculum, etc. Now that is fine if that is the choice you make but how is it that I am the one failing my kids? (Is it obvious that I have heard a lot of homeschool bashing lately?)

Court to Reconsider

For all those keeping up on the California Homeschooling drama, the court is going to reconsider their decision. As far as I can tell in the first article I have found, this is not a complete rehearing of the case. They are inviting educators and teacher's unions to submit written arguments. We shall see.

Homeschoolers: Be Ye Attentive But Not Panicked

I have been emailed quite a bit about the ruling that came down in LA County last week. Some people had wondered if I had heard about it while I have been sick since I hadn't blogged on it. Yes, I have heard but I am not worried, yet. First of all, I encourage everyone to read the ruling. Don't rely on news reports, articles and others to give you a picture. Go find out for yourself.

Having read the ruling (or what ever it is the court released), I have strong concerns but nothing has actually changed yet. The most concerning part is this part:

It is clear to us that enrollment and
attendance in a public full-time day school is required by California law for minor
children unless (1) the child is enrolled in a private full-time day school and actually
attends that private school, (2) the child is tutored by a person holding a valid state
teaching credential for the grade being taught, or (3) one of the other few statutory
exemptions to compulsory public school attendance (Ed. Code, § 48220 et seq.) applies
to the child.

While this is very alarming as a legal precedent, nothing has changed. You can still go file your forms to homeschool in the State of California. Now the HSLDA is currently doing many things to deal with this ruling. The big one that has made it around the homeschooling internet is the petition to get the ruling depublished. From what I have read, depublishing the verdict means nothing has changed. Then this ruling will not be reversed but it will not be considered part of the body of law which constitutes legal precedent. On the whole I am not a big fan of depublishing any verdicts. I think it should either right or wrong. This is a very political way to tell the court what they did in that case was right but let's not use it for everyone. Some things I have read said that this is the easiest way to deal with it because it rocks the boat the least.

I don't really think that the State of California is going to change how we homeschool or if they do, not very much. A big benefit that I do see out of all of this is unification. I am on a few yahoo groups and I am seeing secular, unschoolers, and Christians homeschoolers banding together for a common cause. I think this is great! Studies have shown that homeschooling in whatever form is better for the kids and for society. We need to come together and protect our rights together! I would love to see the homeschoolers of California to maintain some of this unity after this issue has been dealt with.

Technorati Tags: homeschooling, California

How to get a boy to do his work.

So here is the issue I need advice on. As everyone knows, I homeschool a 6 year old boy (NerdBug). When I sit him right next to me and am on him like white on rice, he gets his homework done in about 1/3 of the time. So should I sit on him to get him to do it or let him fritter away his day? If he is left to spend forever, what activities should the homework replace? IE, we stop homework to eat, do chores but should all free time be up for grabs? He is only 6. By the way, if he just does the work with me it only takes 30 minutes to an hour a day.

Thanks in advance for the advice

YouTube and Homeschooling

Does anyone else remember the animated science show on PBS called Eureka? Well, it is probably not surprising that bother NerdDad and I loved this show as kids. So NerdDad set to searching this out for the Nerdlings and Eureka! he found them. There are 30 pieces of episodes over at YouTube. We have downloaded them and uploaded them to the Tivo. NerdBug and NerdPie are loving them. They may not understand all the complex science but they ask to watch them over and over. So I am sure that the science will sink in! So I don't know who BubbleBear83 is but I appreciate the effort. Now that is using the Internet to our advantage!

LionCon

This was posted in one of my Yahoo Groups. I thought that some of you might be interested! Go over and check it out!

Welcome to LionCon 2008!

Narniafans, Narniaweb, and The Lion's Call are gathering Narnia and C.S. Lewis experts and fans from across the country for a weekend of fun in sunny Southern California.

Dates:

June 20-22, 2008

Location:

Biola University
La Mirada, CA
about 15 minutes from Disneyland

Price

Early Registration: $65 base price

Where I Homeschool

Homeschooling can take place anywhere and any time. I personally have 3 spots that I use consistently to do real schooling (versus computer games, board games, outdoor observations, etc). The first is group activities like art and history activities. That happens at the kitchen table so I can sit everyone up at once and help them all.





Then for the NerdBug (who is the only official schooler) I have him do a lot of work at the kitchen island. It keeps him close enough to observe without sitting on him. I usually cook or clean the kitchen at the same time.







Then we have reading time on the couch. We read history, science books, literature, well just about anything. We all snuggle in before naptime just about everyday and read together.

So where do you homeschool?

Learning, Competing, Rice

There is this great Vocab building game over at Free Rice. You match the word to the meaning. If you get it wrong they give you the answer but if you get it right, that is when it gets interesting. First, you get a new word and the difficulty builds. Second, for each word you get right they donate 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. The amount you can play is unlimited. Go play, learn and have fun.

Heart of the Matter

I found out about this Friday meme over at Heart of the Matter where you post your thoughts about the following quote.

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
- William Butler Yeats

I love this imagery for a couple of reasons. A fire being is active versus a pail that is static. The pail is filled by someone else where as a fire consumes its own fuel and if you don't provide it, it will reach out and grab it if it is near. A pail is the same filled or empty, but a fire will die without fuel. A pail can only carry so much but a fire can burn forever.

The imagery of the fire is what I desire for my children. It isn't about individual facts but a love for learning and a yearn for more. The unquenchable fire.....

So what do you think?

I Guess I Got What I Want and Deserve

So Friday we had a typical laid back day. We got up and did all out normal breakfast, chores, etc. Then we read Chapter 5 in Story of the World which is on the first unifying ruler in the Sumer area in Mesopotamia (Argon). With in the chapter it briefly introduced the concept of Military Dictatorship, which is how Argon ruled his new country. They loosely go this concept and I told them we could talk about it later.

So we all go get on shoes and go to Costco so we can take advantage of getting in early (with our Executive Membership). One of the nice things about going at this time is there is almost no one there and the kids get cookies. So we eat our cookies and are cruising the aisles and NerdBug brings up Military Dictatorship. So we start talking about it. NerdPie then asks if Argon is still there as a country. Then are there still Military Dictatorships? As we are walking through the store I see people staring. Then the Nerdling (2 1/2) starts saying, rather loudly (but not yelling), military dictatorship over and over. People were staring and not in a good way. So I try to change the subject to the alphabet and songs, didn't work. Then 1 couple says quietly, "Do you homeschool?" To which I say yes and keep walking. Then another woman that I had seen in a couple of aisles asks also. I say yes. Then she engages me in a conversation about what are we studying and other such details. She is looking for supplemental materials for her very bright kids that are in public school.

All I could think through the whole trip is, "Couldn't you guys keep you nerdiness at home?" Then it hit me, this is what I always wanted and how I raised them to be. Sure, we are a little different but should them wanting knowledge that seems to be above them really be a bad thing? I helped make them this way. That is the joy of homeschool, you sometimes get just what you really want;).

(Now, in telling part of this story at my Growing Kids God's Way Class tonight I was told I am definitely living up to my blog name;)