Homeschool with Heart

Fusing myself

2009-04-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

I have decided that I am going to fuse my blogs into one and post solely on the Just Call Me Woman Blog. Please come join me there. You may have to search a little more for the specific information that you are looking for, but I will be able to post more often.

Un-School

2009-03-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when you are looking for lessons they fall into your lap.

Yesterday, we had a big physics lesson: liquids contained by solids have a smaller surface area than those not confined by solids. It certianly wasn't a planned lesson, but after the cat knocked the laundry detergent to the floor, who could ignor the lesson.

Today, we had a Biology / Anatomy lesson when the dog dragged a deer leg back into our yard that had been devoured by some coyotees. We were able to see joints, ligaments, and a close up look at the the hoof and bone marrow. Gross, but a very effective teaching tool.

I'll garuntee you that lessons like this will never be forgotten and are certianly better lessons than anything I could have planned. Maybe there is a small bit of unschooling still lurking in my soul.

Presidential Rap

2009-02-20T16:13:00.000-08:00

The raps in this video are pretty bad, but I'm sure your kids will be thrilled to improve on them. Please post them for us to see when they're done.

Reading - For Pleasure and / or For Knowledge

2009-02-15T09:32:00.001-08:00

My fourteen year old daughter is an avid reader. Sometimes we can't get her to put a book down. She devours books like most kids go through video games. So clearly, this concern that I have about her reading is tempered. As I have another child who equates reading with the plague, I do know how blessed I am that she reads anything. But I am in the process of trying to grow her reading list. I have tried to encourage her to beef up her book choice. As she has made college a clear goal in her life, I believe that she has to begin to include some classics and award winning books into her repetoire in order to: 1. be seriously considered by a college 2. aquire the basis for knowledge to converse with other educated people. Below I have cited some booklists that you may find helpful, if you have the same perdicament, but I would also love to hear what books you consider necessary to a proper education.

College Bound Reading List
Compiled by Arrowhead Library System

http://www.phschool.com/curriculum_support/reading_list/high_school.html

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost-your-skills/23628.html

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/23705

Word Games

2009-01-11T18:09:00.000-08:00

"Lese? What - no way!"

Click, click, click, Click - Enter and she recited,

"lese
One entry found.

Main Entry: lèse–ma·jes·té
Variant(s): or lese maj·es·ty \ˌlāz-ˈma-jə-stē, ˌlez-, ˌlēz-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French lese majesté, from Latin laesa majestas, literally, injured majesty
Date: 1536
1 a: a crime (as treason) committed against a sovereign power b: an offense violating the dignity of a ruler as the representative of a sovereign power2: a detraction from or affront to dignity or importance"

It may seem unethical to let your children guess on words when playing word games, but I figure if they can prove that it is a word then everything is good. Could I ever get away with assigning them to look up 50 words in a day? While they may comply with my order, they would be bored silly and probably not retain one word, but when they are fighting for points in a game like Boggle,

trust me they will not only look up their words with glee, but they will retain their new additions to crush you in their next game.

I first came by this unorthodox idea when I was playing games like Scramble on Facebook. There were 24 three letter words that I could not find. How was this possible? Frankly, it was possible because I was too stuck in being sure and not guessing or stepping out and trying to learn and expand my vocabulary. I decided that we could all fool around with our language skills and see what nuances of the English language that we could learn. When there are no red pens, it is amazing what you can excavate.

Gandhi - The power of one

2009-01-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

There are a certain amount of people in history that every child should know. Today, my children were introducted to Gandhi. Granted this movie is long 190 minutes, but it is well worth the view time. Today, I exempted the kids from all of their other homework (mind you DD had already done Social Studies and volunteered at the library and DS did his Math, Writing, and Reading - so it was only a partial repreave) and we watched Gandhi which I had taken out from the local library.

Gandi had come up this morning at Bible Study as we discussed what it meant to walk in Jesus' footprints. Maryann said that she thought Gandhi had in fact responded that in a way that although he wasn't Christian that since he tried to act in way similar to Jesus that in fact he had walked in his footsteps. Now whether Gandhi indeed said this or not did not really matter to me. What mattered was that I realized that I did not know much about his life especially as they began discussing his early work in South Africa and so I was inspired to learn.

I'm not sure that the kids will further their studies on him right now, but I will certainly try to find some of his writings to read. Perhaps I can even find a book that I can apply to the 2009 reading challenge.

This also led me to another question: What people in history do you think all children should know at least a little about?

Inauguration 2009

2009-01-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

Do You Homeschool During the Holidays?

2008-12-31T09:31:00.000-08:00

This Christmas brought two sneaky homeschool gifts to my son: one which he himself asked for and one which was given to him as not per see as a “gift”, but just because DH was going through a box of old things. Both though have caused DS to “do work”.

My F-I-L thought my son was insane when asked what he wanted to for Christmas, the answer was two three ring binders and plastic inserts. My F-I-L asked quizzically, “Are you sure?” and DS surely was. He was thrilled when he opened his box at our Christmas dinner and this was certainly one of the first gifts that he used (aside from his Nerf Gun).

DS’s plan with these books is to create a Cast Iron Cookbook and to start putting together his Eagle Scout Book. DS loves cast iron cooking, but is frustrated when pushed to think quickly and plan a menu for scouts. His plan is to begin compiling his favorite Cast Iron recipes so that he can just grab his cookbook for both planning meetings and for campouts. This has encouraged him to read carefully to choose the recipes; use the computer to cut, paste, and alter the recipes to the proper size; and to use his organizational skills to put the book together.

The other “gift” was my DH’s old palm pilot. DS has been addicted to it; putting in emergency phone numbers, writing to lists, and filling in the calendar. DS has been checking his spelling on every word he types in. This boy that I have to force to write a sentence has to have the stylus taken away in order to eat dinner. If I had known it would be this easy, I would have bought one of these machines for him. Now, I’m thinking, perhaps I’ll set him up on Facebook too. If it is technology that intrigues him, then I’ll find a way to use it.

So needless to say DS enjoyed his Christmas and mom is feeling a little better about the “time off”.

Samuel Clemens Who?

2008-12-26T08:05:00.000-08:00

Trivia question: Who was Samuel Langhorne Clemens? Hint he is one of the greatest American writers of all time. . . He is well known for his quips and quotes like:

“A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining,

but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.”

If you haven’t figured it out it is our dear Mark Twain.

Isn’t that ironic – Harriet Beecher Stowe and then Mark Twain. Here in Hartford, they were neighbors. The Mark Twain house is one of the most beautiful houses of the time. To take a tour of the house online at http://www.marktwainhouse.org/thehouse/floormap.shtml .

Mark Twain authored more than 30 books, many of which are required reading in schools today. Several which have been made into Broadway plays.

Sadly, this year has brought many financial hardships and the Twain house was almost closed. If you are interested in ensuring that this historical building survives for generations, consider donating to the Mark Twain House & Museum.

Here are some lesson ideas.

Field Trips:
Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT
Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal, MO

Harriet Beecher Stowe

2008-12-24T08:51:00.001-08:00

Today’s quote is by one of the great authors of my home state of Connecticut, Harriet Beecher Stowe. One of her homes is right here in Hartford.

I did not really know much about Harriet until I attended a fund raiser tea by a local library. At the tea, the curator spoke of woman who I would have loved to have met: a writer, an abolitionist, a feminist. She shared a few pieces of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, one of Stowe’s most memorable writings. As I sat and listened, I pledged that I was going to read this classic. I believe that we may have read excerpts in high school, but never the whole novel. That summer as we traveled to Kentucky, I read Uncle Tom’s Cabin as I had promised. As Eliza escaped across the broken ice of the Ohio, so I drove across it. It was truly surreal.

Later that year, I dragged the kids to the Harriet Beecher Stowe Museum. I was absolutely in awe of this woman. She would have been a force of nature in any era, but in her lifetime, her feats are even more amazing. I encourage you all to get to know her a little better. Here are a great way to do that:

Visit one of her homes:
http://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/index_home.shtml
http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/places/sw18/index.shtml

Read about her:
http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/stowe/

Read her works:
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/s#a115

New Gadgets

2008-12-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

You will notice that I have added a couple of gadgets to try out on our site. As I've mentioned before, I think half of homeschooling effectively is surrounding our children with interesting information. I was inspired to add these gadgets and will be looking for others after a discussion at a recent Holiday party.

We were talking about historical events and it was clear that Nagasaki meant nothing to one of the guests. Several of us tried to fill in the blanks so that she understood and mentioned Hiroshima, Atomic Bomb, World War II, but clearly it still meant nothing.

It got even worse when we chided one of the guests for using EID stamps on their Christmas cards. People were mixing Muslim and Hindi ideas. They had never even heard of Ramadan. Only one other guest, knew and understood what was being said.

I am hoping that by including such things as these gadgets, by subscribing to History Channel's newsletter, and generally having good conversation in our home will help my children from being this guest in the future.

Frank Llyod Wright Designs

2008-12-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

"Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities."
-Frank Lloyd Wright

Ok, you have to check this website out . You can actually learn and design like one of the greatest architects of our time Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright is a great person to study as he was also a homeschooler. His unique view of the world revolutionized the way houses and their surrounding landscapes interacted.

Here are some other websites with background about Frank Lloyd Wright:

http://www.pbs.org/flw/buildings/

http://www.delmars.com/wright/index.html

http://www.planetclaire.org/fllw/timeline.html

If the kids really get into it and you would like more information about architecture for your children, check out some of the links on http://www.loggia.com/designarts/architecture/kids.html .

Once in a Blue Moon - A Homeschool Conversation

2008-12-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

A typical homeschool conversation:

As we opened Christmas cards, the kids asked who one of the senders was. I explained that it was a parent of a old Girl Scout whom I hadn’t seen in many moons.

“Many moons. Why do people say that?” DS asked.

“It just means I haven’t seen her in a while,” I responded thinking that would suffice.

“Wouldn’t many moons just mean a couple of days?” He continued.

“No, they mean full moons, so they mean months.” Of course, then I had to add, “except for those blue moons.”

“Blue Moons. What is a blue moon?”

“The second blue moon in a month.”

DD piped in, “How often does that happen?”

“Daddy?” I had used up my knowledge of the moon cycles. He plugged “Blue Moon” into his laptop and came up with www.obliquity.com/astro/bluemoon.html“The average interval between Full Moons is about 29.5 days, whilst the length of an average month is roughly 30.5 days. This makes it very unlikely that any given month will contain two Full Moons, though it does sometimes happen.
On average, there will be 41 months that have two Full Moons in every century, so you could say that once in a Blue Moon actually means once every two-and-a-half years.” He read from the website.

Then we digressed into when the next blue moon was, why they are called blue, and other great astrological facts.

Then dear son brought us back down to his crazy thoughts, “Well, when will four blue moons happen in the same month?”

I thought for sure he had missed the whole concept of what we were just saying. I started waxing on about 29.5 days in a cycle, you would need more than 30 days in a month . . .DD added that we’d need more than one moon and have to be like on Jupiter. But no DS, explained God could cause a miracle and align the moon cycles to his desire. Ok, who can argue with that? I just rolled my eyes. . . “I guess you’re right!”

Now for those states that require reporting - where do you put such conversations? Should homeschoolers try to write all of their digressions down? This was not on our science plan for the day, but certainly is a valid lesson.

Today in History

2008-12-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

As homeschoolers, we are always looking for ways to ignite curiosity. One of the ways to do that is just keep lighting the fire in as many different directions as possible and see what areas take light. As interesting way to do that is by starting your day with "Today in History" type ideas or math problems of the day, or some of these interesting daily tidbits.

You may also want to add some of these websites which can give you great jumping off points for daily learing:

Today in History - Library of Congress
Today in History - Yahoo
Today in History - the History Channel - they also have a way to subscribe to a daily newsletter of this day in history
Today in History - History Net

Not only may your kids find this interesting, but you may learn something yourself.

I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.
-Albert Einstein

Writing Rubrics a tool for you and your children

2008-12-08T06:43:00.000-08:00

I think that I have mentioned that ironically I am working on at a site that trains teachers for public schools. Tonight, the speaker is talking about rubrics. I know that you are thinking what does this have to do with homeschooling, but I am sitting her listening, thinking that this would work wonders especially for my older child on larger projects. A rubric is a preplanned, objective driven assessment tool that helps teachers greade assignments but also helps students prepare their work to meet the stated goals.

Websites Related to writing Rubrics:
http://www.carla.umn.edu/assessment/VAC/Evaluation/p_7.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2083034_create-rubric.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/eta/Rubric_Tutorial/default.htm

While obviously these are traditionally used in schools, I can see how we can use such a tool especially for some unique work like computer presentation, etc. The benefit to the homeschooling community is not the ability to “grade” our students; frankly, many of us who homschool have moved away from the grading idea anyway. As homeschoolers we can use rubrics as a tool to help our children clearly understand what is expected of them and help them arrange their projects so that the subject / objective is clearly covered. Rubrics can also be a great tool for the kids themselves to evaluate their work before they even turn it in. After completing a project, give them the rubric to review their work and determine if it meets the goals and if they need to adjust something before they consider it finished.

What other “school” ideas have you adapted to homeschooling?

A Good Book For Reluctant Readers

2008-12-03T11:56:00.000-08:00

As those of you who read this blog regularly know, my DS is a reluctant reader. Yesterday, however you would have thought differently. He took the Scholastic Book of World Records 2009 and refused to put it down. He pummeled us with questions: What is the place with the world’s fastest winds? What is the loudest mammal? What country eats the most potato chips? We almost could not get him to put the book down. It is a good combination of words and pictures. The captions are catchy and he loves trying to catch us on the answers. Although, I think he is surprised at how many answers we came up with.

FYI – Mt. Washington; Blue Whale; United Kingdom

Igniting your Child's Interests by Exploring Your Own

2008-12-01T10:47:00.000-08:00

As homeschooling parents, it is important to stay interested and excited about the world too. By keeping up our interests, we may inspire our children or learn something that may interest them. Today, my find came from The Know-It-All.

Have you ever heard of a gnomon? I had not, but in learning about it the whole idea of square roots suddenly made sense. Interestingly, DD is working with square roots in her math – not the simple kind but some of the more advanced which include variables and rational and irrational numbers, but I thought she too would find this very interesting. He explains and illustrates the idea very simply using dots. If you can put evenly spaced dots representing each number, evenly such that you create a square, you have found a number which is a perfect square. The bottom row, or root, when counted is the square root of this number. Wow, that is amazing! Suddenly, strange mathematical terms made sense to the kids and to me.

Of course just like any other homeschooling home, this spurned us off into questions about the beginning of numbers and who created mathematics? I think truly we have discovered how curiosity killed the cat - - -he got so side tracked trying to satiate his curiosity, he forgot to stop and eat.

The Technological Wave in Education

2008-11-29T09:46:00.001-08:00

Maybe they can have an extra 15 minutes on the computer ; )

Lost to history

2008-11-27T05:59:00.000-08:00

History and memory . . .we often think of things lost to history meaning 1,000’s of years ago i.e. how the pyramids were built, what was Easter Islands purpose, but what about hundreds or even a generation.

I was just listening to the history channel which was talking about the cornerstone on the White House. A stone that was placed with much pomp and circumstance, a brass plate was even put to it, but today the location us unknown. Under President Truman there was even a study by the corps of engineers to find it but to no avail.

What about even in your own life? Talk to your parents, your siblings – there will already be facts lost, ideas that no one is quite sure of, memories that people diffiantly disagree about. . . My answer write, photograph, tape . . .

How will / do you keep memories alive and accurate?

Geography Game

2008-11-25T20:14:00.001-08:00

If you want to challenge your geography knowledge, check this out. I found it on facebook, but what a great way to test your geography IQ.

Survivor - Gabon - Season 17 - Episode 7

2008-11-18T09:04:00.000-08:00

Vocab:
Reward
Delusional
Blindside
Totem pole

Crystal tripped over the rice. Matty was quite upset at this and then she opted not to eat. Was this a reasonable, mature response? How do you define the word maturity?

Dan talks about his “inner child”. Corinne says that he is acting like a child trying to fit it. What does it mean to have an “inner child”? How can you care for yours?

Sugar has taken 5 trips to Exile Island. Create a model of your ideal “Sugar Shack”. Also, find out what a real Sugar Shack is and what it is used for.

One of the most touching parts of Survivor is always their contact from home. Choose a family member that has affected you. Write and deliver a heartfelt note.

Sugar seems to have a combination of beauty and brains. Do some research on other women in history that posses this lethal combination.

Rice is the most valuable thing they have right now. What is the most valuable thing that you have? Why?

Play the FreeRice game and help feed others in the world that are starving

Be yourself vs. holding it in – Jeff asked several tribe members where they were on the scale between these two extremes. Which do you think is more advantageous as a survivor contestant? Why?

What would you carry?

2008-11-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

Today I had the kids complete a version of "If there is a fire in your house, what would you take?" but with a slightly different bent.

I am reading Suite Francaise. A novel about France as the Germans overtake it. Interestingly, the book is written by a woman who herself was there and was herself deported and later died in Auschwitz.

This book starts in Paris with the Germans on the march. The people of Paris realize that the fall of the city is imanant and that they must leave and so they begin to pack their cars to head to the contryside, so I posed the question to the children - If we had to escape our home quickly and could only take what we could fit in DH's truck, what would you take? They both scibbled down lists.

As the book continues, Petrol or gas runs out and people are forced to abandon their cars. I asked the children to trim their lists to what we could carry on our backs.

Futher along, there is a bombing that causes them to flee for their lives. Many of the characters are happy to make it out with their lives. I asked them to trim again to what they would carry at all times as not to leave something behind. I read them the following section:

She (Madame Pericand) looked again at everything she had brought, "everything she had saved": her children, her overnight cases. She placed her hand over the jewelery and money sewn into her blouse. Yes, during this terrible time she had acted with determination, courage and composure. She hadn't lost her head! She hadn't lost . . .she hadn't . . .Suddenly she cried out in a choked voice. She clutched her throat and fell backwards, letting out a low moan as if she were suffocating.
"My God, Madame! Madame, what's the matter?" exclaimed Nanny.
"Nanny, my dear Nanny," Madame Pericand finally groanded in a barely audible voice, "We forgot . . ."
"What? What did we forget?"
"We forgot my father-in-law," said Madame Pericand, dissolving into tears. (pages 112)

This led to a great car conversation about growing up in fear of Russia and in the importance of relationships and items. We were very happy to see that no only did they see the value and necessity of things, but also of people. They remembered to collect their grandfather (my father) down the street.

Using Speech Recognition for Writing and Proper Enunciation

2008-11-16T19:02:00.000-08:00

Today, I have been introduced to a powerful program. In fact, I am using it right now. It is speech recognition. I thought this program would be very helpful for my son who has a hard time when trying to write. I thought he may be able to dictate his ideas. Then he could correct the dictation (which may take more work than I expected).

Like many things in homeschooling, I have found a second use for this program as well. As DD was helping me learn the program, we found that you have to dictate very well for the program to work correctly. DD thought that this would help her in her acting. When he was very young, she had a speech impediment. Now you do not really do not notice it, but it did affect this program. Apparently, you can continue to work with the program so that it can get smarter (i.e. get used to you speech patterns).

This speech recognition program was not an additional cost for me. In fact, it was already on the computer. It was just a matter of learning how to use it.

We certainly have a lot more to learn and all must be more careful in how we speak to it, but it may be a very helpful program to use. You may want you check and see if your computer has the program as well.

Homeschooling Hints - Use Your Resources Wisely

2008-11-13T14:58:00.000-08:00

Using your resources wisely is an important mantra when you homeschool (Hint #3). Although it is important for the young and old, it is most important during the teenage years.

Keep your eyes out for people that may supplement your children's interests or studies. Today for example DD and I went to the neighbors for some beading lessons. Pam recently gave me a bracelet as a thank you for sewing on her son's Cub Scout patches. DD was impressed with it. She has beaded before but was concerned that her patterning looked too childish. So I took the opportunity to call Pam and see if she would give us a lesson. She was thrilled at the idea and so we went over today.

It was like having a personal shopper. She introduced us to all the necessary parts and pieces. We have looked at beading before but I always hesitate to buy anything but a kit because I have no idea what to buy - too many options. She really helped us figure out what was necessary and even coached us through making two bracelets and a necklace. DD was thrilled.

So keep your eyes open. Who can help your children? Who may have a talent or skill that they can share? Most will be thrilled to pass on the info. Such relationships may even translate into a internship / apprenticeship.

PS. I'll try to get the digital camera working so that we can post some pictures of our creations.

Child Centered Learning - From Leaf to Maple Syrup to Gum

2008-11-13T05:28:00.000-08:00

When you homeschool you always have to be ready to change direction and follow the learning. This is why I was always a fan of open classroom. Teachers need to have the ability to move where the interest of the kids goes. If a ladybug flies in and the kids want to learn about ladybugs, you should be able to adjust. This is not such an easy task when you are tied down by curriculum and checked by standardized tests. At home, you can go where ever you are drawn (Homeschooling Hint #1).

Yesterday, for example, as I worked in the kitchen and DS read his science pages diagramming the leaf and stem, we were led us in other directions. We suddenly had to put celery in dyed water to better see the xylem and phloem. We had challenge questions about maple syrup – do you think we tap the xylem or phloem and why? (I should tell you that DS has memorized which is up and down by using the pneumonic device – phloem sounds like flow. You flow down. Therefore Xylem is up / phloem down. I was amazed at how well he understood the application. Maple syrup making was something that he understood and could relate to. We do it. We discussed why we could not over tap a tree. This used to be just a rule that we had to follow, but now he understood why we couldn’t do that. ) We compared this idea to cuts on a human body. Then something in this suddenly spurred off a question about gum. And while I did not have the answer, we did come over the computer when we finished. I had him write “Bubble Gum” on the last page we were reading so that we wouldn’t forget and so that he could take the distracting thought out of his head.

When we finished, I found a great little explanation on the making of gum on the Glee Gum site. (Actually, I tried to get DH to help him so that I could get dinner done and get to choir, but I immediately heard him tell him to Google “Bubble Gum”. I tried to intervene to encourage DH to add “for kids” or “how to make bubble gum”, but he said that it will bring up Wikipedia and he can get his answer there. Homeschooling hint #2 for the day, work to strengths not weaknesses. As I have mentioned, reading is very hard for DS especially when DH has the tv on in front of him. So I interceded, tried to help him with Wikipedia and then did my own search which came by this site which was much more visual with some reading. It not only was clearer to DS, but also encouraged him to read in short blurbs. )

“While it is helpful to have a map of where you are planning to go; don’t be afraid to follow an interesting diversion. You can always get back to the main road later. Maybe you will even find a short cut.” me

Which of the Following States is in One Time Zone?

2008-11-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

Remember me talking about Nautilus learning and how you add layers - Ironically, we had a microcosm of this idea this weekend.

On the train ride back, one of the girls started playing "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" (teaching with technology - Imagine if we sent quizzes / refreshes that way). Anyway one of the questions was "Which of the following states is in one time zone?

Oregon
Oklahoma
Indiana
Kansas"

The problem with this game on the girl's phone is that when you get the answer wrong. It doesn't give you the correct answer - so we were left wanting - TWICE!

Flash forward to today, DS was doing his MATH. What is the math about? Traveling across the country. What is the picture at the top of the page? A time zone map of the US. What is the correct answer to the question? Oklahoma.

To brush up on other useless trivia:

Can't Go Over it, Then Why Not Under it?

2008-11-11T06:25:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when you homeschool, you wonder if you are on track. Are your kids going to make it in the outside world? Have I deprived them of something that they can never regain?

And then sometimes, you wonder . . .and I graduated from school (and college)??? How did that happen?

We have started letting our dog have roam of the house when we go to bed and when we go out. However, he has still been know to get into the cat liter. So I figured if we put up a baby gate, the cat could get in and the dog would stay out. But I could only find the very tall gate, I wasn't sure if the cat could jump that high. I must have verbalized my fear, because I hear from DS, "Mom, why don't you just put in up higher so that the cat can just go UNDER it but the dog can't?"

Wow, that made a lot of sense. I guess he got the critical thinking portion of our homeschool curriculum beat.

Integrating Technology and Learning

2008-11-10T04:46:00.000-08:00

Since I have been hearing about this video all weekend, I figured that I should share it with you:

Mind you it does not strictly apply to us homeschoolers and many of us will see it as confirmation as to why we homeschool, but if you can get past that you may also be inspired. Of course DD's reason for her excitement about this video is that she sees it as yet another reason why she should get a cellphone. I'm not sure that that is going to work, but I am going to allow her to create a PowerPoint in leiu of a self test in Social Studies. We'll see how that goes and go from their. I'm also thinking, she may be getting some interesting emails. Also, I noticed that our library now has mp3 books on their website for downloading. This may be just the thing for DS.

Let me know any great technology ideas that you have.

TeacherTube.com

2008-11-08T16:50:00.001-08:00

Did you know about this? It is just like YouTube.com but with an educational bent.

In one of the lectures I sat in on last night and today, the speaker was talking about the integration of technology and education. Mind you for a homeschooler, the usage is a little different, but it certianly can impact our teaching / learning too. For example, check out the following video:

Show it to your children and then have them pick one of the items in the song to do a research on and write a quick summary.

I am looking forward to really crawling around this site to see what else they have to offer.

Reading Your Way into Good Habits

2008-11-06T18:31:00.000-08:00

When I was at work the other night, the Family Consumer Science teachers gave me an article, “Healthful Messages, Wrapped in Fiction” by Tara Parker-Pope. The article discussed the idea of positive messages to girls can be introduced in literature and successfully change their habits. As we have been having problems with DD (teenage issues) and would love to have her get better (more positive) media information, I thought this article may help. I thought it may help me foray into a conversation about the media and its impact on her. Also, I thought perhaps she may read these books.

Impressively, she took to the idea right away. She read the article with interest and then this morning took out not one but three of the Beacon Street Girlsbooks from the library to read and review for me. I thought this was great, because we adults can sit around and discuss what is “good” for kids, but they need to decide if it is really good. When she writes something up, we’ll publish it for your review.

In the meantime, please let me know if you or any of your daughters have read this series.

Dutch Oven Cooking

2008-11-05T05:34:00.000-08:00

Homeschooling with heart sometimes means that you do something illogical. Tonight DS and I cooked dinner on an open fire. Did we really have time to do it? NO. Was it the most effective way to cook? NO. Did I do it anyway? Yes.

DS has gotten involved in Dutch oven cooking because of Boy Scouts. He has been enjoying it when they go camping, so tonight he wanted to share one of the recipes he made. So tonight we had Dutch Oven Pot Roast with carrots and potatoes.

DH loves Dutch Oven cooking too, but I think desserts are his favorites. He especially like to make cobblers? DS seems to be fully involved he wants to make soups, side dishes, main dishes, breads, and desserts. We may have a culinary master born 150 years too late.

Note: This is also another great site for recipes.

Rock Star Animation

2008-11-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

Check out this new character that DS created. This is actually my rendition of his creation. He has a drawing but my scanner is broken so I have given up waiting and decided to try to recreate it using paint.

Now I'm thinking that it would be cool to create an animation. Does anyone know how to do that? What basic programs would you recommennd? Any information is welcome.

Election Day Plan

2008-11-03T05:18:00.000-08:00

Our house is revving up for Election Day. Of course, step one is to get out and vote ourselves. I have always brought the kids to the Polling Place. Many years they have seen me work the polling place and two years they have assisted me in running for office myself. These activities, I think, have made them more aware of the whole election process. When I grew up, my mother would never tell us who she would vote for. She said it was her business and no one else’s. In my house, I can’t imagine that. We talk about politics all the time.

During the primaries, we had a list of the states posted on the fridge. As each state declared its delegates we would post the results. It was CNN and our dining room table coverage. DD was often better informed than even my husband and I were. Our friends were amazed.

I think for tomorrow, we are going to print off a blackline master map and a state by state chart to record the Electoral College votes. This site gives you the number of electoral votes for each state and the number of votes needed to win. I figure tomorrow, we’ll be glued into the tv first thing in the morning and then after 6pm. I just hope that we have an answer by the time we go to bed and not have to wait until Christmas again.

How do you plan to experience the election with your kids?

Update on Science Experiment

2008-11-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe how much a plant can grow without light. DS had to grow seeds. One jar with water and one jar without in the light AND one jar with water and one without in the dark. I thought that it would teach him that plants needed water and light to grow, but apparently NOT. See the great thing about homeschooling is that even the adults learn with the kids. The seeds in the dark, wet setting actually have a much healthier looking root system and they actually grew first. I am actually now looking forward to continuing this experiment to find out what other tid-bits I may learn.

Unfair Treatment of Homeschooler

2008-10-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, now I am getting on my soapbox . . . If you follow DD and I on acupofteawithmomandme.blogspot.com , you know that she was invited to the Homecoming Dance by a boy in her confirmation class at church. Her father and I, after much deliberation, agreed that she could go and DD and I ran out and bought her a dress (frankly, I spent money that I really did not have to spend, but we all do what we can for our kids). Well, today we received a call from the principal of the school who wanted to confirm that DD was “enrolled in a High School” and get emergency phone numbers. As a conscientious parent, I called the principal back - - - this was mistake number one. We have now talked to the principal twice and the vice principal once and they have decided that DD cannot attend homecoming. Their stance is that DD is 13 and therefore would be considered a middle school student and ineligible to attend. I tried to argue that as a homeschooler there is no real “grade”. They also said that the boy should have known better. I replied by asking why he should have known better since he and DD go to 9th grade confirmation together. I also argued that there were going to be 13 year olds at the dance i.e. the kids with November and December birthdays. The vice principal tried to tell me that that was not true, but my children were in this district and my son has a November birthday and would be in 7th grade, therefore I know there are others. They then added to the “policy” saying that if there were students that were 13 AND enrolled at the high school then they would be exempt and allowed to come, but as DD was not enrolled she would not be allowed. I asked how they would deal with a child who skipped a grade and noted that we were arguing over barely a month and a half of time as DD birthday is in February. I’m sure you can imagine the response “policy is policy”. You know if they allowed one student then there would be a torrent of homeschooled 13 year olds that might want to come to the dances. I felt so badly for my DD and for her date. Of course, before I got off the phone I made sure to tell him what I thought (I’m sure he could care less), but I pointed out that it was this kind of inflexibility that made us choose homeschooling in the first place. Public schools have a very difficult time looking at issues on a one by one case. Futhermore, while my DD does not attend this district, we do live in this distict and have paid for these schools for twelve years and received nothing in return for the last five. We haven’t balked the system or asked for anything for our kids, I was only asking for her right to go to the dance. And that although I knew he did not have children that I hoped he would think back to this decision one day when he had a 13 year old daughter.

Of course my husband and DD has to see the principal next week at an Eagle Scout award ceremony, I said that my DD and husband should make a point of going over to introduce themselves. And as for the school’s request for help in fundraising, I think we’ll be skipping that!

P.S. I thought this one would send my DD over the edge. I’m sure at her age I would have flopped on the bed, slammed the door, and cried and cried. She, however, took it like a trooper. At least she got a beautiful holiday dress out of the deal.

Planning Around Life's Events

2008-10-30T05:39:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about homeschooling is the schedule. This week it has been a blessing to us. With so many balls in the air, I needed time to resolve a multitude of issues. Fortunately, I could adjust accordingly. I’ve heard families that have made adjustments for traveling, illnesses, moving, etc. Often school can become an additional stressor for everyone; Homeschooling allows more flexibility.

Don’t get it the school rut and miss this blessing. It is wonderful if you regularly plan your lessons for the “regular” school day, but it is ok if you go outside those parameters. I have worked in the evening, put lessons off, or come up with alternative lessons to better fit with what we are doing. Many people ask us why we school throughout the summer, but this is exactly why. If we work year round, we can be more flexible in our daily schedule.

What tricks have you used when life has gone crazy, but you are still trying to get things done?

Survivor - Gabon - Season 17 - Episode 6

2008-10-30T05:30:00.000-07:00

Vocabulary: Liability, oath, challenge, burden
Today’s episode is rated “PG-L”. What are the different ratings? What do they mean? Do you think ratings are a good or bad idea? Why?

Science – Fire and heat is very important to the players. Fire produces radiant heat. Find out about radiant heat. What are the benefits and deficits? List three other examples of radiant heat.

Volunteerism - Our bodies must have food to survive. Both tribes are very concerned about rationing , but this is not an issue reserved just for Survivor. Find out about world hunger issues. Find a way that you can help and do it.

You can see that people are starting to mentally break down. Do you think Survivor is a more physical or more emotional challenge? Why?

Have you heard the saying, “There is no ‘I’ in teamwork.” What do you think this means? How does this relate to FANG?

Kenny may have made the move of the game in the episode. How did Kenny use psychology to get the idol back into Sugar’s hands? Why would Sugar give her power away to another person, let alone such a powerful man? Do you think this is wise?

Did FANG miss a huge opportunity tonight?

Drawing Inspiration

2008-10-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

I had intended to share with you a drawing made by DS today, but my scanner does not want to work. It says that there is a paper jam - not that a paper jam should have anything to do with scanning, but whatever - technology is great when it works and frustrating when it doesn't. So while I can't show you the picture, I can give you his words of wisdom:

"I start my drawings with a curved line.
When I start with a straight line,
I don't get any ideas.
I start all my drawings with a curved lines.
A curved line can be anything."

Setting up a Homeschooling House

2008-10-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, DS had to set up a photosynthesis experiment. Four jars were put together with paper towels pressing beans against the glass; Two had water added to them. Then one with water and one without went in the sun and the other two were set in the dark. We tried to find the most inconspicuous place to put them.

I often wonder what people think when they visit a homeschoolers home. We tend to think our homeschooling is that obvious, but look around. Is there a science experiment fermenting somewhere, an art project drying? Is there a set of encyclopedias that instead of decorating a shelf, are sitting open on a coffee table? How many maps and globes are visible?

When I visited my friend Paula’s house the other day, I thought my theory might be blown. There was no sign of homeschooling. Then she took me on the tour of the house. As we went downstairs – BAM! There it all was. She had bookshelves with bookshelves, work areas, dry erase boards, three ring binders. It was a homeschooling mom’s dream. My house isn’t quite like that. 99% of our work is done at the dining room table or the coffee table, but a mom can dream.

If you could set up your home to accommodate your homeschooling, what would you do differently?

Getting Ready for Halloween

2008-10-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

First of all a disclaimer: I am not a fan of Halloween myself. To me, it seems like a made up holiday that focuses on Pagan ideas. In a really great year with perfect weather and neighbors having outdoor parties, I can tolerate it, but when it is cold or damp, my interest is completely lost. I think my enthusiasm dissipated somewhere between trying to divvy out the 26 pounds of candy (on average) that the kids would bring home from trick or treating and the costume mania that consumes everyone during this period. Families are now actually spending an average of $98.00 between costumes and candy and I personally believe that this is a conservative estimate given some of the costumes that I see around. What happened to white sheeted ghosts? Robots made from cardboard boxes? Baseball players sporting their Little League Uniforms?

The first recorded reference to Halloween actually appears in 1911 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, but the term “trick or treat” did not appear for the first time in print in 1934. There are conflicting reports of how the idea of Halloween developed. Some relate it as far back as Celtic ritual of Samhain. Samhain was the Celtic New Year, a time to celebrate harvests. Samhain actually began at dusk on October 31st and signified the beginning of the dark period of the year. During this day, the break between life and death was shattered and spirits could roam the earth. When Celtic lands were Christianized, this holiday melded into All Saints Day. Others related it to the Roman celebrations of the dead, Feralia, Paternalia, and Lemuria. They may have blended with Samhain as the Roman Empire spread across Europe. However the celebrations of the dead developed, they were sternly squelched under the Puritan rule in the New World and do not seem to reappear until early in the 20th century. Treating seems to relate back to the medieval idea of souling; when poor people would go door to door requesting and receiving soul cakes in return for prayers for the giver’s dead family members.

One of the most interesting and one of my husband’s favorite family traditions is the jack o’ lantern. Legend has it that jack o’ lanterns relate back to the story of Jack. Jack was a troublemaker who tried to trick the devil into not taking his soul. There are conflicting stories of exactly how he accomplished this task, but the devil did agree not to take possession of his soul. So when Jack finally died, his soul was too sinful to rise to Heaven and had been barred from Hell. Left to roam the earth, he asked the devil to help him find his way. The devil sent a flame to light his way. Jack captured it in his favorite food, the turnip, and thus the Jack o’ Lantern was born. When this tradition came to America, pumpkins were larger and more plentiful and therefore become the preferred vegetable to be carved. However, in some parts of the world turnips and beets are still carved instead of pumpkins.

Certainly, no matter what its origins, Halloween is here to stay. I recommend you run to the store so that you can spend your portion of the between 5 and 6.9 billion dollars getting ready for for the holiday. We’ll keep our lights on for you.

Survivor - Gabon - Unit Study - Episode 5

2008-10-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

Ethics – A major part of Survivor is lying, but the 10 commandments strictly prohibits lying. Do you think just because it is a game that it is ok to lie? Is there other times that it is ok to commandments? When? Why? Discuss with your parents.

Science – an elephant comes very close to one of the camps this week. Study elephants. Try to answer the following questions:
1. Where are elephants still found in nature? Mark on a map.
2. How heavy can elephants get?
3. How old are elephants known to get?
4. Find out about elephants endangered status. What issues relate to their decreasing numbers.
Create a poster about your findings.

History – Dan called the other tribe the “axis of evil” and the “evil empire”. What historical references is he making?

Critical Thinking - Independence is usually seen as a positive characteristic but when G.C. goes missing the other tribe mates see his independence as a negative trait. When is independence seen as a positive when is it a negative.

Physical Education - Create a simple obstacle course. Blind fold a friend and lead them through the obstacle course using just your voice. Switch positions. (Be very safety conscious when you set up your course)

Critical Thinking – do you think Jeff alters the outcome of the game through the choice of his questions at tribal council? Why or Why not? Do you think this is fair?

If you are as big of a Survivor fan as my DD, you may want this to help you along with your research.

Artistic Undertakings #2 & #3

2008-10-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, we / I am continuing to try to draw and redraw the same object. Here are two more gourd picture (no comments needed for my absence spelling - thus, the reason I declined an invitation to participate in the local spelling bee).

DD is working on the artistic challenge we posted on acupofteawithmomandme.blogspot.com .

DS seems to have discovered the idea of embossing. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with. He started with simple pencil over a Boy Scout Merit Badge and then something made him get the tinfoil out.

I'm always interested to see how a little inspiration can lead in so many different directions. This is also why it is so important not to be running everywhere. For some of these things, you need time for ideas to perculate. You need quantity in order to glean out any quality.

Accepting Tax Rebates for Homeschoolers

2008-10-15T06:58:00.000-07:00

I ordered some more curriculum last night. I was surprised that the LifePac’s were less expensive on Christian Book Distributors than directly from Alpha Omega. DD really wants to try their Bible curriculum, but I am still wary. I am not sure what their philosophy is. Does anyone else use it? What do you think of it? I figure that I will wait until after she finishes confirmation at our church before I order it.

Although I think that the LifePac’s are very well priced, I need to be very careful what we spend right now. There is definitely a part of me that wishes that we could keep the portion of our property tax that is used on education to use toward our children’s education, but I have read several articles and have come to the belief that accepting any government assistance would lead to regulation. While this money is my money, in order to deduct it from my taxes, I would at minimum have to check some sort of box which exempts me. Then I am sure that some politician would say, “How do we know that they are really homeschooling?” or “How do we know that they are really spending all that money on their children’s education?” Then they would further expand their oversight or require receipts. I reconcile myself to paying this portion of my taxes just like the elderly, single, and childless must; it is our social responsibility to assure the education of all.

DD has also decided that she would like to change from Latin to Spanish. I have relented and said that when she finishes the current book that she is doing, she can change. So, does anyone have any recommendations for a good Spanish Curriculum?

My Artisic Endeavor

2008-10-14T10:56:00.001-07:00

What do you do while the kids are working on their work but you need to be near by? Today, I did this:

I am going to try to be a little more artistic after seeing the great artwork yesterday. Maybe it will inspire some little artists too.

Artistic Undertakings

2008-10-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

Has there ever been a talent that you wished you had? I would say for me that I wish I had a more artistic hand. I was thrilled when I painted a mural on my son's wall and he called me an artist. I thought that this was the greatest compliment.

Today I came by a blog by Matt Lopez. You have to see his drawings. I was especially ennamoured with his picture of the beanstalk.

I read somewhere that one artist would draw over 100 pictures of the same object, trying to look at it closer and closer to explore it in 100 different ways. I keep thinking that we should try this. Maybe we'll try at least a few. I'll scan them and let you know.

Survivor - Gabon - Unit Study - Episode 4

2008-10-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

Vocabulary – Rank, Confidence, Contributor

Oral conversation - The contestants participate in a ranking challenge. Using picture cut outs from the Survivor website, create your own rankings of the two tribes. How is your ranking the same and / or different from the ranking of the tribes on the show? Explain your choices to someone.

Bible - Matthew 19:30 says, “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” How might this scripture be applied to this challenge in the game? What do you think it means in life?

Critical Thinking - If you were to put together the ultimate tribe, given the players in the game, who would you have chosen?

Critical Thinking - Think about how it feels to be picked first and last. Design a way of picking people that does not inflate or deflate people’s egos.

Morals & Ethics - Winning, Trying, Dominating, Giving Up. Rank these words in importance. Explain your choice to someone.

Fun Fact Friday - Haiti

2008-10-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

Sometimes facts are not so fun. I know that this is called Fun Fact Friday, but last night DD and I listened to a woman who has gone to Haiti several times on missions and has now begun her own orphanage in Haiti. Inspired by her, we felt that we should learn a little more about the country. You will be sad to read the following facts, but turn your tears into action, finding a way that you might help.

Haiti and its attached Dominican Republic are the original Hispaniola that Christopher Columbus “discovered” in 1492.

It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html

The average Haitian families are living on less than a dollar a day.
http://www.bemhaiti.org/tp40/page.asp?id=87578

Haiti has the highest rates of infant, under-five and maternal mortality in the Western hemisphere. Diarrhoea, respiratory infections, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are the leading causes of death.
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti.html

Haiti became the first black republic in 1804 after a successful slave revolt against the French.
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_haiti.html

UN experts say just 2 to 4 percent of forest cover remains in Haiti, down from 7 to 9 percent in 1981
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/16/AR2008021602511.html

Some Haitians eat mud pies to quell their hunger. Watch a video:
http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs4141

Some Haitian Artwork for purchase:
http://stores.ebay.com/Haitis-Back-Porch

Applying Newton's Laws

2008-10-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

Physics and the laws of motion can be interesting and fun. They can creep up at the strangest times. If you watched the Lego version of the Newton’s three laws then you are already familiar with the laws, so you may be able to dissect it better than I.

As we are doing our work up at DH’s office, DS pushed his chocolate milk bottle with his pen. As expected the bottle moved forward (little push = little motion) but then interestingly, the bottle took a little extra jump as the milk continued in motion after the bottle had stopped. Then it finally came to rest (inertia) having expended all its energy.

See this little experiment shows exactly what I say – lessons and learning are everywhere, you just have to be ready / interested enough to explore them. I’m sure bottle of milk are being pushed in cafeterias around the country right now. How many do you think are discussing Newton’s Laws?

How to Play X-treme Cards

2008-10-07T14:51:00.001-07:00

I know that I have mentioned that one of the great things about homeschooling is our ability to be very involved in other programs like Scouts. I thought you would enjoy this picture of DS during his summer canoeing trip down the Delaware Gap. During this trip, he got to canoe with a bald eagle, earned the Indian Lore and Canoeing Merit Badges, and apparently learned some good card games.

Anyone interested in exploring a program like this should check out The Pack Shack. You don't have to be in Scouts to enjoy what these hard working people have to offer.

Survivor - Gabon - Unit Study - Episode 3

2008-10-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

Vocabulary
Idol
Strategy

Photography / Storytelling – The producers of Survivor constantly uses symbolism in their film edits i.e. a snake or a spider eating a fly. Choose one and explain the meaning.

Arts & Crafts – In Survivor tradition, eventually there will be an individual immunity idol. Using the information that you have amassed about Gabon, create a potential immunity idol.

Math – The immunity challenge involved a math problem. See if you can solve it yourself. “The sum of both end values equals the sum of the middle two, the last is equal to the second minus the third and is one less than its neighbor.” The numbers are 1,2,4,5,6,7. Watch the clip, http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/video/video.php?cid=834167134&pid=it9TiKBc_LWzcEWzw92X8T8riBm1Xxgv&play=true&cc=86 to find the answer.

Be Fruitful and Multiply

2008-10-02T16:21:00.000-07:00

Today, you get a bad joke from my husband.

DD ad I were working on math. For one of the problems, I picked 100 as the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator). DD corrected me and said that 50 would be the correct LCD. She was quite pleased that she was up on Mom, “Mom, you can’t even multiply.” She turned to DH, “Dad, Mom can’t multiply.”

DH replied, “ Mom, can multiply. She had you didn’t she?”

I think the pun was lost somewhere between delivery and reception, but I thought it was pretty quick witted on his part.

Memorizing the Books of the Bible

2008-10-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know a good way to memorize the books of the Bible? DD has to memorize them for Conformation Class. She will probably do fantastic as she can memorize multiple lines in a play, but if anyone has any helpful ideas, we would appreciate it.

A Great Day in the Life of a Homeschooler

2008-09-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

Today DS said the words that every homeschooling mom hopes to hear, “I love homeschooling”. Today was a great homeschooling day with DS. He did his work and then we made dinner together and a batch of zucchini bread. I figure that I will count the time as Home Economics. We found a delicious recipe on Allrecipes.com . It took a very long time to cook, but was very yummy. DS also decorated some scripture signs for me for a program this weekend and practiced a recitation on the history of the Pledge of Allegiance for his volunteer service as a Den Chief (Did you know that the original pledge was not specifically for the United States and did not contain the words “under God”? “Under God” was actually added by President Eisenhower and objected to by the daughter of the author, Francis Bellamy.) Also, after trying to do his geography work. I have realized that there are times that a 43% is still an excellent score. I have been working with the Sheppard Software site to familiarize DS with the countries of the world. He has already satisfied the US states and capitals and so we’ve moved on to Africa. He is working on Level 4, which has him click on the correct country on a bare outline map of Africa. Now I realize that 43% doesn’t sound that good (he actually got a 63% today so we are improving), but you have to click inside boarders of the countries that you cannot see. I might add that some of those African countries are very, very small. So when I watched him today, I realized that DS may be getting marked as wrong, but most of his clicks were within millimeters of the correct location. I had to take my hats off to him. Africa is tough.

Even DD survived her self-test in Math with limited tears and frankly, she did very well. She just needs to relax and think in small steps. On the positive side, she is becoming much more systematic in her math work. I can ask her to read her second or fourth line and she can find it and read what she has. If there is an error, she can even back up through her work to double check her work. This alone has been quite a triumph and will help her tremendously as she continues in her work.

So all and all, today was a great homeschool day.

Fair - Unexpected Lessons

2008-09-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

Well our fair is over. Now all that is left is clean up. The lessons from the fair were a little different than expected. The kids learned about erosion, drainage, gravity. In Connecticut, apparently September had 9 inches of precipitation in September with 5 to 6” of that coming this past weekend. The Discovery Tent was redesigned with a river running through it (I think that may be a movie or a book – A River runs through it. It is probably a better book than location at the fair). Two performances on the main stage had to be cancelled and instead kids used the hill as a mudslide. And apparently despite the torrential rain, the fire marshal was still concerned about the fire hazards. He made the fair association fill the mud pits on our town green with gravel instead of hay. You can only imagine what our green is going to look like when the tents come down – maybe we should rename it a brown. I’ve got to tell you that I think the fair grounds were in worse shape than they were the year that Gloria shut the fair down on Friday.

The kids still had a good time and did well in their entries. And fair food is always delicious even if it is becoming ridiculously expensive. Unfortunately, due to the weather many of our non-profits did not make nearly what they normally do and they will all have financial problems this year. Tonight some of them are going to reopen as all of us townies return to pick up our prizes and entries.

DD calculated that she has now been to the fair 37 times and frighteningly, I am at 104 times (and my friends wonder why I don’t get as excited as I used to). So, goodbye fair for at least another year.

Survivor - Gabon - Unit study - Episode 1

2008-09-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, I finally had time to watch the entire Survivor episode 1 (If you did not catch it on Thursday, find it on On Demand or at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/. Here are some ideas to begin creating a unit around the show. I would start with my entry on September 25th, so that you have a little understanding about the location. Then you can begin with some of these ideas:

Careers – Each candidate comes with their own experiences and careers. Listen to all of their jobs. Which job would you like and why? What jobs do you think will help them survive?

Prediction – Having been introduced to everyone, who do you think will be the sole survivor? Why?

Bible –
1. Jeff calls Gabon “Earth’s last Eden”. To what is he referring? Why do you think he makes this comparison?
2. Jeff talks about fire being life. Where else have you seen this correlation?

Government – In Gabon elders are respected as leaders. Why do think this is? In the history of your country, has this idea of elders being leaders been a tradition? Explain.
For those that are in the US, how did our founding fathers ensure that we would follow our elders?

Opinion –
1. What would you consider essentials for survival?
2. In the race for individual immunity or food, which would you have chosen? Would you have turned around to help your other teammates up the hill?
3. What characteristics help a survivor? What characteristics hinder a survivor? Add to these lists throughout the course of the program.

Action –
1. Try to create a hut / shelter in your own backyard. If you don’t have a backyard, create one in your house.
2. With parental supervision, try lighting a fire with two sticks, with a bow, or with flint.
3. Ace had his tribe practice Yoga before the challenge. Learn at least 5 Yoga positions.
4. Puzzles are always a big part of survivor. Try to solve a Tower of Hanoi puzzle.
5. Tree mail and exile hints are often written in riddles. Visit Squigly’s House and try to solve some riddles of your own.
6. Create a map to a hidden treasure. See if someone else can follow it and find what you have hidden.

Science –
1. Elephants are a help and a hindrance. How? What dangers do elephants pose?
2. In the challenge, the contestants have to march through a leech filled swamp. What is a leech? Find out how leeches were once used in medical treatments.
3. The show depicts many different indigenous animals. Identify at least 5 throughout the course of the show. Create a poster that tells about these animals.
4. Hindsight is 20/20. Create a field journal that the survivors would have appreciated at the beginning of their experience. Throughout the course of the show compile a journal that teaches contestants important information and skills that would have helped them to be the sole survivor.

Math – If every contestant’s name was put in the pot to be pulled, what would be the likelihood of any one survivor would be picked out. What increases the odds of having your name in the pot? What decreases it?

Vocabulary – Look up the definitions of the following words. Practice spelling them correctly.
Immunity
Exile
Pedestal
Alliance
Analytical

Come back next week to see what I come up with for episode 2. If you have any additional ideas, please add comments.

Husband Homeschooling too - Astronomy

2008-09-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

I think that I have failed to mention that DH is an astronomy buff. Not a big crazy buff that spends hours behind the telescope, but a mini-buff with a passion to know what is going on in the sky. He was thrilled when DS earned a telescope for selling Cub Scout popcorn and then he found a couple websites that he follows to give him little tidbits about our sky. I think it is funny because he always says that he isn’t smart and that he doesn’t teach the kids, but you should hear him when he talks about these astronomic facts. He is positively giddy. You can't help but be interested too.

Currently he is following the decent of Jules Verne spacecraft as it hurdles toward earth to crash “harmlessly” into the south Pacific Ocean.

The other day he was particularly smitten with PHA’s. He came home asking us if we knew what PHA’s were. Even after our game of coming up with acronyms for STC, we couldn’t think of one reasonable answer to his question. We then heard all about Potentially Hazardous Asteroids and LD's (Lunar Distances).

It is funny because this is his first foray into the homeschooling mindset: learning for the sake of knowing instead of learning to pass a test. He has found it as contagious as we have.

If you have been inspired by his interest too, check out SpaceWeather.com & Satellite Tracker.

The Romance of School to Homeschoolers

2008-09-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

Interestingly, when we pulled the kid’s from school 5 years ago, I found that my DD started to romanticize school. It is kind of like when you talk about an old boyfriend. When you tell someone about him years later, instead of talking about all the horrible things that caused you to break up with him, you espouse wonderful dates, his handsome stature, and other romantic details. This is what DD did with school. I was convinced about this when she told me that she even missed lunch. She used to hate lunch. She never had time to eat. The cafeteria would echo horribly and she would complain about headaches almost daily. This romanticism continues to today. She would now be in 8th grade and is blissfully thinking of hanging with her friends and leisurely going from class to class. She thinks of middle school like she experienced 1st & 2nd grade. She has never tried to get to a class in a three minute break. She has never been forced to sit in a class with a horrible teacher. She has never been lost or confused on a subject and begged for help, trying to learn a subject before a test that accounted for 50% of her grade. Sometimes I wish I could put her in school for two weeks so that she could see what the requirements really are, see how teacher’s deal with late assignments, and see how much of her day would be eaten up in meaningless requirements. I think part of this romanticism comes from peer pressure and part from the media. School is seen as the hub of all social activity; sometimes overtly like in Saved by the Bell or the Secret Life of the American Teenager, and sometimes covertly like in Teen Vogue pictures with lockers in the background.

I have heard from some people that have never put their children in school that their children often romanticize the school bus. The kids have never been on the bus so they don’t understand the long rides, the lack of a/c, or the bullying, but instead they see the pretty yellow bus taking kids to an exciting new adventure. The yellow bus is embedded in all of their children’s shows as this wonderful doorway to excitement, knowledge, and a rite of passage. Think of the Magic School Bus.

It is certainly easy to understand why they think so fondly of an ingrained institution: They hear about the great things, but have never experienced the bad. It is a little harder to figure out how to clear their rose colored glasses without getting them caught up in the system, which is not all that they believe it to be. Of course on the other hand, I have DS who would be ok if he never walks into a school again. Even in his short time in school, Kindergarten and 1st grade, he experienced the "bad" of school and he never wants to experience it again.

A Study Guide to Survivor - The Beginning Season 17: Episode 1

2008-09-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

Our homeschooling will take an interesting turn starting today: Survivor, the show has started. Unfortunately, we were all busy tonight and did not see the whole show, but even in the few minutes we had the show on, a fun fact came up. DS said, “Oh, I’m glad I’m not there right now.” They were showing one of the contestants sitting on the edge of the water with a hippo nearby. DS knows that interestingly hippos are very dangerous and have been recorded as killing humans. He also knows from one our visits at a zoo that Hippos projectile poop and spread it even farther by flipping their tail (there are various YouTube videos to show this phenomena if you are interested – you can’t quite get the full effect because you miss the beautiful scent, but I’m sure you can imagine.).

This will be just the beginning of our exploration. We will have to find Gabon in Africa and research the culture, habitat, animals, etc. Maybe we’ll have to create a little study guide for the season. I’m sure DD would volunteer for that job.

You could always start with some geography games placing African nations in there right locations on Sheppard Software.
You could listen to music from Gabon.
You can color in the Gabon flag.
Perhaps you could even have the kids pretend that you are going to travel to Gabon and ask them to find out about currency, language, weather, etc.

I did not get an opportunity to really see the whole episode, so when I do perhaps I can add some more ideas. In the meantime, you may want to check out their website.

Some people may not feel that Survivor is appropriate for young children. My DD has watched it since the first episode and yes there were a few uncomfortable issues, but we have always watched it as a family and discussed things that we agreed with in the show and things that we didn’t. We have been able to have many interesting ethical discussions and a few conversations about the difference between real life and cyber life. Fortunately, the advent of On Demand and the internet has helped alleviate some of DD’s stress over choosing tv over real life. Now I try to use her tv addiction to encourage learning. II also find it to be a great behavioral persuader. There is nothing that gets DD to rethink her behavior faster than the threat of loosing tv privledges on the night of Survivor.

If your child is like DD, let’s ban together and come up with some activities that can expand their learning while they follow their interests.

Website Wednesday - Newton's Laws of Physics

2008-09-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

Newton’s Laws of Physics – Today’s subject is as much for me as it is for you. I just scored DD’s Science test and we need to understand this subject matter better. So I’m hoping a little web work will help.

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/newton.html - This NASA site has an explanation of the laws as well as grade appropriate activities.

http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/newtlaws/u2l1a.html - This in depth site will help mom and child understand the concepts.

http://www.physics4kids.com/files/motion_laws.html - When you think you understand the concepts, read and review this site, and then take the quiz.

Here’s a rather inventive description of the laws:

A Game to Play in the Car

2008-09-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

As we drove to drop off our food entries at the fair. DS asked what “STC” stood for on a stop sign. I had no idea what he was talking about. I expected to look over and see some kind of graffiti on the sign, but what he was talking about was the tiny little imprint on the very bottom edge of the stop sign. Leave it to DS to notice the smallest possible thing. Something I hadn’t noticed on a stop sign ever. I’m not sure if it was the acronym of the company that made the sign or the department that might authorize the sign, but of course in a homeschooling car, it led to a game of acronyms:

Save the Camel
Sterile Turkeys Captured
Stalking Talking Computers
Sell the Car (see DD’s post about my car)
Stop the Car
Soon to Collide
See the Color
Swerve Toward Chimpanzees
Sweep to Clean
Service to Country
Stop Talking Computer
See Turbo Chameleon
Spend the Cash
Spare the Child
Shoot to Chill (we’ll it should be kill, but we all know that is not nice)
Spend Time Carefully
Savor the Candy
Sink the Canoe
Sift the cranium
Shake The Caboose
Swim to Canada
Shuck the Corn (which pathetically started as Suck the Corn, but we decided Shuck might be a better word choice)
Service Tall Candles
Supply Treasured cookbooks
Sing Traditional Carols
Silly Trained Chimpanzee

One of them was “Stop Talking C”. DD did not appreciate that very much and was bummed that no one else had an initial that she could use in an acronym.
This is a great silly game that can be played with any letters you might find and is a great way to work on synonyms, adjective, and brainstorming.

Let us know if you come up with any that are really funny.

Homeschooling Can Wait Until After the Fair

2008-09-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

In our hometown, all things wait for the fair. In most towns, people get back from the summer schedule after Labor Day, but in our town everything waits for “the fair”. Nothing really begins until after the fair. You have summer and fall, and in between an interlude called fair time that lasts almost the entire month of September. It is our town’s Brigadoon: time stops and doesn’t start again until the big tent is taken down.

Our kids await each August for the booklet with all the possible crafts and cooking that they can enter. They pick a few projects and a few food categories to enter. We then have to plan to create and get their projects there on time. Today is one of those days. Last week, the crafts and photos had to be dropped off, but tomorrow is the day for the cooking to be dropped off. Needless to say, DD has taken over the kitchen and is created her one crust pie and getting ready to begin the Junior baking contest recipe. DS can’t wait to finish his math so that he can cook up a batch of oatmeal Craisin cookies (he doesn’t really like raisins so he wanted to try it with dried cranberries). The neat thing this year is that while DD is cooking, I’m out here on the computer and working with DS on his math. She is doing it all on her own. I will admit that it is difficult for me to release enough to say that what it is it is and not want to oversee everything she is doing. We decided this morning that I have a very specialized form of OCD, it focuses directly at her. When she has a hair out of place it haunts me. If she is making a pie that has even a small issue, I will want fix it and make it perfect. So it is taking me a lot to stay away while she works. I know that she feels very adult working on her own. This year if she gets a ribbon, it will be all hers. DS still needs a little helping hand.

DS has already spent all weekend at that fair putting in community service with his Boy Scout troop and will be back tonight putting out recycling barrels for water and soda bottles. Tomorrow, we will be dropping off the food entries. DH and the kids will all be back down there on Thursday and maybe another time or two in between. The fair certainly messes with our regular schedule, but at the same time in gives us reason to explore some of our other talents. We’ll get back to our regular schedule “after the fair”.

Elections at the Dining Room Table

2008-09-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

I came by an interesting question on www.thehomeschoollounge.com regarding how we were going to teach about the election. My answer was:

“I hate to say that we don't teach it. We live it. I have not set aside special time per se, but they watch the conventions with us. We discuss it at dinner. Fortunately, DS was just working on the Citizenship in the Nation Boy Scout Badge which helped him to understand a little more about the process. Also, as I have run for office twice locally they have had firsthand experience with the ins and outs of an election. While I don't recommend running for office necessarily, anyone can get involved in a campaign on the local, state, or national level.”

Often the dining room table is the most instructive time of the day. There are no specific lesson plans, but instead good, open conversation about current events. Certainly recently, the election is a big part of the conversation. My father finds this to be a concern because people of other opinions may not be at our dining room table and therefore perhaps we are in a way biasing our children. I have tried to counter this by having them talk to other people as well. My mother would never tell us who she was voting for. I take the opposite approach. We talk, discuss, argue the issues. While my husband and I probably dominate the discussion now, we respect what the kids have to say and I'm sure it is not in the too distant future that they may take over the conversation.

During the primaries, DD started tracking the delegates for each state and I’m sure she will do a similar thing on Election Day. We will definitely watch the debates and the children have seen several interviews with each candidate. DD also likes political humor so she has to make sure that she knows enough about what is going on so that she can understand the jokes. DS isn’t as interested but definitely hears the conversation around him. I think just like any other subject some people will be more interested than others.

Both of them really received some insider information when I ran for office and while not everyone will want to run for office, everyone can help on a campaign. Find a candidate on the municipal, state, or national level that you believe in and offer to help on their campaign. Candidates will usually be very receptive to the help and you will get an education that you could never find in a book.

What are you doing to teach about the election?

What does your home school look like?

2008-09-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

I love finding a fellow homeschooler to talk to. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak at length with a friend who I knew homeschooled but with whom I rarely have had a chance to talk to about it. It was extra special because she took me down to their school. We don’t have anything nearly so formal – our school work occurs at the dining room table, on my bed, or on the couch. There is no dedicated section of our house. In their house the cellar is their school. As soon as I walked down the stairs, I knew why Paula and I got along so well – books, books, books. She had shelves and shelves of books. She also had set up work stations for the kids and had a white board to work on and a desk area for herself. It was awesome. I’m not sure that we will ever go that way, but I sure admire her set up.

What does your homeschooling area look like? Is there even a designated area?

Fun Fact Friday - First Ladies

2008-09-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

Today's topic was inspired by DD blurting out fact number one as she worked on her homework. I'm sure that we could go on and on with these facts, but hopefully these interesting facts will just inspire you to continue the journey:

Rutherford B. Hayes’ wife, Lucy Webb Hayes, had a college degree. She was the first among the national first ladies to have one.
- LifePac, Grade 8, Unit 6, page 65

Caroline Harrison, 1832-1892Benjamin Harrison’s wife was the first to use electricity and have a Christmas tree in the White House. She was the second first lady to die in the White House.
http://www.firstladies.org/FacinatingFacts.htm

Elizabeth Monroe became a popular figure in France, where she was affectionately called la belle Americane because of her beauty and style. . . Their youngest daughter, Maria, was the first presidential child to be married in the White House, in a small, private ceremony. . . The couple supplied some of their own furniture to the government because the White House was almost empty when they moved in. . . Nine pieces remain in the White House today.
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/firstSpouse/?action=monroe Note: The USmint has a wonderful array of teacher resources - not just related to money, but also history, math, and other subjects.

Dolly Madison prevented a valuable painting of George Washington from being destroyed by British soldiers during the War of 1812.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies

“I do not believe that being first lady should prevent me
from expressing my views . . .”
—Betty Ford
http://www.aetv.com/class/firstladies/index.jsp

The first Thanksgiving dinner was hosted by this First Lady.
Sara Polk. Sarah Childress was born in 1803. She helped her husband during his political career. Sara was a devout Presbyterian and as such would not let anyone drink or play cards in the White House. During the inaugural ball, she would attend but not dance. Sarah would not let any business be conducted on the Sabbath while they were in the White House. Sara's home was not destroyed during the Civil War because it was deemed neutral by the Union and Confederacy. Sarah Childress Polk remained in 'Polk Place' until her death in 1891. http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Behind-Every-Great-Man---155170.html

Homeschool Speedbump - Telephone Calls

2008-09-18T03:19:00.000-07:00

Today as DD and I were slugging through her math, the phone kept ringing. Poor DD needed my full attention and I kept being diverted by the ringing and then the ensuing conversation. We did finally finish, but it took at least twice as long as it should have. I have always joked that one day you will find me living on an island without a phone. Ironically, one of my friends has done just that. She didn’t really move to an island, but instead created an island of her home by turning of the phone ringer. As she joked, “I figured I was an adult. I could take control of this technology.” I’m not sure that I can turn it off permanently like she has, but I certainly could turn it off for a couple of hours.

Does anyone else have creative ideas to control the outside world for the betterment of your “school” day?

I must also tell you that before she had turned off her ringer, she used to tell people that did not understand that she had to cut the call short to get back to teaching, “Would you like me to call your child’s teacher right now?” Usually they would get the hint after that.

Mythbusters Science

2008-09-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite shows is Mythbusters. It is a great combination of Science and the explosions. A recent episode centered around a very simple idea that had been sent to them about the force needed to seperate two phone books that had their pages overlapping. Here is the viewers video that was sent to Mythbusters to spark the idea . . .

This is a great project to test your kids with because it just seems impossible. It can be a great jump off for conversations about force and friction. While I don't recommend trying to rip it apart with cars, you could make for a very interesting tug of war.

What have your favorite Mythbusters episodes been? Have you done any great experiments after the fact with your kids?

What Does A Homeschooler Look Like

2008-09-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Can you believe after 5 years people are still surprised to find out that we homeschool? It is particularly funny to see their reaction because I can almost hear the other side of what they allow themselves to say out loud. “But your kids seem so normal.” I always wish that I could ask them to draw a picture of a homeschooler. We used to do this with young Girl Scouts when before our first campout. We would have them draw a picture of a latrine. Since other than camping the work “latrine” is almost never used, the pictures that the kids came up with were priceless. They were then shocked to find out what it really meant. I figure the representation of “homeschooler” would be very similar. From my experience, we would either be drawn as ultra-conservative, rigid, and reserved

or as clog wearing, granola eating, creative hippies .

They would be very shocked if I showed them my average joe family or very outgoing Jehovah’s witness friends (who broke some of my own stereotypes) or my artist friend whose husband is a Ferrier or the Doctor and his housewife and their two boys.

What do you think people “see” when they hear the word “homeschooler”?

Words that You Should Never Speak to Your Children

2008-09-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

DD and I are watching the Lifetime movie Coco Chanel. DD is sitting beside me designing away. It is transporting me back to a day when I would draw and draw away. Ideas swirling around in my head. If I do not say so myself, I had wonderful ideas. I started to think; perhaps I would follow this interest toward a career. When I finally got up the courage to tell my parents my plans, she replied plainly, “If that is all you want to do with yourself, why did you bother getting good grades?” It was that day that I put away the idea, and followed in the expected path.

I don’t expect that this same conversation will occur with my children, but it will be similar, just different enough for me not to recognize it when it is here. I pray that I never squelch their dreams, but instead help them strengthen their wings.

Fun Fact Friday - I'm not a label. I am a child.

2008-09-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about homeschooling is that your child can be a child and not a label. Teaching / Learning is based on their strengths not their weaknesses.

"Nationally, 1.6 to 2 million people have been diagnosed with ADD and ADHD."
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2004/10/20/news/11159.shtml

"ADHD was first described by Dr. Heinrich Hoffman in 1845."
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/adhd/nimhadhdpub.pdf

This truly surprised me, because I had always heard differently:

"The main finding was that the variation in prevalence associated with the samples’ geographic origin did not fit a pattern consistent with the notion that ADHD is a byproduct of American culture. The North American rate (6.2%) only slightly exceeded the European rate (4.6%). The highest rates emerged from Africa (8.5%) and South America (11.8%). Corroboration comes from a dimensional ADHD scale used in 21 countries. Japanese and Finnish children scored lowest, Jamaican and Thai children scored highest, and American children scored about average (7)."
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/164/6/856

“Dyslexia, a reading disorder that persists despite good schooling and normal or even above-average intelligence, (is) a handicap that affects up to 1 in 5 schoolchildren in the U.S.”

“"The majority of students who get identified with learning disorders get identified between the ages of 11 and 17," says Robert Pasternack, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U.S. Department of Education.”

“Dyslexics are also more likely than nondyslexics to end up in prison. According to Frank Wood, a professor of neurology at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, new research shows that children with dyslexia are also more likely to drop out of school, withdraw from friends and family or attempt suicide.”

My Comment: I found this comment interesting, it leads me to question if the causes of dyslexia causes these affects as well OR is it the social – emotional issues that arise because someone exhibits the symptoms of dyslexia. It would be an interesting study to compare the rates of prison and suicide with children that have dyslexia in the school system compared to the same rates of homeschooled children with dyslexia.

http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/501030908/story.html

"75% - 80% of special education students identified as LD have their basic deficits in language and reading; Source: National Institutes of Health"

"50% of all students in special education in the public schools have learning disabilities -- 2.25 million children; Source: U.S. Dept. of Education 1992"

My Comment: Does this lead anyone else to wonder that maybe this issue is our definition and not our children?
http://ldhope.com/statistics.html

The DSM diagnosis will qualify one for accommodations in school and in standardized testing such as on the GED Tests.

My Comment: And schools get more money for student’s identified as needing additional help – HMMMMMM! They give you a reason to be labeled and they received a financial benefit to have you labeled. Does anyone see a problem here?
http://www.floridatechnet.org/bridges/factsandstats.pdf

Homeschool with an accent on Home not School - Child directed learning

2008-09-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

When we choose to homeschool, sometimes the accent gets stuck on the wrong syllable. We put more emphasis on the school rather than on the home. All activities begin to be an opportunity to teach and learn. The problem is that sometimes this emphasis begins to negatively affect naturally occurring learning; taking educational activities that the kids consider fun and turning them into boring, mandatory lessons.
For example, your daughter loves the new blog you have together. She loves to write posts, but to fulfill her writing for the day; you begin to make them mandatory. Perhaps your son, enjoys learning different phrases in foreign languages to impress his friends, but instead of accepting that this is interesting an most certainly educational in its own right, you require him to write down the phrases and make flash cards to make sure that his pronunciation and spelling are correct.
Who can really blame a parent from pushing and wanting their child do better, especially a parent that is also responsible for the education of their children to the extent that a homeschool parent is? But of all the people to get caught up in the “schooling” ideal and the do better, brighter, more concept, it is the very people who understand that all learning goes beyond school. The very people that understand that learning can be found anywhere, that every interest can be nurtured into a skill, and that our individual desires to learn more is stronger than any exterior force.
So as you plan out you homeschool year, ignore your impulse to organize everything. Make sure your kids have interests of their own that they can develop without your input or oversight. Encourage them to explore and try new things. Try, despite your inclination, to let them develop these interests on their own without your oversight. Only comment to encourage or to help as requested. Let them put the accent back on the Home and away from the school.

Website Wednesday - Homeschool resources

2008-09-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

My favorite Christmas gift magazine came in the mail today. It is packed with terrific ideas for “educational” toys. I have ordered from Museum Tour several times and have always been satisfied with their service and the products that I received. They also have some neat educational activities on their site like: detarnishing old pennies, making your own ice cream, and creating balloon cars.

Another great website for easy, fun activities is activities is PBS’ Zoom. My friend, Jenn, and I actually used many of these activities to create a science co-op.

My favorite homeschooling magazine is Home Education magazine. Yes, I’m slightly biased since they have published my writing, but I have adored their magazine prior to ever writing for them. If you hurry you can take advantage of their current special $20.00 for 6 issues instead of the regular $32.

We use portions of the Alpha Omega curriculum. It has worked well as the core of our homeschool lessons. I don’t hesitate to add to the base Alpha Omega subjects and occasionally I may slightly alter something that they have included. Basically though, Alpha Omega forms the support post which all else is hung. Particularly, we use their Alpha Omega, from Christian Book Distributors, or from Amazon.

One Day at a Time - A Day Makes all the Difference

2008-09-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, DS made me want to write an article called, “Can I have some Ritalin, Please!” I could not get DS to focus. He was anxious and easily distractible. Trying to get through our work was like pulling teeth.

Today, a new day has dawned. He is rocking on his work. He has even stopped to ask extra questions. And then was able to explain the answer in correct geometric terms.

“Mom, if you have two lines next to each other,” he placed a pencil and a plastic piece next to each other, “are they still parallel?”

As always I tried to understand the question and answer it. “Yes.” I just thought he wondered if parallel only worked in one plane i.e. on top instead of next to. “It doesn’t matter if they go this way or that. They are still parallel.”

“No, Mom, I know that, but are the lines parallel if they are different sizes?”

“Well, we need to start the conversation using proper terms. Is this,” I held up the pencil, “a line?”

A light bulb went off in his head, “No, it’s a line segment. A line goes on in both directions forever. A line segment has two endpoints. If it were a ray it would end on one side and go vomph on the other.” He pointed to the ceiling.

He gets it.

Of course to balance the positive exciting portion of my day, math with dd turned into a disaster. We did recover, but trying to get her to listen sometimes can be quite frustrating. When her answer is not correct, she will often go back, make a quick change or two and quasi guess at the answer. If it’s not 2, how about -2.

I tried to get her to back up and go through the process. I tried to get her to understand the process, but I could not get through her. This was not an issue of this specific problem but of the process in general. I blew up and walked away.

When we finally had both calmed down enough to talk again, I tried to explain that she would probably never see that exact same math problem again, but she would do the same process over and over again. She apologized for her behavior. I told her that there were three things I expected as her teacher:

1. Respectful Attention
2. Thoughtful Questioning
3. Patient Listening

Being that she was pulled out of school in 2nd grade, she has had no experience with a school teacher that leaves you behind, while the class moves on and no idea how lucky she was to have a teacher who was completely individualizing their program to suit her needs. After her apology, we were at least able to finish the section, but I’m sure it won’t be the last outbreak.

Yesterday, I was looking for Ritalin today for a Valium. Homeschooling is nothing if it isn’t exciting. Wouldn't it be great if they both had a good day on the same day? I don't want to think of the flip side of that though.

Library Lock-in

2008-09-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, I’ll go from writing about too much to do to being excited about one of the activities. We received an invitation to a Lock-in at the local library. The homeschooling community is going to have a sleepover with literary scavenger hunts, a video game area, movies, authors’ reading their work. As Regenia said, “Don’t plan to get too much sleep.” I wasn’t too sure how the kids were going to react, but both said they were in so I have signed us up.

Of course since our group is well known for its cooperative management, I now have to think of some activity that might blend with what they have planned. I’ll have to really think on this one.

One of the great things is that it will cost me a whopping $15. $5 for each of us and that will cover the cost of pizza. I love when cheapness collides with fun and education.

I encourage you to find a homeschooling group if you haven’t already. If you have found one but did not mesh with it, I encourage you to look again. We are very lucky that we found a great group right from the beginning.

Homeschooling Schedule or Over-schedule

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

It is hard to imagine when you first choose to homeschool that you can become too busy. No one mentions this as a problem when you first consider homeschooling. Most people warn you of seclusion and isolating your children. Clearly the people that say this have never homeschooled. When we first started homeschooling five years ago, we fell into this trap. And since most homeschool classes / activities are not held in one place at one time, but instead are spread miles apart and are limited only to the spaces in your calendar, we were busier than we ever were in public school. After about 18 months, working slowly started to trim down our schedule. For the most part we ceased doing purely “homeschooling” activities, but instead remained very active in Scouts and church and continued to do interesting things as a family. When we would run into our old homeschooling friends, I would hear how much they all missed us. I missed them too, but I did not miss the craziness, that is part of what I was trying to get away from. When I left work in April, our family finally seemed to meet a reasonable homeschool regular schedule. I’m not implying that the last five years were not reasonable. We did make it through, but that was exactly it: Every day we made it through. Finally, after leaving work, life was calmer and we could better get through their studies and include some fun activities.

Anyway, last week we went to a Not Back to School Picnic with our regular group. It was so good to see everyone and get caught up . . . but, I could see it happening again. “Would you like to . . . ““We have . . . .” “We can make room for you . . .” Whoa, whoa, whoa, I wanted to scream. Let’s enjoy our time together. We’ll probably see each other more (at least until we move), but I like not having to do something every day. I like being able to go with my husband instead of being chained to my calendar (I have enough appointments that already do that).

So I warn you that are new to homeschooling: Beware of the minute / hour steeling activity overload. The activities can be very tempting, but you may soon find yourself spinning. For those of you that already homeschool, I empower you to say, “No thank you. We already have an appointment that day,” knowing that your appointment is with yourself and your kids.

HBO special on Tourette’s Syndrome

2008-09-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

If you want to help your children understand the feelings of those that are “different” than others. HBO is airing “I HAVE TOURETTE’S, BUT TOURETTE’S DOESN’T HAVE ME”. This 30 minute documentary lets your children step into the lives of children suffering with the syndrome. Because it is spoken directly from the mouths of kids their own age (8-13), they hear the message. My son was impacted deeply by their statements of feeling different. He could identify with some of their OCD symptoms. While he doesn’t have OCD, he can easily be distracted by things around him. He could identify with the boy who spoke of getting hyper focused on an item in his line of sight and having to remove it in order to focus on the item at hand. The kids spoke eloquently about trying to prevent their tics and how it made their body feel. They discussed the pro's and con's of medication. And one child showed his ability to play classical piano flawlessly without one sign of the syndrome, as he called it being in the zone. I would recommend this movie not just for its message about Tourette’s specifically, but about feeling different in general. This would be a great jump off for a family conversation about bullying or being bullied and about disabilities and gifts.

Fun Fact Friday - School

2008-09-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

Since we're off to a Not Back to School Party, we thought you would enjoy some school facts and be joyful that they don't apply to you.

school 1

NOUN:
1. An institution for the instruction of children or people under college age.
2. An institution for instruction in a skill or business: a secretarial school; a karate school.
3.
a. A college or university.
b. An institution within or associated with a college or university that gives instruction in a specialized field and recommends candidates for degrees.
c. A division of an educational institution constituting several grades or classes: advanced to the upper school.
d. The student body of an educational institution.
e. The building or group of buildings housing an educational institution.
4. The process of being educated formally, especially education constituting a planned series of courses over a number of years: The children were put to school at home. What do you plan to do when you finish school?
5. A session of instruction: School will start in three weeks. He had to stay after school today.
6.
a. A group of people, especially philosophers, artists, or writers, whose thought, work, or style demonstrates a common origin or influence or unifying belief: the school of Aristotle; the Venetian school of painters.
b. A group of people distinguished by similar manners, customs, or opinions: aristocrats of the old school.
7. Close-order drill instructions or exercises for military units or personnel.
8. Australian A group of people gathered together for gambling.
TRANSITIVE VERB:
schooled , school�ing , schools
1. To educate in or as if in a school.
2. To train or discipline: She is well schooled in literature. See Synonyms at teach.
ADJECTIVE:
Of or relating to school or education in schools: school supplies; a school dictionary.
________________________________________
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English scole, from Old English sc l, from Latin schola, scola, from Greek skhol ; see segh- in Indo-European roots

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/school

“Every 29 seconds another student gives up on school, resulting in more than one million American high school students who drop out every year.”
http://www.silentepidemic.org/epidemic/statistics-facts.htm

“The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23, 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts, making it the oldest public school in the United States”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Latin_School

“1639 - The first free American public school, the Mather school, was founded in Dorchester, a neighborhood of Boston.”
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3terminal&L=3&L0=Home&L1=Constituent+Services&L2=Kid's+Corner&sid=Agov3&b=terminalcontent&f=kids_corner_state_firsts&csid=Agov3

“According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were 98,905 K-12 public schools across 14,598 school districts in the 2005-2006 school year.”

“Nationally, the number of students per teacher was 15.7 in 2006. A comparison across states shows that the number of students per teacher can range from 10.9 to 23.6.”

“More than 49 million children attend public schools in the United States.”
http://www.givekidsgoodschools.org/main/learn.cfm?Category=Public_School&Section=Five_Things

Unit Study - Dear America: A Line in the Sand

2008-09-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

Dear America – A Line in the Sand: The Alamo Diary of Lucinda Lawrence (Gonzales, Texas 1836)
By Sherry Garland
Age: 11-14

Additional Reading:
Illustrated Alamo 1836: A Photographic Journey by Mark Lemon, Craig r. Covner
The Alamo by Tamara L. Britton
Remember the Alamo: Texians, Tejanos, and Mexicans Tell Their Stories by Paul Robert Walker
Alamo: An Interactive History Adventure by Amie J. Leavitt, Mickie Ross

For adults to read along:
Three Roads to the Alamo: The Lives and Fortunes of David Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis by William C. Davis

Field Trips:
The Alamo – San Antonio, TX
Goliad State Park & Historic Site – Goliad, TX
Town of Gonzales – Gonzales, TX
Sam Houston Memorial Museum – Huntsville, TX
Crockett Tavern Museum – Morristown,TN
Pioneer Farms – Austin, TX

Video:
The Alamo – DVD
PBS: American Experience: Remember the Alamo
Discovery Channel: The Alamo: The Five Hours that Changed History

Websites:
http://www.thealamo.org/main.html - The official website of the Alamo
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alamo/index.html - The PBS site laying out the film and related historical information. Includes teacher lesson plans, maps, and timelines.
http://www.shsu.edu/~smm_www/index.html - Includes recipes, info on Texan Flags, and pictures from the time period.
http://www.geocities.com/the_tarins@sbcglobal.net/adp/archives/archives.html An extensive history of the mission itself. Include maps, lesson ideas, and lots of detailed history.
http://military.discovery.com/video/alamo.html Video Clips about the Alamo and some of the more famous men lost there.
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/ Learn not just about the Alamo, but the entire history that built Cinda’s state.

Vocabulary:

Ruckus (9/9)
Democracy (9/6 – later)
Delirium (9/20)
Dissidents (9/20)
Dictator (9/22)
Grievances (9/22)
Dragoons (9/30)
Ford (9/30)
Fandango (10/2)
Presidio (10/6)
Premonitions (10/27)
Ornery (11/15)
Cahoots (11/15)
Morale (12/3)
Harboring (12/6)
Forlorn (12/23)
Puncheon (12/24)
Churned (2/1)
Joshing (2/4)
Adobe (2/8 – later)
Garrisoned (3/6)
Palisades (3/6)
Sacristy (3/13)

Arts & Crafts:
-There is a brawl over a whittling knife. Learn knife safety and try whittling something yourself. (If you are not comfortable with your children using a jackknife, try using a plastic knife and either a bar of soap or a bar of canning wax). (9/10)
-Make homemade soap.
-Try your hand at creating a braided rug (12/24)
-“Mama started a new quilt. She let (Lucinda) choose the color for the border.” Draw and plan out a quilt. Depending on your interest and talent create your imagination. Create it with cut out paper, perhaps create just one square of your plan, or if you are really daring, create your entire quilt.
-See if you can find a farm, yarn store, or museum that cards and spins fibers. Visit and see how it is done. See if you can help with part of the process.

Writing:
-Lucinda says on September 15th that her biggest fears are Comanche raids, rattlesnakes, and black widow spiders. Do a little research on each. Which of these would be your biggest fear and why? Be sure to support your position.
-Lucinda read an editorial bout how cruel Santa Anna is. What is the difference between an editorial and a regular newspaper article? Read the editorial page of your newspaper for a week. Choose one of the editorials to respond to. Write a letter to the editor about it.
-On January 6th, there is a conversation between two neighbors, Wilis, and Papa in which one of the neighbors said that they are going to move back to the states. “I’ve got no business fighting in a war. Why, I’ve got a wife and six children. What would they do if I got kilt?” Willis stood up suddenly and says right to the main’s face, “Well, if something ain’t worth fighting and dying for, then I say it ain’t worth having.” He stomped off. Papa says, “Was I ever that young?” the neighbor says, “IF wars were lift up to old codger like me and you, Aaron, I reckon armies would be put out of business.” Take either Aaron and Papa’s side or Willis’. Who do you think is correct and why? Write a persuasive essay to convince others of your opinion.
-Cinda compares the Mexicans march on the Alamo to David and Goliath. Reread the story of David and Goliath in the Bible. Decide if this is a reasonable comparison. Write an essay to show the similarities or differences.
-On December 6th, Cinda’s family finds out that San Antonio is being overrun. The family fears for Uncle Isaac’s family. Cinda tells Green that Uncle Isaac will put up a sign to that their house will not get attacked. She wishes that she could believe her own lie. Is lying ever ok? If so, when and why? If not, explain why not.
-On December 20th, Mittie and Cinda discussed what to give their families for Christmas given the many shortages. Reread this entry. Write an entry in your diary about all the things that you are thankful for.

English:
-Cinda memorized a sonnet as they worked on school work trying to pass the time as the Mexican’s invaded their town. Find out what defines a sonnet. Then choose one. Memorize it and recite it.
-On December 18th, Lemuel brought home a black crow. Cinda is concerned that maybe this is a bad omen. Does this foreshadow what is to come? What other foreshadowing did you notice in the book?

History:
-Research one of the following people and introduce him / her to others through either a power point presentation, a character monologue, or a traditional report:

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
Stephen F. Austin
William Travis
Davy Crockett
Sam Houston
Col. Burleson
Ben Milam
General Cos

-Comanche Indians are mentioned several times in the book. Where was the Comanche territory as compared to Gonzales and the Alamo? Find out about the nation’s traditions and culture. Share what you found with others.
-Find a picture of the “Come and Take It” Flag. What did this flag stand for?
-The Alamo was once a mission. Find out what a mission is. Create a model of the Alamo.
Cinda was very excited about having mistletoe above her doorway for Christmas. Research the tradition of mistletoe. Where does it originate from?

Government:
-Lucinda’s father is frustrated by reports that Santa Anna wants the people of Gonzales to turn over their disabled 6 lbs cannon. He says, “ This is the beginning of the disarming of the colonies. If we give up the cannon, next thing you know, Santa Anna will want our hunting rifles, then our pistols, then our Bowie knives, then our whittling knives.” Why does this bother him? How does this relate to the 2nd amendment of the US Constitution?
Extra Credit: Find out where the term Bowie knife comes from.

Science/Technology:
-Lucinda’s family picks cotton. Find out about the cotton plant. What part do they use to make clothe? Make a thumbnail board (picture board) that describes the process.
-Mr. Roe died of smallpox, as did some of Cinda’s cousins in Nachitoches, LA. Research smallpox. What are the symptoms, causes, cure,etc?
-On December 18th, Lemuel brought a black crow home with a broken wind and cared for it. Find an animal rehabilitation hospital near you. Arrange a tour to see the work that they do.

Cooking:
-Due to the war, food was very scarce for Lucinda’s family. Much of what they ate they had scavenged for. Plan to go pick food at a local orchard. Cook something with the food you picked.
-On November 5th, there is a very descriptive passage about cutting apart a pig for food. Look in a cookbook to find all the different meat that can be cut from one animal. What are the differences in the cuts of meat? What should you consider when you choose a cut of meat?

Geography:
-On a blackline map of Texas, mark at least five town locations and two rivers that exist in the book.

Music:
-Listen to some fiddle playing. Imagine that Davey Crocket is playing for you.

Physical Fitness:
-Find a pair of castanets. Try playing them and dancing to some Mexican music.
-Several dances are mentioned in the book: the Virginia reel, the cotillion, the waltz, and the polka. Learn one and perform it for others.

Mission / Action:
-The Volunteers were often stealing from the townspeople because they were so hungry. Hunger is still a problem today for many reasons. Research hunger in the world today. Find a way to help and do it.

Website Wednesday - The Alamo

2008-09-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.thealamo.org/main.html - The official website of the Alamo

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alamo/index.html - The PBS site laying out the film and related historical information. Includes teacher lesson plans, maps, and timelines.

http://www.shsu.edu/~smm_www/index.html - Includes recipes, info on Texan Flags, and pictures from the time period.

http://www.geocities.com/the_tarins@sbcglobal.net/adp/archives/archives.html An extensive history of the mission itself. Include maps, lesson ideas, and lots of detailed history.

http://military.discovery.com/video/alamo.html Video Clips about the Alamo and some of the more famous men lost there.

Look for a Unit Study related to the Alamo on Thursday.

Appreciating Art While Feeding the World

2008-09-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

DS and I got caught up in my own post yesterday. We have been enjoying the art section of Free Rice. We started on the vocabulary, but then moved our way over. Vocab can only hold his attention for so long, but pictures, paintings, or anything visual can hold his attention forever. This section was kind of neat because it had classic paintings and you were supposed to identify the artist from the four listed. DS caught on right away. He was not familiar at all with the artists, but once he realized that you could identify the artist by looking at their style, choice of subject, and color pallet, he was hooked. This was right up his alley. He is the dear boy who while still in diapers pulled all my cans out and reorganized them by height and volume for fun. When he was younger, he would not eat his m&m’s until they were in order and matchboxes weren’t for driving, they were tools to classify and organize.

Of course, in the beginning it was easiest for him to identify Vincent Van Gogh

with his deep strokes and repetitive subject matter, but then we moved on to Monet, Michelangelo, and Rembrandt. He particularly liked Franz Marc,

a Picasso style but with wildlife. He also asked for a Van Gogh print for his room. (He is really becoming my kind of man – a Kenny G. listening Van Gogh fan who likes long walks in the woods – boy will he be able to write a personal ad one day). He also quickly caught on that we could identify Georges Seurat by his use of dots and Pieter Bruegel the Elder by his use of detail.

We also cheated a little or you may call it using your resources wisely when we found out that some of the pictures were signed in the corner. Albrecht Durer’s signature was the most interesting (look in the plaque just below the horse's lifted hoof - there is a "D" inside a rough "A")

I guess it is time to head back to the Wadsworth Anthenum or maybe a trip on the T into Boston.

Homeschool with Heart Means Helping Others

2008-09-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a game that you and the kids can have fun playing while helping others at the same time. The game includes vocabulary, world capitols, language, art, multiplication. Free Rice asks questions which get more difficult based on correct answers. If you get a question wrong, it reappears again to reinforce the knowledge. And while you play, grains of rice are being calculated and donated to the UN World Food Program. A simple and fun way to become more educated and change the world at the same time.

For those that are interested in learning more about the poverty side of things, you can follow the links in the FAQ section and learn about poverty issues around the world.

Passing the Hunter Safety Course

2008-08-31T19:37:00.000-07:00

They did it. All three of them, my husband, daughter, and son, passed their hunters course. I expected my husband to. After quizzing my daughter, I was sure she was going to. But with all my DS’s reading issues, I just wasn’t sure. The test was 100 questions long: 50 true/ false, 50 multiple choice. Frankly, I wasn’t sure he would even make it through reading it all and I know a year and a half ago there is no way he could of. Today not only did he read it, he received an 84% on the test.

As any of you who homeschool know, we are all very confident on the outside about what we do, but inside we worry if we have made a mistake. This was a great test for me to see that they could both survive outside my extended womb.

Of course my husband points out that we have now just gotten both of our children certified to carry weapons, but I have been very pleased with both of their responsibility in this area. And as a mom who grew up without weapons around, I have been impressed with both their shooting ranges safety and now the hunter’s course safety focus. Also, I know they don’t have the combo to the safe.

Homeschooling - Vacation, a Practical Study.

2008-08-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

Practical experience – The books have been put away for two days so that we can visit family up at the beach. But certainly the learning did not stop. At low tide, as the water retreated leaving long fingerlings of seeping water trying to reunite eith the ocean. DS decided to alter nature. He made paths and channels, redirecting the water this way and that. He watched how the water pooled and erosion built mini cliffs and fjords. We discussed sea level as water began coming up from the bottom of his creation instead of brought by waves. Also, DH and DS experimented with liquefaction as they agitated the already saturated soil creating quicksand. DS & DD looked like they were making wine and stomp, stomp, stomped getting pulled deeper and deeper.

DD has been reading leisurely and is currently playing dominoes on the front porch. Her map reading could have even gotten us here 30 minutes earlier.

Both have been playing endlessly in the waves. DS has wondered why there are mover waves at low tide than high, but the waves are bigger at high than low.

We have contemplated the idea of a flat world and looked at the horizon to see where once it was though that boats fell off the edge. What bravery it must have taken to breech that edge.

Vacations, I believe, are the seed, the question, the ignition to so much learning. Vacations are a homeschoolers delight (and sine the kids around here have gone back to school it is beautifully quiet – maybe I really am for year round schooling). They are the fodder for weeks and months of future study.

Website Wednesday - Eric Carle

2008-08-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

www.eric-carle.com
The Eric Carle Official Website. There are wonderful videos of how he creates his work, incredible teaching ideas of how to use his work, and other interesting tid-bits.

www.picturebookart.org
The Eric Carle Museum website. It is located in Amherst, MA if you are interested in visiting personally.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/EricCarlePhotoProducts.jsp
Create cards, invitations, and books using a combination of your photos and Eric Carle’s artwork.

http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/carle
Includes short video interviews with Eric Carle.

http://www.npr.org/programs/watc/features/2007/jul/ericcarle_slideshow/index.html
A video interview with Eric Carle.

http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=549
Some unique ideas of how to work with Eric Carle’s work. Even an online collage making website ( which can be reached directly using http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/collagemachine2.htm )

Volunteering for Homeschooling

2008-08-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

Part of my day today involved trekking DD back and forth to the Library. She has been volunteering countless hours at the Library reshelving movies, readings to youngens, and tracking summer reading of the patrons. Volunteering has been a great way for her to spread her independent wings. I drop her off and come back a few hours later. Occasionally, DS and I find a quiet corner to do his work while she works elsewhere in the library. You would be amazed how much less complaining occurs when you do your lessons in public. I also appreciate the volunteering because they learn new skills, work with other adults, and fulfill their community obligations. Volunteering also gives teenagers an opportunity to test career possibilities.

Some great places for teens to volunteer include:

Fire department
Ambulance corps
Library
Hospital
Convalescent Home / Veterans Home
Sunday School Program
Food Pantry / Soup Kitchen

If you have ideas about places for teens to volunteer, please let us know.

Unit Study - Eleanor Roosevelt

2008-08-24T06:31:00.000-07:00

Please note that this unit study has more activities than are necessary to complete a study of Eleanor Roosevelt. Please pick and choose activities to meet your needs and interests.

Ages – 12-16

Quotation: “If anyone were to ask me what I want out of life I would say – the opportunity for doing something useful, for in no other way, I am convinced can true happiness be attained” Eleanor Roosevelt

Scripture: ”For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. “ Matthew 25:35-36 (KJV)

Books & Periodicals
Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman
Who was Eleanor Roosevelt? By Gare Thompson

Cobblestone Magazine’s Eleanor Roosevelt edition – The teachers guide to this edition can be found at http://www.cobblestonepub.com/resources/cob8611t.html
Time for Life : Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady of the World

Field Trips
* Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum – Hyde Park, NY
* Arthurdale, WV – the first “New Deal” Homestead Community - http://arthurdalewv.org/
* National First Ladies Library – Canton, OH
* The White House – Washington, DC – special arrangements need to be made well in advance of your trip
* Franklin Delano Roosevelt National Memorial – Washington, DC

Writing Topics:
* How do you think Eleanor’s life may have been different if she had lived today?
* Even Eleanor was concerned about appearance. If you could be beautiful / handsome or smart, which would you choose and why?
* When her husband, as a NY senator, originally came out for the women’s suffragist movement, Eleanor was shocked, “ for I took for granted that men were superior creatures”. Later in her life, she was a staunch supporter of the suffragist movement. What do you account for the change in her position?
* Eleanor Roosevelt is famous for her response to a questioner at one of her public appearances. “Do you think your husband’s illness has affected his mentality?” “I am glad you asked that question. The answer is Yes. Anyone who has gone through great suffering is bound to have greater sympathy and understanding of the problems of mankind.” Do you agree with her assessment? Why or why not? Give specific examples.

History:
* Eleanor’s lineage can be followed back to the foundations of New York itself and to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Do some of your own research about your family. Try to trace your lineage back as far as you can. You may find http://www.rootsweb.com/ & http://www.familysearch.org/ helpful. Ancestry.com is a wonderful resource but it comes at a cost.
* Eleanor’s uncle, Theodore, became President himself. Find at least five things that Theodore’s presidency is known for.
* After Eleanor “came out”, she was enrolled in the Junior League. Find out what the Junior League organization is and what it stands for.
* When Eleanor joined the Consumers League, she became more engaged with issues of the common people. She was appalled when she was introduced to sweatshops and saw child labor for the first time. Do some research about child labor. How was child labor halted in this country? Where is child labor still an issue? Find out how you may help end child labor worldwide.
* Eleanor and Franklin were married on March 17, 1905, St. Patrick’s Day. Find out the history of St. Patrick’s Day.
Read the US’s Declaration of War for WWI on April 6, 1917.
* “What hopes we had that this League would prove the instrument for prevention of future wars,” Eleanor wrote. What is the League of Nations? Does it do what Eleanor and others hoped? * Create a two sided time line, comparing Eleanor and Franklin’s life (put one on each side).
* Choose one of these components of the Great Depression:
- Hoovervilles
- Black Monday
- New Deal
Research and report your findings.
* Eleanor served as a UN delegate after her husband’s death. In fact she was elected chair of the Human Rights Commission. What does this mean? What affect did she have?

Language:
* Eleanor learned French from her nurse and actually spoke French before she spoke English. Learn to count to ten in French and a few other helpful phrases.

Science:
* Anna, Eleanor’s mother, contracted diphtheria after and operation and died at 29 years old. Her brother, Ellie, died of it also. What are the symptoms, cause, and cure of this disease?
* Polio, infantile paralysis, struck Franklin Roosevelt in 1921 and was a major health concern for all Americans at the time. Polio is now considered eradicated from the US. Read about childhood immunizations. What other diseases have we warded off through immunizations? What are the world issues related to childhood immunizations?

Literature:
* Eleanor’s father was an alcoholic who fought with boughts of depression. For many years, he was even banned from living with his children. Still Eleanor had a deep need to please him. Eleanor once memorized and recited Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s "The Song of Hiawatha". Read the poem. Memorize a portion and perform it.
* When Eleanor was attending the private school Allenswood, one of the headmistress, Mademoiselle Souvestre, occasionally invited students back to her study to read poems and stories or to discuss current events. In this standard, invite a couple of your friends over to recreate such a poetry reading. Invite each attendee to be prepared to read at least two poems out loud. The poetry can be original or one that is already published.
* Eleanor was an author herself. She wrote for many newspapers and magazines. Indeed she even authored her own syndicated column called “My Day”. Read at least three articles penned by Eleanor. Write a critic of her writings.

Economics:
* Compare today to the 1940’s. Find the prices of at least 5 staples (bread, milk, eggs, etc), an average house, and an average salary back then and today.

Geography:
* Print out a blackline map of the world. As you read about Eleanor’s travels, color in the country on the map (Be sure to find a world map from the time period).
* As Eleanor pushed for women’s rights, she held a woman’s only press conference and flew with women pilot, Amelia Earhart. Use a map to calculate how many miles they flew together from DC to Baltimore.
* In her later life, Eleanor traveled worldwide to places like India, Israel, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Iran, Turkey, and Morocco. Choose one of these countries and create a travel brochure that might entice others to visit these places.

Music:
* Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her membership to the Daughters of the American Revolution when they refused to let Marian Anderson sing at their Constitution Hall in DC. Listen to Marian Anderson’s music.

Public Speaking:
* Eleanor Roosevelt became a very popular public speaker. She hired vocal coaches to help her with the pitch and tremble of her voice. What made her a good speaker was her passion for her subject matter. Research a subject that matters to you. Give an oral presentation persuading people to action on your cause.
* Eleanor’s uncle was Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. Research his Presidency. Pretend to give a press conference on one of the important issues of his Presidency. Be prepared for questions from the press.

Arts & Crafts:
* Eleanor Roosevelt was listed in “the 10 Most Powerful People in Washington” by political commentator, Raymond Clapper. Who do you think the 10 most powerful people in the world are? Create a poster that represents your opinion.
* Find out about fashions of the time period. Create an Eleanor Roosevelt paper doll and show at least three outfits that she may have worn.

Computer Skills:
* Create a power point presentation summarizing al that you have learned. Introduce someone else to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Vocabulary:
* Eleanor lived through both the 1st and 2nd World Wars. Relationships between countries were in flux. Different countries ran their governments in different ways. Look up the following words. Write their definition.

Totalitarianism
Socialism
Fascist
Democratic
Republic
Imperial
Pacifist
Neutrality

Project:
* Eleanor and two of her friends bout a private girl’s school in New York. Eleanor taught American History & English Literature. If you could design your own private school, what would it be like? Be creative. Present your school model in any format you wish. Think about the campus, the faculty, the courses, and the student body.

Missions / Action:
* Eleanor often visited military hospitals to improve moral. Follow in her footsteps. Arrange to visit with patients at a VA hospital.
* Eleanor often worried about people less fortunate than herself. Volunteer to serve at a local soup kitchen.

See Website Wednesday - Eleanor Roosevelt for related websites.

Fieldtrip - Eric Carle Museum

2008-08-23T06:11:00.000-07:00

DH needed help delivering a firetruck today, but he also needed to do some work. So we needed to "waste" a few hours in Mass. I took the opportunity to take the kids to the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst.

It is not a large museum. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there. The museum included three galleries, an art studio, a gift shop, an auditorium, a cafe, and two video productions. They generously gave me a teacher's admission as a homeschooling mom and their youth admission extends to 18 years old. I found the fee to be very reasonable.

If you are not familiar with Eric Carle read any of his wonderful children's books The Very Hungy Catepillar, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, or Walter the Baker. He has several others as well. Eric Carle's collage style intregues kid's and adults alike. His artwork is very identifiable.

I think when the kids were young, DH and I knew every word to Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

Our trip was very inspiring, so I think next week DS and I are going to try to use his collage idea to create some pictures. Both of us were fascinated by the video segement about how he created his artwork.

Eric Carle has a style all his own and his artwork is everywhere in the museum. The gift shop had Eric Carle clothing material and even the bathroom was decorated with Eric Carle decorated ceramic tiles.

While we were there, we tried creating our own style in the art studio by creating texture creations. This is the best kind of art - created with everyday items and glue. Even reluctant DD (13 year old), got caught up in the act and was the last to finish.

PS. If you keep your eyes open over the next week or so, I will put up an Eric Carle Unit Study. It will certainly be fun for the whole family.

Fun Fact Friday

2008-08-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

The 1900 Paris Games remains the only Olympics where no medals were awarded. Instead, winners were given valuable pieces of art.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/medals/funfacts/index.html

DD wanted to know where future Olympic games will be held:
Vancouver 2010 (Winter)
London 2012 (Summer)
Sochi 2014 (Winter) - It’s ok. I didn’t know either. It is in Russia.
http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/index_uk.asp - you can also find out about previous Olympics and see the previous logos.

Groak – means to look at or stare at longingly
Heard on Reading the OED (OxfordEnglish Dictionary) on On Air with Tom Ashbrook, NPR

Dr. Seuss' real name is Theodor Seuss Geisel. He was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, MA.
http://www.seussville.com/seussentennial/resources1.html

Lessons During the Busy Times of Life

2008-08-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

To those of you that are new to homeschooling, you may ask, “How do you homeschool on days when you are busy with other chores?” The answer is two fold. One, the reason we homeschool year round is to make up for days that we are unable to. Two, we look at the day using a broader interpretation of homeschooling to see what we learned.

When my children tell people that we homeschool year round, they often get looks of pity while I get glares. I usually quickly interject that I am no slave driver. By schooling a little everyday, we avoid having marathon sessions. Also, if something comes up and we miss our base lessons then I know that we can make it up on another day or relax and know that we do enough on the other days that I don’t have to worry.

Furthermore, as I believe that living is the best teacher, sometimes instead of planning lessons for the future, we look bak at what we did learn while living. With the vision of hindsight, you can often see that you learned far more than you could have with regular lessons. Accept the gift and record your achievement.

Any veteran homeschooler will tell you that home schooling is a misrepresentation of who most of us are doing. Schooling / learning happens everywhere and every day often without any planning or preparation.

Can you name the capitols of all the states? Can you name the states in order that your family drove through on their trip to Florida? Do you know the formula for calculating area of an irregular shape? Do you remember how you and your father figured out how much tile to buy for the bathroom floor?

Website Wednesday - Eleanor Roosevelt

2008-08-20T05:36:00.000-07:00

Eleanor Roosevelt is an amazing women. I became interested in her as I worked on the Dear American Unit Study that I posted last week, so I have decided to investigate her a little more.

"One thing life has taught me: if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you. When you are genuinely interested in one thing, it will always lead to something else."
Eleanor Roosevelt

I hope that you may find these web sites interesting:

An American Experience: Eleanor Roosevelt – DVD and the related website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eleanor/
The website includes a Roosevelt genealogy, copies of her “My Day” article, timelines, maps, and even a tv appearance by Eleanor. It also include transcripts from her FBI file and information on clothing of the time period.

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum - http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/
It is wonderful to visit this location first hand, but if you cannot get to Hyde Park or in conjunction with your trip, visit this website. There is information about both Franklin and Eleanor, curriculum guides, and tons of additional information.

Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kil - http://ervk.org/index.htm
Includes some unknown fact, audio recordings of Eleanor, and information about a workshop that is continued in her name

Biography of Eleanor Roosevelt - http://www.biography.com/search/biography.do?keywords=Betcha+Didn
Specifically check out the videos & Audios to the right upper corner. There are several Bio’s related to her life.

The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project - http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/

National Park Service – Eleanor Roosevelt: American Visionary - http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/elro/index.html

Garden of Praise – Eleanor Roosevelt - http://gardenofpraise.com/ibderoos.htm Check out especially the middle of the page where there are some online games that you can play.

Hunting for Lessons

2008-08-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when you follow the interests of your children, you end up in very strange territory. Currently, we are studying the Northeast Hunter Education Manual. I know it seems like an odd line of study, but this is where we have been led. We began being led a long time ago thanks to a Boy Scout camp BB gun range. DS’s marksmanship impressed the range master. From there we joined the local range and both kids took shooting lessons. They have both now been shooting competitively for three years. DS was even named as an honorable mention member of the State rifle team this year.

Two years ago, the boy that I only thought would shoot an animal with a camera went hunting for the first time with friends of ours. Last year, they actually got a deer (more like our friend got the deer and my son was present). This year, he will turn 12 and be eligible to hunt himself: thus, the Northeast Hunter Education Manual. The sportsman club that my husband is a member of is sponsoring the course for free, but it is put on for people of all ages, so we are getting some pre-course studying done to help the kids to be prepared. The funny part is Mrs. Not Hunter herself is reviewing the book with them. I have only held a gun twice in my life. On the positive side though, the course has required READING, quite a bit of MEMORIZATION, and SCIENTIFIC information about habitats and animal conservation. There are GRAPHS to read and VOCABULARY to familiarize yourself with. To ease my mind, there is plenty of safety review. So, we will review the book in advance and then the kids will take a two day course. I’m not sure if I’m rooting for them to pass or not. This is a new realm for me.

So needless to say I’m getting lessons in, they’re following their interests, and we’re both getting yummy venison.

That's a great DAM BRA

2008-08-18T18:22:00.001-07:00

One of the great thing about homeschooling older children is there sense of humor. I just commented to dd that it is funny to watch the Brazilians and the Americans playing beach volleyball in the Olympics because the Brazilians shirts say "BRA". Obviously, it is an abreviation for the country name, but it reminds me of when I had everything labeled for my young readers. So I mentioned it to my dd, she thought it was funny too, but reminded me of one of our favorite puns. While traveling with my husband in Denver, we visited the Denver Art Museum. We had a wonderful visit in the museum and then as we were leaving, dd says "DAM that was great art." I looked at her shocked. Just as I was about to let her have it for her poor choice of words, she interupted, probably knowing that I was not happy, "Mom," she pointed into the gift shop, "see 'DAM that's great art'". There it was on t-shirts, cups, and other paraphanalia. Now that was funny - Denver Art Museum - DAM.

Homeschooling While Working

2008-08-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

For about three years, I was able to bring my kids to work. People often asked how I got their work done while getting my work done. They would have their school work set out on the conference room which they would work on independently. Then, I would often set them up at the end of my desk, one at a time, to review their school work or answer any questions that they may have had. I also had a few secret ways to sneak in some extra work and gain myself a few quiet minutes.

One of my great secrets was actually Netflix. Netflix has a huge library of documentary films, so I would call in films related to whatever we were working on. The children would watch them and then write a brief paragraph about what they had seen. Through this they were able to explore space, learn about the concepts of strands, and explore the new continent with Lewis and Clark. My dd, who is older than ds, also watch documentaries like Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices and Bowling for Columbine . The most interesting and frightening was Super Size Me (be warned if you choose to watch this one, you will never eat McDonald's again) .

Another trick that I employed was the use of NPR during the ride to and from the shop. National Public Radio brought new ideas to our mind and incited interesting conversations. The kids never saw NPR as a trick, but as an interesting form of entertainment. Recently when dd was riding home with a friend and her father, the friend kept asking her father to change the radio station. He was listing to NPR which the friend considered “old people” radio. Her friend’s father in order to appease his daughter asked dd what radio station she would like to listen to. Little did he know that dd loved NPR. Her friend’s hopes were dashed when dd revealed her love of NPR. The father and dd began discussing some of their favorite NPR shows like Car Talk and Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me. Her friend slid back in her seat and knew that she had lost the battle. I think developing a love for talk radio is like acquiring a taste for Opera, you have to be introduced to it early. You also have to train yourself to be an active listener.

I wished that I had been able to harbor the ability for them to each help each other, but unfortunately that occurs very rarely and there is no way to predict when it may happen.

Internet Resources

2008-08-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

I want to let you know about a website, Homeschool Helper, that I found that has some great homeschool rescources. It seems that they are building the site and some of you may have resources that they could add to it. They have unit studies, worksheets, and record keeping forms.

Of course it does not have as many entiries as Enchanted Learning, but on the otherhand, it is free. When the kids were younger though, the $20 that Enchanted Learning charged was well worth all that I received from the site. It actually probably saved me money in fact, because I did not buy whole books for things that I only needed one or two pages of. Better than that, Enchanted Learning offered me meat in my hands when I was hungry i.e. when a question or thought came to mind, I had information and activities in my hand within minutes. I did not have to wait for the next time we went to the library or the store.

I often wonder how I would have survived before the internet.

Fun Fact Friday

2008-08-15T06:17:00.000-07:00

As I promised, Fridays are going be filled with facts accumulated throughout the week. I did not accumulate as many this week as I expected, but here are a couple to tickle your gray mater:

“In the mid-19th century, horses struck and killed pedestrians in New York City more often than car accidents kill people today”
Found in the August edition of Discover Magazine page 74, a blurb regarding the book Traffic: Why we drive the way we do (and what it says about us) by Tom Vanderbilt

Halloween is second only to Christmas in consumer spending. The average American spends $98.00 per year.
Sorry to be a little early on this one – I am writing an article for the local paper. http://www.albany.edu/~ca3975/halloween.html

Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband, Franklin, were fifth cousins, once removed.
According to Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman

To answer my daughter’s question this week:

The five rings of the Olympic symbol represent the 5 significant continents (their comment not mine – I can see getting rid of Antarctica, but who else is getting ditched?) and are interconnected to represent the friendship between the continents. The colors were chosen because every flag in the world bore at least one.
http://history1900s.about.com/od/greateventsofthecentury/a/olympicfacts.htm

A Literature Unit Study - World War II

2008-08-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

Literature Unit Study
Book: Dear America Series: My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck (Long Island, NY 1941) By Mary Pope Osbourne

Grade Level: 5-8

As this is a diary, entries are made by date. I have attempted to notate relateable sections of the diary to the activities recommended. By no means is this list of possible activities meant to be done 100%, instead it should be large and varied enough to allow families to choose activities that interest and best suit their needs.

WRITING

- Mr. O’Malley quoted from a newspaper column written by Eleanor Roosevelt. “Mrs Roosevelt wants all Americans to ‘pledge to be a little thoughtful every day about the meaning of freedom.’” Think about what freedom means to you. Find a way to express your thoughts to others. Write a poem, song, or story to express yourself. Share your expression. (12-5-41)
- Write and perform a radio script that may have been heard by Madeline and Johnny.
Maddie writes quite a bit to her father, but on April 4th, 1942, she laments “But then I haven’t written him in a while, either. I have to buckle down . . .” Is there someone that you should write a letter to? Sit down and write them a note. (4-4-42)
- Choose your favorite character in the book with the exception of the main character Maddie. Write three diary entries from their perspective.

READING
Choose one of the following:
- Franklin Roosevelt
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- Tojo – the Premier of Japan
- Mary Pope Osbourne, the author
Read biographical information about one of these people. Share what your found.

HISTORY
- Create a timeline of Madeline Beck’s life as portrayed in her diary. Make at least 10 entries. Research WWII. Add at least five more entries to your timeline that are not mentioned in the book.
- Make a poster that shows and explains the differences (appearance and usage) of an aircraft carrier, battleship, cruiser, destroyer, submarine and German u-boat (10-19-41 & 12-29-41)
President Roosevelt proclaims a National Day of Prayer on 1-1-42. What does this mean? When else has a National Day of Prayer been proclaimed?
- Make a list of the allied and axis countries of WWII. (1-1-42)
- Find out who Rosie the Riveter is. Write a compare and contrast report about her vs. the women of today. (1-28-42)
- Maddie believes she met the Germans on Long Island. Find a newspaper article from the time period that relates to the Germans breaching our shores. (6-12-42)
- Research one battle of World War II. Create a model to show what occurred.
- Research the ranks in the military. Write them in ascending order.

GEOGRAPHY
This book is sprinkled with locations of the war and other important events. Find a map (be sure that you have one that is accurate for the 1940’s) and locate the following places (notated by the underlined word):
-Dad’s ship leaves from San Francisco (9-29-41)
-Mrs. Rosenthal & Clara are refugees from Germany (10-11-41)
-US Navy delivered war material to Russia and Great Britain (10-14-41)
-Hitler’s army was in: Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. (10-20-41)
-Her father has been located in California, New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida, Panama, and Far Rockaway. (10-20-41)
-Is Dad going to fight in the Pacific? (11-9-42)
-Theo told Madeline to “keep an eye on Japan.” (11-24-41)
-The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor. (12-7-41)
-Mussolini of Italy declares war on the US. (12-11-41)
-Manila, the capitol of the Philippines, fell to the Japanese. (1-6-42)
-The Japanese had taken over Wake Island, Guam, and Hong Kong (1-9-42)
-The Japanese troops attacked Bataan – (3-26-42)
-Johnny added more Japanese flags to his map: Papua and New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Burma and all of Borneo. (4-2-42)
-Maddie and her mother plan a train trip from New York City to Chicago and then finally to San Francisco. (7-22-42)

ARTS & CRAFTS
- Madaline is touched by Eleanor Roosevelt words, “You are going to have a great opportunity. There will be high moments in which your strength and ability will be tested. I have faith in you.” This quote so inspires her that she writes it down and posts it on her wall.
- Create a poster of your favorite inspiration quote and post it up. (12-8-41)
- Sew a dress for a doll or for yourself (12-18-41)
- Maddie and Johnny decided that they should make special insignias for people that help in the war effort. Create special awards or cards to give to people in your community that help others and deliver them. (2-22-1942)
- Learn about a victory garden (3-7-1942). Plant your own victory garden. If you are short on space or it is winter consider a container garden or spice garden.
Draw, paint, or sculpt a character or setting from the book using the descriptions found in the book.

PHYSICAL EXERCISE –
- The K3F club puts together a calisthenics program. Research calisthenics and create a program for yourself. Follow it for 1 week. (4-1-42)
- Maddie recounts a recital where she forgot all the planned steps and just danced as she pleased. She said she felt like a wind chime. Choose a piece of music and create a dance of your own. Perform it for someone else. (4-4-1942)

VOCABULARY – Look up each of the following words and be sure that you understand what they mean. Write a sentence using each of the words. As this is a long list, you may want to break it into several sections depending on how long you are planning to spend on the unit study.

Exploratory (11-14-41)
Maneuvers (11-14-41)
Negotiations (11-28-41)
Envoy (11-29-41)
Ominous (12-3-41)
Declarations (12-8-41)
Sabotage (12-8-41)
Inspirational (12-8-41)
Infamy (12-9-41)
Premeditated (12-9-41)
Coincidence (2-2-42)
Censored (12-13-41)
Infantile (12-21-41)
Alliance (1-1-42)
Rendezvous (1-1-42)
Periscope (1-18-42
Sympathizers (3-3-42)
Arsenals (3-4-42)
Calisthenics (4-1-42)
Munitions (4-14-42)
Resignation (5-19-42)
Waylay (6-21-42)
Saboteur (6-21-42 – later)
Theoretical (6-23-1942 – later)
Recuperating (6-28-42)

- Explain what Theo meant by her description of Hitler as a “deadly microbe” (12-12-41)

AUDITORY
Pick one of the following songs to listen to:
Freddy Martin and his Orchestra – “To Each his own”
Harry James Orchestra – “You Made Me Love You”
Bing Crosby – “Junk Ain’t No Junk No More” (4-21-42)

Choose one of the following:
- a World War II veteran
- a emigrant from another country
- a refugee from another country
Attend a speech given by one of the people in these categories or arrange for a personal interview. You may be surprised to find people from these categories in your very own family.

VISUAL
Choose one of the following movies and watch it:
Citizen Kane (10-18-41)
Pearl Harbor (12-7-41) – NOTE: This is rated R, but due primarily to the violence which is a reality of war. I would suggest that you watch it first to decide if it is appropriate for your children.
Molly : An American Girl on the Home Front

COOKING
_ Cook and serve a Thanksgiving Dinner. Be sure to share all that you are thankful for (11-27-41)
- Blackouts were scary, but the crew at the Mansion-by-the-Sea were comforted by Mrs. Hawkins Blueberry Pie. Find a good recipe and bake a Blueberry Pie (4-24-42)
-Due to the war rationing, sugar was hard to come by. Therefore, Mom had to make a sugarless desert called a “war recipe”. The recipe is in the back of the book. Bake it and try it. How does it compare to what you are used to? What did the recipe use in lieu of sugar for its sweetness? (5-17-42)

LANGUAGE
- Mrs. Rosenthal sometimes “talks to herself in German”. Learn to count to ten in German and at least 5 other helpful phrases (i.e. hello, goodbye, thank you) (11-11-41)
- Create a code letter like Johnny and Maddie did. See if someone else can “read” it. (1-16-42)

CULTURE / RELIGION
- Maddie is very surprised on her 10-25-41 entry to find out that Clara and her mother are Jewish. If you are not Jewish, try to find someone who is to discuss the similarities and difference in your beliefs. If you are Jewish, find a Christian to compare and contrast with.

BIBLE
- Mom reprimands Madeline for not being charitable and thinking of the sacrifice of others. Find two scriptures that Mom could have used in her argument. (10-11-41)
- Johnny and Maddie decide not to tell anyone about their part in the solving the crime. Maddie writes “Isn’t that what you learn in church – Do good works for their own sake and not for a reward?” To what scriptures might she be referring? (7-9-42)

MISSION / ACTION
- There are many times in the book when Maddie, her mother, and the K3F club give of their time. Fin a worthy cause that you can help. Either raise money to donate to the cause or find a way that you can donate your time to them.
- Johnny and Maddie came up with a motto for their club: “Victory does not come without a price”. Learn about what a motto is and create a motto for your homeschooling group. They also choose a “guiding light” quotation. Find a quote or scripture that your family can use. (2-13-1942 – Later).

POSSIBLE FIELD TRIPS
Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial – Hawaii
WWII National Monument – Washington DC
The National WWII museum – New Orleans, LA
Wright Museum – America at War – 1939-1945 – The Home Front – Wolfboro, NH
National WASP WWII Museum– Sweetwater, TX (WASP means Women Service Airforce Pilots)
Eldred WWII Museum – Eldred, PA

RELATED READING
Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Fence Away from Freedom: Japanese Americans & World War II by Ellen Levine – 1st hand accounts of youth and teenagers who endured internment camps during WWII.
Eleanor Roosevelt – A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman – A Newberry Honor Book.
The Moved-Outers by Florence Crannel Means – a Newberry Honor Roll Book about the Japanese Interment camps during WWII
Journey to Topaz by Yoshiko Uchida
Any of Molly books from American Girl

Website Wednesday - The Titanic

2008-08-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

Today, DD and I went to see the Titanic exhibit at the XL center, so I will make our first edition of Website Wednesday be about the Titanic:

http://www.titanic-online.com/
RMS Titanic, Inc - Has the schedule for the exhibit that we went to see and other information about the exhibition pieces and conservation process. Unfortunately, you have to register to activate some of the content. Although we did enjoy the exhibit, I felt that it was overpriced (even with a coupon that the nice lady in front of us gave to us) and had expected it to be more hands on, based on the description that I had read.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/previous_seasons/case_titanic/index.html
PBS – Secrets of the Dead – This website looks at the sinking from a completely different perspective. It explores the identification process of the over 300 bodies that were recovered after the sinking. After reading the article, be sure to visit the interactive which allows you to try to forensically identify one of the passengers.

http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist5/dodge.html
Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco - A great series of articles from the time of the Titanic’s sinking.

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/8059/main.htm
Brett’s RMS Titanic Web Page - Not the most technologically advanced website, but full of information, statistics, and pictures.

http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=mini_home&mini_id=1067
Titanic – History.com - Site includes video interviews with survivors, survey the site of the sunken ship, read primary source paperwork from the Titanic, find biographies of some of the passengers, and explore interactive about the making, passage, and sinking of the “unsinkable” Titanic”.

http://www.immersionpresents.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=4&Itemid=11
Immersion Presents - Titanic Live - This site is too cool for words – let your child read interviews with Dr. Ballard, scour through pictures and interviews, AND MAKE THEIR OWN TITANIC MOVIE!

Here are some websites that have unit study ideas for the Titanic:

* http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/units/titanic.htm
* http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/SmallWorld/69044/
* http://www.rmstitanic.net/index.php4?page=422 - not quite a unit study but some great “classroom” ideas
* http://content.scholastic.com/browse/unitplan.jsp?id=89

DD recommends the following book about the Titanic:

Homeschooling in Germany

2008-08-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

As I finally headed to bed last night at 11:30, late because without my husband here there seems to be no reason to retire and two, I am fascinated by the Olympics, I flicked the tv on in my room so that I could maneuver around in the dark. What was on caught my eye – Homeschooling in Germany. The CBN News, of Pat Robertson’s 700 Club, was on. Now I don’t normally watch this show, but the subject peaked my interest because the topic was of persecution of homeschoolers. To confirm this story today, I googled “Homeschooling in Germany” and the HSLDA came up with a fact page about homeschooling in Germany and tags to several related articles. This site confirmed what I had heard. It is illegal to homeschool in Germany. “There are about 400 home school families. Almost all are operating underground or are in court.” (HSLDA). Children have been taken away from parents. Families have fled the country. Fines for homeschooling have crippled families financially. And this wasn’t even the troubling part. The story, which can be seen on the August 11th edition of CBN news and begins at the 17:45 mark of the broadcast, quotes the governments official response to their reason for opposing homeschooling as, “ The government has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion or are motivated by different world views and interested in integrating minorities into society as a whole.”

Even more interesting is that this “illegal” status does not just apply to Germans, but also to non-Germans who reside in the country. However, German diplomatic families that are abroad are encouraged to homeschool their children using a State sponsored curriculum. One of the interviewees in the piece stated that he thought that the Germans were not afraid of homeschooling itself but of the type of citizens that homeschooling produces. I take this to mean individuals who are free thinking, creative, and spiritual. The type of people that may have stood up and defied the Nazi’s so many years ago.

Interesting, Pat Robinson concluded after the story by reminding us of the origins of public education in Germany. He cited that public education was founded by Martin Luther as a way to teach people to read the Bible. Now that very same institution was trying to ban people that are trying to do just that.

Homeschooling - Reality TV Style

2008-08-11T15:38:00.000-07:00

Homeschooling is not always goodness and light. I think so often we homeschoolers want to portray everything as good. We are afraid that by telling some of the frustrations we are admitting failure. I fervently disagree with this notion, because I know from firsthand experience in a classroom that frustrations exist on the teacher’s and student’s side. Usually this is displayed in a child a child shutting down and failing out or a child acting out and having behavioral issues. At home such confrontations are more personal, the kids aren’t coming home to complain about a teacher, they are butting heads with you.

Today, DD and I are butting heads big time. She has been putting off and putting off math. Today, I put an end to it. I had her get out her math book. The problem is that when you put some of the harder subjects off for a while, it is very hard to recall where you are. Plus, she plays a game of push /pull which I must admit aggravates the daylights out of me. She doesn’t want me to help with her math, she wants me to do her math. I tried to point out to her how silly her question would sound in an 8th grade classroom, “Does 16 go into 84? Does 16 go into 84? Does 16 go into 84?” This isn’t a question of the process that we are working on, but a simple mathematical calculation. Then she starts with the little pushes – not enough to be a hit, just little defiant pushes. You would expect this behavior from a 3 year old not a 13 year old. Her behavior ended her up in her room as I am not going to waste my time teaching someone that doesn’t want to at least meet me half way. She did come out with an apology and we finished her math. But her time out, gave me time to think.

This little outburst wasn’t her fault but mine. I have been too lenient. I have not kept to a good enough schedule. Too much time is being spent on the computer by her. This I will need to change. The last time I had this melt down, a chore chart was devised. I think now we need to get back to a better school schedule with earned time on the computer. The hard thing about the whole earned time on the computer is that so much of their work is done on the computer, so how do you best control the leisure time while insuring the work is done? I find that our time homeschooling is constantly being tweaked to adapt to the issues that arise. The difference between this and traditional school is that I have the control over the tweaking and I know about the issues before progress reports.

So, I hope the depressing story of my math work with DD today makes you all feel like your little skirmishes are within the acceptable norm of homeschooling. Knowing that we all go through this is an important part of interacting with the homeschool community. Tomorrow, we will be factoring higher degree polynomials. I hope that it will go better.

Thankful for Homeschooling Freedom

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As today is our Sabbath, I am reminded to be thankful. It is easy to forget those that fought for our freedoms. No, I am not talking about George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and others (although they certainly deserve our respect). I am talking about the families that fought for their right to homeschool. I am talking about the families that used to have to draw their curtains and not go out during the day. Those that were brave enough to come forward and let others know that homeschooling could work for their family. To these people, I am grateful. For those of you that are still battling to keep this right available to us: both the families themselves and the attorneys that take their cases. To these people, I say thank you. These pioneers no matter what they year, blazed a trail for a better life for my family.

I have already shared with my children the importance of their right to educate their children in the way that they see fit. They thought it was a guaranteed Constitutional right but realized that it may be secured only as it relates to the first amendment, not as a specific right to homeschool. At first my daughter thought that she would lobby for a Constitutional amendment, but we then discussed the problems associated with defining homeschooling. In defining homeschooling, we may in fact define ourselves into rules and regulations that may not be in our best interest.

So thank you to all of you that have come in the past and all of you that will come in the future. My family is better because of your sacrifices.

Scheduling Blogs for Wednesdays & Fridays

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I swear I do some of my best thinking when I am not i.e. in bed and in the bathroom. Don’t even ask about the second that is worthy of a whole other post. Suffice it to say that whenever I was stuck on a problem at work, if I broke walked away to go to the restroom, I undoubtedly would come running back to my desk with the solution. My secretary just thought that this was weird and would often send me to the ladies room if she heard me grumbling at my desk too much. Anyway, last night an idea came to mind for this blog. Fortunately, I have learned to keep a pen and paper by my bed stand so that the idea did not evaporate into the night. I have decided that on Wednesdays and Fridays we will have a reoccurring theme: Website Wednesdays and Fact Filled Fridays. I will post on these days, but I hope that you too will comment so that we can share some great ideas.

Website Wednesdays can include Blogs, educational websites, or any intriguing information on the web that can help us all homeschool better. Maybe it is a site for a great curriculum or a site with lots of information about current events. Perhaps, it is a blog of a fellow homeschooler or a place to get great worksheets. I look forward to hearing about some of your favorite sites.

A Friday of Fun Facts will be like no other. I don’t know about you, but I hear facts all week long that I find fascinating and I want to tell someone, so let’s share them with each other. This idea came together because of the Olympics last night. As our family tried to figure out what order the countries were coming in in the announcer explained that what seemed random to the Western world actually made a great deal of sense in Chinese. The counties were put in order of the number of strokes needed to write their name. Also, the NPR show “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me” has always piqued my current events interest. Facts can be fascinating. And I think most homeschoolers are fascinated by them by nature. So let’s collect our interesting facts and then share them on Friday.

I hope that these sound like interesting ideas and that you will join me in creating Website Wednesday and Fact Filled Fridays.