Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts

HOMESCHOOL COMING TO AN END

April 23, 2021

It's hard to believe that we started our homeschool journey in 2013 and it's now 2021. I wasn't very good about keeping up with posts on here about what did and didn't work for us with home education but I think I'll post more about that soon. As for right now my daughter is in her last year of homeschool because she has decided public school is where she wants to be starting this fall. I'm very excited for her to begin anew where she can meet lots of new people and participate in activities she hasn't had available to her due to the pandemic restrictions. So this will be my last homeschool photo of her.



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HERBAL STUDIES: PLANTAIN

August 22, 2015

Kids are always getting bit by something; mosquitos, black flies, deer flies, gnats, sand fleas… you name it and when they get bit they scratch, scratch, scratch and whine, whine, whine so as a parent you search for something to stop the itch and unfortunately everything you find is usually some commercial concoction that never really works anyway.  So what should you do? Reach for plantain.
Plantain is a child's best friend in the summer.  It not only stops the itch from biting bugs but it also ends the pain caused by stinging insects too.  My kids usually just grab a handful of plantain leaves, chew it up and slap it on the spot that needs attention but sometimes it is more convenient to have a plantain salve, like when out on a lake in a canoe or during travel when bringing fresh leaves along or finding it in the wild just isn't feasible.  So I had Aiyana make her first container of salve.

Here is a picture of plantain and you can read more about it HERE


To help identify plantain in the wild, here are a few helpful pictures

These seeds grow up from the center of the plantain plant

Plantain leaf

When you tear a plantain leaf you should see little vein strings as shown above



First, Aiyana went out and gathered a bunch of plantain leaves.



Washed and dried them.


Chopped them up.



Added them to the olive oil then heated.  The plantain sat in the warm oil for 2 hours.  This is the rush method.  I usually prefer keeping medicinal plants in a jar with oil for up to 6 weeks before straining but my daughter and I are on a mission, or I should say I am on a mission to teach as much as possible before the snow flies. LOL! So… we went with the rush method.  This oil sat for a week in the jar after  they were heated for 2 hrs.



She strained the oil out of the jar.


There are various ways you can extract the medicinal properties from a plant; we chose the solvent oil. You can tell the oil did its job by the color difference you see below.  Olive oil on left, plantains beneficial properties extracted into the olive oil on the right. 



 We poured the plantain oil into a double boiler, heated it up, added some beeswax to make the salve.



We think plantain oil stinks so we added lavender essential oil to to cut the smell.  Some people will add essential oils because of their beneficial properties but it is important to remember that eos are damaged by high heat, so to maintain their effectiveness you do not want to heat them above 80 degrees.  We used lavender eo in this recipe purely for the natural scent.


Here's the finished product after poured into tiny tins.


Couple notes on Plantain salve vs. Plantain leaves, we've found that the plant works much faster to relieve itching than the salve so if you have a choice, use the actual leaves from the plant.  The salve works but it takes a little more time.  We've also learned that it works really well on our dogs.  We have one dog that happens to be allergic to bug bites and certain types of material and when he develops hives the plantain salve brings about relief.

Herbal Roots does have an e-zine on plantain that is really good also.  The salve above is not listed but other crafts and ways of using the herbs are.

Recipe:

4 oz fresh plantain leaves
16 oz olive oil
.5 oz beeswax
24 drops lavender essential oil








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HERBS, HERBS, HERBS

July 29, 2015

I decided it was time to teach my youngest about herbs.  After quizzing her I found that she knows quite a bit but it was time to incorporate some fun stuff.  We are going to work our way through as many herbs as we can until winter arrives and our herb garden and wild medicinal plants have died back.  For each herb she is journaling, coloring, and creating.

A while back I found this book:
You can find this for sale on Amazon - CLICK HERE
It has a bunch of cute kid stories about herbs such as The Lion and the Wise Teacher about dandelions or The Star's Gift about lemon balm.  It is a perfect addition to our herb study.  We also subscribe to Herbal Roots Zine which focusses on one particular herb and contains crafts, herbal remedies, stories, etc... Those we'll save for when the plants are all gone and it's too cold to go outside. The rest is all mom.  I created a "type" of herb curriculum that we'll be following until she tells me "mom, stop, I can't take anymore." LOL!


We started with Aiyana picking out a plant of her own to communicate with and she chose lavender.  She started talking to it, asking it questions… once she understood that on a basic energetic level we are connected to all things, even something as simple as a plant we moved on to lemon balm, my favorite herb.  It was the first herb I planted when we moved into our home 8 yrs ago and it has pretty much taken over a quarter of our yard (expected and wanted).


Unfortunately, our lemon balm has passed its prime for the season.  It now has flowers and no longer has that strong lemony scent which means the oil content is low.  My daughter is already somewhat familiar with the herb so it wasn't a problem, we just picked up the dried version from our local natural food store and worked with that.

No, it's not Lemon Ballom. LOL! We corrected that later. 
What did she create? Tea.  She loved making her own tea, can't say she loved the taste so much though. LOL! I told her as we move into other herbs she'll combine several for a much better tasting tea :-)


Next...

Plantain.

Plantain is perfect for bug bites and our mosquitos are now out in full force so my daughter will be making a plantain salve for those nasty itchy bites she always gets.
So, today we started with Lemon Balm.
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DEBUNKING THE MYTHS OF HOME SCHOOLING

February 1, 2015

After my 7 yr old told me that a public school child told her we were weirdos for homeschooling I decided to blog about the misconceptions of homeschooling.
(Some misconceptions are being discussed here: DEBATE.ORG)

Why are people so threatened by homeschooling? So threatened that they make up information or repeat what they've heard without fact checking. 

When I first heard about homeschooling it was from my mother.  I was curious about it but she had a negative view of people who home schooled their children, her view was that a parent wasn't qualified to teach, so I didn't ask too many questions.  With education my mothers view of home school did change later though. 

The 2nd time I heard about homeschooling was from a woman I met at our local gym.  She worked in the childcare center and her children became friends with my child. She was weird. Her kids were unruly and they weren't very bright. Her religion took priority over education from what I could tell and it was just odd to me but it didn't keep me from wanting to know more about homeschooling.  

Fast forward to when my daughter was in 4th grade.  We had a home schooled child join our Girl Scout Troop. She was the only child in a group of 9 that was home schooled and she was quiet, sweet, respectful and very smart. What I remember about her the most is how well behaved she was, better than the other 9 kids (including my own). She wasn't bouncing all over the place vying for attention from her peers, she appeared very secure in herself.  That is the overall experience I've had with home schooled children since. 

I won't preach about homeschool being the perfect solution to our educational system because there are too many variables; bad parents, kids with severe learning disabilities, parents that are overwhelmed with too many other responsibilities, etc… the list goes on.  I have three children and my oldest graduated from public school and my middle child is still in public school.  So, this post isn't about what is or isn't the perfect way to educate your child, this post is about anti-homeschooling people spreading misinformation. So here we go, the comments that homeschooling families hear so often (taken from the website linked above):

1. Home schooled children are not being socialized. 

Clearly those who say that have no idea how to define socialization so here it is: a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social situation.

Here are a couple responses (on the topic of socialization) from Debate.org.  This is from the "no, children shouldn't be educated at home" side.


So making out during recess, dealing with bullies and hearing cuss words on a school bus makes you a more well-rounded individual?


For me to even take this person seriously they'd first have to spell words correctly or write a coherent sentence.  Let's see the rest of that post:


Here you see it again… bullying. Why do so many anti-homeschool people think that being bullied is an essential part of growing up? If being bullied was a necessary part of childhood then why is society now fighting so hard against it? Kids are committing suicide because they are bullied, states are enacting laws to prosecute bullies, etc… So which is it, kids need to be bullied or they don't? 

Now onto the next misconception, making friends and getting out of the house.


Let's start with friends.

I think forming friendships can be an issue for anyone depending on the circumstances.  For home schoolers the challenge with finding friends almost always has to do with being new to the home school world and it isn't dissimilar to how it would feel moving to a new town and enrolling your child in a new school.  It can take time for kids to connect with others, form friendships and get to know their new surroundings.  Personally, I find public school to be more sad in that regard. How many kids have enrolled in a new school and found it difficult to find new friends? There are so many cliques in public school, so many "groups" like the jocks, the nerds, the preppies, etc… and if you don't fit in you may be shunned.  How often do we hear that the kid who took a gun to school and shot their peers were bullied and didn't have friends? Almost always. I've never seen that type of problem with home schooled kids.

Activities and field trips.

Home schooled kids tend to be some of the busiest.  My own child is in gymnastics, Girl Scouts, goes to LifeTime Fitness 3x's a week, attends camps at a local nature center, participates in numerous activities and field trips (most of these trips and activities are with kids that are not home schooled).  In fact, home schooled kids tend to do 10x as many field trips as children in public school, most are not just sitting at home at a table all day.  The bonus for home schooled kids and so many outside activities and field trips is that they aren't just being exposed to kids their own age, they connect with people of all ages which makes them well-rounded socially.  I often hear how well spoken, polite and friendly my daughter is and I know a good part of that is because she isn't being tainted by the kids in public school.  You know, the ones that think you should be bullied in the cafeteria and learn cuss words on the school bus. 

2. Kids who are home schooled don't get vaccinated, if they go to public school they are required to have all vaccinations. 


Well… just an FYI, there are a lot of kids in public school that haven't been vaccinated.  I don't know about all 50 states but in my home state if we refuse a vaccine we just fill out  a form stating an "elected exemption", have it signed by the doctor and turn it in to the school.  The law protects a citizens right to refuse vaccines whether you are educated at home or in a school.  Most of the home school families I know of are proponents of vaccines and you'll see a variety of opinions on vaccinations by parents who homeschool if you've ever read a homeschool FB group. 

The CDC provides information about each states laws pertaining to the vaccination requirement.  To learn more CLICK HERE.  To see information about exemptions in each state CLICK HERE.

3. Homeschooling is not regulated.  

Not true. Again, every state is different and some are more strict than others.  CLICK HERE to see regulations by state. Personally, I like the home school laws in my state, not too strict and not too lenient.  On an annual basis in my state we must file an intent to homeschool with the district Superintendent, teach specified subjects and participate in yearly standardized testing.  If you want to see the requirements in each state CLICK HERE.

4. Home school makes it easier for parents to abuse their children.

You'll see this reference in the post I screen captured above and it something that gets hammered to death by the media when a homeschooling family is charged with abuse.  Sure, some kids that are home schooled are subjected to physical and sexual abuse just like some kids that go to public school are being physically and sexually abused. Whether one form of education makes abuse easier is really irrelevant. Physical and sexual abuse is happening everywhere and if it were more difficult to do to children in public school then why are so many kids in public school being abused? How many people today talk about being abused as children and yet no one knew? Abuse stays hidden because the perpetrator is manipulative and crafty not because the environment makes it conducive.  Don't belittle what is happening to children or take away the responsibility of the perpetrator by blaming a persons choice of how to educate their child. 

5. Kids can't participate in team sports.

My daughter played soccer for 2 years and I am pretty sure it was a team because she wasn't playing by herself (sorry, just being sarcastic about the team part).  She's decided that for now gymnastics is more her thing so she may or may not go back to soccer.  Kids don't only have access to team sports through public schools.  Community based organizations offer team sports and in my state, depending on the district, public schools also allow home schooled children to participate in public school activities or sports.  CLICK HERE to read which states allow home school kids to participate in public school sports.

6. Home schooled kids can't go to college.

When I was first considering home school for my youngest I worried a lot about her ability to get into college.  I started looking up various colleges and checking out their entrance requirements.  Turns out  most of the colleges I looked at accepted home schooled kids.  This is pretty typical under "application requirements" on college websites: 

University of Minnesota, Crookstone


Yale



I've met a nurse, pastor and teacher that were home schooled and I have homeschooling friends that currently have kids in college.  Going to public school doesn't guarantee success getting into or doing well in college but still anti-homeschoolers single out home schooled kids as being unable to go to college due to their "alternative" education.  Here are a couple misconceptions about home schooled kids getting into college:

7. Homeschool kids can't go to college because they don't earn a high school diploma.  

Colleges don't ask to see your high school diploma, at least mine didn't. I went to a four year private college and I needed three letters of recommendation, ACT scores and high school transcripts when I applied, not once was I asked for a diploma.  My oldest daughter didn't submit her diploma when she applied to college, she sent in her high school transcript also.  It's the subjects studied and the grades earned that colleges want to see and home schooled kids can provide that information.  We can also create a diploma but no one will ever ask to look at it so it is pretty pointless. 

8. Home schooled kids aren't ready for college like their public school peers.  

Home school situations vary like public school situations. Sure, there will be home schooled kids that don't receive the education that may be required to enroll in their college of choice just as many public school kids are not prepared to enroll in college.  More and more public school kids are falling through the cracks due to lack of parent involvement, large class sizes, incompetent teachers, etc… There are a whole host of reasons children in public school fail to succeed but research has shown that colleges are are very interested in home schooled students and these articles are a reflection of that:

This one makes me laugh because I've known several public school teachers that shouldn't be allowed to teach.  Why do we question whether a parent is qualified to teach but not question teachers? Just because someone holds a degree doesn't make them teacher material.  This is actually one of the things that kept me from home schooling my children.  I wanted to home school for many years before ever getting the courage to do so and it was because anti-homeschoolers had me believe a parent wasn't qualified so I put all my faith in private and public school teachers and this is what it got me:

My 14 yr old had one of the worst teachers ever in 3rd grade. I watched her standardized test scores go from above average to nearly below average in just one testing year.  That particular teacher was removed from the school after only teaching one year.

My oldest child couldn't read until she was in the 2nd grade. Her first grade teacher made excuses for my daughters inability to read or even do basic math, she even told me it was MY child (her teacher diagnosed her as ADHD) and NOT HER teaching that was the problem which later, after much testing, seeing a doctor and psychologist, turned out to be completely false. It turned out that my daughter had missed all of the basics in 1st grade, it was literally as if she was taught nothing for an entire year. I'd been questioning her teacher for months and she kept reassuring me all was ok until I accused her of not being a good teacher then all of a sudden my daughter was ADHD.  Thankfully there were good teachers and tutors that helped my daughter catch up and get back to where she should be but it took nearly 4 yrs for that to happen and a lot of money.  She graduated on time and her GPA never fell below 3.2 after 7th grade.

My home schooled child took her first standardized test after I taught her entire first grade and she scored at a 2nd grade level in Math and a 3rd grade level in Language Arts.  So… let's just skip the part about parents not being qualified to teach.  Being qualified to teach isn't about having a degree in education it is about knowing your child, understanding their learning style and being committed to their education. No one knows their child better and no one should be more committed to their child's educational success than their parent.



So, this was just a few of the crazy things people say about home schooled kids.  Instead of accepting that home school is just another way of educating a child some people become very defensive and downright rude when they know or hear of someone that home schools. It is silly and I think it is really a reflection of that persons own insecurities.

Next time you have the opportunity to learn the facts about home schooling, take it! You'll realize homeschooling families are much like your own family the only difference is that they've chosen a different way to educate their child, a way that they believe is best for THEIR child.


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FIFTY NIFTY UNITED STATES

December 9, 2014

I can't seem to get that song out of my head.  Anyway...
While Aiyana is doing her schoolwork I often poke around on Pinterest looking for fun education activities for her and I to do together.  Yesterday my search was "United States."  I've been trying to find creative ways of teaching her the U.S. States and their capitols.  One thing I found was a simple worksheet where Aiyana is mostly coloring and drawing but when I clicked on the link it didn't go anywhere so I decided to recreate it myself. 

The worksheet looked pretty much like this: (Click image to Download)


And this is one finished report that Aiyana did.  


This worksheet received a big thumbs up from my daughter. I told her we'll be doing one every day until we finish all 50 states and she said "ok" so I know she likes it.  If not there would have been a frowny face and "aw mom, do we have to?" coming out of her mouth. 

If anyone happens to know who is the original creator of this worksheet, please let me know so I can give credit for the idea. 
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LEARNING AWAY FROM THE CHAIR

October 30, 2014

We are trying to find creative ways of learning away from the chair.  Sitting down at a table for even a second isn't fun for either of us so we're exploring different ways of learning the essentials without having to be at a table to do it.

Yesterday we were working with measurements again.  This time we focussed on volume.  To help my daughter better understand cups, tablespoons and teaspoons, etc... we have dedicated one day a week as baking day.  Yesterday we made toffee bars.  To help my daughter remember the difference between each type of volume measurement I decided to include a little worksheet, then Aiyana could measure out the ingredients using cups, tsp and tbsp while also checking off what she used.  This is a great way to help her retain information.  Not all children learn this way but for her it works great.

I started with this worksheet that I created.


I added several measuring cups and several of the same measuring spoons because recipes always call for different ingredients of various measurements. So... as we made our toffee bars Aiyana would measure everything out and then mark off the exact measurement on the worksheet.


It's working out well.  The information is starting to stick so that makes me happy :-) Plus, she thinks baking is fun.




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FINDING OUR WAY IN THE HOMESCHOOLING WORLD

October 2, 2014

My daughter and I are into our 2nd year of homeschooling.  This year we are finding that we both need to spend less time sitting at a table and more time learning outside or at the very least learning through crafts or other activities.  Thankfully I have two books that have made getting away from the "sit down" work much easier.

R.E.A.L Science Odyssey Curriculum

Both my daughter and I are loving the lessons in this book.  We are working on Level One Life Science and the hands-on work in the book is quite fun.  Here is a pic of the day Aiyana was learning about cells.  We used a raw egg (on right) to learn about a single cell and (on left) we were using jello and fruit to learn the difference between plant and animal cells. Can you tell which one is the plant cell? :D


We've also figured if we are going to run away from sit-down work and head outside that it would have to be for more than just playing so I pulled out the Nature Seeker Workbook, turned to the section titled "autumn" and started with the first lesson which is studying leaves.  

We took a 2 mile walk around the lake and examined practically every tree along the way.  We found over a dozen different types of trees and something we'd never seen before (pictured in lower right corner of bottom photo).  I thought it was some kind of nut when Aiyana first picked it off an oak tree but after looking it up online I found that it is called an Oak Apple Gall and inside is the home of a wasp (click HERE for more information).  The wasp in this one is already gone (See the tiny hole? That is a sign they've moved on).  Pretty cool! 


So stay tuned for the next post about ways we found to get away from the "study table" because we are going to be running away to learn a lot now that we've discovered how much more fun it is than sitting at a table for 3 hours :D
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SURVIVED MY FIRST YEAR OF HOMESCHOOLING

May 5, 2014

Ok, I've survived nearly 9 months of homeschooling and although I've doubted myself A LOT throughout the experience and needed the reassurance from good friends like Teresa to keep me from throwing in the towel, I have found I really enjoy it. There is this immense satisfaction knowing that when my child learned to read, tell time, do fractions and tell me all about Egypt, etc... that I am the one who taught her all of that and not someone else.  I know what she's learning, when she is learning it, how well she's doing in each subject and in what areas I need to teach more. 

I want to use this blog post to talk about curriculum since that is the one thing that gives me the most headaches but also happens to be the most fun.  Odd right? To give me a headache and be fun? 
Well... I'll explain.

Finding the right curriculum is difficult since there seems to be plenty of a particular subject and almost nothing at all on another. Searching for curriculums on history or language arts you'll find more than you'll want so how do you choose? Searching for a curriculum on Spanish and art, infuriatingly impossible to find so you are reduced to putting it together yourself. 

Everyone's experience on finding a curriculum is different. In my opinion, it all depends on four things:

1. Your state requirements. 
2. What you want as a parent
3. How best your child learns
4. Cost! If you don't have a lot of money to work with, some curriculums, although perfect for your child, are just not in your price range. 

When I began homeschooling in September I started using the Oak Meadow curriculum for first grade.  I love Oak Meadow! I like the way the curriculum is laid out, the amount of hands on projects brought into every subject, how it all flows nicely and keeps my daughter interested but... I had to supplement quite a bit and around mid December I stopped using it altogether.  Not using it has been a huge mistake because it kept me focussed and on track and with that came a lot less anxiety.  Since I started jumping all over the place is when all of the doubt crept in. I'm getting a handle on it now and feeling more confident as I find other curriculums to supplement with but for a while there I didn't think I was going to continue teaching my daughter.  Now, I'm finding my footing and feeling I've made the absolute right decision by homeschooling my child.

What has helped me stick with it and where are we now?

#1  A friend. If I didn't have Teresa  I would have given up. I've met people in the homeschool co-op we attended this spring but no one has been as open, honest and helpful as my friend Teresa. 

and

#2  Seeing my daughter share what she learns.  Twice now we've been out and about and someone has asked my daughter why she wasn't in school and she'd tell them she is home-schooled. Immediately they'd start in with a list of questions about some random subject. Once we were having lunch with a friend and the waiter started quizzing my daughter on panda bears and the other time my daughter was getting her hair cut and the beautician wanted to know if she knew anything about Johnny Appleseed.  Ironically, we had studied pandas and learned all about Johnny Appleseed. 

Where are we now?

Well... I still haven't gone back to using Oak Meadow but I will. I also intend on purchasing their 2nd grade curriculum this summer.  I realized the problem with their curriculum (for us) is it just doesn't fit my daughter 100%. It was weak in some areas (for her).  When we started, my daughter already knew how to read well and she had already been exposed to many of the science topics so she became easily bored when I'd repeat things.  I'm also not a fan of jumping all over the place when studying history, I like order and there wasn't much for order on that subject.

To make sure my daughter was learning the same, if not more, than her sisters are learning in public school I purchased the book Home Learning Year by Year:

Home Learning Year by Year has been the most valuable book I've picked up.  Each chapter is divided into years. Chapter 1 - preschool, Chapter 2 - kindergarten, etc... and under each year is a complete list of what your child should know in every subject for that particular grade level.

After looking at dozens of different curriculums I settled on the following to supplement some of what is in Oak Meadow...

Write Shop. I haven't used this yet, it just arrived today.  Based on what I've read about it I think it will be good for my daughter but I'll have to update readers on that later.  I chose this writing curriculum when I started having difficulty explaining sentence structure and helping my daughter understand the meaning of complete sentences. 

Money Bags. The most awesome game ever for teaching money. I ordered this when my daughter had a difficult time remembering the names and amount of coins. I think we played the game 3x's and she had it all down perfectly. Now she is mastering making change, exchanging coins for dollars, etc...  My daughter learns much faster when we do things "hands-on" so educational games are a must in our household. 

Monarchs and More. I picked this up at the University of Minnesota.  They have a great entomology department over there and everyone is extremely helpful and excited when you want to learn about insects.  I just happened to come across this when doing a search on "ordering" monarchs. We'll be using this over the summer to learn more about butterflies. 

Nature Seeker Workbook. I am giving you the Amazon link for the workbook but I actually found this at the local bird supply store.  It was written by someone from my state. It contains a wealth of information on wildlife from midwest. We'll be using it to learn about nature this summer.

The Story of the World.  I wanted a history that took more of a timeline approach than just skipping all over the place and someone at the homeschool co-op we attended this spring told me about this curriculum.  I really like it.  Each chapter is very short, between 2-4 pages and there is a map to go with every chapter.  In addition to the stories and maps there is an activity guide that ties in with every chapter and it makes history fun and interesting to study. 

Real Science Odyssey. I just found this a few weeks ago and haven't started using it yet. I was waiting for the weather so we could start doing some of the projects outside. I searched high and low for a science curriculum and I think I'm really going to enjoy this one. I like that it has everything written out step-by-step.  When it comes to science I like to do as little thinking as possible. This book tells me exactly what to do and how to teach it.  It is nice to have the option of a less expensive ebook to download instantly over just purchasing the books (which are always more costly). 

I also downloaded this cute art history lessons booklet put together by someone on Teachers Pay Teachers. I've found so many useful projects and ideas on the TPT website.  Most of their downloads are reasonably priced and once you've downloaded anything you can use it again and again. Our favorite things to download are math games.

I am still on the hunt for a good Spanish and art curriculum.  I am thinking I may write my own for Spanish and post it on TPT but when it comes to art I need all the help I can get :D
So...

Homeschool won't end for us in May or June like a traditional year, we'll keep going throughout the summer but spend most of June, July and August on science and just studying nature.  If you have any tips for this new homeschooling mom, please share.  The more I know the better :-) 
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HOMESCHOOLING WEEK THREE

September 19, 2013

I realize I am lonnnnng overdue for a blog post but I have been trying to get into the swing of homeschooling and figuring out where everything else fits in.  So far, things are going pretty well.  I don't educate my daughter from 9-3 every day like I thought I would, I'm really lucky if I can get her to sit still and focus for 3 whole hours, generally our sit down work ends after about 2 hours.  She's picking thingsup pretty quickly, I guess not having the distraction of 30 other kids helps.  I do feel a bit disorganized at times... ok, all of the time.  I read the book Home Learning Year by Year and it has made me feel a little paranoid, that maybe my six year old will never learn all she needs to by the end of the first grade, but I'll continue to do my best and only time will tell if I'm doing a good job.  Thankfully we are ahead of the game since my daughter is also enrolled in Kumon and has been since pre-school.

So... that's my homeschooling update for the week.  I'll be back to posting regularly now that I know this process isn't going to kill me. LOL!

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THE BEGINNING OF HOME SCHOOL

August 24, 2013

I'm about to enter into my first year of home schooling Aiyana (my 6 year old).  I feel a little bit insane for doing it, just because my educational background has not prepared me to teach.  I studied psychology, the only good that is going to do me is helping me identify when I'm having a nervous breakdown over the whole homeschooling process. LOL!

I think I'm prepared.  Thanks to my wonderful friend Teresa over at Homestead Notes I was able to find the right curriculum for Aiyana.  We are going to be using Oak Meadow, which from what I've read is based on the same principles as the Waldorf Schools.



Waldorf schools emphasize the teaching of the whole child—head, hands, and heart.

I've reviewed the curriculum several times and I love it.  90% of it is hands on learning and what child doesn't want a hands-on education over sitting at a desk all day? None that I know of.  I think even my 13 and 17 year old are a bit jealous that they didn't get to learn using Oak Meadow.

I'm not the most organized structured person so I've decided the best way for me to start is to keep Aiyana on the same schedule as her sisters.  She'll be home schooled 5 days a week, 9 am - 3 pm.  That way her sisters are not around to distract her (they'll be at school) and I won't feel like I'm all over the place.  I think in the beginning it will be easier if I stick to what I know, which is the pattern the schools follow, except most of what we'll do will be outside and hands-on as oppose to sitting at a desk all day. Once I get more comfortable and start to see what Aiyana's learning style is, then I'll make adjustments.

I'm not as nervous as I was initially.  Having friends like Teresa and Natalie give me home schooling advice has helped a lot.  Teresa has been such a great source of information and always a confidence booster, I can't thank her enough.  If it wasn't for her I would never have found the courage or the right curriculum to be able to home school.

The last thing I had to prepare after getting the Oak Meadow materials was a system for keeping track of grades, subjects we will be focussing on, field trips, etc... I decided to just start with a search online and when I found a few sheets to guide me I downloaded a bunch of cute clip art from Etsy and made what I think will help me keep Aiyana's education in order.  Since it seems like everywhere I looked someone wanted money for just these basic sheets I've decided to upload them here and share them for free.  Why would someone expect others to pay for a silly little grading sheet? I hate when people charge for EVERYTHING.

So... here they are.  Hopefully they can help anyone who may be just beginning to home school like me :)
















If you have any trouble downloading these, please let me know.


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