TWISTED EDUCATION!

2010-11-14T16:14:00.000-08:00

throughout the course of a week, our homeschool group was privileged to help pick 37,000 pounds of squash for michigan food banks! we were also given as much squash as we'd like. i opted for baking pumpkins. which i baked, chunked and froze, for pumpkin bread and pies!

2010-11-10T06:43:00.000-08:00

i've listened to glenn beck and his

push for self-education and homeschooling

and i agree, from my own personal experiences,

i retain much more. i own it. and i embrace it.. when

left on my own to figure things out.

make sense?

with that in mind... i thought we'd take the road less

traveled and self-educate this week.

i picked up a really cheap trivia game at goodwill.

i can't remember the name of the trivia- threw the box out.

but, did divide the cards up according to subject.

then, without peeking, tommie has to choose a card from the subject i listed on the daily schedule and follow the directions i wrote in the box... see picture below.

see the picture above.

confused yet?

this is how i break-down our day.
no downloaded forms. just a quick notebook with sloppy lines.
and enough room for me to make comments.
then, depending on the subject i list an activity...

so an example would be:
subject: places and things.
pick a card.
question is: are there mountains in michigan?
answer: yes.
task: look up info on this and make a commercial using your camera or camera on the computer, telling why someone might want to visit the mountains in michigan: location, etc.

another example of what we both learned this week:
subject: government and history
question: what branch of government does the secret service fall under.
answer: homeland security.
task: google secret service and write a one page essay about the secret service. list code names for past president's children. chelsea clinton: energy. when it was established and how many men died for the president?

i am really loving this, for several reasons....
one being, i am learning things i never knew.
secondly, it's self-taught-which means my babe will retain it.

other suggestions for the topics/subjects are:

design a poster

make a brochure (computer)

oral discussion (did this yesterday and learned about motown)...
i even danced around the kitchen to, "ain't too proud to cry... baby-baby!"
oral discussion is so good, especially in front of the computer... for quick look-ups!

-you tube video and write a one paragraph or two on the topic.

-research 5 fast facts and write them with a black marker- largely on a newspaper
(just something quirky-- off the wall, instead of lined paper).

the list is endless......

since there are different levels on the cards, you could do this with different aged children at the same time.... maybe?

also, keep the cards for review or make a "test" with them!

now, get out and buy a cheap trivia game and educate your children from goodwill!

2010-09-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

as much as i wanted my boy to be in boy scouts...

his heart wasn't in it. truth is, he was doing it "for me."

that said, i signed tommie up for future farmers of america.

it's an agri-science program with a smorgasbord of areas to explore.

there is homework each week. and report cards. the class is being

taught by a michigan state professor. i am hopeful that this is a better

fit for his personality.

and, i'm happy that this is "his" thing...

rather then mine.

given his passion for farming, mechanics and livestock... this feels right.

2010-09-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

a quick little lesson on a 100% compostable sun chip bag!

will it or won't it.... decompose?

the instructions are on the back of the bag.

we'll see in a few weeks!

what do you think?

2010-09-15T05:35:00.001-07:00

well, now.... the full-blown, computer based curriculum...

that i thought would be just the ticket, during this busy season of our lives,

didn't work out to well for us. read all about it here.

which leads me to the next question.... why does most of society think that learning can only happen during school hours? and subjects can only be covered from 9 to 3? and, if your not in a brick and mortar building, having homework, being lectured to... then you're not being educated?

i'm not trying to sound braggy... really, sincerely, i'm not. but last night at 9 pm, my son, decided he wanted to take the head of a sunflower and make sunflower seeds. i have no clue how to do this... so i asked him to google it. he researched it and followed the you-tube step by step, tutorial. willingly and self-motivated. at this time, it was 9:30 pm. if i stopped him, said something like, it's too late, you'll make a mess or it's time for bed.... i would of squashed his idea and more then likely, he wouldn't have been as passionate as he was that moment.

new goal: seize the opportunities... any time you can.

now let's see... should i document this under science or culinary arts?

today.... we'll learn about shakespere's herbs and anne hathaway.

2010-09-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

i said i never would.

ever.

but i am.

tomorrow, starts the beginning of our homeschool computer based program, in all subjects. switched on schoolhouse: language arts, science and history/geography and teaching textbooks math, grade 7.

we'll continue to seize the opportunity to unschool on the side... and watch educational dvd's, read classic books and life skills.

i love the unschooling, eclectic style, greatly. it's worked for us. and, it worked well!

however, i seem to be spinning too many plates at the moment.

and, the end of september and october... looks to be a whirlwind time for me and my little business i created. and, i'm still learning to cook and bake- gluten free... which is very foriegn for me.

using SOS, which was basically dropped in my lap...will free me up from lesson planning, correcting papers and the stress of pulling things together, on weekends, etc.

i'm not sure if this is a forever thing. or if we'll both miss our natural style of learning.

time will tell.

2010-09-07T05:12:00.000-07:00

geesh!

the past week has been pretty dog-gone busy for me.

read all about it on my smile, wink, nod blog.

that said, i was so relieved to have teaching textbooks, for my son to plug-in to.

how great it is, that i can require him to do two or three lessons of math, a day...

without complaints.

don't get me wrong, i did require a bit of reading and writing.

just not real meaty stuff.

this short labor day week, we'll continue

with our shakespere study,

culinary arts (fancy name for helping me can baked beans in the kitchen!),

and free reading ... a short list of living books i am requiring him to read by the end of september.

this week, the plan is to get outdoors-- bike ride and running for homeschool gym.

have a happy tuesday!

2010-08-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

yesterday, we started back to 7th grade homeschool lessons.

i've decided we would move forward homeschooling like we always have. with living books. i just can't imagine any other way, for us. i did consider purchasing computer curriculum to cover all subjects. but, can't phantom having my son plugged into the computer all day. i did step up to the plate and purchase, teaching textbooks math 7. which is, computer based.

the past couple of days, we've just eased back into it....

here's a little of what we did over the past couple days:

- 4 lessons in math

- tommie read: jacques cousteau short bio.

where spelling words, science and vocabulary words, handwriting were pulled out.

-project and poster on nitrogen narcosis (rapture)

-edited tomi de palo's children's book, "pancakes for breakfast." the book is wordless... i required tommie to write the storyline. he did swell.

-watched the agricultural documentary, "corn king" and "food, inc."

yep, i'm counting it as science and economics.

2010-06-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

tomorrow kicks off a new unit study for us... with, island of the blue dolphins.

and my oh my... look what i found to help us!? an interactive island of the blue dolphins interactive and printable activity worksheets!

click here to see what i'm talking about!

every year, i "say" we're going to homechool lightly throughout summer. always with a rip-roaring good intent. we loose momentum around june 18. and then it fizzles out completely by july 4th. a few weeks ago, after six years of homeschooling and suggesting and trying to sell my son on the benefits of plugging along through the summer....

decides that he'd like to homeschool during the summer.

now, if you know my sweet boy.... you'll find this hard to believe as i do.

i'm secretly excited... since i love schooling outside in such nice weather. and enjoy nature studies and outside learning so much!

today, we worked on our plant study. the seven principals of living organisms. we also put a mixture of bits and pieces of morel mushrooms under our ash tree for next years harvest.

we had to skip a lesson in math.... couldn't find the protractor.

2010-04-22T04:51:00.000-07:00

our self-made unit study, lizzy bright & the buckminster boy... led us into something very personal. death. how to react if ever faced with a terminal illness. this, i'm certain.... no school could cover. i've recently learned, that my favorite motivational speaker, dr. wayne dyer has cancer. so did my dad. both men embraced their uncertain futures as a blessing. deep, i know... but it's conversations like this that are priceless with my son. how not to be a burden to others. how staying positive is more effective then the "why me?" approach. and lastly, life is not fair... no one said it would or should be.

our lesson, also led us into a good discussion and science experiment about the different blood types: which blood type is compatible with which.

we also had the pleasure of hearing two honking (loud!) sandhill cranes... flying overhead and landing in our backyard. both were cinnamon colored-- young birds. both started a flapping fight with a canada goose. we watched it all! live-- in our yard.

2010-04-20T04:39:00.000-07:00

these days are rolling by, way to fast!

looking back over the past week, here's a glimpse of what we call education at home:

-continued with the newberry winner book, turner buckminster & lizzie bright:

-discussed racial discrimination

- discussion on capital and investments: what type of businesses would attract tourists on the east coast in the early 1900's? decided a movie theatre for silent films would be a hit.

-discussed charlie chaplin who left u.s.a. for switzerland-and never came back, do to back taxes. discussed the importance of paying taxes on time: penalties, biblical truths & why so many flee to switzerland when in trouble.

-discussed mary pickford. i have a picture in my kitchen of her with a stamped signature.

doesn't it seem like we do a lot of discussion? it's the give and take of oral learning that opens up a flood of questions. my son didn't have a clue what capital meant or back taxes.

-typed two short papers on the california condor and pekin duck

-went to youtube school and we both enjoyed:

silent films

condors in the redwood forest

-another highlight? i had tommie make a big pot of chicken broth to freeze. you know now, if he were in traditional school.. they would call this culinary arts. here at our school we say....

how about making us some chicken broth to freeze?

-now that spring is in full-swing... tommie's been working a few days a week at our neighbors farm. he's enjoying his $$ and is learning "to do what the boss says!"

other subjects: math, spelling, silent reading, on-line spanish.

-i know this post seems like everything is a walk through the daisy's. it is not. i am dealing with a pre-teen, who dislikes reading and writing. and who is breaking out of his shell to become his own opinionated person. we have a lot of eye-rolling happening here and breathing hard. but, we just keep moving ahead.

2010-04-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

this week and the forthcoming weeks, we will be pulling lessons-five in a row style from this double- award winner, lizzie bright and the buckminster boy, by gary schmidt... who happens to live here in michigan! i'll be documenting what we did right here....each day. you are more then welcome to use any of the learning activities i'm telling you about....

here's what we did so far this week:

-3/4 page of dictation page 2 last paragraph. commas and hyphen review.

-review hyperbole

-looked up and wrote a short paper on the newberry award and michael prinze award.

-applied math- orally

-a writing/reading/drawing project on the 5 different parts of the atmosphere

vocabulary word look up and writing: reprobate, parsonage.

fieldtrip: drove past several parsonages

-a writing & hand's on project about tides, including spring and neap tides

-watched a very interesting youtube video (on my level) click here!

-discussed "peer pressure"... i can't ever discuss this enough!!

****************************

now, of course we do our regular core subjects: math, spelling and silent reading. tommie's choice for his silent reading is, the last of the mohican's.

2010-04-07T15:04:00.000-07:00

time to teach tommie spanish!

i found a couple of good websites to help me! -- and yes, they're free!

here! and here!

2010-04-03T05:50:00.000-07:00

explaining watergate, understanding watergate and the fall of president nixon, was easy.... when i used lego men to reenact the scene. truth is... i'm sort of a watergate illiterate...so, i needed to brush up on the facts, with a book i had on my shelf. now, we by no means know all of the nitty-gritty details of this political-era and scandal... but, we both know "just enough," for this point in our lives.

2010-04-01T04:29:00.000-07:00

oh my gosh... i'm so excited to share a little unit study/lesson plan links, that my good friend lisa put together for her children! it worked for early ed through middle school! lisa is a former educator and has her act together!

THE LIGHTNING THIEF by RICK ROIRDAN

click here and it will take you right to her free plans!

2010-03-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

so... now i found myself in the unfamiliar world of homeschooling. i knew of no one who did this. no mentors. no resources. no girlfriends teaching at home. i vividly remember sitting down one sunday afternoon at the computer... and googled everything on homeschooling. i was swept up in a whirlwind of excitement, unrealistic ideas and also fear.

i came upon using the five in a row curriculum. starting at the preschool level and using it right through fifth grade. five in a row was what held our homeschool together. without it... i would of gave up homeschooling.... it enriched our lives beyond anything i can compare to. it gave our homeschooling and ME "depth." it gave me a different perspective of teaching-- using wonderful literature and seeing deeper into the story. it made dinner conversations interesting. it made learning fun. a mountain of information and subjects are in each unit study... which catapulted my child into a bigger world. a world that i would of never thought about going to. sri lanka. china, japan, paris and the list goes on.

my son is by far not a prodigy. however, this curriculum gave him profound information at a very young age.... launching him ahead of anything a public school could offer. i fondly remember a unit study on, "climbing kansas mountains,".... in which we went to our local grain company and had an impromptu tour of the grain distribution: corn being put on trains, which were being shipped to china and elsewhere.... and other behind the scenes stuff! this deeper learning became a very natural fit for us.

i also loved the charlotte mason method. and studied it faithfully. charlotte mason planted the love of nature study into our lives and the the importance of living books... which is all we use, even to this day.

so, after seven years of five in a row and charlotte mason... i have no choice but to look at learning a different way. it's all i know. it's all my son ever had. that's not to say, i didn't try using workbooks... or rod and staff/drill and kill or 100 ez reading lessons... we tried, with negative results on many levels.... we always found our way back to the comforts of five in a row.

i must retrack here about workbooks... we've used horizon's math from third grade on. and, i do use winston grammar, as per suggested on the five in a row boards.

i cannot salute five in a row and the lamberts enough! this is a rock solid curriculum, which covers a smorgasbord of subjects in one sitting--when you use it faithfully. some think using a unit study is not an effective choice for an only child. i am proof, that it can be done. done quite well, indeed.

(please, if you do decided to use any five in a row products... order them directly from the five in a row site and not a distributor.)

2010-03-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

over the next several days... i'll be sharing the how's, whys, fears and successes of our eclectic-homeschool lifestyle...

question: how did it all begin?

answer: it started at preschool age... actually before that... when my tot was in the bathtub every night, i taught him his abc's and numbers using foamy bathtub toys... this was before i ever considered homeschooling. little did i know... this was the beginning of our outside the box learning. truth is... i used to line up the foamy letters randomly, on the side of the tub... i'd ask him to point to a specific letter and then, if he answered correctly... i'd ping them at him with a flick of my finger... which resulted in belly giggles! is there anything better then a tot giggling from their belly?

when preschool age arrived... i only considered homeschooling for about 20 minutes, before i surrendered to back-pack envy and the wave of excitement from all of my friends who were excited to put their kids in pre-school. i kept a secret in my heart... i was having so much fun with my preschooler already... the thought of turning him over to someone else... left a dull ache in my belly. not to mention a lump in my throat that wouldn't go away.

we visited a preschool, for the day. a parochial preschool. it was cold. i don't mean the weather... i mean the learning atmosphere. the floors were institutional, the teachers stiff and also spoke in a "baby voice," yet with an authoritarian slant. which made me shrill. the kids were told... what to do... where to sit, when to play, when to wash their hands, when to talk, when to ask questions, when, when, when.... and my all time favorite (sarcastic)... being made to SHARE. I HATE BEING FORCED TO SHARE! example: little johnny is playing with a dumptruck-quietly-- in his own world of make believe- little jacob comes up and tries to take johnny's dumptruck away from him. johnny says no.. i'm playing with it... jacob yells out, HE WON'T SHARE! cold teacher comes up, reprimands little johnny... says we must share... you're not being nice. johnny looks up like what??? jacob gets the truck. this is jacobs first good lesson on how to manipulate. instead of the teacher saying... in her best baby voice.... jacob...why don't you find your own toy to play with and get out of johnny's face????? or find your own damn truck and join him?

this lesson of sharing that day... validated what is wrong in our learning institutions. i also vividly remember a boy quietly off by himself, building a wooden block structure.... the baby-voiced teacher, insisted he finger paint instead. why? because that's what everyone else was doing!

see where i'm going with this? more tomorrow....

2010-03-24T04:11:00.000-07:00

one of the best homeschool tools, i've ever bought, was this hardcover, titled...."on this day." i found it at a local church book sale for a dollar. as the title suggests... each page and sidebar has a big handful of facts and stories of what happened on this day in history. it has been the springboard and spine for most of my son's sixth grade year. i choose the topic and read it aloud and then we discuss it. our conversations are intense at times... covering topics i would of never even thought about discussing. one thing leads to another with this... opinions are tossed around... biblical principals are inserted from me, as well as morals and other ethical issues. i make a conscious effort, to ask "what's your opinion... " and careful not to smash and bash his ideas and opinions... instead, if i disagree, i may gently point out a different view. isn't that just another terrific concept of homeschooling?? no secular teacher or classmates, making fun of you if you think Gorbachev was cool for being a farmer or your not totally sure about an artificial heart or golda meir's place in israel's history? or andy warhol's artwork and painful life?

try amazon used books... maybe you too, could pick up a copy for cheap. i humbly admit, i didn't know 99% of any of this. but at age 45... i'm self-educating. wouldn't glenn beck be proud?

2010-03-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

THE CENSUS!

That's right... how about letting your child fill out your Census, this year? Truth is, my son has never filled out a form before... never filled out those little boxes! And, has never even heard of The Census! In addition to filling the form out, I explained to him about the reason behind The Census, how often it is sent and how it's suppose to be confidential. This took no time at all and sparked interesting conversations. I just love teaching outside the box!

2010-03-17T05:29:00.000-07:00

have i ever mentioned, how much i love cross-curriculum? combining different subjects? yesterday, was one of those days. after the basics were done, we took divine pleasure in soaking up a gorgeous spring day in michigan! i spruced up the yard a bit, while my boy worked on his world war two bunker. in the fall, he had dug this entire thing... a great place for his friends and him to play airsoft wars. for me, the crazy homeschool mom... i count this as: recess, gym, history and one heck of an art project! can you imagine doing this in an institutionalized school? he'd be discouraged for thinking outside the box, kicked out because of the mud... and he probably would be teased for wearing wellingtons. i'm just saying... i love homeschooling.

2010-03-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

is there anything more invigorating then hiking in the outdoors? saturday afternoon, our family went shed hunting in my mom's husband's woods. the entire woods was not flooded like this...and we were able to discover a lot of different fungus, signs of spring: pussy willows, ferns and wild strawberries (leaves) poking through the ground.

so, do you nature hike? if you haven't in a while... grab your wellingtons and explore what spring has to offer!

p.s. i took along my digital... tomorrow tommie will be researching and identifying different fungi that we found and making a power point slide show with it.

i sure do like when we can cross-curriculum: science-computer lab!

(shed hunting is looking for deer antlers. we didn't find a one)

2010-03-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

the advantage homeschoolers have is impromptu fieldtrips. they are everywhere! homeschool group fieldtrips has their advantages, that's for sure. but, don't underestimate the experience of going it alone. ... just open yourself up to opportunities! i've found that many, many people are more then willing to take a moment or two and tell you and your children about their job. perhaps even take a tour. i've never been turned down. a couple of memories that stick out for us is, when my neighbor had a well drilled and i made my son go over at watch and ask questions. he even walked through the field with his lawn chair. another time, he helped a tree planting service, plant and water trees. my friend rhonda, seeked an opportunity at a military store! she and her boys were offered a ride in a ww2 impliment. you can't do that everyday!

today, we visited my mom's friend and her husband, at one of their homes... (this picture was taken awhile back-we have zero snow in this part of michigan, today) they live in an upscale neighborhood, in a mansion, which was built in 1929. my son and i and even my mom, learned a wealth of information about this historical house! we toured the maids quarters and staircase, appreciated the bullet style door hinges, learned about birch wood doors and cherry hardwood floors. we learned windows can be built in the center of chimneys... and we even explored a japanese tea house on the premises. i won't go into all the details... but, there i was definitely educated, enlightened and inspired. as well as my homeschooler! hidden safes. hidden stair cases, tank-less toilets, secret buttons to call the maids, and the list goes on.

so... don't be shy... look around and take advantage of what's going on out there!

2010-03-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

recently, i taught a homeschool co-op class how to use.... a telephone book/yellow pages by creating a scavenger hunt! it was an exhausting hit! thank goodness, i had a couple of assistants helping the 17 kids.... one of the very few FUN things i remember from public elementary school was all of us kids going to the media center and doing this very same thing. hence, this idea 35 years old.

here are some ideas for your gang and their scavenger hunt:

-find zip codes for: _______________ (usually there is a chart in the front of the book)... i listed a good handful of cities.

-what area code/code would you use for cairo, egypt, stockholm, sweden, etc! lots of etc's!

-find a restaurant in the yellow pages, locate a menu and decide on what you'd like to order. add up your tab, calculate sales tax, add up a friends... add it to your tab, split the bill. figure gratuity. while you're at it... define gratuity.

-find a dentist. what is the abbreviation for dentist?

-who is our state representitive. how would you contact him/her?

-pick 5 different businesses and write their addresses out.

-discuss yellow pages advertising bills. the larger the ad, the more businesses pay.

-what is the abbreviation for a veterinarian?

-provide different last names for the kids to look up!

-pick a phone number out of the book.... add or multiply it (depending on your child's level): 586-999-8888 = (do this multiple times!!)

see how much fun you can have with this? you could just go on and on and on!

2010-03-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

just popping in here tonight, before i get comfortable on the couch with my current read, the boleyn inheritance.

i wanted to share a couple of fantastic learning resources you already have... but may not of thought about using...

the t.v. guide. a couple of years ago, my son wondered what it was for, when he saw it in the sunday paper. no, we don't use a t.v. guide. although we are t.v. junkies: history, weather channel, glenn beck, and hallmark. and, my favorite... the duggars. that said, you can do quite a bit with t.v. guide teaching. time and elapsed time math problems. making good choices. even researching the history of t.v. and broadcasting.

the telephone book. instead of language arts drill and kill... how about having your children pick out any five names from the book and address "fake" envelopes. the telephone book... i could write an entire post on how to homeschool with a telephone book... in fact, check back tomorrow, and i'll give you a bunch of stellar ideas!

encyclopedias. have your student open an encyclopedia up and where ever the page falls, that's your subject of the day! are you educating an animal lover? great! use an animal encyclopedia! you can use the encyclopedia for copywork. take a paragraph and have your child insert different adjectives. use the picture (if it has one) as a creative story prompt.
and how about you? why don't you try homeschooling yourself on this one? i really think it could be fun! be sure to show your kids your love for learning!

2010-03-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

tuesday afternoon, finds me pulling another homeschool tip from my hat!

i can't teach everything. there are some things that i don't want to know. things i never want to know and subjects and material that i've never used or heard about in 45 years. and yes... i've lived a very well and enriched life without knowing what quantum mechanics involves or mitosis vs. meiosis. that said... there is help out there!

and i call it you-tube school.

this link has a bazillion you tube type videos -- with excellent--excellent explanations!

on some pages there are even links to quizzes and worksheets. it's all free. for K-12!

today and yesterday, we took a trip down the "atom" trail. we watched movies (3) about atoms- with very simple explanations. followed by 2 quizzes. for "us," it beats the heck out of trying to read a dry science book, with limited info... and scientific facts that yours truly doesn't understand-- so how can i possibly be an effective teacher? problem solved-with this website! we are both gaining different perspectives from different you-tube movies and being taught with different examples! and this site isn't limited to science... you can learn about the french revolution and even the history of india.

this place is a blessing!

click here!

2010-02-26T04:38:00.000-08:00

today's homeschool burn-out buster is... driving. pack a snack or lunch, a clipboard for note-taking and perhaps a digital camera or two. i promise you, public and parochial schools cannot teach this way. and guess what? we're getting our unsocialized homeschooled children "out into the real world," you know, so they can function? smile, wink, nod. okay here's what i mean:

-you can learn obtuse, acute and right angles by looking at pitches on buildings and houses.

-you can also locate the vertices.

-for younger ones they can learn square, triangles, etc., this way! just look at all the street signs and their shapes... include color learning, too.

-parallel, intersecting lines, etc, can be learned at a 4 way traffic stop or any crossroads.

-learn decimal reading each time you pump gas... just look at the gallons.

-you might want to pull off and watch a building being erected. we watched the first wall go up at our new walgreen store. parked in the bank parking lot and had front row seats!

-don't forget to note your millage before and after the trip-- subtract to see how far you went!

-discover old buildings in your town! we have an old fire department which is being used for offices, an old post office, court house and an old high school, all of which have the dates embedded into the brick walls. figure out how old they are! (subtraction).

-where does the mayor work? what does he do? who is he?

-our town used to have an old opera house... we discussed and pointed it out.

-you can stop at a park and have your kids run around the perimeter of the baseball field. "perimeter learning."

-does your car need washing? run through the car wash... discuss how and where the water comes from: in our case detroit. and all city water is paid for by the owners.

-we have an old vineyard in our town... point it out.

-get out and have your children figure the radius and diameter of your tire. and the rim.

-watch for birds and identify them.

-point out turrets, different weathervanes and cupulo's.

-find a pole barn and discuss the structure difference from a regular barn.

-my favorite... noticing the brick work on different buildings!

-point out flora and fauna.

most of all, make good memories and don't forget to belly-laugh!

the list can go on and on... i would love to hear some of your ideas for car-learning! leave it in my comments and we'll give it a try!

2010-02-24T16:26:00.000-08:00

here's an idea for real life learning... you know-to prepare them for the real world! so, they know how to function and not just turn 18 and wander around in circles... like so many nay-sayers warn us against!

how about this...

use a grocery store sale flyer for the day! here's what i did on several occasions:

-add up any 10 items on the sale flyer

-alphabetize the items

-if a loaf of bread is buy 2 get 1 free and the price is $3.25 over all... how much is each individual loaf?

what if you had a coupon for .50 cents off and the store doubled your coupon? what would the final price be on the bread?

look on the bag of bread... where was it made?

look on the bag of bread... read the ingredients.

find a vitamin and research it.

find a mineral and research it.

plan a meal using the flyer. include the basic food groups. how much would this cost you overall? what if four people were eating your dinner... how much a person would this cost you?

make a grocery list.

alphabetize the spices in the cupboard.

when finished... mix up some glue and water (decoupage) and for art, your children could try their hand at decoupaging -using the sale flyer! they could cover a manila file folder, to hold coupons, a tin can with holes poked in it as a quirky candle holder or pencil holder, cover a clipboard, or small notebook for grocery lists!

the list of ideas could go on forever, depending the ages of your children. the really great thing is, multiple ages could work on this together! you just need to sit down and type out your "grocery store flyer scavenger hunt!" be sure to read my comments below... because i've been getting really nice ideas from viewers... which by the way, thank-you!

2010-02-23T04:44:00.000-08:00

cooking has always been a big part of our homeschooling. thanks to six years with five in a row curriculum. there' is just so much learning that can take place in your kitchen. how about vocabulary? sautee', make-a-well, mince, par boil, or frothy? and no, you don't need to have a black-lined, fill-in the blank vocabulary worksheet and test, to master these new words. you just do it. you just talk about it. and you just use the word a lot. and, you get your hands deep down and dirty and make a memory with your children! that is one of our homeschool perks. memories.

cooking also provides math skills and reading comp. which needs no explanation.

once in a while, i pull a cookbook off the shelf and require tommie to double or triple or quadruple the recipe. in his best handwriting.

of course, you could always have a computer lab lesson, and have your child type a recipe of aunt hilda's and send it off to a friend or family member.

i subbed in a cooking-around-the-world co-op class last week, and the teacher was using Emerill's Cooking Around the World recipe book. now, that was interesting! lots of very unique recipes... you could also include geography in this. perhaps, you could google: recipes around the world and find your own. better yet, have your children find a recipe, or two.

so go-ahead.... find your apron, pre-heat that oven (better yet-show your kids how-to) and find a recipe to homeschool with. fill your house with good smells and memories!

2010-02-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

i thought i'd share a handful of homemade games,

that we've used in our homeschool. for the past several

years, i've made learning wrap-ups (above). depending on

what needs to be learned and/or age level... i make them accordingly.

to give you an idea, i made: abbreviations, presidents in order, multiplication, addition, subtraction, division, state capitals and states, and now, exponents.

another huge hit, was this clothes pin game. a problem is written on a clothes pin and the answers are on a piece of recycled cardboard i had. i remove all the clothes pins and require tommie to clip the problem to the right answer. we used this for all of our multiplication and division... with much success. and it sure beats the heck out of drill and kill workbook pages!

(upside down example of the problem written on a clothespin.)

*note clothespins available at dollar tree. cheap.

speaking of dollar tree... you just can't beat their heavy poster board! the thick kind. for a home-school class i taught, i had all the students design a board game about theodore roosevelt. beforehand, i printed out a stack of facts for them to write on their boards. the kids were over-the-moon, designing and learning. i promise you, if you play this game a few times, you can't help but know a couple of dozen facts about someone or something famous. don't limit yourself... you could cover the dust bowl, industrial revolution, or any other historical event.

i gathered a bunch of odds and ends up.... like the picture below. you can do so much with them! if you're teaching adjectives... have your student select 5 props and describe them. or have your student write a short story using any 5 props. how about teaching similes or metaphors in this way?

and lastly, not pictured... but something that worked out wonderfully in our homeschool was... i bought paper cups at dollar tree... my how i love dollar tree for supplies! on the bottom of the cups, i made words using a-z. apple, bat, etc. then, when my son was learning how to alphabetize, i just set the stack of cups on the floor and let him put them in order. you could use this hand's-on approach for a bazillion different lessons. months, days of the week, phone numbers and even in higher grades.

2010-02-18T16:18:00.000-08:00

Homeschool Burn-out day 2.... tip of the day!

how about having a board game day?

ya know, all those educational

games you've picked up at curriculum sales?

you were thinking YES! yes or course...

we'll use these for learning in our homeschool!

let's be honest.

have you played them?

have you played them more then once?

do you feel sort of ....

ummm... guilty because you think you should be

pushing workbooks, instead? or trudging through a dry textbook

that makes you yawn and your kids eyes glaze over?

well... here's the green light... permission if you will...

get out of the box...

gather up those games and shout out to your kids...

"let the games begin!"

games we enjoy:

life

monopoly

scrabble

boggle

solitaire

uno

apples to apples

scrabble slam

scrabble sentences

manacala

erie canal

some body

mind your manners

bird memory game

sequence

rummy q

card games

so... tell me, what games does your family play?

goldenrod gall dissecting website

2010-01-14T05:20:00.000-08:00

the goldenrod gall dissecting website is: here!
thanks karen... for your comment!

winter nature walk!

2010-01-13T16:28:00.001-08:00

there's nothing better in the winter time, then going on a snowy nature hike!
...a few days ago we went on a goldenrod gall hunt on the back of our property!
i found a great goldenrod gall dissecting worksheet on-line. if you're interested in it... leave a comment. there's a lot going on inside that swollen stem!

2010-01-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

eeeks!
i'm having a terrible time downloading snaps to this blog.

stay tuned...

next post: "our winter nature walk!"

2010-01-09T04:58:00.002-08:00

remember in the last post.... i mentioned that math was giving us trouble? the program... is wonderful.... however, it was becoming too challenging for our homeschool. and, i didn't want to spend our days fighting our way through math. just for the record... i took the curriculum to a family gathering during christmas, showed three family members who recently graduated from college... and all were surprised and stunned at what was required for the sixth grade level. all mentioned the lessons he was challenged with were what they learned in high school. if you know me... i'm not in a rush. nor do i drive competition into my son... i'd rather he be secure at his level... then a stressed out, math-hating, little guy.

that said.... look what i found on-line!

it's been a blessing. tommie has had a ball doing math on the computer! it's free, too.

all grade levels... even up to 8th. and many subjects. there's even a printable overview of what percent (grade) and time frame.

i no longer hear... "i hate math" or "i can't do this!".... i am hearing testostorone filled "yeah's, i did it!" and other sounds of hooting and hollering!

happy me... it is tommie's idea to do vocabulary and spelling on-line.... same good site.

click here! we both love it!

our read-aloud is, the newberry winner, by margurite de angeli, a door in the wall.

2010-01-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

today, we started back to homeschool lessons.

honestly, everything was going perfectly excellent.....
until..... math.
it seems like math... i won't name what curriculum we use and have used throughout elementary school... because it worked very well, until 6th grade. however... math lessons turn into world war three, melt-downs, tears, whining, complaining and yes... me wondering why i even chose to homeschool?
i'm wondering if i should scale back, perhaps have tommie do some on-line interactive math lessons... while we build character training? my heart says yes.

on a lighter note, when things were going good... we started a little hydroponics experiment using different sprouts: mung, radish, alfalfa and red clover. very fun. and we're both interested in learning how to grow more this winter.

we also reviewed sir issac newton. discussed the title of "sir" given by english royalty. which led to a brief discussion on sir elton john, sir paul mccartney and so forth. during this time, we learned about how issac was forced into seclusion, because of the black death in london- which closed down cambridge college, where he taught. he moved to the english countryside to his mom's manor (okay, so this word... manor... led to another rabbit trail)... there, issac discovered the law of gravity, and light/prisms. which led to a science experiment.

then math.

for bible study; we've begun the book of romans.

our other core subjects followed.

at 4pm, tommie's boy scout patrol came over and spent two hours making 40 lunches for our church's homeless shelter. the boys were turned loose in the kitchen and required to clean-up, which they did well.

here's a snap of the brown bag lunches:

so what should i do about math?

2009-12-16T04:30:00.000-08:00

last friday, i pulled out the prang pastel paints, a quick and easy renoir art lesson and we both enjoyed painting still life. we discussed the impressionism era and how van ghoh and renoir and degas were pals...even making merry at local pubs... so history says... this art lesson tied in nicely with our france study.

2009-12-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

we're mid-way through the family under the bridge. today for a creative descriptive writing lesson, i required tommie to write a different ending to a chapter. a chapter which was describing a "home on wheels." although his creative writing has much to be desired... the lesson was well received by him and grammar, writing skills, and spelling was covered.

2009-12-08T17:38:00.000-08:00

here's a snap of the nortre dame' cathedral, that tommie made last week. he used plaster of paris, a cereal box and other goodies from the recycle bin.

2009-12-06T04:50:00.000-08:00

a fun writing exercise we both have enjoyed this week....creative christmas stories! we both wrote down five words each pertaining to the christmas season... mixed them up and then used each word in a clever 1-page story. i poured us each a cup of hot chocolate and we both enjoyed putting the pencil to the paper and getting creative! we'll be doing this again throughout the season! fa-la-la-la-la-...... la-la-la-la!

2009-12-04T17:47:00.000-08:00

this morning, i stuffed these cute little dollar tree boxes with math review problems! one box had geometry instructions, another fractions, multiplication problems and subtraction problems and the last box had word problems inside! it made math a little more special and hopefully memorable! monday, i plan to gather christmas ornaments and decorations and "play store." .... with more word problems and change making.

just do it! right during lesson's... i plugged in the christmas tree lights and we plopped down on the floor and played yahtzee. this is out of character for me. i'm usually scampering around cleaning or doing housework. my babe sure liked the break!

2009-12-03T18:14:00.000-08:00

since we're spending time in france this december... oh la' la' that sounds impressive! we're not actually in france but our homeschool lessons are taking us there! our chapter book is "the family under the bridge."

anyway, i googled easy french recipes and found a really nice site: click here.

I weaved a little cooking into our homeschooling and had tommie make poulet provencal (chicken stew in the crockpot!) it's amazing how when "he" prepares a meal or new recipe...he's all game to taste it! there are other really easy recipes on the site... i'm hoping to have him make more gourmet dishes... especially since our local meijers has a international food section!

we also enjoyed learning about the seine river watershed. i required tommie to read and learn about the vanishing salmon in the river and write a short report about it. by the way, since cleaning up the river, the salmon have came back!

i also used the book for dictation, sentence dissecting and "making new adjectives out of old ones!"

the other handy multi-subject lessons we did today... which covered european geography, the waterway system, tributaries, the french government, and french fashion... all of this was done by creating a poster about the above. simple and effective.

december in france

2009-12-02T15:44:00.000-08:00

december homeschooling, finds us learning within the newberry winning pages of "the family under the bridge." since, i've had a tough time finding any unit studies on this book...i've decided to create my own.

the story takes place under a bridge on the seine river in paris. very near nortre dame cathedral. so, i thought we should learn about nortre dame in paris and indiana! i thought we should learn about gothic archetecture and i thought we needed a little art. having just studied napoleon boneparte, this ties in nicely. especially since this day in history, he actually crowned himself emperor of france at nortre dame.

so... here comes the gothic architecture art work... tommie is covering a cheerio box and pillars with plaster of paris. it's drying as we speak... and i'll post pictures tomorrow... i also had him use different items for texture: a comb, a woven towel, etc.

today, we also did a bit of microscope work. since the story talks of fibers and fabric, i thought it would be nice to include natural and synthetic fibers. we checked out six different fabrics and he sketched what he saw.

tomorrow, i have a seine river treasure hunt planned (on-line)... which will take us up and down the river, exploring the louve and eiffel tower. we'll also be learning about the seine river watershed.

this book is wonderful for dictation and wonderfully written for sentence dissection.

i'll be back soon, with more of our adventure in paris!

2009-11-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

monday found us working with chemistry. elements and the periodic symbols. to make compound reactions easier to understand... i listed about 12 different chemicals and other liquids and had tommie read a chart, which described what elements each one was made from. then he took a toothpick and a designated jelly bean: carbon was a black jelly bean, a red jelly bean was hydrogen, an aqua jelly bean was oxygen, etc. and threaded the jelly bean through the toothpick. he made a little color chart and affixed it to the poster board for easy reading. this gave him a clearer picture of how elements make up atoms. and, yes... we filled our cheeks with these yummy jelly belly's!

2009-11-13T17:05:00.000-08:00

i found this book: -standardized minds- at our local library. the book interests me, because i stuggle with society's idea of intelligence...and for the most part of my life, i agree with the author... that standardized testing is an unhealthy obsession. starting while our kids are babies. if you'd like to read more, click here........

2009-11-10T17:58:00.000-08:00

i thought i'd share some of the living books, that we've been using last week and this week. most came from the library.. others came from thrift shops.

i confess, we're not a poetry kind of family. but, i do think it's important to at least introduce and at least "try." that said, i found a beautiful picture book about walt whitman. it has been wonderful for history... touches on abraham lincoln and the civil war.. plus there are plenty of poems in the back-- which tommie's used for copywork.

another book that has been leading us on tons of rabbit trails, is the book, "on this day." found at a thrift shop for a dollar. it's a day by day look on historical events that happened hundreds of years ago... to present. it led us to the berlin wall today. and tomorrow, will take us to sotherby's auction house to view van goh's iris' painting.

science has never been more fun... then with living books. maybe it's because i'm not very smart in this area... and the children's books are on my level!

2009-11-09T17:20:00.000-08:00

At our homeschool co-op, I teach a class called Night at the Museum... based on characters in the movies. There isn't really a curriculum... so I just sort of make my own up. Last Friday, our class was based on Teddy Roosevelt. I printed up lots and lots of facts about him... then on a heavy poster board, the children designed their own board games. Well.... let me tell you.... the kids LOVED doing this.... many of the kids wrote on each square like my sample above and below... but I also typed up the facts for them to cut out and paste on any square then wanted. They were instructed to use as many facts as they could... so they could learn more. I also included spaces titled: The White House (a few squares would say go to the White House or Panama Canal), and of course, "go back to start, your turn, roll again, etc."

I can imagine.... this would work well with any famous historical person or scientist. It's a very good learning tool!

2009-11-08T05:12:00.000-08:00

i've been using only living books for homeschooling this year. our library seems to have lots of fresh new releases.

one book, which i picked up is "amazing science discoveries CHEMISTRY." (sorry, blogger isn't letting me add a picture of the cover.) but.. ispn is 9781596042018

we're just taking a couple of pages a day.. diving into the topic and either making little posters or doing a suggested experiment. this week, we learned how powerful our stomach acids are... so strong they can burn through a rock. we made toffee out of sugar and learned to six elements of our body.

some of the living books which i've picked up are of a secular point of view. that's okay with us... it's a good time to implement the literary point of "hyperbole." and discuss our point of view.

2009-11-06T16:14:00.000-08:00

more often then not... we unintentionally forget to incorporate art into our homeschool. on wednesday of this week... i didn't forget.

i pulled out our oil pastels and we both drew pictures of an autumn scene. very simple. with clean lines. afterwards, we dipped q-tips in baby oil and rubbed the color until it was smooth. all i can say is yowza! what a new addiction! i loved doing this... working with oil pastels has never been so fun!

try it! i promise you will love the results. i'm teaching a 1st grade literature class and the kids will be drawing still life and using this method. it's dreamy!

2009-11-05T16:01:00.000-08:00

i just love using the REAL resources i have on hand to create real life education. you know, i despise workbooks. just can't hardly deal with them anymore. that said... let's get real and flip open a recipe book.

i had my son divide his paper into 3 parts, with the headlines: double, triple and quadruple. next i had him add and figure fractions and measurements of this recipe. and rename the fraction if possible. and while he was at it...i had him brush up on abbreviations. and add up serving sizes.

this was much better for "us" then workbook pages that just have problems on it. and we both love the real life application!

2009-10-31T03:57:00.000-07:00

fun freebies... don't miss out! click on any place the description is to go to the site!

for all educatiors: dvd's, posters, books and stickers. this site has a peta-type flavor. but, if you homeschool like me, we're open to learning the pros and cons of everything.

from subways: a free fitness kit.

little samples of taster's choice coffee... you know, for "those" homeschool days, when you need a little kick!

2009-10-27T05:13:00.000-07:00

on saturday, tommie took his homemade rocket to a boy scout rocket launch event. it was one of the requirements for the space exploration merit badge. which, wow... although there's a lot to it... i've woven the requirements into our homeschooling. works out nicely. it was a chilly, damp, windy and rainy afternoon... but that didn't stop the boys and their dads from jumping around with excitement, each time the rockets were launched. even though i'm not into how the rockets work... it was pretty exciting to see them soar up until you couldn't see them again. this experience has peaked tommie's interest in "setting things off with lighter fluid." he insisted we go to home depot and buy pvc pipes... he built some sort of launcher... used lighter fluid and cheap hair spray and set something flying. i think it was a tennis ball... i'm not sure. i am sure however, that he tied his cousins barbie doll to one rocket and tried to launch that through the pvc pipe. it didn't go very far, but it was pretty funny! did i just say that?

today in science, he'll be building an orange smoke bomb. something weird about building bombs in "school" and having your mom encourage it. well, i'm just saying.......

2009-10-23T04:41:00.000-07:00

my boy and i are still in the middle of our homemade unit study: the 21 balloons. it is SUCH a good book! without giving too much details away.... let me just share something that we... yes, "we" did... we lettered a sheet of paper a thru z.... then with our big floor map spread out on the living room floor, we both had to come up with ethnic restaurants: a-american, b-british, c-chinese, d-denmarkian (i made the suffix up!) and so on. fun? yep. and covered social studies and geography, too. try it.... it's a fun way to school!

quality or quantity?

2009-10-21T04:58:00.000-07:00

is it quality or quantity for your style of home-education? for us, it's not about how many subjects we can squeeze into the day. it's not how many workbook pages that can be filled in correctly. or endless lessons of cause and effect... which by the way, you can teach in the car. nor is it about grades or testing.

it's about the quality of education. it's about offering things that public school kids cannot get. or, if they do... it may be taught by a secular educator that doesn't have my family values.

that said, i rented a wonderful dvd from our library about mother teresa. i knew bits and pieces about her life. my husband knew very little. and my son, knew nothing. after watching the dvd by myself on saturday and again monday night with the boys... i thought, how can one not go through life without knowing about hers? what she sacrificed, what the white and blue signify on her robe, her missions, etc. want to give your children quality education? rent this or read about her! i love her. and happily, my son learned really wonderful things about this beautiful person by laying on the floor with a popcorn bowl. i'm glad we have this freedom...away from the public system.

we've also turned the corner from "history." there is so much we need to cover... yet so much we've already covered. so, for awhile... we're covering "current events." since, he is "growing up in history and this era will no doubt go down in history, as a really tough time." we've been using this site:

http://www.izzit.org/events/index.php

some topics are just way over tommie's head (and mine, too), but i pick and choose... print off and discuss and work on.

quality or quantity?

2009-10-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

today, we did a fun little science project... comparing phophates. we took three different kinds of detergent. filled glass jars with lids with one cup of water and one teaspoon of detergent. shook the jars for one minute. and measured the bubbles at 1, 5 and 20 minutes. dove shampoo has the most phosphates. which, we learned when washed into the enviornment.... causes algae to flourish, hence killing living things in streams, lakes and oceans. never knew any of this.

2009-10-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

i'm finding a lot of really excellent rabbit trails in our homemade unit study with the 21 balloons. one day last week, our entire home lessons were centered around my favorite newspaper, usa today. let me back up a bit... in the first chapter, the story focus' on newspapers. so, i thought to myself... i'll make another newspaper treasure hunt up! i had no idea how much can be learned and taught from a newspaper. the stock market and how to read it, the international weather section, politics, entertainment (tommie learned who the rock group kiss was), and even how to read and find the top 10 songs of the week. i also took this time to explain how advertising works and where the most costly ads are located and why. our morning was also spend figuring and learning how to calculate percentages in our head. something i do all the time in real life, when i'm shopping. the real estate section was a very fun part of our morning... reading all the different offers and prices. we wrapped up the day with tommie writing a nice letter to his cousin in college.

2009-10-08T05:24:00.000-07:00

monday, was the kick-off of our unit study, the twenty-one balloons! i've been wanting to dive into this book for some time, now. i'm creating the unit study myself. if you've used five in a row and beyond... your sort of trained to easily create your own. that said... in just the introduction section alone... we've spent two days delving into new territory. India, the great volcano explosion in Krakatow in Indonisia, and most fun... the history of balloons... more on that later.

i have to say good-bye for today.... we're heading to a couple garage sales.

2009-10-04T04:43:00.000-07:00

our homeschool world... would certainly never make a cover or even an article for a homeschool magazine. depressing, ugh? want to know what our day(s) look like? read on... (note: sarcastic and exaggerated)....

-cheerful mom tending to laundry in the basement. knowing darling pre-teen son is dutifully doing his math lessons. mom skips up the basement stairs, laundry basket on her hip... to find son has taken apart all the ink pens and playing with the parts and has not even attempted to start math. tisk-tisk tommie... back to lessons, please. "oh, sorry mom.. you're right!" i pleasingly think to myself, how nice it is that he's always telling me "i'm right."

-"how many more pages do i have to read?" is what darling pre-teen son says to mom... and it's not because he wants to read more... it's because he wants to get outside and work and take apart his lawn mower. he's into dad's grinder and electrical tools. in the barn, he blasts the country music station on the radio. well, how's that for music appreciation? i mean willie nelson was one of the best songwriters of all time. thinks i. and afterall... you can learn a lot about life when you listen to the words to country music. especially kid rock's, summertime in northern michigan. ahh, but not my son... he would instantly saunter over to the radio and turn the volume down when a song like that came on. i just know he would. (not.)

-i smile sweetly, look over at dear pre-teen hormonal son and see he is doing his math. oh, the joys of our homeschooling. wait.... he's managed to get every problem wrong. and he joyfully (always happy) complains that "gosh mom, the squirrel distracted him." i make him re-do the problems... and he really enjoys it. doesn't mind a bit. not one bit at all. "can i do more mom? you know, for practice?" he asks. ahhhh, my over-achieving son. no darling, says i.... you've done enough. (not true!!!)

-now, i run upstairs... to put laundry away. with his list of daily academic achievements all listed out for him... i just know my self-directed child will continue checking lessons off his list. i smile knowing how in control my parenting skills are and what a spectacular homeschool mom i am. trying not to let my ego inflate... i hear the grind of the electric pencil sharpener... and nod knowingly. the grind runs on and on and on.... how many pencils is he going to sharpen? thinks i. quickly, i redirect my thoughts and smile to myself thinking.... ahhh, it's just like him to be prepared and plan ahead is all. i skip down the steps to find he has taken apart the pencil sharpener and enjoying learning how the motor works. that boy just loves the sound of the motor. no pencils were sharpened. now or ever.

-hunger pangs strike in my hormonal, eating machine pre-teen and he asks for lunch. it's 11. okay 11:30... and we're still working through math. my jaw begins to tighten. my neck is breaking out in an itchy rash.

-i try not to compare myself with other homeschool families. those i know. and those i've never met. i envision a houseful of complying children. all who are overflowing with the love of learning. i think i am the only one on the planet who has ever encountered a day like this. (okay...many days). my enthusiasm fades. i get grumpy. i compare some more.

-i'll stop my story now. except, i should mention that my moody, hormonal pre-teen son... decided it would be really cool to wear this watermelon on top of his head during spelling. and, yes.... he thought it would be cool to cut off the sleeves of his new camo shirt and make it sleevless.

if i was really creative and flexible... i could justify all this as: home-ec (t-shirt designing), creative arts/ self expression (watermelon on head), music appreciation and shop or vocational training (ink pens, pencil sharpener)....

but, that's just between us. smile, wink, nod.

2009-10-01T04:31:00.000-07:00

have you heard about president obama's new educational plan? if not do a google or just click here. it's basically his plan for extending school hours, days and no summer's breaks... so american children can strive to be competitive with asian countries and the cookie-cutter children they're popping out. you know... so ALL of the kids in american can keep up globally.

look, i could beat my son over the head with a bag of wonder bread... and he would never understand greek mythology. i could threaten to make him sit at the kitchen table until 9 am every night... pushing academic excellence. i could enroll him in every enrichment class available to him. but, if that's not his passion. or his God-given talent... then i would be wasting valuable time.... time he could spend pursuing his own interests. not the government's.

what is it with you anyway? shouldn't you be working on resolving the wars that are happening? especially iran's nuclear ambitions? deciding whether or not you should send more troops to afaganistan... which by the way, i thought you were anti-war... but since you're heading to denmark today... shouldn't you be inviting the olympics to michigan instead of your backyard in chicago? michigan could sure use the economic shot in the arm... regardless if it's a few years away. i'm just saying... and another thing... perhaps good education starts at the top? with a better curriculum and better teachers. let's not play the blame game... the kids are just learning what the guideline says. they have no control of pushing their education. nor do the teachers.

not all of our children are meant to be engineers. doctors or lawyers. quite frankly, i don't want those type of stressful jobs for my son. God knows and has the plan. not the government. while, we are certainly grateful for those who've achieved high scores on their act's or sat's.... but, let's also be greatful to the man who picks our morning garbage up in the morning.

that said, let's not forget.... that we also need plumbers. we're grateful for tow-truck drivers. we need certainly need good local mechanics. and, we need the crane operators to give the white collar's a place to earn a living.

as a mother of a son... i often think what type of wife my son will have? i am hoping she's out there.... learning homesteading lessons from her parents. i'm hoping her mother is teaching her to be a good keeper of her home. and love her family and God. how to be thrifty, bake and be a good mother. these lessons will serve a happy life to herself and those around her.

Ecclesiastes 3:22. enough said.

2009-09-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

last week, we did a fun experiment on flashlight batteries! actually, i picked up a science fair book and this ideas was in it. we gathered several different D batteries and stuffed them in flashlights... turned them on and monitored them! we had energizer, duracell, dollar general and another-which i can't recall. duracell won! it lasted over 28 hours! if you don't want to invest in different batteries.... maybe you could ask the grandparents or supportive neighbors or friends?

2009-09-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

one day last week, i required tommie to make crock-pot potato soup for school lessons. i figured that if the public school kids have home-ec or should i say, "intro to culinary arts"... which is in fact, a real 9th grade class that my niece is taking and getting high school credit for... well then what's wrong with having tommie start his day off preparing good homemade food for the family? and especially all homegrown! i printed this recipe off: really easy crockpot soup! and it really was excellent! and he was most proud! it was nice for me, too... since i didn't have to do anything!

2009-09-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

here's a good deal i found... although it's located in the city south of us... i'm still going to take advantage of it on my way home from our homeschool co-op! hungry howies pizza. medium. one topping. $3.99. i plan to freeze a couple slices in a ziplock baggy and pull out for school lunches. you know, being the school cook and all... i'm always looking for variety at a good price.

2009-09-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

we're almost wrapped up with our robert fulton unit study... it's been very interesting and we've pulled in quite a few rabbit trails. i think i'll share a few non-traditional techniques we've implemented to make learning fun:

i had tommie plan and organize narration using a video camera. well, it was looking like he was having so much fun, i thought i'd join in. he was robert fulton and i was robert livingston, signer of the declaration of independence.

for one chapter of reading comp, he had to compile a newspaper headline and details.

a mind-map outline, which i learned at the writing workshop.

i pulled out our physics workshop set and for a half an hour each day (he wishes longer) he works with building and designing different machines. this is the same package that my high school nephew used for physics. so, i don't feel guilty whatsoever, having tommie plunked down on the living room floor creating.

i created a river treasure hunt: for geography, since we learned about Robert Fulton.

i set aside one day and we learned about napoleon boneparte.... since this was part of the era. it's true, i didn't know a thing about him. except he was some french guy. now, i know 5 fast facts! yeah, me.

a chapter in the robert fulton book, touched on profits and losses. and other common sense math... which i think public and parochial schools don't offer.

instead of the traditional schooly-type vocabulary lessons, you know, the kind where you look up words, write them down, study them and get quizzed on them, i thought with this unit, we'd do "hand's-on vocabulary." where, he explains a word to me, or i to him and we either discuss or act it out... or both. very fun and much easier to retain.

2009-09-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

last week at the handwriting workshop i attended... a fellow homeschool mom shared a bright idea with me for handwriting with my reluctant writer...

it was such an amusing success, i thought i'd share it with you! it's creative writing at it's best!

here's what you do:

each of us wrote out any 5 words on pieces of paper... so we had a total of ten words.... we flipped them in the middle of the table and "had to make a story up using the words!" on friday i had my husband throw in 5 words, too. then tommie and i set off to write!

an idea for the words we worked with were: napoleon bonaparte, payloader, potato chip, pepper, dog, horse tail, courthouse, dentist, siene river, barn, mother and more.

my reluctant writer... who usually moans, groans and complains about handwriting.... actually honkered down and never looked up. what a blessing.

i plan to ask relatives and friends to write down 5 words for us... just to mix things up!

i hope you try it with your kids, too! it's loads of fun.

2009-09-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

we've been starting our lessons with science projects! this one was a huge success! fill a saucer (bowl) with 4 tablespoons of water. light a piece of paper, drop it in a glass jar and flip it upside down in the bowl of water..... the water is sucked into the jar and not even one droplet of water will remain in the saucer/bowl! it even makes a slurping noise! the fire is desperate for oxygen!

i went to a homeschool writing workshop on monday night. a homeschool graduate and english major gave the mini seminar. it was awe inspiring and thought-provoking. all in a good way. it may not have impressed those who homeschool in a formal way... or those who simulate school at home or those who are workbook driven, drill and kill, or for those who teach for the test... but for me and our child-led unschooling it validated my definition of education. hold your tomatoes.... but, the words "school is an artificial learning environment," echoes and echoes again... in my head. that said, i had tommie do his math lesson (a scavenger hunt all over the property) outside today! all the while i picked beans and broccoli and he breathed the fresh air.

best deal math

2009-09-11T04:31:00.000-07:00

aside from our horizon's 6th grade math everyday, i've set up a real life math station... we call it applied math. yesterday and the day before... it was "best deal".... i made three different scenario's, problems and put a matchbox car on top of each paper. here's an example that was on one paper (obviously the others had different figures.)

$18,488.32 cost of the new car you want to buy

$ 3,288.99 trade-in

$ 920.00 taxes, title and tabs

Figure each problem and come up with the best deal. My son LOVED this! That's why we did it two days in a row! I loved it because it is a life skill... we're always trying to figure out the best deals, aren't we?

2009-09-09T05:04:00.000-07:00

this little possum has been wrecking havoc in our vegetable garden. tommie set his trap with tuna fish, eggs, and bread... and was elated to have trapped him! did you know possums have 50 teeth? and yes, guns are allowed in our school. you might agree or disagree.. but we're counting on our corn crop and tomatoes!

i recently found out at boy scout camp this year, that 3 parochial local school kids (2 Catholic and one Lutheran), sort of verbally attacked tommie. saying because he didn't attend a religious school that he was an atheist. needless to say, tommie was livid raging mad and defended his Christianity. not in the way i would of done it. and not in a Godly way. but, when you're 11.... i'm just saying....

another thing i just learned at scouts last night... a local parochial school, which charges $2,000. a year, also announced the 6th graders need a "technology book." it's $250. and they need it for class. the parents have to purchase it.

also announced on the first day of school... the parochial school is going "camping" next week. for three days. it's so the kids "can learn outside." isn't this what homeschoolers do on a regular basis? yet, duck at the slings and arrows shot their way? best part? the school is charging $115.00 per child (yes, one person i know has two children in the school) for "the let's learn outside" program.

we live in a community where things are dog-gone tough economically. jobs pending, jobs lost, uncertain futures? i can't even imagine "being told" that i have no option for these expenses.

i questioned several times.... what is a technology book? the parents were sort of speechless. they're not sure either?

2009-09-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

as you can see by this picture... fashion, matching and trendy clothes are not on my boys agenda. he could care less about matching. it just never occurs to him. obviously.

for fun this morning, we did "ladder math." he's working with numbers in the trillions (like, when in the real world have you ever worked with any number containing a trillion?) but, okay... i'm teaching it. i set up this ladder, made a number containing a trillion, and then made directions on little cards, stating what to do; subtract 40,000,000. on the next step was a card that said add $32,000. etc. each ladder step featured a different direction. we ran through it twice. it was something fun to do for a warm-up and got us both out in the fresh morning air.

we did our regular homeschooling routine and then headed off to a two-hour game of homeschool kickball, with members from our co-op. the kids had a blast. perfect day for it.

my pal, teresa way down in texas, sent me this wonderful link for 5 homeschool freebie links! just click here! i especially think this link looks interesting!

day three of homeschooling

2009-09-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

tommie did a little science and math combo today, with a periodic element chart and addition... with a scavenger hunt i found. it is pretty interesting to read and teach about things like cobalt and silicone. with this chart, anyway. it's simple and very interesting. the dog thought so, too. whenever we do lessons on the floor, she lays right on top of whatever project we're doing.

for recess today, tommie played with his air soft gun. i'm thinking this is more like homeschool p.e., since it shooting is a sport, right? and we watched our neighbor shoot canada geese. they fell from the air. well, two anyway. the dnr came and made a scene. would this be considered social studies? i'm documenting it as yes.

as i made homemade soup... i had tommie cut open garlic. he had never seen an actually cut-open garlic clove. he was pretty amused. he helped peel. that was his home-ec class. or should i say: introduction to culinary arts? yeah, that's it. ICA. sound's good doesn't it?

while he cut up a cantaloupe, i read from our read aloud: The Victory Garden. good book. More ICA credit.

He was bullied a little from me and of course he argued back. Who says homeschooled kids don't get bullied by someone bigger then them?

He read more on James Watt. learned the Latin definition of "opt." and for art class, he drew a Bezlebuzz Engine. complete with pistons and steam and the mechanical working parts.

spelling was okay. and so was handwriting. just okay. vocabulary words: journeymen, pulverize, saltpeter, optician, guild.

i popped in a movie about england and am in the process of teaching good note taking and outline skills. handwriting and spelling suddenly improved. as did someone's attitude.

lesson three of horizon's math. going swell.

2009-09-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

our first day back to homeschool was yesterday. today we took the day off.

ahhh, the beauty of home education. tommie had a full morning and afternoon with three of his friends over for the day. they made homemade war movies... which were hilarious. shall we call this film-making class? yeah, yeah, i think i will. that and p.e. and recess. and good socialization...including 4 boys unsupervised at the kitchen table eating pizza and pop (and having a burping contest). and, now he's with brad working... so i chalk this up to cement pouring 101 and rabbit cage hanging in a huge rabbitry 101.

2009-08-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

today we started back to homeschool. the beauty of this thing called home education as you know... is being able to tweak and twist things up.. to suit your needs.

originally, i had planned a unit study around the 21 balloons novel. i thought it would be a blast! mentioning it to my son, he sort of rolled his eyes and very seriously said, "mom, you know when i grow up i want to be a diesel mechanic and work on heavy equipment.... why can't i learn about things like that?"

what a relief to know what his interest is and have the freedom to redirect our sails ... i pulled out a christian liberty reader about inventors. as of today... our homeschool is centered around this book. (i'll post a picture later). we're both learning about James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine. there is so much information in just the first few pages, that i'm able to break subjects down: scotland, geography, applied math, copywork, spelling and lots of good science. by the way James Watt was homeschooled until he was 14. for science today, tommie made a turbine out of a milk carton.

above: removing honey and honeycomb! and chewing on it! of course! we were able to get one quart and one pint.

first day back? as nice as could be. exhale.

2009-08-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

really, this is not a fake, plastic spider.

it's the real thing. a fishing spider. the legs measure 1 inch and body measures 3/4 inch. the egg sack is nestled underneath. we've counted 40 eggs released so far. this snap shows her on my kitchen table. we're really keeping her in a big jar. with her eggs. go ahead ask... "where did you find her?" it was a gift from my in-laws.... this baby was in my mother-in-law's furnace room! they know we like odd nature... and really, we do! except snakes.

unschooling day: tommie and i canned more pizza sauce. a trip to the military store, watching a pbs ww2 show about Mussolini and canned apple sauce. he really is a big help in the kitchen.... wouldn't this be classified as home-ec? think so! we are both looking forward to starting lessons next week. STRUCTURE. WE NEED STRUCTURE!

crafts for boys who like power tools!

2009-08-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

just another good reason why we choose homeschooling. our official start was suppose to be today. instead, i gave tommie the nod to go out and experience life with his dad. this week, there's some pretty exciting stuff going on. things we'd never be able to teach in a textbook. things like: breaking up cement with backhoes, dealing with miss dig when you hit a gas line, cutting phone lines, mule farms, and other things i'm sure i don't want to know about: junk food, swearing, man talk and man-stuff.

while at the 4H fair, i took a couple of clicks with my camera of these trellis' made from twigs. before the snow blows and the pulp is covered.... i'm hauling a handful into the garage. on a gloomy day in michigan...when there's nothing to do... i'll send tommie out to the barn to put a few of these together. i'll keep several myself and give them for gifts. and tommie will be proud as a peacock.

so, when does school start for you?

rumor has it..............

2009-08-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

rumor has it..... mcdonald's is offering an "after-school snack coupon booklet," for just a dollar. the coupons inside include:

3 coupons for FREE baked pies

3 coupons for FREE apple juice or milk jug

3 coupons for FREE small cones

3 coupons for FREE apple dippers or small fries

and, rumor has it.... the coupons don't expire until 12/2011! i'm not sure which mcdonald's are participating... but, i betcha most are. one good thing is.... there's a mcdonalds in every direction... so one is bound to be participating!! wouldn't ya think?

*snap taken at our local 4H fair.... this cow was being milked at the time of the flash.

2009-08-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

happy was i.... when i spotted two paint-your-own matisse and picasso tee-shirts for tommie! for just $2.50 at a dollar type store. obviously, some things are priced slightly higher. what a cheap way to force us into a small artist study on picasso and matisse! i'm sure he'll end up wearing them as a nightshirt... or maybe i will take ownership of them? i also picked up a box of oil pastels for a dollar! whew-whew!!

2009-08-16T04:42:00.000-07:00

In one week, we'll be starting our homeschool lessons. I don't have a mountain of textbooks. Nor do I have a stack of black-lined fill-in-the-blank busywork books. No, I'm not knocking those who have kids that thrive on it. Those are simply not effective for my son's learning style. One more good reason, I choose to home-educate. Freedom to choose.

I have two books this year for our curriculum. Okay three, if you count Story Starters by Karen Andreola... which I'll use as a fill-in.

We'll be using Horizon's 6th grade math. Horizon Math has served us very well for the past five years and has never let us down. Considering a spiral approach to math? This one rocks!

The second book in our homeschool is, the Newberry winner, The 21-Balloons. After skimming the book, it no-doubt will take us on weeks of rabbit trails! I'll use it for geography, language arts, history, science (much!), spelling and lots of vocabulary and art. And, plenty of computer researching. As we get going with this... I'll be posting our activities... so stay tuned.

For the first time ever... my babe is ready to start back to school. Can you say.... "ready for structure?"

2009-08-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

today found me signing up for classes at our homeschool co-op! treating myself to lunch out and a full day of errands! the classes i signed tommie up for are:

world war 2
gym
lunch
night at the museum
cpr

i'm teaching:

the world of peter rabbit
and
night at the museum
i am hoping to take a crochet class, as well.

this is a picture of a sunflower in my yard. i just love them.

2009-08-08T05:25:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite things to do during 4H fair days... is to meander through the craft and vegetable barns. i love getting new ideas! i spotted this 5-gallon storage stool! and i adore it! it looks to me like you would purchase a 5-gallon bucket with lid, decorate the base anyway you want and cover with a coordinating fabric... perhaps stuff with a soft batting, cover with a fun printed material and hot glue the entire stuffed fabric down. i didn't want to pick it up and examine it... since it was on public display. i am assuming the lid lifts of for easy storage.

what a fun idea for traveling, the beach, art supplies, or even for adults... think gardening bucket or sewing bucket!

wait! before you toss those fun and colorful boxes into the trash... how about cutting them up and using them for postcards? we have two close relatives attending universities this fall... and i think they'll find it amusing to get a few of these cards in the mail, from time to time. as long as they measure with standard envelopes and weight... no extra postage is necessary!

2009-08-06T05:29:00.000-07:00

i love this site! click this!

2009-08-04T05:07:00.000-07:00

at the fair yesterday... in between competitions, the 4H children, were able to witness cows giving birth. there were five cows ready to birth at any moment... and when one was ready... all the kids were called in and rounded up to watch. myself included. such a miracle! tommie was in awe. totally engrossed. as were all the children. what a wonderful opportunity to learn about life. the cow above needed help... it was her first birth. hence, the help. two men and one young teenaged girl helped pull. it took maybe a half an hour... and at the end much information was learned about the placenta... which was HUGE! i was happy to be the one... to explain and answer questions about giving birth and how normal it all was. and, how God has such a divine plan in everything... including the umbilical cord of a cow! not to mention, the good farmers helping a helpless animal! after the calf was born, one of the dairy farmers gently slapped the calf and picked it right up and laid it directly in front of it's mom. immediately, the cow licked, prodded and loved on it's little calf. much like i did the second tommie was born. i kissed him immediately... didn't even wait for him to be cleaned up. then i sat up and ate a piece of pizza... i too, felt well enough after giving birth, to walk back down to my room and go home. does this mean i am part cow?

what a great day we experienced!

2009-08-02T05:49:00.000-07:00

we've been busy preparing for the 4H livestock competitions...happening at a local fair. tommie is entered in best of breed and showmanship which has 37 steps!, oral questions about anatomy, rabbit diseases and treatments, breeding, and other questions like... normal rabbit temp., percentages and fur qualities. he's also super excited (i'm serious) about his barn duties... where he cleans and waters all the rabbits for 2-hour increments.... while i sit and read a book. this past week, he was required to help paint, wash and set up rabbit cages and stands... below. I went to Goodwill and shopped... while he danced with the paint brush! well.... wouldn't you? (smile, wink, nod!)

2009-07-31T04:16:00.000-07:00

the answer to the previous post is....
a lamprey eel!!!

2009-07-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

take a guess.... what do you think this is? leave your answer in my comment box!

then, check back tomorrow for the answer...

2009-07-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

two freebies worth sharing! click:

national honey board cookbook and

john stossel's educational dvd's

2009-07-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

looking for an easy way to squeeze in artist and composer studies? this link has links and the plans are already spelled out for you. it's one of my favorite homeschool message boards... click here: right here!

(snap taken at my cousin's house... lean in and look close...that guy right there, my cousin aaron, has been accepted to new york university film school! soon, he'll be rubbing elbows with spike lee!)

2009-07-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've never seen this flower... it's called, "the bell's of ireland." i snapped this shot at my cousins home, recently...then went out and bought a plant of my own. it isn't doing nearly as well as this one... so, i'm enjoying the picture instead of the real thing.

Did you know Jane Lambert, owner of Five in a Row has an inspiring homeschool blog? It's the best of the best! Just like their curriculum! Click here and add it to your favorites! HERE!

2009-07-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite bloggers has a tutorial on how to make pretend checks! check her out (no pun intended!) the link? click here: make pretend checks! very cool!

(picture: in my cousin's backyard.)

2009-07-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

did you hear the good news? the novel, pocketful of pinecones (my all time favorite homeschool book!) has a sequel? sure does! it's called, "lessons at blackberry inn!" read about it here! i know what i want for my september birthday... oh mom???

(I took the picture above, while visiting with my cousin at her beautiful home.)

2009-07-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

this past week, found tommie and me in the dentist chair for our six month cleaning. he in one room. me in another. my dental hygienist is an old family friend. who isn't necessarily digging your teeth for plaque, but rather digging for the juice on other people. she is one of those whine-when-you-talk, drag your words, and errs on the side of negativity. she proceeded to ask me about tommie. what grade, blah, blah, blah. then she fired the question.... the big question... HAS HE STUDIED ABOUT ROOT CANALS? with my mouth stretch open, i could only muster up an "ugh, ugh, ugh." she must of taken that to be a "no." then proceeds to tell me that " really???????? gasp! (in her best whiny voice), my daughter learned about root canals in third grade!" I just smiled, shut my eyes and opened my mouth. See, that's the beauty of homeschooling... when the time comes for him to learn about root canals or whatever... he can go to Mr. Google, and pull up thousands of pages on the subject. He doesn't need a book or a workbook page with fill in the blanks or a passing grade to validate his knowledge for "the time being." Personally, I have no clue what a root canal is or how it's done. Nor, do I really care.

2009-07-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

i'm excited to use this book as a read-aloud...when we start back to home lessons in a month! it's called, "the homeschool liberation league." about homeschoolers! since, back-peddling away from both the republican and democratic parties.. and deciding to become a libertarian (with a republic view on economics), i think this will further drive home the point of what libertarianism means. have you heard of this book? what did you think of it?

2009-07-13T04:14:00.000-07:00

how does a redneck-homeschooler, like our boy... take driver's training? he drives his cousins bump and run car through the field. and around a pond. and up and down the driveway. round an round and round. you can pick one of these gems up for about $300. take a wild guess at what tommie's saving up for? by next summer, he hopes to buy a car of his own. i'm finding, 11 year old boys are difficult to understand.

2009-07-07T04:25:00.000-07:00

(picture taken at my cousin's house!)

i found a few freebie's for kids, and thought you might like them...

Georgia Peanut Teacher Kit

Free Backyard Pest Activity Book

Free Space Poster

i have mom-friendly freebies on my smile, wink, nod blog.. find the link on my sidebar and click on over!

spectacular!

2009-07-01T18:23:00.000-07:00

a couple of weeks ago, my father-in-law brought me over a creepy caterpillar! within days it went into the chrysalis stage... then we waited. and waited. and today... this black swallowtail emerged! we let it rest on our patio, outside our window and watched the wings dry off and grow stronger and stronger until it had the strength to be on his own. reminds me much of child-rearing, how about you?

here's a great site that was in my favorites! it's for caterpillar identification. click here: caterpillar!