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!

 

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!

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.

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?

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.

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.

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!