Lorien Stevens, 9years old, 4th Grade
First attempts at writing poetry:
SEPTEMBER:
I have a frog,
He likes to jog,
He has a pond,
Of which I am fond.
I have a cat
It's really fat,
It sleeps on the mat.
It likes to eat mice,
And eats ice.
There was a tree,
With a bee,
And a hat,
With a cat,
And mice,
With dice.
NOVEMBER:
The pumpkin,
Is a munchkin,
His name is Pup,
He lives in a cup.
There is a mouse,
He lives not in a house,
But in a hole,
With a mole.
Did you ever see a moose,
Kissing a goose?
Or did you ever see a mouse,
Wearing a blouse?
Friday, November 29, 2013
A Moment of Silence
A Moment of Silence
Yesterday I woke up with a sinking feeling. My 8-year-old daughter, Ali, was sick with a bad cold, and I was faced with the daunting task of caring for her and our newborn daughter, Charlotte, all day without the distractions of a play date, field trip, or park day. Although it was difficult, I made the conscious choice to relax and settle into the day, doing my best to enjoy the calmness of it.
Ali said she thought it would be fun to do some math. We sat down with the unit blocks of ones, tens, and hundreds to give her a tangible way to visualize numbers while working on written subtraction problems. At the end of one of the problems, Ali sat there staring at a cluster of 4 of the "one" unit blocks that were surrounded by a scattering of other one unit blocks. I was just about to say, "OK, let's move on to the next one,", in my usual rush to get through as much homeschooling as possible, when I said to myself "STOP." Baby Charlotte was asleep in the sling, we were sitting in the warm sun, and there was no need to rush. I let Ali stare at the blocks without saying anything. She stared for a long time. I began to think something was wrong, but I held my tongue. After about 90 seconds, she said:
"This group of blocks in the middle is like the nucleus of an atom. It is very heavy and dense. Papa (Grandpa) said if you had a teaspoon of them it could weigh millions of pounds. The blocks around it are like the electrons."
Wow, was I ever blown away. Although I had briefly explained about atoms to Ali, we were "officially" studying chemistry this year, not physics, and I had no idea that she had learned, and remembered, this level of detail from her grandfather. It made me think about how much "information processing" can happen if we allow for moments of silence like these. It made me think about the children in school, who are often herded from one activity to the next, and how little opportunity this gives for reflection. Despite the difficulty of the day, I felt joyful for the opportunity to homeschool my daughter and give her the gift of time to reflect.
Later that day, we had time to go through the many drawings of Ali's that had accumulated in a pile on the kitchen counter. She usually shows me each piece of artwork as it is finished, but I came across a comic she had written that I had never seen before. (Her newest thing was drawing comics, after her grandfather started sharing the Sunday comics with her.) The comic was entitled "Baby Aliens Study a Timeline Three Million Years from Now". She had drawn a rather strange looking teacher (i.e., an "alien") with the following quote bubble next to the teacher: "Humans were strange creatures. We will be studying them the whole year. They came after cavemen but before goglies" One of the alien students, who had eyes floating above her head, had the following quote bubble next to her: "My sis said they made something called c-ar-s. Is that how you say it? Can we study those?" At the top of the comic was a timeline, with time markers listed for each of the following: "Cells, Dinosaurs, Cave Men, Humans, Goglies, Mogos, Loneles, Tagos, Lonas, Pilas".
I was completely taken aback. Ali had envisioned so many things that I had thought impossible for a child of her age: the fact that humans may not be done evolving, the perspective of other creatures looking back on the human race, the names of future human-like creatures. This was a comic she had written without any adult telling her she had to do it, without any care for a grade or feedback from an adult. This gloriously imaginative comic was written in a moment of silence. I am so grateful for these moments, and the many opportunities for them that come with homeschooling.
Christina
Yesterday I woke up with a sinking feeling. My 8-year-old daughter, Ali, was sick with a bad cold, and I was faced with the daunting task of caring for her and our newborn daughter, Charlotte, all day without the distractions of a play date, field trip, or park day. Although it was difficult, I made the conscious choice to relax and settle into the day, doing my best to enjoy the calmness of it.
Ali said she thought it would be fun to do some math. We sat down with the unit blocks of ones, tens, and hundreds to give her a tangible way to visualize numbers while working on written subtraction problems. At the end of one of the problems, Ali sat there staring at a cluster of 4 of the "one" unit blocks that were surrounded by a scattering of other one unit blocks. I was just about to say, "OK, let's move on to the next one,", in my usual rush to get through as much homeschooling as possible, when I said to myself "STOP." Baby Charlotte was asleep in the sling, we were sitting in the warm sun, and there was no need to rush. I let Ali stare at the blocks without saying anything. She stared for a long time. I began to think something was wrong, but I held my tongue. After about 90 seconds, she said:
"This group of blocks in the middle is like the nucleus of an atom. It is very heavy and dense. Papa (Grandpa) said if you had a teaspoon of them it could weigh millions of pounds. The blocks around it are like the electrons."
Wow, was I ever blown away. Although I had briefly explained about atoms to Ali, we were "officially" studying chemistry this year, not physics, and I had no idea that she had learned, and remembered, this level of detail from her grandfather. It made me think about how much "information processing" can happen if we allow for moments of silence like these. It made me think about the children in school, who are often herded from one activity to the next, and how little opportunity this gives for reflection. Despite the difficulty of the day, I felt joyful for the opportunity to homeschool my daughter and give her the gift of time to reflect.
Later that day, we had time to go through the many drawings of Ali's that had accumulated in a pile on the kitchen counter. She usually shows me each piece of artwork as it is finished, but I came across a comic she had written that I had never seen before. (Her newest thing was drawing comics, after her grandfather started sharing the Sunday comics with her.) The comic was entitled "Baby Aliens Study a Timeline Three Million Years from Now". She had drawn a rather strange looking teacher (i.e., an "alien") with the following quote bubble next to the teacher: "Humans were strange creatures. We will be studying them the whole year. They came after cavemen but before goglies" One of the alien students, who had eyes floating above her head, had the following quote bubble next to her: "My sis said they made something called c-ar-s. Is that how you say it? Can we study those?" At the top of the comic was a timeline, with time markers listed for each of the following: "Cells, Dinosaurs, Cave Men, Humans, Goglies, Mogos, Loneles, Tagos, Lonas, Pilas".
I was completely taken aback. Ali had envisioned so many things that I had thought impossible for a child of her age: the fact that humans may not be done evolving, the perspective of other creatures looking back on the human race, the names of future human-like creatures. This was a comic she had written without any adult telling her she had to do it, without any care for a grade or feedback from an adult. This gloriously imaginative comic was written in a moment of silence. I am so grateful for these moments, and the many opportunities for them that come with homeschooling.
Christina
Monday, October 21, 2013
Government and Education
My thoughts have turned to this common core I've been hearing so much about. I have my thoughts on it , which I will share with you, however I would love to hear your opinions on the matter. My children go to Pathways Charter school which happens to be public so we are required to follow state standards. Common core, as I understand it, is a federal program to make our young people as smart as the rest of the world. Our country ranks 12th in the world on standard tests. I think it is a worthy goal to aquire knowledge. It is what propelled our nation to greatness. Our grandparents worked to get their children to college or universities and the legacy continues with parents encouraging college attendance. The work places have changed since their time and a lot of degrees don't provide for families the way they used to. Many people lose their jobs long before they should. Businesses tend to turn their employees over so they don't have to pay higher wages. Many years ago a father could work at one job for 50 years and take care of his family comfortably. Many things have changed since then. One sad downfall is the need for two incomes. Where does that leave the children? What happens to the importance of education? Do our children get left to themselves while we work to care for them?
My father-in-law was a teacher many years ago and his biggest complaint was the lack of support from the parents. They didn't help their children succeed. Instead the children were required to help the family when they got home. Another problem he faced were the parents blaming him for the childs bad grades. Based on this we can see that reform needs to start at home, not from "the top". My other school teacher friend has talked to me about common core. She says it reminds her of the 50's style of teaching. She mentioned that she got into teaching because she could be creative and connect with the students and really learn how to teach them effectively. Common core has taken that opportunity away from her. Everything being taught has pretty much been scripted with little room for imagination. It seems like the government assumes that if we're taught the same that we'll turn out the same; cookie cutter scholars. I'm glad that I homeschool. I can have common core workbooks, but teach it the way I want. There are a lot of people fighting against this new system and I can understand their fear of it. I just hope this power hungry government won't try to affect our way of homeschooling.
My father-in-law was a teacher many years ago and his biggest complaint was the lack of support from the parents. They didn't help their children succeed. Instead the children were required to help the family when they got home. Another problem he faced were the parents blaming him for the childs bad grades. Based on this we can see that reform needs to start at home, not from "the top". My other school teacher friend has talked to me about common core. She says it reminds her of the 50's style of teaching. She mentioned that she got into teaching because she could be creative and connect with the students and really learn how to teach them effectively. Common core has taken that opportunity away from her. Everything being taught has pretty much been scripted with little room for imagination. It seems like the government assumes that if we're taught the same that we'll turn out the same; cookie cutter scholars. I'm glad that I homeschool. I can have common core workbooks, but teach it the way I want. There are a lot of people fighting against this new system and I can understand their fear of it. I just hope this power hungry government won't try to affect our way of homeschooling.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Katie's Quiet Garden
Homeschooling and the Hammock
By Katie Perry
I’m not much of a gardener. I have other interests, and besides, gardening always aggravates my allergies. Mostly, I enjoy our yard from a chair or hammock. I like to let nature do what it wants with our outdoor space. It almost always finds interesting and productive things to do. Our kids feel comfortable digging and playing here, and all of us can find a place to enjoy the sunshine or shade.Everyone in the family contributes, but my husband Rich and I do most of the yard work. We put in a burst of effort in the spring, pulling weeds and clearing out dead stuff (allergies permitting), and then we let summer and fall roll along with only occasional maintenance. In late winter we prune the fruit trees and grape vines, but some years it never happens. At times, we work alongside the kids, but other times we enjoy working alone, or together as a couple.
Since no one likes regular watering, our vegetable garden is on hiatus. When we first planted vegetables in 1998, the older kids were 8, 5, and 2. I invited each to pick a vegetable or fruit to grow from seed or start. We worked together on the planting, watering, and tending. We most enjoyed eating what we grew. Over several years, the kids grew cantaloupe, raspberries, pumpkin, zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, and carrots. I always chose tomatoes. In his teen years, our son Alex maintained a productive strawberry bed, and he eventually took a college class on growing fruit. Now when he comes home to visit, he often spends time pruning (and there is always plenty to do!).
More recently, we raised hens. It was another great homeschooling project. We worked together to clear space along the back fence for a coop, which we converted from an old rabbit hutch. We picked out six fuzzy chicks, one for each of us, and started them in a pen in the garage. They grew at an astonishing rate. Soon enough, Lottie, Renee, Rosa, Cordelia, Pippi, and Funky were excellent egg layers, and they entertained us by scratching for bugs, bathing in the dust, and jumping to reach the roses. After several years, we gave them away to friends with a bigger property.
Today our youngest child attends school, we've graduated two, and we have one remaining 17-year-old homeschooler. Our yard continues to play an important role in our family culture and homeschooling life. It’s a welcoming place, well-loved, but never micro-managed. We encourage it to grow in its own way. When we make improvements, we do it together. We enjoy its natural bounty, and value its peace as a retreat. Our yard is nothing fancy, but it flourishes quietly.
The picture is a favorite spot in the yard.
Pam's Pretty Garden
Gardening has always been a part of mine and my husband’s life. We are practical gardeners and we love growing delicious, healthy, organic food. Over the last 6 years we changed our focus from being Spring/Summer Gardeners to year-round. We wanted to grow a variety of foods and find foods we love so that we could always be pulling something from our garden. To our surprise we learned that although we love the abundance in the Summer, Winter gardening is so easy and, in some ways, more rewarding. In the Winter rarely do we need to irrigate, beds are soft and easy to turn over and it feels more rewarding to be eating fresh during the colder and darker months.
Since we love to garden, it was only natural that it would become part of our homeschooling experience. We have found it important to plant items that our kids love, that way they gravitate to the garden naturally and join us when we are out there. Some of my kids favorites have been; Strawberries, Kale, Melon, Blueberries, Magic Beans (Fava beans) and of course Pumpkins.
Although we have been known to visit a corn maze in October we never buy pumpkins, but instead make a big deal with wheelbarrow and all to go out to our garden and pick our own pumpkins.
Although we have pulled activities from some books (listed below), the most meaningful lessons happen naturally.
Resources
We often get asked what foods we plant, grow or harvest in the Winter:
Kale
Brussel Sprouts
Spinach
Broccoli
Fava Beans
Arugula
Cauliflower
Lettuce
Jerusalem Artichokes, also known as Sunchokes. These are a prolific food source - plant in Spring, Summer they are beautiful Sunflowers, then dig up tubers as you want them ALL Winter and Fall. They keep in the ground best so no need to store and once you have them you will never need to buy more seed stock, plant a couple, or more likely they’ll be some you missed and you’ll keep getting them every year.
COF (Complete Oganic Fertilizer) Mix uniformly in parts by volume
3 parts seed-meal (do NOT use coprameal, otherwise any seed-meal is fine, we typically use Soy bean seed-meal)
1 part tankage (sometimes called “blood-and-bone” or “Meat-meal”)
1/4 part ordinary agricultural lime, best finely ground
1/4 part gypsum (if you don’t use gypsum, double the agricultural lime)
1/2 part dolomite lime
1 part kelp-meal (or you may use another phosphorus source such as basalt dust finely ground, rock phosphate, bone meal, or high-phosphate guano)
We buy our ingredients at Western Farm in bulk (larger bags, some in 50 lb bags) it is expensive when you buy, but it gives us enough to supply ourselves with COF for 1 year or longer and in the long run is cheaper. We add COF and compost when we turn over beds and also sprinkle some over the ground around plants and as we water, this filters COF down. It is important to replenish soil with nutrients as plant pull the nutrients out.
Books
Gardening when it Counts: Growing Food in Hard TImes by Steve Solomon
The Self-Sufficient life and how to Live it by John Seymour
Books to use with kids:
Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots; Gardening together with Children by Sharon Lovejoy
Garden Wizardry for Kids by L. Patricia Kite
Gardening with Children by Brooklyn Botanical Garden
Math in the Garden by Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS GEMS)
Kids Garden by Avery Hall and Paul Mantel
Since we love to garden, it was only natural that it would become part of our homeschooling experience. We have found it important to plant items that our kids love, that way they gravitate to the garden naturally and join us when we are out there. Some of my kids favorites have been; Strawberries, Kale, Melon, Blueberries, Magic Beans (Fava beans) and of course Pumpkins.
Although we have been known to visit a corn maze in October we never buy pumpkins, but instead make a big deal with wheelbarrow and all to go out to our garden and pick our own pumpkins.
Although we have pulled activities from some books (listed below), the most meaningful lessons happen naturally.
- Finding, identifying, and exploring bugs as we turn over a gardening bed or the compost
- Learning which bugs are good and which are bad...and the thrill of feeding the bad bugs (such as snails) to the chickens
- Sitting in the garden in the evening while the bats eat up flying bugs overhead has led to exploring more about bats
- Observing butterflies and then researching plants that attract them, as well as learning more about butterflies Treasure hunting (Digging up Potatoes)
- Learning what nutrients plants need when helping to make the COF (Complete Organic Fertilizer - Formula provided below)
- Making comparisons; what foods grow fast and which take longer
- Measuring pumpkins each week as they grow
- How to use and care for gardening tools - Hoes, rakes, shovels. Including using a file to sharpen shovels
- Learning where food comes from
- Cooking
Resources
We often get asked what foods we plant, grow or harvest in the Winter:
Kale
Brussel Sprouts
Spinach
Broccoli
Fava Beans
Arugula
Cauliflower
Lettuce
Jerusalem Artichokes, also known as Sunchokes. These are a prolific food source - plant in Spring, Summer they are beautiful Sunflowers, then dig up tubers as you want them ALL Winter and Fall. They keep in the ground best so no need to store and once you have them you will never need to buy more seed stock, plant a couple, or more likely they’ll be some you missed and you’ll keep getting them every year.
COF (Complete Oganic Fertilizer) Mix uniformly in parts by volume
3 parts seed-meal (do NOT use coprameal, otherwise any seed-meal is fine, we typically use Soy bean seed-meal)
1 part tankage (sometimes called “blood-and-bone” or “Meat-meal”)
1/4 part ordinary agricultural lime, best finely ground
1/4 part gypsum (if you don’t use gypsum, double the agricultural lime)
1/2 part dolomite lime
1 part kelp-meal (or you may use another phosphorus source such as basalt dust finely ground, rock phosphate, bone meal, or high-phosphate guano)
We buy our ingredients at Western Farm in bulk (larger bags, some in 50 lb bags) it is expensive when you buy, but it gives us enough to supply ourselves with COF for 1 year or longer and in the long run is cheaper. We add COF and compost when we turn over beds and also sprinkle some over the ground around plants and as we water, this filters COF down. It is important to replenish soil with nutrients as plant pull the nutrients out.
Books
Gardening when it Counts: Growing Food in Hard TImes by Steve Solomon
The Self-Sufficient life and how to Live it by John Seymour
Books to use with kids:
Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots; Gardening together with Children by Sharon Lovejoy
Garden Wizardry for Kids by L. Patricia Kite
Gardening with Children by Brooklyn Botanical Garden
Math in the Garden by Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS GEMS)
Kids Garden by Avery Hall and Paul Mantel
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Curriculum!!!! Woo Hoo! ~ With note from Katie
Last Wednesday a Curriculum Round Table was put together by Pam. We joined forces and talked for at least an hour and a half about our favorite curriculum. The books we loved and the ones we didn't. It was nice to hear that others had to go through a searching period before they found their favorites. Check out what we found out. Hopefully we'll see you at the next round table!
Math and Science
Acorn Naturalists Catalog: Some favorites include Growing up Wild for small children, nature guides, posters, and molds to identify tracks. Their curriculum books can only be ordered from them since they are the publisher and distributor. They participate in the BAEER Festival in Marin, where they have workshops and classes. They get involved in stream restoration projects as well.
The Laurence Hall of Science has a wonderful collection of books to use for science and math curriculum. Their science book collection is called Gems: http://www.lhsgems.org/ They teamed up with UC Berkely to make their math in the garden book: http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/education/k12.shtml and go to the Curricula link. For Pathways Charter School vendors Real Science for Kids, http://www.gravitaspublications.com/, and Math U See, http://www.mathusee.com/, have worked well. You get DVD’s with the books. The instructor teaches vocabulary and concepts in 4 min segments with simple worksheets to be completed afterwards. The children that use this method love to do it. No tears!
The Science Explorer, http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/, and Math Explorer, http://www.exploratorium.edu/education/publications/math-explorer, from the Exploratorium are fun books to learn from. The experiments are very home friendly. One family found it very easy to find everything needed for most of them at home.
Janice VanCleave is well known for her science books and needs mentioning. I didn’t get much information on her, but the books look amazing! http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-103842.html
Last but not least you could join the 4-H Madrone Club http://www.4-h.org/
Geography/History
Map Trek http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/MapTrek1.html has been a good resource for ancient geography. It’s a good companion for any study in the ancient world. A story was told of mummifying a chicken in salt and burying it in the backyard. They were studying Egypt. An alternate project was to substitute an apple instead!
Liberty Kids is a great program on the Revolutionary War. http://www.libertyskids.com/ The If You… series was a favorite of one of the families as well. http://www.scholastic.com/tbw/quickSearch.do?N=0+$&fq=Series:%5EIf+You...%5E&Ntk=TBW_QuickSearch_SI&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial Pam’s family had Middle Age Simulation books. I did not get more information than that. So if you would like more information on this please let me know, or email her directly. Otherwise you can google it.
Math
Teaching Textbooks, http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/, have proven to be interesting and stimulating for the student. The lectures on the DVD’s catch your attention, and teach the concepts and vocabulary very easily. The program tracks the students’ progress and allows the parent to have a separate login to check up on them. Life of Fred, http://www.lifeoffredmath.com/, and Beast Academy, http://www.beastacademy.com/, were not very well received since it was too wordy and the children focused more on the story than the math.
LA
When we talked about handwriting we discovered that each child likes a different way of writing. Some don’t mind the straight lines and boxy letters. Others, however, like the flow of D'nealian style like in Charlotte Mason’s Delightful Handwriting. It’s good to look for the right handwriting book for your child.
Explode the Code turned out to be a good self guided time for the children that used this book. They love going through it and doing the work pages by themselves. https://www.explodethecode.com/01_overview/ It helps the child learn to read, comprehension and spelling. A new one recently discovered is called Moving Beyond the Page. It comes with workbook options for certain literary works, for instance The Witch of Blackbird Pond. For this one there is a workbook for History and another for Science. The whole curriculum is quite expensive, but it was pointed out that it would last the normal person 3 years! So you can pick and choose what you want. In the description of the book it will tell you what other workbooks might work with it too. http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/ Choose the curriculum age you want. Then click the one to look through. Below the total curriculum price you’ll find the list of separate workbooks, and novels beneath that. Good luck! It’s a lot to look through, but hopefully worth it.
Michael Clay Thompson, http://www.rfwp.com/pages/michael-clay-thompson/, is good since it starts at the base of our language and works up from that.
High School
For those of you thinking of moving on to a 4 year institution or the JC you need to consider how you will document those classes you took in high school. If you are trying to get into a public high school you won’t need much to prove your I.Q. since you are admitted by age. If you want to enter a charter school you need proof of the high school classes you took at home. There are ways you can prepare for the switch, and it’s never too late to start thinking of what you will do. Blueprint education, http://www.blueprinteducation.org/home-schooling, provides online courses that provide you with the high school credits you need to keep on track. The classes are not rich in subject matter, but gets the job done and establishes a paper trail. BYU also offers high school online courses. One complaint one of our high schoolers had was the lack of personal contact. It was hard if not impossible to get the instructor to reply to emails requesting help. The Santa Rosa JC was a great place to start classes; They accept students as young as 14, the instructors are able to talk to you since the classes are small, and you’ll have a better chance at entering a university or 4 yr college. *To get into the JC you’ll need detailed descriptions of your home school classes and books studied. You can go to someone to write up a transcription, like West Beach, or you can find a transcript program for $50. Pam will have a link for us soon! Another thing to consider when applying to the JC is to think of what you child will like best. To succeed he/she will do much better just starting off with something he/she enjoys. Yeah for HOMESCHOOLING!
Note from Katie: I noticed this (*) in your post today which is not accurate. A student does not need transcripts to attend the JC as a concurrent enrollment student (which means they are still enrolled in high school). A high school student must apply for admission and submit a concurrent enrollment form, with signatures from their high school principal and counselor (can be a parent). Students over 18 don't need to submit transcripts, either. Wes (not West) Beach is a great person to help with transcripts if you want help at some point, and his book has good examples. He can be reached at beachhi@cruzio.com, and his book is here -- http://www.amazon.com/Forging-Paths-Beyond-Traditional-Schooling/dp/0615577849
Math and Science
Acorn Naturalists Catalog: Some favorites include Growing up Wild for small children, nature guides, posters, and molds to identify tracks. Their curriculum books can only be ordered from them since they are the publisher and distributor. They participate in the BAEER Festival in Marin, where they have workshops and classes. They get involved in stream restoration projects as well.
The Laurence Hall of Science has a wonderful collection of books to use for science and math curriculum. Their science book collection is called Gems: http://www.lhsgems.org/ They teamed up with UC Berkely to make their math in the garden book: http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/education/k12.shtml and go to the Curricula link. For Pathways Charter School vendors Real Science for Kids, http://www.gravitaspublications.com/, and Math U See, http://www.mathusee.com/, have worked well. You get DVD’s with the books. The instructor teaches vocabulary and concepts in 4 min segments with simple worksheets to be completed afterwards. The children that use this method love to do it. No tears!
The Science Explorer, http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/, and Math Explorer, http://www.exploratorium.edu/education/publications/math-explorer, from the Exploratorium are fun books to learn from. The experiments are very home friendly. One family found it very easy to find everything needed for most of them at home.
Janice VanCleave is well known for her science books and needs mentioning. I didn’t get much information on her, but the books look amazing! http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-103842.html
Last but not least you could join the 4-H Madrone Club http://www.4-h.org/
Geography/History
Map Trek http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/MapTrek1.html has been a good resource for ancient geography. It’s a good companion for any study in the ancient world. A story was told of mummifying a chicken in salt and burying it in the backyard. They were studying Egypt. An alternate project was to substitute an apple instead!
Liberty Kids is a great program on the Revolutionary War. http://www.libertyskids.com/ The If You… series was a favorite of one of the families as well. http://www.scholastic.com/tbw/quickSearch.do?N=0+$&fq=Series:%5EIf+You...%5E&Ntk=TBW_QuickSearch_SI&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial Pam’s family had Middle Age Simulation books. I did not get more information than that. So if you would like more information on this please let me know, or email her directly. Otherwise you can google it.
Math
Teaching Textbooks, http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/, have proven to be interesting and stimulating for the student. The lectures on the DVD’s catch your attention, and teach the concepts and vocabulary very easily. The program tracks the students’ progress and allows the parent to have a separate login to check up on them. Life of Fred, http://www.lifeoffredmath.com/, and Beast Academy, http://www.beastacademy.com/, were not very well received since it was too wordy and the children focused more on the story than the math.
LA
When we talked about handwriting we discovered that each child likes a different way of writing. Some don’t mind the straight lines and boxy letters. Others, however, like the flow of D'nealian style like in Charlotte Mason’s Delightful Handwriting. It’s good to look for the right handwriting book for your child.
Explode the Code turned out to be a good self guided time for the children that used this book. They love going through it and doing the work pages by themselves. https://www.explodethecode.com/01_overview/ It helps the child learn to read, comprehension and spelling. A new one recently discovered is called Moving Beyond the Page. It comes with workbook options for certain literary works, for instance The Witch of Blackbird Pond. For this one there is a workbook for History and another for Science. The whole curriculum is quite expensive, but it was pointed out that it would last the normal person 3 years! So you can pick and choose what you want. In the description of the book it will tell you what other workbooks might work with it too. http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/ Choose the curriculum age you want. Then click the one to look through. Below the total curriculum price you’ll find the list of separate workbooks, and novels beneath that. Good luck! It’s a lot to look through, but hopefully worth it.
Michael Clay Thompson, http://www.rfwp.com/pages/michael-clay-thompson/, is good since it starts at the base of our language and works up from that.
High School
For those of you thinking of moving on to a 4 year institution or the JC you need to consider how you will document those classes you took in high school. If you are trying to get into a public high school you won’t need much to prove your I.Q. since you are admitted by age. If you want to enter a charter school you need proof of the high school classes you took at home. There are ways you can prepare for the switch, and it’s never too late to start thinking of what you will do. Blueprint education, http://www.blueprinteducation.org/home-schooling, provides online courses that provide you with the high school credits you need to keep on track. The classes are not rich in subject matter, but gets the job done and establishes a paper trail. BYU also offers high school online courses. One complaint one of our high schoolers had was the lack of personal contact. It was hard if not impossible to get the instructor to reply to emails requesting help. The Santa Rosa JC was a great place to start classes; They accept students as young as 14, the instructors are able to talk to you since the classes are small, and you’ll have a better chance at entering a university or 4 yr college. *To get into the JC you’ll need detailed descriptions of your home school classes and books studied. You can go to someone to write up a transcription, like West Beach, or you can find a transcript program for $50. Pam will have a link for us soon! Another thing to consider when applying to the JC is to think of what you child will like best. To succeed he/she will do much better just starting off with something he/she enjoys. Yeah for HOMESCHOOLING!
Note from Katie: I noticed this (*) in your post today which is not accurate. A student does not need transcripts to attend the JC as a concurrent enrollment student (which means they are still enrolled in high school). A high school student must apply for admission and submit a concurrent enrollment form, with signatures from their high school principal and counselor (can be a parent). Students over 18 don't need to submit transcripts, either. Wes (not West) Beach is a great person to help with transcripts if you want help at some point, and his book has good examples. He can be reached at beachhi@cruzio.com, and his book is here -- http://www.amazon.com/Forging-Paths-Beyond-Traditional-Schooling/dp/0615577849
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Happy Gardening ~ by Misty Wolff
I LOVE gardening and hope to pass at least a bit of that love on to my kids. I know that they might not end up loving it like me AND they are kids and don't have the patience I do, even if they do enjoy it. So even if they say they don't want to help I still have them outside with me when I do garden so they see me enjoying it.
Although I have dreams of a huge farm like garden where I can grow all my own food, we have a regular suburb size property AND live in the woods which means not enough sun for anything to grow to its full producing potential. Our gardening is for the enjoyment and beauty, the science and the snacks. We do a mix of flowers and vegetables, from seed and store bought potted plants, hand me downs and cuttings, and offshoots. Whatever works, or doesn't for that matter. We have had many disappointments along that way and that is a lesson in itself. When picking vegetables I try to pick ones that the kids can snack off of like cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, as opposed to things that have to be cooked to eat. They like the instant gratification from plant to mouth. I wish we could do everything from seed but without great sun things just grow too slow or not at all to satisfy us on seeds alone so I end up with some vegetables each year bought in the pot. But I still use seeds so the kids, and I for that matter, can see how things really grow from the beginning, including collecting seeds from the plants we have and planting them the following year. It often takes 2 years for flowers we plant by seed to FINALLY grow a flower. We plant seeds from fruits and vegetables we buy at the store too. We have apple trees, an almond tree and avocado tree from store bought produce. I am sure none of them will ever produce fruit, but we are watching them grow anyway.
Keeping the kids interest. I have learned to realize that even if they like gardening, my son more than my daughter, they are still kids with less patience. They love the digging in the dirt, using the garden tools, finding worms, putting in seeds or potted plants, but only for a certain amount of time. I could do it for hours on end, but have to either let them stop when they are done and I keep going while they play and/or I stop too and pick it up another day when they are ready again. And although they will happily tell anyone they help mommy with the whole garden even if they only water one plant, I think they are more engaged if they feel that they do "own" at least one specific plant. They are more excited to see a few specific plants grow than me who can walk around the garden every day to see each minute amount of growth on everything. This year my daughter picked a tomato plant as hers and my son a hot pepper. They love checking in on their plant, but not every day. Often they even forget it exits and I remind them when i see a new flower or the flower finally turning into its food.
I have not usually done science with the garden in a formal way. I talk about things as we go, how to water, following instructions on the seed packets of how deep to plant, choosing ones that work better with our amount of sunlight, etc. No specific structured lesson planned ahead, just telling them what comes to mind about what/why I am doing or having them do something, and admitting that I don't always know everything either and we will learn together. And the hardest part is letting them make mistakes, like planting seeds deeper than recommended and they might not grow, watering the top of a plant and it might mold or get sunburned, picking the food before it is at its ripest for best flavor. I am still learning a ton about gardening each year by trial and error but learned a love of gardening from my mom too and her encouraging us kids to help and help eat right out of the garden, including my brother that didn't even rinse the dirt off the radishes.
Our garden is much more of a learning process for ALL of us. It is not landscaped, more of a wild look, including the pumpkins that we planted next to the fuchsias, which grew up and over the flowers and now we have 2 pumpkins growing among the fuchsia plant (see picture). And of course they love to help water (sometimes). Who doesn't like to help with something that squirts water and lots of it?
Happy Gardening!
Misty Wolff
Although I have dreams of a huge farm like garden where I can grow all my own food, we have a regular suburb size property AND live in the woods which means not enough sun for anything to grow to its full producing potential. Our gardening is for the enjoyment and beauty, the science and the snacks. We do a mix of flowers and vegetables, from seed and store bought potted plants, hand me downs and cuttings, and offshoots. Whatever works, or doesn't for that matter. We have had many disappointments along that way and that is a lesson in itself. When picking vegetables I try to pick ones that the kids can snack off of like cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, as opposed to things that have to be cooked to eat. They like the instant gratification from plant to mouth. I wish we could do everything from seed but without great sun things just grow too slow or not at all to satisfy us on seeds alone so I end up with some vegetables each year bought in the pot. But I still use seeds so the kids, and I for that matter, can see how things really grow from the beginning, including collecting seeds from the plants we have and planting them the following year. It often takes 2 years for flowers we plant by seed to FINALLY grow a flower. We plant seeds from fruits and vegetables we buy at the store too. We have apple trees, an almond tree and avocado tree from store bought produce. I am sure none of them will ever produce fruit, but we are watching them grow anyway.
Keeping the kids interest. I have learned to realize that even if they like gardening, my son more than my daughter, they are still kids with less patience. They love the digging in the dirt, using the garden tools, finding worms, putting in seeds or potted plants, but only for a certain amount of time. I could do it for hours on end, but have to either let them stop when they are done and I keep going while they play and/or I stop too and pick it up another day when they are ready again. And although they will happily tell anyone they help mommy with the whole garden even if they only water one plant, I think they are more engaged if they feel that they do "own" at least one specific plant. They are more excited to see a few specific plants grow than me who can walk around the garden every day to see each minute amount of growth on everything. This year my daughter picked a tomato plant as hers and my son a hot pepper. They love checking in on their plant, but not every day. Often they even forget it exits and I remind them when i see a new flower or the flower finally turning into its food.
I have not usually done science with the garden in a formal way. I talk about things as we go, how to water, following instructions on the seed packets of how deep to plant, choosing ones that work better with our amount of sunlight, etc. No specific structured lesson planned ahead, just telling them what comes to mind about what/why I am doing or having them do something, and admitting that I don't always know everything either and we will learn together. And the hardest part is letting them make mistakes, like planting seeds deeper than recommended and they might not grow, watering the top of a plant and it might mold or get sunburned, picking the food before it is at its ripest for best flavor. I am still learning a ton about gardening each year by trial and error but learned a love of gardening from my mom too and her encouraging us kids to help and help eat right out of the garden, including my brother that didn't even rinse the dirt off the radishes.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Young Author
Jackie's little girl Farah is in the midst of writing her own book. She needs any child who has witnessed his or her mother giving birth. She has made a flyer and would like you to contact her by phone: 824-1996.
Thank you for your support!
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Gardening 101
Inspiration is thin this week. I tire of all the sun and heat. But it means good things. Lots of photosynthesis for our beautiful plants. I'm not a fantastic gardener, tho. Beautiful flowers from the nursery wither in my care. I long for the lush gardens my neighbors have. My children garden with me and love to put plants it. We arrange rocks around each tiny plant to keep it safe from little ones stepping on them. The littler ones love to help me water them. The older ones just want to play when we go outside. I can't seem to keep the excitement alive after the plants are in the ground. So I ask you and beg you for your input. Do you garden with your children? Is it a science project? Will they help you everyday? What do you do to keep them interested in their slow growing garden? Do you plant vegetables, flowers or herbs? How many days in the week do you go out to take care of it? Do you start from seed or potted plants?
Photos to submit: Your garden right now whether it's scraggly, weedy, picked over, or well taken care of.
Send your articles and photos to loriensmother@msn.com
I really am hoping to get at least 10, so don't think someone else will do it! Send your articles now!
Article and photos by Lorien Stevens:
I started gardening in Kindergarten with Jenya. We learned about different plants and how they grew. We used to have packets of mystery seeds that we would plant and see what plants they would grow into. When I started gardening at school there were tons of weeds in the gardening space. We had to dig and pull the weeds out with our hands and than after a couple of days we got some seeds and we planted. Some plants needed lots of water and some plants needed none. There was this plant that we liked to eat called sorrel. Sometimes we would sneak some of it for lunch or during class.
My favorite thing about gardening is planting and helping others with what they do in the garden.
Photos to submit: Your garden right now whether it's scraggly, weedy, picked over, or well taken care of.
Send your articles and photos to loriensmother@msn.com
I really am hoping to get at least 10, so don't think someone else will do it! Send your articles now!
Article and photos by Lorien Stevens:
I started gardening in Kindergarten with Jenya. We learned about different plants and how they grew. We used to have packets of mystery seeds that we would plant and see what plants they would grow into. When I started gardening at school there were tons of weeds in the gardening space. We had to dig and pull the weeds out with our hands and than after a couple of days we got some seeds and we planted. Some plants needed lots of water and some plants needed none. There was this plant that we liked to eat called sorrel. Sometimes we would sneak some of it for lunch or during class.
My favorite thing about gardening is planting and helping others with what they do in the garden.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Start Your "School" Year
We just got back from vacation last night. As we drove along I began thinking about how I would structure our school year. I'm usually very unorganized and I don't think my children really learn what they could. So this year I decided to be more dedicated to my children. I'm putting off the things that I would normally do like sew for others and teach piano. I'm going to start my day at 7am so I can have the house ready for the children to start learning. I don't want to be distracted by the mundane things like dishes and mopping while there are more important things to do. I want to hike more, go on more field trips, find interesting things to read about and get books from the library and actually turn them in on time! My goal is to focus 100% on doing things for their education while I'm awake. Maybe I'll even let them help me make dinners! So please think about what the beginning of YOUR "school" year will be like and send your ideas and goals to me at loriensmother@msn.com. You can sign your name or just put anonymous.
Pictures to submit: Your best vacation photo of kids, family, scenery, or bugs found this summer.
Thank you!
Pictures to submit: Your best vacation photo of kids, family, scenery, or bugs found this summer.
Thank you!
Stewart Falls Hike in Provo Canyon, Utah, 2 miles in 2 miles out! And they're still smiling!
Anne Stevens
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Legally Homeschooling by Gillian Estes
By Gillian Estes
I'd like to share with you the legal options for homeschooling in California/Sonoma County. Children between the ages of 6 and 18 are required, by California's compulsory attendance, to be enrolled in a public, full-time day school, unless they are exempt. Thankfully, there are several options for exemption in our state!
The first, and perhaps easiest, route is to homeschool through a home-study program or charter school. Most districts in Sonoma County offer home-study options, and there are a couple of charter schools specifically targeted at homeschoolers--Orchard View in Sebastopol, and Pathways, in Santa Rosa. Charter schools and/or home-study are great options for families just starting out, or those who simply want a little extra support. When enrolled in any of these programs, you work directly with a fully credentialed teacher to lay out your plans, and you can contact them any time with questions. Many of these programs provide educational materials, and optional, supplemental on-campus classes. Pathways offers a small annual stipend for educational supplies or outside classes. Generally once or twice a month, you meet with your supervising teacher to turn in work samples, and discuss what your upcoming plans are. Starting in second grade, you will be asked to participate in standardized testing, which is necessary for school funding, although people have and do opt out. Overall, this is a good, solid option for families who would like their kids to have some classroom experience, those looking for assistance with planning and implementation, or help with certain subjects like math and science, and those who want their kids to get regular high school diplomas.
Similar to this is the online school. These schools offer grading services, along with record keeping, student support, and more. For some online schools, you will buy all your own materials, usually directly from the school. Others offer the materials as part of an overall package deal, and some offer free supplies with enrollment. Some popular options in this category are Oak Meadow, K12, Calvert, and California Virtual Academy, though there are many more choices out there! Some online schools are accredited, others are not, so if a high school diploma is important to you, do your research first!
A second legal option is to file a Private School Affidavit. This is a pretty simple and straightforward option; between October 1st and 15th of each year, you fill out one online form with the California Department of Education, essentially registering your private school with the state. While state educational codes do require certain subjects to be taught to all students between the ages of 6 and 18, how you approach these subjects is then entirely up to you. You do have to keep some paperwork on hand--a copy of your affidavit, a list of courses offered, attendance sheets which can can as simple or complex as you make them, and a listing of all "staff" involved in teaching (usually just the parents). HSC's website lays out these particular requirements very clearly, and offers line-by-line instructions for the affidavit, so I highly recommend visiting their website. Some parents have expressed concern with the gap time between the typical school year beginning, and the filing date for the affidavit. However, there is no issue of truancy, as this is simply a registration of your school, not permission to create or operate it. Since no private school, no matter what size they are, can register until October 15th, if there were truancy issues, then every private school statewide would be truant. Overall, this is the option with the most flexibility and is very popular among homeschoolers for that reason--you decide what you are teaching, as well as when and how. Naturally, you do not have to participate in any standardized testing unless you want to!
Parents with a valid teaching credential may wish to look into the third legal option: tutoring. You can also hire a credentialed tutor for your child or children. This option comes with the most requirements to be met, among them hours of instruction each day, 175 days per year. Instruction must be given in English, and cover all subjects as outlined in the California State Content Standards. Most people do not choose to go this route, as it is the most restrictive and disallows possibilities such as concurrent enrollment at the JC or other community colleges.
I hope this overview helps you understand that homeschooling is perfectly legal in California, and that there is more than one way to approach it. Check out HSC's website for more details! http://www.hsc.org/home-page.html
I'd like to share with you the legal options for homeschooling in California/Sonoma County. Children between the ages of 6 and 18 are required, by California's compulsory attendance, to be enrolled in a public, full-time day school, unless they are exempt. Thankfully, there are several options for exemption in our state!
The first, and perhaps easiest, route is to homeschool through a home-study program or charter school. Most districts in Sonoma County offer home-study options, and there are a couple of charter schools specifically targeted at homeschoolers--Orchard View in Sebastopol, and Pathways, in Santa Rosa. Charter schools and/or home-study are great options for families just starting out, or those who simply want a little extra support. When enrolled in any of these programs, you work directly with a fully credentialed teacher to lay out your plans, and you can contact them any time with questions. Many of these programs provide educational materials, and optional, supplemental on-campus classes. Pathways offers a small annual stipend for educational supplies or outside classes. Generally once or twice a month, you meet with your supervising teacher to turn in work samples, and discuss what your upcoming plans are. Starting in second grade, you will be asked to participate in standardized testing, which is necessary for school funding, although people have and do opt out. Overall, this is a good, solid option for families who would like their kids to have some classroom experience, those looking for assistance with planning and implementation, or help with certain subjects like math and science, and those who want their kids to get regular high school diplomas.
Similar to this is the online school. These schools offer grading services, along with record keeping, student support, and more. For some online schools, you will buy all your own materials, usually directly from the school. Others offer the materials as part of an overall package deal, and some offer free supplies with enrollment. Some popular options in this category are Oak Meadow, K12, Calvert, and California Virtual Academy, though there are many more choices out there! Some online schools are accredited, others are not, so if a high school diploma is important to you, do your research first!
A second legal option is to file a Private School Affidavit. This is a pretty simple and straightforward option; between October 1st and 15th of each year, you fill out one online form with the California Department of Education, essentially registering your private school with the state. While state educational codes do require certain subjects to be taught to all students between the ages of 6 and 18, how you approach these subjects is then entirely up to you. You do have to keep some paperwork on hand--a copy of your affidavit, a list of courses offered, attendance sheets which can can as simple or complex as you make them, and a listing of all "staff" involved in teaching (usually just the parents). HSC's website lays out these particular requirements very clearly, and offers line-by-line instructions for the affidavit, so I highly recommend visiting their website. Some parents have expressed concern with the gap time between the typical school year beginning, and the filing date for the affidavit. However, there is no issue of truancy, as this is simply a registration of your school, not permission to create or operate it. Since no private school, no matter what size they are, can register until October 15th, if there were truancy issues, then every private school statewide would be truant. Overall, this is the option with the most flexibility and is very popular among homeschoolers for that reason--you decide what you are teaching, as well as when and how. Naturally, you do not have to participate in any standardized testing unless you want to!
Parents with a valid teaching credential may wish to look into the third legal option: tutoring. You can also hire a credentialed tutor for your child or children. This option comes with the most requirements to be met, among them hours of instruction each day, 175 days per year. Instruction must be given in English, and cover all subjects as outlined in the California State Content Standards. Most people do not choose to go this route, as it is the most restrictive and disallows possibilities such as concurrent enrollment at the JC or other community colleges.
I hope this overview helps you understand that homeschooling is perfectly legal in California, and that there is more than one way to approach it. Check out HSC's website for more details! http://www.hsc.org/home-page.html
Sunday, June 30, 2013
The Beginning....
Hi! I am Anne Stevens. Mom to 4 kids. I've been homeschooling my children since 2008. I decided to volunteer to do the newsletter because I've never read one or contributed to one. I believe this format will be easy for everyone to use. I look forward to everyone joining me in writing articles, submitting photos, and joining contests. This site will be public so anyone will be able to view it. We hope to spread the awesomeness of homeschooling to everyone! With your help, our family and friends will learn more about the wonderful world of homeschooling.
I will be the main author. That means I will try to write one article a week. I will be inviting two to three other families to contribute each week as well. I will send you an invitation on Sunday. You'll need to make a Google account, or use the one you have to sign on. Then you will write your post, add pictures and publish your post by Friday. If there are any concerns about how to publish a post I will help you over the phone. I am so excited to get to know all of you! Have a great summer and I hope to hear from you soon!
I will be the main author. That means I will try to write one article a week. I will be inviting two to three other families to contribute each week as well. I will send you an invitation on Sunday. You'll need to make a Google account, or use the one you have to sign on. Then you will write your post, add pictures and publish your post by Friday. If there are any concerns about how to publish a post I will help you over the phone. I am so excited to get to know all of you! Have a great summer and I hope to hear from you soon!
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