tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78076353429556260012024-03-04T20:07:39.046-08:00Homeschooling for a Global FutureChavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-8849937325050377512015-01-20T22:14:00.000-08:002015-01-20T22:14:28.405-08:00The Best Math Books for Middle School Girls!With a second daughter on her way into middle school level math, I pulled out these excellent books by Danica McKellar (Yes, if you're around my age, I bet you remember her!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Wonder Years!</td></tr>
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However, this young woman did grow up and proceeded to become an expert in math education with a passion for inspiring girls to excel in math. <br />
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"Math Doesn't Suck" <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0452289491/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=35073253644&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3596005337041992761&hvpone=14.30&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_1jrinznu8s_b" target="_blank">(Click here for Amazon Link)</a> and<br />
"Kiss My Math" <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452295408/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687602&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0452289491&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1ZNT1PR5E795032Z4PR1" target="_blank">(Click here for Amazon Link)</a> are filled with humor, practical applications for math and clear explanations of all the easily muddled concepts in math and pre-algebra. <br />Targeted for tween "girly girls," a lot of the content was not super appealing to my oldest daughter, but the teaching was clear and helped her a lot. My very different youngest daughter lit up like a Christmas tree at the shiny "teen magazine" style covers and began to devour the books immediately with unbridled enthusiasm! <br />
On Amazon.com there are some new books by Ms. McKellar that cover algebra and geometry -- too late for my older daughter but I'm looking forward to getting these for Erin when she is finished with the first two! Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-86448491272686352272015-01-07T08:57:00.000-08:002015-01-07T08:57:08.631-08:00American History Reading List -- 5th Grade Spring!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">This spring, my 5th grader is continuing her American History...</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;">There are so many great books out there that help bring this era alive, but I also wanted her to read about young people in adolescence that experience personal growth -- often overcoming an initially resistant attitude. (My 11 year old is fabulous -- and she is very much a "tween" with her own stuff to overcome!) </span>Being inspired by these characters will hopefully not only illuminate American History but will point her in some "growing up" directions in a positive way.<br />
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1) <u>George Washington: Our First Leader</u> from the "Childhood of Famous Americans" series, by Augusta Stevenson. This is a fictionalized biography of what "could have been." Accurate? Certainly not. Some truths and facts sprinkled throughout? Sure. A way to liven up what can be a dry study of battles and generals and "whites of their eyes?" Definitely. Quick read, fun start to semester. Wouldn't recommend a steady diet of this series but here and there is entertaining.<br />
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2) <u>Dreams in the Golden Country: The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl</u> from the "Dear America" series, by Kathryn Lasky. I'm sometimes not a fan of serialized books created for kids but the "Dear Americas" are an exception. They are a personal-feeling window into other people's lives that are a catalyst for understanding other cultural groups in America. This one particularly grasps the hope that people felt coming here that anything was possible for future generations.<br />
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3) <u>The Ballad of Lucy Whipple</u> by Newbery Award winner Karen Cushman. Outstanding writing, strong female lead character who has difficulty accepting her family's move to California during the Gold Rush. Her discoveries about California and herself make for an excellent read!<br />
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4) <u>Calico Bush</u>, Newbery Honor Book by Rachel Feld. Orphaned in 1743, 13 year old Marguerite survives by becoming an indentured servant in an isolated part of northern Maine. Suffering loneliness and hardship, Marguerite discovers how courageous she really is. Fabulous, touching book!<br />
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5) <u>The Perilous Road</u>, Newbery Honor Book by William O. Steele. The Publisher's Weekly review says "One of Mr. Steele's best books, an engrossing, realistic story of a Tennessee mountain boy who, during the Civil War, comes to realize that war is terrible no matter where one's sympathies lie." I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment. Uncomfortable at times: extremely important.<br />
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6) <u>A Wrinkle In Time</u>, Newbery Award Medal Winner by Madeleine L'Engle. Can't go wrong with any of Ms. L'Engle's books! An imaginative and deep look at the nature of good and evil in a fantasy setting. The hero is a smart girl who doesn't feel she fits in -- like every adolescent ever! My favorite book, my favorite author. I hope my daughter loves it as much as I do!<br />
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This will take us to Easter and Spring Break! So many adventures! Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-49187725051882311002015-01-06T20:53:00.001-08:002015-01-06T20:53:09.861-08:00High School: Concurrent Enrollment in Community College<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: blue;">As requested</span>, here is a description of the process we went through to enroll our oldest daughter in College of the Sequoias classes as a homeschooled high school student.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Note:</span> To even begin the process, the student needs a social security number (click <a href="http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/social-security-number-for-babies-29528.html" target="_blank">here</a> for info) and a state-issued ID card, available at the DMV. (link: <a href="http://www.dmv.org/ca-california/id-cards.php" target="_blank">getting an ID card in California</a>)<br />
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The first two steps can basically be done at the same time. You need to complete the online COS admissions application for your student, (CCCApply click <a href="http://www.cos.edu/Admissions/Admissions/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">here</a>) and fill out and turn in the <i>Concurrent High School Permission Form</i>. (<a href="http://www.cos.edu/Admissions/Admissions/Documents/Concurrent%20High%20School%20Permission%20Form%202014.pdf" target="_blank">click here for PDF</a>).<br />
The permission form asks what classes student is eligible for -- I just covered all bases possible, stating "course not offered" as a reason. <br />
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As a homeschooler, with the permission form you will also need to turn in a copy of your <span style="color: #990000;"><b>homeschool affidavit</b></span> and a <b><span style="color: #990000;">high school transcript for your student showing a GPA of 3.0 or higher.</span></b> In all honesty, I don't use grades in my homeschool and, if I did, nothing would be less than an A because I would make my children re-do things until it was A work -- but I found some good templates on line to create a transcript. This is my favorite (<a href="http://letshomeschoolhighschool.com/2012/07/23/download-homeschool-high-school-transcript-template/" target="_blank">click here</a>).<br />
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Once the admission process is complete, your student must use his/her COS ID number to take the math and English placement tests on campus (info <a href="http://www.cos.edu/Admissions/Admissions/Pages/Assessment.aspx" target="_blank">here</a>). Assuming nothing has changed in two years, the English is a computerized test that takes students as far as their knowledge goes and then tells you what class they belong in. The fact that my daughter tested out of the early college English classes has been very convenient because many other classes have English I as a prerequisite. For math, you can choose to take a pre-algebra test or an algebra I test. If your student passes, they may take the next math classes in the sequence. My daughter took the pre-algebra test and has now completed Algebra I and II at COS. (math was/is the primary reason to kick her out of the house!)<br />
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When these things are completed, your student will be able to register -- AFTER everyone else and their brother's cousin's dog has registered. This is the big disadvantage of being a concurrent high school student. However, the trade-off is that the <span style="color: #274e13;">fees are waived by the state for the first 6 credits.</span> Every semester, I am tempted to haul my daughter off to take the CHSPE or the GED so she could register along with everyone else... but then those credit dollars... you can see the conflict...<br />
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Something that we didn't realize the first semester, however, is that<span style="color: #0b5394;"> "crashing" classes is acceptable and expected.</span> My daughter has gotten into every class she was wait-listed for simply by showing up the first day and getting an add code from the teacher. Some classes have not even been open for waiting list by the time she could register, but it has worked out well when they are.<br />
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I'm often asked by other parents if I have worried about my 15-now 16-year old in the environment with older students. This has really not been a concern for me. I feel that education at home has prepared her better for life in the "real world" where there are many age/culture/values differences than anything else could have. She approaches life with a bit of healthy cynicism and isn't easily swayed. Perhaps if our home environment were less open and more cautious I would have been concerned, but halfway through the second year of this I am still feeling confident. <br />
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<a href="http://www.cos.edu/Admissions/Admissions/Pages/ConcurrentHS.aspx" target="_blank">Link to the COS Concurrent HS Student Page</a><br />
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Good luck! Ask any questions you have in the comments below and I will try to answer!Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-73124223307302072772015-01-06T09:41:00.000-08:002015-01-06T10:06:07.582-08:00Reading List: Books that are Friends, 8th Grade<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My 8th grade son has decided that he'd like the "public school experience" for high school. </span></i></span><br />
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I feel like Seinfeld saying, "not that there's anything wrong with that..." because I admit that it makes me slightly uncomfortable! We made the decision to keep him at home because he always met expectations -- and if the expectations were ridiculously high, so was his achievement. This has not changed, but many expectations come from within at this point, so his drive is his own. <br />
I am certain he'll be successful academically, and if the social draw ends up not being what he expects at least he will see that for himself. So next fall, we are in for a new adventure!<br />
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But the questions in my own self have started... Have I given him all the things I think he'll need to be a successful human being with a joy for life and an ability to think and feel deeply? We have studied philosophy, tons of history, music and art, as well as the science and math that he is naturally drawn to. As I write, I'm listening to him speak Mandarin into the Rosetta Stone microphone, which he'll continue along with piano and musical theater when he starts high school next year.<br />
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So in a purely self-indulgent move, I have assigned him a spring reading list that reflects both books I loved at his age and ones that I enjoy now. I hope that he will get hooked, feel friendship with the characters, want to read others by some of my favorite authors, and give us a place to connect as he moves into his next phase of life and grows more and more independent. (As he should!)<br />
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THE SPRING "BOOKS THAT ARE FRIENDS" READING LIST!<br />
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5 books by Madeleine L'Engle:<br />
<b> The Arm of the Starfish</b><br />
<b> A Ring of Endless Light<br /> A Wrinkle in Time</b><br />
<b> A Wind in the Door</b><br />
<b> A Ring of Endless Light </b><br />
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L'Engle's works for young adults are timeless. They capture perfectly the tension between dependent childhood and independent adulthood, and her characters make LOTS of mistakes. Just like every real life teenager. They also are able to positively affect the world in profound ways. Good examples for any young adult. He read "Wrinkle" several years ago, but it is my very favorite book, sooo... :)<br />
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<b>Little House on the Prairie </b><br />
This one is more for my husband than for me, as they were his childhood favorites. Our young man read one in the series several years ago, but never this one. A quick read, seeing as he read "Shogun" last semester... but not everything has to be hard, right?<br />
<b> The Phantom Tollbooth</b>... also from my husband's faves... a very funny book that honors smart kids!<b> </b> <br />
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<b>Steelheart</b> by Brandon Sanderson.<br />
Urban fantasy is not something I think my son has ventured into, and this is a great introduction, with characters up against enormous forces that are able to rely upon wits, ingenuity, and friendship to overcome impossible odds.<br />
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<b>The Name of the Wind </b>by Patrick Rothfuss<br />
Modern Epic Fantasy, and one of the best I've read. This first in the series is a lot a coming-of-age as well -- good for young men. <br />
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And finally...<br />
<b>The Chronicles of Narnia </b>by C.S. Lewis<br />
A re-visit on a few, but like so many things, there is more depth each time these are read. And I think he may be ready to tackle "The Last Battle" which has more solid and controversial theology than most people<b> </b> realize! I am excited to see where these take him and to talk about them.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well-loved and often-read books are beautiful!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<br />Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-44849131046615907662014-12-17T22:05:00.000-08:002014-12-17T22:05:21.689-08:00Carrying on... or... School in 2014We have had a rough year.<br />
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My mom passed away in February, which, though difficult for my family and kids especially all in itself, created a cascade of change in our lives. By May we had uprooted ourselves and done a very quick move into a larger house that my father could join us in.<br />
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In March the child of another staff member at our church was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder. My kids had grown up with her -- she was a permanent fixture in our lives -- and suddenly she was living at Children's Hospital. <br />
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As she deteriorated, many others on staff at our church lost family members -- our pastor's mother-in-law, our organist's dad, musicians losing in-laws and parents and siblings. Death seemed all around us, all the time.<br />
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A trusted protege of my husband's was then arrested for abuse of children. Our grieving kids had to answer uncomfortable questions and wrap their brains around the fact that someone they had known since he was fifteen ten years ago was not the person we all thought he was. <br />
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Another shoe dropped in June -- the infant son of another friend and church staff member had kidney problems that would require surgery. An easy one, but through physician error serious complications ensued and he was almost lost.<br />
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Our kids' close friend passed away in September, the lack of white cells in her blood leaving her vulnerable to fungal infections that ravaged her body.<br />
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I can't process this, how can my children? They are broken. They have a new and terrifying awareness of their own vulnerability. <br />
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Tonight, after participating in a beautiful and life-celebrating pageant at church, my 10 year old and two close friends clung to each other in the front pew and wept. Memories of the friend they lost and her upbeat zest for everything fun had overwhelmed them as they went through the Christmas tradition without her for the first time. <br />
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Grief is a strange thing. My youngest daughter and I are trying to ride it like waves, but in the midst of a happy moment we can be unexpectedly toppled over, pushed underneath and scraping our still raw emotions on the sands below. <br />
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At the same time, 2014 has had incredible moments -- my daughters were in a production of Les Mis with a Broadway touring cast and became part of a larger theater world, leading us to NYC this summer and into many incredible experiences.<br />
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My son spent a summer week at the AMNH in a program with 30 of the best young scientific minds in the world studying evolution and genetics. We didn't even know how amazing it was that he got in until we showed up in New York.<br />
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My dad is getting to really know his grandchildren, and vice versa, something never possible with the thousand+ mile distance.<br />
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2014 has not just been difficult for us but for unrelated circles of friends -- deaths, dark diagnoses, especially in children, accidents, suicides. Marriages in turmoil and families in crisis. <br />
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How have we managed school in this kind of year?<br />
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With ups and downs, like everything else. <br />
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My son is dealing with his grief by considering medicine as a field. Most of his self directed education this year has centered around medicine and it's history, but he has also developed and interest in philosophy and pondering the deeper and unanswerable questions.<br />
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My oldest daughter is doing concurrent work at the community college. She has thrown herself into studying psychology, and, unsurprisingly, she often has new insights on grief and upheaval.<br />
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My youngest has begun to seriously take on ASL in memory of her friend that grew up with it. Will this change the course of her life? Perhaps. At the moment she wants to be an interpreter because it was her friend's plan and she is determined to fulfill it for her. <br />
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We are learning not to waste time on things that are not vital, and we are closer as a family than ever before. We are focusing on things that are precious. We are looking at the world in new ways and we are accepting the waves of emotion that overtake all of us at odd times. <br />
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Our wishes of "Happy New Year" are going to be more heartfelt than ever before. <br />
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Peace out, 2014. This homeschool family is very ready for a new year.Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-28470004110513296072014-11-01T23:02:00.000-07:002014-11-01T23:03:34.066-07:00NaNoWriMo -- Day One -- and THE PLAYLIST<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The first day of NaNoWriMo is complete! </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span>We have an interesting mix of creativity in our house right now! A murder mystery set in NYC in the 1950s (Cameron), a multi-generational fantasy story (Megan), an "our-world" fantasy centering around a new mermaid culture (Erin), my mystery set in an opera house (write what you know, right?) and my 85 year old father who moved in with us this spring has even joined in and is writing a memoir. His life is stranger than most fiction, anyway! Very cool! <br />
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Everyone made day one's word count, but Erin, the youngest, blew away the goal of 1700 and landed just over 3,000!!! She is putting the rest of us to shame! Megan passed the 2000 mark and Cameron and I landed just over the goal. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mC3Cmu47urW4S0bV3F_qjJctqXZMRr6_YdEX5-jrZZqgal2utB5wl_HzIpHR7KVy1hInnHuqK-Fq0XZqeIrKeS08sBo3RmojB3iBPEqo89lPkdOHU1xXenpwtHbXN3ZXG0h-N4m5GUw/s1600/20141030_114345_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mC3Cmu47urW4S0bV3F_qjJctqXZMRr6_YdEX5-jrZZqgal2utB5wl_HzIpHR7KVy1hInnHuqK-Fq0XZqeIrKeS08sBo3RmojB3iBPEqo89lPkdOHU1xXenpwtHbXN3ZXG0h-N4m5GUw/s1600/20141030_114345_HDR.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erin putting final touches on her character sketches</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Which brings me to one of my favorite parts of NaNo preparation --<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Writing Playlist!!!</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is a mix that will be my companion for the next thirty days, and choosing it is a vital part of my writing process! It will set the tone for my novel. It cannot be so complex musically that the bit of my brain that has to analyze music has too much to work at and can't "do it's thing" in the background, but has to be interesting enough and have complex enough lyrics to be a muse! </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">It has to have many different sounds but they cannot be so different that they are jarring on "shuffle," and I keep it on shuffle because I can't have that analytical part of my brain trying to remember what comes next in the album, either! </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;">This year's list of artists, with all their albums for newer ones and favorites and some new for ones that have been around a long time, shuffled and played on Rhapsody!</span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">Of Monsters and Men </span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">Mumford and Sons</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">Muse</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">U2</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">Sting (including the Last Ship concept album!)</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">Depeche Mode</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">The Smiths</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">Imagine Dragons</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">The Police</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">Obviously I have a bias toward alternative/punk music! I find it energizing! </span></span><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">Music and.........</span></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></b> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>COFFEE! </b><span style="color: black;">My best friends for the next 29 days. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Go! Write! WIN!</span></b></span> </span></span> <br />
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<br />Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-22818410015646793592014-10-17T16:46:00.000-07:002014-10-17T16:48:40.945-07:00NaNoWriMo -- or, Proof That My Family is Fabulously Crazy<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">National</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Novel </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Writing</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Month</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">(NaNoWriMo)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you have read any of my posts, you may have figured out that my family enjoys learning and school and all the things that go along with it -- not saying we all aren't challenged by certain subjects, but overall the learning process is something that kicks along without many interruptions. Couple this with the fact that we don't know what to do with ourselves when we're not "doing school" and you have a family that feels pretty ahead of the game by mid-October.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, this year we are going to turn our attention sideways for a month and dedicate most of our school time and energy toward a gigantic writing project: NaNoWriMo.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">From their page (<a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/">www.nanowrimo.org</a>)</span></span></span><br />
<b>"National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing.</b> On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.<br />
Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for <i>anyone</i> who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel."<br />
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I have participated myself three times, and found it an incredibly rewarding experience.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">(SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT!) </span> One product was a young adult novel actually eventually worthy of a Kindle version, which can be found here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Birdland-Experiment-Chavaleh-Forgey-ebook/dp/B00E7IC0FE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1413586700&sr=8-2&keywords=Chavaleh+Forgey" target="_blank">The Birdland Experiment on Amazon </a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">:)</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Why participate in NaNoWriMo with young people? <br />1) It is a good lesson in the reality that productive creativity (in any field) comes at the cost of hard work.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2) It is a project with a beginning, middle, end, and definite goal.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3) Whether the novel produced at the end of the month is a Hemingway or a Horrible Mess, writing will improve during the course of lots of practice.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">4) It will teach not only perseverance but teamwork as we encourage each other through the creatively dry times and celebrate the successes! </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have found with any creative project that even though artistic and creative license can take over sometime during the course, <i>detailed and intentional planning before the project is begun is the best assurance of success. </i> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The planning process that will take place over the last weeks in October is as follows:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1) Brainstorm. Write down every topic that has ever crossed your mind as a good story and every character that you have ever thought would be interesting.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2) See which of these characters and stories will match well together. (For example, a swashbuckling 1700's pirate with OCD and claustrophobia may not be available for a sci-fi story taking place in the caves of a faraway planet... but who knows?)</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3) Read the preparatory advice on the NaNoWriMo site and SIGN UP! (As they say, no one has ever "won" without starting...)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="https://nanowrimo.org/sign_up">https://nanowrimo.org/sign_up</a></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">4) Write a (very brief) summary of what is going to happen in your novel. Just the beginning, middle, and end. Where we start, where we end up, how we get there. Very general.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">5) The most important step!! <b>Write a detailed outline</b>. Plan how many chapters and basically what plot steps from there to here need to happen in each one. Figure out how many words need to happen in each chapter. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My favorite NaNoWriMo year was the one in which I planned the number of sections to coincide with the number of days in the month and knew what I was going to write about each day. (Then my characters took over and had stuff happen to them that I never expected! But at least I had a framework to get them back on track!)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">6) Remember that you are about to write a ROUGH DRAFT. This is not a time to edit and it is not necessarily a time to flesh out past the number of words you have set for each section. The goal is a completed novel with a beginning, middle, and end. The rough draft may be the very short version! Go fill in the rest of <i>Les Miserables</i> or <i>The Eye of the World</i> or <i>War and Peace</i> in December, and fix your errors, find the perfect word, take out parts that just don't fit or insert those perfectly crafted dialogue zingers then also. Not in November!<br />(For your post NaNoWriMo crafting, I highly recommend "Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook" by Donald Maass. In it are lots of ways to bring an already completed novel to a higher level!)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So here we go! I am very excited to hear what stories are generated by my kids and if you or yours come along on this adventure please keep us posted in the comments! </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">More details on "How it all works" here: </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://nanowrimo.org/how-it-works">http://nanowrimo.org/how-it-works</a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Go! Write! Win! </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">:)</span></span></span><br />
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<br />Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-55371337474304601212014-10-13T21:04:00.001-07:002014-10-14T14:14:45.475-07:00Where We Are NowAmazing how time passes, isn't it?<br />
Since last I wrote, I turned my attention to completing two novels, which took up any blog-writing time, have been working on the preaching team at our church, (more writing!) and moving along with my work as a vocal coach and musical theater/opera conductor. <br />
However, homeschooling has continued to be a passion and something my family is dedicated to. <br />
Today my son (now 13 years old and in 8th grade) and I had a conversation that began as a "why can't we all get along" and evolved into a treatise on religious tolerance while maintaining a deep faith that made my jaw drop. My children are not quite ready to emerge into a world filled with challenges I could not have conceived of at 10, 13, or 16 -- but they are getting close, and I believe that education with that goal in mind has helped and will continue to help them on their journey.<br />
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Cameron presenting his research on the evolution of photosynthesis at the Evolution Institute at the American Museum of Natural History this past summer in NYC. <br />
20 kids were accepted into the program and only a handful were from America... We actually had no idea quite how amazing the program was or how exclusive when he applied -- we were looking for something for him to do while his sister did a musical theater intensive! It was an amazing experience which included extracting DNA from plants, using the museum's lab equipment and meeting and working with some of the world's top research scientists.<br />
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With one of his instructors, a leading Irish botanist!<br />
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Megan, now 16, and Cameron were about to start rehearsals for Phantom of the Opera as Carlotta and Piangi in the county office of education youth theater when we returned home, so a little intensive study was in order... We met Norm Lewis after seeing him as the Phantom in the Broadway production.<br />
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A friend we met when Erin, now 10, played Little Cosette in Fresno Grand Opera's production of Les Miserables, brought her onto the stage of Matilda after the performance. She is determined to spend time on Broadway stages with an audience out there as soon as possible!<br />
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At the American Museum of Natural History this summer.<br />
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As a homeschool, ours is a culture of curiosity and stretching into new experiences, not only tangible ones but academic experiences as well.<br />
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So what are we doing this year? <br />
Let's start with this week and move on from there! <br />
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The fifth grader...<br />
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Math: Erin is using LifePac math for fifth grade as well as Singapore and Miquon to supplement and learn different ways of thinking about math. iPad games for multiplication and division facts are still a good practical thing as well.<br />
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History: The History of Us is a great series. She is reading it out loud in case of unfamiliar vocabulary or concepts. She'll finish book one this week. We are also using some LifePac American History to reinforce and write about it. <br />
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Reading: "Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims" and "Anne of Green Gables," which she is listening to on Audible. More about Audible when we talk about the High Schooler! I love this resource!<br />
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Language Arts: Journaling pages and writing prompts, LifePac Language Arts. Every week there is a larger writing assignment that relates to another subject. This week she will be writing plot summaries of "Kiss Me, Kate" and "The Taming of the Shrew."<br />
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Science: She will do a packet of experiments on Forces and Motion with her older sister leading her through it on Friday when Megan doesn't have any community college classes.<br />
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Erin is extremely serious about dance and takes ballet, tap, and jazz at a local school. Plenty of PE there but we also try to do strength training and swimming at a gym a few times a week. <br />
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The eighth grader...<br />
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Math: the Key to Algebra series. He is on the third book and factoring polynomials. Thank God for answer keys and YouTube help! Next year I send him to college classes! He is also doing "Classical Logic" from the Classical Trivium Core Series. I cannot say enough good things about this curriculum. More in another post about this and their Latina Christiana! <br />
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Science: He is reading "Exploring the History of Medicine" by John Hudson Tiner. This is firing up his imagination and fueling his already considerable love of science. He lost a friend to a rare bone marrow disease in the early fall and has been thinking seriously of medicine as a career ever since. Meeting the research scientists in New York last summer has opened his eyes to possibilities I think.<br />
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Reading: Cameron's first history unit was on the history of Japan and the novel Shogun is taking more tine than the history unit! A chapter a day for this literary project! <br />
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Language Arts: He has the 8th grade language arts LifePacs for grammar... Honestly not impressed for him but will keep using it for the moment. They are good for Erin. He and my oldest are using a 12th grade public school writing book as well. That works well, though obviously the 16 year old is writing at a somewhat higher level.<br />
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History: Cameron will finish reading "Abraham, a Journey Into the Heart of Three Faiths" this week as a first step into a unit looking at the history of the Middle East and how we got where we are today. <br />
He is also doing a couple of selected LifePacs in the 9th grade series that focus on American Government and its structure. <br />
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The 11th grader...<br />
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Well I have started to give up on her...<br />
Just kidding.<br />
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She is taking Algebra 2, Abnormal Psychology, and Ballet at community college. This is her second year as a "concurrent" high school student. The goal is for her to have an associate's degree and a state transfer certificate one year after high school. Looking good!<br />
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History: The Great Courses are on Audible!!!! They are phenomenal. Megan is working through a lecture series on Great Philosophers at the moment. <br />
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Reading: She began the novel "Obasan" by Joy Kogawa this week. A beautiful novel set in the Canadian Japanese internment camps. <br />
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Writing: the public school 12th grade course discussed above. Combo are and Contrast essay this week.<br />
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Foreign Language: Rosetta Stone Japanese.<br />
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She had a private dance class today with a young woman who is trading for vocal coaching.<br />
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Music: <br />
We are all working through Tony Award winning musicals. This week is Cole Porter's "Kiss Me, Kate." We watched the PBS telecast of the revival this morning on YouTube and tomorrow we will watch "The Taming of the Shrew" on which the musical is based. We are listening to the cast album during chore times and in the car. My oldest and I also watched "Evita" while I was writing tonight and she was doing homework. <br />
Megan and Cameron are in rehearsals for Phantom of the Opera and Megan is in the Fresno Grand Opera Chorus. Erin is in the FGO Children's Chorus.<br />
All three kids spend time practicing piano daily and I fit in music theory and sight singing when I can. Thank goodness they are all good at it... Being my own profession they can get short shrift in music when I am tired of it! <br />
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There! I have started! Looking forward to sharing more of our journey!<br />
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Location:<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Visalia,%20CA&z=10">Visalia, CA</a></div>
Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-32620191524912569632010-02-10T22:14:00.000-08:002010-02-10T22:33:50.873-08:00Science in Song<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHZL0TuoYw0mp7tIW3blpBf2uysgbUh_sMIuSSFnEuVfYpBDNB0ygi223My1nS8LgdfQG-cbTZSqdkmeLfkzUOYNCteqSFgFqrwsmXoZmNbLZzpD6ppQxJa5DDA55J6hJXnGBVBu_MSE/s1600-h/February+2010+106.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHZL0TuoYw0mp7tIW3blpBf2uysgbUh_sMIuSSFnEuVfYpBDNB0ygi223My1nS8LgdfQG-cbTZSqdkmeLfkzUOYNCteqSFgFqrwsmXoZmNbLZzpD6ppQxJa5DDA55J6hJXnGBVBu_MSE/s320/February+2010+106.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436870241869401202" border="0" /></a><br />We have an amazing educational gem that we return to at least twice a year, and so few people seem to know about it that it seems like a great thing to share!<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">LYRICAL LIFE SCIENCE, </span>text and lyrics by Doug Eldon and performed on CD by Bobby Horton, is a fantastic resource. It packs a huge amount of information about specific topics into songs set to well known tunes. For example, the first song in volume one is about the scientific method, set to the tune of "Dixie." Once kids have memorized a song, they have a wealth of information at their fingertips -- and you know how kids retain music!<br />We are currently dipping into volume one to memorize the song about "Vascular Plants" (to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic.") as we begin a unit on plants and gardening.<br /><br />Verse one goes like this:<br /><div style="text-align: center;">Xylem carries minerals and water to the sky<br />Phloem carries food on down and that's the reason why<br />The most important cells are those producing both of them<br />The cells of the cambium!<br />Vascular, oh Vascular plants (3X)<br />All have transporting tubes!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Great stuff to hum while planting seeds and creating gardens!<br /></div></div>Other songs in volume one cover topics such as Living Things, Invertebrates, Birds, Genetics... the list is long!<br />Volume two covers "Mammals, Ecology, and Biomes," Volume three "The Human Body," and there is a new volume that we haven't checked out yet, but I look forward to -- "Lyrical Earth Science."<br />You can learn more about this at <a href="http://www.lyricallearning.com/">http://www.lyricallearning.com/</a><br />"Good music, good science, good time learning!"<br />Have fun!Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-82549228641435292612010-01-27T16:50:00.000-08:002010-01-27T17:35:02.933-08:00The Murky Quagmire of Mathematics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitWx_llWmEV_r0O7Mkbsq30x9SthiXlxG069GPZ9eoxyesUfe95Q18tCR-2Tbk396xAj9jlTM2xCMFtRLoCR_KHMfnN2IvvOpN_90r1f39tKse_CI1sVd3KeKhSumk1h0fPMo8Y-gMGmo/s1600-h/oct+2009+132.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitWx_llWmEV_r0O7Mkbsq30x9SthiXlxG069GPZ9eoxyesUfe95Q18tCR-2Tbk396xAj9jlTM2xCMFtRLoCR_KHMfnN2IvvOpN_90r1f39tKse_CI1sVd3KeKhSumk1h0fPMo8Y-gMGmo/s320/oct+2009+132.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431598061571648498" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:lucida grande;">All right. I confess. Math -- not my thing.<br /><br />I have been told for the last 30 years of my life that I have the right kind of brain for math, that mathematics and music require the same mental muscles, even that advanced music theory is so close to math that I might as well have swapped in grad school. I don't believe a word of it. In fact, without the motivational factor of homeschooling I may have happily lived my life without glancing more closely at mathematics than my computer's calculator function.<br /><br />All that being said, I do not want my children to share this prejudice.<br /><br />There are a lot of math curricula out there. I have spent too much of my life reviewing textbooks and trying to figure out which method will best serve my family. The best answer I can come up with, appropriately, comes from a musical: "Then from out of the blue, and without any guide, you know what your decision is -- which is not to decide." (Sondheim -- "Into the Woods")<br /><br />My daughters struggle with making mathematical concepts "stick." My son tends to get it the first time and usually figures out how to do the next thing without being shown. To accommodate them all, I flit from method to method in a conscientious attempt to help them see math from every angle, without getting bored or frustrated with one method. This is what I have found.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Public school materials, </span>at least the ones used in our California school district, tend to be tedious in the early grades. Necessary, but tedious. My son gets frustrated with the sequential approach and likes to skip to the end of the chapter to find out "how you really do it." My daughter in sixth grade has had a different experience. The pages are so terribly full of information that she either is overwhelmed by it and shuts off or she tries to digest it all at once and cannot. We use these books, and use them regularly, especially since they will have to take the tests that they teach toward at the end of the year, but they aren't anyone's favorite.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miquon Math</span> is my third grade son's favorite by far. It encourages creative thinking in math and recognition of patterns. It often takes a concept farther than other methods would but since the student is learning how the concept works it happens in a natural way that feels "easy." Miquon transitions into the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Key-to</span> series where it continues to work sequentially with patterns to learn fractions, decimals, percents, and algebra. The Key-to series has been excellent for my oldest daughter because there are not very many concepts per page. The clean presentation helps her to remain focused, and the creative thinking appeals to my more math-oriented son.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Singapore Math </span>emphasizes mental math and problem solving. It is worth noting that the grade levels in Singapore Math are not <span style="font-style: italic;">at all</span> comparable with U.S. equivalents. Singapore Math was made available worldwide after students in Singapore were found to be in first place in mathematics in the TIMSS -- Trends in Math and Science Study -- in each of the first four-year cycles. It is very quickly paced and uses different and interesting ways of thinking about and visualizing math problems. All of my kids think it's "fun."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Saxon, Horizons, and Abeka Math</span> are homeschooling standards. They are "spiral-based" programs, unlike Singapore and Miquon which are "mastery based." This means that where Miquon and Singapore might have reviews every so often for groups of concepts, in Saxon, Horizons, and Abeka review forms the majority of each lesson with only one new concept being introduced each time. Being told that these curricula were very user-friendly for homeschool moms that weren't so keen on math, I have given Saxon and Horizons a try -- in complete truth, we were all bored to tears. I do, however, use the Saxon skill review worksheets for drills -- the pace is so much slower than the public school standards that both my 6th and 3rd grader currently use drills from the 7/8 skills book.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Switched on Schoolhouse </span>is a computer based program. The isolation was not appealing to my children, even though they all enjoy using computers. The version we tried out got a little bit bogged down in the steps the student needed to take to do simple things like borrowing which are so easy with pen and paper but required several mouse clicks to do in the program. However, this was in 2007 and more modern versions may be easier to use. It, like the other homeschool standards, is spiral-based and does not focus on mental math or creative problem solving.<br /><br />Speaking of computer programs... wouldn't it be nice if we could point and click our way to mathematical perfection??? I haven't found a way to do that yet, however, there are some programs that my family has enjoyed and that have proven valuable.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Timez Attack </span>is a multiplication tables drill that looks a lot like a video game. Need I say more?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rainbow Rock, Vroot and Vroom, and Wiggle Woods</span> are corny names for the CD ROMS that go with Singapore math. My kids loved the first two and I need to invest in the third as soon as possible.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mathletics </span>was recommended to me recently by another homeschool mom. She says it is fabulous and has watched her daughters' skills improve through its use. I plan to try it out soon, too!<br /></span></span>Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-74443063979239728732010-01-22T13:48:00.000-08:002010-01-23T08:49:19.372-08:00Middle Ages and Renaissance Reading Lists<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF1l66_pxcW0JjsOtE8Fh_HWyRuWOjgDLqeIEBmQ8yOVD3OUZzZvknYJupWiSPkRDk22bNLZeVaKJde_XlBn-shZJ-zO9HMWQzd4ZtQyhWuYijeo8jxpawSAi-Auj4lutExo5FVwATJp8/s1600-h/16541_1298783433480_1347219969_864405_1589214_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF1l66_pxcW0JjsOtE8Fh_HWyRuWOjgDLqeIEBmQ8yOVD3OUZzZvknYJupWiSPkRDk22bNLZeVaKJde_XlBn-shZJ-zO9HMWQzd4ZtQyhWuYijeo8jxpawSAi-Auj4lutExo5FVwATJp8/s320/16541_1298783433480_1347219969_864405_1589214_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429692104225157682" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">These are the rest of our books for this school year. I have divided them into Middle Ages, Renaissance, and a few "Just for Fun."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-size:130%;" >Middle Ages</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Flame Over Tara (Polland)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Beowulf -- A New Telling (Nye)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">The Apple and the Arrow (Buff)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Tam Lin (Yolen)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Inferno (Dante -- Pinsky verse translation + Italian)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Otto of the Silver Hand (Pyle)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">The Beduins' Gazelle (Temple)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver (Konigsburg)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Adam of the Road (Gray)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Catherin, Called Birdy (Cushman)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">The Door in the Wall (de Angeli)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Tolkien)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">The Once and Future King (White)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Matilda Bone (Cushman)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Joan of Arc (Stanley)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Saint George and the Dragon (McCaughrean)</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-size:130%;" >Renaissance</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Michelangelo (Stanley)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Leonardo Da Vinci (Stanley)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Treasure Chests: Da Vinci</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Luther (Nohl)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Master Cornhill (McGraw)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">I, Juan de Pareja (de Trevino)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">The Prince and the Pauper (Twain)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">The Shakespeare Stealer (Blackwood)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Shakespeare Stories (Garfield)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Sonnets (Shakespeare)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Just for Fun"</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Mountain Born (Yates)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">The Wheel on the School (DeJong)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">The Phantom Tollbooth (Juster)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">A Little Princess (Burnett)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">The Hobbit (Tolkien) </span><br /><br /></div>Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-38141498075607122272010-01-19T22:15:00.000-08:002010-01-19T22:50:31.692-08:00Ancient History Reading List<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzoRlfVtZImUh9FU1uRXUZvF2RSCUomV94Q7-EsrsY5ubNoH_NL5J4Ti_IMHe8dxhW7WZqfZA44b_NjItA_3cRO8ZZc1c_shS6PGyvAlh7sfUwe5PCKZTGdEhPWi_OtEdBzDrfCLNFQJs/s1600-h/10-31-09_1631.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzoRlfVtZImUh9FU1uRXUZvF2RSCUomV94Q7-EsrsY5ubNoH_NL5J4Ti_IMHe8dxhW7WZqfZA44b_NjItA_3cRO8ZZc1c_shS6PGyvAlh7sfUwe5PCKZTGdEhPWi_OtEdBzDrfCLNFQJs/s320/10-31-09_1631.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428710757441597730" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"> As we aim for a literature-rich program that enlivens the history and cultures we're studying, </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;" >"The Reading List"</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> is the most time consuming and intense item in our preparation for the school year. I draw from Sonlight Curriculum, The Well Trained Mind lists, public school recommendations, and various websites that may have suggestions for certain periods or cultures. Of course this number of books gets very expensive -- the library hasn't worked well for us because these books become like old friends my children want to return to time and again. They fight over who gets to take which books when they move away! I highly recommend half.com, the used bookstore to the world -- I get beat up discarded library copies that have super tough bindings!</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"> This year our history takes us from Ancient times through the Reformation. The following reading list is our complete literature for the Ancient World -- some are read aloud by me, some are read by the third grader, some by the sixth grader and some by both.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">As a basis, the sixth grader has worked through the public school text book for sixth grade history, Ancient Civilizations, published by Pearson/Prentice Hall. There are extensive writing assignments throughout. The third grader has read through A Child's History of the World (Hillyer). We have listened to Margaret Wise Bauer's The Story of the World (volume I, Ancient Times) on CD all together, so the kindergartner who isn't yet a fluent reader got her first taste of the ancient world as well.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">General</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Usborne Time Traveler<br />Historical Atlas of the Ancient World (Hays)<br />The Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (Hurdman)<br />Learning About Ancient Civilizations Through Art (Chertok)<br />Ancient Civilizations (Hart)<br />A Child's History of the World (Hillyer)<br />The Story of the World (Bauer)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Prehistoric Times</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Boy of the Painted Cave (Denzel)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ancient Egypt</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Hieroglyphs from A to Z (Der Manuelian)<br />History Detectives -- Ancient Egypt<br />Kids' Discover Magazine -- Mummies<br />Tut's Mummy -- Lost and Found (Donnelly/Watling)<br />Mara, Daughter of the Nile (McGraw)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ancient Middle East</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Kids' Discover Magazine -- Ancient Persia<br />Hittite Warrior (Williamson)<br />The Golden Goblet (McGraw)<br />The Bronze Bow (Speare)<br />Beyond the Desert Gate (Ray)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ancient Far East</span> (This isn't much -- we studied non-Western cultures last year)<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The Great Wall of China (Fisher)<br />The Samurai's Tale (Haugaard)<br />I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade (Wilson)<br />A Single Shard (Park)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ancient Greece</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The Greek News (Powell, Steel)<br />D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths<br />Usborne Greek Myths<br />The Iliad and The Odyssey (Homer)<br />The Trojan War (Coolidge)<br />The Aesop for Children (Ill. Winter)<br />Pandora of Athens (Denenberg)<br />Theras and His Town (Snedeker)<br />Archimedes and the Door of Science (Bendick)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ancient Rome</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Detectives in Togas (Winterfeld)<br />Mystery of the Roman Ransom (Winterfeld)<br />The Ides of April (Ray)<br />The Lantern Bearers (Sutcliff)<br />The Eagle of the Ninth (Sutcliff)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Byzantine Empire</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Anna of Byzantium (Barrett)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Coming up... Dark Ages through the Reformation!</span>Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-52326672957677591942010-01-18T09:27:00.001-08:002010-01-19T07:41:45.898-08:00Homeschooling for a Global Future<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP9sKJrT9RS2GQkqQJgiQoXPeqtKhRf4ZLRbR73V_Px4NWODtP0WT-YirJLJDgcy4VXhI0SgnwurC0WieycMEBlWlb9oaAP0-IJLv0LMqurUmb0lwUhNbTIBlMMOfnZx-aij1dMLqyaP8/s1600-h/Late+Summer+2008+%2B+Margaret+Moholt+pics+068.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP9sKJrT9RS2GQkqQJgiQoXPeqtKhRf4ZLRbR73V_Px4NWODtP0WT-YirJLJDgcy4VXhI0SgnwurC0WieycMEBlWlb9oaAP0-IJLv0LMqurUmb0lwUhNbTIBlMMOfnZx-aij1dMLqyaP8/s320/Late+Summer+2008+%2B+Margaret+Moholt+pics+068.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428186809914206546" border="0" /></a><br />How can homeschooling today give children an advantage as they emerge into a world that is more connected, more culturally globalized, and more conflicted than the one their parents emerged into?<br /><br />To address this question, first I need to express that my philosophies differ greatly from many -- not all, thankfully -- homeschooling families I am in contact with or know of. My general philosophy is one of MORE. More cultural connections, more history, more scientific knowledge, more language, more understanding of the world. We are dedicated Christians, but unlike many families, this was not a factor in our homeschooling decision.<br /><br />The public schools in our community tend to fall flat in three areas. History, arts, and foreign languages. Above all, if our children will be able to exist and thrive in a global culture, these studies should instead be paramount. How will they understand a person from another culture if they are unaware what shaped that culture? The history, the religion, the triumphs and the tragedies of that part of the world? The language, also, helps to shape how people think.<br /><br />Our curriculum starts with history. We build literature, art, and music studies around the culture and era that we are studying. I find that this approach works extremely well when combining ages -- the sixth grader has been through Ancient History before, for example, and is taking from this year a far deeper understanding than the kindergartner who is seeing the sights for the first time, but they both enjoy the trip.<br /><br />Science, of course, has its own timeline, however studying the inventors, scientists, and philosophers of the historical eras helps to understand the current science we study as well.<br /><br />Foreign Language. Currently my family seriously studies two: Spanish because we live in a part of California that was recently Mexico, and it seems only fair to study the language. Mandarin because it is the major commerce and scientific language of the Eastern world, as English is in the west. I am operating on the idea that whatever field they choose, knowing English and Mandarin will serve as life insurance.<br /><br />It is well documented that music study, particularly piano, makes connections in the brain that are a significant help to math, science, and language skills. Add to the the tremendous enrichment and enjoyment that the arts bring to both cultural and individual life and the need for arts education becomes apparent. We study classical piano and singing, and other forms of art in connection with history.<br /><br />Will all this enable them to function in a global culture? I hope so. At least they will grow up with a profound respect not only for other cultures but for their own. That respect could lead to greater understanding and a greater chance for a peaceful world for their children to emerge into. That's all I can hope for.Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-73974190945588003712010-01-17T20:08:00.000-08:002010-01-17T20:35:15.123-08:00Why Homeschool?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0i9gTHaHGqyqiAotZAoyHOijqXBeKp02r-e1AEdXi4E7oIQMff4tEHiuC9M0RVjtU2d1124jSmVxgSqmyB7SrwM1uaFjtdQJ6PNOqwHM4NG0ULj1ayiaRXx0pI8bDYmoWBD2S5gUbZk/s1600-h/August+2009+012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0i9gTHaHGqyqiAotZAoyHOijqXBeKp02r-e1AEdXi4E7oIQMff4tEHiuC9M0RVjtU2d1124jSmVxgSqmyB7SrwM1uaFjtdQJ6PNOqwHM4NG0ULj1ayiaRXx0pI8bDYmoWBD2S5gUbZk/s320/August+2009+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427933601290031282" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVp1-BXjbC7PlTQhVRadsYq2wSRmVjuxEYBNaFhjaDmVYTkL5RGQ63TYR64hBO0Db91xBaxMYkUac-93Nrlu6aHArrb5B66YMP59yYwF2j9t4q6y4YAerd53_F6a3u3ypbbm6eXdEM8YM/s1600-h/June+Part+trois+035.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVp1-BXjbC7PlTQhVRadsYq2wSRmVjuxEYBNaFhjaDmVYTkL5RGQ63TYR64hBO0Db91xBaxMYkUac-93Nrlu6aHArrb5B66YMP59yYwF2j9t4q6y4YAerd53_F6a3u3ypbbm6eXdEM8YM/s320/June+Part+trois+035.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427933594482028210" border="0" /></a><br />Homeschooling was something that our family fell into very easily.<br /><br />I was already for the most part a "stay at home mom," teaching piano and voice lessons during after-school hours to supplement our income.<br /><br />When our oldest daughter was the right age to enter kindergarten, several factors affected our decision to keep her home. We had just moved to a new job/city/and state, and the move had affected our daughter more than we expected. She was depressed. She didn't eat well, she cried a lot. We were expecting another sibling in December. For some kids, the entry into school and the possibility of meeting new friends would have been a positive change, but though she made friends easily and wasn't at all shy, she was not able to sit still for any amount of time and we knew that the stress level she was just beginning to come out of made transitions extremely difficult.<br /><br />We decided to keep her home, allow for a little bit more maturity to set in before we entered her into a classroom situation. We didn't want her to be labeled as a "bad kid" when we knew she was bright and had every reason to be successful in school.<br /><br />It was a great year. Lots of reading out loud, which the two year old loved as well, and the beginning of creating an environment where learning was the focus not just of school time but play time as well. It was fun!<br /><br />But all too soon it was time for first grade. When the offices opened for registration, I called our local public school and the two private schools in our area. "My daughter is entering first grade, she's a fluent reader and she has finished the first grade math book -- what will you do with her?"<br /><br />The answer was universal -- nothing. Megan would be expected to sit down, shut up, and pretend to learn phonics and adding. "Bad kid" label? I might as well have sent an engraved invitation.<br /><br />I had an infant and a toddler at home, my after-school studio was thriving, and homeschooling had suited our schedule of evening rehearsals and performances, so my husband and I talked it over and decided to go for another year. "As long as she's ahead, we might as well keep it up."<br /><br />She stayed ahead. My son completed his two years of preschool and it was time to make the decision again. Cameron was different. His preschool teachers loved him, and he adjusted well to classroom life. He followed directions. His attention span was great, and he met every expectation.<br /><br />That's what made me wonder. He was smart, too -- just not as obviously as his sister, because he wasn't talkative. But he met whatever expectation was given to him. What if the expectations didn't meet his abilities? We experimented over the summer. We expected him to read. He learned to read. We expected him to match his second grade sister in Rosetta Stone Mandarin and in math games. Okay, if that's what I need to do...<br /><br />Cameron stayed home, and we raised his bar. He's still the same, rising to every expectation.<br /><br />So this past fall, we finally had the conundrum. Our youngest thrived in her preschool classrooms, was very social, and was driven to always do more than was asked. Our entire lives revolved around homeschool, and now we had the child perfectly suited to a classroom.<br /><br />Our compromise -- charter school. Megan and Cameron attended last year and Erin could hardly wait to join them. They have interaction with a wide variety of kids from different school backgrounds. Some have been educated at home for their entire school careers, some failed in the public school system and are trying to catch up. The teachers are great, encouraging and compassionate for the wide variety of kids represented in their school of 130 some students. The kids attended "elective" classes every friday -- algebra, math and science labs, computers -- and meet with a teacher who is responsible for overseeing their progress once every two weeks. The kids take the star tests at the end of the year so I have a piece of paper that says they have at least mastered skills expected by their age. It's good.<br /><br />However, now that all three are old enough to be successful in a public school classroom and here are no more small ones coming, I have to ask again, why?<br /><br />At this moment I feel that education at home is the best option for my family and will help my children emerge into a world that looks drastically different from the one I graduated from high school into.<br /><br />Why? Well, that's the next post... Homeschooling for a Global Future... :)Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7807635342955626001.post-4755898103623903712010-01-17T16:12:00.000-08:002010-01-17T16:25:32.322-08:00New Year's Resolution<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-T7vzcbEMRUw7trqvR_5yOsQUU4xrktxnuoLivKcE6WMA5Ky7AuFO4kM2sios8-H_JoNPnjaTnKHLXf3QqQyL7-N0yV4OzeJ5AAiT-4eR6hF7ib5qJRY28-3IAG4pzS7UX8-grknCCB8/s1600-h/July+2+010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-T7vzcbEMRUw7trqvR_5yOsQUU4xrktxnuoLivKcE6WMA5Ky7AuFO4kM2sios8-H_JoNPnjaTnKHLXf3QqQyL7-N0yV4OzeJ5AAiT-4eR6hF7ib5qJRY28-3IAG4pzS7UX8-grknCCB8/s320/July+2+010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427869307619441570" border="0" /></a><br />It is difficult to begin this.<br /><br />There is tremendous pressure to begin a project like this with something profound or thought provoking, or at least with a hook that will encourage the reader to continue.<br /><br />I am a mom of three trying to navigate the dangerous waters of education in the home. It is terrifying, electrifying, frustrating and exciting. It is a constant roller coaster of successes and defeats, dramas and breakthroughs, despair and elation. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world.<br /><br />We work in connection with a charter school, though it is an extremely flexible one and I am blessed with the opportunity to create my own curriculum that suits me and my children. Before the winter break, the teacher there that we work with said "you need to write a book about homeschooling."<br /><br />Wow. I took it as a great complement, and to some degree, took it seriously. I consider myself a writer, and I have a small stack of novels already that need to be sent out to collect rejection slips. But those have... well, a plot. Characters. A reason to turn the page. How to even start a book on homeschooling?<br /><br />So I made a very specific and detailed New-Year's goal. "Start thinking about outlining a book about homeschooling."<br /><br />And to make things worse, an old and respected friend threatened to post this (along with a few other resolutions) on his google docs so he could help nag me over it. Really?<br /><br />So this is my "beginning to think about it." A concrete way and place to collect thoughts and maybe start a few ideas rolling and begin a few conversations.<br /><br />Coming next... why we began to homeschool... why we still do...Chavs4ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15902017269847634345noreply@blogger.com0