Looking Back: The Early Years

My kids are older now 15/14 (well nearly 14 and 15). When you get a chance to look back and reflect you may realize you did somethings good, some things great, and other things ... well you just wish for a do over.

I have a do over wish.

Before I continue I want to make it clear: Your kids, you and only you know what's best for them. You and only you can decide what to do. If you are the type that wants curriculum and formal learning for your 3, 4, 5 year old then this post isn't for you.

If you are on the fence, have doubts, or feeling you have to keep up with the Jones ... this is for you!

This is my 8th year homeschooling. Yes, it's just my daughter now; the boy is at the public high school against my wishes. (Hubby wanted him there).  My feelings about education has changed over the years. If I had a do over ....

If I had a do over I would have never sent my kids to public school for those 2 years. (1st/K for the boy; pre-k/k for the girl) If I had a do over I would have pushed harder to have been able to keep them home and always homeschooled .... or at least waited for the state's compulsory age which at the time was 7 in Illinois (It a few years ago changed to 6). Heck, I didn't even know, back then, that legally I didn't even have to send my kids to school until 7.

I just did what everyone else did .... even though I didn't like it. I truly didn't fully understand my options. I was young 20 something. Now as a 30 something. I get it. If I had to do it over...

If I had to do it over I would have kept my kids home. I would have never sent a 4/5 year old to school. I would have NOT use a curriculum or any formal learning. I would have continued to do what I was doing as MOM.

A good mom. cuddles with books and movies. Library trips, trips to the park. Lots of outdoor play. Always making sure they had access to crayon, pencils, and paper. Taking out the paints, play dough, scissors time to time. Helping them learn self help skills, colors, numbers. All WITHOUT a curriculum.

Help me sort the laundry. I need 3 cans of tuna can you get them? Can't find them they are the small cans with the blue label.  Teaching them our address, phone number, what my name is (real name, not just mommy).  Lets spell your name. All those things that good parents does without the need to use an actual curriculum, books, worksheets.

I would have insisted that formal learning, school, waited until they were 7.

I have realized there is no need to push school any sooner than that! If you do that fine, they are your kids.

I'm speaking to those that are on the fence. Those that have no desire to start formal schooling, but then panic and have doubts because they hear Sally is sending her kids to pre-school or is buying a ton of curriculum to work at home with.  

If you don't want curriculum then don't use it. Do not feel pressure to having to do formal schooling just because that's what the Jones are doing. If you have no desire that is perfectly acceptable! It is totally okay.

God willing if I had younger kids this is exactly what I would be doing today. I would be just MOM. I would be just letting my little kids play and would NOT be doing any kind of school work with them until they were 6.....

Go Fund Me

It's the height of summer, softball games, swimming, picnics, and hot lazy days are here.  I'm starting to plan out my next school year and waiting for IHM conference in a few weeks. I plan on buying several of the items I need at the used book sale. I hope I'm able to get what I want.

This time of year brings up money!!  It takes money for curriculum, money for supplies, money to homeschool.  Everyone it seems is in the same boat: limited funds to go around.   It seems that for some it's tighter then it has been in the passed or a new trend is popping up and I'm just out of the loop.

I have noticed this week at least 3 different homeschooling families started a Go Fund Me page and are asking for money to buy school supplies, buy groceries, build a school house, or whatever else they need. I'm taken back by these fundraiser pages.  I never would have thought to start a page asking for money for school supplies, money for groceries, or anything else.

Some will argue that it's no different then public schools doing fundraisers, but to me it seems different. I don't know; something about it just is not sitting right with me.  What do you think?

Complete Curriculum

So over Christmas the kids received tablets from Santa. I'm looking more towards ebooks because they have their tablets. I came across Complete Curriculum.


First I know it's "secular" curriculum. All these years of homeschooling I've been using things that are Catholic/Christian based and over all I've been reasonably happy with my choices.  I could do what I have been doing and more, but I'm also looking at price.  What appeals to me about the Complete Curriculum you can use any 10 ebooks you want for $29.95 per calendar year.

The books they offer are just core subjects math, social studies, English  and science.  With two kids I could have age/grade material for them for a very cheap price.  I've heard that for the $29.95 fee you get access to the whole book, materials, but they are broken down into 180 lessons and each lesson is its own pdf file. So  for the math material, for example, I would have to download 180 different files to get the complete math book.  For an additional fee you can get the whole book, all the lessons, in ONE file.  Or you can just spend the money for the book, one file, without the membership fee. (Buying each book as one file cost more then the yearly membership fee).

I really don't have anything more to say about Complete Curriculum. I'm wondering if any of my readers have heard of it? Have used it? Or know someone that has? What are your thoughts?

Or do you know of other whole curriculum options that uses primary ebooks. I would want access to their books and teacher manuals/answer keys. I'm really interested in making their tablet more of a learning tool and not just a gadget to play angry birds or watch Netflix!

Homeschooling is SO disappointing!!!!

In the car on the way home from having dinner at my grandparent's house.

Superstar: It's so disappointing.
Me: What's disappointing?
Superstar: Homeschooling!
Me: Why is homeschooling disappointing?
Superstar: There are NO snow days! There is NO reason to watch the news. I remember watching the news waiting for the Rs. My heart would start to race, the thrill of hearing there was no school. It's all gone now!

Yes, we are approaching the summer months and my son is reflecting on the absence of snow days thanks to homeschooling!! LOL

2011-2012 School Year: What to use?

I still have several months before I'll wrap up our current school year. I had plan to go all the way to the end of July. We are going to give our hand at all year schooling. However, spring is clearly in the air, because homeschool social sites, such as The Homeschool Lounge, are buzzing with discussions about what to use for next year for science, history, language arts, etc.

Even though I have several more months left I to have been looking at what to use for next year. I have my math and history covered. I have some of my language arts covered like: grammar, spelling and literature.

I HAVE to figure out what I want to use for science. I also need to do something about my children's handwriting and I need to do something to encourage writing.  The grammar workbooks are great for the basics of grammar, but I need to do something that will get them to write paragraphs, reports, or something along those lines.

Fine Arts are a requirement in my state and I think I have that covered okay. Although I think we are at the point were we would like our kids to learn and instrument, but I'm not sure what instrument to encourage or that will even be in our budget. If you have any suggestions that will be great!

Life With A 3 Year Old

I've been enjoying having my nephew here, but at times I wonder my gosh how did I get anything done when mine were that little. It's Aunt Nikki can you play with me? Aunt Nikki can you help me? Aunt Nikki I want....; Aunt Nikki....

Actually it hasn't been all that bad, but it just made me realized how independent my own children have become over the years. Gone are the days of sitting in the bathroom with them while they take a bath, and gone are the days of.... It doesn't really matter if I list them all or not the point is own children are very independent now and having my nephew here has made me realize that.

School work over all is going okay. It's a bit of struggle to figure out the new routine of things with my nephew here but we are doing it. Some things I'm waiting for during nap time to do so that makes my kids a little on edge because they are so use to having most things done before lunch.  It's not bad, but it is an adjustment.

What's has been happening with you?

What do you use to teach a Foreign Language?

Foreign Language Help! Do any of you know of curricula or program that will be helpful? We over the years have had people give us various version of Rosetta Stone, but the kids don't like them! They want to learn things like French, German, but I don't know what to use to teach them.  I don't know much myself; so I need a program, curricula, that will teach them (and me) everything including proper pronunciation. 

Any suggestions you have would be great! Thanks for the help!!!

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I have been checking them out! It looks like it's very helpful!! Enjoy!

Guest Blogger: Interview with a Former Homeschooled Student

I attended private and public schools my entire life, but I’ve always wondered about homeschooling. Do kids get the same education from a classroom environment? Is it difficult to concentrate while learning at home? Rather than succumbing to speculation about some of the questions I had, I decided to interview a homeschooled friend to get some answers! My friend received an education at home from preschool through junior high school, attended a public high school, and is now working on his MBA. Here’s what he had to say about his learning experiences:

What is the biggest misconception about homeschooled students?
We’ve all seen those TV or movie portrayals of homeschooled kids; they’re usually thought of as antisocial know-it-alls who can’t function normally in society. That’s simply not the case! Not all homeschoolers are awkward or introverted and not all traditionally educated kids are social and extroverted. I strongly believe that a student’s disposition is dictated by personality and not by classroom environment!

Is there a particular advantage/disadvantage to homeschooling that you’d like to discuss?
There are so many advantages, but the main one is flexibility. When I was homeschooled, I got to make my own schedule instead of being restricted to a typical 8-3 school day. This allowed me to go running or work out before studying, which is important to me. I’d usually sleep a little bit later and work on assignments a little bit later to make up for it, which I couldn’t have done in a public school. You have to work hard to do this right, though! Homeschooled students will definitely be at a disadvantage if they’re not motivated enough to push themselves.

Did you have any problems concentrating in a “home classroom”?
Not really, because I understood that my education is important regardless of my physical location. Sure, I could have turned on the TV or gone back to bed instead of working on my studies, but I knew better. Because I was the only student in that “classroom,” I was able to concentrate harder. I did my homework, studied, and met all of the requirements because I wanted to succeed—and I did!

How has homeschooling prepared you for “the real world”?
Although I can’t speak for everyone with a homeschool education, I’ve found that my experience has thoroughly prepared me for daily encounters. Because I spent more time with adults than I did with kids my own age, I learned how to carry on intelligent conversations pretty early on. This came in handy once I was in high school and college because I was comfortable talking to my teachers. I was also comfortable talking to interviewers once it was time to get my first job! In regard to preparation, I also learned how to get the right balance of discipline and freedom…I kept telling myself that I had to work first and play later.

This guest post is by Brian Clark. Brian writes and blogs for Quality Logo Products, a top seller of promotional items. When he’s not interviewing people, he spends his time playing hockey

It's 2011 Already?!?! Where has the time gone?

I know many of my faithful readers must think I've dropped of the face of the earth seeing my blogging is very little these days. I will try to be more consistent now that the holidays are done and things are more settle here.

For the last several months I have been working on the homeschool co-op's site, busy promoting it, thus my blogging time has suffered. We are finally at a point to start offering classes....thankfully!!!

Superstar and Web-princess have both seen their doctors recently. The surgeon told us that Superstar does NOT need new braces (AFOS) and can remain brace free for the next 6 months for sure. We won't see him again until June. The urologist told us we have to keep up with Web-princess re-potty training (having her go at certain times during the day). We don't have to go back and see the urologist unless something changes or we want to talk to him.  The re-potty training, having her go at x time throughout the day, will last as long as needed to retrain her body to go on a more regular schedule.

What else is new? My sister is in Iraq. (Army). She also is a single parent, thus needs someone to care for her son while she's deployed for the next year. My mom and I are both taking care of him now. He'll be living at my mom's house 1/2 the time and my house 1/2 the time. It going to be on a 2 month rotation, because that is what my sister wanted.

Right now he's staying with Mom, but come the end of February he'll be staying here. Although I have had him for a night once already, and have him again tonight for the night.  We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the bunk-bed we bought for SS's bedroom. The boys my son, Superstar, and my nephew, Little Man will be sharing a room seeing we only have 3 bedrooms here.

Little Man is 3! So I'm trying to figure out how to do schooling and what activities I can give him during school time! I really would like the help, ideas, and tips from my more seasoned readers that homeschool with preschoolers at home too! Please help!!!!

The Problem with Word Problems

I already shared recently what we use for curriculum. I like what we are using for math. It's simple but yet effective. At times there are what even I consider to be "too many" problems. However, I think it's better to have to many then not enough. It's easier to say will skip some of these then to find or come up with more problems.

Today's math activity required Superstar, 9, to look at a chart and to answer simple questions about this chart. This chart had 3 columns to it. The first for the countries name, the second for the population, and the  3rd for the year the data was collected. It's worth noting that each countries population number was collected in a different year.

His question: List the countries in order starting with the country that has the least population and ending with the country that has the greatest population.  Looking at this question Superstar announces that he can not do the work.

I ask him why, what's the issue. He reads the question to me, I point to the chart at the top of the page and tell him. It wants you to use this chart to solve the problem. "I know that Mom, but I'm telling you I can't do it".  Puzzled and confused, because I KNOW he can list numbers from the smallest to the greatest with great ease, ask "Why not?"

Superstar's answer: "They all have different years! So I really don't know which country has the least and which has the most."

I shared this tidbit with some of my local homeschooling friends. I had one that backed Superstar up and said well technically he's correct. If you are going to compare data such as population sizes then you should be using data that was collected in the same year.

In regards to my son's reaction to his math book problem my mom made a statement "Thank God you homeschool! And we wounder what is wrong with the public school system!" Of course my mom was being a little sarcastic when she made those remarks. LOL

I don't think math problems like those are the issue, but perhaps lack of free thinking and questioning why something is done like this; or how, what should have been, a simple math problem could not have been done because the facts given were not "accurate".  hmm....I don't think accurate is the right word there.... It's late and I can't think; so I'll just use accurate for now.

I told Superstar to just answer the question anyway with the data he had. I basically had to tell him to ignore the years the data was collected. He did do it, but the whole time made it known how it really wasn't an accurate answer and the problem truly could not be solved!

ACK!!! NEW Co-Op-Group!

I and another local mom both are feeling that our local homeschool group isn't full filling our needs, wants, or desires for a group. It's a fine group but we both can envision something else.  It's come clear to us that this group will not blossom into what we envision. So we've decided to start our own group from the ground up.

We already know that this group will be welcoming to all homeschoolers regardless of race, creed, or beliefs. This is one aspect we do like about our current group. The next few months will be planning, advertising, and just getting some of the leg work done like "guidelines, rules, etc".

We are hoping to be able to offer the children classes and be a functioning group by January!

For those of you that have started groups or have been involved in the planning process do you have any tips, advice, or anything else that you feel is helpful?

Thanks!

Nikki

Rosetta Stone: Homeschool Latin Program FREE

Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.

This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!)
This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck!

SAHMinIL here: JenIG is giving away the program. To enter I had to copy and paste the above paragraphs in a post here on My Adventures into Christian Homeschooling.

Planet Earth: The interactive DVD game

At our house Sunday Night is family game night. We sit down and play some kind of board game together as a family. Sunday Night we went to play a game and realized that we didn't have anything that any of us, especially the game picker, wanted to play. Let's just say we got tired of our game selection.

I'm always on the look out for games at thrift stores, garage sales, etc. However it at times can be slim pickings, because the game pieces maybe missing. So last Sunday Night instead of giving up our game night we made a quick run to the store to get some new games. Everyone got to pick-out a new game. We got Operation, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Clue, and Planet Earth: The interactive DVD game. (The rules for choosing games was that each game had to be at least a 4 player game.)

Planet Earth is 2-6 player game and the box states that it's for ages 6+. (** see bottom of post) The purpose of the game is to test your knowledge of the natural world by answering questions about Planet Earth. Some questions if answered correctly will allow you to go again others if answered correctly will earn you puzzles pieces. As you earn the puzzle pieces you put the puzzle together. Everyone is working "together" to put the puzzle together, however the person that earns the last puzzle piece wins the game.

We, the kids and I, decided to play Planet Earth yesterday (Monday), as our science for the day. It was a good game and we got to learn a lot about Planet Earth. However, DD (she's going to be 7 this month) didn't have much fun with the game. I think she found the questions be too "stressful". She didn't like the fact that she didn't know most of the stuff and just had to guess. That's what my DS and I were doing to: guessing answers. There was something we knew, most we didn't not, but others if you really paid attention to the clip you might be able to give an educated guess.

The DVD is what gives you the questions, answers, tells you if you get to go again, or have earn puzzle pieces, and if so how many pieces. All of the questions were multiple choice and there was no time limit so you were free to think about it. I just think it was overwhelming for my 6 almost 7 year old.

If your child is anything like my DD and can get frustrated about not knowing the answers, then I don't think this would be a good game for your family/children. However if you as a family (or your children) wouldn't mind learning some interesting facts about Plant Earth and the animals and plants that live here, then I say this is the game for you. For example one of the things we learned from this game is that Antarctica is about the same size as the USA. Oh and the video scenes are just breath taking. They are from the TV series Planet Earth.

**When I was looking for the game makers site to hyper-link, I found that on their, the game makers, web-site they state the game is for 8+. However the box I have here states ages 6+. So I don't know what exactly that means? Weird! I think a 6-7 year old can play if they don't get too upset about not knowing the answers.

Glad To Be In America

I know that as a nation we have our troubles and I pray every day that we will CONTINUE to have our freedoms! Of course in order to continue to have our freedoms we have to speak-up and fight when government wants to or over steps it's ground!

My last post already touched on what type of government our founding fathers gave us and what kind of government we must fight to maintain. I before seeing that video never gave much thought about what type of government our founding fathers gave us. I like so many thought it was a democracy. After all that's all I really remember from high school government class. (Oh that's another story all together)

Since seeing that video I have given the topic, what kind of government America is, some more thought. The one thing that strikes me is our own pledge of allegiance:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."

To the Republic?? I never thought about that!! So much is given to to the phrase "under God" which is good, but what about the phrase "to the Republic"?

I'm glad that America was founded with a Republic for a government, because it is this type of government that has allowed all of us to homeschool our children and it is this type of government that has driven others, from Germany, to come to America so that they can homeschool their children as well.

What is America?

By law one of the things that I'm required to do is to provide eduction regarding the Constitution. I came across this youtube video on the blog: Forward To Liberty.



If you have found this video informational then be sure to check Forward To Liberty.