Jack had a really good birthday today. He got some neat gifts, saw some neat people and did some neat things! There was lunch with Grandma and Grandpa, playing in the park with friends, a cake made to his specs (a green cake with his name and a little version of him on it!) and a park-hopping jaunt with Daddy and his sisters at the end of the day.
Tomorrow is Victoria’s birthday and she has a busy day planned. We are hitting libraries in two towns, homeschool swimming, a scrapbooking store, a park and a Mexican restaurant. Oh yes, and starting the day making crowns for everybody.
It should be a sweet (and busy) day.
Original post by Alicia
(from Thomas Wolfe: Look Homeward, Angel, which I haven’t read, but I liked the sound of the phrase)
What to write, what to write?
We walked — not just me and Aidan, but almost the whole crew were outside together. Aidan was pushing his purple wheelchair — good therapy, it is up and down hills and that thing weighs about 50 pounds. Kieron had the scooter. And Paddy was running after us in his little rain white boots with spots and dog faces on the front. And plaid shorts. He looked a bit like Christopher Robin. It was breezy and cold. There are still patches of snow hidden among the shady parts of the woods.
We had to go into town to supposedly get Clare’s baby teeth extracted, but instead she came out looking bewildered and said she had […]
Original post by willa
One of our members has some homeschooling curriculum for sale here, so check it out and see if there’s anything you need.
YES you are allowed to sell things from your blog. Just in case you were wondering.
Original post by Andrea
Over at Homeschool2.0, Lynn blogs about Frontier Academy’s own legal analysis of Alaska’s proposed regulations. This is worth reading if you have been following this situation of proposed regulations for the statewide and in-district correspondence schools (this includes charter schools or at least some of them). It will be interesting to see how this all pans out.
Original post by Annette
We couldn’t do “A Pair of Red Clogs”, I have yet to find the book. I bid on one on Ebay, but didn’t win it, so we are waiting to do that one at a later date.
We chose to do “Another Celebrated Dancing Bear” instead. T1 is having an issue with the book, (the drawings are etchings and he doesn’t like that way they look, he says he can’t look at them because they bother him and make him feel funny??? I guess if you know him, that’s normal for him. lol) so he’s just been listening each time we read it. We are still working on some of the activities, so we won’t be starting our next book just yet.
In other news, we are repainting the kitchen, and the kids were very sad for all of their stuff to come off the walls, especially the world map, you’d think […]
Original post by alantina
Everything will be shipped via Media Mail. All prices INCLUDE postage AND insurance. I accept paypal to electricbarbarella@verizon.net and money orders (will ship as soon as I receive) only. Paypal payments ship out immediately on the next business day.
(* indicates light book, ** semi-light, ***heavy, ****really heavy in terms of using media mail and packaging)
READING/LITERATURE/COMPREHENSION/ENGLISH
Rod and Staff English 6- 1 student text, one TE, 2 test books(one is missing pages up to chapter 5, the other one is complete), 1 worksheet book( pages up to Lesson 64 are missing)($46.20 plus tax from them, new) –$40.00 from me which includes shipping.
Rod and Staff English 7- 1 student text, 1 TE, worksheet book, test book, english worksheets ($46.20 new from them) $40.00 from me which includes the shipping.
BJU Elements of Literature (10th grade). 1 student text, TE, test answers and test bank. $50.00 (if you want the extra student texts I have […]
Original post by electricbarbarella
Here is the view out my bedroom window:
I have no idea what he is working on, but I think that is his sketch book he has there on his lap. My guess is that it involves sketches of spears, bows and arrows, traps and other excuses for sharpening sticks.
Think I should call him in to do his scheduled art lesson? No? Me either.
Original post by lapazfarm
There’s something wrong with my dog….she used to look like this:
Now she looks like this:
(Yeah, her tongue is really that pink!)
What is up with that one ear up thing?
I don’t like it; I think she looked cuter with both ears down.
Also something is wrong with my fish, besides the fact that he’s 4 years and 2 months old. He used to be orange, and then he turned white, now he’s got red spots on his gills and his tail. Funky fish.
Other news is that Joel’s English grammar book has disappeared and so has Bethany’s geography book. It’s somewhere in here, I know it is!
Original post by liese4
Some of my brackets are coming loose and we have to go and have them concrete them back on! NOO!!! But it won’t be for a while but I still do not want to have to do that! It is going to be like getting braces all over again!
Natalie
Original post by natalie
This is not an authoritative treatise on decision-making, though I’ve read plenty of them recently as I consider a new opportunity and ministry role.
How do you make decisions? With a grid analysis chart or some ranking system. Maybe you consider different criteria and options. Let your mind wander down the lane of consequences if you do - or don’t - take the position or buy that car or house. A mind map with a brainstorm, or a quad with YES, good + bad and NO, bad + good in the corners can also clarify some issues.
Maybe your God-centred worldview will encourage you to read the Bible, listen to various advisors, and line up attitudes, abilities, and what you know of God’s ways - like the ship lining up lights in the harbour channel.
Hey! It says in the Bible (Proverbs 16:33) that God controls the fall of the dice (or the coin), so it might be time-saving - and stress-saving - […]
Original post by banquet
I decorated the downstairs for the week last night. With all of the birthdays in a row, I’ll just leave it decorated until Sunday. Yellow crepe paper streamers are hung throughout the kitchen, dining room and living room with lots of balloons and a Happy Birthday banner.
Jack came downstairs this morning and his eyes were as wide as saucers. He looked enchanted and so happy.
He opened some family birthday presents, including a really cool pirate hand hook that’s a metal detector.
The cake is in the oven and I need to get ready and make frosting. We’re meeting Grandma and Grandpa in a nearby town for lunch at the drive in, and then a couple of friends at the park for a small celebration.
My baby Jack is 5! Time goes so fast.
Original post by Alicia
It’s a stereotype that I’ve run into many times as a homeschooled graduate, that people assume I must have been sheltered. That I must never have “rubbed shoulders” with the crowds and masses, never learned “street smarts”, and never encountered people profoundly different from myself. My answer to that, is that you cannot send a young girl out into a major American city, riding the Metro bus to get to her classes, alone, and keep her sheltered. You want an education in the “masses”? Use mass transit. I could go on and on with the tales of my early adventures, but they did teach me one version of “street smarts”. I learned how to focus on a book in such a way that men would not talk to me. I learned how to pretend I could not hear crazy people shouting things at me. I learned how to talk to […]
Original post by learningumbrella
The ongoing conversation about what unschooling means and whether it is a useful label is continued by Cindy. She hadn’t been blogging for quite a while but this post, sparking off Elsie’s, is a worthwhile contribution to the conversation so I wanted to make sure people saw it.
Original post by jove
You are Galadriel
Possessing a rare combination of wisdom and humility, while serenely dominating your environment you selflessly use your powers to care for others.
Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.
ht: The Bookworm (aka Yoda)
Original post by lapazfarm
We are strongly leaning towards making the drive to Cleveland over Memorial Day weekend to participate in our adoption agency’s annual picnic and parade at the zoo. It’s certainly going to be expensive - especially with the way gas prices are skyrocketing - but I think that giving my kids the chance to be part of a sea of families that all look like ours (kids and parents that don’t “match” by sight) is worth the price.
So, the question is - if PisecoDad can only take one day off of work (Friday) to drive out, and we’re at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo with the agency on Saturday, what should we do with ourselves on Sunday before driving home on Monday? And where should we go to eat, shop and buy board games?
The only item on our list so far is the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, because JediBoy […]
Original post by piseco
I have finally joined the Living Math forum on Yahoo groups. Although, as one recent post pointed out, it is dominated by people with younger children learning elementary math, there are some good discussions and good people on there. I am hoping that it will be a useful resource for me as I move forward with Tigger.
Just yesterday someone posted a link to this amazing site: Mathematics Illuminated. I need to explore this more but it is a course for teachers and adults. There are video courses and PDF files of both teacher and participant materials at the “course materials” link. There are also interactive activities, and a timeline that shows the relationships between topics covered in each unit (the mathematics family tree). I’m going to put that link in my “useful homeschooling links” list but I wanted to post about it here because I thought some of you might […]
Original post by jove
No physical violence. Never, ever. To love a child does not include spanking, ever.
And yes, there are alternative means to discipline a child than using your hand or a paddle or some other instrument. Check it out, Spank Out
Back in ‘89 when my sister asked me why my DH and I did not have kids my answer was simple; I did not like the way our parents had parented us, nor the relationship we siblings had with each other. I also wasn’t interested in hitting a child as I had been hit but really knew no other means to correct or discipline a child. And I shared with her that I considered her to be extremely lucky, having kids that got along, were well-behaved, thoughtful and they enjoyed being with their mom and dad. She corrected me and informed me that luck had […]
Original post by mtpleasant
i was hearing the first notes of that song during my son’s guitar lesson today. then my younger son started working on “crazy train” in his lesson. fun stuff!
Original post by morethanfine
My blog is worth $1,693.62.How much is your blog worth?
Original post by hyattkids
Our next installment of The Thinking Homeschoolers Wiki doesn’t pose an actual question, but instead gives us two topics to speak about. They are National Spank-Out Day and the National Day of Prayer/Reason, now in it’s 57th season.
First, a link to the National Day of Prayer website(or a website): National Day Of Prayer and the Official Website
I read through this and one thing stood out the strongest for me, their “4 ways one can commit to National Day of Prayer”. It will be easiest for me to speak about each one individually, rather than ramble on about it on the whole. Keep in mind this was based on last year’s day.
1.Each member of the family commits to praying 5 minutes a day for the 5 categories above (goverment, media, education, church, and family). You could design a chart where each member can mark off if they have said their […]
Original post by electricbarbarella
Elsie, at Elsie and Joe Deluxe, wrote a post called Keep Those Systems Off My Kids. I enjoyed the topic and it reminded me of a VERY important point about how I homeschool my children. She says this at the very end of the post:
But I am equally sure that there are teachers who slavishly follow the precepts of their chosen philosophies, to the point where they don’t even see the children in front of them. I might even say that there are more slavish followers than there are creative thinkers in these systems. I might even be pushed into saying that it is the very creation of a system of education that gives birth to slavish followers.
This is also very true of homeschooling philosophies, which she touches on throughout this post. But I really like how she summarizes that “the very creation of a system of […]
Original post by applestars
Lapbooking is a fantastic way to present unit studies or projects.
Lapbooking 101 - www.lapbooking.wordpress.com
Lapbook folders, ideas, and photos from last week:
http://paper-basket.blogspot.com/
http://thehomeschoolingblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/socalval/
http://littlehomeschoolonthehill.com/
http://tropicalmom.blogspot.com/2008/04/lap-books.html
http://talibiddeenjr.wordpress.com/
http://yankeegal.geeksforchrist.com/
http://scooterandb.blogspot.com/
http://islamicunitstudies.wordpress.com/
http://jetihoja.blogspot.com/
http://thecoxscorner.blogspot.com/ - first lapbook
http://banquet.homeschooljournal.net/ - Johanna’s blog
Digital lapbooking is relatively new and emerging.
Here are some examples of different styles :
http://karatekidkast.tumblr.com/ (by 3x 9+10 year olds) using a tumblr blog
http://lapbooks.wordpress.com/dogs/ (8yo) using wordpress with linked through files
http://www.slimeandgrime.co.nr (16yo) using macromedia shockwave flash (swf movie)
http://www.digitallapbooking.com/ - the original site
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalLapbooking/
http://lapbooks.wordpress.com/online/ - add your digital lapbook link in the Comments
Original post by banquet
When Aloha Airlines shut down earlier this month, their cargo division remained open. They’ve been responsible for transporting 85% of the goods that move between the islands. Yesterday, Aloha’s cargo division shut its doors.
People who had dropped packages to ship were called to pick them up. The major bakery (think Wonderbread) in the islands usually ships its product from Oahu to the Big Island or Kauai via Aloha Cargo. With no other way to serve customers, Maui will receive its daily bread via the controversial Super Ferry and the rest will be delivered via a temporary route that takes the bread all the way to the mainland and back. The US mail is also scrambling for an alternative in a place where its already notoriously slow.
Original post by paradisefound
This weekend we went to a Strawberry Farm. It was very cool. Row upon row of low strawberry bushes dripping with sweetly delicious, deep red berries. Ada took her little tin pail so that she could pretend to be blueberry picking just like Lil Sal in the book “Blueberries for Sal.” Ada does not eat strawberries. Mind boggling, I know.
Luckily for me, anyway, the farm lets you eat as many as you like no charge. We picked three quarts to bring home and will go again next weekend when David can come.
While at the farm we also saw a little brown nursing foal and mother.
Original post by adamaria
We’re about to get really busy!
Tomorrow, Jack turns 5. We’re having a little celebration with cake.
The next day, Victoria turns 10. We’re having a larger celebration with cake.
The next day, we’re having a giant party at a nature center for all of our birthday kids with friends.
The next day, Alex turns 1! The same day, the kids are taking part in the swan release project and they have play auditions.
I need to bake cakes for 3 individual birthdays and one giant party. I always do them from scratch and they want themes. I’m an idiot.
It should be a fun (and tiring) week!
Original post by Alicia
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