I’ve been so blessed to have an amazing journey of learning through understanding and supporting my children as they find their passion and purpose in life. As I matured in this knowledge, my friend Rebecca (who I met on an on-line forum!) from Illinois and associated with the In-Home Conference for their state, asked if I would be interested in speaking. That was 2002. It would be the first step in the igniting of my passion regarding the right-brained learner. It was at this conference that my tentative steps at sharing the myriad of things that my children taught me about that learning style grew exponentially.
A few years ago, I decided I wanted to take the information about the right-brained learner further by writing a book. I wanted to be the means through which real change might occur in our current out-dated educational system regarding this learner. But I struggled. […]
Original post by applestars
Since I shared the birth pictures of our batch of kittens here on my blog, I thought I would share an update. They are all six months old and have just recently been spayed and neutered. (Did you know that you might qualify through your local Humane Society for this to happen free at your local vet? Ask at your local vet, because they might not share this information with you since I think they have to reduce their rates paid.) Hanabi was the kitten that was already born in the birth pictures. She ended up a tri-color with black, orange and white. She is named after a Naruto character. Here she is as my first porch rocker kitten:
Then, here is the “star” of the blog post, Sammy. As a child, I had a favorite cat named “Sam”, who at the time of memory, was an old orange tom cat. […]
Original post by applestars
Again, this is a continuation from my post about homemade Christmas gifts. This post highlights the book Abbey made for JoJo, who was into Indians at the time, and particularly, his bow and arrow. My creative daughter is SO clever.
Original post by applestars
As a continuation from my previous post about homemade Christmas gifts, here is the complete book that Abbey gave to William when he was really into being a knight (click on each to get larger, I think). How she does these is to ask the boys to pose in different ways with different faces that she directs, but she doesn’t tell them what it will be for, though they know the subject, obviously. Then, she finds images online and cuts out the photos and superimposes them and/or glues them onto the page. She then puts each page into a page saver and binds it.
Original post by applestars
Several homeschool bloggers have been talking about what Christmas gifts to get their children, including homemade ones, such as at Magic and Mayhem and at Tricotomania. So, I decided to share a great idea from my creative daughter for her brothers for Christmas pasts that have been true favorites from each boy who has received it.
Adam is her brother with autism who loves alphabet books and numbers. So, here are three that have been made and a glimpse inside:
Another brother with autism loves our cats, and even has created personalities for each one: Socks is the patriarch and wise one, Xena is the tough warrier female cat (yes, her name fits perfectly), Sunflash is the large, fluffy wimp and Momma’s boy, Belle is the prissy female that loves to be beautiful, and Toby is the young rogue thinking he’s all that. This brother was just into reading short chapter books, […]
Original post by applestars
Our family decided to wait to vote on the “official day” of voting; the first Tuesday of November. That’s because our two oldest children were able to cast their first votes in a presidential election. Abbey went with her father this morning at 7:00 a.m.; a five-minute wait. Eric and I went at 9:30 a.m. with no wait. This was the first time I was able to use a computerized voting system; it was pretty cool. We all wore our “I Voted” stickers and will be eagerly watching the results.
I feel each candidate for President has his pros and cons. I went with what I felt was most important overall. Whoever wins, I look to hope for what that person brings for the positive and hope for the best with his negatives. I am proud to live in the promised land of America and pray that Heavenly Father continues to […]
Original post by applestars
Abbey laughed when she saw my previous post with the words “senior pictures” in quotes. That’s because our “senior picture” timing is quite different from the mainstream tradition. First, it seems to happen around 19 some time because that’s when the shift seems to occur for my children in moving away from the home-based lifestyle.
Let me back it up a bit more than that. It goes back to that age-old question we hear all the time as parents of school-aged children, “What grade are you in?” My children have never known how to answer that question; heck, I’ve never known how to answer that question. Just yesterday, I took my 17-year-old son, Eli, and my 7-year-old son, Joseph, to get their medical physicals done. One of the questions: “What grade are you in?” Joseph immediately said, “kindergarten.” He has said that for three years now . . . LOL! Because […]
Original post by applestars
Abbey chose to have me as one of her “special things” as part of her “senior pictures” portfolio. I’m so blessed to have a daughter who is my best friend. I believe it is because of both how I parented her and the relationship I put first and foremost, as well as the beautiful spirit she is inside. I believe my choice to homeschool was one of the reasons my relationship with each of my children is so incredible. The other is my choice to be a respectful and gentle parent as much as I could create. I wasn’t afraid to say sorry, and I consistently shared my own weaknesses with my children as they were learning and growing on their own journeys. It seemed to give them strength and courage.
As much as I did my part, it was also easy to do with my birth children because of the […]
Original post by applestars
I meant to post this earlier, but the day got away from me. Anyhow, today is October 15th, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remember Day. There’s a website dedicated to the day that you can find here: http://www.october15th.com/
We remember.
Original post by bonnieandclyde
Here are the various parts of my life:
www.lapbooking.wordpress.com - Lapbooking - presentation folders for school projects or unit studies. Also www.lapbooking.tumblr.com resources and webquests.
www.nzhomeed.wordpress.com - general homeschooling info for NZ
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/MigraineHealth/ - forum for women who have migraines
My Husband’s site:
www.2restore.wordpress.com
My children’s (neglected) blogsite:
www.kiwikids.tumblr.com
I’m president of MOPS NZ:
www.mops.org.nz
mother organisation’s huge website: www.mops.org
MUM-e-Mail - free twice-a-month encouragement for mothers of under 6s and their supporters: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MUM-e-Mail/
–
This is gathered with some other interesting sites I like
at Crayon “Banquet Times” - click items down the LHS
Create your own newspaper : http://www.crayon.net/scripts/login.cgi?mode=create
–
Keeping occupied!
Original post by banquet
While in my 20s and younger, whenever I got a headache, I could sleep it off. It was my preference as for some reason, I was not too keen on medication for the most part. But, if I used it, I could use Tylenol and it would knock it out. Well, some time in my 30s and since then, Tylenol and sleeping it off no longer worked on my headaches. Somehow, I found that Extra Strength Excedrin was the only medicine that could take care of my headaches.
Well, around that same time, I would have periodic insomnia. Interestingly, it always seemed to coincide with headaches and an edginess with dizziness. Believe it or not, after all these years (I’m 43 years old now), only in the past couple months did I figure out that it all probably has to do with the caffeine in Excedrin! What a DUH moment that […]
Original post by applestars
The fall brings the start of football, and Clyde has been fortunate enough to go to a game or two with his dad and grandparents, where they noticed that he was having problems reading the jerseys on the field. So, this week, we took Clyde in to get his vision tested. His uncle needs glasses and so does his dad, so it’s certainly genetically possible that there was something amiss.
Technically, his vision is still 20/20, but he does show nearsightedness. They offered him the option of going without glasses for awhile longer, but since they came in burgundy (his favorite color), he opted for a pair now so that he can enjoy the games a little more.
On the ride home he noted that he could see a little further and a lot more clearly, so it was probably the right choice to make. Now, Bonnie wants a pretty pink pair […]
Original post by bonnieandclyde
We let our Disney annual passes expire over a year and a half ago. My daughter and I have been going through withdrawl, and my husband is tired of being tolerant while we whine, “We want Disney!” So, I set a health goal for myself and, if met, we are getting those passes back and spending 2 glorious weeks immersed in the magic of The World.
2 glorious weeks, you ask? Oh yes. I love Disney for many reasons. But one of the biggest is because of how they handle my daughter. Yes, they are a huge mega-corporation. Yes, they own most of Orlando. Yes, they border on a dictatorship. But they care.
Is that possible? I didn’t think so until I experienced it myself.
Someone (a better writer than myself) recently wrote a piece that could have flowed from my own pen. (Except that I use a keyboard and much less […]
Original post by Carolyn ~ The Learning Nook
It is so easy to parent from a place of inadequacy - all because of our frailty as humans.
Because of our undealt-with rejection from days gone by, we become a ‘wallflower’, hide behind the newspaper, or studiously watch TV in order to protect ourselves from more rejection. We isolate ourselves from others. Withdraw. Try to minimise our hurt that is likely in relationships.
Gladly God, through his son Jesus Christ, we don’t have to keep living like that. We can live lives of freedom.
Dr Grant Mullen : Overcoming Rejection
Everyone has had a rejection experience. Rejection is so painful because God made us social beings – in His image. We are meant to be interdependent and interconnected. When that is not happening, we ache.
It was God’s plan that we would all have perfect families, that every child would be a wanted child, and that children would all receive unconditional love in all circumstances, that failure would […]
Original post by banquet
As I mentioned earlier in the summer, though this blog is usually about the exploits of Bonnie and Clyde, periodically, Mom and Dad get to go on a field trip as well. This time, it was Dad’s turn, and he got to pretend to be a race car driver for the afternoon while taking part in the Richard Petty Driving Experience. We were already near Williamsburg, seemed like an easy thing to do!
My folks were there the same day, as Grandma was going to do the ride-along experience. She did 125mph around the track for 3 laps, and once she was over the feeling of having to throw up, she had lots of fun! We went for lunch, and then it was back to the Raceway for Dad’s experience.
First, he had to suit up, and attend driving school where he learned basically that he was to follow the lead car, […]
Original post by bonnieandclyde
Ah, September. It conjures up beautiful days and nights that are starting to cool down, right? Not if you’re us, and you’re touring Colonial Williamsburg! I do believe that everytime we’ve been there it’s been around 100 degrees, and this last trip was no exception.
We headed there to take advantage of their awesome homeschooling days. Not only were the tickets a great price, and the crowd a great size (small), but they also had a cool Revolutionary program that fit in quite nicely with the period of history that we happen to be studying.
We arrived around dinner time, so it seems the perfect time to try out a tavern. The first night, we ate at Christiana Campbell’s tavern, and while everything was quite delicious, we were MOST fond of the sweet potato muffins. Yes, we bought the mix.
We adults quite enjoyed the atmophere and the costumes, and the fact that […]
Original post by bonnieandclyde
The most important motive in the school and in life is the pleasure in the work.
~Albert Einstein
This picture was sneakily taken last Spring, with my handy-dandy zoom lens feature. I had a hard time choosing between it, or this one for this theme. One things I’ve loved about homeschooling over the years is all of the extra great quality time the kids have gotten to spend learning with their Dad, afforded to us by our being able to work around all of his wacky work-schedules.
Thursday Challenge: for fun and learning
Photo Theme for Today: “SCHOOL” (Students, Campus, School Building, Backpacks, School Supplies, Desks, Books,…)
Next Week: PLANTS (Garden, Vegetables, Fruit, Flowers, Trees,…)
Original post by Beth
Parent styles
will respond differently in typical childhood situations. Consider a 4-year-old child spilling juice.
Sergeant Major “You clumsy child! How many times have I told you not to help yourself to the juice – but no, you never listen? Get out of here because your poor old mother is going to have to clean up after you again.”We see the characteristics of:
Blaming
Using shame
Not giving a child a chance to help solve the problem
Using guilt to manage a child
Compare with the “never mind” rescuing of Jellyfish, the “who cares” of Neglectful/ Too Busy, and “oops got a problem, get a cloth” of BackBone Parent.
An imperfect parent? Have you unrealistic goals? (click link)
www.parentsinc.org.nz/ - more tips and helps
–
We all come from dysfunctional families where we try to prop up a good image to cover the shame and lies of Satan that we’ve brought in to.
www.drgrantmullen.com
–
I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all […]
Original post by banquet
I’m not even going to pretend to myself that I’m going to keep this up, but as the first week of the new school year has come to a close (and we have a three-day weekend woot!), I thought I would post a log of what we have been learning so far.
On the Math front, besides general review we have been exploring the various dimensions, including the 4th. It started with Kevan’s interest in Escher, and his downloading a bunch of Escher artwork which somehow led him to want to download the movie Flatland which I had coincidentally just downloaded the day before. I think I read about the movie on the TAGMAX list, and since Ben had been building tesseracts and supercubes and trying to figure out the fourth dimension a few days before I had downloaded it. What a happy coincidence that Kevan was following […]
Original post by unbridledlearning
Meet Chewie.
Chewie is a panda bear hamster, and is now an official member of the family. He got his name because he managed to chew his way out of the box on the car ride home from the pet store (good thing we didn’t live 5 more minutes down the road, or THAT would have been a sitcom-worthy situation). I wanted to name him Harry (Houdini) but Bonnie, very selfishly wants to name her own pet. Hmph.
So, we have him safely in his home, and we attached a maze, and after scurrying around, Chewie has decided that it’s time for a nap. Whew.
Happy Birthday, Bonnie.
And, as my friend J reminded me … here’s the Original Hamster Dance.
Original post by bonnieandclyde
To see the Blessed Family of Flowers latest adventures visit-
www.blessedfamilyofflowers.wordpress.com
Original post by hyattkids
Will and I went on a cruise to Alaska for our 10th anniversary. It has
been planned for quite a while now, and was just an amazing trip!
See the full post and beautiful pictures at http://www.unbridledlearning.com/wp/?p=957
Original post by unbridledlearning
It’s true. And it’s so weird! Bonnie and Clyde’s half-brother is on his way to his freshman year at college. I met him when he was 2.5 years old, and it’s been a long and convoluted journey full of trials and rewards. We haven’t seen much of him over the past couple of years, but we’re glad to have him back amongst the family, and our relationship is quite close again.
So, before the family separates (again), we took the opportunity to take a family picture.
Good luck in college, A! We hope you’re well prepared for the experience, and wish you all the best. Now, get studying.
Original post by bonnieandclyde
At 8+10 years old, my children still like object lessons.
Bible stories and deeper concepts taught by something real they can see. Jesus used parables or stories with several layers of meanings. And so realia, or real tangible objects, help to express ideas and character qualities to everyone - not just the younger set.
Here’s some links I’ve wandered across lately:
http://mssscrafts.com/objectlessons/
http://www.kidology.org/zones/zone.asp?zone_id=8
http://www.sermons4kids.com/ - check out sermon index - OT, NZ, powerpoint, etc
http://www.sermons4kids.com/powerpoint_presentations.htm (ppt)
I’ll add more as I stumble across them …
Blessings,
Original post by banquet
Last Thursday Chris got off work early and so he came home and went to work around here (as he usually does). He’s been building a new shed, which is quite impressive. I’ve been taking pictures, but as you regulars know, alas, cannot load them here for awhile. Just know that it’s nice, concrete foundation, solid wood frame, all aluminum sides and roof, two windows… he went all out. We’re using our tax refund money for this so that he can get his stuff out of our garage turned workshop, so that he can finish out the garage into two rooms and an extra bathroom… eventually.
Anyways, he was out there working, did something, slipped and his forearm came down on a corner piece of metal. He then had a nice-sized hole/puncture wound in his arm, which was just gushing pouring blood (thank You Lord that he didn’t hit an artery!). […]
Original post by Beth
« Previous Entries