Fall Session Began

We started our fall session this week and things have been smoothly sailing along. KM really seems to like the choices that we made this time around and she is feeling confident that she is doing just the right amount. In another attempt to build some time management responsibilities, I have tweaked her assignments a bit for Biology and U.S. History so that she is given the assignment a week before it is due. She can either complete parts of it over the course of the week or she can do it all on the day it is due, that is up to her. I have struggled with feeling like a nag in the past when she has assignments are that are due and she doesn't touch them, but I am trying really hard to let this go and not mention it to her. So far I have only had one slip up, this afternoon, when she asked if she was done with everything and I simply said "if you aren't going to work on your other assignments, then yup that is all." This wasn't so bad, but I really want to just let it go. There is no need for me to say anything, it won't effect me if she doesn't get it done on time. She will have the natural consequences of having to do it all that day - simple as that.

Wish us luck on my control issues and her procrastination issues!!!

Dolphin Tale - Cheers, Tears, and MORE CHEERS for this incredible movie!!!

This was such an inspiring movie on so many levels. If you have not been to see it go tonight!!! I am telling you everyone can learn so much from this film!

The kids I brought were cheering when they saw this scene!!! 

Beyond the incredible plug for independent learning, homeschooling and educational intentions in general this movie had more twists and turns, tear jerking moments and laugh out loud scenes than any I have seen in quite some time!

Scholastic has a huge amount of resources, links and videos to expand this movie into a unit study - Meet Winter the Dolphin. Homeschool Movie Club also has a unit study guide - HERE.

$10 in Free eBooks from Scholastic Teacher Express - Freely Educate

$10 in Free eBooks from Scholastic Teacher Express - Freely Educate

Here is what I picked for my FREE ebooks -

You Tube Monday - Author Jan Irvin: Mind Control and The Dumbing Down of Society 1/2

Almost forgot to post today!!! But then I remembered and thought of the Trivium presentation on Unplugged Mom I re-listened to this weekend  and wanted to share a clip from Jan Irvin that really resonates with me. Irvin really explains the trivium and quadrivium in a way that makes more sense to me than anything I have heard in YEARS! If you haven't had a chance to hear, watch or read his materials - TAKE THE TIME TO!!!

Immense Praise for Joy Hakim’s A History of US

Immense Praise for Joy Hakim’s A History of US - OFFICIAL REVIEW on Unplugged Mom!


I have previously reviewed Joy Hakim's Story of Science series and since I was so enamored by her writing, I bit the bullet and bought the 11 volume set A History of US for Kali to use for her U.S. History studies. AM I EVER GLAD I DID!!! I had planned on glossing over the content so that I could figure out when I would need to order additional reading material and movies from our local library to supplement and ended up not being able to put the book down! I am no history buff, but this book captured my attention and I literally couldn't put it down.

I love that she points out what our family calls "duh" moments, things that when you are reading you think why doesn't every textbook take this approach. "When Leaders say something is all right, most people agree, without thinking for themselves." p.113

Hakim has a way of writing that just captivates and inspires you to want to keep reading. The story unfolds as if you are in a time machine looking down on what is going on. Her writing flows in an engaging and thought provoking way as she is constantly asking you to analyze and question what is being said in a conversational manner. She manages to cover even some of the more gruesome facts without getting graphic, which makes this a perfect multi-age resource.

Hakim challenges the reader to question history and emphasizes that "No one knows what happened in the past - at least not we don't know the whole story"..."You gather pieces of information and try to discover how they fit." p. 9 

When I was in school I was never taught about anything before the James Town Settlement, sure we were taught about Christopher Columbus sailing across the ocean blue in 1492, but they never mentioned all that went on from one point to the next, it was basically as if they left out the 16th century all together! And I took U.S. History in college. In Hakim's text she is truly telling the story of US, beyond the United States, but in depth to how the Americas were formed. Begining back with Beringia she has the audacity to discuss how there are actually no "NATIVE" Americans as we all came from somewhere else. She delves into the formation of settlements in the Central American islands, the Spanish onquests of Mexico and also defends the Indians, repeatedly making note of the "arrogant European" behaviors.

My favorite quote has to be - Looking back, today, it seems as if people and nations were acting just like silly little kids. Each one saying "My religion is better than yours." p. 139

I have only read the first volume, but I have already absorbed more information from this book than I did in my entire college semester of U.S. History. I highly recommend this series as a first rate, informative, intelligent text that will surely make a history lover out of the most resistant person.
I will be getting Volume 2 off the shelf as soon as I finish typing this!

4th Annual NOT Back to school Day

I tried and tried again to plan a Not Back to School Celebration for our local home ed community, but the weather would just not cooperate! So KM and I decided to go back to our roots and do what we usually do for NOT back to school - breakfast, library and whatever we please!

After the third round of buses rolled by the house this morning, I decided to wake up K, so we could head out to breakfast with CJ. While we waited for our food we played hockey with the twisted straw wrappers and the plastic ad holder.

 Then we headed to the library and and came out with a bagful of books!

 KM spent some time chatting and playing on line with some friends and then

 we decided to bust out the hair dye!!!

While it processed we watched Cyberbully - a MUST see for all teens and parents - on the new monitor! 

It is rather difficult to get the colors to show while it is still damp, I will have to try for a better shot. There are two shades of green - a torquois and a GREEN and purple which is more easily seen! 

What did you do on your NOT back to school day?

Trying some new things

We generally begin our "learning year" over the summer and I tweak and twist things around until I get it just right. This summer I found two things that needed a bit of adjusting.

The first was our posters - they were taking up far too much wall space and making my living room look like a "classroom" I love them because they are great quick reference tools if they are out and visible, but really i don't like the feel it gives my living room! So I finally thought of a solution - we have a stairwell that goes down into the garage that had three very large, vary blank walls -

 This is the perfect solution because really I would not be able to put the 6 foot C-SPAN presidential poster anywhere else, the posters are easily accessible AND I DON'T have to look at them 

We downgraded our cable to bare minimum as we discovered that we can stream 90% of what we watch and save over $120 a month! Since we stream a lot of our ed things I decided to take a monitor that we no longer use - since we all have laptops - and make it much more useful - 

Are you trying anything new out this time of year? I would love to hear about it. 

You Tube Monday - Conversations I've Had As An Unschooler, pt. 1.

Over the past few weeks You Tube Mondays have been dedicated to comical conversations homeschoolers have had. This will be last in this series, but is one of the best I found!

What I am Reading - August - GCKMom

I have been laughing HYSTERICALLY through the funniest home ed books I have ever read!

"Okay Kids, Time for Bedlam!" is a labor of love. It is the lighter side of life, told byDebbie Harbeson, an average mom who rather unknowingly lobbed herself into the often loopy world of homeschooling.This is what happens to you, when you purposely allow your children to skip school to learn at home... and it's a riot! The whole endeavor, needless to say, has been a learning experience for everyone. And hopefully, a story you all can enjoy from the safety of your own home.

Some of my favorite quotes include :

• "We all watched as a couple of eyeballs rolled past her feet and settled under the porch bench."
• "Yesterday four textbooks made a perfect support for our bike ramps."
• "Melissa sat the cheetah on the cabinet, he dialed the number and the cheetah's belly began to ring."
• The ENTIRE content of Chapter Fifteen - Mother Nature!!!

These are all the things home ed mom's don't want you to find out really go on! Best part Debbie Harbeson has made the entire content of the book downloadable and FREE!!! Take a peek you won't regret it! 

You Tube Monday - Tim Hawkins - Homeschool Comedy & Homeschool Blues Song

Over the past few weeks I have been sharing some of my favorite xtra normal and you tube videos on "homeschooling". This guy is really funny! One more to go next week!

You Tube - Homeschool conversations I really have had part 1

Over the past few weeks I have been sharing some of my favorite xtra normal videos on "homeschooling".

Some of these are freakishly close to conversations that I have had and are always good for a chuckle!

You Tube Monday - PUBLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPAL MEETS SHELLY THE HOME SCHOOL MOM

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of my favorite xtra normal videos on "homeschooling".

Some of these are freakishly close to conversations that I have had and are always good for a chuckle!

You Tube Monday - Homeschool Conversation with public school teacher's kid Xtranormal

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of my favorite xtra normal videos on "homeschooling".

Some of these are freakishly close to conversations that I have had and are always good for a chuckle!

You Tube Monday - Home Schooling Concerns #1 & #2

2 for 1 this week!

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of my favorite xtra normal videos on "homeschooling".

Some of these are freakishly close to conversations that I have had and are always good for a chuckle!

You Tube Monday - we've decided to homeschool

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of my favorite xtra normal videos on "homeschooling".
Some of these are freakishly close to conversations that I have had and are always good for a chuckle!

2010-2011 Year in Review

It took us a while to get it together this year, but as with everything else, better late than never right?

We started doing these the first year we were "homeschooling" so it is a tradition for us to do them from June to June each year. KM took a far bigger role in editing, audio and production of this video and it was really great to have a chance to go through all the pics and remember all the amazing opportunities we have had this past year!

What I am Reading - June - GCK Mom

I am rereading this one - helps get me inspired for new ideas for next year! 

Some thoughts on Summer

It feels like summer these last few days, but I can't wait for the real thing, the lazy, lounging days of summer that come once "school" is out. Not our learning path - we home educate year round - but when the schooled kids get out for summer vacation almost all organized home learning events, from co-ops to park days, seem to come to a screeching halt, as we begin to wait for "them" to head back into the schools and leave the playgrounds, beaches, libraries and museums to us again in September.

WHY is this? Well I can't speak for all home learners, but for us it is an aversion to crowds, rowdy ill managed groups of people, broken and mistreated exhibits, parents yelling and threatening their children, and a general discontentment from all forms of staff at said outings - from volunteer exhibit workers to life guards to cranky ice cream scoopers.

It seems as though school gets out and EVERYONE GOES CRAZY!!! Generally the first few weeks are okay, but by the time Independence Day rolls around, they have had enough. I honestly think that the stores are do these parents a favor by having their back to school sales begin so early - IT GIVES THEM A GLIMPSE OF HOPE!

I didn't understand it when I was sending her back - every year my heart would break. Now that I don't it is even harder for me to fathom why people would have children and then long to be away from them for such extended periods of time, they miss so much of their day to day life that they hardly know their children. They get two or three standard answers to their questions with little to no insight into their actual events.

I not only love my daughter, I LIKE my daughter. I enjoy being with her. I am thrilled to experience new things with her. I have fun playing with her - that's right I PLAY with my teenager and not just video games. I know and like her friends. I am very happy to say that none of us would want it any other way. Cheers to a relaxing and peaceful summer! 

Stay Day System

I have been asked many questions about stay days since I posted our spring session plans, so while I was reseting our white board calendar for the month I thought I would take a few seconds to explain this simple process that we use.

I require that we stay home for three days each week, no ways around this. There are so many activities and things to do that if I don't we would be out every day, my house and work become neglected and KM becomes exhausted, cranky and CRASHES! So I took a tip from a fantastic homeschool guru and I created a Stay Day System of our own.

Here is what are calendar looks like at the beginning of the month. I list all the things that we already have scheduled or planned and then I choose 3 days a week that we stay home, I mean I don't leave the house. Each of the three days gets designated a number 1, 2, or 3 because different chores need to be completed on those days. The three days can fall in any combination during a 7 day period. I try to space them out if possible, but sometimes it just isn't. On these days KM can have people over once she has gotten her assigned chores done for that day, but I will not take her anywhere or pick anyone up as I need to be able to get my household chores and work completed. This system works so well and each time I have allowed us to slip out of it, it has backfired and the house and the families attitudes fall to pieces.

Now I was also asked what sorts of things get completed on these stay days and this is going to be something that if you decide to implement you would need to decide for yourself. For us the days look like this -

• Stay Day #1
• Weekly baking - deserts, breads etc.
• Meal Plans for the Week
• Bathrooms thoroughly cleaned
• Full Kitchen Clean Up
• Laundry - Linens
• Vacuuming
• Stay Day #2
• Project - art, household, yard ~depends on what is needed~
• Vacuuming
• Clean Bedrooms
• ALL trash barrels emptied
• Laundry - K
• Stay Day #3
• Laundry - M & D
• Vacuuming
• Floors
• Fully Clean Dining Room & TV Room

Having this routine and schedule allows us to not get overwhelmed with the household chores. We do pick up things as we go along and there are other daily things - compost, feeding animals, recycling bins, etc - that are done, but those things take little to no time and allow us to be able to the "Full Cleans" in a much quicker way because things aren't left to get out of hand. 

This also allows KM to quickly be able to answer her friends when asked to setup an activity. If the day is blank or only lists library or something then she knows she can go ahead and say yes, if there is a number in the block she knows that the friend can come here or if she can get a ride from someone else - even CJ - she can go, but that I can't take her. There are of course ALWAYS exceptions to these rules - like birthday parties etc. but in general we have those things on the schedule in advance and I work the stay days around them. 

As always this is something that needs to be tweaked for each family - it will not work the same for yours as it does for ours - but it is a great place to start from! It also gives the kids a sense of knowing what is coming and if they want to spend the day in their PJs they can because they know they aren't going anywhere! 

I hope that clears up the questions that I received! Please let me know if there are any others. 

Incredible Commercial

First I want to say that I am NOT endorsing the product as I have NO experience with it!
I missed Grey's Anatomy the other night, so I was streaming it this morning and this commercial popped up -

I HAD to share! This is so mainstream and realistic! There was no overly dramatized stereotypes and they didn't even use the word "homeschool"!!! It gave me chills and I had to pass them on!!!!! --- now back to Grey's Anatomy!