What I am Reading - May - Music Kid

Welcome to the Family

My newest niece and nephew arrived last night! 

AR - 5 lbs 8 oz - 7:49p - 5/9/11

MJ - 6 lbs 10 oz - 7:50p - 5/9/11

Sometimes things just work out

May is one of those months when EVERYTHING seems to happen at once! On top of our regular schedule KM has theater practice twice a week, has signed up for a sailing class that was too good to pass up and decided to do a Science Jim class at the last minute. We also have lots of events and spring field trips scheduled and have been wondering when the two newest Littles were going to arrive.

Well this afternoon I got back from theater a bit early - our hike went REALLY quickly and we got to theater early so we ended nearly an hour ahead of schedule - and I thought to myself here is some "extra" time to get some work done. I emptied out the bags and got things put away, changed into some sweat pants, and was ready to get down to work. First I checked my emails and saw that due to the forecast of 40 MPH winds KM's sailing class was going to be cancelled for tomorrow - YIPPEE even more free time! What luck I will be able to get ahead of the schedule! I stopped for a second and went to check the mail. When I came back in the house the phone was ringing. I answered to hear MC saying - "Hey what are you doing tomorrow?" I replied, "actually I suddenly have a free day. Why what do you need?" "Well I think my water may have broken....."

So here I sit - at my sister's - waiting to hear if my new little niece and nephew have arrived! I will be sure to let everyone know when I have heard that they have arrived.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~UPDATE - 9:32p

All is well I just got the call - 

Baby Boy - MJ was 6'10"

Baby Girl - AR was 5'8"

pretty decent sizes for three weeks early.

Mom is doing well - Dad reports that AR is beautiful and MJ is a chunker.

The littles were perfectly exhausting and I am now going to crash into the big fluffy mountain of pillows that is beckoning me from my sister's bed. 

Will be sure to post pics as soon as I can get there to take some! 

You Tube Monday - Annoying Orange - Mommy and Me

In honor of Mother's Day -

Journey North Mystery Class Locations Revealed!

Today was the big day for the Annenberg Journey North Mystery Classes to be revealed and we didn't too bad!

We were exactly right with #2, 3, & 7 and got the correct countries for #1, 5, 8 & 10. The ones that we got wrong were off by a bit more but not crazy wrong so we are happy with our results! If you joined in on the fun please let us know how you did as well in the comments section!

Race to Nowhere - Movie Review

I was able to attend a viewing of this film last week. I am not really sure if I feel fortunate to have been able to or not as I felt sick to my stomach as I was watching this movie. It was seriously disturbing to me.

 

I was with two other home ed moms - more on the unschooling side than me and with much younger children- and before the movie started we were given an article - http://www.chicagoparent.com/community/the-self-aware-parent/2011/march/let's-be-clear---what-do-we-really-want-for-our-children and as we read through it one of the mom's said to me "Are there people who really think this way? I guess I just don't encounter them." I assured here that there were.

 

The movie goes into detail about the stress that is put on children and the extremes that these children and parents are willing to go through in order to get into colleges, pass the tests and get good grades. Two of the director's own children were getting physically ill - headaches, stomach aches, insomnia - over the amount of homework and pressure that was put on them. She choose to take one of her daughter's - the one who had the most severe issues - out of the school that she was in and send her to another school. The girl stated that at first she was excited about a new school and thought that things were going to be better, but after the first week, she came to realize "it was still school". This to me was the point in the movie where I was just astonished and KEPT WAITING for someone to say they were home educating.

 

The closest case of home education was a mom who allowed her son to go to an alternative school that vaguely sounded like an umbrella school where the student had to meet with the teacher once a week, but other than that the parents just kept sending their kids to schools. The director did state that she was trying to advocate for "no homework" and they even mentioned that they got one of the schools to do "No Homework Nights", but that was it. I just don't understand it, how on earth could you continue to send your child anywhere that was making them SICK!

 

There were a few parents who had decided to not push the "college track" so strongly with there kids after they had had to send them to "stress centers" and dealt with numerous stress related disorders - anorexia, cutting, depression, etc - , but still not one of them thought why are we sending them back at all?

 

There was even a family that had a daughter who commited suicide over her math grades - I am not exaggerating, that was the reason the mom gave - and she still sends her son to school. She did say that she doesn't focus so much on his grades or his schoolwork and talks to him more about what is going on and how he is feeling, but she still sends him to school.

 

We were sitting amongst about 30 other people and for the most part - we are fairly certain - they were all teachers. We felt that way because there were many remarks throughout the movie that they thought were quite funny that we thought were disturbing and we kinda giggled and looked at each other at points that they just didn't seem to get.

 

As with Waiting for Superman, they stated a lot of facts and statistics - 93% of high school students have cheated at least once, when teachers give less or no homework the students grades improve, etc. - that are seemingly meant to awaken those who are unaware, but there is still NO solutions. They make a list of suggestions - http://www.endtherace.org/what-individuals-can-do-today - but these just seem like bandaids when you think of the damage that is being done to these kids. 

 

If there is one question that all of the parents that participated in this film should be asked it is "WHY do you continue to SEND THEM BACK?" 

You Tube Monday ----- SEMI TRUCKS WUT!?!?!!!!

For those of you who know us IRL -

 this may seem a bit funnier! 

What I am Reading - May - GCK Mom

This is a new thing I was thinking of doing. Each month we will take the time to share the book we are reading at that time. Sometimes there might be a review, others it will just be what we are reading right then! 

 I downloaded this to my kindle and have been delving into it whenever I get a chance. So far it is very well written and I am thoroughly enjoying it! If you have kids who are being home educated or even if your kids are still in school this is a great insight and understanding of teenagers!

Looking Ahead to High School - Part 6

If you missed any previous parts HERE is a quick link to them.


Now that we have covered most of the basics, I have been going through my stash to fill in some other things and see what might peek KM's interest in the areas of Health, Physical Education, Nutrition and "elective" subjects. I tend to lump Health and P.E. together, because I feel as though they are one in the same and nutrition fits in quite nicely in that way as well. These are all things that we do and discuss on a regular basis, but KM does actually enjoy delving deeper into some areas.


I came across a kit that I got a while back free from the FDA called Science and Our Food Supply : Investigating Food Safety from the Farm to our Table. Now a majority of people would just take a kit like this and do one of two things, teach it as is without even and thinking OR throw it out the window because how on earth could a biased government agency give a clear and honest outline of something like this? WELL we are going to take this kit dissect it and use it to do our own research and see what we can find out. See how much truth there is to what they are "selling" and what kinds of choices we might need to make differently in order to better ourselves and our family. We are all about questioning and we are both very EXCITED to see what we uncover. 


Along these same lines we will also be looking into another free kit GET IT! - Global Education To Improve Tomorrow, that we got from a non-government agency Heifer International. We will use this program in the same way - dissect take in and research to make our own discoveries. 


As for the Physical Education and Sports aspects, KM is 95% sure that she wants to continue bowling through the summer and is considering doing a 6 week, 2 day a week intensive camp. We will also be continuing with Hiking, Tennis, Yoga, Basketball, Roller Skating and Ice Skating. She has no interest in taking lessons or playing these competitively - other than against me and some of her friends - but she does enjoy playing and doing them for fun. She has also really liked playing some of the newer dance games she has for the Wii which include Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2  and 3 , Just Dance 2, and Dance on Broadway which are a SERIOUS workout! I also got a fab new yoga and pillates workout game for the wii - New U Fitness First Yoga and Pilates - which is the first one that I TRULY LOVE and I think KM is going to enjoy it as well! 


As for the arts we are hoping KM will be able to continue with her incredible theater group. She also is really enjoying the PBS Art 21 Series which she is viewing through Netflix and she is going to be finishing seasons 3, 4 & 5 over the summer. For music she will be continuing her self-learning on the keyboard, strengthening her voice through the use of Voices 2 Go and the many singing games that she loves, and her guitar and band hero ~ you can see our music picks by checking out our curriculum picks page HERE. 


As for other electives at the moment the only thing she has decided on is to try the Spanish Conversation Demystified, but other than that we are going to wait and see what interests are sparked! FRENCH! After working through several Spanish programs, she has decided to give French a whirl! I have a feeling this is more about working on her accents, but that is fine with me. We have a few random CD-ROM language programs and games that have come with other sets that we have purchased throughout the years and I will probably order French Conversation Demystified with Two Audio CDs if I can't get it on Paperbackswap soon and French DeMYSTiFieD, Second Edition when it becomes available in June.
 


If you have any free resources or suggestions to add please feel free to leave them in the comment section! 

Try and Try and TRY until you get it!

I remember reading an article or blog post not so long ago about how much a parent really learns through home educating their children. This was not just about learning facts and figures in books or studying topics, but be aware of things that one thought they were not capable of doing and suddenly they get it. I mention this because over this past week I have had a break through - a momentous break through really!

A few years ago I taught myself to knit. I picked up the needles and book and figured it out really quickly. Shortly after this I tried to crochet, but just could not get it. I tried on several occasions and just could not get past a single chain. A few months later I decided to try to make an edging around a blanket that I made by crocheting and I figured out how to do that because I could identify where the stitches where because I had knit the portion I was now crocheting into. During that same week I tried to crochet a scarf again and just COULD NOT do it! I tried and tried and tried, but couldn't do it. Over the last few years I have picked it up several times to no avail. This past weekend I picked up an easy crochet book and was flipping through it thinking how nice it would be to make these projects. I flipped to a page with a really cute mesh shopping bag and said "Ya, know what I am gonna try again." -----

I can't tell you how many times I have said "I can knit, but I CANNOT crochet!" Well guess what I CAN now! If I had not been persistent and just given up I would never have been able to do it. Instead I kept trying and when it was the "right time" I just got it!

You Tube Monday - Annoying Orange Super Mario

Things you do to be a Citizen Scientist!

She committed to counting today and she stuck to it!!! For more info on celebrating urban birds see our post here!

Organization - The Key to Saving

As I have continued to think about the coming years and our plans, I keep finding resources ALL OVER my house that I bought and stowed away! Videos, thematic units, workbooks, flocabulary study guides, reading books, magazines, free kits, kits she received as gifts....the list just goes on and on. As I stumbled upon the Hip-Hop U.S. History: The New and Innovative Approach to Learning American History (Flocabulary Study Guides) this afternoon I felt the urge to post a message... 

I CANNOT STRESS STRONGLY ENOUGH HOW MUCH ORGANIZATION IS THE KEY TO NOT WASTING MONEY ON RESOURCES!!!!!!

Some handy tips to live by - 

• Pick a location to keep all of your resources and force your self to store them all in one location - ESPECIALLY if it is something you are fairly certain you won't use for awhile.
• Before you purchase something new check that location to see if you already have it or something very similar to it - I can't tell you how many math workbooks I have gotten and then realized "OH that's why it looked SOOOO familiar!" 
• Check with your library before you buy to see if they have it, borrow it and then IF you like and you will use it for longer than you can manage to get it checked out for using yours, your spouses, and all your children's library cards then buy it. 
• Check with a friend to see if they have or have had this resources and what they thought - if they have it are willing to let you borrow it - GO FOR IT!!!
• Think long and hard about how much time your child is likely to actually spend on a particular topic. Although it is really great to have options TOO many options can be overload and cause the child to run and hide just from the mere thought of having to USE ALL of the resources you have obtained!
• Check PAPERBACKSWAP!!!! - I have saved thousands of dollars getting guides, living books and textbooks through this site - it is not just for paperbacks!

What tips do you use when organizing resources? 

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution - ABC.com

I watched the first season and was astonished at what was going on in the schools, but this season I can't believe that they won't even let him in!!! This is disturbing to me. How on earth can this go on?

I took the pledge to spread the word! The health issues in this country due to the diet of our population is disgusting! The unknowing parents trusting in a system to provide what is best for their children is appalling. 

Things HAVE TO CHANGE!!! 

Schools saying NO BAGGED LUNCHES is for the betterment of the child, WHAT???? People need to be aware of what they are putting into their bodies. They need to know where it is coming from. They need to understand what it is being done to their children. You must break the cycle and rip the blinders off! Schools have taught all of us to NOT question, to FULLY TRUST them, and to BELIEVE they are doing what is BEST for us! IT IS ALL LIES!!! From the food they are putting in to the children to the ridiculous test taking skills they are teaching them. NONE of this is what is BEST for any child!

If you haven't watched yet you can see the full episodes on-line here - Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution - ABC.com  

Celebrate Urban Birds - Great Nature Supplement

This is a great way to become a citizen scientist and help gather research to help scientists better understand birds and their habits! Sign up today!