You Tube Monday - Annoying Orange - The Hungry Games (Hunger Games SPOOF)

Unschooling Summit Week 2

Unschooling Summit | Embracing the New Education Paradigm


I truly enjoyed and was really inspired by many of last weeks speakers. Can't wait to listen to more this week!

Here is this week's schedule -

This time of year...

causes most home ed blogs to have long bouts of silence. I try to plan ahead and have at least some interesting links, videos or something up as I know that the warm weather, outdoor activities and outdoor responsibilities take up a good majority of my day - especially with CJ on the road so often -, but I thought I would take just a few minutes to write a sort of wrap up to our 2011-2012 educational year.

KM has stayed the course and continues to excel as she has for quite sometime now. She is really at a point that she is taking charge of her education, enjoys the lessons that she has chosen and works pretty independently. She has been very busy with volunteering, activities at the library, and finishing up her spring session lessons. She is finally feeling better and we have been able to be out and about quite a bit. She should be able to finish things up over the next week so that she will have the full month of June as a break from book work and will begin her summer lessons the week after the 4th of July. She is really looking forward to getting into her cosmetology books, working on her GED essay skills and to continue studying Japanese.

DN will be working over the summer and things will be a bit different for him in the fall. He will begin working toward his GED with no extra studies. We have all tried to peak his interest in something, but it all just seems to be a waste of time. I don't know if he just truly doesn't know what he is interested in or if he just has no authentic interest in anything. His retention skills are extremely limited to things that we have physically done - certain science experiments - and/or covered repeatedly - the basic information about the revolutionary war - and then he often needs hints or multiple choice to get the answers correct. He wants his hand-held through every step and at nearly 16, that is just not reasonable when there is no positive outcome. It really is frustrating for all involved and feels as though it is just a waste of time. I have to wonder if the situation would be different if he were here all the time, but as that is not an option, I try not to let my thoughts dwell in that arena for any length of time.

Before I get attacked by anyone who might say something like - "Just because he cannot regurgitate the information for a test, doesn't mean that he is not getting something out of it." I want to clarify a few things; first of all I fully acknowledge that this is true, he is getting something out of it, at the very least he is being exposed to things that he otherwise would not encounter. Secondly he not only doesn't remember things in a "sit down and take a test" situation, but even basic conversation or contextual situations he doesn't recall information that he read about, watched a show about, did a project on or even discussed at dinner  - I don't want to get into disclosing the specifics of the information, but believe me I have tried everything and been quite astonished at the things that have gone in one ear and out the other. Thirdly, I am quite aware that all kids learn differently and at different ages, so this is not a "you need to know this by this time type of situation," by any means. I have tried strewing books on things that he has mentioned having interest in, going on field trips to places he says he wants to go or that have things we think he might like, going to the library to look up information on a topic of interest, searching the internet for the answer to something that we weren't sure about, all to no avail. So for this child, who is unlikely to go to a four year college that would accept a transcript for a home educated student the GED really seems to be the best route to the next stage of his life. It will give him a wide variety of options, including starting out in a community college and then moving on to a four year if he find it necessary, but not limit or cause him to be looked down upon if his application just says "homeschool graduate." Also focusing specifically on GED related materials will free up his time and lessen the stress on his relationship with all the adults in his life that feel as though they are pushing him and although there is no resistance, there is no results. This will give him a concrete end goal. 

You Tube Monday - Epic time-lapse map of Europe

The Real Reasons People Home Educate

I have no idea where they got their data or how accurate it is over the home ed population in it's entirety, as there is no way to know how many home educators there actually are - since some states have no regulation processes, but it is interesting to see the variance in reasons, since so many still think it is all about religion. 

Unschooling Summit - FREE Virtual Event

From the site -
Whether you are an experienced “unschooler,” a current homeschooler or you are eager to try a new approach to learning for your child, this summit provides information and guidance for parents who:

• Realize the education paradigm has shifted and that children need more than rigid or ‘pigeonholed’ curriculums for real-world success.
• Desire to educate and empower their whole child—mind, body and spirit.
• Want to learn the differences between ‘unschooling’ and traditional ‘home-schooling’.
• Long to expose their children to more experiences and opportunities not afforded by ‘traditional’ education.
• Want a closer, deeper, heart-centered relationship with their children and be fully present as they move through the milestones of their lives.

Unschooling Summit | Embracing the New Education Paradigm


Although we aren't "unschoolers" and I don't particularly like the term, there are some really great speakers who have inspired me on my journey and some incredible topics scheduled. A great way to be inspired to allow your children to be the best educated individuals they can be!

Here is this week's schedule -

2012-2013 Ed Outline

KM has been quite under the weather over the last few weeks and feeling like she didn't want to go anywhere, which gave me a TON of time to get next year's education outline completed for both kids - YIPPEE!!! AS I ALWAYS SAY - I don't have this carved in stone, but I feel SOOOOO much more confident when I have it all planned out. DN will be 11th grade next year and KM will be 10th grade, however since KM is a bit ahead and DN has some remedial work to catch up on, there a few areas where they are working on the same things and a number of areas where KM is actually doing higher level work than DN. DN will also be working this summer and therefore will have a more intense schedule over the fall, winter and spring sessions.

Education Outline

Summer 12 – Spring 13 Sessions

Subject	Summer '12	Fall '12	Winter '13	Spring '13
ELA - Literature & Writing	Historical Fiction - K Steck-Vaughn GED: Language Arts, Writing  - K	Movies as Literature - Both Steck-Vaughn G: Language Arts, Writing  - K Glencoe Literature - D	Movies as Literature -    Both Steck-Vaughn G: Language Arts, Writing  - K Glencoe Literature - D	Movies as Literature -    Both Steck-Vaughn G: Language Arts, Writing  - K  Glencoe Literature - D
Math	Hands on Banking for Teens - K	Applying Algebra (Applied Math Series)  - K SF Algebra Book 1 - D	Applying Algebra (Applied Math Series)  - K SF Algebra Book 1 - D SF Algebra Book 2 - D	Applying Algebra (Applied Math Series)     - K SF Algebra Book 2 - D
Science		Chemistry (Science) -    Both Janice VanCleave's Chemistry for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments that Really Work - Both	Chemistry (Science) - Both Janice VanCleave's Chemistry for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments that Really Work - Both	Chemistry (Science) - Both Janice VanCleave's Chemistry for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments that Really Work - Both
Health & P.E.	Bowling - K ExerBeat - K	Bowling – K ExerBeat - K	Bowling - K ExerBeat - K	Bowling - K ExerBeat - K
Social Sciences – Current Events, U.S. History & Geography	A History of US Books 5-9 - K Story of the US DVD - K U.S. History – Basic Not Boring - K	A History of US Books 5-9 - K Story of the US DVD - Both U.S. History – Basic Not Boring - K Hip Hop History - U.S. - D Living Books & Historical Fiction - D People and Events: 1865-Present - Both CNN Student News - Both Election Study	A History of US Books 5-9 - K Story of the US DVD - Both U.S. History – Basic Not Boring - K Hip Hop History - U.S. - D Living Books & Historical Fiction - D People and Events: 1865-Present - Both CNN Student News - Both	A History of US Books 5-9 - K Story of the US DVD - Both U.S. History – Basic Not Boring - K Hip Hop History - U.S. - D Living Books & Historical Fiction - D People and Events: 1865-Present - Both CNN Student News - Both
Elective	Milady's Standard Cosmetology - K  Theory Workbook-- K Practical Workbook - K Japanese from Zero!  -    K	Cosmetology - K  Meet the Great Composers  - Both Stossel in the Classroom - Civics - D	Cosmetology - K  Meet the Great Composers  - Both Stossel in the Classroom - Civics - D	Cosmetology - K  Meet the Great Composers  - Both Stossel in the Classroom - Civics - D

Here is what the planned schedules will look like -

KM - Summer Schedule ~~~

KM - Fall Schedule ~~~~~~~~

DN - Fall Schedule ~~~~~~~

Froglet Update - Legs have sprung

Plan ahead for - Free Fun Fridays - All summer long

Free Fun Fridays | Highland Street Foundation:



'via Blog this'

Backyard Science

Baking soda rockets and microscopes -----

Sketching at the park -------

Pooh sticks and snake identifications--------

What could be better on an incredible spring day!!!

Froglet update

So we have determined that the problem with our littlest froglet - Ozzi - is that it's organs are not centered within the body. In the picture below you can see the red mass of organs is shifted to the left side of it's body.

I am not really sure what the outcome will be, but we are keeping a close eye on this little one.

You Tube Monday - Horrible Histories - Animated Series

After last weeks post, I got lots of questions about the animated version, but all I could find online was this intro and one clip. You can however purchase the DVD set on Amazon  and not only is it worth the money, you can usually resell it and get your money back when you are done.

Random update - Froglets!

We haven't updated in a while as they really haven't had much of a change other than there size lately. The largest is now about 3 inches and little one is only 1.5 inches, so there is quite a size difference. Since we will have to eventually create a terrarium for the critters we decided to upgrade to a 10 gallon tank today, but only put about 3.5 gallons of water in it. This gives them plenty of space to swim around and grow but will not become overwhelming to change the water. It should also be ample space so that the littlest will not get eaten or taken over by the larger. 

Kids Safety on Facebook is No Minor Issue [Infographic] | The Wired Homeschool

Kids Safety on Facebook is No Minor Issue [Infographic] | The Wired Homeschool: