Homeschool View

Brain Gym

2012-02-08T18:26:00.000-08:00

I just have to share about Brain Gym. I have never heard of it before, and now that I am participating in a class with my youngest son, I have to wonder why. I think EVERYONE should know about this! The top photo above is the book that simply explains how to do the exercises and is simple enough for children to understand. The bottom photo directly above this paragraph is the Teacher's Edition, which is the one our class teacher recommends because it not only shows and explains how to do the exercises, but it also gives some additional ways of doing the exercises to switch it up a bit, as well as giving information on what part of the brain the particular exercise stimulates and what it is useful for.

Let me explain a little more. Our co-op has offered this class this semester and I decided to enroll my youngest son, and the teacher stressed the importance of a parent participating in the class with the child because it's important that the parent knows about the exercises and what they are useful for, as well as to be able to help students who have a bit of difficulty with an exercise until their brain gets used to it. The lady teaching the class has been doing this for over 30 years and has seen it work in many ways for many people. She has actually been able to help a retarded child how to read and write simply by using Brain Gym.

Brain Gym is exercises that you do with your body, sometimes standing up, sometimes sitting down, and sometimes lying on the floor, as well as exercises with a dry erase crayon and a laminated manila folder with activities on it, and I don't know what we have yet to learn, but this stuff is amazing. It helps my little guy to listen better and to focus. (That's what it's done so far). However, as we continue to learn, the teacher assures us that it will help our child with math skills, spelling and writing skills, reading skills and more.

It does require a time commitment, and you need to make time to fit it into your day everyday in order to get the maximum benefit and success. Most of the exercises really don't take that long (10 - 15 minutes). However, the writing therapy exercises she taught us today will take quite a bit more time, but are very important for helping your child learn to read and write. Our co-op plans to keep this lady on board and have her continue teaching classes, so I highly recommend that anyone in my area that knows me contact me and get their child(ren) involved in one of these classes. Otherwise, I recommend that you purchase the book, study it and put it into practice with your child(ren).

Brain Gym can be used for any age, so even adults can use it, and they have found that it helps older folks in nursing homes who are having memory issues. A few years ago, my middle son needed vision therapy and it helped him tremendously. Brain Gym uses many of the vision therapy exercises and ideas, but goes a step further and can help a child to no longer need glasses, it can help with behaviors unless the behaviors stem from an attitude issue which is a heart and sin issue that simply needs to be dealt with. So I advise EVERYONE to check this out!

What About Graduation?

2011-06-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

You may be thinking, like I do, that you don't want a graduation like the ones in the photos of my last post. After all, you're homeschooling because you don't want to be like the public school. And that's okay because there are options.

I used to think that was the only type of graduation available to homeschoolers, as that is the only one that I had ever heard about or attended. Until, about two years ago, friends from our church had a daughter who was graduating and didn't want to participate in that big to-do. So, they had a nice private graduation ceremony for her. They had it at our church on a Friday night and invited the church family, their family and a few friends. Her dad spoke and our pastor spoke. The girl gave a short speech and her siblings also participated, and her parents gave her a diploma. Afterward, there were snacks and English country dancing. It was a lot of fun. We really liked that idea and decided that was more along the lines of what we would like to do.

Then, this year, the Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania (CHAP) held a graduation for anyone who wanted to participate on the Saturday evening of our local homeschool convention. They had sixteen young people participate and it was similar to the large one in the photos of my last post, except that there wasn't a lot of congregational singing. It was kept simple by playing graduation music as the graduates entered. Then one of the graduates spoke, followed by a slide show of the graduates (about three or four photos of each graduates at different stages in their lives), and that was followed by one of the CHAP leaders, Mr. Bruce Eagleson, who spoke. Then the parents presented their graduates with their diplomas, while a speaker gave a short bit of information on each graduate. In an hour, it was over.

And, finally, there are some people who simply do a private family celebration, some take a celebration trip, and some choose not to do anything at all. So, you have options, and you can be creative. Make your graduation personal and what you and your graduate want it to be.

A Homeschool Graduation

2011-05-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

Here in our area of Pennsylvania, we have a large number of homeschoolers. We have many homeschool groups and co-ops available to us as well. We have a group of people who put together a homeschool magazine for us each and every month that brings us the latest information on all of the homeschool groups in our area, and they organize the yearly graduation.

This year there were 90 graduates and through our homeschool co-op and sports participation, as well as the people we know from church, we know 33 of these graduates.

Some of the graduates organize a praise and worship band, and they sing a song they have chosen for their graduating class and lead the audience in some congregational singing.

This couple started, what I believe is the largest homeschool group in our area, and this year they graduated their youngest child.

The keynote speaker was former Senator Sam Rohrer. He spoke about the attributes of God, and while he was speaking we heard a torrential downpour upon the roof and there was a bit of thunder as well, and Sam even found a way to put a little bit about the rain, thunder, and water right into his speech. He was very inspiring.

I was also very impressed with the speech given by one of the graduates. He spoke to the class about how important it is to stand firm for Christ and to continue to keep their eyes upon them in whatever path they choose to walk now that high school is finished. (I didn't not get a good photo of him.)

Then each graduate was announced by name, in alphabetical order, and they were met upon the stage by their parents. The graduates handed their moms a rose, and their parents handed them their diplomas.

Afterward, there was a reception in the fellowship hall where the graduates could be congratulated by friends and family.
Our dear friend, Emily, graduated. This is Emily and her older sister, Lindsay. They are part of our church family.

This young man has, (as my son would say), become a legend in one of the homeschool groups we were a part of for several years. He participated in the sports activities that my sons participate in, and he was always trying to encourage his teammates. He acted in all of the wonderful drama productions the homeschool group produced and was quite talented. He can act and sing very well. He was an inspiration, and we will truly miss having him at our sporting events.

This is our dear friend, Chelsea. She is leaving tomorrow for a missions trip to Jamaica. She is part of our church family.

This girl is so sweet. We have had the pleasure of getting to know her better this year as she was in Anthony's psychology class at co-op and I was the teacher's helper in the class. We will miss her and her sweet spirit.

We wish all of these graduates God's blessings in their future endeavors.

At Home Rap

2010-12-14T12:57:00.000-08:00

I found this clever creation posted on my Facebook by another homeschooling mom who found it on Youtube. It's always fun to see the clever creativity achieved by homeschooled children.

The New School Year Begins

2010-08-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

My boys do not enjoy taking the entire summer off. They get bored as most kids do. So, we do some school over the summer. As of yesterday, we had twenty-one days in for the new year. This is always nice because it gives us the freedom of flexibility and allows us to take extra time off at Christmas time or if something comes up and we need an extra day or so off throughout the rest of the year. It also enables us to end our school year early, which we like to do because we like to be finished by the time our annual homeschool convention is here.

We are off to a great start this year. We just finished reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. We had so much fun. I love reading aloud to the boys even though they are in junior and senior high school level and they enjoy it too because I use different voices for different characters. I love to use accents as well. I had so much fun talking as the pirate, Long John Silver.

Anthony is taking some great classes at co-op this year as well. He's taking Psychology (from a Christian perspective), Chemistry, Photography and Speech and Debate. He's excited about all but the Chemistry class:)

I'm nervous about the Speech and Debate class as I have volunteered to teach it because I saw a need for it in our area, but I know very little about teaching such a class. The intent is to have a Speech and Debate club and have a group of committed teens and parents who really commit to giving 100% to the class and to participate in local competitions. It's a great skill for our young people to develop for any career they may be considering as communication is key in all aspects of life.

I am also teaching the photography class, but that will be a breeze. I have been taking pictures for almost as long as I can remember. If anyone remembers those really old cameras that had the roll films (not 35mm), that was the first camera I took pictures with. It belonged to my grandma and she used to get me to take pictures for her because she always cut people's heads off in the photos she took:) Then I got a 11o cartridge camera. I won a Kodak disc camera when they were all the rage. I saved and purchased my own Chinon SLR 35 mm camera in the late 1980's, and about two years ago I purchased my current camera, a Canon SLR Rebel digital camera 35mm camera. My old film Chinon 35mm camera was completely manual and I had to set everything myself. Well, this new digital camera has so many automatic and manual options that I still don't know how to operate everything. That's because I really don't have much time to really just play with it or to try to memorize the manual that came with it.

I have lots of photography experience. As I said I've been taking photos for a very long time, but I have also done photos for several weddings. I have taken photos, for friends, of their children. I take photos of my own children annually (you know, like school photos). I taught a photography class for another co-op we were a part of two years ago, before I got my digital 35mm camera.

Nicholas is taking a writing class called "Imagination Island". His teacher sent a packet of things home before the end of last year's co-op for him to complete over the summer before the class begins. It requires him to read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, so I have been reading that aloud to him. Wow, the chapters in that book are long! He and Anthony who often overhears my reading to Nicholas both get a kick out of my Gollum voice. They say I sound pretty close to the voice used by the Gollum character in the movies. I just love doing voices for characters as I read. It makes the stories more interesting in my opinion. I know it keeps the attention of my boys. He also has had things that he is to do to begin to create his own story, to get his imagination working. This will be a challenging class for him, but it will be good for him.

Nicholas is also going to be in the co-op choir and will also be taking World Geography and the volleyball class.

The little one will be taking a human body class, an art class, a music class and a gym class. He loves co-op! He also really likes the reading program that I got for him. It's called Rocket Phonics. It's a great program for active little boys. It includes hands-on activities. It includes games and scavenger hunts that enable them to move around a lot. It really is fun and he has already really started to pick up reading a lot of the words, and he has only done school for four days. If you want to know more about it, simply click on the highlighted words in this post or click on the link on my sidebar. I saw a presentation of it at our annual homeschool convention in May and was sold. I just knew my little guy would love it and I was right. I know we only had a week of school so far, but he looks forward to doing this curriculum every day! As a matter of fact, Thursday is my day to do grocery and run errands and because of that, I didn't have time to do school with him that day this week, and he was quite ornery that day, and I believe it was because he didn't get to do school because that was the only difference in his schedule that day.

I didn't have him start as early as the big boys. I didn't think he was ready. But, now that he has started, he really is enjoying it, even math, which was a point of contention last year. I decided to approach the whole math thing differently this year. I make him do math first to get the thing he likes least out of the way, and I do a variety of things to keep him interested. One day I use a set of math cards with colorful pictures on them to do math. The next day I use a musical math curriculum that I bought quite a while already and didn't really use with the other two boys. Then the next day I have him use food and plastic buttons to do math and if he cooperates, he can eat the food when we are done (things like m&m's or fruit loops cereal or sesame stix, just about any small finger food works). That's the rotation, and for the first week it has worked. Hopefully it will continue. We end with me reading him a book or two -- something for science or history, and I will occasionally throw in a good video for history or science. He will be six soon and this is his kindergarten year.

Last year I did preschool with him, and as he is still a foster child, we still have caseworkers involved (the only reason they allowed me to teach him last year was because he did not make the age cut-off for mandatory school attendance because of where his birthday falls), and the one caseworker who has been working one-on-one with him a lot recently has told me how impressed she is because some of the activities she did with him required writing and she thought she would have to do the writing for him, but she found that if she told him how to spell something, he could write it because he knows how to write all of his letters. She said he's already ahead of a lot of kindergarteners she has seen, and even some of the older children she has had to work with. However, bear in mind, that she works with foster children who have been neglected and that is the main reason most of them are not performing on their grade level.
Of course, we homeschoolers, don't worry much about our children performing at the same level as their peers because we just want our children to do the best that they can do at whatever level they can do it.

So, I suppose I will be reading the rest of the Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkien this year with Nicholas. This was not in my plans, but since we are reading The Hobbit we may as well read the rest of the series. I'm sure Nicholas will enjoy it.

Anthony and I will be focusing on reading a lot of the classics.

I hope your homeschool year will be a good one as well.

End of One Year; Beginning of the Next

2010-07-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

Here in Pennsylvania, we had to have our portfolios finished and our evaluations finished and all of the required paperwork (and for some school districts, not mine, the portfolios) handed in by July 1st. We have to have our homeschool affidavit notarized and handed in with our list of objectives for the new school year handed in by August 1st. I do both my end of the school year and beginning of the school year paperwork all at the same time. That way I only have to make one trip to the school.

Our evaluations went extremely well. My oldest finished 10th grade and has almost all of his credits already completed for high school. He only needs a math, a science and two more English credits and he's got two years to complete them. That allows for lots of time to do some studying in some things he really enjoys. He will also be starting college in his senior year of high school. He's going to enroll in the College Plus program online. We have researched it and spoken to people from the program and are pleased with the opportunities he offers.

This past Tuesday, July 6th, we began our new school year. My boys get stir crazy after a month break from school. They get bored and start bugging be to start school again. We've been off about a month and a half, so it was nice to get back to it. Schooling over the summer also allows us to take breaks during other times in the year when we really want some extra time, like for Christmas.

My oldest is studying Government this year, and we will be reading some great classic books. We started with Treasure Island, which my younger son is also participating in. My oldest is also studying health/anatomy, algebra, and geography. At our co-op, he will be taking a chemistry class, a photography class, psychology and speech - and -debate.

My younger is studying World History and Geography. We are going to use the Answers volumes 1-3 for a good portion of his science. His world geography class is at our co-op. At co-op, he will also be taking a writing class and participating in a choir.

The little will continue to work on learning to read, write and do basic math. At co-op, he will be taking a music class, a human body class, and an art class.

Co-op begins near the end of August.

We are off and running. If you're interested in knowing what specific books I use, I can list them, just leave a comment letting my know you would like to know and I'll post them. Otherwise, I'll post something else.

Last Field Trip of the Year

2010-05-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day of school for the year, and yesterday we went on our last field trip for the year. We went to Fort Indiantown Gap and toured the historical sites and monuments as well as the National Cemetery. We saw some really cool things, learned some great Pennsylvania history and really enjoyed the day. The morning was quite overcast and so we began our tour with the Pennsylvania National Guard Military Museum, and by the time we finished there and took a lunch break, the sun was shining.

This was probably our favorite of the monuments. Below you can read about the symbolism that is exhibited in this monument. It has tremendous meaning. I hope you can read it or maybe it will enlarge if you click on it so you can read it.

In this photo, you can see, through one of the holes in the monument, some of the dog tags hanging on a chain in the middle of the monument. (Yes, for those of you who read my Cozy Comforts blog, this is the photo that I was so determined to capture).

We saw some wonderful things in the museum. In this photo is the medal of valor. The man at the museum said that not many people get to see one of these in person, so being able to see this one at the museum was really special.

This is an old telephone switchboard. It reminded me of "The Waltons".

A. (Anthony) J. Drexler Biddle is a very prominent military figure. He moved all the way to the rank of "Adjutant General", and he won many important awards and medals. In the bottom section of this photo, on the left, he is shaking hands with Dwight D. Eisenhower, and in the photo on the right, he is sitting beside a portrait that Dwight D. Eisenhower painted of him. We were hoping to purchase a book about General Biddle to learn more but the man at the museum said that no one has ever written one. (So now my Anthony is thinking about trying to do so.)

This is a photo of a display of dark blue stars on a cloth. Factories would hang these outside of their factories and each star represented one of their employees who had gone to fight in the military. Private homes would display one as well with a dark blue star for each family member who had gone off to fight. If the person was killed in duty, a gold star was sewn over the dark blue star (the gold representing the honor due that person for their sacrifice).

This is a photo of a few things that were in the only case that displayed some things from the war with Germany. If you look at the gun, you will see a small shell casing lying on the gun and right in front of the shell casing is a bullet hole. When this gun was found, the empty shell casing was found still lodged inside the gun, and the bullet hole was from someone shooting the gun, and it had to have been shot at the exact time the person with this gun had squeezed his trigger, in order for the empty shell casing to remain lodged inside the gun.

This is a photo of a banner and the photo below explains what this banner is.

This case displays some of the things brought back from Afghanistan by a soldier.

This tank is outside the museum.

The two photos above show and tell of the history of the photo below.

We also saw some displays at the Muir Army Air Field.

This airplane's wing span is so wide that even with my wide angle lens I couldn't get the whole thing in the photo.

The Muir Army Air Field is used for helicopters and we saw lots of helicopters take off, land and fly some flight patterns.

We also saw lots of soldiers -- some on foot, some in land vehicles, and some in the helicopters.

This is A. J. Drexel Biddle Hall, dedicated in honor of General Biddle, whom I mentioned and showed some photos farther above. It was the Red Cross building during World War II.

This is the Murray School which was used from 1850 to 1944.

We also saw a small chapel, which was one of nine chapels in use during World War II.

As you drive in through the entrance of the National Cemetary, you see many, many flags.

There are quite a few Pennsylvania flags and many, many United States flags. There are also large flags, one for each state of the United States.

While we were at the National Cemetery, we spent most of our time there at the Pennsylvania Veteran's Memorial. The photo below shows a stone dedicated to several military people, and there were many of these stones flat in the ground throughout the cemetery.

The Pennsylvania Veteran's Memorial

There are six of these plaques in the Pennsylvania Veteran's Memorial.

There are four fountains in the center of the PA Veteran's Memorial. I took this photo standing nearest the longest of the four. Each of the four was a different size and they were in order from smallest to largest.

These plaques were in a single row all around the tops of the walls inside the PA Veteran's Memorial. There were also plaques like this in the floor on the entrance ramp to the memorial.

Family members place flowers on graves in the grass outside of the memorial.

The boys really enjoyed this field trip, and the little one especially liked all of the helicopters. It was a good and very meaningful field trip. Oh, yeah, and it was FREE. There was a donation jar in the museum but no admission fee.

Teaching Boys and Other Children Who Would Rather Make Forts All Day

2010-05-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

I love speakers who add a little humor into their presentations. Andrew Pudewa did just that. The title of this post was the title of the seminar that I attended that Mr. Pudewa presented at the CHAP homeschool convention. (He also led another seminar or two).

The information in this seminar was very interesting. Apparently a man named Dr. Sax did extensive research and has written a couple of books: Boys Adrift and Why Gender Matters. Mr. Pudewa shared some of the information found by Dr. Sax.

Boys do not hear as well as girls. They do not process as soft a sounds as girls do. Also, because of the optic nerve and retina differences, boys also see differently than girls. Boys and men see speed and direction with more vibrancy while girls and women see color and texture with more vibrancy. Mr. Pudewa explained an experiment Dr. Sax performed. He hung a spinning mobile over a crib and had an attractive women sit in a chair near enough the crib for the infants to be able to see. Every boy infant placed in the crib only watched the spinning mobile, while every infant girl placed in the crib only looked at the lady in the chair.

Mr. Pudewa also talked about the different types of relevancy for learning. There is "intrinsic relevancy" -- something is interesting simply because it just it; "inspired relevancy" -- something may not be particularly interesting to your child but one of the child's friends may really like it so your child becomes interested in it because of the love and respect he/she has for his/her friend; "relevancy of 3rd resort" -- things that are just not interesting to most people; "contrived relevancy" -- making something relevant by teaching through games and fun; and, finally, "enforced relevancy" -- is not and can not be made interesting and the student must do it anyway (this type of thing needs to really be limited).

Then, Mr. Pudewa explained the 3 Laws of Motivation: 1) Children like to do what they can do; 2) Children want to do what they think they can do; 3) Children hate and will refuse to do anything they think they cannot do. He suggested that you do your best to comprise your child's schoolwork with 80% of the first law of motivation, 20% of the second law of motivation and 0% of the 3rd law of motivation.

Mr. Pudewa suggested saying 10 positive things before giving any corrections; smile at your children often because it says you love them and care about them. Show unconditional love and appreciation. Give them opportunities and encouragement and remember that they learn better from someone who enjoys and is interested in what they are teaching.

CHAP Homeschool Convention 2010

2010-05-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in quite some time. I've been having lost of computer problems.
I wanted to share about our annual CHAP Homeschool Convention that took place Friday and Saturday, May 7th and 8th, 2010 in Harrisburg, PA. I love the convention. I have not missed a single year since we've been homeschooling. Even if I don't have a lot that I need to purchase for the following school year, it is so worth going for the seminars. The speakers are very good, and I can always find something that applies to where I am at in my homeschooling journey. It's great because I always come home refreshed, rejuvenated and excited for the coming school year.

This year there weren't any well-known speakers, other than Michael Smith of HSLDA, but they had lots of great things to share. I wanted to find a good program to teach our new little guy how to read. This year we've been working on some simple 3-letter words, after I was sure he knew the alphabet and the sounds of the letters, and he's been doing really well with that, but I want him to be able to start some actual reading next year. When our middle boy was learning all of this, we used "Sing, Spell, Read and Write" which was wonderful, but I sold it a couple of years ago because we thought we were done adding to our family, and now it's no longer available.

Well, I was able to find another great program. It's called "Rocket Phonics". It was created by a kinesthetic learner and his wife. It's got great activities for kinesthetic learners and active boys and I'm sure our little guy will love it. It even includes some scavenger hunts. I found it by attending a seminar entitled "Hands-On Teaching Tips for Hands-On Learners and More!" I think that our little one is a combination of the kinesthetic learner and the visual learner. He likes to do things for himself, and loves to touch and move things, but he also loves to look at brightly colored pictures and find things in pictures.

In the seminar, Stephen Guffanti said that the kinesthetic learners experience before learning. He said that impulsivity drives hands-on learners to learn faster. He said the philosophy of kinesthetic learners is to "make mistakes, learn from them, make more mistakes and learn more." Stephen said that kinesthetic learners want to know three things: 1) Is it moving?
2) Can I touch it? 3) What happens next?

Stephen Guffanti said that kinesthetic learners think when they move (no movements, no thoughts). He suggested you teach to their strengths, (which I would recommend for every type of learner), not their weaknesses. He said that they need to be doing something else while they are learning. He suggested putting a rubber band around the front two chair legs so that they can bounce their feet on it, if you have them sitting at the table, because this is movement they can do that is relatively quiet and should not disturb others. He also suggested keeping lessons short and taking mini breaks and/or playing games. He suggested that you have them do brain warm-ups before even trying to begin lessons. He suggested cross-body movements (i.e. doing a movement with the right arm and the left leg at the same time, etc.).

If a kinesthetic learner's energy level is too low, they're doing something too frustrating. Let them get up and move or jump, etc. It's best not to make kinesthetic learners sit for lessons, but they can learn while sitting if you use the rubber band as mentioned above or have them sit on a textured chair. They can also learn while playing catch or jumping up and down on a trampoline.

I hope you found this information helpful. I will post again, hopefully tomorrow, about another seminar and speaker that I experienced at the convention. After I finish posting about the convention, I will post about the end of our school year. Our last day is Tuesday, May 25th.

Speech and Debate

2010-03-22T18:39:00.000-07:00

Do you think that Speech and Debate is an important thing for students to learn? What ever happened to the Debate clubs of old? Even when I was in public school years ago, there were no debate clubs and competitions.

Well, Speech and Debate is alive and well in homeschooling. My oldest son is interested in Speech and Debate, and earlier this year we saw a notice in our county homeschool magazine about a Speech and Debate club that students could participate in. However, after contacting and speaking with a woman about it, we found that it just wasn't feasible for us to participate in due to the fact that it was a good distance away, and the time that they met each week just didn't work well for us either.

So, we found out about a Speech and Debate tournament that was being held in our area this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and we decided to check it out. Now, let me just say that, going into this, I knew a little about speech but nothing about debate. I was so impressed at this tournament. These students obviously put a lot of effort, time, research and hard work into these activities and they reap valuable benefits. They gain a wealth of knowledge as well as some valuable skills such as discernment and wisdom, research skills and critical thinking skills. They gain excellent communication skills.

We heard one young man do a Persuasive Speech on healthcare and I wanted to rush him to the government to speak before they voted on the new Obamacare issue. This young man had convincing facts and options that I felt were intelligent and would work. (Need I say I completely disagree with Obamacare?)

It was obvious to me that these students had a bright, successful future ahead of them, and I got excited about the possibility of my son participating in this. Unfortunately, we still don't have a Speech and Debate near us. So I did what all good homeschooling moms do. I prayed about it and I began to research how to teach it. I contacted a couple of people as well. Well, God has opened doors and shown me how to do this. So, when the 2010-2011 school year begins, I will be leading a Speech and Debate club at our co-op, and I am very excited about it because I have just watched as God has shown me the way. It always amazes me how God gets things done and gives me the courage, confidence, resources, and tools I need to do something when I seek His will.

I will be running a National Christian Forensics Communication Association (NCFCA - formally known as HSLDA debate) affiliated Speech and Debate club. NCFCA is a national organization with Speech and Debate tournaments in every state in the United States. So, if you are interested in learning more, visit their website at http://www.ncfca.org.

I have ordered my resources and eagerly await their arrival so that I can begin to learn about Speech and Debate so that I will be ready to lead a successful club in the 2010-2011 school year.

Applied Engineering

2010-03-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

My oldest son is taking an Applied Engineering class at our co-op. Last Wednesday, they had their first project completed and ready for testing. They had to build a bridge out of popsicle sticks and the test was to see how many bricks the bridge could hold before it broke.

This is the group that my son was in. He's the one in the middle, and that's their bridge on the cement blocks.

The teacher began placing bricks upon the bridge, and, sadly, the bridge began to sag a little; but mostly, the one side wanted to give way.

The teacher said that if was going to break, it had to break "down". It didn't count if just a side broke.

So, a mom stepped in to help hold the bricks so that they would continue to build until the middle of the bridge would break, instead of the bricks simply falling off of the side.

Well, it only held eight bricks until the middle did break DOWN. My son was disappointed. He said he didn't really want the sides built the way they were, but when you work as part of a group, you have to compromise and let each person make decisions.

This was the next group and their colorful bridge. This bridge turned out to be quite strong. The teacher had only brought eleven bricks with him and this bridge held all eleven. Then, each of the team members who built the bridge took turns standing on it to see if it would hold them -- it did!

This young man is the tallest in the class and they thought he might also weigh the most, so they had him stand on it, and . . .

He brought the bridge down!

This bridge held all eleven bricks as well. It also held several people, including the teacher, who took turns standing on it. Then . . .

two of the three boys who made it decided to try to stand on it together, and . . .

they brought the bridge down!

Regarding the Homeschool Lifestyle

2010-02-04T17:30:00.001-08:00

If you would like to know what a homeschool lifestyle is like you can visit my other blog, Cozy Comforts. I don't post as much on this blog as I do my Cozy Comforts blog. I use this blog strictly for passing on specific homeschool information and suggestions, as well as sharing specific homeschool activities that we do. But for a look at what our actual lifestyle is like, you will get a better idea by visiting Cozy Comforts.

I can also recommend three other blogs that some of my homeschool friends do so you can visit them to get a glimpse of their homeschool lifestyles as well. There are many different ways to homeschool and each family who homeschools has their own ideas and activities -- lifestyles. Therefore you may also want to visit: Tracy's Corner, Creekside Cottage and Hospitality Lane. You can simply click on any of the highlighted blog titles to go to those blogs. You'll also see a link to my Cozy Comforts blog here on my sidebar.

Homeschool Sports Opportunities

2010-02-03T09:23:00.001-08:00

Homeschoolers have options for sports. In the United States there has been a law passed stating that public schools must allow homeschoolers to participate in their sports programs. Here in Pennsylvania some of our homeschoolers do participate in public school sports programs. Also, many Christian schools allow homeschoolers to participate in their sports programs. However, I am grateful that we have a homeschool group that provides a good amount of sports opportunities for my boys. We decided that since we don't have our boys in public, why would we want them participating in public school sports. We've also heard some homeschoolers who participate in public school sports express their discomfort with how they are treated by the public school kids who are in those sports programs.

Today our boys started volleyball. They will receive 13 weeks of lessons and gameplay. This is a sport they have not had an opportunity to participate in before.

The boys are also currently in their basketball season. They will be participating in a basketball tournament next Saturday and their last game will be the first weekend in March. They are both pretty good at basketball, but Nicholas excels at it a little more than Anthony, whose main sport is soccer. Basketball is Nicholas's main sport.

Anthony made a foul shot in this game!

Nicholas sure can jump! No, he didn't make this shot:(

Here he is again, jumping and shooting and . . .

SCORE!!!

This is our favorite basketball photo of Nicholas so far this year.

In the Fall, Anthony participated in the homeschool soccer program.

This is our favorite soccer photo of Anthony this year.

Co-Op

2010-01-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the second session of our 10-week long winter session of co-op. We had a fall 10-week session that ended right before Thanksgiving.

If you are unfamiliar with what a co-op is, it is where you can get together with other homeschooling families and have your children participate in classes with other homeschoolers, and you can be a teacher or teacher aid. It's helpful for subjects that you may not feel so confident to teach on your own.

Different co-ops have different focuses, ideas, and costs. In our area, the majority of co-ops that I know anything about meet in churches one day a week. Some focus on academics. Some focus on electives such as music, art and gym. Some hire teachers to teach certain subjects and those particular classes can be costly. Some strictly have parents voluntarily teach and classes may cost very little or nothing at all; usually the cost is simply for supplies provided; parent-teachers do not get paid for their time in order to make classes more affordable since the majority of homeschool families are one-income families. And, there are those who allow the parent-teacher volunteers to charge a higher price to include something for their time. There may be other types of co-ops as well, but these are the ones I am familiar with.

We used to be involved in a co-op where high school classes were quite pricey and met all year round. After two years of this, I was tired of the cost and the winter travel and sitting in a mostly cold building for the winter days.

We are now part of a co-op that is very Christ-centered, which is something I really appreciate. The leaders have such a heart for the Lord and what the Lord wants to do with the co-op and through the co-op, as well as what the Lord wants to do through them, personally. We have a devotion time each week for parents and students.

My oldest son is taking the following classes this semester: Historical Literature, Applied Engineering and a Co-Ed Home Ec class. My second son is taking: Environmental Science, Beginning Pencil Drawing and Power Mechanics: Small Engines. Our youngest is taking: Cooking around the World, Beginning Phonics and Sign Language and Thematic storytime and Calisthenics.

My boys love their classes and being able to spend some time with friends.

This semester I am teaching the Historical Literature class. We are reading the book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and studying World War II and the Holocaust.

I, too, really enjoy the co-op as it gives me an opportunity to talk to other homeschooling moms and we share prayer requests and support one another in the homeschool journey that the Lord has called us to.

Are Grades Important?

2010-01-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

I receive a weekly enewsletter from HSLDA, and found something in today's that I thought was worth sharing. I apologize that I don't post very often on this blog, but there just isn't, in my opinion and in my homeschool life, enough to blog about on a more consistent basis. I will post as often as I find things that I think are worth sharing, and I will gladly post anything you would like to see or know more about if you leave me a comment telling me what you're looking for.

HSLDA does a weekly radio program entitled "Home School Heartbeat", and Mike Smith interviewed Lesha Myers, homeschool mom and author of Making the Grade, to get a perspective on how important grades are for homeschoolers.

Lesha explained that they are important for several reasons: 1) to give our kids a target/goal to reach for, and 2) because transcripts are needed, not just for college, but also for things like student drivers' classes and insurance.

Lesha went on to explain that the Bible even mentions grading, though not in the exact words or context of what we may think:

"I was surprised because I had thought that grading was a secular concept, but it's not! A while back, I was reading Kings and Chronicles for my devotions, and I noticed a recurring phrase that summed up the reign of each king of Judah in Israel. It was either, 'and he did right in the sight of the Lord, like his father, David,' or 'and he did evil in the sight of the Lord,' or something in between. And I realized that God was grading the King! He set a standard, the life of David, and then he evaluated each king according to the standard and He summed up his evaluation -- gave a grade, if you will, in a phrase.
The Bible also says quite a bit about testing. For example, Jesus Christ tested his disciples as a part of their training. Before he fed the 5,000, Jesus asked Phillip to provide bread for the multitude, and in John 6:5, it says, 'He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what he was going to do.' The test was for Phillip's benefit, so that he would grow in his faith and trust in the Lord. Grading is a very Biblical concept. There are quite a few principles we can glean from the Bible's pages."

Lesha also said that there is no wrong way of grading and that we need to decide what works for our own family.

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

2009-10-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted a Famous Homeschooler of the week, so I decided to post one this week. I find my Famous Homeschoolers on the HSLDA website.

BLAISE PASCAL

Blaise Pascal was born in France in 1623 and educated by his father, Etienne. For some reason, his father decided not to teach his son mathematics until he reached the age of 15. But Blaise Pascal was gifted by God with a natural curiosity, and began to work on geometry by himself at age 12. His study of geometry and hydrodynamics led him to invent the syringe and the hydraulic press.

However, Pascal was more than just a scientist. Later in life, a near-death experience caused him to write these words, which he eventually stitched into the lining of his jacket. He wrote: “Fire. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Not of the philosophers and intellects. The God of Jesus Christ. My God and your God. Forgetfulness of the world and everything except God.”

He is also known for the famous “Pascal’s Wager,” attempting to prove that belief in God is rational. He states: “If God does not exist, one will lose nothing by believing in Him; while if He does exist, one will lose everything by not believing.” He later went on to write Pensées, a philosophical collection of personal thoughts on human suffering and faith in God.

Blaise Pascal—another tribute to the success of home education.

Common Questions about Homeschooling

2009-10-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

"What things are vital to my success?"
We started with the ABC's of beginning homeschooling. Let's end with the 1-2-3 of things to do so you can't help but be successful!
1. Anything new in life has the potential to be trying--and can end in defeat if you haven't
built your foundation AND shored up your supports. It is imperative that you and your
husband are "reading the same recipe". Be sure to pray together before you start,
converse frequently along the way, and spend time reading uplifting and encouraging
material.
2. You will want to find like-minded families. Start asking around, search the Internet, and
don't forget to look at your state or country's Homeschool Nations page on The Old
Schoolhouse Magazine website at www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com! Hook up with
a support group. Once you begin to go to meetings, on field trips, and on other activities,
you will find friends that you "click" with. Since relationships are key to success,
cultivate these. You can become a part of the homeschooling community online at
www.HomeschoolBlogger.com.
3. Mentors abound! One thing that veteran homeschoolers like to do is talk about
homeschooling! Find those in your area who can guide you with some tried-and-true
wisdom. Read homeschooling books and magazines at your local library, go to your
state convention, and try different support group meetings. Sometimes a play group
will turn out to be a great sharing time between the moms there. If you can't go to
conventions, get some speaker presentations on tape! You can have well known
speakers on audio right at home!
The journey of homeschooling is much more than a recipe for a nurturing dish or award-winning treats--but we hope these tips will help you find high quality ingredients and the tools you need. Our prayer is that your homeschooling endeavor will be both profitable and enjoyable and that these ideas on how to develop your own personal family recipe will bless you for years to come. We wish you many batches of healthy, happy homeschooling adventures!

This is the last post on Common Questions about Homeschooling from the little brochure that came with one of the issues of my Old Schoolhouse magazine. I hope this information has been helpful to you.

If you have any questions about homeschooling that I didn't cover, please feel free to ask me by clicking on the word "comment" at the bottom of this post and typing your question. I will do my best to answer your questions. We are in our seventh year of homeschooling and have been involved in co-ops, small groups that provided activities and field trips, and we have tried different approaches to homeschooling.

Our Field Trip to our local Farm Show and Fair

2009-09-29T18:40:00.001-07:00

Some larger goats relaxing.

This young man's little goat did not want to go back to his pen.

Yes, this is a rabbit, not a guinea pig. It is called a lionhead rabbit and really does appear to have a mane. The picture is not the best, but after I took this shot, he turned his back on me. I guess he decided one shot was enough for me.

I don't know what kind of rabbit this is, but I thought it was cute.

This is a billy pygmy goat.

This is a baby pygmy goat.

This is part of the preparation process for showing your cows. This lady is washing her cow with a hose.

Here is a Brown Swiss on it's way to be judged.

This cow is getting some of it's back hair trimmed to get ready for judging.

This young cow is just relaxing.

Inspiration

2009-09-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

First of all, I want to say that I had problems with the computer and that is why I haven't posted in a while again, but things have been worked out. So, hopefully, I will be posting much more regularly from now on.

Now, we have a street fair going on in our town right now. We always enjoy it for the food and fun events. Usually my boys participate in the greased pig chase, but this year decided not to. We always go to the parade, and our little foster son really enjoyed it this year. Thursday is Kiddies' Day and for four hours in the afternoon the rides are half price. So, we like to make Thursday a Field Trip day. First we go down to the park where they have the livestock, so we can see the cows, sheep, goats, pigs and rabbits. We also get to see some of the livestock judging and some of the preparation they do to the cows before they are judged.

We then go to the street fair and eat lunch and then the boys get to go on a few rides. Then we like to go into the building where the art entries are exhibited to see what's there. There's always some great things to see. Then, we end in the building where the exhibits are for crafts, flower arrangements, baked goods and photographs. My oldest son and I plan to enter some photos next year. With everything else that was going on getting a new addition to our family this year, I just didn't have the time to really go through my photos and choose and prepare. We usually go in the building to see the vegetable entries too, but somehow we missed that building this year.

Anyway, it was really neat to see how my boys were inspired to do some drawing after seeing the artwork. Anthony drew a really cool photo that I have posted above. Nicholas hasn't completed his yet. My next post will include some of the animals. That might not happen until Monday, because I don't often have time on weekends to be on the computer.

Back from M.I.A.

2009-09-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

I'm really sorry everyone. I really had intended to be much more faithful to this blog because I know it is important to people looking for information, tips and support for homeschooling. Unfortunately, my computer has been on the fritz. It still isn't working as well as it should and a repairman will be coming out to take a look at it on Monday, an expensive endeavor, but we really rely on this machine. It is a wonderful help when homeschooling when it is working properly AND, as long as you use precautions because it can be a great help or a danger.

Anyway, I would like to continue with the Common Questions of Homeschoolers from the little pamphlet that came with one of my issues of The Old Schoolhouse magazine.

"Elementary age seems pretty easy, but what about high school?"
Sure, the early years can be a lot of fun, but just thinking about upper level math and science can seem daunting to some parents. It isn't necessary to send your children back to an institution! You can learn right along with your kids in those grades. In a lot of cases, kids are self-teachers by that time. Diana Johnson, homeschooling mother of 22 years wrote, "There is something very comfortable about homeschooling elementary age children ... then high school looms and our confidence often evaporates ... Fortunately, we can dilute this fear by carefully planning the high school years."
You have heard the saying "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." This is true in almost any situation, but other factors are also involved. Once you instill in your children a love of learning and ground them in the basics, they will "finish the race." And, if you still need help, you can find tutors (in person or online) on just about any subject.

"I hate math and even flunked in school. How am I supposed to teach that?"
Children have the most astonishing ability to want to learn about the one thing we know absolutely nothing about! But for homeschoolers, this challenge is easily overcome.
You can find classes taught by experts or people who have a passion for a certain subject. You'll find classes available as correspondence courses via snail mail, Internet courses, and video courses. Support groups, community centers, and colleges will also offer classes.
You'll find that many children are capable of teaching themselves. Think about this: when you decide to buy a computer, you do research about different brands, features, styles, service, and prices. Just as you "homeschool" yourself when you need to buy a new computer, your children can too.
When you're searching for teachers, don't overlook friends, acquaintances, and business people--most people are delighted to have a young person around who has an honest interest in what they do and know.
Parents don't have to be experts in every area their child learns about. That's one of the most wonderful things about homeschooling. Parents and children learn together!

"Won't they miss out on things like class field trips and activities?"
What about field trips and other activities that school students get to participate in? Many homeschool moms spend a lot of time exploring local museums and attractions with their children, and they are always educational! Whether you do it alone or with a group, exploring historic sites and museums can be incorporated into your children's course of study or just be a way to enjoy your area while getting an education. Museums have trained highly knowledgeable docents, and conversing with them is a great way for kids to learn new things and to sharpen their communication skills.
Support groups almost always have a field trip coordinator, or you can organize one yourself! Just get plugged in to your local group's email network and start exploring your world with other families. You and your kids can also volunteer at museums, libraries, or living history museums.

Common Questions about Homeschooling

2009-09-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

"I don't have a teaching degree. I'm just a mom. How can I possibly do this?"
That's perfect. Motherhood and homeschooling go hand in hand, and neither one comes with directions!
Although many good sources of help are available, some people don't know where to look for them. Just as many newlyweds learn to bake and cook with a lovingly handed-down book of favorite recipes, anyone with an interest in a subject can learn on her own!
Kids don't need parents who are rocket scientists or even ones with teaching certificates. They do need unselfish parents who love them, are willing to guide them, and want to spend time with them every day. Children need parents who believe in them and will help them become all that God created them to be.
Who loves your kids more than you? Mom and Dad, be confident in your ability to teach, and learn right along with your children as you begin this creative journey.

"What difficulties might I face?"
The challenges homeschoolers face are unique and different. If you asked a dozen homeschoolers what things have been hard for them, you would hear a dozen different answers! Yet, in spite of the difficulties, their children still thrive, learn, and grow.
Many children acquire negative labels, are misunderstood, or are misdiagnosed in an institutional setting where the teacher-child ratio is farr off balance. Little children need to run, move, and play! They aren't necessarily in need of medication just because they can't sit still or because they "act out" in a group. Research shows and results prove that learning happens in different ways and on individual time frames. don't be discouraged if little Johnny can't read yet and he is 10! It will come. Be patient, and don't be quick to say everything is a learning disability.
Being in a safe, loving, and nurturing environment can change those so-called hyperactive, ADD, bullying, withdrawn, or surly kids. They respond very well to loving relationships and guidance. As homeschoolers, they've been found to lose many of the characteristics that caused them to earn the labels in the first place.

"My in-laws are totally against this idea."
Go back to your firm foundation, and remember that your kids are your responsibility. There will always be well-meaning concern from relatives, friends or even strangers. Just remember to be kind and courteous in your responses and trust your instincts. Your life will turn the naysayers around, eventually. The proof is in the pudding!

"I don't have the patience to homeschool."
Feeling that you're not the "patient homeschooling type" doesn't mean you aren't! Before you had a child, were you blessed with the patience required to raise him or her? Or before you were married, did you already possess the patience to be a submissive wife?
God doesn't go around doling out patience in certain amounts to designated people. Rather, He blesses us with it as we need it. Ask any mother if she has enough patience to have another child and she will probably say no. We are blessed with patience as we need it, not in advance. Homeschooling is the same way. If you decide that this is what God is calling you to through circumstances or conviction, then rest assured He won't leave you!

*Note: I took this information from a little pamphlet that came with an issue of my Old Schoolhouse magazine. I will continue with more questions and answers in my next post.

Simple Recipes for Successful Homeschooling

2009-08-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

Again, I am getting this information from a small pamphlet that came with one of my issues of The Old Schoolhouse magazine.

No two homeschools are exactly alike, because each family is different and each circumstance surrounding the question is unique. Homeschooling means different things to different people. For some, homeschooling is duplicating public school at home with textbooks and report cards. for others, homeschooling is just the way they live--children and adults living and learning together so that an outsider looking in wouldn't be able to see what was "home" and what was "school". Still others can be somewhere in the middle of these two.

Before you set out to provide your children's intellectual diet--their education--you will want to consider why you are doing it and what you are seeking to provide for your family.

For many homeschoolers, the most valuable benefit of homeschooling is that it strengthens their family. Homeschooling families spend a lot of time working, learning, and playing together, and strong relationships are built.

Many families like the flexibility homeschooling allows. Children can learn about things they are naturally interested in when they want to. A strict schedule does not have to be followed. Children can get an education tailored to their learning styles at a fraction of the cost of private or public school.

You might want a more "healthy" lifestyle for your children, whether you want to live closer to nature or are concerned mostly about spiritual reasons. The reasons you are going to homeschool are unique to you. The important thing is that you identify them before you prepare to homeschool.

Not only do you need to have your reasons established, but you should also decide what your commitment to homeschooling is before you start. Some people start strong but fall fast when they encounter their first difficulty. Be aware that just as a new recipe will need occasional adjustments to suit your own personal tastes, your homeschooling will encounter rocky times and require some fine-tuning.

Decide on a minumum length of time you are going to homeschool. Make a commitment to give it a go for a certain time period and then re-evaluate! Don't throw out the whole lump of dough--just change the recipe! There are so many different ways to go about teaching at home, so try something new. Different methods and ideas are worth trying so you won't burn out. Give it some time and then make some adjustments, but don't give up!

There is one more thing that comes before you begin planning lessons or purchasing schoolbooks. You need to know what the law requires. For information about legal requirements for homeschooling, you can visit Homeschool Legal Defense Association's website (there is a link on my sidebar to their website).

I will continue to answer some of the most asked questions to provide Simple Recipes for Successful Homeschooling in tomorrow's post.

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

2009-08-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

JOHN JAY

After our Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution, they had to submit it to the states for ratification. In order to persuade the states to ratify the federal constitution, three great men wrote The Federalist Papers, a stirring defense and explanation of America's founding document. John Jay, the eighth child of Peter and Mary Jay, was one of the authors of the book that convinced the states to ratify the Constitution.

When John was a young child, his mother taught him the rudiments of English and Latin. At the age of 14, John Jay entered college, and upon graduation was apprenticed as a lawyer. His law training later allowed him to become the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.

John Jay's parents were staunch Christians and profoundly influenced their son's character in addition to his academic training. John's parents were careful to educate their children in the Word of God. John Jay later said, "In forming and settling my beliefs relative to the doctrine of Christianity, I adopted no articles from creeds, but such only as, on a careful examination, I found to be confirmed by the Bible."

We can thank John Jay's parents for raising a godly son who served his country with the kind of moral leadership we so desperately need today.

Again, I got this information off of HSLDA's website.

Our First Day of Co-Op

2009-08-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

I know that I was going to post some more freebies today, but we had such a great first day at our homeschool co-op today that I decided to share this instead. I'll post more freebies another day.

You may or may not remember that last year I was working on finding us the best co-op for us to be a part of, instead of going to several different ones. It was just too much running and busyness. Well, co-op started today, and I am happy to say that we definitely decided on the right co-op for us, and may I also say that it is quite obvious that God had his hand in the decision. I was supposed to be helping in a class that Nicholas is in, but I expressed my dissatisfaction of that because they had asked us what classes we wanted to help with, (with the understanding that if that class's teacher is absent for any reason, the helper will need to do the teaching), and I had not put this class as something I wanted to help with. I expressed the fact that the classes that I had listed to help with were ones that I felt that I would be comfortable and capable of teaching if the teacher couldn't be there, and that since my boys are older and have me as their teacher everyday, they don't really want me so many of their classes at co-op, (and they are both in a class I am teaching, anyway).

Well, anyway, here I am babbling again. But, it ended up that a teacher who had offered to teach a Literature class for Pre-K to K backed out, so the helper said she'd teach and I was asked to be her helper, which was a twofold blessing: first, because that is something that I am completely comfortable and capable of teaching, if need be, which I have already been asked to cover two weeks in September because the teacher will be on vacation; and second, because we didn't know that we were going to have a new child in our home that is in that age group when we had co-op registration, but because I am helping in that class, so he has to be in there with me anyway, our little foster son will be able to participate in that class!

They also have a running class that Nicholas is participating during the last time frame of the day, and a gym class that Anthony is participating in during the last time frame of the day. The gym class is for Pre-K through 12th grade. They warm up together and then break up into age groups to do activities and play some games, and our foster son is able to participate in this class as well!

I am teaching a Modern Literature class to Jr./Sr. High students. We are doing the book The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall. I read this book a few months ago. You may remember that I posted about it in an older post. I was so impressed by the lesson that this book has to teach that I thought it would be fun to teach it to teens. I have a class of nine students and they seemed to enjoy the story as far as we read today. I am giving them homework assignments each week as well: vocabulary words, chapters to read, and activities or writing assignments that pertain to a particular chapter.

I've been wondering what I might offer for our winter session, because we need to submit our ideas in a couple of weeks, and one of the moms came to me today and said, "I see you're teaching a lit class on The Ultimate Gift." I said, "Yes, I am." To which she responded, "I have the next book." I didn't know what she was talking about, but she pulled a book out of her bag and handed it to me and said I could read it and then give it back to her.

Apparently Jim Stovall is making a series or at least a two book set of The Ultimate Gift and there is a second one entitled The Ultimate Life. I am so excited and pleased that this lady, who barely knows me would lend me her autographed copy of The Ultimate Life. If it's as good as the first book, I know what class I can offer for our winter session! God is so good!

The boys are excited about the classes they are taking too. Nicholas is taking a science class where they are doing a lot with a microscope; he is taking a PA history class, as well as my Modern Lit. class and the running (like track) class. Anthony is extremely excited about his Geography of Israel class; and he is taking a How to Tackle a Research Paper class as well as my Modern Lit. class and the gym class.

I hope all of you have some wonderful things to enjoy in your school year this year. We can all have enjoyable school years if we keep our eyes on Christ and keep him first in our lives. And, remember, God called you to homeschool so He will enable you to keep on keeping on:)

More Freebies

2009-08-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

BARKER CREEK

Email us at freebies@barkercreek.com and we'll send you easy-to-follow directions on how to download your FREE copy of Homonyms, Synonyms & Antonyms (a $10.99 value)--the first book in our top-selling Reading FUNdamentals series! this popular book includes 48 pages of activities that will help your children understand and use homonyms, synonyms and antonyms in their reading and writing.

PANDIA PRESS

Science and history--subjects that make many parents weak in the knees. you can teach science and history at home! R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey and History Odyssey take out the guesswork and make you feel like a pro. But don't take our word for it; log on and try these free eBook samples.

www.pandiapress.com

PERFECT PRAISE PUBLISHING

The Kingdom Series...a riveting medieval parallel to the Bible and the NEW Knights of Arrethtrae, a companion to The Kingdom Series magic or mysticism! Read two complete chapters and listen to an unabridged, 75-minute sample of Kingdom's Dawn or Sir Kendrick and the Castle of Bel Lione (available Feb. 2009) for FREE at www.kingdomseries.com/tosfreebie.htm. Narrated by voice actors from Cheltenham, England, with original music and sound effects.

SOLI DEO GLORIA RESOURCES

Overwhelmed by the thought of unit studies? Download the booklet "You CAN Do a Unit Study" and our one-week unit on the life of William Tyndale - FREE! Receive tips on being successful using unit studies and a unit study on William Tyndale, suitable for preschool through high school! Creat an account at our website and put these books in your cart. When checking out, enter this code: TOSFREE

www.SoliDeoGloriaResources.com

Again, these came from The Old Schoolhouse magazine.

I'll post a few more tomorrow or Thursday.

Homeschool Freebies

2009-08-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

I received my Old Schoolhouse 2009 Homeschool Freebie Directory today online and wanted to share it with you. there are over 40 Free Gifts in this directory, so I will be sharing several throughout the week.

A JOURNEY THROUGH LEARNING

Specializing in lapbooks and unit studies, A Journey Through Learning is the first place homeschoolers go for all their lapbooking and unit study needs. We make lapbooking easy by providing study guides, easy to understand, color coded lapbook assembly instructions with study guide and correlating activities that your child will enjoy. Sign up for our newsletter to receive your free lapbook. look for sample pages of our various Products.

www.ajourneythroughlearning.com

AMERICAN HERITAGE EDUCATION FOUNDATION

To help teach America's factual, philosophical heritage, history, and founding principles. Utilized by homeschoolers and teachers in all 50 states! Social studies, US history and government, civics, economics, geography, reading, mucis, and more. $150 value! Written by professional educators. Proven to raise social studies scores! Easy to use. No teacher training required! Award-winning design! Free K-12 Social Studies/History Lesson Plans--America's Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty

www.americanheritage.org

HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE ACADEMY

10th Degree - Unique, Online Science Seminars Veteran homeschool dad and college professor, Greg Landry, offers unique, Christ-centered, free, online anatomy and physiology seminars that he calls the "10th degree," for 6th-12th grade students and their parents: "There's Life in the Blood," "The Incredible Pancreas," "Working Toward Academic Excellence," and more! He also offers discounted online classes: "anatomy and Physiology," "Sports Medicine," "Pre-Biology," "Chemistry," "Forensics," etc.

www.homeschoolscienceacademy.com 828-265-4101

MOTHERBOARD BOOKS

Teach your kids to research the Internet using Motherboard Books.com's free Internet Scavenger Hung, from the Computer Science Pure and Simple Curriculum.

www.MotherboardBooks.com

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

2009-08-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE

Michael Farris:
On May 12, 1820, a baby girl was born in Florence, Italy, to wealthy British parents. Named for the city in which she was born, Florence Nightingale was brought up to be an intelligent woman of good society. Both her mother and her father contributed to her academic and social training. While Mrs. Nightingale instructed Florence and her sister in social graces and the skill of running a large household, the girls' father taught them English grammar, history, philosophy, Latin, French, Greek, German, and Italian. Florence also received biblical training from her parents, learning to read the New Testament in its original Greek.

When she was 16, Florence heard God's call to a special life work: easing the suffering of the sick and dying. She began withdrawing from society life to concentrate on studying health and reforms for the poor.

Florence Nightingale did much to introduce sanitary nursing methods to the whole world, especially to the battlefield. Among her many public honors, she became the first woman to receive the British Order of Merit.

Florence Nightingale is just one example of a fertile mind and a pioneer spirit developed by homeschooling.

(this was copied from Homeschool Legal Defense Association's website)

Homeschooling Questions You Should Ask Part 3

2009-08-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

GETTING SUPPORT
As this is the beginning of your adventure, don't go it alone. It is extremely helpful to get support. A few like-minded friends or a support group will work wonders in answering your questions and offering encouragement. Keep reading and keep asking questions, and you'll be sure to find many answers.
It is important to check with Homeschool Legal Defense Association (see link on sidebar) for any questions relating to legal issues in your state and consider becoming members in order to *protect your family legally. Stay tuned in to the homeschooling community by subscribing to a good homeschooling newsletter (such as those offered on www.Crosswalk.com and www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com) and a quality magazine (such as The Ols Schoolhouse Magazine). A great online homeschool community and support group is available at www.HomeschoolBlogger.com (or here on blogspot. I know that I am not the only one on Blogspot that is a homeschool mom and is posting things about it.). Many home educators benefit greatly from hearing about how other families homeschool.

FOR THE TEACHER
What about you, the new teacher? What do you need personally? You need to soak yourself in the Word of God and keep feeding yourself spiritually untill you are overflowing with joy and confidence. If God has called you to teach your children, His grace will be sufficient for any weakness you perceive in yourself. When you take those first steps down the homeschooling road, keep your eyes on the Author and Finisher of your children's education. The journey will be worth every effort as you see your children open up and flourish before you.

*As a member of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, if you have any legal problems arise, they will represent you without charging legal fees. My family are members ever since we began homeschooling because we do not want to take any unnecessary risks.

The note above and the information in italics are my additions. The rest is, again, directly taken from the pamphlet that I received with my Old Schoolhouse Magazine and was written by Deborah Wuehler.

Homeschooling Questions You Should Ask Part 2

2009-08-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

PERSONALITY
What type of personality is your family--are you well organized with your time, or more relaxed? Do you enjoy paperwork or nature walks? Are you project-oriented, or would you rather read good books? Are you scheduled or spontaneous? If you know the dynamics of your family and your own teaching style, you will be better able decipher what will actually work for your family.
What kind of learner is your child? Does he learn better by seeing (visual), hearing (auditory), or doing (kinesthetic)? Will he learn better with textbooks, hands-on, narration, or a combination? Look only for things that are easy for your to use and that will enhance your child's ability to learn. Get practical and make a list for each child about what he needs, and keep it basic. Don't overwhelm yourself with extras that may not be necessary.
Your family is unique--you will be different from all others in your approach, your goals, and your convictions. As you go along and find out what works in your household, your personal style will begin to emerge. What is most important is that you are in unity with your spouse and that you know the heart of God for your own family.

GETTING PRACTICAL
Let's get a little more practical. If your children are very young and you are just beginning to homeschool, you will need only a few good resources. Your children must be taught to read, so they will need some type of phonics lessons. For writing, they can begin writing simple words on lined paper or you can find a resource to help them shape their letters. You'll need a good math book that covers the basics and offers repetition for reinforcement. Or, at this age, you can do it yourself: math manipulatives can be beans or blocks. Most likely you will not need anything extra that you don't already have around the house. And, of course, you should be reading to them daily: share good books about history, science, and just plain fun reading books.
A fun way for the whole family to learn is through unit-type studies. You can make your own by allowing the children to pick a topic they are interested in and then go to the local library for many of your resources. Keep a binder of what they learn and their drawings along the way. Throw in a few field trips and you will have provided a very successful learning experience.

This again is from a pamphlet that I received with my Old Schoolhouse magazine and was written by Deborah Wuehler. I will conclude this tomorrow with GETTING SUPPORT and FOR THE TEACHER.

I Am Still Posting Here

2009-08-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone. I know that I have been absent for a long time again, but the hustle and bustle of getting everything accomplished to become the approved foster parents of this wonderful, energetic little boy is finally complete, and I should be able to post here more regularly again. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

So, for today's post I am going to begin a series of posts on "Homeschooling: Questions You Should Ask?" from a little pamphlet that I received with my Old Schoolhouse magazine.

"Are you new to homeschooling and feeling a little terrified? Have you been homeschooling for a while but feel overwhelmed? Are you considering homeschooling but not sure it's the right choice?"

Perhaps you're wondering about curriculum, your teaching style, your child's learning style, or maybe just how to schedule it all in on top of the regular household duties?

First, relax and realize that God has called you to this road less traveled and He will provide what is necessary for your journey. There is no "one size fits all" in homeschooling -- no singular "right" way to provide an education for your children. there are as many varied methods as there are families who homeschool, and they are all doing the job extremely well.

It can still be overwhelming to look down that long road of homeschooling when your vantage point is the starting line. One of the first things to do is establish your thoughts and make some goals. Let's begin to answer some basic questions by asking a few more:

VALUES AND VIEWPOINTS
What are your valuse and viewpoints (your "philosophy") of education--in other words, in the long run, what is important to you and your family? What do you want the education of your children to achieve for them? Write it down. Do you want them well educated in man's wisdom in order to be able to answer every man? Do you want them well educated in God's precepts? Do you want them to eventually go to college, or do you prefer apprenticeship? Are you in favor of workbooks, or would you rather have your child's interests direct the way? What are your personal convictions? How will they fit into your educational goals?

PROCESS
what exactly do you want to accomplish this year with your children? What do you need in terms of books and supplies to fit with what you want to accomplish? For example, if you have a second grader who is not reading yet, your goal may be to teach that child to read. How you do that depends on the curriculum you choose, the learning style the child has, and the resources available. Will you use a book or will you make your own flash cards? Will you use a few workbook pages a day, or will you read and have them sound things out with you? Are they coming home from public or private school? They may be used to a more organized, workbook format. When you have a plan, you can begin looking at how to accomplish that plan with what curriculum, if any. sit down with your spouse to discuss and pray about your educational goals for each child each year, and then write them down.

This will be continued tomorrow with the topics: PERSONALITY, GETTING PRACTICAL, GETTING SUPPORT, and FOR THE TEACHER. This article was written by Deborah Wuehler.

2009-07-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I'm sorry that I've been missing in action for a while, but our lives here at Homeschool View have taken a new turn. We have a 4 year old bundle of energy in our lives now. We are the proud family of a foster child, a little boy. He keeps us quite busy, but we are having a lot of fun.

Anyway, I received the following information in an email. I've been watching the progress of this new channel that will be offered through the Angel Network with curiosity and anticipation. This is their latest update. There are links in the post so that you can check things out more closely.

The Homeschool Channel Update July 27, 2009

Just a note to let you know that plans are moving along for our launch of The Homeschool Channel. Our hope is that THC will be a big asset to the homeschool movement.We have hired additional personnel, begun shooting some video, and talking with leaders in the homeschool movement to make sure we are maximizing our help to homeschoolers.

If you have any suggestions concerning THC, please share them with us. You may send your suggestions or comments by using our feedback form.

Also, please share news about THC and invite them to register at our website so they can be alerted to the progress we are making.

Sincerely,Donald E. WildmonThe Homeschool Channel

P.S. Please check the video section of our website for a sample of the programming we will be offering.

©2009 The Homeschool Channel 107 Parkgate Drive, Tupelo, MS 38801

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Famous Homeschooler of the Week

2009-07-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

Thomas Alva Edison

Thomas Alva was a mischievous and inquisitive child. His parents placed him in formal school at age 7, but his active, creative nature was stifled in a rigid educational setting.

Nancy Edison, a former schoolteacher, trained her youngest son in the basics and fostered his creative, inquisitive nature. As one Edison biographer put it, "She was determined that no formalism would cramp his style, no fetters hobble in the free rein, the full sweep of his imagination." Edison himself said of his mother, "She instilled in me the love and purpose of learning."

The results of Thomas Edison's love for learning are legendary. After beginning work as a telegraph operator in 1863, Edison invented improvements to the telegraph. He went on to improve fire alarm systems, stock tickers, and the telephone transmitter, and to invent, among other things, the phonograph and the incandescent light bulb.

Thomas Edison obtained the most U.S. patents ever given to one person, and ranks as one of the greatest inventors and industrial leaders in history. He also serves as just one more example of the power of parent-directed education.

(My personal note: "A love for learning." How many public schooled children have a true "love for learning"? That is something that we can instill in our children because we have the freedom to teach them in a more creative way that makes things more interesting and fun than the public schools.)

Curriculum Ideas

2009-07-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

I wanted to let you know where you can find some homeschool curriculum. I am going to tell you a little about each of the ones I have chosen to mention and you can find links to websites to each of them on my sidebar, and you can click on a link and check out the curriculum, you might be interested in, in more depth.

The first ones I will mention, I mention only because they are names I have heard of, and I know people who have used them and have been happy with them. I, personally, have not used any of these:

Bob Jones -- I hear this is pretty advanced and has quite a bit of workbook work, but I know
people who use it and really like it.

A Beka -- I hear much the same about this one as I hear about Bob Jones.

Veritas -- I believe this is a literature based curriculum. I have not used it, but I have seen
some of their books and they look impressive.

The Mystery of History -- this is a very impressive history curriculum I have heard nothing
but good things about this. We have not tried it, but I may change
one year for my youngest son and do some of the things I haven't
done with my oldest. If so, we will definitely do this. If you want
your children to learn history, including Biblical history, I hear this
is outstanding.

Aswers in Genesis -- This is an organization started by Ken Ham. There are several curriculum
that are available through them, all either history or science and all from
a creation standpoint. This is another one I would love to do with at least
one of my boys, but haven't yet. I only became aware of these this year
at the homeschool convention.

Now for the ones that I do know:

Sonlight -- this is the one we currently use. It is literature based and involves lots of reading.
It covers Bible, History, Literature and Writing. It also offers other subjects done
by others. They, too, have a core package that focuses on Biblical history.

Apologia -- This is Science curriculum. It is creation and Christian based. It is challenging and
includes experiments to do in each level.

Saxon -- This is math curriculum. It is a good curriculum that teaches a concept and continues

to build on one concept after another. My oldest used this until he reached the Algebra

level, and my youngest is currently using it.

Math U See -- This is also a math curriculum. Math is not my oldest son's strong point, so when

he reached the Algebra level in Saxon, it was too difficult for him and was causing

much grief. We switched to Math U See and absolutely love it. It comes with

DVDs of the man who created it, explaining the concept before your child begins

to work on the concept. He explains things so clearly, my oldest son now gets

A's and B's in Math, and actually likes Math.

I hope you will find these suggestions and links (on the sidebar) helpful.

Sorry about the spacing difference. I'm not sure why this started doing this, but couldn't figure out how to fix it. (See, now it changed again. Weird!)

An Unschooling Homeschool Day

2009-07-07T14:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the boys wanted to do school again, but after a busy holiday weekend, I didn't feel like doing our usual curriculum. I wanted to "play and have fun". So we had a school day that counts according to the PA Homeschool law, but we learned things through fun activities.

We began by playing a game called "Great States". The board is a map of the United States and there is information about each state included on the board. There are three different stacks of cards, a spinner and a timer. On each person's turn, you had to spin the spinner, which told you which stack to pick a card from and you handed the card to the person on your left and they would set the timer for 30 seconds and read the question on the card, and maybe show you something pictured on the card, and you had to find the answer before the time was up. If you found the answer and answered correctly, you kept the card, and the first person to collect 10 cards won. You could also play longer and make the winner the first person to collect 20 cards. It was fun and yet, as we played, the boys were learning United States Geography.

Next, we played a game of Scattegories -- all 12 lists! This, too, is fun and utilizes vocabulary skills.

For music, the boys thought this was a hoot! I have always been a fan of many different types/styles of music, as long as it doesn't involve screaming that the lyrics cannot be understood or cursing or vulgarity or singing about criminal activities and such. So, I have tapes of country, pop/rock, oldies, classical, American Indian, jazz, big band, rags, alternative, contemporary Christian, and hymns and worship songs, and soundtracks from movies and Broadway plays and of course, we have children's music in the house ever since the boys were young -- most of this they have outgrown.

So, anyway, I played one song from the soundtrack of the movie "Yentl", two songs from the Broadway production of "Jekyll and Hyde", two songs from an Andy Griffith hymns tape, three songs from an alternative tape by Laurie Anderson and four songs from a big band cassette of hits by the Andrews Sisters. We discussed each style of music and some of the lyrics after listening to each selection. It was fun and the boys thought some of the stuff was quite funny. Anthony especially thought the Andrews Sisters songs were funny. He said, "Nobody sings like that today."

Then the boys went out and rode their bikes for a while and then played wiffleball with a couple of the neighbor boys. This was gym class.

Finally, we ended the evening by playing a game (well most of a game) of Homeschoolopoly after we had done our family Bible study. This game is one of my favorites. I never cared much for regular Monopoly. I always thought it took too long to complete a game. But this homeschool version is a lot of fun, even though it takes just as long and is very similar. I guess it's just because I can relate to this version so much better.

Some people homeschool in this free spirit style daily, but I'm not comfortable with that. I do like to do it as a treat every now and then, and we always enjoy it. There are so many ways to accomplish an education when you have the freedom to choose through homeschooling.

Our First Week of School

2009-07-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is our first official week of the 2009-2010 school year. My boys couldn't wait any longer to get started. After a month off, they wanted more to do. The week is going quite well. We are enjoying the new things we are learning this year. Today, the boys did double in most of their subjects so that they won't have too much to do tomorrow because Dad has off work tomorrow for the 4th of July.

In addition to this week's school assignments, my oldest son, Anthony, also finished reading David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (which is why I thought it fitting to use Charles Dickens as the Famous Homeschooler of the Week this week). He wrote an essay about the parallels of the characters and he wrote a book report on David Copperfield. He has great writing talent. His Worl Literature teacher from one of the co-ops we attended last year told him the same thing and encouraged him to keep writing.

In addition to the above mentioned items, Anthony also took it upon himself to write a poem. You can read it here. He is extremely self-motivated.

That's what we've been up to this week. Next week I'll try to post on some different types of curriculum.

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

2009-07-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

CHARLES DICKENS

Born in 1812, Charles Dickens would become one of the world’s most celebrated novelists by his early 20s. It is recorded that his first years of education were received from his mother. In his own words, Dickens gives her the credit for teaching him to read and write.

Although he later attended school, there is no doubt that his mother’s influence had a profound effect on Dickens’ life. When you read Dickens, his emphasis on family relationships is immediately noticeable. His characters were often formed by the impression he received from his parents, grandparents, and other relatives.

Charles Dickens died at the age of 58, ending a very prolific writing career. All told, he created over 2,000 characters and personalities in stories like David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and A Tale of Two Cities, in books which grace the libraries of homes everywhere. In fact, my older daughter Jayme reads the well-known story, A Christmas Carol, from Dickens, aloud to her younger siblings each Christmas Eve as a family tradition.

Charles Dickens was a literary genius, and yet another example of the influence that parents can have when they are committed to directing the education of their children.

Ready for the New Year?

2009-06-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

We are. I just finished packing last year's curriculum and unpacking the new year's. The boys are ready to begin again on Monday. Everything in the dining room is cleaned up and organized and ready to go.

So, do you have your curriculum? Are you ready to dig into it? Are you excited about teaching it, and are your kids excited about studying it? Well, what are you waiting for? There's no time like the present.

As homeschoolers, we have the freedom to arrange our schedule any way we want to. My boys do not enjoy having three months off at one time. Like most kids, they get bored. So, we don't take three months off at one time. We've been off for one month, and now they are ready to begin. So, on Monday, we will begin again. We will have more time off in the summer than we do the rest of the year, but we will do several weeks in July and in August, and then get really serious about it at the end of August. This gives us more freedom and flexibility with our schedule. We can take off other times throughout the year and not be pressured to put our noses to the grindstone to get our 180 days in.

I like to take extra time off at Christmas time, and we may have extra time off here and there between September and November, before the weather gets too cold. When it's winter and really cold outside, we really dig into the schoolwork, and we never have too much trouble finishing up by the end of May. Sometimes we even finish by the beginning of May. We usually do more than the required 180 days too, just because I like to have that cushion and because there may be some loose ends that need to be tied up in one or two subjects.

Some people, plan their whole schedule for school, and if they do year-round like I do, they may do three weeks of school and take a week off and rotate it like that. I don't lay out my whole schedule. I simply keep an attendance sheet that has the days counted and as I mark them off I know where we are. I simply take off when we want to, or sometimes we may need to like if there is a family emergency or something. We have that freedom. So I don't have a rigid schedule. I just make sure that I am counting and that we are staying on track that we won't be pressured in the last month to squeeze a bunch of days in.

Yes, there are those who still feel the desire or need to take the whole summer off and do. There's nothing wrong with that. That's what's so great about homeschooling. There are so many freedoms and opportunities that other children miss out on. I love the flexibility we have. It makes life easier and less stressful.

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

2009-06-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

General Douglas MacArther

The career of General Douglas MacArthur is unmatched by any military figure in the 20th century. Join Michael Farris, chairman and general counsel of Home School Legal Defense Association, as he talks about MacArthur’s upbringing, today on Home School Heartbeat.
Michael Farris:Douglas MacArthur was a general’s general. Born in 1880, he led men into combat in World War I, World War II, and the Korean Conflict. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, as well as many other decorations. He came by his military ability quite naturally since his father, Arthur MacArthur, Jr., was also awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor in the Civil War decades earlier.

In his younger years, Douglas MacArthur lived on a succession of army posts. A regular public school education was impossible, so his mother instructed him in reading, writing, and arithmetic. More importantly, she also instilled in him two principles that stayed with him throughout his life: first, to do what was right no matter what the personal sacrifice might be; and second, that our country must always come first. Through the example set by his father, and the books and teachings he received from his mother, Douglas learned about courage and heroism.

MacArthur went on to graduate from West Point with the third highest overall scores in the history of that institution. I pray that the perseverance of today’s homeschool parents will produce yet another generation of leaders who will guide our country back to the principles of honor and freedom held by such men as Douglas MacArthur.

An Incredible Planner

2009-06-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

If you want to make planning your homeschool year easier, I have found an incredible planner that will help you do just that. This planner is packed with calendar pages, lesson plan pages for daily, weekly, and monthly. It even has about two recipes for each month if you need a dinner idea. It includes some great lesson plan items that you could use to teach a whole lesson from or use as an aid to add to a lesson. It has a chart of the Latin and Greek roots of words, information on the planets in the solar system, a complete list of the Presidents and their First Ladies, Book lists, a place to keep record of books borrowed, curriculum used. It even includes a page for you to keep a list of books you read, videos you watch or activities you participate in to keep yourself refreshed and encouraged to continue teaching your child(ren)!

You've got to see it to believe it! I think it's more than worth it's money! It's from the Old Schoolhouse magazine and you can download it from any computer. I have a link on the sidebar where you can click to check it out and then to order it, if you choose.

I have mine and can't wait to use it!

End of the Year Evaluations and Evaluators

2009-06-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

We, as teachers, and our children, as students, work hard throughout our required 180 days to teach and learn what we choose and what is required. Most of us (that I know) even put in more than 180 days each year.

Therefore, when it comes time for the end-of-the-year evaluation, you're feeling, (at least I do), like you want someone to let you and your children know that it was worth it, that what you did was of interest to your evaluator and not just something to be glanced off and simply checked off on a check-off sheet. That's what our end-of-the-year evaluations have felt like for the past four years.

Our first two years, we had an evaluator who took her time looking at the portfolios that we presented to her. She took the time to get to know the boys and their strong points and interests. She made suggestions and gave us tips on things the boys may enjoy that would farther enhance those interests. In the end, however, she simply presented us with a check-off sheet that simply checked off that we had me the PA Homeschool requirements. But, we didn't feel too badly about it because of the interest she took in us otherwise.

Unfortunately, after those two years, that evaluator could no longer continue evaluating due to personal unexpected circumstances. So, we found another evaluator. However, this one did not even make sure that she had a slot for us each year. She teaches in a public school and she does homeschool evaluations at the end of each school year. She has a lot of clients and she continues to take on more without guaranteeing those already with her a slot for evaluation each year. She also charges quite a bit of money to simply glance through the portfolio and give you a check-off sheet. She does give advice, from a public school's viewpoint, making it worthless to me and a bit unnerving.

I had heard several horror stories from other people who have dealt with this evaluator as well. Too many people I knew, including me, just weren't happy with her, and it seemed to get worse every year. This year when I contacted her, she didn't even remember how many children I had.

Then a friend called who had just finished her first year homeschooling, and she had just had her first end-of-the-year evaluation. She could not have been happier with her evaluator. So, I got her evaluator's name and number from her, and I contacted this evaluator the next morning. She was even able to schedule me for this year, which I wasn't expecting, but was thrilled about.

So, I cancelled with the evaluator that I was unhappy with, and we went to the new one.

WHAT A BLESSING! She told me right from the beginning, "I am a homeschool mom too, and I am on your side, not the school district's side. No one knows your children better than you do, so I will trust what you tell me." She also told me that she keeps all of her records and she said she will even write the high school transcripts for me and help me figure out how many credits we complete each year. She spoke with both of the boys and asked them what they liked best about this year, what kind of books they like to read and what their favorite book is.

Then she said she would be typing up her letters and she would mail them to me. She doesn't just give a check-off sheet, and she doesn't cost as much as the last evaluator!

So, when it comes to evaluators, make sure you find one that you are comfortable with and that you feel you can trust and who will be willing to help you with any questions or concerns you may have. That will make your homeschooling years much easier and less stressful.

Homeschool Graduation

2009-06-16T19:16:00.001-07:00

I was blessed to be able to attend two homeschool graduation ceremonies this year. I had attended one a few years ago and it was very similar to one of the ceremonies that I attended this year.

Our area of Pennsylvania has a lot of homeschool families. We have a lot of homeschool groups available to us where we can find co-ops, field trips, special classes, support, etc. One of the things offered is a yearly High School Graduation Ceremony. I thought this was fabulous -- my boys won't miss out on the experience of a graduation ceremony! Yes, this particular ceremony is very much like any other High School Graduation. Of course a couple of things are different. It begins with a few contemporary Christian songs. A student (sometimes more than one) gives a speech. They had a mime team perform to a contemporary Christian song. They had a keynote speaker. We sang a couple more contemporary Christian songs and even a hymn or two. Then the parents present their child with their High School Diploma. The evening ended with a prayer and a benediction. It was a very nice ceremony. There were 89 graduates who participated. I thought of this was great, until...

We attended the second High School Graduation ceremony that we attended this year. One of the girls that is homeschooled and that goes to our church also graduated this year, but she did not want to participate in the large homeschool graduation ceremony. Her parents still wanted to give her accomplishments recognition, so they decided to have their own graduation ceremony and celebration and invite their closest friends and family members. We were blessed to be among the close friends invited. It was really special. Her sister played two hymns on her recorder. The pastor led the congregation in a hymn. Her friend played a song on the piano. Her dad spoke. Her grandfather read a passage from the Bible. She gave a speech. Her dad spoke again. The pastor led the congregation in another hymn and gave the benediction. It lasted about a half-hour but it was so personal and special. She had chosen all of the music herself.

Following the ceremony, they had cake and other goodies, followed by some English country dancing. She read the book Emma by Jane Austen this year, and I think they read Pride and Prejudice also by Jane Austen another year and became very interested in that time period. So, they did some research and learned some English country dances and we all joined in in celebration of Lindsay's graduation.

So, even graduation can be chosen as a homeschooler and can be a lot like everyone else's or something special.

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

2009-06-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Pearl S. Buck

In recent years, families on the mission field have increasingly turned to homeschooling in order to educate their children. Mike Farris, President of Home School Legal Defense Association, tells the story of one famous woman who was the product of home education on the mission field, today on Home School Heartbeat.

Michael Farris:Pearl S. Buck grew up on the mission field in China, and became a famous American author and winner of the 1932 Pulitzer Prize. A lively, precocious child, she pestered her mother with countless questions. Pearl's mother, realizing that her daughter needed a creative outlet, began her education at home. She especially focused on Pearl's skill for writing, and encouraged her to write something every week. At the age of 6, Pearl began writing for missionary magazines. Her writing was also published regularly by the Shanghai Mercury, an English newspaper that offered prizes for the best stories and articles written by children.

It was not surprising when Pearl decided as a young adult to become a novelist. She went on to write more than 65 books, plus hundreds of short stories and essays. She is best known for her books dealing sympathetically with life in China, including her widely acclaimed novel, The Good Earth. In 1938, Pearl S. Buck received the Nobel Prize for literature.

Although Pearl received her later education at various schools, her most significant years of academic training were spent at home. It was her mother who recognized her flair for writing and fostered her creative development. Pearl S. Buck is yet another example of the power of parent-directed education.

PA Homeschool Law

2009-06-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

Pennsylvania has the second most restrictive homeschool law in the United States; second only to New York. The law requires parents to submit a letter to inform their school district that they will be homeschooling their child(ren), whether the child has already been in public school or not. A child or children can only be homeschooled by a parent or legal guardian or a person who has a court order, signed by a judge, that gives that person guardianship over the child's education.

At the beginning of each school year, homeschool parents must submit a notarized affadavit to their school district informing them of their intent to homeschool, and it must name the supervisor of the homeschool and each child and their age. The first year the homeschool parents must also show proof of their own high school diploma.

At the beginning of each school year, they must also submit a list of objectives, which is a list of what they plan to accomplish in each subject during that school year.

By the end of each school year, homeschooling parents must also prove that the child(ren) are receiving appropriate dental and medical care -- there are particular requirements depending on the child(ren)'s grade level. They must also provide a copy of an Independent Evaluator's Report. This means that at the end of each school year, the homeschool parent must assemble a portfolio for each child they are homeschooling. In the portfolio, they must show something from each subject from the beginning, middle, and end of the school year to show the child's progress in each subject. They also have to have some type of record showing that their child completed 180 days of school (or 900 hours for elementary or 990 hours for high school). They have to take the portfolio and the record of days or hours and their child(ren) to a certified teacher who has been approved by their school district to perform end-of-the-year evaluations for homeschoolers. The evaluator will give you advice, help, suggestions, encouragement and approval of your homeschool. The evaluator will speak to your children and ask them questions about their homeschool year -- things like what they liked best about the year, what their favorite subject(s) is or are, what their least favorite subject is, if they did a special project that they want the evaluator to take notice of. Many evaluators will also ask elementary level students to read a paragraph or two aloud from a book. Then the evaluator will give the homeschool parent a copy of their report about their homeschool and the parent must submit this to the school district with the required medical forms.

Also, some school districts require homeschool parents to hand in their entire portfolio each and every school year. I am blessed because our school district only required that for the first two years.

Finally, homeschool students are required to take standardized testing in grades 3, 5, and 8 and the results of those tests are to be submitted by the end of that particular school year as well.

So, as you can see, those of us who homeschool in Pennsylvania have a lot of requirements to follow. I do not have too much difficulty following the requirements, but there are a few things that I find too restrictive and wish they would change. I know that HSLDA has tried to get things changed to make things a little easier for us but have had no success so far. I also know that there are some states that have no requirements other than that they must be notified when a family decides to begin homeschooling.

More Reasons I Homeschool

2009-06-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting conversation with some ladies on Sunday, that really got me to thinking. My friend, Christine, has her daughter in a Christian school, and she told me that her daughter is learning how to use the computer in school. But, she said, they aren't teaching her how to use the keyboard using all of her fingers. She is using just her two pointer fingers! I find this ridiculous! It is so much easier and quicker to use a keyboard when you are taught the typing skills -- using homekeys and learning where the keys are and which of your fingers go on what letter on the homekey row and what each finger can reach to type as well. It makes things quicker and easier because you don't even have to look at the keyboard if you know how to type this way.

Then, my friend, Mrs. Rabe, said that she doesn't think they even make spelling as important as it used to be because of all of the kids texting and misspelling things on purpose to shorten things for texting purposes, as well as the fact that on computers there is spell check.

Finally, my youngest son was in public school for three months several years ago, and they were teaching him to just write words however he felt they should be written if he didn't know how to spell them. This was completely unacceptable to me because he began to believe that his own misspellings were the correct spellings of commonly used words!

It amazes me how some public school teachers that I know have issues with what I'm doing but don't see anything wrong with things like those I listed above. All I know is that I want my boys to learn how to type using all of the keys on the keyboard and I want them to know how to spell correctly. If they cannot spell correctly, how will they be able to read things of importance. Also, if everyone just starts spelling things any way they want, what will happen to our communication?

Update on Jessica Hulcy

2009-06-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

Good news! Jessica Hulcy is improving. Her lungs are functioning and are almost completely healed. She is eating well on her own and no longer needs any type of feeding tube. Her thoughts are beginning to clear, but her mental capacity is a big concern right now because she has always been a very intelligent woman. She is going to begin physical therapy.

Please continue to pray for her mental healing. Also pray for her as she begins physical therapy. Finally, continue to pray for the family as they are dealing with their concern for her and taking turns staying at the hospital.

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

2009-06-04T15:12:00.000-07:00

I am sorry if I missed posting a famous homeschooler last week. I almost forgot it this week as well, but here it is, your famous homeschooler for this week is:

Patrick Henry

Did you know that many of the men involved in founding our country were the product of at least some home education by their parents?

His most famous words are "Give me liberty or give me death!" Patrick Henry, one of the great leaders of the American Revolution, was willing to die for his beliefs. He used his legendary speaking abilities to persuade others to fight for their God-given freedoms.

Patrick Henry was raised by godly parents who assumed the responsibility for his education. At first, Colonel John Henry sent his son to a common English school. But when Patrick was 10, Colonel Henry pulled him out of school and began to teach him at home. Colonel Henry taught his son enough Latin to read the great Roman classics with ease the rest of his life.

Patrick's parents gave him religious training as well. On the way home from church, his mother would have Patrick recite the text and summarize the sermon. The Henrys attended the church of Samuel Davies, a fiery preacher who fought for religious liberty in early America. Davies' eloquence and theology helped shape the thinking and oratory of young Patrick Henry.

The academic and religious training he received from his parents helped him become a successful lawyer, a leader of the Revolution, the governor of Virginia, and a staunch defender of religious liberty.

Jessica Hulcy Update

2009-06-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord! Jessica Hulcy is out of ICU. She is improving and is able to eat solid food. She is still quite confused and her family is asking for prayers for continued healing and for a clear head for Jessica. She really wants to go home, but is facing a slow process to recovery. Currently they are searching for the right rehabilitation center to send her to. Please keep praying. God is faithful!

A Teacher Who Sought Out Answers

2009-06-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

I received a link to this in an email. The link is to a website called CollegePlus. I thought it was worth sharing.

A Teacher Learns the Truth About Education
by Lauren Bleser

In 2002, I graduated with my Master’s degree as a reading specialist after having finished a teaching degree from the State University of New York at Oneonta. I was fast on my way to a full and busy career in the public school system when I was caught off guard by a homeschooling parent who asked if I could explain God’s mind on education. I had never really considered that before, always taking it for granted that we simply go through the system, memorize the information required, and graduate. This challenging question led me on a quest that changed the course of my life.

Questioning the System
What is a real education? After studying it out, I have come to believe that education involves the whole child, not just the mind. It includes character growth, personal disciplines, and manners. Considering each child’s unique talents, interests, natural capacities, strengths and abilities, the end result of education is that they would become effective tools in God’s kingdom. Scripture offers clarity in this regard:

Deuteronomy 6:7 "And thou shalt teach them (God’s commandments) diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

According to the Scriptures, education is primarily the parents’ responsibility and is to be a natural part of everyday life. Education is accomplished through a meaningful trusting relationship. Education is discipleship.
I realized that I had blindly accepted a limited view of education, simply associating it with an academic pursuit of knowledge. Academic instruction, however, is only a small part of God’s plan—a means to an end, not the end in itself.

The Frightening Truth
So where did these distorted ideas come from? Studying the history of compulsory public schooling in America confronted me with ideas that challenged my own “education.” I uncovered disturbing facts about schools, business, government, and politics. All of it related to what was happening in the public school system.
Surprisingly, the National Education Association understands that education cannot be neutral, that ideas do in fact have consequences. They were working hard to train educators to go beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic, but to shape children’s core values as well. The “experts” have been using schooling and teachers as cultural change agents. This quote from Joyce Elmer Morgan, former editor of the Journal of the National Education Association, encapsulates their agenda the best:

“In the struggle to establish an adequate world government, the teacher can do much to prepare the hearts and minds of children for global understanding and cooperation. At the very top of all the agencies which will assure the coming of world government must stand the school, the teacher, and the organized profession.”

For decades now, they have endeavored to strip away the belief in absolutes and biblical morals and usher generations of students into a relativistic secular society. “Values Clarification” has become required as part of the regular state standards. Children were increasingly being expected to use newly taught problem-solving techniques to make moral decisions based on situational ethics and group consensus.
SAT tests, Goals 2000 and No Child Left Behind have introduced specific subjective / feelings-based / moral educational requirements and subsequent consequences for not meeting those standards, using new programs with labels like “Outcomes Based Education.” These alleged reforms have given them power to effectively implement new physiological approaches to their moral instruction. Even sincere public school teachers have unwittingly acted as pawns to destructively mold the next generation.

Taking Action
Knowing that I myself could not make such compromises, I decided to teach at a Christian school instead. Although I greatly appreciated being allowed to teach freely from the Bible, and even having a smaller group of students and increased parental support, the classroom setting still proved to be less than ideal for the children, both academically and spiritually.
Additionally, the emphasis on grades has changed the basis of their self-affirmation from internal character to external performance. This naturally led to comparisons and labeling among one another. In order to establish better rank in the pecking order that schools naturally created, many students at my school began to exhibit foolish behavior for attention.
They adapted their personalities to fit into cliques; they grew more peer dependent, and learned to compromise character to increase their popularity, gain approval, and obtain a false sense of importance. All of this distracted them from the very essence of real education – the development of their minds and characters.

Stepping Outside the Box
The classroom setting works directly against God’s design for a child’s personal growth. Effective education involves more than just providing the content, but also providing a healthy context for learning. Education is not a one-size-fits-all package, but must be tailored to the student’s unique multi-faceted nature, reaching beyond the intellect to the heart.
This is best accomplished in the security of family, in response to the parents’ nurturing investment and discipline, and without all the distractions of peers. Only when character and discipline are established is it safe to expand the walls of education.

Lauren Bleser is from upstate New York. She has her BS in Elementary Education with a minor in Special Education, and a MS as a reading specialist. She is currently a medical transcriptionist, and also a part-time private tutor for homeschool families. Lauren teaches creative writing workshops for both children and homeschool parents, along with workshops about teaching techniques for the struggling learner. Lauren is currently working on a literature-based creative writing curriculum.

A Prayer Request

2009-06-02T04:24:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my last post about Konos curriculum for the Unit Study approach. The lady who created Konos was involved in a serious automobile accident on Memorial Day and needs your prayers. Her name is Jessica Hulcy and she is in the trauma unit in a hospital in Texas. Please pray for her and her family. Both of her lungs had collapsed and she has many broken bones. Last report she had regained full use of one lung and was still having some difficulty with the other one.

Philosophies, Styles, and Methods

2009-05-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

Charlotte Mason: Based on a method introduced by nineteenth-centure educator Charlotte Mason, this approach includes nature studies, journaling, narration, and living books.

Classical: Based on Dorothy Sayers' The Lost Tools of Learning, in which child development is broken up into three "stages" of learning commonly called "the Trivium".

Delight Directed: This puts the learning in the hands of the child based on his or her interests. Parents help facilitate this type of learning with appropriate instructional materials.

Eclectic: A mix of philosophies and curricula to accommodate each child's abilities and interests. Parents choose from any method or style only those components that fit their specific needs.

The Principle Approach: An approach based on the principles of our Founding Fathers and an emphasis on God's Word as the basis for every subject.

Tratitional Textbook: Normally uses a full-range, packaged, textbook type curriculum that also may include a scope and sequence, testing, and recordkeeping.

Unit Studies: All or most core subjects are covered while studying any one topic or unit of study, using a variety of resources and supplemental activities.

Unschooling: A relaxed setting where learning is directed by the child. Parts of this philosophy are based on research by John Taylor Gatto and John Holt.

(These descriptions are from the Spring 2009 issue of "The Old Schoolhouse" magazine)

As you prepare to begin homeschooling, you will need to decide which of these approaches you would like to try. You may find that the first one you try really doesn't work for your or your children, and you may need to try another. You may have to try a few until you find the one that really fits, or you may need to change as your children get older.

As I have mentioned, we have homeschooled for six years now. Our first year, we used the Unit Studies approach. It seemed to me the easiest way to teach more than one child of different ages. So, we tried Konos curriculum. We liked the curriculum as far as we really enjoyed studying the subject matter -- medieval times with knights and horses and the topic of "light". However, I felt that I had to really gear quite a bit of the activities down for my younger son or too many things went over his head. We finished the curriculum early because some of the activities were way to much work for me to accomplish and we skipped those activities.

Then, I created my own unit study with the knowledge that I had from using Konos and with the help of a book I read about creating your own unit studies. I let the boys choose a topic. They chose China and we went to the library and checked out books about China. We checked out a book on Tienamen Square, we read a great historical fiction book called The Kite Flyer, and we read a book on Confuscious. We looked at China on a map and read about it in our atlas. We listened to Chinese music. We found a Chinese cookbook in the children's reference section and checked it our and made a Chinese meal. I gave the boys vocabulary words from the things we read and assigned them writing assignments based on things we read as well. We even found a video at the library about the Chinese New Year. We watched it and on the video they gave directions for an art project -- making your own dragon using an egg carton and popsicle sticks and construction paper and sequins. I think we enjoyed our unit study on China even more than we enjoyed the Konos curriculum and because we used the library it was considerably cheaper. I didn't spend anything on the books or the video we used. The only things I needed to buy were the ingredients for the Chinese meal and some of the supplies for the art project.

So, if money is an issue, Unit Studies work great and you can really utilize your library. I'm sure that you can utilize your library for other homeschool styles as well.

For the two years after that we used the Eclectic style and we selected different subjects from different curricula.

For the past three years, we have been using the Charlotte Mason approach. We love books! That is why this approach works for us so well. We read a lot of books for history and science, not boring old textbooks, but what are considered living books. Books that tell stories and some of the characters may be fictitious but the time period and the facts and places of the time period are real history.

So, you see, you may need to try different approaches until you find the one that best fits you and your children. But, one thing I would really like to say is Don't Let Your First Year overwhelm or discourage you. It gets easier with each year, especially if you join a group and get to know other homeschool parents because you can learn from them and find support from them. It also helps to listen to your children. We study what the children are most interested in for the most part. I just make sure we cover all of the subjects that we need to cover.

How to Begin Homeschooling

2009-05-19T17:38:00.000-07:00

This is our final week of school for the 2008-2009 school year. We don't take off the entire summer, but we will take at least three whole weeks off before we begin again, and then we will take several breaks throughout the summer before getting really in depth in our studies at the end of August again.

But, while we are finishing, I know there are many people who are considering it and may not know what to do or where to find resources and things. So, here are a few tips for beginning that I found in my Spring 2009 issue of the "Old Schoolhouse" magazine.

Discuss With Your Spouse: Educating your child(ren) at home is a huge decision
and should be one that is made with your spouse. Do not begin unless you are
in agreement about this decision. You will need the support of your spouse not
only at the beginning, but also throughout the year(s).

Research Your State's Homeschhol Laws: Be fully aware of your state's
requirements before you begin and especially before you take a child or
children out of public school. Each state's legal requirements can be found
on the www.HomeschoolLegal.com website.

Research Styles of Home Education: There is no one right way to educate
your child(ren) at home; however, there are many differing philosophies
you may want to consider. (I will give more information on styles in a
future post)

Find Support: After finding your style of choice (or a mix of more than
one choice), you may want to choose a support group that reflects that
specific style or just a general homeschool support group in your area.
Meeting with other home educators offers encouragement as well as
knowledge and assistance with your homeschool questions. Often,
organized classes or activities for your child(ren) are offered through
support groups as well. For information about homeschool support
groups in your area, check these listings:
www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com/Homeschool_Nations/State_Listings.php
and www.HomeschoolLegal.com

Gather Resources: Some families start with a complete curriculum package,
while others start with a notebook and a library card. Choosing your resources
depends on your style or method of eduation and your own interests. If you
are financially burdened, there are free homeschooling resources on the web,
as well as discounted, used books in abundance.

You Can Do This! Parents around the world are taking back their God-given
responsibility to educate their children, and you can too. The Old Schoolhouse has
developed two downloads to help you get started:

"Homeschool With Confidence"
www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com/HomeschoolWithConfidence.pdf

"Simple Recipes for Successful Homeschooling"
www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com/How_To_Homeschool/tosbrochure.pdf

In a later post, I will also talk about the different types of curriculums out there.

A Wake Up Call

2009-05-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

Ken Ham and Anthony

Wake Up Christians, Wake Up Church, and Wake Up America!

Last night my husband, oldest son and I went to see Ken Ham at a benefit banquet for the Associates for Biblical Research (ABR). I had heard a lot about Mr. Ham but had never seen him or heard him speak. Mr. Ham encouraged us to support ABR. He said that he doesn't usually lend his open support to other organizations, (Mr. Ham is the founder of the Answers in Genesis organization and the Creation Museum in Ohio), but that he has found that ABR stands for the same things that his organization stands for.

Mr. Ham gave a wonderful talk. His message was titled "Understanding the loss of Biblical Authority in church and the culture and its connection to attacks and compromise on the book of Genesis". It was powerful and I left feeling a fire burning within me to inform people of what I learned in his message.

He shared that the U.S. is becoming less Christian even though we currently have more Christian resources than ever before.

He also shared how President Obama made a statement, that, though sad, seems to be quite true of our nation and that is: "The present, in this sense, is less about the death of one God, it is more about the birth of many gods."

Mr. Ham pointed out that our culture has gone from a Jewish (believing in one God) culture to a Greek (believing in many gods) culture. He said that we need to "de-Greek-ize" our culture. He shared the Seven C's of History: Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, and Consummation. He referred to Genesis chapters 1 through 11 many times throughout the evening.

He shared that from the beginning of time, there has been an attack on God's word. It is what the serpent used in the garden with Eve, when he said to her, "You will not surely die?" (Genesis 3:4) After Eve had told the serpent that "God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die'." So, here the serpent was attacking God's word, which is what scientists, atheists, and others have been doing in our culture ever since.

Mr. Ham shared that our culture likes to say that they have succeeded in taking "religion" out of the schools. "However," Mr. Ham states, "they did not take "religion" out of the schools. They took "Christianity" out of the schools and they have replaced it with atheism.

He has a new book that is to be released soon, entitled Already Gone. It explains and shows research regarding how the students in public schools are "already gone" spiritually. Even if they attend church, they are not really present mentally or spiritually. Research shows that public school students begin to question the Bible and its truth in elementary school and the number grows in junior and senior high school. Mr. Ham reported that 90% of Christians have their children in public schools and he hinted that it is not the right place for them. He also mentioned about the Bible saying that parents are responsible for what their children are taught.

The research also shows that adults who attended Sunday school regularly believed less in the truth of the Bible than those who only attended Sunday school occasionally. Mr. Ham explained that the reason for this is because our Sunday school classes are being taught by volunteers, who may not have enough Biblical training or knowledge to be teaching Sunday school, and when students ask questions, their Sunday school teachers are unable to answer the questions.

Mr. Ham also explained how, in Sunday school classes, children are taught Bible stories. And, he explained that the word story means "fairy tale". Therefore, children grow up thinking that all the Bible stories, are simply just nice stories, but aren't really true. Mr. Ham suggests that Sunday school lessons be referred to as Bible History Lessons instead of Bible stories since that is truly what they are.

Mr. Ham said that the problem in our culture/country today is that we have turned our backs on God's authority and that we need to get back to God's authority. He said the solution to the problem is found in Isaiah 58:12: "Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings." Mr. Ham said that we have to start at the foundation and work our way up because our culture did not change from the top down. It began with an attack on the foundation and that is where we must begin to rebuild.

I would like to just say that I have seen many young people who are "already gone". It was quite apparent in a junior high girls' Sunday school class that I was trying to reach for Christ and to teach the truth of God's word to. They didn't want to hear it. They complained that it was boring. They argued that they had heard other things in school or from other people. They already did not believe. These were junior high girls who were attending public school, where they are taught things like humanism, atheism, and relative morality.

This is a big reason that we homeschool.
We want our children to believe in God's word and in our Lord Jesus Christ. We want our children to know the truth of God’s word and to hold the same beliefs that we do. I seriously urge all Christians to seriously look at what is really going on in the public schools and, if you plan on keeping your children there, get active on the school board and speak up. There is also the option of Christian schools. I know that they are expensive. Of course, my strongest recommendation is to homeschool because then you are being obedient to God’s word: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

Yes, homeschooling is a big commitment and requires self-discipline. It also takes a certain amount of sacrifice. But, aren’t your children worth it? It’s really not that difficult or that expensive to homeschool and the benefits are huge.

I would just like to end this post with what Ken Ham said: "We need to get back to the authority of God's word."

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

2009-05-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

I know that this young man is not famous. You probably haven't heard of him. However, his story is one worth sharing.

Soaring to New Heights
by Cherise Ryan

Flying runs in the family of Cadet Will Flathers, 22. His grandfather was a decorated B-17 pilot in World War II and his father is an airline pilot.

“When I was looking at colleges, I was mainly interested in ones that offered Air Force ROTC,” said Will, a homeschool graduate. Also enjoying hiking, shooting, and camping, Will settled on the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) for his higher education. “I figured that VMI would give me the best of both worlds. I could do the army thing at school for four years and still get to be an air force officer,” he said.

Will’s drive and excellence at VMI went beyond getting him into the air force, however, when in late 2007 he became the first VMI cadet to receive the British Marshall Scholarship (named after VMI’s famous graduate General George Marshall).

The Marshall Scholarship was established in 1953 by the British Parliament to express the gratitude of the British people to America for the Marshall Plan. The program stresses keen intellect, a broad outlook, and is awarded to 40 young Americans each year to finance two years of study at any graduate school in the United Kingdom.

“As could be expected, the competition is fairly stiff,” Will explained. Approximately 1,000 people were nominated for the scholarship this past year alone.

Will started his application in April 2007 (going through 10 drafts), submitted it in October, and was interviewed in November. Interview questions can be anything from “What would you say to Hillary Clinton if you had two minutes to speak to her privately?” to “What do you think is the role of post-Cold War NATO?” Will said one of his interviewers began with, “‘I’m probably your worst nightmare… .’”

Raised in Rixeyville, Virginia, Will is the second of five homeschooled children. He was homeschooled since 3rd grade and grew up on a historic farm that added adventure and education to his homeschooling experience. “Every time the veterinarian came to look at the animals, it turned into a science lesson,” he recalled.

“Homeschooling prepared me well [for VMI] because I was used to studying on my own,” Will said. “A lot of my peers had a hard time adjusting from the high school mentality of ‘learn everything in class’ to the college model of ‘learn the highlights in class, everything else on your own.’ Getting off on the right foot is what set me up to be competitive for the Marshall Scholarship in the first place.”

Will plans to use the Marshall Scholarship to study at the University of Sheffield in England after he graduates from VMI. “When I got into my undergraduate research projects at VMI, I found that I really enjoyed engineering as an art and science. I wanted to take the next step and get a master’s, and I wanted to focus on avionics (the electronics inside airplanes),” he said. The University of Sheffield has been doing work in that area so the Marshall Scholarship was a perfect fit.

After graduating from VMI in May 2008, Will will commission as a second lieutenant in the air force with his first assignment at the University of Sheffield. Afterward, he plans to attend pilot training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas.

“My two biggest passions (as far as careers go) are flying and engineering,” he said. “I would like to combine them someday as a test pilot. Eventually I would like to get out of the military and just be a civilian.” He said he may return to farming when all is said and done. “We’ll see where God leads.”

Your Support is Imperative!

2009-05-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend's CHAP Homeschool Convention in Harrisburg, PA was wonderful, as usual. They always bring such wonderful speakers who encourage, inspire, inform and support what we do.

There were two matters of the utmost importance this year. The first one applies to ALL parents. Our government is considering a bill called the "Convention on the Rights of the Child". It would give children the same rights as adults without the responsibility. They would have the freedom of expression; freedom of access to media; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom of association; the right to privacy; the right to health care; they would receive a compulsory U.N. (United Nations) approved education; and the right to leisure. These freedoms and rights would be upheld even against what parents think would be in the best interests of their child(ren). In other words, your children, or anyone they would enlist for aid that would be in agreement with them, would be able to sue you for any decision that you have made in regards to your child's life that you thought in their best interests, simply because they disagree or think it unfair. The court's decision would be completely up to the judge hearing the case who would base his/her decision based on his/her own beliefs.

Thankfully, Mr. Mike Farris, a prominent lawyer, who founded the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, has written the "Parental Rights Ammendment". He and others are working hard to try to introduce this into the government. This ammendment would make parental rights explicit in the text of the Constitution.

If this concerns you as much as it concerns me, here are some things that you can do:

Sign the petition by going to http://www.parentalrights.org
While you are there, click on "Join the Fight"
Donate what you can to help

I'll address the other issue tomorrow.

One Year Ends and We Plan the Next One

2009-05-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to go to the Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania's (CHAP) convention this weekend. Technically, I wouldn't have to go, because the curriculum we use has to be mail ordered, and I know several people who do not go to this convention. However, I have found that I NEED to go to the convention each year because it helps to revive me and get me geared up for the next year.

People come from surrounding states to attend this convention, which takes place in Harrisburg, PA. There are many guest speakers who hold seminars throughout the two day convention. These sessions are great and very helpful. They have something for everyone in every aspect of homeschooling. They have seminars for those who are just beginning their homeschool journey, seminars for people who are teaching their children who have special needs, seminars about what is going on in the political and legal arena in regards to homeschooling, seminars on homeschooling through high school, seminars on how to prepare for college and what college path is the right one for your child(ren), and seminars about history, disciplining children, etc. all according to God's word. If you attend some seminars it is easy to be rejuvenated and re-exhilarated for the coming school year.

Then there's the huge room filled with stands of vendors with all of their resources. There are hundreds of them. It can be very overwhelming to the newbies, but it is so much fun for those of us who've been doing it for a while. We plan and put money away for months in preparation for this. I will be there all day Friday and Saturday, and each and every year I find that I know more and more people who attend. It's exciting and pleasing to see the hundreds, maybe a thousand or more, who come to participate.

Who knows, if you're a homeschooler, maybe I'll see you there.

No College Degree? How Can You Teach Your Child Through All Grades?

2009-05-04T17:40:00.000-07:00

I have heard these questions so many times and felt it was time to respond. First of all, I don't understand why this is so hard to understand? The people who go to college for teaching are not really learning EVERYTHING in EVERY SUBJECT. They each have their weak subjects just like the rest of us. Also, they spend more time learning how to manage a classroom FULL of students.

I only have my children to teach -- not a classroom full of students. Therefore, my children receive A LOT MORE INDIVIDUAL, PERSONAL ATTENTION. If any of my children struggle with anything I can give them aid and time to learn it or I may become aware that they may need something more. My youngest son had two years of speech classes and later, a year and a half of Vision Therapy. Had he been in a public or private school, he most likely would have been mis-diagnosed and would have been medicated instead of receiving the vision therapy. Many people do not know much about vision therapy yet. It is not related to "eyesight". It has to do with how the two eyes work together. If both eyes do not work together as they should, it can cause printing on a page in a book to go in and out of focus or to look like they are moving. It may cause other issues as well, and it affects the child's behavior due to their frustration or headaches, and they are unable to tell what the problem is because they don't know it's not normal for their eyes to do whatever they are doing that is causing the problem.

Also, no one knows my children as well as my husband and I do. I know their strenghths, weaknesses and interests. I can allow them to pursue their interests mor in depth than they would be able in a public or private school setting. I can let them work ahead in the things they excel in and give them the extra time and aid they need in the things that are more difficult and challenging for them.

Most importantly, my husband and I can teach them our morals, Christian beliefs and lifestyle and know that they will not be constantly exposed to morals, beliefs and lifestyles that we do not agree or approve with. We do not hide them in a closet or away from the world. They have plenty of interaction with others in church, in the community and in sports programs, but we get to choose what to expose them to and when it is appropriate to do so. We also get to decide how to present the information.

Finally, we are also not just given complete freedom in our homeschooling. We are held accountable. Here in the state of Pennsylvania, we have some of the most stringent homeschool laws in the United States. We must report to our local school district annually, and we must have a certified school teacher evaluate our children's progress at the end of each school year. We go to see our evaluator once a year and must present him/her with samples of our children's work from beginning, middle and end of the year to show their progress. We must also present the evaluator with a log showing that we completed at least 180 days of schooling. (We do not get to log less, even for illness). Our evaluator also talks to the children and asks them questions about things that she sees that they have studied over the year.

So, we are not just homeschooling and flying by the seat of our pants, and our children receive a good education. I will show more evidence of this in future posts, one such example is my weekly post of "Famous Homeschoolers".

Our Homeschool Story

2009-05-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

We are a family of born again believers in Christ and we try our very best to live according to God's word -- the Bible. We knew right from the start that we did not want to put our children in public school. When our oldest came to live with us under foster care until his adoption went through for us, we could not even consider homeschooling -- foster care rules didn't allow it. They also told us that Anthony HAD to go to preschool.

He began in an I.U. preschool class because of the issues that he was struggling with. He was very impulsive and had a lot of anger issues. His I.U. experience was really good. His I.U. teacher was wonderful! She kept constant contact with us by sending a notebook back and forth on a daily basis so that she could let us know how he had done in school and we could let her know about things that happened at home. With her love and support, as well as ours, Anthony made tremendous progress and after being in her preschool class for almost two years, he was ready to go into a regular classroom setting. We, however, wanted to see how well he would do in an environment that had a larger group of children and he would receive less attention, so we decided to have him do one more year of preschool instead of putting him into kindergarten.

He did very well in his regular preschool setting and had another good teacher, so we decided as long as he was doing well in the Christian School that was associated with our church, we would keep him there. His adoption went through right before he began kindergarten and he had settled down so much, now that he felt secure in his home. He did fairly well in kindergarten.

Nicholas came to live with us during Anthony's 1st grade year, and we put Nicholas into a preschool class at the Christian school. This turned out not to be a good year for either of the boys.

Anthony's first grade teacher kept coming to me and complaining about Anthony's behavior. Then, one night while Anthony was doing his homework, he complained to me about having to do it because "it was stupid -- it was too easy"! I called and asked for a meeting with the principal shortly thereafter. I explained that I thought that the 1st grade work was too easy for Anthony. I explained how we had held him in preschool an extra year, more for emotional and maturity and behavioral issues than anything, because he had always been quite bright academically. The principal said that she would talk to his teacher and get back to me.

When the principal called me for a follow-up meeting, she said that Anthony's first grade teacher agreed with me. She said that whenever she would hand out a worksheet to do, she would tell the students not to begin the worksheet until she went over the directions. She said that by the time she returned to the front of the classroom to go over the directions, Anthony had comleted the sheet and usually had ALL of the answers correct. The principal had also spoken with the teacher that Anthony had had for kindergarten, and she, too, felt that Anthony had been advanced in her kindergarten class the year before.

Therefore, the principal told me that she would move him to the second grade and after a month or so, re-evaluate the situation, with the stipulation that I work with him at home on math because that would be the one place that may pose a problem due to skipping some of the concepts that were learned in first grade. This was just one month after school had begun! Anthony did very well in the second grade class and was caught up in math in no time; but, when we hit about mid-year, Anthony began having problems again.

Now, his second grade teacher kept coming to me complaining about Anthony's behaviors. I gave her suggestions on how to deal with him, and she never put any of my suggestions into motion. She kept asking me if I thought Anthony might have ADHD, which really made me angry because I feel that they label way too many children with ADHD simply because they don't want to spend the time and energy on the active boys, or they miss something that is another issue altogther, not to mention the fact that Anthony had been tested for ADHD just two years before this and was not diagnosed.

Anthony's second grade teacher then decided to handle his behavior by separating him from the rest of the class. In the beginning, she would move his desk to the back of the room and explain to him that if his behaviors improved, she would move him back with the rest of the group after two days or so. After a while, she moved him to the back of the class and left him there and gave him no more chances to return to the rest of the group. This infuriated me because I knew the problem was that he was bored again, and she didn't try giving him any extra work or anything, but instead, treated him like an outcast, and I became worried about what it would do to his self-esteem. I felt that she was sending him a message that said he was a bad kid. He had also complained that his teacher liked the girls in the class better than the boys. This was also apparent to me. I worked in the lunchroom at the school during this school year, so I was present enough to have a good idea of what was going on.

While all of this was going on with Anthony, Nicholas was also having problems in preschool. He was getting speech with an I.U. worker once a week and he had an I. U. worker who came into his preschool class once a week to observe him and help him learn how to handle some of his behaviors. However, Nicholas was even sent to the principal one day -- in preschool!

I had been praying throughout all of this that God would help our boys with their behaviors and the teachers with their patience so that they would have better days at school. However, God had another plan. One night, I was awakened in the middle of the night and felt God impressing upon me that I should homeschool. I spoke with my husband about it the next day. He said that he thought I should start researching it and see what I could find out about it.

We knew a lady who was homeschooling at the time, but she was not someone we knew real well and we hadn't seen her in quite some time, so I didn't know how she'd react to my wanting to ask her a bunch of stuff about homeschooling. I sent her a note in the mail explaining that we were thinking about it and asking if she could give me some information. She called me on the phone in less than a week and was thrilled to be able to give me information. She invited me to her house, where she lent me several books about homeschooling, gave me a list of websites and talked about her homeschooling experience. She even invited me to go with her to the huge homeschool convention that is held in a city about a 45-minute's drive away.

Then, the last straw at the Christian school happened. I went to pick Anthony up one afternoon and found him with scratches all over his face! When I asked him what happened he told me that when they were out at recess, one of the kindergarten boys had jumped up on his back and started clawing at his face! He said that the two teachers were so busy talking to one another that they did not see this happen. He said that one of his classmates saw it and tried to help get the boy off of Anthony's back but the boy on Anthony's back punched that boy in the stomach. Finally, Anthony managed to wrench the boy off of his back and the boy landed on his bottom on the ground. Of course, that was the moment the teachers noticed and punished Anthony.

When I questioned the teacher, she said she really didn't know what happened because she hadn't seen it. The next day, however, the kindergarten teacher asked me if Anthony's teacher had given me a written report about the incident. When I said "no", the kindergarten teacher said that his teacher was supposed to, and she said that she had seen what happened. I never did receive a written report about the incident. As a matter of fact, I heard nothing more about it.

Then, I went to the CHAP Homeschool Convention in Harrisburg with the lady who had invited me. I loved it and was overwhelmed by it. I never realized how many resources were available to homeschoolers. I also never realized how many people were doing it. There were people from many of our surrounding states in attendance!

Then, during the summer, the boys were taking swimming lessons at our local public pool and I sat outside the fence watching and waiting for them to finish. One day a lady sat down beside me and we struck up a conversation. It turned out that she was a homeschool mom and she provided me with more information about homeschooling in our area, and she told me about a local homeschool group that offered a weekly co-op, field trips and sports.

So, God just kept leading and opening doors to homeschooling and we began homeschooling that very next school year and have been homeschooling ever since. It is wonderful for my boys! One of the best things about it is that they can work at their own pace. So, Anthony, who loves learning and soaks things up like a sponge can just keep moving. He is extremely self-motivated. Nicholas who doesn't have much of an interest in school and really doesn't like writing all that much can take as much extra time as he needs to understand each writing concept and the grammar. They can also delve much deeper into a subject that they take a particular interest in, instead of just touching the tip of the iceberg as they do in public and private school systems.

We have been homeschooling for six years now and have no intention of ever schooling any other way. The flexibility and opportunities that it offers are also so wonderful. I will go into more detail in other posts about the co-ops, flexibility and opportunities, as well as many other aspects of homeschooling.

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

2009-04-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

I mentioned on my sidebar that one of the things I hope this blog will do will be to educate people who may not know about, or who are not in favor of homeschooling without knowing much about it. I have had many people ask me a lot of questions about homeschooling. Most of the people who have asked have been genuinely curious or interested. However, I have also encountered some people who strongly disagree with homeschooling, and I have noticed that most of the ones who speak against it so strongly don't really know anything about it. I have also noticed, (in my experiences), that these same people who speak so strongly against it are not born again believers in Christ who try to live their lives according to God's word the Bible, as all of the homeschoolers, that I personally know, are.

Therefore, I have decided to provide some information on past famous people who were homeschooled or on a recent homeschooler whom I have found information on due to the accomplishment(s) he or she has made once each week. I found this information on the website of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. They have a radio program called "Homeschool Heartbeat" and the transcriptions are posted on their website. They are usually hosted by Mike Farris.

The first Famous Homeschooler I would like to share is:

ANSEL ADAMS

Many parents choose to homeschool because public or private schools have failed to meet the needs of their children. Today on Home School Heartbeat, host Mike Farris tells the story of one family who decided to homeschool their now-famous son because traditional schools could not provide the education he needed to develop his talents.

Ansel Adams, born in 1902, was an extremely active, creative child. When he was placed in traditional school, that active nature led to trouble almost from the beginning. He simply could not sit still in the classroom when there was an outdoors to explore.

After Ansel's expulsion from various schools, both public and private, his father decided to teach his son himself. One year, his school consisted of a year's pass to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, where he took in art, architecture, music, and other achievements of civilization.

The world remembers Ansel Adams for giving us the most dramatic landscape photographs of the century. In his autobiography, Adams says:

I often wonder at the strength and courage my father had in taking me out of the traditional school situation and providing me with these extraordinary learning experiences. I am certain he established the positive direction of my life that otherwise, given my native hyperactivity, could have been confused and catastrophic. I trace who I am and the direction of my development to those years of growing up in our house on the dunes, propelled especially by an internal spark tenderly kept alive and glowing by my father.

Parents know their children better than any teacher ever could.

Field Trip

2009-04-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

Today we went on a field trip. We visited Dove Song Dairy. It's an organic goat farm. They sell raw goat's milk, goat cheese, soap, and a couple of other products. Below is a photo of a Mama goat. She just had twins last week.
Below are her twins.

We saw a whole barnful of goats from very young kids, to

slightly older kids, to almost grown kids to adult goats.

This little kid liked to suck on Anthony's finger.

While all the other kids were trying to climb all over us

and eat our clothes, this little one stood alone and just

watched it all.

This kid had a mouthful of my shirt.

This kid was curious about my camera.

One of the kids on the left had a good hold of Nick's jeans.

We each got to hold a little kid, if we wanted to, and of course,

I took photos.

I even got my picture taking holding this cute little kid.

Homeschool Research

2009-04-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

So many people seem to be against homeschooling but don't really know much about it. I have encountered people asking things like: What about your child's socialization? How can you teach your child through all his schooling years, especially if you've never gone to college? And, now that my oldest has reached the high school years: Aren't you ever going to put him in school?

I will explain our reasons for homeschooling in another post, but I would like to begin by providing a link to the National Home Education Research Institute. Just click on the title of the Institute in this post and it will take you to the website where you can view more information on the research findings.

*Dr. Brian Ray, a leading researcher of home education, has taught students in both public and private schools, and universities (from elementary through graduate levels), and is himself a homeschooling father of eight children. He holds his Ph.D. in science education from Oregon State University, and is the author of several books, including Worldwide Guide to Homeschooing, and Home Educated and Now Adults. The latter is based on an extensive survey of over 7,000 homeschool graduates who responded to this enlightening study.

*I took this information from a pamphlet that highlights some of the facts from his book, Home Educated and Now Adults.

Homeschool View

Brain Gym

What About Graduation?

A Homeschool Graduation

At Home Rap

The New School Year Begins

End of One Year; Beginning of the Next

Last Field Trip of the Year

Teaching Boys and Other Children Who Would Rather Make Forts All Day

CHAP Homeschool Convention 2010

Speech and Debate

Applied Engineering

Regarding the Homeschool Lifestyle

Homeschool Sports Opportunities

Co-Op

Are Grades Important?

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

Common Questions about Homeschooling

More Common Questions about Homeschooling

Our Field Trip to our local Farm Show and Fair

More Common Questions about Homeschooling

Inspiration

More Common Questions about Homeschooling

Back from M.I.A.

More Common Questions about Homeschooling

Common Questions about Homeschooling

Simple Recipes for Successful Homeschooling

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

Our First Day of Co-Op

More Freebies

Homeschool Freebies

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

Homeschooling Questions You Should Ask Part 3

Homeschooling Questions You Should Ask Part 2

I Am Still Posting Here

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

Curriculum Ideas

An Unschooling Homeschool Day

Our First Week of School

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

Ready for the New Year?

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

An Incredible Planner

End of the Year Evaluations and Evaluators

Homeschool Graduation

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

PA Homeschool Law

More Reasons I Homeschool

Update on Jessica Hulcy

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

Jessica Hulcy Update

A Teacher Who Sought Out Answers

A Prayer Request

Philosophies, Styles, and Methods

How to Begin Homeschooling

A Wake Up Call

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

Your Support is Imperative!

One Year Ends and We Plan the Next One

No College Degree? How Can You Teach Your Child Through All Grades?

Our Homeschool Story

Famous Homeschooler of the Week

Field Trip

Homeschool Research