Well, sadly, I say goodbye to another schooling year. I can not believe how much has happened in the last year. Now it is time for summer and homeschooling "duties". No, I do not like paperwork. This time of year, I close up the schoolwork from the year and beginning planning ahead. Many people enjoy paperwork, I do not. Yes, I could have unschooled and not worry about it, but I can't seem to allow myself to do that. Besides, I need to fill my legal obligations. As such, I want to use this post to inspire myself with the memories over the last year and encourage you to do the same. This is to strengthen us all to continue in the journey we feel is best suited to our family's needs. LessonsThe most important lessons in life are not the ones completed on paper. They are ones that we have gained from experiences and self-reflection. They are the ones that help us along life's journey with minimal bumps and bruises to ourselves and others. So, what are the most important lessons we have learned this year?
AdventuresWe enjoyed many adventures this year. Many were far, but most were close to home. I received the best advice after moving to California. "Live like you are a tourist." What would tourists do? Where would they go? Enjoy where you are now! I share a short synopsis of our adventures of the year since last June in hopes that you will be inspired to have more adventures too!
I am planning in the coming weeks and I will have plenty of "How To" posts and Units. As I finish this post, I am watching my wonderful husband dance with my daughter to "You're My Best Friend" by Don Williams, the song he dedicated to me. It is a moment that takes my breath away. I will close with a quote that one of my closest friends has on her wall: "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." - Hilary Cooper
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My fourth grader has chosen to study the desert for a research paper. Enjoy the links!
Videos: BBC Nature I enjoyed the toads, but my son appreciated the seed germination. Wild Kratts This inspired my children to go on a Wild Kratts binge after school. PBS Nature National Geographic Moving rocks? Fox News on the rocks Online Activities: Scholastic Free Webquests, Lesson Plans, and More NPS.gov Free Web Ranger Activities Learning Pages & Lapbooks ABCTeach Some free pages and some cost Homeschool Share Free Lapbook download A Journey Through Learning Free Lapbook download Although I mostly post free content, this topic is important to my family.
If you enjoyed my previous post on "Green Living", please receive more education by watching "Unacceptable Levels", a movie about "the chemicals in our bodies and how they got there". After all, a good visual is better than print any day. You can either rent it or buy it. Thank you! http://ykr.be/c5ma3l3xj Today we learned about the Great Wall of China. Check out these free resources for your lessons:
National Geographic Video Text Reading 1 Text Reading 2 Panorama Virtual Tour UNESCO Maps & Videos Kids Discover FREE Vocabulary Download FREE Wall Coloring Page FREE PDF Assignment HERE Crayola Craft Activity On behalf of those who requested this information, this
post is dedicated to my friends and family who are making the efforts in living "green". WARNING, this is long! I think I wrote a book...lol. Please share with others. I hope this research helps you all. I am sorry this has taken me so long to get up. You know how busy I am with school :) I posted a new page with field trip information for Southern California!
We have many adventures awaiting us. http://tools2hschool.weebly.com/southern-ca-special-page.html#sthash.zH0zZA5B.dpbs Enjoy! Today, I am going to ramble. I apologize in advance, but please hear me out. (I am also writing this post on a phone today ;-) ).
Everyone has a position on the education "battlefield" on Common Core (or whatever it has been disguised as in your state). I personally want to stay neutral. However, I do have something I need to share with my fellow homeschoolers on this subject. Yes, Common Core has the ability to affect those who traditionally homeschool and are not under the reigns of public school at home programs, especially in states that have to test. So, we should be educated on this subject as it may affect us eventually or others we may know. Common Core, in essence, is a great ideal goal for many in our transient society in public school (this is not a post on Common Core). I was a great example as a child. For six months I moved from a big city to a rural one. I then moved back. In the big city, I was placed in the "Gifted" classes (a rant for another time). I was tracked in the "school machine" to be prepped for honors courses, the National Honor Society, and a successful career. However, when I moved to a small country town for ONLY six months and came back, I was placed in the "lower track". Now keep in mind, in my opinion, even though the country school did not have "gifted" classes, all of their "regular" classes far exceeded the recommended standards better than the city "gifted" classes. Just because of a different "standard" set in place and because of the difficulty in comparing, it took me months of struggling to get that mistake corrected and moved back into the correct "track". With a transient society, I have seen this happen over and over again with friends and family members as they move across the country. Yes, I disagree with much of the curriculum and content. There are many reasons we homeschool. This is just one. I do understand that the standards in Common Core are all over the board. As I sifted through my links from years ago, I noticed interesting shifts over the last five years. Most of these have been instigated by the introduction of Common Core. I stared in disbelief at internet4classrooms. Aligned now with Common Core, they introduce the 100th day of school in second grade! Ten years ago, this belonged in Kindergarten curriculum! Then, I discovered the following post touted by those against Common Core and disseminated by many homeschool organizations. http://eagnews.org/new-york-school-board-meeting-erupts-in-laughter-over-ridiculous-common-core-aligned-lessons/ I disagree with their stance. This blog serves as my voice and as a resource for myself over the years. It does not have a huge following, nor do I profit from it. But, I am thankful I have a place for my voice. Get ready, because I am about to share MY OPINION. Children are individuals and unique in their own right. They have different mental, emotional, and physical capabilities. IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY, AS PARENTS, TO SUPPORT THEIR POTENTIAL WHILE STRIVING TO KEEP THEM BALANCED! This is the most difficult part about being a parent regardless of our choices to educate them. Do I feel that homeschooling assists me in attaining this goal? YES!!!! There are good reasons that "gifted" children are labeled as "disabled" under the American Disabilities Act. I will leave that discussion for another day. However, I believe that ALL children, even those with "disabilities" are "gifted" in their own right. If we as parents try to keep them "balanced" emotional, mentally, and physically, while helping them to reach their potential in all areas of life, then they will be happy and THAT is success!!! What do I mean? My ninth grader (designated as "gifted") loves taking college courses for graphic design, computer programming, etc. He is a self-declared "word nerd" that can spell and define words like a genius. His grammatical capabilities are astounding (no, I do not have him edit my blog). When he was in first grade, he read on a fifth grade level. He read the unabridged "Mysterious Island" with French annotations while in elementary. Yet, he will not compose poems. If I ask him to write a five paragraph essay, it will take him weeks. He detests composition. I allow him to soar ahead on subjects he enjoys while pushing him to reach his potential in areas he is deficient. I try to do this without "burning him out". Take another example, my youngest daughter. She is technically in first grade. She is completing her third grade math book. However, she has a harder time understanding phonetic rules for spelling. This is the area I try to support more without holding her back on math. In the areas of Science, Social Studies, and Art, I always teach to the highest level. Why? Because children can comprehend more than adults think they can. My kindergartner would go around telling others that she could see their epidermis (taught to my seventh grader). My current seventh grader, a child that perhaps would be put in the "lower track" in school due to such falsely concocted labels as ADD and ADHD, is currently enrolled in college courses that teach music theory. I was in a public school band for six years, was first chair, and completed in state level competitions, and never understood as much as he does! It is helping him with the aspect he struggles with ..... fractions. Every child is gifted. One of the most important gifts you can give them is to support theirs. I know this is a long way to get to the point, but I wanted to ramble...Lol. If we always "dumb it down" children will never reach their full potential. At the same time, we can never let them think that they can "never get it". Maintaining the "carrot" always in front of their face long enough without them feeling discouraged is difficult. They need to eventually accomplish the goal. Helping them to attain a sense of achievement without it being too easy for them is difficult. However, by striving to do this by my methods with our children, they have achieved more than I honestly thought they would, many times on their own. By disseminating the thought, "that is what I learned in college", we are not displaying our belief that the child can achieve more potential than generations past were led to believe. Don't believe me? Take a tour at a Classical Montessori school. Our children can soar. That is another reason I homeschool. So, please, educate yourself on Common Core as it may eventually affect homeschoolers. However, please do not perpetuate the idea that children are unable to grasp high education, even at a young age. This is another reason we homeschool. Oh, and behalf of my children, I have to say this.... it frustrates and upsets them when adults "speak down to them". Please don't. We, as their parents, never have and believe that is a reason why they are able to reach their potential. I think my rant is complete. This unit is to emphasize November's Aviation MonthSince November is to recognize Aviation History, I thought I would share some resources I found for any age:
Young Eagles Free Curriculum and Flight NASA Aerospace Lesson Plans The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum National Geographic Education: Aviation MetEd Aviation PBS Aviation and Flight The younger two are beginning their Biology - Anatomy Study. The others are scheduled for this study during the second semester. Many do not know what to teach their children and when.
My high school student is using curriculum I developed based on a syllabus for a "Credit By Examination" course by Texas Tech University and an AP Biology Syllabus. I also enrich with other activities from outside sources like HERE and HERE. One day soon I will write a blog on how to do that. Thus, much of his curriculum is pulled from online sources. I do include hard copy labs and activities when needed. My middle school student is covering a series of text books I bought online (one of the few things) from Half.com. It is called Science Explorer by Prentice Hall. Next year though, I will have him complete the High School Biology Curriculum. My younger students use a fourth grade textbook I found at the thrift store. I use this only as an outline for the material I need to cover. I then supplement with material I think they are capable of understanding. I teach to a higher level. You would be amazed at what they can understand. Thus, the links below are tools I will use with all four of the children, depending on their abilities, as we cover this material in addition to the ones linked above. Prepare for the Unit
Read Texts (Depending on the child's abilities)
Discover and Explore
Use Activities and Labs
Assess
Enjoy! Our six year old is now working on multiplication.
Over the years, I have discovered that if a secure foundation is not established at this stage, they will struggle in higher grades. So, I think we will spend a bit more time on multiplication this time around. Here are some free online resources: School House Rock Videos on YouTube Math-Aids.com Free Printable Worksheets Arcademics Multiplication Games PBS Video to Help with the 9s How I wish I could go back in time. I did the memorization technique with the older two. I thought they had it. Then years later, I see that the memorization didn't stick well. They still have to think and it doesn't come automatically. However, with the younger two, we have been working on a combo of a Singapore math teaching style in conjunction with memorization. We will spend twice as long on it before we move on. It seems to working so far as my fourth grader grasps that 4×8 is twice 2×8 and eight less than 4×10. And he doesn't spend as much brain power thinking of the answer. I don't know if it is the different child or the different technique, but it seems to be working. We will also incorporate and highlight multiples in our lives when we cook, exercise, play, bounce a ball, create, etc. Also, the concept of multiplication "fact families" should be reestablished at this point with the introduction of Algebraic concepts. We love using food in our lessons! Use whatever you have on hand! Legos, cookies, a trampoline, a jump rope, apples, etc. Now they beg to do math ;-) Remember to follow me on Google+ for a steady stream of links and resources! My profile is under ToolsTo Homeschool |