Jan. 31, 2010 - The Flimflam Man - fun for kids and adults!
If you're looking for entertaining reading with good values for primary-age kids, I recommend The Flimflam Man by Darleen Bailey Beard. You can read my review on my teaching blog.
Are you thinking about homeschooling? Here are some negatives and positives of homeschooling:
The negatives include:
1. Homeschooling doesn't mean your children will ace every course, have no problems, get into an elite college on scholarship, obtain a high-paying job, get married and have their life turn out perfect.
2. Homeschooling is a lot of work and takes most of your free time.
3. You will endure a lot of pressure from the world, your family, AND yourself that, by homeschooling, you are "ruining" your children. It can be real frustrating to spend time preparing lessons and getting equipment together only to have a "bad" day or a child who doesn't seem like he is learning. Every homeschool mom will tell you there will be days (or even weeks at a time) when you will feel like nothing is going right and you should just put them back in school.
4. Even though you can homeschool cheaper than sending them to private school, it still costs money to provide an excellent education at home. You WILL have to sacrifice in other areas of the family budget in order to have the money you need to homeschool.
5. You kids will most likely go through periods of time, both during their homeschool life and after, when they wish they were not homeschooled. You (the parents) must be the one who makes the decision and sticks with it.
If you let God take control, do the best you can and forgive yourself on the days you don't, the positives include:
1. Your child will receive a better education in the areas that are most important to him. By homeschooling, you are able to focus your child's education on courses & activities that will help him do what the Lord has called him to do, instead of doing what everyone else is doing. This will better prepare him for his particular career or ministry.
2. Your child will learn to think for himself and be self-educating. This will help him throughout his adult life. Even though he won't learn "everything he needs to know," by the time he graduates, he WILL know how to find the answers for himself.
3. You can arrange your school day around your spouse's schedule so that everyone has quality time together, creating special family memories that your child will never forget. Even if he becomes a prodigal son, he will think back on these times and remember what life is like in a loving and caring Christian home. Eventually, he will tire of the "world outside" and will come home.
4. The character traits and behaviors that you have personally WILL show up in your children. As these manifest, the Lord uses them to let you see how you look to others. As you are training your child, the Lord will also be training you. It will make YOU a better person!
5. You child will eventually tell you that they were glad that you homeschooled them for a variety of reasons. My daughter says it kept her out of "worse" trouble; my son says it enables him to get a high-paying job without college. The reasons will change as the mature and have families of their own.
5. When you are all done homeschooling, you will know that you have done what God called you to do and the Word says, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (NIV, James 1:12)
There’s something for everyone in this delightful, 58-page e-book by Donna Campos: creativity with display boards, desk makeovers, file folder timelines, creative ways to use index cards, and a variety of different household organizers.
Donna is a creative guru! She’ll tell you how to use a simple display board to create customized calendars for learning, keeping track of chores, or assigning schoolwork.
She’ll show you how to use a display board to create a puppet theatre, in which your children can act out historical events or their own stories.
And you won’t want to miss her desk makeover. I call it the Extreme Makeover for Homeschoolers! Donna has provides detailed instructions on how to maximize convenience and space in your home using a narrow computer desk, caster wheels, and a variety of hooks, brackets and dowel rods. Amazing!
And timelines . . . forget purchasing timelines. Donna presents a unique answer to the creation and storage of timelines using . . . well you’ll just have to read the book! Trust me, you won’t want to miss this one either!
Every homeschooler will benefit from this e-book whether you’re looking for ways to create more space, save money, or just plain have some fun. To get more information or purchase this e-book, go to the TOS Web site.
I have the privilege of mentoring a young lady during her 9th grade year. Her name is Chaney. We are going to meet every Wednesday during the school year and work on school projects. Her mom is allowing me to work with her on grammar, composition, history and literature. How much fun is that!
I wrote about our first day on my personal blog - Cindy Downes. I'll continue to add to this blog as our year goes by. Chaney has started a blog here on HSB. She is MercyMoon. Stop by and make her your friend!
I just discovered a science resource called The Young Scientist Club. It was designed by a team of students at Harvard University to increase a child's interest in science.
Each month (or bi-monthly depending on the subscription you choose), your child receives a science kit and instructions. The kits cover all sorts of topics from batteries to bacteria to bones and muscles. You can see a complete list here. Not only do the kits introduce your child to science, but they also reinforce thinking and writing skills.
I definitely recommend this as a good investment in your child's science education!
Jul. 18, 2009 - Wow - I can't believe it's been so long!
It's been a long time since I posted on here. My life has been SO BUSY!
I'm off school this summer and enjoying the time to catch up on projects I've neglected since 2007! I also joined Toastmasters and some writing groups. That has been fun.
I also had to do some DEEP cleaning as I haven't had time to do much of that while school was in session.
My hubbie and I went on vacation last week - first since I started school. We went to Dallas and bought lots of books! You can never have too many books. I found a new bookstore in Dallas called Legacy Books. It's the largest independent bookstore in the U.S. Because it's independent, it offers a lot of different books than you'll find in Borders, B&N, and BooksAMillion. I highly recommend it.
Finally, done with college for the year. I have two classes left in the Fall and then I graduate in December. Hallelujah! I hope to spend some time on here blogging again this summer. I miss it!
I'll be out of circulation again for two weeks. I am taking a 2-week intercession class in services marketing at OSU. It's a 3-credit course crammed into two weeks. Never done this before - wish me luck! Have a great May. I'll be back later this month!
I just learned about SpellQuizzer today, a spelling software program for Windows only. What intrigued me about the program is that you can type in and record your own spelling words. Your child hears the word and has to type the correct spelling back into the computer.
I think this would be great with a resource like Spelling Power. Use the software to teach and test the spelling lists while you work on something else with another child. These two items would be the only curriculum you would need for spelling for 1-12th grade!
May. 2, 2009 - I am so excited - I get a whole week to blog!
I got out of school early since I don't have to take any finals! So, I have a whole week to catch up on my homeschool blogs! I have really missed you all!
I missed the curriculum fair in Oklahoma City today because I had to take my cat to the vet at the last minute. He has some kind of eye infection.
I have a couple of products I need to add under Reviews, so I hope to get to that this week also. After my week off, I have two weeks of all-day classes; then I have June and July off. Yipee! After that, only two more classes and I will be DONE!
I just finished reading TOS's Wee-Book, Lincoln vs. Darwin and found it very interesting! This is the perfect resource to use as a discussion starter or as an introduction to a unit on Lincoln, Darwin, or evolution. It's short so it doesn't take a lot of time. It includes discussion questions to get you started. And it's full of very interesting facts about Lincoln and Darwin. Best of all, right now it's FREE!
Lincoln vs. Darwin is just one of several Wee-Books now available on their Web site. What a novel idea!
