Physical Science can be intimidating to parents and students alike.  Parents sometimes feel they have to have a strong background in science to even begin teaching it to their children.  Don't let that happen to you!  Science is fun and science is everywhere!  Watching the weather together, watching a pot of water boil, even watching an ice cube melt.  It's all science and we see and experience it everyday.  You don't have to rush to the nearest college to brush up on your chemistry or spend hours pouring over books from the library trying to figure out the four different states of matter, the three different parts of an atom, or how to read the Periodic table! 

All you need is a cup of water to conduct a simple experiment about matter with your child.  Have your child pour the water into the cup and explain that the water is in the liquid state of matter.  next, have your child place the cup of water into the freezer and wait for it to freeze.  When you have ice, take it out of the freezer and touch it...this is water in the solid state of matter.  Leave the ice out and wait for it to melt.  When it is back to the liquid form, place a couple drops out on the counter and leave it there to evaporate.  When the drops have evaporated, the water has turned into a vapor or gas state of matter. 

The amazing thing about matter is that it can change from one state or phase to another simply by adding or taking away energy!  Talk to your child about hwat made the water turn to ice and what made it melt again and eventually evaporate.  Your first science experiment...fun, easy, and it didn't take a master's degree in science to teach! 

Katie Kubesh is co-owner and writer/researcher for In the Hands of a Child.  Recognizing that hands-on projects are essential to the learning experience, In the Hands of a Child has created Project Packs that go beyond the hands-on aspect.   They have taken the preparation time out of the parent/teacher job description with Complete Ready to Assemble Lapbook-style units that are available in Ebook, Printed Book, and CD formats.    Please visit their website at www.handsofachild.com.

©2008 Katie Kubesh

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Are UFOs out of control in your home? If your house is like mine, perhaps sometimes you glimpse an Unidentified Flying Object out of the corner of your eye–some new motorized helicopter, paper airplane, or other airborne objects.

I won’t try to tell you how to rid your home of flying things. Instead, we will look at another kind of UFO: Un-Finished Objects.

Yes, those partially done cross-stitches lurking in the work-basket are UFOs. Perhaps you have a dress fabric cut out, but have yet to introduce the fabric to the sewing machine. Did you leave off spring cleaning with only half the windows washed? Is the new shelf, purchased for your laundry room, still sitting unopened in the depths of the coat closet?  

Perhaps some of your UFOs are homeschool related–I know I have all of  last quarter’s work to file in my children’s binders, and there is an art curriculum that sits on the shelf begging to be used.

Some UFOs are even relational. In my case, there’s a few friends I’ve been meaning to call or email, but fail to make the time.

This week, target a few specific UFOs to eradicate

I'll share my list for the week:

• File work and catch up on entering our last few weeks of school in Home School Tracker
• Write a letter to my friend.
• Sew up the petticoat that’s been cut for a year
• Do something with a bag of cherries in the freezer that has outlived its welcome
• Tackle the mending (the ominous mending)
• And, my fun UFO: Finish compiling our book inventory with  Library Thing

Go forth and eradicate some Un-Finished Objects!

Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell  writes about home, heart and hearth.

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My heart is broken for this family.  Dixie Cajun's husband was killed in a terrible accident.

Other family members have blogs here at HSB as well. LivingfortheKing, ryansgirl, dixiebeauty,  and dixiefiddler. 

Please keep this family in your prayers. 

Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB

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The craft project I just finished is a tile mosaic table top.  It was something I’d wanted to do for a long time and finally had the opportunity when this particular table was given to me by a cousin.  The green color scheme on the table didn’t work with anything else we had so I decided to try my hand at doing the tile work. 

I browsed through the idea books that I could find at the library and got the basic tips I needed to make my ideas workable.  Here is the list of equipment that you will need for this project. 

MATERIALS NEEDED 

Table or other flat surface
Sharpie marker
Design idea
Wall tiles in your choice of colors
Hammer
Newspapers
Mastic (tile adhesive)
Grout mix kit in your choice of color
Rubber grouting trowel
Tile nippers 

First give the surface you will be covering a good cleaning and allow to dry completely.  Take your marker and draw the design you want to make.  Since this was my first project, I chose to go with only two colors and a bold/large design.  For this design, I took a small salad plate upside down on the table and drew around it in four places.  I then took the marker and drew wavy lines going from edge to edge to make it look like loops of ribbon.

The tile will need to be broken and that is why you must choose the thinner wall tiles versus the thicker floor tiles.  I was surprised by the lack of color choices available at my local Lowe’s and Home Depot stores, just the white, black and cream/natural colors were carried.  I already had the blue tiles as we removed them from the counter backsplash in the kitchen during a recent remodel project in there.  The amount of tiles you will need will be determined by the size of the surface you plan to cover.  Since most tiles measure 4” x 4”, you can take a measurement of your table and see about how many would cover it if you left them intact.  You may end up with a few more than you need, but that’s better than not enough.  Begin by laying the tile in-between several layers of newspapers then smack with a hammer a few times to get it broken then dump them into a box that is large enough to easily sort through the pieces.  Use one box for each color tile.

Start with the main design by merely laying the tiles on the table until you like the way they fit together.  Leave small gaps between the tiles for the grout, then adhere these pieces first using the mastic and some sort of spatula; I used a large popsicle/craft stick.  After you get the main part done, start with the remaining ones.  I started with the tiles in the middle of the circles the worked around them like I was outlining them.  After you are happy with so many, adhere them with mastic and keep working with the rest.  After doing the outline then I started around the edge of the table.  Once all the tile was used that had been broken with the hammer you’ll need to use the tile nippers to get the pieces in just the right size and shape to fill in all the little gaps.

Let all this dry for about 24 hours or whatever it says on the mastic container.  Look over the tile and make sure no mastic is sticking up over the tiles and not mastic is smeared on the tops of any.  It’s easy to clean up and easier when it is totally dry.  Mix up the grout according to the manufactures directions, the kit should come with everything you need except for the rubber trowel.  I actually forgot to buy that trowel and used the fake credit cards that come in the junk mail and they worked wonderfully and just tossed when finished.  Do this in a well ventilated place, and wear the gloves that come in the kit.  Also, since the tile is now in smaller pieces, plan on using about 3 times the amount of grout the container says you will need for a wall the same size.  After you’ve applied the grout, let set for 20 to 30 minutes then using the kit’s sponge, and a bucket of water mixed with a splash of vinegar, use some elbow grease and get the grout off the top of the tiles before it dries hard as cement. 

That’s it, you now have a finished mosaic tile table top that you did yourself!   

My name is Dianna and we’ve been homeschooling for 4 years and we have 3 wonderful children.  You can check out my blog at www.homeschoolblogger.com/maxwellacademy.  Leave me a message and let me know what you think of this craft project.  I promise to post some that are not as labor intensive, but I’m actually pretty proud of this project and wanted to share it with you.

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This is the first article for learning and teaching a foreign language while paying attention to learning styles. We all know that children learn differently from one another, and differently from the way we learn very often. (Which is frustrating, isn’t it?) So paying attention to learning styles will help you to overcome fear and barriers while tackling the daunting task of teaching a foreign language. This week will be for all those visual learners.

Getting Started – Use pictures and the target language concurrently. One thing new speakers get stuck in is translating in their heads. If a student can learn a word based on a picture, rather than a written word, this is a way to overcome and train the brain to think in the target language, rather than taking the extra step of translation. For an introduction to the language, Rosetta Stone software implements this truth to a very high degree. (Though it lacks in other areas, it's great in this way!)

Moving Forward – As your student picks up more vocabulary from flash cards or books, or just text books even, add in games of Pictionary, Memory (only use the cards you know he knows), charades, and puzzles. Add a time issue to it - can he do it faster and faster? The anxiety that comes from trying to think in German or French or Spanish quickly is similar to the anxious feeling we get when trying to communicate. PRACTICE overcoming that anxiety to become proficient in the language!

Keep on Keeping On - After a year of study or more, it will become difficult for your student to break out of wanting to SEE the words, or see a picture with the words, unfortunately, this is not the way we communicate in the real world. So, ease yourselves out of the comfort zone by choosing the Language track on a favorite DVD movie (cartoons work best, so the dubbing isn’t as distracting) in the target language. Tarzan is GREAT in Spanish, as is Peter Pan. Beauty and the Beast takes on a whole new feel in French! Lovely!

Any time you hit a wall, or find yourself in rote translation mode, stop and draw something, or pull out the picture flash cards again, or just describe pictures in books or commercials, or as your drive through the city. If you get stuck, write down the English word and look it up when you get home. Stick that list back in the car for easy access next time you practice your lessons on the way to the grocery store.

Beware of - Music CD’s and Speaking tracks are NOT helpful for this type of student. If that’s all you have, be sure to hand him the transcript to read along for at least the first session. Learn in Your Car Spanish will simply overwhelm and frustrate, while DVD’s of learning lessons like Muzzy or Spanish Champs might work better. Finally, be careful to require your student to speak. Though that’s not his “learning style,” he still has to use the language! So be sure he can read, and see, as well as speak, repeat, and understand. A learning style is a method of absorption, not a crutch to keep you inside your comfort zone of speaking English only.

And remember - the KEY to truly learning a language is MOTIVATION!

Señora Gose
Flip n Flop Learning LLC
senoragose@verizon.net

Find Great language learning resources here!
www.flipfloplearning.com

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You will need a few supplies for notebooking.  I have created a list for you to use as a guide.  **Remember: you can be as creative as you like.**

I will put the shopping list as a PDF you can download so that you can bring it with you while you shop.  Just click below.

Notebooking Shopping List

Notebooks or Binders—We have used both.  The clear cover binder will allow you to make your own personalized cover pages.  Checkout places like Sam’s Club or Costco for some of your list items.  Sometimes (NOT always) they will have the best bulk price.

Plastic Sheet Protectors—These are splendid for binder!!  It protects the childrens hard work from tears or smudges.  I buy these in bulk for I use them for my home keeping book and numerous other projects I have going.

Paper—for binders.  You can choose any type you like.  The variety is ENDLESS.  Colored paper, construction paper, card stock, printer paper.

Scissors—ALL kinds!  The fancy edge scissors make a nice presentation for pictures.

Pens and pencils—ALL types!!  Highlighters, color pencils, markers, gel pens, glitter pens.  The assortment is INFINTE.

Camera—Any style.  This is NOT a must.  If you do have one let me encourage you to use it.  A digital is great for you can insert your pictures right into your word document for easy printing and creating.

Glue and Tape

Stickers—Stickers can add a little “panache” to your creation.

Rubbers Stamps—These are great fun to use.

**TIP:  I like to purchase the hard back book journals and sketch books at Border’s Book Store for special projects.  They cost around $5-7.  They make an impressive presentation.

**TIP2:  Take a look in the scrapbooking section of the craft store.  There are TONS of items to help you create “outside the box” notebooks!!

Happy Homeschooling,

Lisa Golda

Lisa Golda lives in Texas with her husband Tom and their 2 daughters Katie and Maryanna.  She has homeschooled for over 10 years, creating notebooking pages and ”how to’s”.

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Hi Friends!

We are in the midst of a great week here!  Let me just give you a quick run-down: Here is what we have been UP to!

We have thoroughly enjoyed listening to a zillion fabulous speakers at the Ultimate Homeschool Conference.

We have been nature journaling, (art, writing and a little bit of science all wrapped up in a neat package!)

We've been planning parties,

We have been planting seeds,

We have been enjoying each other and working on getting along. 

We've been counting our blessings and learning to be content.

We aren't perfect in all those areas, but we are living and that's important, don't you think so?

How about you?  How are things going your way?  Leave me a comment and tell me what YOU have been UP to!

Also, if you have a minute, stop by my personal blog and enter a contest to win a great eBook by Tammy Cardwell!

 (you have to work for it, just a teensy bit, but it's an awesome eBook!)

Blessings,

Nancy

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Lisa has another giveaway for anyone who cares to enter!  You could win her e-book Homestead Simplicity.  Perfect for anyone who is looking to make their lives less complicated.  Click over and take a look!

Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB

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                I guess you could say I’m approaching the age, at least among homeschool moms, where I’m quickly becoming the “older” woman.   Yet, it seems like yesterday that I realized our oldest son was about to start high school and I felt a strange sensation in my stomach, a weight on my chest and a sense of panic in my throat.  I had so many questions, so many concerns and so many fears.  I remember devouring everything I could get my hands on to read regarding homeschooling through high school.  I searched the internet, researched in the library, bought magazines, checked out statistics and anything else that would help allay the fears and uneasiness I felt going into new and uncharted waters.

                I’m sure that if you are in the same position or even if you or an “old-timer” like me you began reading this article thinking that perhaps I would share something you had never heard or read before.  You might have secretly hoped that you might even come across some special “secret” that would make teaching your highschooler all that you had dreamed and hoped it would be.  I don’t want to disappoint you, but as I mulled over what subject to cover first in this new column, I realized that as in all other areas of life….we have to begin at the beginning.    

                When approaching teaching high school at home, or even when “re-approaching” high school each year, it is SO easy to become enamored and focused on curriculum choices, transcripts, college requirements and even the dreaded standardized tests.  Approaching high school seems to call all of our fears to the surface and there they stay, close to the top all the time.  We worry about the “gaps” in their education; we worry about the weaknesses we see in their character; we worry about their future; we worry about their relationships with the opposite sex. Frankly, we spend a lot of time focused on our fears.

                Have you heard the saying: fear is really “false evidence appearing real”?  When we are focusing on fear it is very probable that we will begin to become reactive rather than proactive.  We focus on the minors and not on the majors.  We focus on the “urgent” instead of the important.   Does any of this sound familiar?  None of us want to spend our time on things that are truly not important and not our true priorities.  So, when society tells us that academics are most important, or that getting into a specific college is most important, or that excelling in sports are most important, or that some specific skill is most important, or what people think is most important, how do we determine what is it important?  When our to-do list never ends, our schedule is packed, our responsibilities are endless and the “urgent” are screaming, how do we determine our priorities.   It all seems so complicated and so complex at times.

                However, God’s word has a way of narrowing our focus.  God speaks to us through his word and lets us know what is most important.  Our job as parents of children of ALL ages is to reach the hearts of our children and to turn them towards Him.  What do I mean by that?  I mean an openness to communicate with and mentor our own children in every area of life.  To demonstrate to them what it means to know God and become more like Him.  Notice I didn’t say lecture our children, I said, “Communicate”.  True communication takes an atmosphere of openness and honesty.  However, more importantly, to communicate with a highschooler’s heart takes time.  It takes the ability to be with them and be as undistracted as possible so that we don’t miss those rare moments when they WANT to share THEIR hearts with ours.  It takes the ability to LISTEN and not LECTURE.  It takes the talent of guiding and not always judging.  Obviously, the foundation for this type of relationship with your highschooler doesn’t just happen overnight.  This type of foundation is continually built between you and your child for many years.  However, it is never too late to begin this foundation.  If we cram our schedules full and we are overcommitted, we will not have the time or the brainpower to focus on those teachable, sharing moments with the heart of our highschooler.  If we cram our highschooler’s schedule full and they become overcommitted, not only will they not be home for you to mold and teach their hearts, but they too will be distracted, tired and unable to join you in those teachable moments.

                I guess what I’m trying to say is a couple of basic things.  Your child, especially at the high school level, doesn’t care how much you know, until they are SURE of how much you care.  Time to listen is a key element to showing how much you care.  Secondly, if we don’t take the time to reach their heart, no matter how well they do in academics and any other endeavor, we have not reached the mark that God has for us and for our children. 

                When you get a minute, do a search on the word heart in the Bible and see the importance that God puts on the heart and on our reaching the hearts of our children.  In the midst of all the pressing things on our to-do list that deal with high school courses, transcripts, opportunities and more, let’s be sure that we focus on the things that God considers important and don’t give way to the fear of what the world sees as important.

Faith and Courage, 

Lori Lane

Lori is married to the love of her life John and together they have four sons ranging in age from 22 down to 10.  The two oldest boys graduated from home school and successfully entered college and/or internship positions!  (YEAH!)  She is the author of “Beginning With The End In Mind”, is a frequent speaker on home education, family and the arts, and is the founder and Executive Director of Artios Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts where she has worked with hundreds of home schooled high school students.  You can see some of the pictures of their home in the central Colorado Rockies by visiting Lori’s website at www.theendinmind.net where you can also receive encouragement for the journey.

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Spring is finally here!  How do I know?  I had to open my car window today while driving to let a bug out and the Spring 2008 TOS Magazine is in the MAIL!  I don't know why anyone relies on large, bucktoothed rodents to tell them when Spring will get here.  It's so much nicer to to just subscribe to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and when your magazine is at your door then you know the season has officially changed.  TOS has even gone digital!  So if you don't like magazines piling up on your coffee table or you live in a house the size of a pumpkin, digital is the way for you to go. 

Wanna see a sneak peak of what's inside this issue?  You can find out about homeschooling in Brazil and Pakistan, read some beautiful tributes to moms and dads, find out about butterflys and nuclear energy, get a better understanding about preschool, and other superb articles by Dr. Ruth Beechick, Amelia Harper, Debora Wuehler, Dena Wood, and MORE! 

I just love how TOS just gets better and better with every issue.  It's true!  You'll see what I mean in just another week or so.  Better lay in a stock of your favorite cool drink and easy lunches for the children because you will have your nose stuck in this issue!

Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB

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