Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE! 

This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.

This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program.  Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking.  Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included!  For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports. 

What a weekend!  I attended the SETHSA (Southeast Texas Homeschool Association) Conference in Houston on Friday and Saturday.  Friday I carpooled with some gals in my homeschool support group and Saturday my guy went with me.  Both days were a great deal of fun and very informative. 

I attended one particular workshop called "Avoiding Burnout" that I think will prove very useful over the longterm.  One thing the speaker asked us to examine in ourselves was our reason for homeschooling.  Were we homeschooling because we were "running" from public school or because we desired something better for our children?  He said that if we were only "running" from public school, it would be difficult to maintain our momentum in that the more time that passed since our public school experiences the less we would remember of them.  And so eventually we'd come to a point of saying, "Why are we doing this?"  He encouraged us to think of the positive reasons for homeschooling, because those reasons would give us the energy and perseverance to go the distance.

Another workshop speaker did a presentation on "journals" that I found very intriguing.  I'm hoping to work this into our studies this next year.  And when I say "journals," I don't mean diaries necessarily.  The speaker utilized journaling or notebooking in her homeschool experience as a tool for her boys to document their discoveries in certain areas of interest.  She had quite a few examples for us to look at.  One particular journal was created by a young lady who wanted to visit Venice, Italy.  Her mom explained that finances didn't allow the trip at this time, but how about taking a "virtual" trip to Venice?  So the girl researched all aspects of traveling to Italy and created a "virtual" travel journal of her trip.  The journal included all the travel arrangements followed by pages depicting all the things she might see and do if she actually went to Venice.  She included pictures of the "virtual travelers" (her family) as well as pictures of the things that they might have seen if they'd really gone there.  Each place included a written explanation of where it was, what its significance was, and why she thought it was interesting/important.  Cool, huh?

Saturday my guy went with me and we purchased the language arts and mathematics materials that we'll need this next year.  We are going to use "Studying Language Arts through Literature" and "Easy Grammar" for our language arts program.  Neither one of us likes a school book that is cluttered with a lot of fluff and these books are very straightforward.  The "language arts through literature" books look very interesting and cover grammar, reading, vocabulary, spelling, composition, research, and study skills/higher order reasoning.  We will be using Farmer Boy (Laura Ingalls Wilder), Mr. Popper's Penguins (Richard and Florence Atwater), Trumpet of the Swan (E.B. White), David Livingstone, Foe of Darkness (Jeannette Eaton), Meet Addy (Connie Porter), Strawberry Girl (Lois Lenski), Amos Fortune, Free Man (Elizabeth Yates), and Caddie Woodlawn (Carol Ryrie Brink).  The funny thing is, my girl has read half of these books already, but she loves to re-read books she has enjoyed, so I think it will be okay.

The "Easy Grammar: Grades 4 and 5" book is primarily for reinforcement of grammar concepts.  Each unit covers a part of speech (prepositions, direct objects, verbs, etc.)  Lots of great worksheets with sentences where the student is directed to, for example, "cross out any prepositional phrases.  Underline the subject once and the verb phrase twice . . ."  There are also games included to help students retain information.

The mathematics curriculum looks to be a bit wooly-boogery (cool word, huh?).  Fortunately, my girl will be taking a class through our homeschool support group for this subject.  I have to sit through the class with her (yee haw . . . ) but maybe we both will learn math, eh?  It's called "Super-Math" and the designer of the curriculum has come up with a system for helping students achieve true mastery of math, rather than just getting by and passing to the next level.  He was at the conference and every hour or so would have students from his classes do demonstrations of mental math calculations.  He gave a calculator to an observer and would ask a question of his students (such as, what is 512 squared?) -- often the student had the answer before the observer could finish punching in the numbers on the calculator.  It was very impressive, and I think with diligence it will be quite beneficial to all of us.

A few fun things we purchased:  a place mat with a map of the world on one side and a map of the United States on the other (good for learning where everything is while eating one's Cheerios), a book of Celtic songs for the beginning piano student (she starts lessons on Tuesday), a book of opening chess moves (she loves to play chess with her daddy), two books of "Mad Libs" (to be used as rewards when assignments are completed) and a very nice coloring book featuring "ponies of the world" (because if it has four legs and hooves and says "neigh" it is beautiful . . .)

The highlight of the day came at the very end when we attended a workshop on "courtship."  While this has very little to do with "homeschooling" in an academic sense, it was incredible and made us realize how much there is that we can do to protect our girl from unnecessary heartache.  Now I've said before and I'll say again, we're not homeschooling to keep our girl in a box isolated from the rest of the world.  Not at all.  However, we can protect her as she grows older from those whose intentions may be less than honorable, and in the process hopefully save her from some of the heartache that we ourselves experienced as teens and young adults.  The family that did this workshop practice what they preach and of their five daughters, four have married incredible young men using the practice of courtship.  Basically, kids don't "date" in their teens and they don't really date when they are older.  If a young man is interested in seeing one's daughter, he approaches the father first and states his intentions.  If Dad thinks that he is on track lifewise (meaning he's a Christian, mature, has goals and a means of supporting himself and eventually a family) Dad will ask the daughter if she is interested in getting to know the young man.  Daughter either says yes or no, and then Dad conveys the answer to the young man.  This takes an incredible burden off the daughter's shoulders (how many of you have gone out with someone because you didn't want to hurt his feelings, even if you weren't really that interested?  Or even if you said "no," you felt badly about hurting his feelings?) 

Now if the daughter does want to get to know the young man better, it's done a lot differently than going off to the movies or dinner or whatever.  The young man comes to the house and spends time with the whole family.  It's true that when you marry someone you marry the whole family, not just that person.  And so it's important for the family to like him, for him to like them, etc.  And if the young man is not willing to go to the "trouble" of doing things thusly, then he's not really the right one anyway.  Someone who supposedly loves you should be willing to do whatever is necessary to get to know you, to spend time with you, etc.  One of the speaker's son-in-laws was there and he said that at first he kind of went "What???" and then as he sat there thinking about the daughter that he wanted to get to know better, he asked himself  "is she worth it?" (worth going through the "trouble" of courtship) and he came to the conclusion that she was "totally" worth it.  It was so cool, because they were both there and they've been married 11 years and it was so obvious how much they love each other.  They have a five year old daughter and he has already started telling her bedtime stories about how there is a boy out there who is her perfect match, but he'll have to prove himself worthy someday.  And they pray for him, whoever he is and wherever he is.  How cool is that?

After the conference, we went by the surf shop where my guy's longboard is on layaway.  It is just beautiful.  I wish I'd had my digital camera with me so I could post a pic, but I will when he gets it.  We grabbed some dinner at The Cracker Barrel and then picked our girl up from my mom's house.  I started getting a sinus headache and thus . . .

The Lost Day.  I took some Benadryl last night and again today -- and I have been sleeping all day long!  Seriously, I only woke up for an hour here and there, but I spent the rest of it snoozing on the sofa.  I had plans to accomplish so much, but I guess I'll have to save it for another day.  Hmmm . . .

Well, I'd better go catch a few more zzz's, believe it or not.  We have to drive up to Huntsville tomorrow to measure some windows for a good friend and as I've been feeling today, I need the rest so I won't feel icky tomorrow.

Have a good one.

Decided to do a little "surfing" of the Homeschool Blogger community.  I found some delightful sites that I've added to my "Friends" list, so that I can go back and visit again sometime.  Hopefully some of these lovely people will take a little stroll over to Creekside Academy, too, someday.

While I wouldn't say that we've completed everything I'd hoped to by this time, I am pleased that we've had a rich and full year in so many other ways.  Jami learned to play the recorder and has transferred the knowledge she gained to the piano . . . she's not yet begun piano lessons, and yet she plays songs from her recorder book on the used piano we bought her for her 10th birthday.  She has read and read and READ some more -- beautifully written books including the entire Anne of Green Gables series (twice) and The Chronicles of Narnia series (twice), as well as the unabridged Little Women (twice) . . . The Wind in the Willows, Black Beauty, many of The Royal Diaries books, plus a good bit of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden.  I've gotten onto her about reading things over and over again (in hopes of encouraging variety) and she asks (quite legitimately, I might add) "What's the point of owning the books if you can't read them again?"  So as long as she is reading quality literature, I try to keep my mouth closed.

She recently won a part in our community theatre guild's production of Little Women.  She will be playing "Katy," one of the little girls who delights in the misfortune of Amy over the contraband pickled limes!  And just last week she danced beautifully in her ballet recital . . .

I am looking forward to having a little more structure next year -- we will be utilizing the homeschool instructional support classes our local group offers on Thursdays as the "spine" of our homeschool experience.  I have struggled with the prep and organization of this year's studies and I think that attending classes on Thursday and receiving assignments to be done over the course of the week until the next Thursday will help us tremendously!  I have requested the following classes for her and will know for sure whether or not she gets them by May 31st:

Anatomy (8-13 year olds) (Fall Semester)

Creation Science (8-13 year olds) (Spring Semester)

American History (8-12 year olds) (Fall and Spring Semesters)

Supermath I (7-12 year olds) (Fall and Spring Semesters)

Elementary Spanish (7-12 year olds) (Fall and Spring Semesters)

I will need to add a language arts/grammar program to be done on our own time.  She will continue with ballet and also begin piano this June.  I think that is MORE than enough for a fifth grader . . . especially one that reads as much as she does, both for knowledge and enjoyment.

Well, that's all for now!  Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think of all this.  I'm always interested in other opinions!

or at least it seemed like it.  We decided to take a little spin down to the beach after church.  Pick up some chicken at Church's, grab the dogs from the house, and "relax . . . "  Ha! 

It wasn't a "bad" time, but it's a lot of work keeping up with a 10 year old girl, a golden retriever puppy and a chihuahua puppy, too.  We've decided to alternate beach trips when we bring the dogs or leave them at home.  But at least we're moving in the direction of enjoying something that's a mere 8 miles away, but that we always seem to be too busy to enjoy.  Life is much too short, eh?

Well, it'd be a silly thing to say a lot has happened since my last posting . . .  Busy, busy, busy!  I wish I could say that it was all great and mighty things in the academic realm, but we're still trying to get our feet under us, even after these past months.  Trying to keep a home, homeschool, and operate a small home business . . .   It's been overwhelming, to say the least, even with the help of a very supportive husband.

We're not giving up, though.  Granted, we will be schooling through the summer in an effort to "catch up," but I think we'll be okay.  And I am making a concerted effort to improve my time management and planning skills.  I've also explained to my sweet pumpkin that, as old as she is, some of the responsibility rests with her and that we have to help each other out -- she's too old to sit and wait to be instructed on every little detail.  There ARE things that she can do independently and without being told.

She has expressed an interest in having a blog.  I can see where it could be beneficial creatively, and also of good use with regards to writing and grammar skills.  The Internet is a scary place, though!  All her activity is supervised, of course.  Do you think www.homeschoolblogger.com is suitable for kids who want blogs?  Do any of you have children with blogs?  My kiddo is 10 years old.  I'd love to hear your opinions.

Until next time (and I promise it will be sooner than later . . . )!

Last night was an absolute blast!  My sister's little boy turned 6 on Sunday and to celebrate his birthday, we went to the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus!  Neither Jami, nor her cousins, had ever been to the circus and it was so much fun to see their faces light up at all the excitement -- when pressed to tell what their favorite parts were, none of them could choose -- they enjoyed it all so much.  We got there early and were able to get the clowns to autograph their programs and took some photographs.  I'll have to get my film developed and then scan some pictures for you.

I've won another book on eBay -- this time the Usborne Encyclopedia of the Natural World . . .

Busy day tomorrow, so I'll say adios for now!

Apparently, there's a perfectly good explanation for the momentary weirdness I experienced last night.  Whew!  That's a relief.  When you're on your "friends" page, all their recent entries show up on a page that looks like yours -- for reading convenience.  Not a bad idea, but maybe it should come with some kind of a warning??? 

My computer's been kind of loopy lately, and so anything that happens without some sort of explanation starts a little bubble of panic in my heart!

Gotta' run for now -- my washing machine is calling my name . . .

So I'm trying to figure out this homeschoolblogger thing, how to add friends and all that.  Went down the members' list, found some pages that I thought "Hmmm, sounds like we have some common interests . . . think I'd like to come back to that from time to time . . . " and added those to my page.

You can imagine how weird it was when I went back to see my "revised" page and there were 21 pages of OTHER PEOPLE'S ENTRIES appearing on my blog!  I deleted all the friends I'd added to my page and refreshed my page.  The mysterious entries disappeared!  I added one friend to my page, refreshed, and everything seems to be normal.

I will never understand the mysteries of computers or the Internet.

Last night's browsing on eBay was quite beneficial!  I'm still trying to pull together Jami's materials (thank goodness we don't officially start school until September 6!)  I saw the teacher's materials for Abeka Arithmetic 4 up for bids.  I got the "Teacher Key," "Tests/Speed Drills Key" and "Lesson Plans" books for $28, plus $4 s/h!  Brand-new they'd run over $60.  Now I'm hunting for teacher's materials for language and spelling.  I know a lot of people skip over the teacher's stuff, but I feel a lot more comfortable having the "whole package."  I will order the student materials new, but they are so inexpensive even new that it won't be that much.

She is getting excited about our adventure.  Tomorrow we are going shopping for a leotard, tights, and ballet slippers since she'll be starting ballet again on the 9th.  She sat out for 2 years -- had gotten a wee bit burned out (her last school was a little intense for someone who just wants to enjoy dance without the pressure of Broadway hanging over her head . . . )  The new school is laid back in a good way.  The instruction is top-notch, but the teacher definitely understands the need to keep some FUN in it, you know?  She doesn't insist on a $40 leotard with a strappy strappy back that doesn't properly fit 3/4 of the students in the class (like our last school).  Fancy (aka colored) leotards are okay, as long as they have a simple black one for community performances.  And the black one can come from, EGADS!, Target or Wal-Mart!  I think I'm going to love this teacher . . .

Off to surf eBay again . . . see what other jewels I can uncover . . .

It's always difficult to think of a clever, witty way to start out a new blog.  I hope you'll bear with me in that I'm all out of clever and witty this late at night.  However, I promise to restock and be more entertaining in entries to come!

My name is Laura and I have an awesome little girl who finished third grade at the local elementary school this past year.  We are returning to homeschooling for a variety of reasons, and I may expound on that in a future entry.  For now, I'll just say that for both academic and moral reasons my husband and I felt the strong need to return to home education.

Jami is an exceptional reader (hence my choice of "theme" for my blog) and I love taking her to the library each week.  You'd think she'd discovered the lost treasures of King Solomon the way she gets so excited over new books!  Her love of reading will go far in making homeschooling a pleasant experience for both of us.

We plan to start school the day after Labor Day, like they did in the "good ol' days."  We are using the classical method as a guideline for our studies.  We've chosen Susan Wise Bauer's The Story of The World for our history studies, A Beka for grammar and math, and Martha Wilson's Latin Primer, Book I.  I plan to use several books recommended in The Well Trained Mind for our science studies (which will correlate with our history lessons in that we'll study scientific discoveries that ocurred during the same historical time period we're reading about).

Fine arts studies will include ballet, choir, and recorder band.  We were fortunate to discover a homeschool supplemental class group that offers the choir and recorder band instruction (and an opportunity to get to know some other kids).  I was especially excited about choir because she was in choir last year in the public school and I worried that she'd really miss it.  God always provides, though, doesn't He?

I guess that's it for now -- still have a good bit of prep work to do, but I think we're in good shape, considering our start date of September 6th.  I look forward to reading the other blogs here and sharing experiences and ideas!