Jan. 22, 2009 - Public School District Requires Homeschooling! (sort of)

I just received my local paper, The Rochester Post (Michigan).   The front page headline reads, "Avondale among first to offer off-campus, online study". 

In 2006, Michigan became the first state to "require" online learning (limited to two online courses per semester outside a school building for grades 9-12) for graduation. And now, two Michigan school districts have been granted a "seat-time waiver" in which high school students can take all or part of their academic classes online off-campus (home). Twenty-four districts are awaiting approval.  Michigan's ultimate plan is that all schools have a "variety" of teaching methods.

Mike Flanagan (State Superintendent for Public Instruction) states "Online learning can provide a powerful alternative for students who have a need for greater flexibility with their education due to individual learning styles, employment commitments and comfort with traditional learning environments."  Periodically, students make contact with a mentor who checks to make sure their online learning is on track.

The above two paragraphs were taken from The Rochester Post, January 22, 2009 (www.candgnews.com)

So what do you think?  Are the benefits of home education being publicly recognized?  But if the lines between public education and homeschooling start to blur, what might that mean for those of us who homeschool?  Does it make it easier for the government to eventually require home educators to be monitored?

I'm very curious what all of your first impressions are on this!

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Dec. 12, 2008 - Salem Ridge Press

I received permission from Shanna to post her review of Salem Ridge Press.  I was so excited to find out about this publisher that I wanted to share it with all my friends and those who happen upon my blog.  I can't wait to get my hands on one of their books to read aloud to my kids.   If it appeals to you as much as it did me, be sure to hurry over to Shanna's blog for a chance to win a book from Salem Ridge Press or one of the other companies she is reviewing products from.

The following is from Shanna:

Salem Ridge Press is a publishing company that reprints quality books from the 1800's and early 1900's. They 'strive to republish books that are well-written, interesting and wholesome'. Believe me when I say, they have achieved their goal! I was sent three of their books to review and I will definitely be going back to order more books from this company again and again.

Mary Jane: Her Book is a charming and simple tale all about the activities of five year old Mary Jane. We joined her as she mourned for a broken doll, performed an errand for her mother, helped a nest of baby robins, visited with her aunt, and more. My girls especially liked listening to her sweet stories and laughing at her antics. She often reminded me of my three year old and we enjoyed reading this book set in a simpler time. This book was originally published in 1918 and has a sequel as well.

You will find three brave heroes in the young twins, Sally and Roger, and their mother Mrs. Priestley in The American Twins of the Revolution by Lucy Fitch Perkins. Originally published in 1926 and set in 1776, this book is based on a true story of heroism directly from our own American history. Why in the world would anyone teach history from a textbook when there are such wonderful living history books such as this one? Sally and Roger along with their mother and two loyal slaves brave British spies and soldiers while traveling to deliver gold and supplies to General Washington and the American soldiers. The suggested ages for this book is age 8 to adult, but I plan to read this aloud to all of my children when we study the Revolutionary War in the Spring.

Glaucia The Greek Slave was written by Emma Leslie in 1874 and is the exciting telling of the story of Glaucia, a young girl sold into slavery to pay her father's debt after he dies. Her brother Laon is desperate to find her and free her. And they are both on a quest to find the God who loves even the slaves. The story is set in first century Athens and I totally agree with the age recommendation of age 10 to adult. Like The Twins book, I did not want to put this book down. It reminded me so much of one of my favorite series, The Mark of the Lion Series by Francine Rivers, that I had to wonder if Ms. Rivers had read this fascinating little book and been inspired by it.

I guess what I love about Salem Ridge Press, is that having read these three books and enjoyed them so well, I now feel that I have a trusted source to go to find quality literature for my children. They do not offer a very long list of books, currently only 23 titles. But their website offers you the ability to search alphabetically, by time period and location, by author, or by age range. The books retail for about $10-$13 for softcover and about $25 for hardcover. You can order them from your local bookstore or at other retail vendors including Amazon.

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Dec. 8, 2008 - Reformation Party

Yes, this post is a month late.  It has taken me a month to find the time to write it up!  I do not know how many of you find the time to blog!  I enjoy it so much but I just don't have it figured out how to fit it in.  I can't sit at the computer long enough to write more than a paragraph and to read a couple other blogs.  But I really want to share what I did....

This year, on October 31, we had our 1st Annual Reformation Party.   I had so much fun that I found it very difficult to stop and take any pictures.   In fact, below are all 5 pictures that I took!  We had 3 other families over to celebrate with us. 

I used the book Night of Reformation by Doorposts as my main resource.  Here's a recap of what I did for my first party.

I spent quite a bit of time on decorations since I plan to re-use them each year.  I covered a hallway on our main level with painted stone walls.  It took me several hours to paint the paper stone walls but it proved to be well worth the time.  Now that I know how to paint faux stone walls, I think I can crank out several more next year.   I was easily able to pull the paper walls down and roll them up for re-use.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of these cool walls.

My living room morphed into the "Wittenberg Museum".  The walls were decorated with posters displaying the life and times of the Renaissance period.  There was a registry table where guests could submit entries to the museum exhibits.

I had a Bible Times exhibit that contained entries such as a stone (that David used to kill Goliath), straw (from Jesus' manger), staff (used by Moses), oatmeal (desert manna), etc.  The Reformation exhibit contained items such as a castle diorama, handmade clay pot (old German pottery), reproduction of the 95 thesis (a.k.a photocopy!), and a catapult.  I saved all these crafts for next year and look forward to adding to it.

I did a presentation on the life of Martin Luther followed by a silly quiz for the kids.   We did a Gospel Vs. Law sack race in the yard.  The dining room was the "translation room".  It had Scripture codes the kids had to solve.  Here are some of the kids hard at work (including my 2 yr old down at the end!) 

Our snacks included hot cider, donuts, apples & dip, popcorn, and pumpkin roll. 

For the trick-or-treaters that came to our door, we handed out gospel pencils and candy.

We did a fortress building contest.  Each family had different materials with which to build their fortress (legos, bristle blocks, lincoln logs, mega blocks).  Each family had about 8 minutes to build their fortress - the amount of time it took to play "A Mighty Fortress"  through 2 times.  It was very fun listening in on how each family works together as a team. They all did very well!

What a great evening we had.  I'm already making plans for next year's Reformation Party.  I'm thinking of setting the theme around the life of Martin Bucer.  Don't really know who he is but I guess I'll be finding out!  I read something about him and his wife that interested me which is how I chose him as my next "theme".

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Dec. 8, 2008 - 7 Giveaways!

This is worth checking out but it must be this week starting today!  Each day this week, Shanna (Learning at His Feet), will be doing a review of a homeschool product.  Read the review, post a comment, and be entered for a free giveaway!  How great is that!

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Oct. 17, 2008 - To Raise a Boy

I just finished reading That's My Son by Rick Johnson.   The subtitle is "How Mom's Can Influence Boys to Become Men of Character".  Just the book for me, being a mom of 3 girls and 1 boy!  It's too easy for me to treat the boy the same as the girls - majority rules! 

My husband has been a great source for steering me in the right direction.  But when I stumbled upon this book by Johnson, I was excited to dig in!   Here are some things I learned that boys need in order to grow into men of character:

1) Don't protect him from risking failure.

2) Mistakes are ok. Help him learn from them.

3) As much as possible, don't say "you might get hurt".

4) Don't smother him with love.

5) Teach him to do things he doesn't want to do when he doesn't want to do it.

6) No quitting!!!

7) Don't solve all his problems for him. Allow him to figure it most out for himself.

8) Explanations should be brief and to the point.

9) Expect him to see every task through to completion.

This is just a sampling of the ideas contained in the book.  These are the ones that stuck out to me the most on my first reading.

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Just tonight, while I was preparing dinner, I was listening to my 5 yr old boy describe to his 2 yr old sister, how to make dinner. He was saying, "You stir the carrots. Then you lift the steamer - just like how mommy did.  You have to do it exactly the same way as mama!".

Do you think he will be saying those same words 25 years from now to his new dear sweetheart?  Wonderful as that may be to my ears, I don't think that would be good! 

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Oct. 13, 2008 - Laundry

Whatever it takes to get the laundry folded and put away!

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Sep. 18, 2008 - Pray the Vote!

  Pray the Vote! (and then be sure to vote!)

 The Connelly family is now an official "40 Days to Pray the Vote" member.  It was a snap to sign up.  With that sign up we now have a bunch of wonderful information available to us online.

 1) A certificate to post on the wall to remind us to pray every day from now until the election.

2) A list of key prayer points

3) A list of Scripture-based prayers

4) Prayer request of the day

5) And more great resources...

 Election time is a season that needs to be drenched in our prayers!  Sign up you guys!!!

 My kids may be too young to understand it all but that shouldn't stop them from praying.  What a wonderful experience for our family to focus this time in prayer.  Let me know if you do the same.

 40 Days to Pray the Vote:   http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ptv_homepage

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