Aug. 25, 2008
Home Spun strip #260
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
 Now this is only a theory, but we do seem to have a high turnover rate at our school district for the position of Director of Pupil Personnel. Perhaps I've lit a flame... |
Aug. 22, 2008
Home Spun strip #259
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
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Aug. 20, 2008
Home Spun strip #258
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
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Aug. 18, 2008
Home Spun strip #257
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
 I have this theory that some of the most common misconceptions about homeschooling are caused by the word itself. I know I'm not alone in this theory. I don't know of many homeschoolers who limit their "formal" education to the home. They may take their books on the road, join learning co-ops, take courses, spend more time in libraries, museums...the possibilities are endless. Many of us search for a more accurate term to describe our form of education. I'm sure some of my readers are thinking of new words for their education style as they read this. I don't imagine the word homeschooling will be replaced anytime soon, but it's fun to try to describe it more accurately. You know, for the sake of the uninformed. |
Aug. 15, 2008
Home Spun strip #256
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
 I thought you might enjoy a peek at the real life fairy house that inspired this strip. Before (in the Spring):
 This was the very latest in fairy architecture. Marina put a table, chair and bed inside. The shell is a small pond.
After (in the Fall):
 The mushrooms knocked the roof right off. It is laying on its back in the left corner of the picture. |
Aug. 13, 2008
Home Spun strip #255
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
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Aug. 11, 2008
Home Spun strip #254
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
 Every spring and summer, there is a building boom at the base of the trees in our yard. Fairy houses sprout up, made out of nature's castoffs -- sticks and twigs, stones, crinkled leaves, acorn caps, seed fluff, dried stems and grass. Anything will do, really, as long as it isn't alive. Of course, it is hard to enforce that rule and keep the weeds down in your yard at the same time. For more information about fairy houses, visit www.fairyhouses.com. |
Aug. 1, 2008
Home Spun strip #253
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
 I'm thinking of taking a little break next week. I'm enjoying a moment of slacking off after being busy for so long. I can't tell you how many times I've inadvertently scheduled two or more activities at the same time these past few months. Somehow I figure out a way to make it work and keep going. I couldn't even tell you how I did it, since the adrenalin high from the experience has left me with few brain cells for my short term memory. All I can say is that if anyone can master the impossible, it would be a homeschooler. We sure don't do things easily! |
Jul. 30, 2008
Home Spun strip #252
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
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Jul. 28, 2008
Home Spun strip #251
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
 Luckily, this year's production was given a deadline at the start and I'm happy to say that the plays were a success in spite of various obstacles, including uncooperative weather for yesterday's performance. I'm very proud of our group of kids. They performed two of their three plays under a steadily darkening sky and when the thunder and rain decided it wouldn't stop they made a makeshift stage in my friend's house and parents and friends squeezed in to watch. Erynn and Joe's children have been organizing these plays for a number of years. From their first production of an adapted American Girl play to Shakespeare to original musicals, every year they get better, the cast grows (Chase and Sierra debuted this year), and parents are amazed as something special blooms from the chaos. But it does involve planning. And organizing homeschoolers is akin to herding cats. A timetable for rehearsals and show times is the result of a great deal of calendar juggling. Summer is full of baseball games, camps, workshops, babysitting, and the usual assortment of classes that perpetually fill a homeschooler's day. But somehow, the play always manages to fit into the schedule. Even if it needs to wait for October to find an opening. |
Jul. 25, 2008
Home Spun comic strip #250
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
 I find it hard to avoid looking at the recommendations that pop up when I buy something online. They can be so tempting, especially when they refer to a subject area where I feel weak. I've followed many suggestions that result from ordering books on logic, math, physics, Latin, Spanish, and rhetoric. I'm not an impulsive shopper, mind you. I will read the product information and check reviews. I look to see if our library has a particular book recommendation so that I can preview it. Sometimes it can take me hours to order one math book! Our Amazon customer recommendation list is longer than most of the books I read. And yet every time I hit that "Add to Cart" button, a fresh set of ideas appears before me with the promise of a brighter homeschooling year. Resistance is futile. |
Jul. 23, 2008
Home Spun strip #249
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
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Jul. 21, 2008
Home Spun strip #248
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
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Jul. 18, 2008
Home Spun strip #247
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
 How my children love books! Pages have been crumpled and ripped in the excitement of seeing the pictures and the need to see what happens next. Artwork has been added. Always in a non-erasable marker or crayon. Each child has left their own special mark on a number of library books. We own them now. The library has had many new books courtesy of my toddler vandals. I always report the damage because it's what I want others to do. I used to worry about how much we paid in late fines and book replacements. I now realize it is a direct result of how much we use the library. Yes, books go missing for months every now and then because someone forgot to return it to our library book shelf, but they are being read. Our days of written-on and torn-page books is now past, but the love of books and libraries grows with every year. |
Jul. 16, 2008
Home Spun strip #246
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
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Jul. 14, 2008
Home Spun strip #245
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
 Our libraries offer a summer reading game every year. Each library does it differently, but all offer prizes based on how many books the children read over the summer. The intention is to get children reading more. The thing is, most of these programs top out at 50 books. If your child read The Hobbit in a week when she was eight years old, this isn't particularly challenging. It was useful for my more reluctant reader, Chase, who was all about the prizes and read for the pleasure of getting something. I signed up Sierra for the reading game this year hoping to inspire her to learn to read. We'll have to see how that goes. Now if I could just find a summer writing game, I would be set. |
Jul. 4, 2008
Home Spun strip #244
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
 Have a fantastic Independence Day! I'm not sure if I will be able to get next week's comics up in time, so I will post some reruns next week. May everyone have a safe and happy July 4th weekend!
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Jul. 2, 2008
Home Spun strip #243
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
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Jun. 30, 2008
Home Spun strip #242
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
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Jun. 27, 2008
Home Spun strip #241
Posted in Home Spun comic part 13
 It's nice to have a friend with a big house. It's nicer when that friend enjoys hosting homeschooling activities. Especially when those activities involve things like costumes and scenery. I remember the first year Erynn and Joe's kids put on a production. They had used a script from an American Girl play. Joe directed and Erynn hosted. Her back porch was the stage. A blanket was the curtain. The kids were fantastic. Since then, Marina has participated in a number of their plays. Last year, two of her friends wrote short musicals. We were humming their tunes for months after. At this point, the kids do everything (think The Little Rascals) and the cast is growing. Chase and Sierra are even going to be in some of the plays this year. |