Aug. 28, 2007 - school starting
Well we have been busily doing half school days for a week now. Why half days, you ask? Volleyball. My daughter has decided to join the Volleyball team this year. We have been traveling back and forth for practices, scrimmages, and a tournament so far. That, and she has a job now. More running for me. We still have 9 months before she can get her license. I don't know if that will make it smoother, or more chaotic.
We will probably continue with half days through volleyball season, unless we figure out a way to get a lap top to bring along for school work in the car. But, as I have been reminded, the worst homeschool day, is often better than most public school days.
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Feb. 3, 2007 - Creation Conference
This weekend we went to the creation conference in Green Bay. Each workshop was very informative. Todays workshop "The importance of Genesis" really said a lot to me. Did you know that if you don't take Genesis 1 as literally talking about 1 - 24 hour day for each day of creation, you are opening the door to throwing out the rest of the Bible? Did you know that the foundation of the cross is Genesis? Shake that foundation by beliving in evolution, in all of its many forms, and you shake the stability of the cross. The church that sponsored the conference will have all the breakout workshops available on their website. If you are interested in learning more go to bethelgm.org It will be worth your time.
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Jan. 4, 2007 - homeschool questioned
As I was chatting with a friend a few days ago, she brought up my choice to homeschool. She is convinced that homeschooled kids can not compete with public or private schooled kids. She expressed her concern that my daughter will never be able to get into college, because she won't be able to pass the ACT's or SAT's. She is concerned that my boys are 'behind'. And most of all that they have NO friends. She is baseing her opinion on a homeschooled family that she knows. All six of the kids in that family scored very poorly on their ACT's and had to start at a community college, and that was so humilitating. All of those kids have social issues. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH... She talked about this for quite some time. Have you considered putting them back in school? What about private school, they are better you know? BLAH, BLAH, BLAH ... I'm sure that we have all heard this conversation in one way or another.
What is wrong with my choice to homeschool? I see nothing wrong with it. Actually, I see a lot right with it. I can tailor each child's education to fit his/her present needs and abilities. They all learn how to work together, and teach each other. They have a great opportunity to check out the world around them, in a way that is not possible in the school setting. They are learning right and wrong from the Bible and their parents, not from a group of peers on the playground. I could go on and on.
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Sep. 27, 2006 - Fishing
The boys convinced me to let them go fishing this morning instead of doing school work. They promised to work on their assignments this afternoon. They were gone only 20 minutes when they pulled in the driveway again. I thought that they had forgotten something. But they ran in the house excited, "Mom, you gotta come and see! Hurry up!" Zachary caught this nice size Salmon. He had to have a little help reeling it in. It is so big that he couldn't even hold it. Thanks big brother.
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Sep. 27, 2006 - Busy Day
Yesterday was a busy day. First thing in the morning we headed to church for my bible study class. The boys came with me. We started the class last week, we are studying Daniel. If you have not taken a class with Beth Moore, you should try this one. It is quite good. On the way home I learned that the boys left there school work in the children's play room. Since it is a 45 minute drive I have not gone back to pick it up yet. We arrived home for a quick lunch and to pick up Sam, then headed to the nuclear power plant for an afternoon field trip. Samantha, in her science unit, is studying about atoms, matter, nuclear energy, etc. Zach and Noah just came along for the ride. Field trip over it is on to home again for a quick stop. We were home about and hour before we had to head out for Tae Kwon Do class. Sam and I found out we will test for our brown belts in 3 weeks, Zach will test for yellow at the same time. Finally, back home again at 8:30pm and get the kids ready for bed. Whew!!!! What a busy day.
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Sep. 18, 2006 - Keeping busy
We have finally settled into a school routine. We have overcome a few bumbs in our first few weeks of our full schedule. Samantha's curriculum is on back order until the middle of October. So we are focusing on creation science, reviewing our math work from last year, and a few other small projects for the next few weeks. The boys are easily distracted from their work. It is so easy to start goofing around instead of doing math, or put the TV on instead of doing reading.
Zachary is finally getting the hang of reading, after a year of struggling. We are still below his grade level (2nd) in reading, but he is getting it at last. I feel such a sense of accplishment when he reads through a sentence or a page on his own. I have enlisted the help of the rest of the family to read, read, read with him everyday. He still gets frustrated at times and wants to give up, but everyday it seems to be getting easier for him.
Noah it seems has forgotten many of his multiplication facts. We have had to start over again with a review before we can move ahead. With all the stresses over the summer it should not surprise me that some of the things we worked on last year have been forgotten. However, his attitude about school in general has improved a great deal since last year. That alone makes it easier.
Now that I am at home full time it is so much easier on me to be the teacher. Last year working AND school was so overwhelming. I was crabby a good part of the time, and not a very good teacher the rest of the time. Last year was the year none of the kids had a good teacher. This year has already been different. Even the atmosphere in the school room is different.
We are off to a good start.
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Sep. 7, 2006 - Experimental cookies
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Aug. 15, 2006 - A trip to the zoo
On Saturday we went to the zoo in Milwaukee. It was quite an adventure. Two kids fighting on the drive, one complaining about how long we took to look at the animals, three starving at all times. Which group were the animals? Even with all the mishaps, it was a good day.
I again used this as a homeschool project. I found some good research sheets at scholastic.com We did these sheets while at the zoo, and now they are working on writing a report using the information they gathered at the zoo. The reports will be about one specific animal that they found interesting. Of course, I knew what animal would be chosen by each even before we got there. Noah wanted to research the cheetah, his favorite animal. Zachary decided upon the zebra, his favorite. Big surprise! Samantha was not assigned this project.
We also discussed the differences between mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, insects, and fish. Another great worksheet from scholastic.com had them drawing a picture of each of these groups. This helped them to remember some specific's about each animal group.
Samantha had the opportunity to try on a different hat. She was a teacher's helper through much of the day. She helped Zachary label his pictures, and helped him to read the questions, find the answers and other information he needed to know. Dad, also, had an opportunity to help out. He was great! If I'm not careful, I will be out of a job. It's actually nice having the backup teachers do so well.
Onto the next adventure ...
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Aug. 7, 2006 - Crayfish in school
One reason I like homeschooling is that it can be done anywhere, anytime. The boys went to the river to try their hand at crayfish fishing. They had to experiment a little with the right techniques; how to attach the bait, when exactly to pull it in, how to collect their catch without getting pinched. They had a great time, and didn't realize that they were learning at the same time. The were learning about the natural habitat of crayfish, foods that they eat, and who eats them. After arriving home with their catch, the learning continued on. They learned about the anatomy of crayfish, how to clean and then to cook them. We will continue to explore this topic for awhile expanding upon their natural curiosity.
