How can a WAHM with a tiny but dedicated Interior Design Studio successfully balance life as a Home School teacher to her last little angel at home? The adventure begins..... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:18:00 -0500 Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:18:00 -0500 Here we are back to homeschool for another year. I am sorry that I have been AWOL from blogging for so long. I have had a bit of a health crisis; I had a hysterectomy in June. I am healing well but find I have times where I am zapped of energy. I am diligently trying to get back to my writing interests as well as our homeschool endeavors.  Yesterday we joined a group of our homeschool friends for a new weekly Gym Class that is being taught by one of the moms. She is a veteran Physical Ed instructor with 4 years teaching experience at a Christian School. She is now homeschooling her children and is offering the classes free of charge. This is exactly what my rambunctious little student needed!!! He had such a GREAT time! They did exercises together, played a game of PIG basketball, ran around the court and played with hoolahoops. He met some new friends and is already looking forward to next week.  We have been doing more "unschool" this year and are going to get involved with our local 4-H group next month. Caleb got a camera for his birthday in April and LOVES to document his daily activities as well as those of our cat-whether she wants him to or not-LOL. I have been checking out the 4-H Photograghy curriculum and think it is just what my aspiring "shutter bug" could sink his brain into. I am anxious for him to get into this group.  I will close for now and will do my best to write again soon. I hope that you are having a wonderful and productive homeshool year, so far, at your house, too.  Hugs from WV,  Char   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/730244/ Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:18:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/730244/ WOW!!! Is it almost April already! I cannot believe that is time to start thinking about putting our 2008/2009 portfolio together hear at the old Cozy Home! We have had a really good year and covered a LOT of material. Caleb read the entire novel, Call of the Wild as well as some other smaller books just for fun. We centered several lessons around the novel such as spelling words, history on the US purchase of Alaska and the Alaskan Gold Rush of 1898. We also studied plant life in detail as part of his science curriculum, birds were also a large part of science studies this year. Math lessons introduced Mr. Caleb to the concept of adding fractions with same denominators and we continued working on his multiplication, division, time concepts and, of course, money management equations. He wrote a little poem earlier in the year and I will post it in April as part of a National Poetry Month post that I am putting together. I have been very organized this year by keeping his lessons neatly in one notebook-much improvement from two years ago when I thought that an accordian file was the way to go-boy, have I learned a thing or two! I will contact my reviewer one day next week and hope to have her look over our portfolio the first week of May. Then I will be able to breath a little sigh of relief for another year completed. Now what will we cover next year-(sigh) the excitement never ends! Stay Cozy, Charlotte http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/673944/ Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:53:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/673944/ What a wonderful day we had today!!! After we finished our lessons, we were finally able (after what seems an eternity) to head to the park!!! Caleb was THRILLED and I was so very glad to see that boy run off some of that abounding energy. I am just glad that spring is finally on its way and am looking forward to many more days in the park with other homeschool families. Caleb was on his own today, but had lots of fun climbing on the playground equipment and running up and down the hillside at the park. On the way home, he actually dozed a minute . For lunch I fixed quick pizzas on sliced bread under the broiler. He LOVED them and said that we should have them more often. He is such a sweetie.  The rest of the afternoon he played on the computer and with his Lego toys. Altogether, it was a very pleasant day. I love it when a plan comes together. Hugs to all, Charlotte http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/667163/ Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:40:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/667163/     Recently, a group of local homeschool friends, including myself, were talking about the reasons that we homescool and the methods that we use to teach our children.  I will be honest, it is difficult for me to talk about our original reasons for choosing homeschool as an option for Caleb. He attended PS for Kindergarten and First Grade and in that time he was diagnosed as ADHD (translation-normal, happy, active, curious little boy). The school practically coerced us into placing him on meds-Stratera-as they told us that they could refuse to teach him otherwise. He was coming home every evening with 7-10 pages of "homework" because the school was sending home anything that he did not finish in class. Robin and I decided that since we were already doing the bulk of his class work with him at home, anyway, we could just as easily homeschool him. We also wanted him off of the Stratera because we saw him go from being a happy, energetic child to one that was full of anxiety. He would cry every evening after school, he did not want to eat, his skin was actually turning a greyish color and he was always very clingy. He was also having bad dreams at night.      To make a long story short, we are THRILLED with our decision! We have our child back. We love the freedom that homeschooling gives us to teach Caleb on his level and learning style, to teach him subjects that are interesting to him, and to give him ample time to be a kid, also. We love the fact that he does not have to take that horrible medicine any longer and that we can help him learn to deal with his personallity in a healthy way. I love park days with other homeschool families because he has a chance to meet other homeshooled children and just have fun being a kid.      We are very eclectic in our approach to homeschooling, but probably most fit into the Charlotte Mason style of learning. I do try to have at least 1-2 hours of structured "table time" with him every day, mainly to get him used to the idea of disciplined learning and using research skills for writing, math and science. We cuddle and read, watch lots of movies-with discussion, go on nature walks, do kitchen science experiments, play board games etc. The best part is, he is never bored! He knows better than to say so, mom can always find something for him to do. Until next time, stay cozy, Charlotte http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/655204/ Fri, 6 Feb 2009 08:35:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/655204/ I hope that I am not too late in wishing everyone a Very Happy 2009! I know that it has been months since I have posted anything here on our little homeschool blog. I have posted on my cottage blog and on my homestead blog, but I just cannot seem to get around to posting here. We have been busy, however, and have been active with our local co-op group as well.  I have set up a schedule for myself for blogging and am hoping to stick to it. I do love to come here and post about what we are learning, but the day just seems to slip away from me. I hope that all of you are having a wonderful January and that you are getting lots of learning done. I will try to come back later in the week to post about some of our latest endeavors. Hugs for now, Charlotte http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/647242/ Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:49:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/647242/ No not of the Traveling Pants...though I know that is a popular movie right now. I am thinking more of the kind of sisterhood that brings moms together to each others homes for a good cup of coffee or tea and an afternoon of sweet Christian fellowship as they visit; talking about their homes and families and anything else important to them. The kind of day where the children enjoy just playing together as their momma's visit. As we get ready for the new school year and prepare to join in more with our favorite Homeschool groups, I wanted to remind moms how important it is for our children to see us sharing honest Christian friendship with one another. They are watching us and listening to us more than we think they are and the way that they will relate to others greatly depends on the way they see us relating to others.  I hope you will also enjoy this article that I found on Faith Writers this morning: Sisterhood of Yesterday By Heather Sargent When did it become an 'every mother for herself' world? Didn't it used to be a sisterhood of women raising their children together once upon a time? I think often of what that would be like. To have the women in your life around you supporting you and befriending you. And how you would do the same for them. I imagine children playing while their moms sit together giggling about what silly thing their husband said to them this morning. Or how little Johnny got in trouble again but always gets caught in the most unusual ways where you can't help but laugh. After you have disciplined him of course. What would it be like to have the women closest to you understand that you too are just a mere human and are incapable of perfection? How you really do have the best of intentions but sometimes that hand basket from hell comes to take it all away. What if they understood that those things that appear to be bad parenting have a broken heart behind them that may just need a friend? Maybe there is an interesting story there of why things went the way they did. A world where these sisters did not have one arm wrapped around you in a friendly hug with a knife in the other. A smile and friendly word to you, then biting, angry words at your back. A place where life was so simple that the person you saw in front of you, was the person you saw in front of you. I long for the sisterhood of the days of old. This catty back-biting that women of today do just leaves me standing there scratching my head, wounds and all as I slowly drop the knife I hold at my sisters' backs. Heather Sargent - 2008 A down-to-earth wife and mother of four, Heather Sargent has more than enough to write about.  From the insanity of daily life to the quiet, magical moments which include sleeping children, she finds humor and joy in her chaotic life. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com <a href="http://www.faithwriters.com">CHRISTIAN WRITERS</a> http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/572921/ Mon, 11 Aug 2008 07:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/572921/ Hello to All, Hooray for SUMMER!!! I dream of these wonderful warm and sunny days all winter long, as I bet most of you do. We have officially finished our lessons, but, the best part of teching at home is knowing that learning happens wherever you are. I wanted to post the link to our wonderful state Dept of Natural Resources page that includes LOADS of cool stuff to do all over our beautiful state. Have a TERRIFIC summer!!! Here is the link: http://www.wvdnr.gov/ Hugs, Charlotte http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/549913/ Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:52:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/549913/ Hello to all, I haven't been doing much posting lately, but the outdoors has been calling. We had planned to have a small plot, but time got away from us andnothing was planted. I have also been busy inside and with my little business as well as going to the park with Caleb (when it is not sweltering outside). Last week the temperatures were in the 90s almost every day. Friday we went on a field trip to the Whipple Company Store last week with some other homeschoolers and had a good time learning from the owner about our WV coal mining history. The children were even able to "mine" some coal and turn it in for "scrip" to shop with in the little company store. We had a neat little picnic lunch at the store afterward, too. There was something in the lunch to represent each decade from the 1910s through the 1950s, very interesting. The owners are also homeschoolers and are restoring the 118 year old store as a museum. I pray that all is well with you and yours, and that you are staying comfortable in the heat. May God richly bless your week. Love and hugs, Charlotte   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/545608/ Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:13:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/545608/ We had a field trip yesterday with one of our groups of homeschool friends. We traveled to the office of a field Entomologist with the Department of Agriculture in our County. WOW, did the kids have a GOOD time. They learned all about the anatomy, defenses, usefulness and also the destructive ways of  many varieties of insects. The entomologist had a power point presentation put together for them and each of the children brought home a packet of information including some pretty neat "Bug Tattoos".  After they took time to look at ALL of the vast array of insect specimens around the room, they went outside with nets to have a chance to collect their own. The office was on a hill top and so, the children had fun running to the top of the hill, nets in hand, and then running down the hill with their nets dragging the ground like a scoop to pick up insects. They all got a good work-out and each caught some interesting "critters" to ask the entomologist about. Caleb was just tuckered out after all of the excitement and took a well earned nap in the car on the way home. He talked about the trip all evening long.  What a GREAT way to learn!!!! Stay Cozy, Char     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/528123/ Tue, 6 May 2008 15:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/528123/   Hi! This came across my desk, and it looks interesting. Evidently Sunkist lemons is having their 5th Annual Take a Stand. What they are doing is trying to educate children about community, and charity. To that end, they are giving away Lemonade Stands and other materials, so your child can raise money for a charity. Here Is The URL So You Can Take A Look I thought it looked really interesting, so, I requested a stand for Caleb. We will be sending all of the procedes to the St Joseph  Indian School in South Dakota. Caleb truly enjoyed studying about the many Native American tribes this past year and we also were reminded of the great need among the tribes on reservations. The St Joseph School offers education and hope to the families of the Lakota Tribe. Caleb enjoys reading their newsletters and has really taken them to heart.  Here is the link for the school: http://www.stjo.org/ Go to the Sunkist site and request a stand for your little student(s) and help them learn about helping others in need. The Lord loves a cheerful giver and the chance to help someone else should never be passed up. Until next time, Stay Cozy, Charlotte   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/525903/ Fri, 2 May 2008 05:22:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Char5/525903/