Homeschooling some, supporting some in school, leaning on God in all things http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Thu, 3 Dec 2009 13:30:00 -0600 Thu, 3 Dec 2009 13:30:00 -0600 I wrote an article about the Jesse Tree as an Advent tradition that was published over at Catholic Exchange.  You can read it here. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/749224/ Thu, 3 Dec 2009 13:30:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/749224/ Do you need any notebooking pages for this school year, to give as gifts for journaling, or just to stock up ahead of time for next year?  Notebooking pages is having a "balck Friday sale.  I have posted more information at my other blog. I love to have pretty and useful pages for my children to use as they do their school work.  I even substitue notebooking pages in their three ring binders.  It gives them incentive to do their best.   Happy Thanksgiving! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/747123/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:12:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/747123/ we find ourselves settling into a routine for the week. We still have a few logistical bumps here and there, but for the most part, we have things figured out. Each of the children is finding things a bit more challenging this year. The 9 year old and the 13 year old have each been "bumped up" a grade level. I did this in order to challenge them and see if they would rise to the occasion. For the most part, they are both doing a pretty good job. DS is really enjoying both his art and science classes at co-op. He does not particularly enjoy his writing class, as it is a challenge for him, but he is putting forth decent effort. DD is enjoying her art class, Apologetics class, Church history class, literature class, and "gym" class. She is doing the work for science, but it is not her favorite. Both of their grades are a little lower than they would be at a lower grade level, but that is because of the difficulty of the work expected from them. Lord, Thank You for helping us to make a good start. Please be with us as we continue along this path You have set us on. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/742357/ Thu, 5 Nov 2009 13:59:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/742357/ This is a video of my daughter's youth group at their srodowisko retreat in August.  The song that is playing is the youth group singing a song that they wrote that week.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6I2a1FbHF4 This is an incredible group of young people ranging in age from 12 to 20 something.  The older youth mentor the younger youth and they are all hoping to attend World Youth Day in Spain in 2011.  Many of them are homeschoolers or homeschooled until this year. (Some of them are in Catholic High Schools instead of at home) Pray for them to be able to raise the needed funds, please. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/733098/ Sun, 4 Oct 2009 08:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/733098/ My son hates Grammar.  There is no other way to describe it.  He will drag his feet all day and finally sit down with the book, but it will take him hours instead of a few minutes to do even brief assignments.  I have tried a couple of different books already this year.  I love the structure of Rod and Staff, but he seems to be "getting it" more from the Barron's Painless Junior Grammar workbook I picked up.   I looked at God's Gift of Language from A Beka, and Easy Grammar, but neither of these seemed to be a fit for my son, or for me.  A friend loves Analytical Grammar, but it is for older students.  My dear son is only 9.  I want to be sure he has a good grasp of grammar.  He is very intelligent, and being able to express himself properly and accurately, while not particularly "important" now, will be vital to success later. For now we will plug away.  I hope he learns the grammar and we stop fighting. Lord, Thank you for the gift of language you have given us.  Please help me to impart on my son, the dear child You have placed in my care, the ability to express himself in a manner that will demonstrate the intelligence with which You have gifted him.  Amen. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/730682/ Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:50:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/730682/ We started co-op classes today.  YDS has 3 classes and his sister has 6 or 7...I lost count!  Our co-op has a very full junior high/high school level "program" and she will participate in that.  It is 2 days and will probably fill most of her week after "homework" is assigned.  I had won a Picturing America grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and we are sharing it with our co-op.  One of the other mothers has a degree in art and agreed to teach with the grant.  Both of my children had her class today.  She is teaching twice...once for the younger group and once for the older group.  They used clay today to sculpt after looking at and learning about southwestern pottery.  Both of my children enjoyed it. YDD has a literature class this year.  I was informed by her teacher that she was enthusiastic during class and even asked if they might get to read and study more than just the 3 books currently on the syllabus.  I wondered if it could possibly have been my child she was talking about, or perhaps a body snatcher alien.....   Both students have science classes with a wonderful retired science teacher.  We will see how the year goes.  It is the first time YDS has been sent off into classrooms without mom hovering around.   I get to be hall monitor.  I don't mind being the mean mom who has to corral little ones back to pre-school music, or tell teens to lower their voices.  I also monitor the door to the building we use.  There is an office there for a missions group and there are elderly sisters who live in half of the building so we are not the only people in and out.  It is an old convent building.  We are grateful that we have use of the building.  It has given us the opportunity to have a really full co-op.   Dear Lord, Please guide us on the path of your choosing this year.  May we be humble and loving.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/726831/ Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:47:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/726831/ Well, we tried to go away for a few days. We went to Orleans, MA. We left Saturday morning and came home Sunday evening. We were supposed to stay until Tuesday. Our 19 year old was supposed to help out and do our cleaning for us. DH had the feeling on Sunday that we needed to come home. No sooner were we all packed than my phone rang and 19 was telling me he had car problems. Oh, well. Maybe next time we can actually enjoy a couple of days away. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/722544/ Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:03:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/722544/ We took a trip to Skinner State Park.  We took along our sketch books and lots of colored pencils.  We played chess and ate cherries.   We saw this strange caterpillar. This was the view. You can see it was a really hazy day. Afterwards, we went out for ice cream at a local dairy farm.  It was all made on site, and was quite yummy! I wanted to add the scans of the children's artwork into this post, but I couldn't figure how to.  The pictures were scanned into a PDF document.  DS drew a picture of himself climbing rocks.  DD drew 3 drawings of the scenery. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/713350/ Sat, 1 Aug 2009 11:35:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/713350/ I am still processing all the end of the school year stuff.  You know what I mean.  The essays and papers that still need to be corrected, the portfolio that still needs to be assembled.  I am also waiting for the standardized test results for my 3 children who are at home.  We are also thinking about next year and planning for curriculum.  We are venturing back into a co-op for many of our classes next year after staying home for all of our classes this past year.  I love the co-op as far as opportunity to be with other families goes, however, I am afraid my children see only the social opportunity, and do not understand that this is a wonderful learning opportunity. I am wondering about how to balance the co-op with the rest of the week.  I am also trying to determine if I will continue to attend the Ladies Bible Study that has been a part of my life for so many years.  I am not sure if I can justify another day out of the house with 2 co-op days. In the mean time, one of my dear homeschooling friends is taking classes and talking about becoming a public school teacher.    I will miss her if and when she starts teaching in brick and mortar schools. Dear Lord, Thank You for opportunities and changes.  May we follow Your will for us.  Please help us to discern the way You would have us follow. Amen. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/705548/ Mon, 6 Jul 2009 08:24:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/705548/ Well, we survived the First Annual(hopefully)NECHC. If you had asked me a month ago if I thought this conference would be successful, I would have scratched my head and and mumbled "ummmmm...." as a vague kind of "I really don't think so, and I think we have been absolutely crazy to undertake this!" After yesterday, though, I am pleased to say that the conference was a success. We had a beautiful day, a great turnout, and happy vendors. Our lovely Challenge Club girls (with a lot of help from Mrs. Seaver and Mrs. Hill) put together and manned a "food court" to raise money to help defray the costs of the Challenge Summer Convention for the girls who would like to attend this year. Attendees raved about the food. Dr. William Fahey, President of Thomas More College in NH presented a talk about homeschool fathers. He was very well received by the mixed audience of moms, dads, grandparents and religious who attended. He was at turns witty and serious, and touched on the disconnect that can occur if fathers are "divorced" from the homeschool situation. Cynthia Montanaro spoke of her years as a homeschool mom and all the lessons she learned along the way. Dr. Jean Golden-Tevald shared her faith journey as a doctor, wife and mother of natural born and adopted children. There was a music workshop done by Making Music, Praying Twice which seemed geared toward younger children and the importance of surrounding our children with all different types of music from an early age. Nick Morganelli rounded out the afternoon with some fun science experiments that can be done at home. He also demonstrated a "here comes the rain" rhythm with clapping, snapping, stomping that he has used in co-op classes. I am certain that children in a class would love this so much we might have a hard time returning to quiet. The Daughters of St. Paul presented a lovely hour of Eucharistic Adoration for the hour before Mass. The readings and music brought great peace to the room and very nicely helped to lead everyone into the close of the day. The two sisters also manned a table for Pauline Books and Media. I think my favorite part of the day, however, was the attendees. People came from as far away as Quebec, Canada, and as near as right here in Chicopee, MA. We had a large turnout of Catholic homeschoolers from CT, RI, and NH. One family came in from Boston very close to the end of the day, having only just heard about the conference on Friday June 5th. There were several Catholic support groups represented from different areas including this one and this one. It was wonderful to meet so many people dedicated to teaching their children at home. Many people seemed excited about having a Catholic Homeschooling conference. I know that the Holy Spirit led those of us involved in planning this conference. He laid on our hearts an ache for something that we miss at other homeschool conferences. Our Catholic identity makes us yearn for the presence of the Lord in a way that only Catholics truly appreciate: Our Lord in the Eucharist. Having both Adoration and the Holy Mass available fulfills in us something that other forms of prayer simply don't give us. It brings the Lord more fully into our hearts and souls. Dear Lord, Thank you for Your guiding hand in the NECHC. I am truly awed by the spirit of joy that surrounded all who volunteered and attended the conference. You have blessed us with children who not only help out when "forced," but who also cheerfully offer their assistance where ever they see a need. Please help us to continue to lead them to have servant's hearts. Thank you, Lord, for all those who volunteered at the conference. There were so many who arrived and pitched in. I am humbled by their generous spirits, Lord. Amen. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/696706/ Sun, 7 Jun 2009 12:09:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/christineh/696706/