Here are notes about our Homeschool life. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 4 Sep 2009 09:07:00 -0500 Fri, 4 Sep 2009 09:07:00 -0500 Wanted to let you know about this great sale going on.  I picked up a few of the Teacher Book Bag Magazines last year and while I found them interesting I didn't really put them to use.  This year I decided to subscribe to the First-Third Grade Edition and its has been wonderful.  They are perfect for adding fun things to your workboxes if you are using that system.  And even if you aren't they can be a wonderful edition to any type of study for enhancement or enrichment.  Also the activities are themed but at least for August and September they could be used at any time of the year and not just in the month on the cover of the issue.  August covered the seasons, art words, and graphing just to name a few.   We will be starting September next week and we will be learning about mapping, orchestra, and studying a non-fiction author among other things.  You really need to check them out.  Greetings!!!   Teacher Book Bag has always considered the sacrifice that families make in order to homeschool their children. In honor of your "labor", we have discounted three of our newest items, and on Monday, we will have FIVE NEW FREEBIES on our website just waiting for you to scoop them up. These FREEBIES are BIG! We will be introducing two new product lines to our collection that you are guaranteed to LOVE! Quality plus affordability! !! Ages four through eighteen!!! Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Math!!!   Here are our discounts that are available NOW!   2.00   August 2009 Monthly Book Bag Collection  (That's right...all three books for just $2.00 on CurrClick for three days.) Currclick August Offer     3.50   TBB Preschool File Folder Game Kits Collection One  (Only on CurrClick...Half Price for three days!) Preschool File Folder Game Kits Offer    3.50   TBB Kindergarten through First Game Kit Collection One   (Only on CurrClick...Half Price for three days!) Kindergarden through First Grade Kit Collection One   These three discounts end at midnight, Sunday, September 6, 2009.   Check out our 20+ FREEBIES! Look for our five NEW freebies on Monday, September 7 on our website at http://teacherbookbag.net/ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/723859/ Fri, 4 Sep 2009 09:07:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/723859/ Life has been pretty hectic around here the last couple of months and we are really just now getting back into the swing of things.  I will posting more details on many of these things in the next few weeks.  So here are some highlights.  My oldest Jacob who graduated from homeschool in 2002 is now on the mission field as a NGO for MCC in Southern Sudan.  (NGO - Non-Government Worker, MCC - Mennonite Central Committe).  He left July 31 for a three year term.  Next is my 18 yo.  He took the GED in the Spring and passed 3 of the 5 sections.  He will return to adult education classes to work on those skills.  Once he completes his GED we will also issue him a homeschool diploma.  He's future plans are unsure at this time.  He would like to get into designing video games and there are college programs for that but we need to find out what options are available with his learning disabilities.  In a big change for all of us our 14 yo is now a public school student.  He is very interested in the military as a career choice and would love to attend the Air Force Academy.  Our county offers one of the few public military high schools in the country and so we allowed our son to enroll.  The program is similar to those offered by private military schools costing $27,00-$40,000 a year although the public school is only a day school.  They have their own campus location for everything but lunch.  They were military uniforms.  They have a strict policy on conduct and those who don't comply are asked to leave.  So with much apprehension we have allowed him to explore this option.  The school has only been around for 4 years and they have already placed 4 students in military academies and many others have received full ROTC scholarships at traditional colleges.  As well as those who are not military minded and received good scholarships based on academic and extra curricular performance.  We have always homeschooled because we felt it was the best option for our children.  That has always been our main concern.  And so after much prayer and research we have decided that for now this is the best option.  Of course we reserve the right to change our minds if necessary.  The two youngest continue to homeschool.  This year we are using lots of lapbooks mainly from Hands of A Child.  Our plan is to cover a continent and habitat every 5-6 weeks.  We will also study an animal that ties in with one of those things as well.  In addition the 12 yo will be studying using Beyond Five in A Row and the 8 yo will be using Five in A Row.  Finally, I will be finishing up our reading of Sonlight Core K and then Core 2.  Our plan will be to move on to American History next year.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/723846/ Fri, 4 Sep 2009 08:12:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/723846/ Well Jacob called this morning and he has the position as office manager in Juba, Southern Sudan.  He'll get the final details next week but the most likely schedule is training in Pennsylvania  in July and leave for Sudan in August or September.  I'm so proud of him.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/684796/ Fri, 1 May 2009 13:09:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/684796/ Jacob is currently still working at Luther Seminary but he had an interview last Friday for two positions offered by Mennonite Central Committee.  These positions are both located in Southern Sudan.  The interview went really well and looks very promising.  Since the field supervisor in the Sudan has the final say we are not sure how long it will take to get an answer.  I really think this may be the time he actually goes.  If he does get either job we will not be seeing him for 3 years.  He would most likely head to Africa in late summer.  I know we will be doing an Africa unit if he goes though.  You can read more about the work of MCC at the website.  Mennonite Central Committe Home Page  Here's is just a bit from the website about the job he is most likely to get.  Location Description Juba is an historic trading village on the banks of the White Nile River in Southern Sudan. The recent 23 years of civil war dramatically impacted Juba as it was a garrison town held throughout the war by the North. Public services and infrastructure were destroyed and are being rebuilt. Juba is the capital city of the new Government of Southern Sudan. Living in Juba is not easy, but it is quickly becoming a busy center for the new southern government. Thousands of returnees and formerly displaced persons have flocked to Juba putting a great strain on scarce health, education, water, sewer and sanitation services. Local markets import fresh food from Uganda and Kenya. Fruits and vegetables are usually available. Most of what is needed on a day-to-day basis is in Juba. A couple of shops cater to the food preferences of expatriates.Juba and Southern Sudan is hot, and for parts of the year, hot and humid. There is a lot of dust during the dry season. When it rains many roads are difficult to navigate. Local health services are limited to routine care. Most MCC staff prefer to go to Nairobi for health care. Southern Sudan is predominately Christian and there are many churches in Juba and in Southern Sudan. Transportation to work is usually available. Within Juba public transportation is available but unreliable. Juba is best suited for a single person or a couple without children.MCC Team meets twice a year and joins a regional Mennonite retreat in Kenya around Christmas. Challenges: Electricity is available by city supply or generator. Water supply is good and mobile phones are in use along with internet services. Housing will be of basic, cement block construction with tin roofs. Transport will be by road or by air. Generally speaking security is good in Southern Sudan. 1) The weather in Southern Sudan is hot and often humid. 2) Processes in Sudan often move slowly - need to be patient and happy with small successes. 3) Access to imported foods and consumer goods are limited. Availability of food is sufficient but some basic and special items may need to be personally catered for. 4) Travel is difficult - roads are rough and in some cases nonexistent. 5) Juba has a strong security presence. There are occasional out-breaks of violence but many factors work to hold the peace. Here a link to MCC's Page on the Sudan The work in the Sudan http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/683702/ Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:17:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/683702/ Well I've been using the Workbox System for over a week now and I'm very, very happy with the results.  I still think the biggest benefit to me so far has been how it has kept me accountable.  Now when the kids ask can I go out, play the Wii, etc.  I can easily say are your boxes finished.  (And because of the box system I can also very quickly see visually the answer.) Before I might get the yes I'm done or I finished my list when they in fact had not but since I didn't have time to go through their list I'd let them go and find out later they had left something undone.  Now even if I haven't checked it all I can easily see its not done.  I had to be out of town part of Thursday - Sunday.  I set up the boxes a bit different with the work to complete while I was gone.  If they had an assignment both days I put two numbers on them.  For example the math workbook box had a #2 and #7 on it.  They each knew how much they needed for each day.  Joshua figured out if it was all done he could have more time off so he actually finished both days worth in one day.  Hannah didn't get all of hers done because she got sick but I could still see what needed to be reschedule due to illness and she is back on track today.  I started out with the idea of just using the system with my two youngest who will be staying home again in the fall.  I figured we could give the system a try and then decide how I wanted to use them next year.   My 14 yo will be attending a military school through our local school system in the fall so I didn't want to invest in a new system.  But I've found that the ideas and principals of this system so helpful to me as the teacher that I decided I wanted to expand its use to my 14 yo as well.  Since I didn't want to spend too much I decided to use a crate with hanging folders for him since these were materials I already had.  I just printed off another number set and purchased some more velcro.  Today is our first day and I found that he had not completed everything last week that he was supposed to so he has some folders with more than one assignment in them.  What I told him was to go through the folders in order, doing one days worth in each folder and then after he has completed one full days worth he can go back and work on the additional assignments each day until he catches up.  I wanted him to get an idea of how long it is really taking him to complete a full days work and to get the feel of working through the folders in order, one assignment at a time until done.  Sometimes his biggest problem is finding his book to complete the assignment or "forgetting" to do his book reading.  Now it is all in one place and easy to find.  He is to bring the crate out at the end of the day for grading and pick it up again each morning stocked and ready to go.  I think that learning to think in this more organized way will help him in the fall.  He can come home and crate his homework so he can clearly see what he needs to accomplish before doing other things.  Someone had commented that they wanted to know more about what I was talking about so here are a couple of links.  The first link is to Sue Patrick's Workbox System site.  Sue Patrick Workbox System the second link is to the Five in a Row Discusion that I read that got me started on exploring this system in the first place.  FIAR Workbox Discussion  And if you google Workbox System it will bring up all kinds of homeschooling blogs on the subject as well.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/683693/ Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:45:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/683693/ I've about the Workbox System off and on for the last several months.  On the Five in a Row loop the other day there was a big discussion.  So I order the book and it came yesterday.  I spent all afternoon reading the book.  I went to Wal-Mart after dinner and got at least enough boxes and Velcro to get us started.  I'll need a few more boxes and more velcro but I did get enough to start.  I printed and laminated the numbers and chart.  It took me about 30 minutes to set the boxes up for today but I think that will get faster.  Three hours into our day I can say that I love it.  I'm using them with my 11 and 7 year olds.  The only thing I lack is a shelf which no store in our town had.  I might have some shelf in the shed so I'll check before driving to the next town.  But even with the boxes just stacked it is still working well.  The #1 bonus for me so far is knowing that everything I needed for the day was planned out and ready to go.  No finding the flash cards, no pulling more sight word cards, no looking for a pencil, etc.  #2 my son really, really, really loves it.  He loves seeing his stack disappear.  He is working faster and with more motivation.  There is no listening to his sister get upset when he takes "her" crayons because he has his own box to use with his Bible.  #3 my daughter is still her slow, distracted self but to get her back on task is to say look how many more boxes you have left.  Remember you can't play today until your stack is gone.  I'm not stressing about getting her moving.  I also know that at the end of the day when she tries to get off from completing her work I don't have to be a bad guy.  I can simply say sorry you didn't finish you boxes.  #4 if I leave the room people still know what is needed.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/681299/ Tue, 21 Apr 2009 09:49:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/681299/ Recently on one of the groups I belong to a mom shared her frustration with her child who is struggling in the area of reading.  Like I had so often done in the past I heard the hurt and the hope that someone will have the magic answer.  If you do this or use that life will become wonderful again.  So this was my answer.  The answer born of walking this road.  An answer born from my own tears and heart ache.  And I decided to post the answer her in the hopes that others who struggle with their own feelings while watching their child struggle will find some comfort although no answers in these words.  If you read some of my early post here you will see that  I tried every program available at the time of our struggles.  None of them worked.  The only thing that did work was intense and long term eye therapy.  Even with all that we had to start over and his reading will all be an area of weakness.  Just using the Sonlight readers at a much slower pace,  sight word cards, ETC, and MCP Plaid we got him up to mid 6th grade level.  Adding in the RFBD(Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic) audio reader program we got the word recognition to mid 7th and the comprehension up to mid 10th.  The reality is that he will never read for pleasure, reading will always be a chore, he will never love reading.  Through audio books he will be able to continue to feed his brain.  He will continue to enjoy good literature.  He has enough reading skill that he can read for information.  He can read enough to play his video games.  He is holding his own so far at the Adult Basic Education classes. Once he gets his TABE (Test of Adult Basic Education) score up to an over all 9th grade level he can begin GED classes.  It is still a very painfully slow process.  I still get frustrated.  But I have had to surrender everything I thought would happen for my child.  I taught myself to read at a young age.  I loved to read.  I love books.  Jacob was a bit older but he taught himself to read.  Caleb can read but he reads slowly and not for pleasure.  I figure he will end up in a remedial class if he goes to the public school.  Joshua is only a year ahead of Hannah but is making steady progress now.  Hannah well I'm not sure if she teaching herself or what I'm doing is actually working for once.  Every early reader story used to break my heart and fill me with guilt.  What am I doing wrong?  Have I ruined my children for life?, etc.   And if I read one more article or had one more mom tell me that early readers are born to moms who spend time reading to their children I was going to strangle someone.  I've read to each and everyone of them since before they were born.  I would read until my throat was scratchy and raw.  I provided a stimulating learning environment.  We had years with no TV, video, or electronics games.  And we have had years with them.  I tried all the wonderful this will work programs.  I've been free flowing and relaxed.  I've been highly structured.  And in the end my children are who they are, they are as God made them.  The road of the struggling learner and therefore their parent is long.  The road is lonely.  No matter how many other on the road everyone's place is unique and it seems that you are on it alone.  And the hardest part is that there are no guarantees that if you just do X, if you just use Y that things will suddenly and magically be okay.  That depending on the challenge extra work or special programs may catch them up and move them forward but the reality is that some of them will never reach what our peers would view as "normal".  It hurts so bad that my son who is bright and intelligent will always have to struggle for his place in this world.  Or worse still is that even if others don't care he cares.  He compares himself.  He feels less.  So prayers and hugs.  No easy answers.  No,do this and it will all be magically wonderful.  Because from the perspective of being down the road and looking back the road was rocky, full of pot holes, and periods of dense fog.  I'm glad that I homeschooled.  I'm glad I was able to walk down that path with my son together.  I'm glad that I got him to the point where he is able to move on to the adult education program.  But I can't say that I got to the end of the road and walked out into a beautiful sunlit field of wild flowers or that I came out to the interstate smooth and ready for forward movement at great speeds.  I came down the rocky road to head up the next bumpy road.  I can't see yet if this will lead to a better, smoother road or not.  And that of everything is the hardest thing for me as mom.  I don't feel I failed but I wish with all my heart that what I did had changed him.  But it didn't and that's what I laid down.  That is the child God made.  He is just the way God wants him to be.  And ultimately he is in God's hands.  So that's it my heart and my thoughts raw and emotional.  Use what you can. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/641884/ Tue, 6 Jan 2009 09:22:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/641884/ Jacob got his Master's Sunday in Missions and World Christianity.  He hopes to get a position with MCC working with refugees in Kenya.  Continue to keep him in your prayers.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/538462/ Tue, 27 May 2008 05:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/538462/ Yesterday morning Hannah said she didn't want to go outside instead of doing school.  So I decided to compromise and do school outside.  Of course the camera batteries were dead so I have no pictures (we may just need to recreate the scene.)  I said in camp chair, Hannah sat on her Barbie jeep. (Which her brothers rescued from someone's trash pile so it doesn't run but she loves it when she can get her brothers to push her.) Joshua sat on the blanket or up in the tree.  We really had a great morning.  The weather was perfect and under the shade of our oak tree it was really pleasant.  Not sure how many more days like this we will have before the hot, muggy days of summer come in full force.  Already by lunch time its starting to get hot.  It was fun to hear the birds and watch the squirrels.  We even got a mini air show as there is a big Fly In over in the next town and I guess they were practicing or something over our way.  We saw some Warbirds plus a few others.  It was fun to just relax and enjoy the day.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/515001/ Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:18:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/515001/ This is the time of year when you begin to hear the sound of curriculum shopping.  New catalogs are coming out.  Homeschool convention session is soon to begin.  On many loops you begin to hear money saving suggestions.  These include you don't have to purchase from a company just pick up their catalog and use it a book list.  Buy just the guide and use the library.  If the book is consumable just make copies and then you can resell the book later.  I got these neat freebie from such and such a company I'll send you the PDF file so you don't have to go get it yourself, etc.  And while I understand that at times we have no choice.  We must do all we can to school at no or low cost or not be able to homeschool at all.  But I have just a few thoughts gathered over a long time of homeschooling and seeing these things played out in real life.  Most companies that offer a packaged curriculum or books with guide are for the most part not making money on the sale of the guide.  The profit comes from the sale of the books that are supported by the guide.  Some have raised the price of their guides when not included with a package to minimize their loss.  Now the thing is if a company can not make a profit they will go out of business and then there is nothing for anyone to use.  I have seen other companies fold for just this reason.  Also along these lines are sharing of files received from free from a company's website.  Freebies are often given to generate interest in a product or to get people to look over their site.  When you share the file by passing the company you may be costing them a future sale or at the very least a contact.  It seems like such a small thing and it was free anyway so what is the harm.  The harm again is that the company could go under and now no one can benefit from it.  Another way to hurt your favorite company is using a book intended to be consumable in such a way that you get the benefit of the product and then resale it.  For bigger companies it may not hurt as much but for a small home based homeschool supplier this can be the very death of the company.  I have seen this happen over the years.  It is so sad to go back to buy additional product and find out that company is out of business.  My final pet peeve is those who go to a convention and take a fair amount of time talking to a homeschool retailer, picking their brains, getting ideas and suggestions etc.  And then for that same person to walk away and go over to a discount stand and make the purchase.  While I have no problem with someone knowing what they want and taking advantage of a discount seller its just wrong to use someones time and not reward them with the sale.  Its one thing if you decide a product won't work and decide not to purchase after spending time but to decide yes and purchase elsewhere is just not fair.  Vendors pay a lot to be at most curriculum fairs or conventions.  For larger conventions they may have to have paid help in the booth, etc.  You usually don't get much service at a discount vendor which is why they can afford to sell at less.  They may sell in higher volume as well.  So if you can afford it purchase a whole package or at least as much from the company as possible.  If you have found a great freebie send a link to the original website so that others can pick it up for themselves while visiting the site.  If its consumable then consume it and replace for the next child.  If its reproducible for your family then reproduce it for all but the last one and then let them consume it.  And if you take a vendors time at a convention and decide to make the purchase pay the extra bit more to cover the service you receive.  If we all do this as much as we are able it makes it more likely that our favorite vendors will be around for years to come.  Climbing off my soap box now.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/504414/ Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:51:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kmathre/504414/