I just recently purchased Zone Cleaning for Kids...I highly recommend it! We haven't had much time to use it yet but I can see how helpful it will be. I also purchased the Clean N Flip one...it focuses on a basket system for the children to use in their own rooms. Simple and easy to use. Check it out!

Sunydazy

Need summer ideas?

I got this info from Annette at Discipling for the Kingdom. (Thanks!)

This is a great list of ideas for summertime nature study and fun.

Check it out at this link:

http://www.backyardnature.net/101/summer.htm

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For the Birds - 25th Carnival of Homeschooling 

Just a reminder...be sure to visit this weeks Carnival of Homeschooling. It's being hosted by Homeschool Buzz. There are plenty of inspiring articles to help you fly. Enjoy!

Sunydazy

 Yesterday I took my 3 year old son and the babies for a drive on the local country roads. I was hoping to induce some naps. ;-)

  I confess to being an unschooler at heart. I find any excuse I can to load the children into the van and drive a country road with the windows down, so we can experience a little nature (I love hiking but it's a bit more difficult right now with the twins). We have a couple of favorite routes. Yesterday we took the one across the highway from our neighborhood. The gravel road circles an old horse ranch. One particular young horse ran to the fence and followed us around the corner.

  The heat was high and the noise from the cicadas was beginning to grow. They get louder as the temperature increases. The midday temperature has been hovering around 100 degrees lately. We continued down the dusty road toward the creek.

I love to cross the muddy boggy creek bottom. We spied our old friend the blue crane, also called the blue heron, there yesterday. He'll usually stand still looking like a stick unless we stay too long. Then he'll fly into the nearby trees and shrubs for cover.

  Next we went over the railroad tracks and by the cemetery. There are plenty of newer homes on the old road, many built of brick. To me they look a little out of place, like city houses that have been misplaced. I am partial to the old homestead on the left. The house is big and white and a little 'lumpy' looking. :-)  It's probably been there for 60 or 70 years. It has personality, character and a sense of history. It's not really pretty...exactly... but it's homey looking. It's surrounded by screened porches, shady trees and old clotheslines. I can envision myself there- presiding over laundry on laundry day and sending the children out for fruit from the old peach trees...(sigh) ...maybe someday.

  We passed the homestead and slowly cruised by the llama farm where all the llamas were avoiding the heat of the day by cozily cushing in the sheds and munching. Down the road a bit more, past the patch of Indian Blanket wildflowers there was a small herd of black cows crowded under the trees lining the fence.

  On this road one can see an occasional snake slithering and a tarantula tiptoeing here and there...not today though.

  As we neared another creek I slowed down so we wouldn't frighten away any wildlife.

  We stopped on the bridge and watched quietly. A small turtle was sunning himself and the dragonflies were darting all around us catching mosquitos in their feet 'nets'. By this time the cicada's songs were reaching deafening heights! Summer is definitely here!

  As we turned towards home I noticed the many butterflies fluttering and I spotted the pretty purple of thistles and the bright red of a passing cardinal. Rounding one of the corners there was a cluster of towering sunflowers nodding their cheery heads as we went by.

  Yes! This is school! This is life! This is what God gave us to enjoy! I can't wait for another day and another drive.

Sunydazy

We've started something new lately that I'd like to share. My dear friend (who is a cousin by marriage) and I have both been homeschooling for many years. We've both been through all the metamorphosis: One year something works for one of us, the next year the other one tries it. We've mixed and matched and played musical homeschool curriculum through the years. Recently we both have settled into a familiar pattern and realized that what we use matters not. As long as learning remains a joyful experience and real books are available, learning will take place.

Ok...enough about our background. We have started sharing a couple of 'classes'. I agreed to teach a Christian charm/etiquette/personal care course for young ladies to her 3 daughters and my oldest daughter. She agreed to teach science to the same.

I am so excited about this because I don't relish doing science experiments and when it gets left up to me the experiments tend to get neglected. I can always think of something else we could do. :).

Yesterday she spent an hour with the girls and they did some wonderful experiments demonstrating force, motion, friction, and inertia. We are using a printed curriculum as a jumping off point. I learned a bit more about science just listening in occasionally. The rest of the time I was bouncing one of the babies.

I took about 30 minutes for our little 'finishing school' class during which time we had lots of giggles. I plan to touch on lots of fun subjects including: grooming, what not to wear, what to wear for special occasions, walking, talking, sitting and standing like a lady, how to allow someone to help you with your coat and chair and doors, eating and restaurant manners, what fabrics go together, choosing hairstyles, and diet and excercise. All of this will be in light of being Christians who bring honor to the Lord.

We are using a printed curriculum as a starting point for this also. I like this subject so I'll be adding lots of fun things as we go along.

I'm so excited about this arrangement because it allows each person's passion for a subject to rub off on the young ones. I also like the fact that we're doing this with dear friends and relatives...no trust issues to worry about.

I don't know how long we'll be doing this but I hope for a long time...and maybe we can expand it to include a few other things...I love literature and art and music...anybody want to volunteer to help me with math? My oldest is sweet not to criticize my lack in this area but I think he sees it. I can't really answer any of his questions in a clear way without using the teachers book and even then I have to wade in a little at a time with lots of "uuuhhm.... I thiiink.... you... should probably... do thiiis"  thrown in.

He always gets it and then later explains it to me. :-) Hurray for homeschooling!

Sunydazy

OK. If you've never seen a blogging carnival you have to check some out. It's a way to group lots of articles and posts on similar subjects to get maximum exposure. The carnival is usually hosted by one blogger and then rotated to another volunteer 'next time'.

'Next time' could be held once a week or once a month etc... each carnival group decides for themselves the frequency. The host usually chooses a 'theme' and displays all the contributing links in a creative way (fun to read).

I'm fairly new to the blogosphere but already have enjoyed visiting several of these carnivals.  The latest and greatest of these (in my humble opinion) is the Carnival of Homeschooling. The most recent one is hosted by Principled Discovery here. It's called The Map to a Progressive Dinner. Tons of links to excellent blogs, posts and articles are to be found here! A feast for anyone interested in the subject of homeschool.

Please take some time to check out all the wonderful 'dishes' offered by some great bloggers!

I've been homeschooling for a quite a few years now. My oldest son is soon to be 16 and we've always homeschooled. I often get asked by people newer to homeschooling than me "What curriculum should I use? What do you use? What if my kids are bored by me? What if I'm a really bad teacher? and on the questions go. Here are a few of my thoughts on this subject. I hope they help someone.

Homeschooling is like cooking. Everybody has the potential to develop their own style and flavors and yet still maintain good nutrition.

Homeschooling is also like wearing shoes. Are you the running type or the walker? Maybe a rock climber or a bowler? What about a dancer or maybe you just wear slippers all the time?

There are so many choices out there...any one of them might be the perfect fit for your family. It does help to ask questions and try on other people's shoes, so to speak, but you'll have to step out in your own shoes when the time comes. Don't be afraid to take those first few steps. Just realize that you will probably make mistakes, you will probably change curriculums and styles numerous times before you find a good fit. That's ok. I've used textbooks, gimmicky programs, workbooks, unit studies and living books. I've found that what works best for me is a little touch of all of those put together into "Deborah style". I've looked at the what-your-child-should-know books but I don't live by them...I just allow myself to be gently guided...perhaps inspired by them. That's all.

There are some things that I don't want to spend any time on. I just say no. There are other things that I think are vitally important for me to instill in my children and I haven't seen them listed in the important-things-to-know books. I'm going to teach them anyway. Some things that someone else might feel are important may be left out of our homeschool altogether because our time here on earth is limited and we only have so many hours in a day .

Guess what! God made me a unique individual and I believe that He wants me to share who I am with my children. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?

Let me say this another way. Do you love to write? Do you love horses? What about health and nutrition? Weight lifting? Mountain biking? Cooking? Sewing? Swimming? Baseball? Carpentry? Whatever you love, you can use as a tool , as a path of learning, straight into your child's heart. When a child sees a parent's passion for a subject they sometimes become passionate about the same subject. At minimum, they respect your passion and develop some of their own.

I love birds. And guess what! So do my children. I'll bet they know more about the local birds than the average child. Not because I make them sit down and learn about them, but because I run to the window when I see one. Because I love to take walks and listen to their calls. Because I enjoy reading about them. It's infectious! Just think how much more colorful the world would be if every family took the time to develop who they are and stopped trying so hard to be like everyone else. I also suspect there would be fewer burnouts, fewer casualties.

My advice to new homeschoolers is this: Ask some questions, think about what your deepest reasons for homeshooling are and set some priorities, learn about the different styles of homeschooling (keeping in mind that your favorite style of learning may not be your childs favorite), go to a book fair or convention and look around, go to this website and read, read, read, especially this article called Homeschool ABC.. And then, just pick something and try it. If you don't like it or it flops, well, just learn from your mistakes and try something else. Eventually you'll be good at knowing which things just won't work for your family. As your children grow your families needs will change and you will probably have to keep on adapting. It's a good thing! It means there is life in your family! Like buying new shoes for growing feet and different kinds of shoes for different events: rock climbing takes a different shoe than basketball. As you begin to get comfortable in your new homeschool shoes let your passion be your guide. Maybe it's ok to put away the books and look at birds today. Maybe it's ok to stay up late and watch the stars together. Live and learn together! It's a wonderful adventure.

This is a good post on Teaching Language Arts. A good refresher for those of you who've been doing this a while.Check it out at the blog called "Here in the Bonny Glen".