NYC Update

I have a partial view for the WTC from my apartment

Yes, NYC is a blast.

But it is also stressful.

And it is also hard.

And I love it.

And I don't like it so much.

I thought I was going to blog about it a lot, but I don't like to be negative, and honestly, there are things that have been a strain.

Living apart.

Financial strain... it costs so much more than you'd think.

Juggling being available for the kids.

Taking care of the house.

The way things are going right, now, we are probably in it for at least another year... But... we are starting the apartment hunt right now, as our current lease is up in May.

We had no problem paying for rent insurance, the first time because if we were new tenants and also own a house, and they want to make sure you won't cut and run... but if you have been a perfect tenant for a year, and financially, you exceed the requirements, then why would you get a letter stating you need to renew this insurance, that amounts to an extra months rent.  I'm not that much in love with my apartment that I would just fork it over, so my next visit will feature apartment hunting, and my next one might include moving... could be across the street, could be across the city, could be across the river in Jersey.  I guess we will see.... first hubby is going to talk to them about removing that requirement... cuz, that's just crazy and unjust.  I would miss the current view though.

So... yeah, enjoying this respite in NY, I head back to GA in a few days to dive back into costuming and merchandising my Vintage store space.

Teaching to Mastery

This TED talk, and I love TED talks talks about applying the concept of Mastery in Public schools... but we homeschoolers already knew this.

http://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve?utm_campaign=social&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=talk&utm_term=social-science

learning by playing

free learning games for grade 3

For early elementary school kids, I favor unschooling as a method of teaching, but not the kind of unschooling where the kids vegetate and don't want to do much of anything, so you leave them alone, kind of unschooling... instead the kind of unschooling where you don't really let them know you are teaching them, but you are.

 Apps like the kind I mentioned in my last post would go a long way in doing that, but so would all the same games we played as children, counting games, calling our car colors, watching school house rock, and lots of reading and storytelling.

Something I came across today would also fit into this, but it is for older kids.  Playing battleship using the periodic table. I wish I'd had this as a kid. Check it out!

What is appschooling?

I was watching a commercial this morning on ABC Mouse reading program and I heard the mention that the parent had tons of learning apps.  The word APPSCHOOLING  popped into my brain. Eureka! I thought, I just came up with a new homeschooling term.

NOPE.

I googled it and it already exists.

Here are some links for you to enjoy.

The Wired Homeschool

Ben and Me

appschooling (on pinterest)

If I had another kid to homeschool, I would definitely take advantage of this way of homeschooling!  I would probably mount an iPad to the wall and load it up with educational apps and let the kid "play all day".  I think this would work great up until about 4th grade when kids start needing more structured instruction (in my opinion).