Five years already?

Five years ago I was homeschooling elementary age homeschoolers, and my life was pretty laid back.  Now I am homeschooling high school kids, one graduating in a year and a half.  Whew!  Things are much more frenetic around here. 

Five years ago, the carnival of education was started which helped to tie homeschoolers together online letting them know they were not alone. 

You can make this anniversary big by submitting an entry from your homeschooling blog.


       Here are the instructions for sending in a submission:

http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2005/12/where-to-send-your-submission-for-next.html



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Fat Cat Phonics (Educational Product Review)

I was recently sent a link to a site called Fat Cat Phonics.   This educational tool/ learning toy started out as a craft project between mother (Jennifer Powell) and daughter who wanted to give out refrigerator magnet gifts.  With the help  of her educational consultant friend, it quickly morphed into a valuable learning tool that teaches and reinforces fundamental reading & math skills using a highly engaging hands-on format.to teach phonics and math.

The best part of this program is that the child will be learning through play.  That puts this item on my list of possible Christmas presents, not for my high school kids, but for preschoolers through third graders.  Check it out, it looks like a great investment and excellent use of the Christmas budget.

Don't just take my word for it.  Check out the website which includes a web portal with membership.

The Bond of Homeschooling

 Something about the bond of Homeschooling
Of Homeschooling Too
Of sharing the journey
Binds us in a way
That escapes explanation.

We follow each other's blogs
We read stories from one another's hearts
We share in triumps
We we celebrate the victories
We suffer the pains. 

This is in tribute to Dana
She lost her son in a horrible accident. 
My heart is breaking for her,
but it can't touch the pain that she feels.
I don't know her, but I love her.

...and I am sorry for her loss.

teAchnology website review (Free worksheets)

teAchnology is a website that specializes in providing teacher-made worksheets for educators.  That have 30,000 free worksheets, and for a seasonably priced prescription, you can have access to online worksheet makers and online interactive games.

Let's start with the free worksheets.  What homeschoolers wouldn't want free worksheets?  Right?

It took me a while to find the free worksheets area, so let me lead it to you.  Start out on the main page of Teachnology.com  Click on the words " 9,000 free printable worksheets"  in the first paragraph on the first section of the page.  This will take you to the page for Free teacher worksheets.  You can now choose the worksheet you need by subject.  When you get to your chosen page, for example, in my case, Printable Geometry Worksheets, stick to the text links.  The photos of the worksheets at the bottom will take you to the paid prescription page.  

Now there's nothing wrong with going to the prescription page, it does add extra value.  However, if you want to try out the site first, you will follow my steps that take you to the free worksheets.  They will give a good idea as to what you can expect on the subscription site where you can practically access full workbooks!  From the time I spent viewing the site, I can tell you that if you choose to subscribe, you will not need to purchase any other worksheets or supplemental materials for your homeschooling needs.

Whether you choose the free worksheets only, or the paid subscription, you will find  worksheets for grades k-12 and all subjects such as language arts, math, science, social studies, and holidays.   I also noticed that the for the worksheets I most needed, such as the Algebra and Geometry packs, for high school students, a subscription is necessary.  The worksheets I could access for free, however, are well done and appear to be be good educational exercises.   Also, I did find the free math worksheets  and vocabulary worksheets to be very useful.

Christmas concert

Yesterday was the Chorus concert at the kids homeschool program.

Here's a link with my daughter's Women's Chorale Spreading some holiday joy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=x6rX0wV-N_4

enjoy

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Structured homeschooling vs. Unschooling

Traditionally schooling families frown down upon homeschoolers, and structured homeschoolers frown upon unschoolers.  Unschoolers probably frown on the traditional students and structured homeschoolers. I guess we all need something to compare our situations to so that we feel better about ourselves.

Omsh at the Poineer woman blog asks Unschooling- Do?  Don't  Why?  

She mentions why she feels unschooling may not work for her thought she is attracted to it and wants to know how others feel.  Most of the comments are from other homeschoolers who seem to be tentatively against homeschooling each supplying anecdotes of failed homeschool situations they witnessed.

I have many of he same reservations against unschooling but I am nervous about writing it out as a whole.  In the 8 or so years we have been homeschooling I have learned 2 things.

1.  That my kids would rather not work if given the option (so unschooling is not for us)
2.  That my kids have learned more from subjects where they were not led by an adult.

So I definitely see the value of unschooling and don't think it has  to be either-or.  I think it can be and.

My kids are college bound and in high school so they have a pretty full day with lots of structure, but in the younger years we included a bit of unschooling into their days.  For example.

Because I knew that a break in math is also a setback in math, I required it every day.  Daily reading was also a must.  They attended classes that taught History through the arts one day a week, and the rest, was as they desired.  There was a curriculum, but I allowed them do it at their own pace.  They excelled.

I am convinced that both too much structure and too little structure can be bad for kids.  That means that neither unschoolers or highly structured homeschoolers have it right. It is those who can strike a healthy balance that will have the greater successes.



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Gosselin Homeschooling

It seems like the Gosselin family may be bringing more visibility to homeschooling without even intending to.  Expulsion or not (which is highly debated) two of the children are no longer going to school and are now being tutored at home. As Kate tells it, two of the children were stuggling with anger issues and so she decided that they would be best served at this time at home.

I have to admit to being impressed with Kate Gosselin for the very first time since I heard of her. 

She has made plain to the world that when the school can no longer serve the child's needs that it is the responsibility of the parent to find a solution.  That could mean homeschooling the child yourself.  That could mean paying for a tutor.  That could mean finding an alternative school.  Regardless, she has done what homeschoolers have been doing for the last 3 decades, and no one can argue that it was the right move for her children.

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12 grade year of homeschooling, Finishing Strong

We are almost done with my college prep series. There will still be a video on completing the transcript.    Stay tuned... meanwhile, ...