Getting Ready for Homeschool Graduation

Homeschool Graduation for my kids homeschool program is this coming weekend.  No.  My kids are not graduating this year, but as the parent of a Junior who will graduate next year, (gasp) I have responsibilities in the graduation of the seniors.  I have chosen the job of decorating.  

I love decorating for events.  For this particular event, we are doing a black and white theme... very classy.  We are creating feature walls, and putting balloon bouquets on the tables. The bouquets will be personalized so that graduates can take them home as a souvenir. 

I wish I had thought about getting personalized items sooner as I would have incorporated them into the design.  I could have emblazoned the name of our homeschool program or "homeschool graduation 2011" across all kinds of items from pens to custom mugs.  But Alas, I thought of it too late.

Fortunately, I set up and decorate for lots of events.  So I will be keeping this idea in my back pocket, I can use these cool items not only for decorations, but also for souvenirs for the kids, or church members involved in whatever program I am decorating for. 


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'Unique Child' Study seeks participants

This is collecting stories from parents whose children are exceptional in any way. Please see letter below: 

We are researchers at Columbia University's Paul F. Lazarsfeld Center for the Social Sciences studying how children who are unique in some way are identified and developed. We are currently collecting stories from parents with children who have been identified as gifted, children who have unique artistic, scientific, or physical abilities, children on the autism spectrum, and children who have been identified as having attention disorders.

While all children are unique, the goal of our study is to identify how children with unique developmental abilities or trajectories develop over early childhood. Parents have different experiences and observations of their child's development and they have different personal resources with which they access services or programs. Parents also differ in the type and extent of their support networks and social relations. And finally, parents make different decisions when finding the right academic, extra-curricular, or other placements for their children. We would like to give parents the chance to tell their stories. Survey responses will help us understand the experiences of unique children as well as their development over time.

We are collecting stories of parents of unique children through an online, semi-structured survey: http://uniquechildstudy.org.

Leave a comment if you plan on participating.

Thanks. 


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Homeschool Blogging A-Z: N is for Non-Traditional

For all intents and purposes, homeschooling is non-traditional learning.  Traditional learning is learning that happens in a classroom... or is it.  Our traditional learning systems have only been part of tradition for a couple hundred years.  According to this and many other articles, religious schooling in the US began in the 1600's and formal public schooling wasn't mandatory until the 1900's.

So before "Traditional Schooling" came into vogue, most kids were homeschooled.... i.e. they were taught whatever they learned at home. Only the richest kids were formally educated. 

Regardless of the history, homeschooling is non-traditional now, but many of the great leaders of our country had non-traditional educations.



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Homeschool Blogging A-Z: M is for Math

There are lots of approaches to homeschooling and lots of ways to teach children.
But every single curriculum style seems to have a common factor that does not change much from approach to approach.  That is math.

Almost every homeschooler I know purchases a math curriculum separate from whatever else they are doing...

Getting Ready for Summer College Experiences

Both kids have been accepted to spend a week in summer programs at their prospective college choices.  They will be participating in "summer intensives" to get a taste of the colleges.  I am hoping that the experience will get them excited about ending their homeschool journey and also let them know for sure that this is the

Homeschool Blogging A-Z: L is for Labs

Ok, it is time to admit to a big honking homeschool challenge:  Science Labs

Most colleges require that homeschoolers have at least 2 lab based science classes in high school such as biology and chemistry.  The problem is that lab equipment is very,

Homeschool Blogging A-Z: K is for Kindergarten

Ok. so I realize it is an epic fail that I did not finish this A to Z challenge in the month of April, but in the spirit of finishing what I start, I will continue... so...

K is for Kindergarten.

A lot of people decide to homeschool for Kindergarten and then put their kids in the first grade.  I find it