Not Another Homeschool Blog

You may or may not have noticed that many of my old Youtube video blogs are disabled.  Sorry.  Looking back over them, I just didn't like them.  I felf some were unprofessional, and others were just not what I want to present.  I want to thank those people who still regularly encourage me to make videos and tell me that they have helped or inspired them.  It's kind of weird to realize that people you know actually follow your videos and others recognize you on the street. Nevertheless, I plan to start making homeschool video blogs again.  I will not allow comments on them because some people can be downright evil and hurtful.  (The experience made me painfully aware of racism.)  Instead, commenting will be strictly reserved for my blog readers.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com Check out FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE for free homeschool links and resources

This year my daughter chose voice instruction over piano instruction.  This means she is doing piano solo this year.  Our goals for her self piano instruction is to build a repertoire of songs that she can play well, and to put together a binder to include these songs that she can play on demand.  We are not recreating the wheel.  We are going through all the songs she has learned these past 8 years of formal instruction and committing to practicing them on a daily basis. At the end of the school year she should have 10 to a dozen songs she is very good at playing.  Next summer, I will find someone to go over her repertoire with her to further strengthen her skills. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com Check out FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE for free homeschool links and resources

My middle school book purg e is almost over.  It looks like I am getting decent prices for most of my old middle school homeschool books.  Still, the prices are far below what you would pay for them new.  Check it out. I did come across some critical thinking books we never used that I will be listing this weekend.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com Check out FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE for free homeschool links and resources

I am cleaning out my shelves to make room for this year's curriculum.  (Versus buying a new bookshelf!) Since I did so well selling a few items last week, I decided to list my old homeschool books on Ebay.  As I had duplicates of many of the books, with 2 kids taking local co-op type classes during the middle school years, these books I am selling are in pretty good condition.  All but one of these books were used successfully by my kids in the middle school years.  I highly recommend them! They are for sale on Ebay and started at .99 cents.  See partial list below: Analytical Grammar student workbook Homeshool gr 6-8 BJU Spanish 2 Teachers Edition Activities manual The Boy's King Arthur Middle School History Novel Signs & Seasons by Jay Ryan Grade 6-8 Astronomy Middle School history Augustus Caesars World -Foster Exploring Creation with Botany by Jeannie Fulbright , Apologia Books: Science Middle School Botany Monarchs of the Nile by Aid...

Granted, I don't love eBay as much as I did 5-10 years ago when I was an active eBay seller and making a good amount of money on a regular basis.  Ebay is hostile towards the small business right now.  But as a homeschooler, eBay is Da-Bomb! So far for this school year I was able to get the bulk of my money back for used Teaching Textbook DVDs AND I sold my son's science book set and turned around and used the same money for the camera for his film photography class.  Considering I spend $300 on his digital camera last year (it is valued at almost $500) I didn't want to purchase another camera for another photography class, but if I could trade a science book for the camera, then I am happy.   I got the same camera  as the one on sale at Amazon for $119 for $50 plus shipping!   It took a bit of patience to find it. ~Still on my homeschool shopping list: Graphic Design materials Dance class gear including size 10 girls jazz shoes.......

 Keep in my that my kids are in grades 10 and 11 and planning to go to college.  In fact, we have already started our college search.  (As previous posts demonstrate).  We are eclectic homeschoolers with a cross between Classical and Charlotte Mason. Here is a sample of my daughters weekly schedule.   *On weeks when she doesn't have a science center lab class, her Friday schedule  resembles any other day.  * This does not include completed assignments (mostly drama and dance practice) for Artios Classes, which must be done on evenings and weekends. *If she needs a day off, she will need to do work on the weekends, but I will excuse non-core courses such as piano practice, test prep time, and Chinese lessons. *There are about 4 weeks during the year when the entire schedule gets scrapped because of trips with Artios Academy or for Drama Club productions.  *My son's schedule is similar except that he is only studying one language and...

The kids and I had an excellent morning touring SCAD Atlanta. I was prepared to not be impressed because although the college has a stellar reputation of educating and hiring out talented artists and designers. The main campus is in Savannah GA  (which we will visit soon). I fully expected a skeleton of a college, with deserted halls, especially since we visited during summer session. I was wrong. SCAD Atlanta, made me want to go back to college. It strongly impressed my daughter though their theater major is in Savannah, she loved the interior design and fashion design departments too. The college made my too-cool-for-school son GIDDY. This is a kid that doesn't show emotion.... but this school moved him. I couldn't ask for a more creative environment for a graphic arts/ media type person. It is definately at the top of my son's list. While it is a longshot, my daughter hopes they add a theater department to the Atlanta Campus in the next 3 years so she can go there...