Top 6 Questions I'm Asked!

Welcome to the Ten Weeks of Top Ten Lists sponsored by Many Little Blessings and the iHomeschoolNetwork.com. Bunches of bloggers will be sharing their Top Ten lists on various topics over the next ten weeks. 

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This Week's topic (a few days late) is 10 Questions People Ask Me. In no particular order, here are a few things people say to me all the time: (only 6 because that is all that's coming to mind- sorry!)

Image from wpclipart

• How do I do it? Well...I have my strategies. This could encompass so many things...
• When do the kids get out of school/are you done already? Common question among the homeschoolers- when do you finish the year with your kids? Are they out (when public schools are getting close)
• What do you use to teach your children? Again, this question can take all forms and can come from other homeschoolers, new homeschoolers, and those that know nothing about homeschooling.
• Are they all yours? Love this one.
• Is school out today? This one comes when we are out in town on a school day. I'm not always sure whether it's an honest inquiry or a way for people to ask why any child would ever be out of a school building where they belong during the day.
• Will you do this all the way through? Another favorite. Most often a translation for, "You aren't thinking about homeschooling through high school are you? 

Short list...these are busy times. We move in two weeks! More blogging soon. I have some more blogging deadlines including two in the next couple of days. So, check back for some more action!

Time Out

This week we suspended time for a few days and took off for a camping trip on the St. Lawrence Seaway. We figured we had the weather covered with it being June on the Canadian border of NY, but sadly we had miserable hot, humid weather. In spite of the heat, we had a great time making memories and I'm excited to share some with you over the next few days.

This was a sign within our camp ground. Trust me when I say we all made a choice for the North Pole considering the weather!

If you are curious as to what we found to enjoy and you are not a visitor to Blog, She Wrote's facebook page, please go and read! I managed to share some pictures along the way.

We are home now and we hit the ground running. The suspension of time has come to a close and we have a new FLL season beginning tomorrow afternoon along with VBS next week and...there are now just three weeks until we move!

Stay tuned for more moments in our week!

10 Reasons Why I Abandoned Conventional Schooling

Welcome to the Ten Weeks of Top Ten Lists sponsored by Many Little Blessings and the iHomeschoolNetwork.com. Bunches of bloggers will be sharing their Top Ten lists on various topics over the next ten weeks. 

Please be sure to subscribe by email or follow Blog, She Wrote using the sidebar buttons, so you don't miss any of my Top Ten Favorites!

Today's topic is Ten or So Reasons Why I Abandoned Conventional Schooling. In no particular order, here's our path to unit studies with a flare for unschooling:

• We can customize every child's education to best suit his or her needs, abilities, talents, and interests.
• It allows us to pour into our children's passions with abandon!
• Kids can follow an interest and play it out until the fire goes out- instead of having to move on to the next thing all the time. And we encourage them to do so!
• The chance to keep reading one more chapter...then another...then another until we've been reading aloud together for two more hours!
• We can make difficult subjects easier by incorporating the kids' interests and passions into our schooling.
• Allows time to pursue interests at times when others cannot because of conventional schedules- falconry, uncrowded field trips, etc
• Slowing down and leaving margin gives us time for exploration- our best homeschool days happen when we live in those moments. 
• Because I don't have to be conventional just because that is the experience from which I come. 
• Learning is best when our kids own their experience and allowing them time to see what drives them is important.
• Applying skills is the thing- once the kids have mastered a skill it's time to use it, not continue to just practice it. 
• I want my kids to have authentic experiences- not ones that are contrived- whether it's supposedly great homeschool stuff or not. This is very big for me!

The key to engaging your kids to go for their "beyond dreams" is to leave room for being unconventional.

Working with Batik

We've been busy packing and preparing for a camping trip next week, but we've also managed some reading and creative time. We'd thought we'd share what R12 is up to with her  new fabric.



I'll be sure to report on progress. It's hard to keep up the good sewing with a tiny room full of moving boxes. The good news is that in about 4 weeks R12 will have a new, bigger room with more room to spread out her creativity.

The Baker's Dozen All-Time Favorite Read Alouds

Welcome to the Ten Weeks of Top Ten Lists sponsored by Many Little Blessings and the iHomeschoolNetwork.com. Bunches of bloggers will be sharing their Top Ten lists on various topics over the next ten weeks. 

Please be sure to subscribe by email or follow Blog, She Wrote using the sidebar buttons, so you don't miss any of my Top Ten Favorites!

Today's topic is Top Ten All-Time Favorite Family Read Alouds! In no particular order, here's our baker's dozen version:

The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

Swallows & Amazons by Arthur Ransome

The Far Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

Nim's Island by Wendy Orr
 
Farmer Boy (and the entire Little House series of books) by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Hank the Cowdog- seriously...these books are hilarious by John Erickson

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli

The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis

Charlotte's Web by EB White

Trumpet of the Swan by EB White

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois

Happy Birthday J7!

Where has the time gone? J turned 7 today- the last of our June Bug birthdays. We enjoyed mini-golf and dinner out with our busy boy. He requested a pecan pie for his birthday dessert and Dan happily obliged him.

One day not long ago J7 sat and worked on a 3D globe for hours. He is always working on something!

J7 is fiercely independent (as is his mama) and so full of ideas! You can hardly keep him down. I'm not sure his brain ever really turns off! He's working to become a triple threat- a mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineer and if he keeps even half of his energy and passion for it, he'll no doubt complete his goal.

Happy Birthday J7! We love you!

Happy Birthday I-10!

How is it possible? I-9 turned double digits on June 7th. The second of our June Bug trio, he is a sweet gift in our lives! Age 10 brings two mile stones at our house and he was happy to experience both- a friend to stay over night and the much sought after Leatherman ownership. That's right...he's the proud recipient of a Leatherman Micra- the perfect multi-tool for the younger (but at least age 10) set.

He is a true blue boy adventurer, albeit a cautious one. He loves all things Nerf artillery, model rocketry, and adventure stories.

Happy Birthday I-10! We love you dearly!

What's an Adventure Box? (my first vlog post)

Saturday I spoke at the LEAH Convention (Loving Education at Home) in Rochester, NY on the topic of Adventure Boxes. I had so many requests to share the information here that I thought I would go ahead and try out a vlog post. This one is about 14 minutes, but in it I explain what an Adventure Box is, the benefits of planning an adventure with your kids, some ideas for adventures, and fun ways to use them. I hope you enjoy it!



Feel free to leave a comment and ask a question or give me some feedback...would you like to see more vlog posts? It would be fun to share more about how we use some of our curriculum in this format. Let me know if you think it would be valuable to you. Thanks!

Top 10 Reason My Kids Love Being Homeschooled!

Welcome to the Ten Weeks of Top Ten Lists sponsored by Many Little Blessings and the iHomeschoolNetwork.com. Bunches of bloggers will be sharing their Top Ten lists on various topics over the next ten weeks. 

Please be sure to subscribe by email or follow Blog, She Wrote using the sidebar buttons, so you don't miss any of my Top Ten Favorites!

Today's topic is Top Ten Reasons My Kids Love Being Homeschooled. In no particular order, here goes:

• We get to have slow mornings!
• We have extra time to pursue our interests- from falconry to sewing to rockets to anything science and engineering.
• My 13yo loves his One Year Adventure Novel!
• Time to play when the weather is especially nice- have "sun days" and snow days.
• Our homeschool co-op is a lot of fun!
• We have the time to listen to good stories for hours with no interruptions.
• We are not locked into a school schedule. We can do things when they come up.
• School days are shorter because we aren't wasting time standing in line and waiting for others.
• We get a custom education.
• If we find something we really want to learn more about, we can...right away!

There you have it...ten reasons my kids love being homeschooled. What's your favorite reason?

Summer School 2012

Usually by this time of the year we've put up the school books in favor of more relaxation and the summer routine. This year, however, we are forging on having been held up more than normal for things like preparing our home to sell, keeping our home show ready, and being out for showings, home inspection and all that- not to mention the house hunting for our new home.

So, although we enter the summer season still busy and now preparing to move, we are going to have a steady diet of some structured school activities. I plan to keep these items handy and easily set aside during the move so we can land here on something familiar now and then.

What's in store?

We finally started the long suggested series Swallow & Amazons and we are hooked! We have the next two books in the series to enjoy when this one is finished. I see this one coming out at campfire time, lights out and let's settle down in the tent time, and relaxing on our new back porch time!

We are about half way through MOH Volume 1 so I'm taking the time to read from this daily. We may pick up some notebooking pages for narration, but we'll see how this goes.

Math- we'll be continuing on with our math studies as normal with Fred and living math. But first, two days of IOWA Testing are in order this week for the oldest three children.

We'll be doing some science through Nature Study this summer- always a hit while camping. I bring art projects as well for rainy afternoons (or mornings) as well. You can teach a lot of biology through nature study.

We'll be using Barb's (from OHC) Summer Sizzle study. One of our favorite camping spots has giant cottonwoods and she has a study on those in this ebook. 

The 4H County Fair is about a week and a half after we move so we'll be working on polishing up entries over the next few weeks. I'll make sure they are packed separately so we can get to them by fair time!

E13 has been working through the One Year Adventure Novel and having such a good time. He'll be continuing on with that this summer. 

Reading and more reading is also on the agenda! We'll be coming up with a book goal for the kids. My kids read a ton, but sometimes get stuck in a repetitive rut not reading new material but enjoying old favorites...all good stuff, but I'm going to challenge them nonetheless.

It's shaping up to be a busy season full of family adventure including birthdays, packing, camping, moving, and more camping with a trip to Dallas for me thrown in there. But we'll also be spending time together reading and pouring into the kids' passions. More on that another time.

What are your plans for summer school this year?

Happy Birthday R12!

Today marks the first of three June birthdays this week and next. Happy Birthday to R! Our sweet, compassionate, creative girl!

Your smile lights up a room! We love you!