Category: Homeschool
If Homeschool Walls Could Talk: Climbing Out of the Box
Each year that we homeschool, I pray that our homeschool would be a little bit of school and a whole lot of home.
When we first started homeschooling 10 years ago, I was sooo green. I had never met a homeschooling family until the year before we decided to homeschool. All I knew was public school. So when I started teaching my second grader and my preschooler, I just brought what I knew to the table. We had the flag hung up, the globe on the shelf, the maps on the wall, and of course the workbooks on the table. Now there is nothing wrong with these things, it’s just that everything about our homeschool was scripted. My preconceived notions were telling me I had to do x, y, and z, or else my children were not learning.
Over the years, I have learned to become more relaxed in my homeschooling approach, and as a result, the learning in our home has become so much richer–more authentic, more spontaneous, more dynamic.
The less our day looks like school, the more learning has filled our home.
Each year, I work on letting go of the “yellow bus” mentality and force myself to climb out of the box.
5 Ways We Are Climbing Out of the Box
1. Learning together – This year we are going to focus more on learning together as a family. This is sometimes difficult in homes that have children with wide-ranging ages, but with a little creativity it can be such a blessing. For instance, my oldest daughter is going to be learning anatomy and physiology, my son – biology, and my younger kids will be using Apologia’s Exploring Creation. Together we will be watching Answers in Genesis’ Body of Evidence series.
I also plan to have the older kids available to help when the younger kids do their lessons, possibly even teaching some of the lessons. Teaching others is a great way to cement information in your own mind.
I also wanted to add a note here about my own learning. Sometimes finding time for my own learning is difficult. For many years I have been learning more about herbalism, which includes anatomy and physiology. Why not take this opportunity to do my learning with the kids?
2. Block scheduling – As my children get older, I find that it sometimes works out better to set aside larger chunks of time for each project or subject. When you can really focus on one thing, and place your time and energy into one area, you are often able to be more excellent in your work.
We are going to try this approach with our history, spending concentrated time reading and doing hand-on projects.
3. Hand-on learning – We are a very crafty family (in a good way)! I have always loved arts and crafts and I try to tie them into our learning as much as possible. Although the younger kids do some frivolous cut and paste projects, my goal is to have them working on “real” skills as young as possible. For the girls, this means learning to sew, to knit and crochet, or to do scrapbooking. For the boys, hands-on learning might be mechanics (taking about a lawn mower), woodworking, or computer projects. I try to teach all the kids to cook.
I think we sometimes discount these types of activities as not being true learning. I believe they teach more than just the skill. They teach how to finish a project, even one that is hard. Projects teach children how to analyze and use the book learning in real life situations. Creating knitting patterns puts all that math to good use!
4. Blogging and business – Recently, my older children have jumped on the blogging train and are working on building up businesses of their own. In the process, they have learned so many skills that they can apply to other areas of their lives. As we work on our blogs together, we often talk about different marketing strategies, or the best use of their time and money. These are things that are hard to grasp from a book, but are better suited to mentorship and apprenticeship. At the moment, I am their mentor and apprentor, but at some point I hope to find others that would take them under their wing and help them build their ideas, as well as their businesses.
5. Individualized learning – This is a biggie for me. I really try to take a look at each child and see who God created them to be. What does He have in store for their lives, and how should their learning goals reflect this?
There have been times I have gone completely against conventional wisdom because I knew it was best for that particular child. Some examples include not teaching spelling to a child who was particularly gifted in spelling. To continue teaching it would have bored her and wasted time that she could use to focus on other areas of learning.
This year, I decided that it would be better for my oldest daughter to take business math instead of calculus. She is not going to be majoring in any subject that would require higher level math skills. She does plan on developing her own business where she will need to know business math.
For my son, I had him learn how to type at a young age. His handwriting is not the greatest, but I could tell that it was not improving by doing handwriting sheets or copywork. Learning to type has paid off tremendously, as he would much rather work on the computer than write out his work by hand.
There you have it, 5 ways we are climbing out of the box this year! How about you, how are you climbing out of the box?
If Homeschool Walls Could Talk…
This post is part of a link up with some other awesome homeschooling mamas. Make sure you take a few moments to visit them and check out the things they are sharing from behind their homeschooling walls.
Lisa @ The Army Chap’s Wife
Megan @ Half Pint House
Maureen @ Spell Out Loud
Reesa @ Suburban Tree Hugger
Laura @ Day by Day In Our World
Tiffany @ Sweet Phenomena
Jasmine @ Ponder The Path
Lee @ Homeschool Canada
Jimmie @ Jimmie’s Collage
Honey @ Sunflower Schoolhouse
What would your homeschool walls say if they could speak?
Link up a new post or a previous one and come join the party.
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School is Where the Learning Is
The month of August is Heart of the Matter’s yearly “Not” Back to School blog hop. Each week, there is a featured topic relating to “not” going back to school, aka homeschooling.
This week’s topic is “school room” week. When I saw the topic, something in me cringed. Let me give you a little background first…
We have been homeschooling for over 10 years. And in that 10 years, I have accumulated lots of homeschool stuff. We have a globe, a timeline, lots and lots and lots of books, and lots of shelves to put the books on. We have manipulatives, puzzles, games, learning activities, a chalk board, a white board, and a cork board. I have everything organized and on shelves, or in tubs, or in bins.
Every year I tweak things just a bit. I clean out old curriculum that didn’t work to make room for the new curriculum. It is always so exciting for me to pick out new curriculum and plan and organize.
Being in the military, we have made many moves over the years. There have been several times when we had to homeschool in hotels, or on the road, or sometimes just take a break in the middle of the year.
This year is one of those years.
For the last 6 months we have been living in a borrowed house in TX, with only the bare essential homeschooling materials. When we came to TX, we weren’t planning on staying long so we only brought the curriculum the kids needed to work on at that moment.
We don’t have a nicely organized schoolroom, walls lined with our library, or even much curriculum at all. There are times that I have missed stuff, but overall, the learning continues without the “stuff”. The kids sit on the couch or at the table. They have a couple of shared shelves to keep all of the books and curriculum we brought with us.
We are planning on starting school next week, again with just the essentials. We will likely be moving next month, so our classroom will change to a hotel, then it will change to a house full of boxes. And in all this, learning with still be taking place.
You’ve heard the saying “home is where the heart is”.
Along those lines, “school is where the learning is”.
This post is linked up at 
Review and Giveaway: The Well Planned Day Planner
—–>Congratulations Katherine A., you are the WINNER of The Well Planned Day Giveaway!<-----
School is right around the corner (not quite sure which one yet) and I have been plotting and planning. This year we are starting a little early knowing that we will most likely take a break to move soon (I hope soon!).
In an effort to get better organized this year, I am creating homemaking binders. So far, I have a re-organized kitchen binder and a combo homemaking/homeschooling binder. I wanted these two combined because I feel that it helps me integrate the two and keep everything in one place.
All summer I have been eyeing several day planners hoping to get one for this next year. I recently had the chance to review The Well Planned Day planner. I downloaded the PDF version and had it printed out so that I could include it in my notebook. I am so pleased with this planner!
Let me first explain how I set mine up.
As I said before, I had the planner printed out. I put it in the back of my notebook, with tabbed dividers in front of it for my household information. I have sections for finance, business, household, and a few more I haven’t decided on yet. There are planning pages to fit into each tabbed area (budget, household duties/projects). I plan to print out extra copies of these each month.
I then put a pocketed divided in the planner as a bookmark. I placed it on the week I am on. In this pocketed divider, I keep a shopping list (included with the planner) so that I can keep a running list of things we need.
This is how I envision my planner in action…
Each month contains a monthly calender, a booklist, activities section, and monthly bill section. I will call this area the “monthly dashboard”. Then there are weekly calendars that include sections for school planning, a weekly to-do list, and a dinner menu. I will call this area the “weekly dashboard”. The planner also has tons of “widgets”, extra planning sheets for all types of activities. Honestly, there are so many good things in this planner, I will probably be discovering them all year.
Monthly Calendar – Here I am going to write down all the big things for the month (birthdays, anniversaries, appointments, activities). Each week I will take a look at the big things for that week and transfer any needed info to my “weekly dashboard”.
Finances - After working on our budget and bills in the finance section of my notebook, I transfer the bills, amounts, and due dates to the monthly bills section of the “monthly dashboard”.
Booklist – I love this feature! We are using Beautiful Feet Books and Homeschool in the Woods for history, so this will be a great place to write down each childs reading for the month. I plan on writing an “H” next to the books we have at home and an “L” next to the ones I need to get at the library.
Dinner Menu – After creating my menu in my kitchen binder, I will transfer the list to my “weekly dashboard” to have handy.
Widgets – This list could get very long, so I will just tell you about a few of my favorites.
My absolute favorite is the chore/schoolwork check-off lists. These are small (quarter page) list that have a chore list on one side and a schoolwork list on the other. There are boxes for each day of the week that can be checked off when completed. I am going to print these off each week on two separate pages and keep them on the fridge. When the kids complete their tasks each day, they will check them off so that I can see at a glance who has done what.
I forgot to mention that because this planner is in PDF format, you can type in information on the computer, save it, then print out the pages with your specific information. This will be great because I can keep their chores/schoolwork list saved and just print out pages as needed. If I need to make a change, I can. Super!
There are also yearly student planners. These are great for planning each students work for the upcoming year. There are even places for purchase dates and prices. Since I usually try to buy my curriculum throughout the year rather than in one lump purchase, this will be great for keeping track of what I have already purchased and what needs to be purchased.
Last, I should mention that you can view the entire planner at The Well Planned Day.
So now that you know how great this planner is, I have some even GREATER news. The folks over at The Well Planned Day have offered to give one of my readers their very own planner! Not only that, they are also going to add in a one year subscribtion to Home Educating Family magazine. I have been homeschooling for over 10 years now, and I still need encouragement from time to time. This magazine is a great encouragement to homeschooling moms whether you are a long time veteran or a new homeschooler just starting out!
How to Enter “The Well Planned Day Planner GIVEAWAY!!!”
~Like The Well Planned Day on Facebook (mandatory) then leave a comment here letting me know you liked them.
Extra Entries
~Like Ponder the Path on Facebook
~Subscribe to Ponder the Path
~Follow Ponder the Path on Twitter
~Share this contest with others!
Please leave a separate comment below for each entry. The contest closes next Thursday, August 11th at midnight. I will then choose a winner randomly and announce the winner on Friday.
One last favor to ask you all…I am so humbled that the folks at The Well Planned Day have offered to sponsor this contest. I would love to have an exceptional turnout for them. Could you pretty please let others know about this contest? I would be so appreciative!
Linked up at No Ordinary Blog Hop and Hip Homeschool Moms Giveaway Day.
Homeschool Planning: History and Literature
History and literature are my favorite subjects to plan for each year. While math and grammar are more of a workbook type subject, history and literature are an adventure. Each year we get to visit new places, meet new people, and find out about the world.
Because we didn’t get finished with all I had planned for last school year, we are going to pick up where we left off. Last year we used Beautiful Feet’s US and World History study guide. The guide has 2 sections–one for high school and one for jr high. There is a resource list that includes books and movies that can be used with the study guide.
The guide does not follow a calendar, but rather leaves it up to the parent to determine how long the student should spend on each book. I like this approach because I don’t feel pressured to have the kids finish each book by a certain date. On the other hand, it does make it a little to easy to not get done in a timely manner. We’re still working on a balance between the two!
Although the guide is geared toward high school and jr high, we still manage to do much of our history together as a family. I usually choose to read the core material aloud (in this case, we are reading Abraham Lincoln’s World), then I find easier books that go along with our time period for the younger ones to read.
One of the best things about Beautiful Feet Books is the titles that are chosen to go along with the guides. Rea Berg has chosen rich classic literature devoid of twaddle (as Charlotte Mason would say). I remember when I was in school how boring it was to learn history from a textbook. It always seemed like we were learning about unimportant events that had no impact on our life today. I am so thankful to now know that there is a better way to learn history. The literature brings the history to life and allows us to see the importance of each event.
In addition for Beautiful Feet, we are adding in a fun, new element to our learning this year. We are using Homeschool in the Woods’ Time Travelers. This is a CD that contains activities and projects to go along with the time period you are learning about. I purchased the Civil War CD and the Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression CD. I think these will be fun even for the older kids.
They will be creating notebooks to showcase their projects, as well as their writing. The CDs contain printable items used to create lap books. There are also games that can be printed out on card stock and laminated. Included are instructions on making authentic time period crafts. Each unit concludes with a final celebration. I am hoping to try and really bring this study to life. It would be nice if I could find some other homeschooling families to join in on our celebration.
More in this series:
Science and Math
History and Literature
Bible and Language Arts – coming soon!
Cultivating a Love of Music
The brown truck arrived this evening. I could hear the squeals from every corner of the house, as all 5 children raced to the door. Excitement was in the air as the older 2 kids pulled their new instruments out the boxes. Kendra bought a mandolin and Tristan a ukulele. The evening didn’t quieten down until after all younger kids were in bed. And even then, the 2 older were on the computer looking up new music to play tomorrow.
I grew up in a very musical family. My grandmother was an old-time country singer (she even played at the Grand Ole Opry). My dad and his brothers always had a band of some sorts. Both my brother’s share in the family talent.
With all this musical talent in the family, you would think it would be only natural for my children to love music. While the Lord does bless some with greater musical talent, the love of music can be nurtured in all of us.
Ways to Nurture the Love of Music
1) Give you children the opportunity to hear music throughout each day. I believe that even a child in the womb benefits from the sound of music. Sing songs to your children. Play musical CDs for them.
2) Sing songs and/or play instruments during family worship time. This is a great time to worship the Lord with music. My children love to pick out and sing their favorite hymns or spiritual songs during our Bible time. This is also a great time for the family to learn to sing together or play instruments together for the glory of God.
3) Play music for others. Share the talents that you have been blessed with to bless others. My children have been able to share their talents at our church. We have also had sweet fellowship with friends at our home as we sat around singing together.
Opportunities for Learning Music
1) Pray for the Lord to provide opportunities for your children to learn music skills. Several years ago, I wanted my children to learn some hymns. We didn’t sing many hymns at our church at the time. I could never manage to squeeze in time to teach the children more hymns. I weighed heavy on my heart. We then moved to Spain and found a church to go to. Guess what, they only sang hymns. My children now know more hymns than I could have EVER taught them!
2) Short-term lessons. There have been many times in our lives when the Lord would bring someone across our path that would teach our children music lessons. The people he brings have varied in age, in talents, in the amount of time they have spent with us. However, the Lord has used each one in very special ways.
We met a wonderful Christian lady from Russia while we were living in Spain. She was the most talented pianist I have ever heard. She was able to teach my oldest daughter piano and the rest of the children she worked with on singing Spanish hymns. She was only with us for the summer, but her wisdom and talent still bless us. Recently we have been blessed by a young violin/mandolin player that has been working with Kendra while we are here in TX. She has helped cultivate a love of bluegrass music that has my children practicing everyday without being told to!
3) Long-term lessons. My children have taken music lessons on a long-term basis when they were able to. There are a couple of things I would like to say about having your kids take lessons from someone else. One, is make sure the music teacher shares your views on music. This may not seem like such a big deal, especially when your kids are younger and playing Twinkle, Twinkle. However, music is such a powerful thing–it stirs emotions in us either for good or bad. I don’t believe that there is a such thing as “neutrality” in music. It is either honoring to the Lord or it is not. Make sure that your child’s teacher honors the Lord with the music being taught.
Ways to Encourage Your Child
1) Ask them to play for you. I am always “bugging” my children to play for me, especially in the evenings. While it is easy to ask your older, more competent musicians to play for you, don’t forget to ask the little ones to play and sing for you. That encouragement goes a long way in their quest to get better.
2) Young children need help with practicing, especially the first 2 years or so. I have noticed a trend with my children and learning to play music. The first couple of years I had to really take the time to sit and help them as they practiced, or at least make sure they were practicing the right songs and the right amount of time each day. After they were older, they begin to “own” the music, meaning it was theirs. They had a connection to it and wanted to play each day.
3) Motivate your children. For younger children this might be a musical game of some sort. For older children, they need to be challenged and encouraged. They also need accountability. One of the best things to do is to find other like-minded people for your children to play music with. This helps them grow musically and is usually so much fun for them!
Homeschool Music Resources
My daughter recently commented, “the more you learn about music, the more you realize how in-depth music can be”. This is so true. You never really get to the bottom of music. Here are some resources that we have used and enjoyed in our home.
1) Classical Music Curriculum - The curriculum comes with books, study guides, and CDs covering 8 classical music composers. The books are simple enough for young readers to read alone, but contain enough information to interest older children as well. The CDs contain music from each composer, as well as printable coloring sheets, projects, and sheet music. You can purchase this as a set, or buy the books individually.
2) Music Masters Curriculum - Music and narrative CDs covering the lives of 13 great composers. Each CD is an hour long and contains famous classical works from each composers intertwined with the story of the composers life.
3) Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers
4) Then Sings My Soul - Both volumes contain the stories behind hundreds of beloved hymns. They also contain the music and words for each hymn.
Homeschool Planning: Science and Math
A couple of the kids are finishing up schoolwork for this past year, but the new school year is on my mind. I always love a new school year. All the disappointments of the last school year get wiped away. All the stuff we didn’t get around to gets re-evaluated and adjusted for next year. Old curriculum gets put away, new curriculum gets ordered. It is just so exciting!
I thought I would share some of my planning for next school year…
Science
I am going to try something new for science. Normally I don’t teach formal science until Jr. High, then I start them on Apologia’s General Science. I like for my younger guys to experience science in a natural way. We do nature walks, plant things in the garden, keep all kinds of critters, etc.
However, this year we are all going to work on The Human Body. Kendra will be a Senior and she will be doing Apologia’s Anatomy and Physiology. She will be working with me on an herbalism and nutrition course and it requires an A & P course, so it should fit together nicely. Tristan will be a Freshman and will be working on Biology. I believe the last couple of chapters cover the human body.
And new for us this year will be the elementary Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology book by Apologia. There were several reasons I decided to change things up for the young ones this year.
~The older kids will be studying the human body and I thought it would be nice for us all to learn together. My goal is to foster cohesiveness between the kids. I am hoping that by all of us learning one topic, we can discuss it and learn from each other.
~The girls will be in 4th and 1st grades. The Apologia anatomy book is perfect for this age.
~Apologia uses a Charlotte Mason type learning approach. They recommend narration, short lessons, and hands on learning.
~The girls love projects and notebooking. I ordered the Anatomy Notebooking Journal to go with the text book. The journal is not required, but it does make my job easier.
~The science experiment supplies can be ordered in a kit. I don’t know about you, but if we don’t have the supplies on hand it may be awhile before I remember to get them (if I ever do!). I am planning on ordering the experiment kit so that everything will be on hand and ready to go.
Math
Math is fairly easy and straightforward as far as planning goes. Several years ago we started using Math-U-See and it has been a great fit for our family, especially for elementary math.
It uses a hands on approach with manipulatives to explain and help the students grasp the math concepts. There are also videos that come with the teacher’s pack that cover each lesson. Honestly, we haven’t used the DVDs a whole lot. I usually just go over the lesson and teach the concept, then let them work on the pages on their own. A few years ago when Tristan was working on upper elementary level math, he would sometimes watch the videos by himself and do his math afterwards. Kendra reads through the lesson and then goes on to work on hers without watching the videos. She will ask me for help if there is something she doesn’t understand, but most of the lessons are explained very clearly.
Tristan will be finishing up Algebra 1 next year. I have him working through Jacob’s Algebra. I find Jacob’s to be much more in depth (and harder). Actually, I feel like Jacob’s Algebra covers much of the MUS Alg 2 material. The only problem with Jacob’s is that it doesn’t do a very good job of explaining some of the concepts and neither do I.
I have always loved math. It was my favorite subject in school and I went on to get my degree in Accounting. My problem, though, is that I can’t explain math very well. I will work out the problems and get the right answers, but a lot of the times I don’t know how I got it or why I did it the way I did. This is very frustrating when you are trying to teach it to others. Most of the time the kids get upset because they don’t understand it, and I get upset because they don’t understand it. (This is why I caved and let Kendra use MUS for Geometry and Alg 2.)
More in this series:
Science and Math
History and Literature
Bible and Language Arts – coming soon!
Teachable Moments: Movie Making
As a homeschool mom, I am always looking for teachable moments, moments when my kiddos are most interested in a subject and most apt to learn. My son has recently taken an interest in making movies. What started as a fun past-time activity with his friends has budded into an opportunity to learn skills that will follow him into adulthood.
Don’t Despise Small Beginnings
Tristan and his friends started out filming a movie each Sunday evening during our fellowship time at church. He had a cheap video camera with poor picture quality and even worse sound quality. It didn’t stop these young film makers from learning to tape and edit their movie.
Each Sunday evening, they would all dress up in the costumes they had acquired from the thrift store. They wrote out their script, picked out music and sound effects, and even learned basic editing skills.
Some people would consider this kids play, but as a parent, it is important to turn play time into learning time. Take the skills they learn while playing and help them develop a greater skills and a deeper knowledge of their subject area.
Look for Opportunities to Learn
During this early time of learning, I tried to provide as much encouragement and learning opportunities as possible. One invaluable resource was Vision Forum’s 10 DVD set, From Script to Cinema. This DVD collection contains footage from the San Antonio Christian Filmmaker’s Academy. The filmmaker’s academy is held each year in conjunction with the San Antonio Christian Film Festival. I am hoping to one day take him to the actual festival, but until then, the DVD’s are a great learning tool.
The more we watched the videos (notice I said we…I try to learn a bit along with him so that I can engage him in conversation about the filmmaking and also spur him on in his endeavor), the greater his interest became. When I saw that he was really interested in this, I started to try to help him find opportunities to further his learning. Christian filmmaker Isaac Botkin’s website Outside Hollywood contains articles and links to several movie making websites. I ordered a trial issue of Videomaker magazine which included their newsletter with lots of tips for movie making.
Recently, I found a Christian filmmaking group near us in TX. In a few weeks they will start filming a new movie entitled Indescribable, based on the historical events surrounding the writing of the hymn, The Love of God. I contacted the lady in charge and asked if there was anything Tristan could help with, or at least just come and watch. She said they were looking for young people to help with the filming and learn more about filmmaking. What a wonderful door that was opened!
Let Them Practice What They Learn (in a real way)
My son recently purchased a new video camera. He had been saving up for it for a looong time. He spent time researching and deciding on the perfect camera. At first, he wanted to buy a cheap camera because he already had some money saved and could purchase it immediately. After thinking it over, he decided on a better camera that would allow him to practice the techniques he was learning about. However, the better camera was way over his budget. He worked hard and saved diligently to reach his goal.
Now that he has his new camera, I have started looking for ways for him to practice filmmaking. My daughter Kendra has a blog to highlight her knitting business. He is currently working with her to create video tutorials for her blog. I had them make scripted notes and draw out a story board for the tutorial they are working on. I know it is tedious and not so much fun for them. I also know that by making them practice these skills now will help them become proficient in them later on. I also plan on having Tristan film and edit some tutorials for me as well.
When the Lord Opens the Door
Over the years I have seen the Lord open doors for my children that I would have never even thought of. For instance, when Kendra was young, she wanted to learn to knit. I didn’t know how to knit, but read the directions and learned enough to get her going. A friend from church found out that she was learning and offered to teach her to make socks. She has been building her skills and can now knit beautiful, intricate garments. She has also used her talents to start a business, Sanka Pup Designs, where she sells handmade items, Cascade Yarn, and hand-dyed yarn. It wasn’t anything I did, just leading her through the doors the Lord has opened.
I see the same pattern with Tristan’s filmmaking. The Lord knows us so well, and has equipped each child for His purpose. It excites me so much to see the Lord open doors for my children and lead them on His path!
Audio Interview: Bruce Larson of Sequoia Ministry
Last year was the 150 year anniversary of the Pony Express. I had the privilege of talking with Bruce Larson about the Pony Express and his ministry. Bruce is a historian, a naturalist, and a homeschool dad of 3 grown children. Through his ministry, Sequoia Ministries, he offers all sorts of historical and science related tours and talks. I first met Bruce about 8 years ago. He was giving a talk on the fur trappers of the 1800s. Here he is in costume.
If you are in Sacramento, CA area, it is well worth it to attend one of his historical tours of the area. You can find Bruce on the web at sequoiaministry.ning.com or email him at sparky3777@msn.com.
Listen to the interview now!
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