Looking for Ideas on what to Blog About?

I've come across a couple of great sources of inspiration for homeschooling bloggers, especially Christian homeschool bloggers.

Blogger Friend School is a new website for an idea that's actually been around for a couple of years. They are actually having a Back to School Giveaway to celebrate their third year together. The Blogger Friend School of 2008-2009 starts September 2 and goes to June 9, 2009, but you can actually join in any time. Every Tuesday assignments will be posted. The site states "Our homework assignments will be BIBLE BASED with the purpose of uplifting one another and strengthening our faith." On the class description page you can read about the chance to be named Head of the Class and to receive perfect attendance awards. Sounds like a lot of fun! I'm hoping to participate when I can throughout the year.

Homeschool Memoirs 2008-2009 is a part of The Homeschool Blog Awards. On the Homeschool Memoirs 2008-2009 page it says that the purpose is to help you keep a "memoir" of your homeschool year and also for homeschoolers to get to know one another. Each Wednesday they will be posting a theme. The first theme was posted August 20th and was "All About You" and at the time that I wrote this there had already been over 140 people sign the Mr. Linky for the theme. I'm going to try to remember to do that one in the next couple of days.

So, there you have it. If you're looking for ideas as to what to blog about you can check out the assignments at Blogger Friend School each Tuesday and the themes at Homeschool Memoirs each Wednesday.

More information on request for information

I received an email requesting more information about my request for input that I posted here. I thought it would be a good idea to answer those questions here because other people may have the same questions.

Who is the research for?
The research is for an article for a Canadian Homeschooling magazine.

Where will the info/results be posted/shared?
The information will be used in the article in the magazine.

Why?
It was a request from one of the readers to have an article comparing homeschooling regulations and funding in the different provinces.

Are there others working on this?
I am gathering the information and, with help from an editor, will be putting the information together for the article.

Are the info providers anonymous or listed?
I would not mention any names in the article without prior approval from the people involved. That's always been my policy with the Canadian Home Educators Blog Carnival that I run and with any work that I have done on articles for the Homeschooling Horizons Magazine, and it will always be my policy with anything that I do at any time for any reason. Any time I use someone's name, and/or any information they provide, I send them what I have written about them, or using their information, and receive their approval of what I have written.

I hope that answers some questions you might have. If you have any other questions feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.

Jacqueline

Homeschooling in Canada?

I have been asked to do some research for an article on homeschooling regulations, re. funding, reporting, etc., in the provinces. I thought it would be good to get some information from people with first hand knowledge and experience about such things.

I would love to hear from you as to what your experience has been in whatever provinces you have homeschooled in. You can email me about it and/or write a blog post about it and let me know where to find it by leaving a comment here. I'd be delighted with either form of communication.

You can pass this information on to anyone that you think might be interested in helping provide information.

Hope to hear from you soon!

EDIT: I answered questions about this request in this post here.

Love these ideas!

The Charlotte Mason Carnival hosted a Back to School Planning Bash. I love this idea! Lots of great links to check out there. Learned about this from our very own Canadian homeschooler Mamma Squirrel.

The Homeschool Blog Awards is hosting a Homeschool Memoirs 2008-2009 Meme. Another great idea! I learned about this from another of our own Canadian homeschoolers - Michelle.

Hmmmm....I wonder could I do something with these ideas for the Canadian Home Educators Blog Carnival?

Essential Ingredients to Homeschool Success

Just read a post by Terri at Knowledge Quest where she shares 5 Essential Ingredients to Homeschooling Success. Go read her post because it is great and she says much more than I'm going to highlight here.

After reading her post I decided to list the ingredients and share how I feel we're doing in each one:

1. "the desire to foster a closer relationship with each of your children and your kids with one another."

This has always been very, very important to me, and in spite of how important it has been, it hasn't been commpletely successful. We're going to have to discuss this one as a family and come up with some plans

2. "a teachable spirit on the part of the parent"

I have always loved to learn, but I have to admit that I'm not always teachable. Sometimes I'm too stubborn to admit that I need to learn something. I'm going to have to work on that one.

3. "creating a home environment that is conducive to learning"

Our home environment is pretty conducive to learning but there's definite room for improvement in that respect. I need to work on getting things in order to make it more conducive to learning. Part of that is that I need to be more organized and get rid of some clutter.

4. "2 hours of your time to devote to your children’s studies"

Need to work on this one too. I tend to get lost in the computer and I need to tame that monster. I've actually been working on that and doing better.

5. "a library card"

The library has always been very, very important in our schooling and we made regular visits - until last year. Need to get back on track with that one.

Having a Purpose and Specific Goals

Every since I read Jeannie Fulbright's post Homeschooling with Purpose some time last week I have been putting lots and lots of conscious thought into developing a purpose and goals for this coming year, and into getting it in writing. The gist of Jeannie's article was that you need to have specific prayed through goals for your children and then trust God because He had plans for those children before they were born and He intends to see them to fruition.

There seems to be two counter ideas there - planning goals and trusting God - but they are not really counter ideas and it is important to do both, and to do both together, not separately.

In the past I have planned and not really trusted, and I've also trusted and not really planned. Neither works on it's own and this time around I'm taking it slow but I'm also being purposeful. I'm spending much time jotting down my thoughts and praying over them and I'm gradually working towards developing a plan. I've talked to DD#1, who is my only official homeschooler this year, about what I am doing and have asked for her to join me in the praying and the planning. I've been planning on talking to DH about it but haven't done that yet. Finding time to talk to him is so hard but I have to make it a priority in the next day or so.

A long time ago and friend of mine told me how important it was to develop a philosophy of education for your homeschool and to have it written down. I think I'm finally getting around to doing that and it feels good.

Guiding, not pushing

Once again I am inspired by Ann's words at Holy Experience. Today she reflects on the coming school year and is inspired by words she over hears her mother speak to her children while showing them how to use a sewing machine, and it reminds her of a scripture that says the same thing. Gently guide, don't push. She gives us practical examples from her day. I hope I remember that that is How to Parent: Just Guide Gently.

Napier's Bones - Multiplying with Wood

Ever heard of Napier's bones before? I didn't, until I read Farm School's lastest post just now. This site gives a really good explanation of what they are and how they work, while this site tells you how to make your own neat set out of wood.

Lamenting vs grumbling

I am often moved by the posts at Holy Experience, and such was the case with today's post, Even when He doesn't: Learn to Lament. I have admired Ann's writing for a while now, and now I also admire their commitment to hold fast to their faith, even when it is difficult.

This statement stood out to me today "Lord, remind me today to voice my lament not as disgruntled frustration, but as longing, the language of the heart." I am so guilty of grumbling, and grumbling, and grumbling....and I excuse it by saying that God wants me to be honest with Him, and I may as well be because He knows my heart anyway. I need to learn to lament - to be honest, but not be grumbling. There's a difference. It's a difference of attitude, and of true faith. It's hard though. But I know through experience that it makes a difference. Why do I keep forgetting it? Thank you for the reminder again today, Ann. I needed it.

Fun Science Learning Downloadables

Thanks to Dawn's post which provided me with the link, I just spent a good chunk of time at Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop. Be sure to check out the Free Products to Download on the left hand side. It provides you with links to all kinds of fun hands on activities.

A squatty potty!

Thanks to Molytail, I had didn't miss One Child Policy's post about The Squatty Potty.
I had actually heard about the squatty potty recently from a friend who has a brother on a teaching stint in Asia somewhere, so when I read the blog post this morning it wasn't a totally foreign concept to me, and after reading the post I can definitely see advantages to these types of toilets.

Nothing bugs me more than going into a public washroom, or any washroom, and seeing the toilet seat covered with pee. What really bugs me about it is that it probably happened because the person didn't want to sit on a seat supposedly covered with someone else's invisible germs but yet has no problem leaving full evidence of germs all over the seat for someone else to either sit in or have to wipe up. Gross! The squatty toilet would elminate that problem.

I have a cousin that recently did a teaching stint in China. I can't wait to ask her about these.

Anyway, this is a very different post from me but I just had to share it with the ones I love. The next toilet that goes in my place may just be a squatty potty. :)

Routines

Lifestyle Homeschool has a couple of excellent posts today on routines. Establishing Daily Routines talks about what a routine is and why it is important. Writing a Daily Routine outlines som very practical steps and tips to writing a routine. This is something I have done in the past and it was very, very helpful. I need to go back to it again and I just love the simple steps she's given to doing it. Looks like there's more coming to this series too so keep an eye out for it.

Two Kinds of Writing

Jeannie Fulbright makes some more good points in her blog post today, Academic Writing vs Creative Writing. It's definitely worth taking the time to check out. And she's promising more to come on the subject.

Good points...

...made in today's post by Jeannie Fulbright. I just wanted to put it here so I wouldn't forget about it. Here's a quote from it - "Anytime we make decisions based on fear of failure, fear of inadequacy or based on our emotions, rather than a strong peace from God - we are may be falling onto a trail that is dark and much more difficult to traverse - and it often leads us where we didn't want to go."

A couple of things...

...that caught my eye in my google reader today.

From Homeschool Nations Nova Scotia blog - Nova Scotia homeschoolers hold an annual end of summer "Not Going Back to School Camping trip". And they even have a facebook group. how cool is that!


From Stellae Boreales blog - The Stellae Boreales, an advanced performance group from SuzukiMusic in Ottawa, have arrived safely in China. You can follow their tour through their blog. I happen to know that there are some homeschoolers in the group. :)

A day of remembrances and celebrations

July 1st - Canada Day. A day to celebrate our country and the freedoms we enjoy. It has always bothered me how little the activities that I've seen at Canada Day celebrations actually have to do with what the day is supposed to be about. I'd love to see activities that teach, or review Canadian history, geography, politics, etc. There's no reason why that couldn't be incorporated in the games that are a part of most celebrations. Even the decorations could help in that respect, with a little bit of forethought. It seems, however, that people are content just to party. Oh well.

Mind you, with all that's happening in our country lately it seems our freedoms are slowly slipping away from us and we have less and less to celebrate in that regard. I'm still thankful for the freedoms that we do have, but I'm also sad for some that I see slipping away.

A few years back, while studying with my son the book No Man's Land, by Kevin Major, I discovered that there are a lot of Newfoundlanders that actually struggle with celebrating Canada Day on July 1st. July 1st to them is Memorial Day - the day they remember the terrible battle at Beaumont Hamel when the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was nearly wiped out. Kevin Major's book is an amazing read about that battle.

Many communities in Newfoundland start the day, July 1st, with Memorial services and end the day with the Canada Day celebrations. It's a day with a mixture of remembrance, mourning, and celebration.

Maps of War - great resource for Social Studies

I love this site! - Maps of War I almost didn't check it out because the name didn't appeal to me, but luckily the blog where I discovered it had a map from the site embedded into their blog so I actually saw how neat it was. What made me love it even more is when I read their Sharing Policy. They actually want you to copy, paste, and share their maps, as long as you link back to them.

Here are my favorite from the site:











I can so see using these maps as a base for unit studies. I want to incorporate at least one, if not more, of them into my plans for next year. I will show DD the map and then we will dissect it bit by bit and do more research inspired by the map bits.

Thanks to Phyllis for posting about it!

Gardening

Cloudsome hosts a Sunday Garden Tour on her blog every Sunday during the summer. This year she explained the tour and started it in May. I love the idea! I discovered it thanks to Becky at Farm School. Today Becky posted pictures of her blooming lilacs and I'm so jealous! I love lilacs but every time I've tried to grow one my DH has mowed it down. I'm thinking maybe he doesn't like lilacs. :)

I'm a gardener wanna-be. I've been one for years. You'd think I would have learned something by now but I'm still struggling. A few years back I wrote a gardening column, called Green Thumbs and Greenhorns, for our local newspaper hoping that I would learn something from other gardeners. It was fun and I did learn a lot. We even started a gardening club for a little while, but it dwindled out, much like my garden.

I even have a blog called Green Thumb Wanna be. I started it way back in 2004. It dwindled out too. Every spring I get the gardening bug and I think this will be the year, but it doesn't happen. Same thing happened this year. Back in February I had big plans, and they were good plans too. I was really looking forward to fulfilling the plans, but then life got in the way. I guess I should probably go back to that blog and explain what happened. Maybe it's not too late to do something with it.

I do have a small corner garden in my back yard where I have some lovely perenials donated by family and friends. They have managed to survive over the years. I was actually out weeding them a little yesterday and dreaming of doing more. I'd love to be able to take pictures of each of the plants that I have back there and make a little book about them, naming and describing their growth. Some day.

For now, however, I content myself with virtual garden strolls such as the one Cloudsome allows me to enjoy. Maybe some day I'll be able to participate rather than just watch. :)

Teachable Moments

Today little one and I had some fun making letters and shapes with hair clips. It wasn't a planned activity - it just happened.

She was sitting on my knee as I was checking my email. I had some hair clips on my desk. She started playing with them and I got the idea to make a letter A for her with them, as that is the first letter in her name. She was thrilled. Then I moved the clips and made a tringle, which she also liked, and she proceeded to ask me to make a square.

I was hoping she was going to attempt to make some of these things herself but she was more content to tell me what to make and watch me make it. We didn't stay at it long but that's okay. I'm sure we'll do it again soon and one day she will be making attempts to make things on her own and tell me what she made.

I love to look for teachable moments in the day. You don't have to have a big lesson plan or certain supplies. Learning can be a natural part of ordinary moments in the day.

Check out Melissa Wiley's post

Today Melissa Wiley has an excellent post, that is actually a repost of something she wrote a while back - "Home Education: Delicious and Nutritious". In the post she addresses a lot of the questions and comments homeschoolers often encounter. It really is worth reading.