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.

Speaking about resources...

...the June Edition of The Heart of the Matter is now posted. You can download the whole edition as a PDF or you can read it online. Lots of good stuff there.

Two great resources - the internet and the library

My two favorite resources for homeschooling, and everything else, are the internet and the library. I find both invaluable.

We have always made great use of the library. We made it a point to visit regularly. The kids would pick out books that they were interested in and I'd pick out books that I hoped they would be interested in. :) We would get books to read purely for pleasure and books that would hopefully be pleasureable as well as educational.

Unfortunately for us our small local public library became a part of the high school library and we were not comfortable in going to it during school hours. Instead we took advantage of a library in a bigger community about an hour away. We all looked forward to library day when we would pack up the van and take off for the day. We'd spend an hour or two at the library and then we'd head out to eat somewhere and then hit the stores for a little while before we'd head home. Usually the kids were busy checking out their books during the ride home.

As the children got older I discovered more and more what a great resource we had on hand in our own house with the computer and an internet connection. Through this resource we could connect with people from all over the world. We also discovered that there were lots of great learning related sites for all different subjects available through the internet and we've taken advantage of a lot of them over the years.

In my mind a library card and an internet connection are two very important and very useful resources.

Licking beaters

I made cookies today and I was reminded about a funny that happened here a nice while back.

Around my house it's a normal thing that whenever I use my mixer, which is often, someone comes running to lick the beaters when I'm done. I think that's why the Dairy Queen Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard commercial - the one where the guy talks about getting his tongue stuck in the beater - struck me so funny.

A few months back I was looking after a couple of little guys, ages almost 1 and 3. I made cookies one day while they were here and my Little One, 2, came running to get a beater. I gave one to the 3 year old and he looked like he wasn't sure what to do with it. He watched my little one and soon started in to licking and making "mmmmm" sounds of joy. I asked him, "Doesn't your mommy let you lick the beaters when she makes cookies?" His reply to me was, "No, she washes them."

My older kids were aghast at the thought that there were little kids in the world that didn't know the pleasure of licking a beater! DD, 15yo, wasn't impressed that I gave what normally would have been her beater to the little guy. I had to get another beater out of the drawer, dip it in the batter, and give it to her. :)

In his mom's defense I have to say that I mentioned it to her, hoping I hadn't taught them something she didn't approve of, but she assured me she was fine with it but she hardly ever baked so that was why licking the beaters was foreign to him.

His response cracked me up because he apparently thought that I didn't wash my beaters, but let people lick them clean instead. I assure you that isn't so. The beaters do get washed once they've been licked clean. :)

I've had the same little guys here the last few days and today when I used the beater I had three little ones running to get a beater. Last time the 1 year old wasn't quite old enough to get the pleasure but this time he came running too. I had made cookies the day before when they were here and I had taken an extra beater and dipped it in the dough for him. He loved it! Today he came looking for his as soon as he saw the others with theirs.

And yes, I did wash them once they had licked them clean. :)