Perks to Homeschooling Include - Black Ice Day!

There are many reasons to love homeschooling. One of the best ones, however, include schooling at our pace. That means we can do school every day if we choose. Holidays, weekends, or at night - it is all of our choosing. On the flip side, we can also take days off when we feel like it. And today is one of those days! 

Ice in the desert

We live in west Texas. Literally in the middle of desert land, surrounded by oil fields. When we first looked at the house we decided to buy last year, we asked how often it rains. Because during that trip, it rained overnight and some areas we drove through were completely flooded! Mainly in the nearby town, but still. Our realtor said they typically only get rain twice a year. That the humidity and precipitation levels were incredibly low. Fast forward and that seems to have changed since we moved here. We keep hearing the locals talking about how strange the weather has been. We are glad they are getting more rain here. Even glad to have the light dusting of snow. But we could do without the black ice. 

This morning, 3/4 kids woke early enough to see their dad off to work. He spent about 20-30 minutes scraping chunks of ice off the windows of the SUV while trying not to slide on the driveway and even the dirt along the driveway. (We don't have much grass in the yards.) Yes, the dirt had a layer of ice covering it! 

Lessons on ice and freezing 

My kids started talking about the ice. And the lessons shifted to how it affects things and daily life. We decided to test out a couple experiments. We had tried to freeze balloons that had water with food coloring in them last night.

Each of us, including myself and my husband, chose a balloon. We added the colors we wanted with food coloring. Then I filled each one to make about a golf ball sized ice ball. I told them to pick a spot, any spot, under the back porch and leave their balloon there overnight. Some were right next to the backdoor (she said it was too cold to go further out). Others were in the middle of the porch. And still others were closer to the end of the porch. Here is what we learned from that. First off, this porch is covered and holds the heat radiating from our well-insulated home very well! The ones that were closer to the house did not freeze! Despite temperatures dropping well below freezing, there was small chunks of ice inside water for those right next to the house. In the middle, the balloons had more ice, but weren't completely iced. And those nearest the end of the porch were more solid, but still not 100% frozen. We moved the ice balloons and are waiting to see if they freeze during the day as we haven't had the sun to warm things much. 

The other experiment did not work. We took scalding water and tried to throw it to the wind. It didn't freeze instantly. So we know it isn't cold enough to freeze water in mid air. 

Then came the lesson on black ice. This will be a lesson the kids hold onto for life. Pretty sure. We noticed that the covered inner part of the porch protected the concrete from getting iced. However, as I stepped close to the edge, there was ice. So I started telling them about how black ice works. I showed them by running my foot over a couple areas. Then I showed them the tree and we listened to it creaking and cracking from the thick, white ice that covered it completely. 

I moved over to stand closer to the end. However, I made the mistake of stepping on black ice with one foot and not having enough grip with the other to steady myself. My legs flew forward and I went backwards. My older two kids started freaking out. One asked if she should get dad, but he had already left. The son grabbed my arm and attempted to pull me up. I was in the middle of the ice patch so I slid again trying to get up. Thankfully, he managed to give me enough of a boost that I made it up and could hobble back into the house. 

Freedom in our learning

Which brings us to the Black Ice Day off from school! Mom is laid up in bed. Dad had to turn around and come home as the roads were so bad with black ice that even with his Colorado driving skills couldn't help him. We are going to do fun lessons that don't require too much effort. Like watching Jaws and discussing views on sharks then and now. Then building concepts in Minecraft. And if I'm lucky, maybe my kids will attend cooking class with dad today... 

This is homeschool! This is freedom! This is great for a broken down mom.

Reading Kingdom is Helping My 6 Year Old in Our Homeschool

Teaching my children to read wasn't working very well the first time I tried homeschooling. I'm just not as good teaching the basics as I am in continuing the lessons that follow. However, I am no longer floundering in this! I am currently using Reading Kingdom to help my 5 year old in learning to read. And she loves it! 

*Disclaimer: I was offered the chance to try out their program in exchange for sharing my honest review. All opinions are my own. I was not otherwise paid or endorsed for this review.*

My daughter loves to read, or rather to be read to. But she wants to read her books, by herself. Whenever and wherever. I have taught her the letters, in both reading and writing them. So she had better understanding in the concepts taught by Reading Kingdom. 

How does it work? 

First, there is an assessment. As a parent who has been described as a helicopter mom, you need to remember that it is important for the program to know where your child ranks on the reading ladder. This assessment will tweak the lessons to start them where they need to be. Start too easy, kids get bored. Start too hard, kids get frustrated and give up. 

Your child needs to do 2 lessons a day, for at least 4 days a week for the best results. And these are online. My daughter hasn't had much tech time. I do that on purpose. But this is not only helping her learn to read and spell words, but also to learn how to work a keyboard and mouse. I know most kids are born with a tablet these days, but she wasn't. So it took some getting used to on her part. 

The lessons will then walk the child through reading steps. Letters that are put together in words, how to recognize words that are missing letters, and how to fill in blanks to create the word.  

Where there difficulties in using the program?

For me, remembering to sign her on the laptop was the tricky part. Thankfully, she enjoys it so much, she reminds me! 

The lessons are pretty easy to follow along with. The instructions are sometimes confusing. She has had issues knowing how to click the letters and not have it come as the wrong answer. 

It did take some getting used to. However, the program was very well thought out.  

Good for many kids!

Whether you are a homeschool Mom needing help to get your kid started in reading, or just want your young one to get a headstart, it can be used either way.  It can stand alone as a reading guide. Or it can supplement a child who is learning off-screen. 

Options

You can sign up for a free trial to see if this is something that will work for you child(ren). Or you can purchase the subscription to it. They have two options. Monthly is about $20 or you can get the year plan for $200. That is the first child. If you have multiple, each one after that is half off the original pricing. 

So check them out and let me know what you think! 

It Is Not a Failure, But a Training Experience For Future Success!

My children and I did a fun project in our homeschool. It was called the Family Interview, by Wondermom Wannabe. I had them do it while we were still participating in a homeschool co-op I was coordinating for. My son decided to direct one of the questions to me. It was, "What is something few people know about you?" That was actually tough for me. I don't hide much, if anything. I'm a very open person. More so than even my husband would like at times. After thinking for a while, my answer was this, "I'm afraid of being a failure at anything." Of course, later on, I came to the thought that I could have told him I know how to weld. Most people don't know that one! But he had shared what I had told him in our class. It truly is something that I strive to never deal with. Failure. 

If I compare myself to others, I know I will most likely feel as though I have failed in a lot of ways. I think the ONLY thing I could say I'm more successful in than most, would be in how I've raised my children. But I digress. 

An email I get every Friday, called the Friday Connect, comes from my husbands home church back in Colorado. I often receive encouragement from it. This past week, I got something relevant to a situation I have recently gone through. 

First the message...

This encouragement covers something that I struggle with. 

"Disappointment is tied directly to our expectations. When we project unrealistic expectations upon others, it’s inevitable that people will let us down, churches will let us down, spouses will let us down, and disappointment will surround us. Be careful what you expect from others. Let your expectations be rooted in your relationship with Jesus. He came to be a servant, the servant of all! Imagine that, the Son of God, choosing to serve.  Are we greater than Jesus? No way. Friend, the solution to your current frustration may simply be a readjustment of your expectations.  Go back to the cross of Christ and die there, again, and again and again. When you choose to die to yourself so that you live to Jesus, disappointments disappear!"

Then the application...

I was asked to start a homeschool group by the pastor of our local church. Originally, I wasn't the only one asked. But the other lady dropped out almost immediately as she said it was destined to fail. My hopeful personality thought it wouldn't be able to fail. It was hosted by the church. Everyone acted excited. We even had someone donate to the fund for supplies on the very first day of starting! No. This was going to work. With my determination, I knew I could do it. 

But like the text above says, "When we project unrealistic expectations upon others, it's inevitable that people will let us down..." While I wouldn't say that my expectations were unrealistic, they were overly hopeful, and unaligned to what others expected from this endeavor. My expectations for the group itself may have been unrealistic though. I had thought that the others who would be joining us would be like me as far as being a homeschooling Mom. I had grown up as a homeschooler. All our friends were homeschoolers. I knew the ropes. I knew the styles. I wasn't expecting what I was met with. Parents who were nothing like us in the homeschooling department. Scratch that - Most of them are nothing like us. Whether it is how we parent. How we teach. Or even in what we believe, in some cases. Many days, I felt so overwhelmed. Everything was in my court. And everything moved quickly. 

So when the beginning of the end came around, my husband had to be talked into allowing me to continue. After all, I could do this. I had been put in charge of a Battalion of children, ages 11-18 for a boot camp in the Naval Sea Cadet Corps. I am the oldest of 10 kids. And my 4 kids are often the best-behaved kids you will see wherever we go. No way would I let this fail!

But fail it did. 

I couldn't see this as anything but negative, especially in my part. I must have failed. I must not be doing something right. As I talked to people involved, I came to see that most of those participating were waiting for the group to die or had already decided to bail as soon as I gave up. I felt even worse as this realization hit. I felt as though I was the only one who enjoyed these classes, as far as the adults were concerned. So I must have failed! Or did I? I had a close friend who was part of this adventure talk to me when things fell apart. Her heart was broken for me. I wasn't seeing how any of this could be good. But she had a word of encouragement for me through it all. 

Instead of seeing this as my fault, my shortcoming, or that my expectations for this working out were too high, she said that I should see this as a training by God. For something else in the future. I learned what others are like. People who aren't as dedicated. I learned how to lay stronger boundaries. How to not get run over by everyone else as I try to positively impact children's lives. It was your classic, take the test and learn the lesson afterwards thing. Isn't that what life is truly like, though? 

Taking the next steps.

I miss teaching the class. I miss the kids. But now, I'm devoting myself to my own kids. And who knows, maybe one day soon I will be a part of a new co-op. But even if I don't, I will teach my kids with my enthusiasm. With the passion I have for learning together with them. We have been doing a lot on our own already. 

I took this photo in Israel. The Sea of Galilee was incredibly calm. Yet, you could hardly see too far ahead. The clouds blocked our views. Life is like that. At least to me. We often can't see the plans too far ahead. And it can be incredibly frustrating. But there is beauty in that. Less stress is my favorite part about that. Giving everything to God and taking it one day at a time instead.

We have also been considering the other options that this family may have. Options that will lead to changes for us all. We wouldn't have been looking so hard if that last straw hadn't broken this camels back. But since it did, we are excited about a new chapter that may start very soon! I will keep moving forward. Not dwelling on what may be perceived as a failure.

 

Homeschool Bound

My faith in the public school system has fizzled out. Finally. Thus begins my journey into being a serious homeschool mom. The journey is bound to be difficult, and I enter the path with slight trepidation. However, that being said, I have a strong belief that it is the right path to take. My kids mean the world to me. Giving them the best education possible, isn't an empty dream. If all I can leave them is knowledge, then I'm leaving a treasure-loads worth! 

First things first...

I had to remove them from the public school system. My daughters school acquiesced my request immediately. My boys' school... Took several emails and then CC-ing the Superintendent. But it is done! Supposedly... And I am happy to feel so free. Taking that first step can be so draining. Emotionally speaking, I kept wondering if I can truly do this. But knowing the support I have from my husband and the supplies my mom keeps passing along, it just seemed so doable. Physically speaking, I questioned how I would get through the days with the kids around non-stop. I'm not always feeling my best. And try though I may, they know when I'm struggling. They are like their dad... Always reading me better than I'd like! But then there is the thought that if they stay in school, I have to keep getting up before the sun and dragging them to the bus stop. Then dragging myself to pick them up in the afternoon. I think I can handle being home all day every day with them much better than keeping to that schedule! It can be overwhelming at first. But once the rhythm is established, this will be a walk in the park.

What will I teach? 

As required by law mathematics, reading, writing and citizenship are no-brainers. But I won't stop there. History shows our human mistakes so that we can be better in the future. Science brings wonder and reminds us to keep pushing forward. Art breeds creativity. And of course I will be looking forward to our trips to the pool and tennis courts for physical education. I also plan to teach them as much home economics studies as I can think of. My kids won't be like the majority of college-aged kids who don't know how to wash their clothes or make breakfast! My 4 year old folds and puts away her clothes and towels just fine. So I think I'm on track so far. I've created a board on Pinterest that is divided by subject to keep me on track and offer ideas when I get stuck.

What am I doing? 

Normally I laugh and say, "I don't know!" 

I've been reading a lot about homeschooling. I've also thought back to the days when I was a homeschooler (4th grade to college). Not every kid goes ahead at the same pace. So I'm evaluating where my children are and where they need to go. While I like having workbooks that they can progress in on their own, I don't want to sit back and wait for them to have questions. I know at least one of them will gladly pretend to be doing the work while most likely hiding undone pages. I should know, I did the exact same thing. Once. I'm going to be hands on with them. I have a 6th grader, 5th grader, and a 4th grader. Not to mention my 4 year old in Kindergarten! 

Where are my materials coming from?

One thing I have come to find is that a child needs to progress at their own speed. My 4th grader is far ahead in her levels. So I'm going out on a limb and teaching them all together. Refreshers in multiplication, division, fractions and decimals. My 6th grader is the only one who might be able to go into whatever comes after those. Math is my husbands expertise. So he's their teacher in that subject. My mom gave me lots of books that I'm going to pull lessons from to use. I've also printed pages out online to get an idea of where they are. I'm going to have them quizzing each other with flash cards for multiplication and division.

Reading is easy! That is my comfort zone. All my children follow suit in that. Our library recognizes us now, I'm proud to admit. We have a great deal of fun going there. My only sadness is that they limit me to placing 25 items on hold at once. And I can only get 50 items at a time. Which means we are there almost every week. Okay, every week. I've nearly met my Goodreads reading challenge goal for the year already. Which reminds me... I need to up it to 150 books... Anyhow. I'm teaching them the proper differences between the types of books they are reading. And to mix non-fiction in between the fiction. (Something my mom taught me.) Keep hold of enough of reality so that you don't always live in fantasy. They are currently reading about robots and our special forces teams for their non-fiction.

Writing is going to be fun! When I was homeschooled, I had penpals around the world. I also kept journals. LOTS of journals. I've since burned some of those. Most of those. But there are couple I still have. My children won't be forced to keep a journal. They keep to something else. They have Bible study journals. They read the Bible on their own and write questions to ask their dad later. He does Bible studies with them every afternoon, Mondays being question days. Even their Sunday school teachers have been in wonder that my kids know more about the passages being studied than other kids there. My kids can even tell you the historical references of people not in the Bible that affected the events mentioned in the Bible! That makes me very proud. On top of this, though, I plan to try and get them penpals. I want them to practice writing letters while also learning about others around the world. I don't want idle writings. But true penmanship and connections. I would even like them to write family more as well. Since the pandemic, we haven't had many in-person interactions with family. 

History is a subject that my husband and I both are huge fans of. My kids have learned well how much I enjoy it. I make them write reports every summer on a different subject. We discuss World War 2 a lot around here. This summer, they learned the proper layout of a book report while studying pirates. Wanna know how I know they actually learned something from this study? My 11 year old son had to see the dentist. As he sat there, the hygienist asked him what he had done over the summer so far. He told her he learned about pirates. "How fun!" she says. "Yep, I even know all about the process of keelhauling!" He tells her. She looks at me confusedly and back to him, "What is keelhauling?" He goes into precise, and slightly gory, detail about it. She looks back at me and said, "Nothing like Pirates of the Caribbean, huh?" HAHAHAHAHA You wanna talk about being proud of my son?! I told her, "Nope, that is real history that he learned." We did binge through the entire series of Pirates of the Caribbean movies. We are also still reading Treasure Island. We watched two versions of movies made from that book as well. And my mom made it even more fun by sending a game called Pirate Words that had us laughing our butts off trying to make words, beat each other to the treasure and not get eaten by sharks - all at the same time! I took it a step further and had each of them design their own pirate "colors" or flag. Anyone who has studied pirate history will know that pirates didn't all fly the same Jolly Roger flag. They created their own to fly, to show who was captain of the ship. It was cool to see their different ideas and to read their reports. They all see piracy so differently. 

I have science projects and kits lined up already. My mom has sent most of them. From robotics to wind machines, to solar power and circuitry. Not to mention my husband has loads of his own ideas for fun science studies. We have books to study the Epic Failures of Engineering. I can't wait for that one! 

For physical education, we go to the pool and are learning swimming. Or at least I have been trying to teach them. We also take them to play tennis. We bought racquets for us all. My kids love this! We are actually getting better. We no longer take up two courts with our stray balls all the time! I did fall this last time. Scraped up my right side really well. But through it all, we are having fun and staying fit. 

                                                    This one came from the Czech Republic

Geography is a fun subject. I don't believe it is only for learning where places are on the globe. I also believe in learning about other cultures and culinary experiences. I am a member of Postcrossing. I swap postcards with others around the world. When I get one from another country, I look up recipes from there and make a dinner that is completely different than things we have here. Then I read to the kids a little about that country. We talk about where it is. Soon I will be hanging a world map that my mom gave me. I'm creating what I call the Learning Wall. Our place is small, but I'm making it work. 

What suggestions might you have? Any of you homeschool?? I'd love to hear about it!

Summer Reading Has Begun

Summer is here! And with it, my kids and I are again participating in the reading program with our library. Need to print off the log for Barnes & Noble too...

                                 I think the majority of these were supplied by my mom alone.

My mother sent about a truckload of books (not really exaggerating on this!) My kids and I are all proof that reading truly promotes literacy. All 3 of the school aged children are above their grade levels in language arts. Even my oldest, who has ADHD and writes in chicken scratch, has excelled in comparison to other kids his age. It makes me quite proud. This summer, we are going to put those reading skills to their paces. 

My husband and I decided to home school. This past year has been horrendous as far as public school goes. And I, for one, was fed up. Truthfully, it is a shame we didn't start sooner. My oldest sons grades began slipping and he spent more time telling me what other kids were doing or saying than he did on what he was learning academically. At 12 year old, he can tell me more about porn, watching banned videos on YouTube at school, or evolution and how his teacher says things that make me a liar than he can about fractions and division. My 8 year old spent too much time hanging with a girl who had "family troubles" according to their teacher. She started smart mouthing the teacher and then me. Stopped doing her homework. Stopped caring about the answers she put down. After all, her 'friend' did it, so why couldn't she? Hmm... Because your Mama won't put up with a brat child! 

                            The beginning of our historical adventure lies within these pages.

I could go on, but this post isn't so much about that as it is about my first step into this new journey. Which starts this summer. Home schooling isn't usually done according to mainstream school schedules. It is done with the parents schedule in mind. Which means summer can be a great time to do school work! We are going to learn how to write proper book reports. And the first one is going to be on.... drumroll please... Pirates! Yep! This nerdy Mama is going to teach them some history. Starting with pirates. What they did, who they were (the notorious ones at least) and why they were such a cool big thing in their time. My mom sent a great book to get us started. She also sent the Pirates of the Caribbean movie - Dead Men Tell No Tales. It was the only one I didn't have. I'm thinking a marathon might be in order. She also sent Treasure Island for us to read together and the movie to watch. It has that one actor from Lord of the Rings in it... I only think of him as Frodo Baggins now... Anyhow, we are going to sorta have a learning party. There was even a board game included. All this will be followed by a book report. I think kids learn best when they are immersed and having fun. I know I did. The things I remember from my school days were the things I genuinely enjoyed. Still do! Pirate history is going to be their first lesson.

To add to the fun, I think these movies give a decent representation of piracy. 

Except with Captain Jack Sparrow...

What about you? What books are you reading? Are you participating in any challenges? I'm also participating in Goodreads summer reading challenge. For that one, I set how many books I want to read this year. Then I enter each book I read. I also prefer to leave a review on each one. I'm over the halfway point already. I think I low balled my goal and need to up it. Again. But that is how a bookworm rolls! Leave me a comment below and let me know. I love hearing from you guys!

When Did Schools Start Failing?

The more I know about the public school system, the less inclined I feel to have my children enrolled. My two boys are struggling and my kindergartner is going through the same torture that myself and others who were considered "gifted and talented" went through. Sad to say, but in the past 22 years, the school system still has not changed in that regard. 

My oldest son has a teacher who pretends she has it all together. Lady can't be on time to her class. But complains that my son isn't taking advantage of coming to class early when she is "always there at 7 to help with homework". She doesn't truly listen to the parents who are trying to get their kids the best education available to them. She doesn't know how to communicate effectively with parents on misconduct acts. Although lets face it, neither of my kids second grade teachers are able to use proper grammar or spelling in their emails to me. Even some of the homework sheets they send home are full of errors. Both in the English and in the math. She expects every child in her class to be honest when they are being bad. She doesn't show that she bothers checking homework assignments outside of simple reading projects. She gets an attitude when her assumptions of what should happen don't (i.e. - parent calls instead of arriving for a face-to-face meeting). And here is my favorite ill conceived idea of hers - kids have to earn the right to have their snack in class. These are second graders being forced to go from breakfast at 7 AM (or earlier if they are eating at home) to 12:19 without their snacks. And on some days, while having PE class in between. My kids have hyperactive digestion systems. They burn through what energy they get from eating pretty quick. And they get hungry. But in her class, you have to earn the right to eat. Otherwise, you can sit there and watch others eat. And if your snack doesn't meet her idea of "healthy", you also won't get to eat. Granted, when I was in their grade level over 20 years ago (yes, I'm dating myself now), we didn't have snack time. That is something newer in the schools. Then again, we didn't hear much about how many American kids are starving and only eat at school either. Another problem I am butting heads with this teacher on is how she thinks (or is the normal guidelines in schools now) that it is more important for a 9 year old to know how to get the answer rather than get the answer. What do I mean by this? My son can do the math in his head, but struggles when he has to show his work or label the strategy that is used. She makes the kids label each part of the problem and then solve it. He knows the answer, but that is not important to her. How is he getting the answer? My cousin was a math genius who couldn't show the work, but could solve any problem in his head. Got accused of cheating no matter how he proved that he wasn't. Remember, this was before cell phones and calculators were being carried by everyone. She says she is treating the kids as though they are in the third grade already. Lady, you are forcing them to grow up before they are there yet! Why?! She also had the balls to make the statement that I need to help my son be more independent because she knows that I have "other kids" and my "focus is divided". Followed by other statements leaning towards the idea that because I have 4 kids (which is a lot to a woman like her), I can't devote as much time to each one as is needed. Sweetheart... be glad we were talking on the phone or you might have needed to take a sick day. So help me... Who does she think she is? As another mother, who removed her child from this teachers class, pointed out - we Mothers have different levels of what we can handle. Some Moms can only have one. It is all they can take. Some Moms have 2, 3, or 4 kids and that is their limit. My Mother has 10. We all have different thresholds of where we can balance ourselves. I hold to the belief that God gives us what we can handle. 4 is my limit. But I'll be darned if I don't give them my all and give them the attention they need as they need it. I might be poor. I might not have a college degree. But I have a heart full of love. A love that overflows for my kids. So tread lightly when you make out that I'm not fully able to be there for any one of them. 

My other son excels at math, but he's not confident in reading because he isn't as good at it. I feel his pain. It is the same that I had when it came to math. I'm not sure I qualify for even average. But I excelled in reading to the point that I was "gifted" you might say. But because of this deficiency in one subject, she doesn't feel he is truly ready to pass and is, instead, "placing" him in third grade next year to be "watched and assessed". When did it stop being a pass or fail? When did they introduce the "placing" method for the grey liners? Not in the red (failing), but not in the black (passing). So we put in this middle category and hope you make it. GAH! 

Then we have my kindergartner. This girl is already reading nearly as well as her older brothers. She sounds out words that I wouldn't have seen her reading yet. She attempts math that is ahead of her. So her teacher, seeing her long strides, sends home an assessment to see where we think she stands and if we think she is worthy of being tested for the gifted program. I'm all for it. I think that just maybe the system has changed and maybe they will later advance her if they see her pulling far enough ahead of her own level. Challenge her and see where she lands! What do they do? Start sending home packets of worksheets. Enough that she has to do 5-7 pages a night, Monday to Thursday and hand them all in on Friday morning. Where have I seen this before... Ah, yes! My cousin. Same grade level work or slightly ahead, but not advancing him. It was just to keep him busy and to make him feel better about being smarter than everyone else. My daughter gets so fed up after the 3rd page that she just starts whining and begging to be let go. She can't play games with her brothers who have maybe half of the workload she does now. She can't have play time with neighborhood friends all the time during the week either. No time. Just enough to eat dinner, shower and get to bed. 

That's another thing. My kids have to sleep early. They wake up at 6 AM to eat, dress and be ready to walk to the bus stop every morning. They don't have much time between getting off the bus and bed time. Especially not when they keep getting new bus drivers who don't know where they are going. They dropped some kid off at the wrong stop recently. Poor kid had to walk home a ways. Bus driver didn't realize the mistake until the next stop, where that kid should have been let off, when no one came forward to get off the bus. They just call a name from the list and say, "Get off here". Some days, we stand at the bus stop worrying that something bad has happened. At which point, we are all dialing the school and get the phone picked up by stressed out admin staff that say the bus will arrive "soon". 

This system is too broken. You are facing kids so bogged down instead of promoted up that they want to quit school as soon as possible. I have said it before and I say it again - public schools are like prisons. You have teachers that are not getting proper support from the administrative roles above them. You have admin that are blaming teachers for student not passing, no matter what the teacher does. Every couple of weeks, it seems like I'm getting requests for money or supplies. Some fundraiser is happening or something else is missing in the classroom. They send home pictures of my kids that I did not authorize them taking and say I can buy them or send them back. Just don't send them at all! Then there are holidays every month. If not a national holiday, there are student holiday/staff training days. I don't remember having so much time out of school when I was incarcerated in the public system. How about the fact that they are not teaching real life lessons as much as teaching what will be on the next test? It is all about getting kids to pass a test and make the passing grades higher for the schools rating. My second graders still are not being taught cursive in school. They aren't retaining some of this other fluff stuff though either. They spent a single day practicing how to write a letter. Still don't do it right. I'm having to show them that art as well. But they have to learn about Kwanzaa and Ramadan at Christmas time. Because that will be helpful in their lives. 

My husband and I have agreed. Either next year or some time before they reach 5th grade, they will be home schooled. I'm done putting up with this crap. I want my kids to succeed at life. I want them to learn real skills. And I'm going to have to show them how. Because I just don't see it happening in the public school system anymore. And with the latest school shooting... I don't see them being safe anymore either.

The Lesson on Curse Words

Yesterday was a typical Monday. Busy with simple things until the kids got home. Then we dove into homework, making dinner, and awaiting my husbands arrival home from school. While I was putting the final touches on dinner, I heard a word that is forbidden in our house. 

Let me just say, that my husband and I don't use curse words. Not unless there is a sudden and extreme pain inflicted. And even then, we usually scream it in our heads or say something else like "mother of fudge" or "freakin A". So, our kids are not likely to say such words without having learned them from an outside source. 

So there I am, cooking. I hear my younger son saying a word while playing a video game.

At first, I thought he was saying beach. Except it was contorted. Then my older son says, "Mom, Allen said a bad word!" I asked Allen and he acknowledged he had, but tried to say he didn't know that b*tch was a bad word. In an effort to keep my cool and get to the bottom of it all, I ask where he heard that word. Of course, he had heard it while visiting my ex husbands house. They were watching YouTube videos of guys playing video games. I also found out that when the guy playing had something unexpected happen or he lost, he would exclaim curse words. So guess what the dinner table conversation was about? You got it, curse words. We had to discuss what they were, what they meant, and why they are inappropriate and will not be tolerated in our home. We covered quite a lot of ground. My kindergartner and second graders all now know that those words are not allowed in their vocabulary. They already knew a couple of them. After all, they had dropped the F bomb on me a few years back after visiting my ex husbands family. Then another word came up after being with the babysitter. Now, they have about 95% of them known. Along with meanings, good and bad. What has the world come to? When did kids so young start hearing such language used around them?

Today, my oldest started asking about a couple other words we hadn't covered yesterday. Apparently, the bus/school bully uses some pretty heavy language. I had to explain what the MF word meant and why we don't say it. (Didn't get into too heavy detail on what the F part actually meant.) And the word A$$ brought up the tally to 95%. Why? Why are kids hearing this regularly? What happened to covering your kids' ears when you had to curse. Who remembers when that happened in the movies? My parents muted certain parts of movies when they knew a curse word was coming or made an extra loud grunting noise to sort of show it was a bad word. Are we conditioning our kids to use the language of adults and expecting they will do so the right way and when acceptable in public? 

My husband and I have become disheartened by the way things are in the world. So much so, that we have been talking about homeschooling the kids. Especially since I'm not working anyhow. We got the bullying situation under control, then were faced with ridiculous homework pages. The information they are teaching the children is not only beyond what he and I learned in school, its pretty useless. And now we have to worry about what they are hearing. And did you hear about the Mom who is facing felony charges because she put a digital recorder in her daughter's backpack to get proof on the bullying? I think that school should be investigated. What could they be hiding that they would call the police on the mom for that?! Thankfully, the school wised up and dropped the charges. 

I just don't know where to go with how things are working out for our children in the public school systems. Things have changed so drastically than when I was in there. It is more and more like a dangerous prison for kids, than an institution of learning. 

What are you thoughts and what are you dealing with? Do you think your kids should (or others') should be allowed to curse if you do?

Reading Eggs review via US Family Guide

Recently I mentioned a promotion being sent out from US Family Guide for a website called Reading Eggs. As home schooling mom, I can't tell you how much help this has been for me. It helps your child starting at age three, to learn reading and math skills. The Math Seeds is a new addition to their service.

First you sign up for a trial. The free trial lasts for two weeks I believe. No credit card is required for this. Simply put in basic information like your name and email address. Then you put in your child's name and age. Your child (or children if you have more than one) can take a practice test that allows Reading Eggs to know which level they need to start on. I love this option since you never want to start a child at the basics if they are ready for an advanced level. It causes them to be bored and give up far quicker.

After your child is at the correct level, they can begin their lessons. Its simple but so much fun that my boys actually fought over who could go first. I had to start timing them and keep one of them busy. Then if they both got to computer at the same time, they would tell each other what the answers were. My boys are ages 3 and 4 (almost 5) years old.

I love how the lessons are voiced over by proper English accented people. Although, you might need some good speakers as I've noticed there are a couple words they have said that can be confusing to American English speaking children. It does remind me of how awful I pronounce some words, being raised in the South....

As the child goes through the lessons and completes sections, they are awards Eggs. These Eggs can be used to purchase items for their "home" and avatar as well as games they can play at the Arcade.

The avatar can be personalized to whatever they want it to be with the many things they offer. After completing so many sections, they are awarded "pets" that live in the garden next to their home.

When we first signed up, I had them using my laptop hooked up to our TV. Then my husband pulled out an older computer for them to use.

There are many other things they can do besides the lessons.

 Start with this, then you can go to the Lessons, to a Playroom with music and exploration options, the Music Café that has songs from the lessons and games they play, and so much more! It really does give them hours of learning fun.

So if you want to check it out and see more about them, check out their website. Look it over closely. They have even been emailing me offers for 16-50% off to sign up for the service after my trial ends. Pricing is for 6 or 12 month subscriptions that have various options.

Its really great if you need help as a home schooling parent or even if your child just needs an extra boost like they would have with tutoring. They have also added the ability to take it on the go with apps for the iPhone and iPad! They have various apps that are free and some that you can purchase. I've been putting them on my kids iPad for those trips where they get bored.

The only issue I had with them, was that at times, it wouldn't load. Mostly the Math Seeds. After I contacted them, I found out that they work better with Google Chrome or an updated version of Windows. My boys computer hasn't been updated yet, so that was something they had to do on my laptop. The help desk sent an email that was detailed with instructions on how to fix the problem:

Please note that there are currently some known issues with Mathseeds working on a few web browsers.  Although this is a temporary situation (our tech team is hard at work making sure the program is fully compatible across all browsers), we understand that you would like to use the program immediately.  Please see below (and please read each step in succession) for a list of web browsers and possible solutions towards your problem(s):

 

I.  Please make sure that you are using  the latest version of your respective browser available for your operating system (Windows Vista and higher or MAC OSX 10.6 and higher)

a.  If you are using the latest version of your browser and it is still not functioning properly, we recommend downloading and installing Google Chrome (www.google.com/chrome)

II.  If you are using Internet Explorer Version 6, 7, 8, or 9, and can’t upgrade, don’t want to upgrade, or don’t want to change your browser, please download and install Google Chrome Frame which can be located here (http://www.google.com/chromeframe?prefersystemlevel=true).  This is just a plug in that will make your browser compatible.

III.  If you are using Safari Browser or Mozilla Firefox and still experiencing problems, please note that at this time, the best solution is to download and install Google Chrome as instructed above.

IV.  If you are using the latest version of Google Chrome and still having problems, please see below:

Open a Private browsing session in Chrome (ctrl+shift+n) and try the program >> If that works then clear your cache and try again in a non-private session>> If the problem persists, try disabling your extensions: 

a.  Click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar.

b.  Select Tools.

c.  Select Extensions.

d.  disable everything

If this works, then you'll need to turn them on, one by one to see which one is affecting the program.

 

V.  If you have exhausted ALL options provided above and still experience technical problems, please click here, enter your name & email address and press “Send Details.”  This will provide us with a brief look at your system information so that we can provide an accurate response. 

You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Wordpress and on Study Island. Let me know what you think and if you would consider something like this for your child!

Our historical field trip

Being a homeschooler, one of the best things we get to do are frequent field trips! Most recently we went to the Castillo de San Marcos castle during national park week.

No, it's not a fort as I was used to calling it. One of the living history actors corrected me on that one.

It's a castle because it has a moat and drawbridge. It's a very unique and special shape too. With the diamond corners it provides a perfectly clear view of every angle.
We were there for the cannon firing which happens daily and at certain times.

They have Rangers who give short condensed history lessons. From one of those lessons, we learned all the following facts:

The Castillo de San Marcos was used as a prison by Americans to hold Indians who were being removed from their lands and taken to reservations. Most notably were Apache and also the wives and children of Geronimo.

For over 300 years it was held strong by the Spanish. They finally gave it up in a trading deal to the English to get Cuba back. The English tried and consistently failed to capture the Castillo but never did. And when they did, they tried to hold double its capacity which required renovations and made their soldiers miserable during the summer months.

Prior to the Castillo, there were approximately nine other forts built around town. They were mostly destroyed by termites, fire and sieges though.

The Castillo is built from a special mixture that includes coquina which is a type of tiny shell here. It could actually absorb a cannon ball instead of being totally damaged. However, it had to be cut in over 40,000 blocks, dried over days-years and then built. It took many years to complete it.

The moat never held water. During sieges, it kept livestock and prevented anyone from storming the walls.
The cannons were strategically placed to cover every part of the surrounding areas. The smaller ones could hit up to a mile away which is about where the St. Augustine lighthouse is now. The larger one can go up to three miles. It certainly kept ships far away.

The bathroom pipes were "flushed" by the tides....
If you ever have the chance to be in town and want a special but fun learning adventure - I suggest a trip to the Castillo de San Marcos!

Keva Structures game review from MindWare Toys

I'm a home schooling mom of three. While my two boys are still preschool level, I use every opportunity I can to teach and enrich their knowledge. Children learn more from birth to five years old than they learn their entire life after. They have minds like sponges, soaking up concepts that we as adults might not understand. For my boys' learning, the best way to teach is through hands on activities. They are hyper active and don't like sitting still for long without some kind of stimulating exercises. MindWare sent me the Keva Structures game for a review.

It comes with 200 pine wood planks and a guide book with ideas for building. There is no messy glue, no connector pieces. Just wood and imagination!

I love these. Growing up, my dad had a wood shop. When he had small pieces of wood left over from a project he would let us play with them. In our minds it was more fun than any multi-gadget toys and noise makers. These planks smell like fresh pine. They are smoothly cut so as not to give little fingers splinters. They provide hours of quiet fun.

They actually used Keva planks to construct the worlds tallest Keva Structure in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.. It was 51 feet, 8 inches tall! They used 5,123 planks and took 13 hours to build it.

Even my baby girl wanted to join the fun!

When the fun is all done, the kids get a chance to pick them up and practice their packing skills to fit everything into the box neatly. This game requires concentration and helps to refine motor skills as they design and build amazing structures.

As an added bonus, they also sent a sampler book of their MindWare Brain Teasers.

Extreme Dot-to-Dot anyone??

Highly detailed coloring pages.

And Venn Perplexors to really boggle the mind.

Everything at MindWare is based on learning and exploration. You can check out their website, Facebook or their Twitter to keep up with specials and news.