Question of The Day Fall Edition or FQOTD

I really should document Ironhide's questions but there are so many it is hard to keep track. They are good questions. Questions that make you go .hmmmmmmm.

Last night we as a family watched Bizarre Foods on Travel Channel. The host was in Japan and sampling the lunch favorite of Chanko-nabe.

Which is a dish of s a Japanese stew (a type of nabemono or one-pot dish) it contains a dashi or chicken broth soup base with sake or mirin to add flavor. One thing we found interesting was that the Sumo wrestlers take turns cooking. They also cook in sumo gear…that's right no clothing except for that little underwear thingy. (So says my son Ironhide.) The food look good but the abundance of sweating cooks kind of spoiled the experience for me.

This morning Ironhide asked "Are there any women Sumo wrestlers?" Good question and off to Google went for the answer. And yes Virginia there are women Sumo wrestlers.




Mom how much do they weigh in pounds? Well let's covert (This morning Mom used the online converter after 20 minutes of trying teach it.) with Online Converter. These ladies have to be big to do their jobs. The largest are over 300lbs.

So for the rest of the morning ds is doing his version of Sumo wrestling with the sofa cushions while inserting some Russian folk dance. That is another blog. Oh you got to love homeschooling.

Wordless Wednesday: Living Science

Online Reading Log

We read so many books here at the Sandbox it is hard to keep an updated list. I feel the need to capture that experience to help plot our future reading choices. Our library's summer reading program had an excellent online tool that allowed Ironhide to document what he read and review it. I was able to print out a list at the end of summer for our records. The log also provided him with a sense of accomplishment at the end of the summer.

For the school year I wanted something along those lines to keep up with everyone's reading list. I could have done it on Amazon but I wanted a commercial free zone to capture thoughts and feelings without market forces coming into play. So we are trying Goodreads.

"Goodreads is the largest social network for readers in the world. We have more than 3,500,000 members who have added more than 100,000,000 books to their shelves. A place for casual readers and bona-fide bookworms alike, Goodreads members recommend books, compare what they are reading, keep track of what they've read and would like to read, form book clubs and much more. Goodreads was launched in December 2006."

This is a great place for the avid reader. I love the founder message about why he started Goodreads.

"When I was in second grade, I discovered the Hardy Boys series. Ever since, I've loved to read — both for fun and to improve my mind. And I'm always looking for the next great book. Reviews on Amazon and other sites are helpful, but I thought there might be a better way.

One afternoon while I was scanning a friend's bookshelf for my next great read, it struck me. When I want to know what books to read, I'd rather turn to a friend than any random person, bestseller list or algorithm. So I thought I'd build a website — a website where I could see my friends' bookshelves and learn about what they thought of all their books."

Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Field Tripping Again National Zoo

We visited the world famous Smithsonian National Zoo. My camera was not charged up so I have to borrow stock photos to share the experience.

I love this zoo for the up hill walk which leaves the kiddo happy and tired at the end of the day.

You can visit virtually via their zoo cams.




Just a little advice if you are going to the FONZ:
-Go early if you are going to drive and get parking.
-Pack your lunch in a rolling cooler so you or the kids can drag it around the park. It will save tons on food and water prices, not to mention the ick factor with the water fountains.

Wordless Wednesday: Fieldtrips

Science Boys Will Love...Graphic Science Comic Book

This summer we found this great collection of action graphic comic science books featuring Max Axiom. Max Axiom is a superhero scientist with all the super hero trappings, cool car, cool tools and super smart. Bonus he is a hero of color kicking down the doors about the stereotypical nerds. Bonus Bonus he kind of looks like DH. Big educational bonus the books have real substance and are engaging to boys.

DH and son have spent hours sharing Max's adventures. We just wish there was an action figure.

Here is what Kevin Hodgson of The Graphic Classroom had to say:

"Capstone Press has created its own brand of superhero – Max Axiom, Super Scientist – whose exploits uncover the mysteries of the scientific world. Max Axiom, who sports a bald head and cool glasses, dives into many adventures in the series, exploring such concepts as sound, energy, ecosystems, and others.

With INVESTIGATING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD WITH MAX AXIOM, the reader goes through the steps of the process of scientific discovery in a very meaningful way. The story doesn't skimp on explanations and the writer (Donald B. Lemke) and illustrators (Tod Smith and Al Migrom) use the graphics inherent in this form to its advantages, showing detailed illustrations that reinforce the story and explanations."

Frederick Douglass Quote

Thanks Ann@His Grace To Me

Not Back to School Blog Hop: A Day in the Life

It is the final week of Heart of The Matter's Not Back to School blog hop. It has been an great month of sharing and learning with and about homeschoolers all over the world. Thank you to all the families that open their homes and hearts to the bloggersphere. This Blog Hop is a great database for new homeschoolers and veterans who need a little inspiration.

This week's theme is a Day in the Life. We're supposed to share what our average homeschool day looks like. We do not started school until next week, but I would like to share with you our plans.

I shared last week how this year was based on a visual plan. A way for us as a family to see where we were spending our time. The first draft did not have a lot of time to school.

So we downsized what we were doing outside the home to bring the focus in our the family and learning this year. If we find this schedule is to socially light we can add play dates and other activities to it later.

Key to being happy this year is to start the day with a plan. We have a schedule so then I pulled together my own planner based on the more complicated system from last year. It to was downsized to include monthly calendars, daily work plan with workbox numbers and subjects. I have a section for notes but would like a computer program to log in the books we have read.







So that's what our days should look like. Most importantly this year will be a focus on the students needs and the family needs. Blessings.

What is Mom going to learn this year?

We always have great goals and plans for our children for the school year, rightly so because this is our job. However we often forget to stop and say what will we learn this year? What are our goals? Is the homeschool plan or curriculum supporting the family goals for the year?

My friend Faith (that shall be her internet name) and I took the challenge this year to plan our homeschool year in advance. What we did not want for ourselves or our children is a mother who is burnt out and tired before November. We spent days planning and outlining what we wanted to do for the school year. We prayerfully made daily and monthly schedules to share with each other. It was wonderful and energizing but most importantly flaw revealing.

First where were we on the schedule? What are we going to learn this year? When are we taking care of ourselves? What are our goals? I am not speaking of the vague "going to get in shape" goal. We are looking for scheduled self care time and learning opportunities outside of home education. What new skill will you have at the end of the year?

I challenge you look over your photos from last school year. How many times are you actually in the picture? How many events are there where it is just you and your friends? Homeschool conference only counts as a half a point. :-) If you are in the photos only with your children and less than 20% of the time maybe it is time to schedule so "me" time.

I know what of I speak because I am the chief offender in this offense. My goal is not to separate from my family but to cherish who I am as a person, mother, wife and loved child of the most High.

Secondly there was way too much outside activities going on and not enough education time. I know sounds really strange coming from the women who was freaking out earlier this year about her only child not being around other children, but it is true there was very little time for quality schooling on the schedule.

Take a look at the schedule before adjustments. All the green areas are home education blocks. If you look at my curriculum plan for 2010 they don't seem to match up right?

How in the world was I going to do all of that learning with less than 8 hours a week with a real life child with emotions, meltdowns, good days and bad days? Plus we all know how much learning actually happens after you leave the house for the day, none. Because you are tired (If you have ever driven on the beltway in DC you understand this.), the kid is drained and oh that little aliment called "Do I have to?" kicks in after lunch.

Finally we realized that we had planned out days excluding our husbands. Where is Dad in the schedule? What is he doing? How can we include him in our day?

So as we gear up for another year I am looking at the whole home while planning not just the school. It may mean school starts a little bit later this year but it will mean a more focused year.

Not-Back-To-School Blog Hop: School Room Week

This is "School Room" week Heart of The Matter's Not Back to School blog hop. This gave me a personal goal put our room back together from summer break in time to share it.

We have officially been in our new home here a little over a year. We downsized with last year's move which has been a blessing and adjustment. You will be amazed how simple life can be with less stuff.

The desk we got for TS last year is growing with him and he has added his own decorative boy flare. Next to his desk are the workboxes waiting for work, his telescope for stargazing and crayons for drawing.

Across from that are some of our books which I finally colored coded over the summer.

We learned from last year that some studies can only be completed with minimal or no distraction so we incorporated the Concentration Penthouse upstairs. It is a nice calming space with a lot of sunshine for inspiration or concentration. The art on the wall is all TS's from his art class.

I built myself storage shelf in the basement and organized it by discipline. As the "Back to School" signs went up in stores, I grabbed the family and went through all our supplies. It was great to go through all of the school stuff as a family. We were able to bless a lot of families with our excess and only spent $20 on school supplies.

Have a blessed year everyone.

We have been so incredibly blessed with this move and look forward to an exciting year of learning. If you get a chance check out some of the awesome learning spaces at Heart of The Matter's Not Back to School blog hop.

2010-2011 Homeschool Curriculum HOP

Thanks to the good folks at Heart of the Matter for hosting Not Back To School Blog Hop. This always helps me organize my thoughts and plans.

So here we go……………….

We are introducing new math, grammar, spelling and History program this year. Also we are going to start to focus on more home education and a little less roadschooling.


This is our planned curriculum for homeschool for 2010-2011 2nd/3rd Grade Years:

Core: Five In A Row
Our primary curriculum will be Five In A Row Volume 4. I wanted to move to Winter’s Promise for a theme program because I simply didn’t have time to plan, print and organize FIAR this year. But after going to the local homeschool conference I realized that FIAR can work for us just modified. In the seminar about gifted children the speaker did warn changing everything from year to year. After the BIG MOVE last year where his whole world changed, I think we need to limit the amount of changes this year.

After much prayer we thought it best to leave the spine of FIAR but altered it to fit our needs. FIAR has a bible curriculum which I will be using and adding lapbook elements for scripture.

Grammar
Introducing Grammar with Winter’s Promise Language Arts curriculum and living books from the series “If you were” .



Mathematics
We are excited to start Right Start Math this year. The box arrived last week and we can’t wait to get our hands on the manipulatives.

History
This will be our first year of formal history study using the Story of The World program Volume I, Ancient Times. It covers history from the First Nomads, Egypt, the Jewish People, Abraham and Joseph, Hammurabi and the Babylonians, the Assyrians, Ancient China, Ancient Africa, Exodus, the Phoenicians, the Greeks and Rome.



Physical Education
We are enrolled in a Homeschool Physical Education co-op class, basketball class, swimming and martial arts.

Art
We are enrolled in a local co-op class and visiting museum exhibits throughout the year.

Music/Drama
We are enrolled in a local co-op class and taking part of in free concert/play venues in the area. The search is still on for individual instruction but we do have an at home drum program.

Science
We are enrolled in a accelerated local co-op class and visiting museum exhibits throughout the year.

I am so excited!!!!!!


You can read more curriculum plans and add yours at the Not Back to School Blog Hop.

Prayerful Planning

"If you're starting your new school year depending on your own abilities, be careful. Only the Lord can show you those things that will make your homeschooling truly successful. As you depend on the Holy Spirit, you will not only discover wisdom to teach, but you'll also have your eyes opened to see all that God desires for your family. "Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God" (Psalm 123:1-2a).
Lord, forgive me for my foolish pride that fails to acknowledge You as Lord. Open my eyes to see Your plans for our family this homeschool year and teach me to constantly depend on You. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Courtesy Alpha Omega Publications

A Change Is Gonna Come

I have been in prayer about what is to become of this blog. It has become clear that this should be a virtual space to record our homeschooling journey. Which means it will be incorporated into our school year plans with timely updates.

To that end let me share that this is planning season. Planning season for homeschoolers is exciting time because everything is fresh with new possibilities and grand goals. The trick I have found in my three years of homeschooling is to embrace those grand design, explore them and put them down in revision 1 of the plan. Then back off, give it a day and think about your life. Who are you? Who are your kids? How many outside activities do you plan on doing? How long will they really take? Where are the potential rabbit holes or unexpected cool field trips likely to happen? How your household actually functions? Then adjust the plan to this reality. Thereby avoiding complete homeschooling meltdown when things do not go as planned. Remember it is homeschooling so keep it SIMPLE and FLEXIBLE.

Part 1: What worked and what didn't work last year.

FIAR kinda worked last year but is planning intensive in order to support ds's learning style.

I honestly didn't think I had the time this summer to pull all of it together. But the other options are outside our budget right now, so I made a choice to slow down our summer plans to incorporate planning days. That is right days because I had to adjust my expectations of getting it done all at once.

Here is my attempt to plan with Five In A Row (FIAR). All items highlighted in gray were completed in 2008-2010. Items in green are planned for this year.
Five In A Row 2010-2011 School Year Plan

Pray for the Gulf and The Planet

Homeschooling Only Child: Panic Attack Number 554

It has been a couple of months since I have freaked over homeschooling our "super singleton". Because he loves people and is super social it never really get the feeling of him being lonely. Everyday we leave the house post school time to do something with friends park day, filed trips, three days a week co-op classes, birthday parties, church and when we have time play dates. This week was no exception we are on the move, but I decided that today I needed a day at home. This has not gone over well at all.

He is an extrovert who loves people. He is open and caring to all kids, which has been tough because some kids are just down right mean. He plays with kids of all ages and doesn't mind playing the prince with his girl friends as long as he can have a light saber and slay something.

He is innocent, because we believe children should enjoy childhood. He really can't get way some kids are mean to him. He is Texas loud and enjoys life.

But I worry does he need to be around children all day? What would be the benefits? He could not downshift to do age level school work. I know because he has told me last week "Mom okay I got verb and nouns...way are you waiting let's do some adjectives and essays." He like most boys doesn't have the social skills to be grade skipped in a traditional class room. Boys tend to find the tender heart, youngest, innocent and small in size boy to pick on.

In public school he would have to sit still and learn. His energy level is to high for that at his age. He just doesn't fit the program. My husband didn't fit the program either and spent so much time in the office he knew how to answer the phones.

A great private school with a small class that moves and learn would be great. But who has twenty grand a year for private school?

Most importantly AGAIN I have prayed and God said this is our journey. Right now he plays with roughly 20 kids everyday. His lessons are individualized and at his pace. He is full of joy and thriving. Sure he would love to play all day, what seven year doesn't? He is strong willed and determined but knows how to work with a group.

In the last year he has had classes in:
-Castle Building (learning about communities)
-Emergency Responders (safety classes with visit from firemen and police officers)
-shop classes (he knows how to hammer )
-cooking from the food pyramid
-newspaper writing (the final was a newsletter)
-Masters of Art
-science co-op (experiments & lessons on the planets, simple machines,light & weather)
-Puppet Class (writing a script and performing)
-Free classes from the Smithsonian on flight
-A tour of the Capital with passes into both the Senate and House Chambers
-The Smithsonian Natural History and Air and Space events
-Free concerts

So as I write this my panic attack is wearing down. I can breathe, God has provided faithfully. I again need to work on trust and real faith. Which is not unique to having one child or ten.

Also I am becoming slightly frantic about planning next year and stressing about finances. I think it all coming to a weak point which is my confidence about homeschooling an only child. Fear is a cancer that can eat at you and take over all your sane thoughts an actions. Maybe this which my memory verse should be:

¹⁰ So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

¹³ For I am the LORD, your God,
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.

—Isaiah 41:10,13

Renae wrote an excellent article on "The Faith It Takes to Homeschool".

April Thus Far........................

Okay this month has been busy with classes, co-op, work and learning. It seems my head barely hits the pillow and the alarm goes off. A couple of weeks ago I actually fell asleep folding laundry. I miss blogging because it is my record keeping tool. Plus it is fun, but it seems like it has been added onto the chores of things “To Do”.
Sometimes I forget we just moved and it takes at least a year or two to get adjusted to a new city. I praise God every day for the good that is in our lives and I trust him to provide for the things we seek.

So what have we been doing this month…hmmmm

We got to see the Cherry Blossom Festival! It was amazing especially after all the snow.



We also did the Smithsonian Natural History before tourist season began in mid April.





Our son had his first science fair. Way to Go son!

We learned about simple machines.

We also studied three FIAR books, but more on that later.

Mom, Today Was the Best Day Ever

For the first time in weeks we did not have an appointment, a class or playdate. This was our day today:

• Breakfast
  
• Got dressed
  
• Play a little indoor basketball
  
• Completed science poster
  
• Did a little drawing unplanned
  
• Outside basketball
  
• Did math
  
• Lunch while talking about yesterday's fieldtrip
  
• More science
  
• More crayons
  
• A trip for new crayons
  
• Invented Lego Atlantis Training Session (nice for me to seek in a work out)
  
• Quiet Time
  
• Dinner prep together
  
• A very silly game of Ants in The Pants
  
• Family Dinner
  
• Bedtime Business
  

A very relaxed day without rushing and we got a lot done. I did not have to redirect once. Before he went to bed he said "Mom this was the best day ever! We got to spend time together without rushing around."

Okay I get it. I too have been feeling over scheduled and rushed since the blizzard. I think it is natural reaction of being house bound for almost two weeks. As an ex-Texan I was not use to the confinement. I didn't stress during the blizzard, but as soon as the roads were plowed, we signed up for everything. It has been great but it has left us very little time to just enjoy "home education."

So I am taking next week to think about our summer and next year. Prayerfully look at what we have been doing and to what purpose. I don't want to miss this time as a family because we have been so busying "doing" the busy stuff of life.

Earth Day Freebies

Looking for a way to help save the planet and cash? Check out these great Earth Day Freebies.

Walgreens: $1.00 ink refills on 4/22/10

http://www.mamacheaps.com/2010/04/earth-day-2010-freebies-and-goodies-galore.html

Bill Nye the Science Guy - Magnetism pt 3/3

Bill Nye the Science Guy - Magnetism pt 2/3

Bill Nye the Science Guy - Magnetism pt1/3