kellicrowe

Teaching Romeo and Juliet in One Day

So how did a Literature major who loves theater decide to only spend 1 day teaching her kids the story of Romeo and Juliet? There isn't enough time to get to everything. I have to make choices. 

I have never seen Titanic. Or The Sound of Music. Or The Wizard of Oz. Or read Moby Dick.  But I am very aware of them. I am pretty sure I can quote lines, re-enact scenes and give someone a basic plot summary. I am aware of them without really having experienced them as a whole. That was my goal with the Romeo and Juliet lesson. Awareness without anyone throwing a book across the room in disgust. Especially if the person was going to be me. 

1. Quick review of Shakespeare's time period.

2. Overview of Shakespearean plots: Comedies = End in a marriage. Tragedies = End in death(s). 

3. Watch Crash Course Literature: Romeo and Juliet part 1

 

 And then Part 2:

(YES - that is the same guy who wrote The Fault is in Our Stars.)

4. Discuss: Why study Romeo and Juliet?

 *It was an old story when Shakespeare retold it and we continue to retell it. 

 *Themes: Prejudice, feeling misunderstood, fate, love at first sight... 

5. Compare different interpretations of Act 2, Scene 2: The Balcony Scene

 

1968 Romeo and Juliet with real Shakespearean language

 

Gnomio and Juliet

Brandon Ballet Gala (Nov. 16 2013, 11 minutes)

 

Lego Form: A school project by Austin Orth

Romeo and Juliet Balcony Parody

 

Romeo and Juliet Parody with Pantry Staples (Seems silly but is really clever).

Bugs Bunny and Witch Hazel

What do these scenes all have in common?  

6. Draw a comic depicting a simplified version of events from Romeo and Juliet. 

(My oldest has a blog about having Asperger's Syndrome called LaughingWithAspergers.com. He put his Romeo and Juliet comic there.)

7. What are some modernized versions of this story?

   West Side Story, Love Story by Taylor Swift

7. Why is this a story that is worth retelling?

Other resources: Brick Shakespeare- The Tragedies, Romeo and Juliet - The Graphic Novel

And that is how we spent our morning. And not a book was thrown....

Homeschool: End of the Year De-Brief

The public schools, home school programs & chess clubs are all wrapping up this week around here.

(ie: Every project, test & party is all going to happen on the same week so that by the time it all ends we are gasping for sweet, sweet summer air).

Even though we are not quite done with out home school lessons, I have started to look towards next school year already.  While it was all still fresh in my mind, and before the euphoria created with the promise of a new school year and fresh school supplies overtook me, I wanted to figure out what worked and what didn't.

What did I do this year that worked well:

My weekly charts listing every assignment, lesson, out of the house task, chore that was expected of the boys.  It helped me to stay on track with our yearly goals.  It also helped the boys to start managing their own time.

What didn't work:

Signing the kids up for too many out of the house activities on too many different days.  Our weeks were very choppy.  We only had 2 days of being fully at home.  That lead to those 2 days being packed with the bulk of the written work for the whole week.  The kids dreaded those days.

The kids would rather spend a month focused on a certain skill - like learning to read maps - instead of having a few pages in a map work book every week for a whole year.  This was helpful to learn.  Next year we can focus on a few skills a month in more depth instead of trying to smear out a bunch of skills over the whole year.

What the kids liked best:

Alex: Chess Club, Summer Book Club, Science, Cooking, The Hamburger Experiment

David: Reading for pleasure and drawing.  Not much else.  But he IS 13, so that sounds about right.

Max: Chess Club, Piano, Science, Art

What they didn't like: 

The Map Work Book

Doing more than 2 pages of Math at any one time.

Days without down time or leaving the house and returning multiple times.

(And a lot of other things, but these were the ones I could do something about.  "Never writing in my journal again"  - while informative - was not practical.)

What do you want to learn next year?

Alex: Cooking, Sign Language

David: Video Game Design, Stop Motion Film Making 

Max: Drum, Singing and Guitar lessons

Me: (Items for them) Nutrition & Health, Poetry

Now what?

As I sign the boys up for the fall's classes (we do a lot of elective type items through local academies and clubs) I will start to plan out our days and weeks for next year.

I can research classes available in their areas of interest or decide if I am able to teach it myself.  (Stop motion films, I can do that.  How to design a video game or guitar are a bit beyond my current reach.) 

I have a list I keep with me in my calendar of the things each child will learn.

As I come across books, web sites (people always seem to mention great ones for kids and then I completely forget about them) and or get ideas, I jot them down next to that subject.

I will go through all of our books in our home library, our toys, science kits, and our games (and even video games) to see if any of them will help support our subjects.  

In July, I will kick it into high gear on planning - but for now, I just need to relax a little and let the ideas percolate.  The percolating is a big thing for me.  It helps me to really think through and edit my ideas.

Doing this de-brief with the kids and for myself helps to break down the task of planning out the next year into easier to handle bites.  I've tried the other way.  The waiting to the last minute one.  This spaced out planning leaves me feeling more in control and less like a crazy mommy who is overwhelmed and behind in everything and doing nothing well. 

If you have any great take aways or "I'll never do that again" thoughts from the school year, I'd love to hear them.  Home schooling your kids isn't required.  I get great tips from my friends who have kids in regular classrooms all the time.  

 

 

Home school: Raising Gentlemen

I am a fan of this book we are currently using: 50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know.

It is to the point and humorous...two things I have found that young gentlemen appreciate.

You can read sample pages of this book at Amazon.com by following this link.

We go through a few items each week.  

For example, last week was about the importance of saying Please and Thank you.  

It helped the kids to learn why it is important and when it is needed.

(They already knew they were supposed to say it.)

I think grown ups take for granted that kids know to say thank you when someone tells them something random: like that they look like their grandfather.   This explains to them that even if they do not think that is true, say thank you. The person may be referring to how their grandfather used to look or something about their smile..not necessarily the gray hair.  Considering I have a few very logically minded boys, this is good information for them to have.

We also started what I call "Man Books" of things they need to learn to grow up to be Men.

They made lists in them a while back that included the following:

Drive a car

Figure out what kind of job I want

Have a cell phone (I am impressed at the opportunites they use to plug this one)

Become an animator

We use these notebooks for 2 things:

1. The boys take notes and write comics about they things were learn from The 50 Things book or situations that come up in every day life.

(Alex's page on "how to great someone" from a year ago.  We went over this because Alex did not put down his book to greet his friend when he walked up.  We talked about the importance of eye contact, making the person feel valued, how you would want to be treat, etc.)

2. The other thing we use this book for is for me to see what is important to them.

If I read that becoming an animator is important to David, then when we learn math or any other skill that may be needed for an animator I can make it feel relevant to David by putting it in those terms.  An animator needs good penmanship for someone to be able to read their word bubbles.  And animator needs computer skills for adding color to their drawings.  Or, learning to read a map is important if you want to drive a car.  

Of course, David has no desire to drive a car and is happy for me to tote him around forever.  Knowing one's audience is key.

We deal with some social skills on a more basic level because of David's Asperger's Syndrome.  

But I have found real value in discussing with the boys why we do things to make us more polite than just telling them to do it.  

 

 

 

 
 

Homeschool: Reviewing for a Test

One of my favorite ways for the boys to review for a test of terms

(or to have a pop quiz)

is to make a crossword puzzle for them

using Discovery Channel's Discovery Education site.

On the home page, there is a "in the classroom" and "at home" section.

The puzzle maker is what I use.

You don't even have to log in to use it.

There are actually quite a few sites that let you make crosswords and word jumbles, etc.

However, I have had some trouble printing them out at times.

That is why I like Discovery Education.

AND

when you make your own crossword puzzle, you can include

important information on it that your children need to know....

Such as question #7.

 

They had to phone a friend.

Homeschool: Teaching the kids to set goals

 Last January, the kids set some goals.

This January...I asked them how those goals turned out.

Some were met.

Some were forgotten.

We all decided together that the best way to meet a goal was to have a plan.

I printed out blank calendar pages for the boys.  

1) They put their goals on the calendar

2) Counted the days they had to achieve their goal

3) Put mini goals in place

4) Wrote down specific things they would do each day / week to get closer to those mini goals.

EX: Alex is working on getting his black belt.

He has to run 2.5 miles by mid - March.

He has a mini goal to run a mile by the end of the week without getting overly tired.

Each day he either runs, works out or does the elliptical machine.

He checks off his progress each day.

By having the visual reminder of the marked off days in front of him, it really helps to keep him focused.

And it gives him a very realistic view of both how much he has done and how much he has left to do.

I know that I often take for granted that the boys will naturally be able to set goals and reach them or have good study skills all on their own.  Sometimes it does work out that way.  But other times, it is good for me to reassess the skill set I have taught them to see if it is working.

The just getting them to set a goal without a plan didn't work out so great.

Gee.

What a shock.

It never works for me either.

 

Kid Life Skill: Thinking of Others

This is our second week of thinking of others.

(That sounds funny).

We have found it comes more naturally to some more than others....

even when they share a parents, DNA and the same environment.

Each day we each draw a name out of the bowl

and  do something nice for that person that day.

Older brothers have helped younger ones with video games.

Younger brothers have played games that they really didn't want to without arguing.

Moms have put away laundry for children who normally have to do it themselves.

And John David carried furniture around the house for me.

Alex is the enforcer.  

He checks to make sure everyone has done their good thing each day.

Loop holes like:

"hey, if you draw your own name...you don't have to do anything."

and

"hey - you drew David and David drew you...your nice thing for each other is not to have to do anything!"

were quickly closed up.

I got the idea from Life Skills for Kids.

At our current rate of learning a new skill every two weeks...

Oh.

Best not to do the math.

PS. I am trying to now answer questions left in the comments 

by leaving a comment.

Homeschool Planning: Using what I have already

The photo: His name is Jumpy.

The rabbit.

Not the boy.

He is the closet thing we have to a pet right now.

The boy.

Not the rabbit:)

So I am using this week to do some long term planning for our homeschool year.

John David and I learned our lesson when we went to the Homeschool Expo just to "look around."

Looking around without a plan = we spend too much money.

(The same thing happens when I go into a scrapbook store too....hmmm.)

Here is what I do to asses what we already have:

I look through all our books - reference, picture books, early readers, my books from college.

* I look through them to see if there is anything in them we are going to study in science or history or art.

*Even though David is well beyond the picture book and early reader stage,

some of those books about sharks or the planet or Alexander the Great we bought him when he was 5 can be very helpful illustrations of what we are going to study this year.

* I also look for books that are about a certain time period we are going to study 

OR

were written in that time period.  

* I am always surprised, every year, at how much we already have that I can use.

I like to do some searches through my Family Fun Magazine and my Martha Stewart Kids Magazine.

* (Or both of the web sites).

* I always find plenty of crafts and science experiment ideas.

* Some of the crafts may be relevant to a history lesson: like making a Pilgrim hat.

Or it may be helpful because it is the type of craft that children would have made during that time: like making a corn husk doll.

* The science experiments are always fun.  

* This year we are going to study Earth Science.  

I keep a list of topics we will learn about and as I find things in the magazine or on line that relate - I jot down where to find them when it comes time to do the lesson.

* Also, I keep a list of items I will need for the crafts.

That way, I can hit the craft store once instead of running there each week to purchase items...or worse...putting off doing a lesson because I still need to buy a few things.

Most of what I do, I need very little supplies. If I am going to have to buy more than a few things for an experiment - it better be amazing!

* And I keep bins of lids, containers and random things that most people toss out or would recycle to use in our crafts, experiments or just to let the kids build things with.

(Packing foam blocks can be carved into totem poles, plastic caps can become wheels, a play-dough container holds paint as they mix it.  Think in terms of how you can recycle things for your own use. Kids are already great at this...have you ever seen a child pick up a wrapping paper tube?  In their mind it instantly becomes something.)

* By keeping this list of items you'll need - it will help you to remember to ask for your groceries in paper bags one week because you'll need those bags for costumes later on.

I look through our toys.

* Games that teach reading, math or other skills.

* Puzzles of the world, or other things that you may be reading about.

* Maybe you have astronaut figures and you'll study about the moon or the moon landing this year.

I spend some time thinking about each child and what they specifically need.

* I know my kids are all different, but I have to remind myself to personalize their education to meet their needs and interests.  I mean - that is one of the cool things about homeschooling - right?  

* Ex: I have just included Max (going into 1st) in David (6th) and Alex's (4th) science and history lessons. If he got something out of it - fine.  If not, that was ok too.  Well, this year that will not work.  Max will study Earth Science as well, but in a different context.  A much easier context.  

* I try to approach subjects through each child's learning style and utilizing their interests.  In history, David always draws his "notes" and ends up with a stick figure account of the lesson.  Alex does not like to draw as much.  I have already taught him how to take notes in outline form.  

I do some long term and short term planning now.

* I put some plans down for what we need to accomplish each quarter to stay on track.

I can not tell you enough how this keeps me focused on the big picture.

* I plan out about 4 weeks pretty specifically and the next 2 weeks lightly.  I never stay on the 6 weeks perfectly.  We always seem to get ahead in some areas and behind in others.  (Ex: I plan for the kids to do 2 math pages a day but fail to realize the 7 times tables might just bump us from that neat little plan.)  

* I do this for me mostly.  It is overwhelming to think about planning each day every day.  But to spend 2 hours planning the next 4-6 weeks...that is doable and saves me loads of future stress.  

Assess yourself.  What are you capable of?

* I am no help to anyone at 3:00 in the afternoon in learning something new.  So I never plan to teach the kids anything then.  That is when we make appointments or I sign them up for chess.  

* Protect your schedule.  Dude.  When I started homeschooling, I got invited to be a

part of so many groups and got like 4 Bible Study invites.  I could have filled up my day with things that were not teaching my kids.  And many of them were good things.  

Anyway.  That is what I doing this week.

If you have a tip for how you do your planning - I'd love to hear it.  You don't have to be a homeschooler, either.  

matisse art project - homeschool

Matisse Art Project.

We did this several years in a row in pretty diff ways. I like to pick out a fun artist (ie - someone my boys can stand to look at several of their pictures in a row without asking how many more we have to see) to highlight every week or so.

We do this during homeschool on Fridays. Matisse. Like him. The boys like him. I ordered these little booklets on some of the major artists a few years back from some educational catalog. It has info about his life and kid friendly (ie - not naked) art inside. It also suggested some art projects.

Personally - I think all this could be achieved in a few clicks on the computer. I do not like the library. I know - what kind of homeschool mommy am I? One who doesn't like the library. The books feel germie to me. I know germs can not thrive on books on a shelf....but still.

Matisse project #1 Did this with a 4 and 5 year old I mixed reg. glue and water in a bowl to make the glue thin. I let the kids paint brush the glue onto a piece of poster board. Then the kid tore tissue paper and placed it on the glue. Total time - 20 minutes from start to hand washing. The kids loved tearing the paper. The glue will become the color of the tissue paper if you slide the paper around. SO - I encouraged the boys to just lay the paper down and not slide it.

Matisse was a painter. But he also painted bright pages and then cut the shapes up to use in his collages. My boys were pretty young - so I let them tear the paper. We looked at Matisse's work when he painted and when he used paper. We compared and contrasted the two.

Alex - 4 - made a colorful collage with his papers. David - 5 - made a warrior These pictures are framed and in our long hall way upstairs. In our "gallery."

Matisse Project #2 The following year we talked about Matisse again. This time the boys were 5 and 6. I selected several pictures by Matisse to show the kids. Reviewed his life. The kids were given the squares of colorful paper to fill in the back ground - like in our sample pictures. Then I gave them a bunch of Matisse like shapes of brightly colored paper. They both chose to make a picture of themselves. David's is a tiny figure of himself with shapes (that represent the music) all around him. Alex's figure of himself is much bigger. His lines coming from his head are him talking and singing.

The idea was to lead the kids in a project where we imitated the artist's style. But the kids were not re-creating a particular picture. They still got to play and be creative within the parameters I gave them.

Oh - David liked it so much - he made a dinosaur and several warriors out of his shapes.

The following year we used the bulletin board to make more pictures with these shapes. Matisse would pin his pictures up on a board and move around the shapes for weeks before gluing them down. I think this year when we talk about him - I will let the boys paint and then cut the shapes themselves and have a little more flexibility in what they produce.

 I am not a "memorize this picture" kind of art of teacher. I just want to expose the kids to different ways of being creative. I know some will totally bore them. But some may get them so excited that they can't wait to make more. I just can't ever tell which way it will work out.

homeschool pe

Us at the pool after lessons yest. All pics by Abbie. None of us IN the pool:) Alex slipping down in the chair as we ate our yummy pb&j's and goldfish crackers. WHY do they taste so good after you swim?? David on the playground right next to the pool. Love the way you see the bottom of his feet. He has always loved to swing:) Max - looking like a big kid instead of my baby - on the playground. Note his shirt - property of Mom. That is right. OH - David can swim. Like never tried to. Ever. Then he gets goggles. Puts face in the pool about a month ago. (we don't go often...1. I forget to go and 2. it is OUTSIDE) Went a few weekdays ago and he swims half way across the width of the pool. We finally take him back yest and he is snorkeling around, swimming everywhere. Abbie throws him like 10 times in a row....all great. Lets here it for learning something when you are good and ready for it! WOOOHOOO! Now....if only potty training will go this well with Max. Guess I gotta remember to do that too. 

My sources for homeschool resources and what I use

Alex and David - first day of school - Aug 2004 School Supplies: muscle shirts, new Sponge Bob underwear, and markers.  That is what my kids needed for their first day of school.

Me? I needed more. So where do I get my stuff? There are so many resources. So many. I think I got all of mine from that Dummies book.

Here is my fave: I get almost everything from Rainbow Resources. I get a catalogue once a year...almost 1000 pages. It looks a lot like a phone book. Anything I could think of using from games, to early reading books to actual text books.  

I own other "how to" books on homeschooling. I have other catalogues. But really - I get everything from the dummies book and this ordering catalogue. Now - there may be a homeschool store close by. Or a Homeschool Expo - even better. If you could possibly look at or hold an item in your hand...that is ideal.

Back to my list of things I want the kids to learn - here is my reference book / text book for each subject item: Adventure Bible Study: My Bible. My husband. Ideas from thier Sunday school class.  I didn't buy anything for this. (SO we call it Adventure b/c we have it in a fort we made. We read by flashlight. It just makes it more interesting and blocks out distractions for them. Adventure = fun.

Pledge & memory verse: I bought a small flag that the kids take turns holding as we say the Pledge. I looked the Pledge up on line...Hey, I know it....but just not something I wanted to accidentally teach them wrong.

Memory verse - my Bible. So far I bought a flag.

Journal / Calendar / Weather: Journal = those black and white bound notebooks. They started by just drawing a picture based on a question I asked. Sometimes I got my questions based on what we learned the previous day (draw a pyramid, etc.) Sometimes it was just to know what they thought, to solve a problem about sharing, things that related to our family at the time. I would write what they said. Now they do some writing too. This was one of those long term skills of writing daily / creatively/ expressively that I wanted to start working towards early.

Cal & weather - kept track of that with a big desk calendar from Wal-mart.

Math U Can See - Yep - the first chink in my armor of knowledge. I stink at Math. This has a DVD for me, manipulatives for the kids and books at diff levels. web site: www.mathusee.com 1-888-854-math (6284) Some companies have local reps that you order thru (Usborn books is like that...like Tupperwear) This company is like that too. So, local person to talk to...nice. There were cheaper programs than this - but this was a weak point of mine - so I needed extra help for ME.

Art - my computer, my kid's magazines like Family Fun, Martha Stewart Kids. I am using this year Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks. Got it at Barnes & Noble. Broken down into lessons. This is one of my strong areas - so not a lot was invested in this. I did make a list of artists and then showed my kids their style. We would each week pick a diff one. Like Jackson Pollack was our first one. We just happened to have a children's story book about him already. I took old wrapping paper (UGLY stuff for 90% off a few weeks after Christmas) and rolled out on the yard face down (white side up). And I let them fling paint to music just like JP did.

Def. make a list before you go to Michael's because it is easy to rack up a big bill there with lots of $2.99 items. I stock up when they have sales. Pipe cleaners can be used to teach ANYTHING:)

Creativity - fun thing on Fri, I keep two big containers of mostly recyle items, show boxes, etc. The kids get to just build, create, paint whatever....I help - but they have to pick what to make and figure out how to make it work. Creativity, scientific method, simple machines, self expression, role play all have come into play when letting them work on this. Then they have a show and tell for Daddy (public speaking:) that night. Warning - boys WILL make guns at some point. So - bought nothing really.

History - www.susanwisebauer.com or www.peacehillpress.com That is where I got the Well Trained Mind book (which is an over view of classical ed. for k-12) I use her The Story of the World books. The history of the world in 4 years. Literature, history religion all tied in with stories, crafts and skits and food. I took a humanities course in college that combined all three of these primary subjects together and it really made sense to me to learn about all three at once. Now - my kids' peers in school are not learning some of this stuff right now. They are learning about the USA, their neighborhood, maps, etc. That is ok. We will get to that. This is the main area we have that doesn't match up with reg. school. I bought reference books - atlas, history time line books for this. BUT - these are reference books I will use all 12 years.

Spanish - I stink at Spanish. I taught the kids this year ok. But I want them to learn from someone who can really pronounce things properly. My kids are going to take a class one day a week for an hour. There are most likely lots of these classes the kids can take in your area. We checked with out city and county first, YMCA, homeschool groups and then finally, a friend who already knows the language is a resource. Not a huge deal to me - I NEVER learned another lang in elem. school. So I consider this a luxury item.

Science - At this age - science = FUN! I want the kids to love science way before we get to the heavy stuff. The Well Trained Mind suggests who to plan for each year and topics to explore. I bought an animal encyclopedia. Science projects are way easy to find on line and at Family Fun mag. We subscribe to National Geographic for Kids. The web site - www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids

Social - I keep track of this b/c I want to be able to show anyone who is worried about my poor sheltered kids that they are out there and a part of society. Any place where they interact with kids, or have meaningful interaction with adults counts for me. Their Bible study at church, play dates b-day parties, teams they play on, clubs, etc....I write it down.

Reading for David - my practical kid. $20 for Teach Your Child to read in 100 Easy Lessons by Englemann, Haddox & Bruner. It took us a lot more than 100 days to do these lessons. A LOT MORE. I started using Bob books (sold in box sets that are super simple early readers) about half way through.

Reading for Alex - loves interaction. I just broke down and bought Hooked on Phonics for him. $$$ - yes. There were lots of these sets on e-bay. But really - it was the timing and his love of computers and sticker charts and bells and whistles (which this has) that works for him. I had tried several other programs and they just were not working for us.

PE - Ick. We have a trampoline outside, a small one inside (fidgety kids have to jump and count to 100 on it for me if they are having trouble paying attention...pe and math:) We go to the pool in the summer, the kids do stretching with me in morning (my exercises...just making them do it too) They have taken gym classes and played soccer and karate. They just haven't found a sport they love. We try to get them, with us, to do athletic stuff. There are classes they can take that are like sports basics kind of classes. Alex will probably take golf lessons this fall from Daddy and a tennis clinic. David doesn't care a thing about sports.

Extra - Ya know - only in elementary school and Jr high do we expect kids to excel at everything. When else in life is any person...adult...expected to do well in every subject and do ok in each sport? When I declared my major in college, it was the first time that it was acknowledged that I stink in higher level math and science. "OH, you want to be an English major? Well, are you interested in this science class for NON - science majors? We have a math class for math loosers...I mean, non - math majors as well." IT ROCKED. I learned the important stuff. There just wasn't the expectation that I should be an A student in everything anymore. I got to specialize in my areas of interest while still learning important stuff across the board. I want my kids to get a chance to specialize now.

Alex is gonna learn step by step with me how to run the Adobe software I just got. (E-bay and then bought the upgrade.....saved $100's) Last year, I gave him lessons with my video camera and my digital camera. Alex is going to take gutar lessons from the teenager down the street.

David loves to draw and build. I try to get him around local artists. He had art lessons this past year. My kids are going to take art lessons from a local artist this year along with another family.

Ok - so that was a lot. These are my resources. There is so much out there. It is easy to get bogged down in choices and spend money unwisely. That is why I made the list and filled in the blanks. And you don't have to learn everything right this minute. Look through your house - I bet you have cookbooks, games, toys, books that are educational in some way. In the early freak out phase - it is easy to forget how much YOU already know and how much you already have. I freak out every year. It is ok and normal.

At least that is what I keep telling myself:) kelli

What I used to start homeschooling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I used to get started homeschooling: This Idiot's Guide book is great.

I love how these things are written. Here are the chapter titles:

What is homschooling?

Homeschooling facts and figures

Quick answers to beginner's questions

Getting legal: alternatives to compulsory attendance

Approaches to home education

Finding support

Choosing curriculum: so much to choose from

Sixth grade in a box: using a full service program

Out of the box: planning your own curriculum

Learning at home with 3 and 5 year olds

Homeschooling 6-8 year olds

Homeschooling 9-12 year olds

Teenagers and homeschool

Homeschooling kids with special needs

Testing Other assessments for measuring progress

Keeping record

Getting a grip - keeping burnout at bay

Self directed learning: the key to motivation

Dealing with doubts Involvement in the homeschool community

Cyber learning

There is a glossary Curric. and web sites Homeschool support org. Independent study programs all in the appendix.

 So I read this book and I renewed my subscription to Family Fun Magazine. It has great craft/party/experiment's/food info/travel info in it. I keep all of mine. I flip thru them at the beginning of the year and make notes on what might apply to our studies. They have a web site too to ref. stuff. That is it.

My first year was K - so we didn't have to do anything legal with the state of Ga. We read a lot from the kid's own books. Pretty easy way to get started. That was phase 1 of starting. Once I read that book, I made a list of goals for my kids for the school year. What did I want them to learn? The list looked long.

Well, I realized you can learn math skills, listening skills, following directions, socialization and home ec. all by helping mommy make brownies. A lot of things over lap. Now this next part may sound huge - don't panic. We wrote down long term goals we wanted for our kids before we sent them out into the world.

Abbie, who lives with us, is 20. She was homeschooled all 12 years. Yep - back before it was super cool. She helped her dad with his book keeping around the age of 13. She is really handy with tools because she helped her family build her house. (This makes them sound like pioneers...really they live at the beach and are very normal:) She is very capable & mature for her age. Her parents educated her for life..not just the next grade or the next standardized test. That is what we wanted for our kids. Yep - I want them to understand how to diagram a sentence...but I want them to also be able to balance a checkbook, plan and prepare a meal, do their own laundry, etc.

Steven Covey in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People ( I am second guessing the title all of the sudden...) he says to begin with the end in mind. Make a plan for how you want the year to turn out. If that doesn't freak you out too much - think 5 years...etc. These plans can change. You don't have to think of everything right now. Now, once you are overwhelmed by all the information and all you want your kids to learn.

Chill. Grab a Dr. Pepper and some chocolates. Watch a movie. (I ALWAYS suggest Pride and Prejudice - the BBC version on DVD...but a nice musical is always a lovely diversion). Then go back and really only focus on what you need for this year. 1 year at a time. Sometimes I only think about 6 weeks at a time. Keep you notes from these early times. How wonderful a thing to look back on one day. Just remember - everything you know, you learned You have a vast experience in learning You have taught your child a ton already so you have experience teaching.

kelli

Review: Life Skills for Kids

Life Skills for Kids by Christine Field    So if you have Jury Duty this is a good book to take along to read during all the waiting.  About 300 pages, plus an Appendix that is quite helpful, of life skills grouped into the following categories: people skills, home skills, getting around in the world, managing your time, managing your stuff, fixing and maintaining your stuff, money, self care, your brain, spiritual habits, decision making, creativity and celebration.  I knew some of this stuff.  Ok, so there is actually a lot in this book that never would have crossed my mind to teach my children.  For example, it suggests you teach you High School student about different health insurance plans and insurance.  Learning to use public transportation, creating lists of pros and cons when decision making, organizing your time are others that I were not on my radar as items to actively teach my kids.  Glad I have the book because I don't know about some of this stuff myself. 

It provided a great service to me in that it really brought home the importance of some of these skills and the long reaching effects of obtaining them.  For example, the importance of learning to settle disagreements with a sibling on his own.  I would think - of course that is important because I want my son to have good people skills.  This book took it a step further and put it to me this way - learning how to handle differences between siblings is a skill that will aid my son in having a positive marriage.  Hey...wait.  That puts WAY more pressure on me!  Then I got to thinking (yikes) that my son's marriage will of course affect my grandchildren. 

It is a quick read.  I was done by the time Marta deposited me back at my car after Jury Duty.  The book, and I, suggest reading it all the way through first.  Now I am making a list of life skills for my boys that we will learn (quite literally together in some cases) over the next year.  I made notes of items for the next few years.  The insurance stuff...we'll talk about that down the road.  The thing is with these kids, we are moving down this road much more quickly than I ever thought.  Time is flying by.  It isn't so far away that my boys will need this information.  In the mean time, info on learning to take care of their own shoes is pretty helpful on the pocket book as well.

The book is a great resource.  It is one of the few that I would recommend that you get your own because you are gonna want to look back at it over the years.  It does not tell you how to teach them everything - but most.  There are quite a few references to scripture and Bible stories.  This is a good book. kc