Archive for July, 2006
July 26, 2006 @ 6:22 am | Filed under: These People Crack Me Up
Overheard:
"Honey, please don’t put the toad on the counter."
July 25, 2006 @ 9:19 am | Filed under: Uncategorized
Me: Well, I just got the Carnival of Homeschooling up at Lilting House.
Jane: Ooh, can I proofread it?
July 25, 2006 @ 7:41 am | Filed under: Carnivals
Welcome to CoH Week 30! Here in The Lilting House, we are mighty big fans of Schoolhouse Rock
A Noun Is a Person, Place, or Thing
it’s any name you’ve ever heard,
I find it quite interesting…
In a link-packed series of posts about homeschooling preschoolers, Elizabeth Foss takes a look at what a wonderful thing it is to satisfy a small child’s appetite for learning with treasures like the art box, enjoyable language arts materials, and number fun.
At Trivium Pursuit, Laurie Bluedorn gives her best copywork advice.
Dawn Hanigan talks books, books, and more books in What’s the Big (Book) Idea?
In an inspiring post called Cleaning Up the Schoolroom, Karen Edmisten examines what Henry Ward Beecher means when she says, "A mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom."
The Four-Legged Zoo
I went to the four-legged zoo, to visit my four-footed friends…
At Principled Discovery, Dana discusses Meerkats, Homeschooling and the Socialization Question.
The Common Room’s Deputyheadmistress shares an arkful of More Neat Pond Study Websites.
At Sweetness and Light, Happyheartsmom’s children are having Fanciful Fun With Fairies.
Verb: That’s What’s Happening
I don’t know my own power…
I don’t know my own power…
At Lone Star Academy, Brandi is finalizing her 2006/2007 curriculum & schedule. Over in The Heart of the Home, Janet is also assessing her goals for the upcoming school year.
My Hero Zero
…such a funny little hero,
until you came along, we counted on our fingers and toes…
At Learning Life Through Unschooling, Amalapert asks: What About Math?
Updated! Elena chimes in with an Ode to Saxon Math.
Sprittibee
shares her top ten list of things to do when you first start
homeschooling (especially if you live in Texas).
Interjection!
So when you’re happy (Hurray!) or sad (Aw!)
Or frightened (Eeeeeek!) or mad (Rats!)
Or excited (Wow!) or glad (Hey!)
An interjection starts a sentence right.
So when you’re happy (Hurray!) or sad (Aw!)
Or frightened (Eeeeeek!) or mad (Rats!)
Or excited (Wow!) or glad (Hey!)
An interjection starts a sentence right.
At Why Homeschool, Janine discusses a few reasons why some people are hostile to homeschooling.
Carole of Mt. Pleasant Classical Academy shares her own experiences with Nay-Sayers.
Alesandra can answer their objections with her thoughts on why Homeschooling is a Great Idea.
Conjunction Junction
What’s your function?
The PalmTree
Pundit shares What She Learned on Her Summer Vacation at the Veritas Press teacher training conference.
The Thinking Mother encourages
nervous parents need to trust their children’s natural learning processes as they live the homeschooling
lifestyle.
The Body Machine
…to keep the engine running, you need energy
for this high-powered, revved-up body machine
…to keep the engine running, you need energy
for this high-powered, revved-up body machine
Researchers have made it official: kids need to play outside. Barbara Frank asks: Shouldn’t this be obvious?
Beginning homeschooler Mary Beth shares her thoughts on mommy burnout.
Three-Ring Government
…Talkin’ about the government and how it’s arranged,
Divided in three like a circus…
Spunky has been following the fight between the parents of 16 year
old homeschooler Abraham Cherrix and the State of Virginia to determine
who is the final authority in his medical treatment for Hodgkins
Lymphoma. The outcome of this case is precedent setting in parents’
rights to determine what is best for their children. Says the boy’s father: Pray this never happens to you.
CraftyMama wonders what makes a homeschooling friendly candidate.
The Shot Heard Round the World
…was the start of the revolution!
The Minute Men were ready on the move…
At Farm School, Becky is saddened but not particularly surprised to read a recent New
York Times article about the continuing poor quality of textbooks,
which gives her the chance to enthuse about some more of her
favorite history books.
TexasEd says: It can be hard to teach thinking outside the box
when you measure your success by your acceptance inside the box.
In our contribution, we take a look at an educator who thought outside the box and inspired a multitude. (And for a daily dose of this esteemed personage’s writings, visit the brand-new blog A Full Life.)
Interplanet Janet Shannon
…she’s a galaxy girl!
For next week’s carnival, you’ll want to zip over to PHAT Mommy’s corner of the blogosphere. Find submission info here and archives of previous carnivals there. Thanks for schoolhouse-rocking with us!
*Carnival bonus: lyrics to all the Schoolhouse Rock songs!
Tags: homeschooling, homeschool,
unschooling, Carnival of Homeschooling
July 24, 2006 @ 12:10 pm | Filed under: Hearing Loss, Special Needs Children, Wonderboy
Yesterday morning, while I was stumbling around in my pre-tea haze, Wonderboy asked for a Signing Time dvd. He watched for a few minutes and then shouted, "MOM! Nee hee ai!"
Me: Um, what?
Boy (pointing at ear): NEE hee ai, Mom. Hee ai!
His tone was loud and patient, the way people in comedies shout at foreigners as if they are hard of hearing instead of non-English-speaking. Oh, right. Hard of hearing. The light bulb went off.
Me: You need your hearing aids?
Boy: (laughs)
He’s always been astonishingly tolerant of his hearing aids, but having him recognize that he’d enjoy his show more with them in was a very cool moment indeed.
July 24, 2006 @ 6:48 am | Filed under: Uncategorized
Treat yourself to another hilarious Carnival of Kid Comedy. Kim, our dedicated hostess, just had baby #8 and didn’t miss a beat!
While you’re there, scroll down and read more of Kim’s blog. She cracks me up. That Daddy-long-legs piece is a hoot! AND creepy, which is one of my favorite combinations. The idea of a thousand daddy-long-legs (hmm, I’m working out the plural here and can it really be daddy-long-legses? Daddies-long-legs? Ha!) clustered together in a big hairy ball is the stuff of which nightmares are made. :::shudder::::
July 23, 2006 @ 9:58 pm | Filed under: Carnivals
It’s up at Big A little a, hooray hooray! Thanks, Kelly, for a job well done.
July 23, 2006 @ 7:02 am | Filed under: Baby
July 23, 2006 @ 4:34 am | Filed under: Day Planners, Organization
The day planner series has generated simply scads of feedback—thanks! Here are some of the ideas you’ve shared in the comments:
Becky wrote,
I’m a geek too, but a cheap geek and lazy to boot. I found I just
don’t use the kind of planners meant to be toted around (I much prefer
a huge central calendar in the kitchen for things like that — and I
love the "Family Organizer" from More Time Moms, which sacrifices
pretty pictures for lots of spaces).But I do like to keep a record of the kids’ work for the day, as you
do, Lissa, and I’ve found that a regular "student planner" at Staples
for under $10 does the trick. There was a lovely supermarket-brand one
a couple of years ago, but it seemed to be a one-off
Leslie recommended a planner I haven’t seen yet:
Be sure to check out the Familytime.mine
planner from Tanglewood Press.
Border’s Books sells it. It has sections for seasonal, monthly, and
weekly views with large blocks for each day. It’s a 17-month planner
that begins in September and runs through December of the following
year. It is an 8.5 x11" spiral bound size, though, so it won’t fit in
most purses. About 5-7 of the moms I know use it and love it. I just
happen to be a PalmPilot kinda woman, myself.
And Ann came up with her own pretty and practical solution:
After reading your intriguing series of posts on Planners, Melissa,
I bought my own pretty (because, yes, beauty is *essential* in a
planner)hardback, spiral (it needed to lay open on the counter, if I
was really going to use it) journal, with some adhesive tabs and made
my own day planner based on the brilliant layout from the
MomAgenda…with several caveats… (A Planner for UnPlanners):1. I didn’t label the tabs with all kind of subjects–I am only
labelling them as I actually find need to jot something down–that way
it is just what I acutally need and *use* as opposed to some imposed,
unecessary division I’ll never use. (So far, I have a tab for: Daily
Schedules, Grocery Lists, Items needed for Children)2. I am writing only a loose skeleton for the day’s outline…no tight
schedule for me. And then as the day progresses, I write in (loosely,
only what I want to make note of) what I actually *DID*—like
**scheduling in reverse**. That is working for me. I can see what
worked some days, what didn’t, what may have been a stumbling point and
could be tweaked…and I feel a sense of accomplishment instead of
discouragement. Seeing what I *did* on a day motivates me for the next
day. And if I didn’t get to "a bone on my skeleton" for the day, I just
add it to the next day.3. In the children’s squares, somedays I jot in what I’d like to do
with each child that day so I remember…or again, I jot in what we
actually did together. Nice to have a record of our days.3. Finally, I am only making up one week layout at a time in the
journal… that way, if I choose not to continue (I am on my third week),
well…I still have a blank, pretty journal to write in instead of a
whole planner of scheduled, useless pages! ~warm smile~ (And one can
*always* use a journal!)I am *most* grateful, Melissa, for this series…with some tweaking, I think this is a planner that works unplanners!
Anne-Marie prefers the high-tech version:
Me, I’m a computer gal, so Microsoft
Outlook is the one way to go. I keep separate calendars for my work as
an Usborne Books consultant, and a main one for daily appointments.
Each family member has their own color and I also color code the
different work things I do - MOMS Club, charter school, writing,
Usborne, etc.My problem with written calendars is that either I run out of room
or they’re a mess from the constant changes. With MS Outlook, I change
everything online and just print out a new calendar to take with and
post on the ‘frige.
I’d love to hear from more folks about the planners you know and love. It’s so nice to know I’m not t he only one with this obsession.
Other day planner reviews:
momAgenda
Catholic Woman’s Daily Planner
Small Meadow Press — Circle of Days
The BusyBodyBook
July 23, 2006 @ 4:16 am | Filed under: Carnivals
I’ll be hosting the next Carnival of Homeschooling this Tuesday over at The Lilting House. Submissions are due by 6 pm Eastern time Monday night (that’s tomorrow).
July 22, 2006 @ 7:36 am | Filed under: Charlotte Mason
Lots of talk about Charlotte Mason over at The Lilting House today…
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