I’ve found that even after eight years of homeschooling, I’m still making a lot of adjustments to make it fun to learn. This coming year some of the adjustments are due to the fact that my two girls work independent most the time and prefer it that way. 

As usual, I reserve the right to change up learning ideas to suit their needs throughout the year. I have some hands-on books that I use to enhance their social studies experience, but I am totally digging this social studies curriculum. My 5th grader loves the U.S. presidents games.  I think because of the games and songs makes it easier for her to learn.  You see I had to teach her how to spell her name in a song way back when. So for a long time we would be out shopping or running errands and my oldest and I would be skipping and singing the spelling of her name.  She still tells the story to her friends or who will ever listen that she learned how to spell her name through a song. 

 I just know my daughter would be looked over in public school.  At home I can teach her in her learning styles not someone else’s.

Children like using the computer to learn. Time4Learning’s homeschool curricula engages and challenges your children, letting them work at their own pace.

Parents like that it tracks

This week a home-school group I belong to was having their annual kick-off for school.  Children were encouraged this year to do a report on amphibians or insects/bugs of South America.  I was very surprised what my girls picked considering they have a phobia with insects and such.  Over the last couple of years they have overcome the biggest part of that fear.  Do any of you keep their reports like I do?  I am not sure where I am going to keep all this anymore.  Any suggestions? 

 Our next big get-to-together will be ” Halloween Gone Wild”…sure to be a big hit with that name, huh?  Halloween in my household is HUGE!  We all like to dress up.  They seriously start planning this out in summer.  My oldest and her friend like to dress up to scare trick or treader’s then take time out from that and collect their candy.  I think fall is around the corner cuz we are getting excited!

I think it is natural to try to label ourselves in society today.  Everyone wants a label!  What are you?  Well…with homeschooling it is the same way.  For some people that is what they like to do and so be it, but for me I realized labels stick with you and I didn’t want that for my family.

I started homeschooling some time ago and decided to do the classical curriculum.  After-all I wasn’t trying to re-invent the wheel.  I quickly learned that in homeschooling you can evolve each and every day with your child’s needs.  My classical turned into eclectic homeschooling. I call it just evolving with your families needs.  I do what works with my two daughters.  Each daughter has strongly different ways of learning, which I have finally have got down to a “T”.

Hooking up on forums regarding homeschooling has tremendously helped me.  The forums are just one of the many ways to help you vent and get some guidance.  I think most homeschoolers out there are secular homeschooling with vibrant passion. 

OMG!  I just might have found something to help my daughter write.  She is always discouraging me to NOT have her write.  Big tears rolling down her face saying ” I can’t”…”what do I write about?” Sadly to say she wins most the time.  Pick your own battles right?  Well, she asked to redecorate her room to something more age appropiate recently.  I threw out the idea if you enter this writing contest I found I will help you redecorate your room and even paint! So here we go on the journey of entering our first writing contest.  I am hoping and crossing my fingers a writing contest will be the perfect solution. 

I am going to have her look up some literature based word list  for her age/grade.  This will be something that is fun for her and yet educational.  This new site that is out there is looking for stories about homeschoolers….hmmmmm…why yes maybe she can write about herself being home-school and submit to the site. 

 Let the writing begin!  Updates to follow.

What does a home-school language artscurriculum need to have to make it useful, interesting and comprehensive? My answer is fun and self paced. If I haven’t mentioned it before I will mention it again…teaching reading to my girls scared me!  Yes, we made it through those years but I was always afraid I wasn’t going to teach my girls to read or write correctly.  Decode words and identify sounds that letters were suppose to make on some exceptional rule.  I would buy all kinds of phonic books to help me through this.  Instead of buying books now I realized all the games and activities there are online to help you out.  Like when it came to teaching contractions and compound words I was OK so I have to tell them to leave a letter out on contractions and compound words combine them together.  For my youngest she was, huh?  LOL! 

The teaching of Language Arts way has gone wild!