Do you remember when you learned to type?  I think I started in 9th grade; I’m dating myself by telling you this, but when I began typing it was on a manual typewriter. For some reason, I could never get the knack of the long reaches, i.e., the “a” key to the “1″ key with the right pinky finger or the “;” key to the “-” key with the left pinky finger. I wasn’t a good typist on that dinosaur manual typewriter.

However, a few years after high school, I went to secretarial school. They had electric typewriters, and I practiced each day. By the time I graduated (in one year), I could type 60 words per minute–not bad for a student who couldn’t type 30 minutes in high school. From years of experience, I eventually reached close to 80 words per minute.

School students nowadays start learning to keyboard long before 9th grade; some start learning before they reach their teens. My 10-year-old son, David, started using the BBC’s Dance Mat typing; I thought it might help him with his homeschool work, because he likes writing stories and journaling. I thought learning to keyboard, as they call it nowadays, would help him to get some of his work done faster. He likes fun keyboard games a lot, because it makes learning to type exciting.

I’ve been searching for other sites that will help my son to become a better keyboardist. (I think typist sounds better). There are a lot of keyboarding games that will help your child learn to type. Typing games are a great way to get your child used to the feel of the keyboard and on her way to becoming an adequate typist–and maybe even a speed typist.

I’d love to know if your kids have any favorite, typing games. Leave a comment and let me know.

When I tell other moms that I homeschool my son, they sometimes give me a strange look. I’m an African American single (divorced) mother, and I just don’t fit their idea of who a homeschooler should be. I only have one child, and they think that’s another odd thing about me homeschooling. The first question I  often get is, “Why don’t you want him to be at school with other children?” Then I’ll patiently explain that he goes to a group meeting with other children on Mondays, classes on Wednesdays, and a homeschool co-op on Fridays. When I assure the mom that I don’t have my boy on lock down in the house, she looks relieved.

Then, she’ll ask me about the co-op, and I’ll tell her that the kids who go to homeschool co-op, including my son, take classes there once a week. Sometimes the mom (or dad) will ask what kind of classes, and I tell them, “Oh, different kinds of classes, like Spanish, Science, Art, Photography, English, History, and other stuff.” I add that this semester, my son is taking “Exploratory Art” and “Digital Photography.” This leads to more discussion about his academic classes and where I get my teaching materials. I tell her about the Great Literature and books we read, about the “What Your __ Grader Needs to Know” books, workbooks, field trips, and about the online curriculum we use, Time4Learning.

Usually, the mom asks a question about standardized tests and how I’ll know if my child is at grade level if he has to take the ISAT (Illinois Standards Achievement Test). I’ll then mention that although I don’t have to get my child tested, I may start doing this. But I also mention that the online program we use let’s me know if he’s at “grade level,” although for me, it’s more important that he master the material than be at a particular grade level  by a certain date.

These impromptu talks usually go well, and when I’m done I’ll often feel like I’ve given someone, who may have never met a homeschooler, especially one who doesn’t fit the prototype, a positive impression about homeschooling.

Other homeschooling moms probably get a lot of questions too. Do you?

My strong recommendation for those homeschooling and using the web is to check out the following.

 Time4Learning’s web-based online curriculum.  They have great interactive lessons for middle school, elementary school, and even preschool.  It’s highly interactive and full of animation and multimedia. Whereas some curriculum are just lots of text with an occassional video or animation, Time4Learning is an interactive experience.  All those tough math concepts seem simple when they’re explained in such alight-hearted manner.  Who says fractions has to be hard? Their great multimedia lays it out so simply.  Give it a try.  Time4Learning is a great homeschool partner. They let you sign up month to month and start and quit at any time. Start by looking at their lesson demos.
 

 Number 2 choice – Time4Writing.  If you are like me, you find some subjects hard to teach.  One of the hardest is writing skills, especially when the kids get into middle and high school.  Expectations are so high. And my kids just don’t react well to my correcting their writing. Want help?  This isn’t a “how to”, it’s an online tutoring course where they work directly with your student teaching writing skills every week and giving one-on-one feedback.  You get the same tutor for the whole eight week course which the kids really like. It’s definitely worth taking Time4Writing’s writing classes. They have sentence writing, paragraph writing, essay writing (these are for writing tests and college essays), and research paper writing.
 
 
Number 3 choice – Fun Building Vocabulary. This is not really a curriculum choice but a fun collection of vocabulary games. Vocabulary is Fun is a leading vocabulary website worldwide with the best flash online word games.  The vocabulary games include an online word search, an online crossword puzzle, and hangman online (their version is called HangMouse).  Users choose the vocabulary list that the online word game will use in the word game. So have some Fun Building Vocabulary.  
 
 
Number 4 Choice – Spelling City. This spelling program should be used by everyone. I would have put it first but I’m not a huge believer in the importance of spelling skills.  Despite that, now that I’m using this site, I’ve returned to having spelling as part of our weekly routine.  You know what’s really cool, check out how the vocabulary site’s science songs have put their vocabulary/spellinglist on SpellingCity.
 
 
Number 5 choice – This learning games website is really what it sounds like.  But they have the best collections.  For instance, they have keyboarding games, memory games,  science songs (also integrated with vocabulary lists), and math learning games.

I’ve been asked by a few people about the purpose and status of this blog so I thought I’d write up a quick summary of it’s history.  We will probably relaunch this blog soon as some new variant. If you have any suggestions or would like to participate, you can contact us at Time4Learning.

 This blog was started by Time4Learning as a learning experiment.

We asked half a dozen parents (actually, all moms) of students using Time4Learning to write on this group blog about the details of their homeschooling program. What their days were like and what they worried about. And were happy about.

More specifically, we wante to know what was working for them and what wasn’t in terms of their use of online educational materials.  At times, they wrote how much they and their children loved and benefitted from using Time4Learning. Other times, they expressed their frustration that Time4Learning was not everything that they would like it to be.  Often, being homeschool moms, they talked about cooking and their kids, and their homes. As far as I can tell, we never heard about their husbands (whew!)

Often, they talked about how their Time4Learning experience was affected by, or affected, another aspect of their homeschooling program. One mom, whose family used Time4Learning as a supplement to a traditional school program, asked the homeschoolers about their lives. And explained some of the realities of her own.

We ran this group blog twice: once in the fall of 2007, once in the spring of 2008. We encouraged the parents to be candid as we were interested in learning more about the day to day reality of how our service fit into their lives and needs.  To keep them focused, we contracted with them to write weekly over the four month course of each project and they all fulfilled the contract and then some. Apparently, it was a lot of fun.   Most of them posted and commented very frequently.

What did we learn? We learned a lot of details and about other products that are used in conjunction with us. We learned that most homeschool curriculums are a home-made eclectic mix optimized for each child.  And that there is different mix of planning, routine, and spontenity for each family.  We were stunned to find out how unique and useful our service really is. My favorite posts:

The gifted child, with autism, with Time4Learning
Lists of likes and dislikes about Time4Learning
How the Internet changes everything….for homeschoolers
T4L – How it helps everyone. Mom too.

I keep thinking about planning for next year.  I just can’t make myself do it!  I need a break, I think. 

We have three more weeks of school.  Maybe I’ll be ready to plan in 4 more weeks.

My oldest will be starting Summer School classes in 2 weeks.  She is taking two classes this summer so she will be able to graduate as a Junior next year.  Because I held her back a grade in middle school, she is a year behind.  This was a mistake that I will never make again.  The following year, she bounced back and nearly made up the difference.   However, by that time, she was in high school and it was all about the credits. 

My daughter is graduating in one year!!  I just can’t believe it…..

I hope you all have a great summer, whether you school through it or not!

Enjoy the time you have with your little ones.  It truly goes by much too quickly…