The Homeschool book I love to reread!

Why do I home school?  I think you can ask the question two ways.  There is the why do I homeschool question when you are wondering,  "What was I thinking when I thought this would be a  good idea, or "Where is the number for the yellow bus to come to my home?“ Another way to think of “ Why do I home school ?” is as a reflective question which shares your philosophy of life, the beauty of what we do every day,  the answer we give that celebrates our children and shares our heart for them.   It is the answer we give when things are going well, or the answer we need to hide in our heart when the above thoughts pop into our head.

One way for me to reflect on why I homeschool is to reread one of my favorite homeschooling books, Homeschooling: A Family’s Journey by Gregory and Martine Millman.  It is a fabulous read.  The Millman family has six children, and three of them are currently in college.  The books shares how they decided to homeschool and their journey after their decision. They talk about the sacrifices they made to homeschool and have one parent stay at home with their children.  It is very thoughtful book that will encourage you and make you smile as you read their stories.  It is the story of family that will touch your heart and remind you why homeschooling is a great choice for so many of us.

My favorite paragraph is the last one in the Acknowledgment section. 

Finally, we must acknowledge, though not by name, several teachers and bureaucrats who, by their determined refusal to understand, cooperate, innovate, or extend themselves in any way, vexed us so intolerably that we knew there had to be a better way.  If they had not held closed the doors, we might never have looked for a window.   Greg and Martine Millman  Homeschooling; A Family’s Journey

That paragraph made me smile and helped me remember another reason why I homeschool.  There are many great quotes in this book that I love to reread.

Lately I have been thinking about this book even more as I have been talking to my kids who have come home from college and are about to start college.  This book shaped our homeschooling and I am thankful I read it.  I hope you read it.  

The Kindle version is still available, and several used versions.  

Guest Post: The Beauty of Units by Michelle Sager

I worked with Michelle's family for many years and always loved seeing her unit studies. When she told me about her current project, I asked her to share about it on Ohio Homeschool Assessments.  Please Welcome Michelle! 

The Beauty of Units

Schools sometimes call them “thematic units”.  Basically, a Unit Study is a flexible study of one topic that encompasses some, most, or all of the scholastic subjects (language arts, math, science, social studies, art, physical education).  Some Units are hands-on while some are strictly virtual; some are literature based while some are based in math, science or history.

We were lucky enough to discover Unit Studies fairly early in the research phase of our journey to homeschooling.  We didn’t understand their importance right away (another story for another time), but our children enjoyed learning with them so much, that we quickly grew to love them!  So much so, in fact, that we began turning everything into a Unit Study – chemistry, biology, anatomy, fiction and non-fiction books, the Olympics, movies, Girl Scouts, and family trips (even a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada!).  We became an eclectic homeschooling family. I think the term eclectic fits our family better than relaxed, since every day is different, and there are many days where the learning is quite intense and doesn’t seem relaxed at all.

Why We Love Unit Studies

My family’s love-affair with Unit Studies began in October of 2008 with a free sample from http://www.everythinghomeschooling.com/.  We wanted to inject a little bit of fun into our routine and found a Unit on Autumn and fall leaves that included literature, writing, math, earth science, chemistry, spelling, geography, vocabulary, art, hiking, computer knowledge, and probably a million other things I can’t remember!

• We went to our local park to collect different leaves, then my children used the computer and some library books to identify the trees by the leaf shape and created a scrapbook of the identified leaves.
• We used a map to find the peak color-change times in our country and in the process learned the location of all 50 states.
• We went back to the same park to estimate and count the number of leaves per branch. That information was then used to guess which types of trees carried the most leaves, and which environment was more leaf-producing; a closely packed woods or a carefully landscaped park. 
• There was an entire day spent studying photosynthesis, leaching the color out of the leaves with rubbing alcohol and coffee filters, learning which leaves contained which chemicals.
• We looked at tree rings, seeds, bark, animals that rely on trees for food and shelter, and anything else they wanted to study.
• We made some stained-glass leaves with wax paper, crayon shavings and an iron, read and wrote poetry about autumn, and had a lot of fun!
• The children found a locally produced video at the library about autumn in the Smoky Mountains.  At the time, the Smoky Mountains were in our backyard, so we took multiple hiking trips into the park, and identified trees while we hiked.
• We even took pictures of it all and created a family website to share our “schoolwork” with out-of-town family. It was a fantastic week!

We love how adaptable Unit Studies are; how creative our children could be; and most importantly, how much they enjoy learning when we used them!

Add and Subtract

There were some parts of the Unit that our children would find boring – so we skipped those.  There were some additional things we could do – so we added those. Unit Studies can be as simple or as complex as you want or need.  (As simple or as complex as your children want or need.)

Multi-level Unit Studies allow children of different ages to learn the same topics at the same time. They are adaptable to your children and your location.  We were blessed to live in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains during peak color-change time and took full advantage of it. We even managed to “sneak in” some Tennessee state history during one of our trips to the woods.

Where Are the Units?

There are many quality Unit Studies out there for a nominal fee or even free.  We found many Units that we changed rewrote, added to, subtracted from; made into whatever our children needed.  We also used some Units ‘as-is’. There are a LOT of resources out there.

Publishers’ websites usually have Teacher Guides available as a free download and can help you turn a novel into a Unit Study.  Lapbook templates and notebook pages can help you create a Unit Study on just about any topic.

What Makes a Good Unit?

A good Unit is engaging and helps your children want to learn.  The topic is not the most important part – if your children are learning and they want to do more learning, then it was a success!

This is far from a complete list, but we have used, adapted or created Unit Studies based on:

• Literature -  The Long Winter, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, The Hobbit, Romeo & Juliet, The Indian in the Cupboard, Anthem, Atlas Shrugged, The Hunger Games Trilogy, 1984, Fahrenheit 451…
• Seasons -  Autumn, Winter
• The Winter Olympics 
• Animals
• Government & Elections
• 50 States
• Girl Scout Badges
• Our own community when the Grandparents came to visit
• Science -  Anatomy, Chemistry
• Holidays -  Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving
• National Whatever Day -  The National Holiday-of-the-Day or Person-of-the-Day
• Trips -  Indianapolis & St. Louis, Colonial Williamsburg (w/ Jamestown & Yorktown), Hilton Head Island (w/ Savannah), Las Vegas
• Join our Eclectic Family

Now that we have almost completed our homeschooling journey, I am working to make our original Unit Studies available to others, complete with ideas for adapting the Units.

Begin with a free course in How to Create a Unit Study (with a Sample) – the sample is a study on Bats.  This course shows you how to create a Unit Study with any topic:

https://coursecraft.net/courses/z9Vpd

The first Unit I have completed is a trip to Hilton Head Island and Savannah.  This one is perfect for turning a family vacation into a learning experience:

https://coursecraft.net/courses/z9Vt2

I am working on the rest of the Units and other courses as fast as I can!  

Full Disclosure

Becky’s freestyle assessments are PERFECT for eclectic homeschoolers like us!  My family has used her services since the 2010-11 school year when we moved back to Ohio.  It was a question she asked me a few years ago that prompted me to offer our original curriculum and Unit Studies to others.  So, I must say THANK YOU Becky for encouraging me over the years!

An eclectic home educator for 10 years, Michelle believes engaging your children in the process of planning, developing, and evaluating their own experiences will cultivate a lifelong love of learning. 

Eclectic learning lets you incorporate life into learning instead of dividing life from “school”.  This means all learning, such as family trips, chores, videos, music lessons, family game night, and the dinnertime discussion about the museum you visited last year all count as “school”.  You can help your children see how things fit together.  Since life doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it isn’t divided into subjects and it only makes sense to learn-as-a-whole.

Operations Manager and Editor for SpearPoint Solutions, Michelle is also a contributing author to the book, Living a Wealthy Life: Stories of Gaining an Abundance in All Five Forms of Wealth.

Thankful for Home Education

Somehow it is almost Thanksgiving.  I am not entirely clear how that happened.  I still think it is the beginning of fall when fall is about to end. Thanksgiving tends to make me reflective.  This year with three teenagers I am more reflective than usual.  I keep wondering where time has gone.  How did my babies get to be so big?   What am I thankful for with home education?  Was home education the right choice?

I have come to the conclusion that home education was the right choice for my teens.  I love seeing the people they have become.  I love how we laugh together and have so many shared memories.  I love that we are able to Google how to take apart at coconut at 9:30pm and do not have to worry about being anywhere the next day.  I love how they have the confidence in their own abilities to believe they can open a coconut. They have a confidence in who they are and believe they are able to solve problems.  I am glad I get to spend time with them, and am glad for the time I have spent with them.

When they were little I tended to believe that academics was the most important of all.  Getting through each item on our check-list was so important.  Now, I love the time we laugh together, the jokes we share, the many things about life I am able to share with them.  I love seeing who they are becoming, and wondering what the future holds for them.

I am thankful for home education and the gift of time.  Enjoy the time you have with your children.

Happy Thanksgiving!
~Becky

Myths about Home Education

The year is underway, and hopefully you are getting in the groove of home education.  After having the privilege of talking to many home educators in person and through my business, I have found that I am not alone in believing some homeschool myths. Though none of us believe them every day, it is easy to let them slip in.

Myth:  I think his her homeschool day always flows way better than mine.
Fact:  Sometimes his/her day is better than yours, but sometimes yours day is better than theirs.  That sounds so simple, but when you are alone at your house and watching chaos ensue it is easy to believe that myth.  

Myth:  When others homeschool, their children sit around the table and smile up at them, complete their work without complaint, and do what they are supposed to do. 
Fact: Most families' kids are probably like yours and occasionally argue, act stubborn, and maybe even cry about doing their work.  (Of course, I have only heard about other children doing this.☺)

Myth:  Other people do so many amazing things with their kids all day long, while I am just trying to get through the day! 
Fact:  You do amazing things with your kids.  I have looked at hundreds and hundreds of portfolios over the past five years.  I have never looked at a family that did not do at least one thing amazingly well.  I never cease to be amazed at the creativity and ideas that flow from people.  If you are home educating each day, you are doing something amazing!

Myth:  Home Educated Children are always very grateful that you are home educating them, and regularly tell you.     
Fact:  You care about your children and are pouring out your life for them.  They occasionally will say something nice, but they are kids.  How many of us were that grateful to our parents until we left home?  Hopefully we can help cultivate grateful hearts, but know that kids are kids.

You might be a homeschooler if. . .

...you get really excited when your mom tells you can do the dishes and solve Two Minute Mysteries at the same time. 

...you find a moth in the backyard and insist that your brother look up on Wikipedia to find the exact species, and

...then see if that same brother will read you a story. 

...you get really excited to observe the 4 inch wide root that is running down the middle of the old drain pipe that is being replaced.  

...you think that your older brother's and sister's math manipulatives are blocks to play with. 

Unschooling/Freestyle Assessments

I really enjoy reading the freestyle assessments I receive.  They are so interesting.   People often ask me for some ideas on what to write and send.  The following is what I have shared with them. Hopefully it will help you as well.  

I have seen freestyle assessments written in many different ways.  The key thing is to show the progress your child has made from last July/August to now.  Ohio law says the child must make progress within their ability.  So when I do this for my kids I try to think through the following questions.  How have they changed? What can they do now that they could not do a few months ago, several months ago, and a year ago?   What do I have demonstrates this? (pictures, samples etc.)  Lastly, what can I share that communicates this?  

As far as writing up the assessment, I have seen them set up by subject, by project, and just sharing progress. The following are some ideas to get you started.  I think once you get started you will be surprised at how much you have to share.

If you write by subject you might write about the following.  I am going to give many examples to choose from.  Please do not feel you need to use all of them.  These are to spur your thinking about your year. 

Reading:  Share the books your child has read or you have read to them. Maybe share a series they are into like the Boxcar Children, Arthur, or Henry and Mudge.  What magazines do they enjoy reading?  Are there web sites they enjoy visiting and reading?  What  your child is reading now versus the beginning of the year communicates the progress they have made. 

Writing/Handwriting If your child is writing tell me what they are writing. Tell me if they are making lists, writing their name, writing stories, labeling pictures, writing letters etc.  If they are older, tell me about their creative writing, poetry, or journaling.  Send me a sample.   Do they write a blog, email letters to Grandma, or maybe record in a nature journal?   Tell me about it, send me a link, send a sample, or take a picture of it.

Math: Share how your child is telling time, working with money, adding or subtracting, multiplying or dividing, using percents, and/or measuring.  Tell me about activities your child participates in like cooking, grocery shopping, or building with blocks or LEGOS ©.  Share games with me that you play that involve math.   If you happen to do any worksheets you can always send in one from the beginning of the year and the end. 

Science/Social Studies/History/Art/ Music/PE: For younger kids you might share experiences to demonstrate progress.  You write  about the museums you have visited, zoo visits, park trips, neighborhood walks, nature walks, music lessons, and any sports your child may participate in.  Do you attend the YMCA to swim each week?  Do you attend an art class?  Tell me about books they have read or you have read together, if they have completed any projects, or art work your child has created.  This is a great place to include pictures.   For older students share what they have learned this year, a class they have taken, and/or a research project they have been working on.  Having your child write a summary of what they have learned is a fantastic way to demonstrate progress.  

Another way share your student's progress is to write up your assessment by project.  For instance you worked on a community or family garden together.  You discuss how you preplanned by getting books from the library and  reading about plants, your internet research, the garden store you visited,  how you measured the rows, how you prepared the soil, did you count the plants, if you sold them the skills you used,  and anything else that your child learned.  You might include pictures of your child working in the garden, some notes your child took while researching, and a list of books your child read.  You might share the 1-3 projects that your family used to facilitate learning for the year.  Then maybe you share about trips, nature walks, park visits, any type of lesson, and art you do.   

You are trying to showcase what your child has accomplished this year.  Usually when I sit down and think about all we have  learned, I am excited about the progress my kids have made.   If you are working on learning most days you have made progress. This is your chance to celebrate by sharing it with me. 

If I can help you in anyway let me know. Link to Freestyle Assessment 

I accept portfolios for review through Saturday August 24, 2013.  After that date I will accept your portfolio, but I will not write up any notes.  I will only send you what you need for your district.  

Becky
ohiohomeschool@gmail.com

An old student, Fancy Nancy, and a Christmas letter

I am very blessed that several of my old students keep in touch with me.  I send my Christmas cards to their families and they graciously respond each year.  I really enjoy hearing how they are doing and have enjoyed watching them grown up.   One of the young men that I had in first and second grade just got married last year.  He wrote me the other day and told me that he had a present for my younger two girls.  I said great and remembered again when a box arrived in the mail.  The box arrived with a set of Fancy Nancy books and a letter.  The books were all signed by the illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser. But, I am getting ahead of myself.  The story started back in 1997.

I had a classroom of first graders that I "looped" up with to second grade.  It was a wonderful group of kids who I really missed when I moved to Ohio from Georgia.  A book had just come out called Alexander, Who's Not (Do you hear me, I mean it, not!) Going to Move. 

One of the original books.

I wrote a personal note to each student and gave it to them at the end of the year. (Notice the illustrator is Robin Preiss Glasser.)   I have kept up with Andrew and his family over the past 16 years.  I send them a Christmas card and letter each year..  This year I shared how one of my daughters loves Fancy Nancy and she had a Fancy Nancy Birthday Party this year. 

Fancy Nancy Party with table set for tea.

Well, it turns out that Andrew and his family have a connection with Robin Preiss Glasser, the illustrator the Fancy Nancy books and the original book I gave him. They both know how much I love singed books and set out to have a set of Fancy Nancy books signed by Ms. Glasser for my daughters. They shared the story of the book I had given Andrew at the end of second grade, our Christmas card picture, and the fact that my daughters loved Fancy Nancy with Ms. Glasser.   Ms. Glasser loved the story and agreed to sign the books.  My girls were beyond thrilled. 

Girls posing with the books in Fancy Nancy Attire.

So a book given in love led to more books given in love many years later. The circle of reading. You never know the effect that a book you give a child will have on their lives. 
~Becky
P.S. I told my children it is also another good reason to smile in your Christmas card picture. 

Devloping a love of reading in our kids part 1

The snow is covering the ground today as I write this post.  I love how the world slows down in the winter and provides time for reading.  I have loved to read for as long as I can remember.  I love how my kids have been developing that same love.

I think in order to talk about how to help our kids become great readers, we have to think about what happened in our lives that helped to turn us into readers and lovers of books.  Today, I am going to share my love of reading journey.  I am hopeful it causes you to think of your journey.  Which in turn will help you think of how to create this in your children.

My best early memories are of my father reading to me and my brothers and sisters.  My father read with  different voices for each character.  He loved reading to us the Happy Hollisters books and the different OZ books.   He use to tell me "Books are our friends." My dad took me to used-book stores, brought home books for me from trips, and took me to the library. 

Another great influence in my love of reading was Mrs. Chamberlain the librarian at Trailwood Elementary in Kansas City, Kansas.  She brought in the author Scott Corbet to the school.  I was so excited to meet a real author.  She let me work in the library and always acted excited to hear about what I was reading.  She would walk through the shelves with students suggesting books and talking about them.

Lee Bernd taught a literature class I took in Georgia.  She was truly a delight.  She loved talking about books, and enjoyed bringing in authors to our class.  She inspired me to be a better teacher.  She introduced us to Laura Seely, Betsy Duffy(Betsy Byars daughter), and Carmen Agra Deedy.  Lee passed away  6 months after our class was over.  I was so sad to hear of her death,  but so glad that I had the privilege to get to know her that summer.  She rekindled my love of children's literature.

These are just the top three.  There were other friends and teachers along the way.  I love finding a friend who loves the same author I do.  It is an instant connection.

So, who influenced your love of reading?
~ Becky

What can only I do?

REPOST
I read this again myself and thought it was worth reviewing as I plan for the upcoming year.  I hope it helps you as well.

One of the questions I ask when planning  is "What can only I do?" There are activities, subjects, and skills that I can do, and others really can not fill.   But I can use assistance in certain subjects.   There are items on my learning agenda that I know I can use help with. 

I try to think what can I have someone or something else do.  I like to use computers to help with homeschooling.  For instance, I really do not like doing math facts with my children, or honestly any child.  I used to assign them to my student's parents when I taught school.   There is really no one to assign them to in my house.   Please note:  I have been trying.  Luckily, I discovered Facts First.  It is a computer program that teaches and reviews math facts.  It is available from the Homeschool Buyers Co-op.  The Homeschooler Buyers Co-op,  SHOP AT THE CO-OP on and Save up to 93% ,has many interesting computer programs, group buys on books, and different interesting products for homeschoolers.  It was one of the first things I signed up for at my first homeschooling convention.  Maybe there is something there you can take off your to do list. 

So my thought of the week,  think about what you can get help with.  Here are a few more ideas that may or may not work with your situation.  I know that everybody's circumstances are so different.  Maybe an idea will lead you to an idea of  something that will help you.

1.  If you can not read every literature or history book in your program to your child, can your child listen to them on CD?  The library has many of these. 

2. Can online classes be helpful?  We love the math class my son takes through AOPS. 

3. Can a spouse or grandparent take something on?  My dad takes my son to OT(occupational therapy) every week.  They have fun and it helps me.  Have a spouse or grandparent read to your child. 

4. Can you hire a tutor for one subject or gather a group of homeschoolers to make up a class?

5. Is there  a class on DVD your student can take?  Is there a good DVD series they could watch each week?  You can check out so many from the public library.

6.  Could  your kids take turns reading to each other?  An older one reads to a younger one or vise-versa?  My kids enjoy this and it helps me tremendously.

7.  Is there a high school person who you may be able to hire to help you?

Just a list to get your started.  Hope it helps you find someone or something to help you. 

Happy Planning!

Math Programs I have Loved. . . . Miquon Math

A few months ago I found a set of Miquon Math books at a thrift store.  It was quite a moment in thrifting history.  Now to tell you why I was so excited and why I like this math program.

I was first introduced to this program through Sonlight.  They recommended using it.  I was intrigued and bought one for my son.  I love this math program, because it is how I want to think, and want my kids to think.  It is the type of program where you  experiment and try to several different ways to do 3 x 3.  (3+3+3; 3x3; 27 x 1/3) You use manipulatives, find patterns,  and you experiment with math.  I enjoy working through the pages with my kids.

Their site describes the program in the following way:

Based on the belief that mathematical insight grows out of observation, investigation, and the discovery of patterns, the six workbooks of the Miquon Math Materials lead children through an exploration of mathematical relationships. Concrete models are not supplements to the written work but instead are the basis of it and are used continuously.

It just speaks to me.  But, it has not spoken to all my children.  My daughter who uses Teaching Texbtooks was annoyed by all the experimenting.  She wants to complete her math and be finished.  My son on the Autism Spectrum did not really like it either.  Just so you know.

It is a low cost program.  You could start with one book to see if it would work for your kids.  This part of the series is for grades 1-3(1-4).  They also have a Keys to Program.  More about that another time.  They have some downloadable forms on the web site you can check out as well.

Just some more math thoughts.  Have a great day!

~Becky~

Celebrating homeschooling!

We have two tubs of Chistmas/winter books we bring out at this time of year.  My kids have always been excited, but I took note this year on how excited they were.  It was like time stood still.  Everyone grabbed a book and began to read after we brought them out of storage.  Old favorites were read and new books discovered.  It was one of those moments where I decide to celebrate homeschooling.  I realized my children have developed a love of books, and that gave me deep satisfaction.  It's easy to doubt what we do sometimes.  Is it working?  Do my kids know enough?  Is it worth it?  I took these pictures to remind myself that yes it is working, and yes it is worth it. I am cultivating life long learners who love to read.  

Take some time to celebrate today what is working in your homeschooling.  It's easy to get lost in the agenda, and forget about what is important (at least for me).

Enjoy the day!

Becky