Homefree Academy

Haven't Updated in a bit :)

2009-10-27T10:26:00.002-03:00

Still unschooling here. We started going to a homeschooling group in town. Our first gathering was at the Firefighters museum. They had a treasure hunt. The kids weren't too interested as they were having too much fun with the trucks. Eventually they started helping. They missed out on going to the actual fire station.

Last Friday they met at the Weslyan church. I could tell right away that it would be something Ethan wouldn't like. The women were calling each other "Mrs." and getting the kids to sit and raise their hands to do things. It was like being in school, which he does not like. He wants to run around and play. By the second hour, he was all over the place and wanting to leave. Shaylee is more sedate and was going along with what everyone else was doing. They did some drawing and had some songs. I think everyone else is part of that church so their kids were used to being there. We are always the odd balls being LDS. Anyway they talked more about fire safety, making up escape routes for their rooms and then an hour on insects.

Shaylee is really into cooking lately. There are a number of things she can make all by herself from start to finish, from gathering ingredients and tool, to turning the stove on, to cooking then serving! I just make sure to supervise and do anything where she might get burned (like draining the spaghetti). I always let her help when she asks. She is really good at making pizza, eggie nests, spaghetti and other things. She likes to do other things around the house too, like laundry, clean, set table, ect... Ethan doesn't like helping. I'll probably get Shaylee to help with Christmas cooking. She is really excited that I got a new candy thermometer (she broke my other one) and likes looking at it.

They're both doing a lot of reading, playing and so on. Right now there seems to be an activity or two every day with Halloween on Saturday. I'm trying to get them to do more things without me as they are so clingy to me. It's hard because Mark had to rearrange his schedule (they're not always better with him) and I sometimes have to ask others to do things for us. I think it's slowly helping though. I hate it when they can't seem to function unless I'm right there. But not enough to put them in school (although there are days I'm tempted, lol!).

Is there ever a good time?

2009-09-21T12:12:00.002-03:00

lol! Life keeps happening. Right now we're not feeling the greatest. It has hit Mark the hardest but the kids are coughing a lot. A lot of what we're doing is stealth learning, lol! I love that even if we aren't sitting them down and teaching them, they are still learning lots. I love shopping with Shaylee as she's starting to point out words as we're looking around. I have no worries she'll catch on and be fluent in no time. It's not like at just turned 5 she's far behind. I think I read somewhere that 8 is the average age for natural learners to learn how to read. My biggest problem was Ethan was so advanced with reading and it came so naturally I don't know what to expect. Go with the flow I guess :)

Registered!

2009-09-16T13:29:00.002-03:00

Yay, I got my letter from the Department of Education indicating the kids were registered for the new year. We were also thanked for our progress reports. Whew! What a load off my mind. I feel I can breathe, at least until summer, lol!

We aren't doing much today. Kids are playing on Starfall and the Veggie Tales website. They're having a sleepover at Nanny Smith's house tonight (I think). I am busy canning (or should be, lol!). I know everything we need to will get covered this year so I'm not stressing. I have enough else to stress about :)

A Little Scare

2009-09-14T14:57:00.002-03:00

I just got a call from the Department of Education :o. Panic! My heart went into my throat. Apparently they couldn't find Shaylee's birth certificate in amongst the papers. I was sure it was in there so she checked again and it was. Whew! Hopefully that is the only call I get this year! At least now I know it will be a little longer before I hear back from them, but hopefully not too long!

Monday September 14th, 2009

2009-09-14T11:09:00.002-03:00

Well, we had our week off. Good thing as I had too much to deal with. However there was the issue of getting the kids excited to get back to work today. There was a lot of feet dragging and goofing around, but we got a bit done.

We read Chapter 2 of the Book of Mormon reader and discussed it.

Ethan read three more pages in his Eclectic reader and Shaylee reviewed her previous stories and read one new story. She is starting to pick up on more words outside (she picked out Monday undies this morning since it was Monday :) ).

Ethan did one test in his math book and Shaylee did two pages. We played a game of picking out the blocks and they made a graph out of them.

Next we covered the Cave People briefly from A Child's History of The World. I didn't go over every detail but they are now familiar with how they lived, hunted, what and how they ate, what they wore and what life was like for children of Cave People.

Ethan read the read and find out book about Salt. I will go over it with both of them and we will do some salt experiments again soon.

So yeah, we didn't do a lot but I think we did enough.

Week Off

2009-09-10T08:10:00.002-03:00

I think we are taking this week off from sit down learning. Things are just super crazy around here, starting with the lice we discovered on Saturday and basically snowballing from there. Being homeschooled does not make one immune to childhood scourges. It seems to be under control although we are retreating on Saturday.

We had a three day field trip through the Annapolis valley to make up for it. We visited lots of historical sites, farmers market, parks and got lots of physical activity. I'll write more about it on our main blog.

The kids are going with my mother today, probably to the beach and I have a million and one things to do. The kids are in the meantime winding down from not being home. At least the learning never stops even if we're not sitting down with books and pencils. Life is learning.

Friday September 4th, 2009

2009-09-04T11:21:00.002-03:00

The kids were a little less than enthused about school today, lol! Mutiny early on. That's ok. I am keeping things short so we can move on quickly. I don't like drilling.

We started today with Book of Mormon Discovery and finished the workbook pages for the first chapter. I asked and they answered verbally. We then reviewed our memory scripture a few times. I think they know it pretty well but we'll go over it briefly daily.

Next was math. Shaylee completed 5 pages in her book and Ethan did two more tests from the Alpha testing booklet. While Shaylee waited for him to finish, she cut shapes out of construction paper. After that, we did our gummy bear graphing activity and are discovering that there red is the one we have had the most of (11) while green and white are the least (2 each).

Finally we did a science experiment to see how much salt we could put into a full glass of water. I introduced the "Scientific Method" and filled it out for the kids. We were able to each get three heaping teaspoons of water in a full to the brim cup of water. The salt dissolves and fills the empty spaces in water allowing it to occupy a certain amount of space before it starts to spill, ie when the water is saturated with salt. They liked it :)

We'll do some reading later on and things always come up. They are always busy and doing things.

Thursday September 3, 2009

2009-09-03T14:46:00.005-03:00

We didn't do much as the kids stayed overnight at my mother's house last night and came home pretty hyper, lol!

I bought some gummy bears for math. Shaylee grouped hers by colour and told me which had the most and least. Ethan did a graphing activity with his. When he is done his Math-U-See lessons for the day, he'll get some gummy bears which he will graph out and after they are gone, we will figure out which colour had the most and least overall.

Next we went over our memory verse a few times. They kind of remember it so a few more days should do it. I then read them Chapter One from the Book of Mormon Stories.

Yeah, not much but they missed all their stuff and wanted to do anything but listen to me.

I think I might get Mark to read them the classics they're supposed to be read. They like to listen to him read more than me. I can't decide between Pinocchio and Alice In Wonderland. I just started reading Alice in Wonderland today so maybe we'll start with Pinocchio.

Wednesday September 2nd, 2009

2009-09-02T10:20:00.004-03:00

I decided I'm not going to keep track of the books the kids read here on their own. I just can't keep up, lol!

So here is what we did today :)

We started with the Book of Mormon Discovery. I briefly went over how we got the book of Mormon. Then we worked on our first memory verse a few times (James 1:5). The kids then each did a little copywork related to this verse. I am going to have to go over the letters with Shaylee as I forget she is not familiar with writing each letter out, even though she knows them. They also drew pictures of praying.

Next we moved on to reading. Shaylee read me the alphabet at the start of the McGuffey's Eclectic Primer. Then we went over lessons 1 and 2. Then I got her to point out the words to make sure she knew what they were. Ethan read me the script alphabet from the start of McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader to start to familiarize him with how writing looks. He then read through lessons 1 to 6. I will get him to go through this Reader before starting on the second since we never covered it before.

We then moved on to A Child's Geography. They seemed rather bored with it so I read the first page to them. I then got them to point out on the map where we live. First the town, then our province, then our country, explaining each as they found them. Next they drew postcards of the earth, which will eventually be part of a book of postcards. I am not going to push this subject, just kind of flow through it.

Finally, we did math. Shaylee loves it so much that last night she was asking for "Matthew". I didn't know what she meant. It took me a few minutes of questioning to figure out she meant "Math-U-See". It clicked in when she said, "You know, from homeschool" lol! Unfortunately she wasn't as enthused today. She mostly played with the blocks, which is fine. She did end up completing one full page (and erased it when she was done). Ethan did tests number 3 and 4 out of the Alpha test book. He has IMO mastered basic addition and subtraction but I would like to go through this book before moving on to the next one. There are only 30 or so tests in the test booklet anyway.

They ended with painting another suncatcher (well, Shaylee did. Ethan wanted to play the GameCube). They asked if they were going to make on every day. I bought a pack of 12 for under $2 and they won't last forever so I told them that I would have a craft project for them to do each day.

First Day of School September 1st 2009

2009-09-01T11:04:00.003-03:00

Ethan before we started:

Shaylee wanted to be cozy:

Today is the first day of school in our home, yay! The kids are so excited. I am writing this as we are working, one of the benefits of having a laptop :)

They started out with math. Shaylee did the first 10 pages in Primer. Ethan did the first two tests from Alpha. I think refreshing it is good since he forgot at first how it worked. They played with the math-u-see blocks for a little while.

Doing their math:

Then the kids did Phonics Activity 1. They spread out the picture cards and matched them with the letter cards. I want to go through the various phonics cards before I start Ethan with the higher ones just to familiarize him with them again, even though he is an excellent phonetic reader.

Then they did a few lines of copywork and drew pictures to go along with it.

Finally, they painted suncatchers before I let them go for now. Ethan is playing on the computer and Shaylee is watching TV.

Through the day we will do some reading and we may go to the library later. I don't want to do a lot of sitdown work all at once. Through their play and games they learn a lot too.

Books read today (updated through the day and if the kids let me know what they've read):

Done? Ready?

2009-08-30T13:54:00.003-03:00

I keep thinking that I'm done preparing and ready to start the new year. I almost am. I do have a few things left to do. I realized I need some fun things for the kids. I'm thinking of my kids as intellectually older than they are but I have to remind myself that they just seem more mature than they actually are. I mean, Shaylee is only 5, even though she looks more like a 7 year old girl. While she may already know a lot of what she would learn in grade Primary, she has motor skills we should be working on and I want it to be fun for her. Ethan wants to learn more about what nutrients are for so I'd like to find a fun science project about that.

I also need to get the BOM Discovery ready since I need it to be ready for two children. I will be working on this today. I have a Book of Mormon Reader I may borrow some stuff from, like colouring pages, puzzles and games.

I also want to work on what my goals for the year are. Ultimately I want my kids to love learning. It does not matter what they learn as long as they know how to learn what they need to know. I need to keep that in mind above all.

I am also getting in on the learning. You are never too old to learn. I am starting a program for the women at our church called "Celestial University". It is based on a program called "Pursuit of Excellence" but it is tailored to be more of a university program. In the Celestial University program you may earn your Bachelor's, Master's or Doctorate degree by obtaining and finishing goals. There are 12 different colleges or areas to earn your degree in. I am so excited and hope to get the others excited too! I want to start NOOOOW!! lol! Here's a link: http://lds.about.com/library/bl/reliefsociety/blcelestial_university.htm

I am doing something now by starting my genealogy. That is something I have always wanted to learn and I think it is valuable to know your roots. Family is so important.

So that's a little update. I'm still waiting on hearing back from the DOE, still nervous about it. I'm also waiting to hear if anything is going on with our Yarmouth Homeschool Group. I would really like to see that go somewhere.

Getting it together

2009-08-26T14:03:00.002-03:00

Mom has the kids as they had a sleepover last night. I thought I'd spend some time preparing materials. I have the first chapter of "A Child's Geography" set to go. I should be able to use the book for a few years as I can tailor it to different ages. Ethan and Shaylee's notebooks are very different because of their different ages/levels. I hope they enjoy it!

I am making a change for science. I read through the Janice Van Cleave book and feel it's too advanced in general for them. I could adapt the experiments but they are geared at grades 5 and up so there is a lot of mumbo jumbo the kids don't need or would care about right now. Instead, we will use "60 Super Simple Science Experiments" by Q.L. Pearce. We can do one or two experiments each week and they can read (or be read) books on topics of science or do work books or work sheets. We have so many and they don't scream "you're learning something!!). They're interesting and kid friendly :)

I don't know if I am going to print the McGuffy's Eclectic Primer for Ethan (I think it's the second one). It's 160 pages and I want to conserve ink. He can read it from the screen. I have Shaylee's printed out. We started it a while back; I can't remember why we stopped.

I think I'm getting more relaxed about things. The kids are excited still. I really want to keep better track this year so I don't end up in a pickle :)

Ready To Roll!

2009-08-23T19:03:00.002-03:00

Year end report sent in? Check!
Registration for both of my kids sent in? Check!
School supplies bought? Check!
Ready to roll? Check and check!

Yes, I think I'm ready for the new year. I am quite sure I have everything I need except for Ethan's Beta math book. I want him to finish up the Alpha test booklet first, which will give us a little time to get some money. Math=$$, $$ out of pocket, lol! I'm not bothering with the teachers pack/DVD. I will as we move into the higher maths though! Actually starting with fractions as I don't know how it will work with this program.

The kids are excited :). I think having both of them learning together will be so beneficial to both of them.

I will probably spend this week with some last minute book printing from the CD and getting things in order while attempting to get the kids into some kind of routine. I would really like more order to our days but with a lot of free time to pursue interests :).

Oh and they are both enrolled in the Thursday evening dance class :). I'm so glad. Saturdays weren't working well for Ethan.

I'm really looking forward to the upcoming year. I am planning to purse interests of my own. I think continuing to learn and expand your mind is good at any age!

Getting Things In Order

2009-08-21T09:04:00.003-03:00

There. It took two days and a lot of sweating but I have their registations and Ethan's report all ready to send in. It's a huge envelope with 9 pages so I'll have to get it weighed before sending, another delay. I went through 3 envelopes getting it ready. First I messed up the address. Then I forgot to add some information to a page I submitted. Today I realized I didn't include a copy of Shaylee's birth certificate. I sometimes think I'm incapable of getting anything right, lol!

So it's sitting there ready to send and I don't know if I can get out today and send it.

I contacted Deeana about enrolling the kids in Kidzact again. I'm so excited because they have Thursday classes now! SO I asked if they could be in the same class on Thursday evening (5:30-6:30). Ethan is never very alert on Saturdays. He's always so tired in class so I think this would work so much better.

I will be spending some time today organizing our school stuff. I always get pretty excited about it :). I really want to write more here so at the end of the year I can remember more, lol! Plus it's fun to write about. Looking at Ethan's past work I can remember how bored he was and how he wouldn't want to do anything. He's a little more focused now but I still plan for school time to be as minimal as possible. We really need a routine going but it's so hard. That shouldn't be an excuse though.

Curriculum Plan for 2009-2010

2009-08-20T08:03:00.003-03:00

I know that unschoolers and Curriculum aren't supposed to mix. I will probably always be on the fence about it. I had grand ideas about what I wanted to do when my kids were old enough to homeschool, then I had a child like Ethan, lol! I love him but boy is he oppositional!

The plan. The base of our program is Accelerated Achievement. Here is the basic outline for Kindergarten/Primary:
Reading: Phonics (activities 1-4), McGuffey's Eclectic Primer, Read Books (Anderson's Fairy Tails, Pinocchio and Dr. Doolittle).
Writing: Print letters (upper and lower case) and numbers. Begin copy work. Lots of art to build motor skills.
Math: Use Math Book, play games, count everything.
Kindergarten Science

Outline for Grade 2:
Reading: Phonics activity 9, McGuffey's 2nd Eclectic Reader, Read Dr. Seuss, Start one syllable books (comes with two US history books) and read following books: Arabian Nights, Heidi, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Swiss Family Robinson, The Rover Boys in Business and the Rover Boys in New York.
Writing: Continue with copywork for writing, daily memorization and oral presentation. Continue writing stories, and teach Grammar with Sentence Building Cards.
Math: Use Math Book. Continue with addition and subtraction. Use worksheet generator.
Spelling: Use new words from the reader. Limit to 15 words a week.
Second grade Science

Each section has addition information that you print with the program which I cannot write all out here (copyright ;) ).

For Math we will be doing Math-U-See. Shaylee will be doing Primer and Ethan will be doing Beta (but redoing some of Alpha while we wait).

Primer Topics:
* Introduction to Place Value
* Counting from 1 to 20
* Concept of Addition
* Concept of Subtraction
* Geometric Shapes
* Count by 5s and 10s
* Telling Time
* Tally Marks

Beta Topics:
* Place Value to Hundred Thousands
* Place Value Notation
* Rounding and Estimation
* Addition, Multiple Digit Numbers
* Addition, Regrouping (Carrying)
* Column Addition
* Money
* Addition and Subtraction with Money
* Perimeter
* Subtraction, Multiple Digit Numbers
* Subtraction, Regrouping (Borrowing)
* Telling Time
* Measurement

We will also be doing A Child's Geography. They will do it together on their own level (they want to do this one).

I would like to start A Child's History of the World with Ethan if he is interested. He hasn't been in the past but may be ready. I bought this and A Child's Geography when I had plans of teaching by the Classical Methods. I still love Classical Education but find it hard to implement. Oh and the brokerage charges were ridiculous buying it here; I think it was $25 or $30 for a little CD in an envelope. Craziness!!!

Book of Mormon Discovery, Grade 1-3 from Discover the Scriptures is something we will be doing this year as well. I think Shaylee will be able to do pretty good with it.

I will have them back in dancing this year as well. Plus they do lots of reading, drawing, writing, play educational games, ect... which they do anyway.

Phew, sounds like a lot writing it all out. My plan is to have an hour or so each day to work on these, so some things won't be done every day. A lot can be accomplished in a short period of time. I am not going to stress it though. I know that they can learn much even without my intervention ;)

Headache and Quotes

2009-08-20T07:11:00.004-03:00

I am still trying to pull together my reports. Aggghh! It's so frustrating as there are a lot of Nova Scotian homeschoolers who are being harassed for more information even with reports that are adequate or similar to reports submitted in the past. The report form that they have on the website is so small and they have no definite requirements but they have called a number of people asking for more information with no clarification of what they want or need. I'm scared. There is so much Ethan has done but I cannot recall every little detail. I know he is on track for what he should know. I am filling in their report, printing an extra sheet so I have room for comments and I am doing a write up to go with it.

For registration I am adding a printed sheet of the outcomes for the Accelerated Achievement along with other things I plan to do. It's hard since I believe in unschooling. So much learning takes place with it. With Shaylee, I plan to do more sit down book work since she likes it. I am hoping Ethan will want to as well when he sees her getting the extra attention ;) (ok, they don't roll like that but who knows). Everything is adaptable to their learning level. I do want to get the Beta Math-U-See book. He does like MUS and I know Shaylee will enjoy it. But our pockets have holes in them lately so I don't know if I can afford it right now. I had to get a new printer as they jammed a dried flower in the rollers which caused a huge mess (no one will fess up). I was out of ink and it was cheaper to get a new printer anyway but I couldn't justify it. The ink for this printer is cheaper, whoo! So it was a win-win-win situation. I like the all in ones. I think the printer and paper are the most essential items for home education in my home.

So, what am I planning this year? I will do another post about that.

I was going through my Gmail account, where I hoard tons of email (I deleted about 700 emails, eep!). I saved all my LDS Homeschool Sentinel emails which I wanted to get around to reading. I'm going to post some of the quotes I want to save here so I can quilt free delete the emails.

Gordon B. Hinckley: It is so important that you young men and you young women get all of the education that you can. The Lord has said very plainly that His people are to gain knowledge of countries and kingdoms and of things of the world through the process of education, even by study and by faith. Education is the key which will unlock the door of opportunity for you. It is worth sacrificing for. It is worth working at, and if you educate your mind and your hands, you will be able to make a great contribution to the society of which you are a part, and you will be able to reflect honorably on the Church of which you are a member. My dear young brothers and sisters, take advantage of every educational opportunity that you can possibly afford, and you fathers and mothers, encourage your sons and daughters to gain an education which will bless their lives.

(Ensign, June 1999, 2)

Thought:
Some time ago, a few ladies met to study the scripture. While reading the 3rd chapter of Malachi, they came upon a remarkable statement in the 3rd verse; "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." (Malachi 3:3)
One lady decided to visit a silversmith, and report to the others on what he said about the subject. She went accordingly, and without telling the silversmith the reason for her visit, begged him to tell her about the process of refining silver.
After he had fully described it to her, she asked, "Sir, do you watch while the work of refining is going on?"
"Oh, yes ma'am," replied the silversmith. I must sit and watch the furnace constantly, for, if the time necessary for refining is exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured."
The lady at once saw the beauty and comfort of the statement, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." God sees it as necessary to put his children into the furnace-but His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for us. Our trials do not come at random, and He will not let us be tested beyond what we can endure.
Before she left, the lady asked one final question, "How do you know when the process is finished?"
"Oh, that's quite simple," replied the silversmith.... "When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is complete."

Thomas S. Monson: Pray always in the performance of your. . . responsibilities, and you will never be in the position of Alice in Wonderland. As Lewis Carroll tells us, Alice was following a path through a forest in Wonderland when it divided into two directions. Standing irresolute, she inquired of the Cheshire Cat, which had suddenly appeared in a nearby tree, which path she should take. "Where do you want to go?" asked the cat.

"I don't know," said Alice.

"Then," said the cat, "it really doesn't matter, does it?"

(Ensign, Nov. 1995, 48)

Thomas S. Monson: This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help.

We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an
attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious
sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.

("An Attitude of Gratitude," Ensign, May 1992, 54)

Wilford Woodruff: There is one thing I wish particularly to impress upon your minds, and that is, the importance of improving your time while young in
treasuring up knowledge and learning those things which will be useful to you in after life. I know from experience, and so do most parents, that the child cannot appreciate the worth of true intelligence, the importance of improving their time in storing up useful knowledge while they are young, as they will when they come to act upon the stage of life, become fathers and mothers, and feel the full force of the responsibilities of training up children. . Do not be discouraged because you cannot learn all at once; learn one thing at a time, learn it well, and treasure it up, then learn another truth and treasure that up, and in a few years you will have a great store of useful knowledge which will not only be a great blessing to yourselves and your children, but to your fellow men.

(G. Homer Durham, Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, 269.

A. Theodore Tuttle: The Lord organized the family unit in the beginning. He intended that the home be the center of learning-that the father and mother be teachers. . . As prophetic events unfold, one thing is certain: we will all need to teach more within the walls of our own homes. In the Book of Mormon we find some models: 'I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father'(1 Nephi 1"). No doubt Nephi was taught the things of the Spirit-his writings reveal that. He probably was taught practical matters as well, for he was a very resourceful man. Today that son is fortunate whose father teaches him somewhat in all his learning.

(Ensign, Nov. 1979, 27)

OK, I've pared it down to under 100 messages, I'll do the rest another day :)

Random Thoughts

2009-08-05T08:30:00.003-03:00

It's that time of year again, back to school. School doesn't actually start for another few weeks but it's presence is being made known.

I am going through the usual worries and concerns. I am still convinced homeschooling is right. However I'm in the midst of a crazy personal trial I wish I could freely talk about on my blogs (some who read know and probably understand). I am making the most of things though.

So this fall I will have two of school age. I waver back and forth between "school at home" and unschooling. I prefer unschooling but people don't understand it. They don't see the learning going on. I hate to do something I don't feel is right based on the opinions of others. I will probably try our program again this fall and see how it works. Ethan may sit better and do more if Shaylee is right there working alongside of him. I wouldn't expect much. I feel that a lot can be learned in a short period of time without busy work. They can keep themselves busy enough :)

I am hoping we can attend some "Not-back-to-school" event. I am hoping the homeschooling community in my town actually comes together and have activities this year. I think I mentioned trying to step up and do something since no one seems to be claiming leadership. The one who got the ball rolling is moving away, which always seems to happen.

It should be an interesting year, none the less. I still need to send in my report for this past year and register the kids. Yes, I'm slack :-/

Another School Year Ended

2009-07-04T11:16:00.003-03:00

Well, school is now officially over in Nova Scotia, has been for a week. We took our big vacation the week before school let out in PEI. What a wonderful experience that was! I'll be posting more about it in my main family blog when ever I can get around to it. They both came home in love with Anne and her stories. Ethan even read some Anne books and I watched the movies with Shaylee.

I need to get on the ball since it's time to report our year. I need to sit down and write out all Ethan has done and learned, an overwhelming task. There is so much but probably doesn't look so impressive on paper. Sometimes he amazes me with his wisdom and smarts as he'll come out with things that I have no idea where he could of picked it up. I sometimes catch him reading the books I have through the house or working on workbooks or working on the Elementary Advantage cd's we have. I think he has learned so much through video games but people kind of poo poo that (math, reading, maps, creating, following instructions, social skills, ect.....). I need to start getting some more advanced books and games for him to hopefully pick up.

I still firmly believe in unschooling. I know the idea is scary and people can't comprehend how it could possibly works but it does! When a child is motivated to learn something, they will. If they need it down the road, they have the skills to learn it. Something that may take a kid 2 years to learn now may take them a couple days or weeks to master when they are older and ready to learn (maybe longer depending on what it is).

I also have to get Shaylee registered for homeschooling next year as she turns 5 in August. It's hard to believe she will be old enough this year! I am glad I let go with learning expectations for her. She is really picking up on reading, writing and math and I so enjoy watching her enjoy learning. Mark has been telling people she doesn't want to homeschool, which has been upsetting for me. The way he talks I'm forcing her to stay home. I don't feel that I am. She, like so many kids, has been brainwashed (not by me!!) that learning only takes place at school with a teacher to teach them. I've been trying to tell her otherwise but someone really put it in there she can't learn at home, despite the fact she is!

If only our local homeschoolers would get the ball rolling there would be a better social network. My kids really need that, especially Shaylee who is has higher social needs than the rest of us. I feel I may have to step up if no one else does. With all my auxiliary experience with church and work, plus being the co-owner/moderator of the Nova Scotia homeschool groups, I think I could do a pretty good job with it.

Veinot Art Gallery

2009-06-10T08:24:00.003-03:00

I no longer have a living room. The kids have set up shop there with their art gallery. They are churning out work at an astonishing rate. In the past few weeks they have blown through nearly a 500 pack of paper. This doesn't include the scribblers they have used either. Ethan is enjoying writing stories and illustrating them. He also likes to draw rhythm heaven pages, creating his own games. Shaylee is really coming along in her drawing and is starting to put more and more words on her pages as she is learning to read more and more. I think it is all Shaylee's work in these pictures. The only thing that bothers me about this is they want to keep every single little scrap of paper they draw on! Whew, too much. I've been trying to get them to sort through them so I can bind them into a book but I guess that's too much work, lol!

I have to soon get my report in for Ethan's school year and register them both for next year. It's hard to believe she will be old enough this year. She is such a big girl but she's still my baby in my eyes.

May Check In

2009-05-12T08:52:00.003-03:00

Since my last post, Shaylee has really been taking off with reading. Funny thing they aren't words which are common, mostly names, animals and video game things. In my experience, if they are interested in something, they will take right off with it and learning will mean more to them if it is interesting to them. She has always loved books and being read to and I suspect she may be soaking up more than we realize. I know Ethan did.

Right now Ethan is writing a book called "20 Adventures In Your Own Backyard". It is very interesting to note that I've never explained exclamation marks but he is using them appropriately. He finally asked after using it several times what it was and what it meant so now he is sure. He is also finally using small letters more in his writing. Some letters he thinks look too much alike (such as little b and little d) so he'll use the capital for one. I should soon go over sentence structure briefly but it seems like he is doing pretty good on his own.

He is starting swim lessons today. He will be in private lessons since we feel he may do better with one on one teaching for this. In a class, as in dance, he can get easily distracted. Shaylee is too young for private lessons but we could probably get her in a class this fall, if we could get her in the pool, lol!

Dance classes are over. Shaylee did wonderfully in her recital! I think she has a real talent and will do well with hip hop since that was a small portion but focusing on it more will really help. I will be glad for free Saturdays for a while but I know they will miss it. I'm so looking forward to them being in the same class together. I think it will really help Ethan.

I'm so glad the weather is starting to improve. They don't like going out here in the cold and snow. They like to play catch, write on the sidewalk with chalk, have races and play lots of little games.

Well, that's a brief write up. As usual there is probably tons more going on than this but I can't think of at the moment. I'll have to start getting his year end report ready and get Shaylee's information to register her for homeschooling. Hard to believe my little girl is turning 5 in August!!

Year is flying by

2009-04-26T15:51:00.002-03:00

So much has gone on since I last wrote I hardly know where to start, lol! The other blogs barely cover it in terms of homeschooling. Shaylee is starting to read some words, which is great. I love natural learning. I'm thinking of doing a small amount of sit down work in the future, especially for the Book of Mormon, especially since I found the BOM reader at Frenchys :) (I can't find the same one online as it's not the church one; it was from about 10 years ago and has stories, games, puzzles and coloring sheets. I can use it with my Book of Mormon Discovery program).

I've been getting a lot of flack about homeschooling this year as it seems like everyone wants me to put the kids in school. It's tempting some days when the kdis are at each others throats but I know their being home is right for us. I have a strong testimony of homeschooling (well, in our case, unschooling). Childhood is a precious time of life and I want to cherish every minute. Even without me teaching them directly, they are learning so much. Right now Ethan is into multiplying but he doesn't even know it. Shaylee is adding and subtracting without realizing it. It's amazing and it is so natural.

Well, I want to write more when I have more time and clarity of thought of what I want to say. I just wanted to mention we're still going strong and still loving it!!

Not Much Today

2008-09-08T21:49:00.002-03:00

The kids got up, played, went to mom's, came home, played, Shaylee went to sleep during Canadian Idol and Ethan is still playing. He was on the computer until 9pm. So a fun day for them and great for me since I had some good alone time, which I needed.

Ethan is loving his Tamagotchi. He brought her to play with in the car. I tied her to a string fastened to his belt loop, but I think I'm going to get him a lanyard. We already lost her once and I don't want it to be permanent next time.

I don't think there is anything going on outside the house tomorrow. I need to check up on some things.

Well, I have some things to do before bed. I'll try to remember to post tomorrow!

Hemming and Hawing

2008-09-08T07:26:00.000-03:00

Yeah, I did a lot of that this weekend :). We got both kids in Kidzact and neither is doing MYC this year. We just simply can't afford it without taking money from somewhere else, like groceries, and we like to eat. We are going to ask my sister-in-law, who just moved down and teaches, if she would teach the kids. Mark says he will but I don't think he's patient enough and Ethan would rebel (Shaylee would probably be ok). It would give her a little spending money and the kids time to spend with their cousin playing after. It would be win-win for all.

Today I have to check up on the YMCA. Knowing me I'll either forget or stress too much and won't bother. I hate calling and checking up on things.

Ethan got a Tamagotchi on Saturday and I've been taking good care of her, lol! Actually he forgot to take her when he went to his grandparents house today. He's got her pretty well figured out. Yes, it's a girl and her name is March. It's pretty cool going on the website to play games and do different things (a lot better than the one I had when they came out in '96; lol, yeah, I was a grown woman with one). We discovered he can't go on the website with her passwords if she is sleeping. That was kind of a drag since she went to sleep around 7pm or so and Ethan goes to bed later than that.

Well, it's the beginning of a new week. Mom is taking the kids up the line to Meteghan today so I'll have some kid free time today :D. I want the kids to do a few things if they feel like it before they go. Shaylee is loving her phonics books and Ethan loves writing things out. I'd like to get them doing the Math-U-See again. That was ever only sporadic, but Ethan learned a lot and Shaylee like trying. She can use the Primer all by herself this year :)

Spinning Head

2008-09-05T23:09:00.003-03:00

I wrote in my main family blog about our "First Day Of School", complete with pictures :).

I'm trying to sort out activities and it's driving me crazy! There isn't enough money or time for everything. Plus Ethan keeps changing his mind and we can't afford to pay for classes he ends up not attending.

I want the kids in Kidzact dancing. Ethan hasn't been too keen on the idea but Shaylee is gung ho! Registration is tomorrow morning. It's $75 for 10 classes for Ethan and $130 for classes for Shaylee and they run until May.

I also want the kids in Music for Young Children. They have an opening in Arcadia for 6 year olds Wednesday 6:30-7:30. Her class is full for 4 year olds, but there is a teacher in South Ohio with classes Saturday mornings, when Kidzact is for her. These classes are $12 per hour plus fees for materials.

I wanted Ethan in Beavers but he's still hesitant and will only go if I go with him. I want to wait another year or so, maybe even wait for Cub Scouts. This is another one I'm worried about how much it costs in the long run.

We're talking about trying to get a subsidized YMCA membership. I know we'd qualify based on our income, my obesity and that we're homeschooling (I think since it would help with socialization). I need to get active and would love to go for early morning swims. Mark would love to get more active and be able to swim through the year. I used to have a membership and loved using the gym. Plus they have things we could do as a family there and I'd like to get the kids in swimming lessons, which would cost less if we had a membership. This would be a win-win investment.

Man, I can easily see how people who live in places that get money for homeschooling can rip through it. Curriculum alone can be costly, so I'm glad I'm pretty well covered there, but you could easily spend thousands per year homeschooling.

So I think it will be Dancing for Shaylee, Music for Ethan (I'm thinking dancing after Christmas for him) and a YMCA membership for all of us.

I want to keep better track of what's going on here so it will be easier to report at the end of the year.

Thursday, the kids went with me to do some crafts. They also had an opportunity to sing hymns, play on the piano and socialize. We read some books together. Ethan played with math manipulatives, played a Spanish phonics computer game, an English phonics computer game, a grammar computer game, created levels on some computer games he made (typed out titles), played the Wii, drew some pictures, printed several pages and he had lots of opportunities to play.

Shaylee read her first book all by herself!! Twice!! Yay Shaylee! I'm hoping to have her reading by the end of the year, but I'm not going to push it.

Friday, Ethan played with his math manipulatives for a while, he read some books of interest to him, he read several lessons in his McGuffy's 1st Eclectic Reader and wrote out all the words a couple of times, he played the same educational games on the computer and played on the Wii. He also got lots of outside play time and played store and restaurant with his sister.

I know there are more things but I'm not right there 100% of the time. The kids like to play upstairs and often their games could be considered learning games. They still like to play school with their Cabbage Patch Kids and they also have musical presentations with them where they play music and sing songs out of their Children's Songbook. So many things are educational, even if not directly.

I'm just so grateful to be able to homeschool/unschool. Ethan tells me several times a day he's so glad he can stay home. He is such a homebody. He's also been around me pretty much 24/7 lately so he can't bear the thought of not being close to me. Some people don't think much of this, that I'm babying him. I'm just providing safety and security for him. He is a very sensitive child and I know that being here for him means more for him than anything else right now. I figure there will come a time he won't want to be near me (maybe, lol!), so I'll take this time since I'm sure it won't last.

I love Ethan and Shaylee so much. They are so different from each other and I love what makes them each individual. Shaylee is my artist. She loves music, dance, art and just being creative. She has been begging constantly to go to dance class, lol! She's also way more social and always wants to be on the go.

I am going to try to write more in this blog. It would be nice to look back at the end of the year and see all that we've done :)

First Day of School

2008-08-28T15:17:00.003-03:00

Note, this is mostly a repeat of what I put in my main blog with some additions.

I've been busy this week getting homeschooling material together. I was really freaking out as I couldn't find my Accelerated Achievement disk, which contains the bones of our K-12 program. All I could think was I lost a $100 disk and we can't afford another one! I couldn't even find the demo copy so I could use it as a guideline. I was preparing an email to the company in case I could get a cheaper replacement copy but I knew it was here. It was another case of looking where it was several times before I actually saw it. And there it was, nestled in the Math-U-See books.

So I printed off what I needed as well as the guides right up to grade 12. Ethan is well beyond the grade one level of the program (except for reading the classics, but they are still read alouds at this age) but we're going to start off and I'm going to let him go at his own pace. I also printed the grade one learning outcomes for Nova Scotia. Again, Ethan is well ahead of the game. I'm not worried.

I also spent several hours sorting out sheets that Veronica had saved for me when she was a PSA in grade Primary. I'm mostly going to use them for Shaylee but since there were lots of doubles, the kids can do them together. There were tracing, coloring, cutting, and letter and number activities.

This morning the kids told me that school starts today. Sure! Fine :). So they colored, cut things up, sang songs, read stuff, listened to the Math-U-See disk and played school with the cabbage patch kids.

We're also doing a sprouting activity. Ethan is sprouting sunflower seeds and Shaylee is doing black beans. After they sprout, we are going to plant some. We also did a related sheet and talked about the different parts of plants and what they need to grow.

So needless to say, the living room is a mess, lol! It was bad yesterday while I was looking for stuff, although I did get it cleaned up before bed. So I want to keep more on top of keeping things a little more under control because the kids move from one thing to the next quicker than I can keep up.

I decided for the first day that school officially starts we would go over to my Nan's house. She loves company and she has a wonderful trail which leads down to the back shore. There is lots to see and I'm going to let the kids to take pictures and put an album together for them. Maybe we could put together a picnic or go out for lunch or something special. I hope it's a nice day :)

Ethan wanted a GameCube game called Animal Crossing which we bought with conditions. He would not have the Wii or Computer except between the hours of 1pm and 7pm. That way we have much of the day to do other things, although we can still do things during that time. Other than an incident last night, it's been going well. The kids were at Mom's house yesterday and I let him have it after 7pm to play educational games. He got all angry and cranky, throwing a super tantrum, kicking and screaming when I wanted him to go to bed (which was super late, embarrassingly late, actually). So I am going to stick to the times we agreed on with as little wavering as possible. I hate restrictions, but it affects him so badly that I need to do something.

For school, we are still going to be very loose, little structure and kid directed. I will suggest things and he often picks things up on his own with no need for me to suggest. For example, he's now practically begging me to do a Grammar and Reading disk but he's not supposed to have the computer today because of how he was acting last night. What do I do? He wants to learn and he does learn so much from them. I told him he could play for an hour but had to get off after an hour with no complaining. Hopefully it will go well.

We're also going to do the 1st McGuffey's Eclectic Reader, both for the reading and spelling. I'd like to do a lesson a day, but won't force it, especially since he's probably reading past the level this book is at. I'm going to start Shaylee in the first one. She really wants to learn to read.

Well, I need to clean some of this up. Life and learning can be messy :)

New School Year About To Begin

2008-08-25T08:04:00.004-03:00

Wow, next week the kids will be in school and things can get back to normal around here :). Of course my kids will still be home, but that's how I like it!

I thought that little guy looked kind of like Ethan with all that curly hair, lol!

I sent my report in a little late, around mid-July. I also sent in my registration at the same time. I have not heard back from them and I'm getting a little nervous. There is someone on the NS Home Learner's group who was asked to submit more information. Apparantly she has had quite a bit of trouble with reporting and registering in the past as well. I just hope our report is accepted, although if I had to, I would submit again.

Ethan is a smart kid and I'm not worried about him nor about what he has learned. He did all the Elementary Advantage CD's this past year, except for what was too hard. He is reading and spelling excellently. I have been going over words with him for spelling lately and he's well above grade level. He spells a lot when he is making up levels for games and is very adept at typing. He sometimes asks for help spelling a word but often just sounding it out helps him. We'll probably go over phonic rules this year since we will be trying to teach Shaylee how to read. She really wants to learn but I really feel it won't be as easy for her. Ethan just grasped right on to it at such an early age. I bought her a phonics kit with some cute books and stickers, although I'm also going to use McGuffeys readers.

I am starting out this year trying a little more structure. Ethan can't stand to do anything for very long unless it is very interesting to him. He is definately a Kinesthetic learner, which means he has to move around and be busy. Fortunately we can accommodate this at home ;). Usually when he's spelling for me, he's bouncing on the bed or couch and he will do it until I get bored. However if we were to sit at a table and try it, he would probably be bored after a couple of words.

I also bought him a math kit with some cool manipulatives in it. I got Math-U-See but some of it is confusing. He did mention recently "one-ty", how that refers to the numbers between 10 and 20. I didn't know what he was talking about at first and we did that over a year ago, lol! So we'll work on the second book this year and I'll try the first with Shaylee to see how interested she is in it.

Oh, we also got a Teaching The Fun Of Science book.

I also want to work on Ethan's writing. He does ok but he's still all over the place. He copies things a lot more lately, so maybe he'll be receptive to copy work this year.

I have to get my Accelerated Achievement CD out to see what else we should be covering. I have a feeling that we could easily move through a couple of grades this year, but I'm not going to push him. We'll still be working at his pace and according to his interests. I'm just going to be suggesting things if he wants to do them and often he does, even if he gets bored quickly. He just needs to be moving ;)

I am going to try to implement the no computer/TV until after lunch rule again and not let him have them after 7pm (mommy and daddy need some computer and TV time too ;) ). I need it to work because Ethan fights and gets whiny over the Wii and Computer. Plus he will sit there all day in front of a screen if we let him. I'd like to get out for field trips and other things and there's a lot we can do in the morning, even if it's not all "academic". Even if he were just reading, writing, drawing, playing or whatever, he needs to spend some time away from the screens.

heck, here's the order I placed since I keep talking about it ;). I love BookCloseouts as it's so cheap plus I'm an affiliate so I get book credit when I or anyone who uses my affiliate link orders. I got $11 in book credit with my $55 order! The link, if you want to order and support me :D is: http://www.bookcloseouts.com/default.asp?N=0&rid=0204. I've been ordering for years and think it's the best book site ever!!!:

The Boy From The Basement $1.00
Teaching The Fun Of Science (Science For Fun)$4.99
Math Mastermind (Grade 1)$10.99
Get Your Hands on Problem Solving (Grade 1)$1.00
Little Science Stories (Make Your Own Emergent Readers, Gr. K-2) $1.00
Multiple Intelligences (Grade K) $1.00
How My Breasts Saved the World $1.00
If It's Not About Me, I'm Busy $1.00
Gifts and Cards for Every Occasion (Create-a-Craft, Grades K - 2) $1.00
Striking a Chord (FBOFW collection) $3.00
Graduation: A Time for Change (FBOFW collection) $3.99
Graphing: Math Minders (Grade 1)$1.00
A Bundle of Choices $2.99
The Future in Plain Sight $1.00
Elementary Economics (Math, Grade 2)$1.00
American Idle: A Lola Collection $1.00
Folk Art $1.00
Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book: 12th Edition(75th Anniversary Edition) $4.99
Now I'm Reading! (Beginning Readers, Level- Pre-Reader)$19.99
The Planets In Our Solar System (Let's-Read-And-Find-Out Science, Stage 2) $2.99

currclick.com

2008-06-30T07:50:00.003-03:00

http://www.currclick.com/index.php?filters=0_0&manufacturers_id=124

http://www.currclick.com/index.php?free=1&filters=0_0

I love good, cheap or free stuff. This site has tons of great downloads that are either cheap or free; just click on the "home" button. I signed up for their newsletter ages ago and once a week get a free download (I don't always get it since some aren't really interesting to us). I love the concept of buying downloadable product since you can buy it and print as much or as little as you need. It would be especially great for large families.

Right now Ethan is really into Big Brain Academy. I'm going to hate to bring it back tomorrow. He loves seeing how he gets a bigger brain every day and earning medals in mental competitions. I am considering buying it since I know it would get played a lot.

End of the year

2008-06-28T09:38:00.002-03:00

Wow, this year sure flew by! I think Unschooling is a good fit for us :)

I have my end of year report done up and I just need to send it off.

Ethan lately is really into the Wii. I find it has really helped his reading as he reads everything. It also has him interested in activities and sports he may not of had otherwise.

Right now the kids like to play school. They get all their favorite dolls, sit in front of a chart, sing their ABC's, sing a couple of songs they made up ("Is a lamb a sheep" and "The Hip Hop Dance"). Then they either have a snack or go outside and ride their bikes after putting the dolls down for a nap :). Then they repeat, sometimes many, many times in a day, lol!

I sometimes stress that Shaylee isn't learning like Ethan was at the same age, but I know that they are two different kids with different interests. It will come. Last night while shopping someone expressed shock that she couldn't read but I was like "She's only *3*" and it really struck me that it's ok.

Maybe next year we'll have some more structured activities. I am trying really hard to try to cobble a homeschooling group together. It seems like the Christian homeschoolers are huddled together and not so welcoming of outsiders. Even though we are Christian (although probably not so in the eyes of the world, even though Jesus Christ is a the center of our religion), we don't seem to be so welcome.

Someone else I ran into last night said there were tons of homeschoolers looking to start a group. Where have they been? I just don't know how to find people. I had posters up around town and the library, posted online and other places, and nothing. I just want the kids to have other kids to play with since it seems that in the last year all their friends have either moved away or are in the process of moving away. I know there are lots of isolated homeschoolers and while I don't care if we're ever part of something big, I just want some kids for my kids to play with!

Anyway, things are looking up and I'm looking forward to many more years of homeschooling fun :)

Spring Update

2008-04-27T14:03:00.002-03:00

I can't really add much on to what I have posted about in the past other than Ethan continues to learn. I am going to have to start preparing the end of year report soon, which I am not looking forward to. It's so hard to box up what he has learned into neat little boxes. A fellow unschooler just lists the subjects and puts an S for satisfactory by it, like a report card, and sends that in. I'll probably look at other people's reports and decide the best way to do ours up. That's the great thing about belonging to an email list for Nova Scotia homeschoolers. You get to learn so much from the veterans. I just wished we lived closer to partake in all the awesome activities they have.

Winter Update

2008-02-10T10:10:00.000-04:00

It has been quite a while since I wrote and lest you think Ethan isn't learning, think again ;). The kid sometimes amazes me with the things he is able to find out and learn all on his own. He is so adept at the computer he rarely needs me anymore. He does his own google searches, installs programs and so so much mor. We've had the talk about what to open and when to ask mommy about opening files. I think he knows how to scan things for viruses but usually gets me to do it just in case there is one.

He has learned about the -nyms (homonyms, synonyms, Antonyms (I actually had no clue what this was until he told me, lol!) ect...). He is exploring science. He is drawing, writing, making things up, creating things and so much more. He is doing great at figuring out math on his own. I was getting him to do some math-u-see recently and discovered he was way beyond everything in the first book and the second book was kind of redundant as well (addition and subtraction). I am debating about continuing with the math-u-see as it seems to confuse him. I will try them with Shaylee though as she doesn't seem to be as motivated a self learner as Ethan is at this point. Of course he gets a lot of help from the computer and educational programs and websites

He is an excellent reader. I don't even know if I could put a grade on it as he can read just about anything if he actually reads the word. He is often in a hurry and skims things over, which is the only time that he will make mistakes, other than phunky phonic spellings that confuse even me. I recently read a quote that said teach a child how to read correctly and don't worry about what grade level they read at. Once they can read, they can read. (or something to that effect. It was in a Rudolph Flesch's book "Why Johnny Can't Read").

Basically, I have learned to trust him. More importantly, I have learned to have faith in his learning process. He is a very intelligent boy who needs his space to open up and explore his world. I am so grateful for the chance to be able to do this :)

Excellent Message

2007-10-15T07:32:00.000-03:00

First of all, yikes! It has been a long time since I have written anything here. It's not that nothing is going on, it's just that hen learning by living it's easy not to notice things. The kids have been doing tons. Ethan has been reading so much more and has been giving harder books a try. They both love to draw. Shaylee is really good considering her age. Ethan likes to make lists and copy words off things.

We're going to ease into some things this week. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling is one of the suggested reading books, so we're going to start that. I borrowed the audio book and the book from the library to see what works best. I think it would be nice for them to listen to while playing with blocks or drawing. I suggested we could make puppets of the animals and make little plays to go with it.

That's not the awesome message that I wanted to share though. I am always interested in reading about the history of schools in relation to the Church. I have a book or two that have a lot of information. Today in my LDS homeschooling email list, an article that was written about this topic I enjoyed so much that I had to save it here so I could read again. It's amazing how when the children of God don't listen, we are cutting ourselves off from blessings but we don't realize it. This article is quite libertarian in nature and I must say I enjoy the social programs of Canada, especially since Mark is underemployed and we sooo appreciate housing and family allowance. However I understand why the prophets have said what they have and why; that is why they're called of God to lead the church and not me :).

A Hope & A Vision For The Youth of Zion

Demanded a King

In the Old Testament, we read the account of Ancient Israel, God's chosen, the majority of the members of His church, rejecting the Lord's council en mass.

For generations they were ruled under a system of judges, not drastically unlike our Constitutional Republic. Then, because it was "too much effort" for them to keep their judges in check, they wanted to do away with that system and replace it with one, where they wouldn't have to do anything in regards to their government. Just like the other nations of the world, they would have a king.

"Then the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, and said unto him, 'Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways; now make us a king to judge us like all the nations."

But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.

And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." (1 Samuel 8:4-7)

This situation is much like what happened when Martin Harris pressed the issue of the 116 manuscript pages of the Book of Mormon against the will of the Lord.

"Some time later Mr. Harris had begun to write for me, he began to importune me to give him liberty to carry the writings home and show them; and desired of me that I would inquire of the Lord, through the Urim and Thummim, if he might not do so. I did inquire, and the answer was that he must not. However, he was not satisfied with this answer, and desired that I should inquire again. I did so, and the answer was as before. Still he could not be contented, but insisted that I should inquire once more. After much solicitation, I again inquired of the Lord, and permission was granted him to have the writings on certain conditions;" (History of the Church 1:20-23)

The first account of disobedience lead to a loss of liberty, and the latter lead to the loss of 116 pages of "The most correct book on earth", we can see that when we seek to listen to our own council over that of the Lords, he will not stop us, but we will lose something that is most precious.

Brief history of Church and education

"It was the will of the Lord, made known shortly after the organization of the Church, that steps should be taken to have the children of the members taught in schools conducted under the influence of those who had faith in the Gospel."

(Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 4 vols. [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1946-1949], 2: 98 - 99.)

Ever since the beginning of the restoration, education has been an important part in building the kingdom. As early as June 1831, the Lord commanded W.W. Phelps to "assist my servant Oliver Cowdery to do the work of printing, and of selecting and writing books for schools in this church, that little children also may receive instruction before me as is pleasing unto me." (D&C 55:4)

Church schools were set up wherever the Church was. When they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, and were established there, they again organized Church schools for the education and instruction of the youth of Zion. Although these were "Church Schools", they were not fully funded by the Church, any more than BYU is now. Anyone that has attended or has children that have attended knows that that Church school is anything but "free".

Although there were fees to attend to help pay for full time teachers and other staff, President Brigham Young felt that education was so important that he paid "the school fee of a number of children who (were) either orphans or sons and daughters of poor people." (General Conference April 1877)

During the 1870's & 80's (when Utah was attempting to enter the Union), there was again a great outcry from the outside world that the "Mormons" were getting too much power and influence. To help "combat" this, they proposed that before entering the Union, that there must be an "establishment of free schools" which would "prohibit the teaching of denominational sentiments in them" (Boston Watchman, impression of Sept. 5th, 1878)

Additionally, during the 1870s and 1880s, Protestant missionary societies established ninety free schools in Utah, hoping to win Latter-day Saint children away from the faith of their parents through "education."

With the very natural inclination to want to take the "less costly" option, many Latter-Day Saint families started to send their children to these "free" schools set up by the government and funded through tax payer dollars as well as those set up by other faiths, while others just stopped paying the school fees. This added much financial pressure on the Church schools, and since the teachers received their pay through fees agreed upon and then not fulfilled, many of them were forced to find employment elsewhere.

Throughout this crisis in education, Prophets of the Lord were constantly reinforcing the principles, and warning the Saints of what would happen if they rejected the system the Lord had established.

Two principles that they focused on were that

1. Free schools by taxation is theft

2. Only Latter-Day Saints should teach Latter-Day Saints

I will address these principles in order.

Theft

Brigham Young taught:

"I am opposed to free education as much as I am opposed to taking away property from one man and giving it to another. Would I encourage free schools by taxation? No!" (General Conference 1877)

Why would he be against funding schools through taxes? How else could we ensure that the schools were funded and teachers paid? Since the main argument for funding education through taxation is to provide an opportunity for the poor, who would not otherwise be able to afford to pay for their education, I will treat the subject as another forced charity through taxation.

Regarding forced charity through taxation, President Benson said:

"Occasionally, we receive questions as to the propriety of Church members receiving government assistance instead of Church assistance. Let me restate what is a fundamental principle. Individuals, to the extent possible, should provide for their own needs. Where the individual is unable to care for himself, his family should assist. Where the family is not able to provide, the Church should render assistance, not the government. We accept the basic principle that 'though the people support the government, the government should not support the people.' " (General Conference May 1977)

Shedding more light on this he says:

"When you accept food stamps, you accept an unearned handout that other working people are paying for. You do not earn food stamps or welfare payments. Every individual who accepts an unearned government gratuity is just as morally culpable as the individual who takes a handout from taxpayers' money to pay his heat, electricity, or rent. There is no difference in principle between them. The price you pay for "something for nothing" may be more than you can afford. Do not rationalize your acceptance of government gratuities by saying, 'I am a contributing taxpayer too.' By doing this you contribute to the problem which is leading this nation to financial insolvency." (BYU 1977)

Here President Benson teaches that accepting government gratuities in any form is the same. Why is wrong to accept these government gratuities?

(For more documentation on this principle click here)

In D&C 121 we read;

34. Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?

36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.

37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.

From "Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen", recommended in General Conference April 1972:

"Men may exercise unrighteous dominion upon one another through the agency of government in just as many ways as they can when acting outside its framework. The most common method, however, is by denying or interfering with the right to own and control property, one of the elements of freedom.

.applying the Golden Rule, put yourself in "A's" shoes. He has already given all he desires to charity. Are you not violating his conscience when you compel him to give more? Would you enjoy having someone dictate how much you must give to your church, a hospital or college? Would not this be a plain case of theft? And if you pass a law and legalize the taking and the giving, have you really changed the essential nature of the act? Haven't you merely legalized stealing?" -page37

The principle being; even if I feel comfortable contributing my money towards something, no matter how noble the cause, I have no right to compel another to do so. To force another to support a cause or institution is unrighteous dominion and theft.

Taught by Latter-Day Saints

We repeat:

"It was the will of the Lord, made known shortly after the organization of the Church, that steps should be taken to have the children of the members taught in schools conducted under the influence of those who had faith in the Gospel." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 2: 98 - 99.)

The Lord commissioned WW Phelps and Oliver Cowdery to help in selecting and writing curriculum for the teaching of young Latter-Day Saints. Why? Why not just go by the recommendations of the most learned professors? Wouldn'Â't they be more qualified to decipher which books would be best?

When this thought process rears its head in the discussion of educating Latter-Saint children, this talk by President Benson is the first thing that pops into my mind;

"I would rather have my child exposed to smallpox, typhus fever, cholera, or other malignant and deadly diseases than to the degrading influence of a corrupt teacher. It is infinitely better to take chances with an ignorant, but pure-minded teacher than with the greatest philosopher who is impure." (General Conference, October 1970)

The importance of having our children taught by Latter-Day Saints was made clear by President John Taylor when he said;

"And then we want to study also the principles of education, and to get the very best teachers we can to teach our children; see that they are men and women who fear God and keep his commandments. We do not want men or women to teach the children of the Latter-day Saints who are not Latter-day Saints themselves. Hear it, you Elders of Israel?" (General Conference April 1879)

Now before you are tempted to say, "Well, that was back then. Times have changed". I would like to remind you that this was not taught in the vacuum of the 19th century. This exact phrase was quoted and taught again in General Conference of April 1958, and the principle continues to be taught today.

Not only are our children to be taught by Latter-Day Saints, President Taylor questions our ability as parents to enter the Celestial Kingdom if we deprive our children of that blessing;

"I am told in the revelations to bring up my children in the fear of God. Now we are engaged in building our temples that we may become united and linked together by eternal covenants that shall exist in all time and throughout eternity. And then when we have done all this go and deliberately turn our children over to whom? To men who do not believe the Gospel, to men who, according to your faith are never going to the celestial kingdom of God. And you will turn your children over to them. And you call yourselves Latter-day Saints, do you? I will suppose a case. You expect to be saved in the celestial kingdom of God. Well, supposing your expectations are realized, which I sometimes doubt, and you look down, down somewhere in a terrestrial or telestial kingdom, as the case may be, and you see your children, the offspring that God had given you to train up in his fear, to honor him and keep his commandments. And supposing they could converse with you what would be their feelings toward you? It would be, Father, Mother, you are to blame for this. I would have been with you if you had hot tampered with the principles of life and salvation in permitting me to be decoyed away by false teachers, who taught incorrect principles. And this is the result of it. But then I very much question men and women's getting into the Celestial kingdom of God who have no more knowledge about principles of life and salvation than to go and tamper with the sacred offspring, the principle of life which God entrusted to your care, to thus shuffle it off to imbibe the spirit of unbelief, which leads to destruction and death."

Elder Boyd K Packer pointed out the effects government schools have had, and the "why" he gives seems to add a lot of credibility to the words of President Taylor.

In 1996, President Packer said,

"In many places it is literally not safe physically for youngsters to go to school. And in many schools (and its becoming almost generally true) it is spiritually unsafe to attend public schools. Look back over the history of education to the turn of the century and the beginning of the educational philosophies pragmatism and humanism were the early ones, and they branched out into a number of other philosophies which have led us now into a circumstance where our schools are producing the problems that we face."

When we reject the words of the Lord, what else should we expect?

I haven't heard this before

Why are the Prophets not so bold on this topic any more? Why do they not speak out specifically against education through taxation anymore? President Benson gave a talk in General Conference April of 1965 that I think answers this question perfectly. He said,

"Usually the Lord gives us the overall objectives to be accomplished and some guidelines to follow, but he expects us to work out most of the details and methods. Sometimes the Lord hopefully waits on his children to act on their own, and when they do not, they lose the greater prize, and the Lord will either drop the entire matter and let them suffer the consequences or else he will have to spell it out in greater detail."

Based on the scriptures the Saints should have known and acted, but they did not so the Prophets had to spell it out in greater detail. We ignored their council demanding the proverbial "King" in educating "us like all the nations", and the Lord has now almost totally dropped "the entire matter" and is allowing us to "suffer the consequences."

And so, let's act

It is time to repent of the sins of the past, and no longer partake in a system of theft, unrighteous dominion and spiritual starvation. It was the call for a "King" from the people that got us in this predicament; let us now change the call to a call for obedience to the King of Kings.

The methods may change, but the principles do not. Wither the method is home schooling, private schools run and taught by Latter-Day Saints or a return to Church run schools, initially, I don't think it matters.

To restore what the Lord has planed for us, we must reject what took us away from that in the first place, and then earnestly seek to follow the will of the Lord to the best of our ability.

As we share this information with others and gain in numbers, we could start LDS based private schools. There have been many attempts at this, but without a growth in informed and motivated Latter-Day Saints, interest, involvement and therefore viability is too sporadic to provide new comers with any dependable recourse.

Short term, it appears that, those outside of Utah have few options outside of home schooling. This just isn't always a viable option for everyone though; therefore, we must shed our selfish tendency to want to avoid contact with people outside of our comfort zone. Reaching out to others, helping them understand these principles and then help them to act.

When education is solidly based on gospel principles, faith increases, spirituality increases, and inspiration increases, leaving us in a better position to fulfill the Lord's will for us individually and collectively.

This is by no means an exhaustive work on the subjects covered. For more details on these, I recommend "Revealed Educational Principles & the Public Schools" by John D. Monnett, "The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil" & "Many Are Called and Few Are Chosen" both by H Verlan Anderson, & "Seek Learning by Study and Also by Faith" Address given by Boyd K Packer to instructors of religion at BYU April 1974 also available as chapter 5 in his book "That All May Be Edified". These provide in-depth coverage of the principles discussed.

Please share this with others, no matter where they live and together we can help restore what was once lost through disobedience, and accomplish the miracles originally intended for generations past.

Recently added substantiating documentation:

Boyd K. Packer
Copenhagen area conference August 1976, Reprinted in Chapter of "That All May Be Edified", 2006
"We can't establish Church schools all over the world. There just isn't enough money."

That tells me that if there was the money for them to just pay for it (probably because of the above discussed experiences), we would have Church schools.
Bryan Turner

www.JBS.org www.YouthMeetsTruth.org

Math

2007-09-26T09:27:00.000-03:00

Lately, Ethan likes to quiz Shaylee on her math facts. In the car he'll ask her "Whats 2+2? What's 3+3? What's 5+5?" and so on and so on. Shaylee has taken to asking us too and will say we're right if she knows it or not. Ethan, on the other hand, gets upset at Shaylee if she's wrong. I should move ahead in our math book. Ethan knows most of what we're doing. We just need to do the clock so he can learn time. It looks really cool; you build a clock out of the blocks and do activities to teach time. There are a few chapters before that, although if we worked through we could get through them in a couple of days. There is a lot of review work and that takes more time than mastering new things. But review is good.

Yesterday we went through most of a language arts books I got at Frenchy's. There were some cute poems in there, some that make the kids laugh like one about tickling your teeth when you brush them and another about painting a cow different colors. There were some things where you make up a story to go with the pictures. Shaylee liked that.

Overall we've been rather lax lately but Ethan is reading more books, doing things on his own and hasn't been as ill tempered. He won't tell me what he's been reading so we haven't been able to put any leaves on his tree. I guess it's better that he's reading simply for the joy of it.

I am thinking of starting Shaylee of very basically, no pressure. I got some cute early readers from the library in a format she enjoys. There are a few words on each page. She is starting to point out words and is interested in what they say. I don't know if she'll take off like Ethan did but it would be nice if she did. I was always scared about teaching reading, so I was thrilled Ethan learned so naturally.

'Tis Crazy, eh?

2007-09-21T14:04:00.001-03:00

That's about how I feel.

I am going to start loosening things up. I will make sure we do BoM study, math and keep track of what Ethan is reading/encourage reading, but the whole "doing school at home" is causing more stress than what it is worth. I read a quote yesterday that I can't find that says "How much are they really learning if you are fighting with them to learn" or something along those lines. I don't ever want my kids to not love learning. This may be a good opportunity to talk about homeschool and the different types :). Text in blue is taken from other sources.

There are many types of homeschooling. The kind most think of, and probably the fewest actually practice, is structured at home schooling. These are the people who try to replicate school at home and usually use a formal curriculum. Actually, in some homeschooling circles, that is what we call it ("School at home").

"Unit Studies: This type of homeschool education can be loosely characterized as using one "theme" or topic as inspiration for teaching. If, for example, a child develops an interest in fish this topic can be used to teach biology, environmental studies, math etc. Such a unit can then be accompanied by a visit to an aquarium. For further information please click: http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/unitstudies/ " There are many, many premade lapbooks and notebooks for this purpose (I have tons saved).

Another one gaining popularity is Charlotte Mason. "Charlotte Mason based her teaching philosophy on the Latin word for education, "educare" (to feed and nourish). The hope is that families using this method will develop a lifetime love of learning. The method uses a variety of "living" books, based on core subjects and include a focus on the fine arts. It relies on the use of narration, with younger children "telling back" what they've learned; emphasis being placed on what the children do know rather than what they do not know. Worries about proper grammar are saved for a little later. "Copywork" is also used later, with children copying quotes, poetry or chosen paragraphs or pages from their books. Some copywork may be from the teacher's dictation, to encourage listening skills. With older children this narration/copywork method can be used in questionnaires and multiple choice tests, or to produce written essays and reports. Charlotte Mason advocates the avoidance of dumbed-down or pre-packaged literature, focusing instead on classic literature and poetry. Her method also includes a unique style of dictation and spelling. Lessons are kept very short (10-15 minutes for young children, up to 30 minutes for older children) and promote concentration versus dawdling. With some families, there is a definite amount of work to be completed in a definite amount of time, with others they simply work until the alloted time is up, then move on. Successive lessons are varied, going from an academic subject (grammar or math), into something physical (outdoor play or gardening), or perhaps something light and fun (reciting children's poetry or silly rhymes). This seems to be a "love it or leave it" choice."

"Classical: This approach is loosely based on the assumption that "all that is old is necessarily good." Teaching, according to this method, is divided into two segments, Trivium (primary and secondary education) and Quadrivium (university level). There are three subparts to the Trivium stage: Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric. "The Grammar stage teaches basic facts and skills, the Dialectic stage steeps children in logic and helps teach them reasoning behind many of the facts they learned in the Grammar period, and the Rhetoric stage focuses on the children's ability to present their worldview in a pleasing and logical manner."[4] Much emphasis is placed on major works of western civilization such as, Homer, Plato, Shakespeare, Milton etc.."

"Eclectic: This approach to homeschooling is one that might draw on various types of homeschooling. With such an approach, the parent may insist on an almost school-at-home approach for math but leave coverage of reading and writing for a unit study approach."

"Unschooling: This method is, in many ways, not a method at all. The Unschooling approach came about as a result of John Holt's book, Instead of Education:Ways to Help People Do Things, originally published in 1976. Holt sets forth that education should be child-led and that the child's natural curiosity will guide and inspire his/her learning. While Holt opposes regimented curriculum he does feel that a parent's response to the child's question will foster learning."

Waldorf; I don't have much information about this, but here is a link: http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/

Montessori homeschooling is another that many do but I'm rather unfamiliar with: http://www.montessori.edu/homeschooling.html

I'm sure there are more, including cyber-schools, distance education or virtual academies, but they don't really apply to us.

I had fancied myself eclectic, combining Charlotte Mason and unschooling. I guess I still do in a sense, but more emphasis on unschooling. I do feel it is important to learn math properly and I will not bend on studying the scriptures (actually, Ethan is starting to enjoy his math again now that he understands place value and will do more pages than I ask him to. He's looking forward to the next section, which we will start tomorrow. He can't wait to get to the part about the clock. So I guess in a way this is child-directed). However, we will now be engaging in child led learning. This concept scares many people, myself too at times but it is what feels right. Unschoolers do try to make sure their children are in an enriching environment where there are many opportunities to learn, go places which may spark an interest in their children and encourage things their children are interested in.

The kids are both so much like me as a child. When I was into something, I was **INTO** it. Eventually my interest would turn to something new but I learned so much on my own and it is those things I remember most. I remember very little of what I learned in school. I mainly remember the basics, reading/spelling (as in they taught me, enabling me to be able to read/spell), basic math (very basic, lol! I have to admit I still count on my fingers) and the rest I put out of my head almost as soon as I learned it or as long as I needed to know it to pass a test or exam. Yet I was somehow an honors student who never studied. Go figure.

So while I won't be formally teaching a by the book curriculum, be at peace knowing there is still TONS of learning going on in this household. The only difference there will no longer be any fighting and tears over it :)

The Reading Tree(s)

2007-09-18T23:53:00.000-03:00

As an incentive for Ethan to read books all by himself, we have two new trees in our home. We also have a new one outside but that's another story :). We have an apple tree in our living room and a pear tree in our kitchen. Each time Ethan reads a book, he gets a leaf to put on the tree. So I think he forgot about it and to stall going to bed, he wanted to read some books. Now he has a leaf on each tree and is reading another book. He will be a crank in the morning when I have to get him up early for playgroup! He actually wants to go this year. I think it's because a certain someone who's name starts with a D who plays really rough and gets him in trouble won't be there.

School went better today. He seemed to get decimal street better. We also read two stories from BoM Discovery. We played a few word games and did some reading. We didn't do a lot as we had tons of errands to run (I can't remember all we did to be honest). We brought a carload of stuff to someone from Freecycle, we had to do some shopping, we went to the library (and got a TON of books and Caillou videos, even bought some to keep) and Mark had to stop by housing.

Well, I think Ethan is finally ready for bed so here are a few pictures of our most recent adventures (as always, you can click on them to see the larger versions):

One of the biggest worms I have ever seen (it was about as long as my forearm fully stretched out)

A flock of birds flying in a line formation (hard to see in smaller image)

Shaylee discovering how soft a feather is on her cheek

Ethan digging by our new little cedar tree

Ethan putting a leaf on his apple tree (kitchen)

Ethan standing proudly in front of his pear tree (living room)

Miserable Monday!!!

2007-09-18T09:21:00.001-03:00

I don't know what got into him, but Ethan had a terrible bad miserable day. We got off to a late start as I had an appointment then did some shopping after. When I got home at around 10:30, Mark had let Ethan on the computer, which basically put the rest of the day into a tail spin. I want to have a no computer until after lunch rule for Ethan so he can spend his morning getting his work done (I am only on it before he gets up). If he gets school done early without complaining, then he can have the computer after he's done school. So I wasn't too impressed that Ethan was already on the computer as soon as he was up.

Ethan fought every step of the day. I tried everything to get him to do the most minuscule thing done. He said he would work if we went outside around 1:30. Yeah right! It's not so bad as the kids were doing their nature thing, picking things, watching birds, planting a tree and playing games. After someone picked something up from freecycle around 2:30/3pm, we went inside.

If we got nothing else done for the day, I wanted to get our math lesson done. We're working on a new concept, place value and I thought he would love it. We have a large poster called "Decimal Street" and the blocks live in it and you use it to build numbers with blocks (here is a video about it on YouTube but it's different from ours; we haven't reached the hundreds yet). Ethan has been able to count over a hundred since he was 3, almost 4 with the help of Chicka Chicka 123, however he was having problems reading simple 2 digit numbers. It's not that he can't, he just wouldn't. After he fought it for a while, I let him have a little play break then we tried again. It took over an hour to do two pages, each which have 3-4 problems (and we even skipped some). I was nearly in tears as he knows how to do it, but he wouldn't. He would take the blocks and do everything but build the numbers. He complained it would take too long but by the time he actually was doing the problems, it took less than a minute each, a lot less than the hour he took complaining about it.

I then let him play for a while as he just had way too much energy. Then I had him read the 100 most common words in the English language (I was going to get him to read the second hundred most common words, but I couldn't get them to open) and he read some books on his own. After going outside for a while again, he played Starfall on the computer for about an hour with Shaylee then I let him play his Granny games.

I tried and tried earlier to do the Book of Mormon Discovery but he would not so he will have two stories today. I had been getting him to help me read them but I think from now on I will read them so he won't be so resistant to it. The thing is he can read it all, he just thinks it takes too long. That's his excuse for everything. Sigh. At least we had prayer and a couple songs and hymns first of all.

Ethan does not get the computer at all today, so he can't cry and whine about that. Another thing he was doing was asking for a treat every 5 minutes. I constantly explain that treats are occasional things, not something to have all the time. If he would eat his meals he wouldn't be hungry all the time. I let him have things like fruit, peanut butter sandwich, toast and yes, even a couple of cookies (how fair would it be if I had them but not the kids). I am seriously considering cutting refined foods (white flour, sugar, bad fats, ect...) out entirely to see if that will help his constant bouncing off the walls and behavior problems. I just don't know what he would eat as he only likes junk but he'll have to learn to enjoy more things. His window of foods he will eats becomes narrower each day.

Anyway, at least Shaylee isn't as much of a handful, lol! She just goes along with everything.

Well, it's almost 10 am and no sign of Ethan and Mark. I wish I could sleep in some day :(. Ethan is having breakfast, getting dressed and we will have school. Mark has the day off so we will be doing some running around so I don't want it to take long today.

It's The Weekend!

2007-09-16T15:30:00.001-03:00

Whoo! We had a day off on Friday and boy did Ethan let everyone know, lol! It must of been a great thing for him. Of course he didn't even come downstairs until 11am (neither did Mark; like father, like son!). We just had fun hanging out around the house, playing on the computer and all that fun stuff.

Ethan likes to make levels on Super Granny 3 and Granny in Paradise (as well as play). He's pretty good at it too! Sometimes he makes complex levels that even I have trouble with. He is also excellent at helping me see solutions to levels that I don't get. He likes for me to play so he can tell me what to do, lol!

We're getting back on track tomorrow though. I can't wait for my voice to strengthen so I can read more to them. I may see if I can get Alice in Wonderland on CD or tape at the library. Of course it's not as fun since when I read, I do a lot of explaining and question asking and answering. I want them to grow up loving classics and regret not starting to read them earlier.

I think I finally know what I want to sign the kids up for. There is a Dancersise Tot class being offered for ages 3-5, 14 weeks for $60. I have been wanting something I can get them both into and I think they would really enjoy it. Shaylee LOVES!!! music and dancing; Ethan is ok with it, but maybe in a class with other kids would open him up more to it. I would love to get them in music classes, especially Shaylee. She has natural talent and an ear for music. I had hoped Ethan would, but computer is more his thing.

Well, I should enjoy my afternoon free. I have lots of things to plan and get ready for the week. I'll update our week as we go along :)

Oh, and here is the Nova Scotia blog I keep, if anyone is interested. It's fun but a little depressing seeing all the things that go on everywhere but here :(

September 13th 2007

2007-09-14T10:01:00.000-03:00

My *y* button isn't working, which is annoying! I have to copy and paste every time I need one, grrrr (which seems to be often!)

yesterday was a pretty good day. It was nice outside so we decided to have school out on the front steps. Of course that meant that often attention was on things other than what we were doing, but that's ok.

We had our prayer before going out. Then we did out BoM Discovery, which was the story of Nephi building the ship they would need to cross the ocean. Ethan then drew a picture of it with chalk on the sidewalk. After that we had a reading lesson and I introduced him to cursive writing. I don't think he's quite ready for it yet, although I did read that some kids find it easier than printing. I then let him read some Little Critter books. Lastly we had our math lesson. We're into bigger numbers and placement value. We didn't watch the video so I think it's time for decimal street and I'm not sure how that works. We'll watch the video today and figure it out.

We're supposed to be reading classic books of literature and have them narrate what is happening back but being sick and not having much of a voice, I have been putting that off. It's hard to articulate many of the words with a poor voice. Our first book is Alice in Wonderland. We started it, but I think we will have to start over again since it's been a little while. I should get Mark to do that since he already reads a lot to the kids.

Well, I hope they wake up soon. It's after 10am and Mark and Ethan are still in bed. I plan on taking a nap this afternoon as I'm feeling worse than I was.

Pictures!

2007-09-14T08:16:00.000-03:00

I know I promised pictures, so here you go!:

This is Ethan doing his Book of Mormon Discovery the first day.
Shaylee wanted her picture taken too :) (don't mind the dirty face!).

Here is Shaylee doing some of Ethan's Math-U-See lesson. She actually was doing it correctly!Here is Ethan correcting her work and erasing the extra lines she drew.

Here's a picture of us going down to the beach at Smuggler's Cove in the Meteghan area. There are 108 steps leading down to the water, torture when you're sick and can't breathe!

These are some of the very cool rocks at Smuggler's Cove. They were all wavy and very smooth. It's amazing what power water can have!

September 12th 2007

2007-09-13T10:09:00.000-03:00

I keep meaning to write at the end of the day, but I literally konked out last night. I didn't even get the supper dishes done. Being sick wipes me out!!

We were late moving yesterday (as we are today, but I'll get to that later ;) ). I don't even think we got started until after 11am. We didn't do a whole lot as usual. We started out with our Book of Mormon Discovery, reading about Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life. After reading the story, Ethan drew a picture of it. It was interesting watching him figure out how to make white fruit on a white background, so they ended up being silver. He also drew every fruit imaginable. It's nice not to be limited by imagination :). Next Ethan read the next couple of lessons in his McGuffey's first eclectic primer. Then he did about 10 pages in his Math-U-See book. I think he wants to hurry through it so he can do the next book. I'm hoping to start by Christmas. Between dilly dallying, stopping to read a Jimmy Neutron book half way through and drawing, we were done by about 12:05.

Around 1pm, we went to Meteghan. We went to Vics, Frenchys and to Smuggler's Cove. I consider smuggler's cove our science for the day as they played in the ocean, we talked about the cool rocks and the tide, how the tide shapes the rocks, collected a few interesting rocks, looked at some plants and just saw how nature works together. It was fun.

Well, we're about to start another day. Mark is getting the kids dressed and I should grab some breakfast. I need to update this with some pictures :)

September 11th 2007

2007-09-12T05:23:00.000-03:00

I had meant to do an accounting of the day last night, but Ethan had the computer and I tried to go to bed early. I've been up since 4am with a killer ear infection so I might as well take this opportunity.

We all got up fairly early for us, between 7 and 8 am. Mark had to work early so that was part of the reason. I let the kids play around a bit before we started school. Word to the wise, do not let your children have hot chocolate and spoons while trying to read them a story!! The clinking and slurping far overshadowed any listening that was going on! I thought it would be a nice treat....yeah...maybe a nice treat before, during a break or after!! So Ethan barely payed attention to the story of Lehi and his family in the wilderness and he only recalled Nephi and his broken bow due to the fact we have a book about it. The kids drew pictures, Ethan drew one of the Liahona and Shaylee drew a picture of me and a picture of daddy being very, very angry. They were actually very good, only she drew them with chalk so I don't know if they will photograph very well.

Ethan was drawing for a while so I decided to do a McGuffey's Primer lesson with Shaylee. I mean, Ethan was starting to read at her age so who's to say if she's ready too? Of course she loved it since it was about a cat. I don't know if she actually remembers but I'll go over it again tomorrow. Then Ethan did 4 or 5 reading lessons in his McGuffey's book. Tomorrow it starts with longer paragraphs but I know he will do very well.

After this we roasted peanuts and made peanut butter.

Then the day just sort of fell into everyone doing their own thing, as usual. It's hard to do much when you're not feeling well. My highlight of the day is our Bookcloseouts order came! The kids were upset I didn't get any kids books (mostly reference and a couple novels for me), but we have soooooo many and from now on, I think we'll just get them from the library or French's as they often don't read them more than once. Ethan did read a lot of books on his own today and we watched the Jimmy Neutron movie, as well as Caillou several times. They love acting out Caillou. They just don't sit when they watch it, but act along with it, taking turns playing all the parts. They went to Nanny Veinot's house for a while, which gave me a chance to do some cleaning. Our house is falling into mass chaos since there is so much going on and the kids don't put anything back. We need to get routines about that in order or else I will go crazy! We just don't have the room living in a cramped apartment to have everything out all the time.

I plan to write soon about how I came to the decision to homeschool and how I came to decide what we're doing and the types involved. It's a complex story, but one think I will enjoy finally being able to write in it's entirety.

Well, I think this garlic is ready to come out of my ear and I really should get back to bed. Night!!

Monday Sept. 10th

2007-09-10T10:23:00.000-03:00

Well, it is 10:20-something and the kids are busy acting out Caillou skits before math, so I thought I would take a little time to write about our day so far.

We started out today singing O Canada at Shaylee's request, then we had opening prayer. Always first is our Book of Mormon Discovery study. Today we read the story of the Brass Plates and answered the questions. The kids then drew pictures of Nephi listening to his father.

Next we learned about healthy food. I read a book to them, then we talked about the food pyramid/rainbow, where different foods belong, then we had a coloring activity. This led Ethan to take out and tell me what all the colors were after discovering how silly the names are ("Macaroni and Cheese"??). We are later going to go to Dayton Fruit and Vegetable later to get a bag of peanuts to make our own peanut butter. The kids are pretty excited about that.

Then the kids decided to play Caillou so I looked up tons of books on the library website to get today and ordered some through inter-library loan. This is a life saver for me! I love books but they get so expensive after a while, even with bargain hunting. BookCloseouts is my favorite source to order books and materials online (Frenchys is where I get most of my books as it's cheap!!).

The kids are quiet so that must mean we're ready to move on soon. They can't wait to do sorting, counting and skip counting with candies. I'm going to have to find more as I don't have many left. Ethan will also do a few pages in his Math-U-See book. In addition to Math, we're going to do a couple of lessons from McGuffey's, including a few words for copy work. I'm not concerned yet about what his printing looks like. It's pretty big, but at least he has all the letters right. I wanted to take a little nature walk today but I think the trip to the library will take a lot out of me as I'm still wiped from being sick. Plus the weather is kind of yuck today. Maybe on a nicer day :)

Awesome Blog Entry!

2007-09-09T14:07:00.001-03:00

I admit, I read a lot and like to poke around blogs. I read one today that really struck the chords. It is a teacher who explores why so many teachers are quitting the profession at a young age. I don't know if the problem is as big in Canada, but I can see it reaching these proportions : http://weeklyscheiss.blogspot.com/ . You have to scroll down to the entry on September 4th, 2007.

Last night we watched a Documentary on Global about how consumerism is entering public schools, how many cannot function without being supported by cooperations such as McDonalds, Home Depot, ect... Here is a link (I think you can watch it all online): Global Currents, Cooperations in the Classroom.

While these aren't the reasons we homeschool, they make me grateful to have more control over the content of my children and to be responsible for them.

A New Blog!!

2007-09-09T12:56:00.000-03:00

Ok, I decided that I didn't want to turn our family blog into a forum where all I talk about it homeschooling, so I decided to create a second blog under this account just for homeschooling business. I do have homeschooling blogs elsewhere but there is a lot of private stuff there, lots of moaning and groaning, and I want one I can share freely with everyone.

So...

Ta Da!!

Here's to a great school year :)