Our homeschool group was having a discussion yesterday about organization and feeling out of control. We offered one another support. We will be discussing organization at our next homeschool meeting. I'm excited to share some tools and learn something new.
It led me to this quote and a focus on peace:
"Lord, I'm overwhelmed...I often lose sight of You. Please rejuvenate my soul and help me look to You for stength and comfort when I need it most. Remind me that I can't control everything and that it's okay I'm not perfect. Amen."
From In the Kitchen with Mary and Martha: One Dish Wonders
(found in my 365 Moments of Peace for Moms)
Peace. Aren't we all looking for peace? I am. I am looking for peace in my heart and in my life. I usually relate peace with balance. When I have a balance in my life things seem to go smoothly, peacefully. I am someone that requires downtime. I do not always like to be on the go.
Seems so funny to me...when I look back, I think I was always busy as a teenager and as a young adult. It's really been since I've entered the motherhood stage, that I took a big pause...looked at my schedule, prioritized it and have been searching for peace, balance and mindful activities.
My sister is quite different, not only does she have a few more kids than I do, she is also still on the go. This comes to light when we take trips together. Our family likes some down time. We don't want to be on the go with a planned activity every day. Some days we want to spend in the pool or exploring...something simple.
As a child, I recall many moments of down time. I have always loved to read and write. I had plenty of time to do those activities as well as play with my siblings, neighborhood kids, take walks and explore. Just play...I remember having a lot of time to play...to use our imaginations. I think I've come full circle. I am trying to teach my own children now to find peace, balance and mindfulness.
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Homeschooling Field Trip: Fire Museum
Yesterday, we were back in North Charleston at the American LaFrance Fire Museum and Educational Center. Upon entering my son saw an antique fire truck with 2 laterns on it. Excitedly, he shared, "Mom, look laterns - just like on Little House on the Prairie!" Then he took off running. Inside we found 18 restored, antique fire trucks. Each truck had a story to tell.
We read and learned about each truck, noticing the differences and upgrades. The kids could not wait to investigate the educational play area with stairs on one side and a firetruck ladder on the other side. Once you reach the top, you can either slide down the fire pole or head down the slide. All thoughout the museum are mini educational areas - 911 calls, fire prevention, what the inside of a home looks like after a fire and fire equipment, just to name a few.
In the back of the museum is a stage with a 7 minute presentation. On stage, there are different areas of a home. The show highlights those areas of the home and alerts the audience to potential hazards. For example one area is the stove, that area is highlighted and the stove starts smoking. The hazard is discussed as is prevention.
I'm saving the best for last. The kids were thrilled with the fire truck simulator. It's an actual fire truck. A visitor can sit in the front, passenger or back seats. Once inside, buckle up. The driver starts the simulator by touching a side screen twice. The simulator takes you on a real call to an accident scene. The driver drives the truck to the scene. As the driver, not only are you driving, you can also hit the floor button for the siren or hit the horn. Each of the kids did the simulator twice and kept asking to go again!
There is much to learn at the fire museum for adults and children. I did not realize the fire fighters had floor buttons in the fire truck. The passenger does as well. Upon exiting the fire museum, each child receives a plastic fire hat to continue the pretend play at home.
The cost is reasonable, $6 per person. Kids are free under the age of 13 with an accompanying adult! A day at the fire museum proved to be educational and fun!
We read and learned about each truck, noticing the differences and upgrades. The kids could not wait to investigate the educational play area with stairs on one side and a firetruck ladder on the other side. Once you reach the top, you can either slide down the fire pole or head down the slide. All thoughout the museum are mini educational areas - 911 calls, fire prevention, what the inside of a home looks like after a fire and fire equipment, just to name a few.
In the back of the museum is a stage with a 7 minute presentation. On stage, there are different areas of a home. The show highlights those areas of the home and alerts the audience to potential hazards. For example one area is the stove, that area is highlighted and the stove starts smoking. The hazard is discussed as is prevention.
I'm saving the best for last. The kids were thrilled with the fire truck simulator. It's an actual fire truck. A visitor can sit in the front, passenger or back seats. Once inside, buckle up. The driver starts the simulator by touching a side screen twice. The simulator takes you on a real call to an accident scene. The driver drives the truck to the scene. As the driver, not only are you driving, you can also hit the floor button for the siren or hit the horn. Each of the kids did the simulator twice and kept asking to go again!
There is much to learn at the fire museum for adults and children. I did not realize the fire fighters had floor buttons in the fire truck. The passenger does as well. Upon exiting the fire museum, each child receives a plastic fire hat to continue the pretend play at home.
The cost is reasonable, $6 per person. Kids are free under the age of 13 with an accompanying adult! A day at the fire museum proved to be educational and fun!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Homeschooling: Getting Started
Interested in homeschooling this year? Not sure where to get started? An important resource for homeschoolers is the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. First find out what the homeschool laws are in your state. When I first started, I wanted support. I did not want to go on this journey alone. So I found my local support groups. You can do a web search, yahoo or google groups search or search here. Another wonderful resource is the library - borrow books for the kids or for homeschooling Moms and attend story hour. I am a lover of the library! Find out what is available at the local library.
When we were first getting started with homeschooling, I bought a magnetic board and magnetic letters. We practiced letters and sounds. We attended story time at the library and borrowed loads of books from the library. I eventually found the Leap Frog DVDs, which I highly recommend: Letter Factory, Talking Words, Talking Words 2 and later Learn to Read.
I attended used curriculum sales to get ideas and make some purchases. I ended up with too many workbooks! I started a wish list for books and educational toys in Microsoft Word for holidays and birthdays. We were learning every day all day long - many teachable moments from manners to letters to sounds to questions about God and nature.
For kindergarten, I purchased used What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. For writing we initially used lined paper, then I found lined dry erase boards. I found them in Walmart for just a few dollars. For Math, we had our own counters (pennies, M&Ms or buttons) and we added and subtracted with them. For Science we learned on our own about nature, hands on. We went out and studied it. When we come upon something, we look it up online or get books out of the library on the subject. For Art, we bought all sorts of supplies and the Draw Write Now Series.
We moved on to reading anything else in the house and some Abeka readers. For Read a louds, we read The Boxcar Children series, Magic Tree House Series and The Little House Series. We added the Explode the Code Series for reading and writing.
This year we have added the Story of the World for history. It has a workbook companion. I've also discovered Edhelper.com is another resource. Some information is free; it is $20 a year for a membership.
Homeschooling is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with your kids - quality time. Read, read and read to them! Tap into some resources (I've listed many above) and find tools that work for you and your children. You will be amazed at the teachable moments you encounter on a daily basis. Enjoy the journey!
When we were first getting started with homeschooling, I bought a magnetic board and magnetic letters. We practiced letters and sounds. We attended story time at the library and borrowed loads of books from the library. I eventually found the Leap Frog DVDs, which I highly recommend: Letter Factory, Talking Words, Talking Words 2 and later Learn to Read.
I attended used curriculum sales to get ideas and make some purchases. I ended up with too many workbooks! I started a wish list for books and educational toys in Microsoft Word for holidays and birthdays. We were learning every day all day long - many teachable moments from manners to letters to sounds to questions about God and nature.
For kindergarten, I purchased used What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. For writing we initially used lined paper, then I found lined dry erase boards. I found them in Walmart for just a few dollars. For Math, we had our own counters (pennies, M&Ms or buttons) and we added and subtracted with them. For Science we learned on our own about nature, hands on. We went out and studied it. When we come upon something, we look it up online or get books out of the library on the subject. For Art, we bought all sorts of supplies and the Draw Write Now Series.
We moved on to reading anything else in the house and some Abeka readers. For Read a louds, we read The Boxcar Children series, Magic Tree House Series and The Little House Series. We added the Explode the Code Series for reading and writing.
This year we have added the Story of the World for history. It has a workbook companion. I've also discovered Edhelper.com is another resource. Some information is free; it is $20 a year for a membership.
Homeschooling is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with your kids - quality time. Read, read and read to them! Tap into some resources (I've listed many above) and find tools that work for you and your children. You will be amazed at the teachable moments you encounter on a daily basis. Enjoy the journey!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Project: Save the Lizard
This morning, we had all been up a few hours and hubby was off at work. The kids started getting excited about something. Well, it turns out the excitement was a small lizard in our fireplace! I figure it crawled down the fireplace? We have the black chain netting in front of the fireplace and the lizard was on it. There is no glass or doors on the fireplace. HOW am I going to get a lizard out from there?!? My son is a lizard, toad and pretty much all creatures lover! I asked him, if he thought he could get it himself. "No, Mom," he replied. "Those little lizards are fast. Only Dad can get them." Great! Kids chimed in, "call Dad, call Dad!" I call Dad to bother him at work with our big house emergency. He said to tell my son, "He (the lizard) got himself in this situation, he can get himself out." That's my husband's survival of the fittest thinking. I worried. I worried about us running our errands later today and coming home and finding the lizard running around the house. Or worse, not being able to find the lizard when we returned home. My children were thrilled with a homeschool project so early in the morning. How can we rescue the lizard? Problem solving hats on, they scurried out to the garage to make a plan and gather their tools! They came back in the house after a few minutes with their ideas, plans and tools. They explained each plan to me and we determined the best plan of action. We put plan 1 into place....when I approached the lizard from behind, he didn't move. So we modified that plan then and I approached him again from behind with a small net. When you are a creature lover, you have all sorts of different size nets! I got him! He must have been in shock about the whole situation as he didn't object or really try to get away. I gently guided him into the net, then we got him into a small critter container. My son took him right outside, let him go, and said, "this must be the happiest day of that lizard's life!" My daughter added, "the lizard rushed off to his natural habitat." We all high fived and shared our excitement that we helped rescue the lizard and return him to his habitat. I love being a homeschool Mom and the adventures we find......
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Work & Life Balance
Where have I been?? Do you think I simplified so much....that I've turned off the computer completely? =) Believe me, I've thought about it from time to time. I love keeping up to date with friends and family too much, especially those far away. I also love being able to research information quickly. So no, even though I may have thought of it at times, my computer is still on.
I have taken some time off blogging. I have been striving for a simpler life and things have been going really well. Over the summer, hubby and I had been talking about the possibility of me working some hours outside the home. Actually the idea of the two of us splitting some time - him working less hours and spending more time with the kids and me picking up some hours. A work & life balance was our goal. We found it. So these past few months have just been working together on that focus. What we found offered me many more working hours than I was originally searching for. The position was very interesting and not something you find every day. We decided to accept the challenge. My hubby cut back his work hours to 4 eight hour days and I picked up 3 days to work. He is now spending a lot more time with the kids and participating in homeschooling. Yay! So it really worked out for us.
I have taken some time off blogging. I have been striving for a simpler life and things have been going really well. Over the summer, hubby and I had been talking about the possibility of me working some hours outside the home. Actually the idea of the two of us splitting some time - him working less hours and spending more time with the kids and me picking up some hours. A work & life balance was our goal. We found it. So these past few months have just been working together on that focus. What we found offered me many more working hours than I was originally searching for. The position was very interesting and not something you find every day. We decided to accept the challenge. My hubby cut back his work hours to 4 eight hour days and I picked up 3 days to work. He is now spending a lot more time with the kids and participating in homeschooling. Yay! So it really worked out for us.
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