We are Still Here

Did you think I moved?

Or stopped hsing?

Nothing new here, just busy and honestly, nothing really new in homeschool to write about.

I am finding it harder to stay focused these last two months of school.  We will finish our geography this week.  DD is already done with her grammar.  I think we need to go on a field trip!  Hmmm...no to plan it!

Introducing...

Today we had s new family in our little homeschool group!  That is always good. 

They made me think of how different each lady (and a few men) are in our group of moms.

Let me intorduce you to them:  (sorry I don't have any photos)

H: she is a long standing homeschooler and one of the regulars.  She has, I think 9 children.  The first half were girls and the second half boys.  She has been at this for like 20 years!  She is a true talker, wears no shoes (unless it's very cold out) and no bra.  She doesn't shave and, yes, eats natural food (you knew it was coming).  Her husband works for the public schools!

C: she is another regular.  She has two kids close to our kids ages.  Really sweet lady, talks to everyone and remembers your name (the kid's names too).  C & H meet even in the summer!  Her husband puts in septic tanks.  She keeps the books for him.  They own horses.  DD plays piano.  Her DD and my DD are pretty close and the most alike out of the girls.  C's hair always looks nice and she is put together type of a lady.  Christian woman.

Then there is mom a (I don't know her name.)  She had a bunch of kids too, most of them are grown.  Nice, eats good food, brings healthy snacks.  Comes every now and then.

L:  She was one of the first ladies I talked to when I first started homeschooling.  REALLY helped me.  Talking to her gives me peace...she settles my spirit.  I actually run into her more at the library then at the PE group.  She has three kids.  Her DD is super nice, dresses like a modern little house on the prairie, braided pig tails and all (she's 17).

Mom b:  has two kids, comes fairly often, she more drops her kids off or they drive themselves.  DH smokes and hangs out along the fence.

T: the PE teacher, scout mom, tall athletic type.  She has been at this for awhile too.  I haven't talked to her much.  Though when I have she has been nice.  She is pretty serious and has things together.  Without her we'd have no PE.

Then there's the new family.  C & A have two kids, one much older then the other.  They just started HSing and just moved here.  They are REALLY into it.  They are for real rcokers, have records, fans, toured the whole bit!  He has tatoos.  She had really cool Doc Martins!  Anyway, I am getting sidetracked.  Really nice folks.  Their DD and my DD hit it off today.  She may end up giving our DD singing lessons!  (Answer to prayer!)  I told my DH that they would have hit it off.
  My DH loves to paint ball--C loves to paintball
  My DH is a "rocker"--C plays the bass in their band (I play bass in our band)
  MY DH sings/plays guitar--A. sings/plays guitar
  I have to stop myself from rescuing dogs--A has the same problem
  I have always wanted to adopt--A takes in kids
There are a few more things that they are alike.  I hope to see more of them.

Then there's DH and I.  Dh comes sometimes on his Fridays off.  He usally comes as he is, in his work clothes, or something similar.  He'll play with the kids who are "straglers" (sp?).  Me, well you know me.

Why I Love Homeschooling

Somedays I would rather be by myself or just not have school, but then our son does this and reminds me of why I homeschool and love it.

He rounded up some scrap wood that was in the yard and put together this scooter.

He was getting rid of his skateboard.

He used the wheels for his scooter. 

(My idea...I earned some "Cool" mom points there!)

Science offers some fun photo opportunities.

Here the kids are learning about camoflouge (sp?) and animals use it to save them from getting eaten.

We use a Reason for Science and really like it.  I had to bring DD in a lower grade. 

So DS and DD use the same book.

They had to color toothpicks.

Then throw them in the yard and try to find them.

Can you see it?  It a green one.

Here they are looking for some more.  I think they found them all.

Notice the slippers...one reason DD loves homeschool!

Decomposition-This is a Bit Gross

In our science we had to do a couple of experiments with bananas.

Each experiment had two bags each. 

The first had bananas with nothing, and then bananas with yeast.

After a week the bananas with the yeast were REALLY mushing and well, yucky.

The second had bananas with again nothing and then salt.

The salt acted as a perservative.  The salt sucked the water out of the bananas really fast. 

Brings to mind what it does to our bodies after a bowl of chips.

Pass the tea!!

Back in the Day

So the kids and I were answering the Smarty Pants U.S. Presidents quiz by The Pioneer Woman yesterday, we got to a question that had to do with Bill Clinton. I knew the answer. DD says, well you were back in the day, so you know about that. Back in the day?!?! I chuckled and let it go. Though I think I will go get my hair highlighted to cover the grays now!

Have you seen this?

Egg Drop

You've probably seen this done before. We tried the famous egg drop experiment. Each kid got two eggs to wrap as they wanted. The idea was to see if the wrapping would protect the egg from breaking when dropped.#1 tissue and medical tape

#2 duck tape, duck tape and more duck tape

#3 attempted rubber band wrap.

#4 newspaper and yes, duck tape

#5 stuffing

Boy, very excited about dropping the eggs.

None of the eggs made it. The duck taped one cracked the least.

Problem Solving...

This morning I found myself explaining the relativity of pre-algebra to my 8Th grader.

My explanation probably was as relative as algebra itself.

Fun Science

In C's physical science we did a cool experiment. This is just water and a LOT of corn starch.

I have two incase you want to see it twice! LOL! We left it in the pan all day. You could pick up the dish and act like you were going to pour it but it would move but a bit! Pretty fun!

Come Along Way

What you can see in this photo...
A lone boy in a tree house doing his work (math).
My dirty windows...I had to sneak this photo from our kitchen.
The mug of coffee (flavored milk) I made him. He was up late with his dad last night.
A boy who is comfortable and confident at what he is doing. What you don't see...
The steam that is coming from his nose.
A boy who, when we first started homeschool, struggled with math and needed me to sit right by him, even if I wasn't helping.
The tears and frustration that happened along the past three years.
A happy mom behind the camera!

Don't give up! This photo was three years in the making!

Unexcepted Lessons

2 1/2 years: what I have learned/gained from homeschooling.

Distraction come, you will work them and everything works out just fine.

They will get it. After struggling through math, needing me to sit there (even if it was just doing nothing) dear son is getting it on his own!!! He has even done math for fun!!

I am not super woman, nor do I want to be!

I really do love my kids.

I can get mad like never before...where did it come from.

After working on school in the morning, my brain is on auto pilot. (What did you just say?)

Mixing it up and not going by the book is fun! We did math and grammar yesterday. Then went for an hour walk looking for objects that make letters (Christmas presents), talking, getting our vitamin D. When Dad got home we drove out of town to hear a presentation on ghost towns in our area. DH was really excited about this! It was put on by the Historical Society in a Good Samaritan place. Let's just say that it was full of senior citizens. At the end the DS got interested enough to stop saying his stomach hurt and get into it. (Luckily hubby sat between son and I!!!)

There are things homeschool kids learn that aren't in the books.

People expect homeschool kids to be smarter...even if it's there first year of homeschooling.

People think you can rearrange your schedule any ole time.

People are always telling me "that would be a great lesson for the kids." Do they tell that to public school kids...no! And just for the record, while you mean well, I really do have enough to teach, thank you!

SO many moms tell me they couldn't do it. Chance are, you can. I am proof!

I have really learned a LOT about myself too! (Sorry, I will spare you the boring details!)

I know there is more that I have learned, but I know the kids are about ready for me, so I am off!

Have a great day!

Science Takes Patience

You may not be able to see it all here in the photo. This is one of C's science experiments today. We have boiling salt water...

A lid with a bag of ice on the top...

And a bowl to catch the dripping (NOT) condensation.

Let me tell you, some of these experiments have taken a long time and have resulted in patience!

Can you see all of the white spots on the stove and the pan? That's the salt! Still need to wipe it down!

Teaching While Sick

We all have been sick for about two weeks here. The flu.

We have had no school all last week. But will start back today, albeit late.

With this in mind, as I am still a bit stuffed and blowing my nose, I wanted to write about teaching while sick.

I remember the first year of homechooling, I got sick one day and had to teach from the couch. Poor son, was so good about bringing his books to me, etc. I remember thinking, yikes, I wish I could call in a sub! But quickly knew I was the mom, the teacher, the janitor, the coach and the sub. I was it! I also felt more pressure to do school every day. (Whereas, I know now that I can skip a day here and there and will make it up later.) Last year wasn't too bad.

This year, so far has had enough sick days. So since the kids are feeling better. I will pull up my rolling chair, have cough drops in my pocket and tissue within reach and teach!

What do you do when you are sick?

Just What I Needed

So, we are into our third year of HSing and I feel much more confident, but this morning I kept pushing away the thought of maybe I am not doing enough for the kids. (Pause for a sentence check...we have been going over compound and complex sentences. I think I need the kids to check the first sentence. ;) )

Anyway, I am fighting the thought that "maybe I am short changing the kids' education. Maybe I will send DD to public high school next year."

We are in the post office when the the teller asks why the kids aren't in school. "They are homeschooled." I reply. She was taken back, just a bit. She starts to go on about how smart they must be and encourages me to keep it up. She says that she couldn't HS them at their ages. She really made my day!

You never know when you will say just the right thing at the right time to someone, so be nice!

Our Wall

I was thinking of repainting our walls, but I think this one will have to wait. It seems to be getting covered up. This is our dining room wall. As you can see it is also our main homeschool wall too. On it we have multiplication facts in colored story form, chemical formulas in colors (which I think only DD can read, she wrote them on teenage graphics), a calendar, the alphabet in cursive (as the kids need to write almost all in cursive now and we need the occasional reminder of how a letter should look), the ever essential dry erase board, and two maps for geography.

Last year we also had the US presidents running along the top of the wall. What does you wall look like?