New Homeschooler Packet Ideas

I get questions about homeschooling all the time from various people. In some cases, it might be a wife who is trying to persuade her husband (or the other way ’round!). Other times, they come from families who are on the verge of homeschooling, but haven’t started yet. Parents in their first couple years of homeschooling are often full of questions as well.

What I am wanting to do is put together a packet for new and potential homeschoolers in my area. Once I have everything together, I will probably post it to my blog as well, although some things (such as local resources, field trip sites, co-ops, etc.) will be location specific. Perhaps I can just give pointers on how to search for these things in any given area.

Anyway, I know I have lots of homeschoolers who read my blog, so I was wondering if you all could help me come up with a good list of resources to include in the packets. So far, I have thought of things such as:

Two or three catalogues from major curriculum companies,

A description of the HSLDA, with a link to their website (possibly even a registration form),

A couple of articles on time-management, budgeting, discipline, etc,

FAQ,

Local groups and activities,

Copy of current homeschool laws,

Etc.

If you all could help me out with the FAQ aspect, and maybe some other ideas of what to include, I would be very grateful! For instance, what do you think are the most frequently asked questions, and how would you answer those? I would like to include several different perspectives as long as I can do so without creating confusion. After all, each family is different.

To get the discussion started, what do you think is the absolute best advice you could give a new homeschooler, concerning any main issues such as socialization, curriculum, schedules, etc.

Homemade Spanish Flashcards

Okay, so I just spent the last several hours making Spanish flashcards to coordinate with Ian’s elementary Spanish curriculum (Monarch online – published by Alpha & Omega). I really like the course, and so does he, but it seems like it could be largely improved by some good flashcards. These are for the first unit, and all of the vocabulary words can be found in the second-to-last lesson in unit one: Meeting Esteban at the Beach. I know they covered a few more words in this unit, but I didn’t take the time to look through every single lesson to find all of the vocabulary words. As it stands, there are over 100 words in this file, all with nice pics to go with them. (I did add in a few words myself – maybe 10 or so, because I just thought they made sense.) I’ll most likely do this at the end of each unit, so if you are using the Monarch Spanish curriculum (or if you just want some free Spanish flashcards) check back occasionally. I tried very hard to make sure none of these pics had copyrights on them, but if you catch something, let me know, and I will change the file. I’m going to cut out each card and write the Spanish word on the back. I’m not sure I’m gonna write the English word on them at all, but I haven’t decided yet. I really just want Ian to associate the Spanish words with the items/actions they belong to, and not constantly be translating from English. Here they are, for anyone who wants them: Spanish Flashcards

By the way, if you want to make more, all I did was type in the word I wanted, followed by the word clip art. Then I just looked for pics that didn’t have a copyright symbol of any kind.

Creative Writing and Castles

Ian and I have been working on a project for the last two days. Yesterday, he wanted to play Minecraft, but my husband was home and using the Xbox. So, in order to keep him occupied, I suggested that he draw up a house plan. Ian has always been really spatially aware, and in order to encourage him, I’ve invested in some house plan books, graph paper and architect’s stencils. We got out the graph paper and began drawing a floor-plan for a castle. A really huge castle with three stories, towers, and a dungeon that’s twice the size of the main floor. By the time we really got into it, we realized that the castle wasn’t enough. You see, there was the issue of the enormous kitchen and grand hall to deal with. The King was going to throw huge parties, and in order to do that, his property would have to be vast, complete with a forest, lake, village, a blacksmith, and farms to supply his larders. Before we knew it, the “map” took up four pieces of paper that we had to tape together. He insisted on a legend for his map, and we talked a bit about what sorts of shops and markets the village would need to support themselves and the royal family. After nearing completion, we realized that we couldn’t just abandon our project. No, there needed to be stories written about this place, and who was going to write them? US! This is the first time that I can remember that Ian picked up a pencil voluntarily and insisted on writing. We took turns writing a sentence or two each, and it was so much fun, I just had to share it with you all! Here is what we’ve come up with so far:

Once upon a time there was a castle. In this castle, there lived a king, a queen, a prince, and a princess. There was a path to the village. Every day, the princess walked the path into the village to visit her favorite aunt, who happened to be a witch. The witch was a good witch. She made potions that healed people. Her name was Witch Hazel, and she had a pet dog named Broomstick. The princess always brought a piece of bacon for Broomstick, and freshly-baked breads for Witch Hazel. There were eight houses in the village. Many of the villagers were friendly, and almost all of them loved Princess Judy. All except one villager. He hated the princess. Princess Judy knew that the old man hated her because he growled and frowned every time she passed him on the path. One day the old man let Broomstick out of the witch’s yard. Broomstick was so happy to be free that he immediately started chasing rabbits and squirrels. He chased the rabbits into the forest. Broomstick had no idea that the surrounding forest was dangerous. Princess Judy saw that Broomstick got away, but she did not see the old man. The king and queen had warned Princess Judy about going into the dark, foggy forest. As she carefully followed Broomstick into its depths, she did not notice the old man creeping silently behind her…

Why doesn’t he like to read?

Ian is a good reader, but he doesn’t enjoy it. Does anyone else have this problem? He does fine with his schoolwork, but he rarely reads for pleasure…and that bothers me. Am I being silly? Should I just be happy that he has good reading skills, and will occasionally read a magazine or a non-fiction book? (That’s all the reading that many adults do, after all.) But I really want him to like stories! Is that selfish of me? Am I just wanting him to be like me?

A Not-So-Liberal Education?

I have been researching famous home-schoolers for a couple of years now – you know, like George Washington Carver, Alexander Graham Bell, and the Wright brothers. One thing that I keep finding over and over: very few of these people had a liberal education. Most of them became intensely focused on one thing – and that’s usually what they became famous for. While we are still doing all of our core subjects, I am learning to feel less guilty when I allow my son an afternoon playing with clay models or building something in Google Sketchup. Who knows? He may be the next Frank Lloyd Wright! BTW, Do you think Mr. Wright would have enjoyed playing Minecraft?

Homeschool Empty Nest Part 2

It’s been almost a year since I posted about empty nesting, but I just had another idea today, and thought I would update. I think that volunteering for your local Chamber of Commerce would be a great way to stay busy and benefit your community at the same time. I truly enjoy helping them out, and I get to meet lots of fantastic people and get in on some great events. Our local chamber could always use volunteers, and you can even serve on our committees without being a member. Of course, if you *do* have your own business, and you aren’t a member of your local chamber, you have no idea what you could be missing out on. Personally, I was blown away when I discovered all of the benefits of joining. I guess it’s probably different in every town, but you should probably look into it, if you haven’t already. Happy Homeschooling!

Unschooling Science Ideas, Anyone?…Anyone?

Okay, a question for my homeschool friends: I have a friend who is beginning to homeschool two of her girls, grades 5^th and 7^th, I believe. One of her girls is exempt (in the public schools) from having to learn science and history. It has something to do with a 504, which, I admit, I did not look up, so I have no idea what it is. What I did look up was this: unschooling science ideas. I was going to move to history after that, but I had no luck whatsoever with the science search and became frustrated. I thought it would be cool to give my friend a general idea of what unschoolers do for science and history, so she could work them in somehow even though they aren’t required. All I found where specific activities, mostly written by people who were bragging about what their kid learned on that specific day. I realize unschooling is supposed to be totally based on the interest of the child, but what if your child isn’t interested at all? What then? Surely there are things the parent can do to nudge the child toward learning science. What would those things be? All I can think of are watching documentaries and reading books on specific scientific ideas, perhaps a book about birds or rock formations, etc. Also I thought a book of science experiments might be handy to have around. But other than that, is there something a parent could do to make the study of science more readily available to their child? For history, again, all I can think of are documentaries and books. Luckily, historical fiction would be somewhat educational as well. I’m not an unschooler, so I’m clueless, but I think it would be nice to compile a list and have it available on my blog, so that other clueless people could begin to unschool with history and science, if they so desire. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I will pass the ideas on to my friend, and if I get enough response, I will repost, using all of your ideas, so that we can have a proper list all in one place.

A post disguised as talking to strangers…

Begin a conversation with the next person you meet. Be it in line at the grocery store, someone you bump into in the park, etc. Write a story based on what little you now know about their life. Try to remain true to their personality, instead of merely plunking yourself into their situation.

A prompt disguised as sleeping…

Think of a recurring dream or a dream you have never forgotten, even after many years. Write out the dream as well as you can remember, and then either finish the story, or write a beginning for it. Maybe both!

A prompt disguised as being helpful…

Describe a setting to a blind person, or a deaf person, depending on the mood of the piece.