10th Grade is Officially Over

W finished up his sophomore year with a bang.  99th percentile on the CAT-E and what seems like a clear goal for his future.  He's always throwing ideas around and researching various careers.  I think he's finally narrowed it down to 2.  We'll see which one wins, lol.

His daily schoolwork has mainly been Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2 and a few workbooks that cover literature, poetry, reading comprehension, analysis, grammar, writing, vocabulary, and analogies.  I don't worry about his writing.  He hasn't really had much formal teaching in that area, but a few weeks ago he wrote essay-type answers to a bunch of questions in order to be chosen as an administrator on a popular gaming server.  It looked awesome to me, although I have no idea about any of that stuff.  Needless to say, he got the position.  It reminds me of how J always got As on her English reports in high school, even though she, too, had no formal writing instruction.  It still fascinates me how such a common-sense concept like child-led homeschooling delivers unbelievably amazing results.

All Science and History is done with short novels, documentaries, website research, and field trips. Last week, he and a new homeschooling friend made plans for us to see a show called Dark Universe at the Hayden Planetarium.  This fit in nicely with what's on the agenda for the upcoming school year - and we had a great time.  The show was awesome.  We'll be reviewing some Physical Science and Life Science, filling in whatever gaps we come across, and then focus mainly on Earth & Space Science. History will include some review but mainly focus on US History (from the Civil War to the 1970s), World History (1750 to the end of the 20th Century), Civics & Government, Geography,  and Economics.

W is still learning new things on the ukulele and has taken a renewed interest in the piano, teaching himself to read music and learn full songs with intricate chords (from YouTube), hanging up his drumsticks for now. If he sticks with piano, I'll have no problem starting him on formal lessons if he wants. The kid can really sing, too. Maybe another career choice??

The owner of K's hair salon is on maternity leave, so K is running the place by herself. She's really working so hard. She has a few weeks off in September and she and her boyf planned a trip to Greece. I wish I would have had even half that drive and determination when I was her age.

J is still teaching dance. Her studio just had their recitals and J will start teaching a bunch of summer classes in a couple of weeks. She was in another music video that was released yesterday, as one of the back-up dancers. Oh, and her 21st birthday is quickly approaching. How did my girls become adults so fast?

Oh, and I did get to keep my new work schedule.  It's been working out wonderfully.

Second Year of High School

I love August.  It's just another month closer to autumn!  And it's the time I get everything ready for the new school year.  10th grade is upon us and W's IHIP is mailed.

W started taking drum lessons a few weeks ago.  He's always wanted to, but I couldn't figure out the practicality of it as we live in a small apartment.  But I just found out there are electronic drum sets that hardly make any noise - but sound like a full drum set when headphones are on!  He tried a set out at the music store, so we'll probably pick one up one of these days.  For now, he uses a drum pad to practice on.  His other interests lately revolve around current events, politics, health, fitness, art, playing the ukulele, Muay Thai, computer gaming, and all types of engineering (computer, mechanical, construction, environmental, etc. - I feel like this is the path he's meant to take, but we'll see).

We're going to continue with our Great Restaurant Adventure this year.  We still plan on getting to all 70 cuisines by the end of his senior year.  Also this year I'm going to try and get back into field trips.  Last year he really wasn't into going to same old places, so I plan on finding some cool things places to go this year all around NYC.

We have already started the new school year.  With my working full time, W does some light academic stuff on his own during the week - mainly the English workbooks, math review pages, and history readings. On my days off we spend a few hours on new math lessons, science reading, lab work, and more English and history. 

High school is a breeze so far.  W knows what he has to do to get into his colleges of choice, so he does it.  He makes goals and does what he needs to achieve them.  I truly believe that this kind of determination, independence, and maturity is what comes from 10 years of unschooling.  And yes, our unschooling has always included curriculum.  The kids prefer it, ask for it, help pick it out, and do it on their own terms.  No stress, no hassles.

Here's some of what he's using this year:

Life of Fred High School Language Arts Series (3 books done, 1 left)

Daily Paragraph Editing (still the best thing ever)

501 Reading Comprehension Questions, 5th ed. (we're trying a few new things for English) 

Painless Reading Comprehension, 3rd ed.

Vocabulary & Spelling Success in 20 Minutes a Day 

Math U See Geometry (he asked for something different and likes it so far)

Short Lessons in World History, 4th ed.  (quick and easy)

Apologia Biology, 2nd ed. with all labs (secularly)

Once again, I'm looking forward to a wonderful school year.  Watching W turn into this amazing adult (he's over 5'11" now!) is the most incredible thing.

Spring 2016

W celebrated his 15th birthday 2 months ago and with that, a new interest in the medical field.  If that ends up being the direction he wants to go, then I'm glad he figured it out now.  It's a good age to get things going.  I just ordered a high school biology program and microscope for him and he can't wait to get started on it.  The other subjects are still moving along the same.  He's been continuing with his language arts program and paragraph editing books, and math is currently a bit informal.  He's reviewing Algebra 1 for the CAT-E he's taking next month.  After the exam we're going to start doing TT Algebra 2 and science in the evenings together when I get home from work.  I got new US and world history books and we'll start on those, too.

W has chosen his entire curriculum and schedule based on what he needs for his immediate future, college readiness, and career plans.  He is such a great example of how unschooling works. Now that he's seriously considering what his future could be, he knows how to take charge and get things in order.  As always, I facilitate, encourage, and make suggestions/recommendations to help move things along but he has such a strong sense of independence and maturity and goal-setting that I don't really need to do much.  Homeschooling high school is so incredible.  I'm amazed at what I'm seeing with W.

He's also in full volunteering mode lately.  2-3 times a week he works with the beginner and intermediate kids' classes at the Muay Thai gym.  He takes his own classes 3x a week as well.

And we checked off 2 more cuisines on our Great Restaurant Adventure!  Brazil and Britain.  I'll make separate posts about those.

J is graduating from her dance conservatory at the end of the month.  B and I got to see a couple of awesome showcase performances this semester.  She has been working at a major competition dance studio this year teaching and choreographing 5 different classes and age-groups of non-comp kids.  I really want to see the recital - J is also in a teacher's dance number.  Other than that, she's been modeling, getting head-shots, and getting ready for the real performance world.

K has moved on from the upscale hair salon in Queens to a more upscale salon in Manhattan.  This is what she was waiting for.  It's right in the Theater District just north of Times Square.  She went on a really nice vacation with her boyfriend to Punta Cana last month.  It was her first one requiring a passport.  Both girls also just got their driver's licenses together - not very necessary in NYC, but handy nonetheless.

It's so fun watching the kids becoming independent, successful, and happy adults who follow their dreams and love their lives.

Another Year Gone By

I know it's been a while since I posted but things around here have been so busy.  I started working full-time in September and that has been a bit of an adjustment.  I's great now, though.  W has fallen into his new routine nicely.  He's covering a lot of stuff for ninth grade:  Algebra 2, Life Science, Earth Science, World History, US History, Language Arts, Literature, Music, Art, Physical Fitness, and Computer Science.  I make a list of what he should read and do and he does it.  I check it in the evenings and we do other subjects together when I'm home.  He is hell-bent on keeping up with his subjects so he can get into highly selective colleges on scholarship.  These are his goals and I couldn't be prouder.

He's using various curriculum and resources for the main subjects.  Rounding out his education are the following:

• 90-minute Muay Thai classes 3x a week.  
• In-depth study and research on 2D animation (incl.  cartooning, technique, biographies, and careers).  He's flying through sketchbooks and artist pens and using a few animation software programs
• Mastering the tenor ukulele and now he has added piano and electric guitar to his current interests.  He's requested formal lessons which will probably start in January or February.

J has gotten all As again this semester.  She is teaching every Saturday at a local competition dance studio, and she is still assisting and doing many projects with a big choreographer (including a flash mob you can see HERE).

K is still at her beautiful, upscale, very busy salon doing what she loves.  

We saw the tree again at Rockefeller Plaza, visited our beloved Toys R Us in Times Square for the last time (they're closing), and saw my husband's rock band play at The Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, The Cutting Room in Murray Hill, and Left Field's in the Lower East Side.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  We were all together decorating our new stockings on Christmas Eve with glitter, glue, and fabric paint.  We slept at home for first time in years and it was great.  I got my annual bronchitis/laryngitis Christmas week, so I had to miss the choir carols and mass singing this year.  But it's ok and should clear up by next week.  Christmas morning we opened all our gifts and got to my mom's in Long Island around 11:30am.  She had a huge brunch waiting for us.  My sister and step-sister and family all were there too and then we had another round of presents opening.  We got to MIL's house at around 6:30pm and B's whole family was there.  More food and more presents were waiting for us.  This whole holiday season was so stress free.  That's my new way of life, I've decided.  I found THIS today and it sums up exactly how I live now.

Life is so wonderful.  I feel blessed beyond belief.  I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!!

Autumn

Still unschooling, still loving it.

Here's what unschooling has looked like over the past month:

• Going to a Not-Back-to School teen homeschool picnic on the beach
• Learning and trying to master the soprano ukulele
• A new interest (and a whole lot of research) in digital animation
• A day spent at the Museum of the City of New York and Times Square
• Really enjoying the Life of Fred high school language arts series books and paragraph editing workbooks.  
• A day spent playing dodge ball and laser tag ending with a sleepover
• The almost daily routine of W thanking me for homeschooling him (lol)
• A new tenor ukulele
• Hanging out at Dave & Buster's with his friends
• Researching nutrition and whole-food living
• A new interest (and a whole lot of research) in music editing

Life is more fun than ever lately.  W is probably the most happy and content person I know.  He's been doing the dishes, keeping his room clean, reading a lot, doing his workbooks, and enjoying his life so much.  He usually gets this way, feeling all grateful and satisfied when he see other kids having to go off to school in September.

He's been doing a lot, including starting to take public transportation by himself.  His sisters were 14 when they were taking the trains and buses alone, so he's right in line with that.  We just got his student Metrocards last week, too.  He met a friend at the Rockefeller Plaza Nintendo store and they took a train and bus to Brooklyn.  He's my last baby and it's hard letting go.  Independence and maturity go hand-in-hand with homeschooling, so I'm not worried.

J has been assisting her choreographer all summer, teaching weekly classes at a dance studio, and performing.  A new up-and-coming artist saw her dance on her choreographer's Instagram and asked him if she could be his background dancer at a showcase in Manhattan.  What an amazing opportunity!  She performed with this artist a couple of weeks later at the Highline Ballroom down in Chelsea.  Move-in day at AMDA is this week and we're getting ready.  It's her second year and she's so excited.  This should be a very interesting year for her.

Summer Days

As soon as it gets over 80 degrees, I prefer to stay indoors with my AC on.  I tolerated the heat a lot better when I was younger, but now I just don't want to deal with it at all.  We don't have the beach house anymore - that's where summer was always wonderful.  I took advantage of the fact that it was a 5-minute walk down to the beach.  Now I'd have to drive about 30 minutes and never feel like it's worth it.  Well, my countdown to September and the cooler weather has officially begun.  :)

The end of the school year brought with it a prom for the NY homeschooled teens!  It took place down in SoHo at the end of June.  W and 7 of his friends went in a limo together.  The kids were all so beautifully dressed.  W even kept his jacket and bow tie on all night.  There was music and food and everyone said it was so fun. The total turnout was around 75 kids.  What a great success.  Well done to the teens who put it all together!  W and a few other kids had a sleepover afterwards and he spent the next day back in Manhattan trying out a few teen classes.  A few of his friends have been going to them all year and he wanted to see if they were something he'd like to do in the fall.  He's still not sure yet, but we have time.

I feel so stress-free about his high school years.  A plan is in place and he's happy with it.  There are goals and he's working toward them.  I believe that to be the key to happiness and fulfillment and success.  

Since J has been home from college, she has been busy.  She worked on another music video last month, shooting in a various locations, she's been mixing and cutting music for her choreographer's classes, assisting him at master classes and with company choreo at different studios, learned a tap duet 2-days before performing it in a recital in Long Island, and landed a perfect summer job.  She also turned 19 last week!  I can't get over how fast time flies.  K has also been busy.  She's building a nice-sized clientele at the salon (and she gave J gorgeous blond highlights for the summer, too).  Five months so far at her job and she still finds it awesome.

So, as the summer thankfully is starting wind down, I find myself excited about autumn.  Not just the cooler weather, but J's new year at school and W's unschooled teen years.  As my kids get older I realize there is not much I can write about their lives in a blog.  Hence, these updates will be more along the lines of several times a year or so.  I'm still answering lots of email questions and doing my best to help newbies to the NY homeschool life (nycitymomx3@aim.com).  I enjoy that, so keep 'em coming, lol.  

Almost Summer

At the adventure park

In the past month, W has done some really fun things.  We had 2 homeschool get-togethers at a large state park, went to an "adventure park" where the kids are harnessed high above the ground and have to go over rope and stick bridges and get to zip-line, and our good old standby:  The NY Hall of Science.  W just woke up and felt like going there again.  I'm always willing to take him there since it's free for us and because, well, it's science.

So speaking of intrinsic motivation, this week, after looking at and discussing colleges and plans for the future, W has decided he'd like to continue with daily formal academics.  I told him I hope he's not saying that for me.  I'm fine with however he'd like to "do school".  But he said he realized that there's no way he's not going to do everything he can to ace all the tests he has to take and get into his college of choice.  So we came up with yet another weekly schedule for the rest of 8th grade and through the summer.  After pulling out every single resource we have in the house and having him go through everything he has decided to continue using Saxon Algebra 1 (he loves Saxon), a couple of Barron's "Painless" series books, and a reading comprehension workbook.  This sounds fine to me.  I'll go along with whatever he wants to do.  Knowing his track record, this all may change next week.  But then again, HE is doing all the picking, choosing, and scheduling, so we'll see.

Another new thing going on is that W has been getting really serious about exercise, fitness, and nutrition. This, along with his ongoing interest in computer engineering, our restaurant adventure, lots of field trips, and interest-based academics, will keep him plenty busy all summer.

Unschooling and High School

So as we revert back to a more natural, organic education for W, I can honestly say my anxiety about the teen years has lessened tremendously.  When he originally came to me requesting a more formal curriculum and schedule (about 6 years ago, following J's lead), I was hesitant, but obliged.  I know he wants to want the structure, but the older he got, the less willing he was to follow through.  I felt I was the one who needed to push and prod and dare I say "coerce" him into doing his work several days a week as we'd planned.  Well, it made us both miserable and I won't do that anymore.

I mean, it really doesn't make sense.  If there is no intrinsic motivation to learn something, then there won't be much learning taking place.  I feel it's a huge waste of time and energy for the sole purpose of checking off a box that "it got done".  But the checked box is a ruse because most of the info covered is usually forgotten in only a few days.  How is that ok?  That's not learning.

In the few months since we have started unschooling, W has done more academically than ever before.  He asked to have my new tablet (that I'm not using) and if I could download certain books on it for him.  I think this is the first time in his life he expressed any interest in reading a book.  He has rekindled interests in piano, cooking, bike riding, and building.  He is in the process of building a skateboard (long board) from scratch.  When W finds something of interest, there's no stopping his research.  For example, the other day B was wondering what other foods the bearded dragon could eat.  W spent over an hour on various websites, taking notes, and following the many rabbit trails pertaining to overall bearded dragon care.  I guarantee he won't be forgetting any of it.

He's also started thinking about college.  As a matter of fact, we sat down together researching colleges, majors, requirements, and what he'd like to do for high school.  We also looked at trade-schools, graduate schools, and what kinds of jobs and careers fit his current interests.  The 4-year (tentative) high school plan is set and I haven't felt this relaxed about anything in my life.  It includes projects, research, reading, standardized tests, college-level classes, volunteering, apprenticeships, employment, field trips, restaurants, and homeschool group classes.

It's all about intrinsic motivation.  I believe it's the real key to a happy, meaningful, and productive life.

Science, Weapons, and Weather

My homeschool groups are so active and I'm seeing so many amazing classes and trips for teens.  It's so great to see how many homeschoolers in this age group are out there.  Just within the last few months I've seen classes being given for pottery, creative writing, tennis, philosophy, science lab, robotics, debate, string theory, non-fiction writing, drawing, psychology, glass working, comedy improv, ethics, American history, chemistry, digital photography, chess, cooking, ancient civilizations, rhetoric, fencing, video production, song writing, and a ton more.  Plus list upon list of classes for teens (homeschooled or otherwise) given at various museums, galleries, labs, theaters, and parks.  The choices are almost overwhelming (in a good way).  We may not get to very many of them, but knowing they're there is great.  I love my city.

We made a visit to the NY Hall of Science last week.  We haven't been there in so long.  Now that I'm back at my old job, I (we) have the corporate membership to everything again.  They redid the place.  The lower level is all maker, DIY, and lab stuff now.  They have better hours than they used to, too.

Two great homeschool group trips were held this week.  In the first, we were part of a wonderful class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It was on weapons used throughout the world from the Sumerians and Assyrians to World War I.  Our instructor is a homeschool mom and also a college professor of history.  You can tell by the way she put everything together (the handout, the tour, the topics) and by the way she spoke that she truly loves history.  Anything becomes so much more engaging when taught by a person so passionate about it.

Met Museum

The other trip this week was to the National Weather Service at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.  This is the office where all of the weather alerts, warnings, and advisories come from.  They are in constant contact with the mayor, schools chancellor, and all the major local tv and radio stations.  They are present for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, New Years Eve in Times Square and for events at Met Life Stadium.  We discussed so many things about weather, including the upcoming snow storms, the major hurricanes our area had, and the recent tornado watches.  We got to see the main area where several people were monitoring a number of computers, televisions, barometric pressure-readers, and satellites, and clocks (set to "z-time").  Our guide was a meteorologist who also does outreach.

National Weather Service at the Brookhaven National Lab

National Weather Service

It's All About Simplicity

What I'm coming to realize about homeschooling a teenager (well, mine, anyway) is that a lot of their education and learning and academics has to be very "organic".  It has to encompass the whole child through a more natural, environmental approach.  We can have all these seemingly wonderful varying pieces of curriculum that promise to be the best laid out or the one kids like most, but if there's no true understanding, then it's a waste of money and time.  There has to be an interest or at least some sort of meaningful context for anything to be understood, absorbed, and applied.  And learning, like almost everything else in the world, usually turns out better the simpler we make it.

W has led his education since the beginning.  I have always followed along, providing him with the resources he needs and coming up with various experiences, opportunities, and suggestions for him to foster his interests and learning.  It's so fun this way - and effective.  I research and suggest a lot and he's actually happy to try anything.  Some things stick and some things suck and we toss it.  We both still learn from things we toss - even if it's just not to use something like that again, lol.

The outside experiences and free time are what's really filling out W's education.  It's been getting better and better the older he gets.  Exploring Manhattan, getting together with the other homeschooled teens a few times a week for parkour and other activities, traveling, fundraising for animal shelters with his friends, building his computer, our restaurant adventure, and getting ready for several things in the works are what's making him who he is.  And every year will have more and more things for him to be a part of.

As far as formal academics are concerned, math, science, poetry, and computer coding have been the favorites for the last few weeks.  The other night W spent 3 hours creating a ton of computer code to create a really cool tic-tac-toe game.  He taught himself.  It has a lot of detail and was really fun to play.  Math and science he's just really good at, so it makes him enjoy it more.  History, literature, and writing are subjects that are slightly more informal.  The rest of this year will be spent on basic US History, U.S. geography, and U.S. government.  Lit has been a mix of poetry and modern and classic short stories.  Writing is usually done every day, in context to what's W's into or doing at the moment.  The funny thing is that we're getting more of these subjects done this way than when I had them scheduled.  Go figure.

I just did a huge book purge getting rid of everything I know we won't use at all.  My china cabinet now just has a row of reading books, a row of high school and reference books, and a row of notebooks, paper, & art supplies.  It's calming to be more organized.  Also, December is a big clutter clean-out month for me.  I want it beautiful for the holidays, so I minimize as much as I can.  Once January comes, I get back on track with my usual week, including resuming our Restaurant Adventure.

K is loving her job at the SoHo salon.  It's better than she could imagine.  She turned 21 a couple of weeks ago and we're going to see Aladdin on Broadway together next week (B and I got her 2 tickets for her birthday and she said she wanted to go with me - Yay!).  J so far enjoys her new part-time job.  She's working 3 days a week, which I think is perfect for her.  She was just on TV last night in the background of this new reality show on TruTV.  I kept pausing the show and taking a picture whenever she was shown, lol.  I'm back with my old company and happier than ever!  It's in a different location and the job is very similar to what I was doing for 7 years.  It's closer to my house, too.  My old supervisor and manager are there, along with about a dozen of my old coworkers.  I'm working evenings, 25 hours a week.

My blog is 10 years old this month.  Crazy.

Yearly Recap and the New Plans

On a message board recently, a question came up that asked what was not negotiable in your homeschool, besides the 3 Rs.  In my house, it's not an option to have strong interests that are not encouraged, facilitated, and pursued in all ways possible.  I think this is so important.  Nothing is ever dismissed.  How else can you know what you're good at?  For example:

K likes fashion and to sew - so she got a sewing machine, fabric, and lessons.  She likes party planning, so she found an internship for a year doing just that.  She likes doing hair, so she got to do all the hair for J's dance competitions, sought out the best cosmetology school in NY, and will be graduating in September.

J likes to sing.  So for a few years she was taking private lessons and performing songs at dance competitions (where she even won a regional title for singing).  She loves dancing.  So, B and I made sure she has had every opportunity available - competition team, private lessons, outside and master classes, conventions, admittance into the best performing arts high school, and her dream conservatory, which she's starting in a few months.

W loves computers.  So he does tons of research on what the best keyboards, headsets, mice, and programs are, and he's learned how to use Best Buy and online purchasing to his advantage.  He likes martial arts, so he's tried karate, then switched to MMA, where he goes 3 times a week.  He likes engineering projects and making YouTube tutorials and juggling and Myachi, and magic and claymation and Manga.  We have helped him pursue all of these interests.  He's met a ton of real Myachi masters and demonstrated with them, he's taken claymation and Manga drawing classes, and he is self taught with the projects and tutorials.  

I think they've had such great lives - lives I would have given anything to have as a child.  In reading some John Taylor Gatto (again) I really wish I found him right after my kids were born.  One thing that would have got me thinking about homeschooling from the beginning was this quote, "...schooling itself is a highly questionable practice.  It's possible to derive some value from it, but the damage is always, I think, much greater than any value that's possible.  In many, many instances, there is no value offered.  It's simply a confinement exercise." Powerful words that resonate with my own schooling experience.  And now that both K and J have finished their high schooling at ("excellent") public schools - well, J has 1 more week - I have to agree even more.  No matter what kind of school it is, it's a HUGE waste of time.  K got nothing out of hers, except a few more friends and she learned some cool computer programs working on the yearbook.  J got nothing out of hers except a few more friends and the fantastic dance education - which thankfully took up half her school day.  The academics in school are a joke unless your child is REALLY into them, and even so, they're full of ridiculous busywork, tedium, classroom disruptions and poor school management, and unfortunately many children like that usually have to deal with added negative social consequences.  

Here's a quote by Pat Farenga, "The only difference between a good student and a bad student is that a good student is careful not to forget what he studied until after the test." He also stated that "John (Holt) noted that a child choosing to attend school is in a far different relationship to that school than all the students who are there solely because of their age...If a child knows they can leave school at any time with their parents' support, it makes their choices easier and helps build bonds of trust and communication."  I found this to be true.  My girls, as much as they found school annoying and tedious, were there by their own choice, going in with a way different mindset than their peers. 

W is choosing to homeschool for high school and I'm so glad.  He will start college (or whatever he chooses) with such a different outlook on his future than I did (and that most of his peers will).  These next 5 years of homeschooling are looking to be some of the best ever.  Now that I finally got a new job (I'll be working weekday mornings and weekends) W and I can "do the town" once again and hopefully, way more often.  There is so much out there for teens and he wants to do it all.  This summer is going to kick it all off.  

W took the California Achievement Test for 7th grade last week.  He was so nervous, but I knew he'd be fine.  When he took it two years ago, he did ok - way above the required 33rd percentile, but not as well as I know he could have.  At that time  I just handed him the test and said GO.  But that was a month before he was evaluated for a learning disability. When he got his Visual Processing Disorder/dyslexia diagnosis he also got a list of recommended accommodations for a classroom and for test-taking.  Alas, it was too late for that year.  So, this time around I made sure to use some of those accommodations.   I read everything out loud to him to make sure he fully understood all directions.  But even with my reading I have a feeling he got some wrong in the language and reading sections.  He crinkled up his face at the vocabulary section, but seemed confident with punctuation/capitalization, comprehension, and mechanics.  He flew through both math sections.  He even laughed at it and asked me if I was sure this was the right grade.  I reminded him that he did this math more than a year ago.  He said I must be a really great teacher since he could do a lot of the problems in his head.  Then he said it was definitely the Times Tales and Saxon.  He still recalls the Times Tales pictures when multiplying.  I also swear by all the drill and mastery of the basic math we'd done over the years.  He'd still like to stick with Life of Fred for now.

We're going to start working on a lot more reading to help him with vocabulary and spelling.  He will read some things out loud to me and some things silently.  We'll do more narrations and discussions and use these readings as a base for some writing.  We'll bring back novels, too, shooting for at least 3 per year.  I want him to appreciate a good story like he used to when we did Ambleside Online.  He grew so attached to stories when we took our time with them, that he had a hard time getting rid of the books when we were done with them.  I also have Painless Vocabulary, Painless Grammar, and Daily Sparks Spelling & Grammar to throw in here and there.

All in all, it's been a great school year.  My kids have all achieved their immediate goals (K- top cosmetology school while working at an awe$ome job, J - graduating top performing arts high school and starting performing arts conservatory on scholarship, and W - overcoming reading issues/excelling in math and pursuing all interests).  I couldn't ask for better.

Here's what's on the agenda for the summer through 8th grade.  I think we actually have a real plan now, lol:

Math:  W really wants to do Life of Fred (Beginning Algebra into Advanced Algebra) for 8th grade.  We're using it now over the summer a few days a week. We also have Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 and Saxon Algebra 1/2 on hand along with Algebra for Dummies, Painless Algebra, and No Fear Algebra (leftovers from his sisters).  They're always good to have for extra problems and different ways of explaining certain concepts.

English:  I have so much leftover from my girls that it's silly to buy anything new.  We'll be using a mixed bag of Wordsmith Apprentice, Jump In, Daily Sparks Spelling & Grammar, Daily Sparks Vocabulary, Painless Vocabulary, Painless Grammar, Simply Grammar, and Basic Series Grammar & Usage.  It's a lot, but W likes to switch things up every so often.  Nothing really builds on previous lessons, so it should work fine.

Literature:  I'm sticking with Shel Silverstein poetry since W loves it and it helps with his reading.  We'll also try to read at least 3 novels with narrations and discussions.  I have so many on my shelf - we'll just choose what sounds good.

Science:  We'll finish Apologia General Science over the summer - we really just do the great experiments and base the lesson off of those.  For 8th grade I'll either get Apologia Physical Science (again mainly for the experiments) or use the Holt Science & Technology Series Physical Science since I already have that one on hand.  W doesn't care for it, though.  I'll see how the Apologia goes over the summer.  If it's a real big hit I'll get the next one.  He gets writing in with the lab reports, as well.

Geography:  We're happy with Runkle's and will continue it through 8th grade.  We're also starting Our Great Restaurant Adventure this summer where we'll go to a different ethnic restaurant every 2 weeks, then study that country for the 2 weeks until the next one.  We're going alphabetically and starting with Afghan cuisine next Wednesday.  Can't wait!

History:  We'll finish K12 Human Odyssey 1 (Ancients) hopefully sometime in the fall and move on to Volume 2.  We also have The Complete Book of World History which is a fun and concise supplement.

Spanish:  Getting Started with Spanish is by far the best book for W.  He does this completely independently.  It's a spiral program that builds on the previous lessons.  He reads, translates, and conjugates in every lesson.  Love this.

Miscellaneous:  Summer Bridge Gr. 7-8 and Summer Express Gr. 7-8 are great for a variety of subject work any time of year.  Spectrum Gr. 8 Test Prep for basic skills, and Artistic Pursuits Junior High Book One for art, but W isn't really into this.  I'll try it again over the summer.

Religion:  CCD once a week and will make his Confirmation in the spring.

P.E.:  Mixed Martial Arts 3 days a week (4-5 classes) doing Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu jitsu.

I'll put everything in my sidebar in case anyone wants to check out what we do.

No Labels

I think I'm done reading about how other people homeschool.  No one else out there seems to do things the way we do.  One of the things I've learned is that pigeon-holing yourself into a certain homeschool label is rarely beneficial.  You have to be flexible.  Most of us follow more than one philosophy and method.  I've come to the conclusion that we are probably 80% unschooling (W pursues his interests all day long with only an hour or so of parent led, but child requested formal academics) and 20% Charlotte Mason (narrations, short lessons, lots of outdoor time).  I'd like to say we are 100% unschoolers, but I feel it's my job to make sure he's prepared for college (and/or anything else he may choose in the future).  I've been through this twice already and I know what good colleges want to see.  And being cute and fun will not get you in.  Kids unfortunately do NOT know best (I know I'm getting the stink eye from radical unschoolers right now) and I plan on seeing to it that W is fully prepared for any number of post-high school choices so he can comfortably make a decision on what he'd like to do.  This doesn't mean 6-8 hours a day of rigorous academics.  It means making sure W is proficient in high-level math, can read well and critically with understanding and interest (and hopefully joy), and that he can write creatively and with purpose.  Everything else, like history, geography, and science will be incorporated into W's reading and writing and will be covered via many field trips.  As a matter of fact, we started on more independent reading and written narrations this week.  I feel the written narration is better than note-taking/copying out of a book.  It allows W to summarize the whole section and put it into his own words.  It improves not only his reading and comprehension, but his writing, grammar, and paragraph mechanics.

There are so many other great things W has and will learn as a homeschooled teen:  public speaking, volunteering, goal-setting, team work, and being a part of the real world now, not when he's out of college.  Yeah, many of these can all be done in public/private high school, but kids get so much more out of them when they're self-initiated and in context to their lives.

September is in Full Swing

I'm feeling pretty good about the start of this school year.  I have resigned myself to the fact that we just do not follow any particular homeschool style or method.  We just do what we do, taking a little from everything.  We are unschoolers, we are classical, and we follow Charlotte mason.  As long as it continues to be effective and everyone's happy, then who really cares about labels?

W and I are both still happy with the daily plan we decided on.  Now that we've been implementing it for over a week, I can say it's working well.  We have 4-5 daily activities and then W picks another 2 things to do out of a list of about ten.  The mornings are a lot more efficient and enjoyable when W has input and choices.  J was the same way.

This week's math was a review of multiplication and division, going over words like:  factor, dividend, divisor, addend, sum, product, difference, and quotient.  Then he did a bunch of examples using the 4 basic functions in all different ways (with decimals, money signs, fraction bars, and parentheses).  He prefers to work out his math problems using graph paper.  I think it's great - it keeps everything lined up and he zips through it more quickly than with regular notebook paper.  He then read a one-page story out loud each day to me.  He used his blue colored overlay and can now read aloud very smoothly with hardly any stumbles.  Then we did the discussion questions on the bottom of the page.  And the daily CNN Student News site has been interesting and fun so far.

We read the introduction and first chapter of Age of Fable, a chapter of Minn of the Mississippi, a chapter of Physics Lab in the Home, and a chapter of The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe.  He did a lesson in his dyslexia workbook, Spelling Skills, & in Simply Grammar.  He started youth choir on Saturday and CCD starts in a couple of weeks.

I still have no idea if W wants to start school next year, in 2-3 years, or if at all.  I am remaining completely open to whatever he decides.  No stress.  No matter what he wants to do, I know it will be wonderful for him.  I have dozens of links saved and I've researched almost everything I could find about all the "good" schools and also about homeschooling high school.  So I'm ready (and he will be ready) no matter what.

J's junior year of high school is going really well so far.  She has all her academics (math, English, history, science) and lunch in the first 5 periods of the day and her 4 dance classes are in the afternoon.  Dance is made up of double periods of ballet and modern and this year she's also doing theater jazz, tap, and a choreography workshop.  At her dance studio she's taking lyrical ballet, tap, pointe, Pilates, contemporary, and a jumps & turns technique class. New competition season choreo will include hip-hop, musical theater, and jazz as well.  I love a new dance season.

The Future

As structured and prepared for high school that I want to be this year, I'm taking into account that W still does have a learning disability.  I got the report the other day.  In a nutshell, it states he has severe visual processing and visual-motor difficulties.  Auditory and perceptual skills are in the superior range.  So that pretty much lines up with what I thought it was - visual dyslexia.  It seems he has dysgraphia, too.  I'm going to speak with the neuropsych this week to go over the results in more detail.  I can't imagine what being in school is like for kids like this.  What a frustrating situation.  At least at home W has kept his intense curiosity, enthusiasm for life, and love of learning.  He reads (and retains) on grade level, writes legibly, can type up a proper story, is great at math, and knows a helluva lot about a helluva lot of things.  The freedom to move at his own pace without deadlines and demands is what works with him.  How on earth can a school - especially a high school - accommodate W effectively?  I feel without a doubt that homeschooling has always been the best option for him.  I have a feeling it may be the best option for high school as well.  I'm leaving the choice up to him, though.  Whatever he decides is fine and he has my 100% support.

So, after doing a ton of research I realize that many of these types of learning disabilities tend to only be an "issue" in a school setting.  Yeah, W reads slower and writes with more difficulty than most other kids his age, but his creativity and self-motivation are through the roof.  Throwing rigid structure at a kid like that every day just isn't going to work.  Getting that neuropsych report was almost like a slap in the face, telling me to stop worrying about a structured curriculum and let the kid just learn.  I think from now on I'll just present him with the books and tools scheduled for the week and he can choose what (if any) he'd like to use.  Pushing my agenda on him if he is not interested in the subject will stress us both out and he'll learn nothing from it.  Now that I know what the official diagnosis is, I have a better sense of what will be more effective.

He likes workbooks, most readalouds, science experiments, consumer math, art, field trips, gaming, making films, building things, and skill toys/games (Rubiks cube, yoyos, cards, miachi, diablo, cats cradle, cup stacking, etc).  But most of all he likes independence.  The unschooling side of him always shows through no matter what I try.  I'm ok with that.  W's real education is going to only come from what interests him, anyway.  My old unschooly self is telling me it's the only way to do things.  I'll loosen up and see what happens.

I don't know what each day will hold but I'm looking forward to finding out.

2011-2012 Schedule

We will be starting Ambleside Online Year 3 in a couple of weeks.  The following schedule is what we're shooting for:


2-3 AO Readings (Daily)  - w/oral, written, & creative narrations
Map work            (With most readings)
Timeline/BOC      (With history readings)    
Silent Reading      (Daily)
Spelling/Vocab    (Daily)
Math                    (Daily)
Poetry                  (Daily)
Copywork           (Daily)
Simply Grammar  (1-2x a week)
Writing Strands    (1-2x a week)
Spanish                (2x a week)
Nature Study       (Weekly)
Artist Study         (Weekly)
Dictation             (Weekly)
Composer Study (Weekly)

This should take about 2.5 to 3 hours per day with each subject taking about 10-20 minutes each (more for nature study).  We'll begin at around 8:30am-9am and finish up before noon.  W asked if we could spend less time on reading and math and more time on science and history - and that's what we'll do.  I will always believe that allowing kids to choose their own educational path keeps them excited about learning.  My girls did this.  They chose to homeschool and how they went about homeschooling.  They decided to try public high school and they actively chose which high school to attend.  W has always chosen his educational path as well.  It gives kids ownership.  It works.

Here are some of the books we'll be using:

History/Geography:
An Island Story (Marshall)
This Country of Ours (Marshall)
A Child's History of the World (Hillier)
Michelangelo (Stanley)
Bard of Avon (Stanley)
Landing of the Pilgrims (Daugherty)
Who was Marco Polo? (Holub)
The Complete Book of Maps & Geography
Basic Series Map Skills (Grades 6-8)
Basic Series World Geography (Grades 6-8)
Basic Series US Government, Economics, & Citizenship (Grades 6-8)
Everything You Need to Know About Geography Homework - Grades 4-6 (Zeman)
American History Homework Survival Guide - Grades 4-6 (Kantor)

Science:
Science Lab in a Supermarket ((Friedhoffer)
The Story of Inventions (McHugh)
The Handbook of Nature Study (Comstock)
Secrets of the Woods (Long)
ScienceSaurus (Houghton-Mifflin)
Science Homework Survival Guide (Dylewski)
Basic Series Science (Grades 4-5)
Basic Series Life Science (Grades 6-8)

The English Language:
Simply Grammar
Writing Strands
Spelling Skills 5
Word Study & Phonics 5
Basic Series Grammar & Usage

Literature:
American Tall Tales (Stoutenberg)
Tales From Shakespeare (Lamb)
The Heroes (Kingsley)
The Princess and the Goblin (MacDonald)
Children of the New Forest (Marryat)
The Jungle Book (Kipling)
Various selections from the AO Year 3 "free reading" list

Poetry:  William Blake, Sara Teasdale, Hilda Conkling, & Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Nature:  Reptiles, Flowerless plants, Crops, Fish, Amphibians
Artists:  Fragonard, Bierstadt, Rockwell
Composers:  Mozart, Mendelssohn, Bartok, Hindemith
Math:  Teaching Textbooks 7, LOF Fractions (maybe)
Spanish:  Instant Immersion Spanish
Art:  Drawing with Children (Brooks)

We will also include lots of (afternoon) field trips and classes - using them as areas for more focused research (rather than for just a get-together).   W will continue with Boy Scouts and CCD classes and he's trying to decide between basketball, soccer, or karate for this year.

So this is the goal.  We may not even come close to the plan, but it's nice having it as a guideline to follow.


This is a cool site.  Beautiful shots of NYC:
Aerial Views of New York City

5/21 to 5/27

J's last regional dance competition of the season was this past weekend.  She did great - scored a High Gold award, even when she forgot a whole section of the dance.  She was annoyed with herself, but that morning was crappy and I don't blame her for not being fully there.  Her groups numbers did phenomenally well, with great placements (8th, 5th, & 2nd in the top 10 of all teen groups - competing against dozens and dozens of teen group numbers from other studios).  Now all that's left is the recital and then either a Nationals or something similar in July.  Still not sure what we're doing yet.

Tuesday evening was the big recital rehearsal.  The kids worked on the opening number, ran through the mainstream numbers, and ran some company numbers.  J's group of babies were adorable. They are dancing to Beauty and the Beast and J gets to be on stage with them dressed as a princess.  She's thrilled.  

J got an A on her English essay.  The assignment was to write your own creation myth.   I remember when she told me about this assignment.  She worried about it having to be 3 pages.  I thought she felt it was too much, but her next sentence was, "I don't think I could write less than 4 or 5."  Again, this is coming from a kid who did her own thing as an unschooler for 6 years.  That kind of freedom allowed her to build up a level of maturity and independence where now that she's in high school, she so enjoys putting 110% to everything.  It's pretty cool to watch.

W had his last Sunday School (CCD) class.  His report card was great and the teacher said he is a wonderful student and did great on classwork and tests.  I got a bit teary-eyed with that, because he got a 35% on his last test.  He was upset with himself and felt very stupid.  He'd never told his teacher he was dyslexic.  So, the next week he mentioned it and said that it takes him a little longer to read and needs a little more time to take a test.  W has no issues with it and is comfortable talking about it.  The teacher allowed him to re-take the test the following week.  The first time it was open-book.  The 2nd time it wasn't, but W still got a 70%.  He was over the moon with joy and so proud of himself.  I was too.

He has recently told me that he likes writing.  That was my cue to try a written narration.  He hasn't done much writing except for copywork and maybe some spelling and dictation exercises, but I knew he was ready.  We started with his independent reading book.  He read his 2 pages and wrote 2 sentences of a summary in his notebook.  It had proper flow and correct punctuation.  I was impressed at his style.  We'll do these once a week - more if he wants to. 

Nothing else really new with academics this week.  It's pretty much the same books and we're almost finished with those.  He did his copywork, poetry, narrations, etc.   In math he's doing 3-digit x 3-digit multiplication now.   We still use only the textbook for TT5 and he now zips through a lesson in about 20 minutes.  I'm glad we already have TT7 -  I wouldn't want to buy a whole new program if he's only using the book.

We've had a really great year so far.  I'm looking forward all the activities coming up in June!

Weekly Recap & What's Coming Up

This past week was just focusing on academic stuff.  I'm still hoping we can get to AO Year3  by January.  It's looking pretty good.  W is still enjoying the work - and that's what matters.  He takes the lead.  I show him what's on the agenda for the week and he picks what he'd like to do each day.  He had a part in choosing the curriculum and he can choose what the mornings look like.  It's great.  I love that he owns his learning.  And because of that, he retains just about everything.  It's common sense, it works, and everyone's happy.

So in math, we're doing decimals involving money, using the cents and dollar signs, and adding/subtracting decimals.   W is resigned to only use the TT5 workbook.  The company isn't too keen on just selling the book by itself, so thankfully we already own TT7 (which we'll start next year for 5th grade).  After that, we'll see. We're almost finished with The Little Duke (he's already getting sad about it coming to an end, lol) and we're going strong with Wind in the Willows, An Island Story, Seabird, & Pagoo.  The Spelling Skills workbook is our favorite, still.  W just finished a cumulative review of the first 6 chapters and got everything right.  The activities and repetition in that book are just what he needs to build his reading vocabulary.  I already have the 5th grade one, too.  For $6.95 ($5.21 with educator discount!) it's amazing. 

I plan on taking W on a lot more field trips soon.  I keep a list of over 80 museums in NYC.  I'd love to try and get to at least one a month.  There are so many we haven't seen yet.  I'll get fresh batteries for my camera and be sure to take lots of pictures. 

The girls are doing great.  K's birthday is in a few days and she's already starting the celebrations.  I can't believe she's almost 17.  On Friday night she went out with friends to a Mexican restaurant where they sing Happy Birthday in Spanish, lol.  She has work both weekend days and loves that it's a short school week.  We're in the process of getting college applications out.  She has a few ideas as to where she wants to go and seems on top of it all.  I'm so glad her college applications are a year after J's high school applications.  I would have went crazy if they were during the same year.  

J's still loving school.  Her grades have been wonderful and she's made dozens of friends.  I can already tell the difference in J's dancing since she's been at school.  15 hours a week of ballet and modern technique really does wonders.  Her solo for this season's competitions looks so great.  It's a lyrical/contemporary number from one of the studio's special choreographers from California.  She's so happy with it - more so than she's ever been with her solos.  She is also about to start choreography for a new duet.  She'll be doing this one with her bff and duet partner from last season.  It's going to be "fierce", as I'm hearing, lol.  Competition season is right around the corner.  Can't wait.

Yes, We're Biting Back

There's a fantastic article out there now on homeschooling.  It expresses how I and countless other homeschoolers feel, but this author put it into just the right words.  I am so happy to share it here and even happier to be able to call this author my friend.  Here name is Chele Coyne.  And here are her beautiful words:

Homeschoolers Bite Back

It seems that the mainstream media is dedicated to promulgating a distorted vision of the homeschool community, in which "most" or "the majority of" homeschoolers are religious fanatics, or else we are extremely privileged and wealthy hipsters. Apparently, the press would have America believe that we are all bigots or brainwashers, or too trendy and elitist to be taken seriously.

Here's the latest from the New York Times: In which a bunch of urban artistes with preschoolers apparently make homeschooling in vogue.

After the hatchet job that ABC did on unschoolers, I predict far more of the silly stereotyping, because most homeschoolers who don't fit the narrow media image are completely uninterested in signing up to be misrepresented to the world and ridiculed.  (Ed note: see videos below).

Perhaps someday the media will understand that:

Homeschoolers come from every race, ethnicity, socio-economic class, educational background and belief (or nonbelief) system. My homeschool group is far more diverse in every conceivable way than my neighborhood school. I do not homeschool to keep my child away from "people who aren't just like us" as the charge is often made. I homeschool to give him the world as his classroom, with all the wonderful diversity it offers.

Single parents and families in which both parents are employed can and do homeschool. We are not all wealthy. In fact, many of us have considerably downsized our lifestyle in order to be able to do this. And some of us have the laudable stamina and dedication to be able to do it in the hours when we are not working outside the home. The "homeschoolers are wealthy elitists" stereotype spits in the face of all the families making financial and personal sacrifices in order to follow this path.

We don't have to do it the same way the schools do, and are not bound by their choice of schedules or curricula. Homeschooling can happen in hours other than 9 am to 3 pm, Monday through Friday. Some of us learn in the evenings and on weekends. Some keep a year-round schedule as opposed to taking the long summer break that the schools do. Additionally, it does not take as much time to cover academic material with one or two of your own kids, whom you know better than anyone in the world, as it would in a school setting. Homeschoolers do not have the bureaucratic and crowd control concerns that you end up needing to address with large groups of children who are virtual strangers taught by strangers.

Homeschoolers enjoy an unbeatable student to faculty ratio. Our kids get individualized attention, and we do not need to subject them to standardized tests to assess their progress, because we are intimately involved in it. We have the luxury of teaching to our children's individual level, and taking as much or as little time as is required for them to master the material. We do not have to bore a kid who "gets it" with endless repetition because some of his peers do not. We do not have to leave a struggling student behind in order to keep pace with the average student. This is the tremendous advantage of homeschooling. The differentiation that public schools can only strive for, we can make reality. We also are not hamstrung by administrators requiring us to teach to the test, and practice practice practice the test, at the expense of real learning. Many of us decided to homeschool for just these reasons.

Homeschooling doesn't mean we just stay home all day, everyday. This is why we have no patience left for the uniformed inquiries about socialization. Homeschoolers are out and about, enjoying the real world, while schooled kids are stuck in an artificial age-segregated microcosm of society. Yes, there are some weird, socially awkward homeschoolers, just as there are some weird socially awkward school kids; it has more to do with personality type than educational choice.

Parents do not all need to be able to teach calculus and high school physics in order to even consider homeschooling. First of all, we can outsource those subjects to more skilled teachers, if necessary. There is an amazing wealth of curriculum materials and classes that homeschoolers can access. Secondly, while we may have forgotten what we learned in school, we are perfectly capable of learning a subject alongside (or just slightly ahead of) our children. We value instilling in our kids a love of learning and the ability to find the answers they need in life above rote regurgitation of a set of facts. Children can only be inspired when they see their parents learning and growing along with them.

Does the hypothetical horrible example homeschool parent exist who doesn't care about his/her child's education at all? Probably. Certainly there are parents who are utterly disinterested in their schooled child's education, and who do nothing to ensure that homework is done, or that studying happens. There are bad apples in every barrel. But unlike the school systems, homeschoolers don't think the hypothetical lowest common denominator should be used as an excuse to infringe the liberty of the rest of us who are doing the right thing. Nor do we believe that the government is entitled to dictate what goes on in our homes and families in the absence of probable cause to believe that abuse exists. That's the standard for government intrusion into family life. The fact that we homeschool doesn't mean that we have waived our constitutional rights to due process so that different rules apply. When the government is free to come into your house and check whether your kids did their homework, and not before, will I agree to have it look over my shoulder. Or maybe not. Because on that day, America will have ceased to be a free country. In the meantime, I will comply with the existing state regulations, and oppose any attempt to broaden state control over my family.

Homeschoolers in most states do not receive any funding whatsoever from the government. I think that Alaska and maybe a couple of other places do have some sort of financial aid available, but here in New York, and in most places, homeschoolers do not get subsidies. However, we do pay school taxes, from which we reap no personal benefit. Teachers are allowed to deduct supplies they use in the classroom, but not so homeschoolers. And most of us like it that way, because there are no strings attached, as there might be if we were accepting public funding. Public schooling is state action, undertaken with public funds, and that is why it is regulated. Homeschooling is a purely private endeavor in which the government should have no purview. So that is why we don't all agree with the premise that, "Well, if you are doing the right thing, why shouldn't you want your kids tested like the school kids? If you have nothing to hide, why not?" Because I'm not an arm of the state, responsible to the people, nor am I sucking on the public teat, and spending money in which the American taxpayer has an interest. I am raising my own child, and saving the system the resources it would otherwise need to be committing to his education. Why that makes me a presumptive villain, I will never understand.

Ultimately, homeschoolers believe that the privilege and responsibility of raising our children and educating them belongs to families, not the government, and we are prepared to buck the system and do it ourselves, because we believe it is the best thing for our families. That is in no way a comment on what is best for anyone else's family, or a knock against people who send their kids to school. Everyone should be free to choose the best course for their own family. For us, it is homeschooling.

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You can find more essays by Chele Coyne on her blog "Homeschooling On Hudson".




And I received this today in the mail:

  

I used my "new" IHIP format that details the Ambleside Online method and booklist (see sidebar), along with my usual beginning and ending.  This was just as quick and easy to write up, since I had made a list and schedule for myself prior.  I just copied and pasted what I wrote.  And it's as concise as the worldbook IHIP, and still all on one page.  So here we go.  On to another wonderful homeschool year!

A Beautiful Thing

I am intrigued by how children learn. Adults cannot force a child to learn. The child has to want to learn something and this happens when they’re ready. I’ve always been a child-led homeschooler imbued with a strong unschooling philosophy. I began this journey 5 years ago with the thought that kids are a lot smarter than we think. They don’t need to be threatened, punished, or rewarded when it comes to learning. They just learn.

In my opinion, the parents’ job in homeschooling, is to be there answering any and all questions - looking up what you don’t know. It’s to provide as many resources, experiences, and opportunities to your children as you can. It's to offer help, advice, and guidance and to foster their interests. It’s to listen to their needs and find the joy in their wants.

My preferred homeschool method is based on lists of my children’s favorite things to do. That has always been the underlying curriculum for them - their own choices. Both of my homeschoolers love workbooks, and science, and documentaries, and history projects, and Readalouds, and poems, and word games, and nature, and museums, and doing research, and making their own connections to everything they encounter in life. Allowing my children to do what they enjoy has been incredibly effective.

J is in 8th grade and has been following her interests and passions since she started homeschooling in 3rd grade. She regained her love of learning after it was so obviously squelched by public schooling. She went from constant indifference and a helpless, defeated attitude to an eager, independent learner who was so excited about the world - in less than a year at home. Now, at 13, she still does only what she loves. Her choices have always centered around the academic, which I believe would be the case for most children who are really free to choose, and also around dance. Now that J is choosing to experience high school, the stars lined up perfectly for her as her new school centers around what she loves.

W is an amazing 3rd grader. Homeschooling for him has been so perfect and fits his personality. He is full of energy, ideas, curiosity, enthusiasm, and determination. He’s a natural at arithmetic and loves history and science. And he loves reading. He overcame a huge reading block, mostly on his own with lots of encouragement, and is now surpassing grade level. He is outgoing and confident and loves his life.

K is doing well in high school. She’s going on a college overnight in a couple of days and can’t wait. The year she was homeschooled still resonates today. She’s definitely a better person for it. Over that year she let go of the middle school angst and learned who she was. That sense of self and great confidence she gained has stayed with her. She’s coming up on her last year of high school and is looking forward to college.

Homeschooling has opened up the world to my kids. They are really learning. They are happy, smart, full of enthusiasm, outgoing, and such a pleasure to be around. For anyone struggling with the homeschool decision, I want to tell you it is a beautiful thing.

Pokemon

Let me tell you why I'm loving The Complete Pokemon Pocket Guide. It's a whole phonics, vocabulary, and language arts curriculum. The main thing is that just about all of the Pokemon names are nonsense words that have to be either sounded out or figured out using phonics rules.

You have names like "Metapod" and "Onix", that are sound-outable.

Then there are "Machop", "Machoke", and "Machamp" (the stages of one pokemon in various stages of his evolution) that use more phonetic rules.

Then there's "Hoothoot" (a compound word of sorts) that evolves into "Noctowl" - which led to a discussion of the Latin root "noct" meaning night. Lots of pokemon names use Latin and Greek root words.

One pokemon is named "Ditto" because he can change into other pokemon at will.

The seahorse-looking pokemon is named "Horsea". I like the word reversal. W got a kick out of that one.

"Charmander", "Charmeleon", and "Charizard" are the evolutionary names of a lizard-like pokemon. Notice the endings are from different lizards.

And how "Caterpie" evolves into "Metapod" and then "Butterfree". Get it?

Another cool thing is how some pokemon names sound like other words, like: "Raticate", "Empoleon", and "Masquerain" that describe the particular pokemon. Vocabulary words everywhere.

Each page has the name, picture, type, abilities, height, weight, and evolutionary line of each pokemon. The back has an alphabetical list of all pokemon in both pocket-guide volumes.

Recently, W has been looking at these books pretty often. He not only enjoys reading it, but it helps him make so many connections. I say, if your kid likes Pokemon, encourage that interest and you'll more than likely be surprised at all the learning in all of it. :)