No More Kings!

It's no secret - I LOVE the Internet! Don't you? Days like today make me love it even more. My 8 y/o dd asked me a question this afternoon why people are having "tea parties." She's heard people talk about it, including her mother, and she helped color a poster that was utilized by someone who attended. ;)

As always happens when they ask me a question, I used the Internet to help me explain. I know we've read about the original Boston Tea Party before, but she's just in second grade and it may not have made much of an impression. So, I used the above video that I remember from MY childhood to help explain. It was wonderful!

Think about it. When I was her age - too many years ago to even think about - I NEVER thought I would have a computer in my house where I could pull up information on any subject I wanted to know about almost instantly. I learned to knit on the Internet. I learned how to make a bunch of origami Christmas ornaments on the Internet. If I want a recipe for bacon chocolate chip cookies - BAM! - it's there! If I want to see what the weather is in Bora Bora - WHAMMO! - I've got it in mere seconds. If I want to know how to potty train a cat - video instruction is mine for the asking! ;)

As far as homeschooling goes, look in my sidebar and you will see many, many web sites with free homeschool materials. If you are having problems explaining a math concept to your child, just search YouTube for any math topic whatsoever and, chances are, you will find a video on it. These are put up by average people, students, and even professional math instructors. FREE tutoring! Then there are web sites like CurrClick, UnitStudy.com, Progressive Phonics, and Home Education Resources where you can get inexpensive homeschool or tutoring materials to download to your computer that are of great quality.

Seriously, there is no reason for a child NOT knowing how to read, not knowing their times tables - or not knowing anything else they need or want to know in this day and age. Most parents have access to a computer and know how to use one. Whether they use the computer in their home, at work, or at the local library. Even if your child is in regular school, but can't read well, or isn't doing well in math, you can get on the Internet and find what you need to help them. It's at least worth a try before they go through rigorous evaluations for learning disabilities, or paying out megabucks for a tutor, or before they are just passed on to the next grade without being ready.

People have asked the question of me, and others, how people who aren't real teachers can teach their children. I do NOT understand that question. If you know how to read yourself, you can teach anyone to read - especially with the Internet, DVD players and CD players that the great majority of people have access to. My 11 y/o largely taught my now 8 y/o to read three years ago. We used Progressive Phonics (download and print books) and it's scripted. Both girls wanted to do it, so I let them. I just thought of it as good experience for them both. I guess you could say we had some "cooperative learning" going on in our homeschool! ;)

My 11 y/o learned to read before Progressive Phonics was invented, so I used other mostly non-Internet materials for her, but we did use Starfall.com. We used the old technology of a tape player as well for Hear-See-Say Phonics. It's not rocket science. You don't need a degree in teaching reading. Teaching arithmetic is just as straightforward, and there are excellent Internet resources for that as well that are free or inexpensive.

It is my opinion that one of the most important things you can teach a child is how to be Internet savvy and how to discern if a web site is reliable or junk. This is the future of education. How do you use the internet in your homeschool?

Schoolhouse Rock Preamble to the Constitution

It's prom season again...

I have had a few people tell me in the past that they think it's so sad that my girls will "miss" the prom that regular school kids enjoy. My oldest is in fifth grade, and I first started hearing this around the time she was in kindergarten and first grade. It's as if kids suffer through eleven years of school all for the big payoff - the prom!

I know every teenage girl dreams of getting asked to the prom by that "certain someone." She dreams of getting all dressed up in a fancy dress and being swept off her feet like a true Cinderella. She dreams of that magic night where she looks like a princess and is treated like one. (Well, I certainly felt like Cinderella when I was working as a waitress in order to buy my own prom dresses and shoes! - lol!)

My Junior year I went "stag" - but I got to hang out with some friends afterwards and it was still a great time. My senior year was a disaster, I was as tall as my date, and we ended up getting into a fender bump in his mom's new car. He also embarassed me in front of my sister and her friends. It was awful. I could have saved myself some money and heartache by just staying home.

I went to a Christian school so, although we had a substitute prom in the form of "Jr.-Sr. Banquet," where we had no dancing but got to dress up in fancy-shmancy dresses, go to a nice reception hall and have chicken cordon bleu, get our pictures made, chit-chat with our friends, and listen to an inspirational speaker. It was pretty neat, but hardly worth the $200 I shelled out for a dress and shoes.

Most of today's proms are nothing like the ones at my school. I don't know that proms have ever really been like the ideal - the dreamy Cinderella story I mentioned above . Years ago I was a volunteer counselor for a CPC and prom season was one of our busiest times of the year, besides summer time when kids apparently had nothing else to do. In fact, my "prom" was nothing like the ideal for a lot of my classmates - only I wasn't aware of it back then. Years after graduation I found out that some left after the "prom" to go to the home of one of the more permissive parents where there WAS dancing (not a big deal) but also drinking (a big deal).

I mention all of this to say, if you're thinking about homeschooling don't get sidetracked by the unimportant and temporary - like the prom or participation in sports or band or anything else. An education is forever, and a quality education trumps all the proms in the world!

Tia Linschied of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine wrote an excellent article about prom parties:
It's that Most Ridiculous Time of the Year: Prom Season

Curious George isn't really a monkey!

It took a five-year-old to point this out! Well, I can tell you that never again can we watch Curious George on TV or read Curious George books without thinking about this! But I suppose "George was a good little chimpanzee and always very curious." wouldn't really sound as charming as making you think of a cute little monkey. Maybe it's just me, but monkeys always seem to be having fun and be a lot friendlier than the chimps at the zoo!

(H/T Nucleus Learning)

Your car in people years...

How old is your car in people years? Is it a young whippersnapper or an old geezer? According to the blog Key Words you can find out by taking take the mileage and divide it by the four digit year.

This is a fun thing to find out, and will provide the kids with a little bit of fun math practice!

Nervous about teaching math?

I've been homeschooling for five years, and arithmetic has to be one of the toughest subjects I've ever had to explain to anyone. I know how important being fluent in basic mathematics is to their futures, so I've made it my one of my goals to make math one of their most important subjects.

When I first started homeschooling, I thought I needed the most expensive program with a lot of manipulatives to succeed in teaching math. I was wrong. I was nervous that I wouldn't cover everything they needed to learn - even though I used a curriculum that was scripted, with lesson plans already done for me. This was, of course, nonsense.

You may be like I was and thinking, "How in the world can I ever teach all of this stuff to my child?"

I remember some really good advice I received from an experienced homeschooling mom and math professor. She basically told me that we have six to eight years to teach our children about whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and positive/negative numbers, and how to do the four operations - addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division - to each. Of course, there are a few things along the way that fall in the category of math - like measurement, for instance - but I consider that part of teaching fractions.

In that light, the task doesn't seem so daunting.

Look in the sidebar for some great math blogs that will help you with any question you might have about math.

Schools to Grade Weight

Beginning this fall, Massachusetts public schools will start sending home weight report cards for students in the fourth, seventh and tenth grades. These will be modeled after similar initiatives in Arkansas and New York City. The students will be measured, weighed, and their BMIs will be calculated.

Here's how to calculate your child's BMI.

Education Piggies at the Trough

Darren at Right on the Left Coast: Views from a Conservative Teacher had the following posted regarding an email he received about the federal spendulous money:

I received this email at my school account while on break last week. Doesn't it just make you sigh?

The Grant Foundation Center will offer the Professional Grant Proposal Writing Workshop and Program Planning Certificate: AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT – Emergency Economic Stimulus Workshop in San Francisco, CA, May 11 – 12, 2009. Interested development professionals, researchers, program administrators, and business owners should register as soon as possible, as demand means that seats will fill up quickly.

I can hear the pigs jostling for their positions at the trough even as I type this.

Your Car in People Years...

How old is your car in people years? Is it a young whippersnapper or an old geezer? According to the blog Key Words you can find out by taking take the mileage and divide it by the four digit year.

This is a fun thing to find out, and will provide the kids with a little bit of fun math practice!

Chocolate helps you do better in math...

Really - it's true! Just one more excuse - uh...I mean reason to have some chocolate every day! You wouldn't want those math skills to slip, would you?

No Wonder we Can't Keep Good Teachers!

Henry Cate at Why Homeschool reposted this comment from an article at Reason back in 2004.

I was a high-school English teacher for three years, and recently ran screaming back to the arms of the private sector. I personally had no bad experiences with the NEA, but I'll say this: thinking that the NEA is the only thing wrong with American education is like thinking Bin Laden is the only thing wrong with Islamic extremism. Teachers are expected to "open kids' minds" and "teach them to think for themselves," yet at the same time we don't dare say or do anything that might possibly offend the parents. Kids with criminal records have a "right" to an education, but teachers don't have the right to know that their students are dangerous. Special-ed kids cannot be disciplined at all. Failures cannot be held accountable for their failure, because that might damage the kids' self-esteem.

True anecdote, before I make my dinner: I taught "Merchant of Venice" to seniors one year; in it there's a line where one character is insulting another, by saying something along the lines of "He damns the ears of all who hear him, by calling him 'fool.'" One of the kids asked me what that meant, so I explained that one of the lesser-known verses of the Book of Matthew has Jesus saying that anyone who calls another a fool will be damned. (I recited chapter and verse, though I can't remember it now.) I went on to talk about the very funny use Voltaire made of that in his essay "The Jesuit Berthier" (an angel tells a priest to stop giving his stupid, boring sermons, because instead of winning souls for God he's endangering the souls of all who hear him, because they all call him a fool), and explained also that this is why cartoony villians in movies developed the habit of using "Fool!" as their default insult; for people familiar with the Bible, the fact that the villian always says "Fool!" is just one more proof that this is an evil, evil dude.

"So anyway," I said to the class, "back in Shakespeare's day, when people were far more familiar with the Bible than they are now, instead of insulting someone by saying 'You are a fool,' you'd say 'You are a--well, I can't SAY what you are because then I'd go to hell.' That's what he's doing in the play."

Next day I get called into the principal's office; some parents were FURIOUS that I had told their kids that Jesus said anyone who says 'fool,' will go to Hell.
"But he did," I pointed out.

"It doesn't matter, Jennifer. You can't insult kids' religions."

"Well, the kid asked me what that line from the play meant! What was I supposed to do?"

"Just tell him you don't know."

It sounds like a Chinese fire drill to me!

Chalkboard Family!

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

10 Non-Electric Ways to entertain Children

From Lifehacker - 10 Ways to Entertain Young Children for $1 or Less - Without the TV

Sick of paying hundreds of dollars for toys your kids don't play with? Tired of the latest toy catching your child's attention and having it turn out to be something you consider offensive (Bratz) or impossible to acquire (break dancing Elmo)? Never fear. These classic toys and activities can be created with stuff you probably already have lying around your house. Plus, they will entertain your kids for hours and when they are done, you can chuck 'em without feeling bad you spent your Christmas bonus to get them. Plus, studies show a child will remember a toy you both created far longer than a store bought toy.

Read the full article here.

Also read Ten More Ways to Entertain Young Children for $1 or Less - Without the TV.

TM - Just Weird or Possibly Dangerous?

Push for TM to be instituted in St. Paul public schools. I've heard from Erwin Lutzer that this could possibly be dangerous. I suppose, though, schools are desperate to find a way to control their students.

Brush your teeth!

You are what you eat! Schoolhouse Rock!

I love these videos!

Reading well and understanding math are linked.

I was reading a post at one of my favorite math sites, Let's Play Math! In this post, Denise was telling about a time when she misunderstood one of her daughter's math problems because she (Denise) failed to fully process the information she was reading. It was a fairly complicated and involved problem that I would have probably tried to skim right over, like she did, not fully comprehending what I was supposed to do. 5th grader makes these mistakes in her work as well, and I tend to get on her case about it...a lot. I suppose it's a common problem, especially with a curriculum like Saxon which tends to have a lot of word problems.

There is a helpful link posted to some tips for teens with reading problems. I also liked this quote she had posted - I think I might print it out and hang it up!

As important as mathematics is, it is a distant second to the need for good reading comprehension. We teachers so often hear students summarize a course by saying, ‘I could do everything except the word problems.’ Sadly, in the textbook of life, there are only word problems. — Herb Gross, quoted by Jerome Dancis in Reading Instruction for Arithmetic Word Problems:

There's also a more recent post up - How do we Learn Math? - which I think is a must-read, not only for all homeschooling parents, but ANY parent who helps their child with homework. I thought the following quote Denise put up on this post was clever as well:

Free math (Available here Monday through Friday). But you must bring your own container, and you must fill it with much or little according to its capacity and the amount of work that you are willing to do. The learning assistant (sometimes euphemistically called a “teacher”) will provide expertise, advice, guidance, and will set an example. But in the final analysis it is you who must do the work needed for your learning… Here it is — this wonderful stuff called math. If you want it, come and get it. If you don’t want it, kindly step out of the way — as not to impede the progress of those who do. The choice is yours.
— L. M. Christolphe, Jr.quoted in the Mathematical and Educational Quotation Server

The history of newspapers and how they relate to blogs

Watch CBS Videos Online

Teaching how to find the "Main Idea" of a story...

This idea is from Kathy Stemke at Educationtipster. Not only does she give a creative way of explaining the "main idea" of a story, she also gives instructions for a fun game to play!

Many children think that the first line of a story or essay is the main idea. To help them understand that the main idea is why you are writing the story you can tell them to “think of a story as a meal.” It starts with an appetizer whose job it is to entice the reader to continue. It’s followed by the side dishes which adds a variety of flavors to the story-the additional information to make it fuller. The main dish is the meat of the meal or the main focus, the main idea. Dessert is the final part of the meal where the story winds down to a conclusion.

Another great teaching tool to finding the main idea of a paragraph is to use the idea of a helping hand. Children can trace their own hand. The main idea goes on the palm. The topic sentence is written on the thumb. Four other details are written on the fingers. For the older students have them draw the wrist and a "bracelet" which has a summary sentence on it.

The Game:

A topic sentence should set forth the main idea and purpose (implied or
direct) of the paragraph. Here are a couple of games that will help children
practice finding the topic sentence.

GUESS THE TOPIC!

Write a
paragraph that doesn't have a topic sentence and have the child guess the topic.
Example: You write with them. Sometimes they have erasers on the end. You can
get them in different colors. When they guess pencils, ask them if it would have
been easier to start the paragraph with, "I love pencils?"

TOPIC SENTENCE MATCH UP!

Understanding the main idea of a paragraph can be tough for beginning readers. Here's an exercise you can do to help them see the forest through the trees.

Write each topic sentence on a separate index card.

Topic: Dogs are loyal animals.
Topic: I love the summer.
Topic: Chocolate isn't good for you.

Write each detail on a separate index card.

Detail: They are always waiting for their owners to come home.
Detail: They want to sit with you.
Detail: There are a lot of fun things to do, like swimming and eating hamburgers.
Detail: We go on vacation.
Detail: Every time I eat it, I get a stomachache.
Detail: It's not good for my teeth.

Mix them all up, turn them face up, and match
up a topic with two details.

Mini-Offices

I've never tried to make a lapbook...much less a mini-office - although I've always had the intention of trying it! (Hey, I did make some file folder games a few years ago! That's something, anyway!) I've always wanted to be one of those time-lining, scrapbooking, journaling, lapbooking, mini-office-making kind of homeschool moms. Things like this on the web make it look so easy! If we do get around to making anything creative, you can be sure I'll post it on this blog, because it will probably be extremely rare! (H/T to Lapbook Lessons and The Homeschool Classroom!) These look like a great way to reinforce concepts in just about every subject.

Here's a video showing how to make a language arts mini-office. There are other YouTube videos about how to make lapbooks for other subjects as well.

Recipe for a book report!

Thanks to The Homeschool Classroom for cooking this one up! This was originally in a Scholastic magazine. The Homeschool Classroom found it at The Teacher's Desk. The recipe is as follows:

1 cup of plot - Tell briefly what the story is about, but don't give away the ending.

2 teaspoons of character - Who are the main characters? Describe them briefly.

2 tablespoons of excitement - Select a short passage from the book that describes something exciting that happened. Try to find a passage with the main character in it.

Mix thoroughly and bake.

When cool, frost with this special icing:
1/2 cup of opinion - What did you like about the book? What didn't you like?

1 teaspoon of recommendation - Whom do you think would enjoy this book? Why?

Finally sprinkle on the following information:
Title of the book
Name of the author
Name of publisher
Number of pages
Literary genre

Looks good enough to eat to me!

"Essay Vs. Multiple Choice Thinking"

The homeschooling blog called Education Conversation by Tammy Drennan is one of my favorites. I've read all of the posts she has up so far. She doesn't really post very often - I suppose that's just the busyness of life getting in the way.

There is a post from January 12 of this year that I thought was particularly good. It compared "multiple choice thinking" to "essay thinking" - the premise being that many tests given in schools that supposedly test knowledge - especially those state tests - really are poor measuring sticks for what students really know. I used to have a teacher that used to use the phrase "multiple guess" instead of "multiple choice" - which I have always thought was an accurate description.

Tammy Drennan gives her take on multiple choice tests and says that, if it were up to her, she would give essay tests. Here are some of the questions she would ask:

1. How did America become such a land of growth and opportunity in the 200+ years it existed before mass compulsory schooling became common?

2. Read over the journals or diaries of some American young people who lived from the 1600s to the mid-1800s. What do you think about their writing and the level of maturity in their thinking?

3. Thomas Paine’s long pamphlet, “Common Sense,” written in 1776 to convince Americans that they should choose freedom from England, was a runaway best seller when it was published. It was written at a time when there was very little government involvement in education; almost all schooling was a private matter. It sold more copies per person than the Harry Potter books ever did. Read it and summarize Paine’s main points.

4. Before the government takeover of schooling, education was a growing concern among citizens, and options for schooling were expanding at every level of education and society. Who were some of the major historical figures who were unhappy with this state of affairs and what reasons did they give for wanting to impose their own education ideology by way of government compulsion?

5. Nazi Germany, Communist Russia and Communist China, among other tyrannies, all considered government control of education essential to maintaining power over citizens. If a country finds itself in danger of losing its freedom and most children already attend state schools, what do you think are the odds that parents will remove their children before it’s too late? Support your answer with reasons.

6. Many people believe that education and values cannot be separated. For instance, if history is taught without judgments about the right or wrong of events or actions, children will come to feel that there really is no right or wrong. If science is taught without exploring the ethics of certain practices (i.e., cloning), children grow up with the risk of using science for harm. If literature is an exploration of the human condition, conclusions – and judgments — must be drawn about the authors’ world views. In other words, education has a purpose beyond simply knowing facts and gaining skills to make money. Do you believe this is true? If so, do you believe the government should make the decisions about what values should be taught in relation to the subjects being studied? Why or why not?

If my test-takers were short on time, I would ask them to answer, at length, just the last question.

If it were me, I would also add after every math problem on the test the word "why?" or "how do you know this is true?" - but I'm sure there would be a lot of failing grades. :)

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival

The Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival is up at Rose Cottage. (Thanks to Henry Cate at Why Homeschool!)