Let's learn oceanography with SpongeBob!

When I first made the decision to homeschool, my best friend, The Cat Herder, told me there would be great days ahead. Days of learning, exploring and wonder at my daughters capacity to soak up information like a sponge.

She also told me here would be days when we studied Oceanography with SpongeBob.

That was Friday.

The thing is, it had little to do with The Girl, she was no more reluctant than usual - all ready to do her favorite subjects (math, drawing)and needing a bit more guidance to get through her least favorite work (reading, writing, grammar). I however, was in no positiong to do much of anything.

I had work - contract dealines looming, and a back log from earlier in the week to get through. I simply had too much going on, and I felt guilty that I wasn't keeping up.

But you know? I also realized that we had a lot more time to do that. That we were going to get back to things on Sunday (Saturday is our day off). The world didn't end just because I had to juggle my priorities in favor of work for one day.

Cool.

:-)

My first Usborne show went well, and our first week of homeschool has been great. Things seem to be settling down, and although I have a few money issues on the horizon, I'm feeling pretty good about the economics of the house.

I think I have learned more about my daughter in the last week than I learned about her all last year.

1. She loves to make music. I never knew this! She spends hours now playing her electric keyboard and she wants to take guitar lessons. why did this never come up before? I think she was just too tired - school didn't leave much time for anything else.

2. She has a real love for art. Not just coloring, which I knew she liked, but painting and drawing and looking at other people's work. I'm blown away by this.

3. She writes well, but could care less about spelling. Oh well, I guess it couldn't all be good news.

:-)

4. She ADORES math beyond all reason. At least beyond my ability to reason, since math was always my least favorite subject.

Last Monday this conversation really happened:

Me: Okay, so you can do these math exercises for practice tomorrow at Grandma's house. Now go finish your chores and then you can watch TV.

The Girl: But I want to do my Math practice NOW.

Me: Well, okay. You can do the math practice tonight if you want to, but you have to go and finish your chores first! Absolutely no math until your chores are completed, young lady!

The Girl: Oh, all right. *pout*

I still can't get over it - I would have scrubbed toilets to get out of math! I think she must have been switched at birth.

Learning a Business

Tomorrow, I'll be hosting my first Usborne Book party, as both the consultant and the hostess, and the only person more excited than me, is The Girl. She has already figured out which of the books she is going to recommend, and which of her old teachers might like which books. All this work is to help her sell books. She's getting five dollars for every show she helps me set up and break down, as well as a dollar for every book she sells.

:-)

She's been figuring costs, discussing the good and bad points of books, and working on how to be polite to customers. Even if I only break even with my investment in Usborne, it's worth it. The experience is better than any curriculum I could have bought.

Usborne Books at Home is not my main business, or anything. I went into it hoping to bring in a little extra money every month. My main goal being to pay for health insurance which take a huge bite out of my monthly income at the moment, while getting bunches of The girl's favorite books at discount prices.

So, I'll let you know if she ends up starting her own fortune five-hundred - hopefully she'll be able to support me in my old age!

:-)

One Step Closer to the Beginning

The Girl persists in the theory that we don't start "school" until September 3rd. This despite the lesson on how fractions and percents relate to each, which she started and which took up most of our lunch time the other day.

Shhhhhh. Just don't tell her she's learning.

;-)


Anyway. We are planning our first fieldtrip for sketching a livable, but uninhabited area. This will eventually work its way up to being the basis for our model and for discussing our local geography. My friend D. who also homeschools, will be bringing her two kids and we're going out to the pond that my mom lives on.

I'm excited, but I hope the The Girl's overwhelming need for perfection doesn't freeze her up when she's sketching. I'm debating on bringing a camera. She loves taking pictures, but I'd really like her to sketch as well.

If she learns one thing this year, I want her to learn that she can fail and the world won't end. She can be less than perfect, and it might still be fun.

She's already got the fractions and percents down, but the perfection issues are much more challenging.

How to start the homeschool year, without starting school

Next week, I go back to school (I teach part time, and we go back WAAAAYYYY before the kids do). So school has been on my mind.

I'm itching to start our homeschool routine. The Girl, on the other hand, is offended by the very IDEA that we might start homeschool before all the other kids start regular school. She is very much stuck on the calendar, still, and I can understand that since this is the first year we have homeschooled at all.

Rather than push it on her, I have just gotten out some of our cool new curriculum items and started planning for our first week. It took about two seconds for The Girl to come and look over my shoulder.

"What's that?" (Points to picture in Oak Meadow text)

"That's part of the instructions for the model we are going to build for your social studies lessons." ( I continue making notes.)

"Huh." (Looks completely indifferent... and yet does not walk away.) "What're those?" (points to stack of sketchpads)

"Those are going to be your main lesson books and journal. That's where you'll have your writing and stuff. And you get to write everything in colored pencils."

"Cooooooool." (Eyes light up and she fingers the paper.)

"Hey, remember we don't get to start until September!" (I start putting things away.)

"Oh, right." (Long pause.) "Can I just look at the math book for a little bit?"

"Well, okay, but just look through it. We aren't starting school yet."

What followed was a 45 minute review of place values, how to do math in your head and check it with a calculator, and an introduction to double digit multiplication.

Bwahahahahaha!

My evil plan is working!

Summer High Point: Missoula Children's Theater

I meant to write more about the VaHomeschooler Conference - Which was GREAT!

BUT... For the last week we were completely taken over by The Girl's participation in The Missoula Chidlren's Theatre's production of "The Little Mermaid" (not of Hans Christian Anderson Fame - or Disney, for that matter).

Two wonderful actresses rolled into town in one of MCT's Little Red Trucks, and in just five days went from auditions to two final performances. They were amazing, and they pulled the absolute BEST from these kids.

I can't express how HUGE this was for the Girl. She wanted to do it; it was her idea, I didn't have to roust her out of bed in the morning, or fuss at her to practice her lines - and when performance came on Saturday, she ROCKED.

Now I'm working on finding another drama or children's theater production for her to take part in, and she is already looking forward to next summer, when she'll try out again.

If you haven't got theaterin your area, I strongly recommend applying to MCT to arrange a visit from one of their Little Red Trucks. You will be floored by what your two actors, a truck full of props, and your kids can do.

Now, I am working on how to follow on from this

The VaHomschoolers 2007 Conference or "How I Spent My Mommy's Day Out In Richmond"

Last weekend I went to my first ever homeschooling convention, and it was a blast! There was so much good stuff going on, that my friend, The Kitchen Diva, and I didn't actually get to see everything we wanted.

We arrived a little late on Friday, having taken a right at Albuquerque when we definitely should have gone left. Check in was no problem and the hotel was clean and quiet.

We went out to dinner and then, like the diligent homeschooling moms we are, we reserved tickets for the IMAX showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Once we knew we were getting to see Harry and friends on the largest screen in Richmond, we toured the booths of the various providers who had set up in the front hall and atrium of the Richmond Science Museum. There were several booths that impressed me. All of them were interesting, but I'm just going to give the highlights here:

Fun Books, a bookstore from up near Baltimore had a great selection of books and software for homeschooling. Most importantly for me, they had Rosetta Stone's Homeschool Japanese I on SALE!!! Wheee! That was definitely my biggest purchase.

DNA Depot had really cool science kits that allow kids to explore everything from fruit DNA to the effects of pollution on sea babies. I will definitely be looking into those next year.

And the booth that I probably spent had the longest conversation at was the one forCollege Solutions. Being financially strapped, right now, had me thinking hard about what I'm going to do to pay for The Girl's college. Really, there are only seven or eight years to go! (watch as I try not to panic).

College Solutions acts as rent-a-guidance counselors, helping parents to navigate financial aide applications, finding scholarships, and even helping students prepare for the change in living away from home. Karen and Julie, the ladies behind the company, were friendly and impressed me with their understanding of homeschoolers' needs and strengths.

But it was Friday night, and at 7:00 PM I turned into a Harry Potter Fan and didn't think of college finances again until the next day!

Next time: More booths, Presentations, and Earning opportunities that allowed me to take parts of the convention off as a business expense.

:->