Author Archives: Adriana Zoder

Sep 27 2013

Dollywood Tickets Giveaway

Posted on by

I am excited to announce my very first giveaway. Please look on the right side menu or read below for details.

You can enter to win 2 Dollywood tickets ($114 value) by simply signing up for email updates from this blog. The offer ends October 7. The winner will be announced in a special blog post on October 8.

Giveaway

These tickets can be used through December 31, 2013. Check the Dollywood schedule here.

Please spread the word especially if you have other homeschooling friends who would like to visit Dollywood before the end of this year.

Sep 27 2013

26 Tips for an Easier Homeschooling Field Trip

Posted on by

Two weeks ago we took three homeschooling field trips in one week. I have been shuttling small children to appointments for six years now. I have always used a mental checklist of things to look into before leaving the house. It seems I keep adding to it every time we go somewhere.

Now that I have a blog, I decided to write it all down. Here are my 26 tips for an easier homeschooling field trip:

1. Check the weather prognosis the night before. We have had cooler weather recently (63F) and so I figured I should wear long sleeves and long pants for the TVA Fair field trip. If I had known it was going to be 80F, I would have worn shorts and short sleeves.

2. Dress for the occasion. An event called “Down on the Farm” calls for sports shoes or boots. A science class at Ripley’s Aquarium, in air conditioning, might call for an extra layer, at least for me.

3. Download and print a venue map from their website. Familiarize yourself with the entrance(s), exit(s) and bathroom locations. These days, terrible things happen in malls, museums and other benign public places. Have the map handy while you walk around.

4. Check the schedule of the venue, especially if you are there for a shorter program. Do they close for lunch? Do they close for cleaning? The TVA Fair closed down the rides between 3-4pm. If I had known about it, we would have ridden a few rides first and then picnic.

5. Find out how to get ride tokens ahead of time. Knowledge is power. When you have to stand in line in the hot sun, it is good to know where the next token-selling booth is.

6. Check your gas tank the night before.

7. Pack changes of clothes and shoes for the children and for yourself. Children spill drinks all the time, sometimes on mommy.

8. Bring some reading materials as well as crayons and drawing pads. If you get stuck in traffic or if your destination is more than twenty minutes away, your children need to be occupied in the car. Mine like to thumb through pictures books and doodle.

9. Play classical music CDs in the car. It trains their ears to appreciate good quality music.

10. Think about investing in traveling pillows or use the ones from home. My children do not take a nap anymore at the house, but, occasionally, they fall asleep in the car.

11. Play CDs with stories or foreign language CDs. Do not underestimate car schooling.

12. Use sunscreen. If your field trip is mainly outdoors, have it handy so you can apply every two hours.

13. Wear hats with wide brims, if it’s sunny.

Tractor

My Children at the TVA Fair

14. Get rain gear – think small umbrellas or ponchos – if it’s overcast.

15. Take along their favorite stuffed animal, for the car.

16. Explain to the children ahead of time what the schedule will look like. If there is a gift shop and you do not want to buy anything, tell them so before you get there. Some places make you exit through the gift shop. When your children start asking for a cute stuffed pink octopus, you can remind them (and yourself) of your discussion.

17. Don’t forget your camera.

18. Ditch the purse. Carry a backpack instead.

19. Bring a stroller if you have a child under five.

20. Have cash on hand. You never know.

21. Bring business/calling cards. Sometimes you will meet new homeschooling moms on a field trip. It is hard to write down a phone number while supervising children running around. Producing a business/calling card out of your pocket is quick, easy and professional. Vistaprint.com is a great source for any type of cards.

22. Save the coordinator’s number in your phone so you can call her if anything comes up.

23. Pray before, during and after the trip, especially if you see everybody getting tired and cranky.

24. Watch your attitude. Your children will imitate you. If you are enthusiastic, they will be, too.

25. Give yourself fifteen extra minutes to get to your destination.

26. Don’t forget to have fun.

Homeschooling is such an adventure. I am stretching myself out of my comfort zone and embracing the challenge of field trips. Veteran homeschooling moms swear by them as educational opportunities, so I’d better learn to enjoy field trips quickly. What is your experience with field trips? Please leave me a comment below. This post is linked up to

Moms Mustard Seeds
Sep 23 2013

Political Homeschool Field Trip

Posted on by

When homeschooling small children, one must ponder before planning a field trip, “Is this really going to teach them anything? Or are we going to have to leave in the middle of the program?”

The Kids and I

The kids and I

Along those lines, you may think children under six do not get much out of a political field trip and you may be right. But we know children are constantly learning and internalizing their environment. So they must get something…

They hear the band before the speech, they see the flags, they listen to the national anthem. They hear a man speak and people clapping at certain points. They play with children they had never met before – socialization is no problem, of course. They enjoy the fresh air and the sunshine. Even if they do not pay attention, they get the idea that this event is special enough for mom and dad to attend it. It must be important.

The Band

The band

That is exactly what happened last week when we attended a political rally during which a Sevier County resident announced he was running for Congress. I could tell my children did not understand what happened exactly, but they knew it was important enough for us to be there.

Three-year-old Attends A Political Rally

Three-year-old attends political rally

To be fair, we do not know exactly what this candidate stands for, because we had to focus more on our children’s playing with other children to make sure nobody ran into the streets. The event was in downtown Sevierville, in front of the courthouse, and cars were everywhere. It actually felt like going to church, where we cannot get but bits and pieces of the sermon in between shushing our children.

I wanted to take my family to this event because I had never attended anything like this in person. I wanted to see how the kids would react to it, too.

The other reason we went was to support homeschooling mom Sabrina Gray, whose son got invited to sing the national anthem. He did a great job, too. He is one talented young man. Write his name down – Elijah Gray – because I think you will hear it again. He is a senior in high school and has been homeschooled all his life.

National Anthem

Elijah singing the National Anthem

This was the third of our field trips last week and I will be back to share some tips on how to make a homeschooling field trip easier on you and your students. I linked this post to

 

Join Me at The Homeschool Post!

Sep 20 2013

Homeschooling Is Like Walking a Pony

Posted on by

The second homeschool field trip we took last week was to the Exotic Petting Zoo in Sevierville. Of course, there’s always an incident when children visit a petting zoo. Two years ago, a camel nibbled on my son’s hand while he was feeding it. This year, my daughter got licked by a huge white horse which stretched over the fence to get to her head. It scared her and she cried, asking to leave right away.

My son started crying too, being afraid for his sister. I calmed them down by taking them to the zebra and emu area. They continued to have fun and even mustered enough courage to go inside the goat pen. I sent them in with my mom, because – how can I put it? – I am not exactly a goat pen fan. But my mom grew up on a farm and she enjoyed it.

However, when the children got pony rides, guess who had to hold the reins? My mom was afraid the ponies might kick the children off and she would not know what to do. I was “it” by default. Challenging, but I rose to the occasion.

The little tutorial they gave me in the beginning helps. They mentioned the ponies knew what to do. If they stopped, I was to pull gently on the rein.

They gave my son the biggest pony. After two rounds, when it stopped, I pulled on the rein to get it to go. It did not move. I looked at its back and realized what was happening. I explained to my son the pony was relieving itself and we waited patiently.

The smallest and oldest pony, age 22 ½, was deemed appropriate for my three-year-old daughter. It did fine for a bit, then it wanted to nibble on grass. I yanked the rein and it obeyed me. I got more confident and ended up enjoying the experience. I even wrote my next newspaper column in my head while I walked the course three times with each child.

Which made me think that walking a pony with a child on it is a lot like raising and homeschooling that child: scary, unpredictable, challenging, involving food and its elimination, and, well, sometimes you have to yank the rein gently to keep them on the right track. In the process, if you can relax, you can have fun and do some writing, too. This post is linked up to

Join Me at The Homeschool Post!

Sep 16 2013

Down on the Farm Field Trip

Posted on by

Last week, we took not one, not two, but three field trips. We are involved in three homeschool support groups. We pick and choose different activities each group does based on our interests, ages, and calendar.

It just so happened that last week all three groups organized a field trip we were interested in. I will tell you all about them in the next three blog posts, this being the first one.

We went to the TVA Fair in Knoxville for a program called “Down on the Farm” with our Blount Home Education Association (BHEA) support group. For this particular event, 234 participants signed up. Yes, that was a large group. Glad I was not the organizer.

Once I registered online for this field trip, I received the instructions:

(1) park in the field in front of the TVA Fair Grounds and

(2) say the magic words “Down on the Farm with BHEA” wherever there is a checkpoint.

It worked. We got in for free. Past the entrance, we simply looked for someone holding a “BHEA” sign and followed them.

BHEA Group

BHEA Group

After we got seated in the arena, a very funny juggler entertained us. Then, one of the cows gave us an elimination show. It was so intense, the kids in the lower levels almost got splattered. They quickly moved out of the way.

The organizers split our large crowd into ten smaller groups simply by bringing in ten fair staff holding a number sign. The closest sign to us was the number of our group. Somebody gave a signal somewhere. The people with number signs started walking.

We followed our leader. Each small group was lead to a teaching station. When the whistle blew, we moved to the next station. We felt a bit – well – herded like cows, but hey, it worked and it moved us from point A to point B.

Here were the ten stations: sheep and wool, bugs, corn-soybean-wheat theory, corn-soybean-wheat tubs to play in, bee keeping, pizza ingredients, cows, chickens, rabbits, horses. My children pet the animals and took everything in.

It was hot and dusty, tiring and, at times, boring. But, overall, they had fun and learned a few things.

Milking

Milking

The fair staff were middle school and high school students from different area public schools, private schools and homeschools. I was amused when an elderly lady asked the girl at the sheep pen, “Did you kids have to get out of school today to do this?”

The answer came respectfully, “We homeschool, so this counts as school for us.” The facial expression of the lady who asked the question spoke volumes about the clash of concepts that had just happened. She was stunned. All she could say back was, “Oh, OK.”

I get that older generations in particular have a hard time accepting homeschooling, especially if they grew up attending quality little schools. I just wish the older generations could keep an open mind about, well, anything, including educational choices. And that they could be as gracious as this lady, no matter how weird homeschooling sounds to them. Wishful thinking… I linked this post up to

Join Me at The Homeschool Post!

 

Sep 13 2013

4 Steps to Homeschool Success

Posted on by

In life, flexibility is the mother of all things good. In homeschooling, it is do-or-die. Want the dictionary definition for “do-or-die?” Here it is: requiring supreme effort to avoid the dire consequences of failure. As a recovering perfectionist and schedule-oriented person, I feel flexibility does take a supreme effort on my part. But I want to avoid the dire consequences of failure. So, I get flexible.

One of the greatest books a homeschooling newbie can read is Things We Wish We’d Known by Bill and Diana Waring. I am reading it right now. Fifty veteran homeschoolers share lessons from their own mistakes. I don’t know about you, but I sure want to learn from other people’s mistakes. What I get from most stories so far is that flexibility equals homeschool success.

Take this example… This homeschooling family was traveling through South Dakota on a cross-country road trip adventure. The children did not finish their workbook assignments, so the parents did not allow them to see Mount Rushmore. They continued on their not-so-merry way and showed the children who the boss was. Astonished? Yeah, me too.

Mount Rushmore Flexibility Equals Homeschool Success

Mount Rushmore in South Dakota

I would have used that instance to teach grace, i.e. unmerited favor, and remind them of the great gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. I would say something like, “Grace is a gift from God and we do not deserve it. You children did not finish your workbooks, but we will show you grace and take you to see Mount Rushmore anyway. Grace is what God gives to us through His Son, because He loves us. And we love you. So we show you grace… We will see Mount Rushmore and then you finish your assignment.”

As our first official homeschooling week was drawing to a close, I realized I was already making adjustments to the plans I had so carefully laid out, based on our circumstances (my sister and her family left after spending the summer with us) and my students’ responses (the emotional letdown of saying goodbye took a toll on them; plus, they found it hard to get on a schedule after unschooling for a month).

To help me flex my weak flexibility muscle, I came up with 4 steps:

1. Teach according to the lesson plans you made. You have to start somewhere. A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. Make a plan and work it, even if you feel it is incomplete because you do not have the time or the expertise to take everything into consideration. As a homeschooling mom in my first year of teaching, I definitely fall in this category.

2. Tinker according to the events of the day. Many things happen in a household that interrupt homeschooling. Some are as banal as a UPS delivery. Others are life-changing like a pregnancy or a death. Take a deep breath (or many) and wait for the moment to re-start where you got interrrupted. Or how about this example? DS says, “I am tired” after reading six three-letter words to me (mud, cud, run, sun, rub, tub). Is he tired or lazy? That’s for me to determine based on what I know about his life in the past 24 hours.

3. Tweak based on the responses of your students. Some nights, my children just don’t sleep well. Or they are just being kids. Or something. They do not cooperate during the morning devotional. No matter what consequences I dangle in front of them, they will not listen. I go to my room to pray and ask for wisdom. They know I do that because I tell them. When I come back, they ask me, “What did Jesus tell you?” and I can see it in their eyes. They have come to their senses. They are ready to obey before I even tell them what the plan is. I learned this technique from one of the best books on parenting I have ever read, Kay Kuzma’s Easy Obedience.

4. Troll back to your lesson plans. Were you too ambitious or too lax? Adjust based on what you learned in the previous steps. Change is the only constant.

So tell me, is flexibility an issue for you? How have you had to adapt and change your plans in your homeschool? Please leave me a comment below.

Sep 9 2013

Homeschooling Stats

Posted on by

Homeschooling, like anything else, can absorb all your energies and consume you if you let it. Pretty soon, you and I will be so busy with daily and weekly goals, we might forget about the big picture. So before we can’t see the forest from the trees, I wanted to share some information that came into my inbox recently.

If you are only thinking about homeschooling, the data should give you food for thought. If you are already in the homeschooling trenches, you should be encouraged.

Personally, I already feel the homeschooling ride getting faster. I have homeschooled officially for all of six days now and find myself adjusting methods, curricula, schedules, and the transition between activities. I had to cancel a picnic with one of my support groups (Blount Home Education Association) because our schedule was too full for that week and the children were feeling it. One of the advantages of homeschooling, after all, is flexibility.

Another important detail: during our first week of official homeschooling, we said goodbye to our summer guests – my sister, her husband and their fourteen-year-old son. Lots of emotions to deal with plus lots of things to get done before and after their departure. The silver lining? Taking my sister and her family to the airport doubled as a field trip for the children.

Which brings me to my point about the stats below: homeschooling happens in real families who deal with life events on a regular basis. All the more reason to appreciate the hard work of the researchers who put it all together. Enjoy!

Homeschooled: How American Homeschoolers Measure Up

Sep 6 2013

Sevier County Homeschoolers

Posted on by

I just got back from registration night for the 2013-2014 homeschool year in Sevier County, so this blog post is fresh off the WordPress press. We met at Victory Baptist Church in Sevierville. We registered as homeschoolers and received our ID cards. The coordinator, Sabrina Gray, opened the meeting with prayer and a few remarks about our goal of instilling godly character in our children. Then, she introduced some of the vendors and activity leaders.

She surprised me by asking me to come upfront and share about my blog. Afterwards, several ladies with small children walked up to me and asked for the name of my site again. I was excited to share, obviously, and hope they will sign up for updates. I am honored to serve the homeschooling community through this blog.

A paragraph about Sabrina: she is such a neat lady with a beautiful story of homeschooling three children through the tough times, in the early nineties, and now. A talented artist, a writer and an actress, a quilter and a storyteller, she can also bake some seriously delicious bread. Back in May, we were in her home for a bread-making workshop and her husband shared how he went to Romania in 1992 to give Bibles to people. Coincidentally, 1992 was the year when I decided to follow Christ and the Bible. We all cried as we traded stories of how God used different people like him to bring the gospel to Romania.

Sevier County Homeschoolers

Registration night for Sevier County homeschoolers

The Sevier County Homeschool Support Group offers so much: 4-H, choir, Keep Sevier Beautiful, the Passion Play, several activities for highschoolers, quilting classes, parent support night, just to name a few. My children will try the choir. For myself, I will attend the parent support night. I felt encouraged every time I attended last year.

The homeschooling family Sabrina invited to speak are engineers by profession and the parents of four children. I expected them to be informative, but they were also funny. Who would have thunk it? The mom used to be the president of her company when God called her to homeschool her children. He is still an engineer with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Their older children got accepted into all ten colleges they applied for and six of these ten colleges offered them a free ride. Intrigued? I will pass on to you their twelve pointers about homeschooling in a future blog post.

All in all, it was a great night of networking. It was good to see old friends and make new friends. Homeschooling is an exciting adventure and being plugged into a support network makes it even more fun. My suggestion is that you find a support group wherever you live. You will need them in good times and tough times alike.

Sep 2 2013

First Day of Homeschooling

Posted on by

And… they’re off! No, not exactly. They are still here, at home. And yet, they are learning. A lot. Isn’t that amazing? Our homeschooling journey started yesterday, on September 1. Of course, Self-University Week started yesterday, too. When I made this schedule I did not know about this neat coincidence.

I dressed the kids up in their school uniforms. DD asked, “Do I have to wear this all the time?” She’s such a girlie girl, she wants the scoop on her outfitting options. “Only for school time.” She accepted it.

I chose to buy school uniforms because

a. children look cute in uniforms.

b. it helps them get into “school mode”.

c. we are a private school. Well, sort of.

d. we can use them on field trips.

The routine wasn’t much different than before, but we did take pictures.

First Day of Preschool at Home

DD and I

We started with our Accountable Kids morning cards, followed by a devotional. We are using GraceLink Kindergarten for our Bible story time. This week’s lesson is about Baby Moses. It find it providential, because when God came to me about homeschooling two years ago, He used the story of Baby Moses. Another neat coincidence for our first day of homeschooling.

DS tutored himself through Simple and Motorized Mechanisms from LEGO Education while I worked with my daughter on preschool activities. She was very eager to learn, but got silly after 10-15 minutes. That was my cue she was done. I sent her to play by herself, which she was happy to do, while DS and I tackled the 3 Rs for 30 minutes.

They had recess and lunch. Then, they had P.E. and art (drawing with chalk).

That was it. Easy, peasy, homeschoolese.

First Day of Kindergarten at Home

DS and I

However, it was not smooth. In the early morning, our cat left us a calling card on the living room carpet. Later on, as I reached for a box, I knocked down a tray. Glass shattered and contents spilled out. My husband and I spent fifteen minutes cleaning. Just when I thought I could start teaching, I noticed the magnetic letters I had chosen so carefully the night before for my son’s reading lesson were missing. DD had noticed them in my tote bag and put them back up where they belong. So I had to pick them out all over again.

How do I come up with the four hours of homeschooling instruction required by the State of Tennessee? I’ll tell you in a future blog post. For now, I covet your prayers on our behalf. We need wisdom to guide our children well. Thank you in advance for praying for us!

Linking this post to

Join Me at The Homeschool Post!

Aug 30 2013

Homeschooling Retreat

Posted on by

As I wrote in my previous post on homeschooling back-to-school, I think it is a great idea for homeschooling parents to take an overnight trip without the kids, just before school starts again. My husband and I chose Hot Springs, NC – about 90 minutes by car from our house. The trip was good for our school on many levels:

  • For the first time in five years, my husband and I were not parents for a full 24-hour period. Don’t get me wrong. We love being parents. We love our children. We planned to have them. Then, the constant job of parenting wore us down. We have taken time away from them for the last five years, but it was only for three hours at a time, at the most. We did not leave them overnight mainly because I could not handle it. However, as the children grow, so do the parents. I guess I have done some growing for the past few months.
  • We talked at length. We covered our educational goals, methods, and developments in the character our children that we noticed lately.

Hot Springs Sign

  • We were quiet, too. We focused on our individual laptops and did not say a word. Reading or writing for a full hour without little voices asking me this or that is a luxury I do not take for granted.
  • I used to feel guilty about not being with my children 24/7. I knew intellectually that a break would actually make me a better mom, but it was hard to move that piece of information into my emotional brain. During this trip, I made that switch. Not sure how it happened other than by being a tourist.

Eating good food + taking pictures + buying souvenirs + listening to the French Broad River from the porch swing + soaking in a Jacuzzi filled with hot spring mineral water = rest and relaxation.

After this trip, I feel I am ready to tackle homeschooling again. It won’t be long now. I’ll be back to tell you all about it.