Category Archives: homeschooling

Jan 8 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 2 – Start Thinking

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There is a time for everything: a time to think. It would help if you stopped learning, as I explained in my previous Thoughtful Thursday post. [tweetthis]Cogito ergo sum, right? I think, therefore, I am.[/tweetthis] If I stop thinking, I have ceased to exist.

The man who came up with that phrase was René Descartes, a French mathematician and philosopher. This phrase became a cornerstone of Western philosophy.

Thoughtful Thursday Week 2

In the context of homeschooling, how do you stop learning and start thinking? Well, how about not following the textbook to the teeth? How about using our minds to assess if our children are too bored or too intimidated by a particular curriculum? Thinking, in this case, is scary. What if you have to change curriculum mid-semester? Was that a waste of your money?  Continue reading »

Jan 7 2015

Wonderful Wednesday – Powder Days

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My son and I are taking ski lessons this year. Ober Gatlinburg offers a special program to homeschoolers in January and February. The age minimum is seven.

My son and I during our first ski lesson

My son and I during our first ski lesson

Oh, the lessons we learned as we went to our first lessons last Sunday! In no particular order, we learned how to:

  • pick up skis, poles, and helmets
  • rent a locker for our own boots
  • return said rentals
  • “park” said rentals so we could go have lunch
  • fall the right way
  • get up the right way
  • get into skis the right way
  • turn left and right
  • stop on a bunny hill
  • come to a stop on an intermediate hill
  • get back up a hill when there is no chair lift
  • persevere through the fear and discouragement
  • stop laughing at people who fall
  • help those who ask for help
  • make a phone call without cell signal

I can’t say enough about this first powder day. The fears we faced and overcame probably rank highest on my list of accomplishments so far this year. Many thanks to my son who was my  teacher in the subject of Perseverance. At seven, he knows how to persevere. He kept falling and could not even get back up. He got so tangled in his skis and poles, the teacher had to walk over to help him many times. And he got up. Again, and again, and again.  Continue reading »

Jan 4 2015

Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 9

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The First Cities of India was a delightful chapter. We listened to it in the car on the way to an appointment. The kids were intrigued by the story of the quail. A week later, I played the chapter again on another trip.

They colored their maps. I chose not to have them color the ceremonial mask. It looks a little scary.

Map Work SOTW

My daughter with her mapwork for Ancient India

My daughter colored the picture of the statue from Mohenjo-Daro, but my son did not. I am beginning to see a pattern here. I really don’t like to enforce coloring for a boy who is into drawing more than coloring. So I let it go.

We made little bricks out of air-drying clay and let them dry overnight.

Rolled Out Clay

Rolled Out Clay

Because I did not press their corners down, the bricks dried up with one or two corners tipped up, which made them unstackable. Oh well… I guess we can recycle them into math manipulatives.

Air-Dry Clay Bricks

Air-Dry Clay Bricks

But I have to say, this project would have been daunting, requiring a lot of patience. The bricks are really thin and it would take a lot of them to build a whole village. Just my $.02.

Air-Dry Clay

Air-Dry Clay

We enjoy our history lessons, but other things get in the way. We will have to catch up in the next semester. But if the next semester happens to be just as busy as this one, we will have to finish our history curriculum during the summer. We homeschool year round anyway.

Jan 2 2015

My Word for 2015 – Less

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In 2014, I learned that it is trendy to choose one word for the new year and focus on it for the next 12 months, as a way to stay away from resolutions that fizzle out by April. So, in 2014, I chose “Gentle.” As I opened up to God and the universe through that one word, books like Attitudes of Gratitude and One Thousand Gifts plopped in my lap. I started journaling about gratefulness, i.e. jotting down 10 things I am thankful for every morning. I continued my journey towards gentleness through the step of appreciating what I have.

And then I had a couple of not-so-gentle episodes with the kids, in the fall. I was desperate to find a solution. Thankfully, there’s Google. I found The Orange Rhino. This book and system pretty much states everything I already found to be true about being patient and gentle with my kids. The author is funny (and she can use some language, just a fair warning) and human.

So, you see, it works. Choosing one word and focusing on it throughout the year will push you in that direction slowly, but surely.

Which brings me to my next point. My 2014 was crazy busy. I was burned out by August and I recovered briefly in September, when we went to the beach. October went by so fast, I thought it was a dream. Then, I got really sick at the end of November, due to too much work and not taking care of myself. No more.

My Word for 2015

My word for 2015 is “less,” i.e. less stress, less work, less activities. After much thought and prayerful consideration, I had to cut a few things out of my schedule. By doing less, I can be more. [tweetthis]After all, God created human beings, not human doings.[/tweetthis] If I do less, then I stress less, so I can be more patient with my children and the thoughtless remarks of people in my life. Continue reading »

Jan 1 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 1 – Stop Learning

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Last year, I published a series of weekly devotional posts for homeschooling moms called Mom Monday. Fifty-two weeks later, it is time for a new series. A new series for a new year. Introducing Thoughtful Thursday, a collection of essays about homeschooling and how it forces everybody to think outside the box. In some cases, it forces people to think. Period.

It’s sad, I know, but some people go through life without thinking, simply accepting the status quo, just believing everything that is handed down to them by the previous generation, and feeling scared and challenged when someone comes along doing a new thing.

Thoughtful Thursday Week 1 - Stop learning

When I started this blog, I knew I was going to focus on homeschooling. I also knew that homeschooling touches so many aspects of our lives – because it is a lifestyle – that it inevitably brings about some basic questions about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Which is why a personal friend unfriended me on Facebook and declared herself “highly offended” by one of my posts on socialization, for instance. She chooses to put her children in public school and once told me, “I believe in public school.”  Continue reading »

Dec 30 2014

Little Bits Review

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When I watched the TED talk on Little Bits, I knew I was going to have to get a set for my son. He loves all things LEGO – I have not blogged enough about his LEGO projects, a thing I intend to change in 2015 – and Little Bits seems like the next step as he continues to explore building, electronics, and technology.

I suggest you watch the TED talk I mentioned above. It’s only 5 minutes. Their creator explains what Little Bits are better than I could. In short, Little Bits are electronic modules of different colors, each color performing a specific task (like pulse, sound, light, wire etc), and which snap together via magnets. No soldering needed.

Little Bits - Deluxe Kit

Little Bits – Deluxe Kit

Little Bits are intended for children 8 to ∞. Our son turned 7 in November, but he looks like an 8-year-old and he reads at a 6th grade level. He builds LEGO projects intended for 14-year-olds. So who’s to say that we should wait another year to get him Little Bits?  Continue reading »

Dec 29 2014

Mom Monday Week 52 – The Best Mom in the World

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My son slipped into my bedroom at 6am one morning. I was sleepy, so I decided not to move. There was plenty of room for him to just get under the covers next to me. We did not have to speak. I did not have to welcome him as I usually do, by raising the cover and saying something sweet. I knew he knew he was welcome. I just could not speak or move – I was sleepy.

He slipped under the covers without a word. Just when I thought I was off the hook and we would go back to sleep, he said, “Mommy, please turn around to face me.” I obliged without saying a word. Then he said, “You are the best mom in the world.” Now that’s something to wake up to, isn’t it?

mom monday wk52

It was not the first time he said that to me. He says it to me a lot in different settings and at different hours of the day. Continue reading »

Dec 29 2014

Goodbye, TOS Review Crew!

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2014 will go down in my personal history as my first full year blogging my heart out about homeschooling. It was also my first year on The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew. I learned a lot about blogging, curriculum, and homeschooling through this experience. I received wonderful products in exchange for my honest opinion, expressed in a review on my blog. I met some amazing homeschooling moms and bloggers.

So why not re-apply for 2015? In all honesty, because I put too much on my plate in 2014. I re-evaluated my priorities and receiving free products is not one of them. I have chosen my curriculum very carefully and am blessed to be able to afford it. I know I will not do justice to these other educational products sent to me through the Review Crew because I will not focus on using them instead of my regular curriculum.

Review Crew Team Member

Besides, in my desire to accomplish so many other things besides homeschooling and keeping house, I can sign up for a few too many things. I am learning to simplify and do less. In fact, that’s my motto in 2015: Do less. In doing less, I can be more present in everything I do. I can derive more satisfaction and fulfillment out of the things I do do. And, hopefully, I can be more calm and peaceful and not feel so stressed out.  Continue reading »

Dec 22 2014

101 Tips for Kindergarten at Home – FREE Kindle Book

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It’s finally here! 101 Tips for Kindergarten at Home, the second volume in my How to Homeschool series, is available now on Amazon, on Kindle and in paperback. During this season of giving, I am making it available for free. Please read on.

101 Tips for Kindergarten at Home welcomes parents into the official world of homeschooling their children.

101 Tips for Kindergarten at Home

Ten chapters share ten tips each. The eleventh chapter shares tip #101. It’s an easy-to-read format, quick and to the point. Who has time to read hundreds of pages while taking care of children and keeping house?  Continue reading »