Home*School*Home: June 2018

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Trying to get some things done.

We're always trying to do something and home-ownership is a job that sometimes I think we're just not up to, but we try. We've got the kitchen and bathroom painted and now we have stalled. The cleaning the laundry room task has been derailed by my son's birthday and getting the Nintendo Switch, The Switch is their payment for doing all this work for me this summer and I may have jumped the gun and bought it too soon. :-( But it was his birthday and I thought it would be great for him to get it on his birthday and then he could use his birthday money to buy games for it. It's working out great for him, but the work has stalled. Part of that was my fault due to not having the supplies here that they needed, but it's mostly on them because they could have easily been cleaning the laundry room while waiting on supplies. All the supplies were here yesterday; countertop paint, paint for the front door, paint for the front porch/deck stairs, wood trim for the dining room wall thingy, etc and they still didn't do anything much yesterday. I'm frustrated but trying not to nag too much and ruin the mood around here.

Sigh.

It's a struggle.

I got my list of things done yesterday, but none of my things were very satisfying to mark off the list.

Ah well. Today is another day.

Monday, June 11, 2018

Youngest son.

He's turning 20 today. It's crazy how fast childhood goes. Here's a picture of his birthday cake from 10 years ago. This year, we're celebrating a day late so his brother and sister-in-law can be here.

Thursday, June 07, 2018

A few pictures this week.

One day we decided to braid Cosmo, not sure why.

I went to art class with my daughter this week and got to watch her finish this drawing.

It's such a beautiful day today, I just decided to take a picture of the road on my way home.

Tuesday, June 05, 2018

A bit of light reading.

This is what my youngest son has checked out of the college library for the summer. It's not for coursework, it's just things he likes to read about, linguistics and ancient Persia/Mesopotamia.

Just your typical 19-year-old. (He'll be 20 next week!!!)

Sunday, June 03, 2018

Study about Homeschooling Twice Exceptional Children.

Bridgette Whitlow-Spurlock, a doctoral candidate at Liberty University, military spouse, and homeschooling mother of three children, is conducting a study in which she hopes to identify and describe the curriculum, instructional methods, and structure used by homeschooling families of gifted and twice-exceptional children.

If you have homeschooled a gifted or twice-exceptional child for at least two years, you may be eligible to participate in the research, which will be conducted through online chat applications.

To inquire about taking part, contact Bridgette at bwhitlowspurlock@liberty.edu.

Saturday, June 02, 2018

Time to start thinking about Father's Day!

Please visit my store.

Here's the Link! ->>>--------> Grandparent Gift

Homeschooling Advice.

1. Try it. You might enjoy it. It might change your life. It might not be your thing, but you won't know if you don't ever try.

2. Find out what your state (or country) requires, the bare minimum. Do this and then with the rest of it, have fun with it. It doesn't have to be all serious and it doesn't have to look like the inside of a classroom. You're at home. Relax. Play. Read. Learn together. Enjoy your kids. They grow up way too fast.

3. Don't let a written curriculum boss you around. If it works, great. If it's not working for you, throw it out. If only parts of it work, use those and throw the rest out. It's not the boss of you. When shopping for curriculum, read reviews. Try to go somewhere where you can actually hold the book in your hands and look through it. Print out a sample day or week and try and implement it or borrow it before buying. It's kind of hit and miss buying books without being able to see them.

4. Find a homeschool support group. Or two. If you can't find one in real life, find one online. Get support where ever you can.

5. Make a mess now and then. Go outside and put some mentos in coke. Make alka-seltzer rockets. Make some great art. Make a timeline and a map. Grow some borax crystals. Use levers to lift things. Make a trebuchet out of whatever you can find around the house.

6. Go on as many field trips as you can.

The point of this blog.

"there is a theme, if you read, you'll get a growing conviction that homeschooling is a lifestyle that is worthwhile, that it is extremely good for kids and families, that it promotes bonding, is a personalized education that is superior to what you can get anywhere else for your kids, is fun and can be done even if you have a 400 track mind, no math skills (thankfully my husband does though), through working, job changes, bad hair days, home remodeling, deaths, illness, surgery, broken bones and various other things and it actually makes dealing with these things easier, not harder, than it was when we were in the public schools, because homeschooling is so incredibly flexible. That's the point I've been trying to make for the last 5 years or so."