Homeschool and Education

Welcome to another edition of the Teacher’s Desk! Today we are going to talk about Your and You’re. I see these two misused quite often around the web. It really shouldn’t be that difficult to get these two correct. One is the possessive form of YOU. The other is a contraction for YOU ARE. Anyway, here is how you can explain the difference to your students so they can keep them straight.

Your vs. You’re

your – Possessive form of you (typically used before a noun).

Incorrect: You’re piano playing skills have improved!
Correct: Your piano playing skills have improved!

you’re – Contraction of you are.

Incorrect: Your now a piano music master!
Correct: You’re now a piano music master!

Are these words that have been used incorrectly in your homeschool? What are some others you are hoping I will cover? Leave me a comment and let me know what words are driving you batty! Be sure to visit me next week for another set of commonly misused words.

Welcome to the October 10, 2012 edition of a homeschooling carnival.

family

Jim Wilson presents 10 Risky Teen Behaviors You Should Be Aware Of | Babysitters posted at 10 Physical Contact Rules for Babysitters, saying, “Many teenagers think they are invincible, and are always looking for the next thrill.”

Jeff Moore presents 30 Blogs for Tracking Kids’ Activities posted at Babysitting Jobs, saying, “Keeping up with how your child spends her time, what activities she’s engaging in when you’re not with her, and managing her schedule is easily one of the most difficult aspects of parenting.”

MITCHELL MORRIS presents How to Throw a Kids Halloween Party on a Shoestring Budget posted at Full Time Nanny, saying, “There’s no need to break the bank when it comes to throwing your next kids’ Halloween party.”

home education

Ann presents Artist Study – Georgia O’Keefe posted at Harvest Moon by Hand.

Lisa Williams presents 30 Blogs for Helping to Teach Kids to Be Thankful posted at Become A Nanny, saying, “One of the most important lessons that a parent can instill in a child is a sense of gratitude and an appreciation for their relative good fortune when measured against the far less prosperous citizens that make up much of the world.”

Brittany Harris presents How to Help Your Kinesthetic Learner Do Better in School posted at NannyPro.com, saying, “Children who are kinesthetic learners learn best when they are moving, which can become a problem in classrooms where students are required to sit all day”

Questions for Parents: Is Homeschooling Right for Me? posted at NerdWallet | Education, saying, “Choosing whether to homeschool your child is a major decision. This article can help to guide you with important questions and personal insight.”
technology & higher learning

Gratitude presents May 26, Discover and Develop True Talent of your Child posted at Gratitude’s Personal Development Blog.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of a homeschooling carnival using our carnival submission form. The next edition of a homeschooling carnival will be available on October 31, 2012.

family

Barbara West presents Tiny Tots-Caring For Our Children posted at Tiny Tots-Caring For Our Children, saying, “Children are our Future!!”

Samantha Savory presents Let the (Budgeted) Fall Shopping Season Begin! | Miss Money Bee posted at Miss Money Bee, saying, “Temperatures are getting lower and soon the leaves will start changing, which can only mean one thing: Fall is nearly here! For most people, the fall season brings pumpkins, cozy sweaters and cool nights to mind. For others, it signals the time to put away their summer wardrobe and prepare for sweater dresses and boots. After you get done with the task of packing away your favorite tank tops and shorts, you might find that last year’s threads are worn or damaged.”
home education

Katie Glennon presents Fun Activities about the 2012 Elections « Katie’s Homeschool Cottage posted at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage, saying, “a list of web links to resources and activity ideas to study the US government and the election process during this election season.”

Liz E presents The Freedom to Take on Something Bigger posted at Homeschooling in Buffalo.

Courtney Sperlazza presents Well Wise Happy | Homeschool Books for Kindergarten posted at Well Wise Happy, saying, “Self-designed kindergarten homeschooling curriculum we’re using now. This books list can be used as a standalone kindergarten curriculum, as an afterschooling supplement to traditional education, or customized to meet your needs.”

anisha@nerdwallet.com presents To Homeschool or Not to Homeschool posted at NerdWallet | Education, saying, “Profiles of two women, aged 23 and 24, who have been homeschooled for most of their education. We detail their experiences, advice and reflections.”

Katie Glennon presents Combining Unit Studies with Charlotte Mason Methods posted at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage, saying, “Suggested method of planning a unit study that uses Charlotte Mason methods”

Ann Douglas presents Simple Steps to Help Kids Develop Helpful Study Habits posted at Become A Nanny, saying, “Teaching a child good study habits will not only make homework time easier, it will also help him earn better grades. Study skills are a foundational skill for school success, and what they learn in lower grades will serve them well for years to come.”
technology & higher learning

Gayan presents Students Can Save Big on Software posted at CASH CAB, saying, “Math is Hard Math is Fun. Either one you choose, there’s a $1 billion unexploited opportunity in Academic Software. Want some of that action?”

Jean Oram presents Destination Imagination: A Team Leader Interview posted at It’s All Kid’s Play, saying, “An awesome extra-curricular program for kids of all ages. It promotes problem-solving, creativity, independence, as well as teamwork. What is it? It’s called Destination Imagination and it’s helped hundreds of thousands of students.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of a homeschooling carnival using our carnival submission form. The next edition of a homeschooling carnival will be available on October 10, 2012.

home education

Laura Grace Weldon presents Observe The “Goldilocks Effect” In Action posted at Laura Grace Weldon, saying, “Children naturally focus on what they’re ready to take in and do their best to set aside the rest. Often what they set aside is exactly what adults push them to master.”

Liz E presents The First Day of School and Other Missed Milestones posted at Homeschooling in Buffalo.

Hwee presents The Tiger Chronicle: Life cycles and eggs posted at The Tiger Chronicle.

Bonnie Landau presents Putting the fun back into learning to read | Easyread System posted at Easyread System, saying, “5 simple exercises that can add some fun to the reading process.”

Ammy Vega Darya presents How to prepare your final exam posted at CoolTips2u, saying, “some good tips to prepare your final exam”

Laurie Bluedorn presents Can this homeschool be fixed? posted at Laurie Bluedorn.

Karyn Tripp presents Space Unit for Kids posted at Teach Beside Me.

John Morrow presents To Homeschool or Not to Homeschool posted at NerdWallet | Education, saying, “This is an in-depth article about the perks of homeschooling. Personal expression of both sides of the argument- to homeschool or not- are presented. Hope you enjoy!”

Jennifer Moore presents The Beauty of the 30 Minute Clean posted at Frolicking Flamingo.

Anne Laurie presents 5 Trends for Teaching Kids Languages posted at GoNannies.com Blog, saying, “One of the hottest parenting trends today is giving children language instruction beyond that of their primary, native tongue.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of a homeschooling carnival using our carnival submission form. The next edition of a homeschooling carnival will be available on September 26, 2012.

Another week, and we have more link love. I am really enjoying sharing my favorites with you each week. I hope you are enjoying them too. Let me know what you think.

Homeschool Fences

Virtual Surgery–Pretty cool look at inside the body during surgery. Also some dissection videos.

Free Internet Educational Resources–This site has an entire page devoted to free resources. She has them listed by category.

Reading Fluency Resources–TONS of great resources for teaching reading fluency. Lots of links to sites with games and printables.

The Secular Homeschool Community–It is fairly easy to find homeschool groups that are religious based. But there is an entire community of homeschoolers who prefer to teach their children with secular materials. Here is a message board place where they can feel at home.

Our Highschool Homeschool Blog–an entire site devoted to homeschooling through high school. Lots of ideas and free resources.

Kitchen Fences

Chicken Enchilada Soup–Looks like a great recipe. But she also links to her top 10 soup recipes. Some really great soup recipes there.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies–Coconut and Chocolate? I am so there…she has lots of great looking recipes. Definitely worth spending some browsing time on this blog.

Top Secret Recipes–I have several of these books. But there are lots of different recipes here that you can try at home.

Cooking Bread–If you are looking for bread recipes, this site has about anything you are looking for in one handy place. Pretty cool site. Makes me hungry looking at it though.

Smoothies-a site that has a gajillion different smoothie recipes. If you can think it up, it is probably already here.

That’s it for this week. Check back next week for more From the Other Side of the Fence entries. You never know what I will link to each week!

family

MaryLou Walston presents Driving Distractions for Young Drivers – Criminal Justice USA posted at Criminal Justice USA, saying, “Getting a driver’s license is considered a rite of passage for many teenagers. Representative of freedom and adulthood, a teen may spend a majority of his or her time behind the wheel of a car or as a passenger in a friend’s car. As exciting as being a new driver is, it is also a serious responsibility. Driving requires your full attention, and failing to drive while attentive can result in car and property damage, injury or death.”

Fred Lee presents Teach Table Manners in Time for the Holidays posted at Parenting Squad.

Trudy Zufelt presents Boys and Literacy: How to Teach Morals and Values posted at Boys and Literacy, saying, “Always a tough topic but so important.”
home education

Victoria Williams presents The MyMusicTheory Guide to Music | The MyMusicTheory.com Blog posted at The MyMusicTheory.com Blog, saying, “Series on learning about classical music, for beginners. Suitable for teenagers upwards.”

Tiger’s Mum presents Medieval Stained Glass posted at The Tiger Chronicle.

Ella presents Printables: High Frequency Words – Stage 1, for learning to read (age 4-5) and learning to spell (age 5-7) commonly used words posted at notes from home

Kelly @ The Homeschool Co-op presents Inspiring Homeschool Room Ideas: Art Supply Mason Jars posted at The Homeschool Co-op.

Amy Broadmoore presents 10 Children?s Books About Math posted at Delightful Children’s Books, saying, “Here are ten excellent picture books about math. These books both entertaining and helpful for helping teach kids about addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, measuring, fractions, graphing, very large numbers, and roman numerals.”

Mike the Gardener presents Three Tips to Getting your Kids Involved in Vegetable Gardening at Home posted at Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC, saying, “I was very fortunate as a child. My dad got me into vegetable gardening, thankfully, to show me where food comes from and that, yes, you are able to feed yourself without leaving your home. Of course he also made it clear that the more independent you want to be, the more work you will have to put into it. I didn’t understand that at the time but I certainly do now.”

Jamerrill Stewart presents Overcome Judgments of Homeschooling posted at Holy Spirit-led Homeschooling | Living the Life of Faith.

Tiger’s Mum presents Degas and the ballet posted at The Tiger Chronicle.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of a homeschooling carnival using our carnival submission form. The next edition of a homeschooling carnival will be available on November 23, 2011.

K is for Kindle…

If you had asked me what the perfect work for K would be to describe our homeschool, a few months ago I would have had an entirely different answer. But I purchased a couple of Kindles for our homeschool, and there is no going back. We are seriously in love with these tools and we will be using them quite heavily the next few years.

Before I decided to buy the Kindles, I really didn’t think we needed them. I mean, what is wrong with a perfectly good, real book? I love the feel of a book in my hands and the feel of turning the pages as I read it. I even love the smell of books. So why on earth would I entertain the idea of having an e-reader in our home?

As I began to plan our curriculum for this next year, I found myself in need of several Classic books for our literature course. My first course of action was to check the library, because they would surely have the Classics, right? Unfortunately, I couldn’t find more than about one book that was on my list and it was an alternate. I was shocked. I just couldn’t believe that a public library wouldn’t have the Classics on their shelves.

My next course of action was to figure up the cost of putting all of the books I would need for the next few years on my own bookshelves. The cost was adding up quickly and was turning into a very expensive venture. I seriously needed to find another alternative. Enter the Kindle. Not only could I find every book I was going to need and more, but they were all available for FREE. The cost of purchasing the Kindle was much less than the cost of purchasing the real live books. And so into our home the Kindle was born.

I have to say that I have found the device to be extremely friendly. I have grown to adore mine. And Chandler really loves his own. The only holdout is my husband, but I think it will just be a matter of time before he joins us and has his own. As it is now, Chandler and I are using our Kindles daily. I still am found with a real live book in my hand often, but I am also found with my Kindle every single day.

I am looking forward to our school year and using our Kindles in our learning plans.

J is for Jumping…

Now why on earth would I say that J is for Jumping in our homeschool? It sounds kind of silly. But it isn’t if you know that we have a trampoline and I insist that Chandler jump on it whenever the weather permits. Chandler doesn’t like to participate in a lot of sports, so physical activity is always something I have to strongly encourage him to do. The trampoline works.

I like to use the trampoline as part of our PE program. He often is told to start his PE by going and jumping on the trampoline for 10 minutes. That means non-stop jumping. When I am feeling particularly mean strict, I make him do it for 15 minutes. At other times, if I feel we need a short break, I will tell him to go out and jump for a set amount of time. It really is a great way to change things up in our day.

Honestly, I probably like the whole jumping concept more than Chandler does. But he will do it without groaning and with a teen, that is a good thing.

In our homeschool, J is for Jumping…

I is for Independence…

One of the things we have been working on in our homeschool is independence. I am a strong believer of independent learning. While I am there to help and assist as needed, I think that real learning comes when a child learns how to learn on their own. It isn’t something that can be taught from a book. It is something that they must learn on their own, with a little encouragement from Mom.

For our homeschool, I am responsible for planning and organizing our lessons. I schedule the work that needs to be done and then it is up to my son to complete it. I expect him to follow whatever directions I may have left for him. He is fully aware that I am available when he actually needs my help with something. I am always here to discuss and help explain something. There are some directions that say he must include me as I want to have fun as well. But overall, it is up to him to complete his daily work. He knows that once he is done, that he is free to do the things he wants to do. And he has learned that it is much better to do the work correctly the first time as I will hand it back and add more work to it.

So how has this taught him to be independent? This last year there were some times that I was sick and wasn’t able to get things prepared for him in time. He took it upon himself to do his schoolwork independently. He would complete the next chapter or assignment in his textbooks. He worked independently until I was able to assist him.

I think his independence will make our high school years just a bit nicer and help him to prepare for college or whatever he wants to do in his life. I is for Independence…

H is for Home…

I think it is quite important that the word home is the first part of homeschool. I love that we are able to learn at home and be together as a family. It is nice to be in a place where everyone is accepted for who they are. Each person has value. Each person is an integral part of our home.

We currently live in a smaller home. And for the three of us, that is just fine. Our home has charm, despite not being in perfect order. We are in a constant state of remodeling. Some days I don’t think we will ever finish anything in it. I seriously do not have even one room in this house that is finished. The outside seriously needs a paint job. However, the house has character and is filled with many happy memories. It oozes family. It is my grandparents home and is about 100 years old or perhaps even older than that. We have found the original log cabin that the house has been built around. I have some of the hand hewn logs exposed and plan to leave them that way. I feel it is an important part of history.

We have no room for a school room. So we school in the kitchen, and the front room. We have a bookcase filled with school books in the small hallway that encompasses the staircase. At the top of the staircase, I have another set of bookshelves that are filled with more homeschooling items. Then my “office” has a cabinet with school supplies. Pretty much school is throughout our entire house. I have been known to say that our house looks like a homeschool threw up on it. It is a pretty accurate assessment.

But even though we sometimes often have a mess around here, I can’t imagine not schooling at home. H is for Home…