Lindy's Homeschool: Worms, WWI, and Christmas break

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Worms, WWI, and Christmas break

For science we continued to learn about invertebrates. We dissected a crawfish, sang bug songs, and played with worms. A Lot of worms. One week for bugs and worms?!? well, it seems that every summer we have an impromptu bug unit, so my kids are not deprived.

For history we learned about Teddy Roosevelt. We ate Teddy Grahams to celebrate. We were going to make locks, but I petered out. We did make locks at the Vancouver Science Centre when we went there, and that was sufficient in my book.

We also learned about WWI. So sad. Uggg war. Two great books were "The best Christmas present in the World." by Morpurgo (which made me bawl.) and "A Poppy is to Remember." by Patterson. It seemed like most WWI books were Christmas books as well, which was perfect timing. We made poppies to remember:

War is so horrible. We listened to the entire "Children of the Promise" series on our vacation. It's about a LDS family during WWII. So so sad. Not too enthusiastic about teaching about war.

Anyways, it was Christmas as well, and we had fun going to the coast for TWO weddings in the same family!!! (glad I wasn't the mom!) What a beautiful experience to cherish. Two temple weddings at the same time. Two virtuous honourable young couples who have such a bright future before them. Two HOMESCHOOL success stories.

And of course, it was Santa and the Wise Men time:

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The "awkward and unprepared" Myth

There are many misconceptions and biases against homeschooling, and many people really think that I've never heard them or considered them. Many people worry about the "inevitable social awkwardness" of homeschoolers or that they are "unprepared for the world." In my experience, I've found that homeschoolers tend to be as socially "normal" or "awkward" as their parents. As far as "unprepared for the world" is concerned, that depends on how they are taught, but I have seen many successes first hand. Basically, I know the ins and outs of the decision I've made, thanks.

Why I Homeschool

When I was first married, I fell in love with the kids of the Leavitts and Schafers (my sisters-in-law families.) They were...and still are...confident, leaders, innocent where they should be innocent, creative, and accepting. They were also homeschooled. I wanted my future kids to be like them, and if homeschooling was part of that equation, then I was willing to make the sacrifice. Now, after years of study, prayer, and experience, I want to homeschool for many reasons. I want my kids to be family oriented not peer oriented. I want to include the gospel in every aspect of what they are taught. I want them to think out side of the box. I don't want them to be obsessed with what is "cool." I want them to feel loved by those around them. I want them to know who they are and what they stand for before they are bombarded by outside influences. I know that many families can do this without homeschooling, but it seems a lot harder to me. Basically, I'm a control freak. I want to be in control of my children's learning and social life....homeschooling makes that easier.

Also, now that I've realized they are severely dyslexic, I think homeschool is the best place for dyslexics to learn.

And there's the statistics.

My Schedule

7:15

START OUR DAY

Daddy does scriptures

Breakfast

Devotional w/ videos

Come Follow Me

Goals/mindfulness/memorization

9:00

School Starts

Maxwell

School of Hope Online

Hyrum's 3 "R"s

IEW Grammar and Writing

Video Text Algebra

Spelling (Word Wasp)

Daniel's 3 "R"s

Writing Prompts

Rightstart Math level "G"

Spelling (Wasp)

William's 3 "R"s

All About Reading

Creative Writing

Rightstart level "D"

Abraham's 3 "R"s

Logic of English

Handwriting Without Tears

Rightstart level "B"

Activity in afternoon:

Social Studies

Science

Art

Chess

field trips

Literature Club

WAS classes

My Curriculum

For math, I do RightStart Mathematics, which is an abacus based math, Times Tales to memorize multiplication, Video Text for Algebra, and Mathantics or other supplements on youtube.

For Devotionals, I use Come Follow Me.

For Reading, I have used the Barton Reading and Spelling program, but right now I'm experimenting with All About Reading and Logic of English.

For Writing, I use Handwriting Without Tears, IEW Fix It! Grammar, and IEW Student Intensive Writing.

For History, and Science, I use The Four Year Plan (which I LOVE.) This year we are using the "Family Jubilee" book which covers Biology, Modern World History, and New Testament.