The weather changes. It gets colder.
The leaves change. Some leaves fall down.
The daylight changes. It gets dark early.
My clothes change. I wear warm things.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
My Book of Fall Changes
My Book of Fall Changes, by: Brett Ward
The weather changes. It gets colder.
The leaves change. Some leaves fall down.
The daylight changes. It gets dark early.
My clothes change. I wear warm things.
The weather changes. It gets colder.
The leaves change. Some leaves fall down.
The daylight changes. It gets dark early.
My clothes change. I wear warm things.
Color Mixing
Because of the fall colors, we did some science lessons on color mixing. We fingerpainted, we blended colors with different art mediums, we played with food coloring and just had an all around good time!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Just For Fun!
I found this on another blog I read. While it's a bit blunt, it will make you smile :)
The Homeschooling Parent's Wish List
1 Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is — and it is — it’s insulting to imply that we are criminals.
2 Learn what the words “socialize” and “socialization” mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. If you’re standing there talking to me and my child, then its safe to assume that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet. If you truly are referring to "Socialization", I don't think I really want my child to be "socialized"...that word means 1)"to be placed under government or group ownership", 2)"to make fit for companionship with others", or 3)"to convert or adapt to the needs of society" according to Dictionary.com. Ummmm, #1...NO. #2....I think if you know my child we have that one covered. #3...I'm sorry but have you seen society lately?! Why would I want my child to conform to that?!?
3 Please quit interrupting my child at his/her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.
4 Don’t assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a “reality” show, the above goes double.
6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You’re probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you’ve ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
7 We don’t look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they’re in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we’re doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.
8 We didn’t go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.
9 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn’t have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don’t need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can’t teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there’s a reason I’m so reluctant to send my child to school.
10 If my child is only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he’d learn in school, please understand that you’re calling me an idiot. Don’t act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.
11 Stop assuming that because the word “home” is right there in “homeschool,” we never leave the house. We’re the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it’s crowded and icky.
12 Stop assuming that because the word “school” is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your child does. Even if we’re into the “school” side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don’t have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.
13 Stop asking, “But what about the Prom?” Even if the idea that my child might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don’t get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I’m one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.
14 Don’t ask my child if he wouldn’t rather go to school unless you don’t mind if I ask your child if he wouldn’t rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.
15 Stop saying, “Oh, I could never homeschool!” Even if you think it’s some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you’re horrified. One of these days, I won’t bother disagreeing with you any more.
16 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you’re allowed to ask how we’ll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can’t, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn’t possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.
17 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child’s teacher as well as his parent. I don’t see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.
18 Stop saying that my child is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he’s homeschooled. It’s not fair that all the children who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.
19 Quit assuming that my child must be some kind of prodigy because he’s homeschooled.
20 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my child(ren).
21 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my child(ren).
22 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won’t get because they don’t go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.
23. Quit assuming that just because we are a homeschooling family means we have 10 or more children.
24. Quit assuming that just because we are a homeschooling family means we live on a farm and that we only keep our kids home to have help around the homestead.
25 Here’s a thought: If you can’t say something nice about homeschooling, then please shut up!
The Homeschooling Parent's Wish List
1 Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is — and it is — it’s insulting to imply that we are criminals.
2 Learn what the words “socialize” and “socialization” mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. If you’re standing there talking to me and my child, then its safe to assume that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet. If you truly are referring to "Socialization", I don't think I really want my child to be "socialized"...that word means 1)"to be placed under government or group ownership", 2)"to make fit for companionship with others", or 3)"to convert or adapt to the needs of society" according to Dictionary.com. Ummmm, #1...NO. #2....I think if you know my child we have that one covered. #3...I'm sorry but have you seen society lately?! Why would I want my child to conform to that?!?
3 Please quit interrupting my child at his/her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.
4 Don’t assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a “reality” show, the above goes double.
6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You’re probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you’ve ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
7 We don’t look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they’re in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we’re doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.
8 We didn’t go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.
9 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn’t have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don’t need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can’t teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there’s a reason I’m so reluctant to send my child to school.
10 If my child is only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he’d learn in school, please understand that you’re calling me an idiot. Don’t act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.
11 Stop assuming that because the word “home” is right there in “homeschool,” we never leave the house. We’re the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it’s crowded and icky.
12 Stop assuming that because the word “school” is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your child does. Even if we’re into the “school” side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don’t have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.
13 Stop asking, “But what about the Prom?” Even if the idea that my child might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don’t get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I’m one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.
14 Don’t ask my child if he wouldn’t rather go to school unless you don’t mind if I ask your child if he wouldn’t rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.
15 Stop saying, “Oh, I could never homeschool!” Even if you think it’s some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you’re horrified. One of these days, I won’t bother disagreeing with you any more.
16 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you’re allowed to ask how we’ll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can’t, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn’t possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.
17 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child’s teacher as well as his parent. I don’t see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.
18 Stop saying that my child is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he’s homeschooled. It’s not fair that all the children who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.
19 Quit assuming that my child must be some kind of prodigy because he’s homeschooled.
20 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my child(ren).
21 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my child(ren).
22 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won’t get because they don’t go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.
23. Quit assuming that just because we are a homeschooling family means we have 10 or more children.
24. Quit assuming that just because we are a homeschooling family means we live on a farm and that we only keep our kids home to have help around the homestead.
25 Here’s a thought: If you can’t say something nice about homeschooling, then please shut up!
From Jeannie Fulbright...
Jeannie Fulbright is the author of the Apologia Science curriculum that we will be using with Brett starting next year. I took the following message off of her page. I think that it really hits the nail on the head about why homeschooling is so important...I hope (and pray) that if you are questioning if you should homeschool or not, that you will take the time to read this and more articles like it...
A Journey Worth Taking
I've had the privilege to meet so many new homeschoolers that have just begun their homeschool journey. Most of them find homeschooling a delight. As they spend each day with their children, they begin to catch a glimpse into the little windows of their hearts and see things they didn't know were there - good things and not so good things.
What is so precious about this is that we really do come to know our children the way God intended for us to know them. God did not set up schools where children would depart for hours from the very people to whom He gave them to be reared.
Education was intended to be done at home from the very beginning, as was the training of our children's hearts. God's perfect order has been disrupted by the institution that came in to replace God's intention and design for homes and families.
That order was disrupted so long ago that now we have to read books and take classes on parenting and discipling our children because we weren't parented or discipled properly; and we weren't parented properly because our parents weren't parented properly, and on and on it goes, all the way back to the preindustrial age - when families actually spent time together and usually educated their children at home.
After industrialization, the home became second to the institution of school. Long ago, most every child was either home educated or only went to school during certain seasons. Most of a child's waking hours were spent at home with the family, where generations passed on what the generations before had been passing on for as long as anyone could remember.
If we don't have lengthy amounts of time with our children, we will likely miss the nuances that betray what is really happening in their hearts, what they really believe. If I only had a few hours every night with them, when we were both worn out from the day, I may not know what their wrong beliefs were or what their right beliefs were. If I did know, would I even have the time and energy to thoroughly correct them?
Homeschooling affords us time and energy to properly parent and educate our children. Because I spend my entire life with my kids, I know them so well. I know the exact areas where I can trust them to always make the right choice, and I know the exact areas where they need more training. I know their hearts. When I see misconceptions, we can work through them during the morning devotions, pray through them, and explore what the Bible says about them. No big hurry. We've got time.
One mom describes her experience when she brought her children home to school them. She was astonished when she realized that, because they had been in school for several years, she didn't even know - really know - her kids. Could not really knowing your children be God's plan for the family? No. Sadly, it's really no wonder children are in the mess they are today.
I believe homeschooling is so right. It is the model God set in place. It's a return to the ways of old. Isaiah 58:12 says, "...you will restore the foundations laid long ago; you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live.
A Journey Worth Taking
I've had the privilege to meet so many new homeschoolers that have just begun their homeschool journey. Most of them find homeschooling a delight. As they spend each day with their children, they begin to catch a glimpse into the little windows of their hearts and see things they didn't know were there - good things and not so good things.
What is so precious about this is that we really do come to know our children the way God intended for us to know them. God did not set up schools where children would depart for hours from the very people to whom He gave them to be reared.
Education was intended to be done at home from the very beginning, as was the training of our children's hearts. God's perfect order has been disrupted by the institution that came in to replace God's intention and design for homes and families.
That order was disrupted so long ago that now we have to read books and take classes on parenting and discipling our children because we weren't parented or discipled properly; and we weren't parented properly because our parents weren't parented properly, and on and on it goes, all the way back to the preindustrial age - when families actually spent time together and usually educated their children at home.
After industrialization, the home became second to the institution of school. Long ago, most every child was either home educated or only went to school during certain seasons. Most of a child's waking hours were spent at home with the family, where generations passed on what the generations before had been passing on for as long as anyone could remember.
If we don't have lengthy amounts of time with our children, we will likely miss the nuances that betray what is really happening in their hearts, what they really believe. If I only had a few hours every night with them, when we were both worn out from the day, I may not know what their wrong beliefs were or what their right beliefs were. If I did know, would I even have the time and energy to thoroughly correct them?
Homeschooling affords us time and energy to properly parent and educate our children. Because I spend my entire life with my kids, I know them so well. I know the exact areas where I can trust them to always make the right choice, and I know the exact areas where they need more training. I know their hearts. When I see misconceptions, we can work through them during the morning devotions, pray through them, and explore what the Bible says about them. No big hurry. We've got time.
One mom describes her experience when she brought her children home to school them. She was astonished when she realized that, because they had been in school for several years, she didn't even know - really know - her kids. Could not really knowing your children be God's plan for the family? No. Sadly, it's really no wonder children are in the mess they are today.
I believe homeschooling is so right. It is the model God set in place. It's a return to the ways of old. Isaiah 58:12 says, "...you will restore the foundations laid long ago; you will be called the repairer of broken walls, the restorer of streets where people live.
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