Homeschooling Boosts the Economy

Here's just a small glimpse to another benefit to home schooling I mused with on our drive home today...

It's great for the economy!

Item #1.  The annual Florida Parent Educator Association (FPEA) Homeschool Convention occurred this week.  It's hosted in Orlando, FL at the Gaylord Palms.  Gaylord Palms has 400,000 sq ft of meeting place, 178,000 sq ft exhibit hall and 1,500 rooms and that were all filled for the convention.  Plus all the surrounding hotels where people stayed. 

Item #2.  All those people have to eat, even the ones that just come in for the day so there's a nice boost to the local restaurant business.  

Item #3.  If we go inside the convention you now have to look to the huge exhibit hall full of hundreds of corporate and family run businesses selling their wares.  The greatest temptation at the convention hall is the "Free Shipping" incentive.  It's like a drug, even if you're not sure you want the curriculum/product you might buy it there because well there's "Free Shipping" at the convention and you'd hate to pay shipping when you got home.  Everyone I know has bought a curriculum/product they've ended up not needing or not using.  It's impulse buying at its finest.  My husband and I have bought things (especially in the early years of going) just because we thought they were cool, not taking into account our children's preferences are a little different from ours.  This is why there are "Used Curriculum Sales" periodically throughout the year :-)

Item #4.  Now we couldn't make it this year because it was Jared's birthday weekend.  However, for his birthday we did a mini-vacation at on Orlando resort and got to see the aftermath.  Since it is Memorial Day weekend many people make a mini vacation of the convention by hitting the theme parks Sunday and Monday (convention was Thursday to Saturday).  It was only 9:45am when we drove by Sea World today and it looked like people would be we waiting 45min to an hour just to get in (not a normal Sunday morning).

Therefore, not only is homeschooling a great "class reduction" program, as our county calls it because they get the dollars for our kids even though there not in the classrooms, we are a boost to the economy!  What private or public school can claim that!  So there you have it, more reasons to like homeschooling even if you don't home school :-)

"The Plan" - Part 3: Science is Spontaneous

I have not actually followed any particular Science curriculum in the past.  I follow the curiosity of my boys.  I have a lot of reference books and, of course, there is the internet.  For instance, here's a picture of breakfast Saturday morning.  The pencil sharpener had broken and grandpa was taking it apart and explaining what each part is suppose to do.

Other times we find bugs and animals in our yard that lend themselves to lessons; such as the frequent Cuban Tree Frog hatchings in our fountain. Which, by the way, is why I don't clean the fountain, otherwise where would they live? :-)

For "Life Science" opportunities such as this, my favorite resource is a group of books called "Florida's Fabulous".  The books are huge, they are filled with awesome big close up pictures, perfect for identification, and have neat tidbits for simple explanation.  If you live in Florida I suggest collecting them all.

Other times, we go off to the local public garden and wander, exploring the plants and animals, stopping to identify, sketch or photograph what we see.

There's Legos, trips to zoological parks, wood craft classes, cub scouts, and just experimenting to figure out how things work.

Then, of course, there is Classical Conversations (CC).  One of my favorite parts of CC is that THEY do the the messy science experiments for me each week :-). This has previously erased my guilt over not having a specific science curriculum.

Like icky owl pellet (ie. poop) dissections, in Cycle 1  :-)

 

However, this year I am going to be a bit more conventional.  I have decided to do a science curriculum over the summer that ties in with CC Cycle 3.  CC Cycle 3 Science covers Anatomy and Chemistry.

I had already purchased the "God's Design for Science" as a reference collection for CC.  This year I'm just taking the time to use it as a curriculum.

I like that it is nicely laid out to use for different ages at the same time, but I feel sometimes it is still lacking in reinforcing detail work.  Therefore, I am supplementing the "The Human Body" as follows:

General Anatomy & Cells

• "The Functions of the Human Body", this is a felt board system and a book.
• "Human Anatomy in full color" by John Green
• "In Siders - Human Body" by Linda Calabresi. Two pages of evolution to be ignored but the cool 3D pictures make up for it.
• "Newtons Workshop" DVDs - They are pretty corny but very informative in an entertaining way.
• "Body of Evidence" DVDs - These are geared more for middle school and above but like "Drive Thru History" I think kids can gleam more than people think.

Skeletal System 

• "Make and Move My Skeleton", this is a cool pop-up book available used.
•  Free coloring/ID Page from Crayola.  Use to introduce at the beginning and again to quiz at the end. 

Muscular System

• Made my own stuff for this because I couldn't find what I wanted.  It is a pdf document you can download.

Nerves & Senses

• "Understanding Your Senses" by Rebecca Treays, good visuals, explanations and some unique examples.

Digestive System

• "Quest to Digest" by Mary Corcoran. Follow an apple through the digestive system, both entertaining and informative.

Heart & Lungs

•  "The Story of Your Blood", by Edith Lucie Weart.  This is an old Living book.
•  "The Circulatory Story", by Mary K. Corcoran.

One of the activities from their curriculum we had fun with today was to put on their swim suits and use a washable marker to label their body parts. 

Titus just wanted to be labeled "Titus"

As I go through the curriculum in detail, I might make some more worksheets myself, so check back to this post for updates over the summer. 

Diaper Boys!

I realize that most of pictures I've posted of my two year old have involved him wearing little more than a diaper.  So I thought I should explain.  This is one of my favorite pictures of my two oldest boys.  Lance is about 30 months and Jared is about 6 months.  It was not posed, it just was... well... precious.

I'm a very practical person, not fussy.  My boys spend most of their young lives just wearing diapers.  We live in Florida so they don't need clothes for warmth.  They graze all day long, and are age appropriately not very neat eaters.  I just can't justify having them dirty ten outfits a day, especially since I don't like doing laundry.  So there you have it, I confess why most of Titus' pictures have included him bare chested.  Just thought I'd clear that up.  However, for the record they look really cute dressed up too.

I realize I'll have to revise this policy when Rylee* or Amber ** arrives, but for the next 6 months (or so) let the diaper boy reign his kingdom with pride!

 

*BTW We haven't decided on a name, I was just testing them in type.  Our two oldest boys literally laughed at Rylee the first time they heard it, so Chris and I are still searching.

**Chris prayed for clarity on what to name our little girl the other night and in a dream the name that came to him was "Amber", doesn't have any meaning beyond the color.  Only biblical reference is in Ezekiel 1 & 8 where it refers to the color of a supernatural cloud.  Rylee on the other hand means "courageous" or "virtuous".  Hmmmm.

"The Plan" - Part 2: Math

I love math, I'm a retired CPA, remember EXCEL is where I find my solace but teaching math is different.  I finally think I have "how to teach math" figured out... well at least for now.  It wasn't easy, it may change again, heck if you had asked me about our math program a couple months ago I might have cried.  Anyway, that disclaimer aside here's what we are doing today.

For introducing math and new math concepts I use "Math-U-See".  In the beginning, I used to use this exclusively with my oldest son.  In First grade he was already in Gamma doing multi-digit multiplication and scoring well on his tests.  Then I noticed a problem, he was getting the muliplication but missing the addition.  He hadn't mastered addition.  He also didn't like doing the work, and I was getting more push back every day.  I think mastery is paramount in math.  For us "Math-U-See" didn't provide mastery, the work was either too little for mastery or so much it was drudgery.  And I'm sure it had nothing to do with me being a bit over zealous having a First Grader doing multiplication.  I have a way of messing with poor Lance that way.  However, there is no other curriculum I've found better for teaching/introducing a concept.  So what we do is watch the appropriate episodes from their teaching DVDs, print out a couple pages of from their Free Worksheet generator to learn the concept.  Then we move back to our core math curriculum, the one we use for mastery.

A trick I learned recently, is that math should be done twice a day a couple hours apart for mastery.  This theory has to do with brain research on how the brain moves information from short-term to long-term memory.  I also believe in the value of flashcards and timed speed drills each day, and I've seen the results.  That said, this is how we accomplish all that.

Our core curriculum comes from Christian Light Education (CLE) (You can see sample pages by going to the "teacher manual" detail link).  God led me to this curriculum at the first Homeschool Convention I ever went to but I turned it aside for a while.  I tried out some of the "prettier" and more expensive alternatives but a couple years later I was back (someday I'll listen the first time).  This curriculum is more complete than anything else I've seen.  I like the variety of work each day that keeps things interesting, the word problems are awesome, the constant review imperative, speed drills are part of each days lessons and so is flashcard review.  The flashcard review is very unique and each day is done in a specific order for each grade (don't worry they make it easy you just have to set up the box and follow the directions).  Most importantly, my boys enjoy doing it!  I compared the program to "Teaching Textbooks" this year.  Lance was half-way through CLE 3 Math, and tested to start "Teaching Textbooks 5".  This reinforced my faith in the depth of CLE.  In CLE 1 Jared does need a teacher's help but by CLE 3 Lance works on his own, like the teaching textbooks.  CLE also has the option of Answer Key books instead of Teacher Manuals so they can correct their own work.  I allow Lance to do this some days but I like to see what he's missing so I correct it most days.

We use CLE in two sessions during the day.  In the first session, I have them do the "new work", to include part of the review to total the "first two pages" of a lesson and the "Fact Focus" at the back of each lesson.  Then we do their flash card review, speed drill and take a break till later.  In the second session, we do the rest of the lesson and another speed drill.  This time the speed drill is from "Calculadder".  If you choose to incorporate this component also, I highly suggest buying the CD version not the printed version.  The CD has neat reporting and software extras.  Plus if you have multiple kids its saves money in the long run. 

I try to keep the each session to 20 minutes a day but I must admit I don't time them, it stresses us all out.  And of all the subjects we do, I'm sure this is where we go a little over the time Miss Charlotte Mason would like but I believe if you break it up much further its too disjointed to really learn.  Finally, I believe that whenever possible math should be practiced five days a week for mastery and I don't feel that way about any other subject. 

I feel like Columbus....

Since it looks like we'll be heading into uncharted territory this fall.  We had our first sonogram today and got a few surprises.  

Love the cute nose!

Good new is the baby is healthy (Yeah!), which is most important.  However, they think our due date is now three weeks earlier than before (10/18 vs. 11/3) which messes a little bit with "The Plan" :-)  But I'm not going to sweat it since all my boys have been late (some as much as 10 days), and like I said before my "plans" are seldom as dependable as Excel but I like to have them anyway.

Sucking thumb and moving and grooving the whole time.

Biggest news is......It's a GIRL!  That's a BIG surprise and will require some serious planning; like finding clothes, though I've always liked blue maybe she'll look good in it.  I have tubs and tubs of blue boy stuff.  Oh and Chris reminded me, one wedding gown I've been saving for years.  So that will have to be a start :-)  Long term it will mean loosing our playroom back to a bedroom but considering my two year old still sleeps in our room, that's years in the future.  Hardest part will be finding a name, we've never really spent a lot of time looking at girl names and we had a boy name picked out (Henry) but I just don't have the heart to call the poor girl "Henrietta", so we'll have to start from scratch. 

Let the ADVENTURE begin!

UPDATE 6/20/11:  We have a name!  Amber Elizabeth

SCAMS!

"Scam" is the term I use jokingly to refer to the latest, greatest legitimate way I've found to save money.  So now that we've cleared up the meaning, here are some of my favorite "scams" :-)

1)  Did you know when you shop at "Whole Foods" if you order by the case, you get a 5% discount?  In many cases (pun intended), a case of something you use frequently isn't as large as you might think, just ask.  We buy Coconut Milk, Kombucha, Coconut water and Clif bars by the case to name a few.  And of course whenever possible buy the 365 Brand.

2)  Swanson Vitamins and Lucky Vitamins are two great websites that I play against each other.  That is to say, I check both sites before ordering each quarter, to see whom has the lowest prices because they seem to vary back and forth on some items.  I order quarterly to save on shipping.  Swanson's has a flat $5 shipping rate regardless what you buy, and Lucky Vitamins has free shipping on all orders over $100.

As a general rule I use Lucky Vitamins for the brand name stuff we buy like; Alive Shakes (2lb container), Burt Bee's Tearfree Bubble Bath, Buried Treasure Liquid Vitamins for the boys and me.

From Swanson's I get all my supplements and I generally buy the Swanson brand, they've been around a long time and I feel confident of their quality.  I do buy a couple brand name items from also, like Kyloic, Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar, Spry Gum, Yogi Tea and Ruteri.

3) Amazon Subscribe & Save program is a great way to save on a strange variety of items. Basically you sign up to have an item shipped to you on a regular basis (you choose between 1mo and 6mo) and in return you get free shipping and lower prices than most brick and motar stores.  If you get at least five items a month you get an additional 20% off everything (BTW it doesn't have to be the same stuff each month).  Don't be intimidated by the "Subscribe" part, they are very flexible, I frequently change my shipping dates, cancel items or change items (i.e. Diaper sizes), and this can all be done easily online at literally the click of a mouse.  We buy anything we use regularly and is available.  Here's the wide list of times we subscribe to:

• Hemp Protein
• Pampers Sensitive Wipes
• Cliff Bars
• Nutella
• Coconut Water
• Baby Food
• Scott Naturals (BTW it you buy the regular size sheets its a lot cheaper than the half size sheets)
• Charmin Basic Toilet Paper (I change brands based on who's the cheapest)
• Luv Diapers
• Annie's Macaronni & Cheese
• Peanut Butter

Well, those are the biggies for now and I'll be sure to share any great new "scams" I uncover in the future. :-)