Amy's Wandering

Wandering through life one season at a time

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how we homeschool

August 7, 2007 By: amyswandering5 Comments

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How do you homeschool?

I would be considered an eclectic homeschooler. I pull together a little of this and a little of that instead of using a boxed curriculum. Come back Friday to hear more about that!

We do not follow a schedule for school, but we do have a routine. I hear some of you asking ‘What’s the difference?’. A schedule is doing certain things at certain times – a routine is a pattern of doing things, but not necessarily at the same time every day. It all still gets done, but maybe we had a late night with our youth group the night before & sit around on the couch looking at each other until 10 a.m. Or maybe it’s a beautiful, breezy, non-100 degree morning and the kids are actually asking to go outside. Or maybe there’s something really good on Rachael Ray that morning – I’m kidding, just wanted to see if you were paying attention!

I try to buy most of our curriculum used if I can. Here are some great swap boards to browse:

Homeschool Christian

Well Trained Mind

Vegsource the best in my opinion

Used Homeschool Curriculum

Homeschool Classifieds

If you have a Half Price Books in your area, that is a great source too. Check thrift stores for cheap readers, workbooks, and toys. I’ve found many Discovery Toys for under $5, including one of these still sealed in the bag. My latest find was something I’ve wanted for a long time & I paid less than $3.

My kids keep a Nature Journal using pages I find on the internet. I can’t imagine schooling without the internet – I use it every day! My friends call me the Link Queen & they don’t waste time looking for anything – they know I’ll have a link for it LOL! I will be sharing TONS of great school links over the next few weeks, so check back in. Here are my nature notebook links:

Bug coloring pages

Donna Young

Bird guide

Puzzles & games

Birds-n-Garden printables

Wildflower coloring book

Ecology lessons

Journal page

Ranger Rick

Take a walk

Illustrated writing paper

Nature Study pages

Visit Back to Homeschool Week, hosted by Randi, to read more or play along.

 

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why we homeschool

August 6, 2007 By: amyswandering4 Comments

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What led to your decision to homeschool?

You know, I can’t remember why I first considered homeschooling. I know it was about 9 years ago, when our oldest was two. I had a friend who was doing Five in a Row with her daughter & it looked like so much fun! I’m always up for a good round of fun, so maybe that was what lured me. I’ve always loved school – I was a preschool teacher at the time and my “plan” was to get my degree as soon as my kids were in school & teach full time. Whooo, God must get the biggest kick out of me. A short time later, I found out that my sister-in-law was planning to homeschool her kids too.

Here’s some honesty for you: It took me several months to finally make the commitment to homeschool. (Hubby was on board right away.) I had big PLANS for when my kids went off to school, important things like volunteer work & starting a mommy support group & having a clean house. I was very selfish and it was painful to let go of those dreams, but God was patiently calling me and I knew I had no choice :o)

Our main reason for keeping our kids home is that we did not want to have to de-program them each day after they came home from school. We had a vision of what we wanted our children to grow up to be spiritually, and we could not accomplish that unless we had them home during the early years to lay a strong foundation. I was only going to school them through elementary, then decided that maybe we would do junior high too, cuz who really enjoyed junior high anyway? They could go to public school in high school so they wouldn’t miss out on really important stuff like pep rallies. What a ding-dong I was! We work with the youth group at church now, and no way are my kids going to public school! Not only is it a scary world now, but what a waste of time!! I want my kids to get a rich, deep, rewarding education.

The payoff has been big already (we are about to start our 6th year). My girls have many public-schooled friends and just stare in amazement at them sometimes. Their friends live in a catty, Bratz-loving, “I’m not going to be your friend anymore” world, and my girls find it ridiculous. An unexpected benefit is that I’m learning as much as they are!

Visit Back to Homeschool Week, hosted by Randi, to read more or play along.

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i love the smell of new crayons

August 5, 2007 By: amyswandering1 Comment

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Thanks to Sprittibee for letting us know about back to homeschool week. It is hosted by i have to say… and I really look forward to getting a peek into other homeschooling lives.

Here’s a rundown of the topics for the week:

Monday, August 6—What led to your decision to homeschool?
Why do you do what you do? What brought you to homeschooling? What factors played a part in your decision?

Tuesday, August 7—How do you homeschool?
Scheduling, classical education, unschooling, getting the kids to help with chores, how to be “mom” and “teacher” at the same time, special needs, teaching an advanced child, how to teach the tough subjects, teaching high school, teaching with babies and preschoolers in the house, budgeting for homeschool supplies, notebooking, etc., etc., etc…

Wednesday, August 8—Getting out there…
Extra-curricular activities, community involvement, volunteering, sports teams, music lessons, making sure your kids have opportunities to be social, co-ops, etc., etc., etc…

Thursday, August 9—If I had only known…
What have you learned on your homeschooling journey? What would you/did you change? This is an opportunity to encourage others who are just starting out or who are struggling with issues that seem unsolvable. It is also a perfect opportunity to tell us about one of those days made you want to throw in the towel. A funny story? Perfect!

Friday, August 10—Curriculum
What curriculum do you use? Where do you buy it? Have you found a “gem” that you must share with others? Was something in particular a complete failure for you and your kids?

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win a ballantyne library

July 6, 2007 By: amyswanderingcomment

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You have until 3:00 Saturday to enter a contest to win a Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library. Run on over to Biblical Womanhood for all the details. A big thanks to Crystal & Vision Forum!

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Homeschool Planner

June 29, 2007 By: amyswandering1 Comment

This post is especially for my good friend Jill, a self-proclaimed Planner Queen.

Dear Jill,

Clicking on the link below may cause you to swoon & become a bit light-headed. You are welcome!

Your friend,

Amy

p.s. If you already knew about this, shame on you for not sharing = o)

Anyhoo, now back to the planner. I have never used any of the online homeschool planners because they just don’t fit my out-of-the-box ecclectic curriculum. I am so excited about this one because I can customize each week if I want! We do a lot of seasonal activities and I can set up a calendar for each season, choosing my own start & end dates. The site also offers a homeschooling community and store.

Home School Inc

thanks to Firmly Planted for the link

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