Homeschooling - Top Ten Things You Might Not Remember, But Shouldn't Forget, To Teach Your Children

As homeschoolers we like to march to our own drummers, as we impart knowledge to our children in often unconventional ways (below is C's "back to school" picture from last year).

After all, we're not just doing school at home, we're homeschooling.

With that said though, let's not go overboard, and to mix cliche-ish metaphors - throw the baby out with the bath water.  Not everything taught in schools is useless, and sometimes even the things that can seem tedious, or silly, are useful, later in life, as our children start to merge, and blend back into mainstream society.

After 15 years (or is it 16?  I've lost count) of homeschooling, here's my top 10 list of the little things you might not think, but really should remember, to teach your children, while they're young.

 

1. How to cut with scissors.  Those preschool cutting sheets can seem like totally tedious time wasters at first glance, but you don't want to look back, and wish you'd spent more time on them, while watching a 15 year old struggle to cut out a simple a shape.

2. How to tie their shoes.  As homeschoolers, our children are with us so much of the time.  It can be easy to forget to teach them to function independently.  Velcro shoe fasteners, and days spent barefoot running around the house and yard can make this an easy skill to forget to teach.

3. Your address and phone number.  Again, because we are usually with our children, we don't always think to teach them how to find their way home, if we happened to be separated.  You don't want to find yourself jotting down your phone number for your teen headed out to a movie with friends.

4. How to write the date.  Children in school write the date across the tops of their papers every day, and get lots of practice at this skill.  You might want to take a few minutes with your children to teach them the different ways to write the date, too.

5. Which side of notebook paper is the front - and what the margin lines are for.  While you're teaching your children to write the date across the top of the page, you might also want to teach them which side of a piece of notebook paper is the front (mine always start writing on the back, and half the time with the paper upside down), and the purpose of the margin lines.

6. How to sign their names. No matter what your feelings about the importance or non-importance of cursive writing, everyone still needs to know how to sign their name with ease.  It's not something children do in the normal course of a day, but teens and adults have to do it all the time  You might want to make time to practice with your children.

7. How to open a half-pint milk carton.  I'm sure children learn this on their own at school, but it's embarrassing for a teen to be at a table of their peers trying to master this skill for the first time.

8. How to cross the monkey bars.  Again, this is one of those things children teach each other on the playground.  But, at home, we don't tend to have a lot of recess interaction, and most of us don't have monkey bars in our backyards.  Consider slipping onto a school playground in the evenings for some practice.

9. How to sit cross-legged.  It's funny to think of practicing how to sit, but if you've never heard anyone say, "Everyone sit cross-legged on the floor, now." - would you know what to do?

10. How to stand in line.  Given enough time, most of us will encounter lines to stand in outside of the school experience.  It's not rocket science to figure out how a line works.  But, you might want to take some time to explain line etiquette to children while they are still young.  No pushing, cutting, or saving spots (sometimes), and keep it straight.  There's nothing funnier than watching the lumpy curvy, very independent kind of lines formed by a group of homeschool teens.   Actually, now that I think about it, I like those lines - maybe let the children be.  Who said every line has to be straight, anyway?

Did I miss anything important, besides the actual academics, that is?  Reading, writing and 'rithmetic are homeschool givens.  It's the strange little life skills that sneak up and surprise us.

Dragon Box Elements, Geometry Game - And My Second Favorite Homeschooling Tip

My second favorite homeschooling tip of all time (you can see my number one, favorite tip -  here) is to spend some time each summer sorting through all your books and supplies BEFORE you buy any new books or curriculum for the fall.

It's amazing how much you forget you have.  And, often times what didn't work before, might work later on.

Don't forget too, that "supplies" include apps, games, and videos you might have downloaded, or stored somewhere in cyberspace.

Sorting through our Kindle apps is how I happened to remember that we had a perfectly good geometry game sitting practically unplayed in our library.  And, wouldn't you know it, three of the teens are going to be working through geometry in the fall.

The last time (about two years ago) we checked out Dragon Box Elements, one of the children had just finished working through a geometry unit, and I had all those postulates and theorems fresh in my head, and found the use of them without any explanation of them in the game, to be frustrating - so I didn't worry too much when the children found it frustrating, and we set it aside.

When I set up a new player, to check it back out, this time though, it had been quite a while since anyone in the house had picked up a geometry text, and the theorems and postulates were fuzzier in my memory.  This time, instead of thinking of geometry, I thought of logic problems - logic problems filled with cute little characters...

...and more information than I needed to solve each problem...

...and trying to work from what I given, to what I knew, to what I needed to know - and it dawned on me, that's exactly the leap that most students struggle to make when they first encounter geometry. And here it was being presented in an entertaining format, that even my 10 year old (playing on easy mode) could grasp.

Naturally, I made everyone play it.  Okay, not made, it's summer after all, and we are almost unschoolers, but encouraged...meaning anyone who wanted to go to see Finding Dory with me while it was still playing at our local theater, needed to hustle their way through to the end of the seventh level (you can't really blame me for not telling them I was already planning on taking them all as a family outing, anyway) - why spoil the fun? And, I think they all did have fun, too.  C and E (ages 10 and 11) played on the easy setting, D and A (ages 13 and 15) on normal, and G (age 17) on hard - I tried all three, and found them all quite enjoyable, and even a little more than challenging, in a few spots.

T (age 18) got a free ticket to the movie, because well, I was just so happy he was still willing to be a good sport, and tag along with the rest of us, when I'm sure he would have much rather been seeing some crazy, sci-fi/action flick or other...and, of course, he finished high school geometry, old-school style, some time ago.

My Favorite Unschooling Tip - Making the World Your Classroom

Theoretical physicist, Richard Feynman, is often quoted as saying,

"You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something."

Of course, the truth of the statement is a little more subtle than the quote implies, and in the 1970's interview below, he did admit that knowing the name of things can be handy if you actually want to talk to people.



I've said it before, I'm sure, and I'm sure, given the opportunity, I'll say it again - the best education you can give your children is to teach them to identify everything they see. 

Work alone, in front of your children, reading details of what you find, to them. 

Work together with your children, teaching them how to look-up and find specific details.

Let your children flounder in the sea of information, picking out the specific details they need to find their way.

Knowing the name of something is not the same as knowing about it.  But, to find the name of something - the correct name - you've got to know, observe, compare, sort through details, persevere, and stretch your bank of knowledge in many different subject areas at once.

Want to make the world your classroom?  Then, take a look around, and try to identify what you see in front of you.  It's not easy, and you won't always get it right - but you'll learn things you never expected to know (and you might even be able to talk to people about them).

Simple Summer Slide Stopper

Our style of schooling (almost unschooling) doesn't tend to lead to lot of summer slide, at least when it comes to the "unschooling".  That part of our learning is life directed, and doesn't really stop for summer - if anything it picks up, with all the great outdoor learning opportunities, and road trips to musuems.

The "almost" part of school year is another story, though.  Little things, like the multiplication tables, or all those geometry formulas, that took so long to learn, can slip away over lemonade and popsicles.  So, even though we continue learning throughout the summer months, summer slide can still be a concern.

So far, in our decade and a half of homeschooling, the easiest way to combat summer slide that I've found, is to keep the facts in view.  Literally in view...

...taped up onto the walls around the house.   This week, for instance, I've been busy taping multiplication stories next to C (age 9)'s bed (from Alan Walker's Memorize in Minutes, The Times Tables - reviewed here), where she can contemplate them before she drifts off at night, as well as an oversized map of the world, on the wall across the room.

This may seem pretty obvious, and might be something you already do on a regular basis - but really, don't underestimate the power of pictures on the walls.  Something that you look at daily, even if you think you're not paying much attention to it, has the ability to fix itself permanently into your mind, as a memory. My older girls say they still see a flash of the pictures (from Times Tables the Fun Way, in their case) as they automatically answer multiplication problems, even now. 

Changing it up for summer, with a review of this last year's basics - just the facts - can help to keep those little grey cells active without a lot of fuss or fun stealing bother.

What to Do With All That Child Made Artwork.

 Every so often, another mother will ask what I do with all the pictures and crafts my children have made.

I actually keep an large, old shoe box, up on a closet shelf, where it is easy to get to, but still out of the way...

...so I can easily slip pictures into it, when I take them down from the fridge, or clear the table.  I take a quick second, and mark the back of each picture with the child's name and the date, or the season and year - if I can't remember the exact date the picture was drawn.

When the box is full, I go through it, and remove duplicate type drawings, so I have a nice sampling of each child's work, from each stage of development to keep.

After all, I loved those preschool drawn pancake people as much as any mom...

...but I don't really need every single one to remember, or to show the children later.

As to the bigger crafts, I might snap a quick photo of them for the box - then, I heartlessly dismantle them, recouping whatever pieces (googly eyes, feathers, craft sticks) that can be reused.  Unless the craft is also a toy, and then I leave it to be played with until it is either destroyed, forgotten, or outgrown.  At which point it can usually go into to the trash without causing its maker too much trauma.

How about you?  Any great suggestions for storing all that artwork?

The First Robin of Spring - Connecting Learning to the World Around Us.

We had our first robin sighting of the year.

And, whether it's with a good book (like the one we're reading today)...

...or a craft or two (borrowed from the last few years)...

Cereal Box Robins

Robin Skip Counters

Fork Weaving Robins

...or even with a batch of cookies...

Gingerbread Robins

 ...or nest themed snack...

Bird Nest Snacktivity

...spotting the first robin of the season is not just a hopeful sign of spring (in our neck of the woods, anyway), but an easy bridge from the world around us - what's happening right now - back into a fully engaged classroom experience.

What's happening in your backyard today?

Homeschooling Multiple Ages - Teaching and Reteaching Subjects

When teaching multiple ages at home, especially if you do a lot of group lessons and activities, it can be easy to fall into the trap of teaching a subject once, and thinking you "have it covered".  Of course, what you've really done is "teach" to your older students, and allowed the younger students to tag along.  They will most likely not remember the entire lesson, and will need to have it retaught as they get older.

That is how, even though we've had a few fairly thorough lessons on countries and continents through the years, that I could find myself in a conversation about the continents this week, and discover a large hole in the learning of my youngest.

"What continent do we live on?" I asked, for some reason that escapes me now, but went with our conversation then.

I received blank stares as an answer from my youngest two.

"Okay what country do we live in?

That one they knew.  "The United States of America."

"Good, and what continent is the United States a part of?"

Blank stares again.

"Can you name any of the continents."

"Canada?"

At that point one of the teens yelled, "Oh come on!" from the the living room, and I realized it was time for another lesson on the continents.  Looking back, I realized the last time we'd really covered the continents in earnest was the better part of four years ago, when E was 6 and C was 4.  A review was in order.

I dug our Ravensburger Discover and Learn Continents Puzzle (non-affiliate link) out from the back of the game cupboard...

...and had the girls put it together, and trace the map included with the puzzle...

...to make wax paper templates for cutting sugar cookie continents - again.  In fact the two pictures above, and the one below were from our 2011 cookies, but the process was just the same this time, so I didn't bother with photos.

This time around, the younger girls did all of the tracing cutting, frosting...

...and arranging.  And, just to shake things up a little, I had the them watch a BrainPop clip on the continents, and found a terrific (and free) online mapping game for them to play as well.

T (age 17) wandered through the kitchen about the time the girls were arranging the cookies on the table, and asked why we were making "those" again.  I assured him it was them and not we who were making the cookies.

He thought that was fair, even if his little sisters did demand that he "name the continents" before they let him eat one.

At any rate, the moral of the story is when teaching multiple age groups at the same time, don't forget to cycle back through the lessons as younger children grow up.

Homeschool Supply List

We returned from our road trip just in time to fall down the rabbit hole of house inspections, appraisals, preliminary packing and house hunting, to go along with a pending offer on our home.  I'll be back to posting in a hit and miss style for the next few weeks, until we either move get moved to a new town across the state, or settle back into our routine here, if the sale should happen to fall through. 

I do have a few back to school apps, games, and books I'd like to share, and will hopefully get around to writing reviews for them.  In the meantime, I'm pulling up the school supply list I posted a few years back.  Glancing down through it all, it still looks about right for the things we like to have on hand.

The big stars of this time of year are, of course, the crayons, glue, and notebooks on fantastic back-to-school sales.  I'm a big believer you can never have too many of any of them. They don't go bad, and there is nothing worse than paying quadruple the price later in the year, because you didn't snatch enough of them while they were on sale.

On top of paper (which includes card stock, printer, lined, and construction paper), printer ink, extra pens, and pencils, and any additional rulers, scissors, calculators, or general supplies you can find on the "back to school" lists posted in the stores, there are a few supplies, that are really must haves for homeschooling. Most of them don't go on sale with the regular school supplies, but can be picked up throughout the year, and now is as good a time as any to check your supply cupboards, or closets, and make up a shopping list to keep on the fridge. 

This is by no means a comprehensive list.  But, with these things on hand, you ought to be ready for just about all of the craft, history, math, or science projects coming down the pike.

• food coloring - buy it in bulk if you can!
• straws - bendy, and straight.
• balloons in all shapes, sizes, and qualities.
• rubber bands - again, in all sizes.
• paper clips
• a stapler, and staples
• paper fasteners - one box will last a long time
• all kinds of tape
• string, and yarn - of various kinds
• glitter
• pompoms
• paint - though you can often make that yourself
• marbles
• ping pong balls
• paper plates
• glass canning jars - several in each size is nice
• a couple of small mirrors
• some sort of magnifier, and magnifying glass.
• a prism, or two (this is always fun, not always necessary, but you only need to buy it once)
• batteries
• a small hobby motor (Radio Shack, or science supply stores sell this sort of thing - and usually with accompanying wires, and tiny light bulbs, which are also handy)
• an ice cube tray - even if your refrigerator makes ice.
• yeast
• alum
• cream of tarter
• flavored, and unflavored gelatin
• packets of unsweetened Kool-Aid (these are probably on sale now, too)
• marshmallows - large, and small
• a large supply of vinegar, and cooking oil
• coffee filters
• a box of borax
• a handful of nails, nuts, bolts, screws, and the like.
• and every recyclable imaginable - keep some of every box, jar, lid, bag or can you would usually put out at the curb - sooner or later, they'll come in handy. Just don't keep too many, or you'll never be able to find what you need.
• paint brushes in a variety of sizes and types.
• craft sticks.
• clothes pins
• wooden skewers, or wood dowels of various sizes.
• cork of various sizes (you can find those in hardware stores, or with fishing supplies).
• googly eyes.
• sheets of fun foam
• sheets of felt (like the ones you find in the kids' craft section at Walmart)

There are more things I'm sure, but often you can substitute, and make due with what you have on hand. Remember, when Isaac Newton needed a telescope, he made his own, starting by making his own mirrors. Then, when he needed more sophisticated equations to explain what he was seeing - he invented calculus. Sometimes necessity can be a good thing.



It's great to be a homeschooler.

Social Studies Unschool-Style

When it comes the easiest subjects to unschool, I'd have to say social studies and history top the list.  You can't turn around without bumping into them.  And, in this age of electronic media, so much of history is ready to play out in our living rooms, with just the click of a mouse.

This morning for instance, T(age 16) was up before the others, and plopped down next to me on the couch just as I was turning on the computer to catch up on the morning's news.

Paging through the headlines on AOL led us into an article on North Korea threatening the a nuclear strike against the White House and Pentagon, which contained the following quote from Hwang Pyong-So, director of the North Korean military's General Political Bureau:

"If the US imperialists threaten our sovereignty and survival... our troops will fire our nuclear-armed rockets at the White House and the Pentagon - the sources of all evil."

T was taken back by the harshness of the rhetoric.  I reminded him that it hasn't been that long since our own president was calling the Soviet Union the "Evil Empire".  On a whim I googled "Reagan's evil empire speach", and we spent the next half hour watching it.



It's an amazing speech, if you haven't ever watched the entire thing, I'd encourage it. It's hard to imagine how our philosophy of government could have changed so much in the short time since it was made.  Of course, that thought led us to a clip of presidential candidate Bill Clinton on the Arsenio Hall Show in 1992...



...and, in fairness to the man, a quick clip of a more grown-up post-presidential Clinton on Fox News.



Then, just for fun we clicked a side video, and joined Robin Williams for a look forward, and look back at the beginning of the Obama presidency.



Which led us nicely back into today's headlines:

"Robin Williams Checks Into Rehab For Continued Sobriety"

By which time, the others were up, and ready for breakfast.

A Homeschool Meme

Ticia, over at Adventures in Mommydom, tagged me with a bunch difficult homeschooling questions, as part of a homeschooling meme, going around our little corner of the blogosphere.

There are nine questions, and then a chance to pass on the fun to a fellow homeschooler. My answers, such as they are, are below. I should warn you, I'm in a funny kind of mood, feeling buried under piles of books, and maybe just a little more weary than normal for the "start" of a year. I'm sure my answers reflect that, and might be entirely different next month, or the month after that.

1. One homeschooling book you have enjoyed.

I have enjoyed a number of homschooling books, but Rebecca Rupp's Home Learning Year by Year, How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School is one I return to year after year, and have loaned out to friends, and recommended on multiple occasions.

Not only does it include a detailed list of the academic skills a child should master each particular year (using public school as a model), which is fun to compare against, and check off every so often, but there are countless book recommendations, and website lists to follow up with, too. Even last night, flipping through the book for the umpteenth time, I found a new list of websites (most of which are still around), to check out, and a few more books to put on hold at the library.


2. One resource you wouldn’t be without.

I'd have to say, the public library. I use it so much, I'm surprised they haven't asked me to volunteer hours while I'm there.

The Internet comes in a close second. There are times though, when I wonder if I didn't have it, if I couldn't use my time more wisely - less researching, more teaching/playing/reading with the children.

3. One resource you wish you had never bought.

I was going to say the Real Science 4 Kids series by R.W. Keller, Ph.D. except that doesn't seem entirely fair to the author, or the series. It is a very good science series, with good workbooks, teacher texts, and experiment suggestions. It just hasn't been as good a fit for our family, as I had hoped.

Really, it would probably be closer to the truth to say I wish I hadn't bought any new resources, at all, for the last few years. When it comes right down to it, one resource is pretty much the same as the next, they all have pros and cons. Sooner or later, you have to stop searching for the perfect book, program, kit, or game, and just teach the material.

If most homeschoolers are honest with themselves, they probably already have enough resources currently in their closets and cupboards, that with the addition of what is available for free on the Internet, and at the library, they could easily cover K-12 without buying anything other than essential supplies, and perhaps a few additional tools, as the children grow.

4. One resource you enjoyed last year.

Our family membership to an Association of Science-Technology Center museum, which allows us free access to science and technology museums across the country.

5. One resource you will be using next year.

My own bookshelf. There are so many great books, DVDs, CDs, and CD-roms just sitting around our house waiting to be explored. I'm determined to make better use of all the information already around us.

6. One resource you would like to buy.

Again, I hope to buy very little this year. With that said, I wouldn't mind buying a new globe, telescope, or microscope. But, then again, if I look hard enough I might be able to find those resources available at some of the great science and technology museums across the county we have membership access to - so, maybe what I'd really like is just a lifetime supply of printer ink, and some pencils that will sharpen without shredding.

7. One resource you wish existed.

I wish more children's books were available in electronic format. Our library has a growing selection of e-books, and audio book downloads, but I wish the entire catalogue was available that way.

8. One homeschool catalogue you enjoy reading.

I enjoy reading them all, but try to avoid them whenever possible.

9. One homeschooling website you use regularly.

BrainPop.com - it's the only subscription site I've been willing to renew for more than one year in a row. I like to be able to find easy to understand, funny, little videos to go along with almost any topic we happen to be interested in. BrianPop usually has what I'm looking for. They always have a selection of rotating, free, featured videos, too. So, even if you don't want to pay for a subscription, you might want to check them out from time to time.

10. Tag other homeschoolers
The Fantastic Five - if she hasn't been tagged already :)

It's great to be a homeschooler (even when you're feeling tired and introspective).

Unschooling Panic Disorder

Unschooling Panic Disorder (UPD), which I have also seen referred to as Periodic Unschooler's Panic Disorder (PUPD), occurs without warning, even in the most seasoned, and confident of homeschooling homes.

In fact, I suffered an episode, just this week.

Yep, that's right - I had a homeschool breakdown. Me, the person who ends all of her blog posts with a cheery, and optimistic, "It's great to be a homeschooler!" Me, veteran homeschool mother of nine years. Me, the child loving mother, who adores spending days on end with her children.

For those of you new to homeschooling, or outside the homeschooling world, let me explain. A homeschool breakdown is usually marked by periods of extreme self-doubt, discouragement, depression, and frustration. It is often accompanied by short bursts of crying, yelling, or mass ordering of new text books. The symptoms are usually short in duration, but can occur without warning, which can be quite frightening, or disorientating to the uninitiated.

In my case, this week, it involved the immediate ordering, and administering of the 1970's version of the California Achievement Test, from Christian Liberty Press, for my oldest four children. I chose Christian Liberty Press, because they not only allow you to take the tests online, they email you, as soon as the tests are complete, with the results.

It also involved a good deal of whining, lecturing, and threatening on my part, but the Man of the House suggests I not go into that, for fear of setting off a similar, but separate set of panic attacks in our parents. Suffice it to say, I'm better now :)

For those of you currently suffering from UPD, or any of its sister disorders CHPD (Classical Homeschool Panic Disorder), EHPD (Eclectic Homeschool Panic Disorder), or the more general HPD ( Homeschool Panic Disorder), first and foremost, in the words of Douglas Adams, "Don't Panic!" It will pass. Barring any real problem (which is rare), feelings of self-doubt, and discouragement will diminish over time. Knowing that:

• Do not rush down to your local school registration office, to sign your children up for next week's classes.


• Do not make calls to the doctor to verify your children's immunization records are up to date. This is not a bad thing to do on a normal day, just not when you're in a state of panic.


• Do not call your mother, to unload all of your worries, concerns, and fears - unless you want your self-doubt confirmed, by well meaning, pro-school suggestions (except in the case of second generation homeschoolers - then dial away).


• Do not order a completely new curriculum, or sign up for online classes. Again, these might be alright things to do, but not in a state of panic. If you must have a set of all new books, to make you feel momentarily reassured, that things will be okay - visit your library catalog.


• Do not declare a one month holiday from school, because you just can't face another day. If you are already feeling behind, doing absolutely nothing, will not help you to feel more on top things.


• Do give yourself time to breath, and think. Take an evening out, take a bubble bath, take a nap!


• For Christians - spend time in prayer, and reboot through the Word.


• For non-Christians - click over to Billy Graham's Five Steps to Peace, follow the steps, then return here, and follow the advice in the point above.


• Honestly look at what you've accomplished with your children for the year.


• Lift your head, and look around for external forces which might have brought your condition on. Did you just hear a glowing report from your best friend, about her children's report cards? Did Johnny, next door, receive a "young genius" award for his work in his school's robotics program? Did you catch sight of your child's Sunday School paper, or letter to a friend, and realize every other word was misspelled? Or, have you been cooped up all winter in the house, and spring fever is setting in? Then, deal with those forces appropriately.


• Leave a comment on almost any homeschool bulletin board. You will receive overwhelming assurance what you're going through is perfectly normal, and most likely, not grounded in any type of reality whatsoever.

It's great to be a homeschooler!

Another Back To School Post

It's that time of year again, and even almost unschoolers have to get organized. It's difficult to know what supplies to stock up on, if you don't know what you already have. And, there's nothing worse than needing a dictionary, atlas, or even a ruler, and not being able to find it (thank goodness for the Internet!).

Once a year, preferably when the Man of the House is away on business, I like to pull all of our school/craft/science supplies out, and sort through them.

I print out new math charts from aaamath.com, for the bit of our school year, that isn't unschooled, make sure I have quiz cards, spelling games, workbooks, history units, and foreign language tools in easy reach, and restock the supplies that are getting low. That last one's going to take a trip to a Walmart, or Michaels, or such, but at least now I can see what we need.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Unschooling - What About The Gaps?

I've been thinking lately, about unschooling, and the dangers of leaving gaps in my children's education. It's not so much, that I've been worrying, although I wouldn't be a homeschool parent, if I didn't occasionally worry, so much as I've been rolling thoughts around in my mind.

What will happen if the children fail to learn a skill now, that they might end up needing later on? Will the lack of that skill keep them from pursuing some later interest, or will they pick it up as they need it? What if it's something complicated like calculus, or physics? Will they be able to pick it up later?

Thoughts like these have been surfacing, and swirling through my "planning" for the fall. But, I had a breakthrough, recently, in the form of an experience, that has brought some peace, and reassurance to my mind.

It happened right before the 4th of July, while we were watching an early firework show. The fireworks were impressive, to north, but the real show was happening in the form of a moon rise to the east. We pulled out our spotting scope (what serves as a telescope in our house), and viewed the clear, beautiful surface of the moon. I have never seen the moon look bigger.

In fact, I was so impressed by the size of the moon on the horizon, that I snapped several quick shots of it.

Doesn't look too impressive - does it? That's because the large size of the moon, sun, or constellations, as seen on the horizon, is an optical illusion known, fittingly enough, as moon illusion. Your camera can't capture it.

But, I didn't know that. I'd never heard of moon illusion before, or if I had, I'd completely forgotten about it.

I set out to discover what was going on, and found that scientists don't really know what is going on. There are a few different theories, you can find them by Googling "moon illusion". I would love to explain them to you, but just reading the explanations gives me a headache. In fact, it was while holding my head, knee deep in one particularly wordy theory for moon illusion, that I realized the truth.

I don't have enough math, or science background to make proper sense of it. Not that I won't try to wade through all the theories, anyway. I'd love to know if it's the same illusion that makes the mountains, I look at every morning, appear to move, depending on where I am in town. But, I doubt I'll be able to figure it out. There is a gap in my education, that is keeping me from finding an answer I would like to find. I will probably never win any scientific awards for solving this particular puzzle.

I went to both public, and private schools. I have a college degree. And, yet I don't know everything (gasp, I know). I don't even know everything I'd like to know.

So, back to the question of will unschooling leave gaps in my children's education - probably. Will those gaps keep them from pursuing later interests - possibly. Will sending them off to be educated by professionals solve this problem - apparently not.

And, just in case this wordy post wasn't enough for you, this morning, I'm also guest posting today at Children Grow, Children Explore, Children Learn, on the topic of homeschooling multiple ages at once. If you pop over there, be sure to check out the rest of Debbie's blog. On her second time around homeschooling, she has some very helpful insights.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

How Unschoolers Learn to Say Frog (and what frogs say) in Japanese

Now I'm sure, this is not the way every unschooler out there learns to say frog in Japanese. And, I know just enough Japanese to know saying frog is probably a good deal more complicated than what I'm going to share here. But, I was so struck by the sheer unschoolness of the moment, that I had to tell you about, too.

It started when the Man of the House took our seven year old fishing (this is apparently our summer for fishing).

D, had a great time fishing, observed for most of it, by his new friend - the frog. The arrow in the picture to the left, indicates the location of the frog.

Being seven, he was quite taken with the amphibian, and was very excited to find out all about it. When, he got home, and we'd loaded the pictures onto the computer, we were able to sort through the various frog information, and pictures in the online Montana Field Guide (a terrific resource), to determining it was a Columbia Spotted Frog.

The field guide provided some interesting tidbits about the frog, but I decided it would also be nice to gather some more kid-friendly information for my little herpetologist.

So, I made a quick stop at our local library's website, to put some of books about frogs, both fiction, and nonfiction, on hold. Then, I popped over to Netflix, to see if there were any instant streaming, Discovery Channel type shows about frogs.

What I came up with was Sgt. Frog, some sort of strange cartoon - not what I was looking for, but it caught the attention of the 12 year old, looking over my shoulder.

"Wow, that's coming out in English, huh?"

Of course, being a mother, I quizzed him over what he knew about the show, and where he'd seen it. Apparently, he's run into it, while searching for information on other animes, but he's always seen it talked about under it's Japanese name, "Gunso Keroro" (I think I got that right).

While he was explaining that to me, I watched a little light bulb go on over his head.

"Hey, if gunso means sergeant (which he learned from some other anime), do you think Keroro means frog?"

So, I steered off course, to an online Japanese/English translator, where we found out that keroro does not mean frog. Kaeru means frog. But, the sound frogs make in Japanese is kero kero, from which keroro is derived. So basically, if I'm understanding correctly, Gunso Keroro means Sgt. Ribbit.

I don't think it's a linguistic lesson either of us will soon forget. Of course, the little man also brought home a pocket full of purple pebbles from the stream, so I think there some geological studies in our future, too.

It's great to be a(n) (un)homeschooler.

Reading/Boredom Buster Treasure Hunt

The children played their happy, little hearts out with their yellow play dough at our yellow birthday party. But, the party is over, and the play dough has become yesterday's toy. So, I thought I could recycle it into a reading/boredom buster activity, sort of inspired by Steve Cohen's Learn-to-Read Treasure Hunts, which I used with my older children, when they were first learning to read.



I started with an inexpensive Lego set, the kind that takes the kids about 5 minutes to put together, play with, and then forget. You could probably find an even less expensive, generic version. Or, better yet, pull Legos from your children's existing stash, along with instructions printed off the Lego site, to rebuild an old, demolished, Lego plane, or car.



I made a list of clues/directions. Actually, I made two lists. One, to be cut up an placed with the Lego pieces, and another, so I'd know where to hide each set of pieces. The clues were written with simple words, for my early readers.

I placed each clue, and a few of the Legos into separate, snack size, plastic bags.

Then, I wadded the bags up, as tiny as possible, and placed them into globs of play dough, using a tooth pick to number the top of each glob, so using the master list, I'd know where to hide them.



My intention was to bake the play dough globs, hardening them into "treasure stones", an idea I got from John and Danita Thomas, in one of their Kid Concoction books. Their ideas haven't always panned out so well for us, so I was worried as I placed the play dough into the oven. I wondered if, even at the lowest heat setting, the plastic bags would melt to the Legos, and ruin everything.

It was about that time I started wondering why I was ruining perfectly good play dough, anyway. After all, just because the children were bored with it right then, didn't mean they wouldn't want to play with it again tomorrow. I started thinking, maybe the "stones" didn't need to be hardened, to make the "treasure" fun to find. So, I quickly snatched them back out of the oven, and placed each "stone" into a separate Ziploc bag, and hid those.





My youngest three (ages 4-7) had an excellent time searching for, and discovering, the treasure.

They didn't even notice they were reading. Well...maybe they did notice, but they didn't care.

The hunt lasted for just over a half hour, and then they played for an additional half hour with the Lego set, and the play dough, which suddenly was fun again.

It's great to be a homeschooler.