Adventures In Cyberschooling

Come Follow Me

2010-08-12T19:58:00.003-04:00

My new blog is up and running...come find us here

Homegrown Minds

Isn't the name fantastic?! My husband thought that one up for me.

The Plan Comes Together

2010-08-05T22:07:00.005-04:00

As of yesterday, my classroom had objectives written all over the white board, books spread all over the floor and my filing cabinet looked like it had thrown up. Today is not much better.

In PA, you must file an affidavit to homeschool your children. This affidavit must include a list of your educational objectives. Everyone I have spoken with has strongly encouraged me to keep these as vague as possible. This was a challenge for me. I love details. I rewrote these stinking things about twenty times before I had something vague that made me feel satisfied to put my name on it.

Once that was finished, I realized the fun had only just begun! Now...what to teach these boys? I wrote out the list of subjects required to be taught in elementary when homeschooling on our whiteboard. (Pardon the lousy photography...it was late, but you get the idea.)

At the elementary school level, the following courses shall be taught: English, to include spelling, reading and writing; arithmetic; science; geography; history of the United States and Pennsylvania; civics; safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires; health and physiology; physical education; music; and art."

Well...I didn't write it quite like that. I only said safety education, not "including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires." I guess PA can thank Benjamin Franklin for that one...

Then I went to my enormous pile of books and materials I have always wanted to use and sorted them by subject. This left me with a floor covered in piles of books. Too many books. I spied the Calvert boxes that I had not yet unpacked and pulled out more books. This just made more piles.

I decided to change my approach.

"Let's do this by subject," I said to myself. (I had banished all other humans from the room.)

I chose science first. I pulled the Calvert 2nd and 5th grade science text books from the piles and checked what topics they would cover. They seemed to line up with each other fairly well. I sat down at the computer and outlined the units and chapters from each book, including vocabulary words. Two hours later, I had a plan. I chose three of those units to cover in this school year. I pulled all books I had related to those three topics and put everything else away for later.

One down...how many more to go?!

I am looking at math next. Math and science are the two that give me the most difficulty because I'm always second guessing the best approach for the boys. I just learned of a cool math program today and think it might be the ticket for JT. Living Math! If I had to do it all over again, this looks like the kind of math I could have enjoyed in school. I printed out their suggested book lists and a sample lesson to check out.

I am feeling a bit stressed by all I need to do. But I'm also feeling a freedom I haven't felt so far in this process. I was telling a friend who cyberschools her children about our decision. She told me she had been considering making a change too. She said, "I always feel like I'm racing to meet some goal. Like there's a carrot dangling in front of me that I can never reach."

I'm so glad we've left the race. I never really liked carrots anyway.

Please note: This will be my last week posting at Adventures in Cyberschooling. We will be making the transition to a new blog shortly. I have a name...but I won't tell you until it's ready! I will provide the link here when the move is complete.

Forget Everything I Said

2010-07-29T21:50:00.004-04:00

Summer has not been what I thought it would be.

Remember my list of summer goals? My list included 8 goals for the boys. We actively worked on two. Not exactly a good outcome. Here are the stories of success.

We have been swimming on a fairly regular basis. As of last summer, JT had little interest in getting his face wet, let alone swimming. I am proud to say he can now swim across the pool, jump off the ladder in the deep end, and doesn't mind the water in his face at all. EM is making some progress with comfort in the water, but still prefers to climb out of the pool and dry off on the towel every time he gets a drip of water on his face. Maybe next year?

We also continued our chess and science get-togethers with our friends. I have taught two science sessions, with two more planned before the end of summer. Our first was on electrical generation. The second focused on microscopes.

During the microscope lesson I discussed Anton Leeuwenhoek. I tried to emphasize that he was not a trained scientist. He sold drapes! Yet this man is considered by many to be the father of microbiology. How did this happen? He was curious. He acted on that curiosity. Then because he documented everything he learned he was able to share what he had discovered. The scientific method in action!

The next week I was having a very in depth discussion with a friend who also homeschools. She was questioning the best way to approach her family's education for this year. I asked, "Do we want our kids to learn to memorize what other people think they need to know or learn how to learn?" I brought up the story of Anton Leeuwenhoek and realized the backbone of what I want to teach them is to look and share.

Then yesterday I started to clean out my office and classroom....remember this from that other blog post?

"I will (remind me that I said this later, would you?) I WILL find ways to incorporate the ton of enrichment materials I have bought in the last 3 years into our daily classroom experiences."

I quickly became overwhelmed. How was I going to incorporate all of this great material into the substandard material I had to use?! How would I have time with all that tedious testing needing to be done?!

...and I started to formulate a plan.

This morning I called our IS and withdrew both of the boys from the cyber school.

I felt some panic, but it only lasted a few minutes because one of my traditional homeschooling friends was available to chat and tell me how much happier we'd be and how easy it really is to put a portfolio together, etc.

So here I am. No longer a cyberschooler. I need to put together our educational objectives that need to be submitted with an affidavit stating my intent to homeschool. There's a wonderful site all about PA homeschooling law called AskPauline.com It is full of useful links to regulations, requirements and examples of all the documentation you need. I think it's my new home away from home.

I will have to box up all the technology equipment the school provided. Bye, bye my beloved Bamboo. However, we can keep all of the books and school supplies. Some we will use and some can be sold off to buy a new computer for the classroom since ours has to ship out.

I am excited, scared, hopeful...I'm still not sure that this is the best possible option. It feels right. We can always go back. I'm ready to give it a go.

One more thing...I'm going to have to get a new blog name! :-)

Hooray!

2010-06-03T23:06:00.003-04:00

Today was our last classroom day for this school year. I made it through another year...only 11 more to go. !!!

Tomorrow we are taking part in a field trip to Longwood Gardens with our cyber school. I found out yesterday that the kids will be chaperoned by PACyber teachers only. Parents are not invited to stay with the groups. This unnerves me a bit. I have grown used to having my kids with me all the time. Yes, I send them to scouts and various other activities where I am not present...but this feels different. Maybe because it's in a strange place. My husband and I will still be in the gardens. The teachers will have our phone numbers. I'm not turning into an over-protective parent, am I? That will be something new to explore as the days go by.

As I did last year, I will be taking the month of June and part of July off from blogging. Mid-way through July, I'll check back in to let you know the progress I have made on my planning goals for next year. I'll also let you know if we are sticking to our summer plans for the boys.

It has been a year of great adventures. Tomorrow will be yet another...bring it on!

Wrap Up

2010-05-27T22:06:00.003-04:00

Our 2009-2010 school year is nearly over. The next week will be three days of schooling (mostly fun stuff) and a field trip on Friday. It's hard to believe that I already have two years of experience under my belt. When I look back at our progress, I know this year probably won't be recorded as one of our best years homeschooling. We made it through, but I felt like we really didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had in front of us. Here are some of our highs and lows:

Positives:

EM made solid progress in his reading. He is now working his way through chapter books, reading level N. At the start of the year, he didn't want to spend any free time reading. Now I find him reading alone without my encouragement.

EM has moved quickly through the first and almost all of the second grade math material from Calvert. We used those textbooks in more of a review fashion, while he also did work with Singapore Math 1B, Key Curriculum Press Introduction to Fractions, and various other math workbooks. He probably could have been more challenged than he was, but I had a hard time finding just the right fit for him. I plan to continue with Key Curriculum Press since he really liked the way the material was presented.

JT did an excellent job with spelling this year. We used the English Root Card set to develop our lists. I felt that he is finding it easier to decipher the meanings of strange words he encounters now that we are looking at the origins of the words on his list.

JT enjoyed his social studies material through Calvert. He learned a lot about the geography of the United States. He also had to write the research paper on California. This was a challenging assignment for him. It really made him have to think about organizing information. We also discussed the need to be able to communicate things you have learned in order to share that knowledge with others.

Negatives:

JT's math was not what it should have been this year. He raced through the Calvert material and then we floundered around for a bit. I hadn't planned well for what to do with the second half of the year. He worked his way through Life of Fred, Fractions. I feel that I should have had more supplemental material ready to go along with that book. I plan to have him do Singapore Math's placement test and start him in that series in the Fall.

EM spent far too much time waiting for me to be able to work on things with him. Many times I just assigned worksheets to keep him busy while I got JT pointed in the right direction. I had hoped JT would be more self-directed this year, but soon found EM was the one who can self-direct. Next year I plan to give EM his own notebook of assignments, like I already do for JT, and see if he can work independently.

Once again, I dropped the ball in science. We covered all that Calvert offered...but not much more. That said, the boys still manage to learn about science through their own explorations and reading. If I follow through with my summer plans, I'm hoping to be ready to dive deeper into science next year.

I also found that I waited too long to really get started on a few things. JT's German class through the cyber has been working out fairly well. I wish I had looked into that earlier in the school year. He has completed 1 out of 4 units. I hate to try to continue it through the summer, but don't want him to lose any ground, so we probably will. Also, I picked up an old high school poetry text book in the library discard pile earlier in the year. I just started having JT work through it a week ago. He has really enjoyed the depth of the study. I avoided pulling that out sooner because of the need to finish the Calvert test assignments.

All in all, the year was still a success. The boys were able to learn at their own pace. They could go off on tangents when the whim hit them. We were able to maintain a schedule (most days) that allowed us to finish school work and have time for outside activities. I still believe that this is the perfect fit for our family. I worried at the beginning of this year that EM would miss his friends from his year of schooling. He mentioned them from time to time in the Fall, but since then has decided being home is far better than being in a 'regular' school environment. I am still having fun. Things could change...the boys could decide they want to try something new. Either way, it will continue to be an adventure!

Summer Plans

2010-05-20T23:28:00.003-04:00

I finally sat down and outlined what I would like to accomplish this summer. I have some goals for myself and some for the boys. Let's start with me...

Because the cyber school misunderstood a request I made for them to order 5th grade "MATH ONLY" for JT in December, I have the advantage of having ALL of the 2nd and 5th grade Calvert curriculum in my home at the START of summer break. Remember last year? I have promised myself that I will spend no less than 5 hours a week working my way through that material this summer. I have definitely felt a lack of organized planning on my part this year. Part of that may have been having to coordinate both boys' education for the first time. I really believe if I had invested more time immersed in what they would be working on in advance, I could have done a better job.

Along with that goal, I will (remind me that I said this later, would you?) I WILL find ways to incorporate the ton of enrichment materials I have bought in the last 3 years into our daily classroom experiences.

I will also clean out the old books that are no longer needed for the boys.

Now for the goals for the kids.

JT expressed a need to continue with some form of routine throughout the summer. We worked out a very simple schedule to keep us in a learning state of mind:

1. We plan to do some form of math twice a week. Whether it is through games, websites or workbooks, we need to keep up with the math facts.

2. We will have a new spelling list every two weeks. For the summer, we will introduce the words on Monday in week one, use Spelling city and other fun learning tools with a final test the following Friday. (JT specifically requested the continuing spelling lists)

3. We are creating journals now that the boys will use to record insects they observe this summer. We are also keeping a journal for the birds we see in the yard.

4. We will be working on one art project a week. Art has definitely been something we don't do enough. I'm hoping if we really get in the habit this summer it will carry through in the fall.

5. Our group of friends that participated in the chess classes we had in our home last year seem interested in starting up again. We plan to try to coordinate times once school lets out. We also want to start up our Summer Science group again. I hope to meet at least 4 times this summer.

6. My parents have a swimming pool and only live about 5 minutes away from us. Last year, the weather was not the best for swimming. I hope to get the boys over there 3 times a week if possible. Neither of them can swim at this point. I want to remedy that this summer. They also enjoy riding their bikes on my parents' long driveway.

7. I absolutely MUST set time limits for computer exposure this summer. We just purchased Lego Rock Band for the Wii. I can see all of us (especially me) spending too much time with that new toy.

8. Finally, having a planned reading time daily. JT reads in his free time without the need for encouragement. I want to start moving EM in the same direction. Plus, I want reading time for ME!

Today I took EM for an appointment for his teeth. He was telling our dentist about his adventures in the backyard. The doctor said, "I am so glad to hear that you play the way a little boy should...outside in the yard, climbing trees and getting dirty!" I had noticed in the last couple years, that my children seem to be some of the only kids that really spend a large amount of time just playing. So many kids are tied up in sports and other activities...they never have time to just go out and explore. I am hoping my goals for this summer will not get in the way of their most important task...playing...like little boys should.

Fun Science

2010-05-14T00:46:00.002-04:00

Now that we have made it through all of our required work for the year...we have time for the FUN stuff!
I picked up a book last summer that I kept hoping we'd have time to use. We finally have time. It's A Guide for Using "The Magic School Bus, On the Ocean Floor"in the classroom . The boys have been having fun with the hands on experiments. Always a big hit at our house. Nothing like a table full of cups of dyed water and eye droppers to make little boys happy...and messy. We looked at the density of different temperature water samples. We also compared salt and fresh water. JT was speculating on some other possibilities for experiments along the same line of thinking. I'm hoping to have him lay out a plan and set up his own experiments next week...outside. :-)

We started to make plans for our summer work. Maybe one or two days a week...just a couple hours. We want to try to keep the kids up to speed without over-doing it. I'll have more on that in next week's blog.

Finally, JT is now taking a German class through PACyber. I had been wanting to work with him on foreign language for some time, but never seemed to get motivated. I decided to give the school's program a try. So far, it has been pretty good. JT works his way through each lesson independently. Each lesson has a podcast by the teacher, several online activities and an assignment he needs to complete and upload. This has given both of us a chance to learn how to use some of the technology we have avoided with the cyber school up until now.

TWO WEEKS LEFT TO GO! Can you tell I'm ready for a break?

Time Will Fly

2010-05-06T16:13:00.003-04:00

We are planning to complete our school year on May 24th. When I look at the calendar I think there is plenty of time left to finish everything on my to-do list. But I know this is an illusion. I had hoped to pack a month of fun into May. At this point, it's looking like we might have a week or two of fun...

JT is so very close to finishing his research paper. The rough draft is being composed this week. I am hoping to be printing out a final copy early next week. We started a unit on Marine Biology this week. There are quit a few hands on activities to keep us busy. EM is working on his journal a couple times a week. He has always avoided that kind of work, so I thought now that he has little 'assigned' work to complete, we can really take our time and focus on writing skills.

Speaking of writing skills...JT had an OT evaluation this week. He has been complaining of pain when writing for a couple years. I chalked it up to not enough practice. It turns out the therapist believes his 'grip of death' on the pencil is related to some upper body weakness. She gave him several exercises to work on strengthening. Hopefully, he will have an easier time in the future. For now, she recommends keeping his actual writing time to a minimum. Thanks to the cyber school allowing him the accommodation to type his compositions, that shouldn't be a big problem.

I am about to leave on a mini shopping vacation with my daughter. I am going to be gone for Friday. The boys will spend tomorrow at my parents' house. They are taking the Lego Mindstorm with them. There will be bike riding, yard work and science documentaries all day! I will have a much needed day out. :-)

Research Paper

2010-04-29T23:24:00.002-04:00

This week marked the completion of all the Calvert tests we need to send in for the year. The only thing left to do before I mail them is JT's research paper for social studies. Knowing how much he enjoys the writing process, you can probably guess what this experience will be like.

First of all, do 4th graders really need to be able to put together a research paper, including a bibliography? I enjoy writing, but I despise putting together a bibliography. This assignment is no picnic for me, either.

JT had to pick a state to write about. He chose California, mostly because he loves reading about Yosemite, so he figured it would be interesting. We went to the library to pick up a few books. Then I showed him how to gather the information on note cards. We made up cards for his sources...and away he went.

He came to me today and said, "Do I really have to list which source the information on each card comes from?"
I said, "Why would you not want to list it?"
"Well, I know that Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America. But, I don't know where I learned that."

I guess mom didn't make the purpose of a research paper entirely clear. :-)

Tomorrow he will start his rough draft. I would really like to see it done before next week. I want to start our last month of schooling with nothing but "our" stuff on the schedule.

EM was free and clear from his Calvert work awhile back. He spent the week reading new books, completing some workbook activities on pronouns, contractions and verb tenses. He also has been working his way through a 2nd grade math activity book. We also did a few experiments on states of matter.

Next week, I hope to give an update on our new Lego Mindstorm activities. The boys have been slowly working on putting together the alligator. It is motion activated. They have it almost ready to go. The poor cat was the victim of its initial attack. I guess we'll have to teach them to use their super powers only for good.

For now, I am happy to see the end of the school year right around the corner. It's been tough adjusting to teaching both the boys at once. I hope to write up an evaluation of how this year went for us. I want to look at the rough spots and try to come up with solutions for next year. If we improve each year...by the time they graduate, I'll be a pro!

Confession

2010-04-22T21:56:00.002-04:00

I know I have ranted and raved about the annoyances of PACyber...so this may come as a shock.

We are going to stick with them another year.

It took me most of the year to realize I am willing to jump through the hoops in order to gain some benefits the cyber school has to offer. JT and I sat down together and made a pros and cons list for staying with the school.

PROS

virtual enrichment classes (JT's main reason for staying with the school...these classes are non-credit fun stuff. He really enjoys them, but they are mostly fluff.)
reimbursement for internet
$75 a kid, per year, for PE
free books and supplies
free computer, printer and ink
the school does all the reporting to the state; no portfolio to put together

no need to deal with our local school district (if traditional homeschooling, they would be reviewing our plan and portfolio)

CONS

Must take PSSAs every year from 3rd - 11th (homeschoolers are only required to test 3 times in their school career and parents can chose from a list of standardized tests)
can't chose our own material (we can always supplement with our own, but often feel too strapped for time to pull it off)
some of the curriculum we must use is inferior to what we would like to use...by a large margin
inept grading of tests by the cyber school staff

Once we put it all down in writing I felt like I had been whining far too much. At least, I felt that way for a couple days. Then I went in my office and saw the bookcase full of the stuff I so desperately would love to teach my kids but never feel I have enough time to fit it in the schedule. I tried to broker a deal with JT. It went like this...

me: "If you would set your mind to it, we could do all the Calvert material for the week in 1 or 2 school days. Then we'd have the other 3 days to work on all the fun stuff we have wanted to do."

JT: "Okay, no problem."

Two days later...

me: "Why don't you just work through these assignments quickly so we have time for the fun stuff this week?"

JT: "I don't feel like it."

Case closed.

Exercise

2010-04-15T23:28:00.005-04:00

I just started reading an incredibly interesting book, "Brain Rules" by John Medina. He gives 12 principles to improve our 'brain health'. See more here. He makes some well-supported claims about exercise that really have me thinking. I need to get the boys more active WHILE they are learning. Part of me knows that exercise is important. But it often gets put on the back burner. My boys are very active on their own, so I generally don't feel I need to tell them they need to exercise. In the book, however, Medina argues that because aerobic exercise increases blood flow to the brain, children can learn better if they are being active. He is quick to point out that most classrooms are in no way designed to accommodate this. Guess what? My classroom can!

Now I need to find out how to make it all work. I already have an exercise ball. JT used to do most of his work sitting...well...bouncing on it. I put it away when I got tired of telling him to stop throwing it around the room. One idea I am considering is after presenting new material I could take the boys for a walk and discuss it. Maybe we could work in the garden while reviewing facts like states and capitals. I have had my eye on a recumbent exercise bike for awhile. Maybe they could be reading while riding the bike. All sorts of possibilities open up!

JT took his PSSA tests in reading and math today. He was in a small group of kids who were not doing the 'normal' 3 days of testing. He finished all 6 sections in just under 3 hours. When I asked him how it went he said, "I stood up for the whole test. The chair was not comfortable."
Maybe that bit of movement helped him work faster and smarter.

Traditional brick and mortar schools have moved away from the multiple recesses they used to have in a day. They argue the need for more time in the classroom. Maybe that time would be better spent if the kids were ready to learn. Sitting at a desk all day does not get blood flowing the way it should to provide the best learning opportunities. All of those fidgety kids know they need to get moving. Now we just have to convince the adults.

On Saturday: I just had to add something here. Tonight I read this post on exactly what I'm talking about! There's a link to an article about the school that is using exercise to help kids think better. Cool!

The Heart of the Matter

2010-04-08T21:11:00.005-04:00

I am blogging from the annual PDE Special Education Conference tonight. It is a wonderful thing to spend a couple days with other parents that are working together to find the best educational fit for their children.

As I type, I am at a table with 4 other moms that are sharing their experiences. The parents that have been dealing with these issues for some time are showing the 'newbies' the ropes. The big question of the night is, "Why doesn't the school help these parents understand what is going on with their children?" The sad but true answer is that the school does not know our children. They are not prepared to deal with the kids that don't fit the mold. Our teaching colleges are doing a poor job of training these educators. It is not the fault of the teachers. Most people that go to school to be a teacher go into that field because they want to help children. These are not mean-spirited people that are trying to hurt our kids. The teaching colleges need to be preparing their graduates to meet these needs. I am not sure if this is solely where the fault lies. But I'll tell you where the heart of the action is for change.

It's right here at this table.

Recharging

2010-04-01T23:24:00.002-04:00

Tonight, my husband and I got ourselves all fancied up and went out for dinner. "What does this have to do with successfully homeschooling children?" you may ask.
My answer...everything.

In order to have the patience to take on the education of my children, I believe it is essential to take care of me first. I love my children. However, if I have to spend 24 hours a day with them for the next 10 years, I might go insane. Quickly. The last 3 months have left very little time for my husband and me to spend time away from them together. Two days ago I called my oldest daughter (who is married and out of the house) and told her I NEEDED a date night. Being the wonderful offspring she is, she agreed to come over tonight.

As I plan what feels like an endless supply of activities for the boys, I sometimes forget how temporary my role as teacher will be. I will spend the next ten years (unless something drastically changes in the US system of education, HA!) teaching these boys. I will hopefully have many years after that to be me again. In the meantime, I need a few hours here and there to recharge my batteries before jumping back into the fray.

Next week is our week off in the 6 week on/1 week off cycle. This will be our last break before the end of the school year. I will be in Hershey for a 3 day PA Dept of Education Special Ed conference, paid for by a scholarship through the state for parents of children with a GIEP (Gifted Individualized Education Plan). I am looking forward to this chance to recharge and learn new things. It will give the boys some alone time with Dad. I will get to spend time with one of my homeschooling friends from across the state. When I return home, all of us will be fresh and ready for the final push to the end of another successful school year.

I am thankful that I have the opportunity to spend so much time with my children. I am also thankful that I have so many supportive friends and family members ready to give me a break when I feel worn down.

No Wonder The Kids Can't Do Math

2010-03-25T22:45:00.003-04:00

We are in the height of PSSA fever. Pennsylvania System of School Assessment- PA's answer to No Child Left Behind. Our cyber charter can't go a day without reminding us that "The test is only __ days away!" Having a child that is operating above grade level generally makes me immune to their endless nagging. But this week, they got me. This week they sent me a package in the mail that sent me reeling.

The mysterious package arrived from our school Tuesday afternoon. I had to sign for this one...so I knew it was something significant. Inside I found...a calculator! ? The only other item in the envelope was a disc titled '2010 PSSA Preparation'.

I thought, "Surely 4th graders can't use calculators on the PSSAs! Surely!"

Turns out, 3rd graders are the only kids that CAN'T use them. Is it just me, or is it ridiculous to think 4th graders need a calculator to take a math test? This is not advanced math. This is addition, subtraction, multiplication and division...the fundamentals. Kids should be able to do these without assistance. Maybe this explains why we are in such a mess. If the students of PA can't make AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) with their calculators...we are in big trouble.

Considering the fact that JT has never really used a calculator, I guess I'll need to start some remedial work with him before his testing day.

Spring is in the Air

2010-03-18T21:29:00.004-04:00

The weather here has been simply beautiful for the last week. I finally have a method to motivate the boys. They want so badly to play outside, they will do just about anything to get there. This has led me to believe that schooling through the summer might be more beneficial than winter schooling. I doubt I can win converts with that doctrine.

With the improving weather, our thoughts are turning to gardening. JT loves plants. He's always been actively involved in my flower beds. Last year, we made our first foray into vegetables. This year, we plan to expand. Today the kids were outside with paper and markers drawing up a plan for their portions of the garden. I quickly realized we are going to need to dedicate more space to this endeavor. Pumpkins, cantaloupes, beans and cucumbers on top of what I had already planned will be way too much for our little garden.

I told the boys we would need to scout out a new location. One prime spot had questionable sun exposure. The boys came up with a plan to keep a chart of how many hours this patch of yard has sun for the next few weeks. Then we can decide if it will be acceptable. JT said, "Hey mom! This can be like a science experiment!"

Good boy!

One more thing...if you follow Pioneer Woman's blog, you may have already seen the link to FreeRice.com. If not, I highly recommend it. It is a quiz site with many different subjects available. When you answer a question correctly, rice is donated to the World Food Programme. It is highly addictive and educational. When you miss a question, it is thrown back in the mix to give you a second chance. JT was able to use the knowledge he has gained studying prefixes, suffixes and word roots to do very well in the vocabulary category. It felt good to know that not only had I provided him with a tool he could use to expand his vocabulary, I had also given him the opportunity to help others with that knowledge.

Time is at a Premium

2010-03-11T19:55:00.002-05:00

Is it so very hard to understand if I say, "When you finish your work you can go outside," that the more time you spend delaying your work, the less time you'll have outside? I don't think so, but I could be mistaken. Apparently this concept is difficult for the six and nine year old members of our household.

It was absolutely gorgeous outside today. Sunny, 65 degrees, slight breeze... perfect weather. JT had very few things on his list to accomplish. There were no compositions or brain surgery labs. A little math, a little grammar, 15 pages of science and a worksheet to go with it, and he could be on his way. FOUR hours later he finally wrapped it up and went outside. Unfortunately, we had to leave for Odyssey of the Mind practice 45 minutes later. When the moaning and whining started, I said, "If only you had done your work more quickly earlier, you would have had more time to play."

Is this a developmental milestone he may not have reached? Should I be concerned? I played with an idea for hammering it home. What about a jar with beans representing segments of time for play that slowly deplete as the time is being wasted? That just seems like it would teach him to rush through the work. I feel like I spend too much time saying 'I told you so'. I guess I'll have to brainstorm on this one. Now that the weather is nice, it will certainly be coming up more often.

The funny thing was, when they finally got out there, he gathered up his entomology 'supplies'. He took a jar, tweezers, a magnifying glass, notebook and his field guide and loaded them into a backpack. He collected several insects and wrote very detailed journal entries including sketches into his book. He did more for his education in that time than in the 4 hours I had him. Maybe today should have been focused on the great outdoors from the start. However, I know if I had suggested he do that, it never would have happened.

One more quick thing...while the boys were outside, their differences became so apparent. EM was dribbling the basketball in the driveway while JT was lying on the sidewalk writing in the notebook. EM yelled, "Are you open, are you open?!"

The entomologist made no reply.

Whose fault is it, anyway?

2010-03-04T23:25:00.003-05:00

"These kids are driving me nuts!"

You may be surprised to know I have said this several times this week. Maybe 'said' isn't the most descriptive word I could chose.

Shrieked, yelped, bellowed?

I can't put my finger on what did it this week. The boys were less than cooperative out of the gate Monday morning. We still use our reward system where each boy has a cup of 12 stones to start the week. Usually they lose between one and five by Friday. Tuesday, EM had 4 left in his cup. JT wasn't far behind.

I knew going into it that this might be a trouble week for many reasons. JT had to complete the composition portion of his Calvert tests by Wednesday. One was a three paragraph creative writing assignment. The other was his first attempt at a book report. Fun for all! I also knew we were pretty tightly scheduled with activities for the week, so free time would be rare.

But I think I have decided that the biggest contributor to the weeping and gnashing of teeth was me. I have not been getting to bed at a reasonable time for months. When I go to bed late, I am less than motivated to get going in the morning. When I am not motivated, big surprise(!) my kids aren't motivated. Things go downhill quickly from there.

How to solve this problem?

It seems simple enough, "Go to bed earlier, stupid!" Here's the kicker...I don't want to. I want time for me. I need time for me. Often the only time I have is late at night. After the kids are in bed and the chores that get pushed aside all day are finished, I have time for me. I don't know if this problem is worse for homeschooling moms than others. I am sure that moms who go to work all day have the same time crunch. I think they might be more likely to go to bed and skip some of the me time out of necessity. Face it, if you are homeschooling you don't have to do much to pass as 'ready for the day'. Getting up and physically going to work takes a bit more preparation.

So where will I find the balance to serve my kids and my needs which in turn will serve my kids since I won't be driven to insanity?

I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Self Motivation

2010-02-25T23:01:00.002-05:00

Last week was the week off in our 6 week on/1 week off routine. I once again failed to spend those days making excellent plans for the next 6 weeks. In fact, I made no plans. Sunday night I shuffled some books around on the desk and said, "Hmmm. This looks good."

We had much running around to do on Monday anyway, so I knew it was pointless to plan too much. By Tuesday I did have a more concrete plan for the week. Then JT took matters into his own hands.

He decided it was about time he gets faster at multiplication facts. Multiplication was not on my plan. I walked in the room Wednesday morning and EM was holding a stop watch while JT was quickly working his way through the math problems he had on the white board. They did this themselves! It took longer than I wanted to spend on math so I felt the need to rush through some other work later that day.

Again, Thursday morning....same thing. I was a bit annoyed now. I had PLANS. But then I noticed something. JT's times were HALF what they were the day before. He had found a way to motivate himself. I didn't have anything to do with this idea. He even had his brother's total cooperation. (He loves the stop watch.)

Now I can just hope he decides he'd like to write more compositions.

Big Brother is Watching

2010-02-18T21:49:00.003-05:00

School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home.

This statement is alarming in so many ways. It is the title of an article found here.

My reason for pulling my children out of the public school system was a common one. My son was not finding challenge in his placement. Simply put...he wasn't learning. I spent time and energy trying to make it work where he was. I met with teachers. I met with administrators. I hired a lawyer. It was so much easier to homeschool. Our problem was mild. Our district did not spy on my child IN HIS OWN HOME!

I think the thing that upsets me the most about this whole situation, is the idea that the school Vice Principal that used the photo from a webcam as evidence, was trying to discipline the student for "improper behavior in his home". Since when did public schools have the right to monitor behavior in the student's homes? Did parents give them this right?

When my child went to public school, I understood that he was under their supervision while he was on their property, including the bus ride. I expected them to follow their handbook and discipline my child accordingly. But when my child got off the bus and entered my home, he was under my authority.

Some people would say the homeschoolers have too much leeway with their kids. They don't have enough supervision from the state. If my child is in my home, he's under my supervision. I have a parental responsibility to make him a productive member of society. I need to educate him so he does not become a burden on others. If I am meeting those goals, what do I lack that the public system has?

Surveillance equipment.

Polar Opposites

2010-02-11T20:41:00.005-05:00

"I hate math!, I hate math!"

The sound of my 9 year old in the midst of a unit on decimals. I was in our classroom with my younger son. JT was out in our library chanting his mantra.

EM yelled back, "I love it!" In the meantime, EM was struggling with a card game I made for him. The cards have sets of rhyming words that need to be matched. EM has a horrible time hearing the rhymes. (I am starting to consider having him evaluated for auditory processing problems, but that's another story.) JT has always excelled in everything related to language, so for him, that game was always a piece of cake.

Five minutes later, JT burst into the room and said, "Can't I please just sit and read the dictionary all day?!"

Now, I can really relate to that sentiment. I was competent in math in elementary and middle school. When I reached high school things went down hill. I have always loved reading, language and history. I like science, if it doesn't involve too many equations. :-) Like, JT, a day with the dictionary would be far superior to math.

I believe it's okay to not like math. (Gasp! I've said it out loud!)

The question is...does he dislike this subject because he just can't relate to it, or is he honestly struggling with the math? Sometimes it's so hard to tell. He wants to be an entomologist when he grows up. Will math play such a vital role in his future? If he can pass math without honors, will it really matter? If I push him to excel at something that isn't his cup of tea, will he hate it more?

In the meantime, I have to find a way to teach these two boys with completely opposite styles and strengths. I really can't imagine how a classroom teacher has a chance at reaching a room full of a kids. I have enough trouble with only two.

Education Trends

2010-02-04T20:46:00.003-05:00

I read an excellent article this week, recommended by Annie at Learn at Every Turn. The article, Playing to Learn, made me think how different public education would be if someone would be daring enough to think outside the box.

From the article:
What they (students) shouldn’t do is spend tedious hours learning isolated mathematical formulas or memorizing sheets of science facts that are unlikely to matter much in the long run. Scientists know that children learn best by putting experiences together in new ways. They construct knowledge; they don’t swallow it.

Not two days later, I was listening to a local radio talk show. The guests were a former school superintendent and a former school board member. They were discussing the need to allow children more time to learn through experiences. The school board member brought up the point that we have built such a structured system in education that we have made it impossible to adapt our classrooms to better serve the children. We can only serve the system.

I have good news! In my home, I can adapt day to day based on what my boys need. This week, we spent about 2 hours a day focusing on your typical 'school' activities...worksheets, math problems, spelling practice. The rest of the time we - read for enjoyment, looked up things online that we were curious about and we traveled to practices and lessons. Perhaps the most educational time all week was yesterday afternoon. I was trying to get my house cleaned up a bit and the boys were on their own. They tried going outside...too chilly. They couldn't agree on a video. Did anyone come to me and say, "We're bored!"? Nope.

They planned an expedition to Mars.

They found their sleeping bags and backpacks. They loaded up on necessary supplies. (If you ever go to Mars, don't forget your stuffed animals!) They carried it all downstairs and had a blast. When there was a question over how long night would be on Mars, I threw our copy of "Atlas of the Stars" into the room and they found their answer.

Did they pick up skills they will need someday in the corporate world planning this trip? Maybe not. But I beg to differ...

From that same article:
"During the school day, there should be extended time for play. Research has shown unequivocally that children learn best when they are interested in the material or activity they are learning. Play — from building contraptions to enacting stories to inventing games — can allow children to satisfy their curiosity about the things that interest them in their own way. It can also help them acquire higher-order thinking skills, like generating testable hypotheses, imagining situations from someone else’s perspective and thinking of alternate solutions."

Well, my classroom passes that test.

Spelling

2010-01-28T21:49:00.003-05:00

We have a pretty traditional approach to teaching spelling in our home. Mondays are pretest day for both boys. Corrections are made immediately after the test. For the next three days, we approach the words from different angles. We look at definitions, we play games, we use the SpellingCity site. On Friday we have a final test. This year EM has been using his Calvert spelling words. I have found that they are pretty on target for him as far as challenge goes. JT is a pretty advanced student in spelling. We zip through the Calvert spelling tests at the beginning of the school year, then we move on to some REAL spelling!

Have I said before how much I LOVE the English From the Roots Up flash cards? (Maybe once or twice?) I have finally worked them into our spelling routine. This week the results were evident.

Every week I pull 2 or 3 of the cards from the deck to put together a spelling list. We have used 6 cards so far. Each card has a root on the front, Greek or Latin. On the back is a list of words containing that root, complete with definition. They also identify other roots in the word that are not the focus of that card. For example, the 'tele' card has the word 'telegraph' on the back. Following the word in parentheses is (graph - write). So every week we focus on a couple cards, but also have contact with other roots. This week the cards were 'philia' and 'phobos'. All of the words for the list would have these roots. As JT was taking his pretest, he started dissecting the new words he was hearing. When I read the word, hydrophobia, he said, "That must be fear of water because it has hydro in it." Hooray, connections! We went through the rest of the list with him making similar observations.

These are the tools I want to give my children. I want them to have the ability to take their knowledge and apply it. I want them to know the satisfaction that comes when they are presented with a puzzle and know right where to start in order to solve it. I want them to feel confident that if they don't know an answer, there will be a way to find it. The best place to start is at the beginning...or maybe...the roots!

Looking to the Future

2010-01-21T22:20:00.003-05:00

This week I started really thinking what life would be like without the cyberschool. It left me a bit weak in the knees.

What if I can't do this on my own!?

Part of this concern came from the fact that JT was working on an assignment in his Grammar and Usage book. I really like this book! It is a Calvert book. From what I can find, it will be difficult to buy another copy anywhere. Then I started thinking of other books Calvert provides that I like. Luckily, those are readily available on the web. What is kind of funny about the whole thing is the fact that so far, EM shows no signs of learning in the same ways that JT does. I am sure books that worked for JT will more than likely be a flop with EM. Maybe I should also mention that I currently have 2 large bookcases FULL of school materials that have never been opened by a child. I might just have enough there to educate several dozen children.

After a chat (maybe more of a "How in the world am I going to do this!!" rant) with a homeschooling friend, I realized part of my problem is that I know very few people in my area who homeschool without a cyber. I have no support network. So, this morning I went to work to find myself some friends. I found a website for a local homeschoolers group. I made a contact and am now receiving their group emails. Based on their blog, they seem to have a decent number of members and offer many activities every month. They even have gym days at a local community center. Hooray! More socialization! Just what we needed.... (see last week's post) :-)

Another good point my friend made was that this doesn't have to be permanent. If it doesn't work, we can always go back. I'm sure the cyber school will be more than happy to welcome us (and our tax dollars) back into their over testing, rigid and controlling arms.

See...I won't miss them.

Nope.

Chaos Reigns

2010-01-14T21:50:00.002-05:00

My doctor appointment.
Allergy shot appointment.
Piano lessons.
Cub scouts.
Bible study night.
Basketball practice.
Odyssey of the Mind practice.
Trip to the library.

...Schooling?

How did I get here? I want a week, and I mean a complete 7 days, when we can stay home. I don't see it happening. Not until the middle of March. At the earliest.

Amazingly enough, we had a very productive week of learning. I think I may have set fewer goals going into this week so it felt like we accomplished more than usual. The boys both made progress in math. JT has been on an obsessive streak writing poetry. EM wrote a short but complete paragraph on volcanoes. We moved ahead in social studies and science. JT read a stack of books.

I still want a week.

If you need a break and are also a homeschooling mom, check out the Homeschool Break Room on BlogHer. Annie Peters from Learn at Every Turn has created a place for worn down mommas like us.

Best Laid Plans...

2010-01-07T23:05:00.002-05:00

I had plans. I was going to be especially productive the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. I was going to organize. I was going to clean. I was going to be prepared to teach the next 6 weeks of material.

I got sick.

So...the day before we started back to schooling (Sunday afternoon), I scraped together a vague idea of what to do Monday morning. This turned out to be a great new method. We had a very productive Monday. Part of this can be credited to the fact that we introduced new materials into the mix. (more on new stuff in a minute) After the success of the 'no-plan is a good plan' idea, we continued the week in much the same style. Wednesday night I decided I didn't want to spend EVERY evening planning, so I did the rest of the week in one sitting. I did realize a few things.

1. I have been over planning since day one.
2. I am perfectly capable of teaching my children something meaningful every day as long as I keep my long term goals in mind.

That said, I will probably make a plan for all of next week on Sunday. But this time, I won't be quite so obsessive.

New stuff:

Before the holiday break, EM had wrapped up the remaining Calvert math. I presented him with his new Singapore Math books Monday. We worked our way through several lessons. I started him with 1B. He is a bit beyond the concepts, but I wanted to show him how the books work and more importantly, make sure he is seeing how these books present concepts he already knows. He really likes the layout. I like the way visual learners are approached.

JT has completed almost all of the Calvert spelling tests for this year. I decided to pull out one of my new favorite toys...English from the Roots Up Flashcards and make a plan. I took the first two cards (photos and graph) and made a spelling list using all the words on them. There were 15 words all together including things like, photosynthesis, photophilia, photophobia, telegraph, etc. JT only missed one on our spelling pretest. For the rest of the week we focused on the meanings of all the roots from the list. There were 10 different roots. Tomorrow he will take a test matching the root to it's meaning and defining the words on the list. That test was created at this fantastic site I found, Easy Test Maker.

The boys also spent some time working with a new book my dad bought them. It's a book on how to tie knots. JT, who can't tie his shoes at age 9, is tying the first 20 knots in this book without a problem. When I asked him why he could do this and not tie shoes, he said, "I have no problem with knots...it's the bows that are a problem." ?!

One other thing...I decided to give in and allow both boys to do the online testing the cyber school requires at this point in the year. EM skipped the last round in November. I thought I'd let him go ahead and see what gains he has made. Watching him do the testing today, I realized he has really made improvements since the start of the year. I wouldn't credit the Calvert curriculum with much of that change. I'm glad I was able to ignore most of their prescribed curriculum and do my own thing with him. The first grade daily work has little tie-in to the tests that are sent in to the school. It is much easier to pick and choose with his than with JT's.

Tomorrow we have to finish the testing. Sitting still was not in his cards today. I'm guessing they might not be tomorrow, either.

Time for Learning

2009-12-17T20:28:00.002-05:00

EM completed the last of Calvert's first grade math tests today. When we come back from our Christmas break, we will start with Singapore math. I showed him the books today. He looked at them for a minute or two and said, "I think I'll work my way through those in a day. Is that okay?" I would say, "YES!"

About 2 weeks ago, I decided to try to complete all of the required Calvert spelling tests for JT before Christmas. We almost made it. We have one left for the new year. I just wanted to get them out of my hair so we could spend some time using our English from the Roots Up flashcards to create our own spelling lists.

Once again this week, JT struggled with distraction. I'm still not sure how I want to handle those days. After a fairly unproductive morning today, he did buckle down and write the first 3 paragraphs of a 5 paragraph composition on hurricanes. Later in the day, he spent some time on a piano piece he has been composing. His musical talent continues to impress me. I can only imagine how much more he could do if he had the desire to invest more time. Motivation is in short supply here.

I am really looking forward to the holiday break. We will be schooling two and a half days next week. After that we plan to start back on a full schedule January 4th. I will probably take a break from blogging until we come back in January.

Have a wonderful holiday and happy new year!

Sports

2009-12-10T20:47:00.002-05:00

The closest thing I did to sports during my school career was band front. My husband played one season of T-ball when he was young. We are not a sports family. If it weren't for my daily dose of NPR that usually throws in 5 minutes of sports, I would never even know who is in the Superbowl, etc. My husband never knows. All of that said, because we are Americans, we feel some compelling urge to involve our kids in sports.

Tonight we took the boys to their first Upward basketball practice of the season. JT played last year. He loved it. They are a group that doesn't worry about the score or who is winning, the kids just play and have a good time. This year we signed up EM, as well. I spent the first 30 minutes of EM's practice trying to convince him to let go of my leg and play with the other kids. He would say things like, "Why did you sign me up for this?" (He asked me to.) "Mom, I'm just not used to being around other kids." (Quick look around to make sure no other parents are thinking about socialization.) "Why do I have to do this?" (Don't ask me, I'm not sure myself!)

I saw a basketball near us, so I gave it to him and asked him to do what the other kids were doing without leaving my side. Then I started walking towards the team. When he was close enough, I ran off to my seat again. He was perfectly happy and had fun. No harm done. He is not scarred for life.

JT had his practice next. They are in two different age groups, so we have 2 practices in a row. When you are not a sports person, it's hard to get excited about all this time you will spend sitting in the gym waiting. Good thing I love to read...

How Much is Enough

2009-12-03T22:39:00.003-05:00

There are days I feel horrible guilt. Am I spending enough hours in the day teaching my children? Our cyberschool requires us to have 'school' 5 hours a day, 180 days a year. I figure we probably come close to that 5 hour number about once a week. When we transition to homeschooling next year, PA requires us to log EITHER 180 days or 900 hours (for elementary). I will no longer feel I am not meeting the goal! There is no definition of "day" in those guidelines. I know my kids are learning even when they are not being instructed by me. In fact, I often feel like they are learning more when I get out of the way.

Today JT was very resistant to my need to teach him. He happily worked his way through his math and then stalled completely on the school work. I gave him several different options. Nothing. Then he started telling me how he was working on designing a new musical instrument. Every time I was out of the room, he was rummaging through cupboards finding supplies. I kept directing him back to the work at hand.

We had to leave the house at 2pm for violin lessons. He still hadn't completed three assignments I had given him. When we came home, he rushed through the work and was finally allowed to begin his construction. By bedtime he had a new instrument created from paper towel rolls, rubber bands and popsicle sticks. He had also come up with a method of writing music for the instrument, composed a new song and written it down. He played his new piece for us before he crawled into bed. Overall, he spent about 2 hours in what I could consider 'school' hours. He spent about 5 working to design something he had created in his mind. Is that a full school day?

He had a sense of accomplishment that wouldn't have come from working hard on the assignments I gave him early in the day. After today, I am so tempted to toss everything we routinely do out the window.

How do I find the balance between old-school education and true learning?!

Thankfulness

2009-11-26T22:32:00.002-05:00

We are coming to the end of our vacation week. In our plan to school 6 weeks on/1 week off we managed to have Thanksgiving line up with the schedule. Christmas vacation will not quite line up, so we may take the end of that week and part of the following week off and start back a bit sooner. I guess it will depend on frustration levels and where we are in our material.

Like most other Americans, I spent some time today considering my blessings. One that came to mind was the opportunity we have as Americans to homeschool our children. Others are not as fortunate. Here is a link concerning a family in Germany that may be going to jail for making the decision we take for granted. Of all the things I had to consider when choosing this path, jail time was never an issue. Even though some days, I may feel I've been 'sentenced for life', I generally feel far more freedom with my boys out of the public school system. I don't want to downplay the sacrifice homeschooling can be for some families. For me, it meant once again postponing my college education. In the large scheme of things, does it really matter if I have a degree? Isn't that kind of the same as thinking kids need to go to a 'real' school in order to be educated?

I am thankful that I have a supportive husband and extended family. I am thankful that my husband has a job that allows me to be home with the kids and not need to worry about the bills. I am thankful that my kids are happy and free from tedious days in a classroom...except for composition (if you were to ask JT).

Hands on Science

2009-11-19T21:39:00.004-05:00

Today we took a field trip! We went to the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. This was a cyber school sponsored trip. We were able to go to a 3D IMAX movie, Under the Sea. It's been a long time since I went to a 3D movie. WOW! I was blown away by what they can do with that technology. The boys couldn't stop reaching out to try and touch the animals.

We spent the rest of the day in the science center. They have loads of hands-on science exhibits. I realized that these museums may be wasted on the young. I wanted to stop and read and try everything. The boys ran this way and that, starting something, spotting something new...never finishing what they started. The only thing that kept them in one place was the hurricane wind tunnel. 90 mph winds have a way of doing that!

Overall it was a good day. We picked up new knowledge. We had fun as a family. The cyber school paid for part of it. I've decided I need a new plan for the rest of the year, take advantage of EVERY field trip offered. If this is our last year with them, I might as well milk it for all it's worth. Up until now, we had gone on only a couple of their sponsored events. I was afraid of taking too much time away from the necessary busy work. Now that I have lost most of my concern over those things, we are free to learn at our leisure.

Learning...it's such a funny thing. Sometimes we try to fit it into such a small container. Learning is done in a classroom. Learning requires repetition and proof of mastery. Learning must have structure. Right now, at this moment, my 8 year old is in his room reading "Blood, Bones and Body Bits" from the Horrible Science series. He keeps yelling facts to me from his bedroom, "Mom! Did you know you actually only need 10% of your liver to survive?" "Mom! Did you know that as the cells in your mouth die, they end up in your spit, so you actually end up eating yourself when you swallow?" I'm guessing he's learning...

Testing my Limits

2009-11-12T19:42:00.002-05:00

Today started out poorly and continued at a regular rate toward failure.

I have been struggling to get a good routine established for our schooling. Every morning, I have the best intentions of starting by 9am. This almost NEVER happens. The reasons vary, but the results are the same...we trickle into our classroom in the 9:30 range. I have considered the possibility of changing our tentative start time to 9:30, but have a funny feeling then we'd start at 10.

EM usually comes ready for show and tell. He is a bit of a ham and enjoys showing off whatever toy he is enamored with that day. I allow him to give us a 2 minute presentation thinking this might be developing some future talent as a lecturer.

JT has been having an awful time with focus lately. He will stare at whatever is in front of him...the paper, a book, me...and he is somewhere else. He seems to want to connect with the world, but is struggling to do so. I have seen him smack his forehead and shake his head back and forth in an effort to concentrate on the here and now. My husband (always full of useful suggestions) sent him to play the drums for a few minutes to clear his head. (my husband has a drum set in his office...we are a family of musicians!) This does seem to help for a limited amount of time. Apart from 10 minute drum breaks every 3o minutes, I'm at a loss for a solution. I am starting to consider the need for an evaluation by a professional.

So, today I couldn't seem to get anyone interested in a word I was saying. Aside from the frustration of repeating everything I say about 50 times, I was worn out trying to find the way to be interesting enough to draw both of them to learning.

Then the mail came.

JT's packet of tests had come back from the cyberschool. I often dread opening these packets. I know there will be something in there that makes me want to tear all of my hair out of my head. I was not disappointed today.

His science test had 3 questions marked wrong. Two of them were obviously NOT wrong, since I double checked the definitions of the words in question in the text book. One was debatable. I think his answer could be correct. There was a point taken off in the math test, but I couldn't find any marks as to what problem was incorrect. The geography test had 3 questions marked wrong. These were worded in a way that I felt was ambiguous. I could go on and on and on about the problems with these tests. Am I just being too critical at this point? In some situations, perhaps. When I spend half an hour researching this question on the internet...

"The United States government is a ______.
a. democracy
b. republic
c. a and b

because I think the answer CAN be c, but they say it's most definitely b...maybe I'm a bit too picky. The text book seems unsure about the answer as well. "The United States is a republic." 2 sentences later, "Our type of republic is also called a representative democracy. In a democracy, every citizen has a right to take part in government." Hmm...sounds like BOTH to me. Everything I read and discussed with JT seemed to point to the fact that it's a debatable issue and some people are still on the fence. The struggle to teach my children that sometimes there is no black and white, clear cut answer is probably not best taught with a packaged curriculum. :-)

After an hour of feverish irritation, I felt thwarted by the system. I started questioning my ability to teach my children anything. My husband came to my rescue and pointed out that no one could teach using this material and succeed. Once again I will have to rethink my remaining days with the cyber school. I am certain I don't want to pull the kids out in the middle of a school year. It would just be too complicated for the reporting. The question becomes...how little of this sub-standard material do I need to teach to get through the rest of the year? We need to start working on something that will improve our mood and challenge us to learn....before all of our brains turn to tapioca.

Math

2009-11-05T22:09:00.003-05:00

Now that we have decided to leave the cyber school, I realized I have become solely responsible for selecting what math the boys will be working on next year. Freeing yet frightening! The boys are plodding along in the Calvert math series this year. For EM, I do a lot of enrichment activities with math. He is flying through the first grade Calvert math. When he completes one of the tests, I browse through the next 20 lessons, pick out the concepts I know he hasn't mastered (usually only one or two) and give him the next test the next week. He will be done with their math by Christmas. I suddenly realized, I need a game plan for him before then. I spent some time on the Singapore math site today. I was fairly certain I wanted to pursue that option with him before today, but now I am absolutely sure. The site has a few very useful tools. Under the homeschool tab, they have placement tests available. I plan to give EM the 1A placement test next week. I am thinking I will start him with the 1B books when we have completed Calvert. That way, when he begins the year as a 2nd grader, he will also be starting the 2A math book.

JT is a different story. His first few years of schooling, like most gifted kids, he flew through the math that he already knew. Now we are running into road blocks. We have had to slow down so he can master long division. The lesson 80 test in Calvert is made up of almost all division problems. I told him I would not allow him to take that test until I thought he was ready. Maybe in a week or two he can do it. Looking at the rest of the math for the year, we should be able to move quickly through most of the remaining material. At that point, I'm not really sure where to start him with Singapore. Even the 4A placement test has concepts he has not encountered yet. I am seriously considering just starting him at that point. I'm just worried he will see the 4A book and assume he is not doing well. I know 4 doesn't necessarily mean 4th grade, but will he, even when I assure him it's fine? I had my own insecurities in math growing up...I don't want to see him have the same problems.

One other thing, not related to math...today on Pioneer Woman's blog, there was a post that mentioned a spelling web site, Spelling City. This site is a dream come true for me! For absolutely no charge, I can enter the boys spelling words and the site will generate games using those words. Matching games, word finds, unscramble, you name it, they have it. We spent the first 45 minutes of our day playing. My husband did discover that it doesn't know all words...thermodynamics was not in it's repertoire, however, repertoire is. Again today I find myself wondering, how did all those homeschooling moms survive before the internet came along?

Things I Won't Miss

2009-10-29T22:36:00.003-04:00

I guess you all knew it was coming. I have finally made the decision to leave the warmth and safety of the cyberschool nest and make my way in the world.

I can't say exactly what it was this week that pushed me over the edge. First there was the composition mess last week. Then our cyber school decided to update their mail program, losing my address book and most of the useful functions from the previous program. It's funny...I thought a cyber school might be good with the whole 'technology' thing. Then there was the friendly reminder that EM should take the second of four online assessments for the year. I sent an email stating that I thought the tests were poorly designed, that EM had placed above grade level in all the tests in September so I thought he should not need to take them. The answer I was given is that the state is holding the cybers to the same standards as the other public schools. I'm sorry...that's not an answer. The other schools are NOT required to give assessments like these 4 times a year.

So while all of this is going on I am reading a book "Home Schooling: A Family's Journey" by Gregory and Martine Millman. Every page I turn is making me more and more sure the path we are heading down now is not the best option for our family. One of the takeaways from Chapter Two sealed the deal for me... "A school-like curriculum and school-like pedagogy only make sense in the context of a school." I realized I am not fulfilling the vision I had for my children. I also finally faced the fact that fear was the only thing stopping me from taking the leap.

We will finish out the school year with PACyber. However, we will not push ourselves to do as much of their material as we would have. I will be very sad when we have to pack up the laptops and printers and the much coveted Bamboo... We get to keep all of the textbooks (some of them might be useful in the future). I will not miss the excessive testing and busy work given to my children. I will not miss the lack of time to stumble upon new and exciting adventures. And finally, I will not miss the horrible tunnel vision we have been suffering from ever since we tried to conform to someone else's plan for the lives of our children.

Composition

2009-10-22T21:30:00.003-04:00

I know I've said it a million times...JT despises composition. Because of this, I try to assign the least I can to meet the school's requirements. Our Calvert curriculum typically requires one composition and one other writing assignment (sometimes a poem) per test lesson. PACyber had the brilliant plan this year to send along additional required test sheets for the Calvert students. So, for the lesson 40 test, JT is required to write a composition from a list of three topics, a Cinquain and a 2 paragraph composition about Robinson Crusoe. This news was NOT greeted with enthusiasm in our household. I have tried to break the work up into smaller pieces to keep the distress to a minimum. I told him to go ahead and print for the bonus work. I know they probably want him to use cursive, but I am one of those people that think the need to write in cursive is a waste of time. I want him to be able to read it (important historical documents are no fun to view if you have no idea what they say) but I assume my kids will be working with keyboards far more than fountain pens in the future. Plus, I never mastered cursive myself, so I have no room to expect perfection. All of my teachers seemed to think my penmanship indicated a certain career in medicine.

I do want my children to be able to communicate their thoughts in written form. I just wish there was a way to pull that off in a less painful way for all of us. Earlier this week JT put together his shape planner for the composition. The school requires one for most writing assignments in 4th grade. Today I had him pull that out and get to work. His paragraphs are well written as far as entertainment value goes. I'm not so sure the teacher will grade them based on that. We shall see...

No Time

2009-10-15T20:40:00.003-04:00

Some weeks just seem like we are doomed to accomplish nothing from the start. We came back from our trip relaxed and ready for action. Then I took out the calendar...interruptions everywhere I looked! Monday JT had a piano lesson at 2pm and EM's birthday party was that night. Tuesday we all had flu shot appointments at 1:30. Wednesday I had to be out of the house for most of the day, so JT spent his day with my dad and EM worked independently while my husband worked at home. Today we had a violin lesson scheduled for 2:30. Then a wonderful thing happened. It was canceled! Suddenly I had a free afternoon ahead of me. Plus, we had a freak snow storm (completely unheard of this time of year in our area) that gave us a half inch of heavy, wet snow. The boys were thrilled with the turn of events. They pulled the sleds from the garage and proceeded to get soaked. When they came in, we had hot chocolate. We also finally had the time to remove our eggs from their solutions and check them out. We also pulled our hot dog mummy out of his baking soda and measured and recorded the changes. Not everyone would be thrilled with our idea of fun, but we thought it was great!

So now I ask myself...how can I re-work our schedule to allow more free time? Most weeks we are cramming all of our Calvert work into the morning hours. IF we have any available time in the afternoon, we get to do the 'fun' stuff. It seems like more and more of our afternoons get scheduled with appointments and lessons. Originally I thought it was great that we could get the lessons 'out of the way' by having them in the afternoons. But now our evenings are just getting filled with other things. I'm going to need to rethink that concept. We might have to move at least one of our lessons to after school hours.

My November calendar looks fairly clear right now. I am going to work hard to keep it that way. Maybe if I'm lucky...we'll have some free time so we can actually get something done!

Refreshed

2009-10-09T00:04:00.004-04:00

What a week!

Last Friday, we drove to the city to hear the Harrisburg Symphony perform. They have two shows a year for school students that are free. It's a wonderful program. The conductor spends a great deal of time speaking to the students between pieces and explaining what is happening. I only took JT to the performance. EM does not have the same intense love of music. He also has some sensitivity issues with loud noises, so I wasn't sure he would enjoy it. Later that evening, we went to a Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain concert. Culture abounds!

Over the weekend I started the process of packing for a three day trip to Lake Arthur. We rented a cabin through the state park system. Even though it's a modern cabin, there seemed to be a ton of stuff we just MIGHT need on the trip. In between fits of packing, I was trying to look through both of the boys' lesson manuals and compact a full week of Calvert material into Monday at home, Tuesday through Thursday on the road and Friday at home. About the same time, I read a blog entry by the Pioneer Woman called October Homeschooling Blues. This post made me say, “HEY! That's us!”. Apparently I wasn't the only one having these feelings, since the comments were full of homeschoolers in the same boat. One of the commenters shared the fact that her family schools 6 weeks on, 1 week off. I looked at my lesson planner and realized we were heading into week 7 of this school year. I looked at that pile of workbooks and manuals I was trying to sort through. I looked at the heap of things I still needed to pack and I made a decision. We will now be schooling 6 weeks on and 1 week off! I put the manuals and school books away and declared a holiday.

When I pulled the calendar out and started counting weeks, I discovered that if we start in mid-August every year and follow the 6 to1 schedule, we will still finish a school year by June 1st. We will need to have one 5 week block and one 7 week block to fit Thanksgiving and Christmas in their proper locations. Otherwise all will be good.

Our vacation has been wonderful. In fact, I am in the cabin now with the lake right outside my door. We really only had one full day in the park. We hiked, we collected leaves, we explored and we were a bit chilly. It was overcast and windy most of the day. But, it has still been an excellent adventure. We had a campfire with 'smores last night. Tomorrow we will be examining some local geological features. Then we are spending the afternoon with fellow homeschoolers we rarely get to see before the long drive home.

All in all it has been a great trip. If I had tried to pack in worksheets and textbooks, we would have spent the evenings filling in the blanks. Instead we played Blokus and Pokemon together. If I had brought flashcards we could have sat on the picnic table drilling math facts instead of hiking around the lake and seeing a Blue Heron. Thanks to our flexible schedule my children learned how mine reclamation works while looking out over a pond with a muskrat lodge.

Who knew a week off could be so educational?

Motivation

2009-10-01T21:17:00.003-04:00

First of all, the picture to the right is an ongoing project we have been playing with for the last two weeks. Naked eggs! We removed the shells from the eggs in vinegar (it took about 2 days). Then we took them out and felt them (lots of "eeewwws" with that). Now we are testing the permeability of their membranes. Salt water to the left, regular water in the center and corn syrup to the right. Of course, this is on the hutch in my dining room...

Motivation. How do you teach a child to be self-motivated? What if you yourself struggle with motivation issues? I used to be a bit more of a go-getter. I would have huge lists for each day of the week and would pat myself on the back after I crossed off each item. Now I have a vague idea each day that 'something should be done'. Schooling is always the priority. Because of that, I have lost some of my old structure. However, I still feel motivated to do things that need to be done and then...I do them. JT does not seem to feel that need for much of anything. Is this a trait that can be learned or is it mostly hereditary? I find myself saying things to him like, "This _____ (fill in the assignment) really needs to be done today. If you'd start now, we could do something fun in an hour." Nope. Does he not see the logic? No pain, no gain?

This year, one of my goals for JT is to help him do more independent work. I have been writing the workbook and reading assignments he has in a small notebook each evening for the next day. He is supposed to check the notebook and work his way through those assingments whenever I am not giving him one-on-one instruction. This has been successful some days. It just seems that he can see no positive benefit to working a little. That is something that worries me. Will he grow up to be a lazy bum?! It may seem a bit premature to be worrying if my 8 year old will be avoiding work 20 years from now, but it's the underlying attitude that seems troubling.

At the same time, EM is an orderly do-gooder. He enjoys working. All I need to do is say, "Finish that worksheet and I'll give you a sticker". Boom! He's done! He also leaps out of bed at the crack of dawn, makes his bed and gets dressed without being told. Where did those genes come from?

One more thing. This week I read an excellent article about homeschooling. Check it out. :-)

Tests, Tests, Tests...

2009-09-24T20:10:00.003-04:00

As a student I adored tests. I looked forward to showing off what I had learned. I still like to play trivia games and take quizzes online. Yes, I am one of those people. So why do I detest tests aimed at my children?

Our cyber school sent us the results of the testing the boys took part in this month. Both tested above their current grade levels. One of the annoying things about the test for EM was in the results I found out one of the tests was timed. Hmmm, a TIMED test for a 5 year old involving clicking the appropriate answers on the computer screen. They didn't tell you it was timed when the test started. I probably wouldn't have let him wander around the room while taking the test if I knew that! I want to know; were they trying to test his motor skills or his recognition of high-frequency words?

The school wants EM to take these same tests 3 more times this school year. JT is going to have to take Scantron at least one more time. We are in the process of having EM evaluated for giftedness through the school. If he ends up with a GIEP, I'm planning on asking that he be excused from the testing except one time a year. I think I have a pretty good argument since their reason for testing is to assure that the kids are keeping up for the PSSAs. If he's already testing above level, I think we are good to go.

Because of this, I was already at high irritation level when I received another package from the school. It contained the "Fourth Grade Calvert Math and Reading Test Additions". Inside: "To ensure that we continue to meet the state requirements, we have made a few adjustments to the Math and Reading Calvert curriculum. Beginning with Test #40 and continuing through Test #160, you will receive the mandatory Math and Reading tests that must completed (their typo, not mine) in addition to the ones you have already received from Calvert."

Argh!

I have been stewing for two days. Am I nuts to be annoyed by these extra test sheets? JT does fine on his tests. He doesn't like to write, so the extra reading tests are not going to make him happy. They are full of essay questions. I almost sent out an email while I was still clutching the offending test booklet in my hands. My wise husband saw me at the keyboard and suggested I wait to send it, or at least let him preview what I wanted to send. So I waited...and stewed some more. I know my IS is about due to call me. At least, I think she is. I haven't heard from her in 3 weeks.

So...can I be nice?

Some Improvement

2009-09-17T20:44:00.002-04:00

After the insanity of last week, this week was relatively peaceful. We put in several productive days for both boys. EM had a bit of a cold/cough most of the week, so he was not always a pleasant participant. JT enthusiastically completed a rough draft for a composition! However, the promise to do the final copy the next day should have been greeted with skepticism. He only wasted half a day resisting that one. I guess that could be counted as progress.

EM spent several hours in front of the laptop completing some testing for the cyber school. They employ the DORA/DOMA online assessments. This was NOT an enjoyable experience for either of us. Sitting still is really not in EM's skill set. As far as I can tell, the purpose of this testing is to determine if any early intervention is needed for the almighty PSSA tests. I am really wishing I had waited until the compulsory education age of 8 in PA to enroll EM in a formal school program. I could have happily educated him in my own way for the next 2 years. Instead, we will be jumping through the hoops. Lesson learned.

I have a few things I found/read this week that I want to share. First.... I found a wonderful book that is providing loads of fun activities. Exploratopia. In my opinion, this is a must buy book. We are currently working to mummify a hot dog thanks to this book!

I have added a blog to my following list: Art Projects for Kids , thanks to Annie from Learn at Every Turn for that one!

I also highly recommend the blog The Pioneer Woman. This post about socialization is a must read for any homeschoolers or even more for those who have doubts about homeschooling.

Tomorrow EM will spend the day with my dad as his teacher. Last year, JT went with him one day a week. This year the boys will alternate weeks to spend some time away from me and with their grandparents. It will not give me the free time I had last year, since I will still have one boy with me. It will offer me a chance to get that one on one time with the boys that is so hard to come by during our busy school days. I have promised that if the homebound boy helps me with the errands and grocery shopping in the morning, I will completely devote the rest of the day to an activity of their choice. Since JT's idea of a good time is laying on the couch reading together or watching a nature video, I think I should have fun tomorrow!

Mowing in the Dark

2009-09-10T21:00:00.003-04:00

Things got a bit crazy around here this week. My husband and I are going out of town this weekend for a parent's getaway. Of course that means nothing would run as planned.

It all started over the weekend. Our cat had not been eating well for about a week. I took him to the vet and he needed emergency surgery for a stomach blockage. I had little time for getting ahead on housework, but did manage to plan a week of school. Monday, even though it was a holiday, we had a bit of school work, knowing things would be busy later.

Tuesday morning, JT had an allergy shot appointment. He had a major reaction, which culminated in him being given the Epipen and staying in the office for 2 hours. Not much schooling THAT day.

Wednesday we did manage to put in a full school day! We also were able to check out our protozoa we have been growing from a kit we purchased. The boys fought a bit over who should be looking in the microscope. I have now added one of these to my wish list for the classroom.

Today was a day where nothing seemed to go smoothly. We started late. JT did spend a good deal of time working on his Life of Fred book, completing 3 chapters. EM spent some time with me reviewing time telling on analog clocks using one of the center activities we put together.

Then the trouble began. Composition. I dread even mentioning it to JT. As soon as I say something about the need to write...he sets his face with his most defiant look and glares at me. I gave him a choice between finishing the final draft of last week's composition or beginning one for this week. He sat there for a good 45 minutes before he realized he wouldn't win this one. My husband discovered last week during a similar stale-mate, that the best way to make him act seems to be to remove the actual paper from the room and make him come to us and ask to start it when he is ready. In the meantime, he sits at his desk and stares into space. No amount of logic can budge this child. Explaining that if he really wants to be a biologist when he grows up, he will need some writing skills, seems futile when he's 8. (Not that I haven't tried it!) Threatening, pleading and yelling are all worthless. You just have to walk away and wait.

That was when I had to run the cat to the vet because he decided to remove his own stitches.

All of this ended with me riding the mower in a nearly pitch dark back yard.

Next week will be smoother. Right?

Keeping it Simple

2009-09-03T21:03:00.003-04:00

We seem to have established a good rhythm for this week. I am far more relaxed this year than I was last year at this time. My evenings are being sacrificed to planning more often than I would like, but as the school year progresses, I'm hoping to find a better method for prep work. It does feel nice to have a routine again. Over the summer, we would slip from one day to the next. I think we were all a little tired of the lack of structure.

Our current game plan is: everyone up by 8am and finished with breakfast by 8:30. We have school time from 8 until about 11:30. When I need to work individually with one of the boys, the other one moves into the library and uses the table there for independent work. After lunch and recess time, we come back to the classroom to complete any unfinished seat work. Then we move on to the shared lessons in history, science or art. We usually wrap up by 2pm. If we have somewhere to be (piano, violin or library) we quit by 1pm.

I have been able to incorporate the 'fun' stuff more often this year. It has almost been a necessity with both boys schooling at the same time. This week we were reading about the origins of writing in "Story of the World". A few years back, I had picked up a set of stamps and book called "Fun with Hieroglyphs". This was a big hit! The boys spent a whole afternoon working on notes to one another. JT wrote a short story about a crocodile using the stamps.

At another point this week, JT suddenly said, "Can you find me a diagram of the inside of a tornado?" I helped him find one online. He then proceeded (completely unprovoked) to make his own diagram, look up information in two books and write a short report on Tornadoes. Yet another of my goals being met! "Provide opportunities and direction for the boys to explore their own interests."

We are keeping up with our Calvert material as well. JT is working his way through a bit of review before he takes the Lesson 40 math test. I promised him when he takes that test, he can spend a week working on the Life of Fred fractions book. I think we will follow a 2 week of Calvert/ 1 week Life of Fred routine until the Calvert material has been completed. Then we will continue with Life of Fred and a Pre-Algebra workbook that I ordered. JT also finished reading the abridged version of "Robinson Crusoe" in a couple days. The Calvert material expected him to spread it out over about 50 lessons, so I will have him complete the reading section of the first 3 tests now.

EM has surprised me with what he knows. He is not as outgoing as JT when it comes to showing his ability. He pulled off a 100% on his spelling pretest. He also zips through the reading material set for the first 20 lessons. I need to look ahead and find a good place to start for him. For now, I am reading books I borrowed from the library with him during our reading time. I also learned something interesting about his math skills. He does much better with addition of larger numbers. Ask him what 4 + 5 is and he has to think for a bit. 40 + 50...he answers quickly. Interesting. I also found that he has a hard time with flashcard math, but does terrific with dice. Good thing I bought that tub of 90 dice from Lakeshore Learning. :-)

One more thing I found this week. If you are at all interested in incorporating Bible study into your child's homeschooling, I found a great site! ABC, I Believe has free Bible lessons for younger children with fun activities that you can work into many different subjects. I especially like the worksheets that you can print. The first four lessons are completely free, if you want to purchase all 26, it is $12.95. We used the first lesson and the boys had fun following the "ant trail" to the clues.

In the end, this has been a good start to our year. I am feeling positive and enjoying finding things that benefit both of the boys' learning.

Here We Go Again

2009-08-27T21:35:00.004-04:00

We are well into our first week of school and I am t-i-r-e-d. I spent many hours since the Thursday arrival of our material trying to get a good handle on my direction for this year. My first attempt at planning was to go through both of the boys' lesson manuals provided by the publishers of the curriculum and decide which individual activities we should do. That idea turned out to be very overwhelming. I threw plan one out the window and tried a different approach. I went through the first week of lessons and looked for the key concepts that were being introduced or reviewed. Then I went through the text and work books and found material that I judged worthwhile that taught those concepts. After that, I added my own things from my immense pile. This plan suited me much better and also fits the new flexibility theme.

Now...do you remember the schedule plan? EM was to start the day at 8:30 with JT coming in around 9:30. Monday morning both boys were up at 7:30 ready to go. JT NEVER gets out of bed that early. I decided to stick with the plan and sent EM downstairs to wait for me. JT was told he could finish breakfast and read until it was time for him to begin. When I walked in the classroom, EM was sitting at his desk with his hands folded. How cute is that?! That will probably be the only time it ever happens. My plan worked fairly well the first day. I felt like we accomplished some learning and some schedule adjusting. In the afternoon, we had an archaeological dig in our sandbox (strainght from the activity book for "Story of the World: Volume 1"). Hands on learning. Check another item off my new goals list!

The second day was a bit more of a struggle. JT had an allergy shot in the morning, so we had less time for schooling. EM was home with my husband and did some worksheets while I was away. I couldn't get the rhythm back that day. We did manage to do a couple experiments involving buoyancy from Janice VanCleave's Physics for Every Kid.

As the week has progressed I have realized this juggling act will require me to have less balls in the air. I am trying to pack so many things into a day, that I keep dropping the balls. Today we went with the 'less is more' method. We had to be somewhere a little after noon, so I planned very few things for the morning. We finished all of our work and I resisted the urge to add more to that free time. I felt a bit less stressed.

This weekend I will have limited planning time due to a Saturday family reunion 4 hours away. I think keeping it simple may turn out to be more complicated than it sounds...but I'll give it a try.

Wouldja Look at That!

2009-08-20T23:59:00.005-04:00

The big brown truck finally backed into our driveway this afternoon. We will be starting our school year Monday. How nice that they arrived in time. (read with much sarcasm) The large pile to the left is EM's first grade materials. 19 separate books! I have 4 lesson manuals just for him. JT's is not as overwhelming, but I have issues with that as well. (of course) Calvert offers two different versions of it's curriculum, Scholastic or Academic. Here is a description of the differences from Calvert's site:

Calvert Academic (Pre-Kindergarten through Eighth Grade)

The Calvert Academic curriculum is our traditional instruction with the rigorous pace that our families have come to expect from Calvert. Students enrolled in Academic courses cover more topics in history and science; write additional, more complex compositions; and complete more advanced work with literature selections.

Calvert Scholastic (Fourth through Eighth Grades)

The Calvert Scholastic curriculum provides Calvert's challenging and integrated core curriculum, but it is structured in a way that gives students extra support in grammar, composition, and critical thinking. Its instructional focus meets the needs of students who require extra support in these key subject areas through additional review and skill reinforcement while maintaining the challenge of a Calvert experience.

Hmmm, additional review...just what we need.

PACyber used to purchase the Academic version for all of their students. This summer they decided they didn't like the History text offered for that version because it was thought to be 'too religious' and didn't follow PA standards closely enough. Now all students using Calvert have to use the Scholastic version of the curriculum. I have only made a quick survey of what we received at this point, but I can tell from the tests we won't be having much challenge from this material.

I still haven't made up my mind if this is good or bad. I have LOADS of things I can do in addition (and would actually prefer to use) to what they have sent. EM's first grade books seem a bit below where he is now, but I can see some value in a few of the things I have looked at so far. So it's not a total loss. It just seems so ridiculous to keep up this routine. Have I said all of this before? I am compiling a list of questions for the homeschooling liason at PDE. That call is on my list of things to do in the next month. I want to do my research before I call, but it is definitely a direction I am interested in heading.

In more interesting news...I am almost done with the centers box. I made a great find at Wal-mart last week. They had a whole pile of learning activities on clearance! I bought an Active Minds Pocket Chart and sets of cards to go with it. They had Spanish/English words and some 3 and 4 letter word matching games (good for EM). I also found an Addition Facts bingo game. Yes, I could have made it myself...but it was only $2. I did make my own flashcards for rhyming words (EM), time telling (EM) and at the suggestion of JT, cards to build sentences. I had to come up with nouns, adverbs, adjectives, verbs..etc to print onto cards that he could arrange into 'funny' sentences. I color coded them to parts of speech so EM could also use them to master that concept. I also made cards (at the suggestion of a friend) with things like, "make 48 cents using 7 coins". We have a nice set of play money from Discovery Toys that will work for that one.

I read an interesting article this week about parents hiring tutors to prepare their children for Kindergarten. In the article they mentioned how cut-throat Kindergarten can be now in the United States. Children who can not read by the end of that first year of school are being held back to repeat. The author brought up how we are trying to compete with other countries and falling behind. However, it was mentioned that in other countries children typically begin school later and are not expected to read until age 8. What are we doing wrong? Are we trying too hard? It really hammered home how I want this year to be a less structured year...especially for EM. He is 5 (will be 6 in October) and is enrolled as a first grader. He will be expected to complete that level of work. I believe it will not be hard for him to master the concepts, but I will not expect him to sit and do seat work for the amount of time they recommend. He will be exploring the world in a more hands on way. Whether using the center activities or Legos or just hanging out in the backyard checking out nature. I want him to seek out information, not force feed him from a big box the UPS man brought to our door.

Promises, Promises....

2009-08-13T21:18:00.003-04:00

Still no books ordered by our cyber school! I can not get a good answer as to why they can't order yet. I was told on Tuesday, that they will be ordered by the end of the week. Sure.

In the meantime, JT and I had a long talk about our schedule for this year. He was used to having me all to himself most of the time last year. Now that EM will be joining our happy little group, things will be changing a bit. I asked JT if he thought he could be responsible enough to get up on his own, get some breakfast (if I leave some helps along the way...i.e. milk in the creamer for his cereal) and be dressed and ready to join us by 9:30am. EM is an early riser, so I figure I will work on his reading and math for an hour before JT joins us. Then we can do some shared learning, move on to gym and then EM can go work on some independent learning while JT and I work on his instruction time. JT seemed to think it was a good idea and promised to work on following the schedule. All of this sounds lovely...until the first day when EM is running late or JT won't get up or.....

Oh yeah, flexibility!

I also felt ambitious this week and put together some index cards for our "fun" box. These activities are things we can do together. Some of the cards say things like 'take a walk', 'play an educational game' or 'watch an educational video'. I am thinking I will need some stress relief as I adjust to two kids in the classroom. These cards will be for days when we are starting to feel the pressure. Educational activities...but ones I don't need to direct. I am still working on activity cards the boys can use independently when I am working with one of them. I have found several teacher sites with 'center' activities. The problem I'm having is that most are geared for more than one child. I will need more than what I have put together at this point, but I have a few for the beginning of our year. I want to be able to say, "Go work on an independent activity" and have it be a packaged, ready to go kit.

Finally, I found a new site/catalog that I LOVE! Home Science Tools. I placed my first order this week after poring over the catalog for days. I have page after page marked for my wish list. We ordered a slide making kit for our microscope, a protozoa hatchery kit and a cool laminated photo elements chart. At the rate I'm going, I won't need the curriculum from the school! I could teach for the next 5 years with the things I already have in my classroom.....and maybe I just will.

A Little Progress

2009-08-06T22:06:00.003-04:00

I finally forced myself to go into the classroom and begin tackling the piles. I went through everything on the floor and have one small stack left that will take a little extra thought. I also cleaned the desks and the windows and took every last thing off the bookcase! Now I have the top shelf dedicated to reference materials and the bottom will hold our current textbooks. I also ordered a new larger bookcase for my office for all the material we will use in the future. For some reason that pile has grown quite large this summer....maybe something to do with book sales? :-)

I also made a discovery. I have far too much in mind for this year. So, I pulled a few things from each pile and set them aside for 'later'. Maybe we will get to them this year, but if not, that's perfectly alright. I made 3 groups of with the remaining books. Things for JT, things for EM and things for both. History, science and Spanish will have a lot of overlap. I STILL don't have the Calvert material. I think there may be some benefit to NOT having it. I am spending more time and energy planning with the 'supplemental' things, that maybe I'll have an easier time ignoring what I feel to be the inferior material.

Finally, I took some time to put together our list of general educational goals:

1. Teach PA standards through Calvert material.
2. Provide opportunities and direction for the boys to explore their own interests.
3. Expose the boys to a wide variety of things they may not have been exposed to yet.
4. Develop a love of reading. (not a problem with JT...could be a challenge with EM)
5. Create life-long learners.

Light the fire!

More Frustration

2009-07-30T21:27:00.002-04:00

This week I received an email from our instructional supervisor saying, "I'll be ordering your materials after the first of August". !? I went back through all of the recent emails and found one from July 2nd that said, "Email me when you receive your curriculum". Silly me! I thought that implied the materials had been ordered at that point. After a few heated emails and one subdued phone call, I am resigned to the fact that the bulk of my books will not arrive until August 17th. I was told that the school CAN NOT order from Calvert until August. I asked if it would be possible to write into our GIEP that in order to compact the curriculum and create a plan with (what they call enrichment material and what I call the REAL learning) I should be allowed to order the next year's Calvert package in June. GIEP is supposed to trump school policy. However, in our state, cybers are not actually required to follow a GIEP. At this point, no one at the school seems to know the regulation and they follow the rules as if they could get called on it if they didn't. I'm hoping to use this to our benefit for next year. I just don't know if I can feel fully prepared with so little prep time.

We have set our start day for August 24th. The school's first day is actually the 31st, but we are taking a week off in October, so I'd like to put in 6 weeks before that break. At this point, I have done little with the piles in the classroom. I did begin looking through the 4th grade math text. JT will be taking the lesson 20 and 40 tests after we review one or two concepts. When I asked him, "How would you like to cover 40 lessons in one hour?" He said, "Cool!". We will probably then move back into the Life of Fred books that we started at the end of last year. I might throw a day or two of Calvert math in, but probably won't really start it again until after the October break.

I also went online to the Calvert website and found that I could look inside most of their text books. I was able to look at the table of the contents for the 1st grade math for EM. It looks like he will have an extremely compacted year with the math. I only found about two concepts that I think we will need to explore. Depending on how that pans out, I may move him directly into Singapore Math.

I also found out that first grade has science as an optional class. We will not need to worry about sending in tests, which means I can attempt to teach similar units for the boys together, going more in depth for JT. We will also have more opportunity for hands on fun!

My game plan now is to leave the entire week of the 17th open for planning. Maybe my material will come when expected and maybe not....but since my new goal is flexibility, we will just have to go with the flow!

Oh, How I Wish....

2009-07-23T21:56:00.003-04:00

This picture really has little to do with what is on my mind tonight, but I had to share! The pile of books in the foreground came from a local book selling fund raiser. All of those for $15! The handle on my bag broke twice while I was shopping. The mess in the background is the material I am planning to use in addition to the as of yet unseen Calvert. So far, I have sorted them into piles according to subject. The next 7 days I plan to REALLY get to it!

Now...How I wish....my son could have access to a school that is something like what he is experiencing this week at Kids' College. A local university puts together a day camp every summer geared towards gifted kids. They don't advertise it that way, but that is really what it is. He attends 4 different classes every day. In the morning the sessions are titled, "Think Like Leonardo", "Westward Ho!" and "CANS of Creativity". Afternoon he is in "Bug it Up!". He absolutely LOVES it. They dissected frogs, they ATE bugs, they are thinking outside the box from the minute they walk through the doors. After the first day, he was so excited he could barely tell me about what they had done. Tuesday afternoon he was already worried that the week was going to end too soon. Tomorrow is the last day and I'm a bit concerned that the let down will be a bit too much for him. I am trying to come up with something fun for our evening to try to bring him down slowly. On our ride home Tuesday, he said, "Mom, wouldn't it be great if I could go to a school like this every day?"

Obviously, the educators involved in these programs have the ability to pull out all the stops for one week worth of activities. Teachers in traditional settings couldn't possibly put the time and energy into a learning environment like this one for a full school year. But I am not an educator in a traditional setting! I am trying to look at the excitement this week has generated and translate that into my need to push myself to allow learning in non-traditional ways. Yes, we need to do the worksheets and testing the school needs to show what we have learned. However, this week has cemented my goal to do as little of that as possible in our next school year. It's time to think like Leonardo!

The Long Wait

2009-07-16T20:06:00.003-04:00

While talking with a friend today, I realized I could find out exactly when we received our Calvert material last year by checking my old blog posts! It seems things arrived August 1st. Now I can stop getting excited every time I see the UPS or Fed Ex truck coming down the road...it's probably not coming yet. I really don't want the Calvert material in order to know what we are doing for the year, I actually want to see it so I know what we are NOT doing. After I see how much of it we can toss aside, I'll know how much other material I can squeeze into our days.

In the last week, I realized that our first year of homeschooling was not what it could be for one big reason. We were trying to create a 'school at home' instead of homeschooling! I found this comparison in the book I am reading, "Homeschooling" by Sherri Linsenbach. She says in her book, "A school is an institution or a facility. A home is where you live with your family. Homeschooling is a way of living." That really struck me as where we had gone wrong. Instead of homeschooling, I was playing school. I am trying far too hard to make our day follow a school-like routine.

So, I'm scrapping the old plan! This year may be a bit messier, but it should also be less stressful. That will be important since I want to lose as much of the Calvert script as possible and explore JT and EM's interests as often as possible.

I have been spending lots of time on the web looking for the perfect things to supplement this year's learning. So far I have purchased Susan Wise Bauer's "Story of the World: Ancient Times" text book, activity book and test book. I think I will use this series for both boys. The reading level will be beyond our 1st grader (for now) but he will still be able to participate in the study. I also ordered, "Mysteries in History", by Wendy Conklin as a supplement for JT.

At a yard sale last year, I picked up a set of science activity books put out by the PA Energy Office in the early 90's. The material appears to still be valid and is put together very well. Each unit has teaching tips, reproducible worksheets and suggested activities.

I also borrowed some study guides put out by Educational Impressions for a variety of children's literature. I am planning to order a few for this year, mostly for JT.

My problem now is deciding what I want to do for EM. He is more of a hands on kid. He does not enjoy reading as much as JT, but when he wants to, he does a great job. I think I'm going to use the provided material to begin and get a good feel for where he really is. His Calvert work should take no more than 2 hours a day from what I have seen on their website. If he joins JT for the science activities and the Story of the World, he should have a pretty good day.

I am STILL tossing around the idea of traditional homeschooling. This will be the year that decides. If I can find a way to use the Calvert only as much as necessary and still provide what I would like for the boys, I will stick with PACyber. If not....we'll strike out on our own.

Flexibility

2009-07-09T23:08:00.003-04:00

I have tried to keep myself from thinking too much about schooling this summer....but now I really need to get my act together! When I look at the calendar, I see July packed with fun and interesting activities with August lurking around the corner.

First, let's talk about summer! I had hoped to keep summer free of too much activity, but that plan failed. June was packed with wedding prep for my daughter, followed by one week of peace. Since then we've had things happening almost every day. JT now has a weekly violin lesson. So far, so good there. He likes it and seems to have some natural talent. These lessons are just our 'trying it out' period. If he wants to continue, it will be added to the fall schedule. We have also been participating in our library's summer reading program. This year's theme is 'Being Creative'. The boys both feel it's more for the girls! I don't know if I agree completely, but I did allow them to skip the day with the theater make-up. Next week, we will have the first of our 'summer science' days. This is our third year getting together with other moms and their kids to do experiments and learn about science. Later this month, JT will spend a week in day camp at a local university. Our youngest, EM, decided he would like to take piano lessons this year, so we will probably have the initial lesson in August.

Today we took part in a GATE/STARR activity that PACyber offered. We drove 2 hrs west to Parker Dam state park for an environmental day. It was wonderful! The boys learned about predators and prey, camouflage and aquatic life. We also got to link up with friends who also use PACyber, but live 2 hours further west. However, the day did present a few challenges...

I do not always adapt smoothly to new ideas...people who know me well are laughing at this understatement. My boys do not swim yet. They are just beginning to learn to be comfortable in water. My parents have a pool and I grew up swimming. We've just been slow to get them over this hurdle. One of the activities today was kayak safety. This included putting my kids in a kayak on a lake. Granted, they were going in the tandem with an adult (the adult ended up being my husband) but I still had a mini anxiety attack and claimed they weren't going in. Fortunately my husband is used to this bizarre behavior and stood back until I felt comfortable enough to allow it. My friend that was there kept assuring me they wouldn't drown, they had pfds on..etc...

When it was all over, the boys had a great time, my husband was convinced he should buy a couple kayaks and I calmed down. I also learned that I need to work hard to become more flexible! I watched my friend's children happily jump in the kayaks on their own. They had never been in them before but she was calm and positive and there they went.

The flexibility issue made me think about the book I'm currently reading "Homeschooling: Everything You Need to Know to Educate Your Child at Home" by Sherri Linsenbach. It's your typical, 'this is how to homeschool book'. But reading this book, it is becoming clear to me, I am not being flexible enough with our schooling. Next year it's going to be so much more important to be able to go with the flow when I have both the boys in the classroom all week.

I'm hoping my little kayaking lesson will be able to remind me to focus on the big picture in our boys education. I want them to be prepared for life. Not just in an academic sense, but ready to tackle new situations. Ready for all the adventures on their distance horizons.

Conclusions

2009-05-28T20:37:00.005-04:00

Our experiment has ended. I have survived this first year of so many unknowns. Last night JT said, "The year sure went fast!" "Thanks for doing this for me."

This morning we began our last official day of school ON TIME! I don't think we've started many mornings when I said we would, but for some reason, today we were feeling inspired. We only planned for a half day of school, since today was also our youngest's last day of Kindergarten and they had a half day.

We had four things on our list for the day.

1. Spelling test
2. Talk about what we accomplished this year and changes we can put in place for next year.
3. Make some summer plans.
4. Register for a subscription at BrainPop.

The spelling test went well. 100% after he had only 9 out of 20 right on the pretest last week. He had been a little discouraged by the pretest score. We talked about how he would need to work hard at learning those words if he wanted a good grade. He was very happy that he pulled off the perfect score. I honestly was amazed that he did it. This was probably his hardest list. Some of the words: necessary, recommend, ascending, descending, duodenum (his suggestion!), concentration.

When we finished the test we moved on to talking about where we have been and where we are heading. We went subject by subject and talked through some of the new things he had learned. We both agreed that he had made a lot of progress in spelling. We decided that next year we will spend more time focusing on the meanings of words rather than just how to spell them. I'm thinking a list of 10 words each week (instead of 20) with the expectation that he be able to spell and define them on the final test. We also will need to spend more time on alphabetizing.

In Math, we felt that he had made real progress in his knowledge of fractions and decimals. He also learned to factor numbers and identify prime numbers. We agreed he needs to focus on memorization of basic math facts, instead of his unusual method of quick calculation every time. He will also need much more practice in long division.

Even though he seems to completely despise composition, he managed to do a decent job on his assignments this year. For next year we will be working on improving his outlining skills, adding more descriptive detail and more variety in word choices. I would also like him to become more proficient at keyboarding. I really think he would put forth more effort in content if he didn't need to spend so much energy on the physical side of writing.

Science... the subject we were so excited to have under our control this year, really didn't pan out the way I expected. I spent far too much time trying desperately to do ALL the school provided and never went far enough beyond what they had. Yes, we had our moments where we explored a tangent, but overall we did not do what we could have. JT said his favorite part of science this year was our unit on digestion. That was the one time we did our own thing completely, with not a bit of the school's material. He can very accurately describe the process of digestion from start to finish in all of it's gory details. That is one thing I am very proud to have taught him.

We both felt that Spanish, geography, history and reading could have been far more challenging. I think most of that could easily be blamed on me and lack of motivation. The material provided by the school in those subjects was below level for JT and I knew it, but I still did not invest the time and energy to bring them up to an appropriate place for him.

Overall, I think the year was a success for me and JT. We were both challenged to learn new things and we had fun. I still wonder how I am going to keep up with him as we move along this path. I wonder how in the world I am going to have the energy necessary to keep both of the boys learning and engaged next year. I wonder if they will tire of being with me both day and night long before their years of education are complete. But all this wondering is a good thing... after all, isn't that what education is about?

So Close....

2009-05-21T23:13:00.002-04:00

I really can not believe we are so close to the end of our school year! We only have 3 school days left in our house before we leave the realms of 3rd grade.

We had our GIEP meeting with the cyber school on the 13th. It's kind of a joke to me now to take part in these meetings. When JT was in brick and mortar school, I would prepare my test results and other relevant data to defend my position. Now I say, "Sounds fine." It's not that the school is doing much to assist my child in getting an appropriate education, it's that they don't prevent him from having one. By allowing me the freedom to tweek what they offer, they provide him with opportunities he would never have had in his former setting. While I am sad that they can't see how much better they could make things, I am happy that this works well for us.

One thing that did come out of the meeting...I had to fill out a survey asking about strengths, weaknesses and goals for the future. One of the things I mentioned was that JT is more than likely 'below level' in organizational and study skills. I asked if they had anything to offer that I could use to help him work on those skills. The team agreed to sign him up for a Lincoln Interactive class called "Exploring Study Skills". This class is a self-paced enrichment course. He will have until Dec of 2009 to complete it. I like the fact that this is graded work. He will have some accountability in a subject in which he does not excel. We also need to learn more about the technology involved for the interactive classes. Up until now we have really had little to do with the 'cyber' aspect of our cyberschool! Our IS told me if he decides he doesn't like it, we can always drop the course.

We also made another new committment this week. JT will be taking violin lessons this summer! We have talked about trying a new instrument for some time (he already plays piano and a bit of guitar) but had put off the decision. He only has 3 piano lessons through the summer months, so we thought it might be a good time to try something new. We signed up for ten 30-minute classes at the local university. Now we need to make a road trip to the closest place that rents violins (45 minutes away).

Next week, I plan to blog about the rest of our summer education and fun plans...and then take my own summer sabbatical until July. My daughter is getting married in mid-June and once school is out, we will be in the heat of the final planning. After the dust settles, I will be cleaning and making improvements to the classroom for next year!

What am I going to do with myself with all this free time? :-)

Fractions and Praise

2009-05-14T22:04:00.003-04:00

I had a few ah-ha moments this week.

JT was having a hard time reducing fractions. At first he really seemed to understand and would successfully complete the problems I would assign. Occasionally, he would have these strange moments where he'd take wild guesses at answers. I thought he was just having a hard time focusing. Turns out, that was not the problem...

Most of the early problems we encountered involved fractions like: 5/25 or 3/9. He could do those no problem. Then we came across.... 12/39. The wild guesses began. I suddenly realized he didn't understand what we had really been doing. He thought the numerator was always the number you used to reduce the fraction! After some further conversation, he was able to handle numbers like 27/72. All of this made me consider the fact that I have a hard time knowing when he is goofing off or not really getting it.

What had annoyed me in the whole situation was the fact that I felt like I had explained it well enough. We had spent the last couple days factoring numbers and discussing primes. Sometimes I get so frustrated when I feel like I need to repeat things over and over again. It's not that he's not understanding and needs more explanation, it's that he thinks he knows what I'm saying and stops listening. Did this come about because he cruised through his first couple of years in school so easily? Or does he just naturally think he knows it all?

I've been reading a very good book this week, "How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer. In this book, he brings up a study done by Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Stanford. She took a group of students in New York and gave each an easy test. When they finished she said one of two things to them, "You must be smart at this" or "You must have worked really hard". The students then had a choice to take either a test similar to the one they just took, or a harder test. Out of the kids that had been praised for their effort, 90% chose the harder test. The ones praised for their intelligence mostly chose the easier test. The study went on with several more testing options resulting in the children that were praised for their effort taking on more challenges than the ones praised for intelligence.

This study just blew me away. I thought of all the times I tell JT he is 'a smart kid'. Not neccesarily in a way that I would think of as trying to make him feel better than others, just as a positive statement for something he was doing. I wondered if I was responsible for making him lack motivation in the ways I praise him. So....I decided to change that this week.

When I gave JT an assignment Tuesday, he thought it was 'too hard'. He sat there complaining with no signs of getting starting. When I told him he would 'have to work hard' and that he would 'learn a lot if he tried it' he gave in and began to work. When he finished I praised him with the phrase, "You really worked hard on that!", he told me he was happy I had assigned that because he learned something new. What an eye opener!

Depth

2009-05-07T22:29:00.002-04:00

At the end of last week, we decided to spend a little more time really exploring the biology of the digestive tract. This subject has great appeal for small boys; you get to talk about bodily functions in class and no one stops you! One morning this week, as I was doing my before school day web surfing, JT was quizzing me about body parts.

"Mom, is your bicep or tricep the one on top of your arm?" "Mom, where exactly is my liver?" Then he disappeared. A few minutes later, he came back in the room and said, "You are REALLY going to like what I did downstairs!" This being the kind of comment that puts fear in my heart, I immediately went down to check it out.

The picture on the right is what I found on the board in the classroom. (The stars were an unrelated bit of earlier art) Not bad, for his first serious attempt. I pointed out that the large intestine shouldn't really be connected to the stomach. That turned into a search for a good picture of the digestive tract. Here is what we found. Cool pic. We printed one out on card stock paper and started our studies. We used the same book by Dr. Mehmet Oz that we were using to study the immune system. We read about the function of each organ. When we got to the part about how bile works to make fat soluble and it was compared to dish soap cutting through grease, we went to the kitchen for an oil, water and dish soap experiment. Later we read about the evils of High Fructose Corn Syrup (which I have been telling him for years and now he believes) and the importance of fiber in our diets.

What an exciting day for both of us! He was engaged and learning. I felt that I had provided opportunity for him to explore something important. Most importantly, he saw that when he had a question, he could do the work to find an answer.

I have found that since we have moved out of the Calvert material and onto our own agenda, we are spending more time per subject and covering fewer subjects per day. This has allowed us the freedom to really dive into each topic.

For history, we have been watching the DVD's of the John Adams series done by HBO. The series is based on the book by David McCullough. Some of the content is not appropriate for 8 year olds, but I have previewed and skipped when I thought necessary. If you have not watched it, I highly recommend this series.

In math, we continue to use the Fractions book in the Life of Fred series. We have slowed the pace a bit and added supplemental material to be sure JT is confident in each concept before moving on. We also drill some multiplication facts daily.

Overall, I think this last month is going to prove to be the most exciting month of schooling this year. I hope we can keep it up in the fall. Actually, JT has asked if we can keep having spelling tests through the summer.... I'll have to think about that one.

Conveniences of Cyber Schooling

2009-04-30T21:03:00.002-04:00

For the last two weeks we have been dealing with various health related issues. Last week, JT had a bad reaction to one of his allergy shots. We were still waiting in the doctor's office when it happened, so things were fine. However, for the rest of the week, he didn't feel well. Because of that, we had a low key kind of week.

Over the weekend, he developed a fever and rash. I called into the doctor's office a few times to get advice and on Monday we went to the clinic. It turns out, he had strep throat that ended in Scarlet Fever! JT's first comment was, "Scarlet Fever! Just like in the pioneer days!" Fortunately, we had just learned about the immune system last week and he understood the role of antibiotics. Learning experience in real life!

During the course of this mess, I realized how wonderful schooling at home is when you have health problems. JT had missed quite a bit of school each spring when he still attended brick and mortar. His allergies would flare up and he just couldn't deal with being in a school that had no a/c and windows open letting in all the pollen. With this illness, he would have missed almost 2 whole weeks of school. Because we are at home, he only missed a couple full days of schooling. Add that to the list of positive attributes of home schooling!

Our new PA Cyber course catalog came in the mail this week. As I paged through, I realized they didn't have Calvert listed beyond 5th grade. Up until now, they had it from K-8. When I told my friend who also uses PA Cyber, she told me that in small print it says Calvert is available up to 8th grade by request. I get the feeling they are working to direct families towards the virtual classes. I know that we will leave PA Cyber when Calvert is no longer available (if not sooner). It made me really start thinking about setting a few long term goals for our education plan. This year, we were busy learning how to just handle day to day goals. Now I need to consider whether we would consider other options besides cyber. I want to remain flexible, but also realize we need something in mind as far as a master plan goes. I like not feeling the need to conform to the norms of education for my kids. But I don't want to be a nonconformist for nonconformity's sake.

Why Are Text Books So Boring?

2009-04-23T18:59:00.004-04:00

Today we were reading one of our last chapters for Calvert science. It covered our immune system. As usual, the book was not a very in depth study of the topic, so we turned to other sources. I remembered that the "You: The Owner's Manual" book by Dr. Mehmet Oz, had a comic strip covering how our immune system would attack Staphylococcus, and I figured JT would enjoy that more than the exciting 'diagram' in the text.

We started reading Chapter 9. "All throughout your body, you also have your own security systems to defend your body against intruders. Skin and bones protect your internal organs in car accidents and from errant golf balls, hair protects your scalp from UV rays, and eyelids protect your eyeballs from finger-poking friends." At this point, JT stops and says to me, "This is really funny!"

We spent over an hour reading through the entire chapter on the immune system. Not only was it funny, but full of good, solid teaching material. When we finished, JT completed a journal entry about what he had learned. While the entire book is not appropriate for some kids (a little too much detail on impotence!) I found much that I could use. Then I started thinking how much better kids could learn if all new material could be taught with a touch of humor. I know there are other good teaching books that are not text books out there...the 'Horrible Science' and 'Horrible History' series are just a few good examples. But what about the books from which we expect our kids to learn the bulk of their knowledge? Maybe when I have free time (in about 12 years...ha!) I'll have to embark on a mission to write educational and FUN textbooks!

We managed to squeeze in two field trips this week. One to the Children's Discovery Museum where JT experienced the many hands-on learning exhibits. He also got to pet a Tarantula. (I did not watch!) Later in the week we went to the Thomas Taber Museum in Williamsport. JT really liked the exhibits about the early inhabitants of PA. He also liked the wall murals of giant prehistoric bugs.

Finally, we registered our 5 year old with PA Cyber for first grade 2009-2010. I've started really thinking about how I will need to structure my days to make that work. Less classroom, more hands on, I believe. I also will need to have TONS of planned material I can pull out on the fly when one boy needs occupied while I cover a new concept with the other one. I like a challenge....but this one might change all of that!

Special Education Conference

2009-04-16T23:47:00.003-04:00

I have just returned home from a two day trip to Hershey for the annual Pennsylvania Department of Education Special Education Conference. Our state provides parent scholarships for those with a child who has an IEP or GIEP. What a wonderful opportunity! I had a chance to network with parents, spent some time with my long distance fellow cyber schooling friend and heard some excellent speakers.

I was able to attend three sessions with two different speakers. The first was Tracy Cross. His presentation was titled, "From Underachievement to Suicide: How Students Cope with Being Gifted". He was such an engaging speaker and so full of knowledge on the subject of gifted children; especially adolescents. He has written much on the topic, both in book form and in articles in many publications such as Gifted Child Today.

I also participated in two sessions that Carolyn Coil presented, "Motivating Gifted Underachievers" and "Differentiation for Students Who are Gifted". She also has a fantastic collection of materials she has published. (books) Including the book "Motivating Underachievers".

What a thoroughly enriching experience! As soon as I came in the door I started spewing out all of my new found knowledge. My poor husband was in no state to receive this information. He had happily taken on the care of the boys for 2 days and was ready to drop. Normally, JT goes with my dad on Wednesday. Unfortunately, this week he didn't feel well. Then this morning, my youngest went off to Kindergarten. The school called mid-morning to ask my husband to come pick him up. They thought he looked like he had pink eye! My husband does so much to support our cyber schooling endeavor. He deserves extra kudos for this one!

There is one thing I learned at this conference that may change my entire approach next year. During his presentation, Tracy Cross pointed out that if you look back at what a particularly successful adult spent their childhood doing; you will find it was usually directly related to what they have accomplished. So many gifted kids are forced to be well-rounded. Dr. Cross points out that gifted kids usually aren't well rounded, "they're lumpy"... and that's okay. I am going to sit down with JT tomorrow and ask him to start thinking of something he feels particularly passionate about. Then I am going to work that into our plan for next year. I need to stop trying to make him less "lumpy". Yes, he needs to learn the things that all kids need for success. However, his quick learning style should allow us to master those and then move our focus to what he loves. Who cares if 4th graders don't usually spend half the year studying Archaeology!? If that's what he loves, we are going to be all over it next year!

If you live in PA and are interested... save the date for the 2010 conference..April 6th-9th. I'd love to see you there!

One Month To Go!

2009-04-09T21:44:00.002-04:00

Due to my extreme curriculum compacting and our steady pace for the last several months, we have approximately 8 Calvert lessons remaining. Because I do not want to be 'done' with school at the end of April, I made a list of the things I'd like to do with those 3 or 4 weeks until the end of May.

Life of Fred
JT has started working his way through the Life of Fred Fractions book. So far, he loves reading the stories and is challenged by the math. I'm wondering if it might not be a little too challenging. The parent introduction in the book suggests that the parent does not need to assist the child, that all the lessons are self paced. I am finding that I need to sit with JT when he gets to the questions at the end of a lesson to be sure he understands what he is being asked to do. We will continue working through this book to the end of the school and possibly sporatically through the summer. We are also still practicing the multiplication tables daily. They just don't want to stick in his head!

Geography
We have been using a geography text book (I believe 5th or 6th grade) off and on throughout the last couple months. Right now we are working on learning states and capitals by region.

Spanish
Our language studies have been on the back burner for a while now. I really want to spend some time working on conversation skills. I've been checking popular children's books written in Spanish from our library to read aloud with JT. I want him to hear the language more than be able to read it at this point.

Power Point
I am not that talented when it comes to using Power Point and other similar applications. I would like to allow JT to spend some time just playing around with it and see what he can come up with for fun. Maybe I will learn a little in the process.

Arts Alive
This is the fine arts program provided by PA Cyber. The child watches a short video online and then logs that they have watched it. We are a little behind in these, so I see a marathon day of internet viewing....

Composition
Our weakest subject needs some real attention as we come to the end of the year. I have to admit, I avoid it like the plague. Not because I dislike it, but because JT does and lets me know it! I am hoping to have him spend more time learning to organize his thoughts and working on his sentence structure. I will be having him keep a journal through the summer. We can't afford to lose ground on this one.

Getting out of the house!
We are going to spend at least one day a week on mini adventures in May. We have a trip to a local museum planned and one to a state park. I'm not sure what the other days will involve, I just know we've spent enough time in the house and deserve a little fun.

It's hard to believe the year is nearly over. I'm hoping the next several weeks will be the best of the year. I know I am looking forward to a little more variety!

Field Trips

2009-04-03T00:17:00.003-04:00

For a couple of months, my dad has been picking JT up Wednesday morning and keeping him for the day. This has really given me a chance to recharge. It also gives JT many opportunities that he wouldn't necessarily have with me.

Last week they went on a little adventure... First they went for breakfast. Food is extremely important to my son. He is a very skinny kid, but eats like a horse. I think his constant movement burns off all those extra calories.

After the restaurant, they headed out to a local cheese factory. JT had a tour of the facilities and was able to try some fresh Swiss cheese.

Next they went to a small area airport and had a tour. JT learned about the planes and came home with a small, wooden glider.

When I started this new phase in our lives, I had many plans. We wouldn't sit in a classroom all day. We would go on exciting, educational adventures..... I'm still hoping to get to that point someday. Right now, I feel like I need to stick with something that 'feels' like school. Our schedule for the Calvert curriculum should allow us to finish all of their materials for third grade sometime around the end of April. In order to reach our 180 school days this year, I will continue schooling through the end of May. I'm starting to look into a few one day field trips for those days. I want JT to have fun this last month of school. Maybe that will make him work harder next year, knowing we could have those same opportunities if we put in the time and effort earlier in the year. In the meantime, there's always Wednesday!

Something New

2009-03-26T20:28:00.003-04:00

This week brought about a small revelation. I am yelling too much! I'll tell you how I found out:

Wednesday night I was about 24 hours into a cold. I was starting to feel like Thursday would not be a very productive day. So I went to JT and said, "If I write up a list of things I need you to finish for school tomorrow, would you be able to be disciplined enough to do the work on your own?" He says, "Oh yeah, no problem. I'd probably get done faster." When I asked why he said, "Because I wouldn't get yelled at as much."

I realized I may be micromanaging a bit. Obviously, since he's only 8, I felt the need to keep him on task. But maybe a little less could be more. This morning, even though I felt reasonably well, I wrote up the list and after some warm up work together, sent him on his way.

I kept a close eye on him from the next room. He would go good for awhile and then sputter out. I would go in, make sure he understood the instructions and leave again. After he finished a couple assignments, I spent some instruction time with him. Then we had a fun activity and lunch.

In the afternoon, he tried to work a little faster because every Thursday we play our spelling review game to prepare for his test on Friday. This involves him drawing elaborate space battle scenes on the board and getting an 'action' every time he gets one right. I NEVER win this game. We did some geography work together and then played the game. It was a good day!

Tonight he told me he liked the new method and hopes it keeps working. He also noted that I "didn't yell at all today."

Some of the inspiration for this came from another blog I read, Learn at Every Turn A recent post titled, Projects Overview, made me rethink my usual ways of trudging through the day.

Two other things I wanted to cover in this post.

1. JT has an AWFUL time with alphabetizing. I knew he had some trouble with it, but recent workbook activities have shown he really is struggling. I thought he just couldn't handle the fact that he needed to look at the 3rd letter in most words in these assignments. Then I realized he has no idea of the relationship of letters in the alphabet. Of course he knows A comes before Z, but if I ask him which is first, K or M, he really has to think. Today we started playing a game with alphabet flashcards. I hold up 2 and he has to tell me which comes first. It was much more enjoyable for him than the usual worksheets. Hopefully it will help him to visualize the relationships better.

2. I bought the most wonderful math books this week! Life of Fred If you have never seen this series you HAVE to check it out. JT did the first lesson in the Fractions book today. I was in the other room and he called to me to ask if he could PLEASE do the next lesson too. JT is good at math, but it's never been something he was thrilled about. I'm hoping this is a good sign. If you have a child who is strong in language, but not necessarily math, I highly recommend looking into this series. Here's a link that has some raves by parents. Happy People

Between the new math and new routine we should have an exciting week!

Home again, home again.....

2009-03-19T21:58:00.004-04:00

We have survived the testing! JT handled the whole thing very well. We ended up canceling our reservations with the hotel when I started thinking about the cost of the whole thing. Monday morning we left early enough to have time to get lost if necessary. Surprisingly enough, I managed to find our destination with no trouble.

When we arrived at the test site, I found the site manager who had arranged JT's special accommodations, allowing him to take 3 test sections for 2 days, instead of the standard 2 sections for 3 days. She assured me everything would be fine. When we went to the room where the actual testing was taking place, I told the teacher what was going on.

After the morning session, we got lunch. I asked JT what the hardest math question on the test was like. He told me none of them were hard. I tried again, "Well, tell me about the one that took you the longest to solve." He said, "None of them took longer than 20 seconds." "How do you know that?" I asked. "I counted for all of them!"

Should the fact that he was able to time each question WHILE solving it bother me?

We went back to the hotel at the appointed time. We were asked to wait until they found somewhere to have him take the test. Three other families had made similar deals and were also asked to wait. It took 45 minutes for them to figure out where they should be. I thought all of this was arranged in advance. Silly me! When he finally went to the room, I asked how long that section should take. I was told about 1 hour 20 min. I figured I'd come back up to the lobby in 1 hour, knowing it wouldn't take him as long as they predicted. They came and found me 30 minutes later...he was done.

The next morning, I asked if he could finish the last 3 sections in the morning session, since he had been done early the morning before and had finished the 3rd section so quickly. Morning sessions run from 9- 11:45. They came to get me at 11. He was finished.

The most disturbing thing about this whole ordeal was the fact that other parents were being forced to spend loads of time waiting when they really didn't need to be. Why hadn't they arranged to have more convenient testing? The morning sessions were for the younger grades, afternoons for the 7th-11th. Some parents had kids in both groups and sat there all day. Some had toddlers with them. One mom told me she traveled 1 hr 40 min both ways and had to do it all 3 days.

I guess the cyber schools don't want the kids testing in their home school districts for many reasons. But wouldn't it be easier for them to pay a fee for the kids to do that? Test scores would probably be better. It might even be cheaper than the cost of renting so many locations. I'm sure there are all sorts of politics involved. Maybe I'll check that out before next year's testing.

I'm glad the testing is over. However, it was nice to spend a few hours each day in the parent waiting area. As I spoke with the other families, it was interesting to hear their educational story. No two were alike. Some had started out in brick and mortar. Some had done traditional homeschooling, some a little Christian schooling, some had always been in cyberschool. Under usual circumstances, when I try to explain our family to people, I always feel like the 'weirdo'. My daughter (now graduated) went to Christian school preK to 2nd, moved to public until 5th and then back to the Christian school 6th-graduation. Our middle child, JT, started public, moved to cyber. The youngest is in Christian K and will cyber next year. These people were like me! I felt like I had finally found my clan. No one there expected me to drop my kids off at the public school and be happy with anything they gave me. All of these people wanted their children to be educated in a way that was appropriate for the CHILD. How crazy is that?!

The Dreaded Week is Coming

2009-03-12T23:49:00.003-04:00

We must travel to Williamsport this coming week so JT can take the all-important PSSAs. We signed a contract when we enrolled with PA Cyber that we would do this. I have been dreading it most of the year.

Williamsport is approximately a one hour drive from our home. That is the closest test site available. We need to be there at 8:45 am. We are NOT morning people. SO, I decided to book a hotel room to keep from needing to drive there both mornings. We are staying in the same hotel the testing is taking place. We will stay Sunday and Monday evening. I am NOT thrilled that I am shelling out the money to do this. What else can I do? We did manage to get them to cut JT's test days down to 2 instead of 3. They are setting up a private room for him both afternoons to take an extra test. The other kids will be there 3 days. I guess they figure he is advanced and can handle the extra test each day. I understand there isn't much they can do to make this situation any better. I feel a little bad for having to be assertive and insist that they bend the rules for us.

The real problem here is that I am now getting nervous JT won't do well on the tests. I have been giving him practice work off and on throughout the year to get him ready. Most of the math is well below where he is currently working. The reading multiple choice questions are usually a breeze (except when they throw in some off the wall question that even I can't answer)! Yesterday I sat him down to do the long answer reading questions and he totally choked. He was asked to read two poems, find 2 things alike and 1 thing that was different. He wrote the two things that were the same (in sentence fragments) and claimed to be done. When I told him to read the directions again to see if he had done all they asked, he claimed to be happy with his answer. Complete panic ensued! I hope by reviewing the "make sure you read all the directions" rule enough over the weekend, we may still pull this off.

I know ultimately to me, it doesn't really matter what kind of score he gets on these tests. They are not a good tool for measuring his progress for the year. What I am really concerned about would be what the school will think after they bend over backwards to accomodate my needs expecting him to score advanced and he doesn't. Could be a tough sell next year.....

Handy Websites

2009-03-05T20:58:00.002-05:00

The Calvert Curriculum that PA Cyber provided offers geography the first half of 3rd grade. When we finished the book, I had an older 6th grade geography text book lying around that I decided to use as a supplement for JT. We spent a few months getting a general overview of world geography including things like natural resources, world population, climate, etc. Starting last week, we zeroed in on the United States, specifically the North East. I found a picture of a blank US map and cut and pasted just the NE to make it big enough for easy identification. I wanted an easy way to quiz him on the states and capitals. That very morning a friend of mine sent me a wonderful email full of links including a state quiz. Here are a few....

map quiz of the United States
http://www.mccollam.com/fun/geoquiz/usaquiz.html

excellent group of quizzes (mostly math)
http://www.thatquiz.org/

math flashcards (you can chose if you want to be timed or not)
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/thats_a_fact/english_4_6.html

jigsaw puzzle quiz of United States
http://jimspages.com/States.htm

I sometimes think about how hard it must have been for parents doing traditional homeschooling before the internet came on the scene. These websites are wonderful tools that not only help us teach our children, but also allow us a few free moments of sanity!

When my son asks me some off the wall question about science or history and I have to stop and really think about the answer, it's so nice to know help is only a Google search away. No wonder my mom bought the gigantic encyclopedia type book a door to door salesman brought to our house when I was a kid. She probably wanted a break from answering questions!

It was a good week to be thankful for technology.

Progress

2009-02-26T18:24:00.004-05:00

I was sure this week wasn't going to amount to much...but today made up for the slow pace. It seems like I can pretty much count on one really good day a week. JT seemed to be more interested in learning today. We worked on fractions and decimals. Since we have finished our 3rd grade math and decided not to start the 4th grade material at all this year, we started really going deep into the fractions. I have a hard time knowing when he is really paying attention. That drives me nuts! He'll tell me that I should know he is usually paying attention when he looks like he isn't and isn't when he looks like he is. So today, he looked like he wasn't, but when I put problems on the board for him to work on, he did them perfectly. I had him take mixed numbers and turn them into improper fractions and back again. Then we took fractions and converted them into decimals. I really want him to have a good grasp on some of these concepts before he gets to the higher level math. I feel like too often the math curriculum in our country doesn't allow kids to really 'get it' before they move on. Then they drag the same stuff out again the next year. A preliminary look at our 4th grade math text shows me that we will only need a few months to cover the material for next year. In fact, it might only take 2 based on the lack of new concepts being introduced.

Another great thing happened today. I had been dreading the composition assignment for this test packet. The last one took us a week to really get around to doing. Today, I helped JT think through what he was going to write and left the room. When I returned in 10 minutes, the first half was done! With a little praise, he completed it in one sitting! This is pretty much unheard of around here. So, I laid on the praise pretty thick and he had some free time for an art project. Hopefully whatever magic happened today can be recreated the next time I say the words, "composition"!

Technology Downsides

2009-02-19T21:57:00.002-05:00

Tonight I am blogging over dial up. Our house is located in a very rural area. Our only option for high speed internet is wi-fi. Tonight it stopped working. My husband called the provider and they told us there has been a fire where their equipment for the wifi system is housed. They have no idea how long it will be down. Apparently they don't believe in having a redundant system.

Fortunately for us, we use the homeschooling option PACyber offers. I really only need to log in one time a day to count for our school day. The rest of our time is spent in a more traditional setting. JT does take one virtual class right now on Thursdays. Hopefully they will have worked out the problem by then or we will have to find an alternative location. But it really made me think, what if we were signed up for virtual classes? Would it be our responsibility to find a way to attend those classes? I have been playing with the idea of switching to a new school that might involve regular attendance online. Maybe I need to rethink that possibility. At the very least, I need to find what the policy would be in those situations.

One other thing, this week I have started spending more time on JT's Spanish instruction. We have only been playing with it off and on from time to time. Today I made a whole pile of labels for all sorts of things around the house. I'm hoping that the presence of these Spanish words will indirectly plant them in his mind. I am looking for some good teaching materials for our foreign language for next year. If you know of any, please send it to my comments.

Learning to Write

2009-02-12T22:04:00.002-05:00

This week I have been attempting to teach JT how to put together a decent composition. He has had many composition assignments from the school. Generally, these assignments have been things like, "My Pet" or other journal-type writings. I wanted him to learn how to do some research and put his thoughts together on paper. I told him to pick one of the people we learned about in his history text last week and write a short biography on that person. JT chose Robert E. Lee.

We started out finding some good information online and a book from the library. I gave him the pack of index cards and told him to write a separate idea on each card. He needed a little direction throughout the process. Next we sat down and I helped him split his cards into groups. Then we worked together to write an outline based on the cards. At that point I said, "Number your cards in the order that matches your outline and then you will need to write the report." He needed some encouragement and then a little pushing to get through this part. Today he wrote his last paragraph for the rough draft. Tomorrow we will look for spelling mistakes. Monday he is going to type up the report.

This is not a major report. It will have 5 paragraphs total. I just really wanted to help him know that learning the material does you little good if you don't have the ability to share what you have learned. I think more kids need to learn this process earlier in their schooling. It often isn't until late middle or early high school when these skills are taught. It requires a slightly different way of thinking. I hope by beginning early, JT will have it easier when he reaches college and needs to be able to communicate in this way.

Now if he'd only stop fighting me when I ask him to write in cursive!

Less Structure

2009-02-05T23:16:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to find the perfect balance between freedom and structure in our schedule. I think at the beginning of the year we had a little to much routine. Then I slumped into chaos for a bit in November. (see my Nov 27th post titled Slacking Off) When we came back to school after Christmas break I had designed a new schedule (back to extreme structure) that quickly became just another decoration for the classroom wall. How much is enough?

This week felt like I should have spent more time working in the classroom. At least it felt that way as it was happening. When I started to think about the big picture of this week, it seemed we had covered much more than I thought.

Monday was a day where we had less than our usual time in the classroom since my other son was sick and needed some attention from me throughout the day.

Tuesday JT began his immunotherapy for his allergies. We will be spending about 1 to 1 1/2 hours a week in the pediatric allergy department for the next 10 weeks. I packed a big bag of school work and hauled in from the parking lot to the complete opposite end of the hospital. I was glad I took it along. We probably covered more materialwhile waiting than we would have in the same amount of time in the classroom. Captive audience! Since we will be going back every week, I will need to save reading and worksheet assignments for that morning.

Wednesday JT went with my father for the day. What a great day for me! I had a meeting in the morning at the bank, but when I came home, the house was empty. Just me and the cat for 4 hours. JT spent the time with my dad learning how the stock market works and doing some "pretty hard math!" (according to my son). They also took a trip to the farmer's market. Education AND a great break for me. We are going to try to work this into our regular schedule. I think it was good for JT to have the time away from me and still be in a learning environment.

Thursday we had a full day of school! First one this week. We played our weekly spelling review game. I give JT a word to spell. He draws elaborate battles on the white board. If he misses the word, I get a hit. If he gets it right, he gets one. The rules always seem to go in his favor no matter what. I don't care as long as he's spelling the words! We also have started serious work on times tables. JT has never memorized his multiplication facts. He figures them out in crazy ways every time, but the delay is getting in the way of harder math problems. Today we set up a new game to work on that one too. We did some science, geography and he had his virtual class at 1pm. He's also currently working on a report on Robert E. Lee. He collected notes Monday and Tuesday. Today I helped him write his outline. Tomorrow he needs to start the writing of at least one or two paragraphs.

Looking back at the things he's done this week I realize we only probably spent 2 hours of our time on things that are actually a part of the curriculum provided by the school. All the rest are things I have put together from other places. I feel he is learning so much more than he would have in a brick and mortar school this year. He has bursts of responsibility where I can see in a few years this might become a little easier. If I keep it low key and allow him to enjoy himself I think we are going to accomplish a lot together.

The Bane of Public Education

2009-01-29T21:40:00.002-05:00

Have I said before how much I hate the PSSAs? For those of you not from Pennsylvania, PSSA stands for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment. It's a standardized test used to check our No Child Left Behind status. Starting in 3rd grade students must take these tests. It's the law. When we signed up with PA Cyber, we agreed to have JT take the tests in the spring. I knew it would be inconvenient in some ways (we have to travel to a test site) but I had no idea how irritating it would become.

For the last couple months, the school has had a clock counting down to the date for the tests on their website. It's counting the SECONDS until the test. Then in the last couple weeks we started getting emails reminding us of our need to do well on the tests. Notes to tell us that if kids don't test well, the school will not be allowed to renew it's charter and we'll all be stuck with no choice but return to the dreadful places from which we came.

First of all, even if the school folded I wouldn't dream of going back to our local district. I would either choose a new cyber school or do traditional homeschooling. More work, but not the end of the world.

Second, I have seen the questions on these tests. I don't think they prove much about what any child has learned. I could rant all day about the way these tests have caused endless review for most children and no real teaching in our schools, but that wouldn't change anything.

Finally, the school has decided one of the reason their test scores were down last year was because they did the testing in only 2 days. Now we will have to travel an hour away from home, arriving before 9am, for three days straight! Each day the kids will only be testing for about 2 hours. Then we drive home and come back the next day. No reimbursement for travel. I don't know what I am supposed to do while all of this is going on.

So, I sent a slightly annoyed email to our Instructional Supervisor. She soothed me with the, "I understand", but also reminded me that we signed a paper at registration that said he would take the test. She has promised to work to allow JT to take 2 sections of the test one day, so that we only have to travel 2 days. Still not a perfect solution, but improving. A friend shared an email she received from the school. Her IS pointed out that the kids will no longer be allowed to leave the room before the time is up, even if they have finished the test. They are hoping it will make the kids look over their answers again. I can tell them what JT will do.....fidget in his chair (if he even stays seated through most of the test), make noises and probably distract the other kids who are still working. I will need to find out if his psych evaluation that listed his hyperactivity as "significant" can get him a get out of jail free card.

The frustrations of dealing with the system are starting to irk me. I wonder how many years it will be before I am ready to go solo?

Consequences

2009-01-22T21:25:00.003-05:00

One of the problems with a gifted child, especially those gifted in language, is their tendency to act like a lawyer. My parents will probably enjoy reading this post as they remember the parent curse they put me under; "I hope someday you have a child just like you!"

JT has become an expert litigator. We ask him to do something or not to do something and he can spout off every reason why he shouldn't be asked to do whatever it is. We have been dealing with this since he was able to speak. But recently, he's thrown in an exciting new twist. He no longer seems to care about consequences. Usually when JT is refusing to do assignments for school, we work towards taking away privileges. A couple days ago, he declared he didn't care if he lost his computer privileges. From there it moved towards not caring for the loss of any other fun stuff. He was determined to hold out to win the battle.

My husband has come up with a new plan that involves moving JT through a series of levels where he loses different privileges and can't regain them until he stops moving to the next level down the ladder. This seems to be helping a bit. Part of my problem has come from the fact that when JT would lose several days at a time on one bad day, I would allow him to gain back what he had lost with good behavior. I think he had decided that he could be as 'bad' as he wanted, then when he felt like it, be 'good' and regain what he had lost.

I have to admit, this was my worst week since we started cyber school. I felt miserable and did NOT want to spend another minute in the classroom. I had friends who warned me not to give up the first couple weeks we started. I wasn't prepared for this when things had been going so well. So my bit of advice to other parents is; be prepared for the low points. I believe they will come throughout the process. I've had jobs (out in the REAL world) where I wanted to give up. I didn't because I needed the money. I think it would be easier to give up here when so many people already think you are doing something unnecessary. Because I know this is so very necessary for my child, I will remember that this time in my life will be over in a flash. When the boys have gone on to succesful lives, the percentage of 'bad' days will be a small portion of the big picture. At least, I hope they will be.... :-)

Socialization

2009-01-15T21:20:00.002-05:00

I used to be very annoyed when someone would find out that we were about to pull our son out of traditional school and they would say, "Aren't you worried about socialization?" I would smile and say, "Not at all."

This week JT told us that he's lonely. We have had 3 weeks of happenings that have kept us from our usual out-of-the-house activities. We had sickness and bad weather. So, we have been a little high on the cabin fever scale. When we aren't trapped at home, JT has piano lessons, cub scouts and church activities that take up 4 days a week, so you can't say he isn't being 'socialized'.

I started panicking and thinking he'd be asking to go back to brick and mortar school any day now. But when he talked with my husband, JT said he likes being at home for school, but misses his friends. A fellow homeschooling mom comforted me by reminding me that being 'lonely' is different than lack of socialization. Everyone can get lonely. That is easily fixed by spending time with other people.

I made a few phone calls the next day. We are now trying to decide if JT will start both Kung Fu and drawing classes before summer starts. I don't want to go overboard, but I also want to make sure he has a chance to get out of the house on a regular basis. I enjoy being at home and would make a happy hermit. I have to remember that not everyone thrives on that alone time.

The good thing is, he doesn't want to go back to the way things used to be. We just need to stay alert to any signs that things need improvement. It's a learning experience for all of us.

Best Laid Plans....

2009-01-08T23:15:00.002-05:00

I finally motivated myself to begin serious lesson planning Saturday morning. I spent around 6 hours laying out an outline for the next 20 lessons and specific instructions for the first week for all subjects. I felt positive about what I had accomplished and excited to start school Monday morning. Sunday morning the stomach virus hit our house.

We spent some time Monday watching an educational video. We also did a little reading for geography and I introduced our new spelling list. Not quite what I had planned.

Tuesday we managed to put in about half a day's worth of school. Mostly things we could do while sitting on the couch. However, by day three I learned something very important. Calvin and Hobbes can teach your kid more in 30 minutes than what they can learn in a full day of structured school!

If you aren't familiar with Calvin and Hobbes, it's a comic strip (see this wikipedia article) about a boy (Calvin) and his stuffed tiger (Hobbes) that only Calvin sees as a real tiger. This comic is not really targeting young kids, but my boys love it. The vocabulary is challenging and the strip itself deals with many deep subjects. So, Wednesday morning I was assaulted by such questions....

"What is pachysandra?"

"Why is this joke funny?" "A man is walking his dog. He says to his dog, "Heel". The dog says, "It takes one to know one."

"What is a grade curve?"

"How do you do this math problem?" "Mr. Jones lives 50 miles away from you. You both leave home at 5:00 and drive toward each other. Mr. Jones travels at 35 mph and you drive at 40 mph. At what time will you pass Mr. Jones?"

And my favorite...."What does anatomically correct mean?"

From this one bit of reading, JT had a botany lesson, a lesson on homonyms, a lesson on statistics, a lesson in Algebra and finally, a biology lesson! Now that's a well rounded education!

When we allow our children to explore their interests and we follow their lead...what wonderful things they can learn. I don't think I could spend every school day like that. We would probably end up neglecting the subjects JT needs the most work on...the ones he doesn't like (COMPOSITION!). But an occassional day without the plan, can really pay off.

Hopefully next time, we don't need to be sick.

Planning

2009-01-01T20:30:00.002-05:00

Suddenly I realize the two weeks of our holiday break is nearly over! I meant to do so many things to prepare for heading back to school. This weekend will definitely be crunch time.

I did spend a little time looking ahead. I'm trying to change the way I do my lesson planning. I used to look ahead through one week's worth of the provided lesson plans, toss the things I thought JT did not need, then use the remaining items to form my lessons. Using this process, we really didn't find opportunity to add the 'fun' stuff and more advanced study I wanted to get into.

My new plan involves working in 20 lesson blocks. Since each of the testing days involves 20 lessons worth of material, I looked at our next tests to really see what they are looking for from these lessons, then removed all the material that had nothing to do with the tests or had little educational value. The remaining material leaves us with much more time to add our own things. For example, the science lessons would be spread out in tiny chunks over the week. I can compact one week of their material into one day and then expand with my own things when I look at the big picture and know that we aren't going to miss something vital by skipping ahead. In the next 20 lessons our science material covers the Earth and the Moon in very little detail. I have some really good books and movies that we can use to cover that more thoroughly. The language arts will spend a lesson or two working on analogies, but I plan to spend more time on those. JT has always been good with them but could work at a more challenging level. We are going to hold off on moving ahead in the provided math and instead really go into detail with fractions.

One more note, JT celebrated his 8th birthday today. He's a much happier kid than he was one year ago. I'm glad I have had the chance to bring him home and attempt to provide what he needs. I know we are going to have many challenges ahead of us, but we'll take those one day at a time.

Half Way

2008-12-18T23:04:00.003-05:00

We have reached the half-way point in our curriculum this week! It doesn't necessarily mean we are halfway through the year, but it's an exciting benchmark. JT spent the week working on some lessons and completing test Lesson 80 for all the subjects, except math. Tomorrow he will take the Lesson 140 math test. We spent 3 days covering their material on fractions that was supposed to take about 2 weeks. What we covered will allow him to take the test that only expects minimum knowledge of the concept. After the holiday break, we will spend some serious time really covering fractions. The tiny glimpse they gave brought on plenty of questions that we can cover with our extra time. Since we are so far ahead, I will request the 4th grade math be ordered, but I'm not sure if we will actually do anything with it this year. The remaining sections for the 3rd grade math are decimals and working with larger numbers. We will probably dive into the decimals much deeper than the material provides and stretch that out. After that, I think we'll spend some time exploring ancient number systems.

As the break approaches, we are spending less and less time in our regular routine. JT is still learning new things all the time, but not in such a structured way. He has been reading a book about the seige of Troy. He designed his own strategy game to play with his brother. Today while taking a break from testing, he spent 45 minutes reading online about poisonous snake bites, what to do if you are bitten, how to survive a bear attack and other fun things. I'm sure they might come in handy some day.... I'm trying to let him explore a few of his own interests this week while I get ready for the holiday. We will still have school Monday and Tuesday of next week. We have been putting together a pile of "fun" things to do then. We are planning crafts and games. Isn't that what they do the last two days before break in the brick and mortars? :-)

One small change in our classroom. I decided the chalk board was way too much of a mess. I love the feel of writing with chalk. Chalk board paint is the coolest stuff. The chalk dust all over my carpet, molding and bookcases is not. My parents bought us a new dry erase board. It's 48" x 36". We will hang it up over the holiday. I also plan to do some classroom cleaning and organizing then. It's amazing what a mess things become in such a short period of time! I am also trying to come up with a plan for a craft area. Right now, JT just works on his desk for crafts. I would like to make a counter under one of the windows to allow room to stretch out and leave projects as they are in production. That might have to wait for summer and the next school year.

I will not be posting next week. I'm taking a MUCH needed break from all things schooling. But I will be back the following week with my plans for the second half of our school year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

To Complain or Not to Complain....

2008-12-11T16:42:00.002-05:00

When we started out with PA Cyber, I was especially pleased that they allowed us to choose between primarily virtual classes or the more traditional homeschooling option using Calvert curriculum. I am still happy that I have the choice to not use the virtual classes, but I'm starting to really despise the Calvert material.

This week we received the corrections from the Lesson 60 test for all subjects, except math, which was lesson 100. JT had all As. Personally, I don't really worry about the grades, more about if he is really learning anything. On these particular tests, there were a few things marked wrong. As I looked over the mistakes, I found that he actually had 3 of the 4 correct. One problem was on the math test. It was a matching question and two were marked wrong. I assume the answer key was probably wrong; they had just been flipped. I figured the teacher must have just missed it. Then we came to the Geography test. The test directions instructed the student to use a map from the text book to answer several questions. One section required the student to find a location on the map, then list something to the East, West, South and North of that location. JT had done it right, but one was marked wrong. From using this text book, I know that most of the answer keys are not very accurate. I have stopped looking at it and just grade the materials myself. I guess that the teacher must not have had a copy of the map available or the answer would have been ovbiously correct.

I have contacted the school about the problem. I emailed our IS and she forwarded the information to the head of the Calvert department and our teacher. It seems we are not easily able to contact the teacher. I am not sure what the reason for that is, but we need to go through the IS for most communication. I would like to press this further, but worry if I complain too much they will pull the option of using Calvert. Calvert is not the best choice of curriculum, by a long shot, but it gives us the opportunity to easily differentiate most lessons. I hate allowing faulty materials to continue to be used, but I'm guessing there would be no replacement for those who don't want virtual classes. So...do I just say, "Oh well!" and move on, or do I fight? I need to figure this out since the next math test has questions that defy logic.......

Bounciness

2008-12-04T21:05:00.002-05:00

I think the thing that makes my days rough is the massive volume of movement JT can produce. I was never the kind of person who needed to tap my toes and twiddle my fingers. When I was really young, I chewed my hair and nails, but that was the extent of my nervous habits. This kid CAN NOT stop moving! The exercise ball does little to alleviate the problem. I send him outside to run around. I allow him to sit on the floor, lay on the floor, sit on his desk. If he's concentrating on reading a book he's really into, he stops moving. That is the only exception. If I could, I'd have him read all day! I just hope he grows out of this before his teen years, or I'll need new furniture every week.

With the holiday, we've had kind of a slow two weeks. Wednesday we put in almost a full school day and I felt like we had accomplished quite a bit. Today we had the morning in the classroom and then a friend of JT's that also cyber schools came over to play games. That was a nice break for all of us. The moms were able to visit and the kids got to play. I need to work a few more sanity savers like that into our schedule.

I'm hoping to get a full day in tomorrow. It's still difficult to get him to want to work on composition assignments. I haven't found any tricky ways to convince him it's fun. At bedtime last night we had a funny conversation. He was reading a non-fiction book about a bird rescue shelter. When he finished it he said, "I hate it when I come to the end of books like that one". I told him there are plenty of other non-fiction books at our library. "Plus," I said, "there are people writing more every day, maybe you could even write one". He said, "I'd love to write a report on fungus farms". Isn't that what every 7-year old would love to do?! This idea came because on Thanksgiving while channel surfing at my parent's home (we don't have tv, so it's always funny when the kids get access to it) he made my husband stop on the History channel. There was a show about fungus and mold. He bypassed all the cartoon channels, etc to stop on fungus and mold. Then he was irritated that everyone was talking and he couldn't hear what was being said on the show. We sent him alone to another room and he watched the whole program. Come to think of it, he sat perfectly still through the entire thing! If only I can find enough material to engage him at that level we might have peace in the classroom.

Slacking Off

2008-11-27T22:51:00.003-05:00

I realized this week that we have fallen into kind of a slump. I could blame it on the approaching holidays, but I think it started before that. In the beginning, we would be in the classroom somewhere around 9am. Usually no later than 9:15. As the weeks went by, it would get later and later. Then lunch started lasting longer.... JT is still completing all the work required by the school. But, we haven't been doing the extra things we wanted to do. Plus, it was getting harder to get him to complete his assignments. I think my slacking off on the structure of the day caused all of this.

So, I told myself this week we would reform. Monday is usually only a partial day of class since E doesn't have school Monday or Friday. We did okay that day. We also have a lot of out of the house activities on Monday (library and piano lessons) so we take up time with those. Tuesday we had a good, full day of school. JT and I did an experiment for science class. We don't always squeeze in time for those, so that made it a fun day. Wednesday I had planned on only a half day to get ready for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I woke up sick! My husband took over and JT had a computer programming lesson. Everything else I had planned will be on hold until we start back up next week. I'm glad that we have been working so far ahead. It gives me some room to take it easy when I get stressed out.

Being sick this week brought something I've been thinking about a lot lately into play. What would happen to my kids if I became very ill or died suddenly? Of course it's something all parents think about at some time. That's why we have wills. But now that I have committed to providing my children's education, it feels like there is so much more at stake. I am planning on calling our insurance agent in the near future to discuss increasing my policy. When my husband and I took out our policies, I only took out enough for myself to cover funeral costs. I assumed the kids would be in school and my husband would be available for evening care. Now we would either have to have someone care for them during the day and my husband provide schooling in the evening or find the money to send them to a private school. The school our youngest attends for Kindergarten, although not the best fit, would be a reasonable substitute if necessary. Adding the extra payout to my policy could provide the tuition for their schooling. Under NO circumstances would I want them to attend our public school. It's not a good fit. Plus, I kind of went to a school board meeting at the height of our school battles and told them my children would NEVER come there again. There are a few burned bridges there.....

I guess this is kind of a morbid topic. But, it's something that's been bouncing around in my head for awhile. In fact, one of my friends who also homeschools told me she has the same fears. I don't know what the odds are that I could be unable to teach them all the way to graduation. I know I have no control over those things. I've decided to do the best thing I can to plan instead of just worrying about the possibilities. What else is there to do?

Freedom

2008-11-21T14:37:00.003-05:00

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland, in November! This is the earliest in the season I can remember having snow since I was a kid. The boys were very excited. We had a very productive morning, since I could keep saying, "The more time you waste on school work, the less time you'll have outside!" If only it would snow every day..... Today we were very happy to have the flexible schedule that allowed us to play in the snow when it was still daylight. If they were locked up in a traditional classroom, they wouldn't have gotten off the bus until 30 minutes before sunset.

I didn't enjoy the snow as much as they did. At least not last night. I was in Harrisburg attending a group viewing of a SENG hosted webinar by Dr. James Webb titled, "Common Misdiagnoses and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults: What Parents, Educators and Psychologists Need to Know." The drive home in the premature wintry weather was not much fun, however, it was a great night out for me. I was able to spend time with friends that I don't often see due to our geographic mismatch.

Far too many gifted children are misunderstood by medical professionals and end up diagnosed with psychological problems that they don't have. I have often wondered if JT's endless need to move and difficulty in focusing on my directions meant he had ADHD. After this webinar, I'm pretty certain he is a normal, gifted child. If you are wondering the same about any quirky behaviors your child has, I suggest reading a little about Dabrowski's overexcitabilities. These intense traits may make our children hard to live with on a daily basis, but after taking the time to explore these characteristics I can better appreciate the special needs my children have.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2008-11-13T23:18:00.002-05:00

When I first started writing my blog, I promised to record, "The good, the bad and the ugly". Well this week, I think we had all of that!

The good. First of all, our trip to the Symphony and museum was terrific. JT enjoyed himself (he did complain a little about the amount of walking we had to do around Harrisburg). He told me he definitely would like to learn to play the flute, now that he experienced an orchestra first hand. He already plays piano and guitar, so what's one more instrument? The museum was also a good decision. It was a school day, so we practically had the place to ourselves. If your kids are in public brick and mortar school, I highly recommend taking a day and getting them the "educational journey" permission slip so you can enjoy things like museums without the crowds. JT zipped through pretty quickly and I was afraid we were not spending the kind of time we needed to really see the exhibits. When we were leaving, he immediately asked to go to that museum again, so I guess he did get something out of the trip.

The bad. Wednesday will be the last day JT has his virtual class for an hour in the afternoon. At first, I would spend the whole hour hovering over him to see if he was listening and responding appropriately. About the 3rd week in, I suddenly realized he had somehow managed to be "alone" in his previous school all day. So I started using that hour for things I wanted to do! Whenever I feel JT is working independently and I can leave the classroom for a few minutes, I get a horrible guilty feeling. Like I should be in the room at all times or the education will not happen. It may be a silly thought. But when the online class is happening, I know he is doing something he's supposed to be doing and the responsibility is temporarily removed from me. I'm REALLY going to miss that class. I hope they offer something else he is interested in the next time around!

The ugly. Tuesday was one of those days where JT can't seem to focus. I was feeling stressed because I wanted to get a good, full day of school in due to interruptions I knew we would have later in our week. He was working on part of the Geography test for the next mail in packet. I gave him instructions and he was being flat out defiant about doing the work the way it was supposed to be done. I started with the ticks on the board process. Within 5 minutes we were almost at ten. I was losing my temper big time. Finally I said, "Get out of the classroom!" He just sat there, so I picked him up (not so easy anymore!) and dumped him outside the door. Then I told him, "Go see your dad." My husband has been acting as our principal on occasion. He works from home, so he's in his office about 20 feet away most days. I had to propel my child into the room where I announced, "Talk to your son. He's been kicked out of class."

I waited in the classroom feeling awful for losing it. Ten minutes later he was back. He apologized for not doing what he was supposed to be doing. Then he told me what his punishment would be. His father had assigned a composition. It was to be two pages long. One page is "what I like about cyber schooling", the other is "why I'm lucky my mom is teaching me". Until it is finished, he has lost all computer/video game privileges. He's actually very upbeat about the whole thing. He's planning to finish it in time for Saturday when he typically has extra computer time. The best part was, he sat down and finished the Geography assignment without a problem.

From the very beginning of this whole adventure, I have been waiting for the day I just CAN'T take it anymore. So far, the day has not come. If my husband had not been home Tuesday, that may have been the day!

Solo

2008-11-06T22:46:00.003-05:00

This week my husband was out of town for work. This has been the first time I had to fly solo since we started cyber school. Typically he is not very involved with the school day. He does work from home and I do pop into his office from time to time to chat or rant...depending on how the day has been going. This week, there was no one to rant to. I drank a lot of coffee. I also found out that even one piece of Halloween candy after breakfast can cause an already bouncy child to become nearly unbearable.

My husband is now home and I can stop considering the Prozac IV drip....

This picture is a sample of what things look like as I plan for a week of school. I like to see what I am working on... I need that hands on kind of work zone. I can now typically prepare a week's worth of work in about an hour. I also spend maybe 15-20 minutes the night before pulling the books for the next day and checking that I know what is coming. Much better than the sleepless nights I had the first month.

Tomorrow JT and I are going to a performance of Beethoven's 7th Symphony in Harrisburg. It is offered free to children through the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. I am going with a group of other moms and kids who either home school or cyber school. JT and I are also going to the Harrisburg State Museum while we are close. He has been bugging me to take him to a museum for months, so we can't miss our chance. I just hope I can find my way around the city.

Tonight we were chatting about how this school week had gone. Even though things were more stressful than usual, I felt like it had been a good week. We spent more time than usual focusing on the arts. It really made the learning so much more meaningful. Today JT spent about 45 minutes drawing a picture of a castle and battle (some of his favorites) while listening to the symphony that we will see performed tomorrow. He also spent more time than usual playing piano this week. We have spent so much time focusing on Math since school started. Once again we fell into the same trap as the brick and mortar schools. School is not only about Math and learning to read. It's about learning to love to learn. We did that this week.

*Check out this site to find out ways to expand your child's art exposure: Americans for the Arts

Halloween

2008-10-31T12:58:00.004-04:00

I suddenly realized as I was eating my lunch... I forgot to do my blog! Considering how crazy things are, it's amazing this is the first time I forgot.

We spent a lot of the free time we had this week working on JT's costume. As you can see, it turned out to be pretty cool! My husband wants to keep it in his office after Halloween is over.

We had a good school week. The writing assignment about the civil war soldier has really kept his interest. He took the Lesson 100 math test, only 3 more to the end of the 3rd grade math material. Now we will be starting the chapter on units of measurement. That one may actually require a little bit of work. JT has not really covered metric yet, so those will be new concepts.

The Spanish class we signed up for has turned out to be a waste of time. I thought it would be similar to the Fine Arts podcasts that he does for Art. Instead, it's a cartoon woman, poorly animated, saying a word in Spanish and asking you to repeat it. Each one is about 5 minutes long. Very boring and slow paced. Her mouth isn't even animated to match the sounds she is making! Plus, if you pause the video, the audio and video get out of synch and she's saying, "cinco", with a picture of a 3 on the screen. I guess we'll handle Spanish on our own!

We also had a playdate this week with a family we met at a PA Cyber event. They live in our district and this is also their first year with cyber schooling. It was a nice day. It was especially nice to have someone I could connect with about previous school experiences and the new challenges of cyber school. Hopefully this will help to provide JT with the socialization everyone is so worried about!

Have a Happy Halloween!

Is this part of the new cruelty?

2008-10-23T22:13:00.002-04:00

I finally had to crack down this week. I couldn't take another day of..."PLEASE do your work so we can move onto something else. Wouldn't you like to get done early once????" I know I would! I don't expect our days to go the same as a brick and mortar school. I do not expect JT to sit still all day. In fact, he usually spends most of the school day bouncing around the classroom or tilting his ottoman he sits on at all sorts of dangerous angles. Some days he even sits ON the desk. So, I am not being ridiculous thinking that one lousy math worksheet should be finished in less than 1 1/2 hours.

We now have a two part plan. The first part involves completing assignments. I show JT what I would like him to do. I give him more than ample time to finish it. If it is not done, it's homework. Homework! What kind of craziness is that? We are already doing 'homework' all day. My husband thought this brilliant plan up and it works like a charm. The mere mention of the dreaded 'homework' has turned my procrastinator into an industrious worker.

We'll see how long that lasts....

I also borrowed another motivational technique from one of my friends. Up until now, our usual punishment for misbehavior is taking away computer privileges. It's hard to make that work very well when JT is capable of losing it within the first five minutes of the school day. My friend has a system where the child gets ten 'ticks' before they lose the computer. Now I keep a tally of the ticks on the chalkboard throughout the day. Morale is improving! Especially mine!

I finally dug through my pile of enrichment materials this week. Today I gave JT a creative writing assignment I found in a book called "Historic Happenings Projects to Integrate History and Language Arts" (I did not pay the price Amazon is asking for this book, it was just the first link I found with a description of it...you can buy it for much less) His assignment is to keep a journal as a Civil War soldier. He needs to describe himself, family and home. He will also need to choose one battle from the war and describe it from his point of view. JT is very excited about it and has started preliminary planning. He loves history and writing (as long as it's not in cursive) so it's a great supplement for us.

This week will bring a new challenge. When asked what he wanted to dress up as for Halloween, my son thought for one second and said, "An angler fish!" Now I get to try to come up with that costume. Luckily, I found a step by step guide on making an angler fish paper mache head online. Isn't the internet a wonderful thing? Just when you think you have the weirdest child on the planet, you find out there are full grown adults out there just as weird as he is!

Reality

2008-10-17T00:20:00.002-04:00

This week was spent debating whether cyber is truly the best fit for our situation. I have only had fleeting thoughts of traditional homeschooling, mostly due to the fact that I would have to document so much of what we are doing instead of the cyber school taking care of that for us. I feel sometimes like I spend too much time working through tedious, unnecessary material just because it's in the Lesson Plan. I bought a lot of educational material from many different places as soon as I made the decision to pull JT out of brick and mortar school. I never seem to have the time to supplement with those activities.

Two of my friends who are cyber schooling as well helped me work through my dilemma. I am a list person. I write lists for everything. I LOVE to check things off of the list. The problem with Calvert's material is that every lesson plan is laid out in list form. When I don't 'check' things off the list, my little mental dysfunction screams, "You can't skip that, you need to check it off the list!"

So yesterday I decided not to look at the list during our school day. I made up my own list and followed that instead. We did a little better. Last night, I went online and found a good site for challenging math word problems. Today instead of the monotonous worksheets, we did math that took up the whole chalkboard. We found the volume of two tubes we made out of paper. We calculated problems involving speed and distance. We had fun and JT learned useful math. He will still have no problem passing the math tests as long as I am sure to instruct him in their definitions and methods for specific problems. Hopefully as I work through my own behavior therapy I can come up with a happy medium that allows JT to learn with flexibility.

JT finally experienced his first virtual class on Wednesday. It is an enrichment class meant for 5th-8th graders. I signed him up anyway based on his reading level. The class had 4 students. JT is the youngest, but he did fine. I listened in for the whole session to help him with the little details of the technology. I think he'll be fine on his own for the next one. The kids had a good discussion on the elements of a mystery novel. They will be reading a book and doing enrichment activities covering math, art and history. The book is 'Chasing Vermeer'. The only problem is that the teacher only wants them to read the first 4 chapters before next week. JT had already read 3 before the class began. Luckily he's preoccupied reading 'The Fellowship of the Ring' for now. He's only a couple chapters from the end, so I'll have to throw something else his way to keep him from jumping ahead too far in the book for his class.

This week was not the best week we have had. I think JT had an ok week, but I had a sudden realization; I will be doing this until 2021. With our youngest in K this year and his projected graduation date in mind, I saw my life pass before my eyes. I spent a couple days being a little negative (my friends know this is stating it mildly) and now I'm going to press on trying to keep John Lennon's quote in mind. "Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans."

Technical Difficulties

2008-10-09T21:37:00.003-04:00

One day this past week, I asked my husband to fill in for me for a couple hours while I ran a few errands. He had taken the week off of work to do some odds and ends around the house. I said, "Could you just help him review his multiplication tables?" The picture to the left is what I found them working on when I came home. I guess he figured why cover them all individually when you can put them into one massive problem?

JT's first virtual class was set up for this week. It was supposed to be held Wednesday from 2pm-3pm. The day before, I checked if we had it listed in his "courses". It wasn't there, so I contacted his IS (Instructional Supervisor) and she assured me he was registered. Wednesday at 1:45 pm I attempted to get things set up. The class wasn't showing up. I started worrying that I was doing something wrong. I had used the software once for a parent forum, so I figured we were probably good to go.

2:00, I really start to panic. I send an email to our IS and the gifted education coordinator. I also call and put in a tech ticket. Around 2:15, JT says, "Is it ready yet?" Then I get the email. Don't worry, you are all signed up. It's a virtual classroom tech issue. It will be ready next week.

I'm not feeling very impressed with the technical know-how here. This is a "CYBER" school...right? The tech guy called me today, nearly 24 hours later. I said, "Never mind."

This was also the first week that I was sick. I have a nasty bit of congestion going on. Unfortunately, there was no substitute available. So, we had a very lame day on Wednesday. We covered Math, Composition, and a little Science. Then I said, "Let's watch a video for History today." I slept on the couch while he watched Liberty! The American Revolution. It's a PBS series that is very well done. I had watched the first volume with him when I wasn't sick. I felt a little guilty dumping him like that, but considering the fact that we are already on lesson 81 in math...and there are 160 in the year, I think we can afford a day of slacking off.

I am still struggling to find a way to make the Science curriculum fit our situation. The third grade material is too simplistic and the sixth grade material isn't quite right either. I guess I'll really have to work to find an acceptable substitute while still covering enough of the curriculum specific terms in the Calvert material to have him pass the tests.

I also need to complain about math....WHY do these kids need to be able to explain how they answered a math question? Why can't the state just be happy that they know the right answer? I struggle to teach my child how to answer these questions. When I was complaining to a friend of mine about this problem she said, "Yes, I also hate needing to explain math with language instead of math. It is like playing baseball using your feet. Why? Why not just use your hands?"

Amen to that!

Test Packets

2008-10-02T22:11:00.003-04:00

The Calvert curriculum that we use through PA Cyber has a packet of tests that you send in for grading every 20 lessons. We sent our lesson 20 packet in a little under 2 weeks ago. Today we received the graded tests along with a pile of information. We have been assigned our ETF (Elementary Teaching Facilitator). She sent a nice letter to JT, introducing herself and explaining some of the things she was looking for in his testing packets. We had been asked to fill out a student survey to send in with the first group of tests, so she knew some things about our family to allow for a bit of conversation in the note. She had also graded all the tests and sent a summary on each subject. JT had A's in all subjects. She did point out that he made a few spelling errors that she had overlooked for the first test, but would not on future testing. After we read the letter, JT said, "I think she'll be really good for us." It's funny to think of the long distance relationship we will have with this woman. It's so foreign to the standard student-teacher relationship we think of nowadays.

One of the other things that came with this package, was a new incentive the school is offering. PSSA's are a big focus with the cyber school, just as they are in our traditional schools. In fact, they are probably even more important to them, since they can lose their charters if they don't make AYP (annual yearly progress). The students are being offered a chance to add percentage points to their grades if they complete worksheets geared towards test prep. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I haven't looked at all of the materials. If they are below level, I can't see wasting JT's time (and mine) doing any busy work. We have a hard enough time squeezing in our regular subjects!

This coming Monday, we are going to attend our first "meet and greet". It's a lunch get together hosted by "family link". Family link is a cyber version of the PTA. We will have a chance to link up with other families in our area that are using PA Cyber. I'm hoping JT will find someone in his age range. He has lots of local friends, but it would be nice to have someone local within the same school system.

He will also be starting his first virtual class this coming week. Gifted students are offered a few enrichment courses throughout the year. JT has signed up for a class that will be reading the book, "Chasing Vermeer". There will be discussion and activities every Wednesday from 2-3 pm, virtually. I thought this would give him a chance to see what the virtual classes are like and maybe make a few connections with other advanced learners.

Once again we have had a good week. Today we were working on a little Spanish. JT said, "Let's practice having a conversation in Spanish." We have done this in the past. It usually consists of me saying, "Como estas?" (How are you?) He says, "Muy bien, gracias." (very well, thanks) I usually also ask him how old he is and if he likes school. He used to say that he didn't like school. Today he answered..."Me gusta escuela. Gracias por el aula." (I like school. Thank you for the classroom.) It was a good day.....

5 weeks down!

2008-09-25T21:43:00.003-04:00

Time has been flying by in our house. I spend most of my hours either teaching or planning what to teach or having conversations about teaching. I will certainly enjoy all of our holiday breaks this year.

This last Friday our youngest spent his first full day schooling with us. Up until now, he has been in school (private K, 3 days a week) or with another child care provider most of our school hours. I was avoiding the time he would need to be integrated into our little system. Things went much more smoothly than I could imagine! Granted, we didn't get as much 'hard-core' learning done that day, but it wasn't bad for a first attempt. We started the day with Geography. JT and I had been studying the 13 colonies. I had E (3rd child now dubbed) work on putting our giant USA floor map together while we were working on the colonies. During math, JT learned about Roman Numerals while E used a yard stick as a number line and did simple addition problems. We also had art...easy stuff for mom! We did a Science experiment with yeast and went on a bike ride late in the afternoon. The only time all day I had to send E to find something to keep him occupied, was during JT's Spelling test.

I know next year it won't be as easy when I actually have a lesson plan I need to follow for both boys. If E continues to progress at the rate he seems to be going, he should be reading independently by then. That would make things much easier. If either of them could be told to read something while waiting for my attention, I could juggle things a little better. Fortunately, I have almost a whole year to dread that step!

Thanks to a friend who took pity on our caterpillar situation, we now have two Black Swallowtail caterpillars living in our jar! We are hoping these guys will put on a real show for us. They are feasting on dill and slowly turning green. JT said they are, "turning into pickles". :-)

What is the right answer?

2008-09-18T23:14:00.003-04:00

It's been another fairly good week. I keep waiting for the crisis when I say, "I CAN'T do this anymore!". There are definitely moments. Most of them involve JT completely ignoring my pleas that if he'd just finish the 5 problems left on the paper, we could have free reading time. Stalling is certainly one of his strong characteristics.

Our new schedule seems to be working fairly well. Sometimes we don't get through all I want to do in one day, but neither do teachers with a classroom full of students. This week JT did his Lesson 20 tests. Every 20 lessons there is a series of tests that are completed and sent in to the school. Some of these tests have questions that have wording I consider confusing. JT proved the point today when he came across the fill in the blank question:

The ability to do work is called ____________.
Instead of using the words in the box he was supposed to choose from he wrote "a learned trait". The correct answer (I assume, as I do not have the answer key) should be "energy". I thought his answer made sense. He did a couple others in the same way. Now if he was in a traditional classroom, the teacher would have spent the last 2 weeks being sure he was programmed with the correct answer through tedious review. I took my chances with just reading the chapters in the Science book and going over the review questions once or twice and then jumping into something JT had more interest in learning. Does this mean I have not taught my son well? I can't believe that that is true. Last night as he was getting ready for bed he said to me, "I think we should use some of the words in my History lesson as Spelling words. I think they are probably on my level and I would really like to be able to spell declaration, independence and constitution". By giving him the desire to learn I have opened far more opportunities to him than by teaching him to recite the answer I expect to hear.

On a side note, last week I posted about our capture of the Monarch caterpillars. It turns out, I should have done my research better. My poor child trusted his mother to know a Monarch caterpillar from a Tiger Moth caterpillar. (see here)
They both like to munch the Milkweed....who knew? Since the Tiger Moth overwinters in his cocoon, we won't be having any excitement for quite some time. At least we learned something new this week!

Settling In

2008-09-11T21:48:00.006-04:00

The classroom is almost complete! We just need some curtains... eventually. Things are coming together in other ways this week too. I have finally set up something remotely like a routine. We now have a weekly schedule that I try to stick to. Calvert provides a suggested schedule, but it wasn't working for us. Calvert's schedule has History two times a week and Mythology two times a week. I found that we needed more time for History and less for Mythology, so we borrowed a day from the Mythology schedule and compacted it. We like to really immerse in the History discussion, so we do!

I had another 'duh' moment this week. As I've said before, the Spelling list is definitely below level for JT. I hadn't really even looked at the book closely. I would pull out the list, orally pretest JT and throw it back on the bookshelf for a week. This week, I happened to look at the book closely. It turns out, the entire Spelling list is in Spanish in the back of the book. Over the summer, we started a little introduction into Spanish and I had been planning on adding Spanish to our day. Now I have my material! I guess I should investigate all of the material they sent me a little more closely.

We went on a nature hike on Wednesday. We wanted to find some Monarch caterpillars and we came home with two. Now we just need to wait for them to turn into butterflies. JT is keeping track of their every movement in his Science Journal.

Also this week, the Reading assignment included a short version of a story of Sacagawea. So, we went into a little more detail. I had JT read a more thorough version of her story. In Geography, we were learning how to measure distance on a map, so I incorporated the Lewis and Clark journey into that. I had JT plot the route on our large USA map with a dry erase marker. Then we measured the distance.

None of these things we've done this week are part of the curriculum provided. I have been staying up until midnight every night planning the next day's work. That will have to stop soon! I think now that we're getting a rhythm, I should be able to lay out at least a couple day's worth of work. Overall, things are good. Every morning, JT and I have a prayer to start our day. This week he thanked God that his mom could be his teacher now. That simple thought makes it all worth the effort.

Realizations

2008-09-04T23:41:00.002-04:00

My friends were right. I am exhausted! I think things are starting to move towards something like regularity. It's still hard to judge.

I spent the first week attempting to follow my own altered version of the Lesson Plan book provided with the Calvert material. I pretty much disregarded the Phonics book, skipped through the Spelling book and massively compacted the Math. What I was left with still felt too much like busy work. Then I began to panic. What things did I absolutely have to use from the curriculum in order to allow JT to pass the assessments? Was I short-changing him by skipping too much? I am so incredibly thankful to have a friend that has been cyber schooling longer than I have. She is full of encouragement and advice. The kind of advice you can take and use!

I called her and vented one day because I could not get JT to sit and do one lousy math worksheet. It took one ENTIRE hour to complete. Now, this had nothing to do with the level of challenge. He just didn't want to do it. He wanted to draw a picture of a space battle (which he did in the space between the math problems). This was a creative drawing, spaceships and planets named after elements; planet Neon being attacked by the spaceship named Hydrogen. However, it was not the right time for Art! How strict must I be with our schedule? An important thing to know about me is that I am a list person. I get great joy from crossing things off the to-do list. In fact, right after I had our last son, I felt like I could never get anything done. I would write things on my list after I had done them, i.e., "took a shower", and cross it off to feel that satisfaction. My friend was straight with me and told me to stop trying to pack in so much stuff that really wasn't necessary. She made me realize that JT will get more new learning time in half an hour at home than he would have in a whole day in a brick and mortar school. That idea really struck a chord with me. I had the power to give him that learning, if I could just stop feeling the need to follow the drill I had been given.

So, this morning I said to JT, "I think this 3rd grade Science book is too easy for you. I believe you already know most of what is in here. What do you think?" He agreed with me. I happen to have a 6th grade Science text book from the same series. I told him if he would look at the chapter in the 3rd grade book and be sure he could answer the questions, we would move on to the 6th grade book instead. We had a wonderful day! The stress level was much lower. We went outside and dropped rocks off the deck to prove that objects of different weights really do fall at the same speed. I did have to do a little arm twisting to complete the dreaded Composition assignment. But as a reward for minimal whining, we did the enrichment activity included in the History assignment about Molly Pitcher. We cooked Johnny Cakes for lunch!

So, my new plan of attack will be to keep the individual subject lessons as brief as possible. I will also attempt to offer fun, hands on activities after every lesson that requires sitting still. When JT asks a question requiring more information than I can pull from my brain, we will spend the time to look it up. I realized I was doing the same thing to him that his previous school had done. He would ask a deep, probing question and I would say, "Not now, we have to finish this worksheet." Wasn't that one of the reasons for bringing him home? I want to allow him the chance to immerse himself in something he's interested in. Why continue having him do the busy work, just because it's in the box. Sometimes I can be so dense.....

Ready or not, here I come!

2008-08-28T23:39:00.003-04:00

We are up and running! Monday morning we spent some time working on a few subjects, but didn't really dive in since our youngest was at home. Tuesday morning, with the little one off for his first day at K, we started the real thing. We are using our new classroom. The addition is mostly finished. I still haven't moved everything into it's rightful location, but we are getting there.

*from here on out, I will refer to our son as JT...I'm tired of saying, "our son" or "our child"!

The first day went pretty well. It's really difficult for me to decide exactly how much of the provided material I need to cover. I want to be sure JT has a full grasp of all of the content in each course and yet, I know he doesn't need the volume of repetition provided. I used the vocabulary words as a substitute for spelling words as I had planned. I was so happy! He got six wrong out of 15! It may seem funny to be happy about wrong answers, but for the first time my son needed to study his spelling to prepare for the spelling test he will have tomorrow. I think he will still get a 100% on the final test, but he had to work for it. The main problem with using the vocab words is that there are no exercises in the material for those words. They are meant only to be a challenge to read, not spell. So we went for the old fashioned, write a sentence using the word method.

Another challenge has been dealing with perfectionism issues. Calvert curriculum encourages third graders to be using cursive writing. JT spent little time in second grade working on his penmanship. When I asked him to write a few sentences for practice, he had a minor temper tantrum. It finally dawned on me that he was worried he wouldn't do it perfectly. I encouraged him to "just try" it. Finally, he made a very half-hearted effort and did a lot of grumbling under his breath. I heard him muttering, "I can't believe I thought this would be better than public school...". I would have to say that has been the low point of this week! After lunch, he had recovered and we had a good afternoon. Today I told him we would need to work on his writing again, but he could chose when in the day he wanted to do it. That made all the difference. He said he'd like to get it out of the way, we did it immediately and he did a great job.

Some other issues with Calvert...the material does not have the depth my child desires. For example, the History course for third grade is a study of famous Americans. It starts with Samuel Adams. There was a short passage (less than two pages) with a worksheet or two following. Then it moves on to Patrick Henry. We went to the library Monday afternoon and took out books on both men. He has already finished the one on Samuel Adams. We were able to have a much more thorough discussion after that. I would love to see PA Cyber look into possible supplemental material for advanced students. They could take the framework of the Calvert curriculum and provide a few extras for those who request it. I even said so in our GIEP meeting this afternoon.

The GIEP meeting was kind of funny. Having been a pretty outspoken advocate for my child's education for the last 3 years, it was very difficult to accept the meager GIEP we were offered. I know the GIEP really means nothing since I am able to provide appropriate education within what they require from me. However, in principle, it bothered me to sign something I would have laughed at had our original school provided it. The PA Cyber reps were very positive on the phone and offered to look into getting additional materials about ancient history and WWII (JT specifically requested learning about those this year). We were also offered opportunity to sign up for a few virtual enrichment classes, which we will check out. BTW, the Scantron tests I was worried about, turned out fine. His scores were good and our IS (Instructional Supervisor) was happy with them.

I tried to plan for the next days work during times that JT was completing worksheets or reading from his books. So far, that has worked pretty well. I can't plan too far ahead, since I am not following their Lesson Plan book very closely. Right now, we are on Lesson 20 for Math, Lesson 5 for most other subjects and we are completely skipping Phonics and only occasionally pulling necessary info from the Spelling text. I am following a friends advice to mark each topic with a different colored skinny post it sticker. That is keeping me mostly sane.

So, all in all, this week has been positive and fun. I hope I can keep up with the demands of home and teaching. I know I will really start to appreciate the weekends!

Determining Where and When to Start

2008-08-22T20:28:00.002-04:00

The official first day of school for PA Cyber was August 18th for Calvert students. The virtual classes begin on September 2nd. Our addition is slated to be mostly done Tuesday, August 26th. I didn't really want to start classes until then anyway, since our youngest starts Kindergarten that same day. When I called the school to ask if the 18th was set in stone, no one wanted to give a definitive answer. Apparently, as long as we log our 180 school days by the end of the year, it's up to us how we go about it. So, we will have our first "official" day of school on the 26th.

This week we had some 'sort of' school days. We did some pre testing. The first chapter of spelling was no problem...so spelling is finished for this week. Now, I know that was not the kind of challenging material I want to be offering for my child. I am planning on pre testing the bulk of the Spelling within the first month of school and then moving on to some other materials. A friend found a link for me to a Teacher's Guide to the Fellowship of the Ring.

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/readers_guides/lotr/fellowring.shtml

There are comprehension questions, vocabulary words and discussion and essay topics for each chapter. Since our son has started reading the book in the last week, this seems like a great possibility for us. We may use the vocab words as spelling words. If they are too difficult, I'll step it down and use the reading words provided by Calvert. They are more challenging than the spelling and we will come across them in the other materials.

We also did a little math pre testing. The Calvert math book comes with a review and test at the end of each chapter. I used the review as a pre test. Out of the 10 lessons from chapter one, there were two concepts we needed to solidify. We spent a little time one day working on one and will finish the other Monday. On the first day of school, we will do the chapter test. None of the reviews or tests from the book are sent in for grading. At the end of lesson 20 (day 20) students take tests in each subject that are sent in to the school. We will do the first math test by the end of our first week of school. We are allowed to send more than one math test in at a time, so when we send our Lesson 20 packet at the end of September, we will send in as many as we have completed. I'm guessing we will have two or three done. After that, there are a few concepts that will be new material so our pace may slow.

This week our child was required to complete two online pre-assement tests. I spent a few hours convinced that I would certainly go crazy during this school year. While taking the computer test, my son was incapable of sitting still for more than 5 seconds. When he wasn't bouncing out of his seat, he was chatting away about the questions...even when I left the room! It will be interesting to see what kinds of scores come back. I learned two things from this process. I will absolutely have to get an exercise ball for him to sit on during class ( a suggestion from at least two friends with similar kids) and the possible need to play music while he is working. My husband concentrates best with music playing. I'm guessing my son will be similarly motivated.

Overall, there was learning this week regardless of the lack of a true classroom. We completed a weeks worth of spelling, almost 20 days worth of math, began reading a book that will challenge and expand his vocabulary and had a wonderful discussion about how to identify male and female daddy long legs while spitting watermelon seeds in the backyard. (I was the one who learned how to tell them apart, my son taught me!)

Now that's a school I can support!

Distractions

2008-08-15T01:40:00.002-04:00

Today while painting our soon to be completed classroom, I started thinking about how I was spending so much time getting the room ready to teach and not nearly enough time on preparing to teach. How true is that in the brick and mortar schools?? There are so many things the administration gets caught up in that have absolutely nothing to do with learning. That's what school is for....learning, right? Instead they need to worry about No Child Left Behind, safety in the schools, problem students and don't even get me started on sports....

I'm taking comfort in the fact that once I have given the initial time investment to establish our little learning zone we will have little to concern us beyond actual learning.

We have our GIEP (Gifted Individualized Education Plan) meeting Thursday the 28th. It will be a phone conference. We received the NORA (Notice of Recommended Assignment) in the mail this week along with a questionnaire for both the parents and the student. On the child's portion, when asked what he expected to learn this year, our son wrote, "improve my reading level, understand more of what I read". I thought that was kind of funny considering he's 7 and already reads somewhere around a 5th grade level. The reading materials they have provided are not going to help him meet that goal. I decided I would finally let him start reading The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkein. He's been bugging us to let him read it for a year. I was holding off until he was a little older. I'll just need to find a good study guide online to make it work.

The other funny thing about the papers they sent, was the NORA. As a charter school, they are not held accountable to Chapter 16... they don't have to provide anything special for gifted kids and are not subject to the regulation. It was a painful experience to sign my name to the most inferior GIEP I've ever accepted. But I know the GIEP isn't what's important in this situation. We can allow our son to learn. I don't need a special paper that will make that happen now. I get to make it happen!

Out of the Box

2008-08-07T23:39:00.004-04:00

It's finally here! Last Friday when the UPS truck pulled up to the driveway, I couldn't wait to rip into my box. Of course, it would come on a weekend with absolutely NO free time. So, I took a quick peek and put it aside. Yesterday I managed to pull enough time together to really start checking it out. Most people probably don't get all that excited about textbooks but I LOVE them. I buy them at yard sales, I take them free when the library doesn't know what to do with them, I even buy them online!

Looking through the material I realized a few things. First of all, I have a lot of questions I need to ask before I'll know exactly what I'm doing. Luckily, I have a friend who is already familiar with PA Cyber. I made a phone date with her for tomorrow to pepper her with all of my doubts and fears.

I also realized that the Spelling words are way below my son's level. He reads around a fifth or sixth grade level right now, so third grade spelling isn't going to cut it. My current plan is to give him the pretest on Mondays. If he knows them, we will use the reading words (much more appropriate level) as his spelling words. Since these words are already involved in the lesson plan, I won't have to do much beyond that to teach them. Of course there's always the old, "Use these words in a sentence" method.

I have also found that the math may not be as far off for him as I thought. Part of this may come from the fact that our former school seemed to be a little behind the state standards. It may also just be the change from Saxon to Calvert. My plan for math currently looks like I will be giving him the Chapter tests as a pretest and then covering what he doesn't know. It's so hard for me to be sure where he really is in math. Last year he spent a lot of time using Pearson's Digital Learning at school. This program allowed him to move ahead in math, but didn't give any instruction. He moved ahead to a level the program considered to be end of 3rd grade, but I don't know what kind of gaps he has in that material. It will take us a little while to figure out where he really is. The good thing is, I was told he may move ahead at his own pace and when we complete the 3rd grade material in math, they will send us the 4th grade material. I think we should be able to finish it by Christmas. But even if he doesn't, that's okay. We will move at a pace that allows him to learn appropriately for his ability.

Have I mentioned how much I love this plan!

On another note, I had a conversation with a mom who is considering cyber for her child. I realized I am not having my usual school- is- starting dread that accompanies the end of summer. I would start worrying about all the conversations I would be having with school personnel that would go no where. I would know that my child was heading into an environment that did not allow for his special needs to be met. It was great to realize this load had been lifted. Thanks to the parents who convinced me I was capable of taking matters into my own hands. I wouldn't have done it without the knowledge you have passed on to me.

The First Package

2008-07-30T23:47:00.003-04:00

Today a big box was delivered by Fed Ex. It's our Techkit! I'm very excited to feel like things are finally rolling. Inside this jumbo box we have an HP laptop (complete with case), an HP printer (including ink cartridge), a very nice headset, software (Microsoft Office Pro!) and the coolest thing of all, a Wacom Bamboo Fun! You may be saying, "What is that?!" A quote from their website explains it well:

Now there's a simple, easy, and fun way to harness your creativity. Bamboo Fun makes your computer your canvas, allowing you to freely express yourself by simply touching the pen tip to the tablet. Touch up digital photos, draw by hand, create artwork and paintings, and even write in your own handwriting.

This link will take you to the sample of what it can do: click here

Tomorrow we will pull it all out and set it up to make sure it's all in working order. Our addition to the house is moving along, but is not ready, so we'll make do with a small table in the family room. The contractor says about 3 more weeks. Since PA Cyber's start date is August 18th, I don't know if we'll make it. Thanks to cyber flexibility, I don't need to sweat it!

I hope the box with our curriculum will arrive soon. I'm really looking forward to checking out that material. Our plan is to pretest our way through third grade math and cover any gaps in the first couple months. When our son was tested by a psychologist in March, he was said to be working at a high 3rd grade math level. We figure we can start into fourth grade math shortly. If he was in a brick and mortar school, he'd still be reviewing the second grade material by the time we have reached fourth grade.

I did hear one potential negative rumor about PA Cyber today. Someone I know was told by someone else that the Calvert Curriculum may be phased out. I would really hate to see that happen, so I'm going to pretend I didn't hear it. At this time, PA Cyber offers two choices; Calvert or Lincoln Interactive. Calvert is presented in more of a traditional homeschooling option. The facilitator at home does most of the teaching. I'm told it is very flexible and easy to differentiate. Lincoln Interactive is the Virtual classroom option. It follows the same pattern as a brick and mortar school. Scheduled lessons with a teacher moving all students at approximately the same pace. A good choice for children who left their traditional school as a typical learner. More of the same for anyone who needs a faster or slower pace. I REALLY hope it's only a rumor!

Do you know what your child is doing in school?

2008-07-25T10:30:00.003-04:00

A new study has been done that shows...ready for this?....children should be expected to master math concepts! Isn't that a shock? If you have looked at the math that comes home from most public schools you'll know that mastery is a *new* idea. When I was in school, mastery was the norm. First you learned addition, then subtraction, then multiplication...and so on. Now, every year through elementary school a child is given a little bit of many math concepts. They never work to the point of mastery in any one concept. The general consensus among the experts for the last several years was that this was the best way to teach math. In some ways it makes sense. The regular reviewing helps to keep things fresh in mind. However, for kids of average intelligence, this can be extremely tedious. For kids who are above average, with high rates of acquisition and retention, it can be torture. I am hoping this study will be used to improve the curriculum offered in schools. It will be funny to see how quickly spiraling curriculum will be labeled as horrible for kids. Many in the gifted ed community have been saying that for years, but until the *educational experts* declare something law, it's not true.

Waiting.

2008-07-18T10:53:00.002-04:00

We still hadn't heard from our IS (Instructional Supervisor) at PA Cyber, so I called to see what was the hold up. They are still waiting for the school nurse to approve our son. He's entering 3rd grade. All 3rd graders in PA need to have a dental exam form filled out. I haven't sent it in yet, since we already have a check up scheduled for the beginning of August. Apparently we have to wait until that is sent in to get the ball rolling.
I am anxious to get my hands on the materials so I can have time to see what we will be doing. However, it probably is best that I don't have more to do right now. The addition is moving along nicely. The roof is on and the inside walls are framed. No windows yet. Next week will be the electrical, plumbing, windows and deck. Then we move onto the really messy stuff...drywall. I've been running our son to a Cartooning Camp that he signed up for this whole week. He loves drawing, so it seemed like a good summer activity. I could do without the extra driving, but he's having a good time.
We have started collecting other educational tools for the classroom as well. I won an auction on Ebay for a lot of Eyewitness books. We already have tons of books in the house, but there's always room for 15 more! I also placed an order with Mindware http://www.mindwareonline.com/MWESTORE/Home/HomePage.aspx?
and Educator's Outlet http://www.educatorsoutlet.com/
They are both great websites for parents who want to supplement their children's learning at home. I love the clearance section on Educator's Outlet!

Only a little over a month left until we dive into this new endeavor! I am still excited, but also nervous about the responsibility. The occasional negative comment by well meaning friends adds to that concern. I know that whenever someone tries something outside of the norm, they are going to encounter resistance. When we first made our decision, I was telling everyone about our exciting new plans. Now I just keep it to myself as much as possible. It's what our family has decided is our best option. I don't need anyone else's approval.

Space is at a premium.

2008-07-10T22:55:00.002-04:00

Most people who decide to cyber school generally just find a quiet corner somewhere in their house to allow their child to do their school work. Not me. I decide we should add a two story addition!

This was actually a plan we had from the time we first bought our home. Our kitchen is a smallish, eat in style kitchen typical in a ranch home. The house we lived in previously had been built in 1920 and had a huge kitchen and dining room. The downsizing was irritating, but we loved the location and decided to just deal with it. I would occasionally mention the need to add a "real" dining room someday. Once we decided to cyber school, I knew I had my chance!

I believe one of the great aspects of cyber schooling is that you can do it anywhere. Of the families I know that do cyber school, most use a desk in a living room or family room. One friend took her previously unused formal dining room and turned that into cyber central for her 3 children. At an information session I went to for PA Cyber, a teacher told us about some of her students. One girl had a father who was a very successful businessman. He spent a lot of time traveling in his private jet. She would travel with him, laptop ready for school anywhere, anytime. One student was in the hospital waiting for a bone marrow transplant. This child needed to be kept away from others physically, but could still interact with classmates through cyber schooling. What incredible opportunities technology has opened up for learning!

So...do we need a new classroom added to our home? Probably not. I'm enjoying myself imagining and planning what it will be like. Ultimately, what will make the difference for my child will be the opportunity to immerse himself in learning for the first time in his school career. I know that could be accomplished anytime, anywhere when he is given the freedom to dive in and drink it up.

Why Cyber?

2008-07-03T22:31:00.004-04:00

When we first started looking into alternative schooling for our children, we weren't sure which way to go. Our oldest child went to a private Christian school for most of her school years. That decision was partly made due to the fact that her father and I lived in different school districts (for her middle and high school years) and the transportation issues would have been difficult. My husband and I lived in a less than desirable district at the time and didn't like the idea of her going to school there, either. So the private school tuition shared between two households seemed like a good deal.
When our second child was born, we decided to start looking for a home in a "better" district. So we moved to a more rural, conservative district thinking we would fit in better; being conservative people. Little did we know that may have been the least of our worries! When we recognized the need to pull our son out of the school he was in, we started considering cyber school.
I had met a neighbor who was cyber schooling her son. She told me how wonderful it was. I listened, but thought, "you just don't know what it would be like for me to deal with this kid all day!" But, the more I listened, the more I tried to picture myself teaching my child. I also met another mom who had just started cyber schooling her 3 gifted children this year. She had nothing but positive things to say about her experience. She told me that all the time and energy I was spending arguing with my school about the best way to deal with my child could be better spent teaching him myself. In fact, I would probably have less stress if I brought him home. I hope what she said will prove to be true!
Why cyber school over traditional home schooling or private school? We ruled out private school mostly due to the cost. Our youngest will be going to one of the local private Christian schools for Kindergarten, but after that he will also cyber school.
Home schooling has a lot of positive possibilities. However, the need to document and plan for every lesson and/or pay for the materials out weighs any benefit I could see. So, it was to be cyber school.
In PA we have 11 schools to chose from. If you are not familiar with cyber school, I'll give you a basic course in how it all works (at least in PA):
Cyber schools are a part of the public school system. They are charter schools. They are paid for by tax dollars. Therefore, there is no cost to the parents. The home school district pays the tuition from the funding they receive for that child. That home district keeps a small portion of the alloted money to cover the expense if your child would chose to participate in extra curricular activities (which they have the right to do according to PA state law). Here's a link to the PA Department of Education website that provides additional info and links:

http://www.pde.state.pa.us/charter_schools/site/default.asp?g=0

The cyber school provides the curriculum, all the classroom materials including text books, a computer, printer, headset, reimbursement for internet service, as well as postage to send in any assignments or assessments. The cyber school does all the reporting to the state on our child's learning. That takes a big chunk of the responsibility off of the parent's shoulders. Some schools also provide other services. Our school provides a reimbursement towards PE class every year.
There are also opportunities for the children to get together. At a statewide level, there are field trips offered. On a more local scene, there is a group, similar to PTA, that helps keep the kids connected through various social and learning events. So, if you are worried about socialization (we are not, due to involvement in other activities) that helps cover that aspect.
Parents are the facilitators of the classroom. For the younger children, it's much more hands on. The older kids take "virtual classes". There is a teacher who has a group of students as her "class". The students participate in the class by wearing a headset and watching on their monitor. When a student has a question, they can raise their hand by clicking an icon on the screen. The teacher "calls" on them and activates the mouthpiece on their headset so the whole class can hear the child speak. Here's a link to PA Cyber's website that explains a little more about the virtual classroom:

http://www.pacyber.org/students/technology.aspx

We have chosen to use Calvert curriculum which will make our schooling more like home schooling for the elementary years. We did have the option to chose virtual classes starting with 3rd grade, but we wanted to keep the ability to modify the curriculum based on the speed our son was learning. That's the joy of the whole cyber school experience! We can choose what suits our child's needs best! PA Cyber's tag line is, "Build your own school....out of choices, not bricks". I just love that. Every time I see that on the materials they have given us, I feel so positive about the next school year. For so long it's been, "We don't do that here".
I know this is going to be tough. I know there are going to be days that I want to run after the big, yellow school bus and beg them to take my children with them. But, I also know this is a small sacrifice I can make so my children can continue to love learning. With the opportunities before us, I guess we will soon find out....

What's wrong with this picture?

2008-06-27T11:26:00.005-04:00

This is one of the many shirts my son has destroyed with his teeth! In K-4 he would suck on his shirt collar and sleeves. I figured it was just a security issue and would fade with time. Eventually, he broke the habit, or so we thought. After the grade skip, the habit started again, with a vengeance. Not a day went by that my son came home with a shirt that didn't look like swiss cheese.

Was this just a bad habit or a sign that something was really wrong? Considering my son's level of energy, I knew sitting still in school was not a fun experience. He never got in "trouble" for it, he just found an outlet. I noticed at home, when he worked on something that was challenging for him, he never chewed. It was only when doing mindless, routine activities that the chewing would happen. Even if he read at home, there was no chewing, so I was pretty sure it was inappropriate placement that was doing him in (and killing our clothing budget!)

When talking to friends with gifted children about my experience I found out this was a common sort of problem. Some situations were much more severe than ours. One friend had a son go through a nervous breakdown in elementary school and a daughter that picked at her skin until it became full of infected sores. I heard about many children who either zoned out all day in class or became the ultimate trouble makers. What were all of these highly intelligent children suffering from? I believe it all boiled down to lack of appropriate challenge and improper educational placement. Sometimes it was educator's lack of knowledge about gifted children that brought it on. Sometimes inflexible rules about what was allowed in a certain district.

The shirts were a clear sign to me of what was going on inside of my son everyday. Not enough learning=shirt chewed to bits. Some days he would come home and blow up about every little thing. When I'd ask what the problem was, he would say it was a bad day at school. He had a hard time being specific about what was wrong. He loved his teachers, especially his second grade teacher. He wanted to be happy in school. I think some of the time he felt guilty for wanting so much more than they were willing to give.

When I first suggested the possibility to him that we might pull him out of public school, he worked harder to fit the mold. But a few months after we first mentioned it, he told me he wanted to leave his school and be at home. I was glad he had made the decision on his own. It would make my job so much easier. I know so many kids whose parents just can not bring their kids home to cyber school. They need to work full time or have other issues that prevent it. As a person who has worked with an advocacy group for the last two years, I want to make the public brick and mortar schools do what is right for those children. I hope to still have enough energy while working with my kids to devote time to that effort. No child should have to suffer. These are supposed to be the best years of their lives! Why should they be forced to slow their pace to match their classmates?

I'll close this post with a link to one of my favorite sites, Hoagiesgifted. This particular link is to the, "Ridiculous things I've heard today" page. These are the kinds of things parents and children are being told on a regular basis.

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/ridiculous_things.htm

Something needs to change in our educational system. It is broken, can we fix it?

And so it begins.....

2008-06-22T23:06:00.001-04:00

Thursday afternoon we enrolled our middle child in a cyber school. I never thought I would make a decision like that. Don't get me wrong, I love my children and enjoy spending time with them. However, I was enjoying the upcoming freedom I was seeing with my youngest heading off to Kindergarten. Things never go quite the way you think they will.

The trouble began when our son started K-4. We knew he was probably going to test as gifted even before he started school. Our little boy said things to us that we recorded in the baby book... "My sandals make the sound of a bird's wings cutting the air", age 3. "Look Mom! There's an unusually large fleet of pirates in our back yard!", also age 3. He wasn't one of those kids doing phenomenal math problems at age 2 or reading at age 3. He was just a really deep thinker who picked things up as soon as we taught him, or even before we did.

In school, they recognized this and told us he could be tested when he started Kindergarten. By half way through the K-4 year he started telling me he didn't like school. When I asked why, he would say, "We do the same things everyday." I told him not to worry, Kindergarten would be better. I couldn't have been more wrong.

At the start of K, we requested testing. By January we were told, "Congratulations! Your son is gifted. He can participate in the pull out program 2 days a week, 45 minutes a day." Basically, they would give him the reward of extra work. By now, I had been doing a lot of research online about gifted children. I was concerned about underachieving. I asked about the possibility of having him skip first grade since all of his scores seemed to show he was already working at least one grade level ahead in every subject. The answer? "We don't do that here." So, we pressed on. We requested that they test him further to explore grade skipping, even if they didn't "do that here". Eventually, after filing Due Process, we were granted the grade skip. We told our son, "Don't worry, things will improve next year." Wrong again.

The summer between K and second grade he read "The Hobbit". He was six. I remember one conversation in the car about war and dictators. It was a very deep, intelligent conversation. He was 5. I knew public school was never going to meet his needs. But, the desire to have that free time pushed me to keep trying to make it fit. He spent his second grade year improving his writing skills, but really picking up little else in education. When I asked him what he learned in math so far that year (around January) he told me, "curtains come in pairs". I emailed his teacher regularly asking for something to change. I went to parent teacher conferences and made suggestions for things that might allow our child to have a more appropriate education. None of these things amounted to much. Usually I was told something along the lines of, "your child is benefiting from the work he is being given". My child was chewing his shirts to bits while bored out of his mind in class! So, I made the decision. We would stick it out to the end of year (per child's request to stay with friends) and start with PACyber in the Fall of his 3rd grade year.

I spent time through the Spring talking with our son about his future in cyber school. When I told him he could spend an hour each afternoon reading, I thought he was going to cry with joy. We started planning the kinds of things we would like to do. We looked over some of the curriculum that the school would offer him. He has never been more excited about school than he is now. HE can't wait to start, and neither can I.

This blog is going to be dedicated to following our progress as we move into uncharted territory. I have talked to many parents of gifted kids who are so frustrated with their children's schools, but don't know if they are ready for the challenge of cyber school. I'm planning on letting everyone see the good, bad and ugly of the day to day cyber schooling of a gifted child. This year I will be working with only one of our children. For the Fall of 2009, I will also start my youngest in first grade. For this year, he will attend a private K. I wanted to dedicate this year to getting our 7 year old back into the habit of learning in school.

If you are considering the possibility of cyber school, please follow us on our adventure. Even if you are not, follow us to learn how our public schools, in most cases, are failing the children they are designed to teach.
And now......

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began,
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

--JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit