Intentional Community: Classical Conversations

Today’s Intentional Community is a home schooling community based on the classical approach to education. This particular classical program is called CLASSICAL CONVERSATIONS. Now I have long been an admirer of the classical style of education and have used materials from home school sources that are classical in design, but this is something a bit different. This is a structured approach that supports the parent in the educational goals set within their family. Classical Conversations is a once a week day school where parents and students gather and tutors introduce the new materials to everyone. This gives parents the ability … Continue reading

The Bee Keeping Home Educator

Kinesthetic learners do best when doing. Hands on, action, and linking this with the material to be mastered. This has been a huge shift in my understanding of my vocation as a home educating mom. I’ve a bug nut. This is the kid who for most of her 7+ years has followed insects through the grass, getting up very close to see what they were doing. This is the kid who rescues bees from water buckets and places them on leaves to dry out and does not get stung. This is the kid who needs to be channeled into pollinators … Continue reading

Easter!

CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN! ALLELUIA!!!! I spent Lent this year discerning the directions I have been going, the use of my skills and talents and experience, and I’m read to implement some changes around here. First, I’m going to blog more Catholic Home Schooling. The reason for that emphasis is the diocese once more sent out wonderful Easter greetings in the form of an advertisement for the Parish schools in our diocese. But as always, ignoring the VALID CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WHICH ARE HOME SCHOOLS. CATHOLIC Home Schools get pretty much lip service or a slap in the … Continue reading

History Blog

I enjoy The History Blog and thought it might be useful for home school.  I could see that reading it could help students select topics for papers, and learn about what is out there in general. All sorts of history comes up on this blog:   http://www.thehistoryblog.com/ For example, an item stolen at the end of WWII, returned by the auction house: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/24059 There is a post with the picture of a cradle from around 79AD: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/24035 This is a varied and fascinating blog and just reading it could make a person better educated. Dear Lord, thank You for marvelous blogs … Continue reading

Summer School

I am a teacher.  Certified for 1st-8th grades and experienced in classroom and home school settings.  I love teaching and find that most things I do in my life include teaching in some form or another.  This explains why I love blogs that are about home school.  Today I read the blog, My Life in the Domestic Church, and she was writing about how they do summer school, which is merely a variation on how they do school year round. Excellent post so be sure to go read her blog. I could relate to what she wrote about doing school … Continue reading

Advice for a New Home School Family: Scheduling Do’s and Don’ts

Here are some do’s and don’ts for the new Home School Family on the topic of scheduling. DON’T be tied to the public school schedule in any way not required by law.  As long as you cover the material needed you can do it according to a schedule set by YOUR family! DO decide as a family how you want to divvy up the days off from school.  For example: you can take off special religious days even if the public schools ignore them. DO be creative in your decisions on how to schedule. For example: You can plan for … Continue reading

Why we home school

My husband shared this with me, that school was for him a misery. He is a physicist, a brilliant man, inventor, scholar, lover of books (especially science fiction) and a do-er in addition to being a sensitive observer of life. He spent time as a journeyman millwright, builder of log cabins, and later went to college and earned his basic degree in physics, and a PhD for his original work on a laser application. He told me that at age 6, learning that he was to go to school, he spent his last three days of freedom outdoors visiting each … Continue reading