totally off topic announcement

well i've been neglecting the blog, but for a very good reason.....



i've been exaughsted due to PREGNANCY :)

we did make it to the library last week. kurt got a really cool book about goblins and a slightly disappointing book about the greatest album covers.

he also talked miss o into getting an encyclopedia brown book and i talked her into getting the egypt game which i loved when i was her age....

got some beverly cleary picture books

and i got a book of essays about women's health and how rotten it sometimes is. there is a highlarious essay entitled "if men got periods" kurt found a star trek (voyager) book for me also.

miss o has also been on a major paper crafting kick that has reached the point of completely detrying the dining room but she cleaned up toniht so our dining room finally looks like a dining room again. i think we've decided to restrict paper crafting to her room.......i've given up in there and i can always shut the door anyway.

in fact we all did some cleaning today. i woke up feeling much better than i have been so i cleaned the bathroom, put away most of the clean clothes, and even got a shower :)

miss o is currently crocheting a abay blanket and it is already much bigger than anything i ever crocheted.

my mom has decided to go ahead and get her some school stuff for christmas and i am so psyched. originally she wasn't going to b/c she totally disagrees with hs-ing, but its easier for er to let me pick out gifts than to go pick them out herself ;>

so sometime soon i have to scour the offerings available

measuring progress

so yesterday i started exploring this subject and tonight when i got home i did a blitz of reading and realized that its actually pretty simple

primarily i'll be observing miss o's activity each day....which i can actually do now that she's home and i'm able to spend a lot more time with her

also i forgot that i'm required to write up an annual progress report. i may incorporate journaling (or ahem, blogging...) into that process. i am making notes here as to what she's learning so i will have at least a rough guide as to what subjects she's covered and in what depth....

and i have her notes too. what little bit of written work shes doing shes still doing in her notebook from school

further more she'll be doing standardized tests every 3 years. although i suppose i have the option to test at anytime :lol

besides standardized tests, i'm no dummy.....i can make tests based on the textbooks shes using. well the textbooks she has available anyway, we really haven't been too focused on book work lately.

anyway i have a lot of options to measure progress and i'm not too worried about it. i really never was but now i know i can answer this particualr objection when my dad brings it up thursday :(

measuring progress?

well this is the newest question posed by my skeptical dad. how am i going to measure miss O's progress? i really don't know. i don't know if i feel the need to measure beyond the semiannual (every 3 years) standardized testing required by law in my state........

i'm sure there lists of standards i chould check off each year

heres an article with some common sense advice

http://www.essortment.com/family/homeschoolingas_sgvm.htm

the wee one is calling but i'll be back with more on the subject though

lack of ambition?

slow going on the presidents project. i finally cracked open a book on the subject. couldn't keep my mind on it though.......

miss O hasn't cracked a book today i don't think but she did wash the dishes without us having to nag about it. she's doing a craft ptoject now and is very busy and happy........

i don't want to do any school

thats what miss O is saying lately. as of today.

don't know what to think about that. we just went to the library today and i got a couple of books about the revolution. could't find one i liked about washington the man so settled for a couple about the times. did get one about "the founding fathers" so i'm sure he's in there.

but anyway i was psyched to be starting a different unit study about the presidents and to try lapbooking and such.

i guess now we'll see what unschooling, or maybe its just deschooling.....we'll see what that looks like

i'm still going to read the books i got one claims to tell the story of the american revolution from the pov of the actual oppressed instead or in addition to the "dead white guys" we're used to hearing from and i did grab a few books for her on the subject too. maybe she'll pick them up...

also picked up teach your own by john holt and really love what it has to say so far....i'm only as far as the preface though

movies

put a pbs documentary about the presidents on my netflix queque for miss O. forgot all about that resource as welll. guess we'll start studying the presidents next week.

1,2,3 magic

well it seems to be working...... stay tuned for updates on that front

lots of reading (for mama)

so i read a couple of books about homeschooling that i got from the library. didn't tell me much i hadn't already found out on the net but was good to review anyway. getting geared up for the holidays rounds of defending my parenting :lol

i did find out that one of the books i din't get was written by a "big name" in the homeschooling movement though..... john holt's teach your own........ so i'll be reading that next week

also got two parenting books alfir kohn's unconditional parenting which i've been wanting to read forever, and 1,2,3 magic. haven't read alot of up yet but i loved punished by rewards. 1,2,3 magic isn't very up but i'm thinking it may work well for us.....opinions on the program?

i also finally read the first four years by laura ingalls wilder and got beverly cleary's autobiography

on the schooling front, miss O wants to study the presidents instead of the states. i reckon i just as well let her

adventures in homschooling begin

well we've actually been doing this for a month now. just playing it by ear...not following a set curriculum although i do have some books and a project.

i've got a wildelife unit study that we haven't touched, a third grade science book, a 5th grade english book and we're studying a different state every week. so far we've done Wyoming and Kentucky. i've learned some neat things but Miss O isn't so enthusiastic. we start Florida monday and she picked it so we'll see how it goes.

i'm learning about lap-booking so maybe i can incorporate that into the states project

we got a lot of books at the library today and i found some about florida with lots of pictures. 2 books about the state overall, 1 about the everglades and 1 about the seminoles. also some picturebooks one by nancy willard coled the goodnight blessing book and one about george washington, patrick henry, john hancock, and tom henry. laura ingalls wilder's the first four years, unconditional parenting, playful parenting, 123 magic, and beverly cleary's autobiagraphy. i can't belive how awesome the library is. i know its weird but i had forgotten how awesome it is.