Burdock balls, leaf jumping and pumpkin carving

What do burdock balls, leaf jumping and pumpkin carving all have in common? As unschoolers they all signified the last remnants of summer and the beginning of our 'official' unschool year.

We didn't use the local school calendar to determine our schedule for learning. The way we saw education was that it happens 365 days a year. It didn't make sense to lock ourselves into a meaningless 180 day schedule, nor did we consider classroom learning our only option. In fact, we thought of the world as our school.

If we followed any sort of calendar at all it was based on nature. We settled into a routine of structured learning from the time when the leaves fell from the trees until the pussy willows appeared in the spring. That was our unschool year. Any time before or after that was playtime! Time to play, time to travel, time to relax, kick back and let life unfold. There were adventures to live, people to meet and places to explore. We learned lots from our play and travels.

One fall our son actually introduced me to burdock as an art medium. Growing up burdock was simply a nuisance, especially when it gets entangled in long hair, either your own or in your horse's tail. I remember long hours combing it out of both. My children were always so creative with what nature provided. They could turn the simplest thing, such as a pile of leaves, into hours of fun and learning.

Relax. Kick back and enjoy those early fall days. Don't be in a rush to crack open those workbooks or start with the drudgery of lesson plans. There will be time for all that once winter sets in. Go outside, lift your face to the sun and create something exciting from nature's own palette. You'll be creating some wonderful memories as well.

Burdock can be used to sculpt shapes such as balls...

...or a burdock dog!

Some of the best playthings fall free from above

Pumpkins serve a dual purpose...food and fun

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Internet puts homeschoolers on even keel with public school monopoly

Twenty-five years ago it was difficult to find a decent book about homeschooling. As a home education advocate I managed to find about five good ones, tops! There were few homeschoolers, too. By the time our first born was ten years old, homeschooling had finally caught on and homeschoolers were everywhere. With all those parents garnering experience, a flood of books, magazines and newsletters about homeschooling appeared on the market. Then, homeschooling exploded!

With the advent of personal computers, homeschoolers began creating websites, weblogs (blogs) and publishing easily downloadable materials and information. Some of these websites and blogs are quite extensive and sophisticated.  Everything homeschoolers needed to know or find was at their fingertips. With the internet, homeschooling spread like wildfire. We even took full advantage of it with research, publishing our own newsletters and booklets, and even a stay-at-home-mom business.

Today, many homeschool families rely on their computer for much of their information. They can run a family business from home. They can correspond instantly with other homeschoolers, friends and relatives. They can even take a virtual tour of their local schools to see what they're not missing.

Every subject is available and free lessons are bountiful on the internet. Even those without online service can use educational compact disks that are available and inexpensive. We had the complete middle school and high school curricula on CD, as well as disks that teach phonics, typing and how to play chess. When homeschoolers balance their computer time with other hands-on activities, they can create a custom made learning experience unlike any the public school could provide.

With the many alternatives to public schooling available, parents are better equipped to take charge of their child's education. Outdated public schools can no longer compete with homeschooling. Their monopoly over the children and the money is being undermined by homeschooling because parents finally have access to the truth about public school.  Public schooling is a dinosaur. It's time to stuff it and place it in a history museum where it belongs.

If the internet disappeared tomorrow, never to return, it wouldn't matter to the modern-day homeschooler.  We have such a fire in our bellies about freedom, there would be no stopping us. We'd find a way to teach our own, with or without today's technology.

Public schools have tried to replicate homeschooling in hopes of creating its successes. That doesn't work because public schools will never have the one ingredient that homeschoolers have. Homeschooling children have an environment of cooperation (the home) with the ones who love them the most and unconditionally (the parents).

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Unschooling Unexpected Benefits and Challenges {Friday Five}

Unschooling Unexpected Benefits and Challenges {Friday Five}

Sometimes the only way to understand this unschooling thing is to experience it first hand. I love it when a parent shares their own experience and can make heads or tails of it...eventually. Keep exploring moms and dads and keep sharing your home-based education discoveries.

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Want a Healthier Family? 12 Health Benefits of Homeschooling

Want a Healthier Family? 12 Health Benefits of Homeschooling

Yet another great article by the brilliant Linda Dobson. As a parent of grown homeschoolers she and many others like her could have just walked away after raising their children. With our collective experience and passion for homeschooling I'm happy to see so many of us still helping other parents learn about this natural and historic way to educate children. Thank you, Linda!

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Parents in action: More parents homeschooling their children

Parents in action: More parents homeschooling their children

Sorry, but I found myself straining through Ardolino's interview. Some of this info is good but she harps on that socialization question like so many others. If we did all the 'scheduling' she thinks is necessary there wouldn't be any time left over to enjoy life and just hanging with our children. Relax everybody and let learning happen.

The only drawback to homeschooling is getting the state off your case so you can live and learn in freedom. After you get the busy-bodies out of your life then the world will open up to you and you're free to explore the wonders of it.

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Hulbert Outdoor Center 2011 March Homeschool Week

Just received the announcement in the mail for Hulbert Outdoor Center's 2011 Homeschool Week registration. The Homeschool Week is scheduled for Sunday, March 13 through Friday, March 18, 2011 for homeschoolers ages 9-17 at the Center in Fairlee, Vermont. 

"The Hulbert Homeschool Week offers participants a chance to come together for a week of fun and adventure, gathering with other homeschoolers to learn, form lasting friendships, and build a true working community.

Whether through performing at the talent show, picking up a new skill, speaking out in community meeting, or living away from home for a week, during the Hulbert Homeschool Week participants have the opportunity to explore, to learn about themselves, and to take risks in a supportive and caring atmosphere."

Learn more at their website or read their interesting blog. The Hulbert Outdoor Center also has a Facebook page where you can become a fan.

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Homeschooling-Paradise...a great website for info and math lessons

Homeschooling Secrets Revealed!

This is a great website for homeschooling information and math lessons up to 5th grade. Has some great graphics too. I'm still exploring it but feel free to take a look see!

What About BOB?

What About BOB?

This is so cute. I love drawings by children. My children were drawing pictures constantly when they were young. We used many of those drawings in the booklets and newsletters we published. They were so proud of their sketches and it was a great experience for them to see their work in print.

Napoleon Hill on developing a pleasing personality

This segment reminds me of being lectured by my drill instructor during basic training but Hill makes some rather constructive points on how to develop a pleasing personality. It's that 'catching more flies with honey than with vinegar' adage. I still have some trouble adjusting my attitude even after all these years but life has a way of being so annoying, sometimes to the point you don't give a rat's rump what people think about you. Sorry, but it is what it is although I am still working on not being so brutally honest with my opinions. Still love this ol' guy though.

Are school trappings and froufrou needlessly costing you money?

Recently I stumbled across this little article concerning financing your homeschool. Geeeeesh, if this isn't enough to scare you away from deciding to homeschool I don't know what is.

The author writes: "When you need to make sure that your children receives state-of-the-art education so that they can compete with regular school goers, expenses will naturally mount."

What exactly IS a "state-of-the-art" education and since when do "regular" school goers get such a thing in public school? Most public school graduates I've met can barely read and write beyond a present day 8th grade level. Gee, I didn't realize public schooling was meant to be a competition. Personally, I don't want my unschoolers to compete with anyone. I want them to be self-sufficient and leaders within their own community and businesses.

The author also writes: "The actual cost of educating a child at home is surprisingly high. Up-to-date textbooks, course materials, a library, computing equipment, lighting, specially designed furniture all cost money."

One of the first things we learned 23 years ago as newbie homeschoolers was how unnecessary textbooks, course materials, specially designed furniture, school trappings and froufrou were to the success of our child's education. We quickly canned the desks, textbooks, curricula, tests, grades, school room and anything remotely associated with schooling. We simply began to live our lives on a day-to-day basis and did what we could afford to do, not what was expected of us by outside prying and schooled eyes. Also, the last time I checked a library card was free!

Home education is only as expensive as you want it to be. You have total control of your finances and budget. If you do need extra financing for your homeschool you can get some ideas at this link.

Don't feel pressured into thinking your child needs to attend every available opportunity and lesson to become a well rounded, intelligent, caring person. An overload of dance lessons, karate lessons, sports, summer camp and tons of other outside-the-home activities will not only be costly but may also burnout both parent and child. Relax and take life as it comes!

The 3 best toys for developing your homeschooler's imagination

Ever wonder why your child ignores a new toy and prefers to play with the box it was packaged in? Many modern toys don’t allow the child to use their imagination. To a child with a creative mind the box a toy arrives in can become a rocket ship, a racecar, a playhouse or even a cave for his dinosaur collection. Those pots and pans in the cupboard are far more fun than passively watching television. A dress up box is a place to find the proper uniform for a space traveling ruler of the universe.
 

With such a plethora of toys on the market these days it’s difficult to know which ones are best for developing your child’s imagination. Finding just the right toy for your child can prove to be an experimental and expensive endeavor but that’s the beauty of being homeschoolers. You’re free to experiment and spend as much or as little as you want on manipulatives (a fancy word for toys). As parents of two eager-to-explore homeschoolers we learned that less is more! 

1. LEGOS®

Our top choice for toys is LEGOS®. Both of our children started playing with DUPLOS® at a young age. They loved them and they could create other toys with them. These colorful well made plastic wonders were a staple in our homeschool. Once the children became old enough to graduate to the smaller LEGOS® we purchased many of the sets with various themes. The NASA® set tied in very well because grandfather had worked for the company before his retirement. This led to reading books on space, astronomy and engineering. Pirates were a big hit too which led to reading many books about pirating, ships and ocean travel. Of course, no trip to Florida was complete without a visit to Disney World’s LEGOLAND®. Eventually all this creativity led to the more technical versions of this toy and our young son was soon building robots that came whizzing out of his room at all hours of the day. I credit my now teenage son’s LEGO® experience to his becoming a member of an award winning US First robotics team. 

2. Art supplies

You’re probably thinking these aren’t really toys. To a child they are. A child’s play is work and anything a child can play with or manipulate he’ll learn from. Keep a ready supply of materials on hand for your child and watch their imagination flourish. Paints, crayons, pencils, paint brushes, markers, paper, scissors, canvas, clay, sketch pads, sewing notions, fabric, crafts, hand-made dough, cast off clothing for dress up and alteration, pastels, glue, cardboard, egg cartons…the list is endless. Make your child an art apron and set aside a space in the home where children can freely make messes. Make the materials available and accessible at all hours because an artist never knows when inspiration will strike. 

3. Nature

Okay, so maybe this isn’t a toy either but nature is all around us. We are nature. Think about how creative nature is. Children have a fascination with nature and are naturally drawn to other parts of it. When I was a child my mom would send me and my six siblings out the front door after breakfast and tell us not to return until supper. She told us to go to the garden if we got hungry and go to the brook if we got dirty. We didn’t even need to go home for potty breaks because we had an outhouse in the back yard. The older children kept an eye on the younger ones and we only went back to the house for emergencies. Of course, that was mainly in the summertime and on our farm. 

As homeschooling parents it is our job to provide a nurturing and safe learning environment in which our children are free to learn. Send them out the door. Let them play with sticks and stones. Let them wade in frog ponds, raise animals, build forts, ride bikes, ski, sled, dig in the dirt, garden, jump in puddles after a rain storm and count the stars in the night sky. Let them explore their world. Even city dwellers can raise a kitten, a puppy, a hamster, care for a fish or put up a bird feeder. They can start a neighborhood garden, count the stars in the night sky from a rooftop or go to a park or wilderness camp. Without a house or yard full of plastic toys children will need to use their imagination in order to create their own playthings.

Homeschool Buyers Co-op Offers Homeschool Resources

Homeschool Buyers Co-op Offers Homeschool Resources & Rewards Points in Exchange for Links

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This might be fun. Could save you a bundle of money too!

Guest Post : My Case For Radical Unschooling

Guest Post : My Case For Radical Unschooling

This is a wonderfully forthright commentary on radical unschooling by Heather Burdett, a homeschooling mother of three free range boys. Heather also writes for her own blog Swiss Army Wife. Kudos to Heather!

Homeschoolers visit PA firehouse

This is from the archives (11/14/08) but is relevant to today because you can never learn enough about fire safety and prevention. More homeschool groups need to schedule a tour such as this. The Shoemakersville Fire Company #1 Station 40 in Pennsylvania did a wonderful job teaching a local homeschool group about fire safety and prevention. Kudos to all who were involved, especially firefighters Dave Rubright, Tim Seyfert and Tim Bower!

Our daughter took a field trip to the local firehouse when she was 4 years old. Today she's a volunteer firefighter! Evidently that experience left a lasting impression.

Homeschooling firefighter and his wife make extra cash selling online

Richard Davis is a firefighter in Texas who wrote this informative article for Ezine. Davis and his wife of over 20 years homeschool their three children. When his wife gave up her $10,000.00 a year job to become a stay-at-home mom they learned how to earn extra cash for their family by buying and selling online at eBay. They have turned to the internet for other sources of income as well. Kudos to the Davis family!

Fire prevention printables

In celebration of my firefighter daughter being promoted to Lieutenant and her husband promoted to 2nd Assistant Fire Chief recently, I thought it would be fun to focus on firefighters and fire prevention this month. Here is a fun website with fire prevention printables. Have fun, stay safe and be sure to visit your local firehouse to learn more about fire safety and fire prevention!

Worried your homeschooled child won't develop social skills?

No need to worry. Children will naturally learn to socialize with all ages provided they aren't locked into their peer group the way they are in public school. Read up on what other homeschoolers do day to day and your confidence will rise amazingly. We all have had our doubts about educating our own but it's so natural children react positively, providing you keep it relaxed and don't try to 'school' them.

Reading sources:

http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/index.htm
http://www.homeedmag.com/index.html
http://www.holtgws.com/
http://learninfreedom.org/
http://homeschoolnewslink.com/

Why do people ask the socialization question?

How often do you, as a homeschooler, get asked the ever perennial question: 'But, what about socialization?'

When people ask 'What about socialization?' they are simply showing their ignorance. I learned to ignore them or give them a totally outrageous answer. After a while, my children did the same and some of their answers were hilarious. I stopped wasting my energies years ago trying to figure out if the inquirer was jealous, being hostile, or just plain stupid. It was never a sincere question and still isn't.

Does your public high schooler want to homeschool?

Our children and my nephew use the local community college as their high school. While taking classes they also receive college credits. My nephew used his 30 credits to enter the military at age 18 (he just turned 20 and has traveled around the states and to Germany and is presently stationed in California) with no high school transcripts, diploma, or GED.

Our daughter is working part time and still taking classes part time. She began college at age 15 (she was a preschool dropout and homeschooled all her life). She owns her own business http://flutternutstudios.com/ and pays for each course out of pocket so she won't have any loans to pay back when she graduates.

Our son is 16 and started his college classes last fall. He is attending part time and helps me with my home based antique/eBay business. He too is paying out of pocket so there will be no loans to pay back or a debt burden.

It is taking longer than going to college full time but it has given them time to mature and decide what directions they wish to take. There is also no monetary waste on college campus room & board. They can focus on their class work without the usual distractions such as campus politics & parties, etc.

Some good sources for learning about homeschooling are:

http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/index.htm
http://www.homeedmag.com/index.html
http://homeschoolnewslink.com/
http://learninfreedom.org/
http://www.nheri.org/

Commercial and Celebrity Worship Holidays

Do some folks worry your homeschooled child isn't learning? Especially learning about things they think are relevant in today's world? Take, for instance, the recent Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebrated this year on January 21. Is it so important a child know and celebrate this date? Why? So what if a homeschooled child doesn't know the significance of this date or who King was? Is that an indication that homeschoolers are not learning?

My homeschooled children learned all about Martin Luther King, Jr. and what that included was he was a law breaking womanizer who was selfish when it came to being a parent to his children and husband to his wife. The same goes for that self-absorbed womanizer John F. Kennedy. So what, really, is the point of asking if a homeschooler is learning if they don't know the meaning of January 21st? To us it's just another contrived celebrity worship holiday.

Others are concerned when they find out many homeschoolers do not use textbooks. Textbooks?! Textbooks are bland and devoid of anything worth knowing. Much of the information in them is totally out of context with life and historical fact. We never used textbooks because they are worthless for educational purposes.

Many people do not understand there is a difference between 'schooling' and 'education'. Homeschoolers (a totally inappropriate word to describe children who are learning free of forced public schooling) learn from living life. Many have family centered lives. Schooled children (those in public or private schools) live school centered lives and are force fed totally worthless experiences revolving around pagan and commercial holidays such as Halloween, Valentine's Day (although I kind of like this commercial holiday--a woman can never have enough dark chocolate around the house), Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, etc.

People need to chill and stop worrying about homeschoolers and their education. We're actually amused that public and private schools make such a fuss over these holidays and month long unit studies, year after year, after year, after year, of the same ol' same ol'. Better to make a fuss if your child doesn't know the meaning and significance of her own or her grandmother's birthday.