Loafing again

I don't know what's up with us LOL I'm to the point that we've been unschooling again. It's the same old struggle that I had at the end of last school year. Wherein I want to let go and let live but still find the need to have some organized bookwork too even though I know that there's much more to life than just that. I really don't know how to end this struggle. I'm hoping that once all of my daughter's activities begin that it'll be easier to get on track with schoolwork. I know that's probably wishful thinking though. So does anyone have anything that could help to motivate the 2 of us around here?

The 1st day of school...

...didn't go bad at all (as you can read about here). Here I was prepared for a fight and nope - no fight whatsoever. Of course, I'm not complaining - just praying that the rest of the year goes just as smoothly. I also wish that I could find the same motivation for the things that I have going on. I've been letting my businesses and schoolwork go by the way side lately. Maybe now that I have a fractured ankle though, things will ease up some as I simply cannot stand sitting still doing absolutely nothing. Speaking of which: I can't believe that I fractured an ankle again this summer - my right 1 last summer & my left 1 this summer UGGG

Anyhow... I'm glad that we're back to school and things are going well. Let me know how your first day goes for you.

Long time no see

I cannot honestly believe that this summer has been here and gone already. Of course, this is something that I've written about in my other blog so I won't "re-hash" it here. However, I don't think I'm alone in wondering where the summer has gone.

So, when does everyone start back to homeschooling? We start Tuesday and then all of our other activities (only 3 in total - 2 church youth groups and 1 day school program) begin throughout the month of September. I was going to start on Monday but life somehow has a way of getting into the way. In fact, we're only going to have 3 days of school next week but it's time to get back at it, no matter how slow or fast we may go. (Isn't that the joy of homeschooling anyway?)

I'm actually looking forward to starting school stuff with my daughter again. We were going to homeschool over the summer but that just fell to the way side as summer somehow has a way of making us lazy and want to spend more time outdoors, which is good.

This year my daughter will be in a day school for 12 hours a week simply for socialization as she'll be about 1 year older than the other children in her class. The main reason that I did this is because I am good friends with the lady who is also a Christian and has a full degree and tons of experience in elementary education, so she's going to get my daughter reading. I've done everything that I can think of and it's just not working. I'm anxious for her to start reading as I know that she'll love it and that it'll open a whole new world to her, which I'm excited about.

So, this year I have 12 hours to myself. This will be great for me as I have some new clients and work lined up to fill the time. I also have my own Seminary classes to deal with. I'm sure that it'll also be good to not have mommy and daughter around each other 24/7 as we both need a break and as a single mom that's oftentimes hard to come by. Now don't get me wrong, I love the time we're together but we do need time apart too.

Anyhow... Who else is looking forward to starting the school year? What great things do you have planned?

MIA

Yes, I've been MIA again. I could blame it on summer, but I won't. There's actually been a lot going on around here:

1. I've been accepted to Dallas Theological Seminary's online program starting August 6. It's been a life long dream/goal/calling for me to get my Masters of Divinity so this is just the next step :D
2. I've got some steady writing work that's been keeping me from having to search for new work, which is great. Of course, I still have my Hub Page about homeschooling that I've been adding 5 articles to each week. I'm also writing for a new homeschool blog. Otherwise, most of what I'm doing is ghost writing.
3. I'm still working on my Shaklee business, which is getting better by the day - persistance does pay off. Don't forget that you can get $100 in FREE products. Check it out!
4. I've been teaching my daughter to read and she's actually catching on really fast.

We still have a lot to do this summer, including 2 more weeks of Vacation Bible School at 2 different churches. I don't see things settling down to a routine until school starts up again. (Yes, I've been doing some school daily with my daughter but we'll start up "for real" near the end of August.) I plan on using a schedule this year as I just don't see how I'm going to run 2 businesses, homeschool, take my own classes, be active at my church and handle everything else that comes up without one. As you probably can tell, this is against my nature so here's hoping that I can adjust to it.

Well, that's my life. I hope all is well with you. I'll do my best to post again soon.

I haven't been around for a while...

Sorry! I've been ridiculously busy. I kind of knew this would happen this summer but didn't want to believe it. My daughter is in 4 different day camps this summer and since I have to walk her to each of them I'm "stuck" there too. She's having a ball though. She's making lots of friends and we've even been able to plug in to a new church, which is a great blessing. However, since most of my money comes from my freelance writing, with the limited time that I do have I've been spending on that. I do have the possibility of cutting down in this area and writing for only 5 companies without having to worry about getting more clients, which I praise God for. This would then open up my schedule some and allow me to work more on my Shaklee business and not be handcuffed to my computer LOL I'm sure my daughter would really love this too. I'm just glad that it's taken a little less than a year to get to this point. Now to get my Shaklee business to that point and I'll be lovin' life. I did have the goal of getting my daughter to be able to read by the end of August but with everything else happening, that, and some of my other goals, are going to have to wait. I don't think that a 6-year-old HAS to be able to read as most can't read ntil they're 8. So, I'm laying off on her and we haven't done any school work this summer which is a nice change of pace for the both of us I'm sure. I know that just living life each day can be a great teacher as well and I'm just trusting and allowing that to happen. Anyhow, that's what's up in our life. I'll try to be around a bit more. Happy 4th of July everyone!

I know we're not "normal" but...

I'm wondering when everyone does their curriculum shopping? We don't use formal curriculum per say. In fact the majority of our workbooks are purchased from the local dollar store that has a very nice selection of educational items available. I think that I already have everything that we will be needing for quite some time but I still sat down and wrote an article about what you should take into consideration whenever you are choosing curriculum. I think that if I had enough money to purchase curriculum, I'd be in over my head and thus overwhelmed by it all. So, I'm thankful that the system we're currently using works.

ALSO...

I'm in search of some good advice and FREE materials here ladies... I have a goal for this summer: I want to teach my daughter to read. I've tried 100 Easy Lessons and it doesn't work for us because she knows what all the letters sound like and I can't seem to find any reasonably priced "Hooked On Phonics" packages, which is what I used whenever I was learning to read. I have the "Bob" books and a bunch of worksheets from the aforementioned workbooks. Do you have anything else that you think would be useful for us. I've heard of Starfall BUT I don't like having my daughter on my work computer so I bought her a VTech Nitro Notebook which has a TON of educational stuff on it. So I need "physical" materials like worksheets and anything else that you could suggest. If anyone knows of a lapbook we could do that would be AWESOME too as she loves those but hates file folder games (don't ask me why as I've never been able to figure it out LOL)

Thanks!

Math: Do you dread it or love it?

My daughter and I seem to share the same dislike of math. I find this unfortunate because she is SO smart. I know that she is able to grasp these concepts but just isn't enjoying it. This is something that I also know: when she enjoys something she'll learn it and want to learn more about it. I guess this shouldn't surprise me though. After all, isn't that the heart of unschooling? Spending time doing those things that you enjoy and learning more about those things that interest you. Anyhow, since I want my daughter to enjoy math I did some reading, thinking and writing. Here is what I found:

The importance of math manipulatives (I really would like to purchase Math U See)
Understanding how math works (This is a book that I've read about and now I want to purchase LOL)
Using rewards & competition (Since I only have 1 child I searched diligently for a way to have her compete with herself. I hope this helps others who are only homeschooling 1 child.)

Summer is here for us

I'd wanted to homeschool year around but I've been so burnt out that after I'm done with my work for the day I just want to lay around and do nothing. I fell asleep at 8PM last night. Today all I've done is clean the house, do laundry, go to the bank and do a little clothes shopping. I made ham and eggs with fresh bread for lunch and now I just want to be done for the day. I do need to work on my Shaklee business and see if I can't get something going to get some products moving but otherwise I don't want to do anything. It's so hot out today (almost 90) and humid too. I think that has a big part of why I'm feeling this way. I've still been getting my daughter to watch educational stuff on TV and play educational games on the computer but I really need to start doing the index cards again as that's what I really wanted to focus on this summer. I've finally been able to get on a 4 day work schedule so I'm only working online 24 hours a week. The rest of the time I'm on and off doing advertising. I also have been able to get laundry and house cleaning done on Fridays so that Saturdays is farmers market and R&R, which is what I do almost all day on Sunday too. It's going to be hard getting up at 6:30AM for church though. I miss going at night but do like this new church better. I just know that once I get on a schedule it's going to get all messed up again bc my dd is going to 4 weeks of different campst this summer. Anyhow, that's my life so I'll stop babbling now...

Just a little fun!

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OK As promised....

I said a while ago that I'd started a new business. Well, now I feel that I am ready to reveal it.

***DRUM ROLL PLEASE***

I'm not sure if any of you remember the 20 20 Earth Day special but it really impacted my daughter and I. Ever since then we've wanted to live green. Besides using natural soap and lotion, buying organic food and changing our light bulbs to energy saving ones, recycling cans/plastic bottles/paper, I also found a great company for which I'm working as an independent distributor. They have cleaning products, laundry and dish soap, vitamins, makeup and even a great weight loss plan. I invite you to check them out and even try one of their products. I'm sure you'll feel the difference just like we have. This is really an easy business as all you have to do is learn to operate a mini-office outlet from home. So, you do not have to pressure your loved ones into purchasing anything. All you have to do is go through the free online training. From there it's up to set your own hours and make a great income. So, if you're interested, let me know.

OK I'll calm down now LOL I'm just really excited about this business as I'm already seeing results.

Back to homeschooling now...

How's your week been? Mine has been pretty busy with other things besides homeschooling, which is why I'm glad that we also unschool.

Studying the states of the United States

As I've mentioned before, I've stated to use index cards as an educational aid for my child. They are very helpful whenever we have some time to wait at a restaurant or at a doctor's appointment. I've also taken some relaxed days of school to just review them with her as a "drill." Well, we've also started to study the 50 states. Now since she's only 5 I'm taking things really slow and making it a lot of fun for her. This is what I'm doing and how you can do it too. So far, it seems to be working quite well. I just hope she does not grow tired of it before we have learned all 50 states, their abbreviations and flags. Hopefully this is something that you can use in your homeschool and that your children will also get a lot of enjoyment from. Let me know what you think!

Unschooling

A lot of people are starting to wonder if it's really all that it's cracked up to be. I know that as a somewhat unschooling parent, I really enjoy the freedom that my daughter has throughout the day to learn about things simply by exploring her environment. Many of you allow your child to be completely unschooled and even that seems to be working fine. You may have noticed by now that this is a topic that I'm constantly wrestling with. As such, I wrote an article that looks at both sides of this issue. I'd love to know what side you are on!

Mondays

It doesn't matter who you are or what you do, I bet you hate Mondays just as much as I do. This is because after 2 great days of R&R it's time to get back to the grind stone. I'm especially having a difficult time with it this week though, so I wrote this article.

The reason why I'm having such a rough time is because we had a lot of fun this weekend. On Saturday we went to a carnival that was full of games and great food. We sampled foods from a variety of ethnic groups and my daughter even won 2 toys: a stuffed unicorn and a magical want. It was a lot of fun!

Then Sunday we went to see how sheep are sheered and how wool was made back in the 1800's. We then got to tour a house, barn, etc. to see how they lived. It was really neat and my daughter was full of questions.

So, today there's nothing good to look forward to. As such, we're struggling to get going again. Nevertheless, back to the grindstone we go.

Special needs children

I'm taking some time to write about homeschooling children with special needs. Here is one I wrote about why deaf children should be homeschooled.

What are the challenges of homeschooling?

I can think of a lot of challenges but there's probably some that I've forgotten. Here's the list of challenges that I've come up with. Are there any that I've missed? I challenge you to come up with more ;)

Homeschool groups

Have you ever wondered how a homeschool group should operate? Well, this is something that I was thinking about this morning because I'm getting really tired of not having a homeschool group around here and so I'm considering starting one next school year. Anyhow, I did some research and writing to come up with this little piece about how homeschool groups work. Please feel free to let me know if I've missed anything.

Have you heard about using index cards for homeschooling?

I know I hadn't heard about it until today. I just happened to "accidentally" run across it while I was looking through some message forums today. It sent me searching to find out more information about this topic and here is what I found. I must say that I do really like this idea and may start using it with my daughter. Since it works for any manner in which you would like to homeschool your child, I can definitely see it fitting in nicely with our unschooling lifestyle. Let me know what you think.

Does your child have ADD/ADHD?

Personally, I HATE these terms. I do not believe in them at all. I won't allow them to be placed upon my daughter either, even though she'd more than fit them if she went to a traditional school. Well, I've found a new way of looking at ADD/ADHD and it supports those of us who loathe these labels and have chosen to unschool our children who would have fit these labels in traditional schools. Take a moment to check out what I'm talking about and then let me know what you think. Personally, I think that it makes 1 heck of a lot of sense. Have a great day everyone!

Special needs children

A lot of people seem to think that if your child is required to have an IEP that they cannot homeschool this child. This simply is not true. In fact, an IEP can be wrote up specifically to be used within a homeschool environment. Here is what you need to do to make this happen. The only thing that you will be possibly losing out by doing this is the special therapies that the public school can provide. However, there are some school districts that will make special concessions for your child to be able to get these services. Otherwise having a good insurance can really help out with the cost. So, if you have a special needs child, do not give up on the thought of homeschooling him/her.

So much to tell

Sorry I didn't get to tell you this before, but the art festival was very enjoyable. The lady was making glass beads and it was so neat to watch how she used her torch to make them. While she was unable to make bigger glass objects because of the set up and such, she did tell us, in detail, how she made glasses that you drink out of. My dd was soooo amazed by it all and would have stayed there for the entire night if I'd let her LOL. We did take advantage of some sales too and she got a beautiful glass bead fish necklace and I got a bookmark and picked up a necklace that I'd ordered previously. Dinner was wonderful too. I just wish she could control her energy sometimes LOL I know in a public school they'd definitely mark her ADHD and so I'm glad I'm homeschooling her so she isn't forced into a label and all that it brings with it.

I've been so busy lately myself. My writing has really taken off. I'm not even going out looking for it. It's just coming to me which is something I thank God for. With this in mind, I've started a new business venture that I'll introduce to you within the next week or so. I'm sure you'll like it too so think green ;)

Otherwise, I've done some research on who John Holt is. If you're like me, you've probably heard his name before. You may even know that he's the founder of unschooling. However, it's really neat to read all about him and what has led him to create what we now call "unschooling" as well as to influence several other organizations as well.

Anyhow, I best get some work done before dd wakes up :)