Why analogies are important for us....

When you are homeschooling a high schooler, you need to get them ready for the college placement tests. NOW while I don't teach just to get my kids to pass a test, like what happens in the school system, I do believe in teaching in our own way the things that will appear on future important tests like SAT and ACT. Analogies are just one of those things...now while most online analogy games are geared for younger kiddos, I did find a couple of sites that had some for high school aged kiddos.(like the one linked above;)

Here is the defination of Analogy from dictionary.com
a·nal·o·gy

1.  a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogy between the heart and a pump.
2.  similarity or comparability: I see no analogy between your problem and mine.
3.  Biology . an analogous relationship.
4.  Linguistics .
     a. the process by which words or phrases are created or re-formed according to existing patterns in the     language, as when shoon  was re-formed as shoes,  when -ize  is added to nouns like winter  to form verbs, or when a child says foots  for feet.
     b. a form resulting from such a process.
5.  Logic . a form of reasoning in which one thing is inferred to be similar to another thing in a certain respect, on the basis of the known similarity between the things in other respects.

So learning about analogies, is a great life lesson not only for those college placement tests but for my kiddos everyday life!  Little things like this add up into a well rounded homeschooler who is ready for life AND those pesky tests,LOL

What are some things that you really never thought of before to be important to teach your homeschoolers?

Another week of re-organizing with my ADHD teen son

Well it happens about every 6 months for us, he just gets bored or lazy with doing his school work. After a long, and I mean long talk with a veteran homeschooling mamas (Thanks Jeri, Sherri and Amanda), I decided once again to re-vamp his schedule into things that he is interested in; mixed of course, with the things that have to be done! I spent the last two and half hours of this rainy Sunday breaking down what needs to be done by the end of our year. This also included daily chores, and his personal goals. All of this with him sitting right beside me, the only way I know to make sure he understands how much work goes into planning out his education. Sometimes I have to talk/vent having to redo the schedule yet again, just because it is so labor intensive. But it always helps and in the future that there are at least a couple things that don't have to go back onto our list. (ya know the things he gets or completes, OH YEA) Our newest tool is the monkey planner above, he picked it out with me and it seems to have everything that we need to get him organized. We have tried free print outs/ blank notebooks and Google docs in the past and they don't have the sticking power for him. Hoping this time it works!!

I always depend on local and online homeschooling parents for all the trails of homeschooling. I think that one thing that you need if you are homeschooling any teen through high school is a great support group with all different backgrounds(especially if they have a special need). I have a great local resource of moms and dads that help me when I am getting ready to throw in the towel. But sometimes I just can't meet up with them or have the time to call them, so I go to my favorite online resource for everything homeschool related, Secular Homeschoolers.  I use my online group for help when I can't see my girls and get their support. I recently found a resource that I am excited about, because I was going to make this our next group science assignment. Wondering what it is?..... I really want to homeschool the subject of evolution with my boys. Its really important to me to show them ALL that is out there so that they can make an educated decision about how we all came into the world. My take on evolution is to teach it using secular resources, I do have friends and family that would disagree. BUT I think it is the only way to teach this subject. Then are are following it with a religions of the world study, from the early religions to the ones that are most practiced today.

Ok I have rambled enough about the two biggest tasks of my last week.... How was your week? What challenges did you encounter?

I'VE GOT CABIN FEVER~ For Gardening!!

 You know that feeling!!  We all have gotten it!! Winter is here and I must say I was happy for the short break that we here in NC received in January.

I made this bed up on one such long two weeks stretch of almost 70 degree weather! Now, the whole time I was doing this I could my gardening buddy (aka Grandma Simmons) in my head saying, "Now kid, you shouldn't be planting anything right now. Do some weeding instead or just dig out the bed now." She always talked me out of of doing silly things like this.... well I can't just call her anymore so I went against her head in my head, this time! In my defense, I can say that I think that they will be just fine... only because they were already in pots(from me last year taking starts,family heirloom plants,etc for our move; which now isn't happening;)  and starting to bud out. I made sure to cover them with mulch and water them in. I also didn't disturb the roots at all. Time will tell if I just kill them all, but I am thinking that they will be ok...more like crossing my fingers and toes!

 4H Gardening Club Projects

The following our garden projects that grandma would approve of for this time of year. The boys are in 4H and I also teach gardening to a small group of kiddos. After much trail and error, I have just been teaching them the basics using the plants, that they want to grow. Their eyes light up when we decided to grow the things that they were interested in.  Here is just a few of the projects that I am growing with them in my window sill!

Avocados ~ Here is a great YouTube Video on how to start them! http://youtu.be/5zrIuyliJQ0

Next is a Pizza Garden! I mean what kid doesn't like pizza! I got this idea from shopping at Home Depot and seeing the $10 kits they had for sale. Made these for @$4 each. We have Big Boy Tomatoes, Yellow Pear Tomatoes, Sweet Peppers, Oregano and Sweet Basil!

Sweet Potatoes! YUMMY~ Here is site I used for the print out for the kids. http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-plant-and-grow-sweet-potatoes/index.html

Taking Quiet Time

Taking Quiet Time 

OK, so most of my days are filled with finding a homeschool online writing program
or trying to find a YouTube video for the next holiday (History of Valentine's Day) or subject we are studying!

But sometimes you need to stop and look around to see the special times that you have with your kiddos. We are doing touch football with a great group of boys, Alex is having a blast. Anthony on the other hand isn't always wanting to play. :( Being smaller and coordinated like his mother doesn't always lend itself to catching a tiny ball! This pic was taken on one such Monday, Anthony's friends that usually climb trees with him didn't make it. So there he was playing by himself, which he usually does without a problem. This time it just got to me, so we took a walk around this beautiful park while brother played football.

Do you believe in old souls?? I don't really know how it works but sometimes your kids can just say things that make you stop and look at them. Anthony is most def an old soul if there ever was one. When I suggested we do something like look for fish or frogs in the lake, Anthony sat on this bench and just said, "Just sit down with me and enjoy the view with me for a minute, then we can look for fish." I almost started crying!! Here is my 10 year old wanting to spend time and talk with his mother. I hope that all the other mothers out there have moments like this. It makes all the work of homeschooling WORTH IT. I can get all teary eyed just thinking that this is going to end someday. One day there will be girls, cars, job and friends that get a head of the line in front of me, but this day I rated the number ONE on the list!

ENJOY THEM, they grow up so fast!! I never believed it when my grandma would tell me that, but it is sooooo true. When you are chasing them as toddlers trying to keep them safe, happy and exploring the world around them, you can sometimes think man I need a break!! Now I am just hoping that I can slow down the time I have left with them!! So happy to be a homeschooling mama;)

Happy Homeschooling and Enjoy every moment you can!!

Homeschooling and Grades

© Universal Press Syndicate

When you think of school... you think of what grade your kids are in and what grades they get on tests and papers. At least that's the way I use to think when I would talk about the boys in school. Alex was always in this grade trying to get above a B on his homework,etc. When Anthony entered kindergarten, it was the same thing for me. But when you homeschool it is totally different.....

OK I can tell I have confused you:) What I mean is that Alex is technically in "9th Grade" but he could be doing 8th Grade level math, 12th grade animal biology and 7th grade spelling and vocabulary. Since I have begun homeschooling (well after that first year) I don't get an entire year's worth of their curriculum ready for that first day. Its a work in progress for us, the only thing that I used since the beginning that has everything planned out was our online homeschool middle school program, Time4Learning. I have to say that I have used it a many a day as the main lesson and let the boys unschool the rest of the day. If I am sick or we have a ton of errands to run on one day, I load them up with the lessons on there. Then at least I know that they accomplished something on that day EVEN if I didn't actually go over it with them.

You might ask why I posting about this well its because I have come across a lot questions on the forums that I am member of this week. It is interesting to read about others who think the same way I do. I don't limit how far my boys can go up from their current "grade" in our schooling.  You hear about this all the time from homeschoolers.... Homeschooling equals freedom to learn in a more natural way. Letting them discover what they really want to learn and yes teaching them the things that they HAVE to learn but not in a way that they will forget it in another month. I love all my homeschooling friends and other moms (and dads) they are always teaching me things that I need to try with my boys. BUT mostly they teach me that I need to relax and let the learning come more naturally. A struggle for me..... what about you?