One very good reason why I like homeschooling so much better than sending my kids to public school:

Math.

Math is a huge reason that I prefer homeschooling over public school.

From the very early days, when my Kindergarten son would bring home random worksheets that didn't seem to be related to anything at all, and we were expected to do them for homework, I've been perplexed with what passes for math.

This article appeared in my Facebook feed this week, and led to some discussion of math instruction in various groups.

Why do Americans Stink at Math?

I thought this article was well written, and it emphasized the need for math teachers to receive better instruction in math itself, and in how to actually teach math.

One thing I did not entirely agree upon in the article is that the traditional way of teaching math has no value.

I do agree that the newer methods of teaching math can probably create a greater understanding of the concepts behind math problems, and that the variety of ways there are to solve problems can appeal to the variety of ways children learn.  What I disagree with is the emphasis on concepts over actual performance.  It's terrific if you understand that multiplication is basically skip counting to a certain number, but if you can't quickly round up and estimate the cost of 3 cans of beans at the grocery store by multiplying the price of one can, it doesn't matter if you understand the concept.

I even understand the theory behind teaching different methods.  Take multiplication again.  I see that using the lattice method or extending out each place value can really make clear to a kid what exactly is happening when you multiply large numbers together.  The problem with these methods, though, is that they are more complex, with more steps in which to make errors.  So, yes, demonstrate with these methods, but teach the traditional algorithm, too, so that the kid understands what they are doing, but can do it quickly.

Another problem, is that I'm not sure how the research was done to evaluate the age/grade level appropriateness of some of these concepts. It seems that kids are being asked to explain how they arrived at answers when they don't even have the language skills yet to do so.

Math at our house

Now, back to this past fall, when my kids were briefly re-enrolled in our local public schools.  Every night, there would be detached workbook pages in the homework folder.  Invariably, the kids would have no idea what they were supposed to be doing on the math homework.  I would ask, "Well, didn't you cover this in class? Isn't this just practicing something your teacher showed you?"  And, invariably, the responses would be, "I don't know." or "Maybe."or "I'm not sure."

My husband and I are well educated, literate, intelligent human beings.  I know that we've never been instructed in some of the new methods for solving math problems, but we never even got that far with the homework.  We couldn't even understand what half of the questions were asking.  The language and new math terminology were so convoluted that it took excess brain power to even figure out what  information was being requested by the questions.

So, being an old-fashioned kind of mom, I'd say, "Well where is your math book?  Don't you have a math book that explains what you're supposed to be doing?"  Again with the "I don't know.", "Maybe.", and "I'm not sure."  I'd get frustrated at this point and demand to know why my children didn't know whether or not they had math books.

So, I emailed the teachers.  Oh- there are math books.  They're online.  You can search for the tiny link on the teacher's website and voilà, the math book will be on your computer.  So, if you're a dinosaur like me, and you need to reference the math book, math homework can only be done in the location of the desktop computer.  I didn't have a laptop or tablet at that time.  I do have a tablet now, but I was just flabbergasted at the limitations that we encountered while trying to help our kids with math homework.  It wouldn't have been so bad if my kids had actually come home with an understanding of what they were supposed to be doing on this homework, but they didn't.  We, the parents, were left with the onus of trying to figure out how to help them.  And, we certainly weren't able to instruct them in these unfamiliar methods.

So, I'm glad to be back to homeschooling.  It's so much more convenient.  If we don't understand a math concept, we have many different ways of finding out what we need to learn.  We have internet, DVD, and actual books that we can take with us.  The curriculum I've chosen is self explanatory and logical and easily reviewed.  And the kids test well in math, so I'm not going to worry about trying to meet some new standards that I don't understand.  If my kids leave my house able to balance a checkbook, pay their bills, read their bank statements, estimate their expenses, and calculate percentages and understand compounding interest, I'll be happy.  If they can find the sine, cosine, and tangent of a right triangle, I'll be ecstatic.

Summer goodness

Saturdays in the summer are splendid.  I simply adore seeing what is in my CSA box, and this week was a great share.  Blueberries, snap peas, new potatoes were among my favorite items in this box.

I had a rough week and hadn't used up the veggies from last week's share, so my mom and I spent today prepping a lot of veggies and cooking up some delicious food.  My mom has been a huge help to me this summer, since I'm having some health issues.  I couldn't have done any of this without her.

We sliced zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes, and layered them in a baking dish that had sautéed onions on the bottom.  We stuck fresh basil in between the veggies.  We baked this in the oven for a while then added a topping of ground almonds and nutritional yeast, and put it back in the oven until the topping browned.  Tasty, mediterranean type dish.  I forgot to take an "after" picture of this one.

Next, we made a cole slaw that used raw cashews as the base for the dressing, with raw ACV, water, onions, and honey mixed in.  This cole slaw is fantastic.  I've eaten several bowls already.

I get two dozen free range eggs every week, and we had 4 dozen in the fridge, so I thought some quiches were in order.  We made a bacon and cheddar quiche, and then two bacon, cheddar, broccoli, and onion quiches- one with a crust and one without.  I don't know if I was just starving today or what, but I had a couple pieces of quiche, too, and I'm contemplating another.

I have more bacon and more cabbage, so tomorrow I plan on making bacon wrapped cabbage in foil. Then I will attempt to make beet chips for the first time.  Good eating weekend!

Getting Started in Homeschooling

This post was written by a friend of mine, and I loved it so much, I had to share it on my blog!

http://sandboxtosocrates.com/2014/06/16/homeschooling-where-to-start/

Homeschooling in Ohio

People who are unfamiliar with homeschooling regulations often ask me questions about homeschooling.  Many times, they'll ask if I get the curriculum from the school district (No). Another frequent question is how I know that the kids are working to grade level.  People are also curious about any testing we have to do or how I prove that my kids are learning.

Each state has their own rules and regulations regarding homeschooling.  Some states really have no regulations, while others are fairly stringent.  Ohio is a moderately regulated state for homeschooling.

I have found a wealth of information on the Ohio Home Educators Network website.  They have links to the Ohio Revised Code sections pertaining to homeschooling, as well as links to print off the notification and assessment forms.

In a nutshell, Ohio parents must inform the superintendent of their local school district of their intent to home educate.  The parents sign an affidavit that the schooling will encompass a specified variety of subjects.  The state also requests a brief outline of the proposed curriculum and a list of any materials being used.  If you have never sent you child to school, you must notify the school district once your child is 6 years of age.  If you are withdrawing a child from school, you need to send your notification documentation at that time.  Once the school district receives your paperwork, they have two weeks to send you a letter excusing your child from school attendance in favor of home education.  The school district can also request further information if they feel you haven't provided the legally required documentation, but they are not giving or withholding approval for homeschooling.

 ***Word of Advice*** - Send your documentation via certified mail.  Two years ago, I sent all my paperwork in early August.  By mid-September, I still hadn't received my letter from the school district.  I called and was told they never received my papers.  I read the name of the person who signed for the package, and was then told to just email copies to the superintendent's secretary.  She got the letter out the next day.

You must send the notification documentation to the school district before the start of each school year if you continue to homeschool.  With all but the first notification, you must also send one of two things- standardized test scores or a letter stating that your child has been assessed by a certified teacher.  We have done both testing and teacher assessment.  We all prefer the assessment, but some families prefer testing.

The boys showing off their Ancient Egypt History Pockets.
They were proud of these, so we took them to the Portfolio Review.

You can order standardized tests online from a variety of companies.  We have used Seton in the past, and had no problems with any aspect of the process.

If you can locate a local homeschooling group, Yahoo or Google group, list serve, etc., you should be able to find teachers that advertise their assessment services toward the end of the school year.  I belong to several email groups, and there are always a few teachers who send out posts in May and June.  We are fortunate to have an absolutely superb teacher do our assessments.  I prepare a portfolio of the kids work and activities for the year, and she discusses what we have done with the kids and me.  She's very thorough, and helpful with curriculum suggestions and ideas.  We hope she never retires!  When she's finished talking about our year with us, she writes a brief letter stating that each child has performed to their abilities for the year.

The notification process is not very taxing, nor is the portfolio review.  I find the testing to require more time and the kids don't like filling in all the little circles, but each family must decide what works best for them.  All in all, I feel that Ohio is not too difficult or rigid in its homeschooling regulations.

It's CSA time again!!!!

And I couldn't be more excited!

I got two heads of green leaf lettuce, one kale, one big bunch of swiss chard, beets, broccoli, bunching onions, rhubarb, a slicing tomato, cherry tomatoes, garlic scapes, bok choi, and tangy sweet strawberries! That's the best first share of the season I've ever received!

Used the broccoli, onions, and bok choi in a stir fry.

Spring has sprung!

As I sit here typing, the boys are outside playing.  Yes, one of them is still in his pajamas, but at least we have a lot of shrubbery blocking the view from the rest of the neighborhood.  They are thrilled to have the snow finally gone.

Even before the snow was all gone, they found this fossil-filled rock in our backyard and were very excited to show it to Mom and Dad.  I have to admit that it was pretty cool.

 The kids have been hanging out at the office with us sometimes, and behaving very well, I might add.  I'm pretty proud of them for handling this stressful situation in a way that doesn't add to my anxiety.

We've been diligently working on a review of Memoria Press's Geography program, of which I will make a later post.  Along with that, and learning more and more about fractions, we've managed to do a few fun projects as well, such as our cell model made out of jello and various other food items to represent the parts of a cell.

We also discovered why it is so difficult to get an accurate representation of the world on a flat map by drawing the continents on a clementine peel, then cutting it off and trying to get it to lie flat.

Yesterday was the first really nice day we've had in a long while, so I offered to pay the boys to help me with tasks that go above and beyond the normal chores.  So far, they have helped me with yard clean up and assembling and carrying new patio furniture.  I cannot wait to get the pool/patio area all set up for summer.  I'm also on a spring cleaning/sprucing up kick, so future posts may show us working hard to get this place ship shape.

Happy Spring, Everyone!

My head is spinning. I wouldn't be surprised if it were literally spinning. Right off my neck.

The number of changes we have gone through in this family in the last couple of years is, frankly, unbelievable.  These past seven months or so have been pretty crazy.

In June, I was happily finishing our plans for a summer study of our state, and gearing up to do lesson plans for the coming school year.

In July, I was working full time outside the home and enrolling both boys in the local public school again.

In September, the memories of why we had started homeschooling in the first place came back to haunt us as the reality of life as a public school family slapped us in the face.

In October, I quit my job and attempted to figure out how to manage making money and educating my older child.

In November, older child was back home with me.

In December, younger child, who did not want to be at school if his brother didn't have to go, was back home with us.

It's February now, and my husband's workplace of 27 years has gone through dramatic changes.  I'm working part time with him to try to help the firm through some of these changes.  I'm also embarking on an awesome education/business venture with some very smart ladies.  Oh yeah, and attempting to educate the children, too.

Needless to say, I'm a little overwhelmed at times.

Thank heavens I had already chosen curriculum for the year!  I took some time to make lesson plans.  They're not as fancy schmancy as my normal lesson plans, but they're working for now.

So, I basically decided to disregard whatever it was that the kids had been doing at public school, since it didn't correspond to what we have been doing for the past three years, and they really hadn't learned anything new.  I tried to get my husband to take charge of all things public school, but he just couldn't do it.  Part of the problem I had with the school (among many other things) was that I just wasn't down with their philosophy of education.  I feel like a half year of our lives was wasted, but I'm not going to look back.  Just going to move on.

We started afresh in January with Cycle 1/Ancients in our four year classical model plan.  We are studying Ancient History and Life Sciences.  We are continuing to use our preferred language arts program- MCT Language Arts.  We're continuing with Minimus 2 for Latin and Math U See Epsilon for a study of fractions this year.  I'm excited about our new writing program, about which I just wrote a post for the classical homeschooling blog my friends and I are working on. It should be published in March.  We have a new science curriculum, too:  R. E. A. L. Science Odyssey Biology 2.  It is chock full of really cool experiments and microscope labs.

Making Mayan inspired reliefs out of salt dough

Making a slide to look at cork cells under the microscope

Getting ready to watch the movie they made for their class at the Microsoft store

I've told the boys we'll school through summer, at least until our beloved Anja and her mom come all the way from Germany to visit us for the last weeks of summer!  I'm so looking forward to that.  We need a peaceful, fun summer.

A Very Harry Christmas

It all started with a Halloween desk decorating contest at work.  I got the brilliant idea to make my desk look like Harry Potter's desk at Hogwarts.  I was amused by it, even though most of the people I worked with had no idea what any of it was.  Then, I quit my job before the contest even ended, so it was all for naught, anyway.  

I put a lot of thought and preparation into this desk. It sure made being in a call center a lot more fun.

This would have been my costume for the contest had I remained employed, so I just wore it to pass out candy to the trick or treaters.  The teens who came to the door were especially impressed.

So, I packed up my desk and took all my HP goodies home.  I was gazing at the box of wizardy goodness, when suddenly, I thought, "Why not have a Harry Potter themed Christmas?"  I informed the hubby (who grunted and gave me a 'whatever' look) and the kids.  The kids were fairly excited about it.


The first thing I did, of course, was to scan Pinterest for Harry Potter Christmas ideas, and there were plenty!  I made a board for ideas, and got to work almost immediately.  My first craft project was to paint mini HP character ornaments.  These turned out to be my favorite ornaments out of everything I made:

Then I found these awesome, sparkly quills in a clearance bin at Michaels and thought they would be a perfect addition to a wizard tree.

I shopped the Halloween sales for things that would work, like a giant Aragog and a Crookshanks.

Clear glass ornaments went on sale next, so I snatched up a whole bunch of them and went to work filling them up with all kinds of magical mixtures.

Red mesh ribbon made for great Remembralls

Green glitter for Floo Powder

Black glitter for Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder

No HP event would be complete without Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.

I even was daring and filled some of them with liquid potions.

Polyjuice potion

Veritaserum

Love Potions from Weasley Wizard Wheezes

Harry, Ron, & Hermione's school trunks

Felix Felicis

Harry's glasses

Hogwarts school books

S.P.E.W. Button and bulbs with lines from the books in them

The Mirror of Erised

And, of course, the Golden Snitch

We had a couple of specialty ornaments, like Hedwig 

and the original Visitor's Entrance to the Ministry of Magic.

We also had some mini-themed areas on the tree. This area represented the end of Book 1 where Harry, Ron, and Hermione get through the enchantments guarding the Philosopher's Stone.  Here, the trio is trapped in the Devil's Snare. We also had Fluffy, winged keys, Snape's potions, wizard chess pieces and a Mirror of Erised.

This section represented Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.  There were kissing concoctions and Pygmy Puffs.

In addition to all the unique and hand made ornaments on the tree, I also added traditional round Christmas bulb ornaments in the colors of all four Hogwarts houses.  Below you see the blue and bronze of Ravenclaw and the crimson and gold of Gryffindor.  I made paper chains in each house's colors, as well.  You can see Hufflepuff's yellow and black chain and Slytherin's green and silver chain in the bottom picture.

The Sorting Hat as the tree topper was absolutely perfect.  A few snowflakes, candy canes, and plastic icicles made the whole tree look magical.  

After completing the tree, it was time to add some decorations to the rest of the living room.

Here we had some quills, wizard candy and potions bottles.

These were to represent the 12 trees that are traditionally placed in the  Great Hall at Hogwarts each year.

Hedwig sat perched above the living room, ready to carry our invitations to all our guests.

The Monster Book of Monsters, the Triwizard Cup, a snitch, Harry's glasses, the Marauder's Map, the Elder Wand, and a roll of parchment decorated the coffee table.

I ordered these adorable House stockings from this etsy shop.  A couple of brooms and a cauldron that was missing its floo powder completed the decor.

Our little Gryffindor couldn't resist flying on the Firebolt, and he even managed to catch a snitch.

I rearranged a couple of rooms in my house and made my dining room into the Gryffindor Common Room.

Then, I turned my living room into the Great Hall.  I had to find a way to enchant the ceiling to look like the night sky for the feast.  Then, thanks to my friend Holly's suggestion, I managed to get some floating candles to levitate around the ceiling.

We mailed out invitations to our guests for our Christmas Feast in the Great Hall. Each invitation was personally addressed to highlight the recipient's location.  Then they were sealed with a Hogwarts crest stamp, and marked for Owl Post.

We also sent out our family holiday cards in similar fashion.  Here was the photo we used for our cards.  Notice how my husband looks like I used the Imperious curse on him to get him to pose for this picture.

Once the decorations and invitations were out of the way, I started baking and never stopped until Christmas Eve!  I started with the cookies:

Then I made a replica of Hogwarts Castle entirely out of Rice Krispie Treats, ice cream cones, and frosting.  By the time Christmas came, it wasn't quite edible anymore, but it did look cool.

Hagrid's hut was my favorite part of the grounds.

Then, we had Harry's favorite Hogwarts dessert- treacle tarts.

Couldn't forget the pumpkin pasties.

Cauldron cakes with swirling potion.

And just because every magical Christmas needs one- a yule log cake with meringue mushrooms.

Here is Honeyduke's Sweet Shop being prepped for set up.   We had chocolate frogs, licorice wands, ton tongue toffee, jelly slugs, crystallized pineapple (Slughorn's favorite), crystallized ginger, sugar hexes, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

I even made  two Hogwart's Express Cakes to be centerpieces for the tables.

I really don't think Hogwarts has ever had a better feast!

 On Christmas Day, we prepared the appetizers:

Monster Book of Monster sandwiches

Cheese tray with Cheese Snitch (thanks to my other friend, Kel!)

Oh, Pinterest! What would I do without you?

The table was all set for the Christmas Feast in the Great Hall.  Everyone was sorted into his or her respective houses and each place had Wizard Crackers to pop.

The kids were impressed with the roiling cauldron, and everybody liked the butter beer!

Professor Sprout (a.k.a. Grandma) was ready for the feast.

 We all sat down for a feast of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, peas, corn, cranberry sauce, and dinner rolls. I think even Ron would have found enough to eat at this table!

Christmas Day was lovely. I have about 8 million pictures of the kids opening their gifts, but I'll save those for the lucky devils who get to look at my IRL scrapbooks.  However, I did want to share my two favorite gifts here, because they are related to the theme.

My sister made me this totally fabulous HP charm bracelet.  I cannot tell you how deliriously happy it makes me to wear this.

My cousin's daughter is a very talented young artist, and she made this caricature of our family's Christmas card.  I framed and hung it almost immediately!  I laughed myself silly at it when I first opened it.  I adore this!

Following the Christmas Day festivities, our family had its 3rd annual Harrathon.  That's where we watch all eight Harry Potter movies in a row.  With breaks to eat, sleep, and do Harry related activities, it takes us about 3 days to get through all the movies.

For some reason, on the first day of the Harrathon, all of Harry's Hogwarts letters ended up coming out of our fireplace.  Some Ministry owl had a lot of explaining to do!

Here are hubby and the boys, all ready to watch the first film.  Note, they are all wearing HP t-shirts.  We have  Undesirable No. 1 on the left, Dumbledore's Army in the middle, and the Hogwarts crest on the right.

Here I am holding a mini Hedwig and wearing my "You have the emotional range of a teaspoon." shirt.

My god daughter joins us for the Harrathon, and she's wearing her Ravenclaw shirt, so I don't know why she has a Dark Mark.

Grandma's wearing her Hufflepuff scarf, Andrew has his Gryffindor scarf.  God daughter is eating a cauldron cake.

Selfie in my Gryffindor robes on Day 3.  I think I'm just about Harry'ed out at this point.

We did have a penseive this year, but I don't seem to have a photo of anyone sticking their face in it, although I know some people did.  I do have a few snaps of our wizard duels, though.

I don't know that I'll ever have the energy to do something like this again, but it was totally worth it.  We all enjoyed it and it will be a memory my kids (and god daughter) will never forget.  I think we got about as close as any Muggles can to Christmas at Hogwarts.