I Do It All For Love

    When things get tough I am tempted to send the kids to school, I will admit. Then I come to my senses and I can't see how that would be better than what we are doing now. We are a family, we must stay together and learn, live, thrive together no matter how hard it may be sometimes. I also know that when I learn how to cope in a healthy way I can teach it to my children and we all win. Never stop learning don't give up like most people do when things get to hard, that is the best advice anyone can give. "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." that is what we are called to do. 

Eclectic Homeschooling on facebook because it is good to learn from others, keep in touch!

Eclectic Homeschooling

Eclectic Homeschooling is basically using the best of what ever methods work best with your family. We looks at the different approaches and methods of homeschooling and take from each, forming our own unique philosophy.

We have been homeschooling in CA for 3 years but unschooling my kids their whole life! They have never been to school or day care.We use an Eclectic Homeschooling method, we simply just do what we want and do what works for our family. We don't follow a real strict schedule and let the kids learn on their own much of the time.

We do enjoy workbooks which we get free from our Charter program so that the children can easily learn the basics. We also love to play video games, board games, go to the park and exercise together, as well as visit fun and educational, interesting places..

We take it day by day and just enjoy our time with our children! We use a home based Charter school and enjoy meeting new people. Family is super important to us so we spend lots of time as a family! I consider us a little of both homeschooling and unschooling for the reasons that we do use workbooks and a Charter school program for convenience but use them in our own way and don't spend to much time on schedules and strict routines.

I am really drawn to unschooling and the natural approach to learning, like child lead learning. We also love workbooks because my children are young and do need to learn reading writing and math, sure they learn most of it on their own but workbooks can provide a great way to participate in intentional learning. I would like to go all unschool after the 8th grade when my children would have started high school. I believe that by the 8th grade there is little left to learn from curriculum and more to learn from life and the experiences that my children will have at those ages. Most basic knowledge should be obtained and just getting out there in the world is all that is left.


I don't like to bombard my kids with workbooks and text books and look for curriculum that is to the point and doesn't take up to much of our precious time..You can apply a Eclectic Style of home education by finding out about all of the different learning styles, home education methods and just applying what works for you with your family!


Click the banner for more info on other Home School Methods, you will see this blog there listed under Eclectic Homeschooling.I hope to meet tons of great people on this page, please like and comment. If you can relate or want to learn more about Eclectic Homeschooling then please like the page.. : )

Also visit me at facebook : )

Art Inspired By The Wall E Game and Movie

Wall E Game For Windows is a great game and my oldest son has now about beat the whole game. They were inspired by the game to make some pictures. It started with my youngest then my oldest wanted to make some too. This is what I am sharing with you today!

Wall E by son age 4

Eva by my son age 4

Wall E by my son age 4

Wall E by my son age 7

Eva and Wall E by my son age 7

 

Our Home School Begins Another Year

    We officially started on workbooks again, this year we are not focusing to much on workbooks but I feel they have there place. My son started 2nd grade home school and my youngest is starting to learn pre k reading. It was nice to have a break and we all needed it.

Last year we took on a lot of book work and didn't finish all of the workbooks we had but my son still did very well. So this year we are only using the workbooks needed for basic knowledge and this year we have picked curriculum that are more straight to the point and easy to follow along.

That way we can focus more on reading great books and doing fun activity instead of workbooks all day. My son loves video games so we incorporate educational computer games into our day, and my kids can play on their own while I get some stuff done.

Not to mention it is a great incentive to getting workbooks done!

This year we have chosen Pathways for our reading curriculum and I am very happy with it. Pathways consists of a chapter book and a workbook the child does a page before the section of the book is read and then does a page after. There are also phonics pages to do anytime, this is a straight forward curriculum in reading and hits all the important parts to reading. Pathways was created by the Amish to be used in their school houses. Pathways chapter books are filled with great stories that children love as well as character building scenarios.

We are using Math Steps for our math curriculum. This curriculum has a teachers guide as well as a great easy to follow workbook that gets right to the point of each math lesson.

We also are using a vocabulary workbook called Vocabulary Workshop by Sadlier Oxford. This one has a teachers guide and it is also very user friendly and hits all necessary vocabulary skills.

For spelling we use Spelling Connections by Zaner Bloser also a user friendly curriculum, this has a teachers guide and a workbook that gives a spelling list at the beginning of each section. The student practices the words by doing the corresponding work pages and then a challenge page that introduces more challenging above grade level words.

In English we are using Houton Mifflin.
Science is Mc Graw Hill.
Social Studies is California Vista this curriculum is standard for CA public schools.

There is not much to say about the last three, but we read them do the workbooks, activities and discuss the information. Later we may read other books and enjoy Field trips to places where we can further our education on the subjects.

Thanks for reading I just wanted to post something about our curriculum choices. We will not however be focusing our day on workbooks. I feel that curriculum has its place in home school especially when it comes to a basic knowledge which I feel essential in life but not solely obtained in a strict curriculum program.

We get all this curriculum for free provided to us by our Home Based Charter program provided to us by the state of CA. There are many Home Based Charter programs for your homeschooling needs, also see Online Home School Programs.  Home Based Charter Schools

Home Based Charter Schools

      A home based Charter is a public Charter school that offers a home based schooling program available to us in our town. They do use state curriculum and all rules apply the same as any public school. The difference is the parents not teachers or schools are in control. 

We get several curriculum choices and can use the curriculum as we see best for our child. We have an advisory teacher for support and to help us use and choose curriculum if we need it. We keep attendance and have to turn that in as well as 3 work page samples once a month, which is very easy and the requirements are very reasonable. 

Not unlike what we would have to do anyway if homeschooling privately. They also offer extra curricular classes and events which are not required but an added bonus. Our advisory teacher who is a certified teacher also home schooled her own 3 children so she knows the game! 

California is a low regulation state for home schooling see Home School Regulations.
We have chosen to use the Charter program so I wanted to give you an update on how it's all going. What are your Home School Options ?

With this program we have a advisory teacher who is available during the week and we see about once a month. She was a home school mom to her three children, they are now grown. She assist us in curriculum selection and all curriculum is provided for free from the school, as well as any other workbooks we may need. The also give us vouchers to buy school supplies at the school stores, we love this!

They offer classes for my children to attend and we love the science class at the local nature museum. At the school there is other resources, and materials for us to use as well.

I am thankful to have this program right in our town, there are many home based charter schools to choose from and you would have to check with you state to find programs like this for your family. You may also be able to use a online charter program depending on were you live but I think this is pretty widely available.

The problems with a program like this in my opinion is, we do have to use state standard curriculum for now this is fine but in the future I may not want to use a state run curriculum.

We do however get to use any curriculum we choose but we do not have the option of the state paying for it, for example a religious curriculum etc.

Starting in 2nd grade children have to participate in state testing and we do have to turn in attendance and progress records, ideally I do not like it but I understand why it is done, and it helps me to have a record of our hard work.

If you are just starting out like we were last year, then a program like this may be right for you. If you home school already I want to know about your school, do you go threw a program like ours or do something else?

Home Schooling

Hello I just wanted to post something. It has been a few weeks now in our 1st grade year, I can't say it has been organized lol! It is hard to keep on a schedule I am sure most of you would be better than me in that way. As far as the school work it is fine, my son is reading good and doing some advanced math for his age but we still do the math for his age. I want him to get all the concepts as he should for later. Anyway I hope all is well with you and family!

I hope to be back soon with some great writings about home schooling. Thanks for the support!

I have made a couple new vids on the unborn human rights channel on you tube if you would like to see them.

From Joanne

Back to School

Soon we will be officially starting school back up and we are getting ready for it I have gotten the school stuff organized and my son is excited to be a 1st grader. I told him no messing around from now on he is in big boy school no more baby school!

We made it one year and can do it again one day at a time!

I hope you all are getting ready to have a great week and weekend I will be back to post about our 1st grade year and how it is all going!

From Joanne

A Lesson For The Kids!

A month in a half ago a couple of brown doves made a nest in our patio we were delighted of course. We watched them lay eggs and they sat on them so patiently, we video taped them everyday and the kids loved it every morning we woke and checked on the birds.

When the eggs hatched we got the new born birds on tape they were so small and cute. They grew bigger and bigger everyday and we taped them. As they got bigger and ready to leave the nest they would stretch out their wings and we could tell they got more anxious from being in that little nest area all the time. I thought it was amazing how they just waited until they were ready very patiently it was so nice to see such a miracle in our own back yard great for the kids to.

This morning when I woke up they were gone, they had flown out of the nest, I didn't know were they went, I didn't know they were hanging around we kept looking for them all day to see if they were around but I didn't see them.

My kids were playing outside when our dog ran out and then I herd my six year old scream Mom angels got a bird! We ran out and told her to drop it and she did, it was one of the baby birds! She had killed it instantly with one bite! To make matters worse the other baby bird got scared and flew over the fence in the neighbors yard were they have four little dogs, the dogs weren't out and the bird disappeared so I don't know what happened to it.

Now the parents are hanging around and it seems like they are looking for the babies and don't know what is going on.

We are upset about it we watched them grow and documented it and my kids got to see this miracle take place and then this happened my kids also got to see the other side of things unfortunately that is life.

Prior to this our dog ran out one night and killed a rat with one bite!
I explained to my kids that a dog is a predator to the birds and small animals and that is just how life is.

It is still upsetting so I just wanted to share it with you sorry for the sad story!

A lesson for the kids!

We are going to bury the baby bird and say good by at least we got to see them and know them as long as we did and we get to have it on tape.

From Joanne

Comments always appreciated!

Home Schooling

It is near the end of the school year and I hope you all did well, this was our first year we learned a lot and I was surprised at how fast children learn my son did not read when we started and now has been reading at a first grade level and getting better everyday. We learned so much and had fun despite some difficulties we have had in the past year.

I also learned a lot about being patient and becoming a good teacher to my kids. This next school year I plan on being more organized and stick to our schedule better as well as getting involved in more out of home activities.

We don't plan on stopping our educational activity for the summer however we will still be working in our workbooks and reading books.

I have gotten all of my sons first grade year curriculum already so we will be getting started on that as well. Most of all this summer we want to have lots of fun and do many things because everything is a learning experience there is always so many opportunities to learn and educate ourselves and that is the focus that is why I home school.

Look for my new posts I will be posting about some great activities that we do and you and family can do as well.

Thanks for reading!

Latin Language

Home Schooling My Kids In Latin

If you read my other posts you know we are learning Latin, watch that video to see the importance of studying Latin.

Anyway I wanted to share with you about how we are doing it so if you wish you can do it to!

I would love to get the Rosetta stone program but right now it is just not going to happen and we don't have a home school lap top yet either. But I did find a great FREE program see my last post.

I am also reading Latin a Introductory Course Based on Ancient Authors
by Fredrick M. Weelock first pub 1956

It is a great book for adults to learn Latin, then I am creating flash cards so I can teach it to my Kids as well as saying the words daily as we speak and remember the words.

Basically you have to learn it then expose it to your kids daily.

The Best Way To Learn Is To Teach!

Thanks for reading I hope I can inspire you to learn a language if not Latin, I feel it is so important for brain development as well as increasing your intelligence both of which I feel strongly about.

carpe diem ( seize the day )

Learning Latin

If you read my post a while back I mentioned I am embarking on a journey of learning Latin and teaching it to my kids, I decided it would be a great gift to learn Latin and teach it to my kids. We are starting slow my kids are ages 2 and 5 but I did find some great free resources to get us started for anyone interested I also found some workbook courses for kids starting very young and it looks great I can't wait to get it for now we are making charts of basic household things and there Latin words so we can begin to learn Latin!

Latin was the universal language for 1500 years and was the peoples language and many could understand it also many other languages come from Latin, we could learn a lot about our English language by studying Latin.

So that is what we are doing it will be so worth it and not something they would teach them in public school and it will benefit them for there whole lives!

Latin Lessons Home Schooling site, To Get You Started!

Latin Online