New School Year Preparations

My regular readers know that we homeschool our two children.  What some may not know is that doesn't mean we stay home and fill out workbooks all day.  In fact, I try to have at least one "fun" learning day a week.  I've found my kids learn better by doing and seeing things, so we try to fit in lots of field trips and hands on experiences.  We also try to get together with another family once a week for science and history.  This allows us to do some things that really only work well in larger groups. 

And right now, I'm also preparing for next year.  Already, you ask?  Yep.  You see, next year my oldest will be in 6th grade.  In my book, that's a big deal.  That means he only has 3 years to figure things out (studying habits, test taking skills, etc) before everything he does will be under a microscope by college admissions employees.

Yes, my son is 7 years away from college, but something I've learned recently is that you need to start planning when they are in middle school.  Say, what?!?  I was surprised when I heard that too, but I can say that I've begun to live it, and it's SO true.  And for those of you that don't homeschool, this applies to you too.

I realize that not all kids will know what they "want to be when they grow up" by 6th grade.  But by 6th grade, I'm sure you know some things your child will NOT be.  For example, I know neither of my children will be athletes.  I played sports through high school and LOVED it.  My kids could care less.

So what is a parent to do with the information you have?  Help them start figuring out what they DO want to be.  That means giving them opportunities to try different things they say they are interested in.  That doesn't mean letting them try a class and then give up.  It may be they went on the one day a substitute was teaching.  I've found you need to go at least twice but maybe even a month.  When my kids asked to take karate, I told them they had to commit to a full quarter before they could decide.  At the end of the quarter they both decided the were no longer interested, but I was happy because at least they'd given it a good try.

My friends, Jenni & Jody came out with an eBook a few months ago titled 7 Easy Steps to Writing a High School Transcript.  It is full of a treasure trove of information.  To see more information or to purchase click here.  To get a summary and see the part I've done, click on this link to their blog. 

Luckily for me, I have a pretty good idea of what my son would like to pursue.  He's been telling me for years that he wants to build robots.  We don't know exactly what type of robot but we know he enjoys the mechanical, electrical, as well as programming involved in robotics.  That means I have a rough idea of what degree he will need to obtain (some form of engineering is a safe bet).

So what I've done is called 6 different colleges that offer the type of program he would be likely to pursue.  My goal with calling them was to find out what their minimum requirements were (specifically science and math since he's going into such a heavy science / math field).  And it's a good thing I called 6 of them too, because for the most part they all told me the same thing: physics and chemistry as lab sciences.  Where things differed was the math.  The first couple told me pre-calculus but a few said calculus.  So next year (6th grade), my son is going to be taking pre-algebra.  That will put him one year ahead of the schedule he needs, but that way he has an extra year if he encounters a class that he has trouble with.

I also learned that grades are important, but so are extra curriculars.  And not in the way I thought.  I've been hearing quite a few high school parents mentioning the phrase "volunteer hours for college" lately.  I learned that some colleges like to see that kids are willing to help others, but the schools I talked to were more interested in seeing that my son participated in a few (or even one) extra curricular(s) as long as he kept doing it.  They want to see a passion that he's pursuing.  That doesn't mean he can't stop something and pick up something new.  They just want a way to prove he's found what he wants to pursue because someone that really enjoys what they are doing, tends to work hard and do well.

Next year is going to be a bit of a tough one for my son.  He's going to be attending a co-op (a group class) so that he gets used to the idea of someone else being his teacher.  He's also going to be required to take on more responsibilities when it comes to making sure he gets his work done.  After all, I'd rather he fall on his face in middle school than in high school when it matters so much more.

What do I think this will accomplish?  My prayer is that it will prepare him to pursue and excel at the dream he's had for years... to build robots.

And I'll admit it, the selfish part of me wants him to build me a modern day Rosie.

Finding the Right Fit

My regular readers know that my family homeschools.  We started homeschooling right after my son finished kindergarten.  We were in a very transitional time for our family with lots of moving and traveling and even the prospect of moving overseas.  We didn't want our kids school-hopping and figured that once we settled somewhere, we would enroll our kids in a school nearby  (most likely private but we weren't sure).  Well, three years later we are still homeschooling and it's really working for our family.

Why?  Because it's allowed us to help focus on our kids strengths.  It's allowing us to help our kids figure out NOW "what they want to be when they grow up."  That allows us the flexibility to tailor our days in such a way that we spend time working on things that will help our kids in their future career.  Our children are 9 and 7 so we realize that things may change.  And for our 7 year old her dreams for the future have changed somewhat.  But for our 9 year old, he's only become more sure of what he wants to do.

Our 9 year old wants to build and program robots.  And with the help of his father he's already working on that.  So what does one need to learn to do that?  Programming skills of course, but also how electronics work.  So what have we done?  We allow him to dismantle broken electronics and try to fix them or find alternative uses for them.  In fact, one of his favorite things to do is go yard saling with his dad looking for electronics things that he can use for parts.  I'll have a post in a couple days with some of the things he's done lately (My mind has been blown by some of the things he's done, I'm sure yours will be too).

Son watching Daddy fix the air conditioner (he's always watching Daddy and learning)

And what about our daughter?  Well, for a long time she wanted to be a vet.  So we started to foster kittens.  The thought was that she would learn what it's like to take care of an animal.  Fall in love with it.  And then have to give it to someone else.  The fostering process has taught her though that perhaps being a vet isn't the right fit for her (oddly enough because she doesn't like to clean up after animals).  So now she's thinking about becoming an animal trainer or an animal photographer. 

We are still fostering kittens and she gets to help mold their behavior (you know keep them from jumping on the counters and making them more friendly) and she's also taking pictures with a camera we gave her for Christmas.  She is very crafty, so secretly I'm thinking the photographer route might be her thing (as in going to the safari and trying to take pictures of animals for National Geographic and such) but I'm not trying to push anything at this point.

This cat came to us feral at 7 or 8 weeks old and hadn't been handled by a human.  She LOVES my daughter

One of the things that's helped my family with this sort of thing the most is that when we moved to Florida we ended up connecting with a homeschool group.  The women who lead this group have a heart for children like you wouldn't believe.  Not just homeschooled children but all children.  Their catch phrases are "Raising leaders from cradle to college & parenting with the end result in mind." 

Jenni and Jody are awesome ladies and have 9 children between them, ranging in age from 26 down to 2 years old.  One of them has a child who recently passed the bar and is now a lawyer and one has a child that is autistic, so they've definitely been there done that and experienced just about everything in between.

They also have a website http://www.jenniandjody.com/ where they regularly post blog articles about all kinds of parenting topics.  They have a radio show on Saturday's that are also released on their website as pod casts for those who aren't local.  And they are also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jenniandjody

Do yourself a favor and at least look at their website or Facebook page.  If you like what you see, follow them.  That way you will see all their new articles and any other interesting news from them (a book is in the works, as are conferences).  Hopefully they can help your family like they've helped mine.

Fun, Homeschool Style

I recently participated in a homeschool swap (coordinated by The Homeschool Post).  The idea behind the swap is for homeschoolers to connect with other homeschoolers in such a way as to help support them (through prayer and ideas) as well as to send them a small care package that will help them with their homeschooling journey.

My swap partner was Michelle.  She is a homeschool mom of 3 in Arizona.  She happens to have a blog that I am now a religious follower of; she used to be a kindergarten teacher, but then decided to stay at home with her kids.  I have been able to get so many great ideas from her blog (as well as some emails we've exchanged).

When signing up for the swap you are asked a few questions about your homeschooling style, personal style, etc.  In my answers I put that some of our families favorite supplies are construction paper and tape.  Guess what, Michelle sent me construction paper and tape including a nice dispenser that makes it hard for the kids to lose (something they do quite often with disposable tape dispensers).  She also gave me some food goodies (yum!).  See the pic below of what I pulled out of the box. 

One thing you will not see is a gift code she emailed to me so that I could purchase a software package.  It is a digital scrapbooking program. She had mentioned it on her blog and it sounded great to me. I love crafty things and a part of me loves the idea of putting pictures in a scrapbook.  That said, our household doesn't tend to go to print on photos.  Hubby's family had a house fire when he was little and they have a gap in their family photos because of it, so we go digital and store a copy of them off-site.

I figured this software would allow me to arrange the pictures like a scrapbook, while still keeping it digital.  I've decided my first project will be to create a scrapbook of my son's creations.   Here's the beginning (there are lots of pics to sort through so I haven't gotten any further than this).

 

Thanks Michelle!  You did a great job picking things for me and my family.  I think you've created a monster when it comes to the digital scrapbooking too.  :-)