What do you do that is different, unique, out of the box, personalized to your kids or family?

[Slojo]

We live 5 miles away from our state's flagship university so we take advantage of its presence in many ways. One of the ways we do this in homeschooling is that one of our subjects for the year always follows the University's Theme Semester. Each semester the university chooses a theme semester on a big topic - special courses are linked to this topic, guest lecturers who are experts in that area are invited to the u,etc... I take a look at the upcoming planned theme semester as I plan for homeschool, and it becomes a topic we study in homeschool. This semester is about race, particularly understanding how it has been used as a social construct in the U.S. Last year was both water as a resource and a theme called "What Makes Life Worth Living?". I think up as many creative things as possible to explore the topic, both through the U's community-based programs and on our own - we, of course, explore these topics at the level that our kids can do so. For "What Makes Life Worth Living?" we explored our passions, did a little bit of Philosophy for Kids work, and saw the Olympic Ice Dance Silver Medalists in exhibition (they attended the U at the time and did a panel on what drives them to be Olympians). This year we are doing a bit more on civil rights history, did a u-based family workshop on dominant/recessive traits, and we're going to study the geneology of mom and dad (I'm African American and my husband's white).

 

We do similar things with life events (if they aren't surprises). I just had a baby 9 weeks ago, and we've incorporated the baby into our studies (and I don't mean that the older children get to change diapers). We've looked at pictures/video in utero; used the Babies documentary to discuss how babies are cared for in different cultures and how different child-rearing practices are represented as "normal" or "not normal"; we've tracked her weight growth each week; done a creative writing assignment about what each of them did in utero, jumping off from a book called "Wild, Wild Inside" - a children's book in which the baby in utero talks about all of its imaginative adventures in utero. We're going to learn sign language for babies, etc... An upcoming Bat Mitzpah (next year) will serve as a jumping off point for some study of Jewish history and culture.

 

We love board games, so we use boardgames as a jumping off point for many things - for example, we use the Candyland game board colors to determine which pieces our kids play for violin practice. We also celebrate holidays or learn about people of interest by eating the favorite foods that person enjoyed or trying an interesting hobby they once engaged in. We recently did this with Martin Luther King, eating one of his favorite meals (catfish and hushpuppies), and did the same for the presidential candidate that we (mom and dad) were supporting this election. I just like the whole idea of thinking about any person, no matter how famous, as a regular person who had favorite foods and/or has hobbies that anyone can try.

 

Everything makes our timeline (we are only in 2nd and K, so there's room). It goes up the entire wall of our staircase and we include pop cultural references, when things were invented, natural history, historical figures - just today we found out that all scorpions glow to varying extents under black light, and apparently researchers figured that out in 1969, so a picture of a glowing scorpion is going up on the timeline. Also the most recent 100 years of our timeline has pictures of family members they know by the time their were born, so they can reference modern and contemporary events against people they know (their great grandma is 98, so she serves as our "almost 100 year mark").

 

We also sometimes have Rewind Wednesdays where the kids get to redo some activity they really enjoyed even if we've moved beyond that in our schedule - usually a science demonstration.

 

This was fun to share.

[Clarkd]

Fabulous ideas Slojo

[Alte Veste Academy]

We live 5 miles away from our state's flagship university so we take advantage of its presence in many ways. One of the ways we do this in homeschooling is that one of our subjects for the year always follows the University's Theme Semester. Each semester the university chooses a theme semester on a big topic - special courses are linked to this topic, guest lecturers who are experts in that area are invited to the u,etc... I take a look at the upcoming planned theme semester as I plan for homeschool, and it becomes a topic we study in homeschool. This semester is about race, particularly understanding how it has been used as a social construct in the U.S. Last year was both water as a resource and a theme called "What Makes Life Worth Living?". I think up as many creative things as possible to explore the topic, both through the U's community-based programs and on our own - we, of course, explore these topics at the level that our kids can do so. For "What Makes Life Worth Living?" we explored our passions, did a little bit of Philosophy for Kids work, and saw the Olympic Ice Dance Silver Medalists in exhibition (they attended the U at the time and did a panel on what drives them to be Olympians). This year we are doing a bit more on civil rights history, did a u-based family workshop on dominant/recessive traits, and we're going to study the geneology of mom and dad (I'm African American and my husband's white).

 

We do similar things with life events (if they aren't surprises). I just had a baby 9 weeks ago, and we've incorporated the baby into our studies (and I don't mean that the older children get to change diapers). We've looked at pictures/video in utero; used the Babies documentary to discuss how babies are cared for in different cultures and how different child-rearing practices are represented as "normal" or "not normal"; we've tracked her weight growth each week; done a creative writing assignment about what each of them did in utero, jumping off from a book called "Wild, Wild Inside" - a children's book in which the baby in utero talks about all of its imaginative adventures in utero. We're going to learn sign language for babies, etc... An upcoming Bat Mitzpah (next year) will serve as a jumping off point for some study of Jewish history and culture.

 

We love board games, so we use boardgames as a jumping off point for many things - for example, we use the Candyland game board colors to determine which pieces our kids play for violin practice. We also celebrate holidays or learn about people of interest by eating the favorite foods that person enjoyed or trying an interesting hobby they once engaged in. We recently did this with Martin Luther King, eating one of his favorite meals (catfish and hushpuppies), and did the same for the presidential candidate that we (mom and dad) were supporting this election. I just like the whole idea of thinking about any person, no matter how famous, as a regular person who had favorite foods and/or has hobbies that anyone can try.

 

Everything makes our timeline (we are only in 2nd and K, so there's room). It goes up the entire wall of our staircase and we include pop cultural references, when things were invented, natural history, historical figures - just today we found out that all scorpions glow to varying extents under black light, and apparently researchers figured that out in 1969, so a picture of a glowing scorpion is going up on the timeline. Also the most recent 100 years of our timeline has pictures of family members they know by the time their were born, so they can reference modern and contemporary events against people they know (their great grandma is 98, so she serves as our "almost 100 year mark").

 

We also sometimes have Rewind Wednesdays where the kids get to redo some activity they really enjoyed even if we've moved beyond that in our schedule - usually a science demonstration.

 

This was fun to share.

 

 

This is really awesome stuff! Thanks for keeping my wheels turning!

[GoVanGogh]

DS would probably be considered 2e and/or gifted with a physical disability. He is also an only child. Every part of his education is out of the box/unique/personalized because I have had to find ways to work around his physical limitations. Even before we knew all the medical issues, we were working around them - teaching to his strengths while plugging along on the weaknesses. Now that we have a formal diagnosis, I am moving forward to customize his education even more.

 

I would love to be an unschooler and DS certainly has the drive to unschool successfully, but he loves the structure and routine of a school schedule. We school year-round, but allow a lot of free time in our schedule for DS to explore topics on his own. From 1st grade on, I have taken him to homeschool conventions with me and let him pick out his own school books.

 

We do about 30 or so field trips a year, including educational vacations. I plan some of our school work around field trips - ex: art studies are based off local exhibits, literature studies based off of local theater performances, etc. We live in an urban area, with many colleges, large libraries, art museums, etc. I constantly scan the paper and websites to find lectures and exhibits. I view our schooling as "community-based" instead of "home," in that regard. Yes, we do the basics at home, but all other subjects are heavily influenced and supplemented by community events.

[PachiSusan]

I only teach twice a week. The other three days are covered by me acting in character. I used to have 4 characters, but we're down to 3. The UPS guy used to think it was weird when a nun answered the door one day, then a 60s hippie chick the next day, then me, then me decked out in Doc Hudson gear...now he doesn't even flinch. ;)

 

I originally did this to entertain myself as the K and 1st grade subject matter and my intense personal style were not a good mesh. It's continued, because my kids love it, esp. when Doc Hudson or Sister Mary May I speaks humorously about their Mother. :o

 

 

I think I might appear as Kit Kitteredge one day and interview Melissa on her birthday! :)

[Mrs Twain]

Please don't throw any tomatoes--

We do the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, plus sing one or two patriotic songs. The kids take turns being the leader which involves holding the flag, leading the Pledge, and choosing the songs. I know it sounds awfully geeky, but it is actually very fun and a cheerful way to start the day.

One reason we do this is due to my hallucinations that perhaps someday one of my kids will get elected governor or president, and then it would be discovered that he/she didn't know how to say the Pledge of Allegiance. It would become national news that he/she was homeschooled and the mother didn't teach important things like that...

[SorrelZG]

Mrs Twain, those are the kinds of things I would worry about, too. lol My oldest knows the pledge of allegiance and got to recite it at his mother's naturalization ceremony. :)

[woolybear]

I completely forgot about this. Mrs. Toodle used to teach here. I'm not sure where she's been....on sabbatical, maybe? Anyway, she had an accent--kind of Russian-ish. Forgive me if I offend anyone with this, though my family did come from Russia. She wore glases and was a very typical teacher. Sometimes she got a little goofy and weird. Occasionally someone else showed up. Mrs. Toodle used to appear sometimes when we were driving somewhere. The kids loved it, until one day they didn't. I think maybe her feelings got hurt and that's why she hasn't been around. I think I'll have her come in as a substitute one day next week. I bet they'd be glad to have her back instead of grumpy old mommy.

 

Other than that, I don't know that we do anything particularly unique. Hmmmm....let's see...

I'm going to start doing Friday Films. I want to find good books that have been made into movies (hopefully more than once.) Then we will read the book, watch the movie(s) and compare them. We will discuss the differences, what can and can't be done in each format, etc. I thought it might be fun to do a blog review from each of us on the books and movies.

 

 

=

[joannqn]

My husband pauses movies anytime they do not understand something or when he thinks it is something they need to know. If they know, he moves on. During tonight's movie, he paused it about 5 times to explain how discipline used to be in earlier years in schools, what a Centenial meant, and a few other times that they knew what various terms/concepts were.

 

I do this, especially on movies chosen to go with school. Sometimes I go on very long tangents.

[Mrs Twain]

Mrs Twain, those are the kinds of things I would worry about, too. lol My oldest knows the pledge of allegiance and got to recite it at his mother's naturalization ceremony. :)

 

 

Glad to hear that! I am sure it was an experience you will always remember.

[Shmead]

My son is 15 months, but my husband, who is a SAHD, speaks to him exclusively in Latin, and has since he was born. He's not saying much in either language yet, but his comprehension in both is equal. The plan is to home school as much as possible in Latin, and add in a modern language where WTM would start Latin.