dangermom Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I'm finding that I'm a little surprised at the stuff I will do for homeschooling. This year I have: 1. Agreed to raise chicks in my living room for 2 months. 2. Dissected a shark (dead shark + formalin = terrible smell). 3. Kept homeschooling even though I now have a part-time job too, which is during prime schooling time. (I know some of you have done that for a long time, but it's been an adjustment for me.) We also have a set of mammal organs to dissect soon! I never dissected anything in my whole life before this year. And I'm not really an animal person and keeping chicks is not my thing, even though they're cute. On the bright side, now that I've smelled a shark they don't smell so bad... What have you done this year that you would not have thought you'd do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Start an entire pumpkin patch in my living room (this was partly major bad planning on my part.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mesa Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 (edited) Took up drinking... ok only kidding. March is a bad month for homeschooling around here lol I've switched my curriculum twice... yep I'm now moving on to my 3rd choice curric to see if it'll get the job done. I'm not stupid... I know nothing is perfect... but come on! How can I have found so many flops this year! So I bought a year subscription to K12's online school... and I'm sticking with this. My dh even said he'll take me on a vacation away for our anniversary (we've never gone anywhere for our anniversary and this will be our 14th!) AFTER our school year is completed with K12. I should finish k12 a week before our anniversary, this will be the inspiration I need to keep going. Edited March 11, 2011 by Mesa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiMomNP Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 I enrolled my son in Seton and am using their program exclusively. I never thought I would go back to an "open and go" curriculum. I do wish I had known about Seton two years ago and wish we had started with them from day one. I feel so much better. I'm getting more studying done, my house is clean, the boy hardly complains a lick about the work and my DH is thrilled that it is rigorous and very catholic. I feel at peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Another Jen Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I enrolled my son in Seton and am using their program exclusively. I never thought I would go back to an "open and go" curriculum. I do wish I had known about Seton two years ago and wish we had started with them from day one. I feel so much better. I'm getting more studying done, my house is clean, the boy hardly complains a lick about the work and my DH is thrilled that it is rigorous and very catholic. I feel at peace. My two youngest are now enrolled in Seton also. It is a lot more restful to just open and go. Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Finally enrolled one in K12 through a public charter. I can't complain, and will probably enroll the rest. It has been no where near as rigorous or time-consuming as I had feared. We have had plenty of time to pursue some other curriculum (afterschooling, I guess) and we will continue to school year round when K12 finishes for the year in May, using other curriculum. I do like getting so much in the way of books and things from the school for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 Finally enrolled one in K12 through a public charter. A couple of years ago I never would have thought I would enroll in a charter. I love my charter. We can afford...well, sharks to dissect, for one thing. All kinds of stuff we never could have gotten. I don't think we could even have continued homeschooling without it, TBH. (Ours doesn't have a specific curriculum; you pretty much do what you want, within certain limits, which are very minimal.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I added Miquon Math. :scared: We've been using Singapore and supplement with CLE Math. I'm dropping CLE Math and just focusing on Singapore and Miquon. Is that the kind of unexpected stuff you're looking for or are we just total nerds? :tongue_smilie: Like Jean's living room pumpkin patch, we're also growing strawberries, carrots, tomatoes and green peppers in containers...in our kitchen. :D I figure it's just a matter of time before the authorities show up. "What's growing in there?!" "They're strawberries, Officer. And we homeschool." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 I added Miquon Math. :scared: We've been using Singapore and supplement with CLE Math. I'm dropping CLE Math and just focusing on Singapore and Miquon. Is that the kind of unexpected stuff you're looking for or are we just total nerds? :tongue_smilie: :D Yes, that totally counts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 The biggest unexpected thing is that fact that I'm still doing it... and I'm planning for next year... I expected to homeschool DS through the end of 2nd grade and send him back to PS yet here I am planning for DS's 4th grade and DD's kindergarten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiberdrunk Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 We got a dozen Ameraucana chicken eggs and incubated them. They hatched at the beginning of this month. February/March are hard months to get through, but this little hands-on project really helped us to get through it this year. We'll be building the coop next. Great project for homeschooling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 We're on break, so I don't know if this counts as being done for HS, but we're building the Empire State building! Previously we've built the capitol building, and the entire world (globe). We love 3-D puzzles and you can find them for almost nothing at garage sales - often in unopened boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbaby Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Hosting 17 kids for a geography group every other Monday. The fact that it often involves paint, glitter, glue sticks, food, etc. makes it even more crazy. I have had to train myself not to stress over the mess and enjoy having a group of great kids getting together, having fun, and learning (at my carpets expense!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 A good friend has eggs. If they turn out well, we will have chicks for a bit until we return them to the farm. We are also growing beans. Mostly, we are boring and our projects include the normal things like snap circuits, dropping eggs, shooting rockets, etc. But, I still want to know what Heather had in her garage that made the neighbors make her stop so we can do something really exciting in our garage, too. :lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Drove from NY to Florida to see the Shuttle take off.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Chicks in your LIVING ROOM? Oh my! I can't even imagine! Of course, when we raise chicks, we raise 40-70 at a time and I bet that contributes to the smell! LOL (oh...and we live on a farm, so chickens are the norm around here...but NOT in the living room. haha) Mostly I am surprised by the amount of "extras" I do for my kids and how much money i end up spending/time I spend traveling. We do Science labs all the time (let those folks have the dead animals for dissection...not me), take co-op classes, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 I am surprised when I wrote down what my Ker 6.2 is doing this year in another post. I am surprised that I do find time to do AAS 3, WWE1, FLL2, and SM 2A plus IP and CWP with him, plus Liping Ma Chinese 1. We are even doing two art programs: Artistic Pursuit k-3 2 and Draw Squad. He loves them a lot and asks to do WWE 1 every day and art every day. I also can't believe how well he does GSWL after SSL. He retains much more than his older brother (8.2). Right now they are both doing Draw Squad with the video I got from the library. His drawing skill improved so much after just half of one Draw Squad lesson that his Sunday school teacher asked him about it. I have to relax more about him and slow down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 1. Having ds take a Florida Virtual School class. He tried it last year and it really didn't seem to fit with our homeschool style. It might have just been the class or the teacher though, because he's enjoying his Career Education class and is doing well in it. The one we tried previously was an art class (he loves art). 2. Sitting for hours at dog agility trials waiting for ds' trial time. We'd never been to an agility trial until he decided he wanted to be a Junior Handler. He had been taking classes for about a year and a half when he entered his first trial. We had no idea there was so much sitting around and waiting. We've learned to bring food and drinks and something to read! We're either very boring or very secure in what we're doing, because I had to think hard to come up with an answer to this question. Sadly, I think boring is probably the more correct description. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 There are two button quail in a hamster cage in my son's room - and we're not even studying biology this year.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Chicks in your LIVING ROOM? Oh my! I can't even imagine! Of course, when we raise chicks, we raise 40-70 at a time and I bet that contributes to the smell! LOL (oh...and we live on a farm, so chickens are the norm around here...but NOT in the living room. haha) I know! Yes, they are in my living room! There are only 8, and the living room is not carpeted. But it's been unusually cold and rainy this year, so we can't have the windows open and the chickens out on the lawn as much as I planned...so it is getting a little chickeny in the house at times. :ack2: Sometimes they're so loud we can't sit and relax in the living room! :glare: They're kind of cute, though. And one was named Meg and is turning out to be a boy, so now he's Megatron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RahRah Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Agreed to be a Den Leader for cub scouts...DS is the only homeschooled kid, youngest in the den, and none of the parents at the 'get to know scouting' night stepped up, so I did. Some of the parents in our den were a bit reluctant when they learned I was HS'ing DS - but they're all now happy since our den was first done with their badges and lead the pack for belt loops and pins (any wonder, considering we have tons of cool stuff to do lots of projects and learn stuff!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 I let my ds drop Spanish and take Japanese instead! He wants to be a game programmer and his hero Shigeru Myamoto is Japanese. To think, I picked Spanish because he is Autistic Spectrum and had such a hard time learning English, I wanted an easy language for him. So much for my plans:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Scrap my plans entirely and switch to a learning contract system in which I give them a list of their learning goals and deadlines (a month at a time) and let them loose. Once they pass those goals, they are free to complete independent study projects of their choice during the subject's assigned time slot. This plan is in the process of being implemented as I can write up learning contracts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidlit Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 (edited) Nurse a baby and teach 1st grade math, all at the same time. :tongue_smilie: ETA: Oh, I forgot: nurse a baby, answer a persistent 5 year old's questions, and teach 1st grade math, all at the same time. Edited March 15, 2011 by hopeistheword Forgot something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbaby Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Oh, oh wait! I have to add another. We bought two pet Alpacas. They live in our backyard. In our subdivision:). We thought it would be a great hands on experience for the kids. Turned out to be a hands on experience for dh and me! But, we love 'em!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom22greatkids Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Drove from NY to Florida to see the Shuttle take off.:D Wow! And I thought we were doing well by watching it live on the computer! You're an awesome mom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koerarmoca Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 mostly just that we are deciding to HS again :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Nurse a baby and teach 1st grade math, all at the same time. :tongue_smilie: ETA: Oh, I forgot: nurse a baby, answer a persistent 5 year old's questions, and teach 1st grade math, all at the same time. That is some juggling act!:001_smile::001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freerange Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Drove across the country (yeah, I know its not that big!) to go to the UK Maker Faire.:auto: Experimented with various forms of timetable, checklists, workboxes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidlit Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 That is some juggling act!:001_smile::001_smile: Some days I manage okay--other days (like today), I don't. :willy_nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theYoungerMrsWarde Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 And one was named Meg and is turning out to be a boy, so now he's Megatron. :lol::lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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