February 13, 2009
Looking at Vision...
Literally and Figuratively!
For those of you who joined us in our premier issue last month - my apologies! I was so rude not to welcome you - so I'll try to "make it up" this month ;-)
Welcome...to Sparks for the Flame! I thought I'd give you some fuel for the future this month by including an article I wrote awhile back on creating a vision for your homeschool. Nothing like building a firm foundation, as my- husband-the-builder always says! I hope you enjoy it! You can see the full text here
Another way to "look at it"...
If your child likes to look at the world through a lens, you need to check out this site - these guys show you how to teach filmmaking using stop motion animation! My kids (aged 7 and 9) started doing this with their LEGOs awhile back, using an old camera we had. I wish I'd known about this then! Your kids could create an idea, write up a "script", then film and edit their creation. This can be fun and creative for your advanced elementary and middle-school kids, and definitely a high-school level elective credit. How bout presenting it at your next co-op or support group get-together? Or have them "show their stuff" at a family movie nite - complete with popcorn, of course! And presenting their creation to any remaining homeschool-resistant family members is sure to make them "believers" ;-)And your point?
Do your kids have a hard time "seeing" how they will ever use math when they grow up? A friend of mine found this neat math supplement site from the Federal Government, of all places! Money Math:Lessons for Life is a 4-lesson set of real-life math lessons for grades 7-9, although it appears that you could go up or down a few grades with some tweaking. The 86-page teacher's guide has lessons plans, activity sheets and teaching tips. Everything is downloadable right to your computer! (You can also request a hard-copy of the teacher's guide via snail-mail.) The 4 lessons cover developing a budget (using Excel), practical uses of math in a career (including figuring tax), the concept of saving (including figuring out compound interest), and the math involved in measuring and budgeting a home project. Very practical stuff, and sure to help your student "get" that conquering math really IS necessary!Do You Have a Vision for Your Home Business?
And for those of you who are in the homeschool-home business world, please do check out my work-at-home blog as well as this home-school-home-biz site. You can read a review of the home business curriculum for homeschoolers that the owner,Deb Maubach, has created. We're currently hoping to compile a "hub" of practical resources, tools and tips to help you manage your school and work time - to the success of both! Please let us know if there's something specific you're struggling with in the meantime - we'd love to help you address the issue!Pat's Book-of-the-Month...
Parents Who Love Too Muchby Jany Nelsen, Ed.D. and Cheryl Erwin, M.A.
"Actually, love is not the problem; it is the choices parents make in the name of love that are at issue, particularly since the outcome of those choices usually is not evident until it is too late to change them." p.2 Ouch!
The title of this book caught my eye because of a conversation my husband had with a family friend recently. He was bemoaning a bad attitude that was developing in his almost-teenage son. This, coming from a stable, conservative, Christian family. My husband and I later discussed our own observations and came up with some conclusions (for whatever that was worth!). This book crystalizes, develops and adds to what we talked about. Here's a peek inside:
Chapter 3. The Extremes of Loving Too Much: Permissiveness and Excessive Control
Chapter 7. Why Do Parents Keep Doing What Doesn't Work?
Chapter 8. The Essential (and Uncomfortable) Process of Weaning
Chapter 10. Healthy Loving: More of What Children Really Need
Chapter 11. Where Change Begins: Understanding Yourself as a Parent
Chapter 14. No More Excuses (at Least Hardly Ever): Kind and Firm Parenting in Action
The ultimate goals of this book are "to help you discover the answers that work for you and your children and to fulfill the dreams you have for them...to guide you toward long-range thinking in parenting...(and) to give you the confidence and skills to make choices for your children...that will help them become capable, competent, happy adults who can both enjoy and make a contribution to the world around them."p. xii
This is a great read and bound to make you a better parent if you put some of its lessons into practice. It's not a "fun" read, however, at least not for me: I recognized myself a little too much in the early chapters :-(
Of course, I took good notes, so there's always hope :-)
Click here to find out more about Parents Who Love Too Much: How Good Parents Can Learn to Love More Wisely and Develop Children of Character
Well, that's all I have for this edition! Hope you enjoyed our time together, and that you'll find these resources inspiring and helpful to your educational efforts. Have a great month...TTFN!
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