2009 CHAP Convention

The CHAP convention is over - for this year. I look forward to it every year. It's nice to be in a building full of somewhat like-minded people.

Some of my favorite finds at the convention include:
Apologia's Exploring Creation with General Science from My Father's World
Apologia's Exploring Creation through Astronomy Notebooking Journal
Science Experiments in a Tube by Amazing Toys found at Nature's Workshop Plus
Queen Homeschool's Copywork for Girls and The Door in the Wall study guide
Chalcedon Foundation - I met Bruce N Shortt and bought his book The Harsh Truth About Public Schools

I purposefully don't take the kids to the convention with me. I need to be able to think and sometimes it's hard with them there. I see many families at the convention with well-behaved, tidy children and think, "I should have brought my kids". Then I snap back into reality. I know my limitations. Since they don't go with me, I always bring them back a little something.
The Science Experiments in a Tube were fun because the kids could do them right away. Along with these nifty little tubes, I also brought home new T-shirts from Homeschool Mania.

The convention is a time for renewal for me. Going to hear the speakers is both encouraging and inspiring. God always leadd me to just what I need to hear and I love that. I thank God for the freedom to homeschool without fear of persecution. I also thank Him for this opportunity to a front row seat to my children's learning. There is so much I would miss out on if they went to school all day. My prayer is that we are able to keep this freedom for generations to come.

Winner Announced!

The correct answer for the Giveaway is John Holt. He was a strong advocate for school reform in the 60's and 70's. I wonder what his thoughts would be on the school systems today. Hmmm.



The winner of the $10 Staples gift card has been notified.

Congratulations!



Thanks to all who participated.

Geography Club

Last Tuesday was our group's last Geography Club meeting for the year. For the last 4 months, each of the kids have been working on their End-of-the-Year Projects at home. The projects focused on some country other than the United States. All of the projects were well done and a couple of the kids even gave oral presentations.

We concluded the afternoon with the breaking of a pinata that was made by the child whose project was on Mexico.

The countries represented were:

Panama

South Korea

Greece

Uzbekistan

Egypt

Russia

Brazil

US

Hong Kong

Ireland
New Zealand

Kenya

Nigeria

Mexico

South Korea

Russia

The Pinata

Giveaway!

Can you identify this person?

Quote:
“Education – compulsory schooling, compulsory learning – is a tyranny and a crime against the human mind and spirit. Let all those escape it who can, any way they can.”

Hint:

Born in New York in 1923 and died in 1985

Another Hint:

He bacame an advocate for school reform and was a visiting teacher for the education departments at Harvard and University of California, Berkley.

Yet Another Hint:

Wrote a book in 1981 for homeschoolers called Teach Your Own.

If you can identify this person, submit his name by leaving a comment or sending an email to homeschoolmarm@yahoo.com along with your name on or before May 9, 2009. You will be entered for a drawing for a $10 Staples gift card. Winner will be announced on Monday, May 11, 2009.

Good luck!

Charlotte Mason Discussion Group

The Importance of Eating Outdoors

Considering the wonderful weather we were having, I thought it would be a nice experience to have this discussion group outside. I live in a quiet neighborhood in a small town and had images of birds chirping in the background with a nice fire going in my chimenia while we nibbled on little "finger food" type snacks that would be perfect for any picnic.

Despite my best laid plans, my neighbors who live on both sides of me decided that would be a good night to cut the grass. So much for a peaceful evening.

Chapter 37 in Karen Andreola's book A Charlotte Mason Companion was a short one, but one worth discussing.

Eating outdoors is probably one of the easiest things to do to get you started on a Charlotte Mason lifestyle. If you don't regularly eat outside, purpose to take your lunch outside to your yard (or porch or balcony) to eat once a week. Any lunch, whether you heat it up in the microwave or eat sandwiches - take them outside.
While eating outside, you will be forced to slow down a bit. Observe what is around you. Birds chirping, leaves blowing in the wind, lawn mowers next door (lol). As you observe, discuss your observations and encourage your kids to do the same. This will cause you to eat slower which is a healthful habit.

You can take a picnic anywhere. Your back yard or a park are the first places that come to mind. If you have a busy day and you must eat lunch away from home, pack it in a cooler and find a shady spot in which to eat. It may be on a bench on a busy sidewalk or on a curb in a quiet parking lot.

Once in a while, my kids and I will have an impromtu picnic. We run to the grocery store in between stops (because we have to stop and get lunch anyway) and get a bag of cheese cubes, some fruit like apples or grapes, a jar of pickles, some multi-grain rolls and some bottled water. Sometimes I will let them get the salad bar at the grocery store. Still cheaper and healthier than eating at the golden arches. We take that to a local park to eat before we are off to the next activity or errand. They love it.

The less messy the food, the more enjoyable the picnic. Our family prefers finger foods so we don't have to worry about silverware. However, picnics are the best places to eat crusty bread and have little to clean up. Just brush the crumbs onto the ground and you're good to go.

If you plan a picnic, you may take along some poetry or drawing paper and some pencils. Taking a nature journal wouldn't hurt either.

Eating outdoors is good for you. You eat more slowly and fresh air and sunshine are good for our souls. I hear that all of these things are good for our physical bodies as well. Being together in such a way is also a bonding experience with our children.

Spring Formal

Our homeschool group sponsored a spring formal this year. Actually, it's the 2nd year in a row. I am posting this draft in case anyone else out there is considering doing such a thing. It is well worth it. The original vision was to make it like a wedding reception without the wedding.


The focus of the event was to be an inexpensive evening out for families where we could put on our best clothes and have a great time. Tickets were only $1 each with a $5 cap per family for members and $3 each with a $15 cap per family for nonmembers.
This was a family event. No child could be dropped off. All kids had to be with a parent or legal guardian.


There was a dress code that nobody seemed to have a problem with. Most of the girls wore gowns this year and they looked beautiful. One girl even made her own gown as a homeschool project. No strapless gowns, or gowns that revealed bra straps. Dress length had to be below the knee. No clevage showing. No sneakers or flip flops (doesn't matter how fancy they are) Only one dad wore a tux (that would be my dear husband), but all the other dads wore jacket and tie.


Members of the homeschool group brought finger foods. We didn't have to deal with silverware and since everyone was dressed up we wanted food that wasn't so messy. This was perfect. We just had a couple of dietary needs in the group. We asked for nothing with nuts and gluten-free foods were labeled.


The parent advisor of the spring formal comittee went through great pains to listen to all the music and research lyrics to be sure nothing inappropriate was present. Music was a mix of contemporary Christian, big band era, and old country. Of course we also had the Chicken Dance, Cha-Cha Slide, Hokey-Pokey, etc. There was also a father-daughter dance and a couple of mommy-daddy dances.

DD11 and Hubby - Father/daughter dance


Some moms dressed up for the evening.


No caption is good enough for this picture. I just love it!


CHICKEN DANCE!!!!




One of the many things I love about homeschooling is the way the children learn to be with one another and it's not painful for them. This 18 year old girl had no problem dancing with these younger children at the dance. Of course, she also mingled with her teen friends during the dance, but there was no attitude of "what are those little kids doing here?" These kids all grow up together and bond in a way that is just beautiful.




Dancing the Macarena.
Note: The girl in the green dress made that dress for a homeschool project. We were all very impressed and it gave us some ideas for next year.

We did have a spring formal committee that put the whole thing together - ideas for music, deocrations, theme, etc. The committee consisted of a parent advisor, teens and preteens. They each enjoyed being a part of the event in this special way.

Homeschool Share Blast!

Homeschool Share is a website I use frequently to find unit studies and lapbook resources. The best part is that the resources on their site are FREE! (I love freebies!)

Homeschool Share is having their 2009 Blast. Check out the rules HERE to submit items in categories from Workboxes, to animal studies, lapbooks, all things preschool, the Skeleton Closet, and more! Homeschool Share is a huge site full of free resources and this is one way they add material to their site - by the efforts of creative homeschool moms who share their gifts. Of course there are also prizes as an added incentive!