Family Time Line

Originally published in the Sentinel on 6 June 2005

I love timelines. Looking at timelines can broaden our perspective, help us see new relationships between events and give us a sense of order. Making a family timeline is a great family project. Here is one way:

Start by brainstorming events that have happened in your lifetime. On a piece of paper, list births, marriages, graduations, family vacations, moves, accidents, or dramatic events that have happened in your lifetime. (You may want to browse through your scrapbooks to help jog your memory!)

Take pieces of paper and tape them together horizontally. Draw a long black line through the middle. Determine your furthest date back in time, and start there. Decide how many years you want to cover, and mark the years proportionately. (JJ's timeline of his life so far was 8 pages, and he is only 8).

Write the events and where the event happened on your timeline in the appropriate year. Post your timeline, because you will remember more events. You will also find that some years were busier than others! This is your "Sloppy Copy" so don't worry if it gets a little messy, or if you have to add another piece of paper in the middle of your timeline.

Photos can be added to help highlight some of the events on your timeline.

After you have added all your events in the correct time and place - you can make your final copy.

Variations:

We made a timeline of my husband's great-grandmother, highlighting the service she gave over the last century. We added when she was born, was married, and died, and also when she gave birth to all 13 children. We then added military service, marriages and births of children and grandchildren, etc.

For fun, we added a timeline of world events, church events, and famous inventions. The timeline was 44 feet long and covered a whole side of a room! (We also noted that the washing machine was not invented until her 13 children were out of diapers!) It was very fun to put life into perspective and see what a single family could accomplish in a century's time!

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Kari

The Foundation for a House of Learning... part 1

We have had reader requests for an article (or two) about how to use the scriptures in our homeschools. After talking to people who homeschool across the country about what has worked for them and what resources they have used, I have decided that this really falls in to two different categories. This month I will cover daily devotional and the early years of scripture studies. These are not all my ideas, and I certainly don’t claim to have superior knowledge, but I do know lots of people with ideas and experience.

There are many ways families choose to do their Devotionals. Most of the homeschoolers that I know feel strongly that this is an important part of their school day. But there are as many ways to do Devotionals as there are families. Most do their Devotionals in the mornings, but a few choose evenings because it fits their family schedule better. What is included in Devotional varies from family to family as well. For my family it varies from year to year and depends on what we are studying, the ages of my children and whether I have a new baby or toddlers.

Some families sing a hymn that they learn through the week (or month),  then recite the Pledge of Allegiance and  their family mission statement before they start to read the scriptures.  Others just read and pray. A few practice memorizing poetry or scriptures.

The choice of the book of scripture varies with families as well. Some just read the Book of Mormon, others read through the standard works without caring how long it takes, just as long as they are reading. Others follow the outline of the Sunday School lessons. A fourth option is to read what their children are reading in Seminary. What is most important is that we are reading and discussing the scriptures with our children.

Once the scriptures are read some families take the time to read a family book since everyone is together. Our family has read classics, books about the founding fathers, or books that are part of our history studies. We just enjoy books.

Parents sometimes struggle with juggling their teens reading of Sunday School lessons, Seminary reading schedule and personal time reading the Book of Mormon. It is a bit of a juggle, but it can be done. One thing to keep in mind is time spent reading the scriptures is never wasted. If we are raising a generation of scripture scholars who know the scriptures in their hearts and in their minds then personal scripture reading has to be part of their school day. Setting the patterns early makes this an easier transition, but even starting the habit with older kids is beneficial.

Some seminary students split their reading time, spending 15 minutes reading from the Seminary reading, then 15 minutes reading the Book of Mormon. Others read the Seminary reading in the morning, then the Book of Mormon before bed. Life is certainly easier the years they are studying the Book of Mormon in Seminary! Others listen to the scriptures on CD or Mp3 while they do other things.

What do you do with little ones?  I have learned that just having my youngest ones “hang around” while we do Devotional is not enough. They need their own personal scripture study too. The Scripture Readers are perfect. They are short, visual and easy to have the little one tell the story back to you.  Reading the Friend together and using the Gospel Pictures to read and have them recite back the stories are other ideas that have worked for me.

Once my children are a little older and starting to want to read I love using “The Storied Scriptures” by Penny Gardner. She went through the scriptures and referenced all the stories in the scriptures which make it easy to read with or to your elementary aged child. They are available at www.schoolofabraham.com . The year my children are turning 8 we read and mark a Book of Mormon with all the stories.  As we read we talk about the scriptures and principles the contain. I know that when they are baptized they know why they are being baptized and what is in the Book of Mormon.  It is also great one on one time.

For personal studies I have my older elementary children read the Scripture Readers out loud to younger siblings, and also do their own personal reading using the Storied Scriptures. As they get older they ease into reading the scriptures in less structured ways.

The most important thing we can do is to have our children immersed in the scriptures daily and as deeply as their minds and hearts are ready. The world is moving quickly to a morally challenging place that will try the souls of our children. The best protection is early and profound engagement in the scriptures to help them develop strong, steadfast testimonies that will survive the teen years and the world around them. It is never too early to start!

Next month we will talk about how to make the gospel a part of your learning throughout the day and list some resources that help make the job a little easier. We will also touch on some ideas for teens.
 

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Dana

Circling the Wagons

by Doreen Blanding

Much has been written about homeschooling a challenging child or a child with special needs but little has been written about how to homeschool when you, the parent, are the one with the 'special needs'. I never intended to be an expert on that subject but now life has thrown our family a curve ball and I find myself in that very position.

When our family studied the Western Expansion I never realized just how some of the principles and practices which kept a wagon train safe while it was crossing the continent might someday apply to our own family. Every day they did three very important things: they would circle the wagons at night (or at any time they needed for protection and safety); once safely gathered in, they would hold a council to assess their needs and desires and formulate a plan; then they would put their plan in action, adjusting as needed.  The wagon companies that followed these three vital, yet simple steps usually made it to their destination. It didn't take the hardship out of the journey, but it made them better prepared for any danger or hardship that might arise. 

Just like those wagon trains that traveled across the plains, our family has started a grand adventure full of mishaps, trials and hardships. Our family has recently needed to "circle the wagons".  In August of 2009 I was diagnosis with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  That night my husband and I circled our wagons and counseled with each other on how we should move forward. We knew we couldn't do it alone. We would need the help of our children. When we had gathered all the information we needed, we presented the plan to our children in a council and then put the plan in action.  Like the pioneers, we used the same three simple steps: we circled the wagons, we assessed our needs and we moved forward with a plan.

Circle the Wagons:

Any time a company of pioneers would stop for an extended time they would park their wagons in a circle for safety. When the doctor told me I had cancer, my first thoughts were of my family. I wanted my family to circle around me and envelope me in their love and arms. So that night after my diagnosis that's what we did. It was one of the most difficult family councils we have ever had. I found a few things interesting. First, our family was united and they rallied around me. Second, my kids quickly thought of the unit we had just completed on biology and chemistry.  They were quick with questions and answers as we discussed what cancer was. But the most interesting thing I learned in that council was that we had forged loving bonds that were going to get us through this. I found great comfort and a feeling of safety during one of the most difficult times of my life.

This wasn't last time we would circle the wagons. We counseled together often. During those times we discussed and strategized how we were going to continue to accomplish our goals. 

Assess Needs:

Our family is not a stranger to family councils. We have been holding them weekly for at least a decade. We discuss anything and everything. We had already spent many councils during the summer discussing what topics we wanted to study during the school year. I had already purchased materials and had begun planning lessons. The kids were excited about the course of study we were going do be following. Now, after much discussion, it was decided that we would stay the course of homeschooling.  We didn't know what treatment would be like since the prescribed course of treatment would be flexible and fluid.  We needed to strategize about how we were going to handle any surprises we might encounter during this journey.

After much discussion, it was agreed that since our course could be changed at a moment's notice, we would all need to be flexible and adjust our attitudes so we could stay positive.  We also agreed that at any time we could hold a family council or a student conference if a member of the family didn't think what we were doing was working. We agreed that we would revisit our decisions as often as needed so that we could continue to homeschool our family.  We also agreed that at any moment we as parents could put forth the option of sending our children to public school and as parents we hold the final decision. Thankfully all of our children were in agreement.

We have had a few revisions to our original plan and we've also made some minor changes to the method of schooling as my treatments have depleted my energy.  We even had to do a last minute unit change, as it wasn't discovered until the last minute that the Botany unit we were preparing to do in the spring would actually be dangerous to my health.  We convened an emergency family council and decided that we would study weather instead. When chemotherapy started we once again adjusted how we were schooling as my energy was even more sapped.  Because we had all agreed that flexibility and adjustment were going to be necessary, we were able to make these changes in short order and press forward.

Move Forward With A Plan:

Every day the wagon trains moved forward moving ever closer to their destination.  We also take each day at a time and move forward towards our goal.  There are days when it seems that we only get a mile or two further down the trail and other days we seem to travel much farther. We have learned that we must press forward every day. We have set a bare minimum, we do our best to accomplish that and celebrate when we are able to do more. 

This is truly the hardest part of the journey: every day putting one foot in front of the other and pressing forward.  We are making progress and we see that over the past year we have made great strides.  We see that we have learned a lot about education, medicine, health, and living together as a family.  We see that, with hard work, every day we are making progress towards our goal. 

Our journey is not finished.  My treatment isn't over yet and I may be fighting this the rest of my life but we have learned how to managed the family through this crisis.

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Doreen

Rev Up and Wrap Up!

by Kristen Jenson

This article was originally published in The Sentinel on May 9th 2005.

The first time I planned a "wrap up" event, I did it more to give myself a deadline than anything else. We were studying the medieval period and it just kept going and going. Would we ever get on to the Renaissance? At that rate, we'd never get to Shakespeare and we had tickets to the Cedar City Festival in July! So I planned a Medieval Feast and invited some willing friends to participate. It was fun researching the menu and coming together to eat it. Even though we had not learned everything that occurred from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Black Death, WE WERE DONE!

Since then, I've realized that events not only give us a good impetus to move on, but they can be a real celebration of what we've learned and accomplished. Furthermore, our children learn even more in the process of planning an event and carrying it out. These milestones can become treasured memories and rev up our homeschooling curriculum. Here are two events we've put on to wrap up units of study in history and literature.

A Dickens's Christmas Dinner

After studying Charles Dickens and his Christmas stories, we held a dinner in his honor and invited some friends to join us. We studied up on the history of Christmas traditions using several books from the library--how fascinating it was to learn how over the years Christmas went from a wild public party to a family celebration as illustrated in Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

We built a cone-shaped centerpiece that any Victorian would have been proud of, covered in fruits and nuts and topped with a pineapple for our table. To add to the authenticity, we set the table with store bought poppers that did a good job of popping when opened! We also made little cones out of white paper doilies, filled them with candy and hung them on our Christmas tree as treats for our guests.

After our "prize turkey" dinner complete with plum pudding and trifle, we played some "parlor games" including The Minister's Cat and Up Jenkins! The finale of the evening was watching A Christmas Carol on DVD. My daughters feel that preparing for this dinner helped them to learn a lot about how our modern Christmas traditions came to be (and my older daughter learned how to roast a turkey!).

Poetry Jam

After studying poetry for three weeks, we ended with a fun Poetry Jam. We invited several other homeschooling families and all enjoyed reciting and reading poetry. It was helpful for my daughters to have a memorization deadline. They also put together poetry notebooks which included the poems they had written and poetry from each author we had studied.

Ideas for these fun wrap-up events are limitless. What are you studying now and how could you wrap it up? A Mini Science Expo to show off interesting experiments or contraptions? A Math Mania night to explore all kinds of fascinating math phenomenon and games? A Tour of China (or wherever) to highlight all you've learned about a particular country of culture? A couple of these per year will really add sparkle as well as depth to your homeschooling and create long- lasting memories for your children.

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on our Contact page. Thanks!

Let Their Light Shine!

When my third son was 10 months old a friend suggested we take him to a physical therapist because he didn’t crawl. After several weeks of therapy he finally crawled but he refused to walk; after more therapy he finally walked at 16 months. The therapist continued to work on his other large motor skills but was concerned because he didn’t talk. So when he was two-and-a-half we finally took him to a speech therapist. After a couple of years of speech therapy his speech was only a few months delayed, but he couldn’t remember directions or how to spell his name, and he often seemed  not to hear us at all. Because his hearing tested normal we went to a behavioral therapist, a tutor, and a vision therapist. Diagnosis and labels abounded: Auditory Processing Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, Dyslexia, Developmental Delay. I studied, met with therapists, worried and fretted but no one seemed to know exactly what to make of this child. One day as I relayed some of my fears to a friend, she looked at Spencer playing quietly on the floor and simply said, “Maybe he’s just getting ready to make a difference in the world.”

  
Suddenly my perspective dramatically shifted and instead of seeing a broken child in need of repair, I saw a beautiful, intelligent child, slowly, carefully preparing for the life ahead of him. When I was finally able to let go of my image of what he “should be” and see him for who he is, I was truly amazed by this precious child of God. Instead of obsessing about his weaknesses I discovered his unique talents. By the time he was 5 he could beat me hands down at Connect 4, he tells long and complicated stories to his little sister that carry on for days, he draws with remarkable attention to detail and perspective and he can build amazing structures out of almost anything. Spencer will be 8 this fall and he is just starting to read, he doesn’t do written math yet. But last week he built the 5 stages of an imaginary animal’s life cycle out of Zoobs, his favorite games are chess, Othello and SET and he loves to listen to poetry and C.S. Lewis.

My biggest regret with Spencer is that it took me so long to accept him for who he is. He is so smart, creative and loving. I wish that I had allowed myself to enjoy him more over the years instead of worrying so much.  In Matthew 5:15 it says “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” How sad that I spent so many years hiding his light under my bushel of expectations; expectations about how and when he should develop and about him reaching appropriate “educational markers”.

Every one of our children is a child of God and we have to trust that He has a very special plan for each of them. We should be more concerned about helping them become the people he wants them to become than we are about “grade expectations”. Some types of therapy can be beneficial for a child and labels can often help us understand the issues we’re dealing with, but it’s important to turn to the Lord first and trust in his guiding wisdom. I have to admit that I still have days when the worry creeps in, but when I take a step back and allow my son’s light to shine, it is bright enough to light up our whole house!

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Lisa

Summer Service Circus

Every July the terrific folks in my neighborhood and ward pull together to give the children a constructive summer activity that not only gives them something fun do to, but it helps others as well.  It’s called the Nibley Neighborhood Circus.

Flyers go out alerting everyone to the initial meeting.  All children in our ward boundaries (we live in a small Utah town, so the boundaries aren’t very big) are invited to participate in a pretend circus that will be performed in a large yard for whatever crowd can be gathered.  Kids choose to be tightrope walkers (walking over a low wooden beam with an umbrella); strongmen (wearing superhero costumes stuffed with balloons or newspaper and carrying Styrofoam barbells); barrel riders (on stick horses); lions, tigers, or tamers; clowns; acrobats; any circus act you can come up with and get creative with. 

For the next few days, acts are created and choreographed to music by older children.  Mothers oversee, and help keep younger children where they need to be, but pretty much leave the creative process to the kids.  Songs are learned for the opening and closing numbers, which include everyone all together.  The kids then practice the show for a couple of mornings while moms pool resources to gather and make costumes.

The Young Women begin gathering donations for the concessions that they’ll sell during the show, and build a concessions stand.  Families share anything from packaged candy to home baked goodies, to the harvests from their gardens.  Connections and generous donations yield popcorn and cotton candy makers, as well as a sound system.  

Flyers go out again to advertise the circus performance.  It’s a bring-your-own-chair event on the lawn, with a 50-cent admission.  Rings are painted in the grass, Christmas lights mark the stage, murals are colored and taped to the fence. 

A large crowd of parents, grandparents, and friends and neighbors in the community arrive to see the circus that’s come to town. The show attracts members and non-members alike, both as performers and audience.  Neighbors with no children at home come to watch.  Families who couldn’t schedule coming to practices still come to watch their friends.  And through admission and concessions, money is raised for phase 2 of the project.

When the music fades and the yard is cleared out, groups of these children head to the back-to-school sales and purchase school supplies with the money earned.  Mothers and daughters sew school bags.  The supplies are put in the school bags and then sent to the Church’s Humanitarian Center to be donated to children who need them. Last summer, the children earned $459 and put together 123 school bags. 

I cannot take credit for any of this.  I’m just grateful I live in the midst of so many good people and that my family gets to be a part of it.  I love that my children get to do something creative and dramatic, spend fun time with their friends, and yet have a higher purpose.  I love that it’s a joint effort between so many people and that our community supports it.  I love that in the summertime, when many people are scattered, we get to come together and help make the world a better place.  Here’s to making this a better world this summer! 
 

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Sasha

High School English and History

by Katrina Fujisaka

I recently read that the foremost concern of college professors is the lack of reading comprehension and written communication skills possessed by high school graduates. These new college freshman are simply not prepared to think about or write anything with clarity.  I believe that the best homeschool high school curriculum will focus on teaching students to think critically and write effectively.

Before you begin planning it is important to check with your state to see what the high school graduation requirements are in these subjects, as well as checking the admission requirements of several colleges your student may be interested in attending. For example, high school graduation in my state requires 4 credits of English, one credit in World History, one credit in World Geography, one credit in U.S. History, and one-half credit in U.S. Government. Brigham Young University recommends that freshman applicants have at least four English credits and two History credits.

In my state the required English courses are named English I, II, and III. The fourth required credit can be just about anything from Creative Writing to British Literature to Journalism. If your state has similar requirements it will probably benefit your student to just use their recommended course names. However, the content of those courses is entirely up to you!

When deciding how you want to go about English, there are a few things to keep in mind. What is your goal? If scoring high on standardized tests like the SAT or ACT exams is important, your English curriculum should be tailored that way; with a lot of emphasis on vocabulary, analogies, grammar, reading comprehension, and the basic five paragraph essay construction. However, most homeschoolers prefer a more holistic approach. Their focus lies not with standardized test scores, but with developing students who are well read and conversant; who can communicate effectively both orally and in writing. That end is best served through the study of good literature, along with basic grammar structure, and logic.

Any English course you develop should have grammar and mechanics incorporated into it.  A few choices for high school grammar:

Winston Grammar and Winston Grammar Advanced. It is clean, inexpensive, and an eighth or ninth grader can understand and move through it pretty well.

Analytical Grammar teaches grammar, punctuation, and usage over 3 years for 6-9th grade students. The publisher includes a timeline for teaching this course faster to older students. They also have high school reinforcement workbooks for students who have completed grammar study, just to keep the skills fresh.

You may want to consider adding some logic and analogies work, as well.

For very basic logic work, try the Mindbenders series from The Critical Thinking Company. Start with A1 no matter how old your student is. They may go through it quickly, but it is important for learning the structure of logic puzzles. The workbooks are inexpensive and easy to use. They also have some fun science logic puzzle books.

For additional, free, logic work go to http://www.logic-puzzles.org/init.php. They provide lots of online, interactive logic work.

You may want to include some work with analogies with your English curriculum, as it is a big part of SAT and ACT testing. The website a4esl.org provides many free, online quizzes and tools for teaching English. Most of it is geared towards ESL (English as a Second Language) students, but I have found it useful for all students. There are even bilingual quizzes that you can use in the reverse of what they were designed for by including them in your foreign language study. My favorite part of this website, though is the interactive analogies quizzes at 
http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz67fck.htm.

These should make up about half of the English course for the year. The rest should be assignments in reading, analilyzing and writing about various works of literature. This is where you can combine your English studies with your History.

English and History studies go hand in hand so I like integrating them. In fact, many colleges are combining these two courses into one big class. The English assignments are taken directly from the History course of study. This integrated approach is useful and effective. The literature pieces I choose for my students relate directly to what we were studying in History. Research and writing assignments were built around those historic events, as well. Vocabulary studies grow naturally out of the literature assigned. Only the grammar and mechanics is independent of the History studies.

My favorite way to teach History is by using a basic ‘spine’ text and then further exploring the events touched on through literature, source documents, field trips, and projects.

If you have no idea where to start, check into these curriculums to see if they will meet your needs.

For US History 
The History of Us by Joy Hakim 
The 5000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen
United States History and LDS Perspective vols. I & II by Dan Hunter
Wise Men Raised Up with LDS Commentary Vols I & II by Brent and Kolleen DeGraff

For US Government studies
The Making of America by Cleon Skousen
Threads of Liberty by DeGraff and DeGraff

For World History
The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer (the first two volumes will need substantial embellishment to qualify for high school level work, but it is still a good outline to follow)
The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer
Beautiful Feet Books  (be sure that the study guide you want to use is high school level work)
The World Before Christ an LDS Perspective vols I & II by Dan Hunter
The World After Christ an LDS Perspective vols. I, II, & III by Dan Hunter

A quick google search will turn up many additional resources. 

Once you’ve settled on the History course you want to follow, you can start seeking the literature to go with it. If you don’t know where to start looking for appropriate source documents and literature recommendations visit www.schoolofabraham.org, or check the reading lists for the US History and World History cores atwww.sonlight.com.

Make History come alive through historical fiction, field trips, and projects associated with your studies. Our favorite is to include food in our History work. We research recipes and cooking practices of those we study and try them out as best we can. To this day one of my kids’ favorite History books is one called Eating the Plates by Lucille Recht Penner. It is not a high school level book. In fact, it is written toward a 5th grade audience. It is a fascinating book about what and how the Pilgrims ate and was a real eye opener for my kids when we first covered it in elementary school. However, it found it’s real value in our family as my kids remembered it during their high school years and pulled it off the shelf again. Using that book as a springboard, they thought more and dove deeper into the subject, finding branches of it to follow into ancient maritime history, science, and health. Everything they studied they internalized and remembered, because it was interesting.

Now….it’s time to write! If your student has no idea where to start, it may be beneficial to start with just talking about what they are reading and learning. Ask leading questions and have them answer you in complete sentences. Then have them practice making an outline while you talk, just based on the conversation. After the outline, help them construct sentences based on the outline to flesh out a paper. If you’d like more formal writing help or instruction, you may want to try a writing program designed for younger students and just work through it faster. Look into Writing Strands, The Institute for Excellence in Writing, and Writing with Ease, by Susan Wise Bauer.

One great homeschool English writing resource is the Purdue Owl (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/). This website is maintained by faculty and students at Purdue University, and has over 200 resources for teaching grammar, mechanics, writing, research, and is a good place to find current MLA and APA writing guides (VITAL for juniors and seniors writing research papers).

No matter what you decide to do, keep a record of everything you consider to be part of either History or English. Keep a log of time worked  on each subject – it takes 80 hours of work to receive one high school credit. Remember, you can’t double dip. Time spent working on one paper cannot be counted for both English and History, so you will need to decide which course to assign the time to. But ANY time spent on these subjects counts, including dinner table discussions, related kitchen experiments, field trips, and time watching movies or reading books related to the subject. It is not difficult at all to develop an English and History course of study for your high school student that will not only satisfy the basic high school graduation requirement, it will prepare your student to excel in college and the adult world by providing them with the skills to understand and communicate clearly and effectively.

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Katrina

What To Do In The Summertime

I was thinking about the seasons and remembering the scripture – ‘a time and a season for all things’ and thinking about what the summer months give us. They are a great relief from the gray days of winter and offer us the promise of fresh air and sunshine, tasty fruits and veggies from our gardens, hours to spend playing and working outside refreshing our souls, exercising our muscles, and clearing our thoughts!  Those warm inviting summer days offer us relief from the stress of winter-time routines, provide us precious moments to ponder the beauty of life around us, and entice us outside for many fun-filled days chalk-full of exciting adventures! 

In the cooler part of the day you will find us doing the usual summertime ‘work’:  gardening, yard work, washing the car, taking care of the animals, or fixing up the house; but when the thermometer starts rising that is when you will find us in the shade doing a messy science experiment, cuddled up with a good book on the grass, working on our hobbies, developing our talents or interests, or finishing up the projects that we just don’t have time for during the typical ‘school year’.

I keep an art box stocked at all times for those creative moments. I have also been known to fill a jar with slips of paper of ideas we have brainstormed, and when we have an “I’m bored” moment or “I don’t know what to do”, they can choose a slip from the jar and happily skip off to another activity.  (Some of those activities might include page of math problems, a topic to write a story or poem, do a puzzle, paint a picture like Van Gogh did, a math or science problem to solve, go play with your Legos, go read about a famous scientist or mathematician, or grab your science notebook [and a magnifying glass, colored pencils, bottle of water, a disposable camera, binoculars or whatever] and go observe this 10’ area for an hour and tell me what you see or lets go on a nature walk today.  Make it fun and challenging.)

I also heard of a fun idea of using the Alphabet each week during the summer and studying something that goes with each letter for a week.  For example: A – Study Ants, Airplanes, Aristotle, or Alaska. Let the kids help decide!

One summer we also got together once a month with a few families and did a summer co-op.  That was great fun. We had a water play day one month and became a Knight another time.  

Don’t forget to provide some large cardboard boxes and some cheap poster paints and let the kids imaginations soar from play houses to pirate ship adventures.  These provide weeks of delight until the boxes finally wear out.

We have enjoyed keeping a Nature/Science Journal during the summer for those exciting moments of when wespy something unusual while bird watching or making observations. Or maybe a chance meeting of a perfect specimen of Praying Mantis (which my daughter took a picture of and we later included in a lap book about bugs). These journals provide a great place for your kids to practice their drawing skills and learn how to use colored pencils.

One of our most interesting observation studies was when I had our youngest daughter observe our mint patch for a full week at different times of the day.  It was very interesting to see how much life there was in our little 12-foot mint patch.  There were so many different insects and so many different varieties of bees and wasps.  We had no idea it was so populated.  We just had never taken the time to really look.  It gave her a chance to draw conclusions as to why there was more insect activity at one time of the day than at others.  The best part is that my daughter’s personal observation skills became more detailed as the week drew on and I learned to ask more searching questions. For example, she noticed a butterfly in the area. “She wrote I saw a butterfly.”  Okay, what about the butterfly? What color was it, what kind, and what was it doing?   She also learned to observe the weather and the temperature.  This study, along with the cool insect pictures she had collected, became the kickoff to an interesting unit study later on in the fall on BUGS. She made a really fun lap book to compliment her journal entries.  It ended up being a very interesting and fun project for all of us. 

We have also participated and enjoyed our local college’s summer enrichment classes and the library’s summer reading program.  We are frequent visitors to the library during the summer months and enjoy getting a chance to know other authors.

I also like to use my more carefree summer days to think about and start planning our next school year along with input from the kids.  This is a great time to start gathering supplies and mapping out our activities.

Another summertime favorite is to put a large map on our kitchen table of the United States. (I put the map on top of a tablecloth for a little color and then cover both of them with a plastic vinyl.) Then we travel the country together. We choose a state to study. If there is a special item of interest, or person of history we want to know more about, we might take a short “side-trip” and learn briefly about that.  She likes to keep a little log of places she has “been” and she would like to go in real life if the opportunity presents itself. I have also printed off a blank outline map and had her do some map work, which is also placed in her log. Occasionally, I give her an extra assignment to a state:  write a poem, paint a scenic picture or design a travel brochure. When we were in Georgia I had her list the 300 + uses of the common peanut. We also would find a recipe from that state to try.  It was great fun.

My daughter also made up her own game of putting the capitals on a circle disc, and timing herself as she tried to match all the capitals with their states on the map.  She got pretty fast at it, much faster than mom could do!  This is also a favorite activity for when friends come over.

This summer we are headed down Route 66. It should be fun, come along for the ride!  The summer is yours to explore ---- have a great trip.

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

Who Are You Raising?

by Carol Jensen

If you lived in Ancient Greece, you would know the gods as powerful superheroes – imperfect like men and inclined to capriciousness, jealousy and anger – yet endowed with extraordinary capabilities to affect human conditions. Sort of like The Incredibles. However, men and gods both would be equally subject to the cosmos, victims of the universe.

In this Athenian or Spartan world, government would be a man-made invention, a product of reason. Man’s job in that government would be to protect society. He would be accountable to the political leaders for the discharge of this duty. Families would exist to support the power of the state, with children being trained to support the nation’s well-being. Kind of like No Child Left Behind.

The Odysseus’s of your day would be those who brought glory to themselves and their country through their superior knowledge, beauty, strength, or cleverness. You know…like Hollywood stars and Superbowl champs.

But on the other hand, if you lived in Ancient Israel, you would know God as your creator and perfect Father – One who had given you the power to choose your course. As a free agent, you could be a victor, not a victim. Like David against Goliath.

In the Israelite world, you would have god-given rights – life, liberty and (promised) land – that would be protected by government. Political leaders would be accountable to you for the discharge of this obligation. The family would be divinely appointed for the support of individual character – each child in turn being trained to love truth and lead through service. Like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The Jobs of your day would be those who brought glory to God and dignity to man by their obedience, sacrifice, faith and integrity. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.

Well, you aren’t in Greece and you aren’t in Israel. You’re in the USA and you homeschool, so what’s the big deal? The question isn’t where you educate your children. It’s what model you use. If you subscribe to an online program, a charter school, a distance curriculum administered by the state, or are accountable to your school district for the courses you teach, you may be training your students under a Greek model. Instead of sending your soldiers out to fight on the plain, you may be inviting the Trojan horse within your walls.

But if you are more interested in transmitting values than in scoring on the next standardized test, if you are family-focused, adamant about your liberties and accountable to God for how you raise your children, yours may be the generation that tumbles the walls of Jericho.

To determine which model you fall under, ask where the accountability lies. Do you report to a divine source or a government source for your children’s education? Who gives you the power to administer their training?  It makes a difference because you may be raising Achilles. But maybe you are raising Daniel.

You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!

- Carol

Holding a Science Fair – A Step by Step Approach

by Starla Hale

Putting on a science fair can be a rewarding experience for the whole family.  It can be a lot of work, but if you approach it in “bite-sized” pieces it really isn’t too bad. 

Holding a science fair is a great opportunity for kids to show what they have learned and to become interested in new scientific principles by viewing what others have displayed. At a science fair students learn how to present themselves – to put their best foot forward. 

Other rewards of holding a fair are:

• A better understanding of the scientific process by doing.
• Good Sportsmanship.
• They learn to ask questions and then to find the answer(s).
• The importance of being neat, organized, and thorough.
• They learn to keep a scientific notebook. (aka Nature Journal).
• They learn to do a science report.
• They learn to organize data onto charts and graphs, etc.
• They learn the importance of following procedures.
• They learn to develop a hypothesis and then, that it’s okay if their “educated guess” was right or wrong.
• They learn to answer “why” questions with more than a “yes or no” answer.
• It develops confidence.
• IT’S FUN!

Step 1:       Develop an interest - September

At the beginning of the school year we ask if anyone would be interested in supporting a science fair.  Then choose someone to spearhead the fair and you are on your way. (Our support group holds a science fair every third year and rotates with a special geography/culture study night with our “Around the World in 80 Minutes” and the other year we have a “Great Brain Project”.  By doing one of these a year we offer those interested an opportunity to learn to present themselves before others.)

This is the time to decide - Are you going to strictly have experiments or are you also going to allow displays as well?

If you choose to have displays then you will need to set them up in a separate area to be viewed.  Sometimes this is nice for the “littler people” so that they can feel apart of everything.  Displays, if you choose to judge them as well, will have different criteria for judging.

This is a great time to help those more intimidated by science projects to feel more comfortable by having someone you know - a fun science teacher or even perhaps a couple of enthusiastic moms come and show how fun and easy science can be.

Have everybody share his or her favorite science books and/or equipment at a parent’s meeting.  It would also be good to show what will be expected as an exhibit for the real science fair. They are plenty of books on the subject and sites on line for help. 

Step 2:     Get a Commitment/Select a building - October/November
(Depends on how often you have your parent’s meeting – monthly/every other month.)

Get a commitment.  You don’t need to know what they are doing other than - display or actual experiment, you just need a commitment so that you can order trophies/ribbons and know how big of a space you will need to find to hold the fair in.  Have them fill out a sign-up sheet, carefully printing out each child’s name, age, email addresses, and phone numbers (this way you know you will get the spelling right and you can get a hold of them if needed.)

Just know that no matter how hard you try there will be somebody that will need to back out for some reason or another at the last minute.  We have had as many as 30+ entries to as few as 16. You do want to impress upon them the importance of commitment and not having to order more than is necessary and spending precious budget money.

I also encourage individual entries per child.  It is so much easier than having to share a ribbon or trophy, and a whole lot easier on the parent’s when one child wants to work hard and another does not.  We had such an example this last fair and it was a wonderful teaching lesson for the mom to use.  She had 3 boys that entered but only one who put his heart into it and it showed. He got a ribbon and they did not.  Mom was elated as a great lesson was learned through a simple example.

Find a building – somebody’s basement, the local chamber of commerce – we use one of the buildings at the fair grounds.   We have discovered that if the schools and the public can use the facility so can we.   It works out great and they have been wonderful to us.

Step 3:  Type Up Rules and Send Out to Entries, Find Your Judges - 
2 months before Order Ribbons, Trophies

This is also a great time to go ahead and type up the judging sheets and just file away with all your other “science stuff” you are gathering.  You will need to make enough copies for each judge and for each entry.  (I have attached what we did.  I just compiled mine from 2 or 3 examples I found online. Decide on how many total points you want and then add or delete from there.)  Plan on having each entry judged at least 3 or 4 times and be sure and encourage the judges to comment both positively as well as bring out one point gently for improvement.  (Do not pass out the judging sheets at this time they will just get misplaced.  You will meet with the judges on Fair day.)

Judges can be anybody who loves science.  Schoolteachers have been my greatest resource and even some of the local college professors, they love helping with science fairs.  (Just no parents and preferably nobody from your local group.)

*Remind the kids – No names on their entries! Pictures with the kids in them are okay.

NOW is the time to order those ribbons and trophies. (Check out superiordisplayboards.com  - they have great deals and variety on ribbons, certificates, and trophies. As far as display boards, you can pick them up at Kings, Office Supply Stores or just make your own.) Remember every child should get a ribbon. 

We have in the past divided up the kids into divisions as follows:

Preschool/Kindergarten   
1st through 3rd
4th through 6th
7th through 9th
10th through 12th

For the younger ones you need to decide - are they displays or experiments and how and if you are judging them.  These kids could be just displays and all receive special science certificates.  Or if you have a lot of them just have the Preschool age as displays only and the Kindergartener’s could also received ribbons.

In each division we have a 1st, 2nd, 3rd place winner, and every one gets a participant ribbon.  Then we take the 1st place winners in each group and take the highest point values for the trophy awards or Rosette’s.  For us, it kind of depends on how many kids are participants which way we go, Rosette’s or trophies, we have done both.

Step   4:    Extra Activity  & Cookies - 6 Weeks before

This is a good time to plan another activity for after the awards and science fair “showing”.  It is kind of like Christmas after all the presents are opened – now what? It’s rather anti-climatic. There needs to be a little something else we have discovered for the families to do afterwards. This year one of the mom’s put together Science Jeopardy.  It was great fun and we discovered just how much we knew and didn’t know! Maybe a lot of hands-on science fun? I learned to delegate this part – it was wonderful not to have to worry about one more thing and I knew it would be done. 

*Have those ribbons arrived yet?  If not, check on them now...

* Get a volunteer for refreshment’s. Don’t try and do it all yourself as you will be busy on science fair day.  Plan on camping out that day and on having some bottled water for you and the judges. (Throw in the back of the car so you don’t forget.)

If you want a decorating committee this would also be the time to delegate that. Keep it simple you don’t want to distract from the exhibits. One year we just put up end-of-the-row signs for each division with pictures of famous scientists along with a clever title like “Newton’s Novices”, “Einstein’s ….”  and a few balloons.  Again it isn’t necessary.

Step 5:       Send out reminders - 1 month before
Double-check the building situation

Time to send out a reminder to your budding scientists that there are only 4 weeks left before Fair Day!

Make sure you still have a green light on the building.
You don’t want any last minute surprises.

Step 6:      Remind the judges!  And…        2 weeks before

Encourage the rest of the group to come out and join in the fun as well.

Time to double check your stash and see that you have everything all together and what you need to have that day at the fair.

Double check with your ‘helpers’ – judges, refreshments, activity and see how things are going and if they need any help.  Again you don’t want any last minute surprises.

*Time to write up numbers to assign to each group 1- ?  You need to separate the divisions either by numbers or colors.  These are just small squares of papers or I cut up index cards into 4’s and use them. Bring a roll of masking tape, a couple of black markers, and paper clips – these are always needed. Also bring a few sharpened pencils for the judges and a calculator for you. When each entry arrives they have to sign in with you. If you have someone at each division area – you or that person will attach a number to every entry with either a paperclip on the display board or taped to the table in front of their experiment.  A master sheet of who is assigned what number is also kept. I am the only one who sees these sheets.  You will need a master sheet for each division. After the displays are set up and everyone is gone it is time to pass out the judging sheets and place by each entry.  As I mentioned, each entry should be judged at least 3 or 4 times.  Make sure each judging sheet has a corresponding number written on it.

Purchase thank you notes for the building and the judges and any of your special helpers. 

Now sit back and take it easy until “FAIR DAY”.

Use these attached sheets for the actual fair day: Judging Sheet, Schedule.

Following are a few things to remember as well:

When the judges arrive answer any questions, pass out waters, pencils and give any instructions at this time.  Also help them realize the ages on each group – this is really important.  (While the judges are doing their work. You probably only need 1 person to be in attendance to answer any questions and provide any needs the judges might have.)

While the judges are busy doing their thing I try and take the time to write out thank you notes to each of them.  Whether I give it to them then or elect to mail them out later I am getting it done while I am just sitting. 

When the judges are all through with their work you are ready to go to work so I hope you had a few energy snacks while you were waiting.  At this point you, and hopefully a helper or two (again, nobody that has a child involved in the actual science competition), tally up the scores.  You add up the scores in each area on the score sheets and then divide by the number of judges. This gives you your average for each area on the scorecard.  Then you add up all the averages on the sheet and get your total points for the bottom of the page.

I make it a rule that once I am there I am there all day, mostly because we don’t get a key and I don’t want to worry about getting back into the building. Also, others use the building and I don’t want anything to happen to any of the entries.  That would be heart breaking!

I hope this helps you in your pursuit of science.  If you have any suggestions for future articles please let me know. You can leave your thoughts, comments or suggestions here on my feedback page. Thanks!  Have Fun!

- Starla