Basic Recipe for Homeschool Success

*1*

Main Dish: Formal Academics. For us these are math, grammar, history, english (and all that entails), memory work, science.

*2*

Green Food: In-formal Academics. Web-sites, magazines, DVD's, CD's, outside studies, Great Courses.

*3*

Side Dish: For us that will include Lego League (Science is fun!), ballroom dancing, camps (drama, Shakespeare, Challenge), co-op.

*4*

Carb: Literature. Reading and breathing. 2 essentials, right?! I love Sonlight, Memoria Press, Veritas Press, Bethlehem Books for reading lists. Poetry memorization fits in here, too. Flower and Cub will work through Horatius at the Bridge this year, and Feeche will participate in Poetry Outloud.

*5*

Dessert: Fun flicks, free reading, play-dates, park-days, field trips.

*6*

Plate: Vision: Where are you going? Mission: Where are you now? Goals: What are the small, incremental steps you will take to get you from where you are now to where you are going?

*7*

Kitchen:  Got God? It goes without saying, in my economy at least, that #6 above (and how you educate your kids at all) is based on your theology, and perhaps, prayer. I don't think of it so much as prayer, as much as Godly reflection and meditation.

Co-op Love

We've participated in homeschooling co-ops for around 15 years. Our first was with other military families in NM when our oldest were smaller than our youngers are now. We've started our fair share of co-ops and class days along the way, from small in-home studies with a few families to large enrichment programs, as well as smaller, more academically focused groups that were methodologically oriented.


Our last foray into starting something was a University Model School, which fell apart with our house fire. My heart is still there, but not for this season. Partly, cause this season is so good. I get many of the same benefits of UMS, without much of the work! We are involved in a Homeschooling Fellowship group that runs both a co-op and an academic class day- 2 fer. After the fire, Dr. Dh made the executive decision that we were going "back" to this well established group that we had been part of years before starting stuff ourselves. It's been a great home-coming.

On Fridays the kids have chorale, art and a unit study. Unit studies have ranged from geography to biology (dissection in 4th grade!), to personal finance, to Latin. Chorale is led by true blue musicians, and includes rounds, patriotic songs, Latin hymns, and instruction in theory. Art is taught by artist Mom's who challenge and inspire the kids, who bring home skills and projects worthy of hanging, wearing or displaying!





Tutoring Center is a seperate day a week and includes academic classes. Homework is assigned and expected, fees paid, and grades given, along with tests and projects. The teachers are professionals in the homeschooling and wider community and range from writing and science, to government and poetry.

This only leaves 3 days a week to work at home. The days that we are home, the kids are focused and intentional about getting work done. I know the adage, "If you're not at home, you are not homeschooling." And I think that can be true.



 But I also think that creating an edcuational environment that works for your family is about utilizing the resources that you have available. For us, with older, more responsible kids, this schedule works out beautifully. Car rides to and from town are spent reading, napping, chatting and drawing. I have grand plans to throw in an audio book or two but so far it hasn't materialized. Caitilin contiues to whet my appetitie with tantalizing tales of good reads on tape, so it might happen yet!

The key to a co-op, class-day environment that works for you is to find one with a culture that you can live with. In other words, do the parents and kids have the same core values that you do? We are in a group of very intentional people of faith. While some of the details of our lives differ, we have a basisc understanding of where folks are coming from.

Are the participants like-minded? By that I mean are you the lone draconian homeschooler amonst a bevy of radical unschoolers, or vice-versa?

Are other parents clear about expected behavior from the kids? One of the things I really appreciate about the group that we are with is that it IS a community of faith. We all have very similar expectations regarding our kids behavior in areas of respect, diligence, reverence, etc.
Are the other parents clear about what is expected from them? Do they show up when they say they will?  Are they prepared? Are they contributors or merely client/consumers?

Homeschooling is a challenging, and potentionally lonely road. Finding a group of like minded educators to walk the trail with is worth the time, energy and dedication required!

Bottom line: Co-op can be the very best of homeschooling times.
Find other homeschooling co-opers over at
Winecup Christian Academy

Curriculum for 2012-13 School Year

We have a wealth of options this year! Having only 3 kids to plan for, all excellent, independent readers makes things a whole lot easier. We are using a LOT of Memoria Press again this year. We love the lay-out, open and go format, classical bent, memory work and supporting a company that is solid AND cutting ede.
I also don't list the literature or read-alouds that we'll inevitably make use of. For regular updates on our on-going love affir with all thing literary, check out my weekly reports, and Literary Living Board on Pinterest. 

Rock Climbing Field Trip

Flower- 4/5th grade

Math: MME, Singapore Story Problems

History: Famous Men of Modern Times; MP's American History and Famous Men of Greece

Science: Birds/Hx of Medicine

English: IEW’s Poetry Memorization; Writing With Ease IV or MP's Classical Composition; Sequential Spelling; Rod and Staff Grammar

Latin: Latina Christiana
MP Geography

Co-op: Art, Chorale, Unit Study

Drama Camp; Lego League

One Room Schoolhouse Field Trip

Challenge

Cub -rising 7th grade

Math: MME, Singapore Story Problems; Perplexors;

HX: FMOMT; MP's American Studies and FMOG

Science: Pre-Physics (TC); Apologia’s Gen Science

English: WWSI (TC); Classical Compotion; Memorize Horatius at the Bridge; Sequential Spelling

Latin: Finish FFI; FFII

MP Geography
Word Processing

Art (TC)

Co-op: Art (figure drawing), Chorale, unit study (science/ media)

Drama Camp; Lego League

State Lego League Competition

Feeche -rising 12th grade

Another year crafting a plan from several resources: private tutoring, TC classes; DVD, etc.

Math: (probably) MUS for Trigonometry
Science; Apologia Physics w/ DVD supplemented with GC
English: Mythical in Lit (TC)
WP and Intro to Programming
Foreign Language:  2^nd Form Latin; Rosetta Stone German
DVD programs: Movie Making and Entreprenuerialism
Co-op: Art (figure drawing), Chorale, unit study (science/ media)

Ballroom Dancing; Challenge Staff; Poetry Outloud, Shakespeare Camp; p.t. job as a ranch hand; as much free writing on his novel that he can fit in.

Shakespeare Camp- The Tempest

Find more inspiration at the 4th Annual Not Back to School Hop

Homeschool Media Goes Mainstream!

If you’ve read this blog much at all you know that I have total buy-in to Francis Schaeffer’s exhortation to understand the spirit of the present age and respond to it from a Christian perspective. I’m excited to introduce a company that is doing just that:  Crystal Creek Media. This is an independent film company, started by a homeschooling family. To date, the company has produced 4 films, their latest project being Creed of Gold. This was an ambitious undertaking and one our family was impressed with! The movie is good; a good solid good. It reminds me of “Fly Wheel,”- Sherwood Films first foray onto the big screen.

In Watching “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: the making of The Creed of Gold, which was a SAICFF finalist,  it became clear that most of the cast and crew were homeschooling students just itching for the chance to do something courageous. Which they certainly did in the making of this film!

Creed of Gold is a fun and fascinating story line about the world’s monetary system and how a couple of college students take on corruption in high places (echoing the true to life theme of young people doing difficult things that take courage). The trio of college students who lead the cast echo the trio of do-gooders on National Treasure.  The settings are terrific, the banter fun; It kept our interest and got us wondering about certain historical events.

In addition to Creed of Gold, we had the good fortune to watch “Film Camp, Directing a Feature Film.” Crystal Creek runs film camps across the country, in addition to offering film camp via DVD format. If you have a student interested in story telling, drama or media, these are well-worth getting! In fact, much of the information shared on the DVD was similar to what I taught in my high school creative writing class last year!

Crystal Creek is a company to keep your eye on! I expect more great films from them in the future. In the meantime, we intend to learn what we can at Film Camp!



 Good stuff is meant to be shared and one GG reader will have the good fortune to win both Creed of Gold and Film Camp: Directing a Feature Film.

Here’s how to sign up for a chance to bring good, clean entertainment and education home:

1. Follow Golden Grasses, through Google, Networked Blogs, or via email.

2. Sign up to receive Crystal Creek Media’s newsletter HERE. Just let them know that you want to sign up for the newsletter in the comment box.

3. Leave a comment to this letting me know you are a GG Friend (old or new, just lmk!)

4. Enter more than once by utilizing other social networks: One entry for every mention on FB, Twitter, Pinterest, or your blog! Leave a comment, and lmk about it!
5. The winner will be announced on August 25 and they will have 5 days to get their snail mail addy to me to claim their prize!

Homeschool Myth Busters

Find image here.

Kelsey over at Mom to 4 Blessings wrote a post on homeschool myths. As she states, "Many parents have been turned off to the idea of homeschooling because of common myths that perpetuate society’s idea of what homeschooling means." I'm using the myths she picked and responding to them from my perspective. lmk what you think:

1. Your children won’t be socialized. I've said it before and I'll say it again (as a person with 2 master's degrees in the social sciences) IF your child is part of a social group (wolf, family, 3rd grade or whatevah) they are going.to.be.socialized. The REAL question is NOT if the homeschool child will be socialized but HOW they will be socialized. My kids are socialized: they don't swear, don't wear skank and don't objective people. They spend time outdoors every day (for hours, not 17 min. increments), read more than look at a screen and use manners. They are socialized by wiser, older, more mature adults who have a personal investment in them, not same aged peers who are scrambling to get to the top of the food chain.  

2. Your child won’t learn as much. "As much" means nothing until it's defined. My kids don't know "much" about Phineas & Ferb but can recite almost the entirety of the Charlie Brown comic strips, along with huge portions of a couple of Shakespeare plays, along with entire portions of the Story of the World CD’s. They don't know "much" about social studies but can identify a time period in history by weaponry or dress and can discuss intelligently people, places, time and era. They don't know "much" about leaving the house early to catch a bus, but they can talk with passion and purpose about weather and navigating the NOAA site, understand current NASA developments and read articles in Science News each week. They don't know "much" about current on-line gaming but they can draw with confidence, style and grace, with a clear understanding about the elements of design. They don’t know “much” about “character counts” but they do have a deep understanding of our faith system,who they are in God’s plan, the Bible and that Jesus loves them and His plans for them are good.
They don't know "much" about a lot of things but they know several subjects broadly and a few quite deeply.

3. Since you are not a teacher you are unqualified to teach your child. I am a parent, and by definition, my child's first and most important teacher.
Furthermore, I know my children better than anyone else and am therefore more qualified to teach to their strengths and weaknesses.
In addition to that, I am a curious autodidact, with several degrees to my name, and insatiable love of literature and humor and the ability to research in-depth areas of interest. I am a passionate lover of people and God, and am more than qualified to share my interests, passion and purpose with the people most important to me- my family, and most specifically, my children.

4. Your child will miss out on all of the important events in traditional school. My kids have and do participate in AYSO soccer, Awana's, Scouts, riding and piano lessons, Lego League, Ballroom dancing, ultimate Frisbee, trips across the county and to other continents, yearly formals, fund-raisers, service projects, theater, camps, internships, ministries, classes, chorale, competitions, missions trips etc., etc. Remind me again of what important events they are missing out on?

5. Your child will have a harder time getting accepted into a good college.  Colleges and universities are businesses. They are as hit by the financial times as anyone else. They need your child's warm body to pay for their facilities, offer salaries to their professors and run their programs. The real question is not IF your kid can get into the school of their choice (because, believe me, there IS a school out there that will accept all but the most profoundly handicapped learner) but HOW to PAY for the education that your child needs and wants. Even if, (highly improbably) your kid doesn't "get into" a school of higher education, they can go a non-traditional route (which are many). 
Furthermore, schools are looking for students that have good/great test scores and unique life and leadership experiences. One of our older adult kids had a much skewed high school transcript and skewed test scores (100% in English, well below average in Math). She was offered a 50% scholarship at a local private institution (who had yet to see her transcript) and a full ride scholarship to another institution. She was offered these scholarships because of her unique life experiences and test scores.

What are your responses to homeschool myths?  

Sorting, Scheduling & Stuff

*1*

We went into the attic in search of something. We ended up sorting through the attic. Oy vey. It has been our throw whatevah into it room. 5 hours later we had a huge pile of trash to burn and throw away, a van full of give-aways, lost curriculum and winter gear found, and a semi-sorted attic area. Some day it will be a room. It's walk-up, dry-walled and sweet. At some point, we'll cut more doors into the under-eve areas for more storage and it will be a bedroom or writer's nook. Little by little, right?

This is the west side of the attic- imagine it drywalled and mudded. We are going to be cut-out (cut-in?) book-shelves near the window area. The room still needs a lot more finish mudding, and another door cut-out for under-eave storage. It will be awhile before we get back up here...still have yards and yards of trim to cut and install and doors to get done......

*2*

In the process of sorting the attic, we re-discovered some very cool pictures that our friends Mindy and Wayne gave us.



(the frame on the black-baord is from them- they have impeccable taste!)

They pictures are now on the first floor, waiting to get hung. Actually, we are waiting for the in-service on how to hang really heavy pictures with a dolly, cause there is not stud. I need a clone husband. Not a full time one- just one that I could turn on and off....

*3*



Read Have His Carcase on the trip to WI. It's the first time Peter and Harriet get togethere after she is exonerated of murdering her former lover. I liked the development of the relationship, and continue to love DLS's (new moniker for Dorothy Sayers) word-crafting and dialoguing. And, her ability to create a place, and set it in time so that you feel the time and the place is masterful. The story line on this one was o.k.- not my fav. and the ending was so complicated it wasn't that satisfying.
Am currently reading, (flying through cause I'm overdue with it at the library) Dorothy Sayers: The Centenary Celebration, compiled by Dale. A group of essays by other writers who worked or knew Dorothy. Great insight into her character, faith and writing. It's official. I'm a DLS nerd. I want a T-shirt. And the video collection. And the rest of the papers and books I haven't gotten to. And time to read them all.

*4*

Team YODA is up and running. This year both Cub and Flower will participate in Lego League, along with 6 others (3 other sets of siblings). Our team won "Best Programmers" in the state last year. Our team is more mature, has a clearer understanding of what they are doing and is so jazzed about LL it's a blast to be around them. Because I don't have enough to do, I'm jumping in to help. Fun.
We're doing a Fund Raisier this year, too. So, if you are in the area and feel the craving for Pizza on August 13th, stop by the Pizza Ranch on 41rst- our team earns a portion of the sales that evening and you can meet our team- we'll be busing tables - woot!

*5*

Don't forget to sign up for the Element 83 Give-Away. Love their art work! I've been running into more and more families that have homeshcooled and, as a result of their studies, have opened their own businesses. Two that I've come across this week are Sturdy Designs (Kites like you wouldn't believe) and Crystal Creek Media. This crazy family has gone from script writing, creating shorts to producing feature length films.

Speaking of which, I'll be posting a review of their feature length film: Creed of Gold (featuring Apologia founder Jay Wile) soon, along with yet another give-away of both the film and an instructional DVD, "Director's Cut" for aspiriting film-makers.

*6*

Fall planning. I think I have it sorted. Just need to get stuff ordered.

My thoughts: So many choices, so little time. So many choices, not enough resources to make them all work.
Tutoring center has some great options this year. Cub will be taking World Geography, Pre-Physics, Art, Writing With Skill. Feeche will be taking Mythical as Literature. There are more classes he could take but, again, we are back to the so many choices, so little time thang.
Extra-Curriculars: Awanas for Flower, Lego League 4 Flower and Cub, Ballroom Dancing, Challenge, Shakespeare Camp, Poetry Outloud.

I'll be teaching 2 semester long art-ish classes at co-op, 2 writing classes and helping with LL. Full-up.

*7*

The book. Cooking along. I'm looking for vingettes from real live homeschooling families. If you are committed to a specific methodology, have done something unique as a homeschooling family or have amazing resources you want to share, lmk.

How was your week?

Homeschool Sanctification


It rained a 1/4 of an inch the night before last. This is big news in an area that had a 1/4 of an inch for the entire month of July- the driest in recorded history. It's brown out here - as in dead brown. The fields in our valley are dead; the farmer's are simply waiting for the claims adjusters to come and evaluate before they turn the stalks into silage or bedding.

Do you ever feel like that as a homeschooler? You've prepared, planted and hoped. And then things just die on the vine. The reality is that there are no guarantees with parenting, or with homeschooling. We can do our part; order the best curriculum, get a room set up, plan and photocopy and schedule.

But reality sets in. Little Johnny doesn't like the curriculum, hates coloring and thinks neighbor Bob's Mom is prettier and has better cookies. Little Susie-Q has an attitude, loses her math book for weeks on end and reads in the bathroom; for hours, with the door locked. Mommy Homemaker (that's you) hates cooking, doesn't like science, and forgot Algebra. On top of which she's tired, forgot why she pro-created and thinks both Jonny and Susie should go live with prettier Betty Crocker cookie-maker down the lane.

Where's the reality T.V. show about homeschooling? The one where everyone's late, the pencils are dull, the kids duller still and the house a mess? Where's the reality show about average homeschool kids and parents, where people are normal, of average intelligence, not that pretty, and get irritated?

Reality check: I like homeschooling. I like being with my kids. As my friend Nancy says, raising children has been the “richest” career she’s had (Nancy is an R.N. and gifted musician so it’s not like she’s homeschooling ‘cause she doesn’t have other options). But, in the grand scheme of things, we can’t control outcomes. We can’t control how much our kids appreciate the sacrifices that we’ve made in order to homeschool them. We can’t control their mouths, or their beliefs, or their distemper. We can only control ourselves, our attitudes, beliefs and distempers. Geez, some days I hate that.

Sometimes you plant, you tend, you plow, you pray, and still, no rain comes, no understanding or wisdom, and it’s a crop failure. If you are going to homeschool and not feel like a failure, you have got to have reasons to do so other than outcomes. It’s hard in an outcome, performance based culture to let that go. It’s hard if you are a task oriented, performance based person. But there it is.

Homeschooling, as a movement, is old enough that there are some of us who now have homeschooled adult children. Some of the hopes and dreams and visions for our families, our selves, our children, have not born fruit, have died on the vine. It’s not a perfect system. It’s full of fallible, complicated people, including us, including our children. There are no guarantees.

That being said: I am planning, preparing, photocopying. No coloring pages for Cub, because even at 12 he’ll just scribble, but lots of sketchbooks. Still a math tutor, because, Thank- God, I think we finally spawned a child with Dr.Dh’s upper level math acumen instead of mine. We’ll throw in plenty of books because without books and big ideas and an active thought life I shrivel up and start dying on the vine, and as much interaction with our God sent homeschooling community as possible. Our friend Nancy is there, along with Jannell, and Ana and a host of others, who help me keep perspective about WHY we hoemschool. That it’s bigger, much bigger, than my puny little hoped for outcomes.

Cause for Celebration

The whole reason for the party. Uncle Kirk and Aunt Rosie have been married 50 years!

Aunt Rosie, Uncle Kirk, thier kids, Craig & Jane, Eric & Mollie and Kristie & Paul and the grandkids.

 

It turned in to a big "N" family re-union. Faith and Earl's 5 kids + spouses, 12 grandkids + spouses and 28 great-grandkids,
sans 3 grandkids and 4 greats.

\

The siblings and spouses. Grandpa Bob is the oldest at 80- who really doesn't act or look his age one ioata, Joyce, Bruce, Rosie and Carol- the babay at 12 years younger than Bob. It was really wonderful to see them all; thier relationships with each other are beautiful.

Mom and Dad N, who passed the 50 mile mark almost 3 years ago and are still happy together.

Feeche, Grandpa and Uncle Bruce. Bruce broke his femur just months ago and it's taken a toll on him. Regardless, like a true N-man, he is on his way to Germany to stay with Tante Heidi (Dr. dh's cuz) for a couple of weeks.

The 2nd cousins had a climb-off. Proud to say, Feeche bested them all by several feet.
That's my country boy.
Not to mention the fact that he climbed before he walked and does a rigorous 1-hour a day P.T. routine. 

 Lakeside. All of the water and green was soothing after months of high plains drought.
My babies are not so little naymore, but they are still adorable.

The Fam, sans Miss. R. Since it's my blog can I just say I think my kids are stinkin' cute?

KB with Aunt L. Cutiepatooties.



Nuncle Eil and Fam.

Cub in Aunt Carol's garden. Which deserves a post all by itself... I am suffering serious garden envy.  

Summer Snapshot- the Family Cemetery

After spending a lovely day lake-side in WI this past week-end, we ventured up to Dr. dh's family's point of origin. Walked the family cemetery with Aunt Carol and took pictures of great-grand-parents and grand-parents headstones. Old headstones, some unreadable and around 150 years old, including  the A's, M's and N's that we are related to; German and Prussian with lots of Albert's and Wilhemina's. The weather was delightful, warm; the sunlight dappled by north woods pine and  old oak. Carol had lots of stories and history to share, of Grandpa N's hardware store and family that lived near, who moved away and who married whom.

We spend an hour at the bottom of the cemetery with Carol talking about our own history and God's redemption in our lives. Sweet memories of family and faith shared.

Seeing Green!

We are trying to cram as much summer in a possible. The kids are reading; Usborne's Shakespeare has been the carry-along book of the month, interest ignited by the High Schoolers performance of The Tempest.

photo courtesy of Ana

Grimm's Fairy Tales has been the newest acquisition, and Flower is a little shocked at just how different they are from the Disney versions. I don't think she expected them to be quite so glibly sanitized as the aforementioned Disney versions, but neither did she expect toe amputation.
Road trip to WI to rendezvous with extended family to celebrate my f-i-l's sister's 50th wedding anniversary. He is the oldest of 5 and they are all alive and well, which just amazes me. My s-i-l and I agree that we married into a great gene pool. Last time we all got together was at my in-laws 50th almost 3 years ago, just weeks before the house fire. It's been a wild ride between parties.

The drive to WI just got better and better. We are in severe drought in SD- we've lost some trees and bushes (even took to watering our 80 yo lilac) and the corn in our area is being harvested for bedding and silage. It was wonderful to drive into lush, beautiful green. MN was greener than SD and WI greener still. Love that color!

I spent the drive deep into Sayer's Have His Carcase. It's not as deep as Nine Tailors or Gaudy Night, but still a very satisfying Wimsey/Vane mystery.

Feeche is almost done with Alg. II. This is big news as his freshman year got a bit de-railed with the fire/ funeral/moves, etc. and by the end of this summer he will be back on track with math. I think we'll be switching from LoF after this book- more math angst- checking out MUS. Any other suggestions, besides Saxon?

Horse Camp was terrifically fun this week because Patty came and shared about her child-hood riding and jumping and winning ribbons on horses, along with how she meet Misty of Chincoteague irl! So fun!
Next up is Brighty and then we'll call it a summer. The BF guide was a bit hard to do as a once a week study but it was a good enough jumping off point. I think the strength of what we did this summer had more to do with geography than horses or lit, but they enjoyed the map and flag study so it's all good.

We drug our saddle upstairs and the big fun was everyone taking a turn sitting on it and posing. Simple pleasures!

Winners for the MP give-away posted later today!
How was your week?

Memoria Press Give-Away Winners!

Memoria Press is coming to a Golden Grasses friend near you!!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the MP Give-away!! The winners are:
CarterFamilyof9
K
Tracy

All you have to do to claim your new MP curriculum is to email me with your snail mail address. I 'll get it in the mail early next week. I'd love to hear what you think of the curriculum after you've had a chance to use it.

Stick around, cause you'll be hearing about how we like Core 6 this coming year!

I have more reviews and give-aways coming up: Stobough's World History, Crystal Creek Media (they have an entire media arts (think film-making) program on DVD- can't wait to look at it and tell you all about it!) and Vision Forum's Entrepreneurial Bootcamp (how to fit that in to Feeche's schedule?!).

Thank- you for reading and commenting on GG!

Fall Planning- Curriculum

Friday begins the "Not Back to School Hop" over at the Post and Week 1 is on Curriculum.

I am knee deep in decisions. First of all Feeche will be a rising Sr. We have a ton to cram in before it's all said and done, and he'll be gone 10 -12 days in October. Do you think 9 classes this fall is over-kill? hahaha.

Cub has some awesomely great choices at TC but Math is still the big question.

Flower is ready for more- lots more, as long as it involves social interaction. Intellecutally she's ahead but temprament style..let's just say if I dish up more advanced work within a social context, it goes down a whole lot easier.
The good news is that MP Core 6 is sitting here waiting to be made use of- YIPPee!

All of that to say, I'm mid-plan, not ordered, and the school year is looming. ACK! We'll be out of pocket this week-end but I hope to have something ready to post by Monday for the hop!

Where are you in the process.

The Force

My kids and I have way too much fun sitting around the computer looking at Star Wars jokes on Pinterest. I have a whole board dedicated to "May the Force Be With You." I am not a Star Wars lover. I never got into them when they first came out and I don't love them now. Episodes 1-3 have serious holes in both the story line and the acting, imho. That being said, it is excellent fodder for the humor mill.

find it here.

find it here.

See what I mean? What are you doing while it's blazing outside?

Element83 Review and Give-Away!

What does a creative homeschooling family do when they are studying the periodic table? One family collected the elements, which turned in to a fascination with Element 83- Bismuth!

Some of the beautiful jewlery available at Element 83 Etsy shop!

"My husband's fascination with bismuth (the 83^rd element) began when he and our son started collecting the elements on the periodic table as a science project. When he got to element 83, he was impressed with the sample crystal he was able to create. He bought a couple of pounds of the raw metal online and melted it in a soup can. As it slowly cooled, crystals began to form beneath the surface.  When he poured out the bismuth that had not returned to a solid state, beautiful crystals in all different colors were revealed.  It is truly amazing to watch the bismuth transform into something so beautiful and unique!"

I love how this family took a science experiment and created, not only wear-able art, but an entire business out of what they were learning! 

I have been wearing a gorgeous, unique pendant from Element 83 for several days. It is the pefect addition to a summer tan. The colors are iridescent and subtle, and match anything.  I've actually had women come up to me, cradle it in their hand and ask with awe, "What is this?" Few people know what Bismuth is,  but when I say it's the 83rd Elements, there is usually some small spark of recognition. Let me tell you, this jewlery is eye-catching, unique, affordable and comment producing. I LOVE the pendant Mary (beauitful homescholing Momma and wife to the artist that makes all of this lovely jewlery) sent me and it's going to be hard to part with the gorgeous one I have to give-away.

But I'm gonna do it.

Because each piece of jewlery is unique, the winner will recieve a pendant that is similar, but not the same as the one show above.

Added bonus,  it comes in this fragrant, beautiful, cedar box!

All you have to do to enter to win is

1. Follow Golden Grasses, through Google, Networked Blogs, or via email.

2. "Favorite" Element 83 at thier Etsy Store (go here and cllick on the heart wtih the word "favorite" beside it on the top right corner)
3. Leave a comment, letting me know you are a friend, and what you love most at the Element 83 Etsy store!

4. Enter more than once by utilizing other social networks: One entry for every mention on FB, Twitter, Pinterest, or your blog! Leave a comment, and lmk about it!
5. The winner will be announced on August 15 and they will have 5 days to get their snail mail addy to me.

One blessed Golden Grasses reader will have a lovely new pendant to start the school year off with!!

How Homeschooling has Changed.

When our older kids were homeschooling we had very different options. Park Days were what homeschoolers "did" together- picnic lunch, kids play, and Mom’s talk. We didn't have co-ops or class days or virtual schools. We had our kids and the park.

In the past decade co-ops and academic days have sprung up all over, some of which have morphed into UMS's, traditional school and even colleges. Virtual Schooling has exploded in the past couple of years and you can find anything on line now- some of it free.

When we started homeschooling the inter-net barely existed. I remember when homeschool phone trees went from actual home phones (before cells) to email lists. Believe me, there was plenty of complaining about it, too! Not everyone checked their email every week - (seriously).

Curriculum has changed too. When we started we had a couple of choices: ABeka, Bob Jones, Sunlight (it's 2nd year of existence) and encyclopedia's. Now there is so much to choose from it's mind-boggling.

With our older kids we did math, unit studies, read and did a whole bunch of outside activities: Awanas, horseback riding lessons, piano lessons, soccer, scouts and a zillion field trips. We also traveled the countrIn a 2 year time span we went coast to coast 3 times. Our older kids have seen tons of the country- national parks, wild-life, living history museums. The girls flew to Florida every summer (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) (pre 911) they were seasoned travelers by the time they were 12. The 2nd co-op we joined, we started. The first Academic Class Day we joined, we started. The first TeenPact program, we invited (read, worked out tails off) to the state. There were options, but it usually entailed work to make them happen (read: they didn't exist where we lived).

Our younger kids have had more structure in many ways; we go to co-op (someone else started it- whew!), we go to class day (someone else started it -whew), we participate in Drama Camp, Shakespeare Camp (both of which other rocking Mom's started- love that!). The kids have scheduled homework with due dates, other teacher's besides me, outside accountability. They have taken on-line classes. We have done a ton of field trips, and continue to travel, but not quite as extensively. We haven't participated in scouts or Awanas in the past decade, though we did own and ride our own horse for a while. The condo in Florida is sold. We've been re-building a house, so instead of playing in the Gulf Coast surf, our kids have learned to dry-wall and grout.

Some things don't change. Mom's still get together at the park while the kids play. We still talk curriculum, but it's expanded to, "Has anyone used the OCW at MIT?" It's still homeschooling but the definitions are expanding and changing. I am a co-coordinator of the many options, a guidance counselor, as well as a teacher. And for my rising 12th grader, I am basically the mentor, as the majority of his classes will be taught by someone other than me. Our older kids are still traveling but it's not with family, it's with other homeschooling friends/ associates they have met along the way.

It's not better, or worse. Homeschooling years ago, was good; it was something new and fresh and whatever we made of it.  We spent hours in CA and NM, exploring, reading, learning together; sweet memories! And it's good now, too.  The zillion options make it easier, and more complex, less isolated, with the ability to draw on other’s expertise and experience.