The Inappropriate Homeschooler: homeschool resources

Showing posts with label homeschool resources. Show all posts

Thursday, June 22, 2017

That Is Not Secular

There’s a lot of confusion or misinformation in the secular homeschooling community regarding what makes a curriculum or resource secular. I find this both troubling and frustrating. To me, and perhaps I’m just oversimplifying things, it’s a very easy distinction to make. If any materials include religious content for any purpose other than academic discussion as they affect or impact a subject, then those materials/curriculum are NOT secular. Period.

Let’s look at a few examples. There is a math curriculum that uses religious content for their skip counting songs. Guess what? That means that curriculum is not secular. It doesn’t matter if you use it and aren’t bothered by the inclusion of the religious material (because you skip it, or whatever). The inclusion of religious content negates the ‘secular’ label and potential purchasers should know what they are getting.

There is a history curriculum that uses Story of the World as one of their spines. That curriculum is not secular. Story of the World treats Christian mythology as historic fact – through the language they use. Another curriculum incorporates Elemental Science into their literature based curriculum, thereby negating a secular label. Neutral science isn’t science any more than Intelligent Design or Creationism is science.

This isn’t to say you can’t use what you want and call yourself a secular homeschooler. If you don’t mind the religious slant/content and/or are willing to modify or enhance the curriculum to use that’s your business. However, the secular homeschooling community deserves to know, clearly and distinctly, what curriculum/resource does and doesn’t use religious content and real science.

When someone points out that a resource isn’t secular that should mean one thing and one thing only – there is either religious content included outside the realm of academic application and/or it is void of real science (evolution is not taught, generally speaking). It doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with being a religious person, it’s not an attack against religion. It isn’t PERSONAL. It’s academic. The religious homeschoolers have more than enough resources that are created specifically for them. We, as secular homeschoolers, need to STOP accepting curricula that includes religious content when labeled as secular. Let secular be secular and use whatever the hell you want, but don’t tell me something is secular because you don’t have a problem with the religion in it.

Let’s use the one clear definition as secular homeschoolers and let’s be strong in our stance.

Secular curriculum/materials have NO religious content other than that which is used for academic study and it teaches scientific principles as accepted by the scientific community at large.

That’s it. Period.

Use what you want, but don’t call it secular unless it really is.

~Mari B.

Monday, August 1, 2016

Welcome to High School, Freshman!

Welcome Back, Kotter!

Welcome back,
Your dreams were your ticket out.
Welcome back,
To that same old place that you laughed about.

So I’m heading back to high school! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Mr. Kotter, Mr. Kotter? HELP!

This will be our 8^th year homeschooling and our first year homeschooling high school. I have no idea who set the clock to fast forward, but it was only a couple of years ago we were just starting our homeschooling journey and Punky was an adorable 2^nd grader; but alas Punky is a Freshman and she chose to remain homeschooled rather than her original plan of returning to public school. So, I’m back to that same old place that I laughed about...the dreaded high school years. Of course, I went to public school so this is going to be different – a lot different. Yet, I’m still the teacher and now I have to teach a high school student. *Gasp*

Life & Experience Based Learning

It's been a coon's age (living in the south has its effects) since I blogged. Truthfully I'm not sure how long a coon's age is, I'll have to google that, but I know it's been months. The time since we started 7th grade when I posted our new school year beginning and now A LOT has happened in our lives. A LOT. First, I was eating, sleeping, breathing, and quite honestly, shitting all things conference related. THAT was it. Well, that and still trying to homeschool and keep the IH facebook page and support group going. I can't say for certain, and I don't want to check, in case I'm right, but I *think* my husband mumbled something about divorcing me if my schedule stayed the way it was for much longer. I always said that on September 10th I would be doing NOTHING, as a well-deserved rest from all things N.A.S.H. and the conference. What I didn't know was that 'rest' I needed required more than one day and did in fact last for longer than a week and then before I knew it, it was birthdays, Halloween, and the most major flare-up of my fibromyalgia I have ever experienced.

In the midst of all that, my father fell off a ladder - he's 83 - and had a concussion. Then, my husband had eye surgery and then knee surgery. Then my father fell again and shattered his femur and he's still a patient at the rehab center. My best friend's (of 29 years) mother had a major stroke at the same time and is still in rehab and is not doing as well as we hoped. Meanwhile my flare-up continued and continued.......most days we homeschooled from my bed and we only covered the 'necessary'.

So, that catches you up on what has been going on in our lives for the last three months and what kept me from blogging. I'm feeling somewhat better and I actually have something to talk about that *may* be of interest, so here I am again. With all that life continues to throw at us, often times Punky finishes her daily assignments - grammar lesson, vocabulary lesson, and math lesson - and is left asking what she should do next. In an effort to give her the direction and suggestions she needs, yet still allow her choices in how she spends her time, I had been pondering a new method for our homeschooling experience. As it was, so much of our days were filled with *real* life, real experiences, that it felt like any learning she was doing was coming from those real life experiences.

School Year 2014/2015 is Here!

It's that time of year where the world sends kids to school; every post you read seems to say, "Thank God, the bus picked them up today." Unless you're a homeschooler, that is!

Despite any challenges that present in our homeschooling journey, both Punky and I remain convinced we are on the right path. We both enjoy watching the school bus drive by without Punky on it. Ok, we both enjoy the *idea* of the bus driving by with her on it since neither of us are awake when the bus actually goes by! The pluses always outweigh the minuses for us in homeschooling! Creating our own schedule, doing things in our own time, following the day as it unfolds rather than forcing it along remain top pluses on our 'Benefits of Homeschooling' list!

Yet, we are entering our 6th year of homeschooling and Punky's 7th grade academic year. We both agreed that each year of Middle School would bring an increased work load and more structured learning. Last year Punky was required to keep a notebook, divided by subjects, and she was given a weekly schedule of assignments to complete along with deadlines. This was met with mixed emotions. On one hand, she liked having the outline and deadlines and on the other hand she hated having deadlines. Ah, good grasshopper you are learning the ways of the world.

Quality Secular Resources/Books

I love Usborne!

I discovered Usborne books shortly after Punky and I began our homeschooling journey and I've had a love affair with them ever since. The quality of the materials is excellent and the content is divine. The fact that they are internet linked is icing on the cake! I own almost every resource material book they have produced and I still find more to buy.

So, when Usborne offered to host a Book Party Fundraiser in support of N.A.S.H. I was delighted!

I highly recommend you check them out if you haven't yet. If you already use Usborne and you are planning on making a purchase for the upcoming school year, I ask you to consider doing so through The Inappropriate Homeschooler Funds N.A.S.H. Book Party. It's super easy - you order from the comfort of your own computer and the items are sent directly to you. The best part? 50% - yes, half - of all proceeds will go to fund N.A.S.H.

You receive quality resource materials and books and you do a little something to help the secular homeschooling community.

How awesome is that?!?

Browse, buy, and support

The Inappropriate Homeschooler supporting N.A.S.H.!

Usborne Book Party to Support N.A.S.H.

~Mari B.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

N.A.S.H Moves Secular Homeschooling Forward

The Inappropriate Homeschooler

supports and endorses:

The National Alliance of Secular Homeschoolers

Today, The National Alliance of Secular Homeschoolers announced the support of

Secular Homeschool.com

From their website/blog:

______________________________________________________________________

We are proud to reveal the new N.A.S.H. website:

www.nationalallianceofsecularhomeschoolers.com

N.A.S.H. wishes to thank its Volunteer Staff for their hard work and dedication!

Coming Soon!

More exciting announcements from N.A.S.H. and Secular Homeschool.com.

As the secular homeschooling movement moves forward in the 21st century, be a part of the journey!

_________________________________________________________________________

The Inappropriate Homeschooler is thrilled to be a part of the journey!!

~Mari B.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Monday's Roll Call of Home School Resources

FUN School for Home school

About 8 months ago, or so, I implemented a concept into our homeschooling that I called ‘Fun School’. This was to be what filled our days after we got through the ‘formal instruction’ part of our day. I’ll be honest with you, this project wasn’t a success. Not because it wasn’t a good idea, didn’t work, or that Punky didn’t enjoy it. It failed because of me. I still couldn’t let go of all the ‘Have To’ in order to truly enjoy - or let us even get to – the Fun School stuff. The resources I gathered I still have and the format is still there so 2013 will see a return to Fun School.

Here’s how it works:

Fun School

MONDAY

Mathematical Monday- all things mathematical: games, puzzles, activities

Make Something Monday- arts/crafts, cooking, inventions/experiments, building/designing,

Meet the Press Monday- Oral Presentation on topic of your choice from previous learning

TUESDAY

Travel Tuesday- pick a country/state/city/regions/landmarks to do a research projects

Technology Tuesday- typing, videos, websites

Take a Tour - virtual tours

WEDNESDAY

Working with Words Wednesday- writing activities and games

Wonder Wednesday- Notebook on any topic of interest (include maps, timelines, drawings, etc)

Well-Played Wednesday- learning through games and hands-on activities

THURSDAY

Terrific Treasures Thursday– Studying the “Greats”: Art, Literature, Invention, Exploration, etc

Think It Through Thursday – Critical Thinking activities and games

Turn the Page Thursday- Reading! Any book, any genre!

FRIDAY

Finish Up Friday- all uncompleted work due

Have Fun – field trips, fun activities, free pick!

The different categories are completed on a four week rotating basis, with the fourth week being a free learning week (after instructional time). To demonstrate, here is a sample schedule:

Week One Week Two

Monday Monday

Instructional learning – 1to ½ hours Instructional learning – 1 to ½ hours

Mathematical Monday Making Something

Tuesday Tuesday

Instructional learning- 1 to ½ hours Instructional learning- 1 to ½ hours

Travel Tuesday Technology Tuesday

Wednesday Wednesay

Instructional learning- 1 to ½ hours Instructional learning- 1 to ½ hours

Working with Words Wonder Wednesday

Thursday Thursday

Instructional learning- 1 to ½ hours Instructional learning- 1 to ½ hours

Terrific Treasures Thursday Think It Through

Friday

Each Friday is the time to finish any uncompleted instructional work, if necessary then have a Fun day!

The fourth week there is no Fun schedule and after instructional time, it’s a free learning week! This could include educational shows, computer time, games, projects, arts & crafts, field trips….anything goes!

Now as to the resources for Fun School:

Mathematical Monday

This day is devoted to all things mathematical, but fun!

These are merely a few of what all we use:

Yahtzee

50 or Bust

Pyramid Math Card Games:

http://www.education.com/activity/article/secrets-of-the-great-pyramid/

School House Rocks videos on youtube

Dice Games:

http://www.squidoo.com/dice-games

Online Games:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/adventure/math2.htm

http://www.mathplayground.com/games.html

Makes Something Monday

This could be anything - an item we cook/bake, an art project, a science experiment, anything!

Here’s just a few sources for ideas we use:

http://scribbit.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/summer-kid-crafts-make-hovercraft.html

http://constructionmanagementdegree.org/blog/2010/100-awesome-engineering-projects-for-kids/

http://eisforexplore.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-12-24T16:59:00-08:00&max-results=35

http://tryscience.org/experiments/experiments_home.html

http://sciencewithme.com/

http://creativewithkids.com/make-creating-with-kids-easy-by-gathering-this-basic-kit/

Meet the Press

This is where Punky does an oral presentation on a topic from the previous week’s learning. I’ve either collected or made forms that help her plan and execute her presentation. She will also add to it with visuals and anything else she desires.

Travel Tuesday

Punky gets her choice of a country, state, city, region, landmark, or locael she wishes to learn more about. For example, we did Easter Island. We gather resources and she notebooks about the place. We include pictures as well and she often enjoys making a travel brochure for the location. Several times we will come across a fun craft or cooking project to go along with the location and we complete that as well! We also do virtual tours on line! I have hundreds of online resources for those.

Here are just a few:

http://www.paulreverehouse.org/ride/virtual.html

http://www.childrensmuseum.org/cosmicquest/living.html

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/activity/underground-railroad-escape-slavery

http://www.unmuseum.mus.pa.us/ves.htm

http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/Easter_Island/

Technology Tuesday

This is Punky’s day to practice her typing skills, which she does at the resource I listed in last Monday’s blog post. In fact, all those websites I listed last week are ones that she makes sure to hit up on this day!

Working with Words

We use Rory’s Story Cubes on this day as well as games I took from the Games for Writing book I mentioned in last week’s blog post. Other resources have included:

http://www.eduplace.com/tales/

http://www.idiomconnection.com/

http://www.storyjumper.com/main/teacher

http://www.carnegielibrary.org/kids/storymaker/

Wonder Wednesday

Punky has a lot of things she wonders about, as I’m sure all children do as they are born inquisitive and seeking to make sense of their world. We decided to turn her “I wonder” into a school subject, of sorts. Through the natural course of our lives an “I wonder” comes up and we run with it – turning it into an investigation of sorts – never knowing what it will lead to. This topic is usually what Punky uses for her Meet the Press Monday presentation as well.

Some resources, or “I wonders” we’ve had led us to these resources:

http://www.kidspast.com/

http://congressforkids.net/Constitution_index.htm

http://www.scholastic.com/teachdearamerica/wwii.htm

http://mallowmaster.com/Marshmallow%20facts.htm

http://albanykid.com/2011/12/11/hot-chocolate-hot-cocoa-and-xocoatl/

http://www.women-scientists-in-history.com/historia.html

Well Played Wedneday

This is the day that Punky gets to pick what she wants to play and we play, play, play! Most, but not all, games played on this day are educational games.

Think It Through Thursday

We take this time to do critical thinking activities, games, and exercises! Sometimes it’s as simple as doing a jigsaw puzzle or playing Chess or Blokus. Other times it is more complex.

Here are a few online resources we use:

http://edheads.org/

http://www.philtulga.com/Riddles.html

http://thesingaporemaths.com/stratf.html

http://www.10ticks.co.uk/mathsactivities.aspx?tab=sls

Turn the Page Thursday

This is the day that is devoted to reading, reading, and more reading! After the instructional period is over, Punky’s task to is read, read, read! She chooses what to read and can spend the entire afternoon with one book, or browse through the stacks of non-fiction we have in the school room on various topics. Her favorite form of reading is reading for information. I have collected a vast resource of 'Miscellany' books full of interesting facts and tidbits. She also enjoys reading her Kids National Geographic and Kids Discover magazines.

Notebooking/Lapbooking

We use a lot of notebooking resources and games that I have in the schoolroom!

For an excellent resource of free notebooking/lapbooking pages (which is what we use most of the time for our reports and such) I recommend these websites:

www.homeschoolshare.com

http://lapbooklessons.com/FreeLapbooks.html

http://practicalpages.wordpress.com/

http://www.thatresourcesite.com/notebooking_resources_for_homeschoolers.htm#

http://notebookingpages.com/

http://notebookingnook.blogspot.com/

http://notebookingfairy.com/

**Secular Note: These websites are run by women of faith, for the most part, but that hasn’t prevented me from finding awesome notebooking pages that I can use. I even bought the upgraded membership to Notebookingpages.com.

Well, that’s it for this round of ideas and resources!

Happy Schooling!

~Mari B.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Monday’s Roll Call of Home School Resources

I’ve been asked by a few what resources Punky and I use in our home school journey. The truth is that I don’t have a lot of ‘set’ curriculum. As I’ve talked about in other blog posts, we are very eclectic and relaxed in our home schooling approach. I personally believe that for Grades K-2 there should be no ‘formal instruction’, but rather all learning should happen the way it does when toddlers are learning – naturally and through the flow of exploration, inquisition, and fun. For Grade 3-6 I believe that instruction should take place is a relaxed environment, with minimal time on any ‘formal’ instruction – perhaps an hour a day – and that activities should be geared toward the learning style of each child. Formal lessons begin around Grade 7. It is only after we had three years of homeschooling under our belts that I had this revelation and you have no idea how I wish I had had it sooner – as in when we first started home schooling Punky in the 2^nd grade.

So even though we don't do 'boxed curriculum' for the most part, there are a few ‘staples’, however, in our arsenal of learning and it is those resources that I will share today, in my new weekly blog series: Roll Call of Home School Resources. Every Monday I will share resources that we either use personally or a collection of varied resources that I have accumulated throughout the weeks. Hopefully they’ll be a little bit of everything so everyone can find something they like and that would be useful.

The first resource I bought that I still keep on hand is this:

http://www.amazon.com/Home-Learning-Year-Homeschool-Curriculum/dp/0609805851/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354550149&sr=8-1&keywords=home+learning+year+by+year

This resource is a wonderful overview from Kindergarten through 12^th grade. What I like most about this is that it covers all those years and yet isn’t some huge, thick book, the author is very clear that this is just a curriculum *guide*, and it has a plethora of resources listed.

When Punky was in the middle of 2^nd grade, a friend introduced to me this series:

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Home-Grade-Language-Spelling/dp/1561895105/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354550269&sr=1-4&keywords=learn+at+home

This series starts at Kindergarten and goes through 6^th grade. I could only find them at Amazon and you have to stay on the look-out for the Grade you need because they are no longer published. However, over a bit of time I was able to find all the grades I needed. This series was used a lot by military families home schooling overseas and I still find it to be the best resource for us. Each week (there are 36 weeks in total) is broken down by an overview for Language Skills, Spelling, Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Each day of the week has a lesson plan for each subject. There are also worksheets for various lessons as well as teacher instruction and suggestions for doing more with the lesson. Other materials need to be acquired for some lessons, but I haven’t had trouble locating what was needed. This is just a wonderful general guide, with lesson plans broken down week by week and day by day that we rely on more than any other resource.

I don’t use the Reading lesson section of the Learn at Home series all that much. The book selections are fine, for the most part, but all are much older selections and Punky just doesn’t seem to connect with most of the stories. Instead I have a copy of this:

http://www.amazon.com/Using-Picture-Books-Comprehension-Strategies/dp/0545053994/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354550837&sr=1-1&keywords=teaching+reading+comprehension+through+picture+books

I came across an article about a year and a half ago that concerned using picture books to teach older children reading comprehension strategies and writing skills. I checked the reading comprehension book out of the library and loved it! I now have this book and for future use I also have:

http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Literary-Elements-Picture-Books/dp/0439027993/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

and

http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Writing-Scholastic-Teaching-Strategies/dp/0439556872/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354550997&sr=1-1&keywords=using+picture+books+to+teach+writing

Punky seems to truly enjoy the fact that I still read her picture books and as a child who enjoys visual learning this works great for us!

I also acquired the books:

http://www.amazon.com/Games-Reading-Playful-Ways-Child/dp/0394721497/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354551096&sr=1-1&keywords=peggy+kaye

http://www.amazon.com/Games-Writing-Playful-Child-Learn/dp/0374524270/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354551096&sr=1-3&keywords=peggy+kaye

http://www.amazon.com/Games-Math-Peggy-Kaye/dp/0394755103/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354551096&sr=1-4&keywords=peggy+kaye

These books list the grade range as being K-3, and I did start using them when Punky was in the 3^rd grade. However, I find them to still be useful. They are a wonderful resource of ideas for games we play for reading skills, writing skills, and math skills. Punky enjoys writing, almost exclusively, when we do so via the games from the writing book. When give a choice in math activities, she always chooses to play math games to practice her skills (she despises drills). I’ve learned that even when a resource lists the appropriate age range or grade range it is very possible to still use that resource for older children (if it’s a good resource) and just adapt the ideas toward the older child’s skill level. A wise homeschooling friend (whose children are now in college on full scholarships and well on their way to being a Chemical Engineer, Dentist, and Medical Doctor respectively) once told me, use resources that are a grade or two below their supposed ‘skill level’ because they become more confident in their own abilities and feel secure in branching out and through self-discovery, investigating deeper. That piece of advice has proven very true for us.

As to an actual math curriculum, we started with Math-U-See, which in the end we didn’t care for all that much. We next moved on to Teaching Textbooks, which takes a big bite out of the schooling budget. We are still using it, but considering changing because Punky has decided she likes learning math better when I am instructing her rather than a computer program. Why that is is a mystery to me as I am horrible at math and even at the 5^th grade level have to refresh myself at times with how to do certain mathematical operations. I am thinking of purchasing a membership to AHA Math since it is so cheap and so many have praised it.

As far as online resources go, I’m the epitome of ‘cheap homeschooling’. I dig and dig until I find all sorts of free or very cheap resources. We have a few staples in our home that Punky comes back to time and time again and here they are:

http://readingeggs.com/students/2749183/dashboard

Reading Eggspress isn't free and is a bit expensive, but I was able to get in an a ‘co-op’ buy for $20 for a year. I’m not sure I’d use it again when the year expires because of the price and the fact that Punky doesn’t need to learn to read but just enjoys the upper level they have called ‘comprehension gym’. She likes it though and is willing to read and play the games without complaint!

A HUGE favorite for Punky is this:

https://fraboom.com/#