His first REPORT

Today several homeschooling families that we know went to our local zoo. We were later than the set meeting time, but we happened to find some of them anyway. After we got home, I asked DS1 to write a report (or story) about our trip. This was his first ever report. He dictated it to me, and I typed it in Word. It was difficult for me to not correct some grammer and sentence structure, but I didn't. The parenthesis are all at his direction, and most of the sentence ending/beginning places are also. I tried to make paragraphs as he was dictating, but he didn't like that. He said I could change it when we were finished, but by then I had decided to leave it as one. Names have been changed because it was just to awkward to use initials or something else as a privacy measure.

The Things We Saw At the Zoo

By Jack Smith
November 12, 2008

We saw some of our homeschool friends, Laura, Vic, Donna, Doug, and Lisa. We saw them on the bridge to the Children’s Farm. We went to the penguins. Brad was a teeny bit taller than the King penguin. I was taller than the King penguin but shorter than the Emperor penguin. After the penguins we went to the Reptiles and Amphibians (it was really Amphibians and Reptiles). I saw green A’s (with a frog hole in it) and red R’s (with another strange hole that I can’t remember). We found buttons that made mini movies and sounds. We saw some flaps to see what was different and the same about humans and reptiles. Mindy and Brad went outside before me and the others did. Brad got to climb and play on the Komodo Dragon statue while me and the others looked around a little more. We stopped by some things that we have already seen before. A little while later we finally went out and found Brad on the Komodo Dragon statue. Then me and the others got on (not the grownups, though, they were too big anyway). There was no room for Brad once all of the other kids got on. Mindy suggested he could sit next to me on the tail, but he didn’t want to. It looked like there was no room on the tail anyway. Next we went to the jungle building it was right next door to the reptiles and amphibians (just like the reptiles and amphibians was next door to the penguins). We saw a giant hole in the ceiling with water coming out of it like it was raining (the hole was not the whole ceiling). Under the hole there was a rock. There was the most water falling in the middle. When Brad went through the exit he went straight to the entrance without waiting for Mindy to come and him telling her. Me and Mindy went looking for him. I ran and he started to walk so I caught up to him and held his hand so when he got to the exit he wouldn’t go through again. I tried to make him sit on the bench after I let go of his hand, but he ran too fast and almost went outside, but one of the other moms caught him. A little while later Mindy came through the exit of the jungle (that was not the exit of the whole building). After the jungle we went to North America (it was not far but not next door). We saw the grizzly bear statue. I almost climbed onto the head but the back was too slippery and I couldn’t reach its ears to help me. Next we found ourselves at the boat dock. Vic and Laura had a snack. I thought we could feed the ducks and fish. Mindy didn’t have a quarter; Donna had a quarter but only one and she used it on the box on the left bridge. We walked past the giraffes. The others went through the Australia and South America exhibit while we headed toward the playground. Mindy and Brad looked at the hippos while I looked at the map. After a little while I stopped to see the hippos. Mindy told me that Brad had seen the hippos over the water and under the water two times. Then we started to go to the playground again. We saw that there was a dead end. When we came back we saw the elephants just coming out of their indoor home. The others were probably at the lions (because Laura wanted to see them). Mindy didn’t want to go to the lions but we went to the orangutans and chimpanzees anyway. After that we went to the exit (or you could call it a gift shop). We looked for a get well gift for Grandpa. We found some grabbers but Mindy suggested we better get one next time we go to the zoo.

Records

It's a good thing that we live in a state with few homeschooling requirements. If I had to document everything (like the box-checker side of me wishes I did), then we'd be in trouble. I have 4 places that I sometimes use to describe school: here, my Sonlight Instructor's Guide, Home School Tracker + software, and our A Record of the Learning Lifestyle book. My last post here, on 10/23, was the most recent documentation that I have done. But never fear, we have been doing some awesome learning! Life has been interesting, exciting, and yes, sometimes even boring, but a day hasn't gone by where at least one of us, if not all 5 of us, haven't learned something.

In no particular order, here are some recent activities and topics of conversation:

• Homeschoolopoly - money counting, financing (borrowing & interest), percentage
• vocabulary - often from listening to books on tape such as Geronimo Stilton and Magic Tree House
• a 1880's county fair
• science (particularly physics) on a playground (several times)
• reading (them, not just me)
• School House Rock Jr live performance
• Tiger Cub Scouts
• "What's a coffin?" which led to quite a discussion about death, the body and soul/spirit, and heaven
• "Is heaven in outer space?"
• dancing
• a Halloween party
• making music with various household items not originally intended to be musical instruments
• watching plowing and planting
• watching houses being built
• meeting and welcoming new neighbors
• creating a maze
• trip to a pumpkin patch with a corn maze and a milo maze
• decorating pumpkins for Halloween
• coming up with a "not scary" costume
• trick-or-treating
• helping Grandpa with his wheelchair and walker regularly at his weekly outpatient appointment and at the dentist
• standing in line for 20 minutes (and staying fairly calm and well behaved!)
• recycling
• calling a friend on the telephone
• memorization
• discussing even and odd numbers
• building levels in a computer game
• taking photos
• having our portraits taken
• eating out at a fancy restaurant
• measuring and pouring ingredients for lunch
• discovering a new channel on TV (Discovery Kids)
• helping at a book fair
• staying in church instead of going to the nursery
• Wednesday night Kid Zone (without a parent anywhere near)
• jigsaw puzzles
• printing
• I Spy books and computer game
• creating elaborate train track layouts
• loading and unloading the dishwasher
• setting and clearing the table
• putting away clean clothes
• finding a lost remote control
• playing well with kids they'd never met before
• Speed Stacks (stacking cups)
• negotiating with each other (to avoid Mom taking the toy, TV, etc. away)
• picnic on the trampoline in the basement
• movie night
• spelling
• creating a Game Club (with rules and signs)
• teaching an uncle how to play Sorry!
• inviting people to eat with us
• P.E. class
• video games
• wishing on the first star of the night
• dismantling the bedroom furniture (We're still working on putting it back together and making the bed!)
• Giving Mom the best hard job in the whole world!

Food Pyramid

This evening at dinner, DS1 taught me about the food pyramid. He learned about it at Tiger Cub Scouts Monday evening. We hadn't talked about it since DH and he discussed it on the way home Monday night. DS1 told me the names of the different food categories, how many servings were suggested in each, what foods went in the categories, and what the shape of the category was on the pyramid. I asked him to draw it for me, so he did, including labeling each place with the initial of the category as he told me the category name. He also analyzed dinner, telling us in which category each food on the table belonged.

I am so pleased and impressed that he remembered so much detail from something that he learned 2 days ago and hadn't discussed since. I'm also very impressed with how well he articulated that knowledge, both to me and to Grandpa later in the evening. I am pretty sure that this was his first exposure to the food pyramid. If I am wrong on that, then it was at least 2 years ago when he was attending daycare when he was 4.

When dinner was over, I told him that we had just had a science lesson, and he had been the teacher! I wrote on the back of his food pyramid diagram, describing the discussion, and I will save that one for his "records."

P.E. class

DS2 participated in PE class today! The past few weeks we have had PE outside at a park, and DS2 was more interested in the playground equipment than the class. However, it rained very hard on Monday, so the coach decided to go to a gym this week. We were the first ones there, so the boys had a chance to just play around before class. I asked DS2 if he wanted to play games in PE class with the other kids or stay over to the side with me, and he chose games. I reminded him that he needed to listen to Coach Dave, do what he said, and play nice. I was so proud of him! He was a little distractable at the beginning, but by mid-class he was playing well, following directions, and no more distracted than any of the other 4-6 year olds. Yea!

What a great day

We went to Old Cowtown for a 1870's style county fair this morning. The boys liked the midway games, bowling, water pump, sack swing, and May Pole the best. They also noticed/saw an organ grinder, the blacksmith, a seamstress, the saloon, upstairs bedrooms over a shop, the carpenter shop, a hand-pump train car, the telegraph office, the Wheel of Fortune, the Tent of Wonders, and the modern fire trucks.

We had a map and used it to find a few specific things, then the boys circled all of the places that we visited. Before we went in, they did a good job of staying close to me and out of trouble while I was collecting money and checking in the other homeschoolers in our group. After we were finished we stopped by the funny airplane/cow "barnstorming" sculpture near the parking lot.

We drove through McDonald's to pick up lunch and ate a picnic in the basement. In the afternoon they taught me how to play SuperCow, which is a pc video game that we got from Nick Arcade. Later in the afternoon we played outside, drawing in the driveway, then shooting hoops, then we created a bowling game. The target was the bricks between our 2 garage doors. Then scoring rings (expanding diameters) were added. The scoring and rules became more interesting and complex as we went along. The best part was that they were cooperating! They were being active and creative and cooperative, all at the same time.

When Daddy came home, they explained the game to him, and all 4 of us played a round. DS1 wrote down the scores in columns (some individual scores were several added together because if you got a double digit hit, then you got another turn), then added all 3 numbers together.

After dinner we had "movie night" with Toy Story and popcorn.

If we were a "subject area" focused HS, I bet there wouldn't be an area that wasn't touched today.

Tiger Cub Scout

DS1 is now a Tiger Cub Scout.

He and DH went to their first pack meeting tonight. (We went to a picnic this summer to meet some of the other people.) Apparently there were quite a few more people there than the leadership expected: 47 boys plus parents. Tigers always have a parent attend with, but the older boys attend den meetings on their own.

There are 8 boys in DS1's den. We were told that they like to keep it around 6, so if any more boys join they will probably split into 2 Tiger dens. The den leader is a man. Several of the Tigers had moms with them. I'm glad it was a mix.

DS1 was very excited to show me his new neckerchief. He seemed to have had a good time tonight even though the first 30-45 minutes were announcements and awards that didn't really interest him. The next several weeks will be den meetings. The pack meets as a whole once a month, usually.

I remember attending pack meetings with my dad and brothers when I was quite young. My dad was the Cubmaster at that time. He has served the Boy Scouts in just about every role in the troop, I suspect. I hope there are some things that are appropriate for younger siblings to tag along. I'd like to introduce DS2 to Scouting a little more over the next 2 years as DS1 gets going.

P.E. Class

We had our first day of PE yesterday. Coach Dave of the Wichita Angels seems like a great guy. Both of my boys were signed up for the 4-6 year old class. DS1 was eager and happy, and he particated very well. DS2, on the other hand just wanted to play on the (very) nearby playground. So I let him. The 9 boys and girls in the class had fun learning about soccer, while DS2, and some older and younger siblings played. I remembered to have sunscreen (class was at a park), but I didn't think of bringing water. At least I had an empty bottle in the car and was able to get tap water from the restroom. Next time we'll have fresh, filtered, cold water from home.

Science art...

Billed as "artwork & nursery decor for serious science nerds", this site has some really cool geeky art. This is a great site for people like me. Cindy, you were the first person I thought of when I saw this! That's a compliment. :-)

"Well, technically...If you have ever started a sentence with those words, then you are officially a nerd. And studies conducted using statistically invalid sample sizes show that nerds do NOT stop being nerds once they have kids."

Kinetic Energy

Today while playing a modified version of croquet (just the hitting and sending part, no wickets) we had a little lesson on kinetic energy. I pointed out to DS1 that is was science and physical education, and even math, too (when the wickets and posts are set up).

We all took turns sending each other's balls by holding one with a foot and hitting it to transfer the energy to the next ball. We even did it with 3 balls, so the last one in the line got almost all of the energy. Then we did it without holding the first ball and saw that only some of the energy transferred because both balls moved.

ART and Letting Go

Or should that be The Art of Letting Go?

"Mommy, this is the nicest you have ever been to us!"

It's a lot easier to let go when I realize that I'm not in control anyway.

It started out as a simple sponge painting craft, with one paintbrush.

Then finger painting was added. Then painting a big piece of white paper, and hands, and arms, and the picnic table, and the deck.

Then feet were okay, and another piece of paper, and a bucket of water, and another piece of paper. The small original sponge paintings are taped to the deck railing to dry but not blow away

What a wonderful morning! When the paint was gone, they took off wet painted clothes, washed in the bucket (the 4th refill -- it had been turned into "water colors" and dumped several times), and went to the hall bathroom for a quick bath.

(The only downside was the DS2 threw some things off the deck, and since we had a weed treatment about an hour earlier, I did not want the boys to retrieve the items.)

Sonlight Postcard Exchange

We have received 10 postcards so far in our Sonlight Postcard Swap. It is for the Cores (1, 2, 1+2) that are focused on Introduction to US History, but DSs like maps and geography so much that I volunteered to send the Kansas postcards. We have only sent out 2 because I can't find my stash of Kansas map cards (or other KS postcards) and we need to get a stamp for the one going to England. They really had fun today coloring our poster-sized map and taping the postcards to the wall.

"Our" first formal multi-session class

At the homeschool convention in May I signed up for information on a rhythm class by a mother and daughter team that teach music lessons. One thing I liked about it was that it was for ages 4 and up (grouped by age). Another thing I liked was that it was only 6 weeks long, either summer or fall.

The teacher followed up with a phone call about a week later, asking which day(s) of the week and time(s) during the day would work best for us, if we were still interested. At that point I was still interested but not committed. Sometime in the last 2 weeks she called again; the message got lost for a few days, so I'm not sure.

Yesterday she called to remind me that the class was that day, in the afternoon. She was planning on us. Oh. I had intended to discuss the class with DH before enrolling but decided to go ahead with it anyway since he was at work. I told the boys about it. Neither wanted to go. They wanted to stay home and watch TV. They watch too much TV.

Reluctantly, they got dressed (earlier than usual), and I packed us a lunch. We went to our old house (we're getting ready for a moving sale) where they played, and I worked for a while. We had a picnic in the car in the rain outside the teacher's house. By this time they were interested in the class but not necessarily enthusiastic. The class was scheduled for 1:15, so we went up to the door at 1:00. (It was my first time there; I wanted to make sure the boys were comfortable; and I wanted to take care of payment.) She had just finished up with a private music student and was not ready for the rhythm class kids yet. (I'll know better next time.)

One of our co-op friends is in the class also. She came up to the door right after us. Those 3 got to play with a box of instruments while waiting for the rest of the kids. All of the other moms left, but I sat on the staircase, out of sight, during the class. I wanted to eavesdrop both on the teacher and on my boys. They loved the class! About half way through, DS1 asked if they could come back again. Yeah!

That evening they excitedly told Daddy about the class. This morning DS1 asked how many days there are until next Tuesday. I'm glad we are doing this. It might lead to more music lessons of some kind, or it might not. Either way, I think it is going to be a good experience of all of us!

What's in a Name?

Since DS1 will meet the Kansas age of compulsory attendance this school year, I will have to stop procrastinating and register our non-accredited private school. One of the required fields on the form is School Name. I don't want to be "(OurLastName) Homeschool". I don't really want "homeschool" as part of our name. Part of my reasoning is because homeschools aren't recognized as such legally. I'd like to be so satisfied with our name that I use it until DS2 graduates from high school. However, I would be content to keep the same name for 8 years, then create a new high school name.

As much as I like the name of this blog, I don't want to use it. It's just too long. I had a t-shirt made last year with "Life is Learning, Learning is Life, Everywhere, All the Time." That's a bit long for a school name, too, but since I like it even better than this blog's name it's going to be our motto.

When I registered with Scholastic Books as a homeschooler, even though I used our co-op name that ends with "academy" they still added "homeschool" to it. So what are we... to us? A school? An academy? A center? An institution? A homeschool? An adventure?

A month or two ago, I came up with the following list:
Center for Life Learning
Life Learning Center
Life Learning Academy
Learning Is Fun Everywhere
Learning Is For Eternity

Now I'm leaning toward
L i f i s    S c h o o l
Is there a better way to spell the first word? Life-Is? Lifeis? Please leave a comment telling me how you pronounced Lifis the first time you read it.

I'd like it to be something that sounds "normal" at first, then you "get it" (or at least other homeschoolers would get it).
Not At Home
At Home Plus
Home And Away
Wherever We Are
Brains In Gear
Learning Is
We Learn
Nottin (Not In)
Okay, these aren't very good. I'm getting sleepy. But you understand, right?

If I ever want to compare my kids to the official Kansas public school standards, Kansas Education Resource Center is the website I will use. It used to be very cumbersome to find the state standards on the KSDE website. Now this website has a very usable chart with links to the standards by curriculum area and grade.

Geocaching

While on vacation with a borrowed GPS, we have tried out the "sport" of geocaching. We have found 3 caches so far today. I think we have found a new family hobby. What a blast!

Life Is Learning...

It's been over a month since I blogged, but it certainly hasn't been that long since anyone in our family learned anything!

My dad got out of the care center and came to live with us in late April. Life's priorities got turned upside down. It didn't make quite a 180 degree change in our house, but it was huge. I was able to be on the computer very little. We left the house seldom, because he wasn't able to be home alone. Hopefully my boys learned a little bit about how people and relationships come before schedules and appointments. My dad is back in the hospital now, so we are freer to go places, but there are certainly drawbacks again, not the least of which is the health concerns that precipitated him going back.

My in-laws were here for 4 days last week. It was also the weekend of the local homeschool convention. The time was okay with me; we were able to spend some time together, but not too much time.

I bought the next level of Math-U-See, even though we aren't ready for it yet. I'd rather buy it now and save shipping charges than wait until we are ready to start it. I also got a set of 4 audio books. They'll be good for in the car on our vacation later this month. And I got A Record of the Learning Lifestyle for record keeping of non-curriculum stuff. The author noticed my shirt (Life is Learning, Learning is Life, Everywhere, All the Time) and said that was her philosophy, too. We chatted for a while, and I decided that her record keeping book would be more useful than the menu planning board I was going to buy at a different booth.

Since yesterday was the beginning of a week and the beginning of a month, I decided to start our official First Grade year. DS1 is now a first grader. We started keeping track of things again yesterday, and we even read "school books" and did some MUS today. Now I just have to get around to becoming official with the state and registering. I told DS1 that he can help me and DH pick the name of our homeschool.

Storynory: Free Audio Stories for Kids

Storynory: Free Audio Stories for Kids - this site was recommended by a homeschooling friend. I want to check it out later.

Farm Life: 1880s style

We went on a field trip to Old Cowtown Museum with our Sonlight group last Friday. DS1 really absorbed the information in the farmhouse. When we were outside, he kind of got the short end because some of the taller kids in our group didn't step back and let the smaller ones up close to the table where "Mr. Farmer" was showing the different kinds of grain, before and after grinding. He got a good look at the farming implements, animals, and in the barn, though.

DS1's favorite parts were looking in the magnifier at the shells "from back east" and playing cat and mouse. DS2's favorit part was seeing the "giant claw" in the barn that was used to lift bales of hay, straw, and grass. My favorite part was seeing the 1880s toys.

By the end DS2 was getting pretty wiggly and inattentive, but DS1 was still with it. One of the other moms commented that she could just see him soaking up the information like a sponge.

I think the group really enjoyed the trip. Next year I'll offer to organize one again, and we can see "Daily Life: 1870s City Living."

Socializing

For the second day in a row we have had some another homeschooling family over to our house for small group interaction. Both days went well overall and included lunch here. Yesterday's family was an 7 yr old girl, a 5 yr old boy, and their mom. Today's family was an 8 yr old boy, a 5 (almost 6) yr old boy, a 4 yr old boy, and their mom. Today was much louder.

We have also met a single family at a park recently. They were a girl who is older than my boys, a boy younger than my boys, and their mom. That went well, too, even though it was a little chilly.

Even though I like the park days with the big group, I like the one on one family get-togethers better. My boys will play with the other children more instead of just playing on their own or with each other. It's really nice that I'm starting to feel like we have friends instead of just acquaintances within our homeschooling group.

So much to discover!

DS2 said that today while watching turtles in the Amphibian and Reptile house at our zoo.

DH took the boys there last Sunday afternoon while I napped, for my "Easter present". He considered applying the admission price to a membership but didn't do it because he wanted to check with me. It can be done after the fact, but only the same day. Oops. Today after church we went again. This time we went straight to Member Services to get a "household" membership. $85 for 2 adults & all the kids in the family for a year. Perks include free admission, some members-only events, discounts for the store & educational classes, and 50% off at reciprocal zoos (including Boise, where Grandma & Grandpa live).

First we hit the restrooms, then watched the flamingos, then to the children's farms (Asian, American, and African), then to the penguins during feeding time (great zookeeper commentary!), then DS2 announced that he wanted to see the reptiles. Going into the Amphibian and Reptile House is a pure act of love for DH. He really dislikes that place, especially the snakes. I stuck with DS2 and DH stuck with DS1. As we rounded a corner to a glassed in dessert, I pointed out a salamander to DS2 and he commented about seeing the turtles. Then he said, "So much to discover!" I couldn't stop grinning after that!

I haven't been enthusiastic about getting a zoo membership because going involves a lot of walking, and it is usually hot or rainy or crowded (if the weather's nice) or I just get tired. However, I'm really glad that we did. It will certainly be a great bonding time for the fellas, and if I tag along once in a while, that will be good too.

This and that

Several times in the past month I have thought, "I ought to blog about that," but I haven't. It's been a crazy couple of months.

We bought a house Feb. 1, after seeing it for the first time on Jan. 14. Those two weeks included lots of "field trips" to businesses to take care of the paperwork. Phase 1 of moving happened on Feb. 9 with a moving truck, 2 pickups, a jeep, and a trailer, and a second trip with the moving truck (and about 10 wonderful friends). We have been making trips to "our old house" and "Grandpa's house" to sort, toss, and move things, as well as picking up Grandpa's mail. We have met a multitude of contractors for estimates for some repair and remodelling. Last week the boys got to watch "the builders" (as they call most construction workers, contractors, and laborers) remove and replace a door at Grandpa's house. Except for the electric hack saw being too loud, they enjoyed watching that project. When we finally get a contractor chosen for the renovations here, I think they will be interested in watching that transformation, also.

I talked with DS1 about me wanting to have some "school time" each day. He liked that idea and chose after breakfast, before play time. So I wrote out an untimed schedule for us. We haven't had any "school time" yet though, because something has preempted our mornings every day since we made the schedule below.

Wake up time
Get dressed
Breakfast
School time
Play time
Lunch
Play time
Snack
Play time
Supper
Play time
Put on pajamas
Story time
Sleep

We have it rough, don't we. :-)

A few of the interesting things that have happened lately include:

• Zome


• Watching a St. Patrick's parade in person


• sidewalk chalk


• playing on the sand hill and dirt hill next door where they are building a house


• following geese (with a duck call) into a wheat field and getting 2" of mud caked on our shoes


• 30 minute free trial games on nick arcade


• putting together an entertainment center (using a screwdriver and a hammer)


• playing with complete strangers at a playground


• playing soccer in Grandpa's back yard


• climbing a chain-link fence without assistance


• shopping


• reading the first 4 books in Fun Tales without assistance, on the first try

Reading & Counting

Both boys are reading quite a bit now. DS1 prefers to have me read if I'm sitting with him, but today he read Can You See What I See (it's like "I spy") without asking for help even with me close by. I pulled out Everyone Poops and read it to them this afternoon for the first time. DS2 read it after dinner, only asking me a few words. DS1 helped with some of the words, which was great! Some of the time they both read the page aloud at the same time. That was fun to hear.

DS2 and I counted to 1000 today. I started by saying, "Let's count by tens." Me:10 Him:20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1and10 (a pause) what comes next (a smaller pause) 1and20 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 100and100 what's 100 and 100 200 210 220 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300 310 320 330 340 350 360 370 380 390 400 500 (a pause) what hundred comes after 500 600 700 800 900 10-hundred what's another name for 10-hundred 1000! Mom and son were both happy at the end of that exchange!

Measuring, Math, & more

Today we did a lot of measuring. We're looking at houses, so I had the tape measure out to measure furniture here and rooms when we go looking. DS1 measured many things around the house and learned about inches, feet, and combining them. We also talked about ages of babies being in months or years or a combination.

In my last post, I commented about YEA changing structure. As it turns out, YEA is changing a little, but the format is still almost the same. Several of the founders and original "leaders" will be stepping out of leadership and into member status. They have gotten burnt out somewhat, and YEA doesn't match their dream any longer, but it does fulfill a purpose for those involved. Thus HANCK (Homeschool Activity Network - Central Kansas) was born. It's the umbrella/resource group now, and YEA is still for weekly classes, with occasional parties and park days.

Other than the measuring today, homeschool has been primarily "life skills" for us for the past month. We have visited relatives out of state, which included 4 airplane flights, going through security twice, visiting with seatmates, sharing video games (DS1 and an 18 yr old boy), and almost a week at Grandma's and Grandpa's. We have visited a relative in the hospital several times, which involves attempting proper hospital behavior and extra personal hygiene. And we have visited 9 houses in our house hunting adventure; some were empty, but some were still occupied, so we had look around while still respecting their things.

YEA is evolving again

Every semester that our co-op, Young Explorers' Academy, has been in existence, it has changed. I believe this is good, because it gets better each time. Some things need to stop and others need to start. For the past few days, we have had an online discussion about changing things again (even from what the new 2008 plans were). Today, someone posted a link to Our Non-directed Support Organization in Home Education Magazine's online edition. This appears to be very close to what we are working toward right now. It is less group structure and more "Hey, I'm going to do this, who wants to join me?"