We are now part of yet one more homeschooling group. This is good, though, because FLICT is a very good fit for us. It is the next in a lineage of groups of independent minded, yet not isolated, homeschoolers in our area.
WIHS, YEA, HANCK, WHEF, and now FLICT.
Free Learning Wichita is FLICT's full name. (ICT is Wichita's airport abbreviation and a well known local shorthand for our city.)
We have 10 families in the Facebook group. I think 7 of them came to our first group event. We had Wii games, Lego, Zometool, chalk drawing, Minecraft, some other computer games, In a Pickle, chess, some other board/character games, Magic the Gathering, toddler-sized blocks and puzzles, lunch, babies nursing, moms chatting, and probably several other activities that I missed seeing. All in just over 2 hours! The church building was left as clean and tidy as we found it, and kids and adults want to do it again.
A ROUSING SUCCESS!
Monday, September 02, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Time Flies
As I was preparing to post about our second "Not Back to School" gathering this fall, I decided to scan my archives and read some old posts. Wow, this blog has been around over 9 years! My tickers at the top show how long since I became a SAHM and how long DS1 has not been going to "building school." It says 6 years. Did I count kindergarten year? No. It wasn't mandatory, and I didn't register with the state until he was 7. Wait, that's wrong, He's starting 6th grade, so if it has been 6 years already, then I did count K.
I have been getting my boys' grades and ages mixed up a lot this week. Just yesterday I told someone that DS1 was "10, almost 11, no 11 almost 12." Actually he is almost 11 and a half. His brother is "9 almost 10." I'm also confused about what grade to say they are in. DS1 is the age of most public school sixth graders, that would put him in middle school. However, back-in-my-day 6th grade was still elementary school, so when I say he's a middle schooler or a "youth", my brain thinks Jr. High and 7th grade. Do you see why I keep getting confused?
A few weeks ago someone asked me if the boys were at the same grade level in some subject (math, I think). I honestly didn't know how to answer that. Since we don't follow a specific curriculum that has grade levels, I don't even know what other kids learn in any particular grade or at a particular age.
I do know, however, that DS2 can do mental math like no one else I know. Once he learns (or figures out on his own) a math concept or a computational trick, he owns it. When he reads or hears something he absorbs it. He likes to read and hear things over and over, then he will be able to repeat (with understanding) those concepts and scripts at any time. He also likes cartoons and toys that are intended for much younger kids than himself.
DS1 will watch videos for hours and absorb the content. Last week he watched all 12 episodes of America the Story of Us over 3 days. He has also watched the entire The Universe series, both of which are History Channel series intended for an adult audience. With all the rain we've had this month (Our city was within 1" of beating the record for the most rain in August before the month was half over.), we had a discussion about extremes and mathematical limits because DS1 learned on Mythbusters that you don't stay drier by running in the rain instead of walking. I tried to convince him that since Mythbusters was obviously wrong at the extremes, then they were wrong period. His argument was that they were talking about normal human speeds, so they were still right.
We've come a long way, and I'm so fortunate to be doing this with them!
I have been getting my boys' grades and ages mixed up a lot this week. Just yesterday I told someone that DS1 was "10, almost 11, no 11 almost 12." Actually he is almost 11 and a half. His brother is "9 almost 10." I'm also confused about what grade to say they are in. DS1 is the age of most public school sixth graders, that would put him in middle school. However, back-in-my-day 6th grade was still elementary school, so when I say he's a middle schooler or a "youth", my brain thinks Jr. High and 7th grade. Do you see why I keep getting confused?
A few weeks ago someone asked me if the boys were at the same grade level in some subject (math, I think). I honestly didn't know how to answer that. Since we don't follow a specific curriculum that has grade levels, I don't even know what other kids learn in any particular grade or at a particular age.
I do know, however, that DS2 can do mental math like no one else I know. Once he learns (or figures out on his own) a math concept or a computational trick, he owns it. When he reads or hears something he absorbs it. He likes to read and hear things over and over, then he will be able to repeat (with understanding) those concepts and scripts at any time. He also likes cartoons and toys that are intended for much younger kids than himself.
DS1 will watch videos for hours and absorb the content. Last week he watched all 12 episodes of America the Story of Us over 3 days. He has also watched the entire The Universe series, both of which are History Channel series intended for an adult audience. With all the rain we've had this month (Our city was within 1" of beating the record for the most rain in August before the month was half over.), we had a discussion about extremes and mathematical limits because DS1 learned on Mythbusters that you don't stay drier by running in the rain instead of walking. I tried to convince him that since Mythbusters was obviously wrong at the extremes, then they were wrong period. His argument was that they were talking about normal human speeds, so they were still right.
We've come a long way, and I'm so fortunate to be doing this with them!
Friday, July 05, 2013
It seems that I am experienced.
I gave a 20 minute talk at my Science Camp reunion today about using Zometool to teach geometry at our homeschool co-op. There have been quite a few people want to talk with me about various aspects of homeschooling since then. It is quite nice to feel like I know what I'm talking about as well as being sought out for my opinion and experience.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Transcripts Already?
I am currently (yes, really, right now) listening to a live webinar from Lee Binz of The HomeScholar about high school transcripts.
Since I tend to be inconsistent about keeping up with all of my good intentions, I figured if I got started now and practiced a little, maybe I would be ready when the time comes.
Some interesting tidbits:
Since I tend to be inconsistent about keeping up with all of my good intentions, I figured if I got started now and practiced a little, maybe I would be ready when the time comes.
Some interesting tidbits:
- Boys Scouts can probably be counted as PE because of all the camping and hiking. It can also be "leadership training", especially for boys who end up earning Eagle rank.
- Dance could be PE or Fine Arts.
- High school level work taken early may be counted as a high school credit. (Think advanced student.)
- When including these early classes, put the year the class was taken not "in 7th grade."
- Any work done while high school age may be counted as a high school credit. (Think remedial student.)
- College level work may be counted as a high school credit. (Think dual enrollment.)
- Keep a transcript even if they don't think they are college bound. (Opinions sometimes change, or the transcript might come in handy for other purposes.)
- Determine credit count (1 or .5) based on books or hours.
- Activities can be counted as a class or as an activity, but shouldn't be listed as both.
- Unschooling life learning activities can be tracked by topics and hours, then grouped together. When a group reaches 120-180 hours, you can describe it as a class.
- Classes taken away from home (co-op, online, public school, summer camp/school) can be listed on your transcript, but you should include the title and grade as listed by the source.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Time Flies
I'm considering starting a new blog of our traveling adventures. In the process of getting ready to do that, I became aware of how long I have been blogging. Even though I don't post regularly anymore, it still amazes me that LILLILY will be 9 years old this summer!
My tickers show that I changed careers over 6 years & 9 months ago. We are just about to "finish" our 6th year of not going to school. My very first blog post was almost 12 years and 2 months ago. I won't go into how old I feel when I look at those time frames, I'll just say that technology changes. :-) It always has, and it always will. It's a good thing that I believe in LIFE LONG LEARNING!
My tickers show that I changed careers over 6 years & 9 months ago. We are just about to "finish" our 6th year of not going to school. My very first blog post was almost 12 years and 2 months ago. I won't go into how old I feel when I look at those time frames, I'll just say that technology changes. :-) It always has, and it always will. It's a good thing that I believe in LIFE LONG LEARNING!
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