I realize that this may be a hot button topic for some people, but I feel I need to address it. I have been watching with interest this past few weeks a series of e-mails on a home schooling list in which I am a member. The topic has been enough to make my head spin as I wade through the self justification that has been present. Here is the deal….

There are many home school parents that do not like it when little Johnny or Susie is only at a particular level in their studies. Instead of helping them to complete that level and then move on, they instead search for a curriculum that will meet their desires and place their child at the level they would like them to be. For example, instead of 8 year old Johnny or Susie being in 3rd grade math, I will instead search for a curriculum that places them in 7th grade math. “See how smart my child is? They are years ahead in their math. I am so glad that I home school them. They would be stuck in 3rd grade in the public school system.”

What I fail to see is the benefit for the child by doing this. It is in essence a false sense of security for the parent and could be detrimental for the child in the long run. Why not be thankful that you are obviously using a tougher curriculum? Passing a child onto a “higher” grade in a different curriculum is NOT the answer.

When I began using the curriculum that I have chosen for my son, I will admit that I was angry at the level he was placed in. He was placed one year behind his public school peers in math, but at grade level in everything else. He had always been advanced in our public school system, but I felt they weren’t meeting his needs. They weren’t.

I was told to quickly go over the things that he knew, but to fill in the blanks on the things that he might not know as well. This would ensure a good and solid foundation in math for him. They were right. I was shocked to learn all of the things that he didn’t know and had never been introduced to in the public school system. They were in essence passing on the children to prove that they were “doing their job.” I was appalled that my son had never learned division and knew nothing about fractions. He was going into 5th grade! Granted, the curriculum that I chose is one to two years ahead of the public school system in most areas. He will soon be completing 5th grade math next month, and will be tackling pre-algebra in 6th grade. I can feel comfortable knowing that his foundation is strong. He will continue to do well and will be far ahead of his previous school peers.

This is what is wrong with the Education in America, today. We don’t want to admit that we are failing as a society in the education of our children. So we quietly pass them along to say that we are doing our job. This is why I left the public school system and found an alternative. Don’t make the same mistake in your home school. You are not doing anyone a favor, even if you temporarily feel better about your child’s “level” in school. Build the foundation, be thankful for a curriculum that is tough and reap the rewards in the end.

These past two weeks have found me trying a new approach to our home schooling program. We were beginning to get a little burnt out with all of the requirements set forth by our Virtual Academy. There was so much to do every single day and while my son was learning loads of new things, we were feeling extremely pressured and learning wasn’t as fun anymore. I was often inundated with complaints of “How much more till I’m free?” Sometimes at the beginning of the day!

I decided to “withhold” school a bit and see what happened. I have heard of the benefits of deschooling your child, but frankly, it scared me clear to death! What if he never wanted to learn? What would I do, then?

I have been pleasantly surprised by the turnout of this short experiment. The first day, all he did was play, play and then play some more. The next day found him reading his books a bit more, but playing all the same. He loves to read, so I wasn’t too surprised by his choosing to do a little reading amongst the playing. This continued on for a few days. Toward the end of the week, I saw him take out his history book and log in to the online school. He spent about 4 hours learning in history and then was done for the day.

The next few days found him online researching and learning about various subjects. He spent a lot of time learning about insects and bugs. He also spent a little time learning about bones. I never said anything to him about it this entire time.

We added in a few lessons this week, but kept up the very laidback pace. Imagine my surprise yesterday, when I received an email across the room from him. He wanted to know “when” we were gong to do “REAL” school. I asked him if he missed doing all that we had been doing. He responded with a huge YES. HE asked to go back to the learning packed schedule we had been keeping before. There is an enthusiasm to learn that wasn’t there before and I am looking forward to the difference this will make as we comply with our learning choice. I guess that even a brief period of deschooling will do wonders for everyone, and I don’t find it nearly as scary as I did before. What do you think about it?

Photo by Brenda Emmett

Do we ever really quit learning? I think that for most of us, the answer would be a resounding NO! Even when we are in environments that we wouldn’t think to be conducive to learning, it is still possible to find something to learn about. Take our first week of April for example…

We were officially on our Spring Break for our school. This was to be a time of fun and excitement. Organized learning would be put off for an entire week. I’m not sure who was more excited, me or the boy. Taking a break is good for the soul and we all need it from time to time. We chose to go with my hubby and the boy’s dad on a business trip. He would work and we would play. It would be fun.

We boarded the dog, caught a plane and flew to the Oregon coast for the week. While dad made business calls, we played and lounged around the pool. It was nice. We didn’t miss school those first couple of days.

However, by the end of the week, I was finding learning opportunities all around us and we investigated. We talked about the Lewis and Clark Trail and reviewed what we had learned in History this year. We took in some science when we visited an Aquarium. We also talked about the ocean and what we had learned this past fall about them. We reviewed health each time we discussed making good and healthy food choices from the menus when we ate.

We discovered that even when learning isn’t organized, we can still have engaging conversations that have to do with education. So, although we were on a break, we still learned quite a bit.

How do you incorporate learning in those informal moments? Or do you feel learning only belongs in a formal classroom? I would love to hear your ideas and comments!

Photo by Brenda Emmett

Perhaps one of the funnest things that I choose to do in our homeschool is declare a Jammie Day. This is simply a day where I declare that we will stay in our pajamas all day long as we work through our school work. While it is perhaps unconventional in nature, it is a day we all look forward to.

I am often asked, “Can today be a jammie day, please?” I often say no. Why would I do that if it is such a fun day? I do it so that it remains special. If we did it too often, then it would become a normal thing and would surely become mundane over time.

Why does my son love it so much? Well, that is a great question. I think perhaps it is because he knows that none of his friends who attend public school can have such a day. We spend a lot of time giggling as we work on our school work. Everything becomes just a little more fun. We feel silly and we act silly.

Sometimes I choose to have jammie day along with another theme, such as Reading day. This is a day that we spend cuddled up with a blanket and pillow and read a book or several books all day long. It just makes everything seem new and fun.

Once in awhile I have been known to call a jammie day during the middle of our school day when things seem just a little tougher than normal. There is quite the element of surprise when I announce that it is time to go get into your pj’s and it is only 11:00 in the morning. It seems to make the tougher subjects go just a little easier. The learning is completed and faces are happy. That makes the day that was difficult perhaps just a little more pleasant for all.

We have many fun things that we do in our homeschool to liven up our days. Jammie day is perhaps one of our very favorites. Which days are the tried and true favorites in your homeschool? Do you do anything extra fun?

Photo by Phaedra

One of the most difficult things that we have to deal with as parents is finding snacks for our kids. We want the snack to be kid-friendly and still be healthy. Our kids want sugar. Too often we give in and that contributes to the problem we are having with obesity in children. So what can we do to make a snack that is easy, kid-friendly and healthy?

I like to offer my son a variety of snacks to choose from. I keep individual portions of pretzels (in snack-sized Ziploc bags), tubes of yogurt, string cheese, fresh fruit, veggies and dip. He loves having a choice and I can feel good about what he is eating.

Sometimes I will give him an assortment of fresh fruit that is cut up and he will make fruit-kebabs. He then likes to dip the fruit in yogurt. It satisfies his sweet-tooth. He loves dipping baby carrots in some low-fat ranch dressing. He loves grabbing a string cheese and a baggie of pretzels.

We try to avoid the sugared fruit drinks and soda pop. We like to drink water around here. But, on occasion, I will have some Crystal Light or Sugar-Free Koolaid in the fridge and he’ll have a glass of that with his snack. If he is lacking in dairy portions, then he’ll have a glass of low-fat milk.

I have found that when I limit the choices to healthy foods, then I don’t get complaints. It was a little difficult to implement at first, but he decided that some sort of snack was better than no snack. What are some other ideas that you have for healthy snacks for kids?

Photo by Jade

We have been discussing the fact that there is a virtual epidemic in the increase of obesity in children. I would like to share a few more facts with you that I found in the book Kid Shape, by Naomi Neufeld, MD, FACE.

• The number of overweight children and adolescents in America has tripled over the last 40 years, and 15 million children over the age of five are now overweight, as reported in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

• Ten million young people in America today, one out of every six, are at risk for serious, life-limiting, and even life-threatening health problems, warns The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity.

• A University of Minnesota at Minneapolis study found that 26 percent of overweight kids who were teased at school about their weight considered suicide, and 36 percent of the girls and 19 percent of the boys reported being depressed.

• You are the strongest role model for your children: Twenty-three percent of children ages 8 to 12 state that their mothers are their primary role models and 17.4 percent name their fathers as their primary role models, reports a study in the journal Childhood Education. Only 8.3 percent named celebrities.

What are you planning to do to make a difference in the lives of your children?

Photo by Scott Liddell

Recently we talked about kids who are overweight. How did they become that way? While there are many different variables to take into consideration, I would like to share a few facts with you. These facts are listed in the book Kid Shape, by Naomi Neufeld, MD, FACE.

• Only one-third of all kids living a mile or less from school walk to classes, according to a study reported in Women and Health.

• Today only about half of all middle schools and a quarter of all high schools require three full years of physical education, according to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Research Digest. Only 16 percent of girls still have daily physical education beyond the 11^th grade, reports Women and Health.

• The average nine-year-old child watches 25 hours of television per week, according to a study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

• If a child is obese at age seven, that child has a 40 percent chance of remaining obese as an adult, warns a report in Pediatric Clinics of North America. For an obese adolescent, the risk of adult obesity rises to 70 percent.

• Kids show a significant decline in daily activity levels as they mature, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Children and Youth Fitness study, with 18-year-olds expending only half the calories (proportioned to body size) they expended at age six.

• Eighty-five percent of all five-year-old children in the United States cannot pass a basic physical fitness test, finds a University of Minnesota at Minneapolis study.

I find these facts to be shocking. We need to help our children and the youth of today. We need to do it now. I implore each of us to take action to ensure a bright tomorrow for the children in our lives. What can you do to make a difference?

Photo by Paul Anderson

If you know where to look, you can find an almost endless supply of free printables and worksheets for your homeschool classroom. These worksheets and printables are an invaluable resource to help your child learn and important when you need supplementary material.

If you are looking for these kinds of materials, I have found a great post over at Her Homeschool Blog that offers many different places to find free printables and worksheets. Personally, I don’t think you can have too many of these resources available and it helps to have these up your sleeve when you need one. I have used them with my son for reinforcement and as a lesson in consequences for not reading, taking his time, and taking a lesson seriously. He now knows I have an endless supply of worksheets at my disposal and he tends to take it more seriously the first time. This makes both of us happy.

To access some of these great ideas, be sure to visit this post at Her Homeschool Blog. And if you need more resources, be sure to ask, I may just have some more up my sleeve. And of course, please share where you get your printables below. By helping each other, we will only help ourselves.

Photo By Andrea Church

Today I was reminded of yet another reason I am glad that we homeschool our son. We decided to eat out for our lunch and boy was that an eye-opening experience. We chose a local fast food eatery and it turned out to be the same time as a local high school lunch break. The fact that there were so many high school kids around isn’t what bothered me. It was the disturbing conversation by the girls at the table next to us.

It was hard not to eavesdrop on their conversation as they were not being overly quiet in their gossip session. One of them remarked that she thought it would be cool to be date raped. That way, you could still have sex, but no one would be mad at you about it. It was sex without being accountable. Then another remarked that it would also be a great way to get back at a boy who made you mad. You could sleep with him on a date and when he made you mad or you wanted to break up, you could just say that he raped you. That would be a great lesson to him about not messing with you and show who was in control.

The conversation then turned to, “Did you know that so and so is a lesbo? I heard my dad talking with her mom and she said she was having a difficult time. When my dad asked if it was boyfriend problems, her mom said, no, it’s girlfriend problems.”

Now, I don’t know if the girl they were talking about is gay or not, but she now has a reputation for being so. Looking at the generation gap, it could have just been her mom referencing her friends who were girls. Even if the girl is a lesbian, where do these girls get off outing her? That is her business. And if she isn’t, then there has been some serious damage done.

The girls then left and I for one was relieved. They needed some sense smacked into them. If these are the youth that frequent the public schools, then I am grateful my son won’t be around them much. He deserves so much more. There is a careful balance to be learned about living in the world but not of the world.

What do you think? Am I over reacting to some lunchroom gossip? Or are the youth of today misguided? What is the solution? Any ideas?

Photo by Clara Natoli

Today is Mother’s Day and like many other mothers across the country, I am receiving a bouquet of flowers. This is an expression of the devotion and love that the children and husbands across the country have for the mothers in their lives. Now, while my bouquet is not from a florist or the store, I do love it just as much. It isn’t a bouquet of fancy flowers such as roses, tulips and daisies. Mine is a mere bouquet of dandelions picked fresh from our backyard.

Many mothers receive such bouquets from their young children and we gush over them. Not because we actually like or love dandelions, but because our children thought of us. They made an effort to pick something for us that through their eyes is beautiful. Eventually our children quit picking the dandelion bouquets for us and those days are over. I thought that mine were over.

But when you have a child with Asperger’s, sometimes you get to enjoy things like dandelion bouquets just a little longer. The boy heard someone telling a group of 3 and 4 year olds that moms just love to receive dandelions from their children. So he fixated on this and I am now the proud owner of a dandelion bouquet once more. I love it because it came from his heart and even though he is growing up, I get to keep my boy little just one more Mother’s Day. What more could a mother ask for?

Photo by Anita Patterson Peppers