Home School Humor

We hear it all the time, "I send my kids to school because I believe kids should be with others they're age. Home schooling children are un-socialized."

Or...

"We don't think it's right to shelter our children."

I realized over the weekend that there is a lot of humor in home schooling. I didn't know there was a market for it!

I loved this comic and the message behind it...so, so true;) I was needing a laugh today, so I went looking for more funny home school humor.

Enjoy, oh and feel free to send over your favorites and I'll add them here so we can all get a good laugh!

My Memorable Week At the Cincinnatti Home School Convention

I just got back from the Mid-West Home schooling convention in Cincinnatti Ohio and what a life changing event that was!


This was my first convention and I have to say that I went in with an "agenda."


Home schooling had become a J.O.B for me and not one that I looked forward to tackling everyday.


Between the house work, farm chores, errands, my home based business, home school committee responsibilities and kids crying that they didn't want to do school work...

it felt that I was starting the day with "loser" written on my forehead.


I should tell you that it hasn't always been like this...I blame a lot of it on myself because life got so busy and what did I do...I took the fun out of home schooling.


Does this sound like you?

So this past week, I hit a wall and I knew it was time for a major change!

I packed my bags for a fun and exciting weekend with the girls, left the kids with my hubby and headed off on a road trip to Cincinnati knowing that I was coming home with my questions answered and a game plan to change the course of our class room!

We had a hotel reserved in the heart of the city and a room waiting for us on the eleventh floor!

Parking was crazy and so were the elevator rides up and down. The oldest hotel in Cincinnati only had two working elevators and 26 floors!

I am not sure who suggested this but some of the girls wondered if it was faster to take the stairs...yes, they actually raced up 11 flights of stairs and beat the elevator! LOL


The first night of the convention was filled with excitement. If I hadn't done my research going in, I would have been totally overwhelmed!


Over 300 exhibits and 250 workshops...that is some serious home school material to go through!

We each came for different reasons, so as soon as we arrived at the convention center we all went our separate ways. Some visited the exhibits first while others dove right in to the workshops.

We met back up that night for some late night pizza, chocolate and girl time....I don't think the lights went out till after 2am officially;)

The buzz was contagious and we couldn't wait to get back in there on Friday to learn more! It was two more full days of hands on material.

If you're not a home school mom, I could see how you wouldn't understand how this could be at all fun...but imagine being in a room full of things that will make your life go more smoothly, more organized, more fun and put more smiles on the faces of everyone you love.

Okay....now we're on the same page!

I had so many "a ha" moments it wasn't even funny. I can't wait to get it all out to share with you all and more importantly implement what I learnt into my homeschooling efforts.

Stay tuned for ways to spice up your home school!

Cincinnati Home School Convention

Today I am off to the Cincinnati Home School Convention. I'm very excited because I've never been to this type of event and ofcourse I'm going with an agenda! We have a few months left before we finish school for the summer and I probably won't make any major changes until the fall, but some things I'm looking for are:

• ways to keep learning fun
• teaching multiple children of different grades
• a new science, health & history program
• christian based readers
• organizational techniques

There are about a dozen speakers to choose from every hour a long with 300+ booths of vendors. I am sure I will find what I am looking for.

I'll keep you posted;)

Are You Feelin' Lucky?

As many of you know, I've been working from home now for a little over five years. I found a simple candle business that is a good fit for me and my family.

Today in honor of St. Patrick’s Day I’m giving away a free “Green” candle!

When was the last time you looked for a four leaf clover? I remember sitting in the grass for hours just trying to find one! Now my daughter Fiona does.

So to celebrate today, I’ve hidden a four leaf clover somewhere on my personal website. www.FlaminScents.com

When you find it email me at:
Jamie@flaminscents.com and tell me the page you found it on.

All correct entries will be put in a special drawing this evening and a winner announced!

Your not only getting a “Green” colored candle, but an amazing “Green” product! See our candles are made from a natural renewable source and come with a double 100% cotton wick. This allows the candles to burn practically soot free and because they burn slower and evenly, there's little wax remaining at the bottom. It’s just one more reason why I love these candles!

Our gourmet soy cleansing bars are great for your skin. You can make your own laundry detergent, it's safe to clean your jewelry and the best shaving cream I've ever used!

So, come on over and feel like a kid again…and don’t forget to invite your friends!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
The Riley Family

A Shift to Dumbing Down U.S Education-A Must Read for All Parents!

After this video dropped into my inbox and I had a chance to view it...it really sent me digging to find more information on this subject!

Are You Kidding Me?

If you feel there is nothing wrong with America's education system this may not have much effect on you. I feel like after watching and researching that it in fact affects every family in the U. S that has school aged children.


Charlotte Iserbyt served as Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, during the first Reagan Administration. At that time, she blew the whistle on a major technology initiative which would control curriculum in America's classrooms.

Here is a piece from the clip below:

"The teachers have had to continue to go through it...training, re-training, sensitivity training, break their values, no right, no wrong, you got to have all religions represented and be tolerant of everything because that's the new world order."

Her book "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America" has been listed as a #1 best seller by Barnes and Noble in their History of Education category.





Professor Benjamin Bloom, who is mentioned in the video is the man behind the idea. I first went to Wiki-pedia and searched"Bloom's Taxonomy"-here is the definition according to Wiki

I am very interested in learning more about this from public school teachers and those that work in the education field. I don't want to misunderstand this and I understand that anyone can make a video and it look one sided.


Is this something that is being taught in the public school education system?

This video from Jay Leno, is a little one-sided I know. I am sure that those with the right answers have been cut out...but it's amazing the things people don't know.




Those with school aged children...does this make you question what your children are being taught?

I myself, am feel really good about our decision to home school;(

A Home School Mom's Job is Never Done..So What's for Dinner?

I was sitting at my dining room table tonight planning dinner meals for the next few weeks.

I've found early on with home schooling that if I don't prepare for the upcoming week that things like "eating" seem to not be done. Well...I take that back, we do it but it ends up being something not so good for us.

So anyway, I do up my meal list for a week and shop for two weeks worth of groceries at a time. My friend was telling me today that one of her home school mom friends did up a month's worth of dinner meals one time!

WOW! That's a lot of cooking at one time.

I think it's important for our family to eat supper together and I don't like going into the kitchen 30 minutes before supper having a panic attack because I don't know what to fix.

So, I took this idea and compiled some quick dinner meal ideas into one spot. Also, some great tips to make sure you're always prepared for those nights you need quick meals.

Check this out and then feel free to post your favorite dinner meal idea here on my blog and I can re-post it to this Squidoo Lens if you like.

http://www.squidoo.com/fast-dinner-meals

How Do Boys and Girls Learn Differently?

Why do my little girls prefer to nurture animal, cuddle dolls and play dress-up while my friends boys want to "rough-house" with trucks and cars?

As we grow up, why do girls tend to excel in language and writing while boys perform best in math and science?

I recently did a study on this topic for a Home School Moms Day Out for our local moms group and was stunned at what I found.

Gender differences run much deeper than learned behaviors we adopt by watching our parents. They stem from differences in the way we process information. Scientists have discovered that some of the behaviors that differentiate boys from girls are the result of differences in the way our brains develop and operate.

Hmmm...

BOYS

• Boys develop language skills later than girls do.
  


• Reading & writing may be more difficult for boys in early elementary years than for girls
  


• Boys develop spatial memory earlier than girls. In other words, boys can more easily record information about the environment and the position of objects in the environment.
  


• Eyes-more directed to direction and motion Hearing-boys don’t hear as well as girls, making it harder to hear softer sounds. Therefore, boys in the back row may not hear a soft-spoken female teacher.
  


• Boys develop fine motor skills later than girls do. Even the task of gripping a pencil properly or cutting things out with scissors is more difficult for young boys.
  


• Boys' brains go into a rest state many times a day. Boys perform better when taking breaks and moving around.
  


• Boys are kinesthetic learners. Boys learn by using gross motor skills, manipulating and moving things to learn.

Girls

• Girls develop language areas of the brain sooner than boys making reading and writing easier
  
• Girls process emotion quicker
  
• Girls like "context" to their learning. They like learning through narrative. They want to know "why" you have to do something a certain way...while boys just want to do it.
  
• Eyes-Girls eyes are drawn to color and textures
  
• Hearing-Girls hear higher frequencies than boys and are more sensitive to sounds. It is easier for them to listen in on softer sounds.
  
• Girls focus and take risks in less stressful environments
  
• Girls brains are more active than those of boys and are less likely to zone out during the day.

So, I was wondering if after reading this you had any "light bulb" moments while thinking about your kids and how they act, learn etc.