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Showing posts from August, 2015

It’s the Last Friday in August ~ Random Five on Friday

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Monday is August 31st which means that today, August 28th is the LAST Friday of the month. This is only the second Random Five post that I’ve done this month.  It’s been a busy summer. 1.  August is birthday month here.  When I did other Random Five post I mentioned that the twins turned 18.  I didn’t share pictures so here’s a pic!  Honeybear also celebrates his birthday in August. We joke that the twins were his birthday present. No pics of him or his celebration but we did indulge in a rich chocolate fudge cake to celebrate. 2. Turtlegirl and Tailorbear had the opportunity to go camping with our parish. They had the opportunity to use a real, large, professional quality telescope set up by some astronomy students. They also got got to go hiking. Maybe next year the rest of the family will be able to join them! Turtlegirl took this photo to share with me while she was hiking up the mountain. 3.  The garden really just didn’t go well this summer.  We’ve had drought conditions an

Illuminating Literature: A High School Course {Crew Review}

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One of my favorite passions is reading books. I also love exploring the depths of literature and finding little nuggets that reveal more about humanity or myself or society. Great literature is full of themes and statements. Sometimes the themes are more obvious and the author wants us to see the theme. Sometimes they are more ambiguous and we have to dig a little deeper. Sometimes a novel will stir things up inside and we don’t know why. A fabulous literature instructor will be able to guide you and show you how to identify the rich layers of a novel.  I am not a fabulous literature instructor but fortunately, I have been using Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide from Writing with Sharon Watson and Sharon Watson? Well, she has put together this amazing and easy to use program for a full year high school homeschool literature program which gives me the tools to become a fabulous literature instructor. Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide Description In this high

Teaching High School Math and Science: Resources

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Each month I’ve been writing a blog post about Homeschooling High School and participating the Blog Hop.  This month I want to share about the Math and Science resources that we have used. It is overwhelming to think about teaching subjects like Math and Science. Thankfully there are many resources and curriculum choices for parents to consider. Some require more prep work and knowledge of the parent and others essentially teach the material, leaving mom to just facilitate learning and record grades. Math My absolute favorite program for teaching Algebra from Pre-Algebra concepts all the way through Algebra II is VideoText Algebra .  We were blessed to review this through the Schoolhouse Review Crew and we are still using it. Yes, sometimes I have to watch a lesson a time or two and check the solution guide in order to help Tailorbear but essentially it is a program that teaches her and I am only there to administer quizzes and tests, encourage her to complete her work daily, and hel

Homeschooling: Teaching at the High School Level

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The other day I had a comment on a blog post about “what about those subjects you are not qualified to teach like biology or chemistry?”   The whole comment was rather rude and it was made on a post that talked about *planning* high school courses, not about teaching.  But I’ve been thinking about that comment. I’ve been pondering what it means to teach and what it means to be “qualified” to teach. I think the statement “not qualified to teach” stems from a lack of understanding of how homeschooling works. I think it also presumes that the person standing in front of a classroom is a subject matter expert. I do not have to be a subject matter expert to read a text or require my student to read a text and to facilitate discussions, or administer tests. According the laws of my state, I am qualified to teach my children at home. I am also by law qualified to teach in a private school. Yes, that’s right.  I do not have a teaching certificate but that is not required by law to teach at h

Let’s Talk about Search Reward Programs!

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A few days ago in my Random Five on Friday I mentioned two reward programs that I use. Today I wanted to talk a little bit more about Swagbucks because it has a referral program with a nice incentive going on RIGHT NOW.  Ok reading the link from Swagbucks the incentive is more for me but you’ll benefit, too!  If you sign up and earn 300 Swagbucks before the end of August we’ll both get 300 Swagbucks.  I don’t know if that is an additional 300 or just the 300 you earned but it is worth it! Swagbucks Let’s start with Swagbucks . What is Swagbucks? Good question!  It’s a website and a program that provides points or swagbucks for “doing the things you are already doing online.”  These Swagbucks can be redeemed for gift cards or other rewards in the Rewards Store.  Generally 100 SB = $1 and you can get a $3 gift card for 300 Swagbucks. I’ve been saving up my SB though, for the $25 gift cards!  The first one is only 2200 SB making it a slightly better deal than the $3 or $5 denominatio

Random Five on Friday ~ August 7th Edition

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The summer is two thirds over.  We’ve had a busy summer.  I’m glad that there are still a few more weeks of summer. 1.  We tend to school year round taking breaks when we need them and taking extra time at Christmas and Pascha so it is not unusual for us to continue doing some school during the summer. This summer is no exception though we have had more breaks and time off than I originally planned.  This is not a bad thing though.  I do usually pick an “official” first day of school that kicks off the new year. That’s the day we add in anything new and make the day special.  It’s a tradition to have a “ First Day” . 2. I’ve rediscovered Swagbucks . They have redesigned the website and my friend Deb from Footprints in the Butter has been giving me mini-tutorials on how to up my daily SB so that I get bonus Swagbucks.  What is swagbucks?  Well basically it is a website that rewards you points, called swagbucks, and you can redeem those points for gift cards.  About 100 SB = $1.  They