Homeschool.com’s Message Board

This forum at Homeschool.com is very active. I go there all the time!

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Car Seats and Unschooling..

Don’t worry..THis article isn’t what you’re expecting!  After reading the title, I had pictures in my head of children riding around without carseats. LOL   That’s not what it’s about at all.  I love the analogy here..

Article by Alison McKee

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My Article in Live Free, Learn Free Magazine

I’m excited to announce that an article I’ve written is in the new issue of Live Free, Learn Free magazine!  Sorry for the brag.  I’m just so excited!  It’s in the print version of the magazine–not on the site.  However, a slightly different version of the same article can be found on my Bella Online page.

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Unschooled Girl is Accepted to Princeton

This article was just published yesterday. I wanted to share it with my readers because I’m a certified teacher who believes in child-led learning. I’m at the beginning of the journey with my little ones and am enjoying every step of the way.  I am open, however, to my children going to school later on if that’s what they want, so I don’t know how things will turn out regarding unschooling in our family. 

Here’s the article about the unschooler who just found out she’s going to Princeton!

‘Unschooling’ movement leaves education choices up to kids

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Happy Holidays

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 

from

Jan Zeiger

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Excellent Montessori Page

Just about everything one needs or wants to know about the Montessori Method of teaching–at home or at school.  This page is wonderful.  Plan to spend some time exploring if you’re interested in using the Montessori approach with your child.

http://www.michaelolaf.net/

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Food Additives and Behavior

I just wanted to share a brief article I wrote about my family’s experience with food additives.  We do “The Feingold Diet” with great results.  This may not seem like something of interest to homeschoolers, but actually, learning about how food additives impact some children can be life-changing in some cases, especially when a child is really struggling with behavioral issues.  My article is by no means comprehensive so check out the following for additional info:

The Feingold Diet

Food Intolerance Network (Fed Up with Food Additives)

 Also, this is an awesome book:

Posted in ADD/ADHD, Learning Styles and Special Needs | 2 Comments »

Moving Beyond the Page–HS Curriculum for Gifted Children

While I can’t write a personal review of this curriculum, I think it looks wonderful.  I unschool so I don’t usually purchase this type of curriculum (at least not yet) but I work with many parents through homeschool consulting who use pre-packaged sets.  I was impressed with this excerpt from the Moving Beyond the Page site:

Moving Beyond the Page is a comprehensive research-based curriculum designed to challenge and stimulate gifted and creative homeschoolers.

Components of a Curriculum for Gifted and Creative Learners

1. Start with state and national standards so you can be confident that your child is learning the skills and content needed in each subject area – including Math, Language Arts, Writing, Science, Social Studies, and Art. But don’t stop there. . .
     

2. Wrap those standards in a concept based curriculum so children learn skills through big ideas that they can take with them through their lives. It will help them to understand complex interactions, become true innovators, and see the interconnectedness among people, ideas, and environments.
     

3. Differentiate the curriculum to meet students at a level that is both challenging and rewarding. Children of the same age can be at different levels. Challenge them all.
     

4. Be cognizant of different learning styles. Help children learn in a way that feels natural to them. Don’t force all children to learn in the same way all the time.
     

5. Work through your child’s strengths by utilizing each of the multiple intelligences. When children work through their areas of strength, they achieve greater levels of success.
     

6. Encourage the many dimensions of critical and creative thinking. This dimension will set apart the book smart from those who are innovators, inventors, and designers.
     

7. Implement project based instruction to reinforce the real-world application of a child’s learning. Instead of isolating math, reading, and science lessons, children should use their skills in a variety of areas to solve problems or create products.
     

8. Utilize an interdisciplinary curriculum to help your child discover connections among subjects. Math and Science go hand in hand. Social Studies cannot be understood without reading authentic documents and literature from different time periods and different perspectives. Life does not isolate these subjects, and your child’s curriculum should not teach them in isolation either.

The website has a lot of great content that will help parents who are homeschooling their gifted child–even if they don’t buy the curriculum.  The author, Kim A. Howe, has a MS in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Gifted Education. She has compiled a great list of resources for parents of gifted children. 

If anyone has bought curriculum from this website, please share your thoughts with other parents by posting a comment here. 

Posted in Learning Styles and Special Needs | 4 Comments »

Excellent Children’s Books

We love Usborne Books. I used to buy them at the bookstore for my kids, but I’ve recently signed up to be a distributor.  I figured I’d might as well get the discount since I love these books so much!  Usborne Books are educational, with selections for children of all ages and in all subject areas.  I highly recommend them.

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New Feedblitz Subscription Box

Okay..my goal is to update this blog daily, but I must say it doesn’t always happen. It’s turned out to be more like 2 or 3 times per week.

Anyway, if you want updates, I’ve added a new Feedblitz box to the sidebar. Otherwise, just bookmark this blog and check back often. THANK YOU!

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