Saturday, March 30, 2019

Never Stop Learning - Teacher Development


What comes to mind when I say "teacher development"? Do you picture taking college classes? What about attending conferences? Or reading books? When I hear teacher development I think of all these possibilities and more. Today I want to challenge you to seek out teacher development as a homeschooling parent. Here are some ways I've done it myself, or ways that are on my calendar to do:

Attend a Conference
About every other year I attend a homeschooling convention or conference. I attend classes, talk with curriculum providers, ask questions, and learn. Many times I have attended the Midwest Homeschool Convention, an option with hundreds of classes in just a couple days. There are even online conventions or conferences you can attend from the comfort of your home hosted by some groups. 

This year I'm doing a more specialized conference, The Brave Learner Conference. This has just one series of classes, panel discussions, and activities. It is centered around Julie Bogart's book of the same name, and she will be presenting at the conference. 

Read About It
There are more books and articles on education, learning, and teaching than I can count. If you have an interest there is probably a book about it somewhere. A few I've enjoyed over the years include:
  • A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
  • Teach Like Finland by Timothy D. Walker
  • The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease
  • A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley
  • Smart, but Scattered by Peg Dawson

Go to the Source - Curriculum Providers
It is amazing to me how helpful the creators of many of the learning materials we use are. I have called and emailed with Math U See when we had a question, read their blog, and used many of their free resources. I have haunted the discussion forum at Simply Charlotte Mason for years and love their blog archives and free ebooks as well. When I had a question today about helping a younger child with his pencil grip issues I found that Handwriting Without Tears has a free class on the topic I could watch with just a click of the mouse, as well as many more classes, articles, and resources free on their website. All About Reading has a helpful Facebook group for those using the program, as well as a blog and free resources section on their website. 

Take a Class
There are so many possibilities for this, from taking a class at your local community college to online classes you pay for to MOOCs (massive online open course) that are free offerings from colleges like Harvard, MIT, and Dartmouth. Here are a few I've found:
  • edX - A learning platform founded by Harvard and MIT, there are free classes from more than 100 universities on here. Many also allow you to pay a fee to take the class and receive a certificate upon completion (helpful for teachers who need official documentation of continuing education).
  • Coursera - Another learning platform of classes that can be taken for free or with a fee can result in certificates. (I'm currently signed up for Writng for Young Readers: Opening the Treasure Chest. It's about writing and publishing books for children.) 
  • Udemy - This site offers courses for a fee. Prices vary by class ($10-$200) and once you purchase a class you receive lifetime access to it. There are sales regularly.
Listen to Podcasts
This is something I do irregularly, often when I have a lot of driving to do or when we are on summer break.  I've listened to episodes from:
  • A Delectable Education Charlotte Mason Podcast
  • Art Made Easy with Patty Palmer
  • The Homeschool Solutions Show with Pam Barnhill
  • Read Aloud Revivial with Sarah Mackenzie
  • A Brave Writer's Life in Brief
I would love to know some of your favorite books, websites, podcasts, and so on for continuing education!

Friday, March 29, 2019

Spring Break Week 1 and 2

Week one of spring break had its ups and downs. Grandma K was in from Utah (flew in the week prior)and we had a great visit. The kids loved every minute they spent playing games together. The top games this visit were Farkle Party, Old Maid, Go Fish, and Animal Rummy. As for downs, several of us started off the week sick and we had a couple medical appointments rescheduled because of it. Makayla and Grandma flew to Utah on Tuesday. While they had their own adventures (including Makayla attending a Teen Author Boot Camp) back at home we got free vanilla cones at Dairy Queen on the first day of spring and went to the circus on Friday with my mom.

On Sunday afternoon, the beginning of week two of spring break, I decided to try to keep daily notes. Today started with a good day at church. In the afternoon Daniel and I made cinnamon rolls for dinner. We're watching a movie as a family, the 1995 version of Jumanji.

Monday Notes
We started the morning off with haircuts on the porch for five of the boys. It was raining or we would have done them in the backyard. The older two boys prefer to get real haircuts (aka. all mommy does is buzz their heads with clippers) so they headed out to do that with dad. The rest of the day was a mix of relaxing, chores, and art, as well as reading the first two chapters of Owls in the Family for book club.

Tuesday Notes
After breakfast several kids got right back to art. They drew several different things using tutorials from Art For Kids Hub, then pulled out the manga books we have to do some more drawing. After that Pokémon and Hero Kids took center stage for a while. The next two chapters of Owls in the Family accompanied lunch.

Rebekah is climbing on chairs, the piano bench, and tables often now. This is always one of the challenging stages of young toddlers. Rebekah is 13 months old and started walking at 9 months old. She likes climbing, looking out windows, birdwatching, and getting into the middle of the table when the other kids are working to 'help'. She also is a bit young to be as careful as I would like when she is on the table, so a fair amount of my time is spent moving her down, practicing sitting, or just watching from close by to keep her from falling off the table.

Tuesday night I drove to the airport in the big city to pick up Makayla. Her flight ended up delayed and we didn't get home until 2:30am Wednesday morning.

Wednesday Notes
After some sleep my day got going. We listened to Disney songs, played Pokémon, and spent a typical spring break morning together. Mason and I took off in the afternoon for a bracing appointment that took 3 hours. We returned home to the kids hanging out enjoying Makayla being home and Daddy gone for his physical therapy appointment. The evening was more art and board games.

Thursday Notes
The highlight of Thursday for the kids was that our yard was dry enough to spend a chunk of the afternoon outside. I had a bit of a stomach virus Thursday so my day was pretty low-key.

Friday Notes
Today I spent some time evaluating what each child has left to do in each subject before we finish up school in May. We also read more of Owls in the Family. The kids watched some episodes of Random Acts on BYU TV, but mostly they played, read, organized attic space and clothing drawers, and squeezed fun out of a rainy day.

Monday, March 18, 2019

2018-2019 Homeschool Week 28 and 29

Last Friday I went to see How to Train Your Dragon 3 with four of my children. It made most of us cry and was a fitting wrap up to the series. Sometimes movies are as good as you hope they will be. 

Saturday was my one day to mostly just putter around and do things I enjoy. I met my children's needs when required, helped the husband-still-recovering-from-surgery, and did some grocery shopping. However a large chunk of my time was spent with my nose in a few books. I'm working my way through the Twickenham Time Travel Romance series. Yes, total fluff, and so relaxing. The series is penned by several authors, who follow different groups of people through the same world. While the books are numbered, I've found that it is helpful to read all the books by one author in a row, to follow their stream of storyline, then go back, pick another author, and read all of their books in the series. 

I've got a Kindle Unlimited subscription, which costs $9.99/month and opens up over 1 million books and thousands of audiobooks for me to read at any time. I love it! I got the subscription 4 months ago and have checked out 67 books, most of which I have read. A few I started, didn't enjoy, and returned without finishing (probably 4 books). You can check out up to 10 titles at a time.

Sunday was the first time since January that our entire family was well and able to go to church together. It was wonderful. When we came home we had a quiet, peaceful afternoon and evening.

Monday morning kicked off the week of the annoying schedule. Somehow we ended up with morning appointments or activities on 4 of the 5 days that meant I was leaving the home or busy by 9am or 10am. Today Mason and I had a 3 hour appointment in the city. Thankfully, homeschooling is flexible. I let the kids know what was up, and that they were responsible to work with me when I was home (aka. get up and do school right after breakfast) or they could do work with me in the afternoons after the appointments. Afternoon school work is generally frowned on by my children so today most of them got right to work after breakfast. Makayla was the only one with any afternoon school work today, and it was translating a story from Latin to English, which I love doing with her. Not long after we finished she took my husband to his physical therapy appointment and left me to oversee the rest of the kids playing, reading, and creating at home. In the evening I read aloud two chapters of Summer of the Monkeys. We have really not been consistent in reading aloud so we still have half the book to go.

Tuesday's homeschooling happened early and steady. Daddy was the listener for reading lessons. I oversaw grammar, writing, science, etc. Today's appointment was a checkup for daddy with his surgeon. Things are healing well. He is now sling-free and allowed to move his arm, but not lift weight. The doctor says a full recovery will take 8 months, but Jason will most likely be cleared for at least light duty work at the 3 month mark. Our afternoon was piano lessons, a short nap for mommy, cooking dinner, reading more Summer of the Monkeys, and family time.

Wednesday was the only day this week with no morning appointments. People took their time waking up and doing school. Daniel and I baked cookies together in the afternoon. In the evening kids had activities at church.

Thursday had physical therapy for Mason mid-morning. He finally has his standing braces back and so today he was in them using his walker at PT for a little while. The braces need more adjustments so next week we will go back for another 3 hour appointment in the city a few days after his already scheduled 8 hour appointment day for his IV infusion. In the afternoon Joseph and Emma both had orthodontist appointments. Over dinner we read the last two chapters of Summer of the Monkeys as a family. It was such a fun book and most of the family enjoyed it.

Friday homeschool friends came over for our Summer of the Monkeys book club. We all talked about favorite characters and favorite parts of the book. Our next book club pick is Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat. It is a shorter read I think my kids will find funny.

Saturday's highlight for me was going to see Fiddler on the Roof put on by a local high school. My mom, Emma, and I went together. I love musicals and the teens in this performance did a great job!

Sunday I was home from church with little ones who were coughing, congested, and had mild fevers.

Monday was the beginning of another homeschool week. To shake things up a bit I did science first in the day with my PreK-5th grade crowd. We started Marine Biology today. We learned a bit about oceans, salt water, the layers/zones of the ocean and what creatures typically are found there. We measured out on our floor just how long a giant squid is (12 feet!). We did a demonstration of ocean currents using a large pan of hot water and adding blue ice cubes to the 'poles'. As the ice melted the blue dye swirled to the bottom and toward the center of the pan, and the hot water was moved up and toward the poles. We did a density experiment with grapes in water, salt water, and sugar water.

Tuesday my note taking fell apart. More kids were getting sick, I was at the hospital with Mason for 9 hours on this day for all things bone density and an IV infusion.

The rest of this week went like this:
  • More appointments.
  • Grandma flying in from Utah. 
  • More appointments.
  • Sickness passing through the ranks. 
  • Mommy getting sick. 
  • Never-ending cleaning, cooking, and dishes because our dishwasher was still waiting on more parts.
That brings us to today, Monday March 18th. The kids woke to signs hanging around the house that read: "Surprise! School's out for Spring Break!" We are taking a 2 week break. There will be doctor appointments, a trip to the circus, a Teen Author conference in UT for Makayla, a dishwasher part being installed, and potty training for Tobias. No note taking, just rest and living this crazy large family life one day at a time. 


Sunday, March 3, 2019

Homeschoolers and Applying to College: Our First Student


When people hear you homeschool they often ask similar questions. The number two question, after "Aren't you worried about socialization?", is a tie between "Do you think you can teach them in high school?" and "Can homeschoolers get into college?" People started asking this when our oldest child was just four or five years old. We knew it was a risk investing the last 17 years of our lives into this 'experiment' of homeschooling our children. We have another 17 years ahead of us with our large family. Some of the answers to those questions would take years to reach. At the same time we have seen good fruits appear along the way, and found confidence that, in the end, those weren't the important questions to be asking in the first place. That is a topic for another day. Today I'm going to share a bit of what we have learned with our first homeschooled student reaching the college application stage of life.

Makayla was homeschooled from the very beginning. She did the occasional online class during high school (mythology, veterinary medicine). She ran on the local public school track team for two years on a whim. She did not take any college classes in high school (concurrent enrollment). Academically she's a solid student with a 3.98 GPA. Her academic strengths are language arts related and her weakness is math.

What I heard years before reaching high school
  • Make transcripts and update them each year. This is a list of classes and overall grades.
  • Write detailed course descriptions of what they did and what materials they used in each class.
  • Keep a portfolio of their high school work.
What we did

1. Each year of high school I recorded her classes (transcripts) and tried to remember to write course descriptions. I was a bit lax on this in years where I blogged regularly because I could go look back at what we used on the blog if needed. We kept some portfolio samples each year.

2. In July after Makayla finished 11th grade she took the ACT cold (no test prep). She then studied areas she was weak in based on the ACT results and retook the ACT in October. Her section scores went up overall, sometimes significantly (6 points in one section), but also went down in one section.

3. By this point she was already filling out the Common Application online, which is a single college application accepted by hundreds of schools. Makayla was also working on applications for colleges that do not use the Common App. A lot of essays were written, edited, and submitted. Some schools have early action deadlines as early as November 1st. Other schools have final deadlines in December, January, or February. She really did not have time to spare for retaking the ACT more than once before deadlines.

4. Fill out the FAFSA paperwork online any time after October 1st. This is financial aid paperwork and it took both of us to complete.

Things Makayla had to do personally
  • Take the ACT.
  • Fill out the FAFSA (parents also have a part in this).
  • Fill out college applications, including writing essays, asking for letters of recommendation from non-related adults, and in the case of a couple schools - having ecclesiastical interviews as part of her commitment to live a school Code of Honor.
  • Make a lot of decisions.

My role as guidance counselor

Beyond making her transcripts, I had to register as a recommender on the Common App website, fill out information related to Makayla's application submission there, submit transcripts to schools (which sometimes involved phone calls to find out what email address to submit these to), and speak with colleges when they called with questions.

What was the result?

Makayla applied to 6 colleges. She chose a safety school that she was almost guaranteed to be accepted at based on residence, GPA, and ACT score. Then she chose schools she was interested in, including two 'reach schools' that she did not have high enough ACT scores for but wanted to try to get into anyway. If you look online nearly all colleges have scores available showing the average ACT or SAT scores of students accepted in the last several years. You can also look at things like the school's acceptance rate. One school may only accept 45% of students who apply, while others accept more or less of their applicants.

Then she waited. And waited. And waited.

Some colleges reached out by email or phone with questions to her or to me as her guidance counselor. One school asked for a portfolio of work samples to be submitted. Just one school. None asked for course descriptions.

Her first acceptance came on January 14th. We were both ecstatic. She was relieved to be accepted by any college. I was relieved that this homeschool experiment had kept open the door for my daughter to go to college if she wanted to.

In the end Makayla was accepted at 5 of the 6 schools she applied to, including one of the reach schools we really didn't expect her to get into. Her acceptances came from:
  • Ohio State University's satellite campus in our area.
  • Cleveland State University.
  • Brigham Young University - Idaho
  • Brigham Young University - Provo (Utah)
  • Southern Virginia University
At this point Makayla was faced with a big decision. Where did she want to go to college? She looked at programs, compared college sizes (she had options for small, medium, and large campuses), looked at the experiences available, and so on. She narrowed down her list. She prayed about where to go.



Makayla formally accepted admission to Southern Virginia University in February. She will be an SVU Knight this fall!


What we would do differently next time

Take ACT/SAT earlier! Makayla took the ACT after her 11th grade year. We know now that this was way too late for a first attempt because as soon as senior year begins the college applications need filled out. You want your student to be able to take the test multiple times over the high school years. The first time make it a total 'just for the experience' event. Don't stress out over test preparation. Borrow an official ACT test prep book to try at home, one test section per day, over a week. Why? To see what format the questions are in. For a student who has little standardized testing experience this will be very important, but even if your student has done some testing, the ACT questions often look different. Makayla had taken the CAT 5 test for various grade levels over the years, depending on our homeschool reporting choices for the year. The ACT was still formatted differently.

After their first time taking the ACT/SAT, they will receive scores and have a better idea of their strengths, weak subjects, and what they want to study or practice for a few months before retaking the test. This is the time to consider actually using a test prep book to take practice tests, study the things you got wrong (the good books will explain why each answer is right or wrong), and guide your homeschool studies to focus on subjects your student found on the test. For example, if your student first takes the ACT at the end of 9th grade they will still have several math courses they haven't even tried whose content will be on the ACT.

Use past essay questions beginning in 9th grade for some writing assignments. There are a couple reasons for this. First, your student will get used to writing essays. We did essay writing throughout high school, but for some reason I never thought to pull college application essays to try. It will also make apparent to your teen early on that one thing they should be considering is how they can make a difference in the world. This is often asked in some form or another on college applications. Many times colleges ask about ways your student has been a leader, helped in a cause, made a difference, done hard things, failed, succeeded, or grew over time. It would have been helpful for Makayla to already be thinking of her life with some of these big ideas in mind.

Worry less! Makayla had some traditional subjects on her transcripts (biology, Algebra 1, English 9), and some less traditional ones (herpetology, veterinary medicine, and mythology). None of the colleges she applied to asked about what curriculum she used in a class. None cared if she had read a specific set of books. Mainly they looked at her ACT scores. Makayla is a solid student, but math is her weakness, and it showed on her ACT math score. Both of us worried about that, but in the end, it wasn't a big deal. She will take a math placement test at the college that will guide her into the course she is ready to tackle.

Do some research at the beginning of high school for possible career directions. Remember that the process can be very different at different colleges and for different majors, so your student may have a very different set of needs. I was talking the other day with a friend whose homeschooled son applied to a Bachelor of Fine Arts Lighting Design program at a host of schools. He had two applications to fill out, personal interviews, and a portfolio submission at every college. It was a lot more involved.

Enjoy every minute with your teen. The high school years seem like they will last forever, but the time flies.

Friday, March 1, 2019

2018-2019 Homeschool Week 27: Science, COSI, and College

Bookstore decorations
Saturday kicked off with my Christmas present - a photography class at a local studio. We have owned a DSLR camera (Canon Rebel T3) for several years and I still don't know how to do anything beyond auto mode. Today I finally learned about ISO, aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and how to get into Manual mode. The class began in the studio with lots of teaching and then we moved outside to try some challenges. We came inside and worked on fixing settings to handle backlit subjects. Then we were turned loose in an adorable bookstore to play with our cameras.
A favorite book in focus
blurred out the background.

The rest of Saturday was family time, chores, and dishes. Lots of dishes. Our dishwasher isn't working at the moment and we're waiting on the warranty company to send out a repairman.

Sunday church meetings were good. In the evening we had another family get together for birthdays. Between my sister and I, and our families, we have birthdays every month except March and May, often multiple birthdays per month. Our tradition is that each birthday person gets to choose a dessert to be made for the party. This helps keep us from being stuck with cake and ice cream every time.

Monday my 5th grade and under group were ecstatic when I pulled out the microscope for their science lesson. We learned about the parts of a microscope and how to use it, then they got busy looking at slides, adjusting the focus, switching magnification lenses, and refocusing. We talked about how amazing it is to be able to see teeny tiny pieces and parts with magnification that our eyes cannot see on their own.

Mid-morning the dishwasher repairman arrived, checked out the dishwasher and said he would let us know what the warranty company wants to do about the dishwasher. In the early afternoon sweet friends stopped by and dropped off lots of paper plates, bowls, plastic cups, and plastic silverware. It was such a fun surprise, and much appreciated while we wait to see what will happen with our dishwasher.

In the late afternoon, while Makayla took Jason to physical therapy, I tried a new recipe - parmesan garlic rolls. It didn't really go with our taco dinner, but rolls are always yummy. After dinner was errands: returning library books, picking up monthly medications at the store, etc.

Making multicellular creations.

Tuesday morning felt magical. It was just an ordinary day where everyone's school work went smoothly, I didn't have five kids asking for help at the exact same time, and nobody complained. My six younger boys are loving science. Today we talked about cells, microorganisms, Robert Hooke (discovered/named cells), Anton Van Leeuwenhoek (father of microbiology), and Legos. The Legos were the boys' favorite part. We poured Legos all over the table and found single cell (one stud) and multicellular (more than one stud) bricks. They were then given a four minute timer and told to build something. Everyone made different creations and we moved from a discussion of cells to tissue, organ, organ systems, and organisms.






Our afternoon included piano lessons with the beloved piano teacher. A small group of kids started a moon art project. Then the mail arrived with four packages of school books and materials. The kids were fascinated or grossed out at the animal specimens that arrived for our biology dissections next fall. We peeked at The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts and History 2 books, paged through a history of science book briefly, and then packed it all away for fall.

One thing my middle boys (Daniel, Oliver, Caleb, Mason) have been doing this week is printing and preparing characters and monsters from our Hero Kids files. Hero Kids is a kid-friendly role playing game aimed at ages 4-10. I love that they offer pdf files so they take up no space unless someone wants to print and play. Today my kids talked me into running an adventure for them and convinced Joseph to join in. We played the Basement 'O Rats scenario. It was fun to get the boys invested in the adventure, storytelling their way through. It also had interesting problem solving as a group. For example, in one cave they come up against a 10 foot high wall up to the next section of the cave, and they need to figure out a way to get up there. Ideas they came up with in just a minute of chatting together:
  • The character with daggers would use them to dig in and climb the wall by hand, carrying a rope for the others to use after him. 
  • Building a human pyramid to get someone up the wall with the rope. 
  • Throwing another character's spear into the wall partway up to climb on like a step.
  • Climbing on someone's shoulders while they stand beside the wall.

Wednesday we took a family field trip to COSI. We wanted to see a couple of their visiting exhibits we hadn't been to yet. First up was Mythic Creatures. I didn't take pictures while we were exploring, but it was amazing. They had displays, play areas, and artifacts around mythical creatures and legends from earth, sea, and sky. It was a feast for the eyes, truly. As you exited the exhibit there was this unicorn photo spot set up and so we took a quick picture.

The Crocs exhibit was our next destination. It was a mix of displays and information related to crocodiles and their cousins, and live exhibits. Obviously the live animals were a hit! We saw caimans, baby crocodiles, an albino croc, and more. Even Rebekah noticed the animals when they were moving around and got excited, which means when spring arrives she will be ready for a fantastic zoo trip.


Wednesday afternoon Daddy had physical therapy. Daniel, Oliver, Caleb, Mason, and I finished up a glow in the dark phases of the moon art project that we started yesterday. Samuel and Tobias enjoyed painting yesterday but had no interest in the actual project.

In the dark the phases
of the moon glow.

After dinner the middle boys spent a lot of time coloring, cutting out, and studying more monsters, heroes, and equipment for Hero Kids. 


Thursday my homeschooled-all-her-life oldest daughter announced her college decision online, which means I'm finally allowed to share it here. This fall Makayla will be attending Southern Virginia University.

I have a post coming soon about her college application experience as a homeschooler, so keep an eye out for that. Makayla ended up being accepted to 5 colleges (she applied to 6) and SVU is her pick. We are so proud of her and excited for the adventures ahead!

Friday is just beginning at my house. Right now it is 6:15am. Makayla is out the door to seminary. A couple of the boys have already woken up and are watching a Pokémon cartoon (they are allowed to watch a show in the morning between 6am-7am if they wake up). I've already read my scriptures, printed a game for my K-5th graders for science, and today I have a date with several of my kids to watch How to Train Your Dragon 3 at the theater. Time to get some breakfast!