tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-216856922012-02-16T10:17:29.702-05:00We brought our children home to give them an education that knows no boundaries of intellect. With great care and love, we continue to support their learning within the public school system while in support of education choice for all families.Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06484905712791595947noreply@blogger.comBlogger541100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-9231504512413852202012-02-07T15:45:00.002-05:002012-02-07T15:45:48.916-05:00

This is my last post on this blog. Four years ago I found out my husband was habitually unfaithful and through the following three years of heartache we tried to fix what was irreparably broken. The divorce became final a year ago and I own the farm I've blogged about here and my ex and I share custody of our children. Homeschooling was dispensed with but sorely missed by the kids and me. I've

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06484905712791595947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-80673612654911776622009-01-07T09:16:00.005-05:002009-01-07T10:03:22.168-05:00

Nothing like a health issue to get me blogging again... :o)First, the kids started public school back in August and had a pretty tough time adjusting. Being gifted means they have sets of behavior that can cause problems for the kids in school or at home. One behavior that is common to all my kids is noise sensitivity. This was an issue at the other school they attended before homeschooling,

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-47954451045710370792008-04-09T14:45:00.005-04:002008-04-09T15:16:29.342-04:00

Our family has experienced a lot over the past couple of months that has caused quite a lull in learning. When a mainstream family has issues, the kids can sometimes remain oblivious, keep their same schedules, go to school and leave, even temporarily, whatever situation they may have. Homeschooled kids get to stay home and experience EVERYTHING when their families change; the good AND the bad.

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-30261280819016932642008-01-04T22:21:00.001-05:002008-01-04T23:27:27.177-05:00

You know you live in a weird culture when a sex education conversation starts with the Spears announcement. You know, the other Spears with the soon-to-be huge belly. And she's 16. Egad. Obviously this younger Spears never got the talk from her absent mother, and the adult father of the baby; what was he thinking by not covering up??I've already had this conversation with both my older kids, way

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-43037985895557085192007-12-23T11:55:00.000-05:002007-12-23T22:37:07.418-05:00

I write today because of an article in today’s edition of The Columbus Dispatch: “No one size fits all for schools,” available here. The article referred to middle schools’ inability to meet standards and pretty much fail their 100 year experiment at using age-segregation as a basis for education. As a result, some school districts across the country are dumping their middle schools and

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-76576074617137527762007-12-21T16:02:00.000-05:002007-12-21T16:24:01.582-05:00

Science club was a lot of fun this week! The kids made a polymer compound from Borax and Glue. The experiment was supposed to involve using different amounts of each diluted chemical, with careful observations about the results recorded. I found that it is really tough to focus the kids' energies on the experimental procedure when all they want to do is mix stuff up and see what happens. At least

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-79922229037909310822007-12-16T19:59:00.000-05:002007-12-17T22:53:53.958-05:00

My kids are interested in science and have been since they were very young. My oldest daughter was lucky to have had a wonderful teacher in Kindergarten (when we were in public school) who felt very strongly that science should be a main focus of the curriculum in public school, even at that early age. My daughter was a very willing participant in the exploration of our surrounding environment

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-23092615806848927242007-11-09T20:41:00.000-05:002007-11-11T20:44:42.658-05:00

I had to chime-in with a comment about the upcoming movie, The Golden Compass, based on the book by Philip Pullman. There are religious groups out there who would have you believe that hell for you is around the corner if you see this movie, just because the author is an avowed atheist and doesn't like religion. Imagine that, an atheist not caring for religion! The book has been around for more

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-2020955172310312062007-11-02T20:10:00.000-04:002007-11-02T21:00:27.703-04:00

There has been a lot of discussion about the value art studies in public schools in recent years. In this day and age of testing reading, writing, and arithmetic to the exclusion of everything else, many public schools have done away with art programs in order to make room for subjects required on national tests. Never mind that studying art helps develop critical thinking skills. Never mind that

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-20328732219101019862007-10-07T22:26:00.000-04:002007-11-24T20:48:44.668-05:00

Internet UpdateI read through some of my older posts and it occurred to me that I hadn't yet updated my blog regarding my complaints about high speed Internet access for me. That whole deal with our local wireless ISP (Intelliwave) must have fallen completely through. In the spring, letters were sent out to folks in my neighborhood announcing that they were on their way and we were now eligible

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-79230527782140929422007-10-06T22:01:00.000-04:002007-10-06T22:52:59.060-04:00

My son and I were sitting on the porch tonight looking at the stars. We got into a discussion on the constellations and how they are different depending on the time of year, how sailors used to (and still sometimes) use the stars as their navigational points, and how stars die. He was reminded of how the light from the stars we see today is sometimes thousands of years old because of the distance

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-54145900314114863472007-10-03T22:47:00.000-04:002007-10-03T23:32:12.478-04:00

My oldest daughter, Rebecca, informed me a couple weeks ago that she really wanted to learn pysanky, or the eastern-European/Western Asia folk-art of egg decorating. Usually associated with Ukrainian art, I've heard of other European cultures using the technique, too (i.e., Poland and Russia). She said she had learned of pysanky in Kindergarten and had wanted to learn how to do it since then (

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-87921758268238115932007-09-19T22:38:00.000-04:002007-09-20T10:26:13.910-04:00

Have you heard of the "Demystified" book series? These are books written, generally, as self-paced reviews of topics for college-bound high schoolers and those who would like to go to college but have been away from education for awhile. Anyone who has a gifted child will know that they are information sponges: they quickly absorb anything they learn and thirst for more. The slow pace of

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-13526190885154779192007-09-10T22:57:00.000-04:002007-09-10T23:14:18.607-04:00

Wow. When I think back on the last two years I realize just how much has changed in our lives. With the decision I made last winter to just unschool the kids (no curriculum, no formal texts), we have experienced a freedom that I never would have dreamed possible before homeschooling. By allowing the kids to show me what they want to learn and then taking an active role in helping them find the

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-8838802103510738822007-02-12T10:40:00.000-05:002007-01-29T23:32:04.738-05:00

A Tale of Numbers My 5 year old has been practicing her addition recently. She's been able to add in her head for quite awhile and I've introduced the concept of counting by twos, fives, and tens -- to her delight!The other day, when I asked her to do a facts practice sheet, she asked if she could count by twos for me, and I said "Of course!" expecting her to chime right in with a "Two, four, six

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-49057073313100157172007-01-09T23:21:00.000-05:002007-01-09T23:26:45.201-05:00

Oooooo.... Do I see a teeny tiny light at the end of the invisible, wireless tunnel? It seems too good to be true, but I heard recently from our local wireless Internet provider (the one I've previously blogged about) that they plan to put a new hub in our neighborhood, a bigger and better one than what is currently available. Assuming my neighbor still agrees that one real nice use of her 60

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-62290048383117118072007-01-02T11:38:00.000-05:002007-01-02T11:59:23.879-05:00

I wrote the following in response to a blog entry by Laura Vanderkam regarding requiring homework during vacations for schooled kids. Read it here. Basically, she disagrees with the argument that American kids get too much homework. I don't believe Ms. Vanderkam has enough experience in today's schooled world to know the kind and amount of homework kids are required to do. Ms. Vanderkam relies

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-17900513244940688942006-12-22T10:03:00.000-05:002006-12-22T10:50:16.813-05:00

Let me explain...Have you ever considered why we do Christmas the way we do? Why is it that Santa has become more important than Grandma? I keep reading such sad stories of old folks left alone during the stretch of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas because their kids and grandkids are too busy "shopping." Most Christians make sure that their holidays are Holy in some way; they go to church

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-61674820433556386322006-12-18T10:45:00.000-05:002006-12-18T10:48:39.896-05:00

This is a copy of the recent update I sent to Jimmy Stewart. He has been responsive to my concerns and I appreciate the footwork on the legislative front, so I thought I'd let him know what I've encountered at Verizon corporate.December 18, 2006Hello Jill and Jimmy --As Jimmy and I discussed, I've been communicating with Virginia Ruesterholz, President of Verizon Telecom (the wing of Verizon that

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-76290053170711977142006-12-18T10:38:00.000-05:002006-12-18T10:54:23.537-05:00

This is a copy of the second letter I wrote and sent to Virgina Ruesterholz, President of Verizon Telecom in response to the standard "sorry no DSL coming" reply I got from the last letter. The response I got from this letter basically amounted to the same response from the first letter, but with a bit more detail. The gentleman, Mr. Cohen, who called me said that, it is true, DSL is not coming

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-83291385395391070122006-11-30T02:10:00.001-05:002006-11-30T02:27:07.633-05:00

Our State Representative, Jimmy Stewart, called me the other day and left a message telling me that he had just spoken to some Verizon big shots about expanding their broadband network into the rural areas of his district. I called him back today and we discussed this situation (pretty much as I have written in the various emails to him) and the fact that he plans to continue working on it by

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-72059395815212817752006-11-30T02:10:00.000-05:002006-11-30T02:17:49.643-05:00

Phew! It now starts...I've just about finished my Christmas shopping, so it is now time to focus on our annual newsletter and baking! I've decided that tomorrow's math lesson will be a lesson in measures: i.e., how much does a cup of flour weigh (so that we know how much flour we need on hand to bake all those dozens of cookies), how many dozens of eggs we have to save for ourselves, what about

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-9220861338138277412006-11-21T10:31:00.000-05:002006-11-21T10:46:42.373-05:00

Here is the most recent email I sent to Jimmy Stewart regarding a possible expansion of the local wireless company into our neighborhood. This is the same wireless company that couldn't service our location without a 10 foot pole on our roof. If they are successful, we will be able to get service perfectly (except when we get icing on the antennae)... :) Unfortunately, this expansion barely

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-82606173322481840512006-11-21T10:09:00.000-05:002006-11-21T10:46:13.326-05:00

I received a subsequent call from the Verizon Executive Customer Service rep telling me that Verizon has NO PLANS TO EXPAND THEIR DSL NETWORK!! Huh?? They are now focusing on their fiber optic network (FiOS), oh, and by the way it is not yet available to you but keep in touch for availability. Huh?? This is the answer I have been getting about DSL for years, so now I get to wait years again only

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-39113111915241700972006-11-21T09:50:00.000-05:002006-11-21T10:45:48.255-05:00

This is a letter I wrote to Ms. Virginia Ruesterholz, the president of Verizon Telecom, which makes her in charge of Verizon's Internet network infrastructure. After receiving this letter, she put one of their executive customer service reps on it, though the service rep misunderstood the letter to mean I had slow DSL. I had to remind him to look at the letter because the problem was NOT slow DSL

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-71031593905159894982006-11-21T09:41:00.000-05:002006-11-21T10:45:26.939-05:00

This was an email I sent to our state representative, Jimmy Stewart, regarding the lack of Internet service in our area. This followed a community input meeting he had back in the spring of this year where I met with him and mentioned my frustration with a lack of high speed Internet service to our area. At the time, he had no idea that satellite service was so expensive to install (the common

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-5218192606793959012006-11-21T09:39:00.000-05:002006-11-21T10:45:06.350-05:00

Here is the second letter I wrote to Verizon Internet Solutions, six weeks after the first letter went out. It is virtually the same as the first letter, with a minor update to our situation.Verizon Internet SolutionsP.O. Box 152212Irving, TX 75015-2212September 22, 2006To Whom It May Concern:I am writing as a consumer of Verizon services, a rural Internet user, and homeschooling mother of three.

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-38012656844233432202006-11-21T09:31:00.000-05:002006-11-21T10:44:45.548-05:00

This is the first letter I sent to Verizon Internet Solutions... It may have been sent to the wrong office because I never got a response from them.Verizon Internet SolutionsP.O. Box 152212Irving, TX 75015-2212August 5, 2006To Whom It May Concern:I am writing as a consumer of Verizon services, a rural Internet user, and homeschooling mother of three. I am requesting a DSL line to be installed on

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-23536416186642870022006-11-21T08:57:00.000-05:002006-11-21T10:44:24.574-05:00

The following is the first communication I had with Verizon regarding the lack of high-speed Internet (DSL) access to our community. I've managed to loose the original email I sent that asked when we will get service and their email response of "Sorry! No service available. Too Bad":May 13, 2006RE:Verizon.com Consumer email responseJamie:Thanks for writing and thank you for answering my questions

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-49977010571583389292006-11-21T08:51:00.000-05:002006-11-21T08:57:30.845-05:00

I'm going to post a series of emails and letters on this blog that I wrote to various folks (our state representative and Verizon customer service and executives) that concern the limitations of technology and how telecom companies are short-changing our rural communities. Right now, this is a huge focus of mine, mostly because our three highly gifted kids can not participate in any of the online

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1160509798522988552006-10-10T15:06:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:16.491-05:00

Subtitle: Just because we CAN do it, doesn't mean we should.Pattern blocks. You know, those primary colored, thin shapes we all played with in school, if we could beat the other kids to them! I bought a 250 piece set of them and set them out on the coffee table for the kids to find the next morning. The kids found them alright, and started playing with them right away (forget breakfast!). But,

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1157861355446845792006-09-09T23:48:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:16.310-05:00

Ok, so it seems that that tea party last month may have helped focus us a bit, but I can't get the kids to follow the plan! In frustration today, I pulled out my Lisa Rivero book, "Creative Homeschooling for Smart Families," and finally realized that, really, gifted kids DO need to feel in control of their learning and if they don't, they won't learn what you want them to learn. Honest. Just dump

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1157423141297743082006-09-04T21:56:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:16.086-05:00

I could not believe what I read on the news today. Steve Irwin has died. The Croc Hunter was gone! This guy has done more to engage my kids than anyone else on TV -- and he's gone. Like that. Gone. Wow.Folks with gifted children know that their kids have an affinity for animals -- the kids are often driven to care for and understand the needs of endangered species and farm animals alike almost to

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1156306730152945002006-08-23T00:11:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:15.876-05:00

Phew! It just occured to me that I should mention a deep-thought discussion that the kids and I had today. Really interesting when you consider that my kids are 11 and 9 (the 5 year old could have cared less!)...Somehow we got on the topic of the end of the world as we know it and all the theories of how people think it might happen; super-volcanic eruption at Yellowstone, comet/asteroid

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1156305984750492922006-08-22T23:47:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:15.733-05:00

We spent nearly an hour the other day, having a "tea party" (kid #3's request) to discuss our homeschooling goals for the near future. We can't say "for the year" because, well, it will change. I've accepted the fact that my planning will change and that I need to be prepared to switch gears at a moments' notice... :) Perhaps the kids get everything done before Christmas or their interests

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1155357598701132902006-08-12T00:34:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:15.529-05:00

It just occured to me that today all three of my kids have self-started their schooling! It is only mid-August, but one kid is learning to read, another is picking up on a new topic (if I could only get him to read something longer than a magazine article!), and my oldest is in her creative writing mode! I can't believe it... When others kids are stressing about going to school, mine are finally

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1153628265792761702006-07-23T00:07:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:15.367-05:00

Yes, it is true, Daughter #1 made the observation yesterday that since we started homeschooling, she hasn't had a urinary tract infection! Yeah!For two or so years (from 2nd grade on up), she would get infections during the school year, eventually to the point of getting antibiotics every month to 6 weeks because the infection wouldn't clear up. We had her tested for all sorts of things, and

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1153627608883859792006-07-22T23:54:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:15.128-05:00

I guess I must finally admit that trying to follow a strict classical style curriculum, or even trying to come up with a less strict version, is just too much for me to handle... :) The kids are OK with reading structure, but try to get them to read something I want them to read and it all falls apart. Being gifted, they don't easily persuade and are more apt to question my reasoning for having

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1150170945718247202006-06-12T23:35:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:14.938-05:00

Now that we are in full-swing of summer (sort of -- it might have reached 75 here today!!), it is time to start researching curriculae needs for the next school year. We continue to school during the summer, it just isn't as focused or scheduled. My main concern is that the kids read for 30 minutes every day, whatever they want. Occasionally I'll throw in a math challenge or something, but in

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1149827693375778832006-06-09T00:06:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:14.748-05:00

Why is it that more people with kids in the public schools are not publicly critical of homeschoolers? Are they privately saying "You go!" or wishing they could pluck up the courage and do it, too? Or are they just too busy to bother...? :)Recently, the homeschool support group I started got a nice article published in our local independent newspaper (click here for the article). We then got a

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1148350454121038252006-05-22T22:10:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:14.360-05:00

My kids are just giving me fits about their math studies! I give them math slightly above their technical grade level and they whine and cry about it being too easy... I switch to another math program that seems to be a better fit with their learning styles and ratchet the difficulty another couple grade levels and they enjoy it, for a few weeks. Now they give me fits again! What am I doing wrong

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1148099216513286092006-05-19T23:53:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:14.089-05:00

We've started a sort of modified classical curriculum. Yes, I know, it is May and the "school year" is almost over, but, as homeschoolers, we get to school our kids throughout the year, not just September to June (hear all the kids groan in the background!).I decided that more reading is in order, that the kids really need the structure of reading time in order to learn more about history and

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1147404184801196532006-05-11T22:53:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:13.957-05:00

I just got done reading some interesting information regarding the oft-cited "study" of homeschoolers as published by Lawrence M. Rudner, in Education Policy Analysis Archives, Vol. 7, No. 8, March 23, 1999. Apparently the study is so flawed as to be completely inaccurate -- yet it continues to be cited, even in recently published, respected homeschool resource books (Mary Pride's book cites it

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1146451186603790532006-04-30T22:26:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:13.783-05:00

My daughter recently had an insight about homeschooling. She said, something to the effect of, "Mom, I like homeschooling because we learn about real stuff.""What do you mean?" I asked."Like, real-life stuff, things not made-up or in a book, like we had in public school. We go out and learn about real life -- grocery shopping, farming..." Was her reply.I was dumbfounded because it seems that this

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1146115481709452542006-04-26T22:13:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:13.558-05:00

I find it interesting that on the same day I had, to myself, pondered the meaning of NCLB (No Child Left Behind) and its effect on gifted students in public schools, and whether NCLB is truly the cause of all ills related to the problems of gifted students, Laura Vanderkam (of the Gifted Exchange on Blogger) also mused about the possibility that the NCLB Act may NOT be to blame for all gifted

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1145763965401424342006-04-22T23:13:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:13.446-05:00

I think I've put Calvert on the back burner, mostly because I don't think I'd like to spend the kind of money required for this program only to have it sit and collect dust in the corner because my kids refuse to be confined by a rigorous curriculum! Maybe when they get closer to highschool...Until then, it is eclectic we go -- a bit of math from Saxon/Singapore here, a literature lesson there,

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1145761765491706422006-04-22T22:49:00.000-04:002006-11-13T23:33:13.300-05:00

Wow! Has it really been a month since I last posted? The past couple of weeks have been hard on me. Not from a homeschooling perspective, but from an organizing perspective. I run a homeschool parent support group, a group that I started last fall with the help of a few homeschooling friends. The group is intended to fill a need in our community for parent support, and I think it does that very

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1142998617409377912006-03-21T22:20:00.000-05:002006-11-13T23:33:13.108-05:00

Well, Tamara, you've convinced me to consider switching our children's math curriculum to Singapore. I had checked into Singapore way back in September when I made the family decision to homeschool. I didn't like the cutsey artwork I'd seen on several examples online. It seemed that the pages of the texts were taken up with more artwork than math! But, I've looked again and Singapore has

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1141155006083618022006-02-28T14:18:00.000-05:002006-11-13T23:33:12.913-05:00

I'm starting to reconsider the reconsideration of canned curriculum (say that 10 times fast!), mostly for monetary reasons! Calvert seems to have a good program, if you want to pigeon-hole your children. When asked, first, they don't have any gifted-certified teacher-advisors on staff (not a good sign). Also, they were flexible only on the math portion of their program -- you can just opt out

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1141017539753221842006-02-26T23:56:00.000-05:002006-11-13T23:33:12.759-05:00

Ok, so now I'm considering a canned curriculum from Calvert. I'm really not sure why -- our oldest works on math at a 7th grade level (she's chronologically a 5th grader) and her writing/composition process is at the 9th grade level. Vocab is probably at a 5th/6th grade or lower level, though. Talk about Asynchronous! Our son and younger daughter are also just as confusing for us to deal with. So

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1140037583082547172006-02-15T15:54:00.000-05:002006-11-13T23:33:12.605-05:00

It is nearly impossible to keep up a schedule with the teacher (me) being sick. I have literally no willpower to keep the kids off the TV or the computer (zoo tycoon is way too addicting!) -- they really take advantage! Someday, I hope, they will be so self-directed that it won't matter if Mom can't help -- they will do it on their own! But until then, I guess I'll sniffle myself to sleep for a

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1138938390980245952006-02-02T22:11:00.000-05:002006-11-13T23:33:12.395-05:00

It seems that throughout this first five months of homeschooling, I've had to field questions about our homeschooling style from family and friends alike, all wondering just how far our kids have gone in their studies. Questions that range from the basic "Have they done math today?", to the more profound "What about grammar?", and always a reference to "What about the tests, will they be ready

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1138682421274590632006-01-30T23:35:00.000-05:002006-11-13T23:33:12.209-05:00

A retype of the post I made to http://giftedexchange.blogspot.com in response to the suggestion that homeschoolers participate in the democratic process of getting elected to school boards in order to affect change in how our children are taught:I've heard of a homeschooling dad who served on a school board in a neighboring county, and was quite popular. It is possible to do it, but most

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21685692.post-1138595825879266622006-01-29T23:34:00.000-05:002006-11-13T23:33:12.075-05:00

For us personally, our decision to homeschool our gifted children came down to this: we were spending SO much time managing our childrens' emotional turmoil at not being sufficiently challenged that it made more sense to keep them home and teach them ourselves. Someday, the education system that pushed us out will come to its senses and revert back to educational styles that promote learning, not

Quiltsrwarmnoreply@blogger.com1