Wintery Mix: The Carnival of Homeschooling

As your posts were coming in over the past weekend, the weather seemed busy trying to decide what it wanted to be when it grew up. Friday was clear and chilly, but I woke the next morning to the beep-beep of snowplows. From my 40th floor hotel room, I could see snow blowing sideways, nearly obscuring the bright screens wrapping Times Square just a few blocks south. By the time I boarded a train for home on Monday, we had seen sun, snow, rain, fog, and wind, and the trip home held more of the same.

Looking through your posts, I see a similar variety (though more pleasant, of course), so like the forecasters who opted to predict “wintery mix” instead of trying to be specific from hour to hour, I offer you the Wintery Mix Carnival of Homeschooling. I hope you’ll enjoy it! Thanks to all who contributed.

Creating a Lifestyle of Learning

Pamela Jorrick shares the story of a well-traveled $50 birthday gift in Seeds of Sharing with Kiva posted at Blah, Blah, Blog. She also has the best bio blurb I’ve seen in years. Really, who wouldn’t want to read a blog by an “Artist, Writer, Funschooling Facilitator, Empowered Living Advocate, Wanna-be Organic Gardening Foodie, Travel Loving Life Explorer, Part Time Goat Herding Chicken Lady, Wife to One Handsome and Handy Fellow and Full Time Mamacita Extraordinaire to a Couple of Cage Free Kids”? (I’m a Kiva lender too– it’s a good program.)

Christine Guest shares a rueful account of a visit to the eye doctor with young kids in I’ve got to stop scheduling afternoon appointments posted at Our Curious Home. If you’re a homeschool mom, you’ve probably been there. It’s a pity that professionals for humans don’t make house calls like our vet does!

Mrs. White shares about creating “an atmosphere of happiness, and entertainment with our families” in Family Comfort in the Evening Hours posted at The Legacy of Home.

Foundations

Nancy Kelly answers a question about teaching students how to focus with wise words from Charlotte Mason in Dear Stephanie – A Word About Attention posted at one of my favorite homeschool blogs, Sage Parnassus.

Henry Cate reflects on responsibility, freedom, and character in Aspects of a Homeschooling life at Why Homeschool.

Phyllis Sather offers some older mom wisdom in Are You Continually Searching For “Me Time? at Proclaiming God’s Faithfulness. She says, “No matter how often I read this article I’m still struck with how often the root cause of my unrest is the desire for ‘Me Time.'”

Reading

Read Aloud Dad shares how he learned that “reading aloud was not about reading aloud” and how you can get started in Read Aloud: Ignite Your Life posted at Read Aloud Dad.

Karyn Tripp offers creative ideas in a photo post on Sight Word & Spelling Fun at Teach Beside Me. I’m guessing there may be a kinesthetic learner (or teacher) in Karyn’s household!

Sara Dawkins presents 10 Books to Get Kids Reading Again posted at NannyPro.com, reminding parents that if “Kids are constantly bombarded with visual images from television, movies, video games and the internet. All this vivid imagery can make reading books seem dull and boring.”

From me: To offer you something in addition the Carnival today, I’ll share an older post, Reading for Fun is the Foundation of Literary Appreciation. So often, parents feel that their children should be reading only classics, but that’s not necessarily the case. It takes a lot of reading practice to build the skills needed to truly appreciate great literature, and light, fun reading helps build the desire to read. Twinkies for the brain aren’t all bad!

Get Those Kiddos Moving

Cristina Payne shares thoughts on being the literal and figurative support person in The Top and Bottom posted at the ever-active Home Spun Juggling blog.

Misty requests suggestions from other homeschoolers to keep the kids active during the winter in What do you do with crazy energy during the winter? posted at Homeschool Bytes. Any ideas?

History and Science

Annie Kate Aarnoutse shares delightful nature finds in Our Museum at Tea Time with Annie Kate. Where would you keep treasures like these?

Susan Kilbride shares a homeschool-mom created lesson, Free Atoms & Molecules Unit Study for Ages 8-13, from her book Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers at Funtastic Unit Studies!. You’ll find another free unit study about plants for ages 4-7 on her website, plus links to other freebies.

Math and Other Number Stuff

Jennifer Bardsley presents Math Without Worksheets at Teaching My Baby To Read,. She suggests “Looking for a free way to expand your child’s math skills? Every once in a while, try having your child write about their mathematical thinking. It’s harder than it looks.” I never thought I’d say this, but I found this math article fascinating, along with the linked discussion of how and why to teach math using the Constructivist method. It sounds logical and effective.

Chris Shaw offers a practical idea for  Teaching Economics in the Home School at http://homeschoolvspublicschool.com. If you’re as old as I am, you may need your reading glasses for this one, but it’s definitely worth a look.

Early Homeschooling

Kelly @ The Homeschool Co-op presents an interview with unschooler Lindsay Wilson on Featured Fridays- Preschool Unschooling With An Attached Mama posted at The Homeschool Co-op. Lindsay shares, among other things, her homeschool philosophy: “We believe that learning is always happening, even if we can’t always see it, and that learning happens best when the child is engaged and interested and can apply the learning to real life.”

Jamie Gaddy presents I’m not Scared… are YOU? posted at Homeschool Online, saying, “Homeschooling can be a bit scary to someone just beginning… but there’s so much out there to help!”

Kathi Weiss discusses how a pacifist can teach about war in Learning About War posted at Homeschool Online.

Fun and Games

Kathleen shares “a brief and humorous (I think) look at the uniqueness of life as a home school family” in You Know You Are A Homeschooler When . . . at  Art’s Chili Pepper. This post joins a long and respectable line of posts on this topic, most of which can be found by Google-searching “you know you’re a homeschooler when.”

Kathy Simmons presents 10 Reasons Why Kids Love to Play Candyland posted at Nanny Services, saying, “Candyland is probably the simplest board game that exists. It is made for very young children, and as long as it has been around, young children have been enjoying the fun it provides”

Dave Roller offers a “HSD HSBA Extravaganza” as he recaps the 2011 Home School Blog Awards by revealing each blog he voted for in each category and also highlighting the 20 winners along with sample posts in 2011 HSBA Awards at Home-School Dad.

Looking Back

Annette shares a learning day in her family homeschool in A slow day, yet study accomplished posted at A Net in Time, commenting that it was “a good day to homeschool after all.”

Karen Loethen takes a look back, reflecting on what she might have done differently and what she’s done right this year at In Retrospect posted on Homeschool Atheist Momma.

Tina Hollenbeck kept a detailed record of activities for a whole day in order to share what a “typical” day in her home might look like. You can read it at A Day in the Life… posted at Being Made New.

That’s all for this edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling. I hope you’ll enjoy each of the blogs and authors who presented, and leave comments and sign up for the RSS feeds or e-mail updates of your favorites. It’s always a delight to swap stories with others on the journey, so enjoy the encouragement.

*NOTE: For those near Virginia, I’ll be doing a Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop at Classical Cottage School in Winchester on Saturday, January 28. You can find complete details at ClassicalCottageSchool.org/ (look at the PDF listed in the right column).