Say No To Stress

Last year I was told by my daughter that our school was too serious.  "We just don't have enough fun anymore."  Don't get me wrong, I notice it but at the time I just ignored it.  I guess I really didn't see it until summer was over.  It hit me like a ton of bricks when I realized summer was over and when we should have been doing fun things, making memories.  Instead, I was working on a project for a volunteer organization.  I often spent night and day on this project.  I should have taken my daughter to activities at the local library or other free activities over the summer.  My priority should have been my family, not this other organization.

I should have listened closer when she said "Mom, you look stressed" because she wasn't the only one who noticed it.  It should have been a wake-up call, but for some reason it wasn't.  Is it bad when your child of 11 years old says you look "stressed"?  I think so.

Unfortunately sometimes all I can see is what "needs" to get done (e.g. laundry, dishes, sweeping, making agendas, typing minutes).  A blog I read said it perfectly.  "Each day you juggle more tasks than a CEO."  So this year I have vowed to change things and at this time, it seems *fingers crossed* to be working.

Each year (or at least it feels like it) our daughter's learning style changes and I feel like we are starting from ground zero.  Things that worked last year don't work this year and quite honestly I get frustrated.  What I need to do is remember to relax.  Take things one day at a time.

I need to remember how rewarding it is to see my little girl learn to read.  Finally understand long division.  Really get how circuits work.  Build things with her own two hands.  I get to see those things personally and not just have her bring the project home.  I get to see the things that interest her and not things that are sometimes forced on public school children.  Don't get me wrong, I support the public school system but our system down here...just doesn't work.

So this year, we have joined a few homeschool groups.  I had been looking for something to break up the monotony.  Something to give us both a break and really get us out of the house.  Not only that but I have made our school week four days instead of five.  It allows us to have more fun.  Watch a movie.  Read a book.  Or just...

on top of that she now gets her "field trip Friday."  (I think that is a Magic School Bus quote, but I'll have to ask her.)

So no matter how frustrating my day may be or how discouraged I may get, what matters to me is that homeschooling is rewarding for not only myself but for my child.  I need to remember to continue to make it rewarding.  Relax a little.  Take things slower.  Have fun.  There is no "deadline."  And occasionally put nothing on my to-do list!

Pompeii

Earlier this week I wrote about the Facebook page Traveling Through History with Doctor Who.  The first lesson is about Pompeii.  We immediately started watching the Doctor Who episode "The Fires of Pompeii." She found it very interesting the similarities between it and the documentary we watched on Netflix "Pompeii: The Last Day."

Due to an unexpected event the kiddo worked on her own on Tuesday using Minecraft to built Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii as it might have looked before the eruption in 79 A.D.   Yesterday she focused on a map of Italy and the surrounding countries, major cities, physical features.  she quickly discovered she had heard of several major cities in Italy.

Next week we will start building our volcano...

Homeschooling with Facebook, Netflix and Other Media

The other day while I was wasting time on Facebook and came across some homeschool pages that could be quite beneficial.

Homeschooling with Pintrest - I am a Pintrest junkie and have a ton of school stuff pinned.  I have them divided by subject to make searching for projects or ideas easier.

Homeschooling with Netflix - During our lunch break each day, we typically watch a documentary or other educational show on Netflix so of course this group was a must.  This is an awesome group and while perusing various posts yesterday one homeschool mom asked for reviews on Doctor Who for her 9 year old.  The child has multiple friends who watch it but she felt uneasy about it.  Our munchkin has been watching Doctor Who for several years and loves it.  Withing about 30 minutes there were over 100 posts.  Many of them were people saying "We love Doctor Who!" or "Our family are Whovians."  Quite a few shared sites that had Doctor Who related material.  There were some that did not like Doctor Who at all, thought it was too scary, or something else.  When the group hit 200+ comments the administrator came on and said "Folks - this isn't a Doctor Who fan board.  Please no more comments on this Thread.  Thank you."  Ugh.  That post just generated more comments and questions.  One mom shared a couple of other pages that the Whovians would like...

Traveling Through History with Doctor Who and Homeschooling with Doctor Who.

Picture courtesy of the "Traveling Through History with Dr Who" Facebook page.

Traveling Through History with Doctor Who actually goes along with the Eliademy course one mom developed called  Traveling Through History with Doctor Who.  We signed up for it and although the "semester" has already started and they are into the fourth lesson/week.  The first lesson was about "Fires of Pompeii".  Activities involve map work, research, writing, but the most fun of all (for the munchkin) is building things in Minecraft.  I'm sure I won't get any complaints about that one!!

Time to go print off the activities and make some worksheets.  

A couple of other Facebook pages I checked out were:

Creative Education with Homeschoolers

Homeschooling with YouTube
Secular Homeschooling with Netflix & Other Media

Alvin Sherman Research Library Field Trip

Many of the activities that we want to participate in have unfortunately been in Palm Beach County which is about an hour north of us.  I was beginning to wonder if I had made a mistake joining this group, but then a trip to the Alvin Sherman Library on the Nova Southeastern University campus came up.

The librarians in the children's department gave an excellent tour of the entire library.  I think one of the highlights was the 4th floor shelving.  Of course with a growing supply of books they don't have enough room to store them all so the shelves are motorized.  There are safety sensors to keep from "squishing the librarians" or library patrons.

They also shared with us a terrific database system that will aid us and so many other homeschool families.

In the alcove before the grand staircase is a prayer wheel, blessed by the Dalai Lama.  This prayer wheel was hand-forged by craftsmen in Indi and blessed by the Dalai Lama during one of his visits to the University.  The librarian shared that the prayer wheel is used to spread spiritual blessings throughout the universe.  The mantra written on the wheel is Om Mani Padme Hum.  It is suggested that you recite the prayer while turning the wheel.      

At the top of the grand staircase, there is a beautiful glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly.  The librarian who did the tour asked what the kids thought it looked like.  Various answers included an unmowed yard with yard toys, flowers, but the best one was a coral reef.