A Fantastic Homeschool Resource!
September 8, 2009 by Darcy
I recently had the privilege to chat with Karin, the mind behind the Homeschool Resource Toolbar. She has been working so hard on this awesome tool for homeschoolers, and is constantly updating it. If you missed Karin’s workshop at the Heart of the Matter Online Conference, you missed the “ooohhhhs” and “aaahhhhhs” as she revealed just how powerful this resource can be.
Here are some of the features you should know about:
Web Menu button:
sorts the best online resources by category—so easy to locate and use. Categories include Associations, Printables (sorted by grade), educational games, videos, free curriculum, multi media, open courseware and more!
Shopping Cart button
Has all the best homeschooling catalogs, curriculum and online stores. View by subject or methodology.
Chat feature
Lets you chat with other homeschooling toolbar users
Feed button
5 of the best homeschooling blogs feed right into the toolbar. Includes Heart of the Matter so you can stay on top of the latest homeschool news, encouragement and resources.
Radio button
Is actually the most used feature on this tool bar. It allows you to access local radio stations and program in your favorites. But what makes it useful is what it is preprogrammed with—some of the best PODCASTS including: James Dobson parenting podcast, classics for kids, Latin for kids, Candlelight stories for kids, Radio Disney, Sixty Second Science, Flylady and friends, Nutrition Diva, Stuff you should know, and much more including Christian radio stations.
Gadget button
Has tons of cool gadgets to help you get/stay organized. Includes tools to help organize your additional email accounts, social media, favorite online sources, and life!
Additionally, the tool bar updates automatically—download it once and you will always have the latest resources at your finger tips!
To download the toolbar visit http://HomeschoolResource.OurToolbar.com.
Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.
To school or not to school? That is the question.
May 20, 2009 by Darcy
Summer is approaching. The leaves are finally green and our yard is sprouting vegetation. It’s so beautiful outside! And that means “summer vacation” will be here before you know it. Because we live in a climate that doesn’t make playing outside feasible year-round, it really means a lifestyle change with the seasons. And we really love the chance to be outside and enjoy nature and the outdoors.
The first three years of homeschooling we opted for a year-round schedule. We did this for many reasons; first being, my youngest was hospitalized often – forcing us to take unexpected breaks. Also, we liked having a week off here and there just to use when we needed it. At the time my kids were younger, and their academics were… well, not very academic. It was kind of fun to play school and they didn’t really get burned out like mom did. Keeping a schedule is so much easier for small children. Knowing what to expect just made the days tidier.
Fast forward. My little one has been hospital-free for over a year (Can I get an AMEN!? Amen!). My kids aren’t toddlers anymore. Third grade academics, while still not holding a candle to what I’m anticipating for junior high or high school, were meaty enough to render my oldest into a school-overloaded coma some days. School is… well, work. It’s not playtime like it used to be. And we all need a break.
So – I’m thinking of changing our schedule to allow us more of a summer break. We need it. I need it. But how much of a break?
Time has come to evaluate why we homeschool year round versus why we might take a more traditional summer break.
I have to evaluate what a summer free of academics would mean for our school year. Or really if we could do a summer free of academics. Here are my thoughts in the decision-making process:
• Little man is finally healthy. He needs time to be outside and just be a little boy.
• I worry about forgetting material we’ve learned. How much will we need to review to pull off a “summer vacation”?
• Will they really enjoy all that free time? What happens in a month when the “I’m bored” starts?
• How much harder will starting back up be after so much time to spend as they please?
• Is this going to cure their burn out? Will it cure mine?
So, I’d love to hear the decision making process you took to determine your schedule. Do you school or not during the summer? Why?
Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.
Darcy’s Do’s and Don’ts: School Picture Day
April 9, 2009 by Darcy
I don’t remember much about grade school. Most of what I do remember has nothing to do with education at all, but rather bits and pieces of school uniforms, track and field day, adopting a senior citizen and school picture day. I was always one of the shortest kids in my class which means I was always stuck in the first row, usually front and center, holding the sign that announced the grade and teacher. Oh, how I wanted to hide in back with the big kids.
But now that I am *ahem* thirtysomething, I appreciate those little photographic tokens of my past. The predictable, now laughable, backdrops… the awkward poses and unnatural smiles… they are funny. But more, they capture 12 years of growth that sometimes my parents didn’t always capture.
So, I challenge you… take yearly “school photos.” Only you aren’t obligated to awkward poses and unnatural smiles. Instead, you can capture really great natural poses. Here are a few tips for successful portraits.
1. Turn your camera. Take the photo in portrait orientation rather than landscape. If you rather shoot in landscape, remember the rule of thirds: place the area of focus 1/3 or 2/3 of the way through the photo, rather than dead center.
portrait image:
landscape image:
2. Focus on your subject’s eyes and fill the frame. You have lots of chances to photograph other stuff, this time it’s about the person.
3. Take the photo outside. Have your student stand in a shady area. You don’t want squinting or partial shadows across the face.
4. Take a few silly ones first and allow your subject to loosen up. Most people feel a little like a zoo animal behind a lens.
5. Turn off your flash. It blows out your subject and often creates red eye.
6. Give them something to hold or a little instruction on what to do with their hands. Subjects don’t always know what to do, and holding something may keep a small child still or help your gorgeous teen not feel so strange ‘just standing there.’
7. If you can’t get sharp focus, use a tripod. If you don’t have a tripod, improvise. Set your camera on a picnic table, car or steady, stable, flat surface.
8. Take a lot of photos. If they’re digital, you have nothing to lose. Take 25 instead of 5. You’re much more likely to get the good one. If you don’t, try again another day. Unlike the school photographer, you have 365 chances to get a good pic that year.
9. Lastly, a little post-production goes a long way. Most photo-editing programs have ways to improve your photo with a simple click. If you don’t have one, try Picnik. It’s free. I use and recommend Photoshop, which you can get for an educator’s discount through Academic Superstore.
Maybe your photos will end up nothing more than fodder for good laughs over some future Thanksgiving dinner. But when your child is thirtysomething, she’ll be glad to have real portraits.
For more inspiring photography by homeschool parents please check out these blogs for tips and inspiration:
Homeschool Mom Photographers
Short on Words http://shortonwords.blogspot.com
Mt. Hope Chronicles http://mthopeacademy.blogspot.com
Pioneer Woman Photography http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography
Quiet Life http://www.booshay.blogspot.com
Pages of our Life http://www.pagesofourlife.com
Homeschool Dad Photographers
f/11 http://fxmixer.blogspot.com
Boybarian Photo http://www.boybarianphoto.com
These photos, minus the squinting shot, were shot by homeschool dad and amateur photographer, Handy Man (http://www.boybarianphoto.com) and photo-edited by his trophy wife (http://www.lifewithmy3boybarians.com).
Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.
From Magazines to Art? You Betcha’!
March 9, 2009 by Darcy
If your house is like mine, you have several magazines, catalogues or mailers lying around. You are also feeling a little guilty about how little art instruction your 7 year old has.
Here is a solution to deal with both.
1. Rip out a few options from which your child can choose a picture he wants to draw, that are within his abilities or interests.
2. Fold the image in half. Cut at the crease. Trim around the edges. Discard the other half.
3. Glue or tape the half-image to a piece of blank paper, leaving room for the other half to be added. Allow the glue to dry.
4. Using colored pencils, crayons, watercolors, paints – whichever medium your child enjoys (and you don’t mind cleaning up!) – ask your child to finish the picture.
5. Mount finished work on construction paper, or color a border. Viola’! You’ve nailed at least one of the “reduce, reuse, recycle” R’s and your 7 year old can check off art.
Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.
Lose Those Winter Blahs
February 27, 2009 by Darcy
It’s the last day of February. I’m a homeschool mom. The holidays are over. Cold lingers. Summer is still 4 months away. (Can you hear me sighing from there?)
At my house, this means burn out. And in Iowa, it means we’ve had snow on the ground for nearly 4 months and it’s looking like we’ve got another month or more of it. All of this cabin fever, too-little-sunlight, too-cold-n-wet to play outside also means a harder time falling asleep and a mighty, might case of the winter blahs.
So add it up:
- 1 burned out homeschool mom
- 3 boybarians with total cabin fever
- 4 months of snow
- 1 month more of bad weather
- 6 weeks until Spring Break
It’s time to break up the monotony! I’ve made a list of “Game Schooling” ideas to bring back the fun and get you through the spring fever! I’ve purposefully chosen non-electronic, non-video games here as many families already complain of too much screen time.
Darcy’s Top Five Game-Schooling resources:
Monopoly: this is math and communication. Let your 6-9 year old count money, make change and read the Community Chest cards. Your 10+ year olds can be bankers!
Yahtzee: Hey, it’s math again! Skip count those 3s. Add up the face of the dice. This game is so smart, kids have no idea how many basic math skills they are using!
Sorry: for the k-2 set, this is math. For older kids, it’s a lesson in sportsmanship.
Uno: Even my little one can get into this one. Matching colors and numbers is great for the PreK set. Easy enough for the 4-5 year old to play.
Apples to Apples: The boybarians beg to play this and laugh and laugh while we match unlikely partners of nouns with adjectives. Playful George Washington? Scary pickles? They have no idea it’s also grammar, vocabulary and spelling. As a bonus, you can use the Apple to Apple cards for a game of Pictionary on the white board. Ages: 6/7 and up. (Kids need to be decent readers to fully enjoy this game.)
I’d love to hear how you are incorporating games, activities or anything to break out of the winter blahs and keep your homeschool joyful. Please leave a comment or add your link so we can all gain some Lose Those Winter Blues Ideas.
Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.
Will You be my Valentine?
February 12, 2009 by Darcy
On Valentine’s Day and the weeks leading up to it, we are bombarded with red hearts, little sugar conversation candies, chubby cupids posed to shoot an arrow, and packages of little white doilies. Boxes of punch-out Valentine’s cards are available with everything from adorable kittens to Hannah Montana with quip-y one liners, like “You’re the tweet-est!” And while I’m not usually one to get wrapped up in the commercialism of these sometimes-deemed “Hallmark Holidays”, I can’t help but think the theory behind this one is a good one.
At its very root, Valentine’s Day is wonderful. Perhaps it’s now only a show pony of a once-noble steed, but pull back the layers of this festa d’amore and you’ll find a whole lot to respect about this oft-underwhelming holiday of love.
I put my Geek Skills to use and I dug up some dirt on this Saint Valentine, so we can learn a little more about him:
- Legend says St. Valentine was a priest in 3rd century Rome around the time of Emperor Claudius II. When Claudius decided that unmarried men make more willing soldiers, he soon made it illegal for young men to marry. Claudius sent a decree canceling all engagements and marriages of military-aged men.
- Valentine knew that no emperor could stop love, and continued marrying these young men to their loved ones in secret. Legend said Valentine was discovered and sent to prison.
- Some legends say he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter, and before he died sent her a letter declaring his love, signed “From Your Valentine”. This phrase is still used today or spun to ask, “Will you be my Valentine?”
- It is believed that in a pagan Roman fertility custom, marriages were arranged via lottery at the start of the bird-mating season. During this coupling ceremony, names of eligible maidens were drawn and the person to whom you were paired was worn on your sleeve. The saying “wear my heart on my sleeve” comes from this lottery system. Because this mating ritual was deemed “un-Christian-like”, the church replaced the pagan holiday with traditions of a Christian holiday. They substituted the Feast of Saint Valentine and its expressions of love to remove the pagan significance of the day but retain the celebration.
- Pope Gelasius declared St. Valentine would be celebrated each February 14th sometime around 496 A.D. St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers.
- Saint Valentine may actually be the combined stories of several ancient priests, all sharing the same name. When, in 1969, the Roman Catholic Church removed all the feast
days of saints with unproven histories, Saint Valentine’s Day was one of those casualties. Thus, Valentine’s Day is now only an echo of the legend of a man who sacrificed his life for love.
- Cupid comes from the Latin, cupido. It means desire. In mythology, Cupid is the son of Venus, the goddess of love.
- Esther Howland, a woman from Worcester, Massachusettes, is believed to have made the first commercial Valentine’s cards in the US during the 1840s using scraps: bit of colored paper, lace and ephemera.
- The National Greeting Card Association says Valentine’s Day is one of the largest card-sending holidays world wide, second only behind Christmas. According to them, 1 billion Valentine’s cards are sent each year – overwhelmingly purchased by women.
So while anything can be spun and marketed commercially, I can’t help but appreciate the reason underneath it all – a crazy little thing called Love.
Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.
6 (okay, 7!) Homeschooling Must-Haves
February 8, 2009 by Darcy
6-7. A decent pencil and pencil sharpener.
Okay, I know that’s technically two things. But they go hand in hand. How many minutes, over how many days, over the lifetime of your child’s home education will he sit fidgeting, dropping, breaking and sitting with a broken pencil tip? Give him one less thing to distract him. For us, that means a box of black Dixon Ticonderogas and investing in an electric pencil sharpener.
5. A clip board.
This was the daily organization tool that we were lacking. By removing the math pages from their binding, having the blank paper ready, being prepared with the necessary schoolwork gave something tangible I could hand off. It helped set expectations and helps us keep track of all the paper. Consider tying a pencil on to the clipboard with string if you don’t have littles around to whom this could be dangerous.
4. A water bottle on hand.
“I’m thirsty.” It was the line used to distract, interrupt and otherwise impede the flow. This isn’t public school. And it may be just the thing to keep her on-task without disrupting her work or her siblings’ concentration.
3. A comfortable place to work.
Never under-estimate personal comfort when it comes to the goal of learning to sit still and work. It won’t be accomplished while being scolded to stop fidgeting on dad’s hand-me-down office chair. Why not a bean-bag chair or his bed or wrapped in her comforter?
2. A personal library.
It doesn’t have to be huge. It doesn’t have to be brand new or expensive. But every child should know the joy of picking out and owning his own books. The love of books is harder to achieve if the child must always surrender ‘the best book I ever read’ back to the library.
1. Downtime.
Just like we don’t want to work all day long, neither does your child. Allow your child to decompress. While life is school and school is life, sometimes a kid just needs time to pursue his own interests. Some of my boys’ most insightful moments have come during play.
Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.
A Day in the Life of Homeschooling Boys
January 7, 2009 by Darcy
While I would love to be able to say I am one of those moms who has her days planned out, an organized schedule of events, or at least an agenda, the truth is that our day is often a series of tangents and bunny trails. Not to say we don’t start with a plan.
The idea is this:
Wake up, fill our bellies, make ourselves presentable, do our morning chores.
Get the tough stuff out of the way: math and phonics sheets. Read pleasantly, eat lunch, and read some more. Play nicely.
The reality goes more like this:
I am woken up by the sound of a herd of elephants running the halls at least a good thirty minutes before I am ready. I trudge myself to the bathroom to get ready, very careful not to look at myself in the mirror.
I shout from the bathroom, “Walk in my house, please!” The running slows to a mall-walkers pace for about 3 whole minutes.
I throw my hair in a ponytail, put on my “school uniform” – yoga pants or jeans and a comfy shirt. No denim jumpers for this mom! And then I mall-walk my way to the bright spot in my morning…a Francis! Francis! X5 espresso machine. (Most people credit the success in their homeschools to a book or curriculum, I credit both the success and happiness of our homeschool to the Francis!Francis! X5.)
After a triple shot latte has begun to make me human again, I can finally assemble thoughts. I rush through cleaning the kitchen while the boys eat, and give them some expectations for the day.
“Today, when we’re done filling our bellies, we will do our chores, and get started with school. When your math work and Explode the Code
“Mom, we know about globes!” interjects my eldest.
“Not globes, Thee Globe… as in a theater. Want to take a guess why it’s called The Globe?”
My youngest, with a mouth full of bagel, shouts, “Be-taws it’s on a globe!”
“You’re getting warm…” I tease, “… better get that work done so we can find out.”
They beg for vitamins, forget to clear their places, unload the dishwasher in tandem, and have to be reminded three times that school starts in 10 minutes… 5 minutes… 2 minutes… before I shout:
“ALL BOYS REPORT TO THE KITCHEN!”
We have a dedicated schoolroom, but it’s been declared to have uncomfortable chairs, so it’s to the couches we go.
My oldest complains for three minutes before I give him the look. My middle son declares everything “too hard” for a good, solid seven minutes, before giving in and completing everything without error in less than 30 minutes. So much for “too hard!”
While they are working, I try not to hover. I take out the garbage, retrieve missing shoes, wipe smudgy 5-year-old cheeks, load the dishwasher and microwave the same cup of coffee four times before finishing it triumphantly.
When math and Explode the Code are out of the way, I pile my youngest on my lap; the other two crowd around and we usually start with history. This year we’re finishing up The Story of the World 2
We talk about The Globe and Queen Elizabeth and then my oldest reads the corresponding Magic Tree House book to his little brothers. They demand to know why Queen Elizabeth’s teeth are all black. This leads to talk about dental hygiene, loose teeth, The Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and soon they are shouting which Lego sets they want and all three are talking at once.
I excuse myself to the bathroom and manage to turn a one-minute pit stop into three long, luxurious minutes. Soon the cat is sticking her paws under the door, demanding to be let in because she wants to drink from the sink while I wash my hands. Spoiled kitty won’t drink standing water!
Math, phonics, and history are done and an over an hour and a half of school has already passed. I ask comprehension questions from today’s chapters while I check off what they’ve accomplished on their chore charts, then I grab the lit choice; currently it’s The Railway Children
My oldest two usually fend for themselves for lunch, but my youngest demands frozen waffles. I convince him a grilled cheese would be better and give him “Mickey Mouse cheese” to keep him occupied.
We eat, clean up, and I remind each boy that he can choose either a science or lit free reading choice from his book pile. I pick up a handful of preschool-level books and Trouble and I point out colors, count, try and find letters that match, or sometimes just read before I turn him loose to play. Twice a week we play with the Handwriting with Tears wooden pieces, and do a page or so from his Kumon books. But mostly, preschool is just reading and talking.
The boys read about space, planets or whatever interests them and I am off to check email and try and whittle down my design queue from my small, home business designing blogs (come visit me at www.graphicallydesigning.com). I return emails until the boys announce that they are done reading. I ask them to narrate something about what they just read before they go off to play Legos while I work. It’s never quiet so I can listen to their boybarian noises while Photoshop and I spend the afternoon together.
Today I hear from the boys’ bedroom, “I’m Sir Walter Raleigh…you be Queen Elizabeth!”
“No way! I’m not being her…she has black teeth!”
And I laugh knowing that if they remember nothing else about Queen Elizabeth they’ll at least know why they oughta’ brush their teeth.
Check out my article on page 38 of the new flipbook edition of Heart of the Matter Magazine.
Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.
