Field Trips! Woo-hoo!
17 Jun 2008 Leave a Comment
in Resources, Schooling Tags: Businesses, Field trips, Resources
I love field trips! I always have. I remember that when I was in school, I always learned a ton on field trips and they were always fun. So, with that in mind, I decided to plan some field trips for us (minus the stinky school bus)! The kids will really get a kick out of them, I think. Plus, what a great way to expose them to things that they may have otherwise found boring. So, here’s what I’ve got lined up so far, but hopefully the list will grow.
- Tomorrow morning, we’ll be visiting a plant nursery here in town. This place is huge! Not only do they have tons and tons of different kinds of plants there, they have tons of animals there, too. They have a tour they take you on, where they teach the kids about all kinds of plants and animals. The kids even get to touch huge desert tortises. I did this a couple years ago, and the kids really loved it.
- In July, we will be going to a firestation, and getting a tour there. No doubt the kids will be way into this! What kid doesn’t want to sit in that big firetruck?! I think it’s really important to teach kids the importance of emergency workers, and that they deserve a tremendous amount of respect. It’s really great that they are willing to do community outreach things like this.
- Also in July, we will be going to the Nevada State Museum, here in town. They are actually sending me a teacher packet so that I can teach the kids about the stuff we will see there, before we go. Then, for the older kids, they provide a clipboard with questions for them to answer while touring the museum. I think that is a great way to get the kids to pay a little more attention and be more excited about the exhibits! (They even waved the fee for us!)
- Then, in August, we will be going to the Old Mormon Fort, and getting a guided tour. This is great because the fort is such a big part of not only our city’s history, but also state history. Even though it didn’t always belong to the Mormons, this is a great way to tie in state history with Church history. This will be an awesome way for the kids to learn about their heritage, in several areas.
I’m hoping to get more things planned. I really believe that hands on learning is vital. It can’t all be out of books and videos. When you actually get to see things, it makes it much more real. So, I’m pretty excited about it all! I’ll report back on each of the trips.
Decompression and Schooling Types
01 Jun 2008 Leave a Comment
in Our Progress, Schooling, Start Up Tags: Books, Ideas, Information, Progress, Resources
I’ve been doing a lot of reading about homeschooling, and have been giving a lot of thought to the idea of decompression time for the kids. I read somewhere that for every year a child has been in public school, they need a month of time off to readjust. I think there is a lot of truth to this. I know, just watching Logan now, he’s getting really burned out. I think if I were to try to go right into homeschooling, it would really cause problems. But, by giving him time to adjust to the new schedule, and really it’s a new lifestyle, he’ll be so much more ready to go when it’s time.
Also, I read in The First Year Of Homeschooling Your Child by Linda Dobson, about the different types of homeschooling. I found this very interesting. I could see some that definitely do not fit me, like unschooling. But, two of the styles really hit right on what I want to do: school at home, and unit studies. I thought it was intersting how she nailed down these styles so well. Lots of good info in reading these. It also gave me comfort to know that there is a large chunk of people out there doing what I want to do, in a similar way to how I want to.
Educational Plans
27 May 2008 1 Comment
in Our Progress, Resources, Start Up Tags: Books, law, Plans, Resources
In order to comply with Nevada Law, when we submit our Notice of Intent to Homeschool, we also have to submit an educational plan. So, with a great deal of information taken from Rebecca Rupp’s Home Learning Year by Year, I’ve completed the plans for the boys. I know this is much more detail than the school district requires, but this also serves as a great guide for me. Anyway, I thought I’d post them, in case anyone was interested.
education-plan-kindergarten1 education-plan-2nd-grade
I also went to Barnes and Noble today and ordered Rebecca’s book. Should be in next week. I’m pretty excited. Thank you to Erin for finding it for me! What a blessing this book has turned out to be!
