Experience Opera this year: Registration

Experience the Seattle Opera this year at $8 per ticket (available for homeschoolers, parents and friends).

Wednesday performances include:

• Bizet's "Carmen" on Oct. 12 (order by Wednesday, Sept. 14), 
• Verdi's "Attila" Jan. 11 (order by Thursday, Dec. 1), 
• Gluck's "Orphee et Eurydice" Feb. 22 (order by January 5), 
• "Don Pasquale" (performed by the Young Artist Program at Meany Hall, UW) on Mar. 28 (payment by 2/29); and 
• Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" on May 2. 

Tickets must be purchased in advance; you can attend one or all.  Call Ramona at 354-2386,  or email operamama@gmx.com for details and registration form (ALSO found here).

For more information about the operas or about Seattle Opera's student programs, visit www.seattleopera.org.

NPR's Profile of an "Unschooler"

Check out this interesting look at the life of an "unschooler," featured on NPR. 

We've never been complete unschoolers, but we've allowed a lot of freedom of choice to our kids.

I was both embarrassed and pleased when my children (then elementary aged) informed someone that "we didn't do school at all this year."

What a compliment; the things we learned and did in the name of learning didn't feel like school!

She must have done something right

For the past couple of weeks I've been out of commission.  Our family is moving my Mom from her home of 65 years, where she lived semi-independently until her safety was in question.  She will be in an assisted living facility near my home, coping with dementia.  

Her memory blinks in and out of focus, but she's relatively happy.  She could be grieving two of the biggest losses of her life: her independence, and her beloved home.  However, dementia has become a blessing: she doesn't remember being fiercely attached to her home, and she's forgotten things that used to make her bitter and unhappy, or mistakes she's made, or even grudges she once held.

Mom's main worry is that she's a burden on her kids.  But my two brothers and I have assured her that we love her, and we are happy to make sure she's comfortable, safe, and not lonely.  She marvels at this, and likes to say, "Well, I must have done something right.  I sure raised nice kids." 

It's nice to be called nice.  And it's nice my mom can see good results from her parenting, even though it wasn't perfect parenting, and even though we weren't perfect kids. 

This also encourages me, since I am not a perfect parent, nor are my kids perfect.

I focus on the academics my kids will need to succeed in the world.  But what about my children's character, their bond with each other and with my husband and me, and their sense of responsibility and honor?  Am I raising kids who will look at the inconveniences my aging brings, and love me anyway?  Will they love their own families sacrificially, and guide them to to the same? 

High academic scores are a wonderful goal, but not at the cost of a beautiful soul and a caring heart.  The qualities of leadership are important goals, but not without the willingness to think of others, and to value the family unit.  Teaching my kids about Jesus and going to church is great, but I want them to follow His example of leadership: willing to direct and lead and encourage and challenge, but also willing to kneel and wash others' feet, and to love and lay down their lives for those they love.

On the report card measuring character and grace, can I hope my children will get a good grade?   This is what I'm praying about this week. 

My homeschool plan probably needs examination.  I need to refocus on what matters most, and I'd like your input.  How do you build a legacy that proclaims, "she must have done something right"?  And if you struggle, what is your biggest frustration or roadblock?  I look forward to hearing from you.

Bill rewards schools, but not students

Schools and teachers would be rewarded when students finish school, if a bill now in the State Senate becomes a law.  HB 1599 passed the House of Representatives March 1 (54-42).  It was referred to the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee on Friday, March 4.

For more on the status of the bill, see WashingtonVotes.com.
 

In the meantime, you should check out this blog post from Washington State Wire blog editor Jim Boldt, published in early February (when the bill was introduced):

Who's The Customer? Students Or Administrators? HB 1599 Is A K-12 Payoff

HB 1599, PASS, “Pay For Actual Student Success”?

How About They Graduate Because We Have Already Paid For It?

This bill passed the House. All sorts of news about it. It's the wrong approach for so many reasons. Let's start with the problem it is supposed to solve. This bill attempts to reimburse school districts for getting a higher percentage of students to graduate. Is it just me or is that what we are paying about half the state budget for right now?*

Once again instead of revamping our 19^th century command and control K-12 system, this bill takes precious financial resources we don't have (about $5 million a year) and peppers it out to creative districts that finally do what they are supposed to already be doing...graduate students!

I have an idea. Pay the student, not the failing administrators. Offer each student who graduates either a few thousand cash or first year free tuition in a Washington institution of higher education. Signing bonus, kind of? I like it? Heck if we have our goals right and graduation actually means something let's give them an electric car. I would rather incent the person actually responsible for graduation instead someone who really only tries to create an environment for education and graduation.

I have another idea, why don't we work this backwards, let's subtract money from the administrator's salary if the students don't graduate. That my friends, would bring the bloated administrations of the states 295 districts running to the capitol screaming, no, no, no. Maybe they would honestly share what they think is the problem. They do know don't they? Yes, think about it, we have 39 counties but we have 295 school districts.. We have 295 districts, 295 superintendents, 600 assistant superintendents, 295 directors of this and 295 directors of that. We have a school district and all it's administration every few miles. Hello.

Inefficiency is driven by confusion. Make it confusing and complicated and it costs more. K-12 really has only a few components: 1. What is basic education and how does that produce a “product” we want? (sorry, a graduate is a product) 2. What does the raw material look like and should or can we affect it? (I know, raw material? If you want to fix this mess get real.) and finally 3. How do you take number 2 and produce number 1? Yes, what process works in the 21^st century? The real 21^st century, the virtual century, the global century, the century when America slips to third place and looks like France by 2075 if we don't do something fast. Oh there I go again.

Stab in the dark? No, I am speaking from eleven years as a school board member, five of them on a public school board. Add four years on the House Education Committee, and a few hours in the class room teaching, parenting, and coaching, So I get to whine!

We should not spend tax money to operate an education system, and then when that system fails, turn around and add more money to reward the same sorry education system. The legislature needs to step up and realign K-12.

1. The director of the state system should be appointed by the guv so we know who to blame for a sick system.
2. The districts should be combined into a lot fewer functioning systems with centralized administration. (If I had my way there would be limit the number of former teachers who could act as administrators.)
3. And most delicately we are going to have to look into the raw material end, yes the student, the child, how can we help create a pro-education environment where the student lives? Where there is support and respect for education, we will get students who respect and support education.
4. And, we need at least a K-20 if not a K-22 system. And,to get prepared “raw material” we may need to look at K-minus-two, yep, what use to be pre-school might just need to become real school. Come on, with technology and our cultural trends today do you really think the awareness level of three-year-olds is the same as it was two generations ago? Come on.

Or else.

Paying for more kids to graduate is like buying an extended warranty. After what you paid for it shouldn't the lawn mower actually cut the lawn. Consumer Reports suggest we not buy them.

*Senate Democrat Caucus website:

Amount the state spends on education in the biennial budget
$15.6 billion

Percentage of the state general fund spent on education
43

Alpha Omega Giveaway & Discounts

From now until Monday, Feb. 28, you can enter to win $500 in free curriculum from Alpha Omega, as well as other awards.  Just for entering you'll also get a discount offer for their products.

Alpha Omega is the source of some wonderful FREE devotionals for homeschooling moms ("Daily Focus"), as I've mentioned before. On their website you'll also find these other free resources:

• placement and diagnostic tests to help you select curriculum or check how your student is doing;

• a series of articles on how to get started in homeschooling;

• tips and articles for new and/or experienced homeschoolers; and

• other helpful resources and links.

Click here to find out how to enter Alpha Omega's contest. 

Let me know if you win!

Don't Let Your Curriculum "Own You"

When I first started homeschooling, I reverted to what I knew: the methods of the public school classroom.  Each child had their work area (we couldn't afford individual desks, so seats at the kitchen table served just as well).  We said the Pledge of Allegiance each day.  I bought a boxed curriculum that laid out what I should share with my children, day by day.  We had scheduled hours.  We had recess.

It wasn't too long before we jettisoned all of that, and found our own way.

One benefit of homeschooling is the ability to customize your child's education.  It's okay to follow the suggested timelines, scope, and methods of whatever curriculum you use. 

But when the curriculum starts to "own you," to hem your children in, to bore them, to squash creative moments because they don't fit in the schedule, it's time to break free.

• Is the weather nice? Go for a bike ride, even during scheduled school hours.  Especially in the winter around here, you need to seize the day(light). 

• Is someone sick?  Have a "let's watch documentary videos day."  Your kids will absorb some history and information, and you can count it as school.

• Are your kids burned out on the workbooks you are using?  Try skipping ahead and letting them "test out" of information they already know.  Don't kill the joy of learning with brain-numbing repetition. 

• Is a child falling behind?  Don't keep plowing through the material at the scheduled pace.  Go over the lesson again.  Find other books, curriculum, websites that teach the material in a way different from what you've been doing.  Sometimes it just take a different approach to unlock a concept in your child's brain.  Sometimes my kids have been behind in a subject all year, only to "get it" the next year.  Don't give up!

• Have a "cultural education" afternoon.  My son was the only student in his community college class who understood a reference to the movie, "The Princess Bride."  I know several teens who wouldn't know the reference to the phrase, "To boldly go where no man has gone before."  These details may seem trivial, yet without them our children will miss cultural references in the books they read, jokes they are told, movies they watch, or professors they hear.  From Indigo Montoya to Captain Kirk, you'll do your kids a favor by filling them in on some of these things.

• Taking a break from the day-in, day-out schedule can revitalize your kids' interest in learning, and refresh you as well.  Don't let the curriculum "own you" or determine how your school flows.

Remember why you're doing this in the first place, and take advantage of the flexibility.  Let me know how this works for you!

Eliana's Top Ten Good Reads!

Eliana is our four-year-old princess who loves to read (she's just starting to learn) and she LOVES to have books read to her.  This is her list of current favorites, including title, author, and favorite read-alouder (as she would call them):


"Fox in Socks" by Dr. Seuss 
(She likes it best when read by older brother Isaiah, who holds the speed record in our home for plowing through this tongue-twister-of-a-book!)


"The Princess and the Kiss" by Jennie Bishop


"Amelia Bedelia" books by Peggy Parrish


"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus," by Mo Willems



"Green Eggs and Ham," by Dr. Seuss


"Snuggle Puppy," by Sandra Boynton


"Snoozers: 7 Short Short Bedtime Stories for Lively Little Kids," by Sandra Boynton




"Stories Jesus Told" by Nick Butterworth
(This book is no longer in print, but you can find it used at Barnes & Noble.>

"My Little Princess," by Tom Shay-Zapien (This book is available from Hallmark. It allows you to record someone reading the story; then the child can push a button and listen as she turns the pages!)

"Martha B. Rabbit," by Shirley Barber (no longer in print, but still available as a used book)

Many thanks to Eliana and her brothers, Addison, Isaiah, and Spenser, who helped compile this list!

Sometime soon I'll compile a couple of lists of recommended reads for older kids.

I hope this list gives you some ideas, or reintroduces you to some old friends.  I'd love to hear about what your kids are reading, too!

In Defense of Read-Alouds

My four-year-old is reintroducing our family to the joy of read-alouds. 
With three older brothers and a set of parents at her disposal, it's no surprise that she has no shortage of people willing to read a story. 
What is surprising is that we ever stopped reading aloud to one another in the first place.

Somehow, without noticing, we slipped out of the habit of reading aloud, even before we moved to town and got cable TV last year.    It's been years since the boys listened to me read John R. Ericksen's "Hank the Cowdog" books, or J.R.R. Tolkein's "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy."  Some high school students from our church used to attend "Hobbit readings" at our house, enjoying a little interlude of culture and hot cocoa.  It was lovely.

I found these quotes at the Reading Rockets website (a PBS project):

"The man who does not read good books is no better than the man who can't."  — Mark Twain

 "To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark."— Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

"So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall."  — Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I'm not ready to throw away the TV, but I think it's time we blew the dust off the many books we have stacked in our family library, and do some reading, aloud, together, as a family.

Next time:  Eliana's top ten read-aloud books

It's Opera Day!

We spent part of our morning with Big Bird on Sesame Street as he celebrated "opera day." Everyone on the show was encouraged to sing everything they said.  My toddler was delighted.  It all made perfect sense to her because we often "do opera" at our house.

Opera singing is perfectly suited to the homeschool lifestyle, where noisy, unscheduled behavior can sometimes be a blessing, especially when it is used to:

• express joy,
• build teamwork, 
• relieve tension, and
• diffuse tense situations.

In real opera, all the dialogue is sung.  There are passages when backstory is delivered through a "recitative," when a character (or characters) say a lot of stuff about what's going on, in one, long, singing paragraph.  When you first attend an opera, this seems a little strange and unrealistic... perhaps even annoying.  But if the performers are good enough, and the plot compelling enough, you gradually accept it and even welcome the flow it brings to the storyline.

Similarly, at home, my children have come to accept and even welcome operatic moments in the home, even when opera is delivering messages they don't want to hear.

For example, yesterday my 18-year-old reminded me that we had financial forms to fill out to go along with a college application.  Frankly, I am SO DONE filling out this paperwork.  I wanted him to take on the responsibility for himself.  He resisted my "assignment" of the task, until I burst into song about how "I don't wanna fill out forms no more" (borrowing heavily from a broadway belter's tune in The Drowsy Chaperone -- not exactly opera, but noisy and boisterous in its own right).  He even replied by singing his objections; the music became louder as we "operatically argued," but we were smiling the whole time and even laughing when one or the other made a good rhyme or musical turn.

Best of all, I got my point across.  In the end, he did the work himself, and he didn't mind.  Instead of arguing, we did opera, and we both felt pretty good about it.

Toddlers respond especially well to operatic overtures.  My four-year-old can be in a stubborn state but become laughing and cooperative when we sing through the problem.

If this sounds like fun to you (or even if sounds crazy, but you're willing to try it), here are some suggestions:

• Sing it like you mean it!  This is not the time to be quiet.  Volume and flourish will add to the comedic effect of what you're trying to do.

• No rhyming required.  If it happens, terrific.  But it's often funnier if it doesn't, so don't worry about it.

• Choose a familiar tune, and "operatize it" when you're getting started.  Even "Mary Had a Little Lamb" can sound dramatic if you've got enough volume, drama, and vibrato behind it.

• Don't worry about your singing voice.  In fact, a bad singing voice can be an asset!  Not only does it give permission to others to try raising their voices in song, it can be pretty darned funny.  It signals, "anything goes here."  It shows your vulnerability and openness to hearing what they have to say or sing.

• Make sure what you sing doesn't carry a sting.  Don't belittle or mock your kids with your song.  If you poke fun at anyone, let it be yourself.

• Don't forget to deliver your point, even if it's a "no" the kids don't want to hear

• Feel free to sing over top of someone else, even if/especially if your viewpoints clash.  This happens in real opera all of the time!  Usually we end up laughing as we try to outsing each other.  Somehow the oppostion seems less important than the "moment" you just shared as you let your songs battle each other.

If you have a tough day in your homeschool, try putting an operatic spin on it, and see how it works for you.

What off-the-wall strategies do you use in your home to lighten a mood and/or get your point across?  I'd love to see your responses under "comments."

Fabulous Freebies

If you've got time to search the web, you can find some fabulous free materials and information for educators.  

If you don't have time, start here!  I'm interested in your feedback, and your suggestions for more free sites.  Let's help each other out!

Curriculum Freebies:

Homeschool Freebie of the Day

Oklahoma Homeschool ("Recession-Proof Your Homeschool" has lots of free curriculum sources.)

Simply Charlotte Mason (Introduces you to the Charlotte Mason Method, the art of "gentle learning" and in-depth study methods that will enrich your home and your child's education.  Some freebies included.)

A Homeschooling Mom's List (A very complete post, from the "Well-Trained Mind" blog.  You might enjoy exploring the rest of the site, too.)

Encouragement:

Alpha Omega Publications

Click on "homeschool resources."  You'll have an opportunity to sign up for their newsletters, free.  I especially love, love, love the "Daily Focus" devotions.  They offer refreshment and encouragement every day.

Free E-Books:

Project Gutenberg

Librivox

Fictionwise (a Barnes and Noble company)

readprint.com

This is just a short list.  I'd love to read about your favorites, too.

Sites for Savvy Homeschoolers

Here are wonderful sites that will help new and experienced homeschoolers.  They represent a variety of styles and viewpoints.  Please feel free to comment with your favorite sites, too!

A to Z Homeschool

"A to Z Home's Cool community website will help you homeschool your kids from preschool, kindergarten, through homeschooling high school with free online education, home-friendly lesson ideas, educational websites, helpful articles, top homeschool programs, books, materials, curriculum... and best of all... Homeschool Friends! "

Zacchaeus Learning Organization

This Whatcom County organization partners with parents by providing classroom instruction 1-2 days per week by teachers who strive for excellence in education and understand the "homeschool way."  Highly recommended to supplement in areas where parents want some help.

Eclectic Homeschooling

"The Eclectic Homeschool promotes creative homeschooling through unique resources, teaching methods, and online helps. We are a Christian publication, and although we do not limit ourselves to Christian material, we will not accept articles which include proselytizing for other religions or worldviews."

National Repository of Online Courses

"The National Repository of Online Courses (NROC) is a growing library of high-quality online course content for students and faculty in higher education, high school and Advanced Placement*. This non-profit project, supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, is an Open Educational Resource (OER) and facilitates collaboration among a community of content developers to serve students and teachers worldwide. ... 

"NROC content is distributed free-of-charge to students and teachers at public websites including HippoCampus"

Hoagie's Gifted Education Page

"The award winning 'All Things Gifted' resource for parents, teachers, administrators, mental health professionals, and gifted kids and adults."

Welcome!

Welcome to "The Savvy Homeschooler" blog!  Whether you're just curious about homeschooling or smack dab in the middle of it, I hope you'll come back often and participate in discussions.

The goal: To create savvy homeschoolers, and encourage established homeschoolers. I want you to know your options, your opportunities, and your rights. 

I've been educating my kids at home for almost 15 years.  That ought to be enough experience to qualify me as an expert; yet sometimes I feel like I'm still learning. 

We chose homeschooling for three main reasons: 

• We wanted to set our own pace.  My kids are quick learners in a lot of subjects, and need to explore them freely.  Some subjects are mastered in record time, but they need a slower pace in other subjects. Only homeschooling provided that flexibility.

• Public school would take up too much of my kids' time.  We get more schooling done in a few hours at home, or with tutors.  This frees them to explore other interests in depth, or just for fun.

• We wanted freedom to explore ideas and philosophies in creative, eclectic ways, while including open discussion and validation of our Christian beliefs.

It's been great for our family, building relationships and good memories.  However, we've also endured battles and missed opportunities.  Here are things I'd like to do in this blog:

• share some of what we learned through trial and error;

• ease the way for those just starting out;

• encourage people who are actively homeschooling;

• alert you to opportunities and freebies; 

• discuss education philosophy and proposed regulations; and 

• share homeschool successes, including the work of some talented students I know.

Please stay tuned, and comment on the posts with your own suggestions, experiences, and questions.  I'm looking forward to this time with you!