Evaluating The Year

I found this somewhere else and did some editing (but forgot to keep the link so it's not attributed to the author - sorry!).  Some great questions.

1. What positive habits did each child show progress in this year?  Sometimes we forget how much progress they make in a year until you sit back and really think about what life was like a year ago and what it felt like you were continually reminding them of, day in and day out.  What's the current area each child needs to think about?
2. How was the schedule this year?  Was it too busy?  Was there time to get things done?  What took more time than you expected -- and was it worth it?  Do you wish you had added something that you initially thought you couldn't handle? What changes do we need to consider for next year’s schedule?
3. What were the unplanned learning experiences that happened this year? An unexpected illness?  A change in jobs or houses?  Unexpected trips?  What are some of the lessons each of us learned?
4. What did I learn about __________ (insert name of each child individually) this year? This question will be fun to consider as you think back over the surprises you encountered with each child as he developed. Record the delightful changes as well as the challenging attitudes or tendencies.
5. What curriculum changes do I need to consider for next year? What worked, and what didn’t work this year?
6. What was a crowning moment this year? Note the obvious successes you saw in each child.
7. What was our greatest challenge this year? Will this challenge carry into next year?
8. What do I need to change, as parent/teacher, in my approach next year? Are my expectations realistic? Was the workload realistic for the age and development of each child? Do I lecture and/or moralize too much? Am I too intense? Do I look for joy in each day? Do I need to change priorities? Are the most important things getting the least amount of time?
9. Was there anything I really hoped to do this year that didn’t happen? Why? Should it become a priority for next year?
10. What can we do to celebrate each child’s progress this year? Ideas might include a special honors night at dinner or an end of the year party with certificates of accomplishment. Accomplishments could include any progress, spiritual or academic, that each child has made.
11. What would I list as the academic progress of each child? Recognizing strengths and weaknesses will help you plan for next year.
12. What would I list that was really good about this year? (It is easy to forget.)
13. What changes would I recommend for next year?

Taking Notes

Here are the resources I'm going to use this year to try to help my 15 yo develop better note-taking skills (which are currently at the abysmal level!):

Note Taking Made Easy!: Strategies & Scaffolded Lessons for Helping All Students Take Effective Notes, Summarize & Learn the Content They Need to Know by Deana Hippie

How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport


Learning to Learn: Strengthening Study Skills and Brain Power by Gloria Frender

Your instructor is not going to hold up a flag when he or she states an important new idea or gives an example, but he or she will use signal words to give you the message that what's being said is important. Every good speaker does this, and you should expect to hear these signals. For example, he or she may introduce an example with "for example" as done here!
http://english-zone.com/study/signals.html

Annotating

My oldest does most of his thinking in his head (probably because of being quite right brained and a serious case of dysgraphia).  Nonetheless, I think one of the skills that will help him further on in life (college, meetings, etc.) is being able to annotate text that is more difficult to read.

Here are some resources to look at this fall that I might want to look at a bit closer:

NC Course of Studies happens to have an outline about annotating text:
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/languagearts/secondary/rightdirection2/11annotating

Colorado University outline of what to annotate and what each section means:
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/reading/critread/pop5b.cfm

A 6-page outline for annotating which included a test with grading scale for annotation -- not sure the link will work but it's a good outline:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CFgQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.birnbaumslearners.com%2Fuploads%2F1%2F4%2F8%2F6%2F1486903%2Fhow_to_annotate_a_text.pdf&ei=TUf-TezVOcTZgQfGgc3wCg&usg=AFQjCNHjESeKR11bnSSZxfrUml4TLE-U_Q&sig2=mN98GJ-Fn9pNQUBS5VkbTA

Educational Philosophy Discussion

We just finished up a 3-month/3-session workshop on Educational Philosophy. Lots of great ideas. The co-facilitator and I both have high schoolers and younger -- but all of the participants of the workshop were homeschoolers (with experience) and their oldest was 5 to 8 yo.

Month 1: What is an Educational Philosophy
-- including what people are comfortable with as far as education and homeschooling
-- and what areas do people feel the most unsure about
-- how do you walk through an educational philosophy, what is the definition of education, what is a successful person

Month 2: Educational Paradigms
We all have lots of educational paradigms that we may or may not recognize. Nature/nurture, providing children with lots of free time versus helping them work within a structure, etc. The ones we recognize we feel strongly about are the ones that provide direction for the type of curriculum we choose, the type of framework we feel most comfortable with. The ones that are not as well defined in our minds are the ones that make us more vulnerable to others' opinions about what works most with them.

You can take a survey about your educational paradigms here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/educational_paradigms


Month 3: Based on your definition of education, what your long term goals are, and your educational paradigms, how do you actually plan out the year? Methods of planning objectives using math as the example were discussed, along with a few sources of organizational forms.

To see handouts and discussions from this workshop, check out the wiki:
http://homeschooltopics.wikispaces.com/

How to create a highschool Nutrition Class

Steps one would go through to create their own highschool class -- using Nutrition as an example:

1.  Look up sample syllabus examples to see what other courses cover and see if there are some good resources out there -- look at their textbooks, the topics they cover, etc.  Pick and choose...
("nutrition syllabus" = search terms -- can specify high school as well but not as helpful for nutrition -- sometimes helps for other topics)

http://ocw.jhsph.edu/courses/humannutrition/index.cfm
http://faculty.deanza.edu/liechtybarbara/stories/storyReader$105
(plus one attached that I couldn't figure out how to link to)

Look at some university programs:
http://www.ncsu.edu/foodscience/acdprg/u-nutrtn.html

2.  Figure out if you want it to be a full credit or a half credit (60-80 hours vs. 120-140 hours)

3.  Find a "spine" -- what you use as a basis of topics that you build from or if you want to create your own spine of topics
(remember -- you want to have multiple sources, multiple viewpoints so you get a good perspective of the topic -- not just one book's "bias"):

A textbook?  (search for "nutrition textbook" -- gives a good idea of the main topics -- here's an example but there are lots available)
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Human-Nutrition-Society-Textbook/dp/063205624X

Reviews of nutrition books:
http://www.todays-women-and-health.com/10-nutrition-books.html

Some favorite video or online sources:
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/search/search.aspx?searchphrase=nutrition

Decide if you want to add human anatomy/physiology with it:
http://www.ed2go.com/waketech/online_course/hap/detail/Human_Anatomy_and_Physiology.html

or search for "free online course materials nutrition" and get a list like this:
http://www.nafwa.org/lma/directory/Free_e-Courses/Nutrition/Nutrition.php


4.  Find something to supplement with:

Supplement with videos:
http://movies.netflix.com/WiSearch?oq=nutrition&ac_posn=-1&v1=nutrition

Science:  http://www.khanacademy.org/

Field trips:  
NCSU -- here are several faculty involved in their cross-departmental nutrition program:
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/food_science/acdprg/index.html

Duke Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition & Metabolism Center
http://stedman.mc.duke.edu/modules/stedman_about/index.php?id=1

Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
http://www.sph.unc.edu/nutr/

5.  Create your own syllabus.  Include a description of what it will take to get a "C," a "B" or an "A."  Maybe a "C" is to read 1 book, watch 3/4 of a DVD course and write watch one movie.  Or an "A" is to complete a 6-week ed2go class on Human Anatomy and Physiology; read 2 popular nutrition books with different perspectives; create a blog with weekly tips/information about nutrition that lasts a minimum of X months or XX blog posts...???   

Get started!  And enjoy!

Starting Next Fall's Plan for Grade 10

Science:  This year's Chemistry filled a lab requirement but did not adequately cover an Honors level understanding of Chemistry.  Next year, we'll take Glencoe's Chemistry: Matter and Change 1 chapter per week and work through the text, understanding, and problems.  Completing that will mean an Honors Level Chemistry course.

In addition, I think a Biology lab if they're still offering it -- that means that a second year of BIology could be added if this wasn't enough (expensive, though!):  http://contemporarysciencecenter.org/homeschoolbiolabs.html    Here are some interesting hands-on biology classes:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/waldron/

Literature and writing:  We will be losing our marvelous Literature/Writing teacher this coming year.  What to do?  One option is a private tutoring for writing like what a friend is doing (is that available?), or doing an essay class from IEW's materials, or maybe something like EMC's Write In Reader for Grade 10: http://www.emcp.com/product_catalog/index.php?GroupID=862%20

PE:  TKD Black Belt testing occurs in October!  Training will need to be done before that.

History:  Time to add some history -- might be interesting to do a Winter Promise history like...?  We do need to do American History this year or next with the election coming up.

Math... oh, yes, math...


Robotics, goes without saying

A couple more simple and clutter-free websites

Just because one can dream... (more important when life is swamped!):

The Simplicity Habit
http://simplicityhabit.com/

My War on Clutter:
http://www.43folders.com/2007/07/02/clutter-discard-not-organize

Colors of the Season

I need new life in my colors, house and the season if I'm going to have enough energy to keep up to a 2 yo. I think I might like to try for the colors of Peru... check out these colors:

http://www.bill.lockharts.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/img_0581blog.jpg


And then I found some cool decorating blogs -- who knew that people had enough time, vision, organization and motivation to actually collect things, spray paint them beautiful and organize them??????

http://joysofhome.blogspot.com/search/label/Projects

She has links to all sorts of other decorating blogs. Maybe my next direction in life? Can one declutter and decorate with a 2 yo? Will there be a season in my life when it has higher priority?

Reusablebags.com

A website with a lot of types of bags, non-plastic cups, etc. Worth reading a bit more of the articles, etc.

http://www.reusablebags.com/

Hmmm.... Computer addiction?

A cool add-in I'm going to try for awhile is called: Rescue Time -- that tracks all your computer time and categorizes where you actually spend your time (it checks every 2 seconds)... I think I'm going to be surprised. It might work well for Bj as well to really see where his time goes... easy to install, totally invisible....

www.rescuetime.com

The Story of Stuff

A video that would be a good decluttering motivator is The Story of Stuff (20 min) -- and read the blog by simplemom.net

(http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html)

Research Paper Timeline

The following was an email on TRISMS where she explained what the research paper timeline was for her 8th grade son in a public school class for history. It's a good guideline to think about for maybe one paper each year.

***************

We had to place my son in private school last year because we
could not find an outpatient placement for his LD treatment program.
Overall, it has been an horrid experience, I've had to fight his
teachers to follow his treatment plan but some good has come out of
it.

He had to do a research paper for history class and she gave them
a packet with a timeline to turn in each component:

Topic and sources (min 3 books, 1 encyclopedia entry (max), 3
periodicals/websites)

4 days later-Bibliography cards, working works cited page

1 week later-Sources should be read.Title page, working outline

4 days later-1st 20 notecards due

1 week later-2nd 20 notecards due

4 days later-last 20 notecards due

10 days later-First rough draft due

2 weeks later-Final Outline, draft, polished paper, final works
cited page

She gave them samples of the outline, bibiography cards, works
cited page and how to do the different types of citations, a format
for the notecards, a definition of plagarism, a word requirement (900-
1,100 words for 8th grade)and required a map, chart, and a graph.

It was a tremendous help for my son to keep on track and meet
her standards. In the end her only quibble was with his paper's
length- 9 1/2 pages. She wanted it pared down to 6 pages which I
thought was ridiculous given the number of notecards required along
with the map, chart and graph.

Organization: Daily Dockets etc from simplemom

Aug 3, 2008: Organizational charts to customize
Weekly: http://simplemom.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/sm-masterchecklistdownload.pdf
Daily Docket: http://simplemom.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/sm-dailydocketdownload.pdf
(I really like it -- can I create something for me?)
And the whole process explained:
http://simplemom.net/downloads/

Ponderings for Me: Sit There, Do Nothing

July 31, 2008
Team Builders Plus: Sit There, Do Nothing…Are You Kidding?
A great article about sitting and meditating -- and how hard that is to do when you're stressed. Mostly work related but still applicable.

Ponderings for Me: If Only...

July 31, 2008
If Only... (a wish list for busy Moms)
From MOPS -- very funny! (And mostly too true)



If Only…
By Linda Vujnov

Bread crust was moist and delicious.

Clothing had no sizing so you bought what fit.

Hamburger Helper tasted great three days in a row.

Ice cream sandwiches counted as a complete breakfast.

Beds made themselves.

BOZ made house calls.

Oprah aired at 1:00. 3:00, 5:00 and 7:00…in the morning!

Hotels offered free get-away weekends for couples with preschoolers.

Coffee came in one gallon jugs.

The washing machine could carefully separate dark clothes from the whites and complete six loads of laundry in one cycle.

Men could complete 18 holes of golf in thirty minutes.

Varicose veins were in style.

Your best friend lived across the street.

The Emergency room had punch cards. After five visits, the sixth one was free.

Your neighbor had three teenage girls who loved babysitting free of charge.

The plastic vacuum cleaner you daughter loves to play with actually worked.

Your cat could clean the kids too.

Hosing down the inside of your car resulted in no interior damage.

Everyone’s advice truly worked.

Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, musical chairs, cake and punch were a hit for an eleven year old birthday party.

Photos joyfully put themselves in books and wrote catchy captions to ago along with each picture.

Easy Bake ovens could make Tex Mex casserole for six.

Two cars really could fit into a garage along with everything else.

School started at 10:00 a.m.

Cupcakes came with more frosting than cake.

Every backyard came equipped with a rollercoaster, dancing pink unicorns and a water park with a full-time lifeguard.

Date night was more than dinner at the local drive-thru and a gift purchase for your niece’s birthday.

When women said, “I don’t want anything for my birthday” men understood that they really meant, “Surprise me with something creative and personal that I’ll love!”

Highschool: HomeScholar

July 31, 2008: HomeScholar -- highschool topics
Her website has a lot of great info about homeschooling highschool -- this needs more time as well. Especially read:

• her sample info on assignment sheets for middleschool (here)
• setting up an assignment schedule (here)
• tons of things about record keeping (here )
• an archive of her articles here.

Ponderings for Me: SimpleMom blog

July 31: 2008
simple mom: Enliven Everyday Life with an Inspiration Board
(I love her blog -- lots of great stuff! -- I really need to spend more time on her organizational lists and information)

Ponderings for Me: 20 Questions

8/3/2008 : Marc and Angel Hack Life: Practical Tips for Productive Learning
This blog has some great info that should be explored further but one of the best is the following list of 20 questions to ask each week.
http://www.marcandangel.com

(original can be found here)

At the cusp of new beginnings many of us take time to reflect on our lives by looking back over the past and ahead into the future. We ponder the successes, failures and standout events that are slowly scripting our life’s story. This process of self reflection helps maintain a conscious awareness of where we’ve been and where we intend to go. It is pertinent to the organization and preservation of our dreams, goals and desires.

If you would like to maximize the benefits of self reflection, I have 20 questions for you. These questions should be reviewed every Sunday morning or sometime during the weekend when you have some quiet time to think. Remember, reflection is the key to progression.

1. What did I learn last week? – If you have trouble answering this question, it’s time for a change. It doesn’t matter how old you are, you should learn something new every week.
2. What was my greatest accomplishment over the past week? – Reflecting on your accomplishments is a healthy way to raise self confidence and contentment. It’s also an effective way to track your progress.
3. Which moment from last week was the most memorable and why? – It may open up your mind to new passions and goals, or simple pastimes worth revisiting.
4. What’s the #1 thing I need to accomplish this week? – Everything else is secondary, and should be treated as such. Nevertheless, this question will also shine light on other noteworthy tasks.
5. What can I do right now to make the week less stressful? – Set reminders in your calendar, get your laundry done, fill the car with gas… organize yourself.
6. What have I struggled with in the past that might also affect the upcoming week? – The idea here is to learn from your struggles and better equip yourself for future encounters.
7. What was last week’s biggest time sink? – Steer clear of this in the future. Setup physical barriers against distractions if you have to.
8. Am I carrying any excess baggage into the week that can be dropped? – Physical clutter, mental clutter… eliminate the unnecessary so the necessary may shine bright.
9. What have I been avoiding that needs to get done? – Pencil in a time to get these things done. For any 2-minute or less tasks, consider scheduling them first thing Monday morning.
10. What opportunities are still on the table? – If it’s still available and you want it, make a concrete plan to go after it this week.
11. Is there anyone I’ve been meaning to talk to? – Regular communication can solve problems before they fester. Always keep an open line of communication to those around you.
12. Is there anyone that deserves a big ‘Thank You’? – Take time each week to thank the people who have helped you. Your kind gesture will not go unnoticed.
13. How can I help someone else this coming week? – The easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want. If you help them, they will remember you when you need help.
14. What are my top 3 goals for the next 3 years? – You’ll never make any progress in life if you don’t setup realistic goals for yourself.
15. Have any of my recent actions moved me closer to my goals? – If the answer is no, something needs to change.
16. What’s the next step for each goal? – Knowing the next step is the key to accomplishing the whole.
17. What am I looking forward to during the upcoming week? – The answer can act as a great source of motivation. If nothing exists, schedule something to look forward to.
18. What are my fears? – Consciously address your fears each week and slowly work on resolving them. It’s all about taking baby steps.
19. What am I most grateful for? – It’s a smart way to keep things in perspective, and something you should never lose sight of.
20. If I knew I only had one week to live, who would I spend my time with? – Another helpful reminder… Life is short. Spend more time with the people you care about.

Take 30 minutes every Sunday and give yourself the gift of self reflection. It has worked wonders for me, and I am confident it will do the same for you.

Ponderings for Me: 30 Ways to Make Life Simpler

8/3/2008: On Simplicity
A blog about ideas for making things

http://www.onsimplicity.net

A blog to think about from On Simplicity: 30 ways to make life simpler!
(original found here)

1. Resign from a commitment you’re not passionate about.
2. Stop trying to be perfect.
3. Implement a basic cleaning schedule.
4. Sign up for automatic billpay.
5. Automate a portion of your investing.
6. Clean out your media collection and keep only the items you love.
7. Plant perennials that will automatically bloom next spring.
8. Clean out your purse or wallet.
9. Put a paper shredder next to your mail spot.
10. Winnow your wardrobe down to pieces that work together.
11. Delete any social networking accounts you don’t actually use.
12. Add your number to the do-not-call list.
13. Create a car maintenance schedule and post it somewhere you’ll see it.
14. Design a filing system that you can stick to.
15. Start your day with a healthy meal.
16. Turn your phone off when you need quiet time.
17. Invest in a programmable thermostat.
18. Set one good goal, and go achieve it.
19. Record your good “shower” ideas and then implement them. (Don’t we all get our best inspirations in the shower?)
20. Write to a friend with (gasp!) pen and paper.
21. Set limits on your bad habits, and reward yourself when you stick with them.
22. Stop trying to be a saint and indulge yourself every once in a while.
23. Pay off your credit card debt.
24. Avoid watching commercials and reading advertisements.
25. Rediscover the pleasure of reading purely for enjoyment.
26. Plan two weeks of delicious meals ahead of time and skip the nightly grocery run.
27. Go to your doctor for a preventative checkup.
28. Remember the joys of doing nothing.
29. Singletask as much as possible.
30. Learn to ask for help.

Because it's there...

Why would I try to start a blog at this time? It's there... that's all I can say. It's certainly not because I've got lots of time on my hands. I also don't know if I'm doing it for me as a form of diary and making sense of the world or for someone else.

I think I'll start with regular lists of books being read and websites open -- just to see where it goes...

Labels

A	General
B	Blog
C
D
E	Inspiration -- inspirational to gain a better appreciation of life
F	Organization -- organizing life, record keeping, etc.
G	Books -- books being read, book recommendations
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I	Travel
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L	Highschool
M	Middle School
N	Elementary School
O	Preschool
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Q	Development
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V	Robotics
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