2011-2012 School Year has Ended (Post #17)

The last month or two of homeschooling were busy..as you can tell by the lack of blog posts...that's ok. School and my son come first. Wow...our first year of homeschooling is done...honestly,where did the time go?? 

I believe we both learned a lot, and I basically feel good about how this first attempt at homeschooling went....not perfect by any means, but good. I learned how my son learns and will change some things in how I present material. Text books are pretty much out...too much language. I choose what is important and present only those things in a simplied version. I also learned that my son truly enjoys and is good at working on the computer. He likes doing power points....finding the info and displaying it in an interesting way, editing and re-editing each slide, adding different effects. He also dabbled in making brochures and using Gloster,http://www.glogster.com/ where you can make posters on-line. Next year he'll try Prezi,http://www.prezi.com/ ,Fake Facebook,http://www.fakebook.com/pp/, Storybird, http://storybird.com/create/ and Voki, a web site where you can create speaking Avatars, http://www.voki.com/. With some thinking on my part, my son can learn his subjects through these creative outlets.  Many thanks to my sister-in-law for sending me these ideas.

I have been blessed with wonderful people who have given me ideas and supported us throught this  this homeschooling journey. My husband, sister-in-law, friends, teacher friends, and my mother-in-law who taught our son 2 classes. But most of all, I thank the Lord for giving us this opportunity and blessing our efforts in giving our son his first year of high school education. His promise in Philippians 4:13 has proven true, as do all of His promises..."I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" As in all things, God is good.

16 Years of Blessings (Post #16 )

 

 Yesterday was our son's 16th birthday....I know this will sound cliche', but where did the time go?  He was born at 8:01 a.m. on a Saturday, weighing in under 6 pounds. Just days later the Doctor found a nickel size hole in his heart. "Lets wait to see if it closes on it's own", he said.  So after many trips to the Dr. and medications given,
 almost a year after he was born, our son had open heart surgery to repair the hole. "You won't believe how fast he will recover", our Dr. assured us. And he was right....it was amazing. Except for the remaining scars, one would never
know he had heart surgery at such a young age. He has grown into an incredible young man. God is good and faithful.

We don't know how or why he developed his learning difficulties, his speech apraxia and language challenges, but we know our God has a purpose for everything. Romans 8:28 assures us of this.

James has a love of the outdoors...and is the only one in our immediate family who likes to fish and is interested in hunting and target shooting.
His wish for his birthday was to go fishing...thankfully the weather cooperated and we went to a nearby park with a pond....he fished while his brother and I watched. No fish were caught...not even a nibble, but it was fun.

With turning 16 most teens look forward to getting their driver's license...we have discussed with our son that he will probably need to wait until 18.....
He did get his fishing license though yesterday. He and his Dad went together before supper and got his license....that made his day.

The Lord has given my husband and me many wonderful blessings, 3 of which are our children. Each unique and special. God is good.

Nice Day for Weeding... (Post #15 )

Weeding is not my favorite thing to do...in fact it falls at the bottom of my list of things I like to do - along with ironing. Although, today was especially nice...sunny with a nice breeze to keep things cool. Besides hanging out laundry (which I do enjoy doing) I thought it would be a nice day to do some weeding in the back garden.  Dare I say it was almost enjoyable? Due to the wonderful weather, it was. We like being outside when the mosquitoes and heat are absent....we didn't finish the job....that will have to wait until tomorrow...another nice day forcasted. You may be wondering how I could incorporate this into a day of homeschooling.....I suppose I could justify it by saying it was his P.E. class...you know, stretching and bending....but it was an opportunity to show by example things needing to be done when you own your own home. More importantly I wanted to emphasize the importance of keeping at a task until the job is done; a good lesson to be learned before getting his first job.   Life skills...an important goal of mine through homeschooling our son: home maintenance and a dedication to completing an assigned task.

First Day Back (post #14)

It was an easy first day back after our Easter break.  We started with Religion. Our son is doing an on-line Bible study course on the book of John, http://www.whataboutjesus.com/gospel-john/gospel-john
Then it was off to the blood center so I could donate.
Afterward we stopped at Walmart...his idea. He recently earned some money taking care of a dog and he wanted to spend it. I would rather he save it, but I took this opportunity at the store for our impromptu math class. We compared prices, looked at what was the best deal, etc. I even used the calculator on my phone to show him how one item was priced better than another.  He then found something else he asked to buy..."do I have enough money?"....another opportunity to show how math skills are used in every day life.
Local book store was next...always nice to peruse the shelves.
After lunch, it was time to read....currently reading through a book telling tales of our soldiers' personal stories while in Afghanistan,  Battle Heroes- Voices From Afghanistan.  He finished his school day by gathering more information for his power point on North Dakota for geography/social studies.
Tomorrow we'll be back to our 'regular' schedule.....

Easter Break (Post #13)

It's nearing the end of our Easter break....as I mentioned earlier we follow the school calendar of our son's Lutheran high school...which means we had no school this week.
It 's been nice spending time with both boys at home....even if we didn't do anything 'special'...just hanging out has been nice.
I think sometimes we can put too much emphasis on doing stuff, thinking that an outing or out of the ordinary activity is important...and I do agree that getting out and doing stuff is important and special...it's also ok just to do nothing special.....simply hanging out and spending an ordinary day together can be just as nice.
Several times this week my son, whom I homeschool, has had the opportunity to ask me some heartfelt questions and we had the relaxed time to talk about what was on his mind.....and I wonder if we had spent this week with busyness...would those opportunities come up?  Maybe...but I'm glad our week went just as it has........hopefully we are recharged and ready for classes to begin next week..........

For Haiti (Post #12)

Yesterday another homeschooling family, my son and I packaged food packets for the people of Haiti. A local church sponsored the event....it was inspiring to see how many people came to help.
The packets contained a simple meal by our standards: rice, soy, dried vegetables, and vitamin powder....to those in Haiti who do not have the abundance as we do...it will be a meal worth waiting for.
I am grateful for the opportunity to have done this...it put into perspective how much we truly have and reminded me that even though the victims of that earthquake are not headline news....they still are suffering and continue to need help.
The Lord places many opportunities in our daily lives to extend a helping hand...my prayer is that we keep our eyes open to those opportunities and then respond in love and thanksgiving.

Art and Speaking Fair (post #11)

Last night our Homeschooling group held it's annual art and speaking fair. Students of all ages were welcome to submit one piece of art work and present a speaking piece, as well, if desired. Our son entered an art piece...shown here. His is the painting of the Monster Energy drink logo. (No...he does not drink this often -although he might if we said yes). He had fun thinking of what to draw....as well as doing the actual drawing and painting. He went into the art fair with a healthy attitude: "Mom this is just for fun, right?" He didn't get caught up in the stress of perfectionism...but did his best and had fun doing so. He is already looking forward to next year's fair.