Usually around mid-year I start salivating over new-to-me curriculum, when the catalogs start coming in the mail. Well, it’s not quite the middle of the school year and I don’t get nearly as many catalogs as I used to, but I did find a really cool online science curriculum that I opted for a free year of, and I wanted to share it with you, in case you’re looking for one, or know someone who is. From what I have seen so far, this curriculum can be used as not only a middle school and high school science curriculum, but also as an elementary school science curriculum as well. I plan to use it to work with my younger daughter.
Life lessons from mommy-daughter time? Yes indeed! Read on to see what I’ve been learning…
1. Coloring can be lots of fun!
Lately I’ve been enjoying coloring with my younger daughter. Hubby bought her an adult coloring book for Christmas (even though she is only 6), and we tend to color at night right before bed. It’s been a great winding down and bonding time for us, and I have to admit that I really do enjoy coloring. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it because my older daughter did not enjoy coloring. It’s nice to be doing it again!
One of my Facebook page readers, Kristi asked: “I am thinking of homeschooling my 7 year old starting next year for 3rd grade. What do you spend on average for your homeschool curriculum and what type of curriculum do you use? Thanks for the help.”
My answer:
Before I tell you what we used, I want to share my best piece of advice with you. Know your child’s learning style – and this is more than just whether she is a visual, kinesthetic or auditory learner. When you know how best your child learns, at what time she learns best, and so on, choosing curriculum, and planning participation in activities, becomes easier. The best resource I have found for this is a book by Mariaemma Willis and Victoria Kindle Hodson, called Discover Your Child’s Learning Style. The Book is available in a Kindle version and a paperback version. When we did the assessment in our household, our homeschooling life got a lot easier. I just wish I had discovered it earlier.
For the past few days, I’ve been sorting out photos on my computer and my backup drive for printing for my daughter’s senior board. It’s something I planned to do earlier on in the year, but being sick for five weeks means I am still playing catch up, even after many nights of going to bed way too late.
A homeschool mom friend of mine today told me that I made her teary-eyed because unlike her, I had chosen to be an American citizen. I wasn’t born into it; I am one by choice. It made me think of the path I took to get to this point.
Way back in 1999 I met my husband online. He was in the U.S. and I was in Jamaica with a young child and going through a divorce. When the divorce was completed, my daughter and I came up, and my honey and I got married.
Have I said yet how much I am enjoying my Instant Pot???? Every day as mealtime approaches, I look forward to seeing what I can cook next in my new kitchen device. It’s not that I dread cooking; rather, it is that I am still working on menu planning, and that means that if I don’t plan far enough in advance, I often end up with frozen meat and no plan of action at 5 p.m.
Ever since I went over to a friend’s house a few months ago and watched her make rice in her pressure cooker in 10 minutes, I have been fascinated with pressure cookers. I told my hubby I wanted one, and I think he thought I might be just on one of my kicks. When we looked at the one my friend Vicki recommended, however, it was so expensive, and that put us off for a while.
It’s seldom that I get a good belly laugh from my husband. It takes a lot to get more than a chuckle out of him. This evening, I got not only a belly laugh, but a throw-your-head-back belly laugh from him.
My five year old daughter came to me as I was sending out some documentation by email. She was in the middle of dinner while I worked in the living room. “May I have some water on the rocks, please?” she asked.
