Saturday, May 29, 2010

Linky Loooooo

Click.... Click.... Click... Cl-Cl-Cl-Cl-Cl-Click
Yep that's me when I find a fun new clicky helper.
I LOVE finding new websites that make educating my kids easier!!
So much fun! And in such an abundance!

I started passing on some of the wonderful links to my local HS group but organization and accessibility weren't as easy as it could be. SO I found a better way! Diigo!!
No, there is no paid advertisement for Diigo here. It's just a great site to keep all your bookmarks in one place that can be accessed anywhere!

As of right now I have over 110 sites listed in all age and study levels, a large variety of subjects, videos, games and even articles for parents. Just pick a topic on the right and have fun.

Hope you find a new favorite today or at the very least something helpful to you and your family.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Of course I can!

So with our first year of home school almost complete, I am more confident than ever that we can do this. I won't lie and say I wasn't nervous and scared most of the time but I will say that I beat myself up much more than I needed to.

We aren't a conventional homeschooling family. But I guess there really aren't any conventional homeschooling families. I will say that we are an eclectic, student-driven family. I guess what I mean by conventional would be in the home school realm. We are a non-religious family, not anti-religious. I don't have a problem with what others chose to believe... but that is a post for another blog. We don't have any special educational needs. My kids aren't allergic to anything or have any other dietary restrictions. We just hope we are making the best choices for our kids by giving them all the educational opportunities we can with limited restrictions.

Introductions would prob be a pretty good idea at this time, if you're still reading that is.

I'm D (yes, dear interwebs we are only using initials here). I'm an atheist, homeschooling, eclectic, thirty-something mother of 3. I don't have a college degree but I did finish almost 4 years majoring in Horticulture. One of these days I'll go back and finish but for now my kids come first. We live deep in the rich wonderful culture of South Louisiana.

J is my best friend, partner, beloved, father of my children... I can go on but most call him my almost husband. We've been together for almost 10 years now though we met almost 20 years ago. As far as the kid's education goes, he trusts me and it's another great reason why I love him so.

A is our oldest daughter. My sweet, not so little anymore, 12 year old tween has acclimated wonderfully to this new way of learning and new way of living. We've learned that she is a very visual and partial tactile learner, which is very helpful because so am I. She's grown quite a bit over these last 8ish months and I am so very proud.

W is my tough and tumbling 5 year old son. He's more tactile than visual or auditory and such a boy! He's on an exclusively student-driven route at this time focused on fun, fun, and uh fun! That's what being a kid is all about right!? If that means dinosaurs and insects or planets and spaceships that's what we are reading, watching or coloring. No sense in rushing into any of this.

B is the baby AND she knows it. She our 3 going on 16 drama-mama. She must do everything that W does with one tweak.... I have to girlie it up a bit. So princess and fairy printables are great for her. Her learning style hasn't been determined yet since she's quite the follower at this point. She is my only left-handed child and the only one in the house. Hopefully that doesn't prove to be too much of a challenge later.

We watching more TV than I would prefer but with such great networks, like Discovery, Science and History, we make it work out in the best ways we can.

There is so much information out there for all levels of education. It would be such a shame not to utilize it as much as we possibly can. Each of the kids have their favorite sites and their reasons for them.

I'm hoping to share what has worked for us as we take this journey. I'll share some of my favorite sites and curriculum. Hopefully my reviews are helpful and you enjoy sharing this time with us.