Just a quick follow-up to our veggie art story – we went to the fair today and she won! A first place blue ribbon and special honors (they didn’t have enough ribbons so it’s not there but she’ll be getting a big yellow ribbon too!). The families pulled together a list of all the kids… More Fair Update: Her Veggie Creature Won!
I know this is probably a familiar story to any parent who home schools. The big fight(s) about getting the actual work done. We had a lovely one today. But we also ended up with an amazing save driven by Katie. I am still in awe. I’ll admit it. Today was awful. I started with work… More Fighting at “Home” School – With an Amazing Resolution
When Katie had a fever of 103.5 yesterday, I figured there was no way she was going to be able to create her “Veggie Art” project for the fair today. But at 6:30pm, the fever broke and she started to get a little spunky. So I crossed my fingers and got her to bed at… More Best “School Work” Ever: Art Project for the County Fair
Woohoo! We wrapped up the second week of home school and it was better than the first. Well, at least from a “getting actual work done” perspective. We got some great workbooks and that helped Katie get a bit more excited about doing the work. I think the workbooks feel more familiar to her –… More Reflections: Week Two – It’s So About Me!
A year ago I was dealing with a total remodel (which means we moved out), a pair of seniors whom I love but were facing both bankruptcy and ill-health, a busy workload and I was losing my mind. I can’t get health insurance so I have to be very proactive about my own health and… More I Must be Doing Something Wrong, This is Too Much Fun
I was at an all-day offsite today and that was one of the questions we tried to answer. I have my own company that works to understand how young people use technology and then we share that information with Silicon Valley companies. Today, we were trying to map the future of a new product and… More Discuss: Where Will Education be in Five Years?
Setting the (insane) controversy aside, I am going to have Katie watch and listen to Obama’s speech tomorrow. We won’t be realtime because I have to work all day, but we will watch the recording together and then we’ll do a little bit more. Typically, during any show, we pause the action a lot (thank… More Lesson Plan: Using Obama’s Speech to Teach, er um, Learn
We gave it our best shot this week – our first real week of home school. We strove to get work done, prove we could work on our own, and I looked for signs of autonomy in Katie. Alas, I am WAY too optimistic. Our consultant, Joy, we great about telling me public school kids… More Reflections: The First “Real” Week of Home School
Another school day, another day at a State Park. Our home school scheduled a river swim today and it was awesome! We have always loved Henry Cowell State Park. It’s in Felton and simply gorgeous. We typically go up for nature walks and to look for banana slugs. But today we went with friends to… More Outing: Home School River Rats Have a Blast!
To “do” home school via the district, we have to create an agreement that says what we will be doing in the next six weeks to keep Katie on track. So today we met with our consultant – a teacher – who helped us set goals, identify resources and get us moving forward. It was… More We Meet our Consultant and Write our Contract
Today was tough. I knew it was going to be rough – Katie would be tired from four days of over doing. I had plenty to do workwise and I thought I had set aside a few things to keep Katie busy. I was going to push it – our consultant said to take things… More Hard Day: Missing Friends and the Weird Guy at the Park
Tonight our home school hosted a bonfire at the beach and it was great. We brought marshmallows and a roasting stick and pigged down lots of toasty roasted marshmallows. We made some new friends and watched the pelicans and seagulls chase a school of fish up the coast.Then the sailboats started coming in as the… More Outing: Home School Bonfire at Twin Lakes
Today was a first for Katie. She had her first babysitting job. Okay – not really baby-sitting – it was “mommy’s helper” – but she was responsible for keeping Roark happy, engaged and safe while his mom and I worked. We used the babysitting as a home school opportunity and studied up on child care,… More A First! A Chance to Babysit! Awesome!
I had to spend the whole day at my client’s office today – from 9am to 7:30pm – and so I planned ahead. I asked mom if she’d take Katie on a field trip to the Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose as a follow on to King Tut on Monday. Mom agreed, I printed out… More Field Trip: Gramma, Katie, GPS and the Rosicrucian Museum
Today was kind of the “first day of school” if there is such a thing for home school. We went over to the school for orientation – to figure out how things work, to get our personal “consultant” and to meet new families. Katie had a mind meld with one of the consultants and I… More Home School Orientation: So That’s Where All the Smart Women Went!