Archive for October, 2007
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
Aiyana making a silly face
A few of my family members thought I was nuts when I told them I would be working at home and home schooling my daughter. Honestly I didn’t see any reason to stop homeschooling her. Even when I worked outside the home, I was educating her. So yes, I was homeschooling my daughter. I have fond memories of my mother homeschooling my brother and I.
I still remember our daily lessons now granted we didn’t have a computer. My daughter has a HP dv6000t that she refers to as “Zizzy” my mother made our assignments using simple poster boards for letters and numbers, and flash cards for addition & subtraction but it worked. It can be a challenge being a single work at home mom who has made the decision to homeschool but it can be done.
I Work When She Works
I’m a business owner and work from home. I’ve met others who work out of the home and still homeschool their children. I knew if they could do it then I definitely could. When my daughter is working on “fun projects” that focus on stimulation, computer fun work, or coloring projects I’m beside her working also. I keep an eye on her making sure I offer words of encouragement which makes her very proud. I’m also able to complete my work also.
I Quit Making Mountains Out Of Molehills
I do what I believe is right for my daughter and guess what that can be extremely different depending on the parent/child and that’s ok. Initially, I thought homeschooling would be overwhelming. Guess what? It was because I let it be. I stopped placing these outlandish expectations on myself and started educating her as I had before I thought of myself as “homeschooling” Aiyana happy that her mommy had finally returned to her senses so was I.
If you think about it even in the traditional school setting a child is not studying eight hours daily. There are breaks and lunches that make up their school life and it can take longer to teach a larger group of children. The time spent in “fun learning” varies with my daughter but on average it is about three hours daily. There are days when it’s a lot longer, but it’s completely up to her.
Don’t Burn Yourself Out
As a single parent who always has to be “on”. I know this all too well. I don’t get a break when my partner walks through the door in the evening. I have to admit at times that can be extremely challenging. I’m on 100% of the time. My family is very supportive of me, but my daughter is with me the majority of the times.
It’s important to take time for yourself that can be hard whether you are single or married. I find that my “me time” begins after my daughter has gone to sleep. When I need to get something completed I get my daughter doing something she is interested in whether it be drawing, watching Veggie tales, or listening or watching a video we’ve created. I’m never too far away, and I check on her often.
Creativity: Making Homeschooling Fun
When my daughter was one year old I started making up silly rhymes for the days of the week, months of the year, holidays. I accompanied this with odd faces it got a laugh out of her when she was talking she knew all the holidays, months, and days of the week. My daughter loves music so some of the way we learn is through singing. Yes I admit I make up songs to educate her. At times finding what works best for your child might take some time but I do believe it is worth it. My daughter flourishes with “fun learning”. 
These have really helped me out
Technorati Tags: homeschool, single parent homeschooling, unschooling
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Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
Aiyana at Huber Farm
This is the first time in two years that we’ve gone to Huber’s Farm the day before Halloween. We usually go a week before. As you can see the pumpkin patch was bare but there was still plenty of pumpkins to be picked. Aiyana and I had a blast.
Tomorrow in our homeschooling session we will be discussing the history of Halloween, talking about what insects have in common, and going over the next three pages in the McGuffey Eclectic first reader. This was required reading, in school, when I was a child. Aiyana is blasting through that reader. I bet she will be reading a regular book by the time she is five. She tries to spell big words like “Thanksgiving” and “happiness”. She actually does very well.
Aiyana is at the point where she tries to spell everything she says. It’s a fun game for her. We have spelling bee’s daily and I’m amazed at the words she is picking. I started using phonics with her ever since I can remember even before she could talk I would sound out words for her. I imagine that is why reading and writing has come so easily for her.
Towards the end of this week we’ll be working on script. She’s eager to learn. I follow Aiyana’s lead with our lessons. When she needs a break I’ll give it to her.
Aiyana also mentioned she wants to learn about bears.
Technorati Tags: homeschooling, McGuffey Eclectic reader
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Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
Insects: Their Natural History And DiversityEvery week during our
homeschooling lessons we learn about some type of animal or insect. I am always looking for materials that I can incorporate into our
unschooling routine. A little over a week ago I had ordered
Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity.I was happy and thought I would receive the book the very next day. I’m an Amazon Prime member. Two day delivery is free. If the item is in stock I always receive the order the very next day. The shipping facility is in New Jersey.
Well guess what? This morning I received an email from Amazon letting me know that my order was going to be put on hold again! This is one popular book because it was delayed for a little over a week. You can imagine how crushed I was when I saw that message this morning.
My daughter has shown a real fascination with insects and I encourage that. I love insects. I always have even as a child so perhaps her fascination with them came from me?
Amazon Saves The Day!
A few moments ago I received another email from Amazon letting me know that the item has shipped! I’m almost giddy with excitement. I’m looking forward to receiving this much anticipated book in the mail tomorrow. I’m not going to tell Aiyana I’ll let it be a surprise. I did log onto my Amazon account and it’s true they have notified the carrier to pick up the item.
I checked the reviews of this book by visiting a few entomology websites. In the reviews the reviewer spoke highly of this book. I cannot wait until I receive it. I’ll definitely be writing a review. The book is approximately 736 pages and it has over 2,000 photos of bugs. The book price is $95 but I was able to purchase it at Amazon for $59.85. That’s 37% off the cover price. That’s an excellent deal.
This will definitely help us out if we want to identify any local bugs. The reading level is 10th grade. I’ll be creating a few lessons from the book and going over them with my daughter.
Technorati Tags: Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity, Amazon, entomology, homeschooling
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Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
My aunt stopped by to visit us yesterday and I got that look you know the look that people reserve for those who have lost their minds? Yep, that’s the one. How could I be anything but crazy. I’ve chosen to homeschool my daughter!
As if that isn’t enough I happen to be a single mom homeschooling my daughter and I’m working out of the home. My aunt looked at me, at loss for words. It should be nothing new for her since her daughter homeschooled her grandson, but then maybe she thought that was different. He has learning disabilities maybe in her mind if you’re child is “normal” than you really don’t have any business homeschooling. I’m a new breed in her mind.
Then again she never could understand me. I’m vegan. I choose to wear my hair in loc’s, lol. Aiyana, my daughter, read to her yesterday. I have the set of McGuffey Eclectic Readers. Aiyana read to her from the first reader. Aiyana’s proud that she can read and will read to anyone that is willing to listen. Well, you must be doing something right! Was what my aunt grunted as she left yesterday.
People homeschool for a variety of reasons. The main reason I’m homeschooling Aiyana is because I know that I can do a much better job educating her than what is being offered in the school system whether it be private (where she would have attended or public schools.
My Approach..
I let her set the pace in how we approach our learning. At times I gently coax or guide her but I encourage and at times I challenge her to think and do things her way. It works for us. Aiyana is doing extremely well. In her mind all schools are like the ones that we have at home. She was surprised when I told her this was not always the case.
I’ve been reading a lot of articles that show a lot more blacks are homeschooling their children. I find that encouraging.
Technorati Tags: homeschooling, black homeschooling
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Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
I thought I would devote a website to homeschooling. I’m a single parent homeschooling. Initially when I started I had not heard of any single parents that were homeschooling but I knew that we were out there.
I’ve always wanted to homeschool my children if I ever had any; however, when I was working out of the home homeschooling full time was not a possibility but I made up for it. When my daughter and I were together in the mornings and the evening when I returned from work one of the ways we interacted was what I like to call “educational play.” I’ve never presented learning in a way that was boring to my daughter, and I strongly believe this is why she enjoys it so immensely. When I volunteered as a group mentor last year I used the same principles. It worked.m
I resigned from my position this past December and started working for myself full-time although initially I did not have the intention of working for myself full-time even though I already had a buiness this is where I am now. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made concerning my daughter. My parents watched Aiyana when I worked out of the home and even though she loves them dearly she would tell me every day before I went to work, “Mommy, don’t go! I always called during the day to check up on my girl.
Sundays were hard for her because she knew that mommy had to go to work the next day. Do you know Ms. Lady would not go to bed in the evenings. She would stay up as late as she could because she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her mommy. Those times were tough. I had to be up early and since I worked downtown, about forty minutes away I had to get an early start in order to get ahead of traffic.
The above photos was taken this past December by my daughter. She was using my Nikon D80. I was thinking and did not know she had taken this shot. I was resigning from my position at work and was filled with excitement and the slightest bit of apprehension. This is the newest of many websites that I own. You can check a few of my others by looking towards your right in the first sidebar you’ll see a category “My Websites” those are a few that I own.
Technorati Tags: homeschool, single parent homeschoolers, black homeschooler
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