Adventures in Homeschooling

When I suggested "First Person Fiction" as a genre, I didn't realize I would receive such a clever and creative story! Not only did he tell a story from a unique point of view, but he even created new words to match it! "HOW    PEANUT      ESCAPED" BY  JUDE LYONS 1  Noelle’s Room.  I decided to escape and have some adventure! I ran out of my house, and ran a few miles on my treadmill until I felt I was ready. So I fell off my tread mill and climbed my water bottle. ‘’You are going to have to withstand a headache peanut.’’ I said to myself. Then I smashed my head against  the ceiling. Ooww! I yelled. And fell off my bottle. ‘’Hmmm,’’  I said. ‘’Aha!” I ran around my cage collecting bedding to make a helmet. I put it on. Then I climbed my bottle again.  ‘’Here goes!’’ I said, and smashed my head again. ‘’Not as much pain as last time, but painful just the same,’’ I said. I did it again.      Crash! Went the...

Like all good mothers, I constantly worry about my children. Am I providing them with enough? Too much? Are they involved in enough activities? Do we spend enough time together as a family? Do they pray enough? With enough piety? Then, as a homeschool mom, I also worry about academics: are my kids studying enough? Are they studying the right things? Do I overteach? Underteach? How can I fit it all in?????? Each year, as I'm sure all homeschoolers do, I restructure things a bit as we have more kids learning more things at higher levels. It's always a balancing act, and in the past, I've been sure to give time in our schedule for all important areas: Religion, math, reading, science, etc. I even patted myself on the back when there was some overlap. Writing during history time? Crushing it! Math during science lessons? Awesome! I always made sure to supplement history lessons with religious books and topics. Recently, as I was reading this book  I came across a descrip...

Traditional. Montessori. Classical. Teaching to the test (yes, that's a teaching style now). Charlotte Mason. Online. Learning cooperatives. There are so many options for homeschooling today. It used to be that people had to settle for "better than the alternative" or "well, at least it's not teaching heresy" books and curriculum, but today, there are so many options , and we as teachers have the luxury of identifying both our teaching style and our students' learning styles and using the materials we see fit. So, what is my teaching style? How do I believe that students learn best? My overall teaching philosophy is that I am here to help kids learn. That's it. This is significant because I don't see myself as having all the answers and "teaching all the little people, imparting my great wisdom on them". Nope. I try to observe first, try to see how they learn best, and go from there. So, how to help them learn? I like t...

It appears that I somehow missed an entry last week,  and a very fun one too!! Complete with a glossary! How could you have known about my love of Greek Mythology? I love how the story started out seeming very realistic and then took a fictional turn. Awesome!! Without further ado, here is Delaine Mitchell's story, grade 4: The Story of When the Gods Where Mortal  It was a Friday morning and I was sitting on the couch.     "Mom" I said "yes honey" she said, "can I take Judd for a walk?".    " Sure honey" so I got Judd's leash and put it on him.     Five minutes later I was walking Judd on Taft street when a pipe burst and Sobek came crawling out.     (For more information go to the glossary).    I had heard of Sobek before which was good, but what was not good was that he crawled out as a croc!     Then my dog turned into a satyr which I realized was Pan (For more information go to the gloss...

I've kind of fallen off the writing bandwagon in the last week, partly due to craziness in my life, and partly because the only submissions for the contest I've received have been from my children, and while I'm sure you love reading their writing, I sure would appreciate some variety! So......I would like to propose another contest of.... First Person Fiction To clarify, this work of fiction does not have to be something crazy! It can be a true story that happened, like realistic fiction, told from the first person point of view. I've had students who love to begin writing about real things that have happened, and then they add a twist or a different ending, or additional details. Try to get the stories in to me by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest. I will post a story on Friday, even if it means you read another story by one of my children!! Email me with your entries at shannonelawson26@gmail.com. Don't forget to say the age or grade of your child.

First Person Fiction Calling all writers!! Write a story, a fictional story, in the first person perspective (I, me, my, us). Submit it by Tuesday night, and you will be in the running to be a published writer next Friday! The story can be any length, and your writing level will be considered. My email address is: shannonelawson26@gmail.com Include your name and grade level. Also, please tell me if you want your last name to be published. Any questions, please comment!