Beverly's Homeschooling Blog

I've celebrated Independence Day in various places over the years. One of my favorites was at Mina Lake in South Dakota when the kids were young. For a city girl, this was a real treat…from the Aberdeen Liberty Parade, to the lakeside barbecue to the fireworks out over the water of Mina Lake. Since fireworks were legal where I lived until I moved to Anaheim 5 years ago, most celebrations were neighborhood streets filled with "safe and sane" fireworks. But, gone are the days of spending money at the local fireworks stands, now we generally barbecue at home then try to find a convenient place to watch one of the community fireworks shows.

Math and Finances: Is it more economical to purchase safe and sane fireworks or attend a community fireworks display?

In Hooray for (Math) History posted at Let's play math!, Denise says that the story of mathematics is the story of interesting people. What a shame it is that our children see only the dry remains of these people’s passion. By learning math history, our students will see how men and women wrestled with concepts, made mistakes, argued with each other, and gradually developed the knowledge we today take for granted."

A homeschool mother wants to earn some money while homeschooling and asks Carol of the HomeschoolCPA blog, the question, "Can I homeschool other children?"

History and Civics: Take the Independence Day Quiz to find out how much you know about the origin of independence day? Need to review?

Music has played an important role in American History. Mark Monaghan at eLearning stresses that music can also play an important role in preparing a student to learn and getting the brain into learning mode.

In 21 Things a 21st-Century American Citizen Should Know, Susan Gaissert of The Expanding Life paraphrases comments made by President William Jefferson Clinton during his lecture at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on June 17, 2008.

Science - The science behind the fireworks is fascinating. Check it out and try making a few of your own! (I suggest parental assistance!)

PJ of Let A Woman Learn writes about one of their several garden (science-nature study) projects this summer experimenting with different "greenhouses" for starting seed and watching the growth and root system.

Read more...

Join in the fun this Saturday, June 28th, by venturing outdoors for the 4th annual Great American Backyard Campout sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation. Rather you pitch your tent in your backyard or just sleep out under the stars, this is a great opportunity for making some family memories. Make sure to turn the automatic sprinklers off for the night...a lesson I learned the hard way.

Don't forget your Camping Printables. Lisa Hallett Taylor, About.com Guide to Pool & Patio, offers plenty of tips in this get-your-outdoor-space-ready checklist. The About Camping Guide, David Sweet, has basic camping information that will help you get started. So pitch your tents and have fun!

"Trees, canoes, and crickets in your sleeping bag. Swimming, counsellors, talent shows, hot dogs, mosquitoes, and lost laundry." Mama Squirrel shares her experiences in this weeks theme: Summer camp! This is sure to bring back some summer camp memories.

The next carnival will be hosted here at About.com Homeschooling. Submissions are due by Monday at 6 p.m. I look forward to reading your submissions.

Carnival of Homeschooling Schedule

We've had a word game going on in the Homeschooling Forum since 2003. Here's how to play:

Form a sentence from the acronym of the last word found on the latest post. Quirky, funny, silly, serious, whatever your post may be, the words are yours. You can relate it to kids and homeschooling if you're clever.

We've been stuck on "syllabicate" since March...anyone up for the challenge? Can we bring the game back to life?

June is fruit and vegetable month. The fruits of summer are just heavenly...peaches, nectarines, apricots, yummy! Summer is the perfect time for a fresh garden salad, pasta salad with veggies, veggies and dip - cool and refreshing. I got a kick out of my granddaughter helping herself to this avocado. She loves them, skin and all I guess.

Learn all about vegetables with these printable worksheets and activity pages. Shereen Jegtvig, About.com's Guide to Nutrition, says that fruits and vegetables should make up a large portion of your diet. She also shares ways to make fruits and vegetables convenient at home.

My granddaughter brought a note home from school saying that on Tuesday they are having a game day and that it was a "special treat" because the students get to play games together and usually they must play by themselves in class.

Ha! So much for socialization in school!

I receive many emails each year from parents sharing how the Homeschool Summer Reading Club has inspired their child and encouraged them to read, read, read. This morning I received the following:

I just want to thank you for doing the reading club. My daughter was so excited when I told her about the reading club she went and filled up her backpack with books we had read...I explained it had to be books read on or after the start date of May 30th. So, she set a goal to be among the first to complete 500 pages. I again explained there would be no way to know that and it was not a race...so we read the rules together and though the start day was supposed to be a vacation day for her she wanted to start immediately.

It has been a whirlwind of reading since then. (We went to a waterpark and she packed books to read on the 1 hour car drive.) My daughter was already so excited to be able to read that she reads everything in sight, but this lead us to read much more and to stress the importance of reading comprehension. I even introduced book reviews and she has completed a few. Every evening she gives Dad an oral book report on the books read and what they were about. It has turned into quite the project. She fills her back pack with a few books each morning and we read throughout the day. Our six year old is very goal oriented and could not wait to reach her 500 pages. Today she looked through her book shelf and chose the book with the most pages. We just completed the tall task and will be sending you the list soon.

We have decided to continue to count our pages and tally them each month. I am sure the excitement will not be as fresh after a while, but she has already decided she would like to have read more pages each month than the previous. So here we go - all thanks to your book club. I love your website and use a lot of your worksheets. I have also shared the site with friends. Thanks for your dedication. ~Areli

I love playing a part in encouraging your children to read and to love reading. I hope many children will grow in their excitement for reading this summer and maybe even conquer any fluency hurdles they are facing.

The 10th Annual Summer Reading Club is underway! Get those library cards out! The purpose of the Summer Reading Club is to encourage students to read for pleasure, help the reluctant reader along and reward them for their efforts. Get your kids signed up and reading all summer long.

Rachel Cooper, About.com's guide to Washington DC, blogged about the proposed regulation of homeschooling in DC. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) has invited the public to comment on this proposal, but I believe today is the final day. HSLDA sent this Formal Written Comment to the OSSE. Ethan Reedy, DC Home Educators Association president, also sent a response to the OSSE.

Looking for an easy way to keep your kids sharp over the summer months and also help fight world hunger? Then FreeRice.com is for you. For each word you answer correctly, they donate 20 grains of rice through the UN World food Program. From its launch in October 2007 until May 27, 2008, Free Rice has raised 34,551,828,550 grains of rice and fed people in Bangladesh (video clip), Cambodia, Uganda and Nepal.

So what are you waiting for? Start answering vocabulary words and watch your bowl fill with rice. Your kids can spend the summer feeding their minds and feeding hungry people all over the world. Then, why not work it into your homeschool curriculum for next year? It's free, it's fun and it's a great cause!